No Joke..

Joshua really enjoys playing piano. He has impressed us with his ability. Here are some pictures of Joshua showing me what he can do...

He puts a book over the keys, and plays. He also switches hands and plays. The music that he is playing is so pretty. One of my favorites is "Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee".

I hope You Dance :)

The Lincoln Museum

Joshua has been reading a lot about Abraham Lincoln. It is really neat to see him get all excited and tell me about something that he learned. We decided to take a family trip to Springfield to see the Lincoln Museum, it was really cool! Here are a few pictures of the kids having a blast.

All three kids dressed up..

Joshua enjoyed trying out games and toys from Lincoln's time..

Asher played Lincoln Logs with dad.

They have a doll house bigger than Elliana! It was a hit with our little girl :)

:)

Not much to update. We are just plugging away at school and normal family tasks and enjoyments (is that a word??). But here are some pictures of my little girl :)

Hanging out with mom...

Playing with her birthday dolls.

Just because I like them!

Churchill Paints a Pond

Churchill paints a convent.

Winston Churchill creating...

One of Churchill's favorite hymns was "The battle hymn of the Republic". Hardly mine but oh to remember the "special relationship" and those Brits who were unabashed America lovers.

"History will be kind to me for I intend to write it. "

-Sr. Winston Churchill

Another Great Deal :)

CVS has Purex laundry soap on sale BOGO this week. Clip this coupon (you may need to use the zip code 44514) and get it for free :) I printed the coupon twice and purchased four bottles. My out of pocket cost was $1.08 (taxes).

Coupons! Coupons! Coupons!

I have recently started really using coupons. Not just for 50 cents off an item. Using store sales, store coupons, and manufacture coupons all on one item, at one time. This most often results in little, to no out of pocket expense. So fun :) Here is my latest find...

I purchased my V8 fusion from Wal-Mart for $3 each ($6 total). I printed out two $2/1 coupons from Try V8 and I also had a coupon for $1 off any juice with another purchase (that I was already buying). So my coupons came to a total of 5 dollars. I was able to purchase both containers of V8 Fusion for $1 (50 cents a piece!).

Now to the Easy Mac... I purchased these items from Target. They normally have a price tag of $2.99 each. Target has them on sale this week for $2.69. I printed off a Target coupon $1/2 and a manufactures coupon $1/2. I printed these coupons twice (so I would have one Target and one Kraft coupon per item). So my coupons came to a total of 4 dollars. I paid $1.41 for both packages of Kraft Easy Mac !

So both purchases together have a combined out of pocket expense of $2.41!!!

And here is a little heads up..Meijer has V8 Fusion on sale for 2/$5 this week. Just print up the TryV8 coupons (two of them) and you will have $4 in coupons !!!

Ramble...Ramble...Ramble...

It feels like we are always doing something. We are either knee deep in school activities, off to a field trip, managing all the normal household chores, or any number of other tasks that we seem to never run out of. Don't be mistaken though, we LOVE the way our family operates.

Aaron and I are aware that the way we do things is very different from other families. We homeschool, cloth diaper, eat at home (rarely eat out), live in a small home (and LOVE it!), really we just choose to live our lives as simply as possible. We choose to have a very family centered life. Not only do we love spending time together, we also think that it is very important to the development of our children. They are with us such a short amount of time. We try to make the most of our limited time of influence.

Alright, back to the update that I had planned (the title of this post is very true, I am rambling!). As I mentioned earlier we have been very busy lately. We have five weeks of school left :) I am excited for summer but I will also miss teaching my little ones. Although I do plan on doing a little work over the summer months. The kids have been enjoying the semi-nice weather. It is so awesome to watch them playing in the back yard together.

Here are some pictures from this past week...

Elliana likes to help me vacuum. She holds the cord and follows me around the house.

The kids ready for the Easter service at church

This is Elliana pretending she is a dog. She is eating sesame sticks :)

Yesterday morning I had a wonderful little vacation. I hit the gym at 5 am and left at 8:45 am! I swam for 1 1/2 hours, ran 3.2 miles and biked 27 miles :) It was wonderful :)

Meet Georgina :)

The boys have been begging for a hamster for some time. They have also been saving up their allowance for something special. Today they put their money together and purchased "Georgina". They had originally decided on the name "George" after George Washington, Curious George and George Shrinks. Upon finding out that their new pet would be a girl they just made a slight modification :)

I am in awe of Georgina's new home. They did not make hamster cages like this when I was little (and this is not an expensive cage, one of the cheaper models).

That thing on top is the wheel. As the hamster runs on it the entire wheels goes in a circle. Like it is running in a hamster ball going around in a circle. Hard to explain, but so neat!

Happy Birthday Elliana :)

Elliana,
Before you were born my favorite color was purple, it is now pink.

Before you were born I didn’t know that anyone could be so beautiful and elegant while they were asleep.

Before you were born I was content to play cars, trucks and trains. Now I long for time playing dolls.

Before you were born I didn’t look at this world through the eyes of a mom of a little girl. Now I do and I worry for my daughter and all that she will face as she makes her way in this fallen world.

Before you were born I did not see myself as a role model. Now I see you mimic everything I do and I am both happy and inspired to be better than I am or thought I could ever be.

Before you were born I prayed for two wonderful women to meet my sons. I know pray for these two women and an amazing man.

Before you were born I was the only one in our home with hair accessories. Now I relish our time together doing your hair.

Before you were born the world was missing someone exceptional. Now I have the privilege of looking into this persons face and being in awe of who you will become.

Before you were born I was the only women in your father’s life. Now my heart melts when I see you look into his eyes.

Before you were born I had never come so close to losing someone I love. Now I am so thankful for everyday that I get to spend with you.

I love you Elliana. I am so blessed to be your mom.

Read This!! Read This!! Read This!!

AWESOME!! AWESOME!! AWESOME!!

I came across something amazing that you simply must read!!!

Pros and Cons to Homeschooling Why We Do It

Let me know what you think!!

Little Update..

Joshua started karate last week and he LOVES it. He is also progressing very nicely in his piano lessons. His next recital is May 23rd. He will be playing a piece from Lord of the Rings (he is VERY excited to play this piece). With all the lessons and school to accomplish we have been very busy. But we always manage to make time to goof around and have fun. Here are some photos from our latest silliness..

Elliana and Daddy hang out together

Nana and Papa came over for a visit. There was some nice quiet book reading and talking. And then of course the wrestling starts...

Little Tri-training update:

I have been training about 7 1/2 hours/week. I am focusing on my running. I am not a good runner. Which is why I am trying to improve. This past week I ran 7 miles without stopping. It was an awesome accomplishment for me :) My swim training is going great. I swim 1 1/2 hours two times/week. As soon as it warms up I will be hitting the country roads for some nice long bike rides :) Only 3 months until my next tri :)