Reflections and Ramblings of a Not-So-Super Woman

Tag! I'm It.

2008-10-07T15:12:00.006-04:00

Tara at My Life With 6 Kids has tagged me! I seriously need an extra day or two in my weeks lately, and my blog has been neglected, so I'm happy I can at least amuse you quickly with this taggy goodness. Or try anyway.

Hmmm...7 random or weird facts...

1. I consider my toes to be naked if the toenails are not painted. And naked toes are a no-no in my book. They are red right now, but previously they were blue.

2. I talk in my sleep. My husband talks in his sleep. My children talk in their sleep. I wonder at times if we communicate during the night without remembering. Hmmm...that would explain all those times my husband swears he told me something I have no recollection of him telling me.

3. I hate refried beans. Despise them. So much so that I will not touch a plate that has refried remnants on it. So much so that when I found a container of leftover beans in my refrigerator, I tossed the entire thing into the garbage. Heebeejeebee's.

4. I don't wear sneakers. I really never have. They're just not girly enough for me. I've never been atheletic and my footwear reinforces that fact.

5. I frequently forget to eat. And I get cranky if I haven't eaten in awhile. Not a good combination.

6. I can't watch dramas. I cry too easily. The other night I walked into my room and someone had left the tv on and it was tuned to Lifetime. I watched the last ten minutes of one of those sappy movies and I was in tears. Pitiful. Just pitiful.

7. We started with the toes, let's end with the toes. I can pick things up with my feet. It's a handy talent actually. Ooo, and since we're talking weird facts and feet, here's a weird feet fact about my husband. He likes to pick my feet. Seriously. He enjoys picking the dried skin off my heels. Gross, huh?

Okay, do I have seven people to tag? Here goes;

1. Firefly Mom
2. LarryG
3. Lynette
4. Mrs. P
5. Shasta
6. The Domestic Goddess
7. MaryEllen (I know Tara already did but if she's double tagged she'll have to oblige, right?)

Oh I Believe In Yesterday...lalala

2008-10-03T18:27:00.000-04:00

So I made my Thursday Thirteen list yesterday morning, fully intending to accomplish everything on the list. Halfway through my morning, my friend MaryEllen called and asked if I wanted to go with her to Savers (a huge used clothing store). I thought for a minute, What should I do? And then grinned to myself and said, "Sure!".

We finished that day's school (leaving the teens with some independent work to complete), I did the last day of my Bible study, and even managed to schedule school for next week. Then we were off for the fastest shopping trip I think I've experienced.

We did stop at Starbucks on the way up and I realized I had forgotten to eat yet that day (meals take up so much time!), so I grabbed a slice of pumpkin bread with my coffee and continued on.

After driving an hour, we ran into Savers with only 45 minutes available to shop. Grabbing a cart for each of us, we headed in different directions and got to work. Success! I managed to find Abercrombie and American Eagle jeans for my 17 year old for $7.99 each. Name brand shirts for him, a pair of jeans for my 10 year old, superhero long sleeve T's for the 6 year old- I felt as though I'd hit the jackpot. I even managed to find an adorable faux leather jacket for my 10 year old daughter ($6.99!) and a shiny silver winter jacket ($5.99!) from Children's Place for my 8 year old daughter. I think I'm in love.

We headed home just in time to grab her children and bring them to the church for Youth Troop (children's performance group through our church). We chatted for awhile with another friend and then we were off once again to the homeschool meeting at Border's, where I had my second coffee shop meal of the day. They actually make a pretty good cheese and tomato sandwich!

Our husbands and children got together for pizza and then we headed back to their house, where we watched Speed Racer with the kids. LOVED it!

My day didn't go as planned by my To-Do list, but it was packed full of goodness anyway.

And there's always tomorrow!

(Which is today, but there's always today just doesn't sound as good. And today's getting late and I still don't know that I will accomplish everything on the list. So there's always tomorrow. But tomorrow is a church work day all day, so there really isn't tomorrow but somehow saying there's always someday next week when I can manage to get it done doesn't work either. Sigh. Oh well!)

FYI- Fall Promo (Homeschool)

2008-10-03T17:52:00.005-04:00

I shared a review of the Old Schoolhouse Magazine earlier, specifically regarding the digital version, but wanted to share the current Fall promo for the physical, hold-it-in-your-hot-little-hands edition.

"I wanted to tell you all about The Old Schoolhouse Magazine's Fall Special. You can get two years of the magazine, 6 fabulous physical gifts (no downloads!) worth over $120, plus the current issue of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine that is full of ideas for the new school year, so you start receiving your magazine in a flash!

It really is one of their best deals ever and you don't want to miss out. In fact, they've got a really cute Homeschooling with Heart tote bag (valued at $13.95) for the first 1000 to subscribe. About half of them are gone, but you should still be able to get one if you hurry! (They will remove the info from the subscription page when the bags are all gone.) The total value is over $212, but you receive it all for only $39 - 50% off of cover price! Plus subscribers get their online monthly Teacher's Toolbox which focuses on a different topic each month, giving you words of encouragement, hands-on teaching ideas, book recommendations, field trip ideas, and a bonus download item."

So there you go! If you are in the market for a good homeschool magazine, now is the time to subscribe. Free stuff is always a plus. And I seriously LOVE that tote bag.

Thursday Thirteen #33

2008-10-02T10:05:00.006-04:00

Thirteen Things on My To-Do List

1. Write my Thursday Thirteen.

2. Finish my He Speaks To Me study for this week.

3. Laundry.

4. Finish school.

5. Sign up for and review our first Homeschool product, a web site.

6. Copy all home education related reviews over to the new Homeschool Review blog.

7. Finish setting up the Jr. High Sunday School class blog.

8. Write a letter to the parents of the Jr. High class.

9. Schedule school for next week.

10. Plan meals for the month of October.

11. Write a grocery list and figure out when in the world I can get to the store.

12. Attend a homeschool support group meeting tonight.

13. Decorate my house for fall!

Hey, I know it's a dull TT for this week but it's just one of those weeks! And Yay! The first one is done. :-)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others' comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Wordless Wednesday

2008-10-01T00:00:00.000-04:00

Expanding My Bloggy'verse

2008-09-30T12:47:00.005-04:00

I have created a new blog, Hearthside Homeschool Reviews, for the purpose of keeping my reviews in one spot. Hopefully this will make it easier to access and search reviews for homeschool products! That and other things (like life!) have kept me busy the last couple of days. I have only managed to write blog posts in my head, but since you can't read my mind (Thank God!), all you get is the link to the latest endeavor; Hearthside Homeschool Reviews.

New Crew

2008-09-28T19:46:00.007-04:00

The Old Schoolhouse Magazine has put together a focus group of home educators willing to try different homeschool products and then review them. They put out a call for applicants and I thought maybe I'd give it a try. Why not? I'm a curriculum junkie anyway and I thought it'd be a good opportunity to check out new products as well as improve my writing skills.

They provided applicants with a free copy of The Old Schoolhouse Digital Magazine and The Schoolhouse Planner, which we were then to review. As I stated in my review of the planner, I had been looking into purchasing it anyway, so I was excited to give it a try and share my findings here. Which I did.

Honestly, I assumed that would be the end of it. My blog is not specifically homeschool oriented and I have no previous review experience, so I doubted I would be chosen. I was incorrect.

I am now an official member of The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew. I will be receiving various products over the next nine months, to use and review. This is not going to become a homeschool oriented blog, but I will share my reviews here throughout the school year. I'm thinking of it as a new adventure in our homeschooling journey, and you all get to join me in it!

Let the adventure begin...

Argh!

2008-09-27T11:22:00.001-04:00

Friday Fill-In

2008-09-26T15:15:00.003-04:00

1. Leaves turning, scents of apples and cinnamon, the cool crisp air are some of the things I'm most looking forward to in October.

2. Sometimes I laugh uncontrollably.

3. I, Lori, the "non-kid person", has seven children and that's why there is a saying, "never say never"!

4. When I'm down, I retreat inside myself. The Bible study I am currently working on asked about "broken cisterns" that we rely on rather than God. I am my own cracked pot.

5. Anywhere that serves good coffee is where you'll find me most often. :-)

6. A rainy day is good for um...no comment. ;-)

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to visiting a friend while my husbands at a meeting, tomorrow my plans include practicing my song for Sunday and doing household chores and Sunday, I want to go to church and then have lunch at a friend's with the pastor from Mexico who is guest speaking and the Missions Team!

Thursday Thirteen #32

2008-09-24T17:03:00.004-04:00

Thirteen Things in my Book Box

1. Harriet Tubman: Hero of the Underground Railroad

2. A Wrinkle in Time Audiobook

3. Step Into Reading: Barbie, A Day at the Fair

4. NASB Inductive Study Bible

5. The Unschooling Handbook

6. Learning With the Movies

7. Love Me Never Leave Me

8. ROOTS 30th Anniversary Edition DVDs

9. He Speaks To Me Workbook

10. Herein Is Love Commentary: Genesis

11. The Creative Call

12. The Red Badge of Courage

13. A much loved Boyd's Bear kitty

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others' comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Wordless Wednesday

2008-09-24T10:20:00.000-04:00

Playing Catch Up, Be Back Soon.

2008-09-21T13:49:00.003-04:00

Friday Fill-Ins

2008-09-19T08:45:00.003-04:00

And...here we go!

1. There is no need for all this noise!

2. Where in the heck did the food I just bought disappear to? Kids!!

3. My whole Superwoman Crazy To-Do List is all I managed to do. Crash and burn coming. Wait for it.

4. Prospects for a good day are great.

5. Jesus Loves You! is the message. :-D

6. Simplicity and tranquility are ideal. I don't have the ideal life yet, but I'm working on it.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to relaxing?, tomorrow my plans include scheduling next week's school and Sunday, I want to teach Jr. High Sunday School, enjoy an excellent service, and hear Lacey sing! Followed by...Pizza! Or anything I don't have to cook myself. ;-)

Thursday Thirteen #31

2008-09-18T00:00:00.001-04:00

Thirteen Things About a Woman's Right to Vote

1. In July 1848, the right of women to vote was proposed at the Seneca Falls Woman's Rights Convention. A nineteen year old young woman, Charlotte Woodward, was present. She was the only woman alive to cast her vote many years later, at the age of eighty-one.

2. In 1913, The National Women's Party led a protest march on the Inauguration Day of Woodrow Wilson. 8,000 people participated. 500,000 were there to watch. 200 people were injured in the ensuing violence.

3. After World War I, President Wilson began to support women's suffrage. He said, "We have made partners of the women in this war. Shall we admit them only to a partnership of suffering and sacrifice and toil and not to a partnership of right?"

4. In 1919, the House and Senate passed the 19th Amendment, "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any States on Account of sex. The Congress shall have the power by appropriate legislation to enforce the provisions of this article."

5. The first states to pass the amendment were Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan.

6. The Anti-Suffrage movement did their best to stop the amendment. It finally came down to Tennessee where the final vote was scheduled.

7. Harry Burn, a 24 year old legislator, had the tying vote in Tennessee. He had previously voted with the Anti-Suffrage movement but his mother had been encouraging him to vote for the amendment. He decided to cast his vote on behalf of his mother.

8. The Anti-Suffrage Movement did everything in their power to stop the amendment from being finalized, but on August 26, 1920 the 19th Amendment became law and women were granted the right to vote.

9. The Anti-Suffrage Movement claimed that women didn't truly want the vote. Sometimes humor can convey a message well and in 1915, writer Alice Duer Miller wrote;

Why We Don't Want Men to Vote
Because man's place is in the army.
Because no really manly man wants to settle any question otherwise than by fighting about it.
Because if men should adopt peaceable methods women will no longer look up to them.
Because men will lose their charm if they step out of their natural sphere and interest themselves in other matters than feats of arms, uniforms, and drums.
Because men are too emotional to vote. Their conduct at baseball games and political conventions shows this, while their innate tendency to appeal to force renders them unfit for government.

10. Of course, humor is not enough to make needed changes. These women picketed, marched in demonstrations, and were jailed for what they believed in. One of those times became infamous, the "Night of Terror".

11. Louise Bernikow writes;
"Whittaker and his workhouse guards greeted 33 returning protesters on what has become known as the infamous "Night of Terror," November 14, 1917. Forty-four club-wielding men beat, kicked, dragged and choked their charges, which included at least one 73-year-old woman. Women were lifted into the air and flung to the ground. One was stabbed between the eyes with the broken staff of her banner. Lucy Burns was handcuffed to the bars of her cell in a torturous position. Women were dragged by guards twisting their arms and hurled into concrete "punishment cells."

12. For all the pain, this brutal night may have turned the tide. Less than two weeks later, a court-ordered hearing exposed the beaten women to the world and the judge agreed they had been terrorized for nothing more than exercising their constitutional right to protest. It would take three more years to win the vote, but the courageous women of 1917 had won a new definition of female patriotism."

13. These women fought for a right we sometimes take for granted. I believe it is not only a right, but a responsibility. Take the time to become educated on the issues, decide which candidates best reflect the things most important to you (See How To Vote for a link to a great post on the subject!) ,and then get out there and VOTE. Don't cop out with the "I live in a liberal/conservative area and I'm conservative/liberal so my vote doesn't count anyway." or "I just don't have time to study the issues." excuses. You have the hard-earned right to cast that ballot. Do it.

Information taken from:
http://womenshistory.about.com
http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/2048/context/ourstory

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others' comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Wordless Wednesday

2008-09-17T10:51:00.000-04:00

Meg Made MY Day!

2008-09-16T19:16:00.006-04:00

Aw, I have been given my first blog award! Meg has passed on the "You Make My Day" award and I'm feeling all special. Thanks Meg!

Here are the rules;
(1) give this to people whose blogs mean something special to you, or give it to the blogs whose person means something special to you.
(2) leave a comment on their blog so they know they got it.
(3) you get to pick the number of times you give it.

I'm passing this on to a couple of my closest friends, in real life, and one for my bloggy-buddy-fellow-Whedon-fan-80's-girl.

So MaryEllen at A Bloggable Day, Lynette at Utterly Unplugged, and Carrie/Firefly Mom at Pack of Hungry Snails- YOU MAKE MY DAY!

One More Round

2008-09-13T11:17:00.004-04:00

Circumstances in my life have at times left me feeling beaten and bruised. There are moments when I don't know if I really want to get back up, or if it would just be easier to stay down for the count and crawl away in defeat. There are moments when I don't know if I can get back up, or if I even have the strength to crawl away. These are the times when I realize just how weak I truly am and am forced to find my strength in Him. I can't win the battle on my own but in Him I am strong and I am not defeated. This song is my battle cry, One More Round by Barlow Girl.

I am not defeated.
Though you cannot see it,
I have never won a battle on my own.
I find strength in weakness,
I find hope believing, God is for me
who can bring me down?
So take me one more round
I'll just keep fighting.

Faith Photo Fridays

2008-09-12T09:15:00.002-04:00

My friend Lynette has started a new meme, Faith Photo Fridays. Check it out at Musings in the Sand!

A Very Special Thursday Thirteen

2008-09-11T09:36:00.005-04:00

I remember when I was younger, finding it odd that everyone knew where they were when Kennedy was shot. They could describe exactly what they were doing when they heard the news and yet it was so long ago. Then came September 11th. I can remember receiving a phone call from my husband at work, telling me to turn on the news. I can remember staring at the television set, having a difficult time comprehending the reality of what I was seeing. I remember when the understanding came and I called my husband to come home and we sat as a family, staring at the news as the events unfolded, too shocked to hide anything from the children.

My now fifteen year old daughter was sorting through her memorabilia last week when she came across her journal from when she was eight years old. I could not read her entry for September 11, 2001 without crying. She journaled as she watched the events unfold.

Here is her journal from that day (in thirteen sections), unedited except for spelling. May we never forget that day. Here is a reminder, through the eyes of an eight year old.

9/11/01 Larissa, Age 8

Today has been a bad day and I mean bad because there were two planes that crashed into a skyscraper. How? People crashed the planes. And Mr Tho****'s relative was in the building 'cause he works there. And there was an explosion. And now the building fell down. And now the other one fell down. And war has been declared.

And there was a bomb in a car and it blew up. And now the pentagon is on fire. And they have the Air Force on duty. And now a plane is headed toward the Pentagon. Another plane is headed toward the Pentagon.

And people were jumping out the windows.

And part of the Pentagon fell down.

And more than 9 thousand people were killed.

And they won't let any planes fly except the Air Force and all the planes that are already flying, they try to get down as soon as possible.

And the Pentagon was hit by a plane because a plane crashed into the Pentagon on purpose. And the Air Force is still on duty and some people were killed and some people just really hurt.

And it is scary. People jumping out of windows and crying and dying and people screaming. It's just scary.

It is the worst time in all of history and it's really bad.

And all the planes that are already flying they sent to Canada.

It is really, really, really, really bad. And my mom is really, really scared.

and it's a disaster. And it's crazy. And people are really scared. And so am I.

Well, the planes have stopped for now and the Air Force is still on duty.

Deleted

2008-09-10T09:47:00.004-04:00

Please do not spam my blog comments. If you do so, you will be deleted. I have no problem with people sharing their thoughts, whether they agree or disagree with mine, but they should be relevant to the blog post and should be written in a respectful manner. Inflammatory comments spammed across blogs does not get your point across and, in fact, does the exact opposite. I have never had to delete anything before and finding three harshly written blog comments from a self proclaimed prophet was highly annoying, to say the least!

I'm wishing I had allowed one to remain, since I decided to address it here, but my annoyance won out too quickly. I believe LarryG allowed the comment to remain on his blog, if the curiosity is too much for you.

Wordless Wednesday

2008-09-10T00:00:00.001-04:00

My daughter took this picture of a friend of hers, as he was lying in the sand at the beach. I just really like how the photo came out, the way the lighting is and the close up view point. I think she has talent.

Bloggy Fun

2008-09-09T17:55:00.003-04:00

I have way more things to do than I have time for right now. So it seemed like a great time to play around with my blog layout. Snort.

Instead of a proper post (who knows when the next one's coming), you get a somewhat fresh look. Let me know what you think!

Scintillating School?

2008-09-08T21:50:00.010-04:00

Today was our first "official" day of school, although they did some things on their own last week as I wrapped up the scheduling. Once we finished schooling, I spent time on the church web site (which still won't format right but I give up until tomorrow!) and then headed to our small group. It was a good day but unfortunately this blogger is now brain dead and boring. So you get pictures from the day and no scintillating commentary. Not that you usually get scintillating commentary, but we can pretend. And besides, it's fun to say scintillating. Try it. You know you want to.

Can you say scintillating? I knew you could.

We started with blueberry pancakes. Yum!

Our tummies full of blueberry goodness, we got down to work.

How to Vote

2008-09-06T18:02:00.004-04:00

I popped over to Donna's blog, to return her Thursday Thirteen visit, and she had a great post concerning the upcoming elections and how to vote. Every American has a responsibility to vote and to take that vote seriously by understanding what the candidates truly believe on the issues. Go read her post, I doubt I could say it better.

Grin For The Day

2008-09-06T17:44:00.004-04:00

I saw this on a bumper sticker as I was leaving the grocery store today. Although I am too young to relate personally (I know, my time is coming quickly!), it cracked me up.