Sew Crafty Friday

This quilt is not something that I finished this week, but I never did post pictures of the final project so I decided to share them now. I started this quilt two years ago for my Grandmother's 70th birthday.

We had a quilting class at my church that met once a month on Sundays. I completed the front of the quilt there. All I had left to do was the back and I just never got around to it. I decided to go ahead and finish it for my Granmother's birthday this. She didn't even remember that I was supposed to give it to her two years ago. :-)

She absolutely LOVES it and has been showing it off. Who knew? If I had known she would like it that much I would have finished it a long time ago. It's amazing what response a hand made gift can create.

Happy Crafting!

To see more craft projects, check out Shereen's Sew Crafty Friday.

Homeschool Update-Finishing up Lesson 2

We are almost done with Lesson Two which focuses on Diligence. This Sunday we will make a papier mache globe to wrap up our history study of the earth and perform a gravity experiment which includes standing on a stool and trying to drop cotton balls into a can.

For Language we are studying about our Bible. We are learning how to take care of our Bible, who wrote the Bible, what the names of the books of the Bible mean and how to be diligent in personal Bible study and then share what we learned during Family Worship.

The final thing that we will learn in lesson 2 is the care of our voice. Our voice is an instrument-a tool. And just like tools must be properly taken care of, so must our voices. One of the most interesting things I read is how closely diet is connected to the voice. Certainly we know that it is true that smoking affects the voice (smokers often have deep raspy voices), but never have I truly considered the effects of diet on the voice.

Nature shows that the birds with the most beautiful and melodious voices are vegetarians who eat only fruits, grains and nuts. Nearly all birds that eat meat croak, scream or cry but do not sing. Absolutely Amazing! What an inspiration.

We should be completely finished with this lesson by this weekend. On to lesson 3. YAY!!!

Looking for Dessert Recipes

This year we have decided that we will be home for Christmas. I would like to set some traditions with the kids like baking cookies, pies and cakes (well maybe not all 3). Sure sounds good though. :-)

One if the challenges of becoming a vegan and totally changing your lifestyle is finding new recipes to replace the ones you grew up loving. So I am looking for recipes with No eggs, No dairy, no white sugar and no white flour. And let me not forget to mention that I want it to taste really good too. Sound impossible? I just don't believe it is. So if anyone has any tried and true recipes that fit the criteria, PLEASE pass them on.

The Holidays are fast approaching. Are you ready?

Beginning Sewing with Jasmine

I ordered the book "Stitches & Pins" by Joann Gagnon and Corrie Gagnon. It includes 14 projects. Each project increases in difficulty and adds new skills. At the end of the book, the sewer should have enough skills to make a Raggedy Ann doll. Jasmine is interested in making a Raggedy Alexandria doll. She changed the name because she wants her doll to have a brown face. :-)

I will post the projects as we go through them.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Today is my Dad's 58th birthday. I bought him an mp3 player while I was home for Thanksgiving, but he was not happy with it, so we took it back and got him some Bible movies. He was interested in The 10 Commandments and Sampson and Delilah. He's not much into church or "church folks" so this was a great opportunity.

The kids called him this morning to sing Happy Birthday and I think he actually enjoyed that more than the gifts. :-)

Update-Beaver Lapbook

Here are a few pictures of what I have done so far on the Beaver lapbook. It was my intention to do one first to make sure I know what I'm doing and then teach my daughter how to do one. I haven't done much. So far I have put a picture on the cover, made a Bible verse pocket (left side) and placed a beaver diagram in the center. Since my manila folder is just the regular color, I used a piece of colored paper to break up the monotony. Next time I will buy colored manila folders.

I will post more pictures as I continue to work on it.

Current Read-Managers of Their Homes

I am currently reading Mangers of Their Homes by Steven and Teri Maxwell. For a long time I was anti-scheduling and of the mind set that schedules are only for the rigid at heart. Little by little God was telling me that I need to become more structured. I listened a little bit and came up with routines. We have a Morning routine and an evening routine. Still, something was missing. Because I work 25 to 30 hours a week, I realized that I needed to do a better job scheduling my time and more so my children's time. They should know what they need to be doing whether I am telling them every hour or not. So that is how I got to this book.

I am working on my activity sheet which basically allows you to write down everything you need to get done in a day. There are activity sheets for the children as well. I will post a copy of my final schedule as well.

I would love to see schedules of those who use them succesfully.

Thanksgiving Weekend

We traveled to Pensacola, Florida for Thanksgiving. The drive there took about 13 hours. It normally takes us about 11 hours, but there was a section of I-10 that was shut down due to some sort of fire. We wound up having to take 75 mile detour. We left at 4:30 in the morning and go their about 5:30. So needless to say, we were pooped once we arrived.

Thursday morning we slept late and then made it to my Great Aunt's Cornelia's (affectionatley known as Neely) house. My Dad and StepMom: and a couple of cousins and their families were all there. Cousin Dawn and her daughters Jallissa and Jordan:

Cousin Rhonda, her husband Erwin and their daughter Erin:

Next stop was my Grandmother's (affectionately known as MaDea). This is where we spent the rest of the day. There were almost 40 people at her house. There were people in the kitchen, (My nephew Jaylen, Mom and son Christopher) dining room (Uncle Amos) living room, (2nd cousins, Ebony and Chadae, husband Shedrick, 1st cousin, Kevin)

and bedrooms. We were everywhere! I got to see one of my first cousins that I haven't seen in five years, plus two of her children that I have never met. Here is a picture of her family:

I had not planned to go out at all on Friday until my Dad called to say to meet him at JCPenney's. That means that he's buying. :-). So we packed the family up and headed out to the mall. Of course their were people everywhere, but we didn't go until around 12 or so so it wasn't as bad as I though it would be. The kids were able to get some new clothes and of course that makes me happy. :-)

Sabbath morning we decided to stay at the house and have worship so we sang songs, prayed and read the Bible. We had a delightful time.

We left at around 3:30 a.m headed back to Texas. The day after Thanksgiving is one of the worst days for travel so we left bright and early. My Aunt left her cell phone so we stopped in Brusly,LA (across the river from Baton Rouge). We always stop at a nice hotel for restroom breaks. The bathrooms are always nice and clean, and there is usually a gas station close buy.

We made our last stop at Souper Salad and then gassed up at Sam's Club right next to it. The gas price was less than $3/gal for Premium! We made it home around 5:00, which is not bad considering our stops. Another trip that was well worth it.

So for this Thanksgiving, I am thankful for family and for safe travels to and fro.

Apron Pattern

Chondra asked me about the apron pattern on my website. It's the absolute cutest apron I've ever seen in my life and is one that I would love to don. I got the picture from Shereen's website and she says she found it at Patternreview.com. It's Kwik Sew Pattern # 3396. Now the question is where in the world to find that fabric. I will be on the hunt for it. Please leave a comment if you know where I can get it.

My Visit to Wildwood and the Chuljian Family

I mentioned earlier that I visited Wildwood and had the pleasure of staying with the Chuljian family. Before my visit, God had been impressing me to get up earlier to have my worship time. I am a visual learner and do things best after seeing them done. I never imagined that God would actually show me an example of what He desired for me and my family.

I arrived Wednesday evening just in time to go to the first meeting at the church. By the time I made it to the Chuljian residence ( a little past 9pm), every light in the house was out and the family was fast asleep. At 6:15am the next morning (which to my body was actually 5:15), I was awakened by "Pa" playing hymns on the piano as the beginning of morning worship. By 6:15 am, the children had done their personal devotion, showered, were fully dressed and downstairs ready to begin family worship. Wow!

I made it downstairs in time to catch the last of what they were reading and discussing and have prayer. What a motivator to get back and get into action!

Lapbooking

I am thankful to Shereen for her posts on lapbooking. I was first introduced to lapbooking about 7 years ago when I lived in the Atlanta area. At that time my daughter and I were working on the Five In a Row Series and I came across the cutest lapbook for the story Madeline. I went out and bought all the supplies and never made the lapbook! My name is Yolanda and I am a procrastinator. :-) But thanks to the world of blogging and wonderful homeschooling Moms, I now have support and don't have to do things alone!

At any rate, I have a new excitement for lapbooks and I already have the folders! I went today and bought some multi-colored paper and have already started working on my beaver lapbook. I will post pictures and more about why we chose beaver later.

My Current Reads

I finally finished "Keeping Our Children's Hearts". What a wonderful read. This book really puts the job of the parent into perspective. I have come away from the book with a desire to do ministry with my children and to have a relationship with them as never before, not just being home with them, but actually spending quality time.

If I could say one thing that I learned from this book it would be to set goals for your children. How many of us can honestly say that we have set goals for our children, spiritually that is, and actually weigh every decision we make against those goals.

We do have goals in our house, but they are mostly unspoken. This book has encouraged me to write them down and review them periodically to make sure that we are on track. I will share my goals for my children once I write them out.

Another book I am reading is entitled "What Shall I Do To Inherit Eternal Life" This is a most powerful book and speaks of righteousness by faith. Don't open this book unless you are ready to get serious about your walk with Christ. :-)

A book I picked up today from the library (can you tell I really like books), is A Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola. I am not familiar with all the teachings of Charlotte Mason, but I am delightfully fond of the ones I have found so far. I particularly like her views on Nature Study.

My daughter and I used to press flowers and spend a lot of time outside. Reading this book has rekindled a desire to do that once again. There is so much to learn from the handiwork of the Creator!

What are you reading?

Yolanda's Travels

I feel as though I have traveled more in the past month than I have in my life. :-) This last month has been busy for me. I have attended a Bat Mitzvah, a Medical Missionary Seminar, The Bible Bowl National Championships and My Mom took me on a 5 day Cruise to Mexico. Talk about being busy!

I am back at home now and won't be traveling again until Thanksgiving which will be here before you know it.

I will share pictures of each adventure soon! :-)