Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Golly!

Don't mean to break my arm patting myself on the back, but I've been fretting over my thesis statement for my long research paper assignment for two weeks now. I finally posted my thesis:

While it has become apparent through comparison of academic test scores that home school students generally out perform their public school counterparts, until recently, very little research has been available to compare the social outcomes of public school student to those of home schooled students. An analysis of the small but growing body of evidence supporting the positive social development of home schooled students reveals that while many of the initial studies have been performed and interpreted by Christian fundamentalists, newer studies, including at least two performed by less biased professional educators, all support initial claims that most home school students are at least as socially adept as public school students, and often, they are more socially advanced, exhibit fewer aggressive behaviors and exercise better self control than children educated in the public school system.

and this was my instructor's response:

Wow. That's really good. You have added new information to discussion that is highly debated that seems reasonable and interesting. I like how you recognize the previous possible biases and present confirmation based on less biased studies. I am drawn into your paper on those tantalizing bits of information. I am very curious to see the numbers and interpretations of the studies to back this thesis up.

I'm glowing. Hee, hee!

Sunday, October 29, 2006

Excitement and Freecycle

Two posts in one! LOL

The kids are excited because we got this:



And I got him from Freecycle. If you don't know about freecycle, you should check it out at www.freecycle.org. It's amazing what people give away. Sometimes you get things you didn't even know you needed! LOL The lady with the rabbit needed to find him a home and gave us everything, the cage, feeders, waterers, food, bedding and leash. I've also picked up a shampoo bowl and sink for my SIL. It's a great way to get rid of some of the "stuff" that's cluttering up your life. You never know, someone might get some use out of your old things, so before I trash, I freecycle.

I apologize for my blogging slack-iness. After a whole lot of personal drama and financial upheaval over the past three years, my husband is going back into business for himself and we have been hard at work getting that adventure underway. You know. In my spare time. Between classes and homeschooling and baseballing. I won't even go into how the housework is suffering. But somehow, I'm keeping my head a little bit above water and each new day filled with things to do is a blessing.

Sunday, October 22, 2006

DEUTERONOMY

Chapter 5:7-21.

7 Thou shalt have none other gods before me.
8 Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth:
9 Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me,
10 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.
11 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
12 Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee.
13 Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work:
14 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou.
15 And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day.
16 Honour thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
17 Thou shalt not kill.
18 Neither shalt thou commit adultery.
19 Neither shalt thou steal.
20 Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour.
21 Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour’s wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbour’s house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

Just as we command our children thou shalt not drive fast and wear no seat belt, and thou shalt not eat ten cookies lest ye ruin thy dinner; He gave us these rules not to spoil our fun and rain on our parade, but for our own benefit and safety, and He meant every word, it isn't up to us to pick and choose which ones we want to obey.

I'm thankful for a loving Father in Heaven who gave us rules to live by, and guidelines for raising our children. Happy Sunday!

Saturday, October 14, 2006

Let's c.......

C is for costume. Duh. Could it *be* about anything else? I thought not.

Christmas is all about the kids, but Halloween, we all know who the costumes are *really* for. This is probably the last year I'll get away with choosing K's costume for her and making her think it was her idea entirely, but I've got another 2-3 years with J. Once again, I failed to talk B into the Captain Hook costume. He'll probably end up with a Power Ranger's costume and I'll hate it as much as the $25 Batman costume he insisted on last year. *sigh* My little boy has his own opinion. Rats.

For those of you with little guys, Disney Store makes a FABULOUS Captain Hook costume with a gorgeous red velvet coat, and they are all on sale for 50% off right now. What.a.deal. $20 buys you a Disney store costume with awesome details and better quality fabrics, you'll spend just as much at Walmart and probably won't be nearly as satisfied. The trick is getting out of the store without buying the matching shoes, wand, tiara, tights, gloves and hairpiece. I always swear I'm going to resell the costumes on E-bay, since you can get as much or more than what you paid at the store, but they love them so much we've never been able to give up a single one before it was worn to shreds. So with no further rambling about my love of dressing up my children, prepare yourself for the cuteness:





Maybe I can talk B into being a ghost...or a mummy....a pirate? ANYTHING but a Power Ranger, PLEASE!!!!

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

B is for....

Brine. With Thanksgiving coming up in a bit, you should know about brining your bird. If you've never tried it, you owe it to yourself to give it a try. Here's the recipe I used last year and several times since. It never fails to produce a wonderfully juicy and flavorful bird.

Honey Brined Turkey I also added a few sprigs of fresh rosemary.

Sunday, October 08, 2006

Encyclopedia Project

I'm having a blogging block. I tell myself that it's because I'm busy, and why wouldn't I be with all that's going on, but really, I can't think of much to write, and what I do doesn't come out as I'd hoped. All I've managed to do is build up my draft pile these past two weeks. So I was reading a post over at Ittybitty Frog Idea's and, I decided to try doing some blogs like this. I'll start at A and write down what comes to mind. Might be fun. Might be boring like she thought the book was. Either way, it's something.

So for A, the word that comes to my mind is Albatross. Yeah, that's a little random, I know. Bear with me. According to dictionary.com:

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.0.1)
al‧ba‧tross  /ˈælbəˌtrɔs, -ˌtrɒs/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[al-buh-traws, -tros] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1. any of several large, web-footed sea birds of the family Diomedeidae that have the ability to remain aloft for long periods. Compare wandering albatross.
2. a seemingly inescapable moral or emotional burden, as of guilt or responsibility.
3. something burdensome that impedes action or progress.
4. Textiles.
a. a lightweight worsted fabric with a crepe or pebble finish.
b. a plain-weave cotton fabric with a soft nap surface.

I don't know much about birds, in fact, they kind of freak me out and I don't really like to be too close to them, unless they are chickens, then I don't mind as much. But the part about burden and impeded action, we might have something there.

What is it about being a mom that makes us guilt pros? We carry it around like an old coat. We heap it on the heads of our families. What a great tool Satan has in guilt. Sometimes, it can motivate us to action, but lets face it, usually, we just carry it around and let it drag us down to the murky depths. It allows us to dwell on what we haven't done, or haven't done well enough, or what we should have done, or what we could have done better. Often, it makes us dwell on things we shouldn't have done. What mother hasn't had at least a handful of days when she laid her head down at night and thought to herself, "all I did was yell and nag at my kids all.day.long." I think it is interesting that "impedes action or progress" comes right after the guilt and responsibility part. Does it always have to do that? Or can we find ways to use those feelings and turn it into something positive. Our lesson in Young Women today was about self esteem and feeling good about yourself. One of the classic exercises for this lesson is to list what you don't like about yourself and cross off what you can't change. We should do that with feelings of guilt. Fix what we can, and then quit beating ourselves up over it. I think I'll give that a try this week. What about you?

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Just Like The Fair!

While I try to decide which of my kids to sell so I can pay the $9-$13 dollar per head entry fee to the State Fair, I thought I'd pass along this recipe for Kettle Corn. Just as good as at the Fair and much, much, much cheaper!

1/4 cup oil (I use Olive)
2/3 cup popcorn

Heat in pot with lid, when first kernel pops, open lid and sprinkle in 1/4 cup sugar.
Shake as it pops to avoid scorching the bottom, turn into bowl and salt. It really is that easy!

Monday, October 02, 2006

Operation: Ki Ki goes in the wash.

Kids are outside playing, distracted, 9:30 am
Ki Ki enters washing machine 9:35 am
Kids come inside, 10:20 am
J demands Bonnie and Ki Ki 10:21 am
I break the news, 10:21:30 am
Text conversation between Hubster and myself at 10:22 am
Me: Stage four meltdown in progress. Blanket is in the wash. Shoot me now.
Him: Distract her.
Me: Yeah. That'll work.
Him: It always works.
Me: I'll tell her that.

I try the substitute bankie's, an effort which is met with louder screaming, and thrashing as if every blanket we own is made of molton lava, so great is the torture of having such a thing touch.on.her.skin.

Him: Give her barney vid
Me: That's what started the whole thing. I'll have her call you. That'll distract her.
Him: Tell her to knock it off or we eat Barney like we did the rooster that chased her!

Gee. Now why didn't *I* think of that?

I'm still laughing.

She's still screaming.

Ki Ki is still spinning.

B and K are stationed by the dryer door, stuffing styrofoam peanuts in their ears.