Snippets of September

 Robinhood with Missoula Childrens Theatre

Righto!

We are still singing songs about little skunks.

Baking and Preparing
Specific Carbohydrate Diet lactose free yogurt
Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Bread Mix

Buying in bulk, and loving this bread mix. It's possible to bake and eat what feels like soft white wheat bread, but it's not!
Homemade granola with coconut oil, nuts, and rice protein powder

Lessons in Cryptography 

Polyalphabetic Cipher

Overheard
I don't understand her little wheel. Maybe, I can make her so proud of her work, that she tells me what it means. 

Pondering

Sarah Bessey's, Guard Your Gates
Halloween approaches; we are the weird ones who don't celebrate. Sarah offers such good thoughts about what we let in and what we don't let in, and it's all okay. She's encouraging good conversation in our home. Now, more than ever, let us live intentionally in our culture.  

We are having a tough soccer season, but giving our best.

Watching

God's Not Dead, a little hokey, but a little hokey can still be thought provoking. Because intelligent people can embrace faith through mystery by route of reason, and relationship with God is not for the dumbed down masses as Marx saith. And at the New York Times, opinions on the intersections of faith and evolution.

Listening
American Media Works, Don't Lecture Me
Next up on my list, The Science of Smart 

Petitioning
A local college to offer up science and math classes in our community for middle schoolers.

Reading 

Between Shades of Gray (no, not that one.) Powerful. Gripping. 

Breaking Stalin's Nose and discussing Stalin in our house (and Hong Kong).

All the Light We Cannot See (read this past summer and still thinking on this story, Hitler, and the ability of the human heart to live morally right and overcome evil.)

Testing

I passed the California World History Exam for 6th graders with a 93% result. Not too bad :-) Why did I take it? It helped me realize the gaps in our history plan for her year. This is why we test: to find the gaps we need to fill in, not to teach to a test. Another interesting lecture heard this week on Common Core. We learn through a multi-faceted approach and that means remaining open to being uncomfortable at times even if it's about the Common Core.

Praying

For more of the Spirit, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, forgiveness, faithfulness, and love. (Oh, and perseverance for FLL 2014 and our study of architecture :-)