God's Gift of Purity



Shared a sweet moment with Lauren reading The Princess and the Kiss. She had tears flowing down her cheek and said, "Mommy you didn't save your first kiss for our daddy." I had to explain how I once didn't have Jesus in my life and didn't make choices that honored him and that brought a lot of emptiness and heart ache. By God's grace I was able to heal and he showered me with his mercy and love. He blessed me more than I deserved by bringing daddy (Tray) into my life.

I than explained to her that she now knows the importance of saving her first kiss and that it is not just because mommy says so.  God gives us wisdom on how to live a life that is God honoring because he loves us.  When we choose to go our own way we are choosing to bring emptiness and a lot of misery into our hearts.
"love...comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith"  (1 Timothy 1:5) NIV

I love that I can teach my kids at home and that I can share the word of God and his love for them all day!

Lexi's First Silly Face

Lexi's first silly face.



Crocheted Diaper Cover and Beanie

My first crocheted diaper cover and beanie. 

I made this for my cousin who is having her first baby. 

 

The pattern was purchased from the Etsy shop Sunset Crochet.

Dissecting an Owl Pellet

The last two weeks we have been studying birds.  Last week we studied the bird's digestive system and dissected an owl pellet.  You can see how enthused Lauren was. Ha ha!  She did stick with it for about a good 2 hours.  Of the three we dissected her seemed to be the most difficult.

Hannah had the best pellet.  We were able to dissect it without breaking the skull apart.  Based on answering the questions that came along with the kit we believed it was a rat's skull.

MFW Highlight Week 6 Creation to Greeks

Themes of study this week...

For the next 10 weeks we will be memorizing the 10 Commandments.  This week we start with

"I am the Lord your God...you shall have no other Gods before me."

Job...

We learned that even though Job is the 18th book of the Old Testament, it occurs much sooner chronologically.  Job most likely lived at the time of Abraham.

We read Job 1, 2, and 42:7-16.

Abraham's Journeys...

Genesis 11:27-12:20

Abraham and Lot...

Genesis 14:21-15:19

In a nutshell we learned that Abraham, who was first called Abram, migrated with his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot from Ur to Haran.  They lived in Haran a while before traveling to Canaan, which is now known as Israel.  A famine struck Canaan which forced Abram to travel to Egypt. Abram told Sarai to tell the Egyptians you are my sister and they will treat me well.  The Lord brought serious diseases onto Pharaoh and his household.  When Pharaoh found that Sarai was Abram's wife he gave orders for them to leave.  Lot settles near Sodom, a wicked city, and Abram settles in Canaan.  Lot was taken captive during a war and was rescued by Abram.

We enjoyed learning the geography of Abram's journey and that after Joshua died God used judges to lead his people.  The judges were not like judges we think of now.  They helped the people live together, to rescue them from enemies and to lead them toward the Lord.

 

Dinosaurs of Eden...

We discussed the reasons why animals go extinct: famines, droughts, diseases, people killing them for food, animals killing one another and so on.  We then discussed why dinosaurs went extinct.  Because of sin, the Curse, and the Flood, we now have fires, floods, diseases, famines, killing.  Thus the same reason animals become extinct today are the same reasons that dinosaurs died out.  And it wasn't millions of years ago.

  I told the kids to look at the picture below

 and tell me if it made since with what the Bible tells us.  God made animals and man on the 6th day of creation. 

 "God saw all he had made.  And it was very good." (Genesis 1:31)

There was no death, no sickness, no disease.

How did it go from very good to what it is now? Adam and Eve disobeying God by eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

The Bible tells us in Romans 8:20-22 that sin affected everything God made.

In the Garden of Eden, God killed  an animal, shedding its blood, and clothed Adam and Eve in the animal's skin. (Genesis 3:21)  He was showing Adam and Eve that now death would be in the world.

Genesis 15-16
We finished up the week reading about God's covenant with Abram, Sarai's servant Hagar and  the son she gave birth to, Ishmael.

Marsupials...

We learned about marsupials.  Hannah made the kangaroo.  We added a Ziploc bag for the pouch and covered it with felt.  The kids wrote on index cards different things we learned and they put them in the pouch.  Each day we went over them.

Additional reads...

 

Just Plain Fun...

 I know this child belongs on a farm not in the city.  Rolled up overalls, boots, and a bandanna for a ponytail.  That's my girl, never one to fit in with others, she is confident in who she is.  I love it!

Just a sweet shot of my babies.


Sharing some sweetness...

Lauren told me she wanted me to make daddy cookies.  She hid the cookies and told daddy not to come in the kitchen when he arrived home.  Then at dinner she covered them with not one but three towels to hide them from him.  Once he finished eating dinner she took them to the table along with a candle and sang to him, "Your the best daddy, Your the best daddy, Your the best daddy in the world."

Cooking Class...

Hannah's

Lauren's

We started off the class with creating our placemats.

The fork was an imprisoned princess, separated from her prince (the spoon) by an alligator-infested swamp (the plate) and a mean soldier (the knife.)

The idea and uncolored placemat can be found at http://www.allfreecrafts.com/kids/placemat.shtml.

Documents I put together and passed out :

http://www.mediafire.com/?38j67mck41qxjlw (pancake mix)

http://www.mediafire.com/?7yrhvztt3bx5g9t (pancake syrup)

http://www.mediafire.com/?ho8hf5abwy0vaeo (wheat vs. white flour)

http://www.mediafire.com/?bcxh2qhbiby4wn0 (wheat is high in...)

http://www.mediafire.com/?bileei7qxjvliqy (how/what wheat & white are made from)

Flipping pancakes

Some girls were adventurous and tried the vanilla yogurt and homemade strawberry syrup I put on the table for their pancakes.  Others opted for the homemade buttered pancake syrup. 

Pen pals...

During the summer one of the MFW homeschool moms thought of the wonderful idea of making a pen pal list.  There were about 70 families that loved the idea and signed their family up for it. 

Today Lauren received a letter.  I hadn't even shared the idea with the kids yet.  So upon Lauren receiving the letter I explained to them that I had added our name to pen pal list.  They were all very excited and wanted to pick someone to write to immediately.  With much enthusiasm Lauren quickly wrote back the young girl who wrote to her and can not wait to receive another letter.   

MFW Highlight Week 5 Creation to Greeks

Themes for our studies this week

Mummies....

We read how the Egyptian kings were preserved.  Preserving something means stopping it from decaying.  Decay is caused by bacteria and mold.  Since bacteria grows best in moist places the Egyptians made a mummy by removing moist body parts and drying out the rest.  Mummies were also wrapped in bandages soaked in an oily resin that killed bacteria and molds.

We inserted a piece of bread with antiseptic cream on it in the first bag.

In the second bag we inserted a plain piece of bread.

In the third bag we put a piece of toasted bread.

Our results after a week:  

• The slice with antiseptic cream had no mold.  The cream worked like the oily resin that the Egyptians used. 
• The plain bread was moldy.
• The toasted bread was the same as when we inserted it into the bag.  The kids learned that bacteria and mold could not grow on the toast because there was no moisture.  This is why the Egyptians dried out the bodies. 

An additional read:

 

Pyramids...

  We took a stab at building a pyramid and our friends joined us.  The kids used sugar cubes, which were not in my opinion the best tool for doing this. The sugar cubes were all different sizes, which made it a little more difficult.  Legos or unit cubes would probably be a better choice. 

While building it gave me a chance to review with the kids how to figure the area and perimeter.

Mapping...

Hannah drew a map of the Middle East today.

Memorization...

We are working on memorizing the books of the Old Testament.

Music & Art...

We listened to Vivaldi's "Spring".  The kids were to create a spring scene while listening.

Something New...

Hannah started a new math program, Teaching Textbooks, this week.  So far it has been a success and Hannah really enjoys it.  Math is her difficult subject and not my favorite to teach.  Teaching Textbooks first gives a chalkboard lecture, has interactive questions, then they have problems.  If she doesn't understand how to solve it or gets it incorrect and wants to see how to solve it correctly you can click a button that will walk them through it.  I believe there are a total of 4,000 problems that they walk the student through.  It also has a grade book.  You can see what they got correct vs. incorrect which problems they watched them solve and the grade they scored.

We also bought the DVDs MathTacular 1,2,3.  They have been a huge hit especially with Micah and Lauren.  Teaching them concepts pulled from several different Math programs such as Singapore, Saxon, and Horizon.

Congrats....

Micah finished his Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons.  He is now reading at a 2nd grade level.  Way to go Micah!

Playing....

Daddy and Lexi playing ball.

Over the weekend...

We got to visit mama and papa at the farm in Schulenburg.  The kids saw answered prayers.  We have been praying for rain for Schulenburg and the surrounding areas.  Many people are having to sell off their cattle, wells are drying up, it is such a difficult time for many out there.  Well it rained Friday and Saturday!  Lauren told grandma that she prayed for rain and God answered her prayers.

To top it off daddy shot a deer with his bow and arrow.  Thank you to Uncle Roland and Papa for helping daddy track it down at 10 o'clock at night.

  

Butternut Squash Soup with Cinnamon

This is a wonderful soup for the cooler weather.  It has a bit of sweetness to it and the rice helps it to be quite filling. Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

• 1 medium to large size butternut squash
• 1-1/2 cups of vegetable broth
• 1-1/2 cups rice milk (closer to 1 if you like your soup a little thicker or you could possibly add 1/2 milk, 1/2 cream)
• 2 tbsp raw agave nectar
• 1 cup rice
• cinnamon
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Slice your squash lengthwise in half.  Put it in a pan with skin side up and add a little water to cover bottom of pan.  Place in oven at 350 for about 20 minutes or until tender. 
2. While the squash is in the oven begin your rice and cook per instructions on bag. 
3. Remove squash from oven once tender and immediately peel off skin.  Put the squash into food processor and pulse for about 30 seconds. 
4. Now put the squash into a large pot and add your milk, vegetable broth, agave, salt and pepper.  Simmer until warm. 
5. Fill your bowl with soup and add a spoonful of rice and sprinkle with cinnamon.  Yummy!

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Raisin Muffins

These muffins are so MOIST and DELICIOUS!  They are quickly devoured in my house.  You can make these in large batches and freeze some for future snacks or to go with your breakfast. 
Original recipe from http://www.justeatfood.com/

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 cup water
• 1-1/2 cup old fashioned oats (not quick oats)
• 1 stick butter (not margarine)
• 2 eggs, well beaten
• 1/2 cup honey (I substituted with Raw Agave Nectar-lower GI)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1-1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1-1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup raisins
• Optional: Sprinkle coconut on top (Not in original recipe, but we thought it would by yummy)

Directions: Preheat oven to 325.  Boil water.  Turn off heat and add oats.  Stir in butter and let cool.  Add remaining ingredients.  Mix well.  Bake in greased or lined muffin tin for 20 minutes.