Cherokee Extravaganza

The kids and I have really enjoyed learning about their Cherokee roots over the past few years.   In 2009 we flew out to Gilcrease Museum to see a special exhibition featuring 130+ pieces of my husband's grandfather's most famous sculptures.  Three of Stone's most famous pieces are part of a trilogy he made for the Cherokee Historical Society to commemorate the Trail of Tears.  

Stone said that "Uprooted"  represents the Cherokees "pulling away from the ground they had been living on from the time they were born." It also represents "any people who are forced from their land because of the greed or lust of some more powerful race." It is carved in the stump of a red cedar.

Uprooted (one side)

Uprooted (other side)

The Exodus (walnut)

 "By faith, enough survived the Trail of Tears to seed the new land. 

By faith, they will sprout and make it better. For this they give thanks."  - Willard Stone

Transplant

The kids were so fascinated by their great-grandfather's work and the story of the Trail of Tears that they dressed in authentic Indian buckskin clothing (hand stitched by a Cherokee woman), and each gave a presentation about the Trail of Tears to our homeschool co-op after we returned home.

So, when I learned that a Classical Conversations homeschool group in a nearby city would be hosting the Cherokee Extravaganza, I made plans to take the kids as a field trip.  My husband even took the day off to join us.

We learned all about Cherokee crafts and weaponry.  The kids enjoyed chiseling an arrowhead using animal bone.

I was especially impressed by the water proof double weave baskets that take many hours every day for weeks to make.  Both kids loved the turtle shaker instrument, and our daughter, who beads jewelry for fun at home, was especially interested in the jewelry and decorative leggings and garters.

The dances were hilarious.  Most were named after animals.  My typically conservative husband went up front to participate in the quail dance while our daughter's face turned bright red with embarrassment.  His mom said, "I knew he had it in him!"

While they were dancing, the lady seated next to me pointed out that the Cherokees giving the workshop all had jet black hair.  One lady was at least 20-30 years my senior, yet her mane was still silky, shiny, healthy and black without a spec of gray.  Were my husband 100% Cherokee, would his hair still be jet black today?  He certainly has a lot less gray than his wife who is of Irish/English descent.

As we were driving home, an earthquake shook our city of residence for the first time EVER.  Since we were riding on tires we did not feel the tremor at all.  I'm disappointed to have missed out on such a historic moment, but at least we enjoyed a nice family day together.

Google Search Keywords Game

Google provides interesting statistics to bloggers.  Included with these statistics is a list a of top Google search keywords that sent visitors to that blog.  Could this list of top search keywords or phrases summarize the content of the blog or at least reveal some interesting information about the blogger?  Let's find out.  If you are a blogger, check out the top 3 search phrases for your blog and decide if they provide a good synopsis.

Or, simply choose a sentence below or make up your own and fill in the blanks with appropriate phrases that use the top three keywords:

This blogger likes to _____________ , _____________, and ______________.
                                


This blog is all about _____________, _____________, and ______________.
                             


This blogger likes to ____________ with ___________  who _____________.
                                 


I'll start.  My top three search phrases are:

 #1:  piriformis stretch

 #2:  cute 4-year old boy
(This one is funny to me because the page this search sends them to does not contain this phrase anywhere.)

 #3:  example of a lovable child
(This phrase is not on my blog either although our daughter did write a poem about our son entitled, "The Loving Boy".)

My sentence would be:
This blogger likes to do the piriformis stretch with a cute 4-year old boy who is an example of a lovable child.

Photography by BeasKnees

Indeed, my life is largely consumed with physical therapy and lots of stretches as I battle chronic athletic injuries which have gotten so bad that I have now officially given up running.  Yes, I have a cute 4-year old boy, and my children are exceedingly loving.  While I wish the keywords included something about the Christian faith, these keywords do tell quite a bit about me.

Now it's your turn.  Please feel free to share your results in the comment section.

The Pirate Who Can't See Anything

This blog post was inspired by the Veggie Tales song, "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything."
(lyrics here)

Video:


My version:

The Pirate Who Can't See Anything

She was the pirate who didn't do anything.
She just stayed home and lied around.
And if you asked her to do anything,
She just wailed and said, "I can't see anything!"

Well, she woke up to a call one day after Hurricane Irene.
Announcing a home showing so she had to get up and clean.
While pulling lots of crafts and junk from the corner of the kids' sty,
She somehow managed to fling an object into her right eye.

She was the pirate who didn't do anything.
She just stayed home and lied around.
And if you asked her to do anything,
She just wailed and said, "I can't see anything!"

The pain was intense like knockout punches followed by flaming spears.
She needed medical attention. Nothing could stop her tears.
Her daughter's car seat was not there, and the realtor was on her way.
She called a neighbor who by "chance" had her husband's car that day.
(which had more seats than her car, just enough for everyone)

She was the pirate who didn't do anything.
She just stayed home and lied around.
And if you asked her to do anything,
She just wailed and said, "I can't see anything!"

The neighbor had a spare car seat and could take them to see a doc.
The neighbor came to the rescue and helped her through the shock.
Her cornea was badly ripped, so she received a bandaid lens.
The pain got worse.  She suffered much. She repented of her sins.

She was the pirate who didn't do anything.
She just stayed home and lied around.
And if you asked her to do anything,
She just wailed and said, "I can't see anything!"

Well, she couldn't read her Bible, so her her daughter read it to her.
She couldn't drive her car to see the doctor or the grocer.
She prayed for endurance until the agony came to an end.
An eye patch gave her some relief while her cornea did mend.

She was the pirate who didn't do anything.
She just stayed home and lied around.
And if you asked her to do anything,
She just wailed and said, "I can't see anything!"

She treasured all the prayers and support from each faithful, caring friend.
And renewed her commitment to intercede for them again.
She realized what a gift it is to have eyes that can behold
God's glorious creation and her loved ones both young and old.

 

Deuteronomy 4:9

 ⁹ Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.

Top Kid Quotes for the Week (9/2/2011)

Quotes by our Right-Brained-Child (age 7):

"Mom, you talk faster than a horse canters."  

"I'm as tired as an oven is hot"

After opening her most recent Fat Cat account statement, she wailed, "Oh no, they lowered my rate again!"    Now she's only earning one penny a month instead of two. Welcome to the recession, my child. 

Quotes by our son (age 4):

While staring at a photo of a girl we sponsor in Haiti, he looked up at me with great concern in his countenance and asked, "Mom, why does her country's name have a bad word in it?"  (FYI:  "Hate" is a bad word at our house.)

Me:            Son, clean your room.
Echo:         I need a help! The Bible says, "Two are better than one."
Me:           (Thinking to myself....what a smarty pants!) 

Dad:           Why do you need help?
Echo:         Because my room is REALLY messy.

Dad:           Who made the mess?
Echo:         (pouty lip)

Some of the kids' recent comments have been amusing to me personally because they reflect pieces of myself.  Like a rushing river, a steady current of questions pour from our lips without pause.

Echo:  "Mom, how does this refrigerator work?"   

Me:   "Great question, son, but I think you may be too young to understand the refrigeration cycle."

Echo:  How does the dishwasher work?  What causes a hurricane?  What makes the phone ring?  I want to know how everything operates!

My curiosity about how things are made and how they operate led me to pursue a degree in engineering.  Perhaps my boy, who currently prefers math and science over reading, will eventually become an engineer.

Before I aspired to become an engineer, I longed to become an inventor.  I read biographies of Ben Franklin, Thomas Edison, and Alexander Graham Bell repeatedly as a child and enjoyed trying to come up with ideas for inventions.  Similarly, our right-brained-child is often busy designing some new invention (examples here).  She and her brother might make a great team some day.  She'll come up with lots of creative ideas for inventions, and he can figure out how to manufacture them.

Ever feel like running away?

When I was a child, I loved reading adventure books.  My favorites were Robinson Crusoe, My Side of the Mountain, Swiss Family Robinson, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  When I was about my daughter's age, I decided to go on an exploration adventure all by myself.  I told my parents that while I was happy at home, it was time for me to leave home and pursue adventure in strange new lands.  So, Mom and Dad helped me pack a knapsack, and I insisted on carrying my pink plastic rake as my primary tool and means of defense.

It was dark when I hugged my family goodbye that evening. I walked down the sidewalk with a courageous spirit, but by the time I reached the end of the long driveway, I had decided that maybe I was too young to face the shadows, darkness, and creepy crawling things all alone.  So, I made a U-turn and peeked inside the back door window.

Mom was on the phone, and Dad was in the recliner watching television as if I had never left. After having a pity party in the garage all alone for a few moments, I mustered up the courage to knock on the back door.

My parents called my bluff and welcomed me back home with loving arms. I will never forget the lessons I learned that evening about my own neediness and how thankful I was for their provision and protection.  No amount of adventure can compare to dwelling in the comfortable home of loving parents.

My daughter is a voracious reader. She loves adventure as much as I did back then and has quite a lot of courage for a 7-year old girl.  Apparently, she has similar ideas about running away to pursue adventure as I did back then.  This afternoon, we got to review her runaway plans. 

For some people, like Jetman, the adventurous spirit only increases with age.  Dad suggested I try this adventure next:

Who wants to join me?  

When I was their age...

While spending time with my children this past week, I have been reminded of how much technology has changed life today compared to when I was their age.

While reviewing some sight words with our 4-year old, I came to the word "will".  Our son looked at the letters and said, "That word is Wii.  I love to play the Wii."  I know I never made that mistake back then.

When attempting to explain how the nervous system works this past week, the best analogy I could use so the kids could understand was to compare the nervous system to email or texting.  If you touch something hot, your nerves will send an email to your brain that reads, "Fingers are burning."  Then the brain will text the fingers this note:  "Move before you permanently damage the epithelial tissue."  Our 7-year old replied, "The nervous system sends messages really quickly, doesn't it, Mom?"

Since our daughter has been emailing and skyping friends overseas, our 4-year old has been asking how long it takes for her emails to travel to Taiwan.  He also wanted to know if email travels through the air like sound waves.   I didn't ask such questions when I was his age.

Skyping with a friend in Taiwan

Without receiving any instruction from my husband or me, our children, by the age of three, had taught themselves how to log onto a computer, open up the internet, go to PBSkids or Webkins or any of the multiple educational sites to which we have subscribed, operate the mouse, and play games.  They could not read or spell, but they learned which keys to press and how to operate the mouse simply by watching us repeat the sequence many times.  I wasn't introduced to a computer until elementary school where there were a few Apple 2e desktop computers for the entire school to share.  We used arrow keys (since the mouse had not been invented yet) to play Oregon Trail and Lemonade Stand.  Who remembers?

When I was their age, family time often involved sitting around an old CRT television (no cable, satellite, HD, DVD, orTiVo, but we did have color displays) watching The Andy Griffith Show, Hee Haw, or Love Boat.  While family time around here often involves the same board games we played back then or reading classic novels together, it also often involves new technology.  The kids enjoy playing the Wii, watching Netflix or gathering around an iPad 2 to play Angry Birds.

Family time with the iPad

Angry Birds

The amount of time I must spend on the computer each day overwhelms me.   When I first started using email, my goal was to have zero messages in my inbox by the end of the day.  A few years later, I allowed myself no more than 30 messages in my inbox by the end of the day.  Any more than that had to have been read, addressed and deleted.  By the time I got married, I allowed myself no more than 50.  After the kids came along, the goal was no more than 100.  Each year, I have continued to increase my limit. I am now at a point where I struggle to keep my inbox to less than 600 emails, and I spend more time on email than ever before.  Email, lesson plans, medical scheduling, banking, shopping, group calendaring, scrapbooking, studying, budgeting, bill paying, writing, working, playing - everything involves a computer.  Technology can so easily take over our lives that sometimes I REALLY want a break from it all.   Yet, when our internet service went out last week causing me to waste many hours and cell phone dollars on hold or dealing with Time Warner's customer support specialists (who know even less than I do) only to be told that our modem is dead (100% wrong assessment) and they could not send someone out until the following weekend to repair it, I felt as if a natural disaster had occurred.  The irony is amusing. There was the break from technology that I had been wanting, but it came at the wrong time, and it totally ruined my day. 

How can technology be so overwhelming yet so necessary?  This amusing video demonstrates how much people rely upon the internet.  Those interviewed said they would not give up the internet for one million, five million, 10 million, or even a billion dollars.    How much is the internet worth to you?

Preacher Girl

This past week, our Right Brained Child (RBC) announced that she wants to be a preacher when she grows up. So, she got out her Bible and began preaching to her brother until he left. She begged him to come back and preach with her, but he replied, "You can preach, but I'm bored, so I'm going to play Legos."

Later that week, she decided to practice preaching at her brother's roller hockey practice.  So, she wore a shirt with Philippians 4:13 quoted on the back and brought a Bible with her to practice.  As her brother put on his equipment for class, she read Philippians chapter 4 to him and reminded him that he could do all things through Christ.

She eventually found a mount and pretended to preach.

She must have held a question and answer session this morning because I overheard her brother asking her questions.

Echo:  Can we pray that Satan will become a Christian?

RBC:  No, that isn't possible.

Echo:  Well...can we at least pray that Obama will become a Christian?

RBC:  I'm not sure if that is possible either.

Clearly, RBC needs to learn more Scripture before she becomes a preacher.  Perhaps she should being with these two verses:

"And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven."  (Matthew 12:31)

"Jesus looked at them and said, 'With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.'" (Matthew 19:26)

But there is this gap

By Ira Glass

I have neglected this blog.

I'm sorry for the lapse.

 I've been writing somewhere else,

And working on the gaps.

This quote above by Ira Glass may have been directed toward authors, but the application is far reaching.  We may have a picture in our minds of what our dreams, ambitions, and creative works (art, music, dance, photography, writing, etc.) should be like, but rarely do we ever get it right the first time.  It takes years of practice and lots of diligent labor.  This principle applies in school, career, parenting, self discipline, athletics, relationships, and just about everything.

Jesus gives us a picture of what abiding in Christ should look like through His parable of the branch and the vine in John 15: 4-6.  He also provides a vision of how we should love one another.

1 Corinthians 13: 4-8

 ⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
 ⁸ Love never fails.

He clearly demonstrated true love to us.

Romans 5:8
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

We will fall short.  We will not abide in Him perfectly the first time.  We will not always love each other perfectly as He loves us.  However, we must keep working.  Practice loving God and loving others every day.  Never give up!  Keep working on those gaps while praising Christ for fully bridging the most important gap which man's efforts could never close.

www.navigators.org (The Bridge to Life)

Philippians 1:6
being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Nation in Crisis: Please Pray

Our nation is an enormous state of crisis.  Read more here.

I'm so impressed with Texas's governor, Rick Perry, who initiated The Response: A call to prayer for a nation in crisis.

Join the prayer rally via live streaming here.

2 Chronicles 7:14
if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Top kid quotes for the week

Echo:  "Mom, why did God make bugs? Why on earth did He made mosquitoes?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

On July 28, our daughter changed her career aspiration to "Olympic horse rider and whatever God calls me to do."  Her 4-year old brother decided that he now wants to become a "Christeologist." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~  

One evening this past week I watched the kids hug and say to one another, "I love you". I told them how happy I was to know that they still love each other, but I still wish they would not argue so much.  Right Brained Child (RBC) replied,  "Mom, we're brother and sister.  What do you expect?"

Photo by Blink of an Eye Photography

~~~~~~~~~~~~  

Echo:  "All this talking by my sister makes my head hurt!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~  

We have a family rule when playing board games that if someone plays out of turn, then he or she loses a turn.  RBC lost her turn and wailed, "It wasn't my fault.  It was my hand's fault."