The Nativity Collection by Robert J. Morgan

I love Christmas stories, whether it is the original Christmas story complete with baby Jesus and a manger or a modern day one.  The Nativity Collection is a compilation of six short stories surrounding Christmas. Most of them are set in modern times. You get to experience the Christmas of a family that gets their car stolen on December 24th, the struggle to survive a Christmas eve blizzard, and the joyous and yet surprising arrival of a baby. The Nativity Collection is set up as a gift book which you can give to a loved one.

I enjoyed the stories, especially the first and last one.  I held back tears as I read through the first story and sat in surprise after reading the last words of the final story. I would highly recommend these stories as a way to refocus our thoughts about Christmas.

Diane Stanley Biographies

Over the years we have read many of Diane Stanley's biographies that are in the form of picture books.  We are currently reading the about Joan of Arc.  This is a rather long picture book filled with historical information.

Here are some of the others we have read while working through our history program called Biblioplan.

To see the complete list of biographies she has done thus far, check out this link.

A Simple Gift to Make

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Want a frugal and simple gift to make?  How about a photo/recipe card holder? These are super easy to make and cost under two dollars.

All you need are these larger binder clips, ribbon, patterned paper, and UHU glue.

Cut a piece of scrapbook paper so that it can go around the outside of the binder clip (the black part).  I just measured the paper around it and marked off where I should cut.  I used a paper cutter to get a straight edge.

Next use the UHU glue to glue the paper to the clip.

Using a long piece of ribbon, wrap the ribbon up one side of the clip.  I start at the top and leave a little of one end loose (enough to tie a bow with) and then use the longer end to wrap the one side of the clip. This means you have to wrap the ribbon down the clip and then come back up with it so that it meets the other loose end.  Then you tie the loose ends into a bow.  Trim the ends so they aren't too long.

See?

I then take shorter pieces of ribbon of various coordinating colors and knot them on the other side. At the top of that pile of ribbon, you can take a brad and slip its back end in between the prongs of the clip. Then bend the brads ends so that it is secure.  It is probably hard to see in this picture.  You could also get jewelry wire and beads to decorate your clip. Just twist the wire about the prong and do "curls" with the wire (by curling it round a pencil).  Attach small beads to each end of the wire.

 You can then use your decorated binder clip to hold a recipe card or a picture!

Happy Crafting!

A Gratitude Attitude

 871. Time to do some serious crafting.872. A friend's birthday today.873. Dinner with a friend.874. An easy week of lessons.875. A clean puppy after a bath.876. Fourteen meals in the freezer.877. A clean kitchen878. Books to read879. Homeschooling moms to help me figure out the high school years.880. Movie nights881. Clean clothes that are put away882. Fall foods like pumpkin pie883. A sense of peace884. Candles burning885. The hum of the fridge...it is rather soothing...weird I know, but true.886. A week of school and work finished...such a sense of satisfaction887. The ability to place holds from my computer for library books and then pick them up.  Such convenience!888. Renewed relationships

Science in Homeschooling

This week we are talking about science at The Homeschool Village.  While I was never fond of science as a kid, I am learning to enjoy it more as a homeschool mom.  We have done many things over the years with science...

This year we have started using Apologia and are loving it! Our youngest is doing Botany and our oldest is doing General Science. Our youngest will finish botany in December and then we will move on to human anatomy.

Last year I created our lesson plans and did Zoology with both boys. We created a massive zoology lapbook as we went along.  To see all the posts about our adventures with zoology, click here.

One of our favorite resources for science (especially animals) is Homeschool Share which has a lot of freebies.  There are animal lapbooks, a periodic table lapbook (that I created), and a chemistry unit. Check it out!

September Freezer Meals

Another month of meals is upon us and it is time to cook some dinners for the freezer!  Here is what we are going to be making for this month.

Sloppy Joes


Lisa's Lasagna
(This is the best lasagna I have ever tasted!  I am hoping with this recipe to finally make a great lasagna.)

1 lb. ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 16 oz can diced tomatoes
1  8oz can tomato sauce
1  6 oz can tomato paste
2 t. dried basil
1 teaspoon salt
8 oz lasagna noodles
1 T. oil
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups ricotta
3/4 cup grated Parmesan
2 T. dried parsley flakes
1 lb. mozzarella, thinly sliced

Cook meat, onion and garlic til the meat is browned. Drain. Stir in the undrained tomatoes and next 4 ingredients. Cover and simmer 15 min. Meanwhile, cook noodles til tender in boiling salted water with oil added to the water. Drain and rinse noodles. Beat eggs; add ricotta, 1/2 cup Parmesan, the parsley, 1 t. salt and 1/2 t. pepper. Layer half of the noodles in a 9 by 13 pan. Spread with half of the ricotta filling. Add half of the mozzarella cheese and half of the meat sauce. Repeat layers. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan. Bake in 375 degree oven for 30 min. until heated through. Let stand 10 min.

Pecan-Crusted Chicken from Fix, Freeze, Feast: Prepare in Bulk and Enjoy by the Serving - More than 125 Recipes

Spring Veggie Soup with Dill Dumplings

Skinny Chicken Stroganoff

2010 Homeschool Blog Awards!

  They are coming soon!  Check out the categories and all the details by clicking on the button!

Blessings when it hurts...

It has not been an easy few weeks for me...lots of grief has been experienced in my life, but there is healing too.  Here is what I am thankful for...

856. Support from church members
857. Zach's spiritual birthday this past Saturday
858. Tim in a movie...his filming part is done...now life will get back to normal
859. A wonderful, warm fall!  There has been no hard frost yet...incredible for here!
860. Golden leaves on trees
861. Friday afternoon naps...have become a tradition for me.  I am so exhausted by the end of the week.
862. Cell phones
863. Dinner out on a Friday night
864. God's faithfulness even when our prayers aren't answered in the affirmative
865. Getting my Sunday School lesson ready...we are doing a series on Jonah.
866. Dinner over at friends
867. Titan cuddling up to sleep by me
868. The awesome and fun stories Tim has been telling us about his experiences in being in a movie.
869. Watching the boys play outside on a fall afternoon
870. God's Word giving me the answer I needed

Bragging on my Husband!

Here is a news report about a film that is being done in Alaska, Everybody Loves Whales. Tim, my husband, got a small part in the movie.  You can see him in this clip...he is the one in the suit who opens the door to the home and walks in.  It was a fun experience for him!  Can't wait until the movie comes out!

Weekly Wrap-Up: In Which We Learn How to Study!

We are plugging along in school...finally getting into the groove of things.  That isn't to say that things have been normal around here. Tim was gone most of the week so that he could be in a movie!  He has a small part in Everybody Loves Whales which is set to be release in January of 2012. He had to shave his goatee so he will be coming home looking like a different man.  Most of the film is being shot in Anchorage...his part, that of a Californian father, was shot in someone's beautiful home.  They even put palm trees outside the home to make it look like it was in California instead of Alaska. Tim missed his opportunity to meet Ted Danson...they were putting make-up on Tim when Ted was making the rounds introducing himself.  I was like, "Honey, you really could have skipped the make-up in order to go meet a famous actor!" LOL Tim wasn't supposed to have lines, but he ad libbed a bit and now has some!  We will see if they keep the lines or if they get cut.  So after 11 hours of filming (which included wardrobe and make-up, rehearsal, etc.) Tim is done with his movie career!

On Monday the boys and I went to a seminar called Study Smarts. This is a program that teaches kids how to study and stay organized.  The original program is set up for public schools, but the creator of Study Smarts came up to give a seminar for homeschoolers.  While we probably won't use everything that was suggested in the program, we did come away with a lot of great ideas to make getting our schoolwork done in a more efficient manner.  The speaker, Jeremy Cox, was funy, engaging, and motivating!  It was awesome! If you ever get a chance, go to one of his workshops!

In the Beginning...

Last week I was digging through some boxes of old books looking for a copy of Bruchko: The Astonishing True Story of a 19-Year-Old American, His Capture by the Motilone Indians and His Adventures in Christianizing the Stone Age Tribe which I ended up not finding. Guess what I did find??

 

My very first Bible given to me by my parents on July 3, 1978, just two months before I gave my life to the Lord! What a treasure that I didn't even realized that I had!  Interestingly enough, this Bible had highlighting in it.  I was surprised that being that young I had already started to highlight verses. Genesis 1:1 was highlighted.  I don't think I have ever marked that verse in my Bible, but as a child it spoke to me.  Now today that highlighted verse still does, but in a whole different way. How appropriate that that verse should be marked considering that it was my beginning in my relationship to the Lord!

Through the years I have grown to love God's Word more and more.  I have learned to memorize it, read it in its entirety, pray it back to God and meditate on it.  It has become more precious to me over the years. It has freed me from bondage, given me hope, helped me cope, corrected my thinking, disciplined me, revealed God to me, and the list will never end. Now as an almost 40 year old women I have numerous Bibles, but none is more precious than the one where it all began.

He Knows...She Knows

 She bleeds...from the heart...those that were suppose to love her, to take care of her have done her wrong.  Things that never should have happened.  Words that never should have crossed their lips.  And yet, there it is and something has to be done. Something has to be done with the pain...with the hurt. Who is going to pick up the pieces of a life that has been shattered by another person's sin?  There is only One.

One that knows what it means to be shattered even though not a single one of His bones was broken. 

One who can take the pain of the world upon Him. 

One who can handle the hurt.

One who could handle the sin...her sin and their sin and rise again from it.

He knows...He knew from the beginning of time that this would happen...that the ugliness of sin would enter in and leave her life changed forever. He knew and let it happen.  Why? To refine her...to beautify her...to make her whole in a way that she never thought possible.

Does she blame Him? How can she when He only has her best interests at heart? Does she question Him? How can she when she won't even understand the complete answer? She doesn't know what to do except to keep her eyes upon Him (2 Chronicles 20:12). He is the answer to it all. 

So she sits still and knows...

knows that He is who He said He is...that He is God and worthy to be praised regardless of what He has allowed in her life (Psalms 46:10). She knows that when it all falls apart (Habakkuk 3:17-19) she will rejoice in Him.  And though she doesn't see Him...can't possibly fathom His ways, she trusts Him.

Why?

Because He knows the way that she takes; when He has tested her, she will come forth as gold. Job 23:10

She knows that He knows...all the pain, all the heartache, all the tears and that is all that matters.

Pumpkins from my Garden!

Can you believe it?  I almost can't!  I was able to grow four small pumpkins this year!  If you have been reading my blog for long you know that I have a pumpkin fetish. So this year I thought I would try to grow some.  Imagine my surprise when it actually worked (they aren't easy to grow in central Alaska.).  I bought a variety known as "Sunshine Kambocha" which is a small Japanese type of pumpkin.  I didn't know it at the time I bought the plants, but this variety is easy to grow in many types of conditions.

Want some pumpkin recipes?

Gifts from Above

 God showers us with blessings and sometimes we miss them.  This is my effort to see them all! 831. The opportunity to be a part of a grief group.  I so need this, but somethings have been getting in the way. God just cleared that path.832. Exercise...yes, exercise!  Helps me deal with the anxiety and depression that I suffer from.833. Quiet, rainy afternoons834. Flowers still blooming even though fall is upon us.835. Soothing music836. Time to read Son of Hamas: A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue, and Unthinkable Choices837. Much needed sleep838. A healthy family839. The ability to praise God840. Being able to use one of the pumpkins I grew for one of Noah's science projects. 

841. Breakfast for dinner842. The end of an allergy attack843. That His love never fails even when we do and other do.844. Time spent with the boy homeschooling them.845. Helping my "movie star" husband get ready for his role!846. Getting some Sunday school lessons written this past week.847. Healing of a relationship848. God's healing touch on my heart849. Unexpected flowers from a friend 

850. Friday afternoon nap!851. Rhubarb in the freezer.852. Blog makeover coming soon!853. Sunny Septemeber days (a rarity here).854. Falafel855. Rhubarb given to me by a friend...tons in the freezer now!

Need a Blog Makeover?

Have you noticed the new look to my blog?  Don't you love it?  I do!  I would have never been able to make my blog look like this...just wouldn't have been doable!  I don't know enough about html or design to pull it off.



So a few months ago I came across Relevant Designs by Jolanthe (pronounced "Yo-lawn-tha). Jolanthe does blog makeover for moms!  The prices are awesome...something that I could afford!  I had looked at other blog design websites, but they were out of my price range. Jolanthe was awesome to work with!  She communicated quickly and efficiently with me, checking back often to give me updates on how my makeover was coming along.  I would highly recommend her to anyone.

You might be familiar with Jolanthe if you are in the homeschool community.  She has two blogs: Homeschool Creations and No Ordinary Moments.

Thanks, Jolanthe, for doing such a great job!

Weekly Wrap-up: In Which We Grew a Pumpkin or Two and Helped out a Movie Star!

Ok, so maybe I didn't grow a pumpkin in a week, but this week I got to harvest the fruits of my labor!  So cool, never thought I would be able to grow pumpkins since they don't do extremely well in central Alaska.  We had a warm summer which I believe contributed to my success.

Onto life beyond pumpkins...this week was the first week of what I would call "smooth school"!  We are finally into the schedule and things are running well.

I acutally made a science game for Noah and I to play this week!  That is saying a lot considering I have very little time for stuff like that.  We have been studying botany using Apologia.  Our unit for the past two weeks has been "fruits".  So this week we played a board game about the different categories of fruits.  Did you know that strawberries aren't berries????  Forget the boys...I am learning something new every day!  Next week we will use one of the pumpkins we grew to do a science experiment.

This week I also broke down and bought the Key to Fractions series for Zach to review his fractions.  For some reason he has really struggled with them even though he is currently doing Algebra I.  We went through Life of Fred: Fractions, which we love, but he still is struggling.  Not sure what it is going to take to get him to the point of understanding.  Any ideas?

The big news around here has nothing to do with homeschooling, but with being in the movies!  My husband, Tim, has landed a small (emphasis on small) part in an upcoming Drew Barrymore movie, Everybody Loves Whales!  He goes down to Anchorage tomorrow to get ready to film.  So last night I had to help my soon-to-be movie star husband find photos of himself that they will be using in the movie.  He is going to play the part of a father (I am confident that he can handle that!) and they wanted photos of him that they can hang up in "his house" in the movie.  This is all surreal if you ask me!  Never thought I would see my husband on the big screen!  Of course, we have to see if his part makes the cut...there is always the chance that they will cut him out after they film him.  Regardless, it is exciting for us to get a glimpse into movie-making!