In Limbo...

Our house has been on the market for nearly three weeks.  We've had about 25 showings or so.  Most feedback has to do with it being "too small."  Not much we can do about that.  Just need to find the right young couple or empty nesters, I guess.  It is an interesting experiment in keeping this place tidy.  Getting out the door with two kids is hard enough, but now I have to do a full sweep of the house anytime we wanna go out to make sure it's pristine.  This evening I was in the middle of cooking dinner, and got a call for a showing for 6-7pm.  Problem was, it was already 6:05 and dinner was only half cooked!  We had them give us till 6:45, wolfed down our food, tidied like fools and got out.  Lol.  Such an adventure!

We've looked online at a list of houses for sale that our realtor gave us.  Narrowed down a list of about 125 to about 35.  There's not a lot of use going to look at these places until our house has some interest.  So, feeling a bit in limbo.  Waiting for something to happen.  The homeschool mom in me wants to start planning out school... normally, we'd be starting back up in a few weeks.  But, that stuff is in a tub under everything that's been piled and stashed in the closet. So, trying to let that go and not worry.

Preston has been doing Cub Scout Day Camp this week, and has been LOVING it.  I was freaking out on Sunday night.  This was our "kindergarten moment."  The first time I really took him somewhere, dropped him off with people who weren't family or super close friends, for SEVEN HOURS.  But he did great, I didn't cry, and all was well.  He has really had a great time out there, despite the 95-degree temps.  He's gone swimming, done archery and shot BB guns, and all kinds of fun things.  He's in heaven!  I'm really glad that he's doing well and enjoying this experience.  It's probably going to be one of the last scout activities he'll get to do.  The recent decision regarding openly homosexual scouts is just a bit too much.  I understand that at this age it's not an issue, however if that's the case, why did it have to be an ISSUE?!  I can only see it going further, and don't really want to have my child in the mix.  I love people of all sorts, but I do not agree with their lifestyle if they choose to live like that.  And I do not appreciate it being forced into places it doesn't even belong.  No, it shouldn't be an issue... but it is now, isn't it?  I'm very sad about it all.  Michael was an Eagle Scout.  My dad was an Eagle Scout.  And all Preston got was Tiger and Wolf?  It's been a hard decision, he doesn't even know yet - and I am not looking forward that conversation.  Mergh, it's just all so sad, really.  "Duty to God" is the scout motto... sigh.

Anyway, we finished up AWANA at church.  There is a new program going on starting next week called Art & Soul and I think the boys will enjoy that.  And, of course, we'll have VBS in July.  Hoping to do some more fun things while we're having our break.  And, Lord willing, we'll MOVE before the summer is up.  Lol.  My UBAM convention is next week.  CAN'T WAIT!!!

Homeschool Recap, March 8th (Week 27)...

In our Homeschool this week...
Tot School: We continued the 1plus1plus1equals1.net "Tot School" printables this week with letter "V" for Volcano!  We read a few books having to do with volcanoes: Hill of Fire, Big Friends, The Giant from the Little Island, Adventures of Polo and Dear Katie, The Volcano is a Girl.

Bible:   This week's name of Jesus was Servant. Preston's memory verse is Matthew 20:28 and we looked up verses in The Discoverer's Bible that talked about Jesus being a servant or that our job is to serve others.  We also put servant-hood into practice by joining a new group at our church called K.I.C.K.S. (Kids in Christ's Kingdom Serving) and we went to Mission Arlington on Saturday to help where we were needed.  The kids (and adults) sorted donated canned goods for several hours.

Reading/Writing: We continued Spelling by Sound & Structure. Continued with lesson 64-66 in Primary Language Lessons. We finished our read-aloud, On the Banks of Plum Creek, by Laura Ingalls Wilder and Preston wrote a short (two-sentence, lol) book report.

History: This week Preston learned about the Minnesota, Oregon and Abraham Lincoln.  We read Marven of the Great North Woods, The Buffalo Storm, Abraham Lincoln and A Picture Book of Abraham Lincoln.

Math: Preston continued Part B of Math Mammoth, Second Grade.  Finished Chapter 8, did chapter review, mixed review and took his chapter test.  This is the first math test he failed.  He can do regrouping subtraction, he just... didn't on the test.  I emphasized again and again, that he has to LOOK at the problem, read what it's asking to do, look at the signs make sure he knew how to proceed... but, when he was finished (and sure he did it all correct), he was pretty upset to see all of the problems he had missed because he just didn't do the subtraction problems correctly.  We'll definitely be working on that more.  We also started the next chapter, counting money/change.

Science:  This week's lesson was about material changes, using First Encyclopedia of Science  We also talked about "freezing and melting" using Science in the Kitchen.

Music/Art: Our patriotic song this week was "Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean."  We also continued our World's Greatest Artists, Vol 1 unit study, with our fifth artist: Henri Matisse. This week, Preston recreated Icarus and did his own version of panting with scissors using The Snail as an example.  Callen joined in too, and they both made nice pieces of art.

Prestons & Callen's paintings with scissors.

We listened to another track from Tchaikovsky Sleeping Beauty.

Spanish: Finished with the very last episode of Salsa. We reviewed words having to do with "Los numeros" in our First Thousand Words in Spanish and went through some review using the Spanish Words & Phrases Flashcards.

Last episode of Salsa!

We are using Adventures in My Father's World. See our curriculum here.



[This post contains affiliate links for Usborne Books & More and Amazon.com.  By clicking on those links and purchasing items, you are helping me continue to be a SAHM so that I can focus on homeschooling my children!  Thank you!]

Christmas 2012 Recap...

My goodness, here it is already January 8th, 2013... oops!  Being off of school for two weeks certainly didn't help me have extra time for anything... weird, huh?  I just realized I haven't blogged our Christmas, shared photos, etc.  Bad me!  I'll try to remember, though a lot of it is a daze because... honestly, we've been sick for the past 3-4 weeks.  Ugh, it's been awful for all four of us in the house.  But, we have had some good times in there, too!

Leading up to Christmas Eve, Preston and I attend some practices with the Children's ministry at GFC.  Preston was part of the production, and it went SO WELL!  The kids all did great, performing to Fred Hammond's "His Name is Jesus." Preston got to run around the whole sanctuary with a huge "Jesus" banner, and it was awesome!

His name is Jesus!  Jesus!

With all the Christmas Eve gifts!

After the Christmas Eve service, we went back to our house with my mom, dad and brother-in-law.  We had delicious food (including my mom's famous tuna sandwiches, lol) and we opened presents.

The boys received some wonderful gifts from Grandpa David and Grandma Darlene that they were very excited about, like Dreamlites!  Preston got the puppy to go with his puppy Pillow Pet and Callen got the giraffe he wanted.  They still go to sleep every night with those things on, they LOVE them... so funny.  Michael and I got coffee mugs and jeans, which were definitely needed!

Then, on Christmas morning, the boys woke up to their Santa gifts...

Santa brought Preston a Lego DS game, some funky notepads that change color when your write on them, cups, ear buds and some other stuff. Callen got a "Mario game" like he wanted (it was Yahtzee, not sure that's REALLY what he wanted, but he was happy with it, lol), and all kinds of little things too. We had breakfast and second breakfast (Michael made corn fritters!). Then Uncle Daniel came over and we opened presents, then went out to play in the snow. So incredible that we actually had a white Christmas... one that was white enough to really throw snowballs and SLED in. Preston was an expert sledder by the end of the day! So much fun!

Even though we were all sick off and on, we did some fun things like visit Mema, walk around the Galleria and see their giant Christmas tree.  We finished up our Advent/Christmas countdown with books.  Not sure I'll attempt that again, the boys fought over who got to unwrap the book every time, not exactly good for family bonding time.  Ha!  On New Year's Eve, we hung out with church friends, playing games and just having fun.  The rest of the time we rested, watched movies/tv, played games and enjoyed each others' company. 

Our Christmas book countdown!

 All in all, it was a great holiday vacation.  Hopefully we can finally get over our many illnesses and get back in the groove!  Happy New Year!

Homeschool Recap, August 17th (Week 5)...

In my life this week...

Last week we took a trip to Michigan to visit Michael's parents.  It was a great vacation, with only a few minor bumps (basically just 19 hours of driving each way and some grumpy kiddos).  I will post a blog on it soon, hopefully.  I have lots of pix to share and certainly want to record our trip for memory's sake here. This week was basically just recovery mode and trying to get back into the swing of "normal life."  We had a Homeschool Group meeting on Tuesday, plus I had Children's Ministry Training that evening.  We had lunch with my mom on Wednesday, then Children's Church that evening.  Michael had band practice at church (he's running sound on Sunday) and is working this evening.  I'll have AWANA training most of the day tomorrow, plus a friend's baby shower and then Michael works tomorrow evening too.  So... back in full swing, for sure!

In our Homeschool this week...

Tot School: We started the 1plus1plus1equals1.net "Tot School" printables this week with letter "A."  Callen was pretty excited to have his own notebook with things to do.  He loved saying, "I do school.  Where's my notebook?"  We worked on recognizing the letter, which he was already pretty good at, as well as went over apples and other kinds of fruits.  I use a notebook, the print outs in sheet protectors and Crayola Dry-Erase Crayons.  He colored, drew lines and circled various things as we went through it.  Some times I went through the pages with him, and other times I just handed him the notebook and let him do what he wanted.  He also put together a three-piece puzzle of an apple, worked on putting things in order and laced a laminated picture of an apple... he actually really enjoyed that for a while!  We also read lots of apple and fruit books this week, like A Cow's Alfalfa-Bet, The Bowl of Fruit, A Book of Fruit, Apple Picking Time, Apple Farmer Annie, Under the Apple Tree and Growing Colors.

Coloring the little apples red, then connecting them.

Identifying different fruits.

Three-piece apple/Aa puzzle.

Lacing the apple.

Bible: We continued with Jesus as the "Light of the World."  We used Mama Jenn's printable up on our Morning Board to help us continue memorizing John 8:12, which Preston seems to have down now.  We looked up verses in The Discoverer's Bible that described Jesus as light.  We made a sunshine craft to help remind us that God is the best source of light. (The lesson plans said to do a craft that includes crayon shavings, an iron, etc., but... yeah, we didn't do that, did this instead.)

You are my sunshine!

My only sunshine!

Reading/Writing: We continued Spelling by Sound & Structure.  The words got a little more difficult this week, but not much.  Preston is still breezing through it.  He only stumbled on the word "black" once on the very first day. And we started our first lessons in Primary Language Lessons.  So far, so good with that. I'm really curious as to how Preston is going to like/dislike it as we go.  So, we'll see!

History:  This week's history topic was The Pilgrims.  Our hands on activity was to create an oiled window, using a sheet of paper and cooking oil.  Preston was really impressed that it became see-through and water-proof with the oil!  We read a lot from our MFW books and library books, or books I already had.  Our main read-aloud from MFW was Squanto, Friend of the Pilgrims, which was we started and finished this week.  We also read If You Sailed on the Mayflower, Who's that Stepping on Plymouth Rock?, Samuel Eaton's Day, You Wouldn't Want to Sail on the Mayflower, and The Pilgrims of Plimoth.

Math: Preston worked on addition facts this week, including adding the next whole 10, adding over 10, then adding 9, 8 and 7.

Science:  We continued talking about space a bit, specifically the Big Dipper (read The Big Dipper), constellations and another close star called Betelgeuse. To show how much bigger Betelgeuse is than our own sun, we did a measuring experiment outside.  Basically, it's A LOT bigger.

It's from here to way over there!

Music/Art: We continued the My Very First Art Book, and did a dot finger painting. And in the My Very First Art Coloring Book, Preston and Callen colored a skyline of London with dots (or they were supposed to... basically just ended up in scribbles).

Preston's is a Sunrise on the Beach, he said.

Spanish: Continued with the next two episodes of Salsa. We reviewed words having to do with "La Calle" in our First Thousand Words in Spanish.  And we moved into our second lesson of La Clase Divertida!. We had a couple of hands on activities this time, including creating a color wheel and making Tostones.  The plantain was not really ripe enough so it didn't come out that great, boys weren't too crazy about 'em.  Going to try again next week after the second plantain has had some more time to ripen.

They were excited, and then not impressed.

We are using Adventures in My Father's World. See our curriculum here.

[This post contains affiliate links for Usborne Books & More and Amazon.com.  By clicking on those links and purchasing items, you are helping me continue to be a SAHM so that I can focus on homeschooling my children!  Thank you!]

Homeschool Recap, July 27th (Week 3)...

In my life this week...
My goodness, life is busy.  I hear you saying "Amen!" to that.  Geez.  Anyway, this week flew by, as usual.  I got a last minute call to sub in for Mother's Day Out at our church, so on Thursday we spent the day with some 4 and 5-year-olds.  I was really nervous about spending 6 hours with a classroom full of kids.  Turned out to only be 4 plus my two and we had a lot of fun (minus the part where Preston stepped on a nasty, jagged piece of glass while we were outside having "splash time" and cut his foot quite badly!  I swear, that kid!).  I was nervous because despite being a "homeschool teacher" I know I'm not cut out for teaching a bunch of kids at once... I just ... yeah, not my thing.  Lol.  I do Wednesday nights at church with the 3-5 year olds and they are too much for me most of the time, haha.  Anyway, thankfully, it went well. 

After all day doing that, Michael and I went on a "date night" to eat and then to the FreedomWorks (FreePAC) event at the AAC in Dallas.  We heard some fantastic speakers, and even though that's really not my "scene" I had a good time. 

Today I had another booth event, here in Grand Prairie... it was a Health Fair and I got to share information promoting literacy and Usborne Books & More.  Met lots of nice people... and animals(?).

Blue Cross/Blue Shield Bear w/Cuddle Bear!

Rascal the Raccoon w/ a book about Trees!

In our Homeschool this week...
We had to reschedule Thursday completely because of Mother's Day Out so we ended up squeezing in a lot of school on Friday.  But, since it was still relatively cool on Friday morning, I started the day off by taking the boys to a park we don't usually go to. They had a blast.

My new favorite picture of them!

Thankfully, we still got to do some of the Olympic activities I had planned even though Friday was so busy.  I am not much of a sports fan, really, but I LOVE the Olympics.  Have been counting down the days till Opening Ceremonies. I  wanted to get my kids pumped about it too, so I made use of some great resources.  We read Story of the Oympics, which covered the origin of the Games and then how they were resurrected and turned into the modern games they are.  I had Callen create a little book of Colored Rings and he did an Olympic Rings puzzle (well, he kind of did it, I did most of it, but he liked looking at it!).  Preston did a color-by-numbers Olympic Ring page and we talked about the meaning of the Rings.  And the boys both did an "O is for Olympics" craft using Cheerios.  We were gonna use Froot Loops, but Daddy ate them all before I could tell him I wanted to save 'em, haha!  Most of the printables we used came from 3 Dinosaurs and I Can Teach My Child!.

This ring is Purple.

Mama, you do it!

O is for Olympics!

Taking it very seriously, haha.

Tot School: This week involved lots of running around and coloring, of course.  We also continued using the Mama Jenn Education Cubes Alphabet Movements. Callen has these memorized now... so that when it lands on one, he'll say "It says... hop on one foot."  Love it!  We read several books suggested for Callen's age in Honey for a Child's Heart, like Fix-It Duck by Alborough and Little Fur Family by Brown.  Oh, and last weekend we taught Callen how to play the card game Uno.  He can easily match numbers and colors, this is the perfect game for him as long as he's in a cooperative mood!  Ha!

Uno!

Bible: We continued our first Name of Jesus this week: "Jesus - The Lord Saves."  and looked up some Old Testament verses in The Discoverer's Bible that spoke on the name "Jesus" and how he came to "save" us.

Reading/Writing: We continued Spelling by Sound & Structure.  Continued handwriting practice with the letters Kk through Rr.  Preston read aloud to his little brother.  Sweet boys.

Well, not overly sweet... sigh.

History:  This week we discussed Jamestown and Pocahontas!  Added to our History Notebook and Timeline.  We read from Story of America and American Pioneers and Patriots that come with MFW.  We also read Pocahontas by Raatma, Pocahontas: Princess of the New World by Krull, Jamestown, Virginia by Fradin and Who's Saying What in Jamestown, Thomas Savage? by Fritz.

Math:  Preston had his Chapter One test and completely aced it!  So proud.  I just handed him the one-page test and left the room, he read the instructions and filled it out on his own, and got every answer correct!  Woo hoo!  We then moved on to a review of telling time, including minutes and past/till.

Science:  Did a few pages of Science with Air this week, talking about how air puts pressure on things.  Did the 'ole hold a glass of water upside down and the cardboard keeps it sealed trick. Ha!

The cardboard stays stuck to the cup!

Music/Art: We continued the My Very First Art Book, this time the focus was "coloring in."  Preston doesn't enjoy coloring all that much, especially coloring things in... but he did great, his creations were quite nice!  We also did a page in the My Very First Art Coloring Book where he used different colors on the same picture to create different moods.

Coloring in.

Different moods, same picture.

Spanish: Preston and Callen both enjoyed the next two episodes of Salsa, which continues the story of Goldilocks & The Three Bears, but has moved way beyond the typical story... emphasizing colors, numbers and describing words.  We reviewed words having to do with "El Jardin" in our First Thousand Words in Spanish.  And we started the first lesson of La Clase Divertida!.  After watching the DVD once and listening to the CD once, both Preston and Callen walked around with the "Los Vocales" song stuck in there.  Pretty cute to hear a 2-year-old singing A-E-I-O-UUUUU!  Haha.  Love it.

We are using Adventures in My Father's World. See our curriculum here.

[This post contains affiliate links for Usborne Books & More and Amazon.com.  By clicking on those links and purchasing items, you are helping me continue to be a SAHM so that I can focus on homeschooling my children!  Thank you!]

Christmas 2011 Recap...

My goodness, I have a serious Christmas hangover.  I'm not the only one, right?  Geez.

Christmas Eve...

My parents came over, we all went to church for the Christmas Eve Service at Grace Fellowship Church.  It was really good - loved the music!  When we got back home, we ate delicious food like taco chili, my mom's tuna sandwiches (YUM!), Nutella Tarts, brownies, tamales, cheddar bacon dip, and so much more.  Then we got to open presents.  We mostly watched the boys enjoy their gifts.  They got books, clothes including a winter coat for Preston and cute monkey pjs for Callen, a tent/tube thingee to climb around in, a puzzle, a Glow Station and more!  My parents really spoiled those kids!  Michael got a tool and I got a Dutch Oven (yay!). After the kids were in bed (finally!), Michael and I stayed up and watched It's A Wonderful Life.

Christmas Morning...

The boys got to check their stockings, and then peek inside the Santa bags to see what their big gifts were.  Preston got a kid-sized guitar and Callen got a toy box for his room!  Then we headed back up to GFC for the Christmas Morning Service.  It was the exact same program, but the boys and I were helping with the nursery and Michael was helping with the stage.

Christmas Day...

After that, we came back home and gathered things up and went over to Michael's parents' house for lunch and more gifts.  We had the traditional ham and cheese sandwiches and potato chips, along with lots of sweets, of course.  And then, yes... more presents!  We again, mostly watched the boys tear into their haul (again, they were totally spoiled!).  They got more books (lol!), more clothes, a dinosaur, a car, a giant stuffed Scooby Doo, a neat art set and more!  I got some kitchen gadgets (yay, a garlic press!) and Michael received some gift cards to Abuelo's and Lowe's!  And we got a cotton candy maker!  We brought over Michael and Preston's guitars, and along with the piano and the various toy musical instruments they have, the family did some Christmas carols.  Lol.  It was kinda ridiculous.    

We hung out some more, Michael took a nap, the kids played.  Then, as soon as we got in the car to head back home, the boys crashed... we took more naps at home.

When I awoke from my nap, I opened the front door to turn on the Christmas lights and there was a box on the front porch that said "To The Clarks."  Inside were some toy trucks, a duck hunting game, some clothes for Michael and me... and an envelope of cash.  Michael and I just started crying, it was such a blessing.  We don't know where it came from, but thank you, Jesus!  The money is definitely going to help with paying for our car repairs (our car is in the shop right now to get the head gasket and water pump replaced).  We are still just in shock about the whole thing.  God is such an amazing provider!  I know He is.  It's still just such a neat thing to experience it like this!  

Merry Christmas, y'all!

Homeschool Recap, Nov 23rd (Wk 11)

I pray you have a Happy Thanksgiving!!!

In my life this week...

On Saturday, my mom, dad, the boys and I went to a family Thanksgiving dinner out in the country - a 2 hours drive (when I was thinking it'd be 30mins, oops!).  The boys had a wonderful time getting dirty and playing with second cousins.  On the way back, we had a half-hour detour, needed 3 gas station stops and then a wreck happened right in front of us.  It was ridiculous!  Thankfully, we made it home safely... once our hearts stopped beating so fast!  Geez.  On Sunday, Michael, the boys and I had church and then later that evening we had a church Thanksgiving gathering.  It was fun and the food was delicious!  Monday I had an Usborne booth event, and finally Tuesday and today have been somewhat "normal."  Whew.

Playing with cousins!

A picture to share...

Center of attention!

At the church Thanksgiving dinner, we looked over and found that Callen was apparently the star of the show... all the kids were gathered around him and doting on him like crazy.  So funny!

In our homeschool this week...
I squeezed 5 days of work into 2.5 so that we could stay on track with our curriculum.  Thankfully it was pretty easy stuff and I scooted it around so it wasn't too much for Preston to handle.  I had a list of Thanksgiving activities I wanted to get to, and we just didn't find a way to work them in unfortunately.  Oh well, there's always next year!  Lol.

Tot School:  Callen has been a complete mess this week!  He is purposely throwing things, spilling his brother's drinks and just generally being a toddler-monster.  It's a good thing he's so darn cute!

Bible: Proverbs 14:30 "A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones."  We also talked about Day 4 and 5 of Creation - Preston added moon and stars to the night side of his Bible Notebook page, and then fish and birds to the day time side.  Learned several more of the Books of the Bible.  I think he officially remembers the first 7 correctly most of the time!

Reading/Writing: Worked on the "ch" and "sh" sounds. Nothing too exciting there.

Math: Continued adding and subtracting work in The Complete Book of Math.  Also did some more Pumpkin Poke and a Roll The Dice Graphing Activity.

Science: Our theme this week was Sun & Moon.  We read lots of books about the sun and the moon including the Usborne book called First Guide to the Universe.  Love that one!

Music/Art:  We didn't do a new hymn this week, nor did we do the musical instruments or look at art.  But, we did work in the Drawing with Children and did a drawing of a carousel horse.  We... uh... didn't do so well, to be honest... but it was a Level 3 drawing, so I don't feel so bad.  Lol!

Spanish:  We went over some more animals in Spanish.  He's remembering them better than last week, yay!

Thanksgiving/Seasonal activity: We'll complete our Thankful Tree tomorrow with it's last leaf!  Preston listed 24 things he was thankful, I wrote them on paper leaves and we add one each day to our branch.  We also did a Thanksgiving Timeline - I had him tell ME the story of Thanksgiving.  We read a book called Give Thanks to the Lord, along with still reading stories from The Harvest Feast.

Books we used in addition to our curriculum this week...

We are using My Father's World First Grade. See our curriculum here.

Blog Hoppin' with:

Homeschool Mother's Journal, August 26th

The Homeschool Mother's Journal: Summer Edition, a link-up with The Homeschool Chick.

In my life this week...
- Last weekend I had THREE Usborne events, so I've spent a lot of this week follow up with the people I met there.  Lots of phone calls and emails.  Have been receiving some good feedback and I get really excited when other people get excited about these books!
- A sweet woman I met on a homeschool message board sent me a box full of cloth diapers.  I know Callen is already nearly 18-months and he's actually already showing signs of wanting to start the first stages of potty training, but this will be good training for next time (whenever that is.  No, I'm not pregnant, thanks!). I am really looking forward to figuring out the tricks and folds and benefits!!!

In our homeschool this week...
- Preston finished both of his summer workbooks, A Reason for Handwriting "A" and Super Deluxe First Grade Scholar. He gets about two weeks of break and then we'll officially kick off First Grade with My Father's World.  I'm stoked!

My favorite thing this week...
- Wednesday afternoon Michael came home and was all "Let's get outta here!"  We ended up at the mall, but it was such a great break from the house.  We walked the entire mall, trying to find Michael a decent pair of shoes (in our price range, ugh!) and came home empty-handed.  But it was still fun just being out with my family and spending time together doing something other than sitting around.  Lol.


I'm grateful for...
- The opportunity to go to Women of Faith this weekend!  And to get to go with my awesome friend, Candi makes it even better! I'll be tweeting throughout the event, so follow me: @heyjade. And I'll blog about it once I've recuperated from the weekend!  Thanks, again, BookSneeze for sending me!!!

People we're seeing...
- My mom came over twice this week to watch the boys for me.  Thanks, again, Mom!  So they got to spend some good time with Grandma.  My neighbor brought her daughter over for a little playdate on Thursday.

A video to share...
Israel Houghton strikes again. That guy can write a song, I tell you what! Lol. They do this one at my church, and then it's stuck in my head for a week! I posted this on my FB earlier this week, and YES it IS still stuck in my head. Now let it get stuck in yours!

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P.S. While you're here, do you mind "liking" my Usborne FB Page?  Thank you!!!

Women of Faith: Over the Top Coming to Dallas!

"God loves us more than we know. He gives us more than we can ask or dream. He's unrestrained... excessive... outrageous... Over the Top."

Women of Faith has been a big event for quite a while now.  I've always heard about it and silently wished I could go to something like that.  Well, thanks to my sweet friends at BookSneeze, I get to go this year.  I'm so excited!  I get to tweet, facebook and blog the experience too!  So, if you're not going to be there in person, follow along with me!

The event is coming up next weekend, Friday and Saturday, August 26th and 27th, and is being held at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.  Registration is still open, it's not too late for you to join me!  Speakers include Patsy Clairmont, Marilyn Meburg, Lisa Whelchel, Sandi Patty and Brenda Warner.  Musical guests are Mandisa and Amy Grant!

Here is a neat video to show you more about the conference:

I've never been to a conference of this caliber, so it's definitely going to be a new and interesting experience.  I'll be tweeting from @heyjade, you can follow me throughout the day and see what God is doing!  I'll be posting another blog after the event to tell you all about it!  The Women of Faith team will also be present on their social media sites, so you can follow them as well:  @womenoffaith (#wofott) and  www.facebook.com/womenoffaith.

Honestly, I'm just praying I don't bawl the entire time I'm there.  Lol!

Just life...

If things go as suspected, this Friday we'll be breaking the 1980 "heat wave" record, having more days over 100 degrees than EVER.  Oh, the joy.  Not.  Heat sucks the joy out of me.  Makes me cranky, sluggish and just plain un-fun.  Is it Fall yet?!?!

I've been so busy doing meme posts, that I haven't really posted much about every day life.  Callen is about to be 17 months old in a few days.  What a stinker!  His favorite past-time is climbing up on the kitchen table.  Or throwing the books off of the living room book shelf.  He's definitely a toddler!  Getting into everything, being a little booger... and looking adorable while doing it, of course.  It's a good thing they're cute, otherwise...  Anyway, he still adores his big brother... follows him around, attempts to copy his every move, calls for him if he happens to be out of sight.  The only thing he doesn't like about Preston is that Preston lovessss to hug.  Preston is my cuddly one, Callen... not so much.  He loves his brother, hates his brother's hugs.  Not sure what that's all about.  Haha.  The little one still only has eight front teeth.  No sign of any more to come.  His latest thing is to nod "yes" very deliberately when he means it.  He'll also shake his head no.  He has a lot of words, however we still can't get him to say "Callen."  Still working on that one.

Preston is doing very well with reading and writing.  When he sits and focuses on writing words, he can do an absolute perfect job!  He doesn't really like it, but he is getting better and better despite that.  We are still struggling with Preston's attitude and behavior.  We've been using the If-Then and Blessing Charts, and doing our best to stay consistent with him.  He just doesn't seem to learn his lesson no matter how hard we try to stick with a discipline.  We actually had a very serious incident last week where he ran away from his grandparents' house.  Pretty scary!  We had dropped the boys off on a Sunday afternoon so Michael and I could get some errands done, and upon returning we learned that while Preston and Grandpa had been outside playing after we left, Preston just started running down the sidewalk.  Grandpa followed and kept thinking he would stop so he could get caught up.  Only, he didn't.  And at one point after going around the block, Preston disappeared between some houses, so Grandpa lost track of him.  Grandpa cut through some houses and got back to his house to see if Preston had returned there, but he hadn't... so he went back out to look for him.  He found him at the end of the street, a lady had stopped in her car and was calling the cops because she had found a runaway child.  My son actually told the lady "I'm a runaway."  I am so very thankful that the lady that stopped was a NICE lady and didn't just snatch him and take off or something, I mean... the horrible things that could've happened blow my mind!  He crossed alleys and could have been hit by a car!  Just unreal.  I don't know what possessed him to do that, and he couldn't really give a straight answer.  I am still just in shock that it happened.

Other than the kids keeping me busy, I've been trying to get my Usborne business rolling.  I have my own domain now: HeyJadeBooks.com!  Did two parties on Saturday, and have a few more opportunities for various things lined up that I'm pretty excited about.  Also, I'm very excited that I'm joining a local homeschool group again.  I love the hs online community, but it makes such a difference to see and talk to people in person!  Michael is still working his two jobs.  This heat has been awful for him during the pizza job, poor guy.  He still has a great attitude about it, though... very proud of him for that.  He still gets the migraines on a continuous basis and has back and hip problems... so, he's kind of a mess, but he works through it and does his best to keep us sustained!  We just celebrated his 33rd birthday this weekend... old man!  Haha.  Oh, and we officially joined Grace Fellowship Church as members on Sunday, as well. 

Anyway, that's about it from here.  We're basically just waiting for the weather to cool off so we can breathe again!

I'm Still Standing...

Been in my head since Sunday:

If not for Your Goodness, If not for Your Grace,

I don't know where I would be today.

If not for Your Kindness,

I never could say, I'm still standing.

If not for Your Mercy, If not for Your Love,

I most likely would have given up.

If not for Your Favor,

I never could say, I'm still standing.

But by the Grace of God! 

- Israel Houghton

National Day of Prayer and Mosaic Bible Giveaway (Closed)

A week from today, on Thursday, May 5th, 2011, the country will hold it's 60th observance of the National Day of Prayer.  My church, Grace Fellowship Church in Grand Prairie, Texas, will be having a special service at 7pm that evening.  I invite you to attend if you are in the area, joining our congregation as well as city leaders and other area churches for one hour of worship and praying over our leaders, communities and families.

Also, in honor of that day coming up, I thought I would do a giveaway here on my blog.  I was sent a coupon for a free Holy Bible: Mosaic NLT from Tyndale House Publishers. I actually won it as a prize, but I want to pass it on to bless someone else!  This looks like a really neat Bible, though!  Would make a great Mother's Day gift!

Hard Cover, 2009

From Inside the Flap: "Encounter Christ on every continent and in every century of Christian History. A new genre of Bible--a weekly meditation Bible--Holy Bible: Mosaic is an invitation to experience Christ both in His word and in the responses of his people. Each week, as you reflect on guided Scripture readings aligned with the church seasons, you will receive a wealth of insight from historical and contemporary writings. Full-color artwork will engage the soul; quotes, hymns, prayers, and poems enhance the rich devotional experience. Also includes a Dictionary/Concordance, NLT word study system with Hebrew/ Greek dictionary. Online community and content extend the experience."

** The Giveaway! **

To win this coupon for a free copy of Holy Bible: Mosaic NLT simply leave a comment on this post letting me know what your favorite Bible verse is.  For an extra entry, follow my blog on Google Friend Connect (see the side bar for the link) and leave a separate comment letting me know that you are following!  Please make sure you leave an email address in your comment so that I can contact you if you win!

Comments will be accepted until Wednesday, May 4th at 10pm (central).  I will choose a comment using random.org to be the winner and that winner will be announced here and emailed on Thursday, May 5th.  Winner must respond within 48-hours to claim prize.  This giveaway is in no way associated with Grace Fellowship Church or Tyndale House Publishers.  Winner will receive a coupon by mail that can be redeemed at a local Christian bookstore, or can be sent directly to Tyndale House, in exchange for a copy of the book mentioned above.  Coupon expires August 14, 2011.

Easter 2011

Sunday morning my boys awoke to find a couple of Easter baskets waiting for them.

Easter baskets!

Preston got candy and a tiny Cars Kite.  Callen got Gerber Puffs and a couple of books and baby food (heehee).  

Daddy helping check things out!

The Easter box we made got opened!

We met our parents (and Michael's brother) up at church for Easter Service.  I had volunteered to watch babies, and my mom joined me in there.  After the service, the church held an Easter Egg hunt.  I wasn't sure what Callen would do, but after placing him down in the middle of a bunch of eggs... he grabbed 'em and stuffed 'em in his basket.  The kid was a natural egg hunter!  And, of course, Preston held his own in the midst of all the other kids around his age (he got out of the crowd so he could get at more eggs)!

Collecting eggs!

Collecting eggs too!

Taken by Angela Walker

After the hunt we went to Michael's parents' house for Easter lunch/dinner.  The boys played games with their Uncle Daniel.  We watched the Rangers game and had a delicious meal of Jill's homemade Mac'n'Cheese and Spiral Cut Ham.  It was tooooo good!  

Monkeys on the Bed game w/Uncle!

The boys ended up with lots of candy, but had a lot of fun as well!