New Year Musings

As usual around January 1 of a new year, I find myself thinking about goals for the coming year. Forget the usual resolutions to lose weight or get in shape. Lately I seem to be gaining by the week and losing small bits of mobility every time I turn around! That's okay. Maybe I'll resolve to get in shape once the baby comes!



But seriously, I have a few goals and perhaps documenting them will encourage me to work harder on them.



1. Read through the entire Bible in one year (personally) -- I have done this before, but would like to do it again. Making daily time for the Word must be first and it is sometimes difficult to make sure it happens. I think a regimented schedule will help me get in the Word more each day.



2. More focus on the Bible in school -- I have a time in our school schedule for Bible study and memorization, but I want to be sure it gets done. I am thinking about starting with some basic doctrines. I do not consider a Biblical worldview to be optional in our curriculum. Even though we try to speak of Biblical principles throughout the course of our day, I would like to start each school day studying the Scriptures with the boys. This could be as simple as drawing a picture of a verse they are memorizing to help them gain a better understanding.



3. Stay on a daily schedule -- Last fall I put together a great schedule to help me (and the children) accomplish the things we need to each day. When we stay on schedule, we love it. However, our chaotic fall threw the schedule out the door. We have been working on it again this week with very positive results. My boys are even learning to rinse dishes and load the dishwasher!



4. Reach out to others through hospitality -- I have used our small house as an excuse for not having guests in our home. True it is small, but I have been convicted to not neglect the ministry of hospitality. I need to set a goal with my husband, but I am thinking of having a family or individual over 1 to 2 times per month. It doesn't sound like much, but it is an achievable goal knowing I will have a new baby in May!



5. Be disciplined in planning school -- Without good planning I fail to be creative with the schooling. We plod along or "wing it". Neither of which is enjoyable or memorable. My planning night is Wed. nights when Josh is at firefighter training.

6. Get Juliana's photos into an album/catch up on photo organization -- Even though we have gone digital now, I still try to have an album for each child that documents their growing up years. They love to look at them. Juliana has been lamenting that I don't have hers done yet.

That's enough for one year, I think! With the Lord's strength, these are achievable goals and will help our family to operate smoothly and efficiently.

A Little Organization, Please!

I have very much enjoyed my week off from school! Although I have been doing some long and short-term planning for the coming semester, I still enjoyed the break. In my free time, I tackled some organization projects. Mostly just sorting and cleaning. A while ago, I saw an idea for bulletin boards in kids' rooms and wanted to make some to help with the papers and pictures my kids love to keep! After a little research, I jumped in and learned as I went. I decided to post some instructions in case anyone is interested.

To begin, I purposed to only use things I had around the house. This made the project a little more challenging, but also fun! I did end up raiding my mother-in-law's stash of ribbon for Juliana's board.

I started with a 18" x 24" political campaign sign left from when Josh ran for supervisor. Cardboard would also work fine. I didn't have any batting, but I used an old mattress pad I had kept for years and found myself wondering why! I cut the "batting" the same size as my board. The fabric I cut 20" x 26" so there was a 1" overlap on each side. I chose denim because of the denim theme in the boy's room. I like denim for boys--it is durable, looks nice, but also can adapt to any decorating whim they may have over the years.

Next glue the batting to the board to keep it from shifting. Place batting side down on the wrong side of the fabric and center.

To secure the fabric to the board, I used my hot glue gun so it would set quickly. Mitre the corners as shown and secure the fabric on each side. Pull the fabric tight so you don't have any creases or wrinkles.

Now we are ready to put the ribbon or string on the front. I used heavy fishing line for the boys' boards, which was very difficult to make stay put! The ribbon on Juliana's was much easier to work with. Play around with spacing and number of strings until you like it.

I used a six inch spacing for my fishing line--it looked good to me. After I had secured the first diagonal string to the back of the board using hot glue, I marked off 6" incriments for the other lines. I marked where on the edge the string should hit and then used that mark to place the glue.

To make things a little more secure, glue buttons or other fun objects at each intersection of your string/ribbon. I wanted something more masculine for the boys, so I cut the tabs off of large brass fasteners and glued the "button" in place. For Juliana's I used some plastic flower buttons my mom gave me last year. I did end up clipping off the loop on the back because it wouldn't lie flat on the board.

Here is the finished product! To personalize, I added names in red felt. I printed the letters from the computer and then used them as a cutting guide. The new household rule is you may put anything on your board that fits, but once it is full, you must elminate something old to fit something new!

Juliana's board was a tad more fun because I made it "girlie". In the absence of felt the right color, I used some purple yarn for her name.

This was a fairly easy project and took about 2 hours (for each board), which included collecting all the materials and some trial and error! Have fun and be creative!

Gator Girl!

Juliana found my pie press and decided it looked like alligator teeth! Precious!

Ranch Christmas

Christmas Eve was quiet in our household. It was refreshing! After serving them some sleeping potion, Josh read the Christmas Story from Luke 2. We decided the kids could sleep under the Christmas tree for the night. They loved it!

Juliana has wanted a "girlie" fishing pole all year. She was delighted with this one--pink of course!

A red wagon with a top to look like a covered wagon and lots of dress up clothes for playing cowboys and indians. Granny had lots of fun being creative. She made the jacket, chaps, leather bag, and indian headbands all from one long leather coat someone had discarded. If it ever stops raining, I know the kids will have many wonderful hours playing outside!

Christmas with the Dickeys

We enjoyed Christmas a few days early with the Dickey side of the family. Mom is trying to find ways to make traditions and memories. This year she introduced the pinata! I think it was a "hit" and will be back again next year. Each child had a turn. (Great Grandma, these pictures are especially for you because I knew you would love them!)

Jesse (2)

Samuel (1)

Juliana (3)

Caleb (3)

Peter (6)

Nathan (7)

(Don't worry, Darlene, I won't say your age!!) Aunt Darlene finally stepped in to finish off the job!

Reward!

There are a few other great photos from the day! Enjoy!

Gingerbread Houses

One of the first things the children asked to do during the Christmas season was make gingerbread houses. After much deliberation on a design, they decided to each make their own house according to their own pleasure. I had a terrible time getting the icing "glue" to hold the real gingerbread together. (Remind me to use graham crackers next year!) After a lot of frustration, we finally held it all together with icing and toothpicks. Then the fun began!

As you can see, we had plenty of opportunity for creativity!

Is he eating or building??

The finished houses! All designs are original and I only supplied a little support here and there.

Nathan's House

Juliana's House

Peter's House

Christmas Cookies

This year we had fun trying new kinds of cookies for Christmas. I like to have a few family favorites and then try a few new ones.

Here we are twisting sugar cookies to look like candy canes. Many hands made light work of a large batch of dough! A friend and I switched off days of babysitting so we could get Christmas shopping and other projects done. We had a great time!

The finished cookies. Even the littlest child's cookies came out looking cute! This was very fun for kids and went into my file for next year!

On another day, we made gingerbread cookies. I thought you would enjoy seeing how involved the boys got in their project!

Just a few of the cookies we delivered to our neighbors last week. I loved how festive the package looked when we were done!

Fun Little Project

Usually the projects that give me the most satisfaction are the ones that cost me the least! I love digging through all my craft and/or sewing supplies and putting odds and ends together to create a fun, useful, or beautiful product!

For Christmas, Juliana asked for a new apron since she had worn hers out. I bought absolutely nothing for this sweet little apron. The fabric was from a full, almost circular skirt no one wanted. All the other supplies I had picked up at yard sales over the years. The best part is she can put this apron on herself and if the side ties aren't tied, it still performs the intended function of keeping her clean!

Creator's Palette

The sunsets have been absolutely magnificent lately. My camera doesn't do them justice! I thought I would share the view from my kitchen window as I prepare our evening meal. Somehow, all the worries and cares of the day seem small when I see the Hand of my Father at work.