A week in pictures!

I finally got the whole picture storage issue with blogger all figured out thanks to a few commenter's (thanks ladies!) on my last post.  As it turns out, you are only given a certain amount of free storage space when you sign up with them.  I purchased a good amount of extra space for a very small fee.  This should last me for several more years and give me more time to figure out what I'm going to do with this blog.  In any event, I was able to upload more pictures...YAY!!!

A great winter dish....homemade sweet potato gnocchi

Sweet potato gnocchi sauteed in sage butter....YUM!!

"Clive" our Elf on the Shelf ended up in the refrigerator one night!!!

The girls made Christmas cards by tracing a wooden Christmas tree.

Sarah the cat decided the pantry was a great place to sleep!

Christmas Eve with my SIL and her crazy husband!

Amelia with her cousins.



Aunt Franny and Olivia!



A Jacksonville tradition....visiting the Kuhn's Flower Shop Christmas window display!

FYI....it was really cold Christmas Eve!

It's a tradition for many Jacksonvillians.

Olivia checking out Santa's elves!

Olivia & Amelia

The Holy Family

Not only did Santa eat his cookies and drink his chocolate milk....he started a fire for us!

Nathan reading Santa's Christmas letter to the family.

Santa brought a family gift this year....a Wii!

The girls and their iCarly stuff!

Amelia opening her presents....LOVE the new slippers!

Little Livy

Nathan got some new shower wash!



This time Sarah decided my legs were the best place to sleep!

SNOW FLURRIES IN JACKSONVILLE ON THE 26th!!!!!!!!!!



Camera downloads!

We're still in "holiday mode" at our house but I wanted to pop in and say hello and share with you some of the visions of sugarplums that were dancing around my camera's flash drive....however....Blogger tells me that I'm OUT OF STORAGE SPACE for my photos!  Apparently, I have to BUY additional space ($5 PER YEAR for 5 GB) in order to upload anymore photos!  Has this happened to anyone else?  Is this legitimate or am I being scammed?  I've been having lots of problems with with blogger lately and I'm considering moving my blog over to another carrier.  Any suggestions?

Signing off

An angel of the Lord declared unto Mary:

And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee;

blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners,

now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Behold the handmaid of the Lord:

Be it done unto me according to Thy word.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee;

blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners,

now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

And the Word was made Flesh: And dwelt among us.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee;

blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners,

now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God,

that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray:

Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord,

Thy grace into our hearts; that we, to whom the incarnation of Christ,

Thy Son, was made known by the message of an angel,

may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection,

through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Merry Christmas to all of you!

See you next week!

Everybody wants a turn!

Dan drove all over Jacksonville last weekend trying to find hay for our outdoor Nativity.  He finally found a couple of bales at a local feed store.  I think he did a great job of setting it all up and making a very special place for the Baby Jesus on Christmas morning.  However, there are a some members of this family that would like the prominent place all to themselves!

Carnival of Homeschooling: The Number 42 Edition!

The latest edition of Carnival of Homeschooling is up over at Home Spun Juggling!  Spin on over and check it out!

Dislike

I really dislike it when you take the time to iron your work clothes for the next day and neatly lay them out over the ironing board and then wake up in the morning to find that your cat decided your BLACK shirt was the most optimal place in the house to get a good nights sleep!!!  Then, of course, your BLACK shirt has  turned into a furry blanket and not really appropriate for business attire!.  Sigh......

Monday's highlights

I would like to be able to say that we accomplished more school work yesterday, but, it is what it is.  As you know, we have a wonky scheduled due to the fact that I work part time outside of the home.  We started out doing school on Mondays & Tuesdays only (because I work Wed, Thurs & Fri).  As stressful as this was, we were managing to get all the basics done, however,  it didn't really leave very much time for enrichment activities. In addition, Nathan is fighting me TOOTH & NAIL with math!  I decided to add two days to the schedule to spread things out some and therefore, hopefully, limiting the stress on the both of us!  No such luck.  So, to make a long story short, we're back to the 2 day schedule.  I'm working on being content and satisfied with what we can do instead of looking at other homeschooling families and trying to emulate them.  This is easier said than done!

As far as accomplishments from yesterday.....

Nathan:
Saxon 5/4 Math Test #7
Spelling Test for last week's words
Spelling pages for this week
Reading from Rare Catholic Stories & comprehension questions/discussion
Punctuation/Capitalization worksheets
Art

Amelia:
MCP math pages
Spelling Test for last week's words
Capitalization worksheets
Handwriting
Art

Olivia:
Art

And speaking of art, here's what we did yesterday:  We traced, colored, framed and hung a picture from a Christmas book!

Nathan chose the book "The Legend of the Poinsettia" by Tomie de Paola! 

Amelia chose the book "The Penguin Who Wanted to Sparkle" by Kath Smith.

And little Olivia chose the book "Snowman's Snow Day" by Sallie Yoon.

We also made lots of cookies!  I used the same recipe as our Dutch Spice Cookies.  This is the best cookie dough I have EVER used!  If you chill it overnight, and roll it out to about 1/4 of an inch, you get almost perfect cookies, every time!

I wanted to decorate them too, but I had NO energy left to make the royal icing!  I better save that for the weekend!

And lastly, yesterday afternoon the girls were playing with their dolls when I noticed something strange about the baby that Amelia was holding....there was something red on its forehead!  Perplexed, I walked up to Amelia and noticed that there was something written on the doll....

According to Amelia, they "baptized" the baby!  (She spelled it b a t i s e d).  They sure are busy!!

Enjoy your Tuesday!!

Brrrrrrr!

Wind Chill Advisory for Duval, FL

from 7 pm EST, Mon., Dec. 13, 2010 until 10 am EST, Tue., Dec. 14, 2010
Updated 13 Dec 2010 6:25 pm Local TimeEnlarge Map

Issued by The National Weather Service

Jacksonville, FL
4:25 pm EST, Mon., Dec. 13, 2010

... WIND CHILL ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 7 PM THIS EVENING TO 10 AM EST TUESDAY...

THE COMBINATION OF NORTHWEST WINDS OF 10 TO 15 MPH AND TEMPERATURES DROPPING INTO THE 20S TONIGHT WILL CREATE A PROLONGED PERIOD OF WIND CHILLS BELOW 25 DEGREES... WITH LOWEST WIND CHILL VALUES OF 15 TO 20 DEGREES TUESDAY MORNING.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A WIND CHILL ADVISORY MEANS THAT VERY COLD AIR AND STRONG WINDS WILL COMBINE TO GENERATE LOW WIND CHILLS. THIS WILL RESULT IN FROST BITE AND LEAD TO HYPOTHERMIA IF PRECAUTIONS ARE NOT TAKEN. IF YOU MUST VENTURE OUTDOORS... MAKE SURE YOU WEAR A HAT AND GLOVES.

(I think it's funny that they have to actually explain to Floridians what a wind chill advisory means! LOL!)

*****To tell you the truth....I'm not sure anyone in Florida actually owns a hat or gloves!  It's supposed to be back up to about 68 degrees by the weekend....so I'm enjoying this winter weather while I can!!  I apologize to all of my friends up north or in the mid west who are currently buried in all the white stuff!  Just let me know and I'll trade places with you for a few weeks!!!******

A Simple Woman's Daybook!

Outside my window...it's still dark, very windy and a bit chilly (37 degrees).   The cat looked at me like I was nuts when I opened the door for her this morning.  Apparently, it's too cold and windy for her!

I am thinking...about how to keep myself the kids motivated for school today.

I am thankful for...my family, my faith and how God loves me in spite of how wretched I am.

From the learning rooms...we'll be doing some writing assignments, baking cookies and reading lots of books!  

From the kitchen...cookies, cookies and more cookies! Oh, and lasagna (Thank you Stouffers!)
and garlic bread for dinner!

I am wearing...pink pajama bottoms, a Smokey Mountains t-shirt (from our vacation this summer!) and fuzzy blue socks!  Clearly fashion is not my "thing"!

I am creating...lots of Christmas gifts!  I found some very cool ways to use our old Christmas cards.  I'll share the finished products...after Christmas, of course!

I am going...to prepare a place for the Traveling Madonna that made her way to our doorstep last night!  She will be with us for the whole week!  There will be many rosaries offered!  I love it when the statue of Our Lady of Fatima comes to our house, it's like having a special guest staying with us!

I am reading...well, I'm still reading Padre Pio~Man of Hope but I am also re-reading Hinds Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard.  This is probably my most favorite book in the whole wide world!

I am hoping...to get to the pharmacy today so that I can get a couple of prescriptions refilled.

I am hearing...the hum of the computer fan and the coffee pot working away at my first cup of the day (sorry, Judy!).

Around the house...signs of Christmas everywhere!  There is also lots of laundry to be attended to.

One of my favorite things...cold, overcast, windy days when I can snuggle up in my warm home with my kids.  Guess what?  TODAY is one of those days!  Yay!

A few plans for the rest of the week...finishing up our homemade gifts, a Christmas party at church on Thursday, and finishing up school so we can be free until after the first of the year!

A picture thought I'd like to share:

Our weather this week!

If you would like to be a part of The Simple Woman's Daybook, please click HERE!

Out of the mouths of babes!

The kids and I were sitting in our living room the other night, admiring the Christmas tree.  I was (once again) verbalizing how much easier an artificial tree is compared to a fresh one.  Everyone agreed that this was the right thing to do this year!  Olivia delivered the best line of the night......

"Mom, a fake tree is good 'cause then we don't have to worry about it burning our house down because it is fire retarded"!

Did I really do that?

Confession time.  I'm going to tell you a HUGE secret, but you must promise NOT to tell anyone else!  Promise??  Ok, here goes....

I did something this past weekend that I've sworn for the last 35 years that I would NEVER do!  I've even looked down on those that have done this very thing!  I have rolled my eyes at those that have made the decision to do it!  I have mumbled under my breath at those that would dare to be so LAZY!  I have even poo-pooed the excuses that I've heard for the reason why someone would do this!  A Scripture comes to mind as I reflect on my abhorrent behavior:

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged"  Matthew 7:1 (NIV)

Are you ready for my confession?   Here goes.....I bought an artificial Christmas Tree this year!  Phew!  There, I said it!  What a relief!!  I've been carrying this burden around for almost 6 days and I couldn't stand it anymore!

Here are my excuses (you may begin rolling your own eyes now!): 

1.  There are not as many tree lots around town as there used to be!  I live in Florida...hot, balmy, Florida.  Cut Christmas trees don't last very long.  They drink up water like there's no tomorrow.   By the time the cut trees get here, they've already been severed from their life source for at least 4-5 days.  This means that by the time Christmas Day is here....most of the needles are lying on the floor deeply embedded into the carpet!

2.  Fresh trees are so expensive!  Around here, it's at least $7-$10 per foot!  Dan and I budget for our Christmas Holidays very carefully!  Our budget includes the tree, gift giving, parties, decorations and food!  When we buy a fresh tree.....that's half our budget right off the top!

Go ahead...mumble under your breath now about my laziness!


3.  The lights!  Need I say more?  I HATE putting the lights on the tree!  Dan will do it for me, but if the truth be told, he does a lousy job!  I like LOTS of lights and I swear, I have so much anxiety before decorating the tree that I need a good, stiff drink before I start!

4.  Did I mention that there won't be any needles remaining in my carpet until next December?  Oh, I did?  Well, did I mention that an artificial tree is cheaper and that you can buy one PRE-LIT???  Oh, yes, I guess I already mentioned those reasons!

5.  Well, here's another one...a much nicer, calmer mommy!  Hey, this is my first year of homeschooling....I'm delirious most of the time and if an artificial tree will bring me some comfort...SO BE IT!

It's a 7 ft tree that cost $88 at Walmart.  It has a two year warranty (if it lasts for two years, it's paid for itself).  It's pre-lit and if one bulb goes out....the rest of them STAY LIT!  It fits perfectly in our corner and all the branches are strong enough to hold even the heaviest of ornaments!  I'm pleased!

Isn't it purdy?

I hereby apologize to anyone whom I have offended by my snooty-tooty attitude about artificial trees!

Exciting News!

First U.S. approved Marian Apparition!  Read about it HERE!!

Wordless Wednesday ~ "The Kids Snatched the Camera" Edition