Black friday.

So Thanksgiving went as planned like in years past, Morning and afternoon w/my family and evening and night w. Stephan's. Lots of yummy food... and overeating. This was my first black Friday however since we've been married that we did not buy a single gift. We slept till 9am, hung around the house, and met Stephan's Mom and Aunt Nancy for lunch. Then that afternoon we made a trip Pocahontas state park for a hike. We all enjoyed the mild weather, and the nice quiet hike. Once we returned home, Stephan set up our Christmas tree, I got out the Christmas CDs. Our only Black Friday purchase was a large box of little white lights for our Christmas Tree, the girls helped to decorate it, and it was Molly's year to place the angel on top. We will be having our family photo taken in front of our own Christmas tree. Christmas shopping will come later.

Power of imagination

Chloe and Molly can play for hours with whatever they can get their hands on, and the power of the imaginations. How my couch becomes a dentist chair, or a class room. The toy box became a fire truck the other day as they played with the walkie talkies Molly received as a gift on her 4th birthday. Possibilities are endless. The best thing is when they line up chairs and play church they fill the chairs with stuffed animals and baby dolls and proceed to sing songs they know, and talk about God. Guess we are doing something right...

Pilgrims.

The girls made pilgrim hats as a little art project. This followed a leason on The Pilgrims and their journey on the Mayflower from England to the US. We discussed that frist Thanksgiving and how they where thankful that God got them through, and provided for their needs w/ the help of the Indians..... The next project is to make the Indian outfit out of brown paper bags, so I'll be snatching 2 from Grandma Kruse next week so we can compete the rest of our Thanksgiving projects.

Thanksgiving, Black Friday...... Christmas....

Next week, we'll be having a Thanksgiving feast w/Stephan's family, at his Aunt Nancy's home.. I have come to adore this woman, for all that she is, and love that I have someone with in the family who has been there done that in our faith and homeschooling. When the rest of the family scurries home early, we lag behind and play games or just chat w/ Nancy, Bill and their daughter Debby and husband Ricky. Nancy played a special part in the lives of Chloe and Molly by being their caregiver while I worked full time then part time then full time again, and she continues to have a special place in the hearts of my girls.... The meal YUMMY, dessert good as well, we'll visit with family, and this year will have to joy of having Stephan's Dad's parents Grandmom and Grandpop Rouze at the wonderful Thanksgiving feast. The house is crammed full of family, Thanksgiving is one of my favorite times.. not hustle bustle, or obligation to buy meaningless gifts for whoever... Our day typically starts out w/my girls and I at my parents home to watch the Thanksgiving day parade, and to look at the Black Friday ads (to see if we are going to be nuts and wake up at 5am for the big deal) while Stephan sleeps off a night off work. Then the Dinner fun starts at Aunt Nancy's. Then we'll talk about who's going where and where are we going to have lunch together on the next day... Always fun.... This year will be similar to previous years and in so many ways different. We have had the glorious journey of learning less is more.. and that more stuff or more things does not by any means buy anyone happiness. We are tired of worrying about what to buy for so and so... After 7 years.. of Christmas' filled with flying paper at family Christmas gatherings.. who got what.. and what was their reaction... and what on earth did you get I sure missed it only saw the nice wrapping paper fly past my head.... geee... I'm not even sure what I got...... what did the kids get??? Dunno... I get home with piles of toys, clothes, candles, candies, cookies, jewelry, cd's, books, lotions.. and whatever else... and I have no Idea who any of this stuff came from.. it's jumbled and sitting in a pile near my Christmas tree, and now the task of where to put everything, it takes days, weeks, and months to recover from all this new stuff..... is the picture clear in your mind?? Last year our girls received from us Stephan and myself, a scooter, a few movies, cds, and a replenishment of their paper/pen supplies...... from immediate family..... loads of stuff.. some things I wouldn't buy them ever..... This year..... will be more simple.. we have decided one meaningful gift w/a stocking full of new crayons, craft items, and paper.... that will be it here in our home... and we have urged family to just get ONE and only ONE gift for our girls this year.... This year I would be happy enough with nothing for myself. The greatest gift I received this year was the chance to get out of a large amount of debt, move to a house I'm loving more each day, and to be able to home school my girls, and have most of my days spent with Chloe, Molly, and Tristen. I want to reflect this year on the true meaning of Christmas, Christ and the wonderful gift God gave us his son who died on the cross for us so that we may have ever lasting life. What a great gift and so many of us get wrapped up in the have it all that we forget what Christmas is all about..... God has given me so much these past few years, a great family, an awesome husband, beautiful and smart children, a wonderful church family, food, clothing, and shelter.... for those things I'm grateful to the God I long to serve better each day..... I love my Jesus.. and I long for my family to truly seek him... So I'll keep praying that those walls will come down from around their hearts and the blinders off their eyes.. I fail.. and I mess up on a daily basis.. however I'm trying with all I have in me... To serve my Lord.... and to do his will.... My pray is for the salvation of all of my dear loved ones

Fall.

We went out w/ Warrie on this past Monday, to enjoy the fall foliage at Maymont park in Richmond. It was a beautiful day, the girls can make the best of sticks, rocks, dirt, leaves and water. Tristen loves just to be outdoors it just calms her, so anything outdoors with her is great. I took our camcorder however the batteries died with in seconds I should have charged it overnight, My camera survived till the end, then died, and it in need of new batteries. Chloe and Molly have been doing great w/school work. The best perk of homeschooling is being able to get out and enjoy things w/out having to wait for the weekend. We are looking forward to Thanksgiving spent w/family, and are planning a very simple Christmas this year, more details on Christmas in an different post. Well enjoy the slide show and I'll make sure I keep the camcorder charged so I can post some videos soon.

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Solid foods for baby Tristen.

Yummy, Tristen has started on solids. It's hard to believe that she is already 5 months old. She eats cereal and Daddy(Stephan) requested she start veggies first so that's what we have done. So in the past week we have introduced carrots, squash, and sweet potatoes. Next week we'll try some green veggies, then on to fruits the following week. Tristen has to be the messiest eater out of all my girls, she gets her hands in her face and just gets food everywhere, it's too cute and we get a kick out of her being covered in her food. So as a result of her messy eating and to preserve the clothes that have lasted through her 2 sisters Tristen gets down to her onesie to eat.

FLYlady

Well, most know we sold our large 5 bedroom home just before having our 3rd baby, this past May in order to afford me working very part time and being home more. We now live in a 3 bedroom home, with just one living area and a small kitchen. We had already gotten rid of lots of "stuff" that we didn't need before moving, however discovered that wasn't enough. Clutter seemed to overtake us, the amount of toys was outrageous, and enough Christmas decor to decorate several houses. So in a recent yard sale we sold some excess furniture items, some toys, and a whole Christmas village that would take up half of my living room. It's nice just not having those items taking up precious space. The kids came to understand they prefer a clean room, makes it easier to play, and clean up with a new system we came up with, they have 3 large tubs under their beds, one with barbies, my little ponies and items of that nature, the second with Molly's geotrack train set, the other with dress up and pretend items. The only other toy they have in there is a doll house that folds up nice in the corner and a small tub with it's people and furniture lives under their bed as well. The other kids room drama we had was the closet, it's a small one and their clothing collection was just as out of control as their clothes, so we kept only the best condition clothing and passed on the rest that was not torn or stained to charity, and all of their clothes moved to my closet, making room in their closet to store games, books, and building items (tinker toys, Lincoln logs, and the mega blocks will move out of my family room tomorrow to join that collection. So I now no longer have unnecessary laundry, and everything they have has it's place. Tristen's room is still a work in progress, as she still sleeps in my bedroom. My true house cleaning breakthrough came when I some how through reading of a blog came across www.FLYlady.net, this ladies site focus' on routine, and starting out small, and with the Kitchen sink of all things. So for the past 3 days I've had a clean sink, gotten completely dressed w/tennis shoes, and started a quick clean of my bathroom every morning. Since I have 2 bathrooms, Chloe and Molly have received a lesson in what to do, and they are responsible for the quick clean of their bathroom, and boy are they proud. Both girls have also taken to learning how to wash and dry dishes, dusting will be their next chore once I have completed my decluttering process. Stephan and I never really had set chores growing up, so had no real management of cleaning a home ingrained in us so it's been a battle of how to keep a house clean. So far so good, I think the baby steps help, and my girls prefer a clean house.

Stephan and I have also been sacrificing our childhood "stuff" He has sold, baseball cards, magic cards, that where taking up a load of space. I am letting Chloe and Molly pick one of my Anne Geddes baby dolls I'll pick one for Tristen then will sell off the rest. Those dolls gone and I'll have a whole shelf in Tristen's closet. It's amazing how good it feels to get the house work under control and to wake up in the morning to the coffee brewed in my clean kitchen!!

So for any of you who are struggling with the same cluttery stressful mess, try this out it may just be your light at the end of the tunnel in the house cleaning world.

http://www.flylady.net

Pumpkin Patch

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Sunday after church we had invited some friends to head to the pumpkin patch for some fall fun. So Matt, Tina and the children Ethan and Amber, went with us for a bite to eat, then we headed to the pumpkin where we met up with Ryan and Warrie. We had planned originally to head home after church but found it easier to grab lunch so I did not have my camera. However I had my personal trusty family photographer, Warrie along, she always has a camera in hand. We did have a disposable camera but it will be weeks before I ever see those photos, the ones of Tina coming down the inflatable slide w/Amber. :o) The weather was nice and warm, we had a hay ride, played some, Stephan bought feed so the 4 kids could feed the goats, then we went along to pick pumpkins, then to top it all off the kids got to slide down a large inflatable slide, Tina too she had to help Amber up. I wore Tristen in the trusty pouch, she enjoyed the sights only fussing when she got warm, the once I took off her long sleeve shirt she nodded off to sleep. Such a fun day with the kids, and friends. Since then my girls are asking for chickens and goats. So Daddy is trying to figure out how to fence the back of the property and once clear we have been thinking of getting chickens, but not sure if just one acre is enough for a pair of goats.

Mommy time

Starting tomorrow I'm starting a 6week bible study, Stepping Up by Beth Moore, I'll be joining a few ladies from our church that live on my side of the county. I'm truely looking forward to jumping further into the word of God, and getting to know these ladies even better. So for the next few Tuesday evenings Daddy gets to hang at home with his girls for the evening. Today I worked for 8hours and Daddy survived his first day of homeschooling w/out the DVD to help, good thing it was a day for review. For now I'm off to work on my Crown Financial homework, and to watch 17kids and counting (the Duggars show) amazing. I have a small obsesion with watching shows about extremely large families.

WHAT????

On top of the many reasons why we do not send our girls to public schools this is just another strike to the public institutions list of reasons my girls will NEVER EVER go to public school. There is already a failed academic system, the sex education is a waste, because the kids have not a single clue what sex really is, and that getting pregnant is only the least of their worries. Excuss my little rant.. but please go to this link read it.. I don't think that it is the schools job to instill values... not impress upon our children either. What are we doing when we put our kids on a school bus? This is scary, I just graduated high school in 2000 from a public school, and the quality and trust is totally gone... this is a failing system..

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=77373

Trip to Lake Gaston.

This past weekend we took a trip to NC to Lake Gaston with our good friends Ryan and Warrie. Warrie's Grandan own's a home on the lake, it's truely a relaxing and beautiful place. We arrived friday night, and after checking the place out in the dark the girls headed to bed. The adults stayed up until 2am, the guys played the Wii, the girls watched a movie then we played some pirate dice game (was interesting). When the kids woke up they where excited when the could see water from the window. And out we went to explore. First we just walked the property, then after a pancake breakfast we explored some more, played in the water, Molly got soaked, Chloe collected some prized shells that are now cased in a tub in her bedroom. We changed into swimwear and played in the water some. Yes for you northern folks it was warm enough in October to play in the water. We just hung out the kids played. In the evening we fed a large crew of ducks w/ some aged bread that Warrie brought along. Watched a beautiful sunset over the lake. Just a wonderful weekend spent w/ a great friends and our family. Enjoy the slide show be patient there are lots of beautiful, and cute pics Warrie took while we where there.

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Teaching and Playgroup

Today was our 1st day of homeschool with out the DVD. What a difference, the joy of sitting down at the kitchen table and teaching my children. This was very rewarding and Molly is responding very well, and much better w/ this route. Chloe she would do well any way, just tell her what it is and how to do it, and leave her alone she'll ask questions if she has any. The kitchen table area has been transformed into our classroom I love it. However the rest of the living room well it's in shambles at the moment. There is a large wooden tv cabinet we are selling, and some other items that need a home in the house and others that will be donated or sold as well.

Another 1st for today, we attended a playgroup. This was good for both the kids to play w/other kids that are also being homeschooled w/similar values, and for mommy to meet other moms who are on this same rewarding journey. I'm looking forward to attending this playgroup again.

Jump, Run, and Jump some more

Today we made an afternoon trip to a local indoor play place. Complete with 3 bounce house/slide things for kids over the age of three. They also have an area for 3 and under, that Tristen will be able to enjoy once she starts crawling (I will however not be rushing that milestone) We spent a total of 3 hours there, and I'm sure the girls could have kept going until the place closed at 5pm. We opted to come home and see daddy for a few after his training class and before him taking a nap because he works tonight. Back to the place we went and what the girls did. They jumped, climbed, played, ran, played dress up, pretended to cook, be a pet shop owner... they stopped for a little snack... then off to do things all over again. Tristen and I hung out in the little "cafe" area, and also moved around to watch Chloe and Molly playing, Tristen cracked up laughing while watching her sisters jumping, it was adorable. Tristen also tested out a Bumbo seat (def have to get one of those) and one of those free standing jumpers (she thought it was amusing for me to bounce her because her feet didn't reach the floor, that was about as much amusement as she got out of the trip, she even had a cat nap while there. So this place has the stamp of approval, and we will definitely be making this a monthly outing, and Chloe is hoping to have her 6th birthday party there, since it's cold in December and I couldn't possibly fit everyone in my house. What a great and fun day. Now everyone is either resting or a sleep. Must say this homeschool gig gets better by the day.

Cursive Writing.

So the curriculum we selected has the girls learning to write in cursive. I didn't learn that skill until at least 2nd and 3rd grade in elementary school the girls are in K5 and K4. Chloe has taken off with this new way of writing and is much neater than her print ever was. Molly does some letters better than others and occasionally will just print, but hey she's doing more than most 4 year olds out there, so I must give her loads of credit. The girls know there vowels and just about every other day they are learning a new consonant, and how to write it as well. Chloe's preschool days help a bunch. Molly puts on like she doesn't know something, then when listening in on her playing school, and to here her and see here role play, it confirms she has actually learned something. Tomorrow holds a trip out to play and meet some more homeschool moms and kids.

Skating

Today we went to the local skating rink that offers a nice discount to home school families and have 1 session a month. Chloe was falling all over the place, I offered as much incite as I could from what I remembered from helping to teach at Haygood when we lived in VABeach and my lil brother now 20years old took lessons. It's been over 10years. So, as the 2 hours session went on she improved a little, but will need some practice. Molly was happy enough with the skates on and rolling around on the carpet. They allowed parents to walk on the rink (Thank the Lord for that) so Stephan and I took turns, Mostly Stephan in walking around helping Chloe not to totally injure herself. He was terribly tired, from working but wouldn't have missed this outing for the world.. it was yet another priceless event, and well both kids would have been stuck on the carpet, b/c Tristen is too little still to be just held w/ one arm. Once home we finished up some school work review, the girls have started blending letters. Ta, Te, Ti, To, Tu. Then it was outside to enjoy some fresh fall air, Tristen can sit just right in the baby swing, and loves to take in the sights of her big sisters running around the yard and then swinging next to her. Both girls had their bangs and hair trimmed by me!! Looks fine trust me Stephan didn't loose his head when he woke up, plus it saved us $20 plus tip.. Now I just need to teach Stephan some tricks and he can trim mine that would save another $20 plus tip. Since us ladies usually get the hair trimmed at least ever 3-4months. I'm all about saving!!

Homeschool update

The girls had started out on the A beka academy DVD program. It's been 15 lessons in and they get very bored with the DVDs. Thankfully we had a 30 day grace period to decide if we like the program, well we like the work, and the lay out of the program, however the DVDs are not working out. I called A Beka academy and changed out program to a parent guided program, and we are just waiting on the additional books and teaching aids to arrive. So for now we are using the DVDs then ship them back once the additional books are received. Both girls are doing great, we have learned all the vowels and their sounds, a,e,i,o,u. They are learning to write in cursive, Chloe's writing is turning our beautifully, Molly is needing some extra practice, but is getting there, she hadn't learned how to write all the letters like Chloe had in preschool. Both can write the number 1 and 2, they are also learning about money, currently pennies. We are doing a Bible curriculum as well, so they have memory verses that go along with the letters of the alphabet. So far they have learned their I verse: If ye shall ask anything in my name I will do it. John 14:14, and the E verse: Even a child is known by his doing Proverbs 20:11. We have learned about creation, Adam and Eve, and About how Jesus died on the cross for our sins and rose on the 3rd day. There have been songs and poems to learn, and they are enjoying the ability to take breaks when needed, to just be a kid. What an adventure home schooling has been in these very few weeks. Stephan and I are looking forward to continuing this close involvement in the girls education, there is something very rewarding about being the one to help teach your child to read and write, and to watch them blossom as they become smarter by the day.

Baby cereal....

This week Tristen has started on rice cereal, and she loves it. Just about 2tbsp worth around dinner time. Because she still gets momma's milk it will likely be another 2months until she needs to start veggies and fruit. So we will just focus on introducing other cereals, and building up to 4tbsp worth. Tristen is growing by the minute and has a check up in a few weeks so we will be able to see just how big she is getting. Shortly after that second round of shots she will be getting her very own earrings.

Day of Dance

The Girls started a Ballet and Tap class last week, this class will be every Thursday afternoon from September through May, with a big recital at the end to show off what they have learned. Today Stephan managed school work this morning and getting them ready, ponytails and all this afternoon for dance. I worked today, as we are blessed enough for a job that allows me to work on Stephan's weekdays off. So far the girls are loving the class and are excited about becoming little ballerinas and tap dancers. I'll try to get a snap shot of the girls in their dance garb. It's too cute, and they just look so grown up all dressed up.

Starting out.

This is the start of a blog for family and friends alike, near and far away. My tot site is full, and I do not care to pay to have it made larger, for more photos. This blog will be a place where I will keep you updated on milestones that have been reached, and our exciting adventure of homeschooling the girls. Love to all.