Throwback Thursday: 2007's Christmas Update

Dear Friends and Family,
It is so much fun for me to look back and see what was happening years ago. This post happened exactly 12 years ago in 2007 and it's amazing to think of all that has happened since these girls were so tiny. Enjoy!

Throwback Thursday: Sing A Song Poem

Here we are, throwing back to the 2009-2010 school year:

It would be interesting to know whether McKenzie remembers the tune to this little poem she wrote for me back in 2009 at the ripe old age of 9 years old. If I remember, she was in a silly mood...per usual!

Not So Wordless Wednesday: I'M BA-ACK!

Wow...I am not really sure where time has gone to...looking at my calendar and my online photo album tells me what's been up for the past several months but how did it go by so fast?

In May, I mentioned that I was going to take a break for the summer. It just went a little longer than I anticipated! Now that things have slowed down, figuratively speaking, I am hoping to get back in the swing of thing. Plus, two of my girls have dozens of posts they are anxious for me to get online!

To get things going, here are a few pictures of some activities you can look forward to me posting about in the near future:

Some Pet Additions...

Some Trips to Our County Parks

Our Church's Annual Conference/Camp

Trip To Maryhill, Washington

Many Trips to Parks With Friends

A Trip To Silver Falls

A Teen Addition to our Family

Start of the new School Year

ADOPTION DAY!!!!
Don't you love this first glimpse of our sweet boy?

A Baby Foster Addition

As you can see, it's been a bit crazy! I hope you enjoy this mini-post, let me know!

If you missed the last  post: Birthday Thanksgiving

Until next time...

Have a blessed day and embrace the craziness in your life!

Heidi

Numbers 6:24-26

Throw Back Thursday: Happy Birthday, Emma!

Good morning, friends and family!

I wrote this post back in 2005 when my niece was born...

Enjoy...

Tuesday Tidings: Trip to DB

Trip to DB

(  Dutch  Bros. )

Going to Dutch Bros Headquarters was a lot of fun!

We were able to watch them roast coffee beans, 

go to the store and take a tour of their processing warehouse.

Here are some pics of 

our trip...

!!!BYE!!!

~Shelby~

If you missed last week: My Life As A Dog

Next Week: Can You Guess Who This Is?

Blast From The Crazy Past: Silly Girls

Welcome to memories...my memories....welcome to a Blast from my Crazy Past!

I found these two short blog posts on my old blog and decided to combine them in one. Let's just feature Jordyn and McKenzie real quick:

Monday Madness: What School Looks Like...

Welcome to Monday Madness where I talk about pretty much anything that comes to mind. 

From homeschooling to special needs to strange blog posts about silly objects to interviewing a family member...you never know what you might read on Monday Madness!

 Enjoy!

Every year is different...

Monday Madness: Math~ Dad Style

Welcome to Monday Madness where I will talk about pretty much anything that comes to mind. From homeschooling to special needs to strange blog posts about silly objects to interviewing a family member...you never know what you might read on Monday Madness! Enjoy!

I found this post from March 23, 2011....

Monday Madness: You Might Be A Homeschool Parent If...

Welcome to Monday Madness where I will talk about pretty much anything that comes to mind. From homeschooling to special needs to strange blog posts about silly objects to interviewing a family member...you never know what you might read on Monday Madness! Enjoy!

I don't know who wrote this, I found it years ago, but it still cracks me up and SO true....for fun, I've added a smiley face to any that have applied to our family!

Blast Into The Crazy Past: How Fostering Changes Your Life...

Welcome to memories...my memories....welcome to a Blast from my Crazy Past!

It is interesting to see how things change in your life. I wrote this a year ago, in 2015 to read to a few close friends one night. I ran across it recently and decided I would share it here. It was hard to decide whether I should have it go out on Fostering Friday or today since it isn't current events. So I went with Blast Into The Crazy Past.....

I'm Thankful For: Homeschooling

Sis making a nest...

Most anyone who has been reading my blog for very long or knows me personally, knows that we are a home school family.

Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

A sweet friend of mine has been organizing field trips like crazy this school year.

Field Trip With T-Boss

Today was a field trip to the local Fire Department for T-Boss and I. There were around 20 other home-school kiddos there as well. Including one little girl who latched onto T-Boss insisting he hold her hand throughout the tour!

We have gone to this particular Fire Station several times in the past, but it never fails to get T-Boss excited whenever we go.

Here are 5 things T-Boss thought were cool and will be writing sentences on for school:

• I saw a ladder-fire truck where they get animals down from trees.
• I learned that they wear fire suits to go into fires.
• I learned about all the tools on the fire truck.
• I saw a fire man go down the pole.
• I saw their offices where they work in the building.

Today was a star day for my little man....

Where To Go From Here....

I'll be honest...I really haven't known where to go with this blog. I had numerous family members and friends let me know over the past couple years that they missed my blog and wanted me to write again...

So I did. On October 9, 2016, I got back on the band wagon and was really excited to do it!

However...

Making Almond Cheese

I have been slowly taking my family to a gluten free lifestyle. I say slowly because none of us have celiac disease or anything that is making us need to drop gluten cold turkey. So we are slowly making lifestyle changes where gluten is involved. And we are also starting to eliminate some dairy products and replacing them with almonds.

One of the main reasons for this is that the children and I, including our son who is adopted, have eczema issues as well as seasonal issues. Changing to a more gluten free diet should help with this. I have to admit that I am starting to see some changes already.

We have been having fun making almond milk, our own almond flour and this week we added almond cheese to our repertoire. Turned out super yummy with just a couple things we want to tweak: needs a tad more salt and we need to puree it a little longer. It was a fun family project and you will find the link to the recipe we used below:

Simple Almond Cheese Recipe

I LOVE MONDAYS! Really!!!

Mondays are different around here: We do not give our girls school work on Mondays as they volunteer with their grandparents at a local rest home and Lil Mr goes to preschool. So it is perfect for catching up on the little things that build up over the weekend or finishing up projects from Saturday.

Today was no exception. I dropped Lil Mr off at preschool then ran to the post office to get some stamps and also get hollered at by some random stranger who was not having a great day. That was pleasant. Then it was homeward bound with the vision of the two projects I wanted to finish dancing in my head.

The first was to reclaim my son's room. He is very good about putting things away, he likes everything in it's spot or he starts twitching. ( Reminds me of his dad.... :P ) However, if he has a friend over, things don't always get put away before said friend leaves. Then I see this glazed look come over him and he just dumps everything. Probably part of the Sensory Processing Disorder. So...to make it easier on him, I gave away a big sack full of toys that he really doesn't play with as well as a stack of books. Then I put up some of the toys like his blocks, Legos and Little People. This left his cars and trains to play with. The others can be pulled out when he wants to play with them, but  are out of the reach of  friends. Looks MUCH neater in there. We also moved out his big dresser he wasn't using and put in a smaller one. I have to say that it warmed my heart when he came home and saw his room. I pointed out where his shoes go and he said, "Wow, thanks, mom! Where do my socks go?" Too cute!

On hubby's lunch break we ran to Home Depot to get a few little things and off to Joann's to get another panel of muslin for my dining room curtains. When we got home, hubby put up my curtain rod, fixed the doors on my corner cabinet and changed out the hardware on the doors. The result was amazing! (Pics below.) While he did that, I scurried to my craft room and got my curtains sewn up. Was pretty simple to do but did take a couple hours.

All in all, I am really happy with how the dining room is turning out. It's taken a couple months, slowly but surely. It started with being wild and crazy by painting the dining room table and chairs. I moved some furniture around in the dining room. Hubby also moved the piano out of the dining room and into the living room. Then Saturday, hubby painted my dining room a beautiful creamy white color while I finished painting the corner cabinet. I have just two more things I want to do to finish it: I want to get a  cool "vintage" window and make a chalkboard out of it. I am also looking for a nice English or French countryside picture to hang on one wall.   I am pretty picky about what I will spend. I don't like spending more than I have to, as I would rather make things myself! However, a painter I am NOT. My poor parents tried giving me classes in middle school and let's just say...I am not talented in that area!

Anyway, there are some pics below. I hope you enjoy them and have a great night!

New hardware for a lovely old piece. Found out that this corner cabinet has been in our family for over 45 years.

Doors are secure and it is finished!

To save money, I waited till the outside panels of material went on sale for 60% off!
Then I only bought 3 yards, cut it in half and added muslin panels in the middle.

That long dresser was in my son's room. We brought it in here and turned it into a buffet.
Then I was going to put that little dresser out in the shed and hubby had the
great suggestion to put my cookbooks on it and walah! (Also known as "voila"! I just like my non-words!)

Pumpkin Patch

Today was a BLAST! A friend of mine organized a pumpkin patch field trip to a local farm that does it up great every year. We had about 30-40 kids varying in age from tiny babies to middle school. And all the parents to go with it. It was a great group! I met a couple people that I had seen on FB on the different homeschool groups I am in and also got to chit-chat with other moms I know. Here are some pics from our totally fantastic day:

All in all, a great day! I was really excited to see how far our little guy has come with sensory processing today...the cannon was pretty loud, but he didn't freak out, he just covered his ears! Go Lil Mr!