Squaw Creek Ranch: The best part of waking up…

…Is Mozart in your cup. <sigh>

Thanks to the whoever it was that tried to sweeten my coffee this morning…it worked.

Our Homeschool Curriculum

2010-2011 School Year

Daily studies take about 2-3 hours to complete

Jessica(13) - 8th grade
Studying God's Word (book H)
Math-U-See (Zeta)
Winston Grammar - Advanced
Abeka - America for Hist/Geog
Easy Grammar 8
Assigned monthly reading
Music - Piano, Recorder & Singing

Jacob(12) - 6th grade
Studying God's Word(book F)
Math-U-See (Epsilon)
Italic Handwriting (book F)
Winston Grammar - Basic
Daily Grams 6
Abeka - New World Hist/Geog
Assigned monthly reading
Music - Piano lessons

Daniel(9) - 4th grade
Studying God's Word (book D)
Easy Grammar 4
Rod&Staff English 4
Math-U-See (Gamma)
Italic Handwriting (book D)
Abeka - History of the US
Music - Fiddle/Violin lessons

Emma(7) - 2nd grade
Studying God's Word (book B)
Rod&Staff English 2
Rod&Staff Proper Health and Manners
Rod&Staff Patterns in Nature
**In most Rod and Staff workbooks I only have the children do half the bookwork. They are designed for school children to keep them busy(and bore them!)
Math-U-See (Alpha)
Italic Handwriting (book B)
Music - Recorder & singing, self taught piano

Micah(5) - K/1st Grade**
Studying God's Word (book A)
Rod and Staff Phonics units 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Rod and Staff Reading untis 1,2 & 3 only
Italic Handwriting (book A)

** There are no formal studies expected of the children until 6 years of age, until then they are expected to enjoy being a child at home. However, Micah begged to start school Fall 2010. When you begin school in our home, you begin in the 1st grade.

Family Studies
Story of the World (book 3) - Susan Wise Bauer
Topical study of WWI & WWII
Apologia Botany - Elementary Series
Art
Unit studies on various topics whenever/ if ever the mood hits

Kids Say...

Daniel(9) My children are trained to answer the phone "Hello, this is ____ speaking" - Daniel, a little groggy early in the morning, answered the phone and said "Hello, this is Daniel speaking, may I please be excused?" Thankfully, it was Grandma.

Micah(5) This morning we talked about self-righteousness, then as we worked we listened to "Great is Thy Faithfulness". Micah was singing along saying "Great is my faithfulness, great is my faithfulness..." We decided he needed another lesson in self-righteousness. ;)

Daniel (8)"Mamma? If you had a baby with two heads, would he be really intelligent?" Mamma replies "No Danny, it would be two separate heads just like two separate children" Daniel - "Oh, so he wouldn't be smarter than me?" Mamma - "Nope." Daniel "Good".

Daniel(8, born ONLY in 2000) - "Momma? Was that friend of yours born waaaaaaay back in the 1900's?

Emma's(5) Words of Wisdom "The older you get, the faster you can ride a scooter"

Daniel(7) "Mamma? What's it called when a snail is on a boat?" "Hmm...what Danny?" "A snailor. I came up with that in my own head too!"

Daniel(7) comes up to me(34) and says "Mamma? Can we buy an old parakeet and name it Jennifer and teach the other two parakeets to say 'hello' to it?". Mamma - "No, you can't"

The kids were out playing after dinner and Paul and I were standing in the kitchen hug'n and lov'n when Emma(5) "Kramers" through the door, looks at us and states..."I hope you know you are married now."

I walked into our living room this afternoon to find Daniel(7) with an electrical cord plugged into the wall...the other end cut off with bare wires. Now, remember, Daddy has taught his boys to have a healthy respect for electricity. We often give our children old appliances to take apart and study for fun. I gave Daniel a tart warmer that I didn't want anymore, cut the plug off and threw THAT in the garbage. He must have pulled it out. So, that said, I find Daniel playing with the cord. I ran up to him yelling "unplug it! NOW!" He unplugged it quickly and said "I know not to touch the wires, mamma, but if you touch the wires to flys on the window, it makes them do donuts!" (donuts=spin in circles at a high rate of speed. A new word introduced into the childrens vocabulary when Daddy took us into an icy parking lot in our 15 pass van and did "donuts" around and around and around)

Emma(5), "Don't worry Micah, I don't think I have hydrophobe." She had a touch of the flu and I had to reassure her that is not what she had. Emma watches Old Yeller waaaaaay too much.(hydrophobia aka rabies is why Old Yeller died, she is sure any animal who looks sick has hydrophobia) :)

Just the kids and I were going to a friends house the other night. I had been driving the van for a good half an hour, in the dark, in the country, listening to a book on tape when Daniel calls out, "Mom?" "Yes, Danny?" ...silence...."Danny? Did you call me?"..."Oh yeah..I just wanted to make sure you were still there." Silly boy. :)

Jessica(9), Jacob(7) and Daniel(5) were playing house in a tent they built downstairs. I overheard Jessica saying "O.k., let's pretend you boys are the little brothers and I am the oldest sister and we will play house..." ...not a lot left to the imagination...

Emma(4) was "playing" her Kazoo to the tune of Happy Birthday for her older brother Jacob when Daniel(6) swung around the corner and said "Emma, you need to take that thing in and get it tuned...it sounds terrible!"

Emma(5) "Mamma? Can I marry my baby sister? She is so cute."

Daniel(7) "Mamma? Do babies, like Gracie, can they say stuff in their mind, like words?"
Mamma "No, Danny, not yet" Daniel "Man....it must be boring in there."

Emma(5) "Mamma? Can I marry Daddy when I grow up? I really want to marry Daddy someday, then we can be sisters!" ..hmmm where do you start?

Meet Our Beasts

Bailey the calico cat - Chief Mouser and usually a litter a kittens somewhere
Sasha the mooch - and usually a litter of kittens somewhere as well
7 blasted ducks - Swedish Blue, Black Cayuga, Khaki Campbell
A flock of Freedom Ranger broilers for the freezer in Sept
Kelly - the blond Shetland sheep
Baa Baa - a black Shetland sheep
Oreo the Guinea Pig
Ferdinand - Our goat buck with the big horns
Juniper our milking doe - Saanan
Chloe the doe - an Alpine and her two doelings
Jackie Chan the other doe - an obnoxious oberhasli and her wether
2 meat rabbits, a breeding pair - and plenty of offspring
Sampson the Mighty - ShihTzu Stud
Stetson the Poodle - Chief Stud
5 Sweet Shih Tzus Girls - Pansy & Buttercup, Summer, Shasta & Merri
Lillie the Housedog - ShihTzu(any other breed in our house would be unheard of)
Turkeys - Be them eat'n or heritage breed, we have too many
40-60 Cornish Cross meat birds now in the freezer with friends...chillen
Pigs - seasonal
Hank the Rooster
Flock of leghorns, americaunas, rhode island reds and whatever else we find on Craigslist
Animals we've tried...gerbils, homing pigeons, hermit crabs, guinea pigs, rats, hamsters, geckos, snakes, pheasants, turtles, turkeys, every wild bird, many wild bunnies, mice, a horse, cows, snails, ladybugs, spiders, Stellar's Jay..

My Testimony

This is my testimony that I told, for the first time, at our church’s Titus Two meeting November, 2007. I am so glad I put it into words. My children have enjoyed seeing where I was and what the Lord has done with their Mamma.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

I was born and raised in Lynden, the youngest of 5 children. My parents had four children, then surprise! I came eleven years later. I was raised like an only child as my brothers and sisters were quickly grown and out of the house. Our father owned a successful towing business and was a hard working man, well respected. My mother stayed at home and took care of her family. Both of my parents were loving and provided for us very well.

I did have the blessing of being raised in a Christian family and being brought to church every Sunday. My mother tells me I prayed a prayer, accepted Christ as my savior, when I was five years old. I do not remember it. I can remember being encouraged by Sunday school teachers to just say those words, ask Jesus into your heart, like just the words themselves would cause God to hear, and make me right with Him.I went to Christian schools, every church program and was raised in the same church from early childhood to becoming an adult. My family was well known in the church and that was reassuring to me. Truly if my parents were prominent in Gods church(or the community for that matter), then I too, must be prominent in Gods eyes and a asset to Him.

I could have told you a simple plan of salvation and recited much scripture. I would pray, but only because I wanted something. I knew what was best and if I could just convince God….I never read my Bible, I was told it was written at an adult level. The Bible was boring and it needed an interpreter. I had built my own plan of salvation in my own deceitful heart. Without reading God’s Word daily, one developed their own religion from thoughts and feelings from their heart. "The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it? Jeremiah 17:9 “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2

Sure, I was saved, I performed my part and God had no choice now, but to respond to my prayer. Jesus loved me, this I know, aaaall my sins are forgiven, no matter how bad they were, I was a good person, not blaspheming God, I believed in Jesus, My sins would all be forgiven in the end, right? Wrong. “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.” Galatians 6:7

Left to this thinking I grew into a young adult. I had a very smart mouth and rebellious heart that my poor mother quietly put up with. I was self centered, seeking my own pleasure. I was never made to do housework, never cooked, never cleaned my room, if I waited long enough, my mother would do it. I never had the joy of caring for babies(without doing it for the money) or learning to do real woman’s work. I was a manipulative daughter. I had very few friends prior to high school, can you guess why?

Upon entering high school I did gain a large group of friends, became ‘popular‘ within my clique, social and rarely kept my feet at home. However, during this time I had a very strong conscience that annoyed me. Many things I kept from doing because I knew God was watching and I would disappoint Him and my father whom I respected. I remember telling my mother what I was going to do, as opposed to submitting to her authority and asking. She said O.k., and I would leave. But then again, I knew she would say yes, because if she didn‘t I could make her life miserable that next day pouting and distancing myself.

While in high school I met a young man with whom I started dating. He was very sweet and kind, he made me laugh…Fortunately he was the first guy I dated, unfortunately neither of us were in any state to consider marriage! But, guess what we wanted to do!

Paul asked permission from my father to marry me and upon the day of my high school graduation. He proposed and we were married one year later.Paul was a patient wonderful husband, I however continued my fits of pouting or coldness/distancing myself to manipulate him, just like I did my parents. It didn’t help that we both worked 40+ hour weeks. After our second year of marriage Paul said he wanted to find another church(no, not a wife) so….we found one. Once there, I served wherever I could, it pleased my flesh and I was noticed. New people, a new start.

That next year we were blessed with a beautiful daughter, Jessica. A Growing Kids God’s Way class we took when I was pregnant provoked deeper thinking in me about what God demands out of our lives, discipline, obedience, the salvation of my children…I was going to give birth to an immortal soul. On the earth for a short time, but eternity in Heaven or Hell. I began craving this deeper knowledge of the Lord, I wanted to cause myself to “grow” spiritually and become wiser, however still with the wrong motives. I would take out my Bible and forcibly read it, all the while angry at not understanding what I was reading. After finding myself pregnant with a second child I remember feeling more and more depressed.

I asked questions to friends and family, people I considered godly and received for the most part feeble answers. “How did you change after becoming born again?“ …well, I feel this way now or I felt that way then or worse yet, well…life never changed for me much, I just knew I was forgiven…It was based mostly on feelings. I was seeing many Christians around me, but their lives differed very very little from those who lived apart from God. They could look good on the weekend, but then drink on camping outings and cuss when the children weren’t around. Their music, their language, their entertainment was the same as the worlds.

I started questioning my own salvation. Jacob was about a year old and I had become depressed and frantic inside, I was convinced if I were to die, I would spend eternity in Hell. Here I was raising these two innocent children to be hypocrites like myself. I didn’t want my children to wear Christianity like a ring on their finger or ride on my coat tails, as I had my parents. I heard someone quote “God has no grandchildren”. After talking to Paul we arranged a meeting with our pastor, this was very humiliating to me, but I was going to hell, as far as I was concerned… tomorrow and I needed to do something about it today. I met with our pastor, I told him with tears I didn’t think I was saved, I didn’t truly KNOW God… in fact I had never felt Him in my life. I remember he looked at me with these sweet sincere eyes, rubbed my back and said to me “Don’t be silly, you are saved. You must have faith that you are saved. You believe Jesus is the Son of God and he died for your sins. That is all that is needed.” He chuckled a little at my foolishness, and told me to go home and read the book of Philippians several times and I would feel MUCH better.

Well, guess what? It didn’t work. I felt even worse. Again, I had gone to man for the confirmation of my salvation and avoided God Almighty. I thank the Lord he didn’t allow me to wallow in that state for very long. Paul flew every Monday morning to work for the week on an island that summer. That was it! On a Monday evening, after he had left, I hurried the children to bed. I went to my room, got on my knees and started confessing to God everything I could possible think of, everything. I told Him I had no right to come before Him, no right to be heard by Him. I begged him to save me. I acknowledged Christ Jesus as the one who came to die for people like me and asked for His blood to wash me clean and forgive me.

I pleaded for understanding when reading His Word. I knew without understanding I couldn’t grow. After all those years of Christian schooling and churching I was void of all truth.

After an hour I opened my Bible…every verse I read made wonderful sense and I read into the early morning. I couldn’t get enough, It was as real and applicable as hearing a story told to me. I spent so much time reading and learning in the next few weeks that a sister in Christ actually rebuked me for “reading too much Bible and getting too caught up with all this studying.” I was ecstatic, God accepted my prayer. I was truly saved!

God was renewing my mind. My exposed sin was overwhelming, and at times too much to handle, but God was patient with me and taught me I could never be close to perfect and that it was His job to sanctify me, throughout my lifetime.

That was almost 9 years ago. I stand amazed at how God drew me to Him. I never would have come had He not drawn me. More humbled WHY God choose me. I don‘t have to look far to see others who I think would suit Him far better. But then again, he took what He chose and created a whole new person out of me.

I lost, or gave up, many friends over the next couple years. Our conversations were gossipy, had a subtle anti husband tone or in other ways did not please the Creator. I could not participate any longer. What I used to think of as fun, I now saw as sin.

I used to be loud, foolish and opinionated, He has quieted my spirit and continues to do so.

In the midst of all this the Lord mercifully brought my husband to a saving faith. We are now heirs together.

I now have 6 sweet children, I was going to stop at 2.
He has used my children as powerful tools to create patience, kindness and gentleness in me. HE has taught me how to love my husband and love my children. I had no clue coming into marriage how to do either. Elizabeth Prentiss puts it so clearly in her book Stepping Heavenward - “And there are my children!…For their sakes I am continually constrained to seek after an amended, and sanctified life; what I want them to become I must become myself."

I can say with total confidence, salvation through Christ, is mine. I do not base my salvation on one experience, as I must walk with my God all the days of my life and always question my faith in God. "Work out your salvation with fear and trembling;" Phl 2:12

Daily I see my sin, more than I ever wanted to, I see where I fall, I struggle, I have no good deeds to offer, but I glory in the fact I am forgiven and washed clean, able to come before the throne of God Almighty every day and talk with Him.

I would like to close with a verse from my second favorite quiet time book. Valley of Vision. “I am ready to flee from myself because of my abominations; Yet thou dost not abhor me; but has devised means for my return to thee, and that by the Son who died to give me life.”

Squaw Creek Ranch

Monday, December 19, 2011

The best part of waking up…

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Lydia Joy - 6/24/2011

Elijah - 2 yrs

Gracie Joy - 4 yrs

Micah - 6 yrs

Emma Joy - 9 yrs

Daniel - 11 yrs

Jacob - 13

Jessica Joy - 14 yrs

OneMillionMoms

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