always a fun surprise

Isaac's shoes tend to wander off and end up in the strangest places.

Baking day #4

Thanksgiving morning we made some orange cranberry bread, but I'm not thrilled with the way it turned out. The kids seemed to like it, but I thought it tasted too boring. The recipe called for grated orange peel, which I didn't have, and I think that probably would have made a big difference in the taste. Oh well, it was very filling and kept us going until it was time for the big dinner. I didn't take pics, and won't post the recipe since I don't think it's post worthy.

Baking day #3

We actually made these a few days ago, but I never got around to putting up pics!

As I kid I always loved the Hershey Kiss cookies, but I've never made them. I thought the kids might really like them, but was disappointed when I learned they are made with peanut butter. So, I decided to try them with a shortbread cookie, with a little twist. I used the same recipe as the Russian Tea Cookies below, but after I rolled them in balls and flattened them, I dipped them in some vanilla bean sugar. I let them bake for about 10 minutes, pressed in the kiss, then put them in for another couple minutes. It's been so long since I've had the traditional kiss cookies that I can't really compare, but I'm happy with the way these turned out and the fact that they are egg and peanut free is even better!

I'm a dork

Last night at 8pm I found myself home with only my two littlest boys. (the older 3 spent the night at a hotel in Seattle with their aunt, uncle, and cousin so they could go to the Macy's parade this morning) Nahshon went to bed, so Isaac and I cuddled up to watch Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. Isaac thinks Snoopy is absolutely hysterical, it so fun to watch him watch TV. I found myself actually trying to figure out which part of the US Charlie must live in! Based on the scenery I decided it must be somewhere in the midwest. I suppose I could just Google it, but that would take me to a whole new level of dork.

please pray

A friend (and fellow homeschool mom) was admitted to the hospital last night and will be having surgery tomorrow. Please pray her surgery goes well, that she recovers quickly, and will get to be home with her family soon.

curious about George

Elijah heard Curious George coming on in the other room and zipped passed me saying to himself "I wonder what George is doing today". Gotta love George!

my little jazzy bug

It seems the tights monster has eaten all of Bella's dance tights (she has to wear footless ones), so while at class today I grabbed these for her! (Bella gets really cold) They have little cherries on them, and look so cute! All the girls (and the moms) in her class loved them and by the end of class every single one of them was buying a pair!

HOLD ON

Genna just announced that there are 30 days until Christmas. Too fast, too fast

Baking day #2

Today we make lime coolers. I thought they would be refreshing along side the other sweets we're making.



Genna trying the mixer for the first time, she's a little unsure

Bella dipping the cookies in the sugar

Putting the lime glaze on the cookies

The finished product! Lime coolers

The boys were too busy to help with these ones, probably because daddy was home. The lime glaze really makes the flavor come out in these cookies. I left out the green coloring in the glaze because of Isaac, but I'm really please with the way these turned out.

Betty Crocker Lime Coolers

Cookies
2 cups butter or margarine, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
3 1/2 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
2 tablespoons grated lime peel
1 teaspoon vanilla
Granulated sugar

Lime Glaze and Decoration
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons Key lime or regular lime juice
2 tubes (0.68 oz each) Betty Crocker® green decorating gel, if desired

Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat butter and 1 cup powdered sugar with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon. Stir in flour, cornstarch, lime peel and vanilla until well blended.

Shape dough into 3/4-inch balls. Place about 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Press on dough balls until 1/4 inch thigck then dip into granulated sugar

Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.

In small bowl, stir together 1 cup powdered sugar and the lime juice. Stir in additional juice if necessary. Spread glaze over cookies. Squeeze drops of decorating gel on glazed cookies; drag toothpick through gel for marbled design.

feeling frustrated

Ron White. That's all I'll say. You know what I'm talking about.

Let the baking begin!

I told the kids we were going to have a baking spree this week. This is a special treat because I don't enjoy baking. I find it messy and time consuming, and when there are little helpers around, it's messier and more time consuming. But the holidays are coming, so I figured it was time to spend a little time in the kitchen getting messy. We started with Russian tea cookies, and will do another kind tomorrow

Isaac putting in ingredients

Genna rolling the dough into balls

Bella making thumbprints for the jam

Elijah filling up the cookies with preserves
The finished product! Google is refusing to load this picture properly, so you get to see it on it's side

We used raspberry preserves for our cookies, and these really taste great warm. (I'm normally not a warm cookie person, but these are yummy) I liked the limited ingredient list, and we were able to make them pretty quickly. I doubled the recipe below, and got about 5 dozen cookies. (most are going in the freezer)





Mrs. Fields Russian Tea Cookies:

1 cup Butter
2 cups Flour
½ cup Confectioners' sugar
¼ teaspoon Salt
2 teaspoons Vanilla extract
½ cup Fruit preserves OR chopped nuts
¼ cup Confectioners' sugar

Preheat oven to 325d F. In a large bowl cream butter and sugar using an electric mixer. Add vanilla, scraping down bowl as needed. Blend in flour and salt, mixing until thoroughly combined. Roll tablespoonfuls of dough into small balls about 1 inch in diameter. Place dough balls on lightly greased cookie sheets about 1 inch apart. Press down the center of each ball with a spoon (I found using a thumb easier) , forming a depression. Fill each with a teaspoonful of preserves or nuts. Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer cookies immediately to a cool, flat surface. When cookies are completely cool, dust them lightly with confectioners' sugar.

my kids think I'm crazy

I had to do some grocery shopping, but I HATE HATE HATE shopping on the weekends alone with all the kids in tow. (weekends before holidays are even worse) Jeremy's schedule is packed this weekend, so we agreed to go grocery shopping together with all the kids early in the morning and we would take separate cars so he could leave straight to work. Isaac had a bad dream and woke me up at 4:30am, and wasn't settled until 5:30am. By then I had been up so long and knew I had to get up in less than an hour so I decided to just start my day. I went up the street to grab donuts and orange juice to surprise everyone for breakfast. When I got back it was 6:30 and time for everyone to get up. The kids came out rubbing their eyes and asking why I was making them eat donuts in the middle of the night! My kids don't usually get up until 9:30, getting up before the sun is unheard of to them. They were certainly happy to get their chocolate glazed donuts with sprinkles, but they have been talking all day with a mix of amusement and bewilderment as to what in the world their crazy mother was thinking. You would think with Jeremy as their father they would be used to this kind of stuff, but I guess it just threw them off way too much having mom mix up their lives like that.

a bit too much TV?

Bella has been trying to come up with creative names for the baby since she heard the news last week. So far she has had:

Motherboard

Cocoa in the Night

Mr. Blanket

Abbie Cadabie

But today's suggestion really made me laugh. She suggested we name the baby Moto. When I asked her why she said "then we can say hello Moto". hahaha! I guess she must have seen a phone commercial recently.

from the New King James Version

1 Peter 5:6-11

6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. 10 But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. 11 To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.


I really love this verse. .....the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour..... What a vivid reminder that there is an evil in this world looking to destroy us in any way possible. There is nothing particular in my life that prompted me to post this verse today, but it is one I wish I had meditated on during hard times. I just wanted to put this out there for anyone who may need it right now.

a favorite

I was listening to Audrey Hepburn sing Moon River this morning, and it reminded me of how much I love Breakfast at Tiffany's. I think Audrey Hepburn was one of the most beautiful actresses ever, and I just loved her as Holly Golightly. For some reason I do not own this movie, but I'm pretty sure I saw it on a great sale somewhere, I just need to figure out where that was.

in Bella's head

One of the leaders from our homeschool group sent me a couple questions, and asked if I would have Bella answer the questions, and they would be put in the upcoming newsletter.

Bella C., age 4

What does Jesus look like?

Jesus is really strong and he knows everything.

If you could ask Jesus anything, what would it be?

I want to ask Jesus if he likes the pictures I draw

What does Christmas mean?

Jesus has a birthday on Christmas, and I think he would like to have candy, balloons, pizza, games, a pinata, and prizes. Jesus was born when he was a baby in the Jesus hay house. There were some animals there, and his friends brought some gifts. I think there were some angles, and maybe some special lights.

I guess we need to work on punctuality

Today as I pulled into the parking lot to drop Genna off at gymnastics I told Genna we were right on time, which lead Elijah to exclaim "Wow, that's like magic!!!"


In my defense, it can be very hard to get 5 short ones out of the house quickly, especially when working around nap time and lunch time.

THIS is cool

http://laptop.org/en/index.shtml

Visit the above link and see for yourself what this is all about. The give one get one program is available at Amazon.

Because of Elijah's differences, learning can sometimes be a challenge for him. He needs pictures and demonstrations to understand things. He learns a lot from video games, TV programs, and the computer. The problem with having Elijah on the computer is that he has a knack for getting into things he shouldn't. (gets into our files, pushes buttons he shouldn't, etc.....) We have the Fisher Price Easy Link which is great because it keeps kids in one spot and doesn't let them "wander" around the computer. However, the activities are somewhat limited. Jeremy and I are are very seriously considering investing in this laptop for Elijah. The fact that it's a real lap-top (not one of those toy ones) kid-tough, and comes loaded with educational stuff makes it well worth the price. The fact that our out of pocket expense would actually provide a second laptop for another child somewhere in the world makes it doubly worth the price. The give one get one program costs $400, so for that amount of money you get a lap top for yourself and one is sent to a child that needs an education in another country. WIN-WIN. These are not even available to purchase separately in the US, which I think shows this company is really passionate about their mission, not making money.

A good joke

Want to make God laugh?

Tell him your plans!


I remember reading that on a license plate cover once and thought it was very clever, and very fitting to my life today. Jeremy and I had plans to have 3 kids. No more, no less. We decided not to make any permanent decision in case we changed our minds later. After a couple years I decided I was very happy with our 3 children, and told Jeremy I thought we should make some plans about keeping it just the three children. A couple weeks later we found out we were expecting number 4!! Two girls, two boys, perfect! Isaac had some health issues as an infant and I was certain I didn't want to deal with this again in the future. I had an appointment, but the day I was supposed to go I found a lump on Isaac's neck. (this in combination with many other symptoms freaked me out, so I didn't show up to my appointment so we could get blood work done on him ASAP) Well, what do you know, here comes little Nahshy! God is funny the way he makes things happen! 5 kids! Wow! Lots of fun, lots of work. We're done. Jeremy went to the doctor. All is good. Come middle of September I'm having headaches. Really bad headaches. I can't figure out what's causing them. Then I start getting nauseous. I figure it must be from stress. (I had been nursing exclusively, so I had no reason to suspect anything) Went shopping with Genna at Target, walked past the baby isle, and it hit me like a ton of bricks! GREAT GOOGLY MOOGLY!!! Here comes number 6! Jeremy said he always had a feeling that there was one more coming. I had a dream many months ago that we would be blessed with another daughter, but in my dream I was told she'd be coming when I was 32. At this point all I can do is laugh. Who am I to tell God what I'm going to do? Clearly God has other plans for this family.

I do have to say though, that this one is somewhat bitter sweet. I'm AMAZED (and shocked!) that we have been blessed again, but it does make me wonder why us when there are other wonderful people just trying to have one. I have seen people near and dear to me struggle and go through so much pain in their quest to be a parent, and it really seems so unfair. I suppose I can think of other areas in my life where we haven't been as blessed as others and I guess I could argue that doesn't seem fair either. Ultimately, it comes down to trusting that God knows what he's doing and he does everything for a reason.

The kids are stoked. I finally told them this morning. Jeremy's mom has been super supportive, which really makes a world of difference. I hope my family can be as happy as the kids and as supportive as my mother-in-law.

In addition to this big news, Jeremy and I have decided to send me back to school. He just can't make up his mind about what he wants to do, and I'm not going to push him to go to school if he doesn't want to go. There is no point in that. What he wants is to be able to have more time with the kids. I want to get a degree, it's something I've always wanted. So, I will take one class on-line for winter quarter. Take off spring quarter for the baby, and take another on-line class in summer quarter. I only have about 6 classes that need to be taken on campus, but 4 of them are science classes that must be taken in order. Currently our plan is for me to take my classes in the evening, and Jeremy will cut back on his hours at night at the restaurant, but still work for the glaziers in the day. If/when I get accepted to the nursing program, he will only work at the restaurant, and will stay home during the day and home school the kids! I will get my degree, and he will get the time with his children that he's been wanting for 7 years. It will no doubt be a hard couple of years with some serious penny pinching, but I really believe it will put us in a position to move forward with our family, and give Jeremy the opportunity to search out what he wants to do with his life. He can't do that if he has to be the sole provider for our family. I know it might sound crazy to some, but our family works well together, and I know we can do this.

Of course that last part of our plan will be determined by if that's what God wants for us, but right now I feel really good about all of it.

Oh she's good..........

My mom has a paperweight on her desk that looks like a large yellow diamond. (it's about the size of a baseball, you've probably seen similar ones in display windows at mall jewelry stores) Bella loves this thing. The other night Bella stayed with my mom and I was talking to my mom on the phone while Bell was there. This was the conversation I heard between them:

Bella: I really like your pretty rock grandma

grandma: Yes, I know you like that Bella

Bella: I wish I had a pretty rock like that

grandma: oh really, you do?

Bella: Yes, because then I could always remember you gave it to me.............

Wow, that girl could really go places

working outside the box

Since Bella's birthday is only 2 weeks before Christmas, it has required some creativity to make sure the day stays special and doesn't get overshadowed by all the Christmas decorations and activities. (luckily she hasn't minded at all so far, and even though I give her the option of not putting up the tree until after her birthday, she always wants it up ASAP after turkey day) Last year we spent the day in Leavenworth instead of doing a party. The year before we celebrated in February and had an Alice in Wonderland Very Merry Unbirthday theme. This year since we are going to do a candy Christmas tree, we are going to do a Candy Land theme party. Don't have all the details worked out just yet, but I think it's going to turn out really cute, and she is super excited. How could she be anything but excited though, it's a CANDY party and that girl lives for sugar!

Pandora

As I'm sitting here listening to my favorite Christmas tunes, I realized I should tell you all about Pandora in case anyone has not heard of it. Just visit www.pandora.com, and you can create "radio" stations based on music you like. It's 100% free too! You can type in a song, album, or artist, and they will create a station with whatever you searched for plus similar music. I have found a lot of new songs and artists I enjoy this way. You can also make mixes and have multiple stations playing together at one time. You can vote if you like a song or not, and if you don't like a song they will never play it again. It's a nice way to get a variety of music with very little effort!

let the punishment fit the crime!

But what do you do when the crime turns out good?

Bella decided a week or two ago that her hair looked funny, and she decided to give herself a haircut. She gave herself some cute side-sweep bangs. She used to have them (they just grew that way on their own), but then they grew out. When I asked her why she did it she said with pride (while looking in the mirror whisping her bangs to the side) "I thought they'd look cute like this" What am I supposed to say? They DO look really cute! She did a very nice job layering them so they fall perfectly into place.

She was being a goof when I was trying to get some pictures of her new hair, so those will be coming soon.

That girl lives in her own little world

this thing is great!

I don't usually bring out the vacuum when Nahshon is awake because when Genna and Elijah were babies, they were terrified of it. I had to do some cleaning the other evening before my parents came over for my mom's birthday, and it turns out Nahshon thinks this thing is AWESOME!

This thing is neat!

This is the best EVER!!!!

*please ignore the gunk in the canister, these pics were taken right in the middle of cleaning*

pictures

I just realized I have not posted pics of the kids in a very long time! I need to get some up so all my far away friends and family will recognize the kids this holiday! I promise to get some posted by early next week. Stay tuned!

And sometimes Y

Being 2, Isaac doesn't always say words quite right. Most of the time when he can't say a full word, he just ends it in Y

Nahshy=Nahshon

yogy=yogurt

puzzy=puzzle

buby=bubbles

botty=bottle

Isey=Isaac

There is just something about his sweet smile and his Y words that just makes him so cute

good times, great oldies

Today the girls and I somehow got to talking about the toys I loved as a child. One thing that I still wish they would bring back is the Magic Nursery Baby. The dolls came with a hat and a paper gown, and you couldn't tell if they were boys or girls. When you opened the doll, you put the paper gown in water and it dissolved to reveal a secret package that said boy or girl, and had an outfit inside. Some of the dolls were twins. I had wanted one for a while, and my grandpa sent me some money for my birthday so I asked my mom to take me to Toys-R-Us to buy one. (back then Toys-R-Us was the only cool place to buy your toys) I picked out a baby doll, got it home and .................... it was a twin!!!! We sent in the little card and not too long after I received my twin doll in the mail. Twin girls. I was over the moon! (I was a doll girl when I was little) Not long after the company had a special promotion where you could call their number and get another doll for free. I don't remember exactly what the conditions were to get the free doll, but I know I had the right qualifications! My mom didn't really see the point in having three of the same dolls, but any little girl that loves baby dolls knows where I was coming from. She gave in and ordered the doll, so then I had triplet girls! Pure bliss.



Of course now Bella is begging for one of these dolls, and doesn't understand how the company could stop making such a great toy. She wrote a letter to the postman to see what he could swing for her! haha!

Some other favorites of mine were the Cherry Merry Muffin Dolls:

I had the Berry Merry Muffin doll, which is the one with the blue dress and red hair. These dolls smelled SOOOOOO good! Oh how I wish I could get them for my girls!

Another favorite was Sweet Secrets, and I think one of these may still be buried in a little closet at my mom's house:

I'm pretty sure mine had plastic hair though.

I can't talk about favorites without mentioning Cupcake Dolls! I know my mom still has one of these in her Barbie box, but she seems to have misplaced her frosting hat

And of course, YumYums!

I still remember how horrified I was the night I woke up and found my Hug-A-Bunch doll had lost her head!

I had the one in the pink dress, and I had the movie too!

Last one I'll mention for now is Popples. I had a purple one, my cousin had a white one.

I know they brought these back for a while a few years back, but they are gone again.

I'm sure I had other things I loved, but these bring back the fondest memories for me.

He's number 1!!!!!!

Jeremy finally made it to the top of the apprentice list for his union. When he started 18 weeks ago, we were told it should take about 6 weeks to move to the top of the list. We were very lucky that his company bypassed the union rules and hired him even though he wasn't at the top of the list! He's already making the apprentice starting pay, but now he'll be on the schedule for raises, have vacation pay, start a retirement plan, etc.... It was nice that they started our health insurance a little early too so we didn't have to wait for this moment to get coverage. It still isn't what he wants to do for the rest of his life, but it's a good job while he figures out the other stuff. WOOHOOO!!!!!

remembering boat

Less than a week ago we were given a little goldfish, which Elijah decided to name Boat. Boat was neat because a few days ago half of his body turned black, and his belly was white. He was a neat little fish. Isaac decided that since he dumped out the entire container of goldfish food in the tank the other day, Boat must need something else to eat. Isaac then decided to mix some formula in Boat's water, that'll be good! I filled a measuring cup with water and scooped Boat out so I could clean his tank. Within two minutes Boat was belly up in the measuring cup! Oh dear! What happened. I dipped my finger in the water, it was warm. Too warm. Good golly I cooked the fish. The kids are devastated and are trying to come up with reasons why he died. They cannot believe mom cooked their fish. They refuse to believe it. Bella thinks Boat had an allergic reaction to the formula, got scratchy, and we didn't give him a shot from the epi-pen fast enough. Elijah is wandering around the house aimlessly saying how much he misses his friend Boat. You can email me directly with the worst mother award. Link is on the right.

the election

Voting day has come and passed, and Mr. Obama is going to be our next president. I had a feeling he would win, so I'm not surprised he did. This year I wasn't crazy about either candidate. My dad compared the election to arsenic and cyanide; take your pick. Because I wasn't passionate about either man running, I decided to vote based on moral issues. Yes the economy is crumbling and money is important, but only to a certain extent. My family knows very well what it's like to have money one minute and none the next. But, the fact is that when I die I will not be pulling my Radio Flyer wagon behind me with all my worldly possessions and all the money I managed to save. I'm disappointed Obama has views that are so opposite of my own, but I'm glad I stayed true to my faith and voted accordingly. I hope for all our sake, Obama does well in his position as our president. The world is watching, maybe more now than ever. We have a lot at stake right now. Even though I don't agree with Obama, I do believe we should support the president, even if it's not who we voted for. I'm not saying we should stand in the corner and be quiet if he makes decisions we wholeheartedly disagree with, but I won't be posting any of the emails I get that belittle him or undermine him as our president.

I appreciate Matt Linden's take on it (he's Annabelle's dad, his blog is listed on the right)

Republicans will most likely slowly learn that Obama is not intent on burning the country to the ground and dancing in the ashes (and even if he wanted to, there are other forces at work that will prevent him from doing so). Democrats will most likely slowly learn that Obama cannot actually walk on water or single-handidly "heal our land" (and even if he wanted to, there are other forces at work that will prevent him from doing so).

I can agree with this, which is why I'll be praying for him and hope others will too.

On a side note, the media seems determined to turn Mrs. Obama into a fashion icon, and this is something I can get behind! Any woman with power that presents herself in a way that is stylish, sexy, and conservative is what I want to see more of in fashion magazines. Out with trash and in with class. Sounds good to me.

Perhaps she should re-think this

Last night Bella announced that she wants to have 100,000 kids when she grows up and drive a REALLY long limo. She got rather upset though when she realized there probably wouldn't be any room for her friend Lydia. What to do, what to do.........

???? EXPELLED ????

My computer seems to be better today, and seeing Rene's husband's thoughts motivated me to get posting my own. I'll try to organize my thoughts in some sort of order, but I'm sure those of you that have seen it will understand what I'm trying to say.

Part of the reason I was so intrigued with this movie is from having a similar experience. In 9th grade science class we were taught the big bang theory. It didn't fly with me. I listened, but kept thinking how incredibly ridiculous it all sounded. Certainly my teacher must be reading this from a script right? He couldn't possibly believe this! On our final exam we were asked to explain the theory of evolution. It was worded in a way that suggested it was not a theory, but a fact as simple as 2+2=4. Something about the way it was worded got me mad, and it was one of those moments where I felt strongly that I needed to stand up for what I believed it. I wrote a lengthy page about why I didn't believe in evolution, but rather knew that God had created the earth. Guess how many points I was given on that answer? 0. None. Nada. Zip. Really though, it didn't bother me because I felt good for making my beliefs be known to my teacher.

Early on in the movie, one of the scientists said something about how when questions are not answered to people's satisfaction, they get asked again and again. The fact that the question of how life began keeps coming up tells me that no one has answered this question completely. How is it then that scientists can just say this IS how it started. End of discussion. To me, that's like saying 2+2=hotdog and no one should even dare to ask how that is possible.

The only FACT present in this whole debate is that evolution and intelligent design are both THEORIES. If anyone had any hard hitting, undeniable proof of one of these theories, we probably would move on to another one of life's mysteries. We don't question that raw meat has the ability to make us sick or that the substance we breath in every day contains oxygen because these things have been proven with evidence that most people agree with. We know these things, and moved on.

Two theories of evolution, that are currently very popular, mentioned in the movie were:

1. We grew on the backs of crystals that were probably struck by lightning.

2. Life on earth was seeded here by intelligent beings of another world

Hold up a minute here. Let's look at #2. I am not making this up, this theory was presented in the movie. Intelligent beings from another world. Isn't that pretty much aliens? Some scientists are basically admitting that we could be here by intelligent design, but it would be the design of aliens, not by God. Sure, that makes sense. But wait, where did the aliens come from? (I bet they grew on the crystals)

Now let's talk about #1. Part of what has spurred these new theories about evolution is that the big bang and ooze theory has been tested again and again in the lab, with no positive results. I have grown life in my body. More than once actually. I have watched on computer screens as my children have gone from little flashing specs, to these funny tadpole like creatures, to real, living, breathing humans. The whole process is complicated and absolutely amazing. The way everything works together to bring a life into this world, and then sustain that life until it is capable of doing it on it's own, is just incredible. To me, I don't see how it's even in the realm of possibility that this all began with a pretty rock and some lightning.

One of the reasons that was given for why intelligent design is not allowed in the classroom is because then it would open the door to letting prayer in the classroom. This I have to disagree with. Are we not capable of having intelligent discussions about science without gathering into a prayer circle around the Bunsen burners at the end? Even though I am a Christian, I don't think we should have mandatory prayer in our public schools. One of the great things about living in America is having the FREEDOM of religion. What if for some reason my family had to move to a country that didn't allow us to practice our Christian faith? What if my children were forced to take part in a religion that they didn't believe in? It would break my heart for them. Sure I believe that all people should CHOOSE to be a Christian, but they shouldn't be forced. In the public schools I would much rather see little Mary Catherine say a blessing before eating her lunch, while her friend Aadila is not having lunch because she is fasting in preparation for Ramadan, and their other friend Betty digs right in with her only thought being if she should save her dessert for the end or go ahead and have it now. All of them respecting the other and their beliefs. Hopefully Betty and Aadila will grow up knowing Mary and her family and admiring their Christian values, and someday choose to follow Christ themselves. Until then though, they should go to school to learn and not worry about being forced to participate in religious activities. What's great about America is that if we don't want our kids in public schools with all these different lifestyles and influences, we can choose to send our children to a private school or homeschool!

I think the scientists know we can debate scientific theories without prayer, so why are they so afraid to let intelligent design in the classroom? Why, at the mere thought of intelligent design, do many of these scientists go into a complete rage? What are they so scared of?

What I think we should see happening at the university level is, let's present the top 5 theories of how the world began. Let's give students the chance to make decisions for themselves. Better yet, let's give them the challenge of having their own thoughts and making their own decisions. Too many of our youth today are lemmings. Girls kissing girls because some girl in a song likes cherry chapstick. They just do what everyone else is doing, believe what they are being taught, without stopping to really think about it. Why not arm today's young people with information, and then provide them with the resources to prove or disprove the theories. Let's not grade them on how well they can recite the works of Darwin. Let's grade them on their ability to do research, on their experiments to prove what they believe or disprove what they don't, and how convincing they can make their argument. Why not let them choose what to believe without fear of a failing grade. Perhaps one of them will actually come back with some answers!

I've always thought much of science was about ideas and guesses. Question everything. Test it until you get an answer. So WHY is science stonewalling the idea of intelligent design. WHAT are they so worried about? And HOW have we let it get to this level?

Expelled and other updates

I'm really excited to discuss this with those of you that watched it, and I'm going to post all my thoughts as soon as my computer works long enough for me to do so! The computer is sick and we are trying to fix it. Hopefully it will be well again soon.

giving

This is the time of year when people start looking around for other people to help. It's the spirit of the season! However, I see something often and it really rubs me the wrong way. Don't think of this as a vent as much as a public service announcement. So often when I see people buying food for food banks, gifts for giving trees, or even when adopting a family for a holiday, they often go the super cheap route. Now, I'm not talking about good bargains and sales, there is nothing wrong with that! I'm talking about how people will often buy the really cheap food that they don't even feed to their own families. People buying toys at the dollar store that they wouldn't dream in a million years of giving to their own kids. (I'm not knocking dollar stores, those places get some really great stuff sometimes! But, they also get some stuff that isn't so great, and some of it isn't even safe) When giving to charity I try to keep this in mind: If it's not good enough for me and my kids, it's not good enough for them either. We have always been extremely blessed and have never had to rely on one of the wonderful programs out there to help us supply a Christmas for our children, but for the people that do, why should they be forced to make the decision to give their children nothing or give them garbage? Yes, I know beggars can't be choosers, and I don't think the families signing up for these programs should ask for leather jackets and Xbox systems (I know some of them do, but if I can't afford those for my kids then I can't afford them for yours either!), but they do deserve to have nice things under their tree. I also see the toy donation bins at stores like Toys R US FILLED with whatever the cheap toy with purchase is that year. (this year it's Wonder Pets for $4.99 with any $50 purchase) Sure, pick up the cheap toy with purchase, but consider also tossing in a Tonka truck or a Barbie too! This holiday season, if you have been blessed with enough that you are able to share with others, truly consider what you are giving and who you are giving it to.

Just can't get a grasp on the day

So yesterday was just "one of those day". It seemed like every time I turned around I was spinning circles and the day was either slipping by way too fast at some moments and creeping along at the pace of a slug at other moments. It wasn't until I was getting ready to leave at 5pm and meet my mom for dinner with the kids when I realized that one of the kids had reset the clock on the microwave, and the battery in the clock in the living room was dying! The microwave clock was an hour fast, the living room clock was an hour slow, and my bedroom clock was right on time. No wonder I couldn't get a handle on my day!

COMMENTS!!

So, Blogger used to do my brain work for me and send me nice little emails telling me when someone commented on the blog, but it looks like they have not done that in a while! I finally opened my eyes tonight and realized I had 8 comments I needed to approve for posting. Stick with me friends, it's just another moment of mommy mush brain.............

I spy..........

Can you see Isaac in this picture? No? Look harder....... Still no? That's exactly what I saw tonight at the toy store. Jeremy was standing in front of a wall of boxes like this above and asked me to grab Isaac. "Uh, I don't see him Jeremy. I thought you were watching him. Where did he go?" To which Jeremy said "I just wanted you to see this before I pulled him out. That way, if you are ever shopping and he suddenly disappears, you'll know where to look before freaking out" He then pulled out two boxes and there was Isaac! Isaac pulled two boxes off the shelf, climbed in, then pulled the boxes back on the shelf. That child is too smart and sneaky for his own good.

a little incentive is always good

A couple days ago I was with Bella in a store and she asked if we could look at Christmas stockings. I found one that I thought was kind of amusing, and showed it to Bella. The stocking had little pockets all down the front, and a felt candy cane tied to it with a ribbon that could be placed in the pockets. Each pocket said something to the affect of:

super good

mostly good

good on occasion

a little naughty

really naughty

leave coal


I told Bella what each said and explained that on Christmas you are supposed to put the candy cane in the pocket that shows how you have been behaving so Santa knows what to leave for you. She looked up at me with her big beautiful eyes and a tiny hint of worry in her voice and said "Do I have to get that stocking?" ahahaha! I suppose having a little reminder around might not be such a bad thing............

Of course, were else would they be

A few days ago I got a couple of coupons in the mail from Bath and Body Works. I almost always tend to pick up some items there for the holidays (some gifts, some things for the house), so I set the coupons aside to use later this month. This morning I looked at them sitting by the window in the kitchen and thought I should put them in my wallet so they don't get lost. I got distracted and forgot about them, until this afternoon when I went to retrieve them. Surprise Surprise, they were gone! I knew Isaac had been playing with some measuring cups on the counter, so I was pretty certain he had put them somewhere. I asked all the kids to search with me, but had no luck. I had described their shape, texture, and color, but they kept bringing me pieces of computer paper. When I finally told Genna what was printed on them she said "Oh, I know where those are! I saw them!" Then she flipped over the piggy bank and pointed inside. Oh yes, there they are. Don't know how or why, but I guess I need to start thinking outside the box when looking for lost items.

It just doesn't make sense

Obama and Gregoire are elected, Washington approves assisted suicide, abortion rights gain ground all over, but gay marriage is banned in California. As a Christian I do not support homosexuality, but at least they aren't killing anyone. It just doesn't make sense to me, and clearly I don't understand the people in my own country as much as I thought.

Success!

For a while Genna has had her heart set on getting Mia from the American Girl collection for Christmas from the big man. Although the dolls are a bit spendy, we all know that we parents are happy to splurge every once in a while for that one in a million Christmas morning photo. The problem? Genna is not a doll girl. Never has been. She played with a baby doll with my encouragement when she was about 9 months to a year, but that was pretty much only because I was pregnant with Elijah and I wanted to try to help her understand what was to come. She's always been an animal girl. Stuffed animals, toys animals, magazines about animals, she loves animals! (my mom even calls her the dog whisperer because Genna can so easily calm my mom's very hyper, very big dog) Every so often she will play Barbies at my mom's house, but for her it's really only about the fashion and dressing them up. She never really "plays" Barbie. I've had this nagging suspicion that she had talked herself into wanting a Mia doll for three reasons: 1. Two of her friends recently got American Girl dolls 2. She had it in her head that she could get the whole Mia collection, including matching outfits for her (that's about $600 and not gonna happen!!) 3. She has asked for an American Girl doll for the past 2 or 3 Christmases, and then changes her mind at the last minute. (thankfully I had never given in before!) Genna has tried to be a doll girl in the past because her sister is, but she just can't get in to it, as much as she tries. I can't justify asking Santa to spend that kind of money on something I'm almost certain will be handed down to Bella within a few weeks of Christmas morning. Every year I really try hard to find that perfect gift that they will play with again and again all year long. (last year I had HUGE success with this because the kids really do still play with the stuff they got last year and can even name each item they received) Genna has also had her eye on some of the larger Littlest Pet Shop sets, but has continually insisted she wants Mia the most. She has a couple small pet shop sets, and we have a dozen or two of the animals, that she plays with often. I feel confident that if the big man left her that on Christmas morning, it would be a huge hit. I've been trying to plant the idea in her head that maybe she would enjoy that more than a doll by pulling up Littlest Pet Shop stuff on the computer and then just leaving it on the screen, leaving weekly flyers open to the pet shop stuff, letting her take a look when we go to the store, etc..... Last night I had to go to Walmart for a new Rx, and took the girls with me. I decided to let them wander around the toy section while we waited for my order to be filled. Genna spotted the Tail Waggin' Fitness Club so I pulled it off the shelf for her to look at while Bella and I walked to the end of the isle to look at babies and ponies. Every time I looked over at Genna I could see her carefully inspecting every inch of the toy and the box. You could just see the desire to play with it radiating from her face. Genna is a very stubborn girl and once she has her mind made up about something, it can be hard to convince her otherwise. It has to be HER decision to change her mind, so I knew I needed to be careful in how I encouraged her. Even though I had already decided about the doll, I wanted her to change her mind so that she wouldn't be disappointed on Christmas morning. (anyone that knows Genna well knows that she is thankful for EVERYTHING she has and would never be truly disappointed, but I don't want her to convince herself she is absolutely getting something that she isn't going to get) After about 15 minutes she comes to me and says "there are other red-haired dolls in the magazine, I could always get one of those later and get skates and dress her like Mia. I've changed my mind and I think I would like this the most for Christmas from Santa. I've made my final decision mom" YES!!! YES!!! YES!!! As soon as we got home, I sat her down with paper and crayons and had her write her letter to Santa. Santa only leaves 1 gift and some stocking stuffers at our house, so it's important that the kids are thoughtful in what they ask for. Plus, mom and dad only give one gift in each of the following categories: something you want, something you need, something to wear, something to read. Although this year I'm going to fudge and turn the something to read into a family game as we have TONS of books we have not read yet (but will!), but not many family games to play together. Doing it this way makes the kids really think about what they really really want, makes it so that we don't spend a fortune, don't have an overload of toys, and the kids have realistic expectations on Christmas morning. (if you have seen any commercial around Christmas time, you can understand how a child might get it in their head that they will get a mountain of very expensive items on Christmas morning!) Genna is a very mature, responsible little girl, so I really like it when she gets out toys and plays like the 7 year old that she is.

On a side note, there was another mom with her daughter last night also just looking through the toys (I suspect also getting Christmas ideas), and I heard her daughter say "hmm, it looked a lot cooler on TV" HAHAHAHA! Isn't that just always the case? (not just toys, everything looks cooler on TV) I hate when toy companies put out commercials with toys doing something they don't really do and then the little disclaimer on the bottom saying "toy does not actually fly" or "doll does not really sing" etc.......... If your toy isn't cool enough for kids to want to play with it just as it is, then save the plastic, the lead paint, and the slave labor in China and come up with something better!

that's one way of making cereal I guess

The other morning while I was in the shower Isaac decided he was in the mood for a bowl of raisin bran. First, when I take a shower, 99.99% of the time the kids keep themselves busy and out of trouble. They know it's in their best interest to let mom get cleaned up before starting the day. I also leave the bathroom door in case anyone needs anything. This particular morning though, I guess Isaac wanted to be a big boy and get himself some cereal without asking anyone for any help. The first problem was that he couldn't reach a bowl, so he did the logical next best thing, he poured it out on the floor. If the cereal is in a heap on the floor, it only makes sense to pour the milk right on top because really, where else would it go? Once you have cereal and milk on the floor, you might as well just go all the way and forgo the formality of a spoon. I come out of the shower to find Isaac and Nahshon on all fours on the floor eating up cereal like little puppy dogs. Nahshon was even lapping up the milk with his tongue. It was in that moment that I sighed and was thankful I mopped the floor the night before.

Expelled

I've been wanting to see this movie since I first heard about it, and last night Jeremy rented it for us. I'm going to hold my comments on the movie for now because I first want to encourage anyone that has not seen it, to please watch. It's available at RedBox, and it's an excellent value for the .99 rental fee. I also want to say, no matter which side of the wall you stand on, watch this with an open mind. I really do mean that for BOTH SIDES of this argument. When our faith in a particular theory is strong, it can be easy for us to dismiss other theories and the people who believe them with titles like ignorant, crazy, an insult to all......... Watch it, think about it, watch it again, then lets talk! I'll post my thoughts and comments on this in about a week.