That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.” - Titus 2:4,5
Thank you for sharing your time with me today! I have had several requests for what we will be/are currently reading. I often share what we are reading together on Instagram and Facebook; but I decided to send the kids to the bookshelves and get some of their favorite books that we have read for me to share with you all as I am able. Here is our first list. It’s Aaliyah’s pics (and a couple that her mother has added that she will be reading this month.
I hope you will find something that interests you and your family. These books I consider appropriate for children ages 10-13.
What says "home" to you? What is it about your home that makes it the place that uniquely comforts you?
My husband told me a story about a coworker of his who was moving across town. He and his new bride had purchased a home together and were moving from their apartments into their first home together. While he was at work, she was given the task of loading up and moving the first load of things. This would be the only load they would be able to move for a few days. What do you think he came home to find she had thought the most important thing to move first? A huge load of books! He was upset at first. Books!!! You can't eat them. You can't sleep on them. They won't keep you warm or safe; but that was all she moved. Why? Can you relate?
I certainly can. When we moved from North Carolina to Arkansas we had one trailer. Everything in that trailer moved with us. Everything that couldn't fit in the trailer was sold or given away.
It was hard for me; but I was able to pack two FULL boxes of my favorite books. Some of them I had been collecting since the eighth grade. Sometimes my husband jokes that he didn't know that he was marrying a librarian.
On my moving priority list are:
1. Books
2. Blankets
3. Plants
4. Snacks
5. My Piano
Books are a given, especially since we recently moved during a time when our local library was closed due to the pandemic. We have great librarians who often order books based on our wish list. We know that we are very blessed in this regard. I love to read. I often found my mother and grandmother reading when I was a child. We also used to get those books from Reader's Digest in the mail often. Anyone remember that? I want my children to have a love of reading and I make sure we have plenty of quality books surrounding them.
Blankets
The first time we moved at the end of spring. This time we moved during the beginning of Winter. Blankets are just a practical edition. For some reason, I seem to have started collecting those as well. It may have begun when a dear friend of mine made a quilt for Aaliyah when she was born; or it may have begun when I began learning to knit. I have a new appreciation for anything that was quilted or hand knit.
Plants
When we moved into our new home here in Arkansas; we moved from a house surrounded by beautiful plants and huge trees. The area directly in front of and behind was being farmed. We had a good sized garden there as well. This home only had a few trees. I say had because I have since planted seven; but it will take years for us to really be able to appreciate them. While the area behind us is being farmed by those same farmers; we no longer have the corn/bean/rice field directly in front of us to admire.
I planted a little garden last Spring and I am planning our garden for this year now; but what did I do to ease the transition? Every gift card I was given by our wonderful friends when we moved, I used a great portion of to buy plants. We may not have as much greenery outside to enjoy; but we definetly have plenty inside...so much so that my loving Hubby has "requested" that I not purchase any more plants. It can be pretty addictive, I admit.
Snacks
This is a new addition and only added to preserve my sanity. Heaven help me if my son should come to me and ask for a snack and me have nothing to give him! Raymond DeSean seams to graze all day long!!! He is going to need a job to help with our grocery bill before long.
Piano
I am SO thankful for our piano! It is a digital Yamaha and is a pretty good quality. I am praying for a really good upright; but in the mean time, we love it. I am able to give lessons on it as a source of income to support my habits 😄; and my children are learning on it as well. A few of them play on it often just for fun.
I am hoping to make this a sort of series as we continue to make adjustments on our home. One of the topics I hope to cover is why we have chosen to name our home. Until the next post, I hope you enjoy a few of these little snapshots of Life at Pecan Cottage.
Thank you for joining us today! I would like to talk with you today about our mourning routine. As a homeschooling parent, I think it is very important to have some sort of scheduling system or routine for your home each day. We have tried many different versions of morning routines (thank you YouTube!). The one I am about to share with you has served us well for years, but I am finding that we are needing to make some adjustments to accommodate our growing children, new home and neighborhood, and changing interests. Do you have a schedule system or routine that works for you? I'd love to hear about it! Drop a comment below or email me at tinylabeckles@yahoo.com.
1. Grooming
Grooming includes washing our faces, brushing our teeth, showering (if we are scheduled to shower in the morning), fixing our hair, and getting dressed.
2. Quiet Time
Quiet time includes reading the Bible and praying, if you are a reader. If not, it means you pray and look through one of the many Bible picture books on the bookshelf. The point for the younger ones it to establish the habit of personal devotion to the Lord very early in their lives, even though they can't read.
I have added to Aaliyah's list to write in her "Proverbs Journal" one verse from Proverbs every day. She will continue this until she leaves home. Raymond and I originally wanted to start the children writing Proverbs when they turned 12, but I forgot all about it. I was recently reminded about this desire and decided to go ahead and have her start now. She will be 13 in June.
3. Clean Zone
Cleaning zones includes making their bed and cleaning their area of responsibility in their room, as well as, to tidy/clean their assigned area of the house. I have divided the house into 4 zones. They are each responsible for one zone. We switch zones on Mondays. Raymond and Cassidy are responsible for walking the dogs (Max and Pita) in the morning. Aaliyah is responsible for any laundry in the dryer (I usually wash and dry a load as part of my routine.) and to do a new load of laundry.
4. Read
Those who can, read at least one chapter or for twenty minutes (we have to put a cap on it for some 😏). The others look at a book; or listen to one of the readers read a book.
5. Breakfast
Most days breakfast for us is really simple. Muffins, yogurt with fruit and/or granola, cereal and milk; something like that. Aaliyah cooks eggs and bacon or sausage on Fridays. Cassidy makes oatmeal for us on Saturdays. BUT you only eat breakfast if you were industrious enough to get out of bed and get your other things done before it's time to begin our morning school things. If not, you will be really ready for snack/lunch time.
6. Play Outside
This happens daily unless there is a dangerous blizzard outside. If so, we do an exercise video together on YouTube or something.
Once all of those things are done, it is usually eleven o'clock or eleven thirty and time to begin our morning school routine. I mentioned before that we will have to make some adjustments. One of my girls naturally includes music as part of her routine; one of them needs to. Also, we plan to be getting chickens, and maybe even a couple of goats as soon as the fence is up. I will be doing most of the work for these additions initially; but it will also be delegated to the littles. I do enjoy animals; but I also want the kids to learn valuable lessons that only taking care of others/animals can provide. That's all I have for today.
As usual, I hope you enjoy these snapshots from our Life at Pecan Cottage!
How are you enjoying 2022? It feels so strange for me to be uttering those numbers as our present. I graduated high school in the year 2000 and it sounded so exciting. Once you put that 22 behind the 20…it just feels odd; BUT I’m grateful to be a part of it!
We have been busy little bees over here at the cottage. The last time we met, I was telling you all about Little Miss Zoe Shanice not sleeping through the night. She still doesn’t, but she is waking less often. Now, we are just waiting for her to decide to walk on her own. She will take a step or two; but that’s it. Zoe is cute and she knows it. The main reason she isn’t walking is because someone is almost always willing to carry her around. She is such a joyful and precious addition to the family. We are SO thankful for our little Zoe.
I mentioned that we have been busy. Last November, we moved into our new home. I have been doing my best to be a good wife and mother and to create a beautiful an comfortable place for our family to dwell in. A little over a year into our new space, and I am beginning to feel like we are home. The interior is not where we want it to be forever; but it is clean and cozy.
The requirements for a house to be considered our "new home" were three/four bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a good size yard with at least one climbing tree.
This home met all those requirements and had a couple of other perks. One being a sunroom. The sunroom sold me on this home. I could see the sunroom as our school/music room. We spend a lot of time in the “Play room”. Even my husband uses it from time to time as his study.
In the past year we've ripped up some carpet; taken down some cabinets, painted other cabinets, painted a LOT of walls, replaced some flooring, and painstakingly removed some very stubborn wallpaper. This house was built in the 1960’s and it has many of the markings of that generation…including the paneled walls. At first I HATED the walls. They have since grown on me. We still intend to remove them, but I can see their part in making our house look warm instead of cold.
SO, that was the housekeeping and the “let’s get caught up” bit of this post. Let’s get to the point. Why have I bothered to ask for your time today? I hope to encourage you in the matter of prayer.
Every new year there are some fundamental issues that I like to revisit and check the status of in my life. Prayer is one of those issues for me. I have been particularly challenged about how I pray with and for my children.
Two resources I want to share with you about this are:
1.) Focus on the Family had a dear lady speak on the topic. I haven’t read her book, but the podcast was extremely helpful. You can click on the links below if you’d like to listen to it. One thought that she brought out was to consider the idea of if you could pray only one thing for your children, what would it be? The one thing that came to mind for me was for them to have a teachable spirit. Of course salvation is top priority; but a teachable spirit was the first thing I thought. Another thing that blessed me is the clever way she had her children give a praise report and prayer request. They would each go around the table and say what they were happy about (praise) and what they were hopeful for (prayer request). She used the info they provided to pray for them.
2.) The book “52 Things to pray for your Kids” by Jay Payleitner is what I’ve chosen to be my prompter and reminder in prayer for my children this year.
My plan is to read a chapter each week. Last week’s challenge was to pray with your children when they hear a siren. This has a twofold benefit, in my opinion. First, when our silence is interrupted by loud sirens, we are encouraged to go to God for a moment. Secondly, we are encouraged to think of others. Does your family have any particular prayer habit that you find effective in going to the Lord as a family? Do you have any personal prayer goals? I would love to hear about them! Drop a comment below, or email me at Tinylabeckles@yahoo.com.
I would like to share with you a couple of things that I feel we are doing successfully…as far as I can tell.😉
I was challenged some time ago to not pray that God would be with my children; but to instead pray for them to see His presence and influence in their daily lives. God has already promised never to leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5), but many times we don’t honor Him because we don’t acknowledge His presence and influence in our everyday lives.
Also, we have been in the habit of praying together aloud when we are taking a trip more than 20 minutes or so away. As each child prays, they are encouraged to thank the Lord for something, pray for something/someone that’s on their mind (a certain family in our church, a friend, a missionary, world event,…), and end by praying for the sibling beside or I front of them. I want them to be in the habit of praying for one another. I also enjoy hearing the purity of their prayers.💕
