Thankfulness: June 17, 2013

I’ve had my first major failure to keep my Thankfulness posts accountable.  I’ve managed to get over halfway through June without posting one.  Let’s just call this the “get back on track” edition.

298.  Air conditioning
299.  Monkey carrying around his new Spiderman trashcan, trying to decide whether to put toys or trash in it.  (By the way, he decided on toys)
300.  Busy kids
301.  Bright colored daisies that Hubby bought me.
302.  Listening to the kids talk about Alice in Wonderland and realizing how much they got out of the book.
303.  Jam tarts
304.  Movie night
305.  Owlet singing and trying to do the hand motions to “The Itsy Bitsy Spider”
306.  God always gives me what I need when I need it
307.  Firecracker singing as he writes
308.  Rose’s excitement in matching socks.
309.  Big Braves win.
310. Good first night of Bible School
311.  Kids are excited about Bible School.
312.  Even sick, Firecracker doesn’t seem to feel too bad.
313.  I remembered to pray when I was having a bad day with the kids
314.  Watching Owlet play Pat-a-cake with her dolls
315.  Kids had a great beach vacation.
316.  They traveled safely
317.  God’s provision
318.  Rose excited about making coupons for Father’s Day
319.  Some new kids shows on Amazon Prime
320.  Working on a Ninjas weapon almanac with Firecracker.
321.  Exciting Braves victory
322.  How cute Monkey looked wearing a cape to the park
323.  One Fish, Two Fish unit with my 3 younger kids
324.  Chocolate chip cookies
325.  Our pretend Winter day
326.  Watching Indiana Jones

Advice for Seekers

A couple of months ago, I requested a book called Advice For Seekers from New Leaf Publishing Group.  I didn’t pay much attention to what it was because the title spoke to me.  I’ve always been a seeker, looking for a place to belong.

They sent me a print version, and as it turns out, Advice for Seekers is a beautiful Attic Books imprint reproduction of a classic book by Charles Spurgeon.  The book is a diminutive 5 x 7 hardcover.  The edges of the pages are rough-cut and the design on the cover is a faux-aged beige print.

I loved the book instantly, and put it on one of my cluttered bookshelves.  (Homeschooling Mom hazard) I lost it.  It was completely gone.  No trace.  I thought I might never get to read it.

I was clearing out our bookshelves this weekend, so that I could strew a few new books for the kids, and I found it.  I was so excited.  I dropped everything to sit and read.

The target of Spurgeon’s book is the classic seeker.  He’s speaking to those mentioned in such passages as Hebrews 6–the people who have tasted of the knowledge of Christ and seen the power of his Spirit in the church but who have not entered into a deeper relationship with him.

I don’t feel qualified to actually review Spurgeon’s words themselves, but I do have a couple of favorite quotes to share.  I have to note here that this book was written in 1896, and those who get their information in 140 character segments, may find him a little hard follow.

From the beginning of the book, on the failings of the Law for salvation:

The way up to heaven by Mount Sinai is very steep and narrow, and by one wrong step a man is dashed to pieces.

From the chapter “Something to Be Set Right,” where Spurgeon explains that failure to believe and to be able to pray stems from the heart of man, and not from a failing in God:

If you are not saved, it is because you will not believe in Jesus.  There is the only hitch and the only difficulty.  Your damnation is not of God, but of yourself; it is necessitated by your own wilful wickedness in not believing in Christ: but inasmuch as you are so wicked as to dare to excuse yourself, you have great need of healing, urgent need of saving.

And from the chapter, “A needless Question Answered,” what makes our faith in Jesus superior.

The reason why faith in the Lord Jesus is a superior act to faith in any one else lies in this fact–that it is a superior person whom thou believest in, and superior news that thou dost believe”

This was an excellent little read, and a beautiful reproduction of a classic.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review, and I was not required to write a favorable review.  This book is available for purchase through New Leaf Publishing, Amazon, Christian Books and Barnes and Noble.

Not convinced it’s for you?  Check out the other reviews from New Leaf Publishing’s Advice for Seekers review link-up.

 

May Reads

We didn’t read very much in May.  Instead it was a busy month filled with family losses and celebrations.  With that in mind, here’s what we’ve been reading.

Read Alouds

Sam and the Firefly by P.D. Eastman–This one’s been on our shelf collecting dust, and Rose pulled it out and has asked me to read it several times.  She was delighted to find that she could sound out many of the words that the firefly wrote when we pulled the book back out.

Life of Fred–Goldfish–Guess what?  Fred’s thinking about multiplication and so is Firecracker.  It’s a new concept for him, so we’re not actually doing the Life of Fred problems in the book, but we’re plugging along through the ideas and storyline.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll–It’s been such a pleasure to get to share one of my favorite books with the children.  We actually did several activities with the book, such as making our own jam tarts, watching both the Disney cartoon and the Johnny Depp cartoon, and even making our own snazzy lapbook.  I was surprised and very pleased at how much they enjoyed it.  I’ve already picked up the sequel for when we’re ready for another trip back to Wonderland.

We also continued to read Magic Tree House books.  I liked these better than the quartet that we read last month.  In this series of Magic Tree House books, Jack and Annie are looking for treasures for Merlin and proving that they can use magic responsibly.

Carnival at Candlelight (Magic Tree House #33) is set in Venice on the last night of carnival.

Magic Tree House #34: Season of the Sandstorms is set in medieval Baghdad.  It’s one of my favorite additions to the series.  It’s also interesting to experience these  through my children’s eyes.  A plot that seems so obvious to me is often one that they’re still surprised by.

Magic Tree House #35: Night of the New Magicians is set at the Paris World’s Fair where the Eiffel Tower was unveiled.  I enjoyed this one more than the kids because we read about the Eiffel Tower a few months ago, and I liked being able to add to my knowledge.  The kids thought this one was kind of slow-paced.

Blizzard of the Blue Moon (Magic Tree House, No. 36) is set in New York around 1900.  It’s a little trippy for me, being about a unicorn trapped in a medieval tapestry, but the kids really enjoyed it.

It occurs to me as I write this that we’ve spent almost a year reading Magic Tree House books.  We’ve actually read one more so far in June that I’ll write about next month.  We’ve really entered the world of Jack and Annie, and that’s going to be a difficult component in our day to replaced in a few months.  So, if you have any book series to recommend to replace our Magic Tree House addiction, be sure to let me know!

Preschool Reads

I’m continuing to try and set aside time to be intentional with the toddlers and to read books and sing songs and do crafts with them.  The book that we’re using most often right now is The Usborne Baby and Toddler Treasury.  I love this book.  It’s padded and big and thick.  It has beautiful illustrations.  The toddlers both delight in it too, and I sometimes find the songs, fingerplays and stories exhausting after the first 30 minutes or so of our special time together.

We’re also using some of the two year old ideas in the ABC Jesus Loves Me curriculum.  I like the curriculum  because it has lots of fun ideas, but isn’t too bossy about what you should do with them  It gives me a good chance to be intentional about doing crafts and stories together.  We’ve used two stories in conjunction with that curriculum this month.

Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney–Baby Llama in these books often pouts, stomps, and screams in common two/three year old dilemmas.  In red pajama, he’s upset that his Mama has left him to go to sleep by himself.

When the Elephant Walks by Keiko Kasza–I thought this was cute.  The elephant scares an animal.  That animal scares another.  Finally, we find out what the elephant is scared of.  My big kids giggled reading the story and looking at the pictures.  However, it didn’t make a connection with either Monkey or Owlet.

My Reads

A Homeschool that Handles the Hard Times by Tammy Marshall Cardwell–This is very short and sweet ebook that I picked up free, and I don’t remember where.  It talks about how the way to handle the hard times is to put things in their proper order priority-wise.  There was nothing new here, but it was a good reminder.

Deschooling Gently by Tammy Takahashi–This is a really encouraging book that helps you to leave behind the school mindset and to teach your child as if no other children existed.  Very helpful!

4 Moms of 35+ Kids Answer Your Parenting Questions–I’ve had this for a while, but only recently sat down and read it.  I enjoyed the stories and reading about their lives.  I felt better about my own life for being able to commiserate with some of the things these ladies discussed.  There wasn’t much that I’ll put into practical application, but it was still enjoyable.

Real Family Values: Leading Your Family into the 21st Century with Clarity and Conviction by Robert Lewis.  There’s some good stuff here and some stuff that I kind of wrestled with.  I’m still thinking a lot about what Lewis said about prosperity and the family.  I hope to share some of that with you guys over the next couple of weeks.

I’m linking this post up with the What We’re Reading post at  Christian Unschooling.  If you’ve never checked it out, you should.  I know I’m going to be reading some of the posts this weekend, and making some new wish lists at Amazon and Paperback swap

Tissue Paper Windsock

In our studies of Japan, we ran across a holiday called “For the Children” day.  It was a day to celebrate all children in Japan, and the primary way that the parents celebrated was to hang out a carp windsock/banner for each boy that they had in their house.

We decided to give our own banner making a try.  To make a banner, you need a piece of tissue paper, markers, pipe cleaners and yarn.

You begin by folding your tissue paper in half lengthwise.  You want it to be long, but skinny.  Then, you’re going to draw your design on the banner, making sure that the edge of the design is as wide as the width of the tissue paper.

Then you’re going to cut out the shape of the banner and unfold the paper.

 

You will draw your design with markers on the tissue paper.  You might want to have newspaper down to keep the tissue from bleeding onto your table.  Also, remember that tissue paper is fragile.  Rose poked several holes in her windsock by bearing down to hard with the markers.

 

After you decorate the sides, the next thing you’re going to do is to take a pipe cleaner (or two if you used a big piece of tissue paper) and make a circle.  We then wrapped the edges of the tissue paper that had the fish’s mouth around the pipe cleaner and taped into place.

I also taped the edges of teh tissue paper together to give it more of a windsock form and had the kids cute the fish’s tail into strips.  That goave the banner a good windsock shape.

There’s plenty of room to attache as yarn hangerto the windsock.  We actually went with a fairly long hanger because my kids want to fly the windsocks like kites.

What We’re Doing This Week: June 9, 2013

I really didn’t think I was going to get a post about our week written this week, but here it is late on Sunday night, and I’m writing

We continued reading about holidays in Japan this week, and decided to make these cool tissue paper carp banners after reading about “children’s day” in Japan.  Rose was not pleased with her finished product, so I just have Firecracker’s banner, but I thought it turned out very cute.

We also had Vacation Bible School at our church this week.  Our theme was honesty, and we talked often about breaking free of a web of lies.  So, I couldn’t resist putting a Spiderman poster in my classroom (2nd & 3rd grade boys).  My husband made it for me, and I thought it was fantastic.

The kids had a great time, and even Monkey and Owlet were thrilled to put on their “Donut Cry Wolf” shirts and go to class each night.

We’ve been working here and there through this free Around the World in 60 Days curriculum.  This week had a gentle study about landforms and made our own landscape pictures.

Actually, I think Monkey’s picture is a spider web that Spiderman and Hulk made, but he’s very proud of it, and Firecracker was drawing lots of pictures of Ninjas shooting bows and arrow messages at each other, just like we were reading about in Ninja: The Shadow Warrior this week. He must have forgotten that he was drawing people in New Zealand

 

Firecracker worked with my Dad a couple of days this week, and one day he rescued a turtle that was trying to cross the road.  He named it “Jolly Roger.”

 

 

I guess that really about does it for our week.  Rose and I have decided to study Disney Princesses while Firecracker works with Dad.  We’re using this unit study  to organize ourselves as we go.  In the spirit of learning about Cinderella this week we’ve watched two of the three Cinderella movies.

My big kids are leaving in the morning to go to the beach with my parents in the morning for four days, so I’m hoping to use the “extra” time to work on a few posts that I’m wanting to get on the blog this week.  If I don’t get them up, just know that I’m playing lots of pat-a-cake and fingerpainting as the little kids and their “toddler school” activities take center stage on the day

Linking up with:

• So You Call Yourself a Homeschooler
• Homegrown Learners
• Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers

Daruma Masks

We’re knee deep in a study of Japan and Ninjas.  It’s Firecracker’s new obsession.  He wanted to learn about Ninjas, but seeing that there’s not a ton of stuff that is appropriate to learn about Ninjas for elementary school kids, I suggested that we might want to learn a little about Japanese history and customs along the way.  (Seriously, he’s so obsessed with Ninjas that he named our puppy Ninja.)

One of the things that we’ve learned about recently is Japanese New Year customs.  The Japanese celebrate New Years at the same time that we do.  It isn’t as big a deal for them as Chinese New Year is.  However, they do have some customs that are very different from American customs for celebrating the New Year.  Originally, the Japanese New Year coincided with the Chinese New Year.  However, they have been celebrating New Year’s on January first for almost 150 years now.

They don’t eat ham hocks, collard greens and black eyed peas.  Instead, they feast on fish cakes, seaweed, and black soybeans.

The Japanese spend the days before the New Year reflecting on the year that has passed.  They finish old business.  They ask for forgiveness for those from who they need to be forgiven.  They tie up loose ends.  Then as the old year passes into the new year, the Buddhist temples ring their bells 108 times, once for each of the 108 human sins that are enumerated in Buddhism.

One of the fun things that they do for kids is to give them daruma dolls.  We, not having any of these dolls nearby decided to make our own.

First be blew up regular round balloons, and we covered them with paper mache strips.  After they dried for a few days, we put on two coats of red paint.

We mixed red and white together to make pink because most of the masks are pink or white in the face.  However, our pink was so close to our red that you can’t even see a difference on the masks between the two colors.  I let the children draw the faces on with sharpies instead of paint.

 

The darumas are used in Japan to make wishes.  When you make a wish, you color in the pupil of one eye.  When that wish comes true, you go back to the doll and color in the other pupil.  I’m not sure what the kids are wishing, but I do know that we haven’t had a wish come true yet, but it’s only been a week since they made them.

What We’re Doing This Week: June 1, 2013

This week felt like Summer.  I loved having Memorial Day this week.  Hubby was off work.  We had late nights.  We made homemade ice cream.  The whole week just had a celebratory air to it.

We went outside.  We ate Popsicles.  We played with cousins.  We even went swimming. One of the pictures in the collage below is my father and grandmother together at Georgia National Cemetery.  They went and visited my grandfather’s grave on Memorial Day, and you can get a good view of the flags on the tombstones in the photo.

Also, Dad was giving out tractor rides to the kids this weekend too.  He was plowing his garden.  Yay!

Part of our Memorial Day fun was going to my grandmothers and throwing water balloons at the other cousins.  That’s something we haven’t really done before, and the kids had a lot of fun.

My Dad’s also teaching Firecracker how to shoot a BB gun.  Firecracker’s starting to get very serious about manly things like weaponry.

We finished reading Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland this week.  We also made a lapbook that I got from Confessions of a Homeschooler.  The kids enjoyed the book a lot more than I thought they would.  Rose likes lapbooks better than Firecracker,  and she was very proud of the way hers turned out.  I ordered Through the Looking-Glass for us to read soon.  We also watched both the Disney cartoon and the Johnny Depp Alice in Wonderland.  The kids love both.  We even made jam tarts to celebrate.

 

We played a big multi-night game of Monopoly this week.  Hubby won.  He has a killer instinct.  I think Rose cried with disappointment for about two hours, but she’s pretty feisty.  She might take him by surprise the next time they play. (Me?  I was the first one to go bankrupt.)

I love the pictures of Owlet in the collage below.  She stole Firecracker’s John Deere hat and hulk gloves, and she was incredibly proud of herself for being “Hulk.”

We also worked on the number one a little bit this week for some of our preschool time.  I think Monkey is starting to become serious about his coloring and his “schoolwork.”

 

 

 

We finished our Daruma doll heads this week.  They are a Japanese New Year’s tradition, and I’m going to bring a post to you about Japanese New Year’s and the dolls Monday or Tuesday.

 

 

Owlet continues her love of “her Kindle.”  She grabs it and runs for a place to play every time she gets a chance.  Monkey and Rose gave me a concert one day this week with their songs that they’ve learned from church.  Very cute.

We also talked a little about the third day of creation.  We fingerpainted trees and grass for our creation books.

 

 

We also spent an entire afternoon sorting socks.  I haven’t sorted all the socks out in a very long time and Firecracker plans on a whole army of Star Wars sock puppets, so we needed to see what socks we had that didn’t have matches.

 

 

 

I guess that’s our week in a nutshell.  I am spending some of my weekend getting ready for Vacation Bible School.  We have Bible School this week, so I’m thinking that this week is going to be very fun.

Linking up with:

• So You Call Yourself a Homeschooler
• Homegrown Learners
• Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers