31/07/11

Bridget and I were sick in bed today with really sore throats. Thanks Jonah!

The boys played cricket and lego. Jonah looked up military lego and found some guns and weapons on ebay he wants to buy. Then he designed this great jeep and dressed up a view lego men.

I know the shot is blurry. But I don't have the energy to fiddle around with it right now. Back to bed with me :(

shabbat 30/07/11

Parshat Masei from G-dcast.com
More Torah cartoons at www.g-dcast.com

The boys coloured in a sheet from Aish.com

Masay(Numbers 33-36) Accidentally On Purpose

 

Masay(Numbers 33-36)

Accidentally On Purpose

There's a difference between doing something by accident and doing it on purpose. In this week's Torah portion (Num. 35:16-25) we learn that while someone who intentionally murders an innocent person is liable for a death penalty, one who accidentally kills another is not. So too, we should know that - even if the result is the same - we should look at something done by accident and something done on purpose, in two different ways.

---

In our story, a kid discovers that sometimes it's the intention that makes all the difference.

TAKING A SPILL

Jane liked most of camp. The Olympic-sized swimming pool was a dream. The sports fields were top-notch. The counselors were nice and (at least usually) let her do what she wanted. But there was one thing about camp she simply couldn't stand ... the food.

True, she was a bit spoiled in the food department. At home, her older brother - studying to be a chef - often treated her to his five-star cooking experiments. And if not, there were plenty of great take-out spots just a phone call away. But here at camp everything tasted like cardboard.

Of course, she'd complained to the kitchen manager, but the woman had refused to even listen. "Everyone else likes it just fine," she'd said.

But Jane didn't care about what everyone else liked. She hated the food and also wished there was some way she could make a protest against that mean manager.

These were the thoughts on her mind as, like every morning, she sat moping over her breakfast tray of cardboard eggs, cardboard toast and (liquid) cardboard orange juice. Suddenly she heard a crash-smash-splash behind her.

A kid at the next table had accidentally knocked over a full pitcher of juice! The table, chairs and floor were all a big, sticky, orange mess. Jane saw the kitchen manager rush over - boy, was the kid who knocked it over gonna get it! Jane thought. But to her surprise, the manager just gave the kid, who was beet-red with embarrassment, a little shrug, grabbed a mop, and cleaned it up.

Wow, Jane thought, for a big mess like that, no punishment, no nothing.

Suddenly she felt a grin grab the corners of her mouth and tug them toward the fans on the ceiling. She'd have her protest after all...

That day at lunch, Jane made sure to sit close to the edge of a table and make sure there was a full-to-the-brim pitcher of (cardboard) Kool-Aid in front of her. While the kids sitting next to her were distracted, she gave the pitcher a protest shove with her elbow and smiled as the red, sticky liquid went splash dancing on the floor.

As she'd expected, the kitchen manager came running over holding a mop. But not as Jane expected, instead of just giving her a mild shrug like he had to the other kid - the manager handed the mop to her!

"Okay, clean it up," she said with a no-nonsense voice.

Jane was stunned. "W-why me?" she asked.

"You're the one who spilled it, aren't you?"

"Well, yeah," Jane said, since there was no denying it. "But today at breakfast another kid spilled a pitcher and you mopped it up. So it's simply not fair to now expect me to do it."

Jane was certain that her logic was perfect and the kitchen manager would soon get to work - but no such luck.

"Young lady, if you don't clean up every drop of the mess you made, I'm going to report you to the head counselor."

"But why?" Jane insisted, now feeling very on-the-spot. "Me and that other kid did the exact same thing."

"You did not," the woman responded. "I saw both spills happen. This morning the girl spilled the pitcher totally by accident, so why should I get upset at her? Just now, you spilled it on purpose. The two spills were not the same at all."

As Jane dragged the wet mop across the sticky floor, she realized that what she'd done - and what she'd learned from it - had all been no 'accident.'

---

Ages 3-5
Q. How did Jane feel when she first spilled the pitcher of drink?
A. She was happy that now the manager was going to have to clean it up like she had before when another kid did the same thing.
Q. How did she feel at the end?
A. She realized that what she'd done was different, since she'd spilled it on purpose.

Ages 6-9
Q. What life-lesson do you think Jane learned that day?
A. She'd thought that doing the same thing by accident, and doing it on purpose should be treated the same way. But she discovered that there was a big difference.
Q. Why do you think the kitchen manager treated the two spills differently?
A. The first spill was an accident. While perhaps the kid could have been more careful, she wasn't intentionally trying to make a mess and cause the manager extra work, so it could be easily forgiven. But Jane's spill was an intentional unkind act that shouldn't have gone without consequences.

Ages 10 and Up
Q. Why should it matter what a person's intention is, if the end result is the same?
A. Life is more than just a sum of its physical events. True, a spilled pitcher of drink makes no more or less physical mess if it's spilled on purpose or spilled accidentally. However, intentional negative acts make much more of a 'spiritual' mess - such as create bad feelings within and between people - than the same act done by accident.
Q. Is there a difference between good, positive acts done accidentally and those done intentionally?
A. While on the surface, the result might look the same, someone who does something positive, on purpose, is not only improving his character, but is giving a spiritual 'positive charge' to the world.

29/07/11

the boys played cricket and then Jono took them to town. They visited the gardening shop and the pet shop where they saw some baby chicks :) Then they went to the park. Bridget and I did housework and cooking. She also washed the dog which was hilarious ~ the dog hates being washed :) Then the boys built a fire with all the branches that Jono pruned from the fruit trees yesterday. They enjoyed that until dark.

28/07/11

So we sold Az and Bo today. We can use Oliver (Bo's new name) as a buck when we are ready for kidding again next year. Now we are down to 4 goats. Jono will slaughter the wether tomorrow he thinks so then there will be three until Sufa kids in November.

two questions at dinner : 1. are hammerhead sharks mammals? no, but they do give birth to live young

then we watched this vid. very cool :)



2. how do ladybugs reproduce?

they all watched this

Here's Bill in his new op-shop clothes. I thought the jumper would be better for Jonah, but both of them are happy for William to have it!

and a pic of Bridget's hot water bottle cover. I just love it. Another op-shop find :)

and I just put this picture here for Jonah to look at later and ask me what they are! (hint : salt and pepper shakers!)

27/07/11

Devorah didn't make it, and it was really sad. Bridget and I were there when she finally stopped breathing. It wasn't nice, and I hope not to see that again.

Andrew dropped round and decided to give us a paddock for the goats, which is good. They will not be able to get to the grain and hay now.

Jonah had a sore throat and spent most of the day in bed or lolling around. He did play a little cricket and watched while Bridget and William painted in the sun.

He he is on google earth tonight.

These are some photos the boys took of each other yesterday. They are really into guns at the moment.

My helpful boy sweeping the floor.

Bridget folding the washing and watching Pirates of Penzance.

26/07/11

Jonah asked how fast a bullet goes and I found this excellent video that helped him learn how to work it out :)


How fast does a bullet travel in miles per hour? from Jeff Lehman on Vimeo.

this was a vid for Women in Greek Society.



Jonah was measuring distances on google earth again. He entered in a speed he knew a certain car could go and then showed me from where to where in England it would go in an hour. William measured the Red Sea and then the circumference of the earth in feet :) Later on he asked me how many feet the universe is. When I said that nobody knows he then asked how many kms it was then.

Bridget spent time looking longingly at the hay where the kitten have been born. They will come out in about 4 weeks I'm guessing. Dev ate too much grain and had stomach issues this afternoon. Bridget looked up signs, symptoms and treatments. After she got up and started moving around we decided to just let her be and see how she is in the morning. I'm sure she'll come good.

today...

Today Bridget asked what saliva was for. So we googled it and got this website. Both Bridget and Jonah enjoyed telling Jono about it at dinner. Then they told him about how Echidna's have pouches and we talked about how strange platypuses are. We decided that they are a cross between a penguin and a marsupial. Jono said if they wanted a missing link, the platypus would be it. Funny how conversations go :)

Jonah was flying around the gulf of Aqaba on Google Earth and discovered that it is 7,093,417.85 inches in length :)

Reading the Tank book to the boys; we talked at length about the effect of gravity because the guns on the tanks must account for it or else the shells will fall to the ground before reaching the target. Jonah knew alot about how gravity works and explained it to William by using examples of what happens to astronuts in space and on the moon. We learned that the first tank 'Mother' (WW1) went 6.46kph. Jonah thought it was hilarous that it would take an hour to get from here to town in it :) He then spent another hour looking up WW1 guns on the internet.

always learning week ending 22/07/11

Bill has been busy picking early spring wild flowers for me. He brought me something that looked like weeds but had lovely heart shaped little flowers. Jono looked it up and it is Shepherd Purse - you can eat the leaves and they are packed with vitamin C. Yesterday I found Bill sitting at the top of the water tank chewing on sourgrass. He said its his favourite place because of the view. "I just love the view here Mum, you should see it". He always wants wants others to share in his experiences :)  He has been a really great help with milking the the goats this week and yesterday sang a humming song the whole time. He made this

 

He loves using glue (this was yellow glitter glue).

Both the boys climbed the tree at the front and got really high. Too high I think! They have ridden their bikes up to get the mail a couple of times. Jonah asked Jono to take this photo.

He watched the DVD in the Gallipoli and the Anzacs resource unit. He did some pages of maths and played a few hours of Poptropia. He flew on Google Earth and looked up the places where Lawernce of Arabia was set.

This is growing in the pantry! Hoping to get it in the ground before the end of the week :)

Bridget took this photo of Tamei from inside the house. She has been on heat this week (Tamei, not Bridget) and we have talked about how we might let her have puppies sometime if we find the right male dog. We talked about how it would be bad for her if a large dog impregnanted her because of the size of the puppies. She stinks too! Bridget really needs to wash her today or tomorrow.

Bridget is reading as usual. She finished The Power of One for young readers and really enjoyed it. I was glad to find this version and I truly loved the novel but it was way too graffic for her. Now she is reading My Fathers War, a my Australian story novel that I bought at the War Memorial. She's also reading YHWH, The Flood, The Fish and The Giant by G.P Taylor, a gift from Michelle. and she borrowed The Dog who loved the Queen by Jackie French.

Other borrowings from the Library this week ;

• 'Bodyline' DVD  (no doubt there will be some cricket games as a result) 
• The Ultimate history of fast Motorcycles - Roland Brown 
• Full Throttle, Lamborgini - Tracey Maurer
• Wild about Planes - Ticktock publishing 
• Built for Speed Cars - Ian Graham 
• Speedy Machines, Cars - Vic Parker 
• DK Battle - Ancients to WW1
• Weapons and Warfare, WW1 - Adrian Gilbert
• Weapons and Technology WW2 - Windsor Chorlton 
• How it works, Battle Tanks - Ian Graham 
• Animals, 100 questions and answers - Jinny Johnson 
• Wonders of the North Pole - Catherine Guigon 
• Farmer Schulz's Duck - Colin Thiele (we read Murray River Mary last week. So impressed with that book!)

A few more shots of goings on ... Jonah took these of two of his cars. He knows each one intimately, and exactly how fast they go in real life :) (Actually I think the blue one is a Bugetti Veron and it belongs to William).

A painting of the garage by Bridget :)