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Christmas 2013

December 30, 2013Written by Joy

We woke up to a beautiful day, to celebrate Jesus’ birthday and our love for one another.

Christmas Morning

While we missed our extended family that lives on the east coast, we still enjoyed a wonderful day with just our children. I am very thankful and blessed that the grandparents sent the kids gifts, even though we couldn’t be there with them. Even though they weren’t with us in person, they were definitely with us in spirit.

Our tree this year, did not last long at all. It was a fire hazard by the time Christmas day arrived. The needles had already started turning brown. In years part, we always left our tree up until mid-January, however, it came down the day after Christmas. We still loved looking at the ornaments and talking about where they came from and who gave them to us. The memories our tree could tell you.

Christmas Tree 2013

I always enjoy watching our children open their gifts and this year was no different. We always ask a few months in advance for the kids to make us a list of a few things they would like. We have been blessed to be able to get the kids a couple of things that they wanted. As you can see on their faces, they were surprised and very thankful.

Samuel opening Legos

Michael opening books

Sisters looking at favorite gifts

Another thing I love about Christmas, is seeing what my children want to give and make for their siblings. We have been blessed with children who love to give and do for others. This year, my oldest daughter surprised her siblings with homemade light sabers. Her creative mind is constantly moving and she always creates amazing things. This year was no different. I think the younger children enjoyed these gifts, as much as the store bought ones.

A loving sister making her siblings a gift, lightsabers out of paper tubes.

I also got a surprise this year. My wonderful and amazing hubby surprised me with a Kindle. He knows I love to read and I have been having trouble reading ebooks from my phone. The print is just too small and it gave me headaches to read from my phone. He knew that and bought the Kindle, so that I could enlarge the print. It was definitely a wonderful surprise and one that I won’t forget any time soon.

a surprise for me from my hubby

I am truly blessed with an amazing family. I love their hearts and minds. They know we celebrate Christmas because of the beautiful gift that God gave us, His son, Jesus.

So while Christmas has come and gone, we will still continue to celebrate Jesus and do our best to follow in his footsteps all year long.

How was your Christmas? Do you have any special memories or special gifts from this year? I would love for you to share them with me.

2013, family 2013, celebrate, children, Christmas, family, Jesus

so thankful and blessed.. #1101-1110

December 17, 2012Written by Joy

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Psalm 34:18

¹⁸The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

Matthew 5:4

⁴“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

God is so good to us. We are so blessed. We do not deserve anything that he gives to us. I look at my children and see the light in their eyes. So much ahead of them, so much to live for. Then I think of the tragedy that happened on Friday. So many children lost their lives along with several adults. It hurts. I cried most of the day while I held my children near. I am mourning with and for those who lost loved ones. I truly do not know what I would do if something like that happened to our family. I do know who would be there holding me up, helping me get through every day life. God. He will never leave us. Join me in prayer for those who lost loved ones. While I will be praying for the people in CT, I am also going to be thanking God for all the many blessings He has given me.

1101. my healthy children.

1102. being able to stay at home with my children.

1103. my husband’s job that is able to support us, while I stay at home with my children.

1104. my children’s laughter and smiles.

1105. being able to teach my children at home.

1106. a roof over our heads to keep us dry.

1107. heat to keep us warm.

1108. God for sending Jesus to us.

1109. Jesus dying on the cross for our sins.

1110. knowing that one day, there won’t be any more deaths, sorrows or tears. We will be rejoicing and praising God in heaven!

I would love for you to join in counting the many blessings that God gives. Stop by A Holy Experience and visit others who are also sharing their many blessings.

2012, multitude Mondays 2012, a holy experience, blessings, children, family, God, Matthew, Psalm, thankful

so thankful and blessed… #1091-1100 ~ Joy Comes with the Morning

December 10, 2012Written by Joy

Psalm 30

1 I will extol you, O LORD, for you have drawn me up and have not let my foes rejoice over me. 2 O LORD my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me. 3 O LORD, you have brought up my soul from Sheol; you restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit. 4 Sing praises to the LORD, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name. 5 For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning. 6 As for me, I said in my prosperity, “I shall never be moved.” 7 By your favor, O LORD, you made my mountain stand strong; you hid your face; I was dismayed. 8 To you, O LORD, I cry, and to the Lord I plead for mercy: 9 “What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness? 10 Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me! O LORD, be my helper!” 11 You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, 12 that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever!

The Psalm above is written by David. It is titled “Joy Comes with the Morning”. It is said that David wrote this song for the dedication of the temple. It has also been mentioned that they think it was written upon his recovery of being very sick. It reminds me though, that through it all, the good and bad, Joy comes in the morning. That God does get angry, but He loves us and is always there for us. I am so thankful that God is there for me. Even though I am a sinner, He still loves me. His love, mercy and grace for me is amazing. Yes, Joy truly does come in the morning.

1091. pain to slow me down, to have more precious time with my children and to refocus on what is most important in life.

1092. a husband and children who are so helpful and understanding, when I have pain and help me out.

1093. a chiropractor and message therapist to see me on short notice to help relieve the pain.

1094. a friend who helps me out with my blog when I have an issue.

1095. a new couch that is comfortable to sit on and big enough for all of us.

1096. our homeschooling neighbor who takes the kids to Lego night at the Lego store!

1097. phone calls from friends across the US.

1098. nature walks with my children.

1099. talking about memories with my children while looking at the ornaments on our tree.

1100. a new friend stopping by for a visit with her children. Such a blessing talking about Jesus with others.

I would love for you to join in counting the many blessings that God gives. Stop by A Holy Experience and visit others who are also sharing their many blessings.

2012, multitude monday 2012, a holy experience, blessings, children, David, family, multitude Mondays, Psalm, thankful

making Christmas traditions and memories ~ ornaments

December 9, 2012Written by Joy

I love making memories and traditions with my kids. It is my hope that my children remember these times and pass them on to their families when they are older. One of the traditions that we have is making ornaments and collecting ornaments together. I also love those special ones that have been given to us by people that we love. Every ornament on our tree has a story and our children love reminiscing about the ornament of where it came from and who gave it to us. It makes my heart happy to see my children take such good care of these precious memories.

The angel below, Buddy and I got when our oldest son was 11 months old. It was his very first Christmas. That was 19 years ago.

our angel.

The beaded candy cane ornament was made by my oldest son when he was in elementary school. The Angel is made from my youngest daughter’s footprint and hand prints. The foam star was made by my oldest daughter. The stocking ornament with the little girl on it was given to our youngest daughter by our neighbor in NC. The Santa Clause, I painted when we lived in Florida, 10 years ago. It was our first year of homeschooling and the kids and I painted ornaments.

Angel made from a foot print and hand prints.

This angel was given to our oldest son when he was just 4 years old. His Sunday School preschool teacher, Mrs. Susie Douglas gave it to him. She loves him so much and the feeling was mutual. Michael loved her dearly. She loved the children in her class. Sadly, she passed away several years ago and will always have a special place in our hearts.

an angel given to our oldest son when he was 4.

I saw this ornament and had to buy it and paint it. It is my favorite Christmas song. It reminds me of that special night, so long ago, when God sent his only Son to be born of a virgin.

an ornament I painted with the kids.

The three Gator ornaments are from a very dear friend. He sent these to us when we lived in NC. We are huge Gator fans, since that is where we originally are from. You can also see our sun catcher candles that we made from the very first lesson of the Advent study we are doing.

Gator ornaments given to us by a friend.

The ornaments below were made by all of our children. We have a snowflake by our youngest son, a Christmas tree by our youngest daughter, the bear is painted by my oldest daughter and the CD ornament was made by our oldest son when he was in school.

ornaments kids made.

So many memories on our tree. By looking at this tree, it shows just how blessed that we are. God has been so good to us and has allowed so many special people in our lives. I am so blessed by being able to stay at home with our children and able to make and do so much with them to make those special memories. Yes, I am so thankful and blessed.

Do you make ornaments with your children? What other special traditions do you have?

2012, family 2012, angel, blessings, children, Christmas, family, friends, memories, ornaments, traditions

craters on Mercury and a model of Mercury ~ Apologia Astronomy

November 27, 2012Written by Joy

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craters on Mercury and a model of Mercury ~ Apologia Astronomy

The kids and I are finishing up Lesson 3 in the Exploring Creation with Astronomy book. This lesson is on Mercury. The kids learned that it is the first planet in the solar system and is the closet planet to the sun. Mercury is a terrestrial planet, meaning it earth-like. While the planet can get extremely hot during the day, it can reach a temperature of -300 at night.

From pictures that have been taken of the surface of Mercury, you can tell it has been hit with a lot of asteroids. There are craters all over the place. This is what brings us to our first activity. We made craters in a bowl of flour! My kids love to collect rocks, so we used those as our craters. I dumped some flour in a bowl and then the kids stood over the bowl and dropped the rocks in the flour. By the different size of the rocks and how high they held the rocks above the flour would depend on how big of a crater they made. The kids had fun doing this.

Samuel dropping an asteroid

Craters made by the asteroids

The final project in the chapter on Mercury, we were to make a model of Mercury. We made a simple dough of flour, salt, oil and water. Samuel mixed it up to form a ball, while Claire went to find a marble/bead and a pencil. They were to use those items to make craters on the surface of Mercury, like asteroids. I then let Claire paint the planet red!

Samuel and Claire mixing up the dough.

Samuel and Claire making craters

Claire painting while Samuel is still making craters

Mercury is now drying. I am thinking we might do this with each planet as we finish their chapter. It would make for a great solar system display!

The kids and I really had a great time learning about Mercury. Now that we have finished this chapter, we will be moving on to Venus, the next planet.

What fun project have you done in science lately?

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