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!