We have been studying the American Revolution lately. After reading several accounts of the battles of the war, we watched the old Disney movie, Johnny Tremain. As soon as the movie was over, our son pulled out his army figurines and set up a war in the dining room. He called some of them Redcoats and some of them Americans.

I love it when he learns about history. I love it when what he's learned shows up in his playtime. It does a home school Momma's heart good!

My Goodness!

My goodness, it's been so long since I have posted to my blog, that I don't even know where to begin!

So, for my back-to-blogging debut, I am going to participate in "The Fourth Photo".

Here are the rules:
1.) Go to your 4th folder where you store your photos.
2.) Select your 4th picture (no exceptions)! Seriously.. no exceptions.
3.) Post the picture with an explanation and link it back to your tagger.
4.) Tag 4 people to do the same!!


I took this photo of our daughter a few weeks ago to capture her during this stage of losing teeth.

If you are interested in playing along with "The Fourth Photo," consider yourself tagged.

Please Take the Time to Read *UPDATED*

I came across this topic in two different places today. It looks to me like the government has taken a good thing too far.

I'm also surprised at how easy it is for a law to be passed without the general public knowing about it.

Rather than rehash what I've read on the internet today, I will link you to a couple of very well written posts:

Crystal at Our House
Baby Cheapskate

Please take the time to read as this has many implications for moms, homeschoolers, libraries, etc!

*UPDATE* read here and here to see the latest update on this issue. It sounds like a move in the right direction, but your input is still needed.

New Year's Resolutions

I know many people hate New Year's Resolutions, because they feel they are just setting themselves up for failure.

I, however, love a fresh start and the opportunity to reflect, evaluate and then set goals.

One of my resolutions for this year is to READ.

I love to read. I love it so much that I often avoid reading. I know that when I pick up a book, I will get so involved in it that I won't be able to put it down. Then, schooling, housework, laundry and all my other responsibilities will be neglected until the book is finished. In an effort to solve this problem, I am going to schedule reading time. I'll let you know how it goes.

Do you want to know what's on my bedside table for reading right now?

The Circle Trilogy: Black , Red and White by Ted Dekker (3 separate books)
War and Grace by Don Stephens
Teach Them Diligently by Lou Priolo

I also resolve to read to my children more. My two kiddos love to read, and I often find myself telling them no when they ask me to read to them. I think I am too busy with other duties to read to them. I want to change that this year and spend a lot of time reading to them. I have started a wish list on Amazon of books I plan to purchase for them this year, and we will be taking regular trips to the library this year.

Do you want to know what I am reading to my children right now?

Water Beds by Gail Langer Karwoski
River Beds by Gail Langer Karwoki

Did you make any resolutions you care to share?

What books are you reading yourself or to your children right now?

I'm off to read....

Hey Y'all!!

It has been a loonnnggg time since i have posted anything. Please don't interpret my absence to mean that I have been doing nothing. In fact, the opposite is true! I have been doing so much that I haven't been able to spend time with you, my bloggy friends.

I feel overwhelmed by the task of relating all the fun things I've been doing. Instead of doing a series of posts in great detail, I will attempt to give you little sound bites in ONE post. So, here goes:

*Small town Christmas parade: always lots of fun and this time very COLD and rainy. Yes, you heard me right it was COLD! I mention that not because I'm complaining, mind you, but because it is very unusual! The rain made it miserable, though. I was grateful that instead of the originally intended float, our daughter rode in the parade in a bus!

*Speaking of our daughter: She made us proud by doing a spectacular job (if I may say so myself) singing a solo in our church's adult Christmas musical. I was part of the choir for this musical and was truly blessed by its missions emphasis!

*Travel, travel, travel! Have you noticed that our family loves to travel? We met my family in New Jersey this year for Christmas. My sister lives there with her hubby and two children. My brother and his family as well as my parents were able to travel to New Jersey as well making this one of the few times we are ALL together!

(My sis Rachel and her hubby Dave; my bro Eddy and his wife Penny; me and my hubby)

We drove from SE Alabama to New Jersey. This was a two day trip, so we made the most of it. On our way up, we stopped in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for a quick look at the Liberty Bell.

It was a very cold and rainy day:

On our way back home, we stopped in Washington D.C. We wanted to see the WWII Memorial. We knew we didn't have a lot of time, so we found a parking spot on the street, put two hours on the meter and took off! We managed to see the Lincoln, Vietnam, Korean, and WWII Memorials. We then walked over the the White House where we checked out the National Christmas Tree.

(This picture isn't a very good one: the camera setting was wrong and my family is not paying attention. But I like it, because it sums up what we saw: memorials to those who died for our freedom)

*New York City!!
My brother and family, my family and my parents spent a day sightseeing in NYC while we were in New Jersey. It was a VERY cold day, but we were not about to be stopped from our chance to see the Big Apple.

(Statue of Liberty in background. Can you tell we were coooolllldddd?)

My sister's sister-in-law went in with us as our guide and she did a super job! We had an exciting day! I'm sure there will have to be future posts of pictures I took that day, but there's not room or time here now. One of the highlights of the day for me was ice skating at Rockefeller Plaza!

(Do you see me?)

*Brazillian BBQ: My parents have traveled to Brazil on several occasions and have always raved about the food there. So, while we were all together in New Jersey, my Dad treated us to Brazillian BBQ at a restaurant in Newark.



There were so many new tastes to try! Guarana (a Brazilian soft drink) flowed as well!



Maybe that brings us up to date.....until I get the urge to show you more pictures of New York or D.C. or Christmas....