Thursday, November 5, 2009

Phonics Fun

Getting to do this again...

Already a month ago, Bronlin wrote out the song "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" as I dictated it to him (at his request - he wrote out this special song as a gift for Grandma).

Teaching our children to read and write is a great thrill. By God's enabling grace and mostly on their own, the twins have already progressed very well in Mathematics aided by Father, Mother, brothers and workbooks so ... this year we are focusing on learning how to read and write words. Of course, Mathematics is still part of each day and they're continuing their progress, grasping new concepts like subtraction, clockwise & counter clockwise, time, and thousands with amazing ease. Ah, to God be all the glory! Thank you, Lord!

Back to phonics though, their penmanship is already neat and orderly. They know the names of the alphabet and most of the sounds that each one makes. Now we're beginning to put consanents and vowel sounds together to form blends and then words. Today they put together their first words and wrote them onto paper.

It is so rewarding to listen as they come to me throughout the day telling me that " 'v' starts with vehicle" or "Mom, 's' starts both six and seven". They are learning skills they will be using for life -- what an amazing privilege to lead them in this, one of the most basic things in learning.

Meanwhile, Faith Mattaya is discovering the joy of books ... I am continually amazed at the length of her attention span.


Wednesday, November 4, 2009

BreakTime

You've noticed my lack of posts lately, sorry.

It all started when our computer crashed due to a technical fault. We've been without internet for a week compounded by the fact that we're now setting it all up again from square one ... well, some of our stuff was backed up on external, but not all (we had to learn the hard way :(

Learning curves take time -- and energy! Thus my creative juices are just not flowing much outside of what needs doing day to day for my family ...

Please do keep checking in with us though. Regular programing will begin again.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Fall Decorations


Tis the season for hunting ... it almost looks like we've decorated or something, lol!

Hunting garb, fresh and ever at the ready! If it gets rained on, we call it rainfresh scent and throw it into the dryer when necessary.

Muzzleloader hunting season opened this last Monday, but due to a local potato farm needing harvest help, our hunters are not out getting a doe or calling in a buck -- they've been out making dough and rolling in the bucks, tehe!

That reminds me of one our favorite jokes:

Q: What do you get when you cross 50 male deer with 50 female pigs?

A: (READ real fast out loud) A hundred sows 'n' bucks.


Just like God planned it in the first place, the species do not mingle.

That said, we're praying that the hunt will prove successful again this year as our venison supply is all but depleted -- and we use that almost to exclusion as our red meat. We do use our own home grown, delicious grass-fed beef to serve when we have guests.

Swing, Swing


The warmer Fall days are back, tenaciously holding Winter at bay for a bit ... we took advantage of it with some time on the swing. Soaking in some of that all important vitamin D from the waning sunshine.

Our active little girl has not spent much time in her swing because she always manages to wiggle herself out of it -- until today! I discovered this wonderful solution to that problem: put her into the swing in her carseat ... perfect! It's safer for her -- and probably more comfortable. Thank you God for inspirations!

Monday, October 19, 2009




Call 1-800-759-2425 to request a free 2010 God is In the Details Calendar from Back to the Bible Ministries. More details here.

Thanks, MoneySavingMom!

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

"One Year there was Snow on My Birthday"

The year was 2009!




Happy Fifteenth Brayden!!


This picture is worth a thousand words -- we'll remember it for years to come by the title given above.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Boyer's Gift


The Boyer's have a deal for you. Get the "coupon code" on their blog:

Take $5.00 off your next purchase at the Learning Parent.

Offer is good now through October 26, 2009.

Some items in their product list are $5.00 and less ... hop on over to their blog then to the Learning Parent and see for yourself what you can find.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Thankful for Our Blessings!


Our children are our seven greatest Blessings! Little did we imagine 24 years ago when we were newlyweds that we would be so blessed!


Thank You, God!


To God be All Glory!

Canadian Thanksgiving 2009

Read more about the history of Thanksgiving in Canada.