Prayerful Driven Life

We Are That Family Contest Entry

2011-08-30T20:40:00.000-07:00

"Nine year of nursing, nightmares, good times and bad. Now they want to kick me to the curb..I am heartbroken. Anyone want to help me update my resume?"

Back to School Challenge

2011-08-25T21:03:00.000-07:00

Tonight I have a Back to School Challenge for you! Why? Because if the kids get new(ish) things for school, have to be reminded of disciplines and train their bodies to get rest and such..why shouldn't we do some things to retrain ourselves? We have a lot of sleepy heads to get up in the next countless months...let's get ready to rumble..or at least feel prepared for whatever happens next! :)

Okay, so I am currently kid-free....shhhh! I don't want this trend to get popular because I will start getting emails from grandparents asking me to please retract my statements of the luxurious feeling of not tending to one argument, not settling one "discussion of justice" and the dogs didn't even dig holes! My my, so THIS is what the high life is like? I think I will take it!!!

Here we go!
Whoops, my excitement of being kid-free got me side-tracked..okay. Well we unpacked from our trip to see my parents and drop off two of the five boys..the ones I have with me every minute of every day all year long as we homeschool.

I started my morning at 10:20am waking up to find both my lovable pups clinging to both sides of me on my bed. The breeze was blowing through the windows and I was in heaven...talk about a stay-cation!!! Ahhh I was so thankful to be in my home! I spent my day doing the usual laundry, unpacking suitcases and putting them away, farmer's market, various multi-tasking between emails, texts, making lists for errands in geographical order to save gas...you know the usual and then the kitchen clean up and I looked in the fridge and remembered that I have had a routine for years now that just instinctually happens..which I was already starting to do!

Challenge Part One:
Clean out Fridge from top to bottom. I do this every other month or so depending...but I always do it right before school starts to have a fresh start in my kitchen, take inventory of things we need with the back to school sales and start my meal planning routine for the FALL. Sorry I didn't mean to say that word but it is coming and it isn't because I said it either. I promise!

SO that is part one of my Challenge...clean out your fridge, clean out your pantry and start taking inventory of what you need and what you need to quit buying this school year starting now.

Challenge Part Two:
Start sorting through all the kids clothes, regardless, it is okay if they don't like you after having to try on the 10th pair of jeans...if they all don't fit you have a bag full of clothes to donate, give to a friend or sell at a consignment store or craigslist. Make good use of this time. If the kids didn't grow please think about it before you go spend money on new clothes...wait until they grow! Get them a couple of new shirts on sale or clearance but know those kids are just bound to grow by October and it is frustrating to have a whole wardrobe no longer fit!
(Side note: I start shopping for snow boots, snow pants, gloves and jeans on craigslist in June and continue so that hopefully by the fall I have all the family covered for winter wear before the "surprise snow fall" around Thanksgiving that makes Target sell out! ;)

Challenge Part Three:
Look for reusable lunch items, I recently found on sale at our grocery store a line of BPA free plastic containers that screw together and have handy loops for clipping on a bag with a handful of nuts, trail mix, they have them in all sizes. Even though we homeschool we bought these to have for those days we are on the road and need something to eat, I desperately try to get away from plastic bags and paper bags, I love having reusable items like these. Think outside the box too...for instance tonight I had a ton of zucchini from my CSA, I shredded it and made fabulous zucchini brownies and I can make more and freeze them for special treats in their lunch this year.

Challenge Part Four:
What is one thing you will start disciplining yourself to do whether you homeschool or send the kids off on their yellow bus or walk to school this year? What can you do that will be a learning process for you? We need to keep learning things, whether you sign up for a class, try a new DIY project at home, take the dog(s) for a walk every morning before your household is awake, volunteering at your local library or many other zillions of things you can do. What are you going to do for yourself? I think as moms that is one thing that can be hard for us to admit is that we often LIVE for our KIDS. Now we love our kids, we adore our kids, they are too cute to eat! BUT, even scripture says we have them for a season, we are to raise them and show them the narrow path, train them up through everything we do but it never says that we need to be on the road and consumed all day long with their every agenda...that is where I think we have missed it. My kids are excellent helpers, rarely complain and go on numerous errands with me but having a day to myself I realized that I do not plan time away for myself..it is usually connected to the kids in one way or another. (Ex. Homeschool group planning meeting, Scouts meeting, football kick-off event, etc)

I hope you will take this challenge with me and let me know how you are doing! I am anxious to hear about the things you are doing for yourself and hear improvements or even struggles you are faced with.

Happy Back to School Time Everyone!
Sarah

To Be Real

2011-05-25T17:09:00.000-07:00

I have had a focus shift on my heart for a few months now but I have been waiting...patiently...simmering on where things need to go. Simply put, Living a Prayerful Driven Life means it is not my agenda.

Here is a portion of what God laid on my heart recently:

My heart's desire is to be 100% Pure, Raw, Organic (yet Refined) as a Parent. Going back to the basics and not copying a model or processed lifestyle shown. Waiting to see what God wants us to teach with his direction...by going to the source...Him.

What I found extremely interesting is that God lined it up and I wrote it down word for word as it came to me and it sounds very similar to the other big passion in my life. Healthy lifestyle...many of the same principles apply.

That is how refreshingly original God is with his timing always! I have yet to have an event in my life that I am unable to pinpoint the orchestra of God's timing at some level.

As I have immersed in the Word of God, pondered this vision, listened and read what is available out in the world for us as parents I have come to one conclusion. My opinion has changed! Now when I meet new parents I no longer have a list of resources for them to study and read...I tell them the best advice I think I can share: Don't listen to anyone else, trust in the Lord to give you rest, wisdom and creativity as you raise your children and he will. Our eyes have gotten too focused on someone's "Ideal" for raising our children, yet I see more and more disrespectful, uninvolved children in the homes. Compassion for elderly, poor, hungry and even for a friend in need seems to take last string over the numerous distractions and avoidance techniques that are so engrained in our adults and youth these days. Now let me say, this is not a new problem! There are many stories of self-involved, cold-hearted and judgmental people from Biblical times to current day.

This is where my favorite quote comes into play: "Be the change you want to see in the world". We often find ourselves wanting to teach others how to be all that we CAN'T be. Is that really how we rank? No, we simply prefer to tell others how it is, how it should be done and sit back on our pedestal and hope they are motivated to change although we will not. I can honestly say I have done that myself in the past, I won't be bold enough to say I am now excluded from this mistake for the rest of my life either...but I will say that perspective has come into my mind and heart more than ever.

My favorite childhood memories involve swinging in my backyard without a care in the world and singing loudly to challenge the birds in the air flying overhead. Playing chinese checkers with my grandmother, going out for an ice cream cone, riding my bike, gardening with my mom, climbing fences and yelling for the neighbor to come out and play. What do these have in common? They are natural, they are free style, unorganized and FUN! They teach a child to use their imagination and not get frustrated by their parents lack of entertainment provided for them. I want to be the one that encourages you to turn off the computer, TV, DVR, Xbox and numerous other devices and look at your kids...what did you love for your parents to do with you when you were growing up? Maybe it was spontaneously taking you out for an ice cream or like one of my friends does with her son once in a while...get him an ice cream for dinner! Or maybe it is deciding to camp out in the backyard on a night during the summer and roast s'mores over the grill. Whatever it is, it is something that puts the living back in your life. The memories back in your heart that regardless of being captured in a photo...will last a lifetime!

It is because of the knowledge I have gained in the past few years that my husband and I started desiring a farm house. We want to raise chickens, have a large garden for our family of seven, have places where our kids can explore God's creation, dig, build, discover without worrying about the suburb lifestyle, mentality and the manicured lawns of life. My desire is to be the change in the lifestyle which I have become accustomed and go back to the basics.

In this new season I will be sharing parenting thoughts--not advice just sharing what I am doing, natural tips and recipes, lifestyle changes and the passion that God has put in me for them all. Are you ready To Be Real with me?

enVision Math

2011-05-25T15:58:00.000-07:00

Our last review post this year is for enVision Math for 1st grade. We received a LARGE box shipped to the house containing our enVision workbook. It was a surprise to everyone in my household to see the width of the book. It turns out you pull out pages and fold them in half to have 4 lessons total-front to back in a booklet style. This was a nice change to have more room for my student to write. There was plenty of room to write which is very nice for younger children especially that can be harder for them to write small.

Envision a math program where pictures do the talking. enVisionMATH is the first math program that develops math concepts through interactive and visual learning. I was excited at the prospect of enVision because I am a visual learner. Using daily problem-based interactive math learning followed by visual learning strategies deepens conceptual understanding by making meaningful connections for students. Bottom line, when they see math in its daily usage along with visual aids, pictures and practice they connect the dots of the basic idea to where and how it applies.

There are many nice additions to this math system, they include vocabulary, math games and more practice. At the bottom of the pages there are "home connections" and "home activities" that we used for extra practice and understanding of the lesson.
My son did like doing the math but I will admit that as he is finishing up 1st grade at home, majority of it he already knew. We went closer to the back of the book to see if he was challenged and where we could review. I don't recall us going over much of the measurements beforehand so learning about quarts and cups was definitely a fun new area to explore together.

In my opinion this is a good math curriculum for those that are especially visual as it has plenty to look at on each page. I really like the glossary, I could see laminating it or at least using it in a binder to reflect on the pictures and the words to learn them and confirm in their minds what they mean. The work is not completely independent as my son is a good reader but some of the terms were new to him so I had to read the instructions for each section with him before he started them. At some points he could read it but wanted to make sure he understood what to do before he started.

As I think about the enVision description I was really expecting it to be something totally different from what I have seen before. It was not completely different but it did have some nice features as I already mentioned, the size of the pages and space to write, practice and games (which you usually will not get in a math book) and the glossary.

The enVisionMath 1st grade student edition, with digital access is available for $34.47 from Pearson Education. You can find it here on the Pearson website.

I am a member of The Old Schoolhouse 2010-2011 Crew and receive free products and services in exchange for my thorough use and honest review of them. My reviews will always reflect my honest opinions, findings, beliefs and experiences on the products and services that I receive.

Talking Fingers Word Qwerty

2011-05-21T12:35:00.000-07:00

Talking Fingers was established in 1994 with the purpose of developing quality educational materials. Neuropsychologist Dr. Jeannine Herron and her staff has continued to work on new research and development to create programs to help engage children and their left side of the brain where skilled reading and writing are processed. Extensive research has been done using their program Read, Write and Type in California schools and formal research was done in 2006 in Dallas schools for their Word Qwerty program.

Word Qwerty: Foundations of Reading and Writing Fluency is designed to improve phonological and morphological sensitivity. To develop a deeper understanding of how words are constructed in English, create useful activities that provide helpful feedback. Word Qwerty has 20 lessons with 6 activities per lesson that provide the following:

1. Some sounds can be represented in several different ways.
2. Most words follow about 20 easy spelling rules.
3. There are many word families, (words that sound the same, or rhyme). By changing the first letter(s), you can make hundreds of words.
4. Some words are "outlaws". They don't follow the rules. They must be recognized quickly and automatically.
5. Writing to dictation develops vocabulary, comprehension and fluency as well as spelling skills.
6. Reading (and filling in missing words) develops vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency skills.

Wordy Qwerty is targeted at 7 to 10 year olds who have learned the basics of phonics and word identification and are poised to master more complex reading and writing skills in order to become enthusiastic and capable readers and writers.
The six different lessons each day are as follows:
Step 1: Patterns

Your child generates two lists of words by typing the names of pictures and sorting the words by a given characteristic. They are directed to notice the patterns," or spelling rules, by comparing the two lists. If they can't sound out the words or spell them correctly, the Helping Hands will assist them. Qwerty and Midi talk about the differences between the two lists and derive the 20 spelling rules which then are woven into the lyrics of delightful songs.

Step 2: Karaoke

Rhymes and songs are memorable and fun. There is a catchy song about each of the 20 spelling rules.

Step 3: Recycler

Lots of words that rhyme can be made just by changing the first letter or letters of the word. Some words sound the same, or rhyme, but use a different combination of letters to represent the same sound. In this game, chidren learn different vowel combinations that can make the long vowel sound. They watch the RECYCLER drum whirl as it changes the first letter(s) of two rhyming words. They learn to quickly distinguish real words from non-words. The non-words are vacuumed away.

Step 4: Pop-a-Word

"Outlaw" words are best memorized by learning to recognize them quickly. In this arcade-type game, children find words in a 4 word phrase as each word appears briefly, along with non-target words, in a cluster of colorful balloons. As children click on the correct balloons, they "pop". The faster they recognize the correct words, the more points they make.

Step 5: Write Stories

In these cleverly illustrated 8-line rhymes, children hear and see the first line, and have to type out the second line after it is dictated. They can see and hear the dictated line as often as they need, but get more points if they remember the sentence and try to spell the words correctly. These little stories are full of words that require using the spelling rule just presented.

Step 6: Read Stories

Here are some short, engaging stories that develop comprehension, vocabulary, and fluency. Every so often, there is a word missing, and children have to choose among three possible words, the word that best fits the meaning of the sentence. These stories also include words that utilize the spelling rule, or the "outlaw" words learned in that lesson.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

I am very impressed with the technique and practice of the Word Qwerty program. The variety of methods adds interest and excitement while strengthening their reading and writing skills. I like that it is using multiple sensory learning. I saw a great improvement with Kaiden's spelling and sounding things out immediately. I am grateful that we were able to review and use this program. You will not regret giving this one your time!

To learn more about Word Qwerty go their website www.talkingfingers.com for a free online lesson.
The Word Qwerty Home Edition is $35 which includes 1 CD-ROM, 1 program guide in a 3-ring binder and 1 JingleSpells audio cd of the 20 songs contained in Word Qwerty.

I am a member of The Old Schoolhouse 2010-2011 Crew and receive free products and services in exchange for my thorough use and honest review of them. My reviews will always reflect my honest opinions, findings, beliefs and experiences on the products and services that I receive.

Mad Dog Math

2011-05-19T11:51:00.000-07:00

There has to be more than just flash cards right? I have heard many homeschool moms discuss how they like doing them but the kids do not. My youngest son can fall into that category where he would prefer to do anything over flash cards.

Mad Dog Math was created by Julie Kotoff, a veteran educator with 30 years of success in classrooms of both public and private schools. As a 3rd grade teacher she developed and perfected the Mad Dog Math program.

The purpose of Mad Dog Math is to be a fun, exciting, practice and consistency to gain and maintain math skills. We can all agree that learning the multiplication tables is important. The greater ease and less drudgery that they feel towards math helps their skills increase. Mad Dog Math is a pc application that provides an at-home practice experience just like the classroom drills.

The essentials of Mad Dog Math:
*Enables children to master their +, -, x, and ÷ facts in a fun challenging, exciting, and motivating way
*Math supplement for any math curriculum
*For grades K through 5th; remedial middle school and high school
*Standard, daily 10 minute time commitment from start to finish
*Huge body of math facts broken down into bite-sized pieces any child can master

Here is the creator Julie to introduce and share some insight about her program:

The exciting part of Mad Dog Math is that it takes 5-10 minutes daily. This is for the most part an easy timeframe to fit into your homeschool day and get accomplished. The student can do it independently and many find their kids enjoy the timer to race against their best time.

This portion of the website grabbed my attention in a BIG way:
Please don’t assume the teaching of the basic facts is happening in your child’s classroom. America is in an educational crisis. Twenty years ago we were ranked number one in education in the world. Today we are ranked 24th in the world in math. We must take a serious look at WHAT is being taught and HOW math is being taught, especially in our elementary school classrooms! There is no math curriculum to my knowledge with a math facts mastery component to it. For some reason, math facts are not considered important anymore and are almost completely ignored, to our shame and to our detriment.

While I am a homeschooling parent it still applies that I need to take a good look at how serious I am about practicing facts and getting them memorized for ease for my kids once they are grown. I appreciated the reminder! Originally I liked this program and found it useful but now I believe that I will be adding this to our collection as my son who hates flash cards found a love for his timed practice online! I am thrilled to add our family as yet another successful user of this well thought out program.

Mad Dog Math is available for your home with a few options. One year subscription for $19.99, add a year for $10 more, or get a Perpetual License for $39.99. Mastery Binder and CD-ROM options are also available. I enjoyed the ease of downloading the Mad Dog Math program from the internet and being able to use it quickly and easily.
Check out Mad Dog Math on their website for a free trial: www.maddogmath.com

I am a member of The Old Schoolhouse 2010-2011 Crew and receive free products and services in exchange for my thorough use and honest review of them. My reviews will always reflect my honest opinions, findings, beliefs and experiences on the products and services that I receive.

The Institute for Excellence in Writing Review

2011-05-14T21:20:00.000-07:00

Whether you are brand new to homeschooling or you have been doing it for years I guarantee you have heard of (IEW) Institute for Excellence in Writing. Before I had even learned about the program I knew the name well. I became excited about seeing if this gem of a curriculum could be the answer to my reluctant writer. You will soon find out the answer.

The Institute for Excellence in Writing is a well laid out, easy preparation writing program. We used Student Writing Intensive Level C (for grade levels 9-12).

This packet contains
• Four DVDs
• A binder with dividers
• A packet with the teacher’s notes, handouts and checklists (about 100 pages in all)
The Student Writing Intensive now comes with lesson plans and reinforcement exercises built right in. Written by Jill Pike, these lesson plans specify what portion of the disc to watch in one session and what to do in between video sessions.

Recorded live, this DVD writing course for students by Andrew Pudewa is comprised of four writing sessions on DVD. Each session presents structural models and stylistic techniques from our TWSS Syllabus. Included with the student handouts are complete teacher notes, source texts, and checklists providing fifteen comprehensive lessons to ensure your student masters each unit before moving on to the next. Since each lesson can take one to two weeks to complete, the entire package can provide 15–30 weeks of writing instruction.

I was delighted at the real approach to writing while watching the DVD with my son. Andrew Pudewa truly seems to understand the mind of a discouraged writer, the frustration in not knowing how to begin and the blank screen that seems to appear when you are told to be creative and "just write". He honestly took me back to those times in my school years when I felt that very same way and helped me relate better to my stumped son. Thankfully, his instruction helped me see how to navigate myself and my children out of that mental block and baby step into the main ideas. This approach was simple, understandable and entertaining! My son actually did 3 lessons one day on the DVD because he was enjoying seeing how well he could put things together with breaking out the main idea out of sentences and his confidence was becoming very visual at this point!

The IEW Student Writing Intensive Level C is available on their website http://www.excellenceinwriting.com/sid-c for $99.

The IEW Portable Walls was included with our review package to use as well. This is a nice addition that costs $7.00 on their website. You can hear Andrew explain how this is helpful with the curriculum by clicking through this LINK. You can find it on their website here.

I am a member of The Old Schoolhouse 2010-2011 Crew and receive free products and services in exchange for my thorough use and honest review of them. My reviews will always reflect my honest opinions, findings, beliefs and experiences on the products and services that I receive.

GoTrybe Review

2011-05-11T19:49:00.000-07:00

Have you ever tried to duplicate PE at home with your kids? It can be difficult to play dodgeball if you only have two kids! Creativity is a must but it can be difficult to come up with something that works for various ages, interests and strength level.

Introducing GoTrybe! An innovative website that is reaching out to all school age kids from K - 12th. GoTrybe’s mission is to share fun, exciting workouts and activities, helping kids and parents to learn about healthy living. They are doing it in a great way I must add! It starts with choosing your avatar...every kids favorite part of a new website! Then you can go to a workout for your age group based on your user information. There are daily routines or you can mark your favorites and do them again in the future. The workouts are instructor lead videos with the same age kids in the video doing the workout as well. They include a warm-up, cardio, strength and flexibility. (We were reviewing Trybe180 age group so that is what we had available, this may be different for the younger age groups.)

GoTrybe has programs available for different age groups:

ZooDoos is for the elementary ages, K-5th grade
Trybe180 is for middle school ages, 6th-8th grade
NexTrybe is for high school ages, 9th-12th grade

My son LOVED gotrybe! I definitely plan on signing him for a year membership! He enjoyed getting up each morning and doing his workout first thing. I liked knowing that he was getting exercise every single day regardless of the weather outside or our schedule.

Go to www.gotrybe.com and look for Fit Fozzie to sign up for a 1-day free trial, after that a one-year subscription is $19.95.

I am a member of The Old Schoolhouse 2010-2011 Crew and receive free products and services in exchange for my thorough use and honest review of them. My reviews will always reflect my honest opinions, findings, beliefs and experiences on the products and services that I receive.

Kinderbach Review

2011-04-06T21:30:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the delightful land of music instruction! We recently logged onto to Kinderbach for a review trial. Kinderbach is an online program that teaches piano and music patterns for ages 3-7. It breaks down the various tasks and techniques of playing the keyboard and separates them into child portions. For example: Before playing a song, rhythm, note identification and note placement are presented as different items through discussion and games. Learning is gradual and child-paced.

As my son went through lesson after lesson I started hearing about everyone's favorite donkey, Dodi, his house, his friend Frisco and more. My youngest excitedly cut up cardboard boxes and glue pieces of the worksheet for that lesson together. Then I found him working on the songs with his cardboard key placements sticking out on top of the keyboard. The fact that Kinderbach utilizes songs, characters, visuals and instruction makes for a great part of time of day. My sons were both engaged in learning together from lesson to lesson. They found pot lids, chop sticks and even drumsticks one day to use for their lesson to tap out to a song. They laughed and completely enjoyed being taught music!

Kinderbach has a fresh, new approach that you simply do not find in many subjects, not to mention teaching piano! There are two options for teaching. One is the DVD for $40.45 plus shipping and handling. The other is online membership. The Year Membership gives access to 6 Levels of entertaining music education for 3 to 7 year old children through about 22 hours of video and interactive coloring pages. The cost of $95.88 for a one year subscription breaks down to be $7.99/mo! The online option is also available monthly for $19.99. Go to the website for a free trial amd more information www.kinderbach.com
In my opinion this is a great way to teach a child piano and get them engaged, excited and inspired to do it daily.

I am a member of The Old Schoolhouse 2010-2011 Crew and receive free products and services in exchange for my thorough use and honest review of them. My reviews will always reflect my honest opinions, findings, beliefs and experiences on the products and services that I receive.

Zeezok Z-Guide Review

2011-04-01T17:25:00.000-07:00

Welcome to homeschooling in the digital age! Zeezok Publishing has created an answer to my consistent search through their product called z-guides to the movies. I would often think about how certain movies had an impact on me but how could I use it to teach my children? Z-guides is the fabulous answer to that question!

What are z-guides?
They are a digital e-book that you download the pdf, print and utilize. The guide contains a topic overview, movie synopsis, and ten learning activities for fourth through eighth-grade students.

There are many reasons to enjoy using z-guides for your homeschool addition. First, you get to watch a movie and from the list I have seen these are GREAT, classic movies! Secondly, the kids pay attention more throughout the film because they are answering questions and planning to absorb it for the week of activities. Meanwhile, you get to enjoy watching a movie with your kids and seeing things you may have not noticed before as well. Lastly, all of these movies are easily accessible through the library, netflix or possibly something you already own.

For our review we chose Johnnny Tremain, I was very excited to try out their z-guides and see if this would be the solution to my longterm question on how to use a movie to teach. I requested the movie from the library immediately. Once it was ready to be picked up two days later we watched it that afternoon and my older son sat down with his z-guide sheets. He had almost every question answered that day and enjoyed the movie. I had never seen the movie before and greatly enjoyed it! We watched it again the next day together to clarify some questions from our z-guide, but this isn't usually necessary. We worked on the whole packet for the 5 days that week. My son was able to learn more about the Boston Tea Party and continue to do more thinking and research on his own. I found the z-guide to be thorough, with great questions, engaging and a lot of fun for all of us to use! (Perfect for this time of year where it can be hard to keep hold of the kids as snow is melted and the birds are chirping, the kids don't seem as intent on doing their schoolwork as before...you know what I mean?)

I am so overjoyed to discover this product exists! I am planning to do more of the z-guides in the future with both of my sons. I have been telling many of my homeschooling friends about this resource as many of them utilize netflix for educational purposes and this ties right along with that!

Check out the website at www.zeezok.com you will enjoy the numerous resources they offer and the testimonials on the website confirm it. The z-guides sell for $12.99 and they have instant download available. The list of z-guides continues to grow with excellent titles like Ben Hur, Amazing Grace, The Tale of Two Cities and more.
Finally, a chance to say Family Movie Night and get to count it towards school/education at the same time and feel good about everyone learning together!

I am a member of The Old Schoolhouse 2010-2011 Crew and receive free products and services in exchange for my thorough use and honest review of them. My reviews will always reflect my honest opinions, findings, beliefs and experiences on the products and services that I receive.

Blog Transformation=Identity Clarification

2011-03-30T22:10:00.000-07:00

Oh how I have missed my blogland friends. It was 2+ years ago that I started this blog and found myself literally for hours a day scouring fabulous, creative, amazing, and downright genius ideas for decor, thrift store transformations, baking tips, dinner tricks and how to throw an amazing party whether it was for a birthday or simply a Tuesday done up in style!

It seems like that year I learned a lot, tried a lot, moved out of my comfort zone, bared a bit of myself, read a lot and then I felt like my blog purpose had disappeared..when would I be done decorating? When would I feel finished with adding touches to my home? As much as I love every single idea..I started to realize that while I love changing things in my home, I have a home with 5 sons and a husband that I never push them over a certain point and make it a ruffle-infested, delicate environment (despite my inner craving to have it be just that!). I know that Nerf guns will be played with, even silly string as was the case just this past weekend! Chasing two dogs around the house, wrestling and of course dealing with the everyday blunders of simply trying to train boys to pick things up off the floor, consider color coordinating before washing their laundry, maybe next time folding their clothes and NOT putting them on the floor...???

So where did this leave me and my blog?

I was happily chosen to do homeschool product reviews this schoolyear and we have really enjoyed the opportunity. I started blogging them all separately and then I didn't enjoy the format so well so I brought it all back to this blog.

SO where am I headed? Good question. As my blog title states, I live a prayerful driven life and that has definitely taken me down many unexpected but blessed roads!
I have felt for a while that the more I focus on home decor, the more dissatisfied I feel with what I have. That can be hard when you have all wood trim in your home and wish you could do the white airy look that is so popular. When you and your husband created your home in neutral, warm tones and you start collecting white pieces for decor that never seem to get cozy with your theme...what do you do? You decide to be at peace with what you have and prioritize what you think is the most important.

My priorities these days are connecting with my husband, running a household (not the leader, but the household chores, functions, etc.), homeschooling my two sons, living and eating healthy lifestyles, natural health maintenance which can include making my own cleaners, handsoap, tinctures and more. Then I have women's ministry, a new home-business I have started and these are all just at the top of my list. SO with this being said...uh oh..the dots came out... :) I think the shift that this blog is going to take in the very near future is updates on our homeschool journey, reviews and starting to share with you the things that I have been learning, reading, discovering and thoroughly been blown away to finally understand. These things include health, natural healing, dietary information and so much more.

I hope that you will join us and I am NOW--yes just in the past two weeks--a proud owner of a laptop. This will finally give me more freedom to update my blog more than once in a blue. I will aim to be regular posting, will you be regular and come join me and let's explore, learn, laugh and move forward together? I hope so!

Talk to you very soon!!!
Sarah

Classical Academic Press - Song School Latin Review

2011-03-30T18:02:00.000-07:00

Last year in attending our local homeschool convention I learned of the importance of teaching children Latin along with roots of words to fully comprehend spelling and meaning. I had attended a Latin/Grammar magnet school in 8th grade but do not remember much of it to share with my kids. I was stifled at the idea of teaching them a language I couldn't remember how to pronounce.

Enter Classical Academic Press...we were given the opportunity to review this wonderful product and we jumped at the chance! I was excited to see this particular one, Song School Latin, came with a cd of songs to reinforce and help with memory. Perfect! My son and I are both musical parrots, we can hear songs and memorize them quickly!

So what is different about Song School Latin?
It is a a workbook for grades K - 3rd grade with clear pronunciation information and background of the two types of pronunciation--that may sound boring but it isn't. That is not all! It has pictures and words to learn for each lesson along with the words to songs and questions and practice pages. Along with the cd that comes with the book. Each weekly lesson is peppered with songs, illustrations, hand-writing practice, stories and activities for easy mastery and memorization. Follow Simeon the monkey through the book and learn over a hundred engaging everyday Latin vocabulary words.

My son loved the cd immediately and wanted to blast through and listen to all of the songs. I loved seeing him retain so much information after just one lesson! He was proudly telling Dad that night that the Latin alphabet is missing one letter...what is it? The answer is W. Can I be honest here? I took a year of Latin and I never knew (or remember learning) that there was no W. The cd is a great reinforcement of each lesson and we listened to the songs a few times per lesson and he did all of the pages of the lesson without once trying to move on to something else.

Pros: Fun, educational, easy to retain method and enjoyable to teach!
Cons: Singing songs throughout the day in part English and part Latin. :)

The Song School Latin book and cd is available for $22.95, they also have the Teacher's Edition available for $22.95. There are more options like the extra fun matching cards available and you can find them on the website here: www.classicalacademicpress.com.
Check out the other programs available through Classical Academic Press while you are on the website.

I am a member of The Old Schoolhouse 2010-2011 Crew and receive free products and services in exchange for my thorough use and honest review of them. My reviews will always reflect my honest opinions, findings, beliefs and experiences on the products and services that I receive.

Big IQ Kids

2011-03-25T19:25:00.000-07:00

BigIQ Kids is an e-learning site for kids. The site concentrates on the primary subjects for elementary and middle school students. The focus and intent of BigIQ Kids starts with structured learning mixed with fun. The daily lessons build good study habits, lead to better grades and improved self-confidence.

My two sons excitedly created their accounts and enjoyed browsing and getting familiar with the site. It offers customizable avatars which they enjoyed creating once they had earned some credits trying out the spelling and vocabulary sections. I was excited at the opportunity for them do an online spelling bee, practice the state names, math and reading.

There is a vast amount offered on this site, many are customizable, making it easy to line up with homeschool curriculum and subjects, fit for practice for a student to do at home and many other options. There is so much to explore and utilize on this site!

How It Works:

The Spelling program has over a 40,000 word dictionary, and comes pre-loaded with 40 lessons or word lists.

Math: You can set up a child's lesson to mirror what they are doing in their current curriculum. For example, if the child is on double digit addition and single digit multiplication, the program can focus on just these two areas providing invaluable practice and reinforcement that is certain to provide them with the tools to ace their next test. Or, BigMathTime can automatically generate grade specific and subject specific lessons as per your requirements.

Vocabulary: With an extensive library of elementary through SAT prep words, BigVocabTime comes pre-loaded with word lists OR, as a parent or teacher, you can easily enter your own word lists and the program will automatically create a week’s worth of lessons, quizzes and tests around your own list with the goal of achieving 100% on the week’s vocabulary test.

U.S. States: Every elementary student will be confronted with the need to know their US State facts to mastery. BigStatesTime is the ultimate tool in learning the state's location, capital, spelling, abbreviations and general state facts. The program allows parents/teachers to add additional facts which will be included in the child's lessons and the program culminates in a “State Mastery Exam” that, if passed with 100% mastery, awards the child a State Master Certificate.

Also offered on the site are Analog and Digital Clock Practice, Measurements, Phonics and eBooks. You can even have a spelling contest with your friends or family!

What you don't know about BigIQ Kids:
It is a FREE website, although they have excellent upgrade for $9.99 and premium options from $19.99 to $99.99 for all subjects. I would highly recommend the upgrade! My kids were highly motivated to do the daily lessons and work because they earned credits to use towards games.

The primary differences between the BigIQkids FREE and PREMIUM programs are the ability of the PREMIUM program to monitor the progress of the student and advance that student only when mastery of the subject matter has been achieved. Additionally, PREMIUM members have their progress tracked, saved, problem areas identified and these findings are reported via email to parents and/or teachers. The PREMIUM program offers students customized buddies, full game page access and the ability to save game coins and gaming high scores. These functions help double the fun while mastering core academic subject matter. The PREMIUM program has very LIMITED advertisement and no ads are displayed during lesson interaction.

We give BigIQ Kids a definite thumbs up! My kids enjoyed their lessons and jumped at each opportunity to get online and do them. I liked being able to track what they did without having to sit with them during each lesson. I hope you will go check out the program BigIQ Kids and I am sure you will enjoy it as much as we did!
Thanks BigIQ Kids!

I am a member of The Old Schoolhouse 2010-2011 Crew and receive free products and services in exchange for my thorough use and honest review of them. My reviews will always reflect my honest opinions, findings, beliefs and experiences on the products and services that I receive.

Artistic Pursuits Review

2011-03-23T14:56:00.000-07:00

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As a parent and especially a homeschooling parent, I find great joy in seeing the creativity in my children become unleashed. Recently we were able to try the Artistic Pursuits curriculum for K-3 An Introduction to the Visual Arts. As soon as we received it in the mail my son got out his art supply kit and couldn't wait for me to start going through the projects with him.

The Artistic Pursuits curriculum is nicely done with art history, instruction, supply lists, even down to the questions asked with each project. I have to admit that while the questions were not hard, I wondered in my mind if my son would catch on to the details they were trying to get noticed. He answered every question quickly with ease giving me more of a confidence with each page as we used it. I was impressed to be able to help teach such a great program and also learn to look at art with a new eye.

The lessons are not long and drawn out, they seem to be the perfect amount of instruction, technique and examples. I think what makes Artistic Pursuits so appealing for a child is seeing the professional artistic examples and on the next page seeing drawings and artwork done from someone from their age group. I feel that it brings more confidence out in their attempts at their own creations. My son was often the type that didn't think he was good enough compared to someone else. Instead, he does art daily since using Artistic Pursuits and has told everyone he wants to be an artist! He practices daily and draws covers of books along with numerous other inspirations.

In Book One the lessons are divided into three sections as follows:

•What Artists Do: Ten lessons cover activities artists engage in when making art such as imagining and observing. Children explore drawing and painting techniques, gaining experience in pencil, color, and brush work.
•What Artists See: Seven lessons cover the elements that artists use in 2-dimesional and 3-dimensional works such as shape, form, and color. Children explore collage, paper works, and color mixing. Children gain experience in handling scissors, glue, and paper forms.
•Exploring Ancient Art: Fifteen lessons cover ancient art from the cave paintings of France to book illumination of the 13th century. Children see that art is more than just a picture on a wall. Cultures used it in different ways and for different purposes. Lessons expand the child's ideas of what art is and where we find it. Children explore mural, pottery, low-relief, paper art, bookbinding, mosaic techniques and more.

Would I recommend Artistic Pursuits? ABSOLUTELY!! I am thrilled with the excitement my son shows with art and creative works now!

Artistic Pursuits is available at their website: www.artisticpursuits.com They offer curriculum for preschool through high school. The book we reviewed sells for $42.95. If you are looking for an engaging, visual way to teach art, I believe this is a one stop shop! It is interesting for my children, but also likewise for me. I have thoroughly enjoyed the book and the lessons and taking art further than the basics that I could think of on my own.

Albert Einstein said, "It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge." I believe Brenda Ellis matching this quote with her curriculum and amazing ways of connecting with the students and parents alike.

I am a member of The Old Schoolhouse 2010-2011 Crew and receive free products and services in exchange for my thorough use and honest review of them. My reviews will always reflect my honest opinions, findings, beliefs and experiences on the products and services that I receive.

Lifestyle Changes, God Rearranges

2011-02-05T11:53:00.001-08:00

What is it about a new year that brings reflection? Is it the numerous inches of snow that looks like a clean slate outside that leads me in this direction? Possibly. But what I realize as I make numerous posts on facebook, help educate my friends and family, teach my children and gain new lists of books and blogs to read and follow...

How Did I Get Here?

I was thinking back today of where and when things changed. I was just an average follow the crowd type person. I looked no different than anyone else really.

First, God got a hold of my heart and turned it toward him. I know that is the first big change that came in my life. I knew Him from years back but you know we weren't on good communication terms at the time honestly. Boy how that changed for the better!

Next, I worked a job that paid decent but I found absolutely no purpose in my job or my time spent away from my family. But one magical day I was asked to be part of a group...The Health and Wellness Group for our company. At first it just sounded fun...but as I learned, read, talked with dietician's, set up a Health Fair for our company, took Pilates and a kick-tail Fitness class all on my lunch hours things began to change rapidly.

All of sudden a fire burned inside of me! I realized that I cared more about my co-workers health than faxing, writing meaningless reports and filling cubicle space. My joy came from seeing someone in the hall BEAM when they saw me and say "Sarah! I am on 2,000 steps on my pedometer already today!" "Way to go!" I would cheer. I was honestly inside of myself truly happy and happy for them! Lifestyle changes started happening with many of my friends and myself and my family.

I was let go from my job (many also were let go at this point) and as I packed my things that day I realized the only thing I was going to miss was seeing people's progress with their health, my fitness classes and the Health and Wellness group. This was pretty eye opening to me!

Now here I am, sharing with friends and family changes into the organic world, raw diets, homeopathy, natural cures, trusting that God created a cure for every illness and no longer looking like everyone else. I like the title of Anti-Mainstream, I truly feel like that is a good description. I love becoming a researcher, advocate, someone that finally knows what I stand for and why, where I read it, who I can help and more! To rally people together, to share links, articles, books, remedies and knowledge everywhere I go.

That my friends is a design of God and I didn't see the blueprint immediately, but it stirs in me daily, to help others. To see health and pray for change as I help them implement better choices. I am so thankful to be wonderfully and beautifully made and to finally realize it and use it for His glory!!!

Just goes to show...You Never Know!
Sarah

Oh, the Places You'll Go!

2011-02-02T15:33:00.000-08:00

Being snowed in has finally given me time to do a bit of blog catch up. Numerous reviews, lots of homeschooling and many trips on weekends has kept us very busy this past fall and winter.

I have wanted to share a journey with you that I pray helps you look deeper into your own with new perspective. I will not share all the details but it starts in late summer last year. I started sensing God's urgency to pay attention to what we were learning, what our focus had become along with what we were doing for people with our tithes and offering. Wishing it was my husband getting the nudge I prayed God reveal it to him...this did not happen. Okay...so I go to him and share what God is showing me. He prays and takes some time to think about it and decides he agrees that it is a God thing. Now what???

As we got closer to making a decision people we didn't expect came to us with insight and scriptures that simply confirmed we needed a change. Why now? What were we in for? The hardest part was being led to leave our church...and not knowing where we were supposed to go. We had moved to another church before but we knew our move as we were leaving. Again, learning dependency on God through this was something I THOUGHT I had down pat...fail! I struggled at first trying to find what I "thought" we were missing. We filled the gaps trying churches for a few weeks to come home sandy from the spiritual desert we experienced.

Here is where it got interesting...with each church we tried God showed me something new inside ME. The first, my belief of what we needed was inaccurate and I wasn't trusting God to provide exactly what would benefit us. The second, I had a dependency on the church "model", I needed to focus on my own time in the Word throughout the week. At this point I started to reflect on the previous time that we changed churches and realized the answered prayers that came of that change. I was new in town, the only church family I had known and yet still really didn't have any friends. When we started in the new church family years ago, I had many friends, we had our house full of them on many Sunday's and I finally felt like this was home!

As my husband and I discussed the up and coming Sunday and where we would attend, I couldn't get the church my best friend had referred me to many times wanting to go visit it. I asked if we could attend this one. He agreed and the excitement kept me going all week! I can't even express to you the anticipation I had that morning! Here we go...(hence my title!)

I walked in and the sound of the worship brought tears to my eyes. I sobbed through the whole thing. As we went to pick up our children they looked at me with intent eyes and asked, "can we please come back?". Who doesn't want to hear their children say those wonderful words? Yes, God directed us and we found a loving, nurturing and warm environment that felt like we were home immediately!

So here is my lesson...even after being directed to a wonderful new church home that God had given us, he still taught me. Sharing with me how much he knows my love of soulful worship, this was his gift to me (the place to do so). He shared with me that these services should be my icing and not my food...I need to be fed throughout the week on my own. Although I viewed myself as an adult Christian, God was showing me I was more like an awkward teenager learning how to be independent, boldly walk the walk and talk the talk and learn how to deal with peer pressure, etc.

Oh, the places you'll go! Many months ago I never would have envisioned our journey, the lessons at hand and the strength that we have gained being fully persuaded to stay on the path!

ALEKS

2011-01-22T09:26:00.000-08:00

What is ALEKS?
Assessment and Learning in Knowledge Spaces is a Web-based, artificially intelligent assessment and learning system that uses adaptive questioning to quickly and accurately determine exactly what a student knows and doesn't know in a course. ALEKS offers truly individualized instruction that meets the student at her learning level and instructs her on the exact topics that she is most ready to learn. As a result, no two students will experience the same learning path while working in ALEKS. Learn more by watching a quick 2-minute video.

We first learned about ALEKS last year when my oldest stepson used it in public school for his summer school program. He loved using it compared to learning at school, he excelled and understood it. Fast forward to December where we were offered to review it for my son that I homeschool. I was excited to have access and see if it was as good as I had heard. What I discovered was completely unexpected! My son LOVES this program! By the end of December he had logged 4 hours and 21 minutes on his own time doing the lessons. He also spent a few hours on a separate trial link one DAY doing numerous lessons. Needless to say this transformed his schoolwork outside of workbooks. He enjoyed the online format and the variety of lessons.

ALEKS can provide you with the instruction and support that you need to homeschool your children in mathematics for grades 3-12. With a comprehensive course library ranging from elementary school math to complex subjects such as PreCalculus, ALEKS acts much like a human tutor to help take the stress off of homeschooling parents.

ALEKS offers highly-targeted, individualized instruction from virtually any computer with Internet access, making it a comprehensive and mobile education solution for your children. A subscription to ALEKS offers access to all courses and your child may take as many courses as needed during their subscription period.

ALEKS is a Research-Based Online Program:

* Complete Curriculum Solution for Math with Access to Full Course Library
* No Textbook Required
* Artificial Intelligence Targets Gaps in Student Knowledge
* Assessment and Individualized Learning for Grades 3-12
* Master Account Includes Quizzing and Automated Reports to Monitor Learning Progress
* Unlimited Online Access - PC and Mac Compatible
* QuickTables - Complimentary Math Fact Mastery Program for Multiplication, Division, Addition, and Subtraction

One of my favorite parts of ALEKS along with my son enjoying it so much, is getting the updated reports that are sent to my email. I am shown what he learned, mastered, how long he worked on it and more. I find this to be very important as a homeschool parent that needs to keep track of hours and having specific times instead of trying to keep tabs myself.

My son checked his pie chart often and let me know the percentage of what he completed. I love the thorough charts and information they offer at this website!!! I am so impressed with how excited my son is to get his pie chart done and motivated to spend his time working on his math to get it done!

A subscription to ALEKS is

* $19.95 per student, per month, or

* only $99.95 every 6 months, or

* only $179.95 every 12 months.
Learn about our family discount program.

When you subscribe, we will create two ALEKS accounts:

* A Student Account: This is the account your child will use to access the ALEKS Student Module which includes assessment and learning features.

* A Master Account: With this account, you can monitor your child's progress through automated reports, assign quizzes, manage student accounts, and much more.

I am a member of The Old Schoolhouse 2010-2011 Crew and receive free products and services in exchange for my thorough use and honest review of them. My reviews will always reflect my honest opinions, findings, beliefs and experiences on the products and services that I receive.

Virtual Nerd Review

2011-01-22T07:44:00.000-08:00

One of the most frequently asked questions in homeschooling is: "What will you do when they are in high school and need to learn the more difficult subjects?". Virtual Nerd offers an online version of tutoring to help parents answer these questions confidently. Students get the essential benefits of private tutoring and access to over a thousand interactive step-by-step video tutorials presented in their patent-pending Dynamic Whiteboard™. Offering students teaching tools from Pre-Algebra, Algebra I, Algebra II, Intro to Physics as well as Chemistry, Pre-Calculus and Calculus in time for the 2011-2012 school year. I have to admit just reading that list helps me exhale and relax at the idea of high school education with assistance from a site like Virtual Nerd!

My son is currently working through Pre-Algebra so this is the area we investigated on the site the most. He enjoyed that he could pull up a lesson that he had not mastered and skip to the point where he was lost. Right now the site is primarily used to teach and review the rules, showing you how the problems break down. I enjoyed watching the Dynamic Whiteboard™ videos and found them engaging.

There is a wonderful review throughout the lesson explaining what they are doing instead of rushing through it and confusing you as you watch them do the problem. They explain it step by step and show you where the numbers and formula comes from. These are the minimum requirements for your computer in order to use Virtual Nerd:

*High speed Internet access
*Minimum of: Microsoft Internet Explorer 7, Mozilla Firefox 2, Apple Safari 2, Google Chrome 2, or Flash Player 9
*Screen/display resolution of 1024x768 pixels
There are many options for signing up. From $5/day to $129/3 months and options in between you will find the perfect fit for your situation. I would highly recommend Virtual Nerd for parents, even as a resource to utilize during tough times in studies at school. You can read more about them and see pricing here: http://www.virtualnerd.com/#

You can also find them on facebook here.
You can view a video here:
http://www.virtualnerd.com/for-parents.php

I am a member of The Old Schoolhouse 2010-2011 Crew and receive free products and services in exchange for my thorough use and honest review of them. My reviews will always reflect my honest opinions, findings, beliefs and experiences on the products and services that I receive.

Master Innovations – Master Clock Review

2011-01-22T07:40:00.001-08:00

Our latest review is for a product called The Master Clock. We were so excited to open this package! First of all the clock is better than any clock I have seen at various teacher stores. Finally a clock that moves the hour when the minutes go by! I also liked having the seconds hand and the color coding made it easy for me to explain and teach. The Master Clock is also able to pare down to the hour hand and then work in the seconds hand to get the hang of it. I especially liked the fact that it included digital because my son is familiar with both so helping him put the two together in his mind as being the same is efficient teaching!

Our package came with the Master Clock workbook which has a great deal of information and fun activities to do. Helping my son think of things that take an hour, 1/2 hour and then using the clock to show how long it would take and what time it would be was enjoyable. The workbook includes a lot of information about the beginning methods of telling time, how to make clocks and so much more.

I am thrilled with the quality and the in-depth lessons offered through The Master Clock! My son is telling time more than ever and we greatly enjoyed sitting down and doing it together. I think that speaks volumes on its own!

Master Innovations is a company that has been inventing new manipulative for mathematics for over 10 years. They have created The Master Clock, The Master Angle, The Master Fractions, and their award winning Marvels of Measurement poster.

We also received in our review package a copy of Marvels of Measurement poster and I have to agree that it was the best measurement poster I have seen, as it contains numerous measurements on it so you don’t need rooms of wall space to put up various measurements. I will definitely be adding Master Fractions and Master Angle to our wish list for the future!

The Master Clock sells for $14.95 and the Master Clock Workbook sells for $15.95. You can read more about this and their other great products here: http://www.themasterruler.com/

I am a member of The Old Schoolhouse 2010-2011 Crew and receive free products and services in exchange for my thorough use and honest review of them. My reviews will always reflect my honest opinions, findings, beliefs and experiences on the products and services that I receive.

Professor in a Box Financial Accounting

2011-01-22T07:36:00.000-08:00

We were recently asked to review Professor in a Box Financial Accounting course. I am about to say something that most people would never utter…We were SO excited to learn about Financial Accounting with Professor in a Box. I actually mean it! Professor in a Box gets an A+ from me on this curriculum. My son is in 7th grade and he couldn’t wait to learn about the details of financial accounting.

This course is laid out very nicely for you to learn! I enjoyed listening to it as my son went through the slide show and learned the basics of business terms. I enjoyed that they gave great examples so that the student could understand the terminology. It is never assumed that the students know the terms so it is a great course for the student to follow and not feel like a lecture is going over their head and hard to absorb. His voice is not boring, in fact it was easy to listen to and my son liked it while I find to be a strong positive recommendation!

What do you do?

Financial Accounting by Michael P. Licata, Ph.D. is a first accounting course for homeschool high school students. Many high schools offer an accounting course as an elective for students interested in pursuing a career in business. Now homeschool high school students have such an elective available to them. Financial Accounting by Michael P. Licata, Ph.D. is a challenging college level course similar in content to the first accounting course taken by all students in university and college schools of business across the country. Any high school level student with basic math skills can handle this course.

Students taking Financial Accounting by Michael P. Licata, Ph.D. will learn to prepare and interpret the four basic financial statements which all publicly traded companies must prepare and make available to the public. Complete financial accounting course featuring narrated lectures taught by a college professor and homeschool dad – Dr. Michael P. Licata, Ph.D. Featuring content coverage for the new CLEP Financial Accounting Exam.

This course is available for a limited time at the rate of $99.95 at their website:

http://www.professorinabox.com/

They also offer a full money back guarantee! Work through the first three chapters and if you’re not satisfied with the course, send it back for a full refund including shipping!

I found this course easy to work through, efficient, nicely done and I am excited to look into their other offerings Principles of Marketing and Entrepreneurship (coming Spring 2011). I highly recommend this course and I will be sharing the details of it with all of my homeschool friends!

I am a member of The Old Schoolhouse 2010-2011 Crew and receive free products and services in exchange for my thorough use and honest review of them. My reviews will always reflect my honest opinions, findings, beliefs and experiences on the products and services that I receive.

PG Key SafeKey

2011-01-22T07:34:00.000-08:00

One of the biggest concerns of parents these days is protecting their time online. We have homeschool and public school children in our family and google is often on our public school sons homework list. So how do you protect your children without having to stand over them the entire time?

Enter PG Key…

PG Key Program Features & Functions:

• Simple, easy to use solution that any parent can use- Just plug it into the family or childs PC and immediately create a safer, supervised, kid friendly environment.
• A total solution that gives parents everything they need to follow the advice from experts.
• No annual fees required.
• Website blocking, filtering, access and time control, notifications – 10 essential parental controls are activated.
• Designed and endorsed by experts from law enforcement, education and children’s and family psychology.
• Works with Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7

Access Control
Control computer use by inserting or unplugging PG Key.

Time Allowance
Decide the amount of time the computer can be used daily.

Content Filtering
Eliminate unwanted results from innocent searches.

Site Blocking
Block sites you decide are inappropriate.

Activity Tracking
Review all activity on the PC with a DVD-like interface.

Activity Notifications
Be informed via text message or e-mail of any flagged activity.

Chat and E-mail Logging
See both sides of chat and e-mail conversations.

Computer Configuration
Properly configure all users of the protected PC.

User Name and Password Logging
Keep track of user names and passwords.

Inappropriate Activity Evidence
Use video recording to show obvious or suspected inappropriate activity.

Sounds too good to be true right? We tried PG Key recently and found that it does offer a great amount of support, settings and options. Although the install was quick and easy, I found it difficult to go to some of my normal websites, I had not added any filters but yet it seemed to only block my shopping sites and forums. Playing with the settings has fixed the issues for me for now.

I liked the fact that it uses the USB port although I have noticed my computer was running slower because I don’t have a huge amount of memory on my computer. I do think that the PG Key has a lot of potential and with more time I hope to get more accustomed to how it works and fine tune the searches. I like the options available for recording and playing back. Especially as someone else mentioned when you forget a website where you found some information while researching online, you can scroll back through and find it.

Solution – PG Key’s SafeKey allows parents to record up to 60 hours of computer activity that a parent can then watch as easy as watching a movie.. and notify parents when their rules are not being followed. Since SafeKey is visible, the child or teen knows that their parent is “over their shoulder” so they don’t engage is the behaviors in the first place. No monthly fee’s and a more complete solution also make PG Key a better option for parents.

PG Key is $49.99 + shipping. I would say this is a comparable price to other filters and software out there. You can also request a free trial at this link: http://www.pgkey.com/StoreLocator.aspx

I will say with my experience of PG Key I would give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars. There is a learning curve to it and I didn’t find it as easy to use as I had hoped, but their customer service and one time fee are a good enough value that I would say it is worth trying. My advice: request a free trial and see for yourself.

I am a member of The Old Schoolhouse 2010-2011 Crew and receive free products and services in exchange for my thorough use and honest review of them. My reviews will always reflect my honest opinions, findings, beliefs and experiences on the products and services that I receive.

Schleich Action Figures

2011-01-22T07:30:00.000-08:00

You may recognize the logo and even the name. But if you are like me you try to think about where you have heard of these before? When I received my box of Schleich action figures I knew exactly where I recognized them from…teacher stores, book stores, toy boutiques and more. These are the top quality animals my kids love to look at and play with when we are at the stores. The figures themselves are nicely constructed and well made, these are not easily replaced with any cheap plastic figure. They have excellent details and when you search the website, you learn fun facts and details about the animals.

So, we opened up our exciting package to reveal some of the African and Farm animals they offer. Eight figures in all. One of the most unique was the Okapi from Africa: Okapi share the stripes of a zebra and the ossicones of a giraffe.

My boys were immediately taken with the details and enjoyed looking them over and talking about things they noticed about the animals. We went over the names and facts about the animals.

These toys make a great addition to learning with the numerous resources on the website and the quality of the toys. It was through doing this review that I learned about their website facts, painting templates (here), online playworld (here), and even e-cards. Not to mention the other things I learned with the kids about the various animals.

Schleich figures are found in stores and various websites online. You can find a store or website here. Our local Target, Barnes and Noble Books and teacher store sell them. Prices vary from $3.98 a piece to $24.99 for small sets of animals and up to $179 for a castle. They have a wide variety of items for numerous interests to explore the world and its creation with a very realistic view.

I am a member of The Old Schoolhouse 2010-2011 Crew and receive free products and services in exchange for my thorough use and honest review of them. My reviews will always reflect my honest opinions, findings, beliefs and experiences on the products and services that I receive.

Vocabulary Cartoons = FUN

2011-01-22T07:29:00.001-08:00

Our newest review is of Vocabulary Cartoons SAT Word Power ( Book 1) from New Monic Books. I received this book in the mail to review and what surprised me immediately…it has become my 7 year olds favorite book! He constantly takes it in the car with us, he asks for us to read the words to him and then pieces together what it means with the cartoon. Seeing how this works for a 7 year old I have to say that I was quickly curious to see what our older children would think about it!

My twelve year old is also the sidekick reader and they are found often reading it together and thoroughly enjoying it. I am seeing that my older son is also retaining the information and sharing what the words say and what the humorous cartoon mentioned. It even peaked my 16 year old sons interest and he browsed it with amusement before the 7 year old claimed it back from him! ; ) (Side Note: I will be offering this up to him again as he gets closer to SAT’s because I think the information is very valuable!) I have to say that I was very impressed with the layout and the mindset behind these books!

Okay, okay so I have bragged and told how popular it is but what exactly is it?

Vocabulary Cartoons is a book series to help students learn hundreds of SAT words with easy memory techniques. The techniques include , Subject Word, Phonetic Pronunciation, Definition, Association Link Word (a rhyming word or phrase that “sounds like” the subject word and links them together), Mnemonic Cartoon, Cartoon Caption and Sample Sentences. These were created with the kids of helping students link a few things like pictures, rhyme, funny sentence to remember the words. Students learn hundreds of SAT level words faster and easier with powerful rhyming and visual mnemonics. In independent school tests, students with Vocabulary Cartoons learned 72% more words than students with traditional rote memory study materials and had 90% retention. Contains 290 SAT words with 29 review quizzes consisting of matching and fill-in-the-blank problems.

Vocabulary Cartoons are available for Elementary students 3rd – 6th grade levels, Middle/High School 7th – 12th grade levels, and the SAT Word Power Original and II version. They are available in books and on CD-pdf format. These books are a great value at $12.95 available through www.vocabularycartoons.com

From the interest my sons have shown in these, I would give them a definite Thumbs Up and I am considering purchasing the other levels for my kids to ENJOY! How many times do you get to say that about vocabulary?

I am a member of The Old Schoolhouse 2010-2011 Crew and receive free products and services in exchange for my thorough use and honest review of them. My reviews will always reflect my honest opinions, findings, beliefs and experiences on the products and services that I receive.

America’s Math Teacher – Where there is strength in numbers

2011-01-22T07:27:00.000-08:00

This weeks review is for America’s Math Teacher website. This site teaches 4th grade – Algebra I with online lessons, printable sheets, pre-tests, quizzes and exams. There are also speed drills to get accurate with the basics: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. You can go here to try them out for free: http://americasmathteacher.com/index.php?option=com_jumi&fileid=3&Itemid=457#

We started out using the website to review decimals and gauge what may need more review. The video tutorials were nicely done although my son said they were just slightly fast. He still enjoyed doing the lessons and many days did 5-6 lessons because he simply enjoyed it. This is definitely a HUGE plus for us as my son likes math but if he is stumped it can be difficult to motivate him to keep trying. He seemed very confident in his work and when he wasn’t sure about how to do a problem he would simply pull up the tutorial and watch it and then do the problem. I thought that showed a nice amount of motivation on his part to search for it, learn it and then finish the assignment. Kudos to AMT for encouraging my son so much that he seemed to kind of forget he was doing math and go log on and stay on the computer learning for an hour or more a day!

AMT is a new website that started just a month ago and I think it will become a popular name in no time with its wonderful lessons, nice looking worksheets which you can view Here and the ease of customer support. Part of why this site was created comes from the statistics of America’s students nationwide and the big lack of knowledge and skills as kids get into high school and even college.

Homeschool families can get a subscription to America’s Math Teacher for $195 for a full year. The subscription includes online access anytime, anywhere. Access to the entire library of courses, math for Grades 4 – Algebra I (Algebra II coming soon!). Written exercises, Resource center with glossaries, charts, tables and more. Students can work at their own pace and repeat lessons when necessary. Students will master the topics necessary for success in college

Taken from their website: “Excellent for adults as well as children No fluff or side topics: just good solid instruction.” I can agree with that, it is direct and keeps learning on track. I appreciate that as opposed to other websites and games online that try to keep things as busy as possible. I feel that this website has been a great source of encouragement for my son to revisit the things he learned last year and take him up to the next level of learning with ease. I am adding America’s Math Teacher to my list as a big YES for referrals!

**I am a member of The Old Schoolhouse 2010-2011 Crew and receive free products and services in exchange for my thorough use and honest review of them. My reviews will always reflect my honest opinions, findings, beliefs and experiences on the products and services that I receive.**

S-P-E-L-L-I-N-G C-I-T-Y R-E-V-I-E-W

2011-01-22T07:24:00.000-08:00

As part of the TOS Crew I was given the opportunity to review Spelling City.

A little about Spelling City, they offer the following:

* Over 42,000 spelling words and customizable sentences
* A REAL person who says each word and sentence
* Free home pages for teachers and parents to save lists
* Teacher training videos to show teachers and parents how to use SpellingCity.com
* Customizable sentences for words with multiple meanings (e.g., a scale for weighing, to scale a mountain, the scale on a map)
* Free printable handwriting worksheets for handwriting practice with your saved lists
* Free teaching resources with lists and lesson plans for teaching high frequency words, compound words, sound-alike words (their, there, they’re), contractions, possessives, and more. There are also lists for learning state capitals.
* Twelve games to play online or to print: Spelling, Word Meaning, Vocabulary, Alphabetical Order
* A free forum and newsletters with more vocabulary and spelling resources

My 12 year old son Dakota and I worked on this website first together. The website took a minute to figure out where to sign in and where to start. After a few clicks we found our way into the site and began our tour. We tend to create our own spelling lists but because we had not started any of our “official school year” yet I was more than happy to use the grade level lists available. The teaching part of the site works by saying the word, spelling it, using it in a sentence. Dakota enjoyed being able to take a spelling test online and have the “teacher” read the words aloud and use them in a sentence if needed. I liked that after he took the test he could tell me his score.

Spelling City is $24.99 for a family of up to 5 students for a year, or $49.99 for a classroom for up to 30 students. Included With Premium Membership, you get:

1. Automatic test grading and student grade book
2. Complete activity tracking of all student activities
3. Access to SpeedySpeller and LetterFall, our Premium Games
4. Telephone support

They have a play a game section which has 14 different games to choose from including fun titles such as HangMouse, Crossword, Which Word and more.

In closing, while I have always enjoyed doing spelling on our own, I find the ease and the appeal of the games and self-lead tests changing my mind. If you are looking for a great spelling program to use with ease, Spelling City is definitely one I would recommend.

I am a member of The Old Schoolhouse 2010-2011 Crew and receive free products and services in exchange for my thorough use and honest review of them. My reviews will always reflect my honest opinions, findings, beliefs and experiences on the products and services that I receive.

TOS Review: " The Schoolhouse Planner Travel Around the World" June 2010

2010-07-19T20:46:00.000-07:00

This month I was asked to review an e-book available through The Old Schoolhouse website called The Schoolhouse Planner Travel Around the World June 2010. As I opened this book, I was impressed to see that it started "teaching" immediately with the basics of what geography is, going straight into well explained details of the globe and maps. I found this information easy to understand and well directed to the point. It has colorful pages that grab your attention and interesting diagrams.

Another thing I really enjoyed from this e-book was the highlighted terms so it was easy to scroll back and find them. Reading and terms are not all you will find in this resource. I loved the fill-in-the-blanks pages, song references, web resources and links that are shared throughout. This makes it more like a unit-study or at least a foundational resource for geography because you can learn in multiple ways. Since it is so important to get children interested not just with words but visually, musically and with games and other resources shared, you will have children interested and remembering geography so much easier and in a much more fun way!

I thoroughly enjoyed this e-book and I am very excited to study it more in-depth with my children throughout this school year. I know that my youngest will be thrilled that he can learn along side his older brother because this does a wonderful job of spanning the ages and offering something for everyone in the way of learning and enjoying it!

Now some of you may be thinking how could this relate to my older children if it can work for a kindergartner? TOS did a wonderful job of thinking that through and there is a section at the end that is just for high-school students! I can't say enough about the numerous resources and options with this e-book. I highly recommend this Travel Around the World resource for your children to teach them Geography with a Biblical focus.

The Schoolhouse Planner Modules such as this one are designed to be stand alone units, you do not need to purchase to planner to use. They are sold at The Old Schoolhouse website for $7.95/ea and are offered each month.

I am a member of The Old Schoolhouse 2010-2011 Crew and receive free products and services in exchange for my thorough use and honest review of them. My reviews will always reflect my honest opinions, findings, beliefs and experiences on the products and services that I receive.

Help Lord, I'm Getting Ready to Start Homeschooling My High Schooler E-Book Review

2010-04-12T19:53:00.000-07:00

If you home school then you know that there are two things that you can never get enough of: Curriculum (or resources) and Encouragement. As I began to read Help Lord, I'm Getting Ready to Start Homeschooling My High Schooler I wondered if it would apply because my oldest is only in 6th grade. But what I found was I was instantly engaged and encouraged from the first few pages. Hearing from the various family styles, perks, what worked, the programs available, how God provides it was a reminder of my own journey doing things in our own home.

I appreciated hearing the wonderful stories and testimonies of people that had struggles with children and learning disabilities, even health issues and how they persevered. I remember a wise person once said "Don't commit to a lifetime of home schooling, take each year as it comes". Since I had heard that and used it often when people seemed offended at my choice to home school, it was the answer that gave me peace as well. But as I read this book, I felt encouraged and ready to plan towards high school and if something changes later on we will deal with it then! I feel like it can finally be possible for more than just the "supermoms" that you rarely meet but hear of from others. As some put it, focusing on their strengths, others mentioned following their child as they seemed to know what they wanted for their future and the amazing paths that they ventured on. While yet others stayed focused on God's Word and let the rest come through reading and resources and watching videos or taking classes for the various things their children wanted to learn.

I am actually grateful that I was able to read this because it can be a worn path we go down at times home schooling our kids. The pressure, the guilt, the fear of doing it right, learning the key things for their future, teaching them the right way, hearing them and listening to their heart and who God made them to be. While at the same time you have peace knowing you have a safe environment for them to grow, learn, love and be nurtured. This book was like a giant home school meeting where everyone finally had enough time to talk and share their own personal story.

The biggest statement I can share coming out of reading this book is that it is of Great Encouragement! I highly recommend reading this for parents of middle school aged children or possibly even younger. I feel relieved to know that it can work and to know that there are so many other resources, ways, paths and programs out there than what we will ever know, until the time it is needed.

Molly's Money Saving Digest Review

2010-04-12T16:48:00.001-07:00

I was recently asked to review two books that are related to home schooling. Here is my review of the first book.

This review is for Molly's Money Saving Digest: January 2010
If you are not familiar with Molly, she is a very popular writer that shares a variety of ideas from stockpiling, cleaning routines, menu planning and money saving ideas. I have never read her monthly digest before so I was excited to see what exactly was shared.

First, I can share that she writes in what I can only assume is the way she would talk to you in person. Some of her exclamations and insightful comments brought a smile to my face as I knew exactly what she was talking about when she mentions not laying things out for a recipe and missing an item. I enjoyed the recipes and the many web site references that she shared for various projects, free software and compiles them all for you at the end which makes a great quick reference for the future! I love quick reference guides!

Her creative ideas spurred more of my own as I read them. From crafts ideas with the kids to designing home decor items for way less than you could buy them, I was inspired! Not to mention the best part is that you customize what you want instead of buying something that everyone else bought. She shares recipes and includes a weekly meal planner with the list of what to buy at the grocery store, that makes it so simple to follow. You can print out that page and hit the store. Perfect for the busy mom that doesn't always have time to scan recipes and make sure she wrote everything down throughout the steps. Her recipes are the kind of meals that I would serve, a little unique but not outside the realm of normalcy that my kids will refuse it. I really appreciated that she used healthy ingredients in her recipes including her desserts.

Lastly, I appreciated that she shared easy charts and logs to print out for your finances, time and shopping dilemma's. To help give an easy approach to everything from shopping to balancing your checkbook.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this digest! I know that the recipes will be put into my circulation along with trying out the charts and bookmarking some of the links she shared. This digest was definitely a keeper and full of great information!

My Home

2010-03-12T15:21:00.000-08:00

I am linking up to Chatting At The Sky where Emily is hosting a linky party. These are random glimpses of things that make me smile and know I am home...
This is my beginning to having Shabby Chic in my home, this area always makes me so happy as I walk past it. What you don't know is that I didn't rub the top to make it look vintage, that was my son chewing on the paint of "his drawer" after I painted it. Yes, Shabby Chic in the eyes of a 6 year old! That means home to me!

What makes you feel at home?

Where Do You Fit?

2010-01-23T21:36:00.002-08:00

There is a new theme that I have been seeing everywhere...it seems that God is giving eyes to his believer's and I have more friends noticing it as well...the theme, the issue...the dilemma is being taught, trained, accepted and validated everywhere.

What is it?

Complacency

What is the definition of Complacency?
a feeling of quiet pleasure or security, often while unaware of some potential danger, defect, or the like; self-satisfaction or smug satisfaction with an existing situation, condition, etc.

Do you see it now? Have you even thought about this word before? It is the selfish or smug act of ignoring...accepting to the point almost of fault.

The terms where I have seen it most is through people readily accepting anything that "they" tell you. People turning a blind eye to society around us that is teaching and training our families to roll eyes, disrespect, disconnect, separate, disassociate, "go off into our own world", and "do our own thing"...or "thang" depending...ripping families to shreds one thread at a time...

My heart aches as I drive around our city and see frumpy, grumpy, spoiled and disconnected people. I long to sit down and tell someone that Jesus loves them but what hurts is to think that no matter what, they might...just...not...care...this is what I am seeing more and more. Cold, hard, unattached people.

"Such and such got a divorce" ... "oh well I am surprised they lasted..."
I do not take part in gossip, but you hear it! I don't pass on, I don't engage in the conversations, but how many times have you heard things like this? Not only is it horrible to talk about people and their marriages but there is no shock of what they are going through anymore, there is no more sensitivity...there is only judgment and blame.

The more I try to move on it seems the more this word has stuck out to me this year!

Complacency in our families, accepting where we are at and not moving anywhere.

Complacency in our work, doing the ol' daily grind...but we forget that the Bible tells us to work as we would work for our Heavenly Father.

Complacency in our finances, we will never get ahead so we might as well go ahead and order in a pizza tonight it won't make any difference anyways.

I am sure we have all done it and we will all have areas to work on with it rearing its head. But as I thought about this New Year, the things I want to focus on. The things that are dear to my heart. One big one for me is to show that my heart still beats. I still have compassion for people and their experiences. I still want to reach people that are lost or have lost their path and need to find their way back to Jesus. I still want to have an impact on my children and not let society teach whatever they deem to be appropriate for my family.

God has been stirring the pain in society in me for over a year now. I want to help bring standards back into society. I want people to understand that values are an actual thing that people have! It is becoming a passion of mine.

I have decided where I fit is "anti-mainstream". I am not like the others. I am not like everyone else. I do not get crushes on male celebrities, nor do I take time to find out what the newest "hottie" is starring in. I do not use the word divorce with my husband EVER! We made a promise to each other after we got married to never use that word or believe that it is an option. I do not roll my eyes and think my husband is a moron because a commercial tells me to act this way. I respect my husband and the man he was created to be. I know that God made me individual and I don't try to tell him his creation stinks and he needs to give me a "do over". I accept myself and my husband the way he created us.(my children too)

The more I see what is in this world, I see who it looks like and it isn't our Creator. So therefore, that absolutely puts me more in line with "anti-mainstream". I should look different from everyone else.

And God said, let us make Humankind in our image, after our likeness…
And God created the Human in His image, in the image of God he created Him; male and female He created them. (Gen 1:27)

Where Do You Fit?

Sarah

'Tis the Season + Giveaway

2009-12-22T07:50:00.001-08:00

It is hard to believe that we are just a few days from the biggest celebration of the year. But what is the point of it all? How did you spend the past 6 weeks preparing? Did you snap at the kids, get very little sleep, spend hours on amazon.com searching for gifts, wake up at 3am to hit sales on Black Friday?
I am not against any of these things, but this year I said the same thing to each of those old traditions I have had for years...

"NO!"

No, I will not fret about gifts!
No, I will not worry if my kids know I love them because I bought them the right things.
No, I will not get up early and deal with grumpy people in order to get the best deal.
No, I will not feel like shopping is the theme of December and do it daily!
No, I don't need to spend thousands or even hundreds of dollars in order to show my family that I love them.

You know what happened?

I got peace instead! I still found deals! We had God's favor as we went shopping, praying beforehand that we would find the right things and not have to stress. My husband and I hit Toys R us one evening for an hour, then we went out to dinner and enjoyed couple time because what we wanted to buy...they had...and it was on sale...so it was easy. We stayed out late just simply because we wanted to and the stores were open and we were arm in arm shopping in relaxed fashion!

I have already baked cookies twice this holiday season. In the next few days I will be making gingersnaps, bourbon street pecan pie, Marshmallow salad, ham, green bean casserole, and I am sure many other requested family favorites!

But even at the grocery store when people glare at me because I am taking too long to park...I smile and my older son says, "It is just a parking spot lady, smile! It is Christmas". We both realize together that so many people put the Chaos in Christmas. There wasn't chaos when Jesus was born. The wisemen weren't fretting over what to get Baby Jesus for fear that he would not be satisfied. (Please note that the wise men came by the time he was 2 years old, so they weren't there that night!) Did you know that the shepherds were outcasts? They were considered unclean and were unable to enter the temples. They were the outcasts of society but yet they were the ones that were told and included on the biggest thing happening! A savior is born and they got firsthand news and were the ones to go see him and tell others!

This year we did new things...
We volunteered at a shelter for Thanksgiving.
We caroled at an independent living home for the elderly.
We bought gifts for 5 boys and gave them away for their parents to give them something on Christmas day.
We also have a Christmas Jar that we will find a home for on someone's porch on Christmas Day. (you can read about the Christmas Jar here)

It just occurred to me after reading a short piece from the website...
I am going to giveaway a copy of the book Christmas Jars.
I will end the giveaway on Monday, December 28th.

This book meant the world to me, a former co-worker referred me to it when we ran into each other in a parking lot 8 months ago. I checked it out from the library and quickly started my own Christmas Jar. I am more like the first family in it, not a lot to add this year, but everything counts when you give from your heart!

In the true spirit of giving, I think giving away this book will give you a warm cozy that you will enjoy sharing with others!

Rules for entering:
1. Leave one comment of what you are doing different this year, something that means a lot to you, or just simply a heart warming thought to share with us.

2. Refer someone and post their website for another entry.

3. Follow my blog for another entry. If you already follow my blog, leave a separate post stating you do.

**Your chances to win are up to you, you can invite as many people as you would like to this giveaway! :)

I will post the winner on Monday.
Merry Christmas!
Sarah

Giveaway Alert!

2009-12-15T13:02:00.000-08:00

Kasey over at Lola' B's is offering an unknown, glorious mystery box of items from her Boutique that she is closing indefinitely...There will be 3 winners! Hurry over and enter, contest ends on December 17th! Click HERE Good luck!!!

Sarah

In all Honesty...

2009-12-14T11:45:00.000-08:00

Okay, it seems like there is a lot of talk "in the atmosphere" I will say about being real, being honest, portraying truth, etc. On a blog as well know there can be the good, the bad, the ugly, we can photoshop our lives to be perfect or we let you see the reflection of us in pj's at 3pm as we take a picture of our newly mounted mirror...whatever the case may be.

So I thought, as we heard preached on Sunday, Christmas is a time for new beginnings, we always believe it is the new year, but there was a new birth on Christmas. So why not take a few days before Christmas (don't freak out, I know it isn't that close yet! But I have NO shopping done yet, so you shouldn't worry...supposedly I should but I just can't seem to freak about any of that this year! Yay!) but back to my point, to take this time and be real about who I am.

I am a real life mom, a step mom, a wife to a fabulous husband but by no means perfect, I always tell him he didn't need to be perfect, he just needed to be perfect for me, which he is! I have two dogs that I love but get annoyed by who eat wonderful grade dog food and admittedly produce foul smells while sleeping..I am not passing the buck here by any means, I mean it!

I am a slightly addictive personality which means I follow a zillion blogs but recognize when I have spent most of a day reading them and have to take a break from reading them for a while...I love home decor and finding goodwill deals, shop deals and other odds and ends to decorate, reuse, etc. I am not completely savvy, I don't have great vision, I painted my bedroom a gorgeous gray, found fabulous bedding on craigslist in another city to buy, had it shipped to me, longing for a chandelier to hang but not sure of who has the expertise to mount it as we have no overhead light, have silver, black, gray and white touches all over to realize I forgot that our trim and doors are all golden brown...see I am not perfect which is why I love following people like nester to realize I don't have to be. I like reading posts like Maisy's because hey I am a goodwill hunter myself! I have found some fabulous things, but I am still at the hoarder part where I find it and keep it, haven't found the good sense yet to sell it...

I have a door in my garage I received off of craigslist for free that I have a vision for but now can't find the link that inspired me of decorating with doors...anyone know what I am talking about? It was a random link from another link from another blog kind of thing and so the history of finding it is lost in cyberspace somewhere..but I have my general idea to go on. But I delayed with the passing of my grandma and put it off so it won't happen until spring next year now...

Is anyone else real? Do you buy things for a project that is awesome and move it from room to room hoping one of them will become the magical room that inspires you to pick it up and do it one day?

I home school two of my 5 kids and when their public schooled brothers quiz them on things based on speed it makes my insides cringe because I didn't test my kids to be ready for a drill, I tested them for knowledge. I can get insecure about my kids and if I am doing the right thing for them. But that is when God chooses to smile on me and give me glimpses...like when my son volunteered at a funeral at our church recently and I had so many people comment to me about how wonderful, thoughtful, compassionate he is as a young man. That is when I am able to remember that all of these things are not about ME. God uses us in people's lives, we are responsible for what we do, how we do it, etc. But still when I see those things in my kids lives, I know that they may not win a spelling bee, but they have a heart. They may not ramble off math facts faster than anyone else, but they absorb truth, they know about God's love and how to show it. They think of others and that to me is bigger than any award that my kids could earn at this age anyways. They have a conscience, it seems those have been randomly going out of style, but I think even if just a handful of parents decide to go retro and bring it all back we can change this nation! We can work together to be honest, we might not be beautiful, we might not be rich, we might be scared to death and think it is easier to hide in our house...I for one have been guilty of that very thing. Someone giving me their phone number and saying let's get the kids together might as well put their number on my desk, that is where it stays...

I am a social person but I don't set things up easily, I don't feel readily accepted usually and I have been told I am too dominant and I intimidate people, oh but no worries it was my old church that said that about me...behind my back...not my friends or anything. I guess my confidence at that point was high and I was willing to do anything for anyone, funny how someone saying you intimidate people can make you go inward and feel like breathing is possibly too much for people around you.
I am slowly creeping back out of my hidden phase. I am great at talking with people once I realize I am not offensive or scary.

I will also share that I deal with acne majority of the time, I have tried a zillion things, eliminated things from my diet and once something seems to work for a while it quits...heaven help me, it is frustrating!

I will add more and aim to get that giveaway going...sorry I have taken a blog-cation but I felt like my depth of heart posts were maybe too much or not "fun enough" to read for some people, so I took a break.

I want to start showing you all some of my projects and inspire but I am not just a decorating woman, homeschool mom, wife, friend, daughter, dog owner, but I am someone with dreams and I want to express them all here. I hope I can keep you here but not just that, I hope we can grow and get onto a fabulous path of trusting in God to bring us into the place of being the new creation he made us to be!

Sarah

In The Midst of Thankfulness

2009-11-27T08:57:00.000-08:00

As we got up yesterday later than usual, turning on the parade and beginning the food preparation a full day of events unfolded...

Kaiden who is 6 announced that he has his first loose tooth, to which I immediately got tearful realizing how big he is getting already! We called my parents to share the exciting news!

My husband cleaned his car and put out the reindeer in the yard.

This year I had decided I would make my grandfather's traditional homemade egg noodles in gravy with slices of hard boiled eggs. As I got out of the shower and heard the puppy yelp, I ran downstairs to find her smacking her chops after eating 1/2 of my batch off the counter...because I was still thankful (because she didn't get all of them) I *only* yelled at the top of my lungs "NOOoooo" bringing a running husband and two kids and sending two dogs running...

Okay, grace and mercy for the puppy, her life was spared.

We finished getting ready...put the timer on the turkey and green bean casserole...everything else was just minutes of prep work away from being ready, so we could leave it until we got back home.

We went to a church across town from us where we found out they were hosting a turkey dinner for shelter/Salvation Army people. The warmth of the church people welcoming us was amazing. Their hearts were truly in the right place as they shared with us the insight that we sometimes miss...yes they are here for food, but starting out what they needed was fellowship! The church people asked us to go mingle with everyone and be an ear for them. The stories we heard, the smiles and the manners of these thankful people constantly made me well up with tears. As we listened to people come up and share scriptures, a former gang member came and shared a poem laced with numerous verses, a song he wrote about his journey in life, prayers of people living in a shelter. I never imagined how fulfilling this would be for ME!

As we began to serve the food, I was so proud of my husband in his plastic apron and rubber gloves serving ham and turkey with a a plastic spatula and a fork. At his smile and giving nature exuding from every move. As a man came up for four helpings of ham and turkey and each time my husband beamed and said, "you tell me when to stop, I don't have to" and "I saved this JUST FOR YOU" the man melted and said, "you are wonderful". The people in the line that smiled graciously and said "yes ma'am", "thank you ma'am", each time it was said it pulled at my heart and captured the essence of thankfulness to me so intensely!

Then there was the man serving right next to me, proud of the chicken and dumplings he got to serve as we jokingly competed with promoting our "goods". He shared his story, a divorced, sweet man that had already dropped off his son with his ex-wife and was alone for the holiday and heard about the church offering the meal on the news and decided once he dropped his son off he would come and "be around happy people, and no longer feel alone". He made a point to look at each and every person and say HAPPY THANKSGIVING and the way people would forget about the food for a minute and smile and remember it was in fact Thanksgiving and someone cared to say that. He shared with me that his goal was to reach at least one person and he would feel content with the day.

As we cleaned up with extra plates of food going home with people and out into the community, our boys were sweeping and mopping,(and Kaiden was jumping off chairs, because I don't want to disillusion you, he was still 6 after all!) I saw that same man look around to see if anyone else had anything to say...he wrote a check to help the ministry, got a sheet of times and volunteer opportunities to do year-round...and walked out the door into the cold, crisp night. I ran to the door, forgetting his name and said "Hey!". He turned around and smiled and I said, "I just wanted to say it was great to serve with you, Happy Thanksgiving". He returned the compliment and I think walked a little taller as he walked alone to his car to leave.

In the midst of thankfulness, I am not sure who received more, who was touched more, or even who appreciated it the most...but what I know is that I was changed and my heart felt like it had doubled in size.

Sarah

Thankfulness

2009-11-24T19:06:00.000-08:00

I have not forgotten all of you, I just had a lapse of sadness hit me as we were getting close to the holiday the overwhelming feeling of my grandmother's absence hit me very hard. I am blessed beyond measure to say that when my husband came home that day for lunch and saw how glazed over and sensitive I was, he immediately called the office to say he was staying home for the rest of the day. What an amazing man God blessed me with! Not only did he stay home...he swept, baked his son's 16th birthday cake, wrapped all the gifts, cleaned up the house AND here is the big one, taught both of the boys for the day for me! I am so thankful for such a wonderful man!!! (He even put the HID headlights in my van, I know all you ladies are jealous right??)

This year, we are changing things up a bit! We are always with family and friends and things just kept not working out right year... finally it hit me, only the 4 of us this year meant opportunity! So, we searched and searched and found a church downtown that is sponsoring a Thanksgiving meal that we will go and help serve that day. It was actually an effort to find a place, the Salvation Army isn't doing one this year, neither is the YWCA. Surprising! We will get home in the evening and watch a Christmas movie as I get out some of my favorite holiday knick knacks (wish that I had shabby chic everything instead of what I have) and then proceed to find cozy places to tuck holiday touches all around my house. I have neutral-warm tones around majority of my house so the gorgeous white shabby chic look that I am growing to love will have to transform whenever we find our dream farm house to move to!

As always, I find time to reflect about things, whether it is the year, season, or just simply what is stirred up inside of me at the time.

For Thanksgiving this year I am thankful for a husband that supports me homeschooling and staying at home. A husband that consistently tells me that there is no one on earth prettier than I am and that he is amazed by me and what I do. (Which seems to always be said when I feel like I have been worthless that day and yet he knows!) I am thankful for my children to the point of it bringing me to tears! Dakota and Kaiden are an absolute joy in my life and they consistently show me that they are learning to be real people, with feelings, emotions, caring and sensitivity. I can share so many stories of how my two boys care for me and nurture me with all their heart, but not just me, anyone. They are precious and more and more I hear my grandma's voice in my head saying "Honey, you are doing a wonderful job with your boys". I am thankful for a God that gives Grace, Understanding, Patience, Wisdom, Forgiveness and new days to try things over.

Whether you need a fresh start or you are on your fresh path, look around and find the things that are new in your life to be thankful for and look at the past briefly and thank God for the things that are no longer there!

Happy Thanksgiving!!
Sarah

I wanna be Laura Ingalls "Wilder"

2009-11-06T11:47:00.001-08:00

Dreams can take my thoughts away, each and every day...
I long to live off the land just like Laura did, to bake and can and mend my clothes and enjoy a hearth with a fire. I want a home nestled away from the hustle, bustle and noise. Now I am a busy person, but I don't want the distraction of someone's else's noise!

I long and desire deep within me to have a home with land, where my kids can dig, explore and learn by trial and error and not worry about property value and landscaping. Ah the reality of living in a subdivision where most of the choices are made for you. I remember building our home and wanting a taupe color and that wasn't allowed because our neighbor already picked that color and they wouldn't build two houses the same color that close together...Yes, I am serious!

The more I think about the times we live in I have determined one thing...I want to be Laura Ingalls only WILDER! I can be the Laura Ingalls that blogs on my (non-existent to date) laptop in the kitchen while I am baking. I will be the "Laura" that dances to Michael Jackson while she spray paints some restored freecycle item in the garage on a warm day. I will have a garden with enough corn to can for the winter, make my own popcorn, maybe an apple tree to supply enough homemade cider, a salsa garden because that is truly a staple in our diet for about 6 months out of the year. I will have a shabby chic decorated house in the middle of nowhere and able to relax and breathe knowing that that is how God intended for us to live. Do you ever read in Little House on the Prairie that the kids come late to dinner because they were at football practice until 7:45? Do you ever hear about Royal's frustration about not owning an ipod? Or Almanzo's disappointment that he can't go to the indoor waterpark with all of his friends for his birthday party. When I think about it in those terms it is honestly laughable what our society has turned into in some ways. Where are the simpler things in life? I want them back! The trust and respect in a parent because they are the parent, that is it, enough said! I want the peaceful, traditional, simpler life back!

I remain determined and prayerful that God will give me the desire of my heart. To be tucked away and able to live a simpler life. It is amazing how I am not searching but in devotionals, books and even testimonies of ladies at church have all been with the same common theme the past 8 months...a house with land that was desired and finally given. Whether this is a time of strengthening my faith or that the "evidence of things not seen" is about to reveal itself, I remain faithful and believing that one day my dream will come true!

What are you dreaming for in your life? Don't forget to dream!
"The difference between vision and daydreams is the belief that it can happen"

One thing I realized a few years ago in a seminar was that as we get older, we get caught up in working, routine and we lose our focus of what we want to achieve for ourselves. So my husband and I made a list, we want to go to Egypt to see the pyramids, we want to go to Israel, many things we wanted lined up together...except for living out of the city, which doesn't take much in WI, you can live 15 minutes from the mall and be out in a field here! God changed my husband's heart, I didn't have to do it, I actually just believed he would change his mind and sure enough, in the past few months my husband actually admitted that the more he thinks about it, the more he wants out of our neighborhood too...we have such a great heavenly Father! :)

Now it is your turn. What are you believing for? What do you desire and dream about?

Have a great Friday!

Ahh...something fresh!

2009-11-03T19:33:00.001-08:00

Fresh start...New month...almost a new year...cleaner blog layout...
Now I need to catch back up! How are my followers? Have you enjoyed the past few months transition from the freedom of summer (or possibly kids driving you crazy) to the scheduled days of school/home-school, sports, Scouts and everything else your kids do at this time of year?

Our school year has been going much better this year. My kids are happier and more in tune to me and to each other. My husband is more supportive than ever and starting to understand what our days consist of and taking part in pieces of things that he didn't before. Yes, improvements have been vast the past few months.

Granted, I still have paper piles that I don't show you pictures of, a basement that seems to laugh at me because every time I get it organized there seems to be a change in our life that adds more piles, boxes, and clutter to take it all away...
Drums, a puppy and her kennel, home school room, pantry for stockpiling, laundry, pillows, a workbench, snow tires...ah the list is vast and my time to clean it is short. Maybe one day I will hold a contest and the winner gets to come and spend a weekend with me cleaning out my basement...hey I live in WI...sometimes if it snows enough and people get cabin fever they will do ANYTHING to get out of the house! :)

I will work on getting on here more often I have missed blogging and the blogging world, but I needed a mental break since everything else seemed to be taking up my time and energy.

I am working on the details to host another giveaway very soon! Keep your eyes out for recent posts, I think the giveaway will only last a week!

Can you believe it is already November?

What is on your mind? I am anxious to hear!

Sabatical or Missing in Action?

2009-09-30T11:00:00.001-07:00

Goodness Gracious! It has almost been a month since I have posted? How crazy is that?
I have a brief moment to update you in the midst of my 6 year old trying to mop the floor for the 3rd time and really needing to sit down and go over parts of a sewing machine with my 11 year old...

I just wanted to get a new post out. To let you all know that I am O.K.! It has been a rough few weeks without my grandma around to call and pray with, laugh and appreciate her presence! I was blessed that my dad doesn't have the sentiment for many of Grandma's things that I do, so he pretty much gave me the "pick of the litter" as we went through her things. Now I am not a material person by any means, but there was something so soothing about owning her Ukrainian designed apron, her handmade quilt that could easily be worth a couple thousand dollars it is amazing! Not to mention just simple things like a pair of satin gloves, I took both a short white pair and a long black elegant cinched pair that I picture decorating with them and being proud that they were actually worn by my grandma. I have also been using her well worn Bible daily with the kids to do devotions and it seems more efficient, more meaningful like she is there with us.

Homeschooling is going so much better this year. We devised a new schedule this year...

Monday: Home Ec day where we learn about laundry, dishes, sewing, baking, gardening, grocery lists, budgetting, and anything else I can make fall in that category.

Tuesday-Thursday: Regular school days of math, English, Reading, History, Phonics for the little one, and more.

Friday: Field Trip Day! This is my big one this year, to do more "field work" and get out of the house every week to learn doing hands on methods.

Last week we hit Old World Wisconsin and had an absolute blast! We learned a ton, took some fabulous pictures, made memories and of course got a year long membership so we can go back soon! I loved everything there! I even got tearful going through the German descendants houses to see how the old style was because that is what my husband came from and I long to give him pieces of his heritage to build him up about who he is. I texted him while I was there that it was powerful and hitting me about his heritage (and mine by the way) and he texted me back about how tearful it made him that he had someone that cared!

Which takes me to the last thing I want to mention...ladies, build up your husbands! They need someone to help lift their arms when they are too tired to pray, someone to encourage them and like it says in "Wild At Heart" tell them they "have what it takes"! I never regret taking those moments to share with my husband what he means to me and our family and reminding him of how amazing he has been.

I will work on getting some pictures posted soon. For now, Happy Fall!
I am a bit behind on getting my fall things out, but based off of whose schedule I am not sure! ;)

Have a fabulous day! I have missed writing and hearing from my followers!!!

In His Wings

2009-09-03T07:22:00.000-07:00

It is with great sorrow that I share the news I received yesterday...
My grandmother of 91 passed away. She was the one person in the world that I was the closest to and it is such a deep loss for me. While I work on rejoicing for her freedom and celebrating her arrival in the kingdom, I deal with great pain inside of knowing I will no longer be able to call her for small talk, prayer or just simply to remind her that although I moved 500 miles away, she was still my closest friend.

I was so blessed to have her in my life and the impact she had on me and my relationship with God. I know it was her prayers that eventually returned me to the path that SHE had been the major one teaching me on my whole life.

Her life as I reflect on it has taught me several lessons:

Can people say you are so amazing that they can have fun just with you and a bucket of chicken? Seriously, she could be so entertaining, joyous, fun and bubble over with the simplest things.

Do you exude love? As the saying goes, a moth to a flame. I look at the various people in my life and my grandma was 91 and not able to really leave the house anymore, getting around was tough on her, yet numerous people dropped by her house often with subs, buckets of chicken and longing to just simply be in her house and be around her. When I thought about that I realized she completely had God's Love down and it attracted people.

Are you flexible? She was so relaxed about things, she never let outward appearance, stigmas, or other things change her. She was amazingly grounded in relaxation and going with the flow and never taking it to heart when things didn't happen that she might have hoped would.

Picking up my shoes, socks, dishes, anything else when I am getting up because it saves time and makes for easier clean up. I still won't leave my shoes laying around or dishes in the living room because I remember her words and how much sense it makes.

Be adventurous! We got her out on a pontoon boat just last summer, it was her first time on one and she said for a year it was the best memory she ever had. She got to see the kids jump out and swim, watch all of us drive the boat, see how we deal with all our kids as parents and more than anything, be a huge part of things since she couldn't get around to places to do things.

I could add so much more but it is still difficult for me as I have waves of sadness. The biggest things I want to share with you is if you feel the urge to do something, it is quite possible that it is God urging you. I prayed for him to prepare me for a year for her death because I knew that I wouldn't deal with it well. Even with a year of dreams, choking up each time she answered the phone and as we said goodbye, I was still not fully prepared, but I can say that God did as I asked and worked on me to think about things, prepare my mind for it. I am so thankful that this summer I just felt the urge to make it a priority to come to KC and spend a full weekend with her. The weekend that worked just happened to be her 91st birthday, we took her to the outdoor sculpture museum in her wheelchair, we bought her jumbo cupcakes from Costco...that I teased her and said it is your 1st and 91st that you get a smashcake and smear it on your face...and she played along surprisingly and did it! Would any of us be willing to get past our looks and smash a cupcake in our face and laugh at ourselves? I thank God for that memory and for the fact that I knew to be obedient. Because in fact, that was the last time I saw her, she didn't make it to my next trip just two months later for Labor Day weekend.

I woke up yesterday with sadness from a dream that my grandma had died and I quickly pushed it out of my head not wanting to feel that pain. It was a few hours later my dad called to let me know that she was gone and he had just come to visit her and found her. We drove to KC yesterday just 3 hours after we found out. It was tough to pack and figure things out, especially with the waves of sadness hitting hard but God provided the time and the grace to be here and help. My dad was an only child as am I, I knew he needed me and thankfully so did my wonderful husband who said "we can't just sit here, we are going!" I am currently in KC planning the visitation and funeral with my dad. Treasure your life, God's comfort and urgency. It can be the best thing you ever do!

Planning, Planning, Planning..

2009-09-02T08:14:00.000-07:00

Okay, so we planned things to plant around the house and got that done.
We planned our bedroom and got that done.
We planned our school year at home and that is underway.

Now I get to work on my favorite plan every year...our anniversary!
It isn't until October 26th, but this year I have the itch...
we always go somewhere, usually a B&B about 1-3 hours away for the weekend. This is our main time together as a couple so I refuse to feel guilt about the money we spend simply because I am a deal shopper plus we don't get chances for dates often throughout the year at all! (Is it really a date when someone watches the kids so you can go to dinner and then Christmas shopping for THE KIDS?)

SO, here is my agenda...I begged, pleaded, sold a few of the kids and was able to convince my girlfriend to take 2 kids and 2 dogs for the weekend we want to get away, towards the end of October. Yippee! (By the way, none of the begging and pleading happened, it was all in the beauty of a text message and I got a YES!) I love having a great friend!

My agenda, as hard as it is to focus on teaching when I can't wait to get away with my husband, is to find the place! I am leaning in a few directions...I have always wanted to go somewhere like Cape Cod in the fall, but I also wonder about how cold it will be. Plus, in checking flights it looks like it is a little more than I would like to spend. I am leaning towards Williamsburg, VA, Savannah, GA, maybe somewhere in SC. If you know of some place reasonably priced with great atmosphere, please share!

Who has some gorgeous ideas for late fall of things to do just for the two of us? We typically stay at a nice B&B so we can be served food in the morning, but that isn't necessary, we enjoy getting out to unique shops, having a nice dinner out each night and typically we find a bakery to get naughty calorie stuffed pastries to eat way later than we should in our room! ;)

I would love some ideas! Help me out as I am getting anxious to plan!!!
I would love to say I will meet you if you are in the area, but the truth is that with flying and only having a weekend, I might send you a postcard from town but you know you only have so much time to enjoy a lack of schedule and snuggle time with your husband! ;)

Have a great day!

The Wellspring of Life

2009-08-25T06:35:00.000-07:00

Do you ever base your day or life on how you feel? There are mornings as I am sure some of you are dealing with school back in swing, where you are tired and not motivated and ready for the routine. There are days where you feel dry, sad, tired, quiet or just hidden away or wanting to be...

God is teaching me a lot right now, most of which comes as I seek his face! Lessons in faith, lessons in how to believe and training me on the parts of scripture that can be the hardest...believing that it is already DONE! I am great at saying how I want to be closer to God, but what do I do with my free time? I heard a valuable message in my devotional that my husband read to me last night. It said your actions say what your priorities are out loud. It went on to discuss how a workaholic will find time to vacation and spend time with family when they receive a letter from the dr. that says "malignant". A parent that doesn't spend time with their children will find the time when a daughter gets with the wrong crowd to find time for her and seek counseling groups and support systems, spending weeks choosing the right things for her life. So why does it take big things to get our attention and priorities in order?

The basic answer is that it shouldn't. We get caught up in the day to day activities and need to focus on the important opportunities we are given. Our children are with us to learn, copy and understand what life is about. New statistics say majority of parents spend 4 hours watching tv a day but only 6 minutes playing with their children. As I think about it, when I was working full time I always longed for the opportunity to be home, my husband and I finally planned on getting me home to homeschool, but of course we had an agenda before we wanted to do it. Get this fixed, buy a screen door, put this in savings, etc, etc. But as we got paid, we didn't do anything about it...priorities. Why is it that I desired it so much but I didn't act upon it? I knew God wanted me home with my kids! Then he allowed for the big change, I was let go from my job. My pride hurt for almost a year! I had never been let go from a job! But I was home with my children. You know what else? Everything my husband and I wanted to accomplish before I gave my notice happened with unemployment and severance money. But why do we often feel that God picks and chooses when he will bless us? Like giving me the desire but I would be on my own to fulfill it? I longed for Abeka curriculum for my youngest son as that is what I was taught on, but I knew it was expensive...then I met a fellow homeschooler who randomly chose to bless me with almost 3 years worth of curriculum for him that is all Abeka. Does God not provide for the desires of our hearts? I have learned the lesson over and over...Trust in Him!

My youngest son recently has been falling into lying and disobeying constantly. At first I got very upset about why he was doing this and how he knew better. It took a wonderful friend to point out (in love) that he is seeking mom's attention and was looking for it in some way. The point hit home hugely in my heart. My son has been patient all summer while I have revamped things in the house and gardened (he helped some) but it wasn't much one on one time with mom and reading and doing all the things he was so used to throughout the school year. So I changed MY actions to work on his. No movie before bed with the family, we read numerous books snuggled up in my bed, it was a zillion kisses and snuggles and not paying a lot of attention to our adorable puppy and I noticed a difference. Not completely, he still lied twice last night and was disciplined for doing so, but it was a change. But his heart was getting full, he was where he needed to be without saying it.

Our children don't know how to express to us that they simply miss the little things when we get off track. Errands, home decorating, parties and outings are all great, but after a while they long for their routine bedtime, reading books throughout the day and night, knowing what is happening without needing to ask, etc. But part of our routine needs to include showing our children that we prioritize our relationship with them, our spouse and especially Jesus. We pray before meals, but I realized that Kaiden was missing our devotion time which I had let slip through the summer. His prayers were becoming routine and rehearsed and no longer sounding like prayers from his heart. Isn't it amazing how we can teach our children, but often learn the most from them? When we get stuck in a routine don't we sound rehearsed and monotonous?

My goal throughout this school year is to stay consistent with my devotion and praise time with my boys as we homeschool. To thrive on learning and enjoying this world God created so beautifully. To find joy in the smallest things up to the biggest. But especially to let the rivers of life flow through me and while we may maintain a routine, I don't want to become monotonous and praying to God like rehearsing for a play, saying the same things over and over. Give God something to work with and pursue the beauty of a relationship where he wants to know your hearts desires, hurts, quiet places and fill you full in your empty areas.

Today-Thrive!
Much Love!

And the winner is...

2009-08-24T12:30:00.000-07:00

Cheryl-(Decorating Queen)...

Since you don't have an email on your profile I need you to email me your address.

Congratulations on your win!

Thanks for everyone that entered! I am sure I will be having another giveaway as the school year gets underway!

Giveaway Ending...TODAY!

2009-08-21T12:35:00.000-07:00

Last day to enter the Girlie Girl Giveaway! Since I have only a few people entered right now your odds are excellent at winning! Make sure to share the info with your friends online!

Leave a comment here.

I will draw a winner using random.org

Good Luck to all who entered! I am excited!
I will email the winner this weekend!

Reflections

2009-08-18T07:32:00.000-07:00

What was this summer to me? As it draws near the end I think about the things we could have, should and actually did.

Things I am proud of: staining the fence that needed it badly, remodeling my bedroom to make it a sanctuary for my husband and I to enjoy, painting the hallway finally.
Letting the kids have a summer at home where they found delight in flowers growing, bugs flying around, waterguns, sprinklers and boredom...yes I said that, boredom is good for kids I believe.
Getting up with the kids and making breakfast smoothies most of the summer, taking them to the farmer's market frequently, cooking good and organic food fairly often.
Spending a lot of time with friends and family.
Sleeping in a tent at least 6 times with my husband at various family outings. Getting over my fear of killing plants and trying my best to grow things--it actually worked!

Things I am not so proud of: we only made it out to go swimming about 4 times, not finishing up our library reading log and getting there numerous times every week--my projects kept us too busy at home--buying so many hot dogs on sale my husband felt like he should eat them often for lunch, which I know is horrible for him!

Things you didn't know about: we just bought a new couch for our rec room, another room remodel was done in no time! It made such a difference! Now to paint that room and work on the decor item I just planned out! :) We just got one of those gorgeous puppies I was so giddy about from mid-June-late July. We have had her for over a week, we named her Maggie and she is a delight to our family...even when she trails off with someone's underwear! ;) She has a heart shaped nose and everything!

God also saw fit to teach a lesson in faith. My son's trip to California was amazing...just 24 hours after he had left home I received a call that he had an infection in his knee and needed to come asap. You can't imagine the fear and shock I was dealing with at this point. My husband was driving home from the porcupine mountains backpacking trip with one of our boys and I was alone with our youngest son, Kaiden. I couldn't get ahold of anyone in California with the kids, so I waited for an hour to get a call to hear nothing basically because the signal in the mountains was horrible. So then another 45 minutes later I receive a call from a nurse asking for authorization to treat him, etc. Again, no details. The Scout leader calls me to give me the update, he has an infection from a scrape he received on his knee the previous week on his bike, they are worried about blood poisoning so they want to get him on a flight asap. Can you imagine a mother hearing this 2000 miles away, wanting to charter a plane and get there asap?! I got off the phone to start calling airlines, scouts leaders for booking information, etc. I was on the phone for another 90 minutes trying to work things out and waiting.

The one thing I kept saying and feeling was "I don't see...but I believe". I honestly believed that either something was going to happen and God was protecting Dakota, OR he was going to perform a miracle for many to hear and see. We had come down to the worst case scenario, the nearest flight was at 9pm at night getting him home around midnight, although the leaders wanted him out earlier so they could return to the campsite with the rest of the group (they went to a hospital 90 minutes away). Then I receive the call..."Sarah, here is the update, it is up to you as Dakota is your son (curiousity and slight panic washes over me--does he need his leg removed? what is going on?--) but they checked his knee and the bone thoroughly and they believe that two doses of antibiotics and the infection will disappear. So he can stay, but it is up to you"

GASP! Praise! Gulp! Breathe! WOW! God you are awesome! Where is my voice? I want to cry!
"YES!", I breathed. I was relieved! What a difference from the blood poisoning, get him home and off his feet for 3 days, to he can stay and just needs antibiotics! Yes, God showed he was faithful and taught me indeed how I didn't see, but I could believe and he would come through!

I may have a few regrets, numerous accomplishments but more than anything, I am excited to embark on this next season with enthusiasm, motivation, joy and peace!
How was your summer?
What did you accomplish and what did you put off?
What were your favorite parts?

Bedroom Reveal & Giveaway Update

2009-08-13T09:05:00.000-07:00

My room is done except for the mirror, I think I finally have an idea of what I want to do with it and the hangers are still on the wall. But other than that, I figure it is time to reveal this room that has been so long awaited!!!
BEFORE:

AFTER:

I will give some quick details here on what the remodel entailed:
1)New curtains $120 (4 panels of faux silk from JCP with coupons!)
2)Spray paint for side tables $7 for 2 cans Gray from Walmart, I think it was Rustoleum but I can't remember now.
3)Scrapbook paper for the inserts on sidetables 6/$1 Michaels on sale.
4)new bedding - Birthday Splurge! - $245 shipped (from a craigslist seller) for the pillows, duvet, bedskirt. They are Ralph Lauren and I love them! I found the sheets that matched from a different brand at Tuesday Mornings for $25!
5)Black "bling accents in the bedroom from Hobby Lobby I spent $18-20 on 4 items.
6)Silver vase holding flowers $4 at a garage sale, flowers were about $20 at Hobby Lobby. (looking to find a matching vase to split the flowers and balance them on my husbands nightstand as well.)
7)Tufted storage bench - bday gift from my parents - free for me, about $100 for them, from Amazon.
8)Spray paint for the two white dressers $16 at Home Depot, I used primer and paint by Rustoleum, Glossy White.
9) Gray Benjamin Moore Paint, I can't remember the color, I will work on getting that if anyone is interested. I painted the bedroom in one day, again with the Harmony paint and it was fast drying and could barely tell I painted by smelling! Loved it! I think that was about $35 for paint.

Total was around $493 for the complete bedroom remodel.

Not bad if I do say so myself! Please share your feedback with me!

Now for the giveaway update: Since I have only had a few people enter, I am extending the giveaway until the 21st, there is a blog giveaway starting next week and I will include it there. Share with your friends. Don't worry, these items WILL be given away just 8 more days to wait! :)

Have a great day!

GIRLIE GIRL GIVEAWAY!

2009-07-30T07:53:00.000-07:00

The day is finally here! I have finally got my giveaway items purchased and ready to go. This is my first giveaway and I am so excited!

I am giving away one girlie package containing the following:

Ralph Lauren Romance Sensuous Bath and Shower Gel
Victoria's Secret Pretty in Pink Silkening Body Lotion
World Market Lavender Massage Oil
Pink picture frame
Peony Plum Flower scented candle and bar soap
925 Sterling Silver Rhodium Plated "Diamond" drop earrings
Square Mirror 12" x 12"
-just because I love mirrors and have numerous in my house! :)
*Yes, even the hydrangea bouquet is included!

Because this is my first giveaway I want to give everyone a chance to enter so this contest will close on Thursday, August 13th at 5:00pm.

How to enter:
1) Tell me your favorite post on my blog, give the title and what you liked about it. (mandatory)
2) Follow my blog (this gives you two entries, make sure to post a separate comment stating that you follow.)

3) Blog about this giveaway, link back to it and post a 3rd comment with your post link.
4)Add my button to your blog for one extra entry.

This allows up to 4 entries for this contest!
Good luck to all the entries!

Fabulous Finds!

2009-07-29T07:23:00.001-07:00

What a fun morning in blogland. Isn't it neat when you stumble from one blog to another and discover someone that you know you should be meeting for lunch...unless of course you discover that they may live 2 or 8 states away? I had that happen this morning...
From one followed blog to a link in their post to another link in someone else's post, I can't even follow my footsteps to tell you how I found this adorable blog...Oofa Luffa Le how cute is that? The name is super sweet and I just love finding someone funky, fun, outgoing, and to make it even better...her love of the Lord posted on the page totally draws me in!!! I love that!

She is also hosting a giveaway of some fabulous summer styles! Run over there and check her out! You won't want to miss her blog! :)

My giveaway comes out tomorrow FOR SURE! Get ready!!!!

Sarah

Reflections in the midst of Chaos!

2009-07-28T07:54:00.000-07:00

This summer has been flying by already! I can't believe we are so close to August! My husband and I have been on fairly different schedules because I have been doing a lot of hard labor around the house (painting, staining, organizing, etc.) making us tired at different times and not allowing us our full evening of down time like school provides us when the kids are in bed at 9pm. When you have a 13 year old and 15 year old pleading to stay up until midnight...baseball games ending at 10pm...hanging out at church and rehearsing until almost 10pm on Wednesdays...you get the idea, normalcy is the new rarity!

In reading a beautiful post over at Lola B's is stirred up some feelings for me. I absolutely adore and cherish my husband, but honestly how often do we pour over our wedding vows or think about the first emails/notes/cards we wrote and received in those floating, dreamy first months together. For us it actually did last years where we could lock eyes and disappear into our own world, tearing up as we latched onto each others eyes and knowing each moment together was a blessing! But as the kids get older there is more recognition that they will be grown before we know it and we try to give them priority and a voice. (What a balancing act a family and marriage can be!) So as I read the post from Kasey today, it reminded me of some of the things my husband wrote in his vows. We wrote our own and he had such a way with words that I wished I could rewrite mine quickly and have a "do-over"! I can still remember when he started it and said my name and I got goosebumps! (I will interject here, there is a mention of another child, I was not pregnant, we just knew we were going to have a child together, I was actually chastised quite a bit at my reception by my friends who swore we were keeping a secret, but Kaiden made his appearance 11 months later!)

Here are his vows:

"Sarah, we have been given this Gift of our love for one another. A love built on a Strong foundation of friendship. Together, we discovered the Miracle of our destiny. To be united. You and I, soul mates, now complete as one. The final piece of the puzzle has been found and I am NOW at peace. This journey we have been on has Proven to me that dreams Do come true. My wishes Have been granted. You have given me happiness beyond Anything I could have ever imagined. Our undeniable link and connection has lead us to this day. Today I stand next to you, in offering of my life, my love and my soul. Sarah, I will love you, cherish you and respect you. I will hold you tight and comfort you. I will be a faithful husband, devoted to you, our life and our children, S, B, M and D. And when we are blessed with our New child, I will be by your side everyday. I promise this to you my precious bride, until my last breath. And when I breathe no more and leave this place, I will be waiting for you with open arms, so we may be together again, forever.... I love you"
I am completely emotional again after reading those words again and remembering that day. It seems that we have to track back and remember the beautiful parts of why we are together and bring those pieces with us or they can be forgotten or stowed away in a pretty little box that doesn't do it justice! Today, I hope this inspires you to find a piece of your past that helps you thrive in the present and the future. I know my husband's vows do that for me and I am now realizing I should have these printed and on display somewhere in my house!

Even amidst the chaos of summer, busy life, kids, and the many roles that we play...we need to find the time to reflect on the beautiful journey we have been on in our life.

Much Love! I will be floating for the rest of the day! :)
Sarah

Glimpse Into Reality

2009-07-08T08:56:00.000-07:00

Mine that is! Here are some shots of what I have worked on recently. I hope you will enjoy them!

Here are some views of the hallway and stairwell that I painted two days ago. The acrobatics I did to accomplish this were ridiculous, but I love the new color! I also think I will need to invest in something better than duct tape and a broom handle to get the 12-15ft high ceiling areas from now on!
You can't tell the color on these pics very well, but it has been white for 6 years and I painted it a gorgeous color #7517 China Doll by Sherwin Williams. We used the Harmony paint which I can't say enough about! It dried fast, has NO VOC (harmful chemicals) in it and you could barely tell I was painting, barely a trace of scent at all! I scored majorly on the paint too, I was able to double up on their 30% off sale for the 4th of July plus I had $10 off $50 coupon from the Entertainment Book, so I bought two expensive gallons of paint for $53!

I can't take it...I have to share a sneak peak at our bedroom. Here is an up close peak at our new bedding...

Have a great day!
Sarah

Almost Done!

2009-07-07T21:06:00.000-07:00

I am so excited to tell you all that I will be unveiling our bedroom remodel within the next week! I really think you girls are going to love it! I am waiting on the chandelier because I need someone electrical to help us out, so that last step will be the lingering change...

In other news, Dakota is prepping and learning many things for his upcoming California trip for Scout High Adventure this year. He is going to so many cool places! Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, San Fransisco, Alcatraz...I am really wishing I would have believed that God would have provided someone to watch my youngest so I could have tagged along. BUT I believe this will be another growing experience of seeing my boy go off and become a young man in a short amount of time!

We are finally done with birthdays, Father's Day, end of the school year parties, and now the 4th of July. It should be a relief but I am feeling like summer is gone all of a sudden!? Why is it as a mom you have to learn to shop for swimsuits while wearing long sleeves, purchase back to school clothes in July, school supplies too...and spend August exhausted knowing the kids are busy, headed back to school and wondering if they actually got a full vacation from it all?

I have been so anxious to finally get the virtual school computer and curriculum shipped out to confirm that we are standing on our own two feet for homeschooling. We barely touched them last schoolyear at all but there was a glitch in their system and they didn't send us labels so we had the supplies all year long even though we withdrew in October. As exciting as it will be to put back up our own computer and make more space with our own curriculum, it is also making me realize I need to find time to start planning out my curriculum but at the same time trying to enjoy swimming and outdoor activities with my kids! I am praying that God will guide me on what to keep and what to use throughout the year next year. I have also been very blessed with people sharing supplies and older books and such, that helps tremendously!

What a busy, busy summer! What are you busy doing this summer? I have stained, painted a hallway into a vaulted ceiling stairwell, planted, weeded, mowed, sold things on craigslist, cleaned part of our basement, taken a ton of things to goodwill, shared clothes with girlfriends for their kids instead of donating them or selling them. Seems like I have been doing a lot of work all of a sudden! :)

I will be posting pics in the next few days and I WILL finally be doing my first giveaway! Sorry for the letdown a few months back, I just couldn't get it together with everything we had going on!!

More soon!
Sarah

Home Decor Choices

2009-07-02T17:40:00.001-07:00

I am so anxious to show you all pictures of our bedroom remodel, but we haven't painted yet! I should tease you but with painting needing to be done and a bench that is possibly on the way from my parents, I will wait. I will ask...
Gray/White bedding, black silk curtains, gray walls, silver accents, black bench...what color should I paint my pine nightstands??? I am between white and black??? I am really anxious to give this a shot and hopefully have it turn out great using spray paint! The nightstands do have plastic inserts that I can't get out of the drawer, so you can see the stuff inside...wondering if I could rough sand them and paint them liquid silver or something...ideas are stirring. What do they say to you? Or maybe white with the gray insert or black with gray...
That one can be done fairly easy next week so I need some aid in choosing colors, what stands out nice to you?

I did think I should take a minute and share a recent pic, my husband was majorly appreciative when he took these pictures and realized it isn't every wife that will let you set up in your rec room/computer area....

Have you ever done anything that you looked back on and realized what did I sign up for? That was kind of my initial reaction after I saw all the gear set up next to my computer desk! :)

Sarah

Past Winnings

2009-07-02T09:35:00.001-07:00

Due to my computer going down after Easter, I realized I didn't get a chance to post a great win. I won some beautiful stationary note cards from The Note House.
Go check out her website, it is hard to choose! Even winning my choice was tough to pick one that I liked the most!

Recently, I am excited to share that I also won a contest at the IE Mommy, you can find her button on my side bar. I won a free shirt for boys/men from 191 Unlimited in my choice of size. Not sure which one they will send me, but I am anxious to get it and add to my boys back to school collection of clothes. My husband actually vetoed the shirt saying he doesn't do designs, which is something I know of him, stripes are about as decorative as he gets! :) I really hope we win one of these:

God also blessed us recently, my husband bought new drum heads for his drum set and then asked if he could get new sticks for our "gig" coming up this weekend. I asked him to wait and then on Father's Day after get home from church we have a msg on our answering machine....Guitar Center called to say I had a $20 gift certificate waiting for me. It ended up just being because I was on their customer list for some reason, but we were able to get his expensive sticks (3 pair) for $8! That is SO God! :)

Just wanted to share to remind everyone to keep entering those contests! You never know when or what you might win, but it won't happen if you don't enter! :)

Have a great day!
Sarah

Summer Breeze

2009-07-01T07:28:00.000-07:00

(Is it just me or is there something so beautiful about his teacher's hair, numerous moms mentioned how much they liked her hair!)

This past week has flown by! Kaiden thoroughly enjoyed his time at Vacation Bible School...the cutest memories are hearing him sing the songs and doing the motions. Seeing him dressed up in his robe although I rarely got a chance to get his picture. Then my favorite was him coming home not once but twice with fresh made bread that he sprinkled cinnamon, sugar, honey and garlic powder on. Uhm, yum. This is not representation of how I cook, honest! We just realized the first time he did it we thought it was so funny, we forgot to tell him those don't work together! Whoops!!

As I went to pick up Dakota from Scout Camp on Sunday all I could think of was Goofy saying his infamous line from The Goofy Movie..."That's My Boy! Huck yuck!" There was my son who had turned 11 that day, but actually did seem older, more mature, covered in dirt, tired, a little sunburned, with new bandages and wounds but so at ease with himself. He came back to me a new boy. I fought back tears as he lined up with his troop and they all used teamwork to get the trailers unloaded, teasing, helping, mustering up strength they barely had left. Once they finished unloading and grabbing a piece of equipment to take home to clean, Dakota walked over and put him head into my neck and chest and breathed "Hi Mom" into my ear like he was little again. The emotion I felt at that very moment can't be expressed in words! Although I had been busy all week with Kaiden, my heart swelled and overwhelmed me. It was his birthday after all, but a big part of me wanted to take off with him alone for the day to enjoy this new boy that had come home...

but alas there were balloons, notes and brothers and dad at home to greet and celebrate with so that was not an option! Sigh!
We had two birthdays this weekend...Bennett turned 13 and he received a bunch of clothes as he has grown and asked for them. He also received the workbench he asked for. My husband was super responsive and actually mounted our Yakima in the garage when I asked him to so we have room in the basement now for the workbench area! Yay!

This week has been filled with another birthday, my girlfriend Angi. So we brought gifts and food to her house and spend a fabulous day Monday with her and of course her fabulous puppies! Even better, my husband came out after work and held puppies and celebrated her day as well! Here are more pictures of the puppies because I know they are so hard to resist!!! They are getting big and doing little growls in their sleep now! So precious!!!

I am so in love with him and add a puppy and my heart soars!

This weekend our worship band is playing an outdoor event at a church for a few hours. Keep your prayers with us that our performance goes well and reaches many.

Hectic Vacation

2009-06-25T06:33:00.000-07:00

Doesn't that seem about right? Wow, I have one son off to Scout camp, three sons off to a cabin with their grandfather on the other side of their family, and one left at home for 5 days. This week should have been open, relaxing, calm and the complete scheduling up to the little guy...

Somehow it seems like things always happen or need to be done though. We have had birthday errands for the two birthdays happening this weekend. Things to buy, take back, pick up, etc. We were able to visit our friend whose dog just had amazingly beautiful little puppies. It was a good visit *(with the puppies). Give me a baby or a puppy and I have tunnel vision the entire time for them. *sigh* But thankfully, today we are off to help a friend clean her house to prepare for family to visit...and to see those precious puppies again! Our best plan though is once that is finished, taking the kids to a great swimming location where you can actually take your rafts, floaties and whatever else you have. I can't wait to go and hopefully spend some of this pent up energy for both of us! I will just pray that between the children's museum, wrapping gifts, decorating the house and cleaning tomorrow we will get everything done so that the birthday boy who is turning 13 will walk into the house surprised and happy!

Kaiden has thankfully enjoyed Vacation Bible School every night this week and can't wait to go! Even better was having one of the teachers tell me how awed she was with how much he knew about God and his love and so many other things. She told me he is very special and God has a plan for him for sure. Confirmation from yet another person. It can be hard to be humble and recognize that while he is MY son, he is God's child that HE is imparting wisdom and hunger for his Word. It is not because of Me! We have had numerous people tell us over the years that he is special and God has a plan for him. I get very excited when I think about him growing up only because I can't wait to see what God has in store for him! He is the child that will approach people at the grocery store openly and say Do you know Jesus? His love is free and he can heal anything! His childlike open faith is a constant reminder to me of how we should be.

I just wanted to share a piece of my week with you all. My new bedding came in and that is put on and luscious! My husband loves it and now wants black carpet in our bedroom....uhm I told him we will wait until after we paint and see what happens. I have furniture to paint and rearrange and need to buy some new decor items as some no longer match. I will get pictures up by next week of the changes.

Have a great day!
Sarah

Fabulous Birthday!

2009-06-18T07:18:00.000-07:00

Wow! I am just so happy STILL from the amazing birthday I had yesterday! My husband had a zillion notes (okay that is exaggerating) but there were a lot, all over the bathroom mirror for me to wake up and read. I had my parents call and sing to me each on their way to work. I snuggled in bed flipping through Domino magazines to verify bedroom ideas, then read to my snugglebug Kaiden.

After a barrage of emails, texts and facebook comments I felt like a Princess! (I have never been big on being a Queen, I guess because my name means Princess I cling to that vision!) ;) My husband took off half the day to surprise me with streamers, balloons, cake, flowers, presents and a day of shopping. He is amazing and such a wonderful man! I am so blessed with him! I also took him to heart and literally shopped for hours!!! He was great at helping pick out curtains, rods, bedding, sheets, unmentionables at Victoria's Secret, candles, clothes at the Limited and continuously saying "Go For It"!

I will post pics of my new sheets very soon! I got them at a steal for $25 (at Tuesday Morning's) and they will match the new bedding set I was longing for and found tucked deep into google on craigslist brand new for $245!!! WOW!!!

I am so excited about everything I got and how it all fell into place. I truly felt God's favor because I have sensed for 2 weeks now that my bedroom plans would fall into place on my birthday but I didn't imagine how easy it would be! The ONE pair of gray floral just happened to be at Tuesday Morning and they just happened to be Queen and cheaper than any other set there! The curtains we wanted they "just happened" to have the only 4 panels we needed in stock and on sale. They "just happened" to have the new Victoria's Secret candles that I love on sale for buy 2 get 1 free and I "just happened" to have two coupons, so it cost me barely more than two candles to get 3 and 4 new pairs of undies. I am just one of those girls that has learned to recognize where that "just happened" feeling comes from...my God is mighty and he cares about all things that I care about! Even saving money, having pretties, matching things up and knowing he directed it all like a beautiful orchestra just amazes me! :)

Inspired and Desired!

2009-06-17T10:02:00.000-07:00

Finally! I woke up this morning and I had clarity and vision! Maybe it is because it is my birthday and I realized I can want things and actually get them! :) But whatever it is...I found a fairly clear vision of what I want in my bedroom...I still need to pick the shade of gray for the paint, but this is the general idea. I will be shopping with hubby today but a lot of these things I think I am settled on what I want and getting them. Then it will be the painting and rearranging dressers and accents in our bedroom that will finalize the look! What do you think? I am getting so excited to actually buy paint and change things for the better! :)

We actually only need the chandelier which my girlfriend plans to buy me for my birthday present...then the bench which my mom plans to buy me also for my birthday. Then bedding which I found on ebay and craigslist in the size I need and NEW! Yeah! The nightstand tables I already have that are exactly like that, I might either paint the wood black and then paint the inserts silver or wondered about painting them with chalkboard paint in the insert as well? Might not be very downtown glamorous though, so maybe the silver is better! Then the last thing to get is the paint and the curtains which I plan to go check out at JCP today, they say they are light blocking which would be nice. I am considering since they are simple ring top panels that I might buy a piece of black or silver faux silk to add some shimmer as a valance over the top or sew it to the bottom to add drapery to the floor.

I am so excited!!! Thanks for following me on my journey and sorry if it has been boring to see nothing happen, if you think you were going crazy...just think about looking at it blankly every day wanting it changed and having no vision! ;)

Yay!!!!

Amazing Contest!

2009-06-15T08:58:00.000-07:00

There is a contest happening right now, don't miss your opportunity to enter! You could win a $100 gift certificate to Kasey's fabulous shop Lola B's Boutique where you could get items like these:

or your choice of one of these fabulous pillows from Sa-Sea Boutique like the one above or these:

As you can tell, I am partial to the French themed ones! Be still my heart! I Love French style!
So many great things to choose from, good luck!!!

Here is the link to enter: HERE

Stain Stain Go Away...

2009-06-12T14:27:00.000-07:00

So, I quit blogging about it and finally got outside yesterday for almost 5 hours and stained about 1/4 of our fence. Whew! I am thrilled that we went from this:

to this:

I still have plenty to do tomorrow, Monday and possibly Tuesday. I know many of you are thinking don't you have 5 boys that could help? Depends on what you mean by help? If you mean they are available to complain, compare who has the best brush, wait until their brother is staining to even get their brush wet and then randomly discover when you come in the house that partial pieces of wood have been lightly or darkly stained...then yes I do. But if you mean to help make it match the work I have already done, then no I don't. So, while I braved the sun and got a dark sunburn on my shoulders and neck yesterday, I march on towards the finally finished fence for another 3 years...

In other news, since today threatens rain tonight I couldn't enjoy the cloudy perfect weather staining, so it found me buying dog food and finding garage sales. I so badly wanted to be a feature writer that found a perfect furniture piece for $1, painted it and made it fabulous for another $2 investment and totally stole the blog show for the day. But alas, today was not that day. I did see some cheap furniture and even had a woman offer to go lower on some pretty wicker shelves in various sizes that were already marked $20! I was so tempted, picturing the can of black spray paint ready in my basement but then the horrible issue of WHERE DO I PUT IT comes in!

I was able to score some like new Nike snowboard pants for my oldest son for $7, a Home and Garden urn for $2 shown here and it even came with freshly cut peonies that actually match my living room, be still my heart!!!!

I found some clothes that were $.50 and $.75 in perfect condition that I am reselling on craigslist. Plus, I found flowers at two different garage sales for $.10/bunch to $.50/bunch. Faux flowers are my favorite, but I prefer when they look real and believable! When they look fake I pass! I found some perfect for fall and a few white ones I have added around the house. Add in a new American Eagle t-shirt for me for $.50 and a pretty girly white ruffled jacket for $2 and I had a successful day! It is currently in the dryer, I might just wear it to church on Sunday and even for our family portraits outside on Sunday!!!

I need advice...what should we do for our outdoor family portraits? Regular clothes? All black? Certain colors? White and black? I need ideas, we are going to a lush green area outside near a pond and weeping willow where we have gotten fabulous pictures before.

Have a great weekend!

That was Random!

2009-06-11T06:47:00.000-07:00

Do you remember the slang or "key phrases" you used when you were growing up? I can think of a ton of them! Psych! There was also Doi! Of course everyone knows the famous "valley girl" talk of "Like, Oh My God!" Or just adding "Like" to every sentence you say! Then there was the "Whatever" phase. I am sure if I just looked up a few sitcoms I used to watch I could easily find more, I was born just a little late to be into the "What's Happening" and "hey, hey, hey Fat Albert" days. There was still a little "cool", "jiving", and oh yea at the end of my teen years it seems that is when "fat" came into play, which was quickly changed to "phat"....

In googling oh my goodness here come the memories...ready? "Gag me with a spoon", "Bogus", "That was the bomb", "butt ugly", "airhead", "Chill"--oh man did we over use that!!!!!
"have a cow", "Fresh", "Totally", "tubular dude", "wannabe", "veg", "stoked", "wicked". Wow, now that I want to lace up my high top Reeboks with my two pairs of socks, throw a banana clip in my hair, eat a ring pop, wear a shirt hanging off one shoulder thrown over a pair of shorts you can't even tell I am wearing and head to the skating rink....I will compose myself and remember that I don't own those things anymore so it would cost a lot of money on ebay or searching at goodwill to embarrass my husband with that kind of motif, so I move on...

I bring these things up to share a wonderful time in my children's life right now, they are finding terms to share constantly. One of course that doesn't amuse me at all is the loosely used "what the heck?" Uhm, do people not recognize what this is quickly getting our kids to utter? Maybe I am old fashioned but I was raised where heck was as bad as he-double hockey sticks and we didn't say that! Another one that has entered into our household is when someone says something the response is a big "Wow!" Which often in our house has been "Wow, Dad!" So when my husband does something silly I often say "WoW, Dad!" to him.

Last night, I had a great time taking Dakota to the grocery store after church at around 9:30pm. It was my double coupon/last day of the sale day to shop, so I always go Wednesday nights. We spent an hour shopping, laughing and my favorite part was how we kept trying to top each other with the "latest and greatest phrase" "RANDOM" I am not sure where this came from but it is actually quite amusing when the kids use it. Say my 5 year old Kaiden all of a sudden asks about wasps in the backseat of the van while we are on the way to the grocery store or whatever, then after he finishes the discussion you hear..."That was random". I am not sure why, but because of the newness I die laughing every time. So, last night meandering through aisles, teasing my son, grabbing good deals and even getting a chance to embarrass him--as I loudly announced "Dakota those teenage girls are over THERE did you want to go talk to them?" He and I both died laughing because of course I didn't say it loud enough for them to hear but acted like they could and they were being so loud there was no chance they were listening! We unloaded groceries and raced to call things random. What a fun time with my son who is about to be 11 years old. I truly cherish that we have this closeness and that he can joke and relax with me even at a grocery store!

So today, look for something that is random and call it out and see if you don't laugh as you utter the phrase!

P.S. I also have to add one last funny note about last night, we flipped through the radio stations on the way home as the dj talked about barhopping and was about to utter a few explicit remarks so I flipped the station quickly. Dakota said, "Mom, what is bar hopping? Basically, just going to a bar and hopping around?" To which I replied, "Yes, son, these are the horrible things in the world that I am trying to shield you from, you can get really hurt hopping all night long, maybe break an ankle, I just shudder at the thought!" To which we laughed for 5 blocks until we drove into the garage! Wow, that was random!

Have a great day!

Summer Time is almost here!

2009-06-10T08:54:00.000-07:00

Doesn't this picture make you crave summer? I am so anxious for summer this year...no idea why. I think I have delusions that I will meet all my favorite online blogging friends in IL, that the rooms I desperately want painted will just happen overnight, my basement will quit laughing at me everytime I mention that I will get it downsized and actually have that stick for longer than a month...etc, etc.

What are you looking forward to this summer? I love grilling and BBQing, I am from Kansas City where we know to rival tastes because we do meat WELL!!! On top of my mom's fabulous "summer salad" that was always so good that I would eat half of it with my fingers before the BBQ was done! The smell of sunscreen is the best thing in the world even though I HATE using it--it is good on the kids though! I prefer the light sunscreen that allows me to attempt to get color on my transparent Wisconsin body! Yes, that's right, there are ghosts in WI, but it is actually just the people who have been hibernating for 6 months out of the year...you can see right through them! LOL

I am making my lists, filling my calendar, anxiously ready to have the sun warm me, read the numerous books I have stocked up on, revamp that bedroom and get it off my mind, stain our fence the RIGHT color--argh had a mistake happen after I got 1/4 of it done a couple months ago! Numerous other things come to mind...what are you doing?

My favorite revelation so far this year has come directly from God who reminded me of the late summer when my children will whine and say it is too hot to even swim outside and beg to sit indoors. Which is when I will make up for our spring fling time where we pushed our schoolbooks aside and went out and basked in the perfect air and gardened. Where we rode bikes and played with the dog all day. Many studies say that boys need to be outdoors more, so I figured my two were advanced for all the time they were getting outside to be...BOYS!

I think I will pick up some strawberries and make a strawberry lemonade and hit Home Depot for some paint samples, sounds like a good start to me!

Recipe Share!

2009-06-10T08:10:00.000-07:00

Wow, so I just happened to pick up some Barilla Orzo pasta on a buy 1 get 1 free sale months ago. I had no idea how to prepare it, it had a soup recipe on the back...but now that it is almost summer my kids aren't big on soup! Sooo, what to do, what to do? I was dying to try something new (hey I just rhymed!).

In honor of my dear friend moving away to attend Rhema Bible College, we had her over and I pulled out the orzo pasta at the last minute and decided I would google and find "something". I thawed chicken breasts and had fresh spinach from our trip to the Amish country on Friday. Low and behold I found a recipe that I enjoyed so much I made it two nights in a row!!!

The kids LOVED IT! So I have to share it here!

Recipe:
* 1 cup uncooked orzo pasta (I just used a box)
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 2 cloves garlic
* 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
* 2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into bite-size pieces
* salt to taste
* 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
* 2 cups fresh spinach leaves
* grated Parmesan cheese for topping

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add orzo pasta, cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until al dente, and drain.

2. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat, and cook the garlic and red pepper 1 minute, until garlic is golden brown. Stir in chicken, season with salt, and cook 2 to 5 minutes, until lightly browned and juices run clear. Reduce heat to medium, and mix in the parsley and cooked orzo. Place spinach in the skillet. Continue cooking 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until spinach is wilted. Serve topped with Parmesan cheese.

Here is the link to recipe so you can have it made into a printable card or what have you. RECIPE LINK I got loose with the measurements because I was cooking for 8 people so I made 6-7 chicken breasts and sliced them into bite sized pieces before I cooked them, then I used numerous sprinkles of garlic powder instead of actual garlic--less after stink for people I think. I made the box of orzo which amazingly fed all of us with some having seconds! If you are the type of cook that can do it by smell, then don't measure, smell what you need...that is what I did . I loved how the crushed red pepper were completely undetected in this recipe! You actually enjoy the wilted pieces of spinach in it so use more than less. This recipe was fabulous and I served it with Vienna sliced bread from the bakery--yum so soft and perfect with a little butter! I also served spring mix/standard lettuce and butter lettuce mixed and had numerous dressings offered but my favorite is the Tuscan Italian by Kraft. This was a fabulous meal and I hope you enjoy it and add it to your recipe box soon! :)

I will be posting a few things this week so keep up with me! :)
Have a great day!

Project Thoughts

2009-06-03T09:10:00.000-07:00

We have had a busy week, the wake, a full blown birthday celebration weekend for our first of 4 birthdays in June! But...I am still heavily thinking about my bedroom project. I am starting to tread on new thoughts and ideas but a little fearful of the outcome and pull together.

I keep being drawn to a taupe or muted gray with brown. Shocking right? Kind of a different color scheme to put together, but I keep seeing subtle things that tell me it will work...like my Kleenex box, there was also something in the movie "He's Just Not That Into You" that triggered me to see that maybe it is a new trend. I have the past success of being ahead of my time with my taste, but my insecurity often keeps me from acting until I know people are onboard! :)

SO here are some thoughts, painting my black metal bedframe silver or white???
I have a mirror that I love, but I am contemplating...decoupage or fabric overlay to cover the design on it with a neat paper or something? It did occur to me that I need to find an inexpensive glaze as I was picturing using the diamond glaze I use for tile necklaces but that is super pricey and also would be a huge pain with the bubbles and making sure they didn't appear! Hmmm...rustoleum happen to carry a clear shiny glaze? I am hoping to go for a glam type look in our bedroom that makes you feel Chicago uptown/sexy married (with NO kids) and luxurious. I saw a picture recently that totally brought out that feeling for me and sure enough, gray room....
Who would want a gray bedroom? I guess me???

Throughout the post click on the pictures so you can see the full details, sorry some of them are too big..

No, I am not blind, I know this isn't gray or silver, but I noticed that I like the tucked in look of the curtains, not sure if it would shorten my ceiling too much, but I also like the installed mini lights above them. There is a olive silk shimmer fabric I contemplated getting to make the curtains you can see below in my other post, wondering if I could do something like that to bring out some shimmer in other places in the room. This is getting to be a fun mental process! :)

Be still my heart...wouldn't you love to have this wallpaper? Sigh!

Hmmm...maybe a cheap option would be to adhere cut mirrors to my existing nightstands in the place where is it white panels. Hmm...I can also paint them white or black and add new knobs--something I haven't spent anytime in the past doing on any of our dressers!
WOW! Look at the feel of these colors in the space together! This is so inspirational...

This gives me hope for a chandelier in our bedroom too...only $40 at Ikea!

or this one from Target for $59:

This is my favorite so far though...at a consignment store right near my house!! Gorgeous! Hmm...what will my husband think?

I would love any feedback and ideas, these things are starting to flow better as I spend more time on it! :)

Have a great day!
Sarah

The Value of Life

2009-05-29T08:35:00.001-07:00

It is with a heavy heart that I post today to let you know that a dear friend of my husband lost his son just two days ago. While I can't imagine the pain of losing a child, there is the added pain of having numerous articles about it, it is heavily talked about right now as they are doing an autopsy and trying to figure out the reason.

We are going to the wake tonight and I am not sure how to look at our friends and express my sorrow with them for their loss. Please keep their family in your prayers. This has truly been an eye-opening experience for my husband as well as he looks at our 5 boys and realizes how precious the value of life truly is and what it would mean to lose one child is just devastating.

Here is one of the articles recently published on the incident: Article.

May we never take a day for granted and forget to tell our loved ones what they mean to us.

Project Obsession

2009-05-28T09:16:00.000-07:00

Home Inspiration by shaeded on Polyvore.com

Well it has been months now that I have been putting my thoughts to our bedroom remodel. We have had the lightest shade of lavender in there for 5.5 years now. While that is a favorite color of mine I am so over it! But as I creep into warm and neutral color territory the fear comes over me...will I miss the airy, light feel of my bedroom? Will it be too dark? Will it even match? Argh!

I hate decorating challenges because I am not independently wealthy so "running out and getting a new bed" is not an option for me. I am so tempted to paint my Ikea bedframe that is super supportive and wonderful--and black---either a silver color or even white? I don't know what to do! I truly need some decorating minds to help me come up with the details that will make this room 'not perfect to be beautiful' as our dear nester has taught us all.

It has literally gotten to the point of obsession with me, I want to make the changes and get things done NOW...and then it rains again and I can't have my windows open which doesn't allow me to go buy paint and start! I know that gray is becoming a popular color and I am considering Gray now as well, since I don't have a single thing defined yet, why not add more confusion to chaos right? :)

If you didn't read my original posts months ago about the remodel, my starting factor came from finding some gorgeous fabric at Hobby Lobby that I envisioned making my own curtains out of and changing our room to a lush, sanctuary for adults only (mostly). The fabric is a rich brown with other neutral accents tied in.
Here is the fabric:

Here is another item that I have pictures getting for our bedroom, because it is a photographers website I can't copy and paste it, so you have to click through here to see it...www.lidgardphotography.com

Here are some pictures of my room, please help me get some clarity here on what will match! I actually paid retail for the Pottery Barn lights so I cring at the thought of painting them. I currently have 3 mirrors in my bedroom, I am realizing my love for mirrors...and you know what else? Amy at Maisy's Market has another one that I want too!!! I won't link to it, I might make it a birthday present for me, so you have to wait to see it!!!

I am starting to wonder based off of my tastes in the polyvore board I played with today if I should be sticking to a soft neutral palate. Can grays/taupe/cream/black/silver and a little dash of white work together? I have the nightstand shown in the picture, although mine are pine, wondering if I should paint them white like the ones shown in the polyvore pic above. (They are from Ikea) I am off to get more pictures posted of my bedroom. Once I get this all together, I am truly hoping for inspiration and finality to this decision! I want a new room badly! My husband asked me what I want for my upcoming birthday and I said my bedroom to be redone...his face went blank and he said..."honey, what materialistic thing can I get you for your birthday?" He definitely knows that until I finalize this decision it will haunt me to change! LOL

What are your immediate thoughts? I am finding that I love color but I am so drawn to faded neutrals too...you can see my bedding is a soft taupe/cream/sage already. But of course at this rate that might change too...

Spring Thoughts

2009-05-22T07:00:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had a very Happy Mother's Day! This was my best moment that day, when my 5 year old came in after saying "I look good" and checking himself out in the mirror. Then running back upstairs with the card he made me. Oh how that blessed my heart!

I am really sorry for not blogging recently. I have been working on not being a computer zombie since we got the system revamped and back online. What a mess things were for a while trying to get tons of paperwork settled and sorted. I would take a bag to the library for a full month filled with bills, papers and other random things I needed to look up and take care of online. It really goes to show how much the internet helps us but also keeps us so busy! You know what I have discovered in my mini-internet break though? I am becoming more willing to get outdoors, appreciating and touching my flowers and plants daily. Gardening on my own is amazing, refreshing and breathing life in me! Here is a picture of some of my flowers I so proudly grew!

Something I recognized a long time ago is that I often feel like I fall short in so many ways. I am betting I am not the only one. A dear friend of mine loaned a book on cd called Captivating and it is really opening my eyes to who I am created to be in Christ. I grew up believing that if I thought I was beautiful that was vanity, so if I was ever complimented I would reject the information so as to not get a "big head". It was a couple of years ago that another precious friend of mine sent me the girliest, prettiest, pinkest birthday package I had ever received in my life. It was amazing what that gift did to me...it brought me to tears recognizing that while I longed to be a girly girl, I had rejected that side of myself. I cried for days and touched and longed at the box of pretties wondering how I was worthy, wondering where that femininity had been tucked away and how long it had been missing. I wore a beautiful white dress on my wedding day and felt lovely, but I wasn't a girly girl. I had two children that God blessed me to bear but I wasn't (in my eyes) a beautiful example of a woman. How do we get to this place?

We can blame a lot of factors especially these days with every magazine saying Hey, do it better, be more disciplined, do it in 7 days, lose weight, keep your looks, stay fit, cook a meal, roll your eyes at your husband because YOU do it all! Isn't that what society points us to these days? We don't need those husbands other than to help us buy the things WE want and of course to heat up the bed every night. I want to encourage you ladies, protect your marriage, it is being sought after by so many angles these days! My heart cries out to the younger generations as the girls are becoming the leaders in relationships only because they are missing out on the true treasure God has for us...to be sought after, romanced, loved, protected and not have the hunter instincts that he gave more to men than to women. My husband was the first man, admittedly, that I gave absolutely NO signals to about my feelings. I had finally come to the realization that I needed to be sought after, longed for and needed. My husband is a very outgoing man but when it comes to women he is shy. This was a huge step for him to take because he wanted me so much he moved out of his comfort zone to pursue me. Amazing isn't it? We believe that we need to help fix things, but in this very scenario while I wondered if I was worth it, indeed if you want something bad enough, you will do anything to get it. My husband sheepishly asked to hold my hand. He kissed me and then walked away because I am sure it was about all he had in him to be bold enough to walk up to me and do that out of the blue.

But do you want to know the most important factor in all of that? Being pursued made me feel loved in such greater ways than simply having him say it to me after I said it first. We have a strength in our marriage that I know God instilled because we were meant to be together. We also have a covenant in our marriage because for the first time we both felt like we had a relationship that was the way God intended it...

While getting off on that I have to share with you that there have been some major things happening in our lives right now. Some good friends of ours very quickly went from a 20 year marriage to a devastating relationship ordeal that is messy, heartbreaking and pains ME even though it isn't my marriage. It hurts to see how badly things in people's lives can get and how quickly it can happen as well. While we try to counsel them and support, there is no line to know where to befriend and where to back off and stay out of it. At the same time, our blended family has gone through some worldly opposition I will say. Which has shifted our family dynamic a bit with our teenager and his "rights". Not to mention younger siblings observing and losing respect for the family as well, making us as parents work harder, feel completely unappreciated and detached. In the midst of all of that, instead of blogging, I have been working hard to stay connected with my husband and scriptures to stand on to keep us rooted in our foundation of faith and not wavering with the circumstances.

I am truly believing that God is with us through these trials and heartaches. I ask for your prayer to support us right now and please be patient as I do still have big plans for this blog and events to come. We just have some things to focus on right now that we need to prioritize.

We are thankful that this weekend we are headed to KC to see my family and visit my grandmothers again. They are 80 and 90 so we have gone 3 times this year so far to visit them. I will return to blogging next week. I hope you all have a wonderful long weekend, get outdoors, enjoy creation, enjoy your family and thank God for men and women that have fought for our freedom.

Many Blessings!
Sarah

Pink & Green Swap

2009-05-13T12:14:00.001-07:00

I recently joined a swamp hosted by Sarah at Blue Castle. It was a blast to build up anticipation and meet a new friend online. I was paired with Stacy who lives about 30 minutes away from me, how wild!

I sent her a package that you can see pictures of at her website. I didn't think to take pictures before I mailed it and I was so excited to get my package...I ate the fabulous homemade ginger snaps she made me before I got a picture of them too...whoops! It was a wonderful swap and I thoroughly enjoyed sending and receiving the packages! Thank you so much Stacy!!! I hope we can continue to get to know each other and meet up at some point as well!!

Here are some pics of the wonderful items she sent me...
Her homemade Strawberry Vanilla Hand Scrub which you can find at her etsy shop allsugaredup. It came just like this and works wonderfully and smells great! I love the packaging idea, just adorable!
She also included some darling glass magnets she made, a raspberry lemonade scented candle, Rose scented bath salts, pink polka dot tissues-adorable, some fabulous pink and green blank notecards in a darling velum envelope, freezer labels which are so genius I can't even take it! The adorable "enjoy your life" notebook and the rose design headwrap towel along with the darling pail full of cookies that have already disappeared somewhere--hmmm... ;)

This was a hugely fun event and I completely enjoyed it! I hope you enjoyed seeing the swap items shown here. Click on the picture to see the up close details of the items she sent me.
Stay tuned, I hope to have a giveaway posted by the end of this week!!! Yay!!
Sarah

Getting Back in the swing of things + some giveaways

2009-05-05T10:06:00.000-07:00

There are some great things out there right now to win, enter and especially discover for moms for Mother's Day!

You can check out this Kleenex Anti-Viral Tissues & Visa Giveaway contest ending May 15th at STL Mommy. I really enjoy her website and the variety of things she shares!

Fabulous burlap table runner giveaway! I want it!!! Here is a pic of what is offered in this giveaway. Click here to go enter. This was made by Grace and you can view her etsy shop coastline.

Tori Amos is offering a free gift for Mother's Day here.

Target is offering things in various states, you can look for your state here.

Great giveaway for 100 days 100 items given away here at lecreuset.

On Wednesday, May 6, you can get a FREE 8 by 10 photo at Walgreens.com! Use coupon code MOTHER to get the freebie online. If you want to get the freebie in store, click here to get a printable coupon for your free photo.

Right now you can get 25 free music downloads! Get your free downloads at this link here.

Here are some financial articles from various blogs participating in a carnival right now here.

Last but definitely not least, the contest for the DaySpring giveaway at We Are That Family ends tomorrow. Run over and enter!

I will be back tomorrow. Have a great day!

Sarah

Our computer is healed! :)

2009-05-04T13:12:00.000-07:00

Boy, over a month of little/no contact...the struggles, the dilemma's of homework occasionally, no recipe connections, no spur of the moment movie reviews--that one was huge, we rented a few movies that were just horrible with no knowledge, I regret seeing them!!! What a blessing the internet truly is to our daily life!

I do have to highly recommend a movie that we did thoroughly enjoy..Faith Like Potatoes. What a fabulous and real movie, I actually took a lot from it as did my husband! I am also reading a fabulous book called The Power of a Praying Wife. I highly recommend reading that, I got my copy through the library but it is so good that I have a copy on hold at Family Christian Books to pick up today.

I will be working to get a few giveaways together in the very near future. I apologize for my long absence. I also plan to do a post about some of the things God taught me during my "no access" days.

I hope you are all doing well and I can't wait to start hearing from everyone again!!!

Sarah

Exciting News!!!

2009-05-01T13:45:00.000-07:00

Our computer is fixed! We are expecting a new modem in the next few days and then I will be back online with a newer and happier CPU! I am so excited! I can't wait to get back in the mix with my wonderful online friends!!!

Check out my updates and keep watching, I will be hosting a giveaway soon too!!!
I can't wait to be back! :)

Have a great weekend!
Sarah

Our Update!

2009-04-22T14:30:00.000-07:00

I know I have been missing for about a month now! :( I have greatly missed blogging, talking with all my friends throughout the day and simply having the capability to look up ANYTHING when I want! But...I just wanted to share what has been happening away from the screen...

My son worked hard and earned himself just around $100 by selling flowers through Scouts, which will go towards his California trip he is taking this summer! He is thrilled!!!

We have been out daily watching the bulbs I planted last fall peek their sprouts above the surface to check out the scenery, to becoming gorgeous full green leafy plants with the flowers starting to rise out of them! What an exciting time! My girlfriend in CA sent me peonies for my birthday last year and I planted them just before the weather turned and the stems are now 4" out of the ground! It is all very exciting for me, since I never thought I could grow anything!!! :) My hyacinths are almost fully up and there are other bulbs I don't even remember what else I planted now!

We went to KC to see my family for Easter weekend, we actually went out a day or so early so that we could really utilize our time at my grandma's house. Turns out it was a total God idea because she ended up in the hospital just days before for high blood pressure. She got out just a day before we got there. We went to clean her house and help her finally get things taken to donate and give her some relief. My dad didn't realize how easy it would actually be, we got rid of two chairs and two vanloads full of stuff in about 24 hours. My dad was exhausted! He said he wasn't used to this much physical labor, I said now that he knew the issue it was time to find a resolution to that problem! I was thrilled with the things we were able to do for my grandma and plan to help her again when we go down again for Memorial weekend. Since she is 90 we are all starting to realize that we need to make the time while we have it!!!

In the meantime, I hit a garage sale recently and scored a like new Pier One table to replace the broken one I hated in our rec room...it only cost me $17! Yay! Then I hit Pier One itself yesterday to browse and discovered a unique table that ended up being even more on sale, so I bought it and thought we will see...it was $49 down from like $199 and it had been marked $59! yay! Well the big kicker is that my husband LOVES it!!!

Yesterday I did the goodwill, savers runs to return shorts the boys said didn't fit or they didn't like and ended up getting a lovely glass cake stand with a dome lid, more shorts for the boys to try on and best of all some like new hiking boots for our 12 year old for the hiking trip they are taking in mid-May! Talk about timing!!! We have 4 pair of hiking boots but they are all too small for everyone in our family now! Craigslist time I think! :)

Well, I just wanted to give some glimpses of things happening here. Other than a lot of time outdoors and playing with the kids and the dog, I have missed you all. I am thinking of you daily and I can't wait until our restore disk is found or replaced so I can be back online...

But in all of this I think that God showed me a lot, beginning with what is my most important priority, time with my family. Especially seeing that with the spent with my grandma recently!

Have a great week everyone!!! :)
Sarah

Earth Day!

2009-04-22T14:25:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to give a quick update today. We got up early and surprisingly fresh and ready for the day! Must have been the relief of warmer weather returning today and through the weekend! Whatever the reason I will take it!!! We headed out the door for a walk which thrilled the dog to no end! With the added benefit of homeschooling on Earth Day we decided to clean up our neighborhood park and the storm gutters. We picked up two trash bags worth and another few armloads full! We were thrilled to do this and feel good about how it looked for a while, but admittedly there were a few new pieces of trash spotted on the long walk home and we we tired enough that we had to let them dance in the wind once again. Sigh!!

Keeping our earth clean is a big job! I hope everyone is out there trying to do their part! :)

Happy Earth Day!!
Sarah

Illness in the family---the computer has a virus!

2009-04-01T13:03:00.001-07:00

I haven't disappeared! I was basking in the fun of the UBP and then it happened....
my computer went to blue screen and that was it! We have someone at my husband's office trying to fix it, but when he asked for the restore disk we went blank. We searched our normal computer drawer for those things and it isn't there. I think this is a set up! Either we are meant to have a break from online activity or a Dell bandit has entered our house!

Either way, as I check on things from the library (WOW I type faster than anyone in here! :) ) I realize that not only is this heightening my awareness of just how often I actually do "NEED" to check something out online. But NOW I just happen to be in style as there is a unplug event happening!

Talk about timing!!! I have to admit what the others who are participating are saying runs very true for me as well.
I find I have more time for things at home and I am getting more projects done. Let's still pray that I find my OS restore disk so we don't have to spend good money on buying another one!!

Stay tuned!! I will be back hopefully very soon!!
Sarah

Do You Ever Wonder Why?

2009-03-25T10:50:00.000-07:00

Proverbs 3:5-6:
5.Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6.In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

I was thinking today, do you ever wonder why God brings the things he does into your life? His infinite wisdom joined me with my husband after a cry out to him in the night almost 9 years ago! It took time, but in his timing it was all perfect. In his timing he nudged me to read a book that turned me from a determined full time (sad) working mother with kids in daycare wondering why I got the leftovers of them every night...to being a stay at home mom that homeschools! (The book was So..You're Thinking About Homeschooling by Lisa Welchel) Isn't God good? Isn't it amazing when you look at the details in life and see his hand guiding things with perfection and timing that is impeccable?!

Homeschooling is getting better finally. I am settled in being at home. Now I am in another stage of my life. Now I enter into the world of blogging on the tip of my fingers gliding in carefully and excitedly into this new world of creativity, sharing, tips, friendships and helpfulness that is hard to find even in the same neighborhood sometimes. Today I wondered why God stirred it in my heart recently to get back into blogging even though I created my account 3 years ago!

I have been learning a lot through my devotions and consistent search for God in my daily life. He shows me how he is there for the little and the big things. He isn't surprised by the things I do and has the grace to love me through each stumble, fall and worn path I attempt to step foot on again. Now in my searching for why recently it hit me...WHY am I here for such a time as this? A part of me would love to live in simpler times (although I DO love my internet access!) but times where kids in the neighborhood are not so scheduled that you have to schedule FREE time during the week to play! Times where you don't know the interior of your car better than the interior of your house! Times where you KNOW how to sit and play cards or board games without trying to remember what it was like when you were a kid. Maybe no one else is like that but I have spent most of my life working and my brain isn't good at turning off and hitting snooze or in this case "Relax". I have fun, I love to laugh and be around people but my trained instinct is to work when I see the availability to do so! Have you ever seen someone stack their dirty dishes at a restaurant to make it easier on the server? That was probably me, you should have waved and said Hi! :)

So here is the question, if I long for such old fashioned relaxed times, why did God see fit to put me here in this time? It actually brought me to tears to think about God's reasoning. He put me into the internet world to encourage, help, nurture and be a beam of light in the online world. He knows what he is doing and little by little I see the people he puts me into contact with to support, befriend, love and learn from. His wisdom astounds me! I see prayers answered through simple things, like remembering when I first moved from Kansas City to Wisconsin and longed for friends. Now I have friends in town, through my super friendly wonderful church that he specifically recommended and my online friends! As you go through each day, whether you know it or not, you can touch people's lives. So with that thought, what do they see? Happiness? Peace? Joy? Love? Fear? Negativity? Anxiousness?
I believe that God has done a huge work in me as I have learned to look up when I have questions instead of searching for my phone for someone to call...I call on him.

This is where I came up with prayerful driven life, because I have finally learned to quit steering and give God the wheel. I find that I have more peace in my life, I am learning to relax and not work every minute of the day. I feel his presence much easier when my mind isn't speeding through life 90 miles an hour.
Where do you turn in your time of need? Why do you think out of any other time God put you here now?
Share with us in a comment, what do you think?

Ultimate Blog Party 2009

2009-03-23T15:16:00.000-07:00

The Ultimate Blog Party 2009 has started!
Welcome to my blog! My name is Sarah and I live in Wisconsin. I am super-amazingly-happily married with a blended family of 5 boys and my baby Kira (lab-dalmatian mix-she is a dog in case that wasn't clear). :)

I am fairly new to blogging as you will see from my archive list, but I have already made some wonderful friends and I am falling more and more in love with my blog time!
You will find through my blog that I am a Christian homeschooler, coupon-queen, edging my way into home decor, baking, recipe testing, doing things myself (gasp!), shopper, friend and all around fun girl (at least I think so!). I hope to make plenty of new friends through this party!

Some of my favorite blogs to read and friends I have made are here: nester, Maisy Report, project create a home, we are that family, money saving mom, little momma and company, katies nesting spot, bless our nest, shell in your pocket and BlueCastle. I could list numerous others, to see some of my other friends check out my followed blogs.

I hope to offer fun tidbits of sale, ideas, family updates, creativity and encouragement with my blog. I hope you will follow and become a part of a Prayerful Driven Life with me. I plan to have giveaways in the future as well! :)
As part of the excitement of this party are the prizes, here are the items I would love to win:
58 – Kitchen Aid Artisan Stand Mixer
Provided by: Moms Who Think
42 — 5 kajeet phones with $5 of airtime
Provided by: kajeet (my boys would SO appreciate this win!!)
11 — Aromatherapy book and a sampler of therapeutic essential oils.Provided by: Jennifer at Oils For Wellness

1 — $100 gift certificate to either Pedal Cars and Retro or A Rocking Horse To Love
89 - $100 Gift Card to HomeGoods, #89 - Donated by HG Openhouse
Provided by: 5 Minutes for Mom
21 — $50 gift certificate to Target Stores
Provided by: Agoosa - Funny Name, Sound Advice
22 — $50 gift certificate to Target Stores
Provided by: Beginner Baby Blog
26 — $30 gift certificate to Target
Provided by: Little Miss Hannah - Our Fight Against Gaucher’s Disease

I would also like to win # 27, ,43, 44, 55, 69, 91, 102, 106, 118.
Thanks for stopping by!
Enjoy the Party!!!

Life & Style Makeover Giveaway

2009-03-16T14:33:00.000-07:00

This is HUGE! There is a fabulous makeover happening right now at project create a home. They are giving away A Life & Style Makeover...The winner will be able to choose three areas in their life that they need help on...And the Project Girls will magically help guide them to a new place and a new vision for their life...
I would love to win this makeover for so many reasons. I would love to truly have someone help me with design in my house, especially my rec room, it is a thrown together "wreck" alright! I don't have a color scheme and I struggle with vision most of the time for big picture outcomes. I never had much of the girlie touch, I am catching up in my 30's for a lot of lost time!

When I think about what they are offering, "a new vision for their life". What a statement! I have often thought that my past amazes me that I did so many various things in such a short time. The past 8 years I went from being a single (divorced) working mom of 1 to a working wife and mom to 5 boys, then to staying at home and homeschooling two of my children. Then other things changed, I actually starting to care about home decor, eating healthy, caring for the environment, making things at home and other things that were foreign to me just 5 short years ago!

My husband and I are dedicating this year to focusing on our debts and paying them off (you can read about the progress at our other blog here) and finally trying to live a life of freedom that will no longer be based on our paycheck to paycheck lifestyle! I would say that my lifestyle has changed drastically in the past few years! The vision is my next step! I have felt God's direction in many areas such as real estate deals, creating a "Safe House" for teen girls to come and stay, being tutored with schoolwork, learning how to cook and eat right and not have outside pressures telling them it is a waste of time! I would be so thankful to have the mentoring of other women to help me create, invest and picture the vision for my future and help me through some of these pillars up and coming in my life. What an amazing adventure!

Sunday Party - SURPRISE!

2009-03-16T14:04:00.000-07:00

My husband's birthday is this coming Sunday but on a whim I decided to throw him a surprise party! I am amazed to say he was surprised and never suspected a thing! I was gone half the day on Saturday doing birthday errands and using gift cards at fabulous places as I posted. But then Sunday I drove separately to church telling him I was running late and didn't want him to be late in helping with sound for the worship team. I was 20 minutes LATE for church, but I was able to pick up his cookie cakes from Target that I phone ordered, along with the remaining food items I needed. The poor thing, he told me as soon as I sat down (at church) that he was worried I was in a car accident and was about to leave and retrace the drive from church to our house. He has said that numerous times since church yesterday. (What a precious man!)

We had some fabulous church family members come to the party filling our house with 17 extra people to enjoy the day with and play! We had bikes, the motorbike, Frisbees, our dog and just about every other toy you can think of strewn across our lawn with happy men and children playing all afternoon! (The women all stayed inside and talked happily with the kids outside entertained for the afternoon!)
It was a blessed event and the best part was seeing just how blessed and happy my husband felt through the whole thing!

He is 46 this year and it is hard for me to believe that it has been almost 7 years since we have been together. I am so thankful for this amazing man God joined me with for life...some days that doesn't seem like a long enough time to experience each day with him! :)
Happy Birthday Baby!

Saturday Projects

2009-03-14T22:04:00.000-07:00

Wow, I have been busy blogging today (three times) but also getting things done!
I went to Hobby Lobby and bought the fabric to recover our kitchen chairs. How many of you have had kitchen chairs that look like this after 5 kids and numerous spills...whoops sorry Mom!
But thankfully I was able to get the screwdriver persistence of my husband teamed with my new staple gun and we created this...

I am thrilled with the look of the "new" chairs! While shopping at Hobby Lobby I found a few other things that added some new charm to the house. First, I found this darling rabbit for 50% off--making him $4.50 and shockingly I also found the cabbage plate for $3 on clearance from $19.99 I think. So for $8.75 (I bought a bag of jelly beans too) I have a cute Easter display to use with my cloche! I couldn't believe it fit perfectly on there too!!!

I found this wreath 50% off as well, it was $25 but I am so fond of the nester's style with pheasant feathers I had to copy her! I used some greenery and a flower I had around the house to soften it a bit and also hot glued a little birds nest in it and clipped on another bird. I think it looks pretty for the front door. (Click on it to see the full thing.)

Here are some spring flowers with a pheasant touch to them I bought today. Finally some new spring touches in the house!

I also hit Express and bought two new swing cardigans and a cute black sweater, yes that's right...that is so me...I shop for spring and end up with white, black and pink at the most usually. I like color really, just not on me so much! LOL
It was quite an eventful day and I even worked in 2 hours on the phone to my grandma, making dinner for my family and cleaning the house! I will update more later! Have a great rest of the weekend!

Bedroom Colors...(Opinions welcome!)

2009-03-14T10:31:00.001-07:00

We finalized on the fabrics we liked and want to use to make curtains in our bedroom. NOW I need some ideas on what style to make them. I will try to get pictures of my windows in my bedroom this weekend. They are 3 windows together making one large window in our room. I am hoping to do something like the 3/4 length of the olive/shimmery fabric but them do I use the beautiful decorated fabric for the last 1/2 on top or on bottom. My husband thinks bottom...

Take a look. Also, what color sticks out to you for the paint samples? I hope to be painting our room in another 10 days or so, so the time is creeping up on me to get this figured out! :) I added the pic with flash and without if it helps! :)
I am so excited to be planning this now!!! Yay! I will also be working on posting pics of our furniture too. I am hoping painting or staining will help it along as I don't have the budget to get a new bed, but my frame is black metal. Get those creative juices flowing!

An Official Boy Scout

2009-03-14T10:19:00.001-07:00

I am thrilled to announce that my son officially crossed over the bridge to become a Boy Scout on Thursday. We are very proud of his accomplishment! He has been in Cub Scouts for about 5 years now! He also took 3rd place in his den for his Pinewood Derby Car! He seems so big all of a sudden!!!

Grocery Budget

2009-03-12T09:48:00.001-07:00

I am realizing as I sit down my husband that I spend about $75-90/wk on groceries. I never paid much attention but now that I set double coupon Wednesdays as my day I go in with more purpose and less browsing!

I didn't do as well this week, I spent $92.23 and saved $47.28 but I was thrilled to add into those two gallons of free milk, some expensive salsa I decided to splurge on to try, two huge pork loins which will feed all of us two dinners, and round steaks for dinner this weekend! So while I didn't do the BEST with my savings this week, our freezer is steadily getting full every week from these meat sales I keep catching!

Take some time to sit down and actually accumulate what you spend even on those side trips to Walgreens, the grocery store, Target where you are picking up milk, etc. It definitely makes a difference when you keep track of things! I also highly recommend keeping receipts all year long so you can keep track and encourage yourself by discovering how much money you save couponing, following deals and sometimes just eating at home. I have yet to add up my receipts from last year, but in 2007 I saved over $10K! It makes it worth it to use one file folder of space to save your receipts and see how you do! :)

Maple Sugaring Field Trip

2009-03-11T13:48:00.000-07:00

What a great time we had on our field trip yesterday! Although it was threatening thunderstorms and raining nicely as we were leaving, we prayed for a great field trip. We met at our friends house, did the unusual and threw burgers and fries from McD's at the kids while we drove quickly to the environmental education center. :)

We learned so many interesting things! I never knew that while many states can have maple trees, we are part of the only region in the WORLD that can create syrup and sugar from the sap because it only runs when it is cold at night and mild-warm in the day. They said yesterday was the perfect kind of weather for sap to run. (We were blessed to have it completely stop raining until we got in the car to leave too!)

Here are some pictures from our field trip:
Putting in all the ingredients needed for photosynthesis:

Cleaning out the center of elderberry branch to create the "pith".

Drilling the hole...

Tasting the sap--it mostly tasted like water.

The pith and bucket are in place.

The "modern" Civil-War era stove they used to boil the sap.

Doing it Indian Style. Did you ever think about howthe Indians boiled sap to create sugar having no metal utensils? It never occurred to me! It was awesome to learn that they used rocks from under their fires and constantly stirred and rotated them. Not to mention that they made sugar, not typically syrup as much since they didn't have bottles to store it.

Here is "Grandma" of the Che-Po-Ta-Kay. She said that her house was blessed but she didn't know about what spirits we had around us, so she used a branch to cleanse evil spirits from coming in on our backs. More interesting stories surrounded the grandma of the tribe, she was the leader and had numerous ways of delegating her power. For instance, if the kids don't listen to what she tells them to do, they only get 1/2 of their drinking cup filled, another time gets it 1/4 of the way filled, the 3rd time she throws their stuff out of the house and they are out to survive on their own for life. (Hmm...maybe we are a little too easy on our kids huh?)

Here is the inside of their house and we learned about the Indians thermostat system, how the boys were traded at the age of 13 in exchange for another tribes boys to become husbands for the daughters, and felt all the furs of the animals and how they used every piece...never wasting!

The Colonial Upgrade to Maple Syrup/Sugaring.

Lastly, it was the children's job to carry the yoke with buckets of sap to the sugar house. Our friend's daughter earned her keep just as we were served plastic spoons filled with maple syrup! Yum!

Thanks for learning with us!

Monday Magic

2009-03-09T19:42:00.000-07:00

Can that even go together? Who finds Mondays magical? Well, apparently today I did! It was one of those miraculous days where you get up and everything seems to just mesh! Do you know what I mean?

I woke up and the kids were in GREAT spirits! We immediately started with devotions, learning a memory verse, which flowed right into 6 subjects for my oldest son. He was done before lunch time today---that never happens! Not to mention laundry was going, dishes were washing, tea was brewing and the sun was shining in the window. It sounds like something an editor describes in a magazine that doesn't seem real. But I was here, it was real!! The schools in our district (elementary that is) get out at 1:45pm on Monday's, so it was perfect timing for the kids to be done and the house to be in order so they could spend the day outside! They rode bikes, scooters, the dog barked and chased them up and down the street for over an hour. Since it seemed so nice out (a whole 44 degrees!) I went out and tidied up the garage and used the blower to finally get the accumulating sand from the winter blown out to the street! Whew! That was a great chore off my list!!!

You know how one thing can lead into another...well having the garage cleaned out brought me in with a bag of hiking boots, shoes and other items I will need to throw on craigslist very soon! As I finished folding laundry, then bathed the now sandy, wet dog, and finished puttering around the house I realized...ding almost time for my husband to be headed home! Perfect time for his grubby wife to finally wave her white flag of surrender to workmanship and hit the shower! I finished as he got home and gave him a nice back massage as an encouragement to follow his promise and take me to Hobby Lobby to look at fabric. *grin*

He did take me! Yay! I was shocked to run up and down the home decor aisle to see that the empty cardboard roll of the fabric I wanted was propped up in the recycle bin..*sniff* Don't worry! They think they will get it back in by Thursday! But the excellent news is that my husband at first frowning at my adored choice for our bedroom saw it with the perfect fabric along side it and agreed he LOVED it too! Yay! Now to start working on ideas for making these curtains amazing! We were able to get a swatch of fabric from the fabric lady at Hobby Lobby and then head off to our next mission...

HOME DEPOT! Now that we were in love with the fabric selection this was easy, match up a color with the fabric! We found about 15 that we brought home and the cutest thing ever was created in my room. I couldn't find the swatches and yelled out to my husband just as I looked up and saw his favorite choice and my favorite choice side by side propped over our mirror with the swatches draped in front of them. Is that cute or what? I think *someone* is excited about their new room too! What do you think?

I will post pictures of the fabric when I can figure out how to take close ups the right way!

Nevertheless, it was a perfect day!!! Now I am tired and need to go to bed!
Have a great night!!!

Blog Giveaways -I Won!!

2009-03-05T18:48:00.001-08:00

I would like to take a moment to extend a BIG thank you for two big wins this past month! It was a great welcoming into the world of blogging!

First, I was so inspired by We Are That Family to hear about Kristen's idea about the Kissing Challenge which also coincided with her SWAK Valentine's Carnival.

I am excited to share that I WON! I received my book Better Love Now: Making Your Marriage a Lifelong Love Affair you can find it at amazon here. Thank you so much Kristen! I thoroughly enjoy reading your blog and the book was the perfect win for me and my hubby! (You can check my older posts to see my winning post in honor of my husband) I would like to also say that the book is wonderful!! My husband and I are reading it together and so far we are really enjoying it!

My other win was from Amy at the maisy report. Isn't she adorable?
She is so sweet and I honestly didn't think I had a chance of winning when I entered! I was surprised the next day to hear that I did!!! I won a $50 gift card of my choice, wow, you don't get something like that every day!!! Amy was very sweet and agreed to give me a Visa gift card which is perfect for my indecisive personality!! Now I can spread my gift to a few stores possibly! I thought it was also very nice of her to nudge me to get a manicure, go out to a restaurant I like, etc. It will go to great use and you must know when it is my money I am even stricter with spending it, so since I won this, I might still be using it 3 months from now! LOL
I can vouch for blog giveaways being worth your time! Plus I have already made some wonderful friends!!! Thank you both so much!!!
Amy is also starting a candy business...check out her blog...I told you she was sweet! :)

Double Double Coupon Trouble

2009-03-04T12:57:00.001-08:00

In thinking long and hard about what to add to today's WFMW post I thought of the numerous people that ask me for my "recipe for savings" methods.

So without further ado, here are my insider tips for coupon savings!
First, I do not mess with the Sunday paper--the news would ruin my savings as I would eat myself to 300lbs looking for comfort, plus I would only get 1 copy of the coupon that I *might* want! SO, I became a big fan of www.thecouponmaster.com she ships pretty fast and I have purchased from her for about 6 years now! So, I will spend about $5-10 at a time on buying coupons but I get a feel for what will be on sale and stock up on great coupons---especially $1 coupons!

Wednesdays at our local grocery store is double coupon day! Yay! But there is a trick in there...I had to catch it for myself! They will only double 5 coupons and your purchase has to be $25 or more. The first few times I did this my mentality was doubling every coupon I had but only 5 of them doubled. Now what to do? Think it through!!! The following Wednesday I felt like Mrs. Einstein! I walked in and separated out orders in my cart per 5 double coupons and then extras to make up my $25 purchase. So maybe my first order has 4/$10 cereal I have 4-$1 coupons to use on them. Then I purchase say $5.50/8pack of yogurt and have a $1 coupon for that. Then I add in two gallons of milk, couple dozen eggs and maybe even something I found on clearance or that I don't (gasp!) have a coupon for! So then my total of say $26 it is then $16. Not bad. But more often than not matching it with the stores deals, I often spend around $10-18/order and save $15-20/order. This tip has saved people around here a ton of money because I share with everyone I know to separate the orders!

I hit the grocery store around 9:30pm after church on Wednesday nights, my husband gets the kids to bed and relaxes at home. I have the grocery store almost to myself so it is easier to think and plot out deals. I catch things while shopping many times. Another tip is that I have learned when I pray for wisdom while shopping I save a ton of money! God helps my mind put things together that I never thought of originally.

Also, if you take the time say on that Wednesday to look at the next week's ad, you have enough time to stock up on coupons for the big deals! Some of my favorites in the past have been $1 coupons off Steamers by Green Giant (I will eat a bag of broccoli for dinner many times, love them!) they sell for $1.69 but with my double coupon plot I would get them free! I literally had 30 bags at one point, I have eaten them all!! (They won't give overage at our store, so it would double to $.69 to make them free) Another favorite is still out there, $1 coupons for 1 bottle of V8 juice, another family favorite. I bought 12 bottles a week or so ago when they were on sale for $3/9 making them $1/bottle after coupon. You can't even buy an 8oz bottle at the store for that these days!!!

I hope these tips help you!!!

God is so faithful!

2009-02-26T07:36:00.000-08:00

I have had so many ideas of things to share recently and I have a few saved posts that I will get posted this week/end.
Today, I really wanted to share just how faithful God has been in our lives...especially recently. He has put some wonderful people in our path at church that have been prayer warriors with us. What an encouragement! Not to mention finally having someone on board and ready to do childcare swap! Praise God! We have been praying and looking for that for almost 6 years now! (They are also homeschoolers so a double whammy of blessing there as their schedule is flexible like ours!) Not just for the childcare though, it is wonderful to have friends! My husband has a few male friends now and we have had more people over to our house in the past 3 months than the past 5 years! Fellowship is so important and sometimes we miss that in these busy days where people spend more time in their car than in their home!

There is so much going on at once right now. We have been praying for vision and purpose in our children's lives as we raise them, but recently we have truly taken it to heart and realized how rapidly they are growing-we have 3-13 years until these boys will all be growing up and heading out in the world! I won't get into too much detail but when we finally took it serious to prayer and quit just talking about it...prayers have been answered! Things are coming to fullness before our eyes and I am SO thankful! (I should mention here that I also realized it the time is NOW that we need to go into action letting our kids learn about money, credit cards, savings, investments, reading business books if possible, learning the truth before the world lies to them and they fall into the same trap that I did!) My oldest son that I homeschool is asking me more and more questions about debit vs. credit cards, savings accounts, checking, and such. He is in 5th grade and I think this is fabulous timing to educate him and even see what kind of small business I can help him invest in, start or follow to help him possibly be set for life before he is even 18...did you know that could even happen??? Check out this link below for some amazingly inspirational reading from a young entrepreneur that started his first business at the age of 9 and he is now a millionaire in his 20's. Cameron Johnson
The Bible says we are to be the lenders and not the borrowers (slaves). How amazing to put this into action for our kids before they are out in the world!

DID YOU KNOW FACT: I learned this from our financial course...
Credit card companies pay Universities and colleges a little commission (if you will) based on the of debt that college students rack up (based on sign-ups during the years there). So those cool t-shirts, water bottles and even MP3 players they will offer your kids when they just want the free stuff and then get themselves snagged in debt actually profits the campuses they are paying! WOW!

We are also working on paying down debt and taking a financial course through our church. It is exciting to learn that most people not making more than they already do can pay off everything including their mortgage in 6-7 years! Yes, I said that right, 6-7 years! We are already 2 years into our refinance of our house so we didn't have a great start to that, but I am definitely believing that in the next 6 years we can pay off our mortgage and debts!! Amazing! I am realizing so much in this period of time! We also came into extra money recently through God's divine power and we have already paid off one debt and we are starting on another one next week! Can I just say how exciting it is to see debt start to get off my shoulders and under my feet?

Lastly, I wanted to share another thing that God instilled in me. My husband needed some attention this past week. He is full commission at his job and having a tough time with sales can make anyone bummed out. While I wanted to pamper him last week we didn't have the money. But this week when we got in some extra unexpected, (we put most of it to debt!) but I realized he is worth it for me to splurge on! So as I was trying to utilize a coupon I received for flowers online the thought came over me...it won't be soon enough for my idea. Plus, God inspired me...grab one of the numerous vases you own and take it to the darling flower shop around the corner and get him some flowers and take them to him at work! Isn't God awesome? Not only did I spend 1/2 of what I would have online but he LOVED them! The florist is called House of Flowers and they are amazingly talented! I wish they had pictures of their shop on their website, it is so inspiring, charming and well decorated!!! They asked how much I wanted to spend and gave me a beautiful creation for that amount! I hope to send hubby with the camera to get a picture of the flowers at his desk! In addition to the flowers, I curled my hair and dressed up my jeans and drove to his office and surprised him at his desk. Then we (the kids and I) took him out to our old favorite indian buffet for lunch. When I used to work we had a lunch date every day, so he really misses going out for lunches! It was a fabulous day completely inspired by God and his infinite wisdom! Not to mention what a great inspiration to others in his office. He said most people are baffled as to why he received flowers JUST BECAUSE and can't stop talking about it!

I am feeling very blessed today for the adventures, ideas, inspiration and love of Christ that gives me so much fullness! I know that God is faithful and that he put me here to encourage so I truly hope this post can encourage you to find the joy, peace and happiness he gives. I hope you can search into the corners and minutes of your day and find the colors and touches of him in your life that brighten it even in the midst of cold weather, financial strains, exhaustion, fussy kids, illness or anything else you might be dealing with today.
Be Blessed!

Hobby Lobby Happiness

2009-02-23T18:01:00.000-08:00

Friday we took most of the day off from homeschooling to get out of the house! Occasionally, we just get cabin fever and need to get out! We did various errands like picking up my husband's ginseng that he loves, hitting the library, post office, and then hitting Hobby Lobby. Another blog mentioned they had 80% off their clearance which I figured even on my spending freeze would be a safe venture. I haven't shopped there very many times so I enjoyed taking the extra time to browse with the kids happily in tow! Imagine--there wasn't a single fuss!!! Praise God!

I hit major success! I found some fabulous finds for a total of $27! Not bad at all!! Especially knowing that if my new treasures get used I can resell to the local decor consignment store! :)

Here is what I found:

Two gold fleur de lis ornaments from Christmas which I will paint silver and put on the wall or somewhere to fit in somewhere in our house!

Fleur De Lis decor piece that is white with black worn effect, I am considering painting it black and wearing it to show the white underneath.

A fabulous picture that says Hope with a nest on it, perfect for spring!

Small black lamp with a red/black shade which has found a new home in my bathroom, now I am thinking I need to get some red satin/silk fabric to make my own shower curtain to tie together the yellow, red, black and white I have going on now.

Lastly, my favorite piece...they had on clearance a cloche with an iron metal base (I don't think that is what really went with it but a gal pieced them together and thought it was the case.) well regardless we couldn't find a second metal base like that so there was a cloche glass top sitting there with no price tag...I felt so bad for it I had to ask how to save it. The mgr said based off the $12 price of the combined other item, she would sell it for $6. Finally! A cloche of my own and not only that, I didn't even have to spend $10!!! I need to find a bottom for it but I am so excited!!!

Blog Giveaways

2009-02-22T18:38:00.000-08:00

Go check out this website for a great giveaway on her blog. I am really getting into these blog giveaways and meeting new people! What a great little digital universe we have to explore at our fingertips! :) Copy and paste the link as I am having issues with the link uploader tonight. Sorry!

http://themaisyreport.blogspot.com/2009/02/my-first-give-way.html

Happy Sunday!

Fro' Me to You

2009-02-21T09:19:00.000-08:00

My dad should enjoy this post. As I thought of the various things I could post for my Fro' Me to You post I realized I have a few "back in the day" pictures uploaded in my computer! Here is a glimpse of me as the daddy's girl that I grew up to be.

Here is the more recent version, this was over 6 years ago on my wedding day. My dad was the photographer, but my husband did a great job of taking the camera and getting a few dad and daughter shots for us.

As the years pass, isn't it neat to reflect on where we came from and what we have become.
Happy Saturday! :)

My Childhood Things

2009-02-19T15:30:00.000-08:00

Wow, it has almost been a week since my last post! I have checked in every day but not enough minutes in the day to organize my thoughts! One of my 5 boys got sick on Friday night and then Saturday our fabulous day of love ended up with me lounging and resting to avoid getting ill myself! I caught up on a few movies I picked up from the library though and my darling husband made a breakfast that he knows I love! :) I also found a way to manage eating 2 of these fabulous cookies everytime the opportunity arose in the past week! :)

Now onto the childhood favorites...

Maybe it was that my body was starting to test the strength of my immune system (I used to long for my baby blankets when I started to get sick) or maybe it was simple nostalgia but I decided on Friday to pull out my old blankies that are off limits to the kids and show them. Yes, I am selfish with this set of things, they are my treasured-forever comforting-blankets from my childhood. If they were in better shape I might share, but one of them is so worn down and I just adore it!!! The Winnie the Pooh one has matching stripes on the back side and it has a cute hole from my puppy I got in high school and edges coming undone, but I still love it! My youngest son acted like it was a rare painting as he looked and said, "Whoa, this is old, don't touch it, right Mom?" Uhm yeah, moving on...

Here are a few of my favorite things:

It is amazing how this all fits in with the Sincerely Fro' Me to You timing, but I will be making another post in honor of that fun! :)

S.W.A.K. Valentine's Success

2009-02-13T10:05:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to share today the blessing that it has been to find the wonderful women in blogger-country recently. Inspiration, support, love, wisdom and much more has been shared, found and appreciated!

If you are coming into this Valentine's Day with no money to spend and wanting to show your sweetie just how much they mean to you---here is an idea! Share your heart! This special holiday showcases hearts and love everywhere, often we think that giving monetary gifts to someone shows our love is special. Not that monetary isn't special, some of my favorite things are monetary, like my wedding ring! Although,my husband proves that the heartfelt things mean the most. When I email him to tell him what he means to me, out of the blue, he calls me in tears. When I push him to meet up with his old drum corp friends that he hasn't seen in months and he would rather stay home with me and the kids, he feels so blessed to have me looking out for him and wanting him to have male friends in his life. And just Wednesday when I started the post in honor of him at 9:33 am and I didn't finish it until around 9:45PM because I had so much love built up and my words flowed so many times in so many directions. The best feeling in the world was sitting next to him as I let him read it and watch his eyes well up with tears, have him hold me so tightly and thank me for marrying him. I love flowers, but I can honestly say that we have already had our Valentine's Day and it meant the world to both of us!

Love your honey with everything you have inside of you. It won't cost you a thing but it will be worth a fortune!

Valentine's Wreath

2009-02-12T13:11:00.000-08:00

A Little Birdie told me how to do this project! It is fabulous, easier than I thought and SOOO cute! I got so excited as I was finishing it! It took me about 2 hours I think, but that is with cutting the fabric and keeping two children busy with their own Valentine's projects.
Here is the finished product. I love it! By the way, the ribbon I found on clearance at Joann's in the wedding section for $.97 and the fabric was on sale so I only need a 40% off coupon for the foam wreath itself. Making this project less than $10 which I think it looks WAY cuter than the stuff they were selling for about $15 (on their 50% off sale). I fell in love with this fabric so I might have to find a use for it in our bedroom or another room, it is sooo pretty! I blended two fabrics together. Thanks for looking!

"There was no Search, but there was a find..."

2009-02-11T09:33:00.000-08:00

The title of this post come from the endearing words my husband wrote on a wall at a restaurant as the statement of how we came together. My husband and I both came from painful previous marriages and divorces with our fabulous children in tow. We know that God brought us together in his amazing timing, grace and ability! Here is the unfolding of our journey to each other and beyond.
My second day working at a new job I called a company for a quote, the man on the phone (little to my knowledge) was my future husband! We became friends quickly, easily and supported each other for over two years through phone calls and emails as we dealt with sleep issues, potty training and various other new experiences like having our children sleep with us so we didn't feel so alone! States apart but growing together through life and experience and friendship was an amazing and new feeling I had never felt before!

It was in April of 2002 that I asked him to call me at home to talk...not knowing how this amazingly fun, outgoing personality becomes super shy when it comes to women! He didn't call! The next day I asked him why he didn't call, he said he couldn't, so I offered to call--a little bolder than I remember feeling! Instead he DID call the 2nd night and after 2 minutes of awkwardness it all ironed out and we melted together into 8 hours of conversation! YES, 8 hours! After that we talked every day through email and many hours on the phone at night! We couldn't get enough of each other!

Two months later my son and I were flying out to meet him and spend a "friend weekend" site-seeing and having fun-we absolutely had no other intentions but to have fun! We were completely comfortable with each other immediately and I still could not believe this man was available, he is so sexy, caring, comfortable, fun, charming, smart and so many other things I can't even begin to list all the words that describe him! We knew that we had something incredible and he told me not even a week later that he was praying that if I was the person he was to be with that things would be guided completely by God. I was completely adoring him for his diligence and seeking guidance through prayer!

On the 4th of July he was flying out to meet my family and I knew that we were going to be getting married even though we did not discuss it at all yet. As he was flying out that day (immediately after 9-11) he called me from the Chicago airport--his last stop before reaching me! He mentioned a friend told him he might have issues with terrorists traveling on the 4th of July, minutes later he called to tell me his flight was cancelled and he would have to call me back. I was in a panic! What happened? Was he safe? Should I drive the 45 minutes to the airport so I was there to meet him just in case? I was so anxious to hear back from him but he wouldn't answer his phone. I later found out that he was pulled aside and surrounded by 12-15 policemen because he said the word "terrorist" in the airport so close to 9-11 aftermath. They finally looked at who they were dealing with...a man in shorts, Hawaiian shirt, sandals, with a canvas bag containing: a diamond engagement ring, a picture of me and his cell phone. He explained that he was going to propose and they finally after 2 hours agreed to let him go. One of the officers was nice enough to try to help him get him mindset back on what he was doing--proposing in 45 minutes to me at the airport.

As he stepped off the plane he grabbed me and kissed me and immediately asked me to marry him. I thought he was joking so I just smiled and said "sure". Then he stopped me and said, "I have to ask you something". He walked me over to some nearby seats and got down on one knee, pulled out the ring and honestly the next 10 minutes were a blur, he said the most heartfelt things to me that I sobbed and couldn't even see what the ring looked like through my tears. When he finally asked of course I said YES and we melted together in a bent together hug of sobs, tears, joy and love. Minutes later we broke apart and kept smiling and pulling ourselves together to notice a crowd around us containing not just passengers, but airline attendants, pilots and airport staff applauding and congratulating us. What a show they must have witnessed! We were engaged exactly two weeks after we had finally met face to face. We were married three months later. We have now been married for six years and I am still blissfully in love with this amazing man that God blessed me with to live with forever!

There are SO many qualities to my wonderful husband. He is so supportive of me as we decided to homeschool and many other decisions that we have come to together. I have been so blessed to have him in my life. I have told him many times that he is the first (and last) man in my life to make me feel secure, safe, loved completely, honored, cherished, faithfully committed and appreciated! I can list so many things he does for this family aside of simply providing for us. I simply pray that all of us can show him daily how much we appreciate, honor, love and adore him for his selfless acts. From playing with the kids to helping with laundry to maintaining all of our vehicle details and still wanting me to snuggle with him every night!
Baby, this is devoted to you! I love you and always will!

Consistency...

2009-02-07T09:26:00.000-08:00

I read a home decorating book a while back that said to look around and figure out what you tend to decorate with because that is what makes you happy! So as I looked around and noticed things, I figured out what I have in almost every room of the house...

My wedding pictures! Still! Six years later and I don't get tired of looking at them ever!

What about you? What do you find you decorate with everywhere?