Nature Friend Magazine ~ TOS Review

As a member of the TOS Crew, I was given two complimentary issues of Nature Friend Magazine. The magazine's subtitle is, "Helping Families Explore the Wonders of God's Creation." This is a Christian magazine, so you will not find any evolution talk in this resource. My family enjoys exploring nature, and I knew right away this publication would be something we would love!

The photography is amazing. We've tried some nature photography as a family before, and let me just say we are NOT very good at it. You need to have the right camera, lighting, and patience...lots of patience! Below is a collage of pictures my 6-year-old took after looking at some of the nature photography in Nature Friend Magazine.

My children enjoyed the page that is called, "Invisibles." The page has small hidden objects in a bigger picture. We like to do it together and see who can find the hidden objects first.

Each issue also has a section called, "You Can Draw..." One thing we like to do while we study nature is to get out and draw what we see in nature. The August issue walked you through how to draw a sunflower, and we had a lot of fun looking at sunflowers, reading about sunflowers, and using Nature Friend magazine to walk us through how to draw a sunflower.

When you order this magazine you are given two options. You can order the magazine by itself, or you can also order a study guide that comes as an insert in your magazine. Actually the insert looks like it is part of the magazine. The study guide has crossword puzzles, fill-in-the blank activities, true or false questions, ideas for deeper research on topics, writing inspirations, and photo critiques to help you become a better nature photographer. The study guide is designed to help you and your family further your study about the various articles written in each magazine.

My children are ages 4, 6, and 8. Each of them enjoyed looking through the magazine. As a family, we enjoyed reading the articles, and doing some of the activities together.

Click here if you're interested in subscribing today. A one year subscription (12 issues) is $36.00. To add a study guide to your subscription, it is only $2/issue ($24.00/year).

Maybe you'd like to receive a sample issue. Click here to read how you can receive a sample issue for just $5.00. If you like what you see, the $5.00 you spent on your sample issue will be deducted from your subscription price!

To see what other TOS Crew members have to say about Nature Friend Magazine, please click here.

Menu Plan Monday ~ September 28

This is what's for dinner this week:

Monday: Pulled Pork in the crockpot, coleslaw, and baked beans

Tuesday: Leftovers

Wednesday: Biscuits and gravy

Thursday: Cheeseburger Joes and Tots

Friday: Homemade Pizza

Saturday: Cavatini, salad, and homemade French bread

Sunday: Leftovers (if there aren't any leftovers, we'll have tacos)

Source of my Yelling...

SELFISHNESS! I’ve been struggling to surrender this sin to Lord for a while. I don’t want to yell at my children. I don’t want to see a look of fear in my children’s eyes when they hear their mother’s voice beginning to change tone. I want my children to see the love and patience of Christ in me. Another thing, the Lord is revealing to me, is how He wants my children to see more than just His love and patience in me. He also wants to reveal his selflessness, and His servant’s heart.

I began to realize this week that I get impatient and yell at my children when they are interrupting something I want to be doing. Such as, e-mailing, blogging, instant messaging, or running on the treadmill. It’s also quite challenging to keep a “quiet and gentle spirit” (1 Pt. 3:4) when the children refuse to nap. Once again, nap time = mommy’s alone and quiet time.

The Lord is trying to teach me to relax a little. Enjoy these little interruptions in my day and view them as the precious fleeting moments they actually are. My children are going to become more and more independent each year of their lives. In a blink of an eye, they are going to be grown and gone. When that day comes, perhaps I will long for a few of these interruptions that I often view now as a nuisance, or a cause to YELL!!!!

I believe the MOST important lesson the Lord is trying to teach me through this is…”just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for man.” (Mt. 20:28) As a Christian mother, I am to be like Christ to my little lambs. I am to lay my selfishness aside. I am not here to be served, but to serve.

I often refer to my home as my mission field. I really do believe that. I also believe my mission field is also a battleground. One night during my husband’s Wednesday night Bible study, he taught on habitual sin. He closed in a time for us to confess a sin to the Lord we continue to struggle with and ask the Lord to remove this from our lives. I confessed my sin of getting angry too quickly at the children and YELLING! Wouldn’t you know, Satan started attacking me like crazy the next few days. I had to start fighting this battle with the Word of God and with prayer.

This is something I wrote in my prayer journal one day. “Holy Spirit, control my mind, my words, my emotions, my actions. I pray on the FULL armor of God right now as I go out and fight today for you and for your glory, right here in our home. I ask you Jesus to bind the enemy from our home and from our children. You are greater and mightier than my enemy. Because of You and your power, I have victory! In Jesus name, Amen.”

Another thing that is totally awesome is I shared the gospel with our 5-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter the same day I prayed this. Isn’t it awesome how that morning in my quiet time, the Lord was preparing the mission field, and the hearts of my children for gospel seeds to be sown?

Lord Jesus, thank you for giving me the opportunity to plant these seeds in the hearts of my children. I know Lord neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only You make things grow. (1 Cor. 3:6-7)

(I shared this a couple years ago, and just wanted to share it again. The 5-year-old and 4-year old I mentioned are now 8 and almost 7-years-old. They've seen me struggle openly with sin, and they have seen me yell less and less. I have confessed my sin to them over and over, asked for their forgiveness, and sometimes heard them pray aloud for me afterwards. They know I am a sinner, and I desperately needs Jesus. 20-months after this originally posted my son at age 6 prayed and invited Christ to be His personal Savior and Lord. My daughter also accepted Christ 30-months after later at the age of 5. So, this is simply a reminder that your home IS a mission field! Keep sharing Christ with your children, and constantly pointing them to Jesus. )

Passkeys Foundation ~ TOS Review

"Thanks, But No Thanks" is a book from The Good News Express series sold through the Passkeys Foundation. It is a story about how the world would be if no one ever said thank you. The story is great and the illustrations are wonderful! The book came with an audio CD that tells the stories, and includes two songs that go along with the story. My children enjoyed listening along with the CD and the music. The books in this series have the whole package - great lesson, music, and illustrations.

My four-year-old said, "I like the songs and I like the bluebirds (an illustration in the book)."

My six-year-old said, "I like the songs."

My eight-year-0ld said, "It's something you'd want to play in the nursery."

These books are written for children, ages 3-5. So, I guess my son's assessment was quite true.

The Good News Express books are available for $7.50 each or $20.00 for a set of four.

To read what other crew members have to say about books from the Passkeys Foundation, click here.

Homeschooling & Ministry

This week I've been reflecting a lot about homeschooling and the many reasons I am blessed to do what I do. My husband is an Associate Pastor. We have a Bible study in our home most Sunday nights. The study lasts about one hour, but people like to hang out, drink coffee, and eat cookies. So, it is often 9pm or later before everyone leaves our home. We really enjoy this time with our church family. Because we homeschool, we can enjoy a late start on Monday morning if we have a late bedtime on Sunday night. I am thankful that we can relax and be flexible, and teach our children the importance of truly investing our lives in other people's lives. Loving and encouraging your brothers and sisters in Christ is more important than getting to bed on time so you can start your school work by 8am on Monday morning. God has always shown us that He will give us the strength we need to get up the next morning and complete all our work. I try to keep Matthew 6:33 as my focus in life. This is how I paraphrase this verse: If you seek God first and His righteousness, then everything else in your life will fall into place. If I put the needs of others above my schedule, He will bless my service to Him and help me to accomplish the things I need to accomplish.

Growing Healthy Homes ~ TOS Review

As a member of the TOS Crew, I was given the opportunity to receive a complete curriculum from Growing Healthy Families called Nutrition 101: Choose Life! Everyone on the crew received the 448 page e-book in PDF format, but, a print version is available on their website.

This is a Biblically based health curriculum. It is also wonderful resource that you will refer back to time and time again. This curriculum will teach your ENTIRE family how to eat for optimum health, and explain why it is important to choose healthy food.

The curriculum is divided into six units:

1) The Brain and Nervous System

2) Digestion and Elimination

3) Respiratory and Olfactory

4) Muscular and Skeletal Systems

5) Cardiovascular and Immune Systems

6) Endocrine System and Emotions

Our family has made it through the first two units, and we have enjoyed many of the age-appropriate hands-on activities provided in each lesson. We have enjoyed making food collages, pyramids, testing our reflexes, and other fun activities! My children are young (1st and 2nd grade). Most of the "text book" portion of the curriculum was over their heads. So, we headed to the library and checked out all kinds of books on the human body and how to live healthy lives. We have enjoyed going shopping for healthy foods, and all the ingredients for the recipes found in the curriculum. Even though some portions of this curriculum is above their grade-level, I feel fortunate to have this curriculum to use as a resource for our family's health and wellness. I know we will pull out this curriculum again in a few years and go through everything again.

My four-year-old daughter often includes this in her bedtime prayer: "Lord, thank you that we have healthy food, and not yucky food." God has created wonderful food to make our bodies healthy and strong for our service for Him. This resource will help you and your family as you strive to live healthier lives for His glory.

Please take the time to go to the Growing Healthy Homes website and look around. There is a wonderful video to watch on their homepage that shares more personal experiences about the Nutrition 101 curriculum.

Nutrition 101 is available in CD-Rom ($79.95), print version ($99.95), or a combo version ($129.95).

To read what other TOS Crew Members have to say about Nutrition 101, click here.

Menu Plan Monday ~ September 21

This is what's for dinner this week.

Monday: Cashew Chicken, Rice, and cream cheese wontons

Tuesday: Bacon, Eggs, and Toast

Wednesday: Roasted Crockpot chicken, mashed potatoes, and carrots

Thursday: Grilled Pork Steak, Twice Baked potatoes, and vegetable

Friday: Taco Night

Saturday: Homemade Pizza and cheese sticks

Sunday: Leftover pizza

For more menu planning ideas, click here.

Children and Chores

After dinner each night, the children usually help clear the table. But, this week they started helping wipe down the table and chairs, and sweep the floor. The children have all decided they will keep the same job instead of rotating each week. T will wipe down the table, L will wipe down the chairs, and K will sweep the floor! It's great! By the time I get the leftovers put away, and all the dishes in the dishwasher. the children are done cleaning up the dining area! I am thankful to have children who are very helpful!

Click here to read another blog I wrote about my "little workers."

What chores do your children do to help out around the house?

Joy in the Journey

My friend Teri, over at Pleasing to You is celebrating her 100th post today, and she is throwing a little posting party over at her place! She has asked her readers to share a post about JOY and then link up. Several months ago, I found a song by Michael Card. It caught my attention because the title of the song is the title of my blog, "Joy in the Journey."

I know I'm a young woman of 31-years-of-age, but the Lord and I have walked through some pretty serious trials. I am thankful Christ is my CONSTANT. I am thankful He has turned mourning into gladness, and how He has shown me how happiness and JOY are two totally different things. I am thankful for the promise He has given me that I am forgiven, I am His child, and I will spend eternity with Him. These things are true JOY!

Do you have JOY in your journey? If not, I would like to introduce you to the ultimate JOY giver - my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). A life lived for Him and through Him is the only way to find JOY in your journey, and "be joyful always" (1 Thessalonians 5:16).

Please take a few minutes and let this song speak to you and bless you.

If you would like to know more about how Jesus has changed my life and given me TRUE JOY, please email me at nikkit3 (at) gmail (dot) com.

Menu Plan Monday ~ September 14th

Breakfast: cereal, oatmeal, or peanut butter toast

Lunch:

If there are leftovers, we will eat leftovers for lunch. If not, then we will eat what is listed.

Monday: sandwiches, fruit, and veggies

Tuesday: mac and cheese, fruit, and veggies

Wednesday: sandwiches, fruit, and veggies

Thursday: Chicken nuggets, leftover mac and cheese, fruit, and veggies

Friday: Club sandwiches, fruit, and veggies

Saturday: Mom is at a luncheon, Dad and children will grill hot dogs

Sunday: leftover pizza

Dinner:

Monday - Hamburger Steak, mashed potatoes and gravy, and green beans.

Tuesday - Sausage biscuits, scrambled eggs, and fruit.

Wednesday - Chicken Strips and french fries.

Thursday - Grilled chicken, potatoes, and corn on the cob.

Friday - Fish, cheesy mashed potatoes, veggies, and fruit

Saturday - Homemade Pizza and cheese Sticks

Sunday - Sandwiches before hosting Sunday evening Bible study.

Click here for more Menu Plan Monday ideas.

Free E-book from The Old Schoolhouse Magazine

Take the guesswork out of your planning,
organize your homeschool this year with the E-Book:

The New School Year:
Planning Your Course and Letting
the Lord Determine Your Steps

The Old Schoolhouse Magazine is offering this e-book FREE to anyone who chooses to download it! I just did and it looks like it will be full of blessings and encouragement!

Click here for your free (no strings attached) download today!

Studypod - TOS Review

When the Studypod arrived in the mail for me to use and review for the TOS Crew, I honestly thought it would be a product only I would enjoy. I didn't think a preschooler, 1st grader, or 2nd grader would have much use for it. I have used it in the kitchen to hold a cookbook, and it worked very well. I teach a high school ladies Bible study class on Sunday mornings, and I used it to hold the teacher's book while I studied and prepared the lesson. I am also enrolled in two college courses right now, and the Studypod has helped organize my workspace, and hold my textbooks while typing up notes or studyguides.

A few days later, my 6-year-old daughter saw the Studypod sitting on the kitchen counter and wanted to know what it was. She immediately asked if she could use it during her silent reading time. I told her she could give it a try. Personally, I did not like using the Studypod while reading for pleasure, because I thought it took too long to turn the pages (I am an impatient person). My daughter wasn't discouraged by my personal preference, and gathered up a pile of books and the Studypod and started reading. Seriously, that day she read A LOT of books! She had so much fun using the Studypod to hold her reading books!

We also used it for our map work. I placed the textbook in the Studypod, and the children were able to see the map clearly and copy the explorer's routes for their social studies notebooks.

We also plan on using the Studypod for music and art lessons. There are many uses for the Studypod. Go to their website and check it out. There's even a great video to watch that explains two different ways to turn the pages of your book while in the Studypod (you might be like my daughter and actually catch on quickly and learn to turn the pages efficiently).

They Studypod comes in three different colors: blue, black, and pink. They sell for $19.95 each or $16.95 when you buy two or more at a time.

Check out Studypod today! They are offering a special discount for anyone who reads a TOS Crew review! You can get $5 off by using this coupon code: TOSBLOGS5.

Go the the TOS Crew Blog to see what other crew members have to say about the Studypod.

Fall Drawings and Poems

South for the Winter

Birds fly south for the winter.

Sometimes they come back another day.

The deer roam in the pastures,

going south for the winter to hibernate.

The rabbits go in their burrows to hibernate.

Next Spring they come out.

The ants get inside their anthills

because they know it's Winter.

The woodpecker pecks at the tree

looking for food at Winter.

The owl begins hibernating also.

The squirrels see it's time for them to hibernate.

That's what they do.

The Mommy bird watches her younglings fly away from home

and go south for the winter.

The leaves fall.

The leaves are in bright colors.

The snow piles up on the tree.

The End

(drawing and poem done by my 8-year-old son, T)

Fall is coming

Fall is here

It's time for Winter

because it's near

The wind blows

The leaves change colors

Orange

Red

Yellow and

Brown

The leaves change colors

Birds fly south

Animals sleep

The leaves are beautiful

The trees blow in the wind

The flowers are gone

And it's time to go in

(drawing and poem by my 6-year-old daughter, K)

Charlotte Mason Carnival

Today over at Jimmie's Collage you can find a Charlotte Mason Carnival going on! One of our posts joined the carnival, and there are MANY wonderful, inspiring posts to be read!

If you're a Charlotte Mason fan, or would like to learn more about her brilliant methods, this would be a great place to start!

Fearless by Max Lucado

Max Lucado's new release "Fearless" challenges us from the very front cover in the subtitle - "imagine your life without fear." Can you? Can you imagine your life without fear? Max Lucado will show you in God's Word how living a fearless life is not something to merely imagine, but rather something to experience.

"Fearless" is full of scripture to remind us of Jesus' frequent command to fear not, take courage, and to not worry. I thoroughly enjoy Lucado's ability to take truth from scripture and challenge me and show me how to APPLY it to my life TODAY!

Would you like to stop imagining how it would feel to live a fearless life? Dig into God's Word, read "Fearless and start experiencing the freedom that comes with living fearlessly! Fear cripples us from living the life God desires. Faith transforms us into courageous warriors for His glory! We live in a world filled with fears of sickness, disease, financial crises, terrorism, and the list could go on! Lucado's book is an instrument God can use to turn people's hearts away from fear and to Him.

Trust God and fear less!

Menu Plan Monday ~ September 7

Monday - Dinner at friend's house

Tuesday - Grilled chicken, potatoes, and salad

Wednesday - Pasta Bake, salad, and homemade french bread

Thursday - Taco Night

Friday - Grilled Salmon, rice, and broccoli

Saturday - Homemade Pizza

Sunday - Leftovers

Writing a Play

My six-year-old daughter wanted to write a play. But, I did not know where to begin. I wanted to give her the freedom to create and express herself, but I also wanted to help support and guide her through her first play writing experience. So, I typed up some things I thought would be topics to discuss, and asked my friend who used to be an English teacher. She gave me some suggestions, and we got to work!

As my daughter and I began discussing the beginning phases of the play, my eight-year-old son wanted to join the writing team! So, his sister is such a sweet little thing, she allowed him in on the action.

The first day we discussed characters, plot, setting, and climax. We also talked about the importance of the play having a beginning, middle, and end.

Our second day of work, we discussed and wrote out the main plot of the play. The children described to me what they wanted and I typed as fast as I could at the keyboard!

Our third day of work we began writing out the actual dialogue. Again, the children narrated and I typed as fast as I could from the keyboard.

On the third day we gathered props, and began rehearsing.

On the fourth day we rehearsed more, and surprised Dad with a performance when he got home! My son made him an admission ticket, my daughter popped some popcorn, and my other daughter showed him his seat in the living room!

The children did a great job, and even gave me a part in their play! Their play is called, "The Three Little Goblins and the Terrified Little Girl." Although it's not the most original play I've ever seen, I was thrilled with their excitement, hard work, and determination to write and perform their first of many (I'm sure) plays!

My husband was very impressed and said he thought the sound effects and the content was quite good! He was surprised the play had as much dialogue as it did, and it was all written by his young children!

Children are so creative, but I often fear we don't give them the liberty they need to explore their creativity. Keep it simple. Have fun. Sit back and enjoy the show!

Nature and Art

One day this week, my 6-year-old daughter came running inside and was very excited! She had seen a beautiful butterfly in our yard, and wanted me to help her gather a quilt and art supplies so she could go out and draw the butterfly! This just about brought tears to my eyes! I love it when my children have creative ideas on their own! Sure we've done activities like this together as a family. But it was a blessing to me to see my daughter so interested and passionate in watching nature closely, and desiring to capture its beauty through drawing. As you can see, once she began drawing, a couple more things caught her eye that she wanted to draw!

Children should be encouraged to watch, patiently and quietly, until they learn something of the habits and history of bee, ant, wasp, spider, hairy caterpillar, dragon-fly, and whatever of larger growth comes in their way. ~ Charlotte Mason