A More Detailed Description

Thanks Leslie, for your questions regarding my previous entry! I apologize for sometimes being too vague. Occasionally I have a hard time figuring out what my readers would find interesting and what would bore them to tears!

Anyway, in the previous entry I shared our experience of seeing the American Boychoir perform in Stockholm. Leslie was right about their performance being inside a church. The name of the church is Immanuel Church. The worship hall can seat about 1000 people when the balcony and choir seats are included. Towards the left side in the picture (from my previous post,) you will see a magnificent organ, which has 36 rows of pipes. There are also 18 bronze bells in the mid section of the organ and 56 Spanish trumpets! The American Boychoir did not use musical instruments of any kind during their performance, but the Swedish choir sang several songs accompanied by the organ and also the piano.



The main worship hall of Immanuel Church is vividly coloured to suggest live foliage. The artistic decoration deals with The Sun and The Word. Behind the boys in my picture are the twelve apostles, each one holding the Book, the Word, in his hand. The painting on the pews suggests that the congregation is with the apostles in the same leaf-shadowed place. With my husband's military background, I could not help but think of this in terms of camoflauge! Its a very unusual decorating scheme, but it is a true reflection of the Swedes, who love nature with an almost religious intensity!

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Onto a totally different subject, tonight is Walpurgis Night in Sweden. Huge bonfires are lit, and there are often fireworks, singing and dancing. The people step forward to sing songs that mark the end of winter and the coming of spring. Walpurgis occurs before the pagan celebration of Beltane, the traditional summer fertility ritual of witches, Wiccans and pagans all over the world. In Sweden, the lighting of bonfires is an ancient custom and it is debated as to whether it was a way to scare off predators before sheep and cattle were put out to graze or whether it was a protection against witches. The Swedish custom is descended from the Walpurgis fires of north Germany, and since most German immigrants were to be found in Stockholm and its surroundings, this is where the custom first took root. My husband was talking to our neighbor one day about Walpurgis night. Our neighbor explained about the huge bonfire that we could go to, not far from our house. My husband asked if we could roast hot dogs, as that is a pretty common thing to do at a bonfire in America. But our neighbor kind of grinned and said, "Well, you can, but you'd be the only ones!" We won't be going as I've also heard this is basically an excuse for all the neighborhoods to gather together and drink. Besides, hubby is working late tonight and there's no way I'm heading off to a big ole bonfire to hang out with a bunch of drunk Swedes!

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The boys and I went grocery shopping this afternoon. They were such a great help! They helped me pick out cereal, and they picked out onions, tomatoes, bananas and apples while I shopped for other things. They unloaded the grocery cart (or buggy, depending on which region of the U.S. you live in!) While they unloaded, I bagged our groceries. I still can't help but feel a little perturbed by the fact that I have to bag my own groceries here. Its one of those things you take for granted "back home," and I'll gladly tip those teenage boys from now on when they do the job for me and even haul them to my car, smiling all the way. Those guys are great, aren't they? So I finally completed the bagging process and my boys helped load everything in the truck, and finally unload it all when we got home. We go grocery shopping once every 2 weeks, so this adds up to what feels like an infinite number of grocery bags when you have to trudge them up to the second floor of our house. What a blessing to have two strong, helpful boys!

That right there is enough to make me
Rejoice Evermore!

Marla

Let me tell ya....

They were AWESOME!!!



So were the Swedish boys! However, I liked the American boychoir better, but then I am a little prejudiced about them. (wink, wink!)

Wow. If you ever have the chance to see them, you really should. They sang their hearts out. You should hear them do "The Stars and Stripes Forever!" Of course there are no words, but these boys pounded out the march with a steady barrage of "rum, tum, tums" and other rhythmic words that got all the Americans in the crowd pretty excited!

"March music is for the feet, not for the head," John Philip Sousa once stated. "The Stars and Stripes Forever," composed in 1896, is indeed music for the feet, but it has also become a musical calling card for our nation. Sousa's genius lay in his skill as a composer of great melodies and his ability to fashion them into a cohesive and "organic" whole. "The Stars and Stripes Forever" gets people up on their feet, marching forward together.

Hurrah for the flag of the free!
May it wave as our standard forever,
The gem of the land and the sea,
The banner of the right.
Let despots remember the day
When our fathers with mighty endeavor
Proclaimed as they marched to the fray
That by their might and by their right
it waves forever.
--John Philip Sousa

On the composition of marches Sousa was unusually silent, but toward the end of his life he stated his philosophy of setting pen to paper in march time: "A march speaks to a fundamental rhythm in the human organization and is answered. A march stimulates every centre of vitality, wakens the imagination . . . . But a march must be good. It must be as free from padding as a marble statue. Every line must be carved with unerring skill. Once padded it ceases to be a march. There is no form of musical composition wherein the harmonic structure must be more clear-cut. The whole process is an exacting one. There must be a melody which appeals to the musical and the unmusical alike. There must be no confusion in counterpoint."

Tap your foot to the rhythm while you
Rejoice Evermore!

Marla

They're coming to Sweden!

And we're going to see them (and hear them!)



The American Boy Choir, from Princeton, New Jersey will be performing jointly with Adolf Fredriks Grosskor, a Swedish boys choir. We are looking forward to an interesting evening. I'll let you know how it goes!

The weather is getting nicer all the time and I've noticed that my interest in blogging has fallen. I suspect that may be the way of things during the mild Scandinavian summers, which are so UNLIKE Texas. As Samantha will tell you, no one wants to spend much time outside unless you're wearing your bathing suit and are headed for a dip in the pool. Not so, here. Its so mild outside that you try to do everything out there, and with the daylight hours extending you find yourself sleeping less and doing more.

So, this is for all those Texans out there, who are on the brink of triple digit temperatures becoming an everyday fact of life:

YOU KNOW YOU ARE IN TEXAS in JULY WHEN...

* The birds have to use potholders to pull worms out of the ground.
* The trees are whistling for the dogs.
* The best parking place is determined by shade instead of distance.
* Hot water now comes out of both taps.
* You can make sun tea instantly.
* You learn that a seat belt buckle makes a pretty good branding iron.
* The temperature drops below 95 and you feel a little chilly.
* You discover that in July it only takes 2 fingers to steer your car.
* You discover that you can get sunburned through your car window.
* You actually burn your hand opening the car door.
* You break into a sweat the instant you step outside at 7:30 a.m.
* Your biggest bicycle wreck fear is, "What if I get knocked out and end up lying on the pavement and cook to death?"
* You realize that asphalt has a liquid state.
* The potatoes cook underground, so all you have to do is pull one out and add butter, salt and pepper.
* Farmers are feeding their chickens crushed ice to keep them from laying boiled eggs.
*The cows are giving evaporated milk.

So turn up that A.C. and
Rejoice Evermore!

Marla

Word Power!

Take the WordSmart Challenge!! WordSmart is one of the leaders in vocabulary building software. This short interactive game tests your vocabulary and gives you a score from 0-1000, based on how many you get right, how many you get wrong, and how quickly you complete the challenge. The words get progressively harder, and each time you play you will get a new set of words. Once you're at their homepage, click on the red button in the top right hand corner to play the game.

Enjoy your mental workout -

Marla

A gift from my mother

My mother, who is currently on chemo to treat breast cancer, made this for me. She has some time on her hands and has been using it to knit these pretty little dish cloths. I didn't want to use it at first because I thought it was just too pretty to get dunked in dirty dishwater! But she convinced me to put it to the test. Its actually quite sturdy and does a good job of cleaning! I'm going to tell her to make me some more!

Rejoicing Evermore (even over dishrags....)
Marla

Thanks for clearing that up, R.C.

I just got a letter from R.C. Sproul of Ligonier Ministries. In his letter he reveals that he is "skeptical about polls that survey Christian beliefs and practices, especially when the terms "Evangelical Christian" or "Born-again Christian" are used so loosely that they lack the precision necessary for solid definition. Alas, often the questions posed on such surveys are bathed in ambiguity that skews the results."

What this all comes down to is that "a vast majority of people who identify themselves as "Evangelical" maintain a secular life and worldview. This indicates that...

People have warm feelings for Jesus, but they think more like pagans."

He goes on to say that there is a crisis of spiritual growth in America. We can only grow spiritually by growing in our understanding of the Word of God. We are a pitiful people. We think of Jesus as someone to cuddle up with at night, but during the day we go about our sinful ways with barely a thought of Him as the Holy and Righteous God that He is.

"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."
2 Chronicles 7:14

I have always wondered about people who make claims to Christianity, but the fruit (or lack of it) on their vine proves otherwise. I pray that we'll see the people of our great nation awakened to the Truth, that we won't continue to base our faith on our feelings. May we turn from our sin and seek the forgiveness of a loving and gracious God.

Rejoicing because of His grace and mercy,
Marla

Quick, Grab the Nearest Book!

"The Constitution doesn't even mention the issue of education for children, leaving this matter entirely in the hands of the parents."

from Successful Homeschooling by J. Richard Fugate

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 23.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions!

Thanks, TulipGirl, for this fun idea!

Backyard BBQ

Yesterday we had a going-away BBQ at our house for a friend who will be leaving Sweden this week. It was probably the biggest guest list I've ever had. I usually get stressed out if I even THINK of inviting a bunch of people over for a meal. But for some reason I was calm, cool and collected yesterday. It helped a lot that we cleaned house and I did as much of the cooking as possible the day before. We had 17 people total! I was so worried that we wouldn't have enough food, but today I have tons of leftovers. Better to have too much than not enough, I guess!

We organized our back yard to be the hang-out place. The trampoline was there for all the kids to jump on, we had our badminton net up, and we set up the old Swedish/Viking yard game called Kubb, (pronounced "koob.") Unfortunately, the weather was a bit cool, around 55-60 degrees. I had to bring out a coat for one lady who forgot to bring hers, and then I started bringing out blankets. We decided to head indoors for dessert and coffee. It was time to warm up, and since I was serving homemade ice cream, we definitely needed to get out of the c-c-c-cold!

One of our guests was an elderly Swedish man, who goes to our weekly Bible study. He was watching me scoop out the ice cream and commented, " Dessert is important, but the coffee is MORE important!" Swedes just looovve their coffee, morning, noon, and night. They like it strong too-- one scoop of coffee per CUP! When we first moved here I had to fill my cup almost halfway with milk and then add the coffee. I don't need quite that much milk now, but I worry that my teeth are going to be nearly black when we leave Sweden!

Today we took our truck to the shop and had them remove our studded snow tires. Yippee! Everyone else will be doing the same thing, as I think its a law that they have to be removed by May 1-- or you'll get a friendly reminder from the Polis, in the form of a ticket!

Dirty clothes have been sorted and carried down to The Pit (our laundry room is in the farthest reaches of the house) and clean ones are making their way up and back into their rightful places. I think everyone is out of hole-less socks in this house!

May your day be blessed with all the simple joys of life!

"For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come..." Song of Solomon 2:11-12

Rejoice Evermore!
Marla

Cute...

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What Beatrix Potter storybook character are you?

Take this quiz at
Sparrow's Song Quiz Page.

Its an absolutley gorgeous day. Much too nice to sit in front of the computer screen. So I'm headed outside to breathe the fresh spring air, listen to the birds singing, and watch my children play in the yard!!
Go ahead - you should too!

Rejoice Evermore,
Marla

Spring!

Its gettin' springy in Sweden!
These flowers are blooming in my backyard and boy, are they are a sight for sore eyes!!



SPRING

Sound the flute!
Now it's mute!
Birds delight,
Day and night,
Nightingale,
In the dale,
Lark in sky, -
Merrily,
Merrily, merrily to welcome in the year.

(from William Blake's poem entitled "Spring")




Rejoicing Evermore,
Marla

Nothin' much

Today I've been working on my grocery list and meal planning for the next two weeks. I'm halfway done with it now, so it seemed like a good time to take a break and see what's going in the blogworld.

I'm trying to piece together the curriculum I want to use. So far I like Math U See, and Heart of Wisdom. I'm looking for something to teach grammar, spelling, and writing. The only one I'm familiar with is Shurley-- my boys used some of it in public school in Texas. It reminds me of the Math U See program, with lots of "see it, hear it, say it, do it" activities in order to accomodate visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning styles.

Last night my youngest didn't have any homework, so I had him practice writing in cursive. I read somewhere that the transition from printing to writing in cursive can take place in as little as three weeks. Every day for the past week I have had both boys practice writing a sentence in cursive, then sign their name and date it. They have the basic mechanics down, but are just slow. They have to copy what they see, and constantly check the original to see how to connect the letters or how to write a certain letter. It reminds me of when my oldest was learning to read and he had to sound out every word. It was a slow process and I wondered when he'd ever be able to read without sounding out everything. Cursive will soon be just as natural as reading with a bit more practice. I hope!



This is the work of my 8 year old!

We're having a potluck at our Bible Study tonight. I have some enchiladas cooking in the crock pot and just pulled some lemon bars from the oven. Mmmm. Love that tangy lemon taste! Our Bible study group consists of mostly couples that are 10-15 years older than us, plus some senior citizens. We have learned so much from them! We meet once a week and have just finished studying the Parables of Jesus. Next week, we'll begin a study on the book of Jeremiah. I have read the book of Jeremiah and understand a little of the background, thanks to a historical fiction book I read several years ago. I think I might dig that book out and read it again. It was called "Jeremiah... He Who Wept" by Thom Lemmons.

And now I suppose I better go finish my grocery list. What joy! (wink, wink)

Rejoice Evermore!
Marla

Look Closely!

Do you see anything unusual about the name of this science museum? I asked a lady who worked there and she couldn't explain to me why the place is called "Tom Tits Experiment."
I'm dying to know. I hope its either:
1. Tom had a strange last name or
2. "Tits" means something else in Swedish!
In case you are wondering if we saw anything related to the museum's name.... Yes, we did. There was a plastic model of a breast sitting on a table. Also on the table were 9 plastic wombs with a plastic baby inside, each one showing the growth of the baby during the 9 months of pregnancy. So as not to leave the children wondering how the baby gets out, the last model was of a dilated cervix with the head partially out. Our boys looked all this over with interest, asked a few questions (they were especially curious about the umbilical and how long it was), and then moved on to the punching bag and gloves display!

There was one other opportunity to view some human nakedness. I wouldn't consider this part educational though. Luckily I saw the pictures first and was able to steer my boys away by saying "Hey, did you guys see that?!", and pointed to whatever looked enticing to them. I'm not ready for my boys to see actual pictures of nude men and women, especially while visiting what is supposed to be a children's science museum!



Oops! They shrunk me!!

Nah, the table was just extremely large! My husband and I sat at this table and understood what its like for small children to sit at the dinner table. No wonder they play with their food - its at their eye-level!

We had a great day wandering through all the science exhibits and learning how things work. (Too bad all the explanations were in Swedish...)

May the resurrection of our Lord and Savior be your reason for
Rejoicing Evermore! HAPPY EASTER!

Marla

Kids and Computers

Is it Wednesday already? Gulp.

I'm tired of finding my kids glued to the computer screen. They love to play computer games. We have successfully limited Nintendo/PlayStation usage by telling them they can play only on Sat. mornings or if they have guests over who want to play. This rule has worked like a charm. Now it seems I'll have to apply the same strategy to computer use. I told them yesterday that they need to ask permission to use the computer. If they tell me they want to play a game on the computer, they have a 50/50 chance of me saying yes. If they want to use it for learning/research purposes, I'll almost always say yes.

I hate how technology invades our lives. We have to take control over it, or it unwittingly controls us. It demands to have our attention, forcing us to make choices about how to use our time. The computer/internet is a very useful tool for a family, but it also brings a multitude of gaming options for children. I want to see them using the computer for educational purposes, and occasionally using it for recreation. Right now I feel its the other way around at our house. I wonder if boys are more inclined to the games, and girls more into the various communication outlets? I'm trying to gain control of the situation without griping and nagging, yet giving my children some freedom to play on the computer.

As with everything else in this life, Balance is the key!

Rejoice Evermore!
Marla

Homeschooling in Sweden

Talk about EXTINCT!!!

I just found a homeschooling family that lives in Sweden! Apparently homeschooling in Sweden is a very rare thing, just as I had suspected. This family has 4 children and they live out in the country on a farm. How cool is that?! A homeschool association exists here, with a whopping 50 members, of which only 20 are active.
Even more incredible is the fact that there are only 87 children in ALL of Sweden that are homeschooled (this is the official figure from the national school authorities!!)

The legal regulations of homeschooling in Sweden are about the same as in the U.S. However, homeschoolers meet with "massive opposition from the Swedes, the socialization aspect being the most irritating subject." The majority of Swedes do not even know that homeschooling is a possibility! The homeschooling family in Sweden must be prepared to deal with isolation. According to the article I read, the only other homeschooling family they have contact with lives 200 miles away!

On the bright side, I did find a Yahoo email group for homeschoolers in Sweden! (And I signed up!)
Maybe there's a secret sect of homeschoolers that can only be found via email and the internet....

Rejoice Evermore!
Marla

What we've been up to...

Another play is done! My oldest son acted the part of Mr. TeeVee in the 4th grade production of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. All the kids did a fabulous job and it was a joy to watch them perform. This is one thing I will miss when I take them out of school and begin our homeschooling adventure. I suppose they can always join drama clubs?!

Creative juices were flowing this week in our household. I made Easter Eggs using Rice Krispies cereal! I used this recipe to make the treats, then split up the marshmallow/butter mixture equally into 3 separate bowls. Then I added food coloring to make pink eggs, lavender eggs, and yellow eggs. After stirring in the food coloring, you add the cereal and mix together. I loaded my hands with butter to keep the mixture from sticking to my hands as I molded the cereal into eggs. After the eggs cooled, I placed them in a container that had plastic green grass in the bottom. I finished off the little Easter scene by placing some marshmallow bunnies around the edge of the container! Quite springy!

My sister in law is ok after her car wreck. It was a little fender bender, and she's been sore, but we're glad she's ok.

Yesterday, both ~N~ and ~D~ participated in the District Chess Final. They each played 6 rounds of chess. Parents were standing around everywhere, watching their children as they sat deep in thought, plotting out their strategies.



Our school will not be moving on to the National Finals, unfortunately. We faced some pretty stiff competition! One boy on our team succumbed to the mental pressure and dropped out. My husband and I were discussing the differences between chess and physical sports. Especially in regards to boys. Most boys do well in athletics because they are naturally competitive. It is different with chess. Chess requires mental discipline. They must be able to sit and concentrate, plan ahead, and think both defensively and offensively. When they realize they have made mistakes that will cost them the game, they have to finish what they start and continue to the end, eventually congratulating their opponent with a friendly handshake. If they lack maturity in these situations, they may cry, hang their head, and seek comfort from their parents. We saw this happen not only with the boy on our team who dropped out, but also with our youngest son. We encouraged him after his heart-breaking loss with kind words, hugs, and letting him talk it out. Interestingly, I never saw any girls break down in this way. Instead it was the boys who had trouble handling their losses.



Today is Palm Sunday. The children left during the early part of our church service, and came back in a little later waving palm branches. They walked throughout the sanctuary, singing and waving their branches. It was a moving way to imagine what it was like for Jesus to enter Jerusalem amidst the throng of people shouting "Hosanna!" to Him and welcoming Him as their King!

Blessings to you as we go through Holy Week, remembering the sacrifice of our Savior.

Rejoice Evermore!
Marla