My Little Space

Cute

2009-07-13T05:39:00.000-07:00

I am totally enjoying my summer vacation!
So I got this cute email that I am blogging:)
Southern women know their summer weather report:
Humidity
Humidity
Humidity

Southern women know their vacation spots:
The beach
The rivuh
The crick

Southern women know everybody's first name:
Honey
Darlin'
Shugah

Southern women know the movies that speak to their hearts:
Fried Green Tomatoes
Driving Miss Daisy
Steel Magnolias
Gone With The Wind

Southern women know their religions:
Baptist
Methodist
Football

Southern women know their cities dripping with Southern charm:
Chawl'stn
S'vannah
Foat Wuth
N'awlins
Ad'lanna

Southern women know their elegant gentlemen:
Men in uniform
Men in tuxedos
Rhett Butler

Southern girls know their prime real estate:
The Mall
The Country Club
The Beauty Salon
The Nail Salon

Southern girls know the 3 deadly sins:
Having bad hair and nails
Having bad manners
Cooking bad food

More Suthen-ism's:
Only a Southerner knows the difference between a hissie fit and a conniption fit, and that you don't "HAVE" them......... you "PITCH" them.
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Only a Southerner knows how many fish, collard greens, turnip greens, peas, beans, etc., make up "a mess."
____
Only a Southerner can show or point out to you the general direction of "yonder."
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Only a Southerner knows exactly how long "directly" is, as in: "Going to town, be back directly."
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Even Southern babies know that "Gimme some sugar" is not a request for the white, granular sweet substance that sits in a pretty little bowl in the middle of the table.
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All Southerners know exactly when "by & by" is. They might not use the term, but they know the concept well.
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Only a Southerner knows instinctively that the best gesture of solace for a neighbor who's got trouble is a plate of hot fried chicken and a big bowl of cold potato salad. If the neighbor's trouble is a real crisis, they also know to add a large banana puddin!
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Only Southerners grow up knowing the difference between "right near" & "a right far piece." They also know that "just down the road" can be 1 mile or 20!
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Only a Southerner, both knows and understands, the difference between a redneck, a good ol' boy, & po' white trash.
____
No true Southerner would ever assume that the car with the flashing turn signal is actually going to make a turn.
____
A Southerner knows that "fixin" can be used as a noun, a verb, or an adverb.
____
Only Southerners make friends while standing in lines, and when we're "in line,"... we talk to everybody!
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Put 100 Southerners in a room and half of them will discover they're related, even if only by marriage.
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In the South, y'all is singular, all y'all is plural.
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Southerners know grits come from corn and how to eat them.
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Every Southerner knows tomatoes with eggs, bacon, grits, and coffee are perfectly wonderful; that red eye gravy is also a breakfast food; and that fried green tomatoes are not a breakfast food.
____
When you hear someone say, "Well, I caught myself lookin'," You know you're in the presence of a genuine Southerner!
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Only true Southerners say "sweet tea" & "sweet milk." Sweet tea indicates the need for sugar and lots of it --we do not like our tea unsweetened. "Sweet milk" means you don't want buttermilk.
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A true Southerner knows you don't scream obscenities at little old ladies who drive 30 MPH on the freeway, you just say,"Bless her heart"...& go your own way.
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To those of you who are still a little embarrassed by your Southerness: Take 2 tent revivals and a dose of sausage gravy and call me in the morning. Bless your heart!
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To those of you who are still having a hard time understanding all this Southern stuff......bless your hearts, I hear they are fixin' to have classes on Southernness as a 2nd language!
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For those that are not from the South but have lived here for a long time, all y'all need is a sign to hang on y'alls front porch that reads "I ain't from the South, but I got here as fast as I could."

Southern girls know men may come and go, but friends are fahevah !

Now...... Shugah, send this to someone who was raised in the South or wish they had been! If you're a Northern transplant, bless your little heart, fake it.

We know you got here as fast as you could.

Death

2009-04-22T06:12:00.000-07:00

Grandpa Gaard with Rexford and Ethan.

Well, last week Rex's grandfather passed away. We made the trip up to S.D. for the funeral. The sermon at the funeral was good, it was nice to see our relatives but sad under the circumstances. It is so true what the bible says it is better to be at the house of mourning than feasting.

Beautiful stormy night picture from our backyard.

This and That

2009-02-28T08:42:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture of Danielle and Lilly at our church's Mother/Daughter tea.

Hey Y'all:) Can you believe tomorrow is the first day of March? John Anthony's due date was in the beginning of Feb. I spent most of it in bed feeling sick, I think I just felt bad about it all. I really regret having my tubes tied. I can't go back and change it though.

The kids are all doing well. Rex has midterms here soon and I think he is looking forward to Spring Break, we had to veto his plans to go to Fort Lauderdale. Ethan is coming to a decision on college. Geneva lost her top front teeth this month and she looks as cute as can be. She and Rexford have a little competition on their grades going. When he gets home from school she has to show him her papers from the day and then he will get his out. I guess you have to be here:) School is coming along fine for the other kids.

My brother has had a flare up with his MS. He is doing chemo again for it. Please pray he gets the feeling back in his hands.

Last week at the restaurant where my mom and brother work a man came in with a gun and pointed at the assisted manager, my mom was a few feet away and he demanded everyone out of the restaurant, he wanted to kill himself. He ended up surrendering to the police later that night. It is bizarre what that one man did to all the businesses in the area for the day. Anyway this week my mom had 2 to go orders, one person called and asked for the hostage special and another called and asked if they had any specials on 9mm guns. Hopefully the jokes are helping the staff get over what happened there??????

So I have started a garden, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, rosemary, basil, cilantro, watermelon, eggplant and some other plants....to be continued (I hope)

We try and have pineapple on Friday nights:)

I am on a diet so all I can really do is look at food.
Thai Cashew Chicken, I made this when I was allowed to eat:)

Rejoice with those who rejoice

2008-12-08T18:51:00.000-08:00

Please rejoice with us, Rexford, Ethan, Isaac, Lilly and Danielle were baptized in November. They went up before the church and gave their testimonies of their salvation during an afternoon baptismal service and upon their profession of faith in Jesus were baptized. It was absolutely wonderful. Our pastor had spoken to them all previously of course:) I don't want to put our pastor on a pedestal or anything but I can't begin to tell you how good it has been to be under him. The church here has really ministered to our needs and have been so supportive to us. I know this is the Lord's work through them:)

We had a fabulous Thanksgiving. We ate...I didn't overeat but this was our menu, turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potates in brown sugar, sage sausage dressing, cranberry relish (mom's recipe), spinach casserole, corn, whole wheat buns, pumpkin and pecan pie. Afterwards we played outside, tag football, ultimate frisbee and 500. One of the kids got bit by a mosquito..:) The weather is still so nice, we have covered up the pool though, the last day we swam was on hubby's birthday in Nov.

Last week on Rexford's way home from work he ran over 2 deer. The car is pretty messed up but he is fine:) This week is his last week of school before winter break. Ethan took the ACT in Oct and scored one point higher than Rexford, which was pretty tough to do. So Rexford's amazing score has been dimished by Ethan...lol we have to give him a hard time about it. Ethan is now applying for college and before I know it I will have 2 in college:)

Here is a portion of the baptism. I had to cut some of it out so it would fit better.

A Hug

2008-11-18T14:38:00.000-08:00

It has been awhile since I have blogged. A lady at church on Sunday told me my face looked more peaceful. I told her I am still grieving and was able to talk to her about it. The Lord is teaching me many things. Scripture has never been more comforting and still there is not a day that I don't cry for John.

I can not begin to tell you how sweet the children have been during these weeks. I can hardly type this so this is all that I will share about that.

Life does move on, just from a different perspective.

Sunday night Lilly gave me this poem she had wrote.
A Hug by Lilly 11/8/08

A hug is one of the best things ever.
Because it always makes someone feel better if it is from the heart.

And can sometimes be the best way of saying goodbye.

You can give someone a hug anywhere at anytime.

And the only bad thing about a hug is sometimes it makes people cry.
But the best thing about a hug is it can get someone through the toughest times.

I found this all out on Sept. 18, 2008 the day I found out my baby brother John had died.

But Romans 8:28 makes me so very happy because I know that the Lord My God is always looking out for me. So whenever something bad happens I think of Romans 8:28 and I feel like the Lord is giving me a hug.

God shall be glorified

2008-09-22T05:44:00.000-07:00

I have many photos of John but I think this one is so precious. He was tiny but he completely filled us with love.

Many of you know about the loss of our sweet baby John Anthony last week. A couple ladies came over on Saturday with food for family and a book in which one page was marked for me to read. At the end of the article was this quote.

Whatever thy grief or trouble be, take every drop in thy cup from the hand of Almighty God. He with whom "the hairs of thy head are all numbered," knoweth every throb of thy brow, each hardly drawn breath, each shoot of pain, each beating of the fevered pulse, each sinking of the aching heart. Receive, then, what are trials to thee, not in the main only, but one by one, from His all-loving hands; thank His love for each; unite each with the sufferings of they Redeemer; pray that He will thereby hallow them to thee. Thou wilt not know now what He thereby will work in thee; yet, day by day, shalt thou receive the impress of the likeness of the ever-blessed Son, and in thee, too, while thou knowest it not, God shall be glorified.

E.B. Pusey

Pineapple

2008-09-12T05:24:00.000-07:00

Yes, we have a thing for pineapples. We are fans of delicious flavor if you know what I mean.

I can't believe how fast my pregnancy is coming along. I actually bought something for baby, Rex asked if I bought a blue sweater....lol nope I bought some diapers:) I have my big ultrasound soon, I plan on taking the girls with me, so they can see the baby. I think I am finally over the shock of getting pregnant after my tubes tied. When I had morning sickness and was basically sleeping most of the day away Geneva would pretend to be my doctor and tell me to close my eyes. After some time she would tell me to wake up and say," I have some crazy news for you, your pregnant, I opened your tummy and looked and your baby is the size of a seed." The crazy news phrase had me rolling, I know she picked up that from me. I remember calling Rex after I took a pregnancy test and I kept saying over and over, I am not joking...lol One of his replies was, "I am not surprised". I suppose with our track record we should give up on using any kind of birth control method. After ultrasounds and lots of blood work over a period of days to confirm baby, I still bought another pregnancy test.

On Monday I finished cleaning and moving from our old home. We had the best neighbors in the world over there. I have lots of unpacking to do. I painted one bedroom before we moved in and might paint the baby's room depending on what we find out we are having. Right now the baby's room is pink:) We only took one week and one day off from school. I was determined not to lose a lot of school days.

The homeschool group we belong to have a lot of activities to do. I don't feel pressure to go to many of them, just pick and chose what fits for us.

Happy birthday to my mom and sister!!!!! My mom's birthday was the 9th and sister's was the 11th. I have a couple girls who have birthdays soon.

School Days

2008-08-13T05:58:00.000-07:00

Pictures of the kids at the Science Museum

Wow we had a couple days of cool weather this week with lots of rain. When it rains here it will rain for hours, that is how I remember rain when I was a kid. It is so nice:)

We have been busy with starting school and having company. Rex's parents came with our nephew for a visit. We went to a Science Museum that is very close to us. We also went swimming.

The kids go once a week to their friend's house for swimming. Geneva is such a fish. She is a an excellent swimmer already.

We have been enjoying the Olympics, last night Geneva told me she wants America to win and Korea because Grand Master Kim if from there and also Italy.

The older kids are going through Pilgrims Progress in youth group and Geneva has learned the books of the New Testament in her S.S. class. Our church has a time before service for memorizing Scripture, right now we are memorizing the Spurgeon Catechism.

Rex and I will be celebrating our 20th anniversary this month!!!!!! I wonder how many ladies get pregnant after they have been married for 20 years...lol My little bump is starting to be noticeable. Last Monday night I felt the baby move, I had my hand pressed on my lower abs and felt baby! It was very cool to feel the baby so early. I have had 5 ultrasounds and about 6 doctor visits already. Everything is normal so now I just go once a month:)

We are moving in the next couple of months to a larger home. We are pretty excited about it, but now I have to start packing...LOL It will not be so bad since we have really downsized our stuff and we are not moving across the country this time. We have plenty of time:)

Summer happenings

2008-07-05T05:32:00.001-07:00

There is not much of this cake left:)

June has flown by, I picked up new charcoal grill for Rex. Our old grill doesn't work very well, the grates holes are too large and a lot of the food we like to cook on the grill falls through. We had a wonderful 4th together, Rex didn't have to work. We had apple pie, grilled chicken, hot dogs and spicy sausages, potato salad, guacamole, chips, corn on the cob. Rex was master on the grill and all the meat was delicious.

I plan on ordering school books early this year so we can start school in the beginning of August. I usually start school after Labor Day but since baby is due in Feb, I thought I better get a head start on school this year. I really don't have many books to buy this year, I will be spending more time organizing my books, we have most of them in storage right now. I have done all the Kindergarten books with Geneva, so she will be starting 1st grade even though she is very young for 1st grade. I will take it slow with her. I just can't see doing all K stuff all over again. She wants to do school:)

Rex made our baby news announcement to the church last Sunday after our fellowship meal. Our church (we have been members since Nov 07) have a fellowship meal every Sunday. Another lady and I at church make up the menus/sign up sheets for every week. Anyway a couple ladies at church said we should ask for our money back from the surgery I had in April...LOL There are 4 other pregnant ladies at the church, all 4 are having girls:)

I am exercising when I feel up to it there are some days when I stay in bed all day and sleep. If anyone knows me they know I don't usually take naps:) I am using a DVD called The Perfect Pregnancy, it is one of the toughest workouts I have ever done. Ethan bought Wii Fit so I have been having fun on that and also lots of walking!

Rexford will be registering for his classes soon, I am very excited for him! Lilly and Isaac make a newspaper of family news, I will make a copy of one and blog it, they are hilarious! Geneva likes to pretend she is a cruise director and set us up on a cruise, she feeds us and gives us pillows, we usually travel to Italy. She lost baby tooth number 3 this week, her smile is so precious:) The kids are pretty tan, Geneva especially.

I made Southern Chicken and Dumpling this week for the first time. Isaac helped me of course, he has been such a big helper to me lately. There have been many nights when he made supper for us. I know I should have my energy back in a few weeks. I know exercising is helping.

May Pictures

2008-06-12T08:06:00.001-07:00

Family at graduation. Many people from our church came for Rexford's graduation. We had a pool party afterwards.

Evening church in the garage.

Coke museum.

Cannon at Vicksburg

Tunnel built by the South during the war.

May stuff

2008-05-28T05:29:00.000-07:00

I suppose I need to blog since Rexford actually blog for the first time in many many months!

My mom came down to celebrate Rexford's graduation. We took a trip to Vicksburg, and visited a Civil War memorial. It was very large and we really didn't get to see the whole thing. You could easily spend all day there and not get it all in. In Vicksburg we ate lunch at Walnut Hills, so far the BEST southern cooking I have had. http://www.walnuthillsms.net/index.html We visited a couple museums also. My mom went to spend a couple of days at the beach in Florida and came back for a few more days before returning back up north.

I have taken a lot of pictures recently and hope to get them up sometime soon.

Lilly really loves to exercise, she will spend time working out with the exercise equipment we have. I have been lagging on my exercise lately, just taking long walks lately, anyway she has a work out she wants to give me, it has 17 exercises on it right now, one of the exercises is 200 jumping jack and another one 75 push-ups. I told her I could not do 75 push-ups, she told me I could do sissy ones and when I told her I didn't think I could do 200 jumping jacks she said we would do 100, take a break and then do the last 100! I like her enthusiasm!

We are finished with school, Isaac will do some math this summer and Geneva will continue with her reading lessons. I am not saying we finished all of our school books! We certainly had a sporadic school year.

Proof

2008-04-08T07:11:00.000-07:00

Isaac's Birthday with delicious cake!

Well many of you know we had a major storm here on Friday. Here is a link to the local newspaper. http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage

Friday started out normal for us. I got a phone call from friends in Mississippi who we knew in Minnesota. They were coming over to visit after lunch. I was so excited to see them and their baby! Some of the kids had plans to go to a sleepover and the rest of the kids were going to a church youth meeting that night. God had other plans for us Friday:)

Well, after lunch the warning siren started going off(that happens about once a week it seems) Danielle is always prepared , she has a backpack with a bible, flashlight and she always puts her sneakers on. I didn’t think too much of the sirens, I had just started baking some pretzels. I thought it would be lovely treat for my guests:) I went outside to see what was going on and it was very calm. Our power went out and then the wind started to pick up. Rex got out of bed (he had foot surgery on Monday) and he looked outside, by that time we could see debris flying well over the treetops across the golf course. It all seemed surreal and about one minute later the wind was going completely the opposite direction it had been going. Hail came, we were listening for the freight train sound, and we didn’t hear it.

Our neighborhood had received some damage, our home did not. Our phone lines went down also. We have a generator but Rex could not get it started. One of our pastors came over that night and he was able to get it started for us, he can start anything that has a pull string, he is awesome. So we didn’t lose any of our food, and we were able to help our neighbors with our generator too.

In other news, Rex had foot surgery on Monday, he broke his foot in Oct and it still had not healed. He sought a second opinion on it, and the doctor suggested surgery since the break he had normally takes 6 weeks to heal and it still wasn’t healed, he also thought if it did heal it would break again. Rex had a 4.5 cm screw drilled into his foot. Our pastor said he was going to have to start calling him the bionic man! He is recovering extremely well. He has an air cast, but right now he has to use crutches.

Rex has been reading about Krav Maga, which means contact combat in Hebrew. It is not a martial art. Anyway I have been doing a workout dvd from a Krav Maga instructor. It is some good old fashion exercising. I have gained some weight since moving down south. I have lost some of it, it is very hard!

Here is absolute proof I am married to a red neck and I love it!

Rex and Geneva at bible drill.

Ethan at Bible Drill.

Red Necks!

2008-03-17T06:06:00.000-07:00

Rex is really enjoying his new job. He works long hours and he is truly a red neck now, I can't remember his face ever being so tan, but his neck is definitely red! I bought him some sun tan lotion to use:) Rex says God had us stay up north so long so we could really appreciate the south. It is hard not to have wished we didn't move down here a long time ago but we know that is not what the Lord had planned for us.

The kids went swimming last Friday night at our friend's house. This is the first time they have ever gone swimming in an outside pool in March!!!!! Geneva jumped in where it was too deep for her and Danielle scooped her up, Geneva kept saying,"I'm going to live, I'm going to live". She is so dramatic. We have almost been here for 6 months now. Time has really flown by. When we go to the library or grocery store we usually run into someone we know. Last month there was someone looking at a house for sale on the block we live on and it happened to be someone Rex went to High School with, it's a small world after all:)

Rexford graduates in May! WOW. He will be measured for his gown and cap this week. Rexford got a promotion at his job. Isaac's birthday is this weekend. He is going to have an ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins, they have the best ice cream cakes! Danielle reads a lot, she reads one book after another. She has finished her science book already this year in school. She has also grown a lot, she is a couple inches shorter than me and Lilly is only one inch behind. Isaac is 6 feet tall already. Geneva is coming along fabulously with her reading program in school, next year I will only have 5 in home school! Then the following year only 4! Ethan is getting over his queasiness and hopes to go into the medical/dental field now, he enjoys science/chemistry so much it just seems natural for him.

We have found this DVD of Pilgrims Progress called Dangerous Journey http://www.amazon.com/Dangerous-Journey-Michael-Cramer/dp/B000A0GYFU/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1205755546&sr=8-3 We were watching clips of it on answers in genesis website and decided to buy it off amazon, it is a few dollars cheaper there.

In Geneva's health class she has learned about junk food and healthy food, she asked if fish was a healthy food or junk food, when I told her fish was good for her, she was dismayed....lol she wanted it to be on the junk food list. LOL For a few weeks she was always asking if something was healthy before she ate it. Last week she had a couple of oranges she starting throwing up in the air singing "Vegetables and fruit are good for you" over and over and then adding fruits and vegetables to her song.

I threw in some recent photos of the kids outside in the winter! I am still not used to the weather, usually when I walk outside I am amazed how nice it is.

Are you a fan of delicious flavor?

2008-02-04T05:42:00.000-08:00

Yes I am, so I made a pineapple upside down cake last week when we had company over. When the family was going through our food line in the kitchen Isaac got in line also and Rex said ,"Isaac you should be in back of the line"...well Isaac just so happens to be the name of one of our guests also...it was pretty funny. If you understand the title of my blog post then you know what show we like to watch.

We were talking about eating vension and how people cook it etc. and Geneva piped in that she likes deer too, but she likes them alive. I guess I prefer them that way too.

The high today is supposed to be 77, I think we might go play tennis. I found out you can start to plant at the end of Feburary! I probably will plant some vegetables.

Rexford has toured a couple colleges and we are leaning towards one more than the other. He got a new car, it is newer than the vehicles Rex or I drive. He got a really good deal on it from someone in our church.

Yesterday evening we listened to a debate on baptism, it was excellent, one of our Pastors recommended it.

http://www.aomin.org/aoblog/index.php?blogid=1&archive=2007-11

James White has been blessed with the gift of teaching.

Flowers in bloom

2008-01-12T08:47:00.000-08:00

We have a few flowers that have bloomed on a bush outside our house. Does anyone know what kind of flower it is? I don't have a green thumb, I need help!

What I did with the leftover turkey. I made a Pampered Chef recipe, Turkey Cranberry Wreath. We had turkey on New Years Day. On Christmas Eve we had Spicy Citrus Chicken with Winter Vegetables and a side salad. For Christmas we had Perogies, Ham with my special coffee/kaula glaze, broiled green beans and Cranberry Plum Pudding with warm vanilla sauce for dessert. This year I made it a point to make everything simple. My Christmas Eve dish was something I threw into a pot and it cooked all day, for Christmas dinner I made my perogies in Nov. and froze them so I would not have to do much cooking the week of vacation:)

It's over 80 in here

2008-01-07T19:41:00.000-08:00

Rex just turned on the air conditioner!
Yes today is Jan.7th!

2007 in review

2008-01-01T15:52:00.000-08:00

Our family started out 2007 with making a big decision. After much prayer and seeking advice we decided to move south. Rex was offered a wonderful job working for a Christian friend. We had been praying for a couple years for a job change since the work he was doing did not have a future. It certainly seemed like an answer to our prayers. We put our house up for sale in February and it finally sold in August but not until we changed realtors. We moved in Oct. but first Rex had ACL reconstruction surgery. We are currently attending the Reformed Baptist Church here.

Rexford is still working for a major retail chain. He became a black belt in Taekwondo. Rexford is still playing chess and playing the keyboard. He loves video games and is a very generous brother. Rexford took the ACT in Dec and scored in the 99th percentile in the United States. He is still considering a career in law with the hopes of becoming a judge. One of our friends is trying to talk him into going into medicine We will be busy this month applying to colleges. He has already been offered a full scholarship from a college.

Ethan is also working for a major retail chain. He also became a black belt in Taekwondo last year. Ethan has his driver’s permit. He is studying for the ACT that he will be taking this year:) Ethan continues to sculpt with clay, he also is still working on his pastels. He is currently trying Chinese brush painting. Ethan got a book on bonsai and is looking into growing one. Ethan will study up a lot of the any subject he is interested in before jumping in to it.

Isaac became a black belt in Taekwondo last year. He grew so much last year that he literally grew out of his eye glasses. Isaac is dabbling in Wing Chun, another martial art. He continues to take care of his dog Wing Chun (Winnie) since we moved down here and she is an outside dog now. Isaac draws so much. One of his drawings I made into a t-shirt and have sold more of his design than any other t-shirts I have sold so far. He got a bamboo digital drawer for the computer for Christmas:) Isaac has shuriken and loves to throw them at targets.

Lilly has been a black belt since 2006:) She was part of a taekwondo demonstration team in 2007. She currently likes to skateboard and she loves to play tennis. Lilly also likes to knit. Lilly had her first babysitting job and certainly has a knack for it. She likes to play with spy gear and helps me out around the house. She is always trying to get her hands on soda.

Danielle became a black belt in Taekwondo this year. She loves to play on the keyboard and read as many books as she can get her hands on, especially Nancy Drew. She also loves to play video games. Danielle has started to cross stitch this year also. Danielle also likes to knit and play tennis. Danielle likes to help me in the kitchen and made Chocolate Italian Pitzels for Christmas!

Geneva misses Grand Master Kim from Taekwondo class, he was like her Grandpa to her. He played with her all the time. She loves to dance and do her taekwondo in front of an audience. Geneva is beginning to read and loves school. Geneva lost her bottom 2 teeth and looks as cute as can be. She also had her first hair cut, if you can call how much I cut off a haircut:)

Rex turned 40 this year! He broke his foot the day after we moved down here and the doctor told him last week that it is not healing. He is currently staying off his foot in hopes it will heal up and he can avoid surgery! He is taking to his new job very well and it looks like he will get his own truck and be on his own sooner than we expected…assuming his foot heals. Rex has taught S.S. a few times and recently he taught class sitting in the Pastor’s chair up in front of the church because he can’t put any weight on his foot. Rex lost his Grandmother in December and we were able to attend Margaret’s funeral in Iowa.

I am still homeschooling the children and can hardly believe Rexford will be graduating this year. I could not imagine sending him off to school when time flies by so fast and it feels like I haven’t had enough time with him as it is homeschooling him. I am enjoying the South and getting to know people down here. I am still struggling with my weight and determined to lose the rest of my fat in 2008.

All of the children except Geneva are professing believers in Jesus Christ. Praise God for His goodness to us. No black belt or academic award could ever be as important as Jesus Christ.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-23T05:52:00.000-08:00

Praise God for all of His wondeful blessings to us!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We were invited over a friend’s home for the day, it was nice not to have to do all the cooking but then I usually don’t cook for Thanksgiving. This has been the first Thanksgiving that we have not gone to my mother’s house that I can remember.

Ethan starts his first job next week, he didn’t have the hard time that Rexford did up in MN finding one. Rexford and Ethan are studying a lot for the A.C.T., Rexford takes in it Dec. Right now Rexford is very busy with work and school, I guess that well be his lot for quite a few years:)

We will start baking cookies and babka bread next week. For years I have made cheesecakes also to give out. Not many people in my family like cheesecake so I guess it good I give them away, or I might be the only one eating a whole cake..:) Last year I broke from our traditional Christmas Eve meal and started a new one!

We are having school on Saturday’s to get caught up. The weather here has cooled down and the leaves on the trees are turning beautiful colors. We take the Natchez Trace Parkway a lot and the drive is an absolute pleasure. http://www.nps.gov/natr

Psalm 128
1 Blessed is every one who fears the LORD,
Who walks in His ways.

2 When you eat the labor of your hands,
You shall be happy, and it shall be well with you.
3 Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
In the very heart of your house,
Your children like olive plants
All around your table.
4 Behold, thus shall the man be blessed
Who fears the LORD.

5 The LORD bless you out of Zion,
And may you see the good of Jerusalem
All the days of your life.
6 Yes, may you see your children’s children.

Peace be upon Israel!

Shiver me timbers

2007-11-15T08:44:00.000-08:00

Next week turkey day. Hooray! This year is about over. We are behind on school but are trying to catch up. Rex went to the doctor on Monday, the first time he was able to drive himself! I went with him though. When we got home the kids had put the chalkboard up with a count down ‘till Christmas and gotten out our Christmas blankets that we use on the sectional in Dec. They also had Christmas music playing.

Cumberland has a really nice 2 set cd on sale: Messiah http://www.cvbbs.com/

“Shiver me timbers” is what the weatherman said last night when he announced the high today was going to be 59, Rex and I just chuckled. The cold spell should be over by tomorrow and temps will be back up into the 70’s. A couple weeks ago when I was out in the evening I witnessed a woman walking with ear muffs, it was in the 50’s that evening also. They actually sell scarves and mittens in stores. I know it will get colder here, probably not ‘till winter though.

My father came for visit last week, we had a really nice time with him. He lives about six hours away so I will see him a lot more living down here. He really liked our church and is looking to visit a Reformed Baptist church in his area.

We had a young couple over this week, I made eggplant parmesan, anyway when Geneva saw the eggplant I bought she decided it was going to be her baby so she carried it around like a baby all night, it was so funny. You really don’t need to buy $50 baby dolls just give your girls some fruit and vegetables! She said she was taking it to the doctor and got a toothpick and poked the eggplant she said the baby needed acupuncture.

We're in Dixie!

2007-10-13T07:07:00.000-07:00

Life seems to be getting back to normal. We are almost unpacked:) We just joined a home school group down here and Rexford attended the first senior planning meeting for graduation.

Our home is beautiful, it is the same square footage of our previous home but the footage is in different parts of the house. So we are trying to organize all our stuff as best as possible.

A little update on Rex, he had knee surgery at the end of Sept. Part of it was arthroscopic and part of it was not arthroscopic. His meniscus surgery was done arthroscopic but his ACL reconstruction was not. They took 2 ligaments from his hamstring, they drilled holes and placed pins into two of the knee bones to which they attached the ligaments. His ACL should be stronger than his old one. So he has quite a few holes in his left knee/leg that are healing well. The day after we arrived in MS (Geneva’s birthday) Rex broke his fifth metatarsal in his right foot. When we went to the clinic and they told us I was literally in tears and laughing at the same time. He broke it by hopping 2 inches to the right He goes to Physical Therapy 2 times a week now and is doing so well! He can get around the house without aid anymore.

The people at the church have been so nice to us. A large group of them came to unload our moving truck the day we arrived. It was on Wednesday and one elder had prayer meeting and the other elder helped unload the truck. The pastor down here is a real servant. Last Sunday I took the kids to church since Rex was still not able to get around much. Rex’s friend came over with Chinese food and fed him and read him a sermon. The church down here is bigger than our previous church so it will probably take us a while to meet everyone etc.

We really appreciate all the prayers people have raised for us. Praise God for His mercy and kindness to us.

Geneva birthday cake here in Dixie. She likes to say, " Daddy broke his foot on my birthday."

Remembering 9/11

2007-09-11T06:07:00.000-07:00

Home

2007-09-10T05:02:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking of the Khans and how happy they must be right now to be in the presence of the Lord.

FOR we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
2Cr 5:2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven,
2Cr 5:3 if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked.
2Cr 5:4 For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life.
2Cr 5:5 Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
2Cr 5:6 So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord.
2Cr 5:7 For we walk by faith, not by sight.
2Cr 5:8 We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.

19 years

2007-08-20T05:54:00.001-07:00

Today is my 19th wedding Anniversary. Wow it is hard to believe 19 years ago I got married, but then I look at my six kids and believe it! We didn’t date long that is for sure. I meet Rex in January, we married in August. He came into the restaurant where I worked as the late night waitress. He came in with a friend, his friend was the cook’s friend. I think he called me Marion the Librarian or something like that. Anyway I would spend time at the cook’s house on the weekends and got some more time with him. I remember one time we went to a skateboard contest and he entered it. He got on his board went a ways and then light up a cigar…it was so funny. He didn’t win but it certainly endeared me to him.

Our home is back on the market with a new realtor and we have not had any showing:) It is certainly wonderful to know everything is in God’s hands! He knows what is best for us. I was talking to one of my friends about prayer and she was telling me about a sermon she had just read. Saying wouldn’t be awful if God gave us everything we asked for.

We have made some more improvements to the house. Rex installed new flooring in the laundry room and he redid the counter in one of the bathrooms and in the laundry room. He installed a new ceiling fan and doorbell. Also a new outside light.

I still have a sore throat! It has been a couple weeks now. The morning is the worse but by the evening I am much better:) Rex has had his second cortisone shot and those seem to be working for him.

We went to Becoming Jane last weekend and we were both sorely disappointed. I wanted to walk out a couple times. It made me in the mood for a real Jane Austen movie though, so we rented one…LOL Rex bought me an outfit for our Anniversary and the kids got us Martini glasses, made chocolate truffles, Geneva got me some jewelry and Rex some chips:) the kids also got us a few other things.

Neck and Back Problems!

2007-07-24T07:24:00.000-07:00

We recently took a trip to Nebraska for Rex’s grandmother’s 97th birthday! She is really fit and the walker she using we dubbed her runner because she is so fast. I was able to see my mother and brother while we were away for the weekend. We went swimming and it was the first time this summer I have gotten bit by a mosquito. The mosquitoes have not been bad around here, since I usually get bit a lot from them.

Rex got his MRI results back last week and it was really cool to see it. He has 2 bulges disc and arthritis. He also has a extra vertebrate that has been fused since birth, I think this explains his hamstrings  He is going in again this week to get a steroid injection, they will sedate him and this treatment takes about a week to start working. His pain killers help him out a lot and the fact he is not a big moaner and complainer..lol I think most people are surprised to find out he has back problems, partly because you can’t tell. Well he has had times when he couldn’t walk…lol Basically though they told him he would have flare ups that might last between 6-12 weeks. Hopefully there will be few of those.

My triathlon exercises have been going great; it has been really fun to do different exercises. I also do a different challenge everyday, they are called mini challenges. The weight loss group I belong to has them everyday. My abs were really hurting yesterday from doing reverse crunches.

I think this commercial is completely hilarious!

Fireworks!

2007-07-06T06:19:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone had a great 4th. Rex only worked a half day, so we were able to spend most of the day together. We went to the pool and then over to friend’s house for a barbeque and watched fireworks.

The kids are finishing up their tests for school this week. They take the CAT every year.

I am taking part in a triathlon, sort of:) It takes 9 weeks to finish. They break down the swimming, bicycling and running so you do a certain amount each week so that in 9 weeks you are finished. It is unbelievable how much you have to do. I don’t think I have ever swam laps before. The jogging is no problem because I am used to doing that. Anyways I get things done better if I have a goal to work at and so this is good for me.

My hunny bunny is still having pains, his physical therapist wants him to go back to the doctor. He is waiting it out, and changing up his diet to see if that will help him.

Very sad news

2007-07-02T07:58:00.000-07:00

Part of an email I got this morning

-------I have a sad new for you all, one of our former
taekwondo family member Daniel Nguyen, 1st Degree
Black Belt was past away last Friday morning. Daniel
is 13 years old, young, smart, and healthy little boy.---------

I can hardly believe it. Daniel was so athletic and strong. Let us pray for the family during this difficult time.

2007-06-12T06:18:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone is enjoying the fantastic weather we have been having. We are finished with school for the year:) We don’t have any birthdays around here till Oct now. My mom, stepfather and my brother’s family came for a visit recently. My brother has a friend who works here so every time my mom comes we go and visit him at his job so this time we had my brother with us:) Rexford took my mom out to eat, he is so nice!

I went to the farmers market with my neighbor on Saturday, I got a bunch of asparagus for one buck. I grilled it on the stove with a grill pan it was so delicious. I also got a couple pineapples, peaches and a huge bag of spinach for 2 dollars but later I found bags of spinach for one dollar. Anyway that place is great for finding deals.

My father in law is healing up really nice from bypass surgery. Rex talked to him the other day and he was out at their cabin fixing things up. Rex and I lived at that cabin for 6 months, long time ago. We just had Rexford and Ethan at the time. I remember giving the boys their baths in the kitchen sink. It has a wood burning stove and when it got chilly we fired that thing up and it was so cozy! We took long walks almost everyday, didn’t have but one t.v. channel out there…lol. Played school in the mornings and I remember doing an exercise video almost everyday too. Baby fat came off a lot easier back then:)

Here we are at Jason's going away party, we miss him at the main school! You can see I am trying to get Geneva to hide my fat body!

Honey's Break

2007-05-25T08:54:00.000-07:00

I just had to:)

2007-05-05T06:30:00.001-07:00

You Know You are in Minnesota when:

"Vacation" means going up nort' for the weekend.
You measure distance in hours.
You know several people who have hit deer more than once.
You often switch from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day and back again.
You use a down comforter in the summer -- and gloves.
You drive at 65 mph through two feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching.
You see people wearing hunting clothes at social events.
You think of the major food groups as venison, fish and berries.
You carry jumper cables in your car and your girlfriend knows how to use them.
There are seven empty cars running in the parking lot at the Fleet Farm at any given time.
Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow.
You think sexy lingerie is tube socks and flannel pajamas.
You know all four seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter and road construction.
You define summer as three months of bad sledding.
A brat is something you eat.
You go out for fish fry every Friday.
You can recognize someone from Iowa by their driving.
Formal wear is blue jeans and a baseball cap.
You drink pop and refer to your dad as pop.
Your 4th of July picnic was moved indoors due to frost.
You decided to have a picnic this summer because it fell on a weekend.
You only know three spices: salt, pepper and ketchup.
You've seen mosquitoes with landing lights.
The local paper covers major headlines on one page, but requires four pages for sports.
You think the start of deer season is a national holiday.
You find zero degrees a little chilly.

So, what’s going on?

2007-05-02T07:21:00.000-07:00

Rex and I went to a high tech store the other night and when it was our turn to be seen the young lady asked us, “So, what’s going on?” I had a hard time keeping a straight face. Super sweet girl though. Am I at the doctors I thought? Most things electronic are pretty far above me now anyways.

We had a board breaking BBQ with the families we teach tkd to last weekend. Rex broke 5 concrete patio blocks with a palm heal and one with a knife hand strike. Anyway the kids broke boards and after they broke the boards they threw them into the fire pit. After awhile the adults broke them also.

My mom came up a couple weeks ago. She usually goes to my hairdresser to get her hair done. I am going to really miss my hairdresser when we move. So, we had a nice visit with her. Why does time fly so fast when you have company over???

Have you tried Coke Plus? It tastes good but I can’t find out off the can what vitamins and minerals are in it:)

Lilly has been really sick all week, she was sick on Sunday night and we made her go to church. Probably should have kept her home. It is hard to tell sometimes.

I planted a lot of flowers outside from seed. I hope everything comes up. I do not have a green thumb! The grass is green though:)

Rexford is turning 17 at the end of this week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOW! My tiny preemie is a big boy now. Overall we have been blessed with good children, not saying they have never been in trouble or they don’t have faults! They all seem to be following the Lord and that is the most important thing in the world. They all seem to have a solid foundation on what the Scripture says also, it's pretty amazing how some “churched” kids have never been catechized or don’t even know the basics of the Bible. It is actually really sad because it means their parents have not taken the time to do this with them. You only have 18 years with them and boy does it seem to fly by.

What the Lord hates

2007-04-16T05:24:00.000-07:00

In family worship we are memorizing this passage of scripture. Geneva can even say most of it.

Proverbs 6
16 These six things the Lord hates,
Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
17 A proud look,
A lying tongue,
Hands that shed innocent blood,
18 A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that are swift in running to evil,
19 A false witness who speaks lies,
And one who sows discord among brethren.

Inconvenient truth

2007-04-10T11:16:00.000-07:00

House #1 A 20 room mansion ( not including 8 bathrooms ) heated by natural gas. Add on a pool ( and a pool house) and a separate guest house, all heated by gas. In one month this residence consumes more energy than the average American household does in a year. The average bill for electricity and natural gas runs over $2400. In natural gas alone, this property consumes more than 20 times the national average for an American home. This house is not situated in a Northern or Midwestern "snow belt" area. It's in the South. ~~~

House #2Designed by an architecture professor at a leading national university. This house incorporates every "green" feature current home construction can provide. The house is 4,000 square feet ( 4 bedrooms ) and is nestled on an arid, high prairie in the American southwest. A central closet in the house holds geothermal heat-pumps drawing ground water through pipes sunk 300 feet into the ground. The water (usually 67 degrees F. ) heats the house in the winter and cools it in the summer. The system uses no fossil fuels such as oil or natural gas and it consumes one-quarter electricity required for a conventional heating/cooling system. Rainwater from the roof is collected and funneled into a 25,000 gallon underground cistern. Wastewater from showers, sinks and toil ets goes into underground purifying tanks and then into the cistern. The collected water then irrigates the land surrounding the house. Surrounding flowers and shrubs native to the area enable the property to blend into the surrounding rural landscape. ~~~~~

HOUSE #1 is outside of Nashville , Tennessee ; it is the abode of the "environmentalist" Al Gore .
HOUSE #2 is on a ranch near Crawford , Texas ; it is the residence the of the President of the United States , George W. Bush .

Busy weekend

2007-04-02T06:10:00.000-07:00

My father in law had bypass surgery on Thursday. He is healing very well. I heard that after you have something like that you have more energy. So I am hoping that will be the case for him.

We were able to go visit him last weekend. The hospital he is in is in the same city my mom lives in so we were able to stay with her. There was a ladies lunch with women from my mother’s church on Saturday, so Jeanne and I were able to go with her to it. I thought it would give Jeanne a chance to get away for an hour or two and relax a little.

We came back on Sunday, not the most ideal time to spend Sunday morning traveling but we were able to listen to 2 sermons on the way home. My mom made us sandwiches for lunch. She put broccoli rabe on mine and it was so delicious! So anyways we didn’t have to stop for anything on the way home, like food or fuel.

We have been listening to Pastor McDearmon’s series on older women in the church. It has been fantastic. So far we have listened to 3 of them and then on Sunday night we heard another sermon that seemed to tie perfectly with other ones. We had a guest speaker at our church who was so good. He was very specific, which I like and need most of the time..when I am in my right mind!!!!

I am letting the kids sleep in this morning, they had a long weekend. This week most of them are going to be training really hard for black belt testing. I am really excited for them!!!!!!! It is the final step/test for their black belts.

I scrap book with another lady in the church, I am working on my wedding album.Most of the other ladies there think it is really funny I am doing my wedding ablum…J .I know, kind of late but better than never. This summer it will be19 years!!!! WHOA! I am sorta stuck in between being young and having older kids and with most women my age they seem to just have little ones and women with teenagers are typically a lot older than me. It is not a bad problemJ It is just something I have noticed in the last few years. When you have the Lord in common age doesn’t matter!

some funny

2007-03-13T08:43:00.000-07:00

It feels so much like spring outside I wanted something bright and light for my blog. I am feeling so much better today, I feel so strong and motivated.

I have been making a lot of soup lately, this week I am making minestrone. It has been awhile since I have made it and it sounds so good right now for some reason. It might be because I have been making a lot of asian soups…I need a change..lol

I am part of 2 weight loss support groups on My Calorie Counter. One of them consists of people from Minnesota and the other one is a group of friends I have made on the site. In the later on, there are punishments to have to do if you are not the loser for the week. Like clean your closets, drawers, do extra exercises…J I saw this t-shirt in a email this week it reads “ Every time I hear that dirty word “exercise” I wash my mouth out with chocolate”. I thought it was pretty funny, even though I usually like to exercise.

EVER WONDER
Why the sun lightens our hair, but darkens our skin?
Why women can't put on mascara with their mouth closed?
Why don't you ever see the headline "Psychic Wins Lottery"?
Why is "abbreviated" such a long word?
Why is it that doctors call what they do "practice"?
Why is it that to stop Windows 98, you have to click on "Start"?
Why is lemon juice made with artificial flavor, and dishwashing liquid made with real lemons?
Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?
Why is the time of day with the slowest traffic called rush hour?
Why isn't there mouse-flavored cat food?
When dog food is new and improved tasting, who tests it?
Why do they sterilize the needle for lethal injections?
You know that indestructible black box that is used on airplanes? Why don't they make the whole plane out of that stuff?
Why don't sheep shrink when it rains?
Why are they called apartments when they are all stuck together?
If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?
If flying is so safe, why do they call the airport the terminal?

The cat ate my donut

2007-02-26T07:01:00.000-08:00

Hey, hope everyone is doing well. My mom came for a short visit, it was cut short because of a snow storm we had here. When she came down we went to an Eastern European deli. Anyway she bought some expensive donuts. Polish Paczki, they are only made at certain times of the year. My mom gave me one and I left it on the dining room table wrapped up. When I went out our cat Harley ate the whole thing! He is such a piggy!

I bought a bunch of different flavored hot chocolate mixes for the kids and one of them is Rich Chocolate. Geneva was having a cup of it and asked if she would have more money if she drank it. We are plugging away in school again we had a big break in January. Rexford really enjoys his job he has taken on the responsibility of work and school pretty well.

We had a snow day on Sunday. We read 2 sermons out of Untied Knots by J.C Ryle. Private Judgment and Pharisees & Sadducees. Mr. Ryle is so plain spoken. It was so good and God and His Word were truly held up high. I don’t think we will read any of his sermons on baptism thoughJ I have also gotten to listen to a couple sermons from sermon audio.com lately. Imprecatory PrayerPastor George McDearmon • 66 min is Psalm 69:1-6 • Reformed Baptist Church
This is one of them and the others are from Jim Savastio. Any sermons from these guys are a good choice. What wonderful resources we have now! The kids had a couple of church services of their own throughout the day. One person is the piano player, one an usher, one person drives them to and from church, one of the boys reads a children’s sermon. We also played bible 20 questions. It was really fun

Rexford bought a Wii, I helped out a little bit but he paid for most of it. It is so fun, Rex’s friend came over a few weeks ago with one, I guess you could say it got us hooked. The great thing about it is, anyone can play. Geneva can bowl and so can an older person. When my mom came she played the bowling game and had a blast. And it actually keeps your body moving.

The kids tested in Feb. Geneva got her gold belt. One of the ladies from church came to watch her test. Geneva broke her board on the first kick….so cute. She has been watching tkd for such a long time, she makes up her own patterns and she incorporates higher moves from other patterns she has seen. Right now she is busy learning her new patterns still. Rexford, Ethan, Isaac and Danielle also tested, they have their provisional black belts now. I am so happy for them. They practiced a lot for their test. They had to read their black belt essays in front of everyone before testing started.

Think you know the South and Southern history?

2007-01-15T06:33:00.000-08:00

The Politically Incorrect Guide to the South gives you the facts behind scores of revelations like these:
The first of the 13 colonies to formally legalize slavery? (Hint: it's not in the South)
How Georgia banned slaves -- and lawyers -- in its founding charter
Throw away those history textbooks: How the South started -- and won -- the American Revolution
How Southerners led the way in drafting the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights
Why Northerners -- not Southerners -- wanted slaves to be counted as property instead of people in the Constitution
Peculiar fact about the wealthy slaveholder whose court cases helped legalize slavery in Virginia: he was black
How Virginia militiamen created the American Midwest
Why Northern states threatened secession long before the Confederacy -- and why they considered it Constitutional
How Southerners outnumbered Northerners almost four to one among the heroes of the Alamo
Why slavery, which spread across all thirteen colonies, was far crueler in the North than the South
How the Northern colonies grew rich on slave trading -- and revived slavery in the South just before it collapsed
New York City's largest industry in 1860? The outfitting of slave ships
Why economics -- not slavery -- was the driving force behind the War Between the States
How Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation left more than 800,000 slaves in bondage in states aligned with or occupied by the Union
How the more civilized Southern way of war contributed to its defeat -- in contrast to the North's brutal "total war" against civilians and property
How the Northern victory dealt a death blow to states' rights -- leading eventually to today's all-powerful federal government
Why "Reconstruction" is the most misnamed period in American history
Why segregation, which didn't exist in the antebellum South, was a legacy of Northern-imposed "Reconstruction"
How virtually all of America's highest-ranking World War II generals had Confederate roots
How the South was making movies when Hollywood was nowhere
Why race relations in today's South are much better than in the North -- or anywhere else in America
What Yankee reporters don't understand about the South
Why faith and family come first in the South
Why the South is naturally conservative (and the North is naturally liberal)
Why limited government and low tax rates are a Southern tradition
Statistics show Southerners are happier than people in other regions -- Clint Johnson shows you why
Why blacks have been moving back to the South in droves
How American jazz, blues, and rock 'n' roll (when it was still music) all came from the South
Why blacks hold more - and more powerful -- political offices in the South than in the North
Why Southern industry is booming, while the North's is going bust
The second war against the South -- the campaign to erase memory and history -- and how it serves liberal interests
Why Southerners are overrepresented in the military - and no, it's not poverty
The best American literature? Southern, of course -- and our high school and college reading lists confirm it
10 Things Southerners Don't Understand About the North (#1: Why isn't Ted Kennedy in prison?)

Merry Christmas!

2006-12-21T06:16:00.000-08:00

We had a Christmas party a couple weeks ago with the kids we teach taekwondo to. It was pretty fun and the parents there are so great. We got a couple of cool taekwondo Christmas tree ornaments also.

I turned another year older this month. Happy Birthday to me:) Danielle will be 10 this month! My brother and brother-in-law also have a birthday this month, even on the same day. Happy Birthday to you too! We came home the day before my birthday from a trip down south. While Rex and I were gone, the kids made me 2 birthday cakes. So sweet! I am not the only one eating them!...lol…Rexford went to the store and bought all the ingredients for the cakes. We are so proud of him and all the fruit we see in him. Praise God for His mercy and love!

Our trip down south was super sweet. The family we stayed with are such an excellent family. Their kids are so well mannered. We had a blast getting to know them better. We visited a church down there, they have a fellowship meal every Sunday and most people stay all afternoon at the church fellowshipping. We were there from 9:30 till around 4. Everyone had something spiritual to talk about.

We are deciding if we are going to move down there. We are praying for wisdom about this all. Rex has a great job opportunity there. We do need to make a decision soon though, it is weighing on Rex’s mind a lot. He is listening to a sermon series we listened to for family worship awhile ago on making decisions.

Looks like we might have a white Christmas here! My last day in the south, I spent sitting by a pool in 70 degree weather, which I love because I was raised in Virginia and it took my body about 5 years to get used to cold weather. I mean cold weather, not like here in Minnesota. We have not had a very cold winter here since we have lived here. If we move, I would definitely miss the snow though, it is so beautiful and clean. Rex and I have really appreciated our friends up here telling us they would miss us and trying to think of ways for us to stay up here. Faithful friends are such a blessing from the Lord!

Praise God for His Faithful Son Jesus Christ during this time of year and always Praise God! He is faithful in all ways!

Dec. Stuff

2006-12-11T07:15:00.000-08:00

I am ready for Christmas break. I don’t have time to get some things finished! Geneva and I had physicals last week. She did really great for her flu shot and they took some blood for a lead test. When it was time for me to get a shot she covered her face with her hands and said,” I feel so sorry for you”. She is in the 95 percentile for her height and 50th for weight.
I am extremely behind on my holiday baking. Oh well I think I will take a couple days and do it all then instead of trying to spread it out. I do have Christmas cards ready to send out though, hopefully I will get them out this week:) Hoping for a white Christmas here!

Gobble Gobble

2006-11-27T06:25:00.000-08:00

Had a wonderful Thanksgiving with my mom and brother. We spent a short time in S.D. with them but it was still very nice. My nephews and niece are getting so big so fast. Geneva really likes playing with them. My oldest nephew who has autism/mentally retarded seems to have matured some. He was able to let people know what he wanted a lot easier now. I could understand what he was trying to say, he doesn’t say words but he does motion with his hands and grunts! He wanted to smell everything, he loves candles now.

One thing about traveling…I get so bloated I can barely stand it. I am finally back to normal this morning. I felt like I was 5 months pregnant all weekend, my stomach so huge. I guess I don’t drink enough water when we travel:)

Nov. almost gone! WOW, this year is going by so fast..I know I know, I am always saying something like that! I need to start holiday baking. I don’t have a problem with tasting so I should not ruin my diet. What am I doing today to make it to my goal?, is the question I am asking myself everyday! I have also started weighing myself everyday again. Scales don’t lie.

Stuffing in November

2006-11-20T07:04:00.000-08:00

I don’t seem to blog as much as I used to. Homeschooling takes up a lot of my time:) . We visited Rex’s Grandpa in the beginning of the month. We had a great visit with him, Rex was able to read the Scriptures and pray with him.

We gave out gospel tracts along with candy Halloween night. I found a great resource online
http://www.ccwonline.org/tracts.html

We only found 3 of them on our lawn the next morning. We gave out close to 50 of them. Next year I should prepare a little more.

Rexford was hired on as a seasonal employee at a retail store and really likes it. He has his last behind the wheel scheduled soon.

Rex celebrated his birthday this month, it wasn’t really relaxing. But I did make him Boston Cream Pie! One of his favorites. He works so much we had a hard time finding some time to celebrate it!

We had six kids from the school where we teach tkd enter a tkd tournament this month. They all did great and Rex was like a proud papa helping them. I was in a ring judging or refereeing the whole time. My feet hurt so bad that night, I was so worn out! I can’t remember the last time I was on my feet for so long. I learned a lot also, it was a great experience for me. I was sick on top of it all!

We had a game day with people from the church on Saturday and it was really fun. One of the games we played was Apples to Apples. I really liked it even though I didn’t do very well at it. Lilly and Danielle spent the day at a birthday party, it was at a water park, and Danielle doesn’t want to remove her wrist band. I wonder how many days it will stay on:)

Geneva is working hard on her pattern in tkd, I am hoping she can test soon. She has been watching tkd for such a long time, she sometimes will incorporate high belt moves into her pattern, it’s pretty funny to watch but we are constantly telling her to do her own pattern!

I am so glad I quit the homeschool co-op when I did. They were going to offer a hip hop dance class next semester, I don’t know if they are still offering the class now, a couple families quit shortly after. I am glad I didn’t have to deal with that. I think it’s so sad and it’s a terrible reflection on the state of some of our churches. Why parents would encourage such things is beyond my understanding. This makes me think of why parents let their children get away with lying…I could go on and on but I will not!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rex is doing a lot better on our weight loss challenge than I am. It’s so easy to get comfortable with yourself, but I know I need to make it to my goal. It is taking a long time to do it. It was so easy to put on the fat!

Hope everyone has a beautiful Thanksgiving this week! Praise God for His wonderful mercies to us! Praise God from whom all blessings come!

Why English is So Hard to Learn

2006-11-06T11:57:00.000-08:00

A funny from a forum I thought was cute.
If you ever feel stupid, then just read on. If you've learned to speak fluent English, you must be a genius! This little treatise on the lovely language we share is only for the brave. Peruse at your leisure, English lovers.
Reasons why the English language is so hard to learn:

1) The bandage was wound around the wound.

2) The farm was used to produce produce.

3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.

4) We must polish the Polish furniture.

5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.

6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.

7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.

8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.

9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

10) I did not object to the object.

11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.

12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.

13) They were too close to the door to close it.

14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.

15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.

16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.

17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.

18) After a number of injections my jaw got number.

19) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.

20) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.

There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France . Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat.

Quicksand works slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig. And why is it that writers write, but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham?

If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it? Is it an odd, or an end?

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship?

Have noses that run and feet that smell?

How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out, and in which, an alarm goes off by going on.

English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all. That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.

P.S. - Why doesn't "Buick" rhyme with "quick"?

I don’t think I will ever hear you say that again!

2006-10-28T08:32:00.000-07:00

“We are leaving as soon as Oprah is over” is what I said that caused my son to say that….:) Bill O’Reilly was on her show yesterday and I was able to watch the last half hour of it.

I have a small case of shin splints. I hope it goes away soon! I started jogging again this week with my jogging partner. We took a break when school started up, she is a home schooling mom also:) I am working hard to reverse the effects of gluttony in my life, a sin I can't remember ever preach on from the pulpit but a huge problem in our society/churches. I did mean the pun…lol

My Food Log

The end of Oct is upon us! Change your clocks tonight! Fall back one hour!

I am learning a new pattern in taekwondo, one without any kicks. It’s pretty fun, the black belt patterns have been great. We are teaching taekwondo 2 nights a week. The kids are great where we teach, they really say the funniest things. It’s hard to be strict when they are acting up because we are trying not to laugh at the same time.

Yes, the world series is over! I didn’t even know about it till yesterday:) What I find strange is that people who watch men in tights playing with balls think that if your athletic your masculine. What makes a man masculine is your character. Yes, that’s right character, not if you can throw a ball. Who cares if you can throw a ball if you don’t have character? I want my daughter to marry men with character and I want my sons to have character. So when we see something in our children that is sinful we address it. We don’t hide from it. A lot of times our children will deny it, whatever we may be talking to them about in their character that is wrong, but we don’t say well since we can’t prove it and your not admitting to it we will brush it under the rug. Take care to help your children with their character, not sport events.

Love

2006-10-24T06:30:00.000-07:00

1 Corinthians 13

1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned,[a] but have not love, it profits me nothing.
4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.
11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.
13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

A challenge

2006-10-20T06:55:00.000-07:00

Rex and I have a weight lost challenge between us. I really did terrible over the summer with my diet. If I would have stuck completely with my diet I would be at my goal weight already. So anyway, the challenge between Rex and I will really motivate me to finish what I started:) Also I am in between sizes, my clothes are either too big or too tight, can’t wear the too tight…lol

I am still baking a lot. Last night I made pumpkin bars. Cream cheese frosting came along with the recipe, but I will not be using it. I will just make a vanilla glaze. Rex doesn’t like cream cheese and so I don’t make frosting with it. Baking has been keeping the house warm and the kids happy!

my-calorie-counter.com The webs free Calorie Counter

Birthday girls and testing

2006-10-09T04:39:00.000-07:00

Rex, Lilly, Isaac, Ethan, Danielle and I tested on Saturday. Rex and I are officially 1st Dan's now in Taekwondo:) Geneva has started to take class now. She knows the beginning of her pattern:) Danielle has a ton of power now in her patterns, something clicked for her and she has improved quiet a bit.

We have celebrated 2 birthday's recently. My mom and stepfather came up to celebrate with us. Lilly likes pie instead of cake for her birthday and Geneva had a My Little Pony Cake. Geneva blew out her candles before we could finish singing to her. Last night she asked me when she was going to have another birthday. She also thought she didn't need to sit in a car seat anymore, since she is a big girl now:)
I have been baking a lot of pie lately. Cherry, pumpkin, blueberry, and pecan. Rexford asked if I would send him pies after he moves out on his own...hehe! You can't just make one pie in our house, there are so many growing kids to eat them up!

Homeschooling is going great, I have not lost my motivation to get things finished before the end of the day. So Sept. flew by with the days being filled with lots of school. Danielle usually finishes up before anyone else. Rexford has more subjects than anyone else so he is usually the last one finished. He is also working about 3 days a week. Which works out great because it's just enough hours for him.

Happy First Day of Fall!!!!!!

2006-09-25T06:06:00.000-07:00

It was the first day of fall when I started this entry. Leaves are starting to change color and the weather is cooler. We have not turned our heat on and I want to wait as long as possible to do that. It seems with the change of weather some of us are getting sick. I have gotten sick once since I started dieting. Geneva was really ill one day this week:(

I had a hair color semi disaster this week. I usually use hair dye that comes with highlighting. Well, when I dyed my hair this week the highlights were way too bright. I went to the hair salon where I get my hair cut to talk to the lady who cuts my hair and she was so sweet. She is so young; anyway she walked with me over to a store and helped me pick out some dye to fix my problem. I suppose when the kids move out we might be able to afford for me to get my hair dyed at a salon, but for now it’s box color:)

Rex and I took a couple of the kids to see Jet Li’s new movie Fearless. When we have gone to the theater to see a martial arts movie the previews they show before hand are SO TERRIBLE. Lots of horror movies, not sure what focus group recommended that but it’s really annoying. It was over 20 minutes of preview! The movie was great; I can’t remember when I cried at a movie so much. I must have been in a mood. Why do most Asian movies have sad endings? It didn’t leave me with a feeling of just sadness though; there was a strong emphasis on family, honor and justice.

I have found the answer!!!

2006-09-20T11:07:00.000-07:00

Faintly flabby earthlings are always on the lookout for a new diet. The trouble with most diets is that you don't get enough to eat (the starvation diet), or you don't get enough variation (the liquid diet, or you go broke (the all-meat diet). Consequently, people tend to cheat on their diets, or quit after 3 days, or go right back to stuffing their faces after it is all over. Is there nothing you can do but give up and tell your friends you have a gland problem? Or is there slim hope?

Such is the new Toddler Miracle Diet! Over the years you may have noticed, as I have, that most two year olds are trim. It came to me one day over a cup of black coffee and a carrot that perhaps their diet is the reason.

After consultation with pediatricians, x-ray technicians, and distraught moms, I was able to formulate this new diet. It is inexpensive, offering great variety and sufficient quantity. Before embarking on this diet, however, be sure to check with your doctor -- otherwise you may have to see him afterward. Good luck!

DAY ONE:

Breakfast - One scrambled egg, one piece of toast with grape jelly. Eat 2 bites of the egg, using your fingers; dump the rest on the floor. Take 1 bite of toast, then smear the jelly over your face and clothes. Get some in your eyebrows too. It'll give you something to pick at for several hours of satisfying appetite control.

Lunch - Four crayons (any color), a handful of potato chips, and a glass of milk (3 sips only, then spill the rest down your leg).

Dinner - A dry stick, two pennies and a nickel, 4 sips of stale beer.

Bedtime snack - Toast piece of bread and toss it on the kitchen floor. Be sure to step on it and hear it go crunch!

DAY TWO

Breakfast - Pick up stale crunched toast from kitchen floor and eat it. Drink half bottle of vanilla extract or one vial of vegetable dye. Um, yummy!

Lunch - Half a tube of "Pulsating Pink" lipstick and a cigarette (to be eaten, not smoked). One ice cube if desired.

Afternoon snack - Lick an all day sucker until sticky, take outside, drop in dirt. Retrieve and continue slurping until it is clean again. Then bring inside and drop on the rug. Wander away without thought.

Dinner - a rock or an uncooked bean, which should be thrust up your left nostril. Pour iced tea over mashed potatoes, eat with a large strainer spoon, since taking your time is vital to your dieting success.

DAY THREE

Breakfast - Two pancakes with plenty of syrup, eat with fingers, rub in hair. Don't pull it out later though, it hurts. Glass of milk, drink half, stuff remainder of picked over pancakes into glass. After breakfast, pick up yesterday's suck from rug, lick off fuzz, and put it on the cushion of your best chair. Wander away without direction.

Lunch - Three matches, peanutbutter and jelly sandwich. Spit several bites onto the floor. Pour glass of milk on table and slurp up. Smear a design on table with remaining milk. It's good for your artistic expression.

Dinner - Dish of ice cream, handful of potato chips, some wine and coffee.

FINAL DAY

Breakfast - A quarter tube of toothpaste (any flavor), bit of soap, an olive. Pour a glass of milk over bowl of cornflakes, add a half-cup of sugar. Once cereal is soggy, drink milk and feed cereal to the dog. Be sure to rub some in dog's fur just for fun.

Lunch - Eat crumbs off kitchen floor and dining room carpet. Find that sucker and finish eating it.

Dinner - A glass of spaghetti and chocolate milk. Discard meatball on plate. Stick of mascara for dessert.

The above diet was taken off the forum of mycaloriecounter.com It really works, I have taken off another pound this week:)

my-calorie-counter.com The webs free Calorie Counter

School...Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-09-07T05:42:00.000-07:00

One of Rex's friends took us to Valley Fair at the end of August. All the kids had a blast. Geneva was tall enough to go on Mad Mouse and loved it. My favorite ride was the extreme swing, I was screaming so much I was worried about swallowing a bug, my mouth was open so much...lol. I was finally brave enough to go on Steel Vemon, it was pretty mild or it might have just seemed that way because it was the first ride we went on.

We had lunch in the tank and afterwards the kids had to sing the Cheeseburger Song before we left!

We started school on Tuesday. So far so good, we are all still alive:) It's actually been very good, I love getting back into a schedule and Geneva is a little older. She has her own school books and games. She has a card set called Logico and it's really great, she also has 4 learning cd's for the computer and some workbooks. Busy little muffin huh, she loves doing them all and I have to tell her I need to help someone else. Rexford's in 11th grade, Ethan's in 10th, Isaac is in 7th, Lilly is in 5th and Danielle is in 4th.

Last Sunday night we didn't have church service because there was a gas leak in our church, we didn't find out until we got there that night. On our way home we past a church that had evening service and ended up going there for church. It was an Independent Baptist church. The people were extremely friendly.

So much more to say but not enough time!

my-calorie-counter.com The webs free Calorie Counter

Deut. 28

2006-08-21T10:42:00.000-07:00

Last night during the church service, this passage came to my mind. I read it a couple weeks ago and it really motivated me. I am trying to put actions to my beliefs.

Deuteronomy 28
Blessings on Obedience
1 “Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. 2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God:
3 “Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country.
4 “Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.
5 “Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.
6 “Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.
7 “The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.
8 “The LORD will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand, and He will bless you in the land which the LORD your God is giving you.
9 “The LORD will establish you as a holy people to Himself, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in His ways. 10 Then all peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they shall be afraid of you. 11 And the LORD will grant you plenty of goods, in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your ground, in the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers to give you. 12 The LORD will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. 13 And the LORD will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them. 14 So you shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right or the left, to go after other gods to serve them.
Curses on Disobedience

15 “But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:
16 “Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country.
17 “Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.
18 “Cursed shall be the fruit of your body and the produce of your land, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.
19 “Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out.
20 “The LORD will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke in all that you set your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the wickedness of your doings in which you have forsaken Me. 21 The LORD will make the plague cling to you until He has consumed you from the land which you are going to possess. 22 The LORD will strike you with consumption, with fever, with inflammation, with severe burning fever, with the sword, with scorching, and with mildew; they shall pursue you until you perish. 23 And your heavens which are over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you shall be iron. 24 The LORD will change the rain of your land to powder and dust; from the heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed.
25 “The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them; and you shall become troublesome to all the kingdoms of the earth. 26 Your carcasses shall be food for all the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and no one shall frighten them away. 27 The LORD will strike you with the boils of Egypt, with tumors, with the scab, and with the itch, from which you cannot be healed. 28 The LORD will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of heart. 29 And you shall grope at noonday, as a blind man gropes in darkness; you shall not prosper in your ways; you shall be only oppressed and plundered continually, and no one shall save you.
30 “You shall betroth a wife, but another man shall lie with her; you shall build a house, but you shall not dwell in it; you shall plant a vineyard, but shall not gather its grapes. 31 Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, but you shall not eat of it; your donkey shall be violently taken away from before you, and shall not be restored to you; your sheep shall be given to your enemies, and you shall have no one to rescue them. 32 Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, and your eyes shall look and fail with longing for them all day long; and there shall be no strength in your hand. 33 A nation whom you have not known shall eat the fruit of your land and the produce of your labor, and you shall be only oppressed and crushed continually. 34 So you shall be driven mad because of the sight which your eyes see. 35 The LORD will strike you in the knees and on the legs with severe boils which cannot be healed, and from the sole of your foot to the top of your head.
36 “The LORD will bring you and the king whom you set over you to a nation which neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods—wood and stone. 37 And you shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all nations where the LORD will drive you.
38 “You shall carry much seed out to the field but gather little in, for the locust shall consume it. 39 You shall plant vineyards and tend them, but you shall neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them. 40 You shall have olive trees throughout all your territory, but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil; for your olives shall drop off. 41 You shall beget sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours; for they shall go into captivity. 42 Locusts shall consume all your trees and the produce of your land.
43 “The alien who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower. 44 He shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him; he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail.
45 “Moreover all these curses shall come upon you and pursue and overtake you, until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you. 46 And they shall be upon you for a sign and a wonder, and on your descendants forever.
47 “Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of everything, 48 therefore you shall serve your enemies, whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in need of everything; and He will put a yoke of iron on your neck until He has destroyed you. 49 The LORD will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you will not understand, 50 a nation of fierce countenance, which does not respect the elderly nor show favor to the young. 51 And they shall eat the increase of your livestock and the produce of your land, until you are destroyed; they shall not leave you grain or new wine or oil, or the increase of your cattle or the offspring of your flocks, until they have destroyed you.
52 “They shall besiege you at all your gates until your high and fortified walls, in which you trust, come down throughout all your land; and they shall besiege you at all your gates throughout all your land which the LORD your God has given you. 53 You shall eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and your daughters whom the LORD your God has given you, in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you. 54 The sensitive and very refined man among you will be hostile toward his brother, toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the rest of his children whom he leaves behind, 55 so that he will not give any of them the flesh of his children whom he will eat, because he has nothing left in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you at all your gates. 56 The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground because of her delicateness and sensitivity, will refuse[a] to the husband of her bosom, and to her son and her daughter, 57 her placenta which comes out from between her feet and her children whom she bears; for she will eat them secretly for lack of everything in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you at all your gates.
58 “If you do not carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, THE LORD YOUR GOD, 59 then the LORD will bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary plagues—great and prolonged plagues—and serious and prolonged sicknesses. 60 Moreover He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt, of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you. 61 Also every sickness and every plague, which is not written in this Book of the Law, will the LORD bring upon you until you are destroyed. 62 You shall be left few in number, whereas you were as the stars of heaven in multitude, because you would not obey the voice of the LORD your God. 63 And it shall be, that just as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good and multiply you, so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you and bring you to nothing; and you shall be plucked from off the land which you go to possess.
64 “Then the LORD will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you shall serve other gods, which neither you nor your fathers have known—wood and stone. 65 And among those nations you shall find no rest, nor shall the sole of your foot have a resting place; but there the LORD will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and anguish of soul. 66 Your life shall hang in doubt before you; you shall fear day and night, and have no assurance of life. 67 In the morning you shall say, ‘Oh, that it were evening!’ And at evening you shall say, ‘Oh, that it were morning!’ because of the fear which terrifies your heart, and because of the sight which your eyes see.
68 “And the LORD will take you back to Egypt in ships, by the way of which I said to you, ‘You shall never see it again.’ And there you shall be offered for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.”

The gauntlet

2006-08-07T06:32:00.000-07:00

How was everyone’s weekend? Friday night we went to torture class, I mean endurance class at tkd. I seem to forget how hard that class is or I don’t think I would go back to it. One night last week at the end of class we did an exercised called the gauntlet, everyone makes 2 lines facing each other and one person is picked to go through the gauntlet. The teacher picks certain people to attack the chosen person as they walk down between the lines of people. Any way I was the last person picked and as I was walking down, I really wanted to run, no one was attacking me until I got to the middle and everyone came after me. I screamed and back out of the circle that had formed…lol. It’s great practice for your self defense:) I don’t think anything can help if you have 10 people going after you though!

Saturday morning I went to the Farmer’s Market downtown with my neighbor. I got a pineapple for one dollar and some other great deals. We went to testing at tkd on Saturday. It is hard to know what to say to the people testing, because you want to be encouraging but also you want to help them for the next time they test. So it’s a good experience for me:) Later that day we had company over. I made chicken scaloppini and Italian bread.

Here is my recipe:
Sauce: 2 sticks of butter, juice from 1 lemon and ¼ cup white wine.
Cook wine and juice till condensed, melt butter.
In separate pan fry chicken that has been tenderized and coated with flour. Remove from pan. Sauté some mushrooms and pancetta, add chicken, jar of capers with juice from jar, one jar of marinated artichoke hearts chopped. Add shrimp.
Add one half of sauce to meat mixture and the other half to angel hair pasta. Pour pasta into serving bowl and spread meat mixture on top.
Lots of CALORIES! I don’t know how much. The first recipes I had for this called for 4 sticks of butter so I consider this the low calorie recipe even though I am not fooling myself.

Rex listened to a sermon on the third commandment and shared it with us. I have been using God’s name carelessly by saying “Oh my goodness”, etc. I didn’t realize how much I said it until I have been trying to stop. I am working on this!

I am reading a book titled Tomorrow to the kids, it’s about procrastination. A friend recommended a book I have been reading The House of Love, by Elizabeth Cheney.

Summer Vacation

2006-08-04T10:57:00.000-07:00

Wow, I blogged just once last month. July really flew by. I have a couple pictures of the boys’ bathroom. Ethan has only finished 2 pictures so far for the room. We did get our digital camera, so now I can put up lots of pictures:) The prices on those kinds of cameras have really gone down!

Rex took last week off and he and the kids roofed our garage. It was really HOT on those days but they did it. I have pictures of that but we didn’t have the digital camera then. We also went to a water park. We had a relaxing and fruitful vacation together. Rex was able to get a lot of work finished around the house. The roof was the biggest project.

The week before last my mom and stepfather came for a visit and they took Isaac to the Dells. He had a good time there and brought back some cheese and fudge.

Yesterday, when we were at the pool, it felt cool outside, our bodies are getting used to the hot temperatures because it was in the 80’s yesterday. A few of the kids are feeling sick today, I have a huge headache and am very thankful for ibuprofen!

Our t-shirts are really starting to sell. We have had 33 orders since we started selling. I am still looking for some extra income. I think I will start selling on Ebay again since we have a camera now.

Geneva has been sitting a lot better in church and I finally feel like I can hear a sermon. We have been having good fellowship on the Lord’s Day. It has been so relaxing to have fellowship with people who are of the same mind. Not on every matter of course, but on the areas we differ from each other they don’t hold it against us and we don’t hold it against them. Refreshing! We rub each other the right way…lol.

Taekwondo has been really good lately. I am always trying to work on something, lately my round kick, which I feel I will always have to work on! I am also working on my blocks. Jogging is going WONDERFUL. We had our fastest time around the lake last week, probably because it was about 20 degrees cooler. We are planning on adding more to our jog because of how fast we got around the lake.

I gained weight/fat from our vacation, so I need to get back to where I was before vacation. Maintaining my fat loss has been hard, also I was not exercising. So bad me!

Last week, at the pool, Geneva went into the larger pool with Ethan and told him she had to go potty, so he took her out and she ran into the baby pool and after Ethan caught up with her she told him she went potty in the baby pool. Ethan came and told me and I think everyone around me heard him say “Geneva went potty in the pool!” I know she is not the only one doing it but she still shouldn’t be doing it.
Who ME?

God before family?

2006-08-04T10:53:00.000-07:00

This week I quit the homeschool co-op I was a member of. I had been thinking about it for awhile and finally just did it. My pastor’s wife said if you going to do it, do it now before it gets any closer to when you start.

So any way I have been motivated to be a better wife and mother, mainly by making sure my relationship with God is in order. I copied this from a book I read last year: I found it last week when cleaning.

18 Ways a Wife May be the Glory of Her Husband.
1. Ask your husband,” What are your goals for the week.”
2. Ask your husband,” How can I help you accomplish these goals?”
3. Ask your husband,” Is there anything I can do to make it easier for you?”
4. Be organized with cleaning, grocery shopping, laundry, and cooking. As you fulfill your God-given responsibilities, your husband is then free to do his work.
5. Save some of your energy every day for him.
6. Put him first over the children, your parents, friends, job, ladies’ Bible studies, etc..
7. Willingly and cheerfully rearrange your schedule for him when necessary.
8. Talk about him in a positive light to others. Do not slander him at all, even if what you are saying is true.
9. Do whatever you can to make him look good, to accomplish his goals. Some examples are offer to run errands for him, organize your day to be available to help him with his projects, pray for him and make good suggestions. Give him the freedom not to use your suggestions, and do not be offended if he does not follow it.
10. Consider his work (job, goals, hobbies, work for the Lord) as more important than your own.
11. Think of specific ways that you can help him accomplish his goals. Examples are get up early in the mornings to help him get off to work having a good breakfast, take care in recording telephone messages for him, anticipate any needs he may have in order to attain a specific goal, and keep careful records of money spent to keep up with budget.
12. Consider the things that you are involved in. How do they glorify your husband? Ask his guidance.
13. Be warm and gracious to his family and friends. Make your commitment to him obvious to them.
14. Do and say things that build him up instead of tear him down.
15. Dress and apply your makeup in an attractive manner that is pleasing to your husband.
16. When your husband sins, reprove him privately and gently, always giving him hope and pointing him to the Lord.
17. Encourage him to use his spiritual gifts in ministry.
18. Realize that just as God is glorified when man obeys Him, your husband is glorified when you obey your husband.

These are some of the reasons I quit that co-op, I have been so busy with things that don’t really matter that I haven’t been spending my time on things that do matter.

July stuff

2006-07-11T11:57:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone is having a fantastic summer! We took a trip to S.D. the weekend before the fourth. We had decided to go to a town south of where my mother lives. Two purposes, one go to the beautiful lake there and two Rex was going to meet up with his friend from High School. Well it rained as soon as we reached the town, oh well, no lake. We ended up taking the kids bowling:) Not sure there is anything else to do there. The town we went to is a town I have lived in for a couple years when I was a teenager. It was at a time I was very wild, so not so great memories. I do remember being at their police station a couple times. There was this restaurant I had always wanted to go to though and this is where Rex was to meet with his old friend. My expectations were SO HIGH! When I had lived there we were so dirt poor we didn’t go out to eat. Well as you might have guessed, I was completely let down. I really had never missed anything from not going to that restaurant! LOL It was like a Country Buffet or something like that. No offense to people who like Country Buffet:)

We went to the E.V. Free church there in S.D. and we heard a lecture/sermon on abortion for both morning and evening service. It’s a huge church, I am not sure how you can ever really get to know anyone in a huge church but I am sure people do. Our church is so little and everyone is friendly. It’s a lot easier to have a sense of community in a smaller church, that and making sure you are involved in fellowship. I hope our church gets larger though! We generally try and have someone over once a month.

I finished the boy’s bathroom last night. Yesterday I decided I wasn’t going to do anything but work on their bathroom until I finished it. I spent the longest time picking out bathroom rugs:) I will get some pictures up when we get a new camera, which should be at the end of the month. The colors are water blue and aqua. Ethan is doing the art work for the walls. He is using pastels. He is drawing fish and adding some people and objects from a Japanese video game he likes, Katamari. The artwork is the only thing not finished. I grouted some tiles twice:) , added new hardware to their cabinet, painted the walls, and made a curtain (which took less than 5 minutes).

I started lifting weights again today, which felt so good. I am staying away from squats for now because they seem to bother my knee. I am halfway to my weight goal, the weight I was before I got pregnant with Geneva:)

All of the cousins together here. Little Eddie, Caitlin and Alex with our kids.

The kids are so tan!

Grammy with the kids:)

Godless

2006-06-29T19:01:00.000-07:00

Here is a link to the first chapter of Ann Coulter's newest book. Rexford and Ethan are dying to read the whole thing. She would be the perfect match for either one of them, if only she was younger.

http://www.townhall.com/opinion/columns/anncoulter/2006/06/06/199800.html

The beginning of summer

2006-06-19T05:41:00.000-07:00

Not sure why summers are so busy, when I was a kid I remember it differently. Played all day outside and went swimming every weekend at the beach. Ok I am not a kid anymore:)
We had our neighbors over for Memorial Day. Rex grilled and we feasted on the regular barbecue sides.

On Saturday we celebrated Father's Day. We started to watch the season 4 of 24 on Saturday. It has been excellent, almost as good as the first season. The guys had a breakfast at the church, it went well. We ordered pizza for supper, which I ate way too much of and played a board game that Rex got for Father’s Day. Geneva colored on a piece of paper and rolled it up and gave it to him and she told him it said, I love you papa. So cute.

I need to get Ethan into driving school sometime before summer is over. Rexford got into a college for a couple of courses in the fall. Greek and Psychology. He hasn’t found a job this summer so he will probably just help me with yellow book in July and hopefully get a job at the end of the summer. God knows when and where he will be working!

The last 3 weeks

2006-05-22T05:45:00.000-07:00

Well it sure seems like a long time since I blogged. We have been incredibly busy just like everyone else. We did our standardized testing at the end of April. The kids did wonderful. I jogged completely around the lake with my jogging partner, which was a wonderful feeling! I need to wear a knee brace when I jog and I have to walk any incline up or down. Rexford turned 16 and Ethan just turned 15 yesterday. A friend and I organized a Ladies Brunch, which turned out very nicely. I had 2 co-op planning meetings and 2 co-op board meetings. We trained a TON for black belt testing. There were a couple days when I went to 3 classes. I stopped lifting weights these last 3 weeks; I will need to start that back up as soon as possible.

I wrote a short essay on the history of Taekwondo and what Taekwondo means to me. I will post it on my blog sometime soon along with Lilly’s and Rex’s. The links will be on the right of my blog under links. The history of Taekwondo was really interesting to me and I really enjoyed reading about it. It seemed more like I was learning the history of Korea. After learning some about the history of Taekwondo it has made me appreciate our Grand Master even more. I wonder what will happen to Taekwondo in the next couple of generations.

My mother came down last week for the black belt testing. Lilly, Rex and I tested for our bb on Friday. I hope Rexford can test next time for his. I had been so nervous for the last two weeks about testing; If I thought about it my heart would race. I was kind of concerned about how nervous I was:) One night Lilly and I both had nightmares about Taekwondo, different dreams of course. Friday when we got to the school and changed into our uniforms I noticed mine was really wrinkled! I called a friend from our church that was coming to watch the testing and asked her to bring her iron. You can’t have a wrinkled uniform, uneven belt or missing patch during testing or any other day for that matter but definitely not on testing day!!!! When we got out on the floor to warm up I felt so good and my nerves were so much better. I was surprised how calm I felt. I knew people were praying. I thought the group of people I was testing with was going to get called up first but we weren’t so we watched the higher belts test. One of our Grand Master’s sons tested for his fourth degree black belt and he was incredible to watch, after watching him I wondered if I practice the same martial art he does. I was a little worried that I was going to get stiff from sitting down and watching the higher belts test, but I didn’t thankfully. Well testing went very well. I remember wondering how Lilly was doing because out of the corner of my eye I thought her cheeks were really pink, so I didn’t fret over my every move which helped me because I was praying for Lilly. My board break didn’t go as planned, nor how I practiced. I did end up doing a power break but with a different kick. I woke up the next morning wondering why my left foot hurt. I told Rex about it and he asked me if I was trying to break with my left foot, I couldn’t recall and he didn’t watch me during testing because he was setting up his power break (which he did beautifully, breaking four concrete slabs with a palm heel) We were able to have the testing taped and watch it afterwards. I am not sure why but during the testing instead of doing a three sixty with my right foot I did a pathetic back kick with my left foot! I was also way too close to the boards! I really want to get two boards and do a three sixty back kick to see if I can do it. Lilly did super duper on everything. It was over as fast as lightning. I was glad to have family and friends there to support us. I am very happy! The best part of the night was when our Grand Master and the other Grand Masters came over and shook our hands with smiles on their faces, I know my grin was wide:) It was really an honor. All of black belts were so encouraging to us; I know it made me feel more confident and spurred me on.

On Saturday we went to our schools tournament and the kids did well. Danielle was too sick to compete; she was going to enter forms. She didn’t go to church on Sunday and neither did Geneva. They have sore throats:( I worked in concessions; I did get to watch Lilly compete. It was her first contact match since last year when she lost for the first time. She won on Saturday but almost got disqualified for pushing. Another lady came to give me a break from concessions to watch Ethan spar but I went to his ring and waited a long long time and so finally I had to leave and get back to concessions. I wished someone could have been there to help him during the rounds. Isaac’s mouth was cut open during his match, not seriously at all.

Maybe your wondering how my diet has been going? It has been going great, I have been so sick to my stomach from nerves I haven’t been able to eat much. Well that’s over and my appetite is back…lol:) I now have time to read a book loaned to me by our church’s librarian, Beloved Bride by Bill Potter. It’s letters of Stonewall Jackson to his wife.

Madison Pictures:)

2006-04-28T16:16:00.000-07:00

2 trips and a dog

2006-04-26T18:57:00.000-07:00

We went to Madison, Wisconsin for a Tae Kwon Do tournament last weekend. Big Rex, Isaac and Lilly entered. Big Rex and Lilly got first in sparring and third in forms. Isaac got third in sparring and fourth in forms. There was a large group of people from our school in the tournament. It is nice to get away for a couple days with the kids. We had fun swimming in the hotel pool. I hope to have pictures up of the tournament this week. When I say Big Rex I am referring to my husband, even though Little Rex weighs almost as much as Big Rex now.

The first and only night in our hotel room we had a phone call from the family watching our dog, Winnie. Winnie had gotten loose and they could not catch her. She had been missing for almost four hours then. A lot of their neighbors had been involved in her apprehension. She had stopped traffic at least once by running down a busy street. So we told our friends to keep praying and we would call them back in an hour. We prayed together as a family, called our pastor to pray, and I also called my Mom to pray. Rex and I sent the kids to the other hotel room because we had two rooms. We had basically decided to skip the tournament and leave early in the morning. The family called back before the hour was up and told us Winnie came back to their house. God answers prayers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was completely unbelievable for her to go back to a house she didn’t know. With God all things are possible. There is no other way for her to have gone back there but by God sending her there.

I took a short trip to my mother’s new house and painted her bedrooms. I took Ethan, Lilly and Geneva with me. Ethan was a big help. I haven’t been home much in the last week so I haven’t really been able to exercise. It felt really good to go to Tae Kwon Do practice tonight.

They’re spying on us!

2006-04-17T06:38:00.000-07:00

I have been trying to hit the thrift stores for summer clothes bargains. Sometimes they are not any cheaper than Wal-Mart or Sears for a pair of cotton shorts. Before we went out we got out last years summer clothes to see what still works for this year. Danielle needed a new swimsuit. I usually spend the largest amount of money on swimsuits because the ones I think are appropriate happen to be expensive. Anyway a couple hours after the girls went through their clothes we got a phone call asking if someone from church could bring over some clothes. Yes! A swimsuit that fits Danielle was in the bag. She couldn’t get over it and commented that they must have been spying on us, I told her God provided it and He knew she needed it!

What’s up with people not RSVP-ing anymore? I helped throw a baby shower recently and the lady in charge of it was counting how many people were going to attend and didn’t know the week of the shower the number yet because half the people didn’t get back to her. We surmised it was either a lack of manners, Midwestern problem or that people don’t host enough events to know that the host needs to prepare, purchase etc supplies ahead of time….lol I guess you can chalk it up to being self-absorbed, which I am guilty of also.

I am still using the website mycaloriecounter.com everyday. I am down one size and 1/3 of my way to my goal weight! I journal my calories everyday, it has been a huge help! It seems so silly, I could easily write everything out on a notebook, which I will end up doing after the membership is up at the counter website. I was reflecting on how much I use the internet everyday. I pop to it all the time for questions and such I want the answer to quickly. I try to blog once a week. My family reads the blog even though they don’t comment, which is fine with me:) My hope is I don’t spend too much time on the internet. So I have to check myself, with everything in life moderation! Even if it is good for you. Who wants to spend most of their day in front of the computer, I think you become anti-social and don’t know how to carry on a conversation with people in real life. And besides that your back hurts! (I have spent a couple days during spring break working on graphics for the t-shirts on the computer.) We once got rid of the t.v. for a couple years maybe we should get rid of the computer for a couple! No email! That sounds wonderful! No spam!!!!!

I can’t believe Rexford is scheduled to take the S.A. T. this summer. He will be applying to colleges to get into one of them for classes in the fall using the PSEO program. I hope he can get in. Since he has 2 more years of High School left this will be a huge help. It seems like yesterday he was a toddler trying to rule the world, I mean his parents:) We were at an Easter party on Saturday and the kids decorated some eggs, Rexford wrote on his, “I want to rule the world!” Ethan won for decorating his egg the best.

I had extreme stomach flu last week. It lasted only one day but I still don’t have my strength completely back.

Strange Dreams

2006-04-10T06:16:00.000-07:00

I had a couple scary dreams last week. In one I was in Italy with Rex watching the Summer Olympics. There was this event that ran down a canal and a couple girls fell off into the water (they were riding something down it) and were eaten by dolphins. It was very gross and horrifying to watch them get eaten and nobody would do anything to help them.

Ok, the Olympics were in Italy this year but it was the winter not summer. Also dolphins don’t eat people and they don’t live in the canals in Italy!

In my other dream I was putting wallpaper up in a house. It was like my job, and the family had like 5 huge dogs. One of the dogs came up to me and said,” I am going to eat your kneecap off.” It started to bite my knee and I could feel the teeth starting to break my skin but then it stopped and I don’t remember what else happened.

Ok, dogs don’t talk! I do have some knee pain from jogging, not sure what my crazy dreams mean. I should have them analyzed. Maybe I will ask Winnie what she thinks.

Well nothing much new here expect we finally have some t-shirts online for sell. BUY THEM! There is a link for them on the links section of my blog. We plan on adding a lot more t-shirts soon. Right now we have conservative shirts up.
Or click here:
http://www.sayitrightwing.com

Sleepyhead

2006-04-03T13:48:00.000-07:00

I can hardly believe the 3rd quarter of school is over for the year. 2 more co-ops left also. I will probably go off the board at the co-op at the end of this year. I believe at the end of this year I will have been on the homeschool co-op board for 2 years and I think that is plenty of time to serve.

Isaac turned 12 in March. He had a couple of friends come over. This year we decided to limit the birthday parties. It can really be expensive. So anyway Isaac had a spumoni ice cream brownie cake covered with ganache. I hope to get some pictures up; ever since our digital camera broke I haven’t had many pictures to put up.

Rex has a stress fracture in his foot. Some of the kids are sick. URGH!!!! I know! Lilly slept till 11:30 today. I think the sleep did her a world of good. I am sleepy myself, I didn’t sleep well Saturday night. I fell asleep and woke up about a half hour later. Then I couldn’t fall back to sleep and then Geneva woke up coughing. So I was up with her for awhile, I didn’t get to sleep till around 4.

I need to get supper ready. Korean beef with rice, I know you want some! Ciao!

14 days of homeschooling

2006-03-24T08:23:00.000-08:00

I received this in an email today, I thought it was cute!
14 Days of Homeschooling
To the tune of "Twelve Days of Christmas."

On the first day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Can you homeschool legally?"

On the second day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"
On the third day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"

On the fourth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "What about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"

On the fifth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "YOU ARE SO STRANGE! What about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"

On the sixth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "How long will you homeschool, YOU ARE S0 STRANGE, what about P.E. , do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"

On the seventh day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Look at what they're missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE!, what about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, do you homeschool legally?"

On the eighth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Why do you do this, look at what they're missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE, what about P.E. do you give them tests, are they socialized, do you homeschool legally?"

On the ninth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "They'll miss the prom, why do you do this, look at what they're missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE!, what about P.E. do you give them tests, are they socialized, do you homeschool legally?"

On the tenth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "What about graduation, they'll miss the prom, why do you do this, look at what they're missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE!, what about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"

On the eleventh day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "I could never do that, what about graduation, they'll miss the prom, why do you do this, look at what they're missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE, what about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"

On the twelfth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Can they go to college, I could never do that, what about graduation, they'll miss the prom, why do you do this, look at what they're missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE, What about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"

On the thirteenth day of homeschool I thoughtfully replied: "They Can go to college, yes you can do this, they can have graduation, we don't like the prom, we do it cuz we like it, they are missing nothing, we'll homeschool forever, WE ARE NOT STRANGE!, We give them P.E., and we give them tests, they are socialized, AND WE HOMESCHOOL LEGALLY!

On the fourteenth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "How can I get started, why didn't you tell me, where do I buy curriculum, when is the next conference, WILL PEOPLE THINK WE'RE STRANGE? I think we can do this, if you will help us, we'll join a sports team, and we'll homeschool legally."

Whatever my God ordains is right

2006-03-13T07:19:00.000-08:00

One of my links on this blog has been for Jessica. It read Pray for Jessica. I will be taking the link down today. Jessica passed away last month. Rex and I went to the visitation with a couple of people from church that also practice Tae Kwon Do. Please remember to pray for Jessica's parents.

May this hymn be theirs:
What-e’er my God ordains is right:Holy his will abideth;I will be still what-e’er he doth,And follow where he guideth:He is my God; Though dark my road,He holds me that I shall not fall:Wherefore to him I leave it all.
What-e’er my God ordains is right:He never will deceive me;He leads me by the proper path;I know he will not leave me:I take, content, What he hath sent;His hand can turn my griefs away,And patiently I wait his day.
What-e’er my God ordains is right:Though now this cup in drinking,May bitter seem to my faint heart,I take it, all unshrinking:My God is true; Each morn anewSweet comfort yet shall fill my heart,And pain and sorrow shall depart.
What-e’er my God ordains is right:Here shall my stand be taken;Though sorrow, need, or death be mine,Yet am I not forsaken;My Father’s care Is round me there;He holds me that I shall not fall:And so to him I leave it all.
(Samuel Rodigast [1675], translated by Catherine Winkworth [1829-1878])

Crash

2006-03-10T06:26:00.000-08:00

I was in a fender bender last weekend. I must say I felt very safe in my SUV. The car behind me was totaled. It completely bounced off of me. Traffic came to a complete stop on the interstate! I know…it probably happens everyday!

The kids and I had a wonderful time in S.D. It was so relaxing, I didn’t have to worry about chores or schedules.

I started running with a lady from co-op, I told her up front I hate to run. I know it’s good for me though. So now I am into a little running club. I have been really exercising a lot lately. Lifting weights is going extremely well. Last night at TKD practice I could barely lift my leg for a round kick though, I used muscles in my legs from running that morning that were SO sore. Hopefully that will be the worse it gets. On the calorie counter.com site that I am a member of there is a blog that goes along with the food journal, so from now on I will post about my diet and exercise of there. I can’t believe I waited 3 years to do this though. Better late than never!!!!!

A new computer!

2006-02-27T13:22:00.000-08:00

I have begun sorting the photos I have taken since Rex and I have been married. It has been so fun looking at how the kids have changed or not changed. Family vacations, Christmas’s, birthday party’s etc Rex looks so different also, he weighed 138 pounds when we married. I have had the same hair cut since way back then but I just style differently.

Rex and I did better this year at the Oldie Wed game than last year. It’s the game we play at a couple’s Valentine party hosted by a couple from church. The game is so fun, even if you lose you find out more about your spouse. The prizes for winning are the best! Two couples tied for first place, there were a couple more questions they had to answer to break the tie. I suggested arm wrestling but that didn’t seem to go over very well:) I know how boring!

A friend from church who knows about computers came over and erased the hard drive on our older computer for us. It seems like we have a brand new computer now. What a blessing!

20

2006-02-20T05:59:00.000-08:00

A good habit,I picked up a long time ago, is to read the Proverb that is the same number as the date.

Proverbs 20
1 Wine is a mocker,
Strong drink is a brawler,
And whoever is led astray by it is not wise.
2 The wrath[a] of a king is like the roaring of a lion;
Whoever provokes him to anger sins against his own life.
3 It is honorable for a man to stop striving,
Since any fool can start a quarrel.
4 The lazy man will not plow because of winter;
He will beg during harvest and have nothing.
5 Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water,
But a man of understanding will draw it out.
6 Most men will proclaim each his own goodness,
But who can find a faithful man?
7 The righteous man walks in his integrity;
His children are blessed after him.
8 A king who sits on the throne of judgment
Scatters all evil with his eyes.
9 Who can say, “I have made my heart clean,
I am pure from my sin”?
10 Diverse weights and diverse measures,
They are both alike, an abomination to the LORD.
11 Even a child is known by his deeds,
Whether what he does is pure and right.
12 The hearing ear and the seeing eye,
The LORD has made them both.
13 Do not love sleep, lest you come to poverty;
Open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with bread.
14 “ It is good for nothing,”[b] cries the buyer;
But when he has gone his way, then he boasts.
15 There is gold and a multitude of rubies,
But the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.
16 Take the garment of one who is surety for a stranger,
And hold it as a pledge when it is for a seductress.
17 Bread gained by deceit is sweet to a man,
But afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel.
18 Plans are established by counsel;
By wise counsel wage war.
19 He who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets;
Therefore do not associate with one who flatters with his lips.
20 Whoever curses his father or his mother,
His lamp will be put out in deep darkness.
21 An inheritance gained hastily at the beginning
Will not be blessed at the end.
22 Do not say, “I will recompense evil”;
Wait for the LORD, and He will save you.
23 Diverse weights are an abomination to the LORD,
And dishonest scales are not good.
24 A man’s steps are of the LORD;
How then can a man understand his own way?
25 It is a snare for a man to devote rashly something as holy,
And afterward to reconsider his vows.
26 A wise king sifts out the wicked,
And brings the threshing wheel over them.
27 The spirit of a man is the lamp of the LORD,
Searching all the inner depths of his heart.[c]
28 Mercy and truth preserve the king,
And by lovingkindness he upholds his throne.
29 The glory of young men is their strength,
And the splendor of old men is their gray head.
30 Blows that hurt cleanse away evil,
As do stripes the inner depths of the heart.[d]

Well Isaac looks really cute with his braces on and his teeth already look better, it’s amazing how quick that happens. I think I should look into getting braces for myself. I got some books from the library to keep myself motivated. 7 Most Effective Ways to Jump Start Your Diet, The New High Intensity Training, Low Calorie Dieting for Dummy, The Diet for Teenagers Only (for Isaac), The Gotti Diet, and Japanese Women Don’t Get Old or Fat. I have gotten some great ideas from all the books, I plan to write them down in a notebook since I can’t do them all at the same time. Rexford is going out for a behind the wheel class today. Yes! We are not having school today. I haven’t lifted weights since I was sick last week, so I plan on getting back into that today. I feel much better, only a tiny bit of a sore throat is left. I have lots of things I want to get done today. I wonder if the President gets a break today?

New Lifestyle?

2006-02-13T05:15:00.000-08:00

In just a few days I will have been on a diet for one month. Some people on diets like to say new lifestyle instead of diet. I don’t freak out if I go over my calories for the day, but those days have been just a couple. Going out for a special occasion or something like that I might eat over my calories. The first couple weeks on my diet I didn’t have any results. So I cut back even further and got out a book I used after having Danielle to lose my baby fat. So far it is working. There are so many different diets plan out there, its mind boggling. Basically anyone of them will work if you stick with it but I think you should chose a diet plan that you can actually stick with your whole life. I would recommend not going on a diet that tells you not to eat certain foods. So even though I have been dieting for about 4 weeks, the first 2 weeks were not enough to make a change. I have gotten sick! I hope this doesn’t affect my diet since I have not been able to exercise. I have been faithfully taking Zicam, maybe it will work. I just need to be patient.

The kids went to a Valentine party at co-op last week. Snow sledding and cookies were involved. Rex and I went to see the movie Walk the Line a couple weeks ago. We were expecting more of Johnny Cash’s conversion in the movie. What were we thinking? I have heard mixed reviews about End of the Spear, not sure when we will get to see it. Isaac gets his braces on this week. He has been dieting with me and has lost some fat. I have a feeling getting braces might cause him to lose some weight also:) Harley our cat is also on a diet. I guess he is the typical cat, fat and lazy. We are incorporating diet food into his regular food. It’s hard to believe he gains any weight when he eats so little. He receives no snack, since he usually throws up anything but his cat food. He doesn’t like to play much also. Winnie got a bath last weekend, she doesn’t like them but she certainly needs them:) I guess once a month is about how often Winnie needs a bath. Isaac has taken on the responsibility of caring for Winnie extremely well. Its really is a lot of work.

My diet

2006-02-03T06:27:00.000-08:00

The book I am using to lose weight is by Ellington Darden called Body Defining. It's a six week program but you can use it longer, which I am sure I will need to do. I want to look more like the person my husband married:) Having 6 babies doesn't help things but that is because I have no self control when I am pregnant. I am not blaming my pregnancies on my fat gain just myself.

Creepy King?

2006-02-03T06:18:00.000-08:00

Yes! I finally lost some weight. I got on the scale 4 times this morning because I couldn’t believe it. It has taken almost 3 weeks to see some results on the scale and it sure is an encouragement. I will not give up until its all gone.

We had a fun first day of co-op on this week. Starting the second semester of co-op is a lot easier than the first.

Have you seen the new football Burger King commercials lately? They are hilarious, there is something strange or maybe creepy about the King but it’s so odd it makes you laugh!
Here is a Nextel commercial that will have you laughing.

http://www.visit4info.com/details.cfm?adid=23515

Update on sickness

2006-01-28T14:19:00.000-08:00

I scheduled a doctor’s appointment for Rex and Geneva on Friday; I ended up canceling Geneva’s appointment because she seemed to be doing better. She would run around like she usually does and challenge everyone else to a race. She is getting better on her own. Rex has acute bronchitis; he was prescribed an inhaler, cough syrup to help him sleep and antibiotics.

We bought Lilly some second hand ice skates today for her Hockey class she will be taking in co-op. The kids actually went to weapons class today; it’s not a heavy work. So it’s a great class for the kids to go back to from being ill.

On the Mend

2006-01-26T06:25:00.000-08:00

Lilly woke up Tuesday morning asking if she could go to tkd class that night, so I knew she was starting to feel better. Ethan also had pneumonia; he is better but doesn’t seem to have a whole lot of energy. Danielle, Isaac and Geneva are still sick but much better. Rexford was the first one sick around Christmas. Rex is also still sick, and extremely sick of coughing! My mother sent us a bouquet of flowers to brighten up the house. Are you sick of all the sickness, we are too! I am thankful for the general good health we all do have most times!

I have really enjoyed journaling the food I eat at my-calorie-counter.com. It also keeps track of fat, sodium, fiber, sugar etc. The scale hasn’t moved in my favor yet but it will if I keep it up! The first weeks will be hard. It was torture making bacon tonight for potato soup. The kids still need high fat foods, they are growing and all of them have lost weight from being so sick.

We start co-op next week. Our school year is officially half way over! Rexford is getting ready to take the S.A.T. Hopefully in the fall he will start some college classes. 2 more school years left at home for him, it is going by so fast! Ethan is just one year behind him, even though Ethan is taking a lot of the same courses Rexford is, like Chemistry, Geometry and World History.

Chorus of Coughs

2006-01-20T06:21:00.000-08:00

I feel like I am running a hospital here. The only people who are not sick are Rexford and I. I am not 100% but nothing like everyone else. We took Lilly in to the doctor on Thursday. Saturday morning she fainted, or so that’s what we are saying right now. So Thursday was kind of a recheck from being in the ER Saturday morning from her faint. They ran a few more tests on her, another blood test, influenza test and a chest x-ray. She has pneumonia. She started her medicine yesterday, a double dose. She should feel a lot better today. She will be rechecked again in a few weeks with another blood count, her platelets are low.

I stayed home from church last Sunday and heard a couple wonderful sermons on apparel. One of the reasons I feel I should spend more time on my appearance. They are by Pastor Lee McKinnon and you can find the sermons at sermon audio.com if you are interested. He likens church to a special occasion and makes a point about how we should dress for church. He said we dress for church they way we would to attend a special occasion like a wedding or anniversary dinner. The evening service is of no lesser important than morning service. There is no dress code but the bible places an importance on clothing and so should we. I don’t think there is a dress code but mini skirts, skin tight shirts and jeans shouldn’t even be in the debate. I think how you dress on Sunday is a reflection of many things. I don’t think I dress poorly on Sunday, just every other day of the week. I need to work on my appearance those other 6 days of the week. God looks on what’s on the inside not the outside and I am not discounting that, that is completely true. If that is completely true it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t worry about our appearance though:) O.k. I am getting off my box.

New Blog

2006-01-17T09:02:00.000-08:00

Rex has a blog now. Click here to check it out.Rex's Blog
I also have a new link on my blog. It's an online calorie counting journal. I am journaling the food I eat on this site and so far it has been a wonderful help. Please look for it on my links section on my blog. It's free.

2006

2006-01-17T06:55:00.000-08:00

So maybe I might have more than 7 items in some categories of less than 7 in others. This list was hard to make! I guess I don't follow instruction well:(

7 Things I Want To Do In 2006
Read through NT twice and OT once
Praise God more often
Proclaim the gospel of Jesus to others
Spend more time on appearance
Paint or stain kitchen cabinets
Lose baby fat and gain muscle
Knit something of use
Learn to play piano a little

7 Things to Do Less of in 2006
play video games
eat
eat
Worry about what others think
Did I mention eat?
Criticize our cat and other people

7 Ways I’m Going to Be a Better Wife/Mother/Friend in 2006
Encourage others with kind words
Pray more
Work at having the home be as comfortable as possible for Rex when he comes home from work
Make time to have individual conversations with each of the children everyday
Organize more
Esteem others more

7 Scripture Passages I want to Memorize in 2006
Romans 3:21-26
1 Peter 1:18
Romans 5:6-9
Matt 11:14-15
Gal. 3:11
Romans 4:2-5
John 14:21

7 Books I’ve Never Read That I’m Going To Read in 2006

The Giant Killer by A.L.O.E Lamplighter Rare Collector’s Series (already reading this)
Light from Heaven by Jan Karon (already reading this)
Is Ann Coulter coming out with a new book?
Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell
Black Rednecks and White Liberals by Thomas Sowell

7 Movies I’ve Never Seen that I Want to See in 2006

24 season on dvd 2
24 season on dvd 3
24 season on dvd 4
End of the Spear

7 people I want to join in

Rex
Rexford
Ethan
Isaac
John W.
Linda J.
Jan C.
Mary K.

Food Fight

2006-01-09T06:49:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

December flew by with lots of activity. We received a surprise visit from our friends from down south on Christmas afternoon. We had an edifying visit that lifted our spirits more than words can say. God is faithful and so merciful and shows such great love to us that I can’t put into words the comfort and love we’ve received from our friends visit. Praise God for His awesome grace!

Rex’s parents came for a visit the day after Christmas. We had a nice quiet visit with them. They took us out to eat. They are retired and need to sleep a lot. Rex’s mom broke her ankle last week:(

My mom and stepfather came up for a visit Christmas week also. The kids played a lot of games as usual and there was this one game I joined in on that I really liked called Hear Me Out. In the game there is a chance you might have to defend a topic or activity, off the cuff you have to come up with a speech and the other players rate you. One time I drew a card that wanted me to say how I would change the auto insurance industry, I completely floundered. My mom drew a card where she had to describe her first day working at a zoo in the elephant cages, it was so hilarious.

It has been a tradition to have another family over for New Years Eve but this year our tradition was broken because the other family had to pick up someone up at the airport. The timing of the pick up made it very impractical to get together that night. My mother and my stepfather decided to stay another night with us and so we had New Years Eve with them. I made a lot of appetizers. Here is a recipe my mother shared with me.
Beef Crostini:
Gold Yukon potatoes
Deli Premium Sliced Beef
½ cup mayo
1 tsp wasabi powder
garlic salt
olive oil
green olives

Wash potatoes, cut into ¼ inch slices. Lay single layer on cookie sheet. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic toast. Bake in 400 degree oven for around 20 to 30 minutes. Remove potatoes and cool. Mix mayo, garlic salt and wasabi powder together and spread over potatoes. Put a slice of beef over mayo and garnish with an olive. I used a heaping teaspoon of wasabi powder and I think next time I make them I will use more like a tablespoon of powder.

We celebrated Danielle’s 9th birthday at the end of December !!!!!!!!! She took a friend from TKD to Camp Snoopy. We ended up having a wonderful time with Danielle’s friend’s family at the MOA. Rex even went on the log ride with the other father. Danielle was queen for the day which made Geneva quite sad. Danielle is growing so fast, she is taller than Lilly already.

Rex and I frequently go out on dates. Recently we went out for Pad Thai. Pad Thai is usually served with crushed peanuts and a lime or lemon wedge. The first thing we do when we get our Pad Thai is sprinkle our peanuts on and squeeze the lemon over our rice noodles. So anyway, Rex and I were both busy preparing our dishes, when all of a sudden, Rex’s lemon wedge flew out of his hands and landed on the table behind him, the table I was facing. It landed hard on the table and then popped down on the floor. The girls’ table it landed in wanted to know if we were having a food fight. We sheepishly apologized a few times. I am sure they must have thought the lemon wedge came from me since I was facing their table. (Don't look too close at my picture, I know I really look washed out.I am not turning Goth or anything!)

Our homeschool co-op had a bowling party last Saturday. We all went bowling and ate bowling alley pizza! If you know what I mean. I almost beat Rex the last game but he gave me a kiss that distracted me from playing well on my last turn ( I lost by 4 points)or what I really mean to say is I let him win….yeah that’s right.

Busy

2005-12-13T08:54:00.000-08:00

Well December is usually the busiest month of year for me and probably for most people. Here I am blogging, proof that you make time for the things you want to do. I am behind on babka bread baking and my overall cookie factory home is pretty slow. I have been working out a lot. We have our work out room looking pretty spiffy and Rex certainly makes us accountable to get our work out finished. He is a great motivator.

We were invited over to friends’ from TKD a couple weeks ago and we had them over our house last week. I am so glad we joined TKD, it has really been good for our family.

Ethan was finally in to see a Neurologist who knows more about CMT than me. They said to expect your first visit to last around 2 hours. It lasted about that long and we didn’t spend anytime in the waiting room. Ethan will have some different testing done and so will Rex whenever we get the appointment scheduled. TKD has been good for Ethan and now that the boys are lifting weights I am sure it will only help. Ethan has gained a few pounds since lifting weights, he weighs what my goal weight is:)

We only have 2 Christmas parties this week, not counting the extra parties the boys have with their extra school classes. Danielle and I celebrate our birthday’s this month. We went to see The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe last week. It was pretty decent.

Knuckle Sandwich

2005-11-28T07:55:00.000-08:00

Rex and I were practicing our forms and at the end of one of our forms we end with a punch. Our punching bag was at the end of Rex’s pattern so he punched it. He hit it in just the right spot so he bruised his knuckle so much it filled up with blood. Eventually the blood will spread out and it will not be so swollen. It is looking better already.

Gobble Gobble. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving break. We celebrated twice, once at my mother’s house and once at Rex’s parents. His Grandmother was there, she is 95! She gets along really fine. My mom was kind enough to send me home with some leftovers. We will be having turkey sandwiches this week:)

Lilly promptly got sick when we got home. Poor baby! I think she is over the worst of it. She told me how she had forgotten what is was like to throw up:( She has been reminded now! She has been sleeping a lot and is having crazy dreams. Ask her about them next time you see her!

Well, we finally have turned over to the dark side and purchased an artificial Christmas tree. It’s a small, sparse tree. It is the right size for our family and living room space. This year instead of hanging the children baby ornaments I am displaying them in a basket, on a bed of white fluffiness.

My extra reading has fallen away. I hope to get into again this week. I have a couple books that need to be finish and our friends from Mississippi sent us a ton of beautifully bound books that I need to begin. The amount of money they spent on us astounds me.

Rex and I went to see the new Pride and Prejudice in the theater. I was disappointed they way the chose to end the movie and with the response Lizzy gives Mr. Darcy the second time he proposes but other than that it was absolutely wonderful. I prefer the BBC/A&E television mini- series Pride & Prejudice from 1995. We have it on DVD, so let me know if you want to borrow it. I think the new movie shows the differences between them in rank much clearer. It was only a little over 2 hours so they really squeezed in a lot and left out much.

Silver all around

2005-11-12T22:08:00.000-08:00

We went to a tkd tournament today. Rexford and Lilly entered. Rexford got 2nd in sparring. Lilly got 2nd in sparring and in forms. Lilly was part of the demonstration team.

Geneva with Grand Master. He always takes time to play with her.

We have a birthday boy in the house. Rex will be a year older tomorrow. We are celebrating his birthday next week though.

Half box of tissues

2005-11-12T22:07:00.000-08:00

A few months ago Rex and I went to the video store and rented a movie because of a recommendation from a columnist. On the way home from the video store we talked about movies we would never watch because you already now the outcome and it seems soooooo depressing. We talked about movies such as The Titanic and The Perfect Storm, movies we haven’t seen. I don’t want to watch people suffer and die. I guess I am talking about Dramas here, since I usually love action movies and some of the characters usually die in those but you don’t know their character very well so it doesn’t seem so bad or the bad guy dies at the end of movie. So Rex and I were reminiscing about movies we had seen and were looking forward to the one we just rented. I didn’t read the commendation myself so I didn’t know what to expect but it was a really good movie. A Walk to Remember. We have T.V. Guardian also. I don’t know if it blocked out anything though. If we would have known the ending we wouldn’t have rented it to begin with, but it was an over all good movie.

The portrayal of Christians was not demeaning but it was kind of corny (The preacher writing and practicing his sermon at the pulpit etc.) But the gospel wasn’t there.

pins and needles

2005-11-08T08:12:00.000-08:00

I had acupuncture for the first time this week. I am still in pain, so that is discouraging. The acupuncture itself didn’t hurt though. I will give it some more time. Our first quarter of schooling is coming to end this week. We started off slow in Sept. but we finally got into groove by Oct. and are on schedule.

Why isn’t the news media reporting the rioters in France are Muslims? Thomas Sowell has an excellent column on the riots at townhall.com. Why it started etc.

The girls had a play date yesterday. A play date is when you schedule a time for your child to play with another child. I had to explain this to my mom. Play dates were unheard of when I was a kid. We just went outside and played with the kids in the neighborhood. I don’t let the girls outside if they don’t have an older brother to watch them. How times have changed. I had to walk a couple miles in the snow to school also:)

There is an Elephant in the White House and he better start stomping!

2005-10-31T08:24:00.000-08:00

I can’t believe I am knitting! A friend from church came over last week to teach Lilly how to knit. She ended up teaching Danielle and me also. It was so kind of her:) Lilly got yarn, needles and a book about knitting for her birthday. That is what got the fire burning to knit.

I changed the layout of the blog; it is a little pink as you can probably tell. It has been a little over one year since I started to blog.

Geneva really enjoys doing her preschool books. She doesn’t want to stop after a couple of pages in each book. She loves to use scissors and glue. For awhile Geneva would insist she was still 2 but now she seems to like being 3. She will say her name when we write her name on her school papers, so that’s a major milestone.

Isaac had an expander installed :), to make more room in his mouth for his teeth. His speech is not quite back to normal yet. It sure has been fun listening to him try to pronounce words.

To some today is some crazy day called Halloween. We will give out candy with gospel tracts.

Of the way of politics, the dems lose again. Nobody really cares about the Libby indictment. It’s rather boring news. It is kind of a pathetic move on their part, they really look desperate again. I heard Kerry and Kennedy touting the importance of honesty, what a joke..lol. I sure hope there is a battle over the Presidents nominee for the Supreme Court, this time between two parties:) It’s really a win win situation for the Presidents party.

My first retraction, sort of

2005-10-31T06:41:00.000-08:00

Although the Magician’s Nephew was written several years after C.S. Lewis first began the Chronicles of Narnia, he wanted it to be read as the first book in the series.

This is what I found in the opening pages of a new copy of a Narnia book. I don’t believe a word of it.

Wanted: Hot Sauce Taster?

2005-10-24T07:41:00.000-07:00

I made homemade ice cream last week. It was so rich I couldn’t eat much of it, especially since I started a diet last week. Exciting!! I will weigh myself tomorrow to see if I lost anything. I made chocolate ice cream. I want to try some more flavors, coffee for sure and maybe peanut butter. I have been enjoying my Saturdays. I don’t have anything planned so it’s just putzing around the house, cleaning and baking. I plan on taking my Wing Chun link off; I haven’t been there in such a long time. Rex may start going again but it will only be on Saturdays. The instructor there is really fabulous but I don’t have a desire for it. Rex is a natural at it though. Rex needs to concentrate on a new career or finding a job doing the same thing is currently doing. Any ideas on what he should do?I think he has a year or so to decide. I think his perfect job would be a hot sauce tasting chef that could practice martial arts while listening to sermons on his mp3 player. Anyone hiring? I am praying for wisdom.

If it's not broke don't....

2005-10-17T06:11:00.000-07:00

Rex and I went on a date last week. After 17 years of marriage you don’t have to wonder if you will get a good night kiss. We went out for Asian food. My fortune cookie read:
You can expect a change for the better in job or status in the future. Rex’s read: You are always entertaining and delightful. Years ago I thought it was a sin to read a fortune cookie. We would refuse the cookies at the end of our meals if we went out for Asian. I can’t quite seem to think much about my fortune since I can’t have a better job than the one I have right now. Rex is the one who has job worries right now, so it just seems really odd. He of course is always entertaining and delightful:)

I finished reading the Last Battle by C.S. Lewis a couple weeks ago, and I must say I was extremely disappointed in the theology at the end of the book. The books are great except this one section in the last book. I have started reading them over again to the kids, but this time around I am reading them into an mp3 player. Another thing that is really rot is the order they are selling the C.S. Lewis series. In the few book stores I have been in lately the have the Magicians Nephew as the first book, not The Lion, Witch and The Wardrobe. Don’t mess with it ya know. Leave it the way he wrote them to be read.
Here is the original order of the series:
The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
Prince Caspian
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Silver Chair
The Horse and His Boy
The Magician’s Nephew
The Last Battle
At least they are coming out with the right movie first. Ok I am done complaining. Ciao!

Strawberries and Tomatoes

2005-10-13T06:57:00.000-07:00

Well I am finally starting to feel better. I have been sick for such a long time. I am not completely recovered but I am sleeping so much better now and my cough and sore throat are much better. Life goes on….
A neighbor down the street from us lost her husband; she is a very sweet lady. She will say things like, “My husband and I would love to sit outside and listen to your kids play. It was music to our ears. I have never heard your kids fight” This must be due to the fact she is an older lady now and her hearing is off. It is interesting that your perspective changes the older you get. I know sometimes when the kids are driving me up a wall, that one day soon they will all be moved out of the house, ok well not that soon but Rexford will be heading to college in three years and Ethan is one year behind him.

Our neighbors across the street gave us a carriage that attaches to your bike. So now Geneva can have fancy rides when we go out for bike rides. For the last few months I thought Isaac was a year younger than what he really is. It wasn’t till Lilly had her birthday that I realized I had been goofing up his age. The ball is finally rolling for Isaac to get his braces on his teeth; he has separators in this week. They want him to have his baby teeth removed by the dentist soon, 2 of his baby teeth will have to be surgically removed.

Some of us tested for our red belts in TKD at the beginning of the month. During the testing I was thinking I will never test again! It was the hardest test I have ever done. I know each testing should be harder than the last. Sometimes it seems unfair that some people have easier testing, but it does feel good to know more is expected out of us. Our school isn’t running the Mc Belts. It doesn’t have an extra value menu.

I heard a really good sermon a couple weeks ago that really hit the spot. We should not be looking to others to fulfill our needs, only to Christ. People will always let you down, I already know this, yes but I needed a reminder. Christ will never fail. YES!!!!! So if you are feeling down this week, ask yourself if you are seeking Christ and His ways.

God uses situations as wake up calls, or warnings. Last week I was in a meeting that was praying for someone, thinking I could be this person all these people are concerned about. Don’t ever think you are above a certain sin, because you may find yourself totally in it when you are so self-righteous.

The company we hired to do our gutters and take down a couple of trees has really been a experience. I don’t have time to blog about it but it’s pretty hilarious. I can’t blog about everything nor do I try to. That is what real life communication is for.

More Cake

2005-10-07T06:18:00.000-07:00

Our princess turned 3. We celebrated Niva’s birthday on Tuesday night. She was so precious opening up her presents. She made sure she thanked the person who gave her each gift she opened. She says thank you sooooooooo cute. The next day she told me she wasn’t 3 , she is 2. I asked her what her name was and she said “ BABY, call me BABY” She won’t say her name. Grand Master Kim gave her a tkd uniform and she had it on during practice this week, so Grand Master picked her up and added her to class. She has 2 tkd practices under her belt now. She is not exactly doing everything in class but it is a start.

It's Party Week

2005-10-03T21:11:00.000-07:00

Lilly celebrated her 10th birthday last Friday. She had friends over for pizza, games and cake. We have another birthday to celebrate this week. btw..there is no more cake left.

Power update

2005-09-29T08:04:00.000-07:00

We got our power on Monday night around 8 p.m. Our poor neighbors across the street didn’t get their power on till Tuesday though. We had 2 trees removed this week also. The top of one of them came down during the storm. God was pruning our yard. The trees had been trimmed to look like totem poles.

Electrical Energy and more

2005-09-26T08:20:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! Last Wednesday there was a huge thunderstorm that went through our city. We have been without power since then. On Thursday we bought a generator, so our experience hasn’t been too bad going without power. I think we will get our electricity back tonight or tomorrow.

We had a stray kitty cat in our backyard last week. We took the kitty to the humane society and found out it was chipped. The kitty belonged to a gentleman who lives just a block away. He happens to be a wheelchair and was grateful we found his cat. The humane society lady asked me if we would bring the cat to his house for him and we did. There is a happy ending

The Pastor who shared the gospel (in 1991) with me is moving back down south. He resigned from his position as the pastor of a church my mother still attends. It is sad, I didn’t expect to feel so sad about this but I will miss them. Pastor R changed through the years but he wasn’t ever shy about Jesus Christ. His theology certainly differed from mine but he was always bold sharing the gospel with everyone. His wife taught me to use a sewing machine, gave me the best recipe for barbeque pork chops ever. She discipled me after I was converted. We memorized scripture together and she taught me to smile no matter what happens. I thought at one time it was a bad idea to smile no matter what but some how now I see the wisdom in it. She told me never leave the house without makeup on and make sure you are always wearing earrings. I need to get back on track with those two rules I remember they were the first couple I ever invited over for dinner. I thought I had to make the grandest meal I could make; I made a huge turkey dinner. It turned out well but I think my idea of a big grand meal wouldn’t include a turkey now I had to have been 20 or 21 years old at the time.

Some of us are testing for our next belt very soon. I have been feeling under the weather recently so I truly hope I will have some energy by then. Last night I crashed at 9:00, I knew I was sick when I went to sleep so early. I have been working almost non-stop lately and fighting off a cold. I stayed home from church Sunday morning; I did listen to a sermon on sermon audio.com. It was about the death of Christians and how we will be without sin in heaven, how we should look forward to heaven. It was very encouraging!

We have had 2 classes in our homeschool co-op so far this year, 4 more to go. I am teaching a chess class with help from Rexford. We are making chess boards out of wood and painting them and the chess pieces out of nuts and bolts, we will play chess the last couple of classes. Geneva is in a preschool class and is learning about nature. Danielle is in a MN unit study and has gym and art class. Lilly is taking a candy making class and a jewelry class. Isaac is taking gym and chess class Ethan is taking a grilling out class and a wood art class. Rex is also taking the grilling out class and helps with the chess class.

Things to do in NE when your on vacation

2005-09-12T22:49:00.000-07:00

The kids did very well at the TKD tournament in Omaha. Rexford took first in sparring. Isaac took first in sparring and third in forms. Lilly took first in sparring and third in forms. I was the only person who entered in my division, but I did get to spar two exhibition matches.

Put me in the zoo

2005-09-12T22:18:00.000-07:00

I haven’t had much time to blog. We have had family over recently and we started school last week. We went to Omaha, NE for a TKD tournament last weekend and while there we went to the zoo. We really enjoyed ourselves, the kids loved it.

Mission Accomplished

2005-08-25T09:32:00.000-07:00

We finished the bathroom yesterday. YEAH!!!! We lost track of the number of trips to the hardware store:) It was definitely worth the work. Of course we learned a lot so we will be able to plan better the next project. The bathroom was a room we wanted to redo since we first moved in to our home. It has been on the back burner since it was not a high priority.
Before: Gross blue linoleum

After!

Before: 70's blue counter and sink

After!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

More Incredible Pictures..hehe

2005-08-25T09:10:00.000-07:00

The bathroom is so small its hard to get a picture of somethings. I don't have the new light fixture on here and other things, you will just have to come over and see it:)

Winnie Graduates

2005-08-23T07:13:00.000-07:00

Wing Chun aka Winnie graduated from beginners obedience class last night. The students were tested with the dogs to graduate and the trainers were not allowed to use any correction during the test. Winnie did not sit during a part of the test she was suppose to sit so Isaac put his hands on his hips and stared down Winnie until she sat. We all laughed and the teacher said Isaac was sly.
Geneva relaxing on Winnie

We might enroll Winnie into a different class but probably not til next year. We have a lot of classes we are involved in this year with our homeschooling. I can't possibly add another.

Be careful of what you say you might have to prove it!

2005-08-22T07:46:00.000-07:00

Last month I was in 2 different conversations with people saying basically the same thing to both of them about something I believe. Hopefully I was encouraging them about keeping on during difficult times. Then God tested me to see if I really believe it. It is a lot easier to say what you believe than to live it. I can say yes Lord that is the truth with more confidence in that area now.

We had a special preacher come to our church yesterday. I was pretty excited about it. Invited a couple people (which didn’t show up) and was on edge to hear the Word of God. Shortly through the service I became convicted in my heart about my excitement. I realized I should be excited every Sunday and I should always be looking for opportunity to invite people to church. I am glad God used this “special” service to remind me of the importance of His day every Sunday.

Rexford drove around the block a couple times now. The first time he pulled into our driveway I screamed, he was driving between 2 trash cans and I guess I was being a bit of a drama queen. I was laughing the whole time I was screaming. I am trying to have fun with it! So far he is doing fine.

The greatest gift

2005-08-22T05:21:00.000-07:00

A chapter we read last week together as a family:)
1 Corinthians 13
1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned,[a] but have not love, it profits me nothing.4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. 13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

How we spent our summer vacation, sort of.

2005-08-16T20:55:00.000-07:00

I took Isaac to the orthodontist today. Two of his baby teeth are fused to his bone, so he will have them surgically removed since they will not fall out on their own. The doctor estimated 2 years of braces, which was about how long Ethan had them also.

Rex took last week off and we painted the house. We have some paint spills we still need to clean up. We are almost finished remodeling our (very small) master bathroom. We have a beautiful pedestal sink in there now.

We went to an indoor water park for our family vacation this year. The pass we got for the park was for part of 2 days. The first day we went there were 3 bus loads of kids and the park was packed. The lazy river was a water race track. Even when the park was packed with kids the waiting lines for the rides were relatively short. They had a couple cool slides for Geneva to go down. She loved the hot tubs. She was also able to go down the tube slide if she was on someone’s lap. They had other water slides that everyone else enjoyed. The first slide I went down, Lilly and Isaac were behind me, trying to scare me about how scary the ride was. I was kind of nervous when it was my turn to go down:) It was a really nice break from the projects around the house.

Rexford finished driver’s education today. He now needs to take his test for his permit. He will have some behind the wheel lessons after he gets his permit. I am sure he will be a sensible driver like his father.

It's Not Over!

2005-08-08T06:09:00.000-07:00

Co-op emails are starting to come in and I guess I will be sending out some of my own. I ordered our homeschool books for the year last week. This summer has really flown by, but it’s not over! I am going to try and make the most of what is left of it. We did go to the lake twice last week. The girls insisted they wanted to play tennis, the temperature was well into the 90’s and I agreed as long as we went to a tennis court that was by the lake. Three of the kids lasted for about 15 minutes and the other 2 held out for another 45 minutes. I guess I can’t whine too much.

A young lady from our church gave us free tickets to hear the Minnesota Orchestra play Four Seasons by Vivaldi last Friday. We went with the pastor and his wife to a very cool restaurant before we went to listen to the Orchestra. The restaurant was English, named Brits. It was very tasty! I had fish and chips and Rex had pot roast. I would like to go back there again sometime. The music at Orchestra Hall was excellent but ended too soon:)

It is raining outside. We were going to prime and paint the house today. I am not sure when we will be able to do that now. The Lord knows when it will stop raining and when it will be the best time to paint the house:) I guess we will work on the inside of the house today.

I Vonder

2005-08-01T22:34:00.000-07:00

Rex and I went to a movie last week and saw an Awesome preview for the movie The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. I heard Michael Medved say he thought these movies would be bigger than the Lord of the Rings movies. I certainly hope so! The symbolism in the books is so much greater than the Lord of the Rings books.

Rex is taking some vacation time at the end of the month. We are going to paint the house. We have a couple of smaller projects also we would like to finish during his vacation.

Geneva turned 3 today. While we were at dog training, I made some conversation with her and asked her how old she is and she said she is three. I told her no, she was two but she wouldn’t stop saying she was three. Three is her favorite. She has a favorite color also. She is talking so much but most of it is very hard to understand. A funny phrase she said a lot last week was” It’s not my fault”! I vonder vere she got that from? NOT ME!

Rexford has started driver’s ed. I am excited for him. Ethan has finally named his 2 birds. Ethan is very thoughtful and takes his time before making almost any decision. That has its advantages and problems. Isaac is still thanking us for getting him Winnie and he is doing well training her. Lilly and Danielle are having their first sleepover and are so ecstatic about it..giggle giggles is all I hear.

To the lake we don't go

2005-07-25T06:54:00.000-07:00

I had my hopes on going to the lake twice last week. One trip was cancelled due to another family’s scheduling conflict that came up unexpectedly. Then on Saturday we were invited to a birthday party/day at the lake. It rained and was so cloudy, we didn’t swim but had a fun time at the lake, meeting new friends too:) The kids had a fun time playing. We had our first taste of Cambodian food. I always enjoy trying new food from other cultures. I didn’t ask anyone for the recipes. Then later that evening we had a family from church over. We played a couple games; I think my team always lost which is very unusual for me...hehehe! During dinner we were on the subject of playing musical instruments and it was mentioned that someone had wanted to play the drums. I had to fess up that I had wanted to play the drums when I was a kid also, because I liked the drummer from the band KISS. I believe I shocked the kids at the table; we all had a good laugh. It is so hard to imagine how other people view you and your what you are like, I guess it is a good thing that the kids couldn’t imagine me liking someone from the band KISS or is it?

We finally had our new patio door installed. Rexford blogged about it here:
http://www.threebrotherz.blogspot.com/
It is really nice! Thank you Jeanne and Bob.