Schoolgirl angler nets record catch that's twice her size and weighs 14stone - This is an amazing story! This young English girl has broken the world's record too!

It is hard for me to believe that we started homeschooling 7 going on 8 years ago... My son, Jack, will be entering 8th grade next year and Katrina will be entering 4th grade. Where does the time fly to? I was recently looking through some old photos which reminded me of numerous field trips, group events, and just plain fun we have had over the years. Each year, our routine is a bit different. The last two years we have become very involved in a 4-H Homeschool group that meets twice a month and completes other activities as well. We miss the meandering park days from when the children were younger and periodically, some of us will try to set those up, but the need of homeschoolers now seems to be different than it was just 7 years ago.

Sometimes, I can't help but wonder if that is really a good thing? I mean, in the beginning people seemed more carefree about teaching their children and not pushing them so much. Now it seems like everyone wants to get their kids involved in this activity or the other. Are we truly homeschooling our children, or are we busy trying to keep us with the Public School kids that come to visit?  I think it is wonderful for children to have opportunities, but I think we should all remember that the best opportunity of all that we should make sure they have is the opportunity to be children.

When the life expectancy was 30, then children had to grow up much more quickly. Now average life expectancy is around 70 or so. Which means that once a child reaches adult hood (arguably somewhere between 18 and 21), they still have another 50 years ahead of them for work and following their interests. So, don't forget to let your kids be kids now while they still can, because those grown up days are coming soon enough!

Just popping in to say hello. I rarely write on this blog anymore since I chose to go with my own domain name, but I like to stop in periodically. I still get comments (a few each month) on past articles I have written to do with nature. I wish I had more time to blog more these days (I don't blog a lot on my other blog either), but life has turned, and my time is being required elsewhere.

I still have fond feelings for the HSB community. I met so many neat people here that I still keep up with.

Just an update. Remember for more regular posts, come check out my new spot on the web at Melissa's Idea Garden.

Sorry, I have been away, but life is busy with homeschool, home activities, social activities, class, church, fundraisers, field trips and visitors. I think that about covers it!

Let's see...Homeschooling is going pretty well. We have gotten through about 6 chapters of Story of the World. Jack is learning about the Human Genome and Katrina is studying about classifying living and non-living things. We are learning grammar, spelling, and of course, lovely math. Piano is going well and they are getting back in the groove of things after not having practiced as much as they should over the summer.

We are busy doing some odds and ends around the house. As you saw in photos last week. This week, the appliance repair man came. Parts are on order to fix the freezer. The cost of the dryer repairs was almost as much as a new dryer, so we got a new dryer. Our old one had a computer 'board' on it and I wanted to get away from that. It was 14 years old and for the extra 26 dollars we paid for the brand new dryer, I am happy. I also purchased a small outside storage shed (but I can't tell you why just yet). We are also expecting a lot of packages coming in the mail in the near future.  But again, can't share about that just yet. All of those calls and ordering and researching take up time.

Social Activities - One of my goals for this year is to make sure that we spend time every week getting the kids to meet with other children. So Wednesday afternoons we go to Bedford for park day (about 4 hours out of our day). Sunday evenings, the kids have Awanas (I spend 40 minutes driving to and from to take the kids and bring them home). Every other Thursday afternoon we have 4-H meetings and the other Thursday afternoons we go to the library. Monday afternoons are piano lessons. And then I am trying to get them together with friends on the weekends. This involves driving at least 10 minutes to the closest friend or as much as 30 minutes to those friends that are further away. So as you can see, social activities take up a lot of time with just the driving.

I don't think I have mentioned that I have gone back to school. I am taking an Intro Paralegal Class. My class meets every Wednesday night from 7 - 9:40. And it takes me about 30 minutes or so to get there. It usually ends earlier. I love the class and I am learning a lot, but that is another chunk of time used up, plus there is the class work. This past Wednesday I took my first test and turned in my first writing assignment.

Of course, church fills up part of Sundays. First with church in the morning and then Awanas in the afternoon. To add to that, I am in charge of creating the weekly children's bulletins and I am one of two people in charge of fund raising for the youth for their Bible Camp next summer (and I really, really hate fundraising).

We just went on a field trip this week to a wonderful place called Homestead Creamery. They have some of the best ice cream....yum, yum, yum.... We also visited a dairy farm, bottle fed a calf, and saw the milking parlor.  And then we visited Booker T. Washington National Park.

For  pictures of the field trip, you can see them on Flickr.

I am also working on setting up two field trips for my homeschool group. One Johnson's Apple Orchard and one to the Old City Cemetery

This last weekend my mother and father-in-law were here for a visit. On Saturday we had a cookout here. Daniel's sister's family came, Bruce, Ryan, Charles, Joann, Daniel's uncle and wife, Daniel's cousin's family and our neighbor, Ashley.  It was a lovely afternoon. We also met Tess and Johnny in town on Tuesday evening for dinner before they headed back to Florida.

So as you can see life has been busy. Blogging has definitely taken a back seat. But I will write and visit when I can. Hope all of you are doing well!

I blogged here at HSB for about a year, but then due to technical issues and a desire to have a blog that was linked to my name  (I may use it for some business ideas I am thinking of) I started a blog up elsewhere. You can come visit me at Melissa's Idea Garden . I don't have the time to move my many posts from this blog to my new blog and there are a lot of great posts here. I still get comments and visitors to my HSB blog and I have a lot of HSB friends. So, I try to post here periodically.

Be sure to visit my new blog. I still share interesting animal, archaeology, and astronomy stories as well as posts about my family, homeschooling, and our travel adventures. I also share book reviews and movie reviews.

     IMPORTANT: Below is a review that I wrote regarding a book I recently read. This contest is taking place on my other blog, but if you want, you may also comment here and I will pool all of the comments together when I have my drawing on the 11th.  This is a wonderful book and would be a terrific edition to your living history book collection!  BTW, For some reason in a couple of spots, I can't get the font size to change. Don't ask me why. It is changed where I am typing it, but when I preview it, it isn't. Sorry, but I don't know what to do about it.

How does one define the word 'veteran'?

    Originally, the word veteran meant "a person of long experience" or skill. Derived from the Latin term veteranus. After the American Revolution the word veteran came to be associated specifically with former soldiers of old age who had fought for independence. As time went on, "veteran" was used to describe any former member of the armed forces or a person who had served in the military.

What is "Veteran's Day"?

     World War I, also known as the "Great War" was officially concluded on the 11th hour of the 11th Day of November, at 11 A.M. in 1918. On November 11th of the following year, President Woodrow Wilson declared that day as "Armistice Day" in honor of the peace. (The term armistice means "truce" or the end of wartime hostilities.) This day was marked with public celebrations and a two minute halt to business at 11 AM. In 1921, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was dedicated in Arlington Cemetery with a ceremony on November 11th. After this dedication, Armistice Day was adopted in many states and at the federal level as a day to honor veterans. This was made official in 1938 when an act of Congress made Armistice Day a national holiday. 

     In 1954, President Dwight Eisenhower changed the name of Armistice Day to Veterans Day. For several years in the 1970s, Veterans Day was observed in October by many states but in 1978 it was returned to November 11th. Today, Veterans Day is still observed on November 11th as a national holiday to honor all veterans of the United States Armed Forces. (If November 11th falls on a weekend day, the holiday is observed the following Monday.) Throughout the nation, Americans participate in parades, ceremonies, and observances to pay their respects to our servicemen and women, both past and present.

     Through the years, we have come to think of Veteran's Day as a time to honor the men and women who have been involved in the Armed Forces (past and present). But if we think back on the original meaning of 'veteran', wouldn't it also be appropriate to honor people of long experience or skill? We often seem stuck in the present or with our eyes turned toward the future and we neglect the past. We discount the wisdom of those who have gone before us and paved the way for us. We forget to take time to simply reflect and we neglect to take the time to learn. And we all know that 'he is doesn't know history is doomed to repeat it.'

     So this Veteran's Day, I am not just going to remember and honor the brave men and women who have been part of the United States Armed Forces. Today, I am going to remember a woman who was born on November 11th, 1926 at approximately 11:00 pm, Anny Jeanne Neuman was born in Luxembourg. Anny was born 8 years after the war to end all wars had officially ended. The day she was born had been set aside to commemorate peace that the world hoped would last forever. For the first 13 years of her life, Anny grew up in a home where she was loved and nurtured by her hard working parents. She visited relatives in France. She was an inquisitve and happy child who was a light in her family's home. But before she reached her 14th birthday, she was fleeing for her life with her family from the invading German army.

     Anny and her family were not Jewish. They were Catholic. But in the initial invasion of Luxembourg, everyone was at risk of being shot on sight. They left behind virtually everything they owned to escape death in May of 1940. They entered France riding in the same type of cattle cars that would eventually be used to transport Jewish people and other 'enemies' of Germany to concentration camps. She had first had experience of what it was like to be in crammed in a train where there was standing room only for four days without food or water. When her family arrived in France, the French helped them as best as they were able, but they were under attack as well and supplies were scarce for everyone. They were given a place to live in while they were there. It was little more than a hovel, but they made the best of it.

     In September of 1940, Anny and her family were allowed to return home to Luxembourg under German rule. But it was not the Luxembourg they knew and loved. Fear marched the streets. Friends disappeared in the dark hours of the night. There were rules to be followed. Anny was told she could no longer associate with her best friend who was Jewish. Indoctrination took place in the school as the Germans tried in vain to turn the citizens of Luxembourg to their way of thinking Anny even had to go through a name change to make her name more pleasing to the German conquerors. Her father was forced to fly a German flag from his window, to ignore friends, and to follow the German rules. He did these things in order to protect his family and to ensure their survival. Anni (her new name) walked a careful line. She was deferential when she needed to be, but she also visited her Jewish friends in secret. She carried messages and packages for what one can only assume to be some type of underground network. She watched, she learned and during years of deprivation and loss, she never gave up. She never lost her sense of who she was or what was important.

     Eventually, the Americans came. And the hope that had kept the Neuman family alive (along with many others), was renewed. As the Germans were pushed back and countries regained their freedom, the Neumans rejoiced. Anni found love or maybe I should say love found her. Even though life was better now that the fear had been banished from the streets. It was still a struggle. Europe had been ravaged by war and it was going to take a long time for any sort of normalcy to return to this war stricken land. Food was still scarce as were jobs and all supplies.

       But Anni had dreams and the darkness of the occupation had not destroyed them, only reshaped them. And while she did not live happily ever after, she did way more than survive.

     I don't want to tell you the end of her story because that would be spoiling the book that I have to share with you. I do want to say that this book has taught me and touched me more than any book that I have read for a long time. While reading it, I felt much the way I did when I saw Schindler's List. I was reading about horrible things and because I was reading them through the eyes of Anni, I understood them way more than I ever have by reading history books in school. I saw this family triumph time and time again. I saw them not fall to bitterness as so many did. Instead they continued to struggle, to hope, and to dream. They helped one another and others as they could during some of the darkest days of our world's history.

     The book that I read was "The Meeting of Anni Adams: The Butterfly of Luxembourg". I won this book in September but was unable to read it until the last couple of week due to other commitments. Lonnie D. Story wrote the story of Anni Jeanne Neuman Adams. He wove in excerpts of history so we would know what was going on in the world beyond  Anni and her family.  This story will capture you and carry you along as you cry, fear, hope, and survive alongside the Neuman family. 

     We all go through periods of difficulties and how we get through them is a measure of our character and our outlook. Sometimes we feel like no one else has ever dealt with as much as we are. They wouldn't be able to survive! How can we be expected to be in a good humor with all that is going on. Let Anni and her family be your guide. Let their courage lift you up and let their survival give you hope. Read of their struggles, then compare them to your own. Share this book with your older children so they can get a good inside look at World War II. So much is glossed over and forgotten in today's history books. Don't let them forget. Let's prevent history from repeating itself.

     I wrote to Lonnie and told him how much I enjoyed the story and how I wanted to share it with others. I told him I planned to do a review of the book and that I wondered if he would be kind enough to bless one of my readers with a copy of The Meeting of Anni Adams The Butterfly of Luxembourg.

     He wrote back and said that in honor of Anni's upcoming 81st birthday, he would share not one, but five copies of this wonderful book with my readers. Each copy will be signed by Lonnie and Anni.  I am grateful. I am excited to be able to share this amazing story with you. And I look forward to hearing what you think of it when you are through.

     All you have to do is leave a comment below. I will close this contest at 11 pm on November 11th, 2007 in honor of Anni Jeanne Neuman Adams. Lonnie will be mailing the book directly to the winners. He said he can mail to U.S. addresses, France, Luxembourg and Belgium.

     UPDATE!!!!  Lonnie has emailed me Anni's email address. He said she loves to get email, so if you would like to send her birthday wishes, please feel free to contact her. Remember her birthday is November 11th.

Be sure to come and check out my main site for a bunch of neat opportunities to win in the month of October.

Around the 15th of October, I will be posting a review about Amy Grant's book, Mosaic and I have three copies to give away!

Linky Contest (this lasts until October 15th)

4-H Community Project for Soldiers in Iraq/Sticky Note #3 (this lasts until October 25th).

It's a Contest! It's a Product Promotion! Help Katrina Survivors! Have fun! Sticky Post #1 (this lasts the whole month of October.)

And from my friend's blog....she is actually giving away my products so it is another chance to win. These contests end October 5th.

Three Educational Ebooks - Bison, Ruby-Throated Hummingbird, and Komodo Dragon

A Recipe CD (over 460 recipes)

Wow! Wasn't Tiany's Open House wonderful! I got to visit so many awesome blogs! And I got to learn so much about how others go on their homeschooling adventure.

We have been having a great summer and started back to school on the 13th. With almost two weeks under our belts, we are doing great!  I had hoped to be further along with my CSS knowledge and getting a business up and running, but there is always just so much to do...

Hope everyone is well and has a great year. Don't forget to come visit me at my new blog where I post pretty regularly.

www.melissaomarkham.com

I have so much invested in this blog that periodically I want to check in just to keep the site up and running. There is so much interesting animal news and there are so many great photos that I hate to let it go! 

If you would like to come check out my new blog home, visit me at www.melissaomarkham.com.

Do you like reading and learning? Do you not have enough time in your day to sit down with a book, but you have some time while you are exercising, doing chores, driving to town when you wish you had something good to listen to? Audiobooks are very expensive when you buy them on cassette or CD, but have you thought about investing in an MP3 player or IPOD? My husband has an IPOD, and he loves it. He listens to college courses while he exercises. It helps get him through the exercise time and he learns at the same time!

At any rate, we have found a great site to download audiobooks from at a fraction of the cost that you would pay to buy the same books on 'hardcopy.' And just think, no shipping fees and no waiting for the book to arrive, you can get it right now!

This month they are offering 15% off if you subscribe to their newsletter. Obviously, there is not a lot of time left in the month, so be sure to hop on the offer NOW:)  The subscription to the newsletter has  added lasting benefits:

1. You get 15% off all the audiobooks you buy this month.
2. You will know the specials to be offered the following fortnight before they are displayed on the website.
3. Every month you will receive an opportunity to save even more on those specials and on our full audiobook catalogue.

They even have a free book you can listen to when you go visit the site!  And there are over hundreds of titles to choose from in every genre! You can even listen to a bit of the book before you buy! There are no monthly fees, no membership. Just great audiobooks for you to choose from! The AudioBookPlace is definitely a place to go visit! 

What a bizarre looking creature! This is a Goblin Shark and is considered to be a living fossil due to its resemblance of prehistoric sharks. It was captured last month when it became tangled in fishing nets. It had wandered into a bay. Usually Goblin Sharks live in the deep ocean and occasionally dead ones wash up on shore.  Unfortunately this one died in a few days.  A few days prior to its capture, a live Frilled Shark was also captured in Japan, only to die within days.  The Frilled Shark is also a rare sight because it spends most of its time in waters thousands of feet deep. They believe it may have been found because it was weakened or ill. It died within a few hours after being captured.

They are soooo cute! They are unnamed currently, but children are putting in suggestions and three winners will be chosen later this month. The winners will become the godparent of their cub. Photos from the Discovery Channel

More than 60,000 shortnose sturgeon now swim in the Hudson River. These numbers could mean that it will be the first fish to be removed from the U. S. Endangered Species List. Biologists say this shows that recovery can take place anywhere, not just in special reserves.