** Happy Snow **

Who doesn't love this time of year when the air is crisp & cold. Cold enough for snow! Flurries from the sky to stir the flurries of happiness & excitement within a child's heart. A couple of weeks ago we got to experience the first snow of the season. I have no pictures to post of the beautiful snow because we were not home at the time, but it didn't stop Sierra from enjoying it as she danced around in a store parking lot. We are hopeful that we will see more snow this year. It just seemed perfect to end our day by reading Snow by Cynthia Rylant for our bedtime story.

~smiles~ *****Sierra's paper snowflakes*****

It's Your Day!

Happy Birthday to you, my sister. Hope you had a wonderful birthday with many wonderful blessings. Words cannot begin to describe how I feel about you. I am so grateful that God put you in my life. We have so many great memories together & I look forward to so many more. All my love!

Autumn Favorites

Sierra's Favorite Fall Things

~ collecting colorful leaves

~ nature walks in the woods

~ trips to the pumpkin patch

~ sitting around campfires

~ hot cocoa

~ spending time with family on Thanksgiving

Goodbye to "7"

I can't believe it. Another year has passed & a new one has begun. Our little girl is now 8 years old. Wow! How time truly does go by fast. It's a reminder to me to savor each moment while they are here & to not take this time for granted.

Birthday pics ~

At the end of Sierra's party I had all of the party guests sign her balloon so that she could release it into the air, then we all waved goodbye to year 7 as the balloon floated out of sight. :)

Happy 8th Birthday, Sierra! We love you!

An Autumn Welcome!

I tell you it's hard for me to believe that fall is here. We have been steadily schooling & learning new things. Our school year has been off to a great start & we have settled into a nice routine. Today Sierra & I thought we would celebrate the first day of autumn by going on a nature walk. With our nature journal in hand we set off to try to find our little squirrel friend at the edge of our woods. Squirrel must have been feeling a little shy today because he wouldn't come very close to let us observe what a busy little creature he is. We will try another day. :) So we set off on the trail to look for acorns & colorful leaves. I am posting a picture that Sierra made with her fall leaves. I am sure there will be many projects with leaves this year. We love all the vibrant colors & just think all of the trees haven't even started changing colors yet.

Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy. Psalm 96:12

May you think about spending some time enjoying God's creation this week. Blessings!

First Day of School

Oh, what an exciting day! I was happy to see that Sierra was ready to start school. We have been building this up for a few weeks. :) On our first official day of school for a new year we try to do a few extra special things. I always have a gift for Sierra waiting on her desk for her to find. I make sure I get something that is educational, like a new set of books from a favorite series, a fun game, or one year I put together a writing box with all kinds of neat stationary, pens & pencils. The writing box has been my favorite gift because it really allowed Sierra to improve her writing skills. I even set up several pen pals for her so that they could write back & forth which was so much fun. Sierra loved getting her own mail. This year for her gift she received a jigsaw puzzle & some art supplies. We can get pretty happy over art supplies around here! Another thing that we like to do for our nature studies is to head out into the great outdoors. So I couldn't think of a more perfect day for a back to school picnic. Sierra loves to pack her lunchbox, grab a blanket, a few books & find a good picnic spot. To finish up our first day I decided to let Sierra make a batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies to share with some friends. This of course was what I used to freshen up on her measurements since we were trying to get in some review of past lessons. Too fun! We did actually find time to fit in all subjects for the day as well. Just in case anyone may be wondering. Sierra has one thing she is really looking forward to learning this year & that is learning to write in cursive. We both are looking forward to a new year with lots of new memories!

Precious Cargo

Traveling into town recently I noticed things being very quiet in the back seat. So I peeked into my rear view mirror & to my delight I saw Sierra, hair twisted into cute little braids, reading to herself one of her favorite Billy & Blaze books. I could tell she was really into it & I thought it was great when she would stop reading to narrate parts of the story that she found exciting. It just got me to thinking as I looked back at her younger years how things haven't always been such a peaceful ride into town. Mostly full of singing, chatter, questions, & interesting conversations. Lots of life lessons have been discussed along our travel paths. I know we all have small passengers in our lives. It is important for me to remember that I shouldn't just be passing through this life with no regards of the heritage I am leaving behind. God gave me this child as a gift & He has chosen to mold her, shape her, & transform her into the person He desires her to be. But now, O Lord, you are the Father; we are the clay, and you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. Isaiah 64:8
The Lord has chosen to use me as an instrument in this little life. So as it may seem like at times we are just along for the ride, let us not forget we have a higher calling. To travel on a road less traveled, one that leads to an eternal purpose.

Mr. Whiskers

I came across this picture although it is not a new one it has to be a dear favorite of mine. Sierra painted this picture of a cat in which she named Mr. Whiskers almost 2 years ago. I actually entered it in the Junior Art Contest at the Gilmer Yamboree the year that she had painted it. Mr.Whiskers & Sierra won 2nd place & earned $3 & a lovely ribbon. Need I say that there was much excitement around here. Now Mr. Whiskers hangs on our wall along with some other wonderful pieces of art. Inspirations from a child but beautiful treasures to me.

Rainy Day + A Friend = Fun!

Jumping in the pool between rain showers.
Two creative minds at work leaving paper doll trails
& colored pencil drawings of herds of horses running
in the wild. Piled on the bed to play a game of Buckaroo
& don't forget Guess Who? What a lovely day to play.
Thanks Allie for spending the day. Sierra had a wonderful
time with you. Lots of Love!

Summer Favorites

Sierra's Favorite Summer Things




~ swimming

~ popsicles & ice cream

~ trips to the beach

~ yummy watermelon

~ extra time spent at Granny & PaPa's house

~ flip flops

Windows to the Heart

As I peer into the window I see God's love

staring back at me through innocent eyes.

Eyes of the purest blue. A heart window full

of life and joy, always joyful in heart.

The view from this window is not fogged by

careless wanderings but it is washed daily by the

fact that God's mercies are new every morning.

The stedfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end;

They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22-23

May you enjoy the view from your hearts window today

and be blessed by the Lord's mercies.

Art Camp Creations

Sierra attended art camp a couple of weeks ago. She was able to work on some very special projects which to me are just priceless. Sierra had a wonderful time! Here are just a couple of things that she worked on during camp week.

Sierra's self portrait ~ I'm loving the eyelashes

Sierra's favorite ~ Horse stepping stone

Dive In!

As I wrap up this season of homeschooling I feel as though we have learned so much this year. I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for us next. It's always exciting for me to have a fresh start & a new outlook on things, but for now we will be taking a wonderful summer break. A time to refresh, relax, & have some summer fun with lots of time spent in the pool. :)

Happy Summer!

Birthday Bluebonnets

I will be posting some of Sierra's artwork from time to time. Sierra loves to paint & it will be interesting to see how God may use this in her life as she grows. The Lord has already used it to bless me. It makes me smile to see Sierra doing something that she loves so much. Sierra painted this bluebonnet picture last month & she surprised me with it for my birthday.

Storytime

Sierra was invited to participate in storytime at Lee Public Library last week. Thanks to
Mrs.Colleen for giving Sierra this wonderful opportunity to read to the kids. Sierra loved it & I must say that she had a very attentive audience while she read her story.

Sierra's book of choice was Mommy's Best Kisses by Margaret Anastas.

Sierra with some of the kids from storytime.

Spring Favorites

Sierra's favorite Spring things.

-planting a garden

-playing in the mud

-watching ladybugs, caterpillars, & butterflies

-picnics

-picking flowers for Mommy & Daddy

-picking blackberries

-riding my bike

Greetings!

Greetings from "Blessings For the Heart"

I will start by giving a definition of blessing. It is a declaration of divine favor; a gift, or grateful praise or worship.

The Lord, Jesus Christ has blessed me with so much I want to use this as an opportunity to praise God for everything He is doing in my life.

Psalm 145:1-2 I will extol thee, my God, O King; I will bless thy name forever and ever.
Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name forever and ever.

So, as I start this new adventure in sharing pieces of my life with you I pray that today you are BLESSED!

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Ephesians 1:3