Answers in Genesis is Coming

I just wanted to let you know that Ken Ham and Answers in Genesis is coming to First Southern Baptist Church in Del City, Oklahoma. 

We first heard Ken Ham speak about six years ago at the homeschool convention.  The officer and I were blown away.  God made the world in a literal six days?  Dinosaurs were made on the fifth day?  Dinosaurs lived with men?  Dinosaurs were on the ark?  Dinosaurs were did not live millions and millions of years ago???  We are descendants of apes?  We are indoctrinated with this every day, sometimes without even knowing it.  We started seeing "millions and millions of years ago" everywhere.  In baby books (about dinosaurs which we had a ton of because my son was obsessed with them when he was two), in movies, and in museums.

Then a couple of years later we went to the Creation Museum in Ohio.  It was really amazing.  The museum was state of the art.  It had life size dinosaurs.  A life size section of Noah's ark so you could visualize how dinosaurs could fit on the ark.  It was worth the 16 hour drive. :)

Now you can hear Ken Ham speak also.  He is coming to First Southern Baptist Church in Del City, Oklahoma on Nov. 11 and Nov. 12, 2012.  The event is FREE to attend.  Here is the schedule:

Sun, Nov 11

10:30 a.m. -11:30 a.m. Ken Ham Reaching Today’s Culture with the Gospel
5 p.m. -6 p.m. Ken Ham One Race, One Blood
6 p.m. -6:30 p.m. Break
6:30 p.m. -7:30 p.m. Gary Parker From Evolution to Creation

Mon, Nov 12

9 a.m. -10:30 a.m. Ken Ham Dinosaurs for Kids (Grades K-6)
11 a.m. -12:30 p.m. Ken Ham Defending the Christian Faith Biblically and Scientifically (Grades 7-12)
6 p.m. -7 p.m. Ken Ham Communicating the Christian Message in a Secular World
7 p.m. -7:30 p.m. Break
7:30 p.m. -8:30 p.m. Gary Parker Geology and Genesis

 Childcare for children Pre-K and under will be provided on both session on Sunday and Monday evening session ONLY, but you have to contact the church by Nov. 6 at (405) 732-1300 to make reservations because space is limited.  You can also email them at Preschool@firstsouthern.tv to let them know you will need childcare.  Include the child and parent name, child's age and a cell phone number.

It's a process

My daughter is working on her cursive writing.  We've learned all the letters.  Yesterday, she was practicing her name.  I wrote it out for her and she copied it three times right below it.  

Today, I wanted her to write her name without looking at mine right above it to guide her.  

I said, "I want you to write your name without looking at it."

She replied, "I am going to go off the line, mommy!" 
 
I just told her to write smaller and she could fit all of her name on one line.  She just shrugged her shoulders and said, "Okay..."

I continue to cut my coupons.  I look over to see how she is doing.  She is sitting at the coffee table with her pencil in one hand writing her name.  However, her other hand is covering her eyes.  

"What are you doing honey?", I ask.

"I'm writing my name without looking at it like you said.", she answered.

Hmmm...

"Okay, what I meant was I don't want you to look at yesterday's work to see how your name is written.  I want you just try to do it from memory.  You may look at your paper while you are writing."

"OK!!!  That makes it much easier to stay in the lines!"

Homeschooling is a process folks. :)

How Great is Our God

This past Sunday we watched a video.  It is one of my favorite videos.  The video is of Louis Giglio on the How Great is Our God Tour.  

If you or your kids love science,  you have to watch it.  It gives you a glimpse of how awesome our God is.

If you are going through hard times, it will tell you about the promises God gives you.

If you have doubt that God loves you, it will show you all the amazing things God has done you.  

One of my favorite quotes from this video is:

"God doesn't always change the circumstances. He did not change them for Jesus on that hillside outside Jerusalem, but the cross is also proof that God always has a purpose in the circumstances, and that his purpose and his plan will prevail and will triumph through any circumstances in this world."

It's a long video - 42 minutes.  However, it's worth every single second.  Make sure you pause the playlist at the bottom of the blog.

It's a Mad, Mad World

The wonderful UPS man brought me a package today. It was a styrofoam box with an itty bitty frozen food product inside. The kids were very excited to see the other item in the box.

Dry Ice.

As my son would say, "It's mad scientist time!"

We chiseled it down to smaller pieces so the pieces could be divided up and fit into test tubes!

Here's my mad scientist!

We took some time and talked about what dry ice is made up from and what it's used for. Unexpected fun for these homeschool kids. :)

Capital Day for Homeschoolers

On Tuesday we headed to the state capital for Capital Day for Homeschoolers. This is our first time we've ever attended. I suppose I've always thought this was for families with older children. My sister-in-law, Mrs. C. wanted to go with her son, so tagged along.

First of all, registration began at 8:30 a.m. This homeschooling family is just not quite used to being out and about at 8:30 a.m. I mean it's not even Black Friday! :) We arrived at 8:45 a.m. (pretty good if I do say so myself) and picked up our registration packet. There were many other homeschooling families there too. Mrs. C and her son arrived shortly after.

the kids by a replica of the statue that is on top of the capital dome

Two things I will tell you about Capital Day. One, Capital Day for Homeschoolers is not the day to go to the capital to get a guided tour to find out what goes on and the history of the capital. It's just too loud. Save that for another time. There were several other things going on at the capital that day too. Second, it was very, very neat to see all the other homeschool families there. Many of the families that came had kids 10 and under. I was surprised to see many moms toting around their babies in their arms or in the stroller while holding onto the hands of two other young children. Like I said, I had just assumed this was for families with older children. It was neat for me and the kids to see so many other families just like us. We are not alone in our journey. We saw at least four to five other homeschool families we knew.

My kids loved the capital. My daughter said, "If we could live here mommy, I would help you clean it!" My son informed me that the capital was the most awesome place of all. It was very pretty. Looking up from the rotunda on the first floor all the way to the top of the dome was pretty neat. We toured the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the Supreme Court.

my son in the House of Representative

daughter in the Supreme Court being cheesy

looking down from the 3rd floor

the dome

We had a lot of fun doing something we've never done before. We'd like to go back and get the guided tour. My son would really like to find out if there are secret hidden chamber hidden behind all those massive paintings. Always a ninja.

My son took this last picture of the day. Not sure what happened to the dome.

Valentine's Day Party

Since my kids don't go to school, they don't get to participate in the typical Valentine's Day party with the box stuffed full of Valentine's from their classmates. So we make our own party! We kept it small and just invited two friends.

I made some treats. My mom gave me a cookie press. I make some heart-shaped cookies and brownies. I made some spoons filled with white chocolate and sprinkles and M&Ms. I found some cute pink and white marshmallows at Walmart that I put on lollipop sticks. I made heart-shaped ice the week before to go into our Cherry 7-Up drinks.

Mrs. J. came with her sons C & H (and yes they are sweet).

Mrs. J. planned some fantastic games. The kids had to suck M&Ms out of one cup and transfer them to another. It was quite amusing watching the kids try to do this. We had to cut the straws to make it a little easier.

We also play limbo (also know and limumbo) with some Valentine's Day garland. Everyone got into the game. Some may have received injuries on their forehead from the intense limbo-ing.

Mrs. J. filled heart-shaped balloons with water. We went outside and tried to throw the balloons in various heart-shaped bowls. This didn't work. The balloons would not pop. We ended up having to throw the balloons against house, on the roof, and against a tree to pop them. It was freezing out there! :)

We came back in and did a craft. I got this idea from my friend, Mrs. K. The kids had to paint of their paper to reveal their secret message. First, you color on white paper with white crayons. Then you paint over the white crayon with watercolors to make the "secret message" show up. The kids loved this. Thanks for the great idea, Mrs. K! :)

While we ate lunch, I read some Bible verses about God's love for us and how God tells us to love each other. It was a great party.

Thanks Mrs. J, C & H for spending the day with us.

this week on the island

hello there on this fine july morning! there's been a lot going on around here. what have you been up to? it's summer and things have not slowed down here.

here's the randomness!

i painted my daughter's fingernails and toenails last week for church. she wanted them red. the fingernail paint is starting to chip off her fingers. it's the kind that drys in 60 seconds so it doesn't usually stay on that long. this morning she came to me and said, "mommy! my fingers are starting to come off." meaning the fingernail paint.

it's thursday but it feels like monday. the officer started back to work today so it feels like the beginning of our week. the officer gets to do something a little exciting for him this month. there is a new motor officer coming over to the unit today. my officer gets to train the new motor officer for the first month. it's his first time and he was sort of nervous. i prayed a little extra for him last night and this morning. it's a little dangerous (as riding a motorcycle in and of itself wasn't enough) to be training a new motor officer. when you ride with a partner in the motor unit you ride very close to each other. you could easily reach out and touch them. from my understanding, the officer on the left is the lead. when they are riding, he decides when to change lanes, how they will get where they are going, and any last second decisions. the rider on the right's only job is to do whatever the rider on the left does. the rider on the right is not suppose to check the lanes for oncoming traffic, that is the lead's job. the new motor officer has experience riding motorcycles so that is helpful, but he's new to partner riding. if you remember, say a little prayer for protection for my officer this month. :)

on sunday night, we spent the evening with some special people, my friend becky and her family. i met becky about 3 years ago. she's very sweet and hilarious!!! she has a servant's heart. they are leaving today :( to go to romania as missionaries :) for three years. she gave me lots of hugs that night. i've enjoyed getting to know her these past 3 years and i so look forward to what God has in store for them as they are obedient to His calling.

monday we had to take my car into the shop bright and early! the air conditioner has been going on and off lately. in this heat, that's not a lot of fun! they had the car for 3 days and could not duplicate the problem. so we picked it up yesterday and the air conditioner has been working fine. they just said when it happens again, drive straight here so we can diagnose it. okay no problem.

tuesday i was supposed to go bowling with my friend, shirley. have you heard about the 2 free bowling games a day (that's right i said 2 FREE bowling games A DAY)? you can do that here. anyway, due to a daycare with 50 kids there, there were no lanes available. we'll try to bowl again even though it will be our third attempt to go bowling. third time's a charm, right?

tuesday night i went to crest. i know you may not think a grocery store is worthy of mentioning in a blog post but they are opening a new store across town. since they are opening it, all the crest grocery stores are having some fantastic sales. the great thing is crest just started to take internet coupons (under $3 and no coupons for free items) so this really helps with their sales. with coupons, i got free glade fabric & air odor eliminator spray, free cheez its, .25 cheeto zingers, .22 16 oz. sour creams, $1.25 hormel meatloaf, and .25 ziplock containers and baggies.

when i came home, the officer and my kids were outside along with several neighbors. i brought the groceries in and in my attempt to be more neighborly and social, i went right outside and spent the evening chatting and getting to know my neighbors a little better. it was a lot of fun.

wednesday, my sister-in-law came down and we took our kids to a local spray park. even though it was pretty crowded all the kids did great and had a good time. this particular spray park is in the middle of a neighborhood and has a small playground and basketball court right beside it. i think that helped with the amount of kids there.

last night i also went to my mom's for a birthday dinner. she gave me a very cool gift. this past year in school she has done a writing class with my kids. she brings books over to read to them. she talks about plots, characters, story lines, and helps them make up stories. i'm usually not in the room when she does this. for my birthday, she had all the stories my kids made up made into a book. she got the book from shutterfly. so the book has all the stories, pictures of my kids she has taken, and some pictures my kids have drawn. i LOVE it.

here's one of my son's stories:

If I Had A Cow

if i had a cow
i'd paint her legs pink
and the rest of her blue
i'd splash a bright green
on to her face
and feed her on pumpkins
until halloween.
yeah, that's what i'd do.

here's one of my daughter's stories:

The Little Dog

the little dog,
black and white,
didn't want to be a dog.
he wanted to be a people
because he didn't like how
his ears is sticking up.
he liked people ears.
another dog told
the little black and white dog,
told him to go
to a dog wishing pond
like at the neighbors
one mile away.
he would have to look at himself
in the water and
stick his ears up one at a time.
he changed to a people dog!
he didn't like being a people dog
because his mommy and daddy
didn't know him.
he changed back
to a black and white doggie
then he grew and
he liked being a big dog.

can't beat that story with a stick people!

thanks mom! she came up with the perfect gift that the kids and i love!

so that's only half our week so far but like i said it feels like monday. this weekend is my birthday and i think the officer and i are going to go to a movie and then take the kids out to eat. looking forward to it! what do you have going on for this 4th of july weekend?

unexpected fun

i have been collecting coke/sprite lids. i used them to collect coke reward points. i used the coke reward points to get a $20 omaha steak gift certificate. it took 500 points (with each lid being 3 points each) in case you were wondering how many it took to get the gift certificate. thanks becky & courtney!!

anyway, when the steaks arrived today they were packed in a styrofoam box and a chunk of dry ice. so we had a fun science experiment today. the kids loved playing with the smoke and ice.

our mini art class

so for part of school today my son wanted to give an art lesson on how to draw the cat in the hat. he took my daughter and me step by step through the whole thing. you can see his original picture here.

here's the picture he drew today. i love how small the hat is.

here's my picture. i am NO artist and if i don't say so myself it looks a little like me - sans the beard.

and last but not least, my daughter's

i won't tell you how much it bothered my son that my daughter colored the cat in the hat's hat pink and white and his "beard" red. it was almost too much to bear.

edmond historicial society museum

we had a very fun field trip last friday. first of all the weather was beautiful! we went to the edmond historical society museum with our homeschool group. they had some neat exhibits. the museum is free.

there was the one room schoolhouse/church.

there were several other exhibits, but the biggest hit was the children's hands-on area. they had an old time grocery store, jail house, bank, vegetable garden, a house with a ton of dress up clothes, and a room with two train tables in it. there was also an area to draw pictures. grandma kathryn came up to the museum to visit for a little bit too.

kids who stole money were put in jail. i'm not sure if there wasn't a kid there who didn't steal the money from the bank vault.

of course the other favorite part was the park that was right beside the museum. the weather was perfect and the kids loved playing outside.

kind of funny - this picture represents their personalities perfectly.

art - all in the eye of the beholder (or their mother)

my kids love to draw pictures. their artwork can often be found on the refrigerator or taped up any number of places throughout our house.

my son recently started an art class with our homeschool group. the paid art class was a bit much for him. with 15 students of various ages (6-13) in the class, he didn't feel like he could keep up in the class. he decided to go to another art class. he enjoys it very much! this was one of the first pictures he drew. can you guess who he is?

pretty cute huh???

on another note, i clip coupons. when i clip them, the kids like to look at the pictures. theres often a funny picture or a picture of someone they like (i.e. dora, buzz lightyear, transformers). last week when i was clipping out my coupons, there was a picture of a dog that cracked my daughter up. it was a picture of a dog with a huge smile on his face. it was advertising dentastixs. the reason it was funny was the dog had human teeth instead of k-9 teeth. my daughter immediately hung it up on her wall above her bed. by the time i was finished clipping my coupons, she had four pictures of that dog.

the other night when i went into her room, i looked up at the pictures. she wanted to explain them to me.

she said, "see the dogs are funny because they have human teeth and not doggy teeth. this one has human teeth, this one has human teeth, this one has human teeth, and this one has human teeth with braces."

"cute! wait - what? human teeth with braces on a dog?", i said.

"yep! don't you like it?", she asked?

she put braces on the rest of her dogs. here's what they look like.

yes, indeed i do like it.