Buttons

We are into our study of the original 13 colonies. My daughter loves to find out about how it was to live then, though she is learning she does not have it too hard :) So today, we made our own buttons.

She made some for her friends, one for herself and then one for her mama :) At first she was only going to do round buttons but I did suggest she do other shapes, she LOVED that idea.

It took her quite some time but when you are creating, and redoing, you can't worry about time.

All you need for this craft is:

Oven-baked clay

Time

Oven (hence the oven baked clay)

wax paper or foil to work on

After you make your creations then you just bake in the oven set at 275 degrees for 15 min per 1/4" thickness( so if the pieces are 1/2" think it would need to be baked for 30 min)

Kelli

Beautiful Girlhood #14

Dreams

In this chapter on dreams,the author shows the girls that having is a great thing. Not dreams that you have when you sleep but dreams of what they will accomplish in their future. Ms. Andreola shows the girls that their dreams will show by what they put their time and effort into.

"I will say that no girl has ever made a success at anything in which her dreams have not gone ahead to brighten the way before her". Pg 93

She gives them many examples of dreams girls can have. She does warn against letting dreams be affected by romance novels and some movies making their hearts become vile and that way allowing temptation a small opening in which to come in. She instructs the girls to not allow their dreaming to consume time that she should be focused on the work at hand.

Scripture
Genesis 37; 39-47- Life of Joseph
Discuss ways you see Joseph taking action to make his dreams come true. Also talk of ways you can harness your dreams to make them work for you

Bible in 90 days

I have heard many people talk about this Bible in 90 days challenge but I have to admit I did not really give it much thought. The past few weeks the Lord has impressed it upon my heart to spend more time in the word with my daughter. So when Kimberly at Raising Olives invited all her readers to join her in this challenge starting April 1st, I jumped on board.

I have to say I am a little scared that we will slack but doing it with a community of other women will be an encouragement, and my parents are joining so having the accountability in person will also help Yes it will take me rearranging our schedule and priorities but I can think of nothing as important as spending time with our kids in the word.

If you would like to join in you can get the reading schedule and join us! It does take commitment but His word is worth all the sacrifices we will make.

Gratitude Journal

Counting blessings has been such a blessing to my soul. Even when life seems out of control, I look at the blessings surrounding me and just smile. When you smile it
changes your attitude. Try it…smile.



Counting the many reasons to smile #334-340

New babies
Excitement over finished projects
Growing into new bikes
Riding on her own
Sharing with friends that she can ride all by herself
Weekends of rest
Laughing

Gratitude Journal

Projects

So awhile ago I told you all that my daughter had started a sewing project for her 4H group. Well yesterday she finished it.

Of course you can tell what her favorite color is, right :) When she first started out in this sewing group she was not that excited but now she is on fire. She is planning her final project for fair and trying to go the extra mile. I am so proud of her.

Do you sew? If so what kid, quilting, clothes, home furnishings? If not do you desire to learn?

The Organized Home Schooler Review

Recently I have had the chance to review "The Organized Home Schooler" by Vicki Caruana and will say that I really enjoyed reading this book.

From the back of the book:

As a homeschooler and convention workshop leader, Vicki Caruana knows firsthand that disorganization is generally the greatest struggle among homeschooling families, and she wants to help! Covering the ongoing challenges you face- like space shortages, time constraints, and handling a wide array of materials-this veteran homeschooler sensitively guides you in structuring your family's work areas, your thinking, your paperwork, your relationships and, each other-without pushing you into a formula that may not suit your household, You'll be inspired to reevaluate, reorganize, and form new habits within your "home classroom", leaving behind the stress and inefficiency of a cluttered life.

There are so many organizational systems for homeschoolers out there that at first that is what I thought this book was. Just another "how to" book. Well it is not. She does not give you a specific system, instead Vicki gives you a different way to think. We all have a certain way we like to organize and she wants you to find your own way. She does give suggestions but not an exact plan to follow. I love how she pointed to scripture to help us think organized. For me personally it really just fueled my "simplify" mentality of purging my life of clutter. Many of the ideas she had were so wonderful but would not work for my daughter and I, seeing as I school at work. But I do think this is such an awesome book for those just starting homeschooling or those who are not as organized as they would like.

It was a great book, very down to earth and with wonderful ideas. If you want to reorganize or just get organized for the first time I would pick this book up and feel inspired!

I recieved a copy of this book from Crossway for review. All opinions expressed are soley and honestly mine.

Timeline

This year for history we are studying from the Middle Ages to the beginning of the United States. It has been fun and enlightening. But my daughter was having a hard time of keeping all the names, dates and places in historical order. So we started a timeline for this period. She is loving putting the people on the timeline. This helps her visualize the timeline and where people/ events relate to others.

Tapestry of Grace has the older children doing time lines and so we started ours. This timeline comes from a few moms from the Tapestry yahoo group. They have done such a great job of including those people and events that TOG has the older kids learn about. Each week they give you certain people or events to add to your timeline.

My daughter actually does a "woohoo" when she knows it is time to work on her timeline. If you have a chance I would highly recommend doing a timeline.

Gratitude Journal

After two weeks of surgeries and sickness I am ready to take some time to just reflect.



Counting the many blessings!!!
#321-333

Surgeon's steady hands
Unknown dangers found
The many prayers of friends/family
Time of resting
New friends made
Seeing her face after soccer practice
Her renewed joy of playing and composing
People who welcome strangers with smiles and friendly smiles
Reminders that we are sojourners here and our home awaits with Him
Missionaries living out the gospel
Renewed vision as a mom
His constant guidance in raising His arrow
The anticipation of a new life

May we all continue to count the many blessings He gives us.

Stylish Blogger Award

I have been MIA(sick) and yet blessed by Renee at Livin' Our Dash. She has awarded me The Stylish Blogger Award. Renee and her family are full time RVers. Check out their blog!!

7 things about me:
1. My dream place to live is by the ocean
2. I am not a morning person
3. I like Christian rock
4. I would love to see the world with my daughter
5. Reading is more than a hobby to me :)
6. Learning something new everyday is a goal I have
7. Soccer is my chosen sport


Now for the five bloggers I have passed this award onto:


The Girlies of Mt. Hope
Our Busy Homeschool
Mama Jenn
Declared Unto Him
Purposeful Homemaking

Learning to Sew

Wow, I can't believe it has been a week since I have posted. We have had a surgery in our family and then I was out of town for a day so I have not had a moment to sit and post.

This week my daughter started her sewing projects. She joined the sewing group for our 4H group and is so excited to be learning to sew and to be able to let her creative juices out. At this point in time we are just measuring, ironing and cutting but I will post some pictures of her sewing this weekend. She is doing a nine patch pillow, and has picked some very cute, pink fabric to mix and match.

I, personally, think it is very important to teach girls to sew. One reason is that they then get to create beautiful things. Second, the choices for clothes diminish as girls get older. Society has gone to more immodest clothes and so by learning to sew girls re able to make their own clothes or alter those they find in stores. One more reason for learning to sew is girls(and you too) can make so much of household items and then get to tailor it to their likes, material they choose and the size they want, instead of trying to find it in a store. There are many reasons to learn to sew but those are just a few.

Do you sew? What sort of things have you made?