Posted by Cindy on September 24, 2007
Thanks to Nancy, who created a pretty banner for my weekly inspiration post! You can go here to see why I’m adding this to my blog each week.
Quote of the Week:
I learned most, not from those who taught me, but from those who talked with me. ~ St. Augustine
1 Corinthians 13 Inspiration of the Week:
Bake an applie pie. Give 1/2 to a neighbor.
“Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under Thy wings.” Psalm 17:8
Apple Freezing Tip: Place peeled, sliced apples in a bowl with 1/4 cup sugar for every 4 cups of apples. Stir gently. Place in freezer bags and freeze. To use, taw and drain apples. Proceed with pie or crisp recipe as usual.
Posted by Cindy on September 17, 2007
Why is it that you usually feel dirtier after showering at a hotel than you did before you showered? Why is it that once the baby finally falls asleep in his carseat, somebody else in the car decides they have to use the bathroom and can’t possibly hold it – thus waking up the baby with all the commotion of stopping. Why is it that a seven hour trip seems like a 15 hour trip with a baby?
Thank the Lord, and my husband, that we decided not to go to Jamestown this year. That would have been a 10-12 hour trip. I can’t imagine Eli on such a long trip. I was only partially grumpy from the seven hour trip. I’m sure I would’ve been fully grumpy if we had traveled any longer. 
In spite of a grumpy baby and momma, we had a lovely time in Saugatuck, Michigan! Our hotel was nestled in between Lake Michigan and the Kalamazoo River. The views were spectacular! We practically had the beach to ourselves! And we found plenty of kid-friendly things to keep us busy when the temperatures kept us off the beach.
Wednesday turned into our Dutch education day when we traveled a few miles up the road to Holland. Yep, that’s the same place that sends you a tulip bulb catalog. We stopped in a bulb outlet – oh, the variety of tulip bulbs was amazing! We enjoyed a Delft pottery factory, a wooden shoe factory, and a wonderful farmers market. The highlight of our day was a Dutch village complete with an authentic, working windmill from the Netherlands.
Some other highlights of our time in Michigan included dinner and fresh pies at an apple orchard, a hike up Mt. Baldhead (a sand dune), and a dune buggy historical tour of the dunes that have buried Singapore (a booming lumber town 100+ years ago.) The pictures below are proof that I walked straight uphill 282 steps to the top of Mt. Baldhead and lived to tell about it (that’s 17 flights of stairs!!), and the dune buggy that toured the other sand dunes.
On our way home through Indiana, we stopped in Napanee, an Amish community. There, we visited Amish Acres for a tour and films about Amish life, plus lots of shopping. There was supposedly a wonderful restaurant there, too, but we decided to head on down the road – much to my husband’s dismay. The kids hadn’t gotten to swim much in Michigan, so we promised to find a hotel with an indoor pool for the night. They wouldn’t let him forget that it was time to find a pool. 
The final day, we stopped in Peru, Indiana at the Grissom Air Museum. It was, surprisingly, a fun stop – especially for the kids. Caleb said he was “famous” because he touched every war plane on the field. Steve is a history buff, so he had fun telling stories about each plane and how it was used.
Like the title says, though – it’s good to be home. Traveling with a baby, keeping him off the dirty floors, watching for safety hazards, messing with his eating and napping schedules, etc – doesn’t make for a relaxing vacation for momma. But, the memories we created are worth all the hassles!
Posted by Cindy on
I’ve been very blessed to be part of a wonderful co-op for five years. This year I’ve been extra blessed to be able to lead the Mom’s Room of that co-op. While the children attend classes, the moms meet to pray, play, learn and be encouraged. Each week, I’m giving the moms a Bible verse or other quote to think about, and a 1 Corinthians 13 idea. That’s an idea that will hopefully inspire them (and me) to show love to someone throughout the week.
I thought I would pass those two things on to you each week, too. I hope you find them encouraging.
1 Corinthians 13 Inspiration
Write a letter to each of your children telling them how excited you are to be their mom and teacher. Make a habit of writing “love notes” to your children. Consider writing Colossians 1: 9-14 as a prayer for them.
Bible Verse of the Week
Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, they they may learn to fear me all the days they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children. Deut 4:10
Posted by Cindy on September 9, 2007
I love Discovering Great Artists! I’ve used it in our home and in a co-op art class. This lesson came from the book.
Albrecht Durer did paintings, watercolors, drawing and woodcuts. We tried our hand at woodblock printing, which was one of Durer’s specialties. You take wood blocks and hammer metal objects into the wood to make impressions. Then you use brayers to roll ink over the blocks to make prints. One of Durer’s famous pieces of art using this technique is called “Rhinoscerous”. Our works of wood printing aren’t quite to Durer’s level yet!
For the rest of the month, a printing center will be out in the schoolroom. I’ve included a book with a bio about Durer, sponges, rubber stamps, foam for creating their own stamps, various other objects to print with – cars, leaves, forks, tooth brushes – and paint.
Posted by Cindy on
My Daddy is turning 60. Twenty-four years ago on my Mom’s 30th birthday, my Dad surprised her with a party full of friends and family. It took her quite a long time to repay the favor, but she successfully pulled off a surprise birthday party for him this year!
We had such a good time! Sorry, there are no pictures from the party. My digital camera decided to stop working on this important night! There are plenty of pictures on my Mom’s camera, though!
My sister put together a Power Point presentation of all sorts of pictures my Mom dug up from the past 60 years of my Dad’s life. She put it to ”oldies” music. It turned out beautifully!
My Dad doesn’t need a thing materially, so I struggled for quite some time with what to give him for such a momentous birthday. My friend, Jody, told me of an idea she did for her dad that turned out to be a hit, so I grabbed the idea and ran. I wrote my Dad a letter with 60 memories I have of him. I printed it on pretty scrapbook paper and put it in a leather scrapbook journal. It’s a gift I hope he’ll treasure for years to come!
Happy Birthday Daddy!!
