Friday, February 27, 2015

7 Challenge for Lent: Week one-Food

I am re-reading the book on my phone!

Last fall, I read a book called 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatmaker.  In the book, Jen breaks down 7 areas of her life that were in excess, and decided to take one month to focus on each one. The seven areas are: Food, Clothing, Media, Possessions, Waste, Spending and Stress. In each month, she chooses seven things to eat, or wear, or stores to buy, or ways to cut back. She began this book and "experiment" after she had some refugees in their home after Hurricane Ike. One child commented about how "rich" she was. She decided she had MORE than enough. She wanted to change. She came up with this idea as a result, and I really appreciated it!

Ms. Hatmaker's goal in 7 is to create space for God's kingdom to break through. In her Biblical research, she found that fasting was commanded or initiated during various circumstances, two of them being the reasons that the author chose to support her goal: Repentance-- to "repent of greed, ungratefulness, ruined opportunities and irresponsibility." (p. 18)  (There are many areas in my life that are out of control, and could use some adjusting.) Preparation-- My life is maybe half-over, I have lots of years ahead of me. I can influence my children and my family. I can be prepared for the future in my time of change and reconstruction.

The author's prayer (and mine too) is: "Jesus, may there be less of me and my junk, and more of YOU and your kingdom."

During Lent this year, I decided to take this challenge and do as Jen did in her book, focus on each area, but only for one week, instead of a month, as Mrs. Haymaker did. (Even though Lent is only 6 1/2 weeks long).

The first area that she focuses on is food.

Exceptions to this list: salt, pepper and coffee (for me anyway!)
This past week, I challenged myself to eat only 7 foods for the week. It has been a real challenge for me! I don't consider myself a "foodie" as Jen is, but I still found this week's challenge to be difficult for me. I ate the seven foods on my list for 7 days. It was a challenge to choose my seven foods. You don't think often about the food you eat, and how you could pare it down to less, until you do a challenge like this. I kind of enjoyed the simplicity of the diet, but there were times when it was really hard not to eat what the rest of my family was eating, (the kids can only eat chicken, potatoes and broccoli for dinner so many times without rebelling against it!)
This is what at least three of my dinners looked like...

But this challenge is not really about food. It is about becoming closer to God by eliminating excess in my life. I don't think I am an excessive eater, but after this week I felt like I was. I found myself craving different things, and being hungry, which is unusual for me on my usual diet. It was a time to focus on God, what he wants for me and the blessings He gives in the foods we eat often. I came to realize how blessed we are with the wide variety of foods we eat. Eating a simple diet was nice at times, but I am more than happy to get back to my usual diet!

Next week the challenge is about clothing-- to wear 7 items of clothing for one week (not including underwear, socks and a coat!) I'll tell you all about it in my blog post next week!

A few verses that I meditated on this week...

Luke 4:2
"...where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry."

Joel 2:12-13
“Even now,” declares the Lord,
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting and weeping and mourning.”

Rend your heart
and not your garments.
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in love,
and he relents from sending calamity.

Matthew 6:25-27 
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? (this is said by Jesus)

Thursday, February 26, 2015

American Girl: Addy week 5 (time #2)

This week in American Girl class, we discussed Addy Saves the Day, book five in the Addy series.

After we discussed the book, we began our craft which was Spool Puppets. These were mentioned in this book, as they made them to sell at the fair. You can find directions to make them on my blog here. I didn't take many photos this week, since it was an "all-hands-on-deck" type of craft.
 The girls had fun coloring the spools to make them look more like a doll...
 I liked seeing the variety of faces and colors on the dolls!
This is my doll that I made a few years ago...

Our snack was Molasses Cookies and Iced Tea. The snack mom this week used her own recipe and brought bottled iced tea. Here is a good recipe for old-fashioned molasses cookies.

Next week is our last week of Addy, and then we will begin Samantha. We have another fun craft for next week!


A few verses about freedom...

Psalm 119:45
I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts.

Isaiah 61:1-3
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the Lord
for the display of his splendor.

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Kindergarten: Q week

We had another delightful week in Kindergarten in homeschool this past week! We talked about Q and q things... queens, quilts, quarts, quiet, quack (and ducks), quail, questions, quarters and more. We also discussed President's Day on Monday. We drew question marks, discussed queens, colored/decorated a queen's crown, made a paper quilt & discussed shapes, did quarter rubbings, quenched our thirst, measured quarts/ pints/ cups, and looked in our bird book at quail. We read Q books too! 

 The crown Bethany decorated...

 Making the paper quilt...
 the finished product...
Measuring quarts/ pints/ cups...
 And this is the journal we used this month... "February Feelings".


Verses about quail and quietness...

Numbers 11:32
All that day and night and all the next day the people went out and gathered quail. No one gathered less than ten homers. Then they spread them out all around the camp.

Psalm 105:40
They asked, and he brought them quail; he fed them well with the bread of heaven.

Isaiah 30:15
This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.

Friday, February 20, 2015

Hobby Horse directions- Addy week 4 (American Girls)

These directions I got several years ago from a blog that I followed, "Just call Me Jamin". The blog link that I have to her old page is now dead. I decided to re-type her directions for the Hobby Horse we made in Addy class this week (and insert my own pictures!)

My 6-year-old trying it out!
Here are the directions:

You will need:
-1 one inch X 36" dowel
-1 wood cap for the bottom of the dowel
-1 men's crew sock (not a tube sock, you want one with a heel)
-2 buttons for eyes
-Yarn for the mane
-white felt for the ears
-Fiber fill to stuff the head
-Yarn needle
-white glue
-Hot glue
-Thread and needle (to sew eyes and ears on with)

Step 1: Fill the sock with fiberfill up to the point of the heel. (the more full, the better)

Step 2: Glue the wood cap on the end of the dowel.

Step 3: Insert the end of the dowel (with no cap on it) into sock so that the dowel is resting in the heel. Then stuff the rest of the sock with fiberfill and tie with yarn to secure to the dowel about two inches above the end of the sock. Hot glue the dowel rod under the loose portion off the sock and then pull that portion down and secure to the dowel. (May help keep head from flying off).

Step 4: Sew on the button eyes. Cut two triangles of white felt for the ears. Sew the ears on.

Step 5: Using the yarn needle, sew on the mane. Sew rows of long pieces (in the middle of the piece of yarn) down the back. Tie each one with a knot to secure it, and to hide the stitching.
The finished product...
The mane...
The ball end will drag on the floor as they ride.

That is it, have fun riding your hobby horse! (For a girl's birthday party, you can add ribbons and barrettes to make them "girly." What fun!)


Here are some verses about WHITE horses...
Zechariah 6:6
The one with the black horses is going toward the north country, the one with the white horses toward the west, and the one with the dappled horses toward the south.”

Revelation 6:2
I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.

Revelation 19:11
I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war.

Revelation 19:14
The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.

Thursday, February 19, 2015

American Girl: Addy week 4 (time #2)

This week in American Girl class, after reviewing Happy Birthday, Addy, we made hobby horses for craft. We had to jump right in to the craft, since it was a tough one to squeeze into our class time. 
One of the featured crafts in Addy's Craft Book is a Hobby Horse. (or Stick Horse, as we call them!) The pattern in the book was a little more complicated that the one that we made. Our horse had a man's crew sock for a head! We also used white felt for the ears, buttons for the eyes, and brown yarn for the mane. We bought one 5/8" wood dowel that was 36" long for each girl. We bought a cap for the end of each dowel, which we found at the craft store in the wood aisle, they are used for doll heads. We used hot glue to put some of it together, and a needle and thread for the button eyes. They turned out really cute! I will show a more detailed explanation for how to make them on my blog tomorrow. So come back for the explanation!
 After stuffing the heads, we sewed on the eyes...

Mixing up the ice cream...

For snack, we made ice cream in a bag. To make it easier on our volunteer moms, and to save time, I had two bags of ice cream for each class. The recipe shows how to make one bag for each child, using ziploc bags. We had this snack because in the book, Addy and her father found a broken ice cream freezer in the trash, and they fixed it. Then they had ice cream on her birthday! This snack was a big hit! It takes a while for the ice cream to set up, and we mistakenly didn't begin early enough... so the girls didn't get much of a taste... : - (  Next time I make this, I will give more time during class!
 The finished product...

This girl also sewed on "earrings" of buttons on her horse, and braided the mane! Love it! In my directions, I sewed on the mane, but since we were running out of time, we hot glued the mane on several of the girls' horses. Hopefully it stays on well! We have two more fun, busy crafts the next two weeks of Addy too...


A few verses about horses...

2 Kings 2:11
As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.

Psalm 20:7
Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

Jeremiah 46:4
Harness the horses, mount the steeds! Take your positions with helmets on! Polish your spears, put on your armor!

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Kindergarten: Valentine's week

This week in homeschool kindergarten, we had a loving week celebrating Valentine's day! We talked about love, read 1 Corinthians 13, we sorted and counted conversation hearts, made a Five Little Valentines book, traced hearts, made heart puzzles, made a snow bunny, heart paper chains, a Valentine jug, wrote Valentines, discussed mail and the post office, and more! We enjoyed reading our Valentine books too.

 Our snow bunny that we made with hearts, as a silhouette. We discussed silhouettes, and snow bunnies, or snowshoe hares too.
 Bethany making my simple heart-shaped puzzles...
 Our heart garland on our leftover Christmas tree that we left up for the lights! We found this idea on Pinterest!
 Sorting conversation hearts, while eating one...
 Bethany and her rainbow pattern...
With friends playing conversation heart bingo at our homeschool Valentines party.

It was another enjoyable week! Q week won't be Quite as special next week!


1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

1 John 4 :7-12
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Soninto the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Valentine's day party 2015

We had a delightful time this past Friday as we celebrated our Valentine's Day party with homeschool friends from church! We played conversation heart bingo, traded valentines, ate lunch and dessert, and played an active game too. We loved being together and seeing the friendships we have too! We're so thankful to have nice friends and homeschool families in our church!

Playing conversation heart bingo...
 The BOYS table...
 Sweet cousins and friends!
 Trading valentines into bags and boxes...


 Reading valentine cards and notes...



 And playing an active game before we left...
 What a fun time! My girls have enjoyed rereading their valentines all weekend! (and eating the candy too!)



1 Corinthians 13 (all)

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Friday, February 13, 2015

Essential oil hand soap recipe

For the past few months, I have been making my own hand soap, using this recipe that I found online:

I have really been liking this recipe because it contains liquid coconut oil, which is not drying on my skin. It feels good, unlike many antibacterial hand soaps, which strips your hands of oils. It is very easy to make, and just takes three ingredients, plus water! I've been finding the foaming hand soap dispensers for a cheap price and different stores, and have collected four of them, one for each sink in our home! The liquid castile soap can be found at most grocery stores or Target/ Walmart. I've been using the castile soap in my own cleaning products too.

 Of course, my favorite oil company sells the fractionated coconut oil and essential oils. I like choosing something to go with the peppermint scent in my castile soap. There is also plain castile soap, but I am trying to finish the peppermint soap that I have. This past week when I made it, I used wild orange in my soap. Protecting Blend is a great choice too, since it is our healthy immune function blend, and it has an uplifting, energizing aroma!
Here is my dispenser on my bathroom counter, all ready to use! I love the scent and knowing it is protecting and gentle on our skin!

Let me know if you have any questions, or are interested in placing an order from my favorite oil company!

Leviticus 16:30
...because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the Lord, you will be clean from all your sins.

Psalm 51:2
Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.

Hebrews 10:22
let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.

Thursday, February 12, 2015

American Girl: Addy week 3 (Time #2)

This week in our American Girl class we discussed Addy's Surprise, book three in the Addy series. It is a Christmas story, and was fun to hear about the differences between 1864 and today. 

In the book, Addy watches a shadow play at church, so we made shadow puppets! I got this idea from Addy's craft book. In the book there is a tracer of a girl's body, and one of the upper arm and the lower arm. I gave each girl a file folder, which is almost skin color. They each got four mini brads (you can find them at the craft stores) and three 12" thinner dowels. They traced the doll and the arm parts, and cut them out. Then they attached the brads to the arms, and colored the girl's hair, face and clothes.  It was fun to see the different designs the girls made for their doll. 
 Tracing and cutting...
 Coloring the dolls...
 After the dolls were all colored, they taped the dowels on the back at the bottom, and one of the back of each arm. Then the arms could move! The girls liked them!
 Our second craft was a red fleece scarf. They each got a piece of red fleece cut to 42 X 6". They trimmed the edges to be fringed. Addy gave her mom a scarf in our book, so that was why we made these. It was fitting that our class was right before Valentine's day, but it has been so warm this week-- in the 60's in the afternoons. Hopefully it will be cold again so the girls can wear them!
 Trimming the ends...
This sweet blond girl had a birthday last week and brought her new Samantha doll to class! It was very pretty, I'm sure she is looking forward to studying Samantha in a few weeks!

We had sweet potato pudding for snack. You can find a good recipe for it here. I'm not sure that our snack mom this week used that recipe or not, she sounded like she experimented a lot. It was pretty sweet and we liked it!

We are already halfway through Addy! I've been enjoying the books again, and several moms have told me that they've been enjoying reading them too. I like Addy and her story a lot! We'll discuss the birthday story next week!


Luke 6:38
Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Luke 2:6-7
While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she (Mary) gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Kindergarten- P week #2/ 100th day

We had a very enjoyable week in homeschool kindergarten last week, discussing more P things, in addition to our 100th day (Monday) and Groundhog Day (also Monday but taught about on Tuesday). We had fun talking about pizzas, painting, making a lid puppet, coloring a P page, talking about P animals: pony, porcupine, penguin, parrot, panther, peacock and poodle! We also discussed what a police man does, and how plants grow. 

Here is our 100th day...
 Bethany on groundhog day, with her groundhog pop-up puppet...
 Here is Bethy's plastic lid puppet... made with lots of pom-poms and three eyes...
 Bethany loved painting on the easel A LOT!
 Bethany made our pizza puzzle that we made years ago with cardboard and magazine food pictures...
 We played pizza dice throw... (a game found online) and I printed a pizza (also found online) for her to color in as she rolled the different numbers. 1= tomato sauce, 2= cheese, etc., It was fun to fill in her pizza with different colors!

This week we are discussing Valentine's day, and next week will be Q week (with President's Day.) You have to come back to hear all about it!

I am so glad that we are home together learning, I sure love to hear her starting to READ! What a blessing she is to us!


Genesis 1:11
Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so.

Psalm 37:1-3
Do not fret because of those who are evil
or be envious of those who do wrong;
for like the grass they will soon wither,
like green plants they will soon die away.
Trust in the Lord and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.

Matthew 13:31-33
He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”
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