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Reflections from the Art House North Songwriter Workshop {New Music Monday}
The Art House North is located in a beautiful, cozy old church. The sanctuary, now used for concerts, plays, and general artistic inspiration, is surrounded by stained-glass windows and lined with church pews, faded but comfortable from their years of good use. The wood floors creak a little bit under pressure, but their whispers mean that people are gathering together. I felt welcome at the Art House North from the moment I entered the building. Even the smells felt homey: chicken pot pie cooking in the basement and coffee brewing in pots both upstairs and down. Those of you who know me well know that I like to take notes.…
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Planting Seeds with “The Sower,” a New Book by Scott James
We have a small collection of books on our kitchen table, held up with an old bookend from my sister and a pot overflowing with African Violets. Some of the books in our kitchen table collection include Everything a Child Should Know about God by Kenneth N. Taylor, My ABC Bible Verses by Susan Hunt, The Biggest Story ABC by Kevin DeYoung, a few of R.C. Sproul’s children’s books, and a children’s Bible. The kids and I use these books to do devotions together in the evening and we also used them as part of our bygone homeschool days. All of these books do an excellent job of taking biblical…
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New Family Goals: Homesteading, Hobby Farming, & More
Up until a couple years ago, Brian, the kids, and I lived in this cute little blue house on a quiet cul-de-sac: We lived on almost an acre of land, which we felt was a lot of land back then, and did as much on that acre of land as we could. Brian tilled a 40 X 40 foot garden and planted fruit trees. I maintained our landscaping and our wildflower garden. We also obtained five chickens, all Rhode Island Reds, from a friend a few years after we moved into the house, when the City Council finally passed the ordinance allowing homes in our neighborhood to keep chickens (no…
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The Year Behind and the Year Ahead
As the New Year rolled in over the weekend, cold temperatures also descended on us here in the Midwest. The parking lots are full of salt stains and ice, snow is jumbled up in hard, frozen piles, and when I walk outside, I can feel the inside of my nose begin to freeze. I even imagine the pine trees shivering, their cold needles swaying in the winter winds. I know many people who dislike our cold Midwestern winters, but I think they’re beautiful. The snow reflects the light from the sun and sends it scattering in a brilliant diamond dance, just like the water does in the summer. We build…
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A Typical Day in Music Class & A Christmas Song (A Long Overdue New Music Monday, Plus Video)
In addition to being my first full year teaching science, this is also my first full year teaching music. I teach music at every level, from the first grade students all the way up to the high school juniors. I enjoy teaching both music and science, but I feel the most passionate about teaching music. Music is beautiful. Music is fun. And music tells us stories. Our Music Class Routine In music class, we follow the same basic routine each class period. First, we listen to a piece of music and then we discuss what we heard. I like to ask the students three questions about each piece: 1. What…