2009 December

Life’s Little Lessons Best Learned Before the Crisis, #47

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

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December 30, 2009 By kimc

If the water in the toilet is going up instead of down, let go of the handle. NOW.

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If the water in the toilet bowl is already overflowing, it’s still a good time to LET GO OF THE HANDLE. NOW.

If you are transfixed with horror at the growing flood surrounding you and your hand just won’t let go, at least call for help. NOW.

Filed Under: gone awry 12 Comments

What we bought the kids for Christmas

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

December 29, 2009 By kimc

Are you wondering? I’ll give you the same hints I gave one of the children:

It’s something we never expected to buy for our household, and even when it occurred to us, we never expected each other to agree that it was a good idea. That was enough for one smart cookie to guess, but I’ll give you another hint: we knew we could give the kids some serious thrills without filling the house with a lot of new junk, and could use Amazon credits from Swagbucks to pay for it so it cost us nothing out of pocket.

Even now, I keep wondering if it was a good idea. I still hesitate and blush a little when somebody asks what our kids got for Christmas. I feel like I should start with the disclaimers before I reveal the nature of the gift:

The Gift will only be used with permission.
The Gift will only be used in a group setting, as an interactive and social event.
The Gift will only be used on weekends. Special permission to use The Gift outside of the weekend will be rare.
Attitude is of the utmost importance while using The Gift. Users who display impatience, selfishness, unkindness, road rage and other unchristlike attitudes will be swiftly banned.

What is it? I’m not ready to tell yet. I just want to say that we would never buy what we did – except that we just did.

And The Thing that we bought to go with it – oh my. Swagbucks paid again, but is that an excuse? What have we done? We have one of Those Monstrosities in our house! It’s not what it looks like! It doesn’t do what it would do in an average American house. Its power is limited. We can control it.

[deep breath]

Merry Christmas.

Oh, you’re still wondering? It’s a WII.

…and…

[glancing furtively about]

…well…

[whispering]

a tv to play the games.

Filed Under: mom is neurotic 51 Comments

Thank you

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

December 25, 2009 By kimc

I feel a little silly doing this but it’s been on my mind all day.

We blog for many reasons, but material gain is relatively low on the list. Blogging is a journal, to remember the important thoughts and events in our household. It’s a way to let faraway friends and family know what we’re up to. It’s a way to help and encourage others by sharing our own lessons and experiences.

We receive many blessings from blogging as well: we have made and met new friends, received encouragement from friends and strangers,and been challenged in many ways. Even those who don’t always agree with us are a blessing.

But God does bless us materially through our blog, and these blessings matter too. His gifts are good, and it would be wrong not to be thankful for the material ones as well as those less tangible.

I want to thank our readers for all the Christmas gifts we received from them over the past year, but especially the past month. We received some gifts directly, in the mail. You know who you are. Two little girls were thrilled beyond words to receive the single most-longed-for item from their wishlists – not from us but from a very kind reader.

But many other gifts were given to us by friends who probably had no idea what they were doing: those who signed up for Swagbucks with our referral code. Swagbucks referrals paid for the 2 group gifts we gave our children this year, covering something like 80% of our Christmas spending. Thank you, friends, for believing us when we encouraged you to give Swagbucks a try. I hope you each found Swagbucks to be a blessing to your family as it was to ours.

I also want to thank those who clicked through our links to make purchases from Vision Forum. Our affiliate income from Vision Forum during this time of year will not go toward Christmas spending, but toward paying off the remainder of our 7 year stupid tax. We were incredibly thankful that the bank approved our short sale for less than half of what we owed on our old house and forgave 60% of the deficit, but we still had to take out a short-term loan to help pay the other 40% that we still owed the bank. Our friends who made purchases through Vision Forum over the past 2 months have been a huge help to us in making extra payments on that loan!

But now that I’ve thanked you all for the material blessings you brought us, I do want to publicly remember the greatest gift of all – the gift that God gave us in His Son. This is not a spiritual, intangible thing. Christ came in the flesh. His body was as real and physical as yours and mine, and His service and suffering were real.

May every material blessing, no matter how big or small, remind us to be ever grateful for God’s gift of eternal life.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the father of lights, with whom there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

James 1:17

Filed Under: thankful thoughts 3 Comments

Happy Birthday to my love!

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

December 24, 2009 By Perry C.

This is a short post to wish my Hunney the best Birthday ever!

To commemorate this auspicious occasion I have decided to post a series of pictures of my love through the years.

Filed Under: birthdays/holidays 7 Comments

Kefir questions

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

December 23, 2009 By kimc

I may be a little late to join this new craze, but a friend gave me some kefir last night. She also emailed me instructions for culturing and some tips for use, but I would love to hear from others who do this.

What do you wish you had known when you first started making and using kefir? What is your favorite source of information? Did you run into any problems? And – big question – do you have to use unpasteurized milk? I do have a source for raw milk if necessary, but store bought homogenized milk is still the institutional standard in our home.

Filed Under: crunchy stuff 21 Comments

Left handed or right handed? A thoroughly unscientific poll

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

December 21, 2009 By kimc

edited to add 2 more polls at the bottom

THE NUMBERS

Hubby and I are left-handed, and so are 4 of our 9 children. Maybe even 5. We’re still waiting on Bethany to make up her mind. Babies can be so indecisive.

I know those stats are way off from the average. I believe estimates of how many people are left-handed vary from 3-10% of the population, and our household has at least 54%. Now I’m wondering if our family is a collective freak of nature – wait, don’t answer that – or if “handedness” can be hereditary. I know theories abound, but there seems to be very little proof for any of them.

WHY?

I have heard that being left-handed is sometimes connected to a lack of oxygen or other trauma at birth. Yes, I’m left-handed. Quit snickering. I was nearly 10 lbs, and was born with the aid of forceps. Out of the 14 children in my parents family, only one other is left-handed. He was over 10 lbs, and was very slow to start breathing. The theory seems to hold in my parents’ family.

I don’t think my mother-in-law had a particularly hard time with hubby’s birth, but he was her first, and first labors are often the hardest. He also tells me that he was more ambidextrous than just left-handed, but his parents thought it was cute for him to use his left hand and encouraged him to do so.

I also can’t help but wonder if it can be learned. My children see me eat and write with my left hand. Maybe I instinctively place the fork or pencil in their left hand, subtly encouraging them to favor that hand?

MY FAVORITE THEORY

This doesn’t explain why a person favors a certain hand, but I think I have noticed a pattern that can predict which hand a person will favor.

You know the whorl of hair on a baby’s head? You can often still see it on adults and children with very short hair. It’s usually on the left side, so a person’s hair naturally parts to the left. I think many left-handers have a whorl or part on the right side instead. Check it out. Ask a few random people who part their hair on the right side, if you can find any. They’re in the minority, and in my admittedly limited surveys, I have found that something like 50% are left handed.

What do you think?

A POLL

I thought a few polls might satisfy our curiosity. Please feel free to answer as many times as you like, not just for your own family but for any others for which you know the answer.

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Filed Under: questions 68 Comments

Specials and giveaways for moms and babies

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

December 18, 2009 By kimc

Free shipping special at The Modest Maternity Shop if you spend $25.00 or more, so it’s a great way to stock up on used maternity clothes or get some new skirts! I have a long denim skirt from this shop and it’s very well made – I can’t wait for my belly to pop out so I can start wearing it more!

Free shipping ends today, Friday.

Thanks Mama online diaper shop is going to give away new to the market Thirsties Duo Diaper. This diaper comes in two adjustable sizes, size one fits babies 6-18 pounds, size two fits babies 18-40 pounds. Each diaper comes with super absorbent microfiber/hemp insert. Thirsties products are made entirely in the USA including the fabrics. The winner of the Giveaway will be able to choose the size and color of the diaper.

I have one of these diapers, and it’s probably my favorite so far. It has openings in both ends which makes it extra easy to place and remove the insert, and it fits Bethany beautifully.

There are 9 ways to enter this giveaway, so get busy and increase your odds by doing as many as you can!

By the way, if you’re new to cloth diapering, be sure to check out their samplers while you’re in the Thanks Mama shop. These packages let you try several of the most popular diapers, grouped by common characteristics. It’s an ingenious way to find your favorite without spending a ton of money.

Filed Under: giveaways & deals 1 Comment

Birth control makes me mad

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

December 17, 2009 By kimc

My sister-in-law Catherine called me last week asking for advice for a friend of hers who seemed in danger of miscarrying for the second time in 8 months. I gave what advice I could, which wasn’t much, and asked her to let me know what happened.

Her friend miscarried, and was heartbroken. After losing her previous baby earlier this year at the same point – 8 weeks gestation – she desperately wanted to carry this child to term.

Catherine asked me if I had any idea what might cause multiple miscarriages at the same point, and we talked about possibilities. Her friend had asked her doctor, who assured her that miscarriages were common and it was nothing unusual to have 2 in a row. He told her that any further answers were beyond the scope of his knowledge and she should talk to a hormone specialist.

Then Catherine said it: her friend had been on a birth control pill until just before the first pregnancy and miscarriage.

Didn’t her doctor know this? Doesn’t he know the side effects of the drugs he provides to his patients? Besides skyrocketing rates of ectopic pregnancies, birth control pills and implants are known to cause abortions and birth defects. They are known to cause miscarriages in pregnancies that occur during or after use – sometimes up to a year or two later. This information is available on the package insert of nearly any pill you can buy but doctors plead ignorance, or worse yet they deny it outright!

That poor young woman lost her baby. She lost two babies. You can make the case that she should have learned more about the risks of the drug she chose, but I hold her doctor even more responsible. I also hold those around her responsible. Someone among her friends should have known and warned her.

Those of us who know these things need to spread the word. I need to.

Our friends and family may not agree with us on whether to use birth control, but they need to know that certain methods do far more than simply prevent pregnancy. If our friends and family believe that life begins at conception, then they need to know that nearly all of the most popular, most effective methods have a Plan B: murder any unborn child that gets past Plan A. It’s right there in the fine print that they’ll find in the package.

The quotes below are from Drugs.com. You will find the same info on nearly any birth control you search except for a simple condom. All birth control pills work this way. IUDs work this way. Implants that gradually release hormones into the bloodstream work this way.

What is Yaz? Yaz prevents ovulation (the release of an egg from an ovary) and also cause changes in your cervical and uterine lining, making it harder for sperm to reach the uterus and harder for a fertilized egg to attach to the uterus…

What is Depo-Provera? Depo-Provera is a form of progesterone, a female hormone that prevents ovulation (the release of an egg from an ovary). Depo-Provera also causes changes in your cervical mucus and uterine lining, making it harder for sperm to reach the uterus and harder for a fertilized egg to attach to the uterus…

What is Mirena? Mirena is a plastic device containing the female hormone levonorgestrel. This hormone causes changes in your cervical mucus and uterine lining, making it harder for sperm to reach the uterus and harder for a fertilized egg to attach to the uterus...

What is Norplant System (levonorgestrel intrauterine system)? Levonorgestrel is a female hormone. This hormone can cause changes in your cervical mucus and uterine lining, making it harder for sperm to reach the uterus and harder for a fertilized egg to attach to the uterus…

Filed Under: Christian living, iron sharpening iron, pregnancy/labor 69 Comments

Various and sundry egg-citing announcements

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

December 15, 2009 By kimc

Just a few brief announcments:

Our own little shop is up and running again. Just click the For Sale tab at the top of the page for great deals on Vision Forum products that the girls have purchased from the clearance shelf in the retail store, most with no visible damage or wear. We have dolls, Jonathan Park, Ballantynes, and much more! As before, nearly all prices are marked down at least 50% and shipping is a flat $4 on all orders.
Vision Forum is having a Storewide Special: 20-50% off everything in the store! And $5 shipping! until Wednesday, Dec 16. Wednesday is also your last chance to place an order for guaranteed delivery by Christmas with regular ole’ ground shipping. Coincidence? I think not.
Don’t forget to enter the drawing for one of 3 sets of the full conference audio from the 2009 Sufficiency of Scripture Conference. The drawing will close on Wednesday night and we will choose 3 winners very soon thereafter. Find instructions and enter here.
And while we’re making exciting announcements, let me just tell you that our 18 hens set a new record today: 15 eggs! Well, it’s egg-citing to us…

Filed Under: giveaways & deals 5 Comments

Bossy Bess

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

December 14, 2009 By kimc

Baby Bethany is beginning to talk – a lot. She is 18 months now, and although she has been copying words and phrases for quite a while, she has just begun to assemble her words into phrases and sentences of her own.

She is also becoming far more interactive, and she’s beginning to display that she understands more and more of what we are talking about or even what we are thinking.

She’s always eager to repeat commands and corrections just in case her older sibs didn’t hear me. She has enough vocabulary to tattle if somebody offends her. And she’s tried to issue a few commands of her own, in carefully studied style.

Today, she asked Kaitlyn for a drink of water. Kaitlyn pretended not to understand her, and Bethany repeated her request a second time, then a third, then a fourth. Finally we saw it dawn upon her that Kaitlyn was teasing her. She grinned along with us at the joke, then set her jaw and frowned. She pointed at Kaitlyn and commanded her: “Kay-kay, obey!”

She got her water, of course. How could Kaitlyn resist that?

Her nickname may be Bessie, but I’m often tempted to change it to Bossy.

Filed Under: babies, Everyday life 10 Comments

I’m late. I wish I was there. Act now supplies are limited!

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

December 12, 2009 By Perry C.

From Perry

Your probably asking yourself what in the world do all three of the above have to do with one another. Let me illuminate you.

I needed to write this post yesterday
It’s about the NCFIC.org “Sufficiency of Scripture Conference” and I REALLY wish I were there.
They are selling the audio messages from the conference @ a presale discount until the conference ends (in a few hours) so the “supplies” of discounted audio sets are very limited. Hurry up and you can still get yours for a 22% discount — FOR A LIMITED TIME!!!

But wait there’s more! (no really there is )

Giveaway

Due to my high level connections at the NCFIC I have been able to arrange to give away 3 sets of the full conference audio! Now I’m having the giveaway for the sole purpose of helping to spread the word about all the hard word the men over at the NCFIC are doing, specifically the “2009 Sufficiency of Scripture Conference“. So if you will help me to spread the word I will enter you in a drawing for one of three audio sets from the 2009 SOS conference.

Here is how I’d like you to help.

Blog, Facebook, or Twitter links to the NCFIC.org blog and conference audio sale. Then comeback here and leave a comment to let me know where and how you helped get the word out by leaving a comment and a link to your post.

Link to any or all of the following

Conference Page: http://www.ncfic.org/national-conference

NCFIC Blog: http://ncfic.org/conferenceaudiopreorder

NCFIC Conference Audio sale page: http://ncfic.org/conferenceaudiopreorder

I will leave the giveaway open until Wed the 16th of December.

(one last link: NCFIC.org facebook page http://www.facebook.com/NCFIC?ref=ts )

UPDATE: Link back to the giveaway for an extra entry in the drawing

Filed Under: Dad's corner, giveaways & deals, Huh? Category? 63 Comments

Elsie audio giveaway

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

December 12, 2009 By kimc

Laurie Manteufel is a mother of many, a talented reader with a soothing voice, and a friend of ours. Her audio books are available from Vision Forum, but her family also has a website of their own, Vintage Voice Recording.

They emailed to let us know about their End-of-the-Year-Giveaway, and to invite our readers to enter:

The prize is 2 audio books, Elsie Dinsmore and Elsie’s Holidays at Roselands, books 1 & 2 in the series. They are MP3 audio format and over 18 hours of listening time. We ask for only one entry per household. The submission dates will be December 12 – 18^th. The winner will be posted December 19^th.
To enter simply email us at info@vintagevoicerecording.com with your name and say you want to enter in the End-of-the-Year Giveaway. They can learn more about us and our products on our website, www.VintageVoiceRecording.com.

When you visit the site, be sure to take a look at the gorgeous cover art on the Elsie audio books. Laurie’s daughter drew them, using live models from among their family and friends. In fact, Elsie’s Children are at our house nearly every Tuesday evening.

Filed Under: giveaways & deals Leave a Comment

We usually keep our toilet in the bathroom

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

December 9, 2009 By kimc

Rachael just woke up, popped her head out of the rubbermaid tote, and did something really funny.

Yes, she was sleeping in the container where we usually store the Christmas lights. Does that seem strange to you? That wasn’t the funny part. You obviously need more children.

She asked if she could be done with her nap, crawled out of the tote and stumbled straight past the bathroom to the laundry room door. As we watched, she wrestled the door open. It sticks, and she was frustrated, but she did it. She disappeared inside while we shot each other puzzled and amused glances.

After a few long moments, she stumbled back out with her undies around her ankles and her ballerina costume hiked up. She looked angry.

I managed to blurt out helpfully, “Honey, we moved the toilet into the bathroom, right there.”

She gave me an annoyed look. “Yeah.” Apparently she didn’t appreciate my stating the obvious.

As she shuffled to the bathroom, she glared at all our faces, contorted with restrained laughter. “What?”

Needless to say, she decided to lie down for just a few more minutes. She’s back in the container now.

Filed Under: humor, madness 21 Comments

Today’s brilliant idea. Or is it crazy?

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

December 8, 2009 By kimc

Our water sometimes freezes. I’ll be the first to admit that it’s not a huge problem – it probably happens twice every 2 years. Usually we remember to leave the faucets running a little on the Really Cold Nights,the ones that are predicted to drop below – gasp, shiver! – 32 degrees.

We also have all the pipes under the house wrapped. But we do have some exposed sections out at the well, around the pump and the pressure tank. We’ve wrapped them in the past but it just never holds out there, even with duct tape. There are a lot of very short sections and too many joints. If it freezes, this is where it happens. And it always seems to happen on my birthday. Happy birthday to me.

But today, as Megan was untangling Christmas lights and hanging them on the deck rails, I had a flashback to a radio program I heard over the weekend. The speaker was telling how a listener protected her delicate saplings from freezing by covering them with a sheet and hanging Christmas lights on them to generate enough warmth to keep them from freezing.

Now I’m thinking we should decorate our well and pressure tank with the extra lights. I don’t think our display would win any awards, but we can throw a tarp over it to trap the heat. I would sure enjoy a hot shower, a flushing toilet and a cup of coffee on my birthday.

Filed Under: madness 16 Comments

Instant rebates from Vision Forum and why I remember that it’s a good sale

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

December 7, 2009 By kimc

If you know that during this time of year I have at least 5 or 6 family members at Vision Forum on any given day, you won’t be surprised that I’m keeping you posted on the sales. Today it’s not just my hunney and 2 of my children, but also my uncle, 2 brothers-in-law, and a sister-in-law who gets to work side-by-side with her hunney. They’ll be joining us for dinner tonight.

This week’s sale? Instant rebates! If I remember correctly – and I am right a surprising amount of the time when it comes to money – this was a hugely popular sale last year.

What? Are you still snickering about my memory? This guy has a theory on why women tend to remember particular things. He has a lot of theories about how men’s and women’s brains work. I think he’s onto something. I’ve definitely seen the Nothing Box in action.