A History of Christianity

You are now witness to my inner geekdom. With an affinity for documentaries and a pretty healthy appetite for intriguing information about the church, I didn't want to pass up the chance to review the first DVD in this set.

And I've already created a little clone geek. Zane watched it with me and we both enjoyed it!

A History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years, a new DVD series, explores what it really means to be a Christian.

Presented by David MacCulloch, a leading historian and Professor of History of the Church and Fellow at St. Cross College, Oxford.

"Religious belief can transform us for good or ill. It has brought humans to acts of criminal folly as well as to the highest achievements of goodness and creativity. I tell the story of both extremes," say MacCulloch.

As a homeschooler, doing my best to make sure my son has a well-rounded Christian education, this series is my cup of tea. I would like to add the rest of the collection to my library and use it as curriculum.

Rather than tell you everything on the DVD, let me say that the first hour-long program was filled with information I didn't know. I expect the same from the other five.

For more information, click here.

Popinjay--ADORABLE

The challenge word issued last week is: ADORABLE.



It's my birthday and I can cheat if I want to.

At least that's the story I'm sticking with this week. Because I really did have other plans for the word adorable.

But then I walked by Zane's room today while he was doing school and I saw this:


And that, my Lovies, is adorable.



* * *

Next week's word is: LOST

You have from now until next Monday to take your photo, post it and you'll be able to link it next Monday. I can't wait to see what you come up with!

* * *

Also, since the first word ever was so challenging for me, I thought I'd give you a head's up on a month's worth of words so that I you can have some more time to get just the right shot.

Week #12--Lost
Week #13--Accomplished
Week #14--Bitter
Week #15--Funny

pop⋅in⋅jay--noun--a person given to vain, pretentious displays and empty chatter.

In other words, blogging. ;)

Isn't that what this personal blogging is all about? Me. Me. Me. For this photo challenge, that's perfect. We're going to dig inside of ourselves and do some "concept photography."

I'm going to give you a word and you're going to take a photo of something that describes the concept of the word.

• You CANNOT take pictures of your kids or your pets for this challenge. Or anyone else's kids or pets. I know they're precious, but they make your creative bone lazy. Let's get outside of the box. Let's be challenged.

Please leave the link to your post (not the link to your website or blog.) For example:

Right: http://michellependergrass.com/week1_photo

Wrong: http://michellependergrass.com



So--Let's see your photos for ADORABLE.
Link up and don't forget to visit the other participants!

Thursday at The Horrible Homeschooler

New post up at The Horrible Homeschooler.

Planners, Schedules, and Lists--

And failure to start school on the first day of school.

And by the way, if you'd like to contribute to The Horrible Homeschooler, please email me! That's mLpendergrass

The Horrible Homeschooler

Yes.

It's true.

I am The Horrible Homeschooler.

Or the Ogre as Phil likes to call me.

Come visit.

Showing Tonight--Perseids Meteor Shower

Best viewing: middle of the night.

We tried to see Perseids Meteor shower last year. I woke Zane up, got in the car and drove to a cemetery out in the middle of nowhere. It was cloudy and rainy so we went home without even seeing a star.

Tonight, though, the forecast here is CLEAR!!!

We'll be up and driving down the road around 2am. I can't wait!

Here's an article in Science Daily for you.

Free Homeschool Stuff

I was browsing the web earlier and came across a link for K-12 Free Homeschool Online.

I read all the fine print and it seems they offer great courses, most with a $4.95 shipping and handling fee--so it's not totally free, but cheap enough for me. Also, most of the course work is online, at times they'll send a CD (at least that's how I'm understanding it.) I decided to sign up and try one course (click here for a list of all of them) I chose:

Heritage Social Studies 3: Beyond the Sea K12Free

Home school students will love learning about the many different people that make up God’s world.

We did the first lesson today and Zane loves the graphics and the interesting visuals they've used. If this works out, I may purchase the other courses. The ones that cost more seem to be the Bible courses. According to the site, they're still discounted greatly, but I'm not sure I'll purchase those. We'll see, I guess.

The Cicadas Are Coming!!

They were here in 1990, the year I graduated and this 17 year brood is coming back this year! I still haven't forgot what it sounds like outside when the millions of cicadas come out. (This lady has some mp3's from 2004, you can get an idea of what they sound like)

Since we've moved a little outside of "The Region" (upper northwest counties of Indiana) I'm not positive we'll get the cicadas here in Knox, guess I'll ask around the town.

There are some cool pictures here.

The last time they were here, people had to use snow shovels to get them off of their driveways. Don't believe me? Read the Chicago Tribune.

Or watch this video from the ABC Chicago.

Here's a map of brood XIII from CicadaMania

So, if you're coming to see me in May or June, we'll get to experience this scientific wonder together! Call me a freak if you must, I think this stuff is fascinating! Time to pull up some homeschool lessons! Next time Zane see this will be in 2024 when he's 24.

Brood XIII

(17 Year)

States Effected: IA, IL, IN, MI, WI

Years Present: 1973, 1990, 2007, 2024, 2041, 2058, 2075, 2092, 2109, etc....