A 'New' School Week!

We began a new curriculum this week called Heart of Dakota and it is wonderful!! It's very different from Abeka which is all the oldest two have ever known, in school and now at home. I love Abeka and I believe it gives them an excellent education but it was becoming more and more stressful preparing for each day. Since it is set up for schools, and because I have to go-by-the-book, it was just not a good fit for us with me trying to prepare for three kiddos. Heart of Dakota takes all the prep work out of it for me, the books are super interesting, the experiments and art projects are fun and simple, and history and science are taught from a biblical worldview....it makes for a great day for mom and kids! Below are some pictures from our week.

Preparing Hearts for His Glory - Unit 1

Finishing up his coat of arms

Performing an experiment to see how layers help animals stay warm

Filling out science lab sheet after experiment

Now have a peek at some of Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory - Unit 1

Learning about the continents

Loving reading about Helen Keller in our biography and very excited about our field trip to a local printhouse for the blind next week!

Working on a picture to go with copywork of her poem

The boys loved sister's shield so much they had to make their own!

And finally, little guy learning just by having fun!

Practicing 'writing' his numbers in pan of rice

Welcome Back!

It's time for some new things on here! Our adoption journey is still on hold but we have embarked on a new adventure that we'd like to share with you! The last year was probably the most difficult year we have ever experienced. We faced more trials and heartache than we even care to think about. One result of these trials was that we moved away from our home town with the hopes that Troy would be able to finish his schooling. After Troy and I discussed what we should do in regards to school for our children we believed that the Lord would have us to homeschool for a season. We were truly blessed in that the older two had always attended christian schools due to some very gracious people and as parents we certainly were not ready for them to jump into a public school in an area we knew nothing about. As we have become more intent on seeking God's direction in our homeschooling we have been convicted that this is something we may very well continue to do for the rest of their school years (and I most definitely wish we had started sooner). At some point I'll try to share how God has really used this in my life to teach me more about being a mother. It's such a joy to be able to spend my days with our precious children - even in the ugly moments. Who else would we want with them at those times that they need disciplining than mom or dad? It has been an adjustment for all of us and there have been tough days but overall what a blessing it has been!

It's my desire that anything written on here will be a tool that God uses to encourage, or perhaps even change, others for the sake of the gospel. I also hope this will be a way to help me to stay accountable to what God has called our family to do by somewhat regularly sharing what our children (or even mom and dad) are learning along the way! I hope to share scripture and books that encourage us in our journey in hopes that they may bless others as well. Comments that are edifying to others and pleasing to Christ will definitely be welcome!

So, welcome to our journey...