11th Anniversary Age of Adaline Date September 30, 2015

In this post: All the details on our Age of Adaline date plus anniversary pictures, and chalkboard door art.

Hello dear ones! I know it’s been a good while since my last post. I promise I haven’t forgotten you. I have so much to share with you and a lot of catching up to do. I wanted to skip ahead and share this extra special date. I hope it inspires you. Here’s how we celebrated our 11th anniversary, our Age of Adaline date (based on the movie).

Lover’s silhouette chalkboard art~ I used the silhouette from a picture of Chris and I. You’ll see the picture on the collage poster board I made. It’s in the middle

Anniversary Collage Poster Board~ I printed out black and white pictures of us throughout the years. I glued pieces of old wall paper I found at Goodwill, onto poster board from The Dollar Tree. I put a poem I had written in the middle.

Here is the poem. You may link to this post, but don’t copy it. Thanks!

The Story of Us” by Amber Dover

“Let everyone see, the rhythm and rhyme of you and me. As we grow old, every storm we can weather. Let us never go cold, because we’re better together. Every kiss is a song, of the sweetest pain. The roses and the thorns; we two remain. I love you.”

My first set for our date.

The set after we went antique shopping.

My Vintage Look

I did as many finger curls on my head as I could. I used a peach lipstick. I added a peach belt to a dress I had to give me that 1940’s style. The big necklace Chris bought me the night before from a street vendor, a lady handmade it.

The Agenda

The night before our Adaline date we got in the vintage mood by listening to jazz live at The Loft in down town. I attempted to put victory curls in my hair but it didn’t turn out quite right.

Me reading to the kids when we got back.

Age of Adaline Date (what I got pictures of)

• Antique shopping

The guys and I went antique “window” shopping (meaning we didn’t buy anything at this place).

Messing around…

We did pay to check out the lunchbox museum.

We finished with lunch at Steak n Shake because it always has a vintage feel. Then my parents got Michael so Chris and I could have some romance.

Here’s my anniversary present: a vintage type writer from either the 1930’s or 1940’s. It works too. We got it at a thrift store.

• Read Braille

• Gigi’s cupcakes~ Wedding Cake is an amazing flavor!

• chili dogs and cream soda

• Romantic photos

• Star gazing

We used the star app on my tablet.

• Speak Portuguese ~We looked up “I love you” and I wrote it on the type writer

• Poetry and slow dancing I didn’t get pictures of

Random funny pic of Leeland partying with us.

God bless and remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover

Age of Adaline on Pinterest:

More of our Date Nights:

Date ideas on Pinterest:

 

Summer Crafts 2015 Part 2 August 19, 2015

In this post: Ocean crafts and study. Plus a shell study.

Hello dear ones, this Summer we used our crafts to decorate the homeschool room for the beginning of the year. We have a sea theme. So we got a head start. Here are pictures and you can find the links on my Pinterest at the end.

Michael was given two big boxes of shells from my grandma and grandpa. He used them to decorate our homeschool room.

He also made a shell notebook.

He made necklaces as well and gave them to his buddies. Then Michael did a shell lapbook.

Michael did an ocean animal lapbook. He checked out books on ocean animals from the library.

I bought ocean paper and covered our school door and the area near the reading pool. I got the ocean creature cut outs from the Dollar Tree awhile back. I used bubble wrap to make the bubbles, and crepe paper for the seaweed.

I stapled ribbon to shower caps to make the jelly fish. I hung blue and green crepe paper to make the room feel like it was under the sea.

Michael made these origami boats.

Leeland and I made this starfish with his feet.

The jelly fish are from Michael and Leeland’s hands.

Michael made a crab, an oyster, and coral from egg cartons. I made coral from split pool noodles.

I drew the octopus and Michael splattered it with paint.

Michael made a puffer fish using a fork (not pictured).

We made socktopuses from socks.

Michael and I put together this ocean diorama.

We put foam stickers on the bottom of our flip flops and made these nifty prints. We hope to leave cool impressions in the sand when we go to the beach.

God bless & remember the High King lives! ~ Amber Dover

PS: Michael’s Lego creation

Summer Crafts 2015 Part 1

In this post: Dandelions, fireflies,and Summer inchies. Plus a character study.

Hello dear ones! Here are a few crafts we did over the summer. Pics and links included. Enjoy!

Fireflies inspired by: http://elementaryartfun.blogspot.com/2011/03/fireflies-moonlit-landscape.html

Dandelions inspired by: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/82824080620148206/

Summer Inchies (inspired by That Artist Woman and http://www.allthingsheartandhome.com/2013/06/diy-watercolor-summer-art/ )

Mine

Michael and Nana

Michael did this anger lapbook from: http://www.currclick.com/product/26486/Biblical-Anger-Lapbook

God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover

Minions Movie Night July 31, 2015

Hello dear ones! A couple weeks ago my family and I went to see the Minions movie. This is how we had fun. Also, I’ll review the movie. Please come hang out :).

I drew a minion on our chalkboard door to get everyone excited.

 

I bought a Minions coloring book for a dollar. I also found sugar cookies and fruit snacks that are Minion themed. I found the Minion bead kit at Michael’s Craft Store.

 

Chris and Michael made a Minion bookmark.

 

Michael drew a Minion based on a tutorial.

Here are toilet paper roll Minions.

Now my review:

My family and I really loved the Despicable Me movies. Underneath the craziness they were about family and love. They gave me a warm fuzzy feeling. But Minions was a disappointment. There were way too many innuendos. The plot was flat. The Minions couldn’t fill Gru’s shoes as main characters. They are hilarious for shorts, but in my opinion they can’t carry a whole movie. The best part of the movie for me, was the end…when Gru showed up. In conclusion, although there are spots of funny, the smut and lack of a decent plot and strong characters, ruined it for me. This felt way more adult than childlike.

God bless and remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover

You can find more ideas here:

Fourth of July Crafts and Our Second Family Olympics 2015 July 17, 2015

Hello dear ones, I hope you are well. Two years ago we had our first Family Olympics. You can find the link here: https://amberdover.wordpress.com/2013/07/07/my-family-rocks-sunday-2013-family-olympics/

This year we spent Independence Day having our second Family Olympics. I also have July 4th crafts to share with you. Here we go :).

We made 4th of July T-shirts.

 

Michael and Chris tie dyed a red, white, and blue shirt.

 

I used Leeland’s hand print and craft sticks to make this  U.S. flag onesie.

Michael did a lapbook on the U.S. flag. Link here:

 

http://www.currclick.com/product/72074/United-States-Flag–Speedy-Lapbook

Then Michael made me a red, white, and blue necklace out of beads.

We also did a state lapbook. Link here: http://www.currclick.com/product/76669/United-States-Alabama–Speedy-Lapbook

Then my mom came over for…

 

Family Olympics

 

I really love this event and I can’t wait until the next one. We should really have winter Olympics as well. We began by making our personal flags to represent us in the games.

We used index cards to keep score. Here are the events:

• Archery

Michael

My Step Dad Kim

Mom

Chris

Me

Leeland

• Foam Sword fighting

Me and Mom~ This was fun, but a word to the wise…make sure you zip up the trampoline if you use it. When Michael and I were sword fighting he actually fell through the unzipped part of the trampoline screen. Thankfully he didn’t hit his head too hard. It was scary though.

• Airplane Toss

• Egg Race

• Sac Race

Then just for fun:

• Parachute games

• Michael’s 4th grade piano recital. He played The Star Spangled Banner and Amazing Grace.

 

All of us won at least one medal, but Kim won the trophy.

God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover

More ideas:

 

Father’s Day Crafts & Our Trip to Jesup 2015

Hello dear ones! This past Father’s Day we visited our hometown and everyone got to meet the new baby. Leeland and Michael also made homemade crafts for Chris. It was a special Father’s Day. Here’s what we did:

I printed out a Father’s Day poem from here:

Then I put the boys’ foot prints on it. I also printed out a Darth Vader poster.

I helped the boys make Father’s Day books.

I stapled Daddy surveys to the back of the books. Here’s the link:

So we visited our hometown and saw our families. We saw Chris’ dad…

and we visited where my Dad is buried.

We visited my Granny.

My family didn’t want to let Leeland go.

Granny

My Uncle

My Aunt

My other grandparents

I loved playing with this Chess set as a kid.

Chris’ mom playing with Leeland

Chris’ older brother and Michael trying out his 3D plastic making pen.

Well, God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover

James and the Giant Peach Study July 7, 2015

Hello dear ones! Michael did a study of the book James and the Giant Peach. Join me for a peachy craft and some Southern peach cobbler.

 

 

Michael and I made this sun catcher using contact paper. I drew a peach and he filled it in with orange tissue paper and silhouettes from James and the Giant Peach. He made clouds from cotton balls. The birds are hanging strings.

 

Michael also watched the movie. Now, here’s a recipe that we didn’t get a chance to make.

Southern Peach Cobbler

From the Odum Community Cookbook

by Jeanette Bass

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

1 cup self-rising flour

1 stick butter

1 can peaches (sliced with juice)

3/4 cup of milk

Melt butter in baking dish. Add sugar, milk, and peaches, mix well. Add flour and mix until well blended. Bake in 350 degree oven until top is golden brown. Serve with or without whipped cream; you can also sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.

 

 

Well, God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover

White House Study July 1, 2015

Hello dear ones! Michael learned about the White House recently. Here’s a craft and lapbook for you. This would be a good study for Independence Day in the U.S.

First Michael did this short lapbook and learned facts about the White House.

Link here:

http://www.currclick.com/product/72577/The-White-House–Speedy-Lapbook
Then he and I made the White House out of craft sticks.

Inspiration here:

God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover

Pentecost & Bike Safety June 23, 2015

Hello dear ones! We made a special dove painting for Pentecost this year. I’ve also got pictures from the Bike safety class our homeschool group did with the Columbus cops. Enjoy.

• Pentecost Dove Painting ~ I was inspired by this similar painting on Pinterest:

Michael painted a sunset on canvas. Then we modge podged a dove silhouette, a Bible verse about the Holy Spirit, and words about the Holy Spirit on top.

Pentecost in the New Testament is the time when the Holy Spirit came to live inside Jesus’ believers. Sometimes the Spirit is represented by a dove. He is our comforter, counselor, and healer. This was a special time because in the past only a select few had the Spirit visit them. No one had the Holy Spirit live inside them permanently until Pentecost.

• Bike Safety~ One of our homeschool moms is married to a park cop. He rides a bike through the parks. So her husband and his buddies visited our group and gave a bike safety course. It was great.

The guys showed the kids the proper way to wear a helmet. One cop demonstrated what happens when you don’t wear a helmet and get in an accident. He used a cantaloupe to show this. We have Crazy Carl who doesn’t wear his helmet and gets smashed all over the floor. Then we have Careful Carla who always wears her helmet. She does fine in an accident.

Then the kids watched a video on bike safety. They learned hand signals for riding in traffic. Michael volunteered to come up and show the signals he learned.

Lastly, the kids got to hear the sirens on the cop car.

Leeland hanging out.

Well, that’s it. God bless and remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover

Mother’s Day and Leeland’s Dedication June 5, 2015

In this post: Mother’s day crafts, Leeland’s miracle story, and his dedication at church.

Hello dear ones! I shared our miracle testimony at church on Mother’s Day. Leeland was also dedicated during the service. First I’m going to show you what the boys made for Mother’s day and then I’ll post our testimony (text only. I’m unable to show the video at this time). Up above are the boys hands. I copied them with the printer. One pic has my hand too.

Michael made this ice cream paper that says: My Mom is loving, helping, feeding.

Flower prints for grandmas~ I used Michael’s hand prints and Leeland’s foot prints to make flowers for Nana (my mom) and Granny (Chris’ mom). Then we gave them pictures of the boys in their Easter best.

 

Our chalkboard door comes in handy during the holidays.

 Chris’ parents finally got to meet Leeland. He is their 6th grandson.

We dedicated Leeland at church…meaning we made a verbal commitment to raise Leeland to follow Jesus and the Bible.

We were given a certificate and special books. We’re still waiting on his first Bible.

Here’s the testimony I shared. It was great how God used it because I had people come up after and say how it encouraged them. One lady took a copy of this story to give her infertile daughter in law. I was asked to share during Sunday school too. I pray it blesses you as well.

“Hello, my name is Amber Dover.

James 1:17 says “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”

I’ve come to remind you that Father God is faithful and His timing is perfect. I pray my story encourages you.

My husband and I planned on having more children right after Michael, our eldest, was born. That was nine years ago. We tried year after year without success. Then our hearts broke about five years ago when we were told that we were both infertile and that we had three months to get pregnant or it’d never happen. We tried many things…fertility treatments that left me feeling sick, all sorts of natural remedies, and we even tried to adopt twins but the birth mother miscarried.

 

 

At first I grew very bitter. I longed for a second child more than anything. I bought baby clothes though I knew there would be no baby. I cried out to God but I felt he didn’t hear me. It felt like we were hitting a brick wall with every step we took. I eventually gave up trying because I was tired of wrestling with God. I came to the conclusion that only God could open or close my womb and that nothing I did would succeed unless God wanted it to. I was sick of negative pregnancy tests and getting my hopes up for nothing.

 

Fast forward to last year around this time. I’m finally content and settled. My husband tells me he wants to try for another child as soon as I get back from the missions trip to Belize. I’m here to tell you that God is faithful even when we are faithless. I agreed to try for another child but I told my husband not to get his hopes up. I knew it’d take a miracle for us to get pregnant and frankly I didn’t believe it was in God’s plans. I didn’t have much faith but I chose to pray like I did. I asked our Sunday school class here at church, to pray for us to have a miracle. This was not the first time I had asked a church for prayers in this matter. People had prayed for us on and off for 8 years. Again I tell you, that God’s timing is perfect.

 

Two months after returning from Belize, I became pregnant. It took awhile for me to believe it was true, but nine years later we have Leeland, our youngest son. He was worth the wait. Our family was reminded through this miracle that God is sovereign. He is the best parent and He loves to give good gifts. God heard my cry all of those years, just as He heard the cries of Sarah, Elizabeth, and Hannah in the Bible. God opens and closes the womb. He is just as much in control now as He was back in Bible days. I don’t know the state of your heart this Mother’s Day. Maybe you’re praying for a miracle. Maybe you feel alone and you think God doesn’t hear your cry. Dear one, your God hears you. He feels your pain. I don’t know God’s exact plan for your life, but I do know that if you belong to Jesus that He will work things out to the good. Satan has told humanity the same old lie since the garden of Eden, the lie that God is holding out on us. Dear one, God is not holding out on you. Jesus loves you and He has blessed you with all spiritual blessings. I end with theses verses from Ephesians.

 

“I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to the Father who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”
God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover