Cake Pops? Count me in!

So, I have heard a lot of good things about cake pops, but had never tasted or made one. So when I saw a simple recipe in a magazine, I decided we would give it a try! It was messy, and fun, and -most importantly- delicious!

Bella and Ashlyn help me crumble up a cake!
Abby crumbles with panache!

Rachel and the girls give our cake pops an orange coat!

The finished product! The pumpkin stems are green tic-tacs!

Which Craft?

Ever since Abbigail was born, my big sis and I have enjoyed getting together with our girls for crafty, cooking, sewing days! For October, I found some fun (and delicious!) activities. Here are some pics of the girls making Jack-o-lanterns. This is a craft I found in a Woman's Day magazine, and it turned out really well. All you need are glass jars, (I bought the globe ones with the scalloped glass at the top, but you can recycle an old salsa jar!), orange tissue paper (which is NOT easy to find in October!), black construction paper, and decoupage glue. I used ModPodge glue.

You cut the tissue paper into one inch wide strips. Coat a section of the glass with modpodge glue, using a foam brush, then apply the strips, letting them slightly overlap.

Then cut out a face and put it on, and apply another layer of glue.

Let dry, light, and enjoy! (From left to right: Bella, Abby, and Ashlyn!)

The girls had a lot of fun with this! I happened to have a cheap plastic tablecloth in the cabinet, so once we were done I just threw it -glue drips and all!- in the trash. Happy Halloween!

School Report!

So, here's a brief update on our homeschooling!

Our homeschool co-op started up so Bella and I are both enjoying our Friday mornings with other homeschool families. I especially enjoy a discussion group I attend with other moms, and Bella loves her PreK classes.

We are plowing through Saxon Math K, and right now we are right on track, maybe even a little ahead. Some lessons I skip because it covers a concept that I know she already understands. And some days we don't move on, because she needs to review a previous lesson- for example, we spent a couple extra days on ordinal numbers, because she had trouble with it....instead of first, second, third, fourth, she wanted to say "first, two-th, three-th, fourth..." Which was cute and a little bit funny. She finally got the hang of it. And just to be sure, today at lunch we practiced ordinal numbers as I handed her crackers! She's even worked her way up to "fifth"!

In phonics, we are on the third (and final!) primer workbook. Bella loves her workbook and usually wants to do several pages at a sitting. I am also trying to read to her as much as possible and we go to the library every couple of weeks for fresh books to try.

We are also continuing our Bible Story Lessons and memory verses. This month we are also talking about "Obedience" and memorizing 2 Corinthians 10:5 "...bringing into captivity every thought in obedience to Christ."

Overall, I think we are doing very well. Areas I would like to improve on in the future are: more arts and craft activities, even more reading, and more games and activities.

Sometimes, life's a beach...

In late September, we took our fourth annual family vacation to Hilton Head Island. I have to admit, the attraction for me is not so much the sand and the sun. It's the time with my family. There are so many things I love about this trip. I love the morning-of chaos, trying to decide who is riding with who and which vehicle will carry the "big cooler". I love that the big cooler always has my favorite cake inside, my Memmie's Hundred Dollar Cake. Chocolate, coffee, delicious! It is my own personal tradition to have a slice of this cake after lunch and dinner every day until it is gone.


I love that time sort of stands still while we are at the beach. The afternoons seem to last forever, long stretches of time sitting in the sun, punctuated only by snacking, sipping, or sun-screening the kids. Then, before you realize it, the sun has reached it's zenith and and it's time for lunch and naps and sitting by the pool.

I love that when the kids are in bed, I get to sit up and sew with my sister. I love that when I do go to bed, I get to cuddle with my hubby. I really love waking up to a huge pot of coffee in the morning.



This was Bella's fourth trip to the beach. She is pretty much a pro now. She knows to stay out of the deeper water, she knows not to eat the sand, she knows to run into the ocean to pee (*eye roll*).

Abbigail is still busy, busy, busy exploring the beach. She has a sweet little sideways run, with her left arm crooked up and swinging hard, and her little legs flashing. Abbigail still puts sand in her mouth. She still wants you to take her out in the deep water and let her go. And, of course, she still ...goes right in her bathing suit. It's good times.

Well, mostly. We have a bizarre family habit of at least one child keeping us up all night at least once on every beach trip, and this was no exception. Abbigail pulled an all nighter one night, waking us up at 10:30, and 11, and 11:30...at 2:00 I took her downstairs to hang out on the couch and at somewhere after 4 she finally gave out and fell asleep on my chest. I dozed till 6:30, then woke up with an aching back, dying to pee, and a deeply asleep toddler laying on me! Needless to say, the first person to wake up that morning got Abby and I went back to bed!

Here are some pics of our trip.


Kenneth playing in the sand with our girls. He likes it
as much as they do...maybe more! He is a great dad!



Me and my precious girls at the beach. (and yes, this
is as naked as I get on the beach! 2 Timothy 2:9)

Bella digging to China!

Abbigail!

Yo ho, Yo ho, a Pirate's Life for Me

This year while we were at Hilton Head Island, my husband decided we needed a little piracy in our lives...so we loaded up our girls and my niece, Ashlyn, and went on a Pirate Cruise! Once the girls were properly tattooed (a temporary one, of course!), eye-patched, and armed with styrofoam swords, we set sail on the open sea - or at least around the harbor- in search of Stinky Pete the Pirate and his treasure.


Bella helps hoist the skull and crossbones flag.
Me, Kenneth, and Abbigail

Our three Pirates: Abby the Angry, Barnacle Bella,

and Blackbeard Ashlyn

By the end of the pirate cruise we had found Stinky Pete and bombarded him with water cannon, had a cup of pirate grog (the nonalcholic kind!), and found the pirate treasure. The girls had a great time.

A-bee-dale!

"A-bee-dale!" is the sound that frequently echoes through our house, when Abbigail is doing something big sis Bella does not approve of! She may be the smallest of our home, but Abby is bound and determined to prove that "the last shall be first".

She is bouncy (literally!) and full of life! She is learning new words and little phrases every day- the newest is "All done!" as she hands you her plate. She is sweet and loving, and at the same time fiesty and determined- just try to take her blankie from her! Abbigail is no pushover.

Last night I crept into her room to see if she was asleep, and instead found her lying in her crib peacefully, with her big browm eyes open. I whispered "Nite nite" and she whispered it back, and I watched her for a long time.

She is growing so fast, it makes my heart ache. Right now, this minute, she is still my baby. But sometimes I watch her as she plays, and I know that any second she will take one more step and one more breath and then...gone. She will be a little girl.

"For all good and perfect gifts come from above, sent down from the Father of Lights...."

So thankful.

School is cool!

Here's a litle progress report! We have completed one month's worth of lessons thus far! Bella is doing really well. Granted, there are days when we don't accomplish as much as I'd hoped. But then there are days when we plow right through our lesson! Today we completed Book A of the "Explode the Code" phonics program. Bella has learned the sounds for "b, k, t, f, m, and r". The really exciting part for me is not that she can recognize them when she sees them, but that she's starting to recognize them when she hears the sounds in everyday conversation! She's also started asking about sounds we haven't learned yet.

She is really enjoying Saxon Math K. She loves the teddy bear counters, pattern blocks, and linking cubes we use.

My favorite part of our lessons is our Bible story. Each day we read the next story in our book, discuss it, and then pray together. For example, if our story was about the Children of Israel having the sea before them and the Egyptians behind, we would pray and ask God to help us trust in him even when things don't look so good! It's amazing how simple Bible stories can still speak to us!

Here are some pictures from today!



Bella and her pattern block graph.

Phonics!

Painting a seahorse. Since we are leaving for the beach

next week, we have been looking at some books about

the ocean, and this weekend we are making an ocean

diorama (shoe box scene).

Abby participating in art!

*please note that the above art project was not nearly as peaceful

as the pictures portray! We had a few minutes of wild rumpus during

which one of us was a fiddler crab and had to scuttle sideways with "pincher"

hands, and the other person was a fish and had to "swim" away!