How to be a True Princess: Royal Tips for Manners, Etiquette, and True Beauty!

The Royal Wedding is tomorrow morning!    Are you going?  I want to but apparently my invite must have been lost in the mail.  It is okay, I'm kind of busy and I can watch from afar.

I loved watching Princess Diana and Prince Charles getting married when I was young.  I still remember that day!

I also remember when Princess Diana had that awful fatal accident.  It was a month before my own wedding day.  I remember just staring at the television in tears.

Something about royalty has always sparked my interest.  Plus, London is in my top 10 fave places that I have visited.  Big Ben, Tower of London, and Piccadilly Circus can still bring a smile to my face every time I think about the sweet memories there. 

A lot of people think that Princesses are just fairy tales.  I would so disagree!  As daughters of the King of Kings, Jesus, we are Princesses as well. 

From the beginning, my hubby and I have called both our daughters Princesses.  We want them to know how much we cherish them.  We want to know that they delight us.  We also want them to know they have inner beauty.

It is not fancy hair, gold jewelry, or fine clothes that should make you beautiful.  No, your beauty should come from within you- the beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit.  This beauty will  never disappear, and it is worth very much to God. 1 Peter 3:3-4

That is why – I fell in love with this book! 

 How To Be God's Little Princess by Sheila Walsh




Seriously, this book is awesome!  My girls (and boys) are really gleaning so much from it!


From dressing modestly, answering the phone correctly, proper introductions, manners at mealtime to proper poise - it is ALL there!

My daughter now uses the word "Poise!"  Seriously, this book is making a difference! 

I also love love love the scriptures used through out the book.  Gentle reminders of how God sees us. 

I would definitely recommend this book especially for all the little Princesses in your life!

 Blessings to you!  You are loved!

Note:  I was sent complimentary copy for review purposes only.  This review has not been monetarily compensated.  The review was my honest opinion and views and not influenced by the sponsor in any way.

A walk through our GARDEN (Update) with a few visitors!

I understand the rest of the country is still experiencing cool weather – ours is gone.
 
Today, in the shade, my thermometer read 103 degrees. 
I love my air conditioner.  I don’t like my curling iron. 

Not sure why I thought I should share that.  Do you use a curling iron?  Sorry, this post is about gardening. 

BUT - I really really love my air conditioner.  (That is worth repeating!)

We have been spending a lot of time outside.  (Before the real heat hits!)  And we have had some pretty interesting visitors.  These odd birds showed up on our rooftops a few weeks ago.  We couldn’t figure out if they were geese, ducks or if it was a new species that would put our roof on the map.

It turns out they were ducks.  We think they are Black-bellied Whistling-ducks.I have to say – since we have planted our garden so much wildlife has showed up.  It may have already been there - we just didn’t pay attention.

Now the garden tour:

Our Sunflower GardenOur Kentucky Wonder Green Bean TepeesWe need to weed under them. 

But…haven’t.  We have no excuse.   Well, we do.  But, we just haven’t and probably won’t. 
(I don’t allow my children to use two negatives in a sentence.  Only I can.  It makes me feel rebellious.)Again, the ducks!  They really like us!Our beautiful Squash!Seriously, I can’t wait to eat this sautéed with butter!  YUM!The BIG tomatoes are coming in!We let the chicks take a short walk in the garden.  They were so funny.  I love my husband!  That is him – with the chicks.  He treats me like a Queen.  Not a chick.We have had some of these…nothing tastes better than fresh tomatoes.  We haven’t had any more “worm” issues.This is the Burpless Cucumber.  Doesn’t it look like a dancer or someone praising the Lord? Our Squash Bed…I just love their leaves!The Pepper Garden – Bell Peppers and Jalapeños.Our Corn in the Raised GardenA lil’ Ladybug  (They are beneficial bugs!  Plus, so pretty!)Tomatillo!  Can’t wait to make some Mama Ninfa’s green sauce!These are growing fast!  But, the bugs really love them so we have to keep a sharp eye on them.

Thanks for joining us in our garden tour!  

I am simply amazed how the garden grows!  

Blessings to you!  You are loved!

Partying with:

Smockity Frocks

Le derrières, Craigslist, Bugs and Chickens

Lately, we have been a very busy family from buying, studying, and just learning how to’s.  Below are a few sites that have helped us!
Just a note to ourselves:  Hubby and I will NEVER clean the garage again before a major holiday!  We worked our bum bum’s off. 
My sweet friend teaches her kids to say “bum bum” instead of the other words for Le derrière.  Bum Bum is so much more fun to say – at least for us. 
We are easily amused. 

***

Since we have been cleaning out – we are posting items on Craigslist! 
I love that place!  We sold over $150. worth of useless garage filler in a matter of hours! 
Of course, we spent $115.00 on a beautiful entertainment center and a dog cage.  (We needed those and it was an awesome DEAL!)  Now we just have to spruce up the armoire.

***

Another site we have been hanging out at is:
Bug Guide
Yeah, seriously.  Don’t freak out.  My kids touch the bugs not me.
The site is an awesome resource for the home-school.  My kids keep catching caterpillars and then we identify what they find.  They also have found tons of weird looking beetles.  My kids have a gift for finding such things.  Ugh!
This was born this morning.

The Bug Guide helped us identify this Virgin Tiger Moth.  My son wanted to know why they are called Virgins.  Do you know the answer – I have not a clue!

***

Last but not least, we have been spending tons of time on:
Backyard Chickens.
They have EVERYTHING you would ever need to know about chickens on there.  My fave place is looking at all the chicken coops.   Some people are truly – genius.  They have coops that look like castles, Old Cars and ones that are made out of old doll houses.  If you ever wanted to build a coop or have a chicken question – go there! 

That was probably my most random post ever! 

Thank you for reading until to the end – if you were at my house, I’d let you feed one of the bugs to the chicks.  (After we had identified it.)

Blessings to you!  You are loved!

Resurrection Garden in a Pot

This has to be one of the neatest projects for kids and adults alike.

I started off by naming some famous gardens in the Bible.

Some interesting tidbits about the gardens:

• Garden of Eden – The first garden.  God placed man there.  First surgery was performed there.  Only one tree was off-limits!
• Babylonian Hanging Garden – One of the 7 wonders of the world.  Husband made for his Bride!  Gorgeous!
• Garden of Gethsemane – Means Olive press.  Jesus prayed here with great agony – even sweating drops of blood.

I had the kids make their own.  (We are part of a small group that meets together once a week – so the pictures are from the different families.)

They had to gather materials from around the yard and design it.  Nothing they did was considered “wrong.”  I loved seeing their imaginations run wild.

Inside each pot – was a potato which my hubby had carved out a “tomb.”  On Easter morning they can roll away the “stone” and see it is empty! 

T’s Family Garden – They had the most flowers.  Love the colors!C’s Family’s Garden.  I love all the rocks.  Reminds me of Jesus being the Petra!  Each garden had a pond as well.  I guess you could even explain baptism.This is my boy’s garden.  They want to add a waterfall powered by a watch.  They have since added animals and every hour something has changed in the garden. 

I love that their creativity is not being stifled.  They remind me of their Maker who constantly changes gardens, too.  Like seasons.

Resource:  I got this idea from here, Impress Your Kids! It has amazing links to share what Jesus did for us and to make it fun for kids to learn!

Blessings to you!  You are loved!

Science Projects: What happened to Mount St. Helens?

Where were you the week of May 18th, 1980?

I remember a day or two after this date.  I was sitting in a restaurant with my Aunt K, Dad and Grand-dad.
I was young and couldn’t comprehend what they were saying or talking about with such sadness.  They kept mentioning Mt. St. Helens and a volcano.

My Aunt K. finally told me what had happened.  It sparked something in me.  After that, I was hooked on learning about volcanoes.  I was so young, yet, when I hit high school, I did an entire six weeks of research on volcanoes.  Some things never change.  I’m still hooked!  Now, I teach my children.

Lesson learned:  Be careful of what you talk about in front of your young kids…they might catch the fever!  (I talk about chocolate trees to my kids.  Maybe they can invent one that gives me M & M’s as the fruit.)

This video shows some of what happened at Mt. Saint Helens!

However, after all my research – I didn’t know much.

In fact, all I really understood was the Ring of Fire, Magma, and Lava.  The rest was just too scientific.  I am not a scientific person. 

When I saw this book,
 The Case of the Missing Mountain (Mystery Rangers) by Kim Jones
  

I wondered if it was going to be a lot of scientific jargon?

I was truly pleased!  The book made sense!  It was interesting, explained things easily and it really glorified the Lord in the process even going back to Noah’s flood, all while explaining Mount St. Helen’s eruption.

It has 7 Rockin’ Ranger Activities (Science Projects) that are simple and easy to do – all while explaining “Astounding Mysteries.”

I will be doing a lot of these activities when we get to Noah’s Flood in our school curricula.  I love that there are tons of crosswords and puzzles on each page.  Every child in my house will have something to work on.

On www.naturetour.com you can even earn badges and a certificate!

Yes, I would recommend the book in a heartbeat!  Especially for those who educate at home or are interested in learning about young-Earth creation. 

(Young-Earth creation is believing that the earth was created in 6 literal days by God.   That is a short and less scientific definition.) 

I know many Godly people, personally,  who believe that the earth was created by God but not in 6 days.  It is very confrontational even in Christian circles. 

My view:  I want to give my children the resources to search it out like the Bereans.  Acts 17:11

How do you teach your children about different scientific views? 

• Do you just let the public school teach them and worry more about chocolate M & M trees?
• Do you teach at home and wouldn’t think about anything but 6 Literal days?
• Do you border on insanity and just want to cuddle under the covers with a good book and a cup of chocolate milk?

Blessings to you!  You are loved!

Note:  I was sent complimentary copy for review purposes only.  This review has not been monetarily compensated.  The review was my honest opinion and views and not influenced by the sponsor in any way.

Our DIY CHICKEN COOP made out of an old fence! Plus the chicks have arrived!

We now our Chick Farmers. 

Well, not really. 

We live in the city.  We own chicks.  We have a garden. 

But, the word Farmer is far from what we are.  We have no idea what we are doing.  Does Lucille Ball come to mind?  Yeah, me neither.

My hubby and eldest son made this chicken coop.  I love seeing them work together! 

My hubby doesn’t read instructions.  My son reads encyclopedias.   Yeah, it was fun to watch!

He enjoys power tools like his Dad.  This tool is so cool – it is part gun!  Yeah, I got to shoot it. These guys could make “anything” out of old fence boards. 
And they have! 
Look at our Kid’s Fort or our Fence. 
We’ll never say no to free old lumber.  We wanted to make sure our Chicken Wire was small.  I had researched and researched where little things could crawl in the wire and murder all the chickens.  We will not be held liable for Chicken-murders. I love how it looked framed.  Progress!

I love how my hubby made this door!  I just thought it was so “Little House on the Prairie-ish.”

The Lid to get in the “Chicken Nests”.  The job my kids will fight over, I’m sure.Home-made Chicken Nest Boxes  - We might lay them with something to make them easier to clean out.  The Chicken Wire…notice how small it is.  If you are like me, you may have never noticed wire before…or cared. Are you my Ethel?

Notice the Sweet Hotel for our chicks! 
I’m thinking the Chicken Ritz!

The FINISHED Product! 
(Except for the décor, chickens, and fragrant flowers to mask any un-wanted odors.)

So, what do you think?  Not so Lucille Ball! 

More like Green Acres!

Our chicks have arrived! 

Their names are: 
(which are subject to change once they go in the Big House…aka the Coop.)

Potpie, Fajita, Dumpling, Casserole, Noodle and Paula Deen.

No we are not going to eat them!  Well, their eggs.  But, not them!

We are not really sure what these are!  The store didn’t know either.  They might be Delaware.All 6 chicks!  (This is all our city will allow.)These are the black chicks.  We think they may be Bantams.  
For my Ethels – Bantams are just smaller chickens.  Their eggs are much smaller.   These are the Production Reds.  They are a cross between New Hampshire Reds and Rhode Island Reds.  They are supposed to be heat tolerant and good egg layers.They are penguin looking to me, what do you think?  I know my Lucille Ball is coming out – penguin looking chicks?  This one reminds me of Paula Deen – the color of Butter.They do not like the camera’s flash.  Or they were acting shy.  Or maybe they were being “chicken!”  hehe!

Stay tuned for further updates from the Nut, City Slicker’s Chicken Farm!  

Blessings to you!  You are loved!

Partying with:

Between Naps on the Porch
craftomaniac
Skip to my Lou
Just a Girl
Funky Junk Interiors

Garden Update: Green Horn Caterpillars Attack

A couple of weeks ago, my kids and I were doing our daily inspection of our tomato plants.  We were picking off the usual side-shoots or sucker plants when this HUGE disgusting worm-like creature appeared. 

I had my brave children pick them off.  (Mommy still has yet to touch them…she is a chicken!)

This Princess is our official Caterpillar-Getter.  (Yes, I know that is bad English.  I am making a point.)  Some people call them Green Horn Worms or Caterpillars.  Some people call them Leaf Cutters.  I call them DISGUSTING!

However, we have heard that they turn into beautiful Hummingbird Moths.  We are keeping one in our Butterfly cage to see.  Ugh! 

This caterpillar umm…how do I say this without grossing myself out…he went to the bathroom on my son’s finger. 
YUCK!   I gagged just typing this. 

(Yeah, I know I have 5 kids and should be used to this sort of stuff – I don’t care – it still is disgusting!)

My hubby is being Vanna White by holding the worm so I could get a close up.   He is a brave-brave man!

We decided to put them all in a bowl until the end of the day. 

Well, we forgot about them. 

The next day, we went out to see them and they were all gone.  We think the birds had a feast. 

Back to the garden update:

Our beautiful Squash!  It is growing faster than our weeds!

I really have no idea how to contain it!  It is going everywhere!  My friend says in Mexico they sell the squash flowers for food.  She says they are quite tasty.  I wouldn’t mind trying that!

Our Bell Peppers.  They are not growing very fast.  But, they do have lots of peppers.  Aphids have collected in many places.   The kids like watching the lady-bugs eat the bad insects.Our corn box!  It looks great!    My son has a special interest in this box.  He makes sure that it has NO weeds.  It has been fun to watch him tend to his corn.  Don’t you just love these tomatoes?Seriously, my breath is taken away when I smell these plants!  Yummy!These are no longer on the vine.  My daughter just popped one in her mouth from the garden.  It was so fun to watch! 

I know the experienced gardeners are saying “Yeah, so?”  Well, we didn’t wash it.  This is new to us.  Again, so exciting!
Squash – going CRAZY!Our Bean Tepees.  It is growing as fast as I had hoped.  Some of the plants are now dead.  Not sure where we went wrong on this project or if I should give it more time.Our Sunflower Garden is just flourishing!  We planted 4 different varieties of sunflowers.  I can’t wait till they bloom! 

Our Pomegranate Tree is just full of blooms! 

I can hardly wait for these to be ready for harvest!  I just want to make our own Pom Pom Juice! 

Thanks for taking a walk with us in our garden! 

Go here to see the beginning of our garden!

Just a side-thought…

I just fell love in with this scripture,

Genesis 2:8
Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed.

I thought it was interesting that God placed man in the garden.  I’d love to see that garden!

Blessings to you!  You are loved!