Israel has always been the comedian of the family. I had to post this story, as it made us laugh so much. Every week he has to write a story, and this was of his own choosing.
Some people were in a jeep going to visit a castle, they were driving down a road when the car suddenly stopped. One of them got out to check what was wrong. He ran to the bonnet and opened it, then stuck his head in. He couldn't see anything because it was so dark. He went back to get a torch. He came back and stuck his head in and felt about, he touched something rough, he pulled at it, but it suddenly bit his finger. He squealed and leapt into the air and fell in the engine, because it was pulling him in, he accidently stuck his head in and his spiky hair got all burnt. The others hurried out of the car to help him, atlast they pulled him out with a green grass snake with his finger in its mouth. It swallowed the finger and it looked a bit guilty and wriggled in the car. They were so scared they didn't go after it. They sat down and the one with burned up hair tried to fix the chewed up engine. One of them called Robin Hood, with a bite in his leg, got up to get the picnic basket out of the car, but when he got to the car, he heard a mysterious slurping noise coming from the back. He popped his head over the seat and saw the grass snake slurping someone's tea and when it finished it was sick in the cup and some mouse eye balls came out and a finger. The man called Robin Hood quickly tried to grab the finger, but he accidently grabbed a mouse eye, but he didn't know, and excitedly shouted to the man with burned hair that he had found his finger. He got some glue and glued the mouse eye on his finger, then he put a plaster on it. He went back to get the picnic basket, when he climbed in the car, he heard a chomping noise, he looked over the seat and saw the grass snake eating all the cakes and biscuits putting its tail around a pop bottle and lifting it to its mouth slurping it at him, the man's eyes popped out, his ears fell off, and fell out of the car and squealed.
I tried the home made washing powder recipe last night, and I have to say it worked. Usually, when we do science experiments they go horribly wrong! I wanted a down to earth, simple recipe that was fool proof.
Here is what I used.
2 cups of your favourite grated soap.
1 cup of borax powder.[for those here in the U.K, I bought that from Tesco]
1 cup of washing soda. [ bought from Morrisons]
I then mixed evenly together.
All you have to do is to add 2 tablespoons [yes only 2 tablespoons] to your dispenser drawer, and a cap of vinegar to the rinse, or a couple of drops of lavender.
My washing all came out normal, and it just took 5 minutes to prepare.
Foolproof
I would be interested to hear anyone elses recipes, tips e.t.c.
I have been asked more than once, how I get the washing dry. So I thought I had better elaborate.
The climate here in winter, in England is milder than that of some parts of America. In the winter the average temperature for January is 7 centigrade. As a result of this I always make the most of those wonderful blowy days. It is pleasant to be hanging out the washing then, as it is refreshing.
When I can't put it out I put it on a huge airer, and hang the rest in the carport. I also air the nearly dry items by the radiator, or woodburner. It helps, as I have a washing machine, which gets the clothes really dry.
You can reduce your washing loads by hanging bath towels on the line to air. Only the baby has clean clothes every single day. I find there is no point wearing a skirt, or jumper once and then putting it in the wash [unless soiled of course] I also do all my curtains, e.t.c. in the Summer, when it is easier to dry them!
Phewww.......................!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's been a wild week. The weather has been raining alot here in England. Everything is rather squelchy.
Angela cut her first tooth, it is razor sharp, and boy, do I know it!
I discovered recently that Eli had almost run out of Language arts books. Eeeek, somehow I had doubles on the Maths. How did that happen? I never had a chance to check the book shipment, as Angela was born at that time! I am still waiting though, the mail is really slow when it comes to Christian curriculum.
My frugal tips:
1] Use half the amount of washing powder in your washing machine. [I discovered it worked with nappies, why not the rest of my wash.]
2] Use a couple of drops of vinegar, in the rinse drawer, or a capful of vinegar, for softer clothes. This is a great natural alternative to all those chemicals.
3] Line dry clothes. It is much fresher, and more hygienic. I have 9 children and I have never owned a drier! I still thrive.
4] Make your own cleaners to use around the house. A couple of drops of tea tree mixed with some boiled water makes a good discinfectant.
We top up hand soaps with some baby bath and add water!
5] When we have used a toilet roll, we fold them inside each other. It is great for starting fires in the log burner, on top of the paper! It also reduces waste.
I will be attempting to make my own laundry powder soon, so I will post back with the result. Lol!
I will also post some more of my simple, down to earth recipes.
On the 5th of November, we allways celebrate, what is known as Guy Fawke's Day.The building of bonfires, and letting off fireworks.
Guy Fawkes was born in 1570, died in 1606. He was a member of the English Roman Catholics revolutionaries. He was well known for his involvement of the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. He wanted to kill King James 1 of England, and most of the aristocracy, by blowing up the House of Lords in the Palace of Westminster, in the state opening of parliament. A few of the plotters became concerned, and wrote a letter to Lord Monteagle. Despite this, the plotters, finding their gunpowder untouched, vowed to continue.
Fawkes was finally seized, just when he was lighting the fuse! As a result, he was hung drawn and quartered in true old English syle, along with some of the other conspirators!
The pictures were taken by Charity, Jasher, Israel, and Eli at the display and bonfire, we went to.
I was left the following comment after the entry I wrote about my daughter and her E-mail, which caused such a stir. I feel I need to address the comment, as the claims are untrue.
Posted by Anonymous (68.94.46.198)
It really seems like the only one unwilling to listen to the other argument is you. YOU refused to "witness" someone because they disagreed with you. Well, if the people you witness all agree with you I guess you're not exactly picking people that "need" to be witnessed. Yes, I say "need" because I don't believe that everyone who doesn't agree with you or your religion needs to be witnessed. That belief is only in your mind.
Ironically you accuse someone of believing what you call bogus theories of evolution (which I highly doubt you understand) and yet you believe that some big guy up in the sky created everything by simply wishing for it.
The hypocrisy is baffling.
1] The person who wrote the E- mail to the group in question was my daughter, not me. She did it entirely on her own initiative.
2] The person in charge of the group was not willing to even tolerate discussion on the matter. My daughter was told that she must keep her faith out of the group. [This is impossible and intolerant towards my daughter.]
3] My daughter and I fully understand the theories of evolution, and I say theory, as it has not been proven as a fact.
4] The hypocrisy is not on our part, as we were unable to carry on, when they would not tolerate my daughter's comments.
I would say that Darwin's evolutionary theory needs faith to believe, as it is so far fetched! We are set apart from the animals, in that we have a living soul, which never dies. The animals have just a spirit. It is this living soul which lives for ever in eternity. Heaven, if you accept that Jesus has died for your sins and you repent of your sins. Hell if you reject that. We all have a chance to repent.
Sadly people who believe in evolution have no such glorious hope, as life can mean nothing.
I see the proof of a creator God all around me. We live on an earth, which is the perfect distance from the sun for life to exist. We see the beauty and miracle of a baby in the womb. The amazing things in nature. The list goes on. I would suggest that any one needing clarification should visit the Answers in Genesis link on my blog.
God is not "some guy in the sky", He is all knowing and all seeing. I cannot compRehend how the world could of came without a creator. [My computer was made, it didn't just appear! We need to examine the evidence. Blaise Pascal stated that he would rather take a chance on God and win, than lose both ways. I think that just about sums it up.
God bless, and I pray that people might be blessed by this.
I would urge Americans on Tuesday to go out and vote.
In Britain, we have a humanistic, socialist government in power. They have introduced many wicked things, such as the promotion of unnatural behaviour, undermined families, allowed two males to adopt. I could go on and on. They have sought to take control of people's lives, by trying to make decisions for them, and so on. They seek to control every aspect of our lives if they could! It is really a religion, as the government seeks to be the peoples' saviour, they provide health, money and housing to the populace.
Jesus said that it is right to give to the poor. However, it is we as individuals who should be doing this, not the state.
We have house prices here, which are well beyond the reach of most, who don't already have a house. People have become greedy, and the government has promoted this.
The Socialists have undermined the financial stability of our nation, and indeed the U.S. Then they say that they have the answer, which means that the state buys the houses, and indeed the banks. People are then duped into thinking that the government has done a good thing, people are not homeless, and the banks are not bankrupt. But at what cost? Before we know it socialism has impacted all areas.
I believe that we Christians today, in the west are like the Laodicean church. We are rich, and increased with goods, we have need of nothing and are therefore lukewarm. This is not what God wants, He wants us to be seperate and distinctive from the multitudes. We are to be a light set upon a hill.
My husband and I believe that we are in the time that Revelation chapter 20 talks of: " And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to decieve the nations, which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog to gather them together to battle; the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God and devoured them." Revelation 20: 7-9
We believe that Gog and Magog represent humanistic socialism, the idea that it is spread all around the four corners of the earth.
The saints we believe are the Christian believers, who in the last days will be attacked by these socialists. We are already seeing it happen here. This is an interpretation which is at odds to many, however I can't see it any other way. It all fits in. I would welcome comments, as I know opinions differ on this. That is why it is so important that we try to do as much as we can, and pray, pray, pray!
We recently visited Sherwood forest, the legendary home of Robin hood. It is commercialised a lot now, and much of the forest has dissapeared over the years. However it was enjoyable to see God's creation in full Autumnal glory. Did we see Robin Hood? Well,er,um...we saw a man with Robin's hat on!
The Major Oak tree, which is over 800 years old!
Inside the Major Oak
More pictures of Sherwood Forest:
Here is one we snapped of a squirrel!
Eeek!!!!!!!!! The spider, which lives in the tree. The children moved pretty quick, when they saw this...........
With Halloween fast approaching, we await the inevitable trick or treaters to our door. However, rather than just ignoring them, we give them a tract. The tract we use is specifically targetted to Halloween. After the first year of giving it out, where we now live, we didn't have any one call last year! I think it is a positive way to let the neighbourhood know where you stand.The way I see it, if you are going to get eggs thrown at the house, they are going to do it anyway.
On the news today, it was announced that sex education in all Britains schools would now be compulsory, from 5- 16. Another good reason for homeschooling. Unfortunately though, this means that children will be forced to learn teaching which is immoral, peverse and transgresses against God. I call it child abuse, a strong word yes, but they are warping childrens minds and teaching children from the age of 5 that the most unnatural acts and behaviour is normal, and to be encouraged.
What is worrying though, is that Christian parents don't seem to be doing anything. They just seem to go along with it. " Oh, nothing like that goes on in our school!" I have heard that countless times. The sad thing is, when the only complainers are the people who are not Christians!
We are to be salt and light in the world, but not sacrifice our children to it. When you have one rotten apple, it tends to rot the lot if you don't remove it. Now, is the time to take action.
In the last days, the bible talks about fornication, witchcraft, and murder increasing. Abortion is murder, Harry potter and the likes withcraft, and I think fornication speaks for itself. Let us stand out as a light on the hill, and be different.
Since Angela has started teething, homeschooling has become a bit more of a challenge. We have had to deal with this issue with every baby. She needs constant entertaining and rocking e.t.c.
Sometimes it is good to let the older children take turns entertaining baby. When this isn't possible I find she is very often happy sitting next to me with her toys, or on my lap. Best of all, when she is not particularly grumpy, she likes to sit in her pod and play with toys.
She likes to grab the children's pencils if she can, and she also likes to eat their books if she can! Of course we discourage this.
One positive thing about homeschooling is that we can choose where we sit, and we prefer to be more relaxed and do most of the work on the settee. Call it lazy, but between the hard chair, and the comfy seat, give me the comfy seat any time!
I forgot to mention about my reuseable wipes. If you use cloth nappies, it really is no extra trouble. You can make your own, by cutting up muslin, or towels. I decide to cheat by purchasing 30 double sided cloths. They have terry on one side, and fleece on the other. I use these ones for wiping bottoms. I also purchased some multi print ones, for using on the face and hands, so I wouldn't get them mixed up!
There are several things you can do with them:
1] Just wet them and use straight away.
2] You can wet them, and then store them in an old ice cream tub. I add a drop of lavender essential oil to the water, when I am wetting them. It smells gorgeous!
3] You can make up a solution of water, with a drop of lavender in a small spray bottle. Then you just wet the wipe with the spray as needed.
What is great about doing this, is it doesn't cost anything once you have sourced the wipes. Also, you know what is in them. I used to get dermatitis after using bought disposable baby wipes. Once in a while you get those really messy bottoms, where normally it takes about 10 baby wipes! However I find just 2 is more than ample!
Washing is easy, as you just throw them in with your nappies. When you no longer have need of them, they would make excellent dusters, e.t.c.
When I had my first baby, we decided to use cloth nappies. However these were the terry square types, with the most awful plastic covers, which somehow always leaked. They used to crack after a while as well. Just before I had no.9 I discovered cloth nappies again, but discovered this time they had been revamped! My main reason for wanting to use them was concern about how much rubbish we send to landfill, here in the U.K. Also the disposables are filled with chemicals, and we don't know what the side effects of those might be.
I discovered that there are many different types, all varying prices. My favourites are the ones pictured.
Itti Bitti D Lish
The nappy pads with this one just popper on to the cover, you don't have to wash the cover until it is soiled, meaning that you can just pop in fresh pads. This works out quite an economical option because of this. Also, I think you will agree, it is stylish and slim fitting. Despite all this they are very absorbant and breathable.
Jam Tots Berry Plush
This is the same sort of thing, except the inner pad snaps in [once folded over] and the poppers are at the side. This one is hemp, making it an extremely thirsty nappy. Again it is slim fitting and stylish.
Night time
At night time I use a pocket nappy with fleece inner[keeps her dry] I can then stuff the pocket with absorbant material. I like Nappies by Minki, these are made by a work at home Mum in the outer Hebrides, Scotland.
Washing
If a nappy is soiled I put it in a lidded bucket, with a table spoon or two of vinegar[after sluicing] . After 2 hours I store them in a lidded bucket.
Every 3 days I put them in the washing machine with half dose of an environmentally friendly detergent, and a tablespoon of nappy soak. I wash them with other whites on 40 degrees. The wet nappies I store in lidded bucket and wash every other day by hand and then spin in my machine. It is easier than that, if you stick them all in the machine!
It really is that easy, and I have had less leaks than when I used disposables! In fact, when we went on holiday, Cherry had Angela on her lap [the first disposable of the holiday] and it leaked all over her favourite dress. [yes, it was the worst stuff]
The tag I recently did on six quirky unspectacular things about myself raised a few questions.....................................
1] Yes, we lived in three different countries in nine months. We were in Scotland till just after the new year, having lived there for 8 years. Then we moved to Wales, until September, when we moved to England. I guess some of you think that the U.K is just one country, however tell a Scotsman or a Welshman that!
2] The 2 tornadoes I saw were also filmed by my husband and actually both appeared on our news station, with my husband's footage. Also an article was done in our local newspaper. They weren't anything like the ones in the States, but tornadoes none the less, so I guess you could call that spectacular.
3] Out of the 40 buns I bake every week, I guess the children have 3 each and we eat the rest! They are all eaten over two days.[yes, I know you are probably thinking I am a pig!]
I thought you might be interested to read what my daughter recently posted on one of the homeschooling E-mail groups we belong to.
One of the great mysteries of the world is how the world got here
itself. The truthful answer is written down, it was written THOUSANDS
of years ago by Moses he wrote what God told him to write which was
the truth. Years ago people were clever enough to belive the truth,
but since tht idiot darwin played a trick on people by gluing a skull
together with monkey and person... can't people see that it was a
trick, can't they see that he was deciving people in order to become
famous for discovering the so-clled truth about how the world got
here. It simply did not. The stupidity of a big bang makes me laugh.
How on earth can a bang come from nothing and blow up the world into
sight... It makes me laugh to thing tht even adults are beliving
these silly idiotic stories with not a hint of the real truth in them.
Explosions destroy things they do not create things. It is plain
stupidity. You can try for a billion years to try and make a living
dog out of chemicals, you can try for eternity, you will never be
able to do it. Then how did people who are alive get here... how how
how. Ofcourse they were created, just like the world was created. It
is the truth. A picture cannot draw itself, especially if it has no
pens or crayons or draeing material to draw itself. A person has to
draw the image from his/her imagination or copy a scene in front of
them. The world was created. It was desiged by God.
Cherith
Now some might agree that this is a wee bit passionate. The debate has been started on homeschool blogger and it is something that she feels strongly about. However is this the writing of a child, or is it just me in disguise trying to force my views on children? Well that is the accusation I face today. I had a rather ratty E- mail back stating that it is totally unacceptable. Also about the terrible offence it will cause. I have had no choice,but to withdraw her from the group, as if she is unable to witness in her own way and debate, then it all seems pointless.
All I can say is that we must be doing the right thing somewhere, because of this opposition. Where is free speech and democracy? Why are people so frightened of the creation argument? It can only be because if they believe in a creator, then they have to also give account to a creator. Spurgeon, a Baptist preacher in the Victorian era predicted that Darwinism would soon be forgotten, as it would be seen to be silly, disproven, and highly illogical. However, what he failed to see, was the depraved depths that man was willing to sink to.
We are glad of every opportunity to witness to people, however there is a limit on what we can do, and we have to be careful not to associate with wickedness. By the way, the person who sent back the E- mail said that this sort of thing which Cherry was doing was DANGEROUS!!!
" You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden." Matthew 5:14
"Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever there fore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God" James 4:4
I have been asked about 6 unspectactular, quirky things about myself.
Here’s the rules:
Link to the person who tagged you.
Post the rules on your blog.
List 6 unspectacular quirks you have.
Tag 6 bloggers by linking to them.
Leave a comment on each blog to let them know they were tagged.
1] I was born with so much hair, my mum was worried it would never disappear. [yes it was all over]
2] I have been pregnant for half of my 15 year marriage.
3] I think I am addicted to babies!
4] Every week I bake 40 fruit buns!
5] At one time recently we had lived in three different countries in 9 months.
6] I have seen a tornado from my garden in Scotland and one from my garden in England.
Today was a wonderful reminder of Summer, just when I was resigning myself to the impending, inevitable cooler weather we have had a lovely couple of days of warm sunshine. We made the most of it by having a lunch time barbecue in the garden! I really do enjoy eating outside, the food seems to taste so much nicer.
Anyway, enough of that. Here is my recipe:
Fruit buns
This recipe is suitable for mixing in a breadmaker, although it is possible to do it by hand. I would always recommend a breadmaker, as it cuts out an awful lot of work, invaluable when you have nine children!
1] [ I usually use two cups, one for dry ingredients, and one for wet.]
Pour one cup of milk into bread machine.
2] A quarter of a cup of margarine.
3] 3 tablespoons of brown, unrefined sugar.[you can add more if you wish]
4]1 beaten, large free range egg.
5] 2 cups of organic strong white flour.
6] 2 cups of organic strong, stoneground wholemeal flour.
a teaspoon of salt.
7] half a cup dried raisins.
8] 2 teaspoons of mixed spice.
9] 1 teaspoon of ground ginger.
10] 2 teaspoons of yeast.
When all the ingredients are added, put the bread maker on the dough setting [ An hour and a half]
When it is finished, turn out onto a floured board, and shaqpe into about 12 balls.
Leave in a warm place for half an hour.
Then bake in an oven [200 degrees or so] for 15 minutes, or a little longer if you prefer them harder.
Enjoy!
I got into making buns more regular during my ninth pregnancy, as my blood sugar was very high, I was in danger of developing gestational diabetes. So I had to make drastic changes to cut sugar out of my diet. They were a treat to me, as I could tailor the recipe to my needs. The children like them so much that they don't want me to give them up!
I was shopping just recently in a large supermarket with baby Angela seated in the shopping trolley. I got to the end of an aisle, when suddenly really awful upbeat pop music boomed out from the speakers. I looked into the trolley, and there was Angela bopping from side to side, and gurgling with joy! [Bearing in mind she is only 6 months old!] I had to laugh. However it made me think......just how old is old enough to be influenced for bad? It just goes to show how even babies can be led astray, it starts off with something fairly innocent and then before you know it, it's not innocent any more.We need to think about the words of these songs, are they immoral, and do they glorify God? Much of the pop music today glorifies fornication, drug taking and even killing! Is that a model we really want our children to aspire to?
Usually, when we do science experiments they go horribly wrong! I wanted a down to earth, simple recipe that was fool proof.
Angela in a Itti bitti d lish nappy[bottom]
As you can see it didn't do much damage at all. Nothing like the big American tornadoes!
Our mini tornado in our village. This isn't the best picture, it was taken when my husband had finished filming.
These are really yummy warm with butter and a nice cup of tea!
It just goes to show how even babies can be led astray, it starts off with something fairly innocent and then before you know it, it's not innocent any more.
We need to think about the words of these songs, are they immoral, and do they glorify God? Much of the pop music today glorifies fornication, drug taking and even killing! Is that a model we really want our children to aspire to?
We took this picture of an airplane taking off on a ten minute plane spotting detour.
