Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
What my son is feeding me....
Here I am trying to eat right and exercise. I had bought a bag of treats to eat occasionally as they are my FAVORITE holiday candy! Apparently Bear does not care that I am trying to eat healthy and loose weight....he just wants mommy to eat her chocolate....
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Spring? Don't think so!
Today is supposed to be Spring... yesterday looked like this at our house....
Not exactly my vision of Spring... it was quite beautiful this morning though. I had to sit and appreciate it because (hopefully) we won't see the likes until fall or winter!!!!
This is my new favorite tool for cleaning off the car! It is a tool we use for dusting inside but it works awesome for cleaning off the car of an SUV!!!
Last year at this time we had temperatures in the 70s! We also had almost no snow.
Bella thought it was Spring though and this is what she wore to her gymnastics class...
Not exactly my vision of Spring... it was quite beautiful this morning though. I had to sit and appreciate it because (hopefully) we won't see the likes until fall or winter!!!!
This is my new favorite tool for cleaning off the car! It is a tool we use for dusting inside but it works awesome for cleaning off the car of an SUV!!!
Last year at this time we had temperatures in the 70s! We also had almost no snow.
Bella thought it was Spring though and this is what she wore to her gymnastics class...
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Casting Crowns Concert
God loves you
God wants you
Come to The Well
He will deliver you!
My college roommate and I went to a Casting Crowns Concert last night! It was their new Acoustic tour. It was a great concert. During the concert it snowed a couple of inches but we made it home safe! The words above are some words that spoke to me during the concert.
Here are some links to a few of my favorite of their songs!
Monday, March 11, 2013
Sewing Frustrations: Gathering
I had my first experience gathering when I made myself a shirt. I was scared at first because I had no idea what I was doing. It was a very small gathered spot and it turned out fine. Since then gathering has been a breeze. Until this week....
I decided to make Bella a skirt out of some fabric that I had purchased and chosen not to use for a project. It is a beautiful shiny blue fabric. I chose to make it into a simple skirt but instead of an elastic waistband I decided to gather it into a straight band and use a button closure.
I used my largest stitch setting to make the gathering stitches and off I sewed. As I started to pull on the thread to gather it I started to get worried. This was going to be tough! The fabric did not want to move on the thread. I stuck with it but it took longer to gather the fabric then it would have to pull the stitches out and do it by hand!
I have some more projects for that fabric and I will be doing the gathers by hand!
I decided to make Bella a skirt out of some fabric that I had purchased and chosen not to use for a project. It is a beautiful shiny blue fabric. I chose to make it into a simple skirt but instead of an elastic waistband I decided to gather it into a straight band and use a button closure.
I used my largest stitch setting to make the gathering stitches and off I sewed. As I started to pull on the thread to gather it I started to get worried. This was going to be tough! The fabric did not want to move on the thread. I stuck with it but it took longer to gather the fabric then it would have to pull the stitches out and do it by hand!
I have some more projects for that fabric and I will be doing the gathers by hand!
Friday, March 8, 2013
Bella's Reading
Bella asked us to teach her to read when she was 3.5 years old. Now at 5 years old and in Kindergarten I wanted to know how she was doing. I found an assessment over at Let's Go Learn. It said that she was reading on a mid-K level, has an oral vocabulary of a mid-2nd grader, her phonemic awareness is mid-1st grade, and she needs to work on spelling, fluency, and some comprehension. It also said that he is at Guided Reading Level C.
To help with fluency we are going to work on sight words and word families. I have the Bob Books: Sightwords - Kindergarten on its way as well as 100 Words Kids Need to Read by First Grade and Learn to Read by Starfall. I also plan on letting her spend more time on Starfall playing games and reading books.
Bella loves the BOB Books! We borrow them from the library a lot and I know she is going to love it when she finds out she will have her own set!!!
As for spelling we had already gotten a spelling book but we have not been focusing on it. She has not spent much time writing things down so we are going to write a book together but I am going to have her do as much of the writing as she can on her own.
For the most part I think Bella's reading comprehension is okay. It seems that she is not thinking while reading and that is causing her to read slowly. We had purchased and started using Memoria Press' literature studies called Storytime Treasures. Even thought the books are above her reading level I think it will help her process the stories more.
She is enjoying reading Little Bear and is doing well with it. It has her practice and discuss new/hard words before she reads. It has her do a picture walk before she reads as well. She seems to understand and enjoy the discussion question and activities that go with it.
Most importantly I will be having her read every day. Some days it is a struggle to motivate her but most days she is excited and willing to read!
To help with fluency we are going to work on sight words and word families. I have the Bob Books: Sightwords - Kindergarten on its way as well as 100 Words Kids Need to Read by First Grade and Learn to Read by Starfall. I also plan on letting her spend more time on Starfall playing games and reading books.
Bella loves the BOB Books! We borrow them from the library a lot and I know she is going to love it when she finds out she will have her own set!!!
As for spelling we had already gotten a spelling book but we have not been focusing on it. She has not spent much time writing things down so we are going to write a book together but I am going to have her do as much of the writing as she can on her own.
For the most part I think Bella's reading comprehension is okay. It seems that she is not thinking while reading and that is causing her to read slowly. We had purchased and started using Memoria Press' literature studies called Storytime Treasures. Even thought the books are above her reading level I think it will help her process the stories more.
She is enjoying reading Little Bear and is doing well with it. It has her practice and discuss new/hard words before she reads. It has her do a picture walk before she reads as well. She seems to understand and enjoy the discussion question and activities that go with it.
Most importantly I will be having her read every day. Some days it is a struggle to motivate her but most days she is excited and willing to read!
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Renaissance Faires 2009-2012
Every year we attend at least one Renaissance festival. It started when my husband took me to one that he and his friends had attended before. The first year I bought an outfit. That faire closed but a few years later a friend of mine was interested in going to one so we searched around and found a handful within a 2 hour drive. I had one nice outfit but I wanted to make my own....so began the sewing adventures!!!!
We decided to make our own outfits to wear. Hubby's was simple as it was a jerkin that his mom helped me make along with a shirt, pants, boot and belt that we bought. For my daughter I drafted a pattern from her own clothes and made her a open front kirtle (not that I knew what it was called at that time!) For myself I made a "vest bodice" and a quick skirt to wear on top of a beautiful chemise that I already owned.
Here are posts about some of the sewing I did in the past:
(I will be updating soon about this years outfit soon!)
I have made a few other outfits over these few years. Some I have loved and other... not so much!
2009
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| Family picture |
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| Bella petting a dog |
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| Family and Friend who attends the faires with us |
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| Hubby and me pushing the stroller |
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| Bella in her kirtle |
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| Bella and me playing |
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| Bella nd Me |
2010
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| Family including my friend who attends the faires with us | . |
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| Family taking in the sites - I made Bella's dress! |
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| I love this pic! Even if I did not make the dress! |
2011
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| Family Picture |
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| Cloak and butterfly corset - one of my favorites |
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| Bella the pirate princess |
2012
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| My least favorite for me but my most favorite for Bella |
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| Bella talking to a knight |
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| Family with Bear complaining |
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| Bear and me... LOVE this one! |
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| Bella and me watching the knights! |
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