Heart Reflections Live
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
A Simply Beautiful Read-a-Loud
Anyone who has been reading my blog for any length of time, must know how much we love books around here. As well as moral classics , Bible stories and vintage children's books, we are always on the lookout for picture books that are edifying and that little bit special.
This one was a blessing... Talitha and I had already found and read "Great Joy" at one of our council libraries, and it had become one of "the desires of our hearts"- you know, the sort of thing you don't exactly pray for, as it seems too flippant; but the sort of thing you say, "Lord I'd really love one of those...", and leave it at that.
Well, once again, The Good Lord answered the desires of our hearts. We paid a visit to a lovely Christian elderly couple, who used to be our neighbours in our first marital home. We moved just before Zara turned 2. It was wonderful to be welcomed as if we'd never been away, and they delighted over the twins. The girls were invited to peruse a pile of children's books in the library, which were going to be disposed of and invited to take what they desired. Guess what was in the pile... "Great Joy"!!!
This will become a seasonal favourite for us. Set at Christmas time in 1940's New York, it tells of a little girl's compassion towards a homeless elderly man, who entertained on the streets. The illustrations are beautiful. I highly recommend you check out "Great Joy" by Kate Dicamillo, illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline. It is truly special and will bless you no matter what time of the year you choose to read it.
Labels: Books
posted by Father's Grace Ministries at
8:16 pm
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Brothers
Isn't this sweet! I love watching our dear little Sons as they lie sleeping. It is so endearing how they snuggle into each other. I often call them Snugglepot and Cuddlepie. They are so yummy.
Their favourite lullaby (the one that works the best) is the children's hymn "Fairest Lord Jesus". It usually gets them to sleep very quickly, and what precious words to sing into their dear little souls. As well as a normal musical diet of hymns and classical music, the twins are rather partial to Donut Man songs and they just love The Gaither Vocal Band Homecoming tour to Australia!
Labels: The twins
posted by Father's Grace Ministries at
8:13 pm
Happy Saint Patrick's Day!
Well, I can only lay claim to one Irish lass in my family tree (We're mainly English and German), but since hubby has a bit more Irish blood than I do, that definately makes our children of at least part Irish descent, and what a good excuse to make Saint Patrick's Day another memory making learning time for homeschool.
Today, we all searched our wardrobes for something green to wear, and started our school devotions talking about the doctrine of the Trinity and the life of Saint Patrick, who was responsible for converting the whole of Ireland to Christianity. The amazing story of his kidnapping as a child shows God's hand of sovereignty over that part of the world, as well as over Patrick's own life. It's amazing to note too, that it was a missionary from Ireland not long after who God sent to evangelize Scotland!
We watched the docu-drama "Patrick" (available at Koorong) narrated by Liam Neeson. It is meant to be very factual and authentic; and just for fun also watched the old black and white movie "Little Nelly Kelly" with Judy Garland playing both mother and daughter- really sweet and funny.
We don't do a lot of craft, but today made green Celtic Style crosses- the girls did a great job!
Dinner was something the girls will remember for sometime to come: GREEN Shepherd's Pie (The cheese was hidden in the middle) and green jelly for dessert. I usually avoid food colouring where possible, but made an exception for tonight. They eventually ate the pie after reassurance it tasted the same as usual!
So what did you do for St Patrick's Day?
If you are wondering what a photo of Talitha, then aged 4, swimming in my parents' pool has to do with St Patrick's Day- IT DOESN'T!!! I clicked on a picture of a Shamrock! Don't ask me what happened there! But it's a cute slice of life from the Roberts family, so I thought I'd leave it up! Ah Technology!(Grrrr) Blessings to you all.
Labels: family fun, homeschooling, memory-making
posted by Father's Grace Ministries at
7:29 pm
Saturday, March 07, 2009
The Marriage Book
The Marriage Book was especially added to the setting for my hubby and I, as a reminder that it was 10 years ago on Valentines Day, that God showed him I was the one set apart for him. Time passes too quickly...
posted by Father's Grace Ministries at
7:34 am
Special Touches
The children got a great deal of pleasure helping add these special touches...
Labels: family fun, memory-making, Numbering our days
posted by Father's Grace Ministries at
7:29 am
Making Holiday Memories
One of the things I love most about homeschooling, is the opportunity to make memories, as I have the priveledge of having our children with me daily, instead of being at school most of the day. (That's not to say our lives are perfect, and that every homeschooling day is a delight. I can assure you we have our Bad days. Our children have a sin-nature, whether born into a Christian family or not, and there are many times that I have to remind myself that homeschooling is a marathon and not a sprint, but nevertheless I feel very priveledged to have the opportunity to nuture 4 little souls daily.)
While thinking about memory-making and "numbering our days" recently, I came across Annie's Holiday Pages on the net
http://annieshomepage.com/holiday.html . What a resource! Many links for heaps of different holidays and all from a Christian perspective. So, in February this year for the first time we celebrated Valentines Day as a FAMILY!
The girls and I baked some pink heart-shaped cookies for housegroup and Church that week, we did a children's bible study on love during homeschool and also learnt about Saint Valentine the Christian Martyr- Wow! and I thought Valentines Day was a pagan thing! On the big day itself, we had a Family Valentines Feast. The girls and I dressed the table up using things we had as a surprise for Daddy. They really enjoyed it!
Australians as a whole I believe don't really celebrate the holidays in a Christian manner. We are fiercely patriotic when it comes to Australia Day and ANZAC Day, but Australian Society is sadly very secularized, much more so, than the USA, though we hope and pray God will revive this land and change that. At the moment, there's nothing a typical Aussie loves more than a long weekend, and sadly that's all Easter has become to many. But for myself, I'm totally inspired by this website, and I'm sure it will help bring many more happy memories to the Roberts Household. By the way, Valentines Day already has a special significance to us, as it was on a Valentines Day 10 years ago now, that God showed my dear husband that I was "the one"- how time flies...
Here are some pictures of our Family Valentines feast!
Labels: family fun, family life, memory-making, Numbering our days
posted by Father's Grace Ministries at
6:19 am
