Thank You Dear Fhung!

This package came in the mail last Friday! From Hong Kong! How exotic to sign for a package from overseas! I knew it was coming because my friend Fhung of Studio Ztampf over @ Scrap Book Graphics, told me I had won in her nifty contest!!!

I got to know Fhung during the wild and crazy Tuesday night chats last winter at SBG!  Because of the time zones, she would be just waking up and slogging down coffee for the day and rushing out to catch the bus or train for her day of adventure!  She always had the best smilies in chat, almost like a choreographed dance!
Here is my winnning page, all filled with Studio Ztamph fun things:

 Because I am on the CREW at SBG, I told her I couldn't win, but she is a stubborn friend! (another reason I like her) and she sent me this beautiful fan, bracelet (that I wear daily), and even the card is gorgeous! Here is the bracelet on my wrinkly arm!

 

Thank You again my dear friend!

Thank You Dear Fhung!

Please read MY PERSONAL blog for the whole story!

Fall Festival In Town

 

A few Saturdays ago, our church was invited to have a booth on our "downtown" street.  The street was closed off for a Fall Festival!  It was  a rushed booth, and I was asked to make a few boards for the booth, I of course forgot to take photo of it close up, but you can see it here in the picture.  Orlando and his precious and very pregnant wife Angie are reading their testimonies that were on the board!

If you look at the sign above it is Wild Bill's Store, this is owned by an awesome family in our church; the Urbans.  They were the ones that helped get our RAP group Messenger into the Fall Festival.

They rapped the message of Jesus Christ in the most anointed way! The street was pumping! lol  The day was full of fun and food.  I was amazed watching one young man eat:

Every time I turned away, Jonathon was putting something else in his pie hole!

Hee hee, I love this young man! He makes me smile with the twinkle in his eyes! He also puts fear in my heart at the amount of food he intakes!

The church gave away free popcorn and as the lines grew for the FREE popcorn, we would witness to them about how Jesus touched our lives and present the Gospel to them.

My Anna loved yelling FREE popcorn and helping Naomi make the bags of white fluff:

I was rather proud of the girls today, Abby was being such a helper with the young kids, freeing the parents to do what needed to be done too. 

The day was awesome, but the best part was hearing the Urbans play. Some old-fashion good tunes!

They are just a wonderful family, and we were blessed to have dinner and bible study at their home (which is above their store) this past week and it was just beyond excellent!

Their home is a remodeled store room.  They put in a kitchen, bathroom and the place is so comfortable and just wow! They have an old fashion elevator right in their living room.

See the elevator to the right of Anna? It is more to the back in the next photo?

Then the Urban kids took ours to the roof! Now that is way cool!

These are some shots that Eric took while they were up on the roof! I just smiled the whole time at the Urban's home.  True fellowship!

Science with the Gman

This is the first year I have let Gman work independently, and he is doing spectacular! The Apologia Science he is doing is a great way to give them the freedom to work on their own.  I ordered a Lesson Plan from Rainbow Resource, and he just uses a pencil and checks off each day! I know that Donna Young has a similar one also for free, but I liked how this was laid out.  This book was the first I ever purchased on line (used) from The Well Trained Mind. I also got a CD, that is interactive with the textbook and he can go on-line and do further research.  I like that and Gman loves anything that is like a movie.  Here is a glimpse of his planner:

 

Gman has just came to the end of the first module, and is half way thru the study guide.  He has done real well.  I am hovering a bit to make sure he accomplishes his work, but I can see that I can pull back now.  

He has a few experiments:

Some of the things we have, some we substitue, like instead of a grape we used a piece of a hot dog!

 

I can tell he loves doing them, and gets into them too:

This one was supposed to go longer, but sisters accidentally dumped it during lunch!

He takes intense notes before, during and after the experiments, and then explains to us, what is going to happen or what he thinks is going to happen:

All in my kitchen! Homeschooling at it's finest!

What I've been scrappin lately!

I am one lucky lady to be able to create for some awesome designers! Here is my nifty keen-0 blinkie, I wear to let others know who let me create with their designs! FOR FREE! woot

I am gonna start from the top of the blinkie with ScrapBook Graphics!  This is a whole store, and there are Playdays each Monday to highlight the designer of the week.  I get to play with anything in their store and create a page for them.
Miss ViVi was first for October. 
I took this pic from the driver's seat of the van as my hubby was putting air in the tires. I love the skies of New Mexico...you are seeing the back alley...it is not pretty here in the desert on the ground, but just look up! wow!

  I used Miss Vivi’s Urban Aroma 

Next is pure fun! 
yeah we get the looks, and the comments, oh you homeschool?
bhahha
so for halloween, each child had a can of whipped cream and would spray in their mouths at the door!! it was hilarious, and the neighbors love it...

but the most fun was playing with the Studio Mix #9 Twilight Brew Both side A and B are beyond delightful!
Then Rosey Posey was up! I have known Lor for a long time and am just delighted in seeing her at SBG! She is an artist and really makes the most beautiful designs.
How scared I was to have girls, and then identical ones freaked me even more, this is a page to my precious girls who God has blessed me.

Spritz and Spray
Letters to my Daughter
Fragments Fairly
All by Rosey Posey

This was just a page that I loved the quote and was remembering the cold rainy nights in California!  Brrr.

done with Studio Mix for October - Potporri
also available as a Quick Page @ SBG

Next my friend and the lady who hooked me on altered art journaling! Tangie BAXTER!!!
I am laughing hysterical today, just good weather and pants that are comfy I guess, but I had a good time putting this page together. My Gman was doing a serious science experiment, and I am taking pics being a good mom.

Then Tangie has this SPARK of an idea with Flergs and Rosey Posey, and this kit is so fun, I had to use my Gman's pic for a page that is just cool. I used the actual text from his school book blended into Tangie's beautiful page. No magnifying glass was used in the experiment, it came with Tangie's kit and more!
Spark Project Arsenic and Old Lace by Tangie

Next up Pink Reptile:
Now if you have not met Mirjam of Pink Reptile in the DigiWorld, find her, she is the owner of ZigZag Scraps. The forum is fun and their are some awesome designers selling there also! I create also for Studio 68, Chengie who is at Zig Zag Scraps too!!

journaling:
Poor Tony. Every time we go to my parents house, he does something memorable. This time, he went into the bathroom, and got locked in. The innerds to the door lock just so old, that they stopped working. My dad (grandpa) had to take the knob off while we giggled down the hall hearing Tony lament inside the bathroom

Joy upon joy having the great Mirjam (Pink Reptile) and Andrea (Little Green Frog) together in the fabulous Nana& Gramps collection! available at Zig Zag Scraps

Zig Zag Scraps has this cool collection called ZIG ZAG LINEs, each designer does kits with same palette and they are all interchangeable! So it is fun to mix and match or they can stand alone. 
Our Gman, always with a book in his hands. This is at the park!

My kidlets in the tent! They stayed in the backyard! Was so cute!

Happy Days Elements by Pink Reptile Designs
Happy Days Flairs by Pink Reptile Designs
Happy Days Papers by Pink Reptilie Designs
Happy Days Alpha by Pink Reptile Designs
all coordinate with the Zig Zag Lines 
Miss Chengie of Studio 68 also
This is my dear friend in Prescotts newest baby (mom of many tee hee).

Lazy Afternoon Elements by Studio 68
Lazy Afternoon Papers by Studio 68
all coordinate with the Zig Zag Lines

Then the effervescent Paula Kesselring! I have been remiss with her designs this month and owe her a bucket load of pages! But this one was beyond great to put together:

Early in the morning, we waited to get on the train. Mr. G was there to make sure we got on and he even gave a tour of the engine car. The process was slow, but the learning was fun. Safety and history along with a tour of the Tularosa basin from the comfort of an air conditioned car. We had fun, laughed and learned.

Started out playing with Autumn Sonata and then went on a Paula binge
Flair Box #3 and a flair from her previous freebie blog and Vintage Hand and Old England Block Alpha mixed with Old Woody Alpha and then a ticket from Paula's traveler freebie too.
LIfe is fun to scrap with Paula Kesselring Designs
I blended the photos about the train we were on in the background and the menu is from the train also blended into Paula's lovely book.
Whew I had an out and out blast scrapping this!
Now the ViVas, the dynamic duo! They are guesting at Scrap Matters this month and have some killer kits out to celebrate over there:
a personal photo taken by accident...give a 7 year old a camera...
I am talking to a young girl about Jesus...a girl I used to teach in Sunday School years ago.

Done using Creepy Gears by the ViVas @ The Digi Chick (oops this is at TDC and not scrap matters)

Pure fun playing with Cat's Meow, by the ViVas (guesting at Scrap Matters for Oct)
So there is my catch up for October! I have a few more done, but the designs aren't in the store yet, so I have to wait!
~never lose your joy

Fly away-the nest ...no no not yet!

 

June 2006, we brought our 4 little kids to the airport to fly on a plane around Alamogordo. They were so excited.  Little Anna had broke her arm a few weeks prior.  The girls were scared, the boys ready for adventure.  Fast forward...............kids grow, we move to California for 3 years, laugh, play and grow, now it is:

October 2011.

My oldest Eric is in El Paso on an IMpact team for Jesus, telling people how Jesus touched his life, and helping a baby church there get flyers out for a revival!  I look at my children growing up and my heart is so proud of them, but seeing the picture from years ago makes a momma get weepy...haha

So buck up right, and here are some pics of their adventure.  This is the first time they have flown that mom and dad didn't go with them.

 See they wave without looking, punks! 

(Tony I am yelling, give them the camera!!!)

AnnaBoBanna, what a smile! The last time we flew, she had tears of terror streaking silently down her face. (hey what a sentence!) 

Happy girl, Absolutely just grinning! This is unbelievable how relaxed they look!

Gman in the co-pilot position! Yes, take my picture. Look at the blue of those skies behind him!

Here they are after with Dr. Hurd.  He is the sweetest man.  He flew in 2006 with Eric and let Eric fly! That was way cool.

While the kids were in the air, Tony and I had the most expensive breakfast burrito on the planet, but it was good! 

Stay tuned for more adventures all week! I am learning to preblog from my friend Christine! So, pop in this week and find out why I am exhausted but smiling! 

~never lose your joy

Michael Vey! With a HOMESCHOOl lesson guide FREE!

It is AWESOME! It is clean and a great way to see teens! I loved it so much I read it in one evening.  Tony read it one Sunday.  He had one chapter after church to finish last night and sat and read it before bed! It is great.
I found this site (image linked also), there is a homeschool curriculum to teach along with the book! That made me smile so big! My boys looked at me, like for reals? We are gonna do it together. It looks awesome!
Just wanted to share!

schedule hammered out!

This is our schedule now! The boys are working very independently in the morning and can start whenever and the girls have a few on their own.  The kids goal is to be done by lunch, and then just work on Literature in the afternoon, go to library for and research or reports.  If they maintain the pace we are on, then Fridays will be tests, and I am going to do reviews with each child on their independent work.  Inspect the expected so to say!!

Listening to my kids is a good idea!

Last night, after church, I was tired, very tired, and my eldest son, says, "I was thinking, that if we do Science, History and Math all first thing in the morning, that the individual subjects we can do on ........" and I know he said more, but my brain was so full. I nodded my head and said, those are all great thoughts, but I'm tired, lets ponder it in the morning.
Then we got home, I had a cup of tea, and began to really think about what he had said.  My kids are growing up and teaching them independence is one of the main things I want to instill in them with homeschooling.  How to learn on their own.  My boys are ready to have more responsibility in that.  The girls are on the brink, but they can handle a few subjects independent. 

So, after tearing apart the house, I finally found the Science (Apologia) I had for Eric and Gabriel, and came across History of the World (Christian Perspective) by Abeka that the boys will love. I went on line and found the teacher's edition, tests and answers all for $11! Joy, joy, joy.  So the boys who have been so polite to me during Story of the World, are moving on to independent History! They are pretty excited actually!  If this works out, I think I can keep Gman with Eric in History, and move on with Abeka for the next few years, and the girls and I will press on through SOTW Volume 2&3.
The girls and I are sticking with Christian Kids Science Earth and Space, and they are learning new things to look up at library and on line there too! 
All 4 use Easy Grammar, the bottom 3, do Daily Grams and the Easy Gram 6th grade, whilst Eric does just the Daily Grams, to keep him up on Grammar.
Gman is still doing All About Spelling with me and we are seeing huge improvements in his day to day spelling.
Math-U-See is my go to still, and I have pulled Eric off Teaching Textbooks for Algebra 2.  He and I are pressing through together.  My brain aches, but my boy needs me to work with him and we are pressing on together.  Sometimes he has to remind me how it is supposed to work!
I am using these Literature Guides for Reading with all four.  Eric is doing All Quiet on the Western Front, Gman is To Kill A Mockingbird, Abby is doing The Yearling and Annabo is Shiloh.  I am tired of printing these out, so we got thumb drives for them.  They will get the book and work through the study guide and do word documents with the activities. 
The day went well, and I am pretty excited. Library today, and then we will see how it really goes!

Volcano in our Backyard!

Yeah, yeah, we did the volcano last year for fun, cause we got the tiny little kit...and it was a bust...boo, small and tiny and well, booooooooooring.
 This year we are doing this fun book:

This is our second year using Mrs. REdmond's books, and they go well for us.  They are on the younger side, but I just add reports and other mean and cruel things for kids! haha
Any who, we are in the middle of the Lithosphere, and having spelunked and made marshmellow worlds with inner and outer mantles, making a volcano was a must do.
We had a visitor to our school yesterday, Josiah, a 4 year old with a brain of a scientist and philosopher...he is real smart.  So we planned out the volcano.  The kids prepped it in our backyard.  We all sat down at our square table and began to learn the vocabulary for volcano's and all that entails.  Josiah was rather excited and followed along, printing his name quite nicely at the top of his pages.
We began to talk about eruptions, and how we had a volcano in our back yard. He was like no way, lets go see it...
So outside with the ingredients:

 

This is serious business!

I am in love with teaching! I love how my kids interact with Josiah, and how he loves to learn, I am getting a click in my brain regarding our family growing and peace in my heart! woot!

The face says it all! We doubled the ingredients and it was quite spectacular...but we wanted more, so we poured some more water in! The volcano just kept pouring the lava out! 

Happy adventures in Science!

Tomorrow come back and see our train ride! Never a dull moment here!