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As a homeschool parent do you ever get a cold chill when you see the government school bus pass by? Do you ever just pull your kids in close and thank God they're there with you, that they've been near you all day? I dunno... maybe I'm weird. The school bus has become to me a symbol of the sad state our society is in. I do sigh sadly when it passes by. It seems so logical once you're standing outside the system, but to those inside the system sticking your child in a big vehicle crammed full of other children nearly every day of his/her young life to transport them to a goverment institution to spend the day being comformed into the image of the State and then relying on that same vehicle to deliver them home just in time for supper... somehow this is the norm. Somehow this is logical and okay. What? Are you kidding? How? Why? I've heard from a lot of parents how horrible they felt putting their 5 or 6yr old on the bus for the first time. But they got used to it. Some even talk about how they miss their little ones being near them all day. I want to shake them (in love)! It doesn't have to be this way! Don't get me started on goverment schools... I'm just thinking of the buses right now. A friend told me just the other day of an accident that occured when she and her sister were riding the bus home from school when they were kids. The bus hit a little girl. The Mom came screaming out into the street after her but it was too late. The bus was there a long time and it was getting late. The children on the bus ended up walking home. Can you imagine? The school bus that delivers children in my parents' neck of the woods drives so fast over the hills and around the bends... My parents have tried to keep up and were unable. They live on a very narrow dirt road and the bus has nearly collided with the trash truck because the driver acts like he's the only one on the road... granted, there isn't room for anyone else. Anyway, scary. I just read a blog post about a woman who was waiting in her living room with her youngest when she heard the bus stop and drop off the 16 kids that were suppose to get off at that stop. She waited for her three but only two arrived. They searched in vain, calling the school and 911, for 45 minutes before they found him hiding in a neighbor's yard. He was six. He'd gotten into a fight with a friend on the bus and was afarid of getting in trouble at home (even though the parent's don't spank). It's not that homeschooler's are exempt from these kinds of occurences. Accidents happen. Children hide. You might someday turn around and notice one of your children missing. You could meet anyone on a narrow dirt road while in your own vehicle. But man... there's just something not right about this school bus thing! I could never, ever, put my kids on a bus! Call me overprotective, but I want my kids near me. I don't want to send them off for the better part of their young lives to make it on their own, being indocrinated by their peers and teachers I only talk to a few times a year... I want them near me not just because I don't want them there. I want them near me because I love them, I enjoy them, they are blessings to me. It's my God-given responsibility and privlage to raise them, not to pass them off to someone else! God will hold Bobby and I accountable. Just felt like ranting. You can go back to whatever it was you were doing now. |
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It just so happens that today is Thanksgiving Day... but that has nothing to do with my heart full of gratefulness. The trials the Lord is leading me through is responsible for that. Over the last few weeks we have really come to appriciate the "daily bread" of the Lord’s prayer. As we’ve learned to do without so many things (some things we thought we "needed") because of lack of work and therefore lack of finances, we have developed a sincere gratefulness for the things we have that we’ve often taken for granted. It has been hard. It’s hard to focus on the good and not complain about our misfortunes. Some days have been worse than others as I’d wallow in self-pity and make my husband feel bad for not providing for our wants. That’s the ugly truth. The beautiful truth is that as I repent before my Lord for not trusting Him, he has been faithful to teach me how to overcome, to walk with me while I overcome, to weep with me and rejoice with me as I overcome. |
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From time to time I have trouble loading data from my camera to my computer because of our ancient USB ports. But I finally got it to work and so here is a picture of my other birthday girl (turned 7 on the 17th) And here's something Bobby threw together for me out of some old metal shevles. A fire-making material organization unit:  Yeah.... a wood box. |
I'd do a couple things different next time, but Royal's happy. And it's special, made from a scrap of his late great-grandfather's shirt.
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No sooner do I get the last post up than Blue says something blogworthy, too. We've had to get onto the kids lately for goofing off. They do it without thinking sometimes and someone usually gets hurt. Well, Seth did something Blue didn't like and she told him to "Stop goosing off!" I can see that one getting used a lot from now on... |
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"I will turn him into a duck! Yes! Yes! It's so evil. Oh wait... I don't know how to do that. And I don't really need a duck. Hmm. This is going to be harder than I thought." - Bowler Hat Guy Bowler Hat Guy is the funniest cartoon villian I've seen in a long time. That's not saying much since I don't watch a lot of movies, but ya know. We don't watch TV here, but we watch some movies. Bobby rents or borrows them from time to time and the other day we watched "Meet The Robinsons" for the second time. I really enjoy it. I laughed out loud. It's not spirtually uplifting or anything, but for sheer entertainment it was refreshingly clean. There are some problems with the time travel details, but there always are. My kids are always the best entertainment, though. Seth is just at the age where he's really expressing his thoughts... and he has a lot of thoughts. And questions. He's not chatty like some kids, but he talks more than the older two. I don't know if they talked as much when they were 5, but he out-does them nowadays. With our van down we're driving the neighbor's little truck everywhere and Bobby and I take turns brining one child at a time with us on errands. It's been awhile since I went out with Seth alone. He talked a lot. He wondered a lot. "I wonder if they have to walk when they paint the lines on the road." "I wonder why my seat belt snaps in here instead of here." "I wonder how they paint the lines on the curves." Too many "wonderings" to name. He's something! I hear it around the house a lot, but got a concentrated dose that day. I love it. Tonight at dinner we had pot roast with carrots & taters and gravy. I usually bake biscuits to go with it. I peeked in the oven and realized I'd forgotten to add the baking powder. Again. The kids insisted they'd eat them anyway so we served them, but not before I whipped up a correct batch and put them in the oven. They were done halfway through dinner and when I set them on the table Seth said he wanted want of them. "They smell better because they're overcooked," he said. Mere minutes later he confessed he couldn't eat his beef, which everyone else raved about because it came out so tender. "I like it," said he, "but it's too tender." In other news, it's been 15 days since we dropped the van off at the mechanic and we'd heard nothing until yesterday when Bobby happened to be out that way. They've fixed it and we only owe $60. Yay! Sounding like it involved the transmission I was afraid it was going to cost way more. Unfortunately, every penny right now is going toward bills. Bobby has been looking for work and unable to find anything but an odd job here and there. Small odd jobs. Even the factories have long waiting lists for hiring. Slim pickin's these days. But our Father knows all our needs. The good news is that Bobby is getting a lot more done around here! Two days ago he got the woodstove hooked up and we've been using it. It's not running it's best because it needs a new catalytic combustor ($60 to get an absolute low-end one that will get us through the winter). Well, it needs a new one and we suspect that's why it's not burning as well. We're also experimenting with our variety of wood, trying to burn only the seasoned stuff but most of it's a little green. We're mixing it with seasoned slab-wood we got free from a saw mill. That stuff burns really hot. Tonight's suppose to be down to 17°... brrrr! Clear and cold the next few days. We finally had some propane delivered, so we have the furnace as a back-up. I sure like burning wood, though. It's drier, which makes my skin itch terribly, but I love the wood and the smell and how cozy it feels. I'm thankful. |
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Been out and about blogdom and wanted to share some of the things I’ve been reading. First, Ashley over at Jonash...Two of a Kind and Working on a Full House had a great post the other day called Worthwhile Reading About Children. Now, she begins the post saying, "Every now and then I come across an article or blog that just really jumps out at me. It’s my thoughts, put into words! I would highlight the parts that speak to me, but that's about everything." Then she posts the content and links from another blog, adding her own comments. I could do the same, but it would get too confusing! So please, go read Ashley’s blog. I know you do not vote, and you do not encourage others to vote. But aren't you a little concerned about this election and what might be down the road based on the result?
On the heels of that we have Herrick Kimball’s post over at The Deliberate Agrarian, Obama: America’s New Hope. As usual, Herrick gives a simple breakdown of what he perceives the problem to be (I have yet to find myself in disagreement) and what a Godly response might look like. He points out our nation’s obvious rebellion against God and says, "The proper response of a nation in times of judgment is humility and repentance before God. That is not happening. America has, instead, chosen Obama to lead them out of the despair." My stomach turns as I contemplate this reality. But I have peace in the fact that my King is bigger. His Kingdom is coming. |
 She's been wearing her hair in pigtails lately (insisting on putting them up herself, of course). Not one of my favorite styles, but I love her anyway. =)  I just finished the applique. You like? The dress is from a Simplicity pattern for a "historical" costume, without the various frills like collars and cuffs and aprons and bonnets (might make the latter two later, just for fun). I was having a hard time finding what I was looking for, even online. I did finally find http://www.commonsensepatterns.com/ and really liked what I saw, but couldn't afford the patterns and they wouldn't have got here in time anyway. |
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A friend asked me how my appointment with the OB went this morning. Here’s my email response: Anyway, I got a cool diaper bag with fun samples and a coloring book. Atira, my tag-along for the day, was pretty tickled about that. Then we went grocery shopping at this mega-cool damaged goods store we recently learned about. We save tons of money by shopping there. And we've been saving a lot by buying a ton of things at a time (nice thing about getting all your food money at once each month). Had to make room in the house to store it all, but so far, so good. |
(nevermind the boat - it came with the house and we don't know what to do with it)
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...if my fingers aren’t too stiff with cold to write. It was 30° and overcast when I did chores this morning (well, 60° inside). Frost on everything. Had to break ice on water dishes for the chickens and goats. |
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It never occured to me to question that the disciple whom Jesus loved was the Apostle John. Until someone asked me last week if I could prove it from scripture. So Bobby and I set about studying this this Sabbath. We couldn't prove it. Can you? From scripture? We can't figure how on earth the Gospel of John became accredited to John. The more we got reading, we realized there's actually evidence against it being him in the book itself, one passage in Acts, and in the other three gospels - rather, what is left out of the other three gospels. And there's some pretty hefty clues as to who it was and even why he would want to remain anonymous. And so the challenge goes out. Tell me what you find. A good, interesting study. Not time-consuming at all. The least Bible-literate of you could probably tackle it in a couple hours. We can't seem to get anyone in our fellowship interested. We have so many serious doctrinal differences I think they may be afraid we're introducing yet another serious controversial issue. But it's really a pretty harmless study, I think, as it's of no doctrinal import (that I'm aware of). But, no one likes their paradigm shifted and this does do that. It's my humble opinion that we should not be afraid to question these sorts of things, to delve in and seek out the truth. I think a lot of people are so afraid that what they've always believed (and often never even thought to question) may be erroneous that they stop seeking the truth, stop studying to show themselves approved. To make it worse, a lot of people can't even defend what they believe and are often afraid to try. I'm thinking there might be something wrong if you hold your beliefs as though you fear someone may rip them away from you. (Some of you might face this again with the Christmas season rolling around. I urge you to study scripture, seek Christ, and don't hold your traditions so tightly they become idols. Remember what Christ had to say about man's traditions.) I hold enough "off the beaten path" sorts of beliefs, I guess it makes me less afraid to test "far out" ideas than some. Yeah, I always thought it was the Apostle John... but I wasn't afraid to pray and seek, wasn't afraid to find that what I thought was true was wrong, wasn't afraid to add yet another "backwards" belief to my "collection." My beliefs have been challenged so much I've been forced to prove them to myself (from scripture, always) over and over. Honestly, sometimes it's so hard to hold them, in stark contrast to nearly everyone around me, that I'd gladly let them go and save myself a world of heartache... but I can't, when I find them full of truth every time I try them (and the heartache is always replaced by peace). And so I stand in the face of opposition, not afraid of the challenge (uh... in most cases... I'm not perfect, ya know). I learn something every time. Sometimes I do walk away with a new view, sometimes the old ones are reinforced. Sometimes, as in the case of the Gospel accredited to John, entirely new issues are brought up for consideration. But it's always good to study. |
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Bobby and some guys did some work for a family in MI a couple months ago. The Jefferies fed the guys well. This is one of the dishes Bobby enjoyed and so I requested the recipe and the Mrs. happily obliged. |
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I have to hand it to you super-canners, you women who can quarts and quarts and pints and pints of all variety of veggies through the harvest season. After chores yesterday morning I started in on my pumpkin, butternut squash and bell peppers. I didn't stop until 8:30pm. I took only a couple breaks and was on my feet most of the time. I was so pooped at the end of the day. But, it's so nice to see rows and rows of filled canning jars on my counter (still have to make room for them in the pantry). |
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If I had a favorite drink (next to plain old well water) my favorite drink would be chai tea. Here's the recipe I use: |
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Wow, Herrick has done a great job addressing this issue over at his blog. I urge you to read his essay Thomas Jefferson on Government Debt (Then & Now). The follow-up is even better, Thomas Jefferson vs Paul Krugman, Alan Greenspan, et al.. My favorite thing about Herrick's writing on such somber issues is that he is sure to point us to the Lord as our ultimate help and is quick to point out practical ways to respond. You don't have to enter a hopeless panic state. You musn't put your head in the sand. Herrick's offered some ideas in an essay I highly recommend (even if you don't read the others, read this one): An Agrarian-Style Economic Self Defense Plan Now, back to canning pumpkins & squash (yes, she's done it again! Survived pressure canning! Is she lucky? Maybe she's just very talented) and cutting up zillions of bell peppers for the freezer. It's a gorgeous day here in Fredericktown today! |
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I’m so glad I’m not exposed to the news on a regular basis. I would kind of like to know what’s going on locally but our puny local paper's subscription rate is dreadfully expensive. In a lot of towns they’ll give free subscriptions to homeschool families (as they do the government schools) but not so here. Not enough interest, I was told. At any rate, it’s probably better that I’m not ingesting such nonsense as what I found in the last paper I read (which we picked up because there were photos from the fair that included two of my darling children - "In a skirt!"). Since I did happen across this nonsense, I thought I might as well share it here and rant about it a little bit. Just like our economy needs energy to be strong and independent, we also need debt. Right now the debt that performs all of these functions is frozen. Nationally and locally, there could be dire ramifications for our factories, farms and families. Today, banks have no incentive to let go of any cash in the form of debt and no way to get more cash to lend it to consumers and local businesses. Big city banks, small town banks, it doesn’t matter. In Britain, 19 of every 20 real estate closings [are] falling through because the banks aren’t showing up with the money for the mortgage.
I’ve heard from hundreds of people in the last week who are angry that the American economy relies so much on debt (I wonder when was the last time they borrowed money?). I agree; they are absolutely right. (What? She’s starting to see the absurdity, too?) Part of the reason we are in a debt crisis is the fact that Americans on the whole spend more than we save. (gasp) For a wide range of reasons, American families are not immune from hard times; sometimes we default on our debts. (Oops, she said debt instead of credit.) Doh! She goes on about how ugly things could get and how people are upset that Wall Street will profit unduly from this bail-out plan and ends with: Doing the right thing is not always easy, but fixing this problem is the right thing to do. ----------------- (Sigh) I just don’t understand why folks don’t see this! (One of my more popular sayings.) How, in anyone’s reasoning, can a perpetuation of the same faulty, downward spiraling system be seen as a solution? If it’s worse now than it was when debt first became popular, and it obviously is or we wouldn’t need a bail-out, then what makes anyone think doing the same thing on a larger scale will get us anywhere but deeper in trouble, headed for a larger crash? I’m just a country bumpkin, but I’m thinking that we should quit before it gets worse, deal with the consequences of our sin (debt may not be, but greed is), and try, uh... something different. Something like, hmmm... living simply and within our means. It’s not exactly easy for me to say this. Bobby and I are still in debt. It was a few years ago that we were convicted about borrowing money (thanks, Dave Ramsey), repented, and we’ve only borrowed to buy our home since (sometimes wishing we hadn’t even done that). We still have $6,000 in credit card debt (from starting our business) and a $47,000 mortgage. We’re not very close to our dream of being able to live off the land as the Lord intended. The government bail-out plan would actually buy us a little time to get set up a little better for an economic crash. But honestly, we have peace that the Lord will provide all our needs. We know we’re suffering our own personal consequences from borrowing, but also know He’s forgiven us and we’ll be free in His time. We don’t want to fall into the mindset that being debt-free and set up on land with a garden and some critters removes our need for a Heavenly provider! He is and always will be our security. But, we believe this as we seek to learn and walk in His ways. We don’t just do whatever we want, spending what we don’t have to satisfy our flesh, being ignorant of the consequences and then praise God we’re covered by the blood. See the difference? A personal testimony of late: We finally have juggled all the credit card debt over to low-interest cards {which were promptly shredded, unactivated} and if we can continue at the rate we’re going, paying only minimum payments, snowballing one payment into another and throwing in a good portion of each yearly tax return, we’ll have it paid off within 2 years. If we then roll the credit card payment into the mortgage payment, we will own our home free and clear in about 7 years (and Bobby can focus all his energy into griping about why we have to pay hundreds of dollars a year for other people’s children to be indoctrinated by the government). In theory. Lord willing and the creek don’t rise and all that. Yahweh bless you and yours as you pray about your part in this crumbling economy. May we see the coming of His kingdom soon. |
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I used the pressure canner for the first time. I survived. To all my fans, thank you! Thank you very much! |
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The only thing better than a sunny, warm fall day? A cool rainy one! I tried to snap some pictures...
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Dessy
Dessy's pup, April - 6 mos old.
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I hope you've been having a good nut year elsewhere as we have hear in southeastern Missouri. And I hope you've been making the most of it! As for us, we've been learning a lot. I thought I'd take a few minutes while I'm turning the summer's tomatoes into pasta sauce and share with you some of what we've learned. This won't be real thorough as there's tons of good information on the internet that covers the topic way better than I could. So what do you do with all these nuts??? Well, we're eating them, but I suppose you could throw them at wild critters, or incorperate them into your macrame as beads or paint them or something... Another intersting thing I found out... Apparently Native Americans would grind the nut, shell and all, with a giant pestle and morter, then add water and cook for a few hours. The nut and shell would settle to the bottom and you could spoon off a nutritious and delicious broth. Go see: http://www.burntmud.com/hickorynuts.htm |
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The Lord is really, really stretching me right now. It's good. Somewhat painful, but good. I'd like to write about it but haven't seemed to be able to make time. Maybe I'm not suppose to share it yet. In the meantime, I thought I'd post this letter I wrote today to a friend who's "officially begun homeschooling" (though I suspect she started the day her first was born). She asked me about my particular method of teaching the Bible. 1"Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the Lord your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess, 2"that you may fear the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. 3"Therefore hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe it, that it may be well with you, and that you may multiply greatly as the Lord God of your fathers has promised you—'a land flowing with milk and honey.' |
  Notice the front bumper lying beside it? The driver's side tires were shot but we happened to have replacements and put those on it in order to get it on the trailer and get it home. As Bobby was drifting off to sleep last night I guess he was thinking about the way the accident happened. He realized he may have flipped end over end once and sideways once, instead of sideways twice. Wow. No wonder his back hurts this morning. Anyone wanna buy parts to a '89 Honda Accord LX? Or donate toward another $500 car? I'm so thankful there were so many people we could (and did) call on for help. Everyone who heard immediately made themselves available. A strong, local church body (community, if you will) is something everyone should have, but I know not everyone does. I pity the one who falls and has no one to help him up. One brother that Bobby called and didn't get was on his way home and starting to return the call on his cell when he came upon the scene of the accident. Being a pretty quick guy he figured that was probably why Bobby was calling him. =) |