Eggs

Our neighbor recently began raising chickens and ducks.  The chickens are layers and even though it is Winter here in Central PA, her layers are laying!  I thought chickens slowed down in the Winter, but not these chickens. 

So, our neighbor has blessed us with an abundance of eggs recently and they were so pretty I just had to take pictures.  Here are pictures of the last two deliveries.  Aren't they beautiful?

What 55 years of marriage looks like...

At Christmas-time my newphew and his fiancee decided to give my parents a family tree for Christmas.  They took pictures of each of my mom and dad's children with their spouses (there are four of us), and pictures of each of the grand-children (there are 13 total).  Then they purchased a beautiful silver tree that had oval frames hanging all over it.  They placed all these pictures in the oval frames.  It was a beautiful gift and my mother really treasures it.

Well, my nephew and his fiancee took all the pictures on Thanksgiving day because it was the one gathering where EVERYONE was present.  But they left our gathering and called a few minutes later to say that they forgot to get a picture of my parents.  They're the roots of the tree!  So I got the privilege of having that picture taken on my camera.  I wanted to share it with you. 

This is what 55 years of marriage looks like:

 

They were highschool sweethearts.  Dad joined the Navy and asked Mom to marry him.  He said that they would get married in a few months after he was finished with basic.  Well, little did he know that the Navy would send him on a minesweeper to Japan immediately after basic and he wouldn't return to PA for almost 4 years!  They survived that.  They survived four kids. (some of us more trouble than others...me) They survivied floods and hurricanes,  family vacations and times just on their own.  And now they are reaping the spoils of a marriage well-lived out for their children.  All four of us are in solid Christ-centered marriages.  Thanks Mom and Dad!

Scripture Copybooks

Shortly before Christmas I received a catalogue from a Christian book company.  I had never received or seen anything from this company in the past.  Most of what they had to offer was WAY over my head.  But they had one item that I thought was a really neat idea.  These scripture copybooks were in their catalogue.



I love copy work.  The boys do it each day in their lessons, but I love to do it myself.  I'm always copying quotes from books I've read, both fiction and non-fiction.  I usually have something to copy each day out of my devotions.  The idea of copying an entire book of the bible into a journal is really appealing to me. 

I've seen journals that are fairly plain at my favorite bookstore as well as other retailers and discounters I frequent.  I could pick up a blank journal, use a gel pen to write the book and chapters I'm copying, and make my own bible copybook just like this one I saw before Christmas. 

I just wanted to share this idea in case you thought it might be a good one too!

The Pirate Queen

I read "The Pirate Queen" by Patricia Hickman at the wrong time of the year!  Set in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, this would have been a wonderful beach read!  But it is by no means one of those airy no-brainer reads.  This book was full of quotes I wanted to treasure.  The characters were deep and complicated, especially the main character, Saphora.

When the book opens, you meet Saphora who to all outward appearances had everything.  And yet, Saphora is unhappy and ready to leave her marriage.  On the day she plans to leave, her husband of more than 20 years comes home to tell her that he's dying.  Instead of escaping to their beach home to leave her husband, she takes him there to try and fight his cancer.

As the rest of the book develops, you meet the family, and make new friends by following Saphora through this difficult journey toward emotional healing.  One very special friend is a little boy named Tobias who changes Saphora's life and gets her focus off of her own grief and troubles.

The Pirate Queen begins each chapter with a quote from another book, often the book "Gift from the Sea" by Anne Morrow Lindbergh, but also from other sources.  In addition to terrific quotes within the text of the book, these quotes at the beginning of the chapters were treasures. 

I enjoyed "The Pirate Queen" very much.  It was not a light read, but well worth the emotion and the connection you make to the characters.  You can find this book on Amazon here or Christian Book Distributors here.

I received a copy of The Pirate Queen by Patricia Hickman from Bloggin for Books at Waltnomah in order to complete this honest review.

Virtual Nerd

I am really impressed with the videos we've watched on Virtual Nerd this past month or so.  Being on the crew, I've had the opportunity to use lots of different math curriculum and helps.  I've sat with the boys and watched incredibly dry videos.  They got the job done, if you could stay awake.  Virtual nerd is not that kind of a video program.  The videos are of a really great quality with lots of colorful helps along the side.  And it's so easy to jump forward or back in a video to see more of what you've already seen or skip what you already know.  This is not your average math helps program.

Virtual Nerd is a subscription site that currently contains over 1,000 videos on Pre-Algebra, Algebra 1, Algebra 2, and Physics.  Plans are in the works for Physics with trig, geometry, chemistry, pre-calculus and calculus this year.  Biology will be added sometime later, too.

Another great thing about this site, besides the quality of the videos, is the pricing/subscription options.  You can start with a 2-hour subscription and work your way up to multiple months.  They have tailored the subscriptions to meet everyone's needs.

You will want to use virtual nerd if you as a homeschool mom struggle to understand higher-math concepts yourself.  If you are struggling to help your son or daughter with their math, struggle no more.  Let the qualified teachers at Virtual Nerd teach you and your son or daughter.  There is a very easy to use and well-done search feature so that you can get to the videos and techniques that you need easily.  AND their customer service is fast and efficient.  Whether you post a question or concern on their contact page or call or email them using the information found on that same page, you will get a quick response.

But you know the drill, don't just take my word for it if you are looking for help with math, read the reviews of my fellow crew-members here.  You'll be glad you did!

I received a complimentary short subscription to Virtual Nerd in exchange for this review.