Home School information session at RPL

Sara Cowperthwaite will  visit with potential home school families  and share information on home school laws, different styles of homeschooling and ways to implement learning in daily life for younger grades  Light refreshments provided.

Family Catechism

Disclaimer:  As with anyone I talk about,  I do not necessarily agree with everything Voddie Baucham preaches.  I agree with most of the things I have heard him say but have not listened to everything he has said.  Whenever you listen to someone speaking about the Bible or God, it is your responsibility to make sure that it lines up with scripture.

 2 Timothy 2:15 "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth."

When I first heard about family catechism, I thought that it seemed foolish to just have your children parrot back what you tell them about the Bible, but my views have changed recently.

QWIRKLE- a new family favorite 50% off now at Amazon

We received the game Qwirkle as a Christmas gift this year. It has already been played many times with many people ranging in age from toddler to grandparent.  Usually, we follow the rules. Other times, the kids make up their own games using the tiles.

The game comes with 108 square tiles which are larger than scrabble but the same idea.  There are 3 of each tile, a combination of 6 colors and shapes.  There are 3 red squares, 3 purple squares, 3 purple stars, and so on.  Each player may create or add to one row at each turn.  The object is to make a row of six tiles that are the same color or the same shape, appropriately named a "QWIRKLE".  One challenging part is that a row of blue needs to have a blue tile of every shape, yet may only have 1 of each blue heart.

Qwirkle is great for the whole family, as it is not so fast paced as other shape and color sorting games, which can be hard for younger children to keep up. We all enjoy the game.  Naomi is 5 1/2 and easily understood the rules, whereas Samuel usually partners with another player.  He likes to match colors, which sometimes works and sometimes doesn't.

The scoring is a little complicated to explain until you have actually seen the game, but by the second game Naomi could figure out how many points she scored.  This game allows for developed strategy but can easily be played by younger children who do not understand that aspect of the game.  Naomi has easily (and fairly) won.

I have also used these tiles with Samuel outside of the official Qwirkle rules.  Samuel likes to make a row of color or a row of shapes.  Last night, he was my partner when playing with my parents and kept saying "Grandpa, look at my cirdle (circle),"  That doesn't help Mommy win the game, but I am glad that he is learning.  There are many other ways that these tiles could be used. The lack of an official game board allows for easy storage without the box, a bonus as many parents have noticed that many games are useless once the gameboard becomes worn or lost.

My children have also had the opportunity to play Qwirkle Cubes .  The game has similar rules, but you roll dice rather than pick tiles.  The children all liked that game also.

Qwirkle is available at Amazon and is on sale right now.  We really like this game and at 50% off, it is definitely a great deal.  We opened this present shortly before Christmas day and it has been out multiple times everyday since.

DISCLAIMER: According to the company description, this game contains small parts which may be a choking hazard for children under 3 years old. Samuel won't be 3 until February 8, but as he has never put any toy in his mouth in his life, we took the chance.

Educational value
Identification of colors and shapes.
Pattern recognition.
Counting (all players) and addition (scorekeeper)
Great for math manipulatives.

A Nativity set you can play with

The kids recently received an early Christmas present to be able to enjoy while we prepare for the Christmas season.  They received it first thing this morning and have been playing with it for the past few hours.  I know that my children will get much enjoyment in imaginitive play.

The Fisher Price Little People are great for many reasons.  They allow a wide range of age groups to play as there are no small parts.  There are many pieces so that we can work on sharing and playing nicely together. It also plays Christmas songs and makes animal noises.  Besides the basic Nativity set, the children received the Shepherds and the Three Wise Men, providing even more fun.

I am excited that this will last for years.  I think this will stay out long past the Christmas season.  I want the children to learn the story of the birth of Jesus, our Messiah, from the Bible.  I want them to learn that this was just the start of His ministry here on Earth.  Jesus was born with the intention of dying on the cross.  His life was perfect and He did not need to endure the cross.  Because of His love for us, He paid for our sins (yours and mine).  After repenting of my sin and believing in Jesus' promise of forgiveness, I can look forward to eternal life.  If you do not understand what I am talking about, please email me.  I would love to explain God and His love for YOU.

The Nativity Set we received can be found HERE

Ministry of mothers- Does the church look down upon this job?

Must see for everyone- not just mothers.
I just came across an amazing video about mothers. God has given us our children as a ministry.  Do we look at someone in foreign missions to be more highly esteemed than mothers?  As a church, do we make mothers feel that there ministry of staying home and raising their children is not as significant as someone else's ministry? Very thought provoking.

Virginia is really cooking!

Our oldest daughter, Virginia, now has her own blog. She hopes to share recipes, cooking tips, and more fun from the kitchen as our favorite homemaker in training. I hope you will check out her blog, which will always be kid friendly, so share with your kids, too! 

Cooking with Virginia

Discipleship through singing.... even with babies!

Tonight as we sat together singing songs about the birth of our Savior, Josiah even joined in. So of course, Mark videotaped it and uploaded the video for the world to see. Discipleship of our children starts very early, and we thank the Lord for each child He has blessed us with as it is a privilege to train children to know God and walk in His truth.

Deal of the Day- Large Family Logistics

Sorry this may be late for some of you, but the day just slipped away.  For a few more hours, you can get Large Family Logistics for only $8.00. This is great book that may help some of you organize your home and time.

Please bookmark this page for your Vision Forum shopping needs, as purchases through our site help our family. Thank you very much!   http://www.visionforum.com/1523-0-3-4.html

Big Sale at Vision Forum

One of the sites that sells many items that are family enjoys is Vision Forum.  They encourage men to be head of their families as the Bible instructs.  They encourage parents to teach their children about God in the manner of Deuteronomy 6: 4-9.  This says to teach your children to love the Lord your God in every part of the day in every aspect of living.

Now to talk about the sale.  Many items are on sale for a discounted price, some up to 60% off.   There is free shipping for orders over $95.  This is a really good deal as shipping can be very expensive.  Also, my husbands favorite, you get a two pack of potato guns if you order more than $50.

Some of our favorite products include

Duggar materials- I don't think I really need to explain why we love these so much, almost everyone knows who they are.

Large Family Logistics- This book is written by a mom with many children.  It is how she fits everything into her day.  But more than that it explains it all in the light of the Proverbs 31 woman.

Jonathan Park- A radio drama for children that is all based around Creation Science.  This is so interesting that Mark and I listen to it often with the children.  This may be a little scary for very young listeners but very good.

Queen of the Home - A book compiled by our friend, Jen McBride is available from VF also. Here is the publisher's description: "This inspiring collection of essays, poetry, and poignant vignettes paints a beautiful picture of what it means for a wife to be a crown to her husband, the monarch of the cradle, and queen of the home, and calls upon daughters to embrace their rewarding role and sacred calling as regal women of God."

If you choose to buy anything from Vision Forum, you can buy through our affiliate link by clicking on the VF logo below. Buying through this link will not cost you anymore money, but will help our family. Thank you! 

Hope you all find some great deals.  

Settled into our new home

Well, it has been awhile since I have written but thought I would share about our new home.  We are living in Cushing, Maine a few miles from my parents house.  It is nice being close to grandparents that help out.  We very rarely leave the children but there were times during this recent pregnancy that the kids stayed with Grandma and Grandpa so I could go to the midwife.  What a blessing they were.

The house is perfect for us.  As I type this, the kids are outside running around our yard.  We have trees, rocks, a grassy area, and a big driveway.  We are on a hill overlooking the river.  When we moved in, the trees were just starting to change color