Simple Woman's Daybook

I am sharing my picture thought at the beginning because my computer is acting up.
FOR TODAY
November 30, 2009
Outside my window...dark now, since it is evening by the time I am doing this. It was a cool, rainy day here earlier though.
I am thinking... how thankful I am to be back with my husband after a long trip away.
I am thankful for... all my precious children!
From the learning rooms...today we tried to get back into the routine of things. In history we learned about Pythagoras (did you know that he thought the earth was round...way ahead of his time!) The children also plugged away at their math. Some did journal writing. We also have started memorizing as a family Phillipians 2.
From the kitchen... turkey soup and garlic toast for supper tonight
I am wearing...my nightgown (remember it is nighttime now) and fluffy white robe that I just got from the thrift store...brand new!
I am creating...hmmm, that's a good question.
I am going...to watch "Gone with the Wind" with Stefanie tomorrow night while S does overtime.
I am reading...Read a chapter in Esther this morning, this evening I read to the children from Gulliver's Travels, while Daddy helped J with his math.
I am hearing... the older boys and daddy watching "Master and Commander" with the clearplay filter. Daddy is using it as a lesson in manhood.
Around the house...younger children are settled in to sleep.
One of my favorite things... ice cream!
A few plans for the rest of the week: trying to get settled back into our routine, have to get to the grocery maybe tomorrow, Latin class again at the end of the week.
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Salute when you see Moby!

As we were driving on base with Jonathan he started noticing people (as in sergeant generals) saluting us. We wondered why they possibly would do this? At one point a sergeant was leading his troops across the street and in the middle of the road, turned to us and did a strong, snappy salute! Then as my dad one morning was showing his pass to get in, the guard called him a "one star general". The reason? Our big white van (Moby is his name) has a license plate on the front of the Bonnie Blue flag. It looks like this:

Apparently, it is very similar to a generals markings. It was soooo funny! S is thinking of renaming Moby to "The General".

Texas Trip!

This is the story of our Texas trip, November 2009. It all started with several days of preparation and packing. (I do not know why blogger is underlining everything that I write) We shoved off Monday morning e.a.r.l.y. We had to say our sad goodbyes to S, who was staying home to work. We surely would miss him.

Day one we drove and drove, setting up camp late in the evening at a KOA campground in Baton Rouge.

Tuesday morning we were up early again to head to Houston. We arrived around 3:30 at our beloved friends, the Morrisons. They had opened their home up to us, as well as to anyone else who wanted to come and see us while we were in town. We were sad that the Huddles were sick, and so they could not come. But we did have a wonderful time with dear friends that night.

Kristin and I...such good friends!

Girls hugs...

what a great group of chillens!

"Miss Sara" is not "Miss" anymore.

big hug of greeting..it's been so long!

You can't believe the spread of food Kristin made for us...she was indeed "Mrs Hospitality". Thank you so much, Morrisons!

From Houston, we left and got settled in to the campground in San Antonio. We had to get up before dawn (yes, this is me talking), about 5:15, to get ready to head to Air Force Base Camp. For the exciting...
Airman's Run! This was Jonathan's last run at boot camp. It was really impressive to see the guys all running pass singing their airman's cadences or jodies, as they call them! We shouted out his name and he heard us as they sailed past! After that we had to get ready for the...
Coin Ceremony. Jonathan in on the back right there. This is where they get their aimans coin. He looked so handsome in his dress blues. I am so proud of him!

After that we got to spend lots of time with him. He showed us his squadron after the graduation on Friday. The children learned how to roll socks like the military. D started carrying his coins in his socks like Jonathan carried his wallet around. It was fascinating as we were schooled in alot of the military ways. It was all so interesting!

Mom had made us all shirt that said "My son/brother/uncle is an aiman".

We got to take Jonathan off base Friday afternoon and Saturday. We enjoyed walking around the mall, seeing an IMAX, going to Ripley's Believe it or Not, the Wax museum, and walking along the riverwalk.



We also thoughout the trip got to enjoy some of the campground amenities. Late one night, when it was very cool outside, I took the children swimming in the heated pool. We enjoyed a game with Gramps and MamaMo of put-put golf at another campground. The children loved all the playgrounds too!

After we said goodbye to Jonathan we left the following Monday morning to head to Biluxi, Mississipi. We enjoyed a nice time at the beach. The children did not really remember ever visiting the beach before.

We fed the seagulls...

Saw tons of jelly fish (or "jelly beans" as H called them)

found pretty seashells to bring home to show daddy

played in the sand

and enjoyed God's creation

We left Mom in Biloxi with the travel trailer, while my dad brought us home. We had found out last minute that Jonathan had 4 days off in Biloxi (where he was shipped to to begin his air traffic controller training), so Mom and Dad wanted to spend more time with him. Dad drove us home and we arrived home, tired but happy on Wednesday night (after a nine day journey). All in all, it was a great trip!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my family and friends! We just got back from our wonderful trip last night. We were exhausted and so ready to be home. I am soooo glad to be back with my dear husband and the children were so excited to see Daddy. Will post a blog about our trip soon. We had a great time! Until then...Happy Thanksgiving Day...we have so much to be thankful for!!

Lots happening around here!

I am at my mom's using her computer. My computer.might.be.dead. (gulp, gasp). Yes, yesterday all was doing fine, and then it started losing internet connection, so we tried to reboot everything. Now we get this ominous message about a disk read error. A computer guy at S's work is going to look at it Monday for us, but he says it does not sound good. I am just hoping now that I can get my data off of the hard drive!

But, on a more exciting note, we are packed and ready to go for our big Tx trip! We have a busy day tomorrow, so did not want to leave much for then, and we are pulling out e.a.r.l.y monday morning. Yes, I did say that, and yes, I will have my cup of coffee ready. Mom and Dad and the children and I will be taking Moby and pulling their travel trailer. We are so excited! We plan a long drive Monday to Baton Rouge. Then Tuesday we are up early to try to get to Houston by noonish. We are going to stay at the Morrisons overnight, and have an afternoon and evening of catching up with dear friends that we have missed. The Huddles will be joining us, as well as our old nanny, Miss Sara. We are still waiting on whether another family or not can make it (you know who you are!!! :) ) It should be a wonderful time of fellowship.

We hope to head for San Antonio by about 1pm Wed, so we can set up campsite before it is too late. Then Thursday early all the Air Force Boot Camp Graduation festivities begin. There is an airman's run, parade, coin ceremony, tour, etc. Plus we get lots of time with Jonathan! It will be a fun few days.

Lord's Day we will spend listening to our church services by phone and saying our goodbyes to my brother. He flies out Monday morning to begin his air traffic controller training, and we head towards home. We will be gone about 9 days, Lord willing.

I am already missing my dear husband. The trip would be twice as fun with him with us. But, he will be staying back here in SC.

Tomorrow though, before our trip, we have Keepers at Home (a tea party and learning about hospitality) and a piano recital to go to in the evening.

And since I can't think of a witty, clever way to end my post...I will say "that's all for now".

Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY
October 9, 2009...
Outside my window... it's a gray, cloudy day today. Prediction of high of 68 degrees.
I am thinking...that I am feeling weak and shaky because my body is adjusting to being on the first day of my new "flat belly diet". But my measurements and weight that I documented this morning to mark my progress confirm that I really need to do this!
I am thankful for...grace.
From the learning rooms...lots of work being done as I type, we had a lesson in history today about Buddhism and the founder of it. We did a comparison with Christianity and I sought to drive home that there is no way, but through Jesus.
From the kitchen...cereal for breakfast, melted cheese for the children's lunch, chicken is thawing in the sink for supper.
I am wearing...a blue polo shirt and my blue gingham checked skirt
I am creating...a hot fudge sundae in my head ;)
I am going...to meet with mom and dad tonight to have a planning meeting for our trip a week from today.
I am reading...my Bible and sermon notes from yesterday
I am hoping...for lots of extra strength and energy this week!
I am hearing...the children doing their school, J is helping B figure out her math problem she is stuck on.
Around the house...is lots of busyness
One of my favorite things...is playing my violin and having my husband be surprised at how much I have progressed. (My son one day came in and said, You are doing good mom! It sounds like a squeeky mouse!")
A few plans for the rest of the week: VERY BUSY! Preparations for our trip. Shopping for supplies, packing, loading van and travel trailer, getting oil changed on van. Plus, a Keepers Meeting (tea party/hospitality!) and piano recital for a friend to go to on Sat. Pulling out by 6am Monday morning to head to Tx! (So, no Simple Woman's Daybook for a couple weeks.)

I am looking forward to...seeing my brother and all the exciting graduation events at Air Force Boot Camp!!! Stopping over to see several friends in Houston over lunch time on the way there. Enjoying time with Mom and Dad/Grandma and Grandpa. Falling back into my husband's arms again 9 days later!

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...

A new family member has been born and will be added to our home in just a few weeks. S said I got to name her this time. I will introduce her later with a picture of just her.

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Movie review

I have been watching on my instant netflicks a BBC series called "Wives and Daughters". It is 300 minutes long and I have just completed the third of the four sections. I must say...I am hooked. It is a fabulous movie and I don't know but I like it better than the Jane Austin movies I have seen. There is so much character in Molly and although it starts out slower, the plot becomes very engaging. I absolutely am enjoying this movie so much that I just found on half.com a VHS set for under $15.00 that I ordered. I would love to show this to my girls. The two girls in the movie are the examples of the foolish vs the virtuous woman. It also shows what true love looks like vs. infatuation. I can't wait to have my whole family watch this film. The music is very beautiful as well. I went looking online for the soundtrack, but could not find one. Here is a Youtube video of one of the songs for you to enjoy...

Slideshow of B's birthday

Beka's Birthday Dress that Mama made her.

My little precious ones...
Thanks W. for your gift!
Our beautiful princess
Happy Birthday to you!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After working a good share of the day in the kitchen with B, we have a nice hot meal to enjoy by candlelight tonight. Then, I decided to work on her birthday slideshow, cause I was so exhausted! She had such a fun time. We had a "fancy" theme, so we used my fine china and the girls dressed up and looked like little china dolls. She had a fancy tart for her "cake". MamaMo and Bapa came to enjoy the night with us, as well as Josh and Stefanie. I think everyone had a great time! The children had made her several homemade gifts, handmade purses and clay items. You will see several of them in the slideshow.

My children are growing up...

For B's 9th birthday a friend gave her a copy of this cookbook. It is filled with colorful pages with wonderful explanations about cooking and baking basics. Then just the other day, Daddy mentioned that it was time for the girls to maybe start taking a load off me, one night a week and do supper. Of course, we will start simple when they actually go at it alone. But, I think the girls will do quite well.

So, I decided that I would go ahead and pick out a full meal for B to make for us all, with me helping her step by step and training her along the way. She is making: Pork and Bacon Pasta, Tomato and Mozzarella Salad, and Shortbread for dessert. I let E help B and I with the dessert this morning. They had so much fun learning how to make shortbread and the house smells so yummy now! B and I are going to work on the main meal this afternoon when the littles are down for their naps, and the remaining children busy.

Working with the measuring cups and spoons, and cooking basics is great math and science for her. Makes me think about Alton Brown on Good Eats. Ever watch that show? FASCINATING! He actually shows you the science behind why you do what you do in cooking. What is happening on a molecular structure when you boil this or that.

In other news...

My son has gotten his own gmail account. Did I just write that? Yes, my baby is now online. It's been wonderful to see him enjoy chatting with his dad during the day, or emailing his Grandma. I have started sending him "motherly letters" giving him words of wisdom and little secret projects that are between us and him, that he can do to bless his siblings, etc. He is enjoying it. And it is great to see his typing skills getting faster and faster. I do not want to publically share his email up on the web, but if you would like to write to him, post a comment here or email me and I will give you his email address.

So thats the news today, for Thurs. Nov. 5th, 2009

School days, school days...

Today we got an earlier start on school. I would like to say it was because of diligence, but I think the time change might have had more to do with it. Anyhow, S worked at home for an hour, so I got the privilege of seeing him this morning and sending him out the door with a nice breakfast. Now, I just burst your bubble didn’t I? I know, most of you might think that my husband gets a nice breakfast and cheerful wife to wave goodbye to him every morning. But, normally this is not the case, sigh. But…today it was. Ok, so I need to work more on the cheerful part in the morning. Did any of you think I was a morning person? LOL! But, back to the topic at hand.

It was so nice to get to hug my hubby at the start of the day and get an earlier start. We started off school with family worship as normal, reading in Ezekiel, which is where we are in our history. Then, we watched part a lecture by SM Davis on the powerful influence of older siblings on the younger family members. The older children took notes along with watching the lecture. We followed this with history, where the children had flat bread pieces rolled up like scrolls so that they could eat their scrolls like the Lord told Ezekiel to do. The picture below is of the children with their bread scrolls. You should have heard them break out into harmony singing about their scrolls. It was precious and I thought maybe we were in the middle of music class instead of history.

After history and a short break they tackled their math, and independent reading.

They are now playing outside and we will soon all have lunch. Then, I am going to put the troops to work, because the house shows our productivity today, by bread crumbs and papers, etc throughout the house. So we will work together and have it spruced up in no time. Then, we are going to load up our bikes and enjoy this most gorgeous fall weather. We are going to head out to SpringMeadows and meet the V family for some bike riding and playtime. After that we will head over to get Miss Stefanie (who comes Tues nights to help me on Wed.), get a few groceries and drop off something at the library.

Now there are a few details of Tuesday Nov. 2. Weren’t you just sitting around wondering how my day was going? (smile)

Update: my children came in (J on his own says "I need to do my science", W says regarding lunch "I will make some". THIS is progress. :)

Taken the plunge...

I have taken the plunge and spent six dollars at half.com to purchase the book The Flat Belly Diet. I really have been needing to get back to trying to get some of this excess "fluff" off. I used to blame it on the babies, but H is uh, how old?...oh yah, she will be 4 in Feb. Anyhow, why not do the tried and true weight watchers? Well, I could and seriously considered it, and may some day again. After all, I know the program and it really does work. But, after doing some research there are a few things I really like about this approach.

1. A friend of mine at church is doing it, so we can encourage each other. And. I. really. need. accountability. Going to ww meetings is just really hard at this stage in my life, so the support of a dear friend, who I see twice a week will be wonderful.

2. The diet is very healthy, using good fats, olive oil, nuts, avacados, and could I mention dark chocolate? They claim this is the key to getting rid of the belly fat. The MUFAs (Monounsaturated fatty acids) are very beneficial to your body.

3. They give you actual meal plans and menus to follow. This way I don't have to think. I have enough decisions in my life. It will be nice to be told what to eat. :)

4. Did I mention the dark chocolate in the plan?

Anyhow, just thought I would share this new journey that I am going to try to embark on. We shall see how it goes. Maybe I should wait though till after our out of town trip, because you know what it is like on the road. But then, we get home the day before Thanksgiving, you know what Thanksgiving is like. But then, we hope to go to Arkansas at the end of the year, you KNOW what Nona's cooking is like...OK, ENOUGH. I will be starting as soon as the book arrives...

Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY
November 1, 2009
Outside my window...absolutely beautiful, sunshiny crisp fall day again. Windows are open. Could not ask for prettier weather.
I am thinking...how much I need God's grace to do this calling He has given me.
I am thankful for... His mercies which are new every morning.
From the learning rooms...in history this morning we learned about Aesop and read some of his fables while the children colored a picture of one of the stories. Independant reading, math, science reading, copywork are either done or getting done this afternoon.
From the kitchen...onions are being sauteed in butter to begin a white sauce that will be my base for the chicken chili that I am making for dinner. I will be calling in the children for sandwiches soon.
I am wearing...a big blue striped polo shirt of S's and a white skirt. Barefoot again. :)
I am creating...the next generation. (well, actually I am raising them, not creating them)
I am going...to Tx in a couple weeks, Lord willing, for my brother's boot camp graduation
I am reading...my Bible
I am thinking about... starting a new diet (the flat belly diet :) )--doing some research on it now. Might do it with a friend of mine from church.
I am hearing...dogs barking, children playing outside--they just love the trampoline!
Around the house...are school books, school papers, and signs of a busy home.
One of my favorite things...sipping a glass of wine in the evening with a candle burning.
A few plans for the rest of the week: Normal schooling. A couple of friends might come over to spend the day with us later in the week. Saturday we are trying again for the church picnic that got postponed. Beginning to need to think of my trip preparations.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...

These were our little cowgirls at the Keepers Class/birthday party Saturday...

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