Rock the Presidents (I was there 5/52)

The Tulsa Preforming Arts Center has a series for kids called Young at Art.They offer quality live theater to school age children, for CHEAP! Each year, I look over the schedule for the school year and chose what shows we would enjoy. We usually see 2 a year. Some we have seen over the past few years include Suessical the Musical, Charlotte's Web and The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. They are always so well done that we love going. I also love that the tickets are $4/person - woohoo. For less than we can go to a movie, we can see live theater. We never go see real movies, each kiddo has maybe been to 5 in their whole life, but there is something cool about the theater.

Last week, we saw Rock the Presidents.  It was fantastic and unlike any of the other plays we have seen there. Very high energy, educational, and just FUN! C took some pics with his ipod for me :)

And yes, I was there too...

Do you like to go to the theater? What have you seen? The kids are all going to be in Music Man, Jr in April, so it will be fun to learn about the behind the scenes part of theater!

Were you?

Review: Journey Through Learning Lapbooks

"Can we review more? Reviewing is fun with stuff this!"

When I was offered the opportunity to review a lapbook for A Journey Through Learning Lapbooks, my first thought was yikes, lapbook!...sounds like work ;) Hey, my blog, I can be honest, right? I have purchased one lapbook before and we never got past the first part because it was just blank. I didn't know what to do with it because cute as it was, it was just blank templates that I had to come up with the info for the kids to fill in. Too much work to add in as a "fun extra" in our day.

So....I almost just deleted the email but thankfully kept reading and saw, "I am also a Classical Conversations mom. We have teamed up with CC to create lapbooks for Cycle 1." 

Hmmmm....Now she peaked my interest. So I checked out her website and found one I wanted to try that goes right along with what we are doing right now in Science in CC.

I chose the one I wanted and was emailed the pdf to print off. It is 42 pages long and starts with...amazing directions for us lapbook challenged peeps to know what in the world we are doing! Love it! I had all the materials needed, so printed it out and off we went. You also have the option or ordering a print copy if you can't print cheaply. I have a great old printer that prints very cheaply so I just printed it off.

Maybe I just got a bad lapbook before, but this one from A Journey Through Learning not only had cute templates for the kids to fill out, but also had all the information that goes into those cute templates! We would read a page of information together, then they would fill in the item to glue into the book based off the page of information we had just read.

And they loved it. I loved that it all went so well with what we are learning about right now in Classical Conversations. The kids liked that too, since they recognized the information and knew what we were talking about. 

C is learning to draw the world in Challenge A, so P brought the cover sheet to him to draw on the blank globe. Love it!

After we finished the first folder, T was playing with it on his own. I told him it was time to move to math and he actually said, "Can we review more? Reviewing is fun with stuff this!" Sweet!

I'm starting to see why people love lapbooks. It was really fun.

If you go to their website, there are samples of the pages in the lapbooks so you can see what I mean when I say that the information is all there. I tried to link them but I can only link to the homepage. Go check them out! If you do, let me know what you think :)

Disclaimer:  I received this lapbook, at no cost to me, in exchange for my honest review.  
All opinions are mine.

I was there too....4/52

This week is going to be crazy, so I'm posting now, while I have a chance. I hate having things to do in the evenings and we have something ever single night this week - ugh. Anyway...

Terrific T and Princess P started an art class this week. Their teacher seems so sweet and really seems to love the Lord. At their first lesson, they learned that they are made in God's image, and since He is an artist (the Great Artist!), they are artists too. They learned to draw self portraits and did a great job.

Their homework is to draw three more self portraits, making one serious, one happy, and one silly. They both chose to do their silly one first. T was getting frustrated at first so I jumped in to join them, figuring they would at least do better than me. We laughed and laughed when I drew my mouth and I looked like I was ready to eat some children, or when my nose looked like I had major boogers coming out. Totally lightened the mood and it was a blast.

So, for my Yes, I was there too photo, here is my self portrait. Looks exactly like me, right? (speaking of right, I'm on the right in case you couldn't tell....) P is crossed-eyed and puckered up, and T is....always entertaining, with his 'stach and glasses. :)

 

Were you? Link me up in the comments so I can see!

I was there....3/52

One of the first pictures I did when I did this project in 2009 was with Captain C. I thought I'd try to redo it. What do you think? same-same?

HAHAHA! Crazy that he is as big as me....almost. It is fun (and scary)  to watch him become a young man, right before our eyes. He took Terrific T up to the donut shop today and they sat in there eating donuts together. I think that is so cute! It is just a mile up the road, but they felt awfully big.

Love you, C!

 Were you?

Some days aren't my favorites.

We had a nice lesson today in how to deal with disappointments. Nice might not be the right word, but a lesson nonetheless.

Terrific T has wanted a pig for over a year. His last obsessions didn't last this long, so we told him last fall that if he saved enough money, he could get one. We figured we were pretty safe since money burns a hole right through his pocket at the first Lego or Webkinz he passes. But....we didn't count on Christmas money. Darn.

So, he now has enough dough in the bank (yep, we finally opened bank accounts for them this week - big day) and we started looking for the perfect pig. He has been researching them for ages and read all the books from the library on how to care for them. We found a cutie (well, it IS a pig so I use that term loosely) and started emailing the owner. She was super sweet, keeping it for her grandkids and he needs more attention but is a good piggie. Talked back and forth all day and Big Daddy and I decided this was the one.

But wait....

It crossed my mind that the city might not be as excited about us having a pig as we were so I called to check. I really thought they would say it was ok honestly, but since DHS will be here this week for our homestudy, I didn't want to have anything "illegal" in the house.

They said no.

No pigs in city limits.

Not even cute little miniature pot bellied pigs, who are way smarter than dogs (sorry, Wondermutt) and totally house pets?

Nope.

There were tears. Lots and lots of tears. T was crying. A lot. I was crying, because my baby was clinging to me crying and asking, "WHY?!?!" P was crying, though I'm not totally sure why honestly. I think it had something to do with her wanting a bunny and she thinks she can't now since they said no. I'm not correcting her on that one just yet. ;)

There was praying. Me praying over T for comfort in his time of sadness.T praying for them to make just one exception to the rule. At one point P came downstairs and said accusingly, "I am praying about it. Are you???" to me.

I sent him to shower and we listened to him cry in there. Then he spent some time swinging...with his stuffed pig, Bacon. P said she has never seen him this sad, and it's true. I can't think of a time really, when he has just been....sad.

And then he was ready to talk. We talked about how it totally stinks, but God has a plan and it will be ok. There is a reason for everything and His ways are better than our ways. We talked about that even though we don't agree with the rule, we have to follow it (unless we can find a loophole).

Then he called his cousin and "she was so sweet. She didn't even mention the pig." She made it better. They face-timed and their Webkinz talked to each other and they laughed and it was good.

I took him to play practice after that and we got to talk some more on the way. He is still holding out hope that they will change the rule, but what surprised me was when he said, "it will be sad when our foster kids go back to their families." We talked a LOT about that as we drove and how God will comfort us through that too.

A surprising turn in conversation but a good one. The grieving process is going to be much the same and we talked about how it is ok to cry and hold each other. Pray. Be sad. Then pick ourselves up and keep on swimming. He needed to talk that through and I asked him if he still wants to have foster kids, even though there will be some very sad times when they leave and he didn't hesitate. YES! and he hopes we get them soon.

Me too, honey.

P's CC Presentation

P was just reading me her presentation for CC tomorrow. It is supposed to be something that is your favorite. I typed it up for her so I could post it because it was so sweet.



I’m going to tell you my favorite Bible verse, John 3:16.


Say John 3:16


I like it because Easter is my 3rd favorite holiday and Christmas is my favorite holiday. Easter and Christmas are related to John 3:16.


On Christmas, God sent his one and only Son, Jesus to be born. And then He died and rose on Easter so we will not perish but have everlasting life.   Any questions?

I had to put "say John 3:16" or she would sit there and read it and we are working on eye contact this week. She knows it so doesn't need it written out. I called her back down after reading it because I was curious...if Easter is her 3rd favorite and Christmas is her 1st fave, what is 2nd. Any guesses?



"Valentines Day is my 2nd favorite!"



Of course!

I was there.... 2/52

In today's episode of "Yes, I was there too" Princess P was reading me a book and jumped up in my lap. I know these moments won't last forever, so I'll enjoy them while I can. Her hair is so soft, I love to twirl it when she sits with me. She has asked me before if I will pick a different piece, the one I'm twirling is tired of being twirled. Oops. ;)

Did you get your picture this week? Comment with your link so I can check it out :)

God is so cool!

Today, our pastor was talking about the new year and one word he said grabbed me (not that they all weren't great words - lol). Growth! He said that we need to be reading the Word, praying, meditating on the Word, etc in order to grow and no one can do it but us. Such a duh moment, but something I needed to hear. Ironic that my "word for the year" is Growth? I don't think so! I love when God brings things up to me over and over. He knows I don't normally "get it" the first time obviously. This morning, I resolved to GROW! Specifically to spend the time needed in the Word and prayer to let myself grow spiritually, and to help my family grow spiritually.

Then at lunch,  C gets a call inviting him to come play ball with some friends up at church. He hangs up and says, "Last night, I prayed that a friend would ask me to play." I about cried right there. Go God! Thanks for caring about the "little things" - C was feeling left out since T got to spend a lot of time with a friend this week. He is now feeling loved, by others and by God. What a great way to start a week!

God is so good!

Back to CC tomorrow and back to normal life. I know I posted two posts in one day, but don't get used to it. Break is over and reality is going to wake me up way too early tomorrow. Have a great week!

blog through the alphabet {p}

P is, of course, for Princess P! 

This week, I read "The Princess and the Kiss" to her for the first time and we started working through the study guide. It is a great book about Purity for little girls. It is cool that she can relate to this story since she really is a princess. And I don't mean just our princess, she is God's Princess, a daughter of The King of Kings. How cool is that?!?

Here are a few snaps from today of Princess P. We switched the kids' rooms around this week and they all got new bedding. She still has T's blue walls, but this is her new comforter. She wanted all pink originally, but said she doesn't know what color "the girl" (what she is calling the future foster kids) would like best so got a colorful one :)

From before we even heard "It's a Girl!", we have loved her with all our hearts. She has brought a whole new dynamic to our family of boys and I thank God for her! She is Pretty, Precious, Playful, Polite, full of Personality, and is Priceless to our family. And some non-P words - she is determined, generous, smart, loving, kind, and hilarious. We love you, Princess P, and are thankful God Provided us the Privilege of Participating in your upbringing :)

Join others who are blogging through the alphabet at Ben and Me. 

Yes, I was there too! v2.0

In 2009, I had a blog called, "Yes, I was there too!" In that blog, I posted a picture of the kids each week (shocker), but included ME in each picture so the kids could look back one day and know that I was, indeed, a part of their lives. I take tons of pictures of the kids, but hate having my own picture taken. I'm way too critical of myself and hate being in pics. In 2010, I changed the name and theme, but continued to try to intentionally be IN pictures.

So, here we go again...stepping out of my comfort zone some more, and reviving this idea. I plan to try to talk as many people into joining me in this as I can. Will YOU join me? Commit to post a picture that has you in it - once a week - all year long. After I finished 2009's blog, I had it bound into a book through blurb.com (love them - they "slurp" your blog and you just have to go back and edit it and print it!). It is fun to look back through that book now and see how much the kids have grown, my hair has changed, we have all aged, etc.

SO, without further ado, here is 1/52....Me and Mr T. He had just returned from playing with a friend and I had missed him so much. He says he doesn't love kisses, but I give them anyway.

I think he's lying. Clearly he is loving this! ;) 

 

Love this boy so much!

OH - I think I managed to add a linky to this post so you can link up your post with your picture. YAY! Let's see if it works. Who will be first?

It can't be 2013!! aka {one word}

Where in the world does the time go? I was trying to do my "one word" post for the year and started looking back through old blog posts and am amazed at how fast the years are rolling by. Crazy. So here goes - please join in and comment with your link!

{one word} encapsulate the year in one word. explain why you’re choosing that word. now, imagine it’s one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures this next year for you?

I started doing this two years ago. It is fun, and very interesting, to look back on these words and see how they have played out over the year.
2010
2011

So now on to 2012, which it still is for a few more hours! I had hoped to find simplicity this year and you know what? I did. We did. 1 - We listed our house for sale several months ago. In order to do that, we cleared out the clutter and things that aren't necessities, making our house and lives so much simpler. Our house didn't sell, and we are going to take it off the market and wait a while. We know that God has a plan for us and think that listing the house was part of it. We got where we can clean our entire house in an hour. That task would have taken a week before. The kids know what to do it we get a call and yell "Someone's coming!" - They can kick it in gear and get it clean FAST. This is going to come in handy when DHS comes knocking this year ;)  2 - I continued to say no to things, keeping our family lives more simple, calm, relaxed. I am done stretching myself and realized the world wouldn't stop orbiting if I couldn't do everything for everyone. Phew. What a relief. Saying no allowed more time for things that matter.

2012: FANTASTIC! We really had a great year. We were blessed with excellent health and no major injuries. As I mentioned, we have simplified our lives, and I like it! Our church has been loving and serving the community this summer and it was great to serve together as a family and a church family. Our CC community is amazing and I am loving leading them and learning along side them. The kids have progressed well in school and character. P accepted Christ (woohoo!!). I could go on and on with the many blessings we have had in our fantastic year!

2013: GROWTH! I know that growth and change can sometimes be painful, but I'm looking forward to seeing how God grows our family this year. I thought that by this time we would be in a new house, but He had other plans and I'm excited to see what those plans look like. Each of us will be growing as we take in new children to love on. We will grow as we minister to the children's parents. I even think that we will grow when we get to place them in others homes, although those will be the painful times. We will grow closer together and closer to God and I can't wait to look back this time next year and see he we have all grown...physically, mentally, and spiritually. Although, I hope that physically I don't grow anymore, just the kids. Goodness me. It's time to start shrinking a little, if you know what I mean ;)

I hope you all have a fantastic new year, full of growth in all the right places!

What word describes your 2012 and what word do you hope describes your 2013.