Fish in My Hair | |
Grandpa and the SkunkMy grandpa, my Papafather's dad, was a country vet. He had a little office off the side of the house where he did small animal surgery, and exams. He made house calls all around the country, some trips taking him an hour or more to reach the animal in need of help, be it cow, horse, sheep, or pig. Very often he would have one of his children in tow. He had 10 of them so there was no shortage of helpers. It all sounds very James Harriot like, and in a way it was. James Harriot's stories are popular with that side of the family and each story reminds them of one like it that grandpa experienced.Grandpa's office was, as I said, just off the house. Just off the kitchen to be exact. My grandma had a dutch door put in so that she could just open up the top half to talk to him and yet keep the little ones inside. Think about that. A vet's office, just off the kitchen. Do you recall how a vet's office smells? That smell still lingers in that office to this day and it's been over 10 years since my grandpa died. Aside from the smell, I never gave grandpa's office much thought. We would traipse our way through it on the way to play outside, to gather in the clothes from off the line, to pick grapes, collect eggs, or to find grandpa. The office doubled as grandma's laundry room so I suppose that's why it didn't seem like a room that needed much attention. I never spent any time in it other than to get from point A to point B. Which is strange now that I think about it, all those fascinating instruments, chemicals, medicines, and the like just within reach. I never touched them or was ever tempted to do so. One temptation I did give in to was a special barrel out back that held two skunks. Grandpa would warn us to leave those skunks alone. My numerous cousins and I would stand around the barrel peering in, and those skunks would peer back. The lot of us cousins would look for only a moment and then run away as fast as we could before we got sprayed. I didn't find out until I was much older that those skunks couldn't spray because my grandpa had "deskunked" them. I don't know if my cousins were aware of this at the time or not, they ran just as fast as I did. Grandpa's warning hadn't been for us, he had been worried that we would torment the skunks. Skunks actually make a great pet and are positively darling, if you can legally keep them. My uncle kept one for awhile. She was just like a cat, had a litter box and everything. Her name was Rosie, and then some, but I won't repeat that part. We have a family story, told every couple of years or so I guess, about grandpa and one particular skunk he was de-scenting. While in the process of removing the gland that contains the hideous skunk musk, it was ruptured. It squirted all of its contents right in my grandpa's face. He came into the kitchen to clean up and the only thing he said was, "It's such a beautiful color." Apparently skunk spray is an amber color, and my God fearing grandpa could still recognize the beauty of God's handiwork even in a skunk's musk. Funny, while my aunts and uncles roar with laughter about this story every time they tell it, I don't remember anyone talking about the smell lingering in the kitchen or what on earth my grandma said or did. I'll have to ask them about that. After the laughter dies down, someone will always mention how my grandpa was such a quiet, gentle, and patient man. Oh he had his moments when a cow would stomp him, but how many men do you know who would take it from a skunk and only comment on it's beauty? There Goes the Sesame Street NeighborhoodMy wife came up and told me that Sesame Street had done another spoof. This time it was a skit called "Desperate Horse-wives." I got a groan when I asked if the characters were less than neigh-borly. 8-9Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies. (Philippians 4:8, The Message) I can't come out with a list of TV shows that I think are bad or good. The verse above should be more than enough for the average Christian, especially when it's paired with the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Each person is responsible only to God for decisions like these. However, Jesus did give us a special charge with children. "And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck. Mark 9:42 (NIV)To me this verse means that God takes the destruction of children's innocence very seriously. This is why the Sesame Street skits irritate me. It feels like they're playing with fire. Look smart all you want, but I would prefer if they would just stick with "C is for cookie," and the yip-yip monsters. What? You've never heard of the yip-yip monsters? Yip Yip | MySpace Video Thanks Jodi! Pumpkin PartyOn Oct. 1st the kids and I were in the car headed to the pumpkin patch! They were all dressed in fall t-shirts and I was ready to take some great pictures! Then it started raining...I pulled over and made a few quick calls to the homeschool friends we were suppose to meet. We all decided to go another day. Little did we know it was going to rain for 30 days straight! (I am exaggerating a little here, but honestly this is the wettest Oct. I have seen in my life!) Meanwhile we were in the middle of moving. The rain meant we were moving in the mud and the last thing I wanted to do was trek out into a pumpkin patch and collect even more mud. As the month headed to a close I started to realize a trip to the pumpkin patch was not going to happen. So I did the next logical thing...I decided to have a Pumpkin Party! LOLWhat is a Pumpkin Party??? Honestly it's something I made up. But, we had our first one on Nov. 2nd with 97 people in attendance! Thankfully the rain finally stopped and we found a park with lots of concrete to keep us out of the mud. The party was a huge success and a LOT of fun! Here are the highlights.... We started out with the kids each decorating a pumpkin cookie.  Then they ate their cookies while waiting for the pumpkin story to start.  Next we listened to the Pumpkin Gospel  You can read all about the story at the link belowhttp://ginaconroy. Then we played pumpkin games! Pumpkin Parachute Game.  I got a package of Fun Foam Pumpkin and made a smiley face on one with a marker. Then they would put all the pumpkins in the parachute, throw them up in the air and the person who found the smiley face got a piece of candy. Repeat until everyone wins!Pumpkin Bowling was a favorite!  We also had Pumpkin Golf! My husband cut the bottom off the pumpkin and made 3 holes for us to golf into!  The kids loved this! I got the idea here: http://familycrafts We also had Pumpkin Hot Potato.  And we had Pumpkin Relay Races!   We finished off the party with lots and lots of pumpkin food! Everyone brought a pumpkin dish to share. We had pies, breads, cakes, cookies, pumpkin dip. The food was amazing! It was a great day and I am sure we will have many more pumpkin parties in the future. Happy Homeschooling, Jamin Freebie Friday Birthday Freebies Nov. 6 2009
Book Review: The Jesus Book
Author: Stephen Elkins Illustrator: Claudine Gevry Format: Hardcover with 30-song CD Page Count: 96 ISBN: 978-1-4003-1463-8 Retail Price: $16.99 My Review: I read this book to my sons at bedtime. They know the Bible pretty well; therefore, the content in this book all sounded familiar to them. However, they still enjoyed listening to me read and it seemed to hold their attention. What sets this book apart from other children's books about Jesus is its well-categorized/color-coordinated topics. It covers who Jesus is (what the prophets, angel, wise men, Peter, John the Baptist, the Samaritans, John the disciple, God the Father, and Jesus Himself said about Jesus), what Jesus did (His many miracles, His death on the cross, His resurrection, His preparing a home for us), what Jesus taught (parables, baptism, repentance, prayer, the golden rule, the Greatest Commandment, etc.), when it happened (including timeline), where it happened (including a map of Israel and a map of Jerusalem), why it happened, and how it happened (including How do we receive eternal life?). The illustration is well done and makes the book colorful and interesting. Personally, I do not like to see drawings of Jesus because I do not want children to think (or have images stuck in their mind) that's what Jesus looked like. My favorite part is the CD. The songs are familiar Sunday School songs such as Jesus Loves Me, What A Friend We Have in Jesus, Jesus Loves the Little Children, and I Have Decided to Follow Jesus. ~This book was provided for a review by Thomas Nelson. Grumpy Math Club MemberThis year Rebecca decided to do math club. She is in high school now and so the math is TRICKY. She, being the perfectionist that she is, came out of class today in a rather foul mood. Methinks it has something to do with the review they had of a recent contest the team competed in. She was not happy on that day either. I'm just sayin' there may be a connection somewhere...Dancin' GRITS Neon Dance PartyWe have long since outgrown Trick or Treating and Halloween has become somewhat of an awkward holiday. It was never really a favorite of mine (although the loads of candy was cool) and now that my kids are all teens it's almost an annoying "holiday".
This year was a bit different, however, because the girls got to go to a dance! Rather than doing the costume thing and having a plethora of "thou shalt not's", the organizers decided to employ black lights and have a "who is the brightest" contest. It was soooo much fun!
The kids have recently become card game aficionados and the idea of dressing with a deck of cards theme was enthusiastically embraced. They spent a couple of hours creating their assigned/chosen card and this was the result.
Josh was supposed to be the jack of clubs, but he decided to hang out with some buddies instead. Y.oung M.inds C.acophony A.lbumWhen I was a young and silly girl I really wanted a certain record. Yup, I said record. They still existed even though cassette tapes were beginning to make their appearance. The problem was, I didn't own a tape player, I owned a record player. I can't even remember now how this record made it to the top of my wish list. I'm guessing that what really happened was that I had seen it while digging through the records at the store and it called to my fickle heart. I trotted off to the nearest money source, which just happened to be my Aunt Sissie. I was spending a couple of weeks with her during the summer. Her children were all grown and possibly gone, that part of my memory is a little fuzzy. Anyway, I guess Aunt Sissie saw nothing wrong with indulging me and she bought it. Oh, I was a happy music lover! I listened to that album for years. Perhaps all of two-years. I have no idea what my mother thought of this present. I don't recall her ever expressing it to me. I may have to ask her about that. I do remember that my aunt loved me and wanted to give me something simple, like a two week invasion of her home and privacy wasn't enough. She was just like that, quietly giving. So what record sang to me and held my attention for so long? Irwin the Disco Duck In the Navy.  Groovy! Here are the popular titles on this record that I boogied to:
I'm sure it was that dashing figure of a duck in his sailor uniform that caught my eye in the first place. I wanted to join the Navy after all! As one of those grown cousins that no longer lived in the house was in the Navy, it was probably what tipped the scale in my aunt buying it for me. I wouldn't buy anything like this for my own children, let alone my nieces. It is however a somewhat fond memory, mainly because of my Aunt Sissie. I can't ever hear Y.M.C.A. without thinking of this record, and I can't think of this record without remembering her. I Moved!You can find me over here...
The Winner!Alyssa over at Live and Learn won the Peppermint Oil from Beeyoutiful this week. My son drew her name from little tiny pieces of paper in my hand today.The kind folks at Beeyoutiful have offered up one more Tea Tree Oil  and one more Peppermint Oil to be given away so next week I'll be offering the wonderful Tea Tree Oil once again. It's the best for cleaning, skin ailments and tons of other uses. Just click on the Tea Tree Oil link to find out more. Check back and don't miss the give a way starting next Sunday. Blessings! { Last Page } { Page 1 of 5 } { Next Page } |
 
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