Review: Journey Through Learning Lapbooks

The Greatest Inventors has been a delight to us to use over the past few weeks. We've laughed, we've talked, and we've discovered so much thanks to A Journey through Learning Lapbooks.  Let me tell you all about it!

Review: A Train of Thought

I have this fascination with trains, not real running on the rails trains...but the trains of old, the ones I can do in replica on an HO scale rail.   So imagine my delight when I was contacted about reviewing a book about trains, told from the perspective of a fella who worked the lines for 40 years.

Guide, remember.. fear not

Guide

I sit here feeling battered and flummoxed.
I inadvertently opened a hot button on facebook.

Name calling.
Hard comments.
Challenges made.
Misunderstandings rampant.
I awed by the support of a friend.

I wonder..

Parenting Series: Mercy

 Do you know what mercy is?

Mercy is "tenderheartedness and compassion toward someone in need" (Tripp p. 195) 

Mercy is "compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm."  (google)

When I was growing up I was taught that mercy was "unmerited favour". 

Mr. Tripp asks us to remember what it is, and to also remember, how much we need mercy in our own lives. Can you remember how important mercy is to you in your own walk with the Lord.

Now .. holding that in your mind.  Think about your children. 

Completely Protected

Today we are looking at Romans 8:31-39.

Do you remember that future hope that we need to wait for patiently?  How God has foreknown us, called us, justified us and glorified us?

 

Art Book: Spread Your Wings and Fly

Spread your wings and fly is a unique origami book.   

I honestly didn't know what I thought of it at first, I expected a typical origami book where it shows a picture of a folded paper creation and then shows you how to make it.

This book takes a somewhat different tack.

Review: Everyday Homemaking with Everyday Cooking

Want to try a new cookbook?   Well, Everyday Homemaking provided me with a collection of tried-and-true recipes in their book Everyday Cooking.  Included in this cookbook are numerous hints to make your cooking journey simpler, while emphasizing whole foods.  

Review: My Great Big God

 I suppose it's odd of me, but I like reviewing these hardcover children's bible story books.  Perhaps it's because I have a wee niece (what do you call a niece of a niece?) and her mom is dating a fellow who has a wee lad around the same age.   So I have these two little people in my life so these books make me smile.   I want them to have good books that help show them who God is.

This book makes the cut, let me tell you why.

Can we wait patiently for that future glory?

Today we are reading from Romans 8:18-30.

This morning on facebook I read about a young lady who is going through a hard time medically speaking, and today (or I suppose rather yesterday) it was an emotionally tough one.  One of the commenters mentioned that surgery scars are a sign of a battle fought and shouldn't be seen as ugly but as a sign of victory.  Mourn the need of them us, but truly see them as they are.  With that in mind.. when I read the first verse of this section it makes sense you know?

Hymn Study: Come Thou Font, Come Thou My King

 We sang this song in church yesterday, and I thought it was an interesting way to modernize an older hymn of worship.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.  :)  I was captured by the words in verse two about how I was lost in utter darkness and then, oh then Jesus came and rescued me... Aren't those great words to remember? 

Are you Prepared to Wait?

As I sat here thinking about what to write as a letter of encouragement I had to admit, I was drawing a blank.  I thought about combining this post with my Five minute Friday post...and I actually might still do that, but my mind is full of the activities of the day.

I woke up this morning to a note left by my lad "I'll be back at 8:10" he was out looking for ant, he came back all delighted he found a  new type of ant (queen and male).   But what kind was it? Soon I heard the request.  "MOM!!!   Can you help me email the ant man?   Maybe he can help me figure it out."    For the rest of the day the kept asking "Mom, have you heard from him yet?   How long do you think it might take?"

He happily helped me care for our critters and then did his math and history for the day, I started working on the cold cellar.

I thought, this will take maybe a couple of hours.. I.... was.... wrong...

You know what we discovered?  A stinky smelly potato bin.. oh my.   Now.. we knew we had something going on there, but we needed the time and motivation to deal with it.  Our move in another six months is good motivation yes?

First we had to clean out all the stuff that a certain loved one had tossed in there over the years, then we removed the potato bin.. the wood was rotting!  Hence the odour... Loved one to the rescue, figuring out how to get it out!  Once it was out I kicked (literally) the guys out of the way, donned a mask and cleaned up the mess under the potato bin.  Boy.. rather icky that!  

Then came the fine work of sorting through and deciding.. am I willing to move this? NO?  Okay, list it for sale after cleaning it. Do I want to keep it?  Okay.. clean it up and organize it. I toss old canned jars of food, and garbage and.. well..  should have taken a picture but didn't.. our lovely big bin couldn't fit ALL THE TRASH!  

Wow.. I have to admit, it feels so good having that big job done.  And it's clean and no spider webs or icky smell. It's lovely.

Which brings me to this point... It took me ALL day to clean it out.  ALL DAY.. I was so very tired, the lad was tired as I had him running up and down the stairs taking things out to the recycling and garbage bins.  He worked hard.   

All day to clean a mess up from before we were married and was just added to over the past 15 years, cause it's the basement right?  Hubby wasn't prepared to deal with getting rid of stuff (cause he's as much a pack rat as I am) so I just left it, I knew sooner or later he'd want to and why put pressure where it simply didn't need to be?

Which makes me ask this momma... are YOU prepared to be patient?  Are you prepared to let time take care of that struggle that staring you in the face?

I could have pressured hubby over the past 15 years.. I could have really.  I could have said let's argue about it, let's make a stink ... but I didn't.  I knew that in time it would be dealt with and then it would all over and done with in one day (a long day mind).  When a fellow is ready to let go so it's not a stressful matter.  

That boy child who is so focused on whatever issue... are you prepared to wait it out.  To enjoy the good, to train the needful and to just wait for the right timing?  To see that boy become a man full of character and wisdom?   That girl who is becoming a woman and doesn't fully see who she is yet... are you willing to wait her out, to give a nudge when needed, a hug and a spot of encouragement saying  "it'll come out okay in the end lovey?"

Are you prepared to NOT be stressed out over something that time will take care of?

I just want to encourage you... to wait.. and then in the waiting.. to be ready, ready to act, to talk, to work, to encourage, to don a mask (if needed) and clean out the ickiness from bad decisions made, to sweep out the old, to make it look new again, to just get the job done even if it's exhausting.  But until then.. to just wait and see and enjoy what you have now.

The good Lord tells us to wait on him.  He knows the right timing for things.  Don't rush it.
Trust him, oh just trust him, believe me.. IT'S WORTH IT!!! It really is. 

Come along won't you on this last day?   You can find us all here, and you can start with this list.
Annette – A Net in Time -Five days to celebrate back to school, curriculum choices, supplies, things to do and encouragement for you. Come join us won’t you?
Ashley  – Gift of Chaos – Join us as we go “back to school” with a First Grader and a Preschooler!
Betty – Let’s Get Real – I am a veteran homeschooling mom.  Our family’s passion is to glorify God in all we do and say and we pray that God will use our lives for His glory.
Chareen – Every Bed of Roses – I’m about to enter into my 20th year of home educating.  I have two graduates and am currently homeschooling our youngest. I’m looking forward to sharing with you in the week ahead.
Christy  – Unexpected Homeschool – Join us on our journey as we homeschool our only child through her high school years while dealing with chronic illnesses.
Crystal – Living Abundantly – Living Abundantly seeks to help Christian women and homeschooling families live abundantly, even when the thief tries to destroy your joy.
Desiree  – Our Homeschool Notebook – I am Mom to 4 kids, and this is our place to share our family and homeschool adventures. This year we will have children in 11th, 6th, 4th, and 1st grades, and we are all excited to get back to school.

This post may contain affiliate links - using affiliate links from A Net in Time helps fuel this blog and our homeschool - thank you! ©2006-2017 A Net In Time. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. A Net In Time . We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites

Speak, a poem

Speak? 


Sunday it hit, 

The pain in my head.
Making me wish
Temporarily I could be dead.
Migraines aren't fun
The sunlight it hurts
Please tell me hun
You won't force me to church?

Pain sits and sits
Never seems to abate
But this week I have work
It mustn't be late!

Eagerly waiting
For the pain to leave
Each day I work 
Sunglasses relieve

Anguish each day
When I awake
WHY TELL ME WHY
Won't this pain hit the lake?

Knowing that God
Holds me close to his heart
I know I can work
I can do my part
Slowly I find, 
My voice as I type
So glad I can make
This room almost dark

 ACK!!!  I have no more letters to work with, and I'm getting tired.   Just have to say I am so glad that God gave me the ability to slowly.. oh.. so slowly.. to find the words I needed to make the five day blog hop work out as well as it did!   Sunglasses and darkness..it took four days for that migraine to leave!!!  AH.. don't want to live with that again for another year!  But to bed I must go, I don't want that massive headache to come back again!  

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This is a five minute Friday post. the word prompt is brought to us by Miss Kate over at Five Minute Friday.  What is Five Minute Friday?  Well it's a party of a group of like minded folks who gather on Friday to do a five minute free write around a singular word.  AND THEN (and this is the most important part) we take the time to offer up encouragement to each other on this writing journey.  It's fun, though it's not always easy, but it is always good.   Come join us won't you?  You are always welcome.

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This post may contain affiliate links - using affiliate links from A Net in Time helps fuel this blog and our homeschool - thank you! ©2006-2017 A Net In Time. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. A Net In Time . We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites

You can't do it all!

Did you know that you can't do it all?

You can't.

It takes a community to educate a child.

To that end.. we happily use the community to educate our son in the things that we can't.

What do we farm out you ask?

Review: The Superhero Handbook

 I have to admit, this is a cute book. Written in bold, easy to read font with quick easy instructions to get children on the road to making their own Superhero gear.   The Superhero Handbook is just that, a handbook made just for your average superhero, reminding him/her of all things important to superheroes.

Art Book: Mudworks

Today I have a rather different art book to show you.  It's called "Mudworks: Creative Clay, Dough and Modeling Experience". 

 This is a rather neat book, seriously.

Planners? I think NOT!

You know what happens to me every year around this time?

I feel like a failure.

Want to know why?

The "I've planned out my year".  "I'm using this awesome planner".  "I've got my studies all worked out and planned out".   

And I think to myself... I've tried, I've failed, I'll never pull this year off because I don't plan everything out.   I don't even plan out a month ahead of time.   

Are you like me?  

We are Heirs of God.

Today we are reading from Romans 8:12-17.

¹² So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. ¹³ For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. ¹⁴ For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. ¹⁵ For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” ¹⁶ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Technology in the Classroom

I have to admit, I really struggled with this topic.  I think school supplies and I think.. oh yay.. talking about pencils, papers and glue.  BIG YIP! How in the world can I make THAT topic exciting?   Should I talk about how I organize them?  Should I talk about the differences in pencils when it comes to doing art?  Hmm...

I sat and pondered.  Thinking about what school supplies would I prefer to not live without.
Then it hit me.

My cell phone!  My Laptop!  The Tablets!   Seriously...this tech I would not want to be without.

If I combine them with my boy and his questions, and me and my ingenuity... we have a workable solution for our homeschooling needs.

YES we still need paper, printers, pencils, pens, erasers, glue and what not...but in the end.. what we really would have a hard time living without for our schooling purposes is the internet and how it comes through in the cell phone, laptop and tablet.

These three items make our schooling so much easier.

No Condemnation

Today we are reading from Romans 8:1-11.

 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 
 Oh!   I love this verse don't you?   To think that if we are in Christ, there is no condemnation heaped upon our heads!  Why?  Because we've been freed from slavery to sin!

 ² For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 
The Law of the Spirit has set us free!  Think on that a spell!   FREEDOM!   No condemnation. That's what the Lord God has wrought for us.  

Review: Lint Boy

Imagine that you have a life that you love, living with your family, just having a good time.  Now imagine that your sibling, who you love dearly, is snatched away.  Kidnapped by a dreadful person!  What do you do?

Well.. if you are Lint Boy you rush to the rescue!   Can you save your brother Lint Bear?