Passport to Purity ~* Angelina

This past weekend Angelina & I had a mother / daughter weekend with the purpose of completing the Passport to Purity curriculum. Passport to Purity is a great way to learn sex education from a Biblical view. This is the first time I have done this and it may be the last since I only have one daughter. We really had a special time together!

Since I am 32 weeks pregnant we were limited to what we could do together. I would of loved to go riding all weekend. Maybe next year.We decided to go to a horse show and swim since we both enjoy those things together.So we stayed at a hotel were there is a pool open 24 hours.

It is also recommended to purchase a special gift. So we purchased her a purity ring at the Christian store and a necklace with a charm. Her gifts were a purity ring to remind her of the commitment to the Lord she made to be a virgin on the day she gets married and to save her first kiss for her wedding day. She also got a musical note charm with a cross in the center since she is beginning to learn to play the piano that with hopes to serve the Lord someday.

Here is a picture of the Passport to Purity box and some prepared activities or projects.
My hubby who has done this a few times got everything ready for me.There are 5 projects to complete so he organized it by bag for me. Here is a picture of Angelina & project #1 the puzzle.These projects are hands on lesson as a reminder and visual of what watch session is about.

Angelina in the swimming pool in her new modest bathing suite :O) She really likes her bathing suit she feels feminine & modest.

For dinner we went to the Steak & Shake Diner.It was our first time eating at this little diner.

We of course went to a horse show :O) There was a fun costume show & a Hunter Show. There were a selection of breeds including a Belgium .I did not get many pictures of the actual horse show but I had to take a picture of both our favorite Arabians! We have always owned Arabians and I really miss owning one. When my Quarter Horse retires my next horse will be an Arabian.

Angelina helped pass out ribbons and enjoyed some friends.

Beautiful!!!! I was in heaven with the blue sky in the background watching the Arabs main & tail flying in the wind.I am sure when Jesus comes it will be on a white Arabian lol

Oh I forgot to mention this is our friends barn they are also Christians so it is always great fellowship.

I am so blessed to have a little girl and one that enjoys the things I enjoy. It makes planning easy & fun. She left a baby girl and came home a young women :(.... They grow too fast....

VBS 2011

We had VBS last week.Our theme liberty in Christ & in our nation (July 4rth)

An evangelist gave challenging messages each night. The kids earned points to win the chalk drawings. They earned points by bringing a Bible, memory verse, bring a guest etc.

Here is my hubby who is an ex-Marine but with his long beard looks more like a mid-eastern soldier lol .He is still a soldier of the cross (loved that hymn in the past WB)
Not only was there chalk drawings but puppet.I wish I would of video taped the history of the Christan flag since it was one of the recommend studies for the Wisdom Booklets.

One of the the things that saddened me as it was discussed through out the week was how so many Americans do not know the how our nation was founded on Christianity. I am so thankful we homeschool and are able to learn the true history of our great country. It really make me proud to be an American and pass the story on to the next generation my children.

Community kids writing their verses to memorize.This is what it is all about :O)

Nehemiah showing one of the crafts he made.

Job won a picture and the artist Gary made my day when he brought in an oil painting of Noah's Ark for the baby as a gift. That was the message that spoke to me the most.How God calls us to be righteous even when others don't.

Salvation messages of course !















Game time!

End of the VBS celebration with all American hotdogs. My older children served in VBS passing out food and helping their Dad in game time.

I just loved the chalk talks and would love to take the Eternity Arts course offered by IBLP(ATI) .My husband who has an evangelistic heart could give the message while I drew on the streets and fairs :O) Some day in another season. In the meantime maybe my Joe the artist can take the course in the near future.

Wisdom Booklet Monthly Planner

I wanted to share this wonderful planner created by another ATI family the Martins.Here is a link to their blog were you can download the planner and begin using it! I also use her notebooking pages she created for the Wisdom Booklets :O) Thank you Martin family for being such a blessing!!! http://martinpalooza.com/2011/06/28/wb-monthly-planner/

Leachco Back 'N Belly - Contoured Body Pillow

I have always had back & hip pain when I am pregnant when I sleep.It seemed no matter what I did I could never get a full nights sleep even before the baby was big in size. So for Mother's day I asked for a pregnancy pillow.There are a few styles to choose from.I ended up purchasing the Leachco Back N Belly Pillow from Amazon.http://www.amazon.com/Leachco-Back-Belly-Contoured-Pillow/dp/B0002E7DIQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1308847240&sr=8-1
I would normally not pay this much for a pillow but I was desperate to have a good nights sleep. To my amazement I have slept through the night ever since with no aches and pains. I like how you can turn from side to side and no matter what side you sleep on the pillow supports your back and belly. I was concerned about the size and heat of the summer from reviews but I found neither were a problem.I also read some reviews that it didn't work for short folks like me 5'3" but again the pillow has been everything I wanted. I do not like the firm seems.I also use it differently than pictured. I make a nest out of it and lay on top of it.I then use a separate pillow for between my knees. This way it supports me more, I don't feel the inner seams, don't get hot, & takes less room. I wish I would of purchased this pillow many babies ago lol.

My kids love it too.I am always kicking someone out of my pillow :/ I also got Amazon Mom points for purchasing this pillow.You can get free Amazon Prime Shipping from Amazon Mom when you purchase baby type supplies. So I got free shipping for 3 months :O) I use Amazon for school books etc. so O love getting free Amazon Prime shipping :O)

WB 32 Literature study- The Hedge of Thorns

I wanted to share this Literature guide with you.I have been preparing for the next school year. The Hedge of Thorns is a recommended reader for Wisdom Booklet 32 for the Law Resource. This is an excellent Christ centered guide for the book The Hedge of Thorns. It also has an answer key so you can feel more confident in checking your students answers as well as notebooking pages that guide your student in the literature study :O) The best part it is only $5. I look forward to doing this Literature study!

To purchase the guide and read an intro on the book click on the site below.

Principled Academy: Literature- The Hedge of Thorns

ATI Track Homeschool software

On the Wisdom Searcher Yahoo Group a post came today from one of the ATI moms that went to the conference explaining one of the workshops for new families discussed this program designed for ATI families. It is software that is for free for ATI families to help organize and keep track of their students. There are videos on how to use the software. Unfortunately, we have wireless Internet so it would use to much of our monthly megabytes to watch the videos.So the next time I go to my mother in laws I plan to watch the videos. In the meantime I wanted to share this link and information. I pray it is a blessing to you as the information passed to me was a blessing. I look forward to seeing what it is all about!

http://atitrack.com/

Dry Erase Paint~ making schooling a little easier

Since school is done it is the season of repairing, preparing, and getting things done around the house. So I make a mental list of some things that need organized or can be done to make my life easier as a mom or teacher. One of my problems was laundry and praise the Lord that yoke is now light. That was a mom need. So this weekend we worked on a teacher need. One of my challenges or inconvenience was I use a dry erase board for teaching. Problem: We do not have any wall space in the school room or living room because of so many book shelves. So I would pull out the dry erase board and place it on the table.This takes up room on the table and the board would slide down etc. Need met ( have a dry erase board)but I needed a better way. So I have a white school cabinet in the school room which I normally place posters on and I thought that would make a perfect place for out dry erase board. I would just have to open the door slightly and my students would be able to see the board. I don't have to mess with pulling out the board just grab a dry erase marker and work away. No more room or wall space needed.

This is the Dry Erase Paint we purchased at Home Depot. You can paint it on just about any flat surface. Angelina did this project while I painted the bathroom & the men/boys finished the french drain. The beauty of a large family you can tackle many projects at a time :O) She loves to paint so she was excited to do the project. First she sanded the surface.Once the paint is mixed it is only good for so many hours. The problem we had was the roller.If you attempt this project make sure you purchase rollers that leave a very smooth surface. A high quality sponge roller.We tried a regular smooth roller and the paint is so sensitive it left bumps.I did have a sponge roller I found in the garage so we used that but it fell apart while applying the second coat. SO for this paint I would ask the store for the proper roller to use with this paint. I learned the hard way!

The paint works! The left side turned out smooth since it was the second door we did after switching rollers.The ride side which is the one I will probably use more is lumpy.It will be well worth it for me to sand it down and try it again. I think it will make teaching next school year a little easier for me. Another thing I look forward to is my younger children love to draw on the dry erase board so while I am teaching they can draw on the other door.

Is there anything during your last school year that you could do to make it run more smoothly. I encourage you to write that problem down, pray, and talk to your hubby about it. As you know as a homeschool mom time is precious and being a good steward of time focusing on eternal things is pleasing to the Lord!