Summer Vacation!

School has been out for almost 3 weeks now and I've been to the beach with some girlfriends, went to a Phillies game in Baltimore and I've been sewing!

The beach was wonderful...thanks to grandparents and my awesome hubby, I had 4 days to only take care of myself.  I was so spoiled!  But I'm happy to be back in my reality and I really did miss my kids and hubby!

We enjoyed a day trip to Baltimore to see the Phillies lose to the Orioles.  Prior to the game, we took the kids to the Baltimore Aquarium and had a really fun time.  The ticket holder behind us (with a season ticket) treated us to a ball stamped with the 20th Anniversary of Camden Yards logo!  Awesome!  I love that my kids have their Phillies apparel on and the boys are wearing hats - one camo, one Cummins (truck engines!)

As for sewing, I've been trying work at getting "Ready to Ship" items into my etsy store. Last week I stayed up a wee bit late (1:30am) to finish a bag that I had planned to take to the beach.  The next morning I awoke and decided I didn't need a new bag, so I figured I'd put it on etsy.  Normally, my bags are listed as "made to order" so this was my first bag that was truly ready to ship.  I first posted the picture on fa.cebook and later in the day I posted it to etsy.  Only 20 minutes after posting to etsy, a friend of a friend purchased it after viewing it on fac.ebook!  I was leaving for the beach the next day and my sweet hubby offered to keep my business afloat by running it to the post office (after depositing a check from a previous order)!  :-D

Here's the bag that sold last week on etsy:

And here's the duffle bag I made (which I used to tote my things to the beach)

The duffle was my biggest project to date - but so much fun to make.  I can't offer them for sale yet, because 2 of the inside seams are not "finished" because I do not own a serger.  

Another item I've been sewing are these cute Teddy Bears!

School is out for the summer!!

This week we finished up our school year and completed our state required 180 days. Most of our curriculum ended last week so we added in some end of year projects, like the "Our Garden" project below.

Happy Summer!

Fish Tales!

I'd say we're off to a successful start to fishing this year!  We finally got an evening to take the kids and this was the biggest one caught!  And Q did it all himself!

My big baby!

Our eldest is having a birthday!  He's 14 - FOURTEEN!

That's 98 in dog years!  He can't go up steps so well anymore...can barely jump up on the couch or chairs.

But at that age, I wouldn't want to be jumping or climbing either!

Above is what he does most of the time!  He's a great dog and he's great with the kids.  We still refer to him as a puppy and his nickname is Puppers!

His sight is going and he doesn't hear so well.  But his sniffer works and he is still the best vacuum around - despite his many missing teeth.  Poor guy.

We won't celebrate with cake or presents and he probably won't even hear us sing.  But he's cute and I haven't been posting very much...so here you go! ;-P

Happy Birthday, Riley!

High Rollers!

C has the soccer goalie gloves on because they were playing hockey - they call themselves: White Timber Wolves! ;-D

Poetry

Had I asked my son to give me a poem today, I'm sure he would not have complied.

But this afternoon, as he was playing, a poem came to him.

I found him in the school room scribbling as quickly as he could.  He told me he was writing a poem, so I left him alone to work.

He came to me when he was finished and read it to me.

Clever!  And since I was at the computer, I typed it up for him (and me) to have!

And the author has granted me permission to post it here!

I once saw a fish go swimming by,

For it had wings, it could fly.

I went along,

Singing a song,

“Swimming fish, Flying fish,

I don’t know which!”

Q - 4th grade

The Things They Say...

Just taking a moment to record some memories...

We were heading out the door when C (age 5) held the door open and told me to go first.  His daddy responded to his kind gesture with, "Chivalry, is not dead."  I told C thank you and as he closed the door he said, "You're welcome.  By the way, who's 'chivarly?'"


* * * * * 

After eating lunch:
E (age 7): I feel cold.
Q (age 9): I feel full.
C (age 5): I feel like I need to burp.

Repetition

Friday Fifteen!

Yes, I'm still here!

So, here's a list to get you all caught up (since I've had so many comments wondering where I am...oh wait, no I haven't - but here it is anyway!)

1 - Gorgeous, 70+ degree temperatures have prompted school to be held outside.  Achievement testing at the beginning of the week prompted "Spring Break!"

2 - My kids are growing up so fast.  Our oldest will be TEN in 3 months and is growing up right before our eyes.  Our daughter's piano ability and reading skills have taken off like a bullet and our youngest has started to read.

3 - The Foo.d Net.work show, "Sweet Genui.s" drives me sweetly insane.  There is only one judge.  How can these contestants be okay with that?  And that judge drives me bonkers!  And yet, here I sit watching it!

4 - Our dog, Riley, will be 14 in May.  He's no longer able to go up the steps by himself and he's not putting much weight on his back right leg anymore.  It makes me sad.  But, at 98, I'd have a hard time doing steps, too!

5 - Will be joining my hubby on a business trip soon!

6 - This weekend is St Patty's Day.  I'm debating making an Irish Stew or serving homemade pizza with spinach.  Knowing no one, except me, likes spinach on their pizza, I'll probably go with the stew!

7 - Wow, can you believe I finally posted this month?

8 - Come on, leave a comment, you know you want to!

9 - We thought our desktop computer crashed this week, but after saying a prayer, it turned back on.  Thank you, Jesus.  I will be spending the majority of tomorrow transferring files to an external hard drive in the event it decides to commit cyber suicide.

10 - An ad for "So Slimming Jeans" should not feature a size 2 (or below) model...just sayin'.

11 - Wow, 11.  Aren't you glad I posted!?!

12 - Books I'm reading: -Marc Gungor's "Laugh Your Way to a Better Marriage" (we were fortunate to attend an event and I love his humor!)  - Richard Stearns' "The Hole in the Gospel" (a great read!) and -David Platt's "Radical" (another challenging read, similar to The Hole...")  What are you reading?

13 - I've done laundry every day this week, simply to hang it out on the wash line.  Clothes, sheets, blankets - soon I'll be emptying out drawers just to hang out laundry! ;)

14 - 10 years ago, I was finishing up my final year teaching Physical Education in an inner city elementary school, pregnant with our first child.  Never did I expect to be homeschooling a 4th grader, 1st grader and PreK student 10 years later!

15 - Have a great weekend!  Until next time...April, maybe! ;-D

What's better than chocolate?

Valentine's Day Jammie Pants! :)

Only God

Only God can

turn a MESS into a MESSAGE,

a TEST into a TESTIMONY,

a TRIAL into a TRIUMPH,

a VICTIM into a VICTORY.

The Tooth Fairy visited again!

After a busy fall with E losing 4 teeth in the span of about 2 months, I was hoping the Tooth Fairy could have a nice long vacation before coming back.

But this weekend, we had a need to call on her services.

But it might not be from a mouth you suspect...let's talk teeth!

She's looking about the same, besides, she will have to drink her meals out of a straw if any more teeth come out!

He looks the same, too.  But, he hasn't lost any lately...he's probably due again soon.

And what about this little guy?  Nah, he's only 5, that's too young to lose a tooth.  

Oh wait, what's that gap I see in the bottom row of teeth?  Well, look here.  Bubba lost a tooth!  I guess that is what happens when you are the youngest of three children and, when you get a little extra help from a bump to the mouth!  It happened back in October or November and he tried very hard to listen when we told him not to wiggle it.  But, curiosity won out and he popped it out this weekend.

Please don't let my baby grow up so quickly!

5 years ago...

Five years ago, a friend sent an email through our homeschool board inviting us to follow her blog, journaling her homeschool adventures.

I had never read a blog before.  But in that click, I knew I wanted one!

I quickly signed up for a blogger account and made my first post...hitting 'submit' and sending it into cyberspace...all the while curious if anyone would read it.

To look back now, I am overwhelmed by the connections I have made - to fellow homeschoolers, stay-at-home moms, moms that craft, moms that like to cook, snarky moms, moms who have older children and are a source of encouragement and serve as a mentor to me.

The coolest thing?  5 years have gone by and I am honored to continue calling them my friends.

Some people who don't blog, don't get it.  It seems like such a foreign idea to them that you'd desire a connection with someone whom you may never meet.  But, I know that God has set this little ol' blog here for a reason and I'm thankful for that each and every day.  And thankful for all the friendships I've made.

5 years ago, my kiddos looked like this:

I love to look back at the pictures in those early years of blogging.

Never did I imagine that I'd still be typing up new posts 5 years later.  Not that I didn't think I'd have enough to say, just didn't know if I'd have the time to share it.  ;-D

Some of it is silly, some is of our school time, some is just the kids.  A few scattered posts might even be inspirational - but they are mine and I'm happy to still be here 5 years later. 

Momma's got a new bag!

This week has been a harder week than normal because T has been gone since Monday.  My days feel normal, because I'm used to being here with the 3 kids all day, but the nighttime routine has been harder.

Yesterday was our busiest day with Co-op in the morning and a full evening of events at church.

I needed to take our laptop to church so the kids could watch a movie while I practiced in our bell choir from 8-9 last evening.  I had been using a tote bag from the medical practice that delivered our babies, but I yesterday I needed a distraction and a creative outlet.  I sat down at my sewing table with a plan to make a bag to hold our laptop, cables as well as a movie (and maybe a few snacks).  I wanted it to of course be functional, but it also needed to be stylish.

I had no pattern - I only had the dimensions of my laptop and an idea in mind.  A few hours later, I was feeling re-energized and pretty lucky to have such a cute bag (if I may say so myself) to carry my laptop.  I like it so much, I think it will carry just about anything, not just the laptop.

I have a few slight modifications for the next one, but I think I may try to type up a pattern to sell as well as make a few more of these cuties.

Excited for T to arrive home tonight - and we're following his travels on flight tracker, aka T Tracker!  Now to straighten up the house so it looks like I did more than just sew a new bag this week! ;-D

100th day - 100%

Today was Fourel Academy's 100th Day of School.

Didn't know our school was named Fourel Academy?  You see the title at the top of my blog?  Living to Learn and Learning to Live.

Four L's = Fourel  :)  Witty, huh?

Back to the story.

Today was our 100th day of school and I didn't even spend a minute on pinterest looking for ideas.  Well, that isn't entirely true - I spent many minutes on pinterest - I just wasn't looking for ideas for our 100th day.  ;)

Again, back to today, and on to God.  Guess what?  God planned our day for us.

3 of Q's spelling words today were: Centennial, Century and Centimeter

And he measured triangles finding their area in square centimeters.

And E's math was counting cents!

We've been plugging along for 99 days and BAM!  On our 100th day, we happen to be on a schedule that allows us to have 100 - CENT - flash before our eyes many times!

Our biggest lesson for our 100th day - seeing God in everything we do!

And knowing He's with us 100% of the time!

Wordless Wednesday

A New Year's Tradition

Besides the annual Pork & Sauerkraut meal on January 1,  I've been trying to be consistent with a word of the year tradition.

At the start of 2009, I asked God to lay a word on my heart and He gave me: INSPIRE.  I used that word to search for what inspired me or how I could inspire others.

In 2010, I did not take the time to ask or listen for a word.

In 2011, I asked God to lay a word on my heart for the year, and He gave me: TRANSFORM.  It was a year of transformation for me, our family, a Ukrainian boy we hosted in the summer, Artem and those that heard Artem's story.  Last year was a year of transformation and change.  I kept a piece of paper on my bulletin board with "Transform" circled in the middle and spider legs coming out with scripture, stories, books and Godincedences that touched our family deeply in 2011.

With those recollections, I was eager to ask God for a word for 2012.  I prayed about it 2 weeks ago and He gave me a word the next day.  It was a very clear call to use the word REFLECTION.  After hearing the word, I came across several pictures in my mind that God was using to tell me what He meant.  I'm a visual person, so I like to have an image in my mind with my word.  Last year, I used the picture of a caterpillar and butterfly to visualize my word, Transform.

This year, I found a lot of beautiful images of nature reflected in water.  Even though there were some really breathtaking pictures, it just didn't feel right.  I did not want the reflection to be the same image simply reversed - I wanted it to be a different image.  I wanted it to be an image reflected that isn't seen in the rest of the picture.  I don't know if this is what God had in mind for my word, but it is what spoke to me the loudest.

I will admit that this word feels daunting to me, but after seeing the growth from last year, I'm stepping forward on 1-1-12 with REFLECTION on my mind and in my heart.  And I wait in excited anticipation to see this word come to life.

When it's cold outside...

Merry Christmas!

She is Christmas! Happy Birthday, Noelle!

Noelle - Christmas. She was due Dec 23rd, but we had to deliver c/section so she was born 12/16 instead.  

[In case you wanted to know: Colin was due 12/14 and we opted for a c/s to have an earlier date and so their birthdays wouldn't be 2 days apart, LOL! 9 days is close enough!]

We always loved the name Noelle, and thought it was perfect - with the nickname Elle (rhymes with belly).

For her birthday meal, she chose our usual Christmas meal: Ham, gourmet potatoes and corn.

And instead of birthday cake (because she doesn't like icing...which I totally don't get), she chose Christmas cookies - Chocolate Crinkles!  (My favorite Christmas cookies, too!)

She is full of JOY, she is LOVE, she is a GIVER.  She is an example of Christmas.  And we love her to pieces!  She prefers "Elle" 11 months out of the year and likes to be called "Noelle" during December!  She's kind of quirky, like her momma!

We have T's company Christmas banquet tonight, so we celebrated with the grandparents last night.  She and her daddy danced to their favorite songs, "Baby Girl" by Sugarland and "Cowgirls Don't Cry" by Brooks and Dunn.

Wishing...

Happy 7th Birthday, Noelle.