I had 2 friends introduce me to the Jonathan Parks CD series (thank you H. F. and K. A.). The kids have really enjoyed listening to the adventures and learning more on the creation vs. evolution debate. I have been surprised at the depth of these Cd's. You think of stuff like this as being for younger kids but really adults are going to learn listening to these! I still really like ICR material but after that foundation I think Vision Forum does an even better job of giving a lot of substantive information in defending a creation stance.
Anyway, I met a lady since moving here that told me and loaned me the first Jonathan Parks study guide book that goes along with the first CD. We just finished the book and have taken our time going through it. SOOOOO much information. Some of this stuff is DEEP (at least for me and my NONE scientific mind!) and honestly is probably better for 3rd graders on up. (Cd's could go younger. Ross enjoys listening to them and he's 5) I had a hard time wrapping my head around Fibonacci numbers but I got the jist of what it meant! We learned the difference between Micro vs. Macro evolution and reasons evolution does NOT make logical/scientific sense or have credibility. I plan on buying the next study guide and reading that also to the kids. I learned a lot and it cements and deepens the kids understanding of what they are hearing in the CD's. Love this book.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
More Funnies for My Memory Bank
More funnies from my week.
We were on a base this past week and were walking past a ladies hair salon and Annalina said to me "You don't have to go to a saloon to be pretty." I thought that was hysterical. Kids slips of the tongues are so funny.
One morning we were all in the kitchen getting ready for the day and all of a sudden Gabriel breaks into song to the tune of the children's song "Father Abraham has many Sons" . . . "Father Brian has many sons, many sons has Father Brian I am one of them and so is Carson . . . " at which time Brian broke in and and helped sing. It was tooo funny and so Gabriel!
We were on a base this past week and were walking past a ladies hair salon and Annalina said to me "You don't have to go to a saloon to be pretty." I thought that was hysterical. Kids slips of the tongues are so funny.
One morning we were all in the kitchen getting ready for the day and all of a sudden Gabriel breaks into song to the tune of the children's song "Father Abraham has many Sons" . . . "Father Brian has many sons, many sons has Father Brian I am one of them and so is Carson . . . " at which time Brian broke in and and helped sing. It was tooo funny and so Gabriel!
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Recent Kids Books
This month we reread books I believe we read last January! They are some of our favorites and are so good in character building. We read again The Giant Killer. Written in the 1800's is the story of a pastor's family and how they are trained so well but their mom sees something missing and when they bring in some kids that have not had their training they have to face their giants in themselves. I think this book is a must read for every Christian homeschooling family. It is convicting!! Gabriel when we were done reading it reread it again on his own and is trying to fight the good fight and showering "enemies" or annoyances with benefits. He asked to talk with me this morning and told me how he had thrown benefits and it worked. That is very tough as we as adults know. Annalina told me her giant is emotion (that's one of her mom's is too!:-) and she battled it this morning. We are trying to fight the good fight.
The other book we read was Teddy's Button which is probably in the top 2 of my favorite children's books! This passionate little boy enlists in God's army and starts to fight his greatest enemy which he learns is himself. This book will make you laugh out loud and cry. Just LOVE this book!
The other book we read was Teddy's Button which is probably in the top 2 of my favorite children's books! This passionate little boy enlists in God's army and starts to fight his greatest enemy which he learns is himself. This book will make you laugh out loud and cry. Just LOVE this book!
The Humor in My Life Lately
The other day Carson was dressed up in his pirate clothes. He really gets spiffy and I asked Annalina to take him potty for me. Carson did not want to take the time for a potty break and was getting upset. I heard Annalina quickly and calmly say "Carson go potty like a pirate!" I then heard him say "Oh, right!!!" and run down the hall to the potty. I told Annalina she is a good big sister and that I would not have thought of the "potty like a pirate" idea! It is so helpful to have 3 other kids that can help Carson go potty. I found out after Annalina talked to Uncle B one day on the phone and was giving him all the latest news on Carson's potty training that Ross was the one who taught Carson to point down when he went potty and to think I thought he picked up on that all by himself! Nope big brother taught him and now he is very careful about it!
Yesterday when we were sitting at breakfast Carson said to me something like "Mommy go hospital, have baby, get toy." The kids and I started to laugh . . . last week he went to the dentist and for being good got a toy so why shouldn't Mommy get a toy for going to the hospital to have a baby! Toooooo funny!
A few weeks back Gabriel was cracking the eggs for dinner (18 eggs to feed our family!) and Carson was on a stool eagerly watching the action. After Gabriel would crack an egg Carson would say "Big Boy Ro (brother)". Gabriel would crack another egg and he would repeat the encouragement, sweet!
Ross picked up the toys in the basement and he said "because Gabriel excuraged (encouraged) me to. That's why I did it." It's Ross's job to pick up but he can fall down on the job but Gabriel gave him the encouragement he needed to pull through!
Yesterday Carson was in the room with Ross during the beginning of his school. I don't know all Ross was talking to him about but it was spiritual things. I came in the room and Ross told me he was "ministering to Carson". He is concerned for his soul which is a good concern to have!
Carson told me a few days ago that I was "too big" . . . "you too big". It's true! :-)
This next one had me laughing and laughing and laughing. If you don't know my hubby it may not seem so funny but if you know him you might understand. Babe had a day off work and was helping Annalina with her math and Annalina was told to draw lines a certain way and then figure out the shape. She asked Daddy if it was a parallelagram (however you spell that!) and showed Daddy the shape and he very simply and matter a factly said to his 3rd grade daughter "That is a simple quadrilateral." He didn't say it in a condescending way but just very simply. Honestly, it was a compliment to Annalina. I thought it was hysterical. It was so Babe. Oh, of course, why didn't I think of a quadrilateral!!!! I love him so much!
January 20th-Update on names. We think we have picked a name but what is funny is the names Ross and Carson have picked. Carson has said MANY times he wants to name the baby "Daniel Boone" which really comes out Da Boo. Ross (NOT JOKING) seriously wants to name the baby "Bunker Hill". His reasoning . . . "It's the name of a battle!"
January 25th-Carson now says to me "lay baby" and he puts his head on my stomach and cuddles with the baby. So cute. Today the older kids were gone at homeschooling group and Carson and I were praying for breakfast alone. We prayed for the baby but when I was done Carson said to me "not die" and I knew what he was talking about. I didn't specifically pray that the baby would not die which is what the kids pray. So Carson added on to the prayer that the baby would not die.
Yesterday when we were sitting at breakfast Carson said to me something like "Mommy go hospital, have baby, get toy." The kids and I started to laugh . . . last week he went to the dentist and for being good got a toy so why shouldn't Mommy get a toy for going to the hospital to have a baby! Toooooo funny!
A few weeks back Gabriel was cracking the eggs for dinner (18 eggs to feed our family!) and Carson was on a stool eagerly watching the action. After Gabriel would crack an egg Carson would say "Big Boy Ro (brother)". Gabriel would crack another egg and he would repeat the encouragement, sweet!
Ross picked up the toys in the basement and he said "because Gabriel excuraged (encouraged) me to. That's why I did it." It's Ross's job to pick up but he can fall down on the job but Gabriel gave him the encouragement he needed to pull through!
Yesterday Carson was in the room with Ross during the beginning of his school. I don't know all Ross was talking to him about but it was spiritual things. I came in the room and Ross told me he was "ministering to Carson". He is concerned for his soul which is a good concern to have!
Carson told me a few days ago that I was "too big" . . . "you too big". It's true! :-)
This next one had me laughing and laughing and laughing. If you don't know my hubby it may not seem so funny but if you know him you might understand. Babe had a day off work and was helping Annalina with her math and Annalina was told to draw lines a certain way and then figure out the shape. She asked Daddy if it was a parallelagram (however you spell that!) and showed Daddy the shape and he very simply and matter a factly said to his 3rd grade daughter "That is a simple quadrilateral." He didn't say it in a condescending way but just very simply. Honestly, it was a compliment to Annalina. I thought it was hysterical. It was so Babe. Oh, of course, why didn't I think of a quadrilateral!!!! I love him so much!
January 20th-Update on names. We think we have picked a name but what is funny is the names Ross and Carson have picked. Carson has said MANY times he wants to name the baby "Daniel Boone" which really comes out Da Boo. Ross (NOT JOKING) seriously wants to name the baby "Bunker Hill". His reasoning . . . "It's the name of a battle!"
January 25th-Carson now says to me "lay baby" and he puts his head on my stomach and cuddles with the baby. So cute. Today the older kids were gone at homeschooling group and Carson and I were praying for breakfast alone. We prayed for the baby but when I was done Carson said to me "not die" and I knew what he was talking about. I didn't specifically pray that the baby would not die which is what the kids pray. So Carson added on to the prayer that the baby would not die.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Humorous
This joke came from our home school group director. Pretty funny.
Q: How does a home schooler change a light bulb?
A: First, mom checks out three books at the library on electricity, then the kids make models of light bulbs, read a biography of Thomas Edison and do a skit based on his life. Next, everyone studies the history of lighting methods, wrapping up with dipping their own candles. Next, everyone takes a trip to the store where they compare types of light bulbs as well as prices and figure out how much change they'll get if they buy two bulbs for $1.99 and pay with a five-dollar bill. On the way home, a discussion develops over the history of money and also Abraham Lincoln, as his picture is on the five-dollar bill. Finally, after building a homemade ladder out of branches dragged from the woods, the light bulb is installed. And there is light.
Q: How does a home schooler change a light bulb?
A: First, mom checks out three books at the library on electricity, then the kids make models of light bulbs, read a biography of Thomas Edison and do a skit based on his life. Next, everyone studies the history of lighting methods, wrapping up with dipping their own candles. Next, everyone takes a trip to the store where they compare types of light bulbs as well as prices and figure out how much change they'll get if they buy two bulbs for $1.99 and pay with a five-dollar bill. On the way home, a discussion develops over the history of money and also Abraham Lincoln, as his picture is on the five-dollar bill. Finally, after building a homemade ladder out of branches dragged from the woods, the light bulb is installed. And there is light.
Friday, January 20, 2012
The Light and the Glory
A few weeks ago I finished the book (for my own personal reading) The Light and the Glory by Peter Marshall and David Manuel. Aside from the Bible of course this was the next most influential book I have read. It is telling and documenting the Christian roots of America. So much was said about George Washington and I won't even get to him. He was truly an amazing person.
I am not good at thinking through and putting words together right now but if I was to sum up this book I would say stressed the importance of keeping a short account with God and next "enduring hardness as a good soldier of Christ."
I have asked God to help me grow this year. Last year was EXTREMELY tough on just about every level one could imagine and I want to live this year closer to my Lord than the last . . . greater faith and greater love being my main focuses.
Quotes:
George Washington said: "To the distinguished character of a Patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of a Christian."--Love this quote for my boys especially
Abigail Adams in a letter to her husband: "I feel no anxiety at the large armament designed against us. The remarkable interpositions of heaven in our favor cannot be too gratefully acknowledged. He who fed the Israelites in the wilderness, who clothes the lilies of the field and who feeds the young ravens when thy cry, will not forsake a people engaged in so righteous a cause, if we remember His loving kindness." What faith!!
Samuel West preached in Boston: "Our cause is so just and good that nothing can prevent our success but only our sins. Could I see a spirit of repentance and reformation prevail throughout the land, I should not have the least apprehension or fear of being brought under the iron rod of slavery, even though all the powers of the globe were combined against us. And though I confess that the irreligion and profaneness which are so common among us gives something of a damp to my spirits, yet I cannot help hoping, and even believing, that Providence has designed this continent for to be the asylum of liberty and true religion."
"Because the way to deepening in Christ is the Way of the Cross: the way of self-denial--of unconditional surrender of one's own will to God's will, and of true covenant commitment to one another." This is the Way to which He has called all serious Christians ("If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me"-Luke 9:23)
"In our hearts, we also know that God has called us Christians to a horizontal as well as vertical covenant. But the cost--of turning from our independent ways, of being willing to hear God speak to us through the lips of others, of coming into the light by exposing the hidden sins of attitude or thought, of humbling ourselves by admitting where we are wrong-is more than most of us care to pay."
Does this quote describe much of America today or what?
"But to an agnostic, who has no Redeemer, no Saviour, no Comforter, no source of grace or forgiveness or Providential intervention, the concept of the utter depravity of man is so depressing that he has to believe in the basic goodness of man--or go into despair. Such a man simply blinds himself to the bankruptcy of his philosophy, and goes through life carefully avoiding a head-on confrontation with reality, all the while affirming the nobility of "the brotherhood of man."
"But the intellect is on of Satan's prime harvesting grounds for reaping the fruit of pride, and without the strong check and balance of an awareness of the danger of self-righteousness, it can soon become an instrument for the glorification of self, not God."
". . . it became rather naive and even a trifle primitive to think of God in such intensely intimate and personal terms as had been the case in first-century Christianity."
I am not good at thinking through and putting words together right now but if I was to sum up this book I would say stressed the importance of keeping a short account with God and next "enduring hardness as a good soldier of Christ."
I have asked God to help me grow this year. Last year was EXTREMELY tough on just about every level one could imagine and I want to live this year closer to my Lord than the last . . . greater faith and greater love being my main focuses.
Quotes:
George Washington said: "To the distinguished character of a Patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of a Christian."--Love this quote for my boys especially
Abigail Adams in a letter to her husband: "I feel no anxiety at the large armament designed against us. The remarkable interpositions of heaven in our favor cannot be too gratefully acknowledged. He who fed the Israelites in the wilderness, who clothes the lilies of the field and who feeds the young ravens when thy cry, will not forsake a people engaged in so righteous a cause, if we remember His loving kindness." What faith!!
Samuel West preached in Boston: "Our cause is so just and good that nothing can prevent our success but only our sins. Could I see a spirit of repentance and reformation prevail throughout the land, I should not have the least apprehension or fear of being brought under the iron rod of slavery, even though all the powers of the globe were combined against us. And though I confess that the irreligion and profaneness which are so common among us gives something of a damp to my spirits, yet I cannot help hoping, and even believing, that Providence has designed this continent for to be the asylum of liberty and true religion."
"Because the way to deepening in Christ is the Way of the Cross: the way of self-denial--of unconditional surrender of one's own will to God's will, and of true covenant commitment to one another." This is the Way to which He has called all serious Christians ("If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me"-Luke 9:23)
"In our hearts, we also know that God has called us Christians to a horizontal as well as vertical covenant. But the cost--of turning from our independent ways, of being willing to hear God speak to us through the lips of others, of coming into the light by exposing the hidden sins of attitude or thought, of humbling ourselves by admitting where we are wrong-is more than most of us care to pay."
Does this quote describe much of America today or what?
"But to an agnostic, who has no Redeemer, no Saviour, no Comforter, no source of grace or forgiveness or Providential intervention, the concept of the utter depravity of man is so depressing that he has to believe in the basic goodness of man--or go into despair. Such a man simply blinds himself to the bankruptcy of his philosophy, and goes through life carefully avoiding a head-on confrontation with reality, all the while affirming the nobility of "the brotherhood of man."
"But the intellect is on of Satan's prime harvesting grounds for reaping the fruit of pride, and without the strong check and balance of an awareness of the danger of self-righteousness, it can soon become an instrument for the glorification of self, not God."
". . . it became rather naive and even a trifle primitive to think of God in such intensely intimate and personal terms as had been the case in first-century Christianity."
Thursday, January 12, 2012
"they may rest from their labours"
I got a very unexpected call this morning that my Uncle Neil went to be with Jesus last night. My heart morns his loss. Few people lived the way he lived with his circumstances. He was paralized since he was a young man yet despite all he couldn't do or the places he couldn't go he lived viberantely and planted flowers where he was. He was a joy to those around him. He planned the flower beds in the winter for the nursing home, he cheered the cheerless, spent time with those less fortunate than him.
The kids and I mourned together this morning. So interesting to see how we each mourn differently. My Uncle Neil REALLY liked the kids and spoke of them to others. My kids only met him once but it only took once to bind him to their hearts. That's what type of person he was.
Ross has prayed for him for quite sometime that he wouldn't have to use his wheelchair anymore. I would hear him pray this and think that is sweet but it won't happen but it has happened he is now walking the streets of heaven in his glorified body. Ross thanked God that he can walk now. Gabriel would ask about Neil and his ability to play chess (he was a very good chess player) and Gabriel mourned the loss of his great uncle and the chance to play chess with him. He had really wanted to do that. Annalina was teary-eyed and wants a picture up in her room when she was with him. Carson had no clue what was happening but would comment on who was crying and when I walked into a room he had his arms wrapped around Gabriel to comfort him.
Neil went peacefully in his sleep. What a way to go! He is absent in the body but present with His Lord. We'll miss you Uncle Neil. Thank you for the example you were to me and my children.
The kids and I mourned together this morning. So interesting to see how we each mourn differently. My Uncle Neil REALLY liked the kids and spoke of them to others. My kids only met him once but it only took once to bind him to their hearts. That's what type of person he was.
Ross has prayed for him for quite sometime that he wouldn't have to use his wheelchair anymore. I would hear him pray this and think that is sweet but it won't happen but it has happened he is now walking the streets of heaven in his glorified body. Ross thanked God that he can walk now. Gabriel would ask about Neil and his ability to play chess (he was a very good chess player) and Gabriel mourned the loss of his great uncle and the chance to play chess with him. He had really wanted to do that. Annalina was teary-eyed and wants a picture up in her room when she was with him. Carson had no clue what was happening but would comment on who was crying and when I walked into a room he had his arms wrapped around Gabriel to comfort him.
Neil went peacefully in his sleep. What a way to go! He is absent in the body but present with His Lord. We'll miss you Uncle Neil. Thank you for the example you were to me and my children.
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