Christmas Fellowship

Today was our Christmas fellowship after church. We had a good turnout and everyone had fun. After church, but before the food the kids sang Joy to the World, but since only two knew the song everyone sang with them. The food was delicious. We are becoming like a family and it is wonderful to see all these people who, not long ago, were strangers laughing and having fun together. Sabrina wore a beautiful fancy green dress, (I wanted her to wear it before she outgrows it). We ended up with a lot of goodies to take home. The best part is that 2 prayed for salvation; God is working in the hearts of men and women in sin city.

Marie-Anne

Saving money on kids clothes

For Alex (when we lived in Washington) and Sabrina most of their clothes were given to us. My sister, Jennifer has a one year old so she sent me a lot of Amelia’s outgrown clothes. Since the cousins aren’t living next door or even in the same state no one will know that Sabrina’s clothes are hand-me-downs in excellent shape. When they outgrow the clothes I will pass them on to someone who can use them, sell them at a consignment shop, or donate them to a crises pregnancy center.

For Alex now I shop clearance sales in a size or two bigger than he’s wearing. I also bought some cute dresses in a size or two bigger than Amelia is wearing and when she’s outgrown them I’ll get them back for Sabrina.

Saving money on books

We use the library quite a bit, but I also love owning books. I rarely pay full price for books. I usually buy them from thrift stores, garage sales, Amazon (I include shipping in figuring the cost), or from the friends of the library’s sales. When we get rid of books we either sell them at a used bookstore, garage sale, or donate the kid’s books to the local pregnancy center or to an overseas military program to record deployed parents reading for their kids.

Marie-Anne

Early finance lessons

Wanting all of the Imaginext toys has made Alex learn about money. He may get some for Christmas, but if he wants more than that, he has to do extra chores to earn the money. He has already earned enough and bought the Treasure Keeper to go with his castle. Alex also has about half of what he needs to buy the next one he wants. We will also have him put part of his earnings in a saving account and, of course, pay tithe.

Marie-Anne

Cute Easy crafts

Homemade lacing cards- Color a coloring sheets then cut it out and glue it onto a cereal box (or print it on card stock). Cut it out and use a hole punch to make evenly spaced holes all around the outside edge. You can use shoelaces or even curling ribbon to be laces.

Color pictures of people using whatever theme you want then cut them out. Cut out the faces of pictures of your family then glue them in place of the coloring pages’ face. We used a royalty theme; Frank as a king, Alex as a knight, Sabrina as a princess, and me as a queen.

Marie-Anne

Cooking

I have been cooking more and eating at home a lot more. I have discovered that in addition to saving money and being healthier, I really do like to cook and I like to try new recipes. In the last few months we have had loaded potato soup, banana nut bread, peanut butter cookies, winter stew, apple pie, and of course, snowballs, chocolate balls, and pumpkin bread. All of these were new recipes to me and my family has enjoyed every one. Please share your favorite recipes- I’d like to try them!

Marie-Anne

Things I learned

· Babies don’t like it when you warm your hands on their backs
· My wife doesn’t like being charged for me babysitting our kids, when she is doing housework.

Frank

A snowball fight…in Las Vegas

Yesterday there was snow on the mountains and the other side of town got snow. Alex has been asking for snow so I was disappointed that we didn’t get any. Today has been rainy. My mom called after she saw a news report about snow in Las Vegas, I looked out the window and to my surprise the rain turned to snow! Alex and I immediately got ready and went out. He had a blast running back and forth through the snow.





When Frank got home Alex and I headed out back where some snow accumulated on his toys and we had a snowball fight. When my fingers got cold I traded off with Frank. Alex had mittens, but unfortunately the wetness soaked through and when he came in he was in pain. We’ll have to get him some better gloves.

Marie-Anne

Old Mormon Fort

We went to the Old Mormon Fort’s Pioneer Christmas on Friday. We heard there wasn’t much to the Old Mormon Fort, but it was only $2 for the whole family and it was something we could do after Frank got off work. The museum was small, but nice- I enjoyed it although Alex was in no mood to just slowly look, so I didn’t get to read much. We went outside to the Civil War era soldiers. I think Frank and I were more impressed than Alex was. The soldier we talked to gave us a lot of information about the weapons used during the Civil War. We saw Christmas trees decorated, as they would have been in the pioneer days. We watched a lady basket weaving and had some cobbler. It was fun.

Marie-Anne

Parents Visit

We really enjoyed Frank’s parent’s visit. It was the first time they got to meet the new addition to our family! Also, they helped us usher in the Holiday Season: we put up the Christmas tree with them and baked holiday goodies like Snowballs, Chocolate balls, and pumpkin bread. Alva and I left the kids with the guys and went shopping for kitchen appliances, one such item is awesome: a chopper, a device you put food in and it chops the food up. We went to “Famous Dave’s” barbecue restaurant, and on the last day of the trip, we went to the Shark Reef. The Shark Reef a gigantic indoor aquarium that is really cool.

Alex enjoyed showing off his toys and having someone new to play with. I was sad to see them go. I love the chopper!

Guess what I am!

Guess What I Am! I saw this game advertised today and I love it. I went to the website:

http://www.guesswhatiamgame.com/

I am planning on buying this for my children and also for my brother’s kids. This is a game that I will enjoy playing with Alex and Sabrina, (when she’s old enough). It’s silly fun and think of the great scrapbook page you can make using the faces! This will make for a great family night!

Marie-Anne

Tuna Casserole

Here’s a twist on my grandma’s tuna casserole. Even Alex asks for seconds.

Regular potato chips
2 cans tuna
1 can sweet peas
2-3 cans mushroom soup
2 cans mushrooms

Crush chips in bottom of casserole dish. Drain and pour sweet peas, tuna, and mushrooms spreading them out. Cover with mushroom soup making sure to completely cover. Cook for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

Marie-Anne

Hooked on Phonics works for Alex!

Alex is starting to read using Hooked on Phonics for kindergarten. In one day he was reading the words of that lesson. He is about to start the third lesson and already has read the two short stories that go with the lessons. After the next lesson Alex will read his first book! I have not been using the CD, just the workbook. We have used letter magnets and I just got two packs of letter foam tiles, (88 cents at Wal-Mart) to make it more interesting. Today we handed Alex the letters of the first lesson and told him what words to spell and he got them all right, until he started being silly.

Teaching Alex to read was one of my main concerns when we started homeschool, but using Hooked on Phonics has made it so easy. I do recommend Hooked on Phonics. It is available at our library and may be at yours if you want to try it. I bought the complete set kindergarten to second grade for $40 at Big Lots.

Marie-Anne

Children's museum with mom

Today is Alex’s b-day, but that’s not why we went to the Children’s Museum. We went so my mom could enjoy spending time with her grandson that she doesn’t get to see that often. This was Alex’s third time to go there, but mom’s first. Sabrina slept the whole time until right before we left. We took lots of pictures to go into his scrapbook and she videoed him playing.

Alex looks through his scrapbook over and over and relives the events and memories of the time spent with people. It’s a way of helping him stay close to family members who live far away.

After Frank got off work we went out to eat at Famous Dave’s (YUM!) and we had them sing happy b-day to Alex.

Marie-Anne

Small Changes for a healthier me

~ No eating after 9 pm

~ Drink water after 9 pm

~ When doing errands pack a water and fruit for me

~ Walk around the neighborhood a couple times a day

~ Wear ankle weights

~ Instead of going to McDonalds on shopping days pack a lunch and go to the park

~ Spend 10 minutes a day walking up and down the stairs

~ Snack on fruit rather than junk food (most of the time)

~ Cook and eat at home more often

~ Use hand weights daily

Marie-Anne

Life with a new baby

Life sure is different around here. That’s an understatement. We are adjusting to having a baby around. Alex loves his little sister, but sometimes resents the time we spend with her. We are going from having one child who can do a lot of things for himself to having someone who depends on us for everything and having to meet Alex’s needs also. Sabrina is so cute, but I think she’s much cuter during the day than at 3 am. I am thankful that my mom is here- she’s a great help. We are blessed.

Marie-Anne

Happy 4th b-day Alex!

We celebrated Alex’s b-day today. Mom, Alex, Sabrina, and I went to Toys R Us and she got him almost the rest of the imaginext city toys plus the helicopter. I got him the police horse. Tonight we (Alex, Sabrina, Frank, mom, and I) went to Peter Piper Pizza. Alex had a blast! He almost forgot he had more gifts. Alex also got a couple of shirts, a pair of pants, a Thomas book, a mirror, and a model solar system from Frank’s parents. He got a talking fire fighter helmet from Jennifer. From us he got a construction magnet set, a drill, and some Bob the Builder toys and books.

Marie-Anne

Fisher Price Imaginext

Alex got a gift card for being in the Toys R Us b-day club. He chose the imaginext fire fighters. Alex loves fire fighters- he is one after all. We later went back and got him the fire station set for a becoming a big brother gift. My mom bought him almost the rest of the city set for his b-day. I love these toys almost as much as Alex does. We will probably get him the last few in this set for Christmas. Of course he also wants all the other sets, but he can’t have everything he wants.

Marie-Anne

Shots hurt

Shots hurt- no duh, right? When it is your child they don’t just hurt the one getting them. Alex got his 4-year-old shots today. He got 5 shots and had blood taken from his finger. He was already scared before we got there. When the nurse pricked his finger he sobbed, “God, heal me!” I had to hold him down and even then he came off the table twice. Alex was so upset that several times on the way home he would burst into tears and tell me how mean the doctor was to him. I’m glad he doesn’t have to get them that often.

Marie-Anne

It's a Girl!

Sabrina Marie Rendla was born at 5:06PM Wednesday, November 5th 2008. She was a whopping 9lb 10oz of healthy baby. Mother and child are doing fine.