I felt sad as we made our way through Antarctica knowing our travels were coming to an end. No real people groups to learn about but an interesting place that we just couldn’t miss. We talked about the differences between the North and the South Poles. (Which I guess I never really knew till now) and enjoyed reading Mr. Poppers Penguins. We did an incredible experiment to show the kiddies just how much the layer of fat protects penguins and other animals from the icy waters of the Antarctic. We placed the kids' right hand in a Ziploc bag. Then we placed their left hand into a doubled up bag with a layer of Crisco in between. We molded the Crisco to form a mitten around their hand.
Then they plunged their hands into very icy water. The temperature difference between hands was truly startling! The left hand actually felt warm, while the right hand turned red and unbearable in the cold water.
I thought this was a really powerful observation made by one of the dear ladies on the MFW message board, “It occurred to me that the Holy Spirit does this for us.
With Jesus, we are protected from the harsh realities of the world. We can be in the world but not of the world.
We didn't tape the Crisco mitten on our hands. We had to choose to keep it inside.
Jesus lets us choose too. We have the free will to slip our hand out of it's protective mitten and plunge it into the icy waters. It's up to us. I've plunged in enough to know I don't like it in there. My heart desires to stay nice and toasty in the covering and protection of His everlasting arms.”

I am so pleased with My Father’s World and with this particular study of Exploring Countries and Cultures. God has used it to help us see many wonders in His world and His love and compassion for his people. He has drawn us close to him and blessed our hearts. So now we’ve returned the last batch of the book basket to the library and carefully put away our precious notebooks. I pondered many special moments of this school year as I removed our world map from the dining table. Memories that will be treasures of our learning together for years to come. I pray you have enjoyed this journey with us and that you will join us in the coming year as we travel through time from Creation to the Greeks.

Resisting the urge in feeling “behind” and so desiring to say, ”we’re done!”, we’ve stayed with Russia for a few extra days. I don’t want to miss out on the books we haven’t gotten to yet.

My Father’s World “book basket” has really been the highlight for us this year and is truly the “literature rich” aspect to the unit study. The books’ explanations written in the Teacher’s Manual don’t do justice to the wonderful selections we read for each country. The picture books have so much meaning and connect with the scripture or the heart of the missionary we are studying. Some of them relate directly to a craft or project that is scheduled. Or the folk tales, Fairy Tales or legends somehow connect with something else we are learning about the country's culture, and the fiction brings out the most wonderful conversations.

SO while in Russia we read The Littlest Matryoshka while painting a set of our own.

We found a set of unfinished wood dolls on Ebay...

We read Rechenkas Eggs and looked at the difference between the Ukranian Pysanky and Russia’s Faberge eggs. We read about the first Faberge egg and painted and jeweled our own.

We read the story of Tchaikovski and listened to his music. We listened to Peter and the Wolf. We read the story of Marc Chagall and DD drew pictures of her dreams. She also drew a lovely picture of St Basil’s Cathedral. I caught her today building St. Petersburg with J’s blocks when she was supposed to be doing her math. DD has been reading the biography of Anastasia: the last tsar’s youngest daughter, and has enjoyed looking at real photos of her and dressing up like her. She also read The Endless Steppe and Letters from Rifka. We loved the story Babushka Baba Yaga, “Those who judge one another on what they see, and not on what they know of them in their hearts, are fools indeed!” And then after reading Luba and the Wren we prayed that God would help us to be Humble, gentle, content, and more like Him.

Hmmm…and I thought we hadn’t really gotten to much in Russia.

I failed to mention that while on vacation we found license plates for 42 different states Including Hawaii, plus the US Virgin Islands and 3 Canadian Provinces. We experienced a rip current and some Man O War jelly Fish, and filled our pockets with various sea shells we have yet to identify. We took a week after returning from Florida to just read through all the wonderful books in our book basket on Japan and sea life. We finished up Gladys Aylward and slowly worked back into our routine. It seemed more difficult for me being back than for the kiddies. I was getting very comfortable watching the sunrise on the lake and hearing the soft morning breeze whisper through the palm trees…

It’s taken me a long time to update my blog since our "trip" to Japan. It was so amazing and full that I don’t know if I have adequate words to express just how fantastic a time we’ve had. SO where do I begin…?  It started with a stop in Florida. Well, really it was vacation in Florida or do we call it a field trip…I’m not sure.

I had heard about Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens while we lived in Florida but had never thought to visit there, so as vacation time fell just as we should have been getting to Japan I thought it only appropriate to continue our cultural adventure while we were away and experience “The Essence of Japan“ in the sunshine state.

We started our day with a stroll through the most exquisite gardens. It is actually a series of six diverse gardens, each inspired by a different historical period and type of Japanese garden. We saw bridges statues, monuments, fountains, ponds, and pools of combed stones as we wound our way through the lush and tranquil paradise.

There was a Bonsai exhibit with over 50 trees some us much as 400 years old. And of course a koi pond with basking turtles and the largest gold fish we’d ever seen!

Off the garden path we took off our shoes and put on little paper slippers to browse the museum. There we saw exhibits displaying fine arts and objects of everyday use representing Japan’s culture.

By this time we had worked up quite an appetite and needed a little break to take it all in, so we headed for the open air terrace and Japanese café. We ate sushi, coconut crusted shrimp, tofu, and rice. All that practice using chop sticks in China really paid off.

Inside Grandma found matching kimonos for the girls and just couldn’t resist buying them. I picked up a list of Japanese symbols and their meanings and the kiddies practiced water painting them on slate.

Next was an origami demonstration where we saw some amazing creations out of the folding of only one sheet of paper. R got to model an origami hat.

Then D and R participated in an Origami class.

They each made 3 different creations. D chose land and R chose water.

We were all pretty pooped at the end of the day and I realized as we left the museum that we just covered 2 weeks of our pre-planned unit study in one fell swoop. Phew, I need a nap…Sayanara!

* For more information about Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens

visit their site at:

http://www.morikami.org/index.php

My dear little brown-eyed girl is 10 years old today.

Truly a miracle and a gift. I know the Lord has wonderful plans for her life. He has made her beautiful and bright. She has great compassion for others and a deep desire to please the Lord. I know He will complete His work in Her and give her the desires of her heart.

May your day be as bright as the wings of a butterfly,

as happy as a sparrow's afternoon song,

as beautiful as a garden filled with flowers,

Birthday Blessings my dear DD. I Love You!

Jambo!

We’ve been in Kenya for quite a while now. Technically we haven’t moved on but just taking some time getting through a few more books a few more recipes, getting more familiar with other countries of Africa, meditating on what we’ve done the last few weeks, etc. DD will be taking a trip with Grandma for a few days so we’ll just wait till she gets back to jump on the plane again.

I never had much of a desire to visit Africa but this study as well, has opened my eyes to more wonderful things left to explore. We’ve dressed in Masai costumes and necklaces, dancing, drumming, and a jumping contest. DD & R made their own Mancala game and have played it daily. Pineapples, mangos, “Meat On A Stick” and fried plantains. We enjoyed the movie Animals are Beautiful People. (Almost deterred by the title but glad we didn’t miss it. There was no reference to evolution) Kiddies are still talking about the “Go Away bird” and pretended he was our meat on the stick. We watched Lion King and listened for the words we know in Swahili. Then we had our own Safari right in our own living room. I hid pictures of animals and each took a turn to find and bring to me ONLY the animals that live in the grasslands. Everyone was a winner and got animal crackers for a treat.

There were so many wonderful stories in the book basket. One of our favorites was Mama Panya’s Pancakes. Once again reminding us of our heavenly Father’s perfect provision…

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not your life more important than food and the body more important than clothes?

Mat.6:25

Hakuna Matata!

Playing Mancala 

Massai Jumping Contest

D.D on Safari

R on Safari

J on Safari

So when asked What country out of those we’ve studied so far would they really want to visit? A unanimous "FRANCE" was the answer. What a wonderful time we’ve had. What beautiful countryside, delicious food, interesting history, delicious food, fascinating culture...Did I mention delicious food? Oh yes, That’s why they want to visit France. We didn’t get around to making crepes or ratatouille so we just watched the movie and are convinced the food alone is worth a trip. We did eat croissants with hot chocolat and made Saute de Poulet, Carottes Vichy and Salade Verte with vinaigrette. 

  We would love to travel along the narrow dusty roads that lead the way through hills of vinyards and olive groves to the small country villages where men play boule in the parc. To Couprey where lived "Louis Braille, the Boy who Invented Books for the Blind" (by Margaret Davidson. Read it and weap...) We looked at books of Braille, touched the dots and wrote our names. We would follow Louis to the Pantheon in Paris "The City of Lights". We would make our way to the top of the Eiffel tower to see Gustave Eiffel’s apartment. D and R made their own Eiffel tower out of popcicle sticks and cardboard. It came out quite good. R would like to sail a little boat around in the Sein River...until then, he built his own out of a plastic lid, Playdough, a straw and a piece of construction paper. A few little side trips took us by train to the 0 marker in Madrid, Spain and then to Switzerland to snowboard in the Alps-I personally hated to leave France but Germany awaits...maybe we’ll make some pretzels...

Bon Appetit!

I’d love to be able to share a wonderful past week as we finished up our study of Brazil, that all our days are filled with creative teaching and enthusiastic students. But, well, I’d be lying...I’m not sure our time spent in Brazil has really been as exciting as it could’ve been. It’s a bit difficult for me to think subtropical with snow on the ground. The week has been filled with much discipline and dentist appointments and crazy toddlerhood. Erg...We didn’t really do much hands on stuff I just wasn’t feeling it. 3 weeks in Brazil was just a little over kill for me.

One highlight however was that our friend, newly missionary in Romania came to visit for a day. She had a video of all that’s going on there with her ministry and so we’ve been talking about that and gearing up for our studies in Europe. I didn’t know that the Monday after she left we would be reading on Romania in Window on the World. The kiddies had a lot of questions.

I think Europe will be fun along with Christmas. The kiddies don’t want to take a break so we’ll just move on to Norway. We’ve got Norwegian gingerbread cookies to try.

Busy and bit crazy but thankful that My Father's World is so versatile. We were able to take some time off for Thanksgiving and not get behind in our study of Brazil. The weekly schedule helps me so much in organizing my brain but allows the flexibility that I want for a relaxed Charlotte Masony lifestyle of learning that I love. We didn't do anything creative for the holiday but just spent time with Grandma, Papa, and family from out of town.

We've been reading tons of books about Brazil and the Amazon rainforest. and the kiddies have enjoyed drawing animals fom Draw Write Now that live in South America. We were watching Animal Planet at Grandmas house and  they were rescuing animals from the rain forest in SA. AND It just so happens that Amazon Organic Frosted Flakes were on sale this week and in buying a few boxes we get to help save the rain forest. I love it when stuff like that happens. As the weather has been getting colder here, my creative ingenious begins to wane and I begin to hybernate. So simple little things like a box of Amazon Cereal and Grandmas cable TV I count as such a blessing. We talked about the greenhouse effect as we planted bird seeds in 2 separate cups and covered one with saran wrap. The kiddies guessed which one would sprout and grow quicker. They were surprised to see. DD and I have been dancing the Samba and maybe we'll make ourselves some costumes and have Carnival. (if it doesn't snow...)

DD's Toucan

Oh Canada!  Wow, there's actually quite a bit of interesting little tidbits about Canada we picked up. We learned a little more about the Inuits and how they build their igloos. I think the kiddies are looking forward to some real snow now, so we can actually give it a try. Brrrrr...Me on the other hand would rather be in Brazil...

It was fun learning about all the different animals and birds that live in the country, especially the beavers. R drew a picture including a dam, a lodge, and extended family lodge with eating area and play area.

We had Canadian caught Salmon with a maple syrup and soy sauce marinade . And baked blueberry desert. D asked what kind of food we’ll be eating in Brazil. All this cultural food seems to be a quite a hit with them as well as dear hubby...

D can say please, thank you, she knows some colors, and counts to ten now in Spanish and in French. We’ll see if she can add Portuguese to it. She’s becoming quite the linguist already. And thanks to Rosetta Stone’s Demo which helps us with the proper pronunciation and makes learning them fun.

D and R can both label all the countries of North America now and we’re looking forward to adding South America to our Geography Game.

Once again the kiddies were excited to pack for the plane ride to Canada.. R stated it was going to be too cold there and he would rather go to Florida. We compromised and decided to make a layover on our next flight south. We are working on our French accents, practicing bonjour and orevoir although little J keeps shouting ole’. DD seems to really get in to the role play of it all as she designed herself an igloo out of J’s play yard and some blankets. I believe I saw them traveling by sled. We carved images in ivory (soap that is) It was so very soft to work with that R ended up making snow instead. We collected beautiful leaves and pressed them between wax paper. They are so pretty. We made Aurora Borealis pictures with oil pastels. Then we had "High Tea" actually more of a "Low Tea" from what we understand about the tradition and Pancakes with maple syrup that was actually from Canada.. Last night we had "snowballs" ( really just vanilla ice cream) with maple syrup. Because Canadians eat everything with maple syrup eh?

As DD and I finished up reading Cam Townsend she turned to me and said, "I want to go there. Instead of bible college, instead of college, That’s what I want to do..."So we’ll just see as the Lord leads. It’s amazing to watch her as she just becomes more and more passionate about people and reaching them for Christ. I wonder what He has in store for her. And I pray that God would help me to equip her with all good things to accomplish it.

Ivory Carvings

R and his snow