Snow Globe Day!

We had a beautiful snow day, finally!

Loving the Snow!

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For the Common Good!

A letter I received tonight from my oldest daughter (11) in orange marker.....

Dear Mom,

I think we should be allowed to read in bed tonight.

The core democratic value I would use for this situation is the common good. Reading could increase our reading level just a bit. 

Reading is a subject everyone needs.  People need to read to drive, cook, build, etc. Without reading the world would be a mess.

The average reading teacher would say, "Read as much as you can!"  Others may say, "It is way past your bedtime!" (that would be a reference to me a few minutes earlier)  However, I disagree; because bedtimes can be delayed on nights you get to sleep in.  Half an hour of reading never deprived anyone of sleep. ( I beg to differ)  

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter.  (As I heard her giggling in the next room)

Love your amazing daughter,

Here was my reply.....

Because of the common good....

GET JOY!

I do believe that I need to thank a teacher for the inspiration for this letter.  Thank you, Mrs. Brown.  I guess they had to write letters like this in class and Mrs. Brown told the kids to try it at home.  Bwahahahahaha  Teachers are sooooooo awesome!

The View From My Camera......Our New City!

My hubby wanted some pictures of our new city we will be calling home.  So, you can imagine my excitement, "You want me to take pictures....Absolutely, Yes!" 

Had to grab this shot.  Love it!

Okay, so read the sign....seriously!  You have got to be kidding me.  We laughed; but it is kind of sad.

One of my favorite shots of the day!

Where we ate our yummy lunch today....thanks Vinny!

Down at the riverfront park.  I stood in the fountain for this one.

St. Boniface, what a beautiful church.

Old Methodist church, this city has some beautiful old churches.

I had a great time with my camera today.  Sadly, I shot in automatic mode; because I didn't have time.  Next time though,  I will practice in manual.  I am still pretty happy with my pictures. I can't wait to o back and get some more!

I love my camera!

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Just In Case You Did Not Know We Were Crazy!

Just in case you did not know how crazy we really are...here is some proof!

We just started a new job.
We have not received a paycheck yet.
We are trying to sell our house.
We are trying to move to a new town, where we only know one family.
We have a new church.
We have a new direction.
Well,  a new everything!

And then on top of all that, we are going to start HOMESCHOOLING.....say what, WHAT!

Homeschooling my kids is a phrase I never thought I would write or say!  Homeschooling is a a scary word to me.  Not because I think it is a bad thing; but because of my inabilities.   Hey, just being honest here.  Over the last few months our family has prayed, heard from God, and decided that homeschooling is the direction our family needs to go in for right now. 

I felt God tugging on my heart months ago in regards to my children and their schooling.  I began talking to God about it.  I told Him that He would have to really start working on my hubby's heart about it; because John was anti-homeschooling our kids....anti, anti really anti-homeschooling.  I think you get my drift.  I decided to let God do His thing until I felt Him release me to talk to John about it.

When we got to talking about it, seriously, I could not believe how open John was.  But that is just how God is when it is His will.  He works it all out and I am always surprised.  We decided that we wanted the girls to be involved with the decision as well.  The girls are so cool with it.

So, I am scared, nervous, overwhelmed, excited, stressed, lost, insane, curious and so many more emotions about homeschooling.  I know that God has it in His control.  I am just going to take it a step at a time.  Ahhhhhhhhhh we are going to be HOMESCHOOLERS AHHHHHHHHH!  Okay, I had to let that out.  We will be fine....just fine....yes fine.

But now you can also follow our homeschooling adventure here!

September 2012, ready or not here we come!
Crazy.....just CRAZY!

GET JOY!

Just for fun....


Upcoming Post.....

1.  Our First Day!
2.  Tweaking Homeschool
3.  Our Home Has A Different Look
4. Homeschooling a preschooler
5. From the Heart of a 10 Year Old
6. School is Out!

Birthday Week 2012

It was "Birthday Week" at our home! We call it that because my mom's birthday is the 14th, my daughter's is the 17th, and mine is the 19th.  That is a lot of cake normally! 

The February birthday girls!

My parents and my sister came up to our home on Thursday to begin the celebration. 

Most of the day Friday, we were busy getting ready for my daughter's big mystery birthday party.  You can read all about it here.  One of her gifts (from my sister) were some new family members...3 of them and they have not died yet!!!!!!

 On Saturday, my whole family went to see my oldest girl play in her basketball games.  My daughter scored her first basket in a game.  It was so exciting!  What a big deal for all of us!

Gladwin vs. Gladwin game, sooo fun!

Diet Coke Brownies!

We ended Saturday with a wonderful dinner and a small celebration for my mom & dad's birthday (his was in January and we couldn't be with him).  There was a lot of laughing over my dad's present I got him, a spatula.  If you are a Rush Limbaugh fan you probably have heard him play a spoof commercial of Spatula City.  Anyways, I got him a spatula.  We laughed so hard we were in tears; partially because my sweet mom didn't understand the gift and thought there was such a place.  I also made some low cal brownies that half of us liked and the other half hated.  For those who liked them, thank you Pinterest.  I made them using a family size Betty Crocker boxed brownie mix and one can of diet coke.  Yup that is all you need!  Each brownie is about a 100 calories, how awesome is that!  They have a weird texture, sorta pudding like....weird I know. I thought they were fine, my hubby.....well not so much.

My birthday was Sunday.  We went to church then out to dinner.  While we waited for our food, I got to open my presents.  I got some really strange cards.  My sister let the girls pick out a card for her; but, my sister was just suppose to sign it with out reading any of it.  Yeah, so my daughter's picked out the urinal one to be from her.....ewwwww!  They thought that was so funny which inspired my girls to pick out the dog one from them. They know what a germaphobe I am.....they thought they were sooooooo funny.   EWWWWWW!
My hubby's card was the cryptogram!  Once I figured it out, I discovered he is going to buy me some Tom's Shoes, WHOOO HOOO!  I am so excited.

Have you ever heard the story about Lady Godiva? 

My kiddos also got me diet coke and chocolate covered pretzels.  They know me so well.  They have been dying to get me a snuggie....I got one now!  Bwahahahahahaha  We have had some good laughs over it.  My sister is going to bring me something from Israel for my birthday in March  ( I am so excited for her trip).  My parents blessed me with the fabulous gift of Godiva....oh how I love you my sweet chocolate!  Oh, I love you too mom and dad.

During the afternoon, we watched the BBC's Emma....love, love, love! If the day could not get anymore perfect, it did with my sister's homemade creme brulee!  I could have died and gone to heaven after that awesome dessert!  Oh goodness, nothing tops homemade creme brulee!

All in all, 36 is looking pretty good!  I feel so loved!  Like a dear friend of mine so sweetly stated about her family, I will say about mine...I am so in love with all of my family.  

GET JOY!

Now to go clean my house!

A Mystery Birthday Party!

My daughter decided that she wanted a "Clue" themed party for her 9th birthday.  I was up for the challenge. 

Someone stole the Birthday Cake!  Who stole it?   What did tool did they use to steal it with? What room did they hide the cake in?  We needed to solve the case!

The invitations went out....

Each child received a suspect card with their picture on it.  The girls loved it.  I asked them to come dressed in the color of their card.  I also told them that they would be the new name on their card as well.  I made sure that no one purchased a costume.  The girls got creative and made some fun things to make their character work!


All the suspects joined us for the party at Buzzel Mansion....
Top row (left to right) Miss. Scarlet, Miss. Peach, Miss. White, Lady Lavender, Princess Azure
Middle row: Lady Magenta, Madame Rose, Miss. Peacock, Miss. Tangelo, Coral the Cook
Bottom row: Mrs. Brunette, Mr. Green, Professor Plum and Detective Brown.
My son not appearing; because he did not want his picture taken...Mr. Baby

When the kids arrived we got their mug shots.  Don't you just love the expressions?!

Once all the girls arrived, we went over how the game was going to be played.  Each girl received a gift bag with a clip board, their clue worksheets, a map, a fun new gel pen, and a ring pop (just because candy is fun).

First they had to figure out...What room was the cake hidden in?
There were nine possible rooms.  They had to find a hidden card to determine if that was the room or not.  If they found the card, they knew that it was not the room used in the crime.  One room did not have a card, so that was the room.  The rooms where: the hall, office, nursery, TV room, living room, bathroom, kitchen (the scene of the crime) dinning room, my favorite the ballroom.  The ballroom had a bunch of balls on the floor.  I told the girls it really wasn't a safe place to dance. Hahahahahahahaha

During dinner, the girls had to find out what tool was used to swipe the cake.  Each adult had information regarding one of the tools used.  The girls where aloud to ask yes or no questions privately or out loud.  They could not directly ask the name of the tool we had information about.  The possible swiping tools were: pillow case, box, fork, backpack, or dog.  So they could ask questions like...Is it fluffy?  Is it square?  Is it pointy? I think you get the idea.

Some of them wanted to be sneaky and keep their answers to themselves.  Some of them just wanted to eat and asked there questions out loud.  It was fun watching them trying to figure things out.

We took a break for presents! 

To figure out who the suspect was we taped a picture of a random suspect on each girls back, except one (we didn't have a picture for who did it).  When I said go, they had to look at each others back to see who did not do it.  They could only ask yes or no questions about the one on their back and they could not directly ask, "Is mine so and so?"  They could ask, "Does mine wear blue?" Or they could ask, "Is mine a girl?"  Some people tried to keep each other from seeing their backs.  That was fun!

 Grandma and Grandpa even got in on the fun!

 On the table was a sealed envelope with the answers.  After everyone had figured it out, the birthday girl got to open the envelope.  She then revealed the answer.... 

The thief used the Pillow Case to stash the cake and hid it in the 

TV Room.  The Thief was none other than the naughty chocoholic Professor Plum!

During the "BIG REVEAL" the culprit disappeared.  We found her in the TV Room with the cake!  The girls loved it!  Detective Brown handcuffed her and punished her...NO CAKE for Professor Plum!

This was the stolen cake.  There was even a piece taken out of it.  Hilarious! 

What a great idea?!!!!What a fun party.  Happy Birthday Dear Sweet Girl!  Now Blow out your candle and make a wish!

We then ended the evening by signing our family Birthday table cloth and eating our found stolen cake!

Whewwww, I am glad we figured out where the cake was; because it was YUMMY!

Happy Birthday to my 9 year old!  Your family loves you more than words can say!

GET JOY!