Provision

We've been in need of coffee maker... well as much as anyone can really need a coffee maker. Our current coffee maker, while still working, is well used with a flaking element and is on it's last leg. We even browsed the coffee maker aisle while Christmas shopping but decided to put off the purchase- partially because we couldn't agree on what type to buy and partially because we wanted to concentrate on buying gifts. I REALLY like the pot-less style coffee maker and would have loved to buy one, but at $40 or $50 for an inexpensive version that would be a hard purchase to justify when I would have been happy with just a cheap coffee pot that worked well.

You see where this is going don't you?... Well, this morning my neighbor knocked on the door and was getting rid of this. They had no idea of our coffee maker situation. Answer to prayer? Maybe, but I can't really say I prayed for a coffee maker. I can't even call it a need, however, I wanted one and one was provided for me- free and unexpected... one that exceeds what I would have or could have purchased for myself. Whenever I doubt God's provision, I need only to look at instances such as these when we have been greatly provided for, provision that not only meets but exceeds our needs.

Life lesson this morning- trust. Teacher- a coffee pot!

1 Timothy 6:17

Charge the rich of this world not to be highminded, nor to trust in the uncertainty of riches, but in the living God, who gives us abundantly all things to enjoy

Jesse Tree

One of the devices we used to count down Advent this year was a Jesse Tree. I researched and found several opinions on how to make the tree, ornaments and what symbols to use but in short, a Jesse Tree is some kind of tree or branch with some kind of ornaments that symbolize history before and up to Jesus. We started with creation and ended with names for Jesus as stated in the O Antiphons and paraphrased in the hymn O Come, O Come Emmanuel. The boys and I made ornaments out of Sculpey and read selections of scripture each day when they took turns hanging an ornament on the tree. Nathan wanted to know if we could make ornaments again next year.

You can see both sides of the tree here.

This was a really fun project and an excellent way to bring in Christmas.

The pictures aren't the best but I'm still figuring out the new camera. It doesn't have an eye hole (I'm sure that's not the technical name) but only a screen and I'm one of those old fashioned people who likes to look through the viewer so I'm not used to the screen. I'll learn!

Our Camera-less Days are Over

Boy, that was quick! During a trip to Office Depot for printer ink today, we browsed the camera aisle... well, Kevin browsed and I co-browsed. He found a great deal on a Kodak Easy Share and wallah! We have a working camera!! I'm still getting used to it, kind of like driving a new car- it just doesn't feel like the old one but does what it's supposed to. You can see some of the photos in the next post.

Christmas and December Update... Sans Photos

There will be no posts with photos for a while because our camera died halfway through dinner at Medieval Times last week. What a bummer! We did get a few pics of the kids and the show but can't get them off the camera without a trip to CVS to burn a disc from the memory card. Fortunately, Grandma Kate left her camera on Christmas Eve so we got some shots of Christmas morning and Kevin was able to borrow his brother's video camera. Those shots are still in their respective cameras though and may or may not make it onto the blog.

Dinner as lords and ladies (actually lords and one lady) was fun. Kevin received tickets from his former employer last year and we waited until they were about to expire before using them... nothing like sliding in last minute! Funny because that seems to be the theme for me this holiday. It didn't seem to matter how disorganized I felt, however, because Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas morning were really very nice. We had both Grandmas with spouses, Uncle Chris and Cori. The best of Christmas is having the family together.

The boys, as always, were the recipients of a lot of great stuff! We'll be lucky if nothing gets broken this year- bones or valuables. Between flying monkeys, a pogo stick, stilts, golf clubs and rip-sticks the boys will certainly be active. Sully has almost mastered the rip-stick and as of last report, Nathan bounced 68 bounces on his pogo stick. Not only did the boys enjoy their gifts but almost every adult had a go. I found that I was not meant to be a stilt walker but I can almost pogo stick and Kevin hasn't hurt himself on the rip-stick yet.

Hopefully our camera-less days are limited and I'll be back to posting pictures sometime soon but for now, you'll just have to suffer through some ?short? written updates.

Merry Christmas to All

... and to all a goodnight.

God bless us all this Christmas night.

Busy About Christmas

We've been doing a lot, some with the camera and some without but this will be a photo-free post- mainly so I can be sure to get at least one post out before Christmas.

Here's a list of the highlights:

-Ice skating (twice with two different homeschool groups)

-Gingerbread houses (or more accurately, graham cracker houses)

-December visit to the nursing home (we've actually been 3 times this month- scouts, Kids Klub and our regular visit)

-Nathan had his first singing solo in the play Angels Aware. Sully's first show doing lights and sound.

-Cookie decorating party with our homeschool group (which has sadly decided to close)

-We saw this play

-We've been making some neat Christmas gifts... can't tell you what yet

-Nathan started flag football and Sully will start soon... it's the first sport for Nathan and the first for Sully in a long time

-Scout meetings

-Shopping (this is not a normal pastime for us but I usually enjoy doing some Christmas shopping)

-A visit to Santa

-And we just returned from walking through Bethlehem (of course this was one of the events sans camera). You may remember this Vacation Bible School. "Walk through Bethlehem" was similar to the marketplace. Nathan made a menorah, an oil lamp, a basket, learned Hebrew letters and was able to weave on a fancy loom. Sully disappeared only to be found in the kitchen, baking bread and flirting with the girls... not necessarily in that order.

Boy, it sure does seem like a busy month and Christmas is still a few days away. In addition to all the out of house highlights we've been busy cleaning, baking, and decorating at home. We, as usual, have pulled out our advent wreath and calendars... the chocolate calendars from Wally and Grandma Kate have become a much loved tradition... and this year we've been working on ornaments for a Jesse Tree. (I was going to add a link but I think I will do a separate post complete with photos- but I can't promise it up before Christmas)

We'll be doing some last minute prep over the next couple of days and hope to make it to one last outing before we are blessed with grandparents here.

If I don't make it back to post before Christmas, have a happy, safe and joyous holiday!!!

Merry Christmas to all!

First Day of Winter

And here was our forecast....

Sun

76°F | 49°F

... but the thermometer in the car read 82!!

More Air Pressure

We're on a roll... with science!


Here are two more experiments with air pressure- both from the book seen in the previous post.
What happens when a piece of cardboard is placed on a full cup, which is then flipped?







Do you dare to hold it over your head?



It didn't quite make it.


We discovered that this paper air plane has wing foil like real planes so there is a low pressure area on the top of the wing.

Duke wanted to test it too so we had to race him to the landing.




And this is the face one makes after whacking his camera wielding mom in the face with the airplane

Corn Maze

This is what we did this past weekend. We had been scheduled to go with our homeschool group but that trip came during the midst of our battle with the flu so we missed it.
The entrance to the maze area... a giant slide.








We were supposed to find 5 open spaces with clues... here we are at the ONE clue station we found.

It was a 6 acre maze- we spent a couple of hours wandering and only covered about 1/4 of it before we found our way out. The flag Nathan is carrying was insurance that we wouldn't be lost forever- we would only have to raise the flag and holler... Nathan was dying to raise the flag but fortunately we found the exit on our own.

Science Today and a Little Bit of Sad

Well, we are all feeling much better but that was one whopper of a cold! As the title suggests, we're having some science fun around here today. We've been studying weather- check out our experiment dealing with air pressure.

Here's the book, (published in 1957)




the execution,







the waiting,




and the result.



Any experiment that involves fire or matches is a good one! Last week they concentrated sunlight with a magnifying glass and burnt a bunch of newspaper. Fortunately, they don't do this kind of experimenting without permission.

On a sad note, our guinea pig died last night. We were anticipating (0r at least everyone but Nathan was anticipating) his death. He was pretty old for a guinea pig and he'd been sick. We've said "no more small pets", but Nathan is already angling for another pocket pet. Kevin likes to call these types of pets small tragedies but I still think he may cave on the "no more small pets" decree before I do.

The last small animal that we were really attached to was Harry the Hamster. Santa brought Harry the Christmas that Sully decided to wake up and open all of his presents in the middle of the night. I'm laughing now, but I wasn't then! Kevin and I were sleeping, and had been for a whole couple of hours when a frantic 7 year old woke us up because his brand new hamster was loose in his bedroom. Hooray for Daddy who found the little bugger! That taste of freedom started Harry's career as an escape artist. Over the almost 3 years that Harry lived with us, we searched for him many a day and night and always found him, eventually. I blamed Sully for not closing the cage correctly until one night when Harry was seen scurrying into our linen closet. I picked him up, put him back into his cage and stood aside to watch him throw all his weight, claws and teeth, into opening the door. Success! After that revelation, his cage was turned with the door wedged against the wall.

Guinea came to us from a friend as "Napoleon" but we usually just called him Guinea. He certainly wasn't as adventurous as Harry, but he was sweet and we enjoyed him.