Posted in Teachers Corner

I almost forgot! Any of you Washington homeschoolers need to go check out watchhome.org for info on the Christian homeschool conference in August.

They really reconfigured everything this year, and I can't wait to go! The kids are welcome this time around, with their own mini-conference alongside ours. It's at the Seattle Pacific U campus; we get to stay in the dorms or apartments for prices similar to motels, but with the benefit of rubbing shoulders with the conference speakers. BTW, TOS's own publishers Paul and Gena Suarez are supposed to be there too! Nice to have them visiting our neck of the woods!

It's going to be a wonderful conference, and I'd love to have some friends there to visit with. If you decide to go, let me know so we can make plans to meet up

Posted in The Christian Life

Yep, once again, my health has taken over my summer plans.

I was hoping to get online tonight and post some fun thoughts from my weekend rafting trip, or a cheerful hooray because we finally completed Philippians in our women's study after a year and seven months (which we did tonight, BTW).

Instead, I get to tell you that my right eye (the good one) just hemorrhaged again, after seven months. Stepped off the platform after worship yesterday and suddenly couldn't see out that side. Wonderful.

I'm doing better now emotionally. Everyone else seems more upset about it than I am, maybe because I've been through it several times before. The thing that I'm getting this time around is that it's like the grieving process in a way.

I was supposed to teach Sunday School yesterday, so in the rush from worship to the classroom, I pretty much tucked it away -- that's the denial. "No, it has to be something else. I don't have time for this." A mother and daughter came in and took over for me (they knew because the dad is the elder that I asked to initiate prayer after the service, since Pastor was already starting the lesson). That was such a blessing, and allowed me the time to fully comprehend what was happening to my eyes.

When the board prayed for me, I finally hit the grief stage. Having been through this, I knew that surgery will follow (pray for me on July 1), and that all the things I meant to do this summer will be put on hold or canceled altogether. It also means that whatever progress I've made in controlling my blood sugars went out the window with the pizza and pop I had Saturday night, and the McGriddle I had that morning (my assumption may be wrong, but I'm assuming that's the reason it happened at the time it did). So I cried, but only for about five minutes.

Now, that's not a brag. That's almost a criticism of myself, actually. With all the changes that will occur in my life in the next six months because of this, I should have cried for at least an hour. Five minutes. I don't know whether that's good or bad. Either way, It's grieving, and I hit it in front of most of the church.

The next part, the acceptance and coping, seemed to hit immediately. I worried about the plans Dan and I had with our friends and a river raft; Dad ended up taking my place on the raft, and Mom drove me to meet them afterward for dinner. I was still running around encouraging ladies to come to Bible study, and talking about next week's Sunday School lesson, and making plans for the ladies' activity in a week. If it wasn't for the blur in my vision, it would have been just any other Sunday. Almost sounds like denial again, doesn't it?

I thought so too, until today. Now I see it as the anger stage too.

My pastor's wife was sick and home from church yesterday, so she called today to pray with me and find out how I was doing. She said, "Dani, I don't even know how to pray for you." Most everyone's just praying for my eyes and my vision, but Pastor and his wife are both nurses, and understand that it's more than that. The whole thing is so complicated, and this is so common for diabetics, that simple prayers for vision and health every week, every day, seem to be not near enough to address the real issue.

I told her that my prayer request is for peace and rest. I go through stuff like this all the time. Comas, broken bones, vision problems, pain in my feet, threats of dialysis, so many other things, all the time. I actually said, "I just want to be left alone." Not being isolated from friends and people who love me, but from the constant feeling that my life is one disaster after another. From the sorrow I feel for my family who has to care for me instead of enjoying the summer, or the carefree days that we watch other families share. From the physical suffering. From the comments like "what is it this time?" or "It's always something with you, isn't it?"

I began to understand Job in a different sense. He lost so much, much more suddenly than I have, but a deep loss nonetheless. He mourned over his loss. He bent under the weight of it. He begged God to tell him why, to stop the pain and loss, to explain Himself. He buried himself in what had to be done, burying his children, cleaning up the mess that his life had become, all the while questioning God and feeling angry at no one in particular.

I know how that feels. I'm not angry at God; I've known since I was a child that I would endure these things before His promised healing would come. I'm not angry at myself; I may not have my diabetes under complete control, but I try every day. I'm not angry at doctors, family, society, anything. I'm just angry, and hurting, and frustrated, and tired of the battle.

When I think of Job sitting in the dirt, scraping off the scabs with broken pottery, listening to his best buddies say, "Give it up, Dude. Curse God and die," I now see the tired eyes that look up and respond with quiet determination. "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him."

My eyes are tired, but this won't stop me. I'm reading, but with glasses now. I'm driving, but with a strength in my left eye that I never had before. I'm teaching from my memory and from the promptings of the Holy Spirit. I'll get through this, just like I have every other disaster that's befallen me. My God is bigger than the Boogey Man (thanx, VeggieTales), than the prince of this world, than this disease. This will all be to His glory someday. In Philippians 4, at the end of the chapter and of the book, Paul says, "this suffering is nothing compared to the glory that He will reveal to us later." Amen; this is truth; it can't be argued.

In the meantime, pray for me. For peace in this storm. For patience with all the changes and frustrations that come with this. For grace in accepting the help of my family and friends. For the faith that I know God is creating in me. Thanks.

Posted in Family Life

... has finally been published!

Yesterday, the Columbia Basin Herald published its summer "Choose Your Own Adventure" travel guide, which this year included a lengthy piece on local historical markers and points of interest, written by me! How exciting!

My dear hubby and I love to prowl around with old tomes in hand, searching for faint clues to the past. We've discovered ice caves in the middle of the desert, abandoned railroad cuts, roads trailing off into rivers and lakes, native axeheads, and the vantage points from which many famous pictures were taken. This is probably our number one family hobby. Dd comes home from excursions with as many ticks as the dog, and sometimes months down the road we have difficulty deciphering what the subject of that picture was. But it makes us very happy.

So when my dear boss asked if I would take on this project, I was thrilled! We had so much fun traveling around snapping the 200+ pictures, of which I only sent the paper 70. I think they only used a third of them, but some of them were actually really good ones. We prayed for sunny skies, and God granted them, with the exception of the stormy one that perfectly set off the white hills of the diatomaceous earth mines. How cool He is!

Anyway, we're planning on taking this basic info and writing a book on this area. We have several people from previous generations that we're going to interview, and so many books to read, that I have no idea how long it will take us, but I'm sure I'll let you know.

In the meantime, if you're headed this way for any reason, contact the Chamber of Commerce in Moses Lake, or the Columbia Basin Herald, and they should be able to get you a copy. That is, if my family doesn't snag them all up first!

Posted in Family Life

This is my latest favorite incident.

I'm a horrible night owl, and my only time alone is after everyone else is in bed. So my daughter has been taught to get up, feed the animals, have a piece of fruit, and watch a couple of cartoons (we have Boomerang, so she gets all the good old ones!). I get up an hour or so later.

A couple of mornings ago, I came out and sat near her on the couch. She began chattering about the morning's shows, how the dog was behaving, asking what my activities the night before entailed, all the while looking around the room and ignoring the cartoon she had been watching.

Finally, she sighed and said, "I really need to find a book on conversation starters. I just don't what know what to say to you that's interesting."

Oh, my. Poor thing! She just wanted to talk with me, and didn't know what to say!

Posted in The Christian Life

Remember that editing project I was working on months ago (yes, back when I abandoned my blog yet again -- what of it?)? Well, I received the book in the mail yesterday!

The paper I was editing was published as an appendix to a reprint of "The Battle for the Bible" by Harold Lindsell, which was originally published in 1976 through Zondervan. This version is abridged (removing a few chapters on specific church movements of the 70s), and includes an intro by Chuck Smith, founder of the Calvary Chapel movement. His brother Paul is the one I was working with, and our paper is found in the back of the book. They put my name on the title page as the editor of the appendix.

My name has been in the paper more times than I can count, and some of my work for them doesn't even get an official byline, so I've probably had a few hundred of my articles, stories and ads be published locally. This, though, is way more cool. In a book!

They did a press run of 3000 books, hoping to give them out at the various pastors' conferences around the country. Right after publishing, the east coast conference ordered 2000! Wow. Humbling. The main conference is next month; at this rate, they're going to need to print more in a hurry. We'll see what they do.

I could care less about my name being in lights on some marquis. I'd much rather see it in print! Now to prepare for the backlash from the other side ... pray that God gives us wisdom and compassion.

OK, OK, already. I'm sorry I've ignored you for so long. Please forgive me.

That good enough?

Posted in Teachers Corner

My dd just informed me that the pinecones are popping! If you don't know about this, check my post on it from last year.

Hooray!

Posted in Family Life

This evening I had one of the most traumatic experiences in my life. I've had several, none of which you really want to hear about. Come to think of it, you may not want to hear about this one either.

We had a batch of chicks hatch last year, and now that they're all grown up, they fly very well. In order to protect them from dogs and coyotes, we have a 100SF strawbale coop which opens into a 1/2-acre, fenced pasture, where our flock of 6 geese, 3 ducks and roughly 15 chickens live. If they can fly, they aren't safe. So about once a year, we have to clip the outermost feathers on their wings.

Now, we've learned from past experience that trapping them all in the coop after dark is the easiest; we then corner them, clip them, and toss them out into the pasture while we catch the rest of the flock. They tend to be quietly roosting, half-drugged from melatonin or its chicken-equivalent, and thus fairly docile. Normally they're this way. Tonight they were not.

The three of us barricaded ourselves in there, dd at the small chicken door to the pasture, armed with a screen and a fear of flying chickens. Warranted, considering what came next. Fifteen angry birds began to fly over our heads, dive-bombing us as they tried to find a way out. Several hens seriously thought they could get through the screen and made a horrible racket letting us know how upset they were at not getting through. Our poor girl began screaming as the wings and claws flew in all directions. We'd finally catch one, and it would squeal like a stuck pig until it realized we weren't hurting it; but then it would scream again when we dropped it outside the warm coop into the blackness.

Part of the way into the flock, we caught one of our new roosters, and through the cloud of dust, we were admiring his beautiful feathers. Suddenly he let out a shriek, and caught me across the cheekbone with a wing. Let me say, that was two hours ago and it still hurts. But that wasn't the traumatic part.

We were down to two little hens huddled in a corner behind a stack of boxes, and I crawled back there to scare them out. I managed to get a handful of tail feathers on one of them, and as I was trying to get a good hold on her, the other flew up and tried to land on my head. I managed to hand off the first one to my hubby, simultaneously trapping the second one with my head against the wall of the coop. That was a tricky move; I was pretty proud of myself. I reached up to grab her, catching her throat on one side, and a leg on the other.

Now, remember that we're coughing up lungs in the dust, I've been beat up by a rooster, and I broke at least one nail. I'm already having a bad night.

As I pull the hen up over my head, my dear hubby says, "Ooh! She's throwing up!" Yes, that's what I said. In my hair, down my neck inside my coat, all over my hand and arm. She's fine; thanks for asking. I'm not.

AAAAAUUUUUGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!! I don't remember anything else as disgusting in my life! And I don't get grossed out easy, either.

So, we're standing on the back porch, commenting on how we need face masks next time. My husband notices that I'm covered in dust (somehow momentarily forgetting that I'm also covered in chicken puke), and begins to beat it off the front of my coat. This seemingly kind and helpful action was instead rubbing it into my neck and making me ill. I don't think I've ever made it from the back porch to the shower in that short of a time frame ... ever.

Oh, the joys of animal husbandry. Next time I'm wearing a bio-hazard suit.

Posted in Teachers Corner

I was so unbelievably proud and excited for my little girl today.

This morning, in reading Genesis where God asks Abraham to offer Isaac as a sacrifice, she caught on to the typology! Seems like such a ridiculous thing, but I believe it shows that she's understanding the link between the OT and the NT, prophecy, and the theme of the Bible in general. I watched her eyes light up when she made the connection between Isaac and Jesus, Abraham and God the Father, Mount Moriah and its later name -- Golgotha, the three day journey home that doesn't mention Isaac, the missing lamb sacrifice that Isaac was to replace, and the substitutionary ram in his place. I know I've said it before, but this is why I homeschool!

The other event of the day was venturing out for a bike ride (yes, it was over my temperature threshold of 50 degrees, so I agreed that I was going to die of hypothermia). She was terrified to ride a bike two years ago, then interested and slowly progressing last year until I broke my ankle in May, and now finally excited. So we loaded up the gear and headed for the old airport roads a couple of miles away. The excitement turned to frustration and crying, though, but mostly because she's more of a drama queen and less of the tough girl than she thinks. But by the end of the trip, she was riding for 80 to 100 feet at a stretch, and starting and stopping on her own. Hooray! Maybe now we can all start losing some weight...

Oh, and I have to mention that we were out there before the public school kids were released from their institutions, and that we nearly got stopped in a school zone on the way home. Fortunately the officer knew we were pulling out in the middle of the zone, couldn't see the sign, and didn't see any kids yet, so we didn't know. He reminded us with a gesture as we went by, without stopping us. I guess that's one drawback to homeschooling -- we don't know when the others are going to and from school. But I'll take that anyday!

Posted in Teachers Corner

I am getting a recurring message from multiple sources lately that I can't ignore anymore. I've come across it in the Word, in talks from homeschool and church leaders, and even in conversations I've just "happened" to have lately.

It all points to one thing -- my job is to teach my daughter about Jesus, first and foremost. To teach her about His ways, His principles, His commands of us, His mercy. To teach her how to apply that and remember that in her everyday life.

I've been spending too much time trying to cram in all the traditional school subjects. She balks, makes excuses, gets distracted by everything from the weather to music to the trains that rumble by multiple times a day. She eventually gives up all hope of completing the task, because Mom's already too frustrated to have patience with her. Not every day, but too many.

So, we've changed our tactic. I know, seems like I can't stick to anything for more than two weeks, but we're liking this. Everyday we start out with her spelling and grammar starter -- one of those little flip calendars that has a mini-activity for each day. We do this over breakfast, using her little whiteboard at the table for writing suggestions.

Next, we read the Bible. She decided she wanted to read through the Bible in a year (I think I mentioned that in my last post), so her reading schedule is posted on the wall of the classroom and she marks it off every day when we're done. It takes us about an hour to read the chapters and discuss them, talking about how to apply the lessons in them to her (and my) life.

Then she does her spelling. This child has an excellent vocabulary, but her spelling doesn't exactly match up with her big words. She completes a unit of twenty words every two days (her schedule, not mine!), and gets practice writing and alphabetizing in the process.

After that, each day has its own topic. Mondays are langurage arts (vocab, italics handwriting, grammar, word roots), Tuesdays are math (she's in a wonderful phase where she's covering everything from addition to division to graphing to algebra), Wednesdays are science (today we covered weather -- for the hundredth time but at her request -- and made rain inside the house -- read the current issue of TOS for the instructions), Thursdays are history (I've talked about the books we're using in a recent post), and Fridays are arts and crafts (oh my, all the directions we can go with that).

I guess I'll add in the character development, manners and home ec stuff here and there, but maybe she'll agree to do those the weeks Daddy works on Saturday. And, of course, she's gearing up for planting her flower and vegetable gardens, so we'll have to work that in somewhere too. Oh, and we're reading from Kids of Courage on Sundays after church.

She's already happier with this schedule. We went for a family walk this afternoon (unheard of, but mostly because I am cold-blooded and need greater heat in order to get me to venture outside), and she was able to play with a neighbor friend for a while too. She's built targets out of big markers and rulers, and then shot them down with Nerf dart guns. She's happy!

So, we'll see if this works. Above all else, I guess I just need to focus on God's command to teach her His way instead of worrying about the state's screwed up priorities.

Posted in The Christian Life

I don't know why I have this kind of writer's block. I have years' worth of notes and studies I've done that I can pull out and bring in here. I read all the time and have amazing (to me, anyway) thoughts about these readings that I can share. But somehow, when I sit down to the computer -- and sometimes even when I'm just thinking about sitting down to the computer -- I can't seem to come up with anything to say. How does that work?

I did get invited to edit and write for Pastor Paul. We're trading emailed versions of the paper as each item gets corrected. I suppose this will ensure that we pay our internet bill on time. This paper will be used as an introduction to a reprint of a book that hasn't been published in 30 years. Then I may have the opportunity to help him write up information on a regular basis for the pastors. I know my typing doesn't express it clearly enough, but I'm ECSTATIC!!!! Wow. What God has planned is never what you expect.

So, in deciding that the best way to prepare yourself to write is to read -- a lot -- I'm reading all sorts of things ... the Bible, books on the Christian walk, books and magazines on homeschooling, Christian novels, old books (like Jane Austin), and ministry newsletters and websites. I'm listening to nearly as much, from news with a Christian worldview to home educators' seminars (thank you, Dana!). The interesting thing I'm finding is that, no matter what the source, the materials I've surrounded myself with involve either the inerrancy of Scripture (and/or how we apply that Scripture if we really believe it) or just simple truth in general (as in the social ills portrayed in Pride and Prejudice). Even our deacon who taught church yesterday (our pastor and wife should be home from vacation today) touched on this subject.

This morning, my dd and I decided to try to read the Bible in a year. We found a website (actually, it's Answers in Genesis) where you can create your own reading schedule, using various formats and starting dates. So, today was the first three chapters of Genesis. My little one was commenting on how evolution differs from the Creation account. I was able to begin teaching her about trusting the Word, partly because of another conversation we had last night. We had spent some time at Voice of the Martyr's Kids of Courage site, and were reading about the Muslims in Morocco and around the world. We read that less than half of the Christians who claim that they read the Bible (a very small number already) also believe that it's the inerrant Word of God! My little one was appalled.

How can we call ourselves Christians -- followers of Christ -- and yet not read or believe what He says in the Bible? And yet so-called Believers are falling for the teachings of Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, and even Oprah Winfrey -- that the Bible is irrelevant, outdated, flawed and outright NOT the Word of God Himself. My heart grieves for them. They're getting lost in a deception straight from Satan himself, one that is extremely difficult to explain to them while they're immersed in such an overwhelming "experience." Without the foundation of the Word, no experience is accurate and no freedom is true.

I know I'm probably preaching to the choir, but it's so prevalent these days. I can only pray that God protects our minds and hearts, and opens our eyes to the lies that lead us astray. Sorry I'm being so heavy today, but this is such a heavy burden. Ask Him for wisdom, and He will give it to you -- James 1:5.

Posted in The Christian Life

I caught something today in Hosea 4. Verse 6 says, "My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge..." Now, how many times do we hear people (I think I've even said it) say that this says that we need to know as much as possible about any sort of plan, because we're doomed to fail if we don't know what is or has gone on.

That's not what this passage is about. The context is tied up in judgment of Israel for their sins, and specifically here for the sin of the priests. This is a statement to the priests, who have refused to teach the people about God and His ways, that they too will be taken down when God deals with Israel. Verse 1 says God has a legal complaint against Israel on a number of counts, one being that there is no knowledge of God in the land. Having told the people several generations earlier to "teach their children" His ways, to remind them constantly of His precepts, to tell them how He brought them out of Egypt and out of the wilderness -- here God brings this transgression of His own command before them, and then lays out the judgment.

Interesting. So our kids "are destroyed for a lack of knowledge" about God! I don't know what that says to you, but it tells me that my little one is right where she belongs, learning about God, His ways, and His love for her every day -- not just on Sunday. It also tells me that I need to keep it up, even ramp it up; last thing I'd want is for her to not remember Him and then be chastised by Him all because of my failings.

It also tells me what kind of knowledge is important. Not just sucking up every bit of news that comes on, researching any other topic to the Nth degree, reading just to be reading (though all of those have their appropriate place, and for a limited amount of time) -- my desire for knowledge should be centered on learning more about Him.

That's my thought for the day.

Posted in The Christian Life

I sent off the corrected copy today. I can't wait to see where this goes.

I get an email from him the other day. Said he had been given permission by this scholar's family to publish his books, and that he believes I'm a vital link in that process. Wow. Humbling. And exciting at the same time.

I called to talk to my mom, mostly because my hubby was already asleep for the night, and she reminded me of a conversation we had over ten years ago. God had been very clear that I was not to go into an architectural firm, that He had something better for me. After throwing a royal fit, I began to ponder what talents He had given me, and what He might have for me to do.

Not expecting all the wonderful things I could never have dreamed of, like my beautiful daughter and homeschooling and writing cancer stories for my local newspaper and all the other odd things I've done in the last decade, I had come up with something involving writing and architecture. Mom reminded me that we had actually discussed the idea of editing for some periodical, possibly an architectural one.

Now, here, after all these years, suddenly I get a carrot dangled in front of me. What's the possibility that I get to edit, not in the physical architecture world, but in the spiritual architecture world -- building up the Body of Christ? I hope this is it, and I'd trust in Him even if it wasn't, and I'm anxious too -- can I really do it? This isn't the local paper, even with it's millionaire publisher and high-tech press. This is a world-wide, Christian publishing company -- and God very clearly gave me a divine appointment with the man who could get me involved.

Oh, how I hate waiting for a clear answer. Let's see if I'll even be able to focus on writing until I get a response.

Posted in The Christian Life

This last week, as I mentioned yesterday, I attended the Pastor's and Leader's Conference for our church movement for all of the Northwest Region of the United States. Wonderful event, and God spoke to me in so many ways. I wanted to share with you my favorite.

On the drive to Spokane, I was listening to John Loeffler's radio show on CD (you'll find a link to his website on my side bar under Steel on Steel, I believe). He was discussing the problems with the emergent church and seeker church movements, and mentioned yet again the classic work by Francis Schaeffer. I've wanted to read this book for quite a while, but always seem to forget to put it on my shopping list; the man spoke of the direction the church was taking and where it would end up, much of which is coming to pass today.

That afternoon, I saw again a gentleman I met last year by the name of Paul Smith. If you're familiar with Calvary Chapel, he's the brother of the founder of our movement, Chuck Smith. Paul is a sweet, grandpa type, with a shy smile, deep intelligence, and a heart for his Savior. I didn't get to talk to him until the second night, and that's a story in itself. A friend from my church had invited me to stay at her mom's place with her in Hillyard, and made sure to show me how to get there the first night from the Spokane church; this night owl needed to get there on my own, while she went home as soon as we let out to be with her family. After she left, I then decided to go back into the side hall (where all the books, CDs and other info tables were) to look again at a new textbook on apologetics for kids (more on that another day). This particular lady left after half an hour, so I moved on to Paul's table to peek at whatever books he might have available.

The background on him involves the structure of our movement. We are a loose band of churches with the same beliefs and basic format, unlike denominations such as the Assemblies of God, which have a clear church hierarchy and national office. So, for us, the publications, books, and general information department, called Calvary Chapel Outreach Fellowship, serves to link us all together. Hence Paul being present at this conference.

On his table, was a DVD of Francis Schaeffer with the same title as his classic work. I asked the man behind the table if it was just a collection of talks that Schaeffer gave on the subject, or did it actually include the text as well. He didn't know, and called Paul over to give me what info he knew. We ended up in a fascinating discussion of church history, current church movements, and the recently released papers of a scholar named Harold LIndsell. Paul suddenly stops and says, "Here, why don't I give you a copy of a paper I just wrote?" We continued the discussion for a while, then I left to go "home" for the night.

I only read half of the document before really needing sleep, but I was noticing typos and minor corrections that needed to be made -- call it my background doing proofreading, but things like that are very obvious to me. I concluded that he hadn't published it yet, and considered offering him my services in proofreading the next morning first thing. I fell asleep wondering why he had given it to me, and not someone else of greater stature, or at least greater age.

I didn't catch him again until the conference was over the next afternoon. More than 3/4 of the attendees had left already, and I thought I'd just check the side room one more time before leaving myself. As I turned the corner, he was coming right at me on his way out. He confirmed that he had not published it yet, and I asked if he'd like my help in proofreading it. I thought he was going to cry! He simply said, "That's an answer to my prayers!" He gave me his contact info, and we went our separate ways.

If you have been following my writing at all, you know that my heart is to write, and in fact, that seems to be part of the call on my life. The main problem I face is location; I'm a stay-at-home mom in a rural part of Washington, so how do I get to use my talents? I can write for my local paper, teach my local women's Bible study, do a little blogging here and there, but nothing on the kind of scale that I'd love to do. Here I get wrapped up in proofreading for a man involved in the distribution of Christian materials from California! Who knows where this will lead, but I see a bit of light through a doorway that I didn't notice before.

So, paper is proofed. I need to mail it off, and see what happens from there. God's ways are truly mysterious, above my own, and greater than I could ever ask or hope.

Posted in Family Life

Yes, it's been our first week of vacation this year. No, we didn't go anywhere for that vacation; money is definitely an object standing in our way. Bummer. But I did get to go to a Pastor's and Leader's Conference, and I did get to vote in my precinct caucus, and we have had another sickie in the family. All in all, an interesting week.

The caucus is probably all I'll cover tonight, but I'll get to the rest later. What an experience!

Several months ago, we became involved in the Ron Paul campaign here locally. We both felt that we finally had someone to vote for, instead of always voting in a lesser of two evils. So, I attended a meeting last weekend (the first I've been able to make) where we talked about the caucus, and how to go about it.

For those of you outside Washington State, you need to know that our Republican party just adopted the caucus process to obtain 51% of the vote for the candidate to represent our party (though I tend to vote whatever I want based on who is supporting the Constitution at the time). Most people living in the state have no clue that this is how it worked this year. Thus, from our community (rural, yes, but not necessarily hicksville -- and we live in the county seat no less), we only had about forty people show up. Sad, really.

Anyway, I live in a very politically active neighborhood. The city wants us in their Urban Growth Area, and consistently pull stunts (even illegal ones) to wrest us from the county. So, up pops our little neighborhood and shows the county and other neighborhoods around us not to believe the city's tactics, and we get to keep our neighborhood a little longer. Thus, I was horribly disappointed that only three of us showed up from the greater neighborhood (this would include a section owned by the city after they annexed the railroad right-of-way beside our house to get past us!) -- only three of us, and I was one! (My hubby was home with our sick dd, thinking I was more on top of the info about our candidate anyway.)

It turned out okay. Our neighborhood/precinct was allotted three delegates besides our precinct officer (who, BTW, just had brain surgery for cancer -- please keep Vicki in your prayers). So, guess what? I'm now a delegate to our county caucus in March! How do I end up getting roped into stuff like this?! Actually, I'm very excited and honored, even though it was kind of a railroad job. And as part of all this, I get to vote on the party platform of our county and our state -- what an incredible opportunity to affect the state of our government! I like this -- I can be involved without running for office (not my thing).

By the way, in our county Republican vote, Ron Paul took 31%, McCain took 27%, then Romney, and then Huckabee (sorry, I can't remember the other numbers at the moment).

All in all, an excellent experience, one I would suggest taking your kids to next year, or even this year if your state hasn't had their caucus yet. Remember, we don't have any right to complain if we don't vote. Stay in the game.

Posted in Teachers Corner

I've always said that I like the phase where you can begin to reason with children. I used to think that was about kindergarten age; but I'm thinking I'm liking age 8 even better.

We're pretty much just doing basics at this point -- math, spelling, vocabulary. I'd say she's about on par with her public school peers in the latter two, and far beyond them in the first. In math and vocab, we're using leftover texts from the local school district; dh's aunt is a TA and brings us all sorts of goodies at the end of the year. In spelling, we're using a used text from another local homeschooler, and I'm enjoying the scripture verses tied to each word list. We also tackle italics handwriting with Getty-Dubay books on an infrequent basis, but hopefully we pick that up a bit more regularly from now on.

On Fridays, we try to do an art day. She wants to be an artist, so I'm trying to teach her all I know. We have several texts -- How Great Thou Art, Busy Teacher's Guide to Art Lessons (one of my favorites -- check it out), Children's Art Journal, stuff off the internet, several random "try to draw this" kids' books, Draw-Write-Now's, and my own art background. Our major stumbling block in this subject -- which causes much frustration on both sides -- is her lack of discrimination. Improvement requires a critical eye, and she doesn't have one yet. We'll get there, but right now she's too impatient and prideful to get that she needs to work harder if she wants to get better.

On Saturdays that Dad works (and there aren't social activities that we need to get to, like birthday parties), we do history. She loves this subject and can't get enough of it, but we can't seem to do all the basics and still have enough time to do any in-depth learning in the history department. We're using about five main texts, but we've only used two so far -- Streams of Civilization and The Story of the World. I like the format and detail of the first, and I've seen Susan Wise Bauer in person and appreciated her tactics in the latter. The other two books are The Greenleaf Guide to Old Testament History, and Ancient Civilizations and the Bible -- from another one of my favorite speakers, Diana Waring. The fifth text is, of course, the Bible. After diving into history at the Renaissance because of an art lesson we did, dd decided she wanted to go back to the beginning -- literally. (She has a touch of the melancholy personality like her mother.) Another reason we haven't made much progress is because of that very personality trait; one project involved burying some objects for her to dig up and learn about archaeology. The weather got in the way before that could happen, and I haven't wanted to give it up for now and move on. I guess we'll just review that part in the spring when this nasty winter is over. (Yes, I just heard last night that our governor has declared a state of emergency for our side of the state. I hate winter.)

Other stuff just happens as it happens. She has a lot of educational games, and a whole list of mother-approved websites she can access -- and does almost daily. She reads incessantly, and classics as well as fluff (she just got hooked on Babysitters Club, though Geronimo Stilton and Pony Pals are still high on the list). We try writing assignments now and then, but they take so much effort on my part to keep her on task; maybe when her handwriting gets better we'll both enjoy it more, but I know I'm going to have to do more training in the story-writing arena. Then again, maybe it's just the writer in me that's a little impatient with her.

Science is another haphazard subject. We have an extensive collection of texts in this area, and she's often found devouring them. We also end up with many kits, like volcanoes, soda pop, glow-in-the-dark geodes, and growing crystals (that's a disturbing one, BTW -- it uses the same little "absorbers" as disposable diapers, and somehow I can't get past the way I came to be familiar with them in the first place!). We watch quite a bit of Discovery Channel, How It's Made, etc, but I realize I will soon need to do a bit more organized study. And plenty more hands-on, which is where I need dh's help. He's just better with some of that stuff. (See, Love? I can admit that I have a fault. Just one, though .... Well, maybe two ....)

So, as I said earlier, I like this phase. She's asking questions, processing it all through, and then spitting out something akin to a reasoned response. Like the other day, when she told me that I must not have had s-- for eight years or I would have had another child. Oh, how I love her! This morning, though, she asked why I didn't have to do as much practice on fractions, and I told her that I had learned them well enough 25 years ago. She actually sat down and figured out how old I would have been then! Wow! Progress! That just made my morning!

So, that's where we are. Highly unorganized, but success is being accomplished. That's all we ask, right?

Posted in Family Life

Yeah, I've been away from the blog this week. I have all the typical excuses -- we've been sick, very busy, family responsibilities, etc. But this one takes the cake.

The dog chewed through our internet cable.

Honestly.

Lucky he didn't find the power cable instead. But nonetheless, we were without internet for about 24 hours until we discovered the problem. Should have seen dh's face; anger has never been more apparent! Fortunately he had intended to go into electronics before chef school, so he was able to fix it until we can get the tools needed to do the job properly.

Now we have to figure out the most efficient way to train the mutt to stop chewing on everything. He's taken out hoses, bottles of motor oil, bags of potting soil, even a dropped bottle of willow tincture. He even regularly eats grapes off our grapevines, and they're supposed to be lethal to dogs. Maybe he's indestructible... hmm.  Then maybe the power cable won't do anything to him.

Better not test that theory.

Posted in Family Life

I'd like for you all to meet a few people. First, my hubby is now blogging here, or soon will be. He is going by SDP45 -- a train thing, if you're clueless as to what that means, like me.

Next, my mom and dad are going under the name "paintbrushpapa" in reference to my daughter; I asked them to come on and leave her messages. I don't know that they'll be blogging, but they have a presence here now in the least.

And then there's the Treasure Hunter. I can't reveal the identity of this person (though I may have in a past post somewhere), but suffice it to say she is very close to the family. She visits/calls/mails maps to my dd now and then, which send her on a treasure hunt for some trinket or other. She too was asked to comment on dd's blog, and so has a page here now too. Again, who knows if she'll do any blogging, but maybe we'll be able to convince her to do so when some of dd's cousins get to blogging.

So, in the least, please pop over to my dh's blog and say hi. You'll find his link at the bottom of my friends list. Thanks!

Posted in Family Life

Well, the girls are now in my in-laws' custody until the case in March. It will be a long five weeks, but at least the kids are with family.

The case itself is going to be nasty, according to the lawyer. Not surprising -- the CPS ladies are real manipulators. I ended up having a bit of an argument with them over some very improper questions they were asking just before walking into court, all meant to further their case rather than to help the girls' placement. Leave it to me to take on an untouchable agency, but it was clearly coming from ulterior motives.

My MIL is going to be homeschooling them until then; it's easier and cheaper than putting them back in the Christian school in our area for just a few weeks. I'm hoping she gains a better understanding of the whole process through this; she's a licensed music teacher (retired) and only slightly supportive of our efforts. But it will be good for the girls to be at home with Grandma for a while.

So thanks for your prayers, and please continue to pray for the whole situation. We're far from done.

Posted in Family Life

Good morning, all.

I need to request prayer for my SIL's family. Her children were taken from school yesterday by CPS. The hubby has had a shaken-baby incident in his past -- about 15 years ago, but hasn't had an incident since. He has, though, dealt with drugs and anger issues, though the anger issues generally stem from CPS' continual assault on him. (I do know about fears of abuse -- I have been trained in domestic abuse advocacy. But this is not the case with this family and with these two little girls. The school counselor even agrees.) CPS has continued a major assault until this week when my SIL told them to back off because there was no active case.

The girls are in an undisclosed location, instead of being sent to us or my in-laws. CPS claims there's no one to send them to, but had spoken with my in-laws the day previous. They lied in their information to the judge for the warrant. They've lied to the state representatives, the state ombudsman, police and to the school as well.

These girls are very family-oriented, and the 5yo is very shy. The 11 yo has health issues too.

Please pray that the lawyer's experience dealing with CPS' abuses in the past will give him a good foundation and that God will give him wisdom. Pray that the girls will be comforted; I've been praying that He send them an angel or a Christian caregiver to help them. Pray that the parents trust Him to take care of the situation. Pray that the girls will be allowed to come stay with family right away, if not back to their own mother. (BTW, the father is visiting daily, but is not living in the home at present.)

My SIL meets with the lawyer today at 4 pm, and the hearing is Friday at 4 pm.
I know you don't have enough info to simply take sides, but if you know me, you know I am very protective of children's safety but also of freedoms. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that these girls are safe with their father. Just pray and we'll hope together that God's will be done.

Thanks.