Once there was a family that had rented for 10 years. There were many moves to many states.

After one particularly far move across the country, it appeared that the family had some job stability. Their landlord sold the house they were renting, though, and suddenly they were without a lease and having a difficult time finding a new place to live.

The family explored every option.

The manufactured home people promised to make sure their application (for land and home) would go through. They'd be "extra helpful" by multiplying the family's largest (and with an unusual amount of overtime) paycheck by 52 to get a very inflated yearly salary. Because the family had no credit card debt, the salesman was sure that they would be able to meet the payments.

The family thought that lying on their application was a bad idea, and said "No thanks."

The family explored rent to own options. They were shown houses that were way above their price range (4x their annual income or more) with a high-pressure tactic of affording the payments on a 40 year mortgage.

The family thought that even if the payments were affordable, the houses were too expensive, and said, "No thanks."

The family explored traditional homes with a bank mortgage. The mortgage broker was eager to help this family get into a house, because "they deserved it." The wife thought that the houses that were in their price range were unsuitable, overpriced for the market, and would be tough to sell should the family be transferred. The mortgage broker offered attractive financing, with low payments, 100% financing, and an adjustable rate mortgage. The broker was sure that rates would never rise to the maximum level allowed in the contract.

The family decided that they could not afford the payments if the interest rates increased. At the current income level, they could not pay the theoretical maximum payment (even though that would never happen.) The family said "No thanks."

The family found a rental at the last minute, even though it was a little small (133 sq. ft. per person), was a fixer upper, and only had dirt in the backyard.

One year later... the family that did not buy a house they could not afford is paying for everyone else. ($145 million to California, alone).

The family that did without instead of using credit cards, the family that paid cash for a very used station wagon that smelled like an old lady even though they wanted a Suburban, the family that bought all of their clothes at thrift stores in order to operate on a cash budget - they're paying for it now!

And they are still renting.

Thanks, Obama.

Labels: politics, Rants and Raves

Ya know what's working for me this Wednesday? The Army. And the Navy, and the Air Force and the Marines and the Coast Guard (and I hope I didn't leave anyone out!)

America is an amazing place. Not only are our armed forces an entirely voluntary corp, enlisting is a fantastic opportunity for so many people who otherwise would have no career prospects, no self discipline, and no hope of going to college.

Yo! Soldier, sailors, and pilots! Thanks for everything you do for my family.

(A side note - totally NOT working for me this Wednesday: Obama plans to take away VA benefits from our soldiers!)

That's right, Obama has a grand scheme to raise half a billion dollars by billing soldier's private health insurance companies for care for service related injuries and disabilities. Benefits that the VA should provide.

Why is this a problem? The American Legion explains:

The proposed requirement for these companies to reimburse the VA would not only be unfair, says the Legion, but would have an adverse impact on service-connected disabled veterans and their families. The Legion argues that, depending on the severity of the medical conditions involved, maximum insurance coverage limits could be reached through treatment of the veteran's condition alone. That would leave the rest of the family without health care benefits. The Legion also points out that many health insurance companies require deductibles to be paid before any benefits are covered. Additionally, the Legion is concerned that private insurance premiums would be elevated to cover service-connected disabled veterans and their families, especially if the veterans are self-employed or employed in small businesses unable to negotiate more favorable across-the-board insurance policy pricing. The American Legion also believes that some employers, especially small businesses, would be reluctant to hire veterans with service-connected disabilities due to the negative impact their employment might have on obtaining and financing company health care benefits.

Imagine that someone is in a wheelchair or has a prosthesis. Can they afford the copays, the deductibles, and the ongoing care? What if one has PTSD from battle? Most insurance companies are skimpy on the mental health benefits.

We owe our soldiers our lives and our liberty. They deserve better.

Labels: In The News, Rants and Raves, Works For Me Wednesday

I got The Vegan Lunchbox by Jennifer McCann at the library, and the recipes sounded so healthful, so tasty, so easy! I was really hoping it would help make our lunches a little more varied and exciting.

The recipes all sound good, and the ingredients should work, but I've found most of the recipes to be far more trouble than they are worth. The food is, at best, mediocre, no matter how pretty they look in those darling bento boxes.

The Golden Cauliflower soup was a hit. It's carrots, onions, potatoes, cauliflower cooked, then blended. Stir some extra steamed cauliflower florets into the puree. The 2 and 3 yo loved it and couldn't get enough, the other children thought it was good, and husband dear liked it, too.

The Honeybee No-Bakes were... meh. It's kind of a countertop cookie, with oat bran, cocoa powder, almond butter, a little milk, coconut, and honey. I used peanut butter instead of almond butter, because that's what I had. They were not very good (even for something with coconut and chocolate in it!) and took effort - you hand roll the mix into bee-like shapes, then add almond "wings". I make a countertop cookie concoction that is much tastier and easier, since they are essentially drop cookies that harden up as they cool.

The Baked Cream Cheese Spirals were a flop. I doubled the recipe, and it still didn't seem to make much; it tasted like Bisquick despite having lots of oil and whole wheat flour. If I wanted something that tasted like Bisquick... I'd just use that! Much easier.

I make cream cheese spirals when I can - I LOVE them. My version is whole wheat or spinach wraps (store bought), cream cheese, and misc. fillings (green chilies and tomatoes are good, so is ham and black olives.) I think baking them diminished the flavor (and dirtied two baking pans unnecessarily.)

Someday I'll learn to make a decent tortilla and they'll be healthier, too!

The Tennesee Corn Pone muffin were, again, merely mediocre. Frankly, "my" cornbread recipe is much tastier, even if it does include an egg; adding the beans with the cornbread baked on top was unnecessarily complicated. I also seasoned my beans way more than the recipe in the book called for, and it still tasted bland.

I had made the vegan Goldfish Crackers a while ago, from the recipe on the website, and was very disappointed; I thought that was due to my own ineptitude but now I'm not so sure. We do eat nutrtitional yeast around here, so I don't think it was that taste that was off.

Frankly, the vegetarian and sometimes vegan recipes that *I* invent on the fly taste a lot better than these, and I'm not that great of a cook! Good for inspiration, but I recommend finding your own recipes.

Labels: cooking, Rants and Raves

Local Politics
Houston Mayor Bill White has realized his plan is dumb. Sorry, don't really have any other way to spin this.

Mayor Bill White yanked a controversial plan Tuesday that called for the city to use taxpayer funds to pay off some personal debts for first-time homebuyers, following a flood of outrage and criticism from across the city and beyond.

This whole "let's save the homebuyers" is really ticking me off. We chose not to buy a house, because we couldn't afford it. Where's my bailout? We chose not to rack up credit card debt. Where's my money?

BTW - Bill White is less and less popular, every day.

National Politics

Obama's speech - I can't believe he delivered this line without a trace of irony.

The only way this century will be another American century is if we confront at last the price of our dependence on oil and the high cost of health care; the schools that aren’t preparing our children and the mountain of debt they stand to inherit. That is our responsibility.

Dependence on foreign oil did not cause our children to inherit a mountain of debt. $787 billion in "stimulus", billions more for housing bailout, billions more for bank bailouts? That is what is causing our children to inherit a mountain of debt.

And who managed to spend over $1 trillion dollars in his first 30 days in office?

That is why it will be the goal of this administration to ensure that every child has access to a complete and competitive education – from the day they are born to the day they begin a career.

Obama is going to make sure my child has access to a competitive education from the day of birth? I'll take care of my own 1 day old babies, thanks.

I'm assuming he's talking about making federally funded, union-backed public schooling mandatory for all children for all time. Funny how when politicians talk about "education" they never include the parents.

And the day they begin a career? What if they never have a career? What if they become stay at home moms and dads, or care for aging parents, or simply work jobs here and there while fulfilling their dreams in other ways?

I'll believe that the administration cares about education and not the NEA, when I, as a homeschooler, qualify to write my educational expenses off on my taxes.

The State considers me a valid educator - but I don't get to write off our textbooks. It's all spent out of pocket with after tax dollars and I have to pay sales tax on top of it. Other teachers are allowed a $250 credit to pay for classroom supplies, but not me!

So, let's do a quick rundown of Obama spending/proposed spending. (Does this count as math class? I guess not. My children aren't adding 13 digit numbers yet; we're merely in the billions.)

$787 billion for Recovery/Stimulus dream
$25 billion for foreclosure help ($75 billion total, but $50 billion is from the ARRA.)
$634 billion for healthcare reform, paid in part by raising taxes on those pesky wealthy Americans to almost 40%. (pending)
$50 billion to fix the Alternative Minimum Tax (pending)

$1,496,000,000,000 in on month. That's more than the $1.3 trillion Obama inherited from Bush and doesn't include TARP. I thought he promised to half the deficit, not double it.

(And I'm not even sure I got everything, this is just what I could remember him wanting to spend!)

And... the House just passed ANOTHER $410 billion spending bill.

This is what happens when the same party controls the House, the Senate, and the White House.

Meanwhile, I just can't decide what to spend my $13/week stimulus package on. Sunday lattes at Starbucks? New crayons? Hmmm.

Labels: children, education, politics, Rants and Raves

It is a busy season, full of errands and trips out of town and along with that, fast food.

I saw ads for Wendy's Gourmet Mushroom Swiss Burger - be still my pregnant heart! Cheese. Bacon. Meat. Mushrooms. Someone else to cook it for me!

I tried it.

The bun was good. Not so soft the tomato soaked through in a soggy mess, but not so hard one might break a tooth, either.

After a big bite, I took another look. Oh, there are the mushrooms. In a tiny pile, huddled in the middle of a white plastic sheet with no holes that I suppose was the "Swiss" cheese. Another bite.. mmm, bacon. And... peanut butter? Wait, that can't be right. I'm still not sure what the weird aftertaste was.

There was some kind of herbage in the mayo. I'm not sure what it was, it didn't have a specific flavor. It just tasted... green. Like if you open your mouth while mowing the lawn.

All in all, it was a sad, sad specimen and a great disappointment. The only thing "gourmet" about it was the small portion and big price.

*Note: This burger was made in Houston, TX around 9pm on a Friday night. Your Wendy's might do a better job of it, but I won't be ordering it again.

Labels: Rants and Raves

Australia is our ally, our friend, the land of the croc hunter. A cheerful place of blokes and mates and crikeys.

The government there is out of control, and Australian "reasonable" policies could creep into our own government.

First, all residents of Australia must use the government Internet filter. Supposedly to block child porn and other illegal content, the filter reportedly is already is blocking information about anorexia and euthanasia.

How far “inappropriate material” may extend was not made clear, for example questioning Government policy where it comes to Aboriginal people could be deemed to be discrimination under Australian law and hence blocked by the censorship regime. Worst still, bloggers or those (such as forum owners) who allow users to comment or post could find themselves blocked under this proposal should someone say or post the wrong thing.

Australia has a government run health care system, and is short on doctors. A doctor from Germany came over to help out and set up a practice, but was denied permanent residency because his son has Down Syndrome.

"A medical officer of the Commonwealth assessed that his son's existing medical condition was likely to result in a significant and ongoing cost to the Australian community," a departmental spokesman said in a statement issued Thursday by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship.

"This is not discrimination. A disability in itself is not grounds for failing the health requirement — it is a question of the cost implications to the community," the statement said.

How long before Medicare participants in the US are denied coverage to extend life, because it costs too much, but are offered euthanasia instead? Oh wait, that's already happened.

If we don't vigorously defend every life, any life could be forfeit. If we don't vigorously defend our freedom, they'll slip away, too.

Labels: In The News, Prolife, Rants and Raves

Baby X went to the doctor today for a well child checkup, and since this blog is also my family record and journal, here are the stats.

Weight - 24 lbs, 10 oz. - 25%
Height - 32 inches - 50%
Head Circumference - 90%

Blood Pressure - 96/64, - 95% (but not off the charts! Yay!)

Oh, and the doctor refuses to treat him and asked me to cancel all of my other children's well-child checkups because we follow an alternate vaccination schedule. An alternate schedule devised by myself and our previous pediatrician! It's a huge practice with several locations.

Nice, Texas Children's Pediatrics. You discriminate against patients who have adverse reactions to medication. Real nice.

Does he know it took me 35 minutes on the phone to schedule all of those appointments in the first place?

Labels: health, Rants and Raves, vaccines, X

I'm not subtle, am I?

I know many Christians and Catholics who are voting for Obama. They feel that other social justice issues, such as healthcare for the poor and immigration issues, are of equal weight to the abortion issue. This post is not about their situational ethics or the morality of such a decision.

It's about other reasons to not vote for Obama.

He lied about his campaign finance. He promised to use federal funds and work together with the Republican nominee to operate withing those limits.

He may have illegally taken money from foreigners. The FEC is dragging its feet about the matter, because they don't want to call the FBI in right before the election.

He does not have any measures in place to keep people from illegally donating to his campaign.

He bought the land for his Chicago home from a prominent lobbyist, who has since been convicted on fraud charges. He purchased the property for $300,000 below market value. He also bought a lot from Tony Rezco's wife for $500,000 below market value, so he could have a bigger yard.

Obama doesn't promise change from corrupt politicians. It'll be same old, same old if he gets elected.

The fact remains that he will not release his records - medical, Senate, college, or otherwise. And I don't know whether he was born in Kenya or Hawaii, but the birth certificate on Obama's website is a joke. Why won't he release that, as well?

I encourage you to look into these things for yourself. Stay away from FactCheck.org, though. Obama served on the board of the company that owns it.

Labels: politics, Rants and Raves

A rerun from 2006. Nope, nothing's changed!

** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

For the next week, if you've been directed here by me because you just don't get our weirdness, please read the entire post.

This post is for all of those people out there who simply cannot believe we don't pay $20 for a cheap costume, then let our small children browbeat our neighbors into giving them candy, so they can gorge themselves and end up grounded for a week due to their poor behavior.

Our family does not celebrate Halloween. We usually celebrate All Saint's Day, a Catholic holiday that occurs on November 1. This year we'll just be doing a small celebration at home, as the local church doesn't have anything planned.

Why we don't celebrate Halloween:

1. We are not pagans. I know it sounds flippant, but Halloween did originate as a Gaelic pagan festival, and that's why All Saint's Day is on Nov. 1. The Church, in her wisdom, recognized that the culture was used to having a big celebration around that time of year, and decided to give the new Christians something good to actually celebrate. Originally called Samhain, the name Halloween, I'm sure you've heard, has derived from All Hallow's Eve - the night before All Hallow's day, aka All Saint's Day.

2. Sure, you say, but it's no longer a pagan holiday, but a secular American tradition. Well, no, it's not. No matter how you try to deny it, witches, ghosts, vampires, and being scared all pervade the Halloween celebration. Women's magazines post elaborate recipes to make candied witch's brooms (you've got to see this, BTW - Martha Stewart would be proud!) and ghost lollipops. Fake vampire teeth and blood are sold by the bagful to give to trick-or-treaters. You can buy chocolates in the shape of dismembered body parts. Superstitions are dragged out and celebrated, with black cats taking the center stage. Not only is superstition wrong and specifically forbidden by God, the underlying, subtle message is that some of God's creation is intrinsically bad or unlucky. (Poor cat. Too bad God didn't like you and made you black!) That a broken mirror rules your destiny. Adults can see past this (usually), but children are much more literal.

3. The atmosphere that pervades Halloween is not one of "family values". There is no denying that many feel freed by social constraints on this night, free to be daring, wild, different. In this sense, it is much like Mardi Gras. You can do things on Halloween that you would never do in real life, whether it is participate in Fear Factor type dares at a party or TPing the neighbor's tree.


4. The costumes are often inappropriate. Young girls dress in bras and pantaloons or strapless gowns to be Disney Princesses. French maids abound, frolicking in the street. Bratz dolls appear on your doorstep, complete with glittery lip gloss to compliment their diapers. The most basic costumes, whether they be fairies or pirates, are 'sexed' up for the girls. The boys generally appear as serial killers, rubber weapons dripping in blood, ghosts, zombies, ghouls. Or maybe they dress up like their favorite sports hero, the one who beats his wife or evades taxes. Children imitate and fantasize about being Christina Aguilera, witches, or psychotic individuals. Is this good character training?


For less than $40, you can dress your 6 yr. old like a working girl!

5. Halloween is not respectful of the dead. A corporal work of mercy is to bury the dead. Respect for the dead is very, very important in Catholic culture, as the body was once the temple of the Holy Spirit and often contained Christ himself in the form of the Eucharist. Mocking the dead has no place in Christianity, whether it be dancing skeletons, zombies, or fake dismembered body parts hanging from a car trunk. What are we teaching our children - that it's fun to make fun of corpses?

6. "Trick or Treat" is not a good thing for children to say. Sure, it seems harmless, but underneath, it is blackmail. Give me candy, or I'll do something you don't like. I don't think it is a good idea to tell our kids it's okay to speak to adults that way, even if it is only one day a year. (Remember, Honor thy Father and Mother? Means every day, all the time. Not 364 days a year with one day off.) Also, there is the additional problem of slightly older children actually performing tricks, egging mailboxes, tp-ing cars, ringing doorbells and running. Authorities, whether parental or official, often turn a blind eye to such harmless pranks on this night. The fact remains, though, that these are sinful activities and parents are responsible for helping their children avoid sin.

7. The candy. Gluttony is one of the seven deadly sins. Gorging on candy, fighting over MINE MINE MINE, selfishness, and self-entitlement abound on this night. The alternative is worse - parcel out one or two pieces until you run out around Christmastime, for that extra fun time at the dentist next year.

I have no problem with scarecrows, indian corn, harvest themes, or even jack-o-lanterns (provided they are carved with a cheerful grin to welcome guests and not mutilated with fangs and a 666 on the head). I have a problem with the evil atmosphere that pervades our culture in October.

Yes, my children are horribly deprived. So what.

Labels: Catholic, children, Family Life, holidays, Rants and Raves

Recently, some e-friends and I heard a sermon by an Independent Fundamental Baptist on You Tube. He asserted that 1.) Real men pee standing up (with Bible and verse to support it, and that was the topic of his sermon, I kid you not!) and 2) the number 5 signifies death in the Bible.

Now, I am familiar with the way several numbers are used in Scripture. (6 is the number of creation, and the number of man; 7 is the number of completion; 9 is the number of angels; 40 is the number of repentance; 3 is the number of the Trinity.)

I have never heard that 5 is the number of death. And because I'm a nerd with nothing better to do on Saturday morning, I thought I'd look into it.

Most online sources I looked at say that 5 is the number of Grace. Nowhere could I find 5 is the number of death. (It seems just the opposite). Jesus multiplied 5 loaves and 2 fishes; David killed Goliath with 5 stones, the parable of the talents, the wisest servant was given 5 talents.

I don't know how this squares with Catholic teaching, as there isn't much numerology in the Catholic Encyclopedia. Catholics do have a devotion to the Five Wounds of Jesus, however, and altars are consecrated in 5 places in remembrance of them.

The preacher cited three reasons 5 is associated with death in the Bible:

• People killed under the 5th rib
• Genesis 5:5
• Acts 5:5

So, let's take a look. Scriptures quoted are from the NIV, copy and pasted from BibleGateway.

First, I must add, that the numbering of the Bible is not inspired. The chapter and verse system was introduced hundreds of years (in the 13th century) after the Canon was codified, in order to aid study and exegesis. There really would be no reason to see significance in a verse 5:5, or a verse 6:66 for that matter.

Several people are killed by being stabbed under the fifth rib in the KJV, in 2 Samuel. The NIV translates it simply as "stomach", and the Douay-Rheims calls it a "groin".

Genesis 5:5

Altogether, Adam lived 930 years, and then he died.

Genesis is full of geneologies noting how old people were when they died. The number 5 doesn't have much to do with it. Other places in Genesis recording people's deaths: 5:8, 5:11, 5:14, 5:17, 5:20... I could go on, but I can't even type all of the non-5 references.

Other verses recording important men's deaths:
Noah - Genesis 9:50
Abraham -Genesis 25:8
Joseph and his brothers (the twelve tribes of Israel) - Exodus 1:6

Acts 5:5

When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened.

Other deaths in Acts occur at chapter/verse: 5:10, 7:60, 12:23,
Hmm... the numerology doesn't work so well for those.

Some other "5:5" verses in the New Testament -
And Matthew 5:5 is this:

5Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.

Mark 5:5

Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.

John 5:5

One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years

Revelations 5:5

Then one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.

Nothing to do with death, there, either.

Well, how about the fifth book of the Bible? Deuteronomy 5:5

(At that time I stood between the LORD and you to declare to you the word of the LORD, because you were afraid of the fire and did not go up the mountain.) And he said:

Yeah. Not seeing the connection.

Mama Says:
One doesn't have to add superstition to the Bible in order to make it more meaningful.

Labels: apologetics, Bible Study, Rants and Raves

I *mostly* stay out of the fray regarding Hollywood movies.

But I feel I must comment on Tropic Thunder, Ben Stiller's latest oeuvre rotten egg. The setup of the movie is that Ben Stiller's character played a "Rain Man" type character, but didn't get the Oscar he was hoping for. Fair enough - but the movie goes on and on and on with an offensive and stereotypical showing of the Simple Jack character. The movie doesn't limit itself to a satirical "movie within a movie" use of the word, either.

Mock movie poster:

Note the tagline. I hear that this poster has been pulled by Dreamworks marketing after the Special Olympics joined the protest.

You'll be seeing t-shirts, and hearing lines, and people will be cracking jokes, and you might want to know what it's all about. "Never Go Full On Retard" shirts are about making more money for Ben Stiller.

Here's the scene. Stiller's career mistake was portraying a "full on retard".



A partial transcript of the above scene:
Ben Stiller (who wrote these lines before filming them)-
There were times whne I was doing Jack, that I actually felt retarded, like really retarded. In a weird way I just had to free myself up to believe that it was okay to be stupid or dumb.

From Growing Up with a Disability.


H/T Barbara at Mommylife for the links.

Labels: Need to Know, Rants and Raves, Special Needs

I live less than half a mile from my local Catholic church. I've only been twice, though.

I started driving 45 minutes to the Latin Mass.

However, that's not working out lately. We have one car, and the AC is busted ($1100 worth of busted, and it's not getting fixed anytime soon). Mass is at 4 pm; driving 45 minutes in a minivan with no AC and windows that don't roll down in mid July, in Texas, is dangerous.

Today is a Holy Day of Obligation, and because of failure to plan and the aforementioned one car situation, I realized I was not going to be able to drive to Mass today. Most Masses seem to have been offered in the morning (I just assumed there would be Mass in the evening on a Holy Day of Obligation.)

No problem! We'll go to the one on the corner!

The English Masses were yesterday and this morning. I have a choice between Spanish and Vietnamese.

At least the Latin Mass is universal.

Labels: Catholic, Rants and Raves

...in a jaw-dropping, head shaking kind of way.

Is the stupidity quotient ignorance particularly thick this week, or what?



"Toddlers who turn their noses up at spicy food from overseas could be branded racists by a Government-sponsored agency."
(Only in Great Britain. Actual news story, not a piece in The Onion. H/T Random Brown.)


"I have repeatedly said that I think it's entirely appropriate for states to restrict or even prohibit late-term abortions..." ...and I have a bridge for sale in Arizona...

Obama's spin, trying to mitigate the fallout from his oppostion to the Born Alive Infant Protection Act, support of the Freedom of Choice Act, and latest statement saying "health of mother" exceptions should not include mental health or emotional health. Poor man. He doesn't know if he's coming or going!

(BTW, head over to Catholics for Obama and disabuse them of the notion that Catholics care more about social doctrine, such as subsidized daycare for working mothers, than prolife issues. They call any outing of actual facts regarding Obama's votes and statements "disgraceful smears".)

"Like most Roman Catholics, I was almost unsaveable, but with God, all things are possible."
Not even gonna go there. The same blogger goes on to note: "In the following quote, Paul explains that not very many educated people will get into heaven. "
(1 Cor 1:17-29)

Yeah. Okay.

"Two schoolboys were given detention after refusing to kneel down and 'pray to Allah' during a religious education lesson"
Great Britain again. H/T Catholic Cavemen

Labels: Crazy is as Crazy does, Friday Fun, Linky love, politics, Prolife, Rants and Raves

****Welcome, Visits to Candyland readers! I would like to invite you to participate in an online Catholic women's Bible Study, Courageous Virtue. We'll be starting in 10 days!

Thanks for stopping by! ****

I'm beginning to prep the St. Joseph Academy for Wayward Children, and of course I started by reading a lot of books!

I borrowed several homeschooling books from the library as I try to organize my year.




Some are telling of my fears for the upcoming year - Homeschooling The Child with ADHD, which also includes advice for other special needs.

It is not a book about homeschooling, but about homeschooling a special needs child and one should be familiar with homeschool basics before reading it. It starts at the beginning - getting a diagnosis, and discusses the question should you?

It addresses support and criticisms from family and friends, getting help from the public school system, a few homeschool philosophies that seem particularly suited to special needs, finding materials, and helping your child learn. I haven't finished it yet, but it seems full of good information for both newbies and veteran homeschoolers alike.



Some weren't as helpful as I had hoped - The Organized Homeschool. It's more a Bible study for organization and wasn't particularly helpful to me. The tips were nothing I hadn't heard before. I'm probably going to try Dawn's file folder method.




Some were horribly disappointing, such as Ruth Beechick's A Biblicial Home Education. I had expected to perhaps not agree with everything in the book, but still glean some useful techniques. Ruth Beechick is the grandmother of Christian Homeschooling in America. Surely her book would be great!

I had to stop reading by chapter two, due in part to the unfriendly writing style and partly to the shocking misinformation. She declares that teaching the Rapture is necessary for any true Bible believing church going homeschooler (really? I'm an amillenialist, myself, and that is perfectly Biblical). Her version of the way we got the Bible goes like this:

Church leaders agreed on which writings were part of the "canon" to be added to the Hebrew Scriptures and which were not. When the King James translators went to work, they had more than 5000 manuscripts of the New Testament...
...While all that was going on, other people were trying to tear down God's Word."

A Biblical Home Education, p. 18-19

She includes any translation based in any part on the Vaticanus or Sinaiticus manuscripts as one of the translations "trying ot tear down God's Word". She also glosses over the actual facts of the Council(s) of Hippo, and the 1200 years of Scriptural history between those Councils and the first King James Edition!

While there is a case to be made for the Majority Text (Masoretic Text), it is also a witness, not the original manuscript of the Hebrew Scriptures, just as the Sinaiticus and Vaticanus texts are witnesses to the Septuagint, and not the original texts.

Dr. Beechick claims to avoid the Vaticanus manuscript because it was written by Origen, but Origen lived in the second and third century AD and the Vaticanus is dated to the fourth century. Scholars believe that the Bible by Origen and the Vaticanus probably come from the same source manuscript.

She claims the Codex Vaticanus/Eusebian bible based on them disappeared until the 1800's, when it was rediscovered. Also not true; it was well known throughout the world that the Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus were housed at the Vatican library. It was used to produce a Roman version of the Septuagint in the 16th century.

I think she hates it because it is probably Alexandrian in origin, and contains the Septuagint - the Old Testament canon used at the time of Christ by Greek Jews - and therefore contains the deuterocanonical books.

Dr. Beechick claims the Septuagint was written in the third century (She leaves off the "B.C." part, leaving readers to assume that the Septuagint was a manuscript written while the church leaders were trying to nail down the canon. The Septuagint was written and used by the Jews hundred of years before Christ's birth, a very important point.)

How can I glean any information from a book that so obviously ignores history and makes up facts to fit a preconceived agenda? How can I trust any of the other information in the book to be reliable?



I also borrowed Trust the Children, by Anna Kealoha, which I am planning to purchase. It is very modern education/new age, but has tons of great ideas for games in all subjects.

The author and I differ on the very nature of the student; she holds to Socrates' postulation that human nature is inherently good, people only perform evil actions out of ignorance, and Rousseau's theory that people are naturally good, with evil coming from institutions (the Church, specifically.)

I hold the Catholic view that we are all sinners, damaged by Original Sin, and it takes an act of the will (and the grace of God) to do good.

She holds that children are like flowers - they have everything they need to learn, if we would just step back and let them bloom.

I hold that children are like flowers, but they need a careful gardener ready to water and feed when needed, and also ready to pull out weeds and prune back damaged branches.

The chapters on educational philosophy are thankfully short and easily skipped, and most of the book is full of wonderful ideas for alternative learning. I think it will be well worth the $18 cover price, but of course I'm going to try to find it used first!


What homeschool books can you not live without?


Bookcovers from Amazon. Search on the right sidebar to purchase!
Art: Picking Apples, by Frederick Morgan

Labels: education, Rants and Raves, special education

After seeing this error three times in one morning, I must instruct:
After seeing this error three times in one morning, I must instruct:

Mama Says...

It's "good ol' days", or possibly "good ole days". Marking dialect is flexible.

Apostrophes mark missing letters, however.

Good 'ole days is completely wrong. And they did teach punctuation in the good ol' days, too!

Three different websites? Really? Grrr.

Labels: education, grammar, Rants and Raves

I just have to vent somewhere, and that place, Internets, is here. (Anyone want to diagram that sentence?)

I shared the little tiff with my editor. (I didn't mention the part where she said it was too irritating for me to write with small children. I left out those modifiers, trying to be the bigger person.)

Yesterday, said editor posted a few items herself. And she used the wrong word in the HEADLINE (oh, those homophones! Ante/Anti tripped her up) PLUS an egregious misuse of its/it's/its'.

Update: Another homophone abuse! Heals/heels (mis)posted today. But I can't point it out, because she's still my boss...

GAH!

Updated Thursday 6/19: Today we are promised a "sneak peak" of comics from "five different continents; England, France, Australia, Scotland, Ireland, ..."




Related aside: I found this nifty post on last week's Works for Me Wednesday. Anyone have this book?

Labels: Rants and Raves, Working from Home

The Republicans blocked a bill that would tax "windfall" profits on oil companies.

Thank goodness.

I know it's fun to make the corporations into bad guys, and blame them for our oil price woes. However, oil company profits are good for America.

• The oil companies create jobs.
• The oil companies pay dividends to their shareholders.
• Government taxes should be proportional to any profits made.
  

How is that going to make prices go down? Does anyone really think the oil companies are going to say "Whoa, Nellie, we better make sure we are unprofitable?" No, they'll just raise prices to cover the new tax. We'll pay more at the pump.

Facts: Oil companies profit margin is relatively small; they do have a lot of volume.

Exxon Mobile reported $40 BILLION dollars in profits last year. That must be obscene, right?

Let's look at Exxon Mobile's first quarterly statement for 2008:
Revenue - $116.8 billion dollars. Costs: $96.6 billion dollars. Net: $10.89 Billion dollars.
Paid in sales tax: $8.4 Billion dollars.
Profit margin: 9.3% *

A company with a profit margin of less than 10% doesn't seem so obscene any more, does it? Not to mention all of the jobs they are creating and all of the retirement portfolios they are enriching. In the first quarter, 2008 Exxon paid out .35 per share in dividends. Exxon has 5.3 billion shares of stock. So Exxon paid out to Americans $1.8 billion dollars. That's not counting capital gains from stocks going up, that's just a handout of profits they gave to stockholders.

So. Exxon made 10.89 billion dollars, but also handed $10.2 billion back to the American people in taxes and dividends. I say let them make more money!

Our real problem is supply and OPEC. Also, we are printing a lot of money willy-nilly so our dollar is less valuable. Since oil pegged to the US Dollar, the price keeps rising as dollars are worth less and less.

Perhaps we should concentrate on making sure China doesn't siphon all of our oil out from under us, instead of turning CEOs into boogeymen.

(And the fact that this week, husband dear is making well heads for deep sea oil rigs in a Gulf Coast warehouse does not have anything to do with this opinion! But I felt the need to disclose that the oil companies are good for my family, too.)

* I did not use any Enron-like mathematecal convulutions. I just straight up divided how much they pocketed (profit) by how much they took in (revenue).

Labels: In The News, Rants and Raves

Subway doesn't like homeschoolers. Specifically,

No homeschools will be accepted.

Although, I have to say, that the copy writer could use a little more education. After all, a homeschool will not be writing any stories. A student who learns at home, might, though. In Texas, homeschooled children ARE private school students.

The contest is open to legal US residents (will they be checking for green cards as well as enrollment?) over the age of 18 with children who attend a school that serves Pre-K-6 grade. It does not specify that the author of the story must be in grade K-6. It actually seems to indicate that the adult with children should write the story.

Scratch that, it's open only to legal residents of the UNTIED States. Always read the fine print.

Contest is open only to legal residents of the Untied States who are currently over the age of 18 and have children who attend elementary, private or parochial schools that serve grades PreK-6. No home schools will be accepted.

I wonder what brainiac at Subway HQ thought it would be a good idea to discriminate against children who are being legally educated in the United States?

I wrote Subway an e-mail

I am writing concerning your "Every Sandwich Tells A Story" contest.

Why are you excluding students who learn at home? Home education is legal in all 50 states. Why is Subway insisting on such a discriminatory policy?

I understand the grand prize is physical fitness equipment for a school, but the other prizes are clearly for individuals. In addition, many home learning environments would benefit from physical fitness equipment, as well.

Are students who learn at home in private schools, as home learning environments are defined in many states, also excluded? Are students who reside at their schools, but are not taught be their parents, also excluded? How are you defining "homeschools"?

Thank you for your prompt response.

We'll see if they respond.

H/T to Musings From a Catholic Bookstore, who is running a non-discriminatory reading program this summer!



It's a writing contest for kids.

Labels: education, In The News, Rants and Raves

that Ron Paul was still in the race!

Hmmm... so it seems the Republican choices are:

John three strikes and you're out McCain -

• censoring the peasantry campaign finance reform
• immigration bill with Ted Kennedy
• the global warming thing with Lieberman, which combined with the immigration package would create a job-loss perfect storm.
• He fully supports the Real ID act - the only presidential candidate that's all for it. (Do you really want the DMV to keep copies of all of your personal documents on file where who knows who can get at them?)

Oh, wait, that's four strikes.

Really? And our other choices are Hillary misspoke again Clinton, who is so infamous I probably don't need to recount any of the bazillion reasons I don't want her in the White House.

Or, Barack kill the babies after my 12 year old has sex Obama. I realize that's a long nickname, but I just couldn't fit in my biggest objection in smaller words.

Ron Paul might be a little extreme regarding the war in Iraq and the IRS, but at least he thinks Americans should be alive and have job opportunities. Too bad he seems to be the only one running who does. He also leans towards letting us live our lives in peace, without Nannystate monitoring our every move.

I just can't believe that these are our only choices. Gag.

Labels: politics, Rants and Raves

You stink!

Our house will be ready June 1. Husband dear starts work on May 12. There is no way he's leaving me behind. Been there, done that, and it wasn't pretty!

So we need a place to stay for a couple of weeks. No problem, they have those corporate hotels, complete with mini-kitchens, right? I've even lived in them for several weeks before, back when we only had three children.

InTowne Suites hates children apparently. Their maximum occupancy is ONE child per room.

Most families aren't as big as mine, but most have more than one child!

Sigh. Anyone own a timeshare in Houston I can rent?

Labels: moving, Rants and Raves