Milestones: Graduation, pt.2

I thought I'd post some pics of our graduation. I loved putting it all together and coming up with ideas. I hope you enjoy the pics... let me know if you have any questions. 

Our candy bar: This was one of Kahli's only requests. I had so much fun getting this ready, although it was pretty pricey. Definitely watch for clearance items and coupons. Also, I'm a firm believer in planning in order to save money. Ask early what the color scheme (if any) will be, and watch for seasonal/holiday candy markdowns. 

We have friends who have severe nut allergies, so that was definitely a consideration. We obviously choose candies that didn't feature nuts, but most have at the very least been processed with them. So we made sure we had spoons for unwrapped candy to prevent cross contamination, and I drew up this little labels so our smaller guests would be aware of items that contained allergy warnings. 

The Dessert Table We also had a tons of sweets beside the candy bar. This was my first shot at working with fondant and while I wasn't completely pleased with the results, I don't think it came out horrible! I used this recipe for marshmallow fondant and was very pleased with the results. 

We also had cake pops... yay!!! They were so fun and the kids loved them. I used 

 a basic recipe from Bakearella, however we used devil's food cake instead of the red velvet. This tutorial helpful also. Instead of Bakearella has an awesome book out showcasing some adorable possibilities for these. You can see lots of fun ideas on her site also.  To display them I just used a block of florist foam (styrofoam would work too, just didn't have any.) 

Another thing we did was cupcakes. You can't tell from the picture very well but some were in black and white polka dot wrappers, and others were in a black and white swirly wrappers. We also used the cupcake pick kit from The Celebration Shoppe; this site and blog are incredible. I could seriously get addicted to having parties just looking at this site! We complemented the theme with polka dot and swirly beverage napkins from Target and tried to incorporate those designs into the cake. 

Lastly, for the dessert table I used a great idea from a dear (and talented) friend of mine. We put down a disposable tablecloth and randomly placed some of our favorite photos of Kahli on it. Lastly I covered it with thin clear vinyl that I got in the fabric section of Walmart. This would be a great idea for birthdays or anniversaries too. People loved looking at the photos and some of old school papers of hers. 

 

One final thing that I'll share are our pom pom's! I love, love, love these. So cheap and so stinkin' cute. They now reside in Kahli's newly redecorated bedroom and we're hanging a few over Z's changing table. The color and pattern options are endless! There are tons of tutorials online so I'll leave you to check those out. Really, stinkin' easy. 

I'll leave you with some pics of our friends and family visiting. I wish I had took more pictures of the little details and the guests. I always question whether to run around snapping up photos, or to truly just enjoy being with everyone. It seems like sometimes when the camera is brought out people get nervous and guarded. It was a great day though and one we won't ever forget. There was plenty of food to go around and it really came together with very little stress for me.  One last thing we did was to run a slideshow in the living room with childhood photos of Kahli. I'll upload that at a later date. 

Thanks for looking at these photos, I hope they inspire you a bit. Max is already planning his 8th grade graduation (which is three years away.) It will look markedly different as he wants a orange and black skeet shooting theme! He apparently has the party bug too though as he requested black and orange whoopie pies to mimic the skeet. Oh boy! 

Milestones: Graduation, pt.1

What a weekend! My girl did it... she graduated. It's unbelievable how quickly she went from this:

to this:

You momma's to little ones, you'll hear all the time that it goes by so quickly. You'll not your head in acknowledgement, and quietly you'll think you'll grab every minute and it will be different for you. That's what I thought. But time like so many other things sneaks up on you.

We are so proud of our girl. She is such an incredible woman. She loves the Lord. She loves her family. She loves her friends.

She is funny. She is compassionate. She is artistic. She loves to laugh. Loudly. She loves music (and her iPod.) She is an incredible teacher. She has incredible patience.

She makes me smile. She makes me laugh. She has a sense of humor that takes it's time. She may not crack jokes left and right, but when she does... baby, prepare yourself, it's gonna be a good one.

Where will she go from here? Who knows?! The future is bright, and most importantly she's seeking the Lord for His direction.

I shared on Facebook that 18 years ago next month a 17 year old girl knelt before an altar and made an ultimatum to God. You see after making an appointment for an abortion, this girl's dad left a simple Post It note on Psalm 127:14-17 and wrote three little words that would change my life, and my daughter's life: "think about it." Kneeling before that altar, I told God that I would keep this baby but that He would have to provide. He has never let us down. When I have been faithless, He has been faithful. She has always been surrounded by people who love God, and point her to Him.

Kahli, we are so proud of you and love you so much. And to us... baby you are the world!

Progress and History

We have been reading Diary of an Early American Boy for our science studies this year. It is definitely a boy's sorta book. The author includes his thoughts often reflecting on society and our supposed progress. I thought I'd share two that particularly spoke to me and got me thinking.

It is not that such information is no longer known or that we have not progressed immensely in our knowledge; the pertinent fact is that the average person doesn't know such things because they arr not necessary information. A child today might say, "Why would I want to know if there is an eclipse unless I may see it?" But Benjamin Franklin observed that "knowing only what is necessary, makes living dull and marks the regression of learning."Noah couldn't see it, for it occurred on the opposite side of the earth, yet he shows more interest that the average schoolboy of today... p.74.

Another favorite excerpt:

One time a young boy visited a museum of early American things. There were ladies' bustles and men's wigs and other obsolete things. There were tremendous planes and broadaxes that appeared much too heavy for actual use. There were whole aisles of kitchen equipment and farm tools that no one would dare to use now. To the boy, it all looked very much like a neatly arranged and well-cared-for junk yard. He wasn't quite sure what was meant by the title "Americana": all he could think of was, "How dreary life must have been in those days and how unhappy the people must have been, and how glad I am that I live today instead of then."

   I am sure that whoever collected and arranged those things did so to excite admiration for the old days;  he would have been very displeased with the boy's reaction. yet I cannot blame the boy, for just as in so many museums of early Americana, the chief attraction of the pieces was made to be just old age. 

   Even now (for I was the little boy), I can feel no reverence for old age. Respect is not due older people for their age and wrinkles or gray hair; respect is due them simply for the things they have learned and the their extra years of experience.

The old-time craftsmen would have been the very first to have junked crude or obsolete things, so why should we seek them and collect them for display as examples of early America life? Indeed, there are ugly things in all ages which should be discarded and forgotten. Only the good things either the past or the present are worthy of collection.

    The good things of the past were not so often articles as they were the manner in which people lived or the things that the people thought. - from the Author's Note

W8-10: Strides

Max has always struggled with speech difficulties which have in turn made reading very frustrating. Our belief has always been that it would happen, and our desire has been not to quench his love for learning. Last year we were blessed to have an incredible woman work with him in our local school. Finally things started to make sense for him with reading. While he is no longer working with her, she provided us with the same curriculum she was using and we have used that for Language Arts this year. The past few weeks Max has taken off, it's all starting to come together and we're seeing major growth spurts. One of the difficulties of having a late reader is finding books that are at his reading level, without being babyish. The other night he pulled out his dad's bible and proceeded to begin reading it out loud, then he went and grabbed a childhood favorite, Katy and the Big Snow and proceed to read the entire thing to us on his own. AMAZING! His dad and I were so proud, and he was beaming.

I entitled this post "Strides" because that's what it feels like the past few weeks have consisted of. One of the definitions for strides is: to take a single long step, as in passing over an obstruction. It feels like as of late we've been trying desperately to scale various obstructions. This time of year is my absolute favorite, yet it is also the hardest time of year for me emotionally. I have to force myself to cling to God's word and to focus on getting out and about. There are bad days, but over time, I've learned to plow through. I'm beginning to see the clearing and focus on the upcoming holidays. Family, friends, (food), fun, and fellowship... my favorite F's. So making strides is what we've been about.. sometimes it's a lot of baby steps that help us lead up to that "single, long step," and sometimes it just comes out of nowhere and another obstruction is placed behind us.

Books By Mail

Until about 3 years ago we lived within 30 minutes of an incredible library. We loved visiting every couple of weeks and checking out tons of books. When we moved to our current location we definitely missed having suck an incredible library. One thing we discovered was Books By Mail, and we've recently been taking advantage of it again. For any of you located in my area, or another area of Maine that doesn't have a full time library I highly recommend you take advantage of this program. You do need to pay shipping, but it is at the library rate and VERY reasonable.

America: The Story of Us

About a month ago I received an incredible freebie in the mail I thought I'd share with you. Earlier this year they were offering America- The Story of Us to educators (including homeschoolers.) I ordered it knowing we were going to be dealing with Early American History. I have to tell you, I wasn't expecting something that we would love. A lot of times history documentaries while interesting tend to be a bit dry. This is not the case, the reenactments, the music, the videography... it all leaves you mesmerized. Especially my man child! As I type this we're watching about a segment about Daniel Boone and Max is on the edge of the couch cheering.

The set contains 12- 1 hour episodes covering all of American history. The History Channel also has an incredible site to go along with it complete with a teacher guide and interactive activities. I would so buy this if we hadn't received it for free. It is truly amazing--- definitely worth checking with your local library or if you have Netflix it's available through them as well.

Check out the segment of The Boston Massacre here.

Bound Treasure

Our first "favorite" book this year:

The Sign of The Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare

Love, love, loved this. Finished it last Wednesday and Max's first question was if there was a sequel... ugh... how bittersweet when it kills you to wonder what happened to a favorite character. We started The Witch of Blackbird Pond, also by Elizabeth George Speare today. Hoping for another treasure!

W6/7: Balance Revisited

I am a horrible reality show junkie... horrible. I suppose if I had to name a guilty pleasure that would be it... well, that and Mocha-Caramel Ice Coffee from Dunkin Donuts. Together... at the same time. With a Lindt White Chocolate and Almond bar....... whoops... sorry I forgot you were here.

So... back to reality... shows. I used to love to watch Survivor and the would always have the teams come together and compete in challenges. Some were gross, like eating bugs or other super gross things. Some were thinking things, and then there were the physical challenges. One they would always have went a little like this: the contestants would all stand on giant poles in the middle of the water and balance.... and balance.... and balance. Until they slowly began to drop off like flies. Sometimes the fall would come from exhaustion, sometimes weakness, some out of pride and a feeling of safety would just give up. But then, there were always the ones who stuck it out. They would go hours and hours. You truly would feel their pain and exhaustion. You would watch as they made a slight adjustment, they just couldn't hold the position any longer. Their balance was waning and they just needed to readjust. And at that split second... that moment their balance would be just a tad bit off, and down they would go. Game over.

That's kinda how I felt the past couple of weeks. We've had family visiting, field trips (that both did and did not happen), work schedules, ministry, and sickness. School has happened between events and naps, but not the way I had hoped. This morning I sat down to fill out our plan book for this week, and I really was surprised by how well we had done through the chaos. Not everything got tackled, but a lot did.

It made me think back to my first post from week 1. I entitled it "balance." These past two weeks showed me that really, I do have things pretty well balanced, some times they scoot over to one side and get a little tippy, but somehow we manage to wiggle back to center ground. I've found myself condemning myself the past few days, and questioning progress and how to do things better. I think that sometimes that is good, but a lot of times, I think we just get into a groove of wanting to feel perfect, or wanting to keep up with Miss. XYZ. And quite frankly I think stupid hormones can wreak havoc and cause us to think everything is a mess! Reality is usually different though.

I guess my point amidst all this rambling is that over time, I think we can find that balance. It becomes second nature. I kinda like that. It comforts me. It also makes me think of what has been "my verse" for 2010. God really spoke it to me clearly this January, and I keep coming back to it. I can become overwhelmed very easily... by good things, and bad things. The thing I need to remember always, and the secret to balance I think is this:

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Matthew 6:33

 That's really what it come down to... seeking God first. So back to reality shows... yeah I know it's a lousy segway... one of the one's we love now is Wipeout. Talk about funny! I think that more exhibits my life, they get knocked down and rather than it being game over, they have to do it again... and again... and sometimes again, til they get it. That's me. That's the story of my life. But that's okay, in the words Paul:

I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. Philippians 3:14 (NLT)

National Indian Day

This year we've been studying a lot about Early Americans, particularly Native Americans. So, when a friend mentioned that the nearby Indian Reservation had festivities for National Indian Day, we decided to join her family and attend. All in all it was a good time, to be honest the little kids were cute, but it was the jr. high kids that really showed skill. At the end of the presentation some of the tribe elders danced... now that was awesome! Also a young man.. I think 1st grade ... danced on his own as a tribute to one of the council elders.

Our friend, who is Native American, answered a number of our questions. It was neat to see such an emphasis on heritage though and to see the traditions passed on from the older generation to the younger. I thought you'd include some pics from today and a video of the elders dancing.

W5: Favorites-- New and Old

I thought I would share with you a great resource we've been using this year in addition to our regularly scheduled Bible reading. My kids both love Down Gilead Lane and Adventures ind Oyssey. We recently received Keys from Kids from CBH Ministiries, the ministry that produced DGL. Each day offers a different bible reading and devotional that goes along with it. This week we have discussed abortion, peer pressure, redemption, grace, and forgiveness. A great addition to our day, and they're free. You could listen online, or do what we did and order the bi-monthly book through this link. 

As far as this week went, nothing too exciting, it seemed like a lot of time was spent on the couch reading this week. Next week we have a crazy, busy week coming with family visiting, and TWO field trips. One will be to a Native American Festival, and the other to The Common Ground Fair! The CGF is a highlight of our autumn and by far my favorite annual event our family does. So lots of fun next week, and lots of pics to come. Hope you enjoy your weekend, we'll be attending a wedding of a young couple in our church who have committed to purity, and are proof that God's will (and timing) truly is best!

W4: Welcome Fall!

This week was a short week with Labor Day on Monday, and a field trip on Friday. Monday was spent organizing the house, and working on some long overdue projects. The weather took an autumnal turn this week and it was great to be able to crack the windows and get things aired out. As far as school went this week we finished up a few of our books and started new ones. Pedro's Journal was one of the one's we finished. It was a quick read and insight into how things would've been if you were with Columbus when he sailed to the Americas. Max really has a hard time remembered facts and dates sometimes, and I love that with Sonlight we spend so much time on a subject through so many different forms of information. For example, we have been reading about Columbus in Story of the U.S.A. and doing the questions with that, and if that was all we were doing Max would be lost, but throwing in Pedro's Journal builds on the facts and makes it memorable and plants the story in his head. We also finished up Walk the Worlds Rim this week (as I mentioned in an earlier post) and that led to lots of discussion about slavery, which once again tied into Columbus.

    This year in science we are studying magnets and electricity and this week we finally got our science supply kit so that we could start doing some experiments. Once again, this is where Sonlight soars! Giving Max hands visual opportunities to learn.  I had to smile as Kahli even joined us for a few experiments.

  
   Lastly, the highlight of the week for me was our field trip on Friday. We traveled about 1 1/2 hours away to an apple orchard and then came back home and made apple cider with a borrowed apple press! So much fun, and such a great way to welcome in fall.