We're Rich!

Well, we would be if mucus were a hot commodity!

This time I started it - I thought it was just allergies. Wrong! Sorry guys, it's contagious! After 6 days of sleeping and honking, I'm finally better. Just in time for Zach and Bekah to be firmly into the sleeping stage. Zach got up this morning, had some breakfast, put some tunes on his head and promptly took over the green chair. He's been out cold ever since. Bekah just never emerged from her coccoon. Jesse is miserable but walking. Hannah and David are just trying to stay away from the rest of us.

I think Jesse gets the worst of this sort of thing. He needs me to do school - and I barely limped along last week. We'd work a little and I'd nap a while, work a little, nap a while. Now I'm ready to get back to it but he doesn't feel like it. I guess we can get caught up on the stories I couldn't read last week when my voice was gone.

It's a beautiful warm spring day - maybe we can make a nest outside under a tree and enjoy the day. A cup of tea, some books, warm breezes, birds and butterflies. Doesn't that sound nice? Jesse would add a few legos and maybe a snack and call it perfect! Let's do it!

Can't Recant the Rant!

OK, so I've been thinking about my reconstruction rant and I can almost hear a dear friend saying 'but they aren't the enemy...' And she would be right! Again! See, after all these years of hearing Truth and Love come out of the mouths of my Friends I can just go ahead and have the mental conversation and save the real ones for better things.

But, I can't ('won't' is more the thing but that doesn't rhyme nearly as well) recant the rant because the situation still stands. However I can make it clear that I know who the enemy really is!

I don't want to sound like I see a demon behind every bush - I don't! - but I also know that spiritual warfare is real and I'm convinced that these young people in my home are a prime target. Each of my kiddoes has trusted the Lord for salvation. Satan can't have them! But, he could derail them, send them off track, get their eyes off the Bullseye! (Thanks Bonnie!!!) NOT if I can help it!

So, here's my clarification: Those men I named and others who have followed, the homeschoolers who enjoy their books and agree with the teaching are not my enemies. Honestly I ache for them because I think they've been misled. I'm not a Bible scholar by any stretch of the imagination. If I'm going to err, may it always be on the side of Love. I don't believe we're here to bring this world back under the rule of OT law. God showed us that we can't be righteous that way. Jesus is our righteousness. And I agree with Mrs. - we can use these books to teach and learn discernment. Wolves in sheep's clothing beware!

Dawn

ANOTHER ONE!!!!!

I finished another Quilt!!!!! Yay!!! This one was for my grandma in PA!!! I finished it, then my
dad took it to her after he went to Washington D.C.

Here's me!!! And the quilt...

Isn't it Beeeutiful!!!!

Grandma Loved it!!!!!! :)

Now we are working on a pink, and blue, and green, and white one!!!!! I will put up pics when we are done, but that won't be for a while!!!!!

Bekah

Contest for a name...

After seeing what Rachel L. did with her leanto contest, I decided to do one as well!!! Soo, I have a squirrel that I finished a few days ago. Yes, I knitted it. :) But I don't have a name for him. :( So here he is!!!!!!



This is Mr. squirrel. :)

Isn't he cute!!!! look at that smile!!!




He even does tricks!!!!!!! OK...not really. but he does sit upside down!!!







Anyway, he needs a name. So if anybody has any ideas, please leave a comment with your idea!!!!! You can leave as many as you want!!!!! So have fun!!! You will have a week or two, so start thinking!!!




U Got A Name For Me?????



Bekah

Chewing On Words

'Tis the season... for choosing next year's school curriculum. And I've run into a snag. I'd like some meaty history books that tell the TRUTH! Seems like a simple request, doesn't it. However, I'm feeling seriously duped, misled, lied to, taken advantage of, get the picture?

All this time I've been fed the line that the Christian authors who write for the homeschool market were bringing back the best of the best, digging for the truth, scouring the pages of dry and dusty tomes to bring out the stories of the heroes of the past. That's probably true of some. But there are rats on the ship and to a large extent I believe that homeschoolers are the unwitting fleas feeding on their poisoned blood!

Who are the rats? Have you heard of Christian Reconstruction? If you haven't, it's time you did. The leaders of this movement are authoring the most highly recommended history, government and civics books that homeschoolers are reading. The names are familiar: R.J. Rushdooney, Gary North, Gary DeMar, David Barton, Mike Farris, George Grant. These men are very persuasive writers and speakers and have influenced countless others. Some don't embrace all of the teachings of the Reconstructionists (such as stoning Lawbreakers!) but pick and choose their favorites from the buffet.

Personally I like a good conversation about ideas. I'm open to having mine challenged and changed. I'm feeling so offended now because of how sneaky these guys have been - if it had ever been presented as an 'alternate view', I'd have considered it. It is presented as fact and it makes me madder than any evolutionist ever has!

Oh, and they've done something else that makes me mad! They're taking phrases that mean one thing to me, like 'Biblical world view' and when they use it, they mean something else like 'Reconstructionist world view'. GRRRRR! Whatever happened to honest communication? Isn't that the foundation of communication anyway - the sharing of ideas from one person to another? Isn't clarification of terms foundational to the idea of communication? These people call themselves Christians and then purposely subvert their meanings. No wonder the world thinks Christians aren't to be trusted!

Here are some links you can try. Or just Google Christian Reconstruction and you'll get plenty.

http://www.yuricareport.com/Dominionism/HistoryOfReconstructionMovement.html

http://www.rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/Psychology/cor/notes_on.htm
http://christianreconstruction.org/

Camping with Teens!

Last weekend we had the privilege of going along on the Thrive Youth High School Campout. We left Friday afternoon for Ocala National Forest where we took over the Kiwanis Camp for the weekend. We were blessed with absolutely perfect Florida weather and some really terrific kids!

We did a lot of cooking, eating, playing and studying God's Word. The theme of the weekend was our identity in Christ. My heart was filled with gratitude that these teens were able to hear teaching that is so essential to being able to function in a healthy way in this world. I didn't begin to understand my identity in Christ until I was in my early 30s and for these young people to be able to grasp that now is amazing!

Everyone worked hard - each student was part of a team that had cooking duty for one meal and clean up duty for another. All the teams had jobs on the last day in order to leave the camp in good shape when we left. Mrs. JLW organized the teams (thank you randomizer!) and the meals. We ate really well - cooked breakfasts, sandwich bar lunches, cooked dinners, fresh fruit for snacks!

Mr. L and Mr. W and young Mr. L prepared an orienteering course for our Saturday afternoon adventure. The students were grouped in 3s and sent out (after instructions, of course) on a mission to retrieve an important message from an operative. Along the way they had to be silent in order to avoid the aggressors. I'm happy to report all teams made it back with the message - although some did have contact with the aggressors!

Scary aggressor!

Any time the kids weren't in a teaching session or assigned a task, they were free to play. There was a horse shoe tournament, volleyball, frisbee, swimming, canoeing, board and card games - plenty to do!

Zach and Chico decided to go for a swim Saturday morning before breakfast - I think that was after a fishing trip in the canoe even earlier. They made the most of every moment. I watched them getting into the water early that morning - the photos are on Mrs. JLWs camera. Of course Zach fished but several others did too.

There are some special Circle camp out traditions that we enjoyed again this year. One of them is the Saturday night entertainment. Tali and Jessie once again made us laugh ourselves silly. Zach S. shared a song he wrote. All of the acts were entertaining. We had everything from contortion to beautiful music coming from an old, out of tune piano. What amazing kids! The thing that struck me during that event is how different but uniquely wonderful they all are!