Logos Experiment, the other half

More Things Kids Say

2009-05-12T05:56:00.000-07:00

The Oldest (to The Youngest): "Would you shave your head for me?"

The Youngest: "No!"

The Oldest: "I want to rub the stubble as it grows in."

2009-05-01T10:45:00.000-07:00

The boys had testing the beginning of the week. For the most part, they do well with testing. We test with the homeschool group, so they see their friends and get to eat a variety of snacks. Testing is secondary to them. I asked The Youngest how he did after the math part of the test. He said he didn't finish them. I said that was ok, and asked if he just didn't get to a few at the end. No, he said he didn't finish many of them. I asked what the problem was and he said he couldn't get the answer and went on and then couldn't get the answer and went on and couldn't get the answer. I told him how the test may not give him the answer as one of his choices and he should have chosen the last answer which was that the answer was not given. He said that wasn't it. He couldn't keep up with the numbers in his head and didn't want to use the scrap paper!!! I was quite irritated with him. I got a chance to look at his answer sheet, he attempted 8 out of 27 problems. It's a good thing the state doesn't require him to preform at a given level in order for me to continue homeschooling him.

They are having triples at Harris Teeter again this week. This is what I got in one of my trips:
Tetley tea bags
2x Hormel Completes meals
Ortaga taco seasoning
Ortaga refried beans
2x Lipton noodles
McCormick chili powder
Uncle Ben's rice
Texas Toast croutons
2x Snyder pretzels
Eat Smart crisps

Total paid: $2.50
Total saved with sale prices and coupons: $26.74
It was a good trip.

2009-04-20T10:02:00.000-07:00

So, our church had a Block Party on Easter Sunday. I think it was very successful. We estimate that there was around 200 people throughout the day and we served lunch to about 100. There was a nice mix of people there. We had college students and Indy Rockers along with the local people from the neighborhood. There was a story about it on the local 11:00 news and a front page article in the paper. The article in the paper mentioned God or Jesus 7 times and beer once. The beer mention got the debate. It was a long day, but worth it.

God has a good sense of humor. Yesterday, we, the existing Harmony Church members, were hoping and praying for new people to come to church. We had at least 3 new people. There were two others I didn't recognize so maybe 5 new people. We average about 20-30 people in worship each Sunday. So 3 to 5 new people is a good thing. God answered our prayers. The thing is, none of the new people were there because of the Block Party or the coverage of the Block Party. I guess God wants to make sure we know that He will provide for our growth. We need to remember to give thanks and glory to God, even when He does things His way and not ours.

2009-04-06T05:14:00.000-07:00

Saturday was the Youth Arts Festival. It is run by the university students as part of a class on promoting art in the community. It is a very well run event. We had a table with the Heart Art jewelry and another for kids to make bracelets, pins, refrigerator magnets, or paper airplanes. The weather was beautiful and everyone had a great time. The table for the kids to make things was a community service project for our home group. We will be doing more at the Umbrella Market.

Next Sunday our church is having a Block Party. We spent all last evening on the final plans. We will have free food, prizes and music. There will be a clothing swap and games. It should be fun if our advertising does its job.

Last week My Mother came back for the glazing of the pottery. It went well. We had one bowl that had a hole in it. The boy who made it was hoping for a cereal bowl, but now he has a flower pot. We go tomorrow to pick up the finished pieces.

2009-03-19T07:14:00.000-07:00

My mother and The Husband's mother were here this week. The Husband's Mother came Sunday. She went with us to our home group and then spent the night. On Monday, I took her to visit her aunt who was in the hospital in Chapel Hill. It was a lot of driving, but The Husband's Mother was pleased with the visit. I thought she would visit longer, so I brought my crochet to work on. I didn't get much done. She left that evening.

About an hour after she left, My Mother came. She did a pottery project with the boy's 4-H club. She has done something with them every year, sometimes at her house, sometimes here. This year we went to the Parks and Rec building to use their pottery studio. The younger children made coil bowls. It was a good project for them because it was really something they did by themselves. The older kids worked on the wheel. That was very exciting for them. They each made a bowl/cylinder type thing with varying degrees of help from her. She was very patient with them and worked with each one. She had to work throwing pots bent over the wheel or kneeling down beside it with her hands over the kids' hands. A few of the moms were able to try it also. It was a great day. Every year after we are done, she tells me how much fun she had. She asks multiple times if I thought the kids had fun. She makes sure to have me tell everyone thank you for letting her come. She makes it sound like we are doing her a favor, when really, we are so grateful she comes.

While working on the wheel, she told the moms we should come to her house for a Moms' Weekend and we could spend the day working on the wheel by ourselves. I wasn't sure if she was joking or not until later when we were talking at Starbucks. She started telling me plans for the Mom's weekend. She said she can probably borrow a few wheels and she could take us to Seagrove and show us around and if she gets a new boat before then, we can eat dinner drifting down the lake. Even if no one else can go I think I'll take her up on the offer.

After all the work she did with the kids, I asked her to take mine home for me. I had a social to go to with the organization that runs the Umbrella Market where we sell jewelry. She agreed and The Oldest was going to make dinner when they got home. I forgot to send the key with them. They made the best of it and went to Wendy's for dinner. They tried to call me, but there was live music at the social and I couldn't hear the phone. I felt so badly. I hope she still comes back to do the glazing on the pottery!

2009-03-11T12:29:00.000-07:00

Praise the Lord, The Healer of Goats (see http://www.121689.blogspot.com/ ) and The Provider of Timers!

The Oldest and I went out yesterday to visit dentist offices to request donations for his project at Third Street School. Just about every place we went gave him something. He was excited to see God working to provide what he needed. But, not many of the offices supplied patients with sand timers to help younger children know how long to brush. The Health Department Person suggested timers would be a very good thing for 3 and 4 year olds to have. So, we were concerned about getting the timers and we weren't receiving many. About 5:00 we stopped because the offices were closed. We went to Walgreens and Target and The Dollar Store looking for timers. We couldn't find any. I told the oldest we would have to trust God to provide the 25 we had left to get.

This morning, during prayer time, I said "Thank you Lord for the timers you have provided us". The Oldest got excited and asked when someone had called and how many timers did we get. I told him we hadn't received the call yet, but I knew we would. I talked to Brad (he is helping with the project) about the timers, and told him what we needed and asked if he could check one more dentist office. He did and we got 25 timers!! God is good!

2009-03-02T05:30:00.000-08:00

I think the last time I washed dishes was Friday and I still don't have a pile to do!! Saturday was my birthday and I always ask my family to make it so I don't have to was dishes on my birthday. Sunday we were out all day. My family really makes me feel loved sometimes.

Last week the 4-H went to Give 2 the Troops to pack 100 boxes of supplies to send to troops overseas. You can see a report here: http://www.wnct.com/nct/news/local/article/celebrating_a_birthday_by_giving_to_others/32393/

I am involved in organizing three "events" this month. First, the church is helping out at Third Street School. I am the coordinator between the school and the church. I have arranged to take coffee and doughnuts this Friday during the teacher workday. I hope to get the volunteers matched with a teacher and started in a classroom.

Next Friday, The Oldest has his oral hygiene program at the school. It is his project, but I have to help. I really hope it goes well for him.

In a few weeks, my mom comes to do a pottery project with the 4-H group. This is an annual event, but we have stepped it up this year. We are taking the kids to the pottery studio at the parks and rec department to do pottery on the wheel with the older kids, the younger kids get to do a hand building project. It should be an all day thing for us. If you've never done it before, pottery on the wheel is much harder than it appears.

2009-02-23T06:16:00.000-08:00

It has been a busy 2 weeks. We had achievement night for the 4-H. The Oldest got county champion for one of his project books, a bronze level award for his achievement record and reporter of the year. The Youngest is not old enough for the competition level yet. He did a great job on his project record.

The 4-H hosted a talent show for the home school group. The Oldest got second place for a comedy routine he did. The Youngest played the piano and enter a photo in the photography contest. I was very proud of him playing the piano in front of people. It wasn't long ago that I had to force him to lead the Pledge of Allegiance in front of his friends at a 4-H meeting. He has come a long way.

The Husband's Grandma worked for God even in her funeral. One of her great-nieces talked to The Husband there. She is recently moved to Greenville. He invited her to call us if she needed anything and invited her to church with us. She came yesterday and seemed to be effected by God's presence. God worked through Grandma to reach The Husband and hopefully the niece. God's Glory is showing through her legacy as it did in her life.

2009-02-11T04:50:00.000-08:00

The Husband's grandmother is a wonderful woman. She is 89 years old. She still has a garden, chickens, and cows. She takes food to many older people, most of whom are younger than she is. She still drives, but only in the day time and never on the highway. She visits people in nursing homes and the hospital every week. She is sometimes called the chewing gum lady because every letter she sends has a stick of chewing gum in it, usually Juicy Fruit. She sends many cards and letters. Most people call her Aunt Mary. She is the oldest of 12 children, so she is aunt, great aunt or great-great aunt to many people. Before the driving restrictions, she was at every church event at her church and many at other churches. Among the few possessions I have that I truly treasure are the quilts she has made for me and my family.
The Husband's Grandmother died on Monday. She is celebrating with Jesus, but many, many people are going to miss her.

2009-01-30T08:12:00.000-08:00

We went to a meeting last weekend to start to organize volunteers at the church. One of the opportunities presented was a missions trip to Ecuador. The Oldest wants to go, and would probably prefer to go without a parent. I am the more lenient parent. The Husband is still uncomfortable with him crossing the street by himself. But even I am not letting him go to Ecuador without a parent. Luckily, you have to be a rising 9th grader to go.
I talked with the leader of the Ecuador trip and we decided to "train" him to be ready to go in a few years. The Oldest and the Ecuador leader are organizing a missions trip to downtown Greenville. They met about it last night. The trip to Ecuador is a medical missions trip, so they are going to mimic that here. They are going to sponsor a dental health training class for the students at the Third Street School. I'm much more comfortable with him going on this missions trip.

2009-01-16T06:05:00.000-08:00

It's time to get ready to do the taxes. Gathering the information is not so bad, except for one part... the inventory. We have to take inventory of the jewelry. Counting all those earrings and beads is just not fun. The rest of the information is not so bad, just collect the statements as they come in.

The Husband met with someone last night to do wedding jewelry. We need to advertise more that he can make custom wedding jewelry, but advertising at wedding shows is too expensive. They charge a lot for the booths.

I've given both boys a goal for the rest of the school year. The Youngest needs to remember things he hears, reads, or does. I read something to him and ask him a question and his answer is always "I don't know. I can't remember." The Oldest's goal is similar. His is to remember the details. I give him and assignment and tell him to skip this part or to write in cursive or something like that. He just does the assignment. He wants to buy a tape recorder to tape me and prove I didn't say what I said. It could never be him!

2009-01-04T05:06:00.000-08:00

In Cincinnati we had a lot of wedding preparations. The Boys needed to get fitted for their tuxedos. I got my nails done with The Mom and The Sisters. We had to put table favors together. There was a hospitality room that we had to stock with drinks and snacks. We had the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner. Then, hair, makeup and the wedding.

The church was a Catholic Church. It is beautiful with stain glass everywhere. The ceremony was about an hour and 15 minutes. That is something I haven't been able to get used to. The weddings I have been to in NC (except for my own) have all been maybe 15 minutes. It almost doesn't seem worth the trouble of getting all dressed up. I thought it was a beautiful ceremony in a beautiful setting. The Oldest read the first reading. I was very proud of him. He did a great job. He and I got compliments all night. The Youngest would not do anything like that. He handed out the noise makers and New Year's Eve hats at the reception.

The reception also lasted a long time (it seems receptions in NC last maybe 2 hours at the longest). It was a full dinner, dancing, and ringing in the New Year. We had a great time. At the rehearsal and the reception, I was nominated to make the toasts from our side of the family. The Youngest Sister and I talked a few times and worried about what to say and who would say it. I finally got an inspiration while I was still in bed that morning. I think it turned out all right.

So The Middle Sister is married and now on her honeymoon. I'm very proud of the woman she has become. May God bless her, her husband, and their marriage.

2009-01-03T05:17:00.000-08:00

ECU lost. They were up the first half, then fell apart for the second half.

So, to continue with our travels. We left from the museum and headed to Gatlinburg. Along the way we saw a small truck flip over. It veered off the side of the road and there was a 8 to 10 foot drop off that side. Both passengers walked away. It was very scary. The Youngest cried some, until with tears in his eyes he said "Punch buggy yellow" and we laughed at him.

We got to Gatlinburg, checked into the hotel and went out to dinner. When we got back to the hotel, the kids wanted to go swimming, so I took them. It was an outdoor pool and hot tub. They both swam in both pools, quickly in the regular pool. The next day we went into Gatlinburg and saw the aquarium and the Guinness Book of Records museum. Both gave us a discount with our home school card. Otherwise, we may not have gone to either. The aquarium was nice. The Guinness museum was a bit cheesy, but The Oldest loved it. They had a display of the oldest living man. He was alive when both Lincoln and Kennedy were killed. I found that interesting. Then we went shopping. Dinner was bbq, then back to the hotel. The next day, we went to The Great Smoky Mountain National Park and hiked to a water fall. It was a paved trail, but it was still raining when we got there and we didn't want to get too muddy. The Husband kept pointing out all the plants, lichen, and mushrooms we saw. I pointed out all the stunning views of the mountains. It was good to have both views. God makes beautiful, interesting things both big and small. Then we went to the art trail. It is an eight mile loop that has over 100 local made art and craft stores. Things from jewelry and leather to paintings and sculptures. Many were closed because it was Sunday, but by the time we were done, we had seen enough. Dinner was bbq again, then we went to The Comedy Barn for a show. It started slow, but parts were very funny. The next day was time to head to Cincinnati for the wedding preparations. But on the way we stopped at the Smoky Mountain Knife Works which they claim is the biggest knife store in the world. I would have never thought we could spend three hours there and not see it all. They had all kinds of knives, swords, pocket knives and kitchen knives. The Husband and The Boys are talking about a trip next Thanksgiving so they can do all their Christmas Shopping there.

I have to stop again. Tomorrow... Cincinnati.

2009-01-02T13:37:00.000-08:00

Almost a month since I've blogged! I guess that's December. Even though we stop school for the month, we still have things to do. 4-H project records, achievement records, community service project record and officer recommendations are all due by December 31. Then there's Christmas to get ready for. Again, even though we had Christmas with my family at Thanksgiving, there was still plenty left to be done. Then, there was a wedding to get ready for. The Middle Sister is married!! She had a beautiful ceremony on New Year's Eve. More about that later.

We have not been home for what seems like a long time. It started before Christmas. We went on the 23rd to see the Nutcracker with 4-H. It was just the second act, but it was free. We had a good time. Christmas Eve was spent with the in-laws. We had lunch together and then opened presents. A trip to Great-Grandma's house isn't finished without a walk to the field to see the cows.

We had Christmas morning at home with presents and breakfast. It was nice, but a little rushed. We usually don't go anywhere Christmas day and we like it that way. This year we went to my Mom's house. It was her first Christmas without my Dad, and no one wanted her to be alone. My other sisters both had other obligations, so we went. I wouldn't have had it any other way. We probably won't make it a yearly tradition. It was a nice evening with her. Quiet since we had all ready had the major Christmas party. We went with her to The Mint Museum of Craft and Design the day after Christmas to see an exhibit on art-jewelry. It was very interesting.

I'll have to finish our Christmas-New Year's travels later. ECU is in the Liberty Bowl starting in about ten minutes.

2008-12-04T04:28:00.000-08:00

It feels weird having Christmas half done already. We had a great time.

My friend blogged about stargazing the other day and inspired us to go out ourselves. It was amazing. We saw Venus. It was not too exciting. Just an almost round white light. We saw Jupiter. We could see the stripes and a little of the coloration of Jupiter. We saw some of Jupiter's moons, at least four. We looked at the moon and could see the craters. The Youngest said it looked like a golf ball. We are going to try to go out again and look at the moon when it is full.

What I'm Thankful For

2008-11-27T04:04:00.000-08:00

I'm thankful for my Jesus. He is my King. Through His love, I have the rest of my list.

The Husband
The Oldest
The Youngest
My Mom
My Sisters
My Niece
My Grandmother
My Brothers-in-Law and soon to be Brother-in Law
My 4-H friends
My church family
My country

Coffee
Home
Internet
New tile grout
New car
Old cars
Homeschooling
New furniture
Old furniture
A warm fire
Free firewood
Coupons
Other people scrap booking for me
Crochet
And so much more

2008-11-22T06:18:00.000-08:00

Well, the congress is holding hearings. I went over budget on the tile work in the bathroom and The Oldest found the receipt. Part was the president's (aka, The Husband) charges because he found more work for them to do. Part was mine because I found more work for them to do. But, the bathrooms looks great. I have to wait until Monday to mop. I can't wait to see the final outcome.

2008-11-19T06:00:00.000-08:00

We had a great day yesterday. The church we are going to is encouraging people to volunteer at a local low-income, high-risk public preschool. The boys and I went yesterday to volunteer. We spent about an hour playing with them and reading to them. The boys enjoyed it and it seemed they were useful and encouraging to the kids. We have done other volunteer work that hasn't gone as well; work that was not easily done by children. Then, we went to Give 2 the Troops to pack Christmas boxes for the troops. That was good work for them to do also. Everything seems to get packed, and then packed and then packed some more. First in zip lock bags, then in stockings or goody bags, then in boxes. I also got to go crochet last night at the tea shop/book store. It was a good day.

I have someone coming today to re grout the bathroom floors. I asked The Husband if I could spend some money without telling him what it was for. He was worried and told me to get The Congress (aka, the boys) to approve the request. I'm hoping it goes well and encourages The Husband to let me get started on some other, bigger projects around the house.

2008-11-06T14:29:00.000-08:00

Well, I made it to triple coupons at Harris Teeter yesterday. It is the first time in a long time that I have made it on the first day. I'm going out of town today and I will not be able to go the rest of the weekend. So, it was worth the extra gas to make a special trip. I really did well. A while ago, HT had a promotion where you got a $25 gift card if you transferred a perscription to their pharmacy. You also got a $10 electronic coupon on your loyalty card for each perscription filled, including the perscription you earned the gift card with. So, I still had the $10 e-coupon and money left on the gift card that I used to shop with my coupons. I spent just under $2.00. Some of the things I got were: 2 loafs of bread, laundry detergent, 3 containers of disenfecting wipes, 3 boxes of tissues, smoked sausage, whipped cream, cereal, 6 cans of soup, yeast, condensed milk, and worstershire sauce. It was a good day.

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Last night at dinner we were talking to the kids about what they needed to pack for their boy's weekend with The Husband. We told them they needed clean under ware. The Oldest asked why they needed under ware for a boy's weekend. I told them "Real men wear clean under ware." The Youngest replied "But rednecks don't."

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I'm ready for my weekend with my mom and sisters. The kids have been getting to me lately. They just can't seem to talk to one another. They have to whine, yell, hit or push instead.

2008-10-31T04:21:00.000-07:00

The Youngest turned 8 yesterday. It doesn't seem like my youngest should be 8 yet. I try hard to remember how I treated The Oldest when he was 8. I think I baby The Youngest some. It is easy to do. He is smaller in size than the The Oldest was. He likes to snuggle me. The Oldest was over that long before then, although he will still let me in private if I ask. The Youngest does not like to talk to other adults. He is getting better, but he doesn't like it.

The Husband's family came to visit yesterday and celebrate the birthday. I just really have a problem with my mother-in-law. I try not to let it effect the kids relationship with her too much. Some of the things are just because I don't like her and I know I need to get past them. Some of the things I think she shows The Husband and I a lack of respect. Some of the things are just plain wrong. I just have to keep smiling when she is here.

2008-10-24T04:46:00.000-07:00

I think The Oldest is growing up. We went to the State Fair yesterday and while we were walking out, he said he had a great time. In the past, when we have gone to the fair he has not been very excited about it. We don't do the rides and he always felt let down because he sees the rides and wants to go on them. We go in the "Village of Yesteryear". It is a building with people demonstrating and selling handmade items, mostly crafts that people have been doing for years: spinning yarn, pottery, metal smiths, etc. It has always been my favorite part of the fair. We go in the buildings to look at the craft winners. They had a tent about conservation and going green this year. We go in the business exhibit halls; you can still get Mt. Olive pickles for 50 cents, but milk has gone up to 75 cents. So, The Oldest is starting to enjoy what his parents enjoy and not being so envious of the things he can't do. The Youngest still focuses on the rides, but I think he had fun, too.

On the way home, we always ask "What was you favorite thing?" The Husband: "Muscadine grape cider slushies." The Oldest: "The rabbit skin I got." Me: "The handmade yarn I bought." The Youngest: "I can't remember."

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We're back down to 4 cars. We donated the Contour to the community college. We took it back to the dealership and they fixed the wiring one more time so the check engine light is off. But I still didn't feel comfortable trying to sell it knowing the wiring is so fragile. The man at the community college said we could rest assured ours would not be the last headache the car gave someone. I think it was a good decision.

2008-10-16T10:39:00.000-07:00

I wrote this a while back.

I have a friend that I talk with about all sorts of different things. She is a socialist and I am definitely not. We were discussing politics relating to welfare and a universal health care plan. We are completely on opposite sides of the arguments, but we love Jesus and each other enough to discuss these things openly and without hurt feelings. (Everyone should have a friend like that.) During this conversation, she made a statement that has been with me ever since. I’ve been debating it in my own mind back and forth. She said, “Socialism is a Christian form of government.”The part of me that agrees with her goes to the story in Acts, Chapter 2 about how the early followers of Christ came together and “had all things in common”. They didn’t have any personal property. They sold everything they had and divided it among the community. They worked and ate together. To me, this says socialism. Then later, in Chapter 6, we see the need for a welfare system. It seems it was too much work for twelve people to pray and study and spread God’s word plus divide the food and property evenly. So, they hired seven social workers to help. This system worked and their number “increased greatly”. To me, this says socialism was given a stamp of approval from God.But then, like I said, I am definitely not a socialist. I don’t want the government in control of this and telling me what kind of house I can have, how much food I can have, what kind of toys I get to play with and what kind of car I can drive. I like my things. I like the feeling I get when I work hard and earn enough money to buy the things I want, even if I don’t need them. And then I look at how we in the U.S. have the richest poor people in the world. We do not have massive starvation. I heard a statistic a while back that one of the growing health problems among our poor people was obesity. We don’t have cities of people living in cardboard boxes and drinking sewer water. Don’t get me wrong, we do have people who are poor and hungry and homeless, but not like I hear it is in other parts of the world where whole societies are destitute. To me, this says a free market society has been given a stamp of approval from God.So, I’ve come up with the argument against socialism. In the same stories in Acts, the Christians did not give their problems to the government to solve for them. They didn’t demand the government to come up with a system of food stamps to feed their widows. They found a way to continue to do it themselves. They kept the poor people in their community and took care of them. They kept the relationship with the needy and didn’t outcast them. They committed to living sacrificially and in community. I don’t see God commanding them to live this way. No one says “God told me we should do this.” In the Acts, Chapter six story of hiring social workers, God doesn’t give anyone a vision of a way to solve the problem. Instead, they have a town meeting and present their proposed solution. The solution seems acceptable to the community, so they go with it. So maybe, God’s stamp of approval in blessing them with increased numbers is approving of their desire to work together for a common solution and not just approving the particular solution they came up with. Maybe God is approving of their desire to keep the poor with them. Maybe God is approving of their accepting the responsibility themselves and not passing it along to someone else. Maybe God approves of all this, maybe not. The Bible just says their numbers increase. My desire is for God’s Church to increase. Their method of keeping the poor in their community worked to increase God’s Church. So, I want the church communities taking care of each other and not the government taking care of us. I want God’s Church to increase, not the government. So I guess my conclusion to my friends statement "Socialism is a Christian form of government" is that I want to be the socialist, not the government. How about that, I want to be a socialist! My friend won't believe me.

2008-10-14T04:11:00.000-07:00

The Oldest and I were struggling yesterday with writing. I still cannot figure out why he has such a problem with writing a paragraph. I have tried to take out all the obstacles I can think of. He can type it on the computer, or yesterday, I offered to type for him. The assignment was to write about his favorite food. After we got past the problem about "favorite", he could not come up with a topic sentence. I think he is going to hate it, but after this grammar book, we are going to spend some time writing paragraphs.

Then, later in the day he needed help with a computer game. I hate trying to figure out problems with loading/installing/running computer games. I got really frustrated and yelled at him. I later had to go around and apologize to the hole family. I have to work on that.

2008-10-09T11:32:00.000-07:00

I watched the gubenatorial debate last night. It was so different from the presidential debates. One of the main canidates was not there. The Repbulican canidate and the Libertarian canidate were. They were both well spoken. I don't think either of the presidential canidates speak that well when it's not a prepared speech. The two canidates on several questions completely agreed with each other. Sometimes it think if one of the presidential canidates said the sky was blue, the other would have to disagree. It reminds me of my children sometimes. Then, they two canidates both answered the question that was asked of them instead of talking about whatever they wanted to. It was very interesting to me. I think I will try to watch the next one. The Democrat canidate is supposed to be there.

2008-10-08T06:53:00.000-07:00

I have been immersed in politics lately. Sarah Palin was in town speaking last night. The Husband and The Oldest went to see her. Turns out, I could have gone also. They had more tickets available at the door. Instead, The Youngest and I went to a "Political Meet and Greet" sponsored by the 4-H and chaired by a member of our 4-H group. They had a few candidates cancel because Palin was in town, but it was a good evening. Most of the candidates I can't vote for because I am in a different county. But, it was still good. The Youngest didn't like it, go figure. I watched the presidential debate also. I really think deadlock in government is a good thing. The less they do, the better. We have so many laws and programs, we cannot enforce or support what we have. I think if everything could be made simpler, it would be better. I think the economy is in trouble because they don't seem to understand the problem. The problem is that everyone from the government to the businesses to the population spend money they don't have. They borrow money without a plan to pay it back. No one seems to be able to say no to their desires and therefore, their needs eventually cannot be supported. I heard in the debate that the credit has to be able to flow or business will not be able to make payroll. I just don't understand how a business can survive if they cannot earn enough money from selling their goods and services to pay their employees. You should not have to take a loan to pay your workers. Loans should be for expansion with a clear plan of the new income that will be generated to pay the loan back. People never seem to look for the least expensive house or car they can find. They look for the biggest house or car they can get a loan for. Government never seems to understand they cannot spend money they don't have. It really doesn't matter how good the program is or how many people it will help. If the money is not there, you can't do it.

I think I've ranted enough for now. We have to go start school work.

2008-09-29T04:46:00.000-07:00

Mom's show went great! She had the best display. Hers was at different levels and in different areas of her space. Some of the others just had shelves. I made her cry... I sent her flowers and she got them Friday during setup with some of the other potters around. She said they all got a tear.
Friday night was an invitation only reception. They had food and they had a local winery do a wine tasting. There were a lot of people there. At one point, the line at the cash register was 5 or 6 people deep. It was a good night.
Saturday was open to the public. They did a good job marketing the event. They did a banner in the town, posters everywhere, they mailed postcards, and had several newspaper articles written about them. There was a steady flow of people in the gallery and at the cash register. Mom said the gallery did more sales for this show than they have since they opened.

On another note, the President and the Congress have said they have an agreement on the bail out package. I'm very sad. I have heard several people say we have to restore the flow of credit; that the banks need to be able to start giving out loans again. I have a problem with an economy that can only work on borrowed money. I think it would be better to have an economy that worked on making and doing things. I think we should have things instead of loans. I don't know how a government that doesn't make anything can help solve that, but maybe they could stop encouraging so many loans.
The T.V. announcer just asked about the presidential candidates "Who will handle your money better, Barack Obama or John McCain?" I think I will handle MY money better, thank you very much!
I better turn off the T.V. or I will be worked up all day.

2008-09-26T03:43:00.000-07:00

We have had a very busy week. We were out all day Tuesday with eye doctor appointments, geography, the kids are in art class, and I went to a group that gets together to knit/crochet. Thursday, we had to turn in fair entries. We had art work, jewelry, pottery, jam and poems to turn in. We also had hair appointments and we went to Cold Stone Creamery for free ice cream. Today we have co-op classes starting. The Oldest is taking "Red Herrings", literature and P.E. The Youngest is taking two science classes and "Little Buccaneers". I am co-teaching "Evaluating Viewpoints". After co-op, we leave to go see Mom.

I am so proud of my Mom. She is having her first pottery show this weekend. I think I have told everyone about it, even the hair stylist. I am so excited to go see her and support her. I miss Daddy. He would not be able to stop grinning, just like I can't. I love you Mom.

2008-09-17T03:43:00.000-07:00

The car is so cute. We fit in it well. It doesn't feel like a small car when your in it. All the groceries and the cooler fit in the back last Sunday. I am very pleased with it.

The Virginia trip was great. First we went to the Petersburg National Battlefield. We learned about the siege that took place there, how to fire a cannon, how they took care of the wounded, and about the crater. I found the crater story interesting. Near the end of the siege, someone from the Union army presented a plan to dig a tunnel under the Confederate army, fill it with gun powder and blow it up. The generals didn't think it would work, but said they could try. The guys with the idea were from Pennsylvania where they do a lot of coal mining, so they got it done. The crater formed from the explosion was big. It was very interesting.

Then we went to the Virginia Air and Space Museum. We had a class on how to build a roller coaster, a demonstration on simple machines, and IMAX movie called "Fighter Pilot", and a tour of the museum. I didn't know this before, but The Youngest was born on the first day people started living in space. It was the first day the space station was inhabited. They also had a flight simulator set up in an old commercial airplane. The kids really liked that. They set it up so passengers sitting in the first class seats would see ground or sky depending on what was going on in the flight simulator. There was a lot of simulated crashing.

It was a good trip. All the tour guides were very informative and dealt well with the kids. Some of the other people (like the hotel clerk) were not nice to deal with. We had a great time. We have the best 4H group.

2008-09-12T03:39:00.000-07:00

It's here! The car came in yesterday afternoon. They will have it ready this afternoon and we are going to go test drive it. If we don't find anything wrong during the test drive, we will bring it home. The salesman said it is black.
I will have to get the boys up early to do school work today. We need to be done before we go get the car. We have a trip to Virginia on Monday/Tuesday next week. We will go to the Petersburg Battlefield and the Air and Space Museum. We just got the itinerary for the battlefield. We have some classes lined up that sound very interesting.

Date Night

2008-09-09T04:51:00.000-07:00

The Husband and I got to go out to dinner the other night... alone. It was a nice, relaxed evening. The church gave all the married couples a night out. They gave us a gift certificate for dinner and they got together and watched the kids. I was very impressed they thought of watching the kids for us. As I've said before, they are a young group of people, in college, or just out of college. So, it was nice that they thought of the details. They fed the kids, had a time of worship, played basketball, did some crafts, and played video games. The kids told us all about their evening and had a lot of fun. It was a good evening for everyone.

The hurricane has delayed the cars arrival. Maybe it will come in today.

2008-09-05T05:32:00.000-07:00

The pre-football party has been canceled. The hurricane couldn't stay away long enough. It looks like The Husband and The Oldest won't be able to go dove hunting again. Maybe next weekend.

2008-09-04T04:16:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy but boring week around here. We have had plenty to do, but all the same stuff. Tuesday, as usual, was our day in town. We ran errands, had a 4H meeting and a geography co-op. The Husband had a bad day at work that day. Employee problems. He didn't get to meet us at the dealership to get the truck looked at again, so we had to go back to town Wednesday for that.

Tomorrow, the church is meeting at the local, pre-football game party. We will be helping with set up, checking id's, selling Pepsi and pouring beer and wine. It sounds like a good time. I hope the hurricane stays away long enough.

The Husband and The Oldest went dove hunting last weekend for opening day. They came home with 22 doves. The Oldest shot 4 of them, 2 while The Husband was at another stand. We had some for dinner last night. I fixed the sides to go with them and The Husband fixed the doves. After dinner, he said thanks for helping with dinner. I said thanks for not making me clean or cook dove. That's really best for me to be able to eat the dove is for me not to see it until it looks like meat instead of a bird.

Car Problems

2008-08-31T06:10:00.000-07:00

Since I graduated college in 1989, The Husband (then boyfriend) and I have had 7 vehicles. We still have four of them. Having four old vehicles, you might think the problems never stop, but really we have been blessed. The maintenance requires some time, but the problems have been few. Until this past month that is.

The truck we have to pull the boat failed its inspection. They said there is a hole in the muffler, something (I don't remember what) is loose and it needs new tires. So The Husband took it to the dealership. The dealership said it didn't have a hole, nothing was loose and the tires were worn, but would probably be all right for a little longer. The Husband ordered tires from another store and had them put on. When he went out to the truck after the new tires had been put on, they weren't the tires he had ordered. Turns out, you can't get the tires he wanted in the size he asked for, so they replaced them with another kind of tire, but forgot to tell him. So he did a little more research and found that you can get the tires he wanted in a size that is just slightly different than what he asked for. So, they are ordering them now. So, while he had new tires on the truck, he thought he would get the inspection done. Back to the store where he had the inspection done. They put the truck up on the lift and brought him out and showed him the hole and the thing that is loose. So now he has to take it back to the dealership and show them the hole and the loose thing. It took $195 dollars to fill the gas tank on this truck before he started and its almost gone from driving back and forth.

Meanwhile, the car he normally drives to work has had the check engine light on and the air conditioner doesn't work. So, the took that to the dealership. (The same dealership as the truck.) It took almost 2 weeks and $1600 to get it fixed. But on the way just down the street for lunch, it stalled out 3 times. He looked at the engine and all the wires were left exposed and were touching each other so they shorted out. Back to the dealership with it. They covered the wires and sent it home with him. It only took two days for the check engine light to come back on and now the air conditioner works intermittently. This car was made in 1996, so we don't want to put any more money in it.

So, after all that, the motorcycle The Husband has been talking about getting has turned into a NEW CAR!!!! He started doing research as to what would be best and decided on a Honda Fit. They are very popular now because they get good gas mileage and have a good safety rating. He couldn't find one anywhere withing an hour drive to look at. He was struggling with what to do. He doesn't like talking to car salesmen and he thinks he knows all the answers they will give him. He stopped at another store to look at a second choice and the salesman tried to convince him he should get something different. He didn't like that, he knows what he wants. I talked him into going to the Honda dealership and asking about the Fit. The salesman said they had just gotten one in! It hadn't even been thought their shop to get things like power door locks connected, but we could look at it. He came back about a minute later and said it had all ready been sold, but we could still look at it. He brought it out and The Husband got to drive it from one side of the lot to the other where the couple that were buying it were filling out paperwork. It is a very small car, but he fits in it comfortably. The back is plenty big for the boys. And, the cargo area seems to be big enough to fit the cooler for when we do our grocery shopping. We have our name on the list to be the first to check out the next one that comes in which should be September 8. I haven't bought new cars often in my life, so I am very excited!

2008-08-28T05:58:00.000-07:00

Well, nothing much has inspired me to blog lately. I lead a boring life.

The Oldest was scratched by a cat about a month ago. It got infected. I didn't know a cat scratch infection was hard to treat. He is responding well and it seems to be going away.

The Youngest is doing well with no teeth. He looks so cute to me. The doctor said the new teeth may take a while to come in.

We had the pastor and his new wife over for dinner last night. They make me feel old. They are both right around 23 years old. To me, he shows wisdom from the "pulpit" (we meet in a bar, so there really isn't a pulpit), but not always in other settings. They both seem humble and willing to learn. We told them about some of the churches we have been to over the years. Thinking back, I am grateful for the last church we attended. It was a good place for us. They let us heal before moving on to this church. This is a new church and they are growing. I think God will have us in more of a leadership role here. I don't think we could have handled leadership again without some time to heal in between.

Back from Surgery

2008-08-20T09:13:00.000-07:00

We're back. The Youngest made it through his surgery just fine. The nurse said he was their favorite patient. She said he really did well with the I.V. Dad got him a Nintendo DS while he was waiting to get his medicine. I think the tooth fairy will pay a little less than planned for these teeth. The game seems to be working better than the Tylenol did. He is not complaining about pain and says he wants to try to eat a little. All is well.

More Things Kids Say

2008-08-17T06:41:00.000-07:00

The church we go to went Saturday to help college kids move into their dorms. On Friday, while we were deciding whether to go, I asked The Oldest if he want to go. He said yes and gave me 2 reasons. "First to build muscles. And second, if we improve the time line of the students enough, they will have more time to study and may one day find a cure for cancer." Sometimes I just love the way his mind works.

Helping the college students was interesting. I don't remember such a big process of moving into dorms. They had the roads closed, lines for check in at the dorms, people directing traffic, signs everywhere helping with where to go, and dollies available for check out. Maybe it was because I moved into the dorms early because diving practice started early, but I just don't remember all that. I also don't remember having so much stuff with me. There were several church groups there helping. They would find a student unpacking a car and help. There would be 6-10 people following the one student, everyone carrying as much as they could. Sometimes more than that. It was a lot of work.

Afterwards, we had to go to Target. Apparently, after you move into your dorm, you have to go to Target to buy hanger and plastic storage boxes. I don't remember having to do that, either.

What kids say

2008-08-15T04:11:00.000-07:00

The boys are at it again saying funny things. Yesterday, The Youngest was bored and said "Mom, what can I do?" And just like my mom always answered me when I asked that question, I told him to clean something. He did and then came back and said "Mom, what can I do that's fun?" I told him I didn't know, but I really needed him to clean his bed. (They both like to store toys in their beds.) He didn't like it, but went to do it. When he came back he said "That was surprisingly satisfying."

___

School has been going well. We are getting a lot done every day. Everything except handwriting. It is time to teach The Youngest cursive. I thought I had books to teach from, but I don't. I think what I used before was part of a Language Arts curriculum that we decided we didn't like, so I sold it. I finally got the last math book I needed and thought I was done looking for books this year. I guess I get to go look some more.

Now we really start

2008-08-13T04:57:00.000-07:00

Today school really starts. We got the geography presentation done Monday, along with a little grammar and math. Tuesday, the boys had a 4-H day camp and the the geography co-op started. Today we are home all day doing school work. We are starting Spanish online this year. I'm going to try also. The youngest will be learning cursive and then, we are going to try all cursive writing the rest of the year. We also have a real science book to study from. In the past, science has been more of studying what looks interesting and what comes up. I hope it goes well.

My First Try

2008-08-11T05:51:00.000-07:00

I've never tried blogging before. I don't know that I will keep up. My goal is to blog more than my husband and my friend M.

We are all home now. The oldest son just got home from a week at camp and the youngest son and I just got back from Aunt C's house. We are starting school today and we are all ready behind. We have Geography Coop starting tomorrow and we are not ready yet. That means the other subjects may not get done today and tomorrow we will be out of the house so the other subjects won't get done then either. That's why I don't like to have a schedule. I don't like being being late!