Good to Know :)

Last night...

Note - dishwashing detergent is very different from dishwasher detergent. :D

Things Kids Say :)

I love hearing the things kids say. They amaze me with their wisdom at times and, other times, simply crack me up. :)

Here are a few things I've heard this week:

From my 7 year old when I went to wake her up - "I'm highly allergic to getting out of bed."

From my 10 year old as we were heading to a tax day tea party last Thursday night - "You know, government is like oxygen." Needed for health, but in limited amounts. Too much can have hazardous results. (Wow - that one shocked me. I thought it was very well thought out and well said. I asked her where she got it from and she told me she came up with it herself.)

Now, picture the same child a few days later looking through the calendar at the holidays - "Wow - we have a holiday for mayonnaise! Cinco de Mayo!" ;)

Have a wonderful day!

Broken Hallelujah

Here's a beautiful song that I heard for the first time in church yesterday. It's one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard. I just sat in church with tears streaming down my face. It was especially powerful to me since Eli (my nephew) went to be with Jesus just 8 weeks ago. Seeing my brother and sister-in-law have to endure this valley is heartbreaking. God is good, no doubt about it, but it's hard. Here are the words to the song "Broken Hallelujah" by Mandissa. (Be sure to pause the music in my sidebar to hear the song on this post.)

With my love and my sadness

I come before You Lord

My heart’s in a thousand pieces

Maybe even more

Yet I trust in this moment

You’re with me somehow

And You’ve always been faithful

So Lord even now

When all that I can sing

Is a broken hallelujah

When my only offering

Is shattered praise

Still a song of adoration

Will rise up from these ruins

I will worship You and give You thanks

Even when my only praise

Is a broken hallelujah

Oh Father, You have given

Much more than I deserve

And I have felt Your hand of blessing

On me at every turn

How could I doubt Your goodness

Your wisdom, Your grace

So Lord hear my heart

In this painful place

Chorus

I lift my voice

Your Spirit moves

I raise my hands

I reach for You

Chorus

Free Homeschooling Resource

I absolutely love homeschooling my girls. I also love FREE things. :) Here's a resource that I've used to download freebies. (Truly, there are no strings attached. I just download the ones I want on those days.) It's called Freebie of the Day. This website offers a different download each day of the week (Monday through Friday). They tend to be books, audio stories, radio dramas, planners, etc. You can also sign up to get an email on Sunday to let you know what's coming the next week. For instance, this week they'll offer



Monday, April 19th:LEARN THE STATES & POSTAL ABBREVIATIONS (PDF ebook)



Tuesday, April 20th:DOWN ON THE FARM - MUSIC & STORIES (mp3 audios)



Wednesday, April 21st:Home Science Experiments! (links)



Thursday, April 22nd:Raising Kids to Be Entrepreneurs (video)



Friday, April 23rd:HAPPY BIRTHDAY MR. SHAKESPEARE!In honor of the Bard's 446th birthday, we have a passel ofgreat Shakespeare links & resources for you... plus one last chance to grab our great Shakespeare For The Ears collection!

Enjoy and have a wonderful week!

Around Our House

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter. We did. We enjoyed spending some time with my parents, brother, sister-in-law, and children on Saturday. We then enjoyed a wonderful day of worship and some time with my honey's mom and family on Sunday.

My 3rd daughter made this adorable cake for Easter.

Monday we went on a wonderful fieldtrip to a Colonial Reenacting area not too far from us. We were able to "meet" Paul Revere, attend a stamp tax rally, attend a meeting of the Continental Congress, meet George Washington's granddaughter, attend a Sons of Liberty meeting and deliver a message to Paul Revere's wife, attend the Virginia meeting where they decided to declare independence, and experience some militia training. What a day of fun! :)

At the rally

George Washington's granddaughter taught some of the students how to dance.

Militia Recruits

A little militia recruit who found her own gun. :)

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Another Giveaway Opportunity

Oops - update - I'm a procrastinator. I just checked and they've already had the drawing, so this isn't a giveaway afterall. However, it still looks like a great opportunity to hear some wonderful speakers in the comfort of your own home. If you're interested, check them out at Vision Forum.

Here's another opportunity to win registration for Vision Forum's Great Authors Webinar. It looks wonderful. Here's a list of the authors and topics:

April 15 — ‘Why Poetry Matters — Poems for Patriarchs’
Doug Phillips, Founder and President of Vision Forum, discusses Poems for Patriarchs.

April 22 — ‘Biblical Economics and the Christian Family’
Dr. R.C. Sproul, Jr., Founder of the Highlands Ministries and Teaching Fellow at Ligonier Ministries, discusses Biblical Economics.

April 29 — ‘The Truth about the Fossil Record’
Dr. John Morris, President of ICR, discusses The Fossil Record: Unearthing Nature’s History of Life.

May 6 — ‘The Most Dangerous Woman of the 20th Century’
Dr. George Grant, Director of the King’s Meadow Study Center, discusses Killer Angel.

May 13 — ‘The Wonderful and MysteriousLife of John Calvin’
Douglas Bond, popular author of more than twelve books, discusses The Betrayal.

May 20 — ‘The Future Christian Republic’
Kevin Swanson, Director of Generations with Vision, discusses The Second Mayflower.

May 27 — ‘How to Be a Man’
Dr. Voddie Baucham, popular speaker and author, discusses, What He Must Be…If He Wants to Marry My Daughter.

To enter in the drawing, run quickly over to LAF/Beautiful Womanhood. (I say quickly because the drawing is today.) Share this info on your blog, facebook, or twitter and then leave a comment letting them know you shared.

Enjoy. :)

Happy Easter

Wishing you a very happy Easter. Hope you have a wonderful day celebrating our Savior's death for our sins and resurrection! May this give meaning to every day of your life.

Here are a couple fun Easter type things to do with your kids:

I'm not sure how many years, but for as long as I can remember my children and I have been making Easter Story Cookies the night before Easter. (A couple years I thought about skipping it but was told that I couldn't. I even suggested making them last night rather than tonight and all my girls, from the 15 year old to the 7 year old, told me we had to make them tonight.) Each step of making the cookies represents part of what happened on Good Friday and Easter. Enjoy!

Ingredients
1 cup pecan halves (we use chocolate chips instead) :)
1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
3 egg whites
1 pinch salt
1 cup white sugar

Directions
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
Place pecans in a resealable plastic baggie. Crush the pecans into small bits. Read John 19:1-3
Put 1 teaspoon vinegar into a medium bowl. Read John 19:28-30
Add egg whites to the vinegar. Read John 10:10-11
Sprinkle salt into the egg whites. Read Luke 23:27
So far, the mixture isn't very appetizing. Add 1cup sugar. Read Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16. Beat with mixer on high speed for 12 to 15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Read Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3.
Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoons onto parchment paper lined baking sheet. Read Matthew 27:57-60.
Place cookies in the oven close the door and turn the oven off. Read Matthew 27:65-66.
Go to bed. Read John 16:20 and 22.
In the morning open the oven and take out the cookies. Read Matthew 28:1-9.

Another fun thing we found - not scripture related though, I must say - is a virtual tour of the jelly belly factory. The girls and I took this virtual tour yesterday. It was pretty neat. (Sure made us a bit hungry for jelly beans though.) :) Here's the link: http://www.jellybelly.com/Virtual_Tour/virtual_tour.aspx .

Have a wonderful Easter!!! Celebrate Jesus and His gift of eternal life for us!!!