Saturday, September 12, 2009

All About Me!


Howdy! Thanks for visiting my blog!  My name is Blair, and I'm a Catholic homeschooling mom.  Steven is my husband of 15 years, and our six great kids are Mary Clare (15), Elizabeth Ann Marie "Ellie" (13), Steven Joseph Jr. (10), Thomas William (7), Katherine Maria Grace "Katie" (4), and Peter Edward (Nov 2016).  We're Texas Aggies and met at St. Mary's Catholic Center while attending Texas A&M University.  Steven operates a small oil company, and I keep busy with homeschooling, homemaking, and chronicling our life on this little blog here.  We love having visitors to our house, just like I love having visitors to my blog.  So I hope you'll come back again.  Please leave a comment so I can meet you, too!

Here are some fun facts about me....

Remember back in grade school when you'd bring a paper sack or decorate a poster with all your favorite things during the first few days of school? What 10 things would go in your paper sack?

My paper sack would include:

1. crucifix--I'm a devout Catholic,
trying my best to know, love, and serve the Lord.




2. fishing lure--My greatest "catch" is my avid
outdoorsman and hubby Steven.




3. hairbow--My girls love to dress up and
we're enjoying learning new braiding hairstyles
together.  They are definitely girly-girls who love
arts and crafts, ballet, and American Girl dolls.


4. ball--All the boys in the house love sports!
Steven Joseph and Thomas both play Little League
baseball.



5. pencil--Most of my days are spent homeschooling,
and my college degree was actually Elementary Education.
I spent many years working in preschools, public schools,
and private schools before having children.


6. watercolor paints--I'm a fan of the Fine Arts,
and love to share them with my kids. My mom
is an artist, and I spent most of my childhood in
the dance studio. I also enjoy art projects, crafting,
home decorating, photography, and beautiful music.


7. Oreo cookie--In elementary school, I was
known for bringing the giant "Big Stuff" Oreos
to school every day. Blue Bell Cookies and
Cream ice cream is my favorite!


8. Texas map--I've spent my entire life living
"Deep in the Heart" of Texas.  I pledge allegiance
to thee, Texas, one and indivisible :)



9. seashell--I love the beach! We live near
the coast, and Steven loves to fish, so we usually
get to visit the beach often. I find great peace
and beauty in watching the waves and considering
how great is the Maker of the seas.


10. computer mouse--Our iMac computer is my link
to the outside world when I feel trapped inside the
four walls of my house with lots of loud children!
Blogging has become a really fun hobby, and I'm
happy to share about our little life with all of you!

a favorite quote--"Peace begins with a smile." (Mother Teresa)
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Friday, September 11, 2009

Playing in the Rain






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Wednesday, September 09, 2009

Published Works

 






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Homeschooling Mamas

Last night I hosted a Back to Homeschooling social...
Got out my grandmother's china for the first time ever!

and the table spread looked like this

Yum! This grub kept some of us mamas going strong
'till around 2:00 IN THE MORNING!

Us homeschooling mamas, we're some party animals!
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Along the Alphabet Path

Using the lesson plans on Serendipity and taking lots of the ideas from Jessica, here are the highlights of our first week of homeschooling.

A is for....

Crayola Model Magic which we will dry and display

Mrs. Applebee from Along the Alphabet Path

tutorial here

Apple Blossom Fairy from the Flower Fairies

coloring page from Flower Fairy website,
also listened to the CD

St. Anne

coloring page from Waltzing Matilda and
life story from Miniature Stories of the Saints

Apples

Cezanne's Apple still life images from Child-Sized Masterpieces

Angels

Angel of God and Angelus prayers
Angels, Angels Everywhere and Little Angel Reader A

and Apple Pie!

How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World

B Week is going great, so come back to visit next week!
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WOL TV

Our 2nd video segment for The Woodlands Online.

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Links

(links to subject areas such as homeschooling and thriftiness are on my sidebar)

Family Businesses
Favorite Websites and Forums

Blogs of Friends and Family

Other Favorite Blogs

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Sunday, September 06, 2009

daddy's birthday edition

birthday vigil: double date to star pizza and matt maher adore concert/worship night
YES I WON THE FREE TICKETS thanks to Adore Ministries!
(thanks to grampatti and bopbop for caring for the kiddos!)

i'm alive again! what a wonderful night of worship

birthday morning: mass and lunch with the fam
birthday afternoon: german chocolate cake

ellie's response to this: "i like chocolate cake but without the german."

favorite birthday gift: 3 free pocket constitutions thanks to an old friend on facebook :) i knew he'd love 'em!

happy birthday to you! may you have many, many more happy birthdays and may God abundantly bless you in this next year of life! we love you!
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Saturday, September 05, 2009

A performance at the children's museum






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Thursday, September 03, 2009

7 Quick Takes, or maybe 8

~~1~~

Do you remember these things? My kids think they're the coolest. We get them about once a year, long enough for them to forget how fun it is to watch a bug (or other creature) emerge from a clear "pill."

~~2~~
The other day I came home from a workout and the girls had put together a party for Steven & I in the bedroom...complete with snacks, pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey (see below), and presents. The presents are a bird made of plastic spoons and tape, and a wooden "coaster" that says Mom I {heart} U on one side and Dad I {heart} U on the other. We are so loved!


~~3~~
Ellie still has her pink blankey--"ray-rays," seen below between the pillows, but they started getting so long and stringy that I was worried about strangulation. So I cut them up into pieces and they're all over the house. Hopefully they'll get lost in the next few months!

Did I ever blog about the time that a restaurant bus boy threw one away and had to dig it out of the trash for us? It was pretty funny.

~~4~~
Are you wondering what happened to this doll? She had joined the kids in the tub too many times and was found to be covered in black mold inside. The kids were in the bath last night and all of a sudden these black things started floating around. Ew! Had to move them to the shower. Verdict is still out on the doll's chances of survival. Mary Clare is trying to spare her life by soaking her...


~~5~~
This one's for Kiley with the kids in their Doha gear, pointing to Qatar on the map! Thanks so much, Kiley...we love all the gifts and were so thankful to get to see you guys!


~~6~~
Mary Clare insisted I photograph her doing this today.


~~7~~
(speaking of 7, I've awakened during the 7 o'clock hour all week, go me!)
How to Make an Apple Pie and see the world is a great book. The apple pie recipe in the back is awesome! A good activity for "A" week!


~~8~~
Had to add in my little man practicing his holy water-Sign of the Cross skills with dirty water from a bowl in the sink. Nice.


Visit Jen for more Quick Takes!
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Wednesday, September 02, 2009

My big girl.

We've had three days of our official new homeschool year, and unfortunately the mornings have gotten harder each day. Yesterday we had some whining and complaining once we got past the "fun" stuff, but today was an all-out refusal to do what was asked. The principal (aka Daddy) had to be called in, many tears were shed, and I ended the morning worried about what was to come.

But then we had the picnic. I'll have to do a separate post about the Miss/Mister Manners picnic to end this month-long program of our homeschool group. It was the sweetest little park day with all these precious children dressed so nicely and dancing together, playing games, reciting poetry, picnicking...


It really brightened the day!

But then we were back home and back to my homeschooling challenges. I've written a bit about my reading concerns with my sweet girl. Things just didn't seem to be clicking and I've spent the past few months researching and questioning friends, trying to pick the "perfect" phonics/reading program for this year.


I finally decided on the "Sound Beginnings" program. I ordered it last week from a Catholic yahoogroup for used homeschooling books. I also planned to get a set of the Catholic Children's Treasure Box books from the same seller. But at the last minute, I decided those were a bit too pricey, and not necessary. Before completing my order, though, I asked the seller about one other item she was selling that goes with Sound Beginnings, "The Early Reader's Bible."

Wouldn't you know...of all the hundreds of books in our house, the one that Mary Clare decided to pick up on her own and start reading tonight, page after page, with a happy attitude...

The Early Reader's Bible that I nearly didn't even purchase! I just started crying watching her read. She was so excited to read it herself, and the wording was so sweet, reminding children to thank God for all the things he created.

Tonight as I watched her fall asleep, I looked over and realized that I have a big girl now. A big first grader. And a big reader! I'm so proud of her. And I could tell she was so proud of herself!

God just wanted me to be able to say that her first book to read was the Bible, LOL! She informed me that she'll be reading my big Bible next...when she's in 5th grade, that is.
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Can you guess


what kind of YouTube video they were watching?

Okay, well only Melissa and my sis-in-law over the phone were interested in playing...
They were watching a fishing video about Takahiro Omori where he talks about the tank/pool in his backyard where he tries out new "crank bait." Steven loves the way he says "crank bait" in his Japanese accent.

You were going to guess a crank bait YouTube video...right?
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