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31 Days: Only

10/31/2016

For some reason when I try to think of something to write for this word only.. this tune keeps running through my head.. "If only the lonely, ba ba ba badada..."

I have to admit, I find this tune rather distracting....

But it does make me think about something.
Marriage changes people.
Before marriage I liked to listen to pop and country music... That was my style of music, that a variety of praise and worship music.

Then I got married...to a man who DESPISES country music and only tolerates pop.   We found some common ground in jazz, and I discovered big band music which makes my husband smile.

BUT the biggest change is this.. HE LOVES rock music.   Adores it.   So what does he play as often as he can? Rock music.

Guess who is SLOWLY starting to like rock music?   You got it right.. me.   The other day he even caught bopping to some tune that 3 years ago I would have barely tolerated.... He likes me bopping to his music... again... it makes him smile.

We need smiles.

So what can I say?   "if only the lonely ba ba ba dadada...."

Hop on over to here and here to find more 31 day writers. :) Oh and Lisa from Canadian Homeschooler is doing a Canada series. See the rest of my series here.

Hymn Study: Rejoice the Lord is King

10/31/2016

“Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.” Philippians 4:4

Lyrics
Once again I am surprised at how many verses there are to a familiar hymn.
You will note in the first verse I have the word rejoice after mortals. This is what is says in our hymnal. Rejoice instead of Mortals.

Rejoice, the Lord is King! Your Lord and King adore;
Mortals (rejoice) give thanks and sing, and triumph evermore;
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice;
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!

Jesus, the Savior, reigns, the God of truth and love;
When He had purged our stains He took His seat above;
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice;
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!

His kingdom cannot fail, He rules o’er earth and Heav’n,
The keys of death and hell are to our Jesus giv’n;
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice;
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!

He sits at God’s right hand till all His foes submit,
And bow to His command, and fall beneath His feet:
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice;
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!

He all His foes shall quell, shall all our sins destroy,
And every bosom swell with pure seraphic joy;
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice,
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!

Rejoice in glorious hope! Jesus the Judge shall come,
And take His servants up to their eternal home.
We soon shall hear th’archangel’s voice;
The trump of God shall sound, rejoice!
(source)

Written by Charles Wesley it first appeared in his brother John's book Moral and Sacred Poems in 1744. In 1746, Charles published it as one of 16 selections in Hymns for Our Lord's Resurrection. It originally had six verses. (source)

As often happens with hymns, verses get dropped and such was the case with this hymn. The fourth and fifth stanzas omitted in the settings used in The UM Hymnal. Of the four stanzas used in both settings in the hymnal (numbers 715 and 716), almost nothing has been altered from the original 1746 text, a testament to the quality of Charles Wesley's poetry. (source)

Charles Wesley (along with his brother John) wrote more than 6500 hymns in the 18th century. He wrote this hymn to go along with Easter and Ascension. (source) as well as a way to encourage his Methodist brethren who were undergoing persecution.

31 Days: Cut

10/30/2016

This morning's sermon had to do with "little children, keep yourselves from idols".
When I saw the prompt for today, the message was brought to mind.
When we see, we need to figure out WHY we are sinning, and how that why will help point out the idols in our lives.

Idols such as'

I want others to like me
I don't want to stick out like sore thumb
I want to feel better about myself
I want to look better than so-and-so

These idols are all things that steal us away from God, so John wanted his readers to be on the alert against idols in their lives.

If you are on the alert to something, it is easier to CUT it out of your life.
We need do that you know.

When I put my studies in Ezekiel together with the sermon and I know how Satan wants to steal as many souls away from God as he can... it makes it more imperative to me that folks cut out the idolatry. For folks to stop looking to themselves, but see God more clearly. As the more clearly we see God the more clearly see how far from ideal we are in our relationship with him, and it causes us to strive to more like him.

Kiwi Crates and Scholastic Teacher Express, Groupon Coupons

10/30/2016

I need to tell you right off the bat, that I am disclosing that this a sponsored post. The opinions expressed are my own. So there, you've been told. :)

I've told you about Groupon before eh? How it's a good place to save money on more than just food or vacation places?   Well.. did you know about Groupon Coupons?   I KNOW!!!   They have coupons to ALL sorts of things, but today I'm going to talk to you about two particular types of coupons. Imagine this 75,752 free coupons at 11,132 stores.

Kiwi Crates (which are great by the by) and Scholastics Teacher Express (also great).

SO what kind of coupons can you get with Groupon Coupons?

Kiwi crates comes out with 10% coupons fairly regularly through their website, but then you need to WAIT for them to come. But when you use groupon coupons... guess what.. 30% coupons and NO WAITING!!!   Isn't that deal?   Not only that they have coupons for 40% off your first box and holiday sales and more.   It's an excellent way to do STEM activities with your children.

Scholastic Teacher Express, 27 coupons available, ranging from 75% off books, 40% off levelled collections, 35% off flip charts and more.   So many options for saving money in the educating of our children.

How many ways can you find to save some dollars.   Remember it's 11,132 different stores and these were just two of them I showed you a bit about, how about considering Kohls, Payless, Addition Elle and so many more.

Groupon Coupons, a way for you to save money today.

31 Days: Date

10/29/2016

Can you believe that there is only three days left of the write 31 days challenge? Wow.. it's has been a total blast. Mind...some words were hard, but most just flowed off my fingertips.

Today's word is Date.

This challenge over the month as been like having a date with a whole new word everyday. It's been so much fun seeing where my whimsy will take me.

I've written more poetry than I expected.

I've been more introspective than I thought I would be.

But mostly it's been a fun exercise that I am fairly certain I will try again next year. What do you think.... should I make it a date? :)

Eat, A Poem

10/28/2016

Eat. I've been pondering this word all day. I have found it a difficult word because it can go in SO many different directions and I can't settle on anything.
So I thought I'd jot down the thoughts I've been having all day while I've been working. I've been cleaning out the rabbitry and having a hard time with it. Dealing with results of our rat explosion earlier this year, and my stomach wouldn't keep lunch down. It probably won't be a pretty poem but we'll see where it takes me.

Sometimes my poems surprise.

Eat

Eat.
Rat poison.
Rats die.
Dislike the death I do.
But
Rabbits live.

Eat
Bird Seed. Hay
Pellets.
Rabbit food, enjoyment.
Healthy rabbits growing
Reproducing
Being helpful to our household.

Eat.
Food, nuts
Cheese, lettuce.
Good meal.
Work hard, not pleasant
Lunch is no longer.

Eat.
Feed a child.
Listen to sounds of enjoyment.
Child happy.
Well fed. Can make this again.

Eat.
Death.
Life.
Contentment.

And so we
Eat.

This post is part of two series.
Kate's Five Minute Friday word prompt as well as the Write31days Challenge.

Hop on over to here and here to find more 31 day writers. :) Oh and Lisa from Canadian Homeschooler is doing a Canada series. See the rest of my series here

How Wolves Change Rivers

10/28/2016

I saw this on facebook and thought, cool!

Then I thought I would look up a couple more wolf videos cause I was on youtube anyways.... hmm.. perhaps I should do up a workbook on wolves eh? Might be a fun study to do.

The Joys and Sorrows of a Week Reviewed

10/28/2016

The Joys
Look what I found this week!!!! SLIDES...not just blank slides but also prepared slides!!!! People give me stuff, and I sort through it, passing it along or tossing it into my for sale pile, or just using it myself. When I find a treasure it's like WOOT WOOT!!! :)

Yard Work Accomplished. Four bags of yard waste collected from the back yard. I've a post in the works about the word done and what needs doing yet. I even got the back yard mowed. Did I over do it? For certain. But ah... it still feels good to have that hard work done. :) Tall weeds gone, dead flowers trimmed back. By end of week this had grown to five bags plus volunteer trees removed, rose bush cut back (the bunnies enjoyed that), and my dahlias cut back soon to be brought in. The houseplants I kicked outside for the summer have been brought in as well.

Photography Accomplished
Took a good time to photograph to all the rabbits. We had a glitch in my photo saving hard drive and hubby thinks he might be able to get SOME of my photos back, but all the records appear to be lost. THIS BITES. BUT taking pictures of bunnies...this is good! :) Like my bunnies. :)

Home Education Has Happened.

Dailies have happened MOST days (three smart books he works through)
Veritas Press Bible
Veritas Press History
German with Middlebury
Teaching Textbooks
Writing his story (language arts program)
Homework for Cadets (researching Thessolanica and Martin Luther)
Homework for HOPE Days (sewing and writing a play)
Work at the Foodbank..though admittedly we left early due to my son's cold
Tinker Day: Made an item for an arcade
as well as other stuff ... yet to happen Homeschool Legacy. Probably for supper tonight.

Not as much schooling as I would have liked, but when dealing with colds that zap ones energy, one works with the flow eh? :)

But I have worked up a calendar for the lad. Colour coded and everything.

I am feeling MUCH better, I still have a cough by end of day, but overall.. WOOT WOOT life is feeling much better.

The Sorrows

Hubby has been fighting some stomach bug.
The lad caught my cold and is feeling pretty rough.
My son has made a decision to sell his first rabbit. She's no longer producing live youngsters and her last pregnancy and its results had us very concerned about her long term health. AND since he really wants me to keep Wafer (our other pet rabbit) he's decided that his Peyton can go to a new home.
Decision made on the closing of the church. End of the year. :(

Reviews:
CrossTimber : a neat name meaning site.
Middlebury : learning German through this interactive program
Natural Disasters.   A great resource for looking at natural disasters in the world.
Educeri: A lesson subscription service.

Other Posts:
Art Series: Geography Through Art.   Kym sent me a post about a great geography art book. You need to check it out. :)

Shared Wonder at Butterfly Conservatory. A wordless Wednesday post.

Hymn Study:: Man of Sorrows, What a name.   Learn about about the composer of this rich hymn.

How Wolves Change Rivers.   A video study on wolves.

Write 31 Days Challenge.
Confront. Sign.   Global.   Blowout.   Off. Park. Bouquet.

Organized Chaos: One way to organize books.    A look in to the organized chaos of my life. This time looking at how I organize my books.

Field Trip: Art With Panache.    Learning and doing art.

Planning, It's a journey.   A new way I plan to schedule our days.

Devotions and Sermon:
Ezekiel:
Jerusalem Four attacks, and a remnant.
Don't Be a Vine in the Forest.
God's Wrath Will be Satisfied.

Sermon:
Your House is Forsaken.

I'll be linking up here and possibly somewhere else too...not sure at this point.

Field Trip: Art With Panache

10/27/2016

From the Open Doors Site: Art with Panache presents the work of London and southwestern Ontario artists. Come and see – and discuss – artwork and jewelry created by local artists. A jewelry artist will be available to demonstrate how to make extraordinary pieces with polymer clay. Also, watch artists in action as they paint a complete canvas in only 40 minutes!

This was a place I wanted to go, I like seeing art being produced, and I thought it would be interesting to talk with the artists. It was a good opportunity to practice speaking English with our student as we mulled over which piece of art we liked best.

This one is called a money drop tree. The artist makes quite a few of these and they all turn out differently as she encourages passersby to help with adding the leaves to it. The leaves are all done in silver and copper tones (like money). She often gives them away as fundraisers for charity. Neat concept I thought.

We were not actually able to take a lot of pictures, for some reasons artists frown upon such activity...I think they actually want people to buy their work instead of take pictures of it. :)

This piece made me think of the work by the group of Seven for some reason. I tried to explain that to my student but am really not sure how much he understood.

It wasn't his most favourite piece (he really liked the money tree and another painting I was discouraged from taking a picture of).

I thought it rather neat myself...something about the curving pattern worked for me.

Everyone seemed to like this painting...the realism, the lily pads.. made my sweetheart want to go fishing. Me of wanting to read a book in silence. The lad to go looking for frogs and my student "walk by water".

There were a few pieces like this one scattered about, my son thought them interesting, but wondered if they could be made smaller. They kinda like like wood but were made out of some type of polymer that I can't recall the name of.

We did the artist who could paint a canvas quickly. He did it with a background of quick blue paint strokes and then added colour over top. It was rather fascinating to watch him...as the colour kinda blended together but not really, we saw a boat house take shape right in front of our eyes. I was too interested and forgot to take pictures.

I spent a lot of time talking with a lady who makes jewelry, and plan to email her about setting up a class for our homeschool group to learn how to work with the material she uses. It's like a very versatile clay and needs hardening in the oven, but it's not really a clay it's a plastic based compound. Interesting how she is able to work with it, the lad saw the possibilities of it very quickly.

You can find out more about Art with Panache on Facebook.

31 Days: Bouquet

10/27/2016

Once there was a fellow.
He liked a certain lady.
He continually brought her flowers.
But did not win the lady's favour.

Why would he not,
With a pretty bouquet
Win the lady's favour?

The lady enjoyed,
The lady was thankful,
But bouquets of roses
Were not to her liking.

Lilies and daisies
Gardenias even.
These spoke love
to the lady's heart.

The man would not listen.
The man did not agree.
Roses were love,
That's all they could be.

The lady determined,
the man oft did not listen.
So he was left far behind
For a man who WOULD listen.