I Won!

I entered a contest recently that was being hosted on My {Trendy} Blogs, and I won! The contest was for a blog button, and since I'm clueless when it comes to HTML and design, I thought it would be fun to try! I can't wait to see the button for my blog! I will share it soon, and hopefully encourage my readers to share it! :) Yay!

If you're curious about My {Trendy} Blogs, you can check it out by clicking on the button on the right.

Eureka!

Sometimes the most fun part of home schooling is researching all the different curriculum plans available, checking out samples, and deciding which one/s you think (and hope) will work best for you and the kids. But it can also be the most frustrating.

Such is the case for me when it comes to Bible studies. The past few years I have tried a couple methods, and not been completely happy with either. The first year we started the history curriculum we were using relied heavily on the Bible for much of the Ancient history component, so our studies were mostly straight from the Bible using worksheets and projects. But it wasn't as thorough as I wanted and I wasn't sure how to implement more. The past two years we have been reading through The Bible Story, which are books I received as a gift. They read like story books, but it's all Bible stories, in the order they are in the Bible. The stories are accurate and captivating and they have beautiful pictures throughout which the kids loved to see. I also like these stories because we had some great discussions from them.

But the problem is they are not the Bible. I've been wanting to get the kids reading their own Bible, looking up the passages themselves, and memorizing Scriptures. So I've been torn with what to do. I don't want to abandon The Bible Story, but I also don't want to neglect this most important aspect of their education.

My desire was to find a Bible study program that is a chronological, one-year study of the Bible. I have a one-year Bible myself and I really loved how it made the whole story make so much more sense. I gained such a deeper understanding of God's plan by reading the Bible chronologically, that I wanted a way to impart that on my kids. Most Bible studies that are designed for home schoolers, however, break the Bible up into grade levels first, and then they break the Bible up into the various sections to work into the grade levels. I wanted us to be able to be learning the same thing at the same time, memorizing Scripture together.

I recently found a one-year Children's Bible I thought of using, but it is too juvenile for my older two. Plus, I don't think the Bible needs to be changed to suit younger kids. Too many Bible are so watered down for the kids, that the stories are not even interesting anymore. Who needs a Bible written by Krusty the Klown? No thanks.

Anyway, I think I have finally found a solution. It's a study called Foundations. It's a 3-year study through the Bible, chronologically. It's made for home schoolers to use as a family together. And, you use a regular Bible, whatever version you want! It helps you to start memorizing Scriptures, and memorizing the books of the Bible, from the start. Hooray for Bible drills! "Hold your swords up!" Ha ha ha....

While it's not "exactly" what I wanted (it goes through the Bible in three years versus one year), it's the closest thing I've found. And I'm excited to get started!

Summertime

It's so hard planning for summer, isn't it? The perpetual phrase, "I'm bored", is constantly nagging like an itch that travels under your skin.

This week begins our official summer break! I will be watching two kids in addition to my own, so I've been trying to think of things we could do to keep it fun and busy.

We have this awesome water park right up the street from our house that is free for people who live in this area. It's so much fun! So two days a week we will be spending time there.

On Mondays we'll be at another splash pad in the area that is basically a place where the kids run around in some souped up sprinklers.

Friday is our library day, so we'll keep up that tradition. I'm thinking maybe movie day on Wednesdays, with a walk to the park in the mornings, but I haven't decided yet.

I'm also still trying to figure out fun things to do for the times we're at home. It's too hot to just go outside and play, except for first thing in the morning. I've got to come up with some games and activities we can do.

Hopefully the things I have planned will be enough to keep it interesting and fun!

Books, books, books

Next week is our last week of the school year. We are just about done with everything except History, Math, and Language Arts. It's definitely been an interesting year!

For history this year we studied the Renaissance, Reformation, and early Colonial America. It was great learning about the many explorers that sailed uncharted waters and explored new lands, like Cristobal Colon, Vasco de Gama, and Ferdinand Magellan. We also learned about the reigns of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I.

What fascinated the kids the most, though, was the art of the Renaissance - Raphael, Michelangelo, and of course, Leonardo Da Vinci. They loved seeing the pictures of these and other artists and learning about the different styles that made them famous.

What I loved was playing a game a couple weeks ago where they had to match names of people we learned about with what they are known for (Reformer, King or Queen, Artist, Writer, etc.) Names like Ulrich Zwingli, Mary Tudor, and Nicolaus Copernicus were matched up correctly, and I was so happy to know that what we learned stuck! The cool thing about the style of learning we are doing is that we will come back around to the Renaissance in a few years, so what we learned will be further explored and it will cement it for them even more.

For literature, Gabby read Anne of Green Gables and Avonlea, The Pilgrim's Progress, The Bronze Bow, Midsummer Night's Dream, and Julius Caesar. Caleb read Peter Pan (unabridged), Charlotte's Web, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (before the movie came out), 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and Hoot. Paul read some great picture books like Caps for Sale, Make Way For Ducklings, the Little Bear Series, and Akimbo and the Lions. He's now a great reader and is reading chapter books!

Overall, we had a great year! I'm really looking forward to next year for so many reasons, but I'll write about those next time.

Thanks for reading if you made it this far!

See Ya-owl Later

We have been watching a nest of owls that we discovered in early spring. For a while it was just the mother owl, and on occasion, the dad was there. Then we were told the owlets hatched, so we checked it everyday waiting until we could see baby owls. The proximity of the nest was out of range for my camera, so I couldn't take a good picture of it.

Soon we saw the owlets sitting up in the nest. It was funny to watch their little heads bob around and look at us as we drove by, gawking at us as much as we were gawking at them.

Yesterday, we discovered one of them had left the nest and was perched on top of this trailer that was in the parking lot. It was there in the morning, and then again in the afternoon, in the exact same spot.

Then today, it was gone. The nest was empty. I'm kind of sad that the whole excitement of it is over. Maybe we'll get lucky and they will return next year. But they will be missed.

Coupon Deals!

Okay, I know I'm one in millions who is now motivated (or remotivated) to start couponing because of the show "Extreme Couponing". Today was my first day doing it since last year. In fact, I still have all my old expired coupons sitting in my bin because I just haven't gotten rid of them. But that's beside the point.

I got some excellent deals today, and I just wanted to share.

In the above picture you will see four boxes of pasta that I got free. Yeah, that's right! FREE!! The two bags of Boulder Canyon Potato Chips, and the Mom's Best Natural Cereal were also FREE! I also got a free bottle of water that I'd never tried (and am pleasantly surprised with). I got two packages of Uncle Ben's Whole Grain Rice for $.29 each. Those four large bottles of water were $.50 each. The cheese was $.89. And, to top it off, I got a register receipt for $3.00 off my next shopping trip!

Now, I know I'm not going to be like those ladies on t.v., with 4 shopping carts full of soda, or a garage full or hoarded groceries. But it is nice to get some free stuff. My goal is just to get some things free or super cheap so that I don't have to spend money on it. I wouldn't mind getting some free toothpaste or deodarant, or laundry soap for really cheap (right now I make my own, but I miss the pretty smell of the fancy stuff).

Anyway, just wanted to share my small success!

I'm Bustin!

When we first began home schooling three years ago, my daughter, Gabby, was behind in math. I discovered that instead of being at 4th grade level where she should have been, she was barely at a 2nd grade level. She struggled with simple addition and subtraction problems. I was trying to teach her multiplication, but she didn't understand it. She was frustrated and embarrassed, and she cried over math often.

We ended up starting from scratch and I showed her what addition and subtraction are for, how they work, and we just practiced, practiced, practiced. Gradually she began moving forward and further ahead.

We are now finishing up our third year of home schooling. She'll be in 7th grade next year (7th grade!). After researching what we will be using next year, I found a math program that I thought looked like an excellent program. But I wasn't quite sure if she was ready for the 7th grade level or not. So I gave her the placement test.

I'm proud to report that next year, my 7th grade daughter will be doing 7th grade math! I am just busting with pride! I'm so happy and happy for her. Gone are the days of crying over math (well, until we get to Geometry).

I'm also very thankful that God has provided me the opportunity to home school so that I can guarantee that my children are comprehending what they are being taught. There are so many other reasons that I'm glad I home school, but today, this one stands out to me!

Thank you also to everyone who has supported us and encouraged us. It is very easy to criticize and laugh at the "weirdos" who don't want their kids in school. I'm so blessed to have the support of my family and friends!

Where's the Love?

I browse certain websites often for the latest information in Prophesy news, news that correlates to Creation science, and once in a while, videos posted from YouTube on various sites.

Something that is always present on each of these sites is comments by Atheists or Agnostics that are not too kind. Their comments are usually extremely negative toward Christians and our beliefs. I often wonder what would inspire them to comment, knowing that the majority of people reading these news articles are Christian.

Is it strictly the desire to create conflict? Are they sincerely trying to convince the Christians reading the articles or the comments to reject their beliefs and become Atheist as well? And why are they targeting Christians? I don’t know.

So, I decided to present my question to some Atheists and Agnostics. I enlisted the help of my sister, an Atheist, to post my question to her friends, many of whom are Atheist and Agnostic.

My question was stated as follows:
“Why, when Atheists are criticizing people who believe in God or a god or several gods, or basically follow a religion or faith, do they always speak mostly of Christians? I mean, I never see a video by an Atheist that speaks poorly of Buddhists, or Muslims. They always show images of Christian churches, or Jesus, or whatever. They never disrespect people of other religions. The same for status posts, discussions, etc. Their hatred is always directed at Christians.”

The replies to my question were somewhat enlightening, but also not very surprising. The majority stated that because Christians are more vocal with their beliefs and worldview, and therefore more prevalent than other religions, that Christians are thought of first. That makes sense. Especially since we are called to “make disciples of all nations…” Although, many times the preaching done by Christians is not done out of love, but out of spite, which is sad.

Some of the respondents mentioned how the Christians they’ve known were complete hypocrites. I understand that, and I’ve seen it. I’ve done it. I think some people forget that Christians are also people who are as flawed as any other, and make mistakes, and hurt people intentionally and unintentionally, just like other people. I think the part that is most often left out is the part where we apologize and ask forgiveness of those we’ve hurt. It’s awful to think that a mistake done in a day could drive someone away from Jesus and cost them their life.

A couple of the respondents focused in on the wording of my question, and criticized how Christians feel criticized. I said in the question, “their hatred is always directed at Christians.” I did not mean to imply that I equate criticism with hatred. I do understand that there’s a big difference between the two. I was a little irked that the focus was on that one sentence in my question, but I digress.

The one quote that really stuck out to me, and cut right to the core, was this one: “…but I have seen more than my fair share in real life and on the internet of Christians just about peeing their pants with happiness that (they believe) others will suffer forever because they don't agree with the dogma. I am really disturbed at the general party attitude people have when telling others they are going to hell.”

Ouch. That one made me want to crawl into a little hole. The sad thing is they’re right. There are Christians who can’t wait for Judgment Day just to see all the evildoers perish. Instead of sharing the Gospel with all they can and trying to save others from perishing, they are delighting in the idea. Ick. That is just flat-out wrong.

God does not want for a single person to perish, but that ALL would come to have everlasting life. He does offer a choice. He gave us free-will so that we could decide for ourselves. But He does not delight in granting that wish. He gave his Son so that whoever believes in Him would NOT perish. The fact that he even offered his Son is proof that He does NOT want any of us to have to be apart from Him.

I did respond to the question, and was responded to, but did not continue the discourse because I didn’t feel like it would be productive. But I’m glad for the opportunity to have read each of the responses, and to think more of my own faith walk. I pray that I am never viewed as a “peeing in the pants” Christian, but as someone who really, genuinely cares for people. I really do want to show others how much God loves and cares for them!

Another Big-Mouth

Wow, I haven't written anything new on this blog in a really long time! I guess it's better late than never, depending on who's doing the waiting, right?

Well, I just wanted to write my thoughts regarding the Governor of Alabama's speech given today. In his speech, he said, "Anybody here today who has not accepted Jesus Christ as their savior, I'm telling you, you're not my brother and you're not my sister, and I want to be your brother." You can read about it here

I can kind of understand this man's intentions. Most likely, good intentions, at that. However, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Sure, he was speaking to a church crowd. And he is right about the fact that those who have Christ in them are his fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. But that is not something that really needed to be pointed out, now is it? If they are truly a church crowd, then he's preaching to the choir.

His statement rings of exclusivity, which is exactly what Christians are mostly accused of these days. Being intolerant. Being bigots. Constantly pointing out that we are saved and you are not, neener, neener, neener.

I get so tired of Christians in the public forum speaking without thinking first. Obviously, I have no problem with him talking about his faith, but use some common sense. All you have to do is read though the 24,000+ comments on the article I linked to in order to get an impression of how Christians are viewed in society today. It is disheartening, to say the least, and it makes me sad that many people are lost BECAUSE of us, not in spite of us.

There is a video I watched on Netflix a couple weeks ago called Lord, Save Us From Your Followers that I think is really great. It points out how Christians are viewed today to non-believers, and it also talks about how we SHOULD be approaching non-believers, rather than the way we have been doing it.

If you have not seen it, I encourage you to watch it.