I just found a how to at Bethany's blog (http://bethany.preciousinfants.com/) for making Mozzerella cheese. I just HAVE to try it. My girls love yogurt and cheese. I've found it's much cheaper to make yogurt at home, so I'm hoping it will be worth it to make the cheese too! I'm willing to give it a go!!!
I'll post the results when I get around to actually making it.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Well... I didn't head back to bed as I anticipated. I wanted to spend time with my family. And I also made home made butter! It was yummy and suprisingly easy to make. When I do get a new camera I'll post pictures and a "how to" to show you how simple it was.
For fighting exaustion and staying up to be with my kiddoes I was rewarded with a wonderful obeservation from my daughter. I was sitting at the computer when my Jordan walks up and asks me what "scraggly" meant. I told her I thought scraggly meant kind of old and worn out. When I asked her why, she just said she was wondering. Then she stops, takes a good look at me, and said "Mom, you're looking kinda scraggly." From the mouth of babes.... :P
And now I'm working on revamping my home management binder. I had made it a LONG time ago.. but got away from using it consistently and it became a catch all for misc paper stuff. So now I am decluttering my binder and making new tabs for new catagories and reorganizing my stuff inside. I'm going to start usiing it again to help keep my days organized starting this week.
I also need to start sorting through and organizing the files we transferred from the old computer to this new computer. Then go back through the old one and make sure we have EVERYTHING we need off of it before we wipe it clean of all of our info. I think Jerimiah plans on keeping the old tower and installing his Linux software on that one and conecting it via network to this one so both towers can use the same screen and stuff. But who knows...
And on top of that I get to sort through 5 boxes of clothes a lady from church gave us for the girls. It was time for new clothes.. but 5 BOXES WORTH?? God does provide more than enough and I'm sure I'll be passing some of this bounty onto some one else. I love our church. Moms are constanly passing clothes around that their kids have out grown.
Well... it's time to get the family up to head back to church.
Have a blessed day all!
For fighting exaustion and staying up to be with my kiddoes I was rewarded with a wonderful obeservation from my daughter. I was sitting at the computer when my Jordan walks up and asks me what "scraggly" meant. I told her I thought scraggly meant kind of old and worn out. When I asked her why, she just said she was wondering. Then she stops, takes a good look at me, and said "Mom, you're looking kinda scraggly." From the mouth of babes.... :P
And now I'm working on revamping my home management binder. I had made it a LONG time ago.. but got away from using it consistently and it became a catch all for misc paper stuff. So now I am decluttering my binder and making new tabs for new catagories and reorganizing my stuff inside. I'm going to start usiing it again to help keep my days organized starting this week.
I also need to start sorting through and organizing the files we transferred from the old computer to this new computer. Then go back through the old one and make sure we have EVERYTHING we need off of it before we wipe it clean of all of our info. I think Jerimiah plans on keeping the old tower and installing his Linux software on that one and conecting it via network to this one so both towers can use the same screen and stuff. But who knows...
And on top of that I get to sort through 5 boxes of clothes a lady from church gave us for the girls. It was time for new clothes.. but 5 BOXES WORTH?? God does provide more than enough and I'm sure I'll be passing some of this bounty onto some one else. I love our church. Moms are constanly passing clothes around that their kids have out grown.
Well... it's time to get the family up to head back to church.
Have a blessed day all!
Father forgive me... for I'm skipping church this morning!!! GASP!!!
Well... not really.
I didn't get home until 3:00am this morning from work and grocery shopping. Needless to say I can barely keep my eyes open. So I stayed home to rest.
But I'm getting to watch my church live! I'm so blessed to be apart of a church that I can still take part in church even if I'm at home in pj's and nursing a cup of coffee. (Now I'm not saying this should be the norm, but on the rare days it happens live streaming services are a blessing.)
I'm even able to put lunch in the crock pot for my family. It's just going to be a simple lunch of lemon pepper chicken, salad,and a fruit and veggie tray with home made ranch dressing. But it will be a warm meal waiting for my family after church.
Meanwhile... as soon as service is over I'm heading back to bed.
Have a blessed one all!
Well... not really.
I didn't get home until 3:00am this morning from work and grocery shopping. Needless to say I can barely keep my eyes open. So I stayed home to rest.
But I'm getting to watch my church live! I'm so blessed to be apart of a church that I can still take part in church even if I'm at home in pj's and nursing a cup of coffee. (Now I'm not saying this should be the norm, but on the rare days it happens live streaming services are a blessing.)
I'm even able to put lunch in the crock pot for my family. It's just going to be a simple lunch of lemon pepper chicken, salad,and a fruit and veggie tray with home made ranch dressing. But it will be a warm meal waiting for my family after church.
Meanwhile... as soon as service is over I'm heading back to bed.
Have a blessed one all!
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Well... I'll try to update from this neck of the woods.
Today was a pretty good day. I woke up late. Again. I have on my daily "schedule/routine" to wake up at 5:45 and wake the girls by 7:00 so we can start on breakfast, schoolwork, and house work. But... it is so hard. This morning my alarm went off, and I brought Jada to bed with me to feed her and fell right back to sleep. I woke up to the sound of the girls giggling and playing on the new computer. Anyway... I want to be up and ready for the day before the girls wake up. So. I'm gong to have to be more disciplined in my wake up time... or I'm going to have to order the girls to not wake up until 9:00!
So I skipped house work. I fixed breakfast and did the dishes. That's about it. Then we sat down and Jordan started her copywork/handwriting and math.
I still really don't know what to do yet "school wise" with Joelle so mostly I'll have her sit and color or do tracing sheets. Anyway... while Jordan was doing her copy work I was on the computer getting acquainted with it, and I started hearing Joelle counting. I didn't know what she was counting because my back was to her (bad mommy) so I turned to see what she was doing.... she had gotten a Winnie The Pooh Learning Fun book and was saying the numbers, saying what the items were, and then counting them. Like "Seven... baskets... 1...2...3...4...5...6...7....." I was really stunned. It amazes me how much she knows and I really don't do anything with her. So I sat down with her and finished counting things with her.
Then we went to the Alphabet section and started saying the names and I tried to get her to say the sounds. She knows most of the phonetics of the letters.... but she has trouble discerning the "C" and "T" and "D"and "G".... She is constantly saying "tuh" for "C" and "Duh" for "G". I don't know if this is a valid speach/hearing issue, or something that she can grow out of. She did have a few times when she did say "cuh" for "C". But she still said "Tat" when I asked her to say "Cat" I'm thinking it's too early to really start worrying about it now. If she doesn't grow out of it in about 6 months then maybe I need to take her to a specialist.
About 11:00 my neighbor called and said she was going to the store and wanted to know if I wanted to go along. I jumped at the chance. I've been w/o a car all week. Jerimiah has our second car on jack stands and is in the process of fixing the brakes. We had some food, but supplies were running low and I just wanted to go get enough to have a nice dinner.
I had Jordan leave everything right where it was on the table, intending to get back to it later. I threw a light diaper bag together and woke Jada up from her nap to dress her. She was acting a little fussy, but I thought it was because I woke her up early. I took her out to my neighbor's car and strapped in her car seat. As I was buckling her into the seat she threw up.
I'm guessing it was the oatmeal I gave her at break fast, because she threw up last time I gave her oatmeal. She didn't have a fever or anything... so I'm thinking oatmeal for Jada is a bad idea. She seemed fine after that so we went ahead to the store.
At the store I found some nice deals. We went to Homeland... there the prices are usually higher than most of the other stores. But you can find some great deals if you look hard enough.
Some times they reduce prices on their meat quite a bit when they have to sell it quick. A few weeks ago I was there and found boneless, skinless chicken thighs for .49 cents a pound. It was going to expire the next day. I bought every package that was reduced, brough them home, divided them up into quart size baggies 4-5 a baggie, and put the quart baggies inside a gallon freezer bag. 3-5 thighs provided good Zone diet protien block portion for one meal for my whole family. And I had enough to freeze to last me at least 2 months if we ate thighs once or twice a week for dinner.
Today I found a brisket that had been mis marked for $1.89 a lb. All others were $2.99-$3.99 a lb depending on the size of the packaging. I love finding good bargains. With our tightening budget, us trying to get out of debt and me reduce my work hours... every little bargain helps!
Did I tell you all that we got a new computer??? God blessed us immensely! We had recently pricing getting a new computer, or buying parts to upgrade our old computer. Even if we bought parts a few at a time to upgrade it would of been hard to work it into our budget. So we've been doing the best we could with what we had and just worked around it when the computer was being tempermental. Some times computer work or printing things out for school had to wait until we could make it to the library.
But God is SO GOOD and HE KNOWS WHAT WE NEED AND PROVIDES!
Jordan took part in the library's summer reading program. When she completed it she was eligible to be entered into a drawing. We really didn't know what the drawing was for.... Jerimiah was making a quick trip to the library with the girls one Saturday while I was at work and he almost didn't bother with having Jordan fill out her form and entering it. But the girls were being extra good that day and Jada wasn't fussy yet so he took the extra time for Jordan to do it. A few weeks later I missed a call from the library and the lady left a voice mail saying Jordan won the Grand Prize and it was a NEW COMPUTER! We were so suprised... but thankful to because God again showed his awesomeness!
We went and picked it up last night, and spend most of the day playing on "Jordan's computer". It's so nice!
During the girls quite time I listened to a pod cast of the "MomtoMomradioshow". This episode was about finding your philosophy of education. it was a real eye opener for me. Cindy Rushton talked a lot about not starting your home school journey looking for curriculum or looking to methods. But instead we should start our home school journey as moms by sitting at the feet of Jesus. By sitting at the feet of Jesus we can get to know Him more intimately and then be able to ask Him what steps to take to teach our children and be able to hear His voice and feel His guidance. I have been so guilty up to this point seeking advice from others about what curriculum works for them, or what they think I should do about certain situations in teaching Jordan. And I have failed to stop, and seek God and His ways first and let Him lead me to the proper resources and methods to educate Jordan. Yes.. there is safety in a multitude of councel. But if that councel does not include God first and foremost it is all folly.
Well.........I guess I better get off of this computer. I just got home from work. It's time for me to head to bed and get some rest so I can enjoy my family tomorrow.
Be Blessed all!
Today was a pretty good day. I woke up late. Again. I have on my daily "schedule/routine" to wake up at 5:45 and wake the girls by 7:00 so we can start on breakfast, schoolwork, and house work. But... it is so hard. This morning my alarm went off, and I brought Jada to bed with me to feed her and fell right back to sleep. I woke up to the sound of the girls giggling and playing on the new computer. Anyway... I want to be up and ready for the day before the girls wake up. So. I'm gong to have to be more disciplined in my wake up time... or I'm going to have to order the girls to not wake up until 9:00!
So I skipped house work. I fixed breakfast and did the dishes. That's about it. Then we sat down and Jordan started her copywork/handwriting and math.
I still really don't know what to do yet "school wise" with Joelle so mostly I'll have her sit and color or do tracing sheets. Anyway... while Jordan was doing her copy work I was on the computer getting acquainted with it, and I started hearing Joelle counting. I didn't know what she was counting because my back was to her (bad mommy) so I turned to see what she was doing.... she had gotten a Winnie The Pooh Learning Fun book and was saying the numbers, saying what the items were, and then counting them. Like "Seven... baskets... 1...2...3...4...5...6...7....." I was really stunned. It amazes me how much she knows and I really don't do anything with her. So I sat down with her and finished counting things with her.
Then we went to the Alphabet section and started saying the names and I tried to get her to say the sounds. She knows most of the phonetics of the letters.... but she has trouble discerning the "C" and "T" and "D"and "G".... She is constantly saying "tuh" for "C" and "Duh" for "G". I don't know if this is a valid speach/hearing issue, or something that she can grow out of. She did have a few times when she did say "cuh" for "C". But she still said "Tat" when I asked her to say "Cat" I'm thinking it's too early to really start worrying about it now. If she doesn't grow out of it in about 6 months then maybe I need to take her to a specialist.
About 11:00 my neighbor called and said she was going to the store and wanted to know if I wanted to go along. I jumped at the chance. I've been w/o a car all week. Jerimiah has our second car on jack stands and is in the process of fixing the brakes. We had some food, but supplies were running low and I just wanted to go get enough to have a nice dinner.
I had Jordan leave everything right where it was on the table, intending to get back to it later. I threw a light diaper bag together and woke Jada up from her nap to dress her. She was acting a little fussy, but I thought it was because I woke her up early. I took her out to my neighbor's car and strapped in her car seat. As I was buckling her into the seat she threw up.
I'm guessing it was the oatmeal I gave her at break fast, because she threw up last time I gave her oatmeal. She didn't have a fever or anything... so I'm thinking oatmeal for Jada is a bad idea. She seemed fine after that so we went ahead to the store.
At the store I found some nice deals. We went to Homeland... there the prices are usually higher than most of the other stores. But you can find some great deals if you look hard enough.
Some times they reduce prices on their meat quite a bit when they have to sell it quick. A few weeks ago I was there and found boneless, skinless chicken thighs for .49 cents a pound. It was going to expire the next day. I bought every package that was reduced, brough them home, divided them up into quart size baggies 4-5 a baggie, and put the quart baggies inside a gallon freezer bag. 3-5 thighs provided good Zone diet protien block portion for one meal for my whole family. And I had enough to freeze to last me at least 2 months if we ate thighs once or twice a week for dinner.
Today I found a brisket that had been mis marked for $1.89 a lb. All others were $2.99-$3.99 a lb depending on the size of the packaging. I love finding good bargains. With our tightening budget, us trying to get out of debt and me reduce my work hours... every little bargain helps!
Did I tell you all that we got a new computer??? God blessed us immensely! We had recently pricing getting a new computer, or buying parts to upgrade our old computer. Even if we bought parts a few at a time to upgrade it would of been hard to work it into our budget. So we've been doing the best we could with what we had and just worked around it when the computer was being tempermental. Some times computer work or printing things out for school had to wait until we could make it to the library.
But God is SO GOOD and HE KNOWS WHAT WE NEED AND PROVIDES!
Jordan took part in the library's summer reading program. When she completed it she was eligible to be entered into a drawing. We really didn't know what the drawing was for.... Jerimiah was making a quick trip to the library with the girls one Saturday while I was at work and he almost didn't bother with having Jordan fill out her form and entering it. But the girls were being extra good that day and Jada wasn't fussy yet so he took the extra time for Jordan to do it. A few weeks later I missed a call from the library and the lady left a voice mail saying Jordan won the Grand Prize and it was a NEW COMPUTER! We were so suprised... but thankful to because God again showed his awesomeness!
We went and picked it up last night, and spend most of the day playing on "Jordan's computer". It's so nice!
During the girls quite time I listened to a pod cast of the "MomtoMomradioshow". This episode was about finding your philosophy of education. it was a real eye opener for me. Cindy Rushton talked a lot about not starting your home school journey looking for curriculum or looking to methods. But instead we should start our home school journey as moms by sitting at the feet of Jesus. By sitting at the feet of Jesus we can get to know Him more intimately and then be able to ask Him what steps to take to teach our children and be able to hear His voice and feel His guidance. I have been so guilty up to this point seeking advice from others about what curriculum works for them, or what they think I should do about certain situations in teaching Jordan. And I have failed to stop, and seek God and His ways first and let Him lead me to the proper resources and methods to educate Jordan. Yes.. there is safety in a multitude of councel. But if that councel does not include God first and foremost it is all folly.
Well.........I guess I better get off of this computer. I just got home from work. It's time for me to head to bed and get some rest so I can enjoy my family tomorrow.
Be Blessed all!
Monday, August 25, 2008
No sick days for mommy...
There's one thing you find out quickly once your a mom...
No paid sick days come with this posistion. No matter how new to the posistion you are or how much seniority you have, this benifit is the same straight across the board.
This past week, we've had a small intestinal bug circulate through our household. Nothing major with a high fever or any debilitations. Just a nasty bug that makes your insides feel like they are being balled up inside a fist and twisted. We've been standing on the Word of God at the begining of it that we all are in Devine Health and this thing is tresspassing and has to go. Even though we still had some symptoms it could be worse.
Yesterday I came home from church and fell asleep on the couch while nursing Jada. I was in such a deep sleep I didn't feel hubby pick her up. Nor did I hear him and the girls leave four hours later to head back to church. I was out of it that long.
I think I got the worst of it today. I woke up with nausea and a to do list a mile long of things that have to be done. Schooling got put off until this afternoon in hopes it will get better during naptime. I really don't think it wise to try to teach the girls in an already irrateable state. IF I don't feel better by then, we'll just have reading time and the girls can draw while I read out loud.
My main focus today was laundry, laundry, and laundry (it got a little backed up this weekend). Right now I have 2 loads on the line, 2 loads waiting to be put out on the line, and 4 loads on my bed waiting to be folded. I can sit on the floor and fold when Jordan is at soccer.
Being a mom, it's important for me to take extra measures to take care of myself. It's important that I strengthen my faith regarding health and healing before I get sick. And it's good to have a reminder of scripture throught the house when I start to feel sick. I've been listening to Pastor Bill's God's Promise to Heal CD (You can download a copy for $5.00 at http://gutschurch.com/Store/tabid/543/Default.aspx). And I have scriptures on note cards from when I did a study on healing. They are easy to pull out and tape different places as a reminder of what to think and meditate on.
It's also important that I eat healthy and excersize to keep my body fit to lessen the chances of getting sick. This is something I need to make a priority. I am fairly clean with my eating, but excersize is lacking in my day to day life. But... I'm working on getting homeschooling more streamlined so I can intergrate CrossFit back into my life.
But... I'm extremely fortunate. It's just a little bug. It will pass quickly. And tomorrow will start fresh and new... with an even longer to do list from today... ;)
Be Blessed!
No paid sick days come with this posistion. No matter how new to the posistion you are or how much seniority you have, this benifit is the same straight across the board.
This past week, we've had a small intestinal bug circulate through our household. Nothing major with a high fever or any debilitations. Just a nasty bug that makes your insides feel like they are being balled up inside a fist and twisted. We've been standing on the Word of God at the begining of it that we all are in Devine Health and this thing is tresspassing and has to go. Even though we still had some symptoms it could be worse.
Yesterday I came home from church and fell asleep on the couch while nursing Jada. I was in such a deep sleep I didn't feel hubby pick her up. Nor did I hear him and the girls leave four hours later to head back to church. I was out of it that long.
I think I got the worst of it today. I woke up with nausea and a to do list a mile long of things that have to be done. Schooling got put off until this afternoon in hopes it will get better during naptime. I really don't think it wise to try to teach the girls in an already irrateable state. IF I don't feel better by then, we'll just have reading time and the girls can draw while I read out loud.
My main focus today was laundry, laundry, and laundry (it got a little backed up this weekend). Right now I have 2 loads on the line, 2 loads waiting to be put out on the line, and 4 loads on my bed waiting to be folded. I can sit on the floor and fold when Jordan is at soccer.
Being a mom, it's important for me to take extra measures to take care of myself. It's important that I strengthen my faith regarding health and healing before I get sick. And it's good to have a reminder of scripture throught the house when I start to feel sick. I've been listening to Pastor Bill's God's Promise to Heal CD (You can download a copy for $5.00 at http://gutschurch.com/Store/tabid/543/Default.aspx). And I have scriptures on note cards from when I did a study on healing. They are easy to pull out and tape different places as a reminder of what to think and meditate on.
It's also important that I eat healthy and excersize to keep my body fit to lessen the chances of getting sick. This is something I need to make a priority. I am fairly clean with my eating, but excersize is lacking in my day to day life. But... I'm working on getting homeschooling more streamlined so I can intergrate CrossFit back into my life.
But... I'm extremely fortunate. It's just a little bug. It will pass quickly. And tomorrow will start fresh and new... with an even longer to do list from today... ;)
Be Blessed!
Monday, August 11, 2008
First day of homeschool and We have a tooth!!!
Today was our first official day of home school. And it was rough. I woke up late. So it totally threw my schedule off. I grabbed a quick shower and got the girls up. While they did their chores I fixed some oatmeal. They love oatmeal, especially with some milk, honey, and cinnamon.
After breakfast we cleaned up the house really quick. Nothing thorough, just a quick pick up. Then we had bible story time. Joelle colored a picture while I read outloud. I then asked both girls some questions, and they could answer them all. After I read a bit I had Jordan read a chapter outloud and then draw a picture of something God created. Of course, she drew a horse. God was in the piture as well. He had curly red hair. I'm thinking that's not what God looks like, but I wonder if he got a chuckle from it?
After bible, I covered Math with Jordan. I am using an online curriculum at the Center for Innovation in Mathematics teaching . Either this one is not a fit for us, or I'm starting at too high of a level for her, or I'm not doing enough prep reading to teach it.
I couldn't get some of the lessons to explain them, and Jordan couldn't figure out once I did explain. Jordan was taught last year in PS to use her fingers to count up or down to add or subtract. She has no addition or math facts memorized. So it takes her several minutes to do a simple math problem.
I'm not ready to shelve this curriculum yet. But I do want to utilize more hands on manipulatives for a bit, and have her figure up a few somes and then commit the rest to memory. I'll take these lessons slower and give it another week or two before I make a final decision to either go down another level or find a new curriculum.
After that we had lunch and Spelling. Jordan was pretty mentally fatigued from the math so I had the girls go down for a nap.
I feel like we were at the table all morning. This is not what I want, and what I wanted to avoid in keeping her home. She's not designed to sit at a desk all day and needs more activity. Today was pretty rainy anyway so it's not like we could go outside, but still sitting at a tale for a majority of the day is not fun.
This afternoon I fed Jada and played with her for a while. She has been putting everything in her mouth for the past few months. She had a teething ring but it wasn't satisfying her. So I let her use my finger for a teether. She had a few good chomps in my finger, then I started to feel something poke me. She finally had a tooth cut through! WooHoo!!
The best part of it, she hasn't been overly fussy today, so I'm really really hoping this means she's going to be an easy teether for the rest of her pearly whites too!
After breakfast we cleaned up the house really quick. Nothing thorough, just a quick pick up. Then we had bible story time. Joelle colored a picture while I read outloud. I then asked both girls some questions, and they could answer them all. After I read a bit I had Jordan read a chapter outloud and then draw a picture of something God created. Of course, she drew a horse. God was in the piture as well. He had curly red hair. I'm thinking that's not what God looks like, but I wonder if he got a chuckle from it?
After bible, I covered Math with Jordan. I am using an online curriculum at the Center for Innovation in Mathematics teaching . Either this one is not a fit for us, or I'm starting at too high of a level for her, or I'm not doing enough prep reading to teach it.
I couldn't get some of the lessons to explain them, and Jordan couldn't figure out once I did explain. Jordan was taught last year in PS to use her fingers to count up or down to add or subtract. She has no addition or math facts memorized. So it takes her several minutes to do a simple math problem.
I'm not ready to shelve this curriculum yet. But I do want to utilize more hands on manipulatives for a bit, and have her figure up a few somes and then commit the rest to memory. I'll take these lessons slower and give it another week or two before I make a final decision to either go down another level or find a new curriculum.
After that we had lunch and Spelling. Jordan was pretty mentally fatigued from the math so I had the girls go down for a nap.
I feel like we were at the table all morning. This is not what I want, and what I wanted to avoid in keeping her home. She's not designed to sit at a desk all day and needs more activity. Today was pretty rainy anyway so it's not like we could go outside, but still sitting at a tale for a majority of the day is not fun.
This afternoon I fed Jada and played with her for a while. She has been putting everything in her mouth for the past few months. She had a teething ring but it wasn't satisfying her. So I let her use my finger for a teether. She had a few good chomps in my finger, then I started to feel something poke me. She finally had a tooth cut through! WooHoo!!
The best part of it, she hasn't been overly fussy today, so I'm really really hoping this means she's going to be an easy teether for the rest of her pearly whites too!
Friday, August 8, 2008
I am Your's...
A lady on a message board posted a link to this today. I just had to embed it here to share with all my family and friends. This is awesome and has such a powerful message. Be sure to scroll down and stop the music on my playlist before starting the video.
Enjoy.
And still more...
Enjoy.
And still more...
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