It's a new year and time to meet new homeschool bloggers and reacquaint myself with some old friends. I can't believe this will be my fifth year with the Homeschool Review Crew and my second year serving on the leadership team. I'm a visual person and as such love blog buttons. Over the past month I have collected a few buttons from Homeschool Mom's and Dad's who are sharing their home educating journey's with us.
I love how different each and everyone on them are, some are home educating veterans, some are new home educators, some love books, some love art all are beautiful and unique. I invite you to grab a cup of your favorite beverage and come and find some home school blogs to add to your favorites.
Each graphic below is hyperlinked to the blog home page so click on the picture to take you to their special space on the internet.
Wednesday, 4 January 2017
Tuesday, 3 January 2017
The Shadow of the Cross (N Book 2) {Tuesday's Treasures}
I can't think of any better way to start a new year than with a new book by a great author. Today I would like to share my latest great read The Shadow of the Cross by Joyce Swann.
The Shadow of the Cross is the second book in the N Series and follows the story of Petra and the N's who take up refuge on Prayer Mountain. Petra's nemesis Cardin Ritter has ulterior motives for finding Petra and is determined to hand her over to Mandrake the man in charge of social security and eradicating the world of Christian's ...
Enter Quinton who turned his back on his Christian heritage and needs to give Bella a new identity no matter the cost and will use whom ever to accomplish the impossible feet only to find that meeting Petra will bring about a change he did not expect or look for.
My Thoughts
This book was a great read. It was a real sit on the edge of your seat read. I just could not put it down book. I finished it in less than two evenings. It is an A+ Christian thriller and would fit very well on your book shelf between your Frank Peretti and Left Behind books. The author has done a magnificent job of building a plot of power, justice, mercy, secrecy and suspense with a twist at every corner. It is a vision of the future and possible outcome of the political correctness of our society today. It ended on a cliff hanger I did not see coming and I am looking forward to the next volume in the N series.
Joyce Swann home schooled her ten children from the first grade through master’s degrees. She is a well-known author and speaker on the subject of homeschooling. For nearly a decade she was a popular columnist for Practical Homeschooling Magazine. She now blogs regularly on parenting, homeschooling, and Christian lifestyle issues.
Joyce and her daughter Alexandra have co-authored two other novels, The Fourth Kingdom and The Twelfth Juror, both of which were published in 2010. Joyce shared her personal story of her experiences raising and educating her family and is chronicled in Looking Backward: My Twenty-Five Years as a Homeschooling Mother, published in February of 2011. Her novel, The Warrior, which tells the story of one woman’s ten year prayer vigil for a man she has never met, was released in May of 2012. She is also the author of two children’s books, Tales of Pig Isle and A Horse Called Lightning/A House of Clowns (The McAloons), which began as stories that she told to entertain her grandchildren.
Alexandra is author of No Regrets: How Homeschooling Earned me a Master’s Degree at Age Sixteen and Writing for Today. She has been self-employed for over fourteen years and was the 2011 Chairwoman of the Board of the El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. She writes a regular blog, Paying for Protection, about the consequences of over-regulation and over-reaching government. Her novel The Planner, which is the prequel to The Chosen, was published in June of 2012.
You can read Interview with an Author~Joyce & Alexandra Swann over at Following in His Footsteps.
Connect
Blessings
Chareen
- Format: Kindle
- Number of Pages: 94
- Publisher: Frontier 2000 Media Group
- Publication Date: 6 November 2016
- ASIN: B01MXGC8UZ
- Author Joyce Swann
- Available from:AMAZON
The Shadow of the Cross is the second book in the N Series and follows the story of Petra and the N's who take up refuge on Prayer Mountain. Petra's nemesis Cardin Ritter has ulterior motives for finding Petra and is determined to hand her over to Mandrake the man in charge of social security and eradicating the world of Christian's ...
Enter Quinton who turned his back on his Christian heritage and needs to give Bella a new identity no matter the cost and will use whom ever to accomplish the impossible feet only to find that meeting Petra will bring about a change he did not expect or look for.
My Thoughts
This book was a great read. It was a real sit on the edge of your seat read. I just could not put it down book. I finished it in less than two evenings. It is an A+ Christian thriller and would fit very well on your book shelf between your Frank Peretti and Left Behind books. The author has done a magnificent job of building a plot of power, justice, mercy, secrecy and suspense with a twist at every corner. It is a vision of the future and possible outcome of the political correctness of our society today. It ended on a cliff hanger I did not see coming and I am looking forward to the next volume in the N series.
Joyce Swann home schooled her ten children from the first grade through master’s degrees. She is a well-known author and speaker on the subject of homeschooling. For nearly a decade she was a popular columnist for Practical Homeschooling Magazine. She now blogs regularly on parenting, homeschooling, and Christian lifestyle issues.
Joyce and her daughter Alexandra have co-authored two other novels, The Fourth Kingdom and The Twelfth Juror, both of which were published in 2010. Joyce shared her personal story of her experiences raising and educating her family and is chronicled in Looking Backward: My Twenty-Five Years as a Homeschooling Mother, published in February of 2011. Her novel, The Warrior, which tells the story of one woman’s ten year prayer vigil for a man she has never met, was released in May of 2012. She is also the author of two children’s books, Tales of Pig Isle and A Horse Called Lightning/A House of Clowns (The McAloons), which began as stories that she told to entertain her grandchildren.
Alexandra is author of No Regrets: How Homeschooling Earned me a Master’s Degree at Age Sixteen and Writing for Today. She has been self-employed for over fourteen years and was the 2011 Chairwoman of the Board of the El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. She writes a regular blog, Paying for Protection, about the consequences of over-regulation and over-reaching government. Her novel The Planner, which is the prequel to The Chosen, was published in June of 2012.
You can read Interview with an Author~Joyce & Alexandra Swann over at Following in His Footsteps.
Connect
- Frontier 2000 Media
- Frontier 2000 Media Facebook Page
- Frontier 2000 Media Twitter
- Alexandra Swann on Twitter
- Joyce's Blog
- Alexandra's Blog
Blessings
Chareen
Connect with me
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Monday, 2 January 2017
The New Year Begins
Happy New Year. We had a wonderful evening fellow shipping with friends. I've been thinking of pursuing my photography learning this year. I found the tripod and we had some fun with our sparklers. We have started the new year hosting missionaries from Canada.
Blessings to you all on the year ahead.
Blessings to you all on the year ahead.
We attempted to draw a heart together. |
Paul took the children up on the roof to watch the fireworks |
Welcome 2017 |
Laura's heart |
Nathaniel's Heart |
2017 with Canadian Guests |
Saturday, 31 December 2016
Laser Light Show Melbourne Town Hall
Creating family memories is something that is becoming more and more important to me. Over the years we have immigrated twice and have had to say good bye too many times ... Growing up in a Military Family meant that we moved often and said good bye often too but in all honesty I don't remember it being a big deal because my parents always made the holiday's a super special time of the year. A few years ago the town of Melbourne put on a laser show on the town hall which we attended. It was wonderful. These have now been shown a few years in a row and this year was a beautiful show. We went to town with our home school friends and Paul did a live stream of the projections. The best part was that my daughter in Sidmouth UK happened to be online and watched the projections live with us! Such an amazing special moment.
I blew the dust off my SLR and took a photo story of the lights this year. I loved how they made a story of Christmas in Melbourne from shopping for the gifts, unwrapping and celebrating. I couldn't make up my mind to which photo's to share so I will share them all.
I'm looking forward to going into Melbourne to see Christmas next year and hope the laser show will be on again. It's so beautiful to watch with lovely music.
Blessings
Chareen
I blew the dust off my SLR and took a photo story of the lights this year. I loved how they made a story of Christmas in Melbourne from shopping for the gifts, unwrapping and celebrating. I couldn't make up my mind to which photo's to share so I will share them all.
Merry Christmas from the city of Melbourne. |
The countdown begins ... |
Melbourne gets dressed for Christmas |
The shops are ready for Christmas and open for trade |
People come to town to shop |
Flinders Station welcomes people to Melbourne |
What's Christmas without lollies? |
Gingerbread Village arrives in Melbourne |
Gingerbread Village is here |
The Nutcracker looks on |
Night Falls and all is still ... |
Santa gets busy wrapping Christmas |
All is quiet and the elves are out to play in Melbourne. |
Christmas arrives in the Town Square |
The Christmas Tree is up and Santa is here in the Square |
Christmas in the Square |
Christmas in the Square |
Christmas is on the bridge and at the Art Center |
Gifts appear beneath all the trees. |
Santa and the Nutcracker celebrate |
Celebrating the season |
I'm looking forward to going into Melbourne to see Christmas next year and hope the laser show will be on again. It's so beautiful to watch with lovely music.
Blessings
Chareen
Friday, 30 December 2016
Looking Back at 2016
Wow I can't believe it's the end of 2016! My space here on my blog has not been as consistent as I would have liked and this is something I aim to change in the new year. Looking back I have come to realise a few things.
In Our Home ...
God opened a door and blessed Paul with a ticket to go home to South Africa to care for his elderly parents for two months.
He has also been selected to do a Fellowship with Zoo's Victoria and go to Tasmania in the near future for ten days.
We enjoyed a lovely week of holidays in March and a second week in October. I'm still very tired which has made me realise that I've taken on far too much this year.
In Our Homeschool We ...
We did attend a few trips this year although I did not manage to share our journey as regularly as I had hoped. I have heaps of photographs languishing on my computer. This is something I hope to change in the new year with a few Throw Back and Field Trip posts. One trip we did enjoy was viewing 200 Years of Australian Fashion
We have continued with art class and explored new things each week. I hope to continue sharing our adventures each week in the Virtual Fridge link up
Personally I have ...
On This Blog
My top ten posts this year have been
As I contemplate the year ahead I'm wondering whether to start doing the Homeschool Mother's Journal again. Is this something you would like to see continued here ?
Blessings
Chareen

You're invited to share about your year in review and link up with the Homeschool Review Crew. This link up goes live on Friday 30th December at 8 am EST.
In Our Home ...
God opened a door and blessed Paul with a ticket to go home to South Africa to care for his elderly parents for two months.
He has also been selected to do a Fellowship with Zoo's Victoria and go to Tasmania in the near future for ten days.
We enjoyed a lovely week of holidays in March and a second week in October. I'm still very tired which has made me realise that I've taken on far too much this year.
In Our Homeschool We ...
We did attend a few trips this year although I did not manage to share our journey as regularly as I had hoped. I have heaps of photographs languishing on my computer. This is something I hope to change in the new year with a few Throw Back and Field Trip posts. One trip we did enjoy was viewing 200 Years of Australian Fashion
We have continued with art class and explored new things each week. I hope to continue sharing our adventures each week in the Virtual Fridge link up
Personally I have ...
- Completed my first year as a leader with the Homeschool Review Crew. It has been fabulous getting to know my co-leaders and learning new skills.
- I have learned how to use Picmonkey and how to blog on WordPress!
- My Facebook page finally clicked over to 1,000 likes
- I've resurrected my photography Instagram account Macro_Passion.
On This Blog
My top ten posts this year have been
- Trim Healthy Mama Summer in a Cup
- Low Carb Baking Mix Collection with FREE download
- Charlotte Mason Blogs to follow
- Compost in a Bottle Science Experiment
- Free Geography Resource List for Homeschool
- Artist Study Claude Monet
- Curriculum for our year ahead
- Lemon Butter Cake in a Mug
- Nature Journaling
- Anzac Day Ode to Fallen
- 12 Days of Christmas
- Trim Healthy Mama Reviews
- Touch Math
- Twelve Days of Christmas
- Trim Healthy Mama Forum
As I contemplate the year ahead I'm wondering whether to start doing the Homeschool Mother's Journal again. Is this something you would like to see continued here ?
Blessings
Chareen

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