365-149 Eerie!

Eerie!
Storm clouds
This picture is untouched!
(except to resize if for my blog)
Debbie

Spirit Filled Sunday - America the Beautiful

One Nation Under God

One Nation Under God we live Think about all some had to give We the people share freedom’s life In a world of ever present strife Be grateful to those who keep this true Warriors of our red, white, and blue They're trained by those of great skill Honed to perform, so strong their will They show what love is all about They’ll fight for us, there is no doubt Defending bravely what we are No holding back each heartfelt star Highly praise these men and women Giving thanks time and again Those in uniform will always be The golden pride of this country ©2007Roger J. Robicheau

I would also like to share this Gaither Clip from You Tube. We are singing this song this morning at our church for special music. We are doing 4 part harmony A Capella. My two daughters (Rachel{24} and Jessica{21}) are doing Soprano, I am doing Alto, my husband and younger son (Christopher{13}) are doing Tenor, my older son (Nathan{15}) is doing the bass. We are not nearly as good as the Gaither Vocal Band, but hopefully God will be honored and people will be reminded to Pray for our Nation... One Nation Under God! I ask you as you, listen to this wonderful rendition, to pray also.

God Bless You,
God Bless America this Memorial Day Weekend and Always,
Debbie

Cross from: http://karenswhimsy.com/religious-crosses.shtm

Unexpected Adventure 365-148

On the way home from Winterthur yesterday we encountered this fellow

(we are calling him fellow though I guess he could be a she)

We did not want him to get hit by a car so my husband and son were going to try and move him off the road

 After we took some photos

When Nathan tried to pick him up he stretched out his legs longer and longer

then this happened...

caution...
don't jump when he snaps and hits at my son with his claws while he is picking him up

My husband was talking to a passerby.

We decided to leave the turtle and pray that he would not get hit by a car.
We left him in his Creator's hands.
We had quite an unexpected encounter with this turtle.
It is a day we will not soon forget.
And we have it on film.
Debbie

** Note: in answer to Michelle's comment... Yes, we think it was a snapping turtle. It snapped at Nathan and snapped at a plastic bin we tried to put the turtle in.. and boy was he fast!! with his neck and beak that is, he walked really slow!

365-143-147

More of Winterthur

These flowers are growing up a vine by the entrance

these flowers are in the

Peony Garden

The Peony Garden is one of my favorite spots at Winterthur

The Fragrance is just wonderful

My Family

in the peony garden

(you must click on this and see it larger)

I took about 20 shots of this bird as he hopped along the ground in front of me...

I am so pleased with how this shot of him turned out

and this one is cute, too.

Gorgeous

So Sweet

love these

 love this one

These were taken on the March Bank

still lots of interesting things here

even though March is far behind us now.

My daughter Rachel and I love how these leaves look like God just took a needle and thread and threaded the leaves onto the stem!

Debbie

TOS Homeschool Crew - Artistic Pursuits

ARTistic Pursuits is a comprehensive art program designed to involve the student in the creative process while developing observational skills. Junior High Book 1 covers drawing skills.  There are sample pages on the Junior High book page the table of contents is also listed, so you can check out the unit titles. The same goes for all the grades. 

Artistic Pursuits Home page

GRADE K-3 

GRADE 4-6

JUNIOR HIGH

SENIOR HIGH

There are four lessons for each unit in the Jr. High book and a unit takes 2 weeks to complete if you do it as scheduled. The lesson types are: 

1. Building a Visual Vocabulary - where the topic for the unit is introduced, then the student gets to try out the technique
2. Art Appreciation and Art History - studying the topic for the week in a work of art by one of the Masters extends the students knowledge of Art and Art History and they practice the technique again using the work of art as a model
3. Techniques - students learn how to use the materials and tools of art and apply the knowledge to their own art. 
4. Application - a final project using all the unit topics the student has gone over so far

The schedule has you doing 2 lessons a week. Each lesson takes about an hour...depending on how long the student takes to do the projects.

There is a list of necessary materials in the front of each book, for ease of purchasing, and pictures, too, which helps to make sure you get the wrong things. The lessons are very well laid out and easy for students to do on their own with little input needed from mom.  The books are project oriented using a particular artists style to represent each object lesson with a simple history for each artist. Each lesson ends with a simple project using each of the different perspectives and techniques, but is never too technical.  Each lesson is laid out in a simple and straight forward manner.  The lessons are well organized, attractive, and interesting. Even my son who does not like art was able to succeed with each lesson he did.  Most of the projects in Artistic Pursuits Junior High book one are drawing but there is one cool project for making a mobile out of wire. There is also an Evaluation Sheet at the end of the book to help you in grading your children's artwork, this is helpful if you are required to give grades or want to give grades.

Price for the Jr. High level 1 book: $42.95

The best way to check out any of the levels and decide if this Art program is for you is to go to the links above and look at the detailed samples they have on those pages.

Out of five stars I give the Artistic Pursuits - Junior High book one, The Elements of Art and Composition 

Check out what my fellow reviewers thought of Lobster Network at TOS Homeschool Crew Blog.

***Artistic Pursuits provided me with The Elements of Art and Composition, Junior High book one so that I could do my review. Though I received this product for free I have given an honest review of it here in this post.

Debbie

Kregel Publications – The Trouble with Treasure

Earlier in the year, the Homeschool Crew had the opportunity to review Bertie’s War by Barbara Tifft Blakey from Kregel Publications. I did not get to review Bertie's War. However Kregel decided to do a second review with the Crew and this time I got the chance to review The Circle C Adventure series by Susan Marlow. The book I received was given was Andrea Carter and the Trouble with Treasure. I really enjoyed reading this book. This book is a great read. It keeps you attention, has lots of action, has a spine tingling plot and a good ending. Though the main character is a girl there are secondary characters that are boys. My 13yo son liked the book as much as I did.

It is a moral story, no language, dating, disrespect of parents or other stuff that would make you shy away from letting your children read it. Here is the description from the website: "When innocent horseplay temporarily lands Andi and her friends in jail, they decide that a trip into the mountains will leave their troubles far behind. Accompanied by big brother Mitch and armed with a map showing old gold diggings, they can't wait to strike it rich. What could be better than two weeks of camping and horseback riding? But instead of gold they find heaps of trouble -- trouble that leaves Mitch gravely wounded. Andi needs help fast. But who can she trust? And what good is a bag of gold when her beloved brother lies near death in the middle of nowhere?"

See what I told you... intrigued already? This book has some Christian content, prayers are said by Andi a number of times and God is mentioned. The author is a homeschool Mom, not that that is a requirement for a good book or a guarantee, it's just another factor I thought you would want to know. I have not read the other books in this series but if they are as good as this one, and I assume they are, I will not hesitate to buy them for my grandchildren.

Here are some of the particulars on the book:
Binding: Paperback
Pages: 144
Ages: 8 to 12 (though my 13yo son and I both enjoyed the book)
Price: $7.99

You can also:

Download chapter one of the book, FREE!

Download FREE supplemental material a pdf including: Vocabulary, Discussion Questions, A Closer Look, Nature Connection, Recipes, Crossword, Crafts and Web Links (a great addition to your reading of the book.

A Synopsis of the Book in Video form

Out of five stars I give the Andrea Carter and the Trouble with Treasure

Check out what my fellow reviewers thought of Lobster Network at TOS Homeschool Crew Blog.

***Kregel Publications provided me with Andrea Carter and the Trouble with Treasure so that I could do my review. Though I received this product for free I have given an honest review of it here in this post.

Debbie

Pray for Me

"...ask God to send down a blessing and I'll do the same when I'm praying for you,
we all need love and care and our name just mentioned in prayer...
pray for me that I'll be faithful
pray for me that I'll be true
ask God to lead me,
ask him to guide me
and I'll do the same, when I'm praying for you,
we all need lifted up...
in the bad times, good times, and sad times, pray for me...
when you're interceding, pray for me.

Leave a comment if you have a prayer need.
Debbie

Ernie Haase and Signature Sound - Til We Fly Away

"Here in this world we will have tribulation, but God is in control, He won't let you go, He'll carry you, Til We Fly Away, You will know joy I pray, God will rain down sweet Grace, Til we fly away!

Praise the Lord Today!
Serve your Savior by serving those around you!
Maybe this day will be THE day!
Debbie

Giveaway on a blog I follow - Scramble Squares (puzzle)

Check out this review and giveaway on a bloggy/Facebook friend's blog - Scramble Squares Product Review & Give A Way!  One of those 9 piece puzzles that goes together only one way!!! I have always wanted one.

If you enter... tell here you saw the contest on my blog.
Debbie

TOS Homeschool Crew - Lobster Network

What is Lobster Network?? A club that sends you a Lobster a month for a whole year? A group of lobster's linking up their computers with each other?? 

LOL

No, the website says, "LobsterNetwork is a one of a kind "item networking" utility that helps you keep track of your stuff and if you choose, to share your stuff with your friends." Now you understand, right.  

You can use it to borrow a movie from a friend and LobsterNetwork will keep track of the loan. You can lend your items to people and keep track of who has them. Similarly, you can use LobsterNetwork to buy, sell, trade, or give items out to people.

Some people even use LobsterNetwork as an offsite inventory list for insurance purposes. The last choice is what we will be using our LobsterNetwork account for. Acquaintances at our church had their home burn to the ground. We want to have an online inventory of everything we own. I will be starting with our books. I hope to have the whole family help me with this.

LobsterNetwork is simple, easy, fast, flexible, controlled, helpful, secure and best of all it’s FREE! Click here for more details about what Lobster Network is.

Video tour of Lobster Network

So you get a free account, and start adding items from your home. Then you add friends and share your list with them, if you want to. You can make a group for your homeschool local friends, online friends, church friends, and/or neighbor's. You can choose to lend some items you own to your friends and not lend others. There is also a place to add things you want so friends can keep an eye out for that or look and see if they have the thing you need and can loan or sell it to you.

Here is a Video of an easy way to add items to Lobster Network

I hope this is all making sense to you. One of the best ways to understand what Lobster Network is all about it to get an account... remember it is FREE!!! So try it out for yourself. Even if all you do is list your homeschool books it will be a help. Remember it is all stored online too so it does not take up room on the drive of your computer. If anything happens to your computer or your house, God forbid, it is all stored elsewhere. 

The crew gave Lobster Network the Most Unique Resource award this year but I voted for it as the Best Resource I Didn't Know I Needed. I am so glad to have found it though.To see all the awards go to my blog post: Best of the Vendors/Products for the Homeschool Review Crew for 2009-10. Doing this inventory will be a big task for this summer and is on my summer to-do list blog post.

Out of five stars I give the LobsterNetwork: 

Check out what my fellow reviewers thought of Lobster Network at TOS Homeschool Crew Blog.

***LobsterNetwork provided me with a Free Account so that I could do my review. They will give you a free account too. Though I received this product for free I have given an honest review of it here in this post.

Debbie