Welcome to the new home for Roosterhill

Howdy! I know we look like a new blog but we're not. This is just the new home of the folks of Roosterhill!

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Do Protestants Celebrate Lent?


Do Protestants Celebrate Lent?

The answer is you can! Although many denominations do not celebrate lent. We decided that OUR family would prepare our hearts for Easter by celebrating Lent.

What is Lent?
According to Bing:
The period before Easter in Christian calendar: the period of 40 weekdays before Easter observed in some Christian churches as a period of prayer, penance, fasting, and self-denial


Last Supper Diorama - Holy Thursday Craft
Last Supper Diorama

How could a protestant celebrate Lent?

We are using the devotional Lord, Have Mercy by Amy Edwards and it is for an Evangelical Protestant perspective, it is a Kindle book. 
Super cute idea for lent sunday
for Palm Sunday

Our Children will be doing some activities on the different days of Lent most of which we found on Catholic Icing. We will read scripture pertaining to each project and discuss the significance of the event. Additionally, on Easter we will have a feast (but we do that every year).
Now, my humble suggestion is that before you use any of these items with your children if you are a protestant is that you discuss this with your husband. Additionally, you may have to modify them to  use them so they adhere to your protestant belief system. I am NOT trying to blend Catholicism & Protestantism we are seeking only to worship our Lord Jesus as he has prescribed for our family. When you print out her stuff if you're a Baptist like me I often read then discard the directions, and I cut off or erase anything that is specific to the Catholicism.

Does your family celebrate Lent? If so what are y'all doing to draw closer to the Lord that has been made manifest to us?

Baptist, Easter, Lent, tradtions


Monday, January 21, 2013

Polished Arrows Children

As I was reading Isaiah I came across this scripture in Isaiah 49...

“Listen, O coastlands, to Me,
And take heed, you peoples from afar!
The Lord has called Me from the womb;
From the matrix of My mother He has made mention of My name.
And He has made My mouth like a sharp sword;
In the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me,
And made Me a polished shaft;
In His quiver He has hidden Me.” Isaiah 49:2

This verse reminded me of Psalm 127:4-5 which says...

"Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
So are the children of one’s youth.
Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them;
They shall not be ashamed,
But shall speak with their enemies in the gate." Psalm 127:4-5

Psalm 127:4-5 reminds us that children are a blessing and have many children (a quiver of them) is a blessing. Isaiah 49:2 is a wonderful reminder that the goal is not to have a bunch of kids but to raise the little arrows into polished shafts.

According to the Webster's 1828 polish means : 'To refine; to wear off rudeness, rusticity and coarseneess; to make elegant and polite as to polish life or manners.' 
 
This reminds me of Proverbs 27:17: As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.
 
What sharpens ...the word of God! As we pour the word of God into our many children and live out His precepts we are rubbing off theor rough edges (and ours) as we continually polish our children. We should act as iron in the lives of our children ultimately raising fully polished children.
 
Please let me know what you think when you read these verse and what verses give you encouragement?
 
Remember Mama's we are great in the kingdom!
 

Monday, January 14, 2013

Small House, Large Families Solutions: fruit

You've seen those cute baskets of fruit folks with 1 or 2 kids put on their tables with 6 or 7 pieces of fruit in them. I'm sure you've thought about how pretty it looks and that with an army of kids eating that much fruit in one sitting that it was not practical for a large family. We've had  some very large baskets but as we've grown those weren't even big enough for brood.
We recently found a solution to is our fruit storage issue. We took 2 of these bins (They were purchased at Wal-Mart) and stacked them on top of each other. We've been able to store our fruit. We store them under the cabinet next to the fridge. This has really worked well for our family.

Let me know if you find this little "Mom Tip" helpful!

May the Lord Bless you and your family.

Thursday, January 10, 2013

{Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real}

{Pretty}
Eggs from laying hens, especially that lovely green one! Although it does not look particularly green here. *sigh*
Photo: PTL our hens are finally laying and we even get a green egg.

{Happy}
My wonderful husband figured out a way to let the Toddlers enjoy the zipline too!
Photo: Ziplining toddlers.....Wayne figured out how to add the babies to the fun. Next we need to get a 4 Wheeler so we can do some Texas pasture sledding (Richard Benavides).

{Funny}

Photo: True that.



{Real}
The twins eagerly joining in during the Bible Study time! "All your children shall be taught by the Lord, And great shall be the peace of your children." Isaiah 54:13
Photo: Mama's you are great in the kingdom..."...but whoever does and teaches them he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." May the Lord grant you strength as you continue to daily teach your dear ones. Please share the encouragement have you found in the word today?

For more folks finding contentment you can head over to Like Mother, Like Daughter!

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

An Encouragement, right where you are!

"Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:19

Photo: Mama's you are great in the kingdom..."...but whoever does and teaches them he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." May the Lord grant you strength as you continue to daily teach your dear ones. Please share the encouragement have you found in the word today?
 
As I was helping the kids with the school work we directed near this verse as I read it, it quickly became an encouragement to me. The Lord saying...Mama right where you are and right what you are doing is very important, Mama you are great in the kingdom.
 
"...but whoever does and teaches them he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven."
 
Thank you Lord for speaking so sweetly to me today as we went through the routine tasks of our day!  May the Lord grant you strength as you continue to daily teach your dear ones.
 
Please share an encouragement that you have found in the word today?

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Teaching Home Economics in the Homeschool

Why Teach Home-Ec? 
So many of us in our 30's & 40's did not benefit from the domestic training that our grandmother's received. Our very liberated mothers were busy pursing their American dream. So when I got married I was not ready to cook, clean or care for and educate children. That did not make any difference on the Lord's call on my life, the Lord is clear and my call is to my home. So we are actively and purposefully raising competent homemakers.

The second reason to teach Home-Ec and specifically cooking, is to work on your child's 'functional reading'. As defined by Ruth Beechick this is the child's ability to read and follow directions. One of our kids is an excellent reader but her functional reading needs some development.

How to teach Home-Ec:

To do this I have choosen to use a curriculum to meet this goal: Home Economics for Homeschoolers. I am using this for our Elementary and Jr. High age girls. When they finish the books or transition to High school I am planning on using Christian Lights  Home Economics. Another one I am considering is Far Above Rubies which is a 4 year unit study for high school age girls.

" to be discreet, chaste, homemakers," Titus 2:5
Far Above Rubies unit study for high school girls
 Many of you will engage in much less formal home economics education. A method that reflects your teaching and living style. We simply have a lot of kids and I do not want any of them to fall through the cracks! Plus I tend to do better with structure. Our final reason for teaching home ec. is that in, in a large family we all need to be able to pitch in and help out.


Parker, age 9 ,making oven fried chicken

When to teach Home-Ec?

Right now we are on Christmas break, so we have more time, and we are working diligently to work through the first book so the olders can move on to the second book. And we can master some basic skills taught in the first book. So far we've made through about a 1/3 of the 30 lessons. Most of these lessons can be taught in a day and then we can workon them trhough out the fall including learning to applicque & basic embroidery.

What happens when teaching....

Lesson 11: Oven Fried Chicken
Parker was abole to complete most of this on her own although I had to cut the leg and thigh pieces for her. The biggest issue we have with all of the children is their 'functional reading' , as Ruth Beechick would call it. Children in general and my children in particular,  do not read the directions and they fail to understand what to do after (being forced) to read directions. With all of the kids in order for them to be successful I have found that we need to read through the directions together and then discuss them. Otherwise they are unable to do it the first time.

Another suggestion I would have is to substitute in your family recipes for some of the ones in the book. For instance we have a specific oven fried chicken recipe we love. I will substitute it the next time this lesson is taught. As well as our salad recipe. I will continue to let them make the bottomless stew as the concept of peeling & cutting vegatables is the focus and the stew though basic is good. Just remember you own the curriculum it does not own you!  Paker already knows how to make veggies and mashed potatoes. She also learned how tomake our favorite rolls buttery bread rolls. The buttery rolls were doughy because the directions were not read carefully. Despite the errors, mostly my fault for not having her read the directions aloud and discuss, this meal however gets a big A+ as the first meal she made all by herself and she fed the entire family!

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