A Thermometer or A Thermostat

This past weekend was the state homeschooling conference. It was an enjoyable couple of days to hear various speakers and to be reminded of a few things.

One question I need to ask myself: Am I a thermostat or a thermometer?

What is the difference? A thermometer reacts to the surrounding temperature. It tells you how hot or cold it is. This is very handy for determining how heavy of a coat to wear, etc.

A thermostat influences the surrounding temperature. It takes a "read" of the temperature and compares it to what is set for comfort. Then it will tell the heating or cooling appliance if it needs to turn on or off.

How does this relate to me as a wife and mother? I have the opportunity to react to those around me or to influence those around me. Do I escalate in frustration when the milk is spilled or do I humbly serve and help clean up? The atmosphere of our home should reflect the love of Christ and as the wife and mother of our family, I must ask myself if I reflect that love. Am I being reactionary or influencing?

Blessings,

Congratulations!

We have a few young ladies at church who are graduating and DD#1 wanted to make some cards. The first card has a coloring picture of a little pony which DD colored awhile back and now decided to make into a card. I sponged the edges with various shades of pink (including but not limited to Positively Pink and Pink Passion).

On the second card has hearts (from All Occasions? a retired SU stamp set) stamped all over in Positively Pink - front and back. Then the graduation had (from the same set) in Pink Passion. The sentiment area is from the Be Happy stamp set (also retired) in Pink Passion ink. I wrote the Congrats for DD.
The third card is one I made since DD was having so much fun. The ribbon was in my "stuff" and the paper is from a paper stack. I used the same graduation hat stamp as DD and mounted it on an oval and scalloped oval (using SU punches Oval and Scalloped Oval). Night of Navy ink for the hat.


The last card is an anniversary card with the same color combination as the above graduation card. I used the Heart stamp (Night of Navy Ink) from All Occasions and the flower stamp (Pink Passion Ink) from Be Happy (both retired SU). A button and Offray ribbon from my crafting stash.

Thanks for looking and please forgive my poor photos -- I'm still earning how to photograph cards.

Apologia Elementary Science

Apologia is now producing notebooking journals that accompany each of the elementary science books. Both Botany and Astronomy are now available.

Click on the graphic to see the Elementary Science Books by Jeanne Fulbright.

The journals correspond with the science curriculum and are beautiful spiral bound notebooks that will save you time and money. You won't have to print and keep up with your child's notebook pages, buy and maintain page protectors, or purchase and compile binders...everything that makes notebooking time-consuming and labor intensive for mom. Also, your child will adore having their own notebooking journal.

Each of the notebooking journals include:

• A daily schedule for those who like to have a plan or would like their children to complete the book on their own
• Templates for written narrations, the notebooking activities and experiments
• Review Questions
• Scripture Copywork, with both print and cursive practice
• Reading lists and additional activities, projects, experiments for each lesson
• An appendix with beautiful, full-color, lapbook-style Miniature Books
• Field Trip Sheets to keep a record field trips
• A Final Review with fifty questions the students can answer either orally or in writing to show off all they remember and know at the end of the course.

The sample pages for the Botany and Astronomy journaling notebooks are here (click on the words sample pages):

Botany

and

Astronomy

Jeannie is giving away four Astronomy Notebooking Journals and four Botany Notebooking Journals to bloggers who post about this on their site. Visit her blog to learn more about this contest: Click Here

Self Portrait

I was downloading photos from our camera a week or so ago and found some interesting photos of a little girl. It seems that she was using the camera to take some self portraits. She had messed with the settings so the photos were really small and not very high quality (notice the smaller photos in the layout), but there were so fun to see. My favorite is the last one on the right. I had to make a page for our budding photographer.

Credits:
Ecliptic by Christy Sturm of NDISB
Fonts: Rockwell Bold and Cursive Tryout.

Thanks for looking!

Boys with Grandpa

We were able to go to the Ledges with Grandma and Grandpa last week. And so we took a photo overlooking the Des Moines River. This is an outcropping of rock....long way down to the bottom.