Please Pray

Would you please pray for the Hughes family?

Pam Hughes was a friend of mine - we compared notes on homeschooling through the years. 

She had been quite ill - but was on the road to recovery.

She passed away this morning, and is in the arms of Jesus right now.

Please pray for her husband and five children. They need God's grace more than any of us can imagine.

Thanks.

Overheard in My House, Episode 10

Sigh.  This one hurts.

{Scene cuts to Amy, sitting on the living room floor, looking at my Creative Memories albums}

Amy:  "Mom, why aren't there any pictures of me in these dictionaries?"

Me:  "Um. . . . . . . . . . . . . . "

Yeah.  Fifth child. 

Anybody want to scrapbook for, say, a month without stopping???

Celebrating President's Day at American Village

Do you all know about American Village?  If you don't, you should!

While I admit it's not as high-falutin' as - say - Plymouth Plantation or Colonial Williamsburg, it is really a well done history resource, right in our own backyard.  I especially like the way they emphasize the sacrifices made by the founders of our country - and then turn around and ask the children who are hearing the program to do the same.  Very inspiring.

Today was President's Day, and American Village was celebrating.  We celebrated, too, and I decided to channel my inner "I-used-to-be-a-fun-mom" and pack up the three younger girls for a field trip.

 

Aren't they cute?  Of course, there was a discount for arriving in costume. . . and I'm only NOW realizing I never got a picture of them standing up, all together.  Sigh.

At any rate, "someone-who-shall-remain-nameless" was feeling a little awkward in said costume, and also a little sad that both the friends we invited couldn't come.  So imagine our surprise when THESE wonderful people came walking through the door of Washington Hall!

Yes, the Pritchetts!!!  They saved the day!!! (Or at least made it a LOT more fun!)

I have also learned that, while I'm channeling my inner "I-used-to-be-a-fun-mom", I am NOT doing so good at channeling my inner "I-used-to-scrapbook-and-take-a-bazillion-pictures" mom.  So with that in mind, here are a few shots from the day. . . wish I had more.

Hannah hoop-rolling on the green

Another Colonial Game - trap ball, I think.  Pretty fun!

 My favorite part today was the Oval Office - yes, they have a replica of THE Oval Office!  It was quite awe-inspiring when I first saw it.  . . . .of course, I don't have a good picture, but this one was pretty cute.

Tired toddler on Daddy's lap.  In the Oval Office, no less!

Hope you all celebrated President's Day in fine fashion - and here are to the remarkable men who have filled that office.  May we never forget to pray for them.

Sunday Sentiments: When the Answer is "Yes"

Many, if not most of you have heard already.

Dearest Kathryn received a Presidential Scholarship to Samford University here in Birmingham.  While it won't cover all of tuition, the award she received, along with her University Fellows scholarship, gives us enough confidence that the Lord is indeed directing her steps there.  (Although she's still in the running for 3 more scholarships - so keep praying!!)

But that's not what this post is about, ultimately.

It's about what happens to a dry, parched, and withered heart when God pours the wellsprings of "Yes" to water the thirsty ground.

Many, if not most, of you also know that our family has been on a 3+ year journey of God deepening our faith through. . . . . . unanswered prayer.  It's not much of a secret that we've been in what Paul Miller* calls 'a desert experience' - a desert where it has appeared there is no way out, we don't know when it will end, and there's no relief in sight.

But while we're in the desert, we've clung tenaciously to the belief that God has not abandoned us - although it has certainly, to our human frailty, appeared that way sometimes.  We're stubbornly believing that God is weaving a story in our lives, one that will ultimately bring Him glory and honor.  In the words of Peter, "Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life."  (John 6:68)

Which doesn't make it easy.  I've written before about my latest temptation - the temptation to give up hope.  Lately, though, God has allowed hope to spring in my heart - a tender, frail seedling of hope - rooted in Who He is, not what He will do for us.

And so.  When this "Yes" came, this much desired, prayed-for, hoped for "Yes". . . . . .

I bawled.  Like a baby.  Thankfully, in private. 

It was as if the waters of grace came spilling down from heaven, nourishing the seedling of hope, and overflowing in my heart.  And I am so thankful for a God who not only cares deeply about me knowing Him, but also for a God who cares about our situation.   A God who doesn't withhold blessings, but can do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.

All praise to God, who is writing the story of our lives.  May we watch, wait, and wonder in eager anticipation as He enables us to participate in His glorious kingdom.



*Remember how I told you to go find Paul Miller's A Praying Life?  I wasn't kidding.  Go read it!

Kids Can Learn Chemistry! Teaching Atomic Bonding

One of these days, I'm going to upgrade this blog and get spiffy tabs like the other uber-cool bloggers have.  But that would require time that I don't have, so for now I'm going to just throw everything in all together!

Therefore, I am now presenting. . . . . . . .

Khemistry for Kids 

(That's to annoy my brother, who has a profound hatred for signs with forced alliteration. . . .think 'Kountry Kitchen', and you're in the right ballpark!)

Do you remember your high school Chemistry class?  You know, the one that gave you cold sweats when you had to *gasp* balance equations?

Yeah.  Me too.  Actually, I liked my chemistry class - except for the part when my teacher told me I was "wasting my mind" by going into education (I was headed to college to be a music major).  Which is highly ironic since, the person uttering that statement was, after all, a teacher.  (Are you still out there, Mrs. Lipeles?)  It would be fairly interesting to hear what she would have to say now. . . . 

But I digress.  Anywho.

I am currently "wasting my mind" teaching science to a group of 14 homeschooled kids on Friday mornings.  They're such a fun bunch! Right now, we're working through a series entitled God's Design for Chemistry & Ecology - and we've hit the lesson on ionic and covalent bonding.  The basic lesson presented was good, but I decided to hunt around and see what else I could find.

Wow.  I love the internet.  Who knew there were such good lesson plans there?  The activities I'm about to explain came mainly from this site - but since they were geared for middle schoolers, I just adapted them a bit for my class.

First up - Ionic Bonding.  Here are Mr. Chlorine and Mr. Sodium!  

 It's a little hard to see from the picture, but they're wearing headbands (Ok, I bribed them with candy to wear them) with ping-pong ball "electrons" on them.  Mr. Sodium (Na) has 1 electron (valence electrons, for you science junkies out there) and Mr. Chlorine (Cl) has 7 electrons. 

Prior to this point, we had discussed valence electrons, and the tendency of the atoms to want a complete shell of electrons - in this case, Mr. Cl wants 8, and Mr. Na wants to get rid of his 1 lonely electron.  After this picture was taken, Mr. Na took off his electron and gave it to Mr. Cl.  Lots of hysterical laughter ensued. . . . but they got the point.  Electrons transferred?  Ionic bonding.  Ta-dah!

Next up - well, I knew I had to choose two girls for this one.  You'll see why in a minute.  (And yes, they were also bribed with candy.)

Here we have the incredibly cute Hydrogen sisters.  They started out with one electron each.  Their headbands only have 2 curly pipe cleaners on them so they each want to add an electron.

How do they solve their problem?  They share!  (Insert class, laughing hysterically here)  You can't see it quite so well, but yes, the girls are joined at the headbands with their electrons (each ping pong ball has two holes in it for just this purpose!)

Sharing electrons?  Covalent bonding.  Ta dah!

 See, now, that wasn't so painful, was it?

To further illustrate the concept, we turned to that ever so popular motivator of children.

C-A-N-D-Y.


Here is our friendly sodium atom.  Note the one valence electron - an orange skittle.

Next up, the Chlorine atom.  Note the 7 valence electrons.   Note also that I color coordinated them for the picture.  I'm good like that.

 Ready for some ionic bonding?  Here we go!

 As you can see, sodium has given its electron to chlorine.  Everybody's happy.

Including my students.  When I explained to them that this subject was difficult, and if they told their mothers about it, their mothers would say it was too hard to learn, I was met with disbelief. 

One of my more observant students quipped:  "That's because they didn't have Skittles when they were in high school!" 

Take that, Mrs. Lipeles.  Wasting my mind, indeed. 

Wordless Wednesday - Rejoicing Edition!!!

No Pictures, Just Love

Can I just say. . . . . .

My husband grilled me tuna steaks for dinner tonight.

As a surprise.

AND he washed the fancy dishes we ate on.

I *heart* him.

That is all.