The Power of the Cross

by Keith Getty & Stuart Townsend

Oh, to see the dawn
Of the darkest day:
Christ on the road to Calvary.
Tried by sinful men,
Torn and beaten, then
Nailed to a cross of wood.

CHORUS:
This, the pow'r of the cross:
Christ became sin for us;
Took the blame, bore the wrath—
We stand forgiven at the cross.

Oh, to see the pain
Written on Your face,
Bearing the awesome weight of sin.
Ev'ry bitter thought,
Ev'ry evil deed
Crowning Your bloodstained brow.


Now the daylight flees;
Now the ground beneath
Quakes as its Maker bows His head.
Curtain torn in two,
Dead are raised to life;
"Finished!" the vict'ry cry.

Oh, to see my name
Written in the wounds,
For through Your suffering I am free.
Death is crushed to death;
Life is mine to live,
Won through Your selfless love.

FINAL CHORUS:
This, the pow'r of the cross:
Son of God—slain for us.
What a love! What a cost!
We stand forgiven at the cross.


To think of what He went thru so that we might live!  I am so thankful for Him bearing my sins on Calvery! This song gives me chills.  Listen to it here.

My New Planner, The 2010 Schoolhouse Planner

It is almost that time again, time to get school rolling again.  Books ordered, supplies bought, school room ready.  The only thing I did have was a planner.  I had gone back and forth looking for a new planner for this coming school year, although nothing really fit the bill for my crew. I had finally decided that I was going to make my own UNTIL I was given the chance to review the 2010 Schoolhouse Planner from the Old Schoolhouse Magazine.  To sum it up, I think it is the Big Mac Daddy of School Planners! 

Once I downloaded my my planner I started going thru it and I just really couldn't believe it, it has EVERYTHING!  Literally! I was very impressed.  I was thrilled to be able to customize and print the pages that worked for us.  This planner was not only made for homeschoolers, it was made by homeschoolers.  It is not only for school but for the home.  All the things that a homeschooling mama needs to keep her house and school in order.  I love it! I love it ! I love it!  Ok, now that I got that out of my system here are some details...

To start with, on the schooling side of things, you get daily planning pages with customizable dates to adjust to YOUR schedule.  I really liked this idea since we don't school on Fridays I don't have to feel locked into someone else's schedule.  There are even several to choose from depending on the number of children you are schooling. 

There are week at a glance forms, quarterly planning forms, unit study tracking forms, and even forms for unschoolers.  They, I believe, have thought of EVERYONE!

The school planner includes many great extras like Bible reading schedules, and forms for curriculum information, goal setting, field trips, library books, science labs, grade keeping, instrument practice, extracurricular activities and TONS MORE.

Each month the planner has several great ideas that you can incorporate into your home/school like in September you can read about different back to School Traditions, in December you can try a Family Spa Night (doesn't that sound just dreamy after all of the holiday hustle and bustle.  Hold please while I go mark this on my calendar) or in May you can read about making your Nature Walks more successful.   I love learning new ideas that I can incorporate into our little home. 

The Schoolhouse Planner also includes several encouraging and how to articles to help us thru the school year.  Two of the articles that I really enjoyed were, Top Five Tips for Managing Your Homeschool While Managing Your Home by Malia Russell and Beating Burnout: Don’t Just Survive THRIVE! by Heidi St. John.

The household part of the planner is also full of goodies.   If you are a list maker or an organizer of any sort, this planner will definitely WOW ya! 

There is a calendar, a phone directory, chore charts (for you and the kids), to do lists, health records, car maintenance forms, birthday and anniversaries reminder list (Praise God, I really need one of these babies!), cleaning schedules, family schedules and budget records sheets.  Like I said EVERYTHING!

Every month you also get several new family friendly recipes to try out.  The ones I am looking forward to eating making are Taco Soup, Lentil Chili, Cranberry Pork Roast and Pumpkin Pie Dumpcake.  The planner also includes several grocery lists, weekly and monthly meal planners.  I don't think I could survive with out meal planning and the forms in the planner make it very simple to do.

For only $39.00 you get a fabulous planner that will help you to organize your homeschooling efforts and your home.  Well worth the price!  Almost all of this planner is reusable Year after Year.  All you have to do is print the pages that work for your family, you can stick them in a binder and your DONE!  You will be all set to keep up with homeschooling, your home and you even get to Keep Your Sanity!  Hard to imagine, I know!



I am a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew,and I have used this product for review purposes.  I was not otherwise compensated.

The LSG School/Playroom

I posted pics of our school/playroom a while back.  Since then we have added a few taller bookcases and have a different table ($15 at a yard sale) in there.  I also got rid of the larger TV and replaced it with a smaller one, I decided I would much rather use the space for books than a TV stand. 

Yes, we love books (and YES! I got my new camera, Yippee)!  Yippee!  Do you see the little 13in dinosaur in corner just under our laminated wall map (which I got at Borders for super cheap)?  This table was supposed to be a island in my kitchen but all my real life friends and finally even I agreed it was too big, so it ended up in the school room. 

I "try" to keep the books separated by subject or type.  Kinda like this, math books, science/nature books, history/cultures/countries/maps, readers, Bible stories, health/manners, chapter books, coloring/activity books, etc.  I also try to keep the different series together.  My lovely children do not always share my passion to be organized (sigh) but for the most we keep it together. 

We currently have 3 workboxes (which we REALLY LOVE), I am considering getting one for Little bits but I am thinking the same thing you are probably thinking, where in the world would I put it.  Those 2 blue creates contain our file folder games in one and the school books that we do together in the other.  That tall shelf in the corner does hold some books but it mostly holds math manipulative's, art supplies, paper, beads, a flower press and activity bags.

To display our artwork I strung a clothes line across the whole back wall and we just clip them there.  

For our games and toys we use these white wire shelves along with some laundry baskets from Target.  The baskets are sorted by blocks, toddler toys, heroes/men, Little People, cars & trucks, dolls, doll clothes, Dora doll house stuff, etc.   I try to switch out the toys on top of the train table for the boys, they really seem to enjoy it. 

We have a large green tote for all things dress up - clothes, purses, hats, shoes, swords, capes, Hulk boxing gloves (don't ask, it was a Hubs thing), etc.  The couch was a $50 purchase from craiglist (I really L O V E Craigslist BTW).  Usually, I sit there to read Bible, Read alouds and History with the kids although this summer we've been hanging in the family room. 

We do alot of the subjects we do together in the school/playroom, like Bible and anything that we read together.  Language Arts, Math and anything they are doing independently seem to get done at the kitchen table.  The school/playroom is right off my kitchen. 

I have to admit I am kinda glad to be starting school again.  I had high hopes of doing some school thru the summer and yeah, it just didn't happen, other than Bible and a read aloud.  Oh well, maybe next summer or maybe not : )

You can check out some other schoolroom ideas at My 3 BoyBarians.

A Few of My Favorite Things: Blogger Mommies

Did I tell you all that I bought a new camera?!!  I am very excited, one of my new best friends (the UPS man or the FedEx lady) is supposed to drop it off to me TODAY!  Shhhh, did you hear that?  I think it was angels singing the halleluia chorus!

So, while you all are patiently waiting for me to get my act together over here I was thinking you all would like to visit some of my favorite Blogger Mommies .....

Raising Olives - Kimberly is a Christian Homeschool Mama of 10.  She has some great wisdom on Parenting, Homeschooling and Feeding your Family on a Budget.

Joyful Creation 2 Honor Him - Joyce is another Christan Homeschool Mama.  She clips a mean coupon and is great at organizing!

Smockity Frocks - I just love Connie, she is so funny!  She also homeschools more than a few children.  She taught me how to make homemade pie crust the easy way!  No more junk in a can!  Hey Connie, if you are reading this, the LSG family would love to come for dinner ANYTIME!

Heavenly Homemakers - Laura is truly an inspiration!  This woman cooks up a storm and I am sure she has an awesome freezer stash to show for it.  She has some awesome recipes, we especially L.O.V.E her Giant Breakfast cookies.

Raising Arrows- You will find more great ideas on homeschool a houseful and raising a large family.  I think the wisdom she gives about adopting a large family mentality is very good.  We do some of the things on her list such as color coding and the bath routine. 

My Blessed Home - This is a blog that I recently started following.  She has oodles of helpful organizational tips, homeschool how-to's and chore ideas to keep things running smoothly.


I hope that you enjoy visiting these ladies.  They are some of the staples in my google reader.

Immortal Invisible, God Only Wise

by Walters Chalmers Smith

Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
Most blessèd, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
Almighty, victorious, Thy great Name we praise.

Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light,
Nor wanting, nor wasting, Thou rulest in might;
Thy justice, like mountains, high soaring above
Thy clouds, which are fountains of goodness and love.

To all, life Thou givest, to both great and small;
In all life Thou livest, the true life of all;
We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree,
And wither and perish—but naught changeth Thee.

Great Father of glory, pure Father of light,
Thine angels adore Thee, all veiling their sight;
Of all Thy rich graces this grace, Lord, impart
Take veil from our faces, the vile from our heart.

All laud we would render; O help us to see
’Tis only the splendor of light hideth Thee,
And so let Thy glory, Almighty, impart,
Through Christ in His story, Thy Christ to the heart.




Another beautiful song about ouur blessed Creator!  I would have gotten to sing it this morning had I not been running a few minutes late.
I am not even going to share that I am singing it right now. 
You can hear it here.  Yes, you can sing along too!