3-D Snowflakes Again!

I just love these snowflakes!  They are so pretty and easy to make!

 Recently, I made three of them to hang in our big picture window.

 For complete instructions on how to make them, see this and this.

Happy Crafting!

Advent Blessings

 Can you be thankful even after Thanksgiving? Yes! For me the season of Advent (that started yesterday) is a time to show gratitude. 1,044-1,059 The Advent season A very slow week last week since our town was covered in ice.  No going anywhere...it was awesome. Stuffing! Coconut Cream Pie Children who fold laundry! Family read alouds in the evening Black Friday sales Figuring out what gifts we are giving for Christmas Evenings at home Memorizing Psalms 27...I am almost through verse 5.  A big accomplishment for this old brain! 

Card making Lazy mornings Friends over for Thankgiving Successful Black Friday shopping Time to sleep in Getting all my Christmas cards almost done 

  

The Start of Advent

Advent starts today! We always love this season around here.  We wait in anticipation for the arrival of Christmas.  One way we celebrate is by reading one of Arnold Ytreeide's books.  He has three of them for Advent and each year we pick one of them.

Jotham's Journey: A Storybook for Advent

Bartholomew's Passage: A Family Story for Advent

Tabitha's Travels: A Family Story for Advent


Once you read all of them you realize that each story is entwined with the other.  For example, you find Jotham in Bartholomew and Tabitha's stories and vice versa.  We have probably read each book twice, so it has been about 6 years of reading.  This year we will start the cycle over again and read the first book in the series, Jotham.

These books are so worth it!  Arnold Ytreeide even has a new book out for Easter this year (available January 2011) called Amon's Adventure: A Family Story for Easter.  I can't wait!

Learning Postal Codes

My oldest has struggled to learn the postal codes over the years. We used some resources from Five J's earlier this year.  Well, I just found that she has made a more interactive way to learn the abbreviations.

Go check it out!

Happy Thanksgiving

Have a Blessed Thanksgiving!!

Amon's Adventure!

We love Arnold Ytreeide's books here!  During the Advent season we read one of this three books:  Jotham's Journey: A Storybook for Advent, Bartholomew's Passage: A Family Story for Advent,  or Tabitha's Travels: A Family Story for Advent.  Each night we sit down to read the continuing story of either Jotham, Bartholomew, or Tabitha as they get to witness the events surrounding the birth of Jesus.  Following each section of the story there is a short devotional.  We have done this for years and look forward to it as Advent arrives.

Now Arnold Ytreeide has a new book available for Easter!!!  It will be available sometime in January...I just can't wait to spend the Easter season with the kids reading this new adventure! Here is a summary of Amon's Adventure: A Family Story for Easter taken from the author's website:

It's thirty years later and Jotham now has a son of his own. The smartest boy in Jerusalem, and inventor of many strange and wonderful machines, Amon has just turned thirteen -- the age a Jewish boy officially becomes a man. But is he ready for that responsibility?



Amon is torn between playing childhood games with his friends, and visiting the temple court, where only Jewish men are allowed. His life is further complicated when he must host Tamar, the daughter of his father's friend, in Jerusalem for the Passover. But Amon's life is completely ripped apart when his father is falsely accused of a terrible crime and sentenced to death. Amon thinks that only the cleverness of his mind can save his father. In the end, he must admit that he is powerless without God.

Can't wait to read it!

The Bible in 90 Days--Starting Soon!

Amy over at Mom's Toolbox will be starting another session of the Bible in 90 Days in January.  I read through the Bible using this program this past summer. It was such an awesome experience to read the Bible as a novel and see the connections running through it. I strongly feel that every Christian will be blessed who does this type of reading! So pray about it and see if this is the right time to take on a challenge like this.

I have signed up to be a mentor this time around and am excited about this opportunity to cheer on those that are going through this life-changing experience!

Here is a record of my journey.

The Stronghold of my Life

 I am memorizing Psalms 27 right now..."The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" Here are the blessings that "the Stronghold of my Life" gave to me this week... #1, 029-1,043 Cold days...a perfect excuse to stay at home! Advent that is coming soon Wonderful history lessons with the boys Having the resources to do shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child A free turkey from the grocery store A friend giving me a great recipe for coconut cream pie Learning that I have influenced others to read the Bible in 90 Days The ability to fix a Thanksgiving meal The coziness of Christmas that is coming soon That God would become man That God would suffer and die for those that don't deserve it (all of us!) These books that are coming out soon: One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are and Amon's Adventure: A Family Story for Easter Great recipes for our Thanksgiving meal  For Dad's turkey picture that always makes me laugh...wouldn't want to meet up with him (the bird, not the dad!) in a dark alley...look at his "evil eye"! LOL

 

Weekly Wrap-Up: In Which We Ate Turkey for Breakfast!

This has been a busy week.  Between getting ready for Thanksgiving , Christmas shopping, school and other events I feel like a chicken with its head cut off (or maybe I am a turkey!).

On Monday we got through school and then I took Noah to a friend's house to work on his Apologia Anatomy. They tested for vitamin C in different juices.

On Tuesday the boys did school and then went to a friend's house to play.  I was frantically going to the store to get all the fixings for Thanksgiving.

Wednesday and Thursday were taken up with mainly school and me teaching Spanish lessons.

Friday is our favorite day of the school week! We will have horseback riding lessons for Noah. I will get to go to lunch with a friend, and the boys will finish off any schoolwork they have left.   For a special memory I surprised the boys (Tim included) with these Turkey Treats this morning!

 

Walking on Water

Grandpa was always the comedian.  Never a dull moment and no dead air space when he was around.  The man had "the gift to gab", and he always put a smile on your face when his words spilled out of his.  One day, Grandpa got to telling stories...I have to confess...we egged him on. He rose to the challenge.

"We always used to go out to the creek." (Pronounced "crick" by grandpa.)  "I would jump in and swim...(insert pregnant pause here) like a Rock!"

Sometimes in life we swim like rocks!  We are going along...everything is fine until that sinking feeling comes over us, and we realize that we are drowning into the mess of life.  Peter knew about this all too well. Peter (whose name means "rock") had personal experience in "rock swimming".


 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.


 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”


 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”


 “Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.  But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”  Matthew 14:25-30

Just like Grandpa, Peter knew how to swim like a rock. When we read this passage we normally ask ourselves, "How did Peter walk on the water?" The better question is "What caused him to sink?"  It all started when he saw the wind. Peter took his eyes off Jesus, and then it was all over.  We can only "walk on water", overcome obstacles, and rise above it all when we keep our eyes on Jesus. Taking our focus off Christ changes everything...we sink instead of swim...we are defeated instead of delivered...we fear instead of moving forward.

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. Hebrews 12:2

Thanksgiving Recipes

Here are some of our favorites!

Cranberry Salad
1 large box of berry jello
1 can whole cranberry sauce
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup sour cream

Prepare jello according to directions on the package. Let set in the fridge for 1 hour. Add the cranberry sauce and the pecans. Let set in the fridge. Put in the sour cream right before serving.

Dressing
This is my dad's recipe and a must have for us!

7 oz Pepperidge Farm herb seasoned dressing
7 oz Pepperidge Farm cornbread stuffing
15 slices dry bread cubes
2 large celery sticks, chopped fine
1/2 large onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups butter
3 tsp. poultry seasoning
1 1/2 tsp. sage
3 cups chicken broth

Melt butter in a big skillet. Add celery, onion, sage and poultry seasoning. Cook until onion and celery are soft. Put cubed bread and the other stuffings into the butter mixture. Mix together. Add chicken broth to make the mixture sticky.  You want no crunchy stuff. Spray a baking dish with oil.  Bake at 325 for 30 minutes.

Olive Cheese Ball
(As an appetizer)

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup chopped green olives
1/4 cup chopped black olives
1 T. dried onion
Fold all ingredients into the cream cheese. Chill 15 minutes.  Form into a ball (at this point you could roll it in dried parsley flakes). Chill till firm.  Serve with crackers.

A Year with God by R.P. Nettelhorst

A Year with God is a devotional that has 365 readings that are arranged by topics. The Bible passage for each day is printed at the top and then a short devotional follows it. Here are the topics that are covered...

Hope and Fear

Love and Hate

Perseverance and Quitting

Faith and Doubt

Loyalty and Betrayal

Companionship and Isolation

Mercy and Judgment

Forgiveness and Anger

Joy and Sadness

Peace and Conflict

This devotional is a bit different in that the focus is to read  more of God's Word.  There is no better way to gain an understanding of God than through His Word. I appreciated the fact that the verses are printed before the devotional.  I then have no excuse to not read the Scriptures.

I found these writings to be rather "light". The concepts that are presented are not dealt with in depth.  I would rather have more deep Bible study than using a simple devotion.  But for those that are short on time this would fit the bill.

Thomas Nelson has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book in order to review it.  I am not required to give a positive review.  All my opinions are my own.

High School: Getting Ready for the Last Four Years

Next year is the year...the year that I never dreamed would happen because it was always so far in the future!  Zach will be in high school!!! Does high school scare me? Yes and no.  You see, I was a high school teacher for seven years at a local public school before I came home to be with my boys.  So I am comfortable with that age group.  I would have to say it is maybe my favorite age group! (Yes, I am weird!) But the thought of planning out the next few years is a little intimidating.  So this is what I am doing...

I bought Senior High: A Home-Designed Form+U+La and am reading through the parts that apply to us.  This book is huge!  There are lots of ideas in there!  I will have to say that her writing is kind of random, but in the end she does give a clear planning procedure.

I am creating class content plans (loosely based on the above book's suggestion) for each course that I want Zach to take.  This is so helpful to write all this stuff down!  I now have my thoughts written down on the basics that I want Zach to have.  One of the things that I want is for Zach is that he analyze a few works of literature each year.  With these class content plans I can write down which books I want him to read each year.  I have also created a Bible class plan for the four years of high school.  And finally, I am working on a life skills content plan.  I am hoping that by the end of high school that Zach can cook a basic meal, do car and home maintenance, and some basic carpentry.

 I have set up a notebook to keep all my ideas together in one place. Within the notebook there is....

*A block schedule to follow (A block schedule means he won't do each subject each day. He will alternate subjects and spend more in-depth time each day in them.)

*Class Content Plans

*Check off lists for activites I want him to complete for life skills.

*A list of credit requirements in order to graduate in Alaska.

*Print-offs of different online courses, curricula, etc. that we might use.

*A four year planning page with an overview of what we plan to do.

Thousands of Gifts

He is gracious beyond imagination! Please visit Holy Experience...you will be blessed!

#1,017-1,028

Cinnamon chips at the store! Going to do some baking...

Getting through a very busy week.

Having an opportunity each day to put a "thank you" on the Thanksgiving tree.

Weekends of rest

A clean house for company that is coming

Recliners

Exercise

Bible memorization

The sound of the shower going in the morning

Friends to share the joys and heartaches with

Great literature

Life lessons that God is teaching me

Weekly Wrap-Up

This week has been a blur.  So busy...so little time to think! 

On Monday, Noah and a friend created a digestive theme park for their Apologia science.  They spent several hours constructing it. 

We have really been focusing on Bible memorization this week.  The boys are memorizing a whole series of verses.  I am trying to memorize all of Psalms 27.  I do believe their brains retain more than my soon-to-be 40 year old one.  Slowly but surely, I will get there.

I have realized that Zach hasn't been moving fast enough in his writing curriculum.  I am in the process of beefing up his lessons so that he has more to do each day.  With high school coming up on us, he needs to have his writing skills well intact.