Yellow Star

This book was very well done.
Yellow Star is a 2006 biographical children's novel by Jennifer Roy. Written in free verse, it depicts life through the eyes of a young Jewish girl whose family was forced into the Łódź Ghetto in 1939 during World War II. Roy tells the story of her aunt Syvia, who shared her childhood memories with Roy more than 50 years after the ghetto's liberation. Roy added fictionalized dialogue, but did not otherwise alter the story. The book covers Syvia's life as she grows from four and a half to ten years old in the ghetto. Syvia, her older sister Dora, and her younger cousin Isaac were three of only twelve children who survived.  After the war, Syvia moved to the United States, married, and only much later told her story to Roy. Since its publication in 2006, the book has received multiple awards, starred reviews, and other accolades, and has been made into a likewise well-received audiobook.



Blubber Challenge

Notice I didn't write "BUCKET CHALLENGE", although this is very close (and some of us have done it).  Micah and Lilly did the "BLUBBER CHALLENGE" today.  This was an experiment to feel how the blubber works for sea creatures who live in the cold waters.


Lilly's results:
Just gloves - 1.21 minutes
Vaseline between gloves - 4.54 minutes

Micah's results:
Just gloves - 1.24 minutes
Vaseline between gloves - 5.14 minutes

Doggie Playdate



The kids and I decided not to do school on my birthday.  However, we didn't want to wait another day to learn about pennipeds or hear more of our story on audio.  So, we did our Bible study, science, and decided to listen to our story during lunch in the front room fort.

When walking to the mailbox, we chose to stop by the Dible's house to see if Maggie could come over for a playdate.  Peter and Della got Maggie about 9 months ago and she has A LOT of energy.  So, she and Della came over and Maggie ran around and around and around.  The kids chased her, threw the tennis ball, and laughed.  Della told us later that their afternoon was more restful than usual. 

Dolphin Song - Coconut

 

We recently finished an audio book entitled Dolphin Song by Lauren St. John.  It's a fiction novel about a girl named Martine and five of her classmates who are thrown overboard while on a school trip to South Africa and are brought to shore by a pod of helpful dolphins, the castaways must learn how to survive.

One of their survival methods is collecting coconuts, opening them, drinking the milk, and eating the pulp.  At the grocery store this week, Lilly asked if we could get a coconut and do the same.  They only had a knife, we were able to add a hammer and nail to our tools.

 

Step 1:   hammer the nail into the weak areas of the coconut (the 3 "holes")

Step 2:   tip the coconut over for the milk to drip/pour out (use a cup or Tupperware for it to drip into)

Step 3:   wrap the coconut in a towel and strike it with the hammer until it begins breaking into smaller pieces

Step 4:   use a knife to pry the pulp away from the shell

Step 5:   eat and drink ---- enjoy!



Far away friends

Our great friends, and family we 'nurture', were able to fly in for the conference and visit.  We were able to get together with them a lot!  We did everything from swimming to ice skating together.  It was the first time we'd gotten to meet Trinidad, their 3 year old daughter.  Timo had just turned 9 years old.

Commissioned-the Global Summit

Every 3 years our church hosts a conference for our missionaries.  This year 40 out of 52 missionary families/individuals were able to attend from their various locations around the world.  SBC had some great opportunities, over the long-weekend, for us to interact with them.