A Dream? You decide...........

I am not one to usually buy into these things, and have often questioned those who have told such stories. I have listened before as those I was very close to talk about the spirit world, people
I 've trusted or do trust, so I always believed them but always felt something like this would never happen to me. Well, it was after many days of lying around sick that I was again asleep on the couch. Luke and Travis, also sick, asleep in the "big bed". Our entire family had pretty much missed Thanksgiving this year due to illness, except for the wonderful to go plate from The Cracker Barrel. It was early on Sunday morning in that place between wake and sleep that this unclear fuzzy dream occured, but the message was extremely clear. It was my sweet Momma. She came to me in her sweet but no nonsense way and she had a message for me and "the boys". She always called my brothers this and this time was no differnt. She told me to stop being sad because she was gone. She was just fine, wonderful in fact. It was like she had read my mind, my heart the past few weeks. Like she had sensed my dread of the upcoming holidays. She must have watched as I opened each box of  Christmas decorations, and cringed inside as every box revealed another memory of her through something she had crafted, sewn, painted, or written. Every lid that was lifted, a memory of her flooded my mind. While I was, and am thankful for such a caring giving mother that made even an ordinary day special, it made me mourn for her that much more. It was bitter sweet. In the dream she shared with me that I need not be so sad and that every holiday was worth giving my all, especially for Luke. She told me it was ok to cry, but not to let it consume me. I couldn't see her clearly, but I could feel her peaceful spirit. It was bright and warm there! She was telling me, "It Is Well" and that this was God's plan just by her smile. It was so wonderful to see her and talk to her again. As I tried to get closer to her she faded away. As if to say, no not too close yet,  just go on about your life and give it your all  for Jesus and your family.  This was the strangest encounter. I did heed my Mother's words. I got up off  the sofa today and decorated with my fellas. We had a blessed day full of laughter and I know that she is smiling down upon us. Thank you Momma for reminding me to press on! I love you and miss you so much.

album 11\26\2009 (28 photos), by Crystal McAtee

I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
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Homeschool Stuff 09-10 (183 photos), by Crystal McAtee

I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
Click here to view photos

"Flat Stanley"

This week we are do a unit study from "Flat Stanley" by Jeff Brown at this site, www.homeschoolshare.com .
Pics to follow at the end of the week........

It is April 19th!

Where has the year gone? It is almost over! (the school year that is) More interruptions have followed this winter, but Luke and I still have over 150 days of school in! YAY. I will add a summary or list of things we have been up to since my last post.

The biggest change that has come for us in 2010 is the home going of my Daddy in on March 22. His battle of 12 plus years with Alzheimer's has ended. It has bitter sweet for the entire family. Daddy was able to go to hospice for his last week of life and it was a wonderfully peaceful experience. I am not sure of the history of this service but I believe it is God breathed and inspired. We could feel the spirit of the Lords peace as soon as we entered the doors. It was a palpable feeling of the Holy Spirits grace and strength. Daddy went home to be with Jesus at 9:45 AM on March 22. His passing was peaceful and my Mom was with him, as she had prayed to be. She sat by his bed gently stroked his head and spoke sweetly to him during this week. What a strong faith she has. It has been a difficult journey, but God gave it a peaceful end. I just find it so hard to be sad. Daddy is in the presence of JESUS! The one he loved and taught about so many years. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that today he is healed and whole. It brings me great peace and YES, even joy that he is there! That is the most wonderful gift to give your family. The assurance that you will go to heaven and that there is a chance to see your loved ones in Christ again!!
His funeral was so sweet! It was a true celebration of Daddy's short life. He was 67 and had this disease for 12 plus years. A dear friend and pastor, Dr. Larry Blanton began the service by teaching on and painting the most beautiful biblical picture of heaven! There was a song played next that I picked out by Vince Gill, "Go Rest High On That Mountain". A song that I felt told the best story of Daddy's life. As it played, yes I cried. I cried even more as I felt my sweet little 7 year old boy reach up ad place his arm around my neck. I looked over and and he too was in tears. At that moment I realized that I had lost one of the most amazing men in my life, but that God had given me 2 replacements; my husband and my son. What a memory and gift that I will treasure in my heart for as long as I live. After this song my sweet husband gave Daddy's eulogy. I will never be able to express in words what this meant to me. He was so transsparent with his feelings for my Dad and gave a beautiful synopsis of the awesome man that my Daddy was. From begining to end Daddy touched and changed lives, that is why we are here afterall. In closing My mother's pastor, Reverend Tim Snyder closed the service by "drawing the net" to the audience and paing tribute to a man he knew only through word of mouth and testimony. The tesitimony being what a great man of God he was, what a Bible scholoar he was, and last but not least the awesome father and husband he was. The service ended at the grave side with scripture reading by both pastors. And my oldest brother, David singing while playing his guitar, "Haven Of Rest"! He was amazing, and comforting as always when he picks up that guitar. The icing on the cake was that the Air Force was there and performed the folding and presentation of the American flag and the playing of tapps on the trumpet! WOW, what a moment! My Daddy would have been so honored!

This journey makes me even more hungry for heaven than ever before. Heaven is truely sweeter and also, dear friends obtainable through the work of the cross of Jesus Christ. Won't you meet me there!? The joy and peace I have experienced throughth is horrific event of watching my Daddy leave us little by little and then completly can come only through a power greater, higher than anything we have ever seen! Jesus promises this to all who accept him and what he has done for everyone through his death, burial, and resurection! Death has lost it's sting because of Calvory! I have lived it, I know!

A New Year..........

Here we are it is January 2010! I can not believe that a new decade has begun. Seems like only yesterday we were preparing for Y2K! My family has encountered many trials in the past year and especially since my last post. I will post a poem later that explains it all. Pretty much in a nut shell My Mom had open heart surgery in Oct. and is now doing wonderful! It took several hospitals and ambulance rides to find the problem, but God was right on time. AMEN!

Luke and I have a tough year staying on track with all the distractions. But, all in all we have stayed the course and he is learning so much. Math and Science are still his strong suites while reading continues to be a struggle. He is finally getting it though! Praise the Lord. Many a tear has been shed over this subject and yes even an email sent to a local Christian school. :( The Lord however still is leading in the homeschooling direction. So, we are pressing on.

This week we are doing a creation based unit study from www.homeschoolshare.com. It has been so exciting for both Luke & me. I am learning so much that I was taught to be fact as a child was totally wrong. It amazes me how the school systems refuse to teach all aspects as possibilities and teach a falsehood as complete truth! Anyway here are some of the activities we have done and will be doing in this study.

The books I am using are;
The Bible,
"What Really Happened To The Dinosaurs" by John Morris and Ken Hamm,
"The Great Dinosaur Mystery and the Bible" by Paul S. Taylor,
"Dinosaurs by Design" by Duane T. Gish.
I purchased these off wwww.amazon.com at really good prices.

Subjects and what we have learned:
Bible:
Creation study, and discussed what day the dinosaurs were created
The Behemoth in Job 40: 15-24, Luke took the description and drew a picture of what he may have looked like.
The Fall: Read in Genesis 3, discussed sin and the consequences of sin= separation from God
The Great Flood: Read Genesis 5-8
After The Flood: Genesis 9 "What might have happened to the dinosaurs?"

Science
Animal Classification: Reptiles, discussed the similarities of the Dino's tot he reptiles we know today. Discussed the characteristics of a reptile
Defined Paleontology and Paleontologist: created a small bone yard with a 3D Dino puzzle that Luke had to find and put together.
Discovered the different kinds of dinosaurs and their characteristics. Created a "My Dinosaur Book" filled with the names and pictures of many different kinds of Dino's.
Dinosaur Diets: meat or plant eaters, still some controversy
What are Fossils?
What is Extinction and endangered?
Dinosaur Eggs

Social Studies Components
Dinosaur Time Line
What have Dino bones been found, and what types have been found there.
Review the 7 continents

Language Arts
Tons of new vocabulary and writing all the new words for handwriting practice.
Adjectives and using them to describe the dinosaurs

Just for fun:
Treasure hunts each morning for reading
Make a paper mache' Dino egg
Create fossil prints
Create a Dino diorama
Play a Dino memory game
We will also be watching some Buddy Davis video's about all the dinosaurs ets. They are very clever!

Dino wrap up: We pray that on Sat. we will make it to Orlando with all healthy and to eat at the T-Rex cafe where there are life sized dinosaurs all around, metor showers, and a bone yard to dig for Dino bones! We also hope to visit the Dino dig at Disney's animal kingdom to see real Dino bones, fossils, and dig up even more Dino bones. Oh and of course ride the DINOSAUR ride. Luke said, "Don't worry I know when to close my eyes!"

For math we have continues mastering the addition facts and will move onto subtraction after Disney.
This has been a fun study with tons more activities than we can fit in. I am sure we will be visiting this subject again and again. And again I say what an AMAZING creator!!
Still loving this journey God has called me to called Homeschooling!

October Homeschool Fun!

This month is one of my favorites! We have had an action packed month and it is only the 13Th! We started the month with winding up our leaf study from last week. We did a science experiment that proved that leaf colors are present in the leaf all year around, but it is the changing of the seasons that brings out the change in the colors we see. We have learned that October is national apple month. This is the month when most apples are harvested in the USA. We went to Sky Top to pick apples and have done many apple activities since then. We even made our own applesauce! YUMMY!!

We also did a study Johnny Appleseed separating the facts from the legends. Without this man we would not have such a plenteous supply of apples here in the states. He was said to carry a Bible everywhere he went and had a heart of service and giving. He is a wonderful example of how we need to be. As soon as I can get this blogger to do it I will be posting some pictures of all of our apple adventures.

This week are doing a study on "Wonderful Me". Pointing out that God has created each individual differently and that he has a purpose for each one. We will be pointing out and discovering the many wonderful things God has instilled in Luke and doing many activities to point out how he can use these for the Lord. We are reading, "A Hat For Ivan" by Max Lucado that points out the importance on leaning on the master "hat maker" to find your purpose and the hardships of trying to please everyone else. At the end of the week we will have completed a "Wonderful Me" notebook full of the ways Luke is unique and special. Some of the elements of the notebook are; My House, Where I Live, My Address & Phone #, What makes me special, My signature, My Family, My heart belongs to, A few of my favorite things, When I grow up, My helping hands, My Time Line, If I had this much money, Me, myself, and I, Interview of Luke. All courtesy of www.homeschoolshare.com. Other books we will read are; "God Gave Us You", "You Are Special", "Stormy's Hat", and many more that point to this same theme.

For the last 2 weeks in October we will do a unit on Pumpkins. Anything you can think of for this unit we are doing. We will be reading, "The Pumpkin Patch Parable" as our main theme. We will do many pumpkin activities for math, science, reading, writ ting, language arts, and FUN!