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Showing posts from April, 2016

Five Things about Holy Week!

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Today is Holy Saturday.  For this edition of 5 Random Things this Week I want to share about Holy Week! 1. Three years ago I wrote a post about Holy Week called Going to Church (a Lot) .   What I wrote 3 years ago still applies to me today. Why do we g o to church so much this week? Well, these are special services that are only offered during Holy Week. For me they help me to focus on Christ’s mission here on earth and in a way that I can not explain with words, the services allow me to join with Him . It starts for me on Palm Sunday. Liturgically we are outside of time and we experience the triumphant entry of Christ into Jerusalem. 2.  The Bridegroom Matins service remains one of my most favorite of all the services I have ever been too.  One of these years I might surprise myself and not cry but this was not the year. 3.  This Holy Week has been very difficult as we do not have our van and we are borrowing the car of dear friends.  This means we do not all fit

Five Random Things This Week April 22nd

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So it's been a week!  It must be time  for a Five Random Things This Week post! 1.  This week Great Lent ended. I am not ready for Great Lent to be over because I don't just don't feel like I prepared myself for Pascha. Thankfully we still have Holy Week. 2.  Dumbledore, our van, ~ yes, Supergirl named him after a certain character ~ broke down on the side of the road last week leaving Honeybear stranded.  The tow truck brought both Dumbledore and Honeybear home. He's at the "car hospital" now, ~ Dumbledore the van, not Honeybear ~ awaiting a transmission transplant. 3. 16 years ago April 23rd was a Sunday.  It wasn't just any Sunday though.  It was Easter Sunday (I wasn't even remotely Orthodox then so it was Western Easter).  It was also the day that Tailorbear walked independently.  She had been walking holding on to the wall or someone's hand but had not taken really been walking.  We had a canister vacuum back then and she would eve

Copywork Isn't Just for Handwriting Practice! {Crew Review}

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Many years ago I participated in a yahoo email group with some amazing women. Amy Blevins, creator and owner of Homeschool Copywork is one of those amazing women. Amy has a heart and passion for homeschooling. Amy is also a former Schoolhouse Review Crew member so I was tickled when I found out that Amy was offering her Lifetime Membership to crew members for review. What is Copywork? Copywork is a very old method of teaching grammar, punctuation, spelling, vocabulary, and penmanship. Copywork can be a stepping stone for young children to help them transition to dictation. Amy has a page dedicated to talking about what copywork is and the benefits of copywork .  One of the things I hadn't thought about but that she points out is that copywork is a great way to influence your child's thinking by putting great quotes and carefully chosen scripture verses in their copywork. Copywork can also be a creative outlook by drawing or coloring images on the page and by prac

5 Random Things This Week April 15th

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If I want my 5 Things on Friday to actually post on a Friday, maybe, just maybe I should write them on Thursday bwhahahah.  Seriously, it's the end of the weekend.  So how about we go with  5 Things This Week?  Yes.  Yes I think that works better.  So 5 Things This Week and it will post sometime Thursday- Sunday.  Sound good?  Good.  Let's get to it then: 1.  3 years ago I was scrambling to help Boobear with college decisions and high school graduation plans.  Now it is Turtlegirl's time!  She'll be graduating from high school this June and in the fall, she plans to become a Cougar.  So I'll have a Black and Gold Lute and a Red and White Cougar. 2.  One of the reasons graduation is heavy on my mind this week is that I posted a review of HomeschoolDiploma.com.  These are high quality professional documents!  We ordered a cap and gown as well as a Diploma for Turtlegirl.  We also ordered a back dated diploma for Boobear.  I am already thinking ahead to next ye

Graduation Day is Coming! Do You Have a Diploma to Present?

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(As a member of the Schoolhouse Review Crew I received a diploma from HomeschoolDiploma.com in ex change for a review ) When BooBear graduated 3 years ago, I wanted to give her a fancy, beautiful, professional looking diploma but I couldn't find what I was looking for exactly and couldn't figure out how to create one myself.  She did get a piece of paper presented to her but it just wasn't the same. In 2013 Boobear got a home made printed diploma! Now it's Turtlegirl's turn to graduate . Unlike her older sister though she'll get pres ented with a beautiful, professionally printed Exclusive High School Diploma from HomeschoolDiploma.com . HomeschoolDiploma.com, a family-owned and operated business, is a professional graduation supply company.  In addition to quality diplomas, they offer caps and gowns, class rings, graduation announcements, and more to home schools and small Christian schools.  Their goal is "to s erve homeschooling famili

Five Random Things ~ April 9th

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I had every intention of posting one of these last week but well the road to youknowwhere is paved with those good intentions right? And then I had every intention of posting this on Friday but I posted a review of Stopmotion Explosion so I thought oh I'll post it on Saturday.  As you can see that didn't happen because today is Sunday. 1.  Turtlegirl is down to crunch time and has to make a decision about which university she wants to attend.  Last weekend most of us made a very long 3 day/2 night trip to visit a campus on the other side of the state.  Yesterday, she with her father and Tailorbear, was visiting another campus much closer to home but still a couple of hours away. Turtlegirl and her Daddy explore the college campus! 2. While Turtlegirl, Tailorbear, and Honeybear made the 3 hour (one way) trip to visit the college campus, Boobear traveled with the Campus Ministry group from her college to an Orthodox Monastery.  She was delighted when Abbot Tryphon reme

Making Movies with Stopmotion Explosion! {Crew Review}

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{Through the Schoolhouse Review Crew I was given the opportunity to review the Stopmotion Explosion Animation Kit available from Stopmotion Explosion .} A long long time ago I came home from class at the community college and found my parents sitting on the patio.  It was a beautiful spring day.  I had some life changing news to share with them and I wasn't sure how they were going to take it. I told them I was changing majors.  I was dropping the Pre-Law path and I was seeking a Fine Arts in Theater.  My mother shocked me.  She had been waiting for me to figure it out.  My parents were incredibly supportive. Setting up stories, choosing angles, picking a theme or moment to frame for the audience thrilled me. My love for telling stories and sharing moments, my love for theater? It seems to have passed to my children. They would put on plays and beg me to record them with the old video camera.  Eventually we got a digital camera that also allowed for taking videos and