Creation video

Blake. with some help from Tanner with the clay models, made this video as their first school project of the year. Their little brothers have been studying Creation through My Father's World Creation, so this was their part in helping their little brothers help learn about the Creation account in Genesis.

A Whole Nother Story

It's been awhile, but it is time for another Martin family book review. This time we look at a quirky title, A Whole Nother Story, by a quirky author, Dr. Cuthbert Soup. Once again these are based on a five star rating. Be sure to check out other reviews (look at the labels to the right or at the bottom of this post for Martin Family book reviews).

Tanner 5 stars. It was absolutely hilarious.

Blake 4 stars. I laughed a ton, but there were some places that were depressing

Patsy 4.5 stars. The only thing that was funnier than the story was the unsolicited advice at the end of each chapter.

Marty 4 stars. Be careful when you read this if you are drinking milk. You might squirt some through your nose you'll laugh so hard! Parents of the Christian faith might need to talk through a couple of elements with their kids, like a psychic dog and a fortune teller. Otherwise the message is very positive!

Sunset the albino ball python

Tanner got his wish of a snake for his 11th birthday! His Aunt Sue had nursed back to health an albino ball python and gave it to him! It is a lot bigger than Slidey, his old corn snake (it escaped at the hands of a little brother a couple of years ago). Now we have special clips for Sunset the python's home.

"Food, Glorious Food" by the Emineminems

Julia and Noah, Blake and Tanner, and Avery created and rehearsed this masterpiece in the van, then performed for us in the parking lot of America's Incredible Pizza Co in Davenport, IA

Kids have fun with Uncle Joe

Our first day in Disney - I am already Disney homesick

Tanner is a Padawan

Developing the hidden talents in your children

Wow , this subject is so important to parenting. Too often as parents we key in on things like academics, athletics, or even worse popularity and fashion styles, when trying to help our kids develop a good self esteem in who God created them to be. Of course the ultimate area of our children's' hearts we should be concerned with is their spiritual person, there is something very closely connected with that we often miss. It is subtle yet so important.

It is key for us as parents to try discover our child's natural bent or inclination to something and encourage that. We may at the moment feel like it is a trivial talent or a hobby that would never "bring in the big bucks", but as your child grows, I believe you need to put aside those thoughts and see where your child's interests are taking them. What makes your child unique, stand out, different from the rest of the kids?

If we admit it sometimes we don't want our kids to stand out, we want them to fit in. But this is not God's plan for any of us. Tanner is a great kid. Our second oldest struggles with some pretty major learning hindrances. He continues to to fight to overcome them. Homeschooling has been a lifesaver for him.

Growing up he has loved playdoh. He would play for hours with playdoh. He also liked silly putty, mud and anything else in this line of consistency. At one time he graduated up to modeling clay, which is where he is at now. At first he would just make tons of little blobs and pretend they were animals or TV characters or made-up characters. We bit our tongue. It seemed like a a big mess to us and a little strange. Then he started modeling for real, mixing colors and making real figures. Now he is asking mom to bake them and he and his brothers play with his characters! They are pretty awesome if you ask me - for a 10-year old they are stinking awesome!

So what does God have in mind for Tanner and this developing gift? I don't know, but God does. Isn't that exciting to know. God made him for a special and unique reason and we don't have to form him into any image the world would try to put him in.

USA! USA! USA! USA!

Acetone and Styrofoam

Title of Experiment: Acetone and Styrofoam

How I got the idea for this experiment: I saw this experiment done before so I thought why don’t I do this experiment for the science fair? That way I could learn as much as I could about it.
Question or Problem: I wanted to find out why acetone dissolved Styrofoam.
Prediction or Hypotheses: I thought that it was because acetone has some sort of chemicals that would dissolve Styrofoam. I thought maybe acetone had an acid make-up.
Materials used: Acetone, Styrofoam head, glass bowl
Steps taken: I put the Styrofoam head in a bowl. Then I took some acetone and poured it all over the Styrofoam head.
What happened/observations: The Styrofoam head dissolved and turned into goo sort of like really wet mud.
What did I learn: I learned that they put gases into the Styrofoam that makes it all puff up. The acetone just releases the gases and turns the Styrofoam back into a plastic material. Once all the acetone is released the Styrofoam turns into a hard plastic again.


By Tanner Martin

Cyber Science Fair

Hey Homschool parents - Join us for our Mac-Cyber Science Fair 2010! Blake and Tanner will be participating in what looks to be like a fun event! I would tell you what their projects are going to be, but then I'd have to kill ya! ;)

We will be psoting their science projects here on the KidKove blog. If uou want to participate go to http://themacrak.blogspot.com

Here is how it will work: (copied from themacrak blog)


1. Spread the word out there in "cyber-land" that we will be having a homeschool Cyber Science Fair. The actual Science Fair judging dates will be held online March 5th. Judging will take place during the day with the Science Fair winners announced Saturday, March 6th, 2010 & prizes forthcoming!


2. All homeschoolers will need to be registered online by March 1, 2010 in order to receive their Science Fair information packet. Parents: (1)You must at least have email capability, but if you found us online, that shouldn't be a problem. (2)You must also have a digital camera in order to post pictures. (3)Your child must also be a student between the ages of 8 - 18 years of age, actively homeschooling.

REGISTER HERE: http://themacrak.blogspot.com/2010/02/wacky-science-join-mac-cyber-science.html Send an email with your child's nickname or first name only; Age; School Grade; Science Fair Project topic; and your email contact information. You will then receive your participant packet with instructions & guidelines.


3. We will be posting links to our Cyber Projects through a posting thread (with Mr. Linky) on this blog. Each participant can post their Science Fair Project for judging via their own blog (or parent's blog). No blog, no problem - Make a comment below and we will make arrangements to have your project posted. All projects must be posted via Mr. Linky for judging by March 3rd, 2010 by 6:00 pm CST to qualify.


4. WE WILL HAVE FUN WHILE LEARNING!!! Be sure to get started looking for a great project. Subscribe to this blog so you won't miss the Cyber Fair Link-Up Post, nor any of the fun prizes we will be giving away during the MAC-CYBER SCIENCE FAIR!

My favorite Christmas gift!

So my favorite Christmas gift this year was a safe family after a near tragic accident on our way home from an Illinois visit with family. We were only going about 35 mph because of bad snow when we entered a white out and suddenly we saw a load of tailights in front of us.  There was no choice for us but to go into the ditch. We missed several other cars in the ditch and almost flipped the van. Fortunately the van went up on two wheels and then hit and embankment and went back right side up. The entire time we were sliding Patsy and I were both asking Jesus for protection (out loud). This made an impression on Blake and Tanner!

The driver's side took the brunt of the damage. This photo was taken before we were towed out.

Here is the newspaper report of the day (the policeman who helped us told us there were 40 cars in the slide-off)

20 vehicle crash cleared at I-94 near Van Buren/Berrien county line
By Kathy Jessup | Kalamazoo Gazette -
January 01, 2010, 6:20PM
UPDATE — The vehicles involved in a chain-reaction accident that may have involved up to 20 vehicles has been cleared from eastbound Interstate-94 near the Van Buren/Berrien county line before 6 p.m. Friday, police officials reported.


VAN BUREN COUNTY — As many as 20 vehicles may be involved in a chain-reaction, slide-and-crash snarl on eastbound Interstate-94 near the Van Buren/Berrien county line Friay afternoon.

Early reports from officials at the Michigan State Police post in Paw Paw said they know of no fatalities or serious injuries. Traffic, however, is slow as police and tow trucks untangle vehicles.

State police patrolling southwest Michigan roads are reporting varying visibility across the area as lake-effect snow bands create near white-out conditions in some locations, while other areas are reported clear.

Streets and highways are reported to be snow-covered and slippery throughout the area today and law enforcement is encouraging drivers to slow down and leave adequate stopping distance between vehicles.



After we came to a stop, firs thing we did was turn around and see if the boys were OK. They were, and all had their seatbelts on. Brendan was the first to comment of the event by saying "I didn't like that."

Henry Ford Museum - the Knights.avi

Fun at the Henry Ford Museum on December 4th. thye had a big Lego exhibit, which is why we went!

Dead Sea Scrolls

This past weekend we visited the Royal Ontario Museum to see, among other things, the Dead Sea Scrolls display. These little scraps of the Old Testament and other extra-Biblical texts have suffered more wear and tear in the last 60 years than the previous 2,000+ years. Some of the Biblical Dead Sea scrolls are almost 1,000 years older than the next-oldest-know copies of the Hebrew Bible. Now
I know there is some "controversy" over the extra-Biblical texts, which some are using to attack the Christian faith and Christ himself. But forget about that. What I took away from the visit is how amazing that there was virtually no change in the wording of God's word after 1,000 years of time passing. I remember learning in college how painstacking the scribes were when transcribing the Words of the torah and the prophets, completely starting over if even one grammatical error was made in the copying process.

Because of its importance and its claim to be the very Word of God, the Bible has suffered more vicious attacks and attempts to destroy it than any other book in history. From early Roman Emperors like Diocletian, through communist dictators and on to modern-day atheists and agnostics, the Bible has withstood and outlasted all of its attackers and is still today the most widely published book in the world.

Throughout time, skeptics have regarded the Bible as mythological, but archeology has confirmed it as historical. Opponents have attacked its teaching as primitive and outdated, but its moral and legal concepts and teachings have had a positive influence on societies and cultures throughout the world. It continues to be attacked by pseudo-science, psychology, and political movements, yet it remains just as true and relevant today as it was when it was first written. It is a book that has transformed countless lives and cultures throughout the last 2000 years. No matter how its opponents try to attack, destroy, or discredit it, the Bible remains; its veracity and impact on lives is unmistakable. The accuracy which has been preserved despite every attempt to corrupt, attack, or destroy it is clear testimony to the fact that the Bible is truly God’s Word and is supernaturally protected by Him. It should not surprise us that, no matter how the Bible is attacked, it always comes out unchanged and unscathed. After all, Jesus said,

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away” (Mark 13:31). After looking at the evidence, one can say without a doubt that, yes, the Bible is truly God’s Word.

As I saw the pesher scrolls of Isaiah 10:22-11:5 read "A shoot will issue from the stump of Jesse and a bud will sprout its roots. Upon Him will be placed the Spirit of the Lord and His delight will be in respecting the Lord," it sent chills up my spine to see the written prophecies of the Messiah transcribed before His appearance! Of course even the pesher (commentary) of the scholars and scribrs of this time believed that a Messiah from the line of David would come and fulfill this prophecy (Jesse is David's father).
So if you are living in Ontario I would highly recomment going to see the scrolls before they leave on Janaury 3rd!

Halloween costumes 09

Niagra Falls from Maiden of the Mist

I visited Victoria Falls in Zambia in 2005 and thought I would not be impressed with Niagra after seeing them. However the view from the maiden of the mist boat is very impressive. The sheer volume and power generated by the horseshoe falls makes me wonder how one can not see the majesty of God in his creation.

Tanner gets a scooter

Tanner is now in the double digits! This scooter works great around the farm!

Life in Canada so far

Two weeks and change in Canada so far at our new church and new home and new church home. Life during a move is crazy and leaves little room for time to blog! But for my own sake and the sake of posterity I am making myself sit down and share some random thoughts on moving our of the US and into another nation.

• Still getting used to milk in a bag, two dollar coins, gas by the liter and front page hockey news


• hundreds of words that are a bit different here, not just pop and soda


• life on the farm has been great - so peaceful
  
• Forward is such a friendly church, so very welcoming


• I sense a greater peace in my life and less stress than I have in probably a decade


• Back to Chicago style driving


• My role is shifting (and needed to shift) from being Marty the pastor to the kids to Marty the pastor to the parents and volunteers. This means some letting go for and some embracing some change I have longed for. I think this would have been too much a move for me, the kids, the volunteers and parents in Roanoke.


• Patsy gets to be involved in worship and children's ministry here! She has such a beautiful voice if you have ever heard her sing (sorry Parkway folks but you missed out!). She chose kids over the glory of sanctuary praise for the last six years and I will always admire her for that - her example of choosing the humble things to confound the wise.


• So far not having TV has been amazing! Not sure if we will do it forever. Patsy and I have tons of black and white movies and we have watched some of them and the boys have some DVDs they have watched. We take more walks, play more family games and now have a garden! But there will come a time when the Bears start playing. Honestly I have not missed seeing the Cubs. I do listen to an ESPN station out of Buffalo in the car though.


• I think I may have a queen now?


• There are some great passionate, committed people at Foward involved in Chidlren's Ministries.


• The farm we rent has like eight horses and a llama named Bob.


• Blake and Tanner are slowly meeting friends. There are some neighbor boys who invited them over to swim! Tanner won suckers for his age group in church so he was a big hit.


• I got a really nice portable computer for work and a Blackberry for my new phone.


• David and Chase are doig wonderful and love the big yard and big house to run around in.


• Still trying to sell our house. The sale fell through the second time. Still have peace.

Well that's good for now! We miss all our friends and the kids at PWC! God bless.

Talent Night 09

We held our annual Talent Night on March 25th 2009. Tanner did a great Elvis song and we had lots of other greats talents. Blake showed two of his stop-motion animation videos, Bob in Plane and Bob in Time. Enjoy the video and the pictures.

Patsy and the boys star on the big screen

Patsy was recruited to be in an intro video for a sermon series Parkway did called God's Drive Thru window