Archaeologists think they found the Garden of Eden! Or at least, a temple that is 11,000 years old.

Schmidt points to the great stone rings, one of them 65 feet across. "This is the first human-built holy place," he says...

Prehistoric people would have gazed upon herds of gazelle and other wild animals; gently flowing rivers, which attracted migrating geese and ducks; fruit and nut trees; and rippling fields of wild barley and wild wheat varieties such as emmer and einkorn. "This area was like a paradise," says Schmidt, a member of the German Archaeological Institute.

Well, if not the garden of Eden, the oldest known holy place.

Good rebuttal of a call for a ban on breastpumps for nursing mothers in the workforce, by women who "feel like cows".

It was hard enough to get employers to accept women pumping at work; if you don't like it, don't do it- but don't make it harder for others!

I *think* that the point the writer of the original article was trying to make was that there should be long, paid maternity leave for 6 months. Which I also have a problem with, even though I am a woman who nursed while working and didn't get enough maternity leave because it was unpaid!

Obama's Education Secretary wants to expand the second worst legacy from the Bush administration - No Child Left Behind. Of course, it involves expanding federal involvement in education.

"We need national standards, and assessments to measure them," Duncan said. "The idea of having 50 states designing their own standards is crazy."

No, more testing and letting the Feds decide what an appropriate education is for my child is crazy.

Dresses only? I never considered all of the perks...10 Reasons Skirts Are Better Than Pants.

Related but belated is this post from Taliban Rising, which examines some of the more extremist views on women held by some SPPX Catholics.

Remember when I talked about someone setting the grass behind our house on fire? Tonight someone broke into the neighbors house in broad daylight, coming from the same place. I was home all day and didn't hear a thing.

Even scarier - I let the kids play in the backyard. My boys love going to the water to get critters (I can see it from our house, and I can usually hear them, too!) But what if it was our house they had targeted? I'm 8 months pregnant - what could I do with all these children? Run out the front door?

We've talked about buying a gun, but even if we did - I don't know how to shoot and have never touched one in my life. My doctor recommends against shooting classes until after delivery (decibel level and apparently shooting kicks up lead dust, too). (And yeah, I did ask him. This being Texas, he didn't blink an eye!) I'm still hesitant because my oldest is not the most responsible child.

I don't know if the boys should still go down there. There are no parks in my neighborhood or open play spaces and fields. I firmly believe boys especially need to be outside, and experience the outdoor world as often as possible.

Any thoughts?

Miss C hurt her finger, and her siblings are taking good care of her. Mr S is giving her water - holding the glass to her lips for sipping, and the girls are giving her their stuffed animals and books. All without any adult prompting (she split her fingernail - not a mortal wound, after all.) Maybe there's hope for the heathenish tribe, yet!





Even if they tattle on themselves by taking pictures of jumping on the bed.

Visit Jen at Conversion Diary and check out the other Quick Takers!

Labels: 2nd Amendment, 7 Quick Takes, C, Catholic, children, education, Texas, Why We Homeschool

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

***UPDATED***
Renee asked if it was always this neat and organized.

No.


Here's what the room looked like at 5 pm today. It would probably be worse, but I think the littles are coming down with a cold and they all took 2-3 hour naps today. Also, they played in the living room.


We usually do a "quick tidy" before lunch, but didn't today. The rooms do get picked up at night, usually. The playroom has one kid assigned as "monitor" and Miss V and Miss C are helpers. Another kid gets living room duty. Our chores rotate.

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

We rent this house, and it's twice as big as our last one. I'm glad we're renting, because it costs a fortune to cool in the summer! Our next house will definitely be smaller.

One bonus to having so much space is that we have a playroom. We've always tried to keep as many toys as possible out of the kids' room, anyway, and set things out in a Montessori fashion even though I don't have any actual works out right now. Here's our play room from two houses ago.

The downside? The room that works best as a playroom is the front room. It's the very first thing you see when you open our front door. Well, kids live here, too. I hate the super designed rooms on TV and in magazines that completely erase the existence of all people under 4' tall.

View from the front door: (Yeah, I didn't vacuum before taking these pics. So ignore the crumbs on the floor. Kids live here!)



We have a lot of toys! We have toddler toys, preschool toys, early elementary toys, and older boy toys. We have a 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10 year old.

Our playroom is set up in "zones".

Dress up zone (there used to be a mirror where the US Map is, but Mr R broke it two weeks ago and we haven't gotten a new one yet.)

Pretending zone, sound zone.
Babies are in the big green bucket, baby clothes, bottles, and paraphenalia in the white basket, and doctor kit. Piano, toy phones, Tube Phone, cassette player that I don't think works anymore. Also on the floor: big bucket of wooden train tracks.



Animal play
Large plastic animals in the green bucket. In the plastic baskets, we have people (army men, mermaids, etc.), dinosaurs, and farm animals. The big white thing is a barn with stuffed farm animals for X that I got from Ikea.

My older boys play with the animals in an entirely different way from the preschoolers.


Littles shelf
Little People landscapes in the big green bucket, Little People in the small bucket (so they don't have to dump the whole thing to find a Little People (Little Person?) to play with. Baby X's Leap Frog tow truck, and miscellaneous Matchbox cars. Baby X's other toys.


Block shelf
Foam blocks, Lincoln Logs, wooden blocks, Marbleworks, and Bright Builders. Duplos in the nifty Duplo desk, another garage sale find.


Reading nook
Library books are in the blue tub; there's a white bucket for the kid books we own that I find all over the house. I found the ladybug pillows at Salvation Army for 50 cents each!


I like the bookcases, especially when you have older kids and younger kids. The big kids' stuff is on the upper shelves.

Games, puzzle, Bionicle pieces. The gray buckets on top hold Imaginext Pirate sets and baby toys that X has outgrown.

K'Nex, Legos, and the baby wipe box is for me to dump all of the extra Legos I find all over the house. My favorite label is the "weapons" box. It's so deliciously un-PC. Holds lightsabers and Nerf guns.


"Asking" toys with lots of pieces, like domino sets, Mr. Potato Head, pegboards, and lacing cards.


Along the stairs, I have a cabinet we use for "tea party" and food.


View from the reading nook.


And an Aquadoodle on the wall.



What do your kid spaces look like?

Labels: children, Family Life, homemaking, Montessori Mondays

Overheard at my house yesterday:

Miss E: Look, Mom, Baby X likes his upside down piggy back ride!

Me: Don't do that! You could drop him on his head!

Miss E: Yeah, he likes that! KA-THUNK.

Poor baby. And apparently he did like it because he laughed hysterically.


Overheard last week (while Miss E was taking a bath).

Me (ankle deep in water): Miss E! The floor is full of water!

Miss E: Oh, yeah. Miss C turned on the faucet.

Me: Well, why didn't you get out and turn the faucet off before it flooded the floor?

Miss E: I didn't turn it on. It's not my job.

Cruel mother that I am, I did insist that it is indeed her job to prevent wanton destruction of our home. And I made her get out of the tub and soak up all the water, too.

This sink is the bane of my existence. Why would they put a sink with no overflow hole in the hall bathroom near the kids' rooms?

Labels: C, children, E, Family Life, Mama Says

A friend of mine sometimes sends me pictures of a little boy she knows. He's a thanatophoric dwarf, and doctors said he would not survive birth.

He's three now. Sometimes she sends me pics and he is just always full of joy!

Catholic News Agency ran a feature on him - check out the slide show! My favorite picture is when he's sitting in his Bumpo seat.

Life is always worth living. Life is always better than being killed.

Labels: children, In The News, Prolife, Special Needs

I've been reading a lot of homeschool blogs, and everyone is starting fresh for the new year.

I just realized - I'm doing it all WRONG!

I don't have a niche. We're not unschoolers. We're not school at home-ers. We're not pure Charlotte Mason. We're Montessori-esque, but not purists. We meander along the classical spectrum, but I sometimes teach history out of order. We've never diagrammed a sentence (yet, but I'm planning to start...someday). Our children don't have their own desks but we do have a table and a whiteboard. And crayons and markers and Dover coloring books. And a kitchen lab.


This is what my school table looked like at the end of the day yesterday. Don't you have stuffed cows at your school?

If we saw an trail in the sky, we'd discuss contrails. And look up on the internet about them, speculate where they came from (nearby military base? Airshow?) and probably discuss cloud formation. And let's face it, any trip to a weather related website usually ends in a stop at TornadoVideos.

I let my oldest write his spelling words out in the shed today. He works best alone and outside.

My daughter wrote her spelling words sitting under the table with her horses. Using purple marker. My other son wrote his numbers on the marker board.

And I spent much of the day on the floor. (Note to self: must vacuum).

I'm sad to say he was probably barefoot. I cannot keep shoes on my kids. They are just like their dad! I have even made my boys write sentences - "I will wear socks". Because shoes minus socks are just stinky.


Playing Risk is the latest craze, and suddenly my boys know the continents, the oceans, and the locations of several countries. That's one of their friends - I usually have 8 or 9 boys playing all at once because the neighbor kids love the game, too. They have to double up and share colors. Those same friends have convinced my kids that ketchup on bread is a good snack. Bleh.

My boys would die of boredom if they had to do worksheets all day. So we catch snakes and identify them, then draw them in our nature journal. We mix borax and salt and look at it under the microscope. We grow Venus flytraps.

And I don't have a single form filled out to back it up.


Our new science this semester is about the human body. My Kindergartner will be making a lapbook about the 5 senses. The kids got a very cool anatomy pop-up book from their aunt and have been reading it non-stop. I have some Usborne books about muscles, bones, lungs that we'll read.

We'll hit the library. I want to pick up an Anatomical Man - the ones whose bones come out. The dollar store has them, but I want to get a better quality one and Michael's sends out 50% off coupons each weekend, so I'm hoping I can get a deal. I have a book with blackline masters and worksheets, but that's a supplement (and the worksheets will probably find their way into lapbooks, instead of being used as tests.) Maybe we'll use this for our lapbook, too. Maybe not.


I don't give tests. My kids get A's, if I graded (which I don't), because I don't accept it until it's right. Sometimes they have to change their answers several times. I only have 4 students, and I have a pretty good handle on if they've mastered a concept or not. (Well, maybe I do give tests. I've been known to make them spell a couple of their spelling words before I give them a special privilege, like haunting the creek or visiting Legos.com.)

And yet I make them write math drills and times tables. I make them write out handwriting sheets even though there is the great possibility that my boys hands might just fall off if they have to write another cursive "C". Every day, they write their spelling words 5x each, in addition to filling out comprehension activities.



HS Mamas - where do you fall on the line? What does your day look like?

The other pictures are of my 7 yo daughter making biscuits from her "American Girl Samantha" cookbook.

Labels: children, education, Montessori, Science is Cool, Why We Homeschool

1. We paid off our van! First time since I've been married that I don't have a car payment. So of course we've outgrown it AND it's developed an oil leak. Maybe I can pick up a school bus, cheap.

2. What IS it with boys and fire? Mr R got a magnifying glass in his stocking (he's recently become very interested in rocks and crystals.) Remember the oil-leakin' van? It leaked on the driveway. And my boys discovered they can easily create fire with Pennzoil + Magnification + winter Texas sun. Does that count as a science lesson? I'm marking it down.

3. Baby X makes three signs now. Please, more, and eat. He uses the signs to ask for... food. And he talks! Kind of. He says uh-oh when he falls off whatever surface he is scaling.

4. This house is available for us to rent-to-own. I love the house. I will never buy the house because of the HOA Nazis. Yes, another warning. Gasp! Our garage door was open in the middle of the day!

5. St. Gemma Galgani is my patron saint. I just discovered a great website dedicated to her, with reprints of her writing, photos, etc. It is sobering to think she died a saint at 26. I'm 30... probably have 70 more years before I *might* come close to being called one. And even that's doubtful! LOL

6. Katie at Team Bettendorf is having an interesting discussion about Christian neighbors. She asks, "Are you your Christian neighbor?" Do your neighbors know you are a Christian? Do you even know your neighbor's names? I don't agree with the premise that the organized church is to blame for lack of neighborliness, but the comments are thoughtful. It's an ongoing theme on her blog. I do know several of my neighbors - we've shared food, given opinions on roofing estimates, and I know where they work and their children's names. But we're still neighborly, not friendly. BTW, the neighborhood Mormon missionaries know me too. I'm the crazy lady who told them I could never be part of a church that wasn't prolife.

7. I am genetically programmed to blog about my grocery list. Just as I can't help but be Catholic - the chemicals in my DNA require it. Proof?

Labels: 7 Quick Takes, Catholic, children, Linky love, X

Last night I was watching the Duggar's birth special. I convinced my editor to pay me to write it up, even though it's not a show we usually cover. Can you believe she had the baby last Thursday and they aired the footage 4 days later? Those editors must have been pulling doubles all weekend.

Mr R, age 10, was watching with me. At one point, Jim Bob and Michelle attend a natural childbirth class because, as they say, you can never stop learning. The instructor got a little graphic in her advice of how to use natural prostaglandins to soften the cervix. Without warning, I might add.

And then it happened. The ads came on and Mr R had a question.

Mr R: Mom, what was that word she said? What does that mean?

Me (hoping he's not thinking of "intercourse"): Uh, um, what word?

Mr R: Oh, I can't think of how to say it. You know what she was talking about?

Me (stalling): Cervix?

Mr R: No. Transverse. What does transverse mean?

Me (happily): Oh! That means the baby is sideways!

Whew! That was close!

Labels: children, R

I have a new advertiser, "Hear My Voice", a children's translation of the Gospel Readings.

The author, Jonathan Stampf, was kind enough to send me a reader's copy and it is a great resource for parents! It retells the week's Gospel in a simple, child friendly format and contains the actual Gospel on the sidebar for parents to read.

It is fully illustrated, and the pictures are simple and uncluttered without being simple-minded. There is also a website where you can print out a coloring page for that week's Mass. The pictures are of children, set in the time period when Christ lived.

I've long been a fan of Open Wednesdays, but that is a limited service in that the talks are for slightly older children and you can only see one week at a time. This book contains the entire year of readings.

I like it because we can read over the gospel message with the kids, and then take it to Mass where they can look through the whole book and the life of Christ.

You can order through the button on my sidebar; it would make a great Christmas or Epiphany gift, especially for a godchild.


Hear My Voice is a paid advertiser, however, I only allowed him to advertise after I approved and liked his product. We use it at our house - and it was nice this weekend when we were sick and missed Mass. I was still able to go over the readings with the kids.

Labels: Catholic, children, education

Baby X is 20 months old and does not talk.

He does not babble like normal babies - no buh-buh-buh-buh, no da-da-da-da.

He doesn't wave hi or bye-bye. I have the book Baby Signs, and like I did with all of the children, tried to teach him some signs when he was a few months old. He does not use a single sign. He may, occasionally, point.

Poor little guy. He has a whining noise he makes, with different intonations, and we interpret what he means. He did say "Ha" for hi a few times last week, but doesn't do it consistently and only says it after someone else does.

So we had him evaluated. It took a lot of paperwork. My set is 10 pages long!

They pegged most of his development as right on track 18-21 months. (I think he's more advanced than that, but he got marked down for a lot of speech related things, like "says please and thank you".) He's socialized at a 29 month old level (who says homeschoolers are unsocialized, LOL!)

His receptive speech has always been fabulous. He will hear me talk about going to the store, and bring me my purse and shoes. He'll hear me say to one of the kids that dinner's almost ready, and go get in his high chair.


His expressive speech is at a 4 month old level. He has one consonant sound, which he only makes when he's playing animals.

I was curious as to what a speech evaluation would look like for a baby who isn't talking. They did a lot of motor skills evaluations by providing him with different toys to play with - a ring stacker, a peg board, a shape puzzle. They gave him a pencil to draw with.

Most of the evaluation consisted of questions for me - how does he walk up the stairs? What does he do when he's hungry? How does he greet his father when he comes home from work.

4 months old. Wow. I knew he was behind...but not that far behind. The therapist will come to our home one day per week to work with me (and him, but she's mostly teaching me and the other kids.)

They are going to try to train him to use picture cards, as well, to communicate. Eventually, the goal is to have him give me a card with a picture of milk on it when he wants milk, and so on.

I predict the card for "go outside" will get lots of wear and tear. He's such a funny, sweet little guy!

Oh, my beautiful darling! I love you so! I can't wait until you can tell me what you are thinking about.

Labels: children, special education, Special Needs, speech, X

Today is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

It's a non-transferrable Holy Day of Obligation, so go to Church!

Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception is the Patron Saint of the U.S. Take a tour of the National Cathedral - the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.

You can read the original 1854 declaration, Ineffablis Deus (Ineffable God) here.

And indeed it was wholly fitting that so wonderful a mother should be ever resplendent with the glory of most sublime holiness and so completely free from all taint of original sin that she would triumph utterly over the ancient serpent. To her did the Father will to give his only-begotten Son -- the Son whom, equal to the Father and begotten by him, the Father loves from his heart -- and to give this Son in such a way that he would be the one and the same common Son of God the Father and of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was she whom the Son himself chose to make his Mother and it was from her that the Holy Spirit willed and brought it about that he should be conceived and born from whom he himself proceeds.[1]

You can read more on the Scriptural basis for Catholic Marian beliefs here.

You can see the Mass readings for today here.

And find a kid-friendly explanation, here.


Art: The Immaculate Conception, by Peter Rubens, 1627 courtesy art.com

Labels: Catholic, children, education

Every Christmas, I give the kids new pajamas.

They usually need a new pair.

It makes identifying the year Christmas pictures were taken easy.

It gives them something to open Christmas Eve, without them being disappointed that it's clothes.

New pajamas for Christmas morning... Works for Me!

For more Works for Me Wednesday fun, head over to Shannon's!


Art: Peeping into the Parlor by Jessie Wilcox-Smith, courtesy Allposters.com

Labels: children, holidays, Works For Me Wednesday

Today I shopped Black Friday for the first time ever.

I know. Didn't I just post Advent Conspiracy, aren't I always going on and on about how less is more?

Our Christmas is fairly small this year (well, this is about average for us, actually). I think the kids do better with fewer toys. Two years ago, Mr R's school "adopted" us. They gave us a gift certificate to buy gifts and then called me at home to let me know they had too much stuff in their donation room. When I arrived to pick out a few things, the workers packed my van for me with everything they could find.

But the kids weren't happier (ok, they were for half an hour on Christmas morning, LOL!) By the time we had to move in June, most of the toys were broken. Another pile was donated - toys that were always on the floor but never actually played with. The toys the children love - like these - we hang onto for years and pass down. Almost none of the super giant toy-filled Christmas things are still around.

And so we've budgeted about $25-30 per kid. A shockingly low amount for some, amazingly extravagant for others, just right for us. (Doesn't include stocking stuffers.)

Here's my report of the day's shopping.

Toys R Us was packed, but not out of stock. The parking lot was crazier than the store, and the checkout line stretched back behind the Baby Department. Still, I got everything I went for and people were polite. Total spent on Christmas gifts: $52 (I got some socks for X Man, since they were half off, also.)

Mardel's was virtually a ghost town. The employees were nice, though.

Target wasn't bad, either. Again, found everything I wanted. Spent $45.

Stopped at Walgreens, and got some Webkinz on a buy one, get one free sale. 2/$6.99 - and they are also selling Crayola 64 ct. crayons for .99 this weekend with the store ad.

I hit those early in the morning. We decided to take the kids to the mall, since Sears was having a sale on kid jeans and husband dear needed a tool.

The mall was a total bust. One reason I wanted to go is because the mall is usually a magical place this time of year. Santa, lights, music, decorations... the mall we went to didn't bother with any of those things. There were a few garlands on the ceiling, but that was it. The retailers, too, were having lots of sales but not much Christmas spirit. Sears was out of the pants (or maybe they weren't, there wasn't anyone around to help.) They didn't carry the tool husband needed (he can order it online - and pay shipping.)

We walked the mall, but there weren't any free samples, interesting demonstrations, or kid friendly stores. We finished up with a trip to KB Toys who refused to let us into the store. They have a strict policy against strollers, it seems, and we weren't about to carry two children around the place. They lost business because of a stupid decision - what if someone shows up in a wheelchair?

Still shaking my head actually - a toy store that doesn't welcome babies?

We ended up at Target again, the kids spent their allowance, and now we're home. My conclusion - Black Friday is overblown.

Then again, we pretty much nixed any electronic gadgets so I avoided Best Buy, Circuit City, etc. as well as Wal-Mart. Apparently, in some places a good deal trumped everything else.

Here's my list of kids' gifts where I'll find it and the kids won't. I'm pretty much done except for stockings. I have never been "done" shopping in November before, either! I totally get the Black Friday madness, now! We're saving up this year for a special project, and husband dear is planning to work straight through until Christmas week to earn extra money. This is probably the only shopping day I have left!

1. R- Suction cup bow and arrows $10
2. R- Skateboard $10
3. R- Star Wars dollaction figure $6.50
4. P - Martian Matters craft set - $15
5. P -Bakugan starter set - $10
6. E - Holiday Ballerina Barbie $5
7. E - Webkinz, BOGO 2/$7
8. E- Crayola 64 ct. crayons $1
9. S - Hot Wheels Racing Ramp $10
10. S - Nerf dart guns (2) $13
11. V - Ikea pots and pans set $10
12. V - McDonald's Electronic cash register - $15
13. C - Aquadoodle wall mat - $7.50
14. C - Fisher Price Dr. kit - $5
15. C - Barn Animals in a barrel - $5
16. X - Ikea farm animals - $15

Yes, a lot of things were Made in China, which I hate, but what can I do? (Oh right. This.) I'm hoping that with heightened awareness we won't have any recall problems.

I still need to get one more thing for Miss E and I want to get some MegaBlocks for X.

Labels: children, Frugal, holidays, In The News

First, some things that make me happy.

Baby X learned to nod his head, and he blows on his food. Even if you serve him watermelon, he'll blow to make sure it's not too hot.

Mr P does math just like his mama - weird made up shortcuts. I didn't teach it to him (his math book teaches math as a process of addition). For example, for a problem like 6x7, we will take half (3x7) and add it together. Very helpful for larger numbers - 18x9 would, in my mind, actually be 9x9 + 9x9. Mr P does it the same way, and came up with the method on his own. Must be genetic. Can't wait until we get to squares and cubes!

Google Earth lets you download and explore Ancient Rome. You'll have to download the application.


H/T Melissa Wiley for the Google link.

Labels: children, education, Friday Fun, P, X

Yesterday I posted on why my family doesn't celebrate Halloween. That doesn't mean we're opposed to the costumes!

My children love to dress up. The day after Halloween, head down to your local Stuffmart. The costumes will be 50-75% off! Last year I paid $3 for a princess gown and $2 for a suit of armor.

They make great Christmas presents and you won't have to worry about lead paint, either.

Works for Me! See other tips over at Rocks in My Dryer!

Labels: children, Frugal, holidays, Works For Me Wednesday

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

I tell my kids that I see everything, but they never believe me.


How did Mom know Miss E ate all the apples and half the bag of Tootsie Rolls?

Yes, when I buy fruit I have to hide it, or else they'll gorge themselves the first day and we'll have nothing for the rest of the week.


Baby X has discovered the joys of turning the lights on and off.


Every time I turned around, he had dragged the chair over again and was flicking it on-off-on-off.


How did I know what he was up to? It's a mystery.

On another shenanigans note, it finally happened. Miss C ate an oleander flower. After calling poison control (FOUR different numbers, the one listed in the phone book and online were disconnected) they told me that she'd have to eat half a pound's worth before she had ill effects. Good to know!

Labels: C, children, E, Family Life, X

Obama says:

Mr. Obama has said repeatedly that he will draw down the U.S. military presence in Iraq if he becomes president, but he has also said he would increase the number of troops in Afghanistan, where Taliban forces have seen a resurgence in recent years.

During a CNN/YouTube debate for Democratic presidential candidates last year, he said he doesn't "agree" with the draft.

But he did say women should be expected to register with the Selective Service, comparing the role of women to black soldiers and airmen who served during World War II, when the armed forces were still segregated.

"There was a time when African-Americans weren't allowed to serve in combat," Mr. Obama said. "And yet, when they did, not only did they perform brilliantly, but what also happened is they helped to change America, and they helped to underscore that we're equal.

Are women who want to sign up for military service being discriminated against, as African Americans were long ago? Oh, he wants it to be compulsory. He's not pro-choice when it comes to women choosing to serve in the military or choosing to be mothers at home.

Saddest is when he says this:

"And I think that if women are registered for service -- not necessarily in combat roles, and I don't agree with the draft -- I think it will help to send a message to my two daughters that they've got obligations to this great country as well as boys do."

That's YOUR job, Mr. Obama. Teach your children well. You cannot instill character and duty through legislation, it must be learned through example. If your daughters don't think they have any civil obligations when they grow up, it's YOUR fault, not the government's.

And Sometimes Tea has some good thoughts on this.

H/T Happy Hearts at Home

Labels: children, homemaking, In The News, politics

How to Ruin a Carpet:

1. Leave a red Sharpie out.
2. Take your eyes off the baby for a moment.

How to Save a Carpet:
Search the house for the bottle of rubbing alcohol you just bought. Give up and go to the dollar store, but not before finding a roll of paper towels.

Contemplate stopping for a different kind of alcohol, to make the red marker + rental house = loss of deposit equation less painful. Remember it is a weeknight, you don't drink, and you're knocked up anyway and just drive home.


Search the house for your spray bottle. Dig it out from under the girl's bed.

Mix up a concoction of half alcohol, half water.

Contemplate testing spray on hidden area. Decide that the carpet's already ruined, so just jump right in. Spray and blot. Blot and rub. Spray. Blot.

Repeat 416 times for the next hour, while the family eats dinner. Use the whole roll of paper towels.


Now the carpet has a light pink smear. It looks like the spray did bleach the carpet, but relax. You just cleaned the filth off of one spot, and that's why it's 7 shades lighter.

Spray with carpet spray.

beg plead cry Convince your husband to break out the carpet cleaning machine. Announce you are going to bed when he's only halfway through, because you're mean like that.

Wake up to a fresh, spot free rug!

Labels: children, homemaking

I've heard that updating the new Mozilla will erase your bookmarks.

I thought I post a few of my "most important" ones here, where I can find them. I've said before that my blog is kind of a public journal for me, so consider this a really boring entry. Plus, I can throw some Linky Love to some of my favorite sites!

Although, many of them I don't even remember bookmarking - often if I am researching something and happen across something else, I bookmark it, and it languishes in my folder gathering cyber dust.

This is like letting your mother-in-law look under the bed or behind the fridge. It's surprisingly personal!

But, I'm really boring so you won't find too many titillating links. Unless you like vintage freebie printables.

Homemaking
Teaparty Girl
Household Notebook Planner
The Family Homestead
Vintage Homekeeper's Planner


School Organization
Starry Sky Ranch HMB forms etc.
Teacher Planning Forms
Unschooling and Planning
Homeschool Curriculum Reviews
Planning the School Year - Footprints on the Fridge
Dawn's File Folder System

Parenting
Small Manual of Civility Manners in the Catholic Home
HealthyToys.org
When Mom/Teacher Role doesn't work


Food
A Little Cookbook for Girls
Frugal Abundance
Practical Pantry everything you ever wanted to know about the staples
Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls
No Fail Pie Crust
Calcium Requirements

Catholic
Finding God liturgy and family life
Where is That in The Bible - essay on Tradition and Sola Scriptura
Sean's Pages - aplogetics
Hear the Gospel at Mass
Why Catholics Have a Pope
Catholic Culture
BibliaClerus Vatican resources, early Fathers, etc.
Women for Faith and Family
John 6 and the Eucharist
Catechism of Catholic Church searchable by keyword
Scriptural Rosary for Children
Amazing Catechists
Sanctifying Halloween

Religious Other
Evangelical Manifesto

Crunchy Granola Mama links
Natural Life Magazine
Healing Power of magnets - legitimate
Managing Post Partum Depression
Microchipping Public School Students
CFL Recycling
Drugs.com side effects, etc.

Self-Reliance
Solar Powered Trailer
Living off the Grid
100 Ft. Diet
Grow potatoes in a garbage can


Blog
Technorati Made Simple
Making Bloggy Buttons
Make Blog Banners totally need to do this. Someday. Eventually.
HTML True Color Chart

Coupons and Deals
Mommy Saves Big
Coupon Chief
Coupon Mom
Organic Grocery Deals
Online Coupons

Special Needs
Autism Evaluation Checklist
Anger Management for Children
Bipolar Complimentary Medicine
Disaboom for people with disabilities

Prolife and Politics
Sen. Obama's Voting Record
CQ Moneyline Campaign Finance, PAC's, etc.
Catholic Mom Framing the Healthcare Debate
REAL ID/ REAL nightmare
Girl Scouts Radicalism
No Room for Contraceptives
Prolife Doctors
Fighting P*rn*graphy
Test Tube Nation (article)

Stuff to Make and Do
Homemade Playdough with pics
3D Papercraft

Just Plain Interesting
Illegal Alien Tracking and crime statistics
Squalor Survivors
Texas Hold'Em Odds
Letterboxing North America

ClipArt and Graphics

Writing
Love Honor Vaccum Write from Home
Houston Writers and Editors
Absolute Write
Writer's Resources
Wordplayer
SimplyScripts

Of Interest Only to Me
SC Lawyer
Harrison Bergeron


If you liked any of these links, leave me note in the comments! (If you're not asleep by now...)

Labels: apologetics, bipolar, Blog, Catholic, children, cooking, education, Freebies, Frugal, homemaking, Linky love, politics, Prolife, special education, Special Needs, therapeutic diet, Working from Home