In the Christmas mood?

From reading other blogs, it seems so many people already have their tree up. Am I the only one that doesn't feel in the mood for that just yet??

I am making a lot of headway on my shopping, but haven't thought about decorating just yet. Of course, first I have to take my fall decorations down. =)

We had a warm day today but it's supposed to cool down again tomorrow with a chance for more snow. We didn't get much from last week's storm. There was a bit more in Wyoming on the way to my parents', but not much:

Scott is working in Idaho this week. He was able to take Chase with him. His company is great about things like that. So they had a looong 12 hour drive there yesterday. But they are staying in a very nice hotel and Chase got to swim and play pool before bed so he was happy. They should be home by the weekend.

With Chase gone, we're having a light school week. And the plan is to start on making some Christmas gifts, but we haven't gotten to it yet. Maybe tomorrow.

Okay, now I'm just rambling. =) Maybe playing some Christmas music would put me more in the mood?

Tired

I've been meaning to blog but haven't found the time until now. Thursday morning we got up very early and went to my parents' house in the mountains for Thanksgiving. We'd received a light snow the day before and some of the roads were a bit slick. Overall, it was a good trip and we arrived there by lunchtime. My mom had a great meal already prepared so we were able to eat right away. Thanks, Mom! It was delicious.

Friday my mom and I got up at the ghastly hour of 3am. We drove to Laramie, WY, which is the closest "large" city. I love shopping there on Black Friday. No lines, friendly salespeople and they don't run out of the doorbuster sales items. I do NOT shop in Denver on this day.

We got some good deals, had a nice breakfast and drove another hour back into Colorado, to Ft. Collins. It's busier there, but we avoid the stores that get crazy. We finished up our shopping by late afternoon and had a late lunch/early dinner at Macaroni Grill. Yum! It was my mom's first time there and I think she really enjoyed it.

We got back to her house at 8pm, a mere 16 hours after we'd left. We were exhausted, but it was a fun day. We finished up the majority of our Christmas shopping and got to spend the whole day together, which was the best part.

Saturday we left for home. Once we arrived, we unpacked our vehicle and then headed out to help family that had to move unexpectedly. That made for another long day.

Today we went to the early service at church, then Scott had to replace our hot water heater which had gone out. =( While he did that, I helped more with the moving, took the kids to a birthday party, took Brenna to a play rehearsal, and bought groceries.

So I say again, I'm tired. LOL

To Whom am I Thankful?

Lee posted this on my favorite homeschool list and I wanted to share it:

To Whom Am I Thankful and What Am I Thankful For?

Col 1:12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in theinheritance of the saints in light.

Heb 12:28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannotbe shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverenceand awe,

Heb 12:29 for our God is a consuming fire.

Col 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching andadmonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns andspiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

Col 3:17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the LordJesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Psa 50:14 Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the MostHigh

Psa 50:23 The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one whoorders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!"

Psa 69:30 I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him withthanksgiving.

Psa 95:2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noiseto him with songs of praise!

Psa 100:1A Psalm for giving thanks. Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!

Psa 100:4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanksto him; bless his name!

Psa 147:7 Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving; make melody to our God on the lyre!

Php 4:6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer andsupplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Col 4:2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving

Rev. 7:12 saying, "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor andpower and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen."

BRRRR

Our changing Colorado weather: yesterday it was in the high 70s and the kids played outside in shorts. Today it was 35 degrees and the kids played outside in coats and huddled in their "fort" drinking mugs of cocoa.

Tomorrow is to be colder still and there's talk of white stuff falling from the sky. I may actually have snow pictures to share soon.

Winter is upon us.

Volunteerism

We had a great opportunity this week through the Scouts program. We met my son's Cub Scouts troop and my daughter's Brownie troop at COMPA food ministry. Last weekend the ministry received a huge amount of donated food items through a local news station's collection.

We went through many, many large boxes of items to separate them into smaller boxes of either canned goods or dry goods. All the kids there worked very hard, I was so proud of them.

AWANA Grand Prix

Each year at AWANA, the kids aged 3rd grade through 6th grade participate in a Grand Prix. They take a block of wood and carve, paint and decorate away and then race against the other students. They can design an actual car or choose to go the "novelty" route. This Wednesday was the race.

This was Brenna's first year to be old enough to compete. She thought long and hard about her design and finally designed on Chapstick. LOL She helped Dad but he did the detail work. She took 1st place in the novelty category.

Chase decided to do a 9-volt battery. He got 3rd place in the speed category.

There are great designs every year. Note the spoon with peas (3rd from the right) and the bubblegum(far right).

School update

See -- I knew I wouldn't update weekly. =) Maybe I'll try for monthly.

We are continuing with our studies of Rome, although we're nearing the end. We're also almost done with our read-aloud "The Bronze Bow." That is a great book which I highly recommend. Next up is "Twice Freed".

On Fridays, the kids attend "Friday school". Those are classes of their choice offered by FACE (Family Academy of Christian Education). We are new to the program this year and it's been good. The kids can switch classes each month if they want or need to.

Brenna has taken sewing each month and her teacher is great. She has them jump in right away. Brenna has made a bag, a scrunchie, a pillowcase and an apron. Now she's working on Christmas gifts, which I won't name here to keep the surprise. She tried Introduction to Watercolor and a crafting class but didn't enjoy them so she's now looking for something new to try come January. She also has her Brownie troop meetings at this church on Friday after her classes.

Chase takes Chess each month and has gotten quite good. He beat his dad for the first time last night and Scott still hasn't recovered. LOL He took a fitness class for one month and also does Cub Scouts.

Conner is only taking a fitness class so far. There wasn't much else that interested him and honestly, I'm not minding that one bit. It means he's with me most the day and he is such a HUGE help that I don't know what I'd do without him. =)

I tried Aiden in a Pre-K class, but most of what they did he already gets at home or AWANA or church. So I couldn't see paying for it. And he'll have plenty of time next year or the next for classes. So for now he hangs with Mom and his baby brother all day.

Besides Friday school, FACE also has many field trips, a yearbook, testing and many other things. It's a wonderful resource for us right now. In past years, I preferred for us to stay mostly on our own. We needed the time at home to establish our homeschooling routine. Now the kids are older and I'm a little better at time management (I hope). So for this time in our lives we are venturing out more.

Conner will be considered *gasp* a high-schooler next year and FACE offers a lot of help in that area. Many classes, testing, even lettering. They also have graduation and diplomas. Another thing I plan to look into next year is working there in some capacity. You can teach a class or do some of the administrative work and they either pay you or you can put that toward your childrens' classes.

Here are a few pics of assemblies we've attended there this year so far.

This was a reptile show:

Aiden didn't enjoy the smell of the turtle:

A meteorologist, Mike Nelson, from one of our local stations visited. The kids just loved him. He gave a great talk and they learned so much. He filmed all the kids and they were shown on the news for a few seconds that night.

This last week there was a Birds of Prey assembly. The kids got to see a hawk, an owl, a falcon and a bald eagle up close. But I forgot my camera.

Gotta love those after-Halloween costume sales

(These were all 90% off -- woohoo!)

And for those days when you just can't decide which one to wear:

relief

What began as a mild cold in me and two of the other children raged into a high fever in my little Zane. It was a sad, sad thing to see our normally exuberant little boy glassy-eyed and listless. Even when the Tylenol brought the fever down, he wasn't his playful self. He only wanted lots of cuddling and sleeping.

Last night before bed with the fever still high, we were comtemplating a doctor visit. It did come down somewhat so we decided to wait until morning. We prayed over him before I put him to bed. Being a typical worried Mommy, I stayed awake listening closely to the monitor. I spent extra time with the Bible and checked on him once or twice.

Finally, I knew I needed rest. And I needed to put his care in the One who loves him even more than I. I went to bed.

He woke me around 2:30 am. Still a fever, but much lower than before. He nursed well and went back to sleep.

He woke next at 7:30, fever-free. And it hasn't returned all day. Praise the Lord! He has been a bit sleepy and maybe less energetic than his norm, but the twinkle in his eye has returned and he spent much of the day playing with his siblings and getting into everything. Never thought I'd miss that so much!!

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7 (NIV)

independent eater

Zane is really, really enjoying the act of feeding himself.

Clean-up is not so enjoyable.

Harvest Festival

A great time was had by all at the Harvest Festival last night at our church. They were very well-prepared and had a great set up. There were inflatables to jump in, a cake walk, games with tickets for prizes, a magic show,and a free arcade. In the parking lot, the high school students hosted a trunk or treat. They parked their cars in a circle and handed out candy from their trunks for the younger crowd.

We cleaned up at the cake walk:

I'm looking forward to the chocolate cake myself. =)

The family candy bowl:

Good thing this comes around only once a year.