Trying to keep all my plates spinning

Hello, all. I know I have been a little scarce lately. Mrs. Meyer and I have been very busy. If you recall, Megan was so kind to have a little contest a few weeks back and I won! I have had a wonderful time spring cleaning my house. Even the boy wants to use the lovely smelling cleaners. Everything is looking sparkle-y and smells wonderful. Thanks, Megan!

And like Megan, I am struggling. I haven't been doing this bloggy thing for too long, but I have "met" some really lovely women. I so enjoy reading their blogs and commenting and getting visits and comments from them. But it is taking up so much time! I still have to homeschool my children. I still need to clean my house. I still need to feed the family regularly. I still have church and family obligations. I do still need to sleep some. I'm just having trouble fitting in all of my bloggy wants with all of my life needs.

So, hang in there with me. I have about finished the wholesale slaughter on the hidden dirt in the house. Well, all that I am willing to get to right now. : ) I have a bad case of spring fever, but I still need to buckle down and keep things rolling around here.

Is anyone else out there doing the spring cleaning thing? I have washed and ironed the kitchen curtains. I've washed the downstairs windows. I've cleaned baseboards. I sitll need to hit the ceiling fans and light bulb covers. What are you all doing to herald in the spring?

Ron Stone's Chicken Noodle Soup

I admit it. I am a bit of a food snob. Normally, if I was cooking something for someone would I would jump through flaming hoops before I would serve something made with condensed soup. I'm sorry. It's one of the ways my pride gets me.

But...

My dad had the flu this week. One of his comfort foods is this soup that his mother used to make him. It is credited to a former Houston newscaster who is a legend in his own right. The recipe is not as easy to come by as I thought it was and, although I hate to admit it, it is really good. No, really. It is really good. I couldn't quit "tasting" it to make sure it was OK. I am freezing it in smaller containers, so he can have it any time he needs a little comfort.

So, in case anyone out there needs to find this soup recipe, I thought I would make it a little easier for them to find. And if you want to make it, you won't be disappointed. But don't tell anyone where you got the recipe. : )


Ron Stone's Chicken Noodle Soup

1¼ hours | 30 min prep

3 lbs bone-in chicken breasts (skin on or off - your preference)

1 stalk celery, leaves attached,cut in chunks

1 carrot, cut in chunks

1 onion, quartered

1 tablespoon seasoning salt

10-12 whole black peppercorns

2 chicken bouillon cubes

4 cans cream of chicken soup

1 (12 ounce) package wide egg noodles

1 tablespoon minced onions

dried parsley, to taste

additional seasoning salt, to taste

black pepper, to taste

red pepper flakes, just a pinch,to taste

Simmer chicken, celery, carrot, onion, peppercorns and 1 T. seasoned salt in large dutch oven, in about 4 quarts of water until chicken begins to fall apart.

Remove chicken from pot; let cool.

DO NOT DISCARD BROTH.

Remove skin and bones from chicken and discard; shred meat into bite-sized pieces.

Set aside.

Strain the veggies from the broth, pressing as much of the liquid from them as possible, through the strainer, back into the pot.

Bring broth to a boil.

Cook noodles in boiling broth for 6 minutes.

Lower heat, and add bouillon cubes, stirring to mix well.

Add undiluted chicken soup, stirring gently to dissolve lumps, but try not to break noodles too much.

Add the shredded chicken, minced onion, and remaining seasonings to taste.

Point of View

We were at church the other night for play rehearsal for my daughter. We got there a little early and no one was there yet. The church was locked. We decided to walk around and explore. I have shared here that we recently left our church of 20 years. After some hopping around, we decided to settle here until we find our new country home. We aren't very familiar with the building, so we decided to go check it out while we waited for everyone to arrive.

We walked around the back of the sanctuary and found a little play ground and the "other" side of the church that no one really ever uses. There was a matching set of entry doors on that side. The girl asked if she could open the doors. I said sure, but I'm sure they are locked. They weren't.

Immediately an alarm went off. Not only was the siren sounding, but this man's voice was shouting something about "emergency, burglary in progress" or something equally threatening. We walked back around to the front of the church and waited for whomever was going to show up to arrest us.

The security guard and a frantic elder were first. Then the children's activity director. The people with the appropriate keys to turn the mess off arrived and things started to quiet down. The police didn't arrive until after we were in the sanctuary. Very exciting indeed.

When we got home, the girl was recounting the events to her daddy. She said, "I pulled on the doors and they opened! Do you know what happened next?"

Daddy said, "Did you set the alarm off?"

"NO," she said, "We set the alarm ON?"

It's all in how you look at it, I guess.

I Marvel at the Wisdom of Our God

I marvel at the wisdom of our God.



Yes, I marvel at the wisdom of our God.



When a see a little flower pushing back the mighty sod,
then I marvel at the wisdom of our God.



When they crucified the Father's only Son.
And they laid Him in the tomb they thought they'd won.
But just like the little flower He rolled back the mighty sod,
And I marvel at the wisdom of our God.



He is risen! He is risen indeed!

Have a blessed Easter.

10 Weird Things About Me

I have been tagged by Michelle to post 10 weird things about me. Hmm. If I was tagged 20 - 25 years ago, this would be a much more interesting post. I'm just not too weird right now. I don't think. Let's see what I can come up with.

1. I am mildly obsessive/compulsive. Well, that is what everyone else would say. I just like things the way I like them and that's that. No one will touch the dishwasher for fear that they will put something in the wrong place. I'm really not as uptight about this as "they" would have you believe, but I do think that it should be orderly.

2. I am flat-footed. It is a result of having a twisted pelvis. Everything from there down is twisted a little which results in flat feet. I went to a podiatrist to see about having bunions removed and he said don't bother. Because of the way I am built, they would just come right back.

3. Since I read Michelle's list, I wonder if I have "social phobia". She described how it is for her and it is a lot like what I experience with the exception that I'm not particularly shy and find that in my nervousness I talk too much. It's like, help, I'm talking and I can't shut up!!

4. While not shy, I am very quiet by nature. If the situation is comfortable for me, I am perfectly content to say nothing. I like the quiet.

5. I am also very solitary. I require solitude to be mentally healthy. I just don't like a lot of people around all the time.

6. I have Meniere's Disease. The disease manifests itself with dizziness, vertigo with associated nausea and vomiting, hearing loss, over-sensitivity to sound, tinnitus (both ringing and rushing), and a feeling of fullness in the affected ear. I try to control it with a number of vitamins and nutritional supplements. It's working pretty well.

7. I have had the same best friend for 33 years. I don't know if that is weird, but it is unusual.

8. I have a flat place on my nose. I can't tell you how many people have asked me over the years how I broke it. I didn't. I just have a wide bridge.

9. I grind my teeth in my sleep.

10. I asked my husband for help with this list and he could only come up with one thing. Is it weird that my husband doesn't think I'm very weird?

Whew. That was a struggle. I won't tag anyone specifically, but I will invite anyone who wishes to play along. Let's all be weird together.

Wordless Wednesday

Spring in Houston.

Tuesday's Tip

Today's tip: Forgive yourself.

Take today for example. We had a coupon for a free lunch at a new neighborhood restaurant that was training its waitstaff in anticipation of their real opening. I took the kids over. We each got a free meal plus cheesecake. While the menu may have been limited, the portions were not. Nor was my desire to try some of everything on the table. Add that to the fact that I only walked half as many steps as I want to in a day (I wear a pedometer) and that I ate the leftover cheesecake for dinner, it has not been a day for good health.

But tomorrow is another day. Call me Scarlet, but I know that unless Jesus comes back the sun will rise tomorrow and I will have another chance to get it right.

It's OK to mess up every now and then as long as you don't let it bring you down so much that you give up. Sing with me, "Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again."

Check These Out

Some of my bloggy counterparts have good things going on, I may to turn into Shannon. Check out these links.

Maria is having another Bible Giveaway.

Missy is featured at Christian Women On-Line.

And this is just plain cool.

Why Homeschool - Part 2

Here's some more from Phil Lancaster:

The Method:

God's method of education is revealed in Deuteronomy 6:7-9. Speaking of God's commandments it says, And thou shall teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.

True education occurs any place ("home and road") and any time ("lie down and get up"). The parents are to be the constant companions of their children, teaching them God's view of life at every opportunity. Every child of a Godly family will live unceasingly in an environment that is saturated by God's Word, and his parents will be creating that environment.

Since the purpose of education is to love God with the whole heart and to have His commandments lodged in the heart, the method must be one which reaches the heart. Discipleship-along-the-road living with the two people to whom the child is closest (his parents) is God's method for reaching the heart of the child.

Our educational method must reflect a Biblical understanding of truth and life. The Greek/Western worldview sees truth as ideas that can be reduced to printed pages and considered in abstraction in a classroom. In the Biblical/Hebrew worldview, truth is personal (Jesus said, "I am ...the truth." John14:6); while it can be expressed in the statements of Scripture, it is always connected to life and conduct (...speaking the truth in love... Ephesians. 4:15). Truth is not only something we can know, it is also something we can and must "do" (1 John 1:6). God's truth is only communicated truly in the context of relationship. God did not just give us the written Word of truth, He gave us his Son and fills us with Himself (Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. 1 John. 4:15).

The Goal:

Education ought not to be seen as an end in itself. Nor should it be viewed in terms of mere academic or social preparation for life. Knowledge, by itself, is nothing and leads only to pride (Knowledge puffeth up... 1 Corinthians 8:1). We could give our children the very best academic preparation in the world, and only end up making them more effective instruments in the devil's hands. No, God has something higher in mind.

Understood in its broadest terms, education is character training. God is in the business of transforming people. He is creating a people who have a living relationship with Himself. The beginning of the process is simply to take God seriously in everything or, as Scripture has it: the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge ... (Proverbs 1:7; 9:10). The end of the process is mature people who know God; and who, knowing Him, love him; and who, loving Him, obey Him in all things.

The path of safety and blessing is always that which adheres most closely to the revealed will of God. Home education as we practice today falls short of the perfect pattern set forth in the Scriptures, but it is certainly a big step in the right direction-because home education is God's idea.

But the bottom line for us is, I really feel like it is what we are supposed to be doing. I don't think I am particularly good at it, but it seems to be, at least for now, what God has in mind for our family. Maybe that's why. If my kids are growing and learning in spite of my feeble efforts, God is definitely the reason. To Him be the glory.

Wordless Wednesday - Late Edition

All I want for Easter is my 2 front teeth....

Tuesday's Tip

Today's tip is: Plan ahead.

Being homeschoolers, we are home A LOT. I love being at home, so that is not a big deal for us. But even though we are home a lot, you would be surprised at how often I am surprised by everyone's need to eat! I try to plan ahead for such events.

I usually set a day aside every so often to fill our freezer with individual servings sizes of things we like to eat. I make chili, tomato sauce, muffins, soups, even potstickers. I brown ground meat so I can throw together something fast if I need to. I freeze them in separate portions so that they are available whenever we get hungry. Usually it is for lunch, but sometimes it turns out to be dinner! It works out well and keeps us from grabbing something we shouldn't eat at a fast food place.

Why Homeschool?

From what I understand : ), many people are often asked why they choose to homeschool. No one has ever questioned my choosing this lifestyle. My sanity, yes, but not my reasons. I ran across this a few years ago and saved it in case the subject ever came up. I'll share it with you because it really says it all. It is long, so I will divide it into 2 days.

Why Home School?
by Phil Lancaster

There are many excellent reasons for choosing to teach your children at home.

Academically:

There is now incontestable evidence that, on average, children who are home schooled fare better academically than children of either public or private schools. This is not surprising since tutoring has always been recognized to be the best method of education.

Me again. For my children specifically, I think they do far better in this type situation than they would in a classroom. I have one extremely social child who need lots, LOTS, of one on one time. I have one extremely shy child who excels with one on one time but gets lost in a large group.

Socially:

Home educated children are spared the corrupting environment of the peer-oriented classroom and thus benefit socially. A common myth of our society is that children need to be with other children for extended periods of time to be properly socialized, but this is the exact opposite of the truth. Much time in a peer culture is damaging to children. Socialization is one of the best reasons to home school.

See yesterday's post. Sure, my children would get "socialized" differently at school, but I'm not sure it would be the kind of socialization I want for them. OK, I'm almost positive it would not be the kind of socialization that I want for them.

Family:

Any home schooling family will tell you that one of the greatest benefits of the process is the way that family bonds are strengthened. Parents and children grow closer through the shared hours of each day. Siblings develop a new love and respect for one another as they live and learn and work together day by day. These families can overcome the family-fragmenting forces of modern life. They have more time together, and love is spelled t-i-m-e.

This is particularly true for our family. I have two children of different genders who are 5 1/2 years apart in age. If I had sent my son to kindergarten on the schedule of public schooling, he probably wouldn't even know his sister. They certainly wouldn't be as close as they are now. They play together everyday. Some days better than others, but they interact on a level that most siblings don't have the opportunity much less the inclination to do.

More Wednesday.

Socialization

I've been thinking about posting about homeschooling lately. I haven't mentioned it much here, but it is a huge part of our lives. We are members of a large homeschool group and most of our friends are homeschoolers, so I don't think of it as being as irregular as it probably is to most people.

I will start with something funny I ran across today. One of the big "arguments" about homeschooling is the supposed socialization issues. I thought this family's answers to the question was awesome.


"When my wife and I mention we are strongly considering homeschooling our children, we are without fail asked, "But what about socialization?" Fortunately, we found a way our kids can receive the same socialization that government schools provide.


On Mondays and Wednesdays, I will personally corner my son in the bathroom, give him a wedgie, and take his lunch money.


On Tuesdays and Thursdays, my wife will make sure to tease our children for not being in the "in" crowd, taking special care to poke fun of any physical abnormalities.


Fridays will be "Fad and Peer Pressure Day." We will all compete to see who has the coolest toys, most expensive clothes and the loudest, fastest, and most dangerous car.


Every day, my wife and I will adhere to a routine of cursing and swearing in the hall and mentioning our weekend exploits with alcohol and immorality. If our kids attempt to use the bathroom without permission, we will punish them immediately.


And we have asked them to report us to the authorities in the event we mention faith, religion or try to bring up morals and values."


More to come.

Give Up?

May I say that no one was even close. My husband got it on his 4th or 5th guess.

The stick sculpture is an elephant.

Yes, an elephant. An elephant you can get inside. I asked her if she was in the elephant's tummy and she looked at me like I was out of my mind. I guess I just don't understand modern art.

Wordless Wednesday

OK, it's not exactly "Wordless".

Here is a picture of something Missy built in the backyard. Try not to notice the gaping bare patches of grass. Spring is coming. Instead, I want you to get your creative juices flowing and see if you can get into the mind of a 7-year-old-little-girl-quasi-creative-genius and tell me what you think it is. Good luck. You might want to click it to make it big. Focus on the sticks in the ground. Sorry I haven't gotten a new photo editor since the crash.

I'm not sure what the winner will receive other than my complete and total admiration for their own creativity, but I'll think of something.

In Dreamland

My littlest angel is doped up on Valium and Demerol right now. She had some dental work done this morning. She is sleeping it off in the other room.

The poor child's new molars came in without enamel. Her baby teeth are weak, but this is a new low. The one that she had filled today was rotting before it was in fully. They sealed the other 3 in hopes of warding off some of the inevitable decay. It is a long road ahead of her. She already has 3 crowns on some baby teeth. That was a year and a half ago and required complete sedation. That was fun.

Her brother has never had a cavity.

But my question is this: as I'm looking over my traumatized child half sleeping in the dentist chair still with all kinds of appliances sticking out of her mouth and oxygen hooked up to her nose, am I a bad mother because I'm thinking, "I should pluck her eyebrows while she's out."

Tuesday's Tip

I have fibroids. They are lumps and masses of various sizes that grow primarily in my abdomen and breasts. Not only are they the source of much aggravation and some pain, they are most likely the source of my years of infertility and the cause of my 2 miscarriages. I don't like them.

In investigating what to do about these nasty things, I found out that they probably caused an abundance of estrogen in my body. This was confirmed by my doctor. Another thing I discovered was that abundance may, at the very least, be exacerbated by some of the chemicals in the cosmetics products that I have been using over the years. Those chemicals are parabens.

Parabens are chemicals used by the cosmetics industry as preservatives. They are found in make-up, shampoo, moisturizers, sunscreen, and other personal care products. The most common ones are the evil sisters ethyl-, methyl-, propyl-, and butyl-paraben, but there are others. They are xenoestrogens which means they mimic estrogen. This post could get really long as I try to explain xenoestrogens and the havoc they can wreak on your body. I'll refer you here if you are interested in learning more. If not, let's just try to avoid them, shall we?

What I find most amusing is that no one in the major cosmetics industry will admit that these things could be dangerous (they have been found in breast cancer cells), AND YET if these same companies have lines of products where a portion of the proceeds go for breast cancer research, they don't have parabens in them. Hmmm.

Read your labels. Of course, the fewer ingredients the better. 100% natural or organic products will not have parabens in them. Some of the labels now will say that they have no parabens. I use the house brand at Whole Foods for lotion and conditioner and the label clearly says “no parabens.” I also don't wear a lot of make-up, but what I do wear I either get at Whole Foods or here. I noticed in an ad last week that Physician's Formula has a new line of products called Organic Wear that boasts itself paraben-free. I haven't checked it out yet. There are other sources as well.

There is also the option of making your own beauty potions. (Or having your lovely sister do it for you! ) Check out some recipes here and here. There are lots of other books, too. It's fun. Get together a bunch of girlfriends and make a batch of yummy oils. There will be enough estrogen in the room that you'll never miss the parabens.

Another Bible Giveaway

Maria is having another one of her Bible giveaways. It's a beautiful, leather-bound NIV. Go visit her and enter before Tuesday night.


Now go. Get on over there. Jubilee on Earth.