Posted in Life

I know it is hard to believe, but it is true.  I am moving.  After much heartache and prayer over the issue, it is time for me to make the move to new blog.  I have had much trouble with the new way things are working here.  As many know, I took a hiatus from this blog.  However, I have found that I love getting my thoughts down here.  While I am loving Journey to Simplicity, where you can find me daily, and my articles on the Homesteadblogger Front Porch, I still yearn to talk and interact on issues other than homesteading. 

I have been slowly transferring my posts here to the new location of Raise the Cup, and still have a ways to go.  (Who knew I blabbed so much on here.)  I would be honored if you would continue to visit me at the new location of Rasie the Cup as I continue to speak what's on my mind regarding life, motherhood, current events, God's workings, art, and all things me. 

So come on over to Raise the Cup and let me know you found my new home!

Blessings Leslie

Posted in Life

I have something to say and I need to say it....somewhere. 

Yesterday I was informed that someone made a comment about my not agreeing with big government.  The comment, as I was told it, went something like this, "If the government doesn't regulate and oversee everything (meaning taking control of our lives away from us), then all the government programs that are out there to help people have to go to, but [she] doesn't like that." Again, this is not a direct quote, but as close as I could come not having been part of the original conversation.

The person involved in this conversation was trying to stir anything up.  he was merely engaged ina  conversation with the other person.  That other person randomly, and for no apparent reason made this comment. 

I would like to offer a little clarity in my beliefs pertaining to the government's interference with our personal lives.  Our government was established on Godly principals with an emphasis on personal freedom.  The government's purpose is to maintain order.  I am talking the preschool version here, folks. 

I want my inalienable rights.  Not my rights as reinterpretted by some politician to benefit his/her personal beliefs; twisted, chewed, and spit out for me to accept.  My inalienable rights, as they were documented and intended.  This is not a hard concept to grasp upon reading through the actual documents of our founding fathers and their history.  If keeping these rights means reducing the amount of "help the people" government programs, then abolish them!  Every time we say our government is responsible to help this group or that group of people, we are also saying, TAX ME!  Yet there is a more important Godly principal being overridden here.

Do you ever wonder how our society handled societal needs before BIG government programs?  The answer is easy, they did what was needed to care for the problem.  People helped each other.  Families relied on themselves to resolve issues.  This is the basic idea that people are responsible for their own lives.  As soon as we began handing out programs to assist every person or group of people who don't have this, or don't have that, or who have a need that they cannot meet, we put the responsibility on our government.  Shifting the responsibility to the BIG guys also gives them power over how we live.  Suddenly are inalienable rights are now alienable.  HMMMM>>>>>  Did you ever wonder how the elderly were cared for before nursing homes?  Family kept the responsibility for their care.  What did families who found themselves without work or income do before welfare?  They overlooked no option for income and made due with what they had.  They were resourceful and took responsibility for their own lives.  Somewhere along the line, someone decided that the government should take on this responsibility and sold the bill of goods to us, the tax payers.  Free money, free food, free lodging, free job training, etc.  As the wise Richard Maybury said, "Tanstaafl!"  Translated:  There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.  This my friend is what I am against.  If you want freedom, you have to willing to do the work involved in having such.  If you keep demanding that the government take on more and more responsibility in society, you lose that freedom, piece by piece.  Want to look at something interesting?  Check out the decrease of work ethic in our society in relation to the increase of government funded "help" programs. 

We not only force the government to raise our taxes everytime we clamour that the government should be responsbile for our personal lives, but we give up our freedom.  If you agree with this, that is your perrogative, and I respect your opinion.  I however, do not agree.  God commands us to care for others, poor, weak, widowed, orphaned, not the government!  

SIDE BAR:  The original story of how this information came to me is interesting.  The person who made the original statement was a person I love and is important in my life.  The person it was said to was my teenage son.  Does it seem that a Godly principal has been violated when an adult makes an unnecessary derrogatory comment about a child's parent?  While I am not hurt by the comment, I have been deeply hurt by the disrespect this person has shown to me and my son, repeatedly.  I am disappointed that this person lacks the knowledge to understand that it is not appropriate to say non-edifying things about a child's parent to the child.  Of course the principals that everything you speak should be edifying and that you should gather all your facts before you speak, have been violated as well.   A little more prayer and a little more fact finding and this will quite possibly be a good lesson for my son.  Another opportunity for me to grow in the Lord. 

Please post your thoughts on either the main topic or the sidebar.  I am interested in hearing others opinions as I sort through this

These are my thoughts.

Blessings Leslie

Posted in Life

Due to certain personal circumstances, I will be going on a temporary hiatus of sorts from this blog.  Please, continue to email me.  I will check in from time to time, too! 

These are my thoughts.

Blessings Leslie

Posted in Life

(title is a favorite line of mine from the Froggy books)

Well, I have an issue here I have to solve.  The last post had several picstures of my friend's daughter participating in a group teaching homeschoolers to work with wood.  However, I see the pictures are blank at the moment. 

I will work today at getting those reposted.  I am sure it is something I did wrong, so it should only take me about 72 hours!!!

LOL! 

We are experiencing operating difficulties.  Please Stand By.

Blessings Leslie

Posted in Life

Have you seen Happy Feet?  We rarely see movies, mostly because they are so expensive.  However, we thought this looked like a cute movie that the whole family could enjoy, and miht be a nice special treat. 

We were expecting a movie about a penguin who is born a little different from others and how he finds his niche in the world.  Instead we found a movie jam packed with poilitical agenda wrapped in a few cute characters.  This movie not only bashed Christians, but pinpointed specific denominations, such as Baptist and Catholic.  Of course, there was a huge environmentalist undertone, which portrayed humans as the spawn of the Devil.  Zoos are portrayed as terrible gawking places where humans round up wild animals and place them behind glass for observation.  There is a strong part of the story line that deals with those who believe they have been abducted by aliens and the alien belief in general.  The penguins cast out Mumbles (the penguin with happy feet) because he is different.  Int he end he brings the aliens back to help (they have little food because of fishermen over fishing the waters).  All the penguins then conform to Mumbles way and the "aliens" (humans) come and partake of the little dance fest...thus coming in peace and we can all live together.  Towards the end, they show humans arguing around boardroom tables about what to do about the situation (we aren't certain how the humans made the jump from a penguin that dances to searching out his whole community because they need help). 

The characters were fairly well developed and there is a group of smaller penguins that Mumbles befriends that are funny.  The hubby, didn't think the movie was nearly as political as me and my oldest did.  In his words, "I just saw a kids movie about penguins."  However, our youngest was bored after the initial singing and dancing...meaning when they got into the complex issues and our 5 yr old didn't understand the movie at all, thus he kept asking if it was over.  One penguin has a platic can carrier stuck around his neck, which almost kills him.  Even though they showed where he got this with a litter filled water area, our kids didn't know what those were, since soda usually comes in a box.  The older kids made the connection when I connected with the carrier that the beer cans come in foe fondue.  The cgi was very good.  We also liked when they brought in other animals (such as a seal, killer whales, and elephant seals) they were true to their nature, as opposed to acting like nice little cartoon characters. 

Overall, we felt as though this was the biggest waste of money for our family. 

These are my thoughts.

Blessings Leslie

Posted in Life

Tomorrow, the Homeschoolblogger site will be down for maintenance.  If you want to assure that your posts and template are safe, don't be intimidated about saving it.  My Front Stoop posted a link to this very helpful instructional post on backing up your blog.

Let me just say, I thought, why should I do this?  But then I thought of all the words, thouts, ideas, and time I spend on my blogs.  I certainly don't want to lose them because I am afraid to learn a computer process.  I clicked on this link and began to read.  I felt overwhlemed immediately, but thought, I better at least try.  I did and it didn't work.  There was much chaos spinning th rough the house in preparations for our funeral today, so I came back to it.  I finally decided I should read the post in its entirety.  I found that at the bottom there were instructions for powerbloggers.  I tried the procedure and VOILA, I did it!  It was so easy and quick, I decided to back up my Journey to Simplicity as well.

So stop your blog reading for 5 mintues and backup your blog.  Really, it only took me about 5 minutes. 

THANK YOU for the wonderful instructions, and for making me realize that I CAN accomplish something techy!

These are my thoughts.

Blessings Leslie

Posted in Life

I wanted to let all of you know that my husband's mom went home to be with the Lord today.  We had been praying for comfort and peace for her since Wednesday, when she seemed to be laboring to live.  Today his sister called and said she was resting peacefully.  When she stepped out of the room, Barbara passed; peacefully and comforted.  Prayers answered!

Thank you for all your prayers for Barbara and for our family.  As we close this earthly door to her life, I have been reminded of our Pastor's words that though it is hard for us here to think about, death is a joyful time, as you go home to the Lord.  This made me think that this year, Barbara will be spending Christmas with God.  What a wonderful thing!

These are my thoughts.

Blessings Leslie

Posted in Life

I am sad to report that my mother in law has taken a turn for the worse.  We were called and told that she has not taken her medication in days, with an exception of morphine to manage the pain.  My husband found her dehydrated and gasping for air yesterday.  God bless her, she still insists on being helped u p to use the bathroom.  This is a woman with a great zest for life. 

Please pray for Barbara that she would feel comfort through her last days.  Also pray for our family through this time. 

As you all can understand, I may find a time when I cannot be here during this time of touch and go.  Please know that it is my friends who will get me through this time, and I appreciate that oh so much. 

Thank you.

Blessings Leslie

Posted in Life

An unschooling friend of mine, has a high school aged daughter who is interested in enrolling in the local high school so as to have a transcript to attend college.  She is interested in pursuing a career in anthropological studies at Cornell University. 

My friend decides to make an appointment with the counselor at the high school.  After an hour long interview with her daughter the counselor says that if she would like her daughter to keep her love of learning, she would be best to NOT enroll her in school.  Perhaps a community college would provide a more suitable learning environment for her.

How exciting to hear a public educator recognize the love of learning that has developed in that homeschool girl, and that schooling would squelch that!  Even more amazing, he admitted it!!!

These are my thoughts.

Blessings Leslie

Posted in Life

I knew Christmas was going to be a downer for me, again, this year when I saw Christmas displays in full force in the beginning of October.  This felling was reinforced when I went to buy a sweater in October, only to be told it was out of season, because October begins the holiday season.  This feeling has continued to fester and then I received this email from the American Family Association (AFA).

Best Buy Bans Use of Merry Christmas In Advertising

Best Buy has announced they will be using "Happy Holidays" this coming Christmas shopping season, and they will not be using "Merry Christmas."

Dawn Bryant, a spokeswoman at Best Buy Co. Inc., says their advertising will not be using the term "Merry Christmas." "We are going to continue to use the term holiday because there are several holidays throughout that time period, and we certainly need to be respectful of all of them," Bryant said. Click here for reference article.

While many other retailers have decided to return to the traditional "Merry Christmas", Best Buy will not be among them. Best Buy considers the use of "Merry Christmas" to be disrespectful.

But while Best Buy, the largest consumer electronics company in the nation, will not be mentioning Christmas, they sure do want the shopping dollars from those who remember the Reason for the season.

Normally, I agree with the emails the AFA sends me, but this one pushed a button, for some reason.  The reason is this; the inference that Best Buy considers Merry Christmas to be disrespectful.  The rep for Best Buy never said that.  What she said was their company has decided to encompass and resepect all the holidays during the season.  To be clear, I do not disagree that the season started with Jesus.  However, I don't find it wrong for the store to choose to respect all walks of life. 

If Best Buy had stated that they would not be selling items that are directly related to Christianity during the season for fear of disrespecting others, that would be an issue for me.  Any store that deliberately alienates Christ from Christmas is wrong.  However, they haven't done this.  Last time I looked at my address it still read USA, meaning they have the choice to do so.  They can choose to encompass the many holidays at this time of year.  The way I see it, saying this does not mean they are belittling the Christ holiday, they are choosing to accept all holidays. 

Since I have never shopped at Best Buy and its not likely that I will, this has no affect on me or my family.  However this email will result in thousands of people banning the store because it has chosen to be repspectful of everyone, including Christians.  The statement sent to me from AFA does not even imply that best Buy wants to be disrespectful of Christians or Christ's role in the season.  However, the AFA chose to interpret that to mean disrespect and then put it in print and bold for those on their mailing list.  By rephrasing the statement (incorrectly) they are doing what secular people have been doing with the Bible for centuries.

Perhaps there was more to the interview than was sent in the email.  Perhaps they focused on just that one sentence and re-phrased it themselves.  I do not know and was not given all the information with which to make an informed decision.  This happens with people who take one controversial verse from the Bible and preach it from the hilltops.  With  no context, background, or knowledge of clear intent, a person would not have enough information to discern the statement.  Then people get their undies in a bunch about it and retort with comments about crazy Christians and the Bible. 

All I am asking here, is that when making decisions this holiday season about what you will be buying, where you will be buying it, who is getting a card, what functions you will attend, and how you will glorify and thank God for Jesus, please make sure you are getting clearly informed.  Don't make decisions based on others' views, search the answers for yourselves. 

With each year, I find myself pulled more and more away from the world at this time of the year more than any.  Each year, I pray that all people will come to their senses and focus their attention on Jesus. 

These are my thoughts.

Blessings Leslie

Posted in Life

This post is a little late in coming, but still useful in most homes.  For years our dentist has recommended a 3-4 plan to eat holiday candy and treats filled with sugar that will save you BIG bucks in dental bills.

Normally, parents will dole out candy in small portions, stretching it over many months, so as not to have sugar overdosed children.  However, this isn't dental wise because you are constatnly raising the sugar level in your children's mouths, thus creating a friendly environment for tooth decay. 

A smarter approach is to let your children eat all they want over a short restricted period; say 3-4 days.  Once that time is over the rest of the candy goes in the garbage.  You will find that your kids will enjoy the binge, even though it may make you crazy.  This only raises the sugar level in the mouth for a few consecutive days, thus deterring tooth decay for a long time. 

I mentioned this to our peditrician, who said that it's smart health wise too.  Teaching your children that an occaisional binge related to a specific holiday gives children something to look forward to as well as remind them that it is ok to enjoy "bad food" from time to time.  She also mentioned that an occaisional planned binge deters children from developing the habit of eating treats and candy on a regular basis.

From personal experience, my kids enjoy that they can eat as much candy as they want, save breakfast for a few days.  By the end of the time period, there is always plenty to throw away and the kids are bored of the treats.  We reiterate the reason behind the tradition emphasizing the health and dental benefits. 

I can attest to the lower dental and doctor bills.  This week my 4 year old went to the dr for an earache.  Turns out he had an infection.  The doctor chuckled because in the last 12 years my children have only seen the doctor for their yearly checkup.  This prescription is only the second I have ever had to purchase for the brood.  As for the dental side, there is only one cavity amongst all my children.  Now that IS a SAVING!

These are my thoughts.

Blessings Leslie

Posted in Life

After last year's Christmas controversies, I had been pushed to the brink with so much worldliness, that I found myself having thoughts that it might be better to just stay at home.  I worked through things with the Lord's guidance. 

The approach of this season lead me to an early dread.  A few weeks ago I saw a sweater in a magazine that I just loved; a current issue mind you.  I don't buy many sweaters here in Florida, and thus I am not often inspired to search one out.  But this one was ME. 

So I headed to the store on errand day.  When I walked through the store, I couldn't find the sweater.  I asked a sales associate for help. she told me they didn't have anymore because it was last season's fashion.  WHAT?  It' s the middle of October?  She told me autumn fashions end by the end of September.  When I mentioned I just saw the item in a new magazine she said she was sorry.  Then I asked the inane question, "What season is it?"  She replied, "Holiday of course."  Oh mercy me.  Forgive my idiocy that I didn't realize that OCtober marked the beginning of clothes for Christmas.  How unfashionable of me.

My spirits were lifted, however, when I came across this movie website, set for release in December.  I will be checking into it further, but I am happy to have something to look forward to.  Now, I won't be a party pooper and tell you the title; you'll have to go to the site and see for yourself.  This is definitely not to be missed!

These are my thoughts.

Blessings Leslie

Posted in Life

Surfing the net, I came across an interesting title of an article.  Are Homeschoolers Prepared for the Real World?  Of course this title piqued my interest.  Tell me you don't feel compelled to read articles pertaining to homeschoolers and socialization.  We are so tired of the question, yet we still read about it whenever it crosses our paths.

The article chronicles the opinions of 2 previously homeschooled men pursuing their doctorates, regarding their homeschool background.  The article is interesting, as it isn't filled with meaningless statistics, but the voices of actual people. 

Part of the closing article, gave me a chuckle.  You can always tell when a reporter isn't familiar witht he subject they are reporting on. 

There are exceptions to every rule. However, it appears that overall, homeschoolers are getting along just fine in the world. They are blending in with public and private school graduates and entering the same professions. They are involved with civic, community, political and religious affairs.

Anyone remotely informed about homeschooling, knows that homeschoolers are always blending in with the public.  So why should it be such a surprise that they blend with students from all walks of life?  Perhaps the reporter was unaware that theya re not only entering the same professions, they are leading them and it is their independent entreprenurial drive that gives them focus to run their own businesses.  Part of homeschool consists of a focus on being informed about political affairs and giving back to your community.

What the article doesn't mention, isw public school students have a much lower drive and motivation in general.  This has been programmed into them within the school system.  Community service is nothing more than getting credits to the students.  When the credits are fulfilled the students go back to their own lives.

This past week, I picked my son up from the library.  I noticed that a librarian was outside chatting with him.  When I asked about this, he told me that the librarian came out to thank him for his work and express her appreciation for his sincere commitment.  My son has been volunteering his time twice a week at our library for over a year.  To me, that is no big deal, however, to the library it is.  The library regularly gets teen volunteers, who stay 2-4 weeks and apparently don't have a good work ethic.  These students come because they have to fulfill a credit and think the library the easiest place to do that.  Then when their credit is fulfilled, they leave.  I had not known how deep seeded this was, prior.  Unique to the library was a young teen, seeking to volunteer, solely to give back to his community. 

Why is it that people are always amazed, astounded, flabbergasted, that homeschooled students grow into adults who are involved and motivated beyond themselves?

Blessings Leslie

Posted in Life

The holiday season is so close, with Thanksgiving only a few weeks away.  Have you made your plans?  Do you know how you will spend your holiday season and with whom?

Here is a great post fromt eh Homestead Blogger Front Porch that can help families emphasize the reason for Chrismas; Jesus.  Focus on the Lord and teaching your children to give. 

These are my thoughts.

Blessings Leslie

Posted in Life

Today I am praying for patience, peace, and time.  The hubby is 45 today.  Unusually, I ahve not picked his gift up yet.  I know what I am getting him, but I don't want to post it yet, because he might read it. 

The littletons are baking a cake, or brownies, or cupcakes, or....well here is Evan now.  He has decided it will be chocolate cupcakes with frosting.  We have new neighbors, so we will invite them over for the festivities.  Our oldest is making fondue for the Bday feast.  And there are decorations to be made and displayed. 

I knwo the day will fly by and he will be home before I am ready.  He knows about the fondue and most likely suspects the sweets, but I don't think he will expect bday decorations and a real party setting.  So here goes the day! 

Boy this was an awfully boring post.  Did you make it this far?  Well, many thanks, cuz I was just rambling on and on about a simple celebration.  YIKES!  You are too good to me. 

These are my thoughts.

Blessings Leslie

Posted in Life

Yeah, I know how it goes.  It has been 10 days since I last blogged.  I think that is a record for me.  But with school, packing for our holiday and then being on holiday, I just couldn't squeeze in the time.  So I am back, and hope to be able to be back here more regularly. 

Julie, if you read this, I am wondering what is up with the house?  I also need to catch up on my blog reading, so.....

Ok, the trip to Savannah was GREAT!  If youa re looking for a holiday location that is relatively inexpensive, with lots of history, exercise (everything is close so you can walk the entire hiostoric district), if you like spook tales, antebellum homes, art, this is a destination that will not disappoint. 

This is our second trip to Savannah.  We liked it so much that 2 days wasn't enough and we decided to go back.  This tiem we spent a week and boy was it ever worth it!  There is so much in Savannah, it's almost unvbelievable.  I have renamed the city, The Key West of Georgia, because of its beauty, diversity, cutlture, and being a world all of its own.  There are many well known things in Savannah, of course it was the setting for Midnight in the Garden of GOod and Evil as well as Forest Gump (I think I spoke about that when I blogged our last visit), but there are also many popular things I hadn't realized, like Paula Deene's Lady & Sons.  While we weren't up for standing outside in the heat for 3 hours waiting for a table, Paula Deene is EVERYWHERE in Savannah.  We did eat at Clary's, which is a diner wiuth EXCELLENT food and great prices.  It was used ina scene in Midnight, the movie.  The antebellum homes are absolutely gorgeous.  The smallest house is only 2 rooms and sold for...are you ready..............$135,000!  2 rooms!  Can you believe that.  Apparently, it was the steal of the century...although I think not. 

Savannah is a city that is history rich.  There is even a lot of train history there, that was pretty cool.  So, that's what we have been up to.  I have much on my mind and plan on blogging about it, so keep visiting, there will be alot to ponder.

Blessings Leslie

Posted in Life

I am an "inspired" homemaker.  That means that I wait until I am inspired to decorate a room.  In essence, none of the rooms of our home are the finished product that is in my head.  Time, money, or not finding what I am looking for are the causes.  Every room, is a work in progress, I guess.  Even the room I just finished for ds.  While the bulk is done, we still haven't found a desk chair, lamp, and means of hanging posters.  All in good time. 

At any rate, I found some fabric that I like AND matched the crazy wall color in our playroom for curtains.  The room has 11 windows and 2 Doors with large window inserts!  It hasn't bothered me much, because I like looking out into our yard AND there is nothing behind us, so no one is looking in.  However, with that much window space, things like flooring and furniture fabric can get sun damaged. 

What I am trying to say, is that I have been spending time working on the curtain design and pursuing a new business, as well as ebaying.  If you are interested in helping me with my new business (not recruiting for employees), let me know; as I will need some helpful women to test out products.  So, my blogging time is slim at the moment.  But I will be here, reading and writing, just a little less this week.  I really want to get here and share my thoughts on "In Her Shoes."  See you soon!

These are my thoughts.

Blessings Leslie

Posted in Life

I just read this WONDERFUL post about getting stuff for your home FREE!~  No Gimmick.  Not selling anything.  This is just a great inspirational post of how to be frugal minded, in today's world.  Who'da thunk it!  Not me!

Here's what Dena posted:

Yes, it's true. I'll even tell you how.

This year I've only been able to yard sale a few times, yet EVERY time I've paid for everything I purchased. A friend and I went this morning on more of a leisurely (rather than hard-core) yard saling outing. I spent under $10 and will likely end up with a profit.

Here is what I bought:

-Five VERY nice cards w/envelopes @ 5cents each - cost 50 cents

-Two very nice "school" books for the kids @ 50 cents each - cost $1.00

-Three metal stacking orgainzers @ 75 cents each - cost $2.25

-Wally Lamb book  - cost $1.00

-Blue rag rug - FREE

-Fruit label sign - 50 cents

-Sage NIKE slip-on tennies (BRAND NEW!) - 50 cents

-Pear Soap old fashioned tin (not pictured - already put it in the bathroom) 25 cents

-Bed, Bath & Body Lemongrass Sage Body Spray - $1.00

-Set of three FIRM videos still in shrinkwrap $2.00

-Time spent browsing and chatting with friend - Priceless

     GRAND TOTAL $9.00

So...how is it free?

Well, I am not going to tell you how it's free or fill you in on the rest of the post.  Go HERE to read it for yourself!  I just love Dena's blog, can ya tell?

Blessings Leslie

Posted in Life

My good friend Julie of The Old Shcoolhouse Magazine  

 has had a sadness in her family.  She and her family recently moved to Texas to be with her father in law, who was terminally ill. 

The other day she blogged about them calling hospice to have a bed brought in, as he was getting sick and having trouble breathing.  Hospice said that this was usually a sign of the end stages.  Sadly for the family, he went home with the Lord that night.  Her daughter Kendra was by his side.  He is in a better place where he will suffer no longer, but be full with God's glory.  However, the family could use prayer. 

If you feel lead please pray for the Forsythe Family in dealing with their loss, praising God for handling it so well, Him allowing them to sell their home and be there for the last days, and healing of their hearts as the grieve the loss, as well as giving them strength to do all that needs to be done.  Also, stop on over to her blog and share your own words with Julie. 

Blessings Leslie

Posted in Life

We have a TV in our home.  We have a dvd player and vcr.  We rent plenty from the library.  I have a long personal history with Disney (too much to explain here), so we do watch Disney movies.  Do you know what drives me crazy?  How my kids are so drawn into the advertising of characters.

Now, I thought it cute when my dd (2) saw a night gown that h ad huge pieces of fruit on it and thought it was the hungry caterpillar, which of course it was just a generic night gown.  However, I have found that even that can cause a mindful of attention to the wrong things.  If it has Bob & Larry on it, we are ok.  My son (4) is wanting a shirt with a Lightning McQueen from Cars, my dd will only wear clothes that remind her of something she likes, ds is drawn to clothes that have any type of sport on it...golf, surfing, hockey, football, lacrosse, you name it.  It goes on and on.  We have a source for hand me downs, so I go through them and pass on what I don't think the kids will wear.  On top of that is their pull towards characters.

Companies make everything character oriented today, not just clothes: movies, toys, books, bicycles, eyeglasses, bedding, bathrooom decor, kitchenware, shoes...you name it they make it with a character.  Christian consumerism is not immune.  Veggie Tales items are big items, to name one. 

Now, I can honestly say, my olders aren't drawn to this stuff anymore.  Clothes are whatever mom comes home from the goodwill with.  Shoes, well whatever mom says we can afford and is comfortable.  However, they are sucked in by other consumer items, like books.  BIG one.  Our family has been known to sit in the bookstore for an entire day.  We have even gone to the store for a few hours, left to grab a bite to eat, and return for a few more hours! 

This thing called affluenza, it is being bred into our children?  Is it me or is our culture completely inundated with consumer products pushed by characters?  Is there anything wrong with characters?  If the character products are not controlling you, then I would say no.  But it is very difficult to explain to a child why they can't have a every item they see with a character on it.  TV ads don't help, but since the kids don't watch much commercial tv anymore, that has mostly passed for us. 

Yet that brings me to the idea that ads cause kids to keep wanting more, just like ads for adults.  You aren't cool until you have this racetrack set; or you aren't beautiful until you have the pretty pincess accessory kit.  My children wouldn't even know that 3/4 of toys existed if it weren't for ads.  As parents, we often succumb to the pressures of buying things based on our leftover emotions from childhood. 

How many yards have playground euipment, trampolinhes, skateboard ramps, and every toy known to man.  What does this leave to do away from teh home.  Kids begin to take for granted the items that they have at their disposal, and soon going to the playground is no big deal!  YIKES! 

We have a swingset, and we use it.  However, going to the playground is one of my children's favorite outtings.  They also enjoy going to the library and the bookstore.  Our bookstores have the cool Thomas tables, which are always a blast. 

I guess I feel the character consumerism is driving me a little batty.  I don't mind some things, but I think I would rather be without them.  Hmmm....

These are my thoughts.

Blessings Leslie