Wednesday, March 23, 2005

Happy Birthday Isaac!!!

Happy Birthday Isaac! Isaac celebrated his 11th birthday on Friday. He went out for Thai food and then he and his friend from church went to Camp Snoopy. They had a really good time. It has been a few years since we have been to the Mall of America. We stopped in Godiva chocolate to get a couple truffles. They have sugar free chocolates now, they gave us a sample and it was delicious!!! Isaac chose Fudge Orange Cappuccino Torte for his birthday cake. It was very rich. Rex is taking Isaac out for lunch today.




On Monday we went on a field trip to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. The kids tapped a Maple tree, tasted sap and learned how to distinguish a Sugar Maple tree from other trees by its branches.

A couple girls from co-op came over yesterday to work on the yearbook. It is actually coming along very well. Last week after class I didn’t think it was. The co-op board asked me to be on the board a few weeks ago and I agreed. I hope I can serve the co-op well.

I am selling again on Ebay. My hot item the Pillsbury Doughboy Hand Washing Dispenser hasn’t sold this time around. Maternity clothes always sell well, but I have run out of them…lol. Does anyone have anything they would like to donate to me?

Spring, it is now Spring. Soon it will feel like Spring. I am so totally enjoying Spring Break this week. Ciao!

Friday, March 18, 2005

President's Statement on Terri Schiavo

The case of Terri Schiavo raises complex issues. Yet in instances like this one, where there are serious questions and substantial doubts, our society, our laws, and our courts should have a presumption in favor of life. Those who live at the mercy of others deserve our special care and concern. It should be our goal as a nation to build a culture of life, where all Americans are valued, welcomed, and protected - and that culture of life must extend to individuals with disabilities.

Wednesday, March 16, 2005

Sweet

There are no words to write, this picture says it all.

Tuesday, March 15, 2005

Octopi and Narnia

We had a nice time with Rex’s parents last weekend. They came to our Tae Kwon Do practice and watched Geneva for us. Afterwards we went out to eat, we had wanted to go to Out Back Steakhouse but it was an hour wait for a table of 10:) We ended up going out for Korean food, and it was so yummy yummy. Bob ordered octopi and I told him he didn’t have to worry about anyone sharing with him! They are excited about a home they are planning on purchasing when they retire.

We are finally going to have our piano tuned. The church gave us an old piano that we have had for a few months now. Lilly and Danielle will be getting lessons from Janice. Yeah!!! I will have the girls tell me everything they learn!

We are reading through The Chronicles of Narnia again. I read them to the kids about 7 years ago. We are on book 3 The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Book 3 if you are reading them the old fashion way:) A movie of the first book The Lion Witch and the Wardrobe is coming out in Decemeber of this year. Coolage!

Monday, March 14, 2005

Why am I a Republican?

You might be thinking who cares why I am a Republican. Surprising as it is, some people wonder why. So I thought what better way to answer it then on my blog.

Long, long ago in the 80's….I don't remember being raised Democrat or Republican, I think my parents voted for Ronald Reagan. (Who voted for Jimmy Carter or would even admit to it now?) I can remember thinking Russia was an evil empire and we should never trust them at their word. Ok so my opinion of Russia hasn't changed since the 80's. You know the saying I don't trust them as far as I could throw them, I think I could throw Putin a little bit and I wouldn’t even trust him that much:) As time went on in the 80's I didn't care for Ronald Reagan, I believed the slanted news I watched occasionally on tv. I thought someone else must be running our country because our president was too old etc…everything the news media said I believed, sounds pretty naïve to believe what you’re being fed without thinking about it but that was me in my teen years.

When I was 17 years old I was asked to register to vote. In a parking lot of a store there were tables set up to register new voters. I said I couldn’t since I was 17 but they said I could register if I turned 18 that year. So I was excited and started filling out my form. I came to the box where they wanted to know which party I wanted to register with. I looked up and asked one of the people behind the table if they knew if Democrats where for or against abortion. I gathered that Democrats were Pro-Choice, and that’s what I thought I was….I mean I thought I was a Democrat. I couldn't get myself to identify with people who think it is ok to rip babies out of a woman's womb, all the while saying it was a choice. I had a baby born at 5 months and could tell you they are real and precious and the thought of someone killing their own flesh and blood was very foreign to me. I was poor and thought that meant that I should be a Democrat. I certainly couldn't be a Republican! One of the people behind the table I assume could see I was struggling to put something in that box, he said I could put Independent and change it whenever I wanted to later on. Independent!!! That sounded great. I was one of those people who didn't like to conform to the rest of society so Independent was right up my alley.

The year was 1989 when I register as an Independent…I had a long time before I could vote in the next presidential election.( I will not tell you who my husband voted for but if you remember who ran against George Bush in 1988 you will have the answer, he got his news from MTV at that time:) A lot of things happened in those 3 years. I had 2 children (Rexford and Ethan). The most important event that happened in 1991 and also the most important event in my life was the Lord saved me. He opened my eyes about Him and myself. I was looking at things from the Bible's perceptive and not my own anymore. We stopped watching TV and also burned all our music cd's (I am not recommending anyone do that). We were in our own world and a lot of our time was spent learning about God. We attended a Southern Baptist Church at the time, it was the Pastor of this church who shared the gospel with me and became an important part of our lives. At the time, Rex was going to college and I was working at Chi Chi’s. He watched the kids while I worked (I am not recommending anyone do this either!). On the way to work I would try and find a radio station to listen to. I came across Rush Limbaugh. I was so amazed….I would be saying “Amen” out loud or be laughing all the way to work. His show had more comedy in it in 1991. He had the frog man singing and the femi-nazi commercials. Well anyway, he was spouting out the truth and I was eagerly taking it in. Why was it ok for me to be listening to Rush and not the news media, simply the facts. Why am I a Republican? Abortion, state’s rights, small government, defense, capitalism. I thought about adding horrible graphics of abortion, but I couldn’t get myself to do it. You can just look through my blog to see the pictures of my children. Babies who are just like them are not given a chance at life because it might be inconvenient for the mother or change her body. Everyday children are murdered in cold blood by their mothers and a corrupt doctor and I will NEVER vote for a man or woman who says it’s ok, its their choice, it’s their body. I think you need to take some of the blame and look at the blood on your own hands if you think its ok and vote for someone you will do nothing to change this horrible law.

The news media has changed since the 1980’s. I rarely listen to Rush now, I am busy during the hours he is on. We have so many more choices!!! Yeah a choice when no one gets murdered. I still don’t watch the big 3 for any news. I get my news from the internet, Fox News and talk radio. You might be thinking that I only get a bias view of the news, but I don’t because conservatives are not afraid to tell you the other side of issues and have liberals on their shows to explain them. When conservatives just give the facts and let the people make their own opinions they are accused of conspiracies and of being bias. The truth is hard for the liberal to understand. Example; When President Bill Clinton had oral sex with Monica L. it was reported that the Republicans were out to get him. There was a right wing conspiracy to impeach the President. As we all know it was proven true, Bill Clinton was guilty of adultery while being our President in the White House. Liberals don’t want you to think for yourself, they want you to believe whatever they report. Its part of the underlying problem with Democrats, they have communist tendencies. They really don’t want you to have a choice in the news you watch, the stores you want to patronize, the schools you want your children to attend, the books your children use at school, the doctors you want to see, the cars you want to own, etc..etc.

Is abortion the only issue that makes me a Republican, no it is not but it is a very important one. I can’t understand how some one could be a Democrat and a Christian. I am a Christian before anything else and I want to live as Christ would want me to live. I am thankful to God I was able to vote with a clear conscience in 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004. I am thankful that I live in America and I can freely worship God.

Thursday, March 10, 2005

Chocolate Banana Bread


Lilly makes the best banana bread. She made a loaf for our neighbors across the street today. They are coming back today from vacation. They went to Hawaii last month and brought us back a box of chocolate covered macadamia nuts.
Here is the recipe:
Chocolate Banana Bread
3 bananas
1 egg beaten
½ cup sugar
2 tbsp melted butter
1 teasp baking soda
½ teasp. Salt
1 teasp. baking powder
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 to 1 ½ cups flour

Mash bananas w/fork. Stir in eggs. Stir in melted butter. Stir in dry ingredients. Fold in nuts and chips. Bake 1 hour at 350.

Rexford is still not feeling the best. He has been able to get all of his school work done though. He doesn’t complain about not feeling good. He hasn’t gone to TKD all week. Testing is next month. He will be testing for his brown belt. 2 test away from black belt.

Rex is looking into taking Wing Chun. A guy from church might take the classes with him. I guess people at church are always trying to copy us..hehehe:) It is nice to have friends involved in the same activities you are interested in.

My mom went to the dentist today. She gets nervous anytime she needs to go to a dentist, doctor etc. She wondered if God would punish her at the dentist for something she has done in past. Spoken like a true ex-romanist. The superstitions you learn as a child sometimes are hard to get rid of. Your world-view is skewed and only God’s truth can open your eyes, even when you know the truth, those thoughts can enter your mind. You have to say “STOP, get out of my head!” (is that lyrics to a song?)

Rex’s parents are coming tomorrow to spend the weekend with us. We are sure to have a funtastically good time. Good thing about company…clean clean clean…know what I mean:)

Friday, March 04, 2005

My hubby's review of the movie

Well, it turns out that Ong-Bak was not the name of the hero of the movie, but rather, it was the name of the village Buddha idol who’s head was stolen! The plot of the movie is that the village sends Ting, a young man trained in Muay Thai into the City to retrieve the idol head and “save” the village. Although the action in the movie is awesome, I can’t recommend it. There was some language in it that is objectionable, and since it is subtitled, TVguardian will not be able to edit it out when it comes out on video. Also, some of the violence was just too brutal. The one great lesson that you could mention to anyone who has seen the movie: Our God is Almighty, in Him we live and move and have our being, He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, if He were hungry, He wouldn’t tell us! This idol needed it’s worshipers to save it!
Psalm 115:7-9 They have hands, but they do not handle;
Feet they have, but they do not walk;
Nor do they mutter through their throat.
8Those who make them are like them;
So is everyone who trusts in them.
9O Israel, trust in the LORD;
He is their help and their shield.

David's Mighty Men

Tonight Rex and I are going to see Ong-Bak The Thai Warrior. It has been out for a few weeks but only in selected cities. Minneapolis not being one of them till this weekend. Bad plot and acting are sure to be in it but we are going to see it for the action. It’s not supposed to be artistic like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon or Hero, 2 movies that are good and very beautiful to watch. It’s supposed to be like the older Kung Fu movies, that means a lot of fighting. I have not really seen Thai boxing before, but I have heard it is very dangerous. Quite a few people die from knees and kicks to the head every year in Thailand. Do you ever wonder how the great fighters in the Bible must have fought? Adino killed 800 men at one time, Agee the Hararite stationed himself in the middle of a lentil field and killed an entire troop of Philistines, these are a couple examples from 2 Samuel 23. They must have had some serious combat training. They were fighting for the Lord their God and He enabled them to do these things. I know they didn’t just wake up one morning and have the ability to wipe out an entire Philistine troop, they must have trained and trained. We don’t need the skills they had back then since we are not in the same situations as they were but I can’t image they’re training for the military would have been anything like ours.

Thursday, March 03, 2005

Foggy Brains and Eye Surgery

Rex looked into Lasik surgery. He had his eyes checked to see if he would be a candidate for the surgery. We found out his eye sight is too bad to be corrected. There is another option to have something like a contact lens permanently placed on the eye. I am not sure if we are going to look into that though.

We still have sick people in the house. Lilly is not quite all better yet, neither is Isaac and today Rexford has finally succumbed to it. He generally doesn’t get sick when we all do. One of the worst parts of being sick this time was not being able to fall asleep. I would be so tired and not be able to fall asleep. The other thing that has been really annoying is the lack of concentration. I would not be able to remember what the last sentence I said was and I wouldn’t be able to make complete sentences without stopping to think about it. I had a foggy brain.

Sarcastic people! Here is how I deal with them. Do nothing…say nothing; don’t waste your time worrying about it. You might be thinking …why are you writing about it, aren’t you worried about it…..well the answer is NOPE. They are the ones who look bad, for some reason this week, I find them amusing. I hope I can keep up this attitude. It’s not the volume of your voice; it’s what comes out your mouth. I think calling them sarcastic is kind, not really the right word, but you know what I mean.

We had our second coop class for this semester. Geneva really enjoys the nursery, she happily goes to it just like she does for church nursery. Lilly and Danielle have an art class, poetry class and gym. Isaac and Ethan have the same classes this time, a drawing class with a excellent teacher they are really learning a lot from her and I am so thankful for it. They also have a woodworking class. Rexford has a gym class and yearbook class which I am teaching. The first hour I have a support group with half of the mothers at our coop. We have a time of prayer also. It has been so great to listen to these women talk about homeschooling, the struggles and all the funny things that come along with it. I feel so energized afterwards. The second hour I teach my class, so far so good. I am getting to know some of the teenage girls in the coop. We have a lot of work to do in a short amount of class time.