The Strickland Site

Making Time To Blog

2011-10-19T08:58:00.000-07:00

It seems like it has been forever since I have had the time to sit down and blog. But truthfully, it has been forever since I have made time to sit down and blog.

Blogging means so much more than just writing a post on our latest happenings. It is a log of our journey that I can look back on for years to come. I'm sad that most of 2011 hasn't been logged.

It also gives anyone and everyone an opportunity to peer into our lives. We are an open book and love sharing what God is doing in our lives. I'm sad thats all been hidden this last year.

But as I look back and contemplate this silence on our blog I realize that I have missed it even more so as an outlet. This site has been sort of my journal. It's a great feeling to be able to express, create, celebrate, and commemorate. I am sad I haven't made time for such life-giving things.

I feel that it is time to reinvent our blog, and make time for myself to be able to blog, share, express, create, and give you all a peek into our lives. I'm excited and hopeful. :)

HAPPY 6TH!!

2011-07-12T19:03:00.001-07:00

HAPPY 4TH

2011-04-15T07:30:00.000-07:00

3 Generations of Strickland MEN!

2011-02-02T11:57:00.000-08:00

These are a few of my favorite recent pics of these boys- threegenerations of Strickland men! So sweet!!

January!!!

2011-01-19T10:56:00.000-08:00

January almost came and went as fast as December! My how time can fly!

We start off our new year with a New Years Hike on January 1st. It always exercises us not only physically, but mentally, and emotionally!

We started in on redoing the girls bedroom. It went from yellow and colorful and flowery to this! Such a grown up look for the girls room!

We also got a hermit crab, that we named "Hermit". Original I know. He has been pretty low maintenance, so we are enjoying having him around.

It's been hard jumping back into the school routine. We are getting there slowly but surely! Check out the Strickland School blog to see what we are learning!

December

2010-12-20T10:30:00.000-08:00

December came and went so fast!

We had lots of fun doing the ADVENT-ture of Christmas.

We also talked alot about the true meaning of Christmas and tried to remain diligent in sharing why we do the things we do at Christmas. We like to point our rituals and traditions to Jes

us. This is our annual get on the roof picture! We did it this year with friends. There was so spiritual significance to getting on the roof, its just what we've been doing for 8 years!

We enjoyed time with friends and family! Especially with cousins from out of state and with uncle Matt from California. Em FINALLY beat Uncle Matt in our annual Monopoly game!

The girls sang beautifully at their Christmas concert. And Tatortot was ecstatic to get a new bike! He sure can travel by bike alot faster now! DJ was just as ecstatic to get a skateboard!

Below are other pics taken throughout December.

Christmas at the Strickland home

2010-12-05T09:12:00.000-08:00

Our home is gradually becoming more festive for the holidays. It's been a little hard to be cheerful and excited like I usually am this time of year due to a sudden death of a friend. In an effort to move forward we are pushing through and continuing on with our normal traditions.

Someone snuck this strand of lights into our home. They are sensored so when we set them off for the first time we were surprised!! Since they go off often, we put them on our front door. Sure is fun to catch guests off guard with lights and music!

Next is our tree and fireplace. The girls pretty much set up the tree this year. So thankful for beautiful creative festive daughters!!

Walked past this the other day and had to take a picture. Yes Buzz and dinosaurs can worship baby Jesus at the stable!

Hopefully I can find the time to post more about ADVENT and what Christmas means to us.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

2010-11-24T15:14:00.001-08:00

Introducing --->LILLY!

2010-11-16T07:19:00.000-08:00

We are just so full of love that we felt the need to add another member to our family! This is Lilly!

She is a dapple dachshund. She and our Daisy get along just fine! It's so sweet how much they love eachother!

The kids love and adore her as well.

I think she is already spoiled rotten!

We just love the personalities and temperaments of doxies. Both Daisy and Lilly fit right in with our family!

Hire a Strickland!!

2010-10-10T12:36:00.000-07:00

The 6 Stricklands are going to the Dominican Republic! In an effort to raise funds, we are working side jobs.

-Joel is a carpenter and so talented when it comes to working with wood. He can build decks, awnings, cabinets, and even kayaks. He can also fix just about anything. Check out his kayak website.

-Tressa can come clean or organize anything. She can cook a homemade meal like no other and will deliver. She is available to sew or repair clothing. Tressa can also help in the garden.

-Kayla and Emily are so talented! They have been making beaded jewelry(pics to come), and can sew and stitch. They are also very helpful when it comes to babysitting. They can do any kinds of in house assistance- they are skilled when it comes to home economics.

-DJ makes a great assistant and can help dad or mom with just about anything. He even has his own tools!

-Taylor, well, he is just cute, does that pay? :)

Colorado Adventure

2010-09-24T20:03:00.001-07:00

For our 13th anniversary- my handsome hubby and I went on a road trip to Colorado. We had soooo much fun- the trip just wasnt long enough!

Here are my favorite pics of the 300 I took! :)

This is the sun rising up behind a mountain. So beautiful to witness!

We enjoyed our mornings by the San Juan Creek that flowed peacefully through the town we stayed in.

This is the river downtown. So beautiful!

We had the pleasure to sit in the hot springs that overlooked the river. We soaked inthese "healing waters" several times. The waters ranged anywhere from 70 degress to 109.

We fully enjoyed being in the mountains. We spent some time mountain biking- it was so hard to breath going up-we werent adjusted to the altitude!

There were several opportunities to witness water falls. This one was breath taking! We were so close to the falls that we were being misted on.

This was Papa Bears favorite part of the adventure. We climbed (by car and foot) up the Great Divide. He was so proud we were so high. Look and see if you can read our elevation.

On our road trip home, we stopped at the Echo Amphitheater in New Mexico. BEAUTIFUL and amazing!

And also saw Cadillac Ranch- very interesting.

Our last stop was at the Palo Duro Canyon. Just reminds me of how big our God is!

SCHOOL TIME!

2010-09-12T14:10:00.000-07:00

We have been doing school year round, but took a little break and started everything back up the first week of September. Here are a few pics!

This was our first day of STRICKLAND SCHOOL. We wanted to stay in our PJs and pose! :)

This is a pic of the girls first day of CO-OP. These lovely girl's are taking art, choir, PE, and photography at the local co-op.

This is a pic of the boys first day of PRE-K. They are so proud of their backpacks!

These are a few random pics from the few weeks in homeschool.

SO THANKFUL to have everyone home learning!

The girls are going to "Journey Across America" this year. Everyone's (mom included) going to learn alot about American History.

We are actually doing PRE-K/Kinder curriculum with DJ. His first official year to be homeschooled.

Even Tatortot is enjoy his tator tot trays! (Things to do)

This is going to be a super year!

Ancient Artifacts

2010-08-15T16:28:00.000-07:00

So we dug up our time capsule that we buried back in early 09-09. You can read our post back then here. Sure was alot of fun digging it back up and going through all the ancient artifacts within it. :)

We will be burying another this year!!

5

2010-07-28T20:23:00.000-07:00

Our son DJ turned 5 today!
My how time has passed.

This is a pic of him enjoying his first birthday cake!
So thankful we have this boy in our family!

Papa Bear and I decided to write out 5 things we love the most about DJ. Just thought we would share these reasons with you all! And please understand.. there are a million reasons but we narrowed it to five....

1. He is so strong, that is why we call him SUPER DJ!

2. He is wonderful at bike riding and kayaking!
3. He is a great helper!

4. He is so smart in school and can write his name and draw pictures of his family!

5. He is a good brother in our family and we love him very much!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DJ!! WE ARE PROUD OF YOU AND LOVE YOU VERY MUCH!!!!!

HAPPY BDAY BRADEN!

2010-07-22T16:47:00.000-07:00

CAUTION!! Screechy video-put your volume on low!

We love you Braden!!

Ahh summer...

2010-07-13T07:29:00.000-07:00

Fun pool times with friends....

Shine!

2010-07-09T17:18:00.000-07:00

So thankful God has blessed us with two beautiful girls. Not only do they shine on the outside, but they also shine from within, like two bright stars!! (Philippians 2:15)

DJ's TBall Game

2010-07-04T04:55:00.000-07:00

We wanted to capture some highlights from DJ's first t-ball game. Hope you ENJOY!

Our MVP:

The team : The Rangers

Batter up!

Proud to be on First Base!

Off to Third!

Headed to home base!

Home!!

High-Five Coach!

Good Game!!

Pictures

2010-07-03T05:31:00.000-07:00

We have had the wonderful opportunity to have a friend photograph us doing the thing we have come to love the most these days. Canoeing and kayaking.

You will notice several of these pictures embellishing the blog. But here are a few of our favorites:

Happy 4th!!

2010-07-02T15:38:00.000-07:00

"Our country is not the only thing to which we owe our allegiance. It is also owed to justice and to humanity. Patriotism consists not in waving the flag, but in striving that our country shall be righteous as well as strong." ~James Bryce

Fathers/Birth day!

2010-06-21T21:20:00.000-07:00

We had the most excellent getaway this last weekend. We went out to West Texas to spend some time with family for Fathers Day and to celebrate my birthday. We spent most of the weekend at Lake Alan Henry. It was so refreshing and filling. Thank you Lord for rest, for our fathers, and for family.

A gift for myself

2010-06-17T13:58:00.000-07:00

I was actually able to sit and make my very own shirt yesterday. It was a simple pattern with beautiful abstract fabric. It took me less than 24 hours to make it. A perfect birthday present to myself! ;)

T-Ball

2010-06-12T21:20:00.000-07:00

If you guessed T-ball from this post, you were right! DJ has started playing T-Ball this summer! So exciting to see him learn a new skill and develop a love for the sport. He drags his T all over the backyard, and sleeps with his bat.

He also really enjoys running the bases. Not sure he understands the object of the game yet, but he sure does have fun learning.

But what we have enjoyed most of all, is both brothers playing and enjoying this sport together. So precious!

X1

2010-06-12T21:02:00.000-07:00

X1 = Experiment One

With the summer here, Joel had it in his mind that we needed another canoe or a kayake. We have been blessed with one canoe and use it often, but its starting to get uncomfortable with our growing family of 6 in the canoe these days.

So instead of buying a canoe, he decided he would build his own. He researched alot and gathered scraps, extra wood, and supplies around his shop and at home.

Then when he actually built the frame, I realized he was really serious! ;)

He wrapped it with fabric, and covered it with some kind of coating/sealant.

He took it for its maiden voyage and later tweaked its performance.

So the camping trip this weekend was the opportunity to try it out and see how well it would hold up. It passed!

Now, he is brainstorming X2.

My goodness!

2010-06-12T20:39:00.000-07:00

I am happy to start this post off at the end of a loooooong week. Im looking forward to starting a fresh new week! ;)

I have been planning for a mini church camp for the preschoolers of our church. It was called the RAINFOREST ADVENTURE. Such a fun- busy-hard-rewarding-stretching week! Here are a few pics of the decorations.

In the middle of our crazy week, our dad had to go get himself hurt. He accidentally stabbed himself in his forehead. He was cutting a heavy duty zip tie upwards and ended up hitting himself. 7 Stitches.

Then we ended our week splitting up. I took Em and Taylor to a wedding, while Joel took the other two camping with the lifegroup. We would meet up after the wedding.

It was a beautiful wedding!! The bride- my cousin Brooke was stunning! I was taking some pictures and took this last one.
Notice Taylor resting his head on this lovely table. After I took this picture, I realized he wasnt looking good resting on the table. I put him in my lap and noticed he was about to throw up. I surely didnt want him to puke on this table or in front of a bunch of guests. SO, I grabbed my purse and let him throw up in it. It was horrible. So needless to say, we left immediately and came home.

The lifegroup enjoyed the campout. I tried to talk Joel into staying home with a hurt head and all. But he refused. He wanted to try out his new creation- the X1. Thats another post! This is one pic I found on Joel's phone of the campout. Its of DJ, listening to an iPod. I love that kid!

Guessing Game!

2010-06-02T21:15:00.001-07:00

Can anyone take a guess what this picture might mean???

Sewing!

2010-05-19T12:37:00.000-07:00

The girls are so happy to announce they have finished their first major sewing project! With the help of our lovely Mommaw Strickland, they each made a shirt. Here they are wearing their work!

Horses

2010-05-19T12:33:00.001-07:00

We went out to a family's farm and learned more about horses. They have beautiful horses! And of course a lovely acreage. Here is a picture I took and added a quote.

This horse was putting on his happy face. He got a "cookie".

We will be going back next week to ride some of the horses. We cannot wait!

Hey Stricklands

2010-05-14T15:02:00.000-07:00

This is a song written and sung by my (Tressa's) cousin. His name is Braden and he is just amazing. So FULL of talent. We know God has amazing things in store for this young man! This song just really blessed us into next year!!

SO busy these days!

2010-04-27T19:37:00.000-07:00

I LOVE to blog, to capture our experiences, to jot down these precious memories, to look upon the blessings in our lives, and to share with all of you our life's happenings.

But lately, I can barely get my kids in bed on time, dishes done, laundry washed, garden tended to, school work accomplished, chores done around the house, little less blog these days. So sad!

We have had some birthdays here recently- and I really want to post on that.

My garden is FLOURISHING- picking at least a dozen strawberries out of the garden every three days- I SO want to post on that.

We have been having so much fun in school learning about astronomy- and I really want to post about that!

So, hopefully soon.

But in the meantime, I will end with some pics of all the things I WANT to blog about!

Taylor's birthday:

Emily's birthday:

Strawberries:

Astronomy:

April 22nd- EARTH DAY!

2010-04-22T05:43:00.000-07:00

I do not have time to post new things about Earth day, but I wanted to repost my last years thoughts on Earth Day. Click on the words below to read on the topic.
RECYCLE
REUSE
RESTORE
REDUCE
REPLENISH

HAPPY EARTH DAY!

Blooms!

2010-04-15T21:30:00.000-07:00

The Strickland garden is changing, expanding, and growing everyday!
Here are a bunch of pics!!

Spring busyness, buddies, birthdays and blooms!!

2010-04-13T13:03:00.000-07:00

Spring seems to be passing through
like the recent outside winds!
We love this time of year
where we start our gardens,
the birds are chirping,
we are celebrating birthdays
and enjoying the beautiful outdoors.

More to come with whats keeping us so busy, our buddies- the people we love, pics of blooms from the garden, and birthday posts.

LOVE Easter

2010-04-04T19:53:00.000-07:00

We spent Easter lavishing in God's love. We also spent time with some of the people we love - doing and enjoying the things we love this time of year.

Here are a few pictures.

Pompeii Powerpoint Presentation

2010-03-24T06:14:00.000-07:00

We are so blessed to have family who love to share their life experiences! Our Pawpaw and Nana like to travel to Europe. They recently went to Italy. They had a chance to tour the ruins of Pompeii.

Since we are studying Ancient Rome in homeschool, we thought it would be awesome to learn more about Pompeii, which was a wonderful town full of all sorts of people and culture!

Since our Pawpaw and Nana don't live close, our Nana decided to put together a power point presentation for the girls. We opened it up at home, and had a "conference call" with her to hear and discuss each of the 15 page presentation.

She shared some of the amazing pictures Pawpaw took. She shared the sights and wonders of the ruined city. Here are a few slides she shared, one on the computer and one I made a picture of. (click to enlarge)

These last two pictures below were in the presentation and really moved both the girls and I. The first picture is of a ruined temple. But if you look in the background, you will notice Mount Vesuvius. Just amazing to see Pompeii in the shadows of the volcano.

This other picture is of the objects found in the buried town. Things like a helmet, bread, a cast of a human body. Truly amazing.

Latest Happenings.....

2010-03-14T04:42:00.001-07:00

"Spring is nature's way of saying, "Let's party!" ~Robin Williams

Last week went by way too fast! We are a homeschoolin' family, so Spring Break doesn't mean a whole lot to us, cause if we wanna break- we will break-whenever we want to! But since we have cousins breaking for Spring Break, we thought we would too. So we schooled and took a few days off also.

Tuesday we stayed local and visited the Mammoth Site with our Papa & Granny and our two cousins. Pretty amazing to see the real remains of these huge mammoths. We spent the day enjoying the weather and eachother.

Thursday we traveled to Fort Worth with our Brittini and had a great time with our Nana, Aunt Breezy, and other cousins. We visited the Science Museum and had a blast. We picnicked at Trinity park and rode the train. We then travelled to Pawpaw and Nanas house for dinner and to celebrate our cousin's birthday and to listen to our Nana play "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" on her cello.

Then Friday Joel and I relented and let the girls have a sleepover. We camped out in the backyard. We grilled out for dinner, had a fire (pic of fire taken with the new camera-love it!) with smores, and flashlight hide~N~seek. I captured this trampoline picture the morning after- all still in their PJ's.

We spent most of our Saturday afternoon working in the garden. We doubled the size of our garden! More to grow and experience! I guess our next step is to just move on a farm!

Taylor

2010-03-07T11:00:00.000-08:00

I've been enjoying taking pictures with my new Canon Rebel camera. It's not new, but new to me for sure! A huge upgrade in quality!

Taylor is one of my favorite things to take pictures of.

A birthday post

2010-03-07T09:08:00.000-08:00

It was Joel's birthday over the weekend and we had a wonderful opportunity to celebrate it in Austin.

The kids went away with Don and Jo who live there while Joel and I hit the town together alone. (So thankful!) Jo even made us a goody basket- with fruit, muffins, and cookies.

We enjoyed exploring Austin. We went out on the town and had some steak, we enjoyed our stay with a jacuzzi tub, we loved the opportunity to sleep in, toured lots of bike shops, had lunch at the Whole Foods and did some mountain biking at Bull Creek.

We later picked up the kids on Saturday and had a birthday dinner. The kids each had a card and present to give. It was a great time had by all!

We love and appreciate our dad for all that he is and all that he does for our family! We would be lost without him. Literally!

Here are a few pics from our biking at Bull Creek, it was BE AUTIFUL.

Mile Marker

2010-02-26T20:34:00.000-08:00

We clearly heard from the Lord that Joel going to Haiti will be a mile marker in our journey.

He is now home from Haiti and we are trying to process it all. It's almost feels like we are stuck on mile marker 224 (2-24-10 was when he came home)

We are trying to get back into the fast lane of our lives, but it seems like something is preventing us from moving forward. We really think we need to take the time to soak it all in, and really pray about our future involvement with Haiti and her precious resilient people.

Here is a picture of Joel in Haiti and of his amazing team. I will post more pictures in the days to come, accompanied with Joel's thoughts and stories.

Come Together

2010-02-22T20:40:00.001-08:00

Beautiful

2010-02-21T11:06:00.000-08:00

The Strickland girls did a performance today in the Journey at our church. It went so well! And we were so blessed by all who came and helped with the whole process. The Lord's grace has been all over us!

What's up with this picture?

2010-02-19T21:00:00.000-08:00

Can you guess why our dad is soooo excited? And why is he wearing a large backpack? Filled with things like Cliff Bars, and clothes for a week?

If you guessed "He is happy because he gets to be the hands and feet of Jesus and go to Haiti" you were right!!

I will post more details later. In the meantime, you can be praying. For him, his team, and most of all, for the Haitians.

Got Dirty Clothes??

2010-02-19T08:11:00.001-08:00

For once (and hopefully it'll last a while) I love doing laundry!

Why in the world would I love doing laundry you ask?
Because I got a new washer and dryer!
Oh.my.goodness. I am so thankful for parents who graciously give. It has just made cleaning all these dirty clothes from 6 people a blessing!

We will see how economical it really is to run these when we get our electrical/ water bill. I have noticed that I use less detergent. So that already helps the pocket book.

Note: Those are ladybugs on the wall behind me, fake ones...because I LOVE LADYBUGS!

True Love

2010-02-14T03:38:00.000-08:00

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."

1 Corinthians 13: 4-7

I can honestly say, the only way to experience this kind of love, is with Jesus in your life. I know I only want this kind of love- there is no turning back!

Compassion

2010-02-09T07:57:00.000-08:00

Compassion International is just one of the amazing ways you can help Haiti. Check it out at http://www.compassion.com/

D-E-N-I-A-L

2010-02-05T06:38:00.000-08:00

Joel and I are a bit shocked that our oldest turned 11 today.
Her birthday came waaaaay too fast!

Heck- these years have gone sooooo fast!

I found myself a today in a bit of denial. I don't want to believe it's true. Our baby girl is growing up. We cant stop it, we can only embrace it. Lord help us.

And so it grows....

2010-02-04T11:39:00.000-08:00

We are so so excited about the upcoming gardening season. I've been planning out the garden this year which will be double in size than last year.

I just love to HOPE of LIFE in the SPRING. I set out some time to get into the garden and start tilling the toil. I found that all my bulbs have started to grow again. Without me doing a thing! Here are a few pics of whats growing.

And to my amazement, our strawberry plants have persevered the winters chill thus far. Of course I cover them when it freezes. Im expecting a good crop this year!

I was able to till and and replenish the soil in an area to plant onions. This year I have doubled my onions. We now have white, yellow, and purple onions. Hoping and praying they all grow plump for picking!!

Now that I have the garden going, we decided to plant some seedlings. We doubled the size of our "Light House" to raise up more seedlings.

This was Joel's invention. VERY easy to make out of cardboard, foil, tape, and two lights. We did this last year and it worked out really well. The top doors open.

We planted seedling for tomatoes, okra, broccoli, cucumbers, beans, peas, lettuce, spinach, herbs such as cilantro, basil, rosemary, parsley, dill. We will see how well it all grows this year!

We will start some seeds for our sunflowers and other flowers soon. Later spring we will start those melons and corn!

By no means are we professionals, but we sure are enjoying these fun times and hope we can gain some fruits!

MOD PODGE

2010-02-03T07:26:00.000-08:00

We have been ENJOYING making projects with Mod Podge lately. So much so- that I have to share!

It started off with a friend in lifegroup who had these beautiful plaques on her wall-come to find out- she made them! I had also bought some from another friend to decorate the walls in my boys room--she made them too. So creative!

So the ladies in our lifegroup got together one night and each put together a sign using wood as the backing, and scrap paper, stickers, and a friends Cricut. We sealed our pictures with Mod Podge. This is mine.

A day later I decided to make another sign, Im just having too much fun with this stuff!

Then I got online and looked up some Mod Podge ideas and found this really cool website called Mod Podge Rocks! http://modpodgerocks.blogspot.com/ . I found this creative idea to make your own vases.

So, I sat down with some girls and we made these! So fun!

Now, I bought more vases and will have my boys help make some for Valentines for their teachers. Walmart sells glass vases as low as 75 cents.

Go get check out Mod Podge Rocks and get creative and make something for a birthday gift, or even a Valentines gift. These projects are so cheap and make better gifts in my opnion!!

UPDATE: Helping Haiti's Helpers

2010-01-23T08:44:00.000-08:00

"Nobody can do everything, but everyone can do something."

This quote is so true. In the aftermath of Haiti's earthquake, we wanted to do something!! But we knew we couldn't do much alone. SO- we sent out the call for help in our community, and so many people said they could do something. This week we gathered up those "somethings" and sent out 4 BOXES to the Betor boys today!!

The Betor boys who have only known life in Haiti are now with their uncle Casey in Washington State. Praise God!
Please continue to pray for Licia, her husband Enoch, their kiddos Carmelo, Henley, and Trey.

And dont forget to pray Licia's sister Lori as she provides medical care for the many patients! For her dad and brother who run the Rescue Center, and all the staff who work hard to keep the center running. And of course all the children and patients being cared for.

There was a post recently done by Casey to show opportunities to know more about what RHFH does on a daily basis and how you can partner with them in the future. Click here to read more about it. I am in awe of all they do for the Haitian people. "They are spending their lives well" as Casey put it.

Helping Haiti's Helpers

2010-01-18T16:57:00.001-08:00

Our hearts have been stirred since the tragic event in Haiti. As you know, we have some friends (from REAL HOPE FOR HAITI) who run the Rescue Center in Cazale, which is close to Port-Au-Prince. Licia and her two siblings moved to Haiti with their parents in the 90's and has lived there ever since. She and her sister married Haitians. Licia married Enoch and they have 3 precious boys: Carmelo, Henley, and Trey.

We have been praying and thinking about HOW we can help in this crisis, even with the Betors..it's hard to just sit and watch. The kids in the rescue center are safe, but have been sleeping outside since the earthquake. People are coming to them for help- for they also run a clinic. Enoch and Licia decided its best to send their kids back to America.

In Licia's words "The kids are being exposed to so many things. The Haitian TV stations have no censorship and show everything. The workers talk and the kids hear. They are having bad dreams, we are running out of food. So we all talked yesterday and decided to send them out to my brother Casey and his family that live in Washington State. This has been a very difficult decision for us to make but we feel for now it is the best one for our kids."

Licia's brother lives in Washington State and will take the boys. They are only allowed to leave with a backpack, so you can imagine- they will need clothes, shoes, and of course some comfort items. This has become our calling!!

This family has given so much to the Haitian people. What a great opportunity to show them the Lord's kindness and goodness!! If you have been wanting to give, but didn't know how or where- this is your chance!

HOW YOU CAN HELP:
We are gathering supplies for the boys until THURSDAY!! I have talked with the owner of our local UPS store, and he is willing to send any packages to the Betor boys for free.
~The boys wear sizes 12/14, 7/8, 4/5, new or gently used clothing (Shirts, pants, underwear, socks, PJ'S, jackets, hats)
~Boy toys and goodies!!
~Gift cards to Walmart or Targer would be a tremendous blessing too! This could cover food, shoes, supplies, and any extras. The boys are homeschooled as well.
~PRAY! Imagine yourself in such a situation- think of the things you'd want prayer for.

If you're local, we will gladly pick up any item mentioned above, pack them, and send them over to the boys!

OR you can send them directly to Licia's brother at the address below. This is not the address the boys will be staying at- just the address that will be receiving the items.

CASEY ZACHARY
1102 8th Ave #101
Seattle, WA 98101

If you have any kind of donation, please email us or give us a call. There is a Haitian proverb that is translated "With many hands, the load is not heavy." We truly believe if everyone can contribute in a small way- we can give MUCH!

You can also read more about the Betor family on their blog. http://haitirescuecenter.wordpress.com/ Or you can visit the Rescue Center's website. https://realhopeforhaiti.org/ Also, CNN did some coverage on R.H.F.H. http://amfix.blogs.cnn.com/2010/01/18/mission-reels-continues-to-serve-in-quakes-aftermath/

Click on Poster to view!

Haiti

2010-01-16T09:44:00.000-08:00

Dear friends,

Please continue to pray for Haiti and her people. We are talking about people suffering greatly: mothers, daddys, neices, sons, grandfathers, aunts... There is a Haitian proverb that is translated, "With many hands, the load is not heavy." Ask God, ask yourself HOW you can help these people. We all have something we can give.

You can click on this link and buy a t-shirt that 100% of the profit goes directly to a few organizations working in Haiti. One being REAL HOPE FOR HAITI. A group we personally support and believe in. https://realhopeforhaiti.org/

Please PRAY for HAITI!!

2010-01-12T20:24:00.000-08:00

A major earthquake hit Haiti today.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/cb_haiti_earthquake
Very devastating.
Remember our friends at the Haiti Rescue Center? They are all safe.
But prayers are much needed.

The Bible

2010-01-10T05:36:00.001-08:00

This is how I found DJ this morning. Seems like he got up in the middle of the night, ended up on the floor in his room, with his Bible open and next to him. SO GLAD the Bible brings him the same comfort it brings me.

Just passing along....

2010-01-09T18:43:00.000-08:00

......some valuable information.

A friend of mine posted this and I thought it was oh so good! So good I needed to pass on! There is a great site here for a bunch of printable indoor scavenger hunts. PERFECT inside activities cause its too cold to go out!!

Snowflakes

2010-01-04T20:02:00.000-08:00

It's been sooo cold and the kiddos are missing their backyard! Im trying to keep the inside activites going!

Today we made a ton of snowflakes. We posted them to our bulletin board. We just love the assortment- not two alike!

Happy Winter!!

A New Years Tradition

2010-01-04T18:15:00.000-08:00

One of our New Year traditions (other than going to bed at 10 on New Years Eve and cleaning the house the day of) is to go hiking together as a family.

It's fun to get the exercise, and to also exercise all our personalities.

Taylor wants to be held the entire time. DJ and Kayla fight to be the leaders, and Emily wants to take a break. Joel wants to hike 100 miles- "oh just a little further guys" he says. And me, I just wanna take pictures! Its fun- no doubt!

Here are a few pics!

HAPPY NEW YEARS!!

2009-12-28T14:54:00.000-08:00

"We will open the book.

Its pages are blank.

We are going to put words on them ourselves.

The book is called

Opportunity and its

first chapter is

New Year's Day."

~Edith Lovejoy Pierce

Once Upon A Christmas

2009-12-25T05:40:00.001-08:00

Once upon a Christmas, Far away in Bethlehem. Mary, being great with child, Had no place to lie down. So Joseph found a stable in which Mary had her child.

Once upon a Christmas, was the birth of Jesus Christ. Once upon a Christmas, in a manger far away, a King was born, his palace was a manger filled with hay. His royal robes were swaddling cloths, a halo was His crown.

Once upon a Christmas, away in Bethlehem. Once upon a Christmas, from the Far East, wise men came, with gold, and myrrh, and frankinsence, to praise the newborn King. Shepherds left their flocks and came to see and worship Him.

Once upon a Christmas, away in Bethlehem. And all the world rejoiced because the King was born, at last. A Savior had been promised, now it had come to pass. And the joyful news that He was born spread quickly far and wide, Once upon a Christmas, was the birth of Jesus Christ.

Once Upon A Christmas by Selah

Strickland Candy House

2009-12-18T06:54:00.000-08:00

This is our second year to put together this type of house. Thanks to the teachings and wisdom from our great aunt Anne. She has been making these houses for years! I have to say, we enjoy making these so much better than the gingerbread houses.

We'd like to share with you how to make these houses.
At Halloween, start saving your candy and buying a little at a time all the way up to Christmas. Also start gathering these supplies.

Lots of card board boxes
Box cutter knife
Clear Packing Tape
Graham Crackers
Pretzel sticks
Lots of Candy
Confectioners Sugar
Meringue powder
Cream of Tarter

*Start cutting your house out. You can make all kinds of houses. This year, our daddy made a replica of THE STRICKLAND HOUSE. Take together the edges and corners for stability. When the house is taped together, tape it to a cardboard base.

Make up your icing.
2 Pounds powdered sugar
6 Tablespoons of meringue powder
1 Teaspoon Cream of Tarter
1/2 cup water
In large beater bowl, mix meringue powder with water. Beat until it peaks. Add the powdered sugar and beat until light and fluffy, adding up to 1/2 cup more for desired stiffness.

*Once the house put together and on a base, start covering the house with icing, then placing graham crackers over the icing. Place the pretzel sticks in between the crackers. This gives it an overall gingerbread look. We cut the crackers in shapes to fit in corners and such.

*Once you have the house covered, brainstorm how you want to decorate the house. Get all your candy out on a dish. Then start decorating away!!

We enjoy making snowmen,

trees,

windows, bushes, walkways, doors, wreaths, etc.

We also use the last of our icing to make snow on the roof and do make any signs. This year our house says MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Its always the highlight to put a Santa and Reindeer to put on top of the roof too.

We will keep the house on display until we meet up with family. We will then start picking and eating off it. Not only fun- but delicious!!

Christmas Choir Concert

2009-12-12T18:34:00.001-08:00

The girls had their Christmas Choir concert this last week. The girls were gorgeous, and the choir was beautiful and sounded amazing!

Sidenote- the boys actually sat in the entire time, they are learning to sit still and be good boys during these sophisticated events! ;)

Oh Christmas tree....

2009-12-06T05:32:00.000-08:00

We LOVE having our Christmas tree up this time of year!

It's not only the blinking lights and shiny-ness that enchants us, or even the yummyness of the candy canes or the delight of whats choo-chooing around it at the bottom.

What captivates us the most about our tree is the heritage and the symbolism that it all stands for. .

The tree is a beautiful reminder of why Jesus was born in the fisrt place- to die for you and me. (1 Peter 2:24) We can recieve the eternal life represented by the evergreen boughs of a Christmas tree.

On top of that great illustration, the tree also reveals God's GRACE in our personal lives.

See these two precious faces in these ornaments? It's a testimony of His goodness that somehow these two were brought together.

And out of that love and commitment came more sweet faces.

These handmade ornaments refelect the ages and stages of our kiddos and our lives as a family over the years. They bring back the memories of the good seasons and the trials we shared.

As we reflect on these things, we are overwhelmed and filled with wonder. To see His hand in our lives from the very beginning. He has prospered us and given us a hope and a future.

Christmasey

2009-12-04T12:02:00.000-08:00

We have had some joyous moments so far this holiday season.

We are learning about Christmas traditions around the world. We started off with Sweden. We learned alot of new things like the Swedes celebrate St. Lucias day on Dec13th. Read more about St. Lucia's Day by clicking here. We made crowns to wear around. We will move onto France next week!

Joel was blessed by a new bike for Christmas. Its a Cannondale. He is a loved man! It was an early gift of course, cause it needed to be enjoyed asap! He has already wiped out on the trails! Boys will be boys!

Also, it snowed today. A rare occurrence for sure. Long enough to get some pictures!

Here is a pic of the boys in front of the tree yesterday. They are so cute!

GOD IS GOOD!
And its so wonderful to be under His grace!

It's the MOST wonderful time of the year!

2009-11-30T11:55:00.000-08:00

We just could not wait to decorate for Christmas this year. All we lack is the outside decorations. We are enjoying our Christmas books, nativity, clock, music, candles, movies, tree, train and so much more!! We even sent out our Christmas cards today in the mail!

Here is a pic of our tree. More holiday pics to come!

We just kicked off our CHRISTMAS AROUND THE WORLD unit in school. Read more about that at the Strickland School site.
We hope you have a wonderful Christmas!
Remember- Jesus is the reason for the season.

We're THANKFUL!

2009-11-24T20:23:00.000-08:00

The past couple of days, we've been thinking and talking about how blessed we are. We weren't just talking about the tangible things like our home, toys, and things...

But we were first thinking about our immediate family. We are so thankful we are the6stricklands. We cherish our friendship and marriage. And who knew we would have two daughters and two sons?! Things in our home can get crazy and messy at times- but we wouldn't give any of that up for anything else in this world.

Then onto our extended family. We have so many great people on both sides of our family. Sure, there are family issues that occur on both sides, but whats thicker than blood? I like the quote "Other things may change us, but we start and end with the family." (Anthony Brandt) So thankful thats all that matters- we started as a family.

Then we were talking about our spiritual family. (Ephesians 2:19) The people of our church- and even moreso in our lifegroup. The commitment we have to eachother and to God. The together learning and growing deeper in the Lord, the unified prayers we share, the good times and the bad times together. Life would be so lonely without these people in our lives! SO thankful for all the relationships in our church body!

Then we got to talking about our Almighty God! Its so very overwhelming to possibly think of all the things He has done for us. We are SO thankful for His undeniable GRACE that has been poured out over us. We are so undeserving.. and yet He is so willing! We are SO thankful, so so so so thankful for His guidance, His unconditional love, His faithfulness, His help and His provision over our lives.

Psalm 100

A psalm. For giving thanks.

¹ Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.

² Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.

³ Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.

⁵ For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.

AMERICAN GIRL!

2009-11-22T19:46:00.001-08:00

Oh my- oh my! It has begun!

The Strickland girls are sucked into the world of American Girl. Now, I have to say- Id much rather them be into A.G. than other options for girls this age. Its just SO EXPENSIVE!!

It first started with our trip to Williamsburg last year, and then reading about the American Girl "Felicity" who lived in those times. Then we realized there was more to A.G. when we got our first catalog!

So finally, for Christmas, we told the girls we would get them their first doll. My mom (aka NANA) and I took the girls to the American Girl store in Dallas. We have saved and saved and saved because anything "American Girl" will cost a pretty penny!

Here are a few pics.

Our beauties!

2009-11-17T11:20:00.000-08:00

Two reasons here-------------->

------------>why I do what I do.

Homeschooling at the speed of life!!

2009-11-06T21:07:00.001-08:00

The title of this post is the title of one of my favorite homeschooling books! But the title perfectly depicts our lives right now. Life, homeschooling, family is all just speeding though time! I cant believe we are in November!?

Anyway, just thought I would update the Strickland Site with some fresh new pictures! First off, it was my moms birthday. This is us posing at a park last weekend. I love and admire this woman for who she is and where she has come and where she is headed. She is way cooler than I am!

Look! Its the moon!!

Can you believe that I took this picture of the moon? Read more about our new educational tool here on our school site.

We had a special visitor over a few weeks ago. We hope he comes back! We took this picture at the Baylor parade. 2 Stricklands = 1 Braden!!

Our boys (2 and 4) consume so much of me these days.

Recently, Taylor has broken a vase, my cd player in my car, and Emily's wallet. All things precious, but we are mindful how more precious he is than our things. Because my goodness this boy is adorable and I God did that on purpose!

DJ is mister personality. He us very strong willed and has his own ideas about things. We do alot of negotiating. He really is turning into a fine young man. We are working on being truthful right now.

The girls have been absolutely amazing these days! Not only are they growing more beautiful each day- inside and out. They are such wonderful students, daughters, big sisters, ect. Homeschooling is going wonderfully. They enjoy the co-op on Fridays. They recently had their first Choir performance, it was perfect!

In art, we've been doing alot of quilling. Read more about that on our homeschool site.

Wouldnt you know our garden is still growing! Our mums are blooming so beautiful!

And our tomato plant is going at it again too! The weather has been wonderful for the plants!
Our roses have been gorgeous and they smell so good. Kayla cut some and put them in a vase on my desk and it was such a blessing to smell them!

We also have alot of basil. So I found a recipe to make some basil olive oil. Can we say - Christmas presents??

Other than these things mentioned, we've survived Halloween, pin worms, bed time battles, and the flu.

We are still in Financial Peace University and its going great! We are learning alot of tools and implementing them into our finances. I tell you, our money is behaving so much better! Hopefully one day I can blog more about it.

We also just started leading a lifegroup. We love our lifegroup people! So many personalities, so many giftings...its been a joy to be able to lead out this group of people! We will be serving in our first outreach at our churchs meal to the homeless at Thanksgiving.

So excited about the upcoming holidays! We are lovin' the colder weather too!

SUPER SIX STRICKLANDS

2009-11-01T08:13:00.001-08:00

We have always known we are super as a family of six. Finally we were able to dress the part!

What to do with all that candy???

2009-11-01T06:45:00.001-08:00

If you're like us, you more than likely have a ton of candy from last night. We hardly did any trick or treating and still ended up with alot of candy. Below I have adapted some ideas mixed in with our own ideas of some things you can do with all that candy!!

We usually lay it all out on the table and sort it, bag it up and farm it out. Read all the ideas below:

1. Recycle it. Practice instant recycling. Screen the candy your kids bring home. Take out any candy your children don’t like or you don’t want them to have and then send that candy back out the door with other trick-or-treaters.

2. Freeze it. Put the chocolate bars right in the freezer to save them for later. Frozen chocolate takes longer to eat, so children can’t wolf it down so quickly.

3. Bake it. You don’t have to freeze the candy to keep it fresh. Kept in an airtight container, it will last long after Halloween. Later, you can bake a make things. Click here for some yummy candy recipes. My favorites are the chocolate dipped pretzel rods.

4. Melt it. Melt chocolate for s’mores any time of year. Place a chocolate bar and a marshmallow between two graham crackers on top of a paper towel. You dont necessarily have to do this over an open fire, microwave for about 20 seconds.

5. Stuff it. Gather the leftover goodies and stuff them into a (homemade or store-bought) piñata. Crack the piñata open at Thanksgiving or wait until your child’s birthday.

6. Create it. I love making cards with candy. They are called "Candy Bar Cards" You dont have to do all the candies on one card, you can add these witty one liners with the associated candy.

You were a Life Saver this week! (Life savers)
Bar none - You're the best! (Bar None candy)
Here's a kiss and a hug for someone special! (Hershey hugs & kisses)
Thanks for adding "Joy" to a child's life! (Almond Joy)
You're a star in our galaxy! (Milky Way)
It's a real treat to work with you OR to know you! (any candy)
Thanks for your whopper ideas! (Whopper candies)
You're making a Mound of a difference! (Mounds)
You're a real slugger! Keep on batting for children! (Baby Ruth)
We're nuts about you! (anything with peanuts)

7. House it. After Halloween, kids can’t wait for Christmas. Save Halloween candy for gingerbread houses. We did this last year and was a huge hit! Dots, Gum balls, m&ms, and skittles were wonderful to have plenty of.

8. Wear it. Make a candy necklace. You’ll need an assortment of lollipops and colorful candies with twist-wrap ends to make this idea from the National Confectioners Association. Cut a 14-inch strand of thin twine or fabric ribbon. Tie one end of a wrapper of candy or lollipop stick tightly to one end of ribbon or twine (leave about two inches of ribbon free for tying at the end). Attach candy by knotting the ribbon around the wrapper ends or lollipop sticks until the necklace is complete. Leave two inches at the end. Tie the ends together and wear the latest in edible jewelry!

9. Decorate it. For fun you could create a mural out of candy. Or create Christmas ornaments from candy. To make a train, take a long pack of gum and glue on round candy for wheels, a square piece for a smokestack, and something round for the bell on top. Attach a loop of gold thread or ribbon for hanging. Look at simple geometric illustrations (such as are in coloring books) for other ideas. Coat your ornament with an acrylic sealer so it won’t deteriorate and you don’t draw bugs.

10. Share it. Take your leftover candy to the office. Or better yet, fill a coffee can with candy and bring it to your local nursing home, homeless shelter or a charity for the staff to enjoy. Add a note that says, “Thanks for all the good work you do.”

We are giving some to Joels hard working staff, and put some in a bowl in our entry way for guests to enjoy.

And of course, we are keeping our favorite candy to enjoy for ourselves.. (This is a pic I took of Taylor sneaking in the candy first thing this morning. He had eaten 5 Hershey Kisses, a couple of suckers, and a few smarties)

Pumpkin Patch Pictures!

2009-10-22T21:39:00.000-07:00

890 miles in 34 hours!

2009-10-22T21:27:00.000-07:00

I just thought I was busy before I decided to take my family on a short but very sweet adventure. We went to surprise our Pawpaw Barnes for his birthday. He lives North-east of Lubbock Texas. We drove up after lunch- got there at dinner, stayed the night, played and packed up at breakfast, enjoyed a birthday celebration lunch and cake, then got in the car and made it home by bedtime. It took a total of 34 hours! WHEW!

We sure do love our Pawpaw Barnes.

This is him and the boys. They love eachother!

And this is the kiddos about to song happy birthday. Big cake huh? And the one stands for #1 Pawpaw!

On our way out we stopped at one of my favorite places in Texas. The Punkin' Farm. Will post pics soon!

TOO much to say.. SO little time!!

2009-10-18T22:07:00.000-07:00

The Stricklands have been BUSY lately. Just busy with life! Im hoping this week things can get back into order and slow down.

Since September we have started to lead a lifegroup- which is so exciting- but takes much more of our time. We have had the flu- twice, went on a camping trip, and had two major sale on two different Saturdays: one was an estate sale for my grandmother and the other our garage sale.

We have also been committed to Financial Peace University- which I hope I can write about soon! We are learning so much!

A few nights ago, we met up with some friends to eat pizza and carve pumpkins. It was alot of fun- and I actually grabbed Joels iPhone for a few pics.

Hopefully I can blog more as things slow down. Have a great week!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR GRANNY!

2009-10-11T18:59:00.000-07:00

Our Egyptian Beauties!

2009-10-02T10:52:00.001-07:00

On this day....

2009-09-20T03:56:00.000-07:00

On this day- 12 years ago- Joel and I married! So blessed to have come this far together, and so excited about going on more!!

Financial PEACE!

2009-09-19T21:09:00.000-07:00

Joel and I have decided to go through Financial Peace with Dave Ramsey this fall. We have learned soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much already.

I want to share more here on our site because we think this concept Dave Ramsey is on could change many more lives out there! And bring financial peace over lots more families! So stayed tuned for my weekly installments called "Strickland FPU"

STARTING LINE: With the help of our FP Counselor Tricia, we were able to lay all our finances on the table and make a plan. We are now week 4 in the FPU classes and have implemented that plan. And it started with this.

This is our money exchange center, better known as our envelope system.

Ours is the little blue one. It has 12 slots where we budget our spendings. Our tithe, groceries, bills, clothes, ect all get budgeted out each paycheck and put into these slots. When the money runs out- it runs out! This isnt such a new concept- we have been a cash only family for a long time.

But we have been able to make our money behave a little better this way. Its a really detailed system. We also now have some savings!

Our two main goals right now is to maintain the budget, and build up an emergency savings fund.

The yellow box is the girls envelope system. They each have three envelopes: Giving, Saving, and Spending. At each pay period, when daddy earns his commission-the girls also earn theirs. Just like their parents- they divide all their money up. Its been interesting in seeing who takes joy in saving!

And the boys got the girls old money jars. Now DJ and Taylor are saving their own cents. Dylan gets cents when he helps around the house too. He gets paid instantly though-he has such a short term memory and needs that instant gratification.

"THANK YOU LORD for all we have learned thus far! May You continue to grow us and show us ways to have financial peace so we can live like no body else!"

Boys...boys...boys!

2009-09-19T20:55:00.000-07:00

I LOVE my boys! All three of them!

Here are a few pics of my boys and their latest happenings.

DJ and his bud racing on the Wii!!

I think these boys went on a sleeping strike! Whew! Im ready to do whatever I must to get them to sleep! (Lots of spankings lately during these bed time battles)

Dylan and his cousin jumping happily on the trampoline..in the rain! These two seem to be alike in alot of ways!

A ROCKIN' good time.

2009-09-18T22:07:00.000-07:00

Notice Kayla climbing down on the left and Emily climbing up on the right. We had lots of fun with our friends at our KEEPERS meeting.

Time capsule- buried!!

2009-09-02T14:11:00.000-07:00

We had lots of fun burying our time capsule today.

We put lots of interesting things about us inside, to reveal to the person opening it our story.

The girls documented their weight and height, we traced all the kids hands and feet, wrote bio poems, drew a map of the world, put in one of our favorit...e things, took a test of the things we will be learning all year- (they didnt get one answer right), and lastly we made predictions and goals for the year.

Burying it was the best part! FUN FUN!

We measured and mapped it all out so we can find it the end of the school year!

1st Day of School

2009-08-31T14:00:00.000-07:00

Well, the first day of school was a success! I think we had a huge learning curve last year with what works and doesnt work at home. Plus, the boys are older-which helps! We are excited about an exciting year full of discoveries!

A major part of our curriculum is History this year, which is sort of the core. Then the other subjects we learn tie in. Not neccessarily our math and phonics, but everything else does. So you will see the main theme this year is WORLD HISTORY. We are so excited about it all.

Today we started off with how do we know/ how have we obtained history? Archeaology was a BIG word used in our home today. Hopefully by the end of the week the girls will be able to spell it, it is the bonus word in their spelling list. ;)

We checked out a discovery box from a local childrens museum about Archeaology and had so much fun with the resources! We will not only learn more about history, we made our own time capsule for someone in the future to know about our history. (Although, we will be the ones to dig it back up!)

Here are a few pics.

Welcome sign with welcome gifts. (Journals for the year)

For some reason this is their favorite place- Its a place with their desks and their walls. This is where they do all their reading and writing.

Our archeaology dig. What a wonderful experience we had with all the tools-thanks to the Discovery boxes!

These discovery boxes also have artifacts to touch and lots of great books, movies, and craft/game/project ideas. I was able to set up an entire center with it all. Its gonna be a GREAT week!

Mom and daughter communication

2009-08-24T20:29:00.000-07:00

Ive noticed that my girls constantly need more opportunities to talk deep with me. To express the things on their hearts, to share a situation, or get advice. Its hard to find the time to talk, or even to communicate uninterrupted.

So a while back I started these "Mom and me" journals. Its a journal that we write to eachother. After each entry, we place the journal under the other persons pillow. The journal is kept private and between the two writers, (except I got permission to share this on our site). Its been a really precious dear thing.

We have shared jokes, talked about spirituality, asked personal questions, an most of all, Ive been purposeful about the opportunity to build up and encourage them. Well, recently, Ive gotten these two entries. One from each girl.

From Kayla(click on image to enlarge and read):

From Emily(click on image to enlarge and read):

These girls have also taken the opportunity to build up and encourage their momma. I love- love- LOVE these girls! Proverbs 31:28a NLT "Her children stand and bless her..."

SWEET!

2009-08-23T14:50:00.000-07:00

God is so SWEET! Just testifying to His goodness, and how being apart of the church body is so so so important!

We buy groceries twice a month. I had $20 budget to get the groceries we needed for this week. You know, milk, bread..those kind of things today.

I had cereal on my list, but I decided not to buy any- just thought I could save the money, we still have half a box left of cherrios and we would eat toast if need be.

Well, a sweet family friend was in the cereal aisle today and felt like he needed to buy the Stricklands some cereal! HA!

So he brought by cereal! It wasnt just plain cereal, it was the good- yummy stuff that we hardly ever buy! So guess who had cereal for dinner? :)

Play Dough

2009-08-17T12:18:00.000-07:00

As we are getting the Strickland School ready, we have been gathering and organizing our supplies. (Check in on the Strickland School Site on the sidebar to see how the school prep is going)

We have especially been gathering up our preschool supplies. Our boys need to be engaged in activities and I want them to learn as well while the girls are learning.
We decided to make some fresh batches of play dough. I wanted to post our favorite play dough recipe. (Located at the bottom of this post) In this recipe, you add the sugarless koolaid packets in it. This give the dough a wonderful smell and great color. I like that this dough is made out of flour, non toxic, wont get stuck in your carpet or ruin your clothes. I store the dough in reused coffee cans. I wash, air out and save these coffee cans, they make great play dough jars with labels added on them!

Some of the reasons why I think playing with play dough can be beneficial to a child: ~Stimulates the senses
~A stress relief
~Allows for creativity
~Developmetally- Manipulation develops the child’s large and small muscles and fosters eye-hand coordination.
~Educational- Add shape, number, or alphabet cookie cutters.

Funny, everytime my girls play with play dough, they want to take pictures of their creations. These are just two of the many pictures I have of them with play dough! For Family Night a few weeks ago, we did playdough for a couple of hours! Joel had fun doing the hair salon- you know, the little people who grow the play dough hair then you cut it off? It was hilarious! Even our dad can get creative!

Here is the recipe. HAVE FUN!!

Kool-Aid Playdough Recipe
10 min | 10 min prep

1 batch dough

2 ½ cups flour

½ cup salt

2 packages unsweetened Kool-Aid powdered drink mix

2 cups boiling water

3 tablespoons oil

Mix flour, salt, Kool-Aid and oil until blended.

Add boiling water, mix with spoon until cool enough to knead.

Continue kneading until color is blended.

Store in air tight bag or container in the refrigerator.

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!

2009-08-09T19:09:00.000-07:00

We got a new horse swing made out of a tire (thanks Forester clan) and the kiddos are just lovin' it! We decided to hang it on the big tree in the front yard. Its good to give them some things to do while we are up front. Here are a few pics of our sweet Tator Tot swinging! Love that boy!