Thursday Homeschool Group Days

Today was our second week of classes for our Thursday Homeschool Group. We have been with this group for 7 years! There are about 75 families with approximately 250students and we use the entire large building of a local church. Our children have participated in many elective classes over the years in several different subject areas, mostly history, art and science. Also gym and fitness classes as well as choir/music classes have been part of their weekly schedules. Field trips, learning fairs, and choir concerts are important events every year there too.

This year, Joel is in the Future City Engineering Class which he really, really enjoys! This class will be creating a city of the future with recycled materials with the help of Sim City software and a guest engineer. They will be competing and showcasing their city at the regional competition in Philadelphia in February. Last year, our homeschool group sent a team there for the first time and they did very well! They were the only homeschooled team represented and they were one of the top teams, winning prizes as well as cash! They are hoping to achieve that level and possibly higher this year.

Joel is also in Yearbook class which is a bit harder for him because he doesn't have a laptop computer to take with him or alot of computer expertise and neither does his mother! Its way over my head. But he is very creative and wonderful with writing so hopefully he'll be able to contribute that way.

Ivy is taking a painting class and I can't wait to see her projects at the end of the semester! We are getting her a set of paints to practice with at home too. She is also in the 4th through 6th grade Choir and is taking gym and fitness classes.

For her fitness class this year, she is going through CPR and First Aid training so she will be certified in both. That should help her acquire some babysitting jobs! And for gym class, she'll be playing volleyball this fall. Not her favorite thing, and she said she would rather play football!

My job at this group is to teach the Kindergarten class. I love that so much! I put together a unit on Robert Louis Stevenson's "A Child's Garden of Verses" and each week I read a poem or two to the class and we do activities, games, and/or crafts centered around that poem. It is so much fun! What could be better than poetry and kindergartners!

Today I read my favorite "The Land of Counterpane" and "Block City." After enjoying the poems and discussing them, the children made their own block cities on paper with colorful shapes and glue. They also played with pattern blocks and a pattern block puzzle. Last week, we did "My Shadow" and did lots of shadow activities and best of all, traced our shadows on the pavement outside.

Jaden goes to the nursery while I'm teaching the class. The rest of the time, he and I spend in the playground or walking around together. Its a nice couple hours with just my little one.

On Monday, we will begin our first week at our Monday Homeschool Group that meets at our church! There are 50 families in that group and this will be our first year with them. I'll probably write all about that next week, as well as the results of Joel's theatre audition on Monday!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! Be sure to go to the movie!

Go to the Movies this weekend!

I want to encourage everyone to go see "Fireproof" this weekend! It is premeiring in 750 theatres around the country so chances are there is one near you. This is the third movie made by Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia. They also made Flyweel (one of my favorite movies ever!) and Facing the Giants, a great movie especially enjoyed by my football loving son!

It is important that we all support this movie which was made to honor Christ and communicate Biblical values. This is the kind of movie we want to see more of! The opening weekend is VERY crucial because its success determines how long the movie will run in theatres and a good opening weekend will give the message to the theatres that we want movies like this! It also makes it possible for the producers to make more movies! They are counting on us and need our support too.

So I'm joining with Dr. Dobson in encouraging everyone who can to GO to the theatre this weekend and show your support! Enjoy the movie and tell others!

For more info. about this movie, go to www.fireproofthemovie.com or click on the Fireproof movie box above to watch video clips of the movie and more!

Ivy's piano recital

Ivy did a beautiful job today at her very first piano recital! She began taking lessons about 10 months ago and she has progressed very nicely. She was a little bit nervous before the recital and I looked down and saw Jaden's arm around her! It was so cute! He seemed to know that she needed some encouragement!





Ivy played a fast song called "Tap Dance" and a slower song called "Sing, Bird Sing!" She played beautifully. Here she is after her recital with her piano teacher.

Mark has been working very long hours at work due to increased demands and a re-structuring in the company. Even after working 10-12 hours a day, he's had to go into the office on Saturdays too and sometimes doing work at home at night. To show appreciation for me holding down the fort here, a few steps away from the funny farm, he bought me these beautiful pink roses yesterday! AND he did ALL the laundry!!!!!! What a wonderful husband I have!

A Sad good-bye at the theatre

Yesterday was Joel's last performance for this season. In the post below, I had the wrong info. and corrected it. Joel actually performed 90 shows this year in "Abraham and Sarah" and it began in April. Time flies! He hated to say good-bye to everyone last night because some people he may not see again. Here is a picture of him with two other young actors with whom he has worked with in several shows over the past few years.

The End of the Show

This picture of Joel was taken tonight at Sight and Sound's Millennium Theatre in front of the display advertising the "Abraham and Sarah" show. So here is Ishmael himself standing in front of a wax Isaac and Sarah. The wax Abraham was in the scene too but not in this picture. It is a very nice display!

Tomorrow is Closing Day for the 2008 season of the "Abraham and Sarah" show at Sight and Sound's Living Waters Theatre. Joel performed in 90 shows since Opening Day in April! It will be a bittersweet day tomorrow as he performs the role of Ishmael two last times - the 1:00 and 4:15 shows. Of course, he could be back again next year - IF he doesn't grow too tall!

We had a special evening tonight - we went to see "In the Beginning" at the Millennium theatre! It was a perfect ending to our school week's study of creation. What a beautiful show it was. It was even better than when we saw it last year. Jaden loved it too - although he thought he would be seeing Noah and the ark! (We measured Noah's ark earlier in the day today!) He said "There's all the animals, but where's the boat??!!!"

Both times that I have seen "In the Beginning", I cannot help crying when Adam and Eve are created. It is so very moving and emotional. It was so thrilling when God breathed the breath of life into each of them! If you haven't seen this show, you still have a chance - it runs through next month and then will be returning again next year. I still like "Abraham and Sarah" the best, but this one isn't far behind.

For more info. on these shows or others coming up at Sight and Sound Theatres, click on the link to the right on this page under "My favorite links."

Measuring Noah's Ark

Today we finished week 4 in our TOG year 1. Our theme this week was Creation through Noah's ark. What an interesting week! Today, we went to a park with several soccer fields and lots of open space so that we could measure the actual size of the ark. WOW! It was huge! I thought I had a good picture in my mind of how big it was, but it was much larger than I thought.

Picture Joel, Ivy, and I each holding an 18 inch of twine (one cubit). We stood next to each other with our twine strings touching. We put a lid of a rubbermaid container at our starting spot. The person on the end moved to the other end and so we counted all the way to 300 cubits to measure the length of the ark! It took a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time and I know we looked VERY odd and peculiar! We had a small crowd of people watching us from a distance wondering about such weird homeschoolers and what in the world we were doing!

We then put down another lid to mark the corner and measured 50 cubits for the width. By then Jaden about had it with us! "Stop counting!!!" "No more counting please!!!!! I want to go to the playground!!!!!!" This was a very long activity - litterally. It takes a long time to do this and it's a long area to cover! Of course, we could have used another method to measure out 450 feet (300 cubits) by 75 feet (50 cubits) but the point was to do it cubit by cubit. And it made us understand how it would have taken over a hundred years for Noah to build that thing! The total square feet of the 3 floors of the ark would be about four and a half football fields!

In the picture above, maybe you can strain your eyes to see two tiny little specks of red in the distance. Those are actually Joel and Ivy standing at each of the side corners of the "ark". I was standing oposite Joel at the other side of the "ark" when I took the picture.

This is from Jaden

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Everyone needs a good laugh sometimes!

This is so funny! I watched this today on another TOG blog site (Williams Academy) and laughed and laughed! I remember watching this many years ago and it is just as funny today! Maybe I shouldn't let Ivy see this - she is already scared to death of dentists!
Enjoy!

Jaden in Egypt?

We had a great afternoon today at the park with our Hempfield Homeschool group! It was lots of fun for our kids to reconnect with their friends again. Joel and a bunch of the older boys played football (of course!) and Ivy had a great time with all her friends. I took pictures of Ivy and her friends - but she wouldn't let me post them here!

Jaden especially liked the sand area with the little pyramids to play in! We just finished a mini-unit on Ancient Egypt so he's been hearing a lot about pyramids, pharoahs and mummies! I think he thought he really was in Egypt!

Having Fun with Science

We really like our Apologia science! Ivy likes "Exploring Creation with Botany." Today she learned about non-vascular plants. We found a patch of moss in the yard that she looked at with her magnifying glass.

Jaden had to investigate too! He likes to do whatever his older siblings are doing.

We brought some pieces of the moss inside as well as some of the white fungi to look at under the microscope. Our kids were given one of those microscopes you plug into your TV and it is fantastic! The detail is very, very good and we love all seeing it on a big screen. We highly recommend it! We could see tiny "leaves" and stems in the moss, but they aren't really leaves - we learned that moss has no tubes carrying water. Instead it is like a sponge, soaking up water to all its parts.

Joel did another experiment today in his Apologia General Science. He boiled some red cabbage leaves and added vinegar to the empty bottle. Then filled a balloon with baking soda and attached it to the neck of the bottle and the balloon filled up. Also the cabbage water changed colors from blue to pink to purple. Pretty cool!

Salt dough map

Ivy painted her salt dough map today - the colors look different in the picture for some reason. It really was more green! She did a good job showing some different geological features in her map of her imaginary island country! This was our first hands-on project with Tapestry of Grace.

A Solemn Anniversary

Where were you 7 years ago at 9 in the morning? I will always remember that day... a beautiful Tuesday morning. Joel was 5 and Ivy was 4 years old and we had just begun our school day. As our usual custom, we began the day with Bible reading and singing a hymn. On that particular morning, I read Psalm 23 and we sang the hymn "God Leads His Dear Children Along."

We were interrupted by a phone call - my mom called and told me that a plane had just crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City. I assumed it was a terrible accident involving a small plane. However shortly after that, I and the rest of the world realized the magnitude of that event.

We watched the TV, we cried, prayed and talked about this. I didn't want to scare my children who were so young. So we went for a walk around our neighborhood. It was so quiet... no planes flying overhead. So quiet, so calm, so peaceful yet I knew that that day was anything but peaceful. It was a very frightening time. Yet throughout that day, my mind continuously was full of Scripture verses, I knew that we can trust in our loving heavenly Father. He is sovereign over all. He was there.

Later, the significance of our Bible reading and our hymn that morning just amazed me! God gave us that Scripture and that beautiful hymn that morning for a reason. I will always be reminded of September 11, 2001 whenever I hear or sing that hymn.

To commemorate that day, this morning my children and I again read Psalm 23 and we sang together "God Leads His Dear Children Along" just like we did 7 years ago.

"In shady green pastures, so rich and so sweet,

God leads His dear children along.

Where the water's cool flow bathes the weary one's feet,

God leads His dear children along.

Some thro' the waters,

some thro' the flood,

Some thro' the fire,

But all thro' the blood.

Some thro' great sorrow,

But God gives a song

In the night season

And all the day long.

Sometimes on the mount where the sun shines so bright,

God leads His dear children along.

Sometimes in the valley, in darkest of night

God leads His dear children along.

Though sorrows befall us and Satan oppose,

God leads His dear children along.

Through grace we can conquer, defeat all our foes;

God leads His dear children along."

Text and Music by G.A.Young

Welcome to the world, Ethan William!!!

Tonight around 6:00, my cousin Nathan and his wife Ruth welcomed their first child, Ethan William into the world! His great-grandpa Green in heaven must be so proud - today would have been his birthday! Ethan weighed 9 pounds, 12 ounces! And today was the due date! Ruth and Ethan are doing well. He has long dark hair and I just can't wait to see him! Please be in prayer for this new baby and for Nathan and Ruth as they enter this wonderful new stage of life!

Why I am a Young Earth Creationist

As a Christian and believer in God's holy inspired Word, of course I believe in creation. It is very easy and reasonable to be a creationist. And I think most people who would be reading my blog would also be creationists so I'm not going to belabor the point! It is interesting however, the many kinds of creationists there are - "old earth" creationists, "Biblical framework" creationists and "young earth creationists" like me who believe in a literal 24 hour/day 6 day week of creation. I'm sure there are other kinds of "creationists" too who combine evolution and creation and everybody also knows about the "Intelligent Design" position.

Back to my topic, Why I am a young earth creationist? First of all, the literal reading of Genesis chapter one refers to 6 days, repeating the phrase "and there was evening and there was morning" which was a Hebrew understanding of a literal day. And it makes perfect sense to me that it would be 6 literal days.

Yet, I also know that sometimes the literal interpretation is not intended and parts of the Bible are figurative. Like in Revelation - the dragon and many of the creatures are figurative and not meant to be taken literally.

So why do I think a literal interpretation is intended here? One reason is the emphasis on God's Word speaking things into existence. Repeatedly we read "And God said..... and there was." God made everything out of nothing - the earth was formless and void and dark. God created things just by speaking. When you do that, you don't need millions of years!

For example, I believe that God made full-grown plants and trees - yes even big oak trees with rings inside of them indicating that they would be many years old! He made the animals mature and grown. And it is generally agreed that Adam and Eve were created as adults, fully developed and grown-up looking. Why couldn't God have also made animals, plants, trees, and stars mature and "aged" looking?

I also believe that God was very pleased with His creation and called it all good. The sin that resulted in the curse hadn't fallen on creation until Adam and Eve sinned. Once they sinned, that perfect environment was changed and death came into the world. I do not believe that animals existed very long before the curse because I believe that there was no death until sin entered the world. I know that can be debated, yet I would find it very hard to believe that death existed before sin.

Also one of Adam's responsibilities was to name all the animals and I believe that the animals were safe and not predators. I believe that Adam and Eve could live safely with those animals in the garden - before sin and death entered the world.

I realize that the young earth theory of creation clashes with the dating of the world. However, I believe that God created this world fully mature. The stars, very distant and millions of light years away, can be seen by us today because He desired us to see them. They declare His glory!!!! Since He made them out of nothing, He was fully able to create them to be seen by us even though it would normally take millions of years for their light to reach us allowing us to see them. For me that is a very simple thing for the Creator of the stars to do! The distance of the stars does not require us to believe in an old earth!

And I also realize that the sun and moon were not created until Day 4. So some wonder, how could there be literal days without the sun? It is my belief that God created the day and night in Day 1 and that the sun was put in place according to that time table that God already established. Not the other way around. God made the sun to determine the time in our day according to His plan and purpose. I don't think our 24 hour day began in Day 4 with the sun!

Also, it is interesting to note that the vegetation, plants bearing seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit were created the day before the sun. I don't believe that fruit trees, plants, flowers, and vegetables were growing very long before the sun was created. Yes there was already light, but not the sun when these plants were created and growing.

What about the grand canyon? For me, that is very easy to explain since I also believe there was a literal flood covering the world! I think we don't realize how much that flood changed the world. The flood changed everything! That great catastrophic event changed the world in ways that it would appear to have changed over millions of years. It has affected the carbon dating and all human analysis of the age of the earth, which I believe was created mature to begin with.

Did you know that there are cowboy boots that have changed into petrified rock? Obviously cowboy boots aren't that old, yet they would appear to be very old due to the extreme conditions they underwent. There are many discrepancies when humans try to date things and scientists don't agree over the dating of the world.

Are there intelectual people, scholarly people, scientists with advanced degrees who actually believe in a literal 7 day creation? YES! Dr. Jay Wile, author of the Apologia science curriculum and the book Reasonable Faith believes in the young earth creation theory, as do many others.

I also realize that evangelical, Bible believing Christians can and do disagree about this. One's salvation does not hinge on this! I also know that I could be wrong, although I strongly think I'm right! God is all-powerful and He made all of His creation "very good", out of nothing, and I believe He made it all perfect, fully mature and in 6 days by speaking the words and it was so.

On Being Presbyterian

One year ago, the first Sunday of September, we visited Westminster Presbyterian Church for the very first time. We liked it so well, we went every Sunday after that! We became "full fledged Presbyterians" last November when we joined the church after attending a 12 week membership class and meeting with the pastor and elders.

Looking back, we are very thankful for God's leading us there. We have learned so much, grown so much and have come to love and appreciate the ministry and the people. We have been stretched, challenged, and inspired to study and examine and even question things that we had always thought... like baptism, covenant theology, Calvinism, eschatology and creation.

Being Presbyterian was different for us, but we are becoming more and more Presbyterian in many ways! I can almost say the Apostle's Creed from memory! I still have to hold my hymnal open to the front cover, but one week soon I'll be able to say it without peeking! Mark and the kids were much quicker at memorizing it than I am! After all, its been a year!!! I figure that I have too many other things in my brain so adding more is harder for me!

And the hymns are gradually becoming more familiar. Presbyterians sing different hymns than other churches, believe it or not! Mark is involved in the Matins Choir, Ivy is in Junior choir, Joel will be singing specials. And Jaden loves singing in Sunday School!

I am looking forward to a new year of Women's Bible study starting this week. We'll be going through the book of Dueteronomy. Joel is excited about being in the Junior High youth group and Ivy will have another year in GEMS club for girls. Mark and I also enjoy our home fellowship group which will be meeting again twice a month.

We no longer feel "new" to the church. We have become very connected and yes, even transformed (or rather reformed) in many ways as we have become Presbyterians!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

Friends of ours who recently moved into our neighborhood invited a few neighbor families to a Lancaster Barnstormers game in a Skybox! It was lots of fun - Ivy had a blast with the other girls in the Skybox room - they weren't real interested in the game!

Joel and Mark were more interested in the game and they sat out in the balcony seats to watch the Barnstormers beat the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs. They had great seats looking over home plate.

Can you see them? I took the picture above from the other side of the ballbark with the zoom.

There was plenty of food in the Skybox for everyone - hot dogs, burgers, etc. What a nice treat!

Several of the moms took the kids to the Bumper Boats, a new attraction at the ballpark. Ivy, Tammy, and Kirsten got soaking wet! Thankfully it was a hot day so the water felt nice. What a great afternoon!

Hands-on projects of the week

Jaden had fun playing with salt dough while Ivy worked on her salt dough map of an imaginary country. She labeled her map with several geological terms that she learned during the week, such as archipelego, arroyo, summit, plateau, fall line, etc. Her map will be painted this week. It's been challenging keeping the cats away from it!

Here is Joel working on his first experiment in his Apologia General Science book.

Back-to-School Field Trip Day at Woodcrest Retreat

One of the homeschool groups that we are a part of planned this special day. The kids had a great time on the 250 foot water slide. It was a nice and hot day so the water felt great!

We roasted hot dogs over a fire. A few hotdogs dropped in the fire - good thing we had extra!

Jaden really liked the playground area. He is learning how to push himself on the swings!
Joel and Ivy participated in an Orienteering class. They did several navigation activities and games and learned how to use a compass.

It was a good day for all of us. We made some new friends and we are looking forward to the start of our Monday morning classes in a couple weeks.