Tert's Soccer 2014 Photos By: Siobhan aka Stella

 Tert finished his first year of soccer this past Saturday. He loved it and scored many goals over the season. We are so proud of him!

 He insisted that I let him get a few 'fun' pictures :)

Headball!

Great Job Tert!

Periodic Table Fun By: Siobhan

Rus and Tert have been absolutely loving their science curriculum for this year, which is Apologia's Young Explorers Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics. They recently studied the Periodic Table of Elements. One of the experiments was making the periodic table out of cookies. I gave them a little help piping the elements on the cookies, but they frosted them all by themselves.

 Supplies: Shortbread Cookies, Frosting, Decorating Gel, and a Copy of the Periodic Table of Elements

I counted out the number of cookies for each color that we did, and then I divided the cookies between Rus and Tert to decorate. We only did one color at a time, or else it would have gotten crazy.

Filia did the blue and red cookies, and Rus and Tert did the yellow and brown. We had frosting to do more colors, but we ran out of time and cookies. :) 

 Our Periodic Table

Great Job Guys!

LOTW-Letter C with Filia By: Siobhan

This past week Filia and I did the letter C for our LOTW curriculum. 

 Filia loves her Pom-Pom Magnets

 Playing with Magnets :)

 Tert loves helping her whenever he can.

 Poke Page

Do-A-Dots!

Mom bought Filia a paint set for her birthday, which she has really enjoyed using during preschool.

I like to review all of the letters that we have covered once every week. I specifically give Filia practice on the letter we are learning this week. 

Filia is doing so much better with her size sorting since we have played this Caterpillar Size Match Game

We also did a color match

Great Job Filia!

Patriot Essay By: Siobhan

The colonists’ Declaration of Independence is filled with powerful arguments as to why they were breaking off from Britain and many appeals to the King to listen to their cause.  At a glance, it may seem that the Patriots were extreme, and in some cases they were.  However, it is easy to understand how they came to their position considering the events leading up to the powerful Declaration.

Many people make the wrong assumption that the colonists were angered by the amount they were being taxed.  This is not true.  In fact, at the time, the taxes were only six percent!  The reason they were revolted by the taxes was the issue behind them.  They felt unjustly taken advantage of by the King because they saw him as having no right to tax them. They already had authorities that were set in place to tax them.  A parallel situation would be if a person lived in North Carolina and moved to Pennsylvania but continued to get bills from North Carolina.

Similarly, the colonists were angered by the murder of a boy in a riot as well as the death of five men in the Boston Massacre.

The King of England was a strict, unfeeling man who was seen by the colonists as a tyrant.  This is understandable as he had performed many injustices among the people.  He refused to let them pass laws, ridded the country of representative houses, elected officers himself, sent armies over without the consent of the people, cut off trade, imposed unjust taxes and juries, and did not listen to pleas for help and mercy.  His armies were cruel to the colonist and got away with murder.

The colonists warned the King before they wrote the Declaration that they would appeal to justice if he did not exercise it among them.

The colonists believed that governments are established for the good of the people to maintain order and justice among them.  When a government is unjust, they said it is the right of the people-even their duty to throw it off and establish a new government.

The argument that the colonists should not break their ties with Britain because they would have inevitable war and death is not valid, because there already had been death.  It would only be so long before war ravished the country anyway because of the many riots and injustices. 

Industry was held up by this unrest, and it was not to be solved until war was declared.

The argument that the colonists should stay allied with Britain because of their need for protection is likewise invalid because the King was not offering protection.  He was allowing people to ‘ravage the coasts.’ 

Clearly, the colonists did not react on a whim.  There were many injustices done to them, and they responded in the only way open to them which was breaking their ties with Britain and establishing a new and greater country-the United States of America.

By: Siobhan aka Stella (14)

10th Grade

Loyalist Essay By: Leo

            It has become painfully necessary for my fellow loyalists and myself to present arguments to the said “Patriots” against breaking the once steadfast bonds between the American Colonies and their mother country, Great Britain. 

             Firstly, it is folly to oppose the greatest military power on earth.  We now war against our fellow Englishmen; men who have put their lives at stake in an effort to maintain our liberty.  Yet we complain of oppression!  In what sad world do we live that we should attempt to strike down our very source of nourishment, safety, and freedom?!

Secondly, it is rebellion not only against our earthly king, George III, it is a direct opposition against our Father in Heaven.  Because he has appointed our governing officials, war against them is war against God.  Also, he has required nothing of us that opposes God’s command.   Our allegiance to him in no way lessens our commitment as faithful Christians. 

Thirdly, loss in the way of commerce has in no way been escaped by Britain.  A reuniting with her would be a great blessing and help to both of our countries. The same navy that has, by our own doing, excluded us from the blessing and necessity of commerce, may once again aid us in our trade and be a safeguard against the dangers that may come with it.

I conclude, therefore, that we have no claims on oppression from this most

 honorable country.  The sufferings which we have born should not be looked on with malice.  They are simply the self inflicted chastening of us by our parent country, Great Britain in an effort to win us back to herself.  We should submissively return; therefore, to joy of her welcoming arms.

About Three Little Pig Essays

The essays below were done by Stella and Leo for their Omnibus III curriculum. The assignment was to rewrite the story of the three little pig as a series of letters.

~Stella

The Three Little Pigs as Retold By: Siobhan

Once upon a time there were three brothers.  These brothers were not ordinary brothers, for they lived in the land of Grimm.  The oldest brother was named Harold.  The second brother was named Wilbur, and the third was named Oliver.  When he had come of age, Harold went out into the world and decided to live on his own.  Now, everybody in the land of Grimm has an odd obsession with knowing everything about everybody, and they feel the necessity of putting it in writing.  Hence, these three brothers, although very different in nature, kept in close contact with each other through letters.

Dear Wilbur,

I am getting along fine.  Yesterday I put in a good day’s walk of two miles.  Then, I fell down, exhausted, on the roadside.  As I lay there, munching on some eggshells, a man came hobbling up the road pulling a load of straw.  “

“Just the thing for building a house!” I cried in astonishment and glee. I opened my wallet and took the straw off him for a ridiculously small amount.  I believe the old fellow would have given them to me for half what I offered, but I couldn’t let him think that I was being charitable.  So, I pulled the load of straw out, bought myself a little piece of land, and here I am.

My house is almost finished, and then I am done with working for a very long time.

Yours,

Harold

Dear Harold,

Wouldn’t you know?  You and I are neighbors!  Yes, old fellow.  I too can make my mark on the world!  I had as good luck as you did.  I was able to get a load of sticks someone had left on the side of the road.  I bought a piece of land, and it adjoins your property.  Think what fun we’ll have and what parties we shall throw!  I wonder if old Oliver will have the luck we’ve had.

Yours,

Wilbur

Dear Wilbur,

Thank you for your letter.  I appreciate your taking the time to write to me, as I’m sure you are very busy looking for work and building your house.  I have made living arrangements and I have found a good piece of land near yours and Harold’s.  It is good land, and I plan to raise some crops on it. 

I’ve started construction on my house, and it should be done in about a month.  I shall stay at home until it is ready, while I research my crops and purchase some seed.  I hope that your business endeavors are going well.  You didn’t mention your present occupation.  I would be very interested to hear of it in your next letter.

I am going to be quite busy the next few weeks, so please forgive me if you don’t hear from me for a time.

Sincerely yours,

Oliver

Dear Oliver,

What a silly boy you are!  Wilbur tells me you’ve been filling your time with lengthy business preparations and anxiety about your crops.  Relax and enjoy yourself!  Celebrate your entrance into the world.  It’s really not a Grimm world, like some think.

I am planning a party on the third.  Please take a day off and come!  It’s to be quite an affair.

Yours,

Harold

Dear Harold and Wilbur,

I am sending a joint letter, to warn you both that we have reason to believe that Mr. B.B. Wolf is in the vicinity.  Take care not to go out after dark, and lock your doors when you come in.  I am planning to have a tunnel made between our three houses, so that, in case of emergency, we can rendezvous at my place.

Yours,

Oliver

Although Harold and Wilbur ignored Oliver, B.B. Wolf was in fact ‘in the vicinity.’  He had an odd characteristic of showing up right when three brothers happened to go into the world.  He planned to tackle the brothers one at a time, saving the youngest (and most satisfying, he thought) for last.

One day, as Oliver was going over his accounts, he received a letter written in a scrawl, full of blots and an air of panic.

Dear Olivr,

You’l never gess what happened!  B.B. Wolf shoed up at Harold’s lst night, and he threatned to consme him mercilessly!!  Harold bolted his dor, but B.B. just sneezed, and the whole bale of hay came tumbling dwn! Harold was able to use the tunel, but it was a clse call.  He will be living at my place, thoh, it is ratherr snug.

Take care,

Harold and Wilbur

That night, Oliver was awakened out of sleep with a bang.  He sprang out of bed and flung open the latch to the tunnel door.  He beheld Harold and Wilbur, knees quaking with panic.  They were so shaken that they couldn’t talk, so they sat down and wrote him a letter.

Dear Olivr,

What a scre we’v had!  B.B. Wolf came to Wilbur’s door.  He demnded entrance, but we said nay.  Howvr, he persisted, so we used the tunnel, but just after he had yawned and set the whole house crshing down!

What shall we do?

Harold and Wilbur

Oliver was about to speak, but was interrupted by pounding on the door.  It was the wolf, who was very hungry by this time, and was anxious to do away with the three pigs.  Oliver slowly smiled as he set a pot of water to boil.

Harold and Wilbur could only write:

R U CRZY?

He walked complacently to his door and said, “We have nothing to do with you, sir.  We do not take kindly to strangers pounding on our door in the middle of the night and shaking us out of bed, so please leave my premises, or I will be bound to call the huntsman, who will dispatch you as he did your cousin, when he tried to devour Little Red.”

          B.B. listened in astonishment.  He was not used to this flagrant disrespect of his quite prideful personage.  He expected a squeal of terror, such as he usually got from the pig families.  This disconcerted him.  He could not sneeze or yawn down the house, as it was a very sturdy structure.  Hence, he climbed to the rooftop and jumped down the only opening that Oliver hadn’t filled, which was the chimney.  This was quite stupid of the wolf, for as soon as he landed, he fell in the pot of water boiling for tea.  Wolves have learned to adjust to their frequent falls into pots of boiling water set out for them by slightly cleverer younger brother pigs however, so he soon regained composure and walked towards the pigs with disgust and hunger.  Just as he came upon them, Oliver whistled and the huntsman jumped out from a closet.  He fell on the wolf and stabbed him, putting an end to B.B. Wolf.

          Now, the moral for this story is, as Harold and Wilbur learned, do not neglect working hard.  Have a plan in place before you leave home to enter the world.  Avoid men with sticks and straw, build sturdy houses, and make sure to hire your own private huntsman.

By: Siobhan aka Stella (14)

Grade: 10

The Three Little Pigs as Retold By: Leo

Dearest Cousin,

It was such a pleasure to hear from you.  I regret not having been able to reply sooner, yet much has needed to be done in the past weeks.  I have missed you from the moment that my two brothers and I left home.  Seeing that we had come of age, it seemed good to us that we should make something of ourselves.  Though it took a considerable amount of time to convince Mother, she eventually agreed and we made preparations to leave.  We soon left and made for town.  There were many fine things to be seen in town, yet unlike my brothers, I stuck firmly to my purpose of buying supplies for a house.  My brothers bought the most convenient supplies that they could find and made off to buy plots of land.  I, however, remained in town, asking contractors for their opinions on the sturdiest building.  I had recently heard rumors of the infamous “Big, Bad Wolf” being in the area.  My two brothers simply laughed, saying the reports of such a fellow were silly fairy tales.  I on the other hand was determined to be prepared for whatever I might meet with.  I eventually decided on bricks, having heard that his specialties were in the line of huffing and puffing, which, as I heard were nearly useless against a sturdy brick structure. By the time I met up with my brothers, they had already built their houses and were relaxing with a picnic.  It was evident that they had not put much effort into the building process and I kindly offered my help.  They brushed me aside, so I began to build my own house.  I had read multiple books on the subject and meticulously designed a structure.  Although I spent many weeks and received many criticisms, I eventually built a structure that suited my needs.  I soon found out that I had done so just in time for the Big Bad Wolf was quite near. He soon came upon our houses.  My youngest brother’s house being the weakest, he approached it first.  In a horrible and fearful voice he commanded, “Little Piggy, Little Piggy, let me in!”

           

            My brother’s equally stubborn reply, cheered me a bit, “Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin!” 

The wolf was exasperated and began ranting and raving, “Then I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house in!”  As soon as he said this, he gave a tremendous puff that scattered the straw in all dirrections.  My brother squealed and heaved his portly figure to the house of my second youngest brother.  Just as soon as he closed the door behind him, the wolf arrived at the house.  In a voice boomed like thunder, he screamed, “Little Piggies, Little Piggies, let me in!”

Both replied in the same stout manner, “Not by the hair of our chinny, chin, chins!”

He threatened the second pig as he had before, “Then I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house down.  And so he did.  The sharp, flying sticks cut my brothers in many places.  With much grunting and snorting they scrambled to my house.  They stopped at the door in disbelief of my house’s grandeur, but only for a moment.  The wolf was right behind them and they scrambled inside just in time.  A third time the wolf threatened us and was met with the same response.  This time, however, the wolf’s huffing and puffing was to no avail. My brothers cheered, thinking our troubles to be over.  I, however, saw that the wolf had something else up his sleeve.  I hurriedly told my brothers to gather fire wood and build up a fire.  Though they did not understand what was happening, they listened to me, for they held my judgment in higher regard than their own.  As soon as we had a fire blazing in the fireplace, we heard the scratching of the wolf’s deadly claws on the roof.  My brothers cried out in terror.  In one leap the wolf jumped into the chimney.  He hadn’t seen the smoke.  He gave one last cry of terror and rage and was then consumed in the flames.  For a moment, we were all silent.  The silence was soon broken, however by the cheers of my brothers.  And so you see, laziness is one of the greatest offenses. 

Yours truly,

Pigling Bland

Retold By: Leo (13)

Grade: 8th

Impersonation of Anne Askew By: Siobhan

  I am very grateful that the Lord Chancellor has given me the opportunity to speak before you today.  I pray that God will use my words to open the eyes of the spiritually blind.

          Why I am here today is not because of anything that I have done right or wrong.  I don’t know why God has given me the privilege of speaking before you, but I praise Him for it.  I pray that He will give me words to speak.

          Firstly, I am charged with heresy in my sayings with regards to the mass.  I wholeheartedly acknowledge that I said I was more edified by five lines of Scripture than five masses.  This is because mass is so polluted, and Scripture is so twisted there that it becomes nothing less than heresy. 

          Second, I am charged with heresy in regards to the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.  I believe that the bread and wine are holy, but I do not believe that they are Christ’s body and blood or that they should be worshipped.  If they are, they become idols.  Christ’s body was offered up once and for all, and anybody who says anything to the contrary calls Christ a liar.  After all, does the Scripture not say, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.” ‘Death,’ not deaths!  We read: “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.”  Christ suffered once for sins, not many times!  And for what else would He suffer, for He came down as the Lamb of God simply to live a perfect life and take away the sins of the world. 

          Finally, I am charged with heresy because I do not acknowledge the authority of the pope to judge and condemn.  Yes, we are to submit to authorities.  But when those authorities are utterly corrupt and wallowing in sin and filth, we are to submit to God over them.  I defy the pope, and I do not believe He has been given authority over us.

          I appeal to Scripture to back up everything that I have said here today, and plead with Christ to forgive me if I have wronged Him or anyone here today.  I know I am innocent, but face the fire, unjust as it may be, with no fear.  I praise God that He has deemed me worthy for this moment, and I pray that I will glorify Him in my death.  I also plead with Him to open the eyes of my persecutors and to forgive them as He has so lavishly forgiven me.  

By: Siobhan aka Stella (14)

Grade: 10

Nicholas Ridley By: Leo

        Throughout history we see thousands of examples of those who have given their lives for their faith.  One of these examples that I find particularly convicting, is that of Bishop Nicholas Ridley. Bishop Ridley was born in 1500 in Northumberland, England.  Ridley was very diligent in his studies at Cambridge University, and was appointed head of Pembroke College.  He received the title Dr. of Divinity.  Dr Ridley was became a chaplain and was later promoted to bishop by King Edward VI.  His protestant beliefs however, brought about his downfall.  In 1554 a hearing was held against Dr. Ridley, and his companions, Thomas Cranmer, and Hugh Latimer.  In this "trial" the prisoners received countless insults and were given very little opportunity to speak.  Soon afterwards, Dr. Ridley was sentenced to death.  He was to be burned at the stake along with Hugh Latimer.  Throughout all this persecution Ridley stood firm in his faith.  His consolation to Latimer as they approach the stake makes this quite evident: "Be of good heart, brother, for God will either make the fire less painful, of strengthen us so that we can endure it." His concern for his companion up to his death is also very convicting. Latimer was consumed in the flames quickly; therefore, he experienced very little pain.  Ridley greatly rejoiced at this.  He was, however, far less fortunate.  For a while the flames consumed only the bottom part of his body.  Though he greatly suffered, Nicholas Ridley rejoiced that he was counted worthy to die for his Lord.  Nicholas Ridley set an incredible example for us in our everyday lives.  If he was given the grace to endure such torment, how much more should we willingly accept any trouble or persecution that we face. 

By: Leo (13)

Grade: 8th

Free Will Essay By: Siobhan

What is free will?  According to the Random House Dictionary, free will is ‘free and independent choice; voluntary decision.’  Our culture emphasizes free will all the time.  Christians grapple with the issue of free will and how it fits with predestination.  Predestination is ‘to destine in advance; foreordain; predetermine.’  In Ephesians 1:11 we read, “In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.”  God predestined us and all that we would/will think, say, feel, or do.  “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD,” (Proverbs 16:33.) 

          On what does God base His decisions in regard to our predestination?  Some say it is based on our works.  Looking at Romans 9:11-13, we see this cannot be the case: “Though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls—she was told, ‘The older will serve the younger.’ As it is written, ‘Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

          This might seem incredibly unfair, but if we read on we see, “For he says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’ So then, it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy.” 

          Now we get to the issue of free will.  If God’s predestination of us does not depend on human will or exertion, then how can we have free will?

In Deuteronomy 30, we read: “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”  This clearly implies a choice that we must make.  The easiest way to understand free will is to go to the very beginning.  In Genesis 2:16-17, we read: “And the LORD God commanded the man saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”  Man at this point had free will to choose life or death.  God predestined that man would fall.  He knew that Adam was going to sin, but Adam made that choice.  As Christian apologist Matt Slick says, “An illustration would be that I could arrange for my child to choose ice cream over something else and not violate his free will. For instance, I could put a bowl of chocolate ice cream and a bowl of dirt and rocks in front of my child, and I know exactly which one the child will choose to eat.   But my knowing does not violate my child's free will.”  In Genesis 3, we read about the fall and Adam’s choice of death over life.  As Adam was our representative, we became dead in sin.  Dead people obviously cannot choose anything.  Our free will became enslaved to sin when Adam sinned. 

Genesis 3 would leave us with no hope if it were not for verse 16: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”  ‘He’ is clearly referring to Jesus, who came and lived as the ‘second Adam,’ the perfect representative who died for our sins so that we could be freed from our enslavement to sin and death, and be enslaved instead to life and righteousness. 

          Until Jesus returns for the second time and completes our sanctification, we are still plagued by indwelling sin, but we also can have full assurance that we will one day be perfected and live in glory with Christ forever.  In conclusion, free will and predestination do not contradict each other.  God predestined that Adam would choose death over life, but it was Adam’s decision.  Jesus then came to be a second representative, and He perfectly fulfilled the requirements to raise us from death to life.  In the meantime, while we are still wrestling with sin, we can have assurance in the fact that our lives are not in our own sinful hands, but they are in the hands of our gracious heavenly Father who predestines that all things work together for the ultimate good of His children, (Romans 8:28.)

By: Siobhan aka Stella (14)

Grade: 10th

Happy 9th Birthday Rus!

Happy 9th Birthday Leo! 

 Rus had a fun playdate with his friend, Caleb. Caleb brought him rocket balloons.

 Rus asked for chicken tettrazini for his birthday dinner. 

 We had chocolate truffle pie for his birthday dessert.

 This pie was delicious! 

 The boys had fun looking through Rus' baby album

 Rus loves Jonathan Park CDs. He listens to them every night before he goes to bed.

Rus also loves games

 Rus got a dragon from the 'How to Train Your Dragon' movie

Rus's biggest present was a ripstik. 

We love you Rus!