A night on the river

We decided to keep to ourselves for 4th of July
We ventured down to a quiet spot along the Willamette River for a camp fire,some splashing and some family time.
We listened to CDs from the OCEANetwork homeschool conference keynote speaker, Norm Wakefield and continued  our journey growing as a family in Christ.

I am grateful for evenings like this with my family

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Thankful Thursday Valentines blessings

Thankful for the blessings of my boys and their great big hearts today.

Yesterday afternoon on our way home from homeschool co-op we stopped at the Dollar Tree so the boys could do some shopping.  This morning they gave me my present; a chocolate bar with almonds, red roses , and a card.

Cameron made me breakfast in bed (MorningStar Farms sausage links, toast, and orange juice)

Here is the front of the card they gave me.

and the inside of the card.

I asked them if they read the card and they said yes, it was the only one they could find that wasn't funny or too lovey dovey.

I have such sweet boys some days.

Hanukkak, Christmas, Fruit of the Spirit Peace

Today's focus is Peace.

Again I am using the King Jame's Version of the Bible unless noted along with citations from the Christian Science textbook Science and Health with Keys to the Scripture by Mary Baker Eddy.

Feel free to share your thoughts on Peace and the Prince of Peace as we love to hear from readers.

Section II

Peace

The Bible

Isaiah 54:13

¹³ And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children.

II Thessilonians 3:6

⁶ Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.

I Corinthians 1:3

³ Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 14:33

³³ For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

Isaiah 9:6,7

⁶ For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. ⁷ Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

Isaiah 52:7

⁷ How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!

Section II

Science & Health

45:16

Glory be to God, and peace to the struggling hearts!

Christ hath rolled away the stone from the door of hu‐
18 man hope and faith, and through the reve‐
lation and demonstration of life in God, hath
elevated them to possible at-one-ment with the spiritual
21idea of man and his divine Principle, Love.

506: 8-14

Genesis i. 8. And God called the firmament Heaven.

9   And the evening and the morning were the second day.

Through divine Science, Spirit, God, unites under‐
standing to eternal harmony.

The calm and exalted
12 thought or spiritual apprehension is at peace.

Thus the dawn of ideas goes on, forming each
successive stage of progress.

52:13

Despised and rejected of men," was Isaiah's
graphic word concerning the coming Prince of Peace.

15

Herod and Pilate laid aside old feuds in order to unite
in putting to shame and death the best man that ever
trod the globe.

To-day, as of old, error and evil again
18make common cause against the exponents of truth.

The "man of sorrows" best understood the nothing‐
ness of material life and intelligence and the mighty ac‐

21  tuality of all-inclusive God, good.

These were the two cardinal points of Mind-healing, or
Christian Science, which armed him with Love. The high‐
24  est earthly representative of God, speaking of human
ability to reflect divine power, prophetically said to his
disciples, speaking not for their day only but for all time:
27"He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do
also;" and "These signs shall follow them that believe."

59:11

Fulfilling the
12different demands of their united spheres, their sympa‐
thies should blend in sweet confidence and cheer, each
partner sustaining the other, — thus hallowing the union
15of interests and affections, in which the heart finds peace
and home.

another note to readers: all citations from Science and Health are copied with formatting as they are seen in our weekly lesson and in the book.

I hope you have a blessed week as we continue our journey. 

What's the trick to preparing for the holidays?

60 days until Christmas, 28 days until Thanksgiving, and only 8 days until my oldest turns 10 so I'm starting to feel the push.
That being said I thought I would share with you my top 10 tricks to preparing for the holiday season!
Recently I shared some wonderful Mom invented goodies with some of my Mom friends thanks to #MompactLNO.  I created goody bags to put some of the various things in for the Moms which brings me to tip.
#1, have your children help with some of the decorating!
I picked up a package of foam leaf stickers and colored paper bags. My oldest stuck 3 stickers on each bag and then helped me fill them.











#2 Take time to be grateful for even the little things in your life.  My group of Moms created Gratitude jars using stickers, ribbon, scraps of paper, and empty recycled canning jars.
Share with your family and friends as a way to be grateful this season. Ask each family member even the younger ones to share what they are thankful for, write it on a slip of paper and date it.

#3 Keep lots of warm drinks handy as there is nothing better to calm the stress then a cup of warm. Remember as we prepare for the holiday season, a stressed out Mom doesn't make for a fun holiday. If you need to cut back on some of the decorating or bake a little less then do it. I know I am planning on baking for gifts this year as well as crafting, but I am also cutting back on the decorating and trying to simplify things a little.

#4 Buffet style is awesome! Keep is simple, if you are having guests over consider a buffet style rather than a formal sit down event. Yes sitting down for a meal is good (we do it almost every night at home) but being with people and having conversation is good too. I have found over the years some of my favorite parties have been buffet style (also easier to clean up at least for me.




#5 Keep a basket on the counter in the bathroom filled with products that will help visiting Moms and little ones. We have grown out of the baby stage but I have friends and family with little ones.  Here are some of the wonderful Mompact Products to fill a basket with:
  

Boogie Wipes, Diaper Buds, and TidyTots potty chair liners

#6 Stay Consistent  I know during the holidays sometimes we want to relax the rules a bit, not a good idea. Stay consistent with rules and consequences, add some extra snuggle time and extra incentives to following the rules, but don't relax the rules recovering on the back side of the holidays will be too hard. Penalty Pal is a great way to simplify timeouts with a single spot on the wall, a floor , perhaps even the kitchen cabinet or pantry door.

#7 Drink extra water, I know that sounds silly, but with the change in the weather and the rush rush of the holidays remember to drink your 8+ glasses a day.

#8. Cuddle with your kids more. We live in a very materialistic society and sometimes I think we forget about the simple things like snuggling. Read a book, share the day's events, ask them what they think of things.
#9. Menu plan and freezer meals are a huge way to save time and stress. It can also be a money saver if you can pick up larger quantities of things to have on hand.
#10 Share your thoughts and ideas with friends and family. Coming together and sharing some of the responsibilities for the holidays can make it easier. Potluck is a wonderful option for large family dinners (even buffet style). Maybe change it up a little and only buy gifts for the children to save money. Think outside the box, what will help make someone else's life a little less stressful.

Join us tonight (10/25) for a twitter party where we can share tips and tricks for the holiday season.
You can also enter to win a prize pack filled with treats to make you life a little easier.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Pilgrim Story online school style #hsreviews

Usually the story of the pilgrim journey is glossed over so much that students don't really learn the truth and the details that are critical to understanding. Not true with The Pilgrim Story from Dayspring Christian Academy.  Dayspring is a Christian Academy that uses the Principal Approach to education, meaning their foundation is the Bible and Biblical principles in all areas and teaching to restore American heritage.  The more I read and understand the Principle approach the more I want to include it in our homeschool. Thankfully, we received a subscription to this class and easily incorporated it into our home. While there was more writing then Cameron liked. We found the slide show style presentations made it easy to watch and pause for discussions or answer questions that might come up.

The graphics that are incorporated into the slideshow are very straightforward and connected well throughout the unit.  The various worksheets and activities to reinforce the messages are again well connected with matching graphics and style with a good variety of activities. I especially liked the notebooking approach of the program where everything once finished moves to the notebook for future reference  making the unit study a lifetime learning project.
With the vocabulary we were able to learn not only new words but their meanings and the possible uses even though for the most part many of the words won't necessarily make it into everyday conversation. (hey, a mom can hope that they will , but really...)
Since the program is mostly online, it was nice to have Cameron work by himself with only as little interaction from Mom or Dad away from the distraction of his brother or the rest of the house.
The Biblical foundation of the program gives me confidence in having him work on the program without the worry of content or conflict.
The Pilgrim Story is geared toward 3rd- 6th graders so was a perfect fit for our 4th grader and retails for $99.00. The price is higher than I would normally pay for a unit study, but for the whole program is realistic especially if you have multiple children in that age range. This would be a great program for a family to do together.
Below is an introduction video about the program.


Being a self-paced program allows for flexible incorporation into your school week, since there isn't an assigned time to log on to view the presentations. That to me is a huge benefit to this particular program. With so many programs I have looked at , meetings where only at certain times making it hard to work it into our day.
The course comes to its end with a virtual field trip , which is a surprise for Cameron as I haven't told him about it yet.
The course also fit perfectly into a class he is taking within our local co-op about symbols of America. Understanding the foundations of this country is more important now then ever before and having the Biblical foundation to accompany it is vital.
Of course you don't have to take just my word for it, the Schoolhouse Review Crew members share their thoughts as well.

disclaimer: As a member of the Schoolhouse Review Crew we received a subscription to the above mentioned program in exchange for our honest opinion of the program.

E is for Easter #atozchallenge

With Easter just a couple of days away I thought I would share our Easter traditions with you.
Easter morning the boys have resurrection biscuits for breakfast while they get to search through their baskets for treasures.
Next it is off to church and then over to Auntie's house for egg hunt and fancy dinner. The boys love the egg hunt and love setting up their own egg hunt after the fact to play.
This year funds are really tight so they "baskets" will be simple and full of crafts, school supplies, and healthy snacks along with a couple coupons for future activities (trip to a special park, a night a grandma's, picnic date with Mommy).

 They will also be receiving their own copy of The I like Book for Kids, in which I hope to have family write in it before or at least on Easter.

What are some of your Easter traditions?