In the Storm

date night

my plan is to create an entire 2012 scrapbook - not sure what size yet - of our date nights. at the beginning of the year i got purposeful about scheduling date nights with hoosier man. we've hit everyone and even added one or two more off the cuff. we go on dates now about twice a month. we love it and so do the boys. if we were to forget (not that we have so far, but if...) the boys would be right there reminding us. they love it when we go on dates so they can stay home and eat what they want (usually pizza, or raman, or leftovers) and watch a series of television shows on dvd or watch movies. it's not so fun for them if they are grounded from television but they've made do by playing legos, or drawing elaborate battle scenes.

this night we ate at Applebees (we rarely eat there) and then went to see the Hunger Games. good movie, but the book was better.

digital process: my digital process was pretty simple. i knew i wanted to include the hunger games marque photo along with our picture that hoosier man took of us in the theatre. i found a template that would accomodate two photos, 12x12 size, and went to town. i found some digital movie elements in my stash that i thought would work well with the theme. i kept it monochromatic because i really think i'm in my zone now with what i like - clean and simple with very few elements.

speaking of clean and simple and digital scrapbooking; i've been considering going through my very large stash and purging most everything. keeping cardstock (digital), some elements here and there, and a small, select stash of patterned paper. after putting this page together i found how much i enjoyed the process with clean and simple. well see.

two things

i know it is supposed to be 10 on tuesday but i didn't have something together and i saw these pictures on facebook of my granddaughter. elizabeth has been doing good lately about posting pictures. with them half way across the united states it is nice seeing them through pictures at least. i am also trying to make pages for a photo book for them since elizabeth doesn't scrap. she just has to get me the pictures and the journaling. so here are two more pages...

digitally i have been using alot of templates by Yin whose pages have really become my style - lots of photos, words, with few embellishments. sometimes she offers some simpler templates like the first one above. always nice to have variety. her templates are really my go-to templates when i'm planning pages. she takes the guess work out of where to put my photos. love it.

selah

psalm 32:5 "then i acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. i said, "i will confess my transgressions to the Lord" - and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah"

although it is unclear, not precise, what Selah means in the Bible, it is believed though to mean to pause, to reflect. good word. good name. Pause, and reflect on this beautiful girl - Selah.

i've shared the hurst's before. they are a surrogate family, in and out of our lives but no less important, and memoriable, and valuable, and we miss them and love them.

not intentional

i didn't intend to take a week long break but it just worked out that way. this week in homeschooling has been unusually heavy-laden with work from the Georgia Boys' co-op classes. and one thing after another...and soon it's a week later and no blogging.

i recently received the journaling from my daughter for a scrapbook page that i'd been working on of them and for them (i'm making an on-going scrapbook) of 1) Elizabeth's Air Force adventure, and 2) a family scrapbook.

here's the completed page. my plan is to compile enough pages to maybe do yearly photobooks. this will all depend on Elizabeth's diligence to get me pictures since they live so far away. in another state. although it seems like another country.

(Template by Yin - of course!)

a couple pages

 
this one is from the boys' birthday back in july. just trying to get some scrappin' done with photos still on my computer (that desperately need to come off and be saved elsewhere)

 
elizabeth put pictures up on her facebook page and i snagged them. my plan is to make a separate book for everyday photos and a book for her air force career. this is the left side of a two page spread.

 
ella's first day of preschool. this is the right side of the one above.

homeschool 101: our day

 
our typical day begins with bible study. we follow that up with history and reading. both involve read-a-louds from a few books that includes a fiction, historical-based novel. Probably the boys' favorite part of the day. We take care of vocabulary assignment, easy grammar, and spelling if we are doing that then we head back to the den, and the computer, for the Saxon Math lesson review using the DIVE dvd. Following math we knock out the Spanish lesson since it is a computer-based program also. There is usually some kind of Human Anatomy and IEW Writing work as well.

it is a filled day that begins about 8 am and goes until the boys get their individual work done. Usually around 2 pm. But sometimes John procrastinates, or daydreams and he takes longer. Jarrod usually stays on track so he can play, watch a show, or play a 1/2 hour of x-box.

lately i've been having the boys take care of chores before we begin school just so i know they get accomplished. but really now that we've been going strong now for almost two months and with the addition of co-op classes the boys are taking in alot and learning alot.

i really don't sweat it if our day gets shortened and we only accomplish co-op classes, or just get a math lesson done and reading. john and jarrod would be fine if all we did was read-a-loud. ha ha, like, not!

just a quick post

 
found a couple pictures of Elizabeth in uniform on facebook. so i saved them and made a page with one of them. just went digital (my scrap table has stuff stacked on it). simple page using a template by cathy zielske. i really love simple: photo + words, probably because i'm horrible at embellishing.

the words i spoke on the page are true. what i didn't say: i wish we had an amazing relationship too.

more gifts

 
one thousand gifts continues...

#13 family game night

#14 a jury summons waiting for me to serve

#15 a weekend trip home for hoosier man

#16 laborers

#17 clear blue skies

#18 air conditioning

#19 the book of Ezra

#20 cherry coke

#21 gray paint waiting patiently for my walls

#22 morning bible study with the boys

some digital pages

 
(template by Yin)

i didn't get as many pictures as i would have liked from summer waves this past trip to jekyll island, ga. but enought to get the jist of our day.

 
(template by Yin)

everyday life. shopping excursion with Ash, the boys, and the grandbabies - and some play.

a little digital scrapbooking

 
i miss ian. there. i said it. while i do not miss his temper tantrums i do miss that he doesn't mind snuggling. i do miss that sometimes he just talks and talks - although mostly i still can't understand him. although. after 6 weeks i did get better. i miss his way cute lounging actions when he's watching his fav show.

 
and then there are his faces. totally attitude. totally trouble. totally raw. but totally awesome. one cool dude.