Carpets, currency and cars

Phew! The carpet is in! i have almost everything back in place. it looks so much nicer! Easier to clean too.

I will go ahead and give the dc another couple of weeks off of school. we have taken a lot of time off what with the new carpet (and essentially moving out!) and all. this is their first ever summer vacation since we have always done year round before. we won't start back up until after we get back from camping.

my book is now on Amazon. It may take a few days for it to come up on a search though. This will allow me to send it to my brother as that is the only way to get books to him.

finished "How to make a living without a job" Very good. Very inspiring. half way through I counted five businesses i could open today just off the top of my head. I also realized my dh already has one going, though that was purely accidental. How do you accidentally open a business? Well, it has to do with someone called Crazy Bill and eBay. anyway, hubby is now reading the book and there are three other people on the waiting list for it as soon as he is done. i am working on promoting my book right now and then i will work on both finishing the next ones and promoting my art. i won't support the family or anything, but i can bring in some extra spending money.

The basic idea is: find your passions, what you do for fun and what you are good at. Then brainstorm ways that they can make $$$$. Then go for it! Life is too short to spend it being a slave for other people. The author give a lot of good ideas and advice. I highly recommend it.

God, You know the transportation problems we are having right now. please work a miracle and fix this area. A nice, 12 or 15 passenger van would be really nice! that or tell the mechanic what is wrong with our old one and make him so tired of the thing sitting there that he fixes it!

Dumbing Down

So much has happened.

A lightening storm started two wild fires by mom and dads new house. The two fires eventually joined into one and burned more than 6000 acres. Due to the work of two neighbors with water trucks and bulldozers, no homes were lost. Thank the Lord!

Dad will be laying our new flooring in the dinning room Monday. That will be nice.

I am going back to traditional/ classical school. I am just not a unit study person. I see how that method is superior, but it just doesn't work for me. If you want more info on unit studies though http://unitstudies.com/about/index.cfm has some excellent books.

Church camp out next week and probably new carpet laid in the bedrooms the next. Probably the last of the flooring will go down the week after that.

Dishwasher and washing machine are acting up.

Read "A Gown Of Spanish Lace" by Jannette Okae. Good story, as all of hers are.

I also have read "Dumbing Down Our Children." Very much like many other books along the same line. My favorite of this type is still John Taylor Gatto's "The Underground History Of American Education." $35.00 in hardback or free at http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/chapters/index.htm.

As for "Dumbing Down Our children," it had a lot of information that other books have not. I find each of these books has a different perspective and fills in different blanks on how exactly we got here, educationally. Other books on the same subject are Dumbing Us Down, Thomas Jefferson Education, Why Johnny Can't Read, Why Johnny Can't Tell Right from Wrong. There are others whose titles I can't remember just now. And since most of my books are packed up to get them out of the way of the new flooring, I can't just go look.

I will see if I can finish the horse on mom's wall today.

Cholesterol Myths

I've decided to take a couple of weeks off of school. I feel very burned out and have overscheduled myself. While I am fixing my schedule, I will let the dc do what they want (within reason of course) maybe I can get some serious writing done.

We went to the Rodeo last night. It was fun, but without the dancing clown they have had before the show just wasn't as good. He was called up to the "big leagues" and quit.

Two men got seriously hurt (ambulance ride to the hospital) after being bucked off of a bull. That had to be a "sport" invented by drunken cowboys. Another man cut the tip of his finger off in the steer roping. He thought he had mashed it in the rope loop, but when he looked it was not there.

A calf came out of a shoot and fell down. They said she was fine a few minutes after they took her out of the arena. My guess would be she banged her head on the bar of the shoot on the way out and knocked herself out. The cowboys didn't do anything unusual.

We have been attending rodeos (armature and professional) since moving here six years ago. This is only the second time I have seen an animal hurt (last year a drill team horse ran into another horse and dislocated a shoulder) and only the fourth or fifth time I have seen serious injuries in the cowboys. Kind of scary.

Church needs prayer. It is time to make some changes. Some will go ahead immediately and be welcomed. Others will happen in time and won't be so welcome, probably. One problem, the pastors don't know how to handle at all so they need a great deal of prayer.

I need to cut those emails down but how? The MOMYS loop (Mothers Of Many Young Siblings) makes me feel Simi normal. The Christian Self Publishers have really helped me with my book business stuff. I am learning from the midwife loops. None of the others have very many posts (once a month maybe.)

I am almost finished with "the Cholesterol Myth." No new conclusions, but lots of supporting evidence for things I have heard before and that are only logical.

How to prevent a heart attack:
· Exercise More
· Loose Weight
· LOWER YOUR STRESS In Life
· Avoid Sugar And Polyunsaturated Fats, Especially Margarine.
· Enjoy Your Butter And Red Meat. Leaving Them Out Will NOT Reduce Your Risk Of Heart Attack Nor Lower Your Cholesterol.

Taking drugs to lower your LDL is a gamble. First of all, lower cholesterol has NOT been shown to affect the rates of CHD (Cardiac Heart Disorder). High LDL is often associated with CHD, but excessive bleeding is associated with cutting your wrists, too. That doesn't mean that bleeding causes gashes in your wrist. Cholesterol drugs do reduce the risk of CHD, though they don't always reduce Cholesterol levels. However, the rates of cancer in those who take the anti- Cholesterol Drugs is significantly higher. So choose your poison; heart disease (maybe) or cancer. I will take the heart disease, personally. I am updating the fat section of my health book, “Caring for Your Masterpiece,” to reflect the new information I have.

May 23, 2006

Our carnival was a success. We had around 50 people that do not attend our church come. since our church only has around thirty members, that is pretty good. This is our first year. Next year will be better.
I am trying to finish up our plant unit. sigh. seems like there just isn't enough hours in a day.

I have a sore throat and my 8yo was sick last night. Hopefully it was just something he ate and no one else ate it. He seems fine now. Shooting down Star wars bad guys like usual.

Back to the theme of not enough time; I found out how to make an ebook, and i almost have one ready but i just don't have time to sit down and do it! same for my next article for our church's journal, and a half dozen other projects. I did finish the baby shower gift i have been working on, but i can carry it around with me and work on it anywhere. God help me to set my priorities and learn to manage my time better.

For several reasons I think it is time to post this:

My Poem

These hands of mine are big and strong

My fingers they are supple and long.

God's call into these hands I feel.

They'll love, and teach, and guide and heal.

Human cares they'll soothe away.

When labors come they'll save the day.

Tiny heads and chins and hair,

From the start, these hands are there.

A moan, a cry, a tear, a prayer,

One more push will remove all care

You've called these hands to bring forth life.

Thank you, God, for calling me to be a Midwife.

Thomas Jefferson Education

We are going today to finish getting ready for the church's Children's carnival. Busy weekend.

I am finishing "Thomas Jefferson Education." I am not really impressed.

The author is a college professor and obviously still believes the "public schools saved the poor from illiteracy"

Bologna.

Prior to ps being imported to this country we had a 98% literacy rate. Now it is 85%. the schools are flat failing. Even the poor were very much better off before.

See http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/chapters/index.htm

The whole book is online to read for free.

That nit-pick aside, the author advocates lots of reading of classics, discussions, teachers leading the students in learning not pushing them, high standards and freedom to explore. At its core, basically the same thing as Charlotte Mason, unit studies, TTTclassical, even some unschoolers. Very good ideas, but not really anything new. He quotes often from Alan bloom's "Closing of the American Mind." That was a VERY hard chew, but so full of meat it was very satisfying.

Basically, I would recommend TJ-ed to those just starting out on homeschooling ( I will be incorporating some of his suggestions into my school), but do follow it up with something meatier, Teaching the Trivium, Charlotte Mason (Karen Androle's books about Charlotte Mason are much cheaper and easier to find. These are what I have read), or some of the other "classics" of homeschooling.

Learning and not

I'm baaaack. I hope, anyway. i still don't have the new flooring in and when that happens I will be focusing more on that again. My parents are still not in there house. There have been some delays. sigh.

We will be working on our plant unit study more tomorrow. since we are having company, i don't really expect to get a lot done.

Wednesday and/or Thursday we will be working at the church to get it ready for the children's carnival and health and safety fair next weekend. Hopefully it cools down some. It was over 90 today!

I have run across some information that is helping to make my web site better as well as learning how to make an ebook. Those lessons I have been giving at the ladies meetings every month would be a perfect first ebook (my homeschool: Why What How is in ebook form at homeschoolestore.com, but they are the ones who put it in that format and are selling it.)

I am considering recording that talk on the stars I have given at church twice now and offering it, too. Hmmm.

I should finally be ordering more hard copies of my book this week. finally got everything to the printers. this is a company i haven't worked with yet. the book will be in normal, trade binding this time. can't wait!
I am doing all this money stuff to try to ease the burden on hubby, but more to get the information out to others. God has blessed me with the resources to do a lot of research, and I want to share that.

When will I learn to keep my mouth shut? People talk and don't really want my opinion. They ask when they do. I "opened mouth, inserted foot" at church again today. sigh. It is just like the Bible says, the tongue is VERY hard to control. God, help me to shut up. You know the burning desire to help that i have, but you also know that talking at the wrong time does more harm than good. You know those that I am dealing with and how they're resistant to what is on my heart. I know You call different people to different things at different times. Help me to keep that foremost in my mind.

still some coughing going on. I think it is allergies. Hubby is felling better!yeah!

Why Homeschool?

Why Homeschool?

I have written a book telling you why you should homeschool and how to go about it. Here is an exert from the first chapter:

There are many reasons we homeschool.First and foremost, the Bible says that parents will be held accountable for what our children learn. We believe this means spiritual, moral, and emotional as well as academic education. We can give away our authority to teach, but never our responsibility for what our children learn. And if you want something done right it is best to do it yourself.

Second, we teach our own because we like our children and enjoy being with them. I would miss them if they were gone six or more hours per day. I want to keep it that way. Too many parents today, although loving their children very much, don't really like them nor enjoy their company. Modern society believes that a child is born perfect, or at least evolutionarily more advanced, and unless his parents ruin him, will grow to be an unselfish, productive adult. The Bible teaches that we are all born selfish foolish. God has ordained parents, fallible as we are, to mold our children into unselfish, productive adults, (Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6) It is not something that happens accidentally or by itself, but by careful training and attention from the parents. By homeschooling, we can institute this Godly training full time that will insure our continued enjoyment of our youngster's company.Third, we believe God placed children in families for a reason. Society at large has acknowledged that orphanages are bad for children. They do far better in a family environment. Yet most of us send our babies to part time orphanages for thirty or more hours a week. The Bible says He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed. (Proverbs 13:20) and Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child. (Proverbs 22:15), and Be not fooled, bad company corrupts good morals. (1 Corinthians 15:33) I can think of few things more filled with foolishness than a room with 30 eight year olds! Personally, I want my children to be wise, not destroyed. ...

To read more go to http://www.homeschoolwwh.com/whyhomeschool.html

Betty, wife to one, mom to seven,
Author of Homeschool: Why What How
Available at http://www.homeschoolwwh.com/

Busy, Busy

It is late and i have a busy day tomorrow, (Ladies Meeting) but I can't sleep.

Three children have runny noses again, two have coughs. Joy and I have had the tummy flu. Mom and Dad's house is supposed to be here next week. We will Skip school and go watch it being set. Our new carpet should be installed in the next week or two. That means essentially moving out of three fourths of the house.

All this and I pick now to completely change how we are doing school from semi-classical to a unit study. I have never been successful with units before. this time it might work. Sigh. I think I need a forty hour DAY.

The social worker said they John couldn't have the children, but the agency is still fighting it. It would mean instant parenthood of two or four children for them. God, You know what is best for those little girls. have Your will.

Sunday fridge and babies

Busy weekend. Nice service. Then after service, D and B brought her mother's (passed away) fridge from her house and switched it with the church's. Her mom's fridge is newer and smaller than the church fridge. their old one is too big and takes too much energy to run. then they loaded up the old one and brought it to my house. It is much bigger than my old one (new one barely fits under the cupboards) and newer too. we paid D and B for her mom's. everyone is better off and happier.


Trying to order new books from Lulu. Grrr. giving me problems with the bulk rate. their pages say one thing but the shopping cart says something different ($2 more per book!) Unacceptable.

I asked mom about my new direction, and she said that though it is a scary thing, it seems to just be the natural progression for me. I agree. Andy is so supportive. I am blessed.

Nourishing Traditions and Cholesterol

Joe read four lessons in McGuffeys yesterday. He likes the novelty of a new book. Only one today because we were already short on time.
Jackie thinks she should be able to do anything the others do. since the playpen got holes in it she has been sitting by me pretending to do the same things everyone else is. Cute!

Need to write but my head won't cooperate. Hard time thinking.

Just reading Nourishing Traditions (still in the intro). Interesting facts on how healthy it is to eat butter. Yes, butter is GOOD for you. it is anti-bacterial and choke full of vitamins. The type of saturated fats in it are easily digested, not easily stored as body fat and is the substance used to build arteries out of. High cholesterol is caused not by eating cholesterol but by eating sugar and trans-fats (man made fats). Not eating Natural cholesterol to lower your blood cholesterol count is like firing your police force in order to lower your crime rate. The body produces cholesterol in order to repair the damage done by sugars and man made fats. Get rid of your sugar and hydrogenated fats and your cholesterol will drop. Hmmm, I may have just started my next Journal article.

Publishing Books

I've been reading the Polly's Birth Book. Fascinating. I highly recommend it to all adults.

A recent article in Backwoods Home Magazine talked about self publishing books. I have submitted a request for a quote. It would be perfect bound this time. Much better. Almost all the others are gone (Yeah!) Unfortunately, I have given so many away for reveiws and such, I don't have the money to buy more:-( God will have to supply somehow.

When an issue begins to bother, repeat itself over and over in my head, i sit down and write about it as if i was writing a letter to someone explaining that issue. I have many of these "articles" posted on my web site. This magazine article has made me think about some of these. If I put all the nutrition ones together i would have a nice little booklet I could publish. The same goes for the Proverbs articles i wrote for our church's journal. Wouldn't take much to get either ready to print. Hmmm. now if only i could find an extra three hours a day or so....

School going good. For once i feel like everyone is learning. Maybe not as much as they could, but they are learning.

Ladies meeting.

We had a very nice Ladies meeting today. The food was too good as usual. Mom's devotion was right on and everyone enjoyed the manners video.

I would love to take a nap but since it is not nap time for the little ones, I can't leave them unsupervised. So sitting at the comp should keep me awake for the hour or so until nap time.

God is mighty in His call and great in His compassion. But I think His sense of humor is just as strong. Just look at an elephant someday.

I am sad. Gee, been saying that a lot lately. Actually I am very happy most of the time more filled with joy than ever before. But life has its sadness.

On the Momys loop, one of the mothers was told she didn't have enough amniotic fluid to sustain the baby. They tried an infusion and several other things. They ended up telling her that there was little hope the baby would make it. That baby is now two weeks old and plenty healthy.

Another mom (not on the loop but qualifies for it) was told the same thing. They decided to do a c-section. some of what little amnio fluid there was got into the mother's blood and she died within minutes. So very sad.

Would she have died if the doctors had left her alone? The baby may or may not have. I don't know. It just seems so sad and somehow pointless. 200 years ago the baby would probably have died but the other four children would still have a mommy.

God, help me understand how modern technology fits into this picture. When should we be thankful for its correction of the curse and when should we avoid it as unnecessary meddling, "the way that seemeth right unto a man but in the end it is destruction"?

I Sold one of my books! Yeah!!! Also, my cousin in Mississippi has decided to homeschool. I have thought for a long time she would really enjoy it.

Some editing is done on my site. It is looking better. Need to work on the church site tomorrow.

I kissed Jacky (1.5) on the cheek today. She said "Yuck!" Then laughed. Silly kid

February 27

The funeral was very nice.

Everyone seems to be over the colds. YEAHHH!

We will take this week off of school. Six weeks on and one off! We went today and fixed Leigh's washer. Then put knobs on the cupboards in the church. Hoping to get a lot of work done on my web site tomorrow.
Finished Pocketfull of Pinecones. Very nice story and I finally think I know how to do the Charolette Mason Science. I will read the book to the children as a way to introduce the whole idea to them.

We are so blessed! God is sending people to our church who are actually workers! Most people just make suggestions and expect us to do everything. Then they get upset if we don't do what they say and leave. These people, though, just pitch right in and do whatever needs to be done. Praise the Lord.

I think I will write a poem about God's call. I won't post it until I am ready to share with everyone His directions in my life.

Pocket Full of Pinecones, the Thinking Toolbox,

I am reading "The Thinking Toolbox" to the children in school. Very good. I highly recommend either (or both) Bluedorn boys' books (the other one is "Fallacy Detective") to anyone who wants to be a thinking adult.This book has pointed out to me what is wrong with some of my articles on my web page. I will have to fix that.

I am reading "Pocket full of Pinecones." in my private reading. Good story and guide book on how to do nature journals.

kids are on edge. I think they are coming down with colds. either that or it is them feeling me being off because i haven't been sleeping well. Head is too busy, I guess. Jacky sang her way through school today. They are all outside enjoying a warm spell. I have 15 minutes until I have to call them back in to finish school. I wish I could let them stay out longer. It is so beautiful out. Washer still broke. I have to fill it with a hose. this means only I can do the laundry. really messes up the chores

Introduction

I am writing this as a way to keep track of my day to day happenings. I hope to meet some new people through this also.

As to who I am, I have been married to my highschool sweetheart for twenty years now. I am more in love every day. God has surely blessed me with this man.

I have seven beautiful children. My oldest is 14 and my youngest 1.5. I have three boys and four girls and would not object ot having more. But then again, I would not object to not having more either. At this point of life, I am content either way.

I am a firm believer in homeschooling. Simply put, NO ONE can love my children as much as I can and NO ONE can give them a better education.

Oh, someone else could probably pound more pure facts into their skulls, but life isn't about facts. It is about relationships. NO ONE can teach them this as well as I can. (By the way, academics ARE important too. My 14yo reads at a near college level, and my 8yo leads the reading in church from a King James Bible with the 10yo right between them. My 6yo reads at around 2nd grade level and my 4yo is fast gaining on 1st grade. If a child can read, they can learn anything.)

I love animals and want to be a farmer when I grow up (in heaven?) In the mean time, God has place a very different call on my life that I am not reall ready to go public with yet.