Him?

So, I planned to start our hymn study this afternoon.  I had chosen I Sing the Mighty Power of God by Isaac Watts over a month ago.  
Before we got to that part of our day, we were driving to the library.  Instead of giving in to the request to put on Radio Disney, I asked the kids what a hymn is.  
One of my dears said something like this:  It's a slow, boring song that mostly old people sing in church.  Self-talk:  don't laugh, don't smile, move on.  The other dear says it's a God song that is old.  Deep breath.
You know what?  Though those would not have been my answers, a few weeks ago I didn't even know what exactly a hymn was, except to say I know it when I hear it!  I had to look it up.  
According to the Center for Church Music, "Essentially a hymn is a song of adoration to God meant to be sung in the church." 
Looking back not very far in my life, I remember going to a church where hymns were still sung.  Judge me if you will, but they made me laugh.  I mean, who still sings hymns in church?  
Now that I am taking the time to learn the history and the words of specific hymns with my kids, I appreciate them much more.  It reminds me of the time in my life when I really took the time to understand God's Word and what it meant for me as compared to the time when the Bible was out of touch and hard to read.  
I think the kids enjoyed listening to our hymn and singing along a little.   I know I did.  For your information, I don't know how I found this, but this website is a great source of information on hymns as well as audio all for free!   It even has a hymn of the week.  

A Black-Eyed Outdoor Hour

Ahh.  We are getting back on track with our Outdoor Hour Challenges this month.  I've been wanting to do this week's all summer, actually.  It's the Summer flower study of composite flowers - specifically, Black-Eyed Susans.  
Here in the deep South, these beauties have been in bloom for months.  So by now we find them waning.  

Even in their old age, we observed the 13 yellow ray flowers and the spiraling brown disc flowers (black eyes) that compose these composite flowers.  

The great part of this outdoor hour is that we got to share it with some new nature studiers.  (Is that a word?)  It's funny.  I am still new to the nature study culture myself.  And yet, I found myself sharing my love for it with another family.  
Then, kids being kids, they took to another challenge:  a big wall.

Here are some more pieces of our hour:

What in the world?

 I learned these are called Red Velvet Ants, that they are really wingless wasps which can inflict a painful sting!  Yikes!  

Ah, much better. 

What's more, today at Farm Class the kids were on a scavenger hunt.  You know what was on the list?  Composite Flowers!  And they knew just what to look for.  How great is that? 

How Should I ... ?

So, we started our new school year this week.  While they weren't exactly "smooth and easy days" a la Charlotte Mason, it was a good beginning.  
This year, I decided to have a scripture-theme.  I've read about families doing that, but I never got there.  Having re-evaluated my purpose for teaching at home (well, to be honest, I'm still doing that), I wanted to plant us on good soil.  
I spent some time reading scriptures about teaching children, about a peaceful home (!!!), and some spiritual fruits.  But when I came to what we call The Lord's Prayer, I was convicted.
It's not about me teaching the kids, really.  It's about God teaching us all.  And if homeschooling doesn't make you want to pray, then I don't know what will!  
To start, we are working on memorizing Matthew 6:9-13.  We're learning some of the sign language for the verses.  We are praying together.  

Matthew 6:9-13

This, then, is how you should pray:

Our father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done

on earth as it is in heaven.

give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from the evil one.