A Week of Fun Leading Up to Roald Dahl Day

I actually didn't know Roald Dahl had a day. A few weeks ago I found out that September 13th is Roald Dahl day and I knew we could have a lot of fun with that in our homeschool.

Diary of a First Child has a great list of things to do, eat, and watch. Her list includes a link to the entire BFG movie on youtube, which I didn't even know existed. We watched BFG On Monday. On Tuesday we ate peach cups for snack while watching James and the Giant peach on Netflix. We also checked out Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (that's the newer one) and Matilda from the library. We are planning to watch Chocolate factory as a family and have a candy extravaganza. I picked up some peanut butter M&M's and Sour Patch Kids for the occasion. Unfortunately, Willy Wonka candy is not gluten free.

We also read The Enormous Crocodile and are reading Matilda because it is mister's favorite. We haven't read either before and they have been so much fun. The Enormous Crocodile is a quick read and is very silly. It is a great Roald Dahl book if you are reading with younger kids with shorter attention spans.



 

Taking a Sabbath Day

Once upon a time there was a family who booked every day of the week, became totally drained and irritable, and couldn't figure out to fix it. They said yes to too many service activities, to many get togethers, and tried to fit in extra curriculars on top of it all. They were exhausted, taken advantage of, and tired of living every day like a race to the end.

I know that our family is not the only one this story is about. We want others to be happy. We want to serve. We also want a chance to breathe from time to time and make sure our family is healthy both mentally and physically. One day I read this passage from Exodus:

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. Exodus 20:8-11

God, the one who made every living thing and breathed out the stars, works for 6 days and then takes a day off. God took a day to rest and we were not. God even tells us to take a day off and we ignore Him. Maybe we think we know better or maybe we don't want to waste our limited time on earth. But is it a waste? When I am weary, exhausted, and irritable no one is getting my best. If I am constantly thinking about the next thing for me to do then no one is getting my full attention. But, if we take one day a week to rejuvenate our minds, bodies, and spirit, we can serve and work in gladness, giving our best.

We realized we needed a Sabbath day in March. We had to wait till May for our commitments to be over so we could begin taking one. Unfortunately, our Sabbath day was the most booked day of the week, Wednesday. Adam has 2 days off a week, Sunday and Wednesday. Many people think of Sunday as the Sabbath day. That doesn't work for us because we generally serve in our church or are support raising for our mission trip on Sunday. Wednesday was once booked with Bible studies, Awana, and youth group. Now it is the day that we take life slow and easy. We don't work, serve, or run errands unless it is an absolute necessity.

What do you take out? Everything we have chosen to take out has been a good thing to do. Mostly everything that is vying for our time is a "good thing". If we take on every good thing because it is "good" we become like the sad family at the beginning of my post. We need to stop letting others place their expectations on us or to feed us guilt so we will say "Yes". Let's all lighten the load on ourselves and take a Sabbath day!

Do you take a Sabbath? What day do you take it? If not, when do you think you would want to take one each week? If it is good for God, it can only be that much more good for us!

It's Earth Day

Do you have any activities planned for earth day? We didn't. We have made our whole lives as earth friendly as we are willing to go at this point. We did 2 things though.

First, we sent our last package of pads to the Luhwahwa Youth Development Foundation. Last summer I started sending pads and pledged to send over 100. I sent several each month and just came back from sending a very large package with the rest of my pads. It was extremely expensive to ship the packages but there was some help from very kind helpers with monetary and sewing help and it is a wonderful cause that is right up my alley!

The Luhwahwa Youth Development Foundation (www.luyodefo.org) is a non-profit, community based, non-governmental organization (NGO) that provides support to marginalized communities across the Kasese district of western Uganda. In developing countries, the issues regarding menstruation and lack of access to sanitary products are often kept silent and what should be a right of passage into womanhood is often a gateway to dropping out of school. Menstruation is a silent issue; half of adolescent girls consider it a disease and don't know how to deal with it. Most girls/ women are unable to afford sanitary napkins. The lack of feminine products and information lead to girls dropping out of school early as they have no opportunities to maintain their hygiene during menstrual periods, miss lessons and fall behind. Most often, girls face the embarrassment of blood leaking through their clothes (spotting). This lack of protection leads most girls to miss up to five days of school monthly. That is a lot of days over the course of a school year, 6 weeks!

The pad project is not just about raising attendance. It is about raising the profile of girls at home, at school, and in the community. It is about teaching them to advocate for themselves. It is about telling them to be proud, and that they have the right to be healthy and educated. The implications of this are significant. Today’s young girls will teach the next generation about puberty, sexuality, and reproductive health. The conspiracy of silence will have been broken. Through this project helping girls feel empowered, we really can create social change. Girls who feel empowered are going to ask questions and push to get their questions answered. They’re going to understand what’s happening to their bodies, and be able to make informed decisions that keep them healthy and safe.

The second thing we did was talk about the things we do in our home that help the earth. We don't use any paper products in the kitchen. We use hankies instead of kleenex. We don't litter, we rarely use a car. There are many other things, but they have become a part of our daily life and just feel normal. They don't feel like anything special, but everything helps keep our earth the way God meant it to be!

Memorial Day Sale!

We are having a HUGE memorial day sale in our Artfire shop! Everything is 50% off through monday. It is a great opportunity to save on nececities and goodies! I have listed dozens of new items and will continue to list fun new things throughout the weekend! Check it out!

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