Wall Hanging by Me and Quilt Rack by Bob

Homemade Disc Golf Basket

The latest sport at our house is disc golf.  Robert made this disc golf basket after watching a DIY video on youtube.

Cute Carolers Wall Hanging

One of my other talented sisters designed this and I quilted it.

If you come to my house this month....

then you will receive one of these little bags.  It is not a bribe (or a threat), just the way it is.

Home grown and canned spaghetti sauce, sweet relish, bread and butter pickles

AWANA isn't just about learning Bible verses, although that is the priority.

The clubbers' "reward" after the Food Drive.

The tomatoes I picked on Thanksgiving Day are actually turning red!

Were our Founders REALLY Christian?

A power point presentation that answers these questions including references to the words and works of the Founding Fathers:

1. Were the Founding Fathers mostly agnostics, deists, and secularists who wanted a wall of separation between Church and State?
2. Is there any sense in which the United States was conceived as a Christian Nation?
3. Did the Founders intend to erect a wall of  separation between Church and State?

Another beautiful Christmas ornament from my sister...

For God so loved the world,
that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in Him
shall never perish,
but have everlasting life.
John 3:16


Beloved, if God so loved us,

we also ought to love one another.

1 John 4:11

I think she made this

Rollabind Notebooks are Great for Homeschool Notebooking

Rollabind notebooks take up less space than binders.   Little discs and a unique hole puncher by Rollabind make nice notebooks in our homeschool.  Page can be added and removed anywhere in the notebook.  That comes in quite handy for the student who does not like to write on the back next to the spine.  Take the paper out, do the writing and reinsert.  Clear plastic covers make it easy to customize the front.  We use them for science, writing and history.

I also use these notebooks to organize articles I print out from the Internet or my Logos Bible Software.  I have notebooks for different sections of the Bible -  the Pentateuch, History, Wisdom literature, Gospels, Letters, etc.


My cute little recipe books are put together with Rollabind discs as well.  

You may only care about this if you are as much of an organizing junkie as I am.

Pages can be easily removed and place in other locations in the notebook..

The clear covers customize each notebook for its content.

What are Christmas and Easter All About?

This is a neat little book I found at GoodSeed for only $2.00.

The purpose of this book is to explain the most important story in the Holy Bible.  It is a story that tells us what Christmas and Easter are all about.  However the book doesn't stop with the stories of these two festivals.  It explains much more.  It  tells us the Bible's answers to life, death, and life after death.  It helps us understand what the Bible is all about!

You can download a free pdf document of it here:  http://www.goodseed.com/products/cne-eng-book/

My New iPad Hard at Work

So here I am sitting at the computer while my husband plays comfortably with my iPad from the La-Z-boy recliner.   Yes, play.  Bookworm.  He has so many points he is ranked as a "glossographer."  Good thing I get up before everyone else does so I can use it, too.  

Seriously, the iPad comes in quite handy for school.  We were reading about the Western Frontier in our All American History textbook.  My student wanted to know more about "Buffalo Bill's Wild West" show and Sitting Bull.  So we "googled" it while sitting on the sofa.  With a large, color screen, two people can view it most comfortably.  This is a great resource for school.

Green Tomatoes anyone?

Two days before our first freeze, I was forced to harvest all of our green tomatoes.  These were growing on the spring tomato plants that survived the summer drought.  That is a lot of small tomatoes!  Fried or pickled or doused in sugar are not options.  Hopefully, they will ripen in the kitchen.  Dang, they take up a lot of space.  Since they are green and red, maybe I can pass them off as Christmas decorations?

Thanksgiving Dinner

Starting at 12:00 - Dressing with Italian sausage, sweet potatoes with pecan topping, salad with leaf shaped croutons, cranberry jello loaded with fruits and vegetables, dinner rolls, turkey and gravy.    Desserts:  Apple pie, Texas dirt pie, pecan pie, and pumpkin pie.

Thanksgiving Morning - Cinnamon Rolls

We aren't having a thanksgiving dinner until tomorrow.  So I made these cinnamon rolls to help us get through the day.  I actually made 12, but forgot to take a picture right away. :)  I mixed the dough in the bread machine and replaced 1 cup of the white flour with whole wheat flour.

Our Fall Garden --- yup, that's all there is

What the grasshoppers didn't eat, the drought finished off.  How in the world did this little plant survive?  And that tiny little squash is about two weeks old. Unheard of for squash.

Waffles for a Week

I make a batch or two and freeze individually usually on Saturday morning.  

These are darker because I use a lot of whole wheat flour.

Chicken Bean and Rice Casserole - low fat

We buy our chicken locally, grow the green beans in our garden and use organic rice.

Bread machine buns save $$$

wheat and white flour, butter for the shortening, yum

When we have to go to town, which is an hour away, packing our lunch saves $$$$$.  It is more appealing to the guys to eat sandwiches made with homemade buns than the same ol' store bought bread.

Skunked

This is what happens if you get skunked at our house.

Outside the School Door

Dogs that go jump in the pond and get dirty have to stay outside.

One Room Schoolhouse Quilt

I made this several years ago.

This is Week 12 in Our Life of Christ Study

Please look at the "Bible Study" page to see what we did to prepare for this more detailed study.


We have been studying the book of Matthew section by section since the beginning of school - 12 weeks now - and enjoying every minute of it.  

To help us with our observations of the text, together we make up a few questions for each section after we read and I write them down in our notebook.  The next day, for review, I see if my student can answer them.  I'll be posting those questions in the days to come.

A sampling of questions for Matthew 1:1-17  The geneaology of Jesus Christ

1. In these verses, Jesus Christ is called the "Son of" whom?
2. How many men are mentioned in this genealogy from Abraham to David?  (including David)
3. What women are included in this part of the genealogy?  
4. How many men are in the geneaology from David to the Babylonian captivity?  
5. How many men are mentioned after the Babylonian captivity?  And what woman is included?
6. With whom does this genealogy end?  (later we'll compare this to the geneaology in Luke)

The following are other resources, besides the Bible, that we have used to enhance our study.  If one can't figure out the significance to the inspired writing of this genealogy, then these books explain it.  (Bible.org has free resources that would suffice.)


Since Jesus Christ is in the line of Abraham and David, He is qualified (among other reasons) to be the Messiah and fulfill the covenants made to these two men and recorded in the books of Genesis and 2 Samuel.  


Genealogies were carefully recorded and preserved in the Temple.  Anyone could go look Jesus' up, including Matthew.  His claim to be of Davidic descent is never challenged.  This is not why He was rejected.

All the books we use - not all necessary, but nice to have

A great spine for a study on the Life of Christ with a teenager.

A page from The Life of Christ: A Visual Survey

The New King James Nelson Study Bible

The Life of Christ: A Visual Survey

Bible Knowledge Commentary

The New Manners and Customs in the Bible

The Words and Works of Jesus Christ   - for interpretation of parables

The Reign of the Servant Kings - for interpretation of parables

"Getting Started in Studying the Bible" by Tony Garland addresses the money issue when buying Bible study aids.  He states the following:

Some Christians complain about spending money on Bible study aids. I hope you aren't one of them.  I see Christians routinely spend surplus money on electronic gadgets, movies, lattes and on DVDs and music, only to complain they can't shell out $60 bucks for a top-notch commentary that will serve them well all their lives!

Perhaps this may seem like a pretty big list. But you can focus on obtaining these books over time. Often they can be found in used book stores, or as used copies at online booksellers, for considerably less money. All of these are solid and will serve you well all your life.

What is it about kitties in boxes?

Voice of The Martyrs Prayer Calendar, Map and Persecuted Church Global Report

 In school, we use this calendar, map and global report to guide us in our prayers for our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ around the world.  The Voice of the Martyrs has, on their website, an interactive map which shows each nation where Christianity is restricted and where, I believe, the Angelic Conflict is hotly raging for the souls of the lost and the physical lives of those in Christ.   Restricted Nations Map - Voice of the Martyrs

Veterans Day is Tomorrow

If any of you have ever been to our house you have seen this very old picture by our front door.  My sister, Heidi, gave to me.  At the time, her husband was serving in Korea and I know she was missing him.  Thank you Heidi.  Thank you Craig.   And thank you to all who have served our country in the military.


Love,
Joli

All American History Vol 2 and Story of the World Vol 4 Timeline Figures

I made extra copies of the character pages in the All American History Manual for  Timeline Figures.  Any events that  were not represented by a person, I found on Google images.

I added extra half pages when I ran out of room for that time period.  A half page is overlaid on the left side.

The Story of the World timeline figures are combine with All American History for this Timeline book.

Write it down in a Notebook

Notebooks are on the left side of the desk, kitty underneath

Part of my collection of notebooks that I keep on my desk

Right before school starts, composition notebooks can be purchased for a song, twenty-five cents a piece at Wal-Mart or Target.    I stock up and use them for anything and everything:  lists, garden notes, money, wellness (recipes and health information), addresses, Latin vocabulary, Spanish vocabulary, lesson plans, a reading journal, Bible studies, etc.  I keep them on my desk in between book ends with the name of the notebook written on the top using a marker.  That way it is easier to pull out just the right one the first time.

Write the alphabet up in the corner - 3 pages per letter for an address book.

Garden notes and plans

Glue charts and other notes inside.

Take notes in a wellness journal after reading a good book
on  eating  well, exercise.  Tape recipes inside.

Home school Bible study - more on this to come!

Knowing God

"...while in other sciences the instruments you use are things external to yourself (things like microscopes and telescopes), the instrument through which you see God is your whole self.  And if a man's self is not kept clean and bright, his glimpse of God will be blurred -- like the Moon seen through a dirty telescope."   C.S. Lewis

Does any Bible verse come to mind?

Bertie Wooster Costume (with a cowboy)

What's the deal?  Sunday night nobody, I mean nobody, knew who Bertie Wooster was.   That's me on the right, dressed up as Bertie.  I am even wearing his "Prize for Scripture Knowledge", his only claim to fame.  To learn more about this important figure in literature, please read, My Man Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse.

Bible Note Taking Form

Flexible form for taking notes as one studies the Bible

Organizing Homeschool Supplies

Book case dedicated exclusively to homeschool supplies

An inexpensive label maker was used to make the labels.

Labels on the boxes:  math manipulatives, journals, staples, paint, stamps, chalk, etc.

Outside the School Window

This moment was worth putting down the books to capture --- a red-tailed hawk.

"Social Morality"

My sister made this Christmas ornament for us.  She gives us one every year.

"I may repeat 'Do as you would be done by' till I am black in the face, but I cannot really carry it out till I love my neighbor as myself: and I cannot learn to love my neighbor as myself till I learn to love God:  and I cannot learn to love God except by learning to obey Him.  And so, as I warned you, you are driven on to something more inward --- driven on from social matters to religious matters.  For the longest way around is the shortest way home."  

Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis

What eggs-actly is going on here?

Our portable chicken tractor used to fertilize the garden naturally and provides a few eggs.