Down By the Bay

A close friend of mine lives walking distance to the beautiful Chesapeake Bay and we went over to spend the day with her at the beach. It was such a beautiful day and we pretty much had the whole beach to ourselves.

This is Aunt Candy Lou. Thanks for having us over, we had lots of FUN!

                     Alpha Boy & Little Bits diggin' for clams, sand crabs or whatever they could find.

  This was one of those moments when mom (me) makes the kids stop playing so that she may get a picture. Smile purdy and say CHEEZ.

Little Bits was not very fond of the water so he stayed on land and harassed Aunt Candy Lou for snacks.

We were blessed to see a mama duck with her ten baby ducks. We couldn't believe how close to land they came.

The Lil Chef and Computer Girl were really enjoying the water until they saw....

These guys! Mating horseshoe crabs. I think that I will have water shoes for our next visit, thank you very much!

These kids were WIPED OUT!

And so was their mama!  I was super thankful to have a frozen Taco Bake ready to throw in the oven.  Recipe to follow tomorrow...

Redeemed, How I Love to Proclaim it!

by Fanny Crosby

Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it!
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
Redeemed through His infinite mercy,
His child and forever I am.

Refrain

Redeemed, redeemed,
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
Redeemed, redeemed,
His child and forever I am.

Redeemed, and so happy in Jesus,
No language my rapture can tell;
I know that the light of His presence
With me doth continually dwell.

Refrain

I think of my blessèd Redeemer,
I think of Him all the day long:
I sing, for I cannot be silent;
His love is the theme of my song.

Refrain

I know there’s a crown that is waiting,
In yonder bright mansion for me,
And soon, with the spirits made perfect,
At home with the Lord I shall be.

Refrain


This is a long time favorite for me.  Just reading the words makes me so thankful for my Redeemer, Christ Jesus!

Saturday Solutions: Paper Clip Book Markers

As I have said before, I LOVE books!  However, the strange thing is that I am one of those people (assuming there are others out there!) that rarely read one cover to cover.  I guess mainly because I like reference type books, cookbooks, and books about Christian wisdom, homeschooling and raising kids.  I am always in and out of several books at a time. 

After being in the Barnes & Noble lines a few times I decided I really liked those cute little packs of book markers.  You know the kind, they are usually either a magnet of some sort or a clip.  Any who, I really didn't want to spend $10 for 3 tiny clips so I came up with a super simple little idea.

This works especially well for those of you that scrapbook and have otherwise useless little pieces of ribbon laying around, like I did. Of course, cute ribbons make a cute book marks. 

You simply tie a little knot around the end of a paper clip!  And BAM!  You have lots of little cutesy book markers for all of your unfinished books : ) 

Grammar Jammar GIVEAWAY WINNER!

Thanks to all of you that entered!  According to http://www.random.org/ the winner is comment # 9

Joyce said...
Became a fan of Grammar Jammar on FB:)

Congrats Joyce!

For those of you that did not win, you can purchase the Grammar Jammar video HERE!   Don't forget to check out my new giveaway for The Boy Who Wouldn't Give Up!

Olivita Oink's Bilingual Barnyard Review

I have never really taken the Foreign Language plunge with the kids, I think it was because I have felt they were kinda young and truthfully, I didn't want to add anything else to our homeschooling plate.  Then one day, I came across Olivita Oink's Bilingual Barnyard, a Spanish Program that looked different then anything I had ever seen before.  The program's creator, Jackie Payne, is a homeschooling mom who wanted to teach her own children Spanish in a way that was enjoyable for them.  The program is designed for children 10 and under and is based around an adorable little Piggy named Olivita Oink.  There are 40 DVD classes, each  one is 10-15 minutes long and has 2 worksheets that accompany them.  By viewing each class at least 2 times, the program would run for one semester.

The Lil Chef, Computer Girl and even Alpha Boy have been hanging out with Olivita for a few months now and they LOVE it!  This is one of those things that the kids bug me to do always ask for.  We have been doing the program twice a week and they are really retaining what they are learning, they still sing the song they learned from the 1st or 2nd class.  The classes were filmed in Colombia and are done is a very creative and enjoyable way!  There is singing, field trips to different places and lots of learning.  The children have learned how to greet each other, colors, family member, body parts, and common household objects in Spanish, among other things! 

You may view samples classes on the Olivita Oink website.  Olivita Oink's Bilingual Barnyard is available as a DVD and Workbook set for $129.99 and additional workbooks may also be purchased.