The last of 2014 & a little bit about us!

Hello Friend!

 It's been a while since my last post. There has been lots of good things going on and not much time to write all about them. Alas, I didn't want 2014 to end without reminiscing about all the blessings and to share a little bit about myself to all the lovely new mamas following my feed!!  First I wanted to say, God is good, He is always so good to me. He has blessed me with such a wonderful man, who not only loves his family but loves The Lord with all his heart and loves to share that lovely truth with all the people he meets.  We have been married for 11 years!!! I love him more today then I ever thought I could. We have four children and one on the way!                                               

      •  My desire is to teach our children to love the Lord God with all their hearts and to seek Him in all they do. To find the things of the world rubbish compared to The Lord's goodness. That's our main goal in our schooling. The rest is secondary. 

   

   • We love Nature and all that God has created. Exploring is one essential key to learning. ( in my  humble opinion ).  

• If I could, I would talk about Nature study all the day long. Not because I'm an expert but because I enjoy it so much!  

•Charlotte Mason is my homeschool Hero along with Karen Andreola! When I read Charlotte's work,  I often wish I could have met her and  perhaps had a cup of tea together.  I find the Lord granted so much wisdom to Charlotte Mason. He also gave her eyes to see children in such a lovely way and gave her a soft and kind heart  to do what she did,not just for her time, but for us today as well.  ( so thankful) I found out about CM from Karen Andreola's  book, The Charlotte Mason Companion. And I love, love Karen's writings she is a homeschool classic!  The rest is history. 

  •I love to read and read to my children on a daily basis. We love Beatrix Potter collections, Thortnton W.Burgess, Lamplighter and classic lead me to Christ kinds of books. We enjoy biographies as well.  

 • We love to be creative and ask lots of questions myself included. I believe The Lord is blessing me with a second education, the kind I never experience, trough teaching my children at home! 

( big blessing) 

  • I love to bake bread ( sourdough is my favorite).  I love the old world look of rustic breads. 

• I also love to cook . Involving the children as we go along.  They will one day need to know how to cook for themselves , why not teach them at a young age.  And as parents it's a blessing to see them choose healthy foods to eat.

• We have a garden and we enjoy it every year.   The children love to harvest what we plant and get excited to cook.

• I dream of one day keeping bees and having chickens! Lord willing.  And it's ok if The Lord has different plans, in that case maybe in heaven! 

 • I'm very sporadic ( not intentionally) in my conversations with my friends and family, I'm constantly thinking of everything else. Or maybe it's just pregnancy brain and I can't remember having a one subject conversation! 

  • I love using exclamation points a lot!! See.  It doesn't take a lot to get me excited. 

•   I love real flowers and can't stand fake ones. I grew up with fake flowers all over our house. I am not a big fan of roses, they are overrated.  

• I am a tea drinker and on occasion coffee. Tea is # 1.

 

• I hate clutter and tend to trow lots of things out that is not being used. I can't focuse if the house is messy for to long.

 • My favorite movie is The sound of music.  { brown paper packeges tide up with string, these are a few of my favorite things} & ratatouille. Anything French or Italian is a hit with me. 

• I love poetry and I'm so blessed to be able to share my love for books and poetry with my children and watch them enjoy it as much as I do.

 • My husband had lots of health issues in the past and was very over weight. Today my husband and I are passionate about healthy eating habits and thank the Lord for showing us a different way of life. ( my husband is a hunk). 

  

• I have a moto that I live by and it go's like this. If my grandmother didn't eat it, I'm not either!  I brake this on occasion . And enjoy onion rings at a wing place.  

 • I enjoy Pendora and my favorite stations are ,Old hymns that touch you so deep you weep  & French cefe music  to give me that extra creativity when we are cooking, oh and children's fulk songs! Down by the Bay, where the watermelons grow..... Back to my home I ... Lalalala... I think that's a fulk song?! 

  

 There ya go friend. I'm sure I can write so much more, but at the moment I think this is just fine. I am thankful for The Lords grace and mercy. I'm also thankful for transforming my life into something totally different then what I ever would have imagined. The Lord is Good!! All Glory To Him. 

           Blessings to you and your family's and may your 2015 be filled with The Lords super natural power to be a blessings to all around you!! 

                      ~ Elena~

   

And it Begins!!

 Hello Friends, 

 So this week was a mellow week for me in one way and not so much in the other. (But I guess you can't have everything;)) My plan was to go trough all my books and organize and purge, to get ready for school. I did eventually get it done. ( felt great.) My husband was baddling a bad cold this week and now we are all dealing with it at the moment. Ick! But as much as we struggled to get done what needed to be done, there has been great success in the schooling area!! Let me explain. 

   I have been wanting to start reading the first volume  of The Charlotte Mason Original series, but kept getting side tracked with other things and as soon as I pick it up, just to put it back down feeling   frustrated that I couldn't get past the first few pages. Well, I picked it up and I'm on page 45 yey!!!! I know, the little things get me really excited. But wait, there is more exciting news.

 So as I was going trough my Intagram someone had a picture of a DVD that they were watching about the Charlotte Mason  method  and I started looking it up with no success. I asked for some information and the kind women pointed me to http://www.livingbookslibrary.com/2014_07_01_archive.html?m=0

   I didn't end up finding the DVD but I found a recording of Home Education!!!!!! This for me, was and is still epic! ( as I often wished there was something like this out.) I couldn't wait to put my kiddos to bed and put my head phones on and go trough the book. It's about $12 for a PDF download of CM Home Education. I can't wait for the lovely ladies to record Volume 2. Parents and children.  They do have Volume 4  Ourselves available as well. I highly recomand these recordings as well as the written work of Miss Mason. I defiantly am getting a lot out of them. There is something completely wonderful about going to the original source.  You can't get this from a secondary source.

  Now, I wanted to touch on one more thing. Little ones ages two to four doing Nature study. I have moms say that their little one doesn't know how to draw or doesn't have much of an interest. I know every child is diffrent. I can tell you what we do and maybe it can benifit you as well. With my little one, he sees that his older brother and sister are doing nature study and he wants to be involved as well. In everything from nature study to math to narration. So we got him a scatch pad of his own. When we take walks we collect a little of nature for later drawing or pressing. ( flower pressing) 

 Now I don't recomand that you let your children loose to rip every flower they see. We don't want that. But if there is an  abundance of Queen Ann's Lace we will pick a few to press for later or if you know me even a little you know that I take lots of pictures. We take an empty egg carton or a paper sandwich bag and collect our treasure from our walk. We bring our treasures home and the children choose to draw what they found.  Let me just say that it's up to you the parent to guid your children in their studies . If you will be excited about a topic and show intrest, they will also!

   I love the Parents' Motto from CM.

 Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life. It's our job as moms and educators of our children to make our children's education experience a pleasant one. Not that they will always do things that are always pleasant. But I think teaching them that learning is not doing this worksheet or going trough this text book and they are done. Learning, it's a life style, it's a way of life. Giving them a calming, safe, atmosphere to be who The Lord God created them to be. Preparing them to be confident in who they are In Christ.

 -The Preface in the Home Education-

Mother's duties to her Children. 

 "The women receives from the Spirit of God Himself the intuitions into the Child's character, the capacity of appreciating  its strength and it's weakness, the faculty  of calling forth the  one and sustaining the other, in which lies the mystery of education, apart from which all it's rules and measures are utterly vain and ineffectual. We have a high calling mamas and God created you with everything you need to guide your children. Blessings to you.

              

August Hello!

Good evening friends,

  It has been a while since my last post. This summer has been wonderfully busy. Gardening, exploring God's creation, spending time with family. We tryed doing some school, but nothing formel.  I have been thinking of all of you, wondering what summer is like for you, what have you observed over the summer?! I can't believe it's August already and soon we will be back to a regular routine. Wishing you the most out of the rest of your summer. I will be returning soon with more details of what's to come this  upcoming school year for us!

 Oh, the Charlotte Mason book study is going wonderful, so encouraging. God is good! 

     Blessings to you and your family.

The Love Of Birds and a little Music

  Hi Friend, 

 Hope you had a wonderful day today!

I woke up to our newly four year old, franticly saying come to the living room mom and see the birds at the bird feeder, mom you've got to see this!!! Their are so many birds on the bird feeder and I don't even know their name. What a sweet boy! I love him so much.

  I never thought I would be a bird watcher.... Ever... But this last year the sound of birds singing by our window had been so beautiful, how can you not be so blessed by their lovely song?!!  Maybe it was just a long winter for me, because I was so excited to see a spring bird and to hear the new sound of hope, spring is around the corner it would chirp at me... So, first things first we got a bird guide and some bird feeders, we started to visit our local Metropark to get to know the birds at there feeders. And now our children as well, as our daddy enjoy watching the lovely birds at our window. 

 This post was actually ment to be about music.. And here I am talking about bird love. 

 I will mention, that we had a great time visiting the Cleveland Orchestra with our two older ones today, and we all really enjoyed ourselves. To see their faces enjoy the orchestra brought warmth and joy to my heart. 

   I love music and I appreciate good music. Music that lifts you up and has a history about it.. Anyway a little ramble about our day. Hope you have a spectacular day tomorrow! 

  I leave you with a poem by Victor Hugo

  Be Like the Bird

 Be like the bird, who

Resting in his flight

On a twig too slight

Feels it give way beneath him,

Yet sings

Knowing he has wings. 

Photo update of our adventures!

              

As we visited our local farm, I couldn't help my self, but admire all that was around us! Including some lovely Beehives. My dream one day.

   John my husband had taken a few days off of work this week due to a small burn on his fingers. It's a lot better now and the salve I made a month a go came into good use!! 

Anyway,it was nice to have him home so I could catch up on a few things I needed to get done. Like clean out all the winter clothes. Fun job!!!! Just kidding.. My least favorite thing to do. But it needed to be done.  So a little field trip  after cleaning was a must. Plus we were out of eggs! 

      

      

 Alex enjoying this lovely baby chick. 

    

 

       Teaching Benjamin to be gentle.

He loved every minute with these babies.

   

   New life!! So precious. 

   

    This beauty was found on our Mother's Day trip to the metropark.  It really warmed my heart to see this male Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. Watching the kids explore in the creek and watching my husband enjoying nature was the greatest gift any natural mama could ask for ;)

      

   Look at this! Breathtaking, isn't it?!

  

    Follow the leader.

  

   They insisted on a under bridge photo.

  

      Exploring is what they know.

      

    The Majesty of My Lord!

      

       Observing the world around her.

  Beehives at our local farm! 

  So that was a little picture update of our weekend. Can't wait for this coming weekend! I'll be sharing more pictures and sharing what we have learned along our journey.

   I leave you with a fun poem called 

   The Optimist

   By: Anonymous

   The optimist fell ten stories,

 And at each window bar

He shouted to the folks inside:

Doing all right so far!

         Blessings to you my friend.

The Love Of Reading

Hello Dear friend,
  I have been away for some time, and am happy to be back!
Since spring is officially here. We have been busy gardening and reading and exploring spring life!
  I am learning more new things about my Favorite Charlotte Mason, my book study is going wonderful and I'm so blessed to have ladies that are also so eager to learn about all the wonderful things that Miss.Mason suggest. If you haven't read my past posts, I started a Charlotte Mason book study group. We are going through the book by the lovely, Karen Andreola. A Charlotte Mason Companion. This year, since I have been reading lots about Charlotte Mason I have been wanting to implement some of her ways in our school days. We started with Living books. And it's such a blessing to us. Even my little guy who is 20 months old loves books. It's a wonderful gift to give to your children.The love of books that is.To share with them GOOD BOOKS. I recently was asked by an Instagram mamma how do I read with my little ones? Well, I love to be very Enthusiastic, and sometimes even a little theatrical. Now, I would be a little Embarrest  to read like that in front of other people, but the children enjoy it and it gets their attention. Another thing that helps is the books that we read. I love real living books, Biographies, character building books, such as the Lamplighter series. Books about real people. I find that my children can relate more to these types of books. They will say things like, I can't believe that so and so would do such a thing to Mary. Or can you please read one more chapter. The older children can sit through a great deal of chapters when I read, the other two little ones fidget and sometimes interrupt, I then stop and find something quiet for the little ones to be busy with while we finish with the older two. We also read one on one. I sit down with a book to each child's ability and I follow each word with my finger as I read a few sentences and then my child,  also following with their finger. I help at the words that are difficult for them to read. 
  Reading has been a big struggle for my oldest who will be ten in July. I can say with joy that this year has changed so much about how he feels about reading. We still struggles at times,but we see much improvement and it's all glory to Our Lord. I am so so blessed to have such wonderful writings and teachings by Charlotte Mason. It is truly a gift and a breath of fresh air. 
   
 We also love Audio books and poetry. 
 So far this year reading had been our focus, even though we worked on other things, such as math and writing ect. Reading was something that needed much work. I have great plans for the upcoming school year and want to implement a lot more of the lovely Charlotte Mason way. Tell me about your reading story, have you always loved to read? What kind of books do you read?! 
  It's always a blessing to share a little of our joy with you.May you be blessed. Happy Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful mamas!
   
All Things Bright and Beautiful 

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful:
The Lord God made them all.
     
Each little flower that opens,
Each little bird that sings,
He made their glowing colors,
He made their tiny wings.

The purple-headed mountains,
The river running by,
The sunset and the morning
That brightens up the sky.

The cold wind in the winter,
The pleasant summer sun,
The ripe fruit in the garden,
He made them every one.

The tall trees in the greenwood, 
The meadows where we play,
The rushes by the water, 
To gather every day.

He gave us eyes to see them,
And lips that we might tell
How great is God Almighty,
Who has made all things well.

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small, 
All things wise and wonderful:
 The Lord God made them all.
          ~ Cecil Frances Alexander~

    

Honey Bear Bath

 Happy Sunday friend!
  Unfortunately the little guy and I stayed home from church this morning because we both didn't feel so well. I know we will be fine though. The weather has been so totally lovely. I want to spend every minute outside, preparing the garden for planting and enjoying the sun.
Ministry garden update, Benjamin and I planted  flowers and Basil for our ministry garden this morning and we started our tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, last week. We are typing up some letters to our local Home Depot and Nursery to see if they would be willing to donate some Rain Barrels, some tomato cages and soil. I know and expect the Lord will provide!
  Today I wanted to share with you a simple Recipe for a wonderful baby wash that I absolutely love. Its called Honey Bear Bath, and it only has three ingredient's. It smells and feels wonderful.

  This wash is very foamy, it also soothing for dry sensitive skin.  
  
You will need:

1 Cup of water


1/2 cup honey ( honey is very good for skin, it has antioxidant properties, helping to protect and maintain healthy skin and hair. I use raw local honey.

1/2 cup liquid soap, I use Peppermint Castile soap,  you can use any scent you would like, like lavender! 

Add all ingredients together and shake in your jar or whisk together with a Wisk. I used a mason jar and tripled the ingredients to make more.  This recipe came from the 2009 Summer. Herb Quarterly magazine. Subscribe to The Herb Quarterly Here   I love this magazine for all the great information and recipes. A true treasure.

 Here are some photos:

   

   

Mommy's helper

 

 

                                                     It looks so lovely. And very safe for your little ones.

 Let me know if you try this bath wash. I will also be posting on the next post how we made our own healing salve and how we infuse our herbs. Have a beautiful Sunday friend.
                                                        Blessings.
                                                               Elena

 

 

 

 

The Glory Of God

Good Morning Friend,
   I wanted to share with you something I read this morning that so much applies to nature. The Creator..
  I always Stand in amazement at nature, to me it all points to Jesus Christ. The majestic hand that... you know what, here is Psalm 104. It describes it in a way I cant. May you be blessed today.

Lord My God, You Are Very Great

 Bless the Lord, O my soul!
    O Lord my God, you are very great!
You are clothed with splendor and majesty,
    covering yourself with light as with a garment,
    stretching out the heavens like a tent.                                                                                                He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters;
he makes the clouds his chariot;
    he rides on the wings of the wind;
 he makes his messengers winds,
    his ministers a flaming fire.

 He set the earth on its foundations,
    so that it should never be moved.
 You covered it with the deep as with a garment;
    the waters stood above the mountains.
 At your rebuke they fled;
    at the sound of your thunder they took to flight.
 The mountains rose, the valleys sank down
    to the place that you appointed for them.
 You set a boundary that they may not pass,
    so that they might not again cover the earth.

You make springs gush forth in the valleys;
    they flow between the hills;
they give drink to every beast of the field;
    the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell;
    they sing among the branches.
From your lofty abode you water the mountains;
    the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.

 You cause the grass to grow for the livestock
    and plants for man to cultivate,
that he may bring forth food from the earth
    and wine to gladden the heart of man,
oil to make his face shine
    and bread to strengthen man's heart.                                                                                                The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly,
    the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
 In them the birds build their nests;
    the stork has her home in the fir trees.
 The high mountains are for the wild goats;
    the rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers.

He made the moon to mark the seasons;
    the sun knows its time for setting.
 You make darkness, and it is night,
    when all the beasts of the forest creep about.
 The young lions roar for their prey,
    seeking their food from God.
 When the sun rises, they steal away
    and lie down in their dens.
 Man goes out to his work
    and to his labor until the evening.

 O Lord, how manifold are your works!
    In wisdom have you made them all;
    the earth is full of your creatures.
 Here is the sea, great and wide,
    which teems with creatures innumerable,
    living things both small and great.
There go the ships,
    and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it.

 These all look to you,
    to give them their food in due season.
 When you give it to them, they gather it up;
    when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.
 When you hide your face, they are dismayed;
    when you take away their breath, they die
    and return to their dust.
When you send forth your Spirit, they are created,
    and you renew the face of the ground.

 May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
    may the Lord rejoice in his works,
 who looks on the earth and it trembles,
    who touches the mountains and they smoke!
 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
    I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
 May my meditation be pleasing to him,
    for I rejoice in the Lord.
 Let sinners be consumed from the earth,
    and let the wicked be no more!
Bless the Lord, O my soul!
Praise the Lord!

      

Spring update

  Hello friend,
 Hope you are doing well, and enjoying the spring weather where you live.
 It has been a rather cold start to our spring here in Ohio, but we are hoping with anticipation that we will start seeing blooms on the trees and warmer days for more enjoyable walks.
  A lot has been going on in our life lately, good things mostly. It all has been keeping me away from writing.  My lovely husband has been gracious to me and let me take some time for myself and work on this post.  It is a great outlet for me to be able to share with like minded mammas about the wonderful things we are learning and experiencing in  our daily life.  
  I started a Charlotte Mason Book study! We are going through The Charlotte Mason Companion by. Karen Andreola. Lovely book that got me started on the path we are on today. I love Karen's insight and her writing, she really inspires me in our homeschool journey. I also read her blog and I have to say it is also very lovely. Check it out!   Although, if you are a serious fan of Miss.Mason's work, you must read her Original six volumes. 
    My goal for this study was and is, is to encourage other moms in their journey of schooling their children. God has given us such a privilege  to be able teach our children and I feel like the Lord has blessed me so much with this wonderful information, that I cant help but share with others. Our first meeting went well, we had tea and coffee and 
 Italian Puff Pastry .   We meet once a month and I'm looking forward to our next meeting in April!
 Another new thing to us is that my husband started a ministry a few months ago. We have prayed and continue to pray about where the Lord is leading us. We want to be intentional with our time and the things that occupy  our life. The Lord has supplied everything needed to start this ministry and  I believe lots of lives will be transformed by The Lord through this new and amazing journey. Not by anything that we will do, but by what God is willing to do through us.  The Lord put it on our heart to feed and clothed the least and love people like we love ourselves and to share the gospel to anyone who will listen. To have our children next to us serving and loving people all around us.
 This spring we are stepping out in faith, we are starting  a garden to be able to provide fresh organic produce to people who are in need. While we share the love of Christ. God has been working in my heart for some time now and I have to say that there are times when he asks things of us that we might not be to happy about doing. But I know that when I don't do what he calls me to do, I simply miss out on the blessing that he has for me. As I sat in the morning a few weeks ago during my quiet time, my heart was so stirred by a simple verse that I had read many times. But that morning it was really on my heart. Mark 12:32  You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.  How do I love my neighbor? Was my question. Have I ever loved them as I do myself? A honest answer,  No. Yes sure, I like to be kind and invite people to my house for tea, to help here and there, but would I or could I love my neighbor as myself?  Only by Gods Grace could I love people the way the Lord loves. So here we are, empty vessels being used by an all powerful all amazing God who has the power to transform any and every life he chooses. I am so grateful he transformed and continuously is still transforming my heart daily. All glory to Him.  Glory to my precious LORD and Savior. May I always have that desire to serve him no matter the cost.
 
  1 Peter 4:10 As
  each has received a gift, use it to serve  one another
as good stewards of God's varied grace.

Luke 3:10-11 And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?” And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.

  I am so grateful to be able to take my children to the grocery store and buy healthy food, my heart is heavy for  those who have no choice, but what little they can afford. And most of that is processed  unhealthy food like products. Nothing nutritious for the body. do?” And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.

 

 Ok, so that was long.. hehe.. I promise we have been doing school as well as everything else. 
 I will be writing about some Herbs and what we are currently learning in the next post coming soon. I also wanted to start incorporating some herb facts in each post and a recipe loved by us. Can't wait to write again soon. ~Blessings~

    Acts 20:35-38 In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. And there was much weeping on the part of all; they embraced Paul and kissed him, being sorrowful most of all because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they accompanied him to the ship.




         

The Beauty of God's Creation!

Hope you are enjoying more of the spring weather we've been having.
 We sure have been enjoying more Nature walks and watching Little signs of spring unfold. From the melting snow and ice to little baby lambs and little baby squirrels running and playing. The birds are defiantly in abundance, and I feel so blessed to hear their morning chirp chirp. It makes me want to watch The secret Garden with the children, or even better read the lovely book. We have been reading a lot from our Science/geography book called Jack's Insects. The children have really been enjoying it and ask me to read the next chapter frequently throughout the day.. The book really pulls us in,(hehe..) in it's conversational style. Jack and Maggie are having a conversation between each other, about what it means to be an entomologist and how Maggie doesn't like that Jack kills the butterfly's. The suspense when we found out that Jack and Maggie actually went into Jacks Insect book and They met a Big Beautiful Morpho Butterfly that could talk! The Butterfly could talk.. What kid or mama wouldn't like this kind of book?! We have been studying the birds that we have local to our area. We truly enjoy bird watching. Today as we enjoyed our walk, we got to hear the sweet sound of the Red-winged blackbird. We watched carefully as the Downy Woodpecker made himself at home at the feeders. The beauty of their black and white pattern and the lovely red spot on their heads. It truly amazes me... To try to fathom what God was thinking when he created such lovely creatures. It also makes me think of nature and every living creature differently. Like as before I would think ye, birds are cool, or ye animals are animals... Now I cant help but think of my awesome creator. How majestic he is. and how sad it makes me that his creation would hurt in anyway. Is that weird? You probably think, wow, she is a little crazy. That's ok though. 
  John 1:3
 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing that was made.

 Psalm 19:1
  To the Choirmaster. A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
 
  I just love that. All God's handiwork.
 Today  we got to learn a little bit about what the fish eat at our local nature center and the naturalist on staff asked if the children would like to help him feed the fish. Of cores they said yes and Alex our oldest wanted to feed the little goldfish to the big fish in the tank, but when it came down to it he said never mind. After we had left I asked, how come you changed your mind? and he said, well, I felt bad for the goldfish, and I didn't want to touch it. He always surprises me. He didn't want to hurt the gold fish.. That was very sweet.

       

                           Our view this morning.



            

                   Isaiah totally excited to run and play in the mud



  

 

 

Empty milkweed pods..

 

 Feeding the fish.

 

The open field.

 

 How are you enjoying the weather? Are you a nature lover like us? Do share with me.
 I leave you tonight with this Lovely Poem by Harry Behn.

   Trees

Trees are the kindest thing I know,
They do not harm, they simply grow

And spread a shade for sleepy cows,
And gather birds among their boughs.

They give us fruit in leaves above,
And wood to make our houses of,

And leaves to burn on Hallowe'en,
And in the Spring, new buds of green.

They are first when day's begun
To touch the beams of morning sun,

They are the last to hold the light
When evening changes into night,

And when a moon floats on the sky
They hum a drowsy lullaby

Of sleepy children long ago...
Trees are the kindest things I know.

               

Children and the art of Gardening

 Hi friends!
 So I'm very excited about this post because its one of my favorite subject. Well, it could be a subject. Since spring will be here soon... I hope soon. We keep having lots of snow and very cold temperatures here in Ohio. We started dreaming of what we will plant in January. Waiting patiently for all the different seed catalogs, its a good way to stay focused what's to come once spring arrives instead of focusing on all the snow, that seems like it will never end. I cant imagine my friends in Alaska.
This year we ordered our seeds from     http://www.seedsavers.org/onlinestore/Vegetables/?search=0623A&ext=F  
   Last year we ordered from   http://www.highmowingseeds.com/ 
These two are my very favorite. Non GMO seeds and Lots of Organic Heirloom seeds.
   We started our seeds! Yey!

   I'm sure Charlotte Mason would approve of this as well. What an art.
 

   

                                                 The children waiting with anticipation.

                                               Planting White cucumbers!
  
  

  
      

                                                            eggshells ,Peas it was!


  

                                                                    2013 Garden

 Leaving you tonight with a poem. Happy gardening!


Garden Magic

 This is the garden's magic,
That through the sunny hours
The gardener who tends it, Himself outgrows his flowers.

He grows by gift of patience,
Since he who sows must know
That only in the Lord's good time
Does any seedling grow.

He learns from buds unfolding,
From each tight leaf unfurled,
That his own heart, expanding,
Is one with all the world.

He bares his head to sunshine,
His bending back a sign
Of grace, and ev'ry shower becomes
His sacramental wine.

And when at last his labors
Bring forth the very stuff
And substance of all beauty
This is reward enough.
-MARIE NETTLETON CARROLL

A little Science, a little art.

  Hello again,
  So happy to be able to write to you. Last week was busy for me but in a good way.
My husband was off for a couple of weeks as I stated in my last post, it was so lovely to have him home with us for so long. Now that he went back to work, I miss him, but thankful that he has a job.
 We got to spend a lot of time doing school together  and we read a lot. We also got to rest and cook together! Now I have to get myself back to routine. I really wanted to share with you this wonderful book that we started last week for science/ Nature study, called Jack's Insects. Its a classic living science book. I love how it is directed specifically to the child, like a conversation. As soon as I started reading it the children made sure they listened. I also picked up a Narration and Nature study notebook that went along with the book. It is lovely, It shows your child how to draw different insects and asks question about each chapter of the book. In our first lesson we learned what entomology was! Fun, fun.
 We also are studying about Monet and his beautiful art, and his biography. We got to visit the Cleveland Art Museum to find Monet's work.  I think it is so beneficial to introduce your children to Art. You are teaching them to appreciate beautiful things. You are teaching them to be observant. You are also teaching them art skills, and color, dimensions, and patterns and History. The list go's on and on. 


  Here is a nice link that describes how Charlotte Mason's method is applied to picture or art study.

 here is where we purchased a picture study portfolio.

  Now you don't have to buy this to do a picture study. You can simply go to the library and get books on the artist you would like to study. I liked the portfolio because it has prints of the artist work and a booklet with information about the specific artist. Easy! The kids enjoy art and trying to recreate some of the work. Ill post some photos on the next post. A quote from Charlotte Mason in the book ourselves Vol,4.p.9
      Nobody knows how much is possible to any one person.
 Many persons go through life without recognizing this.
They have no notion of how much they can do and feel,
 know and be; and their lives turn out poor, narrow, and disappointing.
   
  Sad but true. I feel that it is important to surround yourself with things and people that inspire you to do your best and be your best. To be a shining light for this dark world. To apply yourself with all your strength at whatever you do.


   Colossians 3:17
 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
I tell my kids, If you make your bed, do it like you are making it for Jesus, If you are playing your violin, play like your playing to Jesus. Brushing your teeth.... on and on. As I serve my children three meals a day and snacks, I do it with a happy heart, for my Lord.( That's not always the case, but I am really trying to be aware of that). Thank you Lord for the privilege of children, thank you that I have a family to serve. When I get weary and tired and feel like I can't go on, you will be the one I run to, you will lift me up and strengthen me. Jeremiah 31:25  For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.”   Until next time friend, Happy teaching! And learning;)

  

Our school day!

 My husband has two weeks off this month and we are so  grateful to have time with him! We have some fun things planed, but we are just thankful to rest together as a family and do fun school activities together. Today we finished our Amphibian project. Each child got to choose witch frog they would like to study, even our three year old. He loved being able to do school like a big boy. We got to hear all the sounds that their frog makes, where it lives, what it eats, etc. They also got to make a frogs life cycle. It was great fun. I love this website for info and Ideas for Nature Studies. 

Look Here 

 

 

 

                              Daddy having fun!

 

                           

 
 On another subject, the other day Alex and I picked up a new book to read together. It was in our book shelf, someone had given us and it would be our first time reading it. So, we are learning History trough living books. The Civil war era.
  Alex struggles with reading, and its his least favorite subject,( I think he is coming around) but this year is a very good year for him. I feel like he just blossomed this year! I try making reading fun with him and dedicate a half hour each day just for him and I to read. We read more then just a half an hour a day. that half hour is time only with him. We continually read throughout the day. We find a cozy spot and sit really close together and I read a paragraph and he reads a paragraph, and so forth. I find that he really gets into the story.

               

Alex reading!

 

   This little gem of a book is a true story and an  extraordinary testimony. A story of Charlie Coulson, a young drummer boy at Gettysburg, whose Christian testimony on his deathbed to an Orthodox Jewish doctor haunts that doctor throughout the coming years, until finally, years later, he surrenders his own life to Christ- all due to strong testimony of one young boy. Page 2.
  It was such a blessing to me and I always find myself weeping with these kinds of books. Character-building books. Of cores Alex is like, mom why are you crying? He probably thinks gees those women and their tears. Hehe,, I just couldn't help myself. 
  So this Doctor eventually  surrenders his life to Christ, so Amazing.. He talks about how it cost him his relationships.. His own mother, cut herself off from him saying. Max- you are no longer my son; we have buried you in effigy; we mourn you as one dead... she continues to write and as a mother myself I cant imagine the pain and heartache for me and my children. Anyway the letter he writes to his mother back completely just touched my heart.

   An Answer To My Mother's Curse
 
  Far away from home, my mother,
Daily I will pray for thee.
Why should I be cursed, my mother?
Why such message sent to me?
Once convinced of sin, my mother,
I cried, Jesus, set me free!
 I am happy now, my mother,
Christ, the Jew, has died for me.
Him you taught me to hate, mother,
Him you still Impostor call,
Died for me on Calvary, mother,
Died to save me from the Fall.
Let me lead you to Him, mother,
While I pray on bended knee:
Jesus, now accept my mother:
O Lord Jesus, set her free!
Be persuaded, dearest mother,
Do not now so hardened be;
Jesus Christ, the Jew's Messiah,
  Surely died for you and me.
Can you spurn such mercy, mother?
Can you turn away your face?
Come to Jesus, come dear mother,
Fly, oh fly to His embrace!
 
 This testimony touched my heart in such a way, I cannot explain. All I could say is Praise the Lord for the wonderful work that he does in his children.  
 Thankful to be able to teach my son with such wonderful  books.

 Are you working on a nature study? Is there a good book you are reading with your children? I would love to hear from you. 

   I leave you tonight dear friend, with a quote from Charlotte Mason.
     We should always have something worthwhile to think about, that we may not let our minds dwell upon unworthy matters. page 21. from, Ourselves.