God gave us a piano!

If there is something you need or even just want, anything, big or small, be sure to ask God.  And once in a while, just mention it to your friends.  I mentioned to my friend once, that I would love to get a piano someday.  They had just bought one, and their son was really good on it!  I never expected to hear her tell me that it just so happened that her pastor's wife had one they were going to give away and would we be interested!!!  :)  Of course, I said, "Yes"!!  Several weeks later it is sitting in our living room.  Next up, getting it tuned, and getting lessons!  What a blessing from God! 

Sledding!

We took the kids up the mountains last weekend.  It was perfect!  It wasn't very cold and the snow was great.  We found the spot we were at two years ago.  Not too steep, and it ends up in a meadow.  And there weren't many people on our run.  I loved seeing the kids smiling while going down the hill.  I got a lot of video, too.  The one of my Tiger down towards the bottom, she had dug out a fallen tree branch and was sitting in it.  It looks like she fell!

Daddy/Daughter Dance

The first time ever.  We always seemed to miss them in the past. I hope they have a good time.  They are there now.

Go, Dog. Go!

I am teaching my youngest two how to read using the book Alpha Phonics.  It is going great, and they are really getting it!   The other day in Walmart, I saw the book Go, Dog. Go!  We used to have it when my others were little and somehow lost it.  So I bought it.   Later that day, my dog loving son picked it up.  I think he started reading the first two pages and asked if he could read it to me.  And he did!  I am so proud of him!

I did it!!!!

Of course, little sister has to try!

Something Fun

This is the first time I have done one of these, but thought it looked fun.  The bold ones are what I have done. (I can't figure out how to get it white like the other words, even though they are black when I type them out, so I picked pink.) I got it from Yes, our hands are full

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain.
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitchhiked
23. Taken a sick day when you weren’t ill.
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a marathon.
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung Karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Gotten flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets, or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp.
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter  
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the changing of the guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the paper.
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Staying Home

It's amazing what gets done when a stay-at-home-mom stays home!  Even though I slept in a little, I got a lot done that I was hoping to, but usually don't!

The ones with * means I did it with the kids.  ** means  I delegated to the kids.

The morning was mostly normal, though I did wash lots of pots and pans left in the kitchen.

Did a load of laundry, and Kitty also did one.

We all did school till lunchtime.

I made grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch.

Read from our history book. 

** Took out all of the trash & recycling, and out to the curb.

* Made a doggy valentine box for "Puppy".

* Made rice crispy hearts for our Valentine Party tomorrow at the park.

Made  a pretty good dinner of pork chops (?) and rice and salad.

** Dusted living room

** Vacuumed living room

* picked up

Ironed two shirts

Called the dentist, a birthday girl, my mom, and my best friend who's coming to town this weekend.

Did yesterday's Flylady zone mission (kitchen countertops)

I know I had the kids doing more and it's amazing how much gets done when I delegate!

 I printed this off the internet, my Puppy colored them and I cut them out and glued them.

 

Jesus Music Oldies

I can't believe I didn't know about this website sooner!  It has been around for 10 years!  Lately, I have been really missing the old praise songs and Christian music from the 70's and early 80's.  Having gotten saved in 1980, I got to enjoy at least a remnant  of the 70's Jesus music.  One day, I decided to look up 70's praise music on the computer.  Eventually, my search lead me to this site.  Though I cannot get the radio to play on my computer, yet, I was able to go to the MySpace link and listen to some great oldies.  And to be reminded of some of the artists that I had forgotten about.  I am still searching for some of the old praise songs we sang in church those early days.  I hope you enjoy some of this great music.

Jesus Music Oldies

Snowy mountains

We have actually gotten quite a bit of rain the last few days, it is wonderful!  But today, when I was out and about, I could see the mountains surrounding us and they were covered in snow!  It was so pretty!  The kids wanted to drive out right then to go play!  We got a few pics from up on a hill, it is hard to see, but the mountains are white!  We had almost a panoramic view of them this afternoon. We just don't get that much snow here, normally! Here are a few pics:

A Little Visitor

This morning, we all heard a thump on our front window.  My son looked outside, and there was a bird laying on his back, on our front porch.  He was struggling to breath, it was so sad.  But I was hoping he was just stunned from hitting his head on the window (which wasn't even clean!).  Finally, he turned over.  That is when I recognized him, a Cedar Wax Wing!  They came to our tree last February and they are so cute! (I had to memorize their markings, then found them in our Sibley Bird Guide.) They love the berries in our Chinese Cherry Tree.  We decided if he didn't get better after awhile, we would take him to the bird lady on the corner, who cares for wounded birds.  Thankfully, he made a full recovery and flew off, after about an hour of sitting there.  But I did get a couple  of pictures while he was looking better. 

Isn't he cute?  I love his bandit eyes.  I went outside to give him some berries from the tree, and he flew off! 

My Quilts

I recently uploaded my quilt pics to photobucket, so thought I'd share them here.  I might have posted the first two in the past, but I don't want to go searching, so excuse me if you have seen them :)

First quilt, all by hand, took two years!

This one took much less time, mostly because the blocks were bigger.  All hand sewed. 

My first machine pieced, from a class.  I plan to hand quilt it:

This one has been a long time coming.  My middle son wanted a zebra quilt, and it took a few years to figure out the fabric and pattern!  I machine pieced it, because it had been so long, and machine is much faster.  I started hand quilting it today!  That will take me awhile, as my neck bothered me pretty quickly :(

Butterfly Grove

Here a couple of pics from the Butterfly Grove in Pismo Beach.

"Fighting" butterflies

At the beach, my 9yo got tired of coloring in the sand, in his art assignment, so he got creative:

Sunset pic that my dd took while we were driving off.

Pictures from Grandma's visit

Grandma, making cookies!

Christmas cookies

Stockings!

Christmas nap:

New Year's Eve 2009

Aquarium of the Pacific:

Lorikeets:

On the Queen Mary:

At the Lego Store at Downtown Disney.  No, we didn't go to Disneyland, but we did stay in a hotel right across the street!  We hope to go before the kids are all grown!

Sophie with R2D2, who is made entirely of Legos.