Last-of-the-Batter Turned Crêpe Monster!

This weekend, we had a lovely brunch together. Everyone helped to make Banana Nutella Crêpes. While we worked, in true homeschooler fashion, we talked about Henry Ford, assembly lines and efficiency. We also passed around the Cthulhu Crêpe Monster – the result of the last slosh of batter in the pan that seemed to take on a personality of its own.

(Banana Nutella Crêpes served with a delicious Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier make for a well-balanced breakfast!)

Favorite Classic Crêpe Batter Recipe

1 C milk
4 eggs
1 C flour
1/2 TSP salt
1 1/2 TB melted butter

Mix until smooth.
Let rest for 30 minutes (this is the key!) before use.

Dessert Crêpe Batter: Prepare Classic Crêpe Batter and add 2 TB sugar and 2 TB liqueur.

Chocolate Crêpe Batter: Prepare Dessert Crêpe Batter with flour reduced to 3/4 C and add 3TB cocoa powder.

Thomas Slices Bananas

Micah Places Bananas on a Thin Layer of Nutella

Tabitha's on Nutella duty

The Crêpe Tasters

Aiden is Attacked by the Crêpe Monster

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Chandelier at the Sedlec Ossuary, Czech Republic

Just as American children are far removed from the connection between slaughtered animals and the food on their plate, they are also unnaturally removed from human life and death. I find both to be sad.

I do not want my children to be afraid of death… or life.

(As a childbirth instructor, I have shown my children videos of birth, and they have a pretty good idea where babies come from. Yes, my oldest is nine.)

Today, and I forget how we arrived at the specific conversation, although life and death are always part of an on-going conversation, we discussed two different burial practices used in places where there is limited amount of space for burial.

These are two of the sites we visited today and discussed as a family:

The Tibetan Sky Burial (Photo Essay) : In Tibet, where the ground is so rocky that it can only be dug down a few centimeters, burial in the ground would be very difficult. Instead, people are given a ‘sky burial’. The nude body is washed and then wrapped and taken to a ‘burial’ ground. The body is sliced open and incense is lit nearby. The smells of the incense and the blood attract hundreds of vultures who then eat away the flesh and carry the remains into the sky. Because the brain is encased in by the skull, when the birds of prey are done with the rest of the body, the burial practitioner cracks open the skull and the vultures finish their feast. The bones are then scattered down the mountain for open-air decomposition. In a culture that believes in reincarnation, such a burial is considered an honor.

Ossuary (Wikipedia) : Another solution to burial in places with limited space is to store just the remaining bones once the flesh has decomposed. Bodies to decay in temporary graves, sometimes covered with a pile of stones, or even in dirt. They are then washed, labeled, and stored.

Some places get a little creative with the storage of bones, such as the Sedlec Ossuary. Part of a Roman Catholic chapel in the Czech Republic, human remains in this ossuary are used as decoration, including in the form of an elaborate chandelier.

For what it’s worth, I’ve found that there are very few non-fiction books about death and burial for children outside of studies on ancient Egypt. I could not find a single book for children on modern American burial practices or even a matter-of-fact book on the career of being a mortician. Thankfully, there are many books available on grief.

Why don’t we as a society talk much about death and burial?

Do you think toxic embalming chemicals would be used as widely if people weren’t so afraid of the natural decomposition process?

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Hooray! Shannon from Boise, Idaho is the March giveaway winner!

The theme for the March Giveaway was “burdens carried”. Readers were asked to leave a comment about a physical or metaphorical burden that they have either had to carry or was carried for them.

She writes,

“Praise God for the burdens he has allowed me to go through and has lifted for me. Every burden or need has always brought me closer to God, and a great way for me to teach my children Gods true love.

Our most current burden was our move. We moved to a new state with no friends, no family and no church. After a lot of prayer we had a very successful move, have made friends, and found a great church. What an awesome way to teach my oldest, who is 11, if we place our worries, concerns, and fears on God he will carry us through.

There has been many burdens in our family the past few years, yet each one has brought us closer to God. My husband and I are closer than ever, and my family is safe and healthy. I wanted to thank you for reminding me to Thank God for the burdens he lifted for me today.“

After her oldest began to struggle emotionally over problems at school, she decided to teach her children at home. They are very happy with the decision.

My oldest was becoming physically ill from the stress of public school. He is such a kind boy that he was made fun of and developed such stress over being teased that he would get headaches all the time.

My daughter had a speech problem, the school’s answer was to put her in a speech class. I then found out she was being taught Spanish instead of actually working on her speech. After using a charter school for a year, she was finally tested and we found she has Dyslexia.

Now, she loves to read. Her speech is clear (except when she gets excited), and she is finally understanding why she was struggling.

We have been homeschooling for 4yrs now, and I would never trade the time I have had to show my kids there real potential.

When asked what she and her family are looking forward to this spring, she said,

Being in a new state there are many things we would love to do. Idaho is a great place for families who love to do outdoor things, we hope to do a lot of hiking, fishing, and some gardening.

As teacher, Shannon used the web as a resource. She highly recommends Spelling.org.

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Even with all of the shopping rules in place, sometimes you’re just going to have a bad shopping trip.

Sometimes you want to go to the store in the morning, but you can’t make it out the door until 4 p.m. because, unless the knocked-over bowl of leftover kimchi fermented-hot pepper-liquid in the refrigerator gets scrubbed, you won’t have a place to put your groceries when you get home. Or, you are trying to cram in the basic subjects for at least the older kids so you still can count it as a homeschool day. Or, the house is so trashed from the weekend that you can’t walk without stepping on something and need to at least kick a path from the front door to the kitchen.

Sometimes it’s pouring dreary rain, kids are cranky, and they don’t have the ingredients you’re looking for at the store — either that or they do, and you would never know because you can’t read three different Japanese alphabets yet.

Sometimes you’re so stricken with cramps that you feel like you’re going to just keel over, but have to press on.

Sometimes four and six year old boys have no idea how loud they are.

Sometime there are TVs blaring jingles in high-pitched Japanese on every mega-bright aisle so fascinating that your kids become paralyzed and have to be dragged away from each one.

Sometimes you don’t realize how many items you’ve put in your shopping cart until you make it to the very last aisle, because your mind is on your hurting tummy and threatening migraine, and you have to traipse back through the store to put away those “extras” because there is no such thing as debit cards in the country where you live, and the ATM has closed for the day. Sometimes when you’re putting said items away, you get stared at in horror by face-mask-culture folks, because your six year old is suddenly having a coughing fit during flu season, as if the packaged, whole frozen King Crabs for 599¥ are suddenly contaminated.

Sometimes your husband whispers in your ear as he’s leaving for work that he’s looking forward your nice hot dinner. You have every intention of cooking and are looking forward to serving him, yet you come home moments before he is due to arrive. Breathlessly, you putting away perishables and put nabe (鍋物) broth on to boil, when all you really want to be doing is sit on a couch curled up in a ball.

I do have days like these.

Today was one of them.

…. and sometimes, while you’re waiting for that broth to boil, and you’re in the middle of writing a post like this one, your husband calls and says he’s going to be late (sad for him… but phew!) and that he’ll pick up some drinks on the way home to share with you later that night when the kids are in bed.

Photo credit: “Grocery Store, Kamo” by kristi-san via Flickr.

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Scheduling = More Free Time?

Links:

Managers of Their Homes

The Reluctant Scheduler (2.16.08 Post)

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In August, I plan to re-launch sarahjoyalbrecht.com with a fresh layout and a monthly themed care-package giveaway. (There’s no way I can keep all this awesome stuff from Japan to myself!) Although the package will arrive free of charge, it will have to be won (along with the bragging rights) through a challenge of some sort. (No whining! It’s my blog and I said so! Besides, it’s more fun with challenge!)

Here’s a hint for the first challenge :
It will have something to do with my 1997 Toyota Lucida

Back to teaching (and learning!) about Ancient Egypt over here…

Oh! Real quick (and yes, I’m this random in person… just ask Tom) —

Speaking of The Wayfaring Stranger, Josh Komorowski sings my favorite rendition of this old spiritual. You can find it on his album, “There is Always Hope”.

To Egypt!

:)

SJA

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The Rules:
Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 16 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 16 random people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it’s because I want to know more about you!

1. My Bible (NASB for those who care) is held together by duct tape. I know where everything is located, have many notes scrawled in the margins and love it so much, that I don’t want to get a new one.

2. I was homeschooled from 4th grade through graduation. Maybe this explains why I’m so nerdy? I love to learn new things, so I’m always into trying new things, making new things.

3. Non-fiction is my favorite genre to read. I am warming up to fiction, but it’s only with effort. It’s easier for me to appreciate a mundane true story than to try to spend time following a plot only to be disappointed with the ending. We are listening to the Harry Potter books on mp3, and I love them. Memoirs of a Geisha and Perfume: A Murder were some more recent fictional titles I have enjoyed.

4. I voted for Ron Paul in the Primaries. Yes, I’m THAT kind of Republican. I did not in good conscience vote for a major party candidate in the Presidential election.

5. While I’m not afraid of death (even wrote something to be read at my funeral) , and I’m thankful for the days I’ve already had, there are a few things that probably are “fear of death” related that make my heart pound, vision go blurry, palms sweat and dizziness to set in: Heights (I even have to hold onto something when on my step ladder), children too close to train train drop-offs, children getting hit by a vehicle (when I was five, I was one inch from being killed by a speeding car in the Macy’s parking lot – I still remember my braids flipping around and hitting me in the eye as the car went past), drowning (for all my swimming lessons, I still can’t swim) and accidentally breaking the law – police lights behind me make me feel like I’m going to throw up.

6. I’m married to someone who is the complete opposite of point #5. He’s not afraid of anything… except mollusks, stinky diapers, and parasites.

7. Strawberry Shortcake has been my traditional birthday dessert for as long as I can remember. The berries are perfectly ripe at the end of May. I add orange juice and sugar to the cut berries for the topping, the shortcake is the classic Bisquick recipe, and I top it with homemade vanilla whipped cream.

8. I never thought I’d have children. I have five of them, and I love them very much. They have taught me more about life in the past 7 years 10 months + 9 months gestation than I have learned up until that point. It was crazy to have “so many” children within such a short span of time, but at 28, I can no longer have biological children. God knew!

9. Writing is one of my favorite things to do. My major in college was Journalism, with the career goal of being a war correspondent.

10. I love flowers, and have been known to dig up and transplant all of the wild violets growing in my lawn just so that they don’t get run over by the lawn mower. I collect tiny jars just so I have a place to put the flowers my children pick for me – which always seem to have incredibly short stems! Last summer, I labeled every flower and tree at my house in PA with copper tags.

11. The Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau movements produced my favorite architectural styles.

12. Japanese Cherry Blossom by Bath & Body works is a fragrance that I wear almost every day.

13. I am a Bradley Method natural birth instructor. This is my favorite approach to natural birth as it gets your body ready for birth – you wouldn’t sit around and eat junk food if you knew you had to run a marathon nine months from now! It also trains the husband to be an advocate/coach in the delivery room.

14. I have a motorcycle permit. I will have to take my license test in Japan. Hopefully this spring? My helmet rocks. Riding our Shadow with Tom is one of my most favorite things to do.

15. I love my MacBook. Never thought in a million years I’d own a Mac, but I have come around. It is my favorite computer EVER.

16. Not too many people have two great sets of parents – biological and in-laws. I’m very blessed.

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Some of you may have some experience with this, and (while that hurts me to think you’ve lived with it) I need a little help from those who have had some real success!

For those who have had a child who could fire up and respond in anger quickly, I’d love to know more about some of the Godly responses and tools that helped you through it.

Please consider this is a boy about the age of 7. He can become easily frustrated, and it builds rapidly. Sometimes we don’t see it coming, and even when we do, I often say or do the wrong thing.

Help?

Thanks in advance!

Hugs to you, Jennifer!

After experiencing similar anger/tattling/conflict/fighting problems, I decided to incorporate The Young Peacemaker into our day by doing a page or two each morning for our devotional segment of school.

Studying the topic of peacemaking preemptively, instead of only talking about it when there is an anger outburst, has made a huge difference in the atmosphere of our home by reducing the number of kid-conflicts. Reducing, not erasing! :) We still have at few each day! But, because the foundation has been laid, they are easier to work through than before.

My seven, five, four, and three year old are doing a fantastic job of memorizing the verses for each chapter (we do about a chapter a week).

If you put good things in your heart, good things will come out of your heart. Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. (Luke 6:45)

There is even a resource page dedicated to using The Young Peacemaker as part of homeschooling.

I hope this helps. I certainly have learned a lot from doing The Young Peacemaker with my kids – and I’m a moderator at PeaceGals.com! It certainly gave me a new perspective when training my children vs. talking to adults about the same topic!

Much love,
SJA

The Young Peacemaker is a powerful system that parents and teachers can use to teach children how to prevent and resolve conflict in a constructive and biblically faithful manner.

The system emphasizes principles of confession, forgiveness, communication, and character development, and uses realistic stories, practical applications, role plays, and stimulating activities.

Although the material is designed for 3rd through 7th grades, it has been successfully used with preschool and high school students.

The lessons in The Young Peacemaker may be summarized in Twelve Key Principles for Young Peacemakers:

1. Conflict is a slippery slope.
2. Conflict starts in the heart.
3. Choices have consequences.
4. Wise-way choices are better than my-way choices.
5. The blame game makes conflict worse.
6. Conflict is an opportunity.
7. The Five A’s can resolve conflict.
8. Forgiveness is a choice.
9. It is never too late to start doing what’s right.
10. Think before you speak.
11. Respectful communication is more likely to be heard.
12. A respectful appeal can prevent conflict.

The Slippery Slope

The Young Peacemaker uses a simplified version of the Slippery Slope to help children understand the various responses to conflict.

The slope is divided into three zones:

The Five A’s of Confession

Children, like adults, can learn to confess their wrongs in a way that demonstrates that they are taking full responsibility for their contribution to a conflict.

Four Promises of Forgiveness

Children can learn to forgive one another in a way that models the forgiveness they have received from God through the gospel of Jesus Christ:

These promises may be summarized in a poem that is so easy a four-year old can memorize it:

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More on the story from the Home Education Foundation:

Home Education Foundation,

“As WND has reported, the Longs had their children enrolled in Sunland Christian School, a private homeschooling program.

But [Justice] Croskey, without hearing arguments from the school, opined that the situation was one of a “ruse of enrolling [children] in a private school and then letting them stay home and be taught by a non-credentialed parent.”

….The school’s website notes it offers a homeschool/independent study program that is accredited. It began in Los Angeles in 1986 with 24 students and now serves more than 3,000 families.”

From OrangePunch:

Court deems homeschooling a criminal offense
March 5th, 2008 · Post a Comment · posted by sgreenhut

From Steven Greenhut:

The Pacific Justice Institute in Sacramento sent along a statement about a disturbing California Court of Appeal decision finding that parents have no right to homeschool their children. Parents who do not send their kids to the school deemed appropriate by the state may face criminal charges and fines. Remember when former Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin tried to criminalize homeschooling? Here we go again. It’s ironic, given how badly the government miseducates students, that officials are so determined to criminalize this basic freedom. This really shouldn’t shock anyone who realizes the degree to which government at all levels runs our lives.

Here’s the PJI statement:

Home Schooling Found Unlawful by California Court of Appeal

Los Angeles – In a stunning decision affecting thousands of families in California, the California Court of Appeal has issued an opinion finding no legal right to home school. “Parents who fail to [comply with school enrollment laws] may be subject to a criminal complaint against them, found guilty of an infraction, and subject to imposition of fines or an order to complete a parent education and counseling program,” wrote Justice H. Walter Croskey whose opinion was joined by the other two members of the appellate panel.

The opinion was issued February 28, 2008, in a case titled In re Rachel L, which reversed a Superior Court Judge, Stephen Marpet, who found that “parents have a constitutional right to school their children in their own home.” The parents of Rachel L. enrolled her in Sunland Christian School, a private home schooling program. In his opinion, Croskey, 75, described what he called the “ruse of enrolling [children] in a private school and then letting them stay home and be taught by a non-credentialed parent.”

Despite this statement by the Court, it should be noted that Sunland Christian School has been in full compliance with the requirements of the law for more than twenty years. “We’ve never been given an opportunity to represent our case in the Court of Appeal,” said Terry Neven, the president of the school. “Consequently, we are excited that PJI will represent us before the California Supreme Court so that the rights of home schooling families are preserved,” he stated further. In a section titled “Consequences of Parental Denial of a Legal Education,” the Court said that “parents are subject to being ordered to enroll their children in an appropriate school or education program and provide proof of enrollment to the court, and willful failure to comply with such an order may be punished by a fine for civil contempt.” “The scope of this decision by the appellate court is breathtaking. It not only attacks traditional home schooling, but also calls into question home schooling through charter schools and teaching children at home via independent study through public and private schools,” stated Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute “If not reversed, the parents of the more than 166,000 students currently receiving an education at home will be subject to criminal sanctions,” he continued. (www.pji.org)

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Q. “I was just wondering how everyones kids make friends? I am a hsing mom of 5 and I know that it has not been easy for my children to make new friends at all. We live around a ton of kids but, they are not exactly the type that I want my children to befriend. I would love to hear how everyone elses children are doing on this. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.”

The best way to make friends is to be friendly!

This means allowing yourself to be vulnerable and inviting families into your home.

Your children will get to know the guest family’s children while you get to know the parents at the same time.

Inviting people into your life takes a lot of faith – trusting in God that even if people fail you (cuz they will!) that the Lord will comfort you, sustain you, and that you can work through broken relationships for God’s glory.

A safe way to get your feet wet in fellowship ministry is to start by inviting families over from church. You don’t have to make a gourmet meal – a large pot of spaghetti goes a long way, and you can allow the guest family to bless your family by having them bring dinner rolls or a salad. Jello with a dollop of whipped cream is an easy, tasty dessert. Think of ways to be a blessing to your guests whether they be adults or children.

From there, invite over neighbors, people from your husband’s work, people in homeschool groups… the list goes on.

It is through fellowship with others than lasting relationships are developed.

Sure, you might get to know people without inviting them into your home – but there will always be a wall there.

Face to Face: Meditations on Friendship and Hospitality by Steve Wilkins is a good resource for thoughts on developing deep, God honoring friendships.

Much love,
SJA :)

Someone else responded to my post and included the line, “Playlands and parks are not permanent places to meet friends, just someone to play with at that moment.”

So I replied:

I am somewhat concerned, but at the same time we are to be the like the salt of the earth.

God closed all of the doors when we bought our house, except for the one that forced us to move to the city.

And guess what I found out? God lives in the city, too!!

Do you know what we do with our unruly neighborhood kids? We love them, invite them into our homes (and we do a “pocket check” when it’s time for them to go home) and we feed them lunch or snacks if the clock dictates so. Sometimes we send clothes home with them, when we notice that they have worn the same thing for a week straight.

Do you know else we do with them? Bring them to church with us to Pioneer Clubs! I also hosted a summer vacation Bible school (we did Peacemaker Clubs) last year with two other Christian moms in my neighborhood. We set out a lovely breakfast spread to encourage unchurched moms to stay and listen — and they DID! Not only did they hear the gospel, they also learned about behavior and conflict resolution. It CHANGED the way our neighbor kids – and we have a tough bunch! – related to each other, for God’s glory.

BTW, do you know where I met my Christian husband? At a bowling alley. God is there, and he’s also in neighborhood parks.

Ladies, I would like to challenge you to re-think why you choose to isolate yourselves from others and why you would say things like “I would never”. I really believe that you are choosing to miss out on opportunities to share God’s love with others.

Why wouldn’t you want to make permanent friends with people at a park? People at your neighborhood park are just that – neighbors. What does it mean to “love your neighbor as yourself” ? You can’t love someone unless you have a relationship with them.

May I also suggest that if you let non-Christian children into your home that you are RIGHT THERE to supervise the situation. As the lady of the house, you have the authority to send swearing, fighting boys home if you need to.

I have, at 9 months pregnant, stepped in (hey, I believe God is control and that no one will harm me without God’s authority – I cannot say the Bible is true in this respect and still live in fear!) and broke up a fist fight between neighborhood boys in my living room. It’s not like I could just sit there and cry! I had to DO something! Because I have been strict with them while they are in my house, I firmly told them they will stop and seek each other’s forgiveness – that they were sinning against each other and against God. Do you know what these tough little boys did? They obeyed me. And, they played very nicely after that. They knew that if they didn’t, that they’d get sent right home – a place they didn’t want to go because they are not loved there.

If you don’t like the kids in your neighborhood, PRAY for them fervently. Submit yourself to the Lord and beg him to bring you opportunities to share the gospel with them. Ask Him to work in the hearts of the little ones that He has put right under your nose.

Luke 18:16-17 But Jesus called for them, saying, “Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”

Much love,
SJA

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