Bulwark

We're learning hymns during school this year, and the one we've been working on recently is Martin Luther's "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God". When we started learning it, I had no idea that we'd actually get to go to Jamestown and visit a fort! When we were approaching the entrance of the fort, I saw a sign that mentioned something about a bulwark. Which triggered the first line of the hymn: "A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing" And in every corner of the fort, we saw a bulwark. What an awesome visual of the strength and power of our God!

bul·wark (blwrk, -wôrk, bl-) n. 1. A wall or embankment raised as a defensive fortification; a rampart. 2. Something serving as a defense or safeguard: "We have seen the necessity of the Union, as our bulwark against foreign danger"(James Madison). 3. A breakwater. 4. The part of a ship's side that is above the upper deck. Often used in the plural.

1. "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" by: Martin Luther
2. A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;
   Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing:
   For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;
   His craft and pow’r are great, and, armed with cruel hate,
   On earth is not his equal.
3. Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing,
   Were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing:
   Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He;
   Lord Sabaoth, His Name, from age to age the same,
   And He must win the battle.
4. And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,
   We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us;
   The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him;
   His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure,
   One little word shall fell him.
5. That word above all earthly pow’rs, no thanks to them, abideth;
   The Spirit and the gifts are ours through Him Who with us sideth;
   Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;
   The body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still,
   His kingdom is forever.

Today

I treasure these kind of days with my kids, just the beauty of the everyday moments of doing life with them. I want to soak them up, ponder them in my heart. Teach me to number my days, O Lord, that I may gain a heart of wisdom. I want to hold on to them so tightly; to slow down the clock. Remind me that they are Yours, and help me love them the way that You do.

This is how they looked today...

And even this one. Our "first baby" : ) Can't believe our Bailey is 10...

Jamestown

We took our first Reed Academy field trip this week! We're studying American History this year, and just finished up learning about Jamestown and Native Americans. We do "school"

4 days a week and leave Fridays open for things like field trips, nature walks, extracurricular things like art classes or whatever. Josh doesn't have class on Fridays either, so it works out well. I really want to take advantage of our current proximity, so we decided to pack up and go to Jamestown for the day! It's only about 2.5 hours from Wake Forest...perfect for a field trip!

We decided to take the ferry across the James River. Hudson was not sure about it at first, but seeing that the cars could go on a boat that had a 'road' on it convinced him that it was pretty cool. Plus, we got to approach Jamestown from the water, the same way the colonists did 400 years ago! And, it was free, which Mommy and Daddy liked : )

(And, on the way back over, there was a truck on hydraulics (picture below) which mesmerized K, C, and H. They've learned about such things from watching "Cars", especially Ramone.

I honestly think they have the whole movie memorized!)

We chose to go to the Jamestown Settlement because it has replicas of the town, a Powhatan Indian camp, and the 3 ships the colonists came over on. Plus there are several 'tradesmen' scattered around reenacting skills that many of the colonists would have had. Very hands-on for my visual learners! We packed a picnic lunch and ate before we went in. There was a cool fountain out front and a plaza with flags from all 50 states. Then we went in, starting in the museum. There were several short films and cool exhibits to look through.

First stop after the museum was the replica of the Powhatan Indian camp. So cool!! They had several wigwams that you could go in, and each one had a place out front to grind corn. There were all kinds of animal skins everywhere, hanging on the walls, laying on the ground, piled up on the beds. Each one had a circle of rocks in the floor for their fires,and the roofs had a circle cut out to let the smoke out. There was someone there cooking some beans and what looked like tamales, and she demonstrated how they probably would have prepared a typical meal.

Next it was time to check out the ships. They have replicas of the Susan Constant, the Godspeed and the Discovery. It was amazing to think of 100+ people being on three small ships like that for five long months...

Learning how the Powhatans made their canoes...



Checking out the James Fort. We got to see a metalsmith at work and a woman prepare a stew of lamb, apples and onions and some fresh-baked bread.

Carter showing the chickens his chicken dance

We also got to see a typical home and a musket shooting demonstration. Kate said it was so loud she nearly jumped out of her shoes!

Making some of those souvenir pennies afterwards in the gift shop

First ever Reed Academy field trip: success!!