Patsy Clairmont is another amazing speaker I had the privilege of hearing at the Women of Faith Conference back in August. I had never heard of her or read anything from her before, but as soon as she took the stage and started speaking, I knew I liked her style! She is feisty, and funny, and can totally speak the truth directly into your soul. I'm glad that I had the opportunity to hear her before I read this book, because it allowed me to be able to hear her voice and inflections in my head as I read along.
The book is set up as short bites of Patsy's story, insights and wisdom and then followed up with suggestions of how to dig deeper and consider the concepts more three-dimensionally. She has some wonderful suggestions of art to check out (either in the museum or ways to "google it"), songs that can touch your heart, and poems to read and ponder, as well as Scripture to reference. I think having those tangible ways to learn more really helps bring home the message, as it's so much more than just words on the page. Patsy teaches how those ugly, scary and disappointing moments in our lives can be turned into something wonderful once the light of the Lord touches it! Just like an artist can take broken shards of glass and turn them into something beautiful - a stained glass window!
I enjoyed reading this book because I thoroughly enjoy Patsy's sense of humor, and her interesting personal testimony of God's goodness. It's a fun read, insightful and inspiring. And I highly recommend taking the time to really looking up the art and music suggestions from this book - you might learn something!
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Ehhh, just more laziness out of me. Seriously, I thought the Fall would be much more motivating! Today, though, we got out and did a nice walk around the neighborhood. The temperature was just a bit on the chilly side, LOVE IT! Preston complained the entire trip about one thing or another, but it was still really nice just to get out and be active. Last nite the Texas Rangers completely blew finishing out the World Series with a win. It was heartbreaking and frustrating and just completely ridiculous. Tonite it's do or die, we'll see. Looking forward to a full day off tomorrow for both me and Michael - yay, no plans!
A picture to share...I was hyperventilating, nearly bawling and completely chewing my fingers to nubs towards the end of the game. Preston, however...
Sleeping like a baby on the couch!
In our homeschool this week...
Tot School: Callen played with his little ringed books I've made him. He likes the Fall one that is laminated and he can mark on without getting into trouble. Lol. I made it with printables from here.
MY book!
Bible: Our scripture was Proverbs 12:18, "Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing." We read several passages from the boys' Hands-On Bible and learned a bit about how the Bible was first written... in Hebrew and Greek.
Reading/Writing: Working on various phonic rules, and another Animal Tales booklet. Preston did a lot of reading on his own this week without me even asking. I kept finding him on the couch or in his room involved in one story or another. LOVE THAT!
Math: Adding and subtracting this week. Preston can do this well with counters... like candy corn and M&Ms, both of which we made good use of this week! We also started using the Pumpkin Poke cards (printable here).
It was hard not to just eat 'em all!
Science: Rivers was the topic this week and we read many river stories of all kinds (see widget below). We used a PUR Water Filter activity to clean some water during our Exploration Day. Preston thought that was pretty cool. We put dirt in a bucket of water and got it nice and gross. Then, we used the PUR filter chemical stuff and stirred it up.... the dirt stuck to the chemicals and settled at the bottom of the bucket. Then we poured the water through a cloth to strain it and the water we got was clean! We didn't, however, find the guts to actually drink it. Lol!
We made it dirty!
Then we made it clean!
Music/Art: We continued talking about and learning the hymn "A Might Fortress Is Our God." We also talked about and listened to the bass drum. And in drawing, we discussed and tried "overlapping" and using mistakes to create new things (instead of just erasing or starting over).
Spanish: We started on food words. And used a cute pumpkin poem I downloaded (Free!) from here, called 4 Silly Pumpkins... err, 4 Calabazas Divertidas! The boys enjoyed that one.
Halloween fun:
We also did a couple of Halloween crafts, including cute Mickey Bats and a Christian pumpkin (which we got here!).
So cute!
Both boys made one!
Books we used in addition to our curriculum this week...
We are using My Father's World First Grade. See our curriculum here.
I had the awesome privilege of driving a Chevy Traverse for two weeks thanks to the North Texas Chevy Dealers, who allowed a group of DFW Bloggers to have this fun adventure! We were downright giddy as we picked up our lovely 2012 Chevy Traverse White Diamond Editions, all neatly parked in a row, at the State Fair of Texas.
That one is MINE!
I was especially blessed by this opportunity because we only have one car in our family. My husband works two jobs and I am usually stuck at home with two kids and no where to go - or at least, no way to get there! Having this vehicle for two weeks was amazing. We have been pondering a second vehicle and what type we would want if we were able to purchase one. Our previous thinking was "mini-van." Now, I'm not so sure.
The Traverse is a big vehicle! It has three rows of seats, and is very spacious - plus, it nicely holds everything I need for my mobile book business! But, it doesn't handle like a large vehicle. This baby can do donuts and take u-turns like nobody's business! It is also easy to park, unlike some other larger vehicles I've driven. I was able to whip right in to a spot even going the wrong way down the aisle (oops, sorry!). I felt very safe, sturdy in this car... and it's nice a roomy. The kids had plenty of foot room in the back, and there are nooks and crannies for EVERYTHING you can even think of needing to store in a vehicle!
Groceries & jogging stroller!
We made good use of the XM Satellite Radio, the On-Star GPS Driving Directions and the hands-free blue-tooth calling. It's got some pretty sweet features! I certainly got spoiled in that two week test period. I MISS MY TRAVERSE!!! It was pretty hard to give it back.
Musical education on the go!
If you missed my previous videos, you can view my favorite feature here and how we used the vehicle for homeschool here. It was also really neat to see what fun my fellow bloggers had in their vehicles as well! You can see some of their entertaining and creative videos here.
The North Texas Chevy Dealers are running a fun promotion right now... if you simply test drive a Traverse now through November 19th, they'll give you a $40 SpaFinder giftcard! How's that for an incentive? Check out an awesome new vehicle AND get a pedicure? Sounds good to me!
*The Chevy Traverse campaign is being sponsored by the North Texas Chevy dealers. They are letting me test drive a Traverse for two weeks as well as providing me with a gas card and a spa gift card.
In my life this week...
Another week completely flew by. We had to take the Chevy Traverse back on Wednesday, and let me know tell you... that thing spoiled me! Being car-less again sucks! Other than that, we've been enjoying watching our Texas Rangers play in the World Series. So glad that they pulled out a win last nite, wheeewwww! Now they can bring it home and win the Series!!! This weekend, I have a multi-vendor open house with a friend from high school. Should be a lot of fun! I am excited about my Usborne business this month, things have been going smoothly. Praise God!
What's not working for us...
Me being lazy. I allowed us to sleep in this whole week, which threw us all off. I had been trying to get up when Michael leaves, around 6:15... that way I get time to myself, shower, etcl, before I get the boys up (or they wake up by themselves). I got up, but went back to bed every day this week, and slept til after 8 or even 9 today! Then I'm not one step ahead of the boys, they end up watching cartoons while I'm trying to get myself together and their attitudes are off for the rest of the day. TV in the morning is not usually a good idea around here - it gets Preston rowdy and then he doesn't want to do anything else.
I'm cooking...
Michael helped me make pumpkin pancakes this week for dinner, and they were delicious! It made a huge batch, so the boys and I had it for dinner another nite too and they were good reheated as well! I also made the boys and I some pumpkin pie shakes, which came out great. And on Sunday I'll be making some pumpkin muffins. 'Tis the season for PUMPKIN!!!
My favorite thing this week...
I got to have a date nite with my husband! Woo hoo! We had a Living Social coupon for this place Italian place in Arlington, got Grandma Jill to watch the boys and got to just enjoy a few hours of time together. It was nice... and missed! Oh, and the weather was absolutely perfect this week!
In our homeschool this week... Tot school: Callen learned to climb out of his playpen. D'oh! So much for keeping him contained at times!
Playing in his room
Bible: Our weekly scripture was Proverbs 29:11 "A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control." Preston is doing a great job remembering this verses... better than me, that's for sure! Yikes! We also drew a Bible Lands Map and talked about that area.
Reading/Writing: Worked on 'oo,' 'th,' 'ar,' and 'or.' Preston read a Toot & Puddle book on his own. We are doing the Braums Book Buddy, Book It! and the Six Flags Read to Succeed Program, so he's excited about reading on his own again to win prizes. Whatever it takes!
'ar' as in car
Math: Shapes were the theme this week. Preston looked at me like I was crazy, this is stuff he's known since he was 2. But, whatever. We read some fun books from the library showing us shapes in nature and in every day scenes. Used our pattern blocks and peg board to create shapes of all kinds. We also had fun shouting out shapes we saw as we drove around the first part of this week. Lol.
peg board fun
Science: The theme this week was "thunder and lightning," and God totally provided us with a thunderstorm earlier this week too. Was nice to have that as a reference before we started talking about electricity build up and all that. Read several books on weather - including ones with Clifford and Franklin!
Art/Music: We started a new hymn this week from Hymns for a Kid's Heart, "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God." Listened to it, talked about it's author. We also listened to music from an oboe. We looked at a landscape painting of The Oregon Trail. And using Drawing With Children, Preston drew some little figures and a bird!
bird and drawings
Spanish: Still working on colors. He's got 'em down pretty well now!
Some of the books we used this week in addition to our curriculum...
We are using My Father's World First Grade. See our curriculum here.
I ran across this beautiful Gratitude Journal printable today and just had to share. I love the images (lovely Fall scenes, you know how those make me giddy!) and the entire idea behind it. Too often, we forget to be grateful for the blessings in our lives... what a wonderful way to put them down in writing and pore over them often! This journal would also make a nice gift for someone - you could fill it out and give it to them, or leave it blank!
* The Chevy Traverse campaign is being sponsored by the North Texas Chevy dealers. They are letting me test drive a Traverse for two weeks as well as providing me with a gas card and a spa gift card.
In my life this week...
This week flew by. Um... yeah. My brain is completely scattered lately and I feel like I am forgetting everything! Like, if it's not written down, forget about it! Wow. Callen has been a wreck lately... terrible two's already?!?! He wants it his way, or no way. And has mastered the art of complete temper tantrum. Yikes! He's 19 months old, gimme a break! We also finally busted out some Fall decor. I'm usually eager to get my Fall stuff out on the very first day of Fall, but we have been so busy and it's still been so warm, I haven't been in mood. Now, we're good to go!
Places we're going and people we're seeing...
We have been running errands and just rather enjoying the privilege of having the Chevy Traverse this week. I love going to the grocery store when I want, instead of having to strictly plot out the timing alongside Michael's work schedule. "Hey kids, get in the car, let's go!" Oh, it's nice! I know it's a very first-world complaint, but having only one car that is gone almost all the time... it sucks! Preston got to spend the nite with my mom and dad, on my mom's birthday... and we had lunch with her and my Aunt Leah. That was a nice treat. Oh, and we watched the Rangers game at our friends' house on Monday evening - Preston had a great time playing with their daughter. And... um... dressing up in the costume she used when she was a baby:
Quack! Quack!
Praying for...
My brain to come back? I seriously feel completely unfocussed and so very scattered. I think it's just because I've been so busy. I've gotten un-used to being active, apparently. Sad really! On a serious note, though, a dear friend lost her baby in the womb a few nights ago. Such a heart breaking tragedy to experience loss like that. Praying for her and her husband through their grieving period, and for comfort and peace about it. It's so very difficult to understand.
In our homeschool this week...
Oh goodness, we had a couple of complete meltdowns this week. I guess we had been doing TOO well, and were due our turn. Yeesh. The novelty of being in "first grade" and having new curriculum has worn off on Preston, it seems. I am still enjoying it and am really pleased with it.
Tot school: Basically just keeping Callen off of the table. Sigh.
Bible: Read everyday from the Hands-On Bible. This week's scripture was Proverbs 16:24, "Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones." We also created a "Bible times costume" from an old purple sheet we had. Lol.
Reading/Writing: Finished up Animals Tales booklet. Talked more about short and long vowel rules. This part is incredibly boring to the boy.
Math: We worked on comparisons this week. Like "big, bigger, biggest" and also "greater than" and "less than." I used some printables from Homeschool Creations and Confessions of a Homeschooler so Preston (and Callen!) could size sort. And this fun printable that uses a dinosaur mouth for the symbol of greater than/less than. Love that! And, as usual, read several books on comparing - mostly with animals. I absolutely LOVED this book called "Big, Bigger, Biggest!" by Nancy Coffelt. So fun!
Science: Rain! It actually rained some during this week so that was good timing, woo hoo! We had a good time talking about rain, and did an "experiment" to create a rain cloud! We ready many books on rain this week, and used a new-to-us Usborne book called Starting Point Science. Preston illustrated the rain cycle and made a fun umbrella and raindrops craft!
Art/Music: Continued learning about the hymn "Holy! Holy! Holy!" in Hymns for a Kid's Heart! We looked at a portrait in Come Look with Me. Talked about and listened to music made by a bassoon. We took advantage of having the XM Pops station while in the car. The boys really enjoyed listening to the classical music! Also did a fun abstract art warm-up exercise. I gave Preston a set of instructions, but he got to decide how to execute them and came up with a neat abstract drawing.
Spanish: We went over colors. This is something we've talked about before, but definitely needed review!
Some of the books we used this week in addition to our curriculum:
We are using My Father's World First Grade. See our curriculum here.
Blog Hoppin' with:
After Callen woke up from his nap, he saw Preston's costume and kept messing with it. So... we had to make one for him too! Lol! He wore it all of 1 minute, just long enough for me to get a picture.
