Word Up! : )

Today was the big day! We had our church fall festival tonight and Sophie was Word Girl and Isaac was Captain Huggyface. If you're not familiar with Word Girl...here's a clip I thought was perfect : )



Honestly, I am entertained by this fun little cartoon! Now...here are my two little ones dressed up! I'm the most proud of the cape...I sewed it yesterday! We had to make a few modifications. Sophie wasn't able to have a Word Girl hat...so we did a Word Girl headband. Couldn't find a solid blue shirt for the Captain, so we did stripes. But overall, it came together...and it was a lot of fun!

Inspired

Does this not inspire?! If you've never watched Chariots of Fire, I would definitely recommend it. If you don't feel up for the movie (it is a little long...and there are a few slow parts), just look up Eric Liddle and his life. He took a stand for Christ. But it's the quote that you hear in the background of this clip that has been on my mind this past week or so. I couldn't quite remember it word for word until I watched this tonight, but I remembered the jist of it. The quote came to mind when I was reading something a friend of mine wrote about not just exercising to meet a goal, but to exercise and find pleasure from it. I've been trying to start running, as I've mentioned before, but I have not found a lot of pleasure in the actual running. It's been tough, it's been slow, and it's taken a long time to see progress. It's also been discouraging...I still can't even run a mile! Ugh! Reading what my friend wrote, though, helped me see it in a new perspective. I still may not be able to run a mile, but I can find pleasure in what I can do now, and strive to do more. Now to the quote. Liddle (well, the actor playing Liddle) says something like, "He (God) made me fast. And when I run, I can feel His pleasure." So that's what I've been inspired to do this past week or so. I'm not fast, but I'm trying to run and not just feel pleasure in myself, but feel His pleasure. Glorifying and praising Him that I can run at all, that He has put this desire in me to try to run, to exercise, and lose weight. I want to experience His pleasure in my efforts. Wow...I'm inspired!

A Favorite Children's Author: Lois Ehlert

I've mentioned Lois Ehlert before, and I couldn't wait to mention these two books we checked out from the library a few weeks ago. Lois Ehlert's books are not only easy to read with kids but they're also educational. At the end of these two books, she includes facts about some of the things we see. In Market Day, her story is told through folk art. There are images of different types of people going to market, buying their goods, and traveling home. At the end of the book, Ehlert tells us where these different pieces of folk art were made and little facts about the pieces. I love that special touch! I think if you aren't able to see folk art and show your children live pieces of this type of art, this is a great way to expose them to it!

I think Feathers for Lunch was my favorite of the two books. The story was so cute and if I remember correctly, was told in rhyme. The text was short, so very appropriate for small children. Ehlert features several different types of birds in the story, and again, at the end, she shows the illustration of each type of bird and tells us what each bird is. This would be a fun way to expose your child to bird watching or talk about birds in your area of the US or world. I loved it!

What are some of your children's book favs? I'd love to know. I'm always looking for more fun books to read! We have story time during our school day and I love to read different types of books to the girls. Happy reading and God bless!

Our homeschool group trip to the mountains

What can I say?! The pictures say it all! We had a wonderful trip to Ellijay and Dahlonega. Our homeschool group organized a trip to this area so that we could see some neat things, get some apples from one of the best places in Georgia, learn some new things, and have fun! We went to Hill Crest Orchards in Ellijay, where we were able to go on a wagon ride, drink some apple cider, went to a petting zoo, saw a pig race, learned about cows, and got some apples! Then we went to Burt's pumpkin patch a short way down the road and got a little pumpkin. I thought the pumpkin patch was great...and so did the kids! We spent the night in a nice family oriented place called Forrest Hills resort and ate dinner on the square in Dahlonega. The next morning we got up and went to the Consolidated Gold Mine in Dahlonega. We took a tour of the mine, which I thought was great, and then we were able to have a large bucket of dirt and gems and the kids were able to pan for gems. My kids were a little young and needed help, but the older kids loved it. After our time at the gold mine, we headed back to Macon. Overall this was an excellent trip! I think fall is finally sinking in! I hope it stays a while!

Here are all of the kids on our trip!

F is for Firestation!

This week we've been studying the letter F. So Wendy (the other mom we do homeschooling with) and I decided to plan a trip to the firestation here in Eastman. We loaded up the kids and drove on over. The firemen were great! They took time with us, gave the kids a plastic fireman hat, let the kids sit in the fire trucks, showed us their tools, and even dressed in their gear to show the kids. One thing I liked that the fireman pointed out was that it was good for the kids to see what he looked like all dressed, so in case there was a fire, they would know not to be scared and run away from him. He told them that they should run TO him because he was there to help. We talked briefly about calling 911 if there was an emergency and not to run if their clothes caught on fire, but to stop, drop, and roll. It was a great field trip! Thank you Eastman firefighters!

Playing with the handbells

I started playing the flute when I was 9 years old. My reasoning for picking the flute for elementary school band was pretty practical...I knew I was getting braces and the person describing each instrument mentioned you could play it with braces. At the time that seemed good to me. So off I started in our little band. Of course, I sounded rough at first, but over the years, with the help of private lessons, I got better. I kept playing on through high school and I even tried out for a music scholarship at Berry. I didn't get it, but I know why. God had other plans! I ended up becoming a teacher, but I still took private lessons at Berry and played in the flute choir. I really enjoyed that. I took a pretty long break while I was in Thailand and didn't play much, but after I got married and moved to Eastman I started playing again. I've really enjoyed playing at church under the direction of our music minister, Clay Layfield. Clay is a lot of fun and always chooses music that is fun to play (well, most of the time : )) and most importantly, worships the Lord and gives him glory. This past Sunday, myself and the other flute player at our church, Christy, played a duet with the handbell choir. I love listening to the handbells! This was a treat to get to play with them. So...without further delay...here is our performance!



Hope you enjoy! I wanted to make a quick mention that in a previous post where I reviewed "Within My Heart" by Tamera Alexander, I mentioned that I had requested the book to review from Bethany House but had not received it yet. Well, I jumped the gun because I received it the other day! Thanks, Bethany House!
Coming soon...posts about some of our library books we just checked out. If you haven't noticed...I'm a HUGE Lois Ehlert fan! More to come!

A year's progress!

Here I am! The above picture is me...about a year ago. Joe and I were going out for our anniversary around mid-October and I felt pretty good...but I had a lot of weight to lose. The bottom picture is me...today! I'm about 34 pounds lighter. I've still got a long way to go, but progress is being made! I hope this time next year I'll be 34 more pounds lighter! : )