THE ISCHY FAMILY

God's Gift of Purity

2011-11-16T12:41:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-12T16:46:00.000-08:00

Lexi's first silly face.

Crocheted Diaper Cover and Beanie

2011-11-12T16:45:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-12T16:41:00.000-08:00

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

2011-10-14T16:15:00.000-07:00

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

2011-10-10T20:27:00.000-07:00

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

2011-10-10T17:49:00.000-07:00

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:

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.
While the squash is in the oven begin your rice and cook per instructions on bag.
Remove squash from oven once tender and immediately peel off skin. Put the squash into food processor and pulse for about 30 seconds.
Now put the squash into a large pot and add your milk, vegetable broth, agave, salt and pepper. Simmer until warm.
Fill your bowl with soup and add a spoonful of rice and sprinkle with cinnamon. Yummy!

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Raisin Muffins

2011-10-03T07:03:00.000-07:00

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.

MFW Highlight Week 4 Creation to Greeks

2011-09-30T22:53:00.000-07:00

Theme for our studies this week....

Farmers of the Nile Valley

Ancient Egypt was a long narrow country which stretched along the Nile Valley. Villages grew along the Nile, because along both sides of the river the land was good for farming.

Unification of Egypt

Upper and Lower Egypt fought a battle around 3100 B.C. and King Menes of Upper Egypt won. He united both kingdoms and Egypt became one country.

The kids were given pictures of the two crowns that the Pharaohs wore. I informed them that they would need to get creative and create their own making sure they could combine them. I have to say I couldn't of done it. I'm a mom that needs a pattern or instructions, but my kids pulled it off and did a great job!

Egypt Boats

Daddy, Hannah, Lauren and myself spent about an hour just making the above reed boat. This was messy and the reeds I bought were sticky. I got about 4 cut wounds from this project.

Rosh Hashanah

We are a week behind on our feasts. Last week I wasn't doing well so we only got around to the basics.

In preparing for Rosh Hashanah we took some craft ideas from

Through the week we made our own apple and honey dish, Kiddush cup, and paper shofar. All can be seen in the collage below.

The Hebrew word Rosh means "head" or "beginning." Hashanah means "the year." The name is only used once in the Old Testament. Ezekiel 40:1 says, "....at the beginning of the year..." The more common biblical name is "The Feast of Trumpets." This celebration is intended to begin a new "spiritual" year.

We began the morning with me blowing the shofar and spoke:

"Awake, you that are sleepy, and ponder your deeds; remember your Creator and go to him for forgiveness. Don't be like those who miss reality in their hunt after shadows, and waste your years in seeking after vain things which can neither profit nor deliver. Look well to your souls and consider your deeds; let each one of you forsake his evil ways and thoughts, and return to the Lord, so that He may have mercy on you."

We will do this observing the ten day tradition of the High Holy Days along with each day reading one of the ten reasons for blowing the shofar.

The shofar is a symbolic signal to God's people that it is time for a spiritual awakening. The bend in the showfar represent the human heart in true repentence bowing before the Lord.

The challah has a round shape symbolic of our desire for a full and round year. Lauren made the challah dough and I braided it using the example from http://judaism.about.com/b/2011/09/21/how-to-braid-a-round-challah-for-rosh-hashanah.htm . Ours didn't turn out quite as round, I couldn't quite figure it out.

The honey cake was to celebrate the birthday of the world. We thanked God for His creation. Hannah baked our honey cake.

The Hebrew word for carrots also means "to increase." The carrots symbolize that God will increase our blessings as we walk with Him in the new year.

Another tradition is to dip apples in honey. This is symbolic of the hope that the year will be a sweet one. Lauren made an apple plate for the apples and turned a red cup into a flower. She then made a bumble bee out of foam and glued it to the flower.

Moments to Cherish....

During family prayer Micah asked the Lord to provide food for the homeless and to send rain for mama and papa's farm. Well God answered both those prayers that same day. We happen to see one of our pastors place a request to help with a little of the prep work for a mission project the church is doing for the families who were affected by the fires in Bastrop. They blessed us with the opportunity to serve with Jimmy, who was awesome with the kids, in labeling the food boxes. The kids really enjoyed this and even asked if we could help every Thursday at the church. We left so blessed! Then later that day we saw Aunt Heather post on facebook that they were getting rain on the farm. Praise God for answered prayers!
Ok so this is kind of funny. Every time Lexi has to go potty she pulls down her panties to her ankles, wherever she is, and wobbles to the potty. I wonder if she knows it's easier to wait till you get to the potty before you pull your panties down. LOL
I woke up from a nap and found Hannah cooking in the kitchen. She was working on her cooking class assignment. She made homemade chocolate syrup. It is not often Hannah wants to be in the kitchen, so I was thrilled to see her in there.

Another Day at the Farm

2011-09-21T18:57:00.000-07:00

We went down to Schulenburg this past weekend to build the
deer stand for Tray and Hannah to go hunting this year.

Our dinner! The deer was standing only 12' from the stand. This is a good sign.

I'm thinking that cat was in a bit of discomfort.

Just as sweet as can be.

Papa and Lexi

Sharing a laugh.

Lord, please send some rain.

Treasure Others Above Yourself

2011-09-17T22:26:00.000-07:00

The lesson for the 1st and 2nd graders at church was to treasure others above yourself. One of the Bible verses they used was Matthew 6:21. This is a topic that we have really been focusing on especially this past week in our house. The wheels started turning as I listened to the lesson. I thought this could become another great visual aid and hands on approach of dealing with selfishness in our house. So I came home and started putting it all together.

The kids could read the verse on the treasure box. Then we could talk about what is happening in their heart. Are they glorifying God or are their own desires causing them to be dragged away by sin. Allow the child to ponder it and tell you who his/her actions are glorifying. When our first treasure is in Christ then our actions will reflect Christ and He will be glorified. In Romans 12:10 it says to love and honor others above ourselves (Romans 12:10).

Next, I will have the kids write on a small piece of paper what their want is (being 1st player, not wanting to share, who gets the first sandwich or the last bit of milk, 1st down the slide-you get the point) and then they are to PUT it on the shelf.

Then, they are to write how they could put the other person above themselves and insert it into the treasure chest. http://www.reading-with-kids.com/images/pirate-treasure-chest.jpg.

We will then PRAY and put into ACTION the idea they placed into the treasure chest .

http://www.mediafire.com/?4eotvh8iuei0p30 treasure chest enlarged to put together

http://www.mediafire.com/?7eq1lf2zterbnjh Put your wants on the shelf and ......

http://www.mediafire.com/?kyfon37k9dgxfy4 the heart with cross and children

http://www.mediafire.com/?k4p1lqx8d6xsdpx the treasure chest with Bible verse

Instructions:

Print out the words, cut and laminate.
Print out the heart, cut.
Print out the treasure chest with scripture, cut. Then along the bottom right corner of inside part of treasure chest cut an "L" shape. Basically along the edges. You are going to put the heart a little inside the slit, so it looks like the heart is actually inside the chest (make sure to glue it). Then you can laminate.
For the brown item that they will put their wants in, I just cut a rectangle out of construction paper, folded all 4 side up a little, then cut slits on the ends and folded one side inside another and glued.
Be sure to print the treasure chest on card stock, cut and glue.

MFW Highlights Wk3 Creation to Greeks

2011-09-16T16:28:00.000-07:00

Theme for our studies this week....

After the Flood

Most of the history we will learn this year will have occurred in a small part of the world, sometimes called the Bible Lands. The kids drew a map of this region and used the following silly story to help remind them.

A man went fishing one day. This is the front of his boat. His fishing lines are hanging down from the boat and they got all tangled up. The man looked over his boat and fell into the water! These are his two fingers under the front of the boat. He sent up a distress signal to call for help-a balloon with a string, and a mitten tied on the end of it! In this corner is the head of a huge water bug, with two long feelers coming out of his head.

E.T. purrs in the red nile med

(Euphrates, Tigris, Persian Gulf, Red Nile, & Mediterranean Sea)

This saying was to help them remember what most of the areas they drew were called.

Noah’s Descendants

The kids mapped the migration of Noah's descendants.

Tower of Babel

Ok, so they don't compare to the Tower of Babel daddy built last year. We had fun playing and constructing!

Fertile Crescent and Mesopotamia

We learned that the Sumerians were the first to create a written language after the flood. Do you know what Mesopotamia means?? Well we didn't and now we do. It is the land between two rivers (The Tigris and the Euphrates). Scholars believe that Sumer is one of the oldest known civilizations in the world and that Ham (Noah's son) was the grandfather to Nimrod who they believe founded Sumer.

Greek for the week....

Photos - light

Kids re-enacting one who is photophobia.

For phototropic and photophilia we dug up a plant from

the back yard, hence, the reason why it doesn't look so great and

watched it turn towards the light.

Science....

We have been discussing mammals in science. For this weeks assignment they had to choose a mammal of their choice, read a book on that mammal, write a report and draw a picture.

For Micah and Lauren they used the following notebook page http://www.mediafire.com/?pev8ah6hl4m6304.

Family Read Aloud....

We finished

Moments to cherish....

Lexi is now pooping on the potty. Woo Hoo!!
The last two weeks Lauren has put up our grocery cart along with all the other baskets that were left out in the parking lot. She is just like her daddy. Two of his pet peaves is when people don't put their basket in the cart return or when people just lay things up on the grocery shelves instead of placing them back where they got them from.
Watching daddy jumping on the trampoline with the kids.
Hannah is not my child who is usually in the kitchen cooking with me, but she really enjoys making the Challah bread. She asked to make it this week. Lauren and Hannah measured, rolled, and braided the dough all by themselves.

Homemade Wheat Bread

2011-09-13T11:19:00.000-07:00

The original recipe is from King Arthur's Website.

Add to your bread machine pan:

1/4 cup oil (I use coconut)

just under 2/3 cup warm milk

1/2 cup warm water

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup all purpose flour

2 Tbs. sugar

1-1/4 Tsp. salt

1 Tbs. Wheat Gluten

2 Tsp. of instant yeast

Put your bread machine on the dough cycle. Mine takes 1 hr 40 mins. Once done take the dough out and form into a log shape and insert into a buttered or oiled bread pan. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let it rise. While oven is preheating I put my bread pan on the back burner to give some warmth and it usually only takes my bread about 45 - 60 minutes to rise as you see in the picture. I cook my bread for 35 minutes on 350.

Hope you enjoy!

No Dairy Chocolate Pudding

2011-09-13T11:06:00.000-07:00

I know my presentation doesn't look good, but this pudding is delicious. The recipe is from

Nutrition 101: Choose Life

Avocados are what give this pudding the creamy texture in place of mucus forming cream and milk found in traditional puddings. Plus, it has a healthy brain power fat.

Ingredients:

2 small ripe avocados

1/2 to 3/4 cup Agave Nectar, raw honey or Grade B maple syrup (I have used honey and Agave and both were good)

1/4 cup carob powder (I have only used Hershey's Cocoa)

2 Tbs. coconut milk or rice milk (I have used with both)

1 Tbs. 100% pure vanilla extract

pinch of sea salt

pinch of cinnamon

Place all ingredients in blender or food processor and blend until smooth. It says to chill, but my kids usually want to eat right away.

Enjoy, we do!

G is for glower

2011-09-10T18:31:00.000-07:00

Lexi with a look of discontent.

She wasn't getting her way on the playground.

Join AB See Photo Meme

http://www.flickr.com/groups/absee/

MFW Highlights Wk2 Creation to Greeks

2011-09-09T21:28:00.000-07:00

Theme for our studies this week....

Genesis 2-8
A few of our assignments below

notebooking page can be found at http://www.notebookingpages.com/

the booklet can be found at http://www.christianpreschoolprintables.com/

Hannah's second assignment in EIW (Excellence in Writing) to write a poem on

The Great Flood.

Some additional books the kids enjoyed....

Greek for the Week....I printed this out for the kids notebook and also created a word document. I printed the word document, cut out the dinosaurs with the information, laminated and put up on wall for the kids to see through the week. You can download document http://www.mediafire.com/?2en330u843xnstc. Lauren and Micah also did a few dot to dot dinosaur pages (on some of the above mentioned dinosaurs) that can be found at www.education.com/worksheets as well as put their minds to work on finding their way through some dinosaur mazes bought from http://www.amazon.com/.

Daddy and Lauren also worked together on building a paper 3D Tyrannosaurus from the Kumon Paper Craft book. The book says for 7 and up, but I felt it was difficult for our kids to do alone.

Cooking class has begun....
A friend asked if I would be interested in teaching a cooking class and with excitement I agreed. I am only teaching it once a month at this time so I don't add to much to my plate. A few gliches need to be worked out, but I thought the class went well. All the girls were wonderful and I hope that this class will be informative and FUN!

We went over our notebooks then took a few minutes to watch

http://eater.com/archives/2011/06/06/watch-jamie-oliver-ruin-ice-cream-and-candy-forever.php

Then we made our own toppings for some natural ice creams and enjoyed.

Here are the handouts I created for the first class.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/96d34r4y6g6zqos/A%20Few%20Cooking20Utensils.docx

http://www.mediafire.com/file/c9vl5ekx19814z5/immune%20system.docx

http://www.mediafire.com/file/qbmbhtxl37stbwm/Kitchen%20Etiquette.docx

http://www.mediafire.com/file/6o2jhvqqdm2bohn/Picture%20of%20Me%20with%20Assignment%201.docx

http://www.mediafire.com/file/rk30abyzid7nod7/Recipe%20for%20a%20firs1.docx

http://www.mediafire.com/file/69d5lua0e5518su/stewed%20fruit%20syrup.docx

http://www.mediafire.com/file/mx9yj5dbdm5kanb/topping%20for%20fruit%20crisp.docx cx

http://www.mediafire.com/file/tu6lsex5u9pcycp/CHOCOLATE%20SYRUP.docx

Micah working on....
Copywork of our weekly Bible verse.

"All scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

2 Timothy 3:16-17

Extra activity
We took a trip to the library Friday with some other homeschoolers. They went over how the library is set up and how to locate books, then sent the kids on a hunt. This was great because quite frankly we don't make it to the library that oftern, it is just too dificult with Lexi at her age plus trying to assist all the other kids. We usually put our request in through the internet and pick up our books. We are in and out.

A day with friends....

Family read aloud....
We are still reading Amy & Her Bothers. The kids are really enjoying this book. Lauren said she loved the book and asked if we could get more like this one.

Moments to cherish.....

Lauren was folding laundry when she decided to put my clothes on, turn the music up loud and start dancing in the living room.
The slide was wet at the park and Lexi wanted to slide down, so Lauren suggested to Micah to dry the slide of with his cape. Micah slid down the slide scooting his bottom side to side to make sure he dried up all the water.
Lexi loved listening to Vivaldi and when they played the opera piece she tried to sing along.
We took family night over to grandpa's and he enjoyed some homemade pizza and The Walton's with us.

That Which I Must Master

2011-09-07T18:03:00.000-07:00

Our CARE group has been doing a study on James and last week one of the questions was what is a trial or testing you are facing , what are some attitudes you should have about this testing and how can you cooperate with God in accomplishing the purpose for which He is allowing this trial/testing? What can you do to let God use this situation to make you more mature?

Now this testing for me is nothing compared to the horrific testing or trials so many are enduring in this world, but in my little corner of the world this has been a continued testing for me that I fail miserably at every month.

During my womanly time each month everything around me usually becomes a 100 times multiplied than what it is. What I can normally laugh off, let go of and give over to God becomes not such an easy thing to do. I allow everything to get on my nerves, my mouth usually wants to go off like a firework show, and I find myself in my closet crying this monster is not me Lord please help me. The problem is I ask Him to help me but don't truly believe or expect Him to. I am basically having a pity party. I am one who doubts and is likened to a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. (James 1:6)

So what kind of attitude should I have during this testing? One that is clothed with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. I need to forgive and put on love. (Colossians 3:12-13) I should build up my house not tear it down. (Proverbs 14:1) Let me tell you this seems impossible when everything around me seems to being falling apart, driving me crazy, getting on my nerves, making me pull my hair out or just makes me cry. What is insane about it all is that none of it is ever as bad as my mind makes it out to be at that time. And when it is all over in a couple of days I realize this and have to do a lot of apologizing to all in my house.

What should I NOT do during this time and what can I do to let God use this situation to make me more mature?

I should not allow myself to excuse my behavior by blaming womanhood. Really?!?! Sin is sin and there is no excuse for my sinful and unrighteous behavior. I can not allow my tongue to cause a spark in which could cause my course in life to burn up in flames (James 3) or speak words that could pierce someone like a sword (Proverbs 12:18) or grumble about whatever is irritating me at the moment, because it is God whom I am grumbling against not man. (Exodus 16:8)

I am taking a stand and going to really devote myself unto the Lord especially during my “hard” time of the month. I am going to strive to have unwavering faith in the power of the Word of God. I am going to truly seek to live a righteous life before my children's eyes, an example unto them that no matter what trials or testings we face in our life that we can choose to allow those times to mature us or we can choose to allow them to destroy ourselves and those around us.

I may not be able to control the hormones raging in my body BUT I can control what leaves my lips and I can control if I want my actions to glorify God or not. Prayerfully our kids will remind me to be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger because anger does not bring about the righteous life God desires. (James 1:19) I pray that I will be reminded that if I choose not to do what is right, that sin will be crouching at my door; because it desires to have me, but that I must master it. (Genesis 4:7)

This blog will be my accountability partner. I am going to blog of this battle between my Goliath and me. I hope that as you read this you will find hope in what I share and that you too if struggling will finally take the stand to knock out your Goliath. I am armoring myself with the full armor of God (not drugs) and TAKING the stand that I should have taken long ago. I pray that I will depend on God and act upon his wisdom that I know will lead, protect and equip me. I pray that through this testing I will be able to give God the glory for maturing my faith in His Word and His power and that I will have mastered my behavior during such a difficult time.

Roadrunner

2011-09-07T11:34:00.000-07:00

First let me explain that every morning our kids chase daddy down the road on their bikes or on foot waving goodbye and shouting out their love for him. How could you not have a good day when you have a beginning like that.

Well this morning we were heading out the door before daddy and as we were loading in the car we noticed daddy getting onto his bike. Puzzled I didn't understand why he was getting on his bike when he needed to be getting into his car.

Then as I watched daddy with his childlike behavior zooming down the road rushing to be the first, he reminded me of Micah in the mornings. As we met him at the intersection he waved goodbye to us with a gleeful smile.

It was just the sweetest and funniest start to our day! Thank you daddy for always keeping us laughing.

MFW Highlights Wk1 Creation to Greeks

2011-09-02T19:21:00.000-07:00

Week 1 MFW Creation to Greeks

Homeschool Wrap-Up

Theme for our studies this week.... Days of Creation

As we were studying creation I thought it only appropriate to include in the lesson that in Genesis 1:1 it is written, "In the Beginning God created the heavens and the earth." In English, it is God, but the Old Testament was written in the Hebrew language and in Hebrew his name in this verse is Elohim. Elohim means strong, mighty, powerful creator.

For an experiment I cut several pieces of paper and labeled them 1 - 7. We put the 7 pieces of paper in a small paper bag, Hannah blew up the bag and twisted the top. She then proceeded to shake the bag and pop it. We dumped out all the numbers.

and as you can see they did not fall into order in a straight line, nor were they all right side up, nor lined in order from 1 - 10. How will the numbers get in order? Only if someone puts them in order. Order doesn't happen by itself. Our world is that way, too. Someone had to create the world and put it in order. That someone is God, Elohim, Strong Creator.

Greek for Week….

Interesting facts we learned…

While we were playing animal charades Hannah and Lauren taught Micah and I about a new creature, the leaf fish. Of course, I didn't guess it and it wasn't because of their acting. Hannah then began to tell us that when a leaf fish is in danger, it stops swimming, turns on it's side and floats. It looks like a dead leaf. It even has a stump that looks like a leaf stalk. After acting out the animals we had to say if they were vertebrates or invertebrates to go along with our studies in science this week. This year we are wavering from our curriculum and went with our own choice of God's Design World of Animals.

pollsb.com

and

The Sabbath symbols and their meanings:

The candles should be placed on a table in the room where the meal will be served,to spread light over the night. Idea taken from Genesis 1:3-4: "Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. And God saw the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness." One candle represents "creation" and the other one "redemption."

A goblet of wine is placed on the table. A sanctification prayer is recited by the father over this symbolic cup. The wine symbolizes life. It also symbolizes Christ's shed blood.

The bread called challah, a term used in the Old Testament for new dough, which was a requirement to be presented as a "gift to the Lord" (Num. 15:17-21) For our Sabbath dinner we made our own challah. As a tradition the mother prays for each member of the family as she stirs the mixture, kneading in her love. I loved doing this part.

The cloth covering is symbolic of the dew that was around the camp when the Israelites woke up in the desert and were reminded again that God does provide. When the dew evaporated, behold, there lay on the ground manna, God's provision of bread. It is even more meaningful when we remember God's provision of His Son, who said,"I am the bread of life" (John 6:48).

We visited grandpa…. Street racing at its finest.

I loved seeing….The kids playing together during break time.

and

Lauren helping Micah with piano. Micah has been begging me to begin lessons the past month. I was happy that the music teacher was able to fit him in right before Lauren's lessons.

Something new around the house...

The kids tend to argue over who gets to sit by daddy, so in order to resolve this matter I added to their daily chores (you can find the download on the right side bar) setting the table breakfast, lunch, dinner. Each day I rotate who sets each one. Lexi has a desire to help and does quite a good job! Don't you think?

Place mats first.

Then the bowls (we were eating beans and cornbread).

Spoons to the right. Learning how to set a table and

differentiating between her left and right.

A sweet moment....

Barb and Larry came by to visit and bring Lexi the rest of her birthday gifts. Lexi pulled out the crayons and told Barb, "Barb color."

Our Family Read Aloud...

Favorite Hands on Project...

The Jewish Sabbath begins at sundown every Friday. Known as Shabbat (shah-BAHT) in Hebrew, the word means "rest." Shabbat is one of the earliest of Jewish traditions. By resting on the seventh day the Jews believe that they are honoring God.

We did not observe all of the Jewish Sabbath activities. We only partook in the Friday Sabbath Meal.

Earlier in the week we made our centerpiece the oil float. We made a star for each family member. When making this Lauren said we needed to make 7. She reminded me that I said Keika would always be a part of our family. So in agreement we thought it was appropriate to have a candle for Keika. All of the flames, even though they are separate, share the same source, symbolic of the family depending on God for strength and life.

We started this afternoon making our challah (KHAH-lah), which turned out delicious. The girls did a wonderful job helping to make this. For dinner we prepared fish, carrots, and rice to go with the challah. The kids also made candlestick salads.

"And it was the Preparation Day and the Sabbath was about to begin." (Luke 23:54)

Friday Family Movie Night....
We watched the tv series The Waltons episode Separation.

Sketch Tuesday August 30

2011-09-02T08:05:00.000-07:00

Lexi is 2

2011-08-30T19:59:00.000-07:00

Life at 2

for

Lexi Elliana

Curious of all that surrounds you. Always attempting to master the skills of everything that is set before your eyes. If ever there is a moment of silence we know there is a mess to be cleaned. With a smile we chuckle, “Oh Lexi!” Knowing that you are just but seeking to be like those who you look up to.

You love to share butterfly kisses, paint your toes, cook, dance, color and paint works of art (well masterpieces in the eyes of mom). We mutually have a joy for admiring birds. It is quite wonderful to watch you birding. For someone who is constantly on the go and full of boundless energy you can become as quiet as a mouse and as still as a statue when trying to get a glimpse of a beautiful burbling bird.

Before the age of 2 you began potty training at your own desire. We have yet to master the poopies. With your left hand you hold your pencil in the accurate position striving to form the letter L for Lexi. You most often make requests with one or two words, but Hannah has been teaching you to repeat after her your requests in the form of sentences. Micah and you enjoy rough playing, sometimes you tend to be a little stronger than we would like. Lauren and you often share a coloring book on the floor.

I would say you mostly dislike going to bed. You can throw some longs fits before you wear yourself out.

Lexi the past two years of your life have been a joy to watch.

Preparing for Lexi's Birthday

Hannah icing the cake.

Lexi making sure the chefs whipped up an icing to her liking.

The kids created a birthday banner.

Hannah getting creative with the wrapping.

Don't touch yet!

And she blows them out.

Overflow of the Heart Chart

2011-08-25T09:55:00.001-07:00

Just an update for those who were wanting the documents to download to create your own Overflow of the Heart Chart I now have been able to insert them onto the blog. You can find them on the right side of my blog.

Chore Chart

2011-08-25T09:49:00.000-07:00

Our new chore chart we made. I love it and most importantly the kids do to! I saw the idea on the internet under clip art - chore boards. There were several different ones all using the the same idea.

Tray painted a board, large enough to fit all the kids names, to match our living room decor.
I used a Cricket to create all the lettering. (Jasmine Font)
The images for the cards I found on google - clip art and created a word document with them. (Below is a link you can open and use the cards I created)
I printed the word document on regular paper.
Each kid has their own cardstock color for their everyday regular chores (brush teeth, brush hair...). I used patterned coordinating scrapbooking paper for the chores that I alternate between the kids. I glued the word document to the back side of the cardstock and scrapbooking paper then cut.
I laminated and cut again.
I hole punched the cards. I would suggest hole punching one and using it to stack on the others so you get all your holes in the exact spot.
We got the hooks at Home Depot really cheap.

Chore Card Document
http://www.mediafire.com/?pv4wbxrxchd6g0p

Week 4 of Keika's Visit

2011-08-19T19:02:00.000-07:00

Tuesday Daddy took the kids to the Space Center

Thursday we played in the sand at Quintana Beach.

Acting goofy Thursday night.

Friday was a sad day for us. :( Our sweet Keika departed from Houston.

As we were leaving the airport Lexi kept saying Keika. She didn't understand why Keika wasn't with us anymore. Hannah set the table tonight for seven. I wanted to count to five as we were running errands all day.

We were truly blessed to have the Lord bring Keika into our lives she will forever be a a part of our family. We hope that one day she will come back and visit us again.

We love you Keika!!!!!!!

Week 3 of Keika's Visit

2011-08-14T18:16:00.000-07:00

Wednesday we enjoyed Alice's Adventures in Wonderland at Miller Outdoor Theatre then we had a picnic at Herman Park.

Keika has been helping in the kitchen so much we thought it

was appropriate for her to make an apron.

Saturday we had our first lesson in kayaking and visited the Sea Center.

The kids did really well and had a blast!

Mommy on the other hand had to visit the ER.

I cut open my hand on some barnacles. Ouch!

We are excited to be apart of the club and want to thank Mr. James for putting it together.

Sunday Keika began crocheting. She is making herself an eye glass carrier.

She also spent the day helping me make a My Plate bulletin board.

I am becoming emotional thinking of her leaving. I feel as though she is one of my own and will miss her!

Keika's

Favorite food this week Chicken Fried Chicken, mashed potatoes and fried okra. Most enjoyable experience kayaking. Something new how to crochet. Liked the movie The Princess Bride.

Week 2 of Keika's Visit

2011-08-09T16:19:00.000-07:00

Keika completed her 1st knitted hat.

Tuesday we hung out at the Houston Zoo.

This was our first time to experience a 4D experience.

Thursday we went to Brazos Bend State Park. We were extremely hot! We lasted about an 1-1/2 hours and came home. Keika did manage to see a few alligators and we visited the nature center to see a variety of snakes.

Sunday we took Keika to Schulenburg to visit Tray's parents

and see where we all dream of calling our home again. They had their annual parade and carnival.

Joke for you: When do you know that you are at a small town parade?

Answer: When they throw out wall jacks for the kids. HAHA. I kid you not they were really doing this.

Keika's

Favorite food this week Nachos most enjoyable 4D Experience at Zoo something new how to knit Likes family night Funny when we started Keika's apron and couldn't quite understand their directions so we just did our own thing. I think what was funny is I couldn't grasp their directions so I told her to heck with it let's just do what we want our way. Open conversations make her happy. Doesn't like green smoothies!Favorite color orange. Wants to be a doctor or nurse. Favorite fruit strawberries.

Week 1 of Keika's Visit

2011-07-31T21:24:00.000-07:00

Sunday we hung out at the neighborhood pool.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
we stayed close to home and ran a couple of errands.

The girls are playing the world geography game.

The kids finished up their corral reef mural.

Knitting hats for the homeless.

Keika taught Lauren to play the Mario Brothers game song, they are now teaching Micah.

We pulled weeds in the garden and showed Keika the different vegetables we are growing.

Thursday we visited the Houston Museum of Fine Arts.

Here the kids are creating a film strip story.

Keika is learning to make pizza dough.

Everyone went grocery shopping with me at HEB and Walmart. Keika was amazed at the enormous size of the stores and laughed at how big the cucumbers were and asked to take a picture of them. Curious of what a Japanese cucumber looks like I researched it online.

Suhyo is a long-time favorite cucumber in Japan, that produces long slender cucumbers, 1-1/4" x 18". The cucumber skin is dark green and has small spines. The flesh is firm, crisp and delicious. http://www.evergreenseeds.com/japcucsuh.html

Friday we took a stroll at the

I have never seen this insect before. So we took a snapshot and had to research it.
It is commonly known as a Cow Killer or a Flaming red velvet ant.

According to BugGuide, the female Cow Killer: "Invades the nest of bumble bees, especially Bombus fraternus. Female searches for bumble bee nests, digs down and deposits one egg near brood chamber. Larva of the Dasymutilla enters the bumble bee brood chamber, kills those larvae, and feeds on them. Larva pupates in the bumble bee brood chamber."
“In south Georgia in the early ’60s, farmers used to tell me that this wasp got its name by getting into the cloven hoofs of cows and stinging them there. The cow would then run madly off and sometimes be injured or fall, breaking it’s leg. Thus the name, as the lame cow would then have to be put down.“
http://www.whatsthatbug.com/category/velvet-ants/

Bumble Bee

Dragonfly

Played at the park for a few minutes after our nature walk.

My little monkey on the monkey bars.

The pond near the entrance of the Botanical Gardens.
We printed a scavenger hunt http://www.hcp4.net/mercer/ and completed about half of it. We were running out of time and the little ones were getting hot and tired.

Can you guess what this is in the shape of?

For dinner Keika and Lauren prepared and cooked pizza with some guidance from mom.
This is Keika's 1st homemade chicken pizza.

Lauren cooking in the kitchen.

Keika and Lauren's pizza.

Making marshmallows. These turned out great, but have to admit took some time.
Ingredients : 2 tbs gelatin unflavored, 1/2 cup cold water, 2 cups sugar, 1 cup hot water, pinch of salt, 2 tsp vanilla, powdered sugar.

Directions: Soften gelatin in cold water. Combine sugar and hot water. Boil to a soft ball stage. Add gelatin and salt; beat until stiff. Add vanilla. Beat thoroughly. Pour into a 8" x 8" pan which has been dusted with powdered sugar. Allow to stand until it can hold shape. Then cut and roll into powdered sugar.

The kids LOVED these and it was fun to make it with them!

After dinner Friday night we were accompanied by grandpa to the

Sunday Keika prepared for us her delicious curry chicken for dinner. I was late in getting started on the rice so we had it with pasta.

Keika's

favorite food this week: waffle and pizza favorite activity this week:

Mercer Arboretum and Botanical Gardens

When I asked her what she found funny she replied, "Hannah." Keika experienced many new things this week of which her favorite was learning to cook. Something different from Japan: our driver seats here in the states are on the opposite side than that of the vehicles in Japan.

Cookie's Week

2011-07-25T16:17:00.000-07:00

Lexi and I stayed home to finish dinner while everyone else went swimming. We thought we would sit on the kitchen floor and read a few books from her wagon of books. We started with Cars! Cars! Cars! by Grace Maccarone, next we read Five Little Monkeys Sitting in a Tree by Eileen Christelow, our last book was Cookie's Week by Cindy Ward. Lexi jumped from my lap after I read on Monday...Cookie fell in the toilet. I got up to follow her, as I glanced around the corner she was pulling the days of the week off the velcro chart. She wobbled herself back into the kitchen sat on my lap and laid the days of the week in her lap. As I read through the book she attempted to find the day of the week and put it up the book.

You know this is an example of just how much those little ears pick up as I teach her siblings. She really amazes me.

Day 1 of Keika's Visit

2011-07-23T20:40:00.000-07:00

We are so blessed to be apart of an exchange program this summer and to have Keika join our family. Keika is visiting us from Japan.

We arrived at the airport anxiously awaiting her arrival.

The kids and their welcome sign.

Hannah and Keika

Lauren and Keika

Keika's first visit to our church, New Hope

Lexi and Keika chillin on the couch.

Keika brought us beautiful gifts from her family.

Her mother handmade these lovely Japanese Hanging Hina Dolls. Lauren told Keika that her mom was very talented and I would have to agree. The detail in the dolls, the choice of fabrics, and the heart put into making these is priceless.

Cherry Blossom = a symbol of joy also the most famous tree in Japan

Treasure Pouch = a symbol of an open mind

Bellflower = a symbol of dignity

Crane = a symbol of accomplishment.

Red pepper = a symbol of the growth of a child.

Turtle = a symbol of a long life.

Goldfish = a symbol of elegance.

All the kids received Jinbeis, they loved them!

Keika and her mother made these beautiful Kimono paper dolls. Lauren absolutely loved these dolls, they were her favorite.

Daddy's gift.

We ended the night with a family movie. Now we are all exhausted and ready for bed. A special thank you to Mr. Yasu and Mrs. Kazue!

Riding His Bike

2011-07-19T19:51:00.000-07:00

Look who began riding his bike on his 5th birthday!

My Little Man Turns 5

2011-07-17T15:03:00.000-07:00

My little man is turning

It is so hard to believe how quickly the years have passed by.

I love you my dear son and I pray that you follow in the foot steps of your daddy, my beloved husband.

A man who loves God with all your heart, who will seek to serve the Lord and others, a husband who will love his wife and a father who will lead his family daily in worship, prayer and devotion unto our Lord.

It is such a joy and privilege to be your mother, to raise you up in the ways of the Lord. I pray you always know how much you are loved, that you are wonderfully made, and that you follow the path of righteousness. I pray that when difficult times arise that you will fear no evil for you will know that the Lord is with you. I pray that you place all your hope in the Lord and in no other. I pray that the gifts you have been blessed with will be used for the Lord's glory.

Can I blow out the candle?

All the girls were yelling, "No, you have to make a wish first."

Batman Lego Nintendo Wii game and a suction dart crossbow from http://www.visionforum.com/

I can do this! "Are you watching mom?"

Belly Flop

All in all....a fun day at the pool.

Pumpkins

2011-07-15T18:25:00.000-07:00

Some pumpkins from our garden. We are going to roast the seeds for granola bars and roast the pumpkins, puree them to bake pumpkin bread.

First step, scrub the outside of the pumpkins.

Next, cut the pumpkin in half and use a spoon to scrape out the fibers and seeds.

\Wash the seeds and set aside.

Then take the pumpkin halves and cut them into smaller pieces. Fill a pan with water just to cover the bottom of the pan then lay your pieces in skin up. Cover your pan with foil and roast in the oven at 325 degrees until tender. Mine took about 45 minutes.

Once tender take them out and remove the skin (best to do this while they are still hot).

I then put ours in a food processor, but you could do this step in a blender, and puree until smooth

For the pumpkin seeds, preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a pan, add the seeds to the water, about 4 cups of water to every cup of seeds. You could add salt to yours I chose not to since these will be added to my granola bars recipe found at http://theischysfishys.blogspot.com/2011/07/few-favorite-finds.html . Bring to a boil then let simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and drain. Spread some olive oil on your cookie sheet and spread your seeds onto the pan. When browned to your liking remove from oven and enjoy.

Our two pumpkins made 9 cups of puree and two cups of seeds.

For pumpkin bread I use a recipe from Allrecipes.com submitted by Cheryl Riccioli. It makes three loaves.

Ingredients:

3 cups canned pumpkin puree

1-1/2 cup vegetable oil or coconut oil

4 cups white sugar

6 eggs

4-3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1-1/2 tsp baking powder

1-1/2 tsp baking soda

1-1/2 tsp salt

1-1/2 tsp cinnamon

1-1/2 tsp nutmeg

1-1/2 tsp ground cloves (I leave this out)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease pans.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin, oil, sugar, and eggs. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves; stir the pumpkin mixture until well blended. Divide that battter evenly between the prepared pans.

3. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour. The top of the loaf should spring back when lightly pressed.

I like to spread cream cheese on top. Yum! But you might want to try peanut butter on it too.

Chicken Parmesan

2011-07-11T15:48:00.000-07:00

Wish I would of taken a picture of dinner tonight. It was so yummy, thanks to www.goodcheapeats.com for a great recipe. I tweaked it some to what we had on hand and it turned out great. The kids were saying, "I could eat all the chicken, you can make this every night."

Original recipe

1 cup buttermilk (I substituted with Dannon All Natural Plain Yogurt)
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp black pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I used three and split them in half. They just come so huge.)
1-1/2 cups whole wheat bread crumbs (I used the heels of our homemade white bread from http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/classic-sandwich-bread-recipe
I substituted 1 cup All Purpose Flour and 2 cups Bread Flour for 3 cups of the King Arthur Flour.)
1/2 tsp salt, oregano, basil (I used 1-1/2 tsp Italian seasoning)
Parmesan cheese (I used Sargento Mexican blend cheese)

Preheat oven to 375. Line pan with parchment paper. In shallow dish, combine yogurt and garlic powder, and black pepper. Rinse chicken breasts and allow to marinade in yogurt mixture. Meanwhile, combine bread crumbs and other seasoning. Dip breasts in the bread mixture and lay in pan. Bake 20-25 mins. A few mins before sprinkle with cheese.

I served with mashed potatoes and broccoli.

MFW Highlights Wk30 Countries and Cultures

2011-07-10T12:10:00.000-07:00

Week 30 MFW Countries and Cultures

Homeschool Wrap-Up

Theme for our studies this week…. Russia and the Arctic

Great book/s we read…. We finished up The Magic Schoolbus Polar Bear Patrol and our family read-aloud Gladys Aylward. We also watched the DVD The Gladys Aylward Story.

Interesting facts we learned….The Kyrgyz who live in the snow-capped mountains in the country of Kyrgyzstan became an independent country once more in 1991. We also learned that they eat the head of sheep. An eye to eat so eyesight will improve and an ear to eat to remind the youngest to listen to their elders.

As Mom/teacher, I found this week to be….back to somewhat normal. We have been visiting different therapists and doctors this summer trying to get a grasp on the reading and speech struggles one of our kids has had this past year. This past week we had no visits and I have gotten into the routine of batch cooking and menu planning for our new diet. With all that said this past week was a nice change of pace.

Favorite hands-on projects…. Baking bread and knitting with the girls.

Favorite extracurricular activity (if any this week)…. Hannah had a midweek sleepover.

We got excited when…. Lexi went poo poo in her potty. Lexi has pottied three times now on her own initiative.

Craft idea for this week…. Knitting hats for the homeless.

I am praying for my children to…. have a deeper understanding of who our God is and how much he LOVES us! We have been making our way through the book

and it has been a great book to share with our children.

I am learning to…. crochet new dish cloths. I am also educating myself more about food and the chemicals within it as well as how our bodies react to the lack of the vitamins it needs.

A new resource is…. the States, A 3 DVD set celebrating all that makes this nation great

Got the idea to do wrap ups from Mama Buzz (see icon on the right hand side of my blog), but she is done for this school year. So I am not linking this back to her blog.

A Few Favorite Finds

2011-07-02T19:31:00.000-07:00

We have now been on the Feingold Diet for 2 weeks. I wanted to share some of the homemade recipes that have been a hit in my home.

Granola Bar Recipe
http://www.joyfulabode.com/2008/04/11/homemade-granola-bar-recipe-no-high-fructose-corn-syrup-in-these-bars/

•2 cups oats
•3/4 cup wheat germ (I did coconut)
•3/4 cup sunflower seeds
•1 cup peanuts, crushed (I have tried with both peanuts and walnuts)
•2/3 cup brown sugar
•1/2 cup honey
•4 Tbsp butter
•2 tsp vanilla extract
•1/2 tsp Kosher salt
•approximately 8 oz. dried fruit (we can't have many dried fruits at this point so I added 1/2 cup of pumpkin seeds)

White Sandwich Bread
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/classic-sandwich-bread-recipe

I substituted 1 cup All Purpose Flour and 2 cups Bread Flour for 3 cups of the King Arthur Flour.

Natural Pesticide

2011-07-02T18:58:00.000-07:00

We are having an attach of aphids in our butterfly and vegetable garden. We wanted to keep the garden free from chemicals so we purchased a bag of 1500 ladybugs and we let them loose this morning.

Bugs, Bugs.... This girl did NOT want to leave the ladybugs.

UPDATE: more than half of our ladybugs were dead and we still have aphids, tons of them. I personally we would not recommend this method.

Homemade Flour Tortillas

2011-06-26T13:36:00.000-07:00

With having to go all natural in our diet I needed to find a flour tortilla recipe that I could use butter instead of lard.

I found the following recipe online:

2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
just under 1/2 cup warm water

Mix the salt and flour. Melt butter in microwave and add to water. Pour butter/water mixture into flour and stir. Once cool enough to touch knead for 10 minutes. Cover and let rest 10 minutes. Split dough in half then split those halves in half. Make twelve balls and let rest another 10 minutes. Roll out balls to make each tortilla then cook. Recipe yields 12 tortillas.

Homemade Fig Spread

2011-06-26T13:26:00.000-07:00

Recipe

Yields 8 8oz jars
Before beginning make sure to boil lids and jars in boiling water. (put jars in water before you begin to boil water)

Ingredients:
4 cups chopped figs (we chop ours in food processor)
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (we squeeze ours in fruit juicer)
1/2 cup water
6 cups white sugar
1 box all natural pectin

Directions:
Measure sugar out in separate bowl. Bring all other ingredients to a boil in a pot, stirring constantly. Stir in sugar and bring to a rolling boil for one minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off any foam. Then ladel into prepared jars, leaving 1/8" inch at top. Screw the lids on tightly then place in canner and boil for 10 minutes with lid covering the canner. Remove and set on a towel and cover with another towel. Let sit for 24 hours. Store in a cool dark place.

MFW Weekly Highlights Wk29 Countries and Cultures

2011-06-11T19:33:00.000-07:00

Week 29 MFW Countries and Cultures
Homeschool Wrap-Up

Theme for our studies this week…. Russia and the Arctic

A great book/s we read….

Interesting facts we learned….Some compound words are hyphenated if they are one part of speech and not hyphenated if they are another part of speech. As an example, first class is a noun while first-class is an adjective. In other words adjective compounds are hyphenated.

Arctic Terns migrate the furthest. They fly from the Arctic to Antarctica.

We had a lightbulb moment this week….Hannah is beginning to understand how to write fractions in their simplest form.

As Mom/teacher, I found this week to be….A bit hard due to my hormones, but about mid week it improved greatly.

Two favorite hands-on projects….
Our Permafrost Activity

Firm gelatin represents the frozen ground, the permafrost layer.

The soil represents the unfrozen layer of soil above the permafrost layer.

Finally, crushed ice represents the snow that will melt now that it is spring.

What did we learn? When the snow melts the permafrost layer keeps the water from going deep, so the soil becomes very muddy.

Many wooden houses in Yakutsk are tilted and sinking into the ground because the ground they were built on had become mud. The newer apartments are huge concrete buildings built on "stilts" that go deep into the ground, leaving about 10 feet of air space between the ground and the bottom of the building.

And Baking....

Favorite extracurricular activity (if any this week)…. Horse lessons. Hannah has a new teacher and she is fabulous! Hannah really learned so much from her in just the one lesson. Hannah said that Ms. Jacqueline really had a love for teaching horse lessons and she enjoyed being around her.

We laughed when…. Lexi covered herself in sunblock.

Craft idea for this week…. We haven't been to crafty lately.

I am praying for my children to…. Be more encouraging to one another and to help each other succeed.

I am learning to…. Be more flexible and patient. We volunteer at a local nursing home and I wish they were a little more organized. Each time we go we really don't know what we are in for. I think God is using this experience to bend me and teach me to be more flexible and patient with others.

My favorite new resource is…. our lapbook from http://yeeshallknow.com/

My favorite picture.... Well not sure it is my favorite picture, but I enjoyed sitting on the back porch with Hannah watching the Downy Woodpecker in our Willow tree.

Got the idea to do wrap ups from Mama Buzz (see icon on the right hand side of my blog), but she is done for this school year. So I am not linking this back to her blog.

Never a Dull Moment!

2011-06-05T09:48:00.000-07:00

Trying to get 4 kids ready for church can sometimes be a challenge.

Well I had one down, little Ms. Lexi

Oh wait!! That's not what she looked like 10 minutes ago.

Went upstairs to help dress my other children, came down and Lexi was covered in sunblock. My first reaction was oh no! Then I just laughed, there is never a dull moment with my Lexi. These are the moments I will truly reminisce on and giggle, especially when her little one is being mischievous.

Clean up.... Oh and I didn't intentionally put those bubbles in the tub. Can you guess how they got there??? A couple of days ago Lexi dumped Tray's hand soap in the tub as I was getting my makeup on. I didn't bother to clean it, thinking it would come in handy on another day. Well it did, we are cleaning off the sunblock and utilizing our soap mess from a few days prior.

Lexi you bring joy, laughter and craziness to my life and I wouldn't want it any other way.

Lauren's Music Recital June 2011

2011-06-05T09:27:00.000-07:00

Lauren performed: Morning Mood, Eine Klein Nachtmusik

We are so proud of Lauren and the progress she is making in piano. We pray she will continue to have a love for piano, be diligent in her practice and that she will find a way to use this gift for God's glory.

A Typical Lexi Moment

2011-05-30T16:52:00.000-07:00

Shame on mommy for facebooking. Lexi had all the pages
in her books covered in mustard

as well as herself. Ha Ha!

Butterfly Garden 2011

2011-05-30T14:26:00.000-07:00

Last year we observed the life cycle of the Monarch, and noticed a couple Swallowtail caterpillars. This year we planted several different hosts plants in hopes of watching the metamorphosis of a few different butterflies. We will be inspecting the garden often hoping to catch a glimpse of the:

Common Buckeye

Variegrated Fritillary

Gulf Fritillary

Julia Heliconian

Zebra Heliconian

Silvery Checkerspot

Texan Crescent

Monarch

Black Swallotail

This is the start of our garden this year.

Purple Passion Flower (thanks Mindy! :)

Host plant to the Fritillaries and Heliconians.

Braided Shrimp Plant

Host plant to the Texan Crescent

Mint and Lantana for nectar

Butterfly Bush, a great nectar plant

Firecracker

Host plant and nectar for the Common Buckeye.
Hummingbirds will flutter to this, also.

Butterfly Weed

Host plant and nectar for the Monarch

We also planted dill, which is a host plant for the swallowtail, and a couple packets of Garden Mixture Hummingbird and Butterfly seed pack and sunflowers to attract the Silvery Checkerspot.

I am so excited to discover and observe with the kids all the inhabitants that will dwell in our garden. We hope you will follow along and experience it with us or be inspired to create your own butterfly garden. Happy butterfly watching!

A great lapbook to go along with your butterfly garden can be found at http://www.yeeshallknow.com
Butterfly Battle.

Butterfly Battle

2011-05-24T21:06:00.000-07:00

We are enjoying our lapbook, Butterfly Battle, we received from the Homeschool Swap. You can find the lapbook at http:///www.yeeshallknow.com. We are reading the Magic School Bus A Science Chapter Book #16 Butterfly Battle.

To go along with this study we are adding new hosts plants to our butterfly garden. Each one of the three oldest picked a butterfly that they would like to observe and watch as it goes through metamorphosis. I will post more on this next week when we get our hosts plants.

So far in the book we have learned

To help remember the 4 stages the kids acted it out

egg

caterpillar

chrysalis

butterfly

We read that a newborn caterpillar eats.....

the shell of it's own egg then it eats the leaf where it hatched.

We read that Monarch butterflies are poisonous because they eat poisonous milkweed.

We learned that Monarch butterflies do not make the round trip when migrating and that they lay their eggs as they are heading south.

Lastly we learned that the Painted Lady

photo courtesy of http://www.butterflyutopia.com/live_butterfly_kit_feeder.html

can migrate from Africa to Iceland.

We can't wait to discover many new facts about butterflies and to experience first hand the life cycle of a few new varieties this year. To see pictures/video of the life cycle from previous years of the Monarch check out the Monarch link on the right hand side of our blog.

An Afternoon at the Japanese Garden

2011-05-24T20:37:00.000-07:00

The last couple of weeks we have been praying for Japan as we learn more about their country and cultures.

Monday one of our assignments in MFW was to write a Haiku, a short poem written in a style that was developed in Japan. The poem consist of 17 syllables and has only three lines. The first line 5 syllables, the second 7, and the last 5. What perfect timing because in our Language Lessons by Queen Homeschool we had just finished up learning what a Haiku was.

Since a Haiku is typically about nature I thought it would be nice to head over to the Japanese Garden at Herman Park. So we packed a picnic, took some of our school and enjoyed a beautiful afternoon in the most inviting and relaxing atmosphere.

I printed pictures of a Koi, bamboo, and a Japanese Maple and asked the kids to keep their eyes open for these three things. I shared with the kids that Koi were first color bred in Japan in the 1820's and that Koi are domesticated common carp. The swaying of the bamboo in the Japanese Garden is suppose to represent the sound of the ocean.

While resting near the pond I asked the kids to imagine that the yukimi lantern across the pond was a lighthouse placed on a stone beach, with the pond as an ocean and the the rocks in the water symbolizing ships being guided by the lantern. They say on the website that the waterfall makes one think of melting snow from a mountain stream, but I can't say I have ever heard that sound before, so we will have to take their word for it.

Soft Flat Shelled Turtle

Micah admiring the ducks

The girls checking out the granite lanterns.

This is our view of the lantern as we imagined it to be a lighthouse on a stone beach.

The rocks as ships. The kids said the turtles were the captains of the ships.

The waterfalls were quite soothing and relaxing.

Hannah's Haiku

Lauren's 1st Haiku

Ducks are colorful,

Ducks are cleaning their bodies,

The ducks are swimming.

Lauren's 2nd Haiku

Turtles relaxing,

The water is cold looking,

The rock is bumpy.

Micah drew a picture of the flowers, boulders, and himself sweating. LOL

Choose to be His Cheerleader

2011-05-23T06:34:00.000-07:00

Women have a way with persuasion. They have used their charm deceptively since the beginning of time. Using their charm deceptively, they lured or tried to lure men into harm enticing them to turn from the ways of the Lord. Eve gave to Adam forbidden fruit (Genesis 3), Potiphar's wife tried to seduce Joseph (Genesis 39), Michal despised and criticized David, she spoke of her displeasure in David's celebration and dancing before the Lord. (2 Samuel 6:16-23) King Solomon's wives turned his heart after other gods. (1 Kings 11)

Instead of bringing harm to our husbands let us be his helper. (Genesis 2:18) Let's bring them good, not harm, all our lives. (Proverbs 31:12) Let us be influential in a way that brings him respect. (Proverbs 31:23) Let us fear the Lord and words of wisdom flow from our lips. (Proverbs 31:26, 30) Let us not be foolish and tear down our homes but instead be wise and build up our homes. (Proverbs 14:1) Let us demonstrate unto our daughters and friends a woman who is united and one flesh with our husbands. (Ephesians 5:31) Let us choose to be a woman who glorifies God and serves him through our role as a wife.

I challenge you wives today to step out of your own love language and into your husbands. Do something for him today that is unexpected of you. Speak words of encouragement and trust then let your actions demonstrate it. Build your husband up and encourage him to be all that he can be in the Lord. Our husbands need a cheerleader and you're the best one for the job. God has great plans for your husband why not help him to fulfill those great plans by being the helper he needs.

Homemade Playdough

2011-05-22T20:20:00.000-07:00

This playdough is better than what you buy in the stores and the recipe makes a large quantity.

Ingredients:
3 cups flour
1-1/2 cup salt
6 tsp cream of tartar
3 cups cool water
3 tbsp oil
food coloring

Directions:
Mix the dry ingredients. Next mix liquid ingredients. Combine the two and cook over medium heat stirring constantly. In about 5 minutes the dough should begin to pull away from the sides of the pan. Once you can pinch the dough and it doesn't stick to your fingers you can remove from heat. Finally, knead until consistency of playdough.

Alligator Vs. Turtle

2011-05-22T20:04:00.000-07:00

For Mother's Day mommy wanted to go fishing and birding at Brazos Bend. We were fortunate and excited to witness an alligator devour a turtle for dinner, although we were in a crunch for time (ha ha), we stuck around for 15 minutes to observe. CAUTION: watch before sharing with little ones especially sensitive ones.

Tray's "BIG" catch.

Lexi was frolicking about trying to grasp hold of the dragonflies.

Alligator was about 10' long.

Fishing

This is a Purple Gallinule. An absolutely beautiful Rail. Green back, purple neck and breast, with a pale blue frontal shield.

My Little Birdwatcher in the Making

2011-05-17T18:59:00.000-07:00

This afternoon the kids and I headed to the park for a nature walk. We admired a Tufted Titmouse and Blue Jay while only getting a glimpse at an Orange Sulfur and Monarch, and of course we always catch the squirrels. Lexi, my 1 year old, grasping tightly to her bird identification book was walking ahead of me. (Sadly she doesn't like to share the bird book with her siblings.) She stopped, looked, pointed then softly whispered, "bird," as she pointed in its direction. I walked over to her and looked and sure enough there it was. Anytime we are outside she always has a ear for them and will look up to locate them. It is so fun to share a love for birds with my littlest.

Tactile and Dressing Boards for the Little One

2011-05-16T05:31:00.000-07:00

I had a few projects going this weekend and below are some of them. I was lucky enough to have a friend come over and help me knock it out in a day. All the items used for these projects were right here at home, I didn't need to go out and buy anything. Use your imagination, get creative, and see what items you have laying around for a tactile board. http://www.mydeliciousambiguity.com/2010/10/sensory-texture-boards.html has a sensory texture board with lots of ideas, too.

My dd who is almost two is a very busy and curious little girl, which can make some days of schooling a little difficult. We have several hands on learning toys around the house for her, but I needed a all in one package to intrigue her and keep her little mind busy for short periods of time.

I plan to make laminated descriptive vocabulary cards to go along with the tactile board. Once I get those done I'll post them too.

Velcro strips, satin, lace and beads, tissue paper, organza, foam shapes, aquarium rocks, feathers, sequins, sea shells, flower, buttons, rocks, cotton balls, aluminum, strips of ribbon, pipe cleaners, wiggly eyes, artificial leaves, and wool. (Be mindful of your child's age and personality when choosing your items/in others words are they going to yank it off and stuff it in their mouths)

Lace and tie, several types of belts, buckles and buttons, a zipper, and velcro strips. Even my 4 yr old and 7 yr old were playing with this one. Of course my dd's little hands can not manipulate all these yet, some are easy while others are more advanced. Hence, the board will keep her busy hopefully for a few years.

Well I hope I inspired you a little or gave you some ideas to intrigue your little one.

The Christian Response on Osama bin Laden's Death

2011-05-09T06:18:00.000-07:00

I thought I would share this article that I received from God's World News http://www.gwn.com/ via email. As I watched the news and saw how so many were dancing and celebrating Osama's death I was somewhat sadden. Please don't misunderstand, I can not imagine the pain or the anger the families and friends endeared from losing their loved ones and I would think knowing that he is no longer out there scheming up new ways to destroy us would give them peace and feel justice has been received. I personally thought Warren Cole said it well on the Christian response.

What Is the Christian Response?

I watched President Obama's speech announcing Osama bin Laden's death and ended up writing a couple of articles about it. One of the stories summarized reactions that almost immediately started coming in from around the world.

But the next day, I said to myself: Yes, these are the reactions of our politicians and pundits. But what should be the appropriate Christian reaction? As it turns out, this is not so easy a question. The Bible has much to say on the subject, some of it difficult to reconcile. Consider this:

"The authorities are God's servants, sent for your good. But if you are doing wrong, of course you should be afraid, for they have the power to punish you. They are God's servants, sent for the very purpose of punishing those who do what is wrong" (Romans 13:4, NLT).

The Psalms, too, have much to say about the punishment of evildoers. In the interest of brevity, here's just one verse of many:

"At the time I have planned, I will bring justice against the wicked" (Psalm 75:2, NLT).

Governments are established by God. Punishing evil is their job, and we should take satisfaction in our own government's role in seeing that justice was done. So, given this, there is certainly no reason not to celebrate Osama bin Laden's death.

On the other hand, we must acknowledge that bin Laden, as violent and reviled as he was, was surely just a man like me. As distasteful as it is to contemplate, none of us is so different from him. Compared to a holy God, my righteousness and bin Laden's alike are as "filthy rags." Further, Scripture is clear that we are to love not just our friends but also to "love our enemies." God, I'm sure, takes no pleasure in the death of someone who has rejected him. In fact, he so much as says so here:

"'As surely as I live,' declares the Sovereign LORD, 'I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?'" (Ezekiel 33:11, NIV)

Clarence Darrow once said, "I've never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure." Darrow is, as usual, winsome and witty--and completely opposed to Scripture. If God takes no pleasure in bin Laden's death, should we? I'm guessing not.

So what should our response be? I certainly think we can and should celebrate the excellence, professionalism, and courage of the Navy SEALs who accomplished their mission. I think we should be grateful that an evildoer is now no longer able to do his evil in the world.

But I also think we should be careful not to gloat. We should guard against triumphalism and pride. As a young man, Osama bin Laden drove fast cars and played soccer. There was a time when he was not so different from you and me.

Somewhere along the way pride overtook his life. It became his undoing. He became his own final authority. We should not think that we are immune from these same corrosive effects of pride. If we do, we may come to a time in the future when we find ourselves--both as individuals and as a country--committing the same kinds of monstrous evil that became bin Laden's undoing.

So can we celebrate that justice was done? Said more bluntly: Can we celebrate Osama bin Laden's death? I think the answer to that question is yes. But let us remember his ignominious death with grateful and even humble hearts, mindful that but for God's grace, so go we all.

-- Warren Cole Smith (World magazine)

Brazos Bend

2011-05-07T20:31:00.000-07:00

Wednesday morning we decided last minute to pack a picnic and head over to Brazos Bend for a nature walk. We started out at the nature center. I could not tear Lexi away from the birding area and Micah really enjoyed the snakes.

Lauren and Micah checking out the difference between an alligator and a crocodile. We learned that a when a crocodile closes his mouth his teeth interlace where an alligator's does not.

Hannah petting a tarantula.

Dragonfly resting on Hannah's hand.

Green Heron

Black-bellied Whistling Duck

An adult Yellow-crowned Night Heron

White Ibis

Alligator

I think this is a Palamedes Swallowtail

After walking around Elm Lake and the 40 Acre Lake we headed over to the playground for the kids to play. I love this time a year, observing and learning. I wish we had a travel trailer and could travel to a state park once a month for a week. We could take our school along working on it in the morning, then use the afternoons to explore all that the parks have to teach us.

On Observing

by Samuel Johnson

The world is not yet exhausted;

let me see something tomorrow

which I never saw before.

Sewing with the Girls

2011-05-07T12:09:00.000-07:00

I bought this pattern at Walmart in the clearance section for $1.00. I thought it would be a great beginner project.

Kyla, Lauren's friend, wanted to make the stuffed puppy dog for her doll. Lauren wanted to make a pillow for her bed. This is one activity I seem to have complete patience in teaching. I thoroughly enjoyed watching them create something of their own.

Kyla made the comment that she wanted to come over more often so she can sew. I think this would motivate Lauren to want to do it more often. Having a friend share in the experience of learning something new always makes it that much more fun.

Kyla's completed puppy dog.

Lauren's pillow.

God's Names

2011-05-07T11:37:00.000-07:00

The kids and I have been studying the Names of God. I requested from a friend, who is a wonderful artist, if she would paint some of His names on a canvas to hang up in our house. We absolutely love it and it is a constant reminder of who He is and how worthy He is of our admiration and trusts. Thank you Mrs. Penny!

I came across this book as I was viewing an email from God's World News http://www.gwnews.com/. I thought it would be a great addition to our study. I have skimmed though it and think the kids are really going to enjoy the activities that go with learning some of the Lord's names.

Some activities in the book are as follows:
Jehovah-Maginnenu/The Lord our Defense: Have a friendly family fight with water balloons or wadded paper balls. Be sure to have a shield. Then talk about how God is a shield for His people.
Jehovah-Sabaoth/The Lord of Hosts: Ask your mom or dad to make a crossword puzzle with God's names in it. Then find God's names-do you see them? Pray for faith to see God for who He is.
Elohim/Strong Creator: Cut up ten pieces of paper and number them 1-10. Put them in a paper bag. Blow up bag like a balloon, twist the top, shake it up well, then pop the bag by hitting it with your hand. Did it make a big bang? Dump out the paper numbers. Are they in a nice straight line? Are they all right side up? Are the numbers in order? Order does not happen by itself. Our world is like that, too. Someone had to create the world and put it in order.

The book also includes discussion and Bible stories.

We also listen to Names of God at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5-6gwssX0Y .

An Afternoon with Lexi

2011-05-01T12:32:00.000-07:00

The weather was inviting us out and we couldn't resist. Lexi and I enjoyed some backyard fun. We jumped on the trampoline, listened to the leaves rustling in the wind while birds chanted songs, we swung up into the blue sky and back down to the gardens, and ended our afternoon excitement with finger painting.

Lexi's New Cut

2011-04-26T19:23:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Lexi's generous big brother she is sporting a new cut.

This is all the hair he cut off! I couldn't decide if I wanted to cry or laugh. When we asked him why he did it he said, "I was trying to keep the hair out of her eyeballs."

It brought back memories of when Hannah cut Lauren's hair when she was about 3 years old.

Grapes & Giants, Part 2: Purpose: The Prequel to Power

2011-04-18T05:43:00.000-07:00

Grapes & Giants, Part 2: Purpose: The Prequel to Power

Goose Island Camping

2011-04-09T20:40:00.000-07:00

DAY ONE

Had my friend Kim J. in mind when we chose the pink bait shop. Guess we can blame her for no fish.

This one is for you Kim J.

Hannah found this lizard.

Lexi in the Bluebonnets.

Micah fishing.

Lauren set her pole down and the fish jerked it into the water. Daddy to the rescue, he reeled in her pole and a Flounder.

Oystercatcher

Gulls

DAY TWO

Turkey vulture

I learned how to tell the difference between a Turkey vulture and a Black vulture. The Turkey vultures have white along the entire under wingspan of their wings, where Black vultures have white only on the tips.

Daddy and Lauren playing in the sand.

My feet are getting dirty.

Micah and Mommy playing tag,

An Inca Dove

The Brown Thrasher

DAY THREE

The Gray Catbird

The rump of the Gray Catbird is a rust color.

The female Hooded Warbler

The White-eyed Vireo

Carolina Wren

American Goldfinch

I'm hoping Lexi will have a love for birds. She watched the birds with me for hours at a time. She loved their songs.

Hannah hanging out on the tree.

Lexi climbing a tree.

Red-winged Blackbird

Daddy and Micah chasing each other with buckets of water.

Daddy pulling the kids while they sat in the inner tube.

DAY FOUR

From the left: Dennis, myself, Judy and Larry

Dennis, Judy and Larry were the Bird Hosts. I really enjoyed birding with them. They had such a wealth of information and were wonderful educators. Their love for birding was contagious.

These squirrels were a hoot to watch. I am not sure if they were mating or wrestling.

We camped a week earlier this year than we did last year because of this I didn't get to see nearly the variety as last year. However, I had the blessing of meeting some wonderful people and begin new friendships.

My bird list for this year
Turkey Vulture
Black Vulture
Inca Dove
Eurasian Dove
Mourning Dove
Northern Cardinal
Northern Mockingbird
Carolina Wren
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Brown-headed Cowbird
Red-winged Blackbird
White-eyed Vireo
Orange-crowned Warbler
Lincoln's Sparrow
Gray Catbird
Black-crested Titmouse
Northern Parula
Brown Thrasher

Buff-bellied Hummingbird

Rufous Hummingbird

Hermit Thrush

Hooded Warbler

Indigo Bunting

House Sparrow

American Goldfinch
American Oystercatcher

Interesting Facts

The Cowbird lay their eggs in other peching birds (passerines) nest for them to care for their young. They do this so they can follow grazing animals. The cowbirds eat the insects that follow these larger animals.
The ovenbird build their nest on the ground. They have a side entrance like an oven.

It's Strawberry Pickin Time

2011-03-31T13:52:00.000-07:00

We headed over to our local farmers market Froberg's for an afternoon outing. The kids picked a little over 10 lbs of strawberries. Lexi and Micah hung with me while the older girls went off picking on their own. Micah and Lexi were expert pickers. Lexi was also good at trying them. Oops....I wasn't suppose to share that part. Well she only sampled three so I don't think we hurt their earnings to bad.

Lauren and Micah wanted to make a cake to eat with the strawberries, so they baked a strawberry cake with chocolate chips inside. We topped it off with sliced strawberries and a glob of cool whip. All the kids could say was MMMMMMMM!

We will make smoothies with them, too.

Ingredients:

1 cup stawberries

1 bananna

Pineapple juice

1/2 cup yogurt

crushed ice

1 tbsp honey

Thank You Swap Sister

2011-03-29T19:38:00.000-07:00

I thought it would be fun to join in on the March swap at http://hsbapost.com/2011/02/20/2011-february-march-homeschool-swap/ . Right I was, this was a blast and a treat to get our box of goodies. My swap sister at http://moziesme.blogspot.com/ sent us a butterfly lapbook, note cards, pastels, butterfly pics and clothespins, markers, stickers and candy. Thank you so much for your prayers and for the wonderful addition of supplies and sweets.

That's not my princess...

2011-03-26T08:27:00.000-07:00

This is one of Lexi's, my 1-1/2 year old daughters, favorite books. She will bring me the book, sit in my lap and say, "book."

As I read each page she always repeats the last word I read, which is the adjective on the page describing why each girl is not my princess.

The words Lexi can say are: bumpy, silky, thick, fluffy, velvety, glittery.

Winning Readings: What Does Cow Say?

2011-03-26T05:32:00.000-07:00

Winning Readings: What Does Cow Say?: "Title: What Does Cow Say? Author: Joan Holub Blog: Joan Holub Link to Giveaway: What Does Cow Say? giveaway Genre: Children's book How to e..."

Grandma's in Newark, TX

2011-03-25T14:49:00.000-07:00

Monday morning we packed and headed out to take the 5-1/2 hour drive to visit my mother. I have to admit I was a little nervous because I had never driven that far before. I was in good company though and surprisingly the kids did well.

On the drive there we listened to Sir Malcom and the Missing Prince by Lamplighter Theatre. We thoroughly enjoyed the audio. It was about a prince who had proven himself an unworthy heir to the throne. To learn how this unworthy heir becomes a bold, courageous and humble man you will need to purchase it at http://www.lamplighterpublishing.com/. Others that we have listened to and recommend are Charlie's Choice, The Captive, and The Hedge of Thorns.

Lauren with the kid.

If you feed chickens oyster shells it helps harden their eggs. The chicken that laid this egg had eaten to many oyster shells.

This is a Golden Sex Link chicken.

Hannah's favorite bunny.

We found Lexi laying outside the chicken/duck coop just admiring the view. She loved watching them.

These were the cutest chicks and ducklings. We learned after they hatch you need to keep them between 90-95 degrees and not to handle them to much. That was hard because all the kids wanted to do was hold these fluffy babies.

Another picture of the kids with the kid.

Grandma rocking Lexi.

Papa Joe, Grandma, Hannah, Lauren, and Micah.

The kids had a wonderful time visiting with grandma and loving on all her animals, and eating lots of sweets.

While on our mini vacation the Lord brought to my attention some areas of my life that I need to work on. I am a task oriented person and it's not a bad trait, but like all things too much of anything can be harmful. I am guilty of letting the completion of my daily tasks become more important than enjoying the everyday moments with my children. One of the many different echoes my kids often hear is, "We need to get this done so we can start on our next "xxxx" on the list or of our curriculum." I'm always rushing to get everything done. What I realized is the tasks will be there tomorrow, but that moment we may never share again.

I am going to hug and kiss my kids, sit and admire the person they are becoming, encourage them and remind them that they are beautifully and uniquely designed by God, enjoy learning with them MORE. Who cares if we get it all done that day. I need to make the most of our time and all that we do together. I want them to remember us enjoying life together, not rushing through it to get to the next thing.

Houston Rodeo 2011

2011-03-23T10:42:00.000-07:00

Daddy and I before we headed off.

Euro Slide

Micah rode with Hannah. Poor little guy almost flew onto the other slide. He got pretty banged up and his arms can prove it. He has no interest in riding another one of these.

The pole bending was one of Hannah's favorite.

This rabbit really intrigued me. It is called a Fleming Giant. The extra fold of skin under the chin is called dewlap and is only found on the female does. I did not know female rabbits were called does, but apparently my daughter did. This rabbit can weigh anywhere from 13 lbs to 28 lbs.

The kids were able to choose two rides each. Micah really wanted to go on this but wasn't tall enough to go at it alone. Hannah was kind to give up one of her rides to go with Micah on his.

Our precious Lexi posing for the camera. She loved visiting all the animals at the livestock show.

Overflow of the Heart

2011-03-19T10:43:00.001-07:00

This chart was inspired by a book I recently read called Shepherding a Child's Heart. I had made early last year a chart of blessings and consequences that was a quick throw together.

I spent a couple of weeks putting together this chart. My prayer is that it will be a blessing for you and your family too.

I decided to use hearts for a couple of reasons:

It is a reminder to not only deal with the behavior issues, but the heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. (Luke 6:45)
To remind you to discipline in love, for our discipline should express our love. God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. (Hebrews 12)
To discuss with the child if their hearts and actions are glorifying God? Man's primary purpose is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. (Psalms 16:11) We have joy and pleasure in God when we live according His purpose. Our selfish desires and prideful hearts will not bring us lasting joy.

The top of the chart has Luke 6:45 as above.

I love the term Rescue Mission, it comes from the book. For me the discipline or consequence doesn't always need to be something harsh, but needs to be shown or explained in a way that leaves a lasting impression. As parents we are on a mission to train our children's hearts to make choices that glorify God and not our own selfish desires.

The top heart on both the Rescue Mission and Blessing Side have a scripture that correlates with the Rescue Mission or Blessing underneath.

I wanted the chart to be an aid for the parent. With the chart it helps as a visual and an instant reminder for both parent (in reference to heart when disciplining) and child (for heart and behavior). The idea behind velcroing the hearts was so that the child and you together open up the Word for the final authority or to see the blessings we hold when we live a fruitful life. It is also good for the hands on learner. I know I want my child to always seek the Word in difficult and joyful times in their life. To seek all answers from Him. This begins to teach them that.

These are just ideas for you behind the top heart.

You may not always go to the hearts either. Sometimes you may want to just read a scripture from the Sinful Nature and one from the Blessing Side and ask them which one are they demonstrating? What is the root of that behavior? (I find it pretty much boils down to pride or selfishness) Are you glorifying God? How can we glorify God? Do you want to pray and ask God for forgiveness and to help you to be more.....so that we can enjoy God and glorify Him?

The chart is 10-3/4" wide x 25" length. I used a 24" x 28" posterboard fold it in half and use one side.

Print out the Overflow of the Heart and Luke 6:45 cut them out, glue them onto posterboard, then laminate the posterboard.
Print out the blessing and rescue mission hearts. Number them from 1 to 14. They are in the same order as the Overflow Chart. Be sure to put an R or B in front of the number. This way if they get pulled off you know exactly where it goes. Laminate them and then cut out.
Cut velcro in half put them on the outside rounded part of the heart. Same with the hearts on the posterboard.

I would love your comments.

If you use the chart or post to your blog I ask that you reference back to my post. Thank you!

Find below Blessing, Heart Issues, Sinful Heart, and Luke 6:45 documents to download.
http://www.mediafire.com/?7b9ebwbyom0b0za
http://www.mediafire.com/?jaz0bm059lhqa2m
http://www.mediafire.com/?rl459m9lpwlkwdj
http://www.mediafire.com/?mf3abhz88rt14xs

Sketch Tuesday - Jewelry

2011-03-17T16:17:00.000-07:00

This week Harmony Art Mom had the kids sketch sparkle jewelry. The girls are excited to start Sketch Tuesday. The girls love to draw and hey what kid doesn't like to see their art on a slideshow with other kids.

The girls each found a piece of my jewelry to draw and here are their masterpieces.

If you want to join along you can find the details at

http://harmonyartmom.blogspot.com/2011/03/sketch-tuesday-sparkle-sparkle-jewelry.html

F is for Filthy

2011-03-16T16:50:00.001-07:00

I am going to attempt to start the A B See Photo Meme over at http://www.homeschoolposts.com/ In doing this I hope to capture the beauty that surrounds me daily: my children, family, friends and nature. Just a reminder for me of all that my Father in heaven has richly blessed my life with.

All in One Math Folder (Prep for Singapore)

2011-03-16T10:28:00.001-07:00

I took the math prep sheet for Singapore that came with our 1st grade MFW curriculum and added a few more things. You can do this in a spreadsheet, but I had already laminated the sheet on my folder so I took a permenant marker to it. I like it in the laminated folder because this is something he can also take to do in the car with his sisters.

I added a section for the tally marks, ones and tens place value, and how can we make this amount in coins? I have seen something similar on another blog but I can't recall which one (sorry). They used a calendar instead of a 100 chart. I like the 100 chart because he can learn to identify and write his numbers to 100, add money up to a higher amount, number sentences to a higher sum than 31, oral word problems higher than 31, I think you get the idea. I velcroed a ziploc bag to the folder with contains are expanded form cards (prep for Singapore) and a clock to teach time (up to 12:00) with our number of the day also.

As I mentioned above we didn't use a calendar because the kids write in their prayer journal each day. They have to write the date in that.

They pull the laminated months from here and then copy the month onto the prayer journal. This way they learn the months and how to spell them as well as learning how to write out dates.

Preparing Her

2011-02-15T18:53:00.000-08:00

My oldest, Hannah, has said on many occassions that she was going to have 30+ kids. On other occassions she has talked about or written in stories of her helping orphans. We have been reading the life of George Muller, The Gaurdian of Bristol's Orphans, and tonight as we finished up chapter 4 she said, "Mom do you think God's calling on my life is to help orphans?"

I don't know God's plan for my daughter, but I know as her mother my prayer is that I will not let my own selfish desires prevent me from my personal responsibility in raising her to be a spiritual champion and helping her in understanding God's mission and vision for her life.

My prayer is that Hannah will always remember that it is God who has given her the talents and/or gifts that she posseses and they were given to her to be used for His glory. She has such a desire to serve Him and to be faithful to Him now. I pray that as she grows she continues to have that deep abiding love and burning passion to use her gifts to serve Him with the calling He lays upon her life. Evil will surround her, my hope is that each day she will dress herself with the armor of God so that none of the wickedness of this world will penetrate within her. I pray God will produce great results in her life and that it will be evident to all that is was by His power, love, and grace that it was accomplished. May the words Glory to God always leap from her lips.

Taking Captive of That Which Doesn't Belong

2011-02-14T06:57:00.000-08:00

I shared with the kids how we are what we soak into our hearts through the demonstration of a sponge. We took a clean sponge and soaked in two different colored waters (one representing God's word, noble things and the other representing the opposite), squeezing out what we soaked in. Explaining that we need to be wise and mindful as to what we read, what we watch, what we hear and who we are around. We want our thoughts, words, and actions to show that of Christ.

"......For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks." (Luke 6:45)

I then began to tell them that when we begin to have thoughts that do not glorify God we need to "...take captive of every thought to make it obedient to Christ." (2 Corinthians 10:5) I informed them to actively take that thought and imagine themselves locking it up in chains and throwing it in prison.

Then I led them to (Philippians 4:8) "Finally, brothers whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things." In thinking upon such things and living by the Spirit we will bear the fruit of the Spirit which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)

The more we are in God's Word, meditating on it, the more knowledge and wisdom we will gain in living out our lives to glorify Him in all that we think, say and do.

"How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" Psalm 119:103

"Prison My Reward" by Christopher D. Manley

2011-01-26T19:13:00.000-08:00

My brother who is serving time in prison recently wrote this poem. My husband and I thought it was powerful and wanted to share it with you.

There's thousands around me, yet I'm all alone
I live in a place that sends chills through my bones

Something in here just doesn't feel right
There's devils and demons when I turn out the light

The nights are long and the days are slow
Will I last 9 years in here, I don't believe so

There's thousands around me yet I'm all alone

This place is cold, made of concrete and steel
Death and decay is how this prison feels

I don't really know my girls and it hurts real bad
Some guy I don't know, is who they call dad

My life has been empty, it started ages ago
The sadness I feel, I try not to show

I'm tired of this journey, I want to move on
When I get where I'm going, my pains will be gone

Jesus promises me life, thats what He will give
So I'll follow His path, cause I want to live

When I leave the world saved and heavens my home
There will be thousands around me, I'll be no longer Alone.

A Woman Who Loves Jesus with All Her Heart

2011-01-16T08:27:00.000-08:00

I don't know about you, but I struggle with being everything I think my family needs. When all my family needs is a WOMAN WHO LOVES JESUS WITH ALL HER HEART. "I have found David...a man after my own heart, who will do everything I want him to do." (Acts 13:22)

Our heavenly Father wants us as wives and mothers to succeed and not only succeed, but we are told in Proverbs 31:31 that He wants to reward us, for our works to bring us praise. For us to be honored. "Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her." (Proverbs 31:29)

We can bring glory to God by demonstrating to a watchful world that we can succeed and succeed well through the: poopy diapers, crying babies, the broken bones, the spats over toys, the dirty dishes piling up in the sink, 8 loads of laundry on the couch, giving our spouses quality time, giving ourselves time to refresh, scheduling family events, allotting time for family devotions/prayer time and the 8 hands reaching under the bathroom door as you try to escape for 5 minutes because we are demonstrating the heart of Jesus, the power of Jesus at work within us.

God clearly paints a picture for us of what His priorities for our lives are and His word is full of wisdom in helping us to succeed at accomplishing them. 1 Timothy 5:9-10 is speaking of the widows but these widows had to have had these priorities in their youth.

To be faithful to her husband
Known for her good deeds, such as bringing up her children
Showing hospitality
Washing the feet of the saints
Helping those in trouble
Devoting herself to all kinds of good deeds

These are the priorities that I am striving to have in my own life. The Lord has been teaching me that I can not achieve in being the wife and mother He wants me to be if I am trying to prioritize my life the way I or the world sees fit. I believe that if I have these priorities for my life that He will bless and reward me and that I will be a blessing to others.

These are a few of the statements I have heard over the years:

How can you possibly homeschool?
How do you have the patience?
I admire your strength and patience.
You must be really patient.
How do you get all done cleaning, cooking, homeschooling?
You must be real organized.

The truth of it is it is not by anything I can possibly do myself and most days my house isn't clean until about 30 minutes before daddy gets home. I struggle every day, but I am not alone for He promises in Hebrews 13:5 that never will He leave me nor forsake me. I find hope in Ephesians 3:20 "Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us." This is where my strength comes from, knowing that it is not by my might but Him at work within me.

Whether you are a stay at home mom, a homeschool mom, a mom who works outside the home we all need to be refreshed each day. Psalm 104:27-28 "These all look to you to give them their food at the proper time. When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open Your hand, they are satisfied with good things." In the same way His Word is our food and it greatly satisfies our soul. However, we can not be refreshed if we aren't in the Word, if we aren't giving him first priority in our lives, if we aren't seeking Him with our whole heart. You can't fill your cars gas tank half way and expect it to take you as far as a full tank. Neither can you give God a little of yourself or squeeze Him into your day and expect Him to do immeasurably all we ask or imagine through us. A woman who loves Jesus with all her heart doesn't fit Jesus in, she eargerly seeks to spend time with Him, she thrives on His presence, she loves to be with Him. I say this from my own convictions, because I have been the woman who says when can I fit God in today? I have let the busyness of motherhood get in the way of God truly working in in my life. Having what I have now, there is no way I want to go back to trying to fit God in.

There is great joy that comes from raising up a family. God chooses us to be the parents of our children, what a blessing. Our children our a reward from God. What a great honor and privilege. Psalm 127:3-5 reminds us of this "Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them." In the same way that a warrior directs his arrows toward a target we, the parents, have got to train our children in the way of the Lord, so when we release them they will not depart from the Lord. I can not explain the joy in seeing our children seek God and to serve Him now as children. Imagine the impact they will make for the Lord when we release them as young adults. What a reward it will be to know that God will find in our children another "David".

"The wise woman builds her house." Proverbs 14:1 and "He blesses the home of the righteous." Proverbs 4:33b

If you need an encouraging message visit Nancy Leigh DeMoss's "Revive our Hearts" podcast each day. I am always inspired by the Word she has to share.

Galveston Half Marathon

2010-11-21T05:10:00.001-08:00

This year I trained with my friend Kim for the Galveston Half Marathon. We joined forces with some running buddies and formed the team (Marrow)thoners-Race for His Grace in support of His Grace Foundation, a local children's bone marrow transplant foundation associated with Texas Children's Foundation. http://www.blog.hisgracefoundationdonate.org/

We were honored to meet Gracie at the start line and to have her and her family cheer us on throughout the race.

So I hung with 8:30/mile until about mile eight, than this little engine could not chuga chuga choo choo any longer at that pace.

Tray, the kids, and Clint cheered us on the entire race.

I was so proud of Kim, she hung with the 8:30/mile the entire race.

Way to go Kim!

At about mile 12 there were several twist in the race. I kept thinking to myself is the finish line around this turn and to my disappointment about three times it wasn't. Finally, the finish line was in sight and let me say I was relieved.

The race seemed more difficult than our last practice run. My goal was to beat my last time of 1hr 54mins. Sadly, I didn't beat my last time, but I'm glad I atleast came in under 2 hours.

Thanks Kim for training and running the Galveston Half with me.