Life with our blessings.

Ever wonder about teaching your child reading?

dixieflower — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 23:10:57 +0000

I’m sure many parents worry about their child learning to read. I know I do a lot considering I plan to homeschool my sons. I have helped homeschool my nephew and nieces however, when they began homeschooling they already had a pretty good foundation in reading. My two sons though are ages 33 months and 13 months. So I will be laying the foundation for their reading skills. I have been doing a lot of research in the internet homeschool “world” to see what resources are out there to help me with this. I subscribe to Freely Educate’s email newsletter. They are a wonderful source for the homeschooling parent. Right now they have a giveaway for Level One All About Reading curriculum. So I went and looked at it and was really impressed. This curriculum has a 1 year money back guarantee. Here is what the publishers of All About Reading say about it:

“Here’s Why All About Reading Works

Your child will be actively involved in the learning process. This is a true multisensory program: your child will learn through sight, sound, and touch. Everything is taught in context, and your child applies new learning right away. Your child will be engaged in thinking, processing, comparing, and learning.

Students who use the All About Reading method tend to feel a sense of excitement in learning. And they should! They are learning how to think, explore, and grow in their abilities. They feel successful as they see continual progress.

There are no gaps in this program. Your child will be taught everything he or she needs to know about reading, so no guessing is required. Each new concept builds upon the previous one, and no steps are skipped.

There are five key components of reading—and our program teaches all of them thoroughly. Those components are:

Phonological Awareness
Phonics and Decoding
Fluency
Vocabulary
Comprehension

Most importantly, All About Reading is committed to results. The All About Reading program has a very focused mission: to enable you to teach your child to read as quickly as you can, while guaranteeing retention and enjoyment. Our approach to reading develops children into confident readers who absorb and retain new information.”

If you think you might be interested in this curriculum you can try to win it at Freely Educate.

Church Family???

dixieflower — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 22:09:46 +0000

I don’t typically post about politics or religion. However, something has happened at the church I attend and it has had me really thinking about things. Granted to a lot of members at this church my family and I are “new” members. We just started attending this church again a few years ago. What they don’t know though is I had started attending this church when I was 5 years old and attended there until I was approximately 15 or 16 years old. So you could say I was basically raised in this church. The members of the church at that time and the ones that were still there I consider family. It tugs at my heart that recent events have made it to where many of these members have decided to no longer attend. I returned to this church when I began having my family because of how close members were. We were attending a local “big” church and I didn’t like it. It’s not where I wanted my children to grow up attending. I didn’t want them to be lost in a sea of strangers. One of the arguments for the exodus was that what people were wanting was needed to keep and bring “young” families here at the church. That the church needs to be “revitalized”! That if this wasn’t going to happen they were leaving. Do you know how childish this all sounds? It reminds me of a child gathering up all their toys because others weren’t playing the way they wanted them to play. The opposite of what you are arguing you want to happen has happened. There are many of us that didn’t see the reason you were so passionate about what you wanted. Why not try to convince those of us that oppose it instead of just “packing your toys and leaving”? I have honestly considered not attending church anymore. There is way too much tension. Too much gossiping and talking behind others backs. I guess Pastor Harper was right when he said “The place you will find the most hypocrites is in the pews of a church”

House Party

dixieflower — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 00:59:43 +0000

After I posted yesterday I got to thinking. I’ve never mentioned house party on my blog before so those that do follow my blog might not have any idea as to what it’s all about. HouseParty.com is a site that you sign up with. They have various sponsors that are looking for people to host parties to promote their items. You fill out an application for each party that you are interested in. Then once the applications close they go through the applicants and see who fits best for what the sponsor is looking for. I have been signed up with house party since 2008 and have hosted 7 parties. For each of the parties the host is sent a party box, has a party site on house party, as well as sponsor site with ideas for your party. The party boxes vary but they will either have the product that is being promoted or coupons for the promoted item. The coupons usually have a set for the host (items free or at a significant discount) and a set for the party guests that have a discount on the promoted item. They also have little trinkets to send home with guests. Your party site on house party has where you can upload pictures from your party. You can also send invitations to your party from it as well as manage your guest list there. There are several party applications that are currently open on the site right now. One of the big ones is the Halloween Monster Party 2011. They will be accepting applications for this one until October 4th. So check out #monsterhouseparty or #Halloween House Party if you are interested. You can also go to HouseParty.com. Party On!!!

Here are some pictures from they #Halloween House Partyparty I was asked to host.

Chef Boyardee House Party

dixieflower — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 22:00:07 +0000

I have been signed up with House Party since 2008 and really enjoy the opportunity they give me to try the various promotions that they have. The most recent party that I hosted was the Chef Boyardee House Party. The purpose of this party was to showcase Chef Boyardee in a new light. For most of us Chef Boyardee means opening a can, dumping into a bowl or pot and then reheating the product. Chef Boyardee has actually come up with a few recipes that incorporate their product into main meal entrees.

House Party sent me a Party Pack with 6 Coupons for FREE cans of Chef Boyardee product, Coupons to save on Chef Boyardee product, a Chef Boyardee tote bag, Chef hat, Chef Boyardee recipe cards, and Chef Boyardee notepads. For my party I chose to make three of the 5 recipes that we had been given. The first was a ravioli lasagna, the second was a taco roni, and the third was a chili mac. I also made cornbread and garlic bread to go with these as well as a Cesar salad. My guests began to arrive at 5pm for the party. Once everyone was here I went over the purpose of this party and the recipes that we would be tasting. I then asked if any of the guests would like to help in making any of the entrees so they could see the ease in making this dishes. A few of the guests did. So while we prepared dinner the other guests socialized. Dinner was rather easy to prepare. All of the recipes took less than 30 min from prep to finished.

The results from two of the recipes though were not all that favorable. My guests unanimously agreed that something was definitely missing from the Ravioli Lasagna and the Chili Mac. The Taco Roni though was awesome. Some of the guest suggestions for the Ravioli Lasagna was to use fresh spiniach instead of the frozen and to use ricotta cheese instead of cottage cheese. For the Chili Mac guests suggested that it just needed more seasoning. That it was just bland. In the next month or so I will try the guest suggestions and see if it changes the response to those two recipes. I will be sure to blog about those results.

Here is the recipe for the Taco Roni:

Close up of Taco Roni

Ingredients

2 cans (15 oz each) Chef Boyardee® Beefaroni®
1 can (14.5 oz each) Hunt’s® Diced Tomatoes, drained
1 can (15 oz each) Rosarita® Premium Whole Black Beans, drained, rinsed
1 cup frozen whole kernel corn
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 cup shredded reduced fat Mexican cheese blend
1/2 cup broken yellow tortilla chips

Directions

Place Beefaroni, drained tomatoes, beans, corn and cumin in large saucepan; stir to combine.
Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 15 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese and broken chips just before serving.

It's Chef Boyardee time!!!

Ravioli Lasagna, Chili Roni, garlic bread, cornbread and Caesar Salad.

Do you know what your..

dixieflower — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 23:31:16 +0000

breaking point is? I like to think I’m a fairly patient person. My own husband has told me at times that I let too many people walk over me. I’m a firm believer that there is a time and place for everything. That sometimes it’s best to keep quiet. I always think of the logistical side of things. Well folks I do believe I reached my breaking point today. Let me just say I absolutely love my job. I have been doing this for 6 yrs now and wouldn’t have it any other way. However, there have been somethings going on that have me reconsidering where I’m at right now. I realized today that at some point I need to take into consideration my family and how certain things affect them also. I know that this too shall pass and will get better. However, I have now found my breaking point.

Today was one of those days….

dixieflower — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 03:44:52 +0000

Today was one of those days that I really wish that Alex was home. It’s one of those days that I wish I could have come home to his arms and just cry. Just to have him hold me and tell me that everything is going to be okay. To have him look at me and remind me why I do what I do. He’d remind me of the aspects that I really enjoy. I knew it was going to be rough when we both agreed that he was going to use his CDL and go with this truck company (OTR). I knew that there would be rough days with Edwin and Evan. Those I can handle. Today though is a day that is rougher than any day with a 29 month old and an 8 month old. I can’t truly vent to anyone about it since it pertains to my job, however it’s very frustrating and has got me very unnerved. When I spoke to Alex last night he told me about how he’s really enjoying being OTR and for that I’m very thankful. I know how important it is to enjoy what you are doing. I will openly admit that when we made the decision for him to go OTR I was ecstatic. I thought this will be great for us we really need some time apart. Then I watched him board that Greyhound bus June 17th and it began to sink in. Even though I am very independent I do rely on him for a lot. It’s not just a physical relying. I mean I can use tools and fix most anything that needs to be fixed. It’s the emotional support. Yes, we’ve had our ups and downs. We’ve had our disagreements and have even been upset with each other on more than one occasion. In almost 5 yrs of being married though I never realized just how much he helped me in keeping myself level. There is a reason why our paths kept crossing after we broke up at age 16 and went on our own paths. There were many things that happened in each of our lives during those almost 20 years that had to happen so we could be where we are now. I’m glad that things have turned out how they have but I really miss my husband.

So sorry for neglecting everyone.

dixieflower — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 02:49:26 +0000

Sorry everyone, things have just been a bit hectic around here. Things have slowly started to get back to normal so I hope to keep this blog updated. Everyone is doing good. Edwin just had his second birthday and of course it was decked out with “toot toot”. Evan is doing great. At his last appointment he was 14.5 lbs and is 24 inches long. He’s smiling and talking up a storm.

dixieflower — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:16:10 +0000

Well I had my consult with the CPM and her apprentice today. She’s going to do a bit of researching of how to best help me with my pregnancy and labor. We are going to touch base in two weeks and see how things go from there. She gave me her consult folder with paperwork to fill out and read. I’m feeling a lot better about this now. Now I need to save up for her deposit before we have our first prenatal visit.

Who would have thought I would be more nervous about a CPM consult than an OB appointment?

dixieflower — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 02:16:49 +0000

I called and set my consult with a local CPM (certified professional midwife) earlier this week. I will meet with her next Wednesday. This is just an initial consult to see how we are together and to see ifshe would consider taking me on during this pregnancy, talk about birth and delivery etc… I just started getting apprehensive about this consult. I have never been apprehensive about any other doctor appointment. So I have tried to figure out why this is so different. Then it hit me. This is one situation where if the answer is no I don’t really have any other options. If an OB doesn’t want to take me on there are a ton of other OB’s out there. I guess if I lived in my own home instead of living as a live in companion I wouldn’t be quite as apprehensive. Since then I would have a few more options should the answer at this consult be no. I really want to have this CPM because she has done this for years and has the added benefit of having birth suites in her home. So unless it was absolutely needed I wouldn’t have to set foot in a hospital. If we lived in our own place there are a few other midwives in the area that could be an option. However,that is not the case. So I guess what really has me more apprehensive is the fact that there is a chance I might have to return to the hospital to have this baby. Don’t get me wrong I know that there are lots of women that prefer to have their babies in the hospital and lots of situations that hospitals are needed for births. However, I had a normal pregnancy with Edwin. I had a normal birth with him. I really see no need to be in the hospital where I am outside of my comfort zone and people are telling me what to do instead of listening to my own body.There were constant interruptions as I was trying to work through my contractions. I am so glad that I have Alex’s support with this. I talked with my mom today and I think she’s finally coming on board.

Our second miracle is on his/her way.

dixieflower — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:58:42 +0000

Well our second miracle is on it’s way. So much for the fertility “specialists”. Don’t get me wrong we are absolutely ecstatic. I just keep thinking back to when I received the results from the fertility clinic and read the words “no chance of natural conception”. Who would think that those 5 words would throw someone into such a emotional roller coaster as they did. I wonder how many others were told the same and had their hearts broke or their dreams shattered by those exact words? I understand that medicine isn’t exact, yet they give exact answers. I have contacted a local midwife that has birth suites in her home. My consult with her is next week. I really hope that she feels that I am a good candidate for her services. I absolutely do not want to have this baby in the hospital. Guess the next 9 months will be blog updates about this pregnancy. I also hope to keep Edwin’s blog updated. (we shall see)