Homeschooling for His Glory

Mom has certainly been on vacation. Christmas eve was carol singing at the church. We had a very nice Christmas day with a couple of friends over, a late night of Sorry game between mommy and daddy (because mommy could not go to sleep without winning at least one game). A nice restful Saturday. Monday we drove to London Ontario to visit friends. We had a great time and came back home at 12:00 AM with a nice snow fall to help u s along the way. The rest of the week is busy with having people over almost everyday. and a New Year watchnight service at the church. The kids have been improving their building skills and enjoying their new gifts. As I said I have not been posting and won't be posting much until next year as I am really enjoying being lazy and entertaining guests. I wish you all a Happy New Year    filled with God's blessings, joy and peace.     Have a great day,

As the end gets to a close I cannot but be full of gratitude at how God has dealt bountifully with us as a family . On the eve of 2009 I have to praise and thank God for restoring my husband's health to full capability and for growing healthy children. This year had started with my husband health at the peak of his illness ( Myasthenia Gravis ), which would mean no probability of return to work in any near future., but as the year progressed, he got better and better, even through his 4 week radiation therapy (in connection with his thymectomy ). All glory to our wonderful God. It was nevertheless such a pleasure to have him home this whole year. I was blessed beyong measure to have my hubby cook for us practically everyday since May. And as his strentgh returned we were also able to take trips here and there, which of coursre was another blessing. As much as I am thankful for his return to work next month, I am also dreading getting back to the full respon...

This is a bit late but I had to post it as it has become our theme song here We hope our kids will learn this . . . Have a great day,

Merry Christmas to all! "And she will bring Forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins."                                           Matthew 1:21 Glitter Graphics , Christmas Glitter Graphics   Have a great day,

Have a great day,

  13. A  saviour who is both God and man 14. Gifts and blessings 15. A year of a husband at home 16. Fellowship with friends 17. Children having a great time of fun 18. A taste of home (in the form of food) to enjoy 19. Child's imagination at play 20. Thoughtful friends  21. The convenience of a microwave 22.The sense of taste Have a great day,  

Another Christmas edition of link treasures: Over at Simple mom you will find a great list of ideas and links to some very appetizing food gifts . Looking for some fun garland decorations to make, you can find some nice ones at the Inspired Room. At Holy Experience, you can find a list of ways to keep   the focus on Christ during the Christmas season .  At this link you will find more Christmas crafts . I also came across this cute nativiy scene activity  Lastly, here is a great list of gifts parents can make for their children . Have a great day,

Wow, the year is almost over. We are officially on break until 2010. I had to think for a minute to write that. This past week did not hold much schooling of course. We finishd up what I intended to for our First L anguage Lessons and that is about it, aside from violin and some occasional spelling. This week was baking week for me with soe help from the boys. I am still not done, tomorow is going to be another baking day.  You can see more  of it here, and get some recipes at my othe blog The Recipe Box . We had a playdate yesterday as well as a time at the science Center as Joho had been bugging me to go for a month or so. I was able to deliver a few gifts this week. My cards are still on hold since we still have nothad a family picture taken yet. My husband has been working on the newsletter and hopefully I'll be e-mailing and mailing these out early next week. We also had the priviledge of singing at a nursing home with our homeschool group this week. It was a re...

Today the kids join in for a  carol singing time at a nursing home from our homeschool group. It was a great time. The folks really enjoyed it and the kids did very well.   Have a great day,

Ok, I am in the middle of my baking franzy. Here are some snapshosts. Some occasional help (they were doing more eating of dough, but mom was too busy to get a shot of that) A messy kitchen  Pannetone Pain viennois (french bread) And some more on the way. You can find recipes for some of these at my other blog The Recipe Box . More will be coming. Have a great day ,  

Today I came across this great inspiring and encouraging blog: Holy Experience . I realized that it was the home of a meme called Multitude Monday: One Thousands gifts, which I had come across before, and thought was a great thing to do.  But what is it exactly? The idea is to stop and ponder at God's goodness to us in everyday life, and literrally count our blessings. So, in this end of year time I decided that I would join in the fun and engage in this exercise of counting my many blessings. So, here we go: 1: Family 2: Loving and serving husband 3: Mobility, whether on  my feet or any other means like our car 4: The laughter and joy of children 5: A new pair of shoes 6: A lighted Christmas tree 7: A working dishwasher 8: A Great tasting dinner 9: Christmas cards received in the mail 10: The joy of giving 11: Sleeping and quiet children 12: The warmth of home Have a great day,

One of my absolute favorite Christmas Hymn Hark the herald angels sing Hark the herald angels sing "Glory to the newborn King! Peace on earth and mercy mild God and sinners reconciled" Joyful, all ye nations rise Join the triumph of the skies With the angelic host proclaim: "Christ is born in Bethlehem" Hark! The herald angels sing "Glory to the newborn King!" Christ by highest heav'n adored Christ the everlasting Lord! Late in time behold Him come Offspring of a Virgin's womb Veiled in flesh the Godhead see Hail the incarnate Deity Pleased as man with man to dwell Jesus, our Emmanuel Hark! The herald angels sing " Glory to the newborn King!" Hail the heav'n-born Prince of Peace! Hail the Son of Righteousness! Light and life to all He brings Ris'n with healing in His wings Mild He lays His glory by Born that man no more may die Born to raise the sons of earth Born to give them second birth Hark! The herald angels sing "Glory ...

  It's time for a wekly wrap-up. This week was a bit of a lazy week as it seems to have been the case for the past month. We did, however accomplish some things. School wise we did our Math review  and decided to leave it at that for the remainder of this year. We will takle the next concept, multiplication, in the new year. Same story with Science, I realized there is no point to starting a new unit now, so we will leave it for the coming year as well. History had been on a hold for a few week so we will resume that in January as well. So you will ask what is left., well... FLL. We did do that this week, and violin of course. Here he is working with linking verbs: The rest of the time, they played, worked with me on a gingerbread house and cookies, which you can read about here . Johann has a cold since Monday, so things were  a bit disturbed. Today I kind of winged a nativity craft for us to work on together. Notice Joho's skyscrapper on the left. I also try to do some ...

Ok, I got the gingerdread house done. "Boy that is a lot of work!" as my son would say. But we got it done. I do not think it is as nice as I would have liked, but hey, for a first attempt I guess it is ok. Making the dough Eating the dough Eating sugar: Decorating: Trying to assemble: And the finished product Johann is not there too much because he's been sick. I got the recipe and instruction from King's flour website but next year I am going to go for a smaller, more square one. Have a great day,

My kids are still young and I am still in the process of building Christmas traditions at our house, but here are what I have done so far. Every year I try to make h omemade ornaments . In the past I have done cinnamon ornaments, and this year we did some edible ornaments and salt dough ornaments. For the longest while I have been wanting to make a gingerbread house. I finally took the plunge this year. It is still in the making, so more on that in a few days. Every year we bake cookies and I try to vary and add new ones every time. We also try to have  an advent calendar . I have made up a new one this year, and I am hoping to keep it for the subsequent years. Also in the past, I have done some Christmas related worksheets with the kids but this year I wanted to try something else with them to drive the story of Christmas home. I am still cogitating on that one. Another thing I would like to add to our tradition is a nativity scene to make, but I do not seem to find one that I lik...

It's 2 PM  and I am sitting on the sofa, still in my pajamas. Joho is sick and lyig against me, and I am feeling sickish as well. I somehow did mange to make a gingerbread dough this morning, with the help of the kids, for the gingerbread house that I intend to make today. I came across this site this morning and this is where Zach is doing his school on today. E-Learning forKids This is definitely worth trying out. I guarantee you will be pleased. It's got Math games, English, Science and other subjects which will help your child cement knowledge. Just now he has done a science course on an overview of the human body parts, of which he aced the test at the end, and where he learned about the heart, the lungs, the senses, the digestive system, the skin, the skeleton and muscles and the brain. He has also done 2 addition games and an opposites and similar words english exercice. I will have  to go take my shower at some point as I do have to take Zach to h...

Jesus, God's Righteousness Revealed Geoff Bullock Jesus, God's Righteousness Revealed, The Son Of Man, The Son Of God, His Kingdom Come. Jesus, Redemption's Sacrifice, now Glorified, now Justified His Kingdom Come. And This Kingdom Will Know No End, and It's Glory Shall Know No Bounds. for The Majesty And Power of This Kingdom's King Has Come. and This Kingdom's Reign, and This Kingdom's Rule, and This Kingdom's Power And Authority Jesus, God's Righteousness Revealed. Jesus, The Expression Of God's Love, the Grace Of God, The Word Of God, Revealed To Us. Jesus, God's Holiness Displayed, now Glorified, Now Justified, His Kingdom Come. And This Kingdom Will Know No End, And It's Glory Shall Know No Bounds. for The Majesty And Power of This Kingdom's King Has Come. and This Kingdom's Reign, and This Kingdom's Rule, and This Kingdom's Power And Authority Jesus, God's Righteousness Revealed. ( Repeat Chorus) To Listen to th...

Since it is the Christmas season let me share some  Christmas links I came across this week: Scrapbook Scrapbook and Craftown.com have great Christmas crafts to add to your Christmas celebration. Make sure you visit Brenda from The Tie that Binds Us @ her Christmas blog J oyful Holidays for ideas and daily giveaways until Christmas. At Quirky momma and The Homeschool Lounge you can find great lists of homemade Christmas gift ideas. I also what to share this post from the Homeschool Classroom on Organizing and Displaying Children's artwork. Have a great day,

Since there was no weekly wrap-up round up last week, you are welcome to check our wrap-up from last week here . On to this week: It's free week. I decided to take a week off since I had been feeling so tired over the previous 2 weeks. This seems to have helped to relieve some of that tiredness. So what did we do? Monday, absolutely nothing. The kids had free rein and although I had planned to do some cleaning I do not know where the day went. Tuesday, we were invited out for dinner, so that took half the day. In the morning I made some Christmas ornaments. Wednesday, I cleaned out the master bedroom and of course that meant new furniture placement.I am the only one who does that? Thursday, we had a fieldtrip to a victorian museum. You can read about it here . Today we had a day out of town to visit a place that sells real mennonite sausages. We love them. Tomorrow Zach has  a group violin play in in the afternoon which should be fun. Next week we will resume school for 2 more week...

Yesterday we had a little fieldtrip in town here in Scarborough Toronto @ the Thompson Memorial park where we got to have a little taste of what people did for the holidays in Victorian times in Canada. It was really nice and enjoyable. Have a great day, Singing Jingle bells with bells in hands Pionner time by the fire Grating, nutmeg, cinnamon and grinding all spice Pomander making What I remember is candied orange,  pomanders, and sugar plums. Next on my to do list is finding recipes for these. We also got to make swats. Now I've got new nice smelling decorations.