Christmas Photos

Each year, I make our children put on a Santa hat and have their picture taken. Then the next year at Christmas, I hang an 11x14 photo of each child in their hat on our wall. It is a visual reminder of how much they have changed and adds a Christmas touch to our decor. Not to mention that it is pure torture on Sierra. :) As I am sure, it will be with the other 2 as they get older.

These photos are extra special because in my ignorance, I deleted all our photos of the children opening up their gifts on Christmas day. I have about 10 photos that didn't get deleted. Oh, but I have learned from my lack of knowledge. I am sure I will not make this mistake again.

Sierra looks like she is having fun ... doesn't she?

Andrew smiles no matter what is going on. He is our handsome boy!!

I can't believe we got Hannah-Faith to sit still long enough for a photo much less keep the hat on!!

Andrew's Adoption Day

Andrew's adoption took place in SC. Because we no longer live in SC ,we traveled there a few days early so that we could visit with family and friends. We stayed with some of our friends that have become family and had lots of fun.

May 2nd, 2008, was Andrew's adoption day. Friends, family, and caseworkers met us at the courthouse for the memorable event. I have to say that even though Andrew has been part of our family for close to 2 years, we were all extremely excited to see this day arrive when we made Andrew legally our son. This is a day that we will treasure forever.
After the adoption, we all headed to the beach for a vacation and to celebrate Andrew's adoption.

Andrew after the adoption.

All of our children are legally ours. We are blest to have such a beautiful family designed by God and created out of LOVE.

One thing that we will never forget about this day is that Andrew and his friend, Caleb, set off the van alarm and Jeff was gone with the keys. Therefore, all of us stood in front of the courthouse listening to the car alarm go off for about 20 minutes. While we waited, Caleb and Andrew had to stand in front of the van and repeat loudly, "I did it". I am sure after this neither boy will rush ahead and try to get in the car without an adult present!!

Boys will be BOYS even on a special day like today.

Favorite Photos From The Past Several Months

Long Overdue Post

As most of you know, we are a foster family. One week after Andrew's adoption was final we received a foster placement of two boys. They were only here a week and returned to their Grandparents. The day they went home, we brought home their sister from the hospital. She and her brothers were returned to their parents this week.
I didn't realize how much of my time was being taken up with "Little" (can not post her name). When she arrived she had a G-Tube but it was removed in Aug. She made a lot of improvements while in our care. We have gotten close to the family and look forward to continuing a relationship with them once all the final details are completed. "Little" and Hannah-Faith are 4 months apart in age. Hannah misses her a great deal as do we all.
For the past 7 months, I decided that I wouldn't take the time to blog because so much of my time was already taken up just caring for my family and "Little". Now that I have some extra time, I hope to post some things to catch everyone up on life at our house.


I sure everyone knows which one is Hannah-Faith. The other little girl is "Little". She will always hold a special place in our hearts.

Wordless Wednesday

This Week In Art...

We are continuing our study of the artist Jan Van Eyck.

The Adoration of the Lamb by Jan van Eyck.

This painting is part of the Ghent Altarpiece which is pictured below.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghent_Altarpiece

Van Eyck pays as much attention to the beauty of earthly things as to the religious themes. The clothes and jewels, the fountain, nature surrounding the scene, the churches and landscape in the background, everything is painted with remarkable detail. The landscape shows an enormous richness in vegetation, much of it non-European.
( Copied from the link above. Check out the link it has great information on this painting and lots of photos so that you can see the detail of the painting.)

WHY WAS IT CREATED ?
The altarpiece was painted to decorate the private chapel of a rich couple, Judocus (Joost) Vijd and his wife Elisabeth Borluut. Joost Vijd belonged to the most influential citizens of his town, and his wife belonged to the famous Borluut family of Ghent. Presumably, Joost Vijd ordered the painting already in 1420. On usual weekdays the polyptych was closed. The inside panels were shown to the public on Sundays and religious holidays. From the beginning it drew large crowds to the cathedral. Only recently, the altarpiece has been taken out of its original chapel and is now to be admired in one of the side-chapels at the entrance of the cathedral. (copied from http://www.trabel.com/gent/gent-misticlambintroduction.htm )

Also check out these websites:

http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/e/eyck_van/jan/index.html

http://www.biographybase.com/biography/van_Eyck_Jan.html

http://nhcs.k12.in.us/staff/pbortka/pronouceguide/ This site helps with pronouncing the names of artist.

Entertaining Toddlers While Educating Older Children

Hannah is getting older and I am finding it harder to educate the older children because Hannah realizes that she is not the center of attention. Therefore, I had to think back to when Sierra was younger. I tried to remember some of the activities I did with her and things I had for her to do when I needed a few minutes to get things done. When I started thinking back, I remembered my "Toddler Totes/Bags". The funniest things was that I was already putting these together for Hannah. I thought I would list some things on the blog that have worked and are working for us.


Entertaining Toddlers while Home Educating Older Siblings

Some tips before you begin your day:

· Take care of the needs of the little ones before you begin.
· Alternate between lessons for older ones and time with little ones.
· Keep lessons short. Subjects can be 20 – 30 minutes each.
· Remember that you do not have to teach every subject every day.
· Take breaks often.
· Teach toddlers to entertain themselves for 15 minutes at a time. (**See the note below.)
· Include toddlers when you can.
· Make use of the highchair during school time.
· Think about teaching some subjects during naptime, or in the evenings.
· Think about teaching some subjects outside. You can let the little ones play while the older ones are listening to you read.
· Set realistic goals.
· Choose the right time to educate. There have been times when afternoons worked best because little ones needed attention in the mornings. Sometime the little ones are better in the morning, so this would be a good time to start. When I only had one child and my husband was home during the day, we schooled in the early evening.
· Make bags and boxes of toys for your toddler to use only during school time. (see Toddler Totes/Bags)
· Remember that children are a blessing from the Lord even when your day is consistently being interrupted by demanding toddlers.

Teaching Toddlers to Entertain Themselves

Teaching Toddlers to Entertain Themselves

** Teaching toddlers to entertain themselves for 15 minutes at a time might seem like an impossible task. However, this can be obtained with training. This is what I have done. I give her a “toddler tote/bag” on a blanket near me. I explain that she needs to stay on the blanket and play with her toys. I set the timer and tell her when it goes off that she may get up. I start out with a time, I think she can accomplish. Usually, 5 minutes at first. Then I increase the time by a minute each day. I usually have this training session, at least twice a day when I start out. If she wants to get up, I tell her “no” and place her back on the blanket. I also show her the toys and give her suggestions on how to play with them. Then I walk away. No matter what, she must stay on the blanket until the timer goes off. When the timer goes off, I let her know that she may get up or continue to play with her toys. A lot of the time, she will want to get up and get a different “toddler tote/bag”. This is fine if she cleans up first. If she gets another “toddler tote/bag”, I set the timer again but for an extra minute. Within 2 weeks, she was entertaining herself for 20 -30 minutes at a time. I have learned what “toddler totes/bags” she likes the best. I save these when I need her to occupy herself the longest. Sometimes, I let her choose the “toddler tote/bag”.
Getting toddlers to entertain themselves for short amounts of time is possible. Once it is complete, you will be glad you invested the time in training.

*** I have to remember that The Lord gave me my children and wants me to educate them. They are not an interruption but a blessing. I pray, ask for wisdom, SMILE, and do the next thing – Love my children as Christ loves me.

Toddler Tote/Bags

I use the clear small totes that stack easily. For the bags, I use different size zipper bags. These are plastic so I empty them and put the bag away. When it is time to clean up, I supervise the clean up. (Toddlers can fit there head into a Ziploc bag.)

Toddler Tote/Bags

· Wooden Puzzles
· Wooden Alphabet Blocks
· Large buttons and shoe laces. (This is a set I bought. These buttons are from 2 to 4 inches in diameter.) Smaller buttons can be a choking hazard.
· Store brand Cereal and yarn (The yarn is tied around one piece of cereal on the end. This way she can add cereal pieces without them falling off.)
· Play Dough with cookie cutters, roller, small bowls, etc.
· Coffee money can. This is a coffee can with a slit in the top with cardboard circles. (I have used play money when she got older and wouldn’t put them into her mouth.) Also in this bag are other toys that she can put into the coffee can and close the lid.
· Sandpaper with yarn. (She loves taking the yarn on and off the sandpaper. I show her how to make different shapes.)
· Large Lego’s
· Flash cards with colors, shapes, or pictures on them.
· Counting bears with egg carton. (She loves sorting the bears by color into the egg carton.)
· Ice cube tray with different kinds of store brand cereal. (I usually do not let her use this bag close to lunch or dinner.) Remember to throw away the cereal after she plays with it and replace it with new.
· Magnetic board with letters
· Tote with cereal (Rice Krispies) and spoons, funnel, bowls and cups. I usually add the cereal before she plays with this and throw it away when she is done. This is a great alternative to rice or beans but it still makes a mess.
· A collection of hard plastic animals and some cars.
· Foam shapes with holes around the edges with long shoe strings for lacing. (I bought these at Target)
· Some small board books.

Table and Outside Activities

Table Activities

· Crayons, colored pencils and paper
· Assorted paper for her to tear up.
· Paper and stickers
· Stencils and colored pencils
· Paper, magazine cut outs and a glue stick. (This activity is supervised because sometimes she will use the glue stick like lipstick.) (This is a great activity when the other children and doing their Book of Centuries.)

Outside Activities

· Sidewalk Chalk
· Bucket of Water and paint brush. She can paint anything with water!!
· Balls of all sizes.
· Sand and sand toys (Fill a tote with sand if you do not have a sandbox.)
· Small blocks of wood with play hammer
· Water and buckets, funnels, scoops, cups and a boat. The water is placed in a tote. If she dumps the water out, I do not refill it!!


Our deck is directly off our kitchen. Therefore, Hannah can play with water, sand, and chalk on the deck while we do our lessons.

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Birthday Hannah-Faith

Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to Hannah
Happy Birthday to you!


Last Birthday 2007


She will soon be 2 years old.

This year Hannah-Faith has changed so much. Last year she was screaming for EVERYTHING she wanted. Now, she is using words and SCREAMING. She loves the outdoors, playing babies, and sitting in her Mommy's lap. She is always on the move. She knows what she wants and is very determined in getting her way. This year she has found herself standing in the corner and in Timeout quite a bit. She is learning about obeying and that she doesn't always get her way.

The little girl that came to us around 5 lbs. in now 30 lbs. She is still our bundle of joy.

Here are some pictures from the last year.

May 2007

First time Hannah brushed her teeth.

First Pickle - Aug. 2007

December 2007

February 2008 - First time Hannah played with Play Dough.

Hannah's first Peanut Butter Sandwich. March 2008

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HANNAH-FAITH!! WE LOVE YOU!!

Paintings for the Week

Jan van Eyck - Crucifixion and Last Judgement (1420 -1425)

The Ghent Altarpiece (completed 1432)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_van_Eyck Read more about the artist we are studying.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghent_Altarpiece

Hannah and Friend

We were outside the other day with our friends that live next door. When their little boy, who Hannah calls "MeMe", and Hannah started up the hill. We all started laughing because it reminded us of the nursery rhyme "Jack and Jill".

MeMe and Hannah went up the hill

Looking for water.

MeMe came down

against his will

And Hannah did not go any farther.

Wordless Wednesday

2007-2008 Schedule

OUR HOMESCHOOL SCHEDULE

8:00- Everyone is up and doing their morning routine**

9:00 – 11:30 – Learning, Reading, Projects with Mom. This also means some independent work when Mom is busy with Little Ones

11:30 – Prepare Lunch – Midday Chores

12:00 – 12:30- Lunch, clean up and short break

12:30- 1:00 – Individual time with Andrew

1:00- 1:30 – Individual time with Sierra

1:30-3:30 – Hannah naps

1:30- 2:30 – Independent work for Sierra and Andrew

2:30- 3:30 – Quite time or outside play (NO Video Viewing)

3:30-4:00 – Free time

4:00 – 5:00 – Play with Hannah, Finish Chores

5:00- 6:00 – Daddy time**, Dinner, Clean up

6:00 – 7:30 Play time

7:30 – 8:30 Bedtime Routine

8:30 – Andrew and Hannah’s Bedtime

10:00 – Sierra’s Bedtime (from 8:30 until 10:00 Sierra has free time. She must be IN BED at 10:05)

11:30 – Mama’s Bedtime

** Morning Routine – make bed, eat breakfast, brush teeth and hair, get dressed and complete morning chores.
** Bedtime Routine – snack, brush teeth and hair, get dressed for bed, and pick up toys
** Daddy Time – a quick cleaning up of the house. Pick up toys, clothes, and straighten blankets and pillows.


CHECK CHORE CHART FOR DAILY CHORE RESPONSIBILITIES

(I am working on a new schedule for the coming school year. It will be more detailed.)

Our Artist Study

Since I have been posting about our Artist Study, I thought I would tell you how we go about studying the artist. Starting this month, I chose the artist by following the recommendation from Ambleside Online. (our new curriculum). However, last month we studied Giotto. This was my choosing. AO recommends that you stay with an artist for the term. The terms are 12 weeks each. Because we will finish our term at the end of April, we will only study this artist for 4 weeks. AO gives you 6 paintings to study each term.
We work on our Artist Study during lunch. (Our Artist Study is scheduled for Fridays. However, the children will ask to do it more often.) I copy the paintings into jpeg format and have them printed at Walgreen's into 4x6 prints.

Day One Artist Study

I place the photo of the painting on the table. The children look at it during lunch. When we are finished eating, each child narrates to me what they see in the painting. I don't add much to the discussion on this day except for the name of the Artist.

Day Two

The children look at the same photo of the painting again during lunch. This time when they narrate they have to be more descriptive. I may ask them questions like, "What would you name this painting?", "How does this painting make you feel?", "What do you like or not like about the painting?", etc. Then we read about the life of the Artist.

If we have only studied on Fridays, I will introduce a new painting every other Monday. However if we have done the study more than twice in one week, I will introduce a new painting each Monday. Usually, every Monday we have a new painting to study and the children have studied the painting at least 4 days. All the photos are displayed on the side of the kitchen cabinet facing the table. This way the children can examine the photos of the paintings at their leisure.
After we have studied all the AO recommendations for the artist, I will choose more as time allows. Each time a new painting is introduced, we follow the Day One/Day Two schedule. If they study the painting more than two days, I just keep asking them more questions if their narrations are not detailed. We also go over the main facts about the artist.

On Week Six

The children write a notebook page about the artist. At the end of the term, they get to pick a photo to paste on their notebook page. The rest of the photos go in our Artist Scrapbook. This way I can store the photos for later use and the children can look at the book at anytime.

On Week Ten - Or when we complete at least 6 paintings

We will look on the computer at several paintings by the artist that I didn't get photocopied.

The Last Lesson Of Each Artist - Week 12

I ask the children to pick a painting they liked the best and draw their interpretation of the painting. They also have to choose a title for the painting and color it with colored pencils.


I hope this was clear. I am not blest with the talent of writing. If you have any questions, please post in the comment section and I will try to answer you.

A New Swing For All

Nature Journals

The children have been doing their Nature Study on Fridays. However, today is rained all day. These are their nature journal entries from last week. So far, I have not been giving them a specific topic to draw/write about. Their assignment is to go outside and find something to draw in their journals. Then they have to describe what they drew. They are not allowed to play until they complete their journal entry.

This week, Sierra drew Dandelions and a Ladybug.

Andrew drew a young Cedar Tree and a Dandelion Seed Head.

You can read about Dandelions pages 531 - 535 in Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock. Also below are some websites to check out.

http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Plants.Folder/Dandelion.html

http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Plants.Folder/Dandelion.html

Art and Artist

We have been studying the artist Giotto. Each child had to pick a favorite painting and draw their interpretation of the painting.

This is Andrew's drawing of the painting Crucifix by Giotto.


This is Giotto's painting.

This is Sierra's drawing of the painting Madonna and Child.

This is Giotto's painting.

Winter Poems

Sierra and Andrew had an assignment to write a Winter Poem. It could be about anything dealing with Winter. After they wrote their poem, they had to draw a picture illustrating the poem.

Andrew chose to write about "Hot Chocolate".
Here is his poem.
Hot Chocolate

When we come inside from playing with snow,
My Mommy gives us Hot Chocolate.
It tastes warm and good.




This is Sierra's Poem.

A Snowy Day


I look out the window to my surprise,
I see the snow falling down covering the ground,
Pure white like the wedding dress of a bride.
I see a deer standing there in the snow.
His Winder coat glistening, his spots glowing white,
But when he sees me he runs.
He runs with fright.

The snow silently falling;
We think it’s all done.
We go out to see our creek covered with snow.
The roof top of our house,
And the houses around us
Look like a little village that is from a story book.

The trees in our yard have snow piled high,
On there branches.
A Blue Bird sits there fluffing his feathers,
Of his new winter coat.

Such a beautiful sight,
So quite and calm.
It looks like a movie plot,
But oh, it is NOT!

As I look up at the sky,
I watch the snow fall.
Oh, what a gorgeous sight.
A wonderful snowy day.

Wordless Wednesday

Reading Lesson

Andrew’s First Reading Lesson

1. I asked Andrew what word he would like to know how to read. (CM would have chosen a poem and used the first line. I am sure we will do this next but for now I just wanted to see if Andrew was ready to learn to read.) Andrew’s reply was the word “ball”. I made up the sentence “Eli has a ball.”
2. I wrote each word on a card. I showed Andrew the words in a random order. When I showed him the word, I asked him the letters in the words and if he knew the sounds of each letter. I read the word and then sounded it out. However, I did not spend a lot of time on the phonics part.
3. I gave Andrew the cards one at a time for him to study. I told him to look at the word, then close his eyes and picture the word on the card.
4. After we went over each word, I gave him his letter tiles. I asked him to spell each word with the letter tiles.
5. Once he spelled them with the letter tiles, I showed him the cards again. This time, I asked him to make the sentence “Eli has a ball.”
6. Then, he read me the sentence without help.
7. This entire lesson lasted 15 minutes.



Second Reading Lesson (Spelling)

Before I explain this lesson, I will say that I thought that Andrew probably memorized the sentence from yesterday. Therefore, I did not expect him to be able to spell the words without some help from me.

1. I gave Andrew the letter tiles and asked him to spell each word that I called out. I called out the words from yesterday in a random order. He only had trouble with the word “has”. He put the “h” and then “s” letter tile down. I asked him to close his eyes and see if he could remember the word on the card from yesterday. He smiled and quickly put the “a” in the right place.
2. Next, I asked him to make the sentence from yesterday. I did not tell him the sentence. He put all the words in the correct order.
3. After rejoicing together, I gave him his writing tablet. I asked him to write each word that I called out. Again, I did this in a random order. Then I asked him to write the sentence “Eli has a ball”.
4. Once he completed his writing, we talked about the word “ball”. I showed him the word “all” inside of “ball”. Then, we made the words “hall, call, fall, tall, and mall”. We also talked about “has” and “as”.

This may not have been an exact Charlotte Mason reading lesson. I will have to say that within 3 days Andrew could read and spell 10 words. I am completely amazed. Now, I am looking for a poem for him to read. I am going to research more on the Charlotte Mason approach to reading and try to improve our lessons.

Andrew's First Reading Lesson

I am learning more and more everyday about Charlotte Mason's method of teaching. I have been reading and studying this week about how to teach Andrew to read. I had first thought that I could teach Andrew just like I taught Sierra.
With Sierra I used "How To Teach Your Child To Read In 100 Easy Lessons". It was a breeze. She knew her letters, then started learning the sounds and was reading within 2 weeks. By the end of the book, she was reading on a second grade level and she was only 5 years old. I have always thought that every child should learn to read by phonics. This is because I didn't learn to read this way and I feel that it has caused me some trouble especially with spelling. Of course, this is when I had only ONE child and she wanted to learn to read at an early age and advanced quickly.
However, Andrew is 7 years old and is in Kindergarten. He has some learning challenges that we have to deal with everyday. In addition to the learning challenges, he also lacks a desire to learn. He could play outside all day and be completely content with not knowing how to read or accomplish anything educational. As of today, Andrew stills does not recognize the lowercase "f", and the letter "Y". He knows about half of the letter sounds. So what made me want to teach Andrew to read now? It was because I have been praying for him.
I found a Bible verse last week during my quiet time (Daniel 1:17) and I have been praying that God would give Andrew knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning just like he gave Daniel.
Yesterday, I just decided to see if what I was learning about reading the CM way would work on Andrew. I honestly, didn't expect much. Oh,what little faith. He completely surprised me. Within 15 minutes, he read a sentence. ( I will post the exact lesson on another post.) Today, we had our second lesson. Again, I didn't expect him to remember the words. But oh, I was in for a shock. Not only did he remember, but he could spell each word. I was blown away. I am not an expert in any way on Charlotte Mason. I most probably didn't conduct a prefect CM lesson on reading, but I tried to model what I have been learning and WOW it worked. THANK YOU LORD !!! ANDREW WANTS TO LEARN TO READ!! PRAYER IS POWERFUL!!

James 1:5 "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him." Verse 6 "But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt..."

Thank you Lord for pointing me in the direction of Ambleside Online and for equipping me with the knowledge to teach Andrew. Forgive me for doubting that YOU could do a mighty work in Andrew's brain so quickly. Thank you for giving Andrew the desire to read and expanding his mind so that he could comprehend and retain this knowledge. Please continue to give Andrew knowledge and understanding like you gave Daniel. In Jesus' Name, AMEN.

Happy Resurrection Day

I received this as an email this week and thought it would be nice to post to my blog.

May your Easter be filled with rejoicing in the fact that Jesus paid the price for your sin and He reigns!

Names of God
God ~ Supreme, Eternal and Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.

(Jehovah): Lord ~ He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow; forever faithful, loving and righteous.

ADONAI: The Lord ~ the One who has authority over us and to whom we owe our supreme love and loyalty.

Rock ~ the Strong One in whom we find our security.

Fortress ~ our Refuge and Hiding Place during the conflicts of life.

Shield ~ the One who stands between us and the adversities of life and the assaults of Satan to protect us.

God is the God of Israel ~ He is our God, the One we worship and serve; the One who transforms us into people who are fit to worship and serve Him.

The God of the House of God ~ the One who is as ready to meet with us in grace today as He was at the time of our highest and greatest spiritual experience.

The Mighty One ~ the One who uses His irresistible power on behalf of His people, protecting them and enabling them to face their enemies.

Strength/Glory ~ the One who gives us assurance that, we became His people who ‘trust and obey’ Him, we can be sure our standing with Him.

Jealous ~ the One who has exclusive claim on our love and loyalty; the One who will not share these with any competitor,

EL SHADDAI: God Almighty ~ the One who is All-Bountiful and All-Sufficient; the One from whom all blessings flow; the One who delights in giving the best gifts to His children.

The Most High God ~ the One who is able to do all He wishes to do as El Shaddai; the One without limitations; the One whose purposes can’t be thwarted.

The Everlasting God ~ the One who is always available, always aware of the facts and always able to guard what His children entrust to Him; the One whose grace is always sufficient to meet any need.

The God Who sees me ~ the One who watches over us and directs our way whenever we are.

The Lord of Hosts ~ the One who commands the angels and who sends them to bring heavenly power to the aid of God’s people.

The Lord Will Provide ~ the One who does more than to provide for our temporal needs; but also provided the Sacrifice to cleanse us from our sins.

The Lord Who heals you ~ the One who heals broken bodies, hearts and souls; the One who ministers to all who ‘trust and obey’, whatever their condition.

The Lord my Banner ~ the One who makes our battles His own and assures us victory by supplying the strength and staying power we need to experience victory.

The Lord is my Shepherd ~ the One who takes complete care of His own.

The Lord who makes you holy ~ the One who makes it possible for us to meet His demands; the One who gives us both the desire and the ability to obey Him.

The Lord is Peace ~ the One who gives us confidence for facing all of life’s battles by assuring us that we come our of every circumstance okay.

The Lord our Righteousness ~ the One who accepts all who are yielded and responsible to Him just as they are and then works in the them until they become what they should be.

The Lord is There ~ the One who is always present with us; who never leaves us.

ABBA-FATHER: Father ~ the One who allows us to enter into the most intimate, privileged, eternal relationship with Him.

HE IS

Genesis ~ He is God, the Creator

Exodus ~ He is the Redeemer

Leviticus ~ He is your Sanctification

Numbers ~ He is our Guide

Deuteronomy ~ He is your Teacher

Joshua ~ He is he Mighty Conqueror

Judges ~ He gives victory over enemies

Ruth ~ He is your Kinsmen, your Lover and your Redeemer

I Samuel ~ He is the Root of Jessee

II Samuel ~ He is the Son of David

I Kings ~ He is King of kings

II Kings ~ He is Lord of lords

I Chronicles ~ He is your Intercessor

II Chronicles ~ He is your High Priest

Ezra ~ He is your Temple, your House of Worship

Nehemiah ~ He is your Mighty Wall, protecting from your enemies

Esther ~ He stands in the gap to deliver you from your enemies

Job ~ He is the Arbitrator who not only understands your struggles but has the power to do something about them

Psalms ~ He is your Song and your reason to sing

Proverbs ~ He is your Wisdom; He helps you make sense of life and live it successfully

Ecclesiastes ~ He is your Purpose, delivering you from vanity

Song of Songs ~ He is your Lover, your Rose of Sharon

Isaiah ~ He is the Mighty Counselor, the Prince of Peace, the Everlasting Father and more

Jeremiah ~ He is your Balm of Gilead, the soothing slave for your sin-sick soul

Lamentations ~ He is the Ever-Faithful One upon whom you can depend

Ezekiel ~ He is your Wheel in the middle of a wheel; the One who assures that dry dead bones will come alive again

Daniel ~ He is the Ancient of Days, the Everlasting God who never runs out of time

Hosea ~ He is your Faithful Lover, always beckoning you to come back when you have abandoned Him

Joel ~ He is your Refuge; He keeps you safe in times of trouble

Amos ~ He is the Husbandman, the One you can depend upon to stay at your side

Obadiah ~ He is the Lord of the Kingdom

Jonah ~ He is your Salvation, bringing you back within His will

Micah ~ He is the Judge of the nations

Nahum ~ He is a Jealous God

Habakkuk ~ He is the Holy One

Zephaniah ~ He is the Witness

Haggai ~ He overthrows the enemies

Zechariah ~ He is the Lord of Hosts

Malachi ~ He is Merciful

Matthew ~ He is the King of the Jews

Mark ~ He is the Servant

Luke ~ He is the Son of Man, feeling what you feel

John ~ He is the Son of God

Acts ~ He is the Savior of the World

Romans ~ He is the Righteousness of God

I Corinthians ~ He is the Rock that followed Israel

II Corinthians ~ He is the Triumphant One, giving victory

Galatians ~ He is your Liberty; He sets you free

Ephesians ~ He is the Head of the Church

Philippians ~ He is your Joy

Colossians ~ He is your Completeness

I/II Thessalonians ~ He is your Hope

I/II Timothy & Titus ~ He is your Faith, Stability and Truth

Philemon ~ He is your Benefactor

Hebrews ~ He is your Perfection

James ~ He is the Power behind your faith

I Peter ~ He is your Example

II Peter ~ He is your Purity

I, II & III John ~ He is your Life, Pattern and Motivation

Jude ~ He is the Foundation of your faith

Revelations ~ He is your coming King!

A Glimpse Into Our House

It is never dull at our house. Tonight was just a regular night. Here is one of our conversations.

Hannah: "Daddy, Daddy" ( Jeff, was outside and Hannah wanted to got out.)
Mommy: "Come here, Hannah, I will sing you your song." (Each of the children have a special song that I have sung to just them every since I have met them.) "I have a baby. I have a girl. I have a baby. The best Hannah in the world."
Mommy: "Now, I will sing Andrew his song." "You are my sunshine. My only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are grey. You'll never know dear how much I love you. Please don't take my son shine away."
Mommy: "Andrew, have you every heard Sierra's song?"
Andrew: "No."
Mommy: "Well, this is a song I heard while Sierra was in my tummy. I have been singing it to her for 12 years. It goes like this. The moment I saw you, I wanted to hold you and keep you warm on a cold grey morn. The moment I held you, I wanted to kiss you and welcome you here on the day you were born."
Andrew: "Mommy, what is your song?"
Mommy: " I do not have a song. You can find one and sing it to me. It can be my song. You can sing it now and when I am old."
Andrew: " Let me think. Your song can be "Jesus Loves Me."" (This is the only song he knows all the way through.)
Sierra: (She has been listening to this conversation. Without missing a beat, she says...) "Your song should be the "Grumpy Old Lady Who Lives In A Shoe.""
Mommy: (Laughing) "WHAT!!"
Sierra: "There was a grumpy old lady who lived in a shoe, she had so many children that she didn't know what to do. She fed them, spanked them, and sent them to bed. Then the old lady got to rest her weary head!"
Sierra and Andrew: (Laughing)
Mommy: "Sierra, I can't believe you said that. Of all the songs you know, you picked a nursery rhyme about a grumpy old lady. In the nursery rhyme the OLD LADY was not GRUMPY!"
Sierra: "I am just kidding Mom."
Mommy: "Oh, yea!! Now you are trying to make up. You just don't want to be sent to bed."
Sierra: "No, Mom. I was really kidding. You are not GRUMPY. Your song should be "Amazing Grace.""
Mommy: "Okay, Sierra"

Honestly, I should have commented on the "not grumpy" part. I think she was still implying that I was old. :) However, since this conversation went from sweet to somewhat sour and was not looking good for me, I decided that I would just be quiet.
Sierra, is right about one thing. My song could be "Amazing Grace". It is only God's Grace that I make it through each day and remain joyful. Especially, when I have a daughter who has a warped sense on humor.
( I am still laughing!!)

Wordless Wednesday

Naptime in Big Girl Bed

For those of you who do not know, I love to nap with our babies and rock them to sleep at night. I think this is some of the most precious time I spend with them. Well, I have been laying down with Hannah-Faith for the last 23 months with no problems. That is until this past weekend. Every night when I rocked her to sleep, she would point to our bedroom and say, "Nap". I explained that it was not nap time but bedtime. She was up until 11:00 persisting that she go to our bed to sleep. Therefore, today, I didn't lay down with my baby. After much preparation in prayer, I decided to put her to sleep alone in her big girl bed for nap. She still sleeps in her crib at night. I realized that this was going to be a BIG ordeal. I prepared the other children, set up a CD player with soft music in Hannah's room and got her bed ready. I explained what was going to happen right after lunch. About an hour later, off we went to the big girl bed. I read her a story, kiss her, and walked out of the room closing the door behind me. It was not 15 sec. and Hannah was at the door. Long story short, she screamed. I decided I would give this one hour. After an hour, I would go in and sit on her floor. After she screamed, she got out of bed and opened the door. The first three times I picked her up, kissed her, and put her back on the bed. The next 14 times, I just picked her up and put her on the bed. She was crying close to the hour mark. Then her cries slowed, were not as loud and there were breaks in between. After an hour and 5 minutes, NO Crying. I peeked in her room. I could not believe my eyes. SHE WAS STANDING UP LOOKING OUT THE WINDOW. I closed the door quietly and waited for the crying to start again. However, 10 minutes went by and when I peeked in she was sound asleep on her pillow. My baby went to sleep in her big girl bed without Mommy for the first time today. While I stood at the door praying for her, she grew up just a little. :(
I realize that tomorrow I will have to do this all over again and probably everyday this week. I am trusting The Lord that He will comfort my little one (and me) and each day will be easier. During my praying today, I was reminded that I will hold her heart forever but I must let go of her hand just a little today.

Please pray for us this week.

NO MORE MONDAYS

I have decided at our house there will be no more Mondays. On Mondays, Andrew chooses to disobey more than any other day, he refusing to do his work, and therefore I am having to discipline more on Mondays.
Today, Hannah-Faith decided to follow in her big brother's footsteps. She decided to dump all the colored pencils out on the table, then take her hand and push them onto the floor. She was very persistent in the fact that she was not going to pick them up. Therefore, she was sent to time-out. When her time was up, she still refused to pick up the pencils. Of course, she was sent back to time-out. Finally, after the third time she agreed to pick them up. During all of this, there was lots of "No's" and screams. In addition to this display of emotion today, Andrew decides to destroy his work from Friday. So, you guessed it, he had to redo his work. Sierra, is not exempt from Monday misbehavior either. She thinks because all of this is going on that she needs to help me parent. Oh yes, she has to step in and explain things to Andrew and then help Hannah. Of course, I let her know that she needed to sit down and complete her work unless she would like more work to do. It took me an hour and a half to get dinner in the crock pot this morning. We have not gotten any of our books read, and I am not even going to think about getting Math done today. Today, I am having lessons in developing Character.
So as you can see, we do not need Monday's at our house. The rest of the week seems to go fine. There are some misbehavior's and some disobedience but nothing like what happens on Mondays. Because I can not quit this job that God gave me, I am choosing to have 2 Tuesdays at our house. Yes, from now on Mondays are not allowed.

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."
Galatians 6:9 (My encouragement from The Lord.)

If you seem to have Mondays like ours, don't give up. Hang in there. Tuesday is just around the corner.

Wordless Wednesday

Who is Charlotte Mason?

Click on the links below and read about Charlotte Mason and her thoughts on education.

http://higherupandfurtherin.blogspot.com/search/label/A%20CM%20Education

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Mason#Biography

http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~cheps/cmason.html

http://www.classicaleducation4me.com/cminfo.html

Nature Journals

This week the children started their Nature Journals. This is something that I have been wanting to add to our day but I could never figure out how to fit it in. On Monday, the weather was nice and I sent the older two children out with the Nature bag and instructions. Their instructions were to sit outside for at least 20 min. and find something to draw in their journals. It could be as simple as a tree or more complex like an animal. I told them to pay attention to the sights and sounds of things around them and be prepare to tell me about their time outside. I was completely surprised by what Sierra and Andrew drew in their journals. Also, they stayed outside for over 2 hours drawing, writing, and exploring. I am excited about implementing more Nature Study days. If you have every wanted to start a Nature Study or Nature Journal, just do it. I thought about it and made it complicated for way to long. Once, I made it simple and just sent the children outside it fell into place.

This is Sierra's first journal page. She drew the inside and outside of a Black Walnut and she drew a weed by the creek.
This is Sierra's second journal entry. It is a drawing of a wild rose bush.

This is Andrew's first journal entry. He did a leaf drawing and a leaf rubbing. This week we will be researching to find out what kind of leaf he found.

This is Andrew's second journal entry. He drew a walnut and a rock.

This is a picture of the rock Andrew found and drew in his journal.

These are pictures that Sierra took while she and Andrew were outside doing their Nature Journals.