Princess E's Extreme Room Makeover

Last year, my mom (known to the princesses as "Nanny") decided that she wanted to gift the eldest two princesses with an extreme room makeover.  Part of the reason was because she knew they wanted a more grown up looking room, but another part was that we hoped they would be spurred on to want to keep their rooms clean and neat.  Here is what the room looked like when they started.

So in June, Nanny helped Princess E with her extreme room makeover.  They painted, decluttered, and replaced old furniture with much nicer old furniture.  Almost all of the things that were purchased were second hand, except for her new bedding, and a picture and frame over her bed.  Princess E is so pleased with how it turned out.  Check it out!

(This is a dresser and dressing table in one.  As we have four girls, we anticipate that the older they get, the more difficult it is going to be to find bathroom time.  So having a dressing table in their room is a must.)

Princess E picked out this comforter set.  She thought it looked more sophisticated than the other choices.  The picture they found matches one of the flowers on the bed spread, but brings other colors into the mix.

Finally, Princess E wanted a music corner so that she could work on her music writing.  She has her keyboard and guitar set up there.  She received a new CD player for her birthday (which isn't in the photo as she hadn't received it yet) that is setting on the ledge.  Also missing from the picture are the new curtains that we hung the next day.

The last thing that Nanny did was to have Princess E sign a contract.  Since she had put a lot of time, money and love into the room makeover, she wanted Princess E to agree to some rules that had been decided upon ahead of time.  So she drew up a contract and had her sign it.  Then Nanny made a scrapbook of the whole thing and gave it to Princess E for her birthday.  What a wonderful gift!  In a few weeks, I'll show you the transformation of Princess S's room.

Well Said, Ms. Kelly, Well Said

This little video clip brought me some sunshine. Funny if you've been there - and educational for everyone else.

Photo Catch Up

Last Sunday, the eldest two princesses received certificates for finishing their Awana books. Princess E has finished her fourth T&T book. She is looking forward to the trophy at the end of the year. Princess S finished her second book.

Next, you can see what happens in snowy states once the calendar tells us it's spring.

Finally, just one of Princess S "cheesing" for the camera.

Dad School

There's one area in our school that is left in the hands of our principal.  I took piano for many years, and I can read about any piece of music you put in front of me.  But, I am not very good at playing by ear or "jamming" as my hubby calls it.  That is his gift - and one which he shares with our two eldest girls.  After about a half hour of talking about blues rifts, they ended up with this.



You can hear the hubby on his electric guitar in the background. Princess E took the melody, which is actually a song in one of her books. Princess S is rounding out the trio with the high notes.

St. Stephan's Men's Shelter Meals

Every first Saturday of the month, our family goes to the Rohr's house.  They graciously open their home to a host of families who come together to prepare a meal to serve and goodie bags to distribute to the men at St. Stephan's Men's Shelter in Minneapolis.  This is such a fun way to teach our girls about serving the LORD by serving others.  And we get to have such fun doing it!  These pictures were taken by my friend, Tara.  I'm so glad she sent them to me so that I can share them all.

Some of you might notice the girls from Our Family for His Glory.  Princess L was so glad that her friends were able to join her.  If you haven't checked out Jessica's blog, be sure to click over there. 

Am I Too Old For This?

Today I did something I have not done in thirteen years.  I used to do it quite a lot in my youth, and a few times as an adult.  For my kids it was their first time, and they enjoyed it.  For me, I enjoyed it, but it makes me ask myself if I'm too old for it.

The it in question would be downhill skiing.  We had the opportunity to go skiing today, and thoroughly enjoyed it.  The last time I went skiing, I has not yet a parent.  And I was a bit lighter back then, too.  Princess E and Princess S came along with us and were given a lesson.  They caught on pretty quickly.  Princess S was a bit more cautious and wanted to stick with the smallest hill most of the time.  Princess E just enjoyed shooting down the hill without any poles and (sometimes) crashing at the bottom.

As for me, it was like riding a bike.  Once I went down the first hill it all seemed to come back to me.  I did have one wipe out.  Of course, it was right in front of the girls.  I was slowing way down, but not stopping, and trying to look behind me to see where the hubby was.  Then I ran right over my own pole and found myself on my back in seconds.  The girls thought it was pretty funny.  While it didn't hurt, getting up was not nearly as easy as it used to be.  I had to straighten out and then wait for the hubs to help me up.

However, I will admit that I am dreading having to get up out of bed tomorrow morning.  I think my thighs will be in sorry shape, and my feet are quite sore already.  So I ask again, am I too old for this?

Awana Color Night

It's been three years since our Awana club had a color night.  But the wait was ended tonight.  In the past, we started a tradition of spray painting hair on color night.  I think we've only ever had green.  Tonight we had two blue team members and one red team member.  Princess M wanted her hair done too, but I had to take her to Target and didn't want to deal with that one.  I told her we'd do her hair tomorrow since we didn't have to go anywhere.  I'm hoping she forgets about it!  Princess L is with her friends from Our Family for His Glory.  Princesses E and S are with our two neighbor girls.  What a night!

Look What Joined Us for Dinner

So I came back to pull my casserole out of the oven and found Princess M standing on the kitchen table pointing out the window.  While I was scolding her I quickly glanced out the window, and here is what she was looking at.

This beauty was perched on top of our play set right off our deck.  We watched for a few minutes, then sat down to eat before our dinner got cold.  Unfortunately, it was not very appetizing watching the raptor carnage before us. See all the little pieces on the green tarp covering?  That would be little pieces of chipmunk face.  DH tried to wash it all off but ended up having to climb up there to get it down.  If anyone can tell us exactly what kind of bird this is, please do so.  We figure it to be some kind of hawk, but not sure exactly what kind.

This One's For You - Pam

So I finally got to meet my friend Pam. We "met" in an online prayer/support group for TOG. But today, she had a layover at our airport. So I picked her up and took her to lunch before her next flight. It was so awesome! It shows how God has His hand in every aspect of our lives - even in our online friendships. Pam told me I needed to post more photos - so here is the photo of us. (It's small, but if you click it you can see the photo larger on Photobucket.)

God's Praising Princesses Party

I've been meaning to post this for a while. Finally I had the time to sit down and get all the links together. For our Princesses, they get a group friend party at 5, 10 and 15. That meant that Princess L would get her first friend party this year. She had so many different ideas. But I had one of my own. Last year, she took a 12 week dance course from an absolutely wonderful Christian dance teacher, Miss Karin. Princess L loved her and loved dancing. I thought it would be fun to surprise her and bring Miss Karin in to give Princess L and her friends a dance lesson. Miss Karin incorporates Scripture into literally everything she does, and she lets all the girls know that they are daughters of King Jesus - which makes them all princesses! Her class that she taught Princess L was called God's Praising Princesses, and she brought so much love and fun to every class. All the moms of the girls at the party have told me that their princesses cannot stop talking about how much fun they had at the party. Here are some photos of all the fun!

14 Days of Homeschool

I got this here. Maybe you've seen it before. I hadn't but I sure laughed hard. Think I've heard every one of these. Enjoy!

14 Days of Homeschooling

To the tune of "Twelve Days of Christmas."

On the first day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Can you homeschool legally?"

On the second day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"

On the third day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"

On the fourth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "What about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"

On the fifth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "YOU ARE SO STRANGE! What about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"

On the sixth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "How long will you homeschool, YOU ARE S0 STRANGE, what about P.E. , do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"

On the seventh day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Look at what they're missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE!, what about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, do you homeschool legally?"

On the eighth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Why do you do this, look at what they're missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE, what about P.E. do you give them tests, are they socialized, do you homeschool legally?"

On the ninth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "They'll miss the prom, why do you do this, look at what they're missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE!, what about P.E. do you give them tests, are they socialized, do you homeschool legally?"

On the tenth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "What about graduation, they'll miss the prom, why do you do this, look at what they're missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE!, what about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"

On the eleventh day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "I could never do that, what about graduation, they'll miss the prom, why do you do this, look at what they're missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE, what about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"

On the twelfth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Can they go to college, I could never do that, what about graduation, they'll miss the prom, why do you do this, look at what they're missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE, What about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"

On the thirteenth day of homeschool I thoughtfully replied: "They Can go to college, yes you can do this, they can have graduation, we don't like the prom, we do it cuz we like it, they are missing nothing, we'll homeschool forever, WE ARE NOT STRANGE!, We give them P.E., and we give them tests, they are socialized, AND WE HOMESCHOOL LEGALLY!

On the fourteenth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "How can I get started, why didn't you tell me, where do I buy curriculum, when is the next conference, WILL PEOPLE THINK WE'RE STRANGE? I think we can do this, if you will help us, we'll join a sports team, and we'll homeschool legally."