I don't know where to begin

but to start blogging this year was a goal of mine--so I'd better get started! I've been *lurking* in the blogging community for about a year now. It's been so much fun and encouraging to me in so many ways. *Meeting* so many wonderful people (at least in my mind) has been very interesting. I'm always looking for better and more creative ways to connect and keep in touch with my friends and family and I hope this will be a great way to do that. I hope that lots of you will comment and maybe even join me in this blogging adventure.
I don't know how everyone else celebrated New Year's Eve this year, but we were pretty boring. No hot date for us this year--just staying in, watching a movie. Then New Year's day came with such a surprise for us that I was rather wordless. Even now, I'm still in a bit of shock at how this year has started. We are going to be having a third child! Wow. Now that it's in print, it makes it seem a little more real. We are truly blessed though, after so many infertility problems in the past, we are definitely happy about this. Even if we didn't exactly plan it this time, God always has perfect timing. Our kiddos are especially excited, too, they will be great with the new baby, I know.
So that really changes a lot of my plans for the year. Babies do that, don't they? Right when I thought the diaper season was almost over, it begins again. Just when I've gotten the rooms in our home all decorated, one of us is going to have to rearrange and share their bedroom. But I also get to enjoy another little bundle of sweet-smelling goodness and that will be precious.
January is a good time of the year to get such news--at least for me. I love planning (weird, I know). I love keeping calendars and making lists, especially at the first of the year. It's such a nice clean slate. So I'll sign off with some of my goals for this year:

*Get seriously caught up on the kiddos' baby books

*Get our personal papers, etc. organized and filed properly

*Improve at weekly menu planning

*Learn to calligraphy

*Learn to crochet and maybe knit

*Start stamping again: cards, etc.

*Start exercising--consistently!

Well, that's enough for now...I don't want to overwhelm myself-ha!

The Making of an Egyptian Death Mask

We are learning all about the ancient world this year with Story of the World I and loving it! We've been learning a lot about Egypt, of course, which is completely fascinating. Most recently we have studied the New Kingdom of Egypt, which includes the story of King Tut. So we decided making an Egyptian death mask in the style of King Tut's would be a fun project. First since it was too cold at the time to paper mache in the garage (it probably would have frozen instead of dried-ha) and it was too messy to do it in the house, we decided to pick up a couple of cheap craft masks at Hobby Lobby. Next we cut out cardboard shapes to complete the shape of the death mask, attaching them with hot glue. Vince even put a little detail on the *beard* with the hot glue per The Princess' request. Then the kiddos started to paint them with this metallic gold tempera paint. It worked okay for the cardboard, but would not coat the plastic of the mask. We thought maybe a second coat ...

Door Hanger Chore Charts

My kids have had a chore chart for a while. It's one of those magnetic boards and they share it. However, it's not by their rooms and often they (and I) forget to update it. Plus it's a little bulky. When I saw the concept of a door hanger chore chart on Pinterest, I loved it! It was compact, right there were the kiddos could see it coming out and going into their rooms, and it costs almost nothing to make. I headed over to one of my favorite stores: Hobby Lobby, of course. They have these little wooden door hangers for .79. I also grabbed a couple of packets of decorative buttons for $1.99 each. I already had the clothes pins and the paint so those cost me nothing. I began by painting the door hangers (I used tempera paints because that's what I had). Then I grabbed a fine point Sharpie and the clothes pins and started writing chores on them, making sure to write them correctly so they will ...

Fun With 4th of July Crafts: Part 3

I love my new patriotic front door wreath!! I had fun putting this together, although I must admit this is more of an adult craft than one for kiddos. I was inspired by this article in Family Fun magazine. I didn't have quite everything I needed for this one, but all I had to purchase was a few sheets of scrapbook paper and some double-sided tape. Then all I had to gather up were some scissors, regular Scotch tape, a ruler and some cardboard. First I cut four (5"x 6") pieces of each paper. Then by placing a piece of double-sided tape on one of the short ends of the papers, I rolled them into cones, pressing the seams together well. Then I cut a 10" circle out of cardboard and began to stick the cones on it. I used another piece of double-sided tape to stick the cones on, arranging them in a circular pattern. Next I used regular Scotch tape to attach them on the back to the back of the cardboard. After getting all the cones on, I was ready for my centerpiece. He...

my blessed life

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