We have finished the first 9 weeks of our history studies this year, about the life and times of Moses the Lawgiver. Which means we are ready for our unit 1 celebration! We are very excited and making final preparations today, in between soccer games. You'll have to wait to find out who everyone decided to be, but I can say that three of the children are Biblical characters, and two of them are Egyptian characters. I am a Biblical character also (because I already had the costume and it meant less to sew!!) and my husband is the narrator, not in costume.
Check back tomorrow for pics and a full report!
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Overheard.....
We have been learning much about Moses the last few weeks, as we've read the first five books of the Old Testament which he authored. He was truly an incredible man and had such a unique relationship with God, in that God spoke to him face to face. In and of itself, that's pretty amazing.
We weren't quite to this point yet in our group reading last week when one of the older children let it slip that Moses would not be allowed to enter the promised land. Little Man (age 5) got this horrified look on his face and asked again to confirm, "you mean Moses does not get to enter the promised land?" When I said "yes", his little face crumpled up and he began to sob. He was so sad for Moses! It was cute and sweet and sad all at the same time.
Yesterday during our Bible reading time, Little Man suddenly looked up with a beaming face, and said:
"Moses did get to go to the Promised Land, because heaven was his Promised Land!"
We weren't quite to this point yet in our group reading last week when one of the older children let it slip that Moses would not be allowed to enter the promised land. Little Man (age 5) got this horrified look on his face and asked again to confirm, "you mean Moses does not get to enter the promised land?" When I said "yes", his little face crumpled up and he began to sob. He was so sad for Moses! It was cute and sweet and sad all at the same time.
Yesterday during our Bible reading time, Little Man suddenly looked up with a beaming face, and said:
"Moses did get to go to the Promised Land, because heaven was his Promised Land!"
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Goodbye Old Van (or, what I learned about sacrificial giving)
Today our friend Mr. Ed came and hauled our old van away. Even though we are thrilled with our "new" (to us) van, it was somewhat emotional for the children to say goodbye to the old one, as this is the only vehicle any of them remember. They all had to go sit in it one last time!
Mr. Ed, who kindly loaned us his own van for a month while we were shopping for our new one, is going to try and fix it himself and use it to bless another family who needs transportation.
Sounds great, right?
Of course it is. But sadly, it took me a while to be willing to donate our van in this way. You see, I had been counting on the few hundred dollars we would get for it at a junkyard. I had specific plans for that money. When our van first became unusable last June, I consoled myself with the knowledge that we'd at least be able to pay off "xyz" with the money we'd get for it.
Then one Sunday a few weeks ago, our teaching pastor spoke on sacrificial giving. No problem. Know all about that. During lunch my husband and I had a great talk with the children about what sacrificial giving really is. It's not giving from your plenty. It's giving that costs you something. That's why the widow's offering in Luke 21 was so pleasing to the Lord. Though it was a small amount, even by their standards, it was all she had. So it cost her everything to give it. The children thought up several scenarios of giving that would cost them in some way, and they all seemed to get it, even Little Man!
I left the table feeling satisfied that we'd imparted such a valuable spiritual lesson to the children. Sacrificial giving explained and understood, check.
Obviously it was my turn for the lesson.
The very next day my husband told me about this opportunity to donate our van and have Mr. Ed fix it up for someone else. Generous man that he is, he really wanted to do it. For him, it was a no-brainer. For me, it was painful. I was counting on that money. And then the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart and said, "Pam, this is your chance to sacrifice that which you were anticipating. This is your opportunity to give sacrificially."
Oh how I did not want to do it!
After all the ways God had proven Himself faithful to us over these last two years of unemployment/underemployment, I still wanted to do things my way.
I wrestled. I cried. I went for a long drive.
I drove and I cried and I wrestled until I submitted that old van to God and fully embraced that it was His in the first place, to do with as He willed. I'm ashamed to admit that I even had to go on a long prayer drive over this, but that's the truth.
When I finally submitted to God, a great peace flooded my heart, and I was suddenly eager to give that van away! Think of how it might bless someone else, in the same way we have been blessed so many times!!
And so, with great joy, we said good bye to our old van today. I am excited that it might be given to another family in need (still questionable that it can be fixed, but we're hoping...), and even more than that, grateful for God's patience and tenderness to teach me, again, that His ways are best.
Lord, help me to trust You more.
Mr. Ed, who kindly loaned us his own van for a month while we were shopping for our new one, is going to try and fix it himself and use it to bless another family who needs transportation.
Sounds great, right?
Of course it is. But sadly, it took me a while to be willing to donate our van in this way. You see, I had been counting on the few hundred dollars we would get for it at a junkyard. I had specific plans for that money. When our van first became unusable last June, I consoled myself with the knowledge that we'd at least be able to pay off "xyz" with the money we'd get for it.
Then one Sunday a few weeks ago, our teaching pastor spoke on sacrificial giving. No problem. Know all about that. During lunch my husband and I had a great talk with the children about what sacrificial giving really is. It's not giving from your plenty. It's giving that costs you something. That's why the widow's offering in Luke 21 was so pleasing to the Lord. Though it was a small amount, even by their standards, it was all she had. So it cost her everything to give it. The children thought up several scenarios of giving that would cost them in some way, and they all seemed to get it, even Little Man!
I left the table feeling satisfied that we'd imparted such a valuable spiritual lesson to the children. Sacrificial giving explained and understood, check.
Obviously it was my turn for the lesson.
The very next day my husband told me about this opportunity to donate our van and have Mr. Ed fix it up for someone else. Generous man that he is, he really wanted to do it. For him, it was a no-brainer. For me, it was painful. I was counting on that money. And then the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart and said, "Pam, this is your chance to sacrifice that which you were anticipating. This is your opportunity to give sacrificially."
Oh how I did not want to do it!
After all the ways God had proven Himself faithful to us over these last two years of unemployment/underemployment, I still wanted to do things my way.
I wrestled. I cried. I went for a long drive.
I drove and I cried and I wrestled until I submitted that old van to God and fully embraced that it was His in the first place, to do with as He willed. I'm ashamed to admit that I even had to go on a long prayer drive over this, but that's the truth.
When I finally submitted to God, a great peace flooded my heart, and I was suddenly eager to give that van away! Think of how it might bless someone else, in the same way we have been blessed so many times!!
And so, with great joy, we said good bye to our old van today. I am excited that it might be given to another family in need (still questionable that it can be fixed, but we're hoping...), and even more than that, grateful for God's patience and tenderness to teach me, again, that His ways are best.
Lord, help me to trust You more.
Monday, October 18, 2010
You Know You're Medium * When.....
....you have to put on your reading glasses in order to fasten your bra.
* Medium is the word my husband and I use in place of "middle aged".
* Medium is the word my husband and I use in place of "middle aged".
Friday, October 15, 2010
Field Trip to the Pumpkin Patch!
Last Friday our co-op took a field trip to a local apple orchard and pumpkin patch. It was a gloriously beautiful day!
Lisa, Sally, and me (in desperate need of a haircut!)
Our girls...
and our boys.
Each of the children picked out a pumpkin to bring home. Our family has an annual tradition of painting pumpkins each fall.
The tractor was a new addition this year. Everyone got to sit on it, but in the interest of space, here are just a few of us:
Doughnuts and cider!
We went home tired but happy. :-)
Lisa, Sally, and me (in desperate need of a haircut!)
Our girls...
and our boys.
Each of the children picked out a pumpkin to bring home. Our family has an annual tradition of painting pumpkins each fall.
The tractor was a new addition this year. Everyone got to sit on it, but in the interest of space, here are just a few of us:
Doughnuts and cider!
We went home tired but happy. :-)
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
FIAR Co-op - Lentil, Part 2
We spent a second week reading Lentil every day and when we met for co-op we focused on the patriotism expressed in the book, as well as the musical theme of the story.
First we recited (and one child learned for the first time) the pledge of allegiance while a special helper got to hold a small flag. We talked about what patriotism was, and what clues were in the book that suggest the townspeople were patriotic. Then we discussed what the red, white, and blue colors in our flag represent. This was slightly arbitrary on my part since at the time of the first flag no one recorded any special meaning attached to the colors. Over the years a few different traditional meanings emerged. I went with: white = purity; blue = honesty and perseverance; red = courage and valor.
The children colored flags and wrote down the meanings of the colors in their FIAR notebooks.
Then each of the children received a harmonica and got to practice playing it!! A harmonica was central to the plot of the book. It was super fun to play them! Lentil liked to practice his harmonica in the bathtub because there "the tone was improved one hundred percent." So we went into the bathtub and played ours there too! We compared the sound in the bathtub to the sound in the family room, and we all agreed we sounded better in the bathtub. :-)
Next we talked about music notes, as they are pictured on several pages of the book. We talked about how half notes and quarter notes are smaller pieces of the whole note. I demonstrated with money (a dollar bill, 2 fifty cent pieces, and 4 quarters) and then demonstrated again by cutting an apple into half and then into quarters. We ate the apple pieces for snack!
We finished with another page in our FIAR notebooks:
First we recited (and one child learned for the first time) the pledge of allegiance while a special helper got to hold a small flag. We talked about what patriotism was, and what clues were in the book that suggest the townspeople were patriotic. Then we discussed what the red, white, and blue colors in our flag represent. This was slightly arbitrary on my part since at the time of the first flag no one recorded any special meaning attached to the colors. Over the years a few different traditional meanings emerged. I went with: white = purity; blue = honesty and perseverance; red = courage and valor.
The children colored flags and wrote down the meanings of the colors in their FIAR notebooks.
Then each of the children received a harmonica and got to practice playing it!! A harmonica was central to the plot of the book. It was super fun to play them! Lentil liked to practice his harmonica in the bathtub because there "the tone was improved one hundred percent." So we went into the bathtub and played ours there too! We compared the sound in the bathtub to the sound in the family room, and we all agreed we sounded better in the bathtub. :-)
Next we talked about music notes, as they are pictured on several pages of the book. We talked about how half notes and quarter notes are smaller pieces of the whole note. I demonstrated with money (a dollar bill, 2 fifty cent pieces, and 4 quarters) and then demonstrated again by cutting an apple into half and then into quarters. We ate the apple pieces for snack!
We finished with another page in our FIAR notebooks:
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Overheard.....
In history and Bible we have been learning about the tent Tabernacle that the Lord instructed Moses to make as a dwelling place for the Lord's Presence while the Israelites were traveling to the land God had promised them. God gave incredibly specific instructions for the construction of the Tabernacle and all its parts, which we have read about in the book of Exodus. We have also looked at other books, lots of pictures, and are in the process of making our own model of the Tabernacle.
This morning we were talking about how plain the Tabernacle was on the outside (the outermost covering - or "roof" - was made from the hides of sea cows, possibly manitees!). The golden objects and fine curtain "walls" were reserved for the inside of the Tabernacle. I asked the children what this fact might teach us about God, and 8 year old C said:
"I think it means that it doesn't matter what we look like or what we do on the outside, it matters what's in our hearts. Our body is like the tent of the Tabernacle and we have the presence of God inside us, just like the Tabernacle had the Presence of God inside it."
WOW!!!!
I admit, I was floored. Not sure what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't that, and not from an eight year old.
I am SO thankful for what the Holy Spirit is teaching our children as we study His Word together!
This morning we were talking about how plain the Tabernacle was on the outside (the outermost covering - or "roof" - was made from the hides of sea cows, possibly manitees!). The golden objects and fine curtain "walls" were reserved for the inside of the Tabernacle. I asked the children what this fact might teach us about God, and 8 year old C said:
"I think it means that it doesn't matter what we look like or what we do on the outside, it matters what's in our hearts. Our body is like the tent of the Tabernacle and we have the presence of God inside us, just like the Tabernacle had the Presence of God inside it."
WOW!!!!
I admit, I was floored. Not sure what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't that, and not from an eight year old.
I am SO thankful for what the Holy Spirit is teaching our children as we study His Word together!
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