I just wanted to let everyone know that we are having a rummage sale, silent auction, bake sale, and more to help raise money for our Mom's cancer treatment. My Dad's insurance has been giving them an especially difficult time in wanting to reimburse them for her treatments, sometimes refusing payment all together (some wierd thing about her doctor being approved, but not his office he works out of?!?, crazy, I know, but I think their insurance will do anything they can to NOT have to pay).
My family up in the H area is organizing this huge benefit for my mom. It will take place in the H area on Saturday, November 13th (not sure where yet). If you have anything you'd like to donate for the rummage sale, please let me know and I'll make arrangements to pick it up. If you'd like to bake anything, donate items to the silent auction, or anything else, I can arrange to pick that up as well.
And above all else, please remember to keep my mother and our family in your prayers :)
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
Who Will YOU Pray For?
This is something I have wanted to do with the kids for a while now, but with my mom's poor health and being over at her house alll the time, we just never quite had enough time to get around to it. Well, this Sunday, we had the perfect opportunity to get started.
About a month ago, I found a big beautiful map from the Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) website of all the areas of the world where it is illegal or extremely difficult to be a Christian. I want my children to understand how easy we have it here in America and what our brothers and sisters in Christ in other areas of the world have to go through on a daily basis to be a Christian and take a stand for Jesus. I wanted something up and visible on the wall, something that we couldn't help but notice each and every day, to remind us to stop and pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ and to also pray that people around the world would come to know Jesus.
The kids had their shoebox lesson in Sunday school and this laid the perfect groundwork for what I had been wanting to do. We watched a video and Ms. Barbara read a story about a young child in the Philippines receiving his first shoe box and later how his whole family received Jesus as their Savior through this simple act. This was especially touching because the kids have a pen pal in the Philippines named Eanjill. She has been our Compassion International sponsor child since well before they were born. We keep a notebook of all the letters and pictures we receive and the kids like to look through them from time to time. I've also told them the story of how Eanjill came to know Jesus as her personal Lord and Savior many years ago through Compassion International.
Anyway, later that day, we took the kids to Wal-mart and let them pick out things to put in their shoeboxes. Then we came home and the kids packed them. They are hoping the boxes go to the Philippines where Eanjill lives. Here are the letters they included in each of their shoe boxes.
According to VOM, there are parts of the Philippines that are actually considered hostile areas for Christians. Hostile areas (in red) are areas in which the goverment tries to provide protection for Christians, but they are still victims of violence because of their witness.
About a month ago, I found a big beautiful map from the Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) website of all the areas of the world where it is illegal or extremely difficult to be a Christian. I want my children to understand how easy we have it here in America and what our brothers and sisters in Christ in other areas of the world have to go through on a daily basis to be a Christian and take a stand for Jesus. I wanted something up and visible on the wall, something that we couldn't help but notice each and every day, to remind us to stop and pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ and to also pray that people around the world would come to know Jesus.
The kids had their shoebox lesson in Sunday school and this laid the perfect groundwork for what I had been wanting to do. We watched a video and Ms. Barbara read a story about a young child in the Philippines receiving his first shoe box and later how his whole family received Jesus as their Savior through this simple act. This was especially touching because the kids have a pen pal in the Philippines named Eanjill. She has been our Compassion International sponsor child since well before they were born. We keep a notebook of all the letters and pictures we receive and the kids like to look through them from time to time. I've also told them the story of how Eanjill came to know Jesus as her personal Lord and Savior many years ago through Compassion International.
Anyway, later that day, we took the kids to Wal-mart and let them pick out things to put in their shoeboxes. Then we came home and the kids packed them. They are hoping the boxes go to the Philippines where Eanjill lives. Here are the letters they included in each of their shoe boxes.
According to VOM, there are parts of the Philippines that are actually considered hostile areas for Christians. Hostile areas (in red) are areas in which the goverment tries to provide protection for Christians, but they are still victims of violence because of their witness.
Restricted areas (in orange) area areas in which goverment policy or pracice does not allow Christians to have Bibles or Christian literature, prevents them from holding church services/meeting, and includes possible imprisonment, murder, or loss of liberty and/or possessions.
We plan to do much much more with this map and VOM, but this was a good start. Please check out VOM's website http://www.persecution.com/ There is so much you can be a part of and so much you can pray for... and praying doesn't cost a dime ;)
So, who will YOU pray for?
Outside My Own Little World...
Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.
Snipit from Matthew West's song "My Own Little World"
"What if there’s a bigger picture?
What if I’m missing out?
What if there’s a greater purpose
That I could be living right now
Outside my own little world yeah
My own little world oooh
Father break my heart for what breaks Yours
Give me open hands and open doors
and Put Your light in my eyes and let me see
That my own little world is not about me"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvSwcMp9vU4
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Poison Berries?
The past few weeks, we have been learning about the birthday of our country and all the great people and things that made the United States of America what it is today: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence, and the 13 Colonies...just to name a few.
The kids learned the Yankee Doodle song and what the words really meant (I learned what they really meant too ;) Of course, they thought the 'macaroni' part was hilarious, as most kids do, until they learned that they really didn't stick pasta noodles in their hats.
I wanted them to make Hasty Pudding to try, but when the kids saw me getting out all the ingredients, they wanted to know where the rest of them were. When I told them milk and cornmeal with just a touch of butter and salt were all the ingredients, they decided they did not want to make it after all. And I didn't push...I saved 2 cups of milk...add a little cereal and we've got breakfast in the morning.
They did, however, want to make quill pens and berry ink. So, we went on a hunt around the yard. Sadly, we did not come across any feathers to use for our quill pens. We did come across what we think were the remains of a stray kitten that had been hiding out in our carport the past several days though. Nothing gross, just lots and lots and lots of black fur just like that kitten had. (Pause with me for a moment while I chase a rabbit). We think whatever got the kitten must have been the same thing that tried to get our cat the other night. Whatever it was, it was stong enough to bite through our cat's (his name is Hot Shot) leg and sever his tendons. So, on top of everything else I have going on I have to nurse our cat back to health, he will always walk with a bad limp, and will most likely not be an 'outside cat' anymore due to his injury. He'd be a sitting duck for whatever is out there. Jason is going to set up a trap this weekend and see what we can catch though. (Now back to what I was saying...)
J said we couldn't find any feathers because it wasn't 'bird feather shedding season'. We did find some "berries" though, very pretty purpley pink ones. I told the kids not to eat them because we didn't know what they were. We brought them in and put them in cups to be crushed later and went to wash our hands. When Big J got home, he looked up the berries and found out they were poison berries and could make you sick if you ate them. Well, we didn't eat them, so we were all ok, but decided not to continue with the crushing part. So, plan B was to head to Wal-mart for more berries. Big J brought home fresh Cranberries. Here's a hint for anyone who ever wants to do this in the future...do not use cranberries, they don't really work. So, plan C...a handful of blueberries and rasberries we had left in the freezer. (I should have gone straight to plan C to begin with, but where's the fun in that?) Voila! Worked great and the kids drew the pictures you saw in the video using their quill feather pens and berry ink.
The kids learned the Yankee Doodle song and what the words really meant (I learned what they really meant too ;) Of course, they thought the 'macaroni' part was hilarious, as most kids do, until they learned that they really didn't stick pasta noodles in their hats.
I wanted them to make Hasty Pudding to try, but when the kids saw me getting out all the ingredients, they wanted to know where the rest of them were. When I told them milk and cornmeal with just a touch of butter and salt were all the ingredients, they decided they did not want to make it after all. And I didn't push...I saved 2 cups of milk...add a little cereal and we've got breakfast in the morning.
They did, however, want to make quill pens and berry ink. So, we went on a hunt around the yard. Sadly, we did not come across any feathers to use for our quill pens. We did come across what we think were the remains of a stray kitten that had been hiding out in our carport the past several days though. Nothing gross, just lots and lots and lots of black fur just like that kitten had. (Pause with me for a moment while I chase a rabbit). We think whatever got the kitten must have been the same thing that tried to get our cat the other night. Whatever it was, it was stong enough to bite through our cat's (his name is Hot Shot) leg and sever his tendons. So, on top of everything else I have going on I have to nurse our cat back to health, he will always walk with a bad limp, and will most likely not be an 'outside cat' anymore due to his injury. He'd be a sitting duck for whatever is out there. Jason is going to set up a trap this weekend and see what we can catch though. (Now back to what I was saying...)
J said we couldn't find any feathers because it wasn't 'bird feather shedding season'. We did find some "berries" though, very pretty purpley pink ones. I told the kids not to eat them because we didn't know what they were. We brought them in and put them in cups to be crushed later and went to wash our hands. When Big J got home, he looked up the berries and found out they were poison berries and could make you sick if you ate them. Well, we didn't eat them, so we were all ok, but decided not to continue with the crushing part. So, plan B was to head to Wal-mart for more berries. Big J brought home fresh Cranberries. Here's a hint for anyone who ever wants to do this in the future...do not use cranberries, they don't really work. So, plan C...a handful of blueberries and rasberries we had left in the freezer. (I should have gone straight to plan C to begin with, but where's the fun in that?) Voila! Worked great and the kids drew the pictures you saw in the video using their quill feather pens and berry ink.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Our 2010-2011 Curriculum
I have a 1st grade daughter, a 2nd grade son, and a 3rd grade brother who often joins us in our home school adventures each week.
This year, we have chosen to continue using Abeka for Language and Math. We have added in Apologia and My Father's World. We use Apologia for science. I let the kids choose from the list of things they had to offer for their ages and they chose Astronomy. So this year, our focus will be on that. I think it is important to allow your kids some say into what they would like to learn. If they are more interested in a certain topic, I feel they would be more engaged and open to learning about that particular topic.
In My Father's World (MFW), we are using the Adventures curriculum this year. We focus more on the Biblical and Historical aspects MFW has to offer. We are loving it! It brings in the Biblical history our country was founded upon and it allows my husband, J, to be a part of our home school adventures. He usually does the Bible part of the curriculum with them in the evenings after he gets home from work. The kids love it and mom gets a little break ;)
This year, we have chosen to continue using Abeka for Language and Math. We have added in Apologia and My Father's World. We use Apologia for science. I let the kids choose from the list of things they had to offer for their ages and they chose Astronomy. So this year, our focus will be on that. I think it is important to allow your kids some say into what they would like to learn. If they are more interested in a certain topic, I feel they would be more engaged and open to learning about that particular topic.
In My Father's World (MFW), we are using the Adventures curriculum this year. We focus more on the Biblical and Historical aspects MFW has to offer. We are loving it! It brings in the Biblical history our country was founded upon and it allows my husband, J, to be a part of our home school adventures. He usually does the Bible part of the curriculum with them in the evenings after he gets home from work. The kids love it and mom gets a little break ;)
Monday, October 4, 2010
Life...
This blog is all about life... mainly our home school life. I think the music group Revive sums 'life' up the best - "It happens in a blink, it happens in a flash, it happens in the time it took to look back, I try to hold on tight, but there's no stopping time, what is it I've done with my life?"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvuxFdM3S58&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvuxFdM3S58&feature=related
Life really does happen in a flash. Before I know it, my kids will be grown and out of the house...no more time for teaching, no more time for training.
I started this blog mainly to keep a record (for myself, my husband, and my family) of what is going on in my kids lives and in their home school adventures. One day, when they are grown, I'd like to go back and reread it all...bringing back all the memories of what happened, what they did, what they learned, etc..., but most importantly, memories about what God has done in their lives.
God gives each parent the same command and promise, "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it" Proverbs 22:6. For me personally, this 'training' involves home school. I didn't start out homeschooling for this reason, but God, in His infinite wisdom, knew what I needed to be doing for my children and guided me in that direction long before I truly knew the reason for doing it.
On a side note, if any of you reading this blog have not read the book Kingdom Education, I highly recommend it. It is a great book and really helped me put things into perspective. ***Now, if you do not homeschool your children, please do not get offended with what I have posted above. This is about my life and what God has shown me that I needed to be doing. I am in no way trying to tell you what you should or should not be doing with your own children, only God can do that. He has a plan for each of our lives and His plans are not always the same for each person.***
So, with that being said - here is what we are doing...
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