A Spot of Tea

Today we went over our friend Bella's house to have a fun afternoon of crafts, slot car racing, and dressup clothes. Our mothers got to talk while Meghan, Bella, and I made cards. I am telling you, card making is really fun and I made two cool cards: one in a standard card style and another flower style. You use scrap book paper and templates and the cards turn out super well!

Anna had her very first real tea party at her first playdate! She and Sophia played baby-dolls, doll house, ballet class, and of course princesses. Everything a little girl should do! Ronnie had a blast with his friend Dominic playing cars, legos, and watching Lego movies. My mom and Mrs. Porcari talked until it was time for the tea to begin! Everything was set up beautifully, from the teacups to the candles and centerpiece. They served delicious gluten free apple spice cake that was so yummy! Anna and Sophia were pleased to be included, and they even had their own namecards in a decorative way: This was the place setting: little mirrors with the name written using special marker. Lovely!

Even if my name is spelled wrong, it is still lovely!
When we made cards, we talked and observed the little girls playing and chattering. They were adorable when they were playing together!

Mrs. Porcari and Mum (Below)

Well, I need to go finish cleaning up dinner and the the Duggar's will be on at 8:00 PM! You all know how much we like the Duggars :)

Special bulletin announcement!

We interrupt the progress of the famous "Dr. Who Scarf" for a very important project: I took this picture to show how long it is in respect to Anna's height!

I must make a very special, double flannel blanket for our good friend's new son, Camren Richard Reynolds! He arrived a little bit early, is doing fine...and will be home sooner than I thought...so Dr. Who will have to wait for someone more important! Welcome to God's world, little Camren! ~Sue~

Arcs and Angles

I'm going to sound like a complete nerd, but I am excited about math today! Our lesson today is Arcs and Angles and it is a refreshing change from basic trig and hypotenuse lessons. I drew some examples from my book, and I was happy to see that it was easy and it makes sense! Dontcha just love those lightbulb moments? ;PIf you can't read the words (sorry bout that!) it says, "RS is a Arc or a semi-circle" That was one of the first main points and the thing that screamed to me, "EASY!" and it was really interesting. We use Teaching Textbooks Geometry this year, and we're liking it. We don't watch the lessons, because the book work practically explains itself. Here is an excerpt that pertains to the image above:

A part of a circle is called an Arc.

Arc RS represents half a circle, which is also why it is also called a semi-circle. An arc is a portion of a circle consisting of two end points and the set of points on the circle that lie between the points.

The next thing we learned about is Big arcs and small arcs.

The arc that is bigger than a semi-circle (see image above) is called a Major Arc

An arc that is smaller than a semi-circle (see image above) is called a minor arc.

Well, I'll quit boring you with my math talk so you can read something that actually makes sense (LOL)... hope ya liked my math post!

Green Lemonade and Menu plan Monday!

Anna showing her "green mustache"!

Wanted to post these pictures and this recipe for our "Green Lemonade". I can't take credit, I saw it in a raw foods book. Anna and Meghan are the only two who like it....Ronnie tolerates it, and Sara holds her nose! But....I love it, and can feel healthier when I drink it consistantly, so.....we're back to "getting healthy"! All I do, is put one bunch of romaine lettuce, a couple handfuls of spinach, a peeled lemon and some honey or stevia in my K-Tec blender ( now they call them 'blend-tecs'....similar to a vita-mix), add filtered water and blend! They recommend putting in cucumbers and apples if you like as well. That's it! Couldn't be easier! For our carrot juice, we do the same thing, only use carrots...and sometimes apples. Now on to our:

Menu Plan Monday!

Monday
cooked brown rice, yogart and honey, bananas
GF pizza, cucumbers
chicken tettrazini, steamed broccolli

Tuesday
Apple cinnamon millet
GF pumpkin bread, bananas, kefir smoothies
(crockpot) beef stew, GF biscuits

Wednesday
Oatmeal custard with raisens
leftovers/ pbj
chicken a la king, brown rice, steamed carrots

Thursday
cereal, bananas
GF philly cheesesteak pizza, veggies
spicy bean and rice casserola, salad

Friday
egg,sausage, potatoe strata, pineapple
leftovers/pbj
sauteed chicken breasts with mushrooms, cheesy garlic polenta, sw/sour red cabbage

Saturday
apple cinnamon millet, bananas
Birthday party lunch for Mia!
Mulligan, salad

Sunday
cereal, bananas
(crockpot) veggie soup with br. rice
whole roast chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, carrots, corn
GF chocolate angel food cake for dessert!

~Have a blessed week!~ Sue

Iceskating...and lessons learned!

Yes, it was a great day for hockey (as former coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Bob Johnson used to say)...and for iceskating, too! ( I thought!) It was 42 degrees in Bethel Park, and I thought it would be a great idea to all go iceskating at South Park, while I had a beautiful roast and all the fixins in the oven to come home to. Meghan doesn't like to skate, so she was the official family photographer.Ron and Ronnie....it's a great day for hockey! I think Ron had the most fun out of all of us today!
Happy Anna....getting her skates on and not knowing what was going to happen next!

Anna and her big brother...she thought skating would be easy because she's watched Ronnie and he makes it look easy....

Sara did a great job and really improved today! (but she still couldn't catch Ronnie!)

This is the first time she insisted on getting off the ice...look at her face...I'm trying to talk her into trying again.

She did pretty well walking with her daddy....as long as it wasn't on ice.

We all took turns helping her, but she kept trying to 'walk on her toes'....and wildly flailed about! Poor thing was afraid of falling.

This is funny....who's face looks more afraid, Sara's or Anna's?!

Here's a smile....I kept saying "Whee!"...Anna you're doing great! Then she would start to turn around backwards....she didn't like it very much.

Sara was hamming it up for the camera...as usual! She really did do very well, though! At one time, Sara and I linked arms and skated together singing " By the light, of the silvery moon...."

Now we have a happy Anna! Her big sister bought her a cookie and played with her....she was so happy to get her pink tennis shoes on again!

Our tired little girl! She told me that maybe she would skate again when she is older!

~Oh, my goodness....well, the lessons learned part. #1 When you THINK something would be a wonderful family memory...be prepared to accept whatever the day brings...whether it is tears, correction or attitudes. #2 And....see the bright side....make them laugh...and remember that as memories fade...they soften the 'rough edges' of some memories that are less than what we thought they would be.

I know I had a good time....but we did have opportunities for correction and different perspectives pointed out...but these were learning opportunities.....opportunities for good dialogue between parent and child, opportunities for examples to be set....especially as they say that children "catch" our examples much more than just our words. I'm grateful for our day together as a family....maybe next time, Ron and I will go on a "date" iceskating just the two of us....we used to do that all the time before we had children. I will say....Ron was surprised at how well I did! (no, I didn't fall!).....I hadn't been on skates in years...but, it was like riding a bike...you just fall back into it! I grew up in South Park and at the skating rink at least twice a week for years! I remembered how to do lots of things....once I got my balance on the ice! Here is to our next family outing....always a learning experience! Have a blessed night! ~Sue~

Love.....in action!

Love....here are some great quotes about loving....as an action, not an emotion. So today...love your family, show love as an action...think of a way to bless someone...deliberately! Have a very blessed day!!!! ~Sue~
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When a husband and wife both want their partner to receive life’s best before they do, you have a marriage that’s going to exceed every wedding day dream. Their love not only lasts; it continually grows. —Gary Smalley

The measure of love is how much it gives. —J. I. Packer

We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love. —Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Love and kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference. They bless the one who receives them, and they bless you, the giver. —Barbara de Angelis

The great doing of little things makes the great life. —Eugenia Price

Every time we love, every time we give, it’s Christmas. —Dale Evans

100 POSTS!

Meghan hit the lucky number! Her post on our get together with the William's was the official 100th post since we started in December, 2008. Wow, we really write on this, don't we? Originally, we weren't going to have any blogs until we graduate from high school, so we'd have more time to write on it. Meghan and I still plan on having our own blogs when we graduate, but Mum created a family blog!

Since then, the subjects have ranged from movies to babysitting, scripture or cooking. All you readers have read them and commented on them and generally enjoyed reading about the happenings of our blessed life. I would like to thank you all for your reading, your comments, and to all our eight followers (I can't believe we have eight all ready!):

THANK YOU!

You make coming on to see our posts even better when you post encouraging comments on them.

In honor of the 100th post (no, not another giveaway, that's next month) I am holding a poll: go back on our archive and pick your favorite post. Then post a comment on this post telling us which one was your favorite. If you don't want to scroll all the way back, just pick a favorite from 2009. Thanks to all our readers and here's hoping we can get another hundred more!

More time spent with wonderful friends

Since Sara blogged about our wonderfully fun time with our friend Dani yesterday evening, I will blog about our time spent yesterday afternoon with our friends Michaela and Morgan.

Morgan and Michaela

It was so much fun! We took lots of pictures, laughed and teased a bunch and overall, had a swell time! As you can see by our laughing faces in the picture below. :)

Me, Michaela, Arianna and Morgs

Sara took the picture. :)

Tess taking a picture. :) She's so sweet!

Michaela and Morgan thinking and talking. "Awkwa-turtle!" :) (Inside joke) :)

Arianna and Tess (Michaela and Morgan's younger sisters) played so nicely with Anna!

Left to right: Tess, Anna and Arianna

We all hung out together and played Balderdash near the end of our visit. That was interesting and hilarious! :)

Michaela and Tess playing Balderdash-they were a team!

Our visits with all our friends never, ever seem long enough. :) Michaela and Morgan's younger brothers, Seth, Colton and Titus, played Legos with Ronnie-which he loved! Poor Ronnie usually plays Legos with one of his sisters. :( Playing with boys was a refreshing change. :)

Michaela and I spent some time by ourselves looking through her beautiful hopechest! I read her VERY FIRST short story that she wrote when she was ten. Apparently (humph!) she'd never shared it with me! :) We talked about how weird it seems to be thinking of when we're married living with our husbands. Randomness is a blessed quality in our friendship! :) I then pointed out how weird it'll be that for the majority of our lives we'd be married-and not with our moms and dads and siblings. She showed me her beautiful placemats she sewed, her (ahem, matching) crocheted pot holders, and some old pictures, among other things. She had some antique photos of her grandparents in there and I verbally pounced on them with a squeal saying, "OOhh! Old pictures! Is there any wedding ones?" :) It was really neat to see all her childhood mementos, treasures and gifts. When we were looking through some of her old letters to me that I had saved, I found some adorable 'doll letters.' When we (sniff sniff!) still played with our dolls, we had them write letters to one another. So, Michaela's (doll) daughter Jess would write letters to my (doll) daughter Samantha, and so on and so forth with the rest of our dolls. :) On more than a few envelopes it said, "Meghan, Maggie and Samantha Gorecki." Those were the days! :) Just a random thought, does getting older mean you get more reminiscent? Like I've seem to be doing. :)

We all had such a wonderful time! Mothers included! :)

I am so, so grateful for our friendship-it feels just like we're family. :) Love you guys!