Saturday, December 4, 2010

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

The Creative Zone

Today's project was making a sculpture with modeling clay.  The girls chose to work together and created a nesting pair of bluebirds.


The artists


The art




Wednesday, October 6, 2010

September 11, 2010




An Incredible day!  Mount Jefferson.  Panoramic views of the White Mountains.  Fresh air.  Exercise.  Beautiful blue sky.      Friends.  Humility.


Just a sample of what we climbed!

Crazy stuff! 

The Caps...a tough climb!

What a view!

We made it to the top! 
The group :)


The descent was just as tough as the ascent.
Humility...notice I'm not wearing my pack!


A cool, gnarly, old tree











Appropriately, I heard this song on the way home...
Impossible by the Newsboys.  This is my theme song for the journey I've been on.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

33:30

Yup, that's how long it took me to run my first EVER 5K!  I'm pretty darn proud of that time!  The race was definitely a blessing from God.  First of all, I ran with three great encouragers.  Steve and Joanne helped to set the pace, while Sharon and I ran fairly easily several steps behind. Second, the weather couldn't have been more perfect.  The sun was shining, but the air was dry and cool.  Every now and then we'd get a bit of a breeze.  Third, my left shin and heel did not hurt.  At. all.  For the whole race!  Fourth, my family was waiting at the finish line with hugs and kisses.  What better reward is there?  Last, but certainly not least, I achieved all the goals I had set for myself.  That was the victory.

The only picture of this whole adventure is one I just took of my number.  I know, I know, I should have gotten a group photo or something, but my mind was totally on the race, not on getting a photo for this blog!  (Sorry Lisa T.!)


Sometimes, I get a little melancholy after reaching a goal I have been working towards.  I have that feeling of "now what?!"  Well, I am going to keep on keeping on.  This is by no means the finish line.  It's really the beginning of a new life!  One where I'm living life abundantly!  Therefore, my continuing goals are to honor God in all that I do for it is Him that I am serving.

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. Colossians 3:23-24

I'm looking forward to the next adventure...

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Run, Forrest, Run

So, I've been running.  I once said, "I will NEVER run!"  Hmmm, I should really learn not to say the word "never"!

Well, you may wonder, what have I learned through disciplining myself to run?  First, I re-learned that I am a goal oriented person.  I started the "couch to 5K" program which gets you ready to run 5K, or 3.1 miles, in 9 weeks.  When I first started the program, I signed up for my first ever race!  My goal is to be able to run the entire route without walking, and not to be the last to cross the finish line!  I'll keep you posted on how the race shakes down, it's happening September 6th.  I won't be doing it alone, there will be three other friends running as well.  There's safety in numbers, right?  Anyhow, to get back to the goal oriented part, I realized that without that race goal, I would have quit running when it got hard.  Instead, I knew I had to keep running and pushing myself or I wouldn't be finishing that race!

In realizing that I like to work towards a goal, I have taken that aspect and applied it to homeschooling and life at home.  I'm working on a set of goals for each girl for the year.  That way we know what we are working towards.  Makes perfect sense, right?  Why didn't I think of it before?  I am also working on setting goals for myself in terms of what I'd like to accomplish through the year.  I very easily get side-tracked and distracted, somewhat like a certain daughter of mine, so I'm hoping to help keep myself on track a bit better.

Another thing I've learned is that I still don't like running :)  But, I do like the energy and the strength I have.  SO, I'll keep running for the exercise, perhaps I'll bump the mileage down to 2 miles, 3-4 times a week.  I really want to enjoy exercise so that it will become part of what I do/how I live, and less of an activity I want to check off my list.  I also want exercise to be something we enjoy as a family.  This fall, one of my goals is to take two family hikes.  Once the weather cools a bit, hiking will be very fun and rewarding.

Why am I'm working so hard to exercise and eat healthfully?
To have the strength and stamina to serve God where He wants me.
To be a positive role model for my daughters.
To be one of THOSE people who "lost xx pounds ten years ago and have kept it off"!  And to be an encouragement to others who are where I was 11 months ago.

I'm looking forward to celebrating, on 10/10/10, the one year anniversary of my journey to a healthier life!  I would love to hear YOUR story if you are willing to share.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Keepers pinning ceremony

Today, friends and I celebrated 9 months of achievement for six precious girls.  We were able to recognize them for finishing projects in the following categories, rubber stamping, cookie baking, latchhooking (by far the most time intensive!!), and soapmaking.  For these projects, they received a gold pin. They also received a silver pin for work in learning sign language.  In addition to the pins, they earned the patch for learning the goal and purpose of this group, as well as memorizing the following verse.  To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His steps.  1 Peter 2:21 This all is part of the Keepers at Home  group we joined in October.  
The girls are anxious for the ceremony to begin!

I was blessed to have a turn to pin my girls.

Six precious girls, learning to be Keepers at Home.

Monday, June 14, 2010

It's been awhile...

Hmm, it's been almost a month since I've blogged.  We've had some wonderful family times and have been busy trying to finish school.  We will be DONE tomorrow, June 15th.  YAHOOOOO!  We are looking forward to a bit of R & R for a few weeks, before July hits!

The month of July is going to be a bit crazy, but good crazy.  We will be spending a week at Camp Good News.  I'm excited for this opportunity to volunteer in this ministry. Then comes VBS two days after we return from CGN.  I will be teaching bible to the 1-2 graders.  I love this age group! Our theme is Saddle Ridge Ranch, I'm sure it will be a great week! And somewhere in there we will try to squeeze in a few school days!  We need to keep up with math facts and handwriting at the very least.

A few pictures of what we've been busy doing:

Cousins having fun in the sun!

A short but sweet visit with Nana.

Grand-dad playing with his granddaughters.

We helped celebrate Tim and Laurie's anniversary.  We went to eat at the Sebago Brewing Company and played at Deering Oaks Park playground.


We finally got out the fishing poles and discovered there are fish in this lake...
a 13 inch largemouth and...

a 3 inch "snack"



I finally got a picture of the nesting loon!
I don't know if it's a male or female, they take turns on the nest.  And no, I didn't get as close as this picture suggests.  I have a great zoom on my camera!

And, Em and Rach finished their latch hooking projects!  They have worked diligently on them since January.  We will be finishing it to a rug this week, but I had to share the project with all the stitches finished.  They worked HARD!

Well, I guess I'll sign off for now...until next time.



Thursday, May 20, 2010

Summer has arrived!

Our summertime home away from home was delivered today by Kit of Destinations RV! Soon, we'll be heading over to our seasonal site to get it set up! I'm ready for summer, how about you?

Friday, May 7, 2010

Sewing Lessons

Sewing Lessons 101:
Today, my friend, Karen, taught me how to sew these pajama shorts for Rachel and Emily. It was great fun, AND I feel like I could replicate what we did! I also learned I have been threading my machine WRONG for the past 5 years! No wonder I had such a hard time using the darn thing! Anyway, the girls loved the final product and are wearing them to bed tonight. SUCCESS!




Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Happy Spring


Some of the things I love about this time of year:


Children playing OUTside

Creeping Phlox

Clusters of May Flowers on the lawn

Bleeding Heart, or "Lady in a Bathtub"

Budding trees

Bergenia

Viola


And, Yes, even dandelions on the lawn!

Ahhh, I love springtime!

Friday, April 16, 2010

Artistic Pursuits



We are using this book for Art:


One of the things I really like about this curriculum is that it introduces many media types. Today, we used gouache paint for the first time. I've never heard of it and never would have just picked it up on my own to try. But the colors are bright and vibrant.

Another reason I chose to use Artistic Pursuits, is that I can teach art! I'm not artistic or creative, but the girls really love to draw, paint, sculpt, etc. So, with each lesson, they are learning art history, learning about different artists, and methods of creating art.

Here are the artists and their creations: