Our Home School Chick

Hi friends,

Some of you may remember my sons' posts about our first  and second clutches of baby chicks that we hatched out.

Well, we tried for clutch #3 before winter set in. We put 8 eggs under a broody Black Australorp hen. Only one egg hatched this time.

 Here's the little guy (or gal) that came out..

Now, since this little one is the only "child" so to speak, he gets pretty lonely. And somehow the children have talked me into letting him come into the house so that as they call it, "have some company".

He must think he's human because he loves to stay in the school room if we're having our lessons in there. We consider him our newest student.

He loves to perch on Mimi's chair..

But I guess you could say his favorite subject is Math, because he loves to act as our official Math "tutor"..... as you can see in the following photos..

I hope your home school days are as fun-filled as ours.  :)

Happy homeschooling!

"He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge." ~ Psalm 91 :4

Discipline

 

WHAT IS DISCIPLINE?
When I refuse the easy thing for love of my dear Lord,
And when I choose the harder thing for love of my dear Lord,
And do not make a fuss or speak a single grumbling word,
That is discipline.
When everything seems going wrong and yet I will not grouse,
When it is hot, and I am tired, and yet I will not grouse,
But sing a song and do my work in school and in the house,
That is discipline.
When Satan whispers, “Scamp your work–to say to him, “I won’t,”
When Satan whispers, “Slack a bit”–to say to him, “I won’t,”
To rule myself and not to wait for others’ “Do” and “Don’t”
That is discipline.
When I look up and triumph over every sinful thing,
The things that no one knows about–the cowardly, selfish things–
And when with heart and will I live to please my glorious King;
That is discipline.
To trample on that curious thing inside me that says “I,”
To think of others always–never, never of that “I,”
To learn to live according to my Savior’s word, “Deny”,
That is discipline.

~ by Amy Carmichael

Leaf Waxing Tutorial

We tried something different this week for Nature study:  trying to preserve some of the beautiful fall colors that we are surrounded by this time of year. And in searching the internet for ideas, I came across the idea of leaf waxing. We decided to give it a try.

It turns out that the we had a blast doing it...the children kept telling me how much fun it was.  It wasn't just the actual process of waxing the leaves that they enjoyed; they also loved collecting and identifying the leaves.

The supplies are wax and leaves. Simple enough, right?
The first thing  to do is collect some leaves. (Make sure they're clean and dry.)

Next, melt the wax in a double-boiler. (I used tea lights and lined the smaller bowl with foil for easy clean-up.)

After the wax is completely melted, dip the leaves into it , holding the leaves by the stems, letting the excess wax drip into to the bowl.  (Be careful with your littles...the wax is very hot.)

We waxed some wild rose hips, too..

 After dipping the leaves, lay them on foil or wax paper to harden.

When the wax has hardened, use the leaves to decorate for fall.
We put them on a grapevine wreath..

And hung them from the ceiling fan and in front of the windows..

and on the lights...

"Thou comest, Autumn, heralded by the rain,
With banners, by great gales incessant fanned,
Brighter than brightest silks of Samarcand,
And stately oxen harnessed to thy wain!
Thou standest, like imperial Charlemagne,
Upon thy bridge of gold; thy royal hand
Outstretched with benedictions o'er the land,
Blessing the farms through all thy vast domain!
Thy shield is the red harvest moon, suspended
So long beneath the heaven's o'er-hanging eaves;
Thy steps are by the farmer's prayers attended;
Like flames upon an altar shine the sheaves;
And, following thee, in thy ovation splendid,
Thine almoner, the wind, scatters the golden leaves!"

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Happy fall, y'all!  :)

Modesty by Elisabeth Elliot

From Elisabeth Elliot:



"Let’s think first what immodesty says about us women before we talk about what its effects may be upon others. What are your Christian standards? Do you seek to be noticed, to make a splash when you come into a room? Or do you seek to be simple, humble, gentle and quiet in spirit and not wearing the very latest fashions nor looking frumpy by wearing something that’s way out of date. We do have to conform to a certain degree, but there are always classic clothes. Those are the ones that I try to stick with because they last for many years. I have a suit now that I think is 17 years old and I just wore it about a week ago. I wear things, which are tailored and simple and classic.

But we’re talking about these low-cut dresses, sleeveless blouses, see-through blouses and the slit skirts. The Bible says that we’re supposed to shine as lights in the world. Christ lives in me. Does that make any visible differences? Will it correct my thinking? Do I pray that God will purify my desires?

 Prostitutes dress obviously, so as to draw attention. It’s their business, isn’t it? The last thing that a Christian woman is thinking of is being like a prostitute.Does a man’s thought life have a problem? Well, of course. But here is some very frank talk from two different men in two different places, and it’s not by any means the only letters that I’ve had from them. It is a very difficult and a very delicate question. As both of these men recognized, it is their job to stop looking. Don’t look the women up and down. Don’t fall for the types who are dressing like prostitutes. But is it right for us women to be thoughtless in these areas? Is there an earnestness about pleasing the Lord? Have we taken His yoke? Are we learning from Him? Are we gentle and humble in heart? Are we walking worthy of the Lord, looking and acting and speaking differently from the Lord?

What would the Lord have you do? Look like a frump or look like the vanguard of the fashion magazines? Flashy or sober? Are you pregnant? Are you overweight? Do you try to dress in such a way as to minimize those things? Are you too old for short skirts? I see a lot of women as I travel around who I would certainly say are too old to be wearing those short skirts. And if you’re 16 years old, how short a skirt can you wear if you want to be responsible before God in the presence of young men?

Neat or messy? Wildly and deliberately messy? I see some hair-dos, which I think of as wildly and deliberately messy. Feminine? There are many ways of drawing attention to yourself without your once thinking about it. Think. Ask the Lord’s guidance. We older women must be willing to take the risk of making someone angry and speaking to her about the way she is dressing. We have to take responsibility. It is our fault that we have not been teaching younger women modesty."

Friday Funnies {1}

My oldest daughter put this on her facebook and tagged me in it, just to let me know how really felt about Algebra when she was being homeschooled....   ;)

 Have a fabulous Friday, friends!  :)

Queen of the Home {13}

"Our homes are also the framework for a very special picture

that has been entrusted to Christian husbands and wives.

Paul wrote that marriage is meant to be a picture of

Christ and His Heavenly Bride, the Church.

Our homes set the stage for this picture and how it is presented to our world.

Does your home reflect the wholehearted devotion to its King - your husbands and fathers?

Does your home show a tender love and care for its Queen - all of you wives, mothers, and grandmothers?

Your home can either lie about Christ and His Bride,

or it can tell the truth.

The truth is that the King provides for His Bride,

lays down His life for her,

and honors her with His own Body.

The truth is that the Bride adores the King,

delights in serving Him,

and rejoices at His return."

 

~ Jennie Chancey

Homemade Applesauce

Last week, some friends of ours who own an apple orchard gave us a huge box of apples. I immediately thought, "Homemade applesauce!" But as thankful as I was for the free food, I was not looking forward to peeling and slicing all those apples by hand.

That is, until Ian reminded me that we could use our Pampered Chef apple peeler/ corer/slicer. How could I have forgotten about that??

So we got it out, attached it to the counter, and got busy. It took 3 days (2 hours each day) to do all the apples. But the children had a blast cranking the "apple machine".  :)  Each one had to have a go at it...

I love the way the "machine" slices the apples....

After the apples were peeled,cored, and sliced, we put them into the pot  to simmer for about an hour. I added a little bit of sugar. And to 2 of the batches, I added some cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves..and did it ever smell good!  :)

Then, I put the hot apples into jars, adjusted lids and rings, then processed them in a hot water bath.
And here's the finished product..

A total of 10 quarts. I'm sure it will taste good on a cold winter day.  :)




Here are the specifics of the recipe that I used:

Wash, stem, peel, and slice apples.
Cook until soft in a covered saucepot with just enough water to prevent sticking.
Add sugar/spices to taste.
Use a big wooden spoon to mash the apples as desired. (I left ours a little chunky.)
Put apples in clean, hot jars, leaving 1/2-in. headspace.
Remove air bubbles.
Adjust caps and rings.
Process in hot water bath for 20 minutes.

"Keep my commandments and live,
And keep my law as the apple of your eye." ~ Proverbs 7:2 


Have wonderful Monday, friends!

The Modest Mom
Deep Roots at Home

10 Predictions

With last night's presidential debate and the election just around the corner, I thought I would share this.....

"The heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord, 

Like the rivers of water;

He turns wherever He wishes."

~ Proverbs 21:1

Hope you have a lovely day, friends!

Oh Me of Little Faith

Hi friends,

For those of you who don't know, hubby and I have been experiencing an unsettling situation over the past few months. You see, we live on one of 2 of my parents' farms. My oldest sister and brother also live on this farm. That is, my sister used to live on this farm. She and her husband sold their house to move closer to their children and grandchildren. Their house is just over the hill from our...in our back yard..sort of.

So when their house finally sold in May, the fervent prayers began to ascend;  we began praying for our new neighbors, mostly that they would be child-friendly (since our children would definitely be coming into contact with them since they are outside-loving children), and that they would be home school friendly (to squelch my fears of being turned in to social services every few days).

The prayers kept going up..and so did my blood pressure...as I allowed my fears to displace my faith. Others were praying, too, and that should have given me comfort. But I chose fear over faith.

My hubby was praying as I was, but he seemed to have complete peace about everything. I was fretting..he was resting. It unnerved me sometimes.

The new neighbors arrived yesterday. Hubby decided that we should introduce ourselves. We walked up the driveway and rang the doorbell.

Mrs. New Neighbor greeted us at the door with her 2 dogs and huge smile. She invited us in and  introduced us to  Mr. New Neighbor. He was the same: all smiles and cordiality.

During the course of the conversation, they told us that she is a retired school teacher. Uh-oh. I didn't think there was a chance of a retired ps teacher being pro home school, so I didn't mention it. The very next minute, she looked at me and asked, "You home school, don't you?" Yikes! Busted!

I told her yes, and she exclaimed, "I am a retired teacher, but I am very pro-home school. In fact, I have relatives that home school their children, and I think it's wonderful!"  Home school friendly. Check.

The next minute, she was asking about all of our children (and grandchildren)...their ages, names, etc. (The children were outside playing and didn't go in with us.) After filling her in about everyone, she said, "Well, I just can't wait to meet all of them!!" Child friendly. Check.

Relieved doesn't even come close to describing how I felt to hear those words! And shocked. Why was I shocked  that He answered our prayers when we had been praying about this for months? If the God of the Universe can save my soul from the pit of Hell, isn't He more than able to work out this situation for good in our lives? Where was my faith?

 I was immediately convicted when I remembered that I had wasted all that energy worrying - and not trusting the Lord for the very thing I was praying about.

So many times I have quoted Ephesians 3:20 "...He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.."   to friends and family when they are concerned or worried about something. How many times had I quoted the verse to them, and yet, with my situation, I had somehow missed it?? Ouch.

We are really looking forward to spending time with our new neighbors. And from now, I'm going to trust more, fret less. May He help me to do just that.

 "Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the Lord. " ~ Psalm 4:5

 Praying for a faith-filled week for you, my friends.  :)








sharing this week with Deep Roots at Home