homemade treats for the birds

yesterday we decided to make a treat for our feathered friends and our furry squirrel friends too:-)


the ingredients, some natural peanut butter, corn muffin mix- cornmeal works but this is what we had really the same thing- sunflower seeds, and cranberries, you can use raisins too or peanuts , or whatever you happen to have, experiment to see what the critters like. Cornmeal is a binder and holds it all together-like breadcrumbs in meatloaf-.



adding in the goodies, we just put it in, and stirred till it was pretty stiff- it was sort of a clay consistency, which can be molded into balls or chilled and cut in to blocks, or wrapped on tree limbs.





putting out the finished treat for the birds and squirrels to enjoy, we smeared some on the trees- which the woodpeckers, and nuthatches ate up very quickly. We put some pieces in our platform feeder, the jays and black grackles like this, and hung some in a suet bag- really the pieces of an onion bag cut and tied- I saw a squirrel licking this today it was so cute.

our family hour for the planet

we participated in the hour for the planet saturday night , it was a lot of fun. We had planned to light our outside firepit and cook marshmellows, but it rained. So we imprvised and lit the indoor fireplace opend the front doors and roasted them inside it was alot of fun. we alos told campfire stories and didi a bit of a sing along wiht some of the kids sunday school songs. It was a truly fun night and no one complained. I think we should do this every saturday.

How about you how did you spend saturday night?

a ducky day

making raingauges at Lowes

since today was a rainy day fit for ducks it was fitting that the grow and build project today is a rain gauge-) It was a fun way to spend a morning, unfortunately daddy had to work, usually this is his thing to do, but i enjoyed it. And I like Lowe's and came home with many seeds and plants for the garden.

putting on safety goggles, even got Shawn to wear a pair


working hard on pounding in the nails and we hit a few fingers to- mostly mine:-)



the finished rain gauges or some what so Grace had some issues with hers so we brought it home or daddy to help fix.

favorite things friday

I decided since this has been a week of much thought provoking events. Today I would be a little lighter and think of some of my favorite things about the week. and focus on them to keep my self motivated to keep on going:-)

1. a smiling baby in the -very- wee hours who loves me no matter what and is so happy to see me.

2. My kids laughing and playing together yesterday they made a maze with all our pillows and cushions and had all kinds of rooms, and things inside, very cool.

3. My mom sending a wonderful basket of goodies for us, to decorate for Easter with and also with every ones favorite snacks, what a nice treat.

4.Adams very sweet speech teacher- who I think he has a crush on-who really takes the time to listen to him.

5. rainbows after the rain, how pretty.

6. buds on all the trees ready to burst forth the flowers inside.

7. getting outside to a park to play with good friends and burn off energy.

8. baking chocolate chip cookies wiht the kids- always a fun time.

9. reading stories together-even my teen will listen with us-.

10. playing sight word bingo until everyone has won, and how they all help each other find words on the cards. and how they all get excited for each other.

11. transplanting my shamrocks this year I am determined not to kill them:-)

12. going to our churches praise service and somehow hearing what I need to hear, and how they always choose just the right song.

13. my hubby calling just to tell me I am his best friend, that was on a very trying day and I needed it really bad.

great is thy faithfulness

this is another favorite hymn and we sung it at praise service last night and I can;t get it out of my head, so as I hum it all day I had to print it here.

Today's lesson was in the book of Titus and it speaks about faithfulness, it always amazes me how what we discuss comes up at church or vise-verse. I truly believe the Lord leads us to what we need to know at the time we need IT latley have been struggling with things not so much my faith I know he is with me in all things good and bad, but my struggle is in getting on the path he would want me on. I have been questioning my walk alot lately, if its what I should be doing , and I am feeling a hand gently lead me to where he needs me to be.And he needs me to be here home raising these precious kids he has given me the honor of raising and knowing- they are a gift all children are- . i have also questioned homeschooling at times and whenever I do he opens my eyes to what it would be like if we didn't and I don't like that picture at all. I know this is my calling and he will lead us on the journey, he will help us teach the children what they need to know to do the jobs he has planned for them. I am top prepare my daughters to be strong women who can raise and care for a family someday, who can care for those in need, who can be the virtuous women in Psalms 31. My sons need to be ready to provide for a family, to protect, and serve. To be the spiritual leaders they are called to be. It is a big job we are called to do, but I have the best teacher of all teaching me along the way.I just have to keep my faithfulness.

So for everynose I wipe, every dirty diaper I change each lullaby I sing, every loaf of bread I bake or shirt I patch and mend, I am doing the work of the father. I am making a home for my family, and by doing so I am doing just what I should be. The world is in total turmoil and the kidss need to be ready to fight the fight for the Lord, be his witneses. And walk in faithfulness too.

painting the eggs today and maybe a rainy walk

remember the ones I blew out this weekend well we are going to paint them today.Should be a fun project, it is raining out so it is fun to do art inside when its sorta messy out.

Though it is only misty out we may venture outside and look around I love rainy spring days , how the water drops form on the tree limbs, and spider webs, and alot of creatures get very active in te rain. so we will see what adventures we get into today .

fruit of the spirit

our bible lesson today is on the fruit of the spirit Galatians 5:22-26, this is a favorite bible verse of mine- though there aren't many that aren't-. The kids are copying the verse into their copy books, and will be making spiritual fruits for our Easter tree.-some pears,apples, bananas, grape,lemons etc-.

WE also discussed how we need to work on these fruits everyday to help them grow- we are the vine he is the branches-. We discussed which we would like to work on and -Madeline's is peace-not worrying so much cause Jesus is with us all the time- Grace;s is gentleness- with the cat and her brothers:-)- Mine is self-control- I lose my temper more then I would like to-.

None of us are perfect and we need to prune those branches and bad fruits often, and grow strong and good as long as we keep growing and praying the perfect gardener will keep us pruned and he will help us grow strong .

HOW GREAT THOU ART

this is one of my favor tie hymns ever- especially sung by The Statler Brothers-, we sang it at the praise service at church last Wednesday night, it always gives me such wonderful memories.

I remember as a kid sitting in the dark in my dads room listening to The Grand Ole Opry on Saturday nights- the radio we had picked it up but not with the lights on-. And The Statler Brothers always sang How Great Thou Art, it was always so wonderful and in the dark it was like being alone with God and singing along with his angels. I just loved it so and still do anything that brings you closer to the Lord is a good thing.

I feel so blessed to have my kids now singing it along with me.Praise God.

a day at the shelter

the girls and their pop went to do their volunteer time at the Humane Society today- which they love more then anything I think-.

they loved on little Faith who is a very sad and lonely little girl who doesn;t like being at the shelter, but loves hugs, kisses and treat.


they walked Sarge a Shepard mix a very sweet and very big boy who loved his hour out in the play yard with them

easter eggs

we spent last night blowing the insides out of 18 eggs to get them ready to paint for our Easter tree, it was a longer job then I had thought, we poked holes in both ends of the eggs with a toothpick then slide the toothpick inside and swished it around to break the egg inside the we use a straw on one end and blew out the insides. The eggs have been washed and are drying so we can decorate them later this week. .The eggs on the tree symbolize, the new life we are given through the resurrecton of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on Easter. The empty eggs also symblize the empty tomb they found when they went ot prep his body for burial.

Today we will be making lambs for the perfect lamb Jesus Christ.

spring cleaning begins

not my favorite part of spring but it is nice to clean out and get rid of things laying around and freshen up musty blankets, and curtains and give the windows a good washing, and get under the couches- ucky-.

Today we are decluttering my laundry room the scariest room in the house, it is where everything gets dumped and stays there. But it is nice to see the floor again, its amazing how roomy things can be once all the junk is removed. I have found many candy crusted socks, and dried diapers- I quess they get thrown in when dad and sister change the baby and don;t take the diaper out of his pants. geesh .

Tommorow I am cleaning out my car another scary dumping ground, everything is in there for all the kdis stuff we go to- skating, dance, soccer, pottery, changes of clothes, stroller, snacks etc etc, and toys and who knows what else.

So if no one hears form for a few days I'm either under my laundry pile or something fell on my head from the cruddy cabinets I am cleaning next.

Happy spring

Yes it is finally spring- or so says the calender:-)-. It is actually sunny and a bit breezy here, in the mid 40's so decent enough for March. I am thinking its agood day to make a kite, and give it a go.

Enjoy your day ladies.tell us how you spent it:-)

Ikea Scavenger Hunt

today our home school group had a scavenger hunt at Ikea, it was a lot of fun, the kids had a list of things to go find in teams- which where predetermined, it was a fun way to spend a rainy day.


all the kids and moms ready to go on our hunt



gathering in the eatery afterwards to relax and tally the results, it was a fun afternoon.




the boys had fun it the kids section checking out the furniture and toys , Adam really liked this egg chair.

Nature Study resource

I just love this book , it is as relevant now as when it was printed several years ago. It is perfect for a Charlotte Mason style Nature Notebook, have the kids draw and while they do you place the book in your lap- out of their site- and read bits and pieces of information from it- and create conversation-. the kids can also copy names English and Latin from it.

Lowes grow and Build

The Lowes Hardware/home improvement stores offer bi-weekly building classes for kids. they are the 2ND and 4Th Saturday of each month at 10am,they are free ,btw, which is perfect for me, cause with four to register even cheap gets pricey.

This Month on the 28Th they are making rain gauges. We have done many projects and they are really nice, the kids get an apron safety goggles and a patch to sew on their jackets or backpack or where ever oh and a piece of sandpaper too.

The site says ages 1st-5th grade but I have taken my 2year old and 13 year old along with me, and they get to make a project too, and the staff are so good with the kids. My 4 year old loves it he likes to build- like daddy and here he can safely use tools and create a project- and as a homeschooler this is our wood shop class:-)-.

Anyhow if you have never been check out your local Lowes and go, it is a lot of fun.

cupcake baking for St.Rita's

this past Sunday we baked a lot of cupcakes for the soup kitchen on Monday, we had alot of fun working together and it was an icky rainy day so it was a good way to spend it.

the ingredients all ready to go



getting the muffin pans ready for the batter -everyone had a job to do.-


adding ingredients and mixing it up




in to the cupcake liners and into the oven




icing is fun, an hides any flaws, we dyed ours green for spring and St.Patricks Day





showing off our first dozen of finished cupcakes- there where 6 dozen all together