Apple Blossoms

This crazy weather, I tell ya. I never thought I would be out in almost freezing weather putting sheets and newspapers over plants, yet here I am. My 2 compact apple trees are actually now in the ground and looking good, just getting ready to get pretty, and tonight is supposed to be in the 20s. We had 80 degree weather this past weekend, and this coming weekend will be in the 70s, yet today we are having snow flurries. It's just not the way it's supposed to be (according to all the seasons books we read!)

I'm heading off to physical therapy in an hour or so. I actually kind of enjoy it. I think it's helping, but I didn't do myself any favors holding toddlers in the nursery yesterday at CHAT. I loved being able to calm some of them down, but my back is paying for it today.

This our awesome new puppy! He is such a sweet boy. He came from the Atlanta Humane Society and we picked him up yesterday. He loves to be cuddled and is very gentle.

Facebook is a blog killer.

Blogs are email killers.
Emails are phone killers.
Phones are personal visit killers.
Makes you wonder what's next.

Actually, due to facebook I'm in much better contact with my extended family than I've ever been before and I am very thankful for that. It's is an amazing world that we live in. In my lifetime I've seen dial phones to cell phones, coin operated TVs to HDTV Wall Mounted Flat Panels, manual typewriters to computers that get bigger (or smaller), better, faster, more every day. Environmental awareness has been around all of my lifetime, but I still see an astounding amount of waste. Makes me more than a little afraid for the future of the planet we have been entrusted with.

I just finished listening to a 6 part sermon series by Andy Stanley called Balanced. It was fascinating to me. It's all about money, how we think about it and how we handle it, and how that affects our relationship with God. I've never much cared for churches talking about money, but I eagerly looked forward to each new week of this series. I have to say I don't think any other sermon has ever affected my life so profoundly. I feel like I've been shown a path that will lead to increased peace in my life - and I totally plan to take it.

Photo: Kyle O'Neal, Worship Leader at Church at The Well

I got to spend about 3 hours out shooting yesterday, trying to capture some images for a slideshow at Church at the Well. They wanted to play them while Kyle sings God Of This City. I left the girls with their grandparents (as I didn't think having them run around on the train tracks was a good idea) and I had fun, but man was it COLD! I spent many hours last night and today post processing them and I'm quite pleased with how they turned out. I've run out of space on my computer though, so my next big project is to set up my photo filing system and free up some hard drive space.

A Christmas Wedding and a little too much holiday cheer.

So, I'm definitely managing to cut back on outside jobs/projects and really focusing on my family. It's a super nice feeling to be able to keep the house clean, provide good meals, homeschool well, study the bible, take care of my pets and spend quality time with my husband and children. On the same token, however, I seem tired a lot and am totally over-eating (a weight gain of 10+ lbs - yikes!). I guess the first thing I'll be adding into my schedule is a diet and exercise routine. :(

I did get the photos Todd and I took at Kyle and Melissa's wedding processed up. I think these are my favorites from the bunch.

Christmastime

I love Christmas. Absolutely LOVE it. And it is so much more special with the children, watching their excitement build as they stare in amazement at all of the lights and decorations and sing along to my favorite carols. This year we've really been trying to focus on the true meaning of Christmas and my heart warms through and through when I see both of my children to gaze in wonderous awe at the baby Jesus in any nativity scene.

We went to see The Nativity Ballet performance by the Steps of Faith dance company this past week and it was really lovely. They did such a great job! J and I went to get our hair done this weekend too...J's first professional haircut. It looks so cute!

All of the shopping is complete, my wrapping is done, tomorrow is cleaning and laundry day. Tuesday we'll be helping set up our Church at the Civic Center for the Christmas Eve service. I know it will be beautiful!

We've had a TON of rain this past week. Perfect for a puddle-jumping, mud-pie-making exploration for the girls. They had a blast!

A Dgrin Day

Yesterday I tried something new with the Dgrin Challenges by putting all of the entries in a gallery. With everything combined (nasty-grams from disgruntled people included), I spent over 8 hours on it. Then another two in the wee hours of the morning trying to wrap things up. My poor kids didn't get any schooling and were bored totally, so it better not take any where near as long next time! Today I plan to be much more productive (HA!).

(Photo: Another of Lana...keeping her in my prayers today)

This week has been a good one, although a little tiring. I'm still dealing with the asthma crap, and now the doctor has put me on prednisone for 4 days. He says that should wipe it out. I really hope so!

We've spent the week preparing activities for school (Nativity and Thanksgiving lapbooks, country studies, book studies, etc.). We have almost completed our study on Egypt and the coinciding lapbook, and J is sure she now wants an Abyssinian. :) We went to the Chattanooga Zoo where J had a zoo "I Spy..." to complete. She had to write the name and draw a picture of "an animal with scales, an animal with fur, an animal that lays eggs" etc. It was the first time she has really taken her time to look at the animals and it made a big impact. The zoo is laid out by continents, which is perfect for our geographical studies. We've almost got the lapbook on animals completed now too.

N is sick (again) and was running a fever all last night, super congested and pretty miserable. So...it looks like Todd will be staying home with her tomorrow while I go run the church nursery. Praise the Lord that I have Christina helping me now - it really makes me able to handle it so much better.

So, here's a cute kid story...

Dian got me some mylar balloons on my birthday and the kids have been playing with them since. Yesterday, Natalie was sitting with me, holding her ballon and breaks into the birthday song. The only thing was, she was singing "Happy Dirt Day, Dear Mommy", so she must have gotten the lyrics confused. Or maybe not.

Today I found another great website for our homeschooling (www.filefolderfun.com). It has all kinds of learning games that you use a file folder to make. I put together a couple today, using my own little added twists, and I think they're really neat. These will be especially useful for N to do while J is doing lapbooks. They have a similar look to the lapbooks, so she'll feel like she's really involved. I've got several more printed off and ready to be put together!