03/19/09

I took these the other day at my Mom's... this is a beautiful color of pansy.



Crazy, crazy day. Poor Isabelle is having some issues with her "fixedness" and we had to rush her into the vet this afternoon. She is now on antibiotic for 14 days. Bless her heart.. through it all she has been a trooper. We truly thought we were "clear" because they had their check up yesterday and all was looking great. The doctor's said today that sometimes these things can pop up overnight. I'm not a vet so I don't know, but I am hating she is not feeling well. I'm just ready for Friday night.... and not doing much. lol

03/18/09

Oil and Water... they just don't mix... but they sure can make an interesting photograph. My students had a science class last week where they learned about matter. This oil and water experiment was so interesting that I had to bring it home and photograph the bubbles!! What do ya think??? This is so opposite of what I "normally" photograph, but I am continually trying to think outside the box.

03/17/09

I'm just a wee bit 'Irish today, my lads!


We had a green tasting party at school today..... hee hee

I made my students try all of these green foods:

broccoli
bell pepper
kiwi
grapes
olives
guacamole
honeydew
melon
pickles
granny smith apples

cucumbers

Some of my little people found that these healthy things weren't all that bad. Some found that there were A LOT of differences between tastes. (The olive faces were fun to watch...)

It's always good to try new things. Over my 37 years I have learned to love certain foods I didn't think I'd ever like. According to Kevin I still am learning. lol (goat cheese, right Kevin...)

They also got to enjoy a couple of "Irish" cookies and some "Dark Chocolate Mint" Hershey Kisses. Until today I never knew Hershey made those things!! They were tasty.

I sacrificed for my students and helped finish up the guacamole. I had many who decided they liked it so I had to fight them for it. It was ugly. Teachers rule, you know. :)

Off to spread St. Patrick's Day cheer with my sweet family by eating an Italian meal (spaghetti) that my wonderful Steve has made for us and then do some Irish Flashcards later. Hope y'all found that pot of gold today at the end of your rainbow. hee hee

03/16/09

Good day today but, oh, so busy. Bible projects came in today and along with my own class I had to help Mikayla with her food project because she had so many parts. She BEAMED when she was serving her classmates. I was so proud of her. Wesley brought his project in today, too, but hasn't presented it yet. His teacher loved the house. My students did an awesome job on theirs and I can't wait for them to present them. We just didn't have time to do as many today with other things happening.


The Lord gave me opportunity to help a friend today. In researching some Scripture for my friend, the Lord spoke to me, too. I just needed to share.

Psalm 46

(1) God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
(2) Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
(3) Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.
(4) There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.
(5) God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.
(6) The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted.
(7) The Lord of hosts is with us: the God of Jacob is our refuge.
(8) Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth.
(9) He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.
(10) Be still and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
(11) The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.


This song was also one that came to me as I was helping my friend. The older I get the sweeter the old hymns become to me. There is a lot of deep truth from God's Word that are in them. Praise songs are beautiful too, but I wish there was more of an appreciation for the hymns in our churches today.

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus
by Helen Lemmel

O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There's light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free!

Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim In the light of His glory and grace.

His word shall not fail you He promised;
Believe Him, and all will be well;
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell!

Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth will grown strangely dim In the light of His glory and grace.

03/15/09

This is from my devotion I read last night. I am not sure of the author because this devotional has many different people writing. (Just know I am not the original author!) It challenged me and I wanted to share:

Psalm 113:1,3
Praise ye the Lord. Praise, O ye servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord.
From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the Lord's name is to be praised.

Are you a content person? Or has discontentment entered into your life making you a sad, embittered person? What can you do about it? Praise is not often thought of as a weapon, but it has power to overcome the enemies of God's people. Praise should be considered an essential partner with the Bible and prayer in defeating the enemies of contentment. Unlike the days of King Jehoshaphat whose people saw their physical enemies defeated through praise, our enemies are spiritual. However, the principle is the same. When they "began to sing and to praise" God gave them victory over their enemy (2 Chronicles 20:21-22).

Praise honors God and it will change the condition of your heart in the process. It refocuses your life and places your attention on the One who is worthy of undivided attention. All of us should praise Him from the time the sun comes up until it goes down.

You were made to praise your Maker. David said, "I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore" (Psalm 86:12).

Battling the strongholds of discontent is not easy. It is war. We all fight the battle for peace, joy, and contentment and it's a battle that rages in the heart and mind. Don't you agree that Satan would want you to believe that God has not been good to you? Haven't you ever said,

I deserve more out of life?

Or, if God really cared He would have helped me reach my goals,

If God really cared He would not have allowed the tragedies that I have faced in my life.

All of that kind of thinking is of the Evil One and not of God.

God does care; He promised that He would never leave us without His help. Read His promise and let it sink deeply into your soul, "be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" (Hebrews 13:5).

03/14/09

Today was project day at our house. We finally finished up Wesley's house and Mikayla cooked her Mujadarah - the stew that Jacob was making when Esau wanted something to eat after hunting all day. It was the day Esau gave away his birthright. (Genesis 25:29-34). She also made hummus and will serve that with mini pita bread that we found today!

We had an adventure with Kevin at the grocery stores this morning. It was entertaining finding new and exciting things to eat as well as trying to find Mikayla's ingredients. Thankfully, Kevin came and helped us with preparing the stew since he had fixed it before. Mikayla did a great job cooking. She was so in her element and loved it. It made me so happy to know she enjoys it. In that respect she is better than her mother.... Here are some pics of her hard work today. :) (We still have a few things to cut up tomorrow, but they have to be done last minute. She will serve this to her class on Monday.) I really enjoyed doing this with her. (I am sure Kevin would say the same as he was the one coaching both of us! LOL)

Mashing a garlic clove... with a knife... but she did great!

Pouring lemon juice she had squeezed into her hummus mixture

Cutting up onion

Adding uncooked brown rice to the lentils and onions

Here is Wesley working on his project. He made a model of a house during Jesus' time. Steve and I did have to help him with bits and pieces but for the most part this was his project. He came up with a lot of the designs and clay pieces on his own. This is where he excels... and this is my element, too. He and I are a lot alike.

Painting the shoebox that will be his house

Working with the Sculpey clay to make his pottery and other items for the house

Beginning to put together the house.... notice his palm trees made out of clay and construction paper!

This is a top side view of the house... you can see his grinding stone on the left with bundles of "wheat" ready to be ground, a basket, table with a pitcher, mat for the people to sleep on, candle holder and lamp (I need to photograph that lamp up close. You wouldn't believe how good he did on that...), his stove and the baking stones on top.
Front of the house.. notice the latticework.... Steve helped out with that...
The top of the house had a roller for the top of the house so that they could roll out the mud when rains came, (he wanted to do that especially because that was the only "tractor" they had in Bible times). grass sometimes grew on the houses, and he also put pottery up there that they would have used to store things. You can also see the area where water collected for them surrounded by the palm trees. You may want to click on the picture for more detail. He was so tickled with his project. He spent a lot of time on his details.

03/13/09

I am so thankful it is Friday! It has been a long week, it seems. Not bad... just the time change, I think. We have been working on cleaning the house and such since we got back home from school. Lots to do this weekend with getting the Bible projects finished and some work for Steve and papers to grade. It will rain all weekend, too, so that will be a bit dreary. I'm continuing to remind myself that the Lord is sending this rain to replenish and not to let the dreary days get me down. Sunshine is such an uplifting thing, though!! :)