Come over to my new blog:)

Come join me over here. If you haven't checked out my new place and are wondering what is up...

Everything is great! It is spring here and our favorite park is now open! We went hiking yesterday in the gorgeous Loess Hills and had a picnic. It was a bit windy but the sun was shining and all was right with the world. We are winding down school and will be finished by the end of May. Took Colton to register for college classes last night.

A new address....

Here is my brand new Blog:

A New Creation


Please join me over there!!!!

New blog

I cannot get this one to work so I am moving...well update with new blog address soon!

Viral?

My blog has been acting up so I haven't been able to post...I think it is infected. We shall see..so far so good.

I felt *today* the way that I felt when I bring home a new baby...tired, unable to complete a task with monumental tasks in front of me but happy to be home. Thomas and Anna both have the flu? and are cranky and miserable so I have been holding them. Julia is sick, as well, and I miss my good helper. We did manage to unload (most ) of the camper and get some laundry done. The house is a miserable disaster but I hope a few days will alleviate that. We utilized the local laundry mat to get mega loads of laundry done, but I still have quite a few to go. We had a nice trip although peppered with some sickness. I guess it was time, we really had not been sick all winter (up until Feb.). I enjoyed soaking up the Florida sunshine and seeing the gorgeous green grass, trees, shrubs and flowers. It was fun to see old friends, also. I am so thankful that God brought us home safe and sound. So many risky driving situations when you travel 1500 miles. We did encounter quite a few wrecks and one looked exceptionally awful. We returned to melting snow...Spring may possibly come in a few months here in the frozen North...maybe.

We're Home!!!!

More later.......

Travel crazy

Do your kids go nutso before a trip or some other wonderful thing that they are anticipating? Mine do and it is making me wish we had just sprung the whole thing on them. However, anticipation is half (well, maybe one fourth) of the fun and we (dh and I) just couldn't keep it to ourselves. So now I am dealing with cranky kids shouting that they want new underwear...because someone else got new underwear, of course and not being able to focus on their multiplication facts and wanting to help pack by throwing 6 stuffed animals, an old sock, a dog toy and a piece of apple into the suitcase.... I will survive and we will soon be on the road singing fun road ballads and playing I spy the yellow car and stuffing ourselves with french fries (candid admission).

Winners..

We had a few winners last night...Alicia's car (log ride) won first place for speed and second place for design in the TnT category and Thomas's car (alligator) won second place for design in the cubbys category. It was a fun night. Thomas did great putting his car on the track and everyone had a great time. On a sad note, after Alicia's triumphant evening she awoke in the night throwing up and with a fever. So she is resting today and hopefully will recover before we leave on Sat.

Awana cars..

Here are the finished products...tons of work went into these cute creations. Jesse did all the shaping and the kids did most of the painting and decorating. I won't say how much it all cost, but it does add up to make these little masterpieces. The artists are 1. Katie (pig) 2. Thomas (alligator) 3. Garrett (monorail-minivan) 4. Alicia (Splash Mountain flume car) 5. Colton (bronze race car) 6. Julia (fancy jeweled car) 7. Carlina (owl)

We are leaving..

on Saturday. Taking the camper and heading down south for some sun and fun and won't be back until March 8th. I will be back then with an (hopefully) awesome update about all of our great adventures. Until then, we would appreciate your prayers for safe travels and good health for us all.

Help bring Laura and Bethany home!

One Thing

The Parker family is in the process of adopting two gorgeous little girls and needs our help to bring them home.

Anna is better..

thank you God! We were so worried about her. I can't imagine having a chronically ill child, I don't know how parents do it.

We have a beautiful sunny day. We have definitely not experienced a winter thaw yet and it doesn't look like it will happen. It is starting to smell a little bit like spring. I can't explain it...lots of snow and ice on the ground but the air smells different. We are almost through Feb and one more month before we can really hope for a weather change. Exciting!!

We are getting ready for our trip to Florida. Cleaning the camper and starting to pack. It will be such a blessing to get a taste of warmth and see green!

Home

from the ER. We took Anna up this morning. She was looking so pale and acting very lethargic. They did 2 hours of iv fluids and a finger poke which showed that she has a virus. The fluid put a little color in her cheeks and she hasn't thrown up since this morning. Prayers for her would be greatly appreciated!!

Weekend...

I am thankful for the weekend!

We did the first half of our IBS tests today. I was with the 2nd graders (2 of them) and had fun reading test questions and timing the tests. We will finish up next Friday. The tests are required by the school district due to the Home School Assistance Program in which I am enrolled. We used our church's basement and broke up into 6 groups. Carlina was the only highschooler since Colton is not required to test this year and the other girl was sick.

Anna has been sick all day...Grandpa and Grandma came over in the morning and watched the 3 younger kiddos while I helped with testing (required for me to be there). She was fussy for them and I hated to leave. She has had a tummy flu and cannot keep much down. It is so sad to see her quiet and lethargic as she is normally such a wild child.

We have cousin A spending the night. A is good friends with Alicia..they have lots of fun together. I never grew up with cousins in close proximity so it is fun to have my kids be near (some of) theirs. I am sad that my sister's kids live so far away!

I hope to rest tomorrow. Next week we will be busy getting ready to go on a trip to Florida. I am so psyched about leaving winter behind..at least for a few days...

America's debt and the sovereignty of Greece

Read this commentary and shake in your boots:

Bible Prophecy Today

Pine Car Derby..

It's that time of year again. Jesse takes 7 blocks of wood and magically transforms them into cute little racing cars for our AWANA Pine Car Derby. He is working diligently right now. Garrett is sitting right next to Daddy with his safety glasses and little ear plugs taking it all in. Garrett has requested a minivan while Thomas wants Lightning McQueen. Katie wants a doggy mobile. It will be interesting to see how they all turn out.

I just found out that a girl I went to High School with died this week from complications after a surgery. It is so shocking to hear about someone so young (39) dying. She left behind a husband and 2 children. Please pray for the Barton family, that they are comforted in their grief.

Menus...

Do you make weekly menus? Monthly menus? Where do you get your recipes?

It is a big deal to me and sometimes a chore, but worth it to be organized. Not only for my sanity but for my pocketbook as well. I type up a menu at the beginning of each week (or end...on Sunday eve) and post it, so the kids can see it and not have to ask me what we are having. I list breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner & snack. I then also type up a grocery list for the week. I try to use my local grocery store flyer if I am going to shop there. Otherwise, I get most of my stuff at Walmart (where I go every couple of weeks). Walmart is an 85 mile round trip for me, so I need to be prepared when I go. To simplify things I have certain days of the week where we have the same thing. We have "taco Tuesdays" and "Spaghetti Wednesdays". We usually have popcorn and soda for a treat on Friday nights. We do alot of baking, so I like to stock up on baking supplies. Yesterday we made homemade cinnamon rolls for a snack and they were delightful. I have found planning ahead to really save me lots of headaches. When I don't get it done it is very stressful!

2 more sickies...

Garrett got sick yesterday afternoon and Anna woke up sick this morning. Jesse had a hard time getting home last night...the roads were bad, lots of wind mixed with the blowing snow. He is home today and working with Katie, doing multiplication flash cards. We are reading the Bible through, together and read Genesis 27-29 today. It is good practice to read aloud. We have Iowa Basic Skills tests on Friday. This is the second year we have had to do achievement tests. In Florida, it was not required. We met with a Homeschool evaluator, instead. The evaluator was a homeschool mom and she would interview the kids (informally) and look at their portfolio of work...very laid back. Here in Iowa we are in a Homeschool Assistance Program. We have a supervising teacher (homeschool mom in our church), do the annual testing and have to fill out extensive paperwork with the school district each year. We do receive some curriculum assistance, but it has to be from non-Christian publishers. I have gotten Wordly Wise, Teaching Textbooks, Writing Strands, Handwriting without Tears, Rosetta Stone to name a few, from the school.

Free shipping...

I will put in a plug for one of my favorite companies...

Lands End has free shipping (no minimum order!!) until Feb 16th. Use promotion code COLORFUL and pin 9516.

I love their clothes. They are so durable. I have passed dresses down through 4 girls (without them even appearing worn) and I absolutely love their swimsuits for the girls.

Home

Today, I am home. Staring out the window at the fluffy flakes coming down..the wind whipping them into a frenzy. Jesse is working today, as is Colton, and I didn't have a car to drive to church. Colton had to take mine as his is out of sorts. Julia and Alicia decided to replicate a page out of Little House on the Prairie by walking to church in the blizzard. Well, it isn't exactly a blizzard but not great walking conditions. We canceled our Valentine's Day lunch with Gram and Gramps...not great driving conditions, either. So I am home with the kids and one extra, cousin J (age 7) who spent the night. The roast is starting to smell succulent and the kids are getting hungry.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

If you haven't

checked out my daughter's blog yet...here is the link:

The Next Chapter

She is an aspiring author and artist and has tons of fun musings.