Tea Anyone?

Patience...waiting without complaining, was our character trait for last week and this week. We spent time reading Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, which gives us pictures of opposing seasons in life.


Ecclesiastes 3
A Time for Everything

1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.


The boys made some great drawings depicting this passage. Often I have them act out a Bible passage to help them remember some of the details, but had not planned to do so for this one. Well, when "IJ" heard the passage he begged to act it out. I should have known this would somehow lead to my two boys wrestling (kill,war,hate). However, I made up for it by having an extended time on verse 7 where there was silence. Yeah! We discussed how the varying seasons in life will bring about the need for us to be patient, since things are not usually the way we want them.


We each chose some situation where we needed to work on being patient. I have to admit that I was really convicted a couple of weeks ago while driving. My six year old was in the back seat wondering aloud why that lady is moving so slow. He then determined (with a very sassy attitude) "she's driving like that cause she's on the phone, look at her". There was no need for me to wonder where that came from.


Our focus within the unit was on grains, how they're planted, grown and harvested. We spent most of our time learning about wheat and rice. We explored the difference between white, wheat and whole grain. We did the same with rice. Both of these helped to solidify our desire and resolve to nourish our bodies with whole grains. We even baked some wonderful focaccia bread and the best vegan peanut butter cookies using whole wheat flour and wheat germ. Yummy!

We ended the week by hosting some friends for tea and sharing some of the wonderful cookies. This was a lovely formal tea where everyone dressed for the occasion. It was great fun and I was so proud of my boys and the manners they displayed. After about 30 minutes all of them were ready to head outside. "IJ" quickly removed his dress clothes, while "JJ" had to be called inside to take off his suit. Our guests had their pretty little dress shoes and tights nice and muddy by the time they left for home, but everyone was happy nonetheless.

Aviation Exploration

For the past two weeks we've been studying air, airplanes and how they fly. I got to see how much I missed in school. Science was not my strong point, but I'm enjoying it so much now. I think we did 6 experiments in one day. First the boys had to find out if air takes up space (blow up a balloon). Then they explored whether or not air has weight by balancing the full balloon on one end of a ruler and an empty balloon on the other. Two of the most cool experiments were also done that day.

Cool experiment #1

Stretch a balloon over the top of an empty water bottle. Put the bottle into a bowl of hot water (we boiled ours). What happens? Why?

The boys discovered that hot air expands and rises. "JJ" took it a step further and said "I bet if we put it in cold water the balloon will go down." He then repeated this experiment for "J" when he came home, explaining what happened and why. This from the child who often has a difficult time getting his thoughts and words to go together. I was so proud of him! This is discovery learning at it's best.

Cool experiment #2

You will need a peeled hard boiled egg, an empty quart size glass milk jar (opening should be just big enough for the egg to sit in), and a half sheet of paper. Roll the piece of paper and light with a match. Immediately place in the upright glass jar. Wait for all of the fire to go out. Set the egg on the opening of the jar. What happens? I won't tell you. Just think, vacuum.

From there we learned about the Wright Brothers, Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart and Baron Von Richthofen (The Red Baron). Do you remember the song Snoopy vs the Red Baron?

"IJ" thought it was unpatriotic to sing about him, since he was the enemy, but the tune got stuck in his head and he can't get rid of it. HA, HA! Lots of paper airplanes were made and most of them crashed shortly after take off, prompting us to try again and again to perfect our designs.

The most fun came last Friday when we joined a group of friends for a field trip to a local aviation museum. We saw everything from fighter to passenger planes as well as several helicopters. The real fun came when the kids were given the opportunity to be the crew on a Boeing KC-97. The pictures show "IJ" as co-pilot and "JJ" as flight engineer. Our tour guide, a retired teacher, was very knowledgeable and great with keeping the kids interested.

This was a great unit. Keep reading to hear about our next learning adventure.

Blog Plans

Wow, it's February already. My plans for this blog have been good ones, but finding time for it has not been an easy thing. I want to share with you our homeschool journey. I want to tell you about all of the wonderful food we love to eat. I want to share some of the good books I've been reading. I also want to just tell about my wonderful life and the Heavenly Father who sustains me. So, I hope you stick with me and keep reading my thoughts. Thanks!