Sweetness...

So we could not afford (we chose not to afford!) to go to the circus this year. So I did the next best thing, I ordered the 2008 Ringling Brothers Circus DVD and we are going to have a circus night! We will have cotton candy, funnel cake and watch the "Big Top"! We have a cousin's night every few months so for the circus night it will be a cousins night. Amy was explaining to Emily about our circus night and Emily got excited. A few minutes later Amy told Kaitlin she could be a clown...and Emily said "No, to be a clown you had to look weird, not gorgeous!" Is that not the sweetest thing!!!!!

Going Green makes me see red and feel blue...

I have a healthy respect for the Earth, I mean I believe that God made our Earth, I believe God called us to care for the Earth, I dont believe what is happening to the Earth is Gods plan but Mans laziness! But really, should our entire worldview revolve around Going Green. I feel like Going Green is a made up holiday that Hallmark benefits from! I feel like it is a ploy, a gimmic, an "agenda". I know that there is truth to it, I have bought the Walmart "bag", I will absolutely get rid of my gas guzzling suburban just as soon as the quantum physic guys perfect teleportation! Beam me up Scottie! I will collect newspapers, or sign up for "paperless billing" online, I will plant a tree on ahbor day! But it is not the main focus of my life!!! Every show, store, movie, billboard and company is shoving "Green" down our throats! Didnt we already make it though the "save the Earth" phase a few years ago.. You know Kenny Rogers...WE ARE THE WORLD, WE ARE THE CHILDREN...we cut up six pack holders to save the turtles and boycotted tuna for ever! It is a phase and I for one am tired of it all the time.

Be responsible, be mindful of what you do, do your part but enough of it all the time 24/7!

End of rant.....

My new signature...

I am so proud! I have my own signature and I got the code and am able to post it! This for a person who is not computer savvy is a big deal! Yeah!

Repost from a fellow blogger...

from Notes from the Trenches...

Last night the kids went out to dinner at the China Buffet. At the restaurant there was a chart describing the Chinese zodiac, complete with descriptions of what it meant to be born under each sign.
My nine year old son is explaining it all to me.
“It was weird, Mom. My sign described me perfectly.”
“Really? What did it say?”
“It said people who are born under that sign are athletic, nice, and, um, I can’t really remember all of the words. But basically perfect… like me.”
“What about a crushing lack of self esteem? Was that one of them?”
“I don’t think so. And blonde. I am pretty sure it said blonde too.”

I am sure that would come as a surprise to a few billion Chinese.

Do you have ambition...

I have never thought of myself as an overly ambitious person, I don't have big dreams of the perfect house that is located on the perfect street and myself giving diner parties to neighboring senators! Is that ambitious..I am sure it is someones ambition.

I mean I want things out of life. I have desires, but getting "ahead"? I just don't think I am that way. I don't "keep up with the Joneses", I don't feel the need to excel at many things in order to gain this or that. I want to do things right, I want to do things well, I want order but not to be better than someone else. I also do not have an ambitious husband. He is not working 17 hours a day to get "X" promotion. So I am unversed with how ambitious people feel.

My thoughts came from the movie, The Other Boleyn Sister, which by the way is pretty good, although I cant promise historical accuracy without much investigation. Anyway, the father of the Boleyn girls is basically willing to sell his soul to the devil ( along with the virtue of his daughters) on the basis of ambition. His wife at one point of the movie says to her husband, "Since when did ambition become a virtue instead of a sin." Out of the whole movie this point stuck with me. It is true that ambition is sinful? Right.

Daily we push our kids, be good at this, be good at that. We instill in them the desire to be ambitious as if it is a good thing. What I don't think we do is along with teaching them to excel at things is to point out why we should excel at "x". We should push and strive to become WHO God wants us to be, the career He wants, the job He wants, the plan He has for our lives.

I want my children to succeed, I want my children to excel, I want my children to have good things in life. But with all that said I want them to excel at what God has for them, I want them to succeed in pursuing God and in turn live the life He set before them. I want my children to have good things in life, but not to think that those "good" things only are good if they have monetary value, or power behind them, or come with a status symbol attached to them.

So ambition bad... but striving for excellence good. Agree...

Carrie in Texas

Baking Part 2...

Okay, I am not a baker, it is a mix or nothin' in this household. To be honest even with the ease of mixes I still feel incompetent and rarely use them. I want to be able to bake. I want to have a well stocked pantry and the tools I need to do it! I am so far from that it is crazy. I looked up well stocked pantry and this is what was listed....

white flour
granulated sugar
brown sugar
powdered sugar
baking powder
baking soda
vanilla extract
mint extract
lemon extract
dried
herbs and spices
quick oatmeal
nonstick cooking sprays
cornstarch
baking mixes
cocoa
corn syrup
honey
chocolate chips
yeast
apple cider vinegar
white wine vinegar
olive oil
vegetable oil
canned fruits
peanut butter
jams and jellies
whole wheat flour
other whole grain flours
cornmeal
nuts
coffee
frozen doughs
filo dough
frozen patty shells and puff pastry

Okay a challenge to you bakers, please look over the list and let me know what else to include and feel free to send me easy (did you just read easy!) baking from scratch recipes for me to try! I will attempt the recipe, let my guinea pigs (my fabulous family) try them out!

Carrie a hopeful baker

Baking Part One...

Today Kaitlin baked brownies all by herself! This is a big deal, it was from a box (Thank you Duncan Hines) but we will keep working on basics and move into from scratch! She got out the supplies, mixed it, put it in the oven, timed it, removed it from the oven and cleaned up her mess! Wonderful, we are entering a new phase in our life...you know the one that has freshly made hot brownies all the time!

Carrie enjoying brownies in Texas

Butterfly update...

It is really hard to get a good shot of the caterpillars in the container and I don't want to take the top off. I got these pictures from another blog which is great, The Young Naturalist.

It is amazing how quickly they are growing. When they arrived the looked tiny and they are now three times as big! It has only been 4 days since they got here!

We will keep you posted!

Carrie and Kaitlin, raising butterflies in Texas

Our School room...

These shelves contain all my stuff and teacher manuals, and most of Emilys Kindergarten, I have them all neatly (Ha) in red buckets, the buckets are the only reason it looks neat.
This is Kaitlin's desk, Matt's is on the other side. I dont know why I didnt get a pic of it. It is very messy and there are more lego's than school supplies.
this holds school stuff, books, movies, nintendo, books on tape, and other misc stuff that again looks so PRETTY in my red buckets.
This is sometimes organized but mostly not. It holds craft supplies, manipulatives, games, and whatever else gets thrown in there!!! CATCH ALL, can I say that loud enough.

We are fixing to move things all around, because I cannot teach this way! It is stressing me and Dear Hubbie said well lets take a look and see what we can do...he is so sweet and methodical. I also have all kinds of stuff and ideas for the coming year! yeah!

So here is the before...

Carrie in Texas

Happy Birthday Amy...

Happy birthday to my wonderful sister...

Do you know you share a birthday with Matt Leblanc????

School week in Review...

Okay I am not going to go in details with page numbers or anything but here are the basics.

We did history, finally got to Christopher Columber (was I ever glad to hear about him!) We are close to being at the end of this year of history!

We did math, Kate and Matt both started on their Rod and Staff Math, which I have done 4 days with Kate and two days with Matt and I think I really like. Matt is actually more receptive to it but he also had a break from doing math and he tends to do better when we don't do a subject for a while and than he comes back stronger than ever...maybe the concepts have to marinate with him???

Emily did Phonics Pathways, worked on a lapbook I will show you later, she used her leapfrog this whole week and she doesnt just do the games, she put the pointer on each word and hears what word it is which I love. We are going through a set of scholastic readers, this week we did like and to. She loves to "read" a book.

We started our new Bible, it is Explorer Bible Study New Beginnings: Jesus life. I really, really like it. It is so basic, a short story, a few questions and I do have some activity sheets we will do on Fridays. We are also reading the actual Bible, I know what a concept, thank you Amy! We are starting in Matthew.

Kaitlin worked on English for the Thoughtful child and did proper nouns, one of the proper nouns was the name of William Wordsworth. The same day mom read something to Kate by William Wordsworth and Kate recognized the name. (I LOVE PEGS>>>) So we are doing a Wordsworth poem for her poetry notebook.

The kids did science at Mom's on Wednesday, we have one more week of weather. After we finish I plan for a break from science for two or three weeks than we start Chemistry! Which I am really excited about, I plan to video all our experiments so you can see them!

I know we did more but cannot think what...I have my schedule written out for the 9 week quarter so I should be able to give a really good weekly review next week.

Carrie scheduling in Texas

Kaitlin's butterfly experience...

Kaitlin is getting to finally have a butterfly house, we have literally talked about this for years! I don't really know what has held us up but we have just never done it. But Kate's larva arrived today! They appear to all be alive which is a good thing! We have to wait until they climb to the top of the cup and form a chrysalis and than we move the top to the butterfly tree house, than 7 days later we should have Painted Ladies. We will see... I will keep you updated daily on our butterflies!

Carrie in Texas raising butterflies

My quirks...

A fellow blogger had this on her site, this is the life, go check her out.



Anyway, she had her hubbie list her quirks so here goes.

Me: What are my quirks???

Dear Hubbie: One of them??? (smirk) You have to check your email every 5 minutes?

Me: You think that is a quirk

Dear Hubbie: you have obviously identified a certain addiction to purchasing school supplies.

Me: That's true, what else:

Dear Hubbie: You will not walk into a movie 5 minutes late even if the only thing you have missed is the previews!

Me: I also can't stand to watch a tv drama is I don't get to see the "preview" for next week.

Dear Hubbie: I don't think you have that many quirks that I can think of,

Me: Do you think I am weird or normal:

Dear Hubbie: Ha Ha Ha laugh, I think you are abnormal in your own unique way but I think everyone has a quirk about them that makes them abnormal?

Me: what is normal?

Dear hubbie: exactly!

Me: Ah aren't you sweet! I know I am quirky and you are totally going to think of things later, or you are going to notice something and say "blog that!"

Quirky me in Texas

The Tea Set I want...

This is the tea set I want! It is a Sorelle English Tea Set. It is has red flowers with a little bit of purple. It is so beautiful. They have it on HSN. It is on clearance for 69.97 which I know is still a lot but I have searched a while and I just really like this one! On YouTube they have the part of the HSN where they talk about it and they even have a part on how the whole set was made. It was really neat to watch! We are using it for Tea Party Tuesday in school (which won't be on Tuesday but it will be on a different day of the week), for the girls The Princess Kiss Study and for our homemaking unit, also we might be able to use it for our girls book club. So I have quite a few uses for it, which what might allow me to make room in the budget for it! We'll just see!

Carrie in Texas

School Supplies...

okay how many of you have already started buying school supplies! I have, every time I walk into a store that has school supplies on sale I buy something...I mean really who can pass up notebooks for 5 cents, or markers for 88 cents, and there is the crayons for 22 cents! I have bought a total of 74 notebooks and my kids have already gone through about 7!!! At this rate we will go though my ''stash" in 2 and 1/2 months!

I love the part on You've Got Mail, when Meg Ryan says a bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils! That is so cool! After my first load of school supplies came into the house my hubbie said something to me about bouquets of freshly sharpened pencils, I love that he remembered that and just wisely accepts my school supplies addiction! Thank you sweetie for not insisting I join the 12 step program!

How can a notebook be 5 cents? I just don't understand, I mean how much does that mean it actually cost to make? How do they charge me 2.00 the rest of the year??? Why is everyone worried about the cost of gas and getting ripped off at the gas station....when the notebook making company is obviously making a bundle off us any time of the year besides "school supply" time! It is a mystery to me! But for right now, during school supply time I will just pack my cart with 5 cent notebooks every time I see them!

Carrie in Texas with a cartload of notebooks

Expose on Hotel drinking glasses

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1329217643?bctid=1329232712


Just thought I would repost this in case any of you missed it!!!!

Carrie in Texas who uses plastic cups at hotels.

32 seconds of Emily...

Things you can make out of diet coke cans...

Now this is recycling.

Nature in our backyard...

This is nature in our backyard. We have these bees that have been really hanging around lately! The butterfly flitted by as Kaitlin found a new bell pepper on the plant and the roses are mini roses that are really doing great since mom replanted them into the garden.

Carrie the non green thumb in Texas

Blackberry Cobbler

Oh my goodness, I came out of rest time to find a wonderful surprise...Blue Bell Ice Cream blackberry cobbler. It is so unbelievably delicious. There are little pieces of the cobbler crust all through out the ice cream. There are swirls of blackberry sweetness all though out the icecream! Can you tell I love it!

Very little procrastinating...

going on today at least! I have done pretty darn well! The laundry is laundered or at least in the process of being laundered. we did history, Kate's math, Bible, ate breakfast and lunch. BTW Matt tried a pot sticker I made for lunch- and if you know Matt that is a big deal! We did morning chores, and are having quiet time now. I haven't gotten everything done that is on my list but it is not because of procrastination so I am proud!

Carrie in Texas

Susan Wise Bauer...

Here I am at the Courtyard Marriot, in Bryan, Texas!!! I am here so that at 8:30 in the morning I can book it to the Conference Center in College Station to hear this woman speak.

Susan Wise Bauer is the author of the Well Trained Mind. This is the book that the fair majority of my curriculum is based on. This is the book that is referenced first whenever I have a question, you know before I hit the Well Trained Mind message forums!

Susan Wise Bauer lives on the East coast and has never in the 4 years I have been watching her itinerary listing on her website ventured anywhere near our Great State. She has never done a lecture below the Mason Dixon Line as far as I know( Besides in Virginia). Anyway, she is here, in College Station, Texas.

I know I sound like she walks on water and I don't think that at all but I am really excited to hear her speak and truly believe I will leave here tomorrow being a better teacher! She will be talking about books and how important they are which I absolutely agree with! READ, READ, READ... but don't read "fluff" read books of substance, from great authors! There are so many!!! The kids are finishing up Canterbury Tales from Chaucer right now, and than we begin Robin Hood, after that a variety of Shakespeare's work. READ!

Anyway, all this to say I am excited! I am going to be blessed tomorrow and leave with a refreshed vision of our school philosophy!

Carrie in College Station, Texas

Conflicting Quotes...

It is hard to believe that a man is telling the truth when you know that you
would lie if you were in his place. ~Henry Louis Mencken, A Little Book in
C Major, 1916

Those who think it is permissible to tell white lies soon grow
color-blind. ~Austin O'Malley

If we were all given by magic the power to read each other's thoughts, I suppose
the first effect would be to dissolve all friendships. ~Bertrand
Russell

The highest compact we can make with our fellow is - "Let there be truth between
us two forevermore." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Today I bent the truth to be kind, and I have no regret, for I am far surer of
what is kind than I am of what is true. ~Robert Brault

Today I was at lunch with some friends... Kate told a boy that his picture was okay and his feelings were hurt because she hadn't told him it was good. I asked Kate why she hurt his feelings and she said she just told him the picture was okay, not that it was bad or anything. The other moms and I began a discussion about lying.

I had already talked with Kate the other day about "white" lies verses "monster big" lies. I explained the conversation to the other moms and got their input about "white" lies.

This is the conclusion I came to. What do I tell my children to do when the "need" to lie presents itself...i.e. not hurt someones feelings. I decided that I will teach the kids to find something positive. For example the earlier picture that Kate said was okay, was a picture of a penguin, she could have said, "Oh I like that you used blue, or I like how his tail curled up." When asked do you like my new purse, and you think it is hideous, you could say oh, " I like the length of the handle, they are so hard to find!" When asked do you like my new haircut, " Oh I really like that you have it so short in the back."

Just find something positive... even if you really, really dislike something you can find something positive to say. Basically it is Pollyanna and the Glad Game all over, but not about being ungrateful, but about being honest.

what do yall think?

Carrie who is honestly in Texas

This is an Oh My Goodness Moment...

At least for me. Are you aware of the fact that on the end of a Reynolds Foil Package there are little tabs that you pop in that holds the roll in place while you use it...properly! WOW. Seriously never, ever knew that! This is information you pass to everyone woman you know who uses foil! I mean what if they don't know...

Carrie in Texas

To Wear or Not to Wear...

Okay so how many of you have 5 years who want to wear what they want to wear... surely I am not the only one! I can't imagine that my little girl is the only girl who has such high standards for her wardrobe! I am slowly compiling a list of her ... dislikes. I use the word dislike sparingly here because the situation is far more serious! She doesnt dislike..she can't stand, she abominates them, she ahbors them, she loathes them, she detest them...get the picture. I dress her and she says, if we havent already fussed about it, "Well this is just ridiculous' -read ra-dic-a-lus, in place for the actual pronounciation. Or she says, " This is hideous!" She is a very dramatic child, don't know where she gets it!


Now for those who are thinking to yourself, "Just tell her what to wear and be done with it..." Yes, I know you're thinking it becasue I would. It is not that kind of situation. NO she should not argue with me about what she wears and I do abslutely deal with that...my problem is trying to find some clothes she does like! I have for the most part picked out all her clothes, without consulting her who has to wear them! She is uncomfortable, she feels silly and feels like she looks stupid. Who wants to feel that way! I adamently don't!!! So we are going shopping.

A list of some things she DOES NOT like and deems hideous...

-puffed sleeved
-bows (only some times)
-short sleeves (for the most part she prefers long becasue she is always cold)
-polka dots
-dresses (she only likes skirts)
-the color brown she only likes in pants and shirts and she likes to wear it together (regardless of the shade of brown)
-apparently she does not like any shade of blue

I could sadly enough go on for a while.

Conclusion. I am going to try and find a few outfits that she feels very comfortable in and we will go from there. I will not stray from what we feel is appropiate so she can't just pick out anything. She loves skirts, but we will have to decide on those together. She will have to have a good attitude or we will leave the clothes and come home. I am firm on this and I have already talked to her about along with her Dad!

Carrie in Texas (who detests clothes shopping)

Saving millions on therapy... kudos to you bad parking!

http://badparking.wordpress.com/

I really think blogging in general is cathartic, it makes you think and usually in a rational manner post something. I know some people tend to shoot off posts, but generally speaking they are well thought out. I appreciate that instead of being rude, or mean or hateful... this guy has made a blog and is blowing his steam that way.

To plan or not to plan...

Procrastination is something best put
off until tomorrow.

~Gerald Vaughan

This is my new motto! Of course I write this in my blog while procrastinating about doing other things I need to do! I am chronic! Okay, you don't know but I stopped blogging, got up and started my laundry! I also got the kids started on their morning jobs and pulled the sheets off my bed to wash them later...yeah now I am sitting back down!

Why do we procrastinate--I say selfishness, laziness, all the bad things we are that end in "ness". I of course don't want to be that way and I am certainly not always but the past few weeks I have absolutely been procrastinating in the area of the kids school work! Not a good thing to procrastinate with! Now I tell myself--we are taking longer breaks in the summer, we can do it later after..., if they learned something on the Animal planet than that is good enough for today! (Don't tell me you've never thought it!)

You know the old saying, "Fail to plan, plan to fail." Well I think that saying is just plain not accurate. Yes I agree you have to have a plan but so many of us homeschoolers PLAN but don't follow though! Don't tell me you don't!!! We have grand plans, we buy the stuff, we plan our year and "dum de dum dum dum" I think we just twiddle our thumbs...while surfing the internet, reading blogs we are addicted too. Or sign them up for so many outside activities that we are tired and don't school! I know I do! I will do great for a while, than I don't..

So my plan is to plan how I plan! I will devise a plan for when I don't maintain my plan. I will plan a way to plan in a way I can accomplish! Sound like a good plan!

I will set actual days off, though out the school year, I will give myself whole weeks off here and there. I will make myself do my job! The bonus is that I am posting my week in review on this blog--Amy here is the accountability part! So if you don't see my week in review, shoot me an email and ask to know what the kids did this week! Hopefully I will have only procrastinated about posting the review and not about doing the work!!!

Ex procrastinator in Texas

1,000,000.00

I believe that most people who are paid a lot of money are paid too much money. Sports players, CEO's, Actresses, Actors, TV persona's... it is just to much! Millions of dollars right! So I can understand some of it and I understand how it got this way but it's really getting out of control. There is a crisis in this country and money means almost nothing. It is all electronic and our "money" just floats here and there between cyberspace! But all of this is not my 1,000,000.00 gripe!!!!!

My million dollar gripe is a Pillsbury Bake Off, where the winner-peanut butter cookie lady- won a million dollars!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is outrageous, that is insane, that is crazy! I would be ashamed to accept the prize of a million dollars for baking a cookie! Shame on the Food Network and shame on Pillsbury! The Food network has a lot of 10,000 prizes that I watched and thought that is too much but still it is no where near a million!!!!!

I just find it absolutely ridiculous...now if any of you have ever won a million dollars for a recipe you concocted, please do not blast me...

Carrie in Texas

For afore the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is
ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and
take away and cut down the branches.

--Isaiah 18:5

We went to a Grape Festival at Haak Winery in Santa Fe, Texas. We woke up early and got there around 9:30. We came prepared with our pruners and everybody went to town! We pruned over a row of vines, it was so much fun! Everybody really seemed to enjoy themselves! The kids did such a great job, Emily cut off a few to many leaves but I think she worked hard! I was amazed at cutting the bunches of grapes , holding them in my hand and snipping them off the vine, it was simply an amazing experience. I would love to do it again and it strengthens my resolve to go to a pick your own food farm this upcoming year as soon as different foods come in season!

Convictions and plans...

For many parents, homeschooling is a matter of heart and belief; they feel
deeply and strongly that they should be homeschooling. They sometimes start homeschooling with only this conviction to go on, unsure of exactly how they will proceed, and they work out practical details and solve problems as they go
along.
-Larry and Susan Kaseman, in "Taking Charge Through Homeschooling"

Homeschooling for me is absolutely a matter of heart of belief. I feel very strongly and deeply that I should be homeschooling. Did I start with only a conviction to go on... I don't think so. Since before my children were born I knew we would home school, my dear hubbie and I planned it! I went to a winter home school conference the year before I got married! I was already planning, looking, researching. I did truly have strong convictions and moved forward with homeschooling because of them, now ask me if it is how I thought it would be...not all of it! Did I think it would be this hard, no. Did I think it would be this rewarding, I couldn't have! Of course we have to proceed and work out practical plans as we go...our lives change, our children have different ways of learning! We all have to have some type of conviction to start homeschooling in the first place, and we all come into our own! We all figure it out, some have more trouble than others of course! I can honestly say I have a 9 1/2 year old and have home schooled her the entire time, this year I am feeling good! I felt okay last year but going into a new school year I feel really good. I have done all my research, I have ordered any new stuff (or bid on eBay!) and once it gets here, we begin! A new journey, a new year, a new plan, a slightly changed conviction but just as strong and just as motivating!

What is your conviction and do you have plan...

Carrie in Texas

Andrew Lang 1844-1912

Andrew Lang collected and adapted dozens of fairy tales in a veritable rainbow of books between 1889 and 1907, including The Blue Fairy Book (with his wife, Leonora Blanche Lang), The Red Fairy Book, The Yellow Fairy Book, The Orange Fairy Book, and The Red Book of Animal Stories. He championed Robert Louis Stevenson and H. Rider Haggard, with whom he collaborated on The World's Desire, a "sequel" to The Odyssey, in 1890. While the bulk of Lang's output was for adults (and highly educated adults at that)... his interest in fairy tales and other childhood mythologies represents an important strain in Victorian thought, in which fantasy and imagination were recognized as important seats of learning and education.

Albert Einstein said...

If you want your children to be brilliant, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be geniuses, read them more fairy tales.

Carrie in Texas

.

Matt and his toothless grin...

The boy is already little enough, what will he be able to eat!

He answered, "bologna is soft!"

A new Adventure...

Well have basically disbanded as a Girl Scout troop and will now be an American Heritage Girls Group.

I am very excited about this change, yet feel grieved at the reason for the change. The Girl Scouts are now very actively pushing an agenda that promotes everything I disagree with basically! They have taken the original goals and desires for Girl Scouting and twisted them. They were already taking a liberal bent on a lot of issues but they have crossed a line and we can no longer be associated with them or fund their organization. We will be joining the American Heritage Girls, it is a spin off of Girl Scouts that makes Christ the head of the group!!! They still have badges, a uniform and oh wow ummm morals! So welcome to our new adventure, I will keep you updated!

Hawaiin Quilt pattern...

Apparently quilting is very popular in Hawaii, here is an example of a popular pattern. Do you see anything interesting in the design?

A funny story...

My husband works for Ergo's technology, they have "work" vehicles, I put that in quotes because they really have drivable bill boards! Anyway, he was at a client the other day and the client asked why the information is backwards on the front bumpers- Dave replied that it is like emergency vehicles, you can read the information in your rear view mirror and that is why it is backwards. The next time my hubbie was out at that site the same client told him he was right about seeing the words spelled clearly in his review mirror. My husband asked if he had seen it on an emergency vehicle, the client replied sullenly, " No, I got pulled over by a state trooper."

July 4, 1776...About standing up for what you believe is right...

The world is a dangerous

place to live -not

because of the people who are evil

but because of the people

who don't do anything about it.

Albert Einstein

McDonald's...

I am absolutely not telling anyone how to live, but I decided I would pass on information and let you decide for yourself! McDonald's is blatantly pushing an agenda that completely contradicts what I stand for. We are not "boycott" people, in truth I believe boycotts do very little and have never felt pulled to participate in one, until now. We have personally boycotted McDonald's for about two months I think, we learned about some things the company was doing and decided to participate in a boycott that the AFA initiated. The boycott, read here.

Please read the AFA responds to McDonald’s regarding support for the homosexual agenda

The Declaration of Independence...

The Declaration of Independence was approved this day, July 4, 1776. John Hancock, the first to sign, said: “the price on my head has just doubled.”

Benjamin Franklin signed saying “We must hang together or most assuredly we shall hang separately.”

Of the fifty-six signers: 17 lost their fortunes, 12 had their homes destroyed, 9 fought and died, 5 were arrested as traitors, and 2 lost sons in the War.

As Samuel Adams signed, he said: “We have this day restored the Sovereign to whom all men ought to be obedient. He reigns in heaven and from the rising to the setting of the sun, let His kingdom come.”

Happy Fourth of July...

I hope everyone had a very good 4th of July. We went to Amy's house for a neighborhood parade and a picnic. We had a great time! It was just calm and peaceful and old fashioned! We tried to go to Bayou Bend but it was raining so we came home and just chilled! It was over all a very nice day!

Wordless Wednesday...

A tax credit for home schoolers... NO thank you.

Another blog I read occasionally has a great article on a bill being placed before Conress that allows homeschoolers to recieve a tax credit based on educational expenses. It is a very interesting article and states some things that concern me a lot. HSLDA is evidently really pushing the bill and I am not sure why. I am opposed to the bill, I am opposed to any federal anything having a say or active role in my homeschooling life. Please read the article and research to make up your own mind and act accordingly.

Carrie in Texas