a very late in His Word Wednesday!

So, I know it's not Wednesday, not even close...but I wanted to write this down, more for myself than anything else. This weeks Torah portion is Deuteronomy 26:1-29:8, this portion covers many things that would be wonderful to dig into deeper however as I was reading and going over the Hoshana Rabbah (parsha KiTavo) commentary, something really jumped out at me.

The discussion is on verse 26:11 And you shall rejoice in all the good that the LORD your God has given to you and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the sojourner who is among you.

This whole section is about tithing. Traditionally when we think about tithing it is taught, if you give and sow you will reap blessings. And sadly, I feel that far too often the emphasis is on what WE will receive, rather than on what we can give. Now, when I read this passage about giving joyfully today and looked at the commentary, this is what jumped out to me. "Bringing one's tithes and offering to YHVH is to be a joyful event since it is a reflection of our gratitude to him for abundantly blessing us." This is the reverse of what is traditionally taught about tithing. We are not giving so we can receive but rather we are giving to show our GRATITUDE to Him who blessed us first! WOW! That is RIGHT ON! He did bless us first, anything we give back was not of our own hands, but of His gracious love alone. Deut 10:14 "Behold, to the LORD your God belong heaven and the highest heavens, the earth and all that is in it."Anything we give, already belongs to Him to begin with.

So, when you are ready to give an offering to the Lord, do it with rejoicing in your heart, thanking Him for what He has already blessed you with and not thinking about how He will bless you in return, He already has! Amein!

In His Word Wednesday

FINALLY!
Things have been so busy around here I have neglected my posts on Hebraic studies.

So here is the word for today:

		Amen (אמן amen, Strong's #543): World wide this is the most famous of all Hebrew words. But, do we know what it means? This word comes from the root aman [str:539], pronounced ah-mahn, and means to be firmly planted in place such as can be seen Isaiah 22:23 which speaks of a "nail fastened to a secure place." The noun form, amen, pronounced ah-mehn, is used in the Biblical text by persons who are affirming a statement. In other words, they are saying I am firmly agreeing with what has been said. The next time we say amen, let's think about what we are agreeing to.

I believe his last statement is incredibly important. Today we hear this word thrown around like a high five. However when we pronounce it we are confirming whatever is being said as our own faith, and we need to make sure we are in agreement with the statement before we shout out an amen to it. Can I get an amen?? ;0)

A blessed life

What a summer! So, here are a few updates.....


A sweet day, helping our friend Char move. We are truly blessed with an amazing spiritual family...God is good! And now, Char is settled in her new place, I need to get over there soon and see it!

Jordans buddy Peter had his 13th bday at the Museum of Flight, here are a few of us in the group in the elevator with a nifty mirror ceiling, I HAD to take a picture of us! How cool is that??!!

Atira floating in space, what a showoff! ;0)

Jordan checking out the controls....
And the staff at Red Robin sings Happy Birthday to the teen!
Moving along....Atira and her friends had a wonderful time jumping on the trampoline in the liquid sunshine of Seattle! Silly wabbits!
And we cannot forget the River Lot! I don't have many pictures of it because I am usually just enjoying the company and beauty of the day, but I did capture this moment of the girls playing in the sand. Love the river lot, I know my children will grow up having very fond memories of these years and spending time with their friends here. What a blessing the Wilcox family has been to share this with us! ♥

Nothing quite like family memories....beautiful, heartwarming, touching. And isn't it bonding when a niece and her uncle are so close...in looks? (Or incredibly weird....and a bit disturbing?)




Happy 15th Birthday Jordan! What a fun and HOT day! The boys gathered up at our house, loaded up all their ammo and weaponry and headed off to the woods and shot up some amazing targets that Grampa Curt made! A few hours later, they all arrived home, safe and happy having had a wonderful day. I think this was an ideal bday celebration for Jordan. He and his buddy talked long into the night about the adventure, and both of these boys are not big talkers. So, for them to spend, hours chatting...it must have been some kind of day! So, tomorrow is Jordans actual bday, we will be celebrating by taking him out shopping (with his bday money) to pick up some much desired items he has had on his list. He is a thoroughly happy and very spoiled 15 year old young man. Praise God for such an amazing son....we are truly blessed!

TOS Homeschool Planner

ONE STOP SHOP! Calling all Homeschool Mommies! I would love to share with you about the shiny new 2010 TOS Homeschool Planner!

The planners beautiful sleek design will have all of your homeschool mommy friends just oohing and ahhing over it's incredible design, innovative features and ease of use! :)

As homeschool families, we have a LOT on our plate! We are truly super parents in many ways! We plan for many things throughout the day, a homeschool schedule, cleaning routines, chores, meals, shopping etc etc etc. You KNOW the list goes on and on! Wouldn't be wonderful to have a little help for many of these areas, helping you to have a more organized home?

HELP IS ON THE WAY! The 2010 TOS Homeschool Planner has a bit of everything you could imagine and a whole lot more than you probably would have hoped for!


Need a recipe, it's in there, need a form for planning your day, it's in there, need some biblical inspiration, ITS IN THERE! Thank the Lord! Whether you are looking for forms, recipes or just some inspiration for your homeschool day, it is all in there! The incredible number of topics covered by this 614 page planner just boggle the mind! Incredibly creative ideas and completely tuned into a the homeschool family lifestyle. Just what the mommy ordered!

***********************All of this for the low, low price of just $39.00!********************

BUT WAIT! There's more! You will receive your addition of the 2010 planner via PDF Download, so you will be able to hop in and play after your payment is processed! WOW!

Time is running out, school will be starting very soon! Click on our link to head on over to our ordering page where we have a website standing by to take your order and learn about more of the features offered in this amazing product!

Personally, I used the 2009 TOS Planner all last year, and it was a wonderful addition to my homeschool organization. One of my favorite features was being able to get into a form and type the information I wanted into it and print it out all done! My records look so wonderfully neat and organized, makes this homeschool mommy quite happy! :)

I hope you take a moment to check out the 2010 planner, I think you will be quite surprised and happy with the amazing content of this sleek new planner for the upcoming school year! Help keep your brain nice, shiny and bright by getting organized through This Old Schoolhouse and the 2010 Planner.

And the fine print....This posting is done with the intent to sell a product. Now, wasn't that fun and cheezy? ;0)

Math Tutor DVD Series

Math is certainly not my strongest subject. So I am always on the hunt for someone or something to help my children understand and be able to use math concepts better than I can. So, it was quite appropriate that one of my review items was for math and better yet, it is on DVD, which means I can sit back and be a student right along side my children!

I received two DVD's in the mail for review, one is "The Pre-Algebra Tutor Volume 1" (2 DVD's, 5 hours of video) and the second is "The Texas Instruments TI-83/TI-84 Calculator Tutor" (3 DVD's, 8 hours of video). *yawn*. Well, that is what went through my mind, especially when I saw that second one. However, I am trying to keep a joyful appearance as I want my children to love math....not tolerate it like I do. Funny thing is, my pre homeschool mommy days, I was a banker and mortgage loan officer! Both careers were completely math oriented! Crazy, huh? Oh, and I would say I do have some mad skills when it comes to percents, such as how much is this super cute top when it is on sale at 30% off? ZING BAM! I have the answer! I don't need a calculator or a lesson on how to do that kind of math....but the stuff my son is getting into? Lord help me.

So, we began our journey into the Math Tutor DVD using the first series, Pre-Algebra Tutor Volume 1. First let me say, couldn't be easier to use, pop it in and choose your lesson, hit play, sit back and relax...literally. He does not want you distracted by taking notes etc, just watch the lesson. The backdrops are simple and not distracting, this all about the math. Simple white board in the background for writing equations and the teacher showing you what is going on.

The lessons progress covering basic topics of pre-algebra, preparing your child for this new language they will be encountering (and for you math challenged parents like myself), giving you some tools when you begin tackling this new phase of math.

For my family this was perfect timing as I am using this as an end of summer review before we get back into a regular schedule. As much as I long to continue some of the basics through summer, I rarely achieve that goal, and not wanting to break my summer routine ;0) we kind of dropped math sometime in June...so, this has been wonderful for refreshing all those lessons we have not visited in some time.



Now, I would like to move this review on to the Texas Instruments TI-83/TI/84 Calculator Tutor DVD set. UGH, that was a mouthful.

Let's get the basics first, this set covers the TI83/84 and plus versions of this calculator. You will receive 3 DVD's in this series including 8 hours of instruction (for one calculator!!??!!) Seriously, your gonna need it.

So, my son and I sat down over french toast and hot cocoa to watch this particular series. Notice, comfort food when approaching what could be a scary topic...also creating "sweet" connections between math and food....don't know if it will work, but it helped me! :) So, we sat back and began this series. I have to say with all of my math insecurities, this series is done very well. I felt like I could follow along with the instructions, even though I had no idea what he was talking about most of the time (in regards to the equations I mean, these, were way over our heads). On the screen you see on the left a computer image of the calculator that he is interacting with and on the right is a computer image of the screen of said calculator. He walks you through step by step, showing you what the buttons do, how to do some equations and even teaching you that it is not the calculator that gets good grades, but the brain working the calculator. The teacher, is warm, friendly and makes the series easy to watch.

So, overall I would say this is an excellent series. My son is ready for the upcoming school year in math having done this review. And I look forward to being able to truly utilize the calculator series when the time comes that my son is in that level of math. These will definitely be staying on our shelves to use as reference, I am thankful I had the opportunity to review these...and that is saying a lot from this math fearing mama!

Great products at a good price - you can find either The Pre-Algebra series or the TI Calculator series at Mathtutordvd.com for just $26.99 plus shipping. Check out their variety of other math DVD series as well, we were very happy with the two made available to us for review.


Disclaimer: I am a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew. As such I have received this product free of charge in exchange for my honest opinion and review of this product. I have not received any additional compensation for my review.