Friday Funny--Winter and Math

This week we had a spring snow storm AND we've been learning about angles, so I thought this cartoon was very appropriate!

Easter Projects: Resurrection Rolls and Stained Glass Cross

Yesterday we did do projects for Easter. One was art and one was baking, but both focused on the real reason for the season.

First, I had come across a cute idea which I posted on Pinterest. I had to use what I had available, so our stained glass cross was a little different.

We didn't have cling-on paper, so I used clear contact paper. We tore off the backing a little at a time and put torn tissue right on the back.

We didn't want to just remember the cross, so we went a step further. I wrote "He Is Risen" on the contact paper and then we tissued the back just like we did on the cross.

I would have used the black Sharpee, but again, we used what we had! I then cut out the words leaving the outline intact. 

Here's our finished project.

I just attached it with household tape. It looks really cool during the day, too, with the sun behind it, but I didn't want you to see the boxes and laundry!

Then in the evening we made Resurrection Rolls. It's been a few years since we've made them, so the experience was fresh for mija.

All you need is a roll of biscuits (you know, the scary kind that can pop at any moment), marshmallows (preferably white mini or large ones cut in half), a little butter, and a little cinnamon sugar.

You set the oven temperature according to the container.

You use these items to tell the resurrection story.

First, you spread out the biscuit explaining that Jesus was laid in a borrowed tomb.

Then you lay Jesus (the marshmallow) in the tomb. He's white because He's been wrapped in grave clothes.

Jesus laying in the tomb anointed with oil and spices.

Then you put a little butter and cinnamon sugar on Jesus. It was a speedy burial, so they couldn't prepare the body fully but did put some spices on him when he was buried (John 19:40).

Of course, the tomb needs to be sealed up tightly by folding the biscuit over and pressing the edges together.

The sealed tomb.

We put the tombs in the oven for about 10 minutes. Check on yours. When they are golden brown remove them. Let them cool for a few minutes.

When you are ready to open them...

Jesus is gone! He's risen from the dead!

Little ones really are gobsmacked by it and even mija was asking "Where did Jesus go?"

Of course, the marshmallow has melted in the oven leaving behind an empty (and yummy) tomb.

We actually made three each allowing each of us to have a turn to tell the resurrection story.

There are many kinds of resurrection rolls recipes, but I really like this one because of the ease and the obvious object lesson.

Wednesday Websites--Poetry

April is National Poetry Month!

Of course, there is studying the rhythm and rhyme pattern if there is one. You can see if there is a pattern in theme, topic or phrase. You can relate it to the historical time it was written or the science it mentions. When you read Langston Hughes' "Dream Variations", for instance, learn about the Civil Rights Movement and trees. Don't forget that writing poetry is an option, too! 

Poetry 4 Kids offer lessons for writing poetry. I recommend an acrostic poem if you are just starting out! It also offers a lot of other poetry resources.

Scholastic offers a lot of teacher resources for National Poetry Month.

At Poets.org, you search by poems or poets. There are even videos of various poems. Classics and more.

DLTK offers this collection of spring poems. This is a little more of a  "kid" friendly selection.

Poetry for Kids offers all kinds of poetry based links including places to post poetry you've written, a link to a rhyming dictionary, and more.

Readwritethink has some cool online tools that actually help write various types of poetry.

Apples 4 the Teacher has a thematic list of poems which includes various holidays. How about memorizing a poem for Armed Forces Day or Bird Day. (You know how I feel about every day being a holiday!)

Crocheted Doll Slippers

Of late, I've been craving the feel of a hook and yarn in my hands. I love to crochet. I think it is so cool to start with a ball of yarn and a hook and within a few minutes something starts to form. It is a very small taste of what God felt when creating the earth. 

Well, I came across a pattern which I just had to jump on. It would be fast, easy, and be fun for mija.

It was for little slipper that were supposed to be used for shower gifts. I saw more potential however, because they could obviously be worn by a doll!
Here's a link to the pin for pattern:

Source: mycrochetstuff.blogspot.com viaBetsy Price on Pinterest

Mija has Faith and Friends dolls which are larger than the usual fashion dolls but smaller then American Girl dolls. It's always challenging to find new clothing for them.
But now, one has new slippers.

I don't think they are too bad considering I haven't crocheted in a few years.
I did change a couple of things in the pattern. In row 4, I put all the DC and HDC in the back loop of the stitch in order to make it curve over the toe better. Also, I just caught the end of the strap in my stitch as I went around the edging thereby negating the need of sewing the strap down.

And it ended up being a double blessing. Not only did I make some shoes for mija's doll, but she wanted to begin learning to crochet!

It's a work in progress, but she definitely made a start in learning the chain stitch. I'll probably make a few more pairs of shoes in order to encourage her to keep on practicing. 
And of course, learning to crochet is school hours that don't seem like school!

On my soapbox--feminism

I do not like feminism. I think it is lie of the enemy used to undermine family, church and society.

I didn't used to be so gung-ho. There was a time when I thought it might be okay for a woman to be a pastor as long as she wasn't a senior pastor. I thought if a woman wanted to be in the army, let her fight alongside the men if she wanted to. A little boy unwilling to wrestle a little girl was probably afraid of losing to the girl.

You see. I've been there.

God's brought me along a path to where I am now, but it wasn't always a pleasant path.

A few resources God used were:

• Above Rubies--it offers a free magazine, newsletter, yahoo group, blogs, retreats and more. 
• Eternal Encouragement--it now has a free digital magazine, Lorrie's blog and products, and FB group.
• The Way Home: Beyond Feminism, Back to Reality--This book was written by Mary Pride of homeschool fame. Pride, who was a staunch, second wave feminist, shares her story and the truth behind the feminist agenda. While there a few things in the book I don't agree with, most of it was eye-opening and convicting.

Not everyone agrees with my new understanding, however. Even godly women that I respect have issues with my anti-feminism agenda.

Therefore, it was nice to see an article distributed by Answers in Genesis which I thought was spot on.
Does history hold a bias against women? Members of the radical feminist movement seem to think so. Radical feminism has had incredibly destructive effects on marriage and the family—and its influence has also been felt on the church. Evangelical feminism teaches an egalitarian view of marriage and roles in the church, to the point where passages that clearly teach male headship are reinterpreted, explained away, or ignored altogether. As a result, many men are abdicating or being forced out of their God-given roles as heads of their households and as leaders in the church. The negative effects of this kind of postmodern thinking have led to serious attacks on the authority of God’s Word.
Read the full article HERE.

Friday Funny--International Day of the Seal

Remember, everyday can be a holiday! Today is International Day of the Seal.
Here's a few funnies.

Call me, Sherah--Destroyer of Mice

I really don’t like mice.

Before we got married, my husband used to have pet rodents of different varieties. I told him he could have rodents or a wife. Since he’s my husband, it’s pretty obvious that I won that battle

We lived in a mobile home once with mice. I woke up one morning to see blood on top of my stove with a little tail trail running off into the burners. My husband explained (remember, he had been a rodent person) that two male mice probably got into battle over territory. All I could think of were the Jets and the Sharks from West Side Story.

Depiction of the possible fight scene on top of my stove.

Well, the house we are living in now has mice. Usually, it's my husband's job to deal with it, but last Thursday, he was working a 12-hour shift. I had to make the "mouse call".

First, mija let me know that there was a mouse stuck to one of the sticky mouse traps. I took a deep breath but knew I could handle it. All I would have to do is pick up the sticky paper, put it in a bag, and take it out to the big trash can.

But what I found made me stop and reckon.

For demonstration purposes only

That's right. The mouse was stuck on top of the mouse cord. There was a mouse on the mouse...or a mouse under the mouse depending on your perspective. 

My first thought was to just throw the whole thing away.

But, no. I took the bull by the horns, or in this case, the mouse by the cord and slowly slid the cord out from under the mouse. The mouse was very small, so I had to be careful not to dislodge the mouse...the animal not the computer part. The real challenge came when I had to slide the USB plug underneath. I was holding it over the big trash can just in case, but I DID IT!  I removed the mouse from the mouse! 

Okay, so mija accidentally spelled tea all over the mouse (computer part not animal) later in the the day resulting in the the mouse being thrown away in the end, but the victory was still mine.

I was on a high. So that night, I was ready to take on the mouse in the stove. Yup, deja vu. Mice in stove number two.

I was working at the computer doing taxes and started seeing the mouse sneak out from under the burner and look around. Testing the waters. I was really surprised by how fast that little thing could move. First, popping out from one burner and then under another burner within seconds. Then I saw this:

Reenactment. Not the actual stove or the actual mice.

There were two mice in the stove. The way they were popping up and down reminded me strongly of the "Whack a Mole" game at Chuck E. Cheese.

I was already ticked about one, but two was too much!

Well, I brought the trash can out beside the counter, grabbed an oven mitt in one hand and my Tupperware colander in the other, and waited. I waited until one of them had traveled to the far end of the counter and made my move. It didn't go quite as I had planned.

I made it to the counter before it made it to the stove. I slammed down the colander and actually hit the mouse across the back with the edge. I flipped it onto the floor and covered it with the colander.

A similar colander acting like it's on the floor covering up the half dead mouse.

Whew! It happened quicker than I could type it. 

I gently lifted the colander to see a dying mouse instead of an attempted escapee. I must have broken it's back when I hit it. I scooped it up in a bag and threw it away.

Tada!! I was so proud of myself both times! I definitely overcame some big challenges by dealing with little things. Some more battles won!

Just call me, Sherah, Destroyer of Mice!

Wednesday Websites--American Revolution--History

We will soon be learning about the American Revolution in history, so I wanted to find some sites that would add to our learning.

First are a few that I already have listed on my Helpful Homeschool Websites page.

Liberty's Kids--It was a TV show which can still be found at the library. Even without the show, there are some fun information and activities on the site.

Archiving Early America--This has a lot of cool information from the founding documents to the obits of the Founding Fathers. 

George Washington's World is presented by MountVernon.org. You can play games while exploring Mount Vernon, do jigsaw puzzles, and learn about the archaeology used there.

Here are more I found: 

Kids Konnect has a page about the American Revolution which includes some fast facts and a lot of links about the subjects.

Mr4. Nussbaum offers some cool resources. There are timelines, activities such as word searches, videos, and printables some of which can be integrated into other subjects. 

Fun Hands on Unit Studies has a six week unit on the American Revolution. What's really fun about this site is that it really is hands on. Making mop caps. Reenact the crossing of the Delaware. Make a secret code. You get the idea.

Do you have any good ideas about books or sites?

  

Family Integrated Church—Training Children to Sit Still

She was 4 years old here.

When mija was about 3 years old, the Lord brought us to a family integrated church. We hadn't purposely sought one out. We just found a great preaching church and stayed there. We knew the kids stayed in service, but we thought it was more because of space limitations than a purposeful philosophy.

Well, then mija turned 4 years old and that is the point of no return. No more nursery. You are in the service now. For those who had been around, many had started training their children early sometimes not even using the nursery.

We on the other hand, were not prepared and boy was it work!!

I wish I had found Lorrie Flem’s e-book Training Children toSit Still back then. It assures me that yes, it is work, but would have given more ideas on how to make it work!

What was also a blessing to me was her story about why they started having their children in service. It wasn't for a religious reason either, but now, she can see a Biblical reason for doing so.

She starts with babies, moves into talking about toddlers, and then mentions a few ideas for keeping older children on task. I think she's right on because I see a lot of the moms in our church applying similar principles.

So, if you would like some help with the hows and learn so whys of Training Children to Sit Still I recommend checking out Lorrie Flem's e-book.

I was given a free copy of the e-book in exchange for my honest review.

Home Educating Family Blog--Economic Downturn Education

I definitely wrote from my real life experiences on my blog post today for the Home Educating Family Blog!



Check it out!

Easter Basket Coupons--Toys, Movies, Candy

I thought I would share a few coupons that might save you a little money as your prepare for Easter baskets next week.