Home-Ec is taught in this school!

In homeschool today my son made his first loaf of bread.  Yes, we used a breadmaker but still, it's a loaf of bread!  We added home-ec to his schedule this month and it's going pretty well.  He wants to make more bread!

Your participles are danglin', honey

I had the pleasure of reading several resumes this week. [sarcasm]
Some were better than others on the entertainment spectrum.  R U gettin' me?

Each person wanted feedback on their resume.  I gave them a link to this fabulous video:



Now, if only I could write the word 'weird' without having to 
first visualise it as "i before e" every time!

A remarkable family

"Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal." Isaiah 26:4 (NIV)

Pass the remarkable stories of the Ten Boom family to others. 

Please visit   http://tenboom.org  for more information. Thank you!

The edge was here today

Today has been an emotionally trying day. I haven't felt much like eating, but I did get my exercise in today. I am trying to remember what I posted yesterday on my blog... maybe that's why the Lord sent that thought yesterday, to prepare me for today? 

My son has mental and emotional disabilities. He's 12, very intelligent but his behavior problems get in the way of homeschool work. It took him 278 days to complete 4th grade. He got all A's and B's! He has Tourette's, Aspergers/Autism, OCD, ODD and ADHD. 

So I live with drama, basically. I'm a laid back person, it takes a lot to get me mad and even when I'm angry it takes a lot to push me over the edge. Today was the edge. I haven't gone over it...yet. Stress leaked out, several times today, those salty wet things that slide down your cheeks, you know that kind of stress I'm sure. 

I've been through some pretty tough trials in my lifetime and after the last extreme stress (2005-06) I learned the Lord DOES rescue me from evil. But it sure would be nice if it were on my timeline instead of his, you know? (grin) 

So here's to remembering "God is for me, so who can be against me?" "Press on and have hope, because God IS faithful" "His mercies are new every morning, GREAT is His faithfulness". 

Whether your problem is discouragement, illness or aging, sometimes all you have left is Jesus. 
When you're angry and bitter, you can still cling to Jesus in the midst of your tears. You can grab onto him and refuse to let go until he brings you through it. You'll find, to your surprise, that he holds on to you even tighter than you hold on to him. 

Jesus understands sorrow. He knows about being hurt. He remembers the terrible moment on the cross when his Father was forced to abandon him, because he was filthy from taking on our sins. Jesus won't let me go. 

Thank you Father. 

One Nation Under God

Built into our constitution, our founding fathers built a foundation of freedom. From the beginning, Christianity was not the law of the land.  Christianity was the principle behind the law of the land. One undeniable fact: At its core, the United States of America is a Christian nation.  A noble and significant quality embedded in the Christian faith is freedom for the religions to compete in the public arena of ideas. Americans have the freedom to change their nation from a Christian nation to any other type of their choosing. The majority will decide. While giving us this freedom, there were warnings given by our founding fathers.

On April 29th, 1607, the birth of a nation began.  Sea-weary Englishmen landed at Cape Henry on the shores of Virginia and lay the foundation for what would become the most powerful country the world has ever seen. What was to be the United States unfolded that day, America's destiny and purpose were sealed at Cape Henry.  All that would follow hinged on the single proclamation that this land belonged to Jesus Christ. In the Mayflower Compact of 1620, the Pilgrims reaffirmed the mission set forth by the original Virginia settlers.

The Puritans carried the Cape Henry legacy further. On the deck of the Arbella, halfway between England and Cape Cod, leader John Winthrop declared, "We shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us, so that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken and so cause him to withdraw his present help from us, we shall be made a story and a byword throughout the world."1

This is the heart of America, 'the city upon a hill,' and the core of what America's been all about since day one. The basis for American life, at that time, was to be committed Christians who were to so let their light shine to one another and then to the whole world, that the world could see that as an example.

More than 100 years later, America set off on her own course towards independence, the Godly foundations laid in Virginia established the character of our Revolution.  "Before God, I believe the hour has come," said John Adams of the Revolution. "My judgment approves this measure and my whole heart is in it. All that I have, all that I am and all that I hope in this life I am now ready to stake upon it. And I leave off as I began, that live or die, survive or perish, I am for the Declaration. It is my living sentiment, and by the blessing of God, it shall be my dying sentiment. Independence now and independence forever."2

John Adams wrote:

“Statesman, my dear Sir, may plan and speculate for liberty, but 

it is Religion and Morality alone, which can establish the Principles 

upon which Freedom can securely stand. 

The only foundation of a free Constitution is pure Virtue, and if this cannot be inspired 

into our People in a greater measure than they have it now, 

they may change their Rulers and the forms of Government, 

but they will not obtain a lasting liberty.”

George Washington's reverent, Christian heart, Benjamin Franklin's call to prayer and John Adams' reverence for the will of God symbolize the undying commitment of our Founding Fathers to the creation of a nation which would glorify God. The American character was born in Scripture and nurtured by the Holy Spirit, yet today, our national heritage is under siege.

Four hundred years have passed since America was first conceived at Cape Henry, and respect for our roots is growing cold. Yes, one undeniable fact will remain: At its core, the United States of America is a Christian nation... with the gift of freedom. Americans have the freedom to change their nation from a Christian nation. Christianity is not the law of the land.  Christianity was the principle behind the law of the land.

James Madison warned of a risk in 1795:

"The moment that religion, the pure and undefiled religion, loses its influence 

over our hearts, from that fatal moment, farewell to public and private happiness. 

Farewell--a long farewell--to virtue, to patriotism, to liberty."

John Adams wrote in June 1776: "We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion.  Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people."

Yes, our constitution was made for a moral and religious people.  And the people have the freedom to change.  Place that constitution into the hands of an immoral and unreligious people and you see the America of today.  The moral and religious people of yesterday laid down their right, choosing comfort rather than politics.  They turned a blind eye to difficult topics, and chose topics that were pleasing to their ears.  And like a frog in a pan of water on a stove, morality and religion was shed slowly, without realizing it was happening.  It happens.  Layer by layer until bare bones and stark reality hit.

What will you do?  The bright light that shown to all the world is dimming.  Will you continue laying down, rolling over to change the view... choosing the more comfortable scenery of your pew?  Your soccer field? Your quilt guild meeting? (Please fill in the blank here)  Did the founding fathers die for nothing?

You have the freedom to change this country... or not.   Ezekiel 33:8

My thanks to David Norris for contributing to this article.

More blocks finished!

On to finishing the embroidered blocks!  What are you working on this weekend?

My husband is taking our 12 yr old on a boy scout camping trip this weekend, which means I get to sew, sew, sew for 2 days straight.  For those who've come to my blog for the first time, I home school our son, and have a daughter in college.  Life is hectic, both our children have disabilities and sewing takes a back seat sometimes.  The quilt I've been working on lately is for my mom.

Remembering today

12 years... a terrible, terrible day.

Home school was somber today.  My son and I watched the emotional video on Fox News, coverage of events I watched 12 years ago, as I rocked my 6 month old son.  He had many questions, "Mom, what was the Pentagon?  A pentagon is a shape in my math class."  "Mom, what was the World Trade Center?"  "Mom, If a building were falling on me I would crawl under a car to protect myself", and I responded, "there were firetrucks, ambulances, cars and trucks people did get under, and they were crushed flat."   But when the people jumping from windows came on the screen, he was too stunned to speak.

No words to describe this

It's not easy being green...

My son and I are doing yardwork today.  Today's task is cutting up all the tree limbs I trimmed from a few trees so the city can haul them away Tuesday.  We found this on one of the branches I cut down.

When it morphs, it will become:

Repeal the Bill of Rights?

I'm a mother. 20 years later.

My mind couldn't wrap itself around the thought back then, when a few people said tyranny had come to America.  I remember being unable to contemplate the thought that my government would ever begin to treat it's citizens the way Russia or China or South Vietnam treated their citizens.  This was unthinkable.  I clearly remember putting the thought of an unarmed mother holding her baby out of mind, and I went about my life.

I'm a mother.  20 years later.  And I think back on the murder of an unarmed woman holding her baby.

Her last photo

An unarmed woman holding her baby was labeled a threat by my Justice Dept at Ruby Ridge.   20 years later, my Justice Department is making an attempt to legally label someone else a threat... without due process... to legally murder anyone they label a threat.

NBC: Justice Department memo reveals legal case for drone strikes on Americans

Randy Weaver and his family were just another set of "troublemakers" who wanted to be left alone.  While I, and most of Americans like me, paid no attention to the atrocity, a substantial minority on both sides of the political spectrum did pay attention.  They were outraged and wouldn't forget. And dear Lord, forgive me, I want to forget.  I don't want to remember.  I remember seeing the funerals on the news.  Yes, I prayed for the baby who would never know his mother.  I remember.

The actions at Ruby Ridge were studied long ago.  And, damning as the Justice Department investigation was, officials are believed to have destroyed evidence to keep it away from investigators. The Justice Department completed a 542-page investigation on the case in 1995.  Then hid the report from the public.  However, the report was acquired by Legal Times newspaper, which placed the report on the internet.  The report revealed that federal officials may have acted worse than even some of their harshest critics imagined.

Federal officials claimed a violent confrontation between the Weavers and the government began when the Weavers ambushed federal marshals, but the report tells a very different story. A team of six U.S. marshals, split into two groups, trespassed onto Mr. Weaver's land on Aug. 21, 1992. One of the marshals threw rocks at the Weaver's cabin to see how much noise was required to agitate the Weaver's dogs. A few minutes later, Randy Weaver, Kevin Harris, and 13-year-old Sammy Weaver came out of the cabin and began following their dogs. Three U.S. marshals were soon running away through the woods.

At one point, U.S. Marshal Larry Cooper "told the others that it was ['expletive deleted'] for them to continue running and that he did not want to 'run down the trail and get shot in the back.' Cooper told them to take up defensive positions. They took a position behind a stump and waited.  As Sammy Weaver and Kevin Harris came upon the marshals, gunfire erupted. It was Sammy who was shot in the back, killed while running away from the scene (probably by Marshal Cooper, according to the report).1

Does tyranny begin when an angry young man, remembering Ruby Ridge, blows up a federal building filled with babies in a daycare, along with men and women innocently going about their day?  Or would that be anarchy?

When does tyranny begin? A dad, a 13 year old boy, his mother and his baby brother were innocently going about their day, too.

My government wants legal permission to send drones, instead of federal marshalls, to kill Americans they think are a threat.  And I want to be protected!  I want my government to do a good job keeping my family safe.  But what happens when my government runs amok?  They want to control who gets to buy automatic weapons, to protect me they say.  Like they protected me from an unarmed woman holding her baby?

Slowly, like a child testing the weight of ice on a lake in winter, my government has tested the waters of tyranny, to see how far they can go.

The U.S. Supreme Court said "It is not the function of our Government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the Government from falling into error." - in American Communications Association v. Douds, 339 U.S. 382, at 442.

Please God, please help the American people ask what I'm asking now.  And dear God... please let the powers in Washington listen to the American people they serve.  Please let them ask, when does tyranny begin?  No, better still, let them ask what will the anarchy that follows look like?

1.  source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby_Ridge

Proud milestone in the life of an 11 year old

One day I'll miss this age, right?

I grew up on a farm...bailed hay, drove a tractor from the time I was 8, walked beans... the whole nine yards, right? So I have a 9 yo son who is afraid of spider webs and all bugs in any form. Ok, so I can live with that... (the webs???) My dd caught a skink for him and he keeps it in his room.

In one week, we went from.... Ear-piercing scream followed by stampeding feet running towards me "MOOOOOO-M!!!" ...heavy breathing... "MOM, I actually almost got a spider web on me!" Very dramatic moment that took 2 days before he would go outside again... to... Stampeding feet running towards me "MOOOOM! Look what I caught!!!! ...shoves a hairy spider in my face, beaming smile....

So which is better??? A son afraid of bugs... or one who brings spiders in the house as a food source?

Civil War Records

There are 50 pages of records for my great, great grandfather's service in the Civil War!    So far, this is what I know.... He was wounded in the battle of Vicksburg, Mississippi on December 29, 1863.  Shrapnel from a cannon ball hit him in the head, fortunately the wound was minor.  I have his signatures on several documents, and also his wife.

My great, great grandfather helped burn Atlanta.  Remember the scene from Gone with the Wind where Rhett and Scarlett barely escape with their lives as they pass a 5 story building full of flames? ... Yes, my grandpa was one of those dirty yankees in Georgia!

An 85 lb. soldier
from the Civil War

 He served as a private from beginning to the end of the Civil War.  His company "was reenrolled at Woodville Alibama on the 1^st day of January 1864 was with the Army of Gen Sherman on the March from Atlanta to Savannah in the State of Georgia – That the soldiers had no tents but Shelter Tents that on said March by reason of Exposure and hard marching the said James M. contracted the Chronic Disease – The same was in the line of his duty.  The Army left Atlanta Oct 3^rd 18yr and got to Savannah December 24^th 1864."


 The disease he contracted toward the end of the war disabled him for the rest of his life.  When he went to war he weighed 180 lbs, healthy for a man who was 5' 10" tall.  When he arrived back home at the end of the war he weighed 85 lbs.  


He fought in many battles, I'll have to make a list, watch for that in the near future.