Under the Sky

Looking Up!

noreply@blogger.com (Under the Sky) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 07:32:00 +0000

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.

And they do! Not just the night sky, but the day sky too. As I shared on the TOS Homeschool Crew blog, it was not too long ago that I had a lovely conversation with the author of Classical Astronomy's monthly Celestial Almanack, Jay Ryan. He mentioned something I found really powerful--something I too easily forget.

The Moon that is referred to in 62 verses of Scripture and the Sun that is mentioned 183 times are the SAME Sun and Moon that we see everyday. The Bible also mentions trees and animals and people, but the original ones made in the creation week are long dead. Meanwhile, the SAME Sun, Moon and stars are STILL THERE, pristine artifacts of God's original creative work.

How often do I really consider the work of God in the sky? Jay Ryan's monthly Celestial Almanack can now help our family consider it every day of the year!

Sometimes people go silent when a person starts talking astronomy. The crickets start chirping and we feel uncomfortable with our lack of knowledge. We don't have to! How often have you been out on a clear starlit night and thought to yourself, I wish I understood what is up there. I wish I could identify what I see and that it wasn't just a jumbled mess of tiny lights to me.

This monthly Almanack opens up the doors and shares the great mystery with you. February's Almanack is a 21-page e-book downloadable from CurrClick so it is instant knowledge of the northern sky available for you. On page four we find the whole monthly moon cycle and inside it he sprinkles tidbits of knowledge of significant events that happened over time. He even gives you a link to find your local rise and set times for the Sun and Moon.

On the next page, he shows you the whole sun cycle through the month of February and explains what we are seeing during the days of winter. Next we learn about constellations. This is the one thing that I have really yearned to understand and he really makes it so easy! Will your family take the Orion Challenge?

Probably the most exciting thing in the night sky is what is happening to the planets Venus and Jupiter. They are coming together in the sky in what is called a conjunction that will culminate in March, but we get to watch it happen all February.

Through his beautifully drawn yet simple to grasp artwork in the Almanack, we get to see things from a "God's eye" perspective. This is so helpful to really understand what we see in the sky. "When we look up and seen Venus and Jupiter in the sky, we are actually looking out into space, onto the plane of the solar system." This was demonstrated so we could "see" in the drawings.

Last week we were able to visit a local planetarium at a junior college near us. The lecturer was an astronomy professor and he really knew his stuff. What impressed me was that due to studying through Jay Ryan's book, Signs and Seasons, from Fourth Day Press, and now as we begin using these monthly Almanacks, my children not only understood what was being presented, but they could also answer the questions he asked them! What is more, they were genuinely interested and we spoke at length afterwards about it. Then, that very night, we went to my aunt's home on the river where hardly any ambient light is, and they could see the whole of the sky! It was astonishing and exciting.

There is nothing like it! I can now look into the sky and understand some of what I see, see the hand of God in all of it, and marvel at His glorious achievement.

I know as homeschoolers, we sometimes feel we must stick to the regimen of the science topics per grade level that we think are somehow "assigned" to those grades. Studying Classical Astronomy, the astronomy that the ancients knew so well, hearkens back to a simpler time where people used the sky every day to tell the time, to tell direction, to understand the signs in the heavens as they lived and worked their land. There is something very powerful about looking at the moon and understanding that it is the same moon that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob saw; it was the same moon Jesus saw as He walked this earth for us. It links us all together through time.

The upcoming months of the Almanack will focus on the Jupiter-Venus conjunction on March 15 (this happens only once every 24 years); the annular solar eclipse on May 20 (this happens only once every 18 years); and the transit of Venus on June 5 (this is the last one until 2117).

I cannot encourage you enough to take a look at this wonderful work. Jay Ryan has made something unequaled in the homeschooling world and our family is the better for having had the privilege of using it.

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?
Psalm 8:3-4

Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

There be Dragons!

noreply@blogger.com (Under the Sky) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 07:35:00 +0000

I woke up today feeling a distinct sensation of panic. Tomorrow is co-op, Fine Art co-op, and I am teaching the "art" in that title yet I had nothing to go with. Usually I am pretty prepped--at least in my head. Recently though, my head has been a giant swirl of vendor lists, ship dates, and memos to myself in what I like to term my mental ticker tape. The ticker never stops and the feed keeps going and I have to keep up!

So today I thought, Can I even pull this together?! I wasn't sure what I wanted to teach let alone what I wanted the children to learn, but this is often when I get my best work done--when I have a due date I Must. Meet. (At least that is what I tell myself!) I began flipping through my art instruction DVDs from Coyote Creek that I reviewed, Art Lessons for Children, and decided to go with More Fun With Watercolors. One of the lessons had a Chinese dragon that looked like fun for the kids and not too difficult for this art leader to pull off. ;)

Not only do I lead the art instruction, but I also lead the art history lesson. I LOVE this part of it. Art instruction is something I do because we need it and I have the DVDs and I can do it, but art history is something else altogether for me. I LOVE it. It is my thing that charges up my synapses and gets me excited about learning. This is probably because it is so closely tied with history and I adore history. :)

So. I thought, dragons...HEY! I can teach them about Chinese dragons! And then they can draw them! How extraordinary is that? (I know, just humor me. We all need these happy moments. LOL) So, I started with my trusty Google and I found so many cool things! Did you know that dragons have been in the Chinese culture for thousands and thousands of years? I mean I knew they were old, and I knew ancient cultures had their legends and even Draco the dragon is in the night sky, but still - some of the ancient jade finds have been dated to close to 6,200 BC!

I thought I would share some of it with you. I hope you find it interesting because I sure did. :)

Chinese Dragons from the Nine-Dragon Wall.

(If you click on the links, they should enlarge for you. Some of the detail is just fantastic.)

From Wiki:

In yin and yang terminology, a dragon is yang and complements a yin fenghuang ("Chinese phoenix").

The next picture is an ancient artifact. I wonder what it was used for. What do you think?

From Wiki:

The origin of the Chinese dragon is not certain. The presence of dragons within Chinese culture dates back several thousands of years with the discovery of a dragon statue dating back to the fifth millennium BC from the Yangshao culture in Henan in 1987, and jade badges of rank in coiled form have been excavated from theHongshan culture circa 4700-2900 BC.

The coiled snake or dragon form played an important role in early Chinese culture. The character for "dragon" in the earliest Chinese writing has a similar coiled form, as do later jade dragon amulets from the Shang period.

Ancient Chinese referred to unearthed dinosaur bones as dragon bones and documented them as such. For example, Chang Qu in 300 BC documents the discovery of "dragon bones" in Sichuan. The modern Chinese word for dinosaur is konglong (恐龍, meaning "terrible dragon"), and villagers in central China have long unearthed fossilized "dragon bones" for use in traditional medicines, a practice that continues today.

From this site:

The dragon is a very revered creature in China that has many symbolic meanings in Chinese culture. Unlike the European dragon, the Chinese dragon is a creature that symbolizes auspicious omens and is a symbol of good luck, fortune, and power. The Chinese dragon also, according to legend, symbolizes control over water and bodies of water, such as rain, floods, waterfalls, rivers, and typhoons.

The following is just lovely and in an entirely different style from the other things we are studying.

From Wiki: Detail of an embroidered silk gauze ritual garment from a 4th century BC, Zhou era tomb at Mashan, Hubei province, China. The flowing, curvilinear design incorporates dragons, phoenixes, and tigers.

Below is a neat dragon from the 13th century.I love his expression!

From Wiki: One of the dragons from The Nine Dragons handscroll (九龙图／九龍圖), painted by the Song-Dynasty Chinese artist Chen Rong (陈容／陳容) in 1,244 CE. Ink and some red on paper. The entire scroll is 46.3 x 1096.4 cm. Located in the Museum of Fine Art - Boston, USA.

Chinese culture isn't the only one with a score of interesting dragons. Bhutan has its own dragon stories. The country's flag is below. The dragon is holding gems as a symbol of wealth.

Japanese dragon art is one of the most familiar in the world due to two artists; Hokusai (the first right below) and Utagawa Kunisada (the artist that created the dragon below with people on it). These are some of my favorites. I love the detail and the expression on the faces.

Below is a Korean Dragon. I think his face looks like a lion's face.

The last is a Vietnamese dragon. I like the swirls in the metalwork here.

I think it might be neat to consider that dragons are not entirely fictional. There are certainly fossilized creatures we have found today that look an awful lot like some of these dragons. This video is a 3+ minute video of a compilation of several ancient creatures that we can only see in fossil format today, but this video brings them to life. As I watched this, I remembered that these are swimming creatures and would have been made by God on the fifth day of Creation. They are swimming reptiles and are really quite magnificent. I can't say the music is what I would have chosen, but the video had some interesting shots.

Do you think they are similar to the dragons here? It is something to think about! :)

$275 Worth of Homeschooling Products for Only $20!

noreply@blogger.com (Under the Sky) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 23:37:00 +0000

It is a Homeschool Fire Sale! I wanted to share this with you. What an exciting deal! I highly suggest you check it out. :)

Anger and Mercy

noreply@blogger.com (Under the Sky) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 22:29:00 +0000

In Ephesians 6:4, we parents are given quite the instruction: "Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord." It is really easy to read over this verse quickly because it follows verses two and three that we parents like a lot. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” Now I don't usually toss that out to my children, but I do know it is there and am grateful that the Bible gives our children this instruction. It is a bit of cold water in the face (if I am to be honest) that what follows is a correction for me.

Our pastor preached a sermon on this verse a few weeks back and I have been mulling it over ever since. It is a good thing my children love me and forgive me because I am quite guilty of committing this sin. I do exasperate or provoke them sometimes. If we are not to exasperate our children, what ought we to be doing? My pastor shared some meaty things with us that made me take an entirely different view of this verse, and I hope something here helps you.

We are to come back, day by day and week by week to evaluate how our children should best be brought up. Are we doing what we need to do (within our human ability) to be what they need? Are we bringing them up in the way of the Lord or are we scooting by? Are we doing spastic parenting or being impulsive in our relationships? Raising up our children is a special sacred duty given to us by God. What does it mean to bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord?

We are to correct, discipline, instruct, warn, teach, admonish, chastise, nourish, shape, and model for them in the Lord. It is Christ who changes hearts. We are not the heart changers - the Holy Spirit does that. However, scripture tells us that we are to walk with Christ as an example for them. This is a hard calling, isn't it? It is so much easier to sin, to want our own way, to be a poor example, or to let the crazy busy aspects of our life influence our behavior. I know that I struggle with this all the time.

Before we go to our children to admonish and chastise, to correct, discipline, and to shape them, we should be sure we have the planks out of our own eyes. This is such a powerful piece of scripture. I love the frankness of the Word of God. Luke 6:42, "How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye?" Are we struggling with the same sins we are going to our children about? Probably! Maybe not in the same ways, but we do.

I think our children should see our humanness. (Not that we could keep it from them, really, but they should understand that we know what it is to struggle with temptation or abiding sin, and that our Savior has paid for it all.) How many times have I just finished having our Bible time together in the morning and then not ten minutes later, I have gotten upset over something absurd? How many times have you seen your children arguing over some nonsense right after you were teaching about loving your brother? :) We humans are a messy lot, aren't we? We are to shepherd our children, to invest in them.

How comforting is it when you know someone with deep faith? I know some of these people in my life and when I ask them to pray for me, I know they will and somehow I feel they will really get the message to God. :) I know that sounds silly because I know that God hears His people when they pray, but sometimes I feel that some people have a direct line or something. :) Our children need to see us before the face of God. They need to see that we need our Savior. They need to see that our lives flow from our sense of love for and from Him. They need to hear us talk about and really live our faith.

Lamentations 3:22-24 states some extremely powerful words that we often forget when we are burdened by our own sin. "The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness. "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him."" His love for us never ceases. His is unwavering and always faithful to us--even in our deepest times of need and when we feel lost in our failures. He knows our weakness and forgives our sins when we turn to Him!

It is by the always present, every day mercies of God, that we live and breathe and have our being. We can't do anything without Him. We don't and can't do God's will without the saving work of Christ in our lives. Jesus washes our sins away. We cannot do any of it for ourselves and something important to remember, we can't do it for our children. But our great hope, and the hope we have for our children is found in Ephesians 2:4-5: "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved..." He is rich in mercy--to us and to our children. This is such a beautiful gift!

While I want to be a shepherd to my children on behalf of Christ, to be the person Christ calls me to be, I know that I will often fail them. But even in my failures, Christ displays His perfect patience and forgiveness towards me as He did with Timothy:

1 Timothy 1:15-17
"The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen."

Amen.

Exploring America - A Review

noreply@blogger.com (Under the Sky) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 00:52:00 +0000

I was thrilled when Mr. Notgrass agreed to send in his Exploring America for review. It is a most excellent program and I am thrilled to be using it in our family and our history co-op.

Exploring America
Notgrass Company

http://www.notgrass.com

370 S. Lowe Ave., Ste. A

PMB 211

Cookeville, TN 38501

1-800-211-8793

Exploring America, from the Notgrass Company, is a thorough and engaging high school American history, American literature, and Bible course. The complete course comes with two softcover student textbooks, (Exploring America: Volume 1 – Columbus through Reconstruction, Exploring America: Volume 2 – Late 1800s through the Present), another softcover book, American Voices: A Collection of Documents, Speeches, Essays, Hymns, Poems, and Short Stories from American History, a spiral-bound softcover Quiz and Exam Book and the answer key for the same. Volumes 1 and 2 have a combined total of 150 lessons that are divided into thirty separate units of five lessons per unit.

Exploring America fulfills three high school credits. From the website: Completing the full course provides your child with a year's high school credit in American History, English (literature and composition), and Bible. The History credit involves reading the lessons and the original documents and speeches (and answering the questions in the optional Quiz & Exam Pack if desired). The English credit involves completing the weekly writing assignments and one research paper; and reading the assigned literature, poems, and short stories in American Voices. The Bible credit involves reading the Bible lessons, completing the Bible assignments at the end of many lessons, and reading the hymns and other religious literature assigned.

The American literature portion of the curriculum is located within the Exploring America lessons. The titles to be read and studied are as follows:

The Scarlet Letter (Hawthorne)

Narrative of the Life of David Crockett (Crockett)

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (Douglass)

Uncle Tom's Cabin (Stowe)

Co. Aytch (Watkins)

Little Women (Alcott)

Humorous Stories and Sketches (Twain)

In His Steps (Sheldon)

Up From Slavery (Washington)

Mama's Bank Account (Forbes)

Christy (Marshall)

To Kill a Mockingbird (Lee)

The Giver (Lowry)

A week (or unit) of study encompassing five lessons from Exploring America begins with the Unit Introduction. The Unit Introduction gives the student a concise write-up of what will be covered in the unit over the five lessons in the week. You will be given a memory verse to learn, a list of other books (literature selection and American Voices page numbers)used in addition to the Volumes of Exploring America, and then a choice of writing assignments. For every lesson, the student will read the material in the textbook and then complete the assignments. Sometimes this involves answering questions given and sometimes it involves multiple days of writing for the same assignment. For example, Unit 8 has two writing assignments offered and the student chooses one.

· Write a two to three page report on the contributions of the Adams family to America, especially John and Abigail Adams, John Quincy Adams, Charles Francis Adams Sr., Charles Francis Adams Jr., and Henry Adams.

· Write a two to three page paper in which you compare the religious experience in the Massachusetts Bay colony and that on the frontier during the Second Great Awakening.

As you can see, these assignments will take more than one day to complete so the other days they will do reading of the literature selection or American Voices, memorize Scripture, or answer the lesson questions found in the Quiz and Exam Book.

Throughout the books, you will find many appealing side notes, graphics, photographs, maps, and sections that were especially interesting, What Was Happening In the World? This section gave world history events of significance and facts about individuals living at the same time to help with context. For example, did you know that Napoleon crowned himself Emperor or that Beethoven’s third symphony premiered one year after the landmark Supreme Court case of Marbury vs. Madison? It is helpful to see American history in the proper framework of the rest of the world.

The fifth lesson of every unit is a Bible study. Your child will study such interesting and applicable subjects as: How You See the World Makes a Difference; God is Sovereign; The Bible as Spiritual Constitution; Faith on the Front Lines; God and Freud; The Dilemma of Suffering; Were They Really the Golden Days?; Public Leaders, Private Lives, and many more. Obviously there is some author opinion in these sections, but that is what makes it great for thinking and reasoning out. You can use these as opportunities for great family discussion too. There are questions to ponder and answer and Scripture to discover here.

The American literature selections are solid well-respected choices worth the time your student will take to read them. In the Quiz and Exam Book, there are questions for the student on the book. Each lesson has questions to ask and answer on the subject in that lesson. The quizzes and tests also found in this resource are multiple choice as well as paragraph format.

Probably the single neatest aspect to this complete curriculum is the book, American Voices. There is just nothing like reading an historical figure’s own words to get to know them and why they cared so deeply about whatever they were involved in. Their stories, poems, essays, hymns, speeches, and of course, the most important historical documents they created make the study of history come alive. You will find such treasures as excerpts of the New England Primer, saying from Poor Richard’s Almanack, George Washington’s Farwell Address, the response of W.E.B. Du Bois to Booker T. Washington and Others “…on the best path to take for black equality and opportunity” and his essay is shared here. The reason I love history so much is because it is a great compilation of peoples’ lives and thoughts. Many people view history as a bunch of dates and wars. While there are many important dates and too many wars, it is the people behind these events that lived during these dates that make it worth our time. We are living in our own historical time period, but we ought never to forget those that went before us. We have much to learn from them if we only give them the time. Notgrass History has been an exceptional way to do this. I highly recommend it!

-Product review by Kate Kessler, Product Reviews Director, The Old Schoolhouse®Magazine, LLC, January, 2012

Beautiful Hymn

noreply@blogger.com (Under the Sky) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 05:53:00 +0000

A beautiful hymn was sung today at our church. It touched my heart. I wanted to share it here with you. I hope you find it as lovely and truth-filled as I.

O Father, You are Soverign

O Father, You are sovereign

In all the worlds You made;

Your mighty Word was spoken,

And light and life obeyed.

Your voice commands the seasons

And bounds the ocean’s shore,

Sets stars within their courses

And stills the tempests’ roar.

O Father, You are sovereign

In all affairs of man;

No powers of death or darkness

Can thwart Your perfect plan.

All chance and change transcending,

Supreme in time and space,

You hold your trusting children

Secure in Your embrace.

O Father, You are sovereign

The Lord of human pain,

Transmuting earthly sorrows

To gold of heavenly gain,

All evil overruling,

As none but Conqueror could,

Your love pursues its purpose—

Our souls’ eternal good.

O Father, You are sovereign!

We see You dimly now,

But soon before Your triumph

Earth’s every knee shall bow.

With this glad hope before us

Our faith springs forth anew:

Our Sovereign Lord and Savior,

We trust and worship You!

Tuesday Thoughts

noreply@blogger.com (Under the Sky) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 02:09:00 +0000

Well. It has been quite a week. Many of you know that I have run the dynamic review team at The Old Schoolhouse Magazine for over eight years. The team is merging with the TOS Homeschool Crew and I am taking the helm of the ship. It is exciting and daunting and thrilling and terrifying all at once. :) There are about 200 crew members that blog their reviews and link up to the TOS Crew site. How cool is that? I am feverishly learning all I can and there is much to learn. Whew!

If you are interested in checking out these fine families, just click the HERE. I have a LOT to read! :D

Our new year was a lovely mix of frenzy, friendships, and good food. We had *two* celebrations. One was on the Friday night before the eve of the new year and one was the actual eve. Both events were terribly delightful, but wow, I think I am too old to do that again next year! I was quite exhausted come Sunday morning and listening to the excellent sermon was hard for me even though it was aimed right at me (proverbially speaking) as he discussed not provoking one's children to anger. I really do appreciate such sermons. It is so important to keep learning as a parent, to love the children God gives us, isn't it? I am so blessed by them. :)

In our science/history co-op, we are wrapping up our study of the Civil War. We have been using a variety of resources (Notgrass History, Time Travelers, History Pockets, and important literature resources like Narrative Life of Fredrick Douglas, The Last Brother: A Civil War Tale, Across Five Aprils, Uncle Tom's Cabin, and Rifles for Watie) but probably the most moving and the one that has left its mark is Ken Burns: The Civil War. It was such a tragic war in so many ways, but the loss of life takes my breath away. May we never know such loss.

We are also studying Jay Ryan's, Classical Astronomy. What an excellent excellent book! I remember posts by Jay on a board I used to frequent that discussed the making of this book and now we have it. We also own his book, Moonfinder, and it explains the phases of the moon so that someone as dull as I can understand it. :D I love the night sky. I love the moon. I love that the moon we see is the same one that Abraham looked upon in the desert and that Jesus saw from his home. There is something powerful to me about that--that sameness of light in the sky that speaks to the glory of God. Jay brings much of that to life. I can't recommend his books enough.

I must be off. I have had a good homeschool day even though we didn't get everything done. Some days are like that, aren't they? However, it was a really good day.

Non-Monday Musings

noreply@blogger.com (Under the Sky) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 17:44:00 +0000

I have been thinking of blogging again. I cannot believe it has been almost six months since I posted! Time does fly when you are busy living, doesn't it? :)

Non-Monday Musings...

What I'm thinking: I am very grateful for the kindness and love of friends. This life wouldn't be half of what it is without them. To those friends that read this - you are loved. Thanks for being who you are in my life! I am grateful to God for you--each and every one.

What I'm reading: Le Mort d'Arthur, Volume 2 on my Kindle App. It is a very odd book. LOL I am also reading my beautiful hardback 50th anniversary edition of The Lord of the Rings to the children. I can't tell you how fun it is to share this book with them. :)

What I'm listening to: My children playing a computer game. :)

What we're learning: We are studying the Civil War at the moment and watching the Ken Burns documentary about it. What a heartbreaking terrible war. There is nothing to compare with the losses felt in that generation.

What I'm watching: We are watching a new-to-us series, Merlin, as well as a show that is brand new to us, Person of Interest.

What's cooking: Cranberry and orange bread today. I also need to make some whole wheat bread too.

What I'm buying: I can't say or it will spoil Christmas! :D

What I'm thankful for: I am thankful for many things, but today I am especially thankful for my children. They are a great blessing from the Lord and I am so very grateful.

What I'm creating: Hmmmm...do I have to be creative today? ;) Does cranberry bread count?

What I'm praying: That God would be glorified in all I do; that He would direct, guide, and bless some friends of mine in their business; and for the healing and peace of another friend struggling with cancer.

What I'm planning: To visit my mother, aunt, and grandmother this weekend, baring illness. :)

What I'm looking forward to: Christmas!

A picture to share:

I am posting an updated picture of our lionhead bunny that I affectionately call Non-Rosie. He is not a she, but since we discovered that later rather than sooner, I have a hard time calling him by his new name, Cottontail. Poor Non-Rosie. He will always have trouble with who he is. ;)

Seasonal Updating

noreply@blogger.com (Under the Sky) — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 05:50:00 +0000

Such a pretty flower! We have a section of gladiolus in the corner that bloom every summer and bring the hummingbirds and sometimes swallowtail butterflies. I just love the way they look in all forms, but up close is particularly pretty. :) All of these pictures will enlarge if you click on them.

This is new to our EarthBox this year, butternut squash. I just love the rich color of the foliage and how large and lush these plants are getting. It will be delightful to eat the squash when the weather is cold and grey.

This is one of our chamomile flowers. I love the simplicity of the colors yet the tiny complex center is full of detail!

I am amazed at the shot my girl took here. There is a hummingbird pair that are frequenting our yard and they are such fun to watch. This one, I think it is the male, allowed my Elizabeth to get close enough to get this shot. So neat!

Our chicklettes are growing well. After losing one baby, we replaced it with two new ones for a total of seven. You can really start to see the green feet on the Ameraucana!

These looks just kill me. Don't they look irritated? LOL

And just to keep things from seeming too normal, here is one of our snakes, Hermione. :)

Chicken Run

noreply@blogger.com (Under the Sky) — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 20:07:00 +0000

So we are the proud owners of a tiny backyard flock of chickens. There is great excitement here! Here they are:

They could not be any cuter if they tried. (Unless perhaps, they were baby ducks. I think baby ducks take the record for cutest tiny animal ever.) :D

We got these five different kinds: Wellsummer, Ameraucana (tw0 of these), Barred Rock, Gold Laced Wyandotte, and a Speckled Sussex. What great names! They will have varied shades of brown and the Ameraucanas will lay blueish green eggs. It will be quite some time before we expect to see them, but still, it is fun to think about. We are going to use the under-area of our raised beds as their run. Double use of one space!

Can you tell we are excited? Yeah, I thought so. :+)

Cooking Bliss

noreply@blogger.com (Under the Sky) — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 16:16:00 +0000

I have been having great fun trying new things here and I have been pouring over recipes to find new and different (read that - healthier) ways of eating and feeding the children. The soaking flour to make bread has been a wild success. The bread loaves are solid (after a little tweaking of the water/acid content) and the bread is sweet and yeasty. They smell just like professional loaves! I have never been able to create that and now I know why - the bread was being made too quickly and the ingredients didn't have time to really mesh all those flavors together. I am very happy to have all the flavors, but even better, the nutritional value of the bread is higher too. :)

I have been using coconut oil for some time, but I use two different kinds. The first is the one I use for frying or sauteing when I am not using olive oil or butter, because it does not have a coconut flavor. This is the best price I have found for such a high quality oil:

1-gallon Expeller-Pressed Coconut Oil, Non-Certified

It lasts for a long time and doesn't go bad! I scoop out some of the oil and put it in a smaller container for easy use. In the winter it is a solid, but with the summer heat, it turns to an oil. So, if you want it to be hard to use in place of shortening, keep some in the fridge. I watch the website for free shipping coupons. (There is one going on right now! The number is 61113.)

32-oz. - 2-Jar Pack - Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil - 2 quarts Total

This is the *top* of the line virgin coconut oil is a truly unrefined coconut oil. It has the most wonderful coconut flavor and is rich in antioxidants. This is what we use in our baked goods, especially our whole wheat bread. It is SO GOOD. :)

Since I have been reading up on how dangerous white sugar really is for our bodies, I wanted to find something that we could use now and then for sweets. No "sugar" is going to be perfect, and I have found that we have to be careful how much we ingest of anything, but this is about is good as it gets!

Organic Whole Cane Sugar - 1.5 lbs.

It is sweet enough when you want something sweet in your hot cereal, but the sugar retains the original natural vitamins and minerals it had to help with digestion.

So these are just a few of the things we have been using. It is exciting to make these changes and I am grateful for the information I am reading. :)

The yogurt I made last week has been a huge hit! I used about 2 cups of it in a smoothie for the children and mixed it with frozen strawberries, a ripe banana, and added some milk. They said it was one of the best smoothies they had ever had. This mama loves to hear those words. :)

I managed to mess up my last sourdough starter by using a too-tight lid on the crock I have, so last night I started another one from here. I used 100% whole wheat flour so we shall see if it works for me. Making sourdough cannot be *that* hard, right? :)

What is new in your kitchen? How does your garden grow? Here are a few pictures of mine.

If you click on them, they will enlarge. That last one is just so pretty. Bachelor's Buttons - one of my favorites. Happy summer!

I can see clearly now...

noreply@blogger.com (Under the Sky) — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 07:13:00 +0000

The rain is gone! June is finally looking like June in California. :) Yeah!

So much has been happening here. Our gardens are growing well and we are already harvesting summer squash. I have been sauteing it with onions, garlic, red bell pepper, sausage and mixing that into scrambled eggs. We top it off with cheese. Yum! Our "pig experiment" worked fantastically and I can tell you from first-hand experience that fresh pork is The. Best. pork you have ever had. Even the sausage is superb. We will cook our last ham tomorrow.

I have been like a whirlwind in the kitchen this last month. I have been reading all sorts of books on nutrition and health and wanted to share a bit of that here. The first book is actually the second on the subject that I read, by Gary Taubes, Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It.

These books are semi-radical if you have only been fed the food pyramid information from the USDA. This book, and Protein Power: The High-Protein/Low-Carbohydrate Way to Lose Weight, Feel Fit, and Boost Your Health, by Michael R. Eades have given me the *why* we need to change. I cannot recommend these resources enough for solid science about the body.

Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats is helping me flesh out some of the things I learned by reading the first two!

Not only is it FULL of fantastic recipes, but the author, Sally Fallon, also explains the "why" behind the food choices we should make. I have been a busy mama trying recipes in Nourishing Traditions and visiting my old favorite resources online searching out how to make sourdough starter, ferment my bread, (and here is why), sprout my wheat, and ferment oatmeal! I am also trying to make yogurt in the crockpot (Update! It worked!!) It is very exciting to me to see that we can make changes that are worthwhile to all of us even if we are being careful with the amount of carbohydrates and sugars we ingest. The children have gotten on board and have been excited to see what we should and what we shouldn't do. I love the conversations about what is going on inside our bodies. They are really listening. :)

If you are interested, but want a "primer" on the subject, this article might help to flesh out the information. I found it fascinating reading.

And lastly, I wanted to let you know of an online homeschool supply resource that I literally found by accident one day while searching for Omnibus. It is a wonderful homeschool family company that has a LOT to offer--even used books at reduced prices! Check them out!

Exodus Books - Educational Materials, New and Used Books, Family-Friendly Literature, and More!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Under the Sky) — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 16:54:00 +0000

This is one of my very favorite holidays. We are Irish and even though the "traditional Saint Patrick's Day meal" isn't particularly Irish (save for the potatoes!) I grew up on it. It has become a tradition in our family.

And just in case you would like to know a little more about the real Saint Patrick, the man Maewyn Succat, you can read here.

The Book of Kells is one of the great treasures of Ireland. I have an special affinity for hand-written manuscripts, but especially so for ones with a great story. It is understood that Irish Columban monks living on the remote Scottish island Iona, created this manuscript around the year 750. Iona was the center of St. Columba’s influence, and was where his church was located. The Book of Kells contains the four gospels, a section of Hebrew names, and the Eusebian canons, and it is also known as the “Book of Columba.” In 878 “The Annals of Ulster record that following another Viking attack, the shrine of Colm Cille and 'other relics' are taken to Ireland.” How can it get worse than to be plundered by Vikings? (It can!) In 1066 "The Book is stolen for its cover of gold, inset with precious stones. Months later it is found buried under sods of earth in a bog, without its cover." After this point it was evidently kept fairly together, but the final restoration and binding did not happen until 1953!

Here are a few of the pages of this beautiful treasure. If you click on them, they will enlarge so that you can see what they really look like. Just gorgeous!

And here is part of a prayer penned by Saint Patrick.

Christ be with me, Christ within me,

Christ behind me, Christ before me,

Christ beside me, Christ to win me,

Christ to comfort and restore me.

Christ beneath me, Christ above me,

Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,

Christ in hearts of all that love me,

Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

Amen! Have a beautiful day.

Spring

noreply@blogger.com (Under the Sky) — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 00:19:00 +0000

Spring comes early here so we just go with it--and add allergy meds. :) Here are some shots of God's beauty in creation.

Camelia

Pink Breath of Heaven

Apricot blossoms

Baby lemons

This is our newest garden experiment--salad tables!

The best carpenters! :+)

The finished product. We will have two of these (8' x 3') and they will house a great many things. :+)

Have a great week!

A lovely bit of life.

noreply@blogger.com (Under the Sky) — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 05:56:00 +0000

It was a gorgeous, fresh, baby green, sunny, blue sky day here today. The tiny sprouts of spring are springing all over the place and the hideouts between the trees on the road to co-op were lush and barefoot-worthy. And then on the drive home, I just wanted to stop at the top of the freeway and take in the puffy clouds and great big sky. Tonight and for the rest of the week, we will have rain! :) I don't mind rain and don't mind the wet, but there is something tremendous about a wide blue open sky.

On Monday, my husband received word that he was chosen for a new job. It is something I have been wishing for since early December. I praise God. He is our Sovereign Provider, and He has never failed us. Amen and amen! It is the kind of job in which he excels, and I can't wait to see where he will go. God is so faithful. All the time. We live, as always, before the face of God. It is a beautiful place to be.

So last week was a little insane in the school department, but we did manage to learn about Jupiter, Bunker Hill and the cannons from Fort Ticonderoga, predicate nominatives, solving for N, The Bondage of the Will, logical fallacies, and somebody learned some biology and Spanish, but it wasn't me, obviously. I am really enjoying teaching history. How was history ever boring to me?

I searched hither and yon for a do-able-at-home craft for Jupiter. I could not find one that was not idiotic or way too babyish for my two youngest children. So I made one up. I figured, paper art and swirly stormy color striations make for interesting ideas so we did this with construction paper and glue. Tearing the colors into Jupiter "stripes"--my word, no science involved there.

Gluing on the stripes...

She wanted to stay in the Jupiter border. Very neat and tidy planet here. No excitable stripes for her. :)

She wanted even the four moons as well as the cloudy surface of Jupiter.

And just in case you forgot that Jupiter has a red spot, here it is:

I know this isn't wildly creative on my part or anything, but we enjoyed it. I like seeing the differences that come out in the children when they create something. They are so different!

These were some verses that have meant much to me over the past few months. Glory to God for His goodness.

Psalm 95:3-7

For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.

Fragile

noreply@blogger.com (Under the Sky) — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 06:37:00 +0000

Life feels ever fragile to me. The loss of a friend from church and the loss of a dear friend's mother. The loss of a job. The loss of health for some of my children, and fears for my tiny nephew. Life is fragile, isn't it? We live with the false belief that we have it all together; that we are capable and in control. It is a myth that *I* believe more often than I should. It is a humbling thing to see that we are so little involved in our own affairs.

But.

We serve a living Savior. We serve a God capable of all things, all the time, in every place, at every moment. In this alone I can rest.

I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, "What shall we eat?" or "What shall we drink?" or "What shall we wear?" For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Matthew 6:19-34

In this alone, I will rest.

The Shadow

noreply@blogger.com (Under the Sky) — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 01:48:00 +0000

"The land seemed full of creaking and cracking and sly noises, but there was no sound of voice or of foot. Far above the Ephel Duath in the West the night-sky was still dim and pale. There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach."
Return of the King

"The shadow really is a small and passing thing."

Thanks, friend.

Garden Itch

noreply@blogger.com (Under the Sky) — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 00:39:00 +0000

I know it is too early to begin gardening, but I am thinking about it! My order from Cherry Gal is on its way and this is what I bought:

Butternut Squash, Cabbage, Pickling Cucumber, English Cucumber, Radish, Zucchini, Rutabaga, Radicchio, Sweet Basil, Snow Peas, Lettuce Mix, Spearmint, and one flower just for fun, Bread Seed Poppy.

All are heirloom seeds so all should be able to be harvested for seeds at the end of the growing season. We will see how diligent I am on that! I will be buying some starter melon plants and heirloom tomato plants from a local nursery that has an astounding selection of veggies each year (Capital Nursery for you local friends). I always get the itch around this time and that is good for without it, I am not sure I would be so dedicated. :)

This is what I am hoping to recreate this year sans the corn:

I love my EarthBoxes! :)

I am going to try to use some of my ground this year too. This is very difficult because the ground is hard as a rock come summer and not much grows well there. If we do it, we will have to put some better soil in the places and weed like crazy since we have the worst Bermuda grass problem and there is no hope of removing it. We shall see how it all goes. The wishes I want in winter are not always realized in the spring and summer! :)

Too deep for words.

noreply@blogger.com (Under the Sky) — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 17:11:00 +0000

There are days when my prayers feel like such fluff. Today is a day like that for me. I want so much to communicate all that is in my heart to the Lord and find the words are just not there. I don't think they are yet written in the language we call our own. Di has a quote like that up on her blog. It is a quote from C.S. Lewis.

"Take not, oh Lord, our literal sense. Lord, in Thy great,
Unbroken speech our limping metaphor translate."

It makes me think of the scripture in Romans 8:26 that tells us that "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words." I am so grateful for that knowledge! I am so relieved that the Creator of all that we see and of all that is unseen to mere human eyes prays for us. That is such a powerful beautiful promise!

Thank you, Lord, for loving your children. Thank you for being ever faithful to me.

A Good Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Under the Sky) — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 01:06:00 +0000

Every day is always different when you homeschool. Today was a good day. :)

My youngest learner, Emma, has had a tough time mastering the art of reading. We have been plodding through for some time and increasing in ability though it is slow going. I thought I would just try and see how she would do with my favorite first reader, Free and Treadwell: The Primer from Yesterday's Classics. (Sample of this book here.) This was the book that made all the difference to Elizabeth's reading success. Emma did spectacularly well! She was unafraid to keep reading once she started and even begged me to allow her to read the second story. She read nine pages today. That is just huge to us and I am praising God for such a blessing. :)

Science topics of varying interests have been playing a bigger role this week in our homeschool. Abigail bought Thames & Kosmos Technology and Electronics Electronics Workshop with a Christmas Amazon giftcard and John decided he wanted to spend part of his giftcard and try his hand with the ScienceWiz Inventions Experiment Kit. Both arrived this week. This is John and his telegraph.

The telegraph up close:

I love that they choose these things on their own. It makes the teacher in me happy. (Especially since science is not my biggest strength.) Hannah decided to buy a Kindle with her giftcard money and I have to say, I am a little envious of all the amazing free books she is downloading off of Amazon to have at the ready!

I also decided to break down and buy a few heirloom seeds from a site I found and really liked last year, Cherry Gal. The seeds worked well and we had the best English cucumbers ever. The prices are fantastic and the choices are wide. If you are interested in buying once and harvesting your seeds each year (something I completely forgot to do with the cucumbers, but remembered to do with the basil) I recommend you order early to plant indoors in early spring. I look forward to gardening again this year. What about you? Will you grow anything this year in your yard?

Non-Newtonian Science Evening

noreply@blogger.com (Under the Sky) — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 05:13:00 +0000

We recently watched a "science" type of show that featured a non-Newtonian goopy substance Dr. Seuss comically named "Oobleck." I knew what it was so I set out to make it again because everyone needs to have *that* kind of mess in the kitchen now and again. You know what kind of mess I am talking about. The ones where you fool yourself into thinking that it will all stay in the bowl. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Yeah. (It was worth all the mess though!)

The recipe varies from site to site, but the one we used was one cup cornstarch and 1/2 cup water. Pour the water slowly into the cornstarch and stir with a fork. It will start to harden immediately, but keep stirring. It will work itself into the strangest liquid/solid/mish-mash you have ever seen. It will feel wet, but won't be and when you apply pressure to it, it will harden until the pressure is removed. It kept their attention for hours because it is just so much fun to play with!

Here are some photos. This is what it looks like just at the end of the mixing process with a little food coloring. Your fingers are getting used to it. You can run your them across the top and it will harden and then immediately soften again once the pressure is off.

Then once you play with it for a while (and add other food coloring choices) it hardens more and can be picked up and played with.

I loved this one. This is her "hardened" blob pulled apart. It is already starting to soften again. I loved the color blending here. Click on the images to see them in larger format if you wish as the coloring is just so interesting to me. It doesn't take the color as fast as other kinds of doughs and it was really interesting to see the marbling.

This is what happens when you use food coloring. :)

Happy New Year

noreply@blogger.com (Under the Sky) — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 04:03:00 +0000

I have decided to return to Blogspot--so here I am. I hope to post more as time permits me.

The old year departed, how swiftly it flew,
'Tis gone, and with rapture we welcome the new.
We trust a bright morning will dawn on your eyes,
And sunbeams unclouded illumine the skies.
Then wake from your slumbers, our serenade hear,
We wish you a happy, a happy New Year!
(Author Unknown)

May Christ be light to your path each day
this coming year.

Pleased as Punch

noreply@blogger.com (Under the Sky) — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 04:53:00 +0000

(Brought over from my old blog location.) :)

I am now into week whatever with our homeschooling this year and I have to say I am very pleased with Susan Wise Bauer's, Writing with Ease, Level One Workbook and Writing with Ease, Level Two Workbook as well as First Language Lessons, Level 3. They are exceptional programs that make it terribly easy to teach quality grammar and writing to younger children. I am using it with my two littles, ages 8 and 10. The focus on summarizing a passage via narration as well as the dictation and copywork are the perfect fit for us. The Language Lessons level we are using is working well for my ten year-old and I love that it is in bites easily digestible for her.

Reading was a huge struggle for her and she is coming along so nicely now. I feel so blessed to have been able to teach her at her level in her time without the pressure of meeting some arbitrary state timeline. She is unafraid to read and does not dread it. This is a big big deal to me. To hear her read words that she has to decode on her own and to see her do it - well there is nothing like it.

My "baby" is coming along nicely too. We discovered at the Modesto Homeschool Convention this year, a wonderful little reading curriculum all in one book. http://www.readysetreadnow.com is the website. Emma is doing so well with it and I am seeing some major progress in her reading ability. She has struggled with reading too, but is overcoming it and I am so happy for both of us! :) The company is changing the name of the program since the name is so similar to one already out there. It is not the same in any way though--and this is a good thing in my mind! :D

It is a lovely thing when, as a homeschool parent, you discover curriculum that really works. Sometimes it doesn't matter and you can use anything, but sometimes things just "click" and that is the case here. It is just making our homeschool life that much easier--and I like that!

Are you using anything that just fits for you this year?

Old Blog Address

noreply@blogger.com (Under the Sky) — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 04:55:00 +0000

My old blog (October 2010 and before) can be found:

HERE

The Spark

noreply@blogger.com (Under the Sky) — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 08:14:00 +0000

Romans :16-18

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH."

On this Reformation Day, I want to remember a fire brand for God. On this day in history, Martin Luther nailed the 95 theses to the church door in Wittenburg. He started the fire that brought about our freedom from a corrupt church.

Martin Luther dealt the symbolic blow that began the Reformation when he nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the Wittenberg Church. That document contained an attack on papal abuses and the sale of indulgences by church officials.

But Luther himself saw the Reformation as something far more important than a revolt against ecclesiastical abuses. He believed it was a fight for the gospel. Luther even stated that he would have happily yielded every point of dispute to the Pope, if only the Pope had affirmed the gospel.

And at the heart of the gospel, in Luther's estimation, was the doctrine of justification by faith--the teaching that Christ's own righteousness is imputed to those who believe, and on that ground alone, they are accepted by God. (Source.)

There is an amazing wealth of information out there for those of you interested in Martin Luther. Here is a site that has many of his selected works as well as many of his beautiful hymns.

I just finished watching the amazing Luther for the second time. There are men and women of history that move me in a way that is hard to describe. The courage and amazing faith God gave Luther - to stand up to the indescribable power of the church at that time. Well, there really are no adequate words for me. I am grateful that God chose him and used him in such a mighty way.

His hand was upon him so many different times. He even married a former nun, Katharina von Bora and they had a happy marriage and six children.

A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;

Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing:

For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;

His craft and power are great, and, armed with cruel hate,

On earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing;

Were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing:

Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He;

Lord Sabaoth, His Name, from age to age the same,

And He must win the battle.

And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,

We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us:

The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him;

His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure,

One little word shall fell him.

That word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them, abideth;

The Spirit and the gifts are ours through Him Who with us sideth:

Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;

The body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still,

His kingdom is forever.

Martin Luther

God still uses Luther!