If you have a little chef in your house, you might like this free download of the "Betty Crocker Cookbook for Boys and Girls."  It was originally published in 1975.  

If anyone is still checking on me...

Shane and I are planning an Above Rubies Family Camp for June 25-27, 2010 at Windermere Baptist Conference Center in Roach, MO att Lake of the Ozarks.  

We have a website set up with all the information, so please visit it and contact us if you're interested in more information.  Please join us and Colin and Nancy Campbell for a weekend of growing in God's Word and some family fun. 

Here is the link for the webpage for the Family Camp.  If you have questions or want to register for the camp, please let us know!

Shane sent me this article yesterday.   The basic premise is that if we have even fewer children, we can reduce the carbon footprint and save the planet!  So, if we have less than the 1.2 children we are already having in this country, then, what are we gonna save it for?  All the animals that will evolve in millions of years, so they can breath fresh air?  I don't believe I have seen anything more ridiculous in a long time. 

In other words, this article is saying... Let's kill all the humans so the animals can breath fresh air. 

Sometimes I think God forgot to give some people their brain...nuf said.

This week marked the earthly deaths of several famous people.  Ed McMahon died earlier this week.  Farrah Faucett and Michael Jackson died yesterday...

And also a man named Zared Zajicek.  You may be asking "Who was that?" I never heard of him... well  wait, and I'll tell you.

Let me first say that I don't personally know any of these people.  Never met Michael, although I remember the sweet child face singing "ABC" on TV and I did see his concert in the 80's at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, TN.  Never met Farrah even though I was a faithful watcher of Charlie's Angels.  Never won the Publisher's Clearinghouse Sweepstakes, so Ed never knocked on my door.  And neither did I know Zared. 

Princess asked me yesterday afternoon, why we have children.  What purpose do they serve?  They take away couple time, you don't get to work, etc.  We talked, and at one point, I asked her if she had ever heard the saying that goes something like "a business executive never wished he had spent more time at the office" 

After hearing that Michael Jackson died, I started thinking about this.  Yes, Jacko was a pop legend.  Yes, he was talented.  Yes, he was immensely popular.  And VERY eccentric.  But... in the end... he was alone and a lonely man.

Ed McMahon was legendary as well.  Know for "Heeeeeeeeeeeere's Johnny" and for being Johnny's sidekick for... how many years?  I honestly can't think of Johnny Carson without thinking of Ed McMahon.  But what impact for eternity did Mr. McMahon really contribute.  Yes, he helped Johnny bring humor to our lives but really? 

Farrah... well, what teen boy didn't you know in the late 70's that didn't have a copy of "the" poster hanging in his bedroom?  She was beautiful, she was witty, she was charming.   Her "partner" of 17 years was Ryan O'Neal.  Never married him.  Although I saw yesterday where he was "planning" to ask her once she was able to say yes...(nice save Mr. O'Neal).  I say big deal at this point... Again, she offered the world nothing of eternal value. 

And Zared. You won't read about Zared's life on Fox News.  Or hear Rush Limbaugh mention him.  Larry King has never heard of Zared.  But from the little I know of him (which is most likely as much as I really know about the other 3 people I wrote of) he was a man that was loved.  Zared was a young man of 23.  Newly married.  And had all of life ahead of him.  His new wife stayed by his side in the hospital while he fought for his life in the ICU after he fell off a roof earlier this week.   (You can read his story here  ).   His family and friends obviously adored him. 

Again, I am reminded of people like Heather Davis's beloved Eric.  David and Marsha Drews young son, Christian.   Joseph, a father of six precious children whose mother was called home a few months ago.  And many other's whose names will never be mentioned in Hollywood, or New York City, or by Rush, or Lary King... but whose names are engraved in the book of life for all of eternity.   

It really brings things into perspective.  What is really important?  Being know for inventing the moonwalk, wearing one white sparkly glove, "Thriller"  "Heeeeeeeeere's Johnny," being beautiful, posing in a provacative red bathing suit on a poster for all the teen boys with raging hormones to hang on their bedroom walls?

Or being a follower of the One True God.  Leaving family and friends behind that will mourn you because they knew you, not because you were some pop icon.  But because they really knew you and loved you. 

So which of these three were the "real" legend????

Just something to think about...

It's about that time.  Potty training time that is for Sweet Cheeks.  She is 3 1/2 --yep a little old by some standards, but was not ready last summer and I don't potty train in the winter months.  If you'll when she came home at 10 months from Liberia, she couldn't even sit up on her own.  And we weren't sure what medical needs were going to need addressed. So I think we've made significant progress... so I was searching for waterproof training pants to have on hand.  Apparently Walmart and Babies R Us (at least online) don't believe in carrying the "old fashioned" kind...  Maybe they believe that throwing millions more training pants is better for the environment... sorry bunny trail I don't want to go down...but I do have some ideas

So as I was searching I came across a contest onmommyworks blog.

She is giving away a pair of training pants from babybayrs  because she thinks they're great. 

So, of course, I get an entry for blogging about the contest.  Go check it out... they are really cute.

Where does the time go???? It seems like yesterday Princess was coming home... she is 13 today.  In a way, she's at the beginning of her legacy.  We purchased a hope chest for her a few months ago to give her in honor of her beginning journey into womanhood. 

This pic was taken at the Daddy/Daughter dance she attended a few months ago:

Happy Birthday sweet daughter!  May you continue to grow in grace and in the nurture and admonition of the Lord!  We LOVE you!

Go here to sign up for your free Lego Smart Creativity kit.  Use the kit to enter their contest through August 2009! 

Yes, homeschoolers are eligible...

As I signed online after getting home from church, I discoverd that George Tiller had been murdered this morning.  The internet is buzzing with talk of Operation Rescue or other pro-life organizations and people being accomplices to this murder because they stand for truth.  The other buzz is that pro-lifer's are rejoicing that Mr. Tiller is dead.  I want my position to be made clearly:

I am pro-life and I am not rejoicing at the murder of Mr. Tiller! 

Murder is a terrible thing!  Even the murder of a man who killed an untold number of innocent babies in the name of "choice"  Not only that, but I sit here pondering his eternal destiny. 

My condolences to Mr. Tiller's family.

Rosetta Stone is the fastest way to learn a language and has been the #1 foreign language curriculum among homeschoolers for a while — and you can WIN the *all new* version 3 Rosetta Stone Homeschool LATIN program… FOR FREE! This is the first year you can get Latin in the brand new Version III update.

This is a $259 program.  It is a computer based curriculum and Rosetta Stone will also include a headset with microphone, and a supplementary “Audio Companion” CD so you can practice lessons in the car, on the go, or where-ever! Students participate in life-like conversations and actually produce language to advance through the program. Rosetta Stone incorporates listening, reading, grammar, vocabulary and writing along with speaking and pronunciation lessons. For parents, the new Parent Administrative Tools are integrated into the program to allow parents to easily enroll up to ten students in any of 12 predetermined lesson plans, monitor student progress, grade completed work (the program grades the work automatically as the students progress- I love that!), and you can view and print reports for transcripts. Homeschooling a lot of kids at your house? This program is designed to enroll and track up to ten students (five users on two computers) and will work for nearly all ages — from beginning readers up to college students.

To win this most excellent Latin program copy these paragraphs and post them in (or as) your next blog post, and/OR link to the contest from your facebook page and/OR email the information to your homeschool support group – Then go to the original page http://Jeneralities.com and leave a comment saying that you’ve posted about, or have linked to, the contest. Please make sure the link works to get back to the original contest page when you post.