This is the Sprout as we knew him....

And now ....

He walked into the bathroom on Sunday morning, and asked Dad, "Can you shave my head?"

I could of settled for a trim, but Sprout is very happy with his new "do".

  

 

Good Morning!

A month ago, we gathered reeds from the roadside, beside an old church outside of Winnipeg.

They were hung to dry in our basement, and now are ready for whatever we decide to use them for...

To demonstrate, I soaked a handful and make this tiny basket.

I'm not too sure what I am going to use it for, other than a demo.

It is pretty sturdy by my standards, yet not something I would trust my children with unless I didn't mind "accidents".

It is made solely of the reeds, no glue, tape, string, etc.

 So that was the first handful, but there are several more ready to be used.  I am now just waiting on the inspiration of what to do next.

Oct. 31

The weather was just beautiful today. 

We headed outdoors to soak it up!

 The littles had a lot of fun in the leaves.  They were perfect for piling and jumping in: they were big and crunchy.

Speedy was more interested in raking.  He even knocked on the neighbour's door and offered to rake her boulevard for her.

From our tiny, postage stamp front yard, we filled four garbage bags!  They are excited to clean up our back yard, but the large tree hanging over our lawn is still green! 

"It was very fun playing in the leaves.. and my mom picked my foot up and put my while body in the garbage"-Sprout

"Yeah, it was silly when mom put Sprout in the garbage"-Speedy

"Yeah"-Seedling

Yesterday, I made a card.  I made it with stickers.  I used all colors, like black, brown, and blue, and yellow, and that's all the colors I used. I made it for Mom and Seedling.

 Today I made Squidword on a horse, and I made his house.  It was fun.  I told Seedling it was her birthday card.  But it's mom's birthday card until her birthday is done, then it will be Seedling's birthday card.

I think I am going to make more today.

I have been working on a math board for Speedy.  Skip counting and mutliplication are on his agenda.

A circle peg board on one side lets him wrap yarn around every 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. I am trying to get different colored yarn for each color (hint, hint  if anyone is de-cluttering their stash).

On the other side of the board, there is a target. 

The inner circle counts by 1s: 1-12.

The next circle counts by 2s: 2-24.

The next circle counts by 3s: 3-36.

etc.

 

The target was painted in one afternoon. I expected that to take much longer.

The numbers are going to take longer. I am using craft paint and a toothpick, but it is turning out beautiful and will be worth it!

Reflections of our Thanksgiving

 As Thanksgiving approached, we took an afternoon to ponder our thoughts on thanksgiving. 

Food, football, and family!

Sounded about right.  A few thoughts about pilgrims and the "first thanksgiving" ... then came the question "But mom, is Thanksgiving one of God's holidays?"

OK, so that was a loaded question!  And I am definately raising a future debater, so here is a summary of our conclusions...

... "Thanksgiving Day" is NOT mentioned in the Bible

... "Give thanks unto the Lord" IS read 100 times in the Bible

... the Bible talks about the Feast of Tabernacles and the Feast of Sukkot, meant to celebrate and remeber the sheltering presence of God gave his people in the wilderness

... after the Jews inherited the land, the theme shifted to an expression of thanskgiving for God's provision during that time

... is our holiday related to this Holy Day?

maybe

... some scholars beleive the pilgrims lived with jews in Holland (a safe haven from religeous prosecution at the time) before coming to North America

... they were Puritans, and their religious idealism led them to call themselves the "new Isreal", and their journey to the new world as an "Exodus event"

... once in the new world, they sought the appropriate biblical holiday to commemerate their safe arrival in their land of promise

(I am not a historian, however, and do not quite take this as fact)

... our Thanksgiving, then, could be a variation on the Feast of Tabernacles

... the "first thanskgiving" was a celebration of thanks and honor to God for His intervention and blessings

...we want to be careful that our holidays do not alter, replace or distort the meaning of a festival of God or other biblical truths

We revisited what our Thanksgiving was about ...

Thanksgiving for Gods love and provisions.

Clothing. His Word. Food. Good weather. JESUS. Healing. Toys.

Reading about the Feast of Tabernacles was not enough.

We took advantage of the weather, windy as it was, and went to work in our backyard on Wednesday.



Our fort in the summer is now bare in the fall

We made several fieldtrips to find branches.

 

We then weaved the branches into our driftwood fort to make our own Sukkot (Sue-coat).  As we worked, we talked about what it would be like to have to live in the wilderness for years (not just an exciting weekend!)  We also talked about current times when we feel we need or receive Gods protection.

When it came time to have our meal in our Sukkot, it began to downpour, but Speedy convinced the younger two that rain shouldn't stop them.   I offered up a simple "Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever." (1 Chronicles 16:34; Psalm 106:1; Psalm 107:1; Psalm 118:1; Psalm 118:29; Psalm 136:1 - your pick!!!), and listened to them pray as I prepared my camera.  My heart melted, especially when they prayed that they were thankful for the rain, that it came at just the right time to make them even more thankful to God that they have a strong, dry, and warm house to live in.

We went on to have several Thanksgiving dinners with our various families.  Food is still a great part of our Thanksgiving, but it is just that, a part of our Thanksgiving, which is much greater than food alone.

Does your Husband Rock?

I came across a giveaway on another blog that I just have to share!

The company is called Union28.

Their mission:  to encourage marriages and to honor the sacred covenant between a husband and his wife by communicating a positive image of marriage in a fun and stylish way.

  (read more here http://www.blogger.com/goog_1100428613)

Their products: 

AND...

The Giveaway:  featured on Keeper of the Home

A Walk to The Jungle

We went for a walk to the jungle today.

Disclaimer:  Imagination vs lying can be confusing to young children, and this confusion can also be used as an excuse for older children who know how wrong lying is.  Therefor, before I begin, I will say that we definately used our imaginations today, and it was fun, and it was OK because no one reading this is going to believe that we walked to the jungle after church and rode lions!

Today after church, we went for a walk ... to the jungle.  It was alot of exploring.

There was alot of wildlife ...

 crocodiles,
 butterflies,
snakes,
and hippo's.

Local grub...

And adventure...

mom found some quicksand...

Sprout marked the 'X' for the treasure...

Speedy climbed the tallest trees...

a big bird swooped him up and dropped him into a nest...

Seedling and Speedy got caught in a mudslide...

Speedy found some eggs... are they crocodile eggs, or maybe dinosaur eggs...

and mom even brough something home to remember our adventure!