The Path of Shalom
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Tuesday, November 24, 2009
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Playing Math
Posted By
MmeLabonte
in
Math
Rebecca and I played a fun little game today. I found it in the DéfiMaths Preschool section, and it’s called “Seven in a Row.” We don’t have playing cards in our home, so we used Dutch Blitz cards instead.
Each player (2-4) receives seven cards, which she lines up face down in a row in front of her. The remaining cards are placed face down in the centre, and one card is turned over beside to make the discard pile.
The goal is to be the first player to complete her row of seven.
Player one can choose to:
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use the card that has been turned over and place it face up at the appropriate place ( in the example given it is a four). The card that was originally at that spot is then returned to the discard pile, face up.
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take the card at the top of the pile and place it in the appropriate position. If that place has already been filled by a card that is face up (1-7), the card is immediately placed on the discard pile.
If the face down card that is replaced by the new card is one that can be played (i.e. one that she needs to complete her row), she may play that one also. When she can no longer play, it is the next player’s turn.
We had a lot of fun with this quick and easy game! I hope that makes sense. You can see a picture here, (.pdf file) but the text is in French. Feel free to free to ask for a better explanation if it doesn't.
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Nov. 22, 2009
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Quote on families and their importance
Posted By
REInvestor
"Christian
homes and churches are the only institutions in which our children will learn to find themselves in God's story. When they are united more by the trends of pop culture than by the faith and practice of the whole church in all times and places, our youth become victims of our sloth. We should not be surprised that over half of those reared in evangelical homes and churches today do not join or even attend a church regularly when they go off to college. If we are going to see our children grow up into Christ instead of abandoning the church, our
spiritual life at home and in the church must incorporate them into the teaching and fellowship of the apostolic faith. They can find "ministry opportunities" through United Way, the Peace Corps, or Habitat for Humanity. They can find friends at the fraternity or sorority. They can find intellectual stimulation in class. And they can find a sense of meaning and purpose in their vocations. If their home churches exchanged the ministry of preaching and teaching the apostles' doctrine for a variety of ministries and activities that they could find legitimate versions of in the world, then it is difficult to come up with a reasonable answer when they ask, "Why do I need the church?"
--Michael Horton, The Gospel-Driven Life: Being Good News People in a Bad News World
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Monday
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24 Hours of Arts, Crafts, and Good Citizenship
Posted By
NotetoSelf
in
Living
We're taking a break from the 3 R's and focussing on arts and crafts for a good citizenship event. We're going to make as many angel ornaments, fancy soaps, and baby hats & booties as we can over the next couple of days. It's all going to be donated to the Gabriel Project for a booth at the Santa's Arts and Crafts Sale in December.
Yeah! I'll be off the computer for a while, too. It will be a nice break.
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Nov. 15, 2009
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More Pictures of our Walk In the Woods
Posted By
Sombra
This is an old harrow
Crunchy frosty grass
This area is gravelly, the grass is sparse and short.. compared to .. say just past those trees.
That's an old well with a plastic owl on top to keep the mice away. Had to warn Janney and Asher that this was a VERY dangerous place, as the top could break and they'd fall in and drown.
Another well..
This one turned out really well, the blues and yellows, and even the red in his face, hands and under his boots. Love this shot!
The deer paths have frost on them..
Another deer path, we followed these lovely meandering paths all around and ended up doing a big circle.
Elias in my mongolian ruck sack long sling , and the blanket has two holes, one for my head and one for his.
Were so loud in the woods. Myles lagged behind taking photos (this is one of Trent's photos) but he was able to find us, by just walking through the woods to the noisy people sound.
Toddling baby toppling over
Dad picks him up
And carries him towards the car
Janney started singing "we want Moshiach, we want Moshiach Now" when this sun went down past the horizon. Havdalah out in the woods
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Nov. 15, 2009
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School Garbage
Posted By
Sombra
Many properties out here on the prairies are also cemeteries for old cars and trucks, and other household waste that doesn't decompose. I have a friend, who when she moved onto her property, had three truckloads of scrap metal removed from her property, and still there's junk.
Today we came across a pile of school garbage - old desks and chairs.
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Nov. 15, 2009
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The History of Wildlife
Posted By
Sombra
When you're out in the woods, ever wonder about the history of the animals, where they were born, where their lineage came from? Animals are constantly on the move.. Some actually have burrows for homes, others just keep moving.
And so, when we were out on our walk today, Stuart spotted a bunny. Not a Hare, as is somewhat commonplace around here (Iona caught one the other day and brought it home and left it on the front lawn) but a bunny - you know - the kind of white rabbit people keep as pets, or raise for meat.
OH Ya.. that would be us - many years ago, before eating Kosher, we raised rabbits. No we didn't, we inherited some rabbits from a neighbour when he moved, we kept them, until they died, and we tried to get them to reproduce, and they didn't.. and some of them escaped. Some of them we had a young guy come shoot, as they were eating my garden.. and the rest... we assumed the coyotes got them.
Until today.
Today we saw a white rabbit in the woods just south of us. Now given that our foray into rabbitry was about 6-7 years ago, I'm sure this specimen was many generations removed from "the one that got away"
Myles followed my pointed arm into the thick woods and came up with a dozen photos of white spots in the middle of grey and brown strips in the late afternoon light.. It's his tenacity that helped him find it and get this shot with so little direction.
 
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Nov. 13, 2009
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Just the Tip of the Iceberg on the Goodness of God
Posted By
Deb
From my "thankfulness" thoughts and meditations this morning:
I am thankful for:
A God who rains on the just and the unjust – often I am disobedient, and benefit from his blessings still. I am thankful that He is merciful, and waits patiently for me. That He woos me by His love long before any discipline comes.
A God who comforts me when I realize my shortcomings, and weep for the choices I have made.
A God who disciplines me when He has been patient enough with me, and it will do me no good for Him to wait any longer to bring me to my senses.
A God who is faithful to show me in countless ways, *that I need to pray more and stop being so independent. He calls me to prayer, and so often I say “Not right now.” When I think that I would jump at the chance to sit down with Dave Hunt (one of my favorite authors) and have a long conversation, I am ashamed that I tell the Creator of the universe “Not right now.”
A God who puts up with my many petitions. He says “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God, and the peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 4:6 & 7) He can handle my many requests. He does not roll His eyes and say “Here she comes again.” He wants me to come to Him and lay my burdens down.
A God who saw my great need and paid the price. What is a house worth? Only what someone is willing to pay. What is a soul worth? Jesus Christ paid the ultimate price for my salvation. He paid what He thought I was worth. I am worth the blood He shed. He said so when He hung on the cross for me. He said “It is finished” – i.e., “Paid in full.” That is enough to quiet every voice out there that my enemy sends along to bring me down. I am His, and He is mine.
*From the book The Tyranny of the Urgent: “P.T. Forsyth once said, ‘The worst sin is prayerlessness.’ Does that statement surprise us? We usually think of murder and adultery as among the worst offenses against God and humanity. But the root of all sin is self-sufficiency – independence from the rule of God. When we fail to wait prayerfully for God’s guidance and strength, we are saying with our actions, if not with our words, that we do not need Him. How much of our service is actually a ‘going it alone’?”
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Nov. 10, 2009
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A Walk in the Woods This Time
Posted By
Sombra
Trent and Myles got a call from the apiary asking them to come help load the barrels onto the rig - the last step in getting their harvest to market. I decided to go too to take the littles for a walk, as they have such a lovely piece of property with lots of trees.
I bundled Elias up on my back, and we headed out of the yard.
We stopped at the chicken coop to say hello to the hens.
We walked along the back fence and through the gate next to their big pile of fire wood for the winter. As we walked, we saw all kinds of old buildings and pens that had been used in the last 50-60-100 years for animals and equipment. Collette was born and raised here, as was her dad. We came to a beehive that was all wrapped up for winter.
Janney noticed some dead bees on a board outside the hive. We didn't see any coming and going. Later I asked Collette about how the bees survive, given that they have a short life span. She said that the queen bee would have stopped laying eggs about a month or so ago, and the last of the eggs would have hatched recently.. so all the bees that are in the hive right now, will survive the winter in a semi-hibernation... but they'll live longer too, because they're not spending such energy going out and harvesting and tending to baby bees inside the hive.. less work means a longer life for these winter bees.
We headed into the woods, not following the path cut by the truck, or farm equipment, nor the path of freshly cultivated soil which I suspect is there as a fire break, it seem to be in a semi circle around the whole home yard. Rather, we followed what was either a deer trail or a horse trail. We found scat suggesting both used these paths, but there were areas where I knew for sure the horses couldn't pass, as there was fallen trees I had to move or climb under.
Asher had a melt down at this point.. just as we were heading into the exciting woodsy part of our walk. He wanted to go home. For me, I was only just starting, and the boys had about another 50 minutes of work, I didn't want to just sit in the van and wait. He sat in the middle of the path with his back to me. I couldn't leave him there, but I had to make him want to follow me. I kept walking, and eventually he came and held my hand, and kept up his whining for at least half the walk.. sigh.
Deciding which trail to take was sometimes difficult.. not that we would get lost, but there were intersections everywhere, and no street signs..lol Sometimes we'd choose a path, and two steps later there was another choice to make, another intersection. Sometimes the kids would make a choice that was easy for them, but would mean lots of bending over for me, and risking Elias getting twigs in the face, we had to make different choices.
Can you see the path? - see it there, right beside my shadow, where all the leaves are sort of in a line..
Eventually Janney and Asher began to notice their surroundings.. less consumed with themselves, and more open to where they were. We saw a Blue Jay, and Deer scat and dog poop and horse poop, and these white berries, and wasp galls on golden rod, and then this mushroom on a rotting stump.
 
Unfortunately, it took 45 minutes of walking before they started to open their eyes to nature, but I think if we go more often, the whining will deminish and the opening of the eyes will increase.
Susan, you said, if you lived out here, you'd just go walking out your yard and enjoy.. but you know, just as you get bored with your city surroundings, we get bored with our country surroundings. We've been through the pasture many times.. there's not much there. Walking through a crop field is not so exciting, there's no diversity, - wheat stubble is wheat stubble. You can't walk through the fields in spring, the mud sucks you in -you end up with "KISS" elevator boots .. gumbo sticks to the boots and you end up with 6 inches of mud stuck to the bottom of your boots, which is heavy. In summer the crop is growing, not "neighbourly" to walk through a growing crop... and the fall has the stubble. I do go out for a walk or a run, which I've sent you pictures.. so still, going somewhere else is fun, exciting.. and not so familiar. But I thank you for inspiring me, and encouraging me to go.
Oh, I forgot, When Myles went back this morning, I went with him and took some books for reading and study while he was loading the second half of the honey into the rig. Rick loaded the barrels into the rig, and Myles move them to where they were placed for best balance in the rig, and Collette kept track of the barrel numbers.
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Tuesday
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/m/ /s/ Montessori Spelling
Posie can identify the letters m and s. She can make their sounds on sight. I have been doing simple Montessori lessons with her using the "100 Lessons" book as a launching pad. We worked on /m/ until she mastered it. Then, I added /s/, making sure to review /m/ daily, too.
Posie enjoys tracing the letters. I use the homemade felt letters that are glued onto large index cards to demonstrate tracing with fingers. Then, I write several of the letter that she is learning on a piece of white paper with a pen or pencil. We trace them with our fingers while making the letter's sound. Then, I demonstrate to her how to trace them with a colored marker or highlighter. She can practice all week on several sheets of paper. Her m's are fairly recognizable. S is giving her trouble, so she just scribbles back and forth over it while making the /s/ sound. Being able to correctly trace it isn't my goal at this point. I'm just building the idea of tracing and writing into her awareness.
Next week, we'll add /a/. Once she is able to correctly make the /m/, /s/, and /a/ sounds, I will begin helping her learn to spell in a "Montessori" fashion. She will not only be able to "feel" the letters into words, but will be able to place them in order, trace them on paper, and read them. If it all goes well, she may even be able to place, trace, or write them on her own.
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Friday, November 13, 2009
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La Ronde des Jours
One of this past week's projects:
The girls were even more excited about these than I anticipated. I downloaded the template from this page, and we substituted a pretty front page made from scrap-booking paper. It's the first addition to our lap book about time (more on that later!).
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