Awards

I teach in our Girls Ministry at our church.  Throughout the years I have taught several age group.  I got a degree in Early childhood education, but I think I actually enjoy teaching the older ones a bit more.   I have now taught all but one of the clubs.

Last year I taught the Rainbows (preschool) age, but this year I am teaching the 6-8th grade girls.  It is a fun change, but I don't think I work off near the amount of calories.  A few years ago Ivy and I taught the Bright Lights Group at my home and one year we held it for the summer when Ivy was home from college.  We had a wonderful time and I love and highly recommend the Bright Lights. ministry  So, working with this age group I find myself referring back to some of our old discussions from Bright Lights.  This is such a pivotal time in these girls lives, where so many moral and spiritual decisions are made.  It is a great age to teach and I pray I can be a positive influence in their lives.

The girls earn awards for each unit they complete.  In the younger clubs they get badges but at this age they earn charms.  It is a challenge to make sure many of the girls complete all the requirements for each charm.  You definitely find out which girls are goal oriented and which are not.  Unfortunately the ones that are not, seem a little sad when they don't earn all their charms.  Hopefully the awards ceremony inspires and encourages.

A long post to get to some cute pictures.  I am proud of my girls and their hard work in this area.  Have a great day.
Alicia

Isabella's class

Cassandra getting her awards

Danika getting hers

Sierra got hers

Fridays

David and I have date night during the week, so Friday nights are "family night."  Really we have several family nights here and there throughout the week but Friday nights are special.  Generally Brent, Latisha and August come over and sometimes David's or my parents will join us.  We started this as a night to have Brent and Latisha over once a week and the night varied based on Brent's school schedule.  We have settled on Friday and that works nicely.

I love having my family together in the evenings. One of the perks of homeschooling is we get all or our school work done during the day and our evenings are open quite frequently.  We have cut back quite a bit on organized sports because it really made life crazy.  We do those things sparingly.  It is such a blessing to have our dinner as a family, the little ones get baths, then we play games or watch a family friendly movie.  I can hardly watch network tv anymore.  Even the commercials appall me, and the shows aren't much better.  We choose from Netflix, but that still must be done with caution.  

Sometimes we will get out a family video and yes, we are Duggar and Bates fans, so sometimes we will watch one of their episodes.  For Christmas one year David got me a couple 19 Kids and Counting seasons on dvd, when I opened the first dvd I started to cry, I am sure it was mostly from hormones, because I was pregnant.  The Duggar's had been a huge encouragement to me in my early home schooling and we really enjoy the Bates family also.  

Friday nights are just a bonus because we have our little grand baby, daughter and son in law over.  I am asked the question several times during the day, "Are Brent and Latisha coming over tonight?"  And if no one is seriously ill, then it is generally a go.  Then the question is "Are we playing a game or watching a movie?"  Most kids have an opinion so Dad has the final say.  

We are blessed with time together and wish Alex and Ivy could be here.  I was trying to think of a way we could Skype them into a game but haven't quite figured it out yet.  I encourage all families to spend time together, playing games is a wonderful way.  Here are a couple pictures from our last Friday.  God bless and have a great day.

Alicia 

The Boys in matching pjs

so cute, for some reason Aidric loves his new toothpaste

My lovely five daughters

Recipes

About a year and half ago I decided to work on my recipes.  The tops and sides of my recipe cards were getting frayed and hard to read.  I have many recipes in different books that I use and could spend far too long looking for a certain recipe.  I decided it was time to make my own book.  First I went through all my cards and typed them up on my computer.  I tried to put them in catagories that made since to me and arrange them in alphabetical order.  I now have a new appreciation for all those cookbooks the different churches have made through the years.  I skipped past recipes I didn't use and updated the rest to the way I actually make it.

Then I went through all my cookbooks and typed in the recipes that I use.  It took me well over a year to finish.  I did a quick edit and sent it to the printers.  There are around 300 recipes.   I planned on giving all the kids a copy.  David suggested I surprise them and give it to them at Christmas, which inspired me to get them done.  I put the pages in page protectors and had page dividers to separate the sections.  

The kids knew I had been working on it for myself, so I finished mine and began using it.  This was very good because it gave me a chance to find several errors.  (Once again another moment of appreciation to all the women who made church cookbooks).  I found that half my recipes for casseroles disappeared.  I must have not saved it that day or something so I had to type out the missed recipes and add them in.  Then I found recipes here and there that I had forgotten so I typed them up and added them at the end of their section, totally out of order.  I found that I couldn't remember where I had put certain recipes, so I added an index at the end of the book.  

After breakfast Christmas morning, I realized I never saw anyone open their recipe books.  I forgot I had hid them in a separate room.  This project has definitely been a  trying one.  Later that day when we were all together again I finally gave them their presents.  I had to add a disclaimer to all the spelling errors and encouraged them to let me know of mistakes so we can pass the word around.  It was fun, the kids were happy and so was I.  I am very happy with my book and use it almost every day.  It is so nice to have all my recipes in one book, and it was fun to get done.  

The finished book

Inside

The index

Weekend Trip

The weekend after New Year's we got to take a little trip.  Eleven years ago we moved here.  We had lived in our previous city for 8 years.  Such wonderful memories and good times were had there.  Alex was quite young and Latisha a toddler when we moved there.  So their early childhood memories were from this city.  They still have friends they keep in contact with there.  Sierra and Danika were both born there, but Sierra's memories are few and Danika really remembers nothing of living there.  I think of those days as a great growth time, we loved our church, made life long friends, and enjoyed the ministry we were in.  For years, David and I were the junior high leaders and worked in youth.  Later we started the Missionettes and Royal Rangers programs at that church.  Just before we moved David was in charge of the Children's ministry.  Going back is always so fun.  I believe the relationships we made there really became family.

January 2nd one of Latisha's friends got married.  We were so excited to get the invitation and were eager to go see our friends/family.  At first we had planned to only go for the day but I am so glad we extended our visit.  I had called my friend Lien to let her know we were coming and she really encouraged us to stay the night with her, I am so glad she did.  We met her and her family for lunch and another dear friends we hadn't got to talk with for years.  It was a wonderful time.  Then we went to the precious wedding.  The bride and groom had prepared a video for the opening of the wedding. It was so well done.  It told of their courtship in a comical/fun way.  Then the lovely bride came, the vows were said, and then they had a slideshow.  It was so fun to watch, especially when it got to the time we lived there.  That was the little girl we knew and her wonderful family and now she was a bride.  There was even a picture of her and Latisha skiing.  The reception followed.  Brent, Latisha, and August came up for the wedding and reception but had to head back home.

The next morning we had to go to the early service, which worked out well because we got to see people between services.  It was so fun to hear our pastor speak and see the changes in the congregation.  Faces we hadn't seen in years.  We surprised several people and we really enjoyed our time.  Several of the youth that are now adults were going up to Sierra and Danika and telling them about how they were in our youth.  It was such a blessing.  I got such a kick out of seeing the youth now adults, some of which I would not have recognized.  People were so friendly.

Then we headed back home in time for night skiing.  Sierra got to get some driving time in as she drove us there and took us home, a couple of hours drive each way.  She is becoming a good little driver.  We got home with a quick turn around to head up to the ski hill.  This was the first time I had been up there since Cassandra was a baby.  I didn't ski but got to be Mom and Grandma for the evening.  I remember taking the kids homeschool skiing years ago and there was a lady up there who was watching her grandchild.  I had asked her if she was skiing and she said no, she had done that in the past but was enjoying being grandma while her kids skied.  I thought that sounded like fun.  I had Isabella, Aidric, and August, so I wasn't just grandma but I had a great time and got a lot of exercise.  David used to be a ski instructor when we were in college, and now teaches our kids and at times their friends.  Sierra took a friend who was skiing for the first time and they had a great time.  Brent and Alex's best man was going back to college and planned this trip before he left.  It was good to see him before he left and the kids had a great time.  Here are a couple pictures.  Have a blessed day.

Alicia

Isabella enjoying time with Daddy at the reception

Getting ready to hit the hill.

Sledding

We have been having a lovely winter.  Most of the snow is on the mountain but we have had enough on the ground to make it a white Christmas.  New Year's eve we decided to take the kids sledding.  It has been a while since we got to go sledding and I believe it was Aidric's and Isabella's first time.  They had a great time.  Isabella is not one to enjoy the snow.  She loves going outside but has a hard time walking in the snow and really I just think she doesn't like the cold.  So, I was thrilled to hear her giggle and giggle every time she went down the hill.  The hill was at our local park and quite small which was perfect.  We could go up and down with out getting tired and Isabella actually went by herself a couple times.  Aidric also really enjoyed himself and wanted to go again and again.  It was very chilly that day, 20 degrees, but they all really had a good time. So good in fact that the next day we did it again with Brent and Latisha and August who went sledding for his first time.  I am not sure he appreciated the cold but he was totally happy when sliding down the hill.

Here are some fun pictures.  I hope you enjoy.  Have a great day.
Alicia

The sledders are set and ready to go

Cassandra having a great time

On you mark, get set, 

gooooooo...  Some sled are a bit faster than others

Isabella and Sierra

Aidric getting a lift.  Life is good

Danika loves the cold

Isabella absolutely loves the ride

Such wonderful sisters

our cuties

David giving Isabella a gentle push and off she goes, clapping all the way

We like doing things together

David and I got our turn too

The next day, still cold but great fun

Latisha and August going for a ride

Look at our cute little man

My Present

The holidays have once again come and gone.  It really was a nice peaceful holiday season.  My shopping was done early, we had a couple fun parties, and the best part was to being together as a family to celebrate the reason for the season, Jesus birth.  It was so nice to have things to do but I didn't have that overwhelming feeling and that was good.  I think we are learning our limits and turned down a couple invites because we just needed to.  I hope no one was offended but sometimes you just need to know your limits.  Of course as I say that I am about to share a couple posts from some of the fun activities we did do, which were not a few, but we stayed within our limits.

A couple months, before Christmas, my loving husband came up with a great idea.  He planned to redo my craft room.  I wish I had a before picture but it was quite a mess.  My children like to share my craft room and they don't always put away their projects.  David emptied out my room over a month before Christmas, and began his plan.  My only input was the color of paint.  It took him right up to the week of Christmas before he had it all done.  I was not allowed to see anything until Christmas morning.  Christmas morning after all the presents had been opened, David took me to the craft room door.  It had a big bow and a card on the door.  The card was a beautiful letter of his appreciation for all I do for the family and all the things I make, including all those yearly pajamas.  It totally choked me up and all the family that had gathered around.  I then got to open the door and see all the work he had done to give me a room for my crafts and sewing.  So much work went into this room and I am so happy with it.  David is so good at organizing things and everything is in a logical neat place, just absolutely perfect.  What a blessed wife I am.  One nice part is to have my sewing machine setup and ready to use as needed.  I also have my grandma's sewing machine in the room that can be used as a desk when not needed.

It is all so special and such a very thoughtful gift.  Thank you so much my love.  I'll share more later but for now here are a few pictures of the room.  God bless and have a blessed day.
Alicia

looking in.  He even got wall decor 

New shelves and drawers to keep things organized.  Everything has a place

Me and my faithful 25 year old sewing machine, ready to do some work.