A Normal School Day at Our Home

Here's a picture of a regular school day here.

We were finishing up learning about Ancient Egypt.

Hannah Joy was coloring with markers as we worked.

She likes to do that when we're doing school.

I work with her on what the color names are as she colors and the girls are busy with something else where they aren't needing me at the time.  So she is doing "school" a bit too!  :)

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The Winner is!!!!!!!!!!!!

COMMENT # 8

Missionfieldof5 January 5, 2011 10:18 AM  

blogged#2

CONGRATULATIONS MELISSA!!!

Please email me which format you would like the cookbook to be in.  :)  AThankfulMommy@aol.com - I think you have it.

If you did not win, please consider going over to Connie's site and donating $6 or more and she will send you a copy in either PDF or Word Document form.

Thank you all!!  

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Last Day to sign up for the Giveaway! Also, a Cry for Help!

Tomorrow is the drawing!

So, please be sure to enter if you are wanting to be part of the giveaway and have chances at winning an awesome cookbook!

(ebook, cookbook)  It's awesome!  

Connie's LOAN house runs on oil.  Kerosene.  When she got there to stay it was empty.  She used $250 raised by her Dad's old workplace to put oil in there and pay bills.  She is in urgent need of oil.  It's $23 per 5 gallon bucket.  That will last her about 2 weeks.  So please, even $1 counts.  Please help her get some more oil because she's only got 2 inches or a little less that she can still use and then she and Cheyenne will have no more heat and they are in the midst of a huge snowstorm!  I have been praying that GOD will bless her and I felt the need to blog this.

PLEASE, if you can, paypal her a donation by clicking "gift" on the paypal payment and help us all add up together to get some oil for her and her little daughter, Cheyenne.  There's nothing worse than losing all you own and then sitting there with almost nothing and being so horribly cold.  She barely runs any heat at all right now because she's afraid the oil is going to run out.  

Yes, I am begging for your help for her!!!!!

TRULY, if you can give $1 or $5 or even $23 for a whole 5 gallons of oil that would be a huge blessing.  Sometimes we wait for others thinking our dollar won't count, but in this case every single dollar counts and I ask you to open up your heart and imagine if you were a single mom with a little girl just trying to stay warm, let alone, pay your bills how you would feel and let that part of your heart lead you to help.  Connie is a wonderful person and I promise she will be grateful for every cent she gets so they can be warm.  Anything over that will help her pay her January bills so they have their needs met.

Thank you for hearing my cry for help!  ((don't forget you can buy her cookbook and get it in PDF or Word for a $6 donation))

To get to her website and paypal go HERE.

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Giveaway!!! Come sign up!

I am hosting a cookbook giveaway on my blog to help a friend in need.  What you will be signing up to win is a free cookbook.

It is Connie's Cabin.  She is working already on her second one!

She is a caterer and personal chef... and her recipes are out of this world!  Trust me, I know, I've been cooking them.

My family loves them!

The cookbooks are ready in either a PDF file or a Word document.

I will choose a winner on Monday, Jan. 10th.

Yes, that's this coming Monday so hurry and sign up! :)

I have asked a couple of friends that are bloggers to do this giveaway as well.  We are trying to get the word out on the cookbooks to help this Mom and little daughter whose house burned down completely.  They lost everything.

Here are some pictures from the fire:

This is what was left.  Traumatizing, Heartbreaking!

Everything lost.

She has written this cookbook that I am giving away.

We are hoping that it will bring attention to the cookbook for donations to help Connie and her little girl Cheyenne get restarted.

She is sending out her cookbook for a $6 or more donation.

The link to her is here: http://www.uniquecreationscatering.blogspot.com

If you do not win, you can donate there to receive the cookbook and she will be checking multiple times throughout the day to make sure that when she gets your donation that she will get your cookbook sent.  You just need to let her know what format you want it in.  It comes in PDF format or Word.

 

OK so onto the giveaway!

For the first entry - leave a comment

 

For the second entry - follow my blog and you get 3 entries

so please leave 3 comments letting me know this.

 

For 5 entries blog about this on your blog and come back and comment 5 times :)

 

Leaving Connie an encouraging word on her blog would be so kind!  You can also read more about her starting over there.

 

GOOD LUCK to those who sign up for the give away!

You WILL NOT be disappointed!  Trust me!!

Smiles,

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Today was wonderful!

Even tho I over slept a bit today, we got so much done!

We had school and it went very well.

The girls, for Bible, are doing a study about Ester.

We have a book we are using plus the Bible.

I think it's going to be great - we just started it today!!  :)

After school I began completely scrubbing down my kitchen.

Through the holidays we made lots of goodies and lots of messes.  Even tho I kept a pretty good hand on things there were just little things that were making things look messy and things that just needed scrubbing!  So, I got after it!

A few days ago, I put this table cloth on my table and made the flower arrangement.  Today, I added the candles.

I think it looks warm and inviting and my husband and the girls love it.  It's a terracotta (spell?) color.  My hubby loves "orange" as he calls it.  It's *NOT* orange though!  LOL!

This counter had built up with lots of coloring sheets and little things they made through December.  Plus our homeschool things had gotten out of hand on this counter.  So, I sorted through things, threw away things and just made it back to the simple way it was!

Is this not adorable?!?!  My sweet sister in law, Kali, made this for me.  It's such a cool tile she made for us and then included the little stand.  I love it and think it is one of the coolest gifts!  She is so awesome at decorating and creating things.  I was blessed by this!

It sits beautifully on my counter top! :)

After all was done I lit this candle to give it a beautiful smell!

Boy, it did!!  Then, Madi Grace swept for me and Sarah Faith used the swiffer on the floors.  They are such awesome helpers!

So much has gotten accomplished today and it feels awesome!

I sang praises the whole time I did the kitchen and it did my heart good!  God is so awesome and so VIVID in your life if you take the time to just watch for HIS HAND in your every day life.  It's so exciting to see what He is doing.  Daily, I ask for Him to put a song in my heart for Him and I ask Him to fill me with His JOY.

........and ya know what?  He does!

One thankful, happy Mama & Daughter of the KING OF KINGS!

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One Word.

As I notice other bloggers "naming their year" or choosing one or two words as their desire for the year I have decided to do so also.

My one word is:
Servanthood.

Dying to myself to serve others FIRST with a JOYFUL HEART.

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Bringing in the New Year 2011

I can hardly believe it is already 2011.

I remember when it was the turn of the century and very exciting.

I had Madi Grace in 2000, a baby at the turn of the century.

I thought that would be very neat for her as she grows old one day.

I hear some people say 1-1-11 for the date and others say 1-1-2011.

For the first few years it sounded funny to me but now I say '11.

It makes you think back to the 1900's.  You wonder what they say but none of us thought anything about saying '89 or whatever.  I think it's just getting used to a new century.  I think it is neat to have lived in 2 centuries.

Anyway, I do not make New Year's Resolutions.  However, I have been spending time in the word daily for awhile now and I plan to continue.  It sure makes a difference in my day.  At first I studied a book of the Bible with my friend, Raewyn and now I am studying another book of the Bible with Renee @ The Growing Stam Family.  It helps hold me accountable and to dig deeper.  That's what I need.  I don't need a shallow reading of the Word, I need the deep, deep roots and I need those roots to plant inside of me and GROW!

I do not have a lot of scriptures memorized.  I read the Word but do not often try to MEMORIZE it.  So, I am setting a goal to do better about that throughout my life, not just in '11.  I want to do it alongside my children.  I want them to be deep rooted in scripture by the time they are on their own and then I pray they continue.

Tomorrow I am also re-reading/studying one of my favorite books.

It's called, "Don't Make Me Count to Three" by Ginger Plowman.  (www.gingerplowman.com or amazon.com)  I loved it when I read it before.  It's about heart oriented discipline and I think it's fantastic.  It's similar to "Shepherding a Child's Heart" by Ted Tripp.... but it has a softer tone with the same general message.  I think the books are read well together as a joint study, one after the other.  That's how I studied them when I did in around 2002 or so.  I remember how much I recommended that book after I read it.  (the one by Ginger Plowman)  It also has a great chart you can use.  It's under different things that might be going on with your child.  It gives you heart-probing questions which after you read those you will then easily generate those on your own!  They will pop into your heart at the right time when you need them - the ones in the chart or the ones laid on your heart.  Then it gives scriptures on why it was wrong and scriptures on blessings if you do right basically.  I love that.  It's hanging on my wall right now.  I love it for the quick scripture reference and the scripture is written out for you.

Much is going on and we start back to our homeschooling tomorrow.

I'm excited and love to teach  my children but as anyone -- I wish the break hadn't gone by so quickly!  LOL!

I pray GOD's blessings on each of you in this New Year.  I pray that you would see HIS hand at work in your life daily.  I ask Him to keep you tender to Himself so you can hear Him easily.

I am also praying for the prayer requests that I get.  My friend Tamara @ Homemaker's Heart has a really cool prayer board and I'm wanting to do something like that.

Many blessings to YOU, whomever is reading this.  

Smiles,

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