Welcome to our
Haven at Home!
We are a conservative,
Christian, military,
homeschooling family.
This is our little place
where we share our journey
of tending to our 'sheep'
as we home educate
and raise our children
for our Lord Jesus Christ.
We thank and remember those that died for our freedom and the freedom of others.
We praise and thank the Lord of all for Him Who died for our ultimate freedom from sin and Hell.
"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." ~ John 15:13
Beloved and I will be traveling this weekend to work on our house in SC, as our tenants have left and we are trying to sell it. We appreciate your prayers and hope you enjoy your holiday weekend.
What a busy week it's been! Busy weeks seem to be frequent for us lately and my lack of blogging shows it. I hope y'all are doing well and I do look forward to catching up one of these days.
I had a few moments so I wanted to share some photos from Daddy's birthday last Saturday. We sang the traditional Happy Birthday song, gave our cards and a few gifts, and ate Daddy's brownie cake... Mmmm!
Afterwards, Daddy wanted to go to a local field to play ball. We had a lot of fun (and I took A LOT of pictures)...
Here was Daddy blowing up one of the balls...
Carolynne
Beth
Will
Daddy's waitin'
Tossing the football with Will and Daddy...
Daddy and Ally
Ally caught Daddy kicking the ball and we've been chuckling at the pose ever since... lol
Ally got to bring the van around by the net so we could use the back of it for sitting (I have mixed emotions about this picture..lol)...
The lil' girls enjoying a snack...
And Ally was thrilled to play her guitar...
She and Daddy enjoyed singing...
Dad and Will enjoyed a quick game of basketball...
The field we were at was near the water and I got a few photos as everyone enjoyed the view...
Ally
Beth and Ally
Beth pointing at the pelicans she spotted
Beth
Carolynne
Carolynne and Beth
Carolynne, Beth and Ally
Will
My blessings
Here was a shot of Beth and Carolynne sharing a snack...
And here was Carolynne's choice of footwear for the day... lol
Afterwards we headed home for supper. Daddy wanted to grill outdoors...
As we waited for supper, Ally spent a few moments blogging...
Will practiced riding a bike...
Carolynne and Beth enjoyed playing with Legos...
It was a busy and delightful day spent with Daddy!
"And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers..." ~ Malachi 4:6
"While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being." ~ Psalm 146:2
Monday we went on a field trip to a local strawberry farm. This is our third year to go strawberry pickin' and have learned that we absolutely love it. Last year, we began a new tradition of jamming some of our berries, which is a lot of fun, as well. ;o)
I had a little time to spend online and wanted to share some moments from our day of pickin'...
Carolynne and Beth ready to pick
On the hunt
Enjoying the fruit of their labors
. Will searching for strawberries
Enjoying the fruit of his labor
Ally searching with a friend...
Enjoying the pickin'
Enjoying the fruit of her labors, too.
Beth going to search with Ally
Will and Carolynne enjoy some together
Calling it a day ;o)
We enjoyed snacking on the delicious strawberries this week, along with some Cool Whip, too. Mmmm! We've, also, been enjoying our homemade jam (which we look forward to sharing with others)... It's a little less solid/spreadable than last year but we are enjoying it as a wonderful dipping sauce, as well!
"O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him." ~ Psalm 34:8
The older our children get, the more bittersweet milestones we encounter. We had one last week. It was bound to happen. It was exciting and, almost, dreaded at the same time (by Mama). ;o)
Our sweet Beth hungrily bit into her toast last week and departed with a 5 year old friend...
Each year we try to get annual photos of the children that represent their current age and "grade" (what many of us grew up calling "school pictures"). We enjoy these precious keepsakes and delight in sharing them with friends and family.
Last week, when we were awaiting Daddy's plane, we found a park to enjoy. In that park was a tree that had a stump next to it, which we, conveniently, used as a photo prop. ;o) Though no one was really 'prepared' for photos, we were glad they turned out pretty well.
This year I, also, put them together as collages...
Carolynne ~ age 4 ("preschool")
Beth ~ age 5 ("kindergarten")
Will ~ age 9 ("4th grade")
Ally ~ age 15 ("11th grade")
"That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace:" ~ Psalm 144:12
We've sure been keeping busy lately and continue to enjoy using SOW,along with our other studies.
I had a few minutes to get online and wanted to share a few samples of what the younger ones have done recently. We spent a week in the beginning of Genesis 11, discussing the Tower of Babel. Here is their outline for that week (which ended up being only one drawing)...
(you can click to see it enlarged)
The past two weeks we have spent in our recent lesson. Since there have been 5 chapters of reading, we have divided them up and read a chapter a day or so and then worked on adding to our outline. Here is their outline for those chapters. (Carolynne & Will decided to color my outlineand Beth drew her own)...
It has been a continued blessing to really dig into God's Word!
Here are a couple of pics of the children together...
Beth and Carolynne working on their outlines
Will and Ally working together on our Bible vocab
Have a blessed rest of the week!
"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." ~ 2 Timothy 2:15
A while ago, I was asked to share our Blessing Our Home Chart.
I was unable to print it to my Adobe Distiller so I am posting it as a photo. Please feel free to click on the image to enlarge it. ;o)
This is our current chart we are using, though it is not completely thorough nor written in stone. It is, as always, subject to change but this is what is working for us, thus far. We currently have it hanging on our fridge for our daily (obvious) reminder, lest we forget to bless our home. ;o)
Happy Monday! I love Mondays! Yes, I really do. Wanna know why? Because the day before was Sunday! It is such a wonderful blessing to enter into the week spiritually refreshed! And, boy, was my heart stirred, encouraged, revived, and challenged yesterday. The Lord sure is Good and knows exactly what we need!
In Sunday School, we are continuing our year long study in the book of James. Oh, what a blessing! If you have never read the book of James or haven't read it in a while, I encourage you to read it, study it, meditate on it, memorize it. What a Book! Our lesson, yesterday, focused on James 5:10-11 and the topic was patience. Another reference was 1 Thessalonians 1:2-3 "Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father"(v3) We focused on how we are able to have patience because of our hope in Christ's return. (hope = confidence; a sure thing!)
In the a.m. service, Pastor's message was "Living the Living Word". He talked about the nature of God's Word, the necessity of God's Word, and the navigation of God's Word... how, one day, we will be judged by God's Word and how we lived by it! ... how EVERYTHING that pertains to our life and godliness is in God's Word ("According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue" 2 Peter 1:3).
... how His Word tells us what is wrong, what is right, how to make it right, and how to keep it right!
... how we need to be IN His Word so that we are not tossed about with every wind of doctrine ("That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive." Eph 4:14)
...how we need to desire the Word ("As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby." 1 Peter 2:2) Just as a baby desires its milk, lives to be fed, is unashamed in its desire for the milk, so we ought to be.
... how we need to divide the Word ("Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." 2 Tim.2:15) Not all of Scripture directly applies to this church age and we need to be rightly dividing It. (example... stoning)
...how we need to determine to study the Bible. Our opinion, traditions, way of thinking is not important... We need to know God's Word and how He thinks. ... how we need to decide to follow only the Bible ... how we need to delight in His Word (Ps.1)
In the evening service, the message was in Revelation 3:7-13 and it was about the church of the open door. Pastor talked about how our church is a church of opportunity, how there is nothing that we do there that is not an outreach ministry. How Christ's church is a place ... to find Christ's strength (v8) ... to keep Christ's Word (v8) (DO the Word of God) ... to glorify Christ's name (v8) (DON'T be a "closet Christian", live for Christ openly) ... to experience Christ's love (v9) ... to look for Christ's return (v10) ... to hold fast Christ's crown (v11) ... to be a pillar in His temple (v12)
OH, it was a blessing! I hope y'all got to drink from His oasis in this dry and thirsty land.
On the home front, we hope to "get back to normal" after a couple of weeks of change. Last week, Daddy was in California and we took most of the week off. We picked Daddy up at the airport Friday and are glad to have him home. ;o) Now, I'm off to begin our day. I do hope to post more soon but only as I'm able. ;o)
I sure hope y'all are doing well. I have missed visiting with my bloggie friends these past couple of weeks or so (but hope to go a visitin' soon). Hope y'all have a great Monday!
"This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." ~ Psalm 118:24
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