February Disney Movie Night

I totally planned on posting Tuesday, but I never got around to it. I thought, "Hey, I'll just post Thursday" and then I was puking. And now I'm sitting here on Friday, wondering if I should even try. I have school work surrounding me, thoughts of quiet time plaguing my brain, and homeschooling to finish up. I'm almost done my psychology class and should probably start writing that research paper.

Anyway, this isn't going to be all about my school work... how boring would that be! Last Saturday a few most of my friends came over for our monthly Disney movie night! This month, since it was close to Valentine's day, we watched Lady & the Tramp and Enchanted. Well... some of us watched Lady & the Tramp, most of us slept through it... oops!

 

For dinner, we had an awkwardly lovely candle light dinner with spaghetti, garlic bread, and all of that fun stuff. Then, for dessert we had brownies & icecream. We were too stuffed to eat the goldfish and chips with onion dip!

Of course, Sunday we made sure to go to Plato's Closet and go get frozen yogurt (froyo, yogo, berry creamy, whatever you wish to call it). We also made sure to pack up our onion dip, chips, and goldfish and we ate them in the car! Oh, and by the way... I got a J.Crew sweater/hoodie for $14... say whaaaa??

 

 

Disney movie nights have been the thing to look forward to every month! I love hanging out with my friends and looking back at the memories from each month.

 

~ Jessica



 

 

Oh My Word!

With all this talk about a "word of the year" and such I've felt a little bit out of the loop. So I decided that I need to get my game together and find a word of the year. It actually came a little easier than I had expected. My mom's word has been "simplify" and as a result of that we've been cleaning out everything. My room has been completely taken apart and put back together, the closet has been emptied and tidied, our dining room is in limbo as we are preparing for a yard sale that we're having this weekend.

Because my room was completely taken apart the aftermath has been lingering for the past week. I still have some piles of things to go through, some wall decor to hang up, and other things of the sort. In order to cope with that, I've come up with my own little "get 'er done" project. Did I really just say that? Anyway, like I was saying, in order to cope with the little things that still need to get done, I've started writing down my own daily resolutions. I mentioned this in my previous blog. I know that some people pick resolutions for the year, but I need something a little bit more short term.

What does this have to do with my word? Well I was thinking and decided on the word Resolution or Resolve. I haven't quite decided which one... it just depends what looks nicer in a journal or on my wall. Resolutions have been on my mind lately and they've probably been on yours as well. Maybe you're in the crowd that prefers "dream", "hope", or "goal". I, however, am much more practical and know that if I set a goal or dream it has a much higher probability of not getting done. I am not okay with that. When I want something to get done, it has to get done.

Resolution has a sort of punch to it, it weighs heavier than a dream. When you resolve to do something, dictionary.com says that you "come to a definite or earnest decision about" something. Let me give you a little example... take a look at this picture

 

When you look at this do you think "wow, this guy is serious"? What if we just changed a few words... "Hope To I would like to live for God and if no one else does, I'll still try." It doesn't have the same punch, does it? Resolve holds a heavier meaning and it seems to convey some sort of consequence. 

 

One of the things that I've been wanting to strive towards this year is time management. I like to think that I'm a pretty good manager of my time, I always make sure that school works comes before most anything else. But that seems to be the problem, I want to learn to play the bass guitar, I want to play the piano, I want to read books, and watch movies. But I get myself too caught up in cleaning my room, doing my school work, and things that are much more practical. So I resolve to make time for fun things.

 

 

One of the fun things that I have been doing for the past month is a Disney movie night every month. In honor of my Disney Senior Trip, which keeps getting pushed back, my friends and I have been having a movie night every month, with a different theme each month. Last month, since it was December, we decided to watch The Santa Clause 1&2 and we ate some fun Christmasy foods.... Cookies? It's been a great way for me to let go of any school worries and just have fun, that's something that I struggle with... having fun, I know, weird!

 

 Take some time to think about what you resolve to do this year, maybe you need to sit down and make a list of things you resolve to do every day. Find something that works for you!

 

Happy Thursday!

 

~Jessica 

My Backwards Bucket List - December

Hey friends, remember at the end of last summer I shared my backwards bucket list here and here??  Well I'd thought I'd share my December with you in that same format!!  Like I've said before, I would much rather look at what I have accomplished instead of list that's not been accomplished....this seems to work for me!!

 Ready?  Okay....here we go!!

1.  Rest....yep, among, perhaps the CRAZIEST time of the year, we found plenty of time to rest!!

We watched Christmas movies and enjoyed laid back dinners on the couch!!  We've even continued that into January!

2.  Family Night Out - Thanks to some generous, anonymous gifters, we were able to go the movies and have tickets for the six of us AND refreshments covered by Regal Cinema gift cards!!  We don't go out on the town very often at all, because, well, six people equals a costly evening!!  It was fun getting ready knowing that I was going out for a fun night!  We saw "The Hobbit", which was very good, even though I'm not a fan of the dark side of good vs. evil.  We also had our very first experience with YoGo!!!  It was yummy!!

3.  Putting my word of the year into action!! On December 31st I started a ridiculous project of literally simplifying my home!!  We took down Christmas decor' and I thought it appropriate to tackle the attic before putting Christmas items back up there!  It went on from there and we've tackled everything from cabinets to bedrooms and the detached garage attic!!!  We will be selling our stuff at a yard sale coming very soon....I cannot wait!!!

4.  My first real cookie order!!  My Pastor and his wife asked us to make sugar cookies for their oldest sons' engagement party!!  I was freaking out!! We make these for ourselves or holidays all of time and we've done them for fundraisers, but this time there was a little bit more pressure!!  I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out!

 

5.  Christmas & Programs-Our chidren's choir worked very hard on about 5 songs that they shared at three sunday services and at the Children's Christmas Eve Flashlight Service!  My hubbs and I also participated in the childrens Christmas Eve service; we played a spoof on Hollywood Squares.  My hubbs was a contestant and I was one of the nine squares!!  It was a blast!  Now that my oldest lives elsewhere, him "coming home" for Christmas is always a highlight <3

my girl all the way on the left 

 younget and oldest (8 & 21)

 My five heartbeats playing games together...a gift on so many levels <3

 

6.  Disney Movie Night- as per Jessica and her Senior Class Trip, they have been doing a montly disney movie night....December?  Santa Claus 1 & 2, Christmas cookie snacks and a fun photo shoot!! 

 

7.  Outreach-the month wouldn't have been complete without opportunities to get outside of ourselves!  We had new friends over for dinner, I was invited to have lunch with some sweet girlfriends that I haven't seen in way.too.long, I was asked to decorate for the Ladies Tea that our church staff puts on for some of the women in our congregation and we held our first big student leadership training & service weekend.  We hit the streets of two local cities with hot coffee, donuts and hats/scarves/gloves for those in need that we encountered.  All of these opportunities were a wonderful way to be the hands and feet of Jesus <3 

 

8. Chalkboard Art - I had moved things around enough to pull my chalkboard out of the garage and find a home for her!!  I've had alot fun with this and love the inspiration that I find on-line!

 

9. Christmas Shopping-thanks to friends!  Our wallet is very, very, very tight and we had come to terms with the fact that we just couldn't swing Christmas gifts at all this year!  I can hear some of you gasp!! lol  I know, the horror!!!  Thanks be to God that He moved some friends of ours to give a generous gift to us so that we could buy our children a few gifts.  It really made Christmas so much more special and meaningful and these were small tokens of our thanks and appreciation to these families <3

10. Seeking the Light -something that I always do!!  He is always present and where there is Light, there can't be darkness....that is my focus!!

11. Date Night-an unexpected opportunity to have a small night out with the hubbs <3

12. Face Mask Fun -we decided to try a recipe from Pinterest!!  Boy was that fun!!

13. Teaching Opportunities-teaching Senior High Sunday School has become a highlight!!

14. Family Walks-they started out as family walks but quickly ended up to be just the two of us!!

15. Don't/Did shave december-hubbs wen all through November and most of December before shaving...he had such a blast shaving it off, I'm sad that I can't share the pictures!!

16. The end of soccer season-Our boys had one make-up game that took us to the first weekend of December!!  They ended up in second place for their division!!  It was a great season and we are so proud of our boys and the team - they have grown tremendously in one season!!

17.  Hot Cocoa Station-it was so much fun to see all of the different cocoa stations out there in blog world!!  Each one is so unique to its creator...what a fun thing to have for the winter months!!

19. Advent-for years I have wanted an advent calendar, something to count up to the weeks of Jesus' birth and every year I go without!  This year I made my own unconventional advent candle"wreath" using a wooden box and candles.  I also had the opportunity to make a calendar or countdown, with empty match boxes.  I strung them up in an empty frame and each night that we were home for dinner we would have a reading from that days box and take part in the family activity included on the paper.  We did anything from performing a random act of kindness (leaving gingerbread men in our mailbox for our mail lady) to heading outdoors to play flashlight tag!!  It was a blast and a beautiful way to worship our Creator!!

20.  Baking-another aspect of the holiday season that we didn't plan on participating in was baking Christmas cookies, sad, but true.  We are learning to accept these things and God is blessing us for our willingness to say "yes, okay Lord, take it".  A dear, sweet, precious friend of mine, Denise, wouldn't hear of us having a Christmas without cookies, so she provided a way for us!  We went nuts baking!!  We were in the kitchen for three or four days straight!!  We were all so very thankful for Denise's kindness and gift!!

 

 

So there you have it!!  My backwards bucket list!!  It's amazing to see just how many things we can pack into 30/31 days!!!  God's goodness is everywhere - you just have to slow down enough to see it!!  What were some of the highlights of your December?  I'd love to hear about them!!

 

 

God Bless <3 Lorraine

 

August Disney Movie Night!!!

So as most of you know, we are planning Jessica's Senior Class Trip to Disney, that will take place her Junior Year.....but actually, now that she's planning on taking her G.E.D. and is starting classes at the local community college on tuesday (that's another post!!) I don't know what year it will technically be.  I suppose it would be her Senior Class Trip Freshman Year or would it still be her...oh nevermind!

Anyway, each month she and her friends (a.k.a. class) have been watching specific Disney movies, complete with a theme!  Last month we did Under the Sea with "The Little Mermaid" and "Finding Nemo". 

 

 

This month we planned on an outdoor, campy theme with "Pocahantas" and "Brother Bear".

 

 

What Jessica didn't know, was that this was not JUST a Disney Movie Night!!!  It was a surprise 16th birthday party for her!!!  I coordinated a way to get her out of the house for a few hours so that we could set up and had everyone surprise her when she got home.  If you were to ask her, she'd tell you that she had it figured out.....but the look on her face showed me that there was some element of surprise!!!

 

We had so many amazing foods to eat - it was ridiculous!!!  My friend, Rachael, made this beautiful cake that Jessica had fallen in love with about a year or so ago.  We had a S'mores bar complete with Nutella AND Reeses' cups.  S'mores cookies (that Jessica made), pulled pork cheese fries and so much more!

  We watched movies in the backyard on a BIG SCREEN and even had our pick-up truck pulled around back equipped with blankets and pillows for maximum movie watching!!  If you look at the decoration collage you will see a pop-corn machine!!  You can't watch movies without pop-corn!!

We delivered a less than stellar rendition of "Happy Birthday" but it was totally fitting!!!!  All in all, I think that everything went really well!!!  I want to say a big THANK YOU to my daughters amazing friends for helping me pull this off - it was NOT easy!!!!!  Kristen, Shelby & Hannah....I couldn't have asked for better friends for my girl than you all <3  God surely knows what He's doing!!!  Angie, thank you for your gourmet Nutella Fondue and fixins!!!!  Rachael - Thank You for a perfect cake, Jessica and everyone else loved it!!   Mom, Dad and of course, my wonderful hubby - thank you for helping set up, for shuttling people from an offsite parking lot back to the house and for stringing those lights in the tree that I just HAD to have <3

To Jessica.......I know that your birthday is two weeks away, but I'm telling you, every day is a celebration with you!!!  From the moment that you were born, you have been blowing me away with the kind of young lady you are becoming!!  I know and have seen the big plans that God has for you and I am so impressed with the way that you willingly fall into His arms and trust Him with your life!!  I pray that He will be your guide no matter where you find yourself and that you will continue to pursue Him in all that you do and in all that you become!!!  Daddy and I love you more than we could ever express!!!!

This is one of three birthdays that we will be celebrating over the next week and a half!!!  Let the cake eating commence!!!!!!

*Lorraine



 



Aaahhh Summer!!!

So here's my problem with summer........my memory of the summers of my youth!  Do you remember when summer was a full 3 months??  When days belonged to you, your group of friends, and your imagination.  Now it seems we get maybe 2 months.  I've been feeling for a few years that I don't even have a summer.  I think part of that is because summer days are like the rest of my days, in that since I homeschool, I am with my kids 365 days of the year.....there's no change and I love that, don't get me wrong.  But it does something to your summer. 

The other problem, or issue is that right at the end of June we have that big group camping trip to CreationFest, we've been doing that since 2005!!  That requires at least a week to regroup and reorient, then we hit Vacation Bible School!!!  That's a huge, amazing, exhausting week!  Then, after that, I do crafts for a week at a summer camp, Delanco Camp, to be exact!  So there are three huge events; one for each month of "summer"!

In April, I think that I begin looking ahead to the summer and only see these three big events!  I end up feeling like there is no summer and frankly, that's sad.  I've been seeing tons of bucket list ideas on Pinterest and thought that maybe if I came up with one, I'd appreciate all of the inbetween days and would come to honor summer in a way that is fit and proper.  I haven't done it (which I'm not surprised) but what I have done is become more intentional with those inbetween days and at noticing what fun summer things we are doing!

So, here is my unconventional bucket list of sorts!!  Things that we've already accomplished this summer!

1.  The Gardens......exploding with gorgeous color, texture and fragrance!!

2.  Bonfire......our first of the summer!!!

3.  Service.....we brought these beautiful hydrangeas and a meal to a family in our church who needed some love <3 

4.  Summer Photo Shoot

I love taking pictures, I love taking pictures of my kids.  Sadly, I cannot usually get them to comply.

This day however......I had me a taker!!!!!!!

5.  Blanket/Pillow Forts in the living room!!!

6.  A welcome home party for Jessica when she returned from her trip to Michigan!! 

It was supposed to be a party in a box, which was a plan set in place to soothe the broken heart of Julia (but she bailed on me) So this is what she got instead!!!

7.  The largest camping trip everrrrrr.......with 60 - 80,000 of our closest friends!!! 

CreationFest North East

8.  Drive-In Movies!!!!! 

We saw Brave and The Amazing Spiderman with some of our great friends!!

9.  Crafts!!!!  I made these cute summer bracelets!!!

10.  Planning a summer birthday party!!!!

My baby turns 8 this friday!!!!!

11.  Vacation Bible School!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We had upwards of 300 kids each night!!  It's an incredible week, full of chaos, excitiment and lots of activity!!!

12.  Jessica's monthly Disney Themed Movie Nights!!!

{In honor of her Senior Class Trip Junior Year} Complete with fish food, crab and fish cakes, sand dollars, The Little Mermaid, Finding Nemo and night swimming

13.  Lazy Days by the pool!!!!!!

Our pool is officially open and we've been out there two days in a row - it feels like summer to me now!!

14.  Freeze Pops!!!!!!!

I haven't bought these in years, I kid you not, years!!!!!!

I am so thrilled that I compiled this list!!!  I just got tired of looking at my summer in a negative light!!  An actual bucket list scared me because I have committment issues.....not to people, but things, plans and events.  So I knew there would be a good chance that I'd make the list and not do any of them.....how embarrassing would THAT be!!!!  I like this much better!!!  We do so many great things that, unless we put a spot light on them, go completely unnoticed!!!

How is your summer shaping up friends??

Friday Favorite Five #13...on Saturday

 

 

Happy Friday!!  Wait!! I mean Saturday, Happy Saturday!!!  A day late and a dollar short!!!  Our apologies for not getting this to you yesterday!!  Last night was our "big" (not so much) Disney Senior Trip planning meeting, so the day was spent preparing for that.  Which honestly is no excuse, so please, forgive us for our neglect!!! It's a gorgeous Saturday morning, the windows are open, the laundry is tumbling and my to-do list is long!!  So here goes....our favorites of the week!!!

1. Craft(s)

So originally, I had wanted gumballs to fill the jar with but we couldn't find them, so I opted for Rice Krispies.  The Mickey heads were made out of styrofoam balls of different sizes, spray painted black and stuck on a stick.  Easy, no mess, no skill!! 

2.  Music  Food 

(okay, fine, we really should have some music for your listening pleasure)

I know, it's not the typical Five - stick with me!!

Mickey Mouse Rice Krispie Treats, nuff said!!

3. Blog/Other More Food

Chocolate Dream CupCakes with Buttercream Icing....recipe courtesy of my Mother-in-Law; Dottie (so good)

So we tied the cupcakes into everything else through the stars...did you notice the ribbon on the jar above?  They are carried throughout! 


4. Scripture Notes

We found this paper on clearance at Wal-Mart a few weeks ago for $1.00!!!  Perfect!!  At the time, we weren't sure what we were going to use it for, but we knew we'd find something!!  The Agenda!!

5. Quote Mickey & Minnie,

I mean Bill & Lorraine

Yes, we dressed in black & red in honor of Mickey & Minnie - we ARE that Goofy!!!!(Hardy Har Har) What is life if you can't have some fun!!!  We are truly blessed by the group of girls and their parents.  They really are some of the best kids that I know and God is so good to have provided my daughter with these friends!  We are so thankful that their parents are allowing them to join us on this crazy idea of a "Homeschool Senior Class Trip/Junior Year" and we are really looking forward to spending a week with them all!! 

Thanks again for joining us - do you know how much we appreciate you?  Lots!!!!  Have a blessed Saturday!!!!!

<3Lorraine & Jessica

Friday Favorite Five #11: Disney Edition

Happy Friday!!!! In honor of a special trip you heard about yesterday, we're going to do a Friday Favorite Five: Disney Edition!!!

1. Craft(s)

I love these cupcakes!! How cute, unfortunately, though, I couldn't find the original link to them. So, these are not my doing... But how cute and simple???

2. Music

This song is so cute!! * sigh * 

3. Blog/Other

This website is so awesome! http://family.go.com/ has tons of Disney party ideas and recipes and everything you would ever need to throw the best Disney planning meeting in the world!! hehe

4. Scripture

I don't really have any way to figure this out except to say that Disney's motto is "Where dreams come true" and we know that this is what God says in John 10:10. The only place we can have true satisfaction in life is through Christ and all that he promises us!

5. Quote

This is my new life motto. Stop talking. Start doing. 

Thanks for joining us on this Friday! I dedicate this post to all of my friends who have endured all of my ridiculous planning and I also dedicate this to my super awesome guidance counselor, Trish!!!