I passed Hebrew 1 with flying colors!

Hebrew 1 final is in the bag

Now I wait for Professor Goldstein to grade it to see if I made it into Hebrew 2.  That starts Wednesday at 9:00am.  To pass I needed to average 70% on the 14 quizzes (which I did handily) and have to get over a 70% on the final. I'll keep you posted!

I did wear my Husker "N" shirt to the final (which I do for most finals).  Why, you ask?  Because the N stands for knowledge.  And I need lots of it when taking tests!

Last Quiz For Hebrew 1

For some reason this didn't post.  It's from Thursday night.  It's now Saturday.

So I'm at the hospital cafeteria.  Because that's where I study when the library is closed.  I'm here for about 3-4 hours on Tueaday and Thursday nights.  

Tomorrow is the last day of Hebrew 1.  In 8 weeks of class we have covered 40 chapters.  That's over 400 vocabulary words.  We have thoroughly studied one pattern (called the Qal) that has 6 paradigms (see the blank worksheet below).  

So there are six patterns, with each pattern having blanks like the one above.  

Tonight I've been running vocabulary cards (all 400+) and writing out paradigms, so that I can do it without thinking on the quiz tomorrow.  

So here's my work from tonight...

I'll also have to be able to fully parse 8-10 words, translate 2-4 sentences, and completely fill out the Qal Strong paradigm (the first worksheet above).  This is why each quiz, which we take everyday in class, takes 30-40 minutes.  

Monday is the final.  Oh boy!

Hope wanted to make a robot superhero outfit. So we did!

On the train at the zoo

Because the entire family LOVES the zoo AND trains!

Lewis and Clark Museum in St Charles

Gideon has really gotten in to a book series dealing with historical people and events.  One of the books he recentl read and really enjoyed was about Lewis and Clark.  He learned a ton from reading about them.  So I took him to the Lewis and Clark museum up in St Charles during my week off from classes.  I was surprised how much he knew and how much he retained from his book.  

One of the best part for him was the scavenger hunt the museum had made which included the majority of the taxidermied animals in the musuem.  He enjoyed searching for them and filling out the sheet.  Upon turning it in, he received one of those flattened pennies that had the name of the L&C museum on it.   

I had him bring his book along, and he was given a coloring book with his $2 admission.  

He thought it was pretty cool that he was looking at the place where Lewis and Clark started their journey.  He hadn't put it together how close we were to where they started before we drove up and visited.  

He also enjoyed seeing their journey acted out on the tv.  As we watched there were mutliple times where he would tell me "what happened next."  It was awesome!  

After going to the museum we took a side trip that Gideon wasn't as hep on.  My brother Nathan is organizing (for the second year) a grueling road bike (in the biking world it's called a fondo) in Dubuque.   This year and last I took some of the posters which promote the fondo to bike shops in St Louis.  So knowing that the Katy Trail starts in St Charles, I thought I'd take some posters up with us in case we ran into some bike shops.  The Katy Trail is a 200+ bike trail that runs from St Charless to almost Kansas City.  People from all over the nation ride this trail, and this coffee shop/bike shop is a huge stop-off point for supplies, food, bike fixes.  This bike shop/coffee shop is right on the trail.  So we stopped and dropped off two posters there, hoping that people will see it and decide to head to Dubuque in August for the ride.    

St Charles

On Thursdays Kathee trades childcare with the family downstairs.  So on Thursdays our kids go downstairs from 9-3.  Since I had no classes all week (yet did Hebrew everyday but Monday), we went to St Charles on Thursday.  It's a city about 20 minutes north of here.  Not only is it the first capital of Missouri, it is also where Lewis and Clark started their journey up the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean.  It is also a sort of Galena, IL, place.  Old-timey business district with antiques, good-smellin shops, and other stuff.  It's a cool town.  So we went up there for a few hours.  

We ate lunch in the beer garden of this place that sat along a creek that used to be used to power or mill.  It was awesome!  The food was fine, but the company and sitting beside the creek made it totally worthwhile.  It was a fun date in the middle of the week.

Grilling out on Edwards Lawn

One of the fun things about living on campus is the impromptu picnics that happen on the Edwards Lawn (right by the playground on campus).  On Friday, a family who recently moved away was back for the evening.  So about 30 of us grilled out and had fun together (grill your own meat and bring a dish to pass).  We enjoy living on campus for reasons such as this!   

Time with Uncle Zach

My brother Zach came down Thursday night to spend the weekend with us.  We have had a blast (so far) with him.  

One of the things I've wanted Zach to do for a year is to teach Gideon how to play Tublici, a card game a former youth pastor of my brother Aaron's and me when I was in junior high and high school.  It's a game of addition and subtraction.  As Gideon enjoys math and learning, I thought it would be a game where Gideon could grow in his math skills without feeling like "school."  

So Zach taught Gideon the game and Gideon really enjoys it.  In the picture above, we are at Jefferson Barraks in South St Louis waiting for the fireworks to start.    

Not wanting to go to Forest Park to watch the fireworks, and having a bad experience at the Chesterfield Mall parking lot last year, we opted for Jefferson Barracks a bit south of St Louis.  

Jefferson Barracks is a national cemetary and has been around since the Civil War.  Before the fireworks, we drove through the cemetary, which none of us had ever done before.  Wow!  It was something else.  Something else.  

After driving through the cemetary part, we drove to where the fireworks were to be launched.  They had people directing traffic and it was easy to get in and park. 

After parking and getting to the amphitheater (where literally thousands-- maybe 10 or 15k?) I spoke with some people trying to figure out which direction the fireworks would be fired.  So we got our spot and settled in.   

The kids had fun, the weather was great, and the bugs weren't bad at all.  

The show started soon after 9pm and lasted about 30 minutes.  Aside from waiting for an hour to get out of our parking lot, we were all quite impressed with the fireworks.  We'll go back next year.  

Today we hung out.  For supper, Zach wanted to check out Lion's Choice.  It's a roast beef place about a step or two down from Abry's (if that's possible).  We had a good laugh, the food wasn't awful, and we enjoyed our time together.  

After supper, we took Zach to Ted Drewes Frozen Custard, which is a St Louis go-to place.  Until tonight I wasn't very impressed.  However, I read that the Carmel Apple was a good choice.  Holy smokes!  It was awesome!   

The kids all enjoyed their custard as well.  

And as our friend Jeff Tunberg (owner of Whitey's Ice Cream) says, "you always see a smile on the face of someone with ice cream!"  Although it isn't ice cream, it's the same concept!