Year in Review-2009

As I reflect on this past year, I have seen how God has grown me over the 12 months.  Here are some highlights in the form of posts on my blog...

*God used the house fire of a friend to show me how to deal with adversity. There is so much to be grateful for even in the midst of tragedy.  One big thank you is that their dog (a female mini schnauzer) got out ALIVE...she eventually became Titan's mommy!

*I have learned to trust God more in scary situations like Tim's mishap at the ice park in March.

*That while my sons were the inspiration for the name of my blog...one being an architect and the other an artist. The real Architect and Artist is God.

*God showed me that you can chuck your plans in school and come up with some fun stuff to do...it is ok if you go down a rabbit trail for awhile.  We did a mystery unit and one on Argentina.

*I have learned so much about reviewing products for the TOS Crew...it has been an interesting experience with several months to go.  I have learned about some awesome products and even some to avoid!

*We started our workbox journey this year and have loved the system.

*God has been teaching me how to teach my oldest who we have suspected was gifted.  This past summer we had him tested, and our suspicions were confirmed. This has been my biggest challenge in homeschooling...because of his giftedness there have actually been problems with teaching him.  God has really shown me how to work with him.

*We had a great trip to the Yukon.

*We got to spend time with my dad.

*I learned some great spiritual lessons: Submission from a Schnauzer--Jesus, The One and Only--Me, Myself, and Lies--The Good Samaritan--Smelling Like Jesus--God and the Closet--A Lesson on Brokeness

*I am learning how to have an attitude of gratitude.

*We were blessed with an opportunity to get to know Tim's cousins who are missionaries in Malawi.

*God worked with my on patience...my word of the year.

I have much to look forward to in the new year, but I don't want to forget where God took me and the lessons we learned in 2009!  Praying for God's blessings on all of us in 2010!

Praying for Your Kids From Head to Toe

In 2010, I will be focusing on "prayer" as my Word of the Year.  I thought I would share a list of prayers that I have prayed for my children in the past.  Here is the first list...I will post the second one soon.

For the life of me I can't remember where I got this list, but I love it!

Praying Head to Toe for Your Kids

Mind: Proverbs 9:9-10 "Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding."

Prayer: Father, please make ________ wise. Make his heart open to instruction that he might gain more wisdom. Teach him what it means to fear the Lord, for that is the beginning of wisdom. Grant him knowledge of the Holy One.

Eyes: Proverbs 3:7 "Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil."

Prayer: God, please guard ________ from being wise in her own eyes. May she fear you and find wisdom, strength, and understanding in you alone, not in her own capabilities. May she understand your holiness and resist evil.

Ears: Proverbs 2:2 "…turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding."

Prayer: Father, please make ________'s ears attentive to wisdom. Deafen her ears to the call of sin; teach her to recognize your still, small voice. Incline her heart to understanding.

Mouth: Ephesians 4:29 "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen."

Prayer: I pray that __________ would speak only wholesome words beneficial to others. May his speech be appropriate and respectful. May it encourage those who are disheartened and bring faith to those who have none.

Tongue: Proverbs 10:19-20 "When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise. The tongue of the righteous is choice silver, but the heart of the wicked is of little value."

Prayer: I ask that ___________ will learn wisdom and as a result, be able to hold her tongue. Keep her from wicked words. Make her tongue like choice silver.

Neck: Proverbs 3:3-4 "Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man."

Prayer: I pray that love and faithfulness will not leave _______. May she bind them around her neck and write them on the tablet of her heart. Open her eyes to others' needs, making her quick to extend kindness. Bless her with favor and a good reputation in the sight of God and man.

Heart: Proverbs 4:23 "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life."

Prayer: I pray that _____ will watch over his heart with all diligence. Keep his heart pure. Keep him from being embittered by trials. May his heart be steadfastly set on loving you more than anything or anyone else.

Hands: Psalm 24:3-5 "Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false. He will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God his Savior."

Prayer: I pray that ________ would have clean hands and a pure heart. May she love you with all her heart, turning away from all that is false. Keep her speech and motives pure. Thank you for promising a blessing and being faithful to fulfill it.

Knees: Psalm 95:6 "Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker."

Prayer: I pray that ______ will worship and bow down before you. May he love and fear you, honoring you as the King of his life. May he acknowledge you as his Maker and recognize that your love will never fail.

Feet: Psalm 119:35 "Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight."

Prayer: Father, please help ________ walk in your path. Cause him to delight in your commandments and follow you all his days.

Last List of Gratitude in 2009

Here is my last list of things to be thankful for in 2009...of course, I will be continuing to do this in 2010!  I never thought I would get this far in listing all these things.  When you really sit down and start to make a list you realize that you have so much to be thankful for!

226. That we made it through 2009!
227. New opportunities for growth await us in 2010.
228. My Word of the Year-prayer- looking forward to what God will be teaching me.
229. Joy in the hard times.
230. Grief that brings us closer to God.
231. The power of prayer
232. The prayer journal that I started...now if I can keep it going.
233. Watching fireworks downtown.
234. The sweetness of God...that He loves us beyond measure.
235. Truffles!
236. A break from the kids' activities
237. Watching the faces of my Jr. High students in Sunday School as the grow in deeper relationship with God.
238. Candlelight Christmas Eve service
239. Time with family.
240. That God is watching over a friend that is grieving.
241. Books on prayer so that I can learn more.
242. Time to sit down and pray.
243. Key Lime pie...Yum!
244. That God gave me such an awesome daddy!

245. The Waltons...good, clean family entertainment.
246. My fight with anxiety and depression...there is a good side to it...I am closer to God because of it.
247. Losing a bit of weight even during the Christmas season.
248. Comfort in knowing that when God says "no" it is for our best.
249. Titan cuddling on my lap.
250. Christmas shows (Charlie Brown, Little Dummer Boy, etc.)

Titan's First Christmas

Titan didn't know what to make of Christmas!  He learned how to open gifts this year (he got a few stuffed animals to play with) and how to pull things out of a stocking!  Yes, Titan had a stocking! Here he is opening his first gift. Of course, we had to direct him all the way...he hasn't gotten the point of ripping up paper to find something fun inside!

Here he is all tired out from the festivities!  He is snuggling in Noah's WebKinz.

This is one of my favorite gifts this year.  As many of you know, my dad is a wildlife-nature photographer (scroll down to the bottom of the blog to see some of his work). Well, when he was here in September he took pictures of "our wildlife" (a.k.a. Titan!).  He had one of the photos nicely framed and sent it to us for Christmas.  We love it, Dad!  Thank YOU!

I love after Christmas Sales!

Normally the day after Christmas we go buy wrapping paper, gift tags and bags at 1/2 off.  And that is just what we did today.  But I scored on something else just by chance this year.  I try to think ahead and buy food ahead when it goes on sale. This isn't only to save money, but sometimes we don't get certain foods up here because of shipping problems or because of a bad growing season.  Getting pumpkin was a problem this past fall. My friend actually had to get pumpkin from me this fall because there was NONE on the shelves! 

Well, today when I walked into our local grocery store there was organic pumpkin, pumpkin pie mix, and sweet potatoes!  They were all half off  at $.79/can and less expensive than the non-organic stuff!!!!!  Yipee!  I bought about 40 cans total!

Yes, I am nuts.  But the stuff should last until 2012!  We will go through it by that time!  Normally I wouldn't buy pumpkin pie mix, but there was more of that than the regular canned pumpkin.  I think I may be able to alter recipes so that I can still use it.  This afternoon I successfully made pumpkin chocolate chip muffins with a can of the pumpkin pie mix. I just reduced the sugar to 1/2 cup instead of the 2 cups it calls for.  I am hoping that I can subsitute sweet potatoes for pumpkin in some recipes.  If you have any tips on substituting  pumpkin pie mix or sweet potatoes for canned pumpkin let me know.

I am thrilled with my find! It is going to be a long time before I buy pumpkin again! In case you are interested, here is what we do with pumpkin.

My Word of the Year for 2010

Last year for the first time I picked a Word of the Year which many of the women on the FIAR boards do each year.  This is a word/concept that you focus on for the year.  My word for 2009 was patience.  This year I have decided to go with the word "prayer".

I am looking forward to learning more about prayer and seeing what prayer can do in my life this year.  Here are some resources that I will be using as I focus on the concept of prayer...

Candace at His Mercy is New has written a post on prayer.

Beth Moore's book Praying God's Word

These prayer cards from NavPress...I have used these a lot over the past several years. Our church was handing them out and I loved the concept.

A Prayer Journal-I want to record my prayers and when/how they were answered.

Here are some of the books that Candace at His Mercy is New recommended to me...I am going to look into these this coming year...

Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home

Waiting on God

Praying the Scriptures for Your Children (I also have two long lists of scriptures that I have used in the past to pray over my kids...I will be sharing those on my blog soon).

So, have you chosen a Word of the Year?  What will it be...what will you focus on?  Join me throughout 2010 as I go on this journey.

Merry Christmas to All of You!

Wishing all my readers a blessed Christmas!

Christmas Wrapped up in a Person

A scientist said, making a plea for exchange scholarships between nations, "The very best way to send an idea is to wrap it up in a person." That was what happened at Christmas. The idea of divine love was wrapped up in a Person. - Halford E. Luccock

Ten Years Ago Today...

I found out that we had lost a baby. I was almost 14 weeks along. I went in for a doctor's appointment and it was then that they realized that they couldn't find a heartbeat. I was then sent for an ultrasound which confirmed that the baby's heart was no longer beating. An hour later I had a D and C because based on size they determined that they baby had died earlier in December and my body was still holding onto the pregnancy. This event began a very sad time in my life where I fought off a major bout of depression. Christmas was tough that year....I just didn't want to celebrate it.


But God is faithful...a year later I was eight months pregnant with a boy that would be born in January. There were many miracles that came out of the birth of my second son, Noah...like how he survived against every obstacle put in front of us...exposure to German measles, problems related to me being rH negative, severe anemia, and early labor. As I look back now, I realize that God was out to bless me through the loss of one child and the birth of another. But I guess that is what Christmas is all about the God's loss of one Child (Jesus) for the birth (rebirth) of other children (us). I now see how fitting that my loss happened around Christmas.

I do still wonder about the baby that I lost...in particular I want to know whether it was a boy or a girl. But the answer to that will come in another time. Here is what is posted on another website about the loss of our baby who we eventually named Jordan.

NOTE: This is a re-post from last year.

Thankful on the Shortest Day of the Year

Today is the shortest day of the year...for Alaskans that means something.  In the town we live in we will have only about 3 hours of daylight today...but in the darkness there is plenty to praise Him about.

207. Summer is coming! LOL!  Really, by tomorrow we will start gaining daylight here...on our way to warmer days.
208. Lunch with friends today. I have so needed people's emotional support the past few weeks.  I am so thankful for it!
209. Tuna melts
210. Dirty dishes...means we have food on the table.
211. Christmas is this week...Come, Lord Jesus, Come!
212. Music
213. Titan graduating from clicker class!
214. That Zach's skin condition that we went to the Dr. about last week isn't serious.
215. Tim has time off work.
216. That in the darkness there is light.
217. Jesus never leaves us nor forsakes us.
218. Good books to read as I struggle with some issues in relationships: Safe People and Handling Difficult People

219. Growing in Christ even in the difficult times.

220. Tim being an awesome, very involved father.

221. That we finished our Argentina unit and really enjoyed it.

222. Time to reflect on what will be my Word of the Year for 2010.

223. Wii Fit...we are so enjoying the games that we are playing together.

224. Time to catch up on much needed sleep

225. Fudge from the Fudge Pot...the farthest north fudge store in the US

Titan Graduates!

We just finished a six week clicker training class with Titan. If you aren't familiar with clicker training, the basic idea is to get the dog to perform a certain task (sit, heel, down) and when he does you click (by pushing a little hand-held box that makes a clicking noise) the good behavior and then give them a treat. Using a clicker tends to increase the motivation to do the task, and it also lets the dog know when he has done something right. Titan did pretty well in the class; although he did have issues with barking at the other dogs. Because of his breed (mini Schnauzer) he tends to get overly excited around new people and dogs. But this week he graduated from his class! He knows how to sit, do a down (lay down), "watch me", heel a little bit and go to his mat when asked.  Zach even taught him to "Give me five" with his paw.  He still has some work to do, but he is only seven months! We may take another clicker class in the new year to solidify what he has already started learning.

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey

We have loved the children's book entitled The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey for many years now.  Now there is a movie based on the book...I am not sure when the movie came out, but as soon as I found out about it I put it on our Netflix list.

The movie doesn't disappoint!  We loved it!  The story is about a widower (Jonathan Toomey) who is a wood carver. He is asked by a widow and her son to carve a Nativity set. The outcome is heartwarming and life changing for Jonathan...who comes to admit that Christmas is not "pish-posh".  You will just have to read the book or watch the movie to see what I mean!

Christmas Cookies and Other Goodies

The first part of this post is a re-post from last year...

Here are some of our favorites!



White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies (Zach's Favorites)
2 cups butter (four sticks), softened
1 cup sugar
4 cups flour
1 pkg. white chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups dried cranberries

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer. Add flour and mix well. Stir in chocolate and cranberries. Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto cookie sheet. Flatten each ball sightly. Bake 10 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool 5 minutes on baking sheets. Transfer to wire racks to cool.


Candy Cane Cookies
1 cup shortening
1 cup powdered sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon red food coloring
1/2 cup crushed candy canes
1/2 cup sugar
Heat oven to 375°F. Mix the crushed candy and granulated sugar together and set aside. Mix shortening, sugar, egg and flavorings together. Add flour and salt and mix. Divide the dough in half. Add food coloring to one half and mix well. Make one cookie at a time by rolling a 4" strip (use about 1 tsp. dough) from each color. Place strips side by side, press lightly together and twist like a rope. Place on ungreased baking sheet. cure top down to form the cane. Bake about 9 minutes. Remove from baking sheet. While still warm sprinkle with candy/sugar mixture.


Puppy Chow for People
(Sometimes this is more of a New Year's treat for us)

1 cup chocolate chips
1 stick butter
1 cup peanut butter
8 cups Crispix cereal
2 cups powdered sugar
Melt the first three ingredients in a saucepan, and pour over cereal. Put the powdered sugar in a large plastic bag and add the coated cereal. Toss until evenly coated with sugar. Dry on foil and store in airtight container.


Thumbprint Cookies
These are from the Kraft Foods website.

1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
2-1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup PLANTERS Chopped Pecans
1-1/4 cups raspberry preserves

HEAT oven to 350°F. Beat cream cheese, butter, sugar and vanilla with mixer until blended. Add flour, baking soda and pecans; mix well. Refrigerate 30 min.

SHAPE dough into 1-inch balls. Place, 2 inches apart, on baking sheets. Indent centers.

BAKE 10 min. Fill each cookie with about 1 tsp. preserves. Bake 8 to 10 min. or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets 2 min. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.


White Christmas
No measurements here...I just eyeball it.

Combination of half white chocolate and half white confectioner's coating
candy canes

Smash the candy canes in a bag or chop in a food processor. Melt the white chocolate and coating together. Stir in the candy. Then spread in out on a baking sheet lined with waxed paper. Let cool. Break into chunks and store tightly covered.


Oreo Truffles
Got this from the Five in a Row boards

45 Oreo cookies, divided, one package
1 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 8 oz. packages semisweet baking chocolate, melted

Crush nine cookies to fine crumbs in food processor; save for later. Crush the remaining cookies into fine crumbs and place in a medium bowl. Add the cream cheese and mix well. Roll mixture into 1" balls. Dip the balls in the melted chocolate and place them on waxed paper covered baking sheet. Sprinkle the tops with reserved crumbs. Refridgerate one hour until firm. Store in fridge.

Here are some more Christmas goodies that we might try...

Minty Snowmen (We have done these in the past, and the boys enjoyed them.)

Gingerbread Cookies

Cranberry Swirl Loaf (Not a cookie, but looks yummy! Great way to use the cranberries we picked this past fall.)
Sweet and Salty Snowmen

More on the Argentina Unit

We are currently working on a unit about Argentina through the book Chúcaro.  Here are some pictures of the boys working on a notebooking page about llamas.  They used Draw Write Now Volume 8 in order to draw a picture of a llama for their pages.  We also focused a bit on Paraguay and Brazil, two countries that border Argentina and are a part of the story of Chúcaro.

Here is the llama page from Draw Write Now that we used...

The boys working on Brazil and Paraguay pages provided in the Chúcaro unit.

Here's a look at my lesson plans (or at least part of them) for the unit.  The page is a part of Study Starters if you buy their system. The unit has turned out to be about three weeks worth of lesson plans, but that is at a swift pace.  You could definitely take more time on it!

Thankful this Christmas Season

We have so much to be thankful for this year...here is my continuing list of things to be thankful for.  I am hoping to eventually get to 1,000 things!

191.  That the Christmas cards are done!
192.  That we get an easy week to bake some Christmas goodies and spend time with friends.
193.  Lunch with a friend to celebrate our birthdays.
194.  That most of the Christmas shopping is done.
195.  Great Christmas songs like this one...


196.  That God is giving the courage to face some things that I don't want to face.
197.  Extra time with family.
198.  Getting all that we got done this semester in school.  We are still struggling to get some things accomplished, but, all in all, everything went well.
199.  Good health...I have had a bad head cold these past few days...I am now appreciating how good it is to be healthy!
200.  Christmas goodies.
201.  Time to relax.
202.  A three week break from Spanish lessons!
203.  This song that has been speaking to me...


204.  Christmas lights on houses...I love looking at them!
205.  Peace in my heart this week.
206.  People puppy chow...love this stuff! We normally only make it during the holidays.

Word of the Year for 2009-Patience...

This year is almost to a close, and I thought I would look back on how it went. In January, I chose a "word for the year". A word or concept that I would focus on for the next 12 months.  For 2009, I chose the word Patience.  Here is my original post about it.  In many ways, this year was a success...I did demonstrate patience especially when it came to my oldest son.  He isn't wired like I am...he is a procrastinator in many respects and not highly motivated.  I am a go-getter and like to get things done in a timely fashion.  I came to realize this year that he is so much different in the way he operates. We had him tested this past summer and that really revealed to me his differences in the way he handles his work.  I have let him be himself more and more.  It doesn't mean that I don't set guidelines or deadlines for him.  I have just eased up on nagging him about getting things done.  Just easing up a bit has made all the difference in the world!!!! Our relationship has become so much better because of it.

If you look at my original post you will see that part of patience has to do with forgiveness. Showing forgiveness is showing patience with people. God has given me many opportunities to show forgiveness to others this past year.  There have been three major situations that have required forgiveness on my part. With one, I was able to immediately give that forgiveness even though there are huge ramifications for me and a heap load of pain that I have to work through.  I guess I began to see forgiveness for what it really is.  A releasing of that person from their debt to me.  I expect nothing from them...they can't even make it right if they tried.  The damage has been done.  I also came to the realization that I have to forgive them because I have been in their shoes....I have done what they have done.  How can I hold anything against them?  Now, that doesn't mean that I haven't set some boundaries...God has been teaching me that we can forgive and yet we may have to set some boundaries with the one who offended us.  This is still such a process for me!  I am still learning and growing through it.

So what is in store for 2010?  What will my word of the year be?  I have no idea!  I am going to take the next few weeks to think about it and pray about what God needs to teach me in the coming months.

Update on Chúcaro-Argentina Unit

We have been working on our unit on Argentina based on the book, Chúcaro.  We have been using Study Starters as notebooking pages for our study.  I am loving these pages!  Here are a few of the things we have done...

Country Info Pages

The regions of Argentina

The Grasslands of Argentina and other areas of the world

The Ombú tree of the Pampas of Argentina

Titan Spends the Day with...

his momma!  Titan is now bigger than his mom, Olive...he is about an inch taller!