Say "YES" to the dress

WOW!!! COULD IT BE..............

Nope, this is not it- just a little teaser! I will say, that the one she did pick is beautiful and will be ordered soon!

An Awesome VBS week

I wanted to post some pictures of our VBS week. We had a good turnout and a really great experience. This was my first VBS here at WMBC. Most of the pictures are of all the decorating we did for our western theme. Joey was the music leader. He did an amazing job with the kid. He pumped them up every morning and him and Cristian ended the day with a funny skit.

Here is is showing some moves to the music~

More moves............

Decorating the sanctuary was fun but every morning I would come in and find the murals that we put up (some how Jeremy did not get pictures of them) down on the floor so, they had to be re-taped every morning.

All of our decorations were donated by other churches!

This was my room the "Missions Firefly Cavern" You really cant tell in the picture but I put fake rocks all over the walls (crumpled up brown wrapping paper that Toby spray painted). Under the rocks my son Cristian placed blinking lights. The blinking lights were the fireflies. I kept the room dark and added some black lights to really give it a cave like glow. I had so much fun teaching the kids about missionaries!

This was the bible bunk house! It was a big room with couch, fireplace, and bunk bed.

Here is the bunk bed. My poor kids slept without blankets for a few days because I took the ones from home to decorate the bunk house! LOL

My handsome cowboy son- Joe (Jenni, the blanket was a great idea)

Here is the fireplace. It was a real electric fireplace that Carrie brought in for us to use. It was one of my favorite parts of the bunk house.

Here is the general store! Can you believe that most of the stuff in the picture came out of my house! LOL (those that know me- can believe it)

A big thanks to all of the people that came out to VBS and all the staff that made this such a successfull time for our kids.

My son Cristian came straight from his night job to run the recreation program for the kids. He was such a trooper! 2 families from our church actually camped out in their campers on the church property and logged in many hours of work. My parents came down on Friday for the closing program and roasted a pig for everyone! I am looking forward to next year! A big YE-HAW to all the WMBC staffers who gave of their time, money and prayers!

What do you mean summer is over!

This is not the summer I had hoped it would be. I finally decided we needed to start school because the kids seemed to be bored most of the day. As the years unfold and my children get older things change and some how I am never prepared for it! No longer are they wanting to play in the plastic pool in the back yard. No longer is the dollar movie once a week cutting the entertainment mustard. Everyday I wake up to a list of things that they want to do and none of it is at home!

I guess if I were made of money then we could go on all kinds of excursions but that is not the case so...... it is free parks, dollar movies, the pool club, and trips to the food store for this mom of many.

I guess next year I will be more prepared. For now, I am looking forward to some kind of schedule (school) and preparing for VBS. We have one more week long camping trip with the cousins planned- our last real vacation for the summer.

So, what keeps your kids busy and productive in the summer?

Homemakers Cottage Giveaway!

Homemakers Cottage is one of my favorite blogs and she is having a great Give away! Just click on the link!

www.homemakerscottage.blogspot.com

Home schooling

It is the end of one year and yet when you home school there are no real breaks. Once you finish the current year it is time to evaluate and look for materials that you will need for the following year.

I thought once I had graduated a few kids, homeschooling would become easier. What I have found is that the older I get the more tired I am and the harder it is to stay focused and motivated. I hope (with the help of fellow home schooling moms) to blog a few postings on how to stay motivated and focused on a God size task and give readers a small glimpse into this journey.

For all of you homeschooler's out there- how about posting what keeps you motivated in the comments area of my blog. Lets share the ups and downs with one another.

In keeping this real, it is no secret to most of my homeschool buddies that HS'ing has never been easy for me. From the first day that I started this path I have had moments of doubt. I have had good years and years that I felt were nothing but an up hill battle. I have used almost every curriculum out there and finally settled on mostly a text book method-something I thought I would never do but surprisingly works well with my children and our life style.

My motivation tip of the day is- SUPPORT- without it I would sink. My husband is my biggest fan. He keeps me going on those days when I want to give up and throw in the towel. He helps me to create balance and see the real picture when I can't even see my hand in front of my face. He prays for me and then helps me to trust the Lord with all of our struggles and decisions.

What keeps you motivated????

so much to do so little time

I just love this picture of this little girl. She is looking how I feel. FRAZZLED- There are so many things that I want to do and just not enough time in the day to do it all. When you home school your children it is a full time job therefore, you look forward to the summer when you can get some things done. Unfortunately, summer is a busy month of social events and church work so fitting in domestic duties is HARD. Add to that hobbies and making memories with the kids and there are days that I don't know if I can get out of bed!

A while ago I posted a list of things that I wanted to get done and when I checked the list yesterday I did everything on the list!!!! so, maybe that is the ticket for me.

Today is cleaning day. I decided to make Wednesday's our cleaning day since I am forced to stay home due to no car. Today I am working on my bedroom and bathroom. I am cleaning out drawers, closets, shelves etc.... I am getting the room ready to be painted. (sigh) it really needs it and I am ready for a change.

Future projects:

1. Deep clean the office
2. Tackle the garage AGAIN (why does that area get so messy so fast)
3. Deep clean the kitchen (real reason- I want a new look in there- don't worry I am not painting the walls!)
4. Work on making more items for a craft fair that is coming up.
5. Plan a big party! (more on that later)

well, I think I will shoot for these things and if I finish them quick I will add more!

Expanding the family

This was taken at Victoria's graduation party. Mark was praying for the day and the meal. Her parents put on an amazing spread of food that was out of this world yummy!