“If they can keep eternity before their eyes, they will be able to live in hope no matter what happens to them in this life.”– Sally Clarkson Good Morning Girls Downloads for Week 7 (Make sure to head over to see Sally’s video fro this week too!) S.O.A.P Week 7 Book Discussion for Week 7 My thoughts for this week: “If we teach our children through our actions or instruction, even subtly, that being successful in this world is somehow a measure of their importance and success, then we will miss the point of all the Lord’s teaching.” ~ Sally Clarkson We encourage our kids to do well at whatever they take on, and we require that if they choose something like a sport, they finish it out for that session at least. We don’t let them quit mid-way. We cheer for them, encourage them, and praise them for doing well. On the other hand, we realize that they’re still young. They’re not Olympic athletes. And honestly I haven’t pushed any of them to practice more … [Read more...]
Expedition Earth: Antarctica Blubber Experiment
Welcome to our Antarctica Blubber Experiment. Would would have thought blubber could be so cool? I’ll be all those seals and penguins are really happy right about now! This was a super easy experiment, and the kids loved it. First we learned about Penguins of Antarctica. We also learned about Emperor Penguins from National Geographic. Penguins have a layer of fat under their skin that helps them cope with the cold in Antarctica. To demonstrate this, prepare a large bowl of ice water. Directions: Step 1: Place about 1 cup solid vegetable shortening in a Ziploc baggie. Step 2: Put one of your student’s hands in another baggie to keep clean from shortening, then place your student’s “bagged” hand into the bag with the shortening in it and “mold” it around the hand. Step 3: Place both hands (one un-bagged, and one bagged) into the bowl, see if you can feel the difference it makes to have a layer of fat keeping you warm! Click here to see the rest of our Antarctica … [Read more...]
Expedition Earth: Antarctica
Hello and welcome to our Expedition Earth week on Antarctica! We’re nearing the end of our journey and we’ve had so much fun. We spent some time reviewing all of the countries we’ve learned so far, 30 of them WOW! Next we completed the Antarctica mapping sheet. Here are some of the things we learned this week: We located Antarctica on the map. Read Usborne Encyclopedia of World Geography Completed the Antarctica animals mini book Classified animals and added them to our animal wall Completed the Antarctica lapbook activity Read: Living World Encyclopedia - Polar Regions Learned some new geography terms: Iceberg, Crevasse, Glacier Did a fun penguin blubber experiment Made a visual iceberg Here was my whiteboard for the week: We talked about the lowest temperature recorded in Antarctica of –127 degrees! Yikes! They kids loved to see the word “NONE” next to each category. Since Antarctica is internationally owned, it has no flag of its own. The kids had a great … [Read more...]
Homemade Popcorn
Well, not totally homemade, as in I didn’t grow my own corn. (Not that I didn’t try, our corn was just sad last year…) But I sure as heck popped it without the use of a greasy chemically lined microwaveable bag! Okay, I’ll admit that when it comes to popping corn the old fashioned way, I’m a bit of a chicken. For some reason, the thought of cooking kernels until they start flying across my kitchen always made me nervous. So when a friend called and said she’d been making her own, and it was awesome, I reluctantly gave it a try, and ONLY because she kept stressing just how awesome it really was! And this little project of mine did make some of my fears come true. I have to admit it took me several attempts before I actually figured it out. Now…I can run an entire house hold, do laundry, cook dinner, homeschool 4 kids simultaneously, and take pictures to prove it all, but apparently the term “microwaveable safe” dish didn’t quite sink in. If you can get that term … [Read more...]
Heart of the Matter Online Conference: August 2011
It’s that time again, time for the Heart of the Matter Online Conference! And the super cool folks at HOTM gave me 3 FREE TICKETS to giveaway on my blog YAY! Why do I love this conference? Well, my irrational fear of flying may have something to do with it. And the fact that I can come to the conference in my jammies and no one will know may contribute as well. Yep, that’s right, since it’s online and all, that means anyone from anywhere can join in the fun! It’s packed full of great speakers and I’m even hosting a chat session as well! Yep, you can chat live with me! I know, I know, try to control yourself ;o) LOL! Just kidding, I doubt I’ll be that interesting considering it’s early in the a.m. for me and I don’t do coffee. But still…I’ll be there ready and willing to share whatever I can! Who are the speakers for August 2011? Leigh Bortins - Classical Conversations Dr. Jay Wile - “Exploring Creation with” series David Gibbs – Attorney for the Homeschool … [Read more...]
Ministry of Motherhood: Week 6
“Since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made.”– Romans 1:20 S.O.A.P Downloads for Week 6 S.O.A.P Week 6 Book Discussion for Week 6 My thoughts for this week: I had to laugh when Sally started this week’s reading off by talking about picking up “untold numbers of socks from various places”. I could’ve wrote that myself. Socks. Everywhere. All the time. Even after I pick up the whole house, I’ll find another one. Lurking. I’m relieved to know that everyone has days filled with routine chores, constant interruption, responsibilities, and frustrations. No wonder it’s so easy to get wrapped up in all these daily tasks that we forget to take time to marvel at the evidence of God all around us. For example, if He had not blessed me with 4 children, I wouldn’t have 800 socks laying all over my house. I would be able to scrapbook to my hearts … [Read more...]
Strawberry Cream Cake Recipe
This Strawberry Cream Cake Recipe is so yummy, and is also super easy to make! We made it with just strawberries, but a few blueberries placed strategically in the upper left corner…and I’m thinking great July 4th cake! Ingredients: 1 box white cake mix 8 ounces cream cheese block 1 small tub Cool Whip 1- 1/2 cups powdered sugar 2 Containers of Fresh Strawberries (I only got one and ran out) Step 1: Prepare white cake as directed and let cool completely. Step2: Mix together cream cheese, cool whip and powdered sugar in a mixing bowl until creamy and smooth. Spread frosting onto cake top. Step 3: Wash strawberries and remove stems. Step 4: Slice strawberries, we used an egg slicer, works great for kids! Step 5: Add 1 tsp to strawberries and stir well. Refrigerate until ready to serve. This allows sugar to dissolve strawberries and creates a yummy juice. This step can be skipped if you prefer a less juicy topping. Step 6: When ready to serve, top cake with sliced … [Read more...]
Expedition Earth: New Zealand
Kia ora! Welcome to our Expedition Earth week on New Zealand! We started off by stamping our passports! Where New Zealand is on the world map & located Wellington Learned a New Zealand song How to say “Hello” in Maori! Kia ora! Learned about the New Zealand Flag and colored our worksheet Prayed for the New Zealand people About children in New Zealand Read Living World Encyclopedia on Islands Learned more about New Zealand from National Geographic Kids Completed a New Zealand lap book activity Completed and classified animals of New Zealand Created a New Zealand whizzer craft Learned new Geography vocab. Read the Usborne Encyclopedia of World Geography on New Zealand and Papua New Guinea Learned major landmarks and other fun facts about New Zealand We start off each week by reviewing all of the countries learned so far. Everyone gets a turn at the map, and I ask random questions like how do you say hello in that language, what language do they speak, what is the … [Read more...]
Digital Scrapbook Alphabet: Floral Vellum
I’ve been having a great time this summer creating Digital Scrapbooking Supplies for you and me! It’s a passion of mine, and something I don’t have a ton of time to do, but when I get a chance….oh baby! I’m so all over it! Today I’m releasing my Floral Vellum Alphabet. One of the things I absolutely loved about traditional scrapbooking was the alphabet sets. I had tons of different kinds, and the clear plastic type were some of my favorites! The thing I didn’t like, was that once you spelled a title for one layout the chances of you having enough letters to make another layout were slim. Well….with digital scrapbooking that doesn’t happen! Supplies can be used over and over and over and over and over…you get the point. So how can you go wrong? Something you spend barely a buck on but can be reused infinitely…well now that’s a deal I just can’t pass up! Sorry…I’ll quit my babbling about digital scrapbooking and get on with the info. All files … [Read more...]
