It's March!!

Here we are in the first week of March! How did that happen?

We've been so busy lately. We have lots going on and are enjoying all the cool weather. :)

Last night we took the kids to a local place we love. They have outdoor seating with personal fire pits and live music. We had a great time!

 

Live music means dancing, in the dark. :)

 

They have a lot of signs like this all over. LOVE!

Meghan Goes Camping

Or something like that. :) Meghan went with our church for her first camp, Winter Camp. She left last Friday afternoon and I picked her up on Sunday after church. She had a blast! This was a her birthday gift.

She wanted to go to summer camp last year. It's 5 days and quite a bit more money so we weren't able to do it and I didn't feel comfortable with it anyways. This time though it was shorter and I felt like it would be okay.

We had to get her some warm clothes and rent a coat. haha She went up to where it was snowy. They do have cabins to stay in though and a dining hall, so they aren't in a tent really roughing it.

I loved watched the Facebook page for the church, they posted a few pictures. That's the one thing about your child being gone without you, no pictures!

I am so glad she had a great time! We missed her lots but it was totally worth it.

Here she is waiting for the bus to get there and pick them up.

 

Then here she is with the whole group. Can you find her? ;)

I Might Be Sappy

Does this song make anyone else weepy?

Just me?

Yep, I am sappy.

 

 

Last weekend was a big deal to me. I was able to take the family and visit with my Uncle Richard and his family. My Aunt Josephine is from the Philippines and they live there. My Uncle is there most of the time and my Aunt is sometimes here and sometimes there. Their two son's, Joseph and Jonathan, live here.

My Uncle came to Arizona through the holidays and we have been so busy that we didn't get to see them until the day before he flew home. Which kinda makes me sad. I wish we could have seen him a few times while he was here. We figured out we hadn't actually seen each other since I was about 10 years old. Thankfully through Facebook we had found each other and caught up.

Anyway, it was a lot of fun. They invited us for a BBQ and we just hung out and talked. They all have such a great relationship and are totally funny, it was nice to see. The kids had a blast too. They played with Uncle Ricky a lot of the time and he teased them.

I have always cared for my Aunt and Uncle but during this visit I was filled with this overwhelming love for them both. My Uncle is back in the Philippines now and said that he may not ever be back here. This could have been the last time I will ever see him, on earth. With all of the things going on in the world today I do not doubt that is true.

I am just thankful for a great day with them all. I love you guys and will be keeping you in my prayers!

It's An Update

We have had a very busy start to the year here! I love blogging and sharing but I obviously can't do it regularly. :) So I am going to catch up on a few things and share some pictures.

Business has been as busy as always. I thought it would slow down after the holidays but it's still going full force which is good, I guess. My friend and I formed a new business together last year. That doesn't mean I don't still have my own, (and she has her own) but we joined together to form a new one where we can promote together and do large events together. It's been going great! We had a large event at the end of January, a Gatsby theme. It's for a magazine that we advertise in. All the advertisers are invited and it was super fun, plus we brought some of the desserts. :)

 

 

Here are a couple of the cakes I have made recently too. It's what I do, I'm going to share. ;)

 

The kids have been busy as normal. They have been spending a lot of time outside even though it is chilly. It seems that the colder it is the more time they are outdoors. They have been digging huge holes in the sandbox, playing on the swing set they got for Christmas, (Thank you grandparents!) and playing lots of role playing games. Lately it's been pirates and the princess or something like that.

 

My brother and sister in law sent the kids a package for Valentine's day. They were super excited to get mail and love their aunt, uncle and cousins! (Hoping for a visit sometime. ;) )

 

This is out of order but they went on a field trip late January to San Tan Mountain Regional Park. I don't know why I didn't get pictures of anything but the kids had a great time and learned a lot about the Sonoran Desert. I bought them a prickly pear sucker to try. :)

 

We also went to IHOP on National Pancake day. Then this week I made heart shaped (kinda) pancakes since it is Valentine's week.

 

In other big news.... Kaden has lost his first baby tooth! I was really surprised it was time for that. When Meghan started loosing teeth I was ready but when I saw Kaden's tooth pointed out weird I thought he must have hit it. There's no way my little boy is old enough to loose those tiny teeth, and yes he has the tiniest baby teeth ever! Alas it is time, after a few days that tooth came out and there is already another one growing in. The one next to it is loose as well. :( 

The tooth fairy left him two dollars and he was very excited. At first he was nervous but Meghan told him how fun it is to gross me out with the hole after it falls out and he got excited.

 

Well there is the short version of the past couple months! February is super busy this year. Coming up we have a Valentine's skating party on Thursday. Then on Friday I drop Meghan off at church for a weekend of camp. I am a little nervous about it myself as she has never been away from us that long but she is excitedly packing and repacking her stuff to go. I am sure that Ellie and Kaden are going to miss her tons too. Then of course next week is Meghan's 11th birthday! She has asked for a few friends to go see a movie with so we will be planning that for the weekend after her birthday. We are going to a car show that weekend as well and then we are hoping to go on a skiing trip at the end of the month. Wheeew.

 

It's safe to say the next update might be long too... but we'll see. :)

 

 

Above all, LOVE each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

1 Peter 4:8

 

First Week Back

We are back to school this week. I filled out Meghan's week of assignments and showed it to her and how it worked. On Monday it took her a long time to do her work. She didn't get everything done that day and was upset. I explained we had a break and sometimes it takes a bit to get back into the groove. On Tuesday she caught up and got some of Wednesday's work done too. So she is very happy today. I think the schedule for her is going to make things a lot easier!

Kaden has been doing what he feels like doing. I don't push him to complete certain things. I ask him and usually he wants to do it but sometimes he doesn't. He's learning to read and so he has practiced reading to me this week, done some workbook pages, done puzzles and played lots. :) Ellie is just following along. She has done lots of Starfall.com and playing. They helped me make pizza last night too.


It's a good week and we are all happy to be back to school!

Assignment Planner for Meghan

I have been looking for a planner to write out Meghan's assignments on and I found one! Here at http://fivejs.com/homeschool-weekly-assignment-planner/

I am excited to get it planned out better and this will allow her to see what she needs to do each week.

Menu Plan- 1-2-12

I decided I needed to plan a menu. Meghan is going to start helping me with this but for this week I am just doing it using what we have here already. It's a short week as Nate went back to work just today. We are getting the house in order and decluttering. We'll be having a garage sale this weekend as well. So here is a quick plan for suppers this week and weekend. :)

Hope you week is going great!!



Wednesday- Spaghetti and Meatballs. (the kids are going to help me make meatballs, which we have never done before)

Thursday- Homemade Pizza

Friday- Pinto Beans in the Crock pot with corn bread muffins and potatoes

Saturday- Bean Burritos (2nd night with crock pot beans)

Sunday- We will see what Dad wants. He may want to go out.


I will throw veggie sides in there as I need to. ;)

A few other things we will be making this week are...
Brownies
Muffins
Banana Bread
Oatmeal Packets

2013- My Word, My Verse

Happy New Year! I know I haven't been keeping up here. I let myself get too busy with my business last year. Although I love what I do I know that I can over do it and then other important things in my life are neglected. I am not going to worry about that though, I am going to look forward.

Many of my friends over the last several years have chosen a word for the year. Something they focus on and learn more about. Usually they start thinking and praying about what the word will be right before the new year. It was brought to my attention a week or so ago and as I was reading a message from a friend a word and then a verse popped into my head. So guess what? I am going to focus on a word for this year as well.

My word is Trust

The biggest thing for me is to trust that God cares about me too. I have always felt like it wasn't great for me to pray about things personal to me, that I should only pray for others. I also thought that God cared more about others than me, I didn't expect him to answer my prayers. I know this is wrong and that He LOVES me and wants the best for me and I need to focus on that this year. I am a child of God, just like everyone else and I need to change my thinking. I am on my way and I know this year will be great for me with that focus.

I also need to trust in God's plan. He knows how all the pieces fit together (thank you Papa, for reiterating) and he can handle it all. I am going to trust Him and just wait on Him. When He wants me to move I will. I must trust Him with my family as well. He knows what each person needs and no matter what I do I can't change them, only He can do that.

I am going to trust also that he can help us as I work less on my business. We have a new job prospect for Nate and hopefully that comes through but either way I will trust God. I will keep working but will be more selective, (I do love making edible art!) and make sure my time is not over run with it. My first job is to teach and care for my children.


This passage has been coming up a lot for me lately. That seems to happen a lot when God wants me to do something. :) This is the verse for me!


Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with THANKSGIVING, present  your requests to God. And the Peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Jesus Christ.

Philippians 4:6,7