Friday, November 9, 2007 Autumn Choral Concert
A Taiwanese student whom we know through serving with ISI invited us to see her sing in the choir tonight. The concert featured Pacific University Concert Choir and Pacific University Chamber Singers. The program included Ubi caritas (composed by James Biery), Evening Song (composed by Zoltan Kodaly), Ave Maria, The Weather Song, Dona Nobis Pacem from "Missa Solemnis" (these three composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart), The Forest of Loo (composed by Lee Ann Dresser), Three Motets: Jubilate Deo, Super Flumina Babylonis, & Sicut Cervus (composed by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Vier Quartette Op. 92: O Schone Nacht, Spatherbst, Abendlied, & Warum (composed by Johannes Brahms, A Good Night (composed by Timothy Stevens), Walking on the Green Grass (composed by Michael Hennagin), Blow the Candles Out (arranged by Greg Smith), and I'm a Long Time Traveling (arranged by David Nelson Miller). Awesome voices...skilled pianists, flute players, dynamic conductors, too. Our whole family had a wonderful time. We have been studying about classical music and composers so this concert was a fabulous complement to our study.
Some of the songs were sung in Latin. I'm so glad that they have program notes in the concert booklet to explain about each piece :). Ubi caritas was very beautiful and it also has a beautiful statement, "Where true love and charity are found, God is there." I like what it said at the end of the paragraph for this song, "The chant-like verses inspire us to set aside petty quarrels and to experience, as one family, God's limitless and pure joy." Dona Nobis Pacem is a last part of the "Missa Solemnis" which Mozart composed when he was 12 years old for the dedication service of an orphanage. The Forest of Loo was really funny; it was lots of fun to listen to. It was composed by Lee Ann Dresser when she was 17 (she's now 25). I also enjoyed the three motets composed by Palestrina, a famous Renaissance composer. Jubilate Deo text's translation: "Rejoice in God, all the world. Serve the Lord with gladness and come before His presence with a song. For the Lord Himself, He is God." (Psalm 100: 1, 2) Super Flumina Babylonis text's translation: "By the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept when we remembered thee, O Zion: as for our harps, we hanged them up upon the willows that are there." (Psalm 137: 1, 2) Sicut Cervus Desiderat text's translation: "As the hart longs for living water, so my soul longs for You, O God." (Psalm 42:1)
I think it's appropriate to close the concert with I'm a Long Time Traveling. It's true...we're just traveling through this earth. We, weary travelers, are promised a "brighter world on high." For us...Christ's followers, heaven is our home! Have you made heaven your home? Don't leave earth without CHRIST! By the way, He is the best Travel Guide anyone can ever have :)! Why would you want to travel alone on this earth with no direction and no map when you can have the best Travel Guide who never leaves you nor forsakes you and also equips you with the best map, the Bible? |
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Sunday, November 4, 2007 What we did on Reformation Day
Before Reformation Day, we read about Martin Luther. On Reformation Day (Oct. 31st), we took the kids to the harvest party at our church. While the harvest party was going on, the movie "Flywheel" was being shown in the main sanctuary. I walked around with my youngest son visiting different game stations while the rest of the family watched "Flywheel." He and I joined them later. My 6 year old son had fun playing miniature golf, basketball, catapult, cupcake walk, fishing, bowling, pick-a-boat, ring toss around pumpkins, and bean bag toss. This is what he made at the craft station:-
Flywheel was produced by the same people who made Facing the Giants. It was made prior to Facing the Giants, with only $20,000 budget. It's a wonderful faith-filled family movie! I highly recommend it :). |
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Tuesday, September 18, 2007 International Students, games, museum, and corn
Our heart is for missions & evangelism, and we seek opportunities to accomplish the Great Commission. We believe in "going", "sending", "praying", and "sharing the Gospel whereever we are." While we are not able to "go" to the unreached areas yet, we pray and we support native missionaries in those areas through organizations like Gospel for Asia and evangelical outreaches like Jesus Film project. We live near a university and we had always hoped to find an opportunity to share Christ's love with international students there. We've longed for this great opportunity to present the Gospel to many who may have never heard it and who can go back to their countries and be witnesses for the Lord. That opportunity finally arrived! Through Mission Connexion NW...we discovered and joined ISI (International Students, Inc., a Christian organization that focuses on friendship evangelism reaching out to international students). Last Friday night, three international students (a Taiwanese, a Korean, and a Vietnamese from Japan; all girls) came with an ISI staff to our home for a game night. We played badminton, volleyball, basketball, and foosball in our backyard. When it got dark, we came inside and played Whoonu and Cradium Cadoo. We all had a blast! We're so glad that the international students felt at home enjoying themselves and enjoying American snacks (chips, vanilla wafers, chicken biscuits, plums, and chocolate). We hope and pray that as our friendship develops, we will have a chance to lead them to Christ or at least plant seeds.
Last Sunday we went to the annual Corn Roast Festival at Pacific University. First, we visited the Old College Hall (museum) on campus. The building has been moved several times but it is still standing strong. It's very interesting to see a part of our local history. Then we enjoyed the delicious corn on the cobs (all you can eat for $3). We walked around visiting different booths. The kids enjoyed playing games (basketball, ring toss around corn cobs, and pick-a-duckie). I spun a wheel at our local newspaper booth and won a $20 gift certificate for McCormick's restaurant. Before we left, we bought 16 ears of corn (for only $2) and buffalo jerky (made in Idaho). |
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Monday, June 18, 2007 Father's Day filled with feast and fun
For the past several years, every Father's Day...we have gone up to Washington to visit my husband's dad and his wife. Yesterday, we continued our tradition: our annual Father's Day cookout at their place. My husband's sister and his niece & nephew (his brother's kids) were there, too. We had a big feast and had a great time playing badminton and volleyball.
We also enjoyed playing a board game called "Clever Endeavor." You try to guess from clues what the answer might be. Sometimes we were clueless even after many clues were given :)!
We ended our Father's Day by taking our kids to play miniature golf at Bullwinkles before heading home. It's always lots of fun to spend time with our fabulous father/daddy (my dear husband).
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Monday, February 5, 2007 Triathlon
We took advantage of a beautiful day yesterday. In the afternoon, we went biking. Then when we were back home, we played badminton and after that we played volleyball (with a beachball). We had a fun time with our triathlon :). Our family enjoys playing all sorts of sports. It was wonderful to be active outdoors in fresh air again (winter weather has subsided). Even when we can't play outside, we play sports inside :). Dodgeball, golf (putting), bowling, wrestling, soccer, and football. My husband and my 8 yo son have a record going for football throw-and-catch in a row (597!) They still try to beat that record. I wonder if we could get that in the Guinness Book of World Records :). Hmmm... |
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Monday, August 28, 2006 Water, Wind, Wagon, Wolf
Wow...what a day...actually, what a summer we had! The kids have been so creative and productive with their free time. I am very pleased, indeed :). Our regular summer schedule includes: Bible, memorization, chores, piano, sports, baking, games, manners training, reading, science experiments, crafts/arts, (we don't do all of these everyday), and just having fun. My 13 yo daughter has been instrumental in helping keep the boys in line. At the beginning of our summer, she came up with a fantastic idea: after the kids get done with the chores,each kid takes turn picking an activity to do for 30 minutes (the other two also participate...and sometimes I join). It has been working great. They are all enthusiastic at doing their chores. They learn to let others pick first. They learn to cheerfully participate in the activities that others pick (even though they're not interested in). They also realize how long (how short) 30 minutes is. It's so nice to see them work together as a team! They also spend their time alone reading, imagining, researching, and exploring. Then they usually get back to playing together again (with no time limit...well, until I tell them to stop because it's time to eat, etc.)
Let's talk about today. After breakfast, the boys played with hot-wheels while the big girl read. After 'chore time,' we did two science experiments (making a siphon and learning how straws work). It's always fun when water is involved :). Later I read aloud a chapter (usually two a day, but today we had lots of phone interruptions) from Prudence with the Millers to the kids. It was about gratitude. "Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:18 May the Lord always find thankfulness in our hearts! I am truly thankful that my kids enjoy spending time together (in spite of some squabbling here and there) and enjoy spending time with Mom and Dad.
This evening my kids had too much fun recording their voices on our answering machine. They sang, interviewed one another, talked silly, and sang some more. The ones that are left on right now are the last two songs they sang: 1) "I'm a Nut" and 2) "We Are the Pirates Who Don't Do Anything." Callers...beware!
They also played "spies", using walkie-talkies. They spied on Dad while he was painting the house (on the outside). They even looked up Morse codes in one of our "spy-related" books.
It was very windy today but it didn't discourage my kids from playing outside :). They played in a wagon, pretending to be in a ship amidst the raging storm. Lots of shrieking and laughing filled the whole neighborhood. My daughter was the captain, my 7 yo son was the first mate, and my 4 yo son was the cabin boy. They had a blast!
After dinner, we played wolf (a variation of hide-and-seek in the dark). We scared because we cared.  Lots of screaming (from not only the kids but also Dad & Mom) filled the whole house. It was frightening kind of fun!
Well..well..well, we had a wonderful, wild, and wacky day that's worth blogging about :). Now I wonder if we would be considered full-time unschoolers in summer and part-time unschoolers during the school year???
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