tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84380744150062711462024-03-05T09:30:38.912-08:00The MennagerieLearning to enjoy Truth, Beauty and Goodness TogetherKellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12171313699305592572noreply@blogger.comBlogger396125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438074415006271146.post-72466200392106435932017-09-01T22:14:00.003-07:002017-09-01T22:14:56.453-07:00A Bouquet of Newly Sharpened Pencils<br />
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I love that movie line in "You've Got Mail" where Meg Ryan talks about the smell of a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils. I think we all secretly love that smell. My kiddos keep asking me when we are starting school. They are actually counting down the days. Oh, if only that excitement could hang around all year long. Each year I desire to keep it fun for them. I love to learn and I think they do too, just maybe not in the usual structured way.<br />
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Have I mentioned in previous posts that I am a curriculum junkie? Well I am. I can look at "most" any curriculum and think that it would be so fun. I love to try them out but I always tell myself that if it isn't working I don't have to stick with it. One of my favorite curriculums has been "Learning Adventures" by Dorian Holt. But I feel with my varying ages it just isn't a good fit for us right now. Last year I tried "My Father's World" after blogs made it look so very inviting but I found it to be a bit dry. I love, love, love Unit Studies but again making it work with a toddler, preschooler, kindergartener, 1st grader, 3rd grader, 4th grader and a couple of high schoolers just isn't easy. <br />
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This year I am going to give "The Good and the Beautiful" a try. The Language Arts part of it seems a bit too dry and bookish to me but I have also been pretty lax about that subject for a while so I think it is time to hit the books on it. The History looks like it will be good but I am planning to add in some Unit Study type activities as we go along. I like the looks of their Nature Study and I like that they are heavy on reading good books....not garbage. It is written by a Mormon lady and we are NOT Mormons but there is nothing in there with that bent to it. <br />
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I am also excited to try out Beautiful Feet's Geography. We will be reading some fun books and hopefully, going on some field trips prompted from our reading.<br />
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I love homeschooling my kids!<br />
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Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12171313699305592572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438074415006271146.post-7972976613374624802017-08-22T14:20:00.003-07:002017-08-22T14:20:41.479-07:00I Love My State...however<br />
Our family has loved living here in Oregon for the last 20 years. Here where we are it is always green and the summers are not unbearably hot. We live most of the summer without air conditioning, the evenings are so cool and the rain isn't as bad as people imagine it to be. God made a beautiful place when He created Oregon...However, the politics in our state are atrocious. It has always been a liberal state but lately things have been stepped up a bit. I am not on Facebook to share this but I felt that some how it needs to get out so I will do my very small part and share it here.<br />
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This is an article I received in my email this morning:<br />
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<a href="http://heidistjohn.com/blog/current-events/devastating-distraction-the-snare-of-offense">http://heidistjohn.com/blog/current-events/devastating-distraction-the-snare-of-offense</a><br />
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Please read it. Not only does it share what Governor Kate Brown is doing in our state but there are also lessons here for us as Christians. Feel free to share the article. Also in the last few days Gov. Brown has passed into law that guns may be confiscated if the owner is thought to be a threat to themselves or others . Our liberties are being taken away bit by bit while we aren't watching. What can we do? Pray, pray, pray! Teach our children to pray. When it feels like government is stepping on our every freedom we need to show our children by example to turn to the Lord! <br />
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Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12171313699305592572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438074415006271146.post-89139287277531804032017-08-21T14:38:00.001-07:002017-08-21T14:38:21.043-07:00Time on My Hands<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
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Since stepping away from Facebook, two things have happened....I have more time on my hands now but I have lost a way to share my life with you all. I have picked knitting back up, which isn't such a big deal since all I can knit is dishcloths and baby blankets that are basically giant dishcloths. And I have renewed an interest that I have had for a while in herbs. I think it is so amazing that God gave us plants that we can eat and use for medicine. I have been looking into herbal schools but the majority of them are extremely expensive. In my searching though, I found <a href="https://www.heartofherbs.com/">Heart of Herbs.</a> They have affordable prices that actually allow people the opportunity to attend. It is all distance learning so that makes it even better.<br />
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On that vein, I decided to start harvesting and drying what herbs I have around my home, while waiting to take their courses and to encourage me to go ahead and start learning herbs and their uses.<br />
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Red Raspberry leaves, which are considered one of the oldest and wisest herbs for women's health and some yummy chocolate mint leaves drying on my front porch. The Raspberry leaves will be dried and stored for use as a tea for us Ladies of the house when that time of the month comes when life gets difficult. One of my next projects for Hubby is to make me some herb drying racks.<br />
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If you are interested in herbs, one of the best books I have found so far is <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Herbal-Apothecary-Medicinal-Herbs-Them/dp/1604695676/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1503351216&sr=8-1&keywords=the+herbal+apothecary">The Herbal Apothecary</a>. Be sure to get the book, not the Kindle version...books are so much better to hold and feel.<br />
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Anyone want to comment and share their experiences with herbs and some resources that have helped you along in your learning quest?Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12171313699305592572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438074415006271146.post-74790641378804880932016-10-15T21:42:00.001-07:002016-10-15T21:42:59.453-07:00The Freedom to ChangeWell we are only about 6 weeks into the school year and already I am feeling like things just aren't clicking...I love the idea behind the Morning Time basket and we have enjoyed reading together but I also love hands on stuff. I usually always find myself gravitating towards unit Studies. In fact one of my favorite unit studies is Learning Adventures by Dorian Holt. I used this many, many years ago when our oldest set of kiddos were young. The ages for the main curriculum are 4th-8th grade but I did have a couple of younger ones tag along way back when. Now you can buy a supplement to it for younger kids to do along with the older ones. I did purchase that used this year but as I looked at it I decided to save it for when the kids are a little older. B#6 is plugging away using the main Learning Adventures curriculum and is enjoying her time in Ancient Egypt.<br />
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Sooo back to my original discontent with school thus far...I decided to look into My Father's World Adventures in U.S. History. I knew I was really ready to move beyond Ancient cultures and into some U.S. history. We have been talking a lot about U.S. history around here lately with some of my children attending a <a href="https://appleseedinfo.org/">Project Appleseed</a> event. Anyway, as I looked into My Father's World and read <a href="https://farmhouseschoolhouse.com/my-fathers-world-2/">THIS</a> blog I realized that in using MFW I could have a Charlotte Mason style curriculum, keep doing our Morning Time together and have some fun, hands on projects for the kids to do. I am looking forward to getting started and you know, having the freedom to change what we are doing to find something that excites us all is one of the great things about homeschooling.Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12171313699305592572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438074415006271146.post-66540418879655489592016-10-09T14:30:00.000-07:002016-10-09T14:30:46.399-07:00My Pick for a LaminatorI spent this morning working on some things to keep my Preschooler busy during school time with the older ones. Pinterest, of course, being one of the tools I used today but once I had some things printed out I got our one of my favorite tools...my laminator. I don't know why I love to laminate things but I could just go around the house laminating things if I thought I could get away with it. It seems that every time I read someone's blog about their recommendations for a laminator they always mention the Scotch brand laminator which uses certain size pouches depending on your project. I personally don't want to buy different pouches as I never know what size I might be laminating. A friend introduced me to the Zyron laminator many years ago. This laminator is such a basic machine and so very easy to use that my children all love to help me laminate things. There is no heat involved with it so I don't have to worry about anyone getting burned. The one pictured below is a newer version than what I have but it works the same. You can buy these new or used on Amazon for as low as $8.49. Even if you don't homeschool, having a laminator on hand can be so useful.<br />
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In case you have some young ones at home and would like some busy time activities below are some links to some ideas for you. If you have a laminator, have a fun time laminating them to make them last.</div>
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Little Minds at Work..<a href="http://littlemindsatwork.blogspot.ca/2015/08/explore-tubs-freebies.html">http://littlemindsatwork.blogspot.ca/2015/08/explore-tubs-freebies.html</a></div>
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Tot School...<a href="http://www.totschooling.net/2015/12/cookies-number-matching-printable.html">http://www.totschooling.net/2015/12/cookies-number-matching-printable.html</a></div>
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Math Geek Mama....<a href="http://mathgeekmama.com/free-skittles-pattern-cards-printable/">http://mathgeekmama.com/free-skittles-pattern-cards-printable/</a></div>
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Of course there are tons of other freebies on Pinterest that you can print out and laminate for you kiddos. If you have older children in school maybe you want to laminate chore charts, school schedules, or enrichment activities for after school to help keep them off of screen time.</div>
Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12171313699305592572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438074415006271146.post-57036931997015949612016-09-18T22:01:00.001-07:002016-09-18T22:01:33.090-07:00A Few of Our Favorite Scripture Memory ToolsLike most moms I really want my children to be hiding God's Word in their heart and mind. I definitely struggle with memorizing verses so I don't want it to be such a struggle for my children. So I thought I would share a few of our favorite Scripture memory tools<br />
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By far my favorite is <a href="http://www.moorefamilyfilms.com/p/abc-say-it-with-me.html">THIS MOVIE</a> by the Moore family. This is our "go-to" movie when B#12 gets up too early in the morning and needs some snuggle time or when mom needs to get a shower while the big kids do their chores. It is such a simple and sweet movie with no other talking than the Scripture verse of the alphabet featured in each small vignette. It has even helped my 14 and 15 year old with memorizing as they hear it in the background when the littles are watching it.<br />
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Another one of my favorites is an oldie in our house. We used to listen to it when my oldest children were young. It is a CD called "Sing the Word A-Z" by the Harrow family. You can find it <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Sing-Word-Z-Harrow-Family/dp/B001N85LIE">HERE</a>.<br />
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And then finally we have enjoyed working our way through "My ABC Bible Verses" by Susan Hunt. I guess you can tell we enjoy tools that take us through the alphabet. It seems to help us with recall better and I have lots of littles so it seems like we are always working on our ABCs. Amazon carries it <a href="https://www.amazon.com/My-ABC-Bible-Verses-Hiding/dp/1581340052/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1474249029&sr=1-1&keywords=my+abc+bible+verses">HERE</a>. <br />
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There you have it, a very short post on a few tools to help with hiding God's word in our hearts.<br />
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"Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee". Psalm 119:11<br />
Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12171313699305592572noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438074415006271146.post-2649865125592901142016-08-28T17:57:00.001-07:002016-08-28T17:57:46.914-07:00School Is Just Around the CornerUp here in the Northwest we don't start school till September and we typically school until June. That was difficult for me after growing up in the South. Every year I would complain to my friends in May that I was ready to be finished schooling for the summer since that was what I had grown up experiencing. I have adapted now and I love starting school in September! So we are in our last days of Summer and I am mentally consumed with preparing for a new school year. I have done a few things to physically prepare but most my time so far has been spent reading and thinking about what I want this school year to look like. <br />
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You see my heart desires to have a Restful, Lovely, Relaxing school year. I have visions of just being with my kiddos piled up on the floor reading, reading, reading. That is actually what I wanted last year but with the addition of Baby #12 I found myself just sliding back in to my usual ways of listing out on the white board what the kids needed to accomplish each day and fuss at them from the kitchen to stick to their work. It was the exact opposite of what I wanted for our year.<br />
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But God in His graciousness allows us to start again fresh, letting go of regrets and refocusing on a new year! One of the things that God has brought to my attention this year is the concept of "Morning Time". Type it in on Pinterest and you will find lots of information about it but basically it is a time to gather everyone together(morning or not) and learn together. Most things that you will read about Morning Time talk about using that together time to focus on Truth, Beauty and Goodness. I just LOVE that. Sometimes I feel like I am just throwing information at my kids without really providing any time for discussion or relating it to anything. There are things I have wanted to do with them that just don't seem to fit in the busyness of the day, like Nature Study, Scripture Memory, Poetry, Character Study, Hymn Study and Art. History always ended up being hit or miss with my littles so having a time for that and Read Alouds was important to me as well.<br />
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I purchased the book "Your Morning Time" by Pam Barnhill. I am working on reading it through for the second time. In the book she walks you through the "Why" of Morning Time, shows you how you can plan your Morning Time and gives some suggestions for resources you can use, although you are free to include whatever you choose.<br />
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I am one who likes to use my own things so I scoured my bookshelves to find things I have wanted to read with my children and added them to a shelf to remind me that I want to incorporate them at some point. They were things like Nature Readers that I have collected through the years, some animal books from Usborne and a History audio that I downloaded from Character Concepts. I also purchased a set of Art cards from Usborne books to use as a very light Art study. There are lots of things you can do for Hymn study and Character Study so it is just a matter of choosing what you like.<br />
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One idea that is mentioned in the book that could be used for anyone, whether you do "Morning Time" or not is the idea of a Loop Schedule. Basically choosing the things that need to be done everyday which for us is Bible, Math, Copywork, and a Read aloud. Then for our Loop Schedule we will do Hymn study and History one day, Nature Study and Poetry the next day. Followed by Character Study and Oral Grammar, then Picture Study and Oral Math the final two days. We will only school 4 days a week and have a fun Co-op day with other families on the 5th day. What I love about this Loop schedule is that instead of assigning days to certain subjects then having our schedule railroaded by doctor appointments or getting the opportunity to go somewhere fun with Daddy, we can just pick up where we left off in the schedule despite what day of the week it is. I am also planning to keep a map in my Morning Time basket to pull out when we get the opportunity to locate somewhere from our reading. <br />
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My hope is that by doing a couple of special things each day we can just rest and enjoy our time together in the morning before heading to the table to do our everyday subjects.<br />
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I hope that you too may be encouraged to look into using a Morning Time with your children and enjoying searching out things to enjoy together that will inspire Truth, Goodness and Beauty.<br />
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I want to give credit to Joy at <a href="http://www.artfulhomemaking.com/morning-time-worth-planning-homeschool-days/">Artful Homemaking</a> for originally introducing this topic to me. Her post is written so much better than I can explain so be sure to hop on over there and give it a read.Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12171313699305592572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438074415006271146.post-61509922836978379152016-08-16T21:50:00.000-07:002016-08-16T21:52:48.207-07:00A "Living" and Lovely EducationI am excited about our upcoming school year but I am struggling with the old tug of war in my head of academics versus relaxing and loveliness. I am reading a lot about using a Morning Basket approach which I will probably blog about later but for now I am loving just reading and thinking on <a href="http://strangersandpilgrimsonearth.blogspot.com/2012/09/miss-austen-miss-mason-living-book-home.html">THIS</a> post of the Strangers and Pilgrims on Earth blog. Be sure to check out her blog, especially on her Home- Making Mondays link-up.<br />
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Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12171313699305592572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438074415006271146.post-46165578679872384182016-08-12T21:36:00.000-07:002016-08-12T21:36:20.233-07:00My Foray into Essential OilsNot too long ago I signed up for a membership with Young Living Essential oils. I had been reading different books and blogs on essential oils but kept dragging my feet about using anything beyond Lavender. I have been enjoying learning more and even branched out recently into making some essential oil blends in roller bottles. Now I know that some of you have been using oils for a long time but for a newbie like me its the little things that are exciting.<br />
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I recently wrote on my Facebook page about the baby having a giant sliver in his toe from our deck. I was really dreading having to hold him down while the hubster dug it out with the man's tool of choice, a needle. Yes, I know you are all shaking your head at the truth of that last statement! Anyway, in my experimenting I had made an Owie Blend, recipe can be found <a href="http://beautetude.com/2015/10/28/owie-essential-oil-roller-fall-blend-for-kids-recipe/">HERE</a>, so I thought slivers definitely count as an Owie. I rolled it on his toe before bed and then again in the morning, then promptly forgot about it but when I remembered later in the day I found it to be gone. Yea! No needle needed.<br />
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My next victim, I mean opportunity came after B#4 went on a Search and Rescue hike and came back with some bug bites. Amazingly enough I had a "Something Bit Me" roller bottle blend from <a href="https://thehappylittleoiler.wordpress.com/2015/08/27/ultimate-roller-recipe-list/">THIS</a> blog. She tells me that it worked great.<br />
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I have also been having her(when she remembers) use some Thieves and Frankincense on a bum toe that she got on the same hike. So far she has managed to steer clear of the doctor's office for it so I think if she remembers to apply it we will have some success there.<br />
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My last attempt so far was for some "that time of the month" cramping and although it was only used once so far I was told that it definitely helped. For that blend I used <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/34269647144404189/">THIS</a> recipe.<br />
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So far those have been my only experiments but I feel that they helped us out and hopefully it will encourage and inspire someone else to keep on learning and give essential oils a try.<br />
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How about you? What all have you used essential oils for and what are your favorites?<br />
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Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12171313699305592572noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438074415006271146.post-82315640299402968602016-08-08T22:31:00.002-07:002016-08-09T10:42:50.931-07:00Never too Old to Learn Something New<br />
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I recently had the privilege of attending the OCEANetwork Conference in Portland. It was a wonderful two days of speakers who were all so very down to earth. Everyone loves listening to Todd Wilson, <a href="http://familymanweb.com/blog/">http://familymanweb.com/blog/</a> and <a href="http://familymanweb.com/">http://familymanweb.com/</a>. His wit and true life experiences as a homeschool dad are spot on and his encouragement to homeschool families to stop comparing ourselves to others is so timely for me.<br />
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I chose to focus my two days on Child Training workshops. I feel like I am in this funny, starting over phase of my life. Having raised our first set of 6 children to middle school on up to graduation, I am refocusing on training younger ones again with our second set of 6. <br />
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The first day I went to a workshop by Vicki Bentley, <a href="http://www.lulu.com/shop/search.ep?contributorId=479057">http://www.lulu.com/shop/search.ep?contributorId=479057</a> and <a href="https://www.hslda.org/speakers/speaker.asp?s=29">https://www.hslda.org/speakers/speaker.asp?s=29</a> on getting our children to help out at home. Now my kiddos already help out at home, quite a lot actually but as the title of this blog post says we are never too old to learn. Mrs. Bentley had several good things to share. She has some books available for purchase as well. I really love her reminders that we need to teach our children what we expect of them. She talks about having cards made out with all of the steps necessary for our children to clean an area or do a chore the way we want them to do it. I found that to be a wonderful suggestion for my boys. It seems like inevitably when it comes time for them to clean their room they can't remember what needs to be done. So I came home and made up a card for the things they need to do in their room. I won't say that it helps them to stay on track but I can at least go in there and point to the card to see what they need to do next. I believe that she has cards already made up in one of her books for you to use if you choose to.<br />
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She also had a workshop on being a Joyful Mother. I didn't make it to that one but did buy the MP3 of it to listen to. I know that is something I need to work on. I can easily slip into grumpy mother mode whose main focus is the laundry monster that needs to be slain on a daily basis.<br />
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I spent the rest of the day roaming through the Exhibit Hall looking at all that the Vendors had to share and spending a bit of money shopping for school items. There was also a Used Curriculum sale where I found a few things. I took the baby and B# 6 with me the first day so I didn't try to cram too much in that day.<br />
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The second day I went by myself and thoroughly enjoyed not having to share my hummus with the baby! I chose to go two workshops by the same speaker, Pam Forster who writes and publishes so many good things for child training. One of the workshops was actually called "Child Training Bootcamp". You can peruse her items <a href="http://www.doorposts.com/">HERE.</a> <br />
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Mrs. Forster also spoke about things that we do that can actually lead our children away from Jesus. What I really took away from that session and the whole conference in general was that as a parent if we are not in God's Word then we do not have anything to pass on to our children. So I am determined, with God's strength, to be in THE Word everyday and find as many ways as possible to pass on to my children what I am learning in Scripture.<br />
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So why am I writing all of this to you today? Well, to encourage you to never think you are too old to learn something new or that you know it all already. And to encourage you to check out the OCEANetwork homeschool conference next year. We all need some encouragement.Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12171313699305592572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438074415006271146.post-54083874466077082742016-08-07T19:48:00.000-07:002016-08-07T19:48:11.395-07:0016 MonthsI can't believe I have not blogged in 16 months, almost to the day. As you can tell from my last post 16 months ago brought baby number 12 in to our lives and it has been a wild ride so far. I guess one of the main reasons I haven't blogged has been my health. After having him the high blood pressure that I usually get during pregnancy decided to stick around and plague me. Sleep was very elusive, still is most days but during that post partum time I was really struggling with insomnia and anxiety. Things have gotten better for the most part but I do sometimes have bad days.<br />
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Even after 16 months and weaning him he isn't much of a sleeper so as cute as he is I am usually quite exhausted. However I am hoping to pick up the "pen" again and work at trying to do this blogging thing better. First on the agenda is to figure out why I can't get my photos to work on here...<br />
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I have lots of posts floating around in my head so if you think about me check back to see if I have made any progress.Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12171313699305592572noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438074415006271146.post-15173580605883839532015-04-15T14:20:00.000-07:002015-04-15T14:20:46.220-07:00He has Arrived!Sorry to take so long to post a picture. The c-section went well on Thursday. I had great intentions to stay in the hospital until Sunday, resting and watching all the movies I packed but as with all great intentions...they don't always turn out. By Friday I was ready to sleep in my own bed, mainly because the hospital doesn't allow you to sleep with your baby in your bed but we weren't getting any sleep otherwise so I figured I could get better sleep at home. So they let me go home Friday evening after it had been 36 hours from the delivery. The only thing I missed about the hospital was the adjustable bed. It isn't so easy laying flat in a bed after a C-section. But being home was definitely great, especially since I didn't have a DVD player in my hospital room to watch all of the movies I packed anyway. <br />
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Anyway, without further ado...and rambling...we are very pleased and proud to introduce Daniel Noble. He weighed 7lbs 2oz and was 20inches long. Born with a head full of dark hair.<br />
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We chose his middle name because it is Dad's 105 year old Grandmother's maiden name. I will post some better pictures soon.<br />
Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12171313699305592572noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438074415006271146.post-10107145223939140562015-04-07T13:27:00.002-07:002015-04-07T13:27:54.225-07:00Two More DaysWe are down to just two more days to go until the scheduled C-section. The Lord has been gracious in answering some specific prayer requests...DH's mother was ill and he needed to travel to see her but we knew there was a possibility of needing an earlier C-section if my blood pressure didn't cooperate. First we prayed that he would make it safely to see her before she passed away. He did make it and was able to be there with her as she went to meet Jesus. We knew we wanted him to be able to stay a bit longer to see his sister when she arrived from out of town so we prayed that my blood pressure would stay down until he returned. He got home safely and it stayed fine....<br />
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Until last night. We spent a couple of hours in Labor and Delivery last night monitoring my blood pressure and the baby as it had creeped up a good bit. After resting for awhile and seeing that the baby was doing fine the mid-wife let us go home. So now we are praying that if I rest for the next two days that all will be well until Thursday morning when it is all scheduled. Of course we covet your prayers that all will go well with the actual delivery.<br />
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Keep watching for the update that baby has arrived and his name...Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12171313699305592572noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438074415006271146.post-5597364842980744142015-04-05T21:47:00.001-07:002015-04-05T21:47:26.914-07:00A QuestionHere is a question I am pondering on this Resurrection Sunday...if you believe that "good" people go to heaven, what was the purpose of Jesus coming to earth as a baby, living a sinless life, dying on the cross for your sins and mine and then rising from the dead, (which is why we celebrate Easter)?<br />
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And a follow up question to that would be how would you even know if you were "good" enough?<br />
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Food for thought...or maybe for reflection and revelation.Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12171313699305592572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438074415006271146.post-87356490655954145042015-03-14T20:32:00.000-07:002015-03-14T20:32:08.580-07:00Seven Brides for Seven BrothersI have never seen the musical but that is what comes to mind as we just found out that Baby #12 is a BOY! We will now have 7 boys and 5 girls. <br />
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I had an ultrasound a week ago Thursday and we had the ultrasound technician put the gender of the baby into an envelope. I gave the envelope to dad and he went shopping for "THE" blankie fabric. He chose a very cute monster fabric then brought it home to surprise us.<br />
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Now on to trying to find a name...that is the hard part. We are down to about 3 1/2 weeks until the scheduled C-section with the possibility of it being 2 1/2 weeks. I am still going to the doctor twice a week which makes planning for much else impossible. I have several projects that I just can't seem to get done but I suppose it is time to get busy....Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12171313699305592572noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438074415006271146.post-74034817643948651742015-02-18T17:01:00.004-08:002015-02-18T17:01:59.588-08:00A Pregnancy UpdateSince I am still having the "can't figure out my pictures" problem and I don't have any pictures of me pregnant(ugh) or of the baby, I thought I could at least give a quick pregnancy update.<br />
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I am now 31 weeks along. Although we don't know what we are having, I can definitely say that this is one very active baby. With the rest of them I felt kicks and punches but with this one I feel flips and rolls. Boy, maybe???<br />
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This pregnancy has gone by pretty fast. I guess because B#11 has really hung on to being the baby of the family. We are STILL trying to get him to sleep through the night and stop getting into bed with us in the mornings. Well, I am trying to stop the morning routine but dad loves having him climb in bed with us.<br />
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Next week starts my twice a week visits with the doctor. Life basically comes to a halt and we plan our days around the appointments that are made for me by the doctor's office. I go in on Mondays for a growth ultrasound and to see the doctor. Then on Thursdays I go in for Non-stress tests where they hook me up to a fetal monitor to see how the baby is responding to movements. It can seem a bit overwhelming and sometimes unnecessary but after B# 10's birth and circumstances I don't argue when they want to do extra monitoring. It is a small price to pay in my opinion.<br />
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Our C-section is scheduled for April 9th so if all continues to go well we have about 7 weeks to go but if my blood pressure goes up then it will get bumped up to April 2nd. <br />
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I can't help but pray that somehow the Lord will allow me a safe regular birth instead of a C-section. Something to pray about...Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12171313699305592572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438074415006271146.post-72060709177855289702015-02-16T16:50:00.001-08:002015-02-16T16:50:27.575-08:00An Excuse and a BragExcuses first.....every time I go to blog something my computer won't let me see the pictures from my camera card so I would have no idea what pictures I want to add. I personally don't like to blog without pictures. They show so much more than words. So until I can figure out what the problem is my blogging will be limited.<br />
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Now to brag a bit on my man...since I don't have pictures anyway....He had to work on Valentines Day. I went to our church Valentines Banquet alone. Now before you feel sorry for me, my reasoning was that I could have a nice meal, without anyone sitting on my lap or grabbing my food and fellowship with people from my church family and still get a Valentines dinner out with my hubby in a day or two. It was a nice night but I was definitely missing my hubby. The next day I stayed home from church with B#11 who has a cold(again). Hubby calls on his way home and tells me I have 10 minutes to get ready, he is taking me out for lunch. That sounds nice and I am excited to go out to lunch but he has more of a surprise waiting in his truck...all of my favorite things...strawberries, chocolate, Dark chocolate Milano cookies and Biscoff cookies. We have a ways to go for lunch so he brought along treats for me till lunch. Lunch was great. Who wouldn't love Salmon?? And I so appreciated that he had planned all of this in advance.<br />
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Ain't love grand?Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12171313699305592572noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438074415006271146.post-28752169691707732242014-12-02T14:34:00.002-08:002014-12-02T14:34:50.225-08:00Please Read and Pray for this familyI am working in my head on a new post but in the meantime....if you get to read this in time, please pray for this family. This could happen to any one of our families.<br />
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<a href="http://medicalkidnap.com/2014/11/25/breastfed-homebirthed-babies-taken-away-from-parents-for-not-using-hospital/">http://medicalkidnap.com/2014/11/25/breastfed-homebirthed-babies-taken-away-from-parents-for-not-using-hospital/</a><br />
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The hearing is in about an hour and a half from now so if you do read it in time please pray for God's justice and protection of the children.Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12171313699305592572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438074415006271146.post-68361955286076863232014-11-03T11:31:00.000-08:002014-11-03T11:31:02.684-08:00A Wedding and a ConfessionOur oldest daughter is getting married in 11 days and I am not going to the wedding. I guess I keep thinking that if I keep admitting that to people then I will be okay with it. I am not okay with it but that is just how it has to be. You see she is getting married 1900 miles away from us. There is no way for all 11 of us to fly there and driving that far would take more time off of work than DH even has available to him. Someone has to stay home with all of the children and we decided that dads don't always do so well for 5 days straight with all of the children so Dad is going to go to the wedding and I will stay home. B#4 is also going. So at least I should end up with lots of pictures, I hope. <br />
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She has a very godly mother-in-law-to-be helping her to plan the wedding so I am sure it will be well planned. It's funny...I felt pretty removed from the planning of my son's wedding but figured that is the way it is when you are the groom's family. We immersed ourselves in planning the rehearsal dinner. And now I find that I am removed from planning my daughter's wedding by such a distance. Not at all how I envisioned it all to go but I guess things just aren't always as envisioned.<br />
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So in 11 days our family will grow to add a son-in-law. I hope to be able to post some pictures afterwards.<br />
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Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12171313699305592572noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438074415006271146.post-53012069889949690412014-11-02T00:19:00.000-07:002014-11-02T00:19:30.810-07:00Late Night RamblingsIt is 12:03 am, before the time change....and I can't sleep. Pregnancy insomnia maybe? Not sure but while I can't sleep I read. Sometimes that means Scripture, sometimes a fiction book and sometimes it is Pinterest.<br />
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Tonight as I couldn't sleep I was searching for Thanksgiving things to do with the kiddos and I ran across a wonderful blog that I wanted to share with you.<br />
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In our family we have 6 boys, only one of those boys has left home so that leaves 5 boys. Four of whom are under the age of 7, with lots of energy. So when I found a blog about boys I started reading. Now maybe you are thinking that since the blog is about boys and maybe you don't have boys at home then you have no need to read it. Well <a href="http://frugalfun4boys.com/2012/09/17/biblical-boyhood-setting-an-example-of-biblical-speech-a-challenge-for-moms/">THIS</a> particular post is applicable to almost everyone. It was definitely convicting to me and I am planning on printing it out so I can re-read it often to remind myself of what it says.<br />
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I have blogged one of my favorite poems before, <a href="http://www.mennageriefarm.blogspot.com/2008/03/i-looked-into-eyes-of-my-children.html">HERE</a> which talks about my children mirroring my attitudes and behaviors. It is a subject very dear to my heart, I suppose because it is something I struggle so much with. I tend to feel that I am entitled to be grumpy and speak rudely because I am the mom and I have a lot on my plate. But that isn't what Scripture says. As the blog author mentions in her post...<br />
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<strong><em>A busy house is not an excuse to talk unkindly to my children.</em></strong></div>
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<em>“There is one who speaks rashly like the thrust of a sword,</em></div>
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<em>But the tongue of the wise brings healing.”</em></div>
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<em>Proverbs 12:18 </em></div>
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<em>“A gentle answer turns away wrath,</em></div>
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<em>But a harsh word stirs up anger.”</em></div>
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<em>Proverbs 15:1 </em></div>
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<em>“Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.”</em></div>
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<em>Colossians 4:6 </em></div>
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<em>“Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it may give grace to those who hear.”</em></div>
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<em>Ephesians 4:29</em></div>
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Anyway, these are my late night ramblings. I hope that if you read her blog you will be encouraged by it as I was. And if you happen to be the mom of boys, she has lots of great posts on raising boys. Enjoy!Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12171313699305592572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438074415006271146.post-891702455133624172014-11-01T15:51:00.001-07:002014-11-01T15:51:43.826-07:00Call Me CrazyOk folks, I know it is only November 1st, and you can call me crazy but I have Christmas music playing today while I work on Christmas gifts for the family. I don't usually get the Christmas bug this soon. We typically wait until after Thanksgiving but for some reason this year I am ready for it early. I will have to be sure to turn it off before DH gets home.<br />
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Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12171313699305592572noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438074415006271146.post-22651416139378368382014-10-24T19:22:00.000-07:002014-10-24T19:22:54.611-07:00Making Pumpkin Spice Playdough<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span id="goog_1694234730"></span><span id="goog_1694234731"></span><br />Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12171313699305592572noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438074415006271146.post-90303622785486000522014-10-24T19:09:00.001-07:002014-10-24T19:09:37.762-07:00Beautiful Cookies for a Beautiful Young Lady<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Our talented daughter, B#4 made these beautiful flooded sugar cookies.....</div>
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For our beautiful, smart B#3 after she passed her EMT Basic test.</div>
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<br />Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12171313699305592572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438074415006271146.post-28631113963872339682014-10-06T21:44:00.000-07:002014-10-06T21:44:22.590-07:00Let the Birthdays BeginSeptember starts our birthday rounds for the fall season. In the first 7 months of the year we have 7 birthdays but in the 3 month span of September to November we have 6 birthdays...then the holidays(Whew).<br />
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It starts out with B#3's birthday...she turned 19 this year<br />
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Then comes B#7's birthday....He turned 7 this year:) For his birthday this year he got a big boy bike and some art supplies. He loves to draw! I can't tell from the picture who actually blew the candles out, him or B#10.</div>
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Then we had B#10's birthday yesterday...He turned 3. He is quite a ham and was most happy with the light-up Spiderman shoes we got him for his birthday, oh, and the socks. He is an easy to please kind of guy! I was thinking today about his birth. I love the OB that has delivered most of my last babies but we didn't use him for B#10's birth and the mid-wife who we did use had sent us to a specialist since his umbilical cord only had two vessels instead of three. In the end, knowing that God is in control, I realized that on top of other things that happened with his birth, God knew that if we had used our usual OB, Noah might not be here with us today. We probably would not have been sent to a specialist who was doing so many growth ultrasounds since many regular OBs don't do anything different with a two-vessel cord baby. So it wouldn't have been caught at the right time that he was in distress in the womb. I praise the Lord for all of the wonderful testimony that we have surrounding B#10's birth.</div>
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Birthday breakfast!</div>
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The Batman PJs were a pretty big hit too!</div>
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Still to come....B#5, dad and B#4</div>
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Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12171313699305592572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438074415006271146.post-61434196155815460932014-09-23T18:59:00.004-07:002014-09-23T18:59:53.682-07:00Is There Anything BetterApple Cider Doughnuts from Roths, hot chocolate and cool, rainy weather. Oregon brought in the fall weather right on cue. Is there anything better?Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12171313699305592572noreply@blogger.com0