Parental Rights

Something very near and dear to my heart is the parental rights of myself and of the parents in this nation! It is scary to think that government would have us believe that they know better than we do on how to raise our children. There is a UN treaty called "the right of the child." It sounds harmless, except it means that the government is allowed to step in and make decisions for your child if THEY feel that you aren't doing a good enough job or they think you should be doing it this way instead of that way. In other words, parents would lose their rights as parents. It sounds insane, and not like something that can happen in the U.S. but it is already happening and we (the U.S.) have not yet signed the treaty with the UN. www.parentalrights.org is trying to get an amendment passed that protects parental rights. The only reason government should ever step in, is in the case of abuse, and I am sure that the government would have us believe that this is what this treaty is about, but it is not. I encourage all of you to get educated on this topic. I don't care if you don't have kids or your kids have already grown. Our children are our future. Do you think the people running this country know what is best for these children, or do you think that parents raising and loving their children know best? Here is the latest email I received from parentalrights.org. Again, please sign the petition and read on their website about what this all about because I know they can word it a lot better than I can. =)

Parents of 50 Million U.S. Children Soon to Lose Parental Rights

If your children attend public school, you are among those parents whose rights will end the moment your child enters the school. That’s because in 2005 the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found in Fields v. Palmdale School District “that the Meyer-Pierce right [of parents to direct the upbringing of their children] does not exist beyond the threshold of the school door.”

You read that right. Parental Rights “[do] not exist beyond the threshold of the school door.”

“We conclude that the parents are possessed of no constitutional right to prevent the public schools from providing information on the subject [of sexuality] to their students in any forum or manner they select” (emphasis added).

Of course, most parents contend they don’t have a choice in where their children are schooled. Either economic constraints or personal circumstances leave them with no practical alternative to the local public school. And that leaves no parental rights at all.

Please act to reverse this assault by big government courts against parental rights. Sign the petition and get more information at ParentalRights.org.

Then, please pass this on. Every parent of a public school student needs to know the extent to which the courts have robbed them of their rights. Forward this email to friends, add the message to your Facebook account, or click here to visit this page online and use the “share” button to add it to virtually any other social network.

Looking Ahead

This is the first of several court cases we plan to review for you in the coming weeks. The courts’ disregard for the traditional formative role of parents in a child’s life needs to be brought to light. And while the Parental Rights Amendment will not give parents any greater power to control the school’s choice of curriculum, it will protect their right to pull their individual child out of any program of an outrageous or offensive nature, like the program in the Palmdale case. (To read more from this case, click here.)

Sincerely,

Michael Ramey
Communications Director

I'm back!

Hi! I know I have been gone for so long, but it seems when things are exciting enough to write about, I am also too busy to write! LOL! We have ahad a great few months! We have been traveling like crazy since May! It all seems like a blur now, but we had a wonderful time!

We are getting ready to start our next homeschool year, and I have been busy collecting curriculum, making schedules (which I will alter like 50 times during the school year)! I am also Reading a GREAT series of books by Oliver DeMille!! The first one is called "A Thomas Jefferson Education." He is AWESOME! I don't care if you don't homeschool. Every parent and educator needs this book! It talks about how to raise up leaders. Part of that equation is raising kids who educate themselves. He makes the argument that nobody educates someone else. Sure we can give them work to do. We can lecture them, but the student is the one educates himself. They have to be inspired to learn. They have to be taught HOW to think, not told WHAT to think! He also talks about the best way to raise up good leaders and statesmen is to give them three parts of the education equation : classics, mentors, and inspiration (as apposed to requirement). The book talks a lot about the state of our leadership crisis in America and basically how that can be changed by this form of education, called Thomas Jefferson Education (TJed). I also love how it calls public school, and even a lot of private schools, "Conveyor belt education." =) Anyway, luckily, I do already teach a lot like he states in the book, which is a relief, but I will be learning as I go as well....mainly in the reading classics category. I have read a lot on the list in the past, but still so many more, and I want to be ahead of the game. Basically, I want to give myself a better education as well, so that I can help my kids to be leaders and statesmen...something this country is in desperate need of.

There have been a lot of thoughts going through my head lately about homeschooling, especially as I am questioned more by people who are thinking of doing it themselves or the people who roll their eyes and claim they NEVER could do that! I may be wring about some of these thoughts because I feel there are some misleading thoughts floating around out there that need to be addresses, and I also need to process my own thoughts by writing them out. =)

Catching up!

I wanted to post about a few things that have happened around here, but haven't had a chance in a while. I tell you, I have seriously cut back on my computer time, because when I get on, it is like a time stealer!! By the time I read all the blogs I like to read, and then check in on a few forums I am a part of, so much time is just zapped from my day....That isn't even including email and facebook!!

Anyway, I didn't want everyone to think I had fallen off the end of the earth, so here I am!!

In January, my beautiful little princess turned 8 years old!! I can not even believe it!! She's so tiny, I carry her around like you would a 4-year-old. It just doesn't seem real to me, and I really don't like the idea of her growing so fast. That isn't to say that I don't love the idea of getting to see what God has planned for her life....I just wish it would slow down a bit! LOL! Kristina has a strong spirit! She is very black and white about things, and she has strong convictions. She also started taking violin lessons, as we got her a violin for her birthday. She loves it, and it is going well. She is continuing with piano also.

Another thing about my Kristina that is a bit unusual perhaps is that she LOVES anything Egypt! She has most of the Playmobil Egypt toys, and she loves learning about it. Perhaps at age 8, this isn't so strange, but she was like this at age 3 as well! Kristina and I were making brownies or something, and she was chattering away about pyramids. I thought it was a teaching moment, and so I said to my little 3-yr-old, "And do you know where you can find Pyramids?" She said with a bit of attitude, "Uh, yeah! Egypt!" Like, DUH!! Of course, at that time we lived with my parents, and my dad watches a lot of History channel and Discovery channel. She was definitely picking up on some of that stuff....Like the time I picked her up from Sunday school, and she showed me that she had built Stone Henge out of blocks. LOL! So, anyway, back to Egypt.... Next year we will be studying Egypt formally. I have a guide for teaching Genesis Through Deuteronomy and ancient Egypt. She can't wait. There are a number of books I still have to get, but I'm watching used book sales for them. Since this is something she has loved since she was three (we have had to check out books from the library on the subject over the years, and she even has a book that teaches you how to draw like the Egyptians did.) I am anxious to see what God does with it. I just think that when someone loves something that much from a young age like that, there must be something there.

In the beginning of March we went to see Carter perform in a six state honor choir up in Minneapolis. It was a lot of fun. All the groups did so well, and there is definitely some great talent out there. Carter currently sings soprano. It will be interesting to see how his voice develops. We are quite proud of him. I still think he prefers piano to singing, but he has truly enjoyed being in all these choirs this year, as he was also in Opus this year as well. Lance's parents were wonderful enough to come and stay with the 2 younger one, while we went up there. You see, the crazy thing was that we didn't even know until the day before if we would even get tickets. Crazy! Right? I mean you think the parents would automatically get tickets, don't you think? Anyway, that's why we couldn't take K and J. Anyway, we are excited to see God developing Carter's musical talent (even though when you ask him what he wants to be when he grows up, he never even mentions music at all. LOL!) Since he is not my blood child and since I can take no credit for his talent, I can brag a little more about him! =) He is enormously talented, especially with the piano. He's also becoming a bit of a music freak...you know, singing CONSTANTLY and playing with what the voice can do? Yeah, I remember those days! LOL!

Now that I have written a paragraph or more on K and C, I feel I should write about Jakob too. LOL! He doing well. I think the most recent info on him is that he is going to marry his friend Sarah when he grows up, play for the Vikings, and when he is too old for that, he is going to work at Target because I shop there a lot, and if he works there, he'll get to see me a lot...His words! I swear! LOL! Actually, Jakob is also learning to read, and he read his first book (It was a Bob book) last week! He loves to try and read, which is so different than Kristina who hated learning to read because she just wanted to be able to just do it....like math, which she was just naturally able to do without much effort. Jakob is catching on quick, and always wants to do more than one lesson, and sometimes I have to stop him and tell him it is enough for the day (so he doesn't get too far ahead of himself). Next year is his kindergarten year, so I am happy he will be starting already knowing how to read. As their teacher, I think reading is one of the more difficult things to teach because it's something you can't do until you are "ready" like potty training.

On other news....A couple of weeks ago, the old Hobby Lobby store collapsed. I mean the store is gone! There was just too much snow and then it rained, and splat! It caved in on itself! It happened at 5:30 on a Sunday, so I am glad nobody was around and was hurt. The store was empty. Hobby Lobby still had to lease the building until November, but now, their lease is up! The thing I find very interesting is that I have two friends who have churches, and both of them at one time or another have tried to rent that space for their church. It is in a dying strip mall, and no business wants to go in there. The owner always said no. He did not want a church in there because he wanted something that was retail and bringing in money. Totally dumb since he wasn't getting anything for it with it sitting empty, and he doesn't make anything off the retail anyway. You would think he would let one of the churches rent it and get the money from them, but he was a real stinker about it, and out of the whole strip mall, it was the old Hobby Lobby that collapsed and the rest is fine. Hmmmmmm........

On yet other news, I am working out, and my body is handling it! Yeah me! Since I was so sick last year, I had trouble exercising, and could only do little bits at a time, and it seemed it never did any good anyway, so I was very discouraged. Well, I have been doing some ballet conditioning (which kicks your butt!) pilates (my old standby favorite) and walking etc. I have been able to do it daily, and stay consistent without getting to weak and exhausted. WELL, last week, some friends of mine asked if I wanted to go running with them. I was like, "Um NOOOOOOOOO! I don't run! No way!" They said they were doing a walk/run, and they don't run fast at all. They were going to run for four minutes and then walk for a minute. I was like, "Yeah, but I haven't run since high school,, and even then it was only for PE and I HATED it!" Anyway, long story short, they talked me into trying it, and I'd like to tell you that I was all wrong, and it was wonderful and I have found a new love, but no! First off, I get there, and I am informed we are going to go 3.2 miles! UH, excuse me!? Yeah, the distance might have been a great thing to ask about the day before! So, I ran the first 4 minutes straight and I was pretty excited I could do it....Ok, so Like I was praying the whole time, and let's face it, God ran it for me! LOL! Then after our minute walk, which I know they were just tricking me! It was like ten seconds! (ok, maybe not.) I started to run the second stretch, and I had to keep slowing down to a walk because I couldn't do it. Now because my legs wouldn't go or I was in any kind of pain but I couldn't breath. It hurt. I had sort of that soar throat phlegmy feeling! Yuck! So I sped walk the whole rest of the way, and managed to keep up with them pretty well considering. I haven't returned. running is not my thing, but I do love waling! Now that weather has been warmer, I am getting out there a lot and just walking fast. You see I let the kids ride their bikes and I walk behind, and i can't actually keep up, but I do walk fast enough that my shins are killing me by the time I am done. The kids have to stop at each corner and wait for Mama to catch up. LOL!

And, that's all for now! =)

What's in a name

Here's a little something about me.....I love names! I mean, I really love names! When people have children, I can't wait to hear what they named them. I also like to hear how they chose the name. When I was about 12, I really started to get into writing out names....like for my future children. I loved to say them, to write them, etc. Then I started looking names up to see what they meant. This literally was a favorite pastime when I was a teen. Weird, yes, but hey, I wasn't partying or anything like that. =)

By the time I had children, I had long since stopped this little pastime. Jon (Kristina and Jakob's father) TOLD me what we would name our children, and I honestly had no say in the matter. Kristina, would not have been my first choice. I actually wanted to name her Hannah. When I saw I wasn't going to get anywhere, I realized that by naming her Kristina, I would also be naming her after my grandmother, who is actually named Christine. I am very close to this grandmother, so I was happy with that thought, and the moment I said her name out loud after she was born, it suddenly became the most beautiful, princessy-sounding name in the world! Her middle name, Renae, is the same as mine and my mother's, passed down.

When I was pregnant with Jakob, I was alone, (I learned I was pregnant with him 3 weeks after I escaped that life with Jon.) and so I could name him whatever I wanted. I wrote lists of names. It was fun, but I did not look up the meanings of the names like I used to when I was young. I liked the name Jakob because I had a friend in college who had a baby cousin named Jacob, and he was just adorable, and I just sort of kept that name in the back of my head ever since then. Also, if I spelled it with a "K" that would make it a German spelling, and you know me and Germany!! =) His middle name, Alexander, just sounded right to me.

Well, little did I know at the time of naming them, how important their names would be. Jakob just loves the Jacob of the Bible. He thinks it is the coolest thing that his name is in the Bible....so much so that he thinks he will have many children just because Jacob did. He also used to say, "God loves the Jacob in the Bible, and God loves this Jakob too!" pointing to himself. When he was about three, he would show his Bible to anyone who would look, and he would go to the stories of Jacob, and he would say, "....and this is me, and this is my family. This is my wife, and there's all my kids!"

Kristina was a little upset that I did not give her a name that was in the Bible. I told her that her name meant "Follower of Christ" and she thought that was pretty special. Now that she is a little older and has accepted Christ into her heart, we have talks about her name, and she really feels her name is very special, and I can't help but think her name may have been given to us from God himself. After all, her middle names means "Born Again." =)

Recently, I found a book on names. It has the inherent meaning, the spiritual connotation, and then a Bible verse to go with each. I bought it used for just a couple dollars, so I could make the kids something to hang on their wall with their names and meanings. They were fun to make. I just printed them on the computer, using different colored fonts to match their rooms. I'm going to frame them and hang them next to their beds.

Here's what their names mean:
KRISTINA
Language/Cultural Origin: Swedish
Inherent Meaning: Follower of Christ
Spiritual Connotation: Near to God
Scripture: John 6:3
And Jesus went up on the mountain,
and there He sat with His disciples.

RENAE
Language/Cultural Origin: French
Inherent Meaning: Born Again
Spiritual Connotation: Joyful
Scripture: Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ;
it is no longer I who live,
but Christ who lives in me.

CARTER
Language/Cultural: Old English
Inherent Meaning: Driver of a Cart
Spiritual Connotation: Privileged
Scripture: Revelation 3:8
I know your deeds.
Behold, I have put before you an open door
which no one can shut.

JOSEPH
Language/Cultural Origin: Hebrew
Inherent Meaning: God Will Add
Spiritual Connotation: Wise and Understanding
Scripture: Proverbs 28:5
Evil men do not understand justice,
but those who seek the LORD understand all.

JAKOB
Language/Cultural Origin: Hebrew
Inherent Meaning: Supplanter
Spiritual Connotation: Benevolent
Scripture: 1 John 2:17
And the world is passing away, and the lust of it:
but he who does the will of God abides forever.

ALEXANDER
Language/Cultural Origin: Greek
Inherent Meaning: Defender of Mankind
Spiritual Connotation: Brave Protector
Scripture: Jeremiah 22:3
The Lord says: Be fair-minded. Do what is right!
Help those in need of Justice!

Anyway, I love the meanings of their names, even though, when I named them (Kristina and Jakob that is, since I did not name Carter) I had no idea of the meanings. Praise God they didn't end up with names that meant bitter, or red-headed, even though they don't have red hair....you know, something that makes no sense with who they are. I even liked what this book had for my name, so I wrote it out in my prayer journal. =)

What's been going on here....

Well, January is always a busy month around here. Ok, the truth is, it is a busy month for my husband. It is inventory month for Lance. This year, his store has the first inventory, which is this Friday. I'm pretty happy about that, so it can get over and done with. As usual, he will have to do some traveling this month to help other stores or audit them for their store's inventory. He does this every year, and I tease him that it is the price for being so diligent in his work. So far, there are only 2 stores he has to audit, and I am hoping that is all. If he audits somewhere, that means he's gone for about 2 days. He has to leave the weekend of Kristina's birthday, which is why we will be celebrating her birthday the week after, and she is busy trying to plan something special on her actual birthday as well. =)

Lance has been dealing with a stomach bug. It came on last Friday morning, and he is still not 100%, but is doing much better than before. We had no idea what it was, but we just learned that there have been issues with bacteria in some restaurants here because people are touching raw meat and then pushing the button to fill drinks with their fingers, instead of allowing the cup to push the button. The bacteria gets on the edge of the cup and then inside the drink as well. ICK! Anyway, there have been many complaints of bacteria issues, and Lance had a $1.00 burger and a Sprite the night before all this started. It has been some strong bacteria. He's been eating soup and blander things, but he feels he can finally have a normal dinner tonight. I have a pot roast in the crock-pot! Yum! My house already smells great!

Project Life

http://www.beckyhiggins.com/projectlife/

I saw this on a homeschooling site I am a part of. I thought it looked great for doing during family devotion time, so you could record your family's walk with God, or just great for recording your families journey in life in general. I think it is VERY reasonably priced too, considering what you pay for all these things individually (although, I'm not a scrapbooker, so I don't know this for sure, but seems reasonable to me)! I also think it's pretty cute. Anyway, thought I'd share!

Happy New Year!

Well, I am a part of this Yahoo group for housewives, and the question was asked as to what our New Years resolutions are, and so I posted a comment, and I thought, hey, that might be a blog post.......because, hey, I know you all wanna hear what I got to say about New Years resolutions! =)

Actually, I normally don't make New Years Resolutions. I actually think they're kind of silly.....Like, seriously, is that the only time of year people make goals for their lives? That is what a New Years resolution is, isn't it? You are basically making a goal to not do this or to start doing that. I tend to think I make goals....or rather, I know I make goals throughout the year, and rarely does that happen on December 31st in particular. However, surprise! This year it just so happens, I have some changes I do want to make, and it just so happens to be December 31st! Cool, right? Yeah, I knew that's what you were thinking. =)

First of all, I really need to get up earlier. I usually just sleep or at least lay in bed until the kids get me up, which is around 7:00-7:30. This works just fine, I suppose, but I always feel so hurried, and I always have to squeeze in my shower time....somewhere! If I got up at 6:00, I could have a whole hour to get started on my day, and take a shower in peace (You know, with no kids knocking on the door saying so-and-so did this or won't let me have that).

The next thing is just some school stuff. I am moving all art and science experiments to Fridays because I really can't stand doing that stuff....well, it's not so much doing them, it's cleaning up after them! Moving it all to one day will keep the mess on one day, and the kids are always antsy on Fridays anyway because of the weekend coming.....and if Carter is coming that day...forget it!

The other school thing is that I have to add an hour in the afternoon because some things are taking longer than I expected...namely, devotional time. The kids love it, and we end up spending so much time, which is wonderful, but does set us back a little.

The last thing, is making menus. I used to do this when I was a single mom and HAD to because I really had to make every penny count. Food around here is expensive because of everyone's food allergy whether it be gluten or lactose or sugar...take your pick. Cooking healthier costs money unfortunately, even though I make almost everything from scratch! I am trying to buy as much of that stuff in bulk as I can, and planning meals ahead of time and only buying those ingredients. I don't know how I got out of this habit, but I did, and so I need to get back on track with this. It really helps to know where the money is going.

Tonight we went to some friends' house for a party. It was a family friendly party, and was just nice and relaxed. We left around 10:15 so the kids could get to bed, and so Lance could get up for work in the morning. Yes, Hobby Lobby is open on New Years Day.....just in case you wanted to know. Anyway, I am wired since I was around people and so now I am on the computer trying to unwind!


Happy New Year!

FREE DESSERT!!!!

That's what Lance calls these brownies anyway because they are both gluten free and sugar free. Before you think "Yuck!" let me tell you something.....They are fudgey and unbelievably delicious!! You would NEVER ever believe they were free of anything.

1 1/2 sticks butter
12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips (I use Enjoy Life chocolate chips)
2 cups Sucanat
1 Tablespoon vanilla
5 large eggs beaten
1 1/4 cups Domata living flour
1/2 tsp sea salt


Preheat oven to 350. Grease 9 x 13 pan.

Mix the flour in the salt in a small bowl and set aside

whisk eggs and set aside

In a 3-quart saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate together over low heat, stirring constantly. Use a wooden spoon. Next stir in the sucanat and the vanilla. Add the beaten eggs in Stir until all is well blended. Next add in the flour just until blended. Poor into pan and bake for 30 minutes. Toothpick 1 inch from the side should come out clean. Cool then cut and serve. I personally think these brownies are even better once they have cooled. They somehow get fudgier! =) I'm telling you, these are the best brownies ever, and they're "free!"

GF Pizza Crust

This is an easy recipe and is SOOOOO MUCH BETTER than those GF pizzas you buy in the store! Not to mention, making it is so much cheaper!

2 Cups Domata Living Flour
1Tsp Salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 TBS Sucanat (or sugar if you don't have it)
1 large egg
1/8 cup oil (I use Eniva's Omega 9 cooking oil, but you can use whatever you got on hand)
1/2 cup + milk

Put all the dry ingredients in mixer (You will want to use the paddle or dough hook) If you don't have a stand mixer, use a heavy wooden spoon. Those hand-held mixers will blow up trying to mix dough. Anyway, mix all the dry stuff.

Next, in a liquid measuring cup, measure 1/8 cup oil (1/8 cup is the same as 1 oz). Now drop the egg in and whisk just a bit with a fork. Now add enough milk to measure up to one cup of liquid total. Mix again with fork just till blended. (Don't worry about getting it perfectly mixed if you are using a stand mixer because the mixer is powerful enough to get it thoroughly done.)

Add the wet stuff to the dry stuff. Mix on medium high for about a minute-and-a-half you will know it is done when the dough has completely pulled away from the sides.
Touch the dough to feel texture. If it is too dry, add just a tad more milk.

Remove dough and kneed it a few times on a greased stone or pizza pan. Form into a ball. Let stand about five minutes. Then roll out in a circle on your pan. Grease your roller with cooking spray. Don't flour it. Take the edges and roll them up so that it will hold the pizza toppings.

Put in 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes. Take out and putt all of your toppings on. Put back in the over for another 8-10 minutes or until desired doneness. Enjoy!

GF Bread

Here is the bread I make. It calls for 2 8 inch loaf pans, but since my loaf pan is bigger than that, I just use one. I used 2 the first time and ended up with 2 short loaves, which aren't that good for sandwiches. =)

You can also use this recipe to make buns. You just need to a large muffin pan. I have not done this myself, as we don't use buns that often, but I know this is what others do, and I am assuming you would cut the cook time down a bit also Anyway, here is the recipe.

4 Cups Domata Living Flour
2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk powder
1 package yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
3 large eggs
1/4 cup butter (or whatever you're using in place of butter)
2 tsp cider vinegar
1/3 cup honey or agave nectar
2 cups warm water (between 110 to 115 degrees) Buy yourself one of those instant read thermometers or guess like I do, but I plan to get one of those thermometer thingies because if my guessing is ever off, my bread could be a flop.....or a door stop. =)

Now for the "How to."
1. Grease and flour 2 8 inch loaf pans. May I take just a moment and tell you that those pampered chef pans are the best for baking bread? Ok, anyway, if you only have a 9 inch pan, your bread will not be very big, which is fine if you just want it for making along with dinner, but bad if you want to make a sandwich.....anyway, you will want to just use ONE pan and fill half way to 2/3 up.
2. Mix the dry ingredients in medium bowl and set aside
Place Eggs, butter, and vinegar, and honey in the mixing bowl of a stand mixer. If you don't have one, you can use a hand-held one, but your arm will get tired in later steps. You could also use a hefty wooden spoon. Also, the butter will still be chunky. You could probably melt the butter before mixing it in as well, and it would be fine.
3. Add half the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.Mix just until combined. Add remaining dry ingredients, and keep mixing on low until it is well blended.
4. With the mixer on low, slowly add the warm water. When you have added all the water, you will want to keep it on LOW until it is all well incorporated.
Then turn the mixer on medium high speed for four minutes.
5. Next spoon the batter into your prepared pan(s). It will be thick but not as doughy as you would think bread dough would be like.
6. Set aside in warm place to rise for an hour. If you don't have a place suitable for rising, you can put a cup of water in the microwave and heat until boiling....about 4 minutes. Put pan in and let rise there.
7. Place pan(s) in 375 degree oven for 50-60 minutes, or until internal temp is 200 degrees.
8. Let bread cool for ten minutes before turning out to cool completely on wire rack.
Slice once it is COMPLETELY cool. Store in the freezer and pull out just what you need when you need it. You can defrost in the microwave (about 30 seconds or so) or in the toaster on low.

Gluten Free eating eating

OK, first I'd like to discuss 2 ingredients I always have on hand and use pretty much no matter what the recipe calls for. The first is the gluten free flour I use. I only use Domata Living Flour, and you can find it www.domatalivingflour.com or you may be able to find it at Hy-Vee or whatever health food store is near you. I buy it in bulk from the website because I use it so much, and it is cheaper that way. Also, just get the regular flour. Don't get the seasoned stuff. It is very salty, and sdoesn't really make that great of fried chicken as you might suspect. Buy the regular flour, add your own seasoning, and make your fired chicken. Also don't get the pizza crust mix. (Hmmm, I'm kinda bossy today aren't I?) I will give you a recipe for pizza crust using the regular flour.

The other thing I use is Sucanat instead of sugar. I do this for my daughter who is sensitive to sugar, plus it is healthier for all of us and tastes great too. Stevia is great if you are putting on something or in your coffee, but is difficult to bake with. Sucanat is evaporated cane juice, and you use it just like sugar, cup for cup. It is kind of similar to brown sugar. Sometimes I use raw honey also for sweetener. I use it in my oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for the "white sugar" and then use the Sucanat for the "brown sugar" in the recipe. These cookies are Kristina's favorite, and I will post them below. You can buy Sucanat at health food stores or online though Amazon. I get mine through our food co-op here. Just ordered a 25# bag of it because it would save so much in the future and won't go bad. I'll have sugar for a year. LOL!

Oh, speaking of chocolate chips, I use Enjoy Life chocolate chips. They are very yummy....taste just like semi-sweet chocolate chips, but they use evaporated cane juice instead of sugar and are dairy free and gluten free (although I think most chocolate chips are GF.....at least I think.....) You can find these in the health food area at Hy-Vee or any health food store. I buy mine through our food co-op here in bulk because it is cheaper, and I will use them. You can also order them from Amazon.

Speaking of Amazon....Are you all aware of their "Subscribe and Save" plan. You can order certain products in bulk and they are cheaper that way, but if you also put them on Subscribe and Save, which is to autoship them to you ever month, 3 months, or six months, you save an additional 15 percent.! I get a few of our things this way, like our honey, our Tings (crunchy corn thingies that the kids love), and some other things I can't think of right now. There is no cost to join Subscribe and Save, and you can cancel at any time or just ask them to skip this shipment this time. (They will send you an email letting you know when they are getting close to shipping your next order.) I know people who even do this for diapers, so think of anything you would need in bulk and you could probably get it through them. Oh and shipping is also FREE on subscribe and save orders....and No, Amazon did not pay me to say all this, but they should......hmmmmmmmm!

ok, I have given you some stuff to ponder, and I just realized I forgot to eat breakfast, so I will be back with you later for some recipes. =)

Long time ...I know!!!

Well, I have been scolded a few times for not keeping up with this blog, so I am going to update you all on all of us here. =)

Honestly, not that much has been going on that would make you go "wow! She so totally has a happenin' life!" That said, I know you all just LOVE us and want to hear from us!

I have been pretty busy with schooling the kids and all that it entails. We have been having a really good school year thus far. I really have focused on giving everything to God and seeking out His answers for what is relevant for them. You know...or maybe you don't.....Homeschool kids learn so much stuff, and it is so easy to get into the mindset of, "Oh, Their children are learning Spanish, Latin, and French?! Crap! I'm so far behind!" OR, "Oh, her second grader is reading "The Iliad!' Mine is reading "Dick and Jane' and Dr. Seuss' MAN! What am I doing wrong?" Anyway, I am exaggerating a tad, but there is that fear of not giving them enough or not teaching the right stuff, or not having the right curriculum. Anyway, I have started to think of things in terms of what is relevant for them to serve God....I focus on their strengths and give them what they need.

Kristina had been doing very poorly in reading. I was beside myself because I could not figure out why! I mean, she had learned all of her letter sounds by age 2 1/2!! She set me up!! I thought she was going to be an EARLY reader, not a late reader! Of course there are all the thoughts that I might be doing it all wrong or something, but I have learned more about reading and the learning process. Did you know that the average reading age is between age 4 and 9 and up to 12 for boys?! Yeah, I didn't know that either. You know in public schools, they just send you to special ed if you can't read by the end of first grade and label you learning disabled, or say you must have dyslexia. Did you also know that if you take a child that learned to read at age 4 and another that learned at age 9, that by the time they are both 13 you wouldn't be able to tell the difference? Of course this is provided the one who learned late wasn't labeled and told they had a disability for so many years and thereby developed a stigma. After I learned this, I relaxed. We put it away for a few weeks, and then tried again, and now she is finally reading!! She reads everything from books to signs, to labels on cans etc. AND, do you know what she said???? No? Ok, I'll tell you......Someone asked her what her favorite subject is, and she said, "Reading!" I could hardly believe it. It used to be either math or writing. She does math without even thinking. She just has a natural ability there, and her writing is beautiful, and she loves to write everything in cursive now. =) I used to tell her, "ok, let's do your reading." and she would get all worked up because she hated it so much, but now it's her FAVORITE! Praise God!

The other thing I have done is what I should have been doing all along, and I guess I had never thought of it for some reason, but we start every day with Bible reading and character building, oh, and memory verses. It seems our days go so much smoother that way. At first, I got a little anxious because the kids were wanting to spend an hour or more on Bible work, and I was worried about getting all the other subjects done, and then I thought, "Wait a minute! My kids WANT to spend an HOUR on Bible work!! Praise God!" So, I have learned to incorporate other subjects into their Bible work. Writing is an easy one to incorporate, as well as reading.

Jakob has been doing school work too this year, and he loves it! He would never sit there and do work before this year, and so school time was always hard because of having to chase him around while trying to teach her.

Another reason you guys have not heard from me is that I have been trying to stay off the computer as much as possible. I do get on everyday and read emails and various blogs, but writing seems to take so much time....Hmmmm....Maybe I just shouldn't be so long-winded! I have tried to see what things around me are really distractions from what I really am called to do, and I guess the eye-opener for me was every time I was on the computer, the kids would ask me to come here for like the 50th time or look at this or that, and I would get so irritated, and I would say to them, "Just a minute....." Then five minutes later, "I SAID just a minute!". LOL! Sometimes Jakob would say, "Mama! You said 'Just a minute' a long time ago!"

Soooo.....what else is going on? Tomorrow I sing "Silent Night" at church and we are also decorating the tree.

Another cool thing is I found a violin teacher for Kristina! Ever since we moved here I have looked for one. I was taking Jakob to karate, and I walked past this store and saw someone giving a violin lesson! Turns out she is only there on Thursdays....The same night I take Jakob to karate, and within walking distance from our house....AND she had openings!! We are going to get Kristina a violin for her birthday, and she is so excited!! For those of you who don't know, she has wanted to play the violin since she was about 3! Actually, at that time it was the cello she wanted to play, but then she changed her mind to the violin (more her size anyway, don't you think?) I had to have a talk with her about quitting one of her other activities because Lance and I have a 2 activity rule, just so they aren't too consumed with running here and there and practicing for this and that all week long, and not to mention, our time as a family. We don't want to be chauffeurs, not to mention the cost of each of those activities! She actually decided to give up gymnastics. She reasoned that she could do that at home, and she wanted to keep taking piano because she is getting really good. LOL! Actually, Lance and I did a little jig because neither one of us like the gym she has been going to and there isn't another one. The gym she was at in Cedar Rapids was so good, and I didn't realize how good until I started taking her to this one! Not to mention it is so much more expensive!

Well, I think that is all for now. I will try harder to keep in touch better. =)

This is interesting!

God's accuracy may be observed in the hatching of eggs.

For example:
-the eggs of the potato bug hatch in 7 days; -those of the canary in 14
days;
-those of the barnyard hen in 21 days;
-The eggs of ducks and
geese hatch in 28 days; -those of the mallard in 35 days;
-The eggs of
the parrot and the ostrich hatch in 42 days.
(Notice, they are all divisible by 7, the number of days in a
week!)

The lives of each of you may be ordered by the Lord in a beautiful way
for His glory, if you will only entrust Him with your life. If you try
to regulate your own life, it will only be a mess and a failure. Only
the One Who made the brain and the heart can successfully guide them to
a profitable end.

God's wisdom is seen in the making of an elephant. The four legs of
this great beast all bend forward in the same direction. No other
quadruped is so made. God planned that this animal would have a huge
body, too large to live on two legs. For this reason He gave it four
fulcrums so that it can rise from the ground easily.

The horse rises from the ground on its two front legs first. A cow
rises from the ground with its two hind legs first. How wise the Lord
is in all His works of creation!

God's wisdom is revealed in His arrangement of sections and segments,
as well as in the number of grains.

-Each watermelon has an even number of strips on the rind.
-Each orange has an even number of segments.
-Each ear of corn has an even number of rows.
-Each stalk of wheat has an even number of grains.
-Every bunch of bananas has on its lowest row an even number of bananas,
and each row decreases by one, so that one row has an even number and
the next row an odd number.

-The waves of the sea roll in on shore twenty-six to the minute in all
kinds of weather.

All grains are found in even numbers on the stalks, and the Lord
specified thirty fold, sixty fold, and a hundredfold - all even
numbers.

God has caused the flowers to blossom at certain specified times during
the day, so that Linnaeus, the great botanist, once said that if he had
a conservatory containing the right kind of soil, moisture and
temperature, he could tell the time of day or night by the flowers that
were open and those that were closed!

Thus the Lord in His wonderful grace can arrange the life that is
entrusted to His care in such a way that it will carry out His purposes
and plans, and will be fragrant with His presence.

Only the God-planned safe life is successful. Only the life given over
to the care of the Lord is fulfilled.

[Author Unknown]

"The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, & His understanding no one can fathom." Isaish 40:28

Woo-hoo!!!

Today, I saw my doctor and got the news that my thyroid is NORMAL!!! I no longer have a thyroid problem! It is in "normal" range. I still have to take the thyroid support because my adrenals aren't quite at the normal range yet, and since adrenals and thyroid work together, my adrenals could bring my thyroid back down if I went off the support all together. The thyroid support I am on is just that, a support. It doesn't MAKE the thyroid do anything, it just SUPPORTS it so it can do what it is supposed to do. I don't know. Does that make any sense? My adrenals were better this month than last and getting so close to normal range, so I am excited!!! My digestion is even doing much better! It doesn't show that I have issues with meat or fats anymore. The only thing that showed up was, "spoiled turkey." YUCK! He detoxed me for that. Also, my overall health level is in the first or best stage. Excretion stage, which means that my body is able to rid itself of toxins effectively. At the other end of the spectrum would be cancer.....just to give you an idea. Also with the adrenals, I am almost at the "alarm" stage. When I first visited this doctor, I was at the other end, "exhaustion." There are basically only three stages, "Exhaustion," "Adaptation,' "and "Alarm." You want to be in the "alarm" stage.

Kristina has been having trouble sleeping, so I had her tested today to see what is going on because it has been going on for a couple weeks now. The poor girl wakes up at different times during the night and can't get back to sleep, or she has trouble getting to sleep at all when she first goes to bed. Evidently she is producing to much of something in the brain, and whatever that something was called, it causes intensity. So now she has a chewable pill she takes once a day to help balance that and calm her down. Her treatment obviously worked though because she was exhausted tonight.

Jakob had digestion worked on again. There was some inflammation in the bowels and just general issues in his digestion system due to some bacteria issue and a fungus. Yuck! Anyway, there is still damage there due to the gluten, so she worked a long time on digestion, but everything else was great! He was otherwise very healthy. He does have to take a digestive enzyme stuff for a while though to help heal the system.

SOOOO, enough about all that....Tomorrow after lance gets off work, we are going to go meet his parents, and then I am going home with them and staying the night because the next day we are going to KC. They are going to go visit my sister-in-law and her family, and I am going for a girls weekend with Jamie and Laurel, my 2 closest college friends. For my wedding, we were together for the first time in ten years!! So, we decided after getting practically no sleep 2 nights in a row due to our gabbing, that we needed to get together somewhere every year, so this time it is Jamie who is hosting the gab fest. =) I can't wait!

Also tomorrow, my brother, Dustyn is coming to get the kids. They are going to stay with my parents for a week, and have some fun there. The kids are so excited and have made their lists of things they want to do during the week.

Well, not to confuse you entirely, but I will back up a little here....to last weekend..... Last weekend my dad, step mom and two of my brothers came to visit for the weekend. We were all disappointed that it was only for a weekend. The time went very fast, and we had a blast just hanging out. We got to have Carter for part of that time too, so that was nice. My youngest brother is only 12, so he and Carter hung out quite a bit. Carter thinks it's cool I have a brother close to his age. =)

My father will retire in January, so they have said that they will be able to come for longer visits after that. My dad currently works for the army as a computer programmer. He is a civilian though. he was never in the army. He was actually in the air force when he was younger.

Anyway, I am falling asleep here, so I will sign off now. Just wanted to give the updates before we all took off. =)

A week (or a little more) in review....

Last weekend, we had our annual get together at Lance's sister's house. They have a farm, and every year Lance's parents, sisters, and their families all get together in July. It is always so much fun. As I have said before on here, they are a blast to hang out with!! I really was blessed when it comes to in-laws.

Lance and Carter couldn't come because of some scheduling conflicts, so Lance's sister, Theresa came and picked the kids and me up and drove us down there. It was nice getting to know her a little better, as we had an hour drive there and an hour drive back to get to know each other a little better. =)

Nothing too major happened this last week. I've been working out the details of this next school year. Trying to select the right science curriculum for the kids, and after much searching and requesting advice from other homeschool moms, I finally decided on Apologia, which is a creation based (young earth) curriculum, which was important to me. Basically it talks about science through God's creation and doesn't talk about "millions of years ago" As the bible only documents the earth has been around for around 6000. It also denies evolution. I read sample pages of this book and I could not stop reading. LOL! The author has a great way of presenting things I would normally find boring. Like, she was simply talking about the sun and what it was made of and it's size vs the size of the earth etc, and I just kept reading and reading. LOL! That's how I decided it would be the best, since some of the others I looked at were more text book style, and by that I mean "dry reading."

Then I had to decide on reading for second grade for Kristina, and then a pre-school activity book for Jakob, and all the rest carries over from last year. Oh, and I also got Kristina a map skills book, and both kids a devotional/activity book.....so, yeah, exciting stuff. Actually, I love it! I love reading over curriculum! Actually, I just love books! =)

This past weekend we had Carter. Friday, we had pizza, played cards, and then Lance went and played softball with the church. They had a late game (8:45!) so all the kids were already in bed (except for Carter).

Saturday, we played more cards, and just hung out around here. Lance and Carter went to the driving range for a while, and then I left around 4ish to go to a moms night out! Moms night out is for all of us homeschool moms in the area. I love it. I just wish we could do it more often. I think it has been almost three months since we did our last one. We had an amazing time though. Great fellowship with like-minded women. =)

Then Sunday, we, of course, went to church. Carter and Kristina had an art class during the children's church time. There is a man named Ron at our church who is a fabulous artist. He is inspired by scriptures he reads and he just whips up a painting to go with it and presents it to the church. He is incredible!! Anyway, he is teaching a few kids who want to do this how to do worship art. How to listen to God and be able to express what He is saying to them in a painting or drawing. Kristina just eats that stuff up. She has been doing it for a long time now in her journal, and so hopefully, she will learn some additional skills that will help her. Carter recently became interested in it also after going to that same art class Kristina went to a while back (She had a three day art class called How Great Thou Art.....A couple weeks later, Carter went to the same thing over in Algona.) So it will be neat to see how they both grow through these new classes Ron is giving.

Sunday afternoon, after some more cards, we all went to play minni golf. That was a lot of fun. Jakob had a hard time understanding that he was not supposed to use a full swing, and he kept sending the ball flying, and then we would have to go chase after it. =)

Well, that's our week in review. =)

Carter's visit

Last Thursday, Laurie brought Carter over, and he stayed with us until just today. So we got another full week with him! =) He had an Opus camp this week. This is for kids going into 5th or 6th grade and is a music camp here in Mason City. He went from 9:30-12:00 Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. He made a couple of friends too which was neat. One of them I know is a homsechool kid (well, I know his mom anyway).

Today, they put on a little concert for us, with songs and dances. They did some traditional German dances and a dance from the Bahamas, and some other dance. They also did a lot with drums and the xylophone, which was really cool. VERY talented group of kids! This was not your typical elementary group concert. Anyway, being a part of this, Carter can chose to compete later this Summer in the Opus contest (ok, not sure of the exact name). This is the younger version of Allstate Choir. Hundreds and hundreds of kids send in their tapes to enter, but only about 140 will be chosen over all. The only thing is that I think there might be an issue this year with him not being in a school choir. Next year they are going to make it possible for kids who are homeschooled to be a part of it as long as they are in lessons with someone who is a school affiliate, which Laurie knows the name of someone he could take lessons from who would be an affiliate. There is also the possibility of theere being a homeschool choir here, and heck if they threw it together quickly enough and the right "affiliate" was conducting it, there would be a possibility for the homeschooled kids to enter yet this year. Who knows! So, honestly, I am not sure, but I believe he can not compete this year, but definitely next year.

Carter will be in the Algona children's choir this next school year. This is a community choir (not a school choir( that he had to audition for, and made it in. =)

Things went well with him here this past week. This was new for us since we never have him for that long, unless it is the yearly vacation, and then everything is always different on vacations. It was interesting to see the family dynamics. Kristina is a "middle child" who wants to be the oldest. =) She has the most conflict with both brothers. Basically Jakob thinks the sun rises and sets on Carter, so he does whatever Carter says. Kristina doesn't play that game. LOL! Honestly Carter and Kristina really clash, but they haven't killed each other yet. Kristina is always trying to impress Carter, and in big brother fashion, he reminds how young and uncool she still is. I am going to use that as a teaching moment for the next time Jakob wants to impress Kristina, and Kristina treats Jakob like he's an uncool little baby. =) All-in-all though, the kids are able to play a lot longer together than I think most siblings can. I got some things done and some RR simply because the kids were clambering for Carter's attention, not mine.

Which brings another thought, I never begged my mom 24/7 for her to play with me. I had my friends, and I was perfectly content to play alone in my room with my toys for hours on end. My kids are constantly asking me to play with them. I mean ALL DAY LONG! I feel like I am always saying, "wait, Mommy's gotta get this done." and that makes me feel guilty, but seriously, I know I'm like a total blast and stuff, but I think they need to be a little more responsible for their own fun.

I also took some advice from my sis-in-law Debi, and have implemented "room time" They go in there for a half hour and simply play or read or color or whatever. It is SOOOOO nice! Carter loved it while he was here too. Yesterday he took 2 hours of "room time."

Anyway, that's what's been going on here this week. =)


Oh, wait this is totally funny: Carter loves the game Risk. I really hate it. My ex used to "force" me to play it all the time and I just loathed it, so not a fun game for me....Plus, why do I want to dominate the world? It's just not my thing. Well, for the love of carter, I agreed to play with him. He REALLY REALLY wanted me to play, even though he knew I didn't like it, so I did. Well, I started to attack on Kristina's side and then he attacked one of her other continents, which was kinda hurting her, so I decided next turn I would attack Carter. Carter kept bragging about how good he was and how nobody ever can beat his "Eskimos" (Alaska).....so, I took that as a challenge....Wouldn't you? =) So, I started attacking North America. I tell you, I was taking over him, and I really thought he might cry. He was like, "Why are you picking on me?" Um, cuz that's the name of the game.....Anyway, I had half of North America, making my way to the "Eskimos." And he said, "I thought you said you were bad at this game!" I said, "I never said I was bad at it. I said I didn't like it." He said, "Well, I forfeit, but I don't surrender." LOL! I told him it was the same thing. We were both laughing by this point. I told him I probably wouldn't have fought him so bad except that Kristina was so weak and he was still strong, and he boasted how nobody could ever get him...so I took it as a challenge. Anyway, I guess the only reason he wanted to play me is because he thought he could beat the pants off me, so Lance and I teased him about that one too. =) Probably the most fun I ever had playing the game I hate. LOL! And I think since I am not as easy to beat as he thought I was, I might not have to play that game again. =)

My Poor Little Guy!

Well, sometimes you have those moments where you just don't feel like a good mom because you find out you have been doing something, you thought was harmless, but turns out, was damaging to your child......Today was one of those days for me.....

A while back I wrote about Jakob's trouble with gluten. He had so much trouble with BMs and his skin was terrible. I took him up to MN to see a Dr who specializes in allergy elimination. He treated Jakob for his wheat and gluten allergies. I reintroduced it very slowly, and have kept the gluten to a minimum hoping that the allergy would not come back.....Well, it may be the allergy never left at all, or just came back fast. My suspicion is actually that he has celiac or some other untreatable allergy to gluten. Celiac is an auto-immune disease and can not be treated. Allergy elimination can help lesson the affects, but the person still can not have gluten.

Today was the first time I had him do biofeedback. I wanted to check his digestion, as well as just give him a check up. He was actually all excited about it because the rest of us have had it done, and now he got to be part of the gang and have it done. =) We put in a movie for him to help him sit still for an hour.

Dr. Lise told me over and over that he can NOT EVER have gluten. His reaction to it is extremely bad and his intestines and colon and bowels have been damaged (not permanently) because of it. The other thing that kept showing up was "Genetic" so she was asking about my allergies if any and possibly his father's. I have none, but I would not doubt his father had some based on how he ate (We usually crave what we should not have)> Now if I put Genetic and gluten together, I think celiac. UGH! She had to spend so much time trying to treat him and detox him that we never could get to the bottom of it because a child can only handle being on the machine for so long. As it was we went over an hour. The detox started to work right away, since shortly after his treatment he had a BM. =) Next time she will continue to detox and repair him, and she will be able to get down to the route cause of it all then. Meanwhile, I will guard his little tummy like a mama tiger! I also have some child's probiotic I can give him to help heal his intestines.

He is otherwise pretty healthy as far as vitamins and minerals go. He is deficient in omega fatty acids, which I have something I can give him for that. It was so strange. She actually had me bring her the bottle of oil I had on hand, and she put it on top of the machine (Like you would weigh something at the check out at the store) to see how much his body wants. I am to give him a tsp in the morning and one later, and one after that. She told me to mix it with yogurt. I'm thinking...YUCK! I hope he doesn't think so. I have to mix one part oil to one part yogurt. Anyway, he needs it for his brain....will help him calm down a bit.

Kristina's check up went very well.. Dr. Mark told me that she had some hyperactivity showing up so he spent lots of time on that. Then he said, actually the machine calls it "Excess Energy." LOL! Since her last visit she hasn't had anymore headaches! YAY! He did see it still as an underlying problem, so he attacked that again, and hopefully it will be gone for good. She also had some bacterial issues that were low grade, so he took care of those, so basically, her visit was good. Nothing major anyway. =)

As for me, I am on cloud 9 because my body is healing so well!!! Even though digestion still shows as a problem, it isn't as horrible as before, and animal proteins did not show up as a main issue this time, so that is healing and my body is getting better at digesting them. The only thing that showed up there as a major thing was fats.....I suppose we ate too much crap on our vacation last week =) My adrenals are almost NORMAL!!!! They are still in a healing state, but they are going the right direction and are almost there!!! My thyroid is kind of the same story, still an issue but responded quickly to treatment today. She said my body was responding very well to all the treatments today, which means they are less toxins and stresses on my organs etc. My body does want more calcium and magnesium though, which I have on hand, so that is good.

So many people walked through my home today to see these 2 amazing doctors. All of them were just so thankful for us opening our house like this so they could be treated here and not have to drive the long drive to the other side of Minneapolis. The doctors really like coming here too because they say the space here works out perfectly, and they can treat patients who otherwise would not make the drive, or not make the drive as often as they should to get healed. I am just so thankful to God for these people! That He has provided treatment for my issue, and that He has provided a way for all these other people to get the healing they need. I am also thankful that these 2 doctors are Christians and that they believe God is working through them to heal others. Dr. Mark always says that God is the healer, not him. Got to love a doctor who recognizes that. =)

What an awesome day!!! =)

Family Vacation

Ok, I am late getting this out, but here it is. =)

The day before father's day, we went to Lance's parents house and had a nice visit. Lance taught his mom some golfing tips, as she has started golfing again and loves it. =) The kids all grabbed a club too and were just putting around the yard.

On Father's Day, Lance, his dad, his brother-in-law, Jay, nephew Austin, golfing buddy Jason, and some other people I'm forgetting, all went to play in the Father's Day Tournament in Jewell, IA. Lance, Jason, and Tony, my father-in-law came in first place! They won money and everything. =)

That day, Lance's sister, Dena and our nieces also came to hang out at the house for a while. We had a great time just talking and laughing.

On Monday then, we got up, had us some biscuits and gravy....YUM! Then we were on our way to KC to visit Lance's sister Debi and her family. The kids had such an awesome time playing with their cousins! I think they played five games of Risk (YUCK!!!!!!) They also did some really neat chalk drawings outside their house, and played cards and "super heros" and "Navy Seals" etc etc.....We all went to a really nice pool on Tuesday! Oh my gosh! It was sooooo hot out!! The pool water was warmer than any other pool I have ever been to, and when you got out, you weren't cold at all, like you are a lot of times after getting out of the pool. The cement there was so hot, it actually made some of the skin on my heels peal!! Guess I don't need to go to the salon for that pedi afterall!

That night, Lance and I got ready and went out with my best friend, Jamie. She has been my best friend since I was a freshman in college, and she was also the maid of honor in my wedding. We had an awesome time visiting and catching up. We went to a really awesome restaurant called The Elephant Bar. The food was so good, and they have these yummy smoothies that we had with our meal!

The next morning, we packed up and then Debi let Lance and I go have a lunch date, so we went to one of my favorite places, Panera Bread!! We don't have one up here, so whenever I am somewhere where there is one, I try to go. I just love their Cheddar Broccoli soup. Then after lunch we loaded up and were off for Omaha!

In Omaha, we stayed at a hotel with a water park. It was a lot of fun. We had a suite there, and on the other side of the room was another door.....that lead to a pool! They also had a little play gym for the kids there. It was great. We spent a lot of time in the water in Omaha!

On Thursday night, we went to visit my friend, Laurel. She was one of my best friends in college also. We got some Indian food for all the adults and Wendy's for the kids and ate it all at her place. The kids were funny about that. carter was like, "What kind of food is Indian food? Don't they eat what we eat?" I explained it was Indian food from INDIA. Then later, when we were eating it, laurel made comment that she was sorry her home didn't have the same atmosphere as the Indian restaurant to complete the experience of eating it. Kristina then said, "Yeah...'cause there's no tepees in here or anything.." LOL!

Oh also before all that, we spent the morning and part of the afternoon at the Omaha zoo! It was so much fun, and by far, one of the best zoos! The exhibits are amazing! The kids got to pet a penguin too, which was really cool!

On Friday morning, we packed up again. We then had breakfast with one of Lance's friends and her kids. Then we were on our way back to Iowa. We stopped at Lance's parents for a while and hung out and ate, of course. =)

Carter had baseball tournaments to be back for that night. His team won that night, but, unfortunately lost the next game that was at noon the next day.

Lance and I had a date night that Saturday night, and saw "The Proposal." It was so funny!! The comedy kept going throughout the whole film.

On Sunday, we had our bowling party with the church, which was lots of fun. Then we had to face reality that vacation time was officially over. I started unpacking and doing laundry, and Lance cut the hedges, and we pulled weeds etc.

The Funeral

First I have to make a correction to my last post. He would have been 90 on June 16 not 19., He was born in 1919, so I suppose that is where the 19 came from before.....So he passed away 2 days before his 90th birthday.

Lance got off early on Tuesday and then we headed for Guttenberg for the viewing. Saw so many people I hadn't seen in years, and lots of little people I had never even met. My grandfather had 31 great grandchildren! Can you believe that?!

The kids all ran and played and were all so excited to have so many cousins to play with. There was no fighting or tattling. They were all so good. Grandpa would have liked that all the kids were there and playing like that. Now, kids are kinda funny about funerals because, well, they don't truly get it. One little boy came up to his dad and said, "Hey Daddy! Did you know there was a dead man over there in that box?!" His father told him (probably for the 20th time) who it was, and he said, "Awww Man! And that was my favorite grandpa too!" Then ran off to play. Another kid said, "you know I really like funerals." (Insert horrified glare from his mother.) "I mean, not the dying people part, but they usually have some GREAT food!!" Then it was reported to me that Kristina just drilled one of my aunts on everything about the coffin. Then at the grave site, Kristina wanted to stay to watch them lower it into the ground.

Now, here is my child-like question.....What's with the box???? You know, the lock box in the coffin. You were supposed to write a little note or something to him and put it in the box. Um, why? He can't read them. And the box actually LOCKS! Why?! And who gets the key? Does he get the key? Why are we locking a box that will be in a box, and then in a volt, and then buried in the ground?

The couple of times I went to go look at Grandpa, I couldn't really connect. I mean, he looked like a manikin for one thing, but I also knew he wasn't in there anymore. It was just his earthly body, and HE had gone up to Heaven. I always have this issue at funerals. It is just very strange for me. I was very drawn to his hands though. They still really looked like his hands.

The hardest part of the funeral was when my cousin Lisa got up there to talk about memories of Grandpa. They were all funny stories but it was sad at the same time. All of the stories on the farm. We all had fond memories of the farm.

All of those kids were so good during the funeral. For the most part, they were all quiet. Jakob had the same enthusiasm for funerals as he does weddings. He slept through the whole thing. They were playing a hymn.....and by this time, the funeral was getting pretty long for the kids.....Kristina let out a very noisy yawn. You know, it was like the music was playing so softly and everyone is reflecting and sniffling etc, and then here's my kid with the most dramatic yawn.

I ended up singing "Amazing Grace" as that is what was requested. I sang it a-capello, and it went fine. Not my best vocals, but I didn't mess up and I got lots of compliments after, so hopefully I did my job ok. I was SUPER SUPER nervous!!! I mean, everyone's crying, and you just don't want to mess up because it is such a serious event.

Anyway, we had stayed the night at a hotel, but had gotten very little sleep due to late to bed, and then really early rising so we could go to this awesome restaurant in Dyersville for breakfast. It turned out we didn't have to get there so early as we got our food right away and then were done within a half hour. So we went to look at the Mississippi before heading to the funeral. When we got home yesterday afternoon, Lance and I just crashed!! It was a stressful couple of days.

Grandpa Troester

My Grandpa Troester passed away yesterday morning.

Saturday, I talked to my mom, and she let me know that my grandfather was not doing well, and had been moved to hospice. She said it could be only a week more, or longer. Nobody really knew. He had had pneumonia, and that did clear up, but he had a collapsed lung. She said it was frustrating because it seemed they weren't getting the full story. Anyway, they were headed up there Saturday to go sit with him again. They had him on morphine for the pain and to keep him relaxed, so he wasn't at all himself.

He has been living in a nursing home for a few years now. He had done something to his back, and because of his age, they didn't want to do surgery. Then last year he had pneumonia, and I guess everyone thought that might be the end as it was not good at all. He did pull through, and so my mom was hoping maybe this time would be like that too.....but it wasn't.

Yesterday, I heard my phone ringing while I was teaching Sunday School. I knew it was probably bad news because nobody calls me during church, but I couldn't answer it at that moment. I listened to the message and it was my dad saying to give him a call. Well, that told me right there something was wrong because my dad never calls unless it is our birthday or something like that. I called back and my mom answered. She said Grandpa had passed away that morning and they were on their way back up to Gutenberg again. Arrangements are being made today.

I have been asked to sing at the funeral. My mom said not to feel bad if I didn't feel up to it, but I really think it is something I can do to honor him, so I am. I just pray that I can be connected enough to the song to convey the meaning, but not so connected that I cry all the way through. I am singing "It is Well With My Soul." This is one of my favorite hymns, and I have a really beautiful arrangement of it.

So, you might want to know a little about my Grandpa. He was a farmer, and we loved going to visit my grandparents on the farm! (My grandmother passed away when I was in high school). All us kids always fought over who got to sit by Grandpa at the dinner table (and I remember winning a few of those times). He was always joking with us kids, and then there was the dandelion wine he made himself.... I remember when I was a teenager and he let me finally try it. Yeah, I gave him a real good laugh! That stuff BURNED all the way down! Of course, he told me how it would put hair on my chest.....like that was a good thing or something. =) He liked to joke and talk about all those things farmers like to talk about (you know, like who bought cows from so-and-so....) He also was a stubborn German who rarely showed emotion, but he always let us hug him anyway. =)

I am glad that he is no longer in pain. He lived a good full life. He and my Grandma had five boys, my dad being the youngest. There are 14 of us grandkids, and I lost count how many great-grandkids! He was a good man, and I am happy he is in the Father's arms and is reunited with Grandma (Things were never really the same with him after we lost her.) There is another sad thing in a silly sort of way... He would have turned 90 this Friday, but of course, I wouldn't have wanted him to suffer just to make that milestone.

I love you Grandpa! Glad you finally made it "Home!"