Would you like to play a game of A-ne-jo-di?

The girls recently attended a homeschool activity at the Collinsville Library. Two Native Americans came from Talequah to show the kids how to make an Indian game called "Stickball". It was pretty interesting learning about Stickball and making the sticks. Here's some info we learned:

A-ne-jo-di, or Stickball, is a very rough game played by many Indian tribes.. KEYWORDS anejodi stickball Indian games lacrosse muscogee games creek games seminole games southeaster woodland tribes yuchi games natchez games cherokee games stomp grounds stomp dance intertribal games

A-ne-jo-di, or Stickball, is a very rough game played by not only the Cherokee, but many other Southeastern Woodland tribes including the Muscogee (Creek), Seminole, and others.

The game resembles the modern European game of LaCrosse, using ball sticks which are handmade from hickory. A small ball, made of deer hair and hide, is tossed into the air by the medicine man. The male players use a pair of the sticks, and female players use the bare hands. In earlier times, only the men with the greatest athletic ability played the game.

Read more here: http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080321/NEWS/803210325

Not so deep thoughts...

With my 20th high school reunion coming up this summer, I've been reflecting a lot recently about where I currently am in life. I think back to my high school days and I'm definitely not where I expected to be - but I think that's probably a good thing. Back then, I saw myself as a fashion buyer and living in a loft in New York. I thought of the endless options for shopping, exciting new places to eat and all of the dance clubs I would frequent. Now look at me - I'm a homeschool mom living in a fairly small town in Oklahoma. Not really what I thought I'd be doing, but I have to say I really love it. I love homeschooling, having play dates with our friends and spending time with my family.

I look at where other people are in life, especially public figures, and I wonder if they are really happy. They might have the fame, but do they have true joy? It's ironic that I've been thinking about this lately because our pastor actually spoke on this topic in today's sermon from John 4:1-42. It's the story of the Samaritan woman who had 5 previous husbands and was currently living with a man. He pointed out how she kept looking to men for happiness, but true happiness can only be found in Jesus. He went on to say how we are a "restless" society, always looking for the next thing to make us happy - expensive cars, bigger homes, the latest fashions, alcohol, drugs, relationships, etc. - but that happiness is only temporary.

While my life is far from perfect, I know that God has a hand on my life and will work it out for His good. One of my favorite Bible verses is Jeremiah 29:11 - "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Knowing that, I don't have to be concerned about what tomorrow brings. Having Jesus in my life doesn't mean that I am now worry free and that hurt and disappointment won't come my way - it just means I don't have to face it alone. He is always there for me and walks beside me in times of trouble. He makes the pain barable and always brings good out of a bad situation. I feel truly blessed to be where I am today and I thank God for being there for me every step of the way.

Move over Dorthy Hammell!

We went iceskating for the second time for the Homeschool Ice Skating Day at the Oilers Ice Center in Tulsa last Friday. It was also "A's" birthday, so ice skating was a fun way to celebrate her special day. Unfortunately, this was the last homeschool skating session until next fall. I suppose that will give us something to look forward to after the summer is over!

Happy 6th b-day to my baby ;-)

The story of "A"...

It took us about 6 months to get pregnant with "A" and that six months seemed like such a long time! I began to wonder if we'd ever get pregnant again! The day I found out, I was SO excited! "M" was not quite 2 yet but I was so happy for her, too, that she'd have a little sister. I thought we'd get a little creative in our way of telling Steve he was going to be a daddy again, so I made "M" a little t-shirt that said, "I'm going to be a BIG sister!" I put it on her and when Steve came home from work, she ran & gave him a big hug. It took him a few minutes to read her shirt but when he did, he was very excited, too!

My pregnancies with both girls were really pretty easy and I just loved being pregnant. I loved feeling the girls inside me - just knowing that there was life inside me made me awe at God's handiwork. Well, it was about time for Abby to be born so we scheduled a c-section about 2 weeks before my actual due date. I had to have a c-section because "M" was delivered emergency c-section. She was born beautiful and healthy - thank God! However, she was just 5.3 pounds and when the nurses ran the normal newborn tests on her, they determined she was actually probably about 4 weeks early.

"A" was so tiny! She dropped to 4.12 in the hospital. Every time she'd try to nurse, she'd burn more calories nursing then she was taking in, so we had to supplement with milk I pumped and we fed it to her with a medicine syringe. She also had a little trouble keeping warm, so even though she was born in May, we had to keep her bundled up in blankets, warm clothes and hats for about the first six weeks of her life. She continued to eat from a syringe for about 2-3 weeks but finally started to gain some weight and I was able to nurse her for about 14 months.

Today, "A" is still very thin, but she's very healthy and of average height - a problem I wish I had! Most people say she looks like me but I think she acts like her daddy. She has his sense of humor and is pretty silly most of the time. She has a very sweet spirit and I am so blessed to be her mommy. Happy 6th birthday to my baby "A"!

A study of Minnesota...

We belong to the Heritage Homeschool Co-Op of Owasso and on the last Friday of every month, we have a special day called "Heritage Day". On this day, our Co-Op meets at Freedom Church and we have fun, educational activities planned. In the past we've had Show & Share days, The Roving Reptiles came and did a presentation and this month's activity was a "State's Fair". Each family chose a different state to do a display/presentation on. My girls chose Minnesota - mostly because they are very into Little House on the Prairie right now & Laura Ingalls Wilder lived in Minnesota for part of her life. They enjoyed learning about the state's symbols as well as other interesting facts about the state. They worked very hard on their project - as well as all the other families that participated, too!

It's a party in here, Mom!

BEFORE - Notice how nice & clean the room is?! It even looks big for such a small space!


AFTER - The girls have definately taken over! And, yes, I caved & let them do school there today. Did you know I would?! But come Monday, we're back to the grind in our school room! Oh - what the heck, we only have 2 weeks of school left!

Camo Closet

So what do you do when you've painted every room in your house?! Start painting the closets! Steve came up with the idea of turning our junkiest closet in the house into a hideout closet for the girls. I think he just did this so I would clean it out ;-) It had everything from a huge box of my 80's records & cassette tapes (yes - I said RECORDS & CASSETTES!) to my wedding dress to about 15 pieces of luggage (we're such world travelers, you know!). I think I got rid of everything except our vacuum cleaner & I'll find a new home for my wedding dress (as long as the girls don't hide it with their dress-up clothes!)

So then once we got the closet cleaned out, Steve painted it pink. Of course, I couldn't just leave it plain pink - so I decided to paint a pink & green camouflage pattern on it. I threw in a pink rug, some body pillows & a couple of baskets to put their stuff - I mean "valuables" in. We did most of this project this past weekend when the girls were at Steve's parent's house for the weekend. Then we surprised them tonight when they came home from church. They are already saying they want to sleep in there & make it their new homeschool room. I'm thinkin' it's a little small for that but maybe it would be a good incentive to get their work done so they can play in their new hideout!!!

My playlist has been updated ;-)

So I finally updated my playlist! I put a few of my new favorites on it (along with a few favorite oldies) & added some old hymns that have been "modernized" by groups such as Jars of Clay & The David Crowder Band. There are also a few songs we've been singing in church lately. One of my favorite songs right now is "Love is Here" by Tenth Avenue North but Playlist doesn't have it right now. Hopefully they'll add it soon!

You can't fool the Tooth Fairy

The other night when we went to check on the girl's sleeping before we went to bed, we found a note & a little "surprise" they had left us.

The note said, "Dear Tooth Fairy, (which is funny because they don't believe in the tooth fairy anymore - see this blog) Please take our teeth."

This was also quite humorous because they hadn't actually lost any teeth that night. Mackenzie had 2 small bits from a piece of candy that looked like teeth. Apparently, they thought they could pull one over on the Tooth Fairy. So - the Tooth Fair wrote back & said, "Nice try girls. I look forward to seeing real teeth real soon! Love, The Tooth Fairy"

Prince Caspian coming soon!

Yesterday, the girls went to the library for a party to celebrate the upcoming release of Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. They had a great time making crowns and swords & getting their picture taken with Aslan. They also had fun playing a trivia game & surprisingly knew most of the answers. We look forward to the movie coming out May 16th.

For homeschool mom's who might be interested in lesson plans on Chronicles of Narnia & Prince Caspian, here's a few I found:

http://schoolathome.blogspot.com/2005/11/chronicles-of-narnia-lesson-plan.html

http://litplans.com/titles/Prince_Caspian_C_S_Lewis.html

http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/narnia.htm

http://www.geocities.com/kawebb99/PC.html

http://www.easyfunschool.com/Prince-Caspian-Narnia.html

Just me and my friends

Do your kids like to sleep with dolls and animals? My girls love to & I just look at their beds & think, "How do you fit in there with all of those friends?!" I suppose I should just enjoy them being young and innocent & not worry myself so much with the "logical" things in life like fitting into a bed with 50 stuffed animals!

RAFFLE for a chance to win an outfit

Karin Peak is the Children's Pastor's wife at Freedom Church in Owasso. She and her husband, Brent, are in the process of adopting a little girl, named Amy, from China. In order to raise funds for the adoption, Karin makes adorable boutique-style clothes and sells them on her on-line store, Mamma's Darlins. The adoption is only a few weeks away and they are still short on funds. So, she's decided to have a raffle and the winner wins any item on her website. Be sure to check it out and feel free to pass the word on to your friends and family!

Happy Birthday to Emily and Poppy!

Happy 2nd birthday to my niece, Emily, and Happy 20 something to Steve's dad, Charlie!

Our kitchen "re-do"

Wow! I just noticed this is my 50th post! I can't believe I've actually kept this blog up for a few months now!

Anyway, we just had our kitchen countertops and backsplash replaced this week! Gone is the green fermica and white country ivy tile! We went with a black granite countertop that has splotches of brown in it - it's called Indian Copper Brown. And our backsplash looks like faux ceiling tiles - we went with a color called Bermuda Bronze. The manufacturer makes it sound like anyone could put it in, but it took the tile guys about 5 hours and they made it look MUCH better than we could have ever done. It looks so great!

If you are looking to replace your kitchen countertops with granite, you have to call the guys we used - Stonemen Granite and Marble. They were great to work with, very professional and got the job done in a matter of days - and with very little mess. They are also way less than someone like Lowe's or Home Depot because you cut out the middle men working with them. They also do special cuts and little "extras" at no extra cost. Tell them Christy sent ya!

Lullabies and Lace

I found a new site today I just had to pass along. It's called Lullabies and Lace and it's owned by a homeschool mom who makes beautiful crocheted designs. I saw this crocheted mug cozy & thought it would make a great Mother's Day gift. Check it out!