When Two or Three Gather...Even on the Telephone.

Sometimes, when God reminds me how much He wants to hear from me,

He is so incredible:

it's almost hard to believe He would answer in such a way.

Often, it is easy for me to forget the power of prayer.

 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The first time I was asked on the phone if I had a prayer request I wanted to have prayed over,

it seemed awkward and strange.

It isn't that I don't pray.  I have prayed with my friends before, my family, my kids,

but when somebody you don't know asks on the phone if you want to pray about something,

it just kind of feels...

different.

I remember I had a friend in college who would sit on the phone with her head bowed

and when I asked her one time what she was doing,

she explained to me that whenever she called home, her dad always prayed with her.

I thought that was pretty neat.

When my husband was hired by his job,

there was no health insurance included for us,

so we had to find something.

Health insurance shopping can be daunting.

I had a friend who told me about a sharing program she was in:

Christians came together under an agreement to give a certain amount of money each month

toward the needs of each other.  There was different sharing programs depending on how much help you wanted toward the deductible, etc.  Those involved were of the same faith

and because of this, certain life behaviors were expected of each other,

cutting out a lot of the problems like smoking, drinking, and living promiscuously can bring with them.

I joined this health sharing program and have used it for several years now.

 

There is a place for prayer requests on their website;

they realize and prioritize the power of prayer.

I found that whenever I called about a question or something,

the worker on the other end of the line always ended the phone call asking if I had any specific prayer requests and if I would have time for a prayer.

I had a call to make today about a blood test I took for a healthy incentive program they offer.

At the end of the call, the question came.

 Last time, she prayed for my day home-schooling.

I can always use prayer for that.

Today was a day of going to the dentist.

We had put off one of the kid's six month check-up,

and now they had scheduled both the kids for the same time,

so as to save on gas and get two done with no extra waiting time.

I had called about what it was going to cost and warned my husband.

We go to a dentist who uses the safest methods of dentistry,

digital x-rays, white fillings, and he is very good with the kids,

does excellent, quick work.  I really feel confident in him.

Considering all this, his prices are good, but dentists aren't a gallon of milk and a dozen of eggs these days.  Having two go in at once was twice the pill to swallow.

"Can you pray for our dentist trip today?

My kids don't always have the best results from cleanings: it seems there is always something that needs to be fixed.  It can be hard to take sometimes."

The lady on the other end agreed and her prayer asked that God would be with our dental trip,

that he would give us a good day and cause our visit to be one that wouldn't be hard,

that the financial consequences would be minimal.

It was a specific prayer, and I again had that feeling,

almost a cringing inside,

"Should I really be bothering God about teeth?"

I always have this bad habit of thinking He must be so busy with things that are 

really important.

The kids disappeared into adjacent rooms

and I pulled out a sketchbook to work on a few things on my mind.

Lillie drew and then watched part of a movie.

When the kids emerged with their new toothbrushes and flossers,

I got up and went around to pay the bill.

"No cavities today.

Everything looks great.

No charge today, either." 

she said with a smile.

"Wait a minute.

What was that?"

I thought I had heard wrong.

"No charge.  Your sister-in-law came in with you for a reference,

and her family.  We have a $50 credit policy for each person you refer.

In fact, you have credit toward your next visit."

I had no idea.

I did not know my sister-in-law was going to start going to our dentist

or that she had.  My mother-in-law must have told her about our dentist and given us the referral.  How generous!  What a sweet surprise!

I thought of how we needed to thank my Farmer's sister,

his mom,

but more importantly,

I instantly thought of that prayer.

She smiled, like the news was as fun for her to give me as the look on my face must have been.

As we drove toward home that afternoon,

I told Violet about the answered prayer.

"Perhaps we should call her up next time we need something else to be prayed for,"

Violet smiled, and I knew she knew as I did that the answer to the prayer was a gift from God.

Then we both had the same thought,

"Let me call Daddy," she said.

"For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."

Matthew 18:20

To see the lesson on painting this watercolor, click  >HERE<.

Sharing at:
Themodestmomblog.com

Unschooled Learning

"Line up, Class."

"Raise your hand if you want to speak."

"Sit up in your chair."

"Turn around and face the front."

"Quiet, please."

"Stop tapping your pencil."

"Finish reading the page and answer the questions...

all 5,349 of them...

in English, Spanish, and then Latin...

while standing on your head and chewing gum."

Okay, maybe I added the last bits of instructions,
 but sometimes in my child's mind it seemed like the homework amounted to that.

Yes, yes.  The good ole' school days of long, long ago.

Back in the 90's, I student-taught a handful of girls and a monstrosity amount of boys;

well, not really, but it sure seemed that way.

For some reason, 9 of the 10 boys that were in my 3rd grade student-teaching class were made of

1 part human, 1 part Mexican jumping bean; 1 part indistinguishable noises; and 1 part obnoxious, odorous emissions coming from some unearthly substances their parents must have fed them
(at least it seemed that way).

Teaching is a work of love.

When I gave birth to my own man child, I realized he would also have to be schooled.

I could see right from the start this his cerebral patterns were vastly different from my girl's.

While my girl loved dolls and imitation play,

my son liked dangerous elements, noises, bugs, intense exploration of outdoor creatures.

My curriculum for schooling would need some enhancements for his terms of endearment.

I slowly picked up educational toys as I read up on the different types and abilities.

There is a heap of great helps out there these days.

Rather than load him up on trucks and tractor toys at Christmas,

I filled the allotted money on educational things...

and was surprised at how well they reached his needs.

Unlike my daughter who needed the traditional teaching method from me to learn how to read,

my son learned to read almost entirely through these toys

and has picked up the basics of mathematics so far as well.

I do work with him, of course, and use the variety that we have for different instances.

He still needs to know the manual functions of scissors and coloring,

but I've found the abundant helps available to education a great asset to our homeschooling.

So I thought I would share a few, in case you have any young man children around tapping out a commotion with his fork, spoon, and dinner plate.

Let me start with the Leap Frog games.

We have Leapster 2 games for the kids.

(I chose the Leapster 2 over the Explorer just because the whole start up cost at the time

was less than the Leapster Explorers.  They are a bit simpler but they do the purpose of helping them educationally while making them think they are just having fun..)

 The disc he is playing here is called Learn to Draw and Write.

It is helpful for teaching the basics of writing

while helping our household and the nearby dump by not going through scads of paper.

I do have to keep checking on Levi to make sure he is holding the "pencil" correctly.

He would like to draw like a caveman if I would let him.

There are a LOT of different cartridges for the Leap Frog games.

Amazon is a great place to buy them for a little less,

but I especially like to browse there for the great reviews given about each game.

Every game I have gotten came from reading these reviews.

Another great source for Leap Frog games and cartridges is Craigs List or second hand children stores.

I have often found new cartridges at these stores for much less than the new price.

Another toy that was gifted to the kids is this

LeapFrog Count and Draw.

 

This is a very simple toy that basically teaches numbers and how to write them.

It is not nearly as loaded with information as the Leapsters,

but it is another helpful tool in learning numbers with easy instructions

and a cheerful tune.  This is great for preschoolers, but my 6 year old son still picks it up

once in a while for a change of pace.

My son learned much of his basic phonic sounds from this simple magnet game: the Word Whammer.
(There is a similar version they sell now called the Fridge Words Magnetic Word Builder.)

He loved to sit here and make different three letter words and hear his creations sounded out.

Of course, the fact that it was in the kitchen, close to snacking skills,

was an added draw.

Leap Frog also has something called the Tag pen.

This little "pen" doesn't have any ink it in, but a small computerized memory

that can hold a small library of it's own books and games in it.

You can purchase different books from Leap Frog, depending on your needs

and then download them into the pen from their website.

I purchases both of the fold out, reversible maps that they have:

 One of the maps is of the world with the continents in bold print.

Touching the different words brings the pen to life and it tells the name of the place

and different things about it.

 

 The back of the map has the different countries sectioned off

and touching them will give more information and games.

 The one obvious flaw I have found with the fold out maps is that b/c of their large size and simple cardboard construction, remembering how to fold them isn't easy for kids (or folding-deficient adults like myself),

and the center tears a bit too easily.

I actually do not leave these maps where the kids can use them at their will either,

but keep them tucked away for when I can pull them out for their specific use.

Honestly, though, I still think they are worth it for the fun and great dimension in learning that they give.

The other map is of the USA.

 with the divisions of the states on one side

and information on the other.

 

 For our Tag pen, I also purchased some of the reading books

and I give them to my son to "read" with during school sometimes

to break things up.

They have stories that read themselves to the child,

or can be "read" by touching each word with the pen.

These also have simple games in them.

There are books that teach short vowels

and others that teach long vowels and blends.

There are also individual books one can buy that are based on the different movies

put out for kids.

I also just purchased the new "Human Body Discovery Pack"
but we haven't studied any of that yet, so I can't speak on that yet,
but it looks like a helpful, fun tool.

(photo from Amazon)

NOTE:  The Tag pen has a limited amount of memory it can hold.  We have the two maps, about 12 books,
and the body pack downloaded onto our pen, and it is full.  What I did with mine is when Levi grew past the short vowels and had used the books enough times, I erased them on the website by replacing them with the next set of books for the long vowels that he was ready for.  Purchasing another pen would be another option, but I just chose to do it this way since it will be another year before I will let Lillie use them anyhow since she is still a bit destructive and not ready for these yet.

 

Moving back to the kitchen, we keep Alphie up on the windowsill so he's handy at the table.

Alphie comes with some educational cards

and more of them can be purchased.

Although not as comprehensive as the Leap Frog games,

Alphie is just another toy to enhance a different approach to learning,

and for a boy who loves robots, he was a perfect gift.

Alphie is a helpful diversion when Levi wanders into the kitchen wondering when the next meal will be served.

Distraction always calms the hungry natives.

(Our Alphie has had some technical difficulties.  He hasn't been responding properly,

and having only had him for about 2 years when the problems started,

this was disappointing.  He definitely was a great help to Levi's learning,

but I don't know that he will make it to help Lillie.)

 

Of course, nothing can compare to the great creativity of crayons, scissors, and glue,
the fun of reading books and working together,

and a truckload of stickers to make a child's school day even better.

We can't forget the necessary moments of games of dress-up and pretend,

because what would life be like without imagination?

As well as sunshine,

puddles,

mud,

and

 a large assortment of germs,

because every mother needs her fair share of laundry to fill her spare time.


I'll leave you with a few video demonstrations of one of the games
from the boy child himself.

I know there is a vast amount of teaching helps out today,
and I couldn't be more thankful for the ingenuity of the makers of these great tools.
These are just some of the ones I have used,
but I would LOVE to hear if you have any favorites or great recommendations.


Linking up to:
Gnowfglins.com 
Raisingmightyarrows 

The House that Grandpa Built.

"You don't need to do much.

Remember what you did for me:

the pallet a few feet up in that crook of the old tree by the pond?

 

Even if you just clear out that space a little,

up there in those pine trees.

I'd like to help her,

but I just don't have time,

 and it would be a such a fun memory if you helped her."
My pleas fell on my father's sympathetic ear.

 And so Grandpa got the job.

Somewhere in the time that passed from my childhood,

to my daughter's,

he gained much more talent at this sort of thing,

or maybe he just realized how much more important this sort of thing really is.

 Even while it was being built,

she couldn't stay away.

She cried a few times,

because a couple of her favorite limbs had to be cut from her trees,

because she wasn't sure Grandpa really knew what he was doing.

School books were dragged up to the new spot.

Sometimes Grandpa was a fellow school mate.

 The fact that it is so close to the house is perfect

for when help is needed in the house;

and for other little people who like to check on the situation...

of everybody belonging to the house.

 It was high enough to launch the imagination on seas full of fearsome pirates,

soar through the air on puffy clouds,

or get away from the big bad wolf;

 but not so high to keep little sisters from joining.

 It quickly became that special place,

that home away from home.

 In all the weeks it took to finish,

she grew to trust that maybe Grandpa did know what he was doing,

and her appreciation showed.

I have a suspicion that as much as she loved seeing it built,

Grandpa was teaching her important things along the way.

 The memories to be made here have just begun...

 

but I have to think they had priceless start.

Thanks, 

Dad.

I hope it holds as many wonderful memories as my tree house did.

Linking to:
Hiphomeschoolmoms.com
Gnowfglins.com: Simple-lives-thursday
Atthepicketfence.com: Inspiration-friday

Savvy Southern Style - Wow Us Wednesdays
Wordless Wednesday@ 5 Minutes for Mom
Living Well Wednesday @ Women Living Well
We Are That Family

 *Tea Rose Home

Raising Homemakers: Homemaking-link-up

Stencil/Stucco Help for my Cupboard.

I think I mentioned a while back

that I wasn't sure what to do about this huge cupboard

we inherited from my husband's grandfather.

For a while, I have just kept it the way it is,

but as I've been painting and re-doing this living room,

I felt it needed to be cleaned up and updated.

I saw this fantastic redo on Pinterest

 Pinterest.com from twicelovely.blogspot.com

and liked the idea of the added detail.

I checked out the stencils at the local craft stores,

but just didn't see anything I really loved.

So I headed over to the Graphics Fairy

to see what I could see.

When I came across this graphic,

I knew I'd found the right one.

Graphicsfairy.blogspot.com: Vintage-clip-art-amazing-silhouette

I enlarged the image when I printed it

and had to ad the part that was missing,

plus some extra greenery to the top and bottom

so the size would work better on my cupboard.

After tracing the image,

leaving parts out so it would be more of a stencil style,

I cut away using my x-acto knife.


When I got it the way I wanted,
I painted it to get a sample image
so that I could adjust parts that didn't look quite right.

 I measured out

and then taped the stencil where I wanted it on the door.

I had purchased the necessary stucco through Amazon,

and grabbed one of my kid's wide plastic knives

to apply the stucco.

I smeared and leveled the stucco until it looked pretty even. 

Tip #1: It's best to cover the stencil surface so it's slightly thicker than the stencil,

but not too thick..

This isn't hard.

  When you experiment, you'll see what is best.

Tip #2: I let it sit for about 15 - 30 minutes to dry up a little bit,

and then I carefully pulled the stencil off.

 I tried pulling the stencil off right away, and it worked fine.

I just felt the image was more stable when I let it sit;

I wouldn't let it sit much more than that though

as you don't want it to harden up with the stencil on.

Tip #3: I found that pulling the stencil from the bottom to the top

creates a sharper image,

not allowing the stucco to droop.

Using a pointed utensil (I used a pencil),

 I added some detail to the bird.

Excess stucco can be scraped from the stencil and reused.

Tip #4: The stencil does not need to be washed in between immediate uses,

just scraped off.

However, it is IMPORTANT to wash the stencil after final use for the day.

The stucco gets pretty hard when dried.

I also created another stencil from an enlarged part of this image

from the Graphics Fairy.

 

Graphicsfairy.blogspot: Antique-clip-art-fabulous-pharmacy

It takes about a day or two to let the stucco harden.
Once hardened, the stucco is very durable.




Now I need some help on what color to paint the whole thing.

Should I add color to the stuccoed image?

I'm looking forward to seeing this project finished
and am glad I found this way of using stucco to enhance furniture,
thanks to another blogger!

Thank you,

Twice Lovely Blog
and
Graphics Fairy Blog

(To see the finished cupboard,

click >HERE<)

Amazon: Decoart Texture Stucco

Be sure to check out this fantastic giveaway:
$75 your choice of jewelry

from the fabulous Etsy shop "Form and Function"

going on right now!

Linking up to:

Graphicsfairy: Brag Monday
Tatertotsandjello.com 
Funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com
Sixsistersstuff.com
Howsweetthesound
Craftenvy.blogspot.com
Be-different-act-normal.com
Fivedaysfiveways.com
Chiconashoestringdecorating.blogspot
Whipperberry.com 
Missmustardseed.com
Shabbynest.blogspot 
Kammyskorner.blogspot: Trash-2-treasure-Tuesday
Frenchcountrycottage.blogspot 
Between Naps on the Porch.blogspot: Met Monday
A Bowl full of Lemons.blogspot
Home Stories A to Z.com: Tutorials-tips-link-party
Wearethatfamily.com
Womenlivingwell.org
504main.com