my blessed life

It's here~moving weekend! I've been packing furiously while Vince has been in the Philippines this past week. Now he's back and ready to roll (well, except for that jet lag thing...). Jet lag or not though, we've got to start loading today . We've got two truck loads to take, the final one on Monday when we head for Kentucky for good. I can't believe it's almost here! I'm very excited! However, it's going to be super busy for a day...or six! So I'll see you on the flip side:)

I am so excited to be a part of The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew for the 2011-2012 school year! It's going to be great to be able to check out new books and products and share them with you. Just this week I have just received my first two items to review~yea! I love it when packages arrive:) Also, there is now a section on the sidebar to the left that shows upcoming reviews and just below a list of most recent reviews. So be on the lookout for reviews all throughout this school year!

So, we're moving, right? And we'll start back to school the first part of September, which means that I have about a month to create a good learning room for us to work in. In the home that we are buying there is already a good space for that, but it will need some paint and some bookcases. It's a smallish space though, so I definitely need to be creative. Vince is planning to create some built-ins (you've gotta click this link to see the ideas Vince is thinking of!) for us. He's been diligently watching HGTV shows on Hulu.com lately and has some awesome ideas. I just don't know if they're going to happen in the first month that we're in our home:) Probably not realistic, but if it does happen, then whoo hoo! In the meantime I've been surfing around on Pinterest.com, among other places for good learning room ideas. I thought I'd share some of my favorites with you. (all images from Pinterest) I love this shelving idea! It's ...

0453. cousins, to be silly with 0454. cousins, to grow up with 0455. the blessings of children, even if it means a very messy room 0456. listening to my kiddos tell jokes 0457. reading at bedtime 0458. the fun of sponge rollers 0459. sweet little girl curls 0460. the big bear hug I got from my girl when she returned from camp yesterday

Yes, I should be packing boxes for our coming-sooner-than-I-realized move, but I thought it would be nice to take a mental health break and use this as an opportunity to re-gain perspective (which gets totally out of whack during stressful times like these) . So today I'm linking up with Sue at The Homeschool Chick . In my life this week… I am busy packing up our house for our move next weekend. I also sent off my daughter to church camp for the first time and sent my husband off on a missions trip to The Philippines. Yes, it's been a very busy week! In our homeschool this week… We are still on our summer break. It's been more of a break than I intended due to our move, but that's okay. I did get our curriculum for the Fall all lined out though~yea! Places we’re going and people we’re seeing… Well, Vince is off to The Philippines, The Princess is at Camp Dry Gulch USA and Mr. B and I are busy doing some fun stuff together ...

It's that time of year! And I am happy to say that I've finally wrapped up my choices for our school curriculum for 2011-2012. It seems like each year that I research for the longest, looking through catalog after catalog, reading reviews and looking at sample pages. This year we are sticking with some of the same publishers and switching from others. That's the beauty of homeschooling though, right? I love being able to evaluate my own children and choose what would work best for them for their learning styles. So here's what we'll be using for The Princess {3rd grade} and Mr. B {1st grade}: Bible/Character Studies: Last year we began using the Character Sketches from the Institute for Basic Life Principles . There are three volumes and we didn't even make it completely through one, there is a lot of great material in them! We have been studying one character trait a month, with different definitions of that trait each week. Last...

These were the surprise hit dinner of last week! I just happened to be flipping through the Every Day with Racheal Ray grilling issue from last year~I saved it because it was full of good stuff~when I saw this recipe. It caught my eye because I had hot dogs, buns and a can of sauerkraut that needed to be eaten:) As you can see, all of my fine china~everyday dishes included~has gone into a box already. So we are using the very finest of Styrofoam and paper! First I got my toppings ready. They included sauerkraut , sliced dill pickles , Swiss cheese slices and this yummy sauce : Special Sauce 1/3 cup ketchup 1/3 cup sour cream 1 tbsp smoked paprika *** Blend well. Next take your hot dogs (we love Oscar Meyers' Premium Beef No Nitrites No Nitrates added) and split them lengthwise, but don't cut them all the way through. Put them on the grill cut-side-down for about 2-3 minutes. Then cover each dog with a slice of Swiss cheese. Cover the grill to melt the cheese. When...

Well....let's just say that while I am still trying to plan my menus in order to clean out my freezer, fridge and pantry as much as possible before our move, I have lost all motivation to cook. Except that we still get hungry, so that is motivating:) The kitchen island is constantly buried with *stuff* and half of my kitchen things are packed up so it's just very.... inconvenient to cook right now. However, last week my totally awesome mom came over bearing three casseroles for us~one to eat that night and two for the freezer! She brought Chicken Rotel and two pans of Chicken & Dressing . We've already eaten one of the Chicken & Dressing and it was SO yummy! I'm looking forward to eating the other two casseroles this week:) Monday: Chicken Rotel ~plus I'm making some Poppy Seed Chicken to take to friends who've just had a baby! Tuesday: {Going out for German food to celebrate my sister's birthday!} Wednesday: {Emma leaves for ca...

If you've been around here lately then you probably already know we're moving. And I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed. On any day it is utterly exhausting to pack up your whole house, but when the temperatures are triple digits...well, let's just say I'm ready to adopt the tradition of siestas into our American culture! We actually have about 60-70% of things already packed, so we're coming along. It's hard to know what to leave out until the last minute~especially those kitchen items. Although I haven't been doing too much cooking lately. It's just so un-motivating when your house is a wreck. I'm trying to keep it simple. I'm also packing The Princess for her first trip to summer camp with our church. I can hardly believe this day is here! She's only 8! They attend the most amazing camp though~ Dry Gulch, U.S.A . in Oklahoma. She won't even have time to miss me, she'll be having so much fun. I'm so happy that she has t...

Last weekend was our small group night for our church here and the food theme was * your favorite summer food *. Well, I have LOTS of favorite foods for every season, so I really had to narrow it down~ha! I finally decided on this lovely summer side dish that I hadn't made in quite a while. Since making it again though, I think I'll do it more often~I'd forgotten just how good it is! It's perfect for a summer potluck, a cookout or a picnic. I hope you enjoy it, too. Marinated Green Beans 2 lbs. fresh green beans 3/4 cup white vinegar 1/4 cup sugar 2 tbsp. vegetable oil 1 garlic clove, minced 1 tsp. Dijon mustard 3/4 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. pepper 1 small red onion, thinly sliced ***** Cook beans in boiling water for about 5 minutes, just until crisp tender. Then (using tongs) plunge them immediately into ice water to stop the cooking process; drain. Whisk together the vinegar, sugar, oil, garlic, mustard, salt & pepper in a large bowl; add beans and red onion, tos...

Do you know how hard it is to plan your weekly menu when you have absolutely no desire to do so because the majority of your dishes are packed and every surface is covered with stuff that needs to be packed? It's really hard ! I'm trying to be very diligent in cooking up all of the stuff in the freezer and use as many pantry products as possible. I'm not so sure my family is appreciative of this diligence..haha...but I'm persevering! This week we are utilizing the grill and slow cooker as much as possible . It is so. stinkin. hot. here~triple digits every day!! So cranking up the oven just isn't very appealing right now. Ice cream is very appealing, however:) Monday: Perfect Burgers (grill), Potato Salad (leftovers), Marinated Green Beans (leftovers) Tuesday: {Moms Nite Out with my homeschool peeps} Wednesday: {day trip to Tulsa} Thursday: Grilled Ruben Hot Dogs (grill) with Baked Potatoes (slow cooker) Friday: Poppy Seed Chicken (slow cooker), wit...

0441. having a mud fight with your BFF 0442. playing dress-up 0443. playing with a "borrowed" puppy 0444. watching how Mr. B has improved during his first t-ball season 0445. my little slugger 0446. clear summer nights with a *Cheshire cat* moon 0447. watching fireworks and humming John Phillip Sousa marches in my head 0448. *SparKlerS* 0449. late summer night fun 0450. experiencing history with my kiddos 0451. random science experiments 0452. my adorable *girly-girl*