Tuesday, November 24, 2009 - Post from the Past: Things to do for Thanksgiving
For those of you looking for some things to do for Thanksgiving (whether homeschooling or not)... check out some of the following ideas from a post from the past:
FREE Thanksgiving Unit Studies and More!
Please feel free to share any of the ideas or traditions you do in your home for Thanksgiving!
Posted by: Amy Verlennich
Nov. 20, 2009 - Today I am thankful for...
Today I am thankful for...the legacy my Mama and my Mom left me in the kitchen, as well as several of my sisters teaching me their "secrets" too!
Hugs,
Cynthia Robin
Posted by: Cynthia Robin
Nov. 18, 2009 - Today I am thankful for...
...the opportunities available to reach out and help others in so many ways.
During the upcoming holiday season, look around you. There are ever so many doors open to help those in need. You may think you're having it rough yourself, but when you begin to look at other's situations, you will find that yours is much more tolerable. God won't allow more to be put on you than what you can handle, with His help. Allow Him to help you through your own difficulties and allow Him to use you to help others through their difficulties, too!
This is a wonderful lesson to teach our children and grandchildren, and easily incorporated into the homeschool setting, as well as with children who attend public schools.
I'd love to hear how you and your family are reaching out to others! Just leave me a note by clicking the comment button under this post and share it with me here.
Have a most blessed day!
Hugs,
Cynthia Robin
Posted by: Cynthia Robin
Nov. 17, 2009 - Today I am thankful for...
Physical, Emotional, and Mental strength!
Hugs,
Cynthia Robin
Posted by: Cynthia Robin
Nov. 16, 2009 - And end...and a beginning
I always have mixed feelings during this time of the year. I feel a touch of sadness that the warm summer months are coming to an end...and at the same time, I feel excitement that a new season is beginning. The leaves change color, the air becomes crisper, the fresh vegetables in season become a bit hardier, and more layers are added in my wardrobe.
My cooking takes on different aspects in these cooler months, too. I tend to focus more on savory dishes and comfort foods. Yes, we still eat plenty of salads and raw veggies, however, oftentimes I will add meat to the salads and more root vegetables to the veggie trays. Unfortunately, I also bake more during this time of year--sweets that should not be consumed very often. Brownies, cakes, pies, cookies...yes, all of them. However, I am trying to use more whole grains in my baking, and having some success.
I tend to spend more time indoors now, too, and this gives me more opportunities to spend in the Word. A passage of scripture has been in my mind quite often here lately, and I thought I'd share it with you...
Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
~Isaiah 55:6-11
As some of you know, we have faced a few difficulties here recently. I was laid off from work late in the summer, and have been unable to find a new job yet. Also, my son was diagnosed with cancer a few weeks ago. However, while these things may look devastating, there is much to praise God for! The bills are paid, and God is continuing to prove Himself to be the Source of all good things in my life. Also, His Word has not returned void in my son. Words of healing have continually been spoken over him since the diagnosis, and when the doctors did their exploratory surgery last week, they found no cancer at all! Hallelujah! Yes, we do serve a mighty God and He continues to bless us in many ways!
I have been working on my newsletter as I find the time, and am hoping to have it out very soon. I hesitate to give a definite time or date, though, but will say I am trying my best to get it out as quickly as possible.
Thank you so much for being faithful and loyal to my blog and my writings. Many of you have walked this journey with me for several years, and many of you are relative newcomers here. I keep all of you in my prayers daily and look forward to hearing about the wonderful things God is doing in your life!
I am going to try to begin posting what I am thankful for each day here as I have been doing on my Facebook profile.
Today I am thankful for....words of encouragement and exhortation from unexpected sources!
Posted by: Cynthia Robin
Wednesday, October 28, 2009 - Homeschooling calls for ...
an easy going spirit...
So, yesterday afternoon, I'm chatting with our ES...supervising snack time...keeping an eye on dinner.... DD1 comes back from taking the dog for a walk, and puts the dog away, then goes to the kitchen sink to wash her hands...or so I thought....until......a GIANT FROG starts jumping around the kitchen, accompanied by screaming and laughing kids! She'd found a huge (5 inches long or so, in the body alone!) frog and brought it home to warm up!!
So, we had a quick look at the frog. All the kids got to inspect it. Then we had a lesson on proper hand washing. And then DD1 and I had a discussion about NOT using my tweezers to remove the WORM poking out of the frogs eye....
The frog is now living in the garden, we hope. I can't wait to see what is next.....
Posted by: Mama to so many
Thursday, October 15, 2009 - Amazing TV
Yes, that's right, TV, lol! DD1 and I have been watching "The Amazing Race 15" together, and it's led to some wonderful geography lessons (to be expected of course), but also to some other great history and social studies lessons. Discussions rambling from Vietnam war, POW, terrorism, JFK...poverty, both in 3rd world countries and here in America....religion....it's been wonderful! Each 1 hour episode (ok, 40 minutes after all the commercials, lol) takes us 2 hours or so to watch, with how often we pause it to chat. Gotta love that!
Posted by: Mama to so many
Thursday, October 8, 2009 - Settling in....
Well, we're settling in to a routine finally. I had us WAY overwhelmed for a bit, and drama and chorus hadn't even started! So, we've dialed it back a bunch, and it seems to be working better.
I'm trying to lean more towards unschooling, or at least a looser schooling method. I can't get totally comfortable with unschooling entirely, but I also don't want to be "school at home". I'm encouraging the kids to do more projects, like DD2 decided to make a book on the solar system, and DD1 might be doing one on cavies. Sticking with our math curriculum, light grammar and spelling work....adding in lots more reading time....
DD2 has finally finished Beta MUS, and will move on to Gamma next week. She's VERY proud. DD3 is about 2/3 through Alpha, and flying through. And DD1 is halfway through Zeta.
Nothing really interesting here, I guess, but hopefully I can start keeping up with the blog.
Posted by: Mama to so many
Oct. 3, 2009 - Urgent Prayers Needed
I would like to ask you to remember my precious sister, Joyce, in your prayers. Her husband passed away Thursday night. They were married for several decades (around 50 years, I'm not certain of the exact number), and as to be expected, this is hitting her hard. He had been going through kidney dialysis for the last year, and she's holding on to the fact that his body has now been made perfect and he is no longer suffering and in pain. Hallelujah! Thank you for your prayers.
There have been many other prayer requests given to me, as well, and they will be included in my next newsletter (which has been delayed due to so many upheavals in my own life lately). I hope to have it out to you in the next week or so. Thank you for your patience.
Hugs,
Cynthia Robin
Posted by: Cynthia Robin
Thursday, October 1, 2009 - (Trying to) Get my act together for the holidays (again)...
So, in light of trying to "get my act together" ONCE AGAIN during the holidays, as I sit here writing this post, my printer is feverishly at work making my Holiday Planner that will give me some direction and guidance to the holiday season I've always dreamed of... or, at least, that's what I'm hoping for... tee hee...
I posted on this last year... and honestly, I even got some of it done, but "life" got out of control and I didn't do as well as I'd hoped... so, I'm at it again this year... giving it my best shot and another try knowing that if at first you don't succeed... TRY, TRY AGAIN! (Which is probably more of my "life verse"... tee hee)
If you struggle through the holidays, please feel free to join me by buying your own copy of Sheri Graham's Holiday Planner (which includes Ann Voskamp's Jesse Tree Devotional that I LOVE), or stop back here and read how things are going on my blog... maybe through some encouragement, we can make it through the holidays together!
Posted by: Amy Verlennich
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