My favorite places to find free blog backgrounds

One thing I love about having a blog is being able to change the background. I am a lady of change and I love to change my blog look frequently. I have spent hours searching the web for the perfect background. I thought I would share with my followers and fellow bloggers some of my favorites.



1. http://simplyblogitbackgrounds.blogspot.com/ This one is my absolute favorite. They have the cutest backgrounds I have found yet. They also have cute headers to match each background. If you don't find what you are looking for on her site she has a list of links on the side that will take you to other great free background sites!

2. http://www.thecutestblogontheblock.com/ This is the very first place I found when setting up my blog. They have great backgrounds and are constantly adding more. They also have matching headers and widgets! Highly recommended!!
3. http://delightfuldots.blogspot.com/ I am a big fan of polka dots and daisies and this site has the perfect backgrounds for me!
4. http://hotbliggityblog.com/ More great backgrounds here.
One of the other things I love about all these sites is that they give you step by step instructions on how to put it on your page. Plus it is very simple!!

Horse Lapbook

Bethany finished her horse lapbook this week. We really enjoyed it and learned alot about horses. I would definetly recommend it especially if your child is interested in horses. Bethany decorated the front of it with some stickers that she had. We like tying our lapbooks with a ribbon for an added touch.

Here is Bethany showing of her work!

Here is what the inside looks like! Lots of fold outs and attachments!

During the weeks that we studied horses we also did a study on drawing horses. Here is a picture of the book we used which I would highly recommend. Very easy step by step instructions. We put the pictures that Bethany drew in a book form and attached it to the back of the lapbook.

Spring

One thing I love about spring is the fact that you feel like a bear coming out of a long hibernation. Aside from the beautiful warm weather and the beauty of nature, spring brings the feeling of new beginnings. The warmth of the sun seems to send a burst of energy right through me. Spring cleaning, yard work, planting gardens, so much to do and we get extra daylight to do it in. Spring brings bright colors, flowers, green grass, fresh smelling air, blue skies, singing birds, flip-flops, and long walks. Everyone seems to be in a better mood with smiles on their faces. One of my favorite things is after the grass is cut, sitting on the swing and looking at the fresh cut grass and breathing in all the smells of spring. After a long dreary winter, spring is a life-saver!!!!

Choices

I have been thinking alot lately about the choices I have made in my life. I wonder which specific choice it was that has put me where I am right now. Do you ever wonder, that if you could go back and change just ONE thing about your life, how totally different your life would be? I am not discontent where I am at right now. I know this is where I am soposed to be, this is where God wants me. I know this because God is still moving and working. I am so thankful that God works in spite of myself. Even during those times of my life that I was living without God, God was working in me to prepare me for what was to come. I have made many mistakes in the course of my life, I try to have no regrets. I know that each thing, each choice was either a victory from choosing the right thing or a lesson learned from choosing the wrong. The mistakes I have made have shaped me into who I am today. I am so thankful that God never gave up on me. That his love, mercy and grace reached down to the pit of dispair and sin that I was in and raised me out and set my feet on a firm foundation. Out of all the choices I have made in this life, the best one was to serve God!

Grocery Shopping and Eating Habits

I went grocery shopping today. This is an endeavor that I try to get by with doing only once a month, accept of course for quick runs to get essentials like bread and milk. It seems from month to month that the prices in groceries continue to be on the rise. I am sure I am not the only one feeling the pinch. I have made some changes in the last couple months to try to get more for my money. The number one rule for me is not to go shopping when I am hungry. If I do this I tend to impulse buy alot of junk food. I like to make a monthly menu plan and make a grocery list according to that plan. I also get groceries at Aldis. You can get so much more for your money. My grocery routine is to go to Aldi's first. Dakota can get his monthly hair cut at Great Clips while I am shopping. Then we head to Wal-mart to get whatever other groceries and non-grocery items that we need.

There are alot of good websites and blogs for frugal moms and their are so many coupons that you can print right from your computer. One great site that I found recently is http://www.mommysavers.com/

I am also trying to change are eating habits. I no longer buy sodas, chips, cookies, or candy. In place of these things I buy fruit, juice, yogurt and other healthy snacks. At first this was quite an adjustment for us all. Especially me and Bethany, we both have a big sweet tooth. I had developed poor eating habits and I seen how they were rubbing off on the kids. Now in the evening when the kids want a snack they go for pickles or cheese, or we pop some popcorn. We have even cut back on the microwave popcorn and have now been popping it in olive oil. Very tasty and we like it better. With a little effort we are on our way to being a healthy family!!!!

Think on These Things

My verse for this week is Phillippians 4:8. I have tried to keep this verse with me and have made a concious effort to apply it to my life this week. Each thought I have, I have tried to ask myself "is this honest, just, pure, lovely...." As christians we should strive for this everyday of every week. We must place our minds on those things which are true, pure, holy and righteous. By doing this we can have the peace of God and freedom from worries and anxieties. If we back up and read verse 7 it states "and the peace of God, which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." When our minds begin to think on ungodly and worldly things the joy, the nearness and the peace of God are lost and our hearts are no longer guarded. I want the joy of the Lord, and the peace of God. I want ALL of my thoughts to be in subjection to Christ. This takes a continuous surrender to God.

I would like to end with an excerpt from a book that Dakota has been reading. He shared this with me tonight. This is an article written by an atheist:

If I firmly believed, as millions say they do, that the knowledge and practice
of religion in this life influences destiny in another, then religion would mean
to me everything. I would cast away earthly enjoyments as dross, earthly
cares as follies, and earthly thoughts and feelings as vanity. Religion
would be my first waking thought and my last image before sleep sank me into
conciousness. I should labor in its cause alone. I would take
thought for the morrow of eternity alone. I would esteem one soul gained
for heaven worth a life of suffering. Earthly consequences would never
stay my hand, or seal my lips. Earth, its joys and its griefs, would
occupy no moment of my thoughts. I would strive to look upon eternity
alone, and on the immortal souls around me, soon to be everlastingly happy or
everlastingly miserable. I would go forth to the world and preach to
it in season and out of season, and my text would be: "what shall it
profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?"

Multiplication Lapbook

Here are some pictures of Bethanys multiplication lapbook. I was really pleased with the way it turned out and so was Bethany. We tied a ribbon around it as a final touch!!



All the answers are hidden behind flaps except for the "ones" and the "tens". That way she can drill herself as she practices!!

My favorite is the ice cream cone!

As soon as we completed it Bethany asked me "Do I really get to use it?" LOL