Joy – Page 15 – A Journey of Joy

from Blogger to WordPress

April 5, 2012Written by Joy

I have been working on building a WordPress site for a while. My hubby had taken time to help me get the blog set up, widgets loaded and my content transferred. Then just within a day or two of announcing that I was moving to WordPress, I won a blog makeover at a 2:1 Conference twitter party. I was shocked but also surprised and thrilled. The awesome company who had donated their time to do the blog makeover was Honey and Jonah from Honeycomb Design Studio.

I contacted Honey letting her know I had won and asked her what she needed me to do. She was very quick to respond and sent me a list of things to consider and asked me to make a list of things that I wanted or needed for my blog. Honey and Jonah are awesome people and they do a wonderful job. We have been in contact once, sometimes twice a week going over designs. They care about their work and the people who they are working for.My design is almost finished and I should be moving to WordPress soon. I just wanted to give you a heads up that my new site will be at www.myhomeinthesmokies.com (This is not my new look. It should be installed sometime this weekend!). I also wanted to give a big shout out and thank you to Honey and Jonah from Honeycomb Design Studio. If you are looking to change your look, I highly recommend contacting them. You won’t be disappointed, I promise!

WordPress

iFellowship – Prayer

April 4, 2012Written by Joy

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It has been a while since I have joined in with iFellowship and I have truly missed it. I am hoping to change that, starting today.Before, I used this time to share scripture that has touched me during the previous week. I want to continue that as well.

James 5:13-18

¹³Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.

¹⁴Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

¹⁵And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

¹⁶Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

¹⁷Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.

¹⁸ Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.

Today, I wanted to share a few verses on prayer. I love to pray. It is something that I can do anytime and anywhere that I can. Praying is a quiet conversation between me and God. An intimate time that I can praise Him, worship Him, pour my heavy heart to Him and lift others up to Him. You see, there was a time I wanted to be more involved in the ministry at my church. However, I have children and through the grace of God, the last few years, I have learned that my main ministry and mission field at this time is my children and being at home with them. Yet, I still felt like I could still do something more. Then God finally spoke to heart that I could do something more. I could pray.

Prayer works!! I have seen miracles happen. God may not always answer the prayer right away, but He does answer them! He may not answer them the way you think it should be answered, but He ANSWERS!

Do you have a burden and would love for someone to pray for you? If you do and feel comfortable leaving it in the comments section, please do so. I will pray for you. If you don’t want to leave it in the comment section, that is perfectly alright. You can e-mail me at jumpforjoy (at) gmail (dot) com.

Blessings!

iFellowship, prayer, Seeds of Faith

Garden Link-Up with The Homeschool Village!

April 1, 2012Written by Joy

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Garden Link-Up with The Homeschool Village!

I am so excited about the 2nd Annual Garden Challenge link-up that The Homeschool Village is doing. I participated last year and had a lot of fun. In the past we have never had any kind of unit study or book to go along with our garden. We just helped dad get the soil/ground ready, helped get some seeds started in small containers, planted the seedlings, watered the plants and check for weeds.

This year, the kids and I are a little better prepared. We have been using Apologia’s Botany book. It has helped us a lot in knowing how the seeds actually sprout and what it takes to help plants grow. It will be good to see the kids put to use what they have learned. We are looking forward to getting our hands dirty!

We have cleaned out the one bed that we have. My husband has plans to build at least one more this year. We have bought more potting soil and peat moss for the plant bed and containers that we will be using. We picked up brussels sprouts, crooked neck squash and cucumbers. We haven’t gotten them in the ground yet, but plan too this next week.

We have already planted the onions, thyme, chives and oregano in the bed next to the steps.

Here is a picture of the broccoli that we planted. I didn’t get a picture of the rosemary bush that we planted last year that is still growing strong.

We also have many containers that do not have anything in them yet. We have seeds for tomatoes, bell peppers, okra, green beans and eggplant. I also did not show pictures of the strawberries and asparagus that we have planted. We are looking forward to eating fresh veggies and fruits soon. I am hoping to do some canning this year. I would love to put up some tomatoes, spaghetti sauce, soup, pickles and possible green beans.

Does your family have a garden? What is your favorite vegetable/fruit? I would love for you to share with me your garden secrets!

Be sure to stop by The Homeschool Village and join in the garden challenge this year. They will be giving out a prize each month to someone who links up!

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Apologia Botany Review

March 30, 2012Written by Joy

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I have used a couple of the Apologia Elementary science books in the past. So when I had the chance to review their Botany book, I was extremely excited! One of the main reasons why I love their science books so much is because they are creation based. I also enjoy how the curriculum goes in-depth of the topic. Each chapter is broken down into different sections making it simple enough to read a portion each day.

The Botany book starts out teaching on the nature of botany and the process of classifying plants. It will then go into chapters talking about how plants start as seeds, how reproduction works in plants, how they make their food and how plants get water and nutrients.

Throughout the book, in each lesson, they have sections called “What Do You Remember”, “Notebook Activities” and then the “Projects”. The projects are well explained and use a lot of items that you have around the house. Botany Lab Kits (that has everything you need for the projects) are sold through various homeschool curriculum catalogs. Apologia also has a Note-Booking Journal, and Lap Books that you can also purchase to use to reinforce the lessons.

While this book is geared for Kindergarten-6th grade age group, my oldest daughter who is 14 also listens in on the lessons and even participates with her younger siblings on the projects.

My kids have thoroughly enjoyed using the Botany science book. They enjoy when we go on nature walks and are able to point out what we have read in our lessons.

(By the time this picture was taken, she was tired of me taking pictures! )

Overall, we have truly loved using the Botany book by Apologia. The kids are already asking which book we will be using next!

Have you used an Apologia Elementary Science book? Did you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed their Botany book?

2012, homeschooling, review, The Homeschool Village

tulips in the spring

March 29, 2012Written by Joy

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I am truly loving the spring weather we have been having. Everything is blooming in this area and the colors are beautiful. The place where my hubby works at has the flower beds full of tulips. This year, they decided to add in smaller flowers all around the bed. Just beautiful. My pictures definitely do not do them justice.

2012, photography, spring, tulips