F is for First State ~

The other day Buck asked what the first state was.  Of course I knew the answer...  as I quickly Googled it - Delaware!  This reminded me of the geography study I've been wanting to do with the kids for a while using the Sleeping Bear Press series of Discover America State by State books!  I had wanted to buy these notebooking pages to go along with it, but never got around to it.  Then I came across these **FREE** Notebooking pages on Pinterest. 

So, I checked out F is for First State from the library and this morning after we were home from Mass we all gathered around the kitchen table and enjoyed it together.  As I read aloud they filled in info they heard like it's nickname is The Diamond State.  I printed off a state map and flag from Enchanted Learning and we glued them as seen below.

Then they colored in the flag to match.

Once they were finished we added the date to their time lines ~

and filed them in the back of their Book of Centuries.

Snuggle Bug's Bluebird

I thought I'd share with you one of Snuggle Bug's pages from the Bird Notebook she's working on.

I found some great print-outs at Enchanted Learning .  They have soooo many wonderful things to choose from.  Definitely worth spending $20 a year for the full sized printing capability! 

The cute sticker in the bottom corner came from  the  Beginning Birdwatcher's Book, a birthday gift from Honeybee :)

She choose this pretty notebooking page to copy The Bluebird poem from Our Birds and Their Nestlings. 

 I just LOVE reading this book with her! 

By the way, she also memorized the poem and can recite it beautifully.

I stumbled upon this book at Amazon.  It is such a treasure!

Snuggle Bug's "Dove"

I shouldn't have been surprised by Snuggle Bug's choice of copywork from When it Snowed That Night. She's my nature lover - birds especially. She was extremely excited when an American Goldfinch stopped to take a rest on the deck on Saturday. It was the first she had seen in our back yard. She said, "Mom, it must have migrated here for winter." :)

She used one of these Christmas Notebooking pages.

A Blessed Woman's Daybook August 24, 2009

Outside my window....

The weather is so much nicer! It feels as if we may have an early fall here in Alabama.

To Live the Liturgical Year...
This week we celebrate the feasts of St. Bartholomew, St. Monica, St. Augustine, and the Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist.

I Am Thankful For...

Such a blessed day - yesterday!

First, I had the honor of serving Our Lord at Holy Mass. Then we had orientation for PSR (Parish School of Religion). It was so good being back in the Atrium. Snuggle Bug was excited to see friends and find out which class she will be in. The House Cat was equally excited - she will be confirmed this year! We are so blessed to be a part of such a wonderful parish community!

My honey and I also met with our Teams of Our Lady prayer group yesterday. We love having this time together to pray, talk, and laugh with other couples who are fighting to keep their marriages holy and pleasing to God. With so many marriages ending in divorce, we can't let our guards down for a minute!

One Of My Favorite Things...

Cool breezes in August!

I Am Creating...

Plans for the week. I'm hoping to have a few minutes this week to check out this post and maybe make a folder for reading lists etc.

Some Plans for the week(outside the home)...

Bowling today.

PSR family supper with Eucharistic Adoration on Wednesday.

Our first sewing group meeting on Thursday.

Honey Bee and Snuggle Bug both have doctor visits on Friday and

The House Cat turns 13 on Saturday. Wow - I'd better eat my Wheaties this week :)

My Picture Thought...

Snuggle Bug's Nature Journal.

Up Next...

Snuggle Bug's Picture Collage of places we visited in Louisiana.

Picture from Yesterday!!!

This is Snuggle Bug's notebook page on the Snowdrop flower which blooms on or near to The Presentation of the Lord, on Feb 2. Don't you think she did a nice job?

My Daybook Entry for Jan. 26, 2009

Outside My Window...

A new day has begun. The birds are singing, squirrels are scampering, and I'm feeling blessed to be here.


I am thinking...

About seeing so many wonderful friends yesterday at our home school faculty meeting.


I am praying for...

My close friends who have life growing within and those who did and now have given that life back to God.

I'm creating...

A list of books from the Mater Ambalis site. I'm also starting a list of wants/needs for next year.


From the kitchen...

Sugar free French Vanilla liquid creamer in my coffee. It's a BIG change for me to give up the sugar. However, the results are worth it! I feel like a new person. My family's wondering about me. "Whys mom up at 6am????"



I am going...

To stay home Mon-Thur this week and get things in order for the weekend. My next training session for The Catechises of the Good Shepherd start Friday afternoon.

I am reading...

The Religious Potential of the Child: Experiencing Scripture and Liturgy with Young Children, How to Get the Most out of the Eucharist, For the Love of Literature


I am hoping...

My dear Sister in Christ, Lynn, has good news today



Around the house...

A few sniffles. Otherwise all is well and hopefully tonight we'll continue to Walk Away the Pounds together.


One of my favorite things...

Family Rosary by candlelight


A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:

Dig into our schoolwork, catch up the laundry and keep it going. Stay away from sugar and exercise. Then my "mini" retreat begins on Friday.


Here are a few pics I'd like to share...











Finally the computer recognized the camera and uploaded the pics. The first one was done by Snuggle Bug, the next ones are The House Cat's Christmas lap book. Good work girls!

A Blessed Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY
Monday December 22, 2008


Outside My Window...
Coldest morning of the season, yeah I know it just began. :) It's sooooo wonderful to have the briskness in the air. Now it feels as though Christmas is almost here!

I am thinking...
Cookies for breakfast are yummy but make you want to go back to bed :(

I am thankful for...
Too many things to list. Thank You God!

From the learning rooms...
Catching up on the O' Antiphons copywork. We have been living the advent season like never before. It has been truly wonderful. The kids were in our homeschool Christmas play on Friday. The House Cat did an awesome job leading the music on her guitar. Snuggle Bug sang beautifully and also narrated "No Room in the Inn" perfectly. Buck was an adorable shepherd and Honeybee was an angelic angel!
My parents celebrated their 37th wedding anniversary and we delivered a big, beautiful poinsettia and some homemade molasses cookies to their door.
On Saturday the girls and I went to a cookie swap while Dad and Buck finished up some Christmas shopping. The cookie swap was a lot of fun and we came home with some wonderful new recipes. The molasses cookie recipe came from a close friend's grandmother and were really yummy. The recipe's below if you'd like it.
Yesterday we enjoyed our monthly Teams of Our Lady meeting. We had a good time with our ornament swap(or steal you may say.) :)


From the kitchen...
All's quiet today as we prepare for our caroling at Children's Hospital tonight.
Tomorrow we will bake cookies and treats for our neighbors.

I am going...
To start a new diet on Jan 1. :)

I am reading...
The O'Antiphon's and Jesse Tree readings each evening with my family.

I am hoping...
TO get by The Catholic Center of Concern today or tomorrow to drop off all of our gifts for Jesus.


Around the house...
The tree is light and the stable is up. The shepherd boy is there with his sheep and a donkey is resting. Buck pointed out to us that the donkey wasn't there yet because Mary was still riding on him. Out of the mouth's of babes!

One of my favorite things...
Anticipation

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:
Tonight we join other homeschoolers to sing Christmas Carols at Children's Hospital. It's also my mama's birthday. Happy Birthday Nae-Nae!
Tomorrow we'll bake and wrap gifts. Then dad will be off for the rest of week! YAY!
Mass on Christmas Eve and lots of hugs, happiness, and thanksgiving as we celebrate the birth of Our Lord Jesus!

God Bless You All with a wonderful Christmas!


Grandma’s Molasses Cookies

Step One - Melt ¾ cup shortening over low heat and let cool for a couple of minutes. Stir in ¼ cup molasses, 1 cup sugar, and 1 egg. Mix well.

Step Two - In a separate bowl combine 2 cups all purpose flour, 2 tsp. baking soda, ½ tsp. cloves, 1 tsp. cinnamon, ½ tsp. ginger, ½ tsp. salt.

Step Three - Slowly add flour mixture to shortening mixture until well combined.

Step Four - Form mixture into walnut sized balls and stack in a dish (use cling wrap in between layers.) Refrigerate for at least 2 hrs.

Step Five - Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray silver pan with non stick spray. Roll cookie balls in sugar and then place on silver pan. Bake for 11 minutes or until they flatten a little and begin to crack.


Here is picture thought I am sharing

Come "O Lord and Ruler"

Snuggle Bug's copy work for today

Today we celebrate the 2nd O Antiphon, where we call to God again to come and save His people. Tonight we will put the lights on the Christmas tree. This seems fitting since the Jesse Tree readings and the O Antiphon symbol both point to light(Moses and the burning bush).

We set up our new nativity scene last night that Dad and Buck so craftily made for us. Dad blessed it using this blessing

God of every nation and people, from the very beginning of creation you have made manifest your love: when our need for a Savior was great you sent your Son to be born of the Virgin Mary. To our lives he brings joy and peace, justice, mercy, and love.

Lord, bless all who look upon this manger; may it remind us of the humble birth of Jesus, and raise up our thoughts to him, who is God-with-us and Savior of all, and who lives and reigns for ever and ever.

R. Amen.

and we put the animals in. We are all joyfully anticipating the arrival of Joseph and Mary on Christmas Eve!

December Copywork

The House Cat is copying S Is For Star: A Christmas Alphabet

Snuggle Bug is copying
"B Is for Bethlehem: A Christmas Alphabet Board Book

These books are a couple I'm using from

Christmas Mosaic, An Illustrated Book Study for Advent and Christmas

Copywork by Snuggle Bug

We are praying for all of our deceased loved ones this month. May God bless us all with His peace and grace.

Election 2008 Work

We really enjoyed our D is for Democracy unit study. (see below for links)


Snuggle Bug(9-right) and The House Cat (12-below) learned about The Electoral College and how it works. Choosing the President 2008: A Citizen's Guide to the Electoral Process was an excellent resource for this.








Buck(4) did a great job on his first notebook page. He and I had such a good time working on it together! At the top of the page he drew George Washington's belt with his knife and money bag. I thought it was so sweet that he told me, "this is where he kept the money he gave to help people."





Even though the election outcome was not what we prayed for, we trust in God and continue to pray for an END to abortion. GOD BLESS THE U.S.A.

A is For Apple

We've had a great time today with our Apple unit study!





The Life & Times Of The Apple was a great resource for my 9 and 12 year old.

An Apple A Day (over 20 apple projects for kids) by Jennifer Story Gillis also had some great ideas. We tried the apple star prints on pg.33 although the stars weren't as easy to make out as we would have liked. We had fun painting and trying anyway :) I hope to try making the apple wreath and homemade applesauce soon.

As the children "painted" I read aloud The Song Of The Apple Blossom Fairies by Cicely Mary Barker and Johnny Appleseed by Madeline Olsen.


Buck's (age 4) Apple Print


Honeybee's (age 3) "Abstract" Apple Painting :)


The House Cat's Notebook Page


The Snuggle Bug's Notebook page


(maybe next time we'll put the tape on the back :)



Here's a link for a fun apple word search for the older ones:
http://www.abcteach.com/wordpuzzles/WordSearches/applewordsearch.htm

And a connect the dots apple for the younger ones:
http://www.abcteach.com/free/d/dot_apple_to10.pdf

Hopefully Buck and Honeybee will complete some of the activites soon.
http://www.dltk-teach.com/alphabuddies/trace1.htm