Seeking to Glorify

Sugar Plum's 3rd Birthday

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 03:06:00 +0000

November has been a busy month! There was Thanksgiving, of course, but this month we also celebrated our 9th anniversary and Sugar Plum's 3rd birthday.

Here are some highlights from the woodland fairy and fauna birthday party:

the invitation

hand stamped using stamps from Stampin' Up

the atmosphere

(birthday banner, cupcake toppers, and more are a free download available here)

the food

fairy berries (strawberries from my freezer)

and snails (rolled tortillas with mayo, garlic, parmesan cheese atop pickles sliced in half longways)

nutty trail mix

(I roasted almonds and peanuts, then coated them with a honey and water mixture and baked them in the oven a bit longer,

then once cooled mixed them with dried cranberries and white chocolate chips.)

newspaper flowers

fairy and fauna forest decor

with bird house and bird ornament favors

the favors also included more homemade nutty trail mix and homemade forest scented playdough

(the trees are available as a free printable here and the squirrel, deer, and mushroom are free here)

the cake

made from scratch using a homemade marshmallow fondant

(even the marshmallows were made from scratch!)

owl cupcakes

it's harder than it looks to split Oreos in two with the cream still on

(I filled in the holes with butter cream frosting)

fairy dust cups

(I can't remember where I got this idea from but

the rims of the clear plastic cups are dipped in corn syrup then dipped in colored sugar)

little birthday bunny

printable headbands available free here and masks available here

blowing out the candles

playing hot pinecone

fairy wand and mushroom hunt

fauna fun

On Ephesians 4:22-24

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 04:37:00 +0000

As I was studying this passage this morning, I pulled out my Greek-English word study and also looked up some of the words in Strong's concordance on my pocket sword app.

Let me share with you from the ESV:

"...put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness."

Alternative words from the original Greek as taken from Strong:

Old - worn out
Former - previous/prior
Manner - behavior
Corrupt - ruined
Deceitful - delusion, deceivableness
Desires - longing (especially for what is forbidden)
Renewed - renovated
Spirit - rational soul
Mind - thought, feeling, or will
New - fresh
Created - fabricated

So this passage could also read:

Put off your worn out self, which belongs to your previous behavior of life and is ruined through delusions and deceivableness of longing (especially for what is forbidden), and be renovated in the rational soul of your thoughts, feelings, and will, and put on the fresh self, fabricated after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Maybe because I'm a woman who enjoys a beautiful home, these words resonated with me and seemed to echo thoughts of self as home. And i want to be a woman who lets the Lord renovate my heart especially in my home - as a wife and mother.

First Family Trekking Trip

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 10:05:00 +0000

4 and a half hours up to 1650 meters above sea level. 2 and a half hours coming down. It was amazing. So glad we got to do it together as a family!

{These photos were taken on my phone because it's a lot lighter than my Nikon.}

Reformation Day Party

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 09:02:00 +0000

We had our very first Reformation Day party this year and it was so much fun!

{For those who don't now what I am talking about - Reformation Day is October 31st and commemorates the day that Martin Luther hung the 95 theses on the Wittenburg church door in the year 1517.}

We celebrated Reformation Day a little early because we took a week of vacation, and we were away from home on the 31st. I got most of my ideas for our party from Sojourn Kids.

We started with a breakfast of oatmeal, similar to what the Reformers may have eaten for breakfast. Then I read 2 Corinthians 5:17 in Latin, explaining that before the Reformers, the Bible was not available in a language the common people could understand. Thanks to the Reformers, I read the passage in English and told the kids that because we are a new creation in Christ they could dress in a costume to show on the outside that we are different on the inside. They quickly ran upstairs and dressed in the costumes their Meema brought them from the States.

The kids then cut out signs with statements such as “We are saved by Jesus alone,” “The Bible in our own language,” and “Jesus is all we need” (as suggested by Sojourn Kids) and taped them to the homeschooling room door.

Then the kids made chocolate cake with Meema just because chocolate cake is yummy.

And we played Pin the Beard on the Theologian (from churchhistoryabcs.com).

Even Daddy got in on the fun!

The girls decorated the cupcakes with homemade frosting and homemade sprinkles (I just added food coloring to the big chunky sugar).

And I decorated a round cake as a pumpkin.

Then we watched Torchlighters: The William Tyndale Story, (which I picked up this summer in Delhi for a couple hundred rupees!).

In the evening, we continued our tradition of watching the reading of The Pumpkin Patch Parable (read by my friend Lori). And then carved our own pumpkin...

Little Boy watched from the sidelines.

Just like the one in the story, with a big smile to shine the love of Christ

and we added a cross carved in the back to shine the Light.

K4 and 1st Grade Week 3

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon) — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 08:11:00 +0000

Last week we had a lot of fun in History. We studied about Jesus' birth, a bit about his life, and his death. This led into studying a bit more about the nation of Israel and Jews.

We made mosaic crosses, using pieces of torn tissue paper. Little Pumpkin actually made all three of these crosses.

We colored a picture of the Star of David and the Israeli flag.

Then we colored and made a dreidel and played the game that is traditionally played during Hanukkah.

In Nepali class, the girls made Nepali sweets out of playdough. I thought they were so cute!

Our School Name and Emblem

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon) — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 08:44:00 +0000

K4 and 1st Grade Week 2

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon) — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 09:16:00 +0000

This last week, we tried to really get into the full swing of a school routine. I had Little Pumpkin start with Phonics, then Math, Grammar, and Handwriting.

Then I had the other two join us for Sonlight read alouds and Bible time. Then Sweet Pea worked on a couple pages of Get Ready for the Code.

In the middle of the week, we had house guests and a henna party, so we missed a day of work, but flexibility is one reason we choose to homeschool!

Our house guests also brought us the A Beka 1st Grade DVDs, so when we resumed our regularly scheduled school program, we adjusted to begin with the DVDs for Bible time, then take a break for Sonlight P3/4 curriculum books, read aloud all together. After that, while the baby is napping, the younger two girls played while Little Pumpkin watched the Phonics portion of the DVD, followed by Math U See, First Language Lessons, and back to the DVD for Writing. This worked out really well for us this week. I'll let you know how it goes!

2011/2012 First Grade Curriculum

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon) — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 10:58:00 +0000

FIRST GRADE

After Little Pumpkin fell in love with history, thanks to The Story of the World, I decided to more thoroughly investigate The Well Trained Mind. Much of our curriculum for first grade is what I chose using this book as my guide. Some of my decisions to diverge from the recommended selections in The Well Trained Mind are based on my preference to incorporate Scripture into our lessons (handwriting, spelling, and science for example) or because we were frustrated with the selection (phonics - Ordinary Parent's Guide was always like pulling teeth!)

Phonics

A Beka's Handbook for Reading
McGuffey's First Eclectic Reader (also available on Flipkart.com for those of you in South Asia)

Math

Math U See Alpha

Grammar

First Language Lessons Level 1 (also available as a PDF download)

History

The Story of the World Vol. 2 (available as a PDF download or audiobook download or on Flipkart.com)
and Activity Book 2 (also available as a PDF download or on Flipkart.com)
supplementing with The Mystery of History Vol. 2(audiobook download also available)
and Historical Timeline Figures (from Homeschool in the Woods

Read Alouds

Selections from Sonlight K and Grade 1 books
Math storybooks suggested in The Well Trained Mind

Spelling

Handwriting

A Reason for Handwriting and the Teacher's Guidebook (both available on Flipkart.com)

Writing

Writing With Ease Level 1 (available as a PDF download or on Flipkart.com) FYI: the instructor's guide is not necessary; all that you need is in the student workbook

Reading Comprehension

Selections from First Favorites from Veritas Press

Science

Art

Artistic Pursuits Book 2

Since this is such a huge transition from Kindergarten, we've been adding a few things at a time. We are currently doing Phonics, Math, and Grammar 5 times a week and History 3 times a week. Art we do on Saturdays when we have time. I am waiting on our Handwriting books to arrive before we dive into that 5 days a week. And I would like to get a bit further along in our phonics book before we pull out the Spelling, Writing, and Reading Comprehension. We are also finishing up SOTW vol. 1 before we start vol. 2 and before we add Science into the schedule.

So, that's it! We are looking forward to this year and all we are going to learn!

Bean Mosaics

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon) — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 07:15:00 +0000

Lately, we have been studying about ancient Greek history, and this week we've been focused on Caesar. Yesterday, the girls made mosaics using beans - an idea I got from The Story of the World Vol. 1 Activity Book (which can be downloaded here.)

Materials we used:

Cardstock (or file folders torn in two)
Glue
Beans and Chick Peas
Bowls

I wanted to make this craft as simple as possible, so for the younger two I asked what they wanted their design to be, then I drew the design on the cardstock with glue for them. I gave them each a bowl of beans and let them stick the beans onto the glue design. Little Pumpkin (age 6) made her own design with the glue and was able to work independently. They all really enjoyed this!

From left to right, clockwise: Sweet Pea's giraffe, Little Pumpkin's sunflower,

Sugar Plum's flower and cloud

Little Boy is 6 months old!

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon) — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 12:25:00 +0000

We celebrated Little Boy's birthday by making some cupcakes - because 1/2 birthdays really should be celebrated, shouldn't they?

And then I decided I should take his 6 month photo.

And the puppy decided she should be in the photos too.

The Caterpillar

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon) — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 10:21:00 +0000

On Bacon

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon) — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 10:25:00 +0000

For Father's Day, I made my husband one of his favorite meals - homemade biscuits, bacon, and eggs.

While I was flipping the bacon, I got burned and yelled, "I HATE MAKING BACON!!!" Then I apologized for complaining about it. But, honestly, who likes to get burned making bacon???? And who likes cleaning up the huge mess that pan frying bacon makes? "Not I", said the momma.

So tonight for dinner, we are having baked potatoes and salad. I wanted to top it with bacon because it's just so good! But I HATE MAKING BACON! Until now. I've found a better way, thanks to this video tutorial.

Bake your bacon. I will never pan fry my bacon again.

A Timely Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon) — Sun, 08 May 2011 16:44:00 +0000

Just because I live overseas doesn't mean I'm not holding on to the balance beam. Are you?

On Two Thumbs

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon) — Sat, 07 May 2011 04:04:00 +0000

"One thumb...

is not enough...

I need two thumbs!"

On the Festival of That Big Thing

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon) — Sat, 07 May 2011 03:40:00 +0000

Over the last month, while we've been out and about in the city, we've come across this:

I continued to wonder what it was because I had never seen anything like it in India.
{If you look closely you can see several men climbing up the side of that big thing.}

I was finally given some insight into what that big thing is in an email I received this week:

The origins of Rato Machhendranath are from the valley’s agricultural days. The festival commemorated the pre-monsoon season in worship of the prominent rain god.

"As this striking red spectacle makes its way along the streets of the city, Lord Machhendranath is said to look down from the high seat of his chariot at the joyous proceedings that surround him. The chariot snakes its way along the city streets, leaving a very visible red trail in its wake. As he goes the ‘king of serpents’ reveals his glorious jeweled vest to the public and he is asked to give his blessings to passersby. The event is ended in a night of celebration and feasting and is hopefully followed not long afterwards by the refreshing monsoon season.”

More information can be found here.

Photos from Easter Morning

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon) — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 13:53:00 +0000

Resurrection gardens -

The stone is rolled away!

Music time with Daddy

Easter outfits

Little Boy's first Easter

He is RISEN

On Baking Easter Memories

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon) — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 10:33:00 +0000

The girls and I have had so much fun this week baking together. Instead of giving our kids Easter baskets full of candy and toys, I decided we would bake memories by making a special treat together each day of the Easter weekend.

On Friday, we made pretzels and discovered that the shape of a pretzel, as the story goes, comes from arms crossed in prayer, as early Christians used to pray.

On Saturday, we made a fun treat that we didn't bake, but it was still delicious! We bought some doughnuts from the German Bakery, cut them in half, and turned it into a tomb! We added an Oreo to serve as the rock in front of the tomb, then decorated the "garden" with little gumdrops. (I got this idea from here.)

On Sunday, we made "resurrection rolls". I've seen several people share a recipe for "resurrection rolls" using frozen crescent rolls and marshmallows. But we don't have frozen crescent rolls, so I used this from-scratch recipe instead. It's like a cinnamon roll with a melted marshmallow inside! I love that the marshmallow melts to leave the roll empty like the tomb. I was able to find a bag of marshmallows, but if you can't find any marshmallows where you live (or you just want to make it all from scratch), you can try making them using this recipe.

There's still time! Go make some memories of your own!

On Just the Boy

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon) — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 09:15:00 +0000

Since I know the grandparents would appreciate it, here are several photos of Little Boy taken over the last week.

On the 12 Days of Easter in One Day

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon) — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 09:02:00 +0000

I'm so thankful that we homeschool! It allows for so much flexibility and room for fun. That's one of the main reasons we've chosen homeschooling. Daddy has been out of town this week, and I had to take the kids to the other side of town for their second round of rabies shots. Those two things alone required a much more relaxed atmosphere to school this week. And I'd say it was still pretty successful!

Yesterday, we took the time to do all 12 Days of Easter all in one day since I knew the two older girls could handle it.

Helping Jesus get to Jerusalem game

Counting the 30 coins (we used magnets)

Making resurrection gardens

Playdough crown of thorns

Love kept Him on the cross.

Jesus loved us so much he died for us!

Be sure to visit the Preschool Corner for more fun!

On a Season of Evaluation

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon) — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 08:23:00 +0000

If I could define the season I am in at the moment with one word, the word would be "evaluation".

Over the past month, I've...

...scoured through homeschool curriculum, books, and plans, evaluating what is best for my children, our season as a family, and our personalities.

...discovered character weaknesses in my children, and, in the process, in myself.

...searched the Word, parenting books, and websites for godly counsel on bringing up the four children I have been gifted.

...questioned my role as wife, mother, ministry partner, daughter, sister, friend, blogger; wondering how it all works together and still leave time for sleep.

...re-re-organized my prayer life, devotional time, homeschool schedule and curriculum, daily routine, rules, and expectations.

...wondered if some recent past decisions were made based on emotional instability rather than on a solid foundation. And then wondered how I could wonder.

The World English Dictionary defines "evaluation" as

1. an act or instance of evaluating or appraising
2. (especially in medicine) a diagnosis or diagnostic study of a physical or mental condition

and "evaluate" as

1. to ascertain or set the amount or value of
2. to judge or assess the worth of; appraise

As we approach the Cross, I'm reminded that Christ is my judge...that He has already set my value as worthy and Christ in me is the hope of glory.

And in this season of evaluation, I assess all things in the shadow of the Cross and the glory of the empty grave because He is infinitely worth every area, nook and cranny, of my life.

Best of the Birthday Photos

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon) — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 11:00:00 +0000

Little Pumpkin turned 6 last week!

Since her party was on Saturday but her actual birthday was on Friday, I made strawberry pancakes for breakfast, topped with strawberries, homemade whipped cream, and homemade maple syrup, put a candle in it, sang "Happy Birthday" and let her blow it out.

On her actual birthday, I hosted a henna party - we learned how to make henna designs that tell stories from the Bible.

This design tells the story of the narrow road which leads to heaven and the wide road which leads to destruction. The henna is black until it dries and flakes off and dyes the skin a brownish-orange.

Sweet Pea's design tells the story of creation.

My design tells the story of the Prodigal Son.

Little Pumpkin chose her party theme - Ancient Egypt.

(I promise I had nothing to do with the idea!)

I decided to incorporate the plagues, so the snacks included:

Gnats 'n Flies - popcorn

Fruit the Locusts Missed - watermelon and grapes

Frog Tongues - cucumber and green pepper slices

Nile River Water - red juice and 7Up

My husband helped me make this amazing pyramid cake!

White and chocolate cakes layered with butter cream frosting and coated with caramel frosting.

It was super sweet to say the least.

The kids had a race to see who could wrap their partner up as a mummy the fastest!

Way fun!

Walking like Egyptians

Blowing out the candles

This was her gift from Mommy and Daddy.

On Week 20 of Homeschooling - Space!

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon) — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 01:28:00 +0000

While Daddy was traveling this week, I decided to take a week off from our regularly scheduled RRSP and Letter of the Week curriculum. Our theme was space. We had so much fun! It gave us a chance to review a couple of letters and introduce a few that are coming up.

Everyone got in on the fun of our space sensory bin.

Scooping black lentils into glow in the dark planets with a silver spoon

And we even had astronaut ice cream!

(My parents brought it when they came.)

It's "made from real ice cream".

The girls really liked it, though you can't tell in the picture because they weren't happy that I made them wait to try it until I took their picture.

We made galactic placemats by dipping star shaped cookie cutters into paint.

And I laminated them. I think they turned out so cute!

Spell Out Loud and Homeschool Creations have some cute space printables.

I printed in black and white and meticulously colored these, laminated them, and then glued them to magnets. Sweet Pea and Sugar Plum arranged the numbers in order.

(The numbers are actually from a Thanksgiving pie matching printout I made from Musings of Me. Less work and printer ink if it can be reused!)

We had such a BLAST, but we didn't even get through all of the activities. So, we'll probably be carrying the theme on through next week too!

Be sure to check out more preschool posts at the Preschool Corner.

Photos From the Hills

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon) — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 06:41:00 +0000

Just wanted to share some photos from our quick weekend up in the foothills of the Himalayas about a month ago.

(Look closely - This man is carrying two boxes of "male chicks" on his head. You could hear the little chicks - "cheep cheep". Cracks me up!)

Tapestry of Grace Year 1, Unit 2 Party

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon) — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 05:40:00 +0000

We had Little Pumpkin's Unit Party last weekend. We had studied Ancient Greece and so I made togas for the girls and the two friends that came as guests. Super simple, no sew togas - fold a cloth in half lengthwise, hold up to the shoulders to measure where to place the safety pins, pin, wrap at the waste with a ribbon or yarn (it will be open on one side, but the ribbon holds it together).

Oops! Forgot to add that this is inked up to Weekly Wrap Ups at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers. :)

On Week 19 of Homeschooling - Preschool

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon) — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 16:50:00 +0000

Our letter this week was Aa!

We used our little peg board (that we picked up in Delhi) to make a capital A.

Loving the sight word color by number pages from Carisa (and thinking of creating some of my own).

Coloring was a big hit this week.

And she loved gluing apple seeds to the letter A from COAH.

And for a bit of review, we worked on the beginning sounds worksheet from the K-4 curriculum at COAH.

And the A is for Apple magnet page from COAH.

And the Apple Tree cut and paste from COAH.

And I pulled out the apple counting file folder game that I created last year, which I couldn't remember where I had found but COAH had listed as coming from File Folder Fun.

Plus all of our St. Patrick's Day fun.

Find out what other families did for preschool at Preschool Corner.