Our Independence Day Celebrations ~Part 3

The evening of July 5th we held our own little family celebration and did all of those traditional little things that make these sort of celebrations special. We set off a very few small fireworks and the girls got to do a few more sparklers but the crowning moment of the night was making and eating our own homemade ice cream. The girls talk about it for days before hand!





And it is always fun when you have a baby to share it with ;)...
Here are way too many pictures of Andrew eating his first ice cream cone...









More ice cream? Please mom? Can I have yours?



It was a precious night :).
As with everything we have a reason for celebrating the Fourth Of July with our children. We do have a lot of fun and make precious memories but the whole time we are using this as a way to have an on-going, days-long conversation about the providence of God in their lives. Lee explained to the girls how blessed they are to live in America. How blessed they are to live somewhere where they can worship God openly, own a Bible and have plenty to eat, among other things. God determined exactly when and where we would live and we feel it is very important for our children to understand the times in our world today as well as to see how God has protected His people throughout HIStory, from Genesis 1:1 to the birth of our nation to the present day. So, while we do have a lot of fun, it's not all about fun. It's about being grateful to a mighty God who has set us here in this time and in this place for a reason. How we pray that America would abandon her liberal walk down the broad path and turn back to the straight and narrow along which blossom the blessings of God, and may God continue to bless our nation.

God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; and hath made of one all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. ~Acts 17:24-28

Our Independence Day Celebrations ~Part 2

The Fourth of July was spent pretty quietly by all of us except Lee, he was biting the bit for sunset ;). We read a couple of chapters out of The Light and the Glory For Children by Peter Marshall and David Manuel and a few letters written by Abigail Adams before and during the War of Independence. Early that evening we left to meet Lee's employee's and their families for a nice dinner, redeeming the time spent in the car by reading aloud the Declaration of Independence. Lee and his store won $2,000 last Christmas for a store party and they had not had the opportunity to actually do much with it yet so they kind of decided at the last minute to go out for a nice meal on the fourth and then go back to someone's home to shoot off some fireworks. The meal was nice and afterwards we met at Erika's home. Her parents had graciously offered their land as our gathering place. We set out lawn chairs and laid down blankets for the littles and sat back to enjoy the show.
Some pictures...
Cheryl, on the left, is the very same Cheryl made famous for watching our children on again and off again during my on again and off again labor with Andrew.

Lee actually played match-maker with the following couple, Erika and Matt, and it appears to be working out :). Erika is a homeschool graduate and she has seven brothers and sisters, isn't that neat :). It was kind of odd to see several little Erika's running around, I had never met any of them before.

Ethel and her hubby David are next, Andrew actually went to her for a few moments without getting upset! Ethel is so sweet and she has really helped Lee out a lot, even offering to come back from her vacation many states away when she had to leave before Andrew was born, who, if you will remember, was taking his time ;). 

Lee, ready for action ;)...

Some littles enjoying the action...these weren't quite as loud so Andrew warmed up to them much more quickly though he still felt awfully stiff in our laps ;)...

Some of us got a little wound up...

One of Erika's sisters gave thegirls some glow in the dark bracelets which they thought were pretty neat. We all had fun and there is still so much money left over that we are planning a trip to the Biltmore Estate in the fall, fun :)!!!

Our Independence Day Celebrations ~Part 1

   In our area nobody seems to believe in celebrating the Fourth of July with the big fireworks displays on the Fourth of July, even the Air Force Base does them the weekend before, so we went to see the fireworks at the lake last Saturday.  That really worked out well for us though because we got to go see the pretty big fireworks and then on Independence Day we were free to celebrate how we please. We live about 10 minutes away from one of the biggest displays in South Carolina. We sit on the shore of the lake to watch them which is beautiful but it makes me really paranoid about children running around, especially when it's muddy. The idea this year was to take a picnic lunch with us but about an hour before we were to leave it started storming so we scratched that idea, maybe next year ;). The girls were just happy that the storm ended in enough time for us to get to go at all. This year we were harassed by a large spider who thought our chairs looked comfy but Lee was able to finally shoo him away far enough that he didn't come back. The people who organize the celebration really do a fairly  good job of getting everyone out traffic wise and we take our patriotic music with us so that keeps everyone occupied just long enough to get home. These were Andrew's first "real" fireworks. The older three girls all slept through their first fireworks so Andrew was the youngest baby we have had to actually "experience" them. This was his first impression...



And his second...



He calmed down enough to at least look at the last five'ish minutes worth but I wouldn't say they were his favorite activity at this point ;).

After we got home Andrew had another first that he was much more excited about...



Hmmm, what is this?



My first chocolate chip cookie!



I think he liked it ;).

I hope you all had a blessed Fourth :)!

Like a Kid in a Candy Shop...

A Happy Birthday To Our Heaven-Rescued Land! :)

"HE makes nations great..."

Job 12:23

Oh! thus be it ever, when free men shall stand

Between their loved homes and the wars desolation!

Blest with victory and peace, may the heaven-rescued land

Praise the Power that hath made and prescribed us a nation.

Then conquer we must, when our cause is just,

And this be our motto: "In God is our Trust."

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

by Francis Scott Key

"The Star-Spangled Banner"

4th stanza (And my favorite :))

Andrew's 1st Official...

Muffin Morning Monday, one of those "rites of passage" in the Shaffer household...



I think he liked it :)...



   Andrew is nine months old! He has eight teeth and his new favorite past time is pulling up on everything and cruising the furniture.

   If you're interested in making the yummy muffins that Andrew is enjoying my oldest daughter posted the recipe on her website here :). They are very good!

Educating Our Children in the Nurture and Admonition of the Lord

Many homeschoolers feel that their children need to be able to give an answer to every trivia question that someone could possibly come up with in order to prove how successful homeschooling can be. I have, at times, felt pressured to stuff my children's little heads with plain facts for just this reason. Lee has been encouraging me throughout this last year to educate the girls with the emphasis on character and life skills woven through everything, that the word of God be not blasphemed (Proverbs 31, Titus 2:3-5), and giving them the tools they will need to give an answer to anyone who asks of the hope that lies within them (1 Peter 3:15). In other words, to give them a rich education that stems from a fear of God, not of man*.
Basic knowledge is very important. You can't manage a home with excellence if you can't stick to a budget and you won't be able to give an answer to the hope that lies within you very well if you can't articulate yourself both in your speech and through the written word. The Lord himself told us to watch the ant (Proverbs 6:6) and we are to consider His creation (Psalm 8:3). Great biblical truths can be demonstrated in such things and this makes science very important to us (Answers in Genesis is a great resource for this!). History is HIS story and it is imperative that we teach our children to recognize the providence of God both in their own history and in the history of the world we live in, starting at Genesis 1:1 (Acts 17:26&27, Psalm 78:4). All of these things can prepare our children to live a godly life and can be used by God to give an answer for the hope we have within us.
Some children will go further in different areas than others depending upon the giftings and interests that God has woven into them. A daughter who wants to grow up to create beautiful tapestries will likely put more time into such things than a daughter who has a serious interest in midwifery. A son who wants to go into some sort of full time missionary work will focus on different things than a son who wants to go into law. There is nothing wrong with being well versed in something, or many things, but the question begs to be asked, "Why?". Why do you do what you do and why do you teach what you teach? That is a question we have been asking ourselves a lot lately. We must not cause our children to be slaves to the world's knowledge but rather our goal must be to give our children the knowledge they need to take dominion (Genesis 1:28), to live out their faith in all things (2 Corinthians 6:4, Colossians 1:18), to love the Lord with all their heart, with all their soul, and with all their might and to teach these things diligently to the next generation (Deuteronomy 6:5).
There is no box that our Christianity fits in. Following Christ means that you take every thought captive (2 Corinthians 10:5), all of the time, whether it is "Should I use a History curriculum?" or "What should I wear today?". It is all His.

What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. ~1 Corinthians 6:19&20

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. ~Isaiah 26:3

And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. ~Ephesians 6:4