Happy MLK Day!

What's been going on this week?  Well, a lot of normal, some not, and that's normal too.  I'm still getting those portfolios together.  (It probably sounds like I'm doing it constantly, but it's more like in bursts every few days I do a little)  I did get some photos printed to add to them to show some things we do that isn't pencil and paper.  Like for instance our history lesson this week partially included making our own scrolls.  So we dipped strips of paper in tea to make them look old and after they dried we were going to write on them and roll them up.  I say "were" because we started reading about Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks instead and the we all agreed to hold off on the actual scroll making until Tuesday.  That's one of the cool things I love about homeschooling.  My planning has to be flexible and I have to be ready to pursue things that the girls are interested in.  It's not that they didn't want to learn about and make scrolls, but at the moment they were more interested in Civil Rights History - which is cool with me.

 Friday we spent the day at the Maryland Science Center.  Gwyn and Celee got to do a program about possible life in our solar system.  The museum has a suspended sphere that they project 360 images on, so the girls got to learn about each of the planets and two of Jupiter's moons that have ice on them.  It was very interesting.  After that, we were free to explore the museum.  The girls really enjoyed their dinosaur exhibit and activities.  I thought it was neat because there were several hands-on things to do and most of the exhibits were on things found in Maryland.  The girls also got to examine dinosaur skin patterns and footprints.  They also "discovered" dinosaur bones and tried to identify which bones they were.  Gwyn got to lay on a bed of nails.  The other favorites at the museum were the IMAX theater and the exploding balloon demonstration.  The IMAX movie we saw was about polar bears, specifically mother polar bears and the added challenges that melting ice packs brings to them and other Arctic life.  It was really good and the girls weren't scared.  They were disturbed that the ice is melting and that ends up hurting animals, and that male polar bears try to eat baby polar bears when they can't find seals.  But the film did a good job of not sugar-coating anything, but also not showing the gory stuff.  The demonstration we got to see was on the Hindenburg disaster.  The demonstrator told everyone how the hydrogen inside the zeppelin and the oxygen outside exploded when a heat source allowed them to combine.  Then she exploded a hydrogen-filled balloon to demonstrate this.  It was pretty cool.

We've been playing a lot of board games lately.  I think the games we got for Christmas reminded us how much fun it is to play lots of different games.  Lyla's favorite is Guess Who.  Gwyn is surprisingly interested in Settlers of Catan.  Jason of course likes Dominion.  Celee in general is a spectator in these games.  She prefers to watch and chat while we all play.  She does enjoy the occasional Connect Four Launchers though.  I guess I would still love to play Trivial Pursuit, but no one in this family shares my love for that game.  I particularly enjoy the 80s version, as I possess a wide variety of useless knowledge about 80s politics and world events.  Maybe we should invest in a newer version of cards....
Saturday the girls and I rode the train downtown to see the Martin Luther King Jr. Parade.  It was really fun!  The girls and I really enjoyed all the dance troops and drum lines.  Oh how I miss band!   Why can't a middle-aged white lady play in a marching band?!  Apparently there are my age and older ladies who dance in dance troupes here.  I truly am envious.  Alas, I will have to live vicariously through my girls who all are determined to either dance, play, or cheer in parades one day.  That's fine by me - I had my day in the sun of various Decatur Christmas and Homecoming Parades.

My other project this week has been trying to create a writing/art center for the girls.  I had a over-the-door shoe holder thing that worked great for pencils, markers, pens, tape, stamps, etc.  I could not find a similar thing that would hold sheets of paper though.  And I'm frugal (cheap) so I was not going to order one online.  This worked out well though because I made one.  And I didn't have to buy anything.  I had the fabric, thread, cardboard, and grommets already.  So now the supplies are right there to hopefully prompt some creative juices to flow.  The added bonus is that I don't have to dig through boxes if they ask me for these things, they can get them themselves.   My homemade paper holder/rack isn't the best.  I tend to eye-ball things like this and not really measure anything.  But it works and it's green so it makes me happy.

On a more serious note - A man on the train Saturday got me thinking.  He got on singing very loudly about Jesus and how we can all cheer for the Orioles and the Ravens but we ought to cheer just as fervently for the Lord.  A couple of people were annoyed and left the car we were on.  I found myself embarrassed - I hope this was more at his volume on a train and not in the words he was saying.  I also found myself not wanting to be embarrassed but rather wanting to be a good example for the girls, who I could tell were also embarassed.  I kept thinking, "What am I embarrassed of?  I believe everything this man is saying (singing)!"  Then after we got off the train, Celee asked me if I thought it made God happy that the man was praising Him on the train.  I told her that I couldn't think of any reason why someone praising God wouldn't make Him happy.  So why was I ashamed?  I certainly don't want to be ashamed of Jesus or the sacrifice He made for me.  I don't want there to be a disconnect between what I say I believe and what I act like I believe.  On that train with other people around, they knew that man was a Christian.  And while I don't think we are all led to sing loudly on public transportation, I wonder if people would know I am a Christian as well.  This all carried over into today when during our church's service we sang a song while everyone was seated.  This always bothers me for some reason, but especially when in my head/heart I feel like I should be standing with my arms held high. (Especially when the song happens to have words about standing, dancing, or holding hand high)  But I stay seated unless enough brave people around me stand first.  Why does that fear of what other people think stay my hands!?  In the church of all places!  It's not as if I go to churches where standing and lifting up hands is even abnormal behavior.  I could see it perhaps disturbing other people's worship if I was at a traditional or very conservative church, but I don't have those excuses to fall back on.  It's just my own cowardice.  It's like during these seemingly inconsequential happenings I hear God asking me, "How much do you really want to worship me?"  And I silently answer, "Not that much.  Not enough to draw attention to me.  Not enough for anyone to think I'm weird."  So that's where I am this week.  Confessing and submitting my cowardice to God.  Hoping that He will take it and make something useful out of it.  And hoping, as Beth Moore once said, that I can learn whatever lesson He's trying to teach me on paper and prayer and not through trial.  So thank you Man On The Train, for prompting me to think hard on the kind of worship I can give and what kind of witness I can be.