Well today is another cool day! Jarred had a good day, His Build a bear Dino came in the mail today and he was super excited(As you can see from the picture) He also wanted clothing for it like they had on the website but it's much too costly so I took the dino down stairs and put a Elmo outfit on it that Jarred used to wear when he was a baby...A great fit, and Jarred was happy about it, So now his Dino has clothing like on the site so Jarred thinks...Good idea eh! We just have to wate now for Jackies turtle too come in for him which should come in the next week or so, I know he will like that even though he is so little he love's anything that has turtles on it and when there on t.v. he just stop's and stares, Kinda funny really!
I finally got my Monthly Meal Binder all set up and all of Jan filled in, dh said it was a great idea becuse we can really plan the meals better then haveing to play the what's for dinner game and you know it was alot more easy then I thought it was going to be, I found a really good template on line too use, Only thing is I forgot what the site was, I put eatch month in one of those little plastic sheet holders sence I have been keeping the binder in the kitchen, I even made a cute little title page I put on the fount of the binder that say's Kobrin Monthly Food Planer for 2009, I think it will deffently help me out for the year!! And deffently something too use for the years too come.
So me and dh have planed for when we are going to have our next baby.....Well it's not going to be for about another 4-5 year's when both the boy's are in School, I will only be 31 by then so not too old, Still young enough and the boy's will be well big enough to help out if the need be, I was hopeing we would a little sooner but I think this is best for us, unless the good Lord desideds too bless us befor then :) I would love too have alittle girl if we did her name would be Leili-Rose May Kobrin and if we have another boy his name would be John-Ross Dawson(That middle name may change) Kobrin, Dh really wants too keep the "JD" in all the boy's names like him and his father, Oh I just love little baby's, I would have a "million" if I could and you know too this day it still seems funny I have two son's allready, I deffently didnt think I would be at this point of life...Man and too think my boy's will be 4 and 2 this June....Just dosent seem right they should be these tiny little baby's and there almost the same hight and weight!!
Jackie has had a few ruff night's this week sleep wise becuse of his teeth, but I rember Jarred went threw this at the same age and it only lasted a week untill the teeth came half way in and they seem like they are, Last night he finally sleept threw the night again and we are trying too keep him up abit later tonight too see if he can sleep again threw the night again...Heres too hopeing!
Well tomarrow I HAVE too get my up-stairs and bathroom floor's washed, they need it badly thats for sure...I didnt relize I have let it get that bad, I really think the linen closet could use are cleaning as well...Wouldent hurt, I want too wash our room and the boy's floors as well, it is all hardwood flooring up-stairs oh and the step's really need to be washed!!...I guess I have my day all planed out for what too do tomarrow!
Well I best be going and do some Bible readings and watch my fave show, Peace be with you all this weekend and Blessing's to you all!
I have been wanting to learn more about my camera for a while now and I decided to play with it last night to see what I could learn. I have been wanting to take some black and whites and sepia's of the kids but, if you have ever tried to take a picture of kids, you know what happens... THEY MOVE! So, I piddled around and found a way that would capture them even while they were a bit fidigity.
Here are a few of my shots... It is still not perfectly clear, but at least it isn't a big blur... and I don't have photoshop. How cute is he???? swoon :) Intensely into the movie.... Anyone with advice... feel free to chime in. I would love it.
Have a great Friday and a wonderful weekend! :)
My Cup Runneth Over...
It has been crazy for me. I am so tired and just don't know which way is up or down. My house is a mess. I have boxes everywhere. I have been like a mad woman trying to keep up on dirty finger prints on the walls and I have totally given up on trying to keep the hard wood floors clean. I no sooner get done washing them and then we have snowy/wet weather and the floors are a mess all over again. I hate hard wood floors and I can assure you that once we move I am getting carpet EVERYWHERE! When the kids are grown and moved out then I'll do hard wood floors.
WE are trying to plan for next Thursday to go to Michigan to look at houses. I don't think we'll meet that deadline, but that is when DH wants to go. I'm being more realistic and thinking the following Thursday.
The main house we still love hasn't sold yet. Please keep us in your prayers for it to stay empty... is that wrong to ask? Is it wrong because we should think of the sellers and how long they have waited for it to sell? ... some how i feel guilty asking for prayers for it to stay empty... but we would like to buy it so it won't be empty long if the inspection is alright...
So my house is almost completely packed. I really just have pans/pots and everyday dishes to pack. We are giving/throwing things out that we don't use or think we will use anymore. this is really hard on the kids and so I have been throwing their stuff away at nighttime when I don't have to listen to the whining and complaining that they "really do use it and it is so important to them."
We haven't done school work in weeks. I feel like we are behind so much with school. I can't wait to get moved and unpacked so we can start up again. We will have to school through summer a bit. It is a sacrifice we are just going to have to make no matter how much they don't like it. besides, I like doing school through the summer because we can do so much more with science/nature studies. weather unit are especially fun during summer.
I feel like I've been such a crappy mother these last few weeks. I've been on everyones tails to get things packed and to purge with things. I've been so tired and cranky from cleaning. I'll spend a whole day packing/cleaning/ everyday chores, etc. and it just feels like I have accomplished nothing. I'll look around the house and see how much more I have to do instead of how much I have done. It doesn't help much that I'm doing it all on my own and DH doesn't do what I ask him. I ask him to take care of the outside stuff like going throught the shed and preparing the camper for the move, but he isn't doing it and now it is crunch time and I'm going to get stuck with it all. I've already told him that I will call the junk yard about the camper if he doesn't handle it. I'm not being stuck trying to find a place to store it here in PA. So you can see where I might be a bit crabby and loose my cool with the kids... Stress, oh the stress... wish i had friends to come over and help me with some of this... I just pray to God to give me the strength. It is, or will be, all worth it in the end.
Schedules, Routines, Decluttering, Painting, Electrical Upgrades, Etc. That is what's going on! LOL
I am getting into my new routine and cleaning schedule implemented at the beginning of the year and loving it. My old routine and cleaning schedule was working ok, and we were getting by, but the new schedule is a breeze and such a blessing. Hubby has even noticed things are moving more smoothly in the household. It's nice to see it happening, but even more so when it is noticed by Matthew and commented upon!!!
Noah is doing better at nap time now that we have a better schedule going, and have moved his nap time from 1 to 2 pm. Not sure why....but for some reason at 1, he would lay down and whine and talk and play for an hour and not get any rest until 2 anyway. I have learned I need to be more flexible instead of "this is the way it is and deal with it" about naptime. Now he lays down, sleeps for 1 1/2-2 hours and is ready for the rest of the day and not so overtired and grumpy for the evenings. (Which makes time with daddy really hard when he is like that!)
I love the house when it is cleaned and organized. Clean....check....Organized.....getting there. LOL There are still several closets, and drawers that I need to get sorted out and straightened up. I am trying to decide now whether I want to have a garage sale (extra stress and time, and I hate people filtering through my belongings!) and making a little bit of money,or to donate it to the Thrift Shop and Women's Shelter. I am also having a hard time of dealing with all Noah's clothing he has outgrown. I keep hanging on to it thinking we will have another baby, and if it is a boy, I will have all these nice things for him. But on the other hand, there is a dear friend at church who has a young baby, and giving these clothes to her for Isaac would be such a blessing to her and to me as well. I need to pray about it and see what God wants me to do with them. Right now, they are just boxes of clutter upstairs in the corner of a bedroom that is already too full and cluttered already!!!
Matthew isn't too helpful when it comes to decluttering unfortunately. LOL He comes from a family of absolute overboard packrats! He isn't nearly as bad as his mother and father, but close. LMSO So, I am working on him in little baby steps. My first step, has been and still is to get rid of something so rediculous you will all laugh about it. The first step is to get rid of some of the clothing he has in the closet that he never wears.....wait..........let me correct that. HE HAS NEVER WORN!!! LOL Years ago, before we met, someone gave him some church clothes. One suit is really nice but way too small. The other two are polyester leisure suits with the gold buttons that make you look like you are to be on a yacht. LMSO I kid you not, they are hilarious looking. I don't sneak things out of the house, because I promised him I wouldn't. We have talked about it, and I wouldn't want him doing that to me, so I will not do that to him. That is a simple lesson in respect and love. But I have asked him several times to go through the closet with me and always has an excuse to not do it. I have even asked him if he would simply sit on the bed while I go through it, hold certain items up and wait for him to say yes or no. I would box or bag the unwanted items and take them out of the house myself. But he says, not today hunny every time. UGH!
On the other hand though, Matthew made a committment to me last night, without me bringing up the conversation that he will commit to spend a few hours each day ont he weekends on painting and changing out electrical stuff in the upstairs bedrooms so we can move up there and use the bedrooms down here for a craft room, and a toy room. YIPEEEEEEE!! We have most of the wall paint done anyway. We just need to paint 2 doors, and 2 windows in Noah's room, and he needs to do some electrical work done on the outlets and the switch plate. We have also been thinking of installing a ceiling fan in his room, but not sure we can afford this just yet until tax money comes in or if Matthew gets some more overtime. It sure is handy to have a hubby that can do this work himself instead of hiring someone else to get it done though (even if it does take MUCH longer than expected to get it done. LOL)
Ok, I have been putting off tidying up (by writing this blog) the front room long enough. The front room looks like a toy store blew up in here. LMSO I need to straighten up a bit before Matthew comes home, and get some spaghetti on the stove to cook. YUM.
How about a frilly apron for your little princess???
Usually I keep this blog for craftiness and sewing that I myself have made, but I am making an exception today. LMSO I had a friend who decided she wanted to try her hand at making a frilly apron I had seen on the net, for my 5 year old neice Mindi. It is super adorable and SOOOO SIMPLE! So I thought I would show you all the pics and maybe inspire you to make one for yourself, or your little princess!
As you can see, she made a simple apron shape and then added a coordinating fabric ruffle on the top and the bottom of it, and finished it with pink ribbons for the neck and the waist tie. How cute!!!! If you decide to make one of your own, please let me know so I can see!!!!
Here is a close up of the fabric. Yes that is froggy fabric. I love it!!!
" Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. "
~ Psalm 119:105~
I recently purchased this lovely Bible at a local Christian book store. Isn't it lovely? It looks old but it isn't.
God's word has become very near & dear to me. It has seen me thru many a storm and many a tearful moment. In it's pages are words of hope, words of comfort and beautiful promises from our Lord. Truly the Word of God lights my path and is a lamp unto my feet. Like water to a parched soul, and bread to a hungry heart is God's word.
May we all treasure up the Word of God and hide it in our hearts,
Sometimes I get busy with school and forget to spend a little one-on-one time schooling the littlest of my littles. What a difference it makes when I do. They are SO excited to have their own one-on-one School time with Moma. :) So much so that afterwards, I hear... "Moma, is it our school time now?" quite a lot. :)
Now don't get me wrong, they school right alongside the older children, while we are having school time they are coloring or learning the Presidents or writing their letters... but it helps a lot to spend a little time to work with just them, one at a time. What a blessing it is to me, to be the one who sees their children learn new skills, what a joy it is to be the one who is there helping them, teaching and nurturing them and watching them learn. There just is NOTHING like it.
Enjoy them being close to you, being with you, so much so that it is an ache in you to be away from them...
Children are a gift, given to US... from the Lord.
Cherish, Enjoy, Treasure every moment.
No, it is not always easy for me to do that either, but when I realize that the next time I blink my eyes that they will be grown, it makes it a lot easier for me to slow down, breathe deeply and know how incredible my life truly is.
I hope you have a great day and enjoy time with your littles, big, small and in-between. :)
My Cup Runneth Over...
Have many of you hurd of Build-A-Bear?? Well I am hopeing too go next month too one...I have never been too one befor and with liveing a couple hours away from the nearest one its abit hard too get there, So I am hopeing to go next month with a friend, I have bought a couple on E-bay for my son's and well a couple for myself too but I really would like too go there and get one from the store, I think it would be fun too do, I know it's not my friends cup of tea but she's a great friend and I know she will take me becuse she's so nice, I have known her sence grade 6 when I moved back too the town I live in now...Shes a dear, even though we have had our up's and downs over the years I think we are still preatty good friends! She is doing so well getting her life pulled togather, even though I know sometimes she dosent think so...But I hope she knows I am always praying for her!! Anyways as I was saying I got Jarred a BAB Dino and Jackie a BAB Turtle just wateing for them too come in the mail, I have BAB Frosty and Hal and Holly Moose as well they were new this year but I got them on E-bay really cheap so Im really happy about that, I will post a picture of what Jarreds Dino will look like.
That's his fave Dino, So I know hes gonna love it!! And I paid about $10.00 includeing shipping so that's not too bad when I know they cost alot in the store, I hope one day I will be able too get him some of the other dinos.
Well here its been abit crazy everyone is getting over colds and the baby's teething, dh is still trying to get over what he has and I hope he can he's been just so sick, Jarreds nose looks like it is finally healing thank goodness, he was haveing such a hard time with that....Thank goodness for Vaseline that has been keeping his nose soft. and its not drying out as much. Poor little Jackie is now getting 4 teeth not 2 like I thought he was. We were up untill almost 3:30am with him last night he was so gasy and I think had a up-set tummy as well, Im just glad I was able too get him all settled down finally for him too sleep. Im abit tired today so I might hit a early night if Jack will let me....Fingers crossed! Hes a preatty happy baby most of the time so I could really tell he was so sick last night.
Right now we are getting snow and its so crapy out, Im hopeing this snow will not last too long...Im allready counting down till spring, I can not wate that's for sure and I know there are alot of other people that are looking forword to spring as well.
Well I am hopeing everyone has a Blessed rest of the week!
" Pray for peace in Jerusalem: May those who love her be safe. May there be peace within her walls and safety within her strong towers."
~ Psalm 122: 6 & 7 NCV ~
Like many of you my heart goes out to Israel at this time. The media has launched an anti-Israel campaign. They are not telling the truth about what is really going on there. My prayers are that peace will be in Jerusalem. The bible tells us to pray for Israel and for her peace. I pray the United States may always be counted as one of her allies. Israel still has a destiny to fulfill and God has His eyes on His people. His promises will be fulfilled in due time.
I realized today I have not blogged much about homeschooling. Our family began homeschooling years and years ago, when my oldest child ( 15 yrs old now) at the time was getting ready for kindergarten. I remember reading everything I could about home education and then taking the "plunge"! Of course back then I had just a few little ones to school, and now there are 8 children being homeschooled at home!
Homeschooling does pose it's challenges -- but overall I have been really pleased with the results. I can't even imagine putting my kids in the public school system. I know there are many wonderful & gifted teachers teaching in the schoools, and I am sure many kids are receiving a good education. The decision to homeschool is much more than "academics" to me. It's more about "relationship" with my kids then academics. Oh sure, we do have our texts and our projects we are working on, but the focus has never been on the "books" but on character development and relationships. My greatest desire is to keep my kid's hearts and to really lead them to a personal walk with the Lord. I want our schooling time and our books we use to glorify God and to teach truth not relativism or humanism.
So we continue to homeschool. Some days I am tired. Like many of you I deal with the yearly "burn out" syndrome, and the days do come where I ask myself "why am I doing this to myself"! But when I stop to really think about things and look into my kid's faces and eyes..... there is NO way I could put them in the local school. I just can't.
Does that mean homeschooling is a "perfect" fit? No! I am sure that there are many things I could be doing better as their teacher and there are hard days when I am struggling along with a child and something they are trying to understand or learn. But overall, homeschooling is so much more than academics. ... it's a way of life...... our life does not revolve around "school" ........ we do have a time set aside each day for doing the math, the grammar, the spelling, etc. But we have learned to be flexible and to keep the "big picture" in mind.
Recently I found out a good friend of mine has quit homeschooling her kids after years of doing so. It just broke my heart. She has beautiful children and for the life of me I don't understand why she would make that choice. But regardless of how I feel about homeschooling, I know it's not for everyone.
One of the things I really love about homeschooling is the ability it gives me to really *know* my kids.... there is no "guessing" what is going on in their minds...... everything is revealed and there is nothing hidden....if there is a problem, it's evident..... if there is an attitude that needs to be adjusted that is known too...... it's all up front and open....... no hiding anything... that can be tough, especially when mom's flaws are "open" too! So I openly admit, homeschooling is a "stretch" for mom, and it certainly does keep me on my toes! ( no hiding my sins behind closed doors around here!!)
I wanted to share one aspect of homeschooling that I really, really love and that is the opporotunity that homeschooling can give to really develop a love of learning in our children . By that I do not mean learning their math facts or spelling words -- what I mean is loving to learn about something for the sake of loving to learn! Each month my kids choose a topic that they wish to study and dwelve into.... it can be anything........ and believe me we have had some interesting topics thru the years. :) After their assigned subjects are completed they can spend as long as they wish studying their "topic of choice". At the end of the month we have a "report night" where each child writes up a report on their topic, presents an oral report ( they hand in a typed report for me to file) and can also share a display board with drawings or print outs. The kids really look forward to this night! They enjoy sharing their knowledge with the rest of the family. It gives them a sense of accomplishment. My husband & I also enjoy hearing about what they are learning and what they have gleaned from their in depth study.
Here are some snapshots of our report night we held a few nights back. As always the reports were interesting and varied. :)
This past month we had:
Sarah studied about the Pilgrims. Big sister Hannah, helped her put a display board together. :) She loves to give these reports, even though she is just 6 yrs old and needs help reading her report a loud. :)
Paul learned about Abraham Lincoln . The twins are getting much better with their reading and didn't need much help giving their reports!
Peter gave a wonderful report on Martin Luther King Jr.
Rebekah studied about Anne Frank.....
Samuel gave a wonderful report on William Penn -- the founder of Pennsylvania ....I learned a ton just by listening to his report!
Rachel enjoyed learning about the "maide of Louraine"....Joan of Arc.......
Hannah studied up on Mary Queen of Scotts......... what a sad and interesting life she led.....Hannah loves to study about famous women in history....... she's a lot like her mom. :) I too love studying the lives of famous women -- right now I am reading about the life of Susanna Wesley the mother of Charles & John Wesley.
Last but not least, Jacob gave us a very detailed report on the Vietnam War.......he loves to study wars, and he really learned a lot. This month he has chosen to study the Korean War, so he really is into this "war" studies lately! He loves history and mostly chooses historical topics of interest.
This coming month the kids have chosen the following topics to study:
Jacob: Korean War, Hannah : Christopher Columbus, Rachel: Eleanor Roosevelt, Samuel: Lightening, Rebekah: Horses, Peter: George Washington ( again!), Paul: Trains, Sarah : Dogs
I hope my kids can look back upon their years homeschooling with fondness. :) I know I will have many many memories to look back upon. No regrets here, even though there are the the "days" I wonder what on earth I have done to myself!
Ramblings about what goes on around here.
I am a Christian homeschooling mom of five, we live on 6 acres with Nubian dairy goats, chickens, a garden, and various other critters.
It is still not perfectly clear, but at least it isn't a big blur... and I don't have photoshop.
How cute is he???? swoon :)
Intensely into the movie.... 
Anyone with advice... feel free to chime in. I would love it.
Sometimes I get busy with school and forget to spend a little one-on-one time schooling the littlest of my littles. What a difference it makes when I do. They are SO excited to have their own one-on-one School time with Moma. :) So much so that afterwards, I hear... "Moma, is it our school time now?" quite a lot. :)
What a blessing it is to me, to be the one who sees their children learn new skills, what a joy it is to be the one who is there helping them, teaching and nurturing them and watching them learn. There just is NOTHING like it. 
