Jul. 24, 2008 - 25th Wedding Anniversary

My dear husband and I were blessed to be able to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary last week.  We decided to go back to the same place that we had went on our honeymoon.  We had such a lovely time together.



It's incredible to think back over the years and see what the Lord has done in our lives.  When we were first married, neither of us were Christians.  Jesus Christ was not even on our radar, but He had us in His radar.  After several years of walking together in the darkness, the Lord saved me and then a few years later He saved my dear husband.  While we are far from perfect, the Lord's mercy and compassion have kept us together and blessed us with a sweet marriage. 

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Jul. 15, 2008 - Random happenings around our home

We have been enjoying a beautiful summer.  The weather has not been hot and muggy, which is so unusual for this time of year.  We've been having the windows open and letting the breeze come through the house.  It makes it feel so peaceful. And occasionally we have had a summer storm come through with all the amazing clouds and wind.  The latest storm was to the south of us and we were not affected by it, other than the awe of watching it blow in.  Emily and Breezy both took several pictures of it and Emily was able to catch this one with the lightening striking.  You have to look to the middle of the picture to see it.



When she took that picture there was no wind blowing around us at all.  It was one of those calms before the storm, but it stayed to the south of us.

Jocelyn interviewed Breezy for The Homeschool Blog Awards site, you can read that interview here. She won the 2007 Best Artistic Content Blog Award and they have interviews of the different winners in the Wednesday Winners column. 

Emily has been doing a weekly craft post for The Backyard and this past week her post was on making a flower dryer.  It was made using the leftover twigs from our trellis in my last post.  It is hanging in my kitchen and it is just adorable.  The Backyard is a blog on HomeSchoolBlogger for the young people on HSB. 



Last week we went to a library book sale, went to a family reunion out of town, and then on Sunday we hosted our church family for a picnic in our backyard. 

This week this handsome man and I are going to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary.  It amazes me how fast the time has gone.


More to post on that event later!

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Jul. 14, 2008 - The encouragement of conferences

I really enjoy going to conferences, especially homeschooling conferences.  My family always make it a priority to go to our state's homeschool conference.  I think the Lord has used the different speakers and just seeing all the other homeschooling families each year to encourage us and to help us to have a vision for the beauty and blessings of homeschooling.  

In the past we have also signed up with online conferences.  Those are very convenient and affordable because we don't have to go out of town and pay for a hotel room, but then again you don't get to see and talk with other people face to face.  There is an online conference coming up that sounds great and the price is very reasonable.  It is the Heart of the Matter Homeschool Conference.  It starts on July 31st and like other online conferences you can listen to them live or download the talks so that you can listen to them at your convenience or just listen to them over and over.  Some great speakers are lined up and I am really looking forward to hearing them.  One of the speakers that I am most excited about hearing is Ami from Homeschoolshare.com.  Her topic is on How to Keep Your Child's Natural Desire to Learn Alive.   She always has great insights to share. 

I also am a member of The Homeschool Lounge, and while I am not on that site everyday, when I do go poke around on it I usually find some great resources or encouragement.  This site is what I found today.   They have the speakers from the last 3 year's conferences online for you to listen to.  You need to pay for them if you want to download them, but to just listen to from your computer they are absolutely free!  You will be amazed at all the speakers and different talks they have listed.  And it's all FREE!! 

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Jul. 10, 2008 - A Place for My Morning Glories

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Jun. 24, 2008 - Titus 2 Woman

I found a blog this morning that made my heart sing! 

When I first started homeschooling, one of the first women who encouraged me and taught me what it meant to be a homeschooling mother was Sally Clarkson.  She and her husband, Clay, wrote Educating the Wholehearted Child, it is one of my all-time favorite books on educating your children.  I have several of her other books, as well as some of her teaching tapes from conferences that she has done.  Sally was also the speaker at the first homeschooling mother's retreat that I went to.  I still have the sweet little coffee cup she gave to each mom there. 

This morning I stumbled onto her blog and just squealed.  I don't know where I have been, but I hadn't seen her blog before.  So go visit I Take Joy and be blessed!

Thank you, Sally Clarkson, for being a Titus 2 Woman!!

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Jun. 6, 2008 - Inspirations

It amazes me to think about how God orchestrates events for purposes we know nothing about and may never understand this side of heaven.  I was thinking about how God used two friends of ours in very similar ways that have been such blessings to my daughters.  At the church that we used to attend there were two young married women who were both artists, but in different ways.  Each of these women had a talent and interest that sparked and encouraged Breezy and Emily Rose in very significant ways.

Natalie, the painter, loves using different techniques to capture her subject and bring them to life. She gave Breezy watercolor lessons and encouraged and helped her to develop her own style.  Natalie has recently started a blog showcasing her work.  You can see her work and learn more about her at Artwork by Natalie Thoman.

Susan, the graphic designer, has such an eye for design and uses everyday things in amazing ways.  Susan taught Emily some basic Photoshop tools and settings and inspired Emily by showing her how she came up with designs for her own work.  She sparked a passion in Emily for graphic design that has really blossomed.

These two young talented women were able to share with my daughters and inspire them in their own unique areas.  When I think of them I am reminded of how God can use us to teach and inspire others for His purposes and His glory.  What a blessing they have been in our lives. Thank you, Natalie and Susan.

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Jun. 4, 2008 - Interview by Sarah Mae

Several weeks ago, Sarah Mae contacted me and asked if I would do an online interview with her. The Lord has shown great compassion on our family and anything of value that we have to say is only due to His mercy and kindness.  So I agreed and you can read that interview here.   Sarah Mae, along with fellow contributor, Amanda, have a lovely new blog called "Like a warm cup of coffee".  It is a place to strentghen their faith and encourage others in godly womanhood.  May the Lord encourage and bless you. 

I wanted to add the following two verses that have deeply impacted our family over the years.  These two verses, one in the Old Testament and the other in the New, have humbled us and shown us our utter dependence on our Lord. 

And He said, "I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you' and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion."      Exodus 33:19

For He says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."     Romans 9:15

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May. 31, 2008 - Titus 2 Schedule

We officially finished school a few weeks ago, but that doesn't mean we have slowed down.  The girls both have several projects for 4-H to complete, music practice, artwork, and photography.  Breezy is doing a weekly lesson on The Drawing Blog and Emily is now doing a weekly craft project on The Backyard, plus they try to keep up on their own personal blogs.  Along with all of those activities we are trying to keep up with hospitality and have some summer fun. 

We keep a schedule going while we are "officially" doing school, but I realized quickly after school was finished, that we needed to have a schedule for summer, too.  After one particular frustrating and busy morning, I asked the Lord to help us with our schedule.  He was more than gracious to show me what I needed to do and to turn a frustrating morning into a blessing.  This is what He showed me.

I gathered up our big white board, a marker and eraser, had the girls get us all our bibles.  We turned to Titus 2:3-5 and slowly read through the passage.  I then took our big white board and on the right side of the board I wrote each thing that we are to teach the young women.  In each place where it said husband, I wrote Daddy.  (That way they can practice this type of servanthood on their Daddy and be much better prepared to live this out with their future husbands.) The following are the commands in Titus 2 and the second list is how I changed it specifically for us.

To love their husbands          
to love their children              
to be sensible                          
to be pure                                
workers at home                     
kind                                            
being subject to their own husbands            
so that the word of God will not be dishonored.   



Love Daddy
Love your sister, love Maggie, and other's littles
Be sensible (thinking, planning and working your plan)
Be pure (what you watch, think, do, hear, say, read, our need of wisdom and discernment)
workers at home (practice their homemaking, develop home business)
Kind to everyone (show compassion)
Subject to your daddy
Not to dishonor God

I then made a column for each of the girls and myself and filled them in with all the different things that we need or want to do in a day.  I had Breezy pick out the one thing that she felt was the most important to get done after her quiet time in the morning.  She picked quality time at the piano.  She has begun playing at church every other week and really wanted to make sure that she has the songs worked out.  So we started at the bottom of the Titus 2 list and I asked how she could not dishonor God by practicing and playing the piano.   We then  went to the top of the list  and I asked how could she show love to her daddy by playing the piano.  As we continued through the list  I asked how she could accomplish each command with her piano playing.  I then had Emily pick out what she felt was the most important on her list and we did the same thing. 

It was amazing to go through the list in Titus 2 and see how each command has an affect on the others.  If we aren't  kind then we aren't being sensible, if we aren't being subject to daddy then we aren't showing love to him, etc.  If we don't do any of this things then we are dishonoring the word of God. 

We didn't go through each thing we had on our to do list, but we could now look at what we wanted to get done and see it through biblical lenses.  It enabled us to choose what was most important and to schedule those items in a way that brings honor to God. 

It has helped us set our boundaries and to be more productive. Do we follow our schedule exactly?  Not quite, but it is there and helps us get back on track and to remember what we need to do and why we are doing it. I praise the Lord for His mercy and kindness in teaching me this lesson.  Emily has affectionately called it our T2 schedule.  Remember T2.

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May. 21, 2008 - Boundaries of the State

I read this article on Doug Phillips' blog about the boundaries of the state concerning parental rights.  It gives some perspective on this issue.  It was written by Heman Humphrey, who was president of Amherst College from 1823-1845. 

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May. 3, 2008 - Return of the Nature Journals

This past week we were listening to Jill Novak on the USHE talk about nature journaling and were inspired to pick it back up.  When the girls were little we used to do a lot of nature studies and drawings, but we sort of put it to the side as they got older.  A few weeks ago at the Indianapolis Homeschool Convention, Breezy noticed a book for sale and instead of buying it she wrote down the title, so that we could get it through interlibrary loan.  The name of it is Keeping a Nature Journal by Clare Walker Leslie & Charles E. Roth.  It arrived this past Thursday and is a lovely book and is also very inspiring. 

After running some errands this afternoon, I came home to the girls painting in the kitchen.  They had collected some things from outside and brought them in to paint and sketch.  The wind was too strong to stay outside and try to do it.  Emily was painting little flowers for awhile and then went to work on another project.  Breezy wanted to keep at it so her page would be finished.  She made a great start, this is what she did today.
 


 

 
I am hoping that we will get back to doing this at least weekly, if not daily.  I think Emily and I will also do some photography with our nature studies to try to counterbalance Breezy's art work.  We aren't so talented with the brush as Breezy is so we will go at it a little differently. 

 

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May. 1, 2008 - Kitchen Essentials

Maybe I'm feeling a little old fashioned today, but after reading my sister's blog about brooms and my friend's blog about old blue canning jars I just started thinking about what you really need in a kitchen. 
Brooms, aprons and canning jars.  Those are the essentials.  They make your kitchen homey and clean. 

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Apr. 23, 2008 - Handiwork

One year for Christmas, I wanted to make my mother a cross stitch picture.  I found just the right pattern, it was the words of Amazing Grace with a lot of delicate border work and it was going to take quite a bit of time to make.

I gathered all the different colored threads and material that I would need for it, and with much anticipation, I sat down to begin working on it.  All of a sudden, both girls were on either side of me leaning over the material watching me work with thread and needle.  Now they had seen me do different projects before, but for some reason, this project fascinated them.  They were 5 and 3 and wanted to be very involved in it. 

The problem was, this was for a Christmas present and I didn't have a lot of time to do it in.  Every time I picked up the cross stitch, the girls were right there wanting to "help" make it.  I let them do a couple of stitches, thinking that it would satisfy them, but it did not.  They just wanted to do it again.  After a few days of this, I realized something had to be done. 

I decided I would make them their own little sewing boxes and they could sew every time that I sewed.  I found a couple of shoe boxes and rummaged around in my sewing supplies for items to fill them with.  Things like buttons, felt, ribbons, embroidery thread, scrap material, burlap, yarn, scissors, sewing needles, straight pins, spool of thread, etc., all went into the boxes. 

So the next time I sat down to work on the cross stitch and the girls were leaning over my work, I told them I had a surprise for them.  I pulled out the boxes and presented them with their own little work baskets.  I wish I had thought to take pictures.  It was precious.  They were so excited to have their own sewing boxes, they didn't care that it was a shoe box or that everything I put in there were scraps and leftovers.  It was their own and they loved them. 

I put my cross stitch away for awhile and we examined their boxes together and talked about all the different things they could do and make.  There wasn't any planned thing for them to make, I just wanted them to play around with the needles and thread and see what they could come up with.  I pulled back out my cross stitch and the girls sat on the floor by my feet and we all happily sewed. 

They made all sorts of little things. They sewed little pictures onto the felt, sewed buttons all over little pieces of material and made little pouches.  It was so fun to see them work on little projects with no set plan, just their imaginations.  The stitches were all different sizes and directions, but they were still so proud of the things they made and so was I.  There was the usual little dramatic scenes when the thread tangled or got knotted up, but we just stopped what we were doing and tried to fix it the best we could.  I showed them when my thread would get tangled or knotted so they would see that it happened to me too. I was able to get the cross stitch done in time for Christmas and the girls started a lifelong love of working with their hands. 

When we started to officially homeschool, anytime I read aloud to the girls, I would have them quietly work on something with their hands.  They could sew or draw, later adding in crocheting or knitting, whatever they wanted to work on, sometimes they just made things with legos, just as long as they were working on something with their hands while I read.  Their skills have improved dramatically with time and they don't always need to have a pattern to come up with what they have in their minds.

I had Emily Rose take this picture yesterday so that you could see what some of the things were that I had put in their boxes.  Twelve years later I still have items like this around waiting to made into something.  Here are a few links to some of the things they have made lately.  Breezy hasn't posted too much handiwork, mostly her art, which she did get a lot of practice from during those reading times.  I will have to look around and find some of their early work and post those, too. 

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Apr. 21, 2008 - Homeschool Convention and Conviction

We were blessed to be able to attend the Indianapolis Homeschool Convention this past weekend together as a family. The speakers encouraged and challenged us in our walk with the Lord and in our responsibility to teach and train our children.  Our daughters were encouraged by several of the speakers as well, and they were also able to see some dear friends and make some new ones.  I think they enjoy the convention even more than I do. 

One of the speakers, Norm Wakefield, really convicted me of my attitude.  I can get irritated so quickly and react to what is going on around me in such an ungodly way.  It may just be my tone of voice, my words, my actions or a combination of all three that are not reflecting the saving work of Jesus Christ in my life.  I need to not react to situations in the flesh, but to respond with the love of Christ.  Jesus did not save me just so I would not go to hell, He saved me from my sin.  I need to cling close to Him to be able to act and respond in a right way, a way that shows love, servanthood and grace. 

Norm Wakefield told of a time when he spoke in anger to one of his little children and was immediately convicted by the Holy Spirit about it. When he apologized to his child, he wanted to make it clear that it  was daddy that acted badly not  Jesus. 

In Chapter 3 of Colossians it describes very clearly about putting away the old self and putting on the new.  Verse 12 tells us to put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  My actions definitely reflect on my Savior and through my actions I can bring glory to Him or bring disappointment and shame upon His name.  I want to bring glory to God through my life and I need His mercy to accomplish it. 

   

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Apr. 15, 2008 - Parental Rights

Mike Farris has put together a short video that explains why ParentalRights.org was formed and what you can do to help in this monumental battle to protect our rights as parents.  We need to do all we can to ensure not only our parental rights, but of those generations yet to come.  You can click on the link to watch this very important video.

http://www.parentalrights.org/action/downloads/video

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Apr. 3, 2008 - New site

I don't know how many times I have found a great homeschool site only to not remember where I found it or what it was called.  Or perhaps, I did bookmark it and my list is so long that I don't know which was which.  I began thinking that maybe I should do something about it, that maybe I should just have a site with all the information at my fingertips.

So, after a few weeks of work and several years of collecting favorite homeschool websites, my daughter, Emily Rose and I have made a new site.  It is called Right Here in Indiana and will contain website links and occasional posts about homeschooling.  While it has Indiana in the name and is somewhat focused on Indiana homeschool laws, it should be useful to homeschoolers anywhere. 

We decided to keep it with very low graphics so those with dial-up can access it easily.  Even thought it is still in its early stages, I hope you will find it helpful, I know I already have. 

A BIG THANK YOU goes to Emily Rose for making everything come together into a wonderful site.   Hugs to you, girlie!!

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Mar. 30, 2008 - Prayer Request for Chris

Please pray for my brother-in-law, Chris.  He has been diagnosed with cellulitis on his leg and has been in the hospital for since Thursday.  His leg became very red and swollen.  We do not know how he contracted this very painful illness. He had surgery on Saturday to try to remove some of the infection and to relieve some of the pressure.  He will have to stay in the hospital for several more days.

My niece wrote some more about this on her blog here.  Thank you in advance for your prayers.

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Mar. 26, 2008 - What a Blessing!!

Today was a good day for my daughters.  This morning Emily made us some yummy waffles and made the house smell wonderful.  Breezy woke up re-inspired with a story that she thought of as she went to bed last night and eager to work on character sketches for it.  They got busy with their school work and then after lunch we received a letter that we had been waiting for. 

An exciting letter. It contained the final information concerning the results of the art contest at the Indianapolis Homeschool Convention.  Last week Breezy was notified that her portfolio had won champion, which we were all very excited about, but the photo division had not been decided yet, so we were a little let down about that. Today's letter brought the news of the photography division.  Emily had entered a picture she took of her father, and she won champion with it. 

How exciting for them both to be able to win champion in their own categories!  What a blessing!  They both worked very hard on their projects and put a lot of time and thought into them.  They are gifted in very different ways and it is so satisfying for us to watch them grow and use their gifts to bless others.  May God be glorified in all they do.

They both have posted about their projects on their blogs so I will just link to them.  Breezy explains her projects here and Emily shares about her winning the contest and you get to see a picture of my dear hubby  here.

This afternoon I took Breezy to her art class that she is auditing from the local college and after hitting some rough spots in previous weeks, she had a really great class.  She was able to experience the professor critique their projects with some very brutal comments and she walked away learning from it instead of feeling defeated.  That shows some great progress in maturity.  Although, I guess she hears enough critiquing from us that she was just used to it and was glad to hear someone else's mean thoughts.

We had a good night at church and lots of fun fellowship after, came home and recapped the day.  After praying and saying goodnight they ran off to bed giggling.  Everyday is a blessing from the Lord, but some days are just too fun. 

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Mar. 20, 2008 - First Day of Spring

The first day of spring has finally arrived!!  The sun is shining and the temperatures are....not really all that warm.  It is still pretty chilly, but we are seeing signs of spring and seeing a lot of birds coming back.
  .
Happycamper has a really fun map on her blog showing the migration of hummingbirds and where they are being sighted right now.  I really like getting a heads up on that.  I have never put out a hummingbird feeder, but this year I am planning on it.

After seeing the map for the hummingbird migration, I decided to look around for an oriole migration map.  I came across this neat website called Journey North.  There are maps, great pictures and information on several different animals that migrate and even a section on when the tulips are going to bloom. 

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Mar. 16, 2008 - The Children of Caesar

Posted in Encouragement and Inspirations

This is a short video by Voddie Baucham.

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Mar. 12, 2008 - Courtship

Posted in Encouragement and Inspirations

When my husband and I first started homeschooling our daughters we began to see books and various resources in homeschooling catalogs and magazines that spoke about courtship.  Not ever having heard about courtship or seen it in action we were very curious. So we started buying books on the subject, listened to speakers at conferences, read about real-life courtships and basically just tried to learn what it was all about. 

We would talk to the girls about it and shared books with them and let them read about the real-life stories, too.  They were young and, of course, thought the idea was wonderful.  As they have grown-up we have continued learning about it and have been encouraged when we would read about real people who courted and some who even saved their first kiss for their wedding, keeping themselves pure for their future spouse.  Even though the girls are 17 and 15 now, the ripe old ages for dating, they have a real  commitment to courtship.  They too, want to have a story of courtship, purity and faithfulness. 

We don't know what the future holds for any of us, but we do know that if we put our trust in the Lord, that he will be faithful to us and direct our steps and that the outcome will be pleasing in His eyes.  (Proverbs 3:5-6)  We know that each courtship story will be different as each will have different circumstances and individuals involved, but that will make it all the more beautiful as each will be their own story.

I have compiled a list of some resources that we have used over the years.  Some are better than others, in my mind, but they all give insight and ideas in some fashion.


The Courtship Series by the Castleberry family.
   The Courtship of Sarah McLean
   Waiting for Her Isaac
   Jeff McLean:  His Courtship
   Journey of the Heart

I Kissed Dating Goodbye by Josh Harris

Her Hand in Marriage by Douglas Wilson

Before You Meet Prince Charming by Sarah Malley

Emotional Purity by Heather Paulsen

How to Evaluate a Suitor (cd) by Doug Phillips

Of Knights and Fair Maidens by Jeff and Danielle Myers

Passion and Purity by Elisabeth Elliot

The Princess and the Kiss by Jennie Bishop

The Squire and the Scroll by Jennie Bishop




Here are some titles that are wonderful for encouraging biblical girlhood.

So Much More by Anna Sophia and Elizabeth Botkin

Raising Maidens of Virtue by Stacy McDonald

Beautiful Girlhood by Karen Andreola

Stepping Heavenward by Elizabeth Prentiss

Polished Cornerstones by Pam Forster of Doorposts



This is by no means a complete list, but it is a start. 

And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.  Galatians 6:9

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