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Showing posts from July, 2010

Hands On Bible Winner!!

Thanks to everyone who entered.  I'm sad that I only have one to give away!  This morning I picked a number with the help of Random.org and the winning number is #3, which was Lisa S.!!  Congrats Lisa!  Hope you and the kids enjoy reading the Bible together and doing some of the experiments!

Staycation Summer 2010: Thrift stores and pools

Hannah had programming yesterday morning and we dropped her off and went to the Salvation Army with my friend Lisa.  It was actually quite pleasant, considering some other adventures I've been on when Mom is ready to shop. We found numerous things including some Bill Cosby LP's and an old umbrella to do a door hanging project from Midwest Living a month or so ago.  The plan was to go to the Hands on Museum when we picked up Hannah, but instead we ended up going swimming.  Joel even took off early and joined us at the pool.  It was short lived, as the thunderstorm rolled in pretty quickly that afternoon.  But it also went away in plenty of time for us to go to the Wednesday evening campfire at church.  Overall, it was a wonderful day.  Here are some picture highlights from the campfire Bocce, hotdogs, and marshmallows Sweet Granma Day-O! The clouds were great!

Staycation Summer 2010: Peaches and Cabela's

Yesterday morning, we went to the Tuesday Bee and canned an entire basket of peaches.  It was hot work, and I hope no one gets botulism from our efforts.  After we were done, Granma, Hannah and I loaded into the car and headed to Cabela's There are some really big bears out front. Hannah's favorite part were the live fish in a stream that ran through the store But then there were so many stuffed animals, it's hard not to like the live ones Hannah cheesin' with some wolves. We ended up not getting a single thing, but it was worth the trip just to see everything that's not for sale and some of the things that are. We finished out our staycation day with a homemade dinner and books from the library.

What's In The Bible? DVD review

I'm pretty sure that you have heard of the Veggie Tales by this point in your life.  A tomato and a cucumber that do amazing things considering they do not have hands.  They are even on Saturday morning cartoons now if you want to check them out.  Well, their creator, Phil Vischer, has done something even more amazing... I received the third in the set of this DVD series for review from Tyndale House Publishers.  We also received a screener's copy of the first in the series.  In the screener's disk, Phil Vischer gives a wonderful testimony about what happened with Veggie Tales and how What's in the Bible? came into being.  The plan is that the series will cover every book in the Bible.  The first three have covered the first five books of the Bible or the Pentateuch.  Wanderin' in the Desert is the title of the third DVD, it contains two episodes on Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.  Having studied the Bible before, I thought that this would probably be fluff

Staycation Summer 2010: Maybury State Park

My mom is visiting this week and we're having a staycation, showing her all the things we enjoy.  This morning, we went to our latest find, Maybury State Park in Northville MI Maybury was once a Sanatorium, today it is an awesome state park. Granma and Hannah Loved the green leaves shining in the sun on the trail A little butterfly landed Hannah's shoe There is a beautiful butterfly garden, though we found more bees than butterflies there this morning. The dragonfly let me take a picture Me and Granma!

The Edge of the Divine by Sandi Patty

I had my first experience with Sandi Patty when I attended a Women of Faith even a few years ago. The thing I remember most about her was her voice and her blonde hair. I did not know much of her history going into The Edge of the Divine , but after finishing it, I feel compelled to read some of her other books to find out more. Sandi had a lap band surgery about two years ago and in the midst of it, she learned a few things that she graciously shared with her readers. One of the recurring messages in the book is that God likes to make the ordinary extraordinary. God repeatedly uses the mundane to create the divine. Sandi talks about those moments as edges. The Edge of the Divine is not about her weight loss, but about the mind and spirit work that Sandi has been going through in the midst of weight loss. I am struck repeatedly as I think back upon the book of the phrase “I am enough.” She encourages us to believe that not only is God enough for us, but that we are enough fo

I heart...

...my hubby. My husband is so sweet! (Hi, SweetPEA!)  The other day he went to the grocery store to pick up a random smattering of things and he brought me home a box of K-cups!  He's so precious.  ...my mom.  She's coming to visit this next week and should be here this Saturday sometime.  My utter need of a buffer between myself and my beautiful daughter prompted the trip, so it should be a lovely time for all of us. ...my daughter.  She is one of the most emotional persons I know.  I think that means that she feels deeply.  We have been careful to keep her a child as long as we can and sometimes it shows.  She is still young in the sense that she hasn't been hurt very much in her short life and so she has no fear of loving. ...my brother and his wife.  They have been blessed with their first child, due sometime in February.  So exciting to be an auntie again! ...my church.  There is so much going on right now, I think I might need a vacation from my summer :D

Project Date Night: 2012 and Perspective

Last year, Joel really wanted to see 2012 with John Cusack, mainly because he is intrigued by prophecy and then there are all the explosions.  Well, I found it on the Netflix instant viewing the other day and thought it would be great for date night, even though we had just watched a movie the week before.  When we were dating, watching movie rentals was our MO, so it's not surprise to me that when we don't have a specific plan that we fall into that decision.  I must admit that I have come to the conclusion that John Cusack is actually remaking Better Off Dead every time he makes a movie, except for the one Grace is Gone , that one was very touching.  We went into the movie with the idea that we would mock it heavily, especially since we do not believe that the world will end in 2012 and Genesis quite clearly states that it won't end in a flood again.  Before the movie, we were actually able to check in with each other and share some stuff that has been getting us down

Purchases I'd make again

I'll be the first to admit it, I have bought some junk in my day, things that I have thought to myself, "Never again!"  but I have also been fortunate to make a few that I am still pleased with even years later.  I thought I would share one or two with you today... About 8 years ago, we purchased a 2003 VW Jetta TDI.  It's a diesel.  We have gotten amazing fuel consumption with it and it has been good to us.  Just last week, we had to take it in to the shop.  It had some routine maintenance done and they discovered a carbon build up in the intake system.  The shop removed the majority of the build up.  It now drives like BRAND NEW.  This car is just as much fun to drive today as it was the day we drove it off the lot, maybe even more so, because we're not concerned about scratches or dings.  Our car has 91,000 miles on it and it is a pleasure to drive.  And I ask you, have you ever seen a Jetta on the side of the road broke down?  It has held up its resale valu

Hands-On Bible

One of my first clues about anything geared towards kids is if my daughter claims it as her own. When I opened the envelope from Tyndale Publishers with my review copy of the  Hands-On Bible , Hannah immediately took the book and ran to her room with it. She was drawn in by the colorful cover and the promise of fun that it proclaims. I must say that I was quite surprised with the cleverness of the activities included within the text of the scripture. It is almost like having several object lessons interwoven throughout the Bible. Every experiment that we tried astounded me and really brought home the point that was being made. Each book has an introductory page that sends the reader on a treasure hunt in the book, pointing out stories that may easily be overlooked. The extra material at the end of the Biblical text includes Big Questions, Concordance/Dictionary, and maps among other useful information. Hannah and I have started using this Bible with our home school work and ha

Thankful Thursday

I am so thankful that today is Thursday, because that means tomorrow is Friday and we have two days off!  So nice indeed. I'm thankful that we were finally able to take our car into the shop and that everything that needs to be done is within our budget.  Which is such a blessing considering that it's our only car and we don't have credit cards so we're really at the mercy of any shop that we take it to. But I'm looking forward to it driving like it used to back in its heyday. I'm thankful for my ever sweet little girl.  My hormones have died down and I can take her personality with much greater ease than when I'm struggling with so many other internal things. I'm thankful that I took my mom's advice in regards to a medical issue, and how that has turned out for our family.  I am feeling just tons better thanks to contacting my doctor and having some meds tweaked. I'm looking forward to things improving even more as the meds really start

Picky Eater Revenge

In the past few months, I've been hearing more and more often "I don't like that, I'm not going to eat it" When we demand that she try it, more often than not, the food is found acceptable if not enjoyable.  But even with an "I told you so" victory most every night, I still had to hear the whining and complaining.  This past week, I was done with it.  I asked Hannah to plan out our dinner menus for this week.  She picked numerous restaurant foods which she wanted from the restaurants, but I made alternatives to each of them, except chicken nuggets, because no one can produce nuggets that she'll eat for less money.  Here's the best part of all this I haven't heard a single complaint!  It's been a nice respite from the whining at dinner.  Curious as to what a five year old thinks of for dinner? Pizza (we did frozen because she doesn't like our homemade stuff) Wendy's Chili with fries (Pioneer Woman has a chili recipe that is sp

Hair update

My hair is still growing and growing.  It's in one of those terrible kind of stages where one day it looks great and the next it's uncontrollable.  In the picture, it's in the good stage, in case you can't tell ;)

Avatar

It's shameful to say, but our date nights recently have been after thoughts at the end of long busy weeks.  This past week, we finally got to watch Avatar which I had rented from Amazon Video on Demand a few weeks ago. We put Hannah to bed early, so that we wouldn't be up the entire night watching it.  It was visually beautiful and quite imaginative, though the story line was the same old same old.  I would probably watch it again, as it didn't seem like almost three hours and it's definite eye candy.  This week, is our wedding anniversary, so I'm hoping to plan something nice, but there isn't a night opening up for the two of us to get out yet.  We may have to do a family date to make it work.

Monday Monday

Here we are back to another Monday.  I am thankful that the sun is not out today, because it means that I have the chance to drop by and say "hello!" to all of you.  Hannah and I have been making our way through the book of Genesis ala FIAR style.  Though it's more of a three in a row, which I should have known as that has been our MO for quite some time.  We have studied the tower of Babel, Noah and most recently the call of Abram, which we continue this week.  I'm super excited to start incorporating the Hands-On Bible  with our studies.  It has turned more into a Bible study with object lessons than I had thought it would, but I think it's working well for us.  Hannah is eating up most anything related to sharks lately, books, videos, you name it.  We're also doing the summer reading program at the library, where she has earned lots of trinkets so far and a free bowling game for non-fiction books.   Still not making any real headway towards reading, but I

Sunday Afternoon

Sunday mornings are so full of activity and love and care, that when we return home in the early afternoon, we all go to our separate corners and take a bit of a break.  Sometimes there's napping, or sports or movies, but it's always a time with very little talking.  And it just so works out that we come out of our cocoons right about time for dinner.  Joel almost always makes dinner on Sundays, I think it's a tradition that his dad had when he was younger and I hope it's something that he likes to do and that he hasn't defaulted into.  Then after dinner, there are some Wii games or group movie time.  Then it's off to bed to prepare for the week ahead.   One thing that I have noticed is that Hannah is starting to take advantage of quiet time in our lives.  She uses it to be creative and to learn.  Children need time to process all that they have experienced.  Start early and it won't be as much of a struggle to show them the benefit of rest. **** Toda

Venom and Song

By Wayne Thomas Batson and Christopher Hopper Venom and Song is the second book in the Berinfell Prophecy series. Having not read the first in the series, it was easy to pick up the story line and jump right into the action of the story itself. There is plenty of background information at the front of the book so that you do not have to wade through several chapters of back-story. The story itself of seven elven lords is very captivating and reminiscent of Tolkien’s Lord of the Ring series. The main characters were in middle school when they were taken into their kingdom of Allyra; the writers do an excellent job of putting forth the struggles that occur during that awkward life stage. Venom and Song has numerous Christian themes that are stated through out and put into understandable examples. The characters had numerous growing moments in the story and it was tangible the way that they were growing from childhood into adulthood and the responsibility of leading a people into free

Thankful Thursday

First of all, I'm thankful that you dropped by to read my Thankful Thursday post.  It's been crazy around these parts, turns out summer can be pretty busy! Secondly, I am ever so thankful that next Wednesday, I will be able to celebrate 9 years of marriage to my best friend!  Joel is an amazing man and makes the role of husband look easy, he's an awesome dad to our daughter and I just adore him. Third, I'm thankful that we homeschool .  Even at this early age, I can see things about Hannah's desire to learn and as frustrated as I am that she is still not in a place to read, I love working with her and studying God's word with her! Fourth, I'm thankful for all the fun things going on at church this summer!  We have a get together on Tuesdays to work on our individual projects, Wacky Wednesday for the kids on Wednesday along with a campfire in the evening for the entire family.  It's a lovely busy time.