Jesus is the Reason for the Season

Well, I've been gone for awhile...

Life, as always, has been busy.  I've been working, working, working, acting as a chauffeur, and school teacher.  There have been times where I know that I must stop and take a breath...I discovered this over the summer and relearning the same concept now.  I am amazed everyday by the gifts that God has granted me, and I do not want to hurry through life, and one day, wonder where it all has gone.  This Christmas season I've been reflecting big time on my life and things that I might want to change, and the things that are good. 

We decided to let our 5 year old in on the "Santa" secret this year.  We also most likely will not begin the tradition with our youngest, and any other children that the Lord might choose to bless us with.  I felt such a burden in my heart about this, and I needed to come clean.  Somehow, I always felt like I was lying to my child? (Which I was, by the way.)  I also wanted the focus of Christmas to be solely on Jesus!  So many times, the "gimmes" get in the way.  We are focusing on giving this year. : )  My oldest daughter raised $105 to give to World Vision, and she made each gift in a different family member's name.  Talk about a proud mama!  I also began a children's clothing and hair bow ministry site at http://www.girlsofgracedesigns.etsy.com/ in August.  I am giving away a item each day from December 1-24th online.  We supplied the girls with hundreds of candy canes to give away during gymnastics during the month of December.  I hope that my children will remember these few lessons, and will always remember that giving is better than receiving.

We are now gearing up for the weekend of Christmas, and I am starting to become anxious!  I need to remember to breathe, and reflect on Jesus' birth each and every hour and day.  I am a very shy person by nature, and attending family gatherings in which I really do not know anyone is not my favorite thing to do lol.  But, if it is best for my children and husband, that is what I will do with a cheerful heart (hopefully ; ).)  I am really trying to die to myself daily, and better become the person, wife and mother that Christ would have me to be.  That involves a whole lot of letting go on my part.  But, His plan for my life is much better than my plans could ever be! We also plan on attending Christmas Eve Services at First Baptist Church Atlanta on Saturday morning. We have attended this church sporadically since we saw the Duggar Family there in July.  I would love to find a true church home, we have been without one for some time.  We really aren't sure where to begin looking really, but this is something that we are striving for.  Over the summer we searched for a Family Integrated Church, and came up empty handed.  I know that God has the perfect place in mind for us, we just need to find it.

Merry Christmas to all!

Rush, rush, rush...

Our family is basically on the go 24-7.  My husband tells me not to complain because I bring it on myself which is true lol.  I really want my kids to have the best opportunities that I can give them.  I finally figured out all of the extracurriculars, and although we will be gone basically every evening for several hours, everything was going to work out.  I found out today that my youngest daughter's gymnastics class time is going to change, and now it will conflict with my son's soccer practices once they begin in September.  Sigh.

We are basically schooling all day long now.  My two oldest daughters are completing the bulk of their work on the computer with Alpha Omega's Switched On Schoolhouse.  They are sharing a computer, so one girl takes the morning, and the other takes the afternoon.  I am supplimenting with a mix of Sonlight Core 1, 2 and 3+4 for all of the children.  My son is utilizing Horizons Math, Abeka LA and Handwriting this year.  My youngest daughter is using Horizon's PreK program this year and loves it!  I really like it as well!  A week ago I was considering Friday homeschool enrichment classes but I'm not sure if I will be able to fit it in.  Being at the gym so many hours is really hard.  Homeschooling is so worth it though!  I love to see the spark in the kid's eyes when they learn something new.  And I couldn't even imagine handing someone else the priveledge of educating my children.  I am so very blessed to have my wonderful family!

I posted two links to articles yesterday which I thought were pretty cool. : )  If you have a moment, please take a look.  Children are such a blessing, and it is so sad that they are considered a burden to so many people these days.  Being a mom (period) is hard work, but is also the most rewarding job out there! 

A Longer Condensation of Does The Birth Control Pill Cause Abortions? - Resources - Eternal Perspective Ministries

A Longer Condensation of Does The Birth Control Pill Cause Abortions? - Resources - Eternal Perspective Ministries

We Don't Love Children, We Love Drywall

We Don't Love Children, We Love Drywall

Craft Room Clean Up

My oldest daughter clened out our dining TLP room without being asked a couple of days ago and I was so proud!  She did  a fantastic job...it still may look a bit messy, but you should have seen it before!

Look, at the neatly piled chaos!

My sewing table is still messy, but at least I don't trip on stuff to get to it. : )

In the corner is our bookshelf of homeschool material that we aren't currently using.  Wow, do we need some more space!  I fuss about the space in this house A LOT, but I need to take a step back and take a good look at my life because I am truly blessed! 

This morning I woke up to the sounds of my 4 year old screaming at the top of her lungs about breakfast, she woke up the baby I was cuddling with as well.

He was cool with it, though!

Dance went well last night, but I'm not so sure about the teacher.  She didn't seem to relate to little kids very well.  She let the parents know at the end of class to not put ties of the tap shoes because, " she had never had to take so long untying shoes in all of her life."  Seriously?  The parents were like, didn't they come with ties?  She also had a bit of an attitude...all the parents would just exchange looks with each other when she would talk to us.  I'm not so sure if I want my daughter in that class.   She said she had fun though, so for now I'll just let it be.

Dancing Queen

Our 4 year old is beginning ballet and tap classes today and I'm so excited! I even made her this tutu...





and these bows...

I hope the little angel behaves!

A mom can dream right?

Just kidding...kind of lol! She is really excited too, and I think she will do great. She has been wearing her dance backpack around the house all day and keeps asking me when we're leaving. School has gone smoothly today, yay! Here is a pic of our 4 oldest at Stone Mountain this weekend. We hope to maybe go to a rodeo in a few days! It should be interesting because I'm definitely NOT a country girl. ; )

Consignment Sales

Some of the goodies I picked up. : )

This past year I have began to shop at Consignment Sales and resale shops. I used to be "scared" of these places...silly I know, I was ignorant I guess lol. I assumed everything would LOOK really used and gross, and that's not what I wanted for myself of my kids right? Well, I went into a Kid to Kid store a year ago and I realized that I could be getting some really great deals, on NICE things...whoo hoo! I try to go to consignment stores a few times a year now at least.

I went to a huge consignment sale this spring and was so disappointed. Everything was, well, not too nice. The clothing had stains, holes, etc., which was not supposed to be allowed. I went to the same sale (fall) this weekend, and got some great things! We left with an exersaucer, lots of clothing, books and a crib toy for under $70. : ) We then went to a really nice antique store and a craft show. This is a craft show that runs monthly, that I actually participated in last year. I only made $250 for the whole weekend, so needless to say I didn't return. I felt so badly for the vendors there this past weekend...it was SO hot, and nobody was there. We couldn't take the heat so left as soon as we arrived basically. I love the fact that my husband only works 4 days a week...he is such a good sport even though it wasn't his idea of a fun Friday.

What?! No school today?

Today the public schools in our county began their fall session. Summer is nice because I don't have to explain to the general public why my children aren't in school if we run errands. (Although I still have to answer tons of questions such as, "Are they all yours?,"You sure do have your hands full," and even, "Haven't you heard of/own a television?") I came across this list of things homeschoolers should "not" say if asked this question. : )

Top 10 Things NOT to say when asked "What?! No school today?"

10. Well normally yes, but this time of year I need help with the planting and plowing.
9. Goodness, no!!! I graduated 18 years ago, but thanks for the compliment!
8. No, we homeschool. We're just out to pick up a bag of pork rinds and some Mountain Dew, then we gotta hurry home to catch our soaps.
7. What?! Where did you guys come from?! Oh my gosh! I thought I told you kids to stay at school! I'm sorry. This happens all the time. (sigh)
6. There isn't? Why, you'd think we would have seen more kids out then, don't you?
5. We're on a field trip studying human nature's intrusive and assumptive tactics of displaying ignorance and implied superiority. Thanks for the peek!
4. On our planet we have different methods of education. (Shhh! No, I didn't give it away... keep your antennae down!)
3. Oh my goodness! I thought that today was Saturday...come on kids, hurry!
2. Noooooope.Me 'n Bubba jes' learns 'em at home. Werks reel good!
And the number one answer we should NEVER give to the question: "What? No school today?"
1. "What? No Bingo today?"

Are Girls Supposed to Act This Way?

Here she is, planning her escape lol!

Our 4 year old had her 1st Fall Gymnastics class yesterday. She was asked to join the advanced preschool class last spring, and we were really excited about it. During the summer the advanced classes didn't run, and I enrolled her in a normal class. She also participated in a week of gymnastics camp last week. Well, we go to her 1st class yesterday, and discover that she is the only child enrolled for this month. I really didn't mind, I thought, great, it will be like private lessons for much less cost. I do like her to socialize with other children, but most likely other kids will join in soon, and she will begin dance classes next week as well.

At first she seemed to be listening to the teacher's instructions fairly well...and then it went downhill from there. The teacher was like, "What would you like to do next?" because she was the only student there. She recognized her freedom, and began to goof off. She slide backwards down the slide about 4 times. She hid underneath a pile of mats in the corner 3 times. She flopped around like a fish when asked to do anything. I have never been so embarrased! The teacher said that it was fine, and that she would behave better once other kids were in the class. But OMGoodness, she sure does keep me on my toes. My other 2 daughters were so well behaved at this age...our 4 year old has been a fireball since birth however.

She was so excited about this class, she insisted on putting on her leo at the beginning of the day, and asked me ALL DAY long when it was time for gymnatics. She promised me sweetly that she will behave next week, and we will see... : ).

Homeschool Days

This morning I've been chained to the computer...ugh! I've paid about 4 bills, purchased boxes, set up payment for my older girl's first meet this season, sent invoices for a facebook sale I just ran, etc. I also began looking briefly for local homeschool days! I really want our family to connect with more homeschoolers this year. Some of my findings:

Stone Mountain Park, Friday, October 1 from 10-5, $17 admission to all of the attractions

Sun Valley Beach, August 5 and 6, $8.00 (This is today and tomorrow! We will probably miss this one.)

TN Aquarium, Monday, September 27, $5 behind the scenes tours!

Atlanta Braves HS Day, August 19th

Zoo Atlanta, August 18th

It stinks that all of these days are so close together at the beginning of the school year. We will probably go to the Zoo Atlanta and TN Aquarium days if we can (we are already members), and hopefully the Stone Mountain day as well.

I'm also looking into Friday enrichment classes at a local church. I hope that this works out!

Happy Birthday Times Two!

As is our family tradition, we go to Build A Bear as part of our birthday celebrations. We had not one, but two birthdays in July, and we finally made it to the mall today.

Let the stuffing begin!

So many choices...

Bath time!

Presenting our newest bears, Joe and Mackenzie! Granted, these bears will be forgotten in no time at all, but I'm all about the memories for both our children and us. I hope that they will look back on this fondly. BABW was also running a special...$30 for a bear, outfit and shoes!

Our oldest daughter opted to not make a bear this year for her 10th birthday. (So sad! lol) Instead we took her out to dinner and double pierced her ears. It was on my 10th birthday that I was allowed to do this, so I carried this over to my daughter.

Fernbank Natural History Museum

Sunday afternoon we took our family to Fernbank. We are members there (our 4 year old LOVES dinosaurs) and we wanted to check out the new Gecko exhibit. We headed upstairs to the Naturalist Center first, and heard a great lecture on reptiles. At the end of the lecture the kiddos were able to touch a snake.

I love hands-on type activities! Granted this was a small snake, but the kids enjoyed it all the same. We then took our time looking at the Gecko exhibit. We learned some interesting facts, such as:

-Geckos can break their tails off in order to run faster to escape predators.

-Geckos can slither right out of their skin to escape a predator's grasp.

-Some geckos have no limbs and resemble snakes.

-All of our family favorites originate from Madagascar!

We then looked at the dinosaur skeletons briefly before eating some MONSTER sized brownies at the Museum's cafe. The kids were a bit hyped after this snack!

After this we decided to head on home. It was a relatively short visit and we didn't see everything that the museum had to offer but I had tons to finish at home. We also ate at Buffalo's Cafe for dinner (kids eat free on Sundays and Tuesdays!) and looked through Kid 2 Kid. I got 3 pairs of really nice jeans for my 2 older girls for $10. : ) The rest of the week so far I have been working and have actually sent out 10 orders in a little over a day. Today I am working on matching tutus for an adoption reunion, and am really excited about it!

Our 1st (and possibly last) Yard Sale

The leftovers...

This past Saturday our neighborhood had a community yard sale. Of course with my schedule last week, I was scrambling to get ready at the last minute. I sorted through clothes for hours on Friday evening, and I was able to fill up two large racks. I priced one rack as $1 per piece and the other rack (which contained brand new items with tags) for $2-$4. We were outside at around 6 am on Saturday getting everything ready. The shoppers showed up at 8:00 exactly and we pretty well. All in all, we made right at $200, we sold a bed, a crib, a portable crib, bumbo seat, a few toys, and probably 75 or so pieces of clothing.



The problem that I had was the bargaining! I priced everything really well to begin with, so to have people try to bargain really bothered me. I know, I know, that is what people do at yard sales but it drove me nuts! One lady wanted to purchase $9 worth of clothing for $0.25...we ended up selling it to her for $8.00. Other people would grumble and fuss while purchasing, and my husband was like, "do you want it, or not?" I purchased 3 zebra pettiskirts for my girls to wear to the beach and they didn't come in on time so I was trying to sell them for cost. I cannot tell you how many people tried to talk me down on those...I ended up selling one of the three for my asking price. After being asked about the pettiskirts for the umpteenth time, I said, "I'm selling them for that price, and I will just sell them online if they don't sell today." Oops, the other people browsing our sale left, and my husband said it came across rudely lol. I just couldn't understand the problem with the cost of clothing especially, I only sold good items with no stains, holes, etc., and if I sold them at a consignment store they would be over double the price that I listed them at.



After our loooong morning, my husband, our baby and myself went out on our weekly Saturday night date. Wherever mommy goes, baby goes. We ate at Provinos (so yummy), went to Lifeway and the School Box. I love my husband so much, he's usually like, "whatever you want to do." I picked up the older girls handwriting curriculum, a new homeschooling book, a novel, a lesson planner and a new calender set for our 4 year old. I am so thankful that it is finally a new week, last week was so incredibly hard! This week I will be working like mad to catch up on tutu orders, but at least I will be home! : )

Camp Day

Today we are off once again to gymnastics camp! The girls are having so much fun, but it is wearing this momma out lol. My 4 year old is attending camp for the very first time and I am so proud of her. She walks right in without a care in the world...her class lasts from 9 am to 1 pm. The older girls camp lasts a bit longer, from 9 to 4. So I am in town from 9-4 with not much to do and yesterday it was around 100 degrees outside. Today we leave early for a dental appointment, and tomorrow we will do the same for the orthodontist. Thankfully my husband is off on Fridays, so I will have some help...and possibly a good lunch. : )

New Beginnings

Wow, it's been quite some time since I have written! I used to absolutely love blogging, but haven't had time for ANYTHING lately. My business has really taken off which is wonderful, but I now feel like other parts of my life have been left behind. I just turned off my etsy site, but am still selling at my main site...we'll see how that goes. I just want to have time for my family and home again! You would not even believe the mess that it is in! We had our 5th baby in February, which is wonderful (he's AMAZING), but we are now bursting at the seems.

Our school year will be beginning anew next week and I'm so excited! I finally finished all of our curriculum purchases (can you say procrastination...actually, I just haven't had the time) yesterday and can't wait for their arrival! My older girls will be completing their schoolwork via the computer this year (SOS), so we will see how that goes! I really wanted to attend a local curriculum fair on Saturday, but our community yard sale is Sat. as well, and we have got to get rid of some stuff. I hope to stop by a local School Box store soon to stock up on new manipulatives and posters.

Tybee Island Vacation

Our vacation last week at Tybee Island, GA was wonderful! Our condo was TINY, but it was right on the beach, so the kids had a great time. We even saw Miss Miley Cyrus who is filming her new movie, "The Last Song" on the island this summer! (My seven year old was so close that she almost could touch her if she had tried.) I've got pictures of her, the movie set, as well as shots of my daughter's meet (she did great!!) that I will post at a later time. Today I wanted to share some BEACH PICTURES. : )

Beach time was so much fun! Tons of crabs though, we even had a few hitchhikers to our room. (Ugh.) One morning shrimp were jumping all over the sand that were left from the high tide. The tides there were crazy. Something was going on astronomically this week, and every night high tide would peak above 10 feet and the highway connecting Savannah with Tybee would flood. We had to stay on top of high tide since it changed every day, and we almost didn't make it back the night of my daughter's meet. Dolphins would swim right outside of our condo every day. (REALLY close to shore!) Shrimp boats were constantly going by our condo and these attracted them. We were also near the mouth of the Savannah River, so we saw HUGE cargo ships coming to and leaving port every day.

A family from our gym stayed at our condo as well, and the kids had a BLAST playing with them every day!

This was the first night at the beach, only steps away from our condo.

Getting some SUN! Silly me, I missed the backs of my legs with our spray on sunscreen and I was hurting the next morning.

We climbed to the top of the Tybee Island Lighthouse, which was beautiful! It is the oldest and tallest lighthouse in Georgia. We also toured the lightkeepers home, which dated back a few hundered years.

Looking down!

This is at the public beach our last night there. The surf was very different...we saw wind surfers which was neat to watch. A few couple got stuck on a sand bar when the tide went up...they finally just jumped in and swam to shore, it was crazy to watch because the currents were so strong they ended up pretty far down the beach.

Daddy and daugher. This is also one of the locations the movie was filmed at. At first they set up a carnival, and then they filmed at a home for a few days. That last night the crews were setting up a new set on the beach. We also went to a Wildlife Center which was enjoyable and a Dolphin Cruise. We ate tons of boiled seafood, and I'm so sick of it now! I guess the "Low Country Boil" is the popular dish around those parts. We went to the Crab Shack one night were we got to feed alligators. We also went to Uncle Bubba's, who is a relative of Paula Dean's. We didn't go to her restruarant in Savannah, but Uncle Bubba's was great! I will post more on our trip and pictures later!

Go Team Georgia!

This morning was spent away from home and we were so busy. First I took my oldest daughter to get her fingers x-rayed (they are looking good.) I then went to gymnastics, then to Wal-Mart to pick up some tulle I left at check out, then back to gymnastics, then to Hobby Lobby, and then home. I am so incredibly tired! The girls had a picture day for their Nationals. It says "Georgia" on the back of their leotards, but you can't really make it out. I also made their ponytail holders out of tulle and ribbon, and received 2 orders for other teammates this morning. : )



When we returned home I finished this custom order tutu dress. It is for a little girl's 4th birthday pictures, and I think it turned out so well! I also made a matching headband to go with it. I now need to get to the orders I received today...I also want to make matching tutus for my three girls for BEACH pictures this week!

Yes, we are going to the beach in 2 days and I am so excited! We went to the library a few days ago and I picked up several non-fiction books pertaining to the ocean, sea life, etc. to read to the kids. We discussed crustacians and ducks a few days ago along with Georgia's barrier islands. Today we are going to talk about some of the history of Tybee Island. : )

Sweetwater Creek Summer Festival

My booth set up again!

We spent last weekend at a Craft Fair fairly close to home. The turnout was AWFUL and I was so disappointed! It is difficult to spend so much time creating things, setting up, and sitting at a craft fair all weekend to get poor results. I almost made double my booth fee back, but it just wasn't worth it to me. The kids had a great time because their was a jump castle really close to us that was free so they played in there as much as they wanted. My booth also backed up to a lake, so the kids enjoyed that too. I got a bit of a tan as well. ; ) I did hand out tons of business cards, and all comments were really positive. I made a bunch of clippies on Saturday night to hand out as a freebie on Sunday, and everybody really liked them. Most all of the little girls put them on immediately...it was cute to see all the little girls walking around with the same clippie on. : ) My next fair will hopefully be on the Fourth of July. I have to complete a custom tutu dress before we leave for vaca this weekend! I have been getting a lot of orders for these lately, and I love making them.

The kids and I by the lake.

Getting their feet wet and riding a pony. : )

Randomness

Lately my life is either super busy or slow, and this week has been crazy! We went to the Woodstock Market and Show this weekend, and boy, was it long! All day Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Sales were good on Friday, and surprisingly they slacked off on Saturday and remained the same on Sunday. I met a few really nice ladies in the booth next to mine who were selling Usborne books (which I use through Sonlight) who homeschool! We had a few enjoyable conversations which was nice. A lady there was selling the most beautiful pillowcase dresses/matching doll dresses. My older girls couldn't resist and each purchased one.

The older girls are in swim lessons last week and this week. Yesterday we made a trip to the emergency room because my oldest fractured two of her fingers at gymnastics. : ( This means no more swim lessons and unfortunately, no gymnastics Nationals. We are heading there in 2 weeks, and they are taking place in Savannah. Her coach hopes that she will be able to compete beam, but we aren't sure. I am taking her to an orthopedic at 2 pm today, so we will see what their opinion is.

I will hopefully be able to clean and reorganize our school/play room this week (which is really our dining room). It is such a disaster, and I want it to be really nice for when we start back in August. I just finished three special orders from this weekend yesterday, and it looks like I might be receiving another custom order for a tutu dress, which I love.

Camera Troubles

I am the worst with cameras! My husband gave me one about 4 years ago and it was unusable within about a year. I received another one that lasted a few months. I then "borrowed" my daughter's, and now it won't work! (And digital cameras are not cheap.) So now I have to purchase a new one for myself, and for my daughter. I don't know what my problem is! I do drop them from time to time, but geez! I wasn't able to get any good pictures of my daughter's dance recital this weekend which bummed me out. And I need a camera to take product pictures for my web site. What to do. : )