Jubal Cottage School

In a couple of days we start the new term of Jubal Cottage School, so I thought this was a good time to post some pictures from our Christmas Concert (and I finally got them on the computer and off the camera!!) Jubal is a place for homeschoolers to work together in the arts, with a focus on corporate expression (e.g. choir, drama) that is hard to do at home by yourself. The goal of Jubal is to train students in the arts to the glory of God!, with the idea that the training they receive here will help them to worship in the local church. I direct the Junior Choir, and we had 30 students this year! We also have a new location, and it made for a lovely cosy feel for our concert.

As the director of the Junior Choir, I asked my photographer to get lots of photos - so here are some shots of the choir, left and right side. Aren't they a nice bunch of children?

We did a lot of work on practicing getting on and off the platform, and we did pretty well in the concert, but having them in two groups did make it a little complicated.

There is a Senior Choir too, for students aged 10 and up. I think there were 27 in this group, and they spread out across the front of the chapel, so you'll have to look at them in three pictures:

Left Side:

Middle Group:

Right Side:

With a close-up of a section of the choir,

There is also drama at Jubal! Here are a group of the Seniors performing a skit they wrote based on an Aesop Fable:



The Juniors had a lot of drama too! They did a summary of a Midsummer Night's Dream, here Hermia is rejecting the appeal of Demetruis.

The whole evening started with a potluck supper, then we had our concert, and then we all helped clean up. This last picture is of some of the Juniors taking their bows, and I think their expressions sum up nicely how the evening went.

Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2010! And the start of a new decade! It's been fun talking over the past decade with Tim and Emmi - they can't remember some of the "big" events from the beginning of it (e.g. 9/11 terrorist attacks) but can remember some of the more recent ones (like listening to Barach Obama's inaguration). I've had a little fun just thinking through where we will be at the close of the next decade - with 20 through 14 years olds about. Wishing you all, all the best in the years to come! Amen!

Gingerbread House 2009 - Step Three

Now for the really fun part - decorating! This is the step that everyone gets involved with.



At first, it is like a blank canvas. People pick different parts to work on, bigger ones help littler ones to squeeze the icing out of the bags.

Sometimes people get silly working on a gingerbread house.



The condo is definitely shaping up!



Everyone is pleased with the finished product!



Front view:



Back view:



If you wish to attend our house to receive a free gift, and also hear about some great time-share opportunities in this condo, please call now. Units are selling quickly!

Gingerbread House 2009 - Step Two

Carrying on with our gingerbread house....

David mixes up a double batch of chocolate fudge to act as a foundation, and sets one of the boxes into it:



Of course, this must be checked with the level:



Then the remaining two boxes are placed on the top, with "floors" between each level.



A roof is put on the top, and... ta dah! The gingerbread condo!!



Stay tuned for decorating....

Gingerbread House 2009 - Step One

It is our tradition to create a gingerbread house each year. It sits on the piano, and greets anyone entering the schoolroom with a lovely ginger-y smell (quickly followed up by the tree's lovely pine-y smell - ah.. the smells of Christmas!). This year, David felt a little tired of the typical gingerbread cottage style house, and felt moved to make something, well, bigger. Here are the first steps of this year's creation:

The gingerbread is mixed up, rolled out, and cut out. Here the three-headed penguin cookie jar (a silly gift exchange windfall, loved by some in our home) watches over the preparation.




After baking, it is "trued up" by David. He recuts the baked edges (which spread a little in the oven), and checks with his set square.

Then the assembly! David is sticking walls together with icing:



Of course, it needs to be checked with the level:



The result of the first night's work: three boxes

Happy Birthday Great-Grandma!

We have the blessing of having Great-Grandma in our lives. She is the children's Grandpa's mother, and she just turned 90! We had a little birthday celebration for her at Grandma and Grandpa's house with some of the extended family.



Great-Grandma is a war veteran, she served during the Second World War in England. Sometimes if she is in the mood, she will tell us a bit about what that was like.

I made the cake, and I was pretty pleased with how it turned out. It was a 3 layer chocolate cake, with a whipped cream icing, and chocolate glaze. Very yummy. This is my favourite picture of the cake because of the background!

Brott Music Education Concert

We met up with Granddad in Hamilton last week. Granddad did not ride his bicycle there - he brought it on a GO bus, and then used it within the city. We met up at the Convention Centre to see the Brott Concert for this year - Daniel Cook Explores the Orchestra.

One of our homeschool mothers had organized the Niagara Homeschoolers to attend as a school group. So it was a pleasure to run into some of our homeschooling friends there!

We came to this concert series last year, but this was Pip's first time to see a full orchestra. He started out sitting beside Granddad, but ended up on my lap.

The concert explained the different sections of the orchestra, and had a small feature on each instrument. Here's what they looked like from way up in the balcony:

After the concert, we went to lunch at an Indian Buffet - also educational! We said goodbye to Granddad, who was to ride back to the GO bus station, and headed home. We were able to tell Daddy about all the sections, and together I think we named all the instruments we'd seen. A good outing!