Hannah, 6, ready to jump in with the horses

Lydia, 8, learning about the horses

I don’t think I snapped a photo of this but one of the horses is a bit up in age. Sweetest horse! He was out in the yard just free ranging on some grass. Content as could be.  Children and animals running all over and the horse just munched his way around the yard.

Sam, 2, getting a tour of the land from the experienced farm hand

Hannah loved the goats and thinks we need one.

Sarah, 4, and Maxine.

I seriously wanted to bring Maxine home. She is a very old kitty who just wants to sit in your lap and not move. Sarah fell in love with Maxine. And it was amazing. Sarah was still and quiet for an extended period of time. If I could have found a way to sneak her home, Maxine would  be a part of our family. Sarah loved her!

Caleb, 10, and Sam, 2. The boys.

Lydia, 8, loving the tire swings.

Hannah, Sam and Lydia.

Caleb. I love this boy.

Sam ready to ride!

Wasn’t this a fun day?! I hated to see it end. Great fun and fellowship.

Bekah, 13. Yee haw.

Thank you to our dear friends!! It was a wonderful day!

(Just a note…we did enjoy fun fellowship with the children in this family. But as a respect of privacy, I kept photos posted to just our kiddos.)

Mary is a treasure. She is an amazing organizer, she has a delightful imagination and sense of humor that has me chuckling often. She is the best alarm clock; helping me to get up and get moving in the mornings. I really do love her for this. Really. I do.  Mary can turn anything from folding laundry to cleaning out the van in to fun.

For as long as I can remember, Mary has loved horses. While we were tossing around ideas for what she wanted to do for her birthday, I had a moment of sheer brilliance. We have friends who have horses and I was sure they would be delighted to have us crash their home and farm all for the sake of horse lovin’ gal’s 12th birthday. And I was right. Our friends so graciously set aside  a day in their busy life, so that Mary could make a dream come true.

Mary seems to be a natural on a horse. I wasn’t sure if she would be willing to come home. However, I think she is more determined than ever to have a horse of her own one day.

My Mary is such a  blessing to me. So hard to believe that she is 12 already. I blinked and she went from that cute little baby to a lovely young lady.

Mary, Happy Birthday!!! Love you bunches!

(We have more photos from the day at the farm. I’ll post them in a separate post. )

Sam’s current favorite song is You are Holy. He is constantly singing while playing the “guitar”. Naturally, he will not sing for the camera.

After singing praises to the Lord, you may need a nap.

Words to You Are Holy

You are holy (You are holy)
You are mighty (You are mighty)
You are worthy (You are worthy)
Worthy of praise (Worthy of praise)

I will follow (I will follow)
I will listen (I will listen)
I will love You (I will love You)
All of my days (All of my days)

I will sing to (You are Lord of lords)
And worship (You are King of kings)
The King who (You’re the mighty God)
Is worthy (Lord of everything)
I will love and (You’re Emmanuel)
Adore Him (You’re the great I am)
And I will bow down (You’re the Prince of Peace)
Before Him (Who is the Lamb)
I will sing to (You’re the living God)
And worship (You’re my saving grace)
The King who (You will reign forever)
Is worthy (You are ancient of days)
I will love and (You are alpha, omega)
Adore Him (Beginning and end)
And I will bow down (You’re my Savior, Messiah)
Before Him (Redeemer and friend)

You’re my Prince of Peace
And I will live my life for You

Bubbles!

I have a schedule of upcoming blog posts (and I am behind) but I really wanted to share a couple of cute pics from today. Then I will return to the normal blogging schedule.

The three oldest girls were at a father/daughter retreat for the day so we decided to goof off and enjoy some bubbles.

Not everyone was impressed with the bubbles. We are working through some issues he is having with the great outdoors. Bubbles did not aid in this endeavor.

Sarah loved the bubbles. And the camera. Ready for the many faces of Sarah?

She cracks me up.

I think that was suppose to be a mad face? Giggle.

Adorable.

And Caleb, such a good big brother, pushed Sam around to keep him content.

And he blew bubbles so the girls could chase them.

Simple pleasures!

Little Miss Martha turned 4 months old on April 12th. There are people in my house who think she is growing up just a bit too fast. I agree!!

Martha is around 13/14lbs and wearing 3-6 months clothes. Simple put…perfect!

I was reminded that I was late in posting her 4 month update. In my defense, taking these pictures can be challenging. Other people keep jumping into the pictures.

But such cute little creatures jumping in the shot! This leaves no doubt that Martha is deeply treasured by all her siblings!

Martha loves to share her smiles. Ticklish? Not so far. Many attempts have been made to tickle Martha and get her laughing, but all have failed. She takes after her daddy.

Martha loves to talk to her daddy. As soon as he looks at her she starts to chat away. Always a very serious conversation. She is also making a lovely “mmmmmm” sound. I think she is contemplating attacking my chocolate.

And at four months, Martha’s thoughts on structure and design is highly sought after.

Sucking on two fingers always helps when in deep thought!

Martha Ann is such a sweet blessing!

Happy 4 months, Goose!

Sam..on a mission to the swings

Finally, I gave in and went the way of digital photography. And I love it. I admit it. It was a good change. I love being able to take 100 pictures and not worry about running out of film. I love being able to hand the camera to my children and letting them take a shot or two. No worries! We can delete any bad shots and keep taking pictures!

Caleb being a big brother and keeping a tired Sam occupied

There is a problem. Editing software. We can blur, smudge, brighten, crop our way to perfection. Guess what? Life isn’t perfect. And my pictures aren’t either. Once I cropped out the pile of laundry on the couch or the messy counter in the kitchen. But, who cares? That’s my life! Constant laundry. Constant cooking in the kitchen.

Goofy kids!

I want my children to look back at the photos and share some laughs. Laugh at the little sister that always popped up in a picture. Chuckle at spying a Dr. Pepper bottle at the edge of a picture. Or smile at the kiddo whose hair never seemed to be combed. Some of the most treasured moments could be edited out because they aren’t perfect. But they are real. And special.

Yep. They are mine.

So on Sunday, I caught a few special moments, some silliness and fun but most of all I captured beautiful memories. Imperfect, real memories.

Sarah and Me

Since this is my blog and I have freedom of expression, here are a few more…

We had reached a point in our homeschool where we had finished up a year of study with a curriculum. I was really torn on moving forward with it for another year. After much thought and prayer, I decided I would create my own course of study for history. And then I had the opportunity to review TruthQuest History. God’s timing is perfect,yes? I was thrilled to choose the Age of Revolution II guide. It was almost exactly where we need to pick up in history!

Age of Revolution II 1800-1865

Taken from the TruthQuest Website:

TruthQuest History is a deep and rich literature-based history study…but with a difference. You will not learn the story of mankind; you will learn the lovestory of mankind. You will not focus on the rise and fall of human civilizations; you will focus on the arrow-straight line of God’s unchanging existence, power, love, truth, and plan for civilization. You will not simply ‘meet the culture’ or ‘get the facts;’ you will probe the truths of history so deeply that your students will be equipped to change their world!

The Age of Revolution II might be mistaken for a lovely booklist but that would be such a disservice to this resource! In this guide, this period of time is divided by significant events and important people. For each section commentary is given to help the student (teacher) pull the previous studies in line with what is up ahead, to offer reminders to see and think about how God’s hand is moving and what that means for that time and for now.  ThinkWrite questions are offered with each major section and can serve as great “writing prompts” for the student or a starting point for some in depth family discussions.

Family discussions are an important part of what I desire our day to hold. With children ranging in ages from baby to teenager, I love having the ability to bring us all together and to share in our studies. While that doesn’t work so well in math, it is attainable with history! The Age of Revolution II guide is designed for grades 5-12. However, book suggestions are included for the elementary years. (If your family just has younger learners right now, TruthQuest has American History guides just for them.) While my older daughter may be reading How Should We Then Live and my little ones are cuddled up with a picture book, we are all learning and studying the same part of history. It can make for lively discussion around the dinner table. Maybe more like a race to see who can tell daddy the most information first!

In the Age to Revolution II and other guides, several types of books are suggested. Spine books that provide a steady course as you travel through history. More in-depth, focused books on a particular person or events and even subtopics are provided. Mrs. Miller also includes activity books and movies when applicable.

I know that some will look at the TruthQuest Guides and think “That will never work for me!” , “Why doesn’t it come with a schedule?” or “I can’t buy all those books!” It can seem overwhelming at first glance. Take a deep breath. Here is how I make it work for me:

For me. Very important words. What I enjoy doing is reading a core or spine book aloud to everyone. We are a read aloud family so this flows along with how we spend our time. While I’m read aloud they may be drawing pictures, writing, building with Legos or knitting. I learned early on that if you keep the hands busy, the mind stays engaged so well. Once I’m done with our read aloud, the independent readers will have their reading assignments and can go about their day. Throughout the day I can sit with my younger ones and share some picture books on our topic or person so they are learning as well. (It is not surprising to catch my older ones listening in or reading the picture books on their own. There are some fabulous picture books!)

To enhance our reading, I have the children do other activities as well. I assign them to pick a person or event to write about that week. We may use the Think Write for the writing assignment or just discussion. Some will just narrate to me what they have read or draw a picture of something that they found interesting. It is sometimes helpful to have the older ones search Scripture for issues we see occurring in history.

A schedule/lesson plan isn’t provided so we move at our own pace and I don’t have to feel guilty for spending two weeks studying Madison and only a few days on Lincoln.  I love having flexibility with our learning. It is one of the beauties in homeschooling! as we work through the guide I don’t even attempt to utilize all the books suggested. I am a faithful patron of our local library. While I sometimes can’t find as many books as I desired or just the one I wanted, I usually find just what we need.  There is no way our budget would allow for purchasing a huge bundle of books and it has not been an issue with Age of Revolution II.

Key Thoughts on Why TruthQuest May or May Not Be For You:

*Christian Perspective - this curricula is written clearly from a strong Christian perspective. The purpose behind TruthQuest is to see how God’s hand has moved through History.

*Learning is mainly through living books. By reading a through living books, we learn so much. You can choose to incorporate other methods such as notebooking, geography, timelines, writing, etc but at the core, TruthQuest is about using literature to bring about understanding.

*No Schedule or Lesson Plan. If you like to check off little boxes you will have to make your own. While TruthQuest.com offers suggestions on how to “plan out” a guide, it is completely up to the discretion of each family how they work through the guide and how long it takes.

*Conversational Commentary. Throughout the Age of Revolution II guide, Mrs. Miller’s commentary may come across as “too relaxed” or “simplified”. She is writing to the student and she is aiming it at various grade levels. I don’t care for books that “dumb down” the information for children. By no means, do I think Mrs. Miller has over simplified the information. It is just in a more casual tone. At times, I may chose to summarize it in my own words.

*Supports/encourages family learning. While you could definitely keep your children separate and learning on their own cycle of history, TruthQuest is definitely a curriculum that can work for a wide variety of ages and learning abilities. If you are looking to study history as a family, then check out TruthQuest.

Age of Revolution II is available in two formats.

Print copy -  $29.95

PDF copy – $24.95

Interested?  Take a look at a sample lesson, table of contents and spine information. Be sure to check out FAQ , How to Choose and Families Share for some great information on using TruthQuest.

TOS Crew members reviewed various guides. So if Age of Revolution II (1800-1865) isn’t the guide you need, check out what others are using!

Disclaimer: As a meber of TOS Review crew, I received a complimentary PDF copy of this product for the purpose of review. No compensation was made. The opinion/thoughts expressed in this post are my own.

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

What a glorious and beautiful day it was! I snapped a few photos (Ok, about 100) as I do every Resurrection Day. Before church pictures didn’t happen as we were running a bit behind schedule. Thankfully, the Lord granted us a beautiful, sunny day and a gorgeous backdrop for a photo session after church.

The Tribe - 2012

After the group shot, to the excitement of my children, we did some individual shots. Well, excitement might be too strong of a word but they love their mommy so they humor me. One day they will be thankful to have all these pictures!

Rebekah 13, Martha Ann almost 4 months

Last week, Bekah taught herself to crochet flowers and made some for all the girls! Martha loved her crocheted headband.

Mary, 12 on Saturday the 14th

Caleb, 10

As I was taking this picture, one of his sisters commented on the high probability that the grass was not sanitary.  Sweet, yes?

Lydia, 8

Hannah, 6

Matching outfits for Resurrection Sunday has become a tradition. When I was first learning to sew several years ago, I decided to have them completed by Resurrection Sunday to give myself a goal. And so the tradition began. This year’s outfits were simple paneled skirts for the older girls and peasant dresses with pinafores for the younger set.  They boys were happy to just wear blue shirts. Ah, boys.

Sarah, 4

Sam, 2

By the time of this photo session, Sam was done. I was chatting with him about improving his outlook and Mary snapped a picture.

Little Miss Martha, almost 4 months!

And Martha completely agreed with Sam. Her afternoon snooze was interrupted and she was not pleased.

Happy Resurrection Day! May we remember Christ’s sacrifice for us daily.