Book List

Instead of having my book list on the side of my page, I am going to use a blog page to keep track of it.
~Make Your Own Patterns

~Keeping Our Children's Hearts
Great book.
~Homeschooling with a Meek and Quiet Spirit
Prepare to be challenged. Excellent book.
~You Can Farm: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Start & Succeed in a Farming Enterprise
Wonderful book. Great for those looking to start a farm(large or small)
~The Duggars: 20 and Counting!: Raising One of America's Largest Families--How they Do It
Cute book! I enjoyed reading about their journey and how God has worked in their lives.
~Teach Them Diligently
~A Woman After God's Own Heart
~Ditch The Diet and The BudgetPretty good book
~Hearing and Writing Music
~The Self Sufficient Life and how to live itLoved this book..I am buying it one day
~Calm my Anxious Heart
~Cure for the Common Life
~Breaking Free
~You can trust God
~How to Handle Trouble
~Romans
~The Call
Excellent book! I am planning on reading it again.
~12 Steps to Raw Foods
LOVED this book!!
~Sarah Ban Breathnach's Mrs. Sharp's traditions : reviving Victorian family celebrations of comfort and joy
Great for reference, not a read through for me though!
~The gentle ways of the beautiful woman : a practical guide to spiritual beauty
Really good book.This is a read again!

Fabric Sales

I got some new fabric yesterday! Linen was 50% off. I love linen, I am planning on making a skirt out of it. We will see how that goes. At the present, I am learning how to draft my own pattern. I can't stand store bought patterns. Nothing fits me right. I got a book called Make Your Own Patterns: An Easy Step-by-Step Guide to Making Over 60 Dressmaking Patterns Jason thinks he can create a program that takes the measurements you input and draws the pattern for you. That would be pretty cool! I think getting the drawing right is a major headache. I would be able to just print out the pattern, tape the pages together, and done. As of now I use parchment paper to make a pattern. I can't stand how it rolls. I am going to try to make this skirt a little shorter so I can use it to go camping in. This is a lightweight linen so it should be fairly cool. I might add some pockets to the next one if this one turns out nice. I would like to put some pockets and a D-ring on it to hold my keys or a small flashlight. Eventually I might sew in shorts. Those are my thoughts anyway, whether it will happen or not, that is a different story!

Been Thinking

Yet another post about raw foods:) I have been thinking about something. Is it the raw foods that make us healthy or the lack of chemicals, etc... when we go on a raw food "diet". What if you ate anything you wanted, cooked or uncooked, but just didn't eat anything with artificial colors, MSG, etc.. in it. I don't think I have met anyone that has tried both to compare. That would be an interesting experiment. The hard part would be buying meats and what not. They would need to be grass fed, hormone free, and free range and that can be expensive. Eggs are cheaper. Milk is another story as well. It would be cheaper to do a chemical free cooked lifestyle than it would to do a raw food lifestyle. That is something to consider, might be fun. Trying to come up with cheap, chemical free, easy meals that taste good. Ok, I think I have a new project. The kids would love this. I could posts some of the meals I come up with, though I am sure there are tons on the net.

Homeschool week of 5/18

Books:
Cheaper by the Dozen(Reading out loud)
Left Behind books# 8&9(C)
Mandie Books- 3(K)
All of a Kind Family(C)
Shades of Gray(K)
Helen Keller(K)
George Washington Carver(K)
Hop books(T)
Biscuit(T)
Math:
Captivatedminds

Bible:
John(Using homemade worksheet questions)
Science:
Read about comets
Mysteries and Marvels
Studied grasshoppers

Social Studies:
War World 1 continued
-Historical fiction books(above)

Writing:
-CaptivatedMinds
-Charlotte's book
Misc.
-Charlotte wrote a book! She said she thought "How could I honor God with my time?" so she decided to write a book that would tell people about Jesus and glorify him. I might just upload it once she has it the way she wants it. She read a lot to us and I just can't believe that she wrote it. How neat
-Went to the library

Simply cooked

I wanted to add to my last post about raw foods. I actually believe that cooked foods are not evil! One of the problems with cooked foods is that we usually buy convenience foods. Canned, frozen, prepackaged, processed, you get the picture. We rarely eat simply when it comes to cooked food. It's much easier to open a can of green beans than it is to blanch some fresh ones. Who wants to eat pasta by itself? You have to buy sauce. Who wants to eat a steak without something to go with it? Fries without ketchup? I can honestly say that one of the reasons I love raw food is that each ingredient tastes pretty good just by itself. Squash might need a little help. :) I am positive that if my body needed squash, it would taste wonderful by itself. I have found that the kids like simple foods versus complex. They would rather eat their food in it's basic form. Maybe we need to get back to that. Even if you eat cooked food, try to eat simpler, without adding a bunch of stuff to cover up whatever your eating. Maybe your body would tell you it doesn't want it. Now wouldn't that be neat?

Zoo video of the kids

Raw Food

Ok, many of you know that I eat 90% raw food. Why? Please do a google search on the benefits, there are TONS of information out there on it. Doctor's prescribe it for people with cancer, it has healed diseases, and it has given many people their life back. It is not a diet, it is a lifestyle. I will say that again, it is not a diet, it is a lifestyle. You realize that our lives should not revolve around food, yet for most people it does. What tastes the best, or what indulges that powerful craving? It's ok to think these things sometimes, God created food for us to enjoy. But when we go off the deep end and "sit at the King's banquet table" for every meal, something's wrong. This doesn't always stop at the raw food lifestyle. We can get carried away here as well. Gourmet raw food can be addicting! Simple is better sometimes. Now, when you first start eating more raw foods, you will think that your life is evolving around food. You have to learn new skills, get recipe books, etc.. You will get the hang of it and it will start to become natural(because it is). You CAN do raw foods without a dehydrator but it does help with transitioning. All this to say that I might start blogging some recipes that I am trying out. It's hard with the kids, they are so picky! They are not all raw so it's difficult for their tastebuds to acclimate. When you start eating more raw foods, your taste buds will change and you will see that you start to crave the things you didn't like at first. It's so neat how our bodies let us know what they need if we just pay attention. God is a great designer!

Week of 5/11

Books:
Cheaper by the Donzen(Reading out loud)
The Perilous Road(K)
Sarah Whitcher's Story(K)
Freedom Train(Charlotte)
Hop Books(Toby)
The Story of Thomas Edison(K)
Helen Keller(K)
The Terrible Wave(K)
Math:
Captivatedminds
Talked about fractions w/Jason
Bible:
John
Science:
Played with over 15 rolie polies, looked up what they ate, etc..
Went to the Zoo

Social Studies:
Read about World War 1(How it got started), why it was a different war because the technology was different(more destructive).

Writing:
CaptivatedMinds
Misc.
-Toby counted to 400!! We never practiced this, he just wanted to do it so he figured it out. What a smart little guy.
-Studied the praying mantis and watched a video of it
-Summer has learned how to fold rags!
-Kaitlyn sewed Summer a doll without any help from me! I will post pics
-Kaitlyn sewed Alex a boy doll.
-Played webkinz and new educational computer game
-Kaitlyn sewed another doll just for me to take pics since Summer drew on the other 2. How sweet:)
-We will be going to a promotional picnic on 5/16 where we will get to see some chickens! Yay!!
-They learned about how to strip the wallpaper, put in tiles, etc.. because of all the work that has been done in the bathroom.
-Kaitlyn read out loud to the littles a good bit this week, thank you Kaitlyn!

House Projects

This week my house has undergone some changes! My neighbor cama over and has helped(done most of the work) finish our upstairs bathroom's floor, walls, and trim. It looks awesome! I painted the kitchen, something that has needed to be done for many months now! I still need to go over a couple of places but I really like it. I need to sew some curtains(where to begin with fabric choices??) and get some pics up but that will come in time. I am so grateful that we are getting these things done. Today I am spending time catching up from yesterday. I didn't do laundry yesterday because we had some things we had to get taken care of outside of the home. I have about 3 loads now waiting for me!! I usually do about 2 loads a day. Good thing I don't mind it so much:) I just turn on some music and enjoy it.

How simple is too simple?

I have been thinking a lot about how we can live more simply. The truth is, it's very difficult to let go of things! In talking about our dreams and goals we want to take a radical approach(you will have to wait on hearing what our goals are because we are pondering at this point and don't want to get ahead of ourselves) but who wrote the book on what is radical and what is insane? I find that in our marriage we have always taken a different route. Always been a little off in our thinking compared to others. Are our dreams just a little too off or are we being called to a different life(even different than what we have now) It's hard for me to judge these decisions. I have always been crazy, sometimes too impulsive and extreme. But Jason has always brought me back to reality. Now it seems that he is desiring things that I desire so there is no bringing me back to reality. Could it be that this is not just one of my crazy ambitions? We are taking a step by step approach. What CAN we do now, no matter what we decide later. Acknowledging the fact that things might change, we can work on what we know will benefit us regardless of where the road leads. That means simplifying. But, then I ask the question again, how simple is too simple?

Homeschool Week of 5/4

Books:
Story of the USA
Freedom Train
Mandie Books(K)
Left Behind books-3 this week(C)
All Sail Set(RA-read aloud,still reading)
Oh Yuck, the Encyclopedia of Everything Nasty
A Letter to Mrs. Roosevelt(K)
The Terrible Wave(K)
Mysteries and Marvels of Nature(C)
Little Bear(Toby)
Frog and Toad(Toby)
Bible:
John
Social Studies:
Talked about the Knights of Labor(Charlotte read about it in The Story of the USA) which led to a discussion about the recent writers strike and what it means to be on strike.
Historical Fiction books
Science:
Rolie Polie observations
Discussion of why we have strawberries growing everywhere that we didn't plant
Yuk book
Other Science books listed above
Papa showed us what Poplar and Sugar gum trees looks like.
Observed a dead Dragon fly
Writing:
Completing Math Stories from CaptivatedMinds
Letters
Math:
CaptivatedMinds
Art/Music/PE:
Painting, (K)Piano, American Songs(Wee Sing), Bike Riding
This week Kaitlyn sewed charlotte a hankie and Grammy a bookmark.
Misc..
Helped Toby count his money
Played Webkinz

Chemicals in our clothes

Interesting article..

http://organicclothing.blogs.com/my_weblog/2009/01/permanent-press-facts-behind-the-fabrics.html

Picture updates

Avocado seeds. Waiting to see what they do :)

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Riding in the rain

Yesterday evening I was going crazy inside. I really needed to get out and breathe the fresh air and see God's nature. We decided to go ahead to the park even though the weather didn't look good. The older girls and I were the only ones who brought our bikes. Jason pushed the big stroller and Toby ran along side me. We got a little ways and it started raining. We decided to just wait it out under the canopy of the trees. It was beautiful standing there, protected, yet in the middle of it. It never quit but it did let up a little. We just kept going. Everyone had an awesome time. Toby ran the whole way with the girls and I. I can't believe how fast he is! I never had to wait on him. I wonder if God will use that somehow in his life.
I have several pictures that I need to post but I can't find my cable.

Time

Time is so strange. I can’t seem to understand it, though everything seems to depend on it. It’s my friend, yet it’s my enemy. What’s even more unfathomable is the thought of life without it. I think about God, and how he is outside of time. How peaceful that must be! To make decisions without thinking about before or after. To laugh without needing to stop. To sing without running out of breath (for time will do that). To run and not grow tired. To love with an un-measureable amount, right away (For love grows with time). To live in eternity without time. What does that look like? We live our lives waiting for time to change so that we can experience some moment, some joy that gives us hope. Oh how brief it is! And many times we get to that precious point in time only to be let down. How wonderful it must be to finally reach that blessed TRUE hope. The hope that is beyond anything we could imagine in our simple minds. Even more is the reality that it will NEVER end! We will live in that state for eternity with our God. Wow, what a thought. He is the hope that keeps us pressing on towards the goal. I am so glad that I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I will not be let down!

Great Weekend

I know I am weird but I just can't help it. Do you know how neat it would be to have an avocado tree? I know that it will likely not grow here but I can just try it right? This is my latest mini project. I have a couple of seeds sitting on my windowsill with toothpicks stuck in them so that they will suspend over water. Evidently, in a couple of weeks, they will start sprouting. Eventually, they will turn into trees. Maybe next year? LOL I don't know if I get enough sun so we will see. I will post pics later on.

We had an awesome weekend! We went bike riding again with everybody in tow. Jason carries two of the chunky munkies and I carry two. It is getting easier though I wouldn't say it was easy! We stopped to take a break at one point. The kids were running around in the field. Jason and I were laying on our backs looking up at the sky in awe of God's beauty. The contrast between the green trees and the blue sky were breathtaking! All of the sudden we heard thunder. The kids kept telling me that it was the bridge but I knew better. I looked up and sure enough, dard clouds were moving in very fast. We decided to start heading back. As soon as we got on the bikes we felt trickles of rain. We raced back to the car laughing as the rain pounded down on us and gave us relief after a hard ride. Isn't God great! He allowed us to see his beauty and power in so many ways. I cannot fathom what heaven is going to be like. Sunday night we got to have devotional time with our friends again. Man, how greatful I am to God that he saw fit to bring them into our lives. I LOVE spending time with them.

I am going to try to upload some more photos today.

Progress on the health front

We have made(and are still making) some changes here. In light of all the yucky chemicals I found hiding in alot of our "healthy" food, we have been more vigilant in checking labels. You know, those pesky little things that we don't want to look at for fear that it will make us feel guilty. I am completely off stevia. I still drink coffee but it is mostly decaf. I use almond milk, which I buy from the store, but I will soon be making it myself. I bought a couple of nutbags but I need more because I am using those for sprouting grain. I LOVE my essene bread! The kids are eating alot more raw food thankfully. They love fruit, zuchini speghetti, lettuce wraps with peanut butter, essene bread with honey, salad, and green shakes. I have yet to find a salad dressing that they like that is healthy. I have tried buying them from the store and they hate those. They like ranch dressing but everyone starts breaking out on their face when they eat it. I need to find a recipe that works so it won't be so expensive! I have one that I LOVE. It's Annies green goddess dressing. It's not raw but I am going to experiment with making it raw this weekend. It's just too expensive to keep buying. I had such a great time yesterday at my friends house. She let me use her oat flaker! I brought my oat groats over and went to town. They are soo much better! I love to just sit and chat with her, such a neat lady. I talked to my Daddy the other day and found out that he is doing soo awesome. He is bending his leg and pressing on toward the goal. I swell up with pride(I know, I know) when I think about all he has been through and where he is now. Love you Daddy and Mama Sue! That's all for now. Wow, I was really chatty today. :)

Getting/Keeping chemicals out of your body

Here is a link I found interesting.

So much for 52 week pics!

Well, it seems I have skipped a couple of weeks. It has been CRAZY! We have had house renovations going on(okay, maybe that's an excuse:)) One neat thing that has come about is that we got a bird! It's a love bird. His name was originally Blue Boy(he is 12 years old) but we are going to call him Blue. I got his wings and nails clipped today. I think he will be a sweet bird once he gets used to everyone.

Swimming!

I took the kids to the YMCA to swim. It was Andrew's first official pool experience. The first time he saw it, he started crying. I had to pick him up and hold him the whole time. It was funny. He got comfortable enough to touch the water but that was about it. The rest of the kids had a blast.

I do not want to post

Ok, I am making myself post. It has been a doozy of a month! From my dental surgery(which I still hurt from) to the car getting broken into, I feel a little tired :) Today has been a wonderful God worshiping day! Praise God that we can say he is risen! We had a very emotional time at church. The music was fabulous, can't wait to praise God like that in heaven! Can you imagine the choir in heaven? No bodily limitations, no sinful pride, no condemnation, completely selfless praise. Wow. Anyway, we got to ride our bikes all together today, something we have been wanting to do. I almost made it all the way home until I threw my quadricep out(again). It was still fun, and hard. Carrying an extra 80 pds. up steep hills is no piece of cake. I am so grateful that we were able to enjoy this beautiful day and celebrate the gift that was given to us by our Lord Jesus Christ. Here are some pics of the little ones. I was watching them at the park while Jason took the older ones bike riding.

Enemies

Love them.
If they break your car window,
Love them
If they still your purse,
Pray for them
If they still your credit cards,
Revenge is not yours, Love them
If they still your license and phone,
Remember the promise:

Romans 12:9
Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY," says the Lord.

This includes harmful thoughts towards those people. God will be glorified. If it is dealt to me, it is the best for me.
Job 2:10
"Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?"

Loving the Outdoors

Here’s the kids at the local zoo. We had a picnic and they got to play around the roots of the trees.

Jason and I got to go off and bike around a local park.It was awesome! We spent and hour and a half riding around. So fun.

Reformatting

I will be reformatting my hard drive today, it needs a good cleaning :) Don't you wish you could do that with your mind? I mean, just as quick that is. Christ "reformats" us but it sure does take a while! I am so grateful that I am not stuck with what I had. He is GOOD!..

My dad will take on some renewing as well today. He is having knee surgery again. We are praying for you Daddy!

Real Men

"Allergies don't bother real men"
Quoted by my Dh. Here's a couple more that he says
~ Real men don't need coats
~ Real men don't feel pain

Based on these I don't think there are ANY real men!! LOL That would be like saying real women don't have cellulite.

Standing in Grace

I wanted to quote Charles Spurgeon today. This is in his book Beside Still Waters.

“Our trials are appointed (1Thess.3:3), and there is an appointed portion of grace that will sustain us (2 Cor. 12:9), grace exactly according to the measure of our needs. Our tests are appointed, and there is appointed an extraordinary help to deliver our souls from going into the pit.”

Dental update

I went to the dentist because I am still hurting and she said I have an infection where they extracted that tooth. I got a prescription and a “Hope you feel better soon” . I think there is more there that is wrong but we will see. I go back in another couple of weeks. At least the pain should be getting better soon. :)

Fun with playdoh

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Organizing books

I am in the process of organizing our books by author. I got up to print my spreadsheet out and Charlotte took the opportunity to enter the “circle of knowledge” LOL I just had to get a pic.

And then Toby came in…

And then Summer came in…

And finally(the 2 youngest are asleep) Kaitlyn came in…

Visit with my sister

We had a good time talking with her. It’s been forever since I have seen her. She is in the Arm, stationed in Hawaii. I can’t believe she turns 20 this week! Time flies. Stay SAFE and CAREFUL Col! We love you.

The BEST Asian Sauce/Dressing

1/2 cup peanut or almond butter

1/2 cup water or more depending on how thin you want it

3 Tbl Nama Shoyu(You can find this at your local health food store. You could try soy sauce but Nama Shoyu is awesome!)

3Tbl Agave Nectar(you could try honey as well)

1-2 cloves garlic depending on how strong you want it

2 Tbl sesame oil

ginger(taste to your preference)

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Blend and poor on your favorite noodles or use it as a salad dressing..Yum!

Great Passage

I thought this was a wonderful passage that we all should pay careful attention to! I struggle with “loving”(doing and not just speaking) my fellow brother/sister in Christ. Read Matthew Henry’s commentary at the bottom. He puts it into terms we can better understand. :)

1 John 3:19-22

16 We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 17 But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.19 We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him 20 in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things. 21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; 22 and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight.

Matthew Henry’s Commentary

3:16-21 Here is the condescension, the miracle, the mystery of Divine love, that God would redeem the church with his own blood. Surely we should love those whom God has loved, and so loved. The Holy Spirit, grieved at selfishness, will leave the selfish heart without comfort, and full of darkness and terror. By what can it be known that a man has a true sense of the love of Christ for perishing sinners, or that the love of God has been planted in his heart by the Holy Spirit, if the love of the world and its good overcomes the feelings of compassion to a perishing brother? Every instance of this selfishness must weaken the evidences of a man's conversion; when habitual and allowed, it must decide against him. If conscience condemn us in known sin, or the neglect of known duty, God does so too. Let conscience therefore be well-informed, be heard, and diligently attended to.

Party Pics

Can you believe I didn’t get any pics of the party girl? She was busy with her friends(after all, she is 16 now:)) I did get pics of my family that I haven’t seen in FOREVER. So, this is my cousin Ashley and her sweet family.

 

This is my cousin Shelly’s daughter, Cassidy. Beautiful!

 

This is my cousin Shelly-crazy! My sister is standing in the background. Love you booney!

Zoo Pics

We went to the zoo as soon as everyone was well. Here are some pics :)

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Febrile Seizure

Andrew had one not too long after taking those bird pictures. It was so scary but God was good through the whole thing and made himself VERY present. I am extremely worried about him though. We have been giving him Tylenol/Motrin to keep his fever at bay. He has an ear infection that is causing the fever. I had febrile seizures when I was little so I have wondered if my children would. Andrew is the first. He has had many other times with higher fevers than he had when the seizure happened. So I am hoping this was a one time thing. Keep him in your prayers! We took a pic of us in the hospital(to try and entertain Andrew). I will upload it soon.

Crystal

“Can we have one Mom?”

The kids have fallen in love with my Mom’s little parrot. Here are some pics.

Some pics

We are all tired today. Here are the three of us hanging out in the living room.

Random Tip #4

For those of us who put stickers on our keyboards to teach our children piano…You can get the stickiness off with WD-40. you just have to make sure to get the WD-40 off with soap and water. So easy! I had to do this today after a well meaning child pulled all the stickers off, can you guess who did it?? Here’s a clue, it’s not one of the younger ones!

Last week of the school year

Well, this is our last week of this school year. The kids really won’t be able to tell other than having a week or so off. We usually start right back into it. They tend to do better with goals and things to do. I am still trying to adjust our schedule so that it works well with the little ones. Does anything work well with the little ones? LOL This year has proven to be so difficult. I have debated on whether to wait to start back to school for a month just to give Andrew some extra growing up time. We so have a lot of projects we could do so I might consider that. I could do a form of unschooling until….. It really just depends on if the kids beg me to start back school. We have our sonlight core 4 stuff in so they are wanting to get their hands on the books!

Summer’s Birthday

Summer and her pink poodle cake made by Grammy and Aunt Nana. Thank You!!

I am about to cut into the poodle’s bottom…weird!LOL

Summer and her ”chunky munky”(it’s really a cat) she has wanted for a while.

My Summer-4 years old!

I can't believe she is turning 4. We are having a little party for her today so I will post back with pictures. Everything will be pink!!

Homeschooling with a Meek and Quiet Spirit

I finished this book yesterday. I really enjoyed it. Although I have to say that sometimes I didn't have a meek and quiet spirit when I got stepped on or bonked in the head while reading. LOL It really was worth reading and I will likely read it again. I liked a couple of her practical suggestions regarding journaling about sin/prayer/expectations. It helps to see things on paper. I just started Keeping Our Children's Hearts Teri has a lot of wonderful products for us mothers to get our heads on straight!

Dh and Andrew butting heads

I'm back

I had a great time at the retreat. It was refreshing but mostly just challenging :) I am glad to be back home. I missed everyone! We had a huge shock last night at church but I am not at liberty to speak about it(nothing bad within the church, just very...interesting) Anyway, when we got back we had a vomit marathon. I don't know what happened but I think the kids just wanted to let me know that I was REALLY back home! LOL So, we evidently are sick AGAIN!! I don't think this will last more than a day though. I think it is a little virus. I am praising God that I am home and am able to glorify him through the taking care of my little ones. I found out that I left for the retreat and forgot to put a load of laundry in the dryer. My Mil started putting them in the dryer and found out I had left a poopy diaper in the clothes. And get this, nothing dissolved! It was everywhere they said. I felt so bad!! She told them not to tell me until I got home and I am grateful because that would have really bothered me. I love her so dearly. She puts up with my lack of homemaking skills. I am looking forward to the week, we might make it a light school week :)

Women's Retreat

I am off to a women's retreat this weekend! I am excited but a little anxious. I don't like leaving the kids, I will miss them! My Mil will be here and Dh will have a chance to spend time with her so that is a very awesome thing. They are really close. I am hoping to get some pics to post.

This is hilarious

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=404788

Japan hopes to increase 'abysmal' birth rate
OneNewsNow - 2/3/2009 4:00:00 AM

The professional culture of Japan is taking steps to increase the
country's population.

When Margaret Sanger launched a clinic in 1916 that later became
Planned Parenthood, Japan was the first nation to jump on the
bandwagon as the biggest financial supporter. Jim Sedlak of American
Life League's Stop Planned Parenthood, or STOPP International,
reports the Asian nation promoted family planning and abortion.

"And now Japan is beginning to see the effects of this," he
contends. "Japan's birth rate is abysmal. It's down [to] about 1.3
children per family, which is well below the replacement level of
2.2."

CNN.com reports at least one employer, Canon, is letting its
employees leave work early two times a week to "go home and
multiply." The article claims the 12-hour work day is just one reason
for the low birth rate. Other alleged contributors are the high cost
of living and the rapidity at which Japan's population is aging,
according to the article.

However, there are currently not enough children growing up to help
sustain the country's economy. "And now they're trying to do
everything they can to get their families to have more children, to
provide more Japanese children for the workforce," he notes, "but
also just to provide more Japanese children to save their culture and
to save their island."

Sedlak contends some European countries face similar circumstances
that will eventually affect America's future if the situation is not
reversed.

Zoo in winter!

One thing that I love about Columbia is the weather. I know many people don't like how hot it gets but I love it. I love the fact that it gets warm enough in the winter for us to go to the zoo with our freinds. This is a pic of the kids and our friends. We had such a blast!

What happens when...

you forget to look at your list of things you don't want to forget? You forget them. We had a keepers meeting and I completely forgot to pray!! Can you believe that? I was also going to talk to the kids about why we are learning these things. I have really been bad about not following my lists and schedules lately and I can really tell. I think I have been preoccupied with other things. We still haven't gotten the car fixed so that has been on my mind alot. I have had several things that I have needed the car for. Oh well. You know what IS cool? I am looking at Charlotte on the other computer. She is emailing someone. She is typing in a bible verse that she knows(without looking at the bible) Now THAT is something to be glad about!!

Thankful for friends!

I use to think "I want friends but I don't NEED them." While it's true that we technically don't need them, I have learned that they make a huge impact on my life. I am so grateful that God has put these people in my life. One of my friends took us to the zoo yesterday in her 15 passenger van. I was so blessed by this. It really filled my heart. Thank you Shelby!! We have a couple of cars that are not safe for the kids to be in(we are getting one fixed this week) so we couldn't take ourselves. We had such a great time.

Great Quote

I saw this on one of my homeschooling email loops. I thought it was great.

"If you knew you only had a year more with that child, what would you expose him to? Where would you go? What would you eat? What would you watch? What would you do?

If you had only ONE year—and then it was all over, what would you do? Four seasons. Twelve months. 365 days.

Do that THIS year. And the next."

Presents from Papa and Mama Sue

Toby loves his knights!!












I think Charlotte loves excitement more than the gifts! Oh, a child after my own heart. :)












Kaitlyn loved her shirt and earrings!












Here they all are waiting for me to open them. I only had a pencil and a pair of kid scissors.

A Charlotte Mason lesson for all of us

This quote came from a summarization of one of Charlotte Mason's principles.
"Children must learn not to lean too heavily on their own reasoning. Reasoning is good for logically demonstrating mathematical truth, but unreliable when judging ideas because our reasoning will justify all kinds of erroneous ideas if we really want to believe them."
I thought this was great advice for all of us!

Random Tip #3

If you put your cream and sugar in your cup BEFORE you pour the coffee in, you won't need to stir it. :)

Bible Lessons

I am so excited! I finally finished Acts yesterday. I have been reading and coming up with questions(around 4 for each chapter) for every chapter for the kids. Jason puts it up on captivatedminds and I am able to print it out for them. Soon they will be able to answer the questions online. Their answers will be saved in a database for me. YAY! I finished 1 Samuel several weeks ago but they haven't started Samuel. I started Ruth today. This is an easier book for sure! I think they will enjoy it. It's exciting because I will have these questions for the younger ones as well. Then years from now they will be able to see their answers and dive deeper into God's word.

A necesary Being

This came off of a forum I visit. I thought it was very interesting:
"First of all it makes no sense to say that Existence is contingent, Because that would mean that existence could fail to exist, which is logically contradictory to the nature of existing.
In order for something to fail to exist, there must first be such a thing as that which we call existence; and that must be eternally true.

Secondly, one cannot say that existence is a dimension, even though existence permeates all things; for, a dimension can only be dimensional because there is such a thing as Existence. You cannot say that dimensions are greater (more necesary) then existence, because that would mean that existence is contingent upon dimension; which makes no logical sense because there must first be such a thing as existence before anything can be any particulor thing. Hierarcaly
speaking, existence is greater than any dimension, for dimension is contingent upon existing. Therefore it is not reasonable to say that dimension and existence is one and the same in nature, because physical dimensions, so fars they are actual moving bodies, do not have to exist in any particulor sense, and only exist because there is something that causes such things to exist.
Out of nothing comes nothing. The ultimate reality is not a physical dimension.

In any case, like i said in the first paragraph, in order for anything to come into being in the first place, there must first be something that is ultimate,
uncaused, and eternal. In other words, something that cannot fail to be. A necesary being.
One cannot simply say that a necesary being is the first being. A necesary being must also sufficiently explain its own existence by its own nature, and
must also sufficiently explain the realities that it produces. It must be incorruptible and uncaused. Thus, and infinitely long chain of contingently created
beings, can never sufficiently explain itself. The nature of "space-time" and energy, does not fit the bill because these realitys are contingent on being caused and thus are not sufficient in explaining why the universe exists. So unless you are willing to say that motion came from nothing, then you must
accept that there is a timeless uncaused cause."

Some "Summer" for your winter

Random tip #2

Almond Breeze almond milk has 25% of your daily vitamin D requirements. Get the unsweetened and pour it over some raw old fashioned oats. Add some raisins-Yum! Calcium is absorbed by the body only when vitamin D is present so it is very important for our bones! Fatty fish have vitamin D as well. But the best way to get vitamin D is to spend some time in the sun. Can't wait till Summer!
***I would like to note that almonds do not naturally contain vitamin D. They do however contain an array of good vitamins. The almond breeze milk adds the Vitamin D. This is also an excellent substitute for milk for those who are vegan.

Random tip #1

Rinsing rice before you cook it makes it less sticky and taste better. HOWEVER, nutrients(put on the rice for us) in white rice will be stripped away. So, if you eat white rice, rinse it but make sure you get your veggies. This brings up a whole other topic for another post....Are you processed??