"One Word" for 2016

Happy New Year! Wishing you and your family all the best in 2016!

Maybe I'm old, but I swear it feels like we were just ushering in 2000! The past few years have flown by way to quickly. When we were kids celebrating the new year was filled with shouts of cheers and an excitement for what the new year may bring. We jumped up and down and cheered along with Dick Clark as the ball (or apple) fell. When you're young, life seems to move at a slower pace. Some of my favorite memories as a child is receiving the brightly colored hats and tiaras from my grandparents night out dancing. Of course, we were given the wonderful noise makers too. We loved pretending we were out dancing ringing in the new year. Both my grandparents have since passed on, but their memories live in my heart.

Now as an older adult (middle aged could be used to describe  me and I'm not sure how or when that happened), I look ahead at the years to come and the years that have passed and realize that I have more years in the past than I might have in the future. A sobering fact to come to terms with.
As we age, we get sentimental, long for the good old days, and realize that life goes by faster than we thought. We look at our lives and realize what truly matters. Our families and the time we get to spend with them.

This year, I am joining in on choosing a word for 2016. This is my first year searching for a word. I have to tell you it's not an easy thing to do. I thought hard and prayed even harder about it and finally came up with my word. Courage.

Courage

~ the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear; bravery

 ~ to act in accordance with one's beliefs, especially in spite of criticism

Courage seems like a easy word to choose, but it's a hard word to follow. How many times do we need courage and lack it? How often do we give up, become defeated, and filled with pain. It takes strength and courage to stay strong in our daily battles. Every day we are faced with challenges, some come from the outside world, some from our Christian faith, and some from our own families. So my goal this year is to stand up for what is right. Stand up to those that do wrong and encourage them to follow the right path. Stand up and face those that bully and degrade others. I want  my kids to see a strong mother willing to fight for what is right. A mother that follows Christ and leads others to him.

We need to trust in Him and have no fear.

I know in the upcoming year, I am going to face a few challenges that will need courage. I hope I can faith these difficulties with grace, fairness, and courage. I ask for your prayers throughout the year.

What is your word for 2016?

Be sure to stop by the Schoolhouse Review Crew to see what words my friends have chosen!

You can read all about it here.

Make sure you don't miss a thing! 

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July Blogging Challenge~ Day 5

Home

What is home?

Home isn't the fancy house that looks like a museum.
Home is where the people you love and cherish reside. It's not the physical structure, but the people that fill it with laughter, tears, smiles, and giggles.

Home is the life you build together as a family.

The first day in your new home as husband and wife.
The sweet baby that fills the nights with cries and the days with laughter.
The first smile from a chubby little face.
It's saying goodbye to babies you will never hold.
It's the nights holding a sick child in your arms praying to God she gets better.
The first book read to you by a child.
It's Baptisms, First Holy Communions, and sharing your faith in every day life.
Bedtime stories.
Playing hide and seek and finding nooks to hide in.
Creating magical birthdays.
Spending days just doing ordinary things.
Playing store or kitchen with eager little kids.
It's listening to stories about dinosaurs and ice cream men over and over.
It's kissing the boo boos and bandaging up skinned knees.
Watching the look of pride come across the face of a child when they learn to ride a bike.
It wrapping your arms around children as they say good bye to the dog.
It's realizing that as a parent we can't always protect.
It's listening to little boys talk about snakes and bugs.
It's traveling together and exploring new parts of the world.
It's spending time with 4 generations.
It's a little boy picking out a train to put in his great-grandfather's casket to say goodbye.
Night time prayers.
Butterfly kisses.

It's life. It's the every day events.

Home is looking at the days that have passed and the days that will come and being filled with joy. It's praising God for what has been given and being grateful for all that you have been blessed with.

Join in on the fun!

                                           

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A Visit to Dutch Wonderland

While visiting my parents, we were able to head north to Pennsylvania and have fun at Dutch Wonderland. 

We had taken the kids awhile ago, when they were 4 and under, so they barely remembered it. In fact, I doubt they remembered it much at all, Princess P was only 1 the first time we went. A few things had changed and since they were a LOT bigger, they were able to ride the "big" kid rides.

We feed the fish as we walked over the floating bridge. These fish our huge!

They got to climb in a carriage and pretend to be Amish. There is a little display in the park about the Amish and you will see Amish on the back roads. They have such beautiful farms and I love how they take so much pride in their homes. The flowers are just breathtaking on their porches and in their yards. 

Bumper cars were a hit! Princess P was a little upset since she couldn't drive her own car. Last year in Dollywood, she was allowed to drive her own car. Different place, different rules. They had fun bumping into others. One little girl about Princess P's age just couldn't get the hang of it. She kept going around and around in the same spot. The only time she would move forward was if someone bumped her. She gave her mom and us a good laugh. I'm sure she was dizzy after the ride ended...poor thing.

We got to see the newly opened Exploration Island. The dinosaurs were cute and moved their heads and tails. Lego Man would have loved this when he was two and could name EVERY dinosaur. He liked looking at the dinosaurs, but sadly I think he is heading into being too "old" for somethings.

I think this is a great addition for little boys who LOVE dinosaurs! If you have a little man who is all about dinosaurs I would check it out!

The kids were tall enough for a roller coaster. They tried to ride one last year at Dollywood, but backed out at the last minute. The roller coaster at Dutch Wonderland is perfect for kids that are between adult rides and the kiddie rides. It's larger than a kiddie coaster but not too large that it scares them to death.
 They loved the coaster and rode it 6 times!

Maybe they will be adventurous the next time we head to a park and ride a bigger roller coaster.

They had fun and enjoyed themselves. Sadly, I think this was our last year there. They kids are just too tall for most of the rides. They must be getting those tall jeans from daddy! 

The Homeschool Mother's Journal/Weekly Wrap Up

~1~

In our homeschool this week

On Monday, we went on a field trip with our homeschool group. We visited a local children's museum in our area and learned about water, wind, and weather. The kids had fun learning while hanging out with their friends

Tuesday and Wednesday were regular old school days. The kids worked on their regular subjects. We did start reading Minn of the Mississippi by Holling C. Holling. We will be spending the next 9 weeks on this book. I love when children learn through great literature. I am trying to come up with a few fun lesson ideas to go along with this book.

Thursday, the kids drew a picture of a snapping turtle to go along with our Minn of the Mississippi lesson. 

While drawing, they listened to Johann Strauss. He is the composer we will be listening to and learning about this semester. 

Friday was an easy day. We had finished a lot of are lessons up during the rest of the week. We started our artist study. We will be studying Vincent Van Gogh.

~2~

In my life this week

We have cleaned up half of the house. I have started making piles of stuff to throw away or donate. For the past 2 years, I have done the 40 bags in 40 days during Lent. It always amazes me how much stuff/junk we can accumulate in a year. It's like dust bunnies. They just multiply under the couch. 

I am almost caught up on laundry. My goal is not to fall behind again at least not for a few months. 

It may be wishful thinking on my part.

We ordered all our seeds for the garden this year. I am so excited to get started on our garden. We have peas, beans, corn, tomatoes, peppers, carrots, broccoli, lettuce, flowers, etc. 

~3~

What I have been working on

I have completed the photo albums for 2008! Now I only have all the photos from 2009 to the present to work on. Hopefully I can catch up soon.

I now have to work on the children's scrapbooks. I just have to add Christmas to their 2008 book and then I can move onto 2009.

~4~

What the kids are reading

Lego Man is still reading the Hobbit. He is enjoying it immensely. 

Princess P put reading on hold this week. She asked me to read to her each night this week. We have been reading some of storybooks off her shelves that we haven't read in awhile. She still isn't feeling great, so I think she just wanted to relax and unwind before bed. It's not fun to read when you have a headache. I hope she starts to feel better soon. I'll be very happy when she is 100% again.

~5~

Craziness in our week

Maddie has been a wild thing the past few nights.

 Running around the house, chasing the cats, leaping over furniture, and stealing food off the table. I will be so happy when it's finally warm out so we can take her for long walks and she can play in the creek.

She has so much energy that needs to be let out. 

~6~

What I am sewing

I am still woring on a wool skirt that I bought at the thrift store. It was way too big and I am taking it apart and remaking it. I started it and now I am thinking of putting it on hold until next winter. My goal is to lose 20 pounds, so I would hate to finish it and have it be too big. 

I may just put it aside and start on some skirts for Princess P.

~7~

New recipes I've tried

The kids have been asking for banana muffins, so after letting the bananas ripen I made some. I altered two recipes, my grandmother's recipe and a streusel recipe. I changed the recipes and created a gluten free version. The kids loved them. They are moist and a little spongy. I used 4 bananas, so I am thinking of adding 1 less next time. They do have an amazing banana flavor though!

Linking up with.....The Homeschool Mother's Journal , Weekly Wrap-Up, 7 Quick Takes, Friendship Friday, Homeschool Review, Family Fun Friday, Live and Learn, Random 5, and Hearts for Home

{pretty. happy, funny, real}

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life~

Every Thursday at Like Mother, Like Daughter

{pretty}

This past weekend we had a rare warm day of 60 degrees. After spending so many days indoors, everyone ventured outside. It was wonderful to feel the warm sunshine. It was great to just be outside and not freeze to death.

Even Mama Kitty strolled outdoors. 

She stayed out all day enjoying the fresh air. She is not a kitty that likes the snow, the cold, or the rain.

{happy}

Lego Man was excited to be able to head out and shoot his rocket he got for his birthday from a friend.

He couldn't wait to see how high it could go.

Of course, Toughy was happy to chase after the rockets as they flew across the yard and up into the sky.

The only bad part of living in the woods is all the trees.

Unfortunately, some of the rockets landed in tree branches.

It was was wonderful day to play outside and get some much needed fresh air.

{funny}

Maddie found a stick to play with or more appropriately said she found a big old tree limb.

It was funny to watch her try to carry around the log since it was bigger than her.

Three rockets came with the rocket launcher and two rockets were snagged in the tree. Thankfully we were able to knock them down out of the tree with a soccer ball.

{real}

Our sweet little puppy isn't so little anymore. She is now larger than our last dog and is still growing.

She is such a sweetheart and loves her family.

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life~

Every Thursday at Like Mother, Like Daughter {pretty}
Flowers from when we were on vacation. Just beautiful. I was going through pictures to get printed when I saw these photos. I took the photos to give me ideas for our own floor garden back home.

The bright colors and gorgeous arrangements make me long for spring and summer.

I long for warm breezes, the sun shining on my face, and the grass between my brightly colored toes.

{happy}

This picture is an older one of our sweet puppy, but it shows her playing with her toys.

While up visiting my mom, she gave us a plastic shopping bag full of rubber dog toys her dogs didn't like.

Well, Hoover (her nickname since she eats everything in sight) found the bag on the dining room table.

She was so excited. She would take a toy out, play with it and then head back to get a new one.

She found a glove, a ball, french fries, a tire, and finally a football.

We moved the bag so she wouldn't get them all in one day.

She was a little disappointed with us after that. {funny} 
Funny, but then again not that funny. With the frigid temps and all the sick people in the house, the animals have got a little restless.  With boredom comes chaos.  The cat taunts the dog. Dog chases cat. Cat goes flying through the air to avoid wild and crazy dog.

Mama's lamp gets broken. 

The phone crashes onto to the floor along with my alarm clock.

I guess they thought I needed a new lamp for my night stand.

I am so ready for Spring and the warm weather it brings!!

{real}
Sickies! We have had a house full of sick people the last few weeks.

I can't wait till we are all 100% better. 

I can get back to organizing, cleaning and yes taking down Christmas!

Happy New Year!

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:

where there is hatred, let me sow love

where there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

where there is sadness, joy.

Good Master, grant

that I may not so much seek to be consoled

as to console,

to be understood as to understand,

to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive,

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

it is in dying

that we are born to eternal life. Amen.

Wishing you all a peaceful and blessed New Year!

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

~Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life~

Every Thursday at Like Mother, Like Daughter

{pretty}
As part of our Advent celebration, we have been doing fun crafts, baking, and learning more about this wonderful season. A few days ago, we read The Legend of the Poinsettia and the children created a beautiful poinsettia garland for our school room.

It makes the school room rather festive!

{happy}
A certain black puppy has way too much energy. So we found a fun, creative way to challenge on these cold days.

We found a round rubber ball, since she LOVES to chew on Crocs, with some holes in it. We slide a bone into the ball and she works hard to get it out.

It keeps her busy and challenges her to use her thinking skills.

It's a win-win situation for us all.

It really come in handy when we are trying to get some school work done.

{funny}
Yesterday, we had a vet appointment for two of animals. You have to keep them healthy. Baby 

and the puppy

The whole way there, thank goodness our vet is close by only 15 minutes, the two of them carried on. Baby meowed every few seconds and Puppy whimpered and whined constantly. 

We had our own choir in the car.

{real}

This is from 2 weeks ago.

Chewed up markers, crayons, chalk, Legos, shoes, erasures, phone cords. She loves slippers! Last night, a certain little puppy sat under the Christmas tree and ate through a light wire. Now a section in the front our tree is black as night.  It looks like I will be heading out to buy a new strand of lights.