another first

good morning.
as i mentioned in this post, we have experienced a lot of firsts lately.
first, we started school, and then on the same day, the girls had their first JV volleyball game.
i was a little overwhelmed.
i tend to be a perfectionist and major planner, so having to start school, travel over an hour to a volleyball game, while getting all of their school work graded and getting ready for the next day made my head spin.
my husband says i need to go with the flow more.
i say he needs to plan more.
he's probably  right.

we are a part of a local church's home school co-op group.
the friendships that we have made are priceless and we feel so blessed to be a part of their team.
elly and maddie started playing volleyball last year, and i cannot believe how much better they have gotten already.
their coach is a dear friend of mine and she is a true treasure.
i am so grateful that we have this opportunity!

on the way to the game...

unbuckled...again. 

grrrrr.

look at those ears.

couldn't resist.

the team

.

elly and her dear friend, sophie.

if we weren't a part of this team, we may have never met her and her amazing family.

we love them so much

practicing team work.

biggest fans...or goofs!

anxiously waiting.

miss 'mighty' maddie.

never underestimate the power of a determined little girl!

focus and determination.

good sportsmanship.

they won!

and i didn't get a shot of the last scoreboard. boooo.

nail biter for sure!

thanking the One who gives the victory!

happy girls.

well, there you have it.

our second 'first' for the 2011/2012 school year.

many more to come!

blessings to you on this beautiful day!

xo,

happy happy tuesday

welcome, tuesday.
i am so thankful for you.
monday was not so nice.
but we made it.
by the grace of God.
alone.

we are hitting the books hard today over here.
we started our new science cirriculum yesterday, so we have to spend a little more time than usual learning and working out our schedule.
we are diving into botany and it is going to be fun.
most days.
except when we have melt downs{see yesterday's post}.
the girls are headed outside to gather some specimens of flowers and leaves.
i happen to love my lavender that has decided to give me a few final blooms.
maybe they will pick some.  :)

how exciting is getting a new pair of shoes?
about as exciting as getting them in the mail!
oh, how i do love getting packages delivered to my door!

teachers need new shoes, too, right?

i love them.

"It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him."

Lamentations 3:22-24

hope your day is amazingly lovely!

xo,

back to school and be nice, monday

this past week marked one of the many 'firsts' we will be experiencing this year...

numero uno...

first day of school 


this is also the first year that i will be homeschooling all four consistently.
let's just say that pre-k had an abrupt ending last year.
no worries, we're ready now.  i think.
here are shots of the kids on their first day.

eleanor 

my right hand girl

madelyn 
the activity director

jack 

the gentle one

henry 

the spirited one 

after a stressful and very last minute shopping day, we bought all of our supplies{cute ones, of course}.

who wants to do school in plain notebooks?  ;) 

jack set up his little 'office' with the goodwill post it note desk organizer he found.

yes. instead of toys, this kid loves office supplies and organizational tools.

he scored this for $1.00 and paid for it with his own money from grandma{that was only to be used to buy school supplies}.

true, the little tape dispenser refill thingy cost me $4 at hobby lobby, but it was so worth it to see his face light up.

as you can see, he is very organized{and already trying to do less pages in his school books}.

i said he had to do the assigned amount without any complaints for at least two weeks. ;) 

i loooove vintage maps.  not only are they decorative, but very useful, too.

we have this one hung in our hallway and i just spotted a vintage world map{that stills rolls up} at a local consignment shop.

it would be awesome to have a world map, too, but i have to start saving my pennies, first!

i hope that you are all having a wonderful monday.

i have already locked myself in my room once and we had to call the principal{AKA my husband} twice.

yes, we have issues.

especially mondays.

whenever i purpose in my heart to be patient, loving, kind, helpful, compassionate and to let the Lord control my day, the deceiver tries to wreck it.  

seriously.

it's like this major spiritual battle occurring and i am watching it unfold.

attitudes.

tempers.

spills.

arguments.

headaches. 

where did all that come from?

Jesus already has given me the victory over all of this.

just. claim. it, mary.

i must remember Who is really in control{not me}and graciously hand the reigns back over to Him.

not that i ever had them in my grasp anyway.

sigh.

The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

Psalm 18:2

ahhh yes,  HIGH TOWER{running there now}.

be nice, monday, and Lord, help us to be nice to each other, too.

xo, 

i cannot understand.

happy saturday, friends.

i came across this quote this morning and i am trying to wrap my heart around it.

it's truth is humbling to the core and i will never fully grasp the love that is behind it.

amazing love, how can it be, that You, my King would die for me?

just.

for.

me.

the same goes for you, friend.

that's the truth.

that's His love.

immeasurable.

eternal.

perfect.

my human mind cannot even fathom it.

still, it is truth and i will rest in it.

i am grateful for it.

my salvation has been bought with a price.

the Ultimate price.

although i will never fully understand the depth, breadth, height or extent of His perfect love,

i feel it.

i need it.

i am free because of it.

i have accepted His free gift by putting my faith and trust in. Him. alone.

thank you, Jesus, for loving me so much that you would've died had i been the only one. 

xo,

"For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:"

1 Peter 3:18

easy reuben squares...because I'm usually in a time crunch.

do any of you like reuben sandwiches as much as i do?

do any of you find yourself having like 2 minutes to feed the family because life has unexpectedly 'happened' again?

yeah...

that happens a LOT around here.

anyway, what happens when a girl gets a hankerin'  for a reuben, she has a half eaten jar of {homemade} sauerkraut in her fridge, and some leftover rye bread slices?

supper in 20 minutes...or less.  :)

all i did was...

layer the bread slices on a baking sheet.
add a dab of thousand island dressing to each square.

add corned beef.
i choose fresh sliced deli corned beef because i don't like msg, or any added preservatives get obsessive about chemical additives to food that cause serious health issues. yuck.
that could be 12 separate posts right there.
moving on!

then i added fresh sliced baby swiss.
ripped apart because i was short on time  lazy.

top with theeee most amazing homemade sauerkraut made with lots of love by my awesome second mother.
yum.

wipe away the tears because the sauerkraut is gone and i actually shared it with the kids.
*tear*

yummmy melted goodness.

watch them oooohh and ahhhh over the steamy, melted reubeny goodness that only took about 20 minutes from start to finish.

did you see that hank is holding his nose? haha!  he loved them but said they smelled bad!

*note*

i left a special plate{emphasis on plate} of these for the hubby in the oven.

i also left a few 'stragglers' on the baking sheet for myself when i got home.

upon my return, the plate and baking sheet were both empty.

i guess they were good. :) 

love you, honey.

xo,

p.s. are you loving my 70's orange counter tops yet?  can i just say that God is teaching me some major patience about having to wait on replacing them!?   in everything gives thanks. :)

saying goodbye to summer...and hello to babies!

i cannot think of a better way to end our summer vacation than with sweet, cuddly babies.
last week, my sister-in-law and her family went on a mini vacation.
guess who got their younger kids for the day?
you could say we swapped kids.
they took our two boys{rowdy, rambunctious, healthy, active, etc...}
and we{elly, maddie and i} were fortunate to get my newborn niece and her brother{sweet, cuddly, smiley. adorable}.
there is no better way to relax on a friday afternoon than with two adorable, sweet, cuddly kiddos.
meet some of my extended family...

this sweet guy was digging the above knitted hat that elly made.

it didn't fit, but he didn't care.

note: this is how he felt about me for the first few hours.

i.e. don't look at me.

he is definitely a momma's boy, but i can understand that.

she is an amazing person.

sweet baby.

this girl wasn't fussy.

she was a dream and of course, she never left our arms.
{except the photo shoot}. ;) 

those eyes!

i fed him and then he warmed up to me.  

that whole, "the way to a man's heart is through his stomach' starts early.

;) 

elly in her glory.

she hearts babies{and is really good with them, too.}

smiley newborn?

oh, yes.

big yawns!

no, she isn't crying, she's just sleepy.

a knitted diaper cover that elly made for the babe.

duck gazing.

or mom wishing.

not sure which one here.

eeek!  cuddles.

unbelievably adorable.

again, the eyes.

swoon.

they pretty much stayed in this position all day.

at some point, you just have to strip them down.

it's a rule, you know?

yes, she has 10 toes.

i checked.

she looks so much like her older sister here.

*note: this little blessing was born in the midst of some serious trials for their{our} family.

her older sister{4} was undergoing chemotherapy treatments during the time she was born.*

God is so good.

the many faces of a newborn.

love.

do you like the hat that elly made?
i thought it was really cute!

can you think of anything better than this to 'end' the summer?

{home}school has now started and the dynamic around here is pretty intense these days.
lots of projects, studying, coloring, flash carding, crying, and general chaos at any given moment.
tune in for many upcoming episodes from our home schooling adventures!
much love.




xo,

goodwill goodies

best goodwill purchase to date.

$1.49 really can deliver hours of fun.

i'm loving the message, too{compliments of maddie, the owner}.

best thing you will ever know.

God. loves. you.

xo,