Encouragement in Tough Times

So many things going on in our little lives right now. With the financial distruption to our lives in the beginning of August, things are finally starting to smooth out. By that I mean that hubby and I are at peace with it all. It is far from over, but we are at peace knowing God is in control and only has our ultimate best interest in mind.

Things I have found to be an encouragement at this time:

Books
The Bible - I am reading the book of James and it starts out "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perserverance. Perserverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."
90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper
Our Daily Bread for Persoanl and Family Devotions

Songs
Praise You in This Storm by Casting Crowns
Revelation Song by Philips, Craig & Dean
Our Great God by Todd Agnew

Friends - For the first time in my life, I feel I have people around me who aren't quick to judge, but will instead pray with me and for me despite their own struggles at this time. I pray for them, too as the act of praying for others invokes hope.

Apple Picking

Personal note: In our household we are facing a financial crisis. I hear that many others are facing these tough economic times and that we are not alone. That's little consolation when faced with a stack of bills and a paycheck that falls short every other week leaving many bills unpaid and not knowing what will happen in the next couple of months.
In the midst of this, I feel so blessed. Blessed to have opportunities like we had today to be able to go and be with friends and forget our troubles for a little while. God is good. He tells us not to worry and that He has everything under control.
Today's entry is about blessing. The blessing of friends, the blessing of educational experiences, and the blessing of fresh food. (Apples taste so good when just picked!)
I probably should have made the kids bring their nature notebooks or art journals and had them sketch some apples or an apple tree. However, that wasn't in the forefront of my mind. My goal was just to get there. Thank God I did.

We went on a field trip with our homeschool group to pick apples at a local orchard. It is good for our kids' souls to get out in the sunshine and fresh air. Even more important sometimes is how good it is for the moms to get together. We were there for 3 hours today and I didn't want to leave. I feel so blessed to be surrounded by the moms who are in our group and today I was really feeling it. I just didn't want to leave.

Our visit started with a wagon ride from the market to the orchard.

Each row of trees was a different type of apple. DS5 really loves Granny Smiths and we were able to find some.

His friend joined us and we had a great time exploring the orchard for the perfect apple.

Somehow DS5 and two of his best friends ended up with Star Wars figurines. I'm not exactly sure how to tie that in with apple picking. The picture was cute, so I included it here anyway.

I told these two to act like they like each other for the picture. This was the best I could get out of them.

We all enjoyed our bag lunches then headed to the petting zoo.

I thought this was a neat picture of my dear friend getting pictures of her kids.

And another dear friend trying to get coordinated to get on the wagon to go back.

I wish I could convey to all of those who were there today how much I love them and feel blessed by them - even if we talked for only a few seconds.

It was probably more that God knew just what I needed today and put me right there.

Jean Piaget

"The principal goal of education is to create men who are capable of doing new things, not simply of repeating what other generations have done."

-Jean Piaget (1896-1980) Swiss cognitive psychologist.

Kindergarten Nature Journal

For nature journaling this year, I am having each child pick a tree in our yard. On our 1/5th of an acre we actually have 6 trees to study - one of which is just a baby that popped up this summer.

At least once a month, I will have them observe and sketch their tree in their nature notebooks.

One of our trees appeared about the time DS5 was born so we have always called it his tree. Of course that is the tree he wanted to journal this morning. Even though I have studied this stuff and seen it a million times, it amazes me when a child of 5 years produces something like this. It's amazing what they can do if we let them.

DS5's tree and sketch

DD10's tree and sketch

I couldn't help myself

Book Review - Can You Find It Outside

Two book reviews in one day. I wasn't planning to do this, but I had to plug this book I found at the library. Can You Find It Outside? from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. While at the library I also noticed another book called "Can You Find It Inside?"


This book has 13 works of art in which the reader is asked to find various objects. It's a type of "I Spy" book, but it contains fine art. This is a great way to expose young children to art and get them to really look at it.


My 5 year old son and I had a great time reading this book today.


One of the pieces contained in the book is "Peaceable Kingdom" by American artist, Edward Hicks.


When looking at this piece, the child is asked to find the lion and the leopard and the lamb. Then he is asked to find a hole in the tree and two bare feet.
My son studied the picture for a long time and said he couldn't find the bare feet. At first, I thought he was kidding. Then I realized he was completely serious. After giving him some clues, he said there simply is no bear in the picture.
Oh the innocence of it all. I love moments like these.

I can't wait to go back to the library to check out "Can You Find It Inside?"

Book Review - Whatever Happened to Penny Candy?

Quote from the beginning of the book:
"...All the perplexities, confusion and distress in America arise, not from the defects in their constitution or confederation, not from want of honor or virtue, so much as from downright ignorance of the nature of coin, credit and circulation..." John Quincy Adams, 1829

WOW!
This is a great book. It is on Ambleside Online's book list for Year 7. DD12 and her dad are reading it together and they are loving it. It is a course in economics that is very easy to understand. Each chapter is only 2 pages long and her assignment is to read only one chapter a week, digest it and discuss it.

Chapter titles include (These are my favorites):
Inflation
Revolutions, Elections and Printing Presses
Fast Money
How Much is a Trillion
What's So Bad About the Federal Debt?

I like to recommend books that gets our family as a whole talking and this is one of those books. DD12 will read something and come running to us to share what she just learned. My hubby does that, too. We then talk about the ideas presented and figure out how they apply to our lives today. We are all talking about it.

As we work through the upcoming year, I hope to post other Charlotte Mason friendly books.