Middle, a poem with thoughts

The Homeschool Review Crew does word prompts for Instagram fun, I think it's great to have these words prompts for doing quick posts.  :)   I find them fun as sometimes it surprises me where my brain goes.  :)   The word for today is Middle.  

I am a middle child... family with six children, three boys, three girls.  the order was Two boys three girls and one boy... so I was a middle child and a middle girl.  Therefore when I saw this word prompt I wanted to do it.  :)

What does the word middle mean?   Has so many synonyms eh?  My brain pathways:

Art Series: Fantastic Planets

I so much enjoy my colouring book Fantastic Collections so when I saw I could review Fantastic Planet I was delighted!  This book is part of a series produced by Chronicle books.    This review is part of an Art series is part of an on-going series of Art books reviewed for your pleasure and resource.    You can find more books here and here.

 Book Synopsis:
Bestselling author Steve McDonald uses his unique photo-based illustration style to celebrate the fantastic places, flora, and fauna of the natural world around us. Here are inspiring, fun-to-color images of lush jungles, teeming reefs, desert landscapes, fruitful orchards, sun-dappled forests, spectacular waterfalls, majestic trees, tulip fields, animal migrations, and much more.

My thoughts:

This is a GREAT colouring book.. seriously.
Fantastic images to fill in, that take the whole page, not just part of it.
High quality paper and images...wow... the images. 

Five Advantages in Learning to Cook

What can I say.. I'm finding it rather nice to see my lad working in the kitchen.

I'm kinda bad though...he's cooked with me off and on throughout the years and about a month ago I just said "you're cooking one night a week".  Just kinda threw him into it.

He's missed a week when we've been away.  But he's taken to it like a duck to water.  Making poutine, hamburgers, Spaghetti and meatballs with dad, along with pulled pork and mashed potatoes.(again with Dad).

Realizing all his skills are coming into play.

1. Practical use of Education

•  Reading...he has to follow directions.  Sometimes reading and re-reading the directions for making something,  (like tonight with the ribs).
• Math.. figuring out the 1.4 litres was 1400 ml, and having Dad show us how to do that on the scale. 
• Geography works for some meals (like learning poutine was originally French Canadian.
• Science...it's cooking!   The interplay of ingredients that make pudding!  Who would think it!!!  :)  Sauces to keep meat moist.  Flour, sugar, oil and more makes cake.

2. Learning how to run appliances 
 ... like the electric mixer, the hot oven, a microwave, and toaster oven. Learning what different implements are called like a baster, a siphon, a salad spinner etc. He's developing important skills AND the confidence to use them without hands on support. 

  

3. Learning how to ask for SPECIFIC help.  Not just "help me now mom!" But rather "Mom, I need help getting these ribs out of the oven cause they keep sliding on me and I think they will fall off".   And "Dad, how do you cook hamburgers?   What do I push to start the bbq?"

4. Coming up with ideas on what makes for a good meal.
    Tonight he added chocolate mousse to the menu.   He originally only wanted to  have poutine but I asked "Do I cook only for myself lad?  What do I do if I know that someone doesn't like what I am making?"  After a quick I don't know he thought and said "you make something that I like too". Therefore he needed to ask questions about what I might like with the poutine.   He came up with ribs and chocolate mousse.

5. Skills for the future.
Like every parent, my goal is that my son will be able to take care of himself as an adult.  To know how to cook is a big part of that.  It will be good for him to know how to make more the pizza or sandwiches (though one can live on that).   If he learns how following instructions gets him a good product in the end....isn't that worth something?

Here's just one more.
Just maybe I am working myself out of a job!   :)

What advantages do you see in children knowing how to cook.

Profile: Henry Hudson

I realized this morning that I neglected to do my blogging through the alphabet post.  This week we are on the letter H.  So Welcome one and all to blogging through the alphabet with Amanda and myself.   :)

When I mentioned it to my hubby he said "Hudson Bay or the Hudson Bay Company."

Since mentioning one without the other doesn't make a lot of sense to me so I figured doing a profile on Henry Hudson might work just as well.  :)   He made four sea-faring journeys.

Henry Hudson as was sea-faring explorer back in the 1600's.   He discovered Hudson Bay but actually thought he had discovered the Pacific Ocean at the time, this during his last voyage of 1610-1611.

 He was a rather indecisive leader and his crew talked of mutiny when they sailed into the bay and were stuck there for the winter.   When the ice broke in the spring and all the men wanted to return home to England, Hudson wanted to push on in his search for the North West passage.  His men mutinied, he was put over board in a rowboat along with his son and the injured men, and was never heard from again.

He was known for being an excellent navigator but a poor leader of men.  The men who mutinied against him were not convicted of the crime and found jobs on other boats.

He was a determined explorer.  He found new hunting regions, explored new sections of land and ocean and just at his ultimate quest... to find the NorthWest passage.

Numerous places are named after him.  Hudson Bay led to the Hudson Bay Company.  We have the Hudson River, Hudson Straits, Hudson Stone, Henry Hudson Bridge as well as various schools, streets and the like.  

 Source of image: Wikipedia.

A Net In Time Schooling Blogging Through The Alphabet Grab Button Code:

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An InLinkz Link-up

Recipe: Multi-grain, Whole Wheat Bread

This recipe is loosely based off this one. 

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup honey
• 2 1/4 cups warm water
• 1/2 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoons active dry yeast 
•  
• 2 eggs beaten
• 1 cup multi-grain flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 
  
• 2-4 cups white flour
• 3 tablespoons wheat germ
• 
  

Instructions

Mix together honey, water, salt, and yeast. Leave until yeast dissolves, about 10 minutes. 

Beat in eggs and 2 cups of flour. Allow to rest, covered, for 30-60 minutes, until bubbly. 

Stir in enough flour to make a soft, workable dough. Knead in wheat germ. Knead well and let rise  in bowl.   Grease bowl before returning kneaded bread to bowl.

Shape into 2 loaves and place in a greased 8 inch loaf pans.

Let rise again until the loaves just crest the edge of the pan. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

For more bread recipes see below  

Traditional White Bread.
Irish brown soda bread.
Irresistible Irish soda bread. 
Amish White Bread. 
Pizza Bread. 
Python Dogs and Sun Bread. 
Kim's White Bread, altered. 
Grandma VanDoren's White Bread. 
Hamburger Buns. 
Buns for Thanksgiving. 
Garlic and Cheese Breadsticks. 
Sweet Rolls. 
Scones. 
Scotch Scones. 
Whole Wheat Rolls and Buns.
Julia Child Sandwich Bread. 
Cheese Biscuits. 

Review: A Dog in the Cave

I have to admit, I am not quite sure how to write this review.

I found the book fascinating despite the fact that I don't believe in evolution.  I do believe that species can change over time to suit it's environment better, but I don't that reptiles can become mammals or that a one-celled critter can suddenly become a fish.  There are no gap animals.  This book is less about evolution, though that thought comes up frequently, and more about how two species influence the development of each other.

The book Synopsis:
We know dogs are our best animal friends, but have you ever thought about what that might mean?

Fossils show we've shared our work and homes with dogs for tens of thousands of years. Now there's growing evidence that we influenced dogs' evolution-and they, in turn, changed ours. Even more than our closest relatives, the apes, dogs are the species with whom we communicate best.
Combining history, paleontology, biology, and cutting-edge medical science, Kay Frydenborg paints a picture of how two different species became deeply entwined-and how we coevolved into the species we are today.

My thoughts:
The premise of the book is that does and humans have been together for far longer than has been thought, and the question is this... when did those first dogs start to coexist with people?

Numerous examples from archaeological finds are used to further the questions being raised.
Could prehistoric dogs be distinguished from prehistoric wolves?   Current dogs have a shorter, broader muzzles today than wolves have so perhaps that might be true from days gone by. 

Contained within the pages of this book you will find seven chapters.
1. Close encounters of the Canine Kind
2. Written in the bones
3. Wolf-dogs: these skulls are how old?
4. A meeting of minds
5. Written in the genes
6. The dog on the couch:  Canine Psychologists
7. A wolf on the bed

The premise of the book is this.   Dogs made us the people that we are today, and we made dogs the creatures they are today.  There is I think, some truth to that statement... from how dogs make the job of a shepherd easier, how dogs can provide comfort to individuals, and then on the flip side, how dogs are been specifically bred to be companions, guardians, or hunters.   

We shape them, they shape us.

Did they make us human?   Read the book...you decide.  :)

A Dog in the Cave: The wolves who made us human
by Kay Frydenborg

Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt books for young readers
244 pages
Aged for 12 years old and up


 Reviewed for Raincoast Books.

 Amazon.ca: A Dog in the Cave: The Wolves Who Made Us Human


Amazon.com: A Dog in the Cave: The Wolves Who Made Us Human

Review: Really Woolly Easter Blessings

Really Woolly Easter Blessings is a sweet board book to introduce your littlest ones to the joys of Easter. and the truth of the resurrection.

Bonnie Rickner Jensen has written a cute little devotional to use with your littlest children, it is a sturdy board book, just a lovely size to stick into an oversized pocket or your purse. 

20 pages of lovely illustrations, carefully filled in with bright colours, each page containing an image of a woolly lamb doing different things with his friends. 

Each two page spread has a simple bible verse (including the reference), rhyming verse (generally two verses) an a simple prayer to say with your children.

It is easy enough for an older child to read with a younger sibling, with much one the page to draw the eye of a child.

 
 As you can see.... beautiful illustrations carefully added by Donna Chapman, that fit well with the verse and poem.

Simple prayers that you can easily teach your children, starting them along the way to a great relationship with God.

 A sample two page spread.   See how the colour covers the whole page, giving you loads of things you can point out to your children.   Cute figures that should appeal to most children.

Really Woolly Easter Blessings.
Author: Bonnie Rickner Jensen
Illustrator: Donna Chapman
Publisher: Tommy Nelson
Pages: 20
Age Range: 2-5

Reviewed for: BookLookBloggers.

A God who hears and acts

Today we  are reading from Ezekiel 37, about the valley of dry bones.  Last time we met we learned about For His Name's Sake.   You can read more in my Ezekiel Studies here and here.

The Lord has taken firm hold on Ezekiel and brought him to a Valley of Dry Bones.    Every where he looked there were bones... they were lying on the surface of the valley and were very dry.

God asked Ezekiel a simple question : “Son of man, can these bones live?”
Ezekiel didn't really answer him other than to say "O Lord God, you know."
The Lord then told Ezekiel to prophesy over those bones and tell them to hear the word of the Lord, telling Ezekiel that when he did so those bones would come alive.

Ezekiel did as he was told and behold
"there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army."

Can you imagine it?   Being in a valley and all these dry bones being gathered together into bodies?  I would seriously be freaked out.  But Ezekiel is apparently made of sterner stuff than I as he did as he was commanded and there is no sign in the writing that he was freaked out.

God gave him the explanation for this vision.

The bones are the house of Israel.“Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel."

Israel has been saying "‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’"

So God is telling his people, through Ezekiel, that he has heard them and is going to take action.   Rising his people up from their graves and giving them his Spirit so they shall live.

 12 Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. 14 And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”

You know something?
I hear these words this morning and I feel like a new hope is starting to rise up within me.

I've been feeling hard pressed lately.
Fretting about the future, fretting over the unkindness of some folks regarding hubby and his work situation, fretting about the critters, my lad, my work and so forth.  Starting to feel beat up inside.

And here I find a Lord God who hears his people.  

I am brought to mind of the books I've read this week... about my calling as a parent to raise a child with God-conciousness and a God-submission attitude, about prayer and how it can change a whole neighbourhood and how sin is sin and needs to be recognized as such...and today's reminder of how God HEARS his people, he hears the cry of their heart and answers it.

It's a reminder to me that God holds me close in his hand.  He holds my hubby and my son and all I have to do is talk to him.  Tell him my frets and he'll hear them and he will take action.  He will.   His Spirit will be poured into me and I will have new life again. 

Three Great Middle School Reads

Recently Raincoast sent me a three middle school chapter books.   I thoroughly enjoyed them though they had completely different styles.  Affiliate links will be used in this post.  Thanks for blessing my family. :)

I Love You Michael Collins, The Journey to Dragon Island and Ten: A Soccer Story.

TEN: A Soccer Story, is the shortest of the three.   The story involves a young Brazillian girl who ADORES soccer, and has the gumption to start up a girls soccer team, in a time and area when "girls don't play soccer".   We are brought into her family difficulties and how she tries to solve them.   It is a well written book with excellent character development, showing growth in her and her brother, seeing how her team came together to play good soccer.   

 Maya, an odd ball girl, eleven years old, learning to stand up for herself, and for her family.  Learning to love up on her expanded family even if they don't "get her".   It's a nice book that should appeal to a broad range.  :)  It's a good upper elementary/middle school book.

I found this clip of her favourite soccer player and the moment, as talked of in the book, where he didn't get his penalty kick.

176 pages, published by  Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, geared for 10-12 years old.  Softcover.

 Amazon.ca: Ten: A Soccer Story

Amazon.com: Ten: A Soccer Story

Oh..this book, The Journey to Dragon Island, made me laugh, oh my.  :)   It could have been my quirky sense of humour though. 

It was a great story.  A group of pirates in a world of magic. 
A rescue to undertake, a meaning of home to understand.

Brine, Peter, Tom, Cassie and the whole gang.. would they solve the mystery?      Would the figure out where the dragons went?

It's a great read that I am eager to see if my son likes it as much as I did.  :)

Written for ages 8-12 and published by Henry Holt and Co, it is the second in a series by Claire Fayers. 304 pages in length each chapter is predicated by a short verse. 

Amazon.ca: The Journey to Dragon Island

Amazon.com: The Journey to Dragon Island (The Accidental Pirates)

I have to admit that I don't know if my son would like this book, "I Love You Michael Collins" but I am fairly sure a couple daughters of a friend would.   Mamie is a young lady who knows her own mind.  She isn't the most popular child in school because of it, but she and her best friend are indeed the best of buds.  Set in the 1969 when the first planned landing on the moon is in the works.  Her school class is given an assignment, write to one of the astronauts.    Mamie chose "the forgotten astronaut" Michael Collins. 

This book is her series of letters to him, talking to him about her life and asking him questions.   It is written in conversational tone, you could just see a 10 year old lass writing like this.  :)   

Part of the conversation in this book is how to handle a fractured family, teen angst, selfish of a variety of people, and how family matters.

Published by Farrar Straus & Giroux, 204 pages long, written by Lauren Baratz Logsted, it's a wonderful piece of history.  Walking us through the divergent opinions of putting a man on the moon, how families interacted, and wonder of astronauts in space for middle school students.. I thoroughly enjoyed this read.   Geared to youth 9-12 years old.

Amazon.ca: I Love You, Michael Collins

Amazon.com: I Love You, Michael Collins

 

ACK!! Mom adjustment time!!

The other day my lad was complaining about his nose hurting, dad looked over and said "oh, pimple!"

And my heart just dropped.

TOTALLY unexpected.  My goal is to raise a God-fearing young man, who knows how to work and have fun, who WANTS to leave home and make his own way in the world.

BUT ACK!!!   A pimple...just totally threw me off and made me want my little boy again.     The boys laughed at me they did.   Mockery is a good way to ground a person again isn't it?  :)

Anywho.. moving on to our week.

Monday was a lazy day.  Honestly.  I was still on "I was away all weekend doing nothing and want that to continue" mode.   The lad did his basics and then we left for London.  He camped out at gramma's for the afternoon while Jim and I schleped about town.

I had a whack of books for sale in the trunk and met their new owners later in the afternoon.  I simply LOVE selling books and stuff.  Meeting new people and doing small talk... It's a wonderful thing.  (yes, I know.. I'm weird).

Tuesday we headed off to the Science Centre in Toronto.  We took in the new exhibit and an IMAX movie called "think big".  We wandered a bit more of the museum but then hunger struck.  We had a bit of a shorter day in the end, but it was still a good day.