giving encouragemnet for the everyday

So I saw some cute little cards the other day with little sayings like, God is crazy about you... I just think you are crazy, and, God loves you for just being you... and so do I. they were the 99 cent small cards but when I saw them I instantly thought AHA!! What a great thing to stock up on and give to your kids when they least expect it, like slip a card in their pj drawer so when they go to get ready for bed they find it, or slip it in their math book if you know they have a hard time with the lesson. You get the point. I will have to take some pictures of the cards and the little gifts I plan to slip in some of them for an even extra special pick me up... when I get them, I saw them when the kiddos were with me. Giving your kids encouragement in the everyday is so important,
"you should praise a child 10 times more then you correct them"- Michelle Duggar

**edited for spell check, I was typing really fast and then hit post**



Preach the Gospel at all times. If necessary, use words. - St. Francis of Assisi

math and museums

Well yesterday we sat down and "did school" for the first time in a long time,
we did math workbooks

we did bible workbooks,

and apparently you get more from the Bible if you eat it, hehe.

Last Friday we went to my in-laws and went to the local museum, the kids had a blast. I am so happy the weather is getting warmer and we will be able to more things.

I love my son in the background!!! They were doing the hula. Priceless.
Preach the Gospel at all times. If necessary, use words. - St. Francis of Assisi

I don't know if I should be proud or ashamed?!

Well I just spent 6 hours cleaning my sons room, with his help of course. I don't know if I should be proud of that or ashamed? We got down and cleaned it til it shined. Swept under everything went through every toy and piece of clothing. Got rid of 2 black trash bags of trash, 1 of clothes, and 1 of things to donate, 1 bag of things I did not want to part with so they went in storage. I feel drained now, haha. But it should be easier for him to keep under control from now on. Maybe I should pray for that one.
Preach the Gospel at all times. If necessary, use words. - St. Francis of Assisi

give-o and unschooling

This is our give-o board, played like bingo-o only when you have a number that is called you donate the item that is on that square. As you can see this one has been started, when you have a number that is called you can put a sticker on, after your item makes it in the donate box.

 

I used a piece of graph paper and labeled the squares with the items I thought each child had the most to donate or with things I know that they don't play with and it just hasn't made it out of the house yet. I also had some of the squares say "your time" you can do anything you want for this one as long as you are give your time in a way that is above and beyond. Some examples we gave the kids are, shoveling the neighbors walk, walking the dog with out being asked, helping with the quilt for charity. The ones that look like hands say "bigger" and "smaller" you chose something bigger or smaller then your hand. And so far the kids love it they are very excited to play each day, with makes me love it even more then I did.

As for schooling we have not done much lately, after deciding to try unschooling, I thought we might take a few weeks and work on life skills and chillin' out. Each day I try to work on 1 chore with 1 child to make sure they are doing it well and make sure they know the best and easiest way to do it. We have been playing give-o and helping mommy clean out closets ect... We all have been reading alot and talking about Lent and what it is all about. Our library has backpack kits, that have books and activities in them that are on 1 subject so I have been letting the kids check those out and of course they have been very busy playing with toys,  homemade play-doh, making more clay and play-doh and just being kids. All in all it has been a very calm few weeks, and sometime soon we will be getting into a more structured day, I was thinking maybe next week start with a morning rhythm and have free time in the afternoon so I can continue cleaning out and catching up with my sewing.

I will really try to post more often, after all that is why I started blogging!   

 Preach the Gospel at all times. If necessary, use words. - St. Francis of Assisi

Wow, it's been awhile

Well it's been something like 2 weeks since I posted last. I have been a combination of busy and sick. We are having our new church dedicated this Sunday and being lead Sacristan I have been to many meetings and doing a lot of planing these last few weeks. And this week I felt horrible. Today is the first day I have felt good. Which is good because tomorrow will be busy. My oldest 2 serve the early Mass and then we will stay to set up for the dedication Mass. I am excited about the dedication but also very nervous, I hope I don't forget to do something. I have been Sacristan for about 3 weeks, which is how long we have been planing the dedication Mass. I wish I had other Masses to prepare for before this. And we did not have a Sacristan before this so I am learning as I go. Not to mention that Ash Wednesday is only 3 days later.
Speaking of Ash Wednesday, we started our Lent activity early this year so we would sort of be done by Holy Week, that way we could fully enjoy that week. We are signed up forHoly Heros Lenten Adventure. And that will start Fat Tuesday, we are doing a bingo game of giving, I will post pictures later. But it is basically bingo but when they get a number, like i-7 then they give up whatever is on that square. Somethings are, a stuffed animal, your time, something bigger then your hand. And each week we change the board. They get up each morning, "can we play give-o" supper excited about giving up there things. Who would have guessed. We are doing this in place of the usual giving up candy, ect... So everything they give up has to be in good condition so it can be donated. We will also do a Lenten Cross. It is similar to the Jesse Tree. It is in the shape of a cross and each day you add a picture to it, and it follows the Old Testament prophecies and their fulfillment in the New Testament. I think we will get pretty in to this considering the age of my kids. I also want to focus this lent on clearing out the junk from the house, all that stuff that you look at and think why do I still have that, and then just move it out of your way.
Needless to say a busy/sick as I have been we have not done much in the way of "school" we did manage a trip to the library. And the kids did read quite a bit, and spent a lot of time on their educational games for the computer. I am hoping to get some new shelves this week so I can finish reorganizing my school and sewing rooms. I think it will help me to get sewing projects done and help to do some schooling if everything is more accessible and organized. 

Preach the Gospel at all times. If necessary, use words. - St. Francis of Assisi

Frying bacon and Project Runway

My son made bacon for the first time, he was very proud. Although I think he looks way too excited in this picture, haha.

My girls decided that they both wanted to make outfits by their selves and without a pattern. Clare made hers a dress that turns into a skirt and then a shirt to go with Maria made a 2 piece outfit. I love it, listening to them was priceless. I was not allowed in the sewing room, although I did sneak in and take a few pictures.

 

They are a little to risque to be worn for anything other then playing inside, but the had fun and practiced their sewing skills. And they were so proud of them selves.  And I was proud of them too, all of them.

Preach the Gospel at all times. If necessary, use words. - St. Francis of Assisi

AHHH!!!

 Well I have joined another home school group from our area, they are very active, meet at different times during the week and you just go to the ones that are things you would like to do and work for your schedule. And from what I've read about the members I think this will be a much better fit for us.
We have not done much school work this week, I gave everyone some handwriting, worksheets and some workbook pages to do. I have been so busy this week and it's only Tuesday, haha. I feel a little guilty when we don't have "school" time each day, but that is part of why we do this to learn in different ways, and different things and to "break" when we need to.
I really need to do some picking up and organizing around here, it drives me bonkers when the house is messy.
I hope to finish my conversion story tonight or tomorrow.
I was just fitted for a tiara, and in case you were wondering i need a big one. so says my youngest daughter.
I will be off to the fabric store soon to get some new patterns and some supplies, I have a lot of sewing to do.
I have decided to hit some up coming craft shows and swap meets to sell my wears, if any one knows of some good ones in the NE area of Illinois let me know.
I have been taking some new pictures for my profile picture, most of them did not turn out. But I think I might use one any way.

Preach the Gospel at all times. If necessary, use words. - St. Francis of Assisi

what we did in school today

I woke up this morning and had a really really bad migrane and decided to let the kids have a movie day so I could just lay there and rest. I will usually let them rent movies from the library each week when we go, they are free because we rent the vhs tapes and because we do not watch much t.v. this lets them watch something that I don't have to worry about. So today we watched, Chicken Run, Ella Enchanted and James and the Giant Peach. It worked out nicely, I got the rest I needed, and they had a fun day of rest they needed.

making paint

We decided to make paint the other day, we did this for brownies but have also done this for school.
the recipe we used is very simple. you take a mason jar (if you do not own mason jars any jar with a tight screw lid works, you could also just use a cup and stir it, although it might be clumpy and is not as fun) fill it about half way with water add food color to make the color you want, we do primary colors and then mix the paint to make any other colors they need. screw on the lid and give it a shake, next you remove the lid and add regular baking flour (you could probably use wheat flour if that is all you have) I will start off by adding 3-5 TBSP, screw lid on tight and let your kid shake it!! For about 1-2 minutes, remove lid and then test it by dipping your paint brush in it when you pull the paint brush out you can tell if it needs a little more shaking or more flour, that part is dependent on how you like your paint. Grab some paper and enjoy!!! This paint will last at least a couple of weeks if kept in the jar with the lid on, next time you want to use it just give it a shake and you are ready to go.

reasons I love my kids

• the other day my son comes up to me, rosary in hand and asks me if I have a paper that tells him how to pray it by himself
• my son decided to carry a rosary and sacrifice beads in his pocket to remind him to do good, and he is using them!
  
• when asked at brownies what her favorite thing she received for Christmas was my youngest daughter says, "I had my whole family at my house all day"
• my middle daughter decided to become a pen pal with a nun

• she also decided to make rosaries to give to people who did not have them so the whole world can pray the rosary, could this be some guidance from the Holy Mother???

These are the things that make all the times they fuss and don't listen well worth it!!! And it makes me soooo happy I have been blessed with the vocation of motherhood!!!