Our Favorite Books, DVDs, and CDs for 2010

1. Carry On, Mr. Bowditch! (book) By: Jean Lee Latham

2. Princess Adelina (book) By: Julie Sutter

3. Coming In On a Wing and a Prayer (book) By: Kelly (Brown) Bradrick

4. Across Five Aprils (book) By: Irene Hunt

5. What Our Father Taught Us About Boys (CD) By sisters Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin

6. O Sing a New Psalm (CD) Four part harmony by: Rebecca (Serven) Loomis (soprano), Beth (Serven) Ten Dolle (alto), Chad Roach (tenor), and Nathan Serven (bass).

7. Songs of the Remnant (CD) Four part harmony by: Rebecca (Serven) Loomis (soprano), Beth (Serven) Ten Dolle (alto), Chad Roach (tenor), and Nathan Serven (bass).

8. Hymns for Kith and Kin (CD) By: Rebecca (Serven) Loomis on piano

9. Glory, Laud, and Honor (CD) Four part harmony by: Rebecca (Serven) Loomis (soprano), Beth (Serven) Ten Dolle (alto), Chad Roach (tenor), and Nathan Serven (bass).

10. Nations Praise (CD) Four part harmony by: Rebecca (Serven) Loomis (soprano), Beth (Serven) Ten Dolle (alto), Chad Roach (tenor), and Nathan Serven (bass).

11. Jonathan Park (Audio drama) By: Vision Forum Ministries

12. Farm Mystery Series (books) By: The Stephen Castleberry family

13. The Courtship Series (books) By: The Stephen Castleberry family

14. The Widow's Might (movie) By: John Moore

Fellowship with friends part 2

Here are of the photos from the visit with the Wahlquist family:


The young men chat. L-R: Nathaniel W., Benjamin W., Caleb, Andrew W., and Joel.


Their "guesthouse" on the outside

Fellowship with friends part 1

Six days ago, we had a great visit at some of our friends house. Below are some photos of the visit. I hope to post more soon.


Lil' Stephen :-)


Me (Johanna) and my sweet little buddy Stephen Wahlquist ;-) This was a self portrait.

Mom chats with Elisha W. about writing while Stephen watches.

Debs and I draw together after dinner (photo courtesy of Elisha Wahlquist)

Stephen listens to Deborah read a funny book

Talking after dinner. L-R: Phoebe, Abby, Elisha W., Deborah W., Caleb, Nathaniel W., Ben W., Mr. Wahlquist and Dad.

Abby chats with Elisha and Beth in the guest house

Beth's beautiful harp

Deborah sits on the guesthouse window sill.

Deborah plays with Benjamin's playmobile

Dad and Jaden (photo courtesy of Elisha W.)

Beth W., Abby, Stephen W., Phoebe, Me and Deborah W. (photo courtesy of Elisha Wahlquist)

Beth W., Abby, and Stephen W. (Photo courtesy of Elisha Wahlquist)

Background: Mom and Mrs. W. chat in the kitchen. Foreground: Andrew W. being exhorted by Joel.

L-R: Abby, Stephen W., Phoebe, and me (photo courtesy of Elisha Wahlquist)

The Sanctity of Human Life

Human life should be valued at any age or stage.

Please go to our Dad's blog and read his sermon Fearfully and Wonderfully Made: A Biblical Perspective on Life. This sermon he preached this past Sunday at Northwest Christian Church, where he pastors. It was very good! Since last week (Sanctity of Human Life week) we didn't post anything about it, this would be very good material to read.

Psalm 139:13-16: “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my
mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. My frame was not
hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the
lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as
yet there were none of them.”

Global Warming Video

This video I made a few weeks ago, when it was still cold. We've finally gotten some of Al Gore's global warming. It's in the 60s now! And we're enjoying the spring like weather.

Please pray...

We ask all of our blog readers to be in prayer for all of the earth quake victims in Haiti. Specifically please pray for David Hames and his family, as well as all of the rescue workers trying to find him. He was over in Haiti for a mission trip (apparently), and was in the Hotel Montana when the earth quake hit. He is still trapped in the rubble.

If you've seen the well known film serious "Incredible Creation that Defy Evolution", then you'll recognize Mr. Hame's name. He was the host for all three of the ICDE volumes. You can visit www.explorationfilms.com to view a slide show of Mr. Hames.

Thanks for praying!

Visit

Recently we had some friends over to drop off Caleb's push mower. We hadn't seen the Wahlquists since November 1st of last year. Of course (as always), it was not even long enough of a visit. Here are a few photos of our visit.


Mrs. Wahlquist chats with us younger women (Beth, Abby, Phoebe and me)



Beth Wahlquist listens to Abby.



As always, their young men had a blast with Caleb and Jaden!

The young men chat in the front yard

Germany Pictures

Dad flew out from DFW around 2:30pm on Monday afternoon. After having two layovers, one in Raleigh (North Carolina) and the other in London, he arrived in Germany on Tuesday around 5pm Germany time. After looking around at a Christmas market, they finally got back to Jim & Naomi's house. After being up for over 28 hours, they finally went to bed, I'm sure exhausted.



The Sternenback super-market


The front of the shop below Jim & Naomi's apartment



Their apartment from far away



A veggie market along the road



The streets of Tubingen


Dad's room




Sunday morning service at International Christian Church


Jim leading the song service, with Naomi playing the piano





English Bible study on Sunday evening


Ludwig and Ruth's abode


Joachim, Raphael, Martina and Tabitha Kautt


The view from Ludwig and Ruth's back porch


Ruth's nativity scene


A German barn


Jim, Mousa, Sami, Conny & Naomi

The Answer is...

...GERMANY, and SWITZERLAND! Dad (with his mom) had the opportunity to travel over to Germany to visit with his brother and sister-in-law during the holiday season. On his way back he flew out of Zurich, Switzerland.

The famous Neccar river, which runs through the town of Tubingen.

During the International Christian Church's Sunday morning worship service.

Dad got a chance to visit some of our more distant relatives, as well.

More pictures and details about the trip to come, hopefully!

Answer to "What in the World?" Guessing Game Coming Soon!

With more pictures!

Roses

"I wanted to draw, then paint a rose, and can't seem to get a non-warped rose by just sketching it. (I should take lessons from Johanna, who is a natural at roses.) So I decided to try the graph transfer method. I placed a clear acetate graph sheet over the photo, then penciled the same size graph onto my paper. I drew what I saw in the photo, grid-for-grid, onto my paper."



"This outline drawing is too small. So I enlarged my penciled grid a bit, and re-drew it. Tedious, I know. But I want to paint the rose, so it's worth the effort. If I thought more mathematically, I might have figured it out before I did the first drawing that it would be too small."

"When it is time to transfer the drawing to my watercolor paper, I will use this method: On tracing paper, I will trace the outline of the rose. Using the side of a soft pencil, I will rub graphite onto the back of the tracing. Then I'll lay it on my final paper, graphite "carbon paper" side down, and then - pressing lightly - trace the rose on the top of the tracing paper. This will transfer my drawing onto the watercolor paper."

"Right now I'm in the middle of working on a value sketch for my painting. This is merely a pencil rendering of the shading so I'll know what darks and lights to use in my colors. This is very important. I've tried skipping this step a few times, and have regretted it. Skipping it wastes time, because I usually have to re-do the painting, or else the painting is too light or in some way unsatisfactory in it's shading / realism. Notice the difference between the line drawing and the values drawing. See how the rose seems to pop up off the page in the areas where it is shaded? Shading is what gives form and a 3-D effect. Even if I was to get the colors right, if I didn't get the shading right, the painting would look flat. I'm going for realism, so the shading is essential.

"I'm also working on two other painting projects, one of which is in two parts. I really ought to finish them first, but when I get the rose done, I plan to post it. Ha! That's a brave plan, because if it's disastrous, it will be a real blow to my pride. But I will post it, successful or not."

Soli Deo Gloria,

Julia

All pictures are the property of Julia A. Kautt, Copyright 2009.

The Grapes Plate

THE GRAPES PLATE

"Back in July, my nutritionist asked me to paint some grapes for her new office. She has been so kind to our family that I made that a priority.



"My medium this time was acrylics. I didn’t seem to have any appropriate brushes for the job, so I bought two new ones. I thought grapes would be easy. Ha! I tried several times, but I couldn’t make those two brushes attain the effect I wanted. I got discouraged and avoided the project. I felt guilty every time I walked past my painting table and refused to paint anything else until I got that done. My paint dried out. I kept telling myself I needed to get it done. I mixed more paint and sat back down and made myself paint. Still I wasn’t satisfied with those two brushes. Finally, I dug out an old brush of unknown parentage that I had rejected earlier without even trying it. It worked. From that point, the project progressed rapidly.





"My canvas was a re-cycled wooden plate. Here’s how I got that one. When we need boxes for our de-cluttering projects, we cruise the McKinney square. At the end of the weekday, businesses put their trash out at the curb. If you get there before the sanitation trucks, you can get some nice boxes. Sometimes there is "treasure" in them. This past summer, David found such a treasure in one of the boxes he picked up. There were five or six painted wooden plates. When I saw them, I knew I had what I needed for the grapes job.
"I had my son, Caleb, sand one down to the wood. I applied a base coat and then painted the grapes and other details.

"I worked so intensely on the painting that – toward the end - when I rinsed my brush between colors, I snapped the handle half-way down while blotting the bristles on the rag. I was almost done, so I grabbed the nub of a handle and kept painting. A few minutes later, I snapped off the handle again next to the ferrule (the metal band that holds the brush hairs to the handle.) Okay then. I guess that was that!

"I finished the job two weeks ago and had Caleb spray on an acrylic coating for me. We delivered it to my nutritionist on Monday, December 21st. * Sigh * Finally done!"

"Maybe I’ll paint more grapes – now that I know how to do it and I have all those plates. Just in case, I bought another brush just like the one I demolished. (Grins.)"
Soli Deo Gloria,
Julia

All photos are the property of Julia A. Kautt, Copyright 2009.

Fast Foods

You will not want to eat fast food after you watch this short video. It's of a four-year-old hamburger and french fries compared to REAL three-month-old potatoes.

A Review

Hello bloggie friends :)

This is Abby, and I wanted to invite you to read a review I have written for the DVD Homeschool Dropouts over at my blog.

And of course, your feedback either here or there is very welcome.

Keep Guessing!

We have had some great guesses, including one coming via Face Book. Thanks to all who have guessed so far! Please keep guessing, we'll give it a few more days. I won't say if anyone is close, or not. You will have to wait and find out in a few days!

Remember, there are two posts to guess on. 'Where in the world?' Part one and part two. They have two different answers.

Where in the World? - part 2

Where in the world did Dad take these pictures? Please leave us a comment with your guess.