Wordless Wednesday: An Occupied Two Year Old

You CAN Homeschool!

I found this little photo when I was google searching some homeschool things yesterday. It was quite encouraging to me and I don't think that I can add anything to it.

So, fellow homeschool moms, take courage if you need some uplifting. 

Happy Friday!

Source: Harrington Harmonies

Thankful Thursday ~ Thankful to be a Homeschooling Mom

I had no clue of the challenges, the tears and the frustrations I would face when I became a homeschooling mom. I also had no idea of the laughter, the adventures and the joy that we would experience.

Staying at home with my children has been the toughest thing I have ever done. I don't know who's learning more, me or them. I do know that I have learned and am still learning some things about myself in the way of the Lord that I more than likely wouldn't have learned otherwise, but we are all learning to lean on Him together so much.

We are also building close parent/child relationships with each other that wouldn't happen any other way.

I'm sorry for the lack of ability to truly express my gratitude for this way of life. Being able to homeschool is a blessing indeed and words are escaping me at the moment.

Wordless Wednesday: It's Mowing Season Again

5 Random Things ~ April 1, 2016

I've not been able to post as much as I'd like lately. I can't seem to get caught up on everything since our visit a few weeks ago. 

1. Petrified Forest

Pictures don't do this forest any justice at all, but seeing the stones that were once trees is pretty cool. The self-guided tour info pamphlet kept talking about the power of erosion and of nature... Well, that's just a reflection of God Almighty's power! You just have to see if there's a petrified forest near you. 

You can't tell, but this petrified log was MASSIVE.

The power of erosion washed away the dirt and sand
to reveal the petrified wood. 

"The Frog"

I've never seen such large bark

2. Cards

Have you ever played a game with JUMBO cards?!? 

3. Cool Picture

This was a pretty cool picture that a high schooler made out of cassette tape. It was on display at the local art museum. 

4. Molecules

We learned about atoms and molecules in science this week. Then the kids made an example of a water molecule out of marshmallows and tooth picks. 

5. Today's Grace Gem

The most precious thing in Heaven or earth!

(John Flavel, "The Fountain of Life" 1671)

"Yes, He is altogether lovely! This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend!" ~Song of Songs 5:16

In giving Christ to die for poor sinners, God gave the richest jewel in His cabinet! This is a mercy of the greatest worth, and most inestimable value. 

Heaven itself is not so valuable and precious as Christ is! Ten thousand thousand worlds, as many worlds as angels can number - would not outweigh Christ's love, excellency and sweetness! O what a lovely One! What an excellent, beautiful, ravishing One - is Christ! 

Put all the beauty of ten thousand paradises, like the garden of Eden, into one; put all flowers, all pleasing fragrances, all colors, all delicious tastes, all joys, all sweetness, all loveliness into one - O what a lovely excellent thing that wold be! And yet it would be less compared to that loveliest and dearest well-beloved Christ - than one drop of rain compared to all the seas, rivers, lakes, and fountains of ten thousand earths!

Now for God to bestow this mercy of mercies, the most precious thing in Heaven or earth, upon poor sinners; and, as great, as lovely, as excellent as His Son was - what kind of love is this! 

"Yes, He is altogether lovely! This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend!" ~Song of Songs 5:16

Moments to Remember ~ In School Suspension

Moments to Remember was developed as a simple way to look back on our week as homeschoolers and find photos that encompass the memories we want to remember. The week may have been tough, there may have been more bumps than smiles, but in the end, these are the moments that keep us going; the ones we need to remember. 

(created by Homeschool Creations)

Homeschooling does not come without challenges. Some days are more difficult than others. Today was no exception. Little Man got started on the wrong foot from the moment he got out of bed. No matter how hard I tried to be patient and work with his heart attitude, he refused to listen and obey. As a result, he got himself in what is called "in school suspension" (ISS). 

This is not the first time he's had to sit by himself to do his work and miss out on fun activities. However, this is the first time I thought of it as ISS.  

That made me chuckle. 

The Homeschool Mother's Journal ~ March 18, 2016

The blog here has been quiet for 2 weeks. Our schedule has been topsy turvy lately and I wanted to give an update. HMJ is the way to go!

In My Life

Crucifying myself, my pride and my will must be done on a DAILY basis. It's painful too. Not that I want to hang on to my selfish ways (or maybe I do?), but the flesh and the Spirit are at odds with each other. (Galatians 5:17) This war is difficult. Is that just me? 

In Our Homeschool

Bible - These past few weeks have been about Jesus being the Head of the Body, the Church. (Col. 1:18). We've been learning how we can grow together and encourage one another in the Body of Christ. 

History - This week in our American history studies, there are 4 new states to join the Union:  Main - 1820, Missouri - 1821, Arkansas - 1836, and Michigan - 1837. 

I learned something about my home state that I didn't previously know. Missouri is sometimes called the Cave State b/c of all the caves that have been discovered there. Tennessee is the only state that has more caves than Missouri. Who knew?

Science - Since we've been talking about Christ being the head of the Body, we've been taking a look at how our physical bodies work. We learned about how our brain and the 5 senses work together.

Math - We're wrapping up learning the addition facts. Then we'll move on to subtraction.

Language Arts - We're still trekking through Switched on Schoolhouse and Easy Peasy. Jonathan still dislikes handwriting practice and Adelle is getting better at composing letters. She's going to start writing a letter on Wednesdays. I'm calling it Letter Writing Wednesday. *smile*  She will write a letter to a different friend or family member each week and mail it off.

Read Alouds - We're still in On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder. My last HMJ post stated that we are in the middle of it. I should've said that we started it. I didn't realize how many chapters are in this book. It's been fun though. 

Places We're Going/People We're Seeing

My Sister-in-law (love) came to town for a 2 week visit. We took last week off to spend some time with her. This week we hit the books again during the morning, went to my in-laws house to continue to visit in the afternoon and stayed for dinner in the evenings. Then we had some more visitors! They are friends of my in-laws. Grandma's house has been quite full and our schedule has been full, fun and exhausting! 

I'm taking a big ole nap tomorrow..... maybe. 

We're Listening To

I'm still listening to and learning old hymns. The kids are listening to Awesome God album by Sovereign Grace Kids. I knew about a singer named Matt Boswell who writes modern hymns, but I have very recently discovered a couple of other modern hymn writers - Keith and Kristyn Getty and Stuart Townend. I still keep an eye on the lyrics to make sure they are Scripturally sound. Oh, and I also recently learned that Grace Community Church has published a new hymn book called Hymns of Grace. 

Directly from Grace Community Church website - With more than 100 new hymns and melodies from the last twenty years, Hymns of Grace is truly a new hymnal! The collection features almost forty new hymns from Keith and Kristyn Getty and Stuart Townend, as well as titles from Sovereign Grace, David Ward, Christ Anderson, R.C. Sproul and Matt Boswell, among other modern hymn writers. We have also included classic hymns (some in new musical settings) - and six by John Newton, sixteen by Isaac Watts and eighteen by Charles Wesley. 

Yes. I think I'm going to request one... just as soon as they're in stock again. 

A Photo, Quote or Video to Share

Let me suggest a fantastic website called Grace Gems; A Treasury of Ageless, Sovereign Grace, Devotional Writings. 

I signed up to receive the daily devotions in my email. Wow! 

Here is today's Grace Gem:

The best name by which we can think of God!
(Martin Luther)

"This, then, is how you should pray: Our Father in Heaven . . . "Matthew 6:9 

The best name by which we can think of God is Father. It is a loving, deep, sweet, heart-touching name, for the name of Father is in its nature, full of inborn sweetness and comfort.

Therefore, also, we must confess ourselves to be His children--for by this name we deeply touch our God, since there is not a sweeter sound to the father than the voice of the child.

"He shall cry to Me: You are my Father, my God, and the rock of my salvation!" Psalm 89:26