Honest Scrap Award!

I got another award! How cool! One of my very good friends gave it to me. Go visit her blog at The Zimms Zoo. She has a wonderful family and some great wisdom to share with you!

Since I didn't see the name, picture or rules on her post (I know she is so busy!), I googled them! Here is what I found:

Honest Scrap Award Rules 

1. You must brag about the award.

2. You must include the name of the blogger who gave you the award and link back to that blogger.

3. You must choose a minimum of seven blogs that you find brilliant in content or design

4. Show their names and links and leave a comment informing them that they were prized with this award.

5. List at least ten honest things about yourself.

.........then pass it on with the instructions!

1. Brag about the award? What exactly does that mean? I'll just let the award posting speak for itself, I guess.
2. Link to Zimms Zoo at the top.
3 & 4. Seven blogs.....okay, sure, that shouldn't be a problem choosing out of the TWELVE DOZEN I am subscribed to! Good grief! No wonder I can't keep up! Well, here are a few of my faves that I have to keep caught up on (I try, at least).....and there are still more!

1. Crissy at A By Faith Family - This incredible family has faced so many challenges, with their special needs son as well as trying to get their adopted boys home from Liberia! Their faith is incredible, and it is so neat to watch how God brings them through each challenge, stronger than before!
2. Amy at Our Quiver Full! - Amy is one of those ladies whom everyone just loves. She is quick to point out her own faults, but I just don't see them. She and her large family is just wonderful! :)
3. Sasha at Gary and Me Plus Three (soon to be four!) - Sasha is such a great mom, always wanting the best for her children. She is about to give birth to a little Downs baby girl, and they are very much ready to love her with everything they've got! Oh, and she takes great pictures too!
4. Elise at Matt 'n Elise What a cute family! I love watching this little girl grow up in such a loving environment. Elise is also a professional photographer (her dad was our very own wedding photographer 10 1/2 years ago!), so there are plenty of nice photos to look at here too.
5. Bethany at New And Living (at least, that's the link...not sure what she calls it) - Bethany has such a sweet family! I haven't seen them in a while since they moved away.....3 (?) years ago. They have been missed! She does some amazing sketches, and I love seeing the things she does with her children as she trains them to live godly lives.
6. Jamie at Livin' On The Prairie - I wish I knew Jamie in real life! She seems so outgoing and bubbly and eager to please her Savior! I enjoy watching her sweet family and how they are making it on their homestead up north!
7. Tommie at Really Raw Food - I have not been raw vegan in a while, and not even "high raw" in a while, but I love the lifestyle, if I can ever stick to it. This wonderful lady is my "raw mom", and I love reading her stories that mostly relate to a healthy lifestyle, but she puts other little fun stories on here too. She also has her own forum for raw vegan, so if anyone is interested, check it out on her site!

All of these families are Christian families, and most of them are homeschoolers. Most of them seek healthier alternatives to what most people deem healthy regarding food, drinks, environment, doctors, etc. There is something (or several things) I just admire about each of these families listed, so I love reading their blogs and gleaning some very useful information that is relevant to our own family and lifestyle. If you even kinda like this blog, you will love these, so check them out!

Ten honest things. Okay, here it goes....

1. I have three brothers, and I can out-spit them all. Um, they win in everything else though!
2. I am not afraid to speak the Truth of God's word! Sometimes, especially on Facebook or a blog or email, it does not translate properly in tone, but my motivation for saying anything at all is because of my burden and love for others, for everyone to know who God is, not who we want Him to be. The more I understand as years go by, the more I realize I do not understand still. It is humbling and wonderful!
3. I am too serious sometimes. Those closest to me know that I can sure have a good time and have some moments of non-stop laughter, but sometimes I have fun with the serious things (like bible study), and some people who don't know me as well think I don't have a sense of humor at all.
4. Bugs, snakes, etc. usually just don't bother me, but  I am downright scared of roaches! Ew!
5. I am a total bear when I have too much sugar. It almost seems impossible to control sometimes, so I have to just be alone before I kill the dog or something. Not really, but I feel like it!
6. My deep down fear that I really struggle with letting go of and giving it to God is the unknown of what the near future holds. I'm not worried about things within our family, what scares me is the way the world is going and how that will affect our family! I used to be concerned that our children would not be allowed legally to homeschool, but lately I have been worrying that WE may not have the right much longer! I need to stop listening to people who talk about these things and start listening to God. He is always in control over His children, and if something happens to us, He will get the glory, so it's all good! Give it to God.....give it to God.....give it to God!!!
7. I am a night owl. Always have been and probably always will be. Why? Because, at least in this phase of my life, it is the quietest time of the day and I can actually hear myself think!
8. I was an under-achiever in school. I barely got by with mostly C's, but I hardly ever cracked a book open either. I just hated school. I only went because I had to and because I wanted to see my friends (even though we didn't get much "socialization" in school). Mostly because I had to. Same with college. I stopped at around 50 hours, and the last few were correspondence. I never knew what I wanted to do for a career though, I only went because Grandpa gave all of us some money specifically for school (just a few thousand, not much considering the cost), so I felt obligated. When the money ran out and I was then working full-time and still had not settled on a major (that I really liked), I stopped going completely. Oh, and I had even transferred from one community college to another solely for social reasons! The ironic thing about all this.....I have learned so much more on my own since those days! With the resources now available to everyone (mostly the internet), I have educated myself on what I am truly passionate about. Things that I love and/or use on a regular basis in life. I guess that is why I am so passionate about un/lifeschooling. It worked best for me, and I am seeing it work very well with my own children.
9. I am a very selfish person. It just seems like I am not sometimes because there are certain responsibilities I have, and I am happy to do them, but I am always hoping to steal a few minutes to myself. You'd think that I would put the kids in school to get more "me time", but that is where I draw the line! (But that is a whole other blog post!) I think that is why I am a night owl and why I am a cat person.....they're not so "needy" all the time like dogs!
10. And one last thing I will admit.....I definitely have my faults, but sometimes I have these fleeting thoughts and wonder why everyone else cannot be perfect like me. :) But seriously, I mean, I find a particular denomination, for example, that is right on the mark with some of their doctrine, but then they are way off on other things. I'm just being honest here, I know I am not perfect and I do not have all the right answers, but that is just something I think about sometimes. Not that I sometimes think I am perfect, but I just wonder why there doesn't seem to be any one particular group or denomination that DOES have it all right! *sigh*

Hey! Just bein' honest here!!!

AWANA -- Pinewood Derby night

The AWANA program the kids have been in for a couple of years now ended two weeks ago. The final event of the year was a pinewood derby and hotdog/nacho dinner!

Since we are vegetarians (and flexitarians), we made our own version of hotdogs. Thanks to my bff Chrysinda for the idea! :)

My flexitarian hotdog lover :)

He was clapping ALL night! He totally loved the atmosphere!

Loving the chips a little too much!

Oops, I guess he wasn't ready for a picture. Sorry, Babe!

Silly goofball! Pull those teeth already!!!

We didn't manage to get a picture of Jacob's race. Everyone was paired up with someone and they only did one heat each, so he was out after the first race since he got 2nd place. :( He had fun though, and he gets to keep his car! That's really all that matters.

Jayla won her first race and moved on to round 2! Fun! :)

Jonathan was out on the first round as well. :( We were hoping at least two of them would make it to round 2 this year. It seems like our kids NEVER win, but that's okay! Really! They have a blast....and they get to keep their cars, and that's all that matters to them! :)

Oh, hey! Look at that! Her 2nd win and on to round THREE! Now it's getting good!

Ouch! It got her knee that time. Oh, well, she won again. On to round 4! The excitement is growing fast!

Woohoo! This is so exciting! She won this one too and is down to the FINAL round, just her and one other car!

And here they go.......

SHE WON FIRST PLACE! WOOOOOHOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

Not that Jayla really had a lot to do with it since they used some precut patterns and the only thing she did was decorated it with markers, but still, it was so fun to see one of my kids win first place for a change! It just usually doesn't happen! This is Jayla's very first trophy EVER, and, in fact, the first trophy among all of our kids! And she had to beat out 25 other racers to get it! The boys weren't really jealous either, so that's great! They got their own little plastic party favor-type trophy, and they got to keep their cars! :) So everyone was happy! Oh, and we got free food (except for the things we brought), so we were all winners!

Jack-Jack kept trying to walk to the mud puddle that was right in front of him. It was too tempting! Jonathan was trying to hold him back and kept laughing at him.

I'm Crafty! Award

I'm Crafty! Award

I've been thinking about creating my own award to give out, so I finally made one. I have several crafty things on here, so I decided to make an award for crafty people!

Here are the rules:

1. Copy the code from the box below and enter it on your blog and/or in your sidebar.
   
2. Pass the award on to at least 3 other crafty people you know. Maybe it is a friend IRL or just a really awesome blog you keep up with. Email them or post a comment on their blog so they will know they have been given the award.

That's it! Keep being creative and leave me comments so I can come look at your own awesome crafts!

I want to award this to some good friends I know, mostly IRL.

The first is my very best friend, Chrysinda. She honors the Biblical Sabbath Day and as a recent Sabbath activity with her 6-year-old, they made a menorah together! Isn't it cute!

Next is Laura. It seems like she and her kids are always making something fun! Check out these cute gingerbread houses they made with the homeschool group!

My friend at Zimms Zoo is very creative. She has done a lot of sewing recently, made icing flames for her 4yo son's birthday and made these really cool gingerbread figures for a nativity scene! Check them out. So cool.

Next is Lori. She made these incredible superhero capes and masks for her kids for Christmas! I am in awe of how good they turned out. My kids would flip if I took the time to make them something like this!

My friend Sasha is a very creative person! She mostly blogs about her kids, which I love to read since they have moved away from here, but she is good at anything she puts her hand on. Check out her photography!

Paula at Hearty Works is always finding the coolest things online, and most of them free! She is a very crafty person, and with three girls, I'm sure that will come in very handy! Check out these lapbooks they recently made!

Christina! She makes the cutest cloth diapers and burp cloths! She used to live nearby and recently moved to another state. I really wish I'd been able to hang out with her more when she was here. She is such a neat lady. And very creative!

I want to add one more person to give this award to. My friend Christy has done some really cool digital projects. Check out her scrapbook pages. They are beautiful!

So there you go, ladies! Copy and paste the code below and then pass it on to others so we can all benefit from each others' crafty ideas! Have fun!

I'm Crafty! Award

<center>I'm Crafty! Award</center><a href="http://everydaylifetogether.blogspot.com/2009/03/im-crafty-award.html" target="_blank"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" alt="I'm Crafty!" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0CH5gnKv-cEtB_S-SURii5fjDJkcKLJukfmdQep2oicyexpnsXtS8Wz5hSah9Hgt7tvjEHWlEtdntiEWzJZxQi3AGRpIc_1NHC7AXPm41tPYsej6t3A7hl4eOTo1xXwb63yKttVFT37pz/s320/orangeflower.gif" title="I'm Crafty!" /></a>

My first award!!!! :)

I was just given the Frugal Gardening Award! Check out Mandie's site by clicking on the image. She has some great gardening tips!

Frugal Gardening Award

I hereby pass this award on to Chrysinda, Laura P. and Sasha! Get those gardens going and post about them, girls! :)