Gathered thoughts, homemaking

Joy in Everyday Moments

This is so true of homemaking. It’s easy to get discouraged in washing dishes, making dinner and keeping our homes clean and organized but what if we looked at it as opportunities to show love and kindness to our family & friends.
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In even these simple task there is beauty. Our littles are watching as we do these things and they are learning . Using these opportunities to teach them to love others by serving them is priceless .
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I encourage you today as you do the dishes or prep dinner, to do it with love and joy, serving your family and blessing them with your loving hands❤️
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“Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭12:10‬ ‭ESV‬‬

disney, Disney shopping, Gathered thoughts

Hello Friday⭐️

Hello Friday⭐️
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Loving this beautiful mug from @shopdisney to enjoy your favorite warm beverage in.. today it’s coffee ☕️
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This weekend agenda includes ⬇️
Farmers market✔️
Secret sister reveal✔️
Coffee with a friend ✔️
Building garden beds✔️
Planting garden beds✔️
Date night✔️
Mother’s Day✔️
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Looking forward to all these moments as we step into the weekend. What’s in your weekend plans? I pray that you will enjoy each beautiful moment and soak in the memories being made❤️
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“Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart,”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭119:2‬ ‭ESV‬‬

American Girl Doll, homeschooling

Marie-Grace~American Girl Doll History class⭐️

Marie-Grace & Cecile from @americangirlbrand was one of our Dolls of the Month.
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The story takes place in 1853 in New Orleans and is full of history, an epidemic, and a friendship that transcended all social barriers at that time.

Most of the people in New Orleans at that time spoke French so it was fun learning a little french and speaking it at our tea party.

For our tea party we served chocolate drizzled croissants , scones and walnuts ( for our take on pralines)

We played a game from American Girl instead of doing the vocabulary bingo and the girls loved it!

The girls then decorated masquerade mask for their dolls and for themselves.

Such a fun day!
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Resource links below ⬇️


http://web.archive.org/web/20140815135703if_/http://www.americangirlpublishing.com/media/Spring2012/AG_CM_CostumeSearch.pdf

http://web.archive.org/web/20140815135712if_/http://www.americangirlpublishing.com/media/Spring2012/AG_CM_Fans.pdf

http://web.archive.org/web/20140815135724if_/http://www.americangirlpublishing.com/media/Spring2012/AG_CM_FrenchLesson.pdf

http://web.archive.org/web/20140815135748if_/http://www.americangirlpublishing.com/media/Spring2012/AG_CM_TheaterNight.pdf

http://web.archive.org/web/20130829071546if_/http://www.americangirlpublishing.com:80/media/Spring2012/Mystery%20Event%20Kit%202012/CrossGrid.pdf

http://web.archive.org/web/20130829071845if_/http://www.americangirlpublishing.com:80/media/Spring2012/Mystery%20Event%20Kit%202012/CircusSquares.pdf

http://4littlepiglets.blogspot.com/2013/03/american-girl-lapbook.html?m=1

http://www.usa-printables.com/50_States/LA/la-pics/louisiana-map-01.gif


http://allfreeprintable.com/cont/gms/pdf/mardigr-triv.pdf

http://web.archive.org/web/20140815135734if_/http://www.americangirlpublishing.com/media/Spring2012/AG_CM_MarketGame.pdf

faith, Gathered thoughts

National Day of Prayer

One of the truths that keep popping up in the Bible as I read through it , is how powerful prayer is.
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I have recently been reading through David’s life and came across this example of prayer ⬇️

When David was running from his son Absolom and one of his top advisors had deflected to his sons side. He prayed for that the advice of that advisor would be foolish
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And it was told David, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” And David said, “O LORD, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.”
2samuel 15:31
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And then God answers that prayer ..

And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel.” For the LORD had ordainedfn to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that the LORD might bring harm upon Absalom.
2 Samuel 17:14
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This is just scratching the surface of this story and I encourage you to go through it and read the text commentaries @blueletterbible .. there are so many “nuggets “ like that advisor being Bathsheba’s grandfather.. and so much more.
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I think prayer is the most important tool we as Christian’s have. We get to intercede on others behalf to our Heavenly Father , we get to invite God into our daily lives , and we can raise mountains just by kneeling and inviting our Heavenly King into our daily life.

Goals, homemaking

Spring Refresh 🌷


I’m loving how this picket fence side board turned out. It has served our family in many ways .. dessert table…party favor center…trail mix station.
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For this season, I am using it as Goal planning area. I have my @cultivatewhatmatters Goal planner open to the areas I’m working on cultivating in my home and life. I also have some of the tools there to easily grab and use like a Bible, recipe books ,planners,and encouraging verses/signs to visually encourage me toward the areas I’m working on cultivating.
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Ofcourse, there are also items for the littles like gum and some of our @chatbooks to encourage us as a family to set time aside to plan adventures.
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It has been a wonderful way to have the items where I can see them on a daily basis .

homeschooling

Teaching Time with Lego

Teaching time is so much fun with @lego @legoeducation ⭐️
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They are the perfect size math manipulative and are a great way to teach the students there are 60 minutes in 1 hour.

I set the clocks to different times and had the students tell me the time displayed. I then had the students set the times I called out. It was a great way to practice reading clocks and it was super easy to implement ⏱Double win!!

faith, Gathered thoughts

Gathered Thoughts

Happy Friday⭐️
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A few weekends ago , we took our puppy for her first grooming appointment . We had no idea how she would do since it would be several hours she would be there . Just for reference >The only time she had been in kennels with other animals was after her surgery as she waited for us to pick her up when we officially adopted her.
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I suddenly had one of those moments that don’t happen very often but where God allows me a glimpse of his amazing love for us . Wait what??? You see our puppy had no idea what to expect. She was already happy and content with her hair being longer , teeth not clean and nails long. What she did probably experience in some way was anxiety and maybe fear when she was dropped off . Are my owners coming back? I’m afraid.
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Then the grooming. They cut her hair, washed her , brushed her teeth and cut her nails. Oh so good!
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Ok so how does that reflect and show Gods amazing love for us? How often are we comfortable just staying where we are because it’s comfortable. Just like our puppy.
Then God opens a door to do something different and we often allow fear and anxiety to creep in instead of trusting that our Heavenly Father has a plan. Then as we walk in it and stretch in different ways it’s often so good and so much better for us . Oh how I want to be more willing to see the challenges or new opportunities that God is allowing in my life as opportunities to become better then I am.
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Thank you God for these sweet glimpses in everyday moments of your amazing love for me.
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“Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭43:19‬ ‭ESV‬‬

American Girl Doll, homeschooling

Maryellen~American Girl Doll History

Last year we learned about Maryellen @americangirlbrand in our American Girl Doll History class.

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There were so many things happening in the world during Maryellen’s life .She grew up in the time following WW2, she was a polio survivor , there was a space race and Cold War happening ..so many big things and changes.We had lots of fun discussion. 

For our craft, the girls made  these super simple poodle skirts .They coordinated with their dolls and with just a bit of hot glue looked awesome! Check here for full tutorial

http://www.obseussed.com/2011/05/make-no-sew-poodle-skirt.html

For our Teaparty , we had icecream sundaes…yummm! The perfect treat to wrap up learning about Maryellen.

Below are a few of the printables I used ⬇️Enjoy⭐️

Click to access c2cc978e3f190497bf43c49dbe84a214

Click to access AL_11008_OL_Helicopter.pdf

Click to access AL_11008_OL_BlankPostcard.pdf

Click to access AL_11008_OL_ActivityBooklet.pdf


Sputnik space race

homeschooling

Happy PI Day ⭐️

Happy PI Day ⭐️
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Such a fun day to celebrate math,especially when it falls on one of our coop days ⭐️
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The elementary students had fun learning about PI with oreo cookies and the jr/sr high learned with pies.. Yumm!!
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Our family gets to finish the day off with pizza 🍕 for dinner ⭐️
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Who knew learning math could be so delicious ⭐️⭐️⭐️
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Do you have a special way of celebrating PI day? If so , share below ⬇️