Wednesday 23 May 2018

Homemade Cup Coasters {Virtual Fridge}

This Week
These cup coasters were super easy to make.  Nathaniel used 3 mm square cork flats sheets.  Used a magazine to find graphics that he wanted to use which he cut out to fit the square tiles.  We used PVA glue to attatch the graphics and sprayed the top with a varnish coat to protect.  This was one of those super easy and practical crafts.

Are you on INSTAGRAM ?  You can now use your IG account to link up an show us your art adventures.


This weeks Feature

This weeks feature is a Easy Personalizable Kid’s Luminary tutorial from over at Chas' Crazy Creations.

Your Turn

I invite you to take some photo's of your children's artistic pursuits put them in a post and link up with me I would love to come over and see the wonderful art your children have enjoyed doing.
Virtual Fridge Link Up

Blessings
Chareen

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Friday 4 May 2018

Mother's Day Thoughts

Did you know that the history of Mother's Day goes back as far as the Ancient Greeks and Romans? Mother's Day in it's present form began in 1908 in the United States.  The History website has some rather interesting background about it. It was designated to the second Sunday in May by President Woodrow Wilson in 1914. It was started by the church in the 1600's in England and was called Mothering Sunday and celebrated on the fourth Sunday of Lent.  It had it's rebirth in the general community in the late 1800's as a work club to teach woman how to improve sanitary conditions in order to lower infant mortality. Mother's Day was first held in Australia in 1924.


Dear Mother Who Feels She Has No Value
Our roles as mothers have a deep value far and above all we could ever imagine.  It saddens me just how devalued motherhood has become in the current social climate and today as I was reading through some scriptures pertaining to Motherhood I realised that God places a high value upon our position whether we are physical mothers or spiritual mothers.

Our Teaching is Valuable
In Proverbs 6:20-21 it says: My son, keep your father's command and do not forsake your mother's teaching. Bind them always on your heart; fasten them around your neck. Think about that for a moment.  We are instructed to not forsake our mother's teaching and to bind all her teaching about our necks.  Whether we are teaching our children life skills, new habits, scholastic subjects, language, anything we teach has value.  God sees it as so valuable that whatever we are teaching needs to be remembered by our children.

We are Worth MORE than Rubies*
Proverbs 31:10-30 We are so valuable that our value is equated to that of Rubies. You are valuable.  Stop comparing your real life to someone elses staged picture perfect life on TV or social media.   You are more valuable being yourself than trying to become what you think others expect of you.  You are especially created in the image of the Lord God (Genesis 1:27) and carefully he formed you in your mother's womb (Psalm 139:13) and you are fearfully and wonderfully made(Psalm 139:14).

*Did you know that rubies have a current market value of $15,000 / ct and a red ruby has the highest value of all. Rubies are a member of the four most precious gemstones in the world.

Our Position brings Blessing
In Exodus 20:12 God commands a blessing upon our children simply because of our position as the parent. God has chosen to use us as the reason that blessing flows to our children. The key that unlocks that blessing from God towards our children is their choice to children honour us.

Think about that for a moment.  We are so important that our very existence God chose to use as a reason to bless our children.

God compares His compassion to that of a Mother
We are so valuable to God that He chose to compare his compassion and remembrance with that of a Mother in Isaiah 49:15.

I think it is time for us as Mother's to take time to learn the truth of our personal value.  We are rendered powerless in our positions as mothers because we do not understand our true personal value.  We are robbed of the pleasure of our blessing (Psalm 127:3) when we base our value in the choices of our children.  Your value is not determined or reflected through the choices your children make.  Your value is in that God made you and He chose you and He formed you into a woman and a mother.

You are a Blessing Mother and you are deeply loved.




Think seasonally. One interest per season, coupled with thirty minutes of reading a day, may be all that is needed to keep up the Mother Culture and regain any lost enthusiasm for living - Karen Andreola

Past Thoughts on Mothers Day to Encourage you

  • Dear Mom Who is Feeling Overwhelmed – As a mother so often we feel overwhelmed and alone. Here are some words to encourage and equip you as a Mother.
  • Mother this IS who you ARE! – Often times we forget who we really are in the humdrum of daily living. Here are some words to encourage and remind you of who you are.
  • 10 Things every Mom should Know – 10 things to remember from the perspective of your child.
  •  Do you value "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle ... " - "The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world."  How often do we hear these words?  Often enough for them to totally loose their impact. As a full time stay at home Mom it's so easy to loose sight of the true value of our positions.
  • Are you getting filled up because you are pouring out ...  This question really impacted me. It was one of those Ah ha moments.  I have been feeling very 'flat' of late and life was starting to become flatter by the day. I was generally  living in survival mode.  I should know better since I often ask my circle of home school mothers "What are you doing daily to recharge yourselves ?" Yet somehow in the busyness of life I had forgotten to apply to myself what I was encouraging my friends to do. 
  • Time Out for YOU the Mom - this is an interesting question and one that often gets mixed responses from the community.
  • Cultivate your soul - Are you living life abundantly?  How can you reach that place?  Read more and be encouraged.
  • Find posts on Mother Culture here. -Some posts to encourage you on looking after yourself well in order to fulfil your role as Mother.
Ideas for Mothers Day
History of Mother's Day
This post is part of the Homeschool Review Crew Resources & Gift Ideas for Mother's Day Round up.


Wednesday 2 May 2018

Classical Christian Education & Charlotte Mason In-depth Guide for FREE

I am super excited to share a new FREE resource I heard about today.  The Old Schoolhouse has compiled a brand new FREE guide for Classical and Charlotte Mason Home Educators.


This beautiful full colour ditial supplement contains:
  • 70 pages of encouragement.
  • 20 Different articles covering: The Value of High School Latin, Why Teach with Historical Fiction, Learning Disabilities: How to Adapt the Curriculum, Living an Educational Lifestyle with Charlotte Mason and many more.
  • Learn from Sonya Shafer from Simply Charlotte Mason, Lee and Robert Bortins with Classical Conversations, Karen Andreola from Charlotte Mason Research & Supply, Dr. Christopher Perrin with Classical Academic Press—and so many more!
I'm always so blessed by the greater home educating community when they give freely of themselves.  I've been a part of the Old Schoolhouse community now for five years and recently read about how Gena and her husband Paul started the company.  I remember years ago we used to look forward to the copy of their magazine arriving in New Zealand and our local support group would share the magazine around for encouragement and news of new products.

Pop on over to The Old Schoolhouse for your FREE copy of Classical Christian Education & Charlotte Mason: An In-Depth Guide.

Blessings
Chareen