Sunday, March 27, 2011

Grand prize winner!

After a day of dealing with the loss of my grandma, I came home to discover I had been chosen for the grand prize winner for the Doorpost's blog giveaway. I am so thrilled at the thought of receiving these wonderful resources!!! I love their materials and have often spread the word at my homeschool meetings about the different products they have. I feel so very blessed to be able to receive this package. My goal as I homeschool my children is to teach them about our Lord and Saviour. My prayer for them is to grow up and love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul and mind. I want them to have a desire for the things of God, to walk with Him, to have a servants heart.

Thank you Lord and thank you Doorposts for your generous gift!

Grandma's home going....

Today was a day of rejoicing and sadness. My grandma, who just celebrated her 90th birthday, went home to be with the Lord today. I rejoice that she is with her Saviour and that she no longer is suffering.... but I will miss her greatly. She was a very special lady and an awesome grandma!! Grandma and Grandpa would have celebrated their 69th anniversary this September. I am so proud of my grandpa for the way he tenderly cared for her, especially during her failing health over the last few years. He is such a strong man. I have watched him love her, protect her, care for her, and sit by her side. I love you grandpa.


I have often told my children how blessed they were to have 3 sets of great grandparents that they have gotten to know. They have been blessed with so many wonderful, godly examples as they watch their grandparents and great grandparents. I thank the Lord for the family He put me in and how much He loves me. I rejoice that one day we will all be reunited in glory!


This world is not my home I'm just passing through
my treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue
the angels beckon me from Heaven's open door
and I can't feel at home in this world anymore


They're all expecting me and that's one thing I know
my Savior pardoned me and now I onward go
I know He'll take me through though I am weak and poor
and I can't feel at home in this world anymore


Just up in Glory Land we'll live eternally
the Saints on every hand are shouting victory
their song of sweetest praise drifts back from Heaven's shore
and I can't feel at home in this world anymore

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

I've been wanting to blog and share about the great weekend I had at the homeschool convention, and all the things I've gained from listening to the speakers. It was such a time of encouragement and conviction! I think it is appropriate that I start out by sharing what has just occurred to one of the speakers, Ken Ham and the Answers in Genesis (AiG) team.
I was looking forward to listening to at least one of his sessions and he had such big crowds whenever he spoke! Unfortunately he has been kicked out of 2 homeschool conventions put on by the Great Homeschool Convention association. He was scheduled to speak in Cincinnati and Philadelphia over the following months but after his last appearance, he has been 'disinvited'. The letter states he has also been disinvited from all future conventions. Please read the above note (or click here) to read about.

In summary, Ken Ham posted on Facebook (before the convention) about one of the speakers, Dr Enns, who was appearing at our convention. Here is what Dr. Enns is promoting....

"In my last post I suggested that the Adam story could be viewed symbolically as a story of Israel’s beginnings, not as the story of humanity from ground zero.
But some might ask, “Why go through all this trouble? Why not just take it literally? The Bible says Adam was the first man. That’s the end of it.”
It’s not that simple, and if it were, people wouldn’t be talking it about it so much. First of all, reading the Adam story symbolically rather than as a literal description of history is not a whim, and it is certainly not driven by a desire to undermine the Bible. Rather, as we have seen, the Bible itself invites a symbolic reading by using cosmic battle imagery and by drawing parallels between Adam and Israel (to name two factors).
There is also considerable external evidence that works against the “just read it literally” mentality.
The biblical depiction of human origins, if taken literally, presents Adam as the very first human being ever created. He was not the product of an evolutionary process, but a special creation of God a few thousand years before Jesus—roughly speaking, about 6000 years ago. Every single human being that has ever lived can trace his/her genetic history to that one person.
This is a problem because it is at odds with everything else we know about the past from the natural sciences and cultural remains."

Dr. Enns goes along with the world view of millions of years and does not take the bible literally.....and Ken Ham wanted to pull the sheep's clothing off of this wolf! In Ken Ham's session, he did not name names but he wanted to make it very clear that we are to be responsible when choosing curriculum that is advertised at the convention. Just because this is a Christian homeschool convention does not mean that all exhibitors are promoting Biblical curriculum as advertised. You need to open the books and read them....see what these exhibitors are selling!!!

I am soooo disappointed with the homeschool convention board. I was looking forward to next year's convention. They are ousting a man who promotes the Bible as 100% truth and encourages believers to be able to defend their faith....but turn around and promote speakers who go against scripture, AND highlight Tim Hawkins (Christian comedian) whom I found very close to being sac-religious in his act (along with the rock concert he put on for us - it was awful!).
I hope you will support Ken Ham and the ministry at Answers in Genesis. Check out their store for many wonderful resources!!!

Monday, March 21, 2011

It's about time

http://www.parenting.com/article/car-seats-safety?cid=enews032111
I posted a while back about our decision to turn our 3 year old BACK to the rear facing position in his carseat. After watching a video about the subject, I was compelled for his safety to have him rear facing once again because of his weight. He was a light pounder!!! Only 28 lbs at 3 years of age. The NEW recommendation in 2011 is to have your children rear facing at least until 2 years of age, but they recommend rear facing until they hit the maximun height and weight of a rear facing carseat (which is our case is 40 lbs rear facing). As long as the child's head is one inch below the back of the carseat, they can face the rear.
Please read the above article and read my posting below from last year. It has an eye opening video which will make you think twice!http://homegrownwithlove.blogspot.com/2010/07/i-found-this-very-interesting-i-went.html
........and then turn your little ones back to rear facing!!!

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Time to rest

What a weekend!!! Three days at a homeschool convention. My mind is overflowing with information, my heart has been encouraged and uplifted, I've been convicted and see areas needing change, I'm excited about our homeschool journey as a family :) I have so much I want to share that I've learned but it will have to wait...........I'm sooooo tired!! Early mornings, late nights, I haven't spent time with my children for 3 days, a hubby who has been willing to watch the kids but is needing some couple-time now....so as I process everything and catch up with my family, I will save the sharing part for another day :)

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Homeschool conference

Day one of the homeschool conference done!! Loved it!!! Can't wait for a full day tomorrow and Saturday. Excited about going to see Tim Hawkins tomorrow night too :) Off to bed.....early day tomorrow.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Big Giveaway

Doorposts is a company I have bought several items from including For Instruction in Righteousness, Polished Cornerstones, some of their charts....ooohhhh they have so many goodies! Well, Doorposts now has a blog and they are giving away items free for the next ten days, with a grand prize random winner that will receive EVERY product they sell.....$450 worth!!!! Here's praying :) Click here to go to their blog ---> giveaway

Chapter book


So this morning I caught my 5 yr old reading a Boxcar Children chapter book!! So I thought, that was fine and dandy but did you learn anything from reading it? He went on to explain the story to me..........good grief!! This kid is going to be reading a Tale of Two Cities by the time he's 10 the way he's going! He also thought it was time to make himself some bookmarks since he's reading big kid books.


We also got our Lilla Rose flexi-clips in the mail. Hubby really liked the one that I won in a blog giveaway, so he wanted us to get another one (one for mama and one for our girl). She loves hers!!!! She has a mini-flexi and I have the extra-small. I call them jewelry for the hair :) We'd love to get a few more....

And on the sickness front....the 2 little ones seem to be doing much better (although still coughing), our oldest 2 now have a regular cold, and I've been battling some form of it with a headache for 5 days now, sore lymph nodes etc.... I'm really praying this year will be much better for us health wise!!

Monday, March 14, 2011

Accountable2You

The new and improved Accountable2You website is now up and running!!! We praise God that He allowed us to get the Mac version added on. I'm so very proud of hubby and his desire to please God and serve Him in the area of computer accountability. He has poured his heart into this and gives God all the glory for what He is accomplishing through this. Go check it out!!

Another giveaway!

There is a phonics museum reading curriculum giveaway over at Raising Homemakers! Go check it out. Aimed for Kindergarten to Grade 1.....a 2 year program!!!
There are 31 books filled with biblical and historical content. You will read books about Martin Luther, Ben Franklin, Ella Fitzgerald, Daniel and the Lions Den, fathers of the faith, and many more inspiring, interesting stories.

Go enter :)

Saturday, March 12, 2011

and again.....

It's sounding awful over here! Child #2 is now on antibiotics. This is a horrible, deep down, chest cough (croupy, bronchitis type...worse than the barking seal sound). Child #3 is now showing signs.....I suspect a trip to the doctor probably towards the end of the week. This time I'm going to request specific tests to find out exactly what this is! Praying hubby and I don't come down with it!!

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Courageous - Coming in September 30

A new film is coming by the Kendrick brothers who are the makers of Fireproof, Facing the Giants and Flywheel. Looks to be another good one!!
Click here to view trailer -->Courageous - September 30

Monday, March 7, 2011

Sickness

Some pics from Saturday. She had fun playing outside (now that she keeps shoes on!!) Pray for us as we have sickness going through the house that need antibiotics. She has the first symptoms of it now too.





Saturday, March 5, 2011

90!!


A very happy birthday to my grandma who turned 90 years old yesterday. I love her so much!

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Interesting!

If you are familiar with the missionary story of Jim Elliot and Nate Saint, you might be interested in this little video of Nate Saint's son, Steve. He tells of his father and shares a little of his life in the jungle towards the end of the video.
This flying car is a product of growing up in the jungles.....
http://bcove.me/c804mu3j