History fun

Last week for our history class we learned about monks and how they copied the Bible and other books. The would take great care to make the books very beautiful with drawing and intricate details. We talked about calligraphy and illuminations and then we tried it out ourselves. We even made quills and ink.

Here are the kids working on their drawings

Aeryn with her work of art

Robyn coloring in the sample

I like to call Aiden's calligraphy "abstract" writing (lol!)

Emma the AMAZING rider!!

So, here she is doing what she loves! She has been working so hard at earning money and paying for these lessons. Her teacher is so supportive and has even given Emma some baked goods to sell to help Emma in her efforts. Her teacher said that Emma is a good rider and she thinks that Emma can take first place in some of the events in her first show coming up. We are so proud and happy for her!

Why we are weird to some LOL

My friend Sara found this quote and I read it this morning on an email that she sent me:

"In the latter days the time will come when there will not be enough doctors to take care of our medical needs and problems, and it will be necessary for men to honor their priesthood and to be prepared to take care of the sick; and every woman will have to be a home nurse with a working knowledge of nursing to meet the need."

J. Reuben Clark, Jr.; General Conference, 1937

There is a time and a place to have good knowledge. It is important to stay open to new possibilities so when truth comes to you, you are ready to accept it.

This quote is a perfect example of how important men and women are in their respective roles. I feel that woman need to honor their men and take pride in being a mother to whatever respect that may be (married with kids, single, divorced, widowed). All woman can be a mother in some way. It is very sad to me how motherhood and serving your husband has been frowned upon. My joy comes through serving and loving my family. I have been extremely blessed with a loving and supportive husband and 5 healthy beautiful children. Why wouldn't I take pride in that?

Charlotte's web report by robyn

I have read Charlotte's web by: E.B. white & I thought it was wonderful what Charlotte did for Wilbur. in the book Wilbur is the runt of the litter & Fern (the little girl) rescue's him from being killed. Then when Wilbur is a few monthes old, Fern's father told her she needed to sell Wilbur. So she sells him to her uncel Zuckerman down the road. & after Wilber has been there a few monthes he meets Charlotte, Temleton, the Goose & the Gander, He figer's out that Zuckerman is plotting to kill him for christmas dinner. So Charlotte writes words in her web like, 'terrific', 'humble', 'some pig' & more to save wilbur's life. I have really thougt it "terrific!"

Goose & gander

Temleton

Everybody

Charlotte & Wilbur

Eva at the park

Here's Eva at the park. She found the swing to be quite humorous.

Eva is on the move

Eva has begun to scoot backwards. This morning I found her in this position. I found it quite amazing that she could contort herself into this position without crying. If only I could be that flexible again...

Aiden

Aiden did it again...he lost another tooth. Actually his dad pulled it out of his head after much begging from Aiden. This tooth missing really changed his smile. What a cute boy

Here is Aiden trying to make Eva laugh the other day while we were at the skating rink. He's got some great moves :) .

Aaron's art

Aaron has an amazing ability to draw. Robyn was drawing some elephants to enter into a contest and asked her dad to make his own drawing for her. This is what he came up with.

Why?

I found myself pondering a certain question time and time again. I feel that we all come back to this question every now and than and I believe that it is healthy to question and re-evaluate how we believe. The question is: Why do I go to church and believe the things I do. Is it to be social and to see friends? Yes, to some degree this is true, but if this was the only reason I would have stopped going to church a long time ago. You see, going to church in a way is to help strengthen one another to do better to become more one with Christ. It's also to follow His principles and to keep covenants. People are not always perfect at this, but I believe (weather a church goer or not) that most people are trying to be better. It is important not to get caught up in mans fallacy's because with so many trying to do better there is going to be mistakes made and feelings hurt.

So my final reason for going to church and believing what I believe pertain to the principles that are taught that bring joy and peace into my life and knowing that I, a child of God, can know God himself and receive answers for myself. I don't have to rely on man to know God. My promises are to God not man. Church is a great place to practice forgiveness. Forgiveness gives us great power to unite one another (my memory of a quote from the movie Invictus). Forgiveness and the ability to "love" past peoples walls that they place before you, sets your spirit free and brings so much joy. Through forgiveness and the power to love comes the ability to serve, to give and to build much needed relationships. I believe that the lack of "knowing" our neighbors is what is weakening our society. Our intolerance to love past walls and to see others as children of God pushes people away and makes them "a stranger".

Clay Things

Last week Robyn went to Joann's and took a clay class. She wanted to learn how to make little roses for her dolls. When she came home she instantly sat down with her supplies and taught Emma how to make these little clay roses. Emma took the ones that Robyn did not want and started making little fairies with them. They also made some hair clips with the roses as well. They are amazing!

Homeschooling Co-op with the Nielsen's

This month we started a science and history Co-op with our good friend the Nielsen's. We like to get together about once a week for the kids to play so, why not have a little fun while doing it!Krista has a great science and history program that are very hands on and get the kids involved in learning. For science, we are learning about the solar system. Here are some pictures of the projects we have completed...

Krista made these sweet balloon solar systems with the kids. The balloons are a little deflated and we don't have a sun (because the balloon would have to be at least 25 feet to scale) but

they learned what was in our Solar System and had fun while doing it! Thanks Krista for the awesome balloons!

Up against the wall version...I think you have to be a Thompsen to understand this... ;)

Here's Krista with the kids. They are learning about the sun. They get to draw or write while she reads to them.

While Krista was working with the big kids, I colored and played with the little kids. We were pretending to fly on a magic carpet over the Roman Empire. They got to wear Roman hats while doing it. Gwen makes a scary Roman, don't you think?

For history, we are preparing for a Roman battle against the Celts (Dad's vs. Kids). Our first preparation was to make a Roman Signum. Next week we will be making weapons and painting the kids blue to represent the Celts. The Romans would carry these into battle. One man would be in charge of making sure it did not get hit or stolen. They had to make sure they did not get hit as well because he could not carry a weapon for the Signum was too heavy. If they were to be hit or stolen, it would bring great shame upon that person.

While I was doing history with the older kids Krista played with flannel stories with the younger kids. Here is Aeryn giving it a try after we were done with history.

More pictures by Christy

Here are some more pictures Christy took of us while she was here. She did such an awesome job!

Christy and I

Our crew

GG in her Mini costume

Ruby and GG


GG and Emma

Robyn in her cape

Eva's Dress

I just realized as I was editing my blog that I do not have a picture of Eva in her dress!! So here are some pictures of her in her dress and a couple of others. My dear friend Christy did the photography. Check out her website http://slackermomphotography.com/ She's in the Seattle area, so if you are there and need some pictures done contact her. Gwen's picture is on the site as well as a dress that I made for her daughter. She's the one holding the American doll.

Eva with Robyn

Eva on the blanket that Grandma Thompsen made her

Eva in the tutu that Melissa gave her