Where has the summer gone?

Here it is, already the end of August...how did that happen?

In case anyone is wondering, I didn't fall off the face of the earth, I've only been crazy busy with life as a Joyful Momma :-) It's been one of those good kinds of busy.

Firstly, I've canned up 7 bushels of tomatoes into well over 100 quarts of salsa (though I am not sure of the exact total...I'm still lining up my jars on the basement shelves)...and 40 quarts of pickle relish (believe it or not, i fear that may not be enough the way my guys eat relish around here). I've frozen what seems like a million (but probably isn't) basil, cilantro, and fresh tarragon ice cubes for later usage in recipes calling for the use of fresh herbs. This way, you get about 2-3 T of fresh chopped herbs in a handy package. :-) (note: don't create water ice cubes with trays after using them for this purpose as they sometimes retain the flavor)

Then I've still be sanding cabinet doors for my kitchen (with the help of children), and painting cabinets....I'm not sure how it is that we still aren't done...it seems like we've done this all summer LOL...but it's been a good time.

where on earth did all of those weeds come from in the garden?????

I fixed my shopping cart, and then realized I deleted my database (doh!)...Thankfully I did have a backup, but unfortuately, I can't figure out how to use the backup to insert this jumble of information into the MySQL database...I guess that is going to be my new lesson learned---MySQL Rescue and Repair. LOL What this means is that anyone who is a returning customer may have to re-create an account.

Of course, summer has also invovled a lot of watermelon eating, bon fires, s'mores, trips to the lake to swim with the turtles, playing with my MiniDV camera, working at VBS, going for walks, having a house full of neighbor kids, and looking at the stars....but it will be nice to get back to our school routine too.

Great Music!

I just found the most wonderful Web radio station, Abiding Radio.com What a blessing.

This radio station has some gorgeous traditional-style music on it, including the music of the Steve Petit team, Outreach Quartet, and others. Check it out!

Happy Born Again Birthday to Me :-)

God is so good.

It's been 17 years of serving Him as of today. Seventeen years ago today, I wandered around lost in Prague, Czechoslovakia in the heat of the blazing August sun (lost both literally and figuratively), until I ran into someone who told me of a Savior who loved me and who died for me. I had long been convinced of my need for a Savior but was convinced through wrong information that I had gone beyond the point that God could forgive me. How very wrong that notion is! There is no one so wicked that God would not save him or her if they would only call upon the name of Jesus.

As much as it disgusts me sometimes (in my human frailty and fleshly sense of "justice), even Adolf Hitler, were he to call upon Jesus while still alive, would be in heaven today.

Even Osama Bin Laden is not beyond salvation's reach--that's how powerful Jesus' blood is.

Even Napolean. Or Mussalini. Or any of the wicked persons of past or present. Jesus can and will forgive anyone.

He even forgave and received me, when I called upon the name of Jesus.And, He'll do the same for you.

If you need the savior, call upon His name today! For more information about the free gift He has for you, click here.

Beauty only a Geek could love...

I'm up right now, at 12:24 am...when I should be in bed...we have VBS all week (bright and early) but I had insomnia. I have no idea why. When I got home from VBS today I couldn't wait to lay down and sleep but I didn't because I was too busy with other things...I actually went to bed early tonight only to be wide awake at 11:00. *sigh*

However, it was well worth the lost sleep....you'll see what I mean in a moment.

I just redid my website. Ok, so it was in the works for a while, but I uploaded it after finishing the parts that were finishable, and then I validated it with the w3c.org people (the ones that sort of "rule" the web). Anyway, it's one of those things only a geek could love--a website that validates XHTML1.o strict within 3 tries LOL

For those who have no clue what the sleep=deprived blogger is rambling on about...validation basically says whether or not your site meets their high standards for the document type you chose. Mine validated on the first try for CSS (impressive when you consider that though I design websites I just learned CSS a few months ago, and I did this all by hand), and on the third try for XHTML (also written out by hand.). The whole point of doing that is to make sure your markup was written out as best as it could be written....and to get that cute little logo on your site that identifies you as someone who stays up late at night making sure that markup which no one is going to see (unless they hit rightmouse click/view page source on the page) is actually valid. ;)


Wanna see if your site is valid? Go to www.w3c.org and scroll down til you see "validators" on the left side. Click "markup validator" and then type in your web address. If it is not "valid" it will give you a list of things you need to fix. if you don't understand something, you can click "HTML Tidy" to see how they would clean it up. it's more fun to figure it out yourself though...keeps the mind fresh :-D

Maybe I need to go to bed huh?

The next time I can't sleep in the middle of the night, I'm going to fix the bookstore's template!~!

Careless Blasphemy

Have you ever noticed how often those around you (maybe even you!) use the phrase "Oh my G--!" or even the sanitized "Oh my Gosh!"?? I'm not sure why I was thinking of this again recently, but today while I was at the bank and then the grocers, I noticed how many people I walked passed, or interacted with (in however remote a way) used that phrase. I wasn't in the store more than 20 minutes and I think I heard it about 100 times, in addition to some other uses of God's name (none of which were in the "reverencing God" context).

I think that most of our culture seems to commit what I would call "Careless blasphemy" on a daily basis (maybe even hourly! or maybe "minute by minute")...I say careless because few people even seem to be phased at all by it or notice it or are bothered by it...if you watch TV or see a movie, chances are that will be rampant throughout.

When I was a new Christian, I didn't even realize this...I think alot of people don't. From birth this sort of thing was so common in our family, that it was just a normal part of speech that I didn't even notice I said...until an older, seasoned saint took me aside and spoke to me about it. I admit to being a little put out over it because I couldn't grasp that I was saying it that much, after all...but sure enough, I started to notice it more and more, and actively work to break that habit!

How do you handle the Lord's name? Carefully, reverently, or carelessly?

Pain....and Life

I hate it when my body refuses to do what it needs to do without lots of pain.

I have fibromyalgia, and if you believe one of the doctors I seen, I also have SLE Lupus (I say it like that because my GP says I'd be "a lot worse off" if I did have it...and some tests say I do and some tests say I don't...whatever...the only thing doctors seem to agree upon collectively is charging a whole lot of money for their opinions). Most of the time....95% of the time in fact...I do GREAT. Woo hoo and praise God. But sometimes I am in serious pain and can't move well...but I still praise God though sometimes it takes me longer ;)

Sometimes I just cry out to God...He hasn't taken the pain away but He usually helps me deal with it. I know I feel better when I exercise gently but when I am flared there doesn't seem to be gentle enough. I know I feel worse if I see the doctor and hear all of his quitter talk "just take these muscle relaxers, these antidpressants, and I won't beleive you if you tell me you feel worse"...(ok, maybe not that bad but soemtimes it seems like that...all of the docs I've seen have this attitude). When did something like prozac become a cure all?? Most of the drugs they've put me on over the years only seem to cause me to gain weight or feel worse, and the ones that make me feel good usually turn me into a zombie which is also pointless. I also try to eat healthy, as much as I am able, and can afford.

Lately I've been crying out again and trying to figure out if I needed to quit some things that I Felt God had directed me to be invovled in..this is especially frustrating for me as my love language is "acts of service" and I hate it when I can't serve...and I also find that if I am laying around waiting to be served by those who love me I get easily discouraged with life...I feel like I am where God wants me but sometimes I wonder and second guess, especially when the pain goes about a 5 on the pain scale. (that's the one where the little dude looks like this: :| ) Most people I know in real life think either don't know I am sick (maybe they all think I'm lazy LOL)...or they think maybe I need to listen to the doctor and take happy pills (and turn into a 500 pound completely useless sofa spud as a result). Sometimes I wonder if they are right.

But then we had a guest speaker at church last week that was a real encourager to me. His name is Bro. John Bishop and he was a pastor when he developed meningitis and lost everything...his wife had to reteach him everything, how to talk, how to read, how to walk, who she was, what it meant to be married (she has acts of service as her love language I bet :-)). He is amazing to listen to, so I strongly recommend you go to his website...www.godissogood.net

Anyway, he said something that I really felt like...THANK GOD someone else who is crazy like me....especially given the fact that this guy is probably in way more pain than I am in, and has all sorts of other "health issues"...he said that he takes things that help him to function but he doesn't just take meds to feel good because he's here to serve (that is probably a very bad paraphrase but that is what I have in my notebook)...and that if things are going to take the pain away but make it so that he can't function, he deals with the pain.

He said so many other really great things Wednesday night...he was preaching on Ps. 37:8, "taste and see that the Lord is good..." it was awesome.

I need that reminder, especially today when I finally went to the chiropractor (now that we have health insurance) only to find that the co-pay for going to the chiropractor is only $3 less than the cost of going without insurance. WHAT ON EARTH??? (I have a few unkind thoughts and words for health insurance companies!). The irony was that if we didnt' pay for health insurance we'd be able to afford to go. LOL

Ebay Alert!!

I just wanted to let you all know that I have a LOT of stuff on Ebay right now as I get ready to get some homeschool curricula for the coming school year....

There are lots of great items!!! Woo hoo.

Click Here to View my Ebay Items

Homemade Drink Syrup

Last post I mentioned making homemade drink syrups that are similar to Kool Aide and that are made with fruits from the garden. My kids love this and it is very easy to make....there is an insane amount of sugar in there (maybe not quite as much as Kool Aide) but it is made with all natural stuff besides the sugar, so there's that...

to use the syrup you put a small amount (about 1T) in the bottom of a glass per 8 oz. You need to work out the exact amount you prefer...we like it a little more watery.

Supplies:

empty glass bottles (most of ours are from those times when the grandparents bring us cases of creame soda from Canada, but I've also bought bottles at garage sales, and taken used wine bottles from my mom's house)

Corks to fit the bottles (you can get these online--measure your bottle opening to calculate what size you need)

A small funnel and ladle

A kettle

Paraffin wax (you can buy a box of this at the grocers where you get canning supplies....I melt mine down using a small sauce pan with water and a small wide jar, and then I just save the melted down wax in that jar for future use. Be careful--wax does burn, and not only that, it can catch on fire if you don't double boil it).

What you do is this:

Pick fruits. If it is something like apples, you need to cut them in quarters but for berries you can just throw them into the kettle after washing them and picking out the leaves. Cover with just enough water to be 1 inch over the top, and let them simmmer until all of the fruit is soft.

To make herbal syrups, pick the herbs and wash, then make a strong infusion of them by placing them in enough water to cover them, and bringing it up to a gentle simmer. you don't want to harshly boil herbs or it gives off a strong bitter flavor!

Next, strain out the berries/herbs/fruit, and measure the amount of liquid. You may want to strain it a few times using a sieve or cheesecloth.

For every 2 cups of juice you need 1 2/3 cups of sugar (this is going to be a SYRUP not something you drink straight up).

Bring the liquid/sugar mixture up to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, set a timer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat when 15 minutes are up.

Pour hot into hot bottles (I usually run the bottles through a dishwasher or leave in a sink of hot water), cork immediately, and after they have cooled enough to easily handle, dip the ends of the bottles into the melted paraffin wax to seal them.

Use one bottle at a time...keep the currently opened bottle in the refridgerator to prevent it from fermenting.

Experiment with different flavors...some of our favorites are:

1. chocolate mint (this is actually a variety of mint you can buy that tastes slightly chocolatey)

2. gooseberry

3. concord grape

4. Mulled Apple (boil apples with some mulling spices)

5. Birne Melissa (boil quarterd pears, then infuse the liquid with lemon balm)

Enjoy!!!

My Summer Update

Summer....how on earth does it get so busy???

What I've done on my summer vacation so far:

Spent way too many hours on my XHMTL Video Curriculum in the hopes of releasing it around December 07, and at the very least having it ready for the 08/09 school year for your children. I know they will love it. I'm hand animating many of the portions (using flash) and trying to think of creative ways to explain some of the more confusing XHTML concepts.

Spent equally large amounts of time working in the garden, only to have a jungle yet again. The good news: the fruits and vegetables are growing every bit as fast as the weeds, but the bad news is htat the weeds are growing insanely fast this year...I seem to have gotten rid of the "lambs' quarters" from several years of weeding diligently, but now there is some crazy vine that I have, and according to The Weed, Disease, and Pest ID guide by Rodale, this one will grow even if a small portion of it hits the ground (which seems pretty obvious if you look at my garden LOL). Last night we had corn on the cob from the garden. WOWIE. There is nothing like it.

I've spent time getting ready for next year's homeschooling co=op. I'm teaching a class on Cartooning and one on playing chess. Lest you think they are two totally different topics....well they are, but playing chess was a prerequiste back in my pre-christian days to create the whole "intellectual artist persona" while hanging out in chic coffee houses. thankfully I've gotten really good at both. :-) Now let's see if I can teach some kids the finer points of both....

I've created my lesson plans for the kids for next school year. They like to have a detailed chart of what needs to be done when...especially my oldest. Normally I say "we do one short lesson per day" but they said it would be helpful for me to write it all out, as I did in my first year homeschooling them back when Ruth was in kindergarten (she's going into 9th grade--yikes!!!)...so I did in Microsoft Publisher. Thankfully now that I have the template all set up I should be able to get this all together easier next year. :P

I had a garage sale for a friend...

I made 17 bottles of drink syrup (sort of like a homemade koolaide but with stuff out of the garden so it is slightly more healthy and definately cheaper!). More in a future post about that. This year we made gooseberry and chocolate mint. We ate all of the raspberries. :-) I plan to make some "birne-melissa" (German for Pear with Lemon Balm) syrup after trying some a few years ago in Austria. That soon became my own personal favorite!!

Canning salsa....that will be ongoing for the next little while.

I joined the Handbell Choir at our church. I love it. Most of my musical talent (word used loosely) comes from playing clarinet and saxophone but with my ongoing chronic bronchitis problems I find it too strenuous to play anything involving my lungs. ;) I'm also taking piano lessons. LOL You can teach old dogs new tricks.

Creating a website for someone from church....www.silverdollarkennel.com

Updating my own website...which will be done soon.

And of course going to the beach occasionaly,and playing at the park, and grocery shopping, and so on and so forth.

What are you doing in the summer vacation?

Listen to Grace Talk Soup

I almost feel famous :-)

I had the unique pleasure of being a guest on Jo Jo Taberes' Podcast, Grace Talk Soup today. You can download it either from her website or through I-tunes.

It is always a pleasure to share my testimony and to talk about what God has done in my life, so this was a blessing to be sure. :-). I was rather nervous--writing and illustration are much easier methods of communication for me at times, and so I was praying for the wisdom and grace to say what the Lord would have me say, and though I think I sound nervous, I'm happy with how it turned out.

It's sort of funny...today we were having a garage sale...lol...long story. A friend was moving out of state and because her house was down a dirt road in the middle of no where, she didn't do to well with her garage sale, so I said I'd try to have one for her...I was going to do it next weekend, but then I found out there was going to be a community wide garage sale going on in our neighborhood, so I figured this would be a good time to do it (someone else doing the advertizing). I no sooner had my sign at the street, than I had five people all buying things, which is of course really awesome :-)). While I did the interview with Jo Jo, I left my oldest in charge, and told her that if there is any question of what something costs, just say a quarter and let them have it...but whatever you do, don't let there be any obnoxious background noise (keep in mind, my one book is called Quiet Times in LOUD households...for a reason too!). Anyway, I also bought a box of Fudgesicles with which to bribe not only my own children but also the neighbor's kids as well. I told them that everyone gets a popicle only if everyone is quiet...to encourage them to help each other be good ;). By the time the interview was over, I had 9 faces in the window with a sign that read, "WE WERE QUIET :-))" ...of course I had to deliver on my promise :-))

Blessings,
Kimberly

Awesome site!

I just watched this online video that I think every Christian must see...

I love Ray Comfort, and the logic he uses when he talks to others about about the things of God and how he gets people thinking. What a blessing!

Mr. Comfort discusses blasphemy and other topics in Hollywood films in the video here:



Let me know what you think!

16 years ago today....

Sixteen years ago today, I got baptized at Baptisten Gemeinde Salzburg (Lehen).

God is so very good, isn't He?

I am overwhelmed with the way He has led and guided my life up to this point, and this despite some of the huge, godless mistakes I made before I accepted Christ and called on Him to be my Lord and Savior! WOW.

This week for my Reformer's memory work, I am working on learning Romans 2: 4. It has really cut me to heart too...let me tell ya!

"Or despist thou the riches of His goodness, and forebearance and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?"

How many times do we do that? I know I am guilty of being irritated when I see God giving someone I deem "unworthy" one more chance....sometimes I think, come on, God, do something!!! and I realize He is doing something--showing that person the riches of His goodness, forebearance, and longsuffering, knowing that the Goodness of God will possibly lead that person to repent....

How many times did I NOT deserve those same riches of His goodness, and yet He dished them out anyway?? He's so good to me!

Helping a Family in Need

I know that some of you may still be enjoying your Independence Day holiday,
but I just wanted to take a moment this morning to let you know
about a very special event that we would like to invite you to be a part of.

You may already know the Estes family, who operate www.handsandhearts.com.
We're taking part in an online benefit to bless this fellow homeschooling family,
who have seen far more than their share of trials and difficulties this past year. You can read more about it here on their blog .

In fact, dozens of the Estes family's friends & associates have contributed a truly
HUGE package of wonderful homeschool and family resources as a
"thank you gift" to folks who can help us in this worthy effort, including me!

Here's the site that explains all about this online benefit and how it works:
http://www.chirotoons.com/benefit

You truly won't believe all the resources that have been donated for this.
It is really an amazing outpouring of love and support.
Please take a look... YOU can be a real blessing to a family in need...
and in return, YOUR FAMILY will receive can also receive a blessing from
the wonderful selection of resources that you'll find there.

This benefit will only last for eight days, so take a look now...
and then please tell a homeschooling friend or two about it!
http://www.chirotoons.com/benefit

Thanks so much,

Kimberly Eddy

Strawberry Season

It's strawberry season here in Mid Michigan. I have got so many amazing strawberries in my garden right now. MMMMMMMMMMMMm. The girls just went out and picked me a whole bucket full.

We are getting ready to start selling strawberry plants since we are getting overrun with them. Woo hoo. My dd is going to head up this particular job.

Homeschool Copyright

This is a video created for Homeschool Copyright Awareness Month (June):

Happy Gardening Season Sale

I know it's been a while since I've sent out a newsletter. I've been busy
with home and family, as well as with putting in my garden for the year.
With all of the emails I received about starting a garden that will
supplement our groceries, I wrote an ebook, Momma's Guide to Growing Your
Groceries, a few years ago, with illustrations and instructions for growing
your own fruits, herbs, and vegetables at home. This ebook is on sale this
week only for just $6.00 (Regular $7.95). It's not too late to put in your
garden for the year, or to get started for next year's garden.

One of the joys of having my own garden is having fresh herbs, fruits and
vegetables available to me. My children are often outside eating pea pods
right off the vines, and enjoying grape or cherry tomatoes, fresh from the
garden. All of the fresh berries we get are a blessing too. All of this
bounty allows me to make some of my favorite summertime treats, such as:

Fresh Berry Popsicles

Put whatever fresh berries you have available through a strainer (to remove
seeds), and mix with a little bit of water, and some honey to taste (if
needed for tarter berries and fruits). You can also add vanilla yogurt.
Freeze in popsicle molds, and serve! You can find inexpensive popsicle molds
at many dollar stores.

We like to play around with different variations on this theme, including
our new favorite, Melissa-Pear Pops:

Cook several pears, chopped, in a small pan of water, until they are soft,
and pass them through a strainer. Make a strong tea of Melissa (Lemon Balm)
in this pear water and strain out the leaves. Let it cool and freeze in
popsicle molds. This is a tasty and refreshing treat!

Finally, Pesto is a special treat too.

Finely chop about 3 c. of basil leaves in a food processor. Add about 1/2
cup of nuts (traditionally this is pine nuts, but we use almonds or
walnuts), 1 onion, 1/4c. of lemon juice, 1/4 c. of olive oil, a Tablespoon
of garlic, and process until smooth. You can use pesto as pizza sauce, or
you can toss it with rotini noodles for a pasta salad that is packed with
flavor!

Enjoy the blessings of the Lord this summer with your family!

Creative Composting

For Mother's Day this year, My mom in law gave me a book she found at a garage sale or something to that effect, called "Tips for the Lazy Gardener" by one Linda Tilgner. Thus far the book has been pretty good, and an easy read--it's more or less a collection of tips and tricks for those who want to work smarter and not just harder.

In the process of reading this handy little book, I laughed at the fact that most of the stuff in this book I already practice at least in part (does this mean I'm a lazy gardener? LOL)...I guess that (1.) great minds think alike and (2.)mother's tend to come up with ideas that get the job done easiest with the best or accepatable results.

I did especially enjoy the information she had on composting. As i posted earlier, I have a problem coming up with enough compost in just my wee little spinning composter (which seemed bigger when I bought it!!!). I can't add more compostable materials to it while it is "cooking" and it seems to me whenever I have built framed compost pile, the compost seeps into the ground below the composter itself....at least the best compost, and then the grass and other weeds grow taller and faster than anywhere esle in the yard...sigh...and then I break my weed whacker when I go around the composter and it gets tangled in the chicken wire, but it is just too noxious to bend over and hand trim near that area, even with aerobic composting going on.

Well...enter Linda Tilgner's idea...or one that she quoted actually from a gardening friend. Use some old tomato cages or (in my case) some old wire fencing, and build some cylinders, and plant them in different parts of the garden, and use those as recepticals for compostable materials. As they decompose, the compost forms on the bottom IN THE GARDEN BED (HURRAY), fertilizing as it goes. When it rains, you get some compost tea in the garden. your compost collectors are right there where you need them too. And when my spinning composter compost is done, I can just pitchfork some more compsot into the spinner from one of the recepticals I have around. For the record I put two of them in the garden...they are about 3 ft in diameter and about 4 ft high, and contain grass clippings, pulled weeds, spent plants, and kitchen scraps. I have vining plants growing over them so as to cover it up a little bit. In the winter, I plan to spread as much of the decomosed matter around the tops of the beds as possible.

Tonight's Frost

In case anyone is wondering why there is a frost warning tonight, let me help you. It's because I planted some overgrown seedlings in my garden! LOL I always tell people that Michigan's last frost date is two days after I put anything in my garden.

Thankfully I've only planted things that can tolerate a mild frost, so as long as it doesn't get too bad, we should be good.This should make the lettuce taste better. Lettuce likes the cold.

How do we protect plants from frost?

The simplest way, if you save your milk jugs, is to cut the bottoms off of your milk jug containers and wash them out well. Stick a stake in the ground near your plant, and put the milk jug over the top of the seedling, mounding the dirt up around the edge of the jug, as seen in this illustration (illustration by me for my book, Growing your Groceries, which is a must read!):



Alternately, if you don't have milk jugs but do have tomato cages and clear plastic, you can use that. Here's my illustration of that:



Happy Gardening!

Just the Regurgitated Pseudo-Facts

I was very busy this week and didn't get on here....too busy living life to blog about it. LOL....

but I was playing around with a few thoughts for Defending the Faith Sunday that I never got around to posting, and then learned on Tuesday of the death of the Rev. Jerry Falwell (and the ensuing nasty bashing that pretty much everyone took part in). It was rather ironic that my DTFS topic that I was mulling around had a lot to do with what was so obviously displayed this week on the occasion of the death of Mr. Falwell.

As a pre-Christian in the mid eighties, I had some false assumptions about Christians, Christianity, conservatism, and so forth. Most of my assumptions I didn't come up with on my own. They were just some regurgitated pseudo-facts I had heard along the way that any self-respecting liberal is supposed to repeat until they believe them to be true.


One of those "facts" was that the conservatives are trying to ban free speech and turn us all into mindless drones who can't think for ourselves, and they are trying to suck the fun out of life. At the top of the list of villans in this story stood Jerry Falwell.

I never actually personally heard the guy speak. I only heard from others who heard from others that he was a hate monger bent on the destruction of our free society, and needed to be shouted down until he was ultimately stopped from his evil world domination and subjection plot.

Years later, as a Christian, I still didn't always agree with Jerry Falwell, but I understood where he was coming from and saw his heart--one that was pained deeply by the direction our society is heading and who seemed to care too much about others.

I almost laugh when I hear about how Christians don't think for themselves. It is probably true of some, of course, but it is despite the Biblical commands toward wisdom and understanding and being of a sound mind, not because the Bible advocates any sort of assimilation into a collective conciousness of group-think. If anything, I've noticed how foolish some people sound when they start spouting those sorts of lines about Christians and yet come across as the puppet with someone else pulling the strings.

Talking to a variety of people throughout my daily life, it gives me an eerie feeling to remember the sins of my past when I meet up with some bonehead who, like I once did, throws a temper tantrum and uses foul language as their only defense against the truth of God's word, and who can feel threatened even by a middle aged mom who is speaking quietly about the love of God. Even this past week, as I read some comments about Rev. Falwell's death, and people proving their immaturity by stating that they would be celebrating his death by engaging in acts that they know he would find offensive, all I could think about is "Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do". No truer statement has been said--they really haven't thought at all about what they are doing and saying--they are just regurgitating the same tired lines they've learned from others.

dieting woes

weight gain and loss is a frustrating thing, especially when physically there are other health issues at work that are working against weight loss.

For me, I have some issues with my pituitary gland resulting from a bad reaction to a drug I took for my fibromyalgia...and from some other meds I've been given every now and then both for fibromyalgia and for the chronic bronchitis that I suffer from. I am to the point now to where I don't take anything unless I research it thoroughly on the internet, and find out all side effects. The drug I took several years ago that caused my initial 100 lb weight gain also caused my friend Toni to gain 80 lbs and her sister gained 75...and lets just say that the weight doesn't come off too easily after you take this drug even if you stop taking it. When I went to the doctor a year ago for severe fibro flareups, I was given another drug that turns out to be related, chemically, to this first drug...I'm now worried I may be back to square one. I have resigned myself to dealing with whatever pain I am in so long as I don't take any more fat-making drugs. The doctors continue to insist these drugs don't affect metabolism (baloney), though even the drugs' website says that is a possible side effect.

I've always been the sort of person who could lose that extra 10 or 20 lbs just by stopping to eat ice cream...lol...those were the days. I miss ice cream.

Now, if I eat more than 1500 calories a day and don't work out like a fiend, I am gaining weight again. I hate that.

I had pretty much given up in frustration at the end of last summer when a few weeks with a sprained ankle (and no 3 mile walks) left me 20 lbs heavier, even with eating salads.

I went to a doctor about weight loss, only to be sent to a workshop at the hospital that told us such ground breaking revelation like, "If you want to lose weight, make sure you don't eat out at fast food restaurants more than 1x a week". GEE, I wish! If only!! I don't recall the last time I ate at a fast food restaurant...but on the rare occasion that I have to eat on the road, it usually is subway or I get a salad at one of the burger places.

When I gave up last year, I finally stopped obsessing about food. I think I posted before that I have a tendency to starve myself and get so hyper controlling about food that I don't eat. Before I got saved, I was bulimic most of the time so as to control my figure....and since becoming "obese" I have to remind myself that weight isn't everything. I know I eat well. I know my cholesterol and sugars are good for now....blood pressure is ok...

I knew I'd gain weight...but my dh, trying to help me chill out some, threw out my scale.

Well, we bought a scale this past week...and I have been very disappointed in what I found there.

I gained ALL of my weight back. ALL of it.

Of course, since I do work out, you don't really notice it as much on me. I do look heavy, but I always win at those "guess my weight" things...as those carnival guys can never get my weight correct....they usually undershoot my weight by at least 50 lbs. Most of my friends guess my weight at 80-90 lbs less than what it really is...that is the blessing of being tall and well proportioned I guess.

So...I am back to trying to lose weight, without being obsessive hopefully.

My Glory for His Glory

The Bible teaches, in 1 Corinthians 11, that long hair is a glory to a woman. Let's just say that I have a whole lotta glory...a little too much sometimes. A few days ago I broke the handle off of my hairbrush while trying to get the tangles out of my hair before going to bed...and yes, I brush it every day. My hair is just that thick. It's a blessing and a curse some days.

My hair also grows really fast...an average of 5 inches per year. Long, thick,curly to the point of wild, and bright red. I have a lot of hair.

However, there are those in this world who don't have any hair...little girls who have different diseases that cause them to lose all or part of their hair, and that is really hard for them. That's why for the last 8 years, every two years I've donated a large hunk of my overly grown mane to Locks of Love, which makes wigs for such children. They make the wigs for boys to but for cultural reasons, preference is given to girls as it is harder for them to walk around bald, than it is for a boy to have ultra short or bald head. These wigs look very real and the child can even shower with them on. Go to their website to find out more.

the first time I donated to Locks of Love, I had hair nearly to my knees. Yeppers, long, thick, curly red mane that was so long I could sit on it. Woo hoo. I was very proud of my hair, but with Fibromyalgia it was hard to maintain it so long, as my neck was on constant pain from the weight of my hair. Brushing it was a tortureous process that left me in tears every time I did it. After a while, every time I turned on the radio, I was hearing about Locks of Love. I was very resistant to it as I loved my long hair...and the Bible did say my long hair was a glory.

One Sunday, I was sitting in church, towards the back, when the preacher was talking about sacrificial giving. he said this, "It is not about money, but about selflessly giving whatever it is that you are selfishly holding on tightly to, that someone else could better use." I got up, walked out of the service, went to the secretaries office, grabbed a pair of scissors, and cut off a nearly 30" braid, which I mailed in the next day.

I donated it again two years later, this time only 10", and agian, two years later, another 10" through a local salon that was having a hair drive for Locks of Love. This past weekend, as my daughter and I were in Walmart looking at digital cameras, I noticed the salon was not too busy, so I went in and had them cut my braid off and straighten me up again..so I'll be mailing off another 11" to the good folks at Locks of Love. Woo hoo.

Defending the Faith SONday--May 6th, 2007

Really, every day is defending the faith day, isn't it? :-)

Jo Jo Tabares, of Art of Eloquence as well as her blog and weekly podcast, "Grace Talk Soup", has come up with this great idea for Christian bloggers each Sunday. this is in response to the too-absurd-to-be-believed celebration of "Evolution Sunday" in some churches. I've decided to take her up on this challenge, and I will endeavor to blog something on this theme in my blog each Sunday. I usually try not to go on the computer at all on the Lord's Day, so actually it will probalby be posted on Mondays or Saturdays. :-)

When I became a Christian in 1990, I considered myself to be rather progressive in that I believed in God and the Bible inspite of what I thought was scientific evidence to the contrary. The fact is that God made Himself so very real to me in such a miraculous and tangible way, I couldn't deny His existence any longer, but at the same time, I had to wrestle with how to make this experience fit into my pre-conceived ideas and prejudices against the Bible (Which I had never read). I look back at that now and consider it rather absurd, but the Lord led me one step at a time....from rabidly opposed to Christianity to joyfully and faithfully attending a fundamentalist church. The fact is that there is so little evidence to support evolution (which, by the way, contradicts the basic laws of physics), that it would be a leap of faith for anyone fully informed of all of the shortcomings of this flawed theory to actually believe in it. Those who are die hards in it keep searching for their holy grail, "the Missing Link"....which is still missing and always will be.

As a thinking person, the more I have studied this out...not only evolution, but all aspects of biblical history and Christianity, there is no other conclusion to come to but the truth and validity of the faith.

Teaching your children

Continuing on with the thoughts about the value of moms and the blessings of motherhood...I was going to write something else but then I was reminded of moms as teachers when I was grocery shopping today. Tomorrow we have a birthday at our house, so I needed to get to the store on Friday instead of Saturday...plus my dh was home today, so he stayed with everyone and oversaw the schoolwork and I ran off to Meijers. While there, a mom was shopping with her son, and he was asking her every question under the sun and she was answering him and explaining things to him, and telling him why she bought this brand instead of that brand of juice as well as explaining why he couldn't have the cereal he wanted (she showed him the label and that it had too much sugar in it), and so I sort of enjoyed shopping in the same sort of pattern they were shopping in....because four year olds have a million questions about how the world works, and as moms we have the very amazing privilege of introducing them to the work they live in and how it works. Moms are a child's first teacher, laying a foundation for all later education...some do this well, others...well...don't.

I'm not talking about homeschooling either, exclusively anyway. I homeschool and believe in it, but even without homeschooling in the equation, Moms still are a child's first teacher.

Think about it...before the age of 4, think about all of the things a child learns how to do. Most of this is pre-programmed learning--eventually children learn how to walk, talk, go potty, feed themselves, and so forth unless some serious handicaps are present or neglect has gone on. It's quite a transformation from baby to toddler to preschooler!

Then there is other learning that goes on in that time frame too...or rather, learning that may go on when a child is given the right stimuli--learning colors, counting, tying a shoe (i'm so glad I don't have to do that again...even teaching phonics is easier than the shoe tying thing), how to ride a bike, maybe even learning the alphabet and some children even do some simple reading by 4. Children learn some manners, they learn yes and no, they learn to listen. Children can learn all sorts of things at that age. They can learn to do some simple table setting (plastic plates, flatware, and napkins), and learn how to be a helper. By the time a child is four they know that the same toys that get dumped out of the toy box can be put back in the toy box (some do better with this than others ;)).

When mine were quite little, there was a very funny thing that happened to me...well, funny and sad at the same time. A Christian lady we knew, who went to a different church from us, met me in the store one day, and said, "Oh my! Five Children! How on earth can you afford all of that daycare?" Well, we do a novel thing where I forgo paying for daycare by staying home...lol...but later on, I ran into her again, this time my children weren't with me, and she asked me in all seriousness why I would "do that" to my children (stay home with them--mind you they were all 4 and under, and I was pregnant with number five), because how were they supposed to learn their colors, numbers, and so forth? She really, seriously, couldn't imagine that they could learn this without a daycare, which I thought was really strange, but sort of funny. It is a scary thought that we may be coming to a day when people think that daycare is necessary for children's development.

I'm not talking setting up a preschool environment in your home...so much is taught in the everyday life of a family! "Look at those pretty yellow daffodils! Do you see the red tulips? I like the blue hyacynths too!" (My kids didn't just know colors, but flowers too!) I talk too much (LOL) but I use that to my advantage, especially when they were little...by talking to them about everything I was doing at the time, from baking bread, to gardening, and shopping, and cleaning. Reaching to our children (Even if they are not sitting perfectly still) is also very helpful. We still have fond memories of books we read together as a family.

We also teach by sitting down and playing games with them. Games are so fun for teaching these things...like Candyland, and chutes and ladders, and as they get older, games like Jr. Scrabble, Jr. Boggle, and Jr. Monopoly are so helpful too (as are the adult versions when they progress beyond that level)...or vocabulary building games like Catch Phrase (a family favorite--you have to be able to read quick, think quick, and you learn some new words along the way)...or logic games like Sudoku (we usually compete to see who can do it fastest or we work on a puzzle together).

As they get older, they get to learn more complicated things...like cooking for themselves. A few years ago, a friend of mine was saying that she buys frozen pancakes because she hates having to make pancakes for her son, who is 16, and this way he can heat them up when he and his friends want a late night snack. My son was standing next to me and piped up before I could stop him, and said, "If he's 16, Why can't he make pancakes?"...because my son, since he was 8, has made breakfast every morning without being asked to. He likes to cook. Bobby Flay is one of his heroes! Teaching a child to be careful in the kitchen, and how to actually cook is a skill they will need well into adulthood--everyone needs to eat. French toast on an electric griddle is not hard at all. Someday, he is going to make a fine husband for some very lucky girl.

Right now, as I type this, I have a child who is decorating a cake for the birthday girl tomorrow. She wanted to make the cake and decorate it without me helping, and so I have allowed her free reign in the kitchen. Another one is making a present for the birthday girl.

Being There

Well, as promised, I'm continuing that thought about the blessings of motherhood and the value as moms.

You know, as moms, we have a lot of pull in our children's lives. We are the first people in their lives that help them to really feel worth by spending time with them, and taking an interest in them, and encouraging them with our words and actions. It is so important that children feel loved, wanted, and appreciated!! Sometimes I wonder how children of people who have the attitude of "I don't want anything to hurt my career/I want to feel fulfilled" feel inside when they hear their moms saying things like that.

I understand when some women do need to work out of the home, and I think that when your child knows that there is a need and that you would much rather be rolling on the floor playing with him than working, that makes all the difference in the world.

I've read some other blogs about this topic (re: that article by Ms. Hirschman), and I noticed both in blogs and in comments that the argument was made that having the mom home was not always the best thing, and giving some really awful example....and sure, that happens, but that doesn't mean the problem is with staying home with your children, but with that individual choosing to be miserable at home, or choosing to be physically present but emotionally checked out.

It's not enough to just be there in the home day in and day out...but actually being there emotionally too. Sometimes we can be so focused on other things that our children don't get a whole lot of our attention even when they are the only other human being in our house with us all day long--it's easy to do some days when life is happening all around--but it shouldn't be the habit of our lives. Letting a child feel important to you means stopping what you are doing, turning around, and looking them in the eye, and really listening to what they are saying. Maybe playing a game with them or playing with their toys with them...giving them your undivided attention. IF you are home all day long but spending that time on the computer, or on the phone, or watching the soaps, you might as well put your child in daycare and get a job.

The neat thing about really engaging your children is that you get to relive some of your own childhood. It is just too fun to draw with chalks all over the driveway on a lazy summer day, or make a snowman on a snowy day, or to share a pussy-willow catkin with your little one. Have you sat down and built a tower with blocks or colored a picture in a while? Ok, mine are getting older so they are not so into some of those things...now when we build a tower it is a competition to see how tall we can get it without it falling...and now my little artists get into mommy's watercolors and H2Oils and Prismacolor pencils...but it is just as important (maybe moreso) to show attention to our older children.

My teen daughter, Ruth, tends to need me right after church on Wednesday, when she sits and shares her heart about what God is showing her and what happened in youth group, and so forth, and I treasure that time. I've found that many times she comes in and sits next to me and doesn't say a thing on some days, and I have learned that it is a cue to just hang out and talk--and I am just praising God I have a 14 year old that still wants to talk to her mom...but I really believe that part of the reason is that the foundation was laid when she was a baby and toddler, and I shared my passions with her and listening intently as she shared her heart even at 2...was it silly nonsense to me at the time? Yeah, most of it wasn't totally coherent, and when it was, it was a lot of life changing stuff like, "My baby doll says that the dog ate her toy" and sometimes even more nonsensical things... but, I tried (though sometimes failed) to make sure that she knew I was interested in hearing what she had to say.It's not easy when you have little ones to have them chattering your ear off all day long. I do remember saying "OK! Can we all be quiet for just five minutes, please?!?" (Ruth interjects---"More than a few times, but we probably deserved it"). But on a whole, there was at least one long moment in our day when we spent time together, without anything else distracting me from them.

It's a blessing to me to have that great relationship right now with all of my children. They are each different in their own way, but at the same time they all needed to know I valued them, and their thoughts, and their presence in my life.

We have the power to help our children to feel loved and valued as part of a team--our family. It takes time, and means sometimes putting down something to give them our undivided attention each day.

my weight loss

You will note the ticker above, near the top of the page, under the verse. This is something I saw on someone else's blog, and decided to get too.

Last summer I had lost 58 pounds total, but over the winter I put some of it on again...I partly blame late night snacks with my hubby as he came home from working some crazy shift...why is it that calories seem to count as double at 2am?? Thankfully he's not working that any more, and so I am not frying up bacon and eggs in the middle of the night nor scooping out Cappuccino Fudge Blitz ice cream with hot fudge topping for us as we discuss the day LOL...I've already lost a few pounds. I have to actually go and get a better scale so as to more accurately weigh in as I only guessed based on my last weigh in at the chiropractor. I think I lost about 10 pounds over the weekend in the garden as everything is very loose again...so I'm probably going to update the ticker on Thursday after shopping when I get a scale.

What am I doing to lose weight?? I'm eating a sensible, lower calorie and lower fat, healthful diet (as opposed to "dieting" which only works when you need to lose a quick ten pounds to squeeze into a dress on a special occasion it seems)...and I am walking a lot as well as working in the garden, and doing some pilates a few times a week.

I've learned a lot about weight loss over the last several years. I've gotten a new respect for anyone who battles severe overweight.

I've never been fat before...relatively speaking. I've needed to lose a few pounds before...20 at the most...and I grew up in a family where everyone was dieting or watching weight or watching my weight ;)....and if anything I had a bad image of my body at a young age to where I would do whatever it took to lose weight (including bulimic things....and diet pills..and so on). After I got saved, the Lord really did a healing work in my heart about all of that body image stuff, and I praise Him for it. It's not good to be obsessing about every bite that goes in your mouth any more than it is good to be scarfing down ice cream at 2 am.

Anyway...when I put on all of this weight 6-7 years ago, it was totally freaky...but God has also taught me a lot through it. In some ways it has been something where I've had to deal with all of those emotions regarding body image again...such as overcoming the temptation NOT to fall back on those very unhealthy methods for losing weight...which would probably not work for losing 100 pounds the same way they work for losing 10 or 20 anyway! Still, it's been a battle in my own mind some days concerning accepting where I'm at, and taking things slow and steady and in a very healthful way, especially since I'm losing this for my health not to win a beauty pageant, amen?

So...I decided if i was doing this rather publicly it would be good for accountability.

New Layout Woo Hoo

Look at the new layout! Woo hoo.

I am working some more on that huge HTML/CSS curriculum that I am writing and recording, and for part of it I demonstrated modifying a CSS template for a blog. Because I had been wanting to do this for a while with my own blog, I decided to kill two birds with one stone and demo the technique using my own blog, so here it is.

I am really excited about the progress I am making on this curriculum. I wish it was done already, of course, and I had planned on it being done...oh...about now. (LOL). It's a bummer that it isn't done yet, but I also don't want it just slapped together either. This is quality stuff.

The coming soon buttons at the top are buttons that are not yet working for sections that are also being added later. One button is a link for information regarding teaching art and design which will be coming soon (the text is written, but the design part is part of the curriculum, and so I am waiting to record the work I am doing on that...if that makes sense.

The second one is some ecards I am designing that are just for moms and families. Don't you hate it when you can't find an ecard that says just want you want to say...? Our family is designing and writing ecards...the first one is done. It is a congratulations on your new little arrow card, with a neat animation I did of an archer with a quiver full of arrows. Most of this one won't be done for a while as I am demo'ing this in yet another curriculum I am doing on animation and illustration for ecards, and also because my children are still working on a few ecards that are not yet done. The children are also doing some of the music in the background using our electric piano. Stay tuned.

The Value of a Mother

Sometimes I decide not to comment here in my blog on a lot of what is going on in society at large because as moms we tend to get really emotional about things, and the last thing we need is one more thing to make our blood boil, and stress us out, right? I try to stay out of politics and so forth, and other things that I really feel helpless to change. I've learned to comment on and change those things that are in my power to change and to comment on those things where commentary may make a difference (instead of just adding to the noise of modern society).

However, this past week, I read an article that both made my blood boil and made me think about what I could do about this situation. The article is by someone who I can only assume is extra-terrestrial (said half joking), because her ideas are totally out there. She believes that all that can be done should be done to make sure that women get in and stay in the workforce because, she believes, it is better for society. It's not, "Women should be able to choose to work" but "Women should not have the choice to stay home". Yeah, like I said, Totally out there.

I can get pretty grrrrrrrrr about stuff like this so I tend to avoid talking about it altogether so as to avoid making everyone else's blood boil too.

But, increasingly, I feel that even though most people aren't going to say so in so many words like this very snarky out of touch woman does, there is a general movement in society that communicates to women that what they do at home is not very valuable on a whole, and it is this that I want to address over the next week or so in honor of Mother's Day. Sure, society said it's good for a woman to be there for her children when they are babies and toddlers, but still, society at large has an underlying view that work is where it is at.

Now, I've done the working in a cubicle for 50 hours a week thing. The cubicle (or even the corner office, as rare as that is) is NOT where it is at, girlfriends. Anyone of you who has to work to pay the bills probably knows that and feels that way. If I had to guess based on my own circle of friends, I'd say 9 out of 10 women don't find work the thrill that careerists make it out to be. Most people, in fact, have jobs, not careers. The whole rest of your life would have to be pretty messed up for you to wake up in the morning looking forward to punching a clock and spending 8-10 hours at the office.

Yet, read Ms. Hirschman's words from this article:

"Should we care if women leave the work force? Yes, because participation in public life allows women to use their talents and to powerfully affect society....That the most educated have opted out the most should raise questions about how our society allocates scarce educational resources. The next generation of girls will have a greatly reduced pool of role models. "

WOW.

Because, you know, as many of you probably guessed, I don't ever use my talents or powerfully affect society from my little ole home in the country. (said tongue in cheek). And, of course, you can't be a role model unless you have a wallet full of pay-stubs, right?

The value of a woman is not tied to earning power or hours logged in at some job, or even in how much she gives up to stay home with her children. A woman can choose to be a woman of great influence or of no influence wherever she is. That goes for women who are working for pay and those who are working hard at home. It's a choice we make. When I wake up in the morning, I have to choose to change my world for the better one day and one moment at a time, in those areas I have control over. This includes caring for my husband and children, keeping a welcoming home, and writing as the Lord leads. I have the power to influence society just by raising five future adults to also be influential. Talk about the law of exponential returns!

When my dh and I got married, I made more than him, and we didn't think much of that fact until I was pregnant with our first child. I was miserable at home at first. I was really wrestling on that potter's wheel, because I felt this was the right thing, but I felt totally inept at this job. I could juggle 60 different printing orders a night, but not keeping house, changing diapers, and caring for a newborn. It wasn't in my training. However, one day a friend said to me, You can choose to embrace where ever God has you at any moment or you can fight against it--your choice. Be yielded and joyful or be hard-hearted and miserable.

Well, I didn't like her advice.

But, months, and years, later I realized she was right...life isn't always the exact way we want it or how we plan it...and we have to roll with the punches, and along the way God shows us some really awesome and totally unexpected blessings.

I'm going to blog the whole rest of the week about the Value of a Mother and the blessings we receive in motherhood, so stay tuned for more.

More Garden Work

I did a lot more garden work over the weekend.

I must say, work goes faster when you have a teenage son! He can carry the 40 lb bags of peat moss I was using, and can help me dig up my beds to mix it all in too. :-)

This weekend what we did was this: first we cleaned out each bed of any weeds and other debris. Lots of things blow in over the winter and lots of things grow early in the spring, though not so much with the black plastic on each bed (mostly around the edges and where there are perennials where I don't put black plastic down). Then we took pitch forks and turned under the dirt in each bed that didn't have something growing in it, and then we added compost and some peat moss that I bought. I haven't done the peat moss in a while but my soil was starting to look really sandy and I can't seem to make compost fast enough for my size garden. We put a few bags of peat moss in each bed, and mixed that in really well, and then carefully worked it in around periennial plants like herbs and the strawberries. I also added some around my raspberries. I totally need to clean out the raspberries, as those are looking a little rough these days! it's getting really overgrown again.

I was really pleased with the end result of all the work we did. We got nearly the whole garden done in just a weekend. Woo hoo.

Spring Garden Preparations

Hi Ladies! Everyone enjoying spring?

I am really excited about getting my garden ready. This year, my soil needs some extra attention. It seemed very sandy last fall as we were cleaning it out, and so I bought several bags of peat moss to mix in, along with the compost we have from our composter. Our composter only makes enough for a half of one of our long beds at a time, and so we need to try to figure out how to get more compost done at a time. The spinning composter definately is easier to use and gets the job done faster...it just isn't very big. So...I am back to making compost in a box at the same time as using the spinning composter, and then at least yearly I should have a nice big amount of compost for my organic garden.

We got some compost from an unlikely place this spring. About 8 years ago, when we first moved in, we had a huge tree cut down. Unfortunately, we never did finish cutting up the wood for this tree because of various issues...such as not having anywhere to really burn it, and our chain saw breaking...and along the way we have sold parts of this huge tree to folks and given some of the wood away too. Still, there was a few logs laying around (one was 3 feet in diameter to give you an idea). I determined, last summer, that I was going to get rid of that wood once and for all this spring.

When it came time to move the logs on a nice day (before bugs and weeds made the area, once again, inaccesible), my son and I started to roll one of the big logs only to have it totally fall apart when we pushed on it. This was a pleasant surprise! Inside and under the long was the more gorgeous compost/humus you could find anywhere, and we quickly shoveled it into several of the garden beds. Then we took the decompsoing wood and crumbled it in our hands over the raspberry beds (yippee, we don't need to buy woodchips), and the same happened for each of those logs out there. We had enough compost for half of the garden. We threw some of the decomposing wood into the composter with kitchen scraps and weeds, and it is in the process of decomposing now too.

This weekend, after a babyshower I am attending, I am going to turn under my garden beds, clean out the strawberry beds, and mix in as much of this peat moss, compost, and manure as we possibly can.

Right now, I have an amazing assortment of bulb flowers blooming--daffodils, tulips, a magnolia, and I see lots of blossoms on the cherry trees and forcynthias. Everything is greening up as summer begins. Woo Hoo. I just hope that we have mildly warm weather this summer not scortching hot, as we did last summer.

My Pet Project

I've been working some more on this very amazing and fun website design curriculum. It's taking a long time--longer than I planned--because it is not as easy as it looks to make a video. I thought it would be faster as I wouldn't have to type...boy was that wrong. Then there is me with a cold...I either have to wait til allergy season is over to resume shooting or edit out all of the sniffling I do every 27 seconds (LOL). It's very attractive, believe me. There's a must buy DVD--watching Kimberly "Soccer Mom" Eddy sniffling on video while talking about writing HTML Code in Notepad and fighting to not forget what she was saying after taking her allergy meds. I need prayer. I think if my husband wasn't being such an encouragement and constantly prodding me to finish this, I may never get it done!

Martin, my dh, did his usual, "Yeah, honey, sounds good, but I guess I need to see it" statements when I first told him of this idea. I was excited about it, but he wasn't seeing it. My husband saw the first few lessons as I Wanted his opinion and he was so blown away by it, he is now constantly calling me from work asking me what else I've done on it...and he has half of the people at work anxious to buy it. I guess that is a good thing, huh?

Given the fact that I did take some filmmaking in college, as it was required for art majors, you'd think I'd have known how much work this would be. I didn't realize how intense post production would be.

I was originally going to just have it be downloadable, but then I realized it would be nicer on DVDs in nice cases, and easier for others to sell too in this format, and it would be a pain for anyone with dialup to download. Ok, maybe more like IMPOSSIBLE and I didn't want to do that to anyone. So, I have actually found a place that will get me a great price for duplicating DVDs and creating a nice case for me. This is very exciting.

Being a little bit of an ADHD scatter brain with oodles of ideas flowing in my brain at all times, I proudly showed my dh the DVD case insert that I designed in full color yesterday. His brain can't comprehend how it is that I can spend so much time designing an insert when the curriculum itself is barely half done. Maybe I just needed a diversion--sometimes designing promo stuff for a work in progress gets me more motivated to finish. Woo hoo.

Birth of a Soccer Mom

I'm not sure what happened, but all of a sudden, I am a soccer mom. LOL Literally.

We went to soccer yesterday in the minivan, and someone said, WHOA, Kim, now you are a SOCCER MOM, and I about screamed. Of all the sports on the planet I probably like soccer second best (Tennis would be first), but I never wanted to be a soccer mom--you know, one of those people who is always hustling and bustling to all of the different sporting events with each child, who can't remember the last time she ate together with her family all present? Thankfully for us, we all have soccer on the same day, in the same place, one day per week.

Today, I had to run my oldest up to church for some volleyball practice and teen choir earlier than the rest of us had service. As I was coming home, rushing about, I thought, when did this happen? A friend of mine laughed at me over this whole thing as she thinks we are the most "un-busy" people she knows...after all, we are not out running around every night of the week to different places with each child. No, thankfully, we're not, and by the Grace of God we never will be!

Even good things can be bad things if they take us away from things that are truely important. Maybe junior sports are the most important things to some people...I don't know. But for me, it's a priority to sit down and eat a meal most nights of the week with us as a family, and to actually talk to each other. It's a priority to not be rushed or so busy that we don't have time to meet the needs of others around us. But, it's one of those things that is a constant battle, isn't it?

Copyright Awareness Month

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June is designated as Homeschool Copyright Ethics Awareness MonthApril 15, 2007 -- With so much to learn as a homeschooler, who knew that some homeschoolers fail the copyright test? As with many educators in the country, the Educational Fair Use Policy can be confusing, making it easy for educators, even home educators, to think it's okay to copy something if it's for the education of children. But exactly what are we teaching those children when we break the law for free material?

With a short video on the site, along with the "Copyright Quiz," CSP, a group of authors and publishers, have developed an informative copyright awareness site to educate the educators. Believing in copyright literacy, this video is free for anyone to use on their web site or to show at a convention, support group meeting, or homeschool co-op. The educational video will be available June 1 on YouTube.

Anyone can receive copyright enlightenment with articles on the copyright ethics awareness web site at homeschoolcopyright.com. There are articles written by publishers, lawyers, and homeschool parents detailing what homeschooling families should know about copyright law. You'll also read about educational fair use, plagiarism, and personal integrity. While you're there, take the "Copyright Quiz" and grab the "Help Fight Copyright Ignorance" web site button.

Meditating on Joy

I've been meditating on Joy this past week.

I guess it seems fitting, doesn't it? This blog IS called Joyful Momma Musings, and my website is called Joyful Momma Publishing.

At Reformers, my challenges this week have to do with the fruit of joy. (Reformers, as I said in other posts, is an addictions ministry in our church that I take part in each Friday). The definition of Joy that they give is this: "Joy is a cheerful, calm delight in all the circumstances of life" contrasted with Frustration. I started to realize just how much joy is related to meekness too, in a fresh new way. I have always known that Joy comes from God and that it is not about circumstances, but rather about God in me!

At first I was a little confused as to why the workbook contrasted joy with frustration. What?!? but then I realized that when we are joyful in the Lord (not just "happy") we are less inclined to be frustrated by the circumstnaces of life....we just roll with it.

Come on now, you too, right? I mean, when you are waiting in line at the store and someone decides to barter as if she were in the Morrocan marketplace while standing in the 20 items or less express lane with 23 items in her cart, if you are full of the Spirit you can usually cheerfully and calmly delight in it and even find some amusement in how frustrated the other customers are getting. AH but when we are in the flesh and the same thing happens we tap our feet, turn red and then blue from holding our breath, think unhappy thoughts about the dear lady, and practically breathe fire out of our noses.

that's Joy vs. Frustration....plain and simple. Think about it.

Slothful Saturdays

It's a lazy Saturday here at our house ;)

For my husband's birthday, I am making Shish Kebobs for him as a special meal. He commented recently that he had a hankering for them. However, in the mean while, we have been sitting around doing some laundry, reading, talking, listening to music, and doing some light clean up, and basically staying in doors.

My daughter woke up this morning and decided it was too cold to go to the snow activity that they were having for the youth group, and so she much rather stayed home bundled in her sweats, drinking hot tea than going sledding. So much for looking forward to going sledding. Ha.

I think the only problem with really enjoying the snow is that it is too cold outside to really have a lot of fun. Of course if it gets warmer, then there is no snow so it's a bit of a catch 22 isn't it?

I am happy to see that my washing machine is not broken (praise God). I was wondering as I had one load of laundry overflow recently, but it must have been a fluke as it hasn't done that again. Of course, when digging around looking for the warranty of our less-than-one-year-old washer, I couldn't find it. I could find the warranty for every appliance I have ever owned EXCEPT the one that was malfunctioning. I have learned to keep all of those in the same place, but somehow the one I need at that moment always finds its way somewhere else. Why is that?

Learning Languages in the 21st Century

After that last post, a friend emailed me and said, "Ok, where on earth do you find good foreign language resources? Can you blog about that next?" So here I go...I'm going to blog about that for a bit before I go grocery shopping. Woo hoo.

No matter what language you are learning, you need a multifaceted approach. If you have a child who is confident in their own mother tongue (speaking, reading, writing, able to look up words in a dictionary, etc.), then you can use an approach similar to what an adult could use, but for a younger child, the best thing I think is to just do immersion, and learning the language in the natural context. Children have an ability to pick up language when it is all around them when they are young--after all, that is how they learned their mother tongue. There are lots of video games for preschoolers in different languages (teaching names of clothing, colors, numbers, and so forth), and some CDs to listen to in other languages.

For older kids and adults, using a multifaceted approach is great. Something that will teach communication in that language, something to teach basic vocabulary, and if it is a different alphabet (or in this case, Chinese Characters), something to help learn the written language too.

I LOVE I-Tunes! This is free. Go to www.apple.com/itunes and down load your free copy. Then go to the Music Store in Itunes....and search for the language you are interested in, under the category of Podcasts. Podcasts are basically on-demand radio shows. There are video podcasts or just audio podcasts. I found at least 20 podcasts just for Learning Chinese, and I listened to them with Anastasia until she decided on one that we both thought would be most helpful (for the record, that is Chinese Learn Online, though we also like ChinesePod). You then subscribe and download the "episodes". In the case of a language podcast, you want to go back to the beginning lessons too. Each time you log into Itunes, it will check for updates to your podcasts, and download them automatically.

Then you drag your lessons into a new folder within Itunes (I made a folder called "Learn Chinese" by clicking on the plus sign in the lower left corner), and start burning CDs. You can listen to it on the computer too....but we take them everywhere. You can also load them onto an Ipod or MP3 player if you are so blessed. :-))

We also found some books by googling Learn Chinese. There was a lot of free websites that helped out initially, and they are a blessing. We also found some inexpensive workbooks designed for bilingual chinese children whose parents want them to learn Chinese characters while living here in the USA. We've made index card flash cards to help learn the words, and we have had some help from a native speaker we met who made sure the pronunciation was spot on, though we have found another book that also shows how to pronounce the words.

Now that she is progressing more and more, she is looking for othre things to learn in Chinese and to read in Chinese. We have found a free downloadable Chinese Audio Bible. We found free downloadable hymns in Chinese. We found free Children's poetry in Chinese on another site, where you could read along and listen.

Hope that is helpful to someone. :-)

Multi-Lingual Musings

Well, I'm feeling better from my fall. Thanks for the well wishes ;). I still have a scraped up knee but it is getting better. I forgot all about it when I went up during the altar call at church Sunday and almost started crying real tears when I dropped to my knees, and, er, not of repentance. Skinning your knee at 7 was always much easier than doing it at 37. LOL Falling is SO not for old people.

Tonight we have RU at our church, and I was just sitting here reviewing my memory verses. I've memorized 1 Corinthians 13:1-8 this week (that comprises 3 challenges, but it seemed somehow easier to just do the whole enchilada at once). I memorized this years ago in German, and so as I am saying it to myself I am having a hard time speaking English. Maybe it is just the way my poor brain works.

Tamie and I were talking and she made the comment about my aptitude for languages, and that is really something I am jazzed about as languages have always fascinated me. I thank God for it. I like to be able to learn languages easily, because I also like to communicate with others. It's also sort of fun to speak a few different languages and have everyone assume you are the typical American (speaking only moderate Spanish, not 3 languages)...and then eavesdrop on what they are saying about you. Ok, maybe that is not so nice, but it does get amusing. Once I was at someone's house in Germany, and they started speaking French to each other because they didn't want me to hear what they were saying and assumed, in the words of the woman, that it was a big enough fluke that I was a bilingual American, but it would be highly unlikely for me to speak french too. Well...guess what? I had 6 years of French in high school and college, and though I don't think I can speak it too well today (I never used it like I use German), I did understand what was being said, and eventually had to come clean about it. Languages are so fun.

Anastasia, my 10 year old, told me just a couple of years ago that she feels that when she grows up God wants her to go to China, and so she wanted to start learning Chinese right now. Of all the languages I *Don't* know! Mandarin is the hardest language for an English speaker to learn. However, that has not deterred Anastasia. I figured it would pass in a few days or weeks...but here we are, two years later, and she is still dutifully learning Chinese, and loving every minute of it ("it makes more sense than English sometimes, Mom!" I heard recently). After a bit of web surfing, I found some programs to help her teach herself Chinese, and we found a native Chinese speaker at a local China Buffet restaurant who was thrilled to help make sure she is on the right track. It provides a fun excuse to go get the lunch buffet every so often ;). GOOOO (that is my alliteration for the Chinese word for Good :-) I am sadly also getting a fifth language stuck in my brain, and actually dreamed of dancing Chinese characters last night).

Before this I always thought of oriental languages as a lot of screeching noises, but now I see Mandarin as a really beautiful language that is very expressive of deep ideas, as it is based on ideas not phonics. Even some of the characters and how they are put together just blow my mind. The Character for the word that means "peace" "bliss" or "contentment" is the character of a house with the character for woman inside of it. The character for the word that means "goodness" is a character for woman and the character for child side by side. There is a lot of family-tie symbolism in the characters that just has such a deep wow factor for me.

Growing Pains

I'm hurting. This past Friday, while dropping off some donations for Goodwill, I slipped and fell. Rather ironically, it was after I had already dropped off the several boxes of stuff that I dropped off. The concrete was uneven and I totally Charlie Brown'ed. I scraped my knee to the point of bleeding, twisted my ankle on the other leg, and scraped my shoulder up (thankfully I was wearing an old leather bomber jacket, as it also got scraped up really good, but protected my shoulder. ) I was picking gravel out of my knee for an hour when I got home.

Because we just got new insurance (an HMO no less), and I haven't yet been able to find a primary doctor, I didn't go to the emergency room. Our insurance (which I suppose is better than nothing) will let you pay all of the fees if it is determined it was not really an emergency. I am also not allowed to go to urgent care unless my primary tells me to go there. LOL So...I didn't go anywhere as I don't have a primary. This week I've been calling around trying to find a doctor in my group that lives near me and that can squeeze me in but everyone is very busy. A few people at church told me about some good doctors they recommend, but of course only doctors people DONT recommend at all seem to be in my HMO. In fact, quite a few of the "I wouldn't let my dog go to that doctor" Doctors (by the anti-recommendations from others) are listed in the book, which makes me very nervous about just picking one.

Thankfully though, it does seem, from other people who have looked at me "unofficially" who have some medical background, that I only sprained and bruised myself and didn't actually break or severely damage anything. Everyone seems to agree that the fact that I felt a bit woosy was possibly from the fact that I also have a very severe head cold and all that spinning on the way down (remember, I scraped both shoulder and knee...and a 37 year old body is not supposed to move like THAT LOL) may have made my sinuses all whacked out...I'm feeling much better just very sore.

ANYWAY....what a thrill, huh?

In the mean while, with my legs elevated and ice on both my knee and my ankle, I have been sitting here doing lots of things that I am usually too busy to work on...such as finishing up the Creating a Website Tutorial that I have been working on, and working on my taxes for 2006. Because my husband lived part of last year in Cleveland while trying to find a job in Michigan, taxes again are going to be something that are going to leave me pulling my hair out. Ohio has more different tax forms than I care to fill out, and Tax Cut doesn't handle all the local ones. As I told Martin last night, I sure do hope he realizes how much the good folks at H&R block would be charging him for all of the tax stuff I have to do with his constant job switching, consulting on the side, and whatnot. Job security for me ;)

Ruth is sitting at the table with me working out her business plan for her business. It is sort of funny to me. How many times have I dove in with both feet without really thinking clearly about something! I told her that her business idea is so awesome I want her to get a business plan together so that she can think it through clearly without just diving in and having it fail for lack of planning. At first she sort of grumbled about it, but after a few months of putting her notebook aside, and watching a friend of the family fail to follow the same advice from me totally fail in what should have been a very successful idea,she decided that maybe doing all of that boring stuff is possibly helpful. Not that a business plan guarantees success, but it helps people to think through what they are doing before they start....it brings up questions that you may or may not have thought of before, and makes you think about some of the tedious things that do make or break a business that most of us would rather not think about. Anyway, it's been both funny to me, and exciting at the same time to see her wrangle with each of these business plan questions and topics, and do some market research, and of course bathing her idea in prayer. The sweet, sweet experience of growth...!

Pragmatic Obedience

As I said in my last post, I have really been enjoying being reminded of those fundamentals of Christianity, and getting back to basics in that regard. It made me think of how pragmatic we get in our Christianity sometimes. While studying this whole matter of love versus self love, and while meditating on God's expectations for me, as a Child of God, I have also been confronted with some various crisis, some in my own life and some in the lives of others around me. And I began to notice something, while this matter of love vs. self love was fresh in my brain, that we have become extremely pragmatic in our Christianity here in modern day America (and probably other parts of the western world). Our main concern is not, "Is this the right thing to do?" but rather "Does it work? Will it get ME the desired results that I am looking for, to meet MY needs?" How many times do people discuss issues like giving in terms of what God will do for us if we do this, instead of just "Do it because it is the right thing to do!" We help out those in need because God says He will bless us, not just because God says it is the right thing to do. We give our tithes and offerings because we want God to open the windows of heaven on us, not because we want to honor God. Well, maybe we do want to honor God but the fringe benefits are also there, prominately in our minds.

Maybe I am feeling a little bit cynical....since meditating on the whole issue of love, versus self love, and analyzing myself, I have noticed these strange hidden motives of my own heart, where while I want to honor God, I have one eye on what is in it for me. God, I'm giving this to missions,as you have prompted me, now you do your part and bless me really good, ok? God, I'm going to help out this family who is in need, so you be sure to take care of us too, ok?
Of course God takes care of us...that's why He says, as I read in my daily Bible reading today, "Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on..." (Matthew 6:25)...maybe part of that taking no thought is not doing the right thing with a hidden motive of bribing God into doing what He has already promised, not even thinking about what benefits might come our way. And this is not just financial giving...that's just a nice clear cut example where people say, Oh I tried that and I became a millinoare or I tried that and it didn't work. Obedience is something we do,not something we try out to see if we are going to get what we want--in any area of the Bible.

Friends with troubled relationships saying, "Well, I tried it the Bible way, but it didn't work because he is still doing (fill in the blank)..." or "I tried training my children but it just didn't work...." Doing the right thing because it is the right thing is a reward unto itself, isn't it?

Here's to obedience without pragmatism in this new year!

Reformers Unanimous

For the last several months (since November, really), I've been attending our church's addictions program, Reformers Unanimous. No I am not coming out of the closet with some sort of addictions problem (thank God)but rather I wanted to get invovled and go through the program so that I could eventually minister to others in this program, and also just because I kept feeling like God was prompting me to do this for a while. I wasn't really sure why.
I've actually be so blessed going. I've had a lot of spiritual growth in my life again since I started going to Reformers. I have found that it is good for us, even if we have been saved for a while, to revisit those basics of the Christian faith now and then. The first portion of the program focused in on the basics of our salvation in Christ, and the finished work of Christ on calvary, and what that means for a new Christian. Instead of focusing in on problems and our struggles, this program focuses on the solution (Jesus). I only wish that I had this program available to me when I was a new Christian, getting over being an alcoholic and drug user, living a party lifestyle. Ironically though, much of what is discussed here are the very things that God showed me as I read His word as a baby Christian. I suppose it is because His Word and the principles He has set forth to govern our lives don't change...they aren't original with me or with Brother Currington (who wrote the Reformer's program)...but with the Lord Himself...the one who does make us Free Indeed. Woo hoo.

I'm already into the second part of the program, where I am studying right now the differences between True Love (Godly Love) and Self Love.It really has given me lots to think about....to meditate on. Like I said, addict or not, baby Christian or seasoned saint, it is so good to revist the fundamentals of Christianity. I have recognized in my own life the struggle between the perfect sort of Love that God works through us by His Spirit...and the sort of selfish love we have all been guilty of (doing things out of a supposed love, but with some underlying motive of personal gain and glory). It occured to me to ask myself when I do things, "Would I still be doing this if no one else was watching and no one was looking,and no one ever knew I did this?" Would I still do this "loving thing" for someone if no one else ever found out who did it?

In some ways I think of the legendary man Nicholas, Bishop of Myra (upon whose life the Santa Claus tradition is partly based)....details of his life are sketchy as he lived during the persecution of Christians by the Emperor Diolectician, however, as the story goes most of what he did was done in secret, employing only trusted helpers who vowed to keep this thing secret (though they told the story after the death of the man), and we will probably never know the fullness of the generosity of this man. Do I give to others in need to hear other's praise me or do I do it because I want to meet a need? What a challenge to think about that!

Christmas Celebrations at our House

(A somewhat unflattering picture of me with the pooch in my lap after filling up on Turkey on Christmas Day)

Happy New Year, everyone!

Life, as you can imagine it, has been insanely busy at our house. We had children singing in Christmas programs, and a teen who sang in the cantata (and all of the practices that go with it) and a mommy who sewed some costumes for the cantata too...not to mention a hot sale over at the This Old Schoolhouse website bookstore which kept me hopping, filling orders every day after Christmas. Praise the Lord for that. :-) And of course, there was time for baking, time for family, time for friends, and time to just spend time reflecting on just the awesome miracle that is Christmas. I hope every one of you spent time this Christmas reading the story in the Bible of Jesus' birth, and reflecting on what an amazing miracle that was. To think that the God who made heaven and earth came down to heaven in the form of a little baby is just to amazing to think about if you really start to ponder it. I always am reminded of that verse in 2 Corinthians 5:19, that says "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself." If you didn't do it already, I have a great Advent Family Devotional in Ebook format on my website that you may be interested in for next year. Coming soon (next year hopefully) we will have it translated into Spanish, German and French, per many requests.

The fact that we have all had sinus problems and bronchitis for the last few weeks has only added to the back log of things that need to be done. I was holding someone else's child about 4 weeks ago, when I realized the poor little toddler was getting hotter and hotter, and sounded really congested. Within three days, I was also getting hotter and hotter and also sounding congested ;)....and soon the whole family had joined in on the fun, such that I caught it again after feeling better for a week. Thankfully though we are all still coughing a little bit, we sound much better, and my son is still boasting of being the only one in the family who remains healthy.

Of course there was also good food. My husband loves peanut brittle (the amazing part of that story is that despite enjoying peanut brittle he has only a few cavities in his mouth!), and he loves cashews instead of peanuts, so I spent some time this year making him some Cashew Brittle (which I suppose is also called "sugar" hee hee). My son, who hates nuts, observed it would taste better if it were just brittle. However, Hubby loved it. I like walnuts and hazelnuts best, so I used all of the hazelnuts from my hazelnut bush, and flavored the syrup with some mocha candy flavoring, before pouring it out. What we had was mocha flavored hazelnut brittle. It was heavenly. I'll post the recipe sometime soon, Lord willing. For the real food, we had Turkey with all the trimmings. You just can't beat that.

I am thankful too for children who are not all whiny about wanting the lastest and greatest toys and who are happy with whatever they get. I've seen so many bratty children again this year who whine and fuss at their parents about what they "expect", and it breaks my heart. I got a box of those amazing "Belgian Truffle Seashells" and that was more than enough. :-)...I'm easily pleased. LOL but I would not complain if there was an IPod under the tree either.

Without further ado, here is a photo of our Christmas celebration, with the whole crew (children, grandparents) at the table.

The kids and I decided to put the christmas lights up in the dining room around the entire top of the room. It made it look really nice in there. I think we may just leave them. Is that too redneck of us to have Christmas lights up all year long?

Somehow my kitchen looks a lot messier in this picture than it does in real life...but anyway, this is a picture of my hubby carving the bird.

Happy 2007!