To those with no sense of imagination, going about he process of tire repair may seem simple, but, if you’re like us, you know that there is always more than one way to do anything. If you were to ask an average person to make a list of the ways you could fix a bike tire, they’d probably be able to come up with only one option- getting a new tube- but Luke came up with a second option-take off the tires altogether and ride on the metal rims!
Isaac, Paul and I did some filming a few weeks ago, and I’ve spent the time in between then and now editing and adding effects to the clips that we filmed. The effects weren’t any more extensive than in the Lightsaber movie we made last year, but it was, in ways, harder to do, since Isaac jumped around a lot more than John and I did, and made it a lot more challenging to rotoscope the lightsaber without making it look as if Isaac was being cut in half by his “lightsaber”. I think that it turned out well, and I hope that you enjoy watching it!
I recently had the privilege of reading Jesus+Nothing=Everything by Tullian Tchividjian. This book talks about how we too often place our hopes in Jesus and something else. This “something else” doesn’t have to be bad- it could be something good like family or a job- but if this “something else” becomes so important to us that we think that we cannot go on without Jesus and it, then it must be rooted out.
Mr. Tchividjian repeatedly talked about how we must continually rely on Jesus as our only means of support. He said that, not only should we think that Jesus+Nothing=Everything, we should think that Everything-Jesus=Nothing. This, he said, is often the most difficult part of our Christian lives, as we come to the realization that unless we have a vibrant relationship with Jesus we have gained nothing of true value.
Mr. Tchividjian quoted C.S. Lewis, when he said:
“We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”
He said that often our sin is not that of expecting too much joy and fulfillment in Jesus, but it is the opposite: we are, as C.S. Lewis said, “far too easily pleased” by the temporary pleasures of this world.
I was greatly blessed by reading this book, and would give it 5 out of 5 stars.
“There is a mistake in Geometry books,
Open one up and go take a look:
They all say that “Pi R2 ”-
You do not find square pies anywhere!
Pies are round and cakes are square,
Just look around you everywhere!”
My Mom was reading us a goofy story about how to take care of Mom’s, and I got the inspiration to create this advertisement. I hope you enjoy it! (My Mom said it was “cute” which, I think, is a compliment)
“I wrote a poem of how my mother likes salad,
She also loves chocolate, so I’ll write a ballad,
Of how my Mother likes chocolate so greatly,
Her chocolate collection is quite large and stately.
I wrote about greens before chocolate you see,
For if I said we ate tons of chocolate, I’d get no pity.”
Here’s another poem I wrote, by the request of my dear mother:
“I really like food, don’t get me wrong.
I wish I could eat it all the day long.
Pumpkin pie and piping hot turkey,
Steaks and bratwurst and chewy beef jerky,
Potatoes and broccoli and even green beans,
But by all means, please don’t serve me greens.
We eat them at breakfast, inside a shake,
We eat them at lunch, with nary a break,
We eat them at dinner with dressing on top,
We eat them all day- we never stop!
But Mother, she likes them; she gobbles them down,
She eats them all day with never a frown,
Because she likes them I’ll eat them you see,
But if I’m at your house, don’t give greens to me!”
P.S. We don’t eat greens every single meal of the day!
Last night my Mom took Luke, Rachel, and I to Stained Glass Theatre for our play practice. I was the only one that acted, but in the past week both Luke and I have been up on stage, blocking out our movements and getting to know how we’re supposed to move around. Rachel hasn’t been able to be up on stage yet, but her time will soon come, as last night we did the scenes right before hers. Being at Stained Glass Theatre was a really neat experience, and I would highly recommend that any of you that are near Ozark, Missouri on a Thursday, Friday, or Saturday between April 19 and May 19 come and see Unto the Least of These!
Here is a picture of the Giant’s Causeway:
It is situated off the coast of Ireland, and we were studying it in one of my TPS classes. The topic of creating one out of Lego’s came up, and I decided to try to make a model. It’s not nearly as impressive as the real thing, but it won my Mom’s “neat” award at least!
Today, March 11, is the day my Mom was born. She has only been in one of our movies, as an extra, and I wrote her this poem for her birthday.
“A while ago Mom came up with a plan:
“We’ll convert the garage! I know we can!”
Little did we know, when we began,
How long this monstrous task would span.
We started out with lots of vigor,
But soon our doubts got much bigger,
We thought we’d never get it done,
Our task began to lose it’s fun.
We tore out old wood and insulated,
That task was itchy and very hated.
I tore down the doors, and cut my head,
It really hurt, it bled quite red.
But Mother she was not concerned,
No emergency room for me I learned.
The pain was bad, it cut me in two,
I didn’t know if I’d pull through.
Without going to a hospital room,
I thought I’d end up in my tomb.
Between life and death I hovered,
But my strong body then recovered.
We then began to build new walls,
A large hard task that was not smalls.
We used a lot of 2 by 4’s,
And made much sawdust on the floor.
We then put a lot of siding,
It was not all that exciting.
But once twas done it looked quite good-
Much better than old rotten wood.
We then ran wires through the studs,
Got more dust upon our duds.
We had friends over to celebrate,
But still we hadn’t escaped the fate,
Of working in bonus room till we grow long beards,
That’s exactly what I feared,
When Mother said she had a plan,
Of bonus room work I’m not a fan.
But whatever happened I always loved Mother,
She’s a better lady than any other.
I’ll always love her til earth does end,
She’s so great I don’t have to pretend.
I’ll always try to be kind and good,
I’ll always be thankful for her yummy food.
I’ll try to be nice and not to steamroll,
And not on her brain to take a large toll.
I love you dear Mother! Happy birthday!
I wrote this big poem so I could just say,
I love you, I love you, I love you again.
You are the best of all the women!”
(P.S. I did get hit on the head when I was renovating our garage, I did bleed “quite red”, and I didn’t go to the ER, but I never was quite on the brink of death)
A few months ago my family and I started going to see the shows that were being put on at the Stained Glass Theatre. The director of the play we were watching came out and talked to us for a few minutes, and that got our interest in acting sparked. When our Dad heard that their was going to be auditions for a play about George Muller, he said Rachel, Luke, and I could try out, as my Mom has recently read a book about him, and two days after the auditions we all learned that we were going to be able to be in the play! Yesterday was our first practice, and it went quite well. We’re still kind of the new around there, but that will almost definitely change, as we’ll end up being at the theatre for over 100 hours in the next two months! I’ll keep you posted (no pun intended) on the proceedings, and if you’re going through Ozark, Missouri from April 19 to May 19, come by the Theatre and check us out!
I know that 2,000 views for an entire Youtube channel isn’t all that great, but hey, it’s somewhat of an accomplishment!
Ok, I must admit that I didn’t get every detail of my machine right the first time! (Or the second, or the third, or the fourth, or the…)
I finished making a Rube Goldberg machine yesterday, and filmed it from start to finish. I thought that you might enjoy watching it. It never worked as an entire, functioning machine, but that was only because I didn’t have enough stuff to do it all in one big, continuous machine. (And patience to retake the entire thing over and over and over again!) “Theoretically” it would have worked! (Although it took 5 hours to build a machine that could do what I could do myself in 15 seconds!)
I had to write an epitaph for King Edward as an assignment for Potter’s School. Here’s how it went:
“Edward died on 7 July,
Not a Scot a tear will cry,
To hear that Edward he did die,
Since many of their necks he did tie.”
Brilliant isn’t it!
Hearts of Fire is a book that tells the story of 8 different women who lived during the 20th and 21st century, and who outspokenly shared the gospel with those around them, no matter the risks.
This book has many examples of people who stood up to their ungodly rulers, choosing the hard way of Jesus rather than the easy way of the world, but the story that struck me the most was the story of a young woman named Mai, who immigrated to Hong Kong to escape from communistic Vietnam, in hope that she would soon be able to go to “the West” to have a better life. She stayed in Hong Kong for almost 5 years, and was converted while she was in a refugee camp there, but just weeks before she was going to leave Hong Kong, she felt that God was calling her back to her homeland. All of those around her thought that she was crazy, as no one wanted to go back to Vietnam, only out of it, yet she stuck to her conviction, and returned to the troubles and, since she had become a Christian, persecutions of her homeland. I thought that that was amazing! How many people would go back to a place of suffering unless they had a good reason? Mai had the best reason of them all!
Hearts of Fire is a very convicting book, one that I would give 5 out of 5 stars for older readers.
Yikes! It was 2 years ago today that our Youtube channel was created, and almost 2 years and one month after my mom told us about the Lenny contest, which first got us started making movies. A lot has happened since then!
Paul the Hero was the most effects heavy of any of our movies. It may not have been all that obvious, but I spent more time working on it’s effects than any movie beforehand, and this behind the scenes movie explains some of the effects, and gives you a little glimpse of how the SixSibs production company gets it’s actors to work.
Here is the latest (and greatest??) movie from the six siblings. It’s our first movie that has any Christian elements whatsoever, and I think it turned out pretty good. The story line is pretty similar to The Case of the Missing Cheese, with Paul as the, well, hero, but it has a twist, and I think you’ll enjoy it!
Frank, following his role in the plan they’d laid, crept closer to the alligator’s nest. He was so engrossed in what he was doing that he failed to notice the rock that was blocking his path. He fell flat, alerting the alligators of his presence, and he tried to jump up and run, but he seemed to be rooted to the ground, immovable. The alligator lumbered forward, it’s cavernous mouth opened wide, ready to swallow him whole. The alligator was upon him, it-
Francois woke up, his brow bathed in sweat. It was only a dream, he thought to himself. But try as he might he couldn’t get the idea that their plan wasn’t right one out of his head. Would killing really bring peace?
It was a long time before Francois went back to sleep.
Frank awoke late the next morning, and as he walked into the kitchen, the only one he found was Chubba, who was washing dishes.
“Where has everyone gone to?” Frank asked.
“Oh”, Chubba said. “Outside. I think they’re all uh swimmin’ at the moment.”
“But what about breakfast?”
“What about breakfast? It’s almost noon boy! Almost lunch time! We waited and waited for you to get up, but a body can only go without food for so long!”
Longer in your case than others, Frank thought to himself. He didn’t think that Chubba would appreciate it if he said it, so instead he asked for something to eat.
“Late as it is”, Chubba said, “Might as well trot down to the beach and tell all of them water rats to come up for lunch!”
Frank obeyed, and they soon gathered around a table loaded with wonderful things to eat. After Stubba blessed the food, they all began eating. There were turnip greens and green beans, corn on the kernel and corn bread, baked shrimp, boiled crab, fried okra, key lime pie, and home made root beer, which Stubba was very fond of, guzzling pint after pint.
There was a great quantity of laughter an belt loosening during the meal, but after it, talk turned to serious matters.
“So where’d yuh go yesterday?” Bubba asked Frank.
“I went to scout out the location of the nest.
“You could’ve scouted out the location of every nest, twig, bird, bush, and rock in the time that you were gone from here!”
“Yes, I had a few mishaps that impeded me from making a swift and timely return.”
“Such as?”
“I accidentally fell down a weasel hole.”
“What else? You could have fallen down 50 weasel holes in the time you took!”
“Well, I must admit I was rather fatigued, so I took a short rest.”
“How short?”
“Well… I meant to only close my eyes for a second, but I suppose I slept an hour or two.”
“Suppose?”
“Okay! I did!”
“Wall, that’s fine, just as long as yuh got back. But what did yuh find out about them thar gators? Does yuh know whar thar nest is sitcheated?”
“Yes I do.”
“Good. Then I guess we can begin our plans of attack. Right little mousy?”
Puffing out his shallow chest to prove that he wasn’t that small, he replied.
“Yes. I believe that, while it will be a hazardous and difficult undertaking, it is not an impossible one if it is undertaken with a due amount of care, caution, and clear thinking.”
They all then began forming a plan, using due amounts of care, caution, and clear thinking.
The sun was nearly overhead before Frank, cursing himself for his laziness, woke. He sat up tried to get his bearings. Everything around him was unfamiliar, but, at least he saw no alligator tracks. Knowing that he’d been swept downstream, he proceeded to head in the opposite direction, knowing that, if he walked far enough, he would reach the place where he dove in. It took him some time to reach the spot, and when he did he was relieved to find that the alligator was no longer there. Since he was already very late, he decided he might as well find where the nest was hidden.
He simply had to follow the alligator tracks. 100 yards from the stream he found the nest- and 2 full grown alligators who were guarding it jealously. He inched closer to have a better look, totally engrossed in what he was seeing. He didn’t notice the rock that barred his way, and tripped over it, falling flat. Instantly the alligators were alerted, and swayed their heads back and forth, searching for the intruder. They spotted him just as he scrambled back into the tangled undergrowth, and both went after him with a low, guttural roar. They may have looked clumsy, but they ran at great speed, and would have overtaken Frank if he hadn’t fallen down a small hole. The two beasts thundered over him, and soon he could hear them no more. As soon as his heart stopped beating quite as fast, he started to look around his surroundings.
He was in a small hole, hardly tall enough for him to stand in, yet it didn’t quite feel like a hole- it was too dry and clean smelling. He barely had time to make these observations before he heard a scratching sound followed by a puff and a flash of light. Frank whirled around, and saw, facing him, a small furry creature.
“Who are you?” Frank asked.
“Who are you?” The creature said in answer, “and what are you trying to do, jumping into my house like that?”
“I didn’t mean to fall in”, Frank said. “I was being chased by alligators and fell in by accident. As far as who I am, I am Francois Arborio de Felinie, but around here I am known simply by the name Frank.”
“Hi!” The creature said. “My name is George. I’m a weasel. What are you?”
“I am a mouse”
“I didn’t know that mice live in these parts.”
“They don’t. I and 16 others of my kind were wrecked on your shores. We are staying at the home of the chipmunk brothers.”
“Oh yes. They’re good friends of mine. But they don’t live anywhere near here. How did you end up here? You’re over 3 miles from their house!
“I went out to do some scouting and information gathering.”
“Well, the information that I gather is that you’re lost- right?”
“Sadly, yes.”
“Well, I am just the weasel you need! I’ll get you back home in two shakes of a frog’s tail!”
It was nearly dark by the time Frank got home, and George told him to go in by himself.
“I need to be heading home, and if I stay it’ll be midnight before I can start back! Once Bubba starts talkin’, he keeps talkin’ for a long, long time!”
Thanking his newly acquired friend, Frank dragged his weary body the last few feet until home. He knocked once, and was about to knock again when the cabin door flew open.
“Hey fellers!” Lookee here!” Bubba was standing in the doorway, with his pudgy face all wrinkled int a smile.
“Looks as if Mr. Mouse has finally got himself back! Yee haw! Ain’t I glad tuh see yuh! Com in Mr.! Tell us all ‘bout the ‘dventures ya’ve been uh havin’ while we’ve been uh waitin’ here! Get yourself some stew! Pull up a chair. Get warm! How’ve yuh been managin’ without us?”
Frank was bewildered by this barrage of questions, and just stared blankly. Bubba realized Frank was a bit flustered, so he said, “Wall, I guess all them thar questions can wait. You’ll be able to answer ‘em better with a full belly!”
Frank gratefully sat down to eat the steaming bowl of stew Chubba offered him, suddenly realizing that he hadn’t eaten all day. At first he shovelled food into his mouth at an astonishing speed, but gradually sleep proved more powerful than hunger, and the spoon dropped from his paw, clattering to the floor.
“Wall”, Bubba said to himself. “I guess all them questions will ‘ave tuh wait till tomorrer. This feller needs his rest.”
Heedless of the mud that was covering Frank, Bubba lifted the sleeping mouse from his chair, carrying him past the other mice, who looked as curious as Bubba felt, and into the small alcove where Frank’s bed was. Bubba lowered him down onto it, and as he walked out, he turned back, looking at the small, mud covered mouse. Thars somethin’ special ‘bout that mouse, Bubba thought. Wonder what it is? He walked out, pondering that question.
Here’s an animation of the train model that I posted a picture of a few days ago. The smoke isn’t very good, but I’m working on it.
Enjoy!
