though more is going on with and inside me than ever, I have no words to explain it. I want to tell you all about how we never found our groove in schooling last fall and how frustrating it was. How I learned that being still and knowing that He is God isn’t always peace and platitude. I’d love to fill you in on our activity fast for December, and how it did wonders for our household attitude. I’d even like to tell you all about our Christmas and our New Year–like when we really realized Chuck’s sister’s brain cancer is taking over. But I don’ t have words right now. Which is odd–almost troubling–for a writer. If I didn’t believe God had a purpose in this silence, I’d be worried. I’m not. Perplexed, wondering why I’m not able to share these lessons articulately, but not fretting. For that I’m thankful. The words will come. Eventually. In His timing.

We’ve been baking cookies

crafting

playing with our many nativities

working through our Advent materials

and spending time with good friends.

Lord, as we celebrate your birth on earth, let us turn our every smile and sweet moment to you in glorious praise.

Books don’t live long at my house. I buy them, read them, and pass them on.  But Judith Couchman’s  The Woman Behind the Mirror has graced my bookshelf for over ten years; I’ve recommended it to dozens of women struggling with self-image. Judith is a master of  explaining complicated ideas with clarity and grace.

I was thrilled when Judith offered a free signed copy of her newest book, The Mystery of the Cross: Bringing Ancient Christian Images to Life (available from Intervarsity Press, Amazon, other online, and local booksellers).

Home schoolers are going to love this book; it covers Bible, Art, and History in one fell-swoop. Couchman keeps the chapters under five pages for the most part (great for daily readings), and includes many beautiful illustrations and photos of famous works of art. She weaves Scripture, stories, artwork and scholarly insight into a readable pocket guide to the history of the symbol of the cross.

Christians, art lovers, and just plain curious folks will be surprised to learn the symbol of the cross was popular before Christ and has been found in unlikely places, such as Pompeiian remains from the explosion of Mt. Vesuvius.

This could be the unique Christmas gift you’ve been looking for!

I always feel refreshed after I hang with my home school moms. We understand each other very, very (did I say very?) well. A few nights ago a dozen or so of my favorite home school moms joined me for a Christmas party. We chatted, and ate, and chatted, and ate. And toward the end of the evening, we shared some music and prayed for one another. What a tremendous blessing, full of encouragement. Thank you, God for this wonderful group of women!

We spent most of our Saturday in Philly in the Franklin Institute.

We took our time, seeing most every exhibit, having fun touching everything. (And praying we didn’t pick up some virus or the Swine flu!)

We tested the brakes

before we rode on the real steam engine.

We spent plenty of time in the Heart wing.

Here we are making our way through the walk-through heart.

Chuck found out he has

of blood in his body. Interesting.

Brooke has always wanted to be a doctor. She decided to practice a little open heart surgery in preparation  for her future career.

Where else will you get to sit on a bone bench?

Or crawl through a blood vessel?

We made sure to get plenty of exercise to keep our hearts beating strong.

In the space wing we made and tested moon rovers

and watched a really cool movie in the plantarium all about the sun. Perfect preparation for our upcoming solar system study.

We had a BOO-last at the Liquid Scare show. Here the children are all molecules in a solid, packed tight together, being quite still.

I forgot to take photos of our faces at age 70, as seen through an age progression machine. That’s probably better left unphotographed, anyway

I do highly recommend the Institute for lots of science fun.

I made a new friend at the Greater Philadlephia Christian Writers Conference this summer.

She and her husband are missionaries with CLC Publications just outside Philly. She invited me to visit with my family, and I couldn’t resist the offer.

We started our visit with a tour of the U.S. Mint–no photos allowed there. We learned all about how coins are made and actually watched the process happening live. How cool!

Friday night we toured the CLC publishing house. What fun to physically see the Editors’ offices and the old print room–and everything in-between. I asked to see the infamous ”slush pile,” but these days it’s more of an electronic thing.

We spent Saturday in downtown Philly strolling the same cobblestones great men in history walked.

The  line was very long to see the Liberty Bell, so we took our photo with the display at the Visitor’s Center instead, opting to come back on a weekday to see the actual bell.

We spent the majority of the day in the Franklin Institute science museum. (I’ll add another post with those photos soon.)

Sunday we worshiped with our friends and toured the Castle. The castle was my favorite place in Philly.

We had a fantastic time with new friends, in a new place. I hope we can get back there again next autumn.

Poor little Junior Sparks had been struggling to breathe all day. I assured them it would be just fine to put him right into fresh new tap water. I’d done it my whole life. He’d be just fine and he’d be able to breathe.

The next morning, Brooke told me Junior Sparks was sleeping. Oh no. To tell the truth or a story that would buy me time to get a replacement? It didn’t matter what I said–the look on my face was honest. No poker face here.

An apology and acknowledgement that yes, there just might be a pink fish out there somewhere, was enough to quell the tears. Now I know.  No fresh tap water for Junior Sparks Junior.

I don’t typically give the children written “tests” to assess what they’ve learned in home school. Usually I ask them to teach their daddy what they’ve learned, or narrate back what they’ve read. Sometimes I use lapbooks. Here are the kids’ lapbooks for our Rocks and Minerals unit.

Brad:

Brian:

Brooke:

They might not be named Dopey and Sneezy,

but my little miners

sure know how to find treasure.

This time they found a dinosaur. Next time, diamonds!

The girls were itching to take dance lessons, but we just didn’t have the extra money to send them in this season of our financial life. They took the news hard. They were very disappointed. It killed me to have to say no to their passions.

But, very much by mistake, we stumbled upon a local rec program with great instructors for a fraction of the price.

We didn’t even have to spend money on dance duds. Brooke can wear sweats and her hip-hop tenners from last year,

and a friend from high school even gave me a pair of shoes for Breanna–for free!

Now my little princesses are thrilled to be dancing.

And I’m happy to be able to nurture their passions and talents.

God is faithful to not only meet our needs, but to grant even our hearts’ desires…like new friends!