for me, and for you

i am His.

 He is mine.

blessings to you,

true love

happy saturday, friends.
my kids are currently running from end to end of the house, dangling from the chandelier, making monster, tiger, growling bear type noises, and quite possibly climbing up the walls.  eeeek.
they always seem to get crazy hyper after lunch.  go figure.
someone save me!
*note: the hyper spree just ended with a violent kick to someone's eyeball.  on accident of course.  sigh.*


on to today's dish...
don't you just love summertime?
i especially like harvest time when friends and family are sharing all of their wonderful harvest with us.
my husband keeps coming home with  bags of tomatoes, cucumbers and {a few} zucchini.
we had very good intentions to have a garden of our own this year, but between the fact that my hubby and i can't agree on the size{he wants an acre, i want a few plants of each vegetable*for fun*}, and that our lives were a blur when the poor guy had to work 3rd shift the first part of the summer, it was a no-go. three months never seemed more like three years in my life!
so, here i am.
thankful to have people that bless us with their amazing bounty.
{the cukes are in hiding, but believe me, there's a lot.}

there's nothing like fresh vegetables from the garden. don't you agree?
one of our favorite things to do for lunch lately is to cut up cukes and tomatoes and eat them with spreadable cheese on crackers{or those little rubschlager slices of bread} .  yum.  it's like a little gourmet treat.  our favorite cheeses are local spreadable cheddar from the Food Co-op,  and  boursin brand spreadable spinach and artichoke dip from our local grocer.  double yum.  

not only does it taste amazing, but the kids love it and it is a great way for them to get their veggies.

 {ok.  i'm going to deviate for a minute here.  i found a super yummy new hummus and it is DELISH!}

me+spicy chipotle hummus+organic blue corn chips=true love

do you have any yummy simple things you do with your garden veggies?

hope you are having a wonderful weekend!

xo,

inspirational wall art

hey, friends.
i have been totally inspired by SO many amazing blogs lately.
there are some majorly talented people out there and i love to gather inspiration from them.
i have been having so too much fun playing around on pinterest, too.
like i need anything else to distract me.  sheesh.
anyway!
i was inspired by some cute wall art that i have seen around the block...

awesome hallway gallery courtesy of young house love.

via

i love this guest bedroom and the inspirational wall art from layla at the lettered cottage.
i love everything this girl does. she is overflowing with creativity!
SO! i decided to make some of my own inspirational wall art.
they are all just ideas at this point, but it has been so much fun creating them!
i can't wait to put our new ikea frames to good use. :)
check it out...

can't you just see them all in different sizes and frames on a wall?  

{of course all these ideas have come from lines or titles of our favorite old hymns, or wise words that we never want to forget.  i hope i will  be greatly encouraged by seeing them everyday and put them to use in my life!  we all need reminders, right?} 

i want to mingle them with family pictures and maybe some fun numbers or letters?  

i heart numbers and letters.

here's a few i found on pinterest...

                                       via

                                                      via

oh! and i can't wait to show you the print that i ordered from this sweet girl on etsy.

she is amazing and has made me an 11x14 print for my wall, too.

imagine this.

i pinned her photo to my pinterest and she lives 40 miles from me?  

small world, eh???  :)

hopefully it won't be long before i can show you the end result!

much love.

xo,

those shoes

hey there!
i am being such a sentimental schmuck, and I just can't help it.
do you ever find yourself having a hard time letting something go?
something that seems so silly to want to keep, but it has such wonderful memories attached to it?
enter: my baby's shoes, 'the bob's'.
true enough, he is five now{what?}, and they are not even cute shoes, but I remember him loving them so much and finding them at just the time when we really needed them.
he was happy.
i was happy.
but now they are too small.
i bought them at a thrift store for $.50, took them home and threw them in the washing machine and henry couldn't have been happier.  they have since seen  many runs through the wash.
true, they were two sizes too big at the time, but he loved and wore them every. single. day.
then the days came when the shoes were going on harder and harder until they started to hurt his feet.
we retired them and found  replacements, but we still love these shoes.

they have been sitting in the stairway to the basement for months now, staring me down.
i almost threw them a couple of months ago. almost.
we have SO many shoes over here that it seems silly to keep some dirty, old, stinky shoes, but I just couldn't let them go.
today i am going to throw them away and i will always remember my baby's favorite shoes.
i feel totally comfortable doing it, because now they are documented and I can always look back and remember.
when i told him i was throwing them away, he cried,
"but those are my favorite shoes, momma."
i know, sweetie.
they are my favorite, too.


see?
i told you i was ridiculously sentimental today.
i am crying over shoes.

goodbye, bob's.

you have served us well.

do you ever have a hard time letting things go?

xo,

"As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.

Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate."

Psalm 127:4-5

i hear school bells ringing

good mornin'! {or mid afternoon if you have spent the whole morning on the computer and phone and you eyes are bulging out of your head}  i.e.=me

 i may look like this.

          

 or this

 possibly this

nope.  this is it!  

hahaha.  it's really not that bad.  i think.

do computers ever make you crazy?

possibly turn you into someone you never knew existed?

actually, i'm pretty excited!

i just finalized all of the kids school curriculum for the year!

whew.

huge. weight. lifted.

earlier this spring, i went to an amazing home school conference with some dear friends and we set up our shaklee booth.

little did i know that we would be set up right across from some amazing folks from minnesota.
God sure knows what He's doing.

they own their own home school resource store and what i learned from her is invaluable.

i was able to ask her questions about curriculums for the different learning styles of my kiddos, and actually see and look through all the resources that are out there{that they really like and recommend}. 

if you have questions on different curriculums, learning styles, resources, and more, give Nancy a call.

she is amazing.

their website

with her help, i actually narrowed down my choices quite quickly.

the best way{in my opinion} to find successful home school resources is to find someone who has been successful and duplicate them. 

Nancy's family has dedicated their life to serving others and their ministry is to pass along what they have learned about home schooling{and what works} and bless others with their knowledge.

this means less. stress. for. me.

just say no.

atleast i don't have to triple my shaklee today.

thank you, Nancy!

anyway, i thought i would show you what we ended up with. 

i am so excited!

spelling

an awesome program that offers a DVD to use on the computer that actually reads your child the word lists and allows them to correct their own mistakes.

it's brillant and the kiddos like to break things up by using the computer.

i like to break things up by not having to read 3 separate spelling lists! 

double score.

english

this was highly recommended by Nancy and since i totally trust her, i cannot wait to dig in! 

the girls will be working together this year on english.

math

we love math u see!

it has transformed how my daughter understands math.

it comes with a DVD to watch for each lesson and simple to follow worksheets.

it's one of my favorites because it has made math fun and understandable.

history

i am really excited to use this and have my kids work together!  

i also ordered some awesome resources to go with this{world map book, world recipe book, world art book, world atlas} so that the older kids can dig deeper if they want/need to, and really learn about world history.

something i definitely never learned{or cared to}. 

sad.

i love learning with them now.

science

apologia science!

a creation based science program that allows for group study and also has awesome lesson plans for the kids to follow themselves.

this sounds like so much fun!

we chose the botany to start with, but they have LOTS of options.

zoology, astronomy, etc...

{i'll let you know how it's going later} 

:)

literature and creative writing

                 

elly's is on the left and maddie's is on the right.

i have to say that they don't LOVE writing, but it is so very necessary.

can't wait to try these!

i also ordered other books and resources to use with each individual subject.  little tidbits that Nancy recommended to me.  i love her.

can you tell?

last but not least, the reading program i teach and that our younger students use is from accelerated christian education.

we love their reading program and have used it successfully for several years.  :)

well!  there you have it!  

our year in a nutshell.

if you think of me, say a prayer because i'm sure i'll need it.

this years classroom will have...

elly in 7th grade

maddie in 5th grade

jack in 2nd grade

henry in kindergarten

if you are wondering if you could home school, let me encourage you!

if i can do it, you can do it.

better yet...

"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."

Phillipians 4:13

yup. i'll be claiming this one for sure.

much love,

xo

saturday blessings

hi, everyone.
how are you?
today i wanted to share some quick photos of what is happening over here today.
it is somewhat unusual, but oh, so very heartwarming.
as a mom, sometimes i wonder if my kids will ever get along.  are ya with me?
i know they love each other, but when the day starts off with constant bickering and tattling, i just have to wonder.
who wants to wake up to, "MOOOOOOOOOOOOM!  jack hit me!!!!" ? {in the whiniest voice...ever}
why is it that they can treat their friends like angels, but their siblings so mean?
i got to chatting with a friend about this and we came to the obvious conclusion that it applies to us me as well.
why is it that i can treat my friends so kindly, with so much love and understanding, yet i can treat my family so harshly?
eeek.
guilty.
something for me to work on for sure.

"Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name."

Psalm 86:11

well, this morning was refreshingly different.
i had been cleaning, doing laundry, etc...when i realized how quiet it got.
no t.v.
no talking.
no noise. at. all.
was everyone ok?
there was a deafening silence that definitely caught my attention so i went and checked it out...

 elly was teaching henry how to knit.

i melt.

yes, hank is in his undies.

and maddie was teaching jack.

priceless.

check out that determination!

it was so sweet for me to see them all getting along and the girls being willing to sacrifice their time, for a moment to teach their brothers something.

my girls love to knit.

they are getting quite good at it, too.

i cannot wait to show you pictures of what they are creating, and have already created.

they have been blessed with wonderful friends who have taught them so much about this skill, and i love that they share it with others.

they are always looking for new patterns to create and things to make for family and friends.

i just commissioned elly to make me a pair of fingerless gloves for fall.

yay!

i don't have to buy scarves, gloves, etc...anymore!

moral of the story.

my children really do love each other, just like i love my family to pieces.

we just need to make more of a conscious effort to show it more often.

Lord, help me, please.

much love,

"And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."

Ephesians 4:32

Preview

all your anxiety

all your anxiety, all your care
bring to the mercy seat, leave it there
never a burden He cannot bear
never a friend like Jesus

backround via

blessings for a wonderful Lord's day.

image via

xoxo,