Friday Vocabulary - Aliquot

The experimental procedure entails taking two aliquots of the unknown and treating one with test reagent X and the other with reagent Y.

-Qualitative Analysis of Some Organic Functional Groups.
-Chemistry I Ladoratory

So what does aliquot mean? It means to designate a part of a number that divides the number evenly and leaves no remainder.The example my dictionary had was that 5 is an aliquot part of 15.
I think that's all for now.

Bethan Faith, born November 11, 2006


Isn't she cute??? She is being held by dad.
So that's where we've been. Friday Vocabulary coming right up!!

Nothing

This is a nothing post. I have nothing to say and it's six-thirty.

Nothing posts are fun to write. One does not need to have a clearly defined idea of what to write. Nor do you have to think about polishing and perfecting what you do write. I guess you could say it was similar to a writing excercise I practice in my writing class called "freewriting." Both types of writing are easy and almost mindless to begin. Both stir up one's thoughts and encourage more thinking. After a couple of freewriting excercises, I have dozens of thoughts flowing through my brain. Sometimes they lead to a good topic; other times they spawn each a dozen more thoughts and topics. I have not written enough nothing posts to find out if they have the same effect on my brain.

How do you go about writing a nothing post? Well, first of all you must sit down and yawn. Then you stare off into space for about five minutes. When you have come back to earth, you look at your computer screen for about two minutes. It's hard on one's eyes to stare at computer screens for much longer than that. When your eyes are suffienciently dry and sore, you finally begin typing. Just put your hands on the keyboard and type in the first sentence that comes to your mind.

A good time to write nothing posts is at the end of the day. You must be just tired enough to want to not think hard, but not so tired you will fall asleep. Nothing posts are also good "fillers" in between several serious posts on a blog. Of course, you must not write too many nothing posts. They work better in small doses.

There are already too many blogs that have nothing but nothing posts. This is not a good situtation. It is an example of shallowness and laziness. Poeple do not want to think and work to write serious posts. Many, many young people and older people write hundreds of nothing posts every year. Can you imagine the quantity of nothingness that is produced?

Unfortunately, this laziness is something we all fall into. My own blog tends to nothing more every time I post if I can spur myself on to post at all.

But if you are struggling with this sin (like myself), know that God is able and will help you.

"Through sloth the roof sinks in,
and through indolence the house leaks."
Ecclesiastes 10:18

BibleGateway.com

Studying the Scriptures

I'm part of a small group on campus, and we're studying the Gospel of John. As college students, we're all interested in bringing Christ into our daily life and finding new ways to serve Him in the midst of homework, job decisions, and being bombarded with false worldviews. As part of this search for ways to grow in Christ, we thought it would be great if we took a verse from our study and think/incorporate it throughout the week. One guy, Scott, called it "lifework" because he didn't like the word "homework."
So this was the verse we chose a couple of weeks ago:

John 5:39 "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me," BibleGateway

It is a good challenge to find Christ in every passage I read. It is especially fun to find Christ in the Old Testament, for they testify of Him, but not so explicitly as the New Testament.

Friday Vocabulary - Vermiculate

In the last Friday Vocabulary I did, I had a quote from The Pilgrim's Regress and I defined a word that was in it. Well, there's another word in the same quote that I want to define this time. The word is vermiculate. I'm not going to repost the whole quote, just the part with the word in it so you will have some context.

The Landlord does not make the blackness. The blackness is there already wherever the taste of mountain-apple has created the vermiculate will.

So what does vermiculate mean? Vermiculate basically means wormy So what the guide is saying is that

the blackness is wherever the taste of mountain-apple has created a wormy will

There are other meanings for vermiculate like being wormlike in shape or appearance, having wavy or winding markings like worms or worm tracks, and moving like a worm.
That's all for now.

Wednesday Quote

Kirk had a test today so I don't think she was thinking about the quote she was supposed to do. So I'm doing it for her. :)
The quote for today comes from Charles Spurgeon. I found it on Girl Talk in this post.

“No man can do me a truer kindness in this world than to pray for me.”

Charles Spurgeon

Which I think is true for all of us.
That's it for now! I have to go study for the SAT now.Bye!!

Friday Vocabulary - Fissiparous

Hello! It's been a bit since I last posted. I've been trying to keep up in school. Here is my post for today.

I was reading The Pilgrim's Regress By C. S. Lewis last night in a chapter entitled "The Black Hole" where the main character asks the guide why the Landlord made the black hole if he was so good. I came upon this paragraph:

'The Landlord does not make the blackness. The blackness is there already wherever the taste of mountain-apple has created the vermiculate will. What do you mean by a hole? Something that ends. A black hole is blackness enclosed, limited. And in that sense the Landlord has made the black hole. He has put into the world a Worst Thing. But evil of itself would never reach a worst: for evil is fissiparous and could never in a thousand eternities find any way to arrest its own reproduction. If it could, it would be no longer evil: for Form and Limit belong to the good. The walls of the black hole are the tourniquet on the wound through which the lost soul else would bleed to a death she never reached. It is the Landlord's last service to those who will let him do nothing better for them.'

The Pilgrim's Regress: Book Ten: Chapter 4

When I got to the word fissiparous, I thought "I wonder what that means?" So I thought I would look it up and use it for Friday Vocabulary.

Fissiparous means to reproduce by fission. Fission is something that various simple plants and animals do in which the parent divides in two or more parts and each part becomes an independent individual. It also means to break up into parts or to split apart.

Well that is all for today. See you on Monday!

The Quote of Wednesday

I promised Jo that I would post the quotes of Wednesday again. Next week I've got exams so I'll be giving the quote to Jo to post.
I was going to post something from St. Augustin, but I went to a physics colloquium at four today and my brain is still running on that.
Maybe though, you all might like to hear about symmetry? Mario Livio, a physicist and writer, wrote a book about symmetry. He spoke about it today as a guest lecturer. It was an excellent lecture. Maybe I'll change my major from engineering to physics.
But this isn't a proper quote for Wednesday. I do not have one for today. So instead, I suggest you to go listen to John Piper's sermon on expository preaching. I am not sure where to find it, but I will ask my dad (who downloaded it on his cell phone).

Meanwhile, you can ponder these words from John 1:1 to 5.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it."

Hmm, I wonder if there is any symmetry there...

Friday Vocabulary - Vicarious

Hello!! The word for today is vicarious.
Vicarious means to take the place of another thing or person. It can also mean to endure, suffer, or perform something in the place of another person.
It reminds me of Jesus' substitutionary death on the cross.
That's all for now!! See you on Monday!

Hello! It's been a bit since we last posted.
This summer we've been rather busy. Kirk is now a Freshman at a near by college. I don't know how often she will be able to post but she said she'll try posting a quote every Wednesday.
This year I'm a senior and am trying to pick up all Kirk's chores as well as help mum but I'm going to work posting into my schedule somehow. I'm going to start the Friday Vocabulary again and I'm also going to try posting something on Mondays. I'm not sure what the Monday posts will be about but I'm open to any suggestions our faithful readership might make.
I guess that's all for now. I'll see you all on Friday!

Second Round of Poems

These are the last three poems of the six.

Kirk's Poem (age 18)

"Charlie was running
Through words on the chalkboard
When a quiet humming
Disturbed his careful methodology.

"He could concentrate no longer
When he reached the word 'Plexiglass'
The humming became louder
'Noelle!' Charlie shouted.

"'Stop humming,' he pleaded;
'I am studying theology!'
'You can hum somewhere else,' he conceded,
'but not where it will cut my thoughts.'

"Noelle calmly replied, with a smirk,
'I have essayed to be silent,
but the sound will quadruple with each quirk!'
She kicked the tableleg hard.

"'Shark!' yelled Charlie.
He chased her from the room."


Mum's Poem

"Charlie was running to the chalkboard
to write upon it a sum
But as he went he tripped over a cord.
Quiet! said the teacher to him.
Your methodology is flawed,
if you utter a word."


Dad's Poem

"Charlie, running fingers on the chalkboard,
quiet, a certain methodology
for when a word escapes the hoard
of his mind.
Softly, slowly, his thoughts begins to clear,
and as water, or plexiglas,
a shout of joy, no fear,
a sound thoelogy!"

Dad, if this wasn't for a game, it would be one of those abstract poems one has to study in literature. You know, the "what does the author mean?" sort of questions and stuff.

First Round of Poems

I can't find my youngest sister's poem, so I have only six.

The poems are from youngest to oldest.

Joe's Poem (age 8)

"Charlie had a book of theology.
Charlie had a running chalkboard.
Methodology is the same thing as a tableleg.
God's word is the sword of the spirit.
flaxy seed is the same thing as plexiglass."

It was supposed to rhyme, Joe.


Elle's Poem (age 12)

"I was in a race! I was running!
I was being, oh, so cunning!
I could feel against my chest, the flapping of my chalkboard,
That hung by a thin, red cord.
Why I took my chalkboard, spelled upon it a word,
I don't know; but how could I be so absurd!
It gave me extra weight, making my leg feel like a tableleg
One that was losing a peg!
I was definetly not as happy as a lark,
By the end of the race, no! I felt almost like a shark!"


Jo's Poem (age 17)

"There once was a boy named Charlie
Who lived in a field of barley
He liked to go running,
He was very cunning
And loved his home in the barley

"There was a man who liked to hoard
He lived in a town called chalkboard
He found some plexiglass
and hid it in a crevasse
Then went back home in Chalkboard"

Note: All misspelled words and punctuation are from the actual poems.

Fun Game from Book

My graduation party and all the yard work it entailed is finally over. So, yesterday we all took naps and got really crazy. That included playing a new game that Jo read about in a book. It was so much fun, we decided to share with anybody who wanted to try to play it.

What you need:
First, you need at least three or four people (the more the merrier).
Then you need a piece of paper and a pencil for each person.
Last of all, you need a long strip of paper.

What to do:
Choose someone to begin.

The person chosen to begin writes a word on the top of the strip of paper and folds the paper over. No one should be able to see the word.

Next, the person passes the strip to the person on their left.

The second person repeats the previous steps, writing their own word underneath the folded bit. Then it is passed on...And so on all the way around the circle
*Note: It is good to have a variety of words. Try to get some verbs in there.

When the strip of paper has no more room left to write a word and fold it over, it is time to unfold the paper. My family chose to go around the circle twice, making a total of fourteen words.

Someone reads the words out loud.

Everyone laughs.

Then the strip of paper is left in the middle of the table for everyone to see.

This is where it gets fun. Each person has to write a poem using at least five of the words on the list in the same order as they are written on the list.

When everyone has completed their poem, they are read out loud. There are a number of ways you can do this. My family handed them all over to Mum who read them out loud and had us guess the author, but you can do it differently if you like.


This is the list of words from our first round:

Charlie

running

chalkboard

quiet

methodology

word

plexiglass

Noelle

theology

cut

essayed

quadruple

tableleg

shark

I will have our poems in the next couple of posts.

Memorizing Psalm 5

I have been slacking off in my memorizing scripture, and I need to get back into it.
I had gotten Psalm 66 done except for the firming up of the last couple verses. I had already memorized Psalms 1, 2, 3, and 4 so Pslam 5 seemed like a good choice. And that is where I left off.
SO, I will repost the first set of verses from Psalm 5, pull out my index cards and start memorizing.

From Psalm 5:


Monday
v.1 - "Give ear to my words, O LORD, Consider my meditation."

Tuesday
v.2 - "Give heed to the voice of my cry, My King and my God, For to You I will pray."

Wednesday
v.3 - "My voice You shall hear in the morning, O LORD; In the morning I will direct it to You, And I will look up."

Thursday
v.4 - "For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, Nor shall evil dwell with You."

Friday
v.5 - "The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all workers of iniquity."

Saturday
v.6 - "You shall destroy those who speak falsehood; The LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man."

So Where Are We?

Right here.

Check out my other blog for some sort of an excuse for the absence of activity for the past couple weeks.

So, on to new posts...

Friday Vocabulary - Funny

Funny means Jerry Lewis.
Good night.

Now we are Six children

Since Mum has released us to share the good news, here it is:

Unconformed isn't the only one having an addition to her family. We are too!!! We shall no longer be five. We shall now be six.

When I was One,
I had just begun.

When I was Two,
I was nearly new.

When I was Three,
I was hardly me.

When I was Four,
I was not much more.

When I was Five,
I was just alive.

But now I am Six, I'm as clever as clever.
So I think I'll be six now for ever and ever.

A. A. Milne

That is, unless God gives us another one.

Kirk and Jo

Memorizing Psalm 5

These are the verses from Psalm 5 for this week.





From Psalm 5:

Monday
v.1 - "Give ear to my words, O LORD, Consider my meditation."

Tuesday
v.2 - "Give heed to the voice of my cry, My King and my God, For to You I will pray."

Wednesday
v.3 - "My voice You shall hear in the morning, O LORD; In the morning I will direct it to You, And I will look up."

Thursday
v.4 - "For You are not a God who taked pleasure in wickedness, Nor shall evil dwell with You."

Friday
v.5 - "The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all workers of iniquity."

Saturday
v.6 - "You shall destroy those who speak falsehood; The LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man."

Happy Mother's Day Mum!!!!!!
We all love you much.
Love, your adoring children,
Kirk, Jo, Elly, Joel, and Annie

The Quote of Wednesday

Maximum - Minimum Value Existence Theorem:

If f is continuous on the closed interval [a,b], then f has a maximum value M and a minimum value m on the interval [a,b].


Ok, so I was studying a lot of math. In fact I've just gotten over my nervous energy high from my AP exam. I suppose you all want something you can understand. Well, I'm too tired to find something, so you'll have to wait 'till next week. Untill then you can pull out your calculus books and look this theorem up.

Psalm 66 - Memorization

Next week I'll be starting Psalm 5, but for this week I'm going to post the whole of Psalm 66. It solidifies the verses more firmly in one's head if you write them out a couple of times from memory.

Psalm 66

To the chief musician. A song. A psalm.
"Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth!
Sing out the honor of His name; Make His praise glorious.
Say to God,'How awesome are Your works!
Through the greatness of Your power
Your enemies shall submit themselves to You.
All the earth shall worship You
And sing praises to You;
They shall sing praises to Your name.' Selah

"Come and see the works of God;
He is awesome in His doing toward the sons of men.
He turned the sea into dry land;
They went through the river on foot.
There we will rejoice in Him.
He rules by His power forever;
His eyes observe the nations;
Do not let the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah

"Oh, bless our God, all you peoples!
And make the voice of His praise to be heard.
Who keeps our soul among the living
And does not allow our feet to be moved.
For You, O God, have tested us;
You have refined us as silver is refined.
You have brought us into the net;
You laid affliction on our backs.
You have men to ride over our heads;
We went through fire and through water;
But You brought us out to rich fulfillment.

"I will go into Your house with burnt offerings;
I will pay You my vows,
Which my lips have uttered
And my mouth has spoken when I was in trouble.
I will offer You burnt sacrifices of fat animals,
With the sweet aroma of rams;
I will offer bulls with goats. Selah

"Come and hear, all you who fear God,
And I will declare what He has done for my soul.
I cried to Him with my mouth,
And He was extolled with my tongue.
If I regard iniquity in my heart,
The Lord will not hear.
But certainly God has heard me;
He has attended to the voice of my prayer.

"Blessed be God,
Who has not turned away my prayer,
Nor His mercy from me!"

Binding of the Blade

Yes! It's out! The third book is out!
Shadows of the Deep, the third in the Binding of the Blade series is out. And a fourth is to come in eleven months, according to the Jollyblogger.
We've got four anxious readers in our family, so we'll be getting two copies.
Beyond the Summerland is the first in this series. Jo and I actually read the second book first, but you should really start with this one. There are just enough strange names to let you know you are reading of some other world, but not so much as to leave you hopelessly lost. It is serious and exciting with out the intensity of The Lord of the Rings (my eight year old brother has read both books).
Bringer of Storms is the second book. This one switches alot in viewpoint, but it is pretty clear when it happens (unlike some books I've read).
So as I can't think what else to say, I'll let Jo post her two cents.

The Quote of Wednesday

Today's quote comes from John Piper's book Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die from chapter 5, page 29.

"I have heard it said, 'God didn't die for frogs. So he was responding to our value as humans.' This turns grace on its head. We are worse off than frogs. They have not sinned. They have not rebelled and treated God with the contempt of being inconsequential in their lives. God did not have to die for frogs. They aren't bad enough. We are. Our debt is so great, only a divine sacrifice could pay it.
There is only one explanation for God's sacrifice for us. It is not us. It is 'the riches of his grace' (Ephesians 1:7). It is all free. It is not a response to our worth. It is the overflow of his infinite worth. In fact, that is what divine love is in the end: a passion to enthrall undeserving sinners, at great cost, with what will make us supremely happy forever, namely, his infinite beauty."

Memorizing Psalm 66

I guess I'll start right where I left off, since I haven't been memorizing this past week. So this is this week's set.

Psalm 66:

Monday
v.16 - "Come and hear, all you who fear God, And I will declare what He has done for my soul."

Tuesday
v.17 - "I cried to Him with my mouth, And He was extolled with my tongue."

Wednesday
v.18 - "If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear."

Thursday
v.19 - "But certianly God has heard me; He has attended to the voice of my prayer."

Friday
v.20 - "Blessed be God, Who has not turned away my prayer, Nor His mercy from me!"

And that is the end of Psalm 66. I will be thinking of another psalm to begin memorizing.

Cheesecake

A photograph of cheesecake

One of our favorite cheesecake recipes is Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheescake. I made this for Dad's birthday.


Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake

Begin first with the crust.

Crust

9 Graham crackers
1/4 c. of confectioners' sugar
4-5 tbsp. of melted margarine or butter

Put three graham crackers into a sealable bag. Crush them with a rolling pin or have your sister walk all over them. When they are sufficiently crunched, pour the crumbs into a medium-sized bowl.
Stir in the sugar.
Pour the melted butter all over the crumbs. Mix all the butter into the crumbs. Grab a handful of crumbs from the bowl. If they stick together, the crust is done; if they don't stick together, add more butter.
When the crust is ready, press it into a 9-inch springform pan. Press the bottom flat and push the crust up the sides. Don't expect it to reach the top of the pan.

Now you can move on to the filling.

Filling

2 8oz. packages of cream cheese or nufchatel cheese
1 14oz. can of sweetened condensed milk
4 eggs
2 tsp. of vanilla extract

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese until it is soft and fluffy. Slowly pour in the condensed milk while still beating the cream cheese. Add the eggs one by one. Add the vanilla last.
When the batter is smooth and completely mixed, pour a little less than half of it into a medium-sized bowl.
Now melt:

1 c. chocolate chips or 2 1oz. baking squares
1/2 c. peanut butter

Pour the chocolate into the large bowl of batter and stir immediately. Then pour the peanut butter into the smaller bowl of batter and stir.
Pour the chocolate batter into the springform pan. Fold the peanut butter batter in the middle. Swirl the top with a knife.
Bake in a preheated oven at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for 65 minutes or until it is set. Cool the cake.
Store in the refrigerator if you are going to eat it soon, if not wrap in aluminum foil and freeze. Thaw it by taking it out and leaving it in the refrigerator for a couple hours.

Please feel free to experiment with this recipe and come up with your own variations.

Our 50th Post

This is our 50th post.
Hmm, that is very little for all the time we have had this blog, but we hope to increase that number soon. In fact, as soon as we get our act together and write down all those thought that are rolling around in our heads, we shall soon outstrip this small number.
So, by God's grace, we shall continue until we come to the hundreth post.


Blessings,
Kirk and Jo

Yesterday, I meant to explain why there had been next to nothing posted last week, but a catastrophe occured and delayed me once again.
The verse we leaned on most heavily yesterday was this:

"And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope." ~Romans 5:3-4

Actually it wasn't all that bad. Our washing machine just overflowed and flooded the laundry room and half the kitchen and leaked down into the basement right over the financial records. So we pulled out rags and sponges and mops and cleaned the kitchen floor first. Then we pulled out the stuff from the basement and left in the sun and wind to dry. Nothing was ruined by the grace of God. But we certainly learned perseverance. I was so tired at the end of the day, that I was singing every word or phrase that was spoken or thought (ask Jo what that means). After dealing with an ant invasion in our pantry, we scrambled to get dinner 'cause Mum had a Bible study she had to get to. I think that explains the delay of the explantion.

What I was going to write yesterday, was this: All last week, we've had dreadful cold things (the kind that start as allergies but then get worse), plus three of my siblings had to take their New-York-required-achievment tests.

In conclusion, praise God in all your circumstances and remember that He is in control and keep an eye on your washing machine.

HE'S ALIVE!! HE'S ALIVE!!!!

We pray that you all have blessed day celebrating the resurrection of our Lord.
The Two Sisters

Friday Vocabulary - Shcwop

This weeks vocabulary word is shcwop. Now I bet you never heard of that word before. I hadn't either until recently when Kirk told me about it. Shcwop basically means to grab someone hard and kiss them. I'll see if I can get a picture of it later.
So anyway, thats what shcwop means.

The Quote of Wednesday

"Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disapoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now recieved the reconcilation." Romans 5:1-11

Memorizing Psalm 66

Here is this week's set.


From Psalm 66:

Wednesday
v.12 - "You have caused men to ride over our heads; We went through fire and through water; But You brought us out to rich fulfillment."

Thursday
v.13 - "I will go into Your house with burnt offerings; I will pay You my vows,"

Friday
v.14 - "Which my lips have uttered And my mouth has spoken when I was in trouble."

Saturday
v.15 - "I will offer You burnt sacrifices of fat animals, With the sweet aroma of rams; I will offer bulls with goats. Selah"

Friday Vocabulary - Contumacious

This weeks word, as you can see by the title, is contumacious. Well, actually, the word itself is not contumacious. I mean the word is contumacious but it's not acting contumacious. Contumacious is the word I'm going to define. So, now we will get to business.
If you are insubordinate, rebellious, disobedient and willfully resisting authority, then you are contumacious. Children are usually contumacious around two years of age. I know I certainly was. In fact, I was contumacious until I became a christian.
So, there you have it. The definition of contumacious. See you later.

The Quote of Wednesday

Our hope:

"Well Faithful, thou hast faithfully profest
Unto thy Lord, with whom thou shalt be blest,
When faithless ones, with all their vain delight,
Are crying out under their hellish plight.
Sing, Faithful, sing, and let thy name survive;
For though they kill'd thee, thou art yet alive."

From Pilgims Progress by John Bunyan; the song of Christian about Faithful after he escaped from Vanity Fair.

Memorizing Psalm 66

I was busy all last week with various things, so I never got the verses out. That's alright because I didn't memorize all of the last set.
So here is the set for this week.




From Psalm 66:

Monday
v.6 - "He turned the sea into dry land; They went through the river on foot. There we will rejoice in Him."

Tuesday
v.7 - "He rules by His power forever; His eyes observe the nations; Do not let the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah"

Wednesday
v.8 - "Oh, bless our God, you peoples! And make the voice of His praise to be heard,"

Thursday
v.9 - "Who keeps our soul among the living, And does not allow our feet to be moved."

Friday
v.10 - "For You, O God, have tested us; You have refined us as silver is refined."

Saturday
v.11 - "You brought us into the net; You laid affliction on our backs."

Friday Vocabulary - Vacillate

Ok, here is the second word for today: Vacillate.

Vacillate means to sway or waver or to fluctuate or to show indecision or to be irresolute.
I can't think of anything more to say on this topic.

Friday Vocabulary - Reconnaissance

Ok, this post was supposed to go up last week, but who can think of such mundane topics as reconnaissance on the day that we celebrate the triumph of light over darkness in Ireland? So you are going to get two vocabulary words today. One now and one later.

The word for now is reconnaisance. In military science, it is the process of finding out about the enemy by examination or survey. You can also use reconnaisance to survey land for other reasons like in engineering to prepare for triangulation or in geology when you are trying to learn its features.
Ok, that's all I have to say right now.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!!!!
We love you!
Love,
Kirk, Jo, Elly, Joel, and Annie





We have lots of surprises for when you come home and one of them will make you look like this:

Annie wants to write something now.

annelise wonts too no you dad hape brthda dad mom gudbi

Most of the word are read the way they sound not the way they are spelled.

Soda Bread

This is the recipe I use for soda bread. My dad, who has high cholesterol, can eat this.

Soda Bread #2 (That really is the name of it)

4 cups of flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/3 to 3/4 pint of milk or buttermilk
Raisins or currants

Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit
Measure all the dry ingredients into a large bowl. Mix them together with a spoon.
Pour in the milk (or buttermilk). Then throw in the raisins (or currants). Stir it all up. Then knead the dough with your clean hands. Roll it into a ball. Place the ball on a greased cookie sheet. Using a knife, cut a large X on the top of the loaf. Bake the loaf in the oven for 45 minutes.

The Quote of Wednesday (A day late)

I have been looking this up. Some places say it was written by Saint Patrick, but most seem to agree that it was not.

Saint Patrick's Breastplate

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness
Of the Creator of Creation.

I arise today
Through the strength of Christ's birth with his baptism,
Through the strength of his crucifixion with his burial,
Through the strength of his resurrection with his ascension,
Through the strength of his descent for the judgment of Doom.

I arise today Through God's strength to pilot me:
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's host to save me,
From snares of devils,
From temptations of vices,
From everyone who shall wish me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone and in multitude.

Christ to shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that there may come to me adundance of reward.
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I rise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity.
Through belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness,
Of the Creator of Creation.

Memorizing Psalm 66

This is something new. To give Jo and I some accountability, and also for anyone who would like to join us, we are going to start posting Scriptures to memorize over the week. This is the first set.

From Psalm 66:

Tuesday
v. 1 - "To the chief musician. A song. A psalm.
Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth!"

Wednesday
v. 2 - "Sing out the honor of His name; Make His praise glorious."

Thursday
v. 3 - "Say to God, 'How awesome are Your works! Through the greatness of Your power Your enemies shall submit themselves to You.'"

Friday
v. 4 - "'All the earth shall worship You and sing praises to You; They shall sing praises to Your name.' Selah"

Saturday
v. 5 - "Come and see the works of God; He is awesome in His doing toward the sons of men."

Memorizing and a Women's Conference

This past Saturday, Jo and I went with our mum to a women's conference. The topic was knowing the heart of God.

The speaker, Mrs. Pope, emphasized the importance of getting into the word of God. To know the heart of God, one must read His word for it is there that He has chosen to reveal Himself. To have the heart of God, one must meditate on and obey these words. Mrs. Pope mentioned five changes in one's life which came from knowing and having the heart of God and which I list as follows:
1. Your attitude towards God will change. His words will become sweet, and your time with God will not be a chore.
2. Your relationship with God will change. He will be your treasure and your all in all.
3. Your heart for others will change. You will consider your neighbors and friends more highly than yourself.
4. Your heart for the world will change. You will have a passion for world missions to bring others into the kingdom of God.
5. Your prayer life will change. Your prayers will reflect God's desires and not your own.
Of course, these changes will never be finished while we are still in these sinful bodies, but the process of change shall go on day by day.

One of the best ways to know the Scripture is by memorization. Mrs. Pope gave some tips to memorize Scripture more effectively, based on her own experience (memorizing over a hundred chapters of Scripture). She recommended getting a small ringed notebook of 3" by 5" index cards and writing the portion of Scripture you are going to memorize on them. You can carry it with you throughout the day and look over the verses, say them to yourself, and meditate on them. It is important to recite those verses you have already memorized over and over again, while you dress, while you do your chores, and while you wait for things, so they will be kept fresh in your mind. Jo and I have adopted this method for our own. As an encouragement, I have been so blessed by this constant placing of God's word before me in the few days I have worked on it.

All in all, this was a most excellent conference which, by the grace of God, has spurred me on in my walk with Him.

Friday Vocabulary - Inconceivable

I can't figure out how to start this post. Isn't that inconceivable?
So now that I have started, I will finish. The word for today is inconceivable.
When something is inconceivable, it means that you can't understand or imagine anything like it.

I can't think of anything else to say but I don't think that is inconceivable. Good bye!

The Quote of Wednesday

This passage is from Charles Spurgeon's Morning and Evening. I found this most convicting when I read it.

Evening of July Sixth

~"How many wrongs and sins have I committed?" Job 13:23~
"Have you ever really weighed and considered how great the sin of God's people is? Think how heinous your own transgression is, and you will find that not only does a sin here and there tower up like a high mountain, but that your iniquities are heaped upon each other, as in the old fable of the giants who piled Pelian upon Ossa, mountain upon mountain. What an aggregate of sin there is in the life of one of the most sanctified of God's children! Attempt to multiply this, the sin of one only, by the multitude of the redeemed, 'a great multitude that no one could count,' and you will have some conception of the great mass of the guilt of the people for whom Jesus shed His blood. But we arrive at a more adequate idea of the magnitude of sin by the greatness of the remedy provided. It is the blood of Jesus Christ, God's only and well-beloved Son. God's Son! Angels cast their crowns before Him! All the choral symphonies of heaven surround His glorious throne. 'God over all, forever praised! Amen.' And yet He takes upon Himself the form of a servant, and is scourged and pierced, bruised and torn, and at last slain; since nothing but the blood of the incarnate Son of God could make atonement for our offenses. No human mind can adequately estimate the infinite value of the divine sacrifice, for as great as the sin of God's people is, the atonement which takes it away is immeasurably greater. Therefore, the believer, even when sin rolls like a dark flood and the remembrance of the past is bitter, can yet stand before the blazing throne of the great and holy God, and cry, 'Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died - more than that, who was raised to life.' While the recollecton of his sin fills him with shame and sorrow, he at the same time makes it a foil to show the brightness of mercy - guilt is the dark night in which the fair star of divine love shines with serene splendor."

Friday Vocabulary - Capricious

This weeks vocabulary is actually two words: capricious and caprice. I'm doing two words this time because they are connected.
The first word we will define is caprice because it comes first alphabetically.

Caprice is a whim, a freak, a fancy, or a fantastical goat leap. Basically it's to have a tendency to do things impulsively.

Now capricious, the word I intended on defining. If you are capricious, you are governed by caprice. You are unsteady, changeable, fickle, and fanciful.
God is not capricious, but man is.
Capricious can also mean fantastic or playful. But that meaning is now obsolete.

The Quote of Wednesday

My brother is getting baptised this Sunday, so last Sunday, my dad pulled out his Westminster Confession of Faith and we had some "profitable discourse on baptism and sacraments." The quote for today is from the Westminster Confession of Faith although I do not know how we stand on infant baptism.
Of the Sacraments

1.Sacraments are holy signs and seals of the covenant of grace, immediately instituted by God, to represent Christ and His benefits; and to confirm our interest in Him; as also, to put a visible difference between those that belong unto the Church, and the rest of the world; and solemnly to engage them to the service of God in Christ, according to His Word.
2. There is in every sacrament a spiritual relation, or sacramental union, between the sign and the thing signified: whence it comes to pass,that the names and effects of the one are attributed to the other.
3. The grace which is exhibited in or by the sacraments rightly used, is not conffered by any power in them: neither doth the efficacy of a sacrament depend upon the piety or intention of him that doth administer it: but upon the work of the Spirit, and the word of institution, which contains,together with a precept authorizing the use thereof, a promise of benefit to worthy receivers.
4. There be only two sacraments ordained by Christ our Lord in the gospel; that is to say, Baptism and the Supper of the Lord: neither of them which may be dispensed by any but by a minister of the Word lawfully ordained.
5. The sacraments of the Old Testament, in regard of the spiritual things thereby signified and exhibited, were, for substance, the same with those of the New.

Of Baptism

1. Baptism is a sacrament of the New Testament, ordained by Jesus Christ, not only for the solemn admission of the party baptized into the visible Church; but also, to be unto him a sign and seal of the coventant of grace, of his ingrafting into Christ, of regeneration, of remission of sins, and of his giving up unto God through Jesus Christ, to walk in the newness of life. Which sacrament is, by Christ's own appointment, to be continued in His Church until the end of the world.
2. The outward element to be used in this sacrament is water, wherewith the party is to be baptized, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, by a minister of the gospel, lawfully called thereunto.
3. Dipping of the person into the water is not necessary: but baptism is rightly administered by pouring or sprinkling water upon the person.
4. Not only those that do actually profess faith in and obedience unto Christ, but also the infants of one or both believing parents, are to be baptized.
5. Although it be a great sin to contemn or neglect this ordinance, yet grace and salvation are not so inseparably annexed unto it, as that no person can be regenerated or saved without it; or, that all that are baptized are undoubtedly regenerated.
6. The efficacy of baptism is not tied to that moment of time wherein it is administered; yet notwithstanding, by the right use of this ordinance, the grace promised is not only offered, but really exhibited and conferred, by the Holy Ghost, to such (whether of age of infants) as that grace belongeth unto, according to the counsel of God's own will, in His appointed time.
7. The sacrament of baptism is but once to be administered unto any person.

Something New

Just a moment, my little sister wants to write something.

jan and dan can see ted. fun fox dan can go mother wag no wag no. let sam have the ball. jan and sam .

Now back to business. Kirk and I decided to have a vocabulary word every Friday. So that will be my job.
The first word is Occidental. I wouldn't even have heard of this word except that I have been getting a lot of college things and I got one from Occidental College.

Occidental:
Western, of the Occident, its people, or their culture. A native of the Occident, or a member of a people native to that region. Opposed to oriental.
Orient means from the East and Occident means from the West.
The Occident is the countries west of Asia. Specifically, (a) formerly, Europe; (b) now, also, the Western Hemisphere.
So all of us in the Western Hemisphere are Occidental

A couple months ago, the head teacher of the pre-k Sunday-school class at our church asked Kirk and I if we would like to teach. We have both been helping since we were about ten and thought we might possibly be able to. So any way, we are teaching our first class this coming Sunday. We are kind of nervous and were wondering if you all could pray that it will go well.
Thank you!! :)

Carolyn Kimberly Bradshaw

Congratulations
to Mr. and Mrs. Bradshaw!

Carolyn Kimberly Bradshaw was born today. Pictures are here at Girltalk. And we think she looks like her mother.

The Two Sisters

St. Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!
Over here, the Young Thinker tried to give historical background to this day, but didn't succeed, so it went off into something else.
However, Mum at Sower's Corner better express the Thinker's thoughts in an excellent post on Valentine's Day, God's way.
So please check it out.

Dinner for Mum and Dad

This is the way I and my siblings are celebrating Valentine's Day. We are blessing our mum and dad with a special dinner tomorrow night (it had to be then 'cause Dad works late on Tuesdays). We are fixing the dining room up to look as much like a fancy restaurant as our dining room can look like. Then we are making a really nice dinner. There will be a Greek casserole (I like to try new things), salad, and other stuff which I can't write 'cause Mum and Dad read this blog. :^D
Then us children will eat early and spend the evening upstairs doing things together.
I don't have the recipe for the Greek casserole here, but I can put our salad recipe down.

SALAD RECIPE:
Lots of lettuce-any kind (iceberg, romaine, spinach leaves, red leaf cabbage)
Chopped almonds (salted and toasted one taste best)
Mandarin oranges (these come in little cans)
Cucumbers
Dried Cranberries
Cherry tomatoes

Wash and chop the lettuce. Wash the cucumbers and slice them. Wash the tomatoes and slice them in half. Toss everything into a big bowl and mix it around with your clean hands (alright, you could use salad tongs too).

END OF SALAD RECIPE

Now you can make this interesting salad for your own parents.

Dangers of Blogging: Honor code 4squared + 4

I posted this at the Young Thinker already, but no one visits it, so I thought I'd post it here (to catch some other poor unsuspecting person).

Well my honor is at stake so here is this "tag" from Mr. Notes (you gotta be careful going to his site).


Four Jobs You've Had

1. being a child
2. being a student
3. becoming a woman
4. babysitting


Four Places You've Lived

1. #1 New York
2. #2 New York
3. #3 New York
4. Current New York


Four Vacations You've Taken

1. Wedding in Virginia
2. Visting friends in New Hampshire
3. Wedding in Maryland
4. Day trips to Vermont


Four Vehicles You've Owned

1. A bicycle
2. A little yellow and red car (or was it yours, Jo?)
3. Ice skates?
4. How many teens my age have had any other vehicles!?!?!?


Four Blogs I Visit And Want To Tag

Here is where the honor code part comes. If you are one of the first four bloggers to see this, then I tag you! Be sure to leave a comment, so that later bloggers know that they are home free. Oh yes, I'll visit (at least once).

When Kirk is asleep....

........she talks. Not only does she talk, but she asks me questions and expects an answer. Happily she does not do it every night. If she did I would seriously consider asking mum and dad to build another room so I wouldn't have to listen to her all night.
Last night we had a really weird conversation. See, I hadn't fallen asleep yet but I could tell by her breathing that she already had. Suddenly, she sat up and said "It's a ..Um.. Oh, what's it called? You know, one of those counting things."
Naturally, I had no idea what she was talking about, but being a very nice sister, I suggested the calculator and the abacus. Of course these things were not what she was looking for. She said, "No, no, the counting thing! You know, where they have 5 people over here and 6 people over there."
Needless to say, I never did find out what she was talking about. So if any of you guys know what a counting thing is, will you please let me know so I can tell her next time she asks?

This is an amazing bit of psalm I read:

"Blessed be the Lord,
Who daily loads us with benefits,
The God of our salvation! Selah
Our God is the God of salvation;
And to God the Lord belong escapes from death."
~Psalm 68:19,20~

I think we often forget to thank God for the many benefits which he loads upon us daily. When I saw this, I thought for a moment to list all the benefits I had recieved that morning (It was not even nine-thirty yet). There were more than I had realized. But this Psalm does not just stop here. It goes on to lead us to the most blessed gift we have recieved from God - our salvation. "The God of our salvation" The Psalm leads us to Him from whom this gift comes from.
Praise the Lord!
For His merciful kindness is great toward us, and the truth of the Lord endures forever.

Cake anyone?

Well, I was going to post this yesterday but I didn't have time. This is the angel food cake I attempted to make for Kirk. I don't think the eggs got beaten enough so it's dense. It's like a condensed version of an angel food cake. Oh well, I can try again next week for my wee sister's birthday.

So, would anyone like a piece? 

Happy Birthday Kirk!!!

Happy 18th Birthday Kirk!!!!
I love you!!!

I hope you have a lovely day. I'm not very good at saying sentimental things, so I won't try. Can you please hurry with the book I gave you? It looks exciting and I can't wait to finish it.
Love,
Your sweet sister,
Jo
Alright, now you can get on the computer.

Hey everyone! I'm sorry there has been no new post lately. We have been kind of busy. This week I've been frantically studying for the SAT that I'm taking on Saturday. So, I was wondering if maybe you could all pray for me. I'm a little bit nervous about it particularly the essay as I'm not very good about writing things in a limited space of time.

On a side-note. My Mum found that she had got tagged by her clone. That was kind of weird.

Hurrah! Jo finally posted her article on Bach.
You can read it here.
Better get working on your next one, Jo. ;-)

The Two Sisters have made it to Spunky Junior's blog roll. I have to put it down to Spunky Jr.'s pity for us poor silly sisters because clearly our blog is not worth reading yet. It is certainly not due to my wittiness.
Anyway, now that we are there, I thought I had better explain why my nickname is "Kirk" so as to cause less confusion (it is, after all, generally considered a boy's name). It started with the pickles, I believe. I loved pickles. I still do. And when I was younger (like three or so), I was particularily fond of Gerkin pickles. So my aunt called me "Kerkin McGerkin" (I was very young then). That was part of it. The other part came from the fact that my name was Kirsten, and how do you shorten a name like that? So my friends and Jo called me "Kirky". The y was dropped in the course of time.
So, if you happen to see Kirk in the blogosphere, please do not mistake me.