The Vikings Have Landed!

While school officially began 2 weeks ago, today we began inquiring about the first European explorers to see North America. Yes, the vikings. From Norway to Iceland to Greenland and eventually to Vinland (Newfoundland) we mapped the voyages of Erik the Red and his son Leif Erikkson. While Leif seems to have been a good guy, his father and grandfather were quite the hotheads both having been exiled from their homelands for murder. Leif followed in their footsteps, not as a murderer but as one who sought new land to explore and settle. The boys were thrilled with the study of vikings since it led to the construction of weapons. Here you can see them making their very own viking shields.

And of course if you have a shield, you must have a sword. Here they are in battle.

Each with his own shield.

First Day Success

While summer is technically still here, summer vacation is officially over. Yesterday was our first day and we got the year started with a bang. I remember loving the first day of school...new outfit, new backpack, new crayons (I loved the crayola box with the sharpener), new lunch box...and I want my guys to have happy memories too.

We began the day, as usual with chores and breakfast. Chores come first because I am seeking to instill in my guys that if a man doesn't work, he doesn't eat. They have a tangible goal to reach and a time frame to work within. Next was the Pledge of Allegiance, Bible reading, a hymn and prayer. I then spent time with each one discussing our schedule, expectations, goals, behavior, attitude etc...

Next came the fun stuff. As I said, I like to give them something fun to remember. Last year we began with a study of the military, and the first 3 days were spent in boot camp. Well, this year we kicked off with a treasure hunt. I hid a few special items (cute pencils, pencil grippers, small dollar store toy, sports notebook, snack, $5 ChikFil-A gift card) around the apartment. I made up clues for them to follow and sent them on their way. They had a ball. Here they are with their loot.

They were so geared up that by this time they were ready for math drills. There was still extra loot, so for each correct answer they could choose another "prize" (erasers, pencils). Other than a little journaling and letter writing, the boys had not done much composition for awhile, so they each wrote a paragraph about their first day of school. My academic goals for the day included Bible (check), math (check) and writing(check). All of this before lunch!

Speaking of lunch, if you've read this blog before you know that food is very important to me. My kids are also inheriting this trait. First day festivities around here included a meal of their choosing. They had been asking for months to make paninis. IJ bought me a panini press for Christmas that had yet to be used. Why did I wait so long? If you don't know, a panini is really just a grilled cheese sandwich, however there is something about the use of that caste iron weight that makes the bread so absolutely golden and delicious! Take a look. This sandwich was made with roast turkey breast, provolone cheese, mushrooms, tomatoes, salad greens and pesto (made with basil from our garden). Yummy!

What would the first day be without a picture of those happy faces, full of anticipation for all the wonderful knowledge to be gained? Here they are.

First day of 4th grade

First day of 2nd grade

If you've had your first "official" day of school for the year I would love to hear about it. I'm praying that all of you homeschoolers will have a great year of guiding and directing your children and that their hearts will be turned toward God.

Is it really?

Is it really the end of July already? Where has the summer gone? I will make no excuses for not blogging. Instead I'll take a line from my friend Stephanie who posted that she has been too busy living life to blog about it.

So, what have we been up to? Well, there's been swimming, summer movies, play dates, gardening, catching tad poles and fish, observing bird eggs until they hatched, a track meet and a weekend in Augusta, GA with J's family. I've done lots of reading and am now trying to get myself geared up for another year of learning and exploring with my guys.One of the nicest parts has been the lack of a schedule. Most of what we've done has been without planning. I've loved it! The best part has been that we've done it all as a family.

Hope your summer has been as good as ours!

No Bragging, Big Brother!

Music lyrics, movie lines, video game strategies and most certainly commercials are all so easily memorized and internalized by our kids. Yet there are some Bible class teachers and children's church leaders who don't give them enough credit for being able to learn and process scripture. They need to play, do crafts, sing and dance. That's just how kids learn. Well, I beg to differ. We are creating another generation of kids with the inability to sit and think without having 5 different things to "stimulate" their senses. When will they learn scripture? When they are teens? Young adults? By then their hearts no longer belong to us and they most certainly do not belong to God because they have no real knowledge of him.

J and I do not rely on others to teach our children scripture. That is our job. Deuteronomy 6 tells us

4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.

5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.

7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.

9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Why is this on my mind today? Well, yesterday IJ was doing a bit of bragging about getting something right. JJ recognized it for what it was and called him on it. Did he yell at him or tell him to stop? No, he attempted to read Proverbs 16:18 to his brother.

Pride goes before destruction,a haughty spirit before a fall.

Now it had been at least a month since he read this verse, yet he remembered it and knew how to apply it. My 7 year old did as Paul did to Peter in Galations 2. He confronted him with his clearly wrong behavior, in love. We need to give our children credit for wanting to know what's right and more importantly we need to give God's word credit for convicting them just like it does us.

Happy Birthday JJ!

Today is my baby's birthday. Yes, I know he's seven and technically he is not a baby any more. However, if you are a mother then you understand that he will forever be "my baby". He is learning and growing by leaps and bounds and each day makes me want to hold on to the day before. What happened to my tiny 4lb 14 oz baby? That's about what he weighed when we came home. Well, look at him now!

JJ loves to swim, so he had some friends over today to join him at the pool. It was about 86 degrees, so the weather definately cooperated. After the pool they dined on vegan cupcakes that were absolutely delicious, if I do say so myself. After their sugar fix, they quickly headed back outside for a water balloon fight. Great weather, great friends and an even greater God make for a day to be thankful. I am so greatful for my wonderful little man. Happy Birthday, JJ!

Wild Days in the Animal Kingdom

We have been doing some really interesting things with our unit studies. Science is not my strong point, so I've really been stretched as we've studied animal classification. Thanks to Jessica Hulcy (Konos author) and the other Konos moms for the tips and encouragement. As a side note, Mrs. Jessica was in an awful car accident last week and suffered some very serious injuries, including broken ribs, torn diaphram and punctured lungs. Please be praying for her as the Lord is healing her a little every day. You can visit her Caring Bridge site here.

The character trait we are working on for this unit is orderliness. God has created an orderly universe and it is so evident in all of nature. First let me say that I am not orderly by nature. In fact, keeping entropy (I love this word) at bay is a great challenge for me. God is truly working on me as I work on training my children to tame the clutter that invades our home.

Animal classification has been wild in more ways than one. Oh the stories I can tell. We began our unit with the Tree of Life. I was not at all sure how this would turn out, but have been very happy with the results.

I used a seperate posterboard for each phylum, adding a picture and characteristics (given by the boys) as we studied each one. This worked well because it gave them a quick reference when they went to write about any given phylum. Learning the classification system was fun. I even made up a rap to help them remember Kingdom, Phylum, Class.... Anyone want to hear it? I'll spare you, but they won't ever forget what comes next.

We collected earthworms to observe, and tried to count their segments. The most fun came on a day when we were babysitting my 2 year old god-daughter. She was thrilled beyond belief that she could hold the worms and look at them with the magnifying glass. The following week when she came over she looked at our Tree of Life and pointed to the worms. She wanted to see more!

Things began to get creepy when we tried to combine this unit with lunch. As we were studying mollusks we decided to purchase fresh clams. We observed them, watched them shoot out water when touched, close when they felt threatened, looked at all parts etc... All was fine until I cooked them. They looked great. I prepared them in a garlic and wine sauce and tossed with pasta. Sounds good doesn't it? What we discovered is that you can't eat science projects and that we need our food to be dead before it comes into our home. Just know that we will not be purchasing any more food that has to be killed before eaten. We just couldn't do it. A lot of food went to waste that day.

I would have liked to look at more insects but the boys were not okay with "putting them to sleep". The one thing we have actually mounted on a foam board is a very large crane fly which did not go to sleep without a fight. Seeing this was a bit disturbing, so I put it in another room. We captured several spiders to observe and spray painted a few webs gold so that we could see the intricate designs woven by the spiders.

For the past 4 weeks we have had a painted turtle that the boys named Shelly. They have never had a pet, so we have learned about pet care and turtles at the same time. She is the one critter that is starting to grow on me, although the plan is to return her to the pond from which she came.

Although we were done with this unit, no one bothered to tell the critters. Since this little green guy saw fit to make his way onto our patio I figured the least we could do was take a picture of him. Isn't he cute?

So, now lets see. We've caught toads, frogs, turtles, slugs, worms, spiders, various insects, lizards, birds (shells at least), and clams. I think we've had a well rounded animal kingdom experience. Are we more orderly for our observations? The jury is still out on that one. I'll have to ask J when he gets home.

The perfect way to end this unit was with a trip to the zoo. I'll share the pics from that trip in the next post.

Our Story

Just yesterday I was reading Mama Jenn's blog where she told how she and her hubby met. What a great idea and amazing timing since today is our anniversary.

The story begins on May 2, 1992 on a Big Ten campus somewhere in the Midwest. Saturday night a couple of weeks before finals is not a pretty sight. Most people are in sweat clothes, no one bothers to wear make-up and I have no idea if I had combed my hair that day or not. One of my sorority sisters begged me to go with her to visit this guy she was dating. She didn't want to go alone because he would be with a bunch of his frat brothers. I reluctantly agreed and off we went.

When we walked through the door of the apartment there were quite a few guys, many of whom we knew, but some we did not. The first one to speak was my handsome honey J. He said, "hey I'm one of those Q-dogs" (his fraternity). I said "so, I'm one of those Zetas" (my sorority) and walked away to sit down. He followed me and we ended up talking all night. By all night I mean until nearly 3am! I was pretty much hooked at that point but didn't really know how not to show it. I really liked the guy. The tough part was that he didn't go to the same school. He was just visiting from a school 45 minutes away. Luckily he had a car so he was able to visit often. Phone bills were crazy high, since this was before unlimited long distance.

That summer he went back home to work while I went to summer school. Home was 2 hours away but he still came to visit most weekends. We had lots of mutual friends and things were good. We dated long distance for 2 years. I graduated in December of 1993 and moved back home to begin my job as a youth counselor at a correctional facility. He graduated the next semester in May 1994 and moved to the same city.

By this point I'm thinking it's time to get married, but J is not one to be rushed. We actually broke up for a few weeks late in the year, but got back together in November. J proposed on December 30 and we married the following year, May 27, 1995.

Now, here we are 14 years later. When I think back over those first 3 years of our relationship I know that God was looking out for me when I was too unaware to look out for myself. He had plans for me when I couldn't see past the moment at hand. He has given me a good man to spend my life with and I am so thankful for him.
Happy Anniversary Honey!

He's a Winner!

My handsome honey is a winner and I'm a witness. Last Saturday we drove 2 1/2 hours so he could participate in the USA Track & Field Masters SE Regional Meet. He ran 800M in an impressive 2:12. Here he is before the race.


To the right is him just before the finish. IJ took this great picture.
Would you believe that I have no pictures of him with his medal? Not sure how that happened, but here he is after the race with the boys. We are so proud of his accomplishment.

Garden Update

A couple of weeks ago I shared the beginnings of our patio garden. My mom, the green thumb of the family, has made this a project for the boys. Because we live in an apartment, everything is planted in pots and an upside down patio garden. This is just a quick update to show how things are going.

The organic salad greens are beautiful. I love these because they grow quickly and require nothing more than water and sunshine. It has been 3 weeks since the seeds were planted and I'm expecting 1-2 more until we have our first homegrown salad of the season.
The tomato plants are growing nicely. Aside from the slugs who keep eating the leaves, the plants seem to be quite healthy and strong.
I missed getting a picture of the basil and rosemary, but they are growing well also. I used the basil in my roasted vegetable pasta salad a few days ago. The leaves were large, beautiful and full of flavor. The slugs seem to agree, as they are dining on this plant as well. As for the squash, well it's not going to happen this year. One of the boys (I won't say who) thought it was dead, so he pulled the plant out. We will have to try that one again next year.

To the right are the green bean plants. The picture does not capture it, but I love how the vines are wrapping themselves around the stands. Seems they know how to stabilize themselves without any help from us. The lemon balm is growing like a weed. I need to pick some for a nice cup of tea. So far it has not attracted the bees like I expected and I am so glad for that. I'll share more when we pick the salad greens.

Fresh Strawberries

Yesterday we picked the sweetest, most juicy strawberries I've had in a long time. They were even pretty, which makes me wish I had taken pictures to show you. Too late now, since the berries are gone. Yes, we picked berries yesterday and they are all gone today. That tells you how good they were.

I am very careful not to buy too many. This comes from the memory of picking strawberries when I was about 8 or 9 years old. We had so many berries it was ridiculous. We made preserves, froze some and ate lots of homemade strawberry ice cream. We even gave it away, but it seemed to multiply and never run out. We were all very tired of strawberries when it was finally used up.

Fresh strawberry pie was on my mind yesterday, so I made one for dessert last night. We usually have dessert only on weekends, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to use those freshly picked berries in a pie. I am somewhat of a perfectionist when it comes to food, therefore there are not pictures of the pie. The taste was absolutely delicious, but the look was less than desirable. The recipe is simple and has few ingredients. I will share it with you and tell you what my mistake was.

Fresh Strawberry Pie

1 pie crust, baked
1 quart fresh strawberries
1 C sugar (I used less since the berries were so good)
3 T cornstarch
1/4 C water
1/2 C whipping cream

directions

1. Cut and remove the top leaves from the strawberries.
2. If the strawberries are large, cut them I half or quarters.
3. Arrange the 1/2 the strawberries in the baked pie shell.
4. Cut the other 1/2 up and put in a sauce pan.
5. Add the sugar and bring to a boil.
6. In a small bowl, mix the cornstarch with the water and add to the cooking strawberry sauce.
7. Stir the sauce often, and when it becomes thick and clear, remove from the heat.
8. Pour the sauce over the strawberries and place in the refrigerator to chill for several hours or until firm.
9. When ready to serve, whip the cream or use a can of whipped cream to decorate the edges of the pie.
10. For an easy alternative, if you don't have so many strawberries, you can also use a cup of strawberry jam, heat it and add the cornstarch as well.


There was a crust recipe included also, but I did not use it. I opted to use one of those Keebler Ready Crust that you find in the baking aisle. I chose shortbread. My mistake came in not allowing the sauce to cool enough before pouring over the berries in the crust. Cooling is probably not a big deal if you use a regular pie crust, but with shortbread it makes a difference. To make it worse I put that plastic lid on before placing it in the refrigerator. This created a good deal of moisture and slowed down the setting process. The final product was tasty, but did not hold together well when transferred to a plate. I will definitely be making this again, especially since J did not eat any. In fact, I think we will pick more berries next week and purchase rhubarb to add to the sauce. Mmmmm. Doesn't that sound good? So, find some fresh berries and make a tasty treat for your family. Enjoy!

Spring is upon us

I love the change of seasons. The weather here has been awesome which allows for a lot of outdoor time. Last Friday we spent the afternoon at a park with some friends. There were six ladies, a bunch of boys and one little girl. Those boys had a blast running through the woods hunting down frogs and lizards. Being the sweet boys that they are, all treasures were promptly brought back to share with the moms. And for our part, we ooh'd and aah'd over those creatures to let our little men know how proud we were. This little guy in IJ's hand jumped in the laps of at least 3 moms before he was taken back to his home in the woods.

Today was another great day for being outdoors so we headed to the stawberry fields for some berry pickin'.




The berries are sweet and juicy. All I could think of was strawberry pie, so on the way home we stopped to pick-up the ingredients for this yummy treat. I found a super easy recipe that took about 20 minutes. I'll let you know tomorrow how it tastes, and share the recipe.

Who do you trust?

The thought occured to me yesterday that I regularly trust people that I don't know. People in the service industry are generally at the top of the list. We eat food from restaurants, take our car to the repairman, and have dental work done. You get my point right? Well, I don't know any of these people but I've put myself in their care. Not only do I put myself in their hands, but also my children. Sometimes I check them out in advance, sometimes not. This thought was heavy on my mind yesterday as I was hanging about 35 or 40 feet in the air with this bunch of children (and some adults) holding me by a rope.

Here's the story. A wonderful homeschooling friend set up a fun filled day of activities at a local camp. The staff was great! The grounds were amazing, and the trees were really high! These kids you see had to climb a 40 foot tree, maneuver onto a platform and glide down a zip line. They were fearless! They trusted that their parents wouldn't let them do anything that would hurt them. You can watch IJ and JJ enjoying their ride.

So how did I end up 35 feet in the air? Peer pressure and the desire for a little fun. I stepped outside my box when I let them put that harness on and pull me waaaay up in the air. This was not for the zip line, but for a contraption they call a swing. I swung alright, back and forth over and over again. Can you see it? I know you don't believe me, so I made sure there was video.

This experience really got me thinking about trust, who do I trust and why. I trust my husband, my mom, and some close friends. This trust has been built over time because they have shown themselves trustworthy. However, there is no one as trustworthy as my Heavenly Father. The writer tells us in Proverbs 3: 5-6

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

I trusted Clay and Kim, the couple who run the high ropes course, whom I met just hours before they strapped me into that contraption. I even trusted the kids to stop pulling me higher when I said so. We all go through life trusting faceless people and casual acquantances on a regular basis yet hesitate when it's time to trust the one who has proven himself over and over again. So as you go through your day, take a look at who you trust and how that compares to the way you trust the one who should have all your heart.

Patio Gardening

Upon retiring, nearly 3 years ago, my mom became interested in gardening. She has helped some friends who purchased a 20 acre farm, is working at a local gardening co-op and is also working diligently on a



church charity garden. I have said for several years that I would love to have a garden, however since we live in an apartment I didn't really think it was possible. Not enough space or light were the general reasons. Well, mom proved me wrong. Last year during her visit she and the boys planted vegetables in pots and my little men grew tomatoes (red and yellow), red and yellow bell peppers, and organic salad greens. This was so much easier than I ever imagined. So during this years trip she bought an upside down patio garden for the boys to grow their vegetables as well as planting more items in the pots. I am so excited to see the bounty.



So, what have we planted this year? In the upside down planter we have beefsteak tomatoes, homestead tomatoes, yellow bell peppers, green bell peppers and yellow straight neck squash. On top are the herbs, basil and rosemary. I plan to add at least 2 more herbs. This planter is great because it allows you to plant a variety of vegetables in a small space and it looks really pretty. Mom purchased it from Sam's Club.


In the first pot is lemon balm, which I chose because it smells absolutely wonderful. I didn't know at the time that it shouldn't be planted with anything else because it spreads alot. I'm looking forward to using it for tea. The next 2 pots contain green bean plants. Each pot has 3 plants, so I'm hoping we have a great yield. The last two are organic salad greens. These seeds were donated by a friend of my mom's who runs a gardening co-op back home. I will keep you posted on how our patio garden is going. If you have some tips for me please let me know. I'm just developing my green thumb and learning in the process.

Great Visit

You know what they say, all good things must come to an end. Mom was here for 2 wonderful weeks. We were able to do quite a bit while she was here. Shopping is always high priority, so we did a little of that. On her first Saturday evening we went to an outdoor concert where we enjoyed singing along to some wonderful music. On her birthday we went to my friend Jane's house. We also did a little house shopping. Did I mention that Mom is falling in love with this wonderful southern city? I would be beyond ecstatic if she decides to make the move. One of my favorite activities was our trip to a local historical site where we watched rifle and cooking demonstrations set during the 1845 Mexican-American conflict.

The ladies of the sites cooking guild were preparing lunch while we watched. Spinach salad, asparagus stew with bacon and fresh bread were on the menu. Everything was made authentically over an open fire in the cookhouse. I spoke with the ladies extensively and learned when they meet to practice recipes. I was invited to watch them at their twice monthly meetings, and perhaps join the guild in the future when a spot opens up.

Here are the boys outside the cookhouse. Below is a gentleman doing some woodworking. I never did find out what he was making, but he sure did have some sharp tools. This was a really great local treasure. It just further solidifies my belief that learning happens all the time...even when you're on spring break. I will share more about Moms visit in the next post.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my mothers birthday. Age has never been a big deal in our family. Getting older means you're still alive and that there is still work to be done. God has blessed my mom to reach 67 years of age and to be in good health. I'm happy she's here with us to celebrate.

Mom enjoys spending time with my friend Jane, so we went to her house for lunch today. I love eating at Jane's house. We were treated to a tasty traditional Korean soup whose name I cannot spell, but it was wonderful. Of course there was gim bop, which is rice and seaweed, vegetable pancakes and the most wonderful red pepper sauce that we ate with leaves of nappa cabbage. We were very happy indeed at the end of this meal. Jane is a wonderful friend and homeschooling mama whom I love dearly. Thanks for lunch Jane!

We had a family celebration this evening, going out to dinner and returning home to sing happy birthday and enjoy dessert. Ok, I know this post is not supposed to be about my food, but these cupcakes turned out really well. I gave mom my cupcake book and told her to pick what she wanted. She chose Banana Split cupcakes. These are very moist and flavorful, packed with lots of fruit flavor. There's banana, pineapple, strawberry and chocolate. How could you possible go wrong? And did I mention that they are also vegan? Just be sure not to salivate all over your computer.

Currently the birthday girl is having an Uno tournament with her grandsons and looking forward to another week in the sunny south-east.

She's Here!

My mom has come for a visit! Can you tell I'm excited? I love my mother so much. She is one of my best friends and we have so much in common. She arrived yesterday and will be with us for two whole weeks. IJ and JJ have been counting down for the past two weeks and are thrilled that Granny is finally here.

Mom and I both enjoy cooking so you can guess what we did today. Dinner was delicious, nutritious and shared with good company. We had roasted root vegetables, a mixture of collard, mustard and turnip greens and cornbread. I used to think I didn't like root vegetables, but I've changed my mind. These were absolutely wonderful! We included butternut squash, rutabega, turnips, onions and beets. This is wonderfully easy to make.

Roasted Root Vegetables
2 beets
1 rutabega
1 butternut squash
1-2 small turnips
1 large onion

Wrap beets individually in foil - do not peel or cut
Place in 400 degree oven for 1 to 1 1/2 hour (depending upon size)

Peel and cut vegetables into 2 inch chunks.
Place all vegetables together in large mixing bowl.
Drizzle with 2 T of olive oil
Season with salt and pepper to taste
Mix to coat all vegetables

When beets are nearly done, place other vegetables on a foil lined cookie sheet and place in oven for 35-45 minutes, until tender when pierced with fork.

When beets are done, allow them to cool slightly before peeling and cutting into wedges. Do not mix the beets in with other vegetables as they will transfer their color and everthing will be "beet red". Enjoy!

Sushi Saturday

Vegetable sushi is one of my favorite things to eat. For years I would purchase it as a special treat. However, like with most things I decided to try it at home because it can get really expensive to feed a husband and two growing, always eating boys. So, for about the last 4 years I've been making sushi and improving upon the technique as I go. I'm no expert, but I do a pretty good job if I do say so myself.

As you may have guessed, we had sushi for dinner on Saturday (Sunday too). Usually I just make rolls (maki sushi), but this time I tried something a little different. Nigiri-sushi is the oval shaped sushi that usually has a nice raw piece of fish sitting on top. Needless to say there was no raw fish served here, although if you don't look too hard it may look a little like salmon.

The orange is thinly sliced carrots that I simmered in a vegetable broth and soy sauce mixture. The maki has cucumber and avocadoes. Yum! All food has some history to it, and as we have continued learning about Japan, it seemed fitting to explore the origins of its most well-known food. Sushi was not a planned menu item. It came about as a result of resourcefulness and adaptation. Fish and rice are both a major part of the Japanese diet, and both are very plentiful. Years ago, in order to preserve fish it was heavily salted and storage was inside mounds of cooked rice. It was kept this way for a year, so you can imagine that the rice became...you guessed it, the rice became sour and was thrown out. Over the years storage time was cut and the rice was not discarded, but eaten along with the fish. Eventually they reached the point of using fresh fish and adding vinegar to make sour rice. The boys thought that was an interesting bit of information.

Before you ask I will just tell you that yes, the boys like sushi. In fact they really love it as much as J and I do. Can't you tell?

If you've never tried sushi before, then decide to be a little adventurous. Many supermarkets have sushi bars right inside the store. Watch them make it, pick up a pack to take home and let me know how much you enjoyed it.

I will not try to give a recipe for making sushi, however there are some really good ones online. There are even videos on youtube that show the process. I also came across a really good cookbook titled Vegetarian Sushi that is worth checking out.

Konichiwa!

Hello from Japan...well it's really our dining area. However, for the past week it has been converted into our version of a Japanese room. There is so much to share about this learning experience. First, let me say that our theme is honor...showing kindness and respect to others because we are all made in God's image (Genesis 1:27). Yes, we are all made in God's image, even though at times we don't look like it! We have spent a good bit of time training ourselves to look for God in others. In doing this we are learning to treat people well, whether we think they deserve it or not. An amazing example of this was found in reading a biography of Mother Teresa. What an awesome woman of character. She always taught her fellow nuns to look for Jesus in everyone they met and to care for them as though caring for Jesus himself. Wow!

Ok, back to Japan. Last week was spent identifying and making a map of Japan, making the Japanese flag, and learning about Japanese culture. Clothing, homes, and of course food were all a part of the fun. We even picked up a few Japanese words in the process.

Me, wearing the closest thing I could get to a kimono. I borrowed this cute dress from a Vietnamese friend. It does have an obi (the belt that goes around the kimono) but you can't see it on this picture. JJ decided that he wanted to dress like Rick Flair (the wrestler) that day. Behind us is the Japanese screen JJ painted and on the floor our straw tatami mats. Ok, they're really sheets but they worked for our purposes.

Our tokonoma, a japanese style raised alcove featuring scrolls, flowers, candles and the boys names in japanese characters. No, we didn't do those. I purchased these last fall in anticipation of this unit.

Most of our meals and schoolwork have been in our newly remodeled room. I was surprised at how easily we adapted. We have eaten dumpling soup (these were really Korean, but very close) dumplings and rice, soba noodles and edemame and udon noodles, all using chopsticks. I think the boys are really good at it after so much practice. We even ate our spaghetti with chopsticks! In fact I think the eating was their favorite part. IJ commented on how cool it is that it's not bad manners to shovel food into your mouth in Japan. Spoken like a true boy.

While the whole week has been full of fun and learning, the most fun was the sumo wrestling matches the boys engaged in. Sumo is the national sport of Japan. It was really interesting to learn about these heavyweight wrestlers and even more fun to watch the boys imitate them. Did you know that these guys have to weigh at least 250 pounds? We found a couple of videos on youtube that showed them training and eating. Can you guess what they do after eating a heavy meal? Yes, they take long naps. Aah, what a life. Take a look at our version of sumo wrestling-african american style.

We will continue our exploration into "the Land of the Rising Sun" with a Japanese tea ceremony, ikabana (Japanese flower arranging) learning about the life of a samurai, and a new year celebration.