Grandma K visit

Posted by My Heart Song

9/20/2016 



My mom (aka Grandma K) visited last weekend. 
We enjoyed having her around! 



We visited a local park together. 




Such a neat park and the weather was gorgeous for our outing. 


Grandma was a good sport to try some of the playground equipment! :-)


We also visited the nearby zoo. 
She hadn't been to a zoo in decades so it was time! We were able to see the usual zoo animals, plus the ostriches put on quite a crazy dance show for us. We also saw the banded mongoose feeding time, which involved brown paper bag lunches of live insects. Very memorable! 


My youngest enjoyed doing hair and fussing with rings and such. 


Grandma K and my oldest daughter played a number of games together. 




We also celebrated her birthday while she was here, eating out at Texas Roadhouse. The employees wished her a hardy "Yee haw" and made her hold their toy pony-on-a-stick. 


Happy birthday again, Mom! And thank you for making the long trip to spend some time with us. We love you!

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My Full Heart

Posted by My Heart Song

9/13/2016


My heart is so full. I have 4 beautiful children to raise here on earth and 3 more I look forward to meeting in heaven. The Lord has been good to me and I thank Him daily for the chance to live this life with these wonderful people! 


Here are a few group pictures we've been able to snap in recent weeks of all 4 kids. 


I am loving them at their various ages and stages!

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Home Improvement: Cabinets and Contact Paper

Posted by My Heart Song

9/12/2016 



I am embarrassed to admit that we've lived in our home for over 7 years and I've never tried this super simple way to "improve" our nasty kitchen cabinets. 


Contact paper! Ever used it? What a simple and inexpensive way to change the look of your old cabinets. Just like a fresh coat of paint, it can change the look completely!

I bought 4 rolls of contact paper. Those 4 rolls covered the cabinets in these pictures (with bottom and upper shelves), as well as an upper cabinet with 3 shelves and one small drawer.

There are many colors and patterns to choose from. I chose a simple light color that matched our kitchen flooring. Even though the inside of the cabinets is not something visitors to our home would ever see, I see them every day. So this home improvement was simply to freshen up my work-space not to impress anyone else!

For someone who is not at all crafty, I am very pleased with how this turned out and proud of the fact that I did it all by myself! 

PS: I have to share this picture of my "helpers" enjoying the empty cabinets.

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Girly Girl

Posted by My Heart Song

9/9/2016 



This little girl. She's 2, almost 3, years old. 
She's in the "I love dresses" phase of life right now. 


Every single day demands a new dress. It matters not whether we have plans to leave the house. A dress is simply a must! 


This adorable dress was a homemade hand-me-down from some friends. With the adorable matching purse... so precious!


 I don't mind this at all. My older daughter never went through such a phase, so I'm loving this! 


This one loves to have her done, in a "pony" every day. 


She loves to wear bracelets and necklaces. 
In this picture, she's got a pretty hair tie as a bracelet.

Love you, my fashionista girly-girl princess!

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Sonlight Box Day - 3rd Grade

Posted by My Heart Song

8/24/2016 

Box Day is here again... sort of! 


 Box Day is the day when our new curriculum arrives. However, as my son is second in line to use this curriculum, we already own it. I did pack it away after my daughter used it 5 years ago, though, and brought it back out now for my son to open and uncover for himself.



Digging for true treasure in the box!



This boy is ready to start 3rd grade. 

We are using this homeschool curriculum from Sonlight. Sonlight is a literature based program, that includes dozens and dozens of great books. This boy of mine has been a reluctant reader (when reading by himself) but he LOVES to be read to. So, at least at the start, I will probably be doing double-duty with him - reading both the read-aloud books and those that are intended for the student to read by himself. 

This year he will be studying American History, Part 1 (of 2). We've already begun reading the first few books about Native Americans. Pocahontas, Squanto, Mayans and Incans and Aztecs. Why wait?! 

 Happy Box Day, my son! And may God bless our school year!

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Baby Boy Turns 11 Months Old

Posted by My Heart Song

8/23/2016 



  Here we are again, marking another month of growth! 


This little boy is closing in on his first birthday!


He got a haircut a few days ago - a buzz cut to match his brother's hair. 


At the start of this month, this guy stayed in one place most of the time. Not any more! He is on the go, as a scooter! He doesn't crawl but he scoots on his butt and gets everywhere just fine that way! He now opens cabinets, pulls out all the contents and pinches fingers. 


My two boys sharing a bear hug.


Having a big sister who loves jewelry and bling means that this little man gets dolled up with necklaces often. 
Sorry, buddy! At least he doesn't mind at this point!


I love this picture of him and his big sister on their new little couch. Perfect for the two of them!

We love you so much, Mr. Man! 
Every day is a new adventure, embracing growth and change... as it should be!

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Sonlight Box Day - 8th Grade

Posted by My Heart Song

8/22/2016 

 Box Day is here again! 

This is the day when our new school year curriculum arrives. And it rivals Christmas Day in excitement at our house! 



My daughter. She's 13 now and ready to start 8th grade.


 We've homeschooled all the way. I am so very thankful that we've spent all of those hours of school together rather than apart! I wouldn't trade the relationship we've built for anything!

We use a curriculum called Sonlight. We have used it for the last 5 years and really enjoy it. Sonlight is based on great literature and our family LOVES to read together. I'm a little sad that this year, she reads all of these great books independently with no help from me. I'll miss out, but she won't! (Truth be told, I wouldn't have time to read a lot to her since I'm also teaching her 3rd grade brother).

She's a ham, as you can tell from these pictures. She has become such a fun kid to be around. I'm really enjoying her at this stage! 



She wrapped up like a mummy in the packing paper.

And was just all-around goofy!

 Happy Box Day and here's to a wonderful school year! 

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Teenage Birthday

Posted by My Heart Song

8/8/2016



Happy Birthday to my now teenage daughter!!


She sure is growing up! This past year she decided to get her hair cut shorter, which changed her look quite a bit.


We celebrate this young lady and thank God for giving her to our family!  
What a blessing she is to us all! 
She is very smart. 
She is a self-motivated learner. 
When she has a question, she knows how to use whatever resources are available to find the answer. 
She's a natural born leader.
She has a tender side, especially towards animals. 
She has a servant's heart, 
regularly seeing needs and simply taking care of them. 



Grandma K sent a birthday gift package. We opened it via Skype so she could watch. She received a joke book, tracing paper, graph paper, and a magazine of floor plans.



A few pictures from our birthday bash.



A few of the gifts she received... clothes and a bungee chair. She noted that she's moved beyond childhood now... receiving mostly clothes and non-toy items. She feels so-so about this. 


Happy 13th birthday to you!

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Trim Healthy Mama and Me

Posted by My Heart Song

8/3/2016 

My journey. My health.

 Here's a little bit of my story. 

 I've never been obese, but I have been "overweight" for years. I am short - only 5 feet 2 inches. Being this short means that I should not weigh over 120 pounds or I am considered overweight. Therefore, I've been overweight for all of my adult life! A few extra pounds in college. A few more after each baby came along. Not obese but not healthy either. 

Here are a few pictures of me a few years ago that I will use as my "BEFORE" pictures. 

A bit on the chubby side. I was in size L or XL clothes, wearing a 14/16 at my biggest. 

And here I am now. I bought this dress in April, before it really fit. I loved it, though, and made it my goal to fit into it by July. 
And I did it! 
I fit into a size 8! 
And my double-chin is gone! 
And I have more energy for life!
And I'm making right choices now to be smart about my pre-diabetes and high cholesterol. 
I'm getting back to true health. 

 And I'm still losing weight! How? Trim Healthy Mama (also known as THM)! If you haven't heard of THM before, please consider it. There's a book and a cookbook out there. Look at your library or on Amazon.

You could call it a diet. 
I call it a lifestyle. 
I eat what I want. 
I "cheat" when I want. 
It's food freedom. 
It's educating myself on making healthy choices 
that can taste good too. 

 I love the results. And I love that some of the harder-to-find food ingredients are becoming easier to find now, as more people jump on the "a healthier me" bandwagon. ALDI now carries sprouted bread, coconut oil, and a number of other healthy food choices. 

 There will be more to come on this issue as I'm 4-5 months into this way of eating, way of looking at food. I'm committed to better overall health and we'll see what I look like when that is achieved! :-)

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Happy Anniversary!

Posted by My Heart Song

8/2/2016 


It's not my anniversary... but it is my in-laws' 46th wedding anniversary today! Happy Anniversary!

For the last 20 years, these two have welcomed me as part of the family. My mother-in-law has always been one of the most giving and generous people that I know. She speaks the love language of giving. She knows how to size up anyone and then find things to fit them just right. She picks up on a little mention of this or that, tucks the thought away in her mind and then will surprise you with something she bought for you to meet that need. 

Now my father-in-law... well, he's never been a very affectionate man. He's a military man. He's a factory man. He's not the emotional type. But in the last few years, he's battled Parkinson's disease and he has come to grips with his own mortality and frailness. And in doing so, he has become a gentler man. Now it is not uncommon to hear him tell others that he loves them. He has pulled me aside a few times to tell me that he's glad I'm part of the family and that his son (my hubby) made a good choice in choosing me. 

I know their marriage has had its ups and downs. 
I know it's been rocky and has not met all of their expectations. 
BUT THEY HAVE STAYED TOGETHER... 
and THAT IS WORTH CELEBRATING!

Happy 46th Anniversary!

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