Turkey Terse Verse

What do you call a spunky Thanksgiving bird?

Perky Turkey

What can you make with Thanksgiving leftovers?

Turkey Jerky

I know these are really corny.  In our homeschool group writing club, we learned about writing terse verse, so I wanted to write something concerning Thanksgiving.  A few nights ago, my son and I were brainstorming and coming up with some original terse verse.  He had me cracking up laughing with some of the things he said.  Here are a couple of Paul’s thoughts.

What do you call a stupid friend?

Dumb Chum

What do you call someone who sabotages things with fire?

Candle vandal

(I’m wondering if maybe he’s overdosing on Hardy Boys?)

A Good Mix

  

Today my son and I read about mixtures(a combination of different substances that can be separated because they have different physical properties)and then we did a somewhat artsy science activity.  In three small plastic cups, we combined a tablespoon of oil with a teaspoon of food coloring.  After those were mixed together, we poured them into an aluminum roasting pan that had a couple of inches of water in it.  Next, we took a piece of white construction paper and lay it on top of the water, oil and food coloring for 30 seconds.  The pictures above are some of the results we achieved.  We were having a good time, so we ended up using about 8 pieces of construction paper and tried for different designs.  It turned out to be a fun project.

As we were doing this, I thought about a good mix that is mentioned in the Scripture.  When we take the word of God, let it get in our hearts and add some faith  in what it’s saying, marvelous things can happen like salvation, healing, miracles and deliverance. 

Some examples:

Mat 9:28 And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord. Mat 9:29 Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you. Mat 9:30 And their eyes were opened; and Jesus straitly charged them, saying, See that no man know it.

Act 14:7 And there they preached the gospel. Act 14:8 And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother’s womb, who never had walked:

Act 14:9 The same heard Paul speak: who stedfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed, Act 14:10 Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked.

Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

These are great examples of what the Lord can do when we exercise faith in His word, but uh oh!

Hebrews 4:2(AMP) For indeed we have had the glad tidings [Gospel of God] proclaimed to us just as truly as they [the Israelites of old did when the good news of deliverance from bondage came to them]; but the message they heard did not benefit them, because it was not mixed with faith (with the leaning of the entire personality on God in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness) by those who heard it; neither were they united in faith with the ones [Joshua and Caleb] who heard (did believe).

May God help us to keep faith in the mix when we hear His word, so we can have the benefit of His salvation, miracles, deliverance or whatever He would have for us!  The end result will be a beautiful picture.  🙂

Science Fun With The Son

We are discovering that science is more fun with experiments and hands on activities.  Here are a few fun little science things we’ve done recently.

Did you know you can stack water?  We were able to stack 34 drops of water on this penny before it overflowed. 

We put a piece of tissue under a needle and laid it on top of the water.  The tissue sunk to the bottom, but the needle was able to float on top of the water.  Water has surface tension(kind of like a thin layer of Saran wrap), but the needle is too light to break through the surface tension.  Notice how you can see the needle print on the water?

This is a racedrop racetrack that I printed off a website.  You tape the racetrack to some carboard and then tape a piece of wax paper over the racetrack.  Then you get a waterdroplet on your finger and shake it onto the starting position on the track.  Now you’re all set to see how quickly you can get your racedrop around the course and to the finish.  Paul could do this a lot faster than I could.  Water on our waxy racetrack reacts the same way water does on a duck’s back.

With a few sponge pieces, salt, water and some Mrs.Stewart‘s bluing, we were able to start a little crystal garden.

We’re having a lot of fun with science.  I just can’t wait until we blow up the kitchen. (just kidding 😆 )

Gotta Love That Boy

  

I started using a new vocabulary curriculum with my son this year to introduce him to some new words.  Earlier today, I told him his new word was “serpentine.”  “What do you think that means?”, I asked.  His reply? 

“Um, Ovaltine for snakes?”

Gotta love that boy!

Proverbs 17:22 A merry heart doeth good like a medicine:…

The Next Step

Jennifer had completed her written driver’s education course near the end of August.  We then had to send it in to be graded.  We hadn’t heard anything from PEN school, and Jen was thinking maybe her paper work got lost in the mail.  I gave them a call today and found out that they had received her work, and I was delighted(as was Jen) to find out that she had passed the course with a score of 92%! 

Once she receives her certificate of completion, we can proceed to the next step, which is behind the wheel with a certified driving instructor. (and of course, lots of practice with mom and dad before she can get her license) Am I ready for this?  Well, I know one thing for sure.  It’s definitely going to increase my prayer life.  🙂

What I Learned On The First Day Of School

We are studying a portion of World History this year, beginning with Napoleon and going through the Korean War.  Of course, I have heard the name  Napoleon many times, but I really couldn’t tell you much about him.  In listening to a history CD today, I heard something that Napoleon said about Jesus Christ.  It blew me away!  I looked to see if I could find it online, and I did.  Here is what I heard.

Napoleon expressed the following thoughts while he was exiled on the rock of St. Helena. There, the conqueror of civilized Europe had time to reflect on the measure of his accomplishments. He called Count Montholon to his side and asked him, “Can you tell me who Jesus Christ was?” The count declined to respond. Napoleon countered:

Well then, I will tell you. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne and I myself have founded great empires; but upon what did these creations of our genius depend? Upon force. Jesus alone founded His empire upon love, and to this very day millions will die for Him. . . . I think I understand something of human nature; and I tell you, all these were men, and I am a man; none else is like Him: Jesus Christ was more than a man. . . . I have inspired multitudes with such an enthusiastic devotion that they would have died for me . . . but to do this is was necessary that I should be visibly present with the electric influence of my looks, my words, of my voice. When I saw men and spoke to them, I lightened up the flame of self-devotion in their hearts. . . . Christ alone has succeeded in so raising the mind of man toward the unseen, that it becomes insensible to the barriers of time and space. Across a chasm of eighteen hundred years, Jesus Christ makes a demand which is beyond all others difficult to satisfy; He asks for that which a philosopher may often seek in vain at the hands of his friends, or a father of his children, or a bride of her spouse, or a man of his brother. He asks for the human heart; He will have it entirely to Himself. He demands it unconditionally; and forthwith His demand is granted. Wonderful! In defiance of time and space, the soul of man, with all its powers and faculties, becomes an annexation to the empire of Christ. All who sincerely believe in Him, experience that remarkable, supernatural love toward Him. This phenomenon is unaccountable; it is altogether beyond the scope of man’s creative powers. Time, the great destroyer, is powerless to extinguish this sacred flame; time can neither exhaust its strength nor put a limit to its range. This is it, which strikes me most; I have often thought of it. This it is which proves to me quite convincingly the Divinity of Jesus Christ.

You might think I’m weird, but I just thought it was incredible that someone as prideful and full of himself as Napoleon said this, and I just wanted to share it.

School Daze

The new school year is just around the corner for our family.  I’ve been busy trying to tie all the loose ends together, so there hasn’t been much time for blogging.  This year, I’m using some curriculum I’ve never used before, so I’m trying to familiarize myself with it before actually using it.  I’ve never been a big fan of textbooks, but I decided to go with one to teach science.(one of my weak areas) I started reading this science book from Apologia, and I’m finding it very interesting.  In the first chapter, he is discussing the history of science.  He talks about Aristotle, who was a very respected and revered man in his day.  Aristotle had a belief called “spontaneous generation.”  To put it simply, he believed that it was possible that a living organism could be formed from a non-living organism.  We know today that this is not true.  However, this belief was held onto for over 2,000 years, because it was considered correct, not because of scientific evidence but because of Aristotle’s reputation for being a great scientist. 

As I thought about this, I could see a parallel when it comes to doctrinal teachings of the Bible.  I have seen people hang onto teachings that were unscriptural because it was taught by someone they greatly respected.  We all need people that we can look up to, but when it comes to doctrinal teaching, we must examine it with the Word of God and see if it lines up, no matter who is doing the teaching.  I pray that God will always help me to remember this. 

Thank you Lord, for speaking to me through a science book.  🙂

Off On The Wrong Foot,Back On The Right Track

After my morning routine of prayer and Bible reading, I was planning on posting a couple of pictures that I took of my mom last night at her birthday celebration.  For some reason, I couldn’t get my pictures to upload, even though I tried 3 times.  I finally decided that maybe it wasn’t meant to be for now, so I went to wake up Jen and Paul.  As I started to walk into Paul’s room, I felt my foot step on something that felt wet and mushy.  To my surprise, I had stepped in dog vomit that I did not see. 🙂  It blended in with the little throw rug in front of Paul’s door.  Feeling disgusted, I limped to our bathtub to wash off my foot.  I cleaned up my foot, cleaned up the dog’s upchuck and made breakfast for the kids.  We were having pancakes, and at the breakfast table, my son accidentally dumped a bunch of powdered sugar on the table, his chair and his clothes.  Throughout the day, it seemed like there were a lot of distractions.  We didn’t finish everything I had planned on doing, but still we ended up having a good day in spite of our mishaps.  Paul took his first math test today and aced it.  We’re doing a new math program this year, and both kids seem to be understanding math a lot better.  This is an answer to prayer.  Anyway, the thing that stands out most to me about this day is that even when unpleasant and unexpected things happen, God is still good, and there is always something for which to be thankful.  After all, it could have been my face rather than my foot that landed in Misty’s mish mash! 🙂

The Other Web

The kids and I experienced the wonder of the web today.  Our neighbor was part of this momentous event, along with a group of 7-ll year olds.  This creative presentation of Charlotte’s Web took place at a local children’s theatre in our area.  Sarina, our neighbor, played the motherly part of Martha Arable, and did a great job.  The play lasted for 90 minutes and included a 15 minute intermission.  Charlotte’s Web has always been one of my favorite children’s books.  When the kids were a little younger, we did a unit study on Charlotte’s Web.  One of the activities we did during this study was to collect spider webs.  We would look for spider webs that were unoccupied, spray them with adhesive, and then take a piece of black construction paper and press it on the web.  Presto!  The web sticks to the paper, and there you have your sample of a real spider’s web.  We designed our own Wilbur and Charlotte to have indoors too.  We made Wilbur out of a Quaker oatmeal box that we painted pink.  We added eyes, nose mouth and feet with construction paper and attached a tail made with chenille wire.  We constructed Charlotte out of wadded up balls of tin foil, some glue on googely eyes and black chenille wire for the legs.  Looking back on it now, I sure wish I would have taken some pictures.  We tried keeping a pet spider of our own for a while too.  I captured one in the backyard in a jar.  The kids added grass and sticks to give it a “homey” atmosphere.  We poked some airholes in the lid so the spider would be able to breathe.  The jar was left on the back porch, and Jen used to check it in the morning when she woke up.  One morning she looked in the jar and could not find the spider anywhere.  She opened the jar, turned over the lid, and there was the spider sitting on the lid.  This startled her so bad that she dropped the lid and the glass jar.  Our spider keeping came to a crashing halt, but it was fun while it lasted. 

We have made some good homeschool memories over the years, and seeing Charlotte’s Web today brought some of those back to mind.  There is much life and friendship beyond “The WWWeb”, and I was reminded of that as we saw this cute little play.