A Celebration
June 23, 2010
On June 12th, I was surrounded by my precious family and many friends whom I have had the pleasure of knowing in my lifetime. They came to celebrate what the Lord has done in my life, how He has taught, instructed, and guided me.
And how He laid it on the hearts of my parents to educate my sister and I at home.
My dear parents spoke to those gathered at our home about the workings of the Lord and His great mercy He has shown towards our family. What a blessing and encouragement to hear them speak and glorify the Lord with a testimony of His goodness.
It was a beautiful day. I have an over-abundance of things to be thankful for!
As you may well know, I will be learning for the rest of my life. I have been blessed with a love of learning. The celebration was the end of my “official” education at home, but I won’t stop the adventure there. (We do have more projects in the works!)
The decorations shown above were made from folded, vintage dictionary pages which were hot-glued together. On top was glued lace (which had been sewn into a circle) with scrapbook paper added to the center. They make for a perfect whimsical decoration!
The past thirteen years.
June 7, 2010
A little over thirteen years ago, the Lord gave my mother the vision of homeschooling. As she shared about it with my father, God laid it on both of their hearts. There wasn’t a choice.
And here we are. Thirteen years later.
My gratefulness to God and to my parents can never be fully expressed. Because of being educated at home, Breezy and I were able to be raised with a biblical worldview and Christ-centered education.
The precious parents my Lord has blessed me with, by God’s grace, were able to follow the commands in Deuteronomy 6:5-7, which says,
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your might.
These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart.
You shall teach them diligently to your sons and
shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when
you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.”
Although my “official” home education is over, my education will never be complete . . . because I’ll always be learning. Always be watching. Always be reading.
I like it that way. And I’m thankful to have had instilled in me the love of learning.
P.S. The photos are of crinkled, vintage dictionary pages, which will be a part of the decorations for my upcoming graduation open house.
Raising Homemakers
June 2, 2010
There is something very special about a little girl.
She will grow up one day and become an influence to others, maybe even have an impact on an entire culture. How can a little girl one day grow, by God’s wondrous grace, into a lady who impacts the lives of others?
She is trained. To fear the Lord. To be a sturdy woman. To have character. To be a light to those around her. To be patient. To serve joyfully. To submit. To be selfless. To be a keeper at home. To be a homemaker.
By God’s grace, a little girl can grow into a godly woman who is passionate about her God-given role in the home. Her light can shine brightly and have an impact on many generations to come.
There are many examples of strong, sturdy women throughout history. We desire that the the next generation of ladies will be homemakers who delight in their God-given role and trust in the Lord with their whole being.
Raising Homemakers is a new website to encourage mothers (and daughters) in teaching and preparing daughters in the art of homemaking! There are several contributing writers, including my dear mum, Sarah Mae, June Fuentes, and Stacy McDonald (+ more!).
P.S. There is a wonderful giveaway, too! Homestead Blessings, anyone?
a party … decorations … and graduation
June 2, 2009
Saturday was the day that we celebrated Breezy’s homeschool graduation with a graduation open house where family and friends gathered to congratulate her.
There was, of course, plenty of preparation involved. But it was all a joy to know that it was for that dear sister of mine.
{me decorating the tree by Breezy}
When the majority of the food was prepared, I had the wonderful privilege of making the decorations. The decorations were garlands of triangles and rectangles that Maggie and I hung on the branches and around the trunk of our large oak tree.
{straw around the tree}
We borrowed straw from our granny to place around the tree as extra sitting places.
{garlands in the tree by Breezy}
I believe that Saturday was the most festive our yard has ever looked. Simply charming!
{family & friends by Maggie}
There were many who visited and congratulated Breezy, both those who were near and those who were far. It was so good to fellowship with one another!
{two pretty ladies}
{around the tree}
{Momma, Breezy, & Daddy}
The Lord has greatly blessed me with such a wonderful father, mother, and sister!
Breezy, I am so thankful to have such a wonderful sister — you mean more to me than you can know! Your friendship has blessed me greatly and I look forward to seeing what the Lord has in store for your future, dear one! I love you!
“Whatever you do, do your work heartily,
as for the Lord rather than for men,
knowing that from the Lord you will receive
the reward of the inheritance.
It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.”
Colossians 3:23-24
Funny how things change.
May 30, 2009
{Maggie & Emily Rose}
We knew it was coming, but I suppose that it has come a bit quicker than we expected.
We are growing up. Our lives are changing.
Today was Breezy’s homeschool graduation open house. It was a lovely party and I will write more about it later, as well as post pictures. In the meantime, you should read this post by my dear cousin (who I think of as my second sister).
We have a beautiful future to look forward to, but it can be hard to say farewell to the past.
The Lord is forever good and faithful. Praise His holy name!
“Praise the Lord!
Praise, O servants of the Lord,
Praise the name of the Lord.
Blessed be the name of the Lord
From this time forth and forever.
From the rising of the sun to its setting
The name of the Lord is to be praised.
The Lord is high above all nations;
His glory is above the heavens.”
Psalm 113:1-4
Today’s post . . .
March 26, 2009
. . . can be read over at Like a Warm Cup of Coffee!
Sarah Mae asked my sister and I to write posts about being homeschooled, and we happily obliged. We have been homeschooling for 11 years now, and they have been eleven wonderful years which we have seen the Lord’s mighty hand working in our lives and bringing us closer together as a family.
So, with no further a due, click here to read my post (title: Homeschooling is our lifestyle . . .) about of our wonderful home educating experience! By the way, my sister’s post is also featured today at Like a Warm Cup of Coffee (Momma also wrote an article which was posted yesterday).
P.S. If you’ve just arrived from Sarah Mae’s blog, you might consider joining in on snippets of my inspirations by joining here!
A FREE Gift for You!
November 17, 2008
For all those who like to plan ahead, I have made a special gift. It is also for those who may not always plan ahead, but really like cute calendars.
Monthly Calendar (2-Page Spread Layout)
The past few weeks I have been working on calendar spreads. Each month is a 2-Page spread, with a box for each date. There is a column on the left side of the left page with room for extra notes.
They will fit perfectly into a three-ring binder, especially since I left room for the holes made by the hole punch. They are made to lay side by side.
The calendars are perfect for remembering birthdays and anniversaries, writing out meal menus, and planning out your everyday life!
These calendars are download-able in two different files. One file is for November 2008 to December 2008, and the other is for January 2009 through December 2009.
I made it just in time for you to use it for your holiday planning and then for the whole next year!
Excited? Click here for information on downloading!
Photogenic Summer
September 24, 2008
At the Homeschool Post (previously named Home School Blog Awards), Jocelyn has started a meme called Homeschool Memoirs. Each Wednesday, she writes an assignment for us to post about. This week’s assignment is to post photos of your summer.
When we bought our first digtal camera, we began to take 2x more pictures than we had before with our film camera. Than we got another one – a better one – and took even more photos each week.
Now, we that we have a DSLR camera, we take even more than ever before. The nice thing about digital cameras – you can take as many as you want, and it doesn’t cost you anything. That’s the fun part. The un-fun part is when you have 500 pictures to go through every week and delete the ones you don’t need.
But it is all worth it to have all our pictures on the computer where they’re easy to find and look at.
So, below are some pictures from our summer with brief explanations beneath each one. Oh, and at top-right is a picture of a spider web with dew during a foggy morning.
Sewing . . . I began to sew a dress in the above material to make sure a pattern would work right before I used the actual material I wanted the dress made out of. I still have yet to finish the practice, let alone start the real one. Handiwork is very enjoyable to me, and it is nice to see the fruit of my labors.
Corn . . . we shucked corn. What a delightful grain it is! God is so good! He created so many delicious fruits and vegetables (though of the latter I do not enjoy very many)! We also brought in a small crop of strawberries from our strawberry patch.
Dirt . . . I gardened and took care of my sweet little chickens and hens. At this point they still need a lot of care, and I’ll have to weed them again sometime, because the babies are being overgrown with weeds. Hopefully I’ll get it done pretty soon when it gets a little cooler outside.
Mrs. Brown . . . I had the wonderful opportunity to meet the lovely Mrs. Brown at the UC&F conference in August. She was a great encouragement to me, and a godly lady. I would love to be just like her when I am her age, she is just so very sweet. Her love for her Savior and family was very apparent as we visited with her.
Crafts . . . made several. Since I did a weekly post at the HSB Backyard on crafts, I had to make one each week. Here are links to some of the crafts I made: Notebook (pictured above), Little Portrait Book, Whimsical Button Bouquet, and Memories.
Grape Jelly . . . momma made homemade grape jelly. I got to photograph the whole process. Hopefully in the upcoming week I will post about it with step-by-step instructions on how to make “vintage” style grape jelly (meaning, not FDA approved).
Bently . . . our newly acquired little furry friend. Bently Scribbles came to us in August and he is a very good little dog. He is fitting in very well now, though it was a bit difficult at first. You can read more about him here.
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And those are few of the things I have done this summer! Oh, I forgot one . . .
Church Picnics . . . and I leave you with this picture of a beautiful little sweetheart!
One Year Adventure Novel
September 10, 2008
This year we are taking an adventure. Many a time I have started a novel, and never quite made it to page three. My problem has always been that I think of a great beginning, but then I really don’t know where the story goes after that, usually too many ideas or not enough.
Since Breezy and I would both like to write an adventure novel, we purchased a program that would better help us to plan and complete our novels.
We started the curriculum last week – The One Year Adventure Novel by Daniel Schwabauer.
The author and teacher of the program is entertaining and the lessons have a great soundtrack. There are 72 lessons, and we are to do about three per week. They are not trying, and nor are they frustrating. He simply starts you at the beginning and sets up a few limitations, and uses examples from classic literature and old films. One thing he shows you is that “Boundaries inspire creativity – not hinder it.”
To prove the statement above, here are two assignments:
1. In sixty seconds, write a paragraph about anything you want.
2. In sixty seconds, write a paragraph in which the narrator describes his first blast-off in a rocket ship.
Which was easier? Most likely the one that was more specific and had boundaries in which to write about. In this way, the author gives several boundaries with which to inspire and create a believable story.
So far I am really enjoying it, and it only seems to get more interesting as it goes. I have had a difficult time coming up with the story, but I believe that I may have come up with the synopsis. If you don’t have any ideas as to what your novel will be about, Mr. Schwabauer gives several ideas for the synopsis.
Would you like to write an adventure novel? You can visit the website here, check out a couple sample lessons here, and even request a free DVD with samples here.
Are you using a new curriculum this year? You can post about it on your blog, and sign Mr. Linky here.
While living the life my Lord has blessed me with, I am at home with my family enjoying being a daughter, homemaker and artist. My highest goal is to give glory to God and enjoy Him forever. It is He that has saved me with His amazing grace and is continually molding me; to Him I owe everything. Read more . . .
