Pressing On

Bloggy Break

2008-11-28T21:44:00.006-06:00

I've been meaning to get back here and blog a bit, but it's been one of those months... Well, one of those years. So instead of thinking about blogging, wishing I was blogging and feeling guilty for not blogging, I'm officially taking a bloggy break. Enjoy your holiday season!

On Politics...

2008-11-06T12:04:00.023-06:00

Many people have contacted me either publicly or privately about my most recent post to either find out if they have offended me, apologize, or express anger. Who knew I had so many blog readers?

First, let me clarify that my post was dripping in sarcasm as are most of my posts on this blog. I have not had time to decide whether or not that is right or wrong. I am married to a man who teases me constantly and I personally find sarcasm funny. Use of sarcasm is something I will be thinking about that may or may not effect future posts.

Secondly, I apologize to those who were hurt by my comments, and I humbly ask for your forgiveness. If you are offended by a post here, please leave a comment or contact me directly so I can clarify and/or apologize. However, I must ask you not take my blog entries and post them in another venue.

Copying a post from my blog and posting it in another venue not only violates my copyright, it is un Christlike if done in an attempt to cause dissension.

"Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs." Proverbs 10:11-13

Beyond that, I want you to know that I have been speaking out on my blog about the disturbing comments I've heard since January of this year. I DID NOT HAVE ANY PARTICULAR PERSON, NOR ONLINE COMMUNITY IN MIND WHEN I POSTED ON TUESDAY. I am active on a number of homeschool message boards and I have heard similar rhetoric on all of the Christian forums. Other homeschoolers who share my concerns have mentioned receiving the comments via e-mail and local homeschool group loops.

I am NOT glad that so many of you are upset about the outcome of the election. I just find it funny (as in odd) that so many people think the world is going to come to an end overnight just because their candidate did not win. I lived through 8 years of the Bush administration, and Lord willing I will live through 4 (or 8) years of an Obama administration. We may disagree on the effect it will have on our country, but Christians from either party should be able to agree that we are blessed no matter who is in office.

The following comment in my most recent post:

"If Republicans take anything from this defeat, they must know that they can no longer demonize blacks, Hispanics, Muslims, and the poor. The politics of hate must come to an end. You cannot claim to be pro-life, while displaying scorn for the living."

was not aimed at any specific individual, but at leaders of the Religious Right and the Republican party. Republicans have long employed divisive tactics that include "trying to benefit politically from racial polarization." I believe that strategy continues and has expanded to include other minority groups, as well as the poor.

There are many individuals (of all races, backgrounds and political parties) who find this strategy distasteful, and as a result, will not vote for a Republican candidate. While it is important to discuss issues of agreement and disagreement in terms of policy, it is wrong to slander, spread falsehoods and incite fear. I am well aware that it happens on both sides, but Christians on both sides should know better and should refuse to participate.

Consider this scripture:

"But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.' For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man 'unclean'; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him 'unclean'." Matthew 15:18-20

I DO NOT HARBOR ANY ANGER OR BITTERNESS TOWARD SPECIFIC INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE MADE THE TYPE OF STATEMENTS OF WHICH I AM SPEAKING OR WHO CONTINUE TO BELIEVE THOSE STATEMENTS ARE TRUE. I blame this on party leaders who attempted to incite fear and hatred in order to win an election.

I have many online friends who are strong McCain supporters who agree with me on this issue. One such friend stated:

"I know this kind of thing is typical in politics, but the Christian involvement in this has been particularly distressing to me. The desire to defeat Obama seems to have taken precedence over the desire for truth. Slander has trumped truth, but I think this will factor into the GOP losing--not just the Presidency but many offices. I've tried to point this out, but some people just don't seem to get it."

And another:

First, let me say that I am personally *repulsed* by these tactics, and by the "ends justifies the means" response to them that too many supposed Christians are taking. Even if you believe Senator Obama to be a bad, bad, candidate, even if you believe that he is benefiting from a sort of reverse racism elsewhere, there is no scriptural basis for tolerating or endorsing distortions of or half truths, or out-and-out lies about, his religion or his record. None.

Some of my sisters in Christ have found creative, non-sarcastic ways to speak out on this issue. Here is a portion of an e-mail a friend sent to family members in response to an e-mail containing falsehoods:

"One of the best resources for checking out any email forward is http://www.snopes.com. They have been a reliable source for researching this sort of thing for many years. Their database of email forwards and other rumors is HUGE.

First thing I did upon reading your email was to go there and run a search using the words "Insert Search Terms". I immediately got an article written about this very email:

[Insert Link and Article Summary]

I for one would hate to be the victim of such a thing. I wouldn't wish this sort of thing on my enemies. And, as I said, I think these lies are now serving to HELP Obama's campaign because the REAL problems with his political stances and philosophies are getting ignored because those who criticize him have lost credibility due to the false information getting so much publicity."

Another source for verifying e-mails is http://www.truthorfiction.com.

Some who felt it would cause strife to reply to such e-mails, simply deleted them and refused to pass them along. Others addressed party leadership directly. One friend told the story of a family member who took hate-filled literature from his mailbox, drove to party headquarters and told them if he received any more mailings of the sort he would vote for the candidate who was being slandered.

I know this post is long, but I must include these words by Colin Powell who was also quite disappointed with his party:

I'm also troubled by, not what Senator McCain says, but what members of the party say. And it is permitted to be said such things as, "Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim." Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim, he's a Christian. He's always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer's no, that's not America. Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president? Yet, I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion, "He's a Muslim and he might therefore be associated with terrorists." This is not the way we should be doing it in America.

I feel strongly about this particular point because of a picture I saw in a magazine. It was a photo essay about troops who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. And one picture at the tail end of this photo essay was of a mother in Arlington Cemetery, and she had her head on the headstone of her son's grave. And as the picture focused in, you could see the writing on the headstone. And it gave his awards--Purple Heart, Bronze Star--showed that he died in Iraq, gave his date of birth, date of death. He was 20 years old. And then, at the very top of the headstone, it didn't have a Christian cross, it didn't have the Star of David, it had crescent and a star of the Islamic faith. And his name was Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, and he was an American. He was born in New Jersey. He was 14 years old at the time of 9/11, and he waited until he can go serve his country, and he gave his life. Now, we have got to stop polarizing ourself in this way. And John McCain is as nondiscriminatory as anyone I know. But I'm troubled about the fact that, within the party, we have these kinds of expressions.

Whether or not you agree that Obama is a Christian, and whether or not you agree with our country having a Muslim president, it seems we should all be able to agree that being a Muslim or having the name Hussein does not make one a terrorist, and that they are not words that should be used against another American to incite fear or hatred.

Now that the matter is settled (for me at least) I am going to move forward and continue to celebrate a wonderful milestone in this country. The milestone that John McCain honorably acknowledged in his concession speech, and the milestone that has even made those who oppose Obama feel proud.

Whew! This post is long and it reminds me of why I've recently resorted to using sarcasm - putting together a logical, coherent post takes great effort, and I have a tendency to be lazy.

Frankly, I am glad the election is over and I am Pressing On. I am reevaluating my attitudes and beliefs about the role of government vs. the role of Christians in combating social ills, and I am excited about further evaluating these attitudes and beliefs in hopes that I may be more conformed to the image of Christ. I hope to share some of my thoughts with you as I explore them.

God Bless America!

2008-11-04T21:56:00.005-06:00

Hmm... The sky is remarkably quiet. No trumpets. No shout of the archangel. You mean Obama didn't single handedly usher in the end times?

Life is at the top of my list in terms of issues of importance. Knowing Obama's stance on abortion, I thought an Obama win would leave me feeling bitter/sweet. I have to admit, however, that right now it's all sweet.

I disagree with the President-elect on many issues so I'm sure the bitter will come. But my ancestors, who were considered 3/5 ths human and could not even vote, never would have dreamed this moment would come. For now, I'll enjoy knowing America truly is the land of opportunity where anything is possible.

I am somewhat ashamed to admit that I'll also enjoy watching my fellow Christian homeschoolers wallow in their theories of doom and gloom. (As if Bush didn't do his part to erode freedom, expand the government, and increase the burden on taxpayers.)

Over the course of this election, I've seen an ugly side of the religious right. The attacks have increased over the past few days to the point where Obama has been compared to Hitler and accused of lying about or manipulating his grandmother's death. It has been sickening, and I've spent far too much time ignoring my children in an effort to refute such claims and expose them as evil.

This election truly has ushered in Change We Need. If Republicans take anything from this defeat, they must know that they can no longer demonize blacks, Hispanics, Muslims, and the poor. The politics of hate must come to an end. You cannot claim to be pro-life, while displaying scorn for the living.

I'll be praying for daily for Obama's safety and for the safety of his family. And I will pray that the Lord will use Obama to accomplish His will.

I'll rest easy tonight knowing Dr. King's dream has been realized. The American people have spoken. God bless America!

I was wrong!

2008-10-12T20:00:00.012-06:00

The turn this has election has taken has led me to believe I was wrong when I said Barack Obama did not need to have a conversation about race. In fact, I've joined my mother-in-law and those of her generation in being afraid for his life.

I am shocked at the rhetoric I am hearing from McCain supporters. Comments that Obama is scary, a closet Muslim, a terrorist, an Arab, the anti-christ. Most recently, the owner of a popular homeschool curriculum company questioned Obama's citizenship. (He was born in the state of Hawaii to a white American, in case you're wondering. You can find more on Obama's background here. Obama has also written an extremely candid book about his life which I invite you to read if you're "afraid he's hiding something.")

While it would not be surprising to hear these comments from fringe racists, it is shocking to hear them from your average homeschooler. Even more shocking than the comments themselves, is the anger that accompanies them. Anger that would lead someone to burn an Obama sign in their neighbor's front yard.

Anyone who has watched Obama in action and continues to cling to these ridiculous claims needs to examine their closet beliefs, specifically as it pertains to race.

Just what is so scary about Obama? The brown skin? The name "Hussein"? Is the name "Timothy" just as scary? After all, that's the name of the man white man who bombed the Oklahoma federal building in the deadliest act of terror in our nation before the attacks of 9-11.

While do I think it is fair to evaluate Obama's affiliations, I find it ironic that some of the statements I hear from the "religious right" are just as paranoid and hate-filled as those that came from Obama's former pastor, Jeremiah Wright.

I commend McCain for condemning the ignorant remarks of his supporters. More so, I commend Obama and his wife for behaving so graciously in the face of such attacks. Were it not for Obama's abhorrent stance on abortion, I would vote for him in a heartbeat.

For the record, I've seen the Pro Life Pro Obama website, and I hate to say, I ain't buying it. Paid maternity leave, affordable daycare and tax cuts aren't going to end abortion. Legislation won't end abortion either. However, murder is murder and should be against the law.

Beyond the issues of abortion and the war in Iraq, I see little difference between the candidates. Unfortunately, it seems both will take us even further down the road to socialism.

Energy Saving Lightbulbs

2008-08-31T14:17:00.002-06:00

In the comments section on my recent post about green living, Jo raised an interesting point about American's ignorance regarding energy saving lightbulbs. They're not only ugly, they're toxic.

Check out this video in which Representative Ted Poe of Texas shares Important Information about Energy Saving Lightbulbs, along with some interesting tidbits about the United States Constitution:

I also want to share this comment by Mrs. Amy Brigham, who has a refreshing take on "green living":

Very interesting post! I must confess I am a bit of an anti-consumerist hippie, but do not believe such measures can save a dying world by any measures. Instead, I'm believe in the "live simply so others may simply live" idea. A climate change for our attitudes--bring about compassion & care for neighbors, rather than ending so-called "global warming" or cooling or whatever the powers that be are touting now. :P Tending my own little garden, purchasing only the bare minimum of clothing needed, riding our awesome public transit instead of driving, and reusing glass containers & other odds & ends, for kitchen storage needs and craft projects, instead of simply throwing them in the recycling bin can all save money, so my family can give more to charity and place more in savings as well. :o)

Home Going

2008-08-29T06:00:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, we had a Home Going service for my husband's father, James H. Sanders, Sr.

It is a sad day when the world loses a godly man. A man who lost his father as a young child, and gave up his chance to attend college so he could work to send his sister. A man who provided for children who were not his own, and faithfully cared for his aging mother. A humble servant of his church and community, who never missed an opportunity to love on his grandkids.

My own father refused to attend my wedding. At our wedding reception, my father-in-law stood before our guests and said, "Carla has always been like a daughter to me, and now, she is my daughter." He was an man of honor, who lived up to those words.

James H. Sanders, Sr. will be missed by his wife, 4 sons and their wives, a brother, a sister, 12 grandchildren, 8 great-grandchildren, extended family, church family and friends. Our only comfort is that he is with the Lord and we will see him again.

13Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall
asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. 14We believe that
Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those
who have fallen asleep in him. 15According to the Lord's own word, we tell you
that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will
certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord himself will
come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17After
that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them
in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord
forever. 18Therefore encourage each other with these words. - 1
Thessalonians 4:13-18

What on earth is worth saving?

2008-08-14T06:00:00.004-06:00

When my mother in law found out how sick her husband was she said, "We all have to go that way one day." Later, when she heard the official diagnosis, she said, "We all have to leave here with something."

The Bible says it like this, "Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all have sinned..." Romans 5:12

We all have to go that way one day. We live in a dying world.

I've had a hard time jumping on the "Green" bandwagon. I don't necessarily believe our climate is changing. And if it is, I don't believe our solutions will help the problem.

How many plastic water bottles do I need to recycle in order to make it worthwhile to have a huge plastic trash bin for recyclables, along with a gas guzzling truck to come empty it weekly? Beyond that, what does it do to the environment when we expend energy returning those bottles to usable form?

I do recycle, and I aim to be a good steward of the resources God has provided. But, the truth is, global warming or no, any efforts to save our planet are futile. The Bible says "Heaven and earth will pass away..." Matthew 24:35

We live in a world where people eat animals. Animals eat each other. Children die of hunger. Nations fight wars. Mother nature kills and destroys. Daily, our bodies decay. Can someone tell me what on earth is worth saving? That is, what on earth is worth saving, other than souls?

As Christians, we can tell a lost world that although the planet is dying, one day there will be "a new heaven and a new earth..." Revelation 21:1

A place where, "The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them." Isaiah 11:6

I spend very little time worrying about this planet because Jesus has prepared a place for me in glory. I'll let BeBe and CeCe tell you about it.

I'm no Bible scholar and I can't explain Revelations, but I think John P. Kee explains the plan quite nicely in his song, Any Day.

Any day the Lord shall come to carry me home.
After the dead in Christ shall rise,
We who remain and are still alive
Shall be caught up to meet Him in the air.

He's coming like a thief in the night one day.
He's coming just to carry His children away.
Caught up
We shall be caught up
We shall be caught up to meet him in the air.

"Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men." Romans 5:19

"'Do not let your hearts be troubled. You trust in God; trust also in Me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you may also be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.'

Thomas said to him, 'Lord we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?' Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'" John 14:1-6 (emphasis mine)

Going "green" won't save this planet. Although YouTube just might be worth saving.

An Omniscient, Omnipotent Loving God

2008-08-03T20:00:00.007-06:00

It is so strange to look back and see that the Lord has prepared you for something that was nowhere on your radar.

This spring, we were on the verge of relocating to another state, when my husband's best friend let us know in a single statement that it wasn't the right thing to do. A few months ago, my husband (aka Mr. Community) announced that we were dropping all outside activities - including those at church. Last month, he took a week off from work, and shocked me by actually not working. In 9 years, that's something I've never seen him do.

All along, an all knowing, loving God was leading us and preparing us for something we never expected. We found out Saturday that my father-in-law has lung cancer. It is serious, but we know God is all powerful and able to heal. We are praying for a miracle. We know God's will will be done.

Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money?" Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. - James 4:13-14

I alternate between wishing I knew the future and being ever so thankful that I don't. The present is more than I can handle.

But God knows what the future holds, and He's a loving God. On top of that, He has all power in his hands. I'm learning that He is enough.

Please pray for my father in law - James, my mother in law - Docery, my husband and the rest of the family. Please pray that I will be the wife my husband needs me to be.

The Kingdom of God

2008-07-31T03:00:00.003-06:00

Alistair Begg shared an excellent sermon on his radio broadcast yesterday entitled The Kingdom of God.

He talked about how Christians today are fighting the wrong war. Our primary goal should be to win souls for Christ, not win political battles. Our weapons are spiritual, not political. We are to reach out to the lost, not isolate ourselves from them. Very convicting, and worth a listen.

Jack Graham of Power Point Ministry also hit the ball out of the park yesterday with his sermon, The Joy of Knowing Jesus.

The kids were like, "Mom, why are you clapping?" I should really stop listening to good preaching while I'm driving.

Hands that Shed Innocent Blood

2008-07-14T20:25:00.009-06:00

I've been thinking about the presidential election quite a bit lately, and I've really struggled with the following:

1. I have always voted for Democrats and up until a few years ago was proud of it. The other night James said, "Honey, face it. You're a Republican." And I was like "Shhh... No I'm not! Don't say that out loud! I'm Independent."

2. I actually LIKE Obama although I don't agree with his beliefs. (I know that makes absolutely no sense. Don't ask me to explain it.)

3. I go jogging at the gym every day and these cute pictures of Obama and his wife are plastered all over the news. I mean, honestly, who wants to spend 4 years looking at McCain?

So this morning, as I'm jogging, I'm arguing with myself. I'm saying, "Maybe it won't hurt if you vote for a pro-choice candidate just this once. You've done it for years." And I'm saying, "A pro-life president won't be able to change anything in 4 years. What difference will it make?" And I'm saying, "We're close. We're so, so close. When will we ever be this close again?"

And I get in the car and hear Dr. Adrian Rogers preach the message, Innocent Blood. And I'm moved to tears as I'm again reminded of what is really important.

"There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him:
haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood..." Proverbs
6:16-17

Teaching Kids about the Government

2008-07-13T16:00:00.004-06:00

I met David and his wife Sarah on the WS forums. When I first noticed their posts, David was saying he could not support any politician because they all steal and theft is against his religion. I am finding that in many ways, he is right.

My husband has worked incredibly hard over the past 15 years to build his career, and his hard work is finally paying off. However, it has shocked us to find that the harder my husband works to earn money for our family, the more the government takes from him, claiming it's unfair that others don't have as much money as we have.

Dave Ramsey explained it well on a recent audio broadcast:

We find it really ironic that if my husband packed his bags and abandoned our family, the government would actually GIVE us money.

Now what was that we learned back in middle school? One of the purposes of taxes is to discourage bad behavior and promote good behavior. Some of our country's leaders didn't study their lessons very well.

James has been teaching our kids about government. Every time we go out to eat he takes some food off of their plates, eats some, and gives some to the baby. When the kids protest, he tells them he's the government.

Now they get their plates and say, "Mom, don't let the government steal our food!" and "I don't like the government!" No wonder so many politicians are suspicious of homeschoolers.

Strong, Independent, Black Woman

2008-07-09T19:00:00.004-06:00

Disclaimer: I have to start this post with a disclaimer about Michael and Debbie Pearl. I read their book, To Train Up a Child, last year and it did not sit well with me. There are many people I respect who love the book, so I tried reading it again. The second time was even worse. I could not get past the first few chapters.

However, I benefited greatly from reading Created to Be His Help Meet, and I also enjoy the Pearls' monthly No Greater Joy magazine. As with the works of any author, there were some points I agreed with and others I didn't. As the saying goes, I chew the meat and spit out the bones.

I was reading this month's issue of No Greater Joy and saw a letter from a woman who describes herself as "a 34-year-old African-American female." This woman said she came from a family of "strong, independent black women".

She went on to say, "This was thought of as a blessing until I took a good look at why ALL the women in my predominantly-female family have been divorced. Yes, ALL OF THEM!" To make a long story short, she also found herself on the verge of divorce, and credits the book, Created to Be His Helpmeet, with helping to save her marriage.

This letter really struck a chord with me because I was also raised in a family of strong, independent, black women. I think independent women are prized not only in the African-American community, but by our culture as a whole.

But here's what the Bible says about marriage:

"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his
wife and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but
one." Mark 10:7-8

Doesn't leave much room for independence, does it?

I think one of the reasons the Lord brought me out of workforce is because if I'd stayed there, my husband and I would be divorced. I can almost hear myself talking about how I have my own car, my own bank account and my own money. Doesn't sound like one flesh, does it?

For the past 7 years I have been dependent on my husband. It began as financial dependence, but is now an emotional dependence as well. This is as it should be, even for women who work outside of the home. There is no independence within marriage. The husband and the wife are dependent on each other. They are "no longer two, but one".

I read the book Created to Be His Help Meet over a year ago, thinking I wouldn't like it, and it turned out to be a blessing to my marriage. (No I did not agree with all of the author's comments. See disclaimer above.)

In reading the book, I realized that my picture of marriage was more about what I could get from my husband, and less about what I could give to him. It was more about being disappointed that he was not who I wanted him to be, and less about being thankful for who he was. It was about maintaining my independence, instead of losing myself to become more than what I once was.

I used to sit around with my friends, complaining that my hardworking, faithful husband was selfish, unsupportive, unhelpful, etc. Over the years, the list grew quite long.

Then one day I decided to talk to people who were happily married. Instead of agreeing with me that my husband was awful, they said things like, "stop nagging," "smile," "find a way to do what he wants you to do," and "die to self."

My marriage is a testimony that Christ can make all things new. My husband and I are best friends again. I love him more each day, and I think he's even more handsome now than he was the day we married.

"The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the
Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them,
because they are spiritually discerned." 1 Corinthians 2:14

The book Created to be His Help Meet is not for everyone, and may even be harmful to some marriages. However, submission to one's husband is biblical. It is foolishness to some, but is wisdom to those who know the Lord.

The Truth About Self-Esteem

2008-07-08T20:00:00.000-06:00

The truth about self-esteem is that modern day kids have too much of it.

I realized this about my own son a few years ago. He was asking what the word "respect" meant, and I was trying to explain that respect is something you give someone who is more important than you. (I know, not the best explanation.)

So Andrew responds, "Well, no one is really more important than I am." And my little mommy radar said, "Hmm..."

I have noticed that when my son becomes pouty, moody, easily agitated and disrespectful, high self-esteem is often the root cause of it. I often have to remind Andrew that he is not entitled to have his way, that he is not above being corrected, and he is not so perfect that he can't make mistakes. The same is true for all of us.

I found it interesting that John Rosemond devotes a section of his book, Parenting By the Book, to the unbiblical concept of self-esteem. The Bible says we are to esteem others, and humble ourselves. In fact, Jesus, who was Lord of Lords and King of Kings, "esteemed himself not."

Rosemond states that high self-esteem produces an entitlement mentality, low self control and a criminal/sociopath mindset. He notes that individuals such as Adolf Hitler had such high self-esteem that they had no regard for others. While Mother Teresa and Mahatma Gandhi willingly put others before themselves.

It so often seems we blame our children's poor behavior, discontendedness, and even depression on poor self-esteem when in fact the opposite might be true. Instead of pouring on the praise in an attempt to boost our children's self-esteem, perhaps we should teach them to stop thinking of themselves and think of others.

Parenting by the Book

2008-07-07T19:00:00.007-06:00

I have pretty much sworn off parenting books as I feel most of them do more harm than good. However, we were asked to facilitate a parenting group at church based on John Rosemond's Parenting By the Book, and the one word I would use to describe it is, "Refreshing!" Finally, someone with a psychology degree and common sense.

John Rosemond is a psychologist who debunks all the psychology regarding modern day parenting. I do not agree with all of the discipline techniques outlined in Rosemond's book (or any book other than the Bible). However, Rosemond himself says that it is not the method at all which makes great parenting, but the leadership provided by parents.

That's one reason I shy away from most talk about parenting techniques and the parenting "tool box". Are we raising children or fixing vacuum cleaners?

Rosemond feels that modern parents are over reliant on rewards and consequences. Although these systems seem logical, children aren't animals that must respond a certain way according to stimuli. A child has free will and a rebellious nature, and can choose to behave poorly even in the face of a threat or bribe. My oldest son demonstrated Rosemond's point around age 2 or 3.

When Andrew was a toddler, I was caught up in the whole "1 minute of time out per age" routine, and I quickly realized it wasn't working. Andrew could care less whether or not he spent two minutes in time out. In fact, he made a point of showing me it did not effect him.

One day, Andrew started screaming every time I put him in time out. So I said, "If you scream I'm going to close the door." The next time I put him in time out he closed the door on his own. So I said, "Fine, I'll take away your favorite toy." He handed me another toy and said, "Here, take this one too." I was caught up in a game of one upmanship with a 2 year old. Even worse, he was winning!

Now I'm sure there's some psychology major out there thinking, "Something in the home environment must have caused your son to rebel." But I agree with Rosemond's assessment of what causes children to rebel - good old fashioned sin nature. We all have one.

Rosemond says we must get past the the constant questioning of "why" our children misbehave. We must reject the notion that children are born good and will behave well as long as the adults around them are perfect. Bad behavior is not always a result of lack of attention, trust issues, or any of the other nonsense labels we give it. It is often, quite simply, sinful behavior.

I once heard a mom ask for advice on how to stop her 5 year old son from hitting and kicking her. She was told, "Read a book about why hitting hurts. Then make a sticker chart, and if your son goes 5 days without hitting, take him out for ice cream." LOL! That's not what the police will do if Johnny doesn't soon stop his violent behavior.

So what does Rosemond advocate?

1. Stop turning a misbehaving child into a victim by trying to figure out what you may have done to cause the bad behavior. Let your child take ownership for his actions, and make it clear that the behavior must stop.

2. Focus on the type of man or woman you want your child to become, and parent with those goals in mind. Spend less time investing in academics and achievement, and more time investing in values and character.

3. Remember that discipline and love are two sides of the same coin. Do not neglect loving discipline.

Rosemond also advocates *gasp* homeschooling for those who "feel up to it". You know that won him some points in my book.

I'll have to post later about Rosemond's thoughts on self-esteem. I'm sure some of you are already planning a book burning!

A Queen in Training

2008-06-28T13:00:00.004-06:00

A few weeks ago, Jess posted that she never knew pigtails were so much fun!

This may be the one time I have to disagree with Jess. ;-)

For Jazzy's ballet recital last month, her teacher asked me if I could... well... do something with her hair. You know, something... away from her face. That is... if it's not too much trouble... Smile.

Are you kidding lady?

If 4-6 hours, one broken blow dryer (thank goodness I found the duct tape), and countless tears and commands to "be still" can be considered "fun" and "not too much trouble," then Jess and Ms. Ballet Teacher are right. (Not!)

Here we are all blow dried and ready to flat iron:

Here we are in a nice little bun (at least it was a great arm workout):

Here is a pic that shows off my little princess - which, to be honest, is the only point of this post.

Thanks to that ordeal, she's spending the summer in braids. I'll post pics later, along with info from a few good books I've been reading.

(Hint: I'm not the only one who thinks self esteem is a crock.)

Sales May Not be a Place for a Black Man

2008-06-04T20:41:00.004-06:00

But a presidential election sure is. (See this post for background info.)

Obama Clinches Nomination

I keep hearing people all over talk radio say, "I can't believe black people are supporting Obama just because he's black."

Well, I sure can.

When you think about all of the years blacks were told they "need not apply" or were "unqualified for the position." Even as early as Monday, I caught a headline about researchers who were out to prove blacks genetically inferior. (I would provide a link, but I don't even bother looking at that type of trash.)

But now we have proof. If a black man has a viable chance at the highest office in our country, there's nothing a black man can't do.

I was getting caught up in the excitement and had to have a talk with myself about why I wasn't supporting Obama.

Um... He's against everything you stand for and for that which you abhor.

Oh, yeah. Right. I need to go back and read my own blog entries again.

Blessed is the Man who Trusts in the Lord

2008-05-13T19:05:00.004-06:00

I'm obviously a very inconsistent blogger. I always get sidetracked with one project or another. First I built a website and now I'm an Usborne Children's Books consultant. I guess I have ADD, lol, but it has been fun!

Last week, James took me to our annual homeschool convention, and I came across a book jdavidb from the WS has been encouraging us to read, Whatever Happened to Penny Candy?

On page 41 of the book, the author, Richard J. Maybury, says something that I am beginning to understand is so true:

"In an election, it is important to be aware of The Lie. The Lie is, I will give you what you want, and I will make someone else pay for it. The candidate who can tell The Lie most convincingly is the one who wins the election."

Some of my favorite books on success and finances are the Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey, Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki and Success is Not an Accident by Tommy Newberry. All of them have the same underlying theme - don't rely on the government for help.

The prophet Jeremiah put it this way:

"Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the Lord. He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in he parched places of the desert in a salt land where no one lives.

But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in the year of drought and never fails to bear fruit." (Jeremiah 17:6-8)

I am becoming more and more disinterested in the election. I don't buy what any of the candidates are selling. My trust is in the Lord.

Who is my neighbor?

2008-04-02T04:03:00.005-06:00

I have problems with the way some of us as Christians talk about "illegals" as they are so lovingly called. I think we need to remember that even "illegals" are human beings whom God loves, and as Christians our first duty is to make disciples of every nation, not think up ways to make sure they are sent back where they came from.

Are illegal aliens breaking the law? Yes. But we, too, were once slaves to sin. I came across this in my reading today in Deuteronomy 24:

14 Do not take advantage of a hired man who is poor and needy, whether he is a brother Israelite or an alien living in one of your towns. 15 Pay him his wages each day before sunset, because he is poor and is counting on it. Otherwise he may cry to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin...

17 Do not deprive the alien or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge. 18 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you from there. That is why I command you to do this.

19 When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. 20 When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the alien, the fatherless and the widow. 21 When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the alien, the fatherless and the widow. 22 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I command you to do this.

I have heard Christians suggest that we make sure illegal aliens can't work, find shelter, and receive education or medical care.

I have even heard some go as far to suggest we turn the sick away from hospitals or do the minimum to keep them alive and drive them back across the border even while they lay on a stretcher.

But Jesus held up a different model in Luke 10:

25On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

26"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"

27He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"

28"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."

29But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

30In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. 35The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'

36"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"

37The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."

Trust in the Lord with all your heart...

2008-03-31T21:00:00.003-06:00

Last year I did something incredibly stupid.

We are very careful about what we allow our children to watch, and I started feeling guilty about our choices (read: deceived). I wanted my children to be "in touch with the culture". I didn't want them to feel "sheltered". I wanted them to exercise their "freedom in Christ".

"Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." 1 John 2:15

I Tivo'd the MTV music video awards, and found a semi appropriate (in my mind) performance of Chris Brown and a singer named Rihanna. It was tame compared to most of what's out there (which isn't saying much at all) and featured pop lock dancing that Andrew just loves.

Rihanna was wearing a leotard with fishnet stockings during the performance. The first time I let the children watch the performance, Jasmine said, "Mom, why isn't she wearing any clothes?" I replied, "Oh, honey that's just a stage costume."

Chris Brown's part of the performance included a Michael Jackson imitation. Andrew said, "Mom, why is he touching himself like that?" I said, "Oh, he's just imitating a famous singer."

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? Jeremiah 17:9

When I had effectively squelched my children's conscience, we watched the performance repeatedly and the kids learned some of the moves.

About a month later, my mom came to visit. I said, "Kids, do you want show grandma your dance?" Andrew replied, "Mom, I'm embarrassed to dance like that in front of Grandma." Ouch!

I asked the Lord to forgive me, and give my children wholesome opportunities for fun.

About a week later, there was an announcement at church about praise dance. Andrew and Jasmine have since danced in 3 God honoring performances.

A few weeks ago, I found this video on Kysha's blog. It is a singer named Coffey, singing a Christian version of the exact song Rihanna sang on that MTV performance.

Check it out:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your path." Proverbs 3:5-6

Menu Plan Monday

2008-03-30T22:07:00.007-06:00

I am seriously behind on housework and meal planning, and James is (rightfully) losing patience. I noticed Menu Plan Monday over at Kysha's blog and decided to see if it will help me stay on task.

Here are Laura's 13 Reasons to Menu Plan.

Here's our menu for the week:

Monday - grilled roast beef sandwiches, french fries

Tuesday - crockpot chili

Wednesday - chicken fajitas

Thursday - chef salad, garlic bread

Friday - manicotti, salad, garlic bread

Saturday - barbecue chicken, corn, broccoli

Sunday - eat out

We'll see how it goes!

Bring the Noise!

2008-03-27T07:14:00.003-06:00

Changing gears...

My children are in the kitchen eating breakfast with their Grandma and I'm in the next room listening to their conversation. Yes, it's THAT loud.

I used to value quiet. "Shush everyone, so I can THINK!" But now my children's noise is like music to my ears. I love the sound of happy children.

Oops, now they're arguing. Oh, good - they're okay again!

Last week Jazzy pulled out the pots and pans and some extra long Lincoln Logs, and gave a rousing performance of "Joshua fought the battle of Jericho!"

She makes up little songs for me, "Mom you're so pretty. I love you so much!" It's so nice to be serenaded, and it's really fun when she tries to make everything rhyme.

My point... One day your children will leave home and your house will be very quiet. You will have plenty of time to "THINK!" And you'll be thinking about how much noise they made and how much you miss them.

A Minority Among Minorities

2008-03-26T05:00:00.004-06:00

Friday night, I sat in a room full God-fearing black women who all spoke excitedly of Barack Obama and his chance to become America's first black president.

I so badly wanted to be a part of that excitement. I wanted to tell my son, "Here's a black man doing things that you can do, too." But I sat there feeling sick, and lonely.

Before I want my son to be a strong black man, I want my son to be a strong man of God. That's where Barack Obama and I part ways.

What does he believe in?

Andrew has been intrigued by Obama since he saw his picture on the cover of Ebony magazine. He's seen Obama's book in our home. During our talks about the candidates and their views, my son was particularly interested in Obama. We spoke honestly about his beliefs. However, because Andrew is only 7, I didn't go into the detail with him that I will for you.

Barack Obama believes unwaveringly in a woman's right to kill babies. If you are uncertain as to whether or not they are actually babies, view the photos here. Obama is one of the most liberal democrats on this issue, even moreso than Hillary Clinton.

Obama voted against BAIPA, a measure in the Illinois Senate which would have prevented withholding medical treatment from aborted babies who were accidentally born alive. More on that here. And if you don't believe this really happens, read Baby Rowan's story.

Obama was also against a ban on partial birth abortion. If you don't know what that is, see LaShawn Barber's description here.

So why does this matter? What can a president do about abortion?

The next president of our country will have veto power, and he (or she!) will appoint Supreme Court justices. However, beyond that, and more importantly for me, this man or woman will be the leader of our country.

I can no longer vote for a leader who supports killing the unborn, just as I could not vote for a leader who supported slavery. That debate also centered around property "rights" and whether or not slaves were fully human (or only 3/5ths).

It was also suggested that blacks were better off economically as slaves. I reject that argument, just as I reject those who suggest babies are better off being killed than being born into poverty. Babies born into wealthy families are no more valuable than those born to the poor.

We don't have the same goals.

I remember seeing Obama on television a few years ago. He said that when it comes down to it, we all really want the same things. I thought, "No, Obama. We don't want the same things. I don't want women to have the right to take innocent lives."

I care about the 4,000 soldiers who have lost their lives in the war. But I also care about the 50 million babies we have lost to abortion.

I care about those without health care. But I also care about the 95% of unborn babies diagnosed with Down syndrome who are aborted. These beautiful children also deserve health care. So do the potentially healthy babies who are aborted at the recommendation of doctors due to faulty test results.

I don't believe in embryonic stem cell research any more than I believe in medical experimentation on black males.

And while I would love to see our country have it's first black president. I would also love to see an end to black genocide. It is no accident that 78% of Planned Parenthood's clinics are in minority communities. Its founder, Margaret Sanger, was a racist who advocated eugenics. Here's evidence that Planned Parenthood is still a racist organization.

For me, it's a matter of conscience.

When I talk to my son about abortion and tell him it is in fact murder, how can I then turn around and vote for someone who actively fights for others to have that right?

I have thought long and hard, and I wish I could find away to justify supporting Barack Obama. I know others have, and I don't judge them for their choice, but I cannot.

In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., "There comes a time when one must take the position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must do it because conscience tells him it is right."

Though I'm feeling lonely in real life, it is some consolation to know that I'm not the only black woman in America who's not supporting Barack Obama. Special thanks to Terry for encouraging me during a season when I'm feeling gun shy.

I May Have Spoken Too Soon

2008-03-25T23:00:00.001-06:00

Affirmative Action Foes Push Ballot Measures

Maybe we do need to continue having conversations about race.

For all my husband's hard work, I'm not sure he would have had an opportunity to prove himself without some level of government accountability in place.

I'm obviously straddling the fence at this point. I hate it when I do that!

A Conversation about Race

2008-03-20T05:38:00.014-06:00

Yesterday was Jasmine's 4th birthday. We took her on a pony ride, then went out for cake and pizza.

Never in the history of this country has there been a better time to be a black woman.

A year ago, I wouldn't have thought a woman or a black man had a chance to become president. Clinton and Obama have proven me wrong. And now Obama wants to have a conversation about race???

For all our "anger", our generation knows nothing about having to step aside when a white person passes nor having to call white children "sir" and "ma'am" as our grandparents did.

For all our talk about "segregated schools", we know nothing of the Jim Crow laws our parents survived. And if called to fight as they did (notice I said "fight" - not "vote for someone who says they will fight"), few of us would set aside our expensive toys and degrading music long enough to do it. We all know what happened when Cosby suggested we forgo Nike shoes and buy Hooked on Phonics.

I know racism is alive and well. My husband has an advanced degree and an awesome track record, and he still had to work incredibly hard to get into positions that his white counterparts entered directly out of college.

He endured jokes about race, remarks about affirmative action, and a coworker who flat out told him, "Sales is no place for a black man. Those rednecks aren't gonna buy from you."

Did my husband call human resources to file a complaint? Did he gather his coworkers for a conversation about race?

Instead, he followed the path of his parents and grandparents. He kept his mouth shut and his head held high, and he outworked everyone.

The former jokesters now beg my husband to accompany them on sales calls. Last week, the man who said my husband had no place in sales was promoted. He hand picked my husband to receive his most profitable accounts.

Apparently, even "rednecks" will buy from someone who knows the product better than anyone else.

I am growing weary of conversations about race. I would rather hear Obama talk about the hard work that got him where he is today. I'd rather he tell us how to take part in the American dream, than hail himself as the solution to all of our problems.

What path did you take Senator Obama? Tell us how we can do it too.

How did you manage to overcome racism and get so many white supporters?

We can either talk about how unfair life is and wait on the government to do something (guess how long we'll be waiting) or we can go out and make things happen for our families. All of the successful African-American men and women I know followed the same path.

Contrary to popular opinion, there IS an antidote to racism. Around our house, we call it "hard work".

More changes in our home...

2008-03-02T21:56:00.005-06:00

This year we are taking small steps toward a whole foods diet. We tried making dramatic changes last year and I went into shock. Gimme a Whopper Jr. and some french fries ... STAT!

We started shopping at Whole Foods for hormone free beef, chicken and dairy products. We are also buying organic fruits and vegetables, and foods that only have ingredients whose names we recognize.

It was quite a shock to buy a package of tortillas that only contains flour, water, oil, baking powder and salt. Go check your package of Mission tortillas - the ingredients list goes on... and on... and on...

We're also experimenting with natural sweeteners - maple syrup, raw honey and agave nectar. I will continue to keep you updated about new products we try.

One thing that we've noticed is how quickly the food spoils. No more sitting in our pantry or refrigerator for weeks. I'm having to toy around with the way I schedule our meals so we don't throw food away.

We've also noticed that the food tastes much better and we are more inclined to eat at home. So we are spending more, but we are saving money by not eating out. I also hope we are saving our kids from some of the struggles we've had to face.

Last week I cut back on sugar and caffeine, and it was a tough week - especially since James is trying to get rid of a few bad habits of his own. This week I'm cutting caffeine and sugar all together. I never knew they could cause strong withdrawal symptoms. If I get around to blogging, I can't promise I'll be nice.

Favorite Audio Sermons

2008-02-26T21:57:00.005-06:00

I wanted to share with you some of my favorite Bible preachers:

We sometimes listen to S.M. Davis sermons online while we fold laundry (follow the link and scroll down until you reach his name). Even Drew enjoys them.

I try to plan our weekday outings so we'll catch Richard Ellis on the radio. I love it when preachers actually reference scripture in their sermons. ;)

Californians have no excuse. Raul Riese preaches truth! This is another radio program we try to catch when we're out running errands.

I just found these free Voddie Baucham sermons. Guess what we'll be doing this week?

Enjoy!

I'm back!!!

2008-02-22T03:09:00.011-06:00

Ha! You thought you'd gotten rid of me... No such luck!

It has been a busy month.

I now have a 7 year old.

And a 1 year old.

Someone grew teeth.

Someone lost them.

And in all the confusion, someone tried to take my place on the throne.

I've also become a work at home mom of sorts. I started a website that contains over 90 pages of information about homeschooling:

http://www.successful-homeschooling.com/

I failed miserably at balancing work and family, and I'm ready to return my focus to the home. The following picture of me at my desk should give you a clue as to what the past 2 months have been like:

I'll spare you photos of what 2 months in a computer chair has done to my waistline.

You'll notice changes at Pressing On as well. I'll post most of my family pics and stories on my new homeschool blog. However, one thing that won't change here is that I'll continue to share truthfully from my heart.

I started this blog with the intent of telling funny stories about my life and family, but I was led in another direction. I don't want to share unpopular thoughts about marriage and child rearing. And I really, really, REALLY don't want to talk about labeling and ADHD.

But those are the topics that nag me until I give in and type. And those are the entries that sit in my draft box for weeks, haunting me until I press "publish". And those are the topics, among others, that I will continue to blog about.

I no longer ask the Lord to make people like the things I say. I ask Him to give me the courage to speak boldy about the very things people don't want to hear.

Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

At my funeral, it won't matter what those on earth say about me. I want to hear the Lord say, "Well done!"

Happy New Year!!!

2008-01-10T06:53:00.001-06:00

I know I'm late wishing you all well, but it's still January after all. Here's what we've been up to:

This year, for Christmas, we did an exciting service project. We baked 34 dozen cookies and sold them to friends and family members, raising over $150 to spend on toys to give to a local foster care organization. We baked a few dozen each day so it didn't get too overwhelming. Many thanks to those of you who contributed!

When we dropped the toys off, the director told the children they were heros. The kids were just beaming!

I want my children to learn early on that life is about more than working for money so you can buy a new Hummer, then vote for candidates who will "help" the poor with other people's money. I want my children to use their money and turn off their TVs and go serve those God has called us to serve. That is how my husband and I strive to live our lives as well.

After we dropped the gifts off, we went to a local soda shop and had lots of yummy, greasy food!

That was our week for running around while everyone else was still in school. We went to see the tree lighting and play at the Galleria.

Yep! He's walking now.We drove around to look at Christmas lights, and we went bowling.

I took Jazzy to see the Nutcracker. Anyone who denies that dance is a form of intelligence, is just unintelligent, IMO.

Then we decorated the house with paper snowflakes.

Christmas Trees

Snowmen

Santa and His Raindeer. (These were Drew's idea.)

I cooked way too much. Honestly. I gained 5 lbs, but we'll just call it "water weight". (Yep, that's raw cake batter they're eating. We live life on the edge!)

On Christmas Eve we give the kids books. And on Christmas morning, they get three presents. (Our motto is three was enough for Jesus, and it's enough for you!) Drew got a castle, roller blades and pj's. Jazzy got a doll, roller blades, and a helmet. Zay got a mega blocks train, but he just wanted to play with the ribbon!

We mostly stuck around home the week of Christmas, and on New Years Eve, we made a big sign and camped out in the living room.

James and I want to read through the Bible this year. You may have noticed the One Year Bible graphic on my blog. It links to each days reading.

--------

And for another blog change, I've added my photo. (Amazing what a little lipstick can do.) I'm also using my real name now. I am a real person with real feelings, doing my best to share (however imperfectly) the things God has laid on my heart. But don't worry, you can still call me Queen if you want to. Her Royal Highness also has a nice ring to it!

On Barack Obama...

2008-01-06T21:54:00.001-06:00

Hmm... I don't know how this happened, but I've found myself defending a candidate who will likely not get my vote. It bothers me to see the e-mails floating around Christian circles that Obama is a Muslim candidate and that if he is elected president, the terrorists will have won.

Obama has stated that he is a Christian. I'm fairly certain that he and I have some different theological views, but I am not going to question this man's salvation.

James 4:12 comes to mind - There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you - who are you to judge your neighbor?

I read the book Obama wrote before he was a politician, and he was not raised Muslim. His biological father was a non-practicing African Muslim (meaning, he lived in Africa). Obama only saw him a handful of times.

Obama lived in Indonesia for a few years with his mom and step dad, who did not practice formal religion. The vast majority of Obama's formative years were spent living in Hawaii with his white grandparents, attending an upper class, predominately white, private school.

Now, I disagree with many of Obama's political views (though I'm glad he flip flopped on the national healthcare issue). But I don't think it serves us as Christians to participate in the spreading of false rumors. We need to make our decisions about candidates based on truth.

It surprises me to hear that people wonder how he even became a serious contender. That they are wondering if perhaps it is "because he is black."

Barack Obama is a Harvard graduate and a U.S. Senator, who pulled himself up by his boot straps. His daddy did not spoon feed him a political office. He is extremely intelligent, and has served the community for many years.

He is one of the few candidates who I believe to be exactly who he claims to be, and I am astounded by the grace with which he's handled attacks on his character. (I could take a lesson from him in that area.) He may not get my vote, but I think it's awesome that he's got Hillary shaking in her boots!

(Edited to add: I didn't mean for him to make her cry, lol. But I guess it helped her in the end.)

Now I hope this post didn't upset you too much, but if it did, stay tuned... We've been extremely busy, but I have some cute pics and an exciting (non controversial) announcement coming over the next week or two!

On Choosing Life...

2007-12-22T05:41:00.000-06:00

Last Sunday, we went to see my aunt and cousins in an annual performance of the Singing Christmas Tree - a 35 ft tree built by church volunteers, which houses a choir of 120.

If you have never been to one of these performances, they are amazing! My cousin T.J. was part of a drumline "remix" of Oh Come, Oh Come Emmanuel. You should have seen Zay dancing!
My cousin Brandon was also in the show this year. He was born with hydrocephalus. Over the years I've watched Brandon serve as a ring bearer in my wedding, participate in special olympics, march with his high school band, and go on numerous mission trips. He is now 16 and learning to drive.

As I watched Brandon perform, I thought of a story I'd read earlier this year about a woman's decision to abort a child with hydrocephalus. Gretchen's story has been hailed by pro choice advocates as a reason for late term abortion, yet I wonder why the caption under the title reads "The easiest choice I've ever made is also the hardest to live with."

We hear talk of a woman's right to choose, but we hear little of the women who have to live with those choices. This year I sat and watched a loved one cry over the baby she aborted 20 years ago. She's a strong Christian, has a beautiful family, and knows there is forgiveness in Christ. Yet she thinks of her baby daily, and will mourn his loss until the day she dies.

I consider women like my friend to be victims of the pro choice movement. Rachel's Vineyard is one of many organizations that supports women who are recovering from abortion. Here's a list of additional support groups I found at abortionrecovery.org.

As I was searching for the above article, I ran across Samuel's story. What a little fighter! I always thought the word "fetus" made unborn babies seem subhuman, but the article states "'Fetus' is a Latin word meaning 'offspring' or 'young one'." Doesn't sound like something you'd want to kill, does it?

While we're on the subject, I think we as Christians should rejoice that Britney Spears' little sister is making a decision she can live with. Is she is a fit role model for teens? Absolutely. In the face of scrutiny and pressure that many of us will never know - she chose life.

34 Reasons I Love My Husband...

2007-12-20T23:30:00.000-06:00

Today J celebrated his 34th birthday!

He spent the day playing cards with some buddies from work, then came home, cooked and watched the kids so I could have dinner with friends. He's definitely a keeper!

Here's a list of 34 reasons I love my husband. I encourage you to make a list of your own (about your husband of course). Have your children make a list as well. It is always neat to hear what they have to say.

He truly knows me, and loves me anyway.
He loves the Lord and desires to serve Him.
He loves, hugs and kisses our children.
He spends his free time with me and our children.
He disciplines our children.
He has a heart for service.
He support us financially.
He is wise with money.
He is wise in general.
He is playful.
He is loving.
He is steadfast and determined.
He is goal oriented.
He leads our family.
He is giving.
He is forgiving.
He is a hard worker.
He is strong.
He is handsome.
He is fun.
He makes me laugh.
He is intelligent.
He listens to me.
He considers my feelings.
He apologizes when he's wrong.
He holds me accountable.
He supports my goals and dreams.
He trusts me.
He is trustworthy.
He is faithful.
He is honorable.
He is honest.
He accepts me for who I am.
He encourages me to be more than I thought I could be.

Phillipians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatver is right, whatever is pue, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things.

Oh Christmas Tree...

2007-12-14T12:00:00.000-06:00

Last week, the kids helped set up the Christmas tree.

Zay helped, too.

I only repositioned one ornament. Well... three at the most.

I had decided to keep Christmas simple this year, but I stuffed a bunch of presents under the tree anyway. I can't wait to see their happy faces on Christmas morning.

Every year, I buy one of those overpriced Hallmark keepsake ornaments. The year God miraculously restored my father-in-law from his death bed, we bought a lion holding a lamb that read, "I Love Grandpa." This year we bought one for Zay - Baby's First Christmas.

Oh, yes... she dropped it. The really fun part about collecting keepsake ornaments is remembering how some of them got broken. I have to glue Baby Bop's head on every year and Buzz Lightyear is beyond repair.

The kids asked me if they could play with the special ornaments and I told them those ornaments are mine. When they grow up and spend Christmas with their own families, I'll look at the ornaments and remember the special times we had together.

I asked the kids if they're going to take care of me when I'm old. Drew said, "Yes! I'm going to take you to the mall and buy you lots of food to eat." Jazzy said, "I'm going to take you to the donut store!" Guess what your kids are going to do with you if you drop them off with other people all the time?

I felt guilty for being selfish with the ornaments, so I let Drew play with Joseph.

Good thing I didn't let him play with baby Jesus.

Jazzyism...

2007-12-14T11:30:00.000-06:00

"Mom, you're already old!"

Christmastime is Here!!!

2007-12-12T12:00:00.000-06:00

Here's what we've been up to:

We took the kids ice skating last week. It was true test of my patience because they don't know how to ice skate and I don't either.

We survived. Next time I hope to be able to watch from the sidelines.

The kids are in children's choir and on the praise dance team at church. They sang and danced at the mall last Saturday, and again at church on Sunday. So fun!

For those of you who get Christmas cards from our family, don't be surprised if the label's upside down.

Today is J's last day at work, and we'll have the next two weeks together. That too, will be a true test of my patience. I can't promise we'll survive.

A few years ago I would've looked forward to the chance to get away for some well deserved "me time". Now I just look forward to spending that time together. I never thought I would want my husband and children around me all the time. Now I bring them with me whenever possible, and I sometimes make excuses to stay home.

I'm always shocked when I hear women say things like, "I just want to drop my kids off" or "I need to get away from these kids." I have to remind myself that I used to think that way. If you are struggling with those feelings, ask the Lord to help you ENJOY your children. He really is able!

Last night, Jazzy said, "Mom, I'm your bestest girl ever and you love me so much." Then she asked if we could lay on the couch together, and she sang songs about how much she loves me.

I'll take that over a night out with the girls any time. These moments are so fleeting.

A Nation of Cowards - The Nanny State, Part 2

2007-12-07T06:00:00.000-06:00

Although my mother grew up in Alabama during the civil rights era, she wasn't a part of the Civil Rights Movement. My grandma wouldn't let her children protest. Nobody wants their children to have hoses turned against them, yet somebody had to do it.

Somebody had to let their children walk into schools where they were being screamed at and spit on and had bottles hurled at them. Somebody had to let their children ride on buses that were being fire bombed.

And what of the early homeschool movement? There was a time when homeschooling was illegal. Families went into hiding. Fathers went to jail. Children were made to testify. What if these pioneers had sent their kids to school so as not to create waves? What if they acted as I do when the pediatrician asks his invasive questions.

Any guns in the home? "No sir, we don't own guns, sir."

Do you smoke? "Not a chance. Smoking is bad for you."

Does the baby have his own crib? "Yes sir. And there are only 2 adults in our home, and even though I homeschool, my son has lots of friends."

Don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't like our pediatrician. He's a nice guy. And it's not that I don't have the right answers. We don't drink, smoke, own guns or co-sleep. I don't have anything to hide.

The problem is, it doesn't matter whether or not I have anything to hide. It is not my job to prove that I'm parenting up to our pediatrician's standards to avoid being reported to the State. It's my pediatricians job to look in my child's nose and ears and check his heartbeat. It's the state's job to prove I am guilty of a CRIME or stay out of my business.

I have heard stories online of people being investigated for refusing newborn eyedrops, vitamin K shots, and Hep B vaccinations. I have heard of people having to go through Gestational Diabetes training which they have attended with previous pregnancies so as not to be accused of negligence. It is not the parents job to prove we are not being negligent. It's the pediatrician's job to do what we tell him to do and the State's job to prove we are committing a crime or leave us alone.

I am sorry to be on a soapbox here, but I feel we're in dangerous territory. Every time I act for fear of being investigated, I contribute to the Nanny State.

Yes, I am protecting my children. But am I protecting my children's children? Am I protecting my great-grandchildren? What will the state have deemed negligent by then?

I didn't speak up when they came after the gun owners. I didn't speak up when they came after the non vaxers. I didn't speak up when they came for the homeschoolers. I didn't speak up when they came for the spankers. I didn't speak up when they came for the Christians. There was no one left to speak up when they came for me.

Bad paraphrase, but you get the point...

Government Gone Wild - The Nanny State, Part 1

2007-12-06T06:00:00.000-06:00

I found the following story from a link on the SL forums:

Controversy swirled this week over Nebraska’s law requiring mandatory blood testing of newborns for various diseases. Recently, a couple would not allow their infant boy to be tested, citing religious reasons, but because the law has no opt-out provision, the county obtained an order from a juvenile-court judge to test the baby anyway. This permitted sheriff’s deputies to take the nursing six-week-old baby from his parents. Additionally, the next day, the judge ordered that the baby remain in foster care until the preliminary results came back and confirmed further testing wasn’t needed...

Read the full commentary here:

http://archive.patriotpost.us/pub/07-44_Digest/page-5.php

Here's another story about parents facing jailtime for failure to immunize for chicken pox of all things:

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/US/story?id=3866502&page=1

I must say that this type of thing frightens me.

I think it's great that blood testing for newborns can detect potentially fatal conditions and save lives. I think it's great that immunizations can save children from potentially fatal diseases. Is it great that the government mandates these procedures because they've been deemed to be in the best interest of children? Asolutely not.

It is up to PARENTS to decide what is in the best interest of children - not the state.

Will some parents make wrong choices? Absolutely. Yes it is sad, but it is their right. When we take away the rights of bad parents to make choices for their children, we are also taking those rights from GOOD parents. And the good parents of today will one day be considered bad for things like *gasp* refusing to give their children Ritalin or refusing to have their daughters injected with a potentially harmful vaccine for STDs. Oh wait, that's already happening.

We good parents think it's okay for a judge to decide that Brittney Spears needs a coach and parenting classes, but what about when the government decides WE need a coach. And what about when that coach recommends removing OUR children - you know for their own best interest.

It would be a tragedy to have my child spend any time in foster care - even just one day. Children are regularly neglected and abused in foster homes. There are many wonderful Christian families who foster children, but don't assume all, or even the majority, are that way.

These are the tactics of our government:

1. Fear, fear, fear! Danger, danger, danger! Be afraid! I'll protect you. Give more of your rights to me.

2. We know you're informed and capable of making good decisions for your children, but what about all those other parents out there? You know, the negligent ones who let their kids play tag, and *gasp* aren't preparing their 2 year olds for the SAT. We trust you, Ms. Wise, but for the sake of those poor children, give more of your rights to me.

How long before Ms. Wise is considered Ms. Negligent? How long before her children are placed in foster care until CPS can investigate?

Right now, I'm not under fire. We use bike helmets. We vaccinate our children. Other than homeschooling, which is becoming more mainstream, most of our family's decisions are PC. But that doesn't mean this Wise family won't one day be considered Negligent. I can almost bet it will happen in this nation of cowards. Also pointing the finger at myself here...

Teach your kids to cook...

2007-11-26T07:56:00.001-06:00

I ran across this great website and wanted to share it with you all.

http://www.kids-cooking-activities.com

It has ideas, lessons and other information on teaching kids to cook. It also has a section telling about different fruits and veggies, and how to select and store them, and a recipe to use them in.
We'll probably start some of these soon.

Danger!!!

2007-11-25T17:30:00.000-06:00

I'm reading The Underground History of American Education by former New York State Teacher of the Year, John Taylor Gatto.

I kept shouting "Yes!" as I read random pages on the way home from the library, so I think it will be a good read. I'm sure J is glad he's on his way out of town...

Why do I blog???

2007-11-25T17:00:00.000-06:00

A friend of mine recently asked the purpose of my blog. My reasons for blogging are many:

1. When I became a sahm, I had no clue how to parent or be a good wife. I want to share what I'm learning with other mothers and encourage them to stay the course.

2. My blog serves as a journal of what's going on in our lives. It helps me remember the fun times we've had, and helps J keep up with us when he's gone.

3. My blog is a place for me to air my thoughts and opinions. I hear opinions from people online that I've never heard before. Even when I disagree with those opinions, I'm forced to think about how I feel on the subject. I don't expect my friends who read this blog to always agree with me, but I do hope to prompt them to think.

I have several of the latter type blog entries planned for this week.

I also have an exciting project in the works which I will share more about in a month or two, so I ask you as friends to pray for me.

Let me know if you like the new format. Jess is planning to run a format tutorial on her blog, so it's something I'll be working on in the future.

Much love!

Making Memories...

2007-11-14T20:00:00.000-06:00

Our washing machine is broken so I had to go to the laundromat last week. Drew came and helped me load the clothes into the machines, insert coins and fold clothes. We ate sub sandwiches and chips, drank soda, and played video games. They had Ms. Pac Man and Galaga just like the laundromat I went to as a little girl. Drew preferred the driving game.

We sat on the folding table and let our legs dangle off the end. (I don't know why it still seems exciting to hop up on those tables.) Then we folded and folded and folded, until the baskets were overflowing with clothes. I showed Drew how to place a towel on top of the folded clothes and tuck the edges inside the basket so the clothes wouldn't fall out on the way to the car. We had so much fun!

I had to go back to the laundromat last night and Drew wanted to come so badly, but it was too late to have him out. I called my mom as I loaded the car to come home and one of the baskets tipped over. I said, "Good thing I tucked a towel around the clothes." She said, "You remember? We used to have so much fun."

My family used to take annual summer vacations. I don't remember much about them, other than the long car rides. But I vividly remember the books my mother read me and the games we played. I remember Wednesday night church dinners and Saturday craft fairs. I remember baking cookies and going to the same restaurants so many times that the employees automatically knew our orders. At the Chinese restaurant we were Beef Broccoli. At Pizza Hut we were 2 Personal Pan Supremes. Bic's diner was our favorite. The owner passed away a while back, but I still take my children there.

I think the money my mom spent on Disneyland was mostly wasted. It was fun, but my special childhood memories are of things that were free. Love, warmth, consistency, and safety gave me the confidence to go out into the world, not fancy gadgets and vacations and puffed up, phony self-esteem.

When I look back at my childhood, I see my mother and I together. That made great memories and that made me a happy kid.

I am beginning to see the error in the notion of quality time. Our children don't need occasional spurts of fancy activities, they need large quantities of time with us.

Ridiculosity...

2007-11-13T06:43:00.000-06:00

Want to share with you these links I found on Jess' blog...

More pet ridiculosity... (feel free to borrow that word)

And a chilling account of killing the unborn.

We would have been outraged if this woman wrote about killing a dog, yet we feel it's not our place to comment when she has her twins shot through their hearts to avoid having to miss speaking engagements and buy tubs of mayonnaise at Costco.

It sickens me to think of it...

I know you won't make it through the weekend...

2007-11-09T15:00:00.000-06:00

without pics of my cutie!

I can't believe he is 9 months old already! He now has 2 teeth (that are as sharp as daggers), and he is clapping, pulling up and cruising around the furniture. This child can't be still unless he's sleeping. I think he'll walk any day now.

Here he is sitting in the big tub.

Playing chess.

On the move.

Breaking and entering.

He's had a teeny tiny cold this week and I wish I would have stocked up on those infant decongestants before they pulled them from the market. My children don't get many colds, but the decongestants always made them more comfortable and I do know how to use a medicine dropper!

I'm not a doctor, but I play one in my own home. :)

Yippee!!!

2007-11-09T14:00:00.000-06:00

I am so excited. Candy is doing a series about evolution on her blog and it's a subject I've been wanting to study.

I have not done any in depth study on evolution vs. creation, but I will admit that I go into the discussion with some bias.

1. As presented in high school, evolution made absolutely no sense to me. I just could not understand how a big bang and some primordial soup turned into plants, animals and people. Oh, and who made the primordial soup?

2. Let's say I read a book about dogs that says something like, "300 million years ago this type of dog would have been a such and such." Huh??? How could anyone possibly know what a particular type of dog was 300 million years ago? Where are the records of what was going on back then or even that there was a back then.

3. Let's say I read a book that says, "Some animals, like snakes, use their jaw bones to hear. The bones in human ears which allow us to hear evolved from jawbones of these animals." Huh??? I could possibly understand a snake evolving into another type of snake, but the jawbone of a snake turning into the bones in human ears??? Besides, I thought we came from monkeys.

(While paraphrased, the above examples come from actual books produced by extremely popular book companies. That is one reason I am very careful about the type of books I buy.)

4. I believe the Bible is God's word and I believe His word is true. So when God says He made it, I believe He made it. When He says six days, I believe it took six days. Otherwise He would have said "six time periods". When He says He made each thing according to its kind, I believe He made monkeys and He made man instead of making monkeys turn into man.

In fact, He said He made man from the "dust of the ground" and "breathed into his nostrils the breath of life". (Okay, I'm rambling now, but I just love that part. I love, love, love that He breathed life into Adam. It reminds me of my babies taking their first breaths. And it reminds me of how He keeps my heart pumping and my lungs going from day to day. Life is an awesome gift from God!)

5. I've heard it suggested that perhaps God used evolution in the process of creation. Why would He do that? I don't understand why an omnipotent God would need to use evolution to create the world. And I really don't understand why it would take him 500 million years to do it.

6. I was really excited to see Candy use the word "stalactite" in one of her posts on evolution because we learned about those on our trip to San Antonio. Our tour guide was great, but I did not buy his comments about a single stalactite taking a million years to form. Do you know how long that is? I am sure it appears they would take that long to form, but an omnipotent God (or a flood He caused) could create one in an instant. My God can do anything!

So my beliefs about creation and evolution are admittedly simple, and that is fine with me as, "the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom..." (1 Corinthians 1:25) and "God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise..." (1 Corinthians 1:27) The bottom line for me is - I serve an omnipotent God!

Feel free to share any links you have on the subject, even if they don't line up with my thoughts above. I would like as much information as possible so I can teach my children, and I think it will be fun to learn something new. Right now I am sitting here laughing at myself. It's amazing how much I have to say about a subject I don't have strong feelings about.

It's not easy being Queen.

Happy Birthday to Me!!!

2007-11-08T19:00:00.000-06:00

Today is my 31st birthday!!!

This morning as I was rushing around getting ready for the day, I looked like this:

My mom spent the week with us, and she could not stop laughing at me in my glasses, shower cap and frumpy nightgown (which she bought, btw). She kept saying, "You sure do look 31!"

Some people applaud mothers who "chart their own paths" and abandon their families in pursuit of satisfaction. But I want to show you a picture of a true hero.

31 years ago, she chose life.

My dad promised my mom he would marry her when she got pregnant. He then joined the military, left the state and stopped answering her letters. My mom lost her teaching job (a job she loved) at a Christian school and went home to her parents. When I was 6 weeks old, she packed up and drove to Texas to find means of support (not welfare, btw).

I knew all of the above, but it wasn't until J and I bought our home, that I finally realized what my mother gave up for me. She told me about the wedding she had planned for herself as a girl, right down to the bridesmaids dresses. She gave me notebooks that contained hundereds of handwritten recipes and daily menus for the life she'd planned as a housewife - a far cry from the single, working mother she became.

For 18 years, my mom worked long hours and spent her free time with me. No dates. No hobbies. No "me" time. Yet she looks back on those years and says, "You were a joy to raise". I feel the same way about my kids.

I am honored to be living my mother's dream and I am very proud of the craft business she started this year. She taught me to love and now she's teaching me about life's seasons. Here's a photo from her first show:

A few weeks ago J asked me what I wanted for my birthday. It came as a surprise because (1) I had forgotten my birthday was approaching, and (2) I had trouble thinking of something to ask for. Drew said he wanted to throw me a BIG party. Jazzy wanted to buy me a candy bar!

In the end I decided to treat myself to lunch and a trip to the library by myself. My mom gave me a book and the kids made cards. J is likely out buying my gift at this moment and I could not ask for anything more. Every breath I take is a gift from the Lord. Every moment spent with my husband, kids and family is more than I deserve. I am learning "the secret of being content". (Phillipians 4:12)

This, my friends, is the good life.

Huh???

2007-11-07T12:00:00.000-06:00

Girl Gets Detention for Hugging Friend

Grade School Bans Tag

All I can say is - ridiculous!

Catching up...

2007-11-05T05:30:00.000-06:00

Here's what we've been up to:

My aunt loaned us the movie Searching for Bobby Fisher. Now we're teaching ourselves to play chess.

She also loaned us the movie Facing the Giants. There were a few moments of bad acting, but the movie had a wholesome, inspiring story line, and we all enjoyed it.

Speaking of football, we had our last football game Saturday. Flag football has been a character boot camp for our family, and I am amazed at how Drew is maturing. Here he is with PaPa and MaMa.

I was wondering whether or not we should celebrate Halloween this year for two reasons.

1. I didn't want to spend money on costumes.

2. The kids don't like knocking on strangers' doors after dark, no matter how much candy they get. Last year as we were leaving the house, Jazzy said, "Mom, are they going to kill us?" By the time we got to the 5th or 6th house, I was practically dragging them to the door as they cried, "No, mom. We want to go home." So much for eating Drew's peanut candy...

I'd been thinking about all this, when J decided our family won't do Halloween for spiritual reasons. So I made a big pot of chili, and we ate frito pie and s'mores, watched a movie and camped out in the living room. The kids decided that was more fun than going out, and as Drew said, "all that candy can make you get cavities in your teeth." They want to camp out again for Christmas.

Zay missed the whole "camp out" theme and seemed to think we'd built an obstacle course in the living room. He loved climbing back and forth over Jazzy.

A few weeks ago, I took Jazzy to my old stylist to get her hair straightened and have her ends trimmed.

She tried really hard not to cry so on the way home we stopped for ice cream. She got ice cream in her hair, so there went the straight look. But it was fun to see how long her hair is.

This weekend Jazzy got her first pair of boots. I didn't remember she needed church shoes until the shoe stores were closed, so I picked these up from Target. So cute!

She is turning into quite the little lady, with her painted toenails and lip cloth (gloss). She loves wearing the headbands her grandma makes and sells.

When Jazzy told me a while back that she wanted to be a boy, we assumed she was around boys too much. We signed her up for ballet and bought her girly nightgowns and toe nail polish. It never occurred to us to dress her in boy clothes, start calling her Johnny and take her to gender reassignment therapy. I think we made the right decision. ;)

Katie has been taking her daughters out for tea, and that sounds like fun so that's next on my list. I want my daughter to ENJOY being a woman. Oprah isn't the only one with an agenda. I'm just glad mine is rooted in TRUTH!

On Television...

2007-11-05T05:00:00.000-06:00

"Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world-the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does-comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever." 1 John 2:15-17

It seems the more I seek the Lord, the more I find myself being called away from things of the world. I wish I always responded with cheerful obedience, but I'll admit I often go kicking and screaming, "Please, Lord. Not that. Not something else that will make me look like a weirdo."

Oprah was the first to go. I have long been a fan of Oprah and once flew to Chicago to attend a taping. But over the years it seems she has developed an agenda - and it's not family friendly. I've been checking her show's lineup for fear of missing her interview with the Duggars. But after finding shows that advocate divorce, open marriage, homosexuality and transgender, and even watching a show in which she glorified polygamy, it has become clear that not even the Duggars can redeem Oprah.

Next to go - TV dramas. I find the characters on Grey's anatomy extremely annoying, but J likes the show and I get caught up in the storyline. However, I've recently been disgusted by the show's portrayal of casual sex, adultery and divorce. I found myself wondering, "If it is not okay to do these things, why is it okay to watch them being done?

As I was pondering the above, I came across the following link on Candy's blog.

What's Behind the Wall?

Now Tracy's opinion is very strongly worded, but that's just a personal preference. I tend to like people who are either hot or cold, even if they think I'm sinning. I don't agree with all of her thoughts on "hellivision." (Sorry, I also like inflammatory language.) But I do think she makes a great case for severely limiting or eliminating TV.

I find it interesting that she mentions "panic attacks". While I am not sure they are "caused by spirits", I have long wondered if our daily dose of murder and mayhem (in the form of nightly news) is a contributor to the anxiety and depression many Americans experience.

I've also wondered how our fascination with Hollywood (or "unholywood") contributes to our mental state. Were we really meant to become engrossed in the lives and problems of fictitious characters, reality show stars and celebrities? It is astonishing how much of our day to day conversations are centered around made-up story lines and people we don't even know.

Please understand that I do not believe watching television is inherently sinful. Drew and J are watching football as I type. Yet even something as harmless as sports comes with a price. Last week Drew said, "When I turn 8, can I have a bud light?" Do you see how the commercials are training his appetites? How long will it be before he notices the cheerleaders' short skirts?

Commercialism (the cravings of the sinful man)... Sex and violence (the lusts of the flesh)... materialism (the boasting of what he has and does)... TV seems to show the worst of what the world has to offer, yet we love it so.

"The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever."

Before you turn on the tube, consider the cost. Immorality aside, can we find no better way to spend time?

School days...

2007-11-04T06:00:00.000-06:00

A few pics...

Here we are at Homeschool Day at the local roller rink.

We read The Story About Ping, and some non fiction books about birds and ducks. We also read The Fire Keepers Son and The Seven Chinese Brothers and took a trip to the fire station to see a presentation about safety.

Next, we'll read A Grain of Rice and a book about China.

Last week we went on a safari at a local wildlife ranch. They had a sloth, a monkey, a capybara, a longhorn, kagaroos, lemurs, deer, camels, zebras, horses, and water buffalo. I try to remember to call things by their real names. So instead of saying, "Look at the baby kangaroo," I say, "Look at the Joey!" It helps the kids' vocabulary.

Here's Drew petting a miniature horse.

Here's Jazzy seeking protection from a dog.

Here she is petting the dog.

The kids went on a train ride around the wildlife park. I rode in the bed of the truck that pulled the train. It was so cold out there!!!

The safari wagons had buckets of food on either side so you could pet the animals when they came up to eat. I had to make sure no animal germs got on my little Joey! I kept saying stuff like, "Don't touch the baby with animal hands." We did lots of hand washing and used antibacterial gel.

I'm so glad we didn't plan on eating lunch at the park. I was shocked to see people eat on tables animals had crawled on. There was animal poop all over the ground, so when we got home I made the kids leave their shoes in the garage. Drew reminded me that I'm supposed to be learning to like animals. I'm trying, but it's gonna take some time!

Drew seems to learn as much or even more on our breaks from formal lessons than he does when we do book work daily. I think this has to do with Katie's "window theory".

I have a foster mom friend who puts her foster kids in every therapy possible. She had some girls in OT a couple times a week and also worked with them extensively in the between times. Each time she would tell me that she did ABC or XYZ with her child and finally after blank number of months the child “got it” I’d say “But how do you know she would not have gotten it anyway?” I am a subscriber to the “window theory”. When it is time for a child to comprehend something all of a sudden that window will open and they get it. Just like you can’t teach a 3yo algebra. Sure you could spend 12 years feeding him the information but until it is time he just can’t do the work.

I've had similar thoughts about all the 2 and 3 year olds in speech therapy, but that's a whole 'nother post.

When Drew was in preschool, his teachers were very concerned about his handwriting, even suggesting I take him to handwriting therapy at the ripe old age of four! I felt he just needed more time to develop. For the most part we have NOT worked on it over the past few years. Now it's seemed to just click.

When I pay attention to my son's cues instead of following someone else's idea of what he should be doing, everything goes smoothly. Learning doesn't have to be a chore.

We started our phonics workbooks last week and Drew did 28 language lessons and 22 phonics lessons in 4 days. Since he is already reading well, the phonics exercises are just reinforcement and they are fun for him.

I am going to try the same thing with math - teaching naturally throughout the day and letting him do book work at his own pace, instead of sitting down to a daily math lesson. It will take a bit of work on my part to stay aware of opportunities to teach certain concepts, but I think it will be fun for both of us. I'm going to experiment a little until I find something that works. First born children make great Guinea Pigs.

Whole Wheat Pancakes...

2007-11-03T14:00:00.000-06:00

I got this recipe from the WS.

1 large egg
1 C white whole wheat flour
1 C kefir or buttermilk
1 T pure maple syrup
3 T canola oil, melted butter or olive oil
1 T baking powder
1/4 t salt

Beat egg. Combine all ingredients. Heat gridle or electric skillet to about 375 and grease well. Ladle batter on pan and flip when the edges are cooked. Cook until golden brown.

I usually make double the recipe and freeze the leftovers, putting a piece of wax paper in between so they don't stick together.

Weighing In...

2007-11-03T13:00:00.000-06:00

There's good news and there's bad news.

The bad news is that I still have 18 pounds to lose. (Hopefully within the next two months!)

The good news is that I have really toned up and even dropped a size. Here's how...

J and I were planning to run the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day, but we haven't had time to train. For the last month, twice a week I've joined my friend E at Baby Boot Camp where we workout while pushing our babies in strollers.

On the first day, as we power walked to a shaded area by the park, Andrea (our perky, little instructor) says, "Have you been working out?" and I say "yes" thinking, "Look, lady. I got this." Then she smiles and says, "Jump up on this ledge with both feet 20 times, then do some squats." Only by sheer determination to save face did I keep going until the end of the class.

Andrea, skinny little tyrant that she is, said we'll be outside as long as it's sunny, so I bought Zay a stroller cover for chilly autumn mornings. He wails every single time the stroller stops moving which really stinks, I mean, makes for a great work out.

Here are the kids all bundled up. I let them ride their scooters so they can keep up with the class. Drew always ends up diving head first off his scooter when we go down the hills. I inevitably end up carrying Jazzy's scooter by the end of class... as I push the stroller... uphill.

I've also been experimenting with whole wheat flour. So far I've made banana muffins and zucchini bread using half whole wheat white flour and half all purpose flour. Both came out good. I've also made pancakes using kefir and whole wheat flour and and switched to whole wheat flour tortillas. The tortillas will take some getting used to.

One other thing that has been great for us healthwise is the Vitamix. A few weeks ago I made an Incredible Hulk smoothie - 3 cups of grapes and lots of fresh spinach. It actually tasted sweet and after a few threats, I mean, a little encouragement, the kids drank it.

So far, our favorite drink to make in the Vitamix is limeade. Three cups of grapes, ice and a thin slice of lime (rind and all). I am not lying when I tell you it tastes better than the ones from Sonic and it contains absolutely no sugar! J teased me about calling it refreshing until I made him one.

This month I'm going to try to jump start the weight loss by going to spin class at 5:30 AM, three mornings a week. I went last Monday and my backside was sore for 3 days. The price we pay for beauty...

Are homeschoolers accountable to the state???

2007-10-31T14:19:00.000-06:00

When people find out I am homeschooling, they always ask questions about state mandated testing, reporting, curriculum and oversight as if I cannot be trusted to do what's best for my child and I surely need Big Brother's supervision.

Considering a recent report that 1 in 10 Schools are 'Dropout Factories', I am puzzled by the notion that homeschooling parents need state supervision. Since we do a better job educating children, perhaps we should be supervising the state. Isn't that how it's supposed to work anyway?

Here are a few stats from Considering Homeschooling (who also offers a free DVD about Christian home education):

-By grade eight, the average homeschooled student performs four grade levels above public and private school students.

-Home educated students test scores remained between the 80th and 90th percentiles (outscoring both public and private school students), whether their mothers had a college degree or did not complete high school (and even without the red tape, I mean, teaching certificates).

But to answer the question... I am not required to request permission from, report to, use curriculum provided by or submit testing by the state of Texas in order to homeschool. This is as it should be. My minor children are mine and my husbands. They are not wards of the state.

Homeschooling is legal in every state in the US, but homeschooling laws vary from state to state. To find out the legal requirements in your state, visit the Home School Legal Defense Association. Here is a great letter from HSLDA detailing why there is no need for government oversight of homeschoolers.

But what do we do about parents who don't properly educate?

I ask you - what do we do about schools who don't properly educate? Do we fire bad teachers (or just shuffle them around)? Do we close the schools? Do we - gasp - let parents send their children elsewhere?

Another question - what about parents who don't feed their children proper diets? Nutrition is important for mental and physical development, and overweight children are at risk for hypertension, diabetes and other-life threatening conditions.

Should the state tell us what to feed our children and provide lists of approved vendors? Should we have quarterly weigh ins and submit food diaries to the appropriate authorities? Should we certify parents in proper nutrition or require them to report to one who has been certified? (OT - You'd be shocked at how the government develops its ever-changing food pyramid. Here's a hint... follow the money.)

I am not trying to make light of childhood obesity. It is a sad and serious problem. But just as the government does not have the right to make decisions about how parents feed their children, they should not have the right to make decisions about how parents educate their children.

If the government decides I'm not properly educating my son, should I be required to send him to one of their "dropout factories"?

I think government schools have enough to worry about without attempting to usurp the rights of loving parents who have voluntarily taken responsibility for their children's education.

I'll post later on why I don't believe in standardized testing...

She's on a roll...

2007-10-31T08:00:00.000-06:00

Camilla has had some awesome posts lately and I want to make sure you have a chance to read them. I do not agree with everything Camilla says. Some things that are right for her family are wrong for mine. Some things that are wrong for her family are right for mine.

Don't look at each instance of what she has declared is right and wrong, look to the overarching principles in her posts. Seek the Lord and ask Him to show you what needs changing in your children's lives. Then ask Him to help you actually do it.

Here is a post about our children's appetites. Most of my children's negative appetites are the result of my sinful desires and laziness.

Here's another about being willing to pay the price for our children. Ladies, you MUST be willing to do the hard work of parenting. There are no shortcuts.

I also like this one about brainwashing our children. I sure don't want my children to have dirty brains!

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this...

2007-10-30T10:48:00.000-06:00

to look after orphan and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 2:27

I have always said that I'm neither a Democrat nor a Republican, but I cannot imagine ever again voting for a pro-choice presidential candidate. Jess, from Making Home, has two great posts on the subject of abortion.

The Horror of Abortion: and what we can DO about it...

A Glimpse of the Future: Abortion Museums

I have a friend who faced two pregnancies while in less than desireable circumstances, and despite being pressured to do otherwise - she chose life! She is a true hero in my opinion.

I also want to tell you about another blog I'm adding to the favorites I check daily. Rene is a true believer who has greatly encouraged me in my walk with the Lord. She shares stories about her beautiful family and speaks openly about adoption on her blog Steppin Heavenward.

I don't want to hear any negative remarks about white families adopting black babies. If you are so concerned about these children, why haven't you adopted?

The Good Life...

2007-10-27T05:30:00.000-06:00

I overheard the song, The Good Life by hip hop artist Kanye West. I looked up the lyrics and they are not worth posting, but in Kanye's opinion happiness is about fame, travel, expensive cars, women, money and alcohol. Sorry... I just don't buy it. I doubt Kanye is truly joyful and at peace.

The media props up celebrity and wants us to think that is the road to happiness. Fit bodies, casual sex, designer clothes and mansions. But have you read anything about Britney Spears lately? How about Lindsey Lohan? Remember what celebrity did to Michael Jackson? Fame and fortune can't buy happiness.

The world says our kids will be happy if we give them expensive gadgets and freedom to be with their friends. But despite the cell phones, ipods, video games and peer obsession; eating disorders, sexual deviancy, depression, cutting are on the rise. Our children are crying out to us in pain.

The experts will tell you the key to being a great wife and mother is to pursue a career, "me" time, divorce, open marriage or lesbian relationship. They say, "your children will be happy knowing you are fulfilled." But children don't care about whether or not our needs are met, they care that we are joyfully meeting their needs. You don't need "me" time to do that. And you certainly don't need a divorce. Divorce is like death to a child.

Ten years ago I thought I wanted to become a lawyer. I thought I wanted money, a career, respect and admiration. I thought I wanted to be known. But the Lord tucked me away in the suburbs and gave me a husband and three lambs to tend.

Then I thought I wanted a writing career, outside commitments and "me" time. But God said all you need is ME.

I'm so glad the Lord gave me what I never knew I wanted. I spend my days reading stories, wiping bottoms and cleaning up spills. I am known only by the ones who matter, and I have never been so content. I have never been more at peace.

My husband, my children, my home - that's my good life. Yours may not look like mine.

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well." Mathew 6:33

Don't seek things - seek His kingdom.

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. The you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his GOOD, PLEASING and PERFECT will. Romans 12:2 (emphasis mine)

Turn the TV off, put the magazines down, stop listening to the experts and seek Him. What could be better than His perfect will? THAT's the good life.

If you don't leave broke...

2007-10-27T05:00:00.000-06:00

and you don't have a tummy ache - You didn't have fun!

A few weeks ago, J took us to the State Fair.

Every year for the past 10 years, I've gone with my friends and we've encountered the same thing. We'd walk through the exhibit halls and the salesmen would try to avoid showing us their products. I assumed it was a black thing, but this year I had J with me and the same distributors were falling all over themselves to get us to their booths. I guess they were waiting on the guy with the wallet!

We went to the Vitamix demo and it was also the same as previous years. The salesman put strawberries in the machine - with the leaves still on them. He put an apple in - core and all. He made soup. He made ice cream. He made salsa. Only one thing was different since J with us - we bought one!!!

I guess those salesmen know what they're doing...

Here we are stuffing our faces.

Jazzy spilled her drink so a lady sitting near us gave her this stuffed animal.

I can't believe how much it costs for two kids to ride a few rides. No wonder they make you buy tickets... you don't realize how much money you're spending.

Can we go home yet?

Life-threatening Food Allergies...

2007-10-25T18:51:00.000-06:00

Drew has a life-threatening peanut allergy. In the name of education, I want to share this story about a 13 year old girl who died from an allergic reaction.

Here's a quote from the article that expresses what I want people to understand:

Kids who grow up with the allergies and understand how deadly they can be — mere skin contact with peanut dust or residue can cause outbreaks of hives — have to be constantly aware of the danger. One teenage girl died after kissing her boyfriend, who had just eaten peanuts.

“You may not know how much trace peanut oil is in other food,” said Snyderman. “You have to read labels carefully. You have to ask. Just transferring one knife from a chocolate cake to another slice — that can kill a child.”

I don't know why people (including friends and family members) choose not to understand that trace amounts of peanut protein could kill my son.

The Dangers of Drugging Children...

2007-10-21T07:00:00.000-06:00

I happened to catch the following show on 60 minutes a few weeks ago:

On Dec. 13, 2006, police responded to a 911 call and found a little girl lying dead on the floor next to her parents' bed. The autopsy revealed that she had died from an overdose of psychiatric drugs. Rebecca Riley was being treated for bipolar disorder, or manic depression, even though she was just four years old. If that sounds unusual to you, it's not.

As Katie Couric reports, until recently the disorder was believed to emerge only in adults. Now, it is estimated that there are nearly one million children diagnosed as bipolar, making it more common than autism and diabetes combined. And to treat it, doctors are administering some medications that have yet to be approved for children. In the case of Rebecca Riley, that cocktail of medications proved fatal and now her parents have been charged with her murder. Here's a transcript of a 60 minutes show with Katie Couric about overdiagnosis of bipolar disorder in children. It features an interview with a mother who is currently awaiting trial after her 5 year old daughter died from a combination of drugs used to treat bipolar adults.

Go here to see the transcript.

I do believe the mother over mediated her child, but why were these powerful drugs in her hands, and prescribed for a 5 year old, no less? If you watch the video, pay close attention to the the checklist they use to diagnose children with bipolar disorder. Things like "mood swings" and "craves sweets..." What 2 year old doesn't fit the criteria?

Here's another article from the LA times that I heard about on a local radio station:

Bipolar Disorder in Youths May be Over-diagnosed

A new study says a fortyfold increase can be partly attributed to doctors mislabeling children and teens with the illness.

By Denise Gellene, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer September 4, 2007

The diagnosis of bipolar disorder in children and adolescents has risen fortyfold since 1994, according to a study released Monday. But researchers partly attributed the dramatic rise to doctors over-diagnosing the serious psychiatric disorder.

The report in the journal Archives of General Psychiatry said bipolar disorder was found in 1,003 of every 100,000 office visits from children and adolescents in 2002-03, compared with 25 of 100,000 office visits in 1994-95.

The diagnosis of bipolar disorder among adults increased twofold during the same period, researchers said.

The study didn't investigate the reasons for the sudden rise in bipolar cases among children and adolescents. A book published in 2000, "The Bipolar Child," made the controversial assertion that one-third to one-half of children with depression had bipolar disorder.

Dr. Mark Olfson, a psychiatrist at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons and senior author of the latest study, said part of the increase was attributable to an under-diagnosis of bipolar disorder in the past.

But Olfson said another reason was the mislabeling of children and adolescents with aggressive or irritable behaviors as bipolar, an illness that is treated with powerful psychotropic medications, many of which have not been tested in children.

Dr. Thomas R. Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health, which funded the study, called the increase in bipolar diagnoses worrisome.

"The way the label is being used is probably a little exuberant -- not fitting with the strict definition of the illness," Insel said. The disorder "is probably not as common as the very high rates we're seeing."

Read the article in its entirety here.

I find it sad what we are doing to children in the name of early intervention and treatment. The same psychiatrists who have sold us on their faulty, humanistic parenting methods are now lining their pockets and those of the pharmaceutical companies by convincing us to drug our children. Again I say it's nothing short of child abuse.

Another reason I homeschool...

2007-10-18T14:05:00.000-06:00

Middle School to Offer Contraceptives

I find it shocking that school officials think it's okay to give birth control to 11 year olds. And I find it horrifying that they would do so without informing the child's parents.

Education and decisions pertaining to sexual matters should rest solely with parents. By now it should be obvious that the school's version of sex-ed just isn't working.

If the above article isn't enough to justify homeschooling, here are an additional 101 Reasons...

Re: Your comments on socialization...

2007-10-18T14:00:00.000-06:00

I want to thank all of you who have sent me encouraging e-mails and also respond to some of the comments on socialization.

Comment: I don't have children yet But my husband and I don't like the idea of homeschooling. However when we have children we intend to look at private and public schools that offer a better education. We both attended public school that are terrible (I wenbt to IPS) Honestly socialization isn't the issue for us. They certainly can get that socialization.

My issue is: what about those that get culture shocked after turning 18. I've had friends that were homeschooled that went through a kind of "preacher's kid syndrome" for lack of a better term. Others simply experience a kind of culture shock.

But what probably concerns me the most is how do they learn to be upright witnesses for Christ when they go in the world which is much bigger than they thought? Many christians I met before becoming one didn't know how to talk to non-christians at all.how do handle this?

Response: Some of us are no longer shocked by the wrong we see in our culture because we've been immersed in it, grown accustomed to it and, in some cases, view it as normal.

"They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity with a continual lust for more." Ephesians 4:18-19

I don't want my children to lose their sensitivity. I want them to be shocked by what they see in our culture.

Children learn to be upright witnesses for Christ by ministering together with their parents. My husand and I interact with nonbelievers on a regular basis and our children will learn from us.

I do not agree with the premise that we are to send our children into the schools to be "salt and light" and I will post more on that later. In my years as a public school student I saw more Christians being influenced by the culture than I saw influencing the culture.

I attended Christian school during my elementary years. It was there that I experienced racism, heard filthy jokes and got the scoop on all the movies my mother wouldn't let me watch.

Comment: I was home schooled for a big chunk of my life and while I did like it I have had major problems since going onto university.

I can talk to 'adults' fine, it's people my own age (20-ish) I just can't seem to mix with at all. Being polite is one thing, being able to let your guard down and interact on a social level is totally different.I have had to work so hard, through many struggles and tears to be able to talk to people my own age. I still have no really close friend and I wonder if any guy will want to get to know me.

I think it's okay to homeschool as long as they have a few outside stimulation. Visiting cousins who are similar ages, having a church with a number of young people, maybe a sports team or dance class. We are called to be in the world but not of it; Not isolated completely from the world.I know for some people it works out fine, but socialization can be a legitimate question.

Response: I am sorry you are struggling, but I wonder about the types of people you have encountered. If you are a Christian, it does not surprise me that you aren't fully at ease in a university setting. I am not suggesting that you should not attend college, but I understand why it could be a struggle.

"For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliver?" 2 Corinthians 6:14-15

That being said, my children do some of the things you suggest while under my supervision. I want to shelter my children, not isolate them. I do think isolation can be harmful.

Oriental Meatballs...

2007-10-16T15:00:00.000-06:00

Tonight we're having Oriental Meatballs using meatballs I made and froze last month.

Here's the meatball recipe from Taste of Home's Quick Cooking magazine:

4 eggs
2 cups dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
4 pounds lean ground beef

In a large bowl, beat eggs. Add the next five ingredients. Add beef; mix well. Shape into 1 inch balls, about 12 dozen. Place in single layers in ungreased 15 x 10 x 1 inch baking pans. Bake at 400 for 10-15 minutes until no longer pink, turning often; drain. Cool. Pace about 30 meatballs each into freezer containers. May be frozen for up to 3 months.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

1 can (20 ounces) pineapple chunks
1/3 cup water
3 tablespoons vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 batch of 30 meatballs
1 large green pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces

Hot cooked rice

Drain pineapple, reserving juice. Set pineapple aside. Add water to juice if needed to measure 1 cup; pour into a large skillet. Add 1/3 cup water, vinegar, soy sauce brown sugar and cornstarch. Stir until smooth. Cook over medium heat until thick, stirring constantly. Add pineapple, meatballs and green pepper. (I usually add red bell pepper as well.) Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes or until heated through. Serve over rice.

You can also add these meatballs to spaghetti sauce, or toss them with barbeque sauce and make meatball sandwiches.

Pressing On!!!

2007-10-12T07:00:00.000-06:00

Awesome and inspiring post on Camilla's blog about priorities and Pressing On.

I also added another blog to the favorites I check daily. Jess speaks eloquently on a number of social and political topics on her blog Making Home. She most recently touched on one of my main pet peeves.

They're animals, folks - not babies!

Everybody knows Roy G Biv...

2007-10-12T05:30:00.000-06:00

Red - Orange - Yellow - Green - Blue - Indigo - Violet

Last week we read All the Colors of the Rainbow, and did projects related to light and color.

We made rainbows with a prism.

We mixed paint colors.

Here are the kids painting a house Drew made from an old box. We're planning to make some clothespin people and furniture to go with it.

We cut construction paper into squares and made a mosaic rainbow picture. Drew even added a picture of Roy G Biv.

This week we made tree and leaf rubbings. We read the book Trees by Andrew Langley, and looked at different leaves, flowers and branches we collected.

We read the section on birds in The Usborne Complete First Book of Nature and hung out a bird feeder that Drew and his dad built a few months ago. I bought the bird feeder on sale at For Small Hands. Today we'll do a craft using art feathers. This afternoon we're going to The State Fair!

We've finished the story of Joseph and right now we are reading the story of Job in the Bible. Our read-aloud for this week was A Hive of Busy Bees. It is a collection of wholesome, character-building stories, and we are really enjoying it. Over the next couple of weeks, we'll study China, ducks and fire. You'll have to wait to see how they're all related. :)

A fast and a new recipe...

2007-10-12T05:25:00.000-06:00

J went on a 10 day fast called the Daniel Fast. I was supposed to support him by eating a whole foods diet, but after that first morning I felt sick as a dog and rushed off to Burger King for a Whopper Jr., fries and Coke, lol.

Even though I failed miserably, the experience was wonderful for our family. As a result of the fast, I prayed daily for my husband's success, gave my children more fruits and veggies, and tried new whole foods products. Who knew the kids would love organic brown rice cakes w/honey? I am so thankful for my husband's godly leadership!

Anyway, here's Tam's famous Crockpot Granola recipe. I made some Wednesday, and we're having it for breakfast this morning.

5 cups of oats (not quick cooking)
1/2 cup of oil
1/2 cup of honey
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup coconut

Cook on low for 5 hours or until brown, stiring occasionally. The more you stir, the finer the consistency. ***Make sure you keep the cover cracked on the crockpot.***

You can serve it with milk, yogurt, fruit, etc. I usually sprinkle a few chocolate chips on mine. You can also make granola bars.

Granola Bars

Preheat oven to 350. Combine 2 beaten eggs wih 2 cups of crockpot granola. You can also add dried fruit and nuts (or some chocolate chips) in the 2 cup count.

Place in lightly greased 8x8 pan. Bake for 15 minutes. Cut into bars. Cool.

What about socialization?

2007-10-12T05:20:00.000-06:00

This is one of the first questions people ask about homeschooling, and I'll be honest enough to admit it was one of my major concerns. The question can have many meanings.

How will your child learn to stand in line, raise his hand before speaking, take turns, etc.?

My child will learn any skills useful for living as we spend our days together.

I don't raise my hand before speaking in the course of daily life, and I don't consider it a useful skill. So while my children may never perfect the art of waving their hands around shouting "me, me - pick me," they will know how to let others finish before speaking, greet others politely, etc. They will learn those skills by watching me and having me there to coach them in their day to day interactions.

As for standing in line, we do it weekly at the grocery store. The problem my kids have when in line with other children is that they don't run, push and shove to get in the front. They usually end up at the back, perfectly content, assuming every one will get a turn. I'm usually the one standing there fighting the urge to say, "hurry, hurry - get up front" or "don't let him cut in front of you." :)

How will your child learn to handle bullies?

I don't think children who are bullied learn to handle bullies. I think children who are bullied learn to tolerate being bullied. And those who can't tolerate it suffer terribly, sometimes hurting themselves or others (as we saw in the Columbine killings).

Further, I don't think learning to handle bullies is a useful skill. I have not had a group of girls threaten to beat me up since high school. I have not been in a physical altercation (I was in at least 4 and even won a couple, thankyouverymuch) since high school. I have not been groped or sexually harassed since - you guessed it - high school.

As an adult I have to deal with difficult people, but if I find someone extremely unpleasant, I can choose not to be around him or her. Not once have I been forced to endure daily taunting, ridicule or physical assault or interact with those who would engage in such behavior. And the bullying I encountered in school did not teach me appropriate ways to handle difficult people. It taught me to be hard hearted and quick tempered, and to always walk around with a slightly mean look on my face.

How will your child learn to be around people that are different than he is?

Public school students spend their days in a room with thirty or so children who are their same age, socioeconomic status and, more often than not, race. These children quickly learn that older kids do not play with younger kids, girls don't play with boys, rich kids don't play with kids who shop at Target, skinny kids don't play with fat kids, and so on.

These children also learn to adjust their mannerisms and behaviors to mimic those of their classmates, and to torment those who don't fall in line. School does not teach children to appreciate diversity. It teaches conformity and pecking order.

As an adult I do not sit in a room full of other thirty year olds, taunting the person next to me because she has a big nose and wears glasses. I don't want my children on the giving or receiving end of that unsocial behavior.

In the course of a week, my oldest may visit my grandma and her roommate in the nursing home, chat with a grocery store clerk or librarian, practice flag football with his age mates and entertain his younger sister and a friend. We go on outings and read stories from other cultures as well as those from our own culture. This is how he learns to appreciate diversity.

How will your child make friends/learn to be a good friend?

This is an area where I still doubt myself at times. And every time the Lord brings me back to the truth, most recently in the form of a book which is not even about homeschooling, called Hold On to Your Kids. It is a difficult read, but worth it if you can get past the pyschobabble and faulty discipline advice. Chapters 14, 15 and 17 are especially worth reading.

The premise of Hold On to Your Kids is that early peer relationships are HARMFUL to children and are the cause of disrespect, rebellion, bullying, victimization and many other undesirable behaviors. The authors, Gordon Neufeld and Gabor Mate, contend that children do not need to build relationships with other children, they need relationships with loving adults.

The book confirmed everything my aunt and Elizabeth from Raising Godly Tomatoes have been teaching me about sheltering and the dangers of peer orientation. Since my family cut back on play dates and age-segregated activities, my oldest is more confident, content and creative, and much better behaved.

How will your child learn good social skills?

I've rambled on enough, so I leave you with this quote from Dr. Raymond Moore:

"So how would you feel if local laws required that you bring your pup to the bus stop each day to join other dogs in a yellow cage that wheels down the road to the kennel or pound for socializing exercises? You know for sure that association with the pack is the fastest way to destroy any obedience training *you* have planned.

Does anyone who knows children believe that the yellow school bus takes children down the road to a constructive, positive sense of society? Or returns them in the afternoon or evening more loving creatures than when they left in the morning?"-Dr. Raymond Moore, The Successful Homeschool Family Handbook

As a man thinketh...

2007-10-08T19:00:00.000-06:00

Lately I've been asking the Lord for wisdom to raise my oldest. I remember telling J we only have 11 years to get Drew ready for the world and I feared the sharks would eat him alive. The Lord answered my prayers during a seminar we attended last night in which Dr. Robert Rohm explained the DISC personality types.

D's are dominant, and want to lead and be productive. (Let's get the job done!)

I's are inspiring, entertaining and talkative. (Are we having fun yet?)

S's are supportive, sensitive and focused on relationships. (Can't we all just get along?)

C's are cautious, analytical and detail oriented. (Cross your T's, dot your I's and mind your P's & Q's.)

J is cautious. You should have seen his eyes light up when he saw the words "quality" and "excellence" associated with his trait. His secondary trait is dominant. I'm split between dominant and supportive (which is a rare combination), but I'm mostly dominant (come on... my pseudonym is "Queen").

Jazzy is dominant and easy to parent because J and I "get" her. I always say she learned to talk early so she could boss us around.

Drew... Well, Drew thankfully isn't like us. But, I've been viewing his supportive personality exactly the way Dr. Rohm suggests I would view it. And in trying to motivate Drew to change traits I view as weaknesses, I have done several things Dr. Rohm says will de-motivate him. I am producing the opposite of what I want for my son.

The Bible says "Death and life are in the power of the tongue..." (Proverbs 18:21), and Dr. Rohm says we need to be careful to speak life, not death over our children. A few weeks ago I sought counsel from my aunt regarding my concerns and she said the same thing in a different way. Our children sense our thoughts about them. Our thoughts become their thoughts, and "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he..." (Proverbs 23:7). We must be mindful of our words and thoughts about our children.

Dr. Rohm touched on something else that has been on my heart lately. He said around 80% of school teachers are cautious or supportive and will tend to think there's something wrong with the dominant's who tend towards defiance and the inspiring's who can be overly energetic/distracted. He said one practitioner told him that out of 100 dominant's and inspiring's that were referred to her for treatment, only 3 had true disorders.

This is another reason I am against the trend toward labeling/medicating children. If we medicate all the boys who are stubborn as mules, can't sit still and live life on the edge - who will be our entrepreneurs, fire fighters and navy seals? Who will fight our nation's wars? We aren't all wired to be paper pushers and bean counters. Leave these kids alone! Or better yet, find a way to bottle that energy and sell it to me!!!

Anyway, back on topic, I encourage you to look at Dr. Rohm's materials to see if they can give you insight into conflicts or concerns you are having with your children.

I saw our family in so much of what Dr. Rohm said in his seminar. Me standing over Drew saying "hurry", which causes him to get flustered and move more slowly. J making plans for our trip and asking repeatedly "Should we stay at hotel x or hotel y?" Which takes me from supportive, "Whatever you choose is fine with me, dear" to dominant, "I couldn't care less where we stay. Just choose already!"

J is going to read this and get frustrated because I used the full name of the traits instead of the initials D, I, S and C. But I'm dominant and this is my blog...

Long live the Queen!

We ditched school today...

2007-10-04T14:45:00.000-06:00

and took archery lessons. Oh wait... that was school!

Drew started the day putting rocks in his pockets. I don't know what it is about boys, sticks and rocks...

The forearm guard.

The arrows.

Ready, aim, shoot! Notice he's not even looking at the right target. We eventually got it together.

Retrieving the arrows.

So much fun!!! Be honest, you wish you were homeschooled, don't you?

When we got out of the car this morning, Drew said, "Where are all the brown people?" I told him there weren't many of us homeschooling, but I was doing some recruiting, lol.

I am long past caring about whether someone thinks homeschooling is "for white people". (Don't bother denying it - I know some of you have said it!) In the near future I'll post about why homeschooling is a GREAT choice for African-Americans. I'll also post some links for those who are on the brink of diving in. I'm not mentioning any names, Ms. M.

One thing I love about homeschooling...

2007-10-01T16:00:00.000-06:00

is we can take trips whenever we wish!

We spent last week in San Antonio learning about caves and sea animals.

Before leaving, we read the book Dolphin Adventure. Drew read us Amazing Dolphins, Amazing Sharks and Baby Alligator. I'm learning a bunch!

I have never been in an underground cave before and it was amazing! Here's the natural bridge. The cave entrance is underneath it.

Here we are headed toward the entrance to the cave.

Here we are in the cave. I borrowed J's cap, lest any cave water drip onto my hair.

Here are some pictures of speleothems. There is no way to capture how large this cave is. There's even a river inside it.

I had a million questions for the guide after the tour. I'm sure J was thinking, "here she goes again..." But that's how it is when you're interested in something as opposed to just memorizing information to get a good grade. I remember hearing the word "limestone" in school and I probably filled it in a blank on a test or worksheet, but I had no clue what it was or how it pertained to real life. I was surprised by how closely Drew was listening.

I bought a book about caves from the gift shop. Next week I'm going to read portions of it to the kids and we'll send out some postcards we bought. That's science, handwriting and language arts.

While in SA we hit all our favorite restaurants and ate dinner with a friend I hung out with on a trip to Spain 10 years ago. She has 3 children and is also homeschooling!

No vacation is complete without a medical emergency.

Drew has severe allergies and broke out in a rash. We tried to clear it up by using Benadryl, special soaps and putting a blanket over his pillow, but the morning we were supposed to go to Sea World he woke up with a swollen face and said his throat felt dry. His pediatrician told us to head to the nearest urgent care facility and keep the epipen ready.

After a round of steroids all was well and we were off to Sea World. I have an aversion to touching animals which I am trying to conquer for my children's sake. Here we are feeding dead fish to the dolphins. I even touched the dolphin's head. We used plenty of antibacterial soap afterwards.

And then for our favorite - Shamu!

Here are the kids watching the seals and sea lion.

I had been worried that some of my projects with the kids were too schoolish, but after we got back to the hotel, Andrew grabbed his journal and wrote about dolphins. He drew a picture at the top and looked in the book Amazing Dolphins for information to include. I guess we're doing something right.

This week we're studying light and rainbows. I'll post pictures in a few days. Next week we'll get back to doing some formal book work. It has been a hectic few weeks and I'm so glad my freezer was stocked with homemade biscuits, pancakes, meatballs, chicken strips, ground beef, and breakfast sandwiches and burritos. We've almost emptied it so I'll be restocking and posting recipes over the next few weeks.

My confession...

2007-09-30T14:30:00.000-06:00

We haven't done formal book work in about 3 weeks. This doesn't bother me in the least for several reasons:

1. Drew is reading on a 2nd/3rd grade level and seems to be a natural speller.
2. We started math early and are already ahead of the local public schools.
3. Jazzy knows more than any 3 year old should know.
4. And, most importantly, "Life is school!" Not all learning comes from sitting down with a workbook.

Here's what we've been up to...

We read The Cloud Book by Tomie dePaola, watched clouds and made a cloud book.

We read Down Comes the Rain and Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain, did some experiments on condensation and evaporation, and made a poster about The Water Cycle. I mainly want to expose them to the concepts and relearn them myself so I'll be knowledgeable when the subject comes up. However, I am usually surprised by how much they take in and remember.

We read The Boxcar Children and volunteered at an organization that sends shoes to orphans.

We went to a bicycle safety course and took a ride through Safety Town, a miniature town with real buildings, traffic lights, and even a mock toll booth.

The 1 hour class before the kids went out to ride was incredibly boring (not to mention fear- inducing). Drew stayed quiet and paid attention, but I can't believe we put kids through 12 years of this.

The field trip brought out a few character issues, so went out for ice cream afterwards. It was the perfect time for a mother/son talk. We've been working on the problem for a few weeks and there has been a marked improvement!

What else... We read the Bible and Drew read to me every day. We went to the library a few times to check out books and play with puppets. One day we even took our lunch and ate out front. We went to the local gym a few times to play basketball and soccer. We've also gone swimming and taken bike rides down hills and through tunnels. (We wore our helmets!)

No book work, but lots of Bible, science, social studies, reading and PE. We also drove to San Antonio for Sea World HS Day. I'll post those pics in another entry.

Public Schools, Public Menace

2007-09-28T21:40:00.000-06:00

J is going to clear space on my computer so I can post some pics, but in the meantime I want to tell you about a book I'm reading called Public Schools, Public Menace: How Public Schools Lie to Parents and Betray Our Children. I saw it on the shelf of a local library and since I can't resist an inflammatory title, I brought it home.

The author, Joel Turtel, gives an eye-opening look into the true problems of compulsory, government-controlled schooling and how they can be remedied. He devotes entire chapter to Mind-Altering Drugs in which he discusses the history and dangers of giving psychiatric drugs to children, and exposes the beneficiaries of this practice (which IMHO, is nothing short of abuse). This chapter alone makes the book worth reading.

In the words of Turtel, "A public-school system that coerces parents into giving their children mind-altering drugs that are potentially addictive, dangerous, or even lethal, is a moral abomination. A public-school system in which millions of children have to take Ritalin... is a frightening and embarrassing failure."

Public Schools, Public Menace is another must read for all parents, no matter how they choose to school their children. Next up on my reading list is Home Schooling: The Right Choice! by Christopher Klicka. This book was also recommended by "a certain friend". Stay away from this woman. She is dangerous!

Dumbing Us Down...

2007-09-18T15:00:00.000-06:00

I don't know WHY a certain friend had to get me even more riled up about homeschooling by encouraging me to read Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling. The author of the book, John Taylor Gatto, taught public school for 30 years and was recognized several times as New York State's Teacher of the Year.

So much of Dumbing Us Down rings true, that I cannot even begin to comment on all of Gatto's observations about what schools really teach. Just about every page left me wanting to scream "Yes! Preach on!"

This book ranks up there with my two favorite books on education, How Children Learn and How Children Fail by John Holt. (Holt was also a successful public school teacher if that tells you anything). It also ranks up there with those books my former Class Favorite, Most Friendly, Captain of the Football Team, Mr. GHS, Student Body President, Honor Student husband (no I am not exaggerating) would like to keep from me, lest he have to listen to me rant for days about the ills of public school.

I was once firmly on the path of sending my child to public school, so I don't judge those of you who make that choice. But the three books I've mentioned are "must reads", in my opinion, even if you do send your child to public school. If you are not aware of the downsides of institutionalized learning, how can you counteract those effects?

We've been busy lately and I have not had much time to post, but in the following weeks I hope to talk more about homeschooling laws, standardized testing, pre-school and the dreaded S-word (socialization). I also want to share photos and info on what we've been doing. As always, I welcome your questions on comments and I am as willing as ever to tackle the difficult (or slightly hostile) ones.

Are You Ready for Some Football???

2007-09-15T04:30:00.000-06:00

We're sports loving family and football season is underway. Flag football, that is...

I have a crush on the coach!

Nice handoff!

Last Saturday was our first game. After the first few plays, the quarterback runs off the field and says, "Mom, I'm scared. I don't want those boys to touch me." To which mom in all her gentleness replies, "Get back out there son! Your team needs you! And stop throwing the ball away! Wait until your man is open! Now, let me see a mean face... Meaner... Okay, GO!" Not one of my best parenting moments, but that's where I was a the time.

I am not athletic, but I am competitive. Everything I do must be done to perfection. It is not enough to do my best, I must BE the best. Drew, on the other hand, is naturally strong and atheletic. He can throw the football dead on. He can catch the ball on the move, over his shoulder, with his fingertips. He can outrun all but one player on his team, but he'd rather jog.

In watching Drew play football, I've noticed some areas for development in his character (confidence, assertiveness, courage) and some in mine as well (which I'm sure you don't want to hear about). The good thing is that he isn't on his own to learn these things on the schoolyard and I'm not on my own, blissfully unaware of my faults. We're growing together.

And now for pics of my beautiful ballerina, who is every bit as competitive as her perfectionistic Mommy, and would take on the her brother's football team any day (and likely show them up).

The night before her first lesson, J and the kids were practicing football and he says, "When you run, dig your heels in and push against the ground." I'm like, "Um, honey, that's the opposite of what she's going to learn tomorrow."

Sure enough the next day Jazzy is clomping around the room while her prim and proper teacher says, "don't let me hear you... toe, heel... toe, heel..."

Won't be long before we trade those slippers in for shin guards...

More Football Pics...

2007-09-15T04:20:00.000-06:00

Hey, it's Texas. What more is there to talk about?

The team:

My favorite Raiders:

Our biggest fan:

Our cheerleader:

Now THAT's a mean face:

GO RAIDERS!

My teaching credentials...

2007-09-15T04:00:00.000-06:00

A certain smart alecky home schooling friend has asked how I will teach the upper levels of math. :)

Since my oldest is only 6, I will start with basic addition and subtraction and move from there. By the time he reaches trigonometry and calculus, he will likely learn on his own by looking at examples and solving problems as we did in school (as homework). We're not math phobic, so I think we'll be able to field any questions he may have. I took calculus in high school and tested out of college level math and J has an engineering degree. If we run into something we can't handle, we can always hire a tutor.

But I think the question behind the question of how I will teach certain subjects is, "Are you qualified to teach?" I asked this question myself when I decided to home school, and a friend (who is a public school teacher) told me that the only thing a person needs to become a certified teacher is a college degree and information on teaching, and I have both.

Now here's where it gets really interesting. Research has shown that homeschooled students outscore both public and private school students on standardized tests and by eighth grade perform four grade levels above their peers. This has held true whether or not the teaching parent had a college degree or has even finished high school.

Contrary to what the "experts" would have us believe, college degrees and teaching certificates have no bearing on a person's ability to teach. In fact, I have heard from homeschooling parents who are former public school teachers that some of what they learned in their teaching courses was detrimental to successsful homeschooling.

To answer the question - Am I qualified to teach? Yes!

So far I've taught my son to add, subtract, read and (gasp) socialize. By virtue of being the mother God gave him, I am qualified to teach.

My Daily Bread...

2007-09-15T03:30:00.000-06:00

Still reading a Proverb a day and I hope you'll join me. There's some good stuff in there!

Me? Patient???

2007-09-07T06:02:00.001-06:00

Received the following comment:

I think homeschooling is great for those who have the patience to do it. I am really afraid that I would not be diciplined enough to educate my children at home. We get off task with just the few little preschool lessons I try. I taught public school (6-12 grade) for 13 years and it was easier than teaching my teaching my 3 year old her shapes and colors.

Whenever someone says they don't have the patience to homeschool, I think either:

1. Their kids are disobedient and they don't like being around them, or

2. They are putting pressure on themselves to do too much at too young of an age.

I don't feel it's necessary to do any formal work with a 3 year old. I know there is pressure on mothers to do so, but children are perfectly capable of learning their shapes and colors without "preschool lessons". I only do preschool work with Jazzy because she asks to do school every morning, but even with that I am surprised at what she already knows.

Just enjoy your days with your daughter. Read, play, take walks, go on outings, let her help you around the house and talk to her about what you're doing. One thing I learned from my aunt is to leave interesting things lying around for them to toy with and ask about. We have an old keyboard in the playroom. Usually the kids just play the pre-recorded music and dance around, but yesterday Drew asked me if I wanted to hear "do re mi" and played it on the keyboard. Now I know I need to learn a bit about music so I can show him things when he expresses interest.

My favorite homeschooling book is How Children Learn by John Holt. It is not a Christian book, but it gives wonderful insight into how children absorb information. The companion book How Children Fail is also great and may be of interest to you as a former teacher. Raymond Moore also has some good books on the subject of early learning.

It is amazing how previous generations seemed to learn everything they needed to know without the push for early learning and constant stimulation through bright lights, vibrating chairs, loud music, videos, constant chatter and educational toys that we bombard kids with from birth. It seems they understood children needed a simple, peaceful environment, free time to play and explore, and lots of outside time. It is also amazing that there was no ADD back then and the literacy rates were higher than they are now.

I LOVE reading. I learned to read at age 4 and devoured books from then on. I started reading to Drew before he could even sit up. When he was a toddler I asked my mom a question about reading and she said, "I don't know. We didn't have to read to children so young back then." Now we must read to our babies in utero or they'll be behind, LOL!

So back to the topic of patience - you are probably putting too much pressure on yourself. Other than the fun stuff, only do what your daughter asks to do. If you leave some workbooks around she will probably ask to do them.

Now I must bust the myth that all homeschooling moms are patient. You should have seen me gritting my teeth while Drew was learning to read. It took everything within me to avoid yelling "CAT! C-A-T spells 'cat'. And if it spells 'cat' on page 1 it spells 'cat' on page 2." Poor child. He learned to read in spite of me.

Field Trips...

2007-09-03T06:40:00.001-06:00

Here are the field trips we have planned for this year. A few are with our local home school group and some are on our own. The children seem to get more out of it when we go on our own, but sometimes it's cheaper and easier to go with the group.

Bicycle Safety Course at Fire Safety Town
Sort and Package Shoes for Orphans
Sea World
Wildlife Ranch
Zoo
Archery Lesson
Fire Station
Ice Skating
Bowling
Open Gym at a Local Gymnastics Facility
Symphony
Volunteer at a Homeless Shelter
Roller Skating
2 Plays at a Children's Theater
Pumpkin Patch
Home Depot

For extra curricular activities, this fall Drew is playing flag football, Jazzy is taking ballet and both are in children's choir at church. I usually prefer having only one in an activity at a time, but my aunt's neighbor is teaching ballet so Jazzy will have a chance to go while we're there each week.

In the spring we'll do a few months of swim lessons, then Drew will play baseball.

Jazzyism...

2007-09-03T06:37:00.000-06:00

"If somebody tries to bother me, I'm going to ball up my fist and punch them in the tummyache!"

"J" ism...

2007-09-03T06:34:00.000-06:00

When asked if he'd noticed I lost ten pounds:

"Yep! Your bottom doesn't spread out as wide as before."

My Daily Bread...

2007-09-03T06:00:00.000-06:00

Proverbs 2 and 3

Our homeschooling journey...

2007-09-01T06:50:00.000-06:00

Public school has started again so I thought it would be a great time to post about why we homeschool and answer questions from those who are curious or think we've lost our minds. I'll start by telling how we came to the decision to homeschool.

My aunt is a mother of 12 (yes TWELVE, all from the same body, all by my uncle). She started homeschooling back in the 80's when homeschooling was unheard of. We all used words like "cult" and felt sorry for her poor deprived children who would be lacking in social skills and never make it in the real world.

Now her oldest 5 have left home, and they have not only survived, but thrived. They are confident, responsible, adventurous young adults. Even better, they are strong in faith and have wonderful relationships with their parents and each other.

When Drew was almost 3, we started visiting my aunt weekly. He was in pre-school 2 days per week, and from time to time, my aunt would say things like, "In school there are 12 kids to 1 teacher. The kids are teaching each other. And don't think they're teaching anything good." To these comments I would nod and think, "That's great for you, but I am NOT going to homeschool."

A year before Drew was to start Kindergarten, I decided to research our schooling options - public, private or homeschool. J automatically said he'd pay the $5K for private school if he had to, but homeschooling was out! Around that time, a friend invited me to a seminar about homeschooling. From then on I was hooked.

I read books about homeschooling, attended book fairs and joined a local home school group to check things out. My husband knew a few men at work whose children are homeschooled and one of them gave him a set of CDs about homeschooling. He listened to them, and agreed to try it for a year. Now to tell our loved ones.

Our family supported us wholeheartedly. Our friends with children thought we were crazy and found interesting ways to confront us about our decision. I was most afraid to tell my four friends who are public school teachers. They were my biggest cheerleaders and one of them cried tears of joy upon hearing our decision (which should tell you something).

I started that first year with fear and trembling, but now homeschooling feels like a natural extension of my role as a parent and I can't imagine having made any other decision (though I don't judge those who choose otherwise).

So here's your chance to ask me about homeschooling. No question is off limits and no hard feelings. You can even confront me here without luring us to your house under the guise of serving us dinner. E-mail me or post here in the comments section. Feel free to post anonymously.

My Daily Bread...

2007-09-01T06:00:00.000-06:00

Proverbs 1

My Daily Bread...

2007-08-31T22:17:00.000-06:00

Romans 7

Starting tomorrow I'm going to read through Proverbs - one chapter for each day of the month.

Just because he's cute...

2007-08-31T06:00:00.000-06:00

Hey Mom, want a ride?

A little playpen time, which lasted all of 5 minutes.

Oh yeah, he's pulling up and cruising!

Everyone knows the first day of school is exhausting. And who can resist falling asleep in Grandma's lap?

Should we invest in Suzuki music lessons?

Weighing In...

2007-08-31T05:55:00.000-06:00

Ugh! I didn't lose any weight this week.

I did meet my goal of exercising 5 days so I think I may have hit a plateau.

J and I are going to start training for a 5 K next week so maybe that will get me back on track. We'll run the race Thanksgiving morning and then come home and eat until we pass out!

I hope to be at or near my goal weight by then. I still have 22 pounds to go.

On a good note, I'm back in my non-maternity jeans!

My poor deprived children...

2007-08-30T14:34:00.000-06:00

This week was the first week of school for the children in our district. Here's how we spent the first day of school:

We did learn something this week. In addition to our Abeka program, Drew read me two Usborne Beginners books - Sun, Moon and Stars and Living in Space. I read him a book called If You Decide to Go to the Moon. Then we made Moon books telling what we learned about the moon.

We also made paper plate suns using cut outs in the shape of their hands.

I also learned something new this week. I finished sewing my cloth napkins. We started them one day this summer and had to stop because I was sick. It seemed like a monumental task then, but now that I'm feeling better, I finished them up in no time. And the seams are straight. Well, most of them.

My Daily Bread...

2007-08-29T18:22:00.000-06:00

Romans 6

Love letters...

2007-08-28T22:00:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago, out of the blue, I pulled out two sheets of computer paper. I drew a picture of a car on one and wrote, "Dear Drew, I love you. You are a good son and brother. Love, Mom." I wrote something similar on Jazzy's and drew a flower on hers.

A few weeks later, Jazzy told me she needed to make me a card with tape and paper. She cut the paper into a little rectangle, put some tape on it, made a few marks on it and put it in an envelope. I asked her what it said and she said, "Dear Mom, You are such a good Mommy."

Here's the card:

Ladies, I will be honest and tell you that I had to ask the Lord to help me enjoy my children. I always loved them and I knew they were precious, but I was wishing the time away. After all, I had a degree. I wasn't meant to be just a wife and mother. I wanted more out of life.

I heard a testimony from a woman at church who always dreaded summer break when her children would be home full-time. She was envious of the mothers who looked forward to having time to spend with their children. She asked the Lord to change her heart, and He did.

I am the type of person who feels that if the Lord can do it for someone else, He can do it for me. ("I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism..." Acts 10:34) So I prayed and God has been faithful.

I can now say I look forward to spending every day with my children. I don't long for a career and I don't long for "me" time. If serving my family is all I ever do in life, it will have been a life well lived.

It warmed my heart to hear Jazzy read her letter. She gives back all the love I give her, and then some. I don't regret a single second I invest in my children. The returns are unbeatable!

My Daily Bread...

2007-08-28T20:53:00.000-06:00

Romans 5

My Daily Bread...

2007-08-26T21:40:00.000-06:00

Romans 4

My Daily Bread...

2007-08-25T23:30:00.000-06:00

Romans 3

Ice Cream Sandwiches...

2007-08-25T12:50:00.001-06:00

Last night we made ice cream sandwiches. They were yummy so we made some more this morning.

Here's the recipe:

1 quart vanilla ice cream

1 dozen fresh baked or store bought cookies

1 package candy sprinkles

Let cookies cool before beginning. Let ice cream sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes to soften. Place a scoop of ice cream on 6 cookies. Place second cookie on top creating a sandwich. Roll sides of ice cream sandwiches in candy sprinkles. Wrap each sandwich in waxed or parchment paper and return to the freezer for 1-2 hours to harden. Serves 6.

Here's what they look like before freezing:

These were a little too sweet for my taste, but the kids loved them and they were fun (and easy) to make.

Got bananas???

2007-08-25T12:43:00.001-06:00

I had some bananas that were about to go bad. So today I made Banana Muffins to freeze. I get my muffin recipes from The Muffin Lady cookbook.

For breakfast I made Baked Banana Oatmeal. I got the recipe from JamieM at RGT. Here's the recipe:

3 cups old-fashioned oats
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1 mashed banana
1/2 cup melted butter or oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup honey or pure maple syrup

Combine milk and oats. Soak overnight. Eight to twelve hours later, add the rest of the ingredients. Bake at 350 until lightly browned, about 30-45 minutes.

Serves 6-8, hot or cold, with our without milk.

Weighing In...

2007-08-24T06:00:00.001-06:00

I'm down another 2 pounds from last week. Only 22 to go!

My secret so far has been working out on the elliptical machine 5 days per week and eating smaller portions of the yummy foods I love!

Training Sessions...

2007-08-24T05:47:00.000-06:00

I learned about training sessions from the RGT site.

Basically, the concept behind training sessions is that instead of only telling your children what they shouldn't do, you also want to teach them what they Should do.

For example, due to a recent incident, I know my kids need phone training. Here's what it may look like:

Me: Kids, when I am on the telephone, I want you to stay in the same room with me and sit down to a quiet activity so I will be able to hear the person I'm talking to. Got it?
Children: Yes ma'am.
Me: Is the piano quiet?
Children: Noooo.
Me: Is running around playing tag quiet?
Children: Noooo.
Me: Is that sitting down?
Children: Noooo.
Me: Is asking me for cookiescakeicecreamgum quiet? (I usually put some silly ones in there.)
Children: Noooo.
Me: What is quiet?
Children: Books! Puzzles! Legos!
Me: Yes, those are good ideas. Now let's practice. Pretend I'm on the phone. (I put phone to my ear and pretend to talk. Kids get a book or legos.) Good! (Or if they stand up.) You're not sitting. (Or if they get a loud toy.) That's not quiet.
And so on...

One area this has been invaluable is with sitting quietly. We have been to many church meetings lately and people have been amazed that my children can sit through them quietly. This is something we practiced starting with short time periods and building up to longer ones.

Another area where training has been helpful is with saying "yes ma'am/no ma'am". We made a game out of it.

Me: Children, I am going to tell you to do something and I want you to say "yes ma'am". Go put this is the trash.
Child: Yes ma'am. (And does it.)
Me: Hop on one foot.
Child: Yes ma'am. (And does it.)
Me: Pour some water on the floor.
Child: Looks at me questioningly.
Me: Pour some water on the floor. Say yes ma'am.
Child: Yes ma'am. (And does it.)
And so on...

They are finally getting the hang of saying yes ma'am/no ma'am, as is respectful in our area of the country.

I try to keep training sessions fun at first. Then once they have practiced it a bit, I begin to expect the proper behavior.

Sometimes training session are not fun. I know someone who trained who trained an ungrateful child to be thankful by purposely giving the child a smaller piece of dessert so the child would learn to be glad for what she got and not always comparing it to what others have. "You are going to get a smaller piece of pie and if you say anything other than 'thank you', you get nothing at all."

So you can set up training sessions for any number of issues. Some areas we'll be working on are interrupting politely, telephone etiquette, and greetings/introductions.

If you're entering a situation you have trained for, it is helpful to remind your kids of how they should behave. Similar to how our parents would remind us before entering a grocery store that, "You're not getting anything. Don't ask for anything. And you betta not touch anything." But a kinder/gentler version. :)

Disclaimer: If you don't have basic obedience from your child. Re-read the basics of the RGT site and don't bother doing any training sessions. They will be of no use if your children refuse to obey you. Besides, if your children regularly refuse to obey you, you have bigger problems then how they act when you're on the telephone.

My Daily Bread...

2007-08-23T19:13:00.001-06:00

Romans 2

Don't turn your back for a moment...

2007-08-23T07:15:00.000-06:00

Here's a concept my 6 yo implemented while I was in the same room with my back turned:

Yes, that is my BABY being put into a basket that is Hanging by a String from the Curtain Rod!!! Thank goodness he had sense enough to scream!

Drew said he was putting him in the basket so he'd have a nice place to sit while they played. I'm sure you can't tell his reasoning skills are still developing.

The picture is somewhat staged for safety reasons. When I turned and saw Zay in the basket I ran over and said, "WHAT are you doing???" Then I told Drew to hold him while I got the camera.

Notice Zay holding on for dear life. Now THAT's good reasoning...

Children vs. Dogs...

2007-08-23T07:00:00.000-06:00

Here's the test:

1. When you call your child, does she come right away?

2. Will your child sit/wait/be quiet when you tell him to?

3. If your child is enjoying something, will she willingly hand it over when asked without being coaxed, threatened or bribed?

4. Will your child follow simple instructions, such as "put your toys in the basket", "don't touch" or "put on your shoes" the first time you ask?

5. Can your child handle a "no" or an "it's time to leave" without whining or throwing a tantrum?

I think many of us have been fooled by the "experts" into believing our children are not capable of basic obedience. Deep down we know our children should be able to do these things, but instead of trusting our instincts, we listen to the psychobabble. We spend our days coaxing, bribing and manipulating our children into doing the simplests of tasks. No wonder many of us are prone to angry outbursts!

Even a dog can come, stay, sit, fetch and follow simple commands. Is your child smarter than a dog? I hope so.

If he or she can't follow basic instructions cheerfully, you may want to set up some training sessions. More on that tomorrow.

My Daily Bread...

2007-08-22T21:31:00.001-06:00

Romans 1

Outdoor Fun...

2007-08-22T07:00:00.000-06:00

J was home for our outside time one morning last week and I made an obstacle course in the backyard. We all took turns going through it and cheering each other on.

The jump rope is the starting line. Throw the ball in the bucket. Step into the hoola hoop and do 5 jumping jacks. Hop side to side several times over the swim noodle. Kick the soccer ball between the cones (at the end, but not pictured). And run zig zag thru another set of cones back to the fence.

There are so many ways to have fun using things you have in your backyard. We have races and play tag and catch bubbles and practice different sports skills.

Next time I'm going to design a course that involves balancing bean bags on our heads. The sillier things get, the more fun we have!

Outdoor Activities...

2007-08-22T06:45:00.000-06:00

A few ideas for outdoor fun:

Shaving Cream
Stilts
Hopscotch
Dodge Ball
Sidewalk Chalk
Watch Clouds
Potato Sack Race
Scooter
Obstacle Course
Nature Scavenger Hunt
Soccer
Plant Seeds
Frisbee
Pull Weeds
Baseball
Play with Slime/Goop
Basketball
Sling Shot
Painting with Water
Hide and Seek
Paint (using fence as an easel)
High Jump
Sandbox
Long Jump
Tag
Blindfolds
Ride Bikes
Finger Paint
Walk to Park
Red Light/Green Light
Feed Ducks at Park
Four Square
Eat Outside
Ball Tag
Eat Popsicles
Wall Ball
Play with Ice Cubes (make jumbo cubes in milk carton or use food coloring before freezing)
Splash in the Creek
Jump Rope
Catch Bugs
Hammer Nails into Wood
Look for Tadpoles
Paint or Sand Wood
Fish
Build a Fort w/Boxes or Sheets
Kickball
Practice Juggling

and everybody's favorite... Water Balloons!