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Exploring Japan - Haikus and Origami

What a fun two weeks in Japan! Kon nichi wa! Lots of art.

We learned about haikus (which is so fitting, since April is poetry month)

and made our own adding a watercolor picture to go with it.

This is Hannah's.

IRIS

perfect and purple

pretty, sweet, nice, kind, clueless

of yellow's secret

We also learned about origami and Hannah made these swans

and some lily pads, among other things.

This is a challenging art, because the instructions

can be hard to understand.

We enjoyed alot of good books. Many of them by Allen Say

were true stories of his family in Japan.

We also liked the Cuckoo's Haiku.

In case you didn't know, a haiku is only 3 lines.

The first line must have 5 syllables,

the second line 7,

and the third line 5.

One interesting tidbit we learned was that in Japan people will rent a dog for a day or weekend, whereas here most people will pay you to keep their dog for a day or a weekend. Not alot of people own a dog in Japan. We heard of a movie we want to watch sometime, called Hachiko. It is a story of a very faithful dog. He is famous in Japan and there is actually a monument in honor of him.

. . .

We finished our week by going to visit the North American Mission Board, which Josiah lovingly calls the "Mission Station". They showed us a video and talked to us about what they do. We learned about Annie Armstrong and the history of the NAMB. We had a lunch and then they took us on a walk around the pond, then they gave us each a goodie bag.

. . .

But that's not all. For supper, we went to Sho-Gun Japanese restaurant. The kids loved the show, and the food. I loved the atmosphere - the music (instrumental Christian tunes) and the sign at the door from Proverbs. Theron loved the steak and chicken.

So Much Purple in God's Palette

From the wild ones that carpet the yard . . .

to the ones that bear money in the fall . . .

to this one that's not purple at all, but white and yellow that will become RED someday.

Another purple one with beauty all it's own.

Now for the greens - some that give us their lovely leaves (a surprise that came up from last year's seeds) . . .

Some that will bear us Sweet Peas to see, full of color and delight . . .

others that will offer us Peas we can EAT! (Hannah planted these and was very resourceful, using sticks to make a teepee for them to climb.)

Spring Break with Chloe

Chloe and Lady enjoying a place in the sun.

I got him down, now what should I do with him?

Come play with me!

Lounging around.

With you I'll even share my bed.

Hannah and Lady, sad that Chloe had to go back home.

Gladys Aylward

How did God use a little housemaid from England who was kicked out of Hudson Taylor's Inland Mission Evangelism School because she could not learn Chinese?
You will find out in this great book by Janet and Geoff Benge. With no mission to back her, only the belief that God wanted her to go, this young lady took her faith to the heart of China. She did learn the Yang Cheng dialect and earned the name "Virtuous One" among those who once thought her to be a "white devil". God placed into her lap and into her heart over 100 abandoned and orphaned children whom she led to safety over 100 miles of mountainous terrain.
I think you will enjoy reading about the experiences that she had, the people she influenced, and the God she trusted. And when you finish reading, watch the video by The Torchlighters. It includes a documentary on her life with photographs and audio of Gladys herself.

Toad in the Garden - Perspective of a Boy

As the sun began to set and the day grew cooler, Mom planted lifeless looking seeds into fresh soil. I, on the other hand, chased after adventure. My efforts were rewarded with the capture of a half a dozen sparkling bugs, glowing with fire. Then, to my delight, my mom calls with a new pursuit, a frog hopping in the garden. Now in my hands! I put him in the observation chamber. He's a toad, not a frog. He's so cute. Maybe I can keep him as a pet.

I watch as he snaps up his fellow captive fireflies. I hunt for more to satisfy his appetite, but find none. Mom says toads eat hundreds of bugs a night and I probably can't find that many. She says he'll eat mosquitos, too, those things that leave itching welps on my skin. I decide to release him so he can get back to his job and devour all of the mosquitos that come into our domain!

Maybe I'll see him again soon on night patrol. Wonder if he'll be glowing.

Resurrection Sunday

See, what a morning, gloriously bright

with the dawning of hope in Jerusalem;

folded the grave clothes, tomb filled with light

as the angels announce Christ is risen!

See God's salvation plan, wrought in love,

borne in pain, paid in sacrifice,

fulfilled in Christ, the Man,

for He lives; Christ is risen from the dead!

. . .

See Mary weeping, "Where is he laid?"

As in sorrow she turns from the empty tomb;

Hears a voice speaking, calling her name;

It's the Master, the Lord raised to life again!

The voice that spans the years,

Speaking life, stirring hope, bringing peace to us,

Will sound till He appears,

For He lives; Christ is risen from the dead!

. . .

One with the Father, Ancient of Days,

Through the Spirit who clothes faith with certainty;

Honour and blessing, glory and praise

To the King crowned with power and authority!

And we are raised with Him,

Death is dead, love has won, Christ has conquered;

And we shall reign with Him

For He lives; Christ is risen from the dead!

I'm thankful for God's great Love.

. . .

Happy, singing children.

. . .

Sunshine and simple fun.

Exploring China

Ni Hao! Our two weeks in China seems to have flown past. We enjoyed lots of rice. We also used a Chinese tea set that some friends had given us, for the first time. And I adorned the table with a fancy table runner and placemats they had also given us.

We had to have the kids' favorite, Ramen noodles, and try using chopsticks. Not bad, Hannah!

My little chef also made some wonderful "egg flower soup", as it was called in her cook book. I like it better than what I get at the restaraunt.

Josiah started to get the hang of chopsticks. What? Ketchup with Chinese food?

One day we made paper lanterns. As you can see, I have one child who has learned to follow instructions and . . .

one that we're still working on. He came up with the idea of putting the ribbons on the bottom, though, which we thought was a good one.

There were so many good books to read on China. One of my favorites was the Empty Pot. A good story about honesty.

We had fun with this one- Grandfather Tang's Story. It mentions magic powers, so you might want to preview it before reading. There are Tanagram characters that you can try to make. It helps if you have TANGOES. After we read the book and made the characters in it, We played, using the cards in our TANGOES and Hannah got quite good at it.

Our read aloud is the Gladys Alward story, but we are not through with it yet. It continues for one or two more weeks.

To complete our study in China, we went out to a Chinese restaraunt and had fried won ton,

Egg drop soup,

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Hannah's favorite,

Spring Rolls,

and Spicy Chicken with Garlic Sauce.

When we got home, we watched a movie about Hudson Taylor who started the China Inland Mission. Then we let the kids put lights (glow sticks) into their lanterns and have some fun.
This is what happens when you spin it!

Josiah's didn't stay in his lantern for long.

Well, it was a yummy week. Thank you for reading. Xie Xie!