Christians are like pumpkins!!

I read this many years ago and wanted to share it again.

Being a Christian is just like a pumpkin!

Let me try to explain, I brought this pumpkin here to help me illustrate what I mean. (Proceed to carve the pumpkin.)

First, God picks you from the pumpkin patch and brings you in from the field. The Bible says He selects us out of the world. We are in the world, but no longer of the world.

He then washes all the "dirt" off the outside that we received from being around all the other pumpkins. All the outside influences of our former life must be cleaned up. Old things are passed away and all things are become new.

Then, He carefully removes all the "yucky stuff" called "sin" out from the inside. Look at this! Yuk! Sin will not have such internal power. He then changes us from the inside out by the Power of His Word. That's why it is important to go the church and learn about God's Word.

He carefully removes all those seeds of doubt, hate, greed, and fear. He replaces them with the seeds of faith, hope and love. After Jesus is invited inside, you begin to experience the changing power of God's love in your life.

Then He carves a new smiling face. Our countenance is changed by the power of His presence in our life. We then become so grateful. It can even show on our face!

Now we are going to light this candle inside. Look! This pumpkin now reflects the light from inside out. So too, when Jesus, who is called the Son of Light, lives inside of us, He shines through our life for all to see. We can let His light reflect through us to reveal His presence. "Let your light so shine before men that they may be able to see your good works and glorify your Father, who is in heaven."So you see, we Christians are really like this pumpkin! We will never be the same with Jesus inside of us. We can say like this jack-o-lantern, "Thy presence, my light!"

Another Finished Project

This is my second baby blanket. I finished it a couple of weeks ago. I enjoyed this project much better than my first. There are 99 of the squares stitched together in this blanket. I really didn't mind stitching it together and really like how it turned out. I am gifting this one to my cousin who is expecting. I can't wait to give it to her.

Finished Project

I finally finished my first crocheted baby blanket. Well, actually I finished it several weeks ago and am just now getting a chance to post about it.
I really did not enjoy this as my first "big" project because it was 146 stitches across and very time I did a white row I had to count the stitches to make sure that I still had 146. Not all that fun.
But I do like the finished product and am excited about gifting it to my sister-in-law.

Our Trip to Duffie's Exotic Bird Ranch

Last week our homeschool group took a field trip to Duffie's Exotic Bird Ranch in Dunn. There was an article in our local paper about the ranch so a trip was planned.
There were many different varieties of birds and it was quite an enjoyable trip. It was a beautiful day for the trip not too hot with just a bit of a breeze. The ranch was definitely bigger than it looked from the front of the property. We walked a good distance and the guided tour took just about 2 hours.
One big difference about this trip is that it was the first field trip of the year without the girls. Since they are now in public school they will have their own trips. It was nice to spend some time with just the boys for a change, but more than once I found myself wishing that my girls would have been with us.

My 1 Year Blogaversary Giveaway Winners!!!!

Congratulations to my winners!! And thank you to all who entered. I don't have pictures to show how I did the drawing, but I assure you I was fair. I put all the entries in a bowl and my sons picked the lucky winners!!

The Grand Prize Winner of a $50.00 gift card to your favorite restuarant was. . . Terrye at Shirley's Adventure to Grace Elyse!!!

The Second Place Winner of a $20 gift card to your choice of Target or Starbuck's was . . . Marla at Lego's and Tutu's!!

Our Trip to the Durham Life and Science Musuem

Last Monday was our first day off school since the girls are in public school and get all the holidays/teacher workdays off and I decided that it would be much easier to keep the boys on the same schedule.
So, for our first "Holiday" off school we decided to go somewhere and do something instead of just wasting the day. We went to the Life and Science Museum in Durham. It wasn't too far of a drive and we had a great time.
It was amazing to see all the different kinds of butterflies and moths. They are so pretty. Katie was thrilled when one of the butterflies landed on her finger.

The kids had a ton of fun in the Dinosaur area where they could dig for sharks teeth. I am not sure what one has to do with the other, but it was fun for them and sometimes that is all that counts. Kurt even got in there and helped them dig.
We also saw some animals and lots of bugs. Bugs are definitely NOT my favorite, but they can be kind of cool to look at as long as they are in cages and not on me. LOL
I really liked the Lemurs. They look so cute you just wish you could hold them. The playground area was also a hit. They could just run off some energy. Of course the boys thought that it would be a great place for a paint ball fight. That is what my teenage boys would think about.
Overall it was a great day, I just wish we could have stayed a little longer.

Wordless Wednesday

Katie's Craft Corner

Katie has been working on some Perler Bead crafts. We started making these bead designs last year to take to the craft fair. Then we sent the ones we had left to family for Christmas. Katie enjoys working on this craft and we have an order for some snowmen and candy canes so she has been working hard. These are just a few of what she has made over the last few days. Of course, I get to do the ironing and then I will glue magnets on the back.

Are You Her Mommy? A conversation with a Kindergarten student.

I posted the conversation that I had this morning with one of Amilynn's classmates on my family blog. If you would like to read it. . . please click here, No Greater Joys.

Finished Projects

This week I took a break from the baby blanket that I have been working on. I didn't feel like I was accomplishing much since I still don't have a finished project. So on Monday I decided to work on some dish clothes. As I said before, these will be Christmas gifts for family, friends, and the girls teachers. My list keeps growing. I took a very long break from crocheting from April to August, now I have a lot of work to do. I am not unhappy with my progress. I completed 9 dish clothes this week. Gotta go--more work to do!!

Thoughts about the 1st week of school.

Reasons I miss homeschooling the girls. . .
1. The only cranky person on a power trip my girls had to deal with was me and I could actually talk to my child at breakfast.
I walked with Katie to the cafeteria on Wednesday so she could eat breakfast at school. While we were standing in line we were talking quietly as were many of the other students. The lady monitoring the line announced that there was no talking allowed in the cafeteria line. Katie and I exchanged a look like "Oops, we're in trouble now!" but did not say a word. Well the lady must have seen us exchange the look because she decided to assert her power and walk over to Katie and very firmly say, "Little girl, there is no talking in the breakfast line even if your mother is with you." I was speechless. I couldn't believe that this lady had said that to Katie. It was only my daughters 2nd day at this school and and her first day of going through the breakfast line and she was not the only child talking.
2. I know what my child is learning.
I asked Katie after the first day of school what she learned that day. She told me that she learned the rules for the classroom and they took a tour of the school and learned more rules. This is understandable, after all she is a new student to this school and she needs to learn the rules. Day 2 Katie had Art class. I asked her what she did in Art, she said that all they did was learn the rules for Art. Again the same thing for PE on day 3. So she has had three whole days of school and has learned nothing but rules, rules, rules. Where are the Math, Science, History, and English??? My boys have had three days of full lessons in every subject, but then again they already know the "rules" for our school. LOL
On a positive note, I do know that quite a bit of time this week has been spent by the students getting to know each other. They have done many activities where they share about themselves. This is a great way for the students to get to know each other. The social aspect of school was one of the things we considered when making the decision to put Katie in school. She needs that interaction with other children her age. She has made a few friends and seems to be happy.
Amilynn's thoughts on school. . ."I like school a lot, but I don't like getting woke up in the morning."

Homescooling the Boys
We have only had a few minor issues with the computer curriculum that the boys are using and I was about to get those worked out pretty quickly so all I have to say is, "So far, so good."

1st Day of School!!

WOW!! What a day!!
I took the girls to school this morning. I walked them to class, first Katie, then Amilynn. I waited around for a while and walked with Amilynn's class to the cafeteria for breakfast. Took some pictures (OF COURSE!!). Then I left.
I went home and got the boys up for school. I baked brownies for our after school snack (I wanted them to have a special treat on the first day.) I took the boys to lunch (they requested Burger King, so they could have Icees) to celebrate the first day of school. I checked the boys work. Went back to the school to pick up the girls. We came home, had our snack and relaxed after a long day.
Both the girls teachers said that they had a great first day.
One day down--179 more to go.

School Starts Tomorrow!!

Wow!! Where did the summer go?
We had a pretty busy summer. We hosted an exchange student for one month this summer. This is something that we have done for two summers now and very much enjoy it. Last summer we hosted Miguel from Spain and this year we hosted Andrew from Hungary. We had very good experiences with both boys. While Andrew was here we took two day trips to the beach, which we hardly ever do so that was a big deal for us. We also took a trip to the Fort Fisher Aquarium and took the ferry to Southport for some shopping. So we were quite busy while Andrew was here.
We then made a trip to South Dakota. We were late in planning this trip because it was not just a vacation. We had to move Kurt's brother back up there to be closer the rest of Kurt's family. So instead of just Kurt taking Daniel, we decided we would all go and make a family vacation out of it. It was a very long trip. But it was great to see family that we have not see in over 2 years.
Then we brought my dad down for a visit. It was an extra special visit because he had never been to any of my homes before. My parents divorced when I was in 2nd grade and then I married an Army man and moved away. So it had never worked out for him to come to visit.
Now the summer is over and school is about to begin. I am looking forward to starting the new school year and getting back into a routine. This year will be different than any other school year because I will have two children in public school and two that I am home schooling.
The girls will start attending the local public school. I am thankful that they will have this year together at the same school. We attended open house last week and met with their teachers. Both girls seem to have great teachers and I don't anticipate any problems. We have purchased all their school supplies and are ready for them to head off in the morning.
The boys will stay home and work on their studies. I am excited about the curriculum I have for them for this year. I am sure that they will do fine with it.

Cute Video for Those Homeschool Moms Out There

Our trip to Reptile Gardens

During our recent trip to South Dakota we were blessed with free tickets to Reptile Gardens. My sister-in-law gave the tickets to John for a belated birthday gift. It was the perfect gift for John with his love of animals and it was a fun day. We went to the Alligator Show, Bird Show and Snake Show. John even got to participate in the Bird Show. We spent the entire afternoon there and had a great time. Thank you Beth for thinking of such a great gift!!

Current Project

This is my current project. A baby blanket.
It is quite obvious from my previous post that I usually stick to small projects. I just like the satisfaction of starting a project and in a couple hours having it finished.
While we were in South Dakota recently I was asked if I could make my niece a baby blanket. I was not sure that I could tackle such a "large" project. Thank goodness I wasn't asked to make a full size blanket!! LOL
But I got home from visiting and decided that being asked to do it might just have been the motivation I needed to venture out to bigger projects. I went out and bought a book with many different patterns, decided on a pattern, bought the yarn and got started. I started it just a week ago but I have not devoted much time to it. So this is about as far as I have gotten. I am looking forward to the finished project. I already have the next pattern picked out, which is good since I have two family members who are expecting. I can't wait to give them as gifts!!

Finished Projects

I have been working on some projects for Christmas gifts for my family in PA, OH, and SD. The past couple of years everyone has received scarves that I knitted. This year I decided to teach myself (with the help of the internet and a friend from church, thanks Jan) how to crochet. My Aunt Kathy is an inspiration to me. She makes beautiful projects.
Anyway, I started out making dish clothes. Then decided to add some pot holders. Then I wanted to do some round projects so decided to do some coasters, doilies, and wash clothes. When I went to visit family in PA in March I took a large plastic container full of finished projects with me for my Aunt to hold until Christmas at which point she can distribute the gifts. She is so sweet to store them for me and then I won't have to worry about the cost of shipping them.
I like crocheting and knitting because I can be creative. I can choose the color of yarn, the project, the stitch, the size project. There are endless possibilities to the things you can create with a little time and effort. I am making a separate post about my current project, but I look forward to sharing future projects.

Blogoversary Giveaway!!!

I can't believe my 1 year Blogoversary is almost here!!! I want to have a giveaway to celebrate. This will be my first giveaway so I want to make it exciting!!!
Here it goes. . .
2 Prizes!!!!
1st Prize is a $50.00 gift certificate to a local restaurant!! The winner will have to let me know what is close by them.
2nd Prize is a $20.00 gift certificate to Target or Starbuck's your choice!!


The winner will be drawn on my 1 year Blogoversary, so remember to check back and see if you have won.

3 ways to enter!!!
1. Leave me a comment. Let me know your favorite restaurant in case you win 1st prize. Make sure that there is a link back to you so I can let you know if you have won or leave me a separate comment with your email (I will not post this comment). Make sure that you sign your first name and last initial. Thanks!!
2. Make a post on your blog about my giveaway and let me know that you have done so. We all love to win free stuff so tell your friends!!
3. Tell me how you found my blog. Have you been following, did a friend refer you, etc. I would love to know how you found me.
BONUS good for an extra entry!!!
Because I am a home school mom I am always looking for great Field Trips ideas. Tell me about the best field trip you have been on with your kids.

I am really excited about my first giveaway. I can't wait to see who wins!!!

Trip to Fort Fisher Aquarium

Tuesday we decided to take a day trip with some friends to Fort Fisher and visit the aquarium. After the aquarium we had a picnic lunch by the beach and the kids took a walk along the beach. Then we took a ferry over to Southport for some ice cream and shopping. We had a great day.

I finally scanned this picture from our trip to Hershey. We had a lot of fun together on this trip. Maybe we will get to go back again soon.