Oh No! We Are Mess!

"Oh no! We are mess!" 

The above are famous last words heard after mommy left the children washing dishes in the kitchen to go into the other room to get the phone.

Okay, training children to wash dishes is important but they sure can get wet! 

Whatever you do, do not forget to reinforce the lesson that the water pressure coming out of the faucet should be kept fairly low to avoid the water-spraying-all-over-the-kitchen debacle.

As my sister said listenting to us over the phone: "At least they are learning and having fun."

I guess that is what home education is all about.

Fun Trips, Sickness, New Reviews and More

It is good to be back blogging! We started February with a lovely trip to Kalahari. We then came back, got sick and cycled through various illnesses for some time. In the meanwhile, I have been reading to review one Bible storybook and one audio CD set on the growing Christian film-making movement. Add to this my growing notebooks of devotionals the Lord has been gracious to give to me that I would like to share with other Christian moms and the growing list of Christian family resources and links that I am assembling into a website and I have been pretty busy when I am not homeschooling, discipling and keeping house.

Stay tuned for more details!

Snow, Beautiful Snow!

Snow, snow every where
Snug inside, I haven't a care!

There is just so much snow outside that I am amazed every time I look out at it. My husband has a hard time understanding my awe- "It is January in Ohio you know."

Yes, I know but mounds of the white stuff do not fall every day, even here and if they do, the snow drifts do not often last long.

Grateful we were able to stay in all day.

A big pot of linguine with meat sauce seemed a fitting ending to a cozy day.

Cub Scout Fun

I had the pleasure of attending Pack meeting with Chase this week and it was fun. Usually Dad goes so this was my first Pack meeting. Once we arrived, Chase was chosen to carry the flag for the opening of the meeting and the Pledge of Allegiance. Then, boys received their loops and badges for various projects they had completed including badges for selling popcorn.

We talked about the upcoming Pinewood Derby, camping trip and Blue and Gold Dinner.

Best of all, one of the leaders had his neighbor, a wood carver, come and share about his craft. I found myself very interested in the orderly and methodical ways of creating something beautiful and/or useful from a simple block of wood. He told the boys how the same block of wood could end up in so many different shapes and colors. He should us many examples of his work, a dark brown owl, a black horse on a red rocker, a caramel colored lock all made of the same type of wood. The boys were amazed by this and asked "Is everything really made only of wood?" and "How do you get the wood different colors?".

I found myself thinking of our Master Carver, God the Creator, and how he has formed all of us into wonderfully unique and beautiful creatures, all human, yet each unique.

I just can't help it. I seem to see the hand of God every where.

Soli Deo Gloria! (For the glory of God alone)

Ice Skating With Cub Scouts

Today we had a wonderful time ice skating with Chase's Cub Scout pack.  Even Alyssa got in on the act (although she wanted to leave after a while).

Then it was off to cousin Logan's 3rd birthday party.

We have had a very busy day!

In The Christmas Spirit

We have been having wonderful family times these past few days.  Chase and Alyssa participated in our church's children's Christmas program, our main focus leading up to Sunday.  My husband, a photographer and tech expert,  was also involved in the multi-media presentation.  Although this may sound rather routine and unexciting, the past few days held several wonderful surprises for me.

First, I had no idea how cool the multi-media aspect of the program was!  I was so very proud of my husband and the wonderful photographs he took.  Sometimes I  forget how talented my husband is and how he likes to use his gifts and talents for the church.  Afterwards, so many parents approached him wanting a copy for their family.

Next, my one and only ds completely surprised me with the excellence of his very first solo, in a language that is not native to him!  That's right, my shy son sung a verse of Silent Night in Spanish on stage, in front of the whole congregation!  His voice sounded so wonderful I could hardly believe it was him!  I was one proud Mama and spent most of the program afterwards thanking God for his grace to allow my son's talents to be used in a mighty way.

Alyssa's participation was so full of joy and enthusiastic that just looking at her singing filled me  with  happiness and gratefullness for our wonderful Savior for whom this program was presented.

Our final unexpected blessing is that Grandma stayed with us for a few days before and then after the program.  This is an answer to a prayer for me as I have been concerned for her since Grandpa died in September.  I know the holidays can be difficult in a time of grieving.  How wonderful it has been to watch her light up as she plays with the kids and to see the kids getting to show their beloved Granny all their latest tricks and interests.

Most of all, what I have realized is that I need to repent of taking much that is good in my life, that God has blessed me with, for granted.  How much I still dare to complain and moan and groan about life and what is not perfect instead of focusing on my Lord and all the wondrous gifts he has given me, not the least of which is my very salvation itself.

My prayer for myslelf and all my readers and everyone I know this Christmas is that we all have the grace to focus on Christ and all that he has done for us, both now and well after Christmas and New Year's are over.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Sick! Again!

This time my wee one is sick. Poor little thing. She gets so down when she is sick. She has been sleeping a lot but seemed a little happier tonight.

We prayed for a better day for tomorrow.

Fun Food Fridays

I may not be the greatest gourmet cook but me the children and I come up with some cool ideas that make eating more fun. So this week we begin our Fun Food Fridays series. Please, add your own fun food idea!

Mom's Mini Biscuit Buffet (You will notice many of the names of the recipes begin with "Mom's"-my children choose the recipe names.)
We used a basic biscuit recipe, adding lemon juice to the milk in place of buttermilk since we had none.
Next, use a very small round cookie cutter to make the biscuits out of the rolled dough. (Alyssa loves to do the rolling)
Layer one or two cut-outs on top of each other to make layered biscuits.
Bake the biscuits on parchment paper, probably for less time than stated on the recipe since they are likely smaller.
Once the biscuits are out, take them off the pan immediately. We put ours into a bowl and covered them to keep them warm.
Here comes the most fun part, the Biscuit Buffet.
Provide a variety of toppings for your biscuits based on what you have on-hand. I had boiled chicken to serve creatively so our toppings were:
--BBQ chicken
--Chicken 'n Gravy
--Honey
--Honey butter

We served the Biscuit buffet with broccoli with a cheese sauce.

It was a nice fun dinner with variety to please everyone.

Give it a try with whatever you have on hand for toppings.

Lunchmeat and PB and J might make this a nice snack or lunch.

Enjoy!

Quiet, Snowy Day

We were in all day today. We entertained our little cousin and my sister, made cookies and had a generally good time despite the falling snow and howling wind.

What a nice feeling to be safe and snug inside. My heart breaks for families who are not so blessed. I am grateful for all that God has given to me.

May I use it all for his Glory.

Prince Caspian Is On DVD!

Hurray! We loved the Prince Caspian movie and went to see it the first day it played in theaters. We do not often go to the movies so this was quite a special event for us. We splurged and got popcorn, drinks, the "whole nine yards" and it was wonderful.

I am a big C.S. Lewis fan and I especially enjoy how his stories often remind me of Bible stories. No arguments here about whether or not his work is biblical allegory. I just like the familiar feeling I get when reading or watching the works of Lewis.

So my birthday was yesterday (now officially past the 4-0 mark) and guess what I got? Yep, the NEW, just released Prince Caspian. Now I can watch it over and over again (in all my free time).

Get your
Prince Caspian DVD
today!

Our Advent Celebration Begins

This year, I felt the Lord leading us to commemorate his birth in a more meaningful way than in year's past.  We are celebrating Advent and it has already been a blessing. It is very helpful for our whole family, parents and children, to be reminded of the "Big Picture" of the story of redemption revealed in the Bible.  Now that Christmas is coming, we are mindful of the place of the birth of Christ in this glorious  tale of our salvation.

I have created a multimedia, musically-themed Advent celebration for our family.  From a unique study presented on the site, Stand Firm, I got the idea of tying some of our daily studies to Handel's Messiah.  Handel's signature work is a story of God's redemption of mankind and includes the singing of Scripture passages.

Each night, we lift the flap on an Advent calendar that I very simply created using foam-core board, construction paper, ribbon and stickers, to find that night's Scripture verse. I could not find a calendar that would allow me to incorporate Scripture. My son reads the verse from his NIV and then I read from the KJV (the language of Handel's Messiah ).

Next, we watched the video together which everyone enjoyed.

Our Scripture for last night was Isaiah 40: 1-5.

Although some of the videos of the Messiah referenced on the Stand Firm site are no longer available, I found others that conveyed the beauty and majesty of this grand story of redemption that I was looking for online.

Here is our first video from last night's devotion:

Look for our future "Advent Celebration" posts. Jump ahead to Day 3, Messiah video.

Thankful For Family

This year, as we all went around the table to say what we were grateful for before our Thanksgiving feast, we all focused on various aspects of family.  This was different than years past.

I think that the loss of Grandpa in September has made us realize how very precious we are to each other.

And for that, I am grateful.

Homeschool Kids Rock!

We had our Deuteronomy 6 Homeschool Co-op Achievement Night was last night and the children showed the audience their many talents. I was so very proud of all the children and their parents.

Some of the highlights of the night included piano solo performances, an interpretive dance piece (my daughter especially loved that one), a robotics demonstration (my son especially liked that) and the singing of "Jesus Loves Me" in Chinese.

I could not help but think of criticisms of homeschoolers being "too sheltered" as I watched these incredibly talented and well-rounded young people show the audience the fruits of homeschooling.

Congratulations on a job well done!

The Blessings of a Gift

I was humbled and surprised when a friend of mine, Elizabeth over at HomeEdUnderGrace had a book that I really wanted to sent to me from Christian Book Distributors. It was a collection of C.S. Lewis classics that I had seen at her house. Elizabeth is a very busy homeschool mom yet she took the time to think of me and to very specifically act on my behalf.

What a lovely bright spot in what was an otherwise dreary day to receive an unexpected and dare I say, undeserved gift. As thankful as I am for that gift, I am reminded of how much more grateful I should constantly be for the grace and mercy that God so undeservedly showed to me.

Is that perhaps the hidden blessing in every gift, that it reminds us of and points to the greatest gift ever given to mankind, Jesus Christ himself?

Now I am challenged: when was the last time that I stepped out of my busy life to bless someone else with an unexpected gift?

I pray that God will open my eyes and my heart so that I can bless someone with an unexpected gift that may make a difference.

A Nice Sunday

We had a nice, quiet day today despite the gray, cloudy, windy and snowy weather (is that enough adjectives for you?)

We atarted the day with a very thought-provoking sermon at church. We were exhorted to pray for our leaders, whether or not we voted for them. We were reminded that a significant part of the Christian life may involve suffering, something that not many American Christians want to even think about. Our pastor continued his exposition of 1 Peter as we read through Chapter 3.

I am blessed to be led by such a godly and very humble pastor.

We had a nice lunch, I let the kids watch a video and now we are all going to settle in for bedtime stories.

Time for a new week!