Daybook for Feb. 27th

Hello! I hope you are having a great start to your week.

Outside my window... It is still dark out but soon the sun will make an appearance and our day will begin.

I am hearing... the whir of the fan in my bedroom. Everything else is quiet.

I am thinking... I shouldn't have exercised last night because I got REALLY hungry afterwards and broke my no eating after 8pm rule. I have been working out in the mornings, usually before lunch, and then cool down and wait about 30 minutes to eat. This has worked out great because by evening I have been doing pretty good and have started to break the night time snacking habbit that I've had for so many years. This is the second time in the last 10 days that I've had a night time workout and was ravenous afterwards.

I am thankful for... a fun family game night on Saturday evening. Our family loves to play board games. Saturday's game was Pay Day. I made 48,300 dollars in 4 months. Wouldn't that be nice!

I am wearing... a denim wrap around skirt and a blue/white plaid flannel shirt with blue knee highs that remind me of my grade school Catholic school uniform days, and my Crocs.

In the kitchen... I really haven't been in the kitchen much the last week. I am trying to stay away from there at least until I have the cravings under controll. My daughter has taken over cooking dinner and its been a nice break for me.

I am going... to remember and think about the message from church yesterday. The account of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples, even the one who would betray him and how to do so would require love for him even though Judas was not fully committed to the Lord. Also one of our elders showed us the point in Scripture where Judas' life shifted and he pushed away from God, that was in the account of the woman who poured the costly oil out on Jesus (in the book of Matthew). I never noticed that right after that account it says that that was when one of the twelve went unto the chief priest and said what will ye give me and I will deliver him unto you. Wow! It was right after Jesus had said that wherever the gospel is preached that what this woman had done would be told as a memorial to her. Judas' actions right after Jesus said this really revealed his heart. Very good message and lots to think on this week.

I am creating... I am working on an afghan to have on hand as a gift for this next year. I do have pictures of some of the strips but haven't uploaded them yet. The colors are a deep lavender, teal blue and cream.

I am wondering... should I plant a garden this year or not. The idea of gardening always appeals to me but I am not very diligent with it and there ends up being quite a bit of waste. Scott did most of the work in the garden last year as I was still recovering from my back injury. We did enjoy the very few fruits or should I say vegetables of our labor but with our daughters graduation this year, I am kind of leaning towards not doing it.

I am reading... In the book of Leviticus and Proverbs and am reading the book The Hole in our Gospel (very slowly).

I am hoping... to work off the crackers and cheese I ate too late last night. ;-)

I am looking forward to... a fun summer with the kids. We've decided to get Valley Fair passes again! I think mommy might be a roller coaster junkie. I LOVE IT!! Last year we would get off the Wild Thing and run right back into the line. Sometimes we would do it 5 times in a row! As much as I love the coasters, I do not like the power tower, although I did do it twice.

From the learning rooms... Christopher is going to be doubling up some of his subjects over the next month in an attempt to finish up early so that the month of May isn't so packed and stressed leading up to our daughters graduation. Andrew and I haven't done a Five in a Row book in a few weeks. We've really only been accomplishing the basics. I am working with him through the Children's Prove It Catechism, doing math, reading and spelling and that's about it.

Leap year is on Wednesday and on Thursday March comes in, like a lion, perhaps? I haven't had a chance to see the weather forecast for the week yet so we'll see. On Friday we will have a little celebration time for Dr. Suess Day. Andrew's favorite books to read are Dr. Suess; truth be told, I don't care for them much. I think he likes the repetition and silliness of them. His favorite is Green Eggs and Ham and so I will let him watch this video of Tim Tebow reading Green Eggs and Ham.

One of my favorite things... my husbands very quick wit. Goodness he is funny.

A peek into my day... lots of laundry. Monday's are my laundry day and I try to get as much done as possible. We also have piano lessons and library day today too, then home for a quiet evening to rest up for an even busier Tuesday. Thankfully I have my two busiest days back to back and then the rest of the week we are free of committments.

A picture thought I'm sharing... I thought it would be fun to share over the next few weeks some pictures from our earlier years of homeschooling. These are from 6 years ago.

Here are Samantha, Jonathan and Christopher with their Challah coverings, a project we did when studying Shabbat.



Here are Samantha and Christopher making the bread



Sammi braiding (Christopher in dinosaur p.j.'s and sunglasses... oh the fun of homeschooling freedoms)



All ready to bake and the finished product (yes Christopher dips his head in every picture, *smile*)





Thank you to Peggy, at The simple Woman's Daybook for hosting this.

You Are Faithful

Hats!

I've been crocheting since I was around 10 years old. My grandmother and aunt taught me but it wasn't until about 10 years ago that I really stepped out beyond a simple single and double crochet. I mostly did small blankets, called lapghans. Once I finally focused and learned how to read a pattern a whole new world of crafting opened up for me. Crocheting (and now also knitting) are hobbies that are very relaxing for me. I enjoy making and gifting my projects to others. It makes me happy to do that. :)

This winter I have been a busy little bee. Crocheting almost daily if I can. Here are a few things from the last 2 months.

This is my neice Brooklyn in her Hello Kitty Hat. She was so excited and Auntie was excited to see her eyes light up and the smile on her face.

Next is an owl hat for my nephew Tyler. It was a little harder to get a good picture of Tyler because he did not want to stand still or keep the hat on.

The next picture is one of a friends daughter in a Valentine's day hat. She is playing Angry Birds with my oldest son.

The afghan on the back of the rocker is one that I made too, but that was last year. I've also crocheted a few Green Bay Packer hats. Two for a friends daughter (pictures soon, I hope) and another for my son Andrew who is the only Packer fan in this MN Viking household. :)

I think I've had my fill of hats for now. I've moved on to a Mile a Minute afghan but haven't yet taken any pictures of it. I also completed a prayer shawl for a young woman at our church who is currently walking through a health battle.

I'd love to hear what everyone else is working on. Next month is National Embroidery month and although I did learn how to embroider this last summer I don't enjoy it nearly as much as crocheting and knitting.

Silliness

Allow me to introduce you to our youngest, Andrew. I love this picture of him. It was taken last Christmas by my sister and it really captures Andrew and his personality to a tee!
Each night when I tuck Andrew into bed I brace myself when it comes time for our goodnight kiss because it seems like I always get a shock. It must be the fleece sheets on his bed. Whatever it is, it sends Andrew into a fit of giggles when I lean in close for the kiss he is laughing so hard and smiling so big that I have to tell him to close his mouth so I can get a kiss. If I didn't I would kiss his gums, lol.

Andrew enjoys playing board games. His favorite is Monopoly. If we would let him, he would play everyday! He likes to ride his bike, play with friends in his sandbox and build with Legos. This year he is part of a Lego club with other kids held weekly at our library. This fall Andrew started collecting football cards and his older brothers have been helping him with that.
Andrew is very smart but he hates school. :-) Each day it is a struggle to get him to sit at the school table and do his work. I am always looking for new ways to engage and help him learn. He does best when it can be hands on rather than something he has to sit and do. He loves to be read to but doesn't like to read by himself. I think he might be a lawyer when he grows up because he loves to argue and bargain with us about EVERYTHING! :-)
Thank you Lord for letting me be Andrew's mommy. Thank you for the uniqueness of Andrew and how passionate and tender-hearted he is. Help me to me the mommy he needs.
.

I am

I am ...

• hoping tomorrow will not be another dreary foggy day.
• thinking about how nice it was to have Andrew sleep in this morning and wondering why he doesn't do it more often, although if he did I might be tempted to sleep in all the time too.
• crocheting a Green Bay Packers helmet hat for Andrew. He is our only Packer fan - the rest are die hard Viking fans.
• getting rid of the gray sparkles in my hair as I type.
• proud of my oldest son - he is a wonderful young man.
• thinking that my husband and middle son are enjoying the California sun a little too much while they are stuck there waiting for a load home to dreary MN. I keep getting pictures from them of them in various sunny locations with palm trees. :-)
• thankful for the time of fellowship I had with a friend and her children yesterday. I got to get my baby fix too! She also brought over a big pot of homemade vegetable beef soup for lunch. Yummy!!
• ahead in my Bible reading plan. I was a few days behind in January but then caught up and while there was a 3 day break I read ahead.
• still wanting to learn to sew skirts. I know it can't be that hard and I have everything I need to start except the courage to step out and try it.
• glad that the chocolate chip cookies my daughter made are gone. Unfortunately she likes to make them once a week. I might need to move the cookie jar to her room, lol.
• caught up on laundry and the household chores :-)
• going to play a game with Andrew after I rinse my hair. He wants to play Monopoly but that is NOT happening! It is too close to bedtime for a game like that.
• thankful that everyone of us is feeling better!
• thinking about Spring and my garden.
• encouraged by friends who are on the same journey to honoring God with our bodies by getting healthy and taking care of our temples.
• off to rinse out my hair and by the way... if anyone knows of a healthier way to tame my sparkles rather than the horrible dye I usually use, I'd love to hear it.

Lentil Lapbook

Phew, it sure has taken me quite awhile to get these promised pictures up. If you want a more detailed description of our row with Lentil see this post. This one just contains the pictures. Sorry, no commentary... but I am short on online time.