The Ryals Family

A Great Christmas and a Happy New Year

2011-12-25T20:31:00.000-05:00

We had a great Christmas this year. Life was busy and the time flew by. This year we celebrated Christmas a little bit different than years past.

Usually we travel to a tree farm every year to purchase our Christmas tree, but because of a family member being in the hospital, me getting sick with a bad cold, and Mike working extra holiday hours we were not able to squeeze in a day trip. So... we went to a local tree stand and pick out our tree.

can you believe it was warm enough for the boys to wear short sleeves?!

While I did some Christmas baking the boys decided to put together a gingerbread house. Seth got the mixer out and was fixing it because the bowl had stopped spinning. He's the one I call on whenever I need something worked on.

It was quite a job, but they finally got it together and decorated. The icing ended up being a little runny, but they made it work. As soon as they were done they wanted to know when they could eat it. I told them not until Christmas Eve.

Seth constructed this cute centerpiece for our table. He really enjoys seeing what he can make using only things found around the house.

On Christmas Eve we were so busy with family and friends that the boys forgot to eat the gingerbread house. At some point on Christmas Day they remembered and dove right in. This is what it looked like when they had finished.

Here is the tree all decorated and ready for Christmas morning.

We celebrated Christmas with Mike's family a week early, so we celebrated Christmas Eve a little differently than normal. One thing we always do on Christmas Eve is to open our stockings. We each have a designated stocking, which gets filled with unique gifts that we would normally not purchase throughout the year.

Mom and dad were coming and we thought it would be nice to invite a few friends. So everyone brought their stocking and we had a great time together.

Zeah opening her stocking...

Ezra opening hers...

Looks like Joshua got something he was excited about in his stocking, red licorice from the Fresh Market...

Silas, Sabina, and Annalena going through their stocking. Oh, Sabina got some German chocolate. Yum!...

Along with many other things, Seth found a reindeer pez in his stocking...

Christmas morning was a lot of fun. The boys opened up their presents from us before church.

Noah found a really lite box and was struggling to open it because SOME one taped it real good!

Noah's favorite presents were a pair of wool socks for skiing and this hoodie he is wearing. He is opening the last present. Looks like there is a note in side...

Seth really liked his wool socks too...

who knew it could be that easy to please boys!

He also is opening his last gift... and guess what?... it has a note inside too.

Joshua loved his new hoodie also and his new study bible.

and of course the socks too!

You guessed it. He too had a final present to open which included a note inside.

Each note described the official rules to a few fun games...

They finally figured them out and ran downstairs to find a new ping-pong and pool table. We have had smaller tables before, but never one close to official size. It's just not the same trying to play on one of those little tables. I'm sure we all will have fun with this one.

Somehow, I forgot to get a picture of all the Christmas cards sent to us this year. Here they are after I took them down to put on our kitchen table. It is our tradition, at least for a few months, to pray for each family that sent us a Christmas card. During dinner we pull one card off the top of the pile and then after praying we put that card on the bottom of the pile. We end up rotating through the cards several times throughout the next few months. It's nice to remember and pray for the families that thought of us.

We are so grateful to have spent the holidays with loved ones... family is sooo important. we have been richly blessed by the Lord!

Early Christmas Present

2011-12-13T18:07:00.003-05:00

We received an early Christmas present.... Introducing PHINEHAS the newest member of our family.

lookeyhowsweet!!! I love his tiny little pink paws. He is our little cutie!

Phinehas is 6wks old. His mother is a beagle, but we are not so sure about daddy. Like Mordecai we wanted to give him a biblical name. After spending quite some time search through the bible, we found the perfect name for him.

Phinehas, the one he is named after, was the son of Eleazar and the grandson of Aaron the priest. Phinehas showed great courage to stand for Gods commands when many others had turned away. Because of his actions and loyalty to the one true God, the Lord made a covenant of peace with him and his descendants after him. Him and his descendants would be a perpetual priesthood in the line of Levi. His actions were credited to him as righteousness. (Numbers 25) (Psalm 106:28-31)

So far Phinehas has been just like a baby... Eat... Poop... Play... Sleep...REPEAT!

He's just so stinkin' cute!

2011 Christmas Recital

2011-12-10T15:40:00.006-05:00

One of my favorite events of the Christmas season is Seth's Christmas recital.

Months before December he starts practicing his song. This year he played "Hark the Herald Angel Sing". As usual he added a little something extra to make it his own.

Here Seth is waiting for the recital to begin. Slightly nervous, I think.

But still all smiles.

It's hard to get a good picture during the performance, so after it's over I have him go and pretend to be playing.

Here's the whole group.

And here he is with Mrs. Denise, his instructor.

Seth, you did a great job and looked soooo handsome in your pinstriped suit. I love to hear you play and I love having a home filled with music.

Seth's 13th Birthday Party!

2011-10-28T16:46:00.002-04:00

Happy 13th birthday, Seth! It was time to celebrate!

Joshua helped light the candles on the cake. Again, you wanted Cinnabon cinnamon buns for a cake.

Daddy "delivering" the cake.

There were so many candles on your cake I had to stick some on the side. Your cake looks like a tank.

Wonder what a thirteen year old boys wishes for?

As soon as you saw the candles on the cake you knew they were the trick candles that wouldn't stay blown out. We were all laughing because you blew them out on the first blow. They never relighted. So you were still tricked!

Time for gifts.

A gift card to a local sporting goods store.

A bag of candy.

And last but not least... A new bible! You have been wanting a new bible for a while now. I love to see you reading the word on your own.

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. Psalm 1:1-2

You had a great birthday surrounded by good friends!

Happy 13th Birthday, Setharoonie

2011-10-22T14:19:00.000-04:00

Well, it is official, you are now a teenager. We like to refer to this age as young manhood. Although some moms and dads shutter at the teenage years, we have come to really appreciate this special time in our kids lives. It can be a great blessing!

Here you are not yet 24 hours old.

One of your favorite places to be... Bapa's leather chair.

Your big brother was always eager to take care of you. Here you guys were watching TV together.

Here you are practicing sitting up.

Sometimes you were a little stinker... Like when you were suppose to be playing with your toys. I left the room for a minute and this is what I came back to.

This is a really cute picture of you wearing your daddy's hat.

One of my favorite baby pictures of you. I love your joyful smile!

After enduring colic for the first 3 months of your life, we cherished your smiles most of all.

Here you are at your one year birthday.

You loved your brother and always enjoyed playing with him.

Here you're around 4 years old.

I really like this picture of you at Nana and Paw-paw's beach house. You were dancing around the room with those dancing flowers on your head. From the very beginning you were a performer...

and you still are to this day. You continue to amaze us with your creativity, musical talent, and your determined spirit. Since you were 4 years old you have pretty much known what you wanted to be. We can see how God has blessed you with many talents to get you there. You have such a sweet spirit that is always eager to share with others. We continually thank the Lord for you. What a special blessing you have been to our family! Happy Birthday, buddy.

Our Braces"ville" journey

2011-10-13T13:52:00.001-04:00

Today we arrived at Braces"ville". I have mixed emotions upon our arrival. I'm sure if you have been there you know what I mean. Some are fortunate enough to not have to go this route, but for those who are not, it is bitter-sweet. Thankful for the opportunity to travel this road, but shocked at the heavy taxes collected along the way. I know after our two year journey we will be glad we took the trip. And with two more boys I have no doubt we will travel these roads again.

Trip to Stuart Virgina

2011-10-07T17:45:00.005-04:00

On one of our trips to Roanoke we met a cattle farmer at the local downtown market. He was selling grass fed beef. After talking with Mr. Sparks for awhile we knew we wanted to try some of his beef. The thing we like most about his beef is that he doesn't feed his cattle ANY grain or give them any antibiotics or growth hormones. Mr. Sparks encouraged us to come out to the farm and take a tour.

Here we are arriving at his home... look at all that green grass.

After spending some time chatting he took us out to check out the fields.

He has several fields so he can rotate his cattle among them.

And here we get our first look at his cattle.

This guy had been in the mud. Who knew cows liked mud?

This is where the cattle get their water. Fresh well water I might add.

Okay, here is the super cool part of his farming technique. When he puts his cattle in a field he only gives them one strip of land to graze on at a time. Then when the cattle have eaten all the grass in that strip he moves them on to the next strip. So that they are always eating fresh grass. When they have gone through the whole field he then rotates them to another field.

Happy grazing cows.

Here are just a few more pictures of his cows.

We had a great time at the farm. It is really nice to know where our meat is coming from. Mr. Sparks takes excellent care of his cattle and our family really appreciates it.

Healthy happy cows....

.... make healthy happy hamburgers. Eat on cows!

Mill Mountain Science Center

2011-09-20T22:05:00.003-04:00

Sometimes life serves you lemons...

like finding a leak in your basement. Not just a leak, but one that had obviously been there for a while evident because of the black mold surrounding the area.

And to make matters worse someone in our family is highly allergic to mold... guess who?

that's right me!

So, while Mr. Handy Man himself demolished part of the wall in our school room I thought it best the boys and I hit the road. I was not waiting around to see what kind of yuck was on the inside of that wall.

We decided to head for Virgina to visit Granma and Bapa for a few days until the dust settled back home.

hopefully mold free dust

Another reason I love the blessing of homeschooling is when LIFE happens you can make adjustments as needed. So we just packed up most of our school supplies and hit the road. On the second day there the boys were getting a little cooped up so we decided to take an impromptu field trip.

We ended up at the Mill Mountain Science Center. Here Seth and Noah were trying to build nests like the birds do... it's a lot harder than it looks.

all i have to say is, if i were a momma bird the boys and i would be sleepin in the grass!

Seth looking at turtle shells.

They had this really cool bee hive indoors. The cool thing about it was the sound the bees made. If you put your ear up to the yellow tube you could hear their loud hum.

After exploring everything there was to find inside the science center we went outside to take a hike on one of the many trails.

The boys discovered a small playground and wanted to stop and rest/play there for a few minutes. Of course I thought of all these cool pictures that I wanted to take of them, so they humored me for a little while.

The boys climbing a small rock-wall slide.

Here are a few of the pictures I took of them.

The trail ended at the star.

This was the view at the star.

It was good to get some fresh air. We all had a good time together.

We continued our walk for a little while. The boys found walking sticks and had fun playing around with them... boys will be boys!

We missed daddy being with us, but thankfully he was working hard to clean up the mess. Looks like we discovered the leak before it got too bad. It was nice to have a change of scenery... it did me well!

2011 Airshow

2011-09-11T22:11:00.004-04:00

Every year there is an airshow in our town, and every year we miss it. Well not this year. Finally we made it to the show!

Here the boys pose under a huge plane.

ya know the older they get the less cooperative they are at posing for pictures.

Boys looking at turbines.

Seth and Noah trying on all the gear.

After Noah saw me taking pictures, he decided he didn't really want to try it on anyway...Hmmmm.

Here is a plane getting ready to go up.

Below are pictures of just a few of the different stunts we saw while at the show.

No, your eyes are not playing tricks on you, that is a person standing on that airplane.

It was pretty amazing (or crazy either one!) watching that lady ride on the outside of the airplane. She was doing all kinds of tricks. The plane even went straight up and up-side-down with her strapped on the top.

Here she is getting down after the ride. As you can see we saw many amazing feats at the airshow. I am really glad we finally made it to one. It was a nice day with the family.

Joshua's 16th Party

2011-07-29T18:48:00.001-04:00

It was a lot of fun celebrating your 16th birthday.

Again you wanted Cinna-Bons cinnamon rolls for your cake. They are oh so yummy!

You were surrounded by some of your very best friends... Lucas, Levi, Andrew, and Nate.

Look at all those candles.

Wonder what you're wishing for? After "cake" everyone went out for a nice friendly game of air-soft in the dark. What you didn't know was that your mom had planned a surprise attack.

I gave each of your friends a can of whip cream and told them to attack you.

Looks like it was a successful mission.

You were completely covered and so you thought you would be nice and share some with your mom... you came and gave me a big hug and rubbed it all over my head.

let me just tell you that stuff is hard to get out of your hair.

After we ALL cleaned up it was time to open your gifts. Look at that greasy hair from the whip cream.

You had a great celebration. I can't believe you're 16 now, but more than that I can't believe what a fine young man you have grown into. Your dad and I are so proud of you and we love the way you make us laugh... it's hard to stay irritated at you for very long and I think you know it too! We love you buddy!

Happy Birthday Joshua!

2011-07-26T16:58:00.001-04:00

Happy, happy 16th birthday! I can't believe what I just typed. 16??? Where does the time go?

Just the other day we were bringing you home from the hospital.

Just the other day you were 6months old, content sitting in your swing with your up-side-down paci.

okay... i am so NOT going to make it through this post without crying!

Just the other day, you were 11 months old, and loving life at how fast you could crawl, get into the laundry, and scatter it all around the room.

Just the other day you were 1, giggling with the goats at the petting zoo.

i loved those cute little bells on your shoes!

Just the other day you were 2, thrilled to be at one of the best places in the world... Bapa and Granma's house, hanging out with your best bud Gibby.

Just the other day you weren't much taller than the couch and you thought it made a nice pillow.

Just the other day, you knew life didn't get any better than riding on a real train for the first time while slurping down a Hi-C juice box.

Just the other day, you thought there wasn't anything greater than sliding into your little pool while wearing your favorite goggles.

Just the other day, you were 3 and oh so proud of your new soccer trophy.

Just the other day, you were 7 and busily building leaf piles with yours brothers and then jumping into them.

Just the other day, you turned 16 and your mother realized that she had ONLY two sweet years left and that you had grown into a young man.

told you i would make it through with out crying

Happy Birthday Noah

2011-07-05T22:15:00.003-04:00

10yrs ago you came into the world 9 Lbs and 1 oz.

This is one of my favorite pictures taken at the hospital. They had just finished making your footprints. Daddy thought it would be cute to have a picture of your feet with ink all over them.

and he was right. I love it!!!

Here is your hospital picture. Look at that round head!

Here you are at about a year old.

What a cutie!

Love the curls!

I can't believe that you are double digits now. How the time flies. The Lord has truly blessed us with a wonderful gift!

You thoroughly enjoy all of life...

AHEM, well except for when your mom makes you stop playing the video game to pose for pictures to go on the blog FORTHEWHOLEWORLDTOSEE!!!!!!!!! SHEESH

Noah's Birthday Party

2011-07-05T17:03:00.000-04:00

This year for Noah's birthday party he wanted a cake from Baskin-Robbins.

yum!

He had several of his closest friends come to help celebrate this special day.

Time for presents. Yeah! A nice new football.

And a few Halo action figures and legos.

Now for the big one from mom and dad. What could be in such a big box?

Another box of course! Look at that paper fly. And what do you think could be in that box?

You guessed it... a third box.

pay no attention to the wrapping. This was a last minute idea and I ran out of paper. I just had to roll with what I had!

Okay, back to the boxes. Surly, there is a present in this box. Right?

NOT YET! But finally there is something other than a box.

What is this?... A note from the TOOTH-FAIRY???? Evidently, the tooth-fairy has been slack on her job of collecting Noah's most recently lost teeth and has decided to make up for it by leaving a birthday present under his pillow.

WOW! How did she know you really wanted a rip-stick. Happy birthday, Noah!

Summer Fun

2011-06-01T21:54:00.006-04:00

Summer is finally here and we are enjoying the break from school.

The boys saw this ball at Costco and begged me to buy it for them.

I thought it was kind of a waste of money and rather silly, but what do I know?

Well, I do know that they have enjoyed this ball a lot... and with it only costing $30 I like it too!

They have had a lot of fun rolling down the hill in our backyard.

Here is Joshua and Noah pushing Seth down the hill.

They convinced me to get in it and boy do you get dizzy in that thing!

There goes Joshua.

And last but not least Noah...aka...Mr. Dramatic!

strawberry picking

2011-05-30T21:52:00.001-04:00

One tradition we always try to do in the spring is to go strawberry picking. We go along with another family and it's always a lot of fun.

Noah looking for just the right strawberry.

Joshua found three perfectly shaped strawberries...

for juggling that is!

Hey, he's pretty good at that.

Seth and Noah combining theirs.

We filled our bucket...

so now its time to go.

That might look like a lot of berries, but half of those will be gone by the time we make it home.

See told you so!

Seth's Spring Recital

2011-05-20T12:38:00.005-04:00

Here are a few pictures of Seth's spring piano recital. I love the recitals. I love hearing Seth practice and practice his music for the recital. I just love to hear him play!

Here Seth is waiting for the recital to begin. He seemed a little nervous this time for some reason. He played wonderfully. The piece he played was "Our Detective Agency".

As usual Seth rearranged the piece to make it his own. I love that his teacher gives him the freedom to make a few changes here and there.

Seth also has composed several songs himself. I especially like to hear those songs.

We are extremely proud of your hard work and dedication this past year. Keep up the good work!

It's That Time Again

2011-05-04T16:38:00.003-04:00

I started my garden last week. I'm a little late due to moving my garden to another location.

I still have a 2x2 box on my deck and three 4x4 boxes in the middle of my backyard. My 4x4 boxes no longer get sufficient sun for most of the plants I want. because of that I plan to add additional 3x6 boxes in my side yard. I've been busy clearing the area and hope to get at least one box constructed within the next week.

In the meantime I did plant some herbs in the 2x2 box.

I planted Cilantro, Basil,...

Oregano and Thyme. I can't wait to have fresh herbs again!

I also planted some early spring crops to see if they would grow in my shaded 4x4 box. I planted radishes, bush beans, onions and spinach. We'll see what happens.

Masters End of Year Celebration

2011-04-08T21:19:00.008-04:00

Well another year of Classical Conversations has come and gone. Seth and Noah were really looking forward to the End of Year Celebration. This year their tutor took them to Celebration Station to reward them for all their hard work.

Seth was excited to finally be big enough to ride the big go-carts by himself.

Go Seth! Watch out, Logan is hot on your trail!

Noah had fun riding the smaller go-carts...

He didn't quite meet the height requirement for the big go-carts. He was bummed, but it gives him something to look forward to next year.

It was a beautiful day. They enjoyed getting soaked on the bumper boats.

It was girls against boys.

I think the boys lost!

Well, he wasn't completely soaked.

Mrs. Sherri riding with Noah on the big go-carts.

He's ready to go!

Looks like they are having tons of fun.

Here they are waiting for another turn.

Now Noah will try his hand at golf.

Noah the score keeper.

hmmmm, wonder who will win?

Now it's Seth's turn.

Batter up!

ahem, I mean FOORE!

Noah riding the bumper boats.

Wow! What a fun day. I can't believe another year has gone by so fast. Good job guys!

History Mystery

2011-03-25T20:21:00.003-04:00

Seth had his last Writing class for the year. They ended the class with a mystery!

This year they have been writing about the Middle Ages. Their last project was to write a 5 paragraph research paper on someone of their choice that lived during the Middle Ages. From their paper they had to take notes and prepare a presentation pretending to be that person.

Afterward, the class tried to guess who you were. Here is his presentation...

Any clues as to who he's suppose to be?

That's right, William the Conqueror!

Here's the whole class. They all did such a great job!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

2011-03-23T22:33:00.005-04:00

Hey dad, you have always been an inspiration to me. You show me who I am supposed to be. you are a leading example to me constantly. Josh

Dad you are a hard worker and a caring father who protects his family. You have provided for our family for so long! we love you dad!!! Seth

Dad, you are always hilarious! You are a good dad. I like it when you take me out on a Daddy-Day. Noah

Happy birthday, Sweetie! I hope this has been a nice surprise. I echo everything the boys said above. Although I might add that you are a wonderful hubby! Thank you for encouraging me when I'm unsure, understanding and taking care of me when I'm not feeling well, but most of all thank you for being a man of God. I appreciate your thirst for wisdom/knowledge, your stance for truth, and your dedication to our family. Love you, Baby!

The Joys of Homeschooling

2011-02-13T14:48:00.006-05:00

There are many things I love about homeschooling. One advantage is having more time to work on each child's individual needs. Homeschooling allows you to think outside of the school room box when it comes to education. For example boys tend to be movers and do better when they are allowed to move around a little.

Recently, I was reminded of this lesson. After eight years of homeschooling you think I'd know everything about how to home school. But I don't! At the beginning of this school year I was dreading getting back to the books a little. Why? For one thing, I love summer and hate to see it come to an end. I enjoy the free time to do the things that I don't get to do during the school year. And well... honestly, homeschooling can be quite tiresome sometimes.

As a home school mom, you tend to be very critical of your ability to teach your child well. So inevitably when your child struggles to get a concept and you've tried everything you know to do, but they still are not quite getting it, you can start to panic. Then fear creeps in and you start having thoughts like, "I don't know what I'm doing... I'm not qualified to do this... I'm ruining my child's future!".

It's in those moments that I have to regroup, refocus, and reflect. I need to get alone, have some mommy time and reflect on the Lords calling for us to home school. Usually, what I find is that I have been relying on my own strength too much. I have let doubt and/or fear creep in and steal my peace. So I get into the word and readjust my focus back to the Lord and His calling on my life. That doesn't mean we still won't have struggles, but I can have peace knowing that He is there to guide our steps in this adventure called homeschooling.

Sometimes a solution can be as simple as a hammock! For a while now our youngest has struggled with learning to read well. He could read, but not to my liking. The other two boys took off with their reading, but for Noah it has been a constant thorn. It was a nightmare to have him sit for 15mins to read aloud to me. He was constantly squirming in his seat. I was at my whits end. Until one day I was talking to another mom about our struggles and she told me her sons story. He too did not enjoy sitting still to read until... they bought him a hammock and now he does his reading in his hammock. Later I repeated the story to Noah and asked him what he thought about having a hammock in his bedroom. He went nuts! His begging for a hammock was nonstop!

So guess what Noah got for Christmas?... You guessed it A HAMMOCK! A few months before Christmas we set up an incentive reading plan. When he read 5 books (that I approved of for school) then we would be rewarded with a trip to the bookstore to get a fun book of his choice.(he loves Calvin and Hobbes) Noah is very competitive and likes rewards, so for him this plan was working well...

But after installing the hammock we have seen his reading level soar! He absolutely loves his hammock. He sleeps there. He does his math there. And the best thing about having a hammock for a bed, as he would tell you, is you can make up your bed in about 10 secs flat! Unhook it from one side of the wall and fold it to the other side. DONE!

Although there are struggles there are also many victories. And for that I am thankful and can press on knowing that He who is faithful will equip me for whatever He calls me to do. Lord, thank you for struggles. For without them I would not see my need for you!... And thank you for HAMMOCKS!

Nowadays, you never know where you will find Noah doing his school work. I had a good chuckle the other day when I went downstairs to do laundry and found Noah standing in the corner... reading!

Look Who's Drivin'!

2011-02-11T18:34:00.004-05:00

He did it! Yesterday Joshua got his learners permit. He was so excited he wanted to drive home from the DMV. Even though he had never driven the van, he was just eager to drive... and I was okay with that.

Really!

okay, maybe i was a little nervous with him driving me and his brothers in our new van for the first time... whatwasithinking!!!

No, really he did great! Mark this down as another "proud mama moment". I still can't believe I'm old enough to have a kid driving.

I sure hope his enthusiasm for wanting to drive lasts... I could get us to being chauffeured around for awhile. Keep up the good work! We are proud of you!

Christmas Day... Finally!

2011-02-01T18:20:00.007-05:00

I'm finally getting to Christmas Day. The morning came very early. After the boys went to bed Christmas Eve, Mike and I made a sort of maze for the boys to awaken to. We took three skeins of yarn, each a different color, and made a trail throughout the house.

When the boys awoke and came out of the bedroom they noticed yarn tied to the door handle. Then they were told which color was theirs and to follow the yarn trail for a surprise.

Joshua had the red colored yarn. We made sure that the yarn was really tangled together with the other colors!

And yes they even had to go down to the basement.

It was funny to watch them work their way through the crazy maze of yarn.

Joshua found more tangles, but I think he's getting closer to his present.

Lookey what he found... that new camcorder he's been wanting.

Next was Seth's turn...

After working his way around Joshua, following his green yarn, I'm sure he is wondering when this will end.

Seth has made it around his brothers, through the kitchen, and down to the basement.

Well... well... Look what the cat dragged in... a metal detector!

And last but not least, Noah's turn. Right about now he's going in and out of the kitchen chairs.

Look at that sweet sleepy face. Uh Oh, the hats off... it must be time to get down to business.

Watch out Seth! Noah is hot on your trail.

Oh, looks like the excitement is building. I think Noah's getting closer.

Down the stairs to the basement we go.

Almost there!

Just a few more tangles to work through.

by the way this is a great exercise to do with your kids to get them to practice working together with our arguing or complaining. I guess presents are good incentives after all!

I think by the looks of that face he has found his prize...

Yep! Right there in the laundry room... a new skateboard kit.

Well after all that fun it was time to move to the tree and open up the rest of the presents. Here is daddy opening up one of his.

Joshua opening another one of his gifts.

Looks like Noah has gotten in to some of his gifts too. Cute bow!!!

Hey! Seth found a bow too and the pillow he wanted from Ikea.

luuuuve Ikea!!! ahem... okay, sorry back to the presents.

And of course we can't forget about Mordecai...

a new blanket made with love.

Noah has already pulled out his new skateboard. He has wanted a skateboard for a long time. So he was thrilled to get one of his own.

Joshua has been needing a new desk. While at IKEA! I found this cool desk that hangs on the wall. When you aren't using it you just fold the door up and it looks like a cabinet. As soon as I saw it I knew he would like it.

Seth got his first MP3 player. He has really enjoyed recording his own music on to it. I asked the boys to show me their favorite presents and this was Seth's favorite.

This is Noah's favorite. He's dressed and ready to try out his skateboard... too bad it was snowing. It didn't stop him though!

And Joshua's favorite... of course his camcorder. He couldn't wait to make his first video and put it on youtube. You can find it here.

Well, now that I'm through Christmas, I can order MY favorite Christmas present... my blog book, yeah!

Christmas Eve

2011-01-29T13:47:00.003-05:00

We started our Christmas celebration at Mikes brothers house. We had some great finger foods and now it was time for what the boys had been waiting for... opening presents!

Joshua got a new shirt.

Noah got a new football. Seth got legos.

Here they are after opening all their gifts. I have a feeling that football isn't going to leave Noah's hand for a long time.

After our visit with Mike's family we head home to open our stockings. It's usually really late when we get home, but the boys never let us forget that its our tradition to open stocking on Christmas Eve.

Everybody waiting for mom to get a few pictures before the fun begins.

Noah got a new headset for the xbox. We try to put unique little things in the stockings.

Each of the boys got a new book light for night time reading. Leave it to Noah to think of an alternative use!

Christmas Goodies

2011-01-25T20:42:00.007-05:00

Every year the boys and I spend a whole day baking goodies for our neighbors, letter carriers and garbage collectors.

We made three recipes this year. Three of my favorite holiday recipes.

First we made these easy-peasy caramel pecan turtles. This is my favorite kind of dessert to bake... few ingredients... quick... and easy. All you need are three ingredients. Rolos (we used caramel dove candies this time because I could not find rolos any where... they worked fine, but I prefer the rolos), pecans, and mini pretzels.

The boys fill the baking sheet with pretzels and then put a rolo (or dove candy) on each pretzel. Put baking sheet in the oven and bake for about 10mins at 350 degrees. Just long enough for the chocolate to get slightly melted. Quickly pull sheet from the oven and carefully place one pecan on each pretzel. Gently press the pecan into the chocolate. Then place the baking sheet into the freezer until the chocolate has hardened again. Make sure you test at least one to see if they are ready.... YUM, YUM!!!

The second recipe we made was Amish Ginger Cookies. A lot more complicated than the first recipe, but definitely worth the trouble. My mouth is watering just thinking about these yummy cookies! Here is the recipe...

3/4 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
2 1/2 cups flour
1 t. ground ginger
1 t. ground cloves
1 t. ground cinnamon
1 1/2 t. baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl beat together butter and sugar until creamy. Add egg and molasses and beat until combined. Add the remaining ingredients and mix until well combined. Roll dough into 1 inch balls and roll in sugar until coated well. Place balls on baking sheet and slightly flatten with a spatula. Bake for 5-7 mins. or until they are barely turning brown. Allow to cool for 1 min. on baking sheet and then remove to cool further. I didn't get any pictures of us making these cookies... I think that is when someone asked if they could take a turn at taking pictures....

Hmmmm, wonder who that could've been?

Now you understand why there are no pictures of the cookies!

Okay, now on to the 3rd and hardest recipe. Gingerbread Rice Krispie Treats! They are yummy... that is true, but lets just say I would be locked away somewhere,... somewhere far far away if I had to make these more than once a year!

It starts out like any other recipe...

1 stick butter
2 T. molasses
1 1/2 T. pumpkin pie spice
1 t. salt
1 (10.5 oz) bags mini-marshmallows
12 cups Rice Krispies cereal

Grease a 9x13 baking pan well. (with butter) In large saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Stir in molasses, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Stir in marshmallows and cook, stirring occasionally, until marshmallows are melted.

everything seems to be going well...

Add cereal to marshmallow mixture and fold in quickly to coat.

FOLD in quickly? uh oh... here's where the trouble (insanity!) always begins.

Scrape cereal mixture into prepared pan and let cool for a few minutes. Lightly coat hands with butter and press Rice Krispies into the pan.

they make it sound sooo simple... Sheesh!

Cool, cut into bars and enjoy!

you better enjoy them 'cause i'm never making those beast bars again! ...or at least not til next Christmas!

Decorating the Christmas Tree

2011-01-15T11:51:00.008-05:00

We finally got our tree home and now its time to decorate.

Someone suggested we put a star on top of the tree and leave it just like it is... Funny!

Seth got to be the first to cut the twine and start untying the tree.

While Joshua snipped off the top.

Almost there.

Yea! The last bit of twine coming off.

The next day we pulled out all the decorations. Seth and Noah opening the box of decorations. They were so excited.

As the decorations were going up, I was in the kitchen preparing hot chocolate for everyone.

With lots of marshmallows! YUM!!!

The boys and Mike were busy getting the lights on the tree.

I was busy setting the table and putting other decorations around the house.

It was now time to put on the ornaments. One of our favorite ornaments are the "J" candy-cane ornaments we made a few years ago. All we did is attach (hot glue) ribbon to the bottom of candy-canes and then hang them upside down on the tree. We hang them in a "J" shape to remind us of Jesus, which is really what this season is all about.

I wanted to get a picture of everyone holding their favorite ornament. Here is mine... a Starbucks coffee cup of course!

Noah's would most definitely be the Noah's Ark ornament.

And we couldn't leave Mordecai out of the fun. Last year he got this ornament in his stocking. I don't know what happened to daddy's, Seth's and Joshua's picture... I guess I will have to work on that next year.

Every year we put a nativity set under the tree. It was Noah's turn to get to set it out.

There it is all decorated and just waiting for presents. The best part of decorating the tree is while pulling out the ornaments, which most are homemade, we reminisce about where and how the ornament was made. It's fun to look at an ornament that one of the boys made in preschool. With their name on the back its hard for them to deny that they were the creator... as much as would like to!

Christmas Tree Huntin'

2011-01-10T18:03:00.005-05:00

Once again our family went to the mountains to find a Christmas tree. It feels weird to still be talking about Christmas in January, but I'm just trying to get caught up so I can get my second blog book printed. Nowadays I don't have time to scrapbook, so my blog has been a great substitute for that and for keeping family and friends updated on our family.

Look at all those trees.

It was very cold. In fact we postponed our trip twice because of bad weather.

But we managed just fine!

On the hayride to the field of trees you could still see lots of snow from the snowstorm which occurred the weekend before.

I walked around scoping out trees while the kids...

had a snowball fight.

They also like to play tag while running through the trees like crazy people.

The boys have lots of fun... and well... nobody knows us up their anyway!

Another perfect snowball.

Okay, it's finally time to get serious about looking for a tree.

Found it! It sure didn't take long to pick out one this year once we started really looking.

really, i just think everybody was cold and ready to go.

It sure didn't take those guys long to cut it down and...

get it loaded up.

Now we're headed back to the main building for some nice warm hot chocolate and apple cider.

We always have fun on this family trip... even when it's freezing outside.

Annual Homeschool Christmas Wrap

2010-12-31T13:07:00.006-05:00

I can't believe December is almost over. Boy have we been busy! I have a lot of catching up to do here. Over the next week, before school ramps back up, I am going to try to get caught up on what we've been up to lately.

For the past few years in December our homeschool group has organized a Christmas wrap. This is where we wrap gifts for a donation. We then take the proceeds to support a needy family for Christmas.

Early in December, on a Saturday, we gathered at the church and waited for the gifts to start arriving. We were excited because we had more people sign up this year than we've ever had. We found out that the family we were going to buy Christmas for was a single mom with four young kids. I really hoped the families that signed up to let us wrap their gifts would be generous so that we could really spoil this family with lots of gifts.

Hey Seeeth!!!!!!!!!!!......

The first gifts arrived and all the kids were excited to wrap. That is once they woke up... we had our first drop off appointment at 8:30AM, but since we had to help set up we were at the church by 8AM.

I love this service project because at a time where my boys are tempted to focus on what they want, it reminds them that there are some kids that might not be getting anything for Christmas.

Some how this is the only picture of Joshua that was taken. He had just gotten back from an overnight lock-in with the church. He was exhausted! All the kids worked extremely hard, even the sleep deprived ones! I was so proud of their efforts. Wrapping presents is hard work.

Sometimes they worked together with friends.

As the day was coming to an end all the presents beautifully lined the gym walls.

Now all that was left to do was wait for our families to come pick up their presents decorated with love. We couldn't wait to see how much money we had earned.

Then out of nowhere came the unexpected... SNOW! What a great treat for the kids after a full days work. One mention of the word, snow, and they were gone!

What a special blessing. It was really starting to feel like Christmas!

Another blessing... we ended up with almost $500 to spend on our adopted family. Thank you Lord! A few days later we divided the family members amongst the group and we went shopping. The boys and I chose to buy gifts for the 3rd grade boy and a few gifts for the mom. I thought it was really sweet that the mom did not request anything for herself. But we made sure that we spoiled her too. We bought her a gift card to a clothing store, a bible, jewelry, and some awesome smelling soap. I wish we could have seen them open their gifts. This service project is one of my favorites. Can't wait til next year!

Christmas Recital 2010

2010-12-26T16:15:00.007-05:00

It's that time again... time for Seth's piano recital.

I was really looking forward to his recital. He has worked so hard perfecting his songs. Seth played Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree and We Wish You a Merry Christmas. He changed the arrangement of We Wish You a Merry Christmas. It sounded really cool.

Here is our family in front of the beautifully decorated tree at the recital. Don't mind the girl with her eyes closed... this just happen to be the only picture where we were all smiling.

Okay, without further ado here's Seth...

click here

We are so proud of Seth's hard work. Even though he messed up a tiny bit during the recital he had preformed it flawlessly a million times at home. It sounded so beautiful with his own arrangement.

Every year his teacher, Mrs Denise, gives out awards. Seth received the very special Bass Clef award. This award goes to the one student who goes above and beyond what is expected of them. Seth was shocked. He never thought he would be the one to receive that award. Needless to say, I was one proud mama!

Operation Christmas Child

2010-11-21T16:40:00.006-05:00

It's that time again! Time for Operation Christmas Child. We always look forward to November for several reasons, one of those being Operation Christmas Child. Every year our church is majorly involved in the collection of shoe boxes that later will travel across the world and be delivered to a child. In most cases this will be the only gift they receive for Christmas. More importantly than the shoebox stuffed with gifts is the little booklet they receive that tells them in their own language about Jesus and His ultimate gift.

Our home school group always picks a day during the collection week and volunteers to help collect boxes.

While we wait for people to come drop off their boxes we inspect, fill, and wrap other boxes. Here is Seth wrapping a shoebox.

Noah and Chloe finishing up a box that needed a few more goodies.

Seth is ready with the cart. They love it when someone comes with a car full of boxes. This was only the second day of collection week and you can see the mountain of boxes behind Seth.

Yea! Boxes are here. Everyone is ready to help out.

More boxes!

While we were there we decided to go ahead and finish our boxes.

The boys really enjoy picking out toys for their boxes.

Most of the time we purchase way to much stuff and end up trying to cram it all in.

Rearanging, trying to make it all fit.

Okay. I think we managed to get it all in and with the help of rubber bands manage to keep the lids on. The one thing I always like to include in our boxes is a personal letter from each of the boys. They write a short (or long in Seth's case!) letter telling their kid about themselves and asking them questions. One year we actually received a letter back and that was really special. His picture is still on our refrigerator and every time I notice it I try to stop whatever I'm doing and pray for him. I hope we get letters again from these boxes.

Seth with his finished box.

Noah and his box. It's really sweet to see the things they think of to put in their boxes. Joshua was in class so I wasn't able to get a picture of him with his box.

Oh yeah, we can't forget about the pizza. Another favorite part of Operation Christmas Child. LUNCH!

Family Trip - Blowing Rock

2010-11-04T19:02:00.006-04:00

Last weekend we took a day trip to the mountains.

For lunch we ate at the Mellow Mushroom. YUM!

Some of us could hardly wait for the food. I wont name any names...

ahem...noah!

Then we went shopping... window shopping that is. There were quite a few unique shops to browse through. One of our favorites was this hat shop, which we almost got kicked out of, because we were trying on all the hats. Seth's sombrero was so massive it almost didn't fit down the aisle.

wouldn't he make a handsome matador?

Our next stop was Mystery Hill. We have heard a lot about this house where gravity supposedly defies the laws of nature. You can read more about it here.

All of these pictures are taken straight and yes they are really leaning that far.

Here is a picture of Seth standing in the doorway. Cool huh?

It was really hard to walk across the room with out falling over. I wasn't able to go all the way in the room, because of issues with my ears and equilibrium. When I first walked into the room I immediately got dizzy, so I decided to stay in the doorway and take pictures.

This was a cool shot of Joshua going down the stairs.

Seth going up...

..and then down.

This was their favorite part of the whole trip.

can you tell?

In another room there were illusion type brain games/puzzles...

... and bubbles. We stayed here a long time trying to get the bubble completely around Noah. This is the closest we got. We thoroughly enjoyed this day getaway, even though we never made it to the actual mountain!

Happy 12th Birthday, Seth!

2010-10-25T22:11:00.007-04:00

Last Friday we celebrated Seth's 12th birthday.

We had a few of his friends come to celebrate with us and to stay for a sleep-over.

i know... i'm a glutton for punishment. what was i thinkin' bringin' more boys into this house!?!

First we had nachos.

Then time for the cake...

Seth was very specific about the kind of cake he wanted. Actually, he didn't want cake. What he wanted was cinnamon rolls from Cinnabon. So I tried to arrange them like a cake. I think it turned out really cute. Definitely, was a excellent idea! As you can tell he was ready to dig in.

But first he wanted to make sure I had the right number of candles on the cake. As you can see, funny-cookie-boy, wasn't taking any chances of missing out of getting his cinnamon roll.

i can never get a "normal" shot of that boy anymore...SHEESH!

He's making his birthday wish...

... and blowing out the candles!

Next, it was time to open his gifts.

Mostly, he got funny cards,...

more funny cards, and...

lots of MONEY!

Two more presents to go. This is a pad of shooting targets with squirrels on them. You can see the excitement already building in his eyes.

Then he gets his last present that goes along with the target paper...

A BOW & ARROW set. He's doing a great pose for mom.

Checking it out to see how it works...

aiming for the target... gently pulling back on the string...

BULLS-EYE!!!!

seth: "that's what you get for makin' goofy faces in all my birthday pictures!"

Considering there were 7 boys running around the house til the wee hours of the night, things went very well.

i'm sure the twitching is just a short term side-effect!

I love this picture. It was taken the next night at our family reunion. Seth was so tired from the late night before that he fell asleep in the middle of everything. I saw his cute toesies and couldn't resist taking a picture of them, which woke him up, but oh well it was worth it. At least I thought so!

Happy 12th birthday Setharoonie! I can't believe how big you are getting and how you are growing into such a great young man! Your dad and I are proud of how you stand up for what you believe in, your love for Jesus and your creativity. He's got great plans for you, kiddo! Love ya!

Back to School

2010-09-12T14:56:00.002-04:00

Another school year has begun. We hit the books (running!) mid August. There is never a dull or slow moment when homeschooling three boys. Joshua is now a sophomore in high school. This will be Seth's first year of middle school and Noah is in the 4th grade. I am learning so much!

like i should've paid more attention in school!

Two of my favorite subjects at the "Ryals Academy" are Fieldtrips and Service Projects! Our first field trip was to a local Alpaca farm.

Alpacas are members of the camel family. They are indigenous to South America. Alpacas are raised for their soft fleece.

I think we caught this guy still eating breakfast.

kinda looks like me before my morning coffee!

It was so hot, this guy decided to skip the fanfare and hang out in the tub.

This was a fun beginning to a new school year.

Once a week the boys go to a class with other homeschoolers. This is the highlight of their week. One thing I love about the class is that every week they have to do a 2-3 min. presentation. This week their presentation was on poetry. They were instructed to find and present on a funny poem or story.

We found the poem, "Friends" by David Harrison online. I thought it would be great for Seth and Noah to present together, because I am always talking to them about being best friends. We added a little something to make it even more entertaining. (if you are viewing this from your email, you will have to click the link at the bottom of this email to go to the blog to view the video.)

I didn't realize I hadn't turned on the camera, so I missed the first little bit, but it's still really cute!

Books 7 and 8 /13

2010-09-06T20:21:00.007-04:00

Hey y'all, I'm back! I can't believe it's been over a month since I've blogged. I don't know about you, but our summer flew by.

i must be getting old!

Just because you haven't heard from me doesn't mean that we've been lying around doing nothin'. I have managed to add two more books toward my 13 book goal for 2010.

I basically read these books at the same time. Our Wednesday night Ladies Bible Study group read through the book, "Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World". It has a great little study guide in the back of the book so that you can have a discussion about each chapter. Finding intimacy with God in the busyness of life is what this book is all about. Sometimes we get so busy (in the kitchen) that we miss Jesus sitting in the living room, waiting for us to come and rest with Him.

The Lord used this book to really speak to me about how I was living. Recently, I had taken on some extra responsibilities.(ministry) It was good stuff! I really enjoyed it at first and it made me feel like I was doing something important for God. As time went on though, I began to feel more and more overwhelmed and burdened by this new responsibility. As I prayed I felt the Lord was telling me to pull back, or at least that's what I thought I was hearing. Or was it that I was tired of the extra work and knew that I could excuse myself out of it easily? I was really confused. I didn't know what I was supposed to do. Finally, one day I stopped everything, grabbed my bible, and headed for seclusion. I needed time to pray, read the Word and hear from God as to what He wanted me to do.

I specifically prayed for God to show me if I was to give this ministry position up and just focus on the boys or keep things as is. Sometimes when you pray and seek God's will, it takes time to clearly see the answer. That was not the case this time. After praying I decided to start reading the next chapter of this book (Mary/Martha) and surprisingly there before me was my answer.

The chapter title was "The Cure" and the scripture under the title was, "You are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed." Luke 10:41-42 The chapter starts out with this fictional story of a man that meets with God in the valley. The man asks God if he can do anything for Him. God replies with a "yes" and says He has a wagon with three stones in it and asks the man if he would be willing to pull it up the hill for Him to the top of the mountain. The man eagerly agrees and begins his journey with the map God gave him that showed the way to the mountain. The man walked with ease. The wagon was light. He was cheerful about his work.

Along his journey, the man passes by a small town and stops for food. While there someone stopped him and asked him what he was doing. When he told them the story, they were elated, because they too needed to get something to the top of the mountain and didn't know until now how they were going to accomplish their task. They quickly asked the man if he would be willing to help them and take their pebbles up to the mountain. Excitedly the man agrees. On and on the man goes along his journey stopping at each little town. With every stop someone added some small something to his wagon to take to the mountain for God. Little by little the wagon began to tug more and more. It was not so light anymore. He was not so cheerful either. By the time the man reached the base of the mountain he no longer could pull the wagon up the hill. He cried out to the Lord and asked Him why He had given him such a heavy burden that he couldn't possible accomplish the task entrusted to him. There the man sat frustrated and over burdened.

Then God looked at the overflowing wagon and began pulling the items out one by one. He told the man that he should have let the others take responsibility of their own burdens. He told him that if he was busy with all those other cares that he would not be able to care for the belongings he had entrusted him to care for. God said to the man that all he told him to take to the mountain were THREE stones! The man suddenly realized the freedom God had just given him and he rejoiced knowing that God's burden really is light. WOW!

I had my answer. I cried as I read that story. I have always felt that raising my THREE boys to be godly men was to be my main focus, but somehow I let my focus get divided. Also references to stones in the bible has always stuck out to me and meant a lot to me. They were used as memorials to remind God's people of His faithfulness and the things/places He had brought them through. So a story about THREE STONES could not have been better written to get my attention. I'm so glad to have a Heavenly Father that cares enough to make Himself known to little ol me!

okay, so that was one book!!!

The second book "Home Education 101" By Vicki Bentley is actually a small group study for new homeschoolers. A sweet friend of mine asked me to lead this small group study... GULP!... to help families who were thinking about home schooling or were new to home schooling... DOUBLE GULP! Reluctantly, I agree. I'm so thankful I did. I learned so much through that study, not only from the bookwork, but also through the wonderful discussion we had as a group. Because there was a lot of reading, I'm counting it as one of my books for the year.

and i don't feel guilty 'bout it one bit... really!

This study verified the message I heard from the Mary/Martha study. It turned my focus right around to where it needed to be.

Happy Birthday Joshua!

2010-08-01T14:36:00.003-04:00

This past week our oldest, Joshua, turned 15 yrs old. I can hardly believe it myself!

He had a party with a few of his closest friends. One of them thought it would be funny to put the candles on the cake backwards.

This is what you get when you let your 15 year old boy decorate his own cake!...

...And an 11 year old boy in charge of decorations... n-i-i-i-c-e!!!

You know... the cake and decorations are great, but those things don't really matter all that much. The thing that matters the most is WHO they are becoming. God has blessed me with fantastic boys! Are they always polite? NO! Are they always thoughtful? NO! They are no different than you and me... we all have our things don't we? Growing and learning is a process that never ends no matter how old you get.

Joshua is a very fine young man. I know his heart, his character, and his love for the Lord. It is amazing to me to see how much he has grown spiritually. His daddy and I are very proud of the commitments he has made to the Lord. We know the Lord has great plans for you, Joshua and we can't wait to see how God uses you in the future to bring Him glory.

Who couldn't love a face like that!!!

The Joy of Getting Older

2010-07-29T22:35:00.003-04:00

Recently I started leading a small group bible study for moms, who are either thinking about homeschooling or are new to homeschooling. The study "Home Education 101" by: Vicki Bentley is a tool to encourage and equip new homeschoolers to "fish" for themselves. (statement taken from cover)

I think this would be a great study to offer every summer to new homeschoolers in our area. We have only gotten through the first lesson and already "I" have learned something.

One of the first things the author encourages you to do is to take the time to set goals for your child. She suggest you set Intellectual goals, Physical goals, Spiritual goals and Social goals for each child. I took quite some time going through each of these main goals for the three boys. Under each main goal I came up with three smaller goals.

While at our first class, I noticed that several of the moms had included their child in on this assignment. I thought that was a great idea and wondered why I hadn't thought about doing that too. So anyway I started over and this time I asked the boys for their input. I specifically asked them what they thought they needed to work on for each main goal.

Seth offered the most input. One of the very first things he said was that he wanted to learn to mow. I thought that was a great idea!

So today was his day! He was really excited to start learning this new skill. And since one of Joshua's goals is working on being able to teach others (his brothers), with patience,... he was able to give Seth his first mowing lesson.

He only mowed a few rows, but it was a great start. We are excited about his enthusiasm for work and desire to learn new things.

We are proud of you, Seth!

Mrs. Hanes' Cookie Factory

2010-07-21T17:57:00.009-04:00

This past week we went to Mrs. Hanes' Cookie Factory with our home school group. I have to say this has been the YUMMIEST fieldtrip yet!

Mrs. Hanes' cookies company is one of the last Moravian cookie companies that still roll and cut their cookies by hand.

Here is one of the ladies rolling out the cookie dough. You can see the cookie cutter sitting there on the table. They make around 100,000 pounds of cookies in a year. There are at least 100 cookies in a pound sooo that would be somewhere around 10 MILLION cookies!

We got lots of samples along our tour.

It's really amazing how thin those cookies are.

This guy operates the huge mixer. I can't remember exactly how much dough it holds, but trust me when I say it's a lot!

See the guy in the blue shirt... his job is to crack eggs. He cracks more eggs in a day then I crack in a year!!!... and we eat a lot of eggs!

This barrel is full of molasses.

We got to see some of the original baking pieces that were used long ago before the company was in existence. I'm not sure what this pot was used for. I liked it because it was rustic.

One of the original mixing bowls used to make the cookies.

And the oven! The tour guide pointed out that there are no windows on this oven. Mrs. Hanes mother would know the cookies were done because of their smell.

yeah... my cookies sometimes have a unique smell too... burnt!

Our tour guide showed us several inventions the owners came up with to make packaging the cookies easier. They are all packaged by hand as well.

This is another tool they invented to help with packaging.

Here is where they package the tins.

Boys will be Boys!

Outside the factory they had a flower garden along the walkway.

The sunflowers were beautiful!

I don't know what kind of sunflowers these are, but I really want some like these in my backyard. They are so happy!!!

We had a neat time learning about how these cookies are made. Joshua is going to hate he missed this one. He's at camp this week. He is greatly missed!

especially by seth and noah, cause they have to do his chores while he's gone!

My All-Star

2010-07-18T16:51:00.006-04:00

A lot has been going on here the last few months... baseball, camp, ministry opportunities, birthdays, vacation, writing opportunities and the list goes on. The most important thing that has happened recently has been the Lord speaking to me about what I've been focused on.

The past few months my life has been kinda like this picture. You can see what's important, but it's not the focus. You can't see clearly what's important when you are focused on the wrong thing or too many things at one time.

His burden, which is suppose to be light (Matt 11:30), suddenly becomes heavy and bothersome. All of the things we are doing may be good, but only one thing is needed... (Luke 10:38-41)... and that is to focus on Jesus and He will show us what's really important in this life.

I've spent a lot of time lately cleaning house and getting rid of the unnecessary stuff that I had allowed to creep in. I asked some tough questions and let go of some things that are close to my heart, but in the end I know I wont regret choosing to focus on my family. I only have a short few years before my boys are grown and I don't want to look back and see that I was so busy ministering to others that I missed the opportunities under my own roof. God has entrusted me with raising three boys who will hopefully grow to be great warriors for Him.

I AM BLESSED!

I am also focusing on my role as wife, homeschool mom, and writer. Later this week I will share how the Lord spoke to me and the process I went through to narrow down what I am suppose to be focused on.

Now on to the good stuff!

Noah played spring ball for the first time this year. He loves baseball! He had a great season and after it was over he was asked to be on the All-Star team. He was so excited!

Noah knew right away he wanted to try out for pitcher.

So we called a friend and asked them to help teach Noah to pitch since he had never pitched before.

thanks lucas and levi!!!

Noah ended up being 1 of 4 pitchers. He did really well considering it was his first time pitching.

The three hour practices everyday for two weeks were challenging.

They played a total of 4 games...

... and lost a total of 4 games, but through all of this he learned a lot about perseverance and commitment. He had lots of fun, made new friends, and discovered a new passion.

i have never been big into sports, but I can't wait for fall ball!

July 4th celebration

2010-07-11T21:26:00.008-04:00

For the Fourth of July, we usually celebrate by going to a local golf course with friends or family and watching the fire works. This year we were in VA visiting mom and dad. A local church, which overlooked the valley, was having a Fourth of July festival. It was fun. They had several of those blow-up, bounce house games for the kids.

One of them was this boxing ring. It was hilarious watching Seth and Noah trying to pick up those humongous boxing gloves! Noah could barely pick it up... it was like watching him in slow motion every time he tried to hit Seth.

This is not a very clear picture, but I liked this picture of Seth with the back-drop of the valley and mountains off in the distance.

i really would like a better camera. hinthint

Here is Seth jousting. Those things are a lot harder to do than they look.

Joshua patiently waiting his turn.

All the boys had fun!

After playing a few games and eating hot-dogs and hamburgers it was time to get a good seat for the fireworks. While we were waiting for the big show we had sparklers of our own.

which, as it turns out, we weren't suppose to have on the church property!... now c'mon do we really look like a rowdy bunch to you?

ahem, i mean, "luv ya dad!!!"

Anyway, back to the fireworks...

It was really cool to see the fireworks off in the distance. We could see about 4 or 5 different towns shooting off their fireworks.

I tried to get some good shots of the fireworks, but even with the fireworks setting on my camera they all turned out like this...

They do look kinda cool, though.

i would still loooove a new camera... hinthint... hinthint!

Happy Birthday, Noah!

2010-07-07T22:46:00.004-04:00

I can't believe my baby turned 9 yrs old on the 5th of July. Noah got to invite some friends to come play baseball and then stay for a sleepover.

We started the celebration by going to Walmart to pick out a cake. I usually make their cakes, but with things being kinda crazy around here we needed to go with plan B.

just to tell ya in case you didn't already know... cakes at Walmart are expensive!!! you bet i'll be makin' the next one!

At least it looked really cool!

Once the boys arrived we left for the fields to play some ball and eat pizza. Then we headed home to have that expensive cake and open presents.

Noah had plenty of help opening his gifts...

not like he needed any help... well, help with opening presents i should say... that boy always needs help!!!

Here Michael and Noah are opening the gift from Corbin with their teeth!

that boy cracks me up!

Ahhhhhh... SILLY BANDS!!!

After all the presents were opened there was still one more surprise. I had gotten some poppers, confetti poppers, and glow necklaces for some in the dark fun. When all the poppers were gone they played capture the flag in the dark with their glow necklaces on so they could see each other.

Then they played video games until midnight, when I just couldn't stay up any longer. About a half hour later we heard Michael yell, "Ya'll better stop rubbin' my head!!!"

Happy 9th Birthday, Noah!

Book 6/13

2010-06-21T21:49:00.004-04:00

I finished another book, Yeah!

This is one of my favorite authors. Elizabeth George has great resources for women who want to be closer to the Lord. You can check them out at her website elizabethgeorge.com I've read several of her books and I've done one of her bible studies. It was great!

This book caught my attention because of the title. It's all about setting priorities and management of your...

spiritual life
physical life
home life
financial life
social life
mental life
ministry life
time

It's a pretty quick read and full of practical tips for a busy lifestyle.

since it took me three weeks to find the time to do this post... i'd say i still have a lot of work to do!

Field Day

2010-06-04T22:11:00.011-04:00

Last month our home school group had field day.

i know i'm really behind. i have about four posts worth of pictures waiting patiently on my computer to be blogged.

The boys LOVE field day!

Balloons for the three-man slingshot.

There were lots of events that involved these innocent looking hula-hoops.

The Hula event. Who can hula the longest with their your arm...

ankle...

and around...

your neck!

Here is Seth in the Carpet Square race. You pick up a carpet square. Turn around. Lay it down. hop onto it.

Repeat those steps until you get to the finish line.

This event was the Cup Race. It was fun to watch Noah be SO determined to win this race. You start at one end with a bucket of water and a cup. Dip the cup into the bucket of water, run across the field to the next bucket, and then dump your cup into that bucket. At the end of time, whoever has the most water in their bucket wins. The thing you can see here is that the cup has holes in the bottom of it. You can see Noah trying his best to cover the holes!

This was a fun event. I don't know what to call it, but anyway... You have a plunger attached to a small rubber ball and an obstacle course. The kids had to start out by spinning 10 times then running through the course while holding the ball to their chin. Seth did very well on this event.

Noah on the other hand...

had a little trouble with this one. This really is harder than it looks. They had to run between these cones and jump over those totes. If you dropped the ball... Ahem, Noah ...then you had to spin around 10 times again and start where you left off.

The Soccer Race was more Noah's thing. He's got his game face on. I have a feeling someones going down!

Look at him watching his opponent.

He did really well in this event.

In this race you had to roll the hula-hoop down the field and around a cone with a noodle. Much harder to do than you would think.

Monster Golf!

The hole was a bucket!

Field day just wouldn't be complete with out Tug-of-War.

I don't think I would mess with him if I were you.

This has been Noah's favorite event ever since he first participated in field day.

That's all I heard about for days before field day.

SAFE!

After all the events were over there was one last group event.

The three-man sling shot. Or in this case... just-see-how-high-you-can-get-the-balloon-into-the-air, event.

All the kids lined up and tried to catch the launched water balloon.

There's no better way to end a hot and sweaty field day... then by being WET, hot and sweaty!

Grandparents Night

2010-05-21T20:58:00.006-04:00

At our church every Wednesday night the kids have what is called "Recess". Recess, is suppose to be a fun outreach time where the kids invite other kids to church and they have a short lesson and then play some fun games. Every Wednesday has a different dress code. Sometimes its something like parents night (you dress like your parents), robot night, red (or some other color) night, hat night, tie night... and so on... you get the picture, right?

Last Wednesday night was Grandparents night. So Noah is here dressed like his bapa.

i thought it was cool when i found this shirt in joshua's closet, cause it looks just like a shirt his bapa has!!!

He insisted on having a mustache even though his bapa doesn't have one.

i think he looks pretty good with a 'stache!

Seth dressed up too, but his mom was rushing around trying to get ready for church and didn't get a chance to take a picture of him.

i know, bad mom!

Anyway... Moving on... Seth had on a suit coat with a tie and he carried a CANE! I don't know where he got that idea from. He looked really funny trying to walk across the parking lot with it.

They really like dressing up. They get candy at the door if they are in dress code. If they bring a friend with them then they get five tickets. Their name goes on the tickets and then it goes into a VW Bug, named Cosmo.

yes, a real one. it was used in a production the kids did several years ago.

At the end of summer they have a drawing and the kids' ticket that's drawn gets to take home the big prize. One time it was a scooter. Then there was a flat-screen TV, tickets to Carowinds, and more that I can't remember.

pretty cool, huh?

Garden Update

2010-05-16T16:18:00.006-04:00

Our garden is going pretty good. We are trying some new things this year. Mike bought me a Topsy Turvy made for strawberries.

I use the same soil mixture that I used in my garden. (1/3 peat moss, 1/3 vermiculite, 1/3 compost) We planted a total of 30 plants!

You can put two plants in each hole.

It took some working to get the plants through the holes.

After topping it off with the last bit of soil, it was now time to find a place to hang it.

We hung it from our deck. I'm glad it came with strong wire to hang it with cause that thing was heavy!

It was a little bit of a job, but hopefully it will pay off in the end with lots of yummy strawberries in our own back yard.

The other change we've made is adding mulch around the garden. I thought it would be soooo easy... you just buy mulch and pour it out around where you want it, right?

WRONG!!!

When we tried that around one box it was immediately apparent that it wasn't going to work that way. The mulch was mounded up and falling all over the place. We quickly realized we were going to have to dig out the grass. We did that on one box first to make sure that worked. It worked beautifully!

WARNING... WARNING... YOU MIGHT WANT TO READ THE REST OF THIS POST BEFORE YOU GO OUT TO DIG.

ITSHARDWORK!!!

I don't know if your soil is like mine... the red clay kind... but man did it take a long time to dig around those boxes. We had 3 shovels and 4 people taking turns and it took us about 2 hours from start to finish for just ONE box. But it was so worth it! Look how pretty and neat it looks...

now just two more to go. UGH!!!

Now that we've finished with the mulching, YEA!, we can move on to how the veggies are growing. Well... everything was going great UNTIL a few days ago when I went out to check-up on my little guys...

and to my horror this is what I found. Something had turned my lettuce, peas, broccoli, and green pepper leaves into swiss cheese! YIKES!!!

look at these poor guys! can't you just feel their pain? feel free to send your donations of any amount to help support the "ryals garden restoration fund"!

So, I've been busy researching how to get rid of whatever is eating my garden. I don't want to us pesticides of any kind. I have found some interesting ideas online. Here are a few tips if you are having the same unwanted guest in your garden...

1. You can use egg shells and used coffee grounds to get rid of gnats and slugs. I just keep a jar by my sink and everyday fill it with egg shells (we eat lots of eggs) and coffee grounds. When its full I take it to the garden and sprinkle it over the soil. I had forgotten I did this last year and it really does work.

2. The next thing I'm going to try is an onion/garlic insect repellent. All you do is save your onion skins, peels and ends. Once you have enough, soak them for a few days in warm water. You could just leave them outside in the sun. Then strain the onion/garlic pieces out and pour the liquid into a spray bottle. Bury the strained parts around your plants. You can spray both house plants and garden plants with this spray. I am going to test the spray on the plant first just to make sure it doesn't harm the plant. Do this by spraying one or two leaves and wait three days to see if there are any changes.

i hope my plants will make it three more days... those bugs are serious about their eatin'!

To find out more about homemade natural pesticides check out this great site I found... Tipnut.com

Another thing I've done to help keep bugs from my garden was to plant some herbs and flowers among the veggies. Some of my Marigolds look like this, GREAT!

But most of them look like these poor guys... hmmm?

Anyway, on a positive note... My cabbage is getting huge. Still waiting to find a head? I keep trying to sneak a peak, but I still haven't found anything yet. The broccoli is growing well too. I have 4 heads of broccoli so far.

And the peas are growing like crazy! They are almost to the top of the trellis. I really hope the natural pesticides work. Have you tried any that worked? Leave me a comment... I'd love to know what's worked for you.

Yummy Strawberries

2010-05-14T20:28:00.006-04:00

The best part of spring and summer is all of the yummy fruit to be picked. Today we went to a local strawberry farm.

On the way to the farm, which was only 20 mins away, the temperature went up almost 10 degrees! I was hot! 82 degrees by the time we got there.

I love the pretty little flowers on the strawberry plants.

I tried to get a close-up... it's a little blurry, but still pretty.

Just a few strawberries in the bucket.

We went with my friend Zenobia and her daughter Ezra. Isn't she so cute! Ezra had a lot of fun pulling the strawberries off and throwing them in the bucket.

Joshua helping Ezra find more berries.

Seth has already filled one bucket.

Joshua and Ezra still filling her bucket.

I think Noah has had enough! Man was it hot.

Now Seth is helping Ezra fill up her bucket.

I manage to sneak away and pick a few myself.

Here's the whole gang, hot and sweaty!

These strawberries are so sweet and yummy... although I think I better lay off some... my stomach is starting to disagree.

Seth's Spring Piano Recital

2010-05-11T21:48:00.004-04:00

This past weekend Seth had his spring piano recital. He played "The Russian Sailor Dance" and "Party Song".

Seth loves to play the piano. He especially likes to create his own songs.

Mom and dad were in town for the weekend, so they got to see his recital too.

We are very proud of your hard work and drive to stick with it. Keep up the good work, Buddie!

Griggs Farm Fieldtrip

2010-04-28T14:20:00.021-04:00

This past week our home school group went on a field trip to Griggs Farm. Mr and Mrs Griggs own over a hundred acres of land and they offer FREE tours of their farm. I was blown away by the enthusiasm and generosity of this family. I immediately fell head over heals for their farm. Come, let me share just some of the hundred and something pictures I took while there...

This is where we met farmer Len and his wife. I know they were talking about something important at this moment, but I was so distracted by the view I was focused on taking pictures of something.

Meet Michelle! This is a giant black widow with her latest victim. Michelle was found at a paintball range, but some how ended up at the farm. They make sure to dress her for every season... she's wearing her spring bonnet.

After meeting the farmer and his wife the kids got to meet these guys. I can't remember their names, but they were cute.

Here is a random shot of part of the farm. So relaxing!

There are many antiques scattered throughout the farm. Hey look, they even have antique mushrooms growing here. I love rustic stuff!

I was about to get a drink of water from this pump, but that guy was giving me the heeby-geeby's. He was staring me down so hard his eyes almost pop out. So I decided I wasn't really that thirsty anyway.

Okay, so these jeans were hanging on a line to dry. They look so stretched out because there is a wire mold that has been slipped into them to help them dry flat so they can be ironed easier. Evidently back then (whenever then was) the material they made the jeans with wrinkled very easily so they had to dry and iron them that way.

let's just say that if i had lived back THEN, i would be startin' a new trend... wrinkle jeans! i hate ironing and avoid it like the plague.

Now here's where we will camp for a little while. I'll try to make it short, but I just have to tell you about Mona. Mona is a donkey, not a mule. There is a difference. Mona is somewhere around 40 yrs old. Donkeys live to be about 40 yrs old. When she came to Griggs farm she was half dead. She was starving because as she had aged her teeth had gotten very sharp. This was preventing her to be able to chew her food well. They filed her teeth down and all is well. We learned a few interesting facts about donkeys that has given me a greater appreciation for these creatures.

Donkeys are known to be protectors. They will keep predators away from other animals. So a lot of times farms will put a donkey in with their other animals to protect them. Now, it's pretty cool when you think about the fact that Mary, while she was pregnant with Jesus, rode on a donkey. And then later Jesus himself rode on a donkey to Jerusalem. According to Mrs Griggs all donkeys have a cross on their back. If you look real close to the picture above you can see some of it. They have a stripe down their back and a stripe that goes across their shoulders... see it under her hand? Isn't that amazing?

Coming up here behind Mona is their other donkey...

ICKY! He is really cute too. You can't see the cross on his back because of his dark coat. Icky follows Mona wherever she goes... so much so... that they had to start letting the donkeys hang out with some of the other animals, because they are afraid that when something happens to Mona, Icky would die of loneliness. That's just what they do.

After meeting Mona and Icky we split up into two groups. One group went to visit their little museum and the other group went on a hayride. The first thing we saw on the hayride were these honey bee colonies.

The land at this farm was beautiful. This is the scene to the right and...

to the left. It seemed to go on forever.

While on the hayride we were told to keep our eyes out for a forest fish. We had no trouble finding him. Can you make him out in the picture above? It's a little hard to see it in the picture, but if you look at the right side of the picture you can make out his head.

We also had to look for a pencil. Man, that is some pencil!

This was a great hayride and a fantastic day!

I still can't believe they don't charge people to come tour their farm. You can tell they really love kids.

Just another random shot.

Hey Seth!

Hey Noah!

Hey Joshua!

I love this windmill. I want one for my yard... course it would look rather funny on my little piece of land!

They also had horses. I can't remember their names, but...

One of them used to be a pretty famous race horse. I can't remember if it got injured or what, but somehow it ended up at this farm... well loved I'm sure.

And no farm is complete with out goats. These are pygmy goats... Holly, Molly and Dolly. All the kids were able to feed the goats and watch them headbutt each other.

I think I could have taken about 1,000 pictures at this farm.

Here we are about to go into their little museum.

Their museum was packed wall to wall with antiques.

You can't really see it too well in this picture, but she is holding up an antique mouse trap. It was made out of metal and would trap the mice inside. They would then take the trapped mice still in the trap and throw them into the pond. And that's the old fashioned way to get rid of mice.

Here the farmers wife was telling some interesting fact... but again I was distracted taking pictures of all the cool stuff in the room.

Here was a neat table of odds and ends. These arrowheads were found on their property.

This is what they do to you when you don't listen during the tour!

i hope they don't throw you into the pond too.

There were so many things hanging around that everywhere I turned I spotted something new I had not seen before. I really liked this cross hanging from the ceiling.

Look at those gourds... aren't they GOURDeous!

AWWW, Noah's been a bad boy!

There were tons of wheels and...

hooks hanging from the ceiling. Evidently farmer Len has a thing for hooks... of all kinds. He even has a harpoon on the ceiling. He wanted it because of the hook on it.

I thought this was a funny picture of the goats hanging out in the "Snack Shack".

The kids learned how they use to wash clothes, before the days of the washing machine.

They each were able to take a turn washing.

Hey, Joshua looks pretty comfortable with that thing. I think you're getting the hang of it... that's a good look for you.

Hmmm, on second thought maybe not!

This was where they stored their wagons and sleigh. You know kinda like a two car garage. The little building would have been where they kept a few animals. I loved the wood and the way it was fashioned together.

Hey there goes Mona again!

They also had miniature horses. this horse cracked me up. It look just like a "My Little Pony" and her name was "Star". I'm sure there is a "My little Pony" named "Star".

Seth found Mona. She was sooo sweet!

Here the boys wanted their picture with this mill stone set. It is rare to find an original set, because usually one of them gets destroyed over time.

Watch out Joshua!

Out of all the things I loved about this farm... this was the best of all. I've always wanted to take the boys picture in a field of flowers.

After our tour was over we went to have lunch at a local park. This was the first time we had visited this park. They have some pretty cool stuff to play on. This was a four person see-saw.

This was really cool too. A stand up see-saw. Whenever the bar you had your feet on hit the tires it would make the other persons feet jump off their bar.

This was one of the best field trips we have been on in a long time. I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of that farm. I hear they need some help and lets just say, I know of at least four people who are dying to get back out their.

Garden Update

2010-04-16T21:46:00.003-04:00

A few weeks ago we were sowing seeds... and now look at we got...

We bought broccoli and cabbage plants. They are getting pretty big, but no broccoli or cabbage head yet. The onions we bought are called Plyer onions. (i think) They are about the size of a radish and you just break them open and plant the little parts. Each little part will root. Pretty easy!

I bought two kinds of lettuce. Leaf lettuce and Butter-crunch. These were the seeds we were planting two weeks ago.

See the larger lettuce above? That is actually from last year!!! I noticed something green starting to poke out of the dirt in one of the pots on my deck. I decided to leave it.

really i thought it was a weed and was just to lazy to pull it out.

Well it turned out to be lettuce.

i knew it all along.

Something new I'm trying this year are peas. I bought these as seeds and sowed them right into the ground. They are growing really fast. Everyday they get a little taller.

Last week we went back to our favorite new farming supply store. We bought tomato plants(Roma and Better Boys), marigolds, zucchini plants, squash plants, green bean seeds (bush tenderette beans) and a rosemary plant. We transplanted the two roma tomatoes and marigolds today. We sowed two more squares of half long carrots and leaf lettuce.

We transplanted two cauliflower plants that we grew from seeds. One looks okay, but the other one doesn't look so hot. We will see how they turn out. It's all trial and error with lots of reading and planning. I know it will be worth it in a month or two when I'm grocery shoppin' in my back yard!

I can hardly wait!

Noah and the Blue Jays

2010-04-13T21:14:00.003-04:00

Baseball is back! This season Noah is on the Blue Jays.

Don't they look great?

So far they have Noah playing first base. I am very excited about this season. He seems to be on a good team with dedicated coaches. They have their first game this week... Go Blue Jays!!!

Let's see if he can hang on to the name "Pit-bull"!

Book 5/13

2010-04-02T19:05:00.004-04:00

I finished the square foot gardening book. I told you I was flying through it. I am so glad I broke down and bought this book. The resources in this book are invaluable. My favorite part of the book are the charts in the back of the book. I also like the fact that you can look up a certain vegetable and there is a quick reference page that tells you all about how to grow that vegetable.

Here's whats going on so far in my homemade planters...

Leaf Lettuce and Butter-crunch Lettuce... I can't wait to have fresh lettuce. I look forward to trying the butter-crunch lettuce. I've never had it before.

The oregano is sprouting, but it is really tiny. I didn't bother taking a picture of it.

And here above and below are Marigolds. They are growing strong. I don't particularly care for Marigolds, but I have been told they are great to help keeps the bad bugs away from the other crops. I plan on planting one plant in each corner of the boxes and one in the middle. We'll see how good of a job they do. I'm trying my best to not use any pesticides on the garden.

I can't wait to see when the carrots and radishes start poking through.

Spring Garden

2010-03-28T22:07:00.008-04:00

We started planting our spring garden about two weeks ago. I've been reading "Square Foot Gardening", like a mad woman. I'm already half way through. My plan is to try to have a better garden than last year. I am learning a lot! "Square Foot Gardening" by Mel Bartholomew is a great resource to have.

To go along with the book, I would also suggest this fantastic website... littlehouseinthesuburbs.com. They have a great FREE planner you can print out. After printing the little planner you have yourself a guide book that tells you exactly what to do and when to do it.

that's my kinda book!

We currently have 3 (4x4) boxes.

It takes a lot of planning in the beginning, but I am hopeful that it will get easier the more I learn. I basically am starting from scratch, trying to make sure I have a plan and work the plan.

I learned how to make containers to sow indoor seeds in. You simply use rolled up newspaper.

Find something that is the desired size you want your containers to be. Here I used a spice container as a model.

Then you simply roll it together. Carefully remove the spice container and...

then wet the bottom and fold closed. Fold the bottom like you are wrapping the ends of a cylinder shaped present.

Fill each seed container with potting soil.

Figure out what you want to sow. Sow your seeds in your new seed containers. We put at least two seeds in each container just in case one didn't grow.

Then all that's left to do is to water them. We put lots of water to soak the whole seed container. Once the newspaper was thoroughly wet it stuck together nicely. You just want to be careful when you water your newly sown seeds, that they don't float to the top of the soil. A few days after we did this I noticed one of my seeds laying on the top of the soil, so I just pushed it down again.

We were also able to get our beds ready.

I thought this was a cute picture of Seth and Noah sitting on the peat moss. They were taking a break after working hard at getting that stuff down to the garden.

Here they are spreading the new mix into the box. I love it when they work together on a project. It may not always be fun, but it's good character training to learn how to work together. They learned the importance of having a good work ethic and how when one person doesn't work hard it makes it harder for others.

The weather was beautiful and we were able to accomplish much.

Here we are checking our plans to see which square we need to plant next.

We planted broccoli, cabbage and onions.

I love the squares! They look so neat.

I can't wait to get more planted in the boxes.

I have definitely fallen in love with square foot gardening. Once you figure out when to plant what, it is so easy. My favorite part... NO WEEDS to pull. If you have never tried this method of gardening I would highly recommend trying it. Get the book! Don't try to be frugal. You will use the resources in the back of the book a lot. It will keep you from planting broccoli, which is a cool weather crop, in the middle of summer, like I did last year!!

Encouragement Cafe' Home School Show

2010-03-26T21:24:00.004-04:00

Hey, Just wanted to do a short post about Encouragement Cafe'. The show's topic tomorrow is about Home Schooling. Joshua and I will be on the show with a few other home school families. The show is on Saturday, 3-27 at 2:00pm. The radio station is 830AM or you can listen LIVE at the website. Check out the website, Encouragementcafe.com, next week to read the devotionals about the same topic.

I'm excited about the show and the opportunity to talk about something God has given me a passion for. Pray for us. Public-speaking is not my thing. I know the Lord has given me this opportunity so I will press on knowing that I don't have to be afraid. I can be strong and courageous knowing He is with me! Also, pray for the people listening that they will be encouraged by what we say.

Someone's turned 40!

2010-03-24T21:55:00.005-04:00

no! not me, silly!

On the 23rd my best friend turned 40. My husband, Mike, has been the great strength behind me, gently encouraging me along the path that God has me traveling. And where does he get that strength?... from the Lord of course. What I love most about him is his stance for the truth, reliance on the Lord and his love/dedication to his family. He is not perfect. But God knew he would be perfect for this imperfect girl.

We wanted to make his birthday special.

The boys started hanging the streamers...

...all over the house!

It was fun to see their creative minds at work.

I would have totally done it differently. I'm glad I let them go and do whatever they wanted. It turned out sooo much better than I would have done.

Some friends came over and brought dinner already cooked. YAHOO!

i thought only the birthday person got a gift. thanks chris and jennifer!

Mike blew as hard as he could, but there was one stinkin' candle that was determined to not go out.

that's a lot of candles, y'all!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABY!

Book 4/13

2010-03-23T21:26:00.003-04:00

About two weeks ago I finished another book. Things have been ridiculously busy around here, so I am just now posting about this book.

Raising Motivated Kids By Cheri Fuller was a much needed read. I learned a lot about my role in modeling good motivation. This is key. The best way kids learn is by imitation. Set good examples! Your behavior says more about you than your words. You send powerful messages through your actions. Your kids are always watching what you do. Walking your talk!

Start paying attention to what interest your child and encourage them in that area instead of trying to make them fit into a mold God didn't intend for them. I can say that this has been a big one for me. I have 3 totally different boys. One who has a laid-back comedian type of personality who loves to work with kids. Another son, who loves music, art and cooking. He is not driven when it comes to sports, unlike my third son who is very competitive with sports. And quite good at it, if say so myself! I would never be able to get my first son to excel in art, just as I would never dream of making my second son do something sports related and expect him to be the team star. Find what interest them.

When it comes to motivation, instead of always pointing out the negative focus on little improvements. This will give your child the confidence to try harder. If they always here negative they WILL give up. Make sure your expectations are realistic for their age. In the book the author suggest you make a list and evaluate each expectation.

For older children talk to them about their ambitions. I know in our family we talk a lot about the future and about their future wives. We try to get them to think about what kind of husband and dad they want to be. Focus on learning not strictly on grades. It's learning that matters. Well... and Godly character that matters most!! Encourage your child to ask questions and take the time to answer their questions. This can be hard. I have one son who ask A LOT! of questions and sometimes I have to admit I lose patients and give them a short "I'm too busy" answer.

i'm workin on it!

The most important thing is to be patient. Waiting is not a passive action. It's active. It take a great deal of energy to restrain the impulse to push, shove, insist, and suggest when you see a lack of progress. The bottom line is to encourage the little victories while guiding them when they are heading the wrong way without making them feel like a failure. Your optimism in them can overcome their feelings of failure. Failure is temporary if you have the courage to get up and try it again!

Revolutionary War Reenacted

2010-03-17T17:04:00.007-04:00

This past weekend we went to a local park and saw a reenactment of the Revolutionary War.

The weather was great! It was suppose to rain, but we prayed it would hold off until after the war. And it did! It started raining right after we got into the car to leave the park.

Here are a few pictures...

We met up with some of our good friends while we were there. Hard to believe that is only two families... and two are missing from the picture! We made a last minute decision to go to the reenactment and I'm glad we did. It was really fun. The thing I like best about this fun family outing... IT WAS FREE!

Skiing Fun

2010-03-11T08:50:00.006-05:00

I know... I know... in the last post I was saying how I couldn't wait for spring, and that is true, but when you have an opportunity to go skiing you just can't pass that up. Especially when a group of your friends are going!

This past Monday our family went skiing and had a blast. This was our 3rd annual trip and has quickly become one of our favorite traditions.

Here is Seth, he decided to try snowboarding this year. He loved it! I could not believe how quickly he pick it up. He even went down the black diamond slopes.

Joshua and one of his friends Caleb.

After lunch it warmed up so much most of us were shedding our coats. This picture looks like it was taken at the beach!

Say hi to my friend, kathy.

And my friend Pam and two of her daughters.

Then there was Noah... he has become quite a confident skier.

a little too confident if you ask me!

A few days after our trip we were in the car reminiscing, when Noah bragged about going on the DOUBLE black diamond slope. I freaked out! He's only been skiing THREE! times. He informed me that he spent most of the afternoon on that slope. (with a friend thankfully) Then to make matters worse Joshua pipes up and says, "Yeah mom it was the one that was roped off and had a big caution sign that said for ADVANCED skiers only!!!!"

who's raising that child? oh, i guess that would be my job! SHEESH!

We had a great time and can't wait to go next year!

It's Almost Here...!

2010-03-04T16:08:00.006-05:00

I'm talking about SPRING of course, and I can't wait!

Along with spring comes gardening. I've been busy planning our spring garden. We have 3, 4x4 boxes and 1, 2x2 box. I felt pretty good about our garden last year with it being our first real garden, but I definitely want to improve.

My friend, Rene, and her family have a huge garden that feeds them (4 families!) all summer plus enough left over to get them through most of the winter. They also raise their own chickens. When it comes to gardening I have a lot to learn. Fortunately, I knew exactly who to go to for advice.

This past Wednesday a group of us went to buy seeds with Rene and her family. We went to a store a few towns away so we could get good seeds (heirloom). You can learn more about seeds on Rene's site here. I learned so much from just this one trip... I can't wait to get my hands dirty!!

I ended up buying broccoli, cabbage, peas, carrots, onions and 2 different kinds of lettuce.

I learned that you can plant certain types of flowers in your garden and they will help keep bugs away and/or attract the good kind of bugs. I will probably do this since I want our garden to be organic.

Everyone at this family owned store was very friendly. Here we were checking out the broccoli and cabbage plants, when this guy walked up and started telling us all about them. By the time he and Rene's mom were finished teaching us how to plant them and care for them I wanted to buy the whole table! But, after giving it some thought I decided against it.

Because this trip happened in the middle of our school day I wanted to make it count. I had to be creative, but found a way for it to be a field trip. I am so glad I did. It turned out to be a lot more than just a seed store. They had fresh produce, farming equipment, livestock supplies, gardening equipment/supplies and a few animals. I had the kids take their journals to draw pictures and take notes. Joshua was in charge of the camera and making sure to get good pictures for the blog. I think he succeeded. When we got home, Seth and Noah finished their journal entry, along with a few sentences about what they had learned.

Here are a few of the animals they had at the store...

These pigs look sooo cute...

too bad they grow up and get stinky!!

Chickens.

And then there was this cute guy...

I will probably work out in the garden this weekend. I can't wait! I'll try to get some pictures up as soon as possible.

Be sure and check out Rene's website for more on gardening. Her website is budgetsavingmom.com Then click on the "gardening" tab at the top of the page.

Lovin' the Sinner

2010-03-01T22:52:00.003-05:00

Let me just tell you... there is never a dull moment in our home. This morning is a prime example. It started out like every other morning. I woke the boys up and they went to eat breakfast. After Noah was finished eating he went to put the milk in the refrigerator and that's when it all started to go down hill...

CLUNK! CLANG! CRASH!

Noah: (hands full with a bag of cereal and a jar of milk) Aarruugh!

Me: (yelling) Noah! What did you dooo!

Noah: HATETHESINLOVETHESINNER!!!!!

Me: (laughing uncontrollably) Where did you hear that? (Thinking he was going to say from church.)

Noah: From Calvin and Hobbs, Mom!

Just when I think I'm making some headway with that kid, he quickly reminds me that I have a long road ahead of me!

I've always said he reminds me of Calvin... I think I'll go look for all those books and hide them before he gets anymore great ideas!

At least the refrigerator got cleaned out!

Oh, how I do luuuv that little sinner!