my blessed life

reading together Whew !  Another week down.  Is it still September?  This month has seemed really long to me.  It's almost over though.  I'm ready for a new month, as great as September has been.   Maybe it has just seemed long because of all of our starts and stops with school this month.  This week was really a pretty rough week.  I'm chalking it up to lots of fatigue on my behalf, a son who just. could. not. focus., and ...did I mention that I was tired?  That means my patience level was probably pretty low, too, which isn't a good addition.  I'm so glad that "tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it"!   We had a fun field trip this week to tour the LST Memorial 325 .  This ship actually landed on the beaches in Normandy on D-Day.  What a history!  We really enjoyed our tour and speaking with the veterans who were stationed throughout the ship.   with my sister before our tour Th...

This past weekend my hubby threw a party for my birthday!  He hasn't tried that in quite a few years and, frankly, it was a total blast!  Just a really good time with really good friends.  Oh--and did I mention that he cooked up quite a spread of food, too?  Well, he did!  There were three kinds of chili ( Cincinnati-style , white chili and a special new chili that I'll be sharing with you soon), and all the toppings, Cowboy Caviar (UH-mazing!!) and ranch dip with chips, pumpkin cupcakes, and the most gorgeous pumpkin birthday cake!!  Yes, we ate a lot at that party :) And now for our dinner plans for this week... Monday: Beef Vegetable Soup with Cornbread Tuesday: Vince's Chili  Wednesday: Tostadas Thursday: Pan-Fried Talapia Po' Boys  Friday: Homemade Pizza Saturday: {leftovers} This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Well, apparently I've been partying too hard to get around to posting here for a couple of days, eh?  It really has been a great birthday week for me though!  We kicked it off with dinner out with my parents who were just passing through town for a night.  It's always fun to see them, of course, we can't wait till they can move here! This week was also our first totally full week of school (after starting weekly co-op in August, having an intro week the first week of September and going on vacation last week).  It certainly had it's challenges--for me, too, not just the kiddos.   We all struggled with rising early and getting started on time.  Then there were the math issues.  Mostly the ones that involve "not liking math".  So, yes, there was some stress this week as I struggled with patience (not one of my finer points).  {sigh} We did more than just struggle with math though (thank goodness!).  We are really enjoying...

This is what we did last week :) It was our much-anticipated family vacation and it was SO relaxing! 

(dontcha love my espadrille tan?) This past week was a lovely little break from regular life.  We took our family on vacation to Gulf Shores, Alabama, and I got to wiggle my toes in the sand all week long!  I adore the beach and it was such a beautiful week weather-wise with perfect temps and a great breeze.  Sitting on the beach, watching my children play in the sand and jump in the waves (they get along so well there), soaking in the sun with a good book ....well, that's my own little paradise:) I also got to enjoy a week of eating out ...mmmmm!  We had yummy home-style food at Lambert's , delicious fresh seafood at our Gulf fave: The Shrimp Basket , some of our fave pizza at the Mellow Mushroom , and we tried out two new-to-us places: LuLu's and Bahama Bob's --both very good!!  I think I could almost eat fresh Gulf shrimp every day!  I have to admit it, when The Princess asked what my favorite part of vacation was I had to say not cooking ...

Many of us as Christians have often heard quoted the verse from John 10:10, "The thief does not come except to kill, to steal, and to destroy.  I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly." (NKJV) When I've heard that verse in the past I've always thought of things like car wrecks, plane crashes, terminal illnesses ...in other words, BIG events that bring death and destruction and pain. However, a couple of months ago I was thinking about my family and some of the challenges that I was facing as a mom and this verse popped in my head (seems like there was something I heard that triggered it, but, for the life of me, I can't remember what it was now--only the verse stuck). All of a sudden it occurred to me that things that " kill, steal, and destroy " are most often the little things in our lives.  The little things happen so daily and we become immune and accustomed to them and don't even pay them much attention at all....

First week of back-to-{home}school completed: check!   It was one crazy-busy week and thankfully I had planned a lighter schedule to ease back into our school groove so we still got our schoolwork done.  We ended up moving my sister into an apartment in our town this week.  She's been planning to move for a while and landed the top of the waiting list just last weekend.  So everything finalized this week and now she's here!  The kiddos are so excited to have their aunt near again (and I'm thrilled, too!).   Now, some highlights from our week:  Rainbow pancakes on Labor Day Blowing bubbles for Holly (she likes to jump up and eat them) First morning of school this year-- read more about that here Getting back into handwriting practice Making a lapbook on the ocean Playing a matching game about all types of shells Learning about the language of salt The kids took a notion to build a periscope all ...

Does this describe your house at least part of the time?  It sure does mine!  Which is maybe why I pinned something similar on Pinterest a while back :)  Then my hubby was checking out my boards (yes, he does Pinterest, too!) and decided this would be fun to make for me.  Now it's hanging in my ever-full and messy laundry room--perfect!  I love it! :)

It's back!  That lovely school routine that I adore!  Really, I do like a good, general routine to count on.  Of course, with homeschooling you have to be flexible, but that's part of the beauty of it.  And yesterday was really a wonderful first-day-back for us. Mr. B--who claimed to not be excited to start back to school--was up early and started working on his math before his sister was even up!  When she did get up, she started her math before we had even had breakfast.  "Yea!" for them! We didn't begin all of our subjects yesterday, but we really covered all the bases with some review products that we are working on (great stuff, btw!).  We had a full day of Bible, math, handwriting, history, science, and P.E.   Our "principal" (aka: hubby, daddy) made an awesome breakfast for us: "apple" waffles!  They were so cute and, of course, yummy:)    We went to Zaxby's for lunch so the kiddos could...