Our Next Home

My son found this amazing website. A low impact home built by the owners and "help from passers by".

Imagine - No mortgage. No utility bills. No traffic. Just living. I think you have to have an amazing garden if you live there. Its a requirement. You also have to bake bread every day. I'd have to have power to run my sewing machine, but then again, when you live in a house like this you stitch everything by hand. Or you cut out the patterns, and at night while you're sleeping, little fairies come into your home and stitch everything together for you.....

Now to find the land to build it on.

Check out the website here.

Its a Boy!

I'm an aunt again. My brother Bob and his girlfriend Rachel just had their baby. He was born Saturday morning around 1:00 am by c-section. Bob said the umbilical cord was wrapped around his waist and it was holding him in like a seatbelt. The new baby is 20 3/4 inces long and weighs 7 lbs. 12 oz. He doesn't have a name yet, but Bob promises to email everyone once they decide on one. What a beautiful baby. I can't wait to hold him!

Supreme Court Recognizes Homeschooling

"For the first time, homeschooling has been recognized as a viable educational alternative," writes J. Michael Smith.

A case which recently went to the U.S. Supreme Court, Morse v. Frederick, involved whether or not a public school can limit freedom of speech. The case was decided 5-4, saying that the school principal did not violate the rights of a student when she removed a banner of his that advocated illegal drug use.

In his opinion of the case, Justice Clarence Thomas stated, “If parents do not like the rules imposed by those schools, they can seek redress in school boards or legislatures; they can send their children to private schools or home school them; or they can simply move.”

So, the good news, is that homeschooling is finally recognized by the Supreme Court. The bad news is that public schools have ultimate authority over our children if they attend the school.

Read the Washington Times article here.

Which Jane Austen Character are You?

You are Elinor Dashwood of Sense & Sensibility! You are practical, circumspect, and discreet. Though you are tremendously sensible and allow your head to rule, you have a deep, emotional side that few people often see.

Take the Quiz here!

When I changed an answer that could go either way, I became Elizabeth Bennett. Not so sure about that one. I'm not tremendously attractive, and sometimes I AM the sea of silliness. I am rather judgemental though, so perhaps it is correct.

You are Elizabeth Bennet of Pride & Prejudice! You are intelligent, witty, and tremendously attractive. You have a good head on your shoulders, and oftentimes find yourself the lone beacon of reason in a sea of silliness. You take great pleasure in many things. You are proficient in nearly all of them, though you will never own it. Lest you seem too perfect, you have a tendency toward prejudgement that serves you very ill indeed.

Take the Quiz here!

Uncle Sam Wants Your Children

The Maryland State Board has ruled to allow a curriculum in middle and high schools that will teach children that homosexuality is perfectly ok. The curriculum will also teach children the correct way use a condom. Great. Just what our kids should be learning in school. I guess since they are failing at teaching kids how to read and do math, they've decided to teach our kids more about sex. They've been doing that for a while, and just look how successful they are! The teenage pregancy rate is doing very well. STD's are also doing very well. So finally, the state schools have found something they are good at - corrupting our children.

If parents don't want their children taught this curriculum, well, too bad. The state board wrote, although a parent does have a right to control the upbringing of a child, "that right is not absolute. It must bend to the State's duty to educate its citizens". Nice. Since when is it the State's "duty" to corrupt my children or indoctrinate them with ideas that are not ours?

Read the full article here.

Why Do Americans Get Married?

According to a survey completed by Pew Research, Americans have changed their opinion on what determines a successful marriage. Once upon a time, the reason for marriage was to bear and raise children. Now, by a margin of 3 to 1, the reason for marriage is for mutual happiness and fulfillment over having children. So we've gone from roles of responsibility, sacrifice and adulthood, to "What will make me happy right now?" No wonder the divorce rate is so high! If you wake up one morning and don't "feel" happy, its time to check out and find someone new to provide for you happiness and fulmillment.

In the survey, 62% of respondents said sharing household chores was an important determining factor for a successful marriage. Why not just hire a maid or a handyman service? Why do you need to get married to share chores? Back in 1990, 65% of people surveyed thought children were very important to a good marriage. Now only 41% say children are important. Of course, in this day and age, you can also pay for services to become pregnant or add to your family - IVF, Egg donors, surrigate parenting, adoption, etc. And you don't have to be married. Don't get me wrong, I think the technology we have to allow infertile couples a chance to have a baby is wonderful. And I think adoption is a great way to become a parent whether you can have biological children or not. BUT. I still think (call me old-fashioned), that children should be raised in a home with two parents of the opposite sex who are committed to a lifelong relationship. Its called marriage. Till death do we part.

We, as a society, have a long way to go to return to the things that made our country great.

Read the article here:
Marriage Survey

Rag Curler Result

Yesterday I thought it would be fun to try curling Maddie's hair with rag curlers. You know, the old fashioned curling iron that doesn't damage your hair. Well, this is what she looked like with her hair in rags. Kind of cute, I think.




Here's after from the back. What beautiful ringlets! Of course it helps that her hair has natural curl anyway.




Now if I could find a way to curl my own hair that way without my husband seeing the "before".....

What Flower are you?

I am a Snapdragon What Flower Are You?

I am a Canna What Flower Are You?

So, I just took this fun quiz to see what flower I am. I had a couple of answers that could go either way, so I'm both a Canna - ""You stand up for what you believe in, even if it gets in the way of what other people think. You are proud of yourself and your accomplishments and you enjoy letting people know that.", and a Snapdragon, but I forgot to copy what it said about Snapdragons, and when I changed the answers back to my original ones it still came up as a Canna. So I guess that's what I am.

Today I'm experimenting with rag curlers on Maddie's hair. She has such beautiful hair that I thought it would be fun to try. I'll try to post pictures of how it turns out.

Rain

Its raining. Again. I need to check my address, 'cause I thought we lived in Texas now, and I'm beginning to think maybe not. Perhaps we're still in Maine and this has just been a really bad dream. I'll wake up soon, and we'll be in Maine, with friends, my kids will all be happy, my husband won't be, but maybe the dream state will continue and he'd like it there. Hmmm. What is God's lesson in this?

Josh is in Colorado at Scout camp for a week. I miss him. A lot. Just as soon as Katie came home, Josh left. I want all my children to be home. I want all my children to WANT to be home. Oh well, they grow up and move on. At least I still have a few years with Zach and Maddie.

Did I mention that its raining? Again.

Does a fish know its wet?

Why is it so easy to see what other people should do or shouldn't do, and it is SO hard to see that clearly in your own life? Its so easy to tell others (or at least think about telling others), "Just watch what you eat", "Get organized", "Clean your house and stop coming up with excuses", "Go back to school", "Get a better job", etc., etc., etc. So who tells us these things? And if someone did, would you really listen? It's so easy to just get angry, get offended and start listing back all the things THEY should do. How do you look at your own life and really see it? How do you look at your personality from the outside - you know, the way others really see you, not they way you hope you come across? I'm not sure its possible. When you are so immersed in something, you stop seeing it objectively. You start taking on characteristics of whatever is around you, and you don't even realize it.

So, does a fish know its wet?

Oops

So after a "leave of blog absence" for almost 2 months, I suppose I should have something to write about.

We went "up North" for a quick whirlwind trip to visit family. 4 days in Spencerport, NY, 3 days in Wellsboro, PA, and 2 days in Bear, DE. Plus 1 1/2 days of driving and time at the airport. Oh, What Fun!

So back to the daily grind. Kate's in England and will be returning on Monday, the 18th. Zach turns 8 on the 19th, Josh leaves for a week of summer camp in Colorado on Thursday, and then before we know it, July will be here.

Adoption is currently on hold - it's rather expensive for anyone who didn't know it. Unfortunately, we'd love to just jump in, but adopting from Korea requires a payment of about $17,000 when we receive a referral. It could take about a year or so to receive a referral, but we honestly don't see how we can come up with an "extra" $17,000, and that doesn't include other fees or travel. Hmmm.

Ok, so maybe I really don't have anything to write about. For once, my life is pleasantly boring. I'm sure I'll cook up something exciting soon. Stay tuned....

Purpose of a blog

So, I stated in my first post that this is to keep in touch with family, friends and total strangers. Now I'm including "little brothers of long time friends' who you haven't seen in 9 years 3 months and 28(?) days". Ok, Lisa, you'll have to assist with the date count. Is that about right?

Now, for friends who have started a blog to keep track of certain events regarding a really long process used by the rich and famous (as well as the poor and obscure) to add to their famliy size - you really need to actually post things in order for us to stay in touch with current events. KWIM?

Events here: let's just say it doesn't look like Ethiopia is where we're adopting from (at least not this time). Yes, we were approved. Yes, it's more affordable than most programs. Yes, there is a TREMENDOUS need for homes for the kids there. But. and that's a big BUT. ("He touched the Butt" - from Nemo, I know you've seen it, don't lie.) It just doesn't feel right for us. Not right now.

We entered into this process envisioning a child with Asian features. Is it wrong to select the country to adopt from based on the appearance of the people who live there? I don't think so. I mean, when you have biological kids, you kind of have a bit of an idea of what they'll look like because you look in the mirror every day and you look at your spouse every day (or almost) and at some point in time (and still for many of us lucky ones married to amazingly attractive people both inside and out) you were physically attracted to that person. Since Tom spent soooo much time while in the Navy in Asian countries, and I've always found the eyes to be very gentle and soothing, it makes sense to us to "go with our first instinct" and adopt from Asia. ALSO, my family is a little bit racist. Some of them. A little. So we're going to adopt from the part of the world that will cause the least resistance. Of course, if we didn't want to cause any uproar we wouldn't adopt at all, but we like to stir things up a little. So this'll be fun.

Oh, the country of choice today? Not China again. Nope. I don't want to wait 3 years. We've already established that I'm not patient. Let's see. That leaves: Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Korea, Cambodia, Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan (some parts), Nepal, Japan (no international adoptions), Hong Kong.....

Oh, we'll not make the announcement yet. I hate to announce things then change my mind and have to explain it.

The Beatrice Brigade

A great article on homeschooling, and the moms who do it:

The Beatrice Brigade


Just when I doubt what I'm doing and why I'm doing it (homeschooling), along comes a great article celebrating what and why and I am recommitted.

The Adventure Begins (again)

Well, we did it.

After submitting our initial application back in November, 2006 to adopt from China, then having the requirements change, which made TONS of people try to get their dossiers to China by the May 1, 2007 deadline, which is resulting in even LONGER referral waits (17 months!), and then re-evaluating why we wanted to adopt and at what cost and from where....

I just mailed our Letter of Request to our agency to change our country to Ethiopia and to request a sibling group with at least one girl and the oldest child younger than 4. WOW! Now I have to wait for the Agency to review our request and get back to us with the next step.

Patience is a virtue that I do not possess.

Celtic Wallhanging

So, I stayed away from the computer for 3 days, and look what happened! I sewed something. Unfortunately, the colors don't really go with our current color scheme - in any room, but I had the time, the motivation and the energy and just raided my stash for colors that worked together and TADA! - I made a Celtic Wallhanging. Go me.