Random Trivia that I've learned through homeschooling

One of my biggest joys in homeschooling is all the fun stuff that *I* get to learn with the kids.  I thought I'd share some of the things I've discovered recently:

- When you get hot, the blood vessels in your skin get wider.  This lets more blood into your skin.  The extra blook makes your face look red.  But it let the air around you cool your blood down faster.

- When Columbus sailed the ocean blue, he landed in San Salvador (named by him, which means "Holy Savior")  He never actually discovered North America --that was later dicovered by an English man: John Cabot.( --obviously by "discovered," I'm not reffering to the natives who lived there, or the Vikings who had discovered it long before -  I mean discovered by the Europeans).  Here's another  interesting snippet from our history book "A Child's History of the World" --a *great* book, by the way): "People soon began to say it was nothing for Columbus to have sailed westward until land was found, that anyone could do that.  One day when Columbus was dining with the king's nobles, who were trying to belittle what he had done, he took an egg and, passing it around the table, asked each one if he could stand it on end.  No one oculd.  When it came back to Columbus, he set it down just hard enough to crack the end slightly and flatten it.  Of course, then it stood up.  'You see,' said Columbus, 'it's very easy if you only know how.  So it's easy enough to sail west until you find land after I have done it once and shown you how.'  ....Some [people] were so spiteful and jealous of [Columbus'] success that they even charged him with wrongdoing...Columbus was put in chains and shipped home.  Although he was promptly st free, Columbus kept the chains as a reminder of men's ingratitude and asked to have the burried with him....When at last he died in Spain, he was alone and almost forgotten even by his friends."

- speaking of the Americas, they interestingly (and obviously) enough were not named after Columbus.  Instead, they were named after Americus Vespucci who, after traveling to the New World, wrote a book about it.

- I also thought it was very fascinating to learn about Magellan's travels (he's credited for being the first to sail all the way around the world).  Only one of his five ships made it all the way around, but did you know that Magellan wasn't acutally on that ship?  He was killed inthe Philippines by the natives before completing the trip.

Science vs. Fairy Tale

Today's science lesson began with an introduction to the animals of Australia & its surrounding islands.   I read to the children, "Unlike other mammals, monotremes do not have any teats.  Instead, baby monotremes lick up milk that seeps out of glands in the mother's skin."  This very interesting fact was followed up with a question from Evelyn, "What's a teat?"  I answered matter-of-factly, using simple words that she would understand easily, "It's like a mamma's boobie, where the baby gets it's milk from."  The light turned on in her mind, and she exclaimed knowingly, "Oh!  Like Boobie and the Beast!" 

Shortly after, we learned about the birds of New Guinea.  Our book described the way male birds of paradise fluff up their feathers & show off their good looks in order to attract a female.  It went on to tell about bowerbirds, who atract their females by building elaborate "bowers", decorated with flowers and berries.  The female selects the male whose bower impresses her the most.  (as a sidenote a bower is defined as, "A large nest made of grass and bright objects, used by the bower bird during courtship displays; A shady, leafy shelter or recess in a garden or woods; A woman's bedroom or private apartments, especially in a medieval castle; A picturesque country cottage, especially one that is used as a retreat" --isn't that romantic!?)   Check out this picture of the beautiful bower that was built for one lucky chick. (found on Nick Triantafillou' flickr site--a great photograph don't you think?)

This lesson on how birds pick their mates seemed like a great opportunity for me to teach my children the importance of picking a good mate for themselves.  I explained how, just like birds, different people are attracted to different things in a husband or wife.  Some people are attracted to a good looking person.  Some are attracted to someone with lots of money, or a nice home.  Some people want someone with similar aspirations, etc.  Then I said (especially to the boys), "Do you think that if you choose a wife just because she's pretty, that you will be happy for the rest of your life with her?  People's appearances change as they get older, and they won't look the same as they did when they were young.  So if that's the only thing you look at when you pick someone, you might be disappointed when you get older."  Zachary thought about this for a minute, while I went on to talk about other things you can look for in a spouse.  And then he said, "Then you should pick someone because you like their hair, because your hair stays the same when you get old."    Guess that's what the handsome prince was thinking  when he rescued Rapunzel. 

New book

we started a new class at church on Wed. The is part 2 of the "Victory Over the Darkness" book that we did over the summer. Now we're reading "Bondage Breakers." i'm looking forward to it. will let you know how it goes as time goes on. :)

Your Papa is Especially Fond of You

okay... here are some of my favorite quotes from The Shack. Most (if not all) are God speaking. Let me know if any of these touch you, too. :)

• "The real underlying flaw in your life...is that you don't think that I am good. If you knew I was good and that everything -- the means, the ends, and all the processes of individual lives-- is all covered by my goodness, then while you might not always understand what I am doing, you would trust me. But you don't...Trust is the fruit of a relationship in which you know you are loved. Because you do not now that I love you, you cannot trust me."
  
• "When all you can see is your pain, perhaps then you lose sight of me?"



• "Remember this, humans are not defined by their limitations, but by the intentions that I have for them..."



• "That is the wonder and adventure of exploration, a piece of what you call science -- to discern and discover what we have hidden for you to find....The choice to hide so many wonders from you is an act of love that is a gift inside the process of life."



• "But without wisdom, imagination is a cruel task master...do you realize that your imagination of the future, which is almost always dictated by fear of some kind, rarely, if ever, pictures me there with you?...To the degree that those fears have a place in your life, you neither believe I am good nor know deep in your heart that I love you.



• "So many believe that it is love that grows, but it is the knowing that grows and love simply expands to contain it. Love is just the skin of knowing."



• "He chose the way of the cross where mercy triumphs over justice because of love."



• "Guilt'll never help you find freedom in me. The best it can do is make you try harder to conform to some ethic on the outside. I'm about the inside."



• "Faith does not grow in the house of certainty."



• "...religion is about having the right answers, and some of their answers are right. But I am about the process that takes you to the living answer."



• "To the degree that you resort to expectations and responsibilities, to that degree you neither know me nor trust me...to that degree you will live in fear."

Wisdom that I am Reading

Well, today, I was just going to post a quick picture, but the uploader isn't working. So instead, I thought I'd share some things that I thought were interesting from my book, Victory Over the Darkness. I'll try to just post a picture tomorrow. That way if you don't have time to read this all today, you can finish it tomorrow. :)

*"You don't change yourself by your perception. You change yourself your perception. You change your perception of yourself by believing the truth. If yo perceive yourself wrongly, you will live wrongly because what you are believing is not true. If you think you are a no-goo bum, you will probably live like a no-good bum. If, however, you see yourself as a child of God who is spiritually alive in Christ, you will begin to live accordingly. Next to a knowledge of God, a knowledge of who you are is by far the most important truth you can possess.
The major strategy of Satan is to distort the character of God and the truth of who we are. He can't change God and he can't do anything to change our identity and position in Christ. If, however, he can get us to believe a lie, we will live as though our identity in Christ isn't true."

"I believe that the greatest determinant for how we treat people is how we perceive them."

"Studies have shown that, in the average home, for every positive statement, a child receives 10 negative statements...These studies go on to point out that it takes four positive statements to negate the effect of one negative statement."

" ...We are not supposed to recognize Christians for who they were in Adam, but for who they now are in Christ."

"Too many Christians are trying to show that the bible is true by the way they live. It will never work for them. We accept what God says is true and live accordingly by faith, and this abundant life works out in our experience."

"we should be able to say every year, 'I am more loving, peaceful, joyful, patient, kind and gentle than I was last year.' If we can't honestly say that, then we are not growing."

"We live as though the kingdom of darkness does not exist. Our naivete in this area is exacting a crippling toll that keeps many Christians from experiencing their freedom in Christ."

"We must learn to have enough self-awareness to know when we are living according to the flesh and to assume responsibility for our own attitudes and actions. We need to walk in the light and learn to confess our sins, which means to consciously agree with God. When a deed of flesh becomes evident, mentally acknowledge that to God and ask Him to fill you with His Holy Spirit. the more you practice that simple little discipline, the more you will live according to the Spirit."

"If you want your faith in god to increase, you must increase your knowledge of God."

"Those distortions often arise when the church is not living to its potential. Consequently, many people think the church is an infirmary where sick people go. We limp along in unbelief, hoping the rapture will come soon and take us out of this miserable defeat. The church is not an infirmary; it is a military outpost under orders to storm the gates of hell. Every believer is on active duty, called to take part in fulfilling the Great Commission (see Mat. 28:19-20)
Thankfully, the church has an infirmary that ministers to the weak and the wounded, but the infirmary exists only for the purpose of the military outpost. Our real calling is to be change agents in the world, taking a stand, living by faith and fulfilling our purpose for being here."

"The primary truth you need to know about god for your faith to remain strong is that his love and acceptance are unconditional. When your walk of faith is strong, God loves you. When your walk of faith is weak, god loves you. When you are strong one moment and weak the next, God still loves you. God's love for you is the great eternal constant in the midst of all the inconsistencies of your daily walk."

"Walking by faith simply means that you function in daily life on the basis of what you believe. In fact, you are already walking by faith; you can't not walk by faith. People may not always live what they profess, but they will always live what they believe. If your behavior is off, you need to correct what you believe because your misbehavior is the result of your disbelief. The writer of Hebrews said, 'Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith. (13:7)"

"Happy is the man who wants what he has."

"We can't directly control our feelings, but we can control what we think."

"...take 'every thought captive to the obedience of Christ" (2 Cor 10:5). Practice threshold, first-frame thinking. Evaluate every thought by the truth and don't even consider tempting, accusing or lying thoughts. Should you rebuke every negative thought? No! That is like being in the middle of a pond with 12 corks floating around you, and your entire life's purpose is to tread water and keep the corks submerged. Ignore the stupid corks and swim to shore. Choose the truth and keep choosing it until it becomes the normal pattern of your life."

"your emotions play a major role in the process of renewing your mind. In a general sense, your emotions are a product of your thought life. If you are not thinking right, if your mind is not being renewed, if you are not perceiving God and his Word properly, it will show up in your emotional life. "

"Remember, if what you believe does not reflect truth, then what you feel does not reflect reality."

"The order of Scripture is to know the truth, believe it, live accordingly by faith, and let your emotions be a product of your trust in God and your obedience to Him."

"Emotions are God's indicators to let you know what is going on inside. They are neither good nor bad; they are amoral, just part of your humanity. Just as you respond to the warnings of physical pain, so you need to learn to respond to your emotional indicators."

"...unforgiveness is the number one avenue Satan uses to gain entrance to believers' lives."

"Forgiveness is to set a captive free and then to realize you were the captive."

"God is fully capable of cleaning His own fish. My responsibility is to catch them and love them the way Christ loves me."

Mighty Warrior!

Last weekend i went to a ladies' retreat w/my church. It was so great because the speaker spoke on some of the same things that we're learning in our "Victory Over the Darkness" class. The whole weekend was on "the keys of the kingdom" which dealt a lot w/spiritual warfare, and I was completely inspired. I've always had a passion for spiritual warfare, & the impact of prayer...but I'm not all that much of a pray-er. :( At the end of the end of the meeting on Sat. night, i went & asked someone to pray for me, & "commission" me to be a mighty warrior!

anyway... our speaker was Toni Kline, and she was phenomenal. Here are some things that I wrote down as she spoke:


*A physical trainer always pushes you further than you think you can go. But the next time you work out, you're stronger because of it. God does the same thing. If you feel you can't go any more, trust God. He's taking you further to make you stronger.

*You are in a war whether you fight or not. If you don't fight, you'll just get beat up.

*Complacency is the enemy of Growth

*One of the greatest lies that Satan tells us is that it's harder to live with Jesus.

*Our circumstances don't represent the truth.

*There are many pleasures in the kingdom, but if I'm always going for the lesser pleasures, I'll never know the fullness of joy in his Kingdom.

*Satan is more fearful of our prayers than anything else we do.

*The greatest spiritual weapon we have is LOVE.

*What difference could you be making with your prayers?

*Belt of truth: Know who God is. Brag on His greatness! Stop bragging on the enemy! (i.e. "I can't do it." "I'm just so unhappy" "it will never get better" --you're proclaiming Satan's lies, & proclaiming his greatness)

*Breastplate of righteousness: Who we are - comes from Jesus. He empowers us

*Shoes of peace - with God and Men. If we have bitterness, we will not be able to fight effectively.

*Shield of faith- for action and conquest

*Prayer is not part of the armor - it is the battle itself.

*Don't be too concerned with being comfortable

I had wanted to write the things I've been reading in my book, too, but alas, life is calling, and I must conquer it. Seize the day, and all that. :)

Green, Blue and Red make Donald Duck!

In school, we just learned about how a television works. Afterward, we looked at the TV screen with a magnifying glass, so we could see all the tiny squares that make up a picture.

I am an Archer

I've been thinking about my job, as a parent, recently, and it's led me to ponder Psalm 127 --especially verses four and five:

"Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are thie children in one's youth.

How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them;

They will not be ashamed when they speak with their enemies in the gate."

I am a warrior with four powerful arrows in my quiver. And if I am careless, and don't aim, my arrows could go anywhere: into the sky, into the ground, into a friend, or even into my own heart. But if I learn the art of archery, and if I take careful aim, my arrows can make a powerful impact, and even deal a death-blow to the enemy.

I pray that I may be a strong and skillful archer, and that God will stretch out my bow, and aim my arrows for me, and that they will soar straight to heart of the enemy.

Letting Christ do it

we read an excerpt from a book last night, that I really liked. it's from the book, Ruthless Trust by Brennan Manning (not sure if i spelled his name right). I've read Mr. Manning's book, The Ragamuffin Gospel and really liked it. If I ever have time to read, again, I think i'd like to read this one, too.

anyway, here's what we read:

" If you feel the call of the spirit, then be holy with all
your soul, with all your heart, and with all your strength. If, however,
because of human weekness, you cannot be holy, then be perfect with all your
soul, with all your heart, and with all your strength.
But if you cannot be perfect because of the vanity of
your life, then be good with all your soul...Yet, if you cannot be good because
of the trickery of the Evil One, then be wise with all your soul...
If, in the end, you can neither be holy, nor perfect,
nor good, nor wise because of the weight of your sins, then carry this weight
before God and surrender your life to his divine mercy.
If you do this, without bitterness, wih all humility, and with a
joyous spirit due to the tenderness of a God who loves the sinful and
ungrateful, then you will begin to feel what it is to be wise, you will learn
what it is to be good, you will slowly aspire to be perfect, and finally you
will long to be holy. "

double-whammy

Chris called me up yesterday afternoon, around 4:30 and said, "i don't have time to talk. I signed us up to take a 'freedom in christ' class at church on wednesdays from 7-8:30. That's tonight, so see if you can find us a sitter. bye." So i went into a tizzy to find us a sitter. unfortunately, our usual sitter was busy, and all the church girls had churchy things going on, so they couldn't do it either. Luckily, our friend, Kristina (who the kids call Aunty Tina) was able to come at the last minute.

So....now we're taking a class at church. I'm very excited, because i wanted to take it, but it's going to be going on at the same time as my photography class, and i'm concerned that it's going to be a bit much..... oh well!

We'll be going through Neil Anderson's book, Victory over the Darkness. We'll be reading 1-2 chapters/week and doing the study guide that goes with it. Then we'll meet with a "coach" once a week, and attend the class on wednesdays. Because we joined 2 weeks late, we're already behind. i'll need to read the 1st four chapters by next Wednesday... ak!

anyway...i really enjoyed the class last night and got a lot out of it. so, this should be fun. :)

back to school

well...i've enrolled in a college course. AK! I've been so enjoying my new camera, I thought I should take a class. Our local city college offers an online summer course, so I signed up. I was thinking that maybe, if i did a little at a time, i could get a degree in photography... I didn't think it'd be a big deal til i had to enroll. I had to apply and fill out forms! I don't think i'm cut out for this college stuff.

Anyway...i'm very excited about this class, and if i learn anything interesting, I'll be sure to share it with you. :)

I'm glad I asked...or, how to chose a watermelon

I went to costco the other day and was looking at the watermelon. I hate picking out melons, because i never know how to find a good one. I heard that a ripe cantelope smells fruity, so you're supposed to sniff them to see which one is good. Once, when I sniffed one, I got a nose full of mold that was growing on the rind. But that's another story. So i was looking at the watermelon, trying to look like I knew what I was doing, when I noticed a pretty girl (20's?) doing the same thing. i just assumed that she was as clueless as me, and thought i'd make friendly conversation, so I said, "How do you pick a good watermelon?" I expected her to say, "I have no idea." And then I would say, "me neither." and then we'd laugh, or something. But instead, she started telling me all about watermelon! apparently, she grew up on a farm.

So here's what she told me: if you thunk it, and you hear a dull thud, it's not ripe. But if it sounds hollow, that's a good one. Also, the heavier they are, the better, becuase that means they have a lot of stuff inside. And the best ones have a little bit of juice oozing out of the stem-stump, because that means they're really juicy inside.

as a side note, i asked the produce guy how to pick a cantelope. He didn't say anything about smelling them. He said to squeeze them gently, especially around the stem-stump (what's that spot called?). If they're tender, that means they're ripe....on second thought, I think he *did* say that they would smell fruity.