Thoughts entering the New Year...

What a crazy month or so!  Just as I was beginning to feel like myself again and Christmas Day came, our family got hit hard with a nasty stomach virus.  If it wasn't happening to me, I don't think I could believe it! First my daughter, then my hubby, then myself got it, with me taking it the worst.  I think my already weakened immune system couldn't fight it quite as well, even though my hubby had it pretty bad himself.  Thankfully he was feeling better by the time I was feeling terrible.  And it was terrible.  Today is the first day that I've seen a glimpse of my old self!  Praise the Lord!  The boys are starting to get it, too, but it doesn't seem to be as intense. I'm so thankful that they are able to fight it off a little better.

Today was also the day that I had my one year check up with my endocrinologist concerning my thyroid cancer.  Although we have to wait for some of the blood work to come back, he believes that everything is going really well and we will hopefully get my medicine better regulated.  I'm thankful for that!  It's been a roller coaster trying to figure out what dosage will work for me.  I've gone from insomnia and almost blacking out to feeling sluggish.  I'm so ready to feel "normal" again.

And as the New Year is right around the corner, I'm also thinking of all of those resolutions I want to make.  Every year I say I want to lose weight.  There have been years that I've succeeded in that goal.  I'd like for 2014 to be one of them.  It'll require a lot of discipline on my part...cause let's face it...my body is definitely not what it used to be!  I'm going to be fighting a lot more issues this time around.  I'm also still recovering some from my surgery and sicknesses, so it may take a while to be 100%.  And I also have to face the fact that I have to exercise.  It's one of those "duh" things, but I think somewhere in the back of my mind I think that I can lose weight if I just eat right.  Not going to happen, I don't think.  I've got to do more physical activity.  I also want to get my kids more physically active.  Lots to do on that front.  But it's what we need to do to be healthy.

I have so many other things I want to do on the homefront, too.  I want to declutter and organize our home better.  That job alone will probably take me all year!  lol  Pinterest has a lot of great ideas so I want to try and look at some of those, but basic decluttering will commence very soon!  Getting rid of old toys, appliances I don't use, etc.  I'm actually kind of excited about this.  I hope that excitement lasts....

Personally, I want to make it a priority to study God's Word more.  Strength from the Lord is what is going to get me through and give me the ability to accomplish all these other goals I have.  Because I know me...and I know I'm going to burn out at some point.  I'm going to be tired and won't want to wake up before the kids do and exercise.  I won't feel like going through another closet or toy box.  I've got to have God's Word hidden in my heart and mind to help me press on.

I also want to minister to others.  I want to pray for people in my neighborhood and community more.  I want to love others the way Christ loved...and not be afraid of what people will think when I do it.  Be bold. Be authentic. Nothing rehearsed, just Christ coming through.

And homeschooling.  Lots of goals there.  I just really want to have fun with my kids, though.  That's always been my philosophy when I taught in schools and it's how I feel while I've been teaching my own kids: you can learn and have fun doing it.  My children are such a joy to me and I want to invest all I can into them while I have the chance. And make lots of fun memories.  Because I can already tell..the time is going by fast.  I can't believe my little girl is 6 already and she's saying funny, growny-sounding things.  Just the other day she used air quotes while she told me something...totally cracked me up!  I'm thinking...where did she learn that?!  Today in the car she told me that she told her friend something and her friend "gasped".  She says funny things like that all of the time...and she's so fun to just hang out with.  Love my girl.  My boys are getting so big, too, and one of their favorite things is Daddy wrestling time.  I love seeing my guys roll around and play with each other.

So...2014...I have the feeling that it'll have challenges of its own.  2012 had some wonderful, miraculous things and some very hard things.  2013 has been good, but these past couple of months have produced some physical challenges.  God has had his hand on us and will continue.  With all of these goals I have I know first and foremost I've just got to give it up to Him...He's got this!

God bless~

Slowly getting back in the groove (some week 12 resources, a review video, and Kindle books!)

After my last post, I think the next day or so I ended up in the hospital again for a few days.  Not expected, but I went into the doctor with some unexplained pain and dehydration, so back to the third floor of the Med Center I went.  I was pretty overwhelmed with it all, but thankfully I'm back home and have been doing pretty well for a little over a week now.  I'm still sore, get tired easily and there are days when I just don't feel that great.  But after a check up last week the doctor felt that I was doing better and should be right on track by the 6 week post-surgery mark.  I never would've imagined all of this happening, but like I said before, God is in control.

In the time that I've been home, I've been able to get some Christmas gifts online and make a few things.  I'm really excited about the story stones that I was able to paint for the kiddos one night.  They actually discovered them that morning before I had a chance to put them away, but I'm hoping the "out of sight, out of mind" principle will take effect! : )

One thing I got for the kids that I found on Amazon with the whole "Liberty Kids" series.  I am really excited because the kids seem to like them and they have some good history lessons.  I also found them for about $5.99...so I'm very excited about the price! : )  I also saw a few The Magic School Bus dvds for $5...I thought that was a great deal. I just wish that whole series would go on sale for $5.99...my kiddos LOVE The Magic School Bus!

This week, after quite a hiatus, I am trying to finish up our school time before Christmas.  We never did get to do week 12, so I'm going back and trying to do it.  The kids have been so great.  I've been really impressed with their attitudes and attentiveness.  Here are a few things I've done so far this week...not nearly the amount of resources I usually put up but I thought they were helpful.

History (week 12)
 I liked this Napolean coloring sheet.  Interesting facts!

We watched this video about Napoleon...I thought it was pretty good.


I thought this was also a good video:


History review: 
I'm not sure if I've posted this video before, but I let the kids watch it today for a history sentence review.  I thought it was great!
I couldn't embed it, but you can find it here.

Geography:
I still printed out our Geography Cards from the blog "And Here We Go!"  She has also put together cards for the next half of the year!  Yay!
She has also done some songs to go with them.  We love those, too.

Science:
*Here's an interesting page about the Mercury space mission and astronauts...with pictures.
*Space shuttle launch:



*A graphic showing every manned American space mission
*Another graphic about John Glenn's space missions

I'd love to post more, but I think I'm about at my limit : ).  I hope this is helpful and that all of you have a wonderful Christmas!

OH...by the way...there are some GREAT deals on some wonderful Christian fiction right now for Kindle/Nook.  All for a limited time, so grab them while you can!

Some freebies:
To Love Anew and The Heart of Thornton Creek...Bonnie Leon
Daughter of Twin Oaks....Lauraine Snelling
A Daughter's Inheritance and Shadows of the Canyon...Tracie Peterson
The Lawman Claims His Bride....Renee Ryan
Somewhere to Belong....Judith Miller
An Unexpected Widow...Carre White
Angels Watching Over Me...Michael Phillips
Candle in the Darkness...Lynn Austin
Paradise Valley...Dale Cramer
The Meeting Place...Jeanette Oke
Understanding the Times...Ken Hamm (nonfiction...great resource for Biblical view of creation)

Books for a steal!  $1.99
Author Sarah Ladd is great about posting deals for Kindle and Nook on her facebook page.  I've gotten several of these wonderful books at a GREAT price!  Most of these only go on sale for short time.
*Right now ALL of Melanie Dickerson's books are on sale...including her most recent release, A Captive Maiden (a Cinderella retelling)....her books are SO GOOD!!
*The Girl in the Gatehouse by Julie Klassen
*The Heiress of Winterwood by Sarah Ladd
*The Lady of Bolton Hill by Elizabeth Camden
*Once Upon a Prince by Rachel Hauck (SO excited to see this one on sale!!  Yippee!)
*Monday's Child and Tuesday's Child by Linda Chaikin (I really enjoyed this whole series)

Those are just a few I've seen lately!  Hope you all have a blessed Christmas!

Until further notice....

Hey friends...
Just wanted to give a brief update and say...until further notice I probably won't be blogging too much due to an illness. I'm hoping that means only another week or two of recuperating and I'll start feeling somewhat back to normal.  Just to give you a little background...

I had surgery on November 18th.  This was planned, not due to an emergency or anything, so I went into it knowing I would have to recuperate for a few weeks and hoped by Christmas...really before that...I would feel back to normal.  The week after surgery was kind of a blur.  I was taking pain meds, and benedryl to counteract my reactions to those pain meds, and eventually kind of started feeling better.  A week and a day post surgery I went for a follow up at my doctor's office and while I was there I suddenly started feeling terrible.  I was lethargic, flushed, and even my doctor was a little stumped as to what was going on.  I hung out at his office for a while, they brought me drinks and something to snack on, and eventually I felt well enough to leave.  But he wanted me to stay in town (my doctor is an hour away from us) and come back the next day.  I did (thankfully my parents live in town) and that night I started running a low grade fever.  The next day I went back, felt worse, but my fever stayed low grade.  My doctor, and us, thought because everything else seemed ok and my fever wasn't going too high that I had probably gotten the fever/virus that my son had the weekend before.  Made sense.  But I felt terrible.  We ended up just staying another night at my parents because the next day was Thanksgiving and we were planning to come to town anyway.  I continued to run a low grade fever off an on, but had times where I felt a little better.  Thanksgiving Day I felt well enough to eat a good lunch and actually thought I was starting to get over it.  By that afternoon, I was assaulted with a round of terrible chills that lasted a couple of hours and my fever, for the first time, rose to 102.

The doctor recommended that we go to the ER.  After some blood work, a chest x-ray, and a CT scan, it was determined that I had a post-surgical infection.  My white blood cell count was very high and I didn't feel well at all.  I was admitted and ended up staying in the hospital for 3 nights, pumped with antibiotics and fluids.  They've gotten me well enough to go home, but I'm still not close to 100 %. I'm on a couple of antibiotics here at home and thankfully friends and family are helping us take care of the kids while my husband goes back to work and I am recuperating.  I never would've expected this to happen, but I can see several ways that God's hand was in the situation.  I also had some great conversations with some of my nurses and saw just how much I like the group of doctors that I go to.  I'm very thankful for them and how much they checked on me.

So....I need to recuperate.  I can't express how hard it's been not to try and do several things I wanted to do this time of year.  Our Christmas tree isn't even up yet : (.  I hope that'll happen soon!  I wanted to do something for advent, but I don't know if it's going to happen.  No black Friday shopping or even Cyber Monday shopping.  I'm learning that I have to let go of some things in order to help myself get better.  That's hard.  I don't know if it's a mom thing, a woman thing, or just a me thing to give up the control.  Even in the struggles, God teaches us!

I hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas and please keep me and my family in your prayers. During this time my grandfather has also been struggling with some serious health issues and this may be our last Christmas with him.  We don't know that for sure, but it's a definite possibility.  My Dad is also having knee replacement surgery on Wednesday of this week, so we need your prayers in that.  It can all seem very overwhelming.  I've found, however, that when life seems overwhelming, I cling to Christ all the more.  I am desperate for Him.  He has never failed.  Thank you for your prayers and God bless!

DIY for Christmas...

This past Monday I had a pretty major surgery and had to spend the night in the hospital.  After coming home, I have been pretty out of it!  Needless to say, we haven't been having school this week.  I have intentions of trying to pick it back up after Thanksgiving, so hopefully I'll be able to tackle week 12 then.  Mainly I want to focus on getting back to feeling good.  My kiddos have also been sick this week unexpectedly...Sophie having a 24 hour virus/throwing up thing and Seth having a virus/high fever thing...both of which I've been trying to avoid getting.  It wouldn't be good for my recovery. Normally I'm right in the middle of any sicknesses going on.  Thankfully the hubby had already made plans to be with us during this time and I'm so thankful!  I'm also very thankful for my friends, family, and church family who have ministered to us tremendously!!  They have encouraged us so much through prayers, food, and help.  What a blessing!

So I hate to skip right over Thanksgiving celebrations....but I'm curious about what different families do in terms of Christmas gifts?  Do you get up in the early hours after Thanksgiving and go Black Friday shopping?  Cyber Monday shopping?  Make homemade gifts?  

Until a few years ago, I NEVER did Black Friday shopping.  Honestly, we don't do a lot of gifts for Christmas.  I try to think of a few things that my kiddos will really enjoy and find those at the lowest price possible.  I'm not ashamed to say that I buy stuff second hand and if someone is getting rid of something that I know mine would love for Christmas, I'm all about it!  But, I also get a little excited when I see all the deals on Black Friday.  It's hard not to want to go crazy and get things at such a great price.  It takes a lot of self-control!  This year, though, I've found some really cute homemade projects that I'd like to do for the kiddos.  I have high hopes....but we'll see.  Maybe I'll be able to get it done!  Here's what I'm thinking...

DIY washer necklaces

           washer bracelet 

I think these are really cute!

Story stone instructions

      and story coins 

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This would be so adorable!  Include a book with little dollpin models to go with it!  Great for a gift, too! (couldn't find the link)

button bookmarks

    Homemade water colors

craft stick bracelets              

fabric scrap tutu 

Reusable snack bags   

I LOVE this fabric charm necklace

 

....and this bird's egg nest necklace   

This is just so pretty....

For grownup gifts....

Cloth napkin love..

    

I've got to stop myself, because there's just too many things out there! Now....to find the time to do all of these projects!  : )  I did find a bag of stones...the rock kind and some glass ones...for $1/bag at the Dollar Tree.  SO....I'm already getting started! : )  Stocking stuffers!

I'd love to hear your ideas.  Mission: Don't Spend Too Much for Christmas is ON! : )

"Wanted: A Kindred Spirit" article

Hey friends!

Today I am featured on a beautiful blog called Dearly Beloved.  This blog was created to help encourage young women in their walk with the Lord, but I have found that even as an "older" woman I am challenged by it.  The women who are writing it have done a great job in covering a variety of topics, including evangelism and discipleship.  

My article is entitled, "Wanted: A Kindred Spirit". I have struggled over the years off and on with having those deep connections with a sister in Christ that I've had in the past.  I felt the Lord leading me to share what He has shown me about seeking out a kindred spirit.  Stop by and check it out! 

God bless!

Letter K, the French Revolution, solar bodies, and Eastern Europe (cycle 2, week 11)

The hubs and I are going out of town part of this week, so I wanted to go ahead and put out some resources for this week.  It won't be as many as I usually do, but I think it'll cover a good bit of the French Revolution in particular.

Science: solar bodies
I haven't tried it, but I think if I just Google some of these solar bodies (asteroids, meteors, etc), I can see images of them pretty quickly.  Sounds good to me!

Sola Gratia Mom posted a great idea to illustrate the different solar bodies.  If we have time I would like to do this...or we might just do a much smaller scale version with black construction paper.  I think that would probably be more doable! : )  She also includes a costume idea for the French Revolution and a fun snack idea.

I would still love to go to the planetarium in the biggest town nearest us (about an hour away) if we're able to.  I'm sure it would give the kids a great experience looking at some of the things we've been studying.

History: the French Revolution
These Horrible History videos are kind of cheesy, but I think they tell the story of the French Revolution really well!  It honestly helped me understand it better.  Just beware of some little cartoon angel statues that are naked...for just a few seconds.  I know, I'm kind of overly sensitive about that kind of stuff...but I like to let you know!


 Social Studies for Kids has some more in-depth French Revolution info.
Here is another site that gives some good info as well.

Geography: Eastern Europe
Look here to see all of Melody Stroud's (And Here We Go! blog) songs that she's done for some of the geography work.  My kiddos love these!

You can also check out her blog to print out the Geography Cards for the first 12 weeks.  We like these, too!

Letter K
Here are some letter K words that might inspire some ideas:
kiwi
king
kick
karate
kite
key
kangaroo
koala

We're going to read the book, "King Bidgood's in the Bathtub" by Don and Audrey Wood.

I saw a cute idea on Pinterest to do a kicking jug...


Cute, right?  But instead of using a jug, I'm using a two liter Coke bottle.  I drew all kinds of "k" things and letter k's on it, and tomorrow we're going to have fun kicking it!  The goal is to say the k sound or some of the k words when you kick it.

I also printed an itsy bitsy book for letter K.

Even though I didn't see a letter K printable on this blog, she had so many other cute printables for other letters that I hope to use...several of which were free.

That's about all for now!  Hope you all have a great week and God bless!

**winner announced!**"Coming Home for Christmas" dvd review and giveaway...AND a Nativity Story app review

**Mary....you're the winner! Please message me your mailing info to receive your dvd! Thanks to everyone for the comments!**
I LOVE this time of year!  Christmas movies are playing on tv, Christmas trees are going up...and it's not even Christmas yet!  I had the special opportunity to receive a Christmas dvd to watch, review, and one to give away!  Watching it has definitely put me in a Christmas frame of mind!

Here is the trailer:

My impression of Coming Home for Christmas?  If you like Hallmark movies, you'll enjoy this story! (and I do!) As the trailer shows, Coming Home for Christmas is about two estranged sisters who haven't been on speaking terms. They reunite in hopes that having a family Christmas all together for the first time in years will bring their Mom and Dad close again.  They plan to do this in their old family home...the only problem is someone else lives there now.  Fortunately, Kate, one of the sisters, has gotten to know the current resident and he has agreed to be a part of their Christmas homecoming.

The scenery in this movie, from the towering mountains to a huge waterfall, was breathtaking.  I also loved the actors' singing.  It really drew me in and felt like a natural part of the story.  I did think that there were a few cheesy parts, dialogue-wise, but I could look past it as the overall story was sweet and entertaining.  This is not a spiritual movie, as there is little mention, if any, of God or spiritual things.  One of the characters mentions praying about something, but I don't consider that being very spiritual.  There is no cursing or sexual content, unless you count an innocent kiss.

If you'd like to have your name put into the drawing for a FREE COPY of this dvd, just comment on this blog.  Tell me your favorite Christmas movie!  I'd love to hear about it : ).

If you don't win the giveaway, but would like a copy of this movie, it will be available at Walmart, along with the soundtrack featuring holiday songs performed by George Canyon.

I also wanted to tell you about an app I received to review.  It's called "The Nativity Story" and it tells the story of Jesus' birth.  If you buy it for your Iphone it's only $1.99, $3.99 for the Ipad.  It's an interactive app in which kids 2-10 years old can either have the story read to them or read it themselves.

                     

There are also opportunities to push a text bubble button and hear individual characters speak.  There are other interactive features as well.  My daughter really enjoyed the app.  I thought the graphics were beautiful and that the overall message of Christ's birth was being conveyed in a way that kids could understand.  My only criticisms of the app were with a few of the character lines.  At one time Joseph said at the beginning, "Mary, I love you so much.  I think I'm going to go make something for you!"...or something to that effect.  I thought, "Really?  I'm not sure Joseph would say that."  There was also a minor female character in the story but when she spoke, her voice sounded like a man's voice.  When I asked my daughter what she thought of the app, that's the first thing she pointed out. I think that if other female characters can have female voices, then that one could have, too.  I would recommend this app if you're looking for a good way to show the message of Christ's birth that your children can look at over and over again!

Don't forget to comment to have a chance to win a copy of "Coming Home for Christmas"! We'll draw a winner next Friday...so you'll have a week to comment...even if I post other things in the meantime.

Happy holidays and God bless!

"Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."