Christmas Decorations

Here is chalkboard that I made with my dear friend Monica. It used to be a mirror with a natural frame. I picked it up at Heritage Villages's yard sale for $3.50 www.pinellascounty.org/heritage/ We painted it burgandy and spray painted the mirror with chalkboard paint. Half of it already had some chalkboard paint on it's a little bumpy so, I may need to redo it. I also need to get some chalkboard markers and take some chalkboard art classes...LOL. Looking forward to changing it from season to season.



Here is a banner that took me hours to do. Again, my friend Monica inspired me to do this. I couldn't get the whole banner in the picture. It says: Happy Birthday Jesus



This is the end of the banner (Jesus). Thank you Monica for the help, the idea and supplies. Love ya!

Some decorations around the house....

As for me and my house we will serve the Lord

Ok, some people are asking why we don't do santa. Here is why our family doesn't.....

We are christians. We weren't always christians but we are now. We are born again or other words, saved. The bible states in IICorinthians 5:17 that anyone in Christ is a new creation. The old has gone the new has come.~ Since we are a new creation in Christ we want to do whatever possible to bring glory to God. We wouldn't have Christmas if it wasn't for Jesus. So to Him be all the glory. So, we celebrate it for what it is, Jesus' birthday. We don't want to bring honor to anyone else but Jesus himself. Our children aren't going to miss out on anything. Infact they are learning the truth. Proverbs 22:6 states: Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. ~ We are teaching our kids that Jesus is the reason we celebrate Chrismas. No other reason. Santa is a tradition based on man not God. The following verse confirms our decision: Romans12:2 - Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. ~ We sure have changed the way we think towards a lot of things. Sant is based on Saint Nick who was a real person that loved Jesus and gave gifts to people in secret (God's work) but he is in heaven now with Jesus. And really, what does santa have to do with Christs birth?? What role did he play when Jesus was born? We call santa the Christmas clown because he resembles a clown. Julian states he doesn't like him because he's afraid of him just like he's afraid of a real clown. As far as the kids getting gifts, we want our kids to know that we are the ones giving them gifts. Their father works very hard in order to buy them gifts and why should some make believe man take the glory? We are trying to teach our kids not to lie and if we were to do santa we would be lying to to our children. How do you think they would feel when they find out the truth? I know I was pretty upset when I found out the truth. Christmas wasn't the same after that. We as their parents need to be the example. Do not lie is the 9th commandment. How about commandment #1...have no other gods but me. I'd say santa is a god to a lot of children. How about commandment #2... don't worship idols. I'd say most of the world makes santa an idol and where is Jesus in all of this? It's very sad. Our eyes should never leave Jesus and make someone/something else an idol. We also teach our children that God loves us soooo much that he gave us the ultimate gift, Jesus John 3:16 states: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ~So since God gave us a gift we want to give the kids a gift to show them that we love them and to celebrate Jesus' birthday. We don't buy the kids a lot. Maybe 3 presents each (Jesus got 3 gifts from the 3 kings) and we probably only spent $20 on each. It's not about getting presents or having the best toy. It's about Jesus coming into this world and saving us. Oh my gosh!!! What a gift!!! It brings me to tears to think about it. Christmas is magical! Not because of santa but because a perfect baby was born who turned into a man that loves us so much that he suffered and died for us and saved us from going to hell. To those that don't know Jesus and would like to, you need to sincerely accept Him as your Lord and savior in your heart and repent from your sins and start a new life in Christ. This is the only way to heaven. You're not going to get into heaven just because you're good and just by saying, I believe in Him. Ephesians 2:8-9 says: God saved you by his special favor when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a rewared for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.~ Jesus also says in the bible in John 3:3..I assure you, unless you are born again you can never see the kingsom of God. ~ Accepting Christ was the best decision my husband and I ever made. It is all about God and to Him be the glory. Everything exists because of God. And this is why we don't do santa. We do what we feel is right for our family in the eyes of God. Joshua 25:15 For me and my house, we will serve the Lord ~ At least we try to. We are still sinners but thanks be to God there is grace and mercy. Merry Christmas and love to all.

Happy Birthday Jesus!!!

An online sister made this point that I never thought of. I just added it to my list of why we don't do santa. Thanks Kat!!.....

With santa, kids are taught that they recieve gifts IF they are good boys and girls. That santa is watching all year long, and so they should be good if they want gifts. Many parents even use this as a way to threaten their kids when they're being naughty. On the total OPPOSITE side of the spectrum, we find Jesus, the FREE GIFT of God--not based at all on works that we have done. God gave His only begotten Son to sinners, because He loved us even while we were yet sinners.

Look Who's 4

My baby girl turned 4 years old on 12-3-09. Where does the time go? I know it's only been 4 years but I remember being pregnant with her and praying for her. I had a few miscarriages so when I became pregnant with her I cried out to the Lord to let me have her. And the Lord answered my prayers. I'm also grateful that the Lord showed me how she should be born. I had her in a birthing center with assistance from a midwife. Everything was natural, no drugs, IVs or monitors of any kind. I was able to eat, drink, and move around if I felt needed. When she was born she, she entered into the hands of her father. He 'caught' her. From there she was placed right on me and then she started nursing immediately. We waited till the cord stopped functioning till we cut it then a little bit later we weighed her and took her measurments. Not once was she out of my sight. Pete laid in the bed with her while I took a shower, then he ran out for some food and then after some paper work and my vitals we went home. All in one day. She is a true blessings. She is funny at times and she's full of love. She loves animals and babies. She loves dressing up. She is very girly and she always has to pick out her own clothes. Purple is her favorite color right now. She is a little mommy. She's already demonstrating great traits of a helpmeet. I pray I can guide her into the will God has for her. I pray I can teach her everything she needs so she's equiped to do Gods will. We love her very much. Happy Birthday Giana! Here is how we celebrated her special day.......
We started off by going to Pete's work to have breakfast. When we arrived, Pete had the table decorated with candy, a balloon, a present, stickers and cute little smoothies. Of course everything was purple.

Then after breakfast we were off to my bible study at Melisa's house. She wanted to go because she got to play with her friends. I had to take this pic of her. When I turned around she was just sitting there looking at me.

Then when we got home Pete suprised her with Pizza (it's what she wanted for dinner). Then we had cake that her father made for her. You got it right, a purple cake.

Present time. She got her GiGi God princess dress up kit which she's been praying for. By the look on her face she was happy.

Blowing out the candles.

I can't wait to see how she grows in the year to come. May God bless her and watch over her!!

THANKSGIVING

For Thanksgiving, we made our first lapbook. It was fun and the kids learned a lot about thanksgiving.


Inside we included, a picture of the mayflower, some paper pilgrims and indians that we dressed, bible verses on giving thanks, colors that we eat on thanksgiving, a menu of what our family eats on thanksgiving, a memory game, leaf stickers because thankgiving is in the Fall, T is for thanksgiving and there is a big turkey on the back and on each feather is something the kids are thankful for. Examples: Lions, toys, their drinking cup, and Papi (they never did say mommy..LOL). I really like doing lapbooks at this age. I've been a little stuck on what to do with them lately but I think I found it. I'm also in the middle of doing Before Five in a Row but it seems a little slow so I want to add some stuff to it and I think a lapbook would be a great addition. Maybe I'll do a lapbook on each book that we read.

Here is the kids table on Thanksgiving (Clayton is missing). Literally, it was the kids table, us adults sat on the couch or stood. There were only 7 adults compared to kids. We enjoyed our holiday by celebrating it with good friends, The Teels and The Moellers. We are truly thankful that the Lord blessed us with Godly friends. How important it is to surround yourself with people who love the Lord. It was a nice day and I thank God for everything that is in my life.

Look what I made at my dear friend, Monica's house. It's the official, Rivera Thankful box. Every year we write what we are thankful for and place it in the box. It's going to take a bunch of years to fill up this box and I can't wait till I am old (God willing) when I can sit down and go back and read them.

This is just the side view of the box. I want to thank Monica for opening up her house to a bunch of us girls so we could do some fall crafts and for supplying the supplies. I also want to thank her for the laughs and her friendship. She is dear to my heart. I pray the Lord blesses her beyond measure. It really was a nice day and a nice time of fellowship. We even got to make some fall wreaths. I'm already looking forward to the Christmas Craft Day. Thank you Lord for all your blessings. Thank you for this season so we can look back and reflect on all you have done. For you are always faithful and I am forever thankful!!!

Happy Fall Ya'll

FALL....it is now my favorite season. It never used to be when I lived up north. I didn't want summer to end and I was always sad when I could smell and feel the season change. I didn't want the long hot carefree summer days to go away. But now that I am in Florida, I yearn for those days of a briskness (is that a word?) in the air and beautiful colorful leaves all over the trees and going for walks bundled in a jacket with the sound of leaves crunching under my feet. And seeing pumpkins and mums decorating porches. Not to mention going apple picking and baking an apple pie. I remember the route to my grammar school. It was a street lined with maple trees for blocks. And I can still picture how beautiful it was in fall. The orange, yellow and red colors went on for blocks. That image is forever etched in my mind. So, for now, I decorate my little Florida home with fall decor and it's my little autumn paradise. I just pray my children will experience it someday. I think that God gives us little glimpses of how beautiful heaven is when he blesses us with his art work of colorful leaves. I also seemed to dwell on the verse from Ecclesiastes 3:2 during each season that we cross and fall is... 'a time to pluck that which is planted'. It just reminds me to be a worker and harvest the Lords crop which means I should be sharing the gospel with every chance I get. I need to harvest the crops. I also feel I need to examine who I associate with. Are they godly people? Do they edify or tear down? Are they christian on the outside but someone else on the inside? So I need to weed them out and pluck them then surround myself with righteous people. I thank the Lord for those godly people that are in my life. I'm so glad I can learn from them and I love them. Thank you Lord for this change of season, it's a beautful one.

My Birthday

Another birthday, they always seem to pop up. I am just so amazed how quick time passes. What a great birthday I had. My husband and kids took good care of me.


Look at this yummy meal that was made for me...chicken bruchetta with a caprese salad. I was able to sit back while my hubby made it for me and the kids helped.


Then they made me this chocolate cake from scratch...no box cake here. This was the most delicious chocolate cake i've ever had. I'll have to use this recipe when I make the chocolate macaroon cake.




Then I got country themed gifts. I got some mason jar drinking glasses, a rooster nightlight and yankee candle (clothes line scent), farmhouse hand soap and lotion. I also got a Charlie Hall cd and a new memory card for my camera. And of course, birthday cards that make me cry. Even though this gifts were great, My favorite is....


from Giana...she signed my birthday card!!! This is the first card she ever signed!!! She actually wrote her name for the very first time a few days earlier. Now this made me cry. I will cherish it forever.

And then my husband posted this on Facebook:

On this day July 21 of 1971 a baby girl was brough into this world by our almighty God. Her name was Dawn Marie Novak and today I have the blessings of being the husband of this wonderful and godly woman. Babe I just want to tell you that God has given me a piece of happiness that will live in my heart forever, and today I am celebrating your life with tremendous gratitude and honor. I thank you for your love and I pray that our saviour will allow us to grow old together. Happy Birthday Te Amo Con todo mi corazon xoxoxoxo----------------

I am so blessed to be loved by my children and husband. They make me feel like the best wife and mother in the world. They are the best thing that ever happened to me besides Jesus. And they know how to make me feel special. I just thank God for them. Love you guys!! So much!!!

Good Finds

Look what I found all for a little over $8.00.... A vintage apron, a vintage enamel cup and some old aluminum clothes pins. I love when I find great deals like this. I wonder what type of woman wore this apron. Was she a home maker? If so, did she love her role as wife and mother? Did she love Jesus? Wish I knew. As for the apron it's hanging in my modern kitchen. My daughter asks to wear it when she helps me cook. For the cup, it's actually pretty big. I may put the kids tooth brushes and toothpaste in it. And for the clothes pins I haven't decided but I think I may hang a piece of rope in their room and then hang their art work from it. Or I may do the same thing but do it in my room and hang the kids pictures on it. Tough decisions. Can't wait to find more good finds.

Happy Fathers Day

I saw this pic on Aunt Ruthies blog and had to snatch it. It is a picture of what happens daily in our home. The minute Papi walks in the door from work, the kids go running to meet him. And the little boy hugging his fathers neck so hard, is what Julian does. There is definitely love in this house. We are a happy family and mostly because of my husband. My husband is amazing. There are too many words to describe him. He's sincere, caring, compassionate, kind, gentle, giving, godly, hard working, full of energy, etc. He is the man I love with all my heart. There is something special about him and it's obvious God put him on this earth for a reason. I've always felt that even in the days when he was an addict. God was watching over him and has plans for him. In my eyes, he is a perfect example of what a husband and father should be. Because of who he is, makes it easy for me to be a submissive wife (even though I still fail at times). And to be that help meet that God intended me to be. Hense the name of this blog: Peteys Rib. He is truly one of a kind and I couldn't imagine my life without him. As for the kids, they just absolutely adore him. I pray that Julian turns out just like him but as my husband says, only better. I don't think Giana will ever find a husband that compares to him. He is special and we love him. To end this, I just want to say thank you to him for being that provider, that godly man, that hard worker, that loving husband, that amazing father and that great friend. We love you and Happy Fathers Day and may the Lord continue to bless you and use you.

I DID IT!!!!

I actually accomplised my first week of homeschooling. Even though it was a pre-preschool curriculum. It was still homeschooling. The kids enjoyed every minute of it. We learned about the letters A & B, numbers 1 & 2, calves, cows, jungles, and vines. Our shape of the week was square and our color was green. Crayola makes window markers so I used our sliding glass doors as a 'chalkboard'. We wrote the letter and numbers and words we learned on the window - of course in green. This way all week they were able to see it and whenever I would say where's the number 1?, they would run to it and point to it. They also had fun just scribbiling on the windows. We also made a trip during the week to the library and got books on cows and jungles. Giana was sitting reading to Julian as I was looking for the books we needed. It was too cute. Well, I'm just thankful for letteroftheweek.com and a few of my favorite blogs for all the info and resources I needed to pull this off. Some points were challenging like my patience level. I pray I'll learn to use the patience that i've been given. Overall it was fun, interesting and educating.

In one of the pictures above, the kids are playing with a wooden square (our shape of the week) matching game. Giana figured out to put 4 squares together to make 1 big square. I was pretty impressed. I pray their hearts and minds will love learning.

Look What We Did

We went from these ordinary notebooks to.....

These decorated ones. I - I mean WE made these for the pre-preschool curriculum that we started this week. We headed over to Michaels where Giana and Julian picked out what they wanted on their books and what you see above is what we got. I even used Giana's paper to decorate my index card book which holds all my memory verses. I think they came out pretty good and the kids were happy with them. I'm sure we'll be making more.

I'm Raisng and Educating My Children?

"Hillary Clinton says it takes a village to raise a child. I've seen the village; and I don't want it raising my child." - unknown

I saw this on someones blog today and it just gave me more confirmation that homeschooling is the only way to go for us. I do not want this world raising or educating my children. The Lord didn't bless me with children to ship off to other people to raise. I don't want someone else teaching my children their morals and values, religious beliefs and their idea of what an education is. That is my job. But then I got thinking about something my friend Monica posted on her blog about what a speaker said at a homeschool convention: We aren't the only ones raising our children or being their only teacher (something along those lines). The village is. Meaning, the minute we walk out our front door, our children are learning. Well, I shouldn't say just outside but also what we allow in our home meaning the computer and tv and friends. Our children are constantly learning about their surroundings and other people. Whether at the park or at the food store or on tv or from friends or even at church. They are learning!! And we need to be aware every minute of what are children are looking at or listening too or learning. The 'world' is tempting and I strongly believe in what the Maxwells - titus2.com says about sheltering our children. I don't agree 100% with everything they say but for the most part, I agree with a lot of it. They obviously are doing something right if ALL their children are following the Lord. I just saw a copy of Time magazine and on the cover it stated, Is homeschooling good for America? It should say, is America good for our kids? Don't even get me started. Alls I can say, if the family would come home again meaning, women would be willing to do as they were made to do and not try to be independent and if they learned to submit to their husbands and if husbands would love their wives with all their heart and be the provider that God made Him to be, this world would have less problems and not to mention a lower divorce rate.
So many people say: what's wrong with today's kids??? Well, the problem is their parents because they aren't raising them, other people are. Mom and Dad aren't home anymore. It's sad!

A Rainy Day

It rained last week or the week before and boy did we need it. It hasn't rained in so long that I think the trees and grass and flowers and creatures said ahhhh. I love when it rains since we don't get much of it. I always say God is feeding and cleaning. The kids also love it as you can see in the pics. They make sure they always make a bee line for the puddles and laugh and run when I tell them they have to go in the house. I literally have to drag them in. Thank you God for nurishing the earth and giving it a good cleaning.

Making My Blog Pretty

Well as you can see I have dressed up my blog a little. I wanted it to be a little more attractive then the simple way I had it even though I like simple. Does it look too messy and cluttered? Can you follow it? If not, let me know. Where I got the design from has tons of stuff to dress up your blog so now I can change it out when I want. I have to give credit to scrappinblogs.blogspot.com for making my blog pretty. Check it out you might want to dress up yours too.

Weekly Menu

Most of the time I fill out a weekly menu. This really does help out with time and makes things more simple. I usually plan my menu Sunday night or Monday morning. Mondays are our shopping day. I make a list of what we need from the menu then we go shopping and then we don't need to worry about going to any stores the rest of the week. When filling out my menu I start with the bottom. I fill in any activity or service that I need to do this way I can see if I'm pressed for time around one of the meals. Like on Thursdays mornings I need to be at church so I make the kids frozen organic waffles. I dust them with powdered sugar and put them in zip lock bags and they eat them in the car. They love taking their breakfast with them. For the most part, breakfast and lunches are the same each week. Example: every monday is oatmeal for breakfast and peanut butter sandwiches for lunch. This helps me with trying to figure out what to put on the menu. I have about 2 weeks worth of dinners so they rotate. To make things simple you can have the same thing every week like the breakfast and lunches. Keeps the guess work out of what to eat. Menu planning has really helped me and has saved me lots of time. I am not stressed anymore about what to make or need to buy at the store. My husband likes it too because I'm not asking him everyday what he wants to eat. That is one argument that can be avoided now. And isn't that a huge reason to plan a menu??

My Husbands Birthday

I've been thinking lately about this boxed bundt cake that I used to eat when I was little. I don't know if it was made by Duncan Hines or Betty Crocker. Alls I know is that it was good! For some odd reason they did away with it. I decided to try to track it down on the internet and I found other people that loved this cake too and they couldn't figure out why they got rid of it too but low and behold I found a recipe for it so I decided to try it for my husbands 38th birthday. I was sure it wouldn't turn out like the box mix but amazingly, it was almost exactly like it. The only difference was that the coconut filling was a little different. At one point it brought back memories of a time when I was little. I don't know why I didn't try to make this cake myself instead of trying to hunt down a box mix that'll probably never be made again. Anyway, everyone liked the cake. Happy birthday babe! I hope you had a great day and pray that the Lord will bless you with many more.

Here is the recipe...

Chocolate Macroon Bundt Cake:

18 oz. Devils Food Cake Mix

1 Egg White

1/4 c. sugar

1 c. shredded coconut

1 Tbs. flour

1 tsp. almond or vanilla extract

Glaze

1/3 c. evaporated milk

3/4 c. milk chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare cake mix according to package directions except use buttermilk instead of water to make it richer.

2. In medium bowl, bet egg white until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form.

3. Fold in coconut, extract, and flour.

4. Pour half batter into a greased, floured 12-c. bundt cake pan.

5. Drop coconut filling by spoonfuls evenly over center of batter in pan, but avoid touching sides. 6. Pour remaining batter over top and smooth.

7. Bake for 45 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.

8. Meanwhile, to make glaze, melt chocolate chip in milk in medium saucepan over medium heat. (Mixture will be thin.) Cool to lukewarm before pouring over cake..

9. Cool cake in pan for 10 minutes. then turn out onto cooling rack. When cool ice with milk chocolate glaze.

Smoothies

Smoothies are yummy and it is a great way to eat foods we normally don't eat plus it's a good way to sneak things in that the kids don't like or add extra things in like hemp seeds or powdered supplements.

The kids always help make their smoothies. They fight over who's going to put what in the blender and then when I turn it on, they say it's too noisy and cover their ears. I noticed when I allow the kids to help cook, they are more willing to eat what they made. Plus it's a good way for them to learn how to cook and help out in the kitchen.

Here is a recipe for a smoothie that we make often...

It's called Berry Good! 3/4 orange juice, 1 Tbs honey, 1 Tbs hemp seeds, 2 bananas, 2 cups frozen mixture of blackberries, raspberries, strawberries and blueberries. Throw everything in the blender and mix on low until everything is blended then increase the speed until the mixture is smooth. Makes 2 servings .

Part of our circle time

We made a calendar and we cross off the days that go by. We also post a cut out of what day it is and hang a picture of what the weather is like outside. Usually, it's a picture of a hot sun fanning itself.

Here are some cute ladybugs that we made for spring time. It was also educational because they got to choose how many legs and dots their ladybug was going to have. And then we counted them out loud as we glued them on. Notice how Giana glued hers on in a perfect row?