I've been busy and that's why

I haven't blogged in two weeks. Sometimes there are other priorities in life other than my blog. So let me just catch you up on what has been keeping me so busy. After enjoying two weeks off of homeschooling for Christmas break, we were back in session on the 3rd, this is the big reason I haven't blogged the past two weeks. The start of a new semester meant extra planning, trying out some new curriculum, and just getting back into our normal routine of life. Normally when we are coming off a break, the adjustment of starting up homeschooling is rough but this time it was easy breezy lemon squeezy as Annagrace has been saying way too much and we are all quite sick of that statement. :) So back to homeschool, here is something fun we did. We learned about the Washington monument and the kids made their own replica, there were no rules, just build the monument as you wish. And this is what they came up with. Camden's, then Jadon's, followed by Anna's.

Something else that has been keeping me busy is KandidsbyKorri. Although my busy season is over I had a few big projects, one of which is I did a photo shoot for Aqua Tots (our friends own the business) and they needed some updated photos to use for their publicity. It was so fun and the best part is I got to use my kids as models. I am in love with these three pictures of them. They melt my heart. Just the first three are of my kiddos while the other ones are just a few of my favorites. I think I took close to 500 photos, but luckily I didn't have to edit them. I can't wait to see the finished product(s)!

We got a Botanical Gardens yearly pass for Christmas this year from my mother in law. We have been itching to use it so one day after homeschool we invited Grandma to go with us and we had a great time. I LOVE that place.

That brings me today when our church hosted a free baseball clinic for the community. There were several MLB players who were there and probably about 800 kids. It was so much fun. I got to take some pictures, and enjoyed every minute of it. Here are just a few. I wish I could name all the players but baseball is not a "smart" area for me. I know they are all pretty popular though!

In addition to all the above, I should mention a few other things that have kept me busy: laundry, managing a household, starting up a Bible study,  going on a date with my husband, having sushi with a great girlfriend, a homeschool planning meeting for the field trip group we belong to, family dinner at the park, orthodontist appointments for the boys, gathering papers for taxes, and filing all of our bills from 2010. All this to say there simply aren't enough hours in the day! But, somehow it all manages to get done. So here I am on a Saturday night at 6 p.m., what shall I do next??????

It's the simple things

It truly is the simple things in life that bring me so much joy. Take this welcome mat for instance. We have had the same welcome mat at our home for about 7 years, it was worn and tattered and we were way overdue for another one. As I was at the store the other day this one caught my attention and to make it even better, it was on clearance. I was so excited. So if you come over, this is what you get to wipe your feet on before coming inside. :)

For Christmas, we got this (pictured below) from my sister who had recently traveled to Israel. It is called a Mezuzah and inside it holds these Bible passages from Dueteronomy 6:4-9 and Deuteronomy 11:13-21.

⁴ Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. ⁵ Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. ⁶ These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. ⁷ Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸ Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ⁹ Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

¹³ So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the LORD your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul— ¹⁴ then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil. ¹⁵ I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.

 ¹⁶ Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. ¹⁷ Then the LORD’s anger will burn against you, and he will shut up the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land the LORD is giving you. ¹⁸ Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ¹⁹ Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ²⁰ Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, ²¹ so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land the LORD swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.


Although we are not Jewish by religion, we hold to the teachings of Jesus Christ and these verses from the Old Testament are very meaningful for those who believe in Him. So our family is getting into the habit of touching the mezuzah as we enter our home to remind us that our home is sealed with the blood of Jesus and our faith is in Him. It's been really fun to get used to doing that and such a great reminder when we enter our home. 

 I'm not sure how you switch gears from something religious to something like a shower curtain hanger so I won't even try. But like I said at the beginning of this post, it's the simple things that bring me joy and this happens to be one of those things. I have always had the old fashion kind of shower curtain holders, the kind you have to open up, insert the shower curtain and then snap it back together. For anyone who has ever tried this, it's so not fun and I usually have a shoulder ache the next day since my arms are above my head for several minutes. So while I was at the store buying our new welcome mat, I saw these for only $1.49 for a package of 12, so I bought them and I had the shower curtain hung in less than a minute. It was easy cheesy!

 The main reason for going to the store the other day was to purchase a new shower curtain for the kids bathroom. Anyone who has boys should know that their aim is not always accurate and as you can see here the toilet and shower curtain are not that far apart. Regardless of how much I launder and clean the shower curtain, I find myself replacing it every so often. And instead of buying a fabric one, I went with the vinyl one, it should be much easier to wipe down if needed. I still need to replace the toilet seat cover so it matches the rest of the blues, but for now I'm happy we have a fresh smelling shower curtain, now if we can just work on the aim and keeping a tidy bathroom.

 This picture makes me really happy. For the longest time we have had two lights out in the bathroom, but the other two offered enough light so we didn't think much of it but it started becoming annoying to me when I would use the bathroom because my eyes kept being drawn to the two lights that were not working. I'm not sure why it took me so long to purchase replacement bulbs, but it finally happened and we now have four working bulbs in the bathroom. Pretty darn exciting if you as me, but like I said earlier, it's really the simple things in life that bring me much joy. :)

 I am sure this wasn't simple to make, in fact I know my Aunt spent many hours making this beautiful blanket for our family to give us at Christmas. I am so in love with it. It makes me want to snuggle up with my Taste of Home magazine, curl up on the couch, wrap this warm cozy blankie around me and just chill out. In fact, it sounds so delightful I think I will wrap up this post and go wrap up in our new blanket.

Christmas 2010

Pre-Christmas fun!
Every year Grandma invites the grandkids over for a special luncheon where they get to look in their ornament boxes. This year was EXTRA special because Maddie and Izzy (cousins) are here from Colorado. They come every other year. We love it when they come and enjoy such quality family time. So, Grandma (and Papa) have been collecting ornaments for the kids since they were born, one for each year of their life. Each grandchild has a special theme. Camden's oraments are all bells of some kind or another, Jadon's are all stars, and Annagraces has words (since she loves to read). Maddie has snowmen themed ornaments while Izzy has Angels. When the grandkids get married or have their first place, they will get to take ownership of their ornament boxes. But for now Grandma keeps them safe at her house adding to their collection with each passing Christmas.

On Christmas Eve Eve, we were invited over to my Aunt and Uncles house for a Christmas meal. It was so delicious and again, we enjoyed wonderful time together as a family. I know I've mentioned it before, but I will mention it again. I LOVE my family and count my blessings that I have been rasied in such an amazing one. 

And that brings us to Christmas Eve day. My brother in law is a singer, songwriter, gifted musician and wanted me to take some photos of him that he will be using on his album cover for something he is recording right now. We still have more to do but here are a few of our favorites so far.

And moving on to Christmas Eve. We had the family over here to celebrate. We had a great time full of fun, fellowship, and family!!!!!

And then it was time to go to sleep....

And then before we knew it, it was Christmas morning....

And just like that, it was all over. But at least we can celebrate our Lord Jesus all year long and not just on Christmas morning. He is in our hearts and in our home throughout the year, and for that I am so thankful.

story time

Anna and her BFF's as she calls them, enjoy their nightly reading time before bed. I love how HooHoo-HaHa, Quack-Quack, Quackie, Teddy, Sparks, and Ruf-Ruf are looking on. 

Santa Michael

My husband is a man of all trades. Since his retirement from the police department in April of 2008, he has worked at The Scuba Shop, become an insurance agent with American Family Insurance where he currently works, and he teaches CPR classes for a company called Workplace Safety. But today was a first for him, he played the part of Santa Clause for Aqua Tots (a sister company to the Scuba shop and Workplace Safety). When Michael told me about this yesterday I think it's safe to say I had one of the best laughs I have had in a long time. I just couldn't picture my husband being Santa Clause. Partly because he is 6'4", skinny, and bald. So today I couldn't wait to take some pictures of my husband dressed as Santa. I was so surprised with his look as Santa, he really played the part well. See for yourself.