Early Christmas gifts

Our family is so blessed by the love and generosity of so many. Having a pastor as a husband many times means that more is expected of your family.  You are supposed to be models of parenting, your children are to be models of behavior, and you sacrifice family time for the demands of the church.  Though sometimes these expectations seem more than we can handle, God is so faithful to strengthen us through the love of our church family!  

We have always been blessed by loving congregations who show their appreciation and support in many ways!  One of the ways that Alleghany Baptist blesses us is a yearly "pounding."  Members of the church bring in different items to stock our pantry, fridge and other necessary items (aka toilet paper)!  It is always so much more than we deserve!  I don't  have a picture, but really I could list at least 40 different grocery items they brought.  They even try to bring us our favorite brands and preferences.

Also many from our church buy gifts for our girls.  This year Uncle Bob and Aunt Debbie came over to bless the girls with some toys and dresses.  I didn't get a picture of the dresses because a couple had to be returned due to size, but I will try to add a picture soon since replacement dresses were found already.  

Here is Sarah with her new Lego set.  The girls have never had a mini set and she was so thrilled!  They enjoyed putting it together almost right away.

Hannah loves her new game they bought.  She is just the right age to appreciate the humor of this game and learn a few things too!  Uncle Bob and Daddy even played with all the girls that night!

This was the first Mary or Lydia heard of a Lalaloopsie doll.  They were so excited and have been checking it all out on the internet!

We just love the hair on this one!  Lydia has had a good time styling it.

The next day the girls were in for another surprise.  Most of the time we open all our presents on Christmas day.  If we open any on Christmas eve, it is usually pajamas for them to sleep in.  This year we decided to give them their "big" present early.  We were supposed to go out of town the day after Christmas and we wanted them to have time to enjoy it.

 Here they are getting ready to open the gift.  :)

They have now realized that they have a new Wii!  Much squealing and jumping around ensued. 

Time to give it a go after Mom spent an hour setting it up. LOL 

I asked the girls if it was a let down to open the best present first.  They all assured me that it was not a let down.  Instead they were excited about playing with it as well as opening the other gifts.  :)
It has been fun that we have all enjoyed together.

With All My Heart~

We love Memaw!

Guess what Memaw has been enjoying since she returned.  Lydia has tried to catch up on stories and snuggles all in one day! :)  All the girls have been showing Memaw how much they have missed her.  We are so thankful she is back safe and sound!  Since our riders were too tired for mexican train, we watched Bugs Bunny together!  This is new for our kids.  They have only seen them a few times.

A Weekly Review

What I'm Learning: Spanish! I really want to move us past our preschool level Spanish.  It is really hard without a fluent speaker/teacher.  I am praying for God to provide a friend with that gift!

These are the books for Grade 1,4, and 7 next year!

What I'm Reading: Mostly books to prepare for next school year.  We are finished with this year on June 1st but we are starting next year with only a week break.  If I am going to continue subbing (and I think that is all I can really handle, not full time) then I want to teach now, while I know I can't work.  Then this fall when public school is back in session the girls will have their "summer" schedule.  Reading and computer math games with lots of time for pool and play.

What I'm Listening to: I just downloaded a free ESV version of the New Testament.  I am  looking forward to listening to it during my workouts.  We are also listening to a lot of Bach since he is the composer for the last few weeks of this year.

What I'm Eating: I am still enjoying a no sugar, no wheat diet with lots of fresh lettuce from our garden.  I am also nearly finished with my stash of diet soda.  I am weaning myself off again!  Since I will have the freedom to go to the bathroom as needed for the next several months, I am really trying to increase my water consumption again!

What I'm Looking Forward To:  Memaw Rose comes home Monday! I have missed her cooking, my gym buddy, and all the love and laughter she brings to our house.  This has been a long month without her!  Papa Jim comes for a visit also!  Graduation for some handsome nephews and a wedding for a sweet cousin are also happy occasions we are celebrating!


What I'm Laughing About: The cutest thing Lydia said recently occurred while we were taking a family walk while visiting Mamaw Daisy in Culpeper.  The girls were a bit ahead of us and heading to an opening in the woods.  Alpheus called out a warning for them to come out in case of snakes and such.  As we neared the spot, Lydia said in an excited voice, "Come on sisters!  This place may be a boo-boo trap."  I am still giggling!

 

What I'm Thankful For: My loving husband, our wonderful family and friends, and our many blessings of course.  On smaller note, the wonderful "new" shelf my talented carpenter husband built for the entertainment center that is now the home of the Atkins school curriculum! (pictured above)  And for the music stand on my piano that some how was lost in our move 4 years ago.  We looked online but you can find that accessory any more.  Wood painted black looks great!
 

What I'm doing for a Workout: Outdoor laundry is adding some lifting and hauling to my routine! :)  Enjoying the track and stationary bike still!  I need to add more weights!

What I'm Excited About:Birthday Bowling Party for my sweet sister, Leah who is turning 39 again! :)  Friday is a great day this week!  Bowling/pizza and then playing music at Due South followed by BBQ!

What's been working for us: 1) Spanish - this website: http://www.123teachme.com/learn_spanish/beginner/    2) Hannah cooking lunch for us!  :)  3) Work folders for each girl's lose leaf work.  You would not think that in a home school papers can get lost, but they DO!  These work folders have helped and the girls love opening them each day to see what has been graded and if they have any special notes or papers for fun!

What I'm Praying About: Salvation for my unsaved children. Growth of our church.  Self-discipline.

With All My Heart~

Our Florida Trip 2012

We love our Florida church family and always look forward to our trips back.  They are usually every other year, so it has been a long time since we have seen some of them.  This one was bitter sweet since we traveled down to be with our Mama Rita and Papa Jim during Rita's last earthly days.  She was suffering the final effects of Alzheimer's disease so we don't believe she even knew we were there, but it was important for us.

Alpheus was at the hospice house with them most of the time.  The girls and I spent the time we weren't there visiting others.  We enjoyed services at both Joppa Baptist (our former church) and Fanning Springs church where it was a delight to hear the word and to see our loved ones!

We stayed in a camper at Grandpa Dennis and Grandma Becky's home.  I meant to get a picture of it and forgot.  It was really nice!  We also spent a lot of time at our dear friends, the Phillips' home.  The kids had a great time playing, talking, eating and enjoying each other! We also spent time with my other besties, Brenda and Marcia.   I have to admit that I thoroughly enjoyed myself everywhere we went!  This was also a bit bitter sweet because I haven't been able to find other like-minded homeschooling families since we have moved back to VA. (Except, of course, my best home school buddy, my sister!)  Still praying about that! :)

Lydia playing with Grandma Becky and Grandpa Dennis' granddaughter, Savannah.    They had a ball each morning they were together!

One evening the girls decided to really enjoy the Florida sand.  What a mess they were!  Thank goodness for Grandma Becky's tide with bleach.  She loved every second of watching them. :)

At ABC pizza, the best pizza and subs in Florida, with our dear Wendy and Dan Downs.  Wendy hates to have her picture taken, so this proves how much she loves us!  She was Lydia's former Sunday School teacher.  We love you Dan and Wendy.  Come see us soon, PLEASE!

Our dear friend, Faith, and her sweet horse, Diamond.

Mary had the first ride.  She was thrilled. Faith also rode with her, so she could go a bit faster around the coral.

Here is Sarah enjoying her turn.

Hannah was last and Diamond kept heading to the mounting block.  But they still enjoyed making her turn left or right, walk and stop.  She is a sweet horse.

Lydia was enjoying the pool!

Mary took a break from the chilly water, to warm up on the trampoline.

Sweet smiles!

Another sweet smile!

Everyone was having a blast.

Dinner time, yet?

Waiting patiently.

They looked so grown up, just chatting  and catching up on their lives since last summer!

My flash didn't work, but I love this girl and her sweet smile so I had to include her! :)

We saw so many more friends at church but I just was too busy visiting to take pictures!  Our final day was spent celebrating the home going of Mama Rita and saying good bye for now to our special family in Florida.  We were so blessed.

With All My Heart~

Happy Birthday, Mom!

From the time I can remember, I have wanted to be a mom.  I attribute this to the fact that I have a great one!  I wish I could go back in time and see all the things she did for me.  I know I would see lots of love and sacrifice.  I wish I could see her giving me baths and reading to me.  Or hear her telling me no or encouraging me to try harder.  I wish I could see her pray for me and check on me after I was alseep.  They say if you have had a happy childhood you don't remember it as well.  I will have to accept that as why I can't remember more of the special things Mom did for me. 

I am thankful for the mother she has been to me since my youth and adulthood.  She has been so helpful; such a source of guidance and encouragement.  I thank God for each memory we make now and the many ways I have for recording them. 

Maybe in Heaven, when we know all things, I will be able to remember everything from my childhood.  I like to think that.  But even if I don't, I am so thankful to know that we will be together forever. 

Until then, Mom, I am storing up these times in my computer and my memory.  I love you Mommy!  Happy Birthday!  Praying your day and coming year are filled with God's peace and joy!

With All My Heart~

Christmas Activity List #11: Daddy's Special Dinner

Before Alpheus and I were married, during his bachelor years, Alpheus found a love for cooking.  On our first official date he grilled shish kabobs and other delights on Skyland drive.  It was raining and I was sitting in his truck while he cooked over the open flame holding an umbrella over his head.  Thankfully on that 4th of July, the sun reappeared and we enjoyed our hike and the view of the fireworks from Red Oak Mountain.  It may have been our first official date, but I had learned two very important things.  #1  This man would go through a lot of trouble to please me. #2  His culinary skills were greater than mine!

During our first 4 years of marriage he did much of the cooking!  In recent years, I have been working on my skills and teaching the girls.  Then this past year, Memaw Rose moved in and has taken care of the cooking since then!  But when we made our Christmas activity list, Alpheus wanted to do a special dinner for all of us. 

He did all the shopping and cooking.  Rose and I napped and relaxed while he made a delicious dinner for us!  Pork roast wrapped in bacon, with a parmesan/garlic/apple topping, seasoned red potatoes, broccoli with cheese, shrimp and a fancy salad! 

That is sparkling white grape juice in our glasses. The girls loved the fancy shaped cups which were actually plastic! :)

Oh, yes, I forgot to mention the humongous yeast rolls with butter!

But he didn't stop with dinner.  He also made the best parfait I have ever tasted!  The cream part is made from marshmallow cream and cream cheese.  He layered it with strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries!

Thank you DH/Daddy for a wonderful dinner!

My Cup Runneth Over!

Thursday~

We went to Grandmom and Granddad Short's house for our annual Christmas cookie party!  It was great!  We made the cookies the day before and then packed them up for travel.  We (I can say "we" because I handed ingredients, LOL) also made fudge!

 This was a regular treat in my childhood home and it is funny how just certain sounds and smells bring back such wonderful memories.  Lorilyn and I both noticed the tap-tap-tap sound when Mom had stirred the fudge and was then getting the excess off her spoon.  In that moment, it was like I was 8 years old again waiting for the fudge to be ready! :)

Lorilyn was present, just not photographed! :)

We enjoyed rootbeer or cherry coke floats with our treats too!  It was a delicious compliment!  The girls had not had a float before and they really enjoyed them!  After dinner we headed off to see my nephew, Ben, in the Christmas band concert.  Isn't he handsome?! So hard to believe he is graduating! (My other nephew, Brandon, is also a senior and shares the same Short good looks!)  

We really enjoyed the concert though I would have liked more Christmas music!  Lydia is now enamored with flutes and Mary wants a trumpet even more! :)

Friday~

It was so nice to have Daddy home!  He headed off to study at the church and we cleaned house before heading out to the pool.  Oh how we have missed the swimming, sliding, jumping and splashing!  (It is so frustrating to pay a membership and not have time/ability to go!)  Since Mary's eye is all healed and I am feeling more mobile, it was nice to go back!  That night the girls were blessed by a visit from Aunt Leah!  She brought a Christmas surprise including chocolate chip cookies, craft kit, and Kung Fu Panda 2!  She even left her copy of the movie so the parents could watch it when we came home! ;)  We were playing at Due South for the evening.  It was a great night of gospel bluegrass and bluegrass Christmas!  We met some people from Eastern VA, Vermont, Ontario, and even South Africa!  That was really neat!

Saturday~

The girls spent the morning playing Poptropica!  This is an online game they love, but it takes so long to play that I don't usually let them play except on vacations.  They were very excited! It is too hard for Ldyia to play so I signed her in to a new site she had never played called Kabongo.  She loved this!  It is also free and educational.  We then spent the afternoon watching The Sound of Music.  My family was sweet enought to put up with my signing along! :)

Sunday~

Sundays are the best day of the week!  Together with my whole family and our closest friends to worship God and to encourage each other in faithfulness and holiness!  This time of year it is also special because of the children's Christmas program and our church family dinner. Since I broke my ankle in early November, the program was quite short, but very sweet!  One of the things my girls loved to do at our former church was to play in the bell choir.  Memaw Rose ordered a set of bells and all of the girls really loved it!

http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=FEMMJFNU

http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=FEMM9CNU

After dinner we all enjoyed some delicious food and warm fellowship! 

I gave Sarah the camera and she snapped a few shots for the blog.

 

Oh, I forgot to tell her no picutres of me! LOL

Then our church did the annual "pounding" of the pastor and family.  This was a tradition started years before we came and we are so blessed by their giving.  They abundantly gave to fill our pantry to the brim!  It is even more special because we know it is motivated by great love for God and His servants.

Here is the table loaded down with the goodies!  There were even treats for our doggie! :)

As usual, I am so moved by God's gracious love and care for me and my family.  We have been blessed to be a part of three wonderful churches and feel great love during and even after we were called elsewhere to serve.  It reminds me that in Heaven we will really be united in Christ as His precious Bride.

With All My Heart~

Not just a few days off!

As my girls get older and I see the days of their departure and starting their own families approaching in the distance, I am more mindful of how we spend our time together.  When they were all little, I just wanted to make it through the day without having to pull out the carpet cleaner and actually having had a shower that day before dinner!

As they aged into children who could entertain themselves and even clean up after themselves (see above), I relished the time to actually do something other than get in the shower.  Sadly, I developed the bad habit of being side by side doing our own thing.  This year I really want to spend our vacation time doing things with the girls.  Things I normally say, "Well, maybe tomorrow." or "Too messy!" 

I had the inspired idea, that on the last day of school, we would make a list of things we all want to do together.  We actually started talking about it Wednesday so we could be thinking of things.  We didn't list activities such as watch movies or play computer because we already do so much of that.  We have been thinking about things we don't normally do that would be fun and mostly free!  

As Hannah was decorating the list for us, I realized how much this idea means to the girls.  Hannah said, "Mom, this will be so much fun doing things with you every day.  I am really looking forward to it."  This from a girl who spends nearly every day here at the house with me and most of the hours actually in my presence. How could this seem to be so special to her?  Because I am choosing to spend my free time doing things with her, not just beside her!  So even though it seems that it would just be enough to let the kids do their own thing for the next few weeks, they really want to do things with us instead.  

What a blessing!  This is certainly not typical for kids today or at least that is the way the family is portrayed in most movies and sitcoms.  Is it really just that our kids are strange?  Or is it that our kids have been raised to know that God put them in our family for a reason? We believe that God wants families to be happy and to spend time together learning, growing, and having fun, not rolling their eyes and whining about having to be together.  We are also planning to do things that will be a blessing to others during this time off.  Families can serve together too!  

So how does your family spend time off?  Do you have suggestions for activities for us?  I plan to post pictures of the daily activity.  It will be fun to have a record for reminiscing! 
Day 1  Tonight we are off to see the Christmas parade with friends! :)   

Coming up in the near future:  Baking sugar cookies, Mock snowball fight with socks behind our "snow forts", partner scrabble, and making Christmas cards to give out with cookies to the neighbors. 

With All My Heart~

Catching Up...

*  I hope my good blogger friend, justgottalaugh, doesn't mind if I borrow her outline for a quick update post!  I thought this might be a great way to catch up since it has nearly been a month since I posted.


What I'm Learning: Still working on learning to play piano.  A dear pianist at our former church bought me an electric piano with weighted keys and a full keyboard.  I already know how to read music from choir and playing clarinet.  I just need to teach my brain to read two staffs at once.  That is the hard part!


What I'm Reading: When I was immobile for over a week, I read about 10 books.  I really enjoyed that time.  Now I am back to mostly trying to keep up with the girls' school readings and lesson planning.  Right now I am enjoying  The Story of the Greeks and Animal Farm.  These are two I have never read before.  Some of the Greek stories have led to some great discussions of the Bible and man's depravity so this has been really enjoyable.  I don't have a final opinion yet of the Wells novel yet.  So far I have to say I am not that impressed with the allegory, but maybe I am not familiar enough with the details of life during postWWII Europe/Asia.


To What I'm Listening : Christmas music of course!  Also bells are ringing at my house regularly as we are practicing for our church Christmas program with the children!  Also, Lydia is reading and I am loving the sound of that!  Btw, if any of you regular readers remember that she has struggled since she began talking to be understandable, she has really come along this last year.  Nearly all her pronunciatons are correct now except for her L-blends and R-blends.  That is a praise!


What I'm Eating: Well for the first two weeks after breaking my ankle, I ate whatever my dear Rose brought down to me!  She was my personal Jenny Craig and I lost 5 pounds!  Now that I can walk the stairs and have been celebrating Thanksgiving and my birthday, I have indulged of course!  This Monday it is back to the ELF diet! :)  I can't wait until I can get back to the gym and the pool!


What I'm doing for a Workout: Walking anywhere is my work out right now.  Standing for any length of time to do anything is a workout as well. 


To What I'm Looking Forward: Other than Christmas, we have our oldest daughter turning 12 on the 8th and daughter #2 turning 11 on the 13th!  Also, we are all excited that this is the final week of school before our Christmas/winter break.  We will be off from the 10th of December until the 8th of January!!!  We will have completed 18 weeks which is half the year!


What I'm Laughing About: My children and husband help me to laugh daily, but nothing specific comes to mind just now.


What I'm Thankful For: God blessed me with 40 wonderful years of life already.  I have the husband of my dreams and 4 beautiful girls.  My extended family, church family and friends have truly blessed me all my life.  I have the privilege to stay home and teach and learn with my own children.  Just some examples of God's mercy and grace in my life!


What's been working for us: Memaw Rose gave the girls her old laptop.  Kind of funny because my DH bought it, then gave it to a friend, who then gave it to his son, who then gave it to Memaw Rose, who now lives with us, and gave it to the girls when I gave her mine (because she needed wifi built in and I didn't really use it, and it was also DH's old one).  Did you catch the irony in all of that?  Anyway, it is old enough to run the girls favorite CD game:  Carmen Sandiego Think!  They love this quiz game and I love hearing them celebrate when they know the answer because of something we studied recently in school.  Over Thanksgiving they answered questions on constellations, music, art, history, etc from just this year's lessons!  It is also something they can all play together.  I love to see them huddled around working together to answer the questions or break the codes.


What I'm Praying About: For the family of a dear lady in our church who is leaving this earthly body tonight (more than likely).  Praying for her family to be drawn to God which is her greatest desire and final wish!  For God to use DH, our family and our church for His Glory!  Thank you for praying with me! :)
 
With All My Heart~

Frugal February; Great Giveaway

Well, I read somewhere in the blogging world about a family that tries for the whole month of February to not spend.  They stock up on food and supplies for a few months before and then make an effort to not spend anything other than bills and gas which they limit as much as possible.  They do this to remind them all about how much we can live without and with how little many people around the world live.

I remember thinking that is a noble act and I was impressed.  I didn't realize that we would be facing a Frugal February ourselves!  You see my husband has not had any work as a carpenter since before Christmas.  He has also been plagued with knee injuries so he really can't do much if he had the work.  This has placed us to be very conscious of our dependence upon God's providence all the time.  You see, we knew things were going to be tight, but we were hoping to have our tax return by mid February.  Didn't happen, and yes it is Uncle Sam's fault that our e-file was rejected and we now have to wait for snail mail and hope things go through.  Again, it is another reminder that we should always remember to trust in God and not chariots and horses!

So anyway, we are saving money this month by using up the food in our pantry and freezer.  Yes, it may mean that I am eating green beans more often than I would like, but it really is a good thing to force us to be thankful for what we have.  Even in this frugal month, we are going to live like kings compared to so many around the world.

We are also continuing to save money as much as possible by keeping the electric bill down.  Though we have been going quickly through that great store of firewood my hunky wood chuck stock piled, we still have enough to get through the winter! 

We are also still using our drying racks for our clothes too, despite the best efforts of our 3 year old to break them!  I love using drying racks for several reasons.  I love not using the dryer because it is so out of sight I forget about it.  The clothes racks are right in the middle of our family room so I won't forget about it.  I also love that it gives the girls a taste of what it was like to do laundry before we had such electric servants. (Not that I am planning on giving up my washing machine at any time!)  Another benefit is they make a great barrier between the children watching TV in the family room near the roaring stove.  There is a lot less whining about how hot the room is when the clothes racks are full!  The cat would add that he loves them because they make great hiding places.  Thankfully, he has not been tempted to climb them!

So I was looking at one of my favorite blogs, http://inashoe.com/ and I saw she was hosting a give away of a really nice clothes drying rack!  This thing is top of the line.  Great height and volume and sturdy enough for her large family so I am sure it would be great for my family of 6.  And talk about frugal - free giveaway is very frugal!  I can afford that this month. LOL  So go on over to her site and check it out and buy one if you are enjoying Fast spending February or enter this giveaway with me!

What are some ways you are saving money right now?  I am open to suggestions! Blessings, Eva