Multitude Monday: Week 10

It is a joy to be able to post more from my thousand gifts list again.  Having a new computer is a gift I don’t want to take for granted . . . so much in life can be taken for granted, simple things, like having eyes to see, hears to hear . . . even the ability to take a deep cleansing breath.  Today, I am well aware of the fact that without Christ, I have nothing.  Without forgivesness, I am nothing.  Because of His sacrifice, I am His, and I have hope that is eternal and love that never dies.  Anything good, eyes, ears, breath . . . most importantly, love . . . it’s all because of Him.  To Him be the glory for these endless gifts (#’s 181-200):

Frosted grass

Walking on crunchy frosted grass

Mittens on little hands

Homemade hot chocolate warming insides

Little red nose

Late night chats with husband

Baby stopping to blow kisses at me while nursing

Faithful heavenly Father

To be still and know that He is God

Beautiful ice on a leaf

Getting over a dozen eggs a day from our chickens!

Boys with little army guys

Prayers of a mother

Brother’s walking hand in hand

New computer

A sister’s love shown by homemade berry pie

Reminder of our homeschool planet walk

Nathan’s sweet “tee-too” (thank you)

Sunday morning worship after a powerful message

Brother’s playing peacefully

 

Thanks for visiting Heavenly Homesteading.  May your week be beautifully blessed!

A New Computer For My Birthday!

What a blessing it is to have a new computer!  Since moving to Alaska, both of our computers crashed (guess they couldn’t handle the climate change), so blogging has been more of a burden then a joy.  Now,  with a new computer, I am prayerfully moving forward with this blog, excited to see it used for God’s glory.   Thank you to those of you who haven’t forgotten me and have continued to check in even though I haven’t been able to write much.  Have a joyful weekend!

Fall 2009 Homeschool Update

The map you see hidden under all the finger paint is our only attempt so far to make our Dollar or Dime 2009 adventure a learning one . . . to be honest, we kind of let the project die when we moved from Arizona to Alaska and realized the many simple ways our boys were learning just by living life.  Nevertheless, we thought we would give one more invitation to join us before 2009 is over, just by sending a dollar or dime (click here to find out where).  The Lord used the Dollar or Dime 2009 idea to get this blog going, so for that I am thankful.  And, the map on the kitchen table has inspired many a geography lesson, even if all the responses we’ve gotten so far are from only one small spot on the map.  Just a few more responses will give us enough information to do some graphing and best of all, the boys have decided they want to put the dollars and dimes toward Operation Christmas Child boxes through Samaritan’s Purse.  God is so good!

This being our first year of “official” homeschooling (though we didn’t have to even sign up anywhere . . . I love Alaska!), I have been spending a lot of time praying, thinking, planning, and praying some more.  One of the most encouraging things God has used to direct my thoughts has been a blog post by Ann Voskamp.  If you have a moment to read it, you will see why it has encouraged me so.  There is so much I would love to share about this subject, but for now, for those who are interested, here is a quick overview of how we’ve been homeschooling, in the order of Ann’s seven daily rungs:

1.  Listening (a way of the Spirit) – Bible time with Daddy (around the table usually, sometimes with paper for drawing) with discussion afterward, prayer of thanksgiving times, reciting of the ten commandments (child lead), and scripture memorization through songs.

2.  Love (a way of sacrificing) – a constant check for all that is done . . . are we loving God and loving others always?

3.  Labor (a way of serving) -  Daily duties for each child, “Kitchen Round-up” where all work together to clean up after the family meal time, family projects (garage cleaning, gardening, church building bulletin boards, etc.).

4.  Loveliness (a way of seeing) – Nature walks, learning about music through hymns and praise songs, Atelier Art Program (with a focus on creating for a purpose: to give to others).

5.  Literature (a way of seeking) – Bible time, Spell To Write And Read , read aloud (currently reading Little House In The Big Woods), story time to begin to understand God’s providential hand in history.

6.  Language (a way of speaking) – Daddy word for the day (vocabulary), Spell to Write And Read, tracing of words and scripture for fun using crayons or markers.

7.  Logic (a way of scaffolding) – Right Start Math, Level A, joining with cousins in studying the planets (through books, planet walk, each person researching a planet to share with others, lapbook, etc.), interest based learning through books (Caleb chose bears and birds).

For more homeschooling encouragement, see our Favorites page, under “Discipling Our Children”.  May your homeschooling and/or home discipleship and training times be joyous!   Thanks for stopping by.

Our Growing Family: September 2009, Family Pictures

Family pictures each year are so much more enjoyable taken from home, rather than hours in a studio, so thank you to Jaime for taking some pictures of us all together.  This is one of my favorites.

Here are a few that I was able to quickly get of our boys . . .

 

. . . they are such a joy!

Multitude Monday: Weeks 8 and 9

New seasons can be so joyous and yet, at times, a bit overwhelming . . . the unfinished tasks of the past season flow into the new tasks of the season at hand, making it hard to even stop and catch your breath.  Today has been a day of listening, pouring out thoughts to the One who says to cast every care upon Him, and then more listening.  The more I let myself take a breath and listen, the more peace He brings . . . life is full to overflowing, but if not full of Him in the midst, overwhelming.  With Him in the midst, heavenly!  I love to be in the heavenly places with Him.  Here are some of those moments from the past two weeks, heavenly moments of seeing His gifts in the midst of this full to overflowing life I’ve been blessed to live:

 

Week 8 (#s 141-160)

 

Little ones looking at books

Endless blueberries to pick

Blueberry pie

Hiking through logging site

Smell of fresh cut wood

Baby snuggled close in carrier

Patient Daddy

Date night

Meal planning

Joy of children on stairs

Husband’s wisdom

Organic unrefined coconut oil

Harvested garden

Family snuggled together on couch

Communication

Long johns

Warm socks

Warm shower

Warming up cold baby hands on my cheeks

Soft answers

 

Week 9: (#s 161-180)

 

Knowing God is at work all over the world

Learning proofs of creation

Truth

Evidence of a new season

Feeling loved

Classical music

Warm hats on little heads

Children’s summer path blanketed with leaves

His joy over frozen “hose-cyles”

Strong arms holding me

Nephew’s creativity (makes me smile)

Fresh, clean dish towels

New flannel sheets

Hidden reminder of summer’s beauty

Seeing your breath on a cool evening

Smiles from good friends

Peppermint tea

Joyful gardeners

Being a mother

Being forgiven

 

Thanks for sharing in His gifts with me.  If you would like to join the Gratitude Community or if you just need a little encouragement in your day, take a deep breath and settle in for a peaceful moment over at Ann’s blog.

Multitude Monday: Week 7

Ever since I joined the Gratitude Community through the encouragement of reading Ann’s blog I have been blessed by the joy that listing gifts has brought into the life of our family.  Gratitude is contagious and once it starts, there is no stopping it.  No matter what comes in a day, there is still the ever growing list of His endless gifts that keeps my mind focused on the Giver . . . with eyes fixed on Him, there is nothing too difficult, nothing too overwhelming . . . all is surrendered, all is given back to the One who works all things out for the good of those who love Him.  Praise to Him for #s 121-140 in this endless list of gifts:

Soothing music

Little one napping on my shoulder

Son working with his daddy

Seeing husband on 4-wheeler

Fall beauty

Hard working husband

Hand-me-down clothes

Fresh raw milk

Family working together in the garden

Wispering trees

Running through falling leaves

Naps in fun places

Babies pushing empty buckets around the house with laughter

Cousins together

Brothers

Summer memories

Thoughts of snow coming soon

Answers for everything in God’s Word

Family

Walks to the park . . .

Gratituesday: Our first egg!

We began a new adventure in raising chickens back in May, with many hard hours of work (mostly done by my loving husband) preparing their new home and then we brought those sweet little chicks home to care for and have been waiting ever since for that first “golden” egg (at least you would think it was made of gold with how excited we all got to see it).  It is a joy to announce that it has arrived at last!

An egg, an egg . . . we have an egg!

Our oldest son, Caleb, with our very first egg!

We believe the hen that is now laying is one of our black sex-links.  She is five months old.  Our four roosters and the rest of the hens made a great noise to announce that the egg had been laid and each egg since the first has been similarly announced . . . such fun!  We are grateful to the Lord for our chickens and for the many eggs to come that will feed our family well.

For more Gratituesday encouragement, visit Laura’s blog and be blessed!  Thanks for visiting.

Multitude Monday: Week 6

It’s a new season, with colored leaves falling all around to usher in the newness . . . learning, preparing for winter, harvesting . . . the chill in the air gives only a warm feeling in my heart as I take a deep breath and praise God for all that hope for the future brings to mind . . . snowfall, cozy family times inside, holidays, learning times around the table . . . His gifts are unending. . .  my list of them goes on . . .

New learning season with children

Everything kept in the light

Warm clothes for boys

First little egg

Joyful children holding little egg

Babies first words

Leaves fluttering to the ground

Children excited to catch leaves

Petting zoo at the state fair

Wood laminate flooring (easy to clean up messes)

Little hands drumming

Faithful calls from husband

Digging up potatoes

Plantain for bee stings

12 strawberry plants sent out shoots to become 100

Story time on the couch

Tidy garage

Priceless grin

Husband’s winks

Giving friends

Praise God for this new season!  May we rejoice with each change that it brings.

Multitude Monday: Week 5

Words fall short and yet words have amazing power . . . may these simple words of thankfulness bring glory to God who gives gifts that cannot be fully expressed in words . . . praises to the Him who listens to our hearts when our words fall short.  Here are #s 80-100 in my ever growing one thousand gifts list:

Quiet morning music

Healthy body

Fall colors against blue sky

Little cabin full of family

Peaceful heart

Homemade apple pie (my mom’s recipe)

Rocks splashing into creek

Little one raising hands in worship

Little stomps in big puddles

Painted hillside

Glittering leaves

Family unity

Manly men

Huge bear print in the sand

Joy of children collecting rocks

Wild blueberries

Fireweed seeds drifting into the air

Quiet time on the sunny trampoline

Freckles sprinkled on his nose

Cache Creek Cabin getaway

Our Growing Family: August, 2009

Summer has been busy, but refreshing!  We were blessed to spend time with family up at Cache Creek Cabins for a few days at the end of August . . . what a beautiful place.  If only pictures could capture the breathtaking views of God’s creation . . . here are my attempts . . .

Nathan happy as can be to be standing on the top of a hill.

What a bunch of personalities!

The men giving the children a ride back up to the cabin.

The creek where we found gold! . . . dust.

The beginnings of a new season at Cache Creek.

I'm learning that this is what I'm going to get every time I ask them to smile for a picture.

Denali . . . the mountain that is hidden most of the year. My brother took the picture for me. Thank you Matt!