Thursday, December 31, 2015

Christmas Eve


I am playing "Silent Night" during Trinity's candle lighting,  and Adam is helping me see my music.

posted by Stahlkes @ 9:44 AM 0 comments

Thursday, December 10, 2015

God's Armor

Holy Spirit, be our stay;
    O let us perish never!
Cleanse us from our sins, we pray,
    And grant us life forever.
Keep us from the evil one;
    Uphold our faith most holy,
    And let us trust Thee solely
    With humble hearts and lowly.
Let us put God’s armor on,
    With all true Christians running
    Our heavn’ly race and shunning
    The devil’s wiles and cunning.
Amen, amen! This be done;
    O Lord, have mercy on us.

- Lutheran Service Book, No. 505, st. 3

posted by Stahlkes @ 9:32 PM 0 comments

Wednesday, December 09, 2015

Santa

At our church's staff meeting yesterday, Pastor told a great story.  His grandnephew was visiting last weekend, and between worship services, Pastor told the young boy to look for Santa in the church parlor.  Our church treasurer, who also doubles as Santa, was sitting there and had been primed with the proper words to say:  "So, Ryan, were you a good boy this year?"

You should have heard Ryan talking to his grandma on the phone a few minutes later.  "Grandma, you wouldn't believe it!  Santa goes to Uncle Rob's church!"

You'd believe it, too.  Here's our church treasurer's photo (with his own grandson):



posted by Stahlkes @ 4:41 PM 0 comments

Tuesday, December 08, 2015

What?

I'm been reading about some lovely Christmas traditions in Sweden, some of which are similar to my own family's customs.  But not this one . . .

Starting in 1959, the national television station in Sweden has been broadcasting Kalle Anke, a cartoon show that features Donald Duck and friends.  This television show appears every December 24 at 3 pm.  Most of the program is not about Christmas, but is rather a series of Disney shorts from the 1930s-60s.  One of the charms is that the original Swedish translator did his work on the spot, making for some humorous takes on the English lines.  Kalle Anke is extremely popular: the national audience for this show approaches half the Swedish population in any given year!

For more information on Kalle Anke, see:
http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2009/12/nordic_quack.html

posted by Stahlkes @ 12:23 PM 0 comments

Monday, December 07, 2015

Weary

I lay my wants on Jesus;
    All fullness dwells in Him;
He heals all my diseases;
    My soul He does redeem.
I lay my griefs on Jesus,
    My burdens and my cares;
He from them all releases;
    He all my sorrows shares.

 - Lutheran Service Book, No. 606, st. 2

posted by Stahlkes @ 10:12 AM 0 comments

Sunday, December 06, 2015

Math Facts

On Day 1, I asked Peter to pick some difficult math facts:
12x12 and 11x11
They were easy because he only had to remember two of them.

On Day 2, he chose two more hard ones:
12x7 and 9x8
Still manageable because it's easy to recall only four facts.

On Day 3, Peter continued finding difficult facts:
6x9 and 4x6
The task is now getting harder because he has six difficult math facts to remember.

Now on Day 4, the frustration is setting in:
4x9 and 3x9
Except for the facts from Day 1, he doesn't have them automatically memorized.
I almost lose him to a mini-tantrum.

For Day 5, to quell a rebellion, I ask him to pick the easiest math fact and a "medium-hard" one:
10x1 and 3x4
That helped.  We're now back on track.

Let's see what tomorrow will bring.

posted by Stahlkes @ 8:32 PM 0 comments

Saturday, December 05, 2015

Healthy Eating

For our sack lunches, I always include a fresh fruit and vegetable.  Our kids recently joked about how healthy and therefore embarrassing, this can be for them.

While standard fare is apples and carrots, David mentioned the pineapple slices and purple cabbage that I sometimes give him.  That contrasts with the fruit and vegetable that some of his friends bring—fruit snacks and V8 juice!

posted by Stahlkes @ 12:35 PM 0 comments

Thursday, December 03, 2015

Handling Frustration

Peter has a short fuse when it comes to math.  Definitely one of his triggers.

We've been told many times that Peter's memorization of math facts needs improvements, but getting him to work with flashcards is a big challenge.  I finally found a way!

Peter and I often drive in the car together, and we pull out one "hard" flashcard per trip.  Memorizing one card feels manageable, and we can talk about all sorts of strategies for thinking of the answer to that particular math fact.

Over time, we've built up quite a deck of difficult math facts, and he's breezing through them quickly.  Lots of high fives!

posted by Stahlkes @ 11:04 AM 1 comments

Wednesday, December 02, 2015

Service of Lessons and Carols

Concordia University Chicago will present its annual Service of Lessons and Carols on Saturday, Dec. 5, at 7 pm and Sunday, Dec. 6, at 4 and 7 pm.  This service, which includes Scripture, choral music, and congregational singing, has become a traditional part of the Christmas preparation for hundreds of people in the Chicago area.  A freewill offering will be received to support the CUC Music Department.  You may also watch this year’s Lessons and Carols live on the web at CUChicago.edu/live on Dec. 6 at 6:40 pm CST.  

posted by Stahlkes @ 8:48 PM 0 comments

Tuesday, December 01, 2015

Very Cool



Photo: Graeme Richardson/Visit Luleå
Ice Music . . . . You don't have to be a Disney sorceress to create stunning melodies on instruments of ice – Swedish musicians do it every year.
The Ice Music concerts are played entirely on instruments made of ice in a giant igloo big enough to hold more than 150 spectators.  http://www.icemusic.se/
source: http://www.thelocal.se/20151123/8-must-dos-in-lule-this-winter-visit-lulea-winter-in-sweden-tlccu

posted by Stahlkes @ 6:13 PM 0 comments