2008 October

Lest you think that we LIKE Obama

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

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October 31, 2008 By Perry C.

My friends the Bayly Brothers have an interesting post on a very good question that was put to Barack Obama in a letter from a 9 year old named Isaiah.

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Go read the article here.

I wish someone would put the question to McCain.

Filed Under: Huh? Category? 1 Comment

Sanctity of Life Voter’s guide

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

October 30, 2008 By Perry C.

You may download a PDF copy of this guide at my friend Doug’s Blog.

Filed Under: Christian living, Dad's corner, news & politics 10 Comments

He didn’t throw the first punch…

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

October 30, 2008 By kimc

…but he threw the last one.

Last night, we got together with much of my extended family: My parents, my own household, a couple of random in-laws and outlaws, 8 of my sibs with their respective spouses, friends-of-the-opposite-sex, and a plethora of children.

Perry buddied up with his cousin Rian, who is exactly one year older – they share a birthday. They ran around, played and tustled in the grass.

Then Rian punched Perry right in the nose. The force knocked him down, and he stifled a few quick tears. But Perry got up with a bloody nose, put up both fists (where did he learn that?!) and punched his bigger cousin right back.

punch He didnt throw the first punch...

Rian went down this time, and was enraged to find Perry sitting on his chest. That’s my boy.

When it was all over, Perry offered Rian his hand, all grudges forgotten. That’s my man.

Today, each time he reenacts the story, Rian is his best friend.

Filed Under: Boys 6 Comments

Another good post about McCain.

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

October 30, 2008 By Perry C.

In sum, our position in opposition to all men who would use the law to murder babies is clear: We think that they are disqualified from receiving the votes of Christians, because our first duty is to the Lord and his non-optional minimal threshold requirements for the selection of civil magistrates, one of which is that all civil leaders must oppose the shedding of innocent blood. That is why we are equal opportunity critics of pro-abortion candidates. It makes no difference to us whether they have a donkey or an elephant after their name.

Emphasis mine.

Read Doug’s complete answer as to why we focus on McCain instead of Obama here.

And Remember to check out Chuck Baldwin’s website http://www.baldwin08.com and his No Exceptions posision on abortion.

Filed Under: Dad's corner, news & politics 14 Comments

Sunset photos

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

October 29, 2008 By kimc

Our deck has a great view. It’s part of the trade-off living here in the Texas Hill Country. Everything washes downhill, so if you live in a valley you have no view but you do own the best soil in the whole neighborhood. Actually, you have the only soil in the neighborhood, because it all washed down to you from the neighbors’ yards.

If you live near the top of the hills, the land is made of rock – no dirt, no grass, just rocks. I think it’s a good trade.

Sights like these make my heart sing with praises for the Creator. Would you have thought of colors like these? I would have gone with a nice conservative off-white, then wished for more color.

Which one is your favorite?

Filed Under: photos 6 Comments

Cleaning out the camera

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

October 29, 2008 By kimc

I noticed there was something like 1,000 photos on the memory card in the camera, and decided it might be a good idea to declutter just a bit. I came across a few that were too cute to lose in the abyss that is our hard drive.

I just love our buddy system. The relationships between the older ones and their younger charges can be so precious!

Becca doesn’t have a younger charge yet, but she can’t wait. She loves to practice whenever she gets a chance.

This little guy doesn’t realize he’s one of the little ones in our house. He refers to himself as a man, and makes sure everyone else knows it.

Somebody was having fun dressing up the little ones for mock family photos. Can’t you see the 1800′s influence upon the photographer?

Filed Under: photos 9 Comments

Quick! Eat chocolate!

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

October 28, 2008 By kimc

Didn’t you know? October 28 is National Chocolate Day, and I haven’t a thing to eat. Too bad I already missed International Chocolate Day (9/13), plain old Chocolate Day (7/7), and two of the four National Chocolate Chip days (5/15 and 8/4). But I can still celebrate plenty of other holidays. National Chocolate-Covered Anything Day sounds promising.

Look here for the whole list, courtesy of my friend R.S.

Need help? Try this. I just did, and it worked like a charm! I suggest eating yours directly from the mug. I started that way and it was a moist, rich fudgy delight. When I took mine out of the mug, I found that the edges dried out very quickly.

Dangerous Chocolate Cake-in-a-Mug

1 coffee mug (microwave-safe)

4 T. cake flour (plain, not self-rising)

4 T. sugar

2 T. cocoa

1 egg

3 T. milk

3 T. oil

Splash of vanilla

3 T. chocolate chips, optional

Add dry ingredients to the mug; mix well with a fork. Add egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in milk, oil, and vanilla, and mix well. Add chips, if using.

Put mug in the microwave, and cook for three minutes at 1,000 watts. (note: my little low-wattage microwave cooked it perfectly at 3 minutes. you might want to try less time with yours.) Cake will rise over the top of the mug — do not be alarmed. When finished, carefully remove mug from microwave and allow to cool a little. Tip onto a small plate prior to serving, if desired. Yields one generous serving or two “more virtuous” servings.

Filed Under: chocolate 8 Comments

Video school

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

October 28, 2008 By kimc

Today the kids are having a “hands-on” school day. They finished their Bible and chores with very little prodding this morning. As they worked, they were excitedly discussing plots, characters, costumes, etc. As soon as they had the go-ahead from me everyone down to the 2yo dashed out the door, dressed in their version of Old West costumes, heavily armed, with a video camera in hand. I don’t expect to see them again soon, unless the young hero of the film needs his diaper changed.

But while they’re out there, I do expect them to be learning new things. A film communicates a worldview, and they know this, even if they don’t have much experience yet in using that knowledge. They’ll be planning, sequencing, visualizing, verbalizing, and cooperating. Yes, that’s a big one. If you thought our house was full of nothing but soft fuzzy loving thoughts and happy words, think again. There were tears before they ever left the house because somebody didn’t have a good costume or enough weapons and didn’t even know what role she would be playing; another was speaking sharply to a stubborn sister whose costume choices weren’t approved; another was impatient of chores which threatened to slow the production process.

Yes, we’re all sorely in need of sanctification around here, and these projects are part of that process. At least, I hope they are.

Filed Under: big family, Everyday life, homeschooling 3 Comments

Is McCain Pro-Life?

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

October 28, 2008 By Perry C.

If you are considering giving your vote to John McCain, next Tuesday, because you think he is pro-life then please read the article I link to below. I believe we have been deceived by many Christian leaders this election year who are so afraid of an Obama Presidency that they have fooled themselves into thinking John McCain is pro-life. This is not the case and any objective evaluation of hi voting record will confirm this fact.

From the article:

A more careful look at Sen. McCain’s formal voting record and statements indicate that he will not make the protection of life a priority in a McCain presidential administration. While Sen. McCain voted in favor of the partial birth abortion ban in 2003 (as did Senators Tom Daschle, Harry Reid, and sixty-one others) and has often stated that he does not “support Roe versus Wade” and would like to see it “overturned,”the Arizona senator has actually stated his opposition to take active measures to overturn Roe for fear that such a move would endanger the lives of women.

Please read the entire article before you vote.

For a truly prolife candidate check out Chuck Baldwin’s statement on the sanctity of life here.

Filed Under: Christian living, Dad's corner, news & politics 9 Comments

You too can buy peace of mind for $1.77

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

October 26, 2008 By kimc

I had an epiphany. You might remember that we have a lot of vomit stories in our family. Don’t believe me? Try searching our blog for vomit. Hubby’s family has weak stomachs, and my family has carsickness. It’s not a good combination.

Usually when somebody starts complaining about carsickness, we start rummaging for an old soda cup – hopefully with a lid to lock in the odor when she’s done.

If we’re well prepared, we might have a special container for just this purpose. Usually it’s been kicked around so the container is wedged under the back seat and the lid is nowhere to be found.

If we’re really in a bind, we pull a fresh diaper out of the diaper bag, spread it out inside a plastic grocery bag, and have the victim toss her cookies into it. It works in a pinch.

But now I’ve really got the perfect idea. I’m ready for the next wave of carsickness – I just can’t wait to try it out. I mean, I can’t wait for one of the kids to try it out. Not me. I want to maintain my status as a spectator.

Oh, you’re waiting to hear the idea. Sorry.

Ziplock bags.

I just bought a small box of name brand freezer bags (freezer bags are thicker than the standard ones) with the extra special zipper and expandable bottom. I went with quart size, which should be plenty of capacity for anyone young enough to get away with puking in a moving vehicle. I paid $1.77 for a box of 15 – more than I would pay for general household use, but definitely worth the peace of mind I’m feeling now in the van.

Who knew peace of mind could be bought so easily?

Filed Under: misc. 20 Comments

Because every woman needs free chocolate

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

October 25, 2008 By kimc

Free sample of 8 gourmet chocolate from Haydee Chocolatier

After finding that, I did a simple google search and turned up some more. Some of these are old and might not work, but they were all worth a try as far as I’m concerned. They all gave me encouraging results like, “Thank you for your request. Your sample should arrive in 2-99 weeks.”

Hey, chocolate is chocolate. Who am I to pick and choose?

Free Samples of ChocaMaca
4 truffles from Delicio® Gourmet Chocolate
free Green and Black’s Organic Chocolate the night of November 3. Sign up here for an email reminder.
Weigh Down chocolate sample

Can you find more? It’s nice to share.

Filed Under: chocolate, frugal 9 Comments

Friday Night Pizza

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

October 24, 2008 By kimc

I’ve posted about our pizza tradition before, and I’ve mentioned that we found a new-and-improved way to make pizza in spite of the fact that the lower element in my oven isn’t working. We love our new griddle cooked, browned under the broiler pizzas! Even though there is a new oven element on my counter just waiting to be soldered in, we might not go back to the boring old baked pizzas.

But it would be nice to have the oven working for other purposes. Note to self: beg, buy or borrow a soldering iron soon.

But I digress. I just wanted to mention that thanks to cooler weather and unconventional cooking techniques, Friday Night Pizza is back on – even though I’m out grocery shopping for over half of the day, we’re having pizza every Friday and company too! This little miracle is due to having big kids at home while I shop.

I don’t know if we’re at the open house stage yet, but tonight we’ll have company for the 2nd Friday in a row. Maybe next Friday we’ll put out the vacancy sign and see how many people show up with pizza in hand for a pizza potluck. Or maybe the week after…I think we already have some fun things happening next weekend…

Filed Under: food 11 Comments

Upcoming events

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

October 23, 2008 By kimc

Conference in December at Scott Brown’s church: How Can the Church Family? Messages will include:

How Should Your Family Relate to the Church?
What Does a Healthy Church Look Like?
What kind of Home Life Makes for Strong Church Life?
The Biblical Pattern of Family Integrated Discipleship
Surviving Tough Economic Times
How Should We Worship God?
When Cultural Patterns are At War With Biblical Imperatives
Biblical Thinking for Courtship and Marriage
How Gender Roles in the Home Affect Church and State

And… [coughing modestly]…the Homeschool Blog Awards are open for nominations for just one more day! It takes 3 nominations in the same category to make it to the ballot. There is a new team on the job, new rules, a new website design, and new categories. Run on over and [blush] nominate your favorite homeschool blogs this year. Nominate who? Me? I would never shill for nominations. I was suggesting my friend Mother Hen. She’s perfect for the Best New Homeschool Blog category and the Best Thrifty Homeschooler!

Filed Under: blogging & technology 2 Comments

New dragons to slay

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

October 23, 2008 By kimc

Yesterday 6 of the children had checkups at the dentist. This was going to be The Boy’s first official turn in The Chair. This isn’t a scary place for him. He has climbed up during other sisters’ cleanings and let the dentist look in his mouth, just for fun. We are here all the time, but this was his first real dentist appointment. His own turn!

He was really looking forward to it. We hyped it for days, and he just couldn’t wait. He got all dressed up in his cowboy boots and his leather vest, with his hair neatly combed. He was ready!

He took a nap in the van on the ride over, and had a sandwich while his sisters had their turns. Then the receptionist came to the door and called his name. My brave little man, who slays bad guys, monsters and daddy longlegs for me every day, turned and looked at her. Then he looked at me. Then he ran for the glass end table in the far corner of the room and crawled under it!

The stunned silence that followed was broken by bursts of laughter from every side. In retrospect, that probably didn’t help.

I snapped a picture, coaxed him out, and carried him down the hall. At the hygienist’s suggestion, I sat in the chair with him on my lap, but that checkup just wasn’t happening. His mouth was clamped shut and he refused to make eye contact with anyone, including me.

In the end, he did open for me while the dentist peered over my shoulder – but as soon as he figured out she was looking he shut down again. He left with a new car in his hand, trying to walk with his usual swagger, but the rest of his day was off. He just wasn’t himself after that, the poor guy.

Today he’s trying to downplay it, to laugh it off. “I hide under the table,” he chuckles. “I funny! Hah hah hah!” His laughter is loud and phony.

He’s going to have to wait another 6 months to slay that dragon.

Filed Under: Boys, photos 12 Comments