Ups and Downs

4:34 PM - Oct. 20, 2006 - comments {3} - post comment

What Could Be Better

I had been up until 4:30 am putting the finishing touches on a draft of a patent disclosure statement and gotten up at 8:15 and made a quick work of myself on my way to leaving for the 1-hour commute to my office. You know, another layer of deodorant, swipe that layer of stubble off, oh, did I brush my teeth, definitely no flossing. Eat some cereal and go!

I come out of the bathroom, and the big guy is awake in bed.

“Hi Dad”

“Hi big guy” as I scratch his short stiff hair.

“I’m going to make steak and eggs” he says.

“I’m going to have cereal. Are you going to put that on an English muffin?”

“Yup”

“Hmmm”

Then one after another of the 6 kids wakes up. My little cutie pie giggens says “Daddy will you carry me down stairs and have breakfast with me?” I had already eaten my steak, egg, cheese and tomato English muffin).

“Sure sweety” I reply.

“I want cereal and carry me like a baby please”.

Down and up the stairs again. Wifey says “The pony needs to be wormed badly”

“I have the stuff we used on the kittens” I reply.

“Kittens, she’s a pony.”

“Horses are listed on the label, too!”

“Did you see the face on the kittens when you gave it to them? She will never take that. How are you going to get it in her?”

Twenty minutes and one wormer contaminated turkey baster later the pony is on the way to being worm free! Well at least of large round worms and some kinds of pin worms.

Now it is 9:30 and I’m finally on the way out the door, again. Kisses all around and a chorus of “Don’t forget to beep and wave”.

On the way down the drive I’m beeping and the living room window is open with 6 kids waving me down the road with "I love you's and drive safely".

It doesn’t get any better than that! Being a homeschool Dad is wonderful!

4:38 PM - Sep. 1, 2006 - comments {6} - post comment

That Girl (parental discretion advised)

The poem below does not contain profanity or explicit material, but it does openly address an issue important to many. I had my son (14) read it and he thought it was suitable but suggested I leave a buffer.

Please do not scroll further if you think you might be offended.

That Girl

That girl, the one on the screen,

Do you know the one I mean?

Think she wanted to end up there,

When she was little,

An object only for to stare.

I wonder when it started,

When her self esteem got parted?

Maybe father’s love unfilled,

Maybe he crossed the line,

So many ways hearts are killed.

Maybe she was real hungry,

For some food, love, drugs or money.

What if she had no choice?

It happens even now,

Held a captive with no voice.

Oh, and there is a market,

They are right on target.

Take God’s gift for us to share,

Natural love made to lust,

Lives lay fodder without care.

No need to ask about the hook,

Young ones used to find Dad’s books.

Now it bombards all the time,

Turn on your computer,

Or wait in the food store line.

Being man is hard enough,

Though some carry extra stuff.

Like the girls, boys gets shattered,

Attention, the wrong kind,

Same results, lives get battered.

They say there is no victim,

That’s the Relativist moral dictum.

What about the change inside,

Left to grow who knows what,

All waves in an evil tide.

Unknown lives left in ruin,

Families crushed, to rocks strewn.

Work done by cultures current,

Devourer sits to watch,

Masses brought to his torment.

How to get beyond the reach,

What to do and what to teach.

Answers are in God’s dealings,

His love and forgiveness,

Comment to Readers: Last night I heard the statistic that 95% of boys ages 8-18 have been exposed to pornography. So I figured if that were true, then this poem would be appropriate and relevant for homeschool blog space.

11:14 AM - Aug. 18, 2006 - comments {3} - post comment

Kids Homeschool Blog Carnival

11:20 AM - Aug. 9, 2006 - comments {1} - post comment

Results of a tag by race car fan

1. Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, and find line 4.

A. Annex vt add, append (A dictionary)

2. Stretch your left arm out as far as you can. What can you touch?

A. Piles of paper.

3. What is the last thing you watched on TV?

A. Can’t remember the last time I watched ‘TV’, except to  play a video.

4. Without looking, guess what time it is.

A. 2:03

5. Now look at the clock. What is the actual time?

A. 1:59

6. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?

A. Air conditioning, paper flapping and my ears ringing.

7. When did you last step outside? What were you doing?

A. Just a few minutes ago. Coming from lunch.

8. Before you started this survey, what did you look at?

A. My blog and found I was tagged.

9. What are you wearing?

A. Black pants and a red/blue plaid shirt.

10. Did you dream last night?

A. Yes.

11. When did you last laugh?

A. 30 minutes ago.

12. What is on the walls of the room you are in?

A. My kids art work and cards.

13. Seen anything weird lately?

A. Sushi. And a picture of the lake monster champ, which I think is actually some ones finger!

14. What do you think of this quiz?

A. Makes me think I should be working.

15. What is the last film or video you saw?

A. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (not worth the time)

16. If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy?

A.  More time with my family!

17. Tell me something about you that I don’t know.

A. I’m still afraid of the dark.

18. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?

A. Hmmmmmm. There are a lot of bad people in the world that abduct people and keep them as slaves or hurt them badly. I would like the bad people to disappear and the people they hurt free and healed.

19. Do you like to dance?

A. Yes, yes, yes! I’d really like to learn to Tango.

20. Comment to George Bush:

A. Keep on trying.

21. Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?

A. My next girl would be Mary.

22. Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?

A. My next boy would be Samual.

23. Would you ever consider living abroad?

A. Only for a short time and if my family came too.

24. What do you want God to say to you when you reach the pearly gate?

A. I’ve been waiting for you!

2:22 PM - Aug. 8, 2006 - comments {0} - post comment

Silver and Gold

But every time I get to Chapter 4, with “Hear my children, the instruction of a father, and give attention to know understanding”, I think how can I tell my boys this, where is the incentive. OK, a long life, a crown of glory, but it always felt preachy, and that just struck me wrong. Really, I am the one rebelling inside.

Then the other day it finally struck me, bong, my eyes actually opened wide and I had to smile. These are treasures being promised! Boys love treasure, silver, gold jewels, shinny armor. I love treasure! We all dig holes for it in the yard, at the beach, old farm dumps, anywhere there is hope for a chest filled with riches! God was promising more, even better treasures! This is really exciting, we have the potential for a life long treasure hunt seeking wisdom and understanding and the gifts provided! And He was giving us the map – a map is good when seeking buried treasure.

OK, I tired it on my 14-yr old. He looked up out of the corner of his eye, smiled, “Yeah, I never thought of it that way”.  Wait until his brothers hear!

9:44 AM - Aug. 8, 2006 - comments {5} - post comment

Why Scratch?

"So what is it going to be?" The moment of truth finally came with my wife, AmoScribo.
"Scratch" That's what came into my head, out of nowhere (really, I’m one of those believe in the supernatural wor(l)d of God people, so I’m sure He put it there). I dared to hope she'd like it. I really want to please this wife on mine who is in the process of launching me into the blogosphere -- I have a problem with idol worship.

"That's cool".
Humph, well I passed the first test. I wanted something sort of cool and a little edgy, something that wasn't too defining, something useful for injecting God into the world and getting some meaningful dialog going.

 
"I'm not going to post anything tonight" (another 11:11 pm with another Monday of pushing through the piles so that I can try to do some science with half a brain was looming in my mind"
"Well, you can write something after you do your Bible study at work" She suggests.
Fat chance. "I don't see me doing that. I'm pretty much egging to get something, anything, accomplished at that point" (note for future blog - responding to vs. directing my day).

So here it is Monday morning and I'm doing it. I really, really want to please her. I also want, need some Christian, homeschool Dad dialog. That’s what finally drove me to this pastime; two words I can’t remember that I repeated in my mind all yesterday to remind me of the need that God had shown me time and again, so that I could get to the point of actually signing up. I have been a very reluctant inductee to blogging. My days are loaded enough! AmiScirbo was beside me, patiently making sure it happened. It means a lot to her to be able to share with ‘Big Daddy’ what has been ground shaking for her.

This morning, Proverbs 7 reminded me seek understanding and wisdom; rule 1 - watch out for the harlot and the arrow in the liver that brings death even to the strong. Understanding and wisdom, it's out there screaming at the city gates, the table set for the taking. God open my ears, give me a memory. I did write some down, I’ll have to do more – my penmanship is getting atrocious again anyway.

So why Scratch. There is chicken scratch, which might be what my thoughts are worth sometimes.
Then there is scratching the surface, which is at least what I'd like to do on a variety of subjects.
How about scratch my back (literally) – a very important thing for me, but not an invitation to you.
God gave me a pile of scratch the other day, but I'm not sure if it's mine yet. He is so wonderful. I had just been thinking about what he would do to deal with the post-vacation need for food, hay, gas, etc. As usual, I had already found a fine penny and a dime on the ground. Funny, I rarely find it hard to be thankful for them. Then He let loose the gate!

Let's not forget scratching with a pen to put something down and scratch me out, which is what I must do now, because:

I have to be diligent to know the state of my flocks and attend to the herd (Pr27:23).

See ya!

8:57 AM - Aug. 7, 2006 - comments {5} - post comment