It's Snowing!

What's the weather like in your neck of the woods? Here... it's SNOWING! The flakes have been falling all morning, and at one point we thought that the white stuff was tapering off, but no the snow continues!

Enjoy your weekend.

ReBecca

Changes...

We withdrew Gene from public school on January 19. Gene has been struggling with focusing in class and the middle school work load from the beginning of the school year, and add in behavioral issues – just not a good fit.

I decided to go with BJU Press Distance Leaning/online for Gene, and I think this will be a good fit for us. Our materials arrived Tuesday and we started rolling on Wednesday, we didn't do all the subjects so that we could ease into this new program. I'll keep you posted on his progress.


Be blessed and have a great weekend.
 
ReBecca

Spelling Bee

Today was the Spelling Bee at Nicole elementary school; she was really excited this morning and didn’t seem the least bit nervous. There we 20 kids participating in the Bee - my heart went out to one boy who was painfully shy when the time came for each participant to walk up to the microphone to state their name and grade, he looked as if he might pass out, and it took him several minutes to build up enough courage just to say his first name (you could barely hear him), then there was another long pause prior to his saying his last night, and then he finally got out his grade – bless his heart.



Nicole spoke into the microphone like a pro (that public speaking class last year paid off!) She had great diction, and seemed comfortable. The first word to stump one of the students was corduroy; don’t ask me why I remember that, maybe because I was wearing cords.


Nicole made it through several rounds before the dreaded word neutralize, shattered her plans. She is so much like her Daddy… “You all must be going for second place, because I’ve got first all hemmed up”, that’s a paraphrase from the great Larry Bird, but it is a perfect fit for Eric and Nicole!


She did manage to make it off the stage and walk over to me BEFORE the tears over took her. She collapsed on my lap and had a good cry, but quickly pulled herself together and watched the rest of the Bee. I was so proud of her, being 1 of 20 from the entire school to make it to this round of the Spelling Bee, what an accomplishment! Way to go Nicole!!!


When there were only two students left things became very interesting, in one round they both missed the word and it went back in forth with the painfully shy boy and another boy. In the end the shy boy misspelled his word, the other boy was able to spell it correctly, plus his next word and was declared the winner! It was great fun watching the whole process.

TTFN!ReBecca

Becca's Bracelets

A couple of month back, my Mother wanted to make herself a new bracelet. I had some round 8mm and 6mm (or was it 6mm and 4mm!) Swarovski crystals in my stash so I mailed them to her.


When I laid out the beads I REALLY liked the look and the sparkle, so I decided that I needed to make myself a bracelet using olivine crystals.
 Here is a picture of my bracelet; I used Swarovski bicone olivine crystals and Swarovski light grey pearls along with sterling silver findings.

Pearls are one of my favorites, I think every woman should have a beautiful pearl necklace; they are timeless and can be worn with everything from jeans to an evening gown.


I have a pearl necklace that I’ve had for years and two pair of earrings that I made myself but I didn’t have a bracelet. In my head I see two bracelets that I want to make, one is a double stand and the other one was this one…

Psst...My birthday is coming up, and I will be doing another earring giveaway – so be on the look out for that.


Have a great day!
 
ReBecca

Try This Slow Cooker Recipe

I wanted to share a new recipe of sorts with you. One day I was in Wal-Mart, trying to decide on what to prepare the dinner that night. I found myself in the spice aisle and ran across Slow Cookers Italian Herb Chicken envelope by McCormick’s.



Here is a picture of the seasoning packet:

The recipe calls for chicken (of course), fresh mushrooms, stewed tomatoes and tomato paste. Well I had a bell pepper, celery, onion and garlic on hand so I added those as well as diced jalapeno peppers and some other spices and it turned out GREAT.


Here are the directions:
 1. Place chicken (I used boneless skinless thighs, family pack) and vegetables (sliced mushrooms, bell pepper, celery, onion and garlic) in the slow cooker.

2. Mix seasoning packet, tomatoes, tomato paste and diced jalapeno peppers (I used 2 tablespoons) until blended. I also added black pepper and about a teaspoon of cayenne pepper to this, we like spicy. Pour mixture over chicken and vegetables. Cover.


3. Cook 8 hours on LOW or 4 hours on HIGH. The packet recommends not to remove the lid during cooking, but I like to stir once or twice so that everything blends together.


4. Dish up and enjoy! I served mine over fettuccine and had steamed broccoli – so good, it got rave reviews by my gang, Eric even asked me to make it again!



You can use any chicken parts or vegetables you like to give it your signature. Give it a try and let me know if your family gives it a thumb up or down.


p.s.


I’ve tried to remember to take a picture of the dish all pretty on a plate but can never seem to remember until AFTER I finish, but trust me it is delish!


ReBecca

Bees & Birds

Nicole was in her grade level Spelling Bee at her school, she was suppose to be a alternate, but was able to take part in the Bee. Today she brought home a letter from the school saying she has earned a spot in the school Spelling Bee! Way to go Nicole. The Spelling Bee will be Friday, so be in prayer for her success.


Congratulations Purple Princess!


On another note, here are some pictures that I took recently of our little feathered friends. My favorite shot is the second one of the Robin, but I just love the very vocal Cardinals.

Enjoy!

Happy New Year!

I hope this finds you and your family happy and in good health.  I also hope that you had a blessed Christmas and are enjoying the New Year!

Eric was busy over the Christmas break, he painted and laid the flooring in the basement, and now we have a finished basement.  Yea.  Well, almost finished basement, he still needs to complete the bathroom, add the baseboards/trim and doors, but it is now a clean and usable space, so I'm thrilled.  Here is the grand tour of our basement.   

The kids have the main room; in this picture you can see the table for games, behind that is their pool/table tennis/air hockey table, and a sitting area.

Here is the computer area, and where the kids practice their music.

This is the same area, just from the other side of the room.

The next room is the school room.

Another view of the school room.

One more view of the school room.

Here is the fitness room.  Now this was the first room Eric finished, but once he started framing it was more like a storage area.  This is a multi function room, fitness area on one side, the other side has a sitting area with television and there is also a crafting table.  

Here is a view of the fitness area.

Looks good huh! My man is so handy, I wish I could say that I was right there sawing and hammering, and working side by side with him during this project - my role was consultant. Ha ha ha! 

Have a good one!