What a week!

Even though I make the lesson plans, sometimes I really don't realize what is ending and beginning because we are just learning.  This was a BIG week for us!

Our Bible curriculum for this year covers Genesis-Judges.  We have fallen behind because we took a break from this study in December to study "The Jessie Tree".  We have also had a few weeks of no new material weeks and just reviewed all the stories we have studied so that we can accurately form a timeline.  Needless to say, we are not going to be able to finish through Judges.  I was beginning to wonder if we were going to finish Genesis.  Then Monday I realized that this weeks material took us to the end of Genesis!  WOW!  I felt a sense of accomplishment on Monday!!!  The girls enjoyed finishing our Patriarch lapbook, and I will post pictures of that soon.

I knew we were going to wrap up our Colonial Study this week.  We have been pressing hard to finish this unit for 2 weeks.  Yea!  It is complete, and the girls finished putting together their lapbooks today.  When we pulled out on the things we had made, the girls just kept saying that was a long time ago!  Ouch, that hurts!  Yes, some of it goes back to November when we started the Colonial Study.  We did celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas in the middle of the unit!  Actually, the unit started with Jamestown but none of that was included in the lapbook!

We also started studying the brain this week in Science, and each new unit brings exciting new things to do and learn.

Now if we could get caught up on Cooking Through the USA we will be on a roll!  We are just 4 states behind.  That's not too bad????? But it will be 5 if we don't turn on the stove next week!

Valentine's Day

Each year I try to get a "Valentine Picture" of all the kids.  Nothing formal, just fun.  It is getting harder each year as the older ones are blowing & going!!!!  I quickly snapped these before Tyler left with some friends to go to the movies.  As you can see, I had one little clown!

We did finally get a good picture!  Silly kids are growing up too fast!

 After Tyler left, we made heart pizzas, chocolate dipped strawberries, and a strawberry jello pie for dinner!

The girls opened their gifts from Mom & Dad...

Confession Time

Many years ago in a ladies Bible study (maybe even my FBC-Temple years or it could have been BSF in the last 6 years--it all runs together in my mind), I was convicted of not giving others the opportunity to use the talents God gave them.  This conviction plays over in my mind everytime I choose to conquer the world on my own.  For my Type A personality, this happens quite often.  The bottom line is I love to plan, craft, create, and do.  Give me a party to plan, a team/class to organize, or a room to decorate and I will run with the task.  I have tried to delegate tasks over the years when others offer to help, but it is hard to let go!  Then things are not exactly as I pictured them in my head, so I am frustrated and disappointed.  Yes, I know I am a control-freak.  I know I can't do everything, but the SuperWoman in me wants perfection!

As we are moving into the spring school tennis season, I am looking at the 2 SEPARATE school tennis teams that my oldest kids will play on and wonder how this is going to work.  Last year, I stepped up and took over as the team mom for Tyler's school team which required a lot of time and work.  His school tennis coach--well, God loves him!  He is a good man, but the boys and parents sometimes wonder when he is going to get it together!!!!  Now, JM is coaching the NEW tennis team at Corynne's school.  I feel the need to keep him organized for this first season!  He is a great big picture organizer, but he does not do details.  A parent of one of the girls on Corynne's team offered to help--be the team mom.   I said, "that would be great."  Inside, the type A me was melting.  I reluctantly handed over the information yesterday afternoon.

WOW!  By noon today, this mom had typed up the team rooster, organized the team snacks, and was working on getting the group text set up for updates.  The amazing part is that I had a mental picture (as I always do) of how I wanted it to be done which I did not convey to her.  She read my mind...down to the statement she wrote by State Tournament on the snack schedule!  I love it when God shows me up!

"Haha, Misty!  I can use others to do a better job than you and I am faster!!!"-your heavenly Father.

State-by-State: South Carolina

"P is for Palmetto

our official state tree.

It's also a symbol on our flag,

respected by you and me."

-P is forPalmetto:  A South Carolina Alphabet

South Carolina Scrapbook Page (La) and Mini-Lapbook (Ly)

"E is for the Eastern tiger swallowtail,

a colorful butterfly to see.

Flying from flower to flower,

flitting and soaring, wild and carefree."

The girls and I chose to make these butterflies from HungryHappenings.com for lunch today.

They were so easy and the girls had so much fun "making" their lunch!

Since the first commercial tea farm in the United States was in Summerville, South Carolina, we also made some tea to go along with the Butterflies for lunch.

"Polly put the kettle on,

we'll all have tea.

South Carolina's favorite drink

Tea begins with T."

Super Bowl

We had our annual family Super Bowl Party.  Actually, party is a big word for just eating junk and watching a football game.  Oh, and Mom making us put on these jerseys because she needs her annual picture!!!  Colleen refused to put a jersey on, so Max wore her jersey!

Watching the Ravens play was so much fun.  We still feel a small connection to this team since we lived in Baltimore for a year, and one of our friends their was building the Ravens' new training facility.    We have good memories of walking on the Ravens field barefoot with friends our last night in Baltimore before moving back to Texas.

Time Out, Time In

These boys are so funny.  After the big Capital City Championship where their JV team lost in the Championship and they only got a few minutes play time, they came home and played a little one-on-one blue-vs-white!  They crack me up!  I got some good pics standing at the front door until Hammond spotted me!!!!

State-by-State: Connecticut

"A is for American Robin,

a lovely little fellow.

He sings a pretty tune,

musical and mellow."

-N is for Nutmeg:  A Connecticut Alphabet

With the state bird being the American Robin, we chose to make "Red Robin" burgers!  We used the Teriyaki Burgers recipe from Bless Us O Lord  tonight.  The girls made the marinade, and I grilled the burgers while they were at dance.  

I also picked up some animal crackers, to go along with our burgers, for Mr. Phineas T. Barnum, of Barnum & Bailey fame, a leading citizen in his hometown of Bridgeport, Connecticut:

"B is for Mister Barnum,

and his animals and clowns.

He started a traveling circus,

for kids in all the towns."

Resources we used for this State Study:

N is for Nutmeg: A Connecticut Alphabet

N is for Nutmeg Teacher's Guide (pdf)

Connecticut's Notebooking Page from United States Maps
United States Coloring Book (Dover)