Halloween pictures...

I didn't get many, but here is my little Hermione Granger. She said she is ready to go to Hogwarts.

A new President

This is a topic that I haven't really wanted to touch with a ten foot poll. I have my political beliefs and I believe that they are just that - mine. I think that this is something very personal and not something that should be shoved in people's faces. So because of that belief, I haven't responded to any of the groups e-mails about anything political.

However, today is a new day and a historic day. Whether we voted for him or not, Mr. Obama will be our next President. As President he deserves a few things from us. 1) He deserves the respect that the position of the President holds. I want to make sure that my daughter realizes that the President deserves the respect of the American people. This is a very important job and like him or not, he is our President. 2) Like we did for all Presidents before him, President Obama will need our prayers. Every day I pray for our country and currently every day I pray for our President. When President Obama takes over, he too will need our prayers and this is something that I personally need to remember.

New Youth Group

Tonight we started a youth group at our new church. We had 5 great kids that came out and thankfully we were only missing one (due to amount of homework). We did an icebreaker to get to know each other better and I learned that these kids are great fun. Very giggly at times, but very fun. One of the questions on the form I had them fill out was favorite sport - this of course brought up the topic of Michael Phelps. It seems, not only is he my daughter's favorite athlete, but he is also a favorite of all the girls. There actually came a point in the night that I had to forbid his name from being said.

Our lesson was Jesus & Peter walking on the water and how we need to depend upon Christ to be our friend. We did lots of "friend" games to help begin to build friendships.

I think it is going to be a wonderful group and I can't wait to get more involved with them. I am hoping that we might even do some trips for fun.

Happy Halloween

I just finished up Madeline's costume. Hopefully when she is dressed tonight I can get some pictures and post them up on here. She will be Hermione Granger and I made her robe and scarf. She's had her hair up in braids since last night - trying to get the wavy effect without curling.

She finished up school for the week while I was sewing. I'm so thankful for this time that I have with her. She is such a joy to be around.

New Experience

Yesterday I tried something new. Since I homeschool and yesterday was a "teacher's work day", after I finished preparing for our second semester, I did my first cooking day for a mini OAMC. I was really shocked at how well it went. Madeline got in the kitchen with me and took time to chop the onion and peanuts, as well as drain all my beans and can chicken. She was such a good helper. We started cooking at 1 and we were completely finished by 5. I thought 4 hours was pretty good. I froze 12 meals. I am hoping that I can report back daily as to the quality, and hopefully everything will be wonderful. I'm already starting to plan my menu for my second cooking day.