Being Thankful in All Things

Lately I've been reminded of just how blessed I truly am. The Lord continues to show me my blessings and I am reminded to be thankful to him and not take these things for granted.

Psalm 100:4 reminds us: "Be thankful unto him, and bless his name."

Some of the things I am thankful for today:

*my husband
*my four children
*my parents
*my mother-in-law
*a good job for my husband
*being able to stay at home with my children
*daily provisions


There have been times in my life that were more difficult and extremely stressful, but during those times God continued to remain faithful to me.

In my short life I've been many places and seen many people and things. It's easy to get caught up in today and it's worries and to forget of those who have no food, shelter, or most importantly don't know my Lord.

Today may we be reminded how blessed we truly are and thank him for these blessings.

When we give him thanks and praise we have no time to complain of what we think we "need" or want.

Thank you, Father, for blessing me today.

My Way of Freezer Cooking

I've read several of the freezer cooking books where you make a month of meals in one day and then you don't have to cook for the rest of the month. They look so great to me and I think oh I'll try that one day, but I've just never been brave enough to try that for even two weeks worth of meals.

Maybe it's just because I'm not that organized.
Yes, that will be my excuse for now :)

I do freezer cooking in small batches though and I thought I'd share.

When I buy ground chuck I usually by 5-6 lbs at a time. Here are the ways I like to freeze it:

I like to either cook it all up (with onions and sometimes garlic) to freeze for spaghetti, lasagna, tacos or some other quick meal.

I've also started making my meatloaf ahead of time. I mix it up and put it in my meatloaf glass pan and freeze it until ready to thaw and bake. I add the ketchup, mustard and brown sugar topping after I thaw it out.

I, also, like to make up my hamburger patties and freeze so they'll be ready to grill when I need them. Plus, they thaw fairly quickly so it makes for an easy meal. Hamburgers and fries are one of my family's favorite meals.

I'll share more next week of how I use my freezer to help when I'm short on time.

Our 2011-2012 Curriculum

I linked up to Heart of the Matter online to post our curriculum choices for this year. This is actually our third year to begin school in July. We began on July 5. It's too hot for the kids to play outside with 100 degree temps.

This is our 6th year of homeschooling. We have a 4th, 2nd, K and Pre-K.

We use My Father's World multi-age cycle. This year we are using Rome to the Reformation.

4th & 2nd together-
Bible/History- Victor Journey Through the Bible, Streams of Civilization: Volume 1, Trial and Triumph
-Readings from Luke, 1 John, Philippians and other books of the Bible, and memory verses from the New Testament
-How the Bible Came to Us
-Ancient World, Augustus Caesar's World, The Roman Empire, and Medieval World
-Map Work, History Notebook, timeline, and hands on projects
-Library books- used for enrichment (when we can find them). We don't have a very good library.

Science
-First Encycylopedia of the Human Body
- The Human Body for Every Kid
- The Body Book
- Exploring Creation with Astronomy
- Weekly nature walks and nature journals

Foreign Language
English from the Roots Up- Latin roots

Spanish- basic course for my younger three using printables off the web

Reading- I use the book lists from Sonlight and Ambleside online as a guide to what books my 4th and 2nd grader read.

Read-alouds-
(currently) The Bronze Bow,
The Burgess Animal Book for Children(all)


4th Grade:

Rod & Staff Grammar 4
Spelling Power
Singapore Math 4A-4B
Mavis Beacon typing
Writing Strands Level 3 (We will be trying this again this year. We only used it a few weeks last year. It didn't work well so I decided to wait a year.)
Reading- currently Heidi and Stuart Little


2nd Grade:

Abeka Spelling 2nd
Primary Language Lessons (and some Abeka 2 Language since I have a workbook)
Singapore Math 2A-2B
Handwriting- some Abeka plus copy work and dictation from Bible and reading
Reading-currently Charlotte's Web


K-
Handwriting- Veritas Press Kindergarten Workbook
Abeka Phonics K and 1
Math- various manipulatives and printouts for copying numbers
Abeka readers 1
various books for reading and read-alouds
various arts and crafts

Pre-K:

Playdough, coloring books, printouts from 1+1+1+1, waterpaints, pattern blocks, cutting and pasting, magnetic letters, read alouds, etc.

Nature Walk Pictures

Name Banner for Child's Room

My 9 year old daughter and I rearranged her room yesterday and I was noticing how blah the wall above her bed was looking. It just needed something to brighten it up a bit.

I'd seen these banners in pictures before and figured they were fairly simple, but had never really taken the time to figure it out.

Let me tell you how simple it was.

I made a triangle pattern out of freezer paper. I just cut out a shape- no measuring or anything. You can't get much easier than that. I guess if you're a perfectionist on measurements and all you could use a ruler, but I didn't.

The reason I like to use freezer paper is because you lay the shiny paper side down on the fabric and iron(on a low setting) and the pattern piece (freezer paper) adheres to the fabric. That makes it so easy to cut out- no pins! Then you simply peel off the freezer paper and you have a triangle shape. I made seven of these using 4 different colors.

***Just a note*** I used pinking sheers to cut out my triangles so I wouldn't have to sew them. Plus, I like the way it looks!

After cutting out your triangles, lay them out on the floor or table. Then, use the binding tape or ribbon to pin the triangles to form your pattern. I held it up on the wall after pinning just to check and see how it would look.
Sew each triangle to the binding tape. I used a zig-zag stictch.

Tie the ends in a bow or knot and hang on the wall.

I had some chipboard letters in my stash and thought they'd be extra cute on it. You could make the banner without the letters if you didn't have them. They just add to it a little bit.

I wasn't sure how to attach them, but I remembered that I had some spray adhesive. It worked great! I just sprayed the back of each letter and stuck it on. After it dried, I hung it up. Kayla loved it! I got an extra hug for it, too. I'll always take those :)

Krayon Keeper- Great Gift Idea!

A few years ago I found this website http://www.girlythingsbows.com/
while researching how to make bows. They have lots of super cute "free" tutorials on making bows, hair accessories, bow holders, clips, and of course, Krayon Keepers.

These can also be called crayon rolls. They roll up and you just use a button and ribbon for the closure or you can use two ribbons and tie it together.

When I give this as a gift I like to put new crayons in it. I guess you wouldn't have to even put any in it, but new crayons are so much fun.


And now is a great time to stock up on crayons. They usually run them very cheap in the "Back to School" sales. I usually stock up and buy enough to last me until next year's sales.

These are such cute little gifts paired with a coloring book. My children love to give them to friends on their birthdays. I have made some for boys, too. I just forgot to take a picture :(

Also, if you have an older child that you think wouldn't want one there are ideas around the internet to make art rolls- changing the size to accommodate colored pencils. I've been wanting to try it, but haven't taken the time. Maybe that will be my next project.

Sand Art

We've been doing a little extra arts/crafts this summer. My mom found these little Sand Art kits at a discount store and thought we'd enjoy it.

The recommended age was 6+, but I let all my children participate. My five year old needed a little extra help, but my 7 and 9 year old could do it on their own after reading the directions. My little 3 1/2 year old was too little, but she had a lot of help from me and her oldest sister.

If you will notice we did this activity outside. It was a very smart idea if I do say so myself. Sand + inside of my house = not a good thing.

It turned out to be a fun activity. They really enjoyed it and I treated them to a popsicle afterwards since it was about 100 degrees that day!