Wednesday, October 14, 2009 - Words of Wisdom Copywork- Proverbs 3:6
This week's Words of Wisdom Copywork pages are:
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Continuing from last week’s verse, Proverbs 3:5 that told us to trust in the Lord and to lean not on our own understanding, this week’s verse gives us clear direction as to how and the reason why trusting Him is so important. If we have complete trust in Him, we want to be sure we know His will for our life. By studying His Word, open communication with Him (prayer), and striving to walk with Him, we will feel His presence and be aware that He is with us at all times. With this faith and recognition of Him in everything we do, He can freely lead us down the roads that He would have us travel. Sometimes the road will be difficult but because we know He is our guide down that path, we have nothing to fear.
You can download Proverbs 3:6 Copywork HERE.
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Wednesday, October 7, 2009 - Words of Wisdom Copywork- Proverbs 3:5
This week's Words of Wisdom Copywork pages are:
Proverbs 3:5
Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Sometimes it is really hard to put our complete trust in Him. Our own thoughts and concerns seem to keep getting in the way. But from my own life's experience I have found that the more I trust Him, the less I worry and try to figure things out on my own. When I let go of what I think and rely on what He has planned, everything falls into place. Now if I can only do this all the time, life would certainly be so much smoother.
You can download Proverbs 3:5 Copywork HERE.
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Monday, October 5, 2009 - Steve Harvey Introduces Jesus
Came across this on Facebook and thought it was uplifting. I never knew that Steve Harvey felt this way.
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Thursday, October 1, 2009 - New Coughing Manners
It's getting to be that time of year when folks are not feeling well and our house is no exception. My daughter started out with a sore throat the other day. We went to the doctor's and they prescribed amoxicillin. Poor child woke up this morning with a full blown cold. So far the rest of us have been spared. While we were at the doctor's office we were asked if she had been coughing. If she had been they would have issued her a mask. Hand sanitizer and wipies were right there on the front desk next to the pen to sign in with. We have always tried to practice good hygiene and manners especially when it came to not sharing germs, but there seems to be a whole new set of precautions that are being implemented. We have to re-train the way we are in public when it comes to coughing, sneezing, and even greeting one another. No more covering your mouth with your hand. Now we are supposed to cough or sneeze into our elbows. I saw a young patient do this at the doctor’s office and was surprised at how naturally she did it but couldn't help wondering if she was wiping her nose. I remember having to teach my children to not wipe their noses on their sleeves. Glad they are older now so I don't have to explain the difference between sneezing and coughing into your elbow and wiping your nose on your sleeve. I think it will take us weeks if not months to change our habits and hopefully no one here will be ill that long. This is so contradictory to our basic training. So, if you meet us somewhere you may not want to extend your hand as a greeting because we have not yet mastered this new technique and broken ourselves of the old habit. I wonder if this will be anything like the “new math” our parents had to deal with.
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Wednesday, September 30, 2009 - Words of Wisdom Copywork- Proverbs 15:3
This week’s Words of Wisdom comes from Proverbs 15:3.
The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.
I think one of the most important lessons that I can teach my children is accountability and not only to be accountable to others, but most importantly to God. Soon they will be grown and out from under our watchful eye and away from our constant guidance. They will be in a world where they will need to make decisions and to be willing to accept the results of those decisions. No matter how much training we provide, they will probably still make poor choices from time to time, as we probably all have at one time or another. But if they have the Word deeply rooted in their hearts, perhaps they are less likely to choose something that will displease their Father in heaven. Proverbs 15:3 is a gentle reminder that no matter what we do or say, even when we think no one is watching, God knows it.
You can find this week’s Words of Wisdom Copywork HERE.
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Tuesday, September 29, 2009 - Field Trip-Andrew Jackson State Park
Friday we took our first field trip of the year. Last year we hardly ever went on any, so I told the kids if they keep their assignments up to date that we would take one once a month. With our new-found enjoyment of nature studies we decided to go to Andrew Jackson State Park. We walked the trail around the pond and visited the little museum on the grounds. We saw a lot of interesting plant life and enjoyed the ducks and geese that frequent the pond. We also saw and heard a woodpecker and other bird species which we were able to identify. There is a persimmon tree in the park and my son, who will eat just about anything, gave the fruit a try. He won’t be doing that again. We had asked the ranger if it was safe to eat and he had said that it was but that most folks did not like it. My son definitely did not like it. He told me that the fruit was sweet but it left his mouth so dry that he could not get the moisture back to his tongue for quite a while. He was swishing with large quantities of water trying to get the taste out. I was a bit worried at first that he was having an allergic reaction but later learned that if the fruit has a strong astringency and will cause this type of reaction if the fruit is not completely ripe. Hard lesson learned.
The little museum shows a bit of what life was like at the time when Andrew Jackson had lived in the Waxhaws. There is also an herb garden outside and some other colonial type displays. The kids also liked the statue of Andrew Jackson on horseback sculpted by Anne Hyatt Hutchinson. On the grounds there is also a replica of an 18th-century one-room schoolhouse that always catches their attention. After enjoying our walk and visiting the museum, we sat in the amphitheater and took out our nature journals to add sketches and observations of something we found interesting.
Despite the increasing humidity and heat of the day, it was a wonderful visit.
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Monday, September 28, 2009 - October 2009 Writing Prompts Calendar
I was overwhelmed by the last month's comments for my writing prompts calendar. You have all been so kind and encouraging. It has been a huge blessing to hear how you are using these calendars to spark conversation and to inspire creative writing. I pray that they will continue to be a useful resource in your homes. Thank you again for your support.
Here is this month's calendar.
October 2009 Writing Prompts Calendar
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Thursday, September 24, 2009 - The Outdoor Hour-Challenge 3-4
The past two days we worked on the Outdoor Hour challenges 3 and 4. Challenge number 3 was definitely a challenge for my daughter and I. We both struggle with artistic ability. We see what we want to draw and so want to get it from our minds to the paper but are never satisfied with our results. But we keep trying. Maybe after more time and daily practice and concentration we will create the detailed drawings that our minds perceive. My sons and husband are much more gifted artistically. In contrast though, I think my daughter and I paint better with our words. That’s ok though, because as we have learned, our nature journals are for us. It’s not like we are Lewis and Clark. 
For Challenge 4 we were to find a focus area. We are basically skipping this because once we get through the first 10 Challenges we are going to do the Autumn series that Barb-Harmny Art Mom is currently posting. We have been concentrating on the flowers and the insects so I guess our mini-focus are those. Today we just practiced observation, journaling, and using guides and internet guides to try and figure out some of the things we have found interesting over the past week.
These are some of the things see found yesterday and were pleasantly surprised that we actually were able to track down some specific (and highly interesting) information about a couple of things.
Still working on figuring this one out. It looks like a dandelion so we have been searching for dandelion look-a-likes.
Western Daisy-You can't really tell from this picture but this daisy is actually has very light purple petals.
Obviously pinecones, but we are trying to determine which tree it came from because we have several species growing in our front yard.
This flower really excited me because I really had no idea what it was. We searched the internet for about an hour trying to narrow it down. It's called a partridge pea or may be better know as a sensitive plant. It's so cool. When you touch it's leaves they slowly fold and close. We played around with them today and it was really exciting for all of us.
This is the sketch of this flower in my journal.
Tomorrow I'll share a bit about the critters we found. I am thinking of starting a new blog just for our nature studies. This whole week has been so much calmer and successful and these nature walks are the only thing different we have done. It really has me amazed.
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Wednesday, September 23, 2009 - Words of Wisdom Copywork- Proverbs 1:7
I am so pleased at how many folks downloaded last week's Words of Wisdom Copywork pages. How in the world they are finding them I have no clue but I am happy that it fills a need.
This week I choose Proverbs 1:7
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
If you like these copywork pages, you can find my small line of products at the Schoolhouse Store. (If you go there, September 23-25, my favorite copybook is 50%, only $5.00.) I am slowly but surely working on several others but trying to keep my priorities straight. I am also looking into the possibility of selling spiral bound copies of my books, but not sure this is the way I want to go. I feel E-books offer a bit more versatilty. I would love to hear your thoughts.
Also if you have any verse suggestions from the book of Proverbs, I will keep those in mind as I create new sets every week.
You can download Words of Wisdom-Proverbs 1:7 here.
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Tuesday, September 22, 2009 - The Outdoor Hour-Challenge 2
We are so enjoying our nature walks. It’s funny how putting a focus and direction on something that we have been doing for ages adds so much fun.
Today we did the Outdoor Hour Challenge #2: Using Your Words. We were to go outside and listen to nature then come in and write a few words relating to what we heard, saw, and felt. It was suggested that we could begin keeping a nature journal. We didn’t get to that part of the challenge today but plan on it at a later time. We have everything we need for that, but we really are enjoying taking pictures and discussing the things that we have seen and heard. We are trying to look up the things that we have seen to get specific names and information but that is definitely proving to be a time consuming process. I really need some better field guides, specifically ones that include things from our region, to make this less frustrating. Maybe I’ll find something at the next library booksale. But because I feel that it is more important to appreciate God’s creations and their beauty and function than what their scientific name is (which we probably would not be able to pronounce anyways) we are not dwelling on it when we can’t seem to find what we are looking for. So for the time being we are using our words to just describe what we have seen and heard so that when we do run across the scientific information we will have our own word pictures in our minds. These are a couple of the cool things from today.
Tenodera Mantis (we think this is the correct species)
We think this is a Western yellow jacket but its markings are not like the ones we have been seeing in the books or on line. This is a cropped close-up of a front view. Check out the yellow "snout". Really cool.
We also had the opportunity to watch this really big (and to us, really ugly) spider spin a web. We were able to watch the spinnerets at work. That was really neat. Frightened by our presence we were amazed at how quickly it climbed back up the silk it had just spun. Super interesting.
On another nature note, unknown to me, my son had set a cage trap in the back woods baited with an apple, some crackers and peanut butter and cat food. This morning he found a racoon in there. Made me mad as a hornet. He has been told not to set the trap. He has already caught a possum and a squirrel in the past. He says he just wants to see the animals up close. I'm sure you know the shpeel I gave him. We carefully released the racoon and were very lucky it went on its merry way. Boys! (Not that I agree with what he did, it was interesting to see a wild one that close.) He has been forbidden to do it ever again and will be returning the trap. (it is one of those that the animal can go in, but can't get back out, not one that harms the animal except to agitate it)
It has been such an inspiring couple of days I can hardly wait until tomorrow. And all this comes from 15 minutes in our front yard.
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