My poor baby is sick today.  So, while I'm sitting here, waiting for the Pediatrician to open, I thought I'd update you on what's been happening during our Christmas break.

We've done a little baking.   We tried our hand at making Baklava.  My Aunt sent us her recipe.  It was fun to make.  The kids enjoyed buttering all the layers of philo!

When it was finished, my 10 year old poured the cooled syrup over the hot Baklava.

After tthat, we decided to make sugar cookies!

Yum! 

Okay, here is one of our Christmas puppies! 

I was also able to do a little sewing the other day.  I made this nightgown for the baby.  I used the Sense and Sensibility girls Regency dress pattern.  Here is big brother protecting his sister with his new cross bow from Vision Forum.

My son is thrilled with his new air soft gun. 

So, that's what we've been up to the past week! 

I pray you have a blessed New Year as you follow our Lord Jesus!

Kristen from North Carolina!   Congratulations!

Thank you to all who entered.  Check back another time.  Vision Forum said they will be doing more giveaways like this for their affiliates in the future!

Have a blessed day!

Margaret

Today is the last day to enter to win one of the following great products!

Doll Carrier  or The League of Grateful Sons (DVD)

To enter, just email me at ....  Please include your choice of either the Doll Carrier or League of Grateful Sons DVD. 

I will put all the names in a hat and let one of my children pick the winner!   I will post the winners name tomorrow December 20th.  I'll also contact you via email that day.  I'll need the winners name and complete mailing address by the 22nd.  I will give that directly to Vision Forum and they will ship out your prize in 2 to 3 weeks.

Click here if you'd like to become a Vision Forum Affiliate today!

Amy at Dandelion Seeds is offering her new devotional "Create In Me a Clean Heart!" for free.  I've peeked at it and can't wait to download mine. (I'm just out of printer paper right now. )   Thank you Amy!

My friend sent me the link for this FUNNY homschool music video.   My kids got such a kick out of it, I wanted to share it with you. 

 Homeschool2 video 

 "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning."  James 1:17

In November we Celebrated my sweet husbands 46^th birthday!  (I’m a little late posting pictures. ) I am so thankful for him and love him so much, he truly is a gift from the Lord.  I sometimes get so caught up in the busyness of life and don’t stop to think how blessed I am to have him.  He’s a godly man who loves the Lord and his family.  Thank you Honey!  I love you!

 Maybe sparkler candles weren't such a good idea.

 Enjoying cake!

Please enter by December 19th to win one of the following great products!

Doll Carrier  or The League of Grateful Sons (DVD)

You enter by emailing me at....  Please include your choice of either the Doll Carrier or League of Grateful Sons DVD. 

I will put all the names in a hat and let one of my children pick the winner!   I will post the winners name on December 20th.  I'll also contact you via email that day.  I'll need the winners name and complete mailing address by the 22nd.  I will give that directly to Vision Forum and they will ship out your prize in 2 to 3 weeks.

Click here if you'd like to become a Vision Forum Affiliate today!

Well, it’s been a long time since I’ve blogged.  I guess with the start of school, I’ve been very busy.  Things haven’t slowed down, but I thought I’d do a quick update! 

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 "Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD" Psalm 127:3

This year has been a challenge schooling my two older kids, with the younger ones.    With each passing day, it's getting easier.  I guess I'm learing as I go.  My 5 year old is doing pre-K work, but would really rather be playing with his older siblings.(And he doesn't seem to understand that there are things the HAVE to get done each day.)   My eldest son is in 7^th grade this year.  So I feel we really need to “hit” the books.  He’s not thrilled about this.  But, like I tell him, “It doesn’t matter, we have to do it!”   He's a trooper and doing great.  My 10 girl LOVES to write!   I guess it's a girl thing?  Having a boy first, I am shocked.  She love to write letters to her best friend.   I'm just thrilled she writing!!!

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In October we took a quick trip to the Gulf of Mexico.  It was great to get away and enjoy the beach.  Even though it rained 2 of our 3 days.  The Lord gave us perfect weather on our last day!  We took my Mom with us.  I was so happy she went with.  She's wanted to go to the beach for so long.

The day after we came home from the Gulf, we celebrated my little girls 10th birthday and my sisters birthday on October 22nd.   We were all tired out from our trip, but it was a nice celebration!

My sweet girl is 10!  The years have gone SO fast.   

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Okay, this should be my last update for the night.    My kids take co-op classes every Tuesday at a local church.  They really enjoy going.  Sadly, I told them we have to cut that out for the rest of the school year.  Although it’s fun and they enjoy it, it’s another day taken away from our school work at home.  I really need one cushion day a week, in case someone has a doctors, dentist, or orthodontist appointment or something else that comes up.  Plus, you know what, I enjoy spending time at home!  I feel that will give me time to bless my family.  It will also be a nice break not rushing around on Tuesday mornings.  It get’s so crazy.  Then the rest of the week, we are rushing to catch up on the things we missed on Tuesday! 

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Oh, one more note...My sweet friend  has really inspired me.  She’s stopped all her curriculum right now and is teaching her kids grammar, spelling and writing with the Bible.  She sounds so relaxed and happy!  Tuesday she is speaking about this to her local homeschool group.   We live in different states now, but I would love to be there.  She is supposed to send me a tape.  I can’t wait to hear all the details!

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May the Lord bless you this week as you follow Him!

Sunday,  our church was holding baptisms at our house.  When our Pastor was done with his teaching and about to start baptizing, my 5 year old came up to me and said, “I want to be baptized mommy!”

My husband took him aside and had a talk with him to see if he understood what it meant.  He was smiling so big and said he understood, but he would like to wear his goggles.  Unfortunately, we couldn’t find his goggles.  But, he wanted to get baptized anyway. (He doesn’t like water in his eyes.) It was so precious to see how excited he was.

Today when I showed him the pictures, he said, “Jesus is in charge of my life!  So is Daddy!”  He had such a big smile.

It’s so neat to see the Lord at work in my children’s lives!   

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged.   Having 4 sweet kids keeps me very busy.  But it is such a blessing!

I just finished sewing dresses for my girls.  I’m just a beginner, so there are many mistakes.  But they are thrilled.  Especially my oldest.  They wore their matching dresses to my mothers 79^th birthday party.  It was so rewarding making them.  I can’t wait to start my next project.  Pantaloons!  I just need time to get to the store for fabric.  I may head to Walmart tomorrow.

My son loves bugs.  He has ever since he could speak.  I remember when he was just 2 years old.  We were living out west.  One day he was playing out on our patio while I worked on dinner.  All of a sudden he came to me and said, “Black Widow mommy, Black Widow!”  I said, “Oh, sweetie, where?”

I just thought he saw an ordinary spider.   So I walked outside and he lead me over to my raised garden bed.  And  there, in a corner was a HUGE black widow.    I couldn’t believe at that age he identified it.

Over the years he has collected bugs, but somehow the collections always get ruined.  So, we had an idea of just taking pictures of the bugs and releasing them.  Here are just a small collection of the ones he’s captured.

 Eastern Hercules Beetle

 TIger Swallowtail

 Black Swallowtail

 Garden Spider

 Cicada

Today was the first day of the kids co-op classes.

My 13 year old is taking beginner guitar and a history class.  Thankfully the guitar teacher re-tuned his guitar for him.  We tried and tried, with his new electric tuner, but we were still off a bit.  He told me guitar is his favorite class!

My 9 year old girl is taking Spanish and history.   She was thrilled, because the Spanish teacher gave them jelly beans at the end of class. 

My 5 year old is taking his first class this year.  I was nervous because he doesn’t like to be away from me.  He did great and had a fun time.  I admit it was more difficult for me.  It was the longest hour waiting for him to get out.  He was very impressed with  preschool sized toilet and sink in their bathroom.  He giggled as he told me about it.  I have a feeling he'll be visiting it often.

While they were in class, my sister, the baby and I sat in the car and chatted.

“Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous; And shout for joy, all you upright in heart!” Psalm 32:11

My family and I had a wonderful day together!  Being a family of 6, we are usually running here and there on the weekends.  Today was busy, but we were all together. 

Over the past couple weekends my husband has built a raised garden for me.  Right now it will be for a few fall vegetables.  Hopefully next spring we will have a bounty of vegetables when the weather is right.

Okay, the Lord has given my boys have very creative minds.  Today they decided to make a hotdog “roaster”.  They were down in the basement for about an hour, when suddenly they came upstairs with their new creation. (And I must add, they were very proud of themselves!)  

 I had strict instructions, not to touch the hot dog while it was plugged in.  The electrical current was going through the hot dog and cooking it from the inside.  

I was very proud of them!  One note of caution, don't try this without close adult supervision. (Even though the kids knew they weren't supposed to touch the hot dog, it was very tempting to touch.  Of course, once they told me not to touch the hot dog, I kept reminding everyone, "DON'T TOUCH THE HOTDOG!!  I tend to over react sometimes.  But, electrical current kept running through my mind!) 

That's not smoke, it's steam!  They used a frozen hot dog.

Yes, my son DID eat the hotdog after he cooked it this way!

This morning the kids and I finished reading Colossians.  Tomorrow we will start 1 Thessalonians.  We just had our morning kefir smoothie.  Now they are playing outside and the baby is sleeping, so I thought I’d update the blog really quick. 

The weekend was nice, but went by way to quick.  Saturday my husband and eldest son went to the shooting range for a couple hours.  When they came home, my hubby started making my raised garden bed.  He is so sweet.  He worked all afternoon and it is looking great!  I can’t wait to plant something in it!  When he's done, I'll post a picture of it.

While they were shooting, I took the younger 3 kids to Petco to buy fish.  My 5 year old was happy to hold the fish for the drive home.

While the boys were working on the garden, Kay and I started dinner.

After that, everyone went swimming, except for Boo.  She watched from the porch and played with the wind chimes.  She really enjoyed it!

Sunday my husband and older 2 kids went to Church.  I stayed home with the baby and my 5 year old.  The baby was up and fussy ALL night long.  She is teething, plus had some infected mosquito bites.  She is VERY allergic to them. (They swell and blister and a large area turns red and warm.  I have had to take her to the doctor's twice with them becasue they were so bad.  Because of this, I don't take her outside much.)  This picture I took of the 2 little ones playing Sunday morning.

This picture is of my eldest.  He's growing into a handsome young man!  He looks a lot like his dad! (He looks a little unsure in the photo, because I asked him if I could comb his hair.  Usually he just wears it straight down, without combing it. ) 

Oh, I forgot, I finished my napkins!!!  I did have a slight problem, my very old sewing machine broke.  My sweet husband told me to go to Walmart and get another one.  So, I did!  I was so thankful.  I can't believe how better this one sews.   The napkins aren't perfect, but we love them!  

Have a blessed day!

Today was the day my kids had waited patiently for ALL week.  Ice cream making day!   They couldn't wait until Friday.  They read the ice cream recipe book daily.  So with all our ingredients ready, this afternoon we went to work on our masterpiece.  It was a little more work than I thought, but well worth it!  It is so neat to see how the little things bring so much joy.  I took a couple pictures of the big event too.

Checking to see if the ice cream is ready?  Nope, not yet, just about 15 more minutes!

Now Dad's checking it out.  I think everyone was excited to have homemade ice cream!

Nana came over too.  While we were waiting for the ice cream, she helped the baby practice her walking.  Boo's been taking a few steps, but today is the day she's been walking all over the place!  It's so fun to watch.

After Ice cream, the kids watched their dad work on the computer for a bit.  Then we all sat down in the family room to watch Flywheel.  What a great movie! 

Lessons went well today!  We were so blessed to find a girl who would give  my daughter lessons for only $15. (And that's for one full  hour!)  It was really a gift from the Lord.  These pictures were taken at her first lesson a month ago.  (I didn't take any today.) 

The kids and I had a really nice day.  It was one of those days I cherish.   After breakfast we had our Bible reading time.  I love sitting with them and reading God's word.  Today we were reading Colossians 1:1-18.  The 2 older kids took turns reading, while the 2 little ones played around the floor.   Then we went back and discussed the verses.  After Bible, I let my 3 older kiddos play.  It blesses my heart when I see them all playing together.  My older 2 (Ages 13 and 10) will play Little People with their 5 year old brother for hours.  They made a Little People city in the office.  While they did that, the baby and I went downstairs to make Pumpkin Muffins.  I have a great recipe a lady had given me years ago.  I made a double batch today, because the kids love them.  After that, I put the baby down for her nap and the older kids and I went outside to do a little gardening.  I bought a couple plants the other day and really needed to repot them.  We are in the process of building a raised garden, but my husband is just starting it.  So for now, I planted them in a little area near my patio.  Hopefully the raised bed will be done by next week. (When it's finished, I'll take a picture of it and TRY to post it.  I'm new to blogging and it may take me bit of time to figure out all the tricks.)  After our gardening, I let the kids swim while I fixed their lunch.  It was so nice just to relax and spend time at home today.  Tomorrow my 10 year old has horseback riding lessons, so we'll be up and out of the house early.

May the Lord bless you as you follow Him this week.

Hey everyone!  After reading all the great blogs on homeschoolblogger.com, I decided to give it a try.  My name is Margaret and I live in the Southeastern U.S.  I have been blessed with a wonderful husband who loves and serves the Lord.  I also have 4 beautiful children, ages 1 (Well almost 1, she's 11 months.), 5, 10 (Well, almost 10 :0)  and 13.   I have been homeschooling since my 13 year old was 5.  It's been such a great experience and I love being home with my kids.  Right now we are in the process of planning our upcoming school year.   My mom actually came over tonight to watch the kids, so my husband and I could go over my plan.  It was great to be able to sit down together and discuss the upcoming year.  I was feeling a bit insecure about the approaching school year, so this really helped me.  You'd think after all these years, the planning would be easy.  Oh well, I'm just thankful I have one for this year now!

I have an interest in feeding my family healthy foods.  We grind our own wheat and try to eat organic foods.   The Lord has put frugal living on my heart lately also, so I’m trying to learn as much as I can about that.   I also would love to have a little homestead someday where our family could raise some chickens for eggs and maybe have a couple of milking goats.  But for now, I am thankful for our house on 3/4 of an acre. 

Well, that's all I can think of right now, it's getting late.  May the Lord bless you!