Never Dull Here

Since we have had a couple of days of 'nothing much happenin' round here, my dear husband decided to mix it up a bit. He mixed it up with a sharp object and cut the top of his hand. And since he doesn't like to 'half do' anything; he did it real good! He told me to butterfly it and he'd be fine. I looked at it, actually looked down into the wound, saw his insides and said, "I don't think so partner".
So off to the ER we went and where we live that could mean a 4 hr. wait. Thankfully they were not busy and 45 minutes later he was the proud owner of 6 stitches and a hospital bill!!

On September 17th, 1796, George Washington said, "It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible."

Few that govern today grasp this truth or they have compromised their beliefs for worldly gain and temporary security. We also see this in the daily lives of the churched; their lives are not truly governed by God and His word. Lip service is given to His word, but obedience is not evident.
In the church today many are playing the game without knowing the "rule book". Therefore, commands for living as well as the blessings that go along with those commands are unknown. There is no victory in the living, only lives lived in mediocrity.
God calls His children to live victorious lives through Him. To be content in whatever state we find ourselves, knowing that He is with us and desires to do us no harm. He desires that we wait on Him in our need for Him to provide for us; not us pushing as the world does for more.
As George Washington believed, let us so believe; nothing can be governed without God and the Bible. Nothing...

God's Promises

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." Hebrews 13:5

Look at this verse, it has a command and a promise, which so much of God's word has. He gives us a command to help us and then attaches a promise to it also. Wow! He will never leave us or forsake us therefore we can be content and live in freedom!!

It's time to get angry and say enough is enough. I will no longer be
enslaved and start fighting for my freedom from debt, even if my biggest
enemy is myself!

JUST ANOTHER MANIC MONDAY

Today started out looking unproductive, but alas, I overcame!! Or was overcome!!!! We'll put it to a vote later. We were staying home today since we were gone all day yesterday for church and lunch and praise team practice and church and dinner. (ok, not a frugal day, but it could have been worse) Really

I couldn't get motivated at first; too much to do with the house, school preparations, etc. We needed bread and I bought some dough enhancer to try. So, I got busy with that first. Lawsy, the dough was sticky; I do NOT know what was up with that. It turned out fine, but I thought I had stuck my hand in a fly trap. (bad analogy)

Next, I had those apples that Rita and Mark gave us. APPLE PIE for dinner!!

Now, on to school preparations. The Charlotte Mason method takes some preparation in advance. There are books to hunt down here at home, online and at the library. I have to see how much is required from each book for each term. There are historical documents to hunt down; easier now because of the internet. And I have to work out the kids schedules. Tired Now! Spent several hours on and off on this.

Then there are the bills. UGH! So, I sat down and paid some bills.


Still

Early

In

The

Day



Dinner: these people gotta eat. Meatless Monday! Mac & Cheese, greenbeans, corn, salad and what is left of the bread. And apple pie.

In between I did interact with my children and husband. Washed dishes. Became my son's hero because I successfully transferred a picture from the internet to his PSP! Mom Rocks!!

Had really ripe bananas so decided to try a new banana bread recipe. Will let you know how it turns out. It is in the oven as I write.

So, did I overcome or was I overcome with some sick, incurable need to be productive. Be gentle....

They're Back from W. Virginia

Here is my crew at the West Virginia welcome center feeling welcomed! They had a long ride to W. Virginia and were ready to get busy, but still had a drive to get to the first mission location.

Here is Sarah and DeGina resting before the work begins. Lazy Girls!





Mountain Marketplace Mission was their first stop. Here they distributed food to those in need and did some house cleaning for the ministry. Sarah worked the front desk handing out food. I do not know where or what Hayden was doing!
This was the couple that ran the food ministry and mission. What an awesome ministry.



My beautiful Sarah! She has a servants heart. Sarah, go stack chairs. (inside joke)



That is where Hayden was!! On a roof! Great!


Here he is working, that's my boy!! I knew I'd trained him right. Or he maybe planning to hide the vacuum cleaner!

But here he is looking confused or lost. Hmm... That would be his father coming out!! hehe




This was the second location for the
mission trip. Little Birch, WV

Here is DeGina talking or maybe praying at this moment, to a resident of Little Birch. They said that the man couldn't read so his wife read the Bible to him. Oh, and DeGina , that girl is good at talking!!



And here is Sarah pulling weeds, or falling, or praying or looking for worms. The girl likes worms. She is homeschooled, what can I say? What are you doing?!
The pastor of Little Birch Baptist had an old car, which of course my hubby couldn't resist. I think he begged to sit in; glad I wasn't there to be embarrassed. Now he wants to redo the old T-Bird that has been sitting in our driveway for 7 years.


The picture above is the whole group from our church. Frightening W. Virginia since 2008!! The guy in front in the green, he is our summer intern, bless his heart!


Bible study with the Pastor. My kids better be paying attention. Don't make me get the hose!


Last but not least, here is Mater, like tomato without the 'to'!! He came back to Ga. with the group via our Excursion. Actually this is a mission project for our men's ministry. They are going to redo it and give it to a ministry in W. Virginia.

Standardized Testing

In his book Human Efficiency, H.H. Goddard said, "standardized testing was a way to make lower classes recognize their own inferiority." The idea was that it would discourage them from breeding and having ambition. (Remember, Hitler got the idea of 'eugenics' from America) Note also that Goddard was the head of the Psychology Department at Princeton and had great influence over the minds of students.

Standardized tests tell everyone, including the child, whether you will succeed. They are among the verbal and non-verbal cues sent by teachers and administrators that shape self-doubt. Unfortunately this self-doubt isn't really reality; it is contrived based on a test that does not allow for individuality, imagination or particular strengths. Assessing children constantly and making sure everyone knows his or her rank is a recipe for empty children. Everyone is ranked according to these blasted tests; you are gifted, average, below average, special ed.; and you do not by in large, escape that rank.

Provisional self-esteem is another word we could use in place of self-doubt. Children's self-respect is made contingent on the certification of experts through the magic numbers or test scores. The children become dependent on the numbers, as do their parents. Self-respect or self-esteem is NOT self-generated as it was for Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, or the Wright Brothers.

QUOTE: "Education is the modern world's temporal religion" Bob Chase, president, National Education Assoc. , NEA TODAY, April 1997

Just Hannah and Mom

Hannah and I delivered some wheat (actually a lot of wheat- 50lbs) to some friends of ours about 2 hrs. south of us. It was a spur of the moment thing and they welcomed us graciously and fed us dinner! I have known Rita since our college days and she, Mark her husband and Nathan, their son are precious people (and I am not just saying that because she reads my blog!). And they are homeschoolers!
We had a nice evening of conversation in which Mark's father joined us. He is 86 and charming. Then we went out and picked blueberries. YEAH!! They also gave us some heirloom apples, so I can make something yummy in the next day or two.
It was a great time and Rita is a wonderful, gracious hostess! (don't tell her I said that)

P.S. We talked to William, Sarah, Hayden and DeGina today. The mission trip is going great! I wish I was there, but it wasn't to be. They are blessing and being blessed.

Dance With Life & Others Will Join In!

Learning

Most of these will be set aside this year as I am returning to the Charlotte Mason method of schooling. For those of you unfamiliar with this, it is reading more whole books as opposed to textbooks. It exposes the student to the classics, more complete history and many great speeches and documents.

Hannah enjoyed this much more than textbooks; she always felt that these fell short when it came to information. The 'blurbs' were not enough for her. She was frustrated much of the time. Reading more complete histories of civilizations and people groups made more sense to her. She also studied Consumer and Business Math, which will serve her well.

When the student reads about certain parts of say, history in more complete context, it makes more sense and they get a better feel for what was really going on. They also learn more about the people and their lives during that time period. Students also copy famous speeches and study to gain a better understanding of them. Math is still on the agenda as is science.


Quote: "My education was interrupted only by my schooling." Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

Before I Go On...

let me clarify a couple of things. I do not judge anyone who sends their kids to public or private school; as a parent it is your choice. In a perfect world, we all could choose only what is perfect for each child. But alas, we do not live in a perfect world. Stuff happens...
I do believe that homeschool is the best option in most cases. It is the best for us. My goal is to educate people on the origins of public schooling with the hopes that more knowledge will lead to better results. If we better understand some of the underlying motives for forced schooling we then can outsmart the 'plan'. Each parent can better grasp the downfalls of mass education with a 'one size should fit all' mentality and the problems this thinking brings.
No one has been ugly about my postings; I just wanted to be clear before I present more information. Take it as you should any information; digest it, weigh it, and use what you can of it.

Updates

For those of you that were worried, we have a NEW toilet seat!!! Wm. got us a nice wood one and expertly installed it today. So, relax now. NO MORE DUCT TAPE! Just when I was beginning to like that 'trashy' look.

Apple Pie for Hannah's Birthday

Hannah asked for an apple pie for her birthday; easy kid to please. Yesterday, as you most know, was her actually birthday; but with church and all, I waited until today to make it. I made a crumble crust for the top with flour, brown sugar, butter, and oats. It turned out PERFECT!!

Lamnin Will Make You Want To Shout!!

This is the protein that holds your body together. Actually holds you together, kinda like glue. It is called Laminin and do you think it is coincidence that it is in the shape of a CROSS! I don't think so folks. Colossians 1:17 says, "And He Himself existed before all things and in Him all things are held together."
If this doesn't make you want to shout, I do NOT know what will. So much is in the scripture that we do not begin to understand, but even science affirms to us the greatness of God.

Return of the Saran Wrap: the rest of the story

This evening our saran wrap was returned to us in the form of a 'saran wrap man'. Interesting!? We have been found out and retaliation has begun. We did laugh; we didn't realize that we managed to put that much wrap on the cars! Impressive.

Seriously???

We have needed a new toilet seat for awhile. Yes, I am going to talk about this. Just keeping it real. So, tonight we go to Wal-Mart and my hubby buys one. So far, so good; except that it does not fit our toilet. So, when we get home and finds this out, he gets out the duct tape, I am not making this up. My toilet seat is duct taped to the bowl. I now know my life has hit a new level, what level that is, I am not sure. Lets see, can we say "Red Neck"? Can we say "my father is rolling over in his grave??

One only needs two things in life: WD-40 to make things go and duct tape to make things stop!!!

Night of Debauchery: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

I wouldn't think of my oldest turning 18 without doing something to remember it by. What kind of mother would I be?! So, we hopped in the car around 12:45am to run a covert mission involving saran wrap and a couple of cars. Yes, you heard it right, we went under the cover of darkness to saran wrap someones cars. Specifically, our Pastors cars!! It is important to pass on these skills to the younger generation, and Hannah, being that she is going off to college felt that time was of the essence. And I, being the mom that I am, wasn't going to pass up the opportunity either!!!There will be no pictures of Hannah and I since we are of age. But, the two younger ones, well, we have pictures.




We are somewhat worried as they seem very comfortable with this life of debauchery and quite satisfied with themselves. In fact,both wanted to commit another act that very NIGHT! There was also continuous singing of "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun", which after 30 times kinda gets on your nerves.

For Piper

Dear Piper,

The dishes on the floor are yours and contain your food. The other dishes are mine and contain my food. Please note, licking my plate does not stake a claim for it becoming your food and dish.

The stairway was not designed by NASCAR and is not a racetrack. Beating me to the bottom is not the object. Tripping me doesn't help because I fall faster than you can run. (remember, you have short legs)

For the last time, there is not a secret exit from the bathroom. If by some miracle I beat you there and manage to get the door shut, it is not necessary to claw, whine, or get your paw under the edge and try to pull the door open. I must exit through the same door I entered. Also, I have been using the bathroom for years -- canine attendance is not required.

The proper order is kiss me, then go smell the other dog or cat's butt. I cannot stress this enough!

(adapted)

Get Out the Kleenex

Click on the names below and be prepared to CRY! What an inspiration.

Dick and Rick Hoyt

Summer Camp

Here is my boy at summer camp and his tent. Not my idea of appropriate accommodations, but I am not a Boy Scout. They seem to have an unusual ability to sleep and eat in conditions I could not. But, I am spoiled!


The lake where my baby qualified for his Swimming merit badge. Way To Go!!! He also got his Archery and First Aid badges!! And here he is at a gathering; I think he is laughing. How dare he have fun when he is away from his mother? I never!



Waiting in line at the dining hall. Lots of hungry scouts staying in tents, exercising all day, and they ARE HUNGRY!!! Glad I am not cooking for this bunch; that could get ugly. I doubt it though, they are taught to be kind, respectful, etc. etc. Good boys!

Here is what we look like on the last day of catering. 5 days, 880 meals later!

This is not even a good example of what we experienced with this demonic grill. We had a HUGE flame up, I mean 'hotter than the hinges of hell' flame up, so DeGina shut the grill. Next, we watched the hand on the dial shoot towards 700 degrees. We looked at each other, couldn't decide whether to run or duck. Instead, she opened the lid back up, GREAT, I love that burnt look on me, and I doused it with major amounts of water. My sweet husband came out later and informed us that you should only cook 10 patties at a time. Puusha! I think we proved our point well; the grill did not go into orbit, which we thought it would momentarily, we did not burn the burgers or ourselves, and we served dinner to 110 people ON TIME!! Ok, moment of truth, he did cook the last 60 or so burgers for us. Sweet man!!


This is Hannah on our last day, saying NO MORE of anything. She was in the middle of making slaw for the masses with cabbage everywhere and working with a not so cooperative food processor. Bless her heart!! And she had a bad headache all day.



Sarah is the only one among us that seems unscathed by the marathon catering. Dang kid. She just refuses to be effected, I think. What a constitution this one has. And she worked as hard as the rest of us.






Last but not least, our dear Kevin mopping the fellowship hall for us. Another one that just gets in there and helps out. We appreciate you Kevin, more than you know!! Hey, we didn't have to mop! (just keeping it real)

Feminism's Television Intrusion By Rebecca Lynne Adams (excerpts)

Today’s Christian women are bombarded by the effects of feminism, whether they realize it or not. Humorous sitcoms such as King of Queens, Everybody Loves Raymond, and Sex and the City are invading our marriages and thoughts. We become sucked into shows like Desperate Housewives, sitting on our couches intrigued by their lives, then horrified and stunned when a friend calls us to share her recent decision to leave her husband. If we can open our eyes to what the media is pulling us into, then we can prepare a counter-attack with God’s Word and principles so we aren’t left wondering how the humor of Hollywood’s divas became our marriage’s destruction.

Let’s begin by continuing the theme of the conniving serpent in the garden and look at one of television’s most popular sitcoms: Desperate Housewives. The opening clip even shows the stars of the show in a garden, with their hands holding bright red apples as a snake falls from the tree behind them. Their mischievous grins portray a feeling of satisfaction with their sinful behavior, and a powerful, sexy demeanor follows them into every scene, ready to satisfy their desires. It is true that victory does not always follow them and that they end up paying for their bad choices, but the underlying theme indicates a self-revolving world in which these women will do whatever it takes to satisfy their own desires.If you go to the www.imdb.com website, the plot keywords for Desperate Housewives include some of the following: “failing marriage, single parent, bisexual, divorce, cults, gay son, blackmail, irreverent, murder investigation, battle of the sexes, extramarital affair.” Sounds like a perfect show to sit down with a bowl of popcorn and pizza, doesn’t it? Yet, it won three Golden Globes! Why? It feeds on our sinful desires and says that it’s okay to do whatever you want because you deserve to be happy.

Can you think of any popular sitcoms that portray the wife as superior and the husband as stupid and incompetent? How about King of Queens, where the husband sits on the couch and eats, while the wife has a successful career in which she indulges in shopping and has little desire to have children? She says “do it,” and her husband obeys her. In Everybody loves Raymond, the mother-in-law rules the roost, Deborah constantly berates her husband, and Raymond is viewed as a failure when he is in charge of taking care of the children. How about the Simpsons? Marge is the ever-loving wife whose husband, Homer, is a complete idiot and never does anything right. You can even go back to our childhood days of reading the Berenstain Bears books , which portray the mama bear laying down the rules and the papa bear as the child who breaks them. Sitcoms that portray fatherhood and manhood as positive attributes like the Andy Griffith Show and the Cosby Show have been replaced with Married with Children and Two and Half Men. Is it any wonder why the family unit is becoming dysfunctional?

While it will be difficult to change the direction of Hollywood, encouraging them to return to a healthier mode of entertainment, there are things that you can do now to protect your family from absorbing the culture’s ideologies. First, recognize a lie when you see or hear it. To identify the difference between a lie and truth, you must know the truth, right? This will only be found within the pages of the Bible. God’s standards do not change with culture. When we understand what God’s standards are, we can move towards them.

Every day we must fight against the 3,000 advertisements that tell us to become independent, express the diva goddess within, explore our sexual freedom, redefine our sexual identity, become beautiful and perfect so that we will be loved, and discover that there are no differences between men and women. We must also replace those images with godly principles that remind us to become dependent upon the Lord; die to ourselves and seek to serve others; enjoy sexuality within marriage; decorate ourselves with the beautiful qualities of humility, love, and gentleness; and embrace the fact that God created us male and female, equal in the image of God, different in roles.