I can't stand it anymore! I must blog!
... so I'm back, even though we're still two weeks away from Michaelmas. I'm just not accomplishing some of the big stuff I'd hoped to get done - like the big organizing jobs and the deep cleaning - the heat just drags me down so much.
But! I have accomplished some reorganization in my weekly schedule. Nathan's speech and occupational therapy are being moved from Tuesday and Thursday mornings to after lunch, plus Katherine's World History 2 class is from 2:30 - 4:30 Tuesday afternoon where her WH1 class was 10:00 - 12:00 Tuesday morning last year. Both of these changes have made the afternoons seem more productive around here. I tend to get most of our schoolwork done in the mornings, and I don't usually have much energy for anything in the afternoons, so this has been a good change. I'm looking for "low energy" work I can do in the afternoons, and one of the things I've been doing is folding laundry while listening to taped history lectures with Stephen.
To celebrate my return I've worked up my own "50 Things I Love" list. I had trouble stopping at fifty, so for this list, I left out the two things I love the most - my God and my family - and I only listed chocolate once. ;-)
~Alfred the Great
~Angels in the Architecture
~anyone lived in a pretty how town
~baby kisses
~Beyond Stateliest Marble
~black olives
~blue salvia growing beside yellow roses
~the Buffalo River
~chocolate!
~cheesecake
~Clovis
~Craftsman-style architecture
~dark wood furniture
~daydreaming
~driving fast
~Ephesians 4
~fall
~fettuccine Alfredo
~fresh pineapple
~hardwood floors
~homemade chocolate chip cookies eaten while hot from the oven and with a tall glass of milk
~Lord Peter Wimsey
~Martha Washington
~Mike's grandmother's hands
~Mr. Knightley
~old-fashioned orange daylilies
~the pearl earrings Mike gave me for Christmas
~planning
~the platform of the Constitution Party
~pretty hats, long swishy skirts, and high heels
~Psalm 24
~Robert E. Lee
~roses
~sailing
~Samuel Adams
~singing the Doxology before supper
~Sir Percy Blakeney
~the soundrack to Les Miserables, especially Jean Valjean's prayer for Marius, "Bring Him Home"
~St. George and the Dragon
~Steve Wilkins' The Lord's Supper and our Children series
~Stonewall Jackson
~So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God created he him;
male and female created he them.
~taking a hot shower after gardening
~Thanksgiving
~unicorns
~the Virginia Reel
~Vivaldi's Gloria
~Walt Disney's "Sleeping Beauty"
~when the pastor holds up the bread and wine and says, "These are the gifts of God for the people of God"
~white lace curtains and bed linens
Thursday, September 16, 2004
Sunday, August 1, 2004
Thursday, July 29, 2004
Thankful Thursday
Today I'm thankful for:
1. the break from the heat we had this week - we've had cooler weather and lots of rain, which is unusual for this time of year, and in fact, it was so cool on Monday that I didn't have to run the air conditioner all day!
2. our Wednesday night Bible study - we have a small group that meets at the base chapel to study R.C. Sproul's Dust to Glory series, and yesterday we were unable to get the key to the fellowship hall, so we called around and asked everyone to come to our house for the Bible study, and they did, and it was a lot of fun
3. my 13 year old son who is diligently studying his math right now because he wants to be an engineer when he grows up and design and fly airplanes
Today I'm thankful for:
1. the break from the heat we had this week - we've had cooler weather and lots of rain, which is unusual for this time of year, and in fact, it was so cool on Monday that I didn't have to run the air conditioner all day!
2. our Wednesday night Bible study - we have a small group that meets at the base chapel to study R.C. Sproul's Dust to Glory series, and yesterday we were unable to get the key to the fellowship hall, so we called around and asked everyone to come to our house for the Bible study, and they did, and it was a lot of fun
3. my 13 year old son who is diligently studying his math right now because he wants to be an engineer when he grows up and design and fly airplanes
Tuesday, July 27, 2004
Recent Reading
The Dove in the Eagle's Nest, by Charlotte Yonge
A gentle woman changes a family's destiny by being faithful to God. This was an exciting story, but as with all the Victorian authors, before you actually get to the story, so have to wade through several pages of descriptions of the world and they that dwell therein.
The Scarlet Pimpernel, by Baroness Orczy
Chivalry... Romance... Intrigue... Danger... What a sweet story! Everybody should read this book, espcially if you're married - it'll make you a better wife (or husband, as the case may be).
The Dove in the Eagle's Nest, by Charlotte Yonge
A gentle woman changes a family's destiny by being faithful to God. This was an exciting story, but as with all the Victorian authors, before you actually get to the story, so have to wade through several pages of descriptions of the world and they that dwell therein.
The Scarlet Pimpernel, by Baroness Orczy
Chivalry... Romance... Intrigue... Danger... What a sweet story! Everybody should read this book, espcially if you're married - it'll make you a better wife (or husband, as the case may be).
Monday, July 26, 2004
Homeschool stuff
Last school year Elai took the first year of a two-year world history class taught by Peter Roise, a graduate of New St. Andrews College. The online tutorial covered a lot of material as you can see by this syllabus, and the second year will be just as rigorous. I always tried to work it out so that the little kids were playing somewhere quietly so I could fold laundry and listen in on the classes because they were so interesting.
Mr. Roise will also be speaking at the Heritage Homeschool Conference in Weatherford, TX, August the 20th and 21st, which we are planning to attend. This conference is free, and children are invited to attend. Hey Samantha! It'd be great if you went to the conference - I'd love to meet you!
Last school year Elai took the first year of a two-year world history class taught by Peter Roise, a graduate of New St. Andrews College. The online tutorial covered a lot of material as you can see by this syllabus, and the second year will be just as rigorous. I always tried to work it out so that the little kids were playing somewhere quietly so I could fold laundry and listen in on the classes because they were so interesting.
Mr. Roise will also be speaking at the Heritage Homeschool Conference in Weatherford, TX, August the 20th and 21st, which we are planning to attend. This conference is free, and children are invited to attend. Hey Samantha! It'd be great if you went to the conference - I'd love to meet you!
Thursday, July 22, 2004
Isn't that cute? I found it at Selah's blog.
Today I'm most especially thankful for:
1. Ben and Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk ice cream
2. The wonderfully wise and godly men God has given to the Church over the generations - "We have this treasure in earthen vessels..." - I'm thinking particularly of the men who've been my pastors, John Wright, L.A. Joiner, Lee Barnes, Gary Sanders, and Pete Hurst.
3. Valerie, Alexandra, Byron, Carmon, Dawn, Janet, Julie, Kaffeine, Kelly M., Kore, Kristen, Kurt, Leslie, Liza Q, Phillip, Samantha, Sing Hey!, Summer, and Swirly Girly who've all been so sweet to tell me what they're thankful for.
Tag! You're it!
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
Monday, July 19, 2004
Shoes and ships and sealing wax and cabbages and kings...
First of all, blogger has changed again, but this seems to be a reasonable change - it sort of looks like typing in Word, and you can change fonts and colors and stuff, but I don't feel like experimenting right now. It also has a spell checker, and I really think they need to consider whether the dictonary they're using is quite up to date, or if maybe they should add some special blogger language to it, like, for instance, the word "blogger." :-p
Next, a bit about church this morning
Part of the Epistle reading was Colossians 1:21-23, "You who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him-- provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven. I, Paul, became a servant of this gospel." One wonders what the anti-Federal Vision people make of that.
About halfway through the service, Lilian got fussy, so I took her out to the van to give her a little private practice in Sitting Patiently on Mama's Lap When Required. Some advances were made, but I think it would be wise to practice at 10 o'clock every morning this week so she'll be in the habit by next Sunday.
Random thoughts about what I've been reading and listening to lately
Busman's Honeymoon was really good but it was only incidentally a murder mystery. It was really about marriage, and in reading it I find that I really don't understand Lord Peter and Harriet a bit. Why are they so concerned about maintaining independence and a kind of aloofness? They seem almost afraid of their love for one another.
Since I've just finished the end of the story of Lord Peter and Harriet, I decided to go back and reread Strong Poison, the book where they first met. I think I remember who actually killed the guy that Harriet was accused of killing and how he did it, but it's still fun reading it to see if I can pick up on the clues, and hopefully to gain some insight into Lord Peter's and Harriet's way of interacting with each other in Busman's Honeymoon.
Friday I listened to Peter Leithart's lecture from the 2001 CWSC entitled "The Why and How of Reading," in which he said that when rereading a book, it is good to remember the end of the story because you may pick up on things that you missed the first time through. His lectures on Jane Austen are excellent ("Repeat after me: Real Men Read Austen."), and right now I'm in the middle of listening to John Hodges' lectures on Beauty.
I'm also reading Jeff Meyers' The Lord's Service which has been a wonderful experience. I may blog more about it later if I can ever find words to express what I'm learning from the book.
At the conference, Mike bought Abraham Kuyper's Lectures on Calvin for me and I read the introduction and the first part of the first chapter this afternoon. The biographical info in the introduction focused almost exclusively on Dr. Kuyper's academic and political credentials and mentioned nothing at all about his family. When I read a man's biography, what I really want to know is who were his wife and children, and what are his grandchildren and great-grandchildren doing today? That, I think, is the real measure of the man, moreso than his published works. But of course, it's possible he never married. I wonder if Google will tell me anything?
And finally, What We Did This Evening
There were two or three dances at the Christian Worldview Student Conference, and Mike finally had the pleasure of dancing the Virginia Reel. He had a good time dancing with Elai, and noticed the ridiculous number of young men standing around not dancing, and that far too many of the couples were girls dancing with girls for want of male partners, so he was inspired not only to try to encourage the young men to oblige the ladies and to set the standard himself, but also to teach us the Virginia Reel, and is considering dance lessons for all of us so that our own young men will be better equipped when they are old enough to attend the conference. So we took the leaves out of the big table and shoved it into the school room so we'd have space to dance, and spent two hours this evening dancing! Our family is fortunate enough to have four couples, and it was great fun, though by seven o'clock we were all hot and sweaty, so we sent the kids out to play in the sprinkler. A frabjous day! Calooh! Callay!
First of all, blogger has changed again, but this seems to be a reasonable change - it sort of looks like typing in Word, and you can change fonts and colors and stuff, but I don't feel like experimenting right now. It also has a spell checker, and I really think they need to consider whether the dictonary they're using is quite up to date, or if maybe they should add some special blogger language to it, like, for instance, the word "blogger." :-p
Next, a bit about church this morning
Part of the Epistle reading was Colossians 1:21-23, "You who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him-- provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven. I, Paul, became a servant of this gospel." One wonders what the anti-Federal Vision people make of that.
About halfway through the service, Lilian got fussy, so I took her out to the van to give her a little private practice in Sitting Patiently on Mama's Lap When Required. Some advances were made, but I think it would be wise to practice at 10 o'clock every morning this week so she'll be in the habit by next Sunday.
Random thoughts about what I've been reading and listening to lately
Busman's Honeymoon was really good but it was only incidentally a murder mystery. It was really about marriage, and in reading it I find that I really don't understand Lord Peter and Harriet a bit. Why are they so concerned about maintaining independence and a kind of aloofness? They seem almost afraid of their love for one another.
Since I've just finished the end of the story of Lord Peter and Harriet, I decided to go back and reread Strong Poison, the book where they first met. I think I remember who actually killed the guy that Harriet was accused of killing and how he did it, but it's still fun reading it to see if I can pick up on the clues, and hopefully to gain some insight into Lord Peter's and Harriet's way of interacting with each other in Busman's Honeymoon.
Friday I listened to Peter Leithart's lecture from the 2001 CWSC entitled "The Why and How of Reading," in which he said that when rereading a book, it is good to remember the end of the story because you may pick up on things that you missed the first time through. His lectures on Jane Austen are excellent ("Repeat after me: Real Men Read Austen."), and right now I'm in the middle of listening to John Hodges' lectures on Beauty.
I'm also reading Jeff Meyers' The Lord's Service which has been a wonderful experience. I may blog more about it later if I can ever find words to express what I'm learning from the book.
At the conference, Mike bought Abraham Kuyper's Lectures on Calvin for me and I read the introduction and the first part of the first chapter this afternoon. The biographical info in the introduction focused almost exclusively on Dr. Kuyper's academic and political credentials and mentioned nothing at all about his family. When I read a man's biography, what I really want to know is who were his wife and children, and what are his grandchildren and great-grandchildren doing today? That, I think, is the real measure of the man, moreso than his published works. But of course, it's possible he never married. I wonder if Google will tell me anything?
And finally, What We Did This Evening
There were two or three dances at the Christian Worldview Student Conference, and Mike finally had the pleasure of dancing the Virginia Reel. He had a good time dancing with Elai, and noticed the ridiculous number of young men standing around not dancing, and that far too many of the couples were girls dancing with girls for want of male partners, so he was inspired not only to try to encourage the young men to oblige the ladies and to set the standard himself, but also to teach us the Virginia Reel, and is considering dance lessons for all of us so that our own young men will be better equipped when they are old enough to attend the conference. So we took the leaves out of the big table and shoved it into the school room so we'd have space to dance, and spent two hours this evening dancing! Our family is fortunate enough to have four couples, and it was great fun, though by seven o'clock we were all hot and sweaty, so we sent the kids out to play in the sprinkler. A frabjous day! Calooh! Callay!
Thursday, July 15, 2004
Thursday's Thankful Three
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
1. I'm so thankful that after traveling half way across the continent and back, Mike and Elaienar and NaeNae got home safely today about an hour ago.
2. They brought me books!
3. Mike takes me out every Thursday night for coffee and dessert.
As always, I very much enjoy reading what y'all are thankful for!
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
1. I'm so thankful that after traveling half way across the continent and back, Mike and Elaienar and NaeNae got home safely today about an hour ago.
2. They brought me books!
3. Mike takes me out every Thursday night for coffee and dessert.
As always, I very much enjoy reading what y'all are thankful for!
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