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Monday, December 25, 2017

Guitar Lessons for Kids



I love homeschool, but sometimes I worry about some of the extracurriculars. Thankfully there are several free resources to be found online.

My husband taught himself how to play in high school, and consequently used that talent to win me over, because who doesn't love a guitar player!?

 Each of my 10 year old sons have enjoyed learning to play piano for free at home, so we bought them their own guitars for Christmas!!!



  We love the Beginners Acoustic Guitar Kit , it has everything you need to start; with a bag, pick, strap, tuner, and plenty of extra strings. When we added these all up separately, this was a very good deal.



ONLINE GUITAR LESSONS
While my husband can play basic guitar, he isn't a trained guitar teacher. We decided to find a guideline to help the process. He is going to do one weekly lesson, with each boy, using these lesson plans and videos. He gets to be  our music teacher, with his own teacher manual!

We found for these well done Lesson plans, videos, and printables for beginning your kids on the guitar FOR ONLY $25!






YOU MAY ALSO BE INTERESTED IN:

Four Gifts at Christmas
Free Piano Lessons at Home: Hoffman Academy


Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Roman Soldier Helmet


We are enjoying our study of Rome during Rome to Reformation.  The end of the Roman study calls for a roman feast and roman costumes.  To be honest, we haven't gotten to the feast yet, and we made these costumes during winter break, 2 weeks after we were supposed to, but that is just how homeschooling goes sometimes.

We found this tutorial online, but didn't have cardstock.  I solved this by printing on regular paper and using Aluminum Foil to cover all the pieces.


Materials Needed:
  • Roman Solder Helmet Printable (on regular paper is fine because you're covering with foil to stiffen)
  • Aluminum Foil (I bought the cheap stuff from Dollar Tree)
  • Stapler
  • Red marker or crayons
  • Scissors
 1. Print Roman Solder Printable

2. Children cut out pieces, coloring top red.

3. Assist your children in covering with foil, all except top of fridge.  Use pieces twice the size as the piece of paper, and fold over, creasing at edges.  It is OK if it's not the exact shape as your paper, it is just a guideline. 

4.  Staple pieces together on the spots where the templates indicates to glue.  Put on child's head to size straps before stapling. 








Thursday, December 14, 2017

Grief and Christmas



GRIEF AND CHRISTMAS

We think of Christmas as the best time of the year, a story of unblemished joy to the world, yet there was sorrow in His coming to earth. As the shepherds rejoiced with angels, King Herod introduces unimaginable grief into the story of Jesus' arrival.  Herod's jealousy and fear of losing his power led to an order for the deaths of innocent baby boys in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:13-23).

Joy and pain in one story. Suffering and a Savior, intertwined.

I feel the sorrow and the joy of Christmas sharply in my soul this year. The coming of our hope, our Savior, and the sorrow of sin and loss.

We unexpectedly lost my husband's brother a month before Christmas to an incomprehensible accident. He was only 36, and a father of 4 young children. He was a believer, who had fought hard for joy, true love, and healing, before his life was cut too short. Thankfully I married young and got to be his little sister-in-love for 15 years before he went to Heaven. 

The joy and pain go hand in hand. The beauty of our world is so intricately connected to the pain, so much that sometimes there is no separating them. You feel them both. They both hurt, but in different ways. The deep pain of his children growing up without him. The aching joy of his reunion with our Heavenly Father.

I keep crying, but one eye is filled with tears of grief, and the other tears of joy.  I honestly can't tell the difference anymore.

We never truly appreciate the beauty of this world without the sharp pain of the suffering. My grandma used to say, "You can't have the sweet without the sour."

I hate that I have this new appreciation for the holiday, and detest the avenue in which it was learned, but it is a gift of perspective. The greatest gift God can give us, besides our salvation, is perspective.

I now know the pain of seeing a loved one pass away before my eyes, holding his hand while knowing he isn't really there.

I also now know joy of knowing that while I held his hand on earth, he is being embraced by the hands of his Savior.

Both pain and joy, sitting next to each other in my heart.  Extreme pain, extreme joy.

The mix of sorrow and joy at once is written all over the pages of Scripture, never more so in Jesus' story, from beginning to end. This is supposed to be the best time of the year, yet where there is joy there is always pain. Today I fall on my knees, with both crushing grief and overwhelming thankfulness in equal measure. I hear the Gospel Story, and see my Savior.


-Written December 2017, one month after my brother-in-love's passing


O HOLY NIGHT (HEAR THE GOSPEL STORY)
By Sovereign Grace Music

O holy night, the stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of our dear Savior's birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born!

Humbly He lay, Creator come as creature,
Born on the floor of a hay-scattered stall.
True Son of God, yet bearing human feature,
He entered earth to reverse Adam's fall.
In towering grace, He laid aside His glory,
And in our place, was sacrificed for sin.

Fall on your knees! O hear the gospel story!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born!

Come then to Him Who lies within the manger,
With joyful shepherds, proclaim Him as Lord.
Let not the Promised Son remain a stranger;
In reverent worship, make Christ your Adored.
Eternal life is theirs who would receive Him;
With grace and peace, their lives He will adorn.

Fall on your knees! Receive the Gift of heaven!

O night divine, O night when Christ was born

O night, O holy night when Christ was born