The Rozell Family

Hannah Claire Rozell

2012-01-25T14:19:00.000-08:00

Sunday, January 22nd, Hannah Claire Rozell was born. She weighed 7 pounds 3 oz and was 21 1/2 in. long. I started having contractions around 11:00 a.m. and I spent the beautiful day walking around our neighborhood and TWU campus. At around 3:30 I called my midwife and told her to meet me at the birth center. Clay, the boys and I all walked to Inanna around 4:00 and she was born at 4:28 p.m. God was so gracious to give me a beautiful day to labor. During pushing I was surrounded by many friends and family members who were all such an encouragement and source of strength and comfort for me. It was an amazing day and Hannah Claire is absolutely perfect. We give all the glory to our wonderful God and creator for this beautiful blessing. Clay is in love with his first daughter and her brothers are pretty infatuated too!

Painting Creations

2012-01-22T08:17:00.000-08:00

I like to buy old paintings at thrift stores or garage sales and then we paint over the picture with white paint. It leaves us with a blank canvas to paint and create! Today we painted with mashed potato masher, duplos, legos and cups of different sizes to create our picture. When you are tired of your picture after a few weeks just paint it again with white paint and start again!

Big Ol' Pig!

2012-01-14T16:48:00.000-08:00

My Aunt gave the family Lakehouse a pig this year for Christmas. The kids got quite a kick of of it!

Lakehouse Christmas Program 2012

2012-01-10T04:27:00.000-08:00

Bookish Coffee in the Denton RC!

2012-01-08T18:58:00.000-08:00

Denton Record Chronicle gave us a little love today!

Christmas 2011

2012-01-06T05:02:00.001-08:00

A few of my favorite Christmas 2011 pictures!

Exercise Inspiration

2011-12-28T20:29:00.000-08:00

A little exercise inspiration for 2012!

Finger Painting Fun!

2011-12-18T19:28:00.000-08:00

Today while I was finishing up a few gifts I got out finger paints for the boys. They ended up painting their entire bodies with them, as well as splattered it on the walls, table and windows. It was a HUGE mess but they had a good time!

Handmade Baby Girl Shoes

2011-12-18T13:07:00.000-08:00

My mom bought the baby girl these adorable little shoes at "The Christmas Handmade Show" a few weekends ago here in Denton. I absolutely love them and can't wait for baby girl to wear them! Thank you mom!!!

The Past Few Days!

2011-12-16T05:36:00.000-08:00

Lots of cooking, crafting, Christmas books, music, creating and whittling going on the past few day! We all love this time of year and I especially love Pandora "Andrew Sisters" holiday station!

Merry Merry BOOKiSH Coffee!

2011-12-08T14:33:00.000-08:00

We have our Merry Christmas BOOKiSH Coffee bags ready for Christmas! These bags of coffee make great gifts for family, friends, teachers etc. $7.00 a bag! Email us for orders or order on our website www.bookishcoffee.com.

Handmade Ornaments 2011

2011-12-06T12:00:00.001-08:00

Every year I make the boys a handmade ornament for them to hang on our tree. This year Rev asked for a penguin and Calvin wanted a gingerbread house! I finally sewed them up this morning!

Baby Quilt Finally Finished!

2011-12-02T12:41:00.001-08:00

I found a half finished quilt top at a garage sale about 6 months ago for 1.00. I finally got around to sewing the batting and backing on the quilt last week! Thanks to my sweet, generous friends Rachel and Ginger who gave me the backing and quilt batting I only had to spend 1.00! I am hoping our baby girl will enjoy her new quilt when she arrives and until then Rev and Cal are playing with it!

Snow Dough Men

2011-11-29T04:01:00.000-08:00

The Boys and I made these flour and salt snow dough men on Saturday morning. I found the idea here and they were a hit! We all especially enjoyed making their little noses and putting on their hats. After a few days the men started to dry out and destructo Calvin decided to smash them all. They were really cute while they lasted though!!

Carving Soap

2011-11-26T07:36:00.000-08:00

Rev spent the morning carving with his pocket knife. A free bar of soap from a hotel works great for practicing this skill!

Paleo Blueberry Banana Muffins

2011-11-19T05:38:00.000-08:00

We made these this morning and they turned out great great!

* 2 cups Almond Meal
* 1 tsp Baking Powder
* 1 tsp Baking Soda
* 1 tsp Cinnamon
* 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
* 1 cup Blueberries (frozen or fresh)
* 3 Bananas mashed (medium)
* 2 Eggs

I blended up blueberries in blender along with the bananas.
Just don’t blend to long. Otherwise you can mash them by hand.
Cook at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Makes 12 muffins.

Nature Sketching by the Fire

2011-11-10T11:52:00.000-08:00

During Rev's rest time today he chose to sketch birds and owls by the fire! I loved walking into the room and seeing his bird books, journal and pencils all layed out by the fire.

Baking Soda Volcanos

2011-11-09T11:30:00.000-08:00

I poured a box of baking soda on a baking sheet, gave them boys some bowls of vinegar with a few drops of dye and their own medicine dropper. Making mini volcano's kept their attention for a good 30 minutes! This was a fun science experiment.

Halloween 2011

2011-11-02T10:29:00.001-07:00

A few pictures from our Halloween!

Calvin Making Coffee

2011-10-30T05:20:00.000-07:00

We are teaching our boys early around here how to make a good cup of coffee!

Couch Cover Bag

2011-10-27T14:09:00.000-07:00

A friend gave me an ikea couch cover about a year ago and finally used the last of the material this week! We have made many bean bags, a library book bag, and I made me a new fall bag yesterday. Thanks Ginger for the material and a big thanks to my photographer Rev!

Dandelion Installation

2011-10-24T18:05:00.000-07:00

Ever wanted to know how to preserve, transport then suspend 2,000 dandelions from a ceiling?

Here ya go! This art installation is amazing.

This is AMAZING!

2011-10-22T18:42:00.000-07:00

Fall Muffins and Bookish Coffee-Nothing better!

2011-10-18T07:17:00.001-07:00

Today's chilly morning called for some gluten free apple carrot muffins. They turned out great especially with lots of raw butter on top and a cup of Bookish Coffee!

2 1/2 cups almond flour
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups carrots, peeled and grated
1 large apple, peeled, cored and grated
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup raisins
3 large free range eggs
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup coconut
2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease a muffin pan.
2. Combine almond flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Add carrot, apple, coconut and raisins and combine well.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, honey, oil and vanilla extract together.
4. Pour the wet mixture over the dry ingredients and mix very well. The batter will be very thick.
5. Spoon the batter out into muffin pan and place on upper or middle rack of your oven for 25-30 minutes.
6. When a toothpick inserted into the top of a muffin comes out clean, the muffins are done.

Hula Hoop Weaving

2011-10-17T05:36:00.000-07:00

I saw this idea to weave a rug using a hula hoop and old t-shirts and decided we had to try it! Both of the boys were able to help on this project and we all learned a lot about weaving.

Pumpkin Tea Party 2011

2011-10-15T11:53:00.000-07:00

Rev and Calvin had a little pumpkin tea party yesterday afternoon with friends on our street. We decorated pumpkin cupcakes, had peach tea and played a fun pumpkin scavenger hunt.

TED Talks

2011-10-12T05:54:00.001-07:00

A couple of my favorite TED talks.

Gluten Free "paleo" Strawberry Scones

2011-10-11T05:45:00.001-07:00

The boys and I made these wonderful strawberry scones this morning.

2.5 cups of almond flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 eggs
4 tablespoons honey
1/3 cup melted raw butter or coconut oil
1/2 cup fresh or frozen berries

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Grease a baking sheet with butter or coconut oil.
In a medium bowl, mix together dry ingredients.
In a separate bowl, whisk eggs until combined. Add melted butter, and honey.
Combine wet and dry ingredients.
Fold in berries.
Drop ¼ cup of dough onto the baking sheet, shape into triangle shapes.
Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown

Nature Journal

2011-10-04T08:22:00.000-07:00

This fall we are studying trees in our neighborhood for nature studies. This past week we studied the magnolia tree. The boys each have their own nature journal where we keep our nature findings, sketchings, leaf rubbings and things we observe and learn about nature. Calvin likes to do his nature lessons in his motorcycle helmet!

a few of my favorite Charlotte Mason nature quotes. Thank you Charlotte for your inspiration and love of nature.

"Children should be made early intimate with the trees, should pick out half a dozen trees, oak, elm, ash, beech, in their winter nakedness, and take these to be their year-long friends"

"We are all meant to be naturalists, each in his own degree, and it is inexcusable to live in a world so full of the marvels of plant and animal life and to care for none of these things."

“There is no part of a child's education more important than that he should lay - by his own observation - a wide basis of facts towards scientific knowledge in the future."

"Let them once get in touch with nature and a habit is formed which will be a source of delight and habit through life."

Coffee Filter Painting

2011-09-27T15:05:00.000-07:00

Today we painted on coffee filters. When paint and water hit the coffee filter paper it creates a beautiful color and painting technique. We cut them in shapes of leaves, let them dry and then sewed them together to make a fall leaf garland.

Homemade Graham Crackers

2011-09-26T11:43:00.000-07:00

Graham Crackers
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup sucanat
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
scant 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup coconut oil
2 1/2 tablespoons molasses
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup almond milk

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a light colored baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl mix together flour, sucanat, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Make a well in the middle and pour in oil, molasses and vanilla. Give the liquid ingredients a quick wisk with a fork and then continue mixing until everything is well combined and crumbly.

Drizzle in the milk and combine. Use your hands to knead the dough a few times until it holds together. You should be able to form a pliable ball of dough.

Line a work surface with parchment. Place the dough on the parchment and work into a rectangle. Flatten a bit with the palms of your hand and sprinkle with flour. Use a rolling pin to roll into a rectangle that is roughly 10 x 14 inches. The dough should be about 1/8 inch thick.

Use a very thin flexible spatula to transfer the crackers to a baking sheet.

Score each cookie with a fork 4 times in 2 columns. You don’t need to poke all the way through. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes. 14 will give you nice crispy crackers.

Let cool completely on the baking sheet.

Paint Swatch City Art

2011-09-22T19:07:00.000-07:00

We made some really fun city scenes using paint swatches today. Rev and his friends enjoyed turning their paint samples into tall buildings and sky scrapers.

Carrot Spice Muffins

2011-09-21T15:01:00.000-07:00

The boys and I made some really good carrot spice muffins today! Thought I would share the recipe!

Carrot Spice Muffins

makes 12 muffins

2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 sucanat
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup coconut oil
2 large eggs
3/4 cup milk or almond milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup shredded carrots (about 3, peeled and trimmed)
1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut
1/3 cup moist, plump currants or raisins
1/3 cup pecans or walnuts, toasted, cooled and chopped

preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter or spray the 12 molds in a regular-size muffin pan or fit the molds with paper muffin cups.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, and salt. In a large glass measuring cup or another bowl, whisk the oil, eggs, milk, and vanilla extract together until well combined. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and, with the whisk or a rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend. Stir in the carrots, coconut, currants, and nuts. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted in the center of the muffins comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing each muffin from its mold.

Grain Free "Paleo" Granola

2011-09-17T04:33:00.000-07:00

This recipe has become a weekly staple in our house! Grain free "paleo" granola. We eat it as cereal with almond milk or hemp milk, as snacks, on top of yogurt, sprinkled on top of fruit etc.

2 cups organic raw almonds
1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 cup organic raw sunflower seeds
1/2 cup organic raw pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup organic raw pecans
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1/4 cup ground flax seed
2 tsp vanilla
1 T cinnamon
2 tsp all spice
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup raw butter or coconut oil
1/3 cup maple syrup or raw honey

I put all the nuts, seeds, spices and coconut into my food processor and chop for just a few seconds. Pour into large bowl. Melt butter/oil and honey over medium heat then drizzle over the nuts. Mix well, pour onto rimmed cookie sheet, bake 325 for about 10-12 min until lightly brown. Keep in fridge for weeks.

Recycled Material Bracelets and Headbands

2011-09-14T19:34:00.000-07:00

I have made a few more recycled material bracelets and headbands that are for sale. All of the materials are recycled and each one is a bit different.

Bracelet Cuff $10.00
Child Bracelet $5.00
Bookmark $5.00
Headband $12.00

let me know if you would like to purchase!

LEGO Chocolates!

2011-09-08T13:30:00.000-07:00

I found this Lego mold a few weeks ago and we have been having a blast with it. The boys have been enjoying lego men ice cubes in their water, lego man popsicles made out of juice and today we made lego chocolates!

Rev's Paper Mache Hot Air Baloon

2011-08-31T13:54:00.000-07:00

Rev made a pretty cool hot air baloon this week. We did paper mache over a small baloon then once it dried we painted a glitter glaze over the balloon. We used a paper cup for the basket and its now hanging from his ceiling filled with lego men!

Relaxing

2011-08-28T07:53:00.000-07:00

I love this picture Rev took of Clay, Calvin and me. We were enjoying our friends hammock in their beautiful backyard in Pullman, Washington. Nothing better than 70 degrees, being with friends and family and feeling the breeze and sun!

Tub of Colored Rice

2011-08-25T11:16:00.001-07:00

The boys and I dyed white rice this morning that turned out beautiful! We poured it into a giant tub and now we have beautiful rice to play with, scoop up and get creative with!

Kombucha Brewing

2011-08-09T15:16:00.001-07:00

Bottled kombucha this afternoon with the boys. They love helping and especially observing the scoby.... always very interesting stuff!

Sparkle Playdough and Foil Coloring

2011-08-08T16:19:00.001-07:00

Today we made a wonderful sparkle playdough recipe that the boys loved. We make playdough a lot but have never added glitter! We also colored on tin pans with permanent markers which we plan to make into some sort of ornaments for our christmas tree in December!

Melted Crayon Art Work

2011-08-04T05:09:00.000-07:00

Look what can happen in 45 minutes when its 112 outside!

Homemade Rain Stick!

2011-08-02T14:01:00.000-07:00

When its 110 degrees outside we don't leave the house and make crafts! Today we made rain sticks which turned out super cool! We took some old tubes, nailed nails into them, filled them with beans, decorated with paper, string, material, beads, paint etc. Now the boys are working on their "rain dances"! Wish I could say this was my brilliant idea but it was not. Found idea here.
p.s. whenever I ask the boys to smile for a picture these are the beautiful faces I receive!

Table Conversation Jar

2011-07-28T07:25:00.001-07:00

Yesterday the boys colored on paper with crayons then we water colored on top. This made a really cool design and the boys loved it. After the art work had dried we cut them in strips then wrote "table conversation topics" on the slips of paper. We rolled them up, which Calvin thoroughly enjoyed then put them in a Mason jar to keep on the kitchen table. Last night we all drew little slips of paper out of the jar and discussed at dinner!

Popcicle Stick Sculpture

2011-07-25T18:56:00.000-07:00

Card Board Box Town

2011-07-22T18:53:00.001-07:00

Shrinky Dinks!

2011-07-21T08:55:00.000-07:00

No Grain Banana Pancakes

2011-07-21T06:07:00.000-07:00

We make these at least a few times a week for breakfast, snacks and dessert! They are great and grain free "paleo".
1 medium to big sized ripe banana mashed
2 big T almond butter
2 T ground flax seed
pinch of salt
1 egg
1/2 tsp cinnamon

mix in bowl and cook on medium heat in skillet with coconut oil or butter.

Honey Time!

2011-07-19T18:22:00.000-07:00

4th of July

2011-07-12T03:45:00.001-07:00

Train Ride

2011-06-26T15:24:00.000-07:00

Summer Crafting Continued

2011-06-19T06:27:00.000-07:00

Rev has been drawing some of the paintings we are studying! I thought this one was really amazing! I love how he even tried to draw the patterns in the rug! Rev I am loving your type A personality more and more!
We did a really cool experiment with ice, salt and food coloring! We were able to watch iridescent colors appear before our eyes. It was BEAUTIFUL!
Salt painting is very cool! Watching the paint travel down the salt designs is fascinating.

Backyard Swimming

2011-06-08T04:37:00.000-07:00

Summer Crafting

2011-05-28T05:17:00.001-07:00

Our Summer crafting has begun! Rev and I have been studying "collage" and yesterday we made collage's under wax paper. We also made "stained glass snow flakes" and made some circle crayons using an old cupcake tin.

Local Handmade Skirt

2011-05-27T14:38:00.000-07:00

Thank you Nissi for my locally handmade skirt! I love it and it is so comfortable and will be a GREAT maternity skirt too!

Boardgame Creating

2011-05-22T13:00:00.000-07:00

Rev created a pretty fun board game this afternoon! He was inspired by an idea in his "Highlights" magazine. Proud of your creative mind Rev!

Tomatoes and Wildflowers!

2011-05-17T12:21:00.000-07:00

Today we studied Texas Wildflowers with friends. Now we are pressing them and drawing them in our nature journals. This afternoon Rev and I are making a huge pot of homemade tomato sauce with basil from his garden! So thankful for a very cool and beautiful month of May!

Sewing Paper!

2011-05-10T07:13:00.001-07:00

I have discovered sewing on paper! Possibilities are endless and a great way to use all of my material scraps! This is some stationary I made my mom for mother's day!

Vote Kevin Roden for Denton!

2011-05-07T12:15:00.000-07:00

Never fails, always something fun and exciting going on everyday in Denton! Today we rode bikes in the Cinco De Mayo Parade to support Kevin Rodens city council campaign! Vote Roden for Denton District 1! Election Day Sat May 14th!

Easter 2011

2011-04-26T04:43:00.001-07:00

Rev's Garden

2011-03-21T10:56:00.001-07:00

We decided to turn Rev's sandbox into a garden this year. Rev picked out all his own veggies and herbs this year, designed the layout and planted them today!

Coffee and Art

2011-03-17T05:32:00.000-07:00

Every spring the boys and I spend a lot of time outside and especially going on walks around downtown before the wonderful Texas summer heat kicks in! Yesterday we spent our afternoon at Jupiter House reading books, water coloring and drawing. Calvin found his little spot on the cozy floor!

Honey Bees

2011-03-12T17:56:00.000-08:00

Last weekend Rev suited up for the first time to check our honey bees. He did great and as always thoroughly enjoyed helping his dad and dressing up just like him!

Army Base

2011-03-09T13:17:00.001-08:00

We found an old board on the side of the road the other day and Rev had the idea to make a sign for his "army base"!

Spring Time

2011-03-06T11:08:00.000-08:00

We are so glad spring is here! Khaki shorts, button downs and ties for church this morning. Also, the shirt I am wearing was made local by a good friend of mine. Here is her website, check out her super cute clothes!

Inspired and Excited

2011-03-01T12:18:00.000-08:00

We have been listening to and reading Ken Robinson the past few months and I am so inspired by his thoughts and ideas. He has some very powerful words on education, learning and creativity. A quote I enjoyed hearing today, "

"Education doesn't need to be reformed -- it needs to be transformed. The key to this transformation is not to standardize education, but to personalize it, to build achievement on discovering the individual talents of each child, to put students in an environment where they want to learn and where... they can naturally discover their true passions."

Happy 2nd Birthday Calvin

2011-02-24T11:11:00.000-08:00

Calvin turned 2 years old yesterday! We spent the day together as a family and made sure he felt special! Rev and I decorated the house with streamers and little flags and we put candles in his banana pancakes at breakfast. We drove out to lake Grapevine for the morning and enjoyed hiking, looking for animal tracks, throwing rocks in the lake and a picnic. Happy 2nd Birthday Calvin! We love you and thank God for you everyday.

Camping

2011-02-21T05:28:00.001-08:00

We had our first little spring camp out last week and this was my favorite picture of the trip! I think Rev looks so much like his pawpaw Rozell with his legs crossed and the "thumbs up"! The weather was great and we built a little fire to cook our dinner. We went fishing, saw some skunks, observed some animal tracks, flew kites and played uno in the tent! So thankful for nice weather in February so we can spend time in God's beautiful creation.

Homemade Lara Bars/Energy Bars

2011-02-15T08:11:00.000-08:00

I have been experimenting with making homemade "Lara Bars" and energy bars the past few weeks. We are really enjoying these two recipes and the boys love them for snacks and dessert.

Cashew Date Bars
6-8 dates pitted and torn into pieces
1 1/2 cups raw organic cashews
2 tsp cinnamon
handfull of raisins

Put all ingredients into food processor and blend until turns into a pasty consistency.

Line a loaf pan with tinfoil and mash the mixture down flat into the bottom of the pan until it is spread about 1 inch thick. Fold the foil over the top of the bars and fold up corners and refrigerate for 1 hour or more. Cut into bars or bite size pieces!

Almond Protein Bars
• 2 c raw organic almonds soaked and dehydrated
• 1/2 c flax meal (flax seeds ground in a blender)
• 1/2 c shredded coconut (unsweetened)
• 1/2 c unsalted almond butter
• 1/2 t sea salt
• 1/2 c coconut oil
• 4 drops stevia (or raw honey)
• 1 T vanilla extract
Place almonds, flax meal, shredded coconut, almond butter and salt in a food processor.
Pulse briefly, about 10 seconds. In a small sauce pan, melt coconut oil over very low heat.
Remove coconut oil from stove, stir stevia and vanilla into oil.
Add coconut oil mixture to food processor and pulse until ingredients form a coarse paste.
Press mixture into an 8x8 glass baking dish.
Chill in refrigerator for an hour or until mixture hardens. Remove from refrigerator, cut into bars.

Hammering Practice

2011-02-14T05:25:00.001-08:00

The Boys love hammering nails and yesterday we had a lot of practice in the sunny backyard! Weather was GREAT yesterday and we spent all afternoon outside! Looking forward to another warm week.

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Local Handmade Natural Bath Products

2011-02-11T04:37:00.000-08:00

We have just started getting soap, lotion and lip balm from a our friend Mystie. Her products are local, handmade and all natural ingredients. I love the lotion bar, the soap smells amazing but the lip balm if my favorite! I am really picky about lip balms and this one meets all my requirements! Ya'll should check out her website and support locally, handmade bath products!

Clay and Rev's Handmade Longboard

2011-02-09T10:26:00.000-08:00

Clay and Rev recently built a longboard. The boys are having a blast with it and Rev is learning to longboard very quickly! Creative Clay made a sticker for the backside of it with Rev's personal signature. I think it looks pretty cool!

Snow Days

2011-02-06T05:15:00.000-08:00

We enjoyed all the snow, ice and cold temperatures this week. We have been inside since Monday and got to spend a lot of quality family time together! Yesterday it finally warmed up and Rev decided to shovel the sidewalks outside our house in his "snowboarding" outfit. His snowboard outfit by the way consists of motorcycle pants, a wind jacket from the thrift store, gardening gloves, a roller hockey helmet and Clays ski goggles!

Paper Mache

2011-02-04T04:34:00.001-08:00

The past 5 snow days have brought about a lot of reading by the fire, games, cooking, playdough, dress up, and crafting! The boys love paper mache and I had to include this picture of Rev sewing in his motorcycle gear!

Recycled Material Headbands and Bracelets For Sale!

2011-01-28T06:09:00.000-08:00

I am sewing some super cute headbands and bracelets out of material scraps! 12.00 for headband and 8.00 for bracelets. Lots for sale, can custom sew the colors you would like too! Anyone want to purchase?

Creative Days!

2011-01-25T06:06:00.000-08:00

A few pics from our creative days! We wrote Bible verses on our window with our new window markers, did some foil sculpting and crayon shaving art work! Rev made a raft with a little man holding a fishing pole and a spear out of foil. Calvin (with my help) sculpted a little canoe with a little man holding a paddle. Rev loved watching the crayon shavings melt together from the heat of the iron.

Volcano Experiment!

2011-01-21T12:06:00.001-08:00

Rev and I enjoyed this volcano experiment today!

Rainy Morning Art

2011-01-20T17:02:00.000-08:00

Since it was cold and rainy this morning we finger painted and marble painting art!

Cowboy Christmas 2010

2011-01-16T08:20:00.000-08:00

We celebrated "Cowboy Christmas" with my moms side of the family this weekend. A little belated but we had a GREAT time! Chili cook off contest, annual Christmas pageant, food, games, scavenger hunts, nature walks by the lake, poker, family slide show etc etc! Just a few of the 200 pictures I took!

Public Schools and the Decline of Chrstianity in America

2011-01-14T09:22:00.000-08:00

Christmas Prayer Cards

2011-01-04T13:36:00.000-08:00

One of our favorite things about the holidays is all the wonderful Christmas cards, pictures and letters we receive in the mail. When the holidays are over we save the pictures and glue them to 5x7 index cards to create "prayer cards" so that we can remember to pray for all our friends and family throughout the year. The boys love gluing the pictures to the cards and we keep them in a little drawstring bag on our kitchen table. We started doing this last year after Christmas and picking out a prayer card from the bag quickly became Rev's favorite part of meal time!

Cool Coldplay Video!

2010-12-11T06:09:00.000-08:00

Christmas Decorations!

2010-12-03T05:56:00.000-08:00

Here are a few of my favorite Christmas Decorations in our house this year!

I found these little elves at a garage sale last year for 50 cents! Calvin has particularly enjoyed these elves so far this Christmas

I found these little elves at Ruth's Room Christmas Thrift Store for 1.00. They are the "Snap, Crackle and Pop" vintage elves!
Rev actually found this wooden Nativity at a thrift store this week for $1.50! He is already a GREAT bargain shopper!
These little vintage mailboxes are just too cute! I leave little christmas notes and goodies for the boys in them everyday!
This is Rev's Reindeer collection! He loves hunting for reindeers when we are out and about!

Our Christmas Tree

2010-11-29T18:33:00.000-08:00

Apple Almond Butter Muffins

2010-11-23T13:08:00.001-08:00

I saw this recipe on my friend Ginger's blog and we made these muffins this afternoon! They were VERY easy and Very good! Thanks Ginger!

Apple Banana Muffins

1 1/2 cups chopped apples (really small!)
1/4 cup almond butter
1 3/4 cups flour
2 eggs
3 bananas
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup coconut oil
Mix all and bake for 20 min. at 350 degrees. These turn out really soft so make sure you cook them until the tops are nice and brown but don't worry when they're soft in the middle because the apple pieces are in there.

good music

2010-11-20T16:14:00.000-08:00

enjoying mumford and sons cd lately, especially this song.

Thumbs up!?

2010-11-17T20:24:00.000-08:00

Clay has taught both the boys from an early age the "thumbs up" sign. Calvin has recently caught on and gives the thumbs up at many random times of the day! Rev is constantly giving the thumbs up and especially in pictures!

My New Muscle Tee!

2010-11-15T04:34:00.000-08:00

Uncle Scott bought the boys Ranger tshirts a few weeks ago at one of the world series games. Rev's shirt is HUGE on him and Calvin's shirt fits him like a muscle tshirt! They love their shirts though Uncle Scott, thank you for thinking of them!!

Building a New Fort

2010-11-08T12:30:00.000-08:00

Clay and Rev tore down his old playground a few days ago and began construction of his new fort yesterday. Its coming along great and Rev is really enjoying building it with Clay.

Encouraging!

2010-11-05T05:41:00.000-07:00

Take It Easy
by Charles R. Swindoll

Proverbs 22:6

Maybe it's because I just had another birthday. Maybe it's because I'm a granddad several times over. Or maybe it's because of a struggling young seminarian I met recently who wishes he had been higher on his parents' priority list than, say, fifth or sixth. He was hurried and ignored through childhood, then tolerated and misunderstood through adolescence, and finally expected to "be a man" without having been taught how.

My words are dedicated to all of you who have the opportunity to make an investment in a growing child so that he or she might someday be whole and healthy, secure and mature. Granted, yours is a tough job. Relentless and thankless . . . at least for now. But nobody is better qualified to shape the thinking, to answer the questions, to assist during the struggles, to calm the fears, to administer the discipline, to know the innermost heart, or to love and affirm the life of your offspring than you.

When it comes to "training up the child in the way he should go," you've got the inside lane, Mom and Dad. So—take it easy! Remember (as Anne Ortlund puts it) "children are wet cement." They take the shape of your mold. They're learning even when you don't think they're watching. And those little guys and gals are plenty smart. They hear tone as well as terms. They read looks as well as books. They figure out motives, even those you think you can hide. They are not fooled, not in the long haul.

The two most important tools of parenting are time and touch. Believe me, both are essential. If you and I hope to release from our nest fairly capable and relatively stable people who can soar and make it on their own, we'll need to pay the price of saying no to many of our own wants and needs in order to interact with our young . . . and we'll have to keep breaking down the distance that only naturally forms as our little people grow up.

Time and touch. Listen to your boys and girls, look them in the eye, put your arms around them, hug them close, tell them how valuable they are. Don't hold back. Take the time to do it. Reach. Touch.

When you are tempted to get involved in some energy-draining, time-consuming opportunity that will only increase the distance between you and yours, ask yourself hard questions like, "Could my time be better spent at home?" and "Won't there be similar opportunities in the years to come?" Then turn your attention to your boy or girl. Hold nothing back as you renew acquaintances.

Take it easy!

halloween 2010

2010-11-01T15:04:00.000-07:00

Our Nature Table

2010-10-29T11:25:00.001-07:00

"Let them once get in touch with nature and a habit is formed which will be a source of delight and habit through life." Charlotte Mason

I have fallen in love with Charlotte Mason and her philosophy of education:

"Charlotte emphasized treating each child as a person, not as a container into which you dump information. She believed that all children should receive a broad education, which she likened to spreading a feast of great ideas before them. Charlotte encouraged parents to have an active role in teaching and training their children in academics, fine arts, faith, citizenship, and habits of character." -www.simplycharlottemason.com

You can summarize Charlotte’s approach to education in three words. Charlotte believed that “Education is an Atmosphere, a Discipline, a Life.”

Charlotte Masons goals were to bring a wide variety of meaningful subjects to children via literature, artwork, poetry, and other humanities. The core subjects are not neglected but they are approached in such a way to foster the love of learning. In my free time I have been reading many Charlotte Mason books, studying her method and talking to other moms and dads who are teaching their children by the Charlotte Mason Philosophy.

Charlotte Mason was very passionate about children being in nature daily.

"We are all meant to be naturalists, each in his own degree, and it is inexcusable to live in a world so full of the marvels of plant and animal life and to care for none of these things." C. Mason

Her passion has really inspired us the past few months to spend as much time out of doors as we can. Rev has become very interested in rocks, insects, bird nests, catching butterflies, dissecting wasp nests and journaling. Calvin enjoys scooping up dirt with his shovels, collecting rocks and sticks. We have started a "nature table" in our house where we can display our findings.

Rev Made His FIRST Pie!

2010-10-26T12:24:00.001-07:00

Rev made his first pie today! Apple Blackberry Pie with oat/date/sunflower seed crumble on top! Looking forward to eating his pie tonight after dinner!

Our Backyard Movie Theatre!

2010-10-19T18:22:00.001-07:00

Clay and Rev built a movie screen tonight in our backyard! We had our neighbors over to eat dinner and watch The Sandlot which was pretty fun! We are now ready for the Halloween Movie Night next friday night! Our Halloween Party is benefiting iheartdenton (www.iheartdenton.com) Come on over and watch a movie in the backyard and eat popcorn and candy!

God Loves You

2010-10-15T04:18:00.001-07:00

Brothers!

2010-10-14T14:49:00.001-07:00

God's Will For My Life?

2010-10-09T19:01:00.000-07:00

“I think a lot of us need to forget about God’s will for my life. God cares more about our response to his Spirit’s leading today, in this moment, than about what we intend to do next year. In fact, the decisions we make next year will be profoundly affected by the degree to which we submit to the Spirit right now, in today’s decisions. It is easy to use the phrase ‘God’s will for my life’ as an excuse for inaction or even disobedience. It’s much less demanding to think about God’s will for your future than it is to ask Him what He wants you to do in the next ten minutes. It’s safer to commit to following him someday instead of this day. To be honest I believe part of the desire to ‘know God’s will for my life’ is birthed in fear and results in paralysis.” (120) - Francis Chan taken from "The Forgotten God"

6 Years Today!

2010-10-09T10:56:00.000-07:00

Today is our 6th Anniversary! I am so thankful for my husband Clay and fall more and more in love with him everyday. Today he is working at the station so we don't get to be together:( Clay, thank you for encouraging me, making me laugh and leading our family. I pray our boys grow up to be just like you minus your stinky feet!

Making Brownies!

2010-10-08T12:28:00.001-07:00

None But Jesus

2010-09-20T11:56:00.000-07:00