My friend Hollie had a wonderful post on her blog showing some of the shots that didn't make her holiday card. I loved her idea of the behind the scenes so I am posting some of mine. Enjoy!


What loving siblings...

I asked them seperate a bit. What a time to be obedient!

Somewhat loving...

Mary and Joseph

I just ran accross these pictures today! It was from Awana when they dressed up for Halloween. The Youth Pastor's son dressed up as Joseph and Kylie was so surprised when she saw him there! They pretty much hung out together the rest of the night.

Make a free ecard!

Just checking in...

I really haven't been able to post at all as we are still working on our old house and organizing our new place. It has been quite busy! Our Thanksgiving went well - we only had one boy here so it was pretty uneventful.

We are praying that all of our boys will be able to go home for Christmas. There are a few obsticles for them to go through but we are hopefull. Seems as though some of the parents are really making a good effort to get their kids back so we shall see!

I have been reading a fellow Houseparent's blog lately that has really stirred my soul. She has a passion about her newfound calling that is very inspiring. Puts me in my place too as I have lost my zeal at times when it comes to this job. Yes, I do see it as a ministry but I get so bogged down in the day to day I forget my purpose at times. Read it here!

Have a wonderful day and hug your kids...

Random thought of a drug induced mind...

So I am a bit foggy from being sick but this thought went through my head today.

If men are leaders of the home, why do women have to ask them to do things in black and white terms?

If anyone has the answer to this question, feel free to leave a comment!

Well, it is beginning to pay off...

My parenting philosophy is to start the kids young at activities they might not master until later. Cleaning, chores and helping out around the home have been one area that I try to be consistent with. While I don't expect them to do a bang up job, at least they are making an effort.

Well, tonight my daughter did something unexpected and it warmed my heart. Now she cleans well when asked mind you, but she noticed something that needed to be done and then did it. She walked into the bathroom and noticed that all of her hair bows and such had fallen from the basket onto the floor. She began to pick them all up and then neatly reorganize the whole basket area. She then informed me that she had done this after it was completed. I was so proud of her!

Also before bedtime (I am hoping it wasn't a stalling technique!) my daughter and son reminded ME that they needed to clean up their toys before bedtime. Kids can be such accountability?

So keep on keeping on. Hopefully it will pay off in the long run.

Wise Words...

Pause the music to the side then hit play on the box below to ponder the wise words of none other than Paul Simon. Enjoy!

Outrageous Video

Outrageous lyrics - Paul Simon lyrics

Paul Simon Music Videos

Music Video Codes by VideoCure

We had an awesome day at Sommersby's Farm in Oviedo celebrating Kylie's 4th birthday party. It is hard to imagine that she is 4! Kylie's friends had a blast riding the pony and playing with the miniture horses and the resident goat. Enjoy the pictures!

Leave a comment as to which one you like!

Let me know if it is the Homeschool blogger one or this one! Thanks!

Well, I am just a mixed up kinda girl!

I don't know what blogging platform to use... So for now I will continue using HSB at www.homeschoolblogger.com/kristina . Come see me over there!

Well, since we stayed at home all day yesterday due to sick kids, I decided that we needed to venture out of the virus infected house and go to the beach. It was just what the Dr. ordered as the kids had a great time and forgot that they were a bit under the weather.

The kids were so cute walking down to the beach. They got out of the van and immediately held hands until they reached the sand.














































I just wanted to snap some pictures while they were playing in the sand. Kylie played along but Luke, well, the picture says it all.





  





                  

This morning we ventured out of the house and went to Lukas Nursery. This place was amazing! It had acres and acres of beautiful plants all grown here in Florida! This put the Home Depot's and Target Garden Spots to shame. I can't wait to go there for a few hours by myself so I can just brainstorm what to do with my yard!


They also have the Butterfly Encounter. We entered into a hot steamy greenhouse that had hundreds of beautiful butterflies in them. I wish I had the kids on videotape when we first entered the greenhouse as their expressions were priceless! They were in awe of the butterfies that greeted them!

Luke wasn't being to social towards the camera this morning. Every time I came near him he told me "no camera" and proceeded to look down. Humph.

                                        

There was an area where you could touch the butterflies and attempt to feed them off of your finger. They had cups of gatorade that you dipped your finger in and then chased around the poor guys that were in the "refueling station." Needless to say, they didn't really want the gatorade. 


                                 

We had one guy that rested on our finger but he didn't stay for long!

Today is the day! I feel like I am part of the "blogging club" as I have been tagged. Lynn over at A Mother's Journal got me!


Here’s how it works: Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules. You need to tag others and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog

7 Random Facts about Kristina


~ My dates with my DH were  either working with his Youth Group, transporting children on each other's caseload (we worked for the State of FL) or helping a single mom with her 4 kids. We definitely knew each other's parenting style by the time we were married! Talk about romantic huh??




~ Upon being married, we already had a 14 year old son. I was 13 when I had him!! Ok, not really, we adopted a boy that my DH had on his caseload (also from the state of FL.!) He has since returned to his bio mom.




~ My secret passion is scuba diving. When my kids get old enough to snorkel, we will be living in the ocean! I haven't gone since I have been married which is 6 years. It is dern expensive to take a trip when you aren't working for a dive shop - which I did when I was in college.



~ I never thought I would homeschool. I thought the PS system was foolproof... Then I moved to Florida.



~ Out of all my friends, I think I have the fewest kids (2). My friends who were childless not 7 months ago, just got pregnant with triplets! Everyone around me seems to be pregnant or with a new baby so I have the itch BAD! Pray for my poor DH...



~ I think about moving almost daily. I love where I am but I enjoy the excitement of being somewhere new. My DH shares this passion thankfully!



~ We go to Theme parks almost every other week! Hey, we live in Orlando. I just pray that my kids grow up normal. I mean who can compete with a theme park - they think it is a normal outing just like a playground or the library!



DONE! That was hard! Now the really hard part starts... Tagging someone else. I am going to tag two people I would love to see around blogsphere more. I love their stories and their humor just cracks me up. Now Megan is someone I work with. She has one of those new babies I was talking about! He us a cutey by the way. If you click on the link, you will see his picture. And Shay, well she also has a good excuse of why she isn't blogging too much. She also has a sweet precious new bundle. And a bunch of other kids too. Her heart is so sweet and I really miss hearing what she has to say! So now you have been tagged.

Blueberries for Sal

(Pause player at the sidebar to listen to the video's below)

This week we "rowed" Blueberries for Sal. It is such a sweet story that teaches so many wonderful things to our kids!
It all started when I was driving a Florida backroad and I saw a sign for blueberry picking during the months of April and May. I thought to myself, I must do Blueberries for Sal and take them blueberry picking! So I got out my B4FIAR manual and poured over what I wanted to do with the kids. Then that week I went to Target and found the cutest little tin pails that would be perfect for picking!


So during the week I started looking up blueberry farms in Fl. Guess what. No blueberries. The birds were all taking advantage of the yummy fruit and there was nothing. So when my kids heard me drive up to a local grocery store, they asked "what are we doing?" I replied, "picking blueberries at Publix!" My poor DH jumped out of the van and went into Publix and came out as white as a sheet. He found blueberries alright. At $4.00 for a miniscule container.   My DH is more than frugal so I was very thankful that he did this wonderful gesture for our kids.


I ended up cutting out green construction paper for the leaves and put toothpicks inside of them to attach the blueberry on. It worked out fine and they were able to pick all they wanted and listen for the famous "kerplink, kerplank, kerplunk!"

I am so thankful to have a DH that loves "rowing" books as well. He had such a fun time reading the story while the kids picked their blueberries.




Luke had a good time learning about the color blue. He enjoyed coloring his blueberries as shown here.







Kylie and Luke also got to do a collage of animals that they picked out of a magizine. In Blueberries for Sal there were a number of animals such as crows, bears and partriges. So we cut out pictures of bears, birds and spiders (?) and matched them all together.












We did so many fun things, mostly from the B4 manual but this picture was so funny to me. At night snack, I let them have blueberry yogurt. Kylie I think was a bit burnt out from all of the picture taking so this is what I got.

In Blueberries for Sal, the mother and child become lost from eachother so when we took a family trip to Sea World, I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to discuss safety. Kylie and I pretended to be the Mommy and Little bear and she payed special attention to not get seperated from me.

To end up the week we had an impromptu Blueberry picnic for dinner. My DD had pulled out a blanket and was having her own picnic when she said "let's have a cereal picnic!" I looked in our pantry and what did we have? Blueberry Morning cereal! "Ok" I told her so we all sat down and had cereal for dinner. Stellar mommy moment there... Fun none the less.

Uugghhhh....

Today was the first day in parenting history that I have left my children in a friends care for over a few hours. I left them for 8 hours today! Not only did I leave them today, I will be leaving them for 3 more days as I complete a mandatory training at work.

This is why we work at the Children's Home... So we don't have to send them to daycare. I am with them 24/7. Do I believe in babysitting? Oh, absolutely! Just never happens though in my life.

Prayers were sent up to God as today approached. Thankfully God heard those prayers and my kids had a great time. My DS said he didn't even cry for me! Yippee!

The sad thing though, was that I didn't really get to spend any time with them after dinner/errands/bath then bed. Not compared to the hours and hours and hours that I am with them daily. I know their every emotion in detail! But today, I only got the synopsis of the day... Sniff...

Thankfully, my DD likes to talk so she gave me a detailed version but still. It doesn't compare to really being there.

Sappy, I know. But I love my kids and enjoy being around them.

Here are my sweet darlings playing out on the playground. Don't they look like they are so innocent and sweet? Don't let them fool you!!!

Making a switch?

Here I sit, debating whether or not to switch from HSB to here... I really enjoy the community of HSB but don't like the agonizing over designing my blog. I just want to type and post pictures and videos. That is it! So I am checking this out for awhile to see how it goes...