Our Week, 19-23 March

This week was full of
::PAINTING::

::Latin Battleship & Swingin’::

  

::Cowboys on horses::

::Reading & Finding New “Pets”::

  

::Cursive practice & more reading::

  

::Dancing!::

::Cowboys & Solar System Construction::

  

::Math – Colorful and Hands-On, You See::

::More reading::

::Tilling!  Woot!  Turning over the earth for the 2012 garden!::

What was your week like?

Who Did He Do It For?

I am about to step right out on some very thin ice.  I am not a confrontational person by any means, just ask anyone who knows me.  They will tell you that I avoid conflict AT ALL COSTS.

But.
I was sipping my cuppa, perusing the NPR headlines for the day –since I haven’t been listening to the radio lately—and came across the headline, “ ‘Woodstock for Atheists’: A Moment for Nonbelievers.”  (see full article here).
Now, usually, I would read it, go through whatever emotions might come with that, and move on.  I would CERTAINLY not share it with anyone anywhere, as I know folks on FB, in the blog-world, and in real life who range from hard-core believers to folks who are wiccan to straight-up atheists.  Sharing this online, with or without a comment is guaranteed to make someone unhappy with me.  This is wholly unlike Sally. 
But.
I am not officially on Facebook for 40 days, but I just couldn’t NOT hit the “share” button at the bottom of the article.  I sat for long, long, long, long, long time with hovering finger. But I had to.
You see, it broke my heart to read this:

“the fastest-growing segment of religion in the U.S. is no religion”

Now it’s late, and being pregnant, I realize that I can be more emotional than normal, but the weight on my heart as I read this article just about broke me.  In my mind I saw faces of friends and acquaintances past and present, former schoolmates, past co-workers, neighbors – all who would name themselves as atheists, or at the very least agnostic or the new one, secular (all listed in the article).  None of these men and women are “mean” or “evil” or “bad” as we could really define those terms, you know what I mean?  Our personalities might not have jived or something, but they are decent people.
Many things went through my mind, but here is where they all lead:
People who call out and say there is no God?  It doesn’t change who He is, or what He’s done. God is God.  He will not cease to be because most of America “and Canada and parts of Europe” have believed Him right out of their lives. 

“Crowning of Thorns”
source

There was a man who hung by his Hands (or wrists, they say) and feet on boards for hours –hours!—in the worst physical pain one could experience, after having been stripped, beaten, ridiculed, taunted with vinegar for water, even! And what is his response? 

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”  
---Luke 23:34

“As Seen From the Cross"
source

This man, Jesus, did nothing wrong in his entire life, yet was falsely accused, tried and put to death in the most heinous way they could reckon, and then he called for their forgiveness?    Radical, this notion!
You want to talk about radical?  This man was radical in his response.  But this wasn’t even the most radical he could be.  No, three days later, he defied every law of nature known and unknown and walked on this earth again!  This man, Jesus conquered death!
And for whom?  For every single human being that walks the planet, whether they believe in God with their whole being, or walk on the Mall in Washington, DC to proclaim that they do not, and everyone in between! 
Want proof?  Check this out:

But God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while WE WERE STILL SINNERS, Christ died FOR US.  
--- Romans 5:8 (emphasis mine)

“Crucifixion”
source

I don’t want to make folks mad, I really don’t.  But, ya’ll?  Honest to goodness, I care too much to beat around the bush and just chalk you up as “a lost cause”, or keep the fear of you unfriending me on Facebook, or following me on my blog, or –gulp—talking to me in real life.  I understand that we might not believe all the same things, but I want you to know this:

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes… – Romans 1:16

Do you know who wrote that?  This guy was born Saul, but we know him as Paul.  Why the name change?  This man, Saul, was high and mighty in the ranks of the day, and his job was to rid the place of Christians.  He ordered early Christians to be put to death.  He was overeer of the executions.  This was one.mean.dude.
But while Saul was deeeeeeep in sin, folks, like, make-the-rest-of-us-feel-better-about-our-sins kind of deep (this is completely faulty thinking, of course, but we humans like to compare ourselves, right?), Christ died for him.  God stepped in Saul’s world, and turned it flip-upside-down.  When he came out on the other side, God changed not only his name to Paul, but transformed his entire life.  He became one of the most amazing workers for God we know of. 

source

So for you, who believes in God – there’s an awesome plan for you, and part of it is to love on you like you would not, could not believe or understand.

For my readers who aren’t sure what to believe or say that you don’t believe in God – God is there.  He’s real.  He’s got an awesome plan for you and part of it is to love on you unlike any human ever could.  Ever.  There is no depths, no heights, no distance that can keep you away from God once you accept His reality, the sacrifice He paid for you.

For YOU. 

Please allow your heart to be opened to this idea of a love that is greater than any human can express; it is truly life-transforming.  It’s a radical love, a love that starts with a faith, even a smidgen of a faith that is only the size of a wee mustard seed.  Start there and watch it grow…..

For God so loved YOU that He gave His one and only Son, that when YOU believe in Him, YOU will not perish, but have everlasting life.

--John 3:16
Sally-style

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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If you would like to learn more about this and try to make heads or tails of what all this means for you or a loved one, please leave your email address in the comments section and I will get to you as soon as I can (and will promptly delete the message so as to not have it lingering about.)

Words for the Weekend

Spring Prayer

For flowers that bloom about our feet,

For tender grass so fresh and sweet,

For song of bird and hum of bee,

For all things fair we hear or see,

Father in Heaven, we thank thee!

 

For blue of stream and blue of sky,

For pleasant shade of branches high,

For fragrant air and cooling breeze,

For beauty of the the blooming tree,

Father in Heaven, we thank thee!

--- Ralph Waldo Emerson                                    

Our Week, 12-16 March

We have been having some issues with mister HR, and it dawns on me – he gets so little of me!  So I decided to go back to the way we used to do things, that good old weekly rhythm that I learned from Waldorf days. :)

Monday was used to be our painting day…it took a bit, but we got there (granted, it’s not the beautiful wet-on-wet of Waldorf fame, but it’s paint on paper)

     

We read Jamie O’Rourke and the Big Potato, by Tomie DePaola, talked about Saint Patrick and then broke loose on cutting, gluing and painting!

MG is getting back into her AO work, and the main focus is on time management.  Er, perhaps her mother isn’t the best one to teach her that….

Other notes for the first of the week:

--- we are starting reading a poem a day: MG is reading a poem of William Wordsworth each day, and will choose her favorite on Friday, and that is her copywork.  (an idea from the AO yahoo group!!!)  EK and I are reading one poem a day from my copy of A Child’s Book of Poems, and HR and I reading from my copy of The Real Mother Goose.

MG is copying out of the book A Journey Through Time in Verse and Rhyme – Waldorf folks cling to this book and for good reason: it is so full of glorious words for everything!  I STRONGLY encourage you to check it out! (note: there are all sorts of poems about fairy things, and some Mother Earth-y sot of poetry, so if that’s not your thing…..there’s still loads of deliciousness for you!)

--- We are back into learning a passage of Scripture, which is MG’s Monday copywork.  And boy is it timely.  Right now, it is Ephesians 4:32 –

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you.

--- I have started with catechism in the morning.  I am borrowing my friend Tiffany’s book for children.  MG huffed about has simple it is, that even a baby could do it.  EXACTLY!  That’s the point!  Not that they are are as simple as the first ones, mind you.

 

Wednesday was a blur of nausea and headache, mixed with serious multi-teaching: while sitting backwards on the couch so MG could practice her cursive on my back, EK and I were working on Math-U-See and HR and I were coloring a sheet together (one of EK’s prior math sheets) and SA was re-organizing the books from the shelf on my lap.  And the couch.  And the floor. 

HR and SA checking out those purples in the yard!  The little violets are everywhere!

Thursday was day two of getting all our schoolwork (read: most of our schoolwork) done before lunch!  We dotted off to town to pick up our milk shares for the first time in an eternity two months!  Ohhh, raw milk, how I’ve missed you!!!  Really, I think my bones were starting to shrivel and my skin turn pallid. 
Just joking.  But commercial milk we don’t drink, and I even tried our local Homestead Creamery creamline milk (because my issue with homogenization is bigger than pasteurization) – that was flat-out rejected after two weeks!

 
We did do an impromptu mummification of MG following our reading of “Early Egypt” from Mystery of History .  I plan to play in Early Egypt for a bit, focusing on the pyramids…and mummies :)

Oh, wait…where was I?

Oh!  So we got to go pick up our milk (YAY!) and enjoy a short playdate with one of my besties (I’m in my 30’s.  Can I still say that?) and her 4 boys.  It was wonderful….

And what better way to end the day, than with a Pillow Fight!  (MG wanted no part of it.  She preferred the white chair and an Artemis Fowl book (or was is a Warriors book?  Or maybe it was HP 4?  No, I think it was a new series, the Companions Quartet?  Geez, I can’t keep up!)

Which leads to Friday, which was day THREE, ya’ll – THREE- of us getting 95% of our work done before lunch (sorry history and astronomy fun, we’ll see you next week)!  Which is good, because after about 2pm, I am D.O.N.E. 

And then, my beloved returns home and  does exactly what he needs to do for me – tend to everything!!  The food, the dishes, the children!  And I can lay down and just get all of me back together!  The children have loved their daddy taking them to town lots this week and the nearly daily walks and the wrestling matches outside and the garden work in the evenings! 

This man – these children – this new little one -- ohh, my heart!

Words for the Weekend:: “Written in March”

Written in March

The cock is crowing,

The stream is flowing,

The small birds twitter,

The lake doth glitter,

The green field sleeps in the sun;

The oldest and youngest

Are at work with the strongest,

The cattle are grazing,

Their heads never raising;

There are forty feeding like one!

Like an army defeated

The snow hath retreated,

And now doth fare ill

On tip of bare hill;

The ploughboy is whooping

--anon – anon --

There’s a joy in the mountain;

There’s life in the fountains,

Small clouds are sailing,

Blue sky prevailing;

The rain is over and gone!

--William Wordsworth

Yarn Along: Anahera

Joining Ginny and many many others, sharing what I’m knitting and reading.

Answers 2, through Answers in Genesis.  Our Sunday School class has been looking deeper at what exactly we believe.  Sure we SAY we believe the Bible as truth, but does that include the first 11 chapters?  If the Bible says He created everything in 6 days, can we trust that?  Indeed!

I am also working on Anahera for EK’s birthday……..which was March 6.  My Rav notes are ::HERE::

 

What are you working on?

A Full Hand

The month of February was a good blogging month, wasn’t it?  Thank goodness for that post-scheduling option!  I have otherwise been busy…

….succumbing to pre-10pm bedtimes…
…replacing coffee for ginger-lemon tea…
…taking  30-45 minutes to go from a laying down position in bed, to a fully-upright position…
…fighting the urge to run to the bathroom at every.single.smell. in our kitchen…
…doing the flat-out, bare minimum for school: history, math, and reading…

…dually thankful and mournful for Tuesday’s busy co-op day…
…asking Papa to do so much…
…thanking Papa for doing everything…
…finding, opening, then closing that planner and home binder that I love (the sight overwhelms me…
…moving slowly…

…looking at the calendar…
…through it all, thanking God that He has given Papa and I another opportunity to raise one of His for a time!

~~ We welcome our fifth wee one into the bunch nigh on Halloween time! ~~

So if when I go sparse on the blog again, it’s because fitting a post in between all those things didn’t happen!  I gleefully anticipate when most of that list goes away and I can fill that list with gardening and knitting and reading and visiting and preparing!

Our Week, 5-9 March

It began with a tea party a la EK, for MG

          

Then came spontaneous kite-making, along with math, the second (successful) attempt at making Sumerian seals, and learning about Sargon and Gilgamesh. (though those pictures seem to have disappeared!)

A gift from EK and HR for our table

And THEN!  Then, the highly-anticipated visit from Meme and Nana…and Cousin Piper!!  (and the picture of MG getting Nana to go traipsing through the woods has disappeared as well!  Arghhh!)

Homemade cake by Meme for EK, who just so happened to share birthdays with the Oreo Cookie.  The cake was great!

How was your week?

Astronomy: finishing up the Sun

We finished up our lesson on the sun last week.  It was a bit drawn out, but we got there!  We are using Apologia’s Astronomy book this year, and I am beginning to wish I had purchased the accompanying notebook and junior journals the company offers. 
This (and MOH) are our first forays into lapbooking, but I think we are doing too much.  It takes    SO.   LONG.  to do our lesson segment, what with reading and talking and then the coloring, cutting, pasting, writing and all the 2yo antics throughout. 
That said, the children are really digging their notebooks for both science and history, so I need to find that happy place with doing it.  I have found, thanks to Pinterest, several free sources of neat lapbook and notebooking resources.  Check out my Pinterest board for Apologia Astronomy Board. 

Below are the snaps of MG’s sun section.  EK’s looks mostly the same, except for the cutting and whatnot.  I refuse to do any of that (which was one reason I didn’t do it for so long.) so all three children’s notebooks are done 100% by them – and it shows :)

  

We also attempted to make a sun sculpture that we could hang in the “school room.”  Emphasis on the word, ATTEMPTED.

Several things were working against us:

1. It was afternoon.  Without a quality Quiet Time.  Really, do I need to go further?
2. An unsleeped 2 year old.  (is that a word?)
3. Mama’s lack of reading any sort of directions or suggestions.
4. Mama’s plan to make a couple of these bad boys at one time, with Big Kid Buddies working with their Little Buddy.
5. The clock that won’t stop moving towards suppertime, and that that pike of dishes behind the camera that the tasked dishwasher didn’t get to.

Needless to say, it did not go well.  At all.  In any way.

On the bright side, we had all this watery glue goop, nipped yellow acrylic yarn, and a wild mess already, so I had the two youngest to take some wax paper and design a circle-ish type shape. 

And WOOT!  We had some success out of it!  HR and SA have flattish “suns” to hang in their window!  That was enjoyable to see HR’s focus on the project, all by himself (which is good, because both Big Kid Buddies checked out mentally about 5 minutes in to the original project, and fully disappeared during the second yarn throwing :) )

So while it had little to do with facts and figures of the sun, it was an attempt at the artistic.  HA! 
Next week we move on to Mercury, but not worries, I am keeping my gray yarn far, far away from all balloons, bowls of glue and anyone my height or shorter.