Free Patterns!!! Free Patterns!!!

SewSensible is giving away patterns!!!! Hurry over before it's too late!! If you are the winner, you choose 2 patterns for your own!!!! TWO PATTERNS FOR FREE!! That's beyond a deal!!

I've made several of her patterns and they are always user friendly!! Contest ends at 5 pm tomorrow!!

Here are photos of things I've made using SewSensible's patterns:
From the Boutique Pants pattern Skort pattern - I made it as a skirt.
This is the shorts I made from the skort pattern.All in One pattern!
If you do NOT sew, please consider promoting this contest on your blog. Aimee' is truly a great gal and her contest is a good one!!!

A reminder

I wanted to remind you about my new sewing blog. I am going to try to post once a week now, I am shooting for every Monday. We will see how it goes. I now have the itch to sew again!!! I just need the fabric and I am off and running! My latest post at Pulling Thread is starring a new model, my niece!! She is a doll I tell you!! Check it out and let me know what you think!!

JB speaks

"Oh yeah!! This is how I roll!" "#1!!"
" 'nuf said!"
"Victory for LSU!"

HOW Curriculum Update

For those of you who asked me to share my thoughts on the HOW Unit Study I won in January, I love it!! If you do not know what HOW is about, you may want to read this first.

It all began when I won this unit study via an e-book: After reading through the unit study I still had questions but felt SOOOO drawn to try this. I ordered the Heart of Wisdom Teaching Approach manual (you can see in the picture below that I've already begun reading it- it arrived Monday!!) I also ordered The Three R's - great book if you are home schooling preschoolers through 3rd grade! The 3 R's has already made me rethink my teaching approach with HC. I've only read the first few chapters, this is an easy read.

I ordered 'My ABC Bible Verses' by Susan Hunt - I am beyond thrilled with this book (it was not a curriculum suggestion). The ABC book has great devotions for every letter of the alphabet, each with a scripture focus. The story reinforces scripture in a way kids can understand. HC and JB now know more about how "a soft answer turns away wrath!" I love the discovery phase of learning we are in right now!
Last week the Who's Who in the Bible book arrived and I went to our local christian bookstore to buy the Day by Day Bible. These two books are recommended for our unit study.
Finally, the last book arrived Wednesday!!! I ordered the books suggested by the curriculum as most useful to the study. I can't wait to look at how a lesson incorporates these books. I am beyond thrilled and can't wait to get started (this is all for this coming August - how will I manage to wait??). I believe the curriculum is adjustable to my K-5 student!
My next goal is to order the Creation Unit Study because it has a science focus and I know HC and JB will LOVE that!! I am so excited for next year to begin! If you are interested in more information about the HOW curriculum, I recommend you visit this link: Heart of Wisdom. It is clear to me that God has given Robin a curriculum that is worth taking a look at if you are still seeking a direction for your family!! I believe her book, The Heart of Wisdom Teaching Approach, is a worthy read even if you are content with your curriculum. I find it to be very encouraging, well worth the money spent!!

I'm Me Again!!

Unfortunately JB is not photographed. My buddy was running and playing faster than a speeding bullet!! He was going non-stop!!!! You can't catch that kind of action packed fun on film! :)


This past Tuesday I took the kids to a play date with some of our friends. HC and JB ran and played and jumped and laughed for about 2 hours straight!!! We all met up at a local indoor space walk place. (By the way, our next Tuesday meeting is at COTH again. My kids are so over that play ground. Any local friends interested in meeting at Rec Station next week too, I still have BOGO coupons and I know that is where we will be - the usual time. Let me know if you are interested.) Back to the story, - the kids were tired and having fun!! It was time for lunch. I told the kids it was time to go and JB was NOT happy. A grumpy JB appeared right before my eyes but I ignored his reaction because I knew he was tired and hungry.

We were in the van, on our way to meet friends for lunch, and HC was chatting away! Then I hear JB say something and I wasn't sure if he was talking to me or not. I turned around and he said "Don't wook at me MOM. I talk to God." So I turned back around (surprised and wondering what he was doing). Then I hear "Dear God (hands together in the praying position - sooo cute) help me be JB. Help me be JB again in Jesus name. Amen." Then he says in a super happy tone "MOM!!! I'M JB AGAIN!! I'M JB AGAIN!! I'M NOT MAD ANYMORE!! I'M ME!!!!" I was so proud of him and so surprised that he thought to do this!! I was even more thrilled to see he truly let go of his grumpiness and we had the best time at lunch!! I am loving these quick glimpses God is giving me into my sweet kiddo's hearts!!!!!!! What a treasure!!

Feeeeelings whoa whoa whoa feeeeelings...

We have recently read the feelings book by Jamie Lee Curtis and the kids love it!! They especially love the face in the back of the book. It allows you to change the feelings. I've seen flashcards and posters of feelings to help kids express themselves and wanted to buy one but wasn't sure I would actually have use for it much longer. The other day JB told me "I'm I'm just fwustrated Mom." So I think he gets the fact that he can verbally express his feelings vs. letting them pour out by screaming/shouting or hitting.

Last month, towards the beginning of the month, I took some pictures of the kids. Very unusual I know! :) Well, HC began saying "Take this picture Mom. What about this one?" She was going from pose to pose to pose. It cracked me up!! I took many of her but later on I thought about getting her to make feelings poses. So here is what we did:
This is happy.This one is mad.
This one is sad.
This one is angry.
This one is really really angry.
Of course JB HAD to try too!! Here is JB's happy shot.
Here is mad.
Here is sad.
Here is angry.
Here is mad again.

This was SOOOOO hilarious because HC kept coaching JB on his expressions!! We had a ton of fun doing this! JB just forgets to look at me. He often performed with his back to me! I think my kids get their feelings!! haha

Tiny Talk Tuesday

Mary at Not Before 7 is hosting Tiny Talk Tuesday. Visit her to see more Tiny Talk participants.
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After lunch the other day HC stretched (in that I ate too much kind of way) and she said "Mom, I am stuffed out!! I can't eat anymore!" (This has become her way of saying I'm full! I love her twist on common phrases!!)

Yesterday HC was having fun hanging upside down off of my bed. "Look at me Mom! I'm upside down! The bed is upside down, the lamp is upside down,..." Then she sat up and said "Now I'm upside UP!" (Makes sense to me!)

JB was playing with a little boy at the park the other day and HC asked JB to come play with her. JB said, "No stister, I'm pwaying with my brudder now." HC laughing says "JB! He's not your brother! You don't have a brother! He's your cousin silly!!" (Wrong again!! He did have the same name as your cousin, she didn't know his name though!!)

The other day I was reading a book to HC and JB. I told them not to shout out the answer but to raise their hand if they knew the answer. I pointed to the letter A and said "What letter is this?" HC raised her hand and JB says "AHHH". He knows the sound it makes! That's for sure. :) They both usually follow that with "ooga ooga" and then the other one says "Ahh" like in the LeapFrog Movie._______________________________________
That's what our tiny talkers are saying around here!! For more TTT visit Mary at Not Before 7! Thanks Mary!

Clean is a good thing!

My HC loves to clean!! She loves to make her bed (although she has NO problem tossing her dirty clothes on or around the laundry basket - never IN). She loves to help JB clean his room. I think she has the gift of Helps. When we get ready to have worship in JB's room, she cleans while JB and I dance around and sing the first song. Then after the first song she joins in with the dancing and singing. If she notices JB has left a mess in his room, she offers to "help" him clean. The result is JB playing in the corner with a toy while HC makes quick work of his room. Which is followed by "WOW! Tanks stister! You did a GOOD job! I'm so proud of you!" This is a good habit and a great help, unless we are in a rush and HC has to leave BEFORE making her bed. That leads to a melt down every time.

She finally began relaxing her obsession with having her bed made and I was glad to see her not so freaked out when we were unable to get it done. I wanted her to relax but not to lose the love of taking care of her things. I do LOVE that she makes her bed, I just don't want her to become obsessed about it!

Well, the other day she wore her crocs out in the mud and we brought them in to clean. I put them in her sink and was going to get back to them, but I was distracted. When I did return I found HC at work. She cleaned her shoes, laid them in the tub to dry and then she got to work on cleaning the sink. She used the hand soap and she did a GREAT job. I knew she would love this chore and wanted to let her have a go of it, but I didn't want her around the bathroom chemicals. This was a great fit! For about a week we would hear the water running in the bathroom and if you were a fly on the wall, you would have heard "HC, turn off that water and STOP CLEANING YOUR BATHROOM!!!!!!!"

I suppose you could say JB enjoys cleaning the sink too but somehow I don't think that is what he is doing. When the water is running and JB is on the scene you will see a LOT of bubbles and water splashes EVERYWHERE! Nothing has been cleaned but water is high and low!! :)

Here are pictures from HC's spring cleaning:

DING (Can you hear the sparkly sound effects?)
Lately, when it is bedtime, HC sees the mess in JB's room and she rushes in there and says "Brother, we NEED to clean your room. If you don't clean your room, you will have bugs in your room! Do you want BUGS in your room??? Bugs LOVE messes!" I feel bad, a tiny bit, for taking advantage of what we were watching. We were watching something on TV the other day and there were bugs everywhere. HC asked "Mom, why do they have bugs in their house?" I said, "See how messy there house is? Bugs LOVE messes!" I feel a twinge of guilt knowing I fed into two of her fears. HC HATES bugs and messes! Poor JB doesn't have a chance! If he doesn't choose to have a clean room - HC will see to it that he doesn't bring bugs into our home! :) (Bad mommy! hee hee)

When JB is forced to clean here is what you will find! Of course this doesn't count as clean. He's just taken the things off of the floor and put them on either:
a. His bed.
B. His toy box.
C. His sofa.HC's room has a place for everything! Finally she knows where everything goes so she is now willing to play IN her room WITH her toys. For the longest it was like her room was a museum and now she is happier since she knows how to organize her things. They are so different from one another!!

Falling and Wailing

My son just fell. Again! Not to mention that over the past two days my daughter and son have begun fighting. OK. Some will say - that is how kids behave. But my kids do not! Yes. They have their daily spat, which is usually a misunderstanding, but we never have DAYS of arguing! I hate how our home feels right now. It feels so rocky.

JB has fallen about 10 or more times over the last few days. HC has too, only 5 or so times. So if they are not in WW3 then they are wailing because of a new injury. Don't be too concerned about them being injured. The falls usually occur while they are on their hands and knees playing on the floor. How can you fall in that position? Well, I guess it isn't a fall but they crash their head into the wall while playing. (As if they forgot we have walls in the house.) We're talking big hits! Then there is the walking across the room and BAM they fall!

Needless to say there has been much wailing and much strife in our home over the last few days. As JB just fell again I realized we get clumsy at times in our lives. The kids appear to suddenly be just that! Clumsy! It kind of reflects what I feel inside! Clumsy. Growth spurt maybe? I guess we are all growing! I'm glad to grow but I do not like the frequent falls!

I guess none of us (in our family) fit ourselves right now. We are all growing. I am outgrowing the comforts of feeling I fit my life and they are outgrowing their little bodies. Falls are necessary but it's never fun picking yourself (or your babies) off of the floor again! Not fitting what I was before but not knowing what to do next is quite disappointing! I am sure my kids do not understand this inner struggle yet, but it is clearly wrecking havoc with their little bodies right now! Thank God this is only a temporary experience and not the way of daily life!!