What You Might Find In The Hopkins Home On A Tuesday Afternoon

We like to read together... With lots of blankets and pillows. :D

The Reformation Festival!

Every October we do something that flouts the world and hopefully glorifies God.  We defy Halloween by celebrating Reformation Day.  On October 31st 1513, Martin Luther nailed his 95 thesis to the door of the Wittenburg Church in Germany.  His thesis stated the disagreements he had with the Catholic faith.  There had been few reformers before this, and nearly all of them were martyred.  Martin Luther was constantly assailed by his Catholic enemies, but he also had powerful friends, and by the grace of God he continued preaching until he died a natural death.  But the important thing is that these reformers made a violent and passionate stand against what they knew to be wrong, struggling for and sacrificing everything the knew and loved to be able to do what they knew was right.  We choose to celebrate this event instead, because Halloween has turned into the scariest holiday of the year (and I'm not talking about witches or vampires here...) and it promotes and encourages everything we as Christians are fighting against.  So, on the 31st of October, we gather together and fellowship with Christians.  We have a chili pot-lock, hymn-singing/prayer/a little speech about the Reformation, dancing, and just spending time together celebrating the freedom of our faith, and our freedom in Christ.

Olivia Rose playing with the remote to Rachel's new camera. :)

The early arrivals. :D

The little princess. :)

 The dancing. :D Progressive Gordon (I think).

More dancing!

Girls... and a boy. :P

The girls! L to R Debbie, Tirzah, Braelyn, Polly, Lydia. :)

 

Little girls. Olivia, Olivia, and Aliza. :)

Rachel and Ruby. :D

There's my mother in the green dress. :D

And.... that's all the pictures that I've chosen post. :)

School and Fairy Tales

So, the Hopkins family have finally decided to take grammar this year... Hurrah! From me down to Tirzah. .. so that would be four of us.  So today we were going about it, and our assignment was to write five different sentences and point out the different nouns, verbs, helping & linking verbs, etc.  Duncan exaggerated his a little more than the rest of us... He spent most of the after noon turning his grammar sentences into a fairy tale.  School can be fun - it just takes a little imagination.  When he was finished writing it, he came to read it to me.  I will insert all his facial expressions, which may be recognized in this style.

St. Duncan and the Dragon

Once upon a time, in a large Empire called Zeiphrose, there lived a knight named Sir Duncan the Valiant.  He was a stout-hearted fellow, very strong and brave, but kind and gentle. large sarcastic grin One day, as Duncan was riding on his jet-black horse, he came to an unknown part of the forest. It was very dark, dead, silent, and cold.  There was no road now, just a narrow path.  Duncan dismounted his horse and walked for a little while.  He soon came to a clearing and saw, about 500 paces in front of him, a large hill, or small mountain, with a very enormous doorway with iron doors.  Duncan mounted his horse, preparing for a quick retreat in case of danger, and slowly inched forward.  Then, he heard a roar of some sort from within the mountain.  Duncan and his horse, both startled, fled for what they thought to be their lives.  

One week after the even had happened, the Emperor's daughter Lady Àndrèa, disappeared. large grin A large number of loyal men and knights went seeking for her, never to return to their lovely homes, beautiful wives, and loving children.  

One day, Sir Duncan mounted his horse, armed with a great sword, spear, and dagger.  He rode to the place he had been that previous week.  When he arrived, he immediately dismounted his horse and let it free.  But it only stood at a safe distance and waited.  The iron doors were wide opened, and Sir Duncan entered.  Once inside, the doors shut, and bolted of themselves. There was a huge hallway lined with diamonds and rubies, but the temptation was not of great deal to him, for something else caught his eye.  laughs knowingly The hallway was 30 paces long, where it ended in a huge room full of treasure.  He ran to the end of the hall, and on top of the mountain of treasure, tied up, was the most beautiful woman he had ever set eyes on. nods and grins Duncan ran to her, but halfway up he was interrupted by the most hideous monster he had ever seen.  He had a body of a bear, four legs and two arms like a human, the talons of a hawk, the tail of a cobra, and one head like a tiger's, with seven hideous eyes, and another like a wolf's, with eighteen eyes. Duncan threw the spear and pierced it in one of the legs, and a screeching roar came from it, and he rolled down the mound of treasure, not killed, but wounded.  He cut the bonds that held the Lady Àndrèa, and they began to run, but the monster had recovered and it picked up Duncan and threw him against the wall, leaving him unconscious.  The Emperor's daughter, who was still running, stopped and went to Duncan's side and drew his sword, and slew the hideous beast in one blow. bursts out laughing Sir Duncan soon woke, and returned Àndrèa to the Emperor.  For a reward, the Emperor allowed Sir Duncan wed his daughter beloved daughter, lady Àndrèa, and they had lots of children and lived happily ever after. biggest grin ever

THE END.

Posted by Ruby and Duncan

Welcome!

Hullo Everybody,

I guess introductions are a good place to start... I am Ruby Hopkins, and I'll probably do most of the posting here. (Unless otherwise noted.) Our family consists of eight children - Peter, (22) who's engaged to be married, Chloe (19), Ruby (16), Gabriel (14), Duncan (12), Tirzah (10), Luther (7), Olivia, (5).  We live in smack dab in the middle of the city... Needless to say, we enjoy those trips to the country, where the boys can be boys and not use the neighbor's backyards as extra space. *wink*.

I guess I should list everybody's creative points just so you know.....

Peter is very good at carpentry, and actually has his own furniture business.  He's a wonderful classical pianist (plays Chopin very well) and a painter - currently working on a huge painting of a ship-chase during the Napoleonic Era (and it's his own "design".)  And he just moved out :( to a place about ten minutes from our house.

Chloe's an amazing seamstress and makes clothes - never following a pattern, but changing it to her own taste.  She has a sense of fashion, and what goes with what.  She plays piano well, and knows a lot.

Ruby is a writer, works one day a week at a farm in exchange for free riding lessons, loves to cook and be in the kitchen, and also loves to read, and loves history, and plays piano.

Gabriel's gift would be... uh... comedy. :D He amuses us all, all the time! He knows a lot about technology and is usually the kind of person who can tell you where anything is.

Duncan is good at... being a boy. :)  He loves to climb trees, and run around, and get dirty. He recently made a knife for daddy out of steel (I think?) and the horn from an antler of a deer.

Tirzah is developing a skill for sewing. She enjoys baking and all that stuff two, and has an amazing soprano voice.  Since she's between two boys, she plays a little rough sometimes too... But she also enjoys playing with her little sister.

Luther, a little young to be discovering his talents, is showing great potential for a great thinker.  He has those deep penetrating blue eyes that are full of all sorts of thoughts and questions.  He loves to play rough-house with Duncan, but he also likes to sit and talk with his older sisters.

Olivia loves playing with her "babies", and singing, and dancing, and dress up, and anything else that little girls love to do.  She is just crazy about animals... She never gets nervous or anything around them. :)

And there you have us! :)

My dad is a professional pianist, and he paints houses... and has many different artistic abilities like that. :)

My mom is a wonderful cook, and is a dedicated homeschooling mom and teacher to her children.

We are thankful for godly parents...

And now for some REAL blogging! :)