Right now we are working on Psalm 19:7-10:

The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul;

The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.

The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;

The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.

The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever;

The judgments of the LORD are true, they are righteous altogether.

They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold;

Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.

Memorizing scripture has so many benefits because God’s Word is living and active and able to change boys’ hearts!  The other day, I heard Gresham speaking unkindly to Owen.  I reminded him that God’s precepts will bring joy to his heart.  Satan wants him to believe that it will make him happy to return evil for evil, but that’s a lie.  I reminded him that he needed to believe that God’s Word was true, and that speaking with kind words was really the best way.

And then Gresham went back into the bedroom and said the exact things that I had just corrected him for.

Scripture memory brings about change on God’s timetable, not time.  It’s about hiding God’s word in their hearts, and God can and will bring it to their minds at just the right time.  Also, since we had been working on learning those verses together, I had a very natural opportunity to teach Gresham how to apply them.

Just for fun, here’s a video of Owen reciting as much of Psalm 19 as he has learned so far.  He may not understand all the words that he is saying, but that will come in time.  And he sure is cute!

Just a reminder – if you’re an e-mail subscriber, you’ll have to click over to the blog to see the video.

This recording features Jay Ungar on the fiddle and his wife Molly Mason on the guitar.

By the way, there is no difference between a fiddle and a violin – the difference is in the way it is played.  Well, I should say that if a person is shopping for a violin to be played as a fiddle, they are looking for a different sound than a classical violinist, but they are not two different instruments!

Enjoy the music!

So it hasn’t been a huge surprise that out of all the boys, he is the most jealous of our new baby!

This was our first night home from the hospital.  I was on the phone, and Tucker had to make sure that even though I was holding the baby, I was still going to be able to hold him too.

Every time that we took Jonathan out of his pack ‘n play for the first few days, Tucker had to do a little sniffing – just to make sure this new addition was something he was okay with.

Last night, I laid out Jonathan’s bath towel on my bed so that it would be ready to wrap him in after his bath, and when I came out of the bathroom, look who was laying on it!  Time for a clean towel…

Gotta get off the computer – the boys are shooting Nerf guns, and Tucker is afraid of them and wants me to cuddle him…

I posted the other day about playing with pipe cleaners and a strainer.  I got that idea from this post on Smockity Frocks.  Another suggestion of Smockity’s was to sort dried beans with a spoon.  We tried it, and Owen and Gresham (age 5) both loved it.  It’s a good activity for fine motor coordination too!  I gave the boys a bowl of beans, a spoon, and an egg carton to sort the beans into.  They may eat with their hands at the table, but using the spoon for beans was fun!

Here are some other ways that I keep Owen entertained at the table while we do school:

• Play doh.  This is our favorite recipe.
• Pattern blocks
• A geoboard and rubber bands.  We bought this one, but you can easily make one with a piece of wood and nails.
• Scissors – Owen cuts up junk mail and scrap paper.  Lots of fun – just a lot of clean-up when he’s done…
• Blocks – Gresham received this set of wooden castle blocks for Christmas.  It was my favorite gift that the boys got this year!  All three of them enjoy building castles, and best of all – it’s a quiet activity!

How do you occupy your preschoolers?

This week we’ll be listening to two movements of The Planets, a seven movement work composed by English composer Gustav Holst between 1914 and 1916.  Each movement was written to describe the astrological effect of the planets on the psyche.  Yeah, I’m not really into all that.  Pretty sure we won’t be emphasizing astrology when we listen to this music this week!  Astrology aside, it’s a really interesting orchestral work, and I thought it was worth listening to.

We’ll be listening to two of the seven movements:  Mars and Jupiter.  Mars (“the bringer of war”) is written in 5/4 time – If you’re familiar with counting music, try counting to five with your kids while listening to it.  It’s an interesting beat!  Also, at the beginning of Mars, the strings use a technique called “col legno” which literally means “with wood.”  They musicians are using the wooden part of their bows to tap the strings, which creates an interesting effect.

Jupiter (“the bringer of jollity”) has a really beautiful melody in the middle of the movement.  You may recognize it – this tune is sung as a hymn in some churches.

Today we worked on measuring.

Gresham (age 5) and I worked on measuring with non-standard units.  We made a “hand” measurement device by tracing his hand on cardboard and attaching a craft stick to it to make it easier to hold on to.  I gave Gresham a clip board with a list of things to measure using his hand.  It was good practice for him – it was hard at first to get the concept of using his finger to mark the end of the “hand” and then moving the hand down to where his finger was.

Aidan worked on measuring to the nearest eighth of an inch.  I asked him to get out his ruler and show me what the lines on it meant.  He already knew quarters of an inch, so we went on to eighths.  He also had a clipboard with a list of things to measure to the nearest eighth of an inch.

Stay tuned for more “Concept of the Day” posts!  Some concepts I have in mind are gravity, momentum, volume, and liquid measurement.

What ideas do you have for practicing measurement?