A Blessed Woman's Daybook ~

Outside My Window ~

The temperature is 75 degrees.  Not at all what you'd expect for January - even here in the south. 

I'm hoping ~

We won't have more tornadoes tomorrow.

I'm thankful for ~

God keeping us safe early Monday morning.  The F3 tornado came within 1/2 a mile from our home!  Pretty scary!!!  Poor Buck gets so frightened during these storms.  I know God was hearing his little prayers~

Praying for ~

The families who lost loved ones on Monday.  Also for many, many special intentions.

From the kitchen ~

Hot tea, tissues and chicken noodle soup....  Yep, we are passing around a nasty cold :( 

Living for God ~

Buck and Honeybee are preparing to receive their first  Reconciliations on Saturday.  Please keep them in your prayers.  They will receive First Holy Communion in May. 

Snuggle Bug is preparing to receive The Sacrament of Confirmation also in May.  I am planning on making this lapbook with her as we prepare.

It is an exciting time for all of us.  Our babies are growing up.  We are so very blessed to have one another and our beautiful faith to keep us going strong on this journey!

Novena to St. John Bosco begins Today

Visit Pray More Novenas to be notified  reminded by email each day.

A Considered Childhood ~

Elizabeth Foss, author of Real Learning and In the Heart of My Home has this wonderful statement on her blog.  Once I read it I knew she had said it all...

Thanks Elizabeth!

A Considered Childhood

As much as I am able, every day. I will ensure that my child will:

Live the Liturgy
Experience loveliness
Breathe deeply: Fresh air and Exercise
Serve others
Listen to, Contemplate and Exchange Ideas
Develop Expressive Skills
Practice Logical Reasoning. Math.
Receive Focused Attention and Affection.

IXL Math

I've just signed the kids up to practice their math skills at IXL.  I came across it on another blog.  Anyway, my kids are enjoying it and are happy "to do" their math.  You may want to check it out :)

An observation on Exploring Creation's A&P Science Book

Snuggle Bug is studying Exploring Creation with Human and Anatomy and Physiology this year.  For the most part she really enjoys this book.  It is colorful, well-written, and very informative.  It is written from a Christian perspective, but not Catholic.  At times this bugs her.  For instance: 

• Chapter 7 begins with a section on the author's beliefs... "The Bible tells us, 'For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.'"  She then asks, "Have you received God's free gift?  If not, you can right now through prayer.  Tell God that you believe Jesus died on the Cross to pay for all your sins.  Ask God to forgive you for "missing the mark." Then place all your trust in Christ and receive his forgiveness.  If you have done this God says you have passed from spiritual death into spiritual life.  You are now a new creation in Christ all because of the blood of Jesus!" 
• In the Notebooking  Journal lesson 7 questions they ask: What does a person have to do to be forgiven for their sins once and for all and receive life everlasting? The person must believe that Jesus died on the cross for his/her sin and accept the forgiveness that comes from Jesus' blood. 

Of course we as Catholics believe that Jesus died on the cross for our salvation, but we do not believe in "Once Saved, Always Saved."  Amy Welborn has a great chapter in Prove It, Church on this.  She says, "The easiest way to see the difference between the Catholic and evangelical viewpoints on salvation is this: Evangelical and fundamentalist Christians see salvation as a moment.  Catholics understand salvation as a process."  She cites 2 Corinthians 2:15 and 13:5, Philippians 2:12, and 2 Timothy 2: 11-13.

SB's Notebooking Page.  The 3rd section is her response to this section.

us all eternal life.  

(these words were cut off)

  Of course, you could just overlook these sections and use the book for just the A&P. 

 I just wanted to give you a heads up.

Is there ever going to be a Catholic Science program like the Exploring Creation? 

 If there is one you know about, please share!!!

2011 National Champions!

What a perfect game this was!  That is if you are a BAMA fan!

ROLL TIDE ROLL!!

  That makes 14 National Championships!!

Time to buy a new shirt.

We also set a couple of records...

1. Coach Saban is the first coach to win three Nat'l Championships.

2.  This is the 1st SHUT-OUT ever in BCS history.

AL 21 - LSU 0

Yea, Alabama!  Drown 'em, Tide!
Every Bama man's behind you-
hit your stride!
Go teach the TIGERS to behave!
Send the Yellow Jackets to a watery grave!
And if a man starts to weaken,
That's a shame!
For Bama's pluck and grit have writ
Her name in Crimson Flame!
Fight on, fight on, fight on, men!
Remember the Rose Bowl - 
We'll win then!
So roll on to vict'ry,
hit your stride!
You're Dixie's football pride!
Crimson Tide, Roll Tide, Roll Tide!


(The House Cat, Snuggle Bug, Buck and Honeybee all know the Alabama fight song by heart.  We all sing it after every Bama touchdown and field goal.)

Inside the Earth Study

We have been studying Earth Science lately. Not that I planned to, of course :) It's all part of this new land of "Unschooling."  It all began when Buck found this book

in the basket.  Some of you may know that he has not been like my girls who are always reading something.  Anyway, this was one of those books he asked me to read again and again.   And we did.  (By the way, I found this book in Maureen Whitman's For The Love of Literature.  I use this book for strewing good books about.)

How cool was it when this book

was on our history reading list? 

I found these pages on Enchanted Learning and ordered other books and DVDs from the library.  You can see which ones below.

Then we put these into a lapbook to keep for future reference. 

Honeybee drew this while Buck and I were working on the lapbook.  I'd say she had the idea of what was going on.  Notice the frowns ;)

We also worked an experiment in.  I had everything together and asked Dad if he'd perform the experiment for us.  He was happy to and I was happy he did.  (He's more 'science-minded' than I :)

First he added the baking soda (the base).

Then some dish detergent,

a little water,

and some vinegar (the acid) which had been mixed with red food coloring.

When the vinegar reacts with the baking soda, carbon dioxide gas is formed and the bubbles push the "lava" out of the volcano.  

Note:  I wasn't sure how messy this would be.  It wasn't too messy after all.  This pan held all of the lava flow.

Afterwards, Dad had a good discussion on chemical reactions with the rest of us.  After all, his dad is a chemical engineer! 

Sugary, Wintry Houses ~

We finally got around to making our Christmas houses today.

 The kids had a blast and I had fun listening to them laugh. 

The House Cat's ~

Alpine Cottage

Looks so cozy

Snuggle Bug's ~

  Log Cabin

Reminds me of the great visit we had with one of their uncles last week. 

 He's about to have a log cabin built.

Buck's ~

Cathedral 

(Buck and I had fun making this church.

I added the IHS for the Feast of the Holy Name)

Honeybee's ~

Christmas Convent

There's a sister kneeling in the center of the church

surrounded by little orange slices chairs.

A fun activity for all involved!

A Thought Provoking Quote ~

"Anything we put forward either interests them (our children) or doesn't.  If it's uninteresting, it's not going to be learned, really.  Somewhere  out there, there is a text, or approach, or idea, that can make that information interesting or worthwhile.  And we'd prefer to find that, rather than try to force some unwanted information on a child - because our fundamental objective is to keep alive their love of learning, and desire to learn, and to help them learn to find information they want."  taken from The Unschooling Handbook.

On the second night of the new year ~

I'm enjoying ~

A beautiful fire ablaze in the fireplace.  It's super cold outside.  We are all extremely blessed to have such a cozy dwelling!  My honey had the kids out helping collect the wood he cut down over the past few days.  We are so thankful to be living here!

Listening to ~

The House Cat reading tonight's book aloud to us.  What a pleasant voice she has.  I love seeing Buck and Honeybee snuggled up beside her.  She and Snuggle Bug both read aloud so beautifully.

Back to school ~

Well, not really....  we never actually stopped.

We are continuing to live a life of learning.  HC & SB are going to incorporate a little more "desk time" into the days we are here all day and don't have company.  (Wordly Wise, Science)   I'm looking into Teaching Textbooks and IXL for Math.  They both enjoy creative writing and spend lots of time on it.  I am proud of their work and the accomplishment of being published in the latest edition of The Homeschool Literary Quarterly.

Goals for January ~

Exercise

Eat More Fruits and Veggies

First Friday Mass

Look into starting a Blue Knights group for Buck

Little Flowers for Honeybee

Set a date for a Winter Tea for the big girls

Make time for Science Experiments with Buck

First Reconciliation for Buck and Honeybee

Most of all I pray to be open to Our Lord's Will in our lives.

I hope your year is off to a wonderful start!