Storytelling Festival

Now this is a post that I'm excited to write about. We just had our 2nd annual Fall Storytelling Festival!

 

It's sooo much fun. We invite over some of the families from our homeschool group and the kids all have an opportunity to share a story of their choice. Some write their own story, some bring a favorite book, some little ones just tell their story and show pictures and some just enjoy listening. It's a fun way to practice public speaking, reading, listening, respect for others, and sitting quietly. And as a bonus they get to run and play with a bunch of friends for a few hours.

Mary (6) likes to write and illustrate her own story. So we spent the week learning about the writing process and working on her book. She worked very hard and I could see how proud she was when she read it to her friends.

We focused on learning about different prewriting strategies and publishing her work.









We made sure to incorporate her spelling words and I typed up the final draft and cut it out for her. She put the sentences in order and pasted them to her pages. Then she illustrated each page.

 

She added a cover and a few decorative touches.

 

 

We also ask that each family brings a finger food to share. Taylor made her special pumpkin pecan bars and I made little hammies, orange cream punch, and popcorn balls.

 

 

 

We wrapped up the popcorn ball as a take home treat. Cheap, easy, and yummy!

 

 

Taylor and I cleaned up a bit and tried to make it look fun and friendly for the kids.

 

I even grabbed a couple packs of plates and napkins from the Dollar Tree a few weeks ago.

 



 

By the time our friends started filling up the countertop with goodies, we had a fabulous lunch to eat before story time.

 

 

I think if there was a prize for most creative and cutest finger food, these little pumpkin treats by Mickie would have taken it!

 



 

 

I'm so thankful we were able to have another Storytelling Festival and I can't wait to plan another fun day with our friends!

 

 



Autumn!!!

 

 

 

Here we are, the first week of Autumn!! I thought we'd never get here. It doesn't feel or look like Autumn yet but I'm still thankful it's officially NOT Summer anymore.

 

 

We decided to celebrate the arrival of Fall by doing a good deed for a friend. So Saturday morning I woke up early and finished this beautiful pumpkin canvas. We were able to deliver it that afternoon. The girls were so excited to surprise her with it. She wasn't home when we got there and I thought they might be disappointed but they were just as excited to leave it with her husband. We girls know how something pretty can really lift your spirits. I hope it did!!

 

This week we've been busy preparing for our Story Telling Festival. I had originally planned on doing a writing workshop with some of the kids from our homeschool group but I ended up having to cancel the workshop and just have the kids bring their stories from home. Mary wrote a story about a pumpkin named Sam. It's super cute! I'll have plenty of pictures to share. We were able to get in about 2 days on the writing process and I think we both had fun, which is really the whole point.

Other than that, life is flying by, one day at time. There's so much I want to do and just not enough time to get it done :)

Happy Fall!







October Dinner Menu

 

 

 

One of my main goals for this month is to be more diligent with our finances and resources. I totally stink at a budget and my husband is even worse than me. It's not that we spend a lot of money or buy unnecessary things, it's more of an income problem. A family of six living on one income is no easy task. If you were to look at our bills and expenses, you would easily see that the number going out is greater than the number coming in :(

How do we make it you ask? Well... I don't know. It seems that each month the Lord provides us with the extra we need to survive. It comes in all different forms. It's really quite amazing how many times I've said "we're never going to make it" and how each time we do "make it". God says He will provide and He always does.

Money stresses me out. That is the thing that always gets the best of me. I try to tell myself that everyone on the planet has problems, and I've had the blessing of being able to choose my problems. I chose money problems. I chose to stay home with my kids and not shop, not eat out often, not get my nails done, not spoil my kids with their hearts desire. I chose to worry about bills instead of worrying about what my kids were getting into while I was at work or if they were safe. I chose to know that my family is serving God and that my girls are spending their time focusing on things that please God.

So, with that being said, to help ease some of the pain of feeding a family of six on a household expense budget (meaning everything from cleaning supplies and toilet paper to food) of $800 a month (if we're lucky) I've made a Dinner Menu for the month of October.

 

 

 

It's so much easier to have it all wrote down so I can be sure to have my ingredients on hand and it helps me to not buy food that will go to waste. I'm working on a weekly breakfast menu also but it's not complete. I have a good friend who is awesome at meal planning. I am not awesome but I am trying. I do usually stick to my plan, it's making the plan and stocking up on the food that I stink at.

 

I try to keep my pantry stocked with dry goods and key ingredients that won't spoil. We order each month from Azure Standard and I stock up on what ever I can afford. This month was tomatoes. Crushed, diced, and quick pasta sauce for those unexpected trouble days.

 

 

I also went ahead and ordered a turkey for Thanksgiving. Last year, they were out of them in October. The rest of the items purchase were dried beans (red, black, and white) frozen organic peas and corn, soy sauce, butter, some fresh tomatoes, and apple sauce.

 

 

Earlier in the month we order apples and peaches from Bulk Natural. We have really enjoyed peach cobbler, apple pies, apple pancakes, apple oatmeal, and fresh fruit too. I have enough peaches frozen for two more cobblers and I just placed another apple order today.

 

 

 

 

 

 I try to stay out of the grocery store as much as I can. Mainly because I hate to leave but also because I'll spend more money if I go often. There are plenty of things I still have to buy at Kroger and Walmart but I try to only go when I have to and stock up there as well.

 

Taylor's Deep Dish Apple Pie

October planning is starting out great and I'm hopeful for an organized and joyful holiday season filled with yummy homemade food, fun crafts, neat field trips, productive school days, and most of all- amazing memories with my family!

 

 

 

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal

 

I'm working hard every day to treasure these times and not dwell on our struggles. Feeding my family nutritiously should not be a sacrifice I have to make. We can be mindful of our spending and mindful of our health without braking the bank with a little extra planning.   

 

 

 

 



Papaw's 90th Birthday!



 



Today is Papaw's 90th birthday so we spent the afternoon celebrating him with our dear family. He was sleeping in his bed in the living room as we all piled in around him. It felt kind of awkward to me, sitting around him chit chatting with everyone while he just laid there unaware of what was going on. Curtis' sister brought him balloons and tied them to his bed. When he woke up, he did notice the balloons but he had no idea what they were for. His little body just looks more and more fragile each time we see him. He spoke up and sang us a few songs, mumbled some things, and Mamaw fed him his lunch and some birthday cake.

 



He seemed to eat well. It was quite a sight, seeing Mamaw feed him and tend to his needs. My heart was aching for her. What a women she is! Taking care of her man until the very end. Whatever obstacles are in her way, she just moves around them and keeps on providing for his needs. I don't know that I've ever seen a better example of a true Christian women. Her duties are difficult, her days are long, and her heart is pure. She radiates beauty. She is the wife and mother that the Lord finds pleasing. She is what young women should strive for. I was so blessed today to share these special memories with my family. The children were blessed to see true love at it's finest and witness a loyalty that even time can't destroy. Papaw is surely a blessed man for having such a devoted women to cherish him forever.

 

Taylor made pumpkin pecan bars



Mamaw's punch... YUM

Papaw's birthday cake

 

 

Second Hand Goodies

For those of you that don't know me, I have four beautiful children. Actually, girls. I have four beautiful little girls. A 13 year old, a 6 year old, a 20 month old, and a 5 month old. These sweet blessings keep me on my toes but I think even more than that, they keep me on my knees.

Our family does not have the resources to purchase brand new clothing for each child, each season. Instead, we graciously accept hand me downs from friends and donations from grandparents, we shop second hand stores and swap clothing with friends & other family members, and then we search for those key items still needed to bring a wardrobe together. This year for example, Mary needs a good pair of black boots. She has a decent selection of warm clothing and nice pair of brown boots but no black. So I'll probably purchase them new and pass them down (if they make it through Mary) to the other girls. Mary rarely gets new clothes because she destroys everything. Before you go all feeling sorry for poor Mary, here are two recent clothing incidents.

Nice huh?

Taylor (13) is another story. We pretty much try to give her money or clothing for birthdays and Christmas because she prefers to try on her clothes and she's way too cool to let me shop for her. She pretty much buys all of her own clothes. I buy her under clothing and shoes but if she wants that cute shirt from Target she better break out her pocketbook.

Last week we stopped in at Mimi's Closet, our favorite local children's consignment shop and picked up a few needed fall and winter pieces. I also have my artwork from Journey's Creations displayed there so I use my credit from those sales for whatever we need. This trip was totally successful. I found everything here for under $50.

 

 

 

 

Gymboree Christmas outfit for Victoria (20 Months)

 

Old Navy snowman dress for Victoria

 

 

 

Pumpkin outfit for Victoria to wear on our field trip to the pumpkin patch this year

 

Play clothes for Mary (6)

 

 

 

Super cute Thanksgiving outfit for Mary (notice the Gymboree tags still on the jeans)

 

I love the turkey shirt!

 

And a few random play clothes from the 50 cent rack and some tennis shoes





I hope everyone is having a great week!

 

Schedule Break Down

So I posted our wonderful Homeschool schedule already but now I feel like I need to explain it. I'll try to break down each section with a few more details.

 

Breakfast & Chores: I hope to have the kids chore charts posted soon but I don't even have them typed right now. Basically, I wake up between 4:30 and 5:30 to pump and feed the baby. After my husband leaves for work around 6:00 I work on my art, enjoy my coffee, watch the news for a bit, prepare school work, start laundry, work on any chores I'm behind on (usually laundry), and start breakfast.

 

I don't wake my kids up. I just let them sleep until they're ready to get up on their own. Now and then I do wake up my 13 year old if the babies are tag teaming me and I need to do something important (like shower or use the bathroom, haha). Then I'll take one baby with me and bring the other one to her.

 

When the kids wake up, they usually play for a little while and start chores while I finish breakfast. We all eat together and I try to explain our plans for the day so they're not wondering around confused about everything.

 

Then they get dressed and finish chores.

 

10:00 Circle Time: Circle time is about the only time on the schedule that we try our very best to keep. I'll holler how much time is left before circle time a few times every morning so they can speed up their chores if needed.

 

 

We meet at 10:00 on the rug in the play/school room. We start with a prayer together, asking God to help us accomplish our tasks with joyful hearts and to guide us throughout the day. This is also when we name the sick, pray for the lost, and ask God to bring Daddy home safely each day.

After that, each day varies. We do mystery riddles like, "I am white and I fall in the winter. What am I? Snow" or one from yesterday was "I fly, but I do not carry people. I hunt at night. What am I? An owl." Mary actually got that one. She gets almost as many as Taylor. We also do a Character story from a favorite book of mine and read scripture.

 

10:30 Handwriting and Language Arts: Time varies but we always start with these after circle time, except on Kitchen Day.

 

Lunch: We always eat lunch together, even if we don't eat the same lunch, we still sit down together and eat. The girls clean up after themselves and I clean up the kitchen.

 

After lunch I put Victoria (1) down for her nap. I usually rock her to sleep. I have busy work I some times give to Mary (6) to do while I'm getting Victoria down.

This is my new favorite busy work. I bought this big activity pad at Michael's a few weeks ago and it has 50 pages of seasonal activities. Mary had so much fun working on it yesterday. I'd say it's good for grades K-2nd. It's always good to have something the little ones can do on their own. 

 

 

 

Then we do math. If the day is crazy or Mary isn't feeling like it, we may skip math. If we skip it we'll either do it later or catch up the next day. Some times math can be flash cards or a math activity that isn't actually in her book. She doesn't really like math very much so I don't stress her out about it.

 

Science and Social Studies: We are totally laid back about these two subjects. I try to work them in at least twice a week and they usually involve me reading something while Mary draws a picture of it, labels it, and colors it. Sometimes it's a movie or experiment. It all just depends on how the day has went so far and how long the babies sleep. It's better to do activities if the babies are awake because if I'm trying to read her a lesson or have her listen to a movie, she can't concentrate with all the noise.

 

Story time can be a library book or something from our book collection.

 

Free time & art are pretty self explanatory and times vary as well as activities. Today the girls painted wooden butterfly magnets and decorated them.
 

3:30 Clean up: By this time every day the house is in complete disorder. I know a few paragraphs ago I talked about chores and cleaning up but non of that matters. Kids still manage to destroy any and all progress we've made throughout the day. This is supposed to be a quick but thorough whole house cleaning before Daddy gets home. Some times it's just 30 minutes of me saying "Come one everyone should be cleaning" and "Get off the floor and help clean" and so on.

 

Dinner Prep: Me and the kids preparing dinner, the dinner table, and juggling babies.

 

Dinner: At last we all sit together and enjoy some together time. Victoria usually screams through the whole thing and afterwards Daddy reads scripture and we talk about what he read.

 

That's it! After dinner is play time and evening chores. If the evening chores get done well, then morning chores are a breeze.

 

 

 

Our Family's Daily/Weekly Plan

 

Today was our first official full day of the school year. I thought I was ready, but when you have two little ones under two, I don't think you can really be "ready" for anything. But somehow we finished our work and we all survived, barely.

 

Reflecting on what went right and what went terribly wrong, I can now see that it probably went better than it felt like it did. I was stressed at first but it all worked out over the course of the day. It does help to have a plan to follow but I can't expect to follow the schedule, to the minute, 5 days a week. There is no way! So maybe we should call this a guideline for a schedule. But whatever we call it, it works pretty well for us. We've been following this plan for a while now but I only put it on paper today. Instead of trying to figure out what I should do, I decided to use what we already do. This is about the only way to fit it all in. Notice Mom is not on the plan? That's because I'm bouncing around from kid to kid meeting their needs, answering questions, checking chores, pumping milk, rocking & feeding babies, and cooking, cleaning & organizing where ever I can find time.

 

Day one is over. The house is still pretty messy and my husband saved me by bringing home pizza. Then after dinner and Bible time he took the three big kids and went for our CSA box and milk.

 

My plan probably won't work for every family but maybe it will help just one.