Originalkat @ Home

NEW YEARS!

2012-01-30T10:03:00.000-08:00

HAPPY 2012!

New Years Treats

New Room, New Bunkbeds

2012-01-30T09:59:00.000-08:00

But first...ORGANIZE Everything from their big closet upstairs has to be sorted and we got rid of a LOT of things they no longer need.

Put the Christmas stuff away...I LOVE having kids old enough to help!

Awww..That's better

And now for the NEW ROOM!

THEY LOVE IT!

Christmas 2011

2012-01-30T09:52:00.000-08:00

She's Here! Our New Niece!

2012-01-15T10:07:00.000-08:00

Isabel Estella Luna

5 lbs. 6 oz.

19 inches

Surgery

2012-01-02T09:45:00.000-08:00

We had two surgeries in the family recently.

My mom had hip replacement surgery just before Christmas. Here she is right before surgery. She is now 5 weeks out and is doing great!

Then Celia had emergency surgery just after New Years. She was in so much pain...she needed to have her Gall Bladder removed.

Here she is the night before surgery...

Poor Girl!

Thanksgiving in Denver

2011-11-30T09:35:00.000-08:00

This year we went to Denver to visit My Aunt and Uncle for Thanksgiving. My brother and his family met us there. It was an amazing trip! We had so much fun laughing, talking,and relaxing.

We had such a wonderful time!

Our House

2011-11-01T12:03:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to get a good picture of our house with the fence. Finally, Stan was able to take a pretty good one.

Fun Weekend With Grandma

2011-11-01T07:18:00.000-07:00

We went to the park by grandma Debbie's house and got to pet a horse in a nearby pasture.

50th Day of School!

2011-11-01T07:12:00.000-07:00

We celebrated the 50th day of school with a 1950's party!

You Can Do This When You Homeschool...

2011-11-01T06:39:00.000-07:00

Amelia decided these paper glasses would help her concentrate on her work.

Pumpkin Patch

2011-11-01T06:29:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of our trip to the pumpkin patch this year.

Happy 60th Birthday Mom!

2011-11-01T05:44:00.000-07:00

We had a surprise party for my mom's 60th birthday this year. My brother, Adrienne, and the girls came into town, and they were waiting at the restaurant when we showed up with my mom. Afterwards, we went back to our house for cake and a special movie that Chris put together recapping her life from childhood.

Here are the cousins relaxing outside in the beautiful weather!

Happy Birthday Mom! We love you!

Grass!

2011-10-24T16:33:00.000-07:00

Somehow, over the last three years, areas of our lawn deteriorated and turned to dirt patches. Once we realized the extent of it we knew something had to be done. We had TruGreen come out and aerate and over seed our lawn.

Here are the before pictures:

In just 2 weeks (and watering 3 times per day) the lawn looks green and fabulous! I was so worried that we may not get good results. We are so happy with how things are growing. Come spring, our fresh new lawn should grow in beautifully.

A Peek into Green Gate Preschool...

2011-10-03T16:28:00.000-07:00

I rarely discuss anything about Green Gate Preschool, my home-based preschool/childcare, on my family blog because I have a preschool blog for that. But, it is a large part of my life and I spend a lot of time in this space. I took some updated pictures so I thought I would give you a peek into my cozy little classroom.

This is a view from the kitchen.

This is the entrance with cubbies and the parent board.

Thanks for Looking!

IT'S OFFICIAL....

2011-10-03T16:16:00.000-07:00

Stan has officially been accepted into the Wichita State University Accelerated Nursing Program for the May 2012 class! He will complete his BS in Nursing after completion of the 15 month program. He is one of 30 students chosen for this competitive program. He is a 4.0 student and I am so proud of all of his hard work!!!!

CONGRATULATIONS STANLEY!

Bike Riding on a Beautiful Weekend

2011-10-03T16:05:00.001-07:00

First Sleepover!

2011-10-03T16:01:00.000-07:00

The girls had their first sleepover with a friend from Green Gate. We went to Aunt Celia's house and they ate hotdogs off the grill, ate S'mores and ran around like crazy kids. They were worn out, but decided they wanted to look at Monster books before they went to sleep!

Sisters

2011-09-20T08:41:00.000-07:00

My little girls dressed themselves in matching outfits and I found Amelia doing Ella's hair in the bathroom. As soon as I saw them I starting humming the song Sisters from White Christmas.

Take a listen!

Story of The World: Ancient Egypt

2011-09-20T08:28:00.000-07:00

Over the last few weeks we have been learning about Ancient Egypt in our History lessons. Here are some of the projects that we have done.

After learning how real mummies were made, we decided to mummify Barbie.

Amelia thought it was pretty cool.

We also learned about some of the first writing. We saw real tablets found in Egypt on a great video that was Internet linked the the Useborne Encyclopedia of World History. Amelia wrote her initials in Cuneiform writing on a clay tablet of her own. She used a toothpick to etch the symbols and then she painted it in the traditional color of tablets of that time.

This is our Nile River model. We learned about how the Egyptians relied on the annual flooding of the Nile river for their survival. They would plant their crops in the soil near the river and also create canals to conserve the water for later use. For our model, we planted our seeds in the soil near the water and then "flooded" the river banks. Sure enough, the seeds sprouted just like in Ancient Egypt! You can't beat such a great hands-on experience to bring abstract concepts to life.

Homeschool Week 2

2011-08-27T11:59:00.000-07:00

This week we began learning about our eyes. Amelia used an interactive website to identify the parts of the eye. We also read some great information in our human body encyclopedia.

She learned about pupil dialation and decided to bring a small mirror into the car with her so she could watch her pupils change in different light.

In math we began learning about place value. At first she didn't quite understand the concept, but with some practice with the place value manipulatives it all began to make sense.

Amelia finished her first Reading workbook and got a 98% on her first test of the year. She was really proud of herself and showed it off to dad as well!

It was our 10th day of school so we celebrated with ZERO THE HERO! Zero the Hero brought them a zero shaped treat and they colored a zero and placed 10 zero stickers on it. Lots of fun!

Story of the World Chapter 1:The Earliest People

2011-08-27T11:48:00.000-07:00

We learned how the Nomads travelled from place to place looking for food. They lived in caves or tents as they travelled. When the Nomads reached the Fertile Crescent, many decided to stay. They established villages and began farming. This is the map Amelia colored of the Fertile Crescent area.

Here Amelia is listening to the SOTW audio and coloring the corresponding student page from the activity guide. We refer to the encyclopedia as we read to add visual reinforcement.

We finished off the week with a Cave Painting Activity!

So far, I LOVE Story of the World!

Amelia was playing outside and she found an "ancient artifact" in the yard. She was VERY excited!

First Week of School Photos!

2011-08-21T14:30:00.000-07:00

Here we are posing for our FIRST WEEK OF SCHOOL photo!

Amelia hard at work on her Math workbook

Ella working with Color Tiles

Story of The World 1: What is History?

2011-08-21T14:13:00.000-07:00

This week we began our year-long study of Ancient History! After reading a great book about Archaeology,

we discovered some internet sites that allowed Amelia to manipulate real tools used by Archaeologists and we discovered the 2,000 year old city of Petra through an interactive map!

Next, Amelia interviewed her Great Grandma Sally to learn more about her family history and recorded the information she heard.

We learned that historians often find bits of clay pottery in their digs that were left behind many years ago. To illustrate this, the girls painted clay pots and then "accidently" broke them.

We later used them in our Archaeology dig outside in the sandbox. They glued the pieces together to see what they could learn about the "ancient civilization" they had discovered.

Here they uncovered the corner of a clay pot!

Amelia carefully brushed the sand off of the broken pieces.

Finally we glued the artifact back together!

We had a lot of fun during our first week of Ancient History!

I look forward to many more discoveries throughout the year.

Oceans of Fun Trip!

2011-08-18T21:19:00.000-07:00

We took a little trip to Kansas City to get away before the new school year started. We had a blast!

Here we are at Oceans of Fun!

We also visited Paradise Park! The kids had so much fun.

Here is the Blocks and Construction area.

House Play

Pizza Parlor

Grocery Store

Water Play

Miniatures

Before we left we were able to go see my brother, sister-in-law, and our two nieces. The girls all played and we had a great time visiting and seeing their new home. And, as you can see, I forgot to take pictures!

I love you family!
I am so glad we had this time away together!

Homeschool Work Space and How I plan

2011-08-18T20:44:00.000-07:00

Homeschooling planning can be an overwhelming task in itself, but this year I would not only be homeschooling my 1st grader but also teaching Preschool to 8 other children 5 days a week in my home. I knew I had to get really organized or I would not be able to stay on top of things. So, this summer I worked on getting every week of school planned out in detail. I labeled the file folders by week.

After all my folders are labeled by week, I sit down with all of my materials and my lesson plans and sort everything into the appropriate folders. All workbooks (CLE for Math, Reading, and Lang. Arts), worksheets, activity pages, books, etc...go in each week's folder so they are ready to go. (No thinking on my part after the initial planning/organizing.)

Here is a close-up of my lesson plan sheets. I keep them all in a 1/2 inch binder at the front of my file crate.At the end of the week, I move the week's lesson plan to the back of the binder so the top plan is always for the current week.

Then I place the current week's folder in the binder along with my Well Planned Day Planner.

As the week progresses, I keep ongoing papers and completed work in the weekly folder. I may come up with a new system for this, but for now this works.

In the Well Planned Day planner I write what we actually accomplish each day. This gives me a sense of accomplishment and also gives me a place to write things down that were not in the lesson plan such as a cool internet site or an additional book.

I store my crate, lesson plans, current library books, teacher manuals etc... in the dining room.

Here is a picture of the dining room where we do our homeschooling. The space you see beyond the dining room is my preschool/home childcare room off of the Kitchen. We also use that space throughout the day. I need to take some new pictures of that room as well because I recently rearranged some things.

The corner cabinet on the left side is where I store a lot of supplies we need throughout the week.

I hope you enjoyed the tour of my planning and work space and materials.

Sprinkler System Repairs

2011-08-18T19:58:00.000-07:00

Well, after the fencing company installed the new fence they informed us that they hit the underground water line for the sprinkler system. They had also burried the broken spots under 2 feet of concrete. How thoughtful of them. So with no rain, no sprinklers, and record high temperatures...the green grass turned a solid straw color in a matter of two weeks! The lawn practically matched our house color!

So, Stan knew a guy who is a handyman and came over to repair it before our hideous lawn brought down the whole neighborhood. HEHEHE!

This is a picture of one of the 4 broken spots in the line. As you can see, the water just poured out as soon as you turned it on.

Running a new section of PVC pipe.

After 8 hours of work, he repaired all of the leaks and the sprinkler system was up and running. It only took about 2 weeks for the grass to green up again! It looks so much better.

2011-2012 Homeschool Curriculum Plans

2011-08-01T12:45:00.000-07:00

This year I am participating in the "Not" Back to School Blog Hop hosted by Heart of the Matter. This week is Curriculum week so I am sharing all of my plans for the upcoming year!

I have completed all of the lesson plans for Amelia's 1st Grade homeschool curriculum for the entire year. I have organized it by week in a file crate so that I will have everything we need (workbooks, worksheets, books etc...) at my fingertips. I don't have a picture yet, but I will post one when I get it done. I also have my library book lists completed and saved on the library website so I can just request all the books I need for the month without any hunting.

Language Arts and Math
For Language Arts and Math we will be using Christian Light Education. I have high hopes for this curriculum choice and hope it will be one we can use for years to come. It is very well laid out and each subject contains 10 workbooks. I have read many reviews and have heard that this curriculum is very organized, thorough, and requires the child to use critical thinking skills. It is also a "back-to-basics" curriculum, so it puts a strong emphasis on memorization of math facts and grammar usage. Beginning in 2nd grade, the workbooks teach directly to the child so they can begin to take responsibility for their own learning with mom close by whenever needed.

Science
In science, we will be doing a year-long study of the human body. I got the plans for this study for free here, and I think it will be a great introduction to the human body for Amelia and Ella and includes weekly topics such as the five senses, cells, lungs, skeletal system, the brain, and many others. The topic will be explored through the following resources along with lots of library books that correlate with the topics:

History
We will be studying Ancient Times following the Story of the World (SOTW) resources pictured below. This volume begins with the earliest nomads and continues to the fall of Rome. This curriculum was written for 1st-4th graders in mind. Each week we will listen to the audio recording of a chapter in the book and participate in various activities throughout the week that go along with it such as coloring sheets, map work, hands-on crafts and activities, and additional picture books.

Geography

We will be going through the Evan Moore 1st grade Geography workbook which includes lots of different mapping experiences including:

Globes
Directions
Map keys
Physical maps
Street maps
Farm, town, city, and state maps
Park and zoo maps
Product maps
Tourist and weather maps
Political maps of the United States and the world

Have a great school year everyone!

Happy 35th Birthday Stanley!

2011-07-18T19:25:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday!!!!Happy Birthday

We started off the evening with a yummy meal at Abuelos with the whole Family.

Then we surprised him with balloons, a cake, a pie, and lots of great gifts at Celia's house!

Look at ALL THOSE CANDLES!

Happy Birthday to you!!!

Make a wish!

And this wish came true! A new cordless drill set from mom!

And a new riding jacket, some spending cash, a couple of new shirts, and a vegetarian cook book!

We love you Stanley!

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-15T07:46:00.000-07:00

Lighting the Fireworks

And Then...

And Now for the Big Ones...

Run!!!

That was cool!

God Bless America! The Home of the Free!

Children's Garden

2011-07-15T07:30:00.000-07:00

Botanica recently opened their new children's garden. It really is amazing! Very well done. Of course, my camera ran out batteries during the visit...

so I will have to post more pictures when my sister-in-law sends them to me.

This is the Butterfly House. It is not part of the children's garden, but it is a really cool part of the gardens. And yes, that is Stan with the hose. He volunteers at Botanica and spends a lot of time in the Butterfly House during its peak season. So even though he was not working, he sprayed down the area so that the butterflies would come out...and they started flying everywhere!

It is really hard to get a good shot, but they really were flying all around us. I got a few close-up shots when they stopped to take a drink or rest on a leaf.

This is the entrance to the Childen's Garden.

A refreshing fountain greets children and welcomes them into this magical place.

The Barn is a classroom that can be used during field trips etc...

And this is just the beginning...and where my camera went dead. I will share more as soon as I get the pictures...I promise.

Baking Bread and Garden Veggies

2011-07-15T07:13:00.000-07:00

I will have to write a post on our new grain mill and mixer we have been using to make bread. But for now, I thought I would just show some delicious pictures...

Freshly Baked Whole Wheat Bread

And a few of our vegetables from the garden...

River Festival Fireworks!

2011-06-13T14:27:00.000-07:00

Around the Yard...

2011-06-13T14:17:00.000-07:00

We had to get a new riding mower because the 20-yr-old Craftsman finally quit on us.

We also got a new fence! We have been wanting to put in a fence like this since we moved in and it finally happened! Here it is... (The Gates aren't on in this picture. I will post that at another time)

New Side Door On The Garage

This Is the Old Door

New Door!

Much Better!

Garden Update In Pictures

2011-06-13T13:58:00.000-07:00

Growing...

And Growing...

And Growing!

And Salad!

The vegetable garden is really growing well. Most of the vegetables are not ready for harvesting. But the lettuce was beautiful and tasty. I have also been using fresh herbs from the garden. I can't really keep up with the growth!

Happy 6th Birthday Amelia!

2011-05-15T13:25:00.000-07:00

Birth Day 2005

1st Birthday 2006

2nd Birthday 2007

3rd Birthday 2008

4th Birthday 2009

5th Birthday 2010

6th Birthday 2011

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!

Square Foot Garden Update!

2011-04-25T10:38:00.000-07:00

We have made progress on our Square Foot Garden!

Phase 2 and 3 are complete!

Now for phase 4....the planting!

Easter in Pictures!

2011-04-25T09:48:00.000-07:00

Coloring Easter Eggs

Dad LOVES to color eggs!

In the Garden on Easter Morning

Holding Audriana in her Easter dress.

The Cousins Getting Ready for The Egg Hunt

HAPPY EASTER!

The Beginnings of our Square Foot Garden

2011-04-04T11:17:00.000-07:00

Last year, Stan and I decided we wanted to start a vegetable garden. After some research, we decided on Square Foot Gardening. It uses raised beds with a special soil mix of 1/3 Peat Moss, 1/3 Vermiculite, and 1/3 compost (from at least 5 different sources). You never use your own ground soil for a Square Foot Garden. Another feature of this gardening method is that you plant in squares instead of rows. This conserves space and time. Each 4x4 raised bed has a grid that shows you where to plant. We did not have time to accomplish the garden last year, so we are hitting the ground running this time around.

Phase One

Constructing the Boxes

Laying out Pathways

The box construction was very simple and not very time consuming. I am glad Stan is just as motivated as I am for this project. But, I am confident I could have easily built these boxes as well (and so could you!)

We used outdoor carpet (the same that we used under the playset) for the pathways. This provides for excellent drainage and weed control. I DO NOT like weeds creeping up where they dont belong so the paths are worth the time and money. We will cover the paths with mulch when we are finished. The back two boxes already have the grids built. We ran out of screws for the other two grids so we will do that tonight. We will also atttach weed cloth to the bottom of each box so you will not see any grass when we finish that.

PHASE 2

Soil

Building Vine Trellis for the back two Boxes

PHASE 3

Build Fence Around Garden to Keep Critters Out

Lay out Mulch on pathways

PHASE 4

Plant!

Haircuts!

2011-04-04T10:49:00.000-07:00

The girls (especially Amelia) have been wanting to get their hair cut for some time now. I told them if they still wanted to get it cut in the spring then we would. Well, spring is here and we took the plunge! Here are some pictures of the exciting day...

It has taken some getting used to (mostly on my part) because I am so used to braids, and pigtails, and ponytails. I do miss that. But, their hair is MUCH easier to wash and dry and there are fewer tears when we brush it out. Plus, they do look adorable! I love you girls!

Happy 4th Birthday Mada!

2011-03-15T13:10:00.000-07:00

My baby is growing up!

Birth Day 2007

1st Birthday 2008

2nd Birthday 2009

3rd Birthday 2010

4th Birthday 2011

(Playing with Mada's new tea set after the party)

Happy Birthday Mada!

Look Who Got Her Ears Pierced!

2011-02-15T16:28:00.000-08:00

I decided before we had the girls that we would let them get their ears pierced when they decided that they wanted to. Amelia got hers done when she was barely three. She was SURE she wanted to get them pierced. She knew it would hurt and she was willing to endure the pain.

Mada was SURE she DID NOT want to get her ears pierced. Recently, I asked her if she was ready to get her ears pierced, and to my surprise she said, "Yes!". Grandma Nita, Aunt Danielle, and Donald took her to get it done.

BEFORE

DURING

AFTER

She didn't even cry!

That's our Mada.

Happy 31st Birthday To Me!

2011-02-14T10:04:00.000-08:00

Look at my sweet girls with their hands on my shoulders.

I am loved.

And I blew out ALL of the candles!

Audriana Kaleigh

2011-02-07T12:48:00.000-08:00

Meet my new niece, Audriana Kaleigh!

January 31, 2011

6 lbs 3 oz. 19 inches

Just moments after birth

Danielle allowed me to experience the delivery of her first born. It was an awesome experience.

Danielle, Donald, and Audriana are all healthy and happy adjusting to life at home in these early weeks.

We love you Audriana!

Oh the Snow!

2011-02-04T13:04:00.000-08:00

It was extremely cold this week! Amelia got to stay home 3 days this week for snow days! Stanley shoveled the driveway so the daycare parents could get in and out. A LOT OF WORK! He has all his winter weather gear on from the military. What a lifesaver.

First Snow of the Year

2011-01-10T12:08:00.000-08:00

The new snow boots that Grandma Nita got us sure came in handy today!

Christmas Pictures...After the New Year!

2011-01-10T12:03:00.000-08:00

We visited Santa and drove through the "Lights on St. Paul"

Christmas with the cousins...

Christmas morning at home...

Where has the time gone?

2010-12-16T11:43:00.000-08:00

As you may have noticed, I have not updated my blog in awhile. Well...since September. We have been very busy and I have not had a moment to get online and post any updates. Let me clarify. I have chosen NOT to spend my free moments online posting updates. In fact, the computer is the last place I want to be in my free time lately. I have been going to school full-time through Southwestern College to finish my teaching degree. All of my classes are online, and while that is a blessing, I am on the computer a lot more than I would like to be. But for everything there is a season. And right now, I really have the desire to finish this degree. It has been 14 years in the making...and I am biting the bullet and finishing it!

I also have my full-time home childcare/preschool. Right now I have 5 children enrolled plus my two. All of my families are wonderful and I am grateful for the opportunity to work from home.

Amelia is in school and it is going alright. Stan and I are not very impressed with the public school system. (No surprise there.) Eventually, we will need to find a better solution. But, right now Amelia is doing okay and we will leave things as they are until we are more settled and back into a normal rhythm. We supplement her learning at home and continue to hold her to a higher standard. She certainly is not being held to high standards at school.

Here is what we have been up to for the last few months...

Pumpkin Patch

Halloween

Thanksgiving Preparations

Christmas Preparations

Thanks for visiting.

Have a Merry Christmas!

Weekend Camping Trip

2010-09-20T14:35:00.000-07:00

This weekend we went on a little camping trip to Fall River. It was a lot of fun. Here are a few pictures!

We started a fire and made s'mores and roasted hot dogs!

Here is our tent...it was super easy to set up!

We used our camping cook stove to make breakfast burritos in the morning.

Then we went exploring...

and the girls tried out some rock climbing...Stanley's past-time.

We drove over to see the damn.

And traveled over the creeky bridge before heading home!

Our Bathroom Makeover

2010-09-20T13:53:00.000-07:00

This is our bathroom BEFORE! As you can see, it was pretty awful. We have lived with it for the past 2 1/2 years since we moved in. It had gold fixtures and a hunter green countertop and sink. The cabinets were a blonde wood color. I was so tired of seeing it, I decided it just had to go!

We were working in a pretty tight budget. We completed the whole bathroom for about $700.00. Here is the finished Bathroom!

Sink Before...

Sink After...

We replaced the sink, fixtures, mirror,lighting, and flooring (Vinyl tile). We painted the walls a pretty blue green. Then we sanded and painted the countertops using a product from Rust-Oleum. It was 19.95 and was mixed to the color of my choice at the paint counter. So far I LOVE it! It is very durable and smooth. Can you think of a cheaper or easier way to get rid of dated countertops? We also painted the cabinets and added a glass tile backsplash.

I finished off the room by adding fresh new towels, shower curtain, rug, trash can, lamp, and a few accessories.

I am so pleased with how it turned out. The ugliest room in our home is now beautiful!

Thanks for checking out our new bathroom!

Amelia's First Day of Kindergarten

2010-08-20T15:31:00.000-07:00

Amelia started Kindergarten this week! This was her "first day of school picture" outside our house.

Here is the lunchbox she picked out to match her backpack.

Her first lunch...I was teary eyed as I was making it.

Amelia was so excited about school starting. Here she is in her classroom on the first day.

So how am I really feeling about this Kindergarten stuff? Well, honestly it has been hard for me. I feel torn in many ways because we had really planned on homeschooling up until recently when I decided I wanted to finish my teaching degree. I have always loved the idea of homeschooling and think it is an awesome way to educate children for those who are called to it. Homeschooling offers a family-centered lifestyle and we love that. But, at this point in our lives I must work. My business brings in a good income, but not a lot of free time during the day. I am not able to take the girls to any extra activities for homeschoolers and I don't know if spending their days in house full of preschoolers is the most productive environment. Right now, I do not know what I want or what is best...but I give that to the Lord and will wait for his direction for the future regarding my career and schooling for the girls. But, for now, I think this is a good place. It is a smaller magnet school and she only has 15 kids in her class. I am trying to let go, but I want to know what she is doing all day. I want to be there. I want to see the connections she is making in her learning. I count the hours until she gets home. I am not sure if these are feelings every mom has when they send their first born off to school or if these are feelings resulting from wavering from our original plan to homeschool. I hate not knowing what is best or if the decisions I am making are the right ones.
So how is that for a first day of school post???

New Organization Stuff!

2010-07-20T16:12:00.000-07:00

Magnetic White Board for $7.00

New Calendar/Planner

Happy 34th Birthday Stan!

2010-07-20T16:04:00.000-07:00

As usual, we ate at Sal's Japanese Steak House for Stan's Birthday. It was delicious.

Mmmmm...Steak and Lobster, Fried Rice, Fesh Veggies, Shrimp, Salad, Soup all prepared at the table.

Then we headed home for Stan's Birthday Dessert choice...Chocolate Cream Pie.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABE!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!!!

Fourth of July

2010-07-20T15:24:00.000-07:00

A Few Pictures from the Fourth of July

Toy Story 3

2010-06-24T15:09:00.000-07:00

Grandma Nita took the girls on a fun outing to see "Toy Story 3" last weekend. They had SO much fun. Who could blame them? They got to see the movie AND eat at McDonalds AND pick out a Toy Story toy from Walmart too!!!!

(By the way...isn't my Mada looking SOOOO old?? She has entered into a new stage and is SO adorable!)

Writing Experiences

2010-06-24T15:01:00.000-07:00

Amelia has entered a new stage in her writing . She has started to sound out words and write them phonetically. I first noticed it when she was playing. She was trying to write the name Sarah. As I watched her (without her knowing) she said the word slowly and wrote the letters SRU.

Want to try a few more???

Gramo

Sale

Butrfli

(Grandma, Sally, Butterfly)

At this stage she is exploring with sounds and writing them as she hears them. It is really fun to watch her explore this new found skill.

This picture does not really show her writing, but shows the detail she has started to put into her illustrations.

Thanks for letting me share!

Sun Bathing

2010-06-09T11:56:00.000-07:00

The girls have been having fun in the little plastic pool. Here they are relaxing in the sun!

Summer Garden

2010-06-09T11:47:00.000-07:00

There are beautiful Hydrangeas in bloom right now in the garden!

This picture below is of our baby hydrangea bush that we planted (and then replanted two weeks later because it was about to die).

Here is what it looked like when we planted it in its first location. I didn't get a picture of it when it started to shrivel up. But it looked aweful! I think it was getting too much sun and not enough moisture.

So we replanted it in its new location near the garage by the pond. This area has drip irrigation so the soil is always moist. I tenderly cared for it daily for about a week. I piched off the shriveled leaves, watered it and kept a close eye on its progress. It really paid off! Now it is flourishing. Take a look at the newest Annabelle Hydrangea in our garden...

Close up of our baby Hydrangea

Here are our GIANT Annabelle Hydrangeas

And finally a surprise in the garden!

Okay...now remember I dont know much about gardening and I am learning as I go along. Ever since we moved to this house 2 years ago, I have tried to stay on top of the weeding in the main garden area back by the pond. It is not hard to pull them if you get them when they first come up out of the mulch. They arent coming from underneath, but are seeds that have fallen on top of the mulch so they are super easy to get out. But there was one plant that always looked like a big weed to me. So for the last two years I have cut it down to the ground but not pulled it out from the roots. This year I was a little behind on my late spring/early summer weeding. So as I made my way around the garden beds, I found a beautiful surprise!

The "weed" I kept cutting down was another Hydrangea bush (I think). This one is a pastel pink with light green (almost white) petals. The leaves are not solid green like the Annabelle Hydrangea but are veriegated. Absolutely Gorgeous!

Thanks for letting me share my garden with you!

Memorial Day Trip to San Antonio

2010-06-09T11:15:00.000-07:00

Over Memorial day weekend we drove to San Antonio to visit Daniel (Stan's brother who is in training there). We had such a wonderful trip! The girls were SO good. It is a 10 hour drive so we weren't sure how our littles (3 and 5 yrs) would do. We decided to go ahead and buy a portable dvd player for the car. Stan and I had both said in the past that we would NOT have a dvd player in the car because we wanted them to look out the windows and watch the landscape just like when we were kids. But, we found out that watching the scenery leads to throwing-up (at least for our kids) and so we ditched that and bought the player in hopes of making the trip smoother. SUCCESS!

We stayed on base in Temporary Housing (kind of like a hotel) and only paid $40.00 per night. Also, we were able to visit Sea World for FREE because of their nationwide "Here's to the Heros" promo that they extended through 2010. Normally tickets are nearly $60.00 for adults and $50.00 for children. We ate icecream, rode on rides, and watched Shamu of course!

Waiting to see Shamu!

There she is!

There we are in Penguin Egg #4

Here we are with two tired kids at the River Walk in San Antonio.

Mmm! Yummy BBQ Ribs!

We played games to win tickets at Dave and Busters!

The girls didn't know until afterwards that you trade the tickets in for prizes!

What a fun Family Vacation

Wrapping up Pre-K

2010-06-09T10:38:00.000-07:00

When summer comes I start to get lazy with my blog posts. As you can see I haven't posted in almost a month!
Well, Amelia has done so well her Pre-K year. She loves to learn and is always excited about working in her school books and doing activities. Here is her notebook of many of the activities she did over the last year.

This year Amelia learned to read, learned many beginning math concepts, learned to write her name, and practiced writing words using all the sounds she has learned. Just the other day she called me to the easel and said, "Mom, I am writing the word wish. I have the W-I. Now I just need the SH. After reminding her what SH looks like, she wrote the word all by herself! She is well on her way to being a reader and writer.

Happy 5th Birthday Amelia!

2010-05-15T14:38:00.000-07:00

Birth Day- May 2005

1st Birthday- May 2006

2nd Birthday- May 2007

3rd Birthday- May 2008

4th Birthday- May 2009

5th Birthday- May 2010

Amelia came in layed down next to me after everyone had left from the party and said "Thanks for my birthday mom. It was the best party in the whole world."

Dad was reading "Little Red Riding Hood" from Grandma Debbie.

And finally a few family shots...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMELIA!

WE LOVE YOU!

Monster Madness and other Fun Stuff

2010-05-15T14:21:00.000-07:00

Last week we did a theme on Friendly Monsters. I wasn't too sure how well I would like it, but it was a hit with the kids and a lot of fun for me too!

Here are some of the books and art projects for the week.

We also made a milk jug monster and fed him Yy objects (our letter of the week). He was VERY hungry!

Amelia and Mada have been working on puzzles a lot lately. Amelia especially loves the large floor puzzles. She goes down to the storage shelf and picks out a new one several times per week.

Each day we fill in the next date on the calendar. We also put picture cards for important dates/holidays to practice counting skills. On Friday, we were planning on going to the zoo. So Amelia was looking for the Zoo card to put on the calendar. I told her we did not have one so she grabbed some zoo animal stickers, paper, and a marker and made her own card to put on the calendar!

Here is a close-up shot of it. I thought she did such a great job and without any prompting from me at all.

Our new playset!

2010-05-03T09:35:00.000-07:00

We finally got our new playset. First we set aside the area by laying down weed paper.

Then Stanley got to work putting the set together.

Mada is helping with the directions.

Here it is all set up! The kids LOVE it and have already spent a lot of time out there. We also water sealed it which will be need to be done once per year. We bought a sprayer which makes the aplication go a lot faster.

The surfacing underneath is a good quality outdoor carpat in a pebble type color. We are going to line the edges of it with landscape ties to finish it off. We will see how we like it. If we don't, then we can cover it with another loose surfacing such as pea gravel or wood chips and have in underneath as a great weed barrier. This so clean and tidy though. I saw this idea on a forum that I get on. It rained last night and was very windy. We had not even staked it down yet and it stayed securely in place and was dry this morning with no puddles. Interesting huh?

Happy Earth Day!

2010-04-28T14:16:00.000-07:00

This post is a little late. I have had it in my drafts since last week, but I wanted to post it before April was over. We had a fun earth day filled with activities. Here are some of the things we did.

Amelia got the World map out and wanted to see where we lived. So, I showed her the Atlas so she could see where we were on the map. She followed the lines and asked where Boo and Arn live and where

Chris and Adrienne live. We traced the roads with our fingers. This is our HUGE laminated US Atlas from when we were truck drivers

We painted the earth on coffee filters using blue and green paint. Aren't they pretty?

Next, we spread peanut butter onto rice cakes and pressed them in birdseed to make feeders.

We went outside and placed them in the trees.

We planted Marigolds in individual pots.

Then we planted an Annabelle Hygrangea just like the other one we have in the back already. They get large white snowball type blooms. Unfortunately,a week later, it is not doing too well. It looks find of weary and limp. I think we may need to move it to another spot...I'm just not sure where.

Bushes!

2010-04-23T16:41:00.000-07:00

We had a car full of bushes last weekend. Stan's cousin had some bushes he wanted to get rid of. So we went to their house, dug them up, and packed them onto the car.

The first bush on the left is one of the four that we brought over.

Here are two more that we placed in some of the bare spots by the pond.

Four full-sized bushes for free. You can't beat that!

Learning about Birds

2010-04-18T07:29:00.000-07:00

We have been learning about birds over the past couple of weeks. The kids have really been enjoying this topic. Here are a few of the activities we have done...

Our Storybook Nature Walk with the book "Feathers for Lunch" by Lois Ehlert

Geraniums

Lilac Bush

Finding nests HIGH up in the trees

A few of our craft projects (the middle one is a nest)

"Light as a Feather" Science Experiment

We dropped heavy and light objects to see which would land first. Then we put them on the balance to see which were heavy and which were light.

Here are the results...

Cookie Update

2010-04-18T07:14:00.000-07:00

Two months ago I posted about starting to freeze my cookie dough and my decision to stop buying pre-packaged cookies. Well, I have done well. I have not bought any store bought cookies since making that decision. I HAVE had to make the girls put cookies BACK on the shelf in the grocery store. LOL! My latest batch was half M&M and half chocolate chip.

The cookies the kids miss the most are Fudge Stripe and M&M. So I made some M&M to try to fill the void.

Greater Than, Less Than

2010-04-18T07:05:00.000-07:00

Amelia got out the number scale activity box the other day. I explained that to do the activity she needed to choose two cards that have a number with corresponding pictures. Lay them out in front of the scale and then choose the plastic numerals to match and hook them on the scale. The greater (or larger) number is heavier. She went through all the cards, comparing the numbers.

I showed her how to write the greater than/less than and equal signs and she decided to write some herself as well. So much learning going on with this little activity.One thing I love about homeschooling is that you see all of this progress in learning without having to TEACH a lot of the skills. Children are natural learners. For example, I never drilled her to learn her numbers, however, she just picked them up through daily experiences. Although I have taught her basic phonics, a few weeks ago she naturally chose an alphabet book and magnetic letters and matched up the lowercase and uppercase letters. This was not a skill I specifically taught, but she just decided to do on her own. I love it!

Old Faithful...and other yard stuff

2010-04-18T06:35:00.000-07:00

This is our faithful rider mower. It first belonged to my parents, then was given/sold (I don't know which) to my uncle Arn and Aunt Boo (that's her nickname), and finally was given to us as a house warming gift by my aunt and uncle. It must be between 15 and 20 years old. It runs great and faithfully mows our acre plot of land every week from April until October every year. This will be our third summer using him.

This is Mama relaxing on the hammock chair after a long day of yard work. This is the view from the hammock chair...

I love flowering trees. Don't you?

Signs of Spring

2010-04-06T08:54:00.000-07:00

Last year a late snow knocked out all the beautiful spring flowers from the bushes and trees before I got any shots of them. So I wanted to get some photos this year. Take a look...

Isn't God amazing! Look at all the beauty that we have right in our own backyard!

There is so much to be thankful for.

Happy Easter!

2010-04-06T08:47:00.000-07:00

We had a beautiful Easter this year! The weather was warm and the sun was shining. My house was a MESS because of some bedroom rearranging we have been doing (more about that in another post) so we had Easter at Grandma Nitas house.

Our Easter Spread

Preparing for the Hunt

What a pretty spot for hiding an egg...

The Girls are ready!

Happy Easter Everyone!

More House Projects

2010-03-25T19:15:00.000-07:00

We have been having so much fun with a few house projects lately. First, we put gutters on the house. I think it makes the white trim stand out which I like. It will also get the water away from the house which is obviously the main purpose.

Here is the before shot of the garage door...

And here is the after...

Amazing transformation don't you think?

They had to frame out the garage so the door would fit since our garage (built in 1943) was a one piece and an odd size. We will paint the raw wood white sometime this spring. We also plan on adding a entrance door to match in place of the plywood one that is there now.

Projects to come:

Exterior Shutters/window boxes

Landscaping around the house

Pathway to the front porch

New Mailbox

and the list could go on....

Happy 3rd Birthday Mada!

2010-03-15T18:50:00.000-07:00

Birth Day- 2007

1 Year Old- 2008

2 Years Old- 2009

3 Years Old- 2010

My beautiful girl is three years old! I love you so much Mada!

New Faucet

2010-03-05T15:39:00.000-08:00

Our kitchen faucet finally kicked the bucket. So Stan got right on the project.

Mada helped by holding the flashlight.

Ugly old faucet

Shiny new faucet!

Happy Birthday Blog!

2010-03-05T15:16:00.000-08:00

Originalkat@Home is One Year old this month! When I started this blogging adventure I had no idea how well I would like it or even if I would keep it up. But I can truly say it has been a pleasure to write, read, choose pictures for, and share the big and small with you. I have my life documented here in these posts and that is truly something to treasure. Thank you to by brother Chris who introduced me to the blogosphere and to all my readers (HAHAHA) because I do write for you!

My Sweet Girls!

2010-02-19T14:48:00.000-08:00

A Little Spring Cleaning...

2010-02-19T14:44:00.000-08:00

Every few months I move the furniture out of each room and get into all the corners. Wood floors are awesome with pets and kids, but they also collect so many dust bunnies and dust! A room just feel better after a good cleaning!

Pre-Cleaning

Look at what was under the couch and on the base boards. I dont know if you can see the dust,

but it was thick!

The dining room where I moved all the furniture when I was cleaning.

MUCH better!

Seasonal Hand Towels

2010-02-19T14:31:00.000-08:00

I LOVE seasonal kitchen hand towels. I remember growing up looking for a gift for my teacher. I always wanted to give holiday hand towels and my mom said "No, nobody really wants those." LOL! Anyway, I love them and want at least 4 for every month of the year! I already have Novemeber and December towels. And I just purchased some clearance towels today at Khols. Check them out...

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

Weight Watchers

2010-02-16T08:59:00.000-08:00

I am on the road to losing 20 lbs. I believe that with weight loss “slow and steady wins the race”. I have used Weight Watchers Online as a tool in the past and successfully lost 20 lbs after I had Mada. I have maintained that weight and am and now working toward my next goal.

I dislike diets. In fact I have really never been on one. That is why I like the Weight Watchers Point System. It is more a way of living…mostly it is about making decisions regarding portion control, choosing filling foods instead of empty foods. It makes you accountable to yourself and more aware of everything you put in your mouth. It helps you make better choices because the goal is to stay within your daily points.

For Example-
My Daly Points Total = 24
My Weekly Point Allowance = 35

The Weekly Point Allowance can be used anytime and starts over every week. It provides an extra 5 points per day or a splurge sometime during the week. I usually use the Weekly Allowance by the day. So here is how I try to break it down.

Breakfast: 5 Points (Example- 1 Cup Cereal, 1 Slice Toast, ½ Cup Milk)
Snack: 2 Points (Banana-1 Point)
Lunch: 10 Points (Turkey Sandwich, Baked Chips- I think 8 Points)
Snack: 2 Points (Weight Watchers Ice Cream Bar- and yes they are good)
Dinner: 10 Points (I find that a single portion of most things I make end up being about 10 points)

So there is an overview of how the program works. I will try to post updates as I go along.

Crazy Cheap!

2010-02-15T19:33:00.000-08:00

We went 'out-n-about' today since we all had the day off and wandered into Old Navy. I tried on a few things and ended up liking this light and airy spring shirt that was on clearance for $5.47. It was originally about $26.00 so I thought it was a good deal. After checking out, the cashier told me the total was $1.03. When I questioned the amount she said that any clearance item that ended in a 7 was only .97 cents! Can you believe that?!? Praise God for little blessings!

Amelia

2010-02-15T19:23:00.000-08:00

Play-dough People

Writing Sample

Amelia has really been practicing her letters and is writing "words" or strings of letters on her own just for fun. She also writes her name on all of her worksheets and is doing very well.

Banana Bread

2010-02-15T19:18:00.000-08:00

This afternoon, on this cold President's Day, Amelia and I baked our favorite Banana Bread! It was sooo yummy. But I always like it better the next day when all the flavors have merged and cooled. I thought I would share the Recipe.

Banana Bread

1 Cup Sugar

2 Medium mashed bananas

1/2 Cup (1 Stick) of Butter (Softened)

1/4 Cup Milk

1 tsp. Vanilla

2 Eggs

2 Cups Flour

1 tsp. Baking Soda

1/2 tsp. Salt

Heat oven to 350 degrees. (My oven runs hot so I set mine for 325)

Grease bottom of loaf pan.

In a large bowl, blend first 6 ingredients. Beat for 1 minute at medium speed. Stir in remaining ingredients until just moistened. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour (up to 15 extra minutes or until knife comes out clean).

NRA Match

2010-02-15T19:02:00.000-08:00

This weekend Stan and I took a little day trip to Salina, KS for an NRA rifle match. We had a great time together. I spent a beautiful 3 hours lounging with my feet up, reading a book, and occasionally looking through the scope to check out Stan's shots on the tiny targets. Each target was about a half dollar size with 12 targets on each paper.

Backyard Homestead

2010-02-10T18:22:00.000-08:00

Stan and I have been interested in the concept of Homesteading for many years...long before we had kids we bought the book entitled "Storey's Basic Country Skills" and enjoyed reading through ideas relating to living a simple more self-reliant lifestyle. Now anyone who knows me knows that all things organic and whole wheat and healthy do not necessarily sit well with me. LOL! And anyone who knows Stan knows he loves electronics. We have a big TV and several game boxes with our furniture arranged around it in the living room. My pantry is full of items with "high-fructose corn syrup" printed on the label. We eat at fast food resturaunts and we don't recycle. Now don't we sound like people who would want to raise chickens in the backyard?!? Well, that is my point. We all have a starting place and each day when we are led by the Lord, He takes us in the direction He want us to go.

Recently, however, the Lord has been making some things clear to me. Funny how in ourselves all we do is make things complicated and as soon as He steps in things just come together? I love it. I love the Lord. He is so awesome. Anyway, a few things that are the desires of my heart for the future are the following:

Stan and I want to plant a vegetable garden in the spring. I have always been intimidated by gardening until I came across a book entitled "Square Foot Gardening". Its basic premise is planting your garden in a 4x4 raised bed instead of traditional rows in the ground. This book really lays it out for the beginner and gives you confidence that you can do it. Stan is on board and is also reading the book. So we will see how it goes. We plan to start with 2-3 raised beds.

Chickens! I am not a fan of birds-yet. I do like to eat chicken. And I do use eggs often. So where does that lead me? I want a few Hens in a backyard coop for a fresh egg supply. From what I have read, Chickens are easier to care for than a cat. Do a search on it and a lot of great information comes up. It is more popular than you might think. Fresh eggs everyday! That is amazing. You mean I really don't have to get them at the store? And they are more nutritious than anything you could buy? Not to mention all the wonderful learning experiences for the kids. If you handle them from birth they will be used to you and easy to handle. Look at these guys...

and this is a fine looking chicken...

There is more I want to write about like starting a compost bin, baking bread, Sewing (HAHAHA)and so many other little projects, but for now I am content in dreaming of veggies in the garden and sending the girls out to collect fresh eggs from the hens.

Sweet Dreams!

Help In the Kitchen

2010-02-10T17:32:00.000-08:00

Mada wandered into the kitchen when I was putting away groceries and asked if she could help with the grapes. After washing up she began picking the grapes and placing them into the colander. She was very happy with the job she had done. What a great job for little ones to do when learning their way around the Kitchen! It also strengthens those fine motor skills.

What's For Dinner?

2010-02-10T17:26:00.000-08:00

Delicious BLT's!!

I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

Frozen Cookie Dough

2010-02-10T17:24:00.000-08:00

Okay. I am going to put this out there. I am really not sure if I will be following through with this. But this is my plan. I want to begin to move away from some pre-packaged foods. In fact I have a lot to write about regarding my plans both Stan and I have for our property. I will write more on this later though. For now...back to cookie dough. So in my goal to move a little further away from pre-packaged foods I decided to start with something I am comfortable with-Cookies! I love to bake and I am especially good at drop cookies such as oatmeal and Chocolate chip. So what I plan on doing is freezing my cookie dough into balls and baking a few at a time whenever we want a fresh cookie for a snack. I have a few packages of cookies from the store still in the pantry, but as soon as they are gone I will not be buying more. DUN DUN DUN... I will keep you posted on how that goes. So Here are the pictures of my Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies. I baked 2 dozen and froze 2 1/2 dozen in balls for later.

******UPDATE*****UPDATE*****UPDATE******

I baked the frozen dough and they were absolutely delicious! Just like I had just mixed the dough!

More Winter Snow

2010-02-08T17:01:00.000-08:00

Winter is still very present this February! Now, this snow was wet and heavy. Although surprisingly it was not hard to shovel clean. Stan had already left for work by 5:00 AM so that left me to shovel the drive before the parents arrived for childcare. By 7:45 AM I had the front of the drive and the sidewalk finished. What is it about shoveling pavement clean from snow and mowing the lawn that I find so satisfying? Thankfully, I only had one child show up today. Yippee! Another Snow Day!

Happy 30th Birthday!

2010-02-05T06:55:00.000-08:00

I had a wonderful 30th Birthday yesterday. The day began as Stan surprised me at 5:15 AM with a kiss and the announcement that he took the day off work. He went and got me breakfast and had the perfect card and balloon for me.

I recieved so many cards, emails, calls, and facebook Birthday wishes from friends and family all over the country. Thank you everyone for making my birthday special.

Later we went to the Olive Garden for dinner and finished off with cake made by my mother-in-law.

"My Next 30 Years will be the Best Years of my Life"

Tim McGraw

Mama's Helper

2010-02-03T16:02:00.000-08:00

Amelia is like me in so many ways. But especially when it comes to cleaning and organizing. Both my girls are pretty independent (even at 4 and 2). So when I walked by the bathroom and saw Amelia re-organizing the medicine cabinet I can't say I was surprised. LOL! She never mentioned a word to me. She just thought it needed a little touching up so she got right to work.

She loves to help me fold wash cloths and she has now moved onto things like folding her pants and putting her and Mada's shirts on hangers. She then puts all of their clothes away in her room. I am so proud of her!

Let It Snow...

2010-02-03T15:52:00.000-08:00

The girls couldn't wait to get out into the snow. When Aunt Celia came over and saw our lawn "untouched" she made it a point to take the kids out to play!

But first we headed out to eat some breakfast...

And then the fun began!

Bible In A Year

2010-01-12T14:42:00.000-08:00

I really felt led to read through the Bible this year. I have been saved all my life and have never done it. What a great time to start...my 30th year of life. Yes, it's true. Only a few weeks until my 30th Birthday. I am excited for this new era and all that God is doing as I grow and change in Him.

I chose the New Living Translation. It is easy to read and understand. My regular Bible is NLT and I love it. So I decided to get the same for my One Year Bible. I also like to have an Amplified available when I want to really look into a particular scripture.

My focus as I read this year, is to allow the Lord to point out the Fruits of His Spirit. I NEED these to be more evident in my everyday life. Never have I felt the need to show the Fruits of the Spirit as I have since becoming a mother. I can't wait to see the good work He will continue to do in my life.

I am on Day 12 today. I read a Old Testiment passage, a New Testiment passage, and part of a Psalm and Proverb each day. It takes less than 15 min.

Here is the redecorated preschool room...

2010-01-12T14:24:00.000-08:00

First, my mom painted my logo (designed by my brother Chris and the company he works for out of NYC). It was very tedious work!

This is what you see right when you walk in the preschool entrance. (This is a interior door that leads to the basement.)

I painted the walls a fresh coat of light yellow. Then we made window boxes, put up shutters, and added awning curtains.

I couldn't get a good picture of the reading loft, but we added the same awning curtain, cut and attached a new carpet to fit on the floor correctly, and added trim to finish off the edge. It looks soooo much better. My mom is planning on painting a mural on that blank wall when we have a free weekend. Aren't I so blessed to have talended family members?

Well, Happy New Year!

2010-01-12T14:06:00.000-08:00

I just logged on to make my first post of the new year. That is when I realized Dec 8th was my last post. LOL! So I did not do as well as planned posting my Advent activities for December. I will not worry about that now though.
I also did not post any Christmas pictures.
Okay, Okay enough of what I DIDN"T do and onto what I am doing.

I have started another blog. I know I am crazy. It is for my Preschool/Daycare parents to view pics of their kids. I am posting "A Week in Pictures" once per week for them to see. It should not be too high maintenance and I think the parents will really enjoy seeing them. Here is a link if you are interested. http://www.greengatepreschool.blogspot.com/ and my free website that I created is http://www.greengatepreschool.webs.com/.
An update on Freezer Cooking-- I LOVE IT!!! It has worked so well for me and my family. Stan loves that there are choices and they dont take long to put together. I am getting much better at consistently cooking meals at home. It really excites me how well it has worked and I will definetly be writing more posts on Freezer Cooking this year.
I am reading through the Bible this year. I will write more about this in another post as well.
I redecorated the Preschool Room over Christmas Break. It is really Cute. Of course my mom did most of it. I am her assistant, she is the talent. HEHEHE. I will also post some pictures of that too.

I hate to bunch all of this into one post with pictures and all, so thanks for being patient until I can get them posted..
So that's what is going on with me! Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and a wonderful New Year!

Batch Cooking

2009-12-09T19:41:00.000-08:00

Most people have heard of "Freezer Cooking" or "Once a month Cooking". I have always been curious about it, but the term "freezer cooking" always turned me off. It doesn't sound very appetizing. However, I continually find myself asking, "What's for dinner?" This leads to a lot of eating out.
I decided to give it a shot. I am calling it Batch Cooking because I am not making a lot of complete meals but just the more time consuming parts that are easier to do in bulk such as boiling chicken or beans.I will make lasagna and manicotti as whole meals if I end up liking this method.
Here is what I made this morning:

2 lbs. Boiled Chicken Breast which turned into...

3- One-and-a-half cup servings of shredded chicken

A Roast in the crock pot that turned into this...

for BBQ Roast Sandwiches (which i will freeze what we don't eat tonight).

Seasoned Ground Beef with potatoes for...

2 Dozen Tacos to freeze and ready to eat fried or soft.

Meat Pasta Sauce separated into meal sized portions

Chili Separated into Meal sized portions (I use it for loaded baked potatoes, frito wraps, or just a nice hot bowl in this chilly weather)

Taco Salad Meat

1 Pkg. of Pinto beans which turned into 9 cups of cooked beans separated into 3 cup portions.

(The white things are onions)

Here are some of the batches ready for the freezer.

I picked up these tips about storage from Freezer Cooking Pros...

Store the meals flat as shown above so they stack nicely in the freezer.
Meals can easily be defrosted by placing the freezer bag in hot water in the sink for about 1/2 hour before you are ready to heat it up.

Advent Activity #7: Gingerbread House

2009-12-09T18:41:00.000-08:00

This was great fun! I had never done one before so it was a first for all of us. It went smoothly except for one roof collapse that was quickly repaired.

Amelia cut open all the bags of candy, getting plenty of scissor practice.

Ta- Dah!!!!

This story was adorable and went soooo perfectly with our gingerbread house activity.

You really should read this one.

Advent Activity #6: Chocolate Covered Pretzels and Ornaments

2009-12-09T18:32:00.000-08:00

I found plastic ball ornaments at the craft store which we put drops of paint into a shook them to make a pretty design. I think the paint might have been a little thick so next time I might water it down just a tad.

I really liked this book and would recommend it to others looking for a quality Christmas story with great illustrations.

Advent Activity #5: Peppermint Playdough

2009-12-09T18:23:00.000-08:00

Advent Activity #4: Reindeer Bag and Reindeer food

2009-12-04T13:49:00.000-08:00

I LOVE Puppy Chow (aka Muddy Budies) made with Chex cereal. So as an excuse to make it, I decided to call it reindeer food and put it in these cute brown bags made to look like Rudolph. I actually thought of this one by myself!

Advent Activity # 3: Christmas Mice and Gingerbread Cookies

2009-12-04T13:42:00.000-08:00

I found this cute little felt mouse craft that was very easy here. The kids couldn't really do this one because they are still a little young, but they ate candy canes and enjoyed watching me assemble them.

Next, we used a Gingerbread mix and made both Gingerbread men to decorate and ginger snaps. At first it seemed like the dough was a little sticky and hard to work with. I even thought they would not turn out at all. However, after baking them they really came out nicely. Also I bought several of the icing tubes you see for different projects. It is easy to work with (even for the kids) and sets up very quickly.

Here is Amelia's...

Here is Mada's

Big mess...lots of fun!

The Heart of Christmas Devotional

2009-12-03T12:13:00.000-08:00

This year I picked up a daily devotional for the Christmas season. As I began reading on Tuesday, December 1 my first thought was it was a pretty "deep" book rich in theology. I wasn't exactly expecting that approach...but now that I am getting into it I really like it. I am planning on posting a little bit more about it throughout the month. The author, Hank Hanegraaff, organized the book by using the following acronym:

Christ

History

Resurrection

Incarnation

Santa Claus

Traditions

Miracles

Advent

Salvation

***

Christ

December 1-The Long Awaited Christ

Christ comes from the Greek(Christos) rendering of the Hebrew word Messiah meaning "anointed one". The Christ of Christmas is the long awaited Messiah who fulfills all the types and shadows of Old Testament scriptures.

December 2-Isaiah's Prophecy

It is incredible to consider that Isaiah, the holiest man in Israel, prophesied "The virgin will be with child, and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel", he was literally predicting that in the future the One who spoke the limitless galaxies into existence would tabernacle in flesh among men. Indeed that is precisely what the word Immanuel means- "God with us".

December 3-The Golden Key of the Messianic Prophesies

Amazing!

Eight centuries before the birth of Christ, Isaiah prophesied and said these words:

"For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, the government will be on his shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father(possessor of eternity), Prince of Peace."

Isaiah 9:6