Hello, all--We have had our third day of homeschool--what a treat! It has reminded me one of the reasons we homeschooled in the first place. I love it! It is a joy to watch the girls learn and experience it with them. Here is a "snapshot" of some of the funny moments of our day:
In our science curriculum (published by Apologia) we are studying birds. Today we were talking about the concept of "lift" that allows birds to fly. There was an experiment for us to do to illustrate the idea that if more pressure is below the wing than above, the result is "lift." The experiment utilized a full cup of water with a short straw in it. With a longer straw angled up at the short one, we blew air across the top of the short straw. The result is a small spray of water coming out of the short straw. The girls found this amazing and there were gales of laughter as they took turns standing on the other side of the cup so they could be "spritzed" in the face. Anna Mei was laughing so hard that she could hardly blow on the straw when it was her turn. (If you want full details on how to do the experiment, email me).
Yesterday, Elizabeth lost a tooth on the bottom row of teeth (that's her in the picture above). At lunch today, she discovered that she can expel a watermelon seed through the open space. That set off another round of laughter. Let's just say she's a pretty good aim.
Also at lunch, Elizabeth announced to Joy: "Joy, in heaven you will get a crown." Joy's eyes perked up. "Girls," I said, "do you know what we will do with our crowns. We will throw them at the feet of Jesus in worship." There was a pondering moment of silence before they burst into laughter. "No way, Mommy! Jesus wouldn't want us to throw a crown on His feet!" Then, Elizabeth got serious for a moment, "Can't we keep the crowns?" I said, "Hmmmm, if you want to." I am confidant that when the time comes, Elizabeth will be at the front of the line for crown casting. Until then, I had to smile as I imagined Elizabeth and Joy (crown-lovers extraordinaire) fighting tooth and nail with a couple of angels to keep their crowns.
For our first memory verse of the year, I chose 2 Timothy 2:24 "And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone..."
Anna Mei and Elizabeth can already rattle it off at break neck speed--they have had a lot of practice since at the first hint of a disagreement, I have them say the verse.
It is days like this that make motherhood such special joy. We are enjoying being together.
I had my first Vietnamese lesson. I can now say, "Hello, how are you?" and "I am fine, thank you." At least I can say this in most situations. It turns out their are about 12 different personal pronouns to ask or answer such a question. The correct pronoun (for "I" or "you") depends on your gender, age, and relationship to the other person (including their age and gender). And that doesn't even begin to talk about the five different tonal marks that can change the meaning of a word that is spelled exactly the same as another, except for a dot under one of the letters. Sound complicated? Good. Then I am not alone! I definitely want to practice, practice, practice!
I hope you find some humorous surprises in your day!
Grace and peace!
