World in Crisis

As The World Gets Hungrier The Big Name Food Companies Get Richer

I get tired of hearing how Free Market Capitalism is somehow The Most Biblical form of economy on the planet.  Capitalism, like every other type of economy or form of government, is not immune from sin.  In the case of capitalism, greed rears its ugly head time and time again.

Those social misfits!

I’m speaking about homeschoolers, of course.  How dare they step outside the bounds of normal and actually interact with other children who are not their age!  Can you read the sarcasm dripping off that sentence?  I hope so.

Today I was reminded of one of the perks homeschooling sends our way.  For many families who teach their kids at home, including us, this usually isn’t one of the reasons people list when they are making the initial decision to homeschool.  Yet, it is one of the reasons most families continue to homeschool!

At Princess’s soccer practice tonight only a handful of girls showed up.  Of those who showed up, the majority are homeschooled.  I sat in the car so I could catch up on my reading (two Home Education magazines from the library and a Family Circle with a great article on container gardens) and about half way through I looked up and across the field to see not only the girls playing soccer, but Rooster, Flower Child, and two brothers of one of Princess’s homeschooled friends.  A team of 13-14 year old girls, the coach, a 10 yo girl, and 12,13,&16 yo boys.  And they were having fun!  A huge sigh of contentment flew out of my heart.

Remember Mohawk?

Don’t worry. Dad says he’s so cute we’ll keep him even though he’s a he.

A Day in the Life of a Keeper

Hard at work:

This game is REALLY hard work:

Okay… Here I am! Come on down…

Now THIS is why we’re here!

Busy week…

Not only a chance to watch how much Princess and Flower Child have grown and matured since last year’s recital, but a chance to take more than 2000 pictures with my new camera!  Here’s a sneak preview.

In pictures…

So me:

So NOT me:

Am I weird?

WAIT!  Don’t answer that…. it’s just a rhetorical question!

Have you ever sat in an old cemetery and wondered about the lives of the people buried there?  I wish I could peek into a day in one of their lives.  Or read a journal.  Or see old photographs.

Have you ever imagined a story to go along with a particular tombstone?  I think about writing stories for each of the people in our church cemetery.  I love researching about the lives of the people who lived here before me.

I love history.  I love writing stories.  I loved reading Spoon River Anthology.

Yea.  I must be weird.

Spring Fever?

Or writer’s block?  Who knows.

It does finally feel like spring, so I’ve been spending a lot of time outside.  Weeding, planting, hanging out laundry, sitting and reading.  Not so much time for blogging.

It feels strange not to be pouring over curriculum catalogs, trying to figure out what to do next year.  We’ve been doing this for so long, I think I make our curriculum choices in my sleep.  I did read the Alpha Omega catalog.  Along with that came a short fantasy of ‘easy’ school work and having Rooster use the workbooks.  It’s much easier to grade a fill-in-the-blank workbook than having deep discussions with a kid who’d rather be talking about muscle cars.  In a different discussion with a friend, I made an impassioned speech about the importance of a Liberal Arts education and pretty much shot down my own fantasy.

Next year:

Rooster

Sonlight Core 300, BJUP or Jacob’s Geometry, Apologia Biology, Writing Strands 4, Rosetta Stone Spanish, and Artistic Pursuits.

Princess

Sonlight Core 200, Saxon Algebra 2, Apologia Biology, Writing Strands 5, Rosetta Stone French, & a photography class

Flower Child

Sonlight Core 4, SL Language Arts 4, Horizons Math 5, Writing Strands 3, SL Science 4, and Artistic Pursuits.

I enjoyed using Intermediate Language Lessons and highly recommend it, but Flower Child asked to go back to Sonlight.  She’s used SL language arts since she was in preschool and I think it’s something comfortable to her.  A pretty cool thing to be able to say about a curriculum!

How did I end up talking about school?  I thought this post was about spring fever…

I’ve been tagged!

I know I haven’t been good about keeping up with these things lately, but my friend The (Almost) Amazing Mammarino who blogs at Homeschool Circus has tagged me and this was her first meme.  How could I say no?

Here’s how this one works…
1. The rules are posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and ask them to read your blog.

What I was doing 10 years ago:

I was working for a company that was on the verge of bankruptcy, finishing my last year of college (BS), and pregnant with Flower Child.  It was also my last year as a Navy wife.
Five things on my to do list for today:
1. Weed the new flower bed
2. Finish the laundry
3. Make meatballs for princess
4. Vacuum
5. Relax

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
I would move someplace warm and tropical.  And then think about what I’d do with the billions.

Three of my bad habits:
1. Sleeping in
2. Checking email obsessively 
3. Eating out

Five places I have lived:
1. Virginia Beach, VA
2. Imperial Beach, CA
3. Long Beach, CA
4. Horsham, PA
5. Bryant, AR

Five jobs I have had:
1. Life Guard
2. Pizza Maker
3. Cartographer
4. Sales Analyst
5. Basic Skills Teacher

Five People I Want to Know More About:
1. Mother Theresa
2. Deitrich Bonhoeffer
3. Francis & Edith Schaeffer
4. Newt Gingrich
5. Bono

Oops!  I think I missed the point on that last one….  :D  I’ll have to think of some folks to tag tomorrow.  Now it’s time to clean the kitchen and head off to sleep!

Vrooooom…

I’m too busy embracing my inner materialist to post today.  I’ll be back when I run out of gas.

(Which probably won’t be long!)

Spring has sprung!

My nose is running and my eyes are burning…  and it’s not just because the flowers are blooming and the trees budding.

Meet Mohawk.  Please pray with me that Mohawk is a SHE.  First rule of living on a farm… don’t name anything you’re going to eat…

My folly…

Times have changed…. NOT!

Finally did it!

Thursday the steering completely went out on my van.  Friday we stopped at a local dealership to check out a 12-passenger van they had on the lot.  Drove it.  Hated it.  This morning bought the Expedition that was parked next to it.

At the park this afternoon, a Toyota hybrid parked next to me.  As if a message from Satan sent to make me doubt this decision.  But, as much as I would love to drive a more ‘green’ vehicle, the reality is that I have three children.  Two are very large teens with equally large friends.  I have to be able to haul people.  Hybrids that meet our seating needs are $30,000 used IF you can find one on a lot.

Check back in 2011.  My teens will be in college and I’ll only be hauling Flower Child around.  Hopefully there will be a better selection of used hybrids on the lots by then!

Sweet, cuddly chicks

NOT!!!

They are stinky, they make way too much noise, and they get nasty stuff stuck places where *I* have to remove it so they can keep on stinking up the place and making noise.  And top of this, I’m horribly allergic.  I’ve been kicked off my desk because their box sits right beside it and I can’t breath in that room.

It’s all worth it in the freezer end, though!