Homeschool

Q: How does a homeschooling family change a light bulb?
A: First, mom checks three books on electricity out of the library, then the kids make models of light bulbs, read a biography of Thomas Edison and do a skit based on his life.
Then, everyone studies the history of lighting methods, wrapping up with dipping their own candles.
Next, everyone takes a trip to the store where they compare types of light bulbs as well as prices and figure out how much change they'll get if they buy two bulbs for $1.99 and pay with a five dollar bill.
On the way home, a discussion develops over the history of money and also Abraham Lincoln, as his picture is on the five dollar bill.
Finally, after building a homemade ladder out of branches dragged from the woods, the light bulb is installed.
And there is light.

~Author Unknown

Spring

Spring is when Mother Nature is menopausal! 
She has a hot flash, & it's 80 degrees. 
Then she cools down to 50*. 
If she's really cold (mad) it snows!
When she gets moody, there are gray skies. 
And then she gets weepy, & it's raining outside.  
But when she's in a really good mood the weather is wonderful!  

Happiest People

The happiest people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the best of everything they have.

Happy 1-1-11

While others will be up at midnight, we'll be asleep. I just remembered what we did last year, & we'll probably do the same tonight....We had our countdown at 9pm. It'll be midnight somewhere around the world at that time. We'll just celebrate with them! God grant you a Happy New Year!


Happy 1-1-11!

Announcing the new Built-in Orderly Organized Knowledge device (BOOK)

The BOOK is a revolutionary breakthrough in technology. No wires, no electric circuits, no batteries, nothing to be connected or switched on. It's so easy even a child can operate it. Just lift its cover!

Compact and portable, it can be used anywhere - even sitting in an armchair by the fire - yet it is powerful enough to hold as much information as a CD-ROM disc. Here's how it works:

Each BOOK is constructed of sequentially-numbered sheets of paper (recyclable), each capable of holding thousands of bits of information. These pages are locked together with a custom-fit device called a binder which keeps the sheets in their correct sequence. Opaque Paper Technology (OPT) allows manufacturers to use both sides of the sheet, doubling the information density and cutting costs in half.

Experts are divided on the prospects for further increases in information density; for now BOOKs with more information simply use more pages. This makes them thicker and harder to carry, and has drawn some criticism from the mobile computing crowd.

Each sheet is scanned optically, registering information directly into your brain. A flick of the finger takes you to the next sheet. The BOOK may be taken up at any time and used by merely opening it.

The BOOK never crashes and never needs rebooting, although like other display devices it can be unusable if dropped overboard. The "browse" feature allows you to move instantly to any sheet, and move forward or backward as you wish. Many come with an "index" feature, which pinpoints the exact location of any selected information for instant retrieval.

An optional "BOOKmark" accessory allows you to open the BOOK in the exact place you left it in a previous session - even if the BOOK has been closed. BOOKmarks fit universal design standards; thus, a single BOOKmark can be used in BOOKs by various manufacturers. Conversely, numerous BOOKmarks can be used in a single BOOK if the user wants to store numerous views at once. The number is limited only by the number of pages in the BOOK.

You can also make personal notes next to BOOK text entries with an optional programming tool, the Portable Erasable Nib Cryptic Intercommunication Language Stylus (Pencils).

Portable, durable and affordable, the BOOK is being hailed as the entertainment wave of the future. The BOOK's appeal seems so certain that thousands of content creators have committed to the platform. Look for a flood of new titles soon.

No matter how hard or how scary life is remember that in the last book of the Bible the good guys win (:

(from Melinda Vance)

We are not Human Beings going through a Temporary Spiritual Experience, We are Spiritual Beings going through a Temporary Human Experience!

To Those of You Born 1930 - 1979

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!!

First, we survived being born to mothers
Who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing,
Tuna from a can and didn't get tested for diabetes.Then after that trauma,
we were put to sleep on our tummies
in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-base paints.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles,
Locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode
Our bikes, we had baseball caps not helmets on our heads.

As infants & children,
We would ride in cars with no car seats,
No booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes.
Riding in the back of a pick-up truck on a warm day
Was always a special treat.

We drank water
From the garden hose and not from a bottle.
We shared one soft drink with four friends,
From one bottle and no one actually died from this.
We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter and bacon.
We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar.
And, we weren't overweight.
WHY?

Because we were
Always outside playing...that's why!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day,
As long as we were back when the
Streetlights came on.
No one was able
To reach us all day….
And, we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps
And then ride them down the hill, only to find out
We forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes
a few times, we learned to solve the problem.
We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's and X-boxes.
There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable,
No video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's,
No cell phones,
No personal computers, no Internet and no chat rooms.
WE HAD FRIENDS
And we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth
And there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt,
And the worms did not live in us
Forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays,
Made up games with sticks and tennis balls and,
Although we were told it would happen,
We did not put out very many eyes..
We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and
Knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just
Walked in and talked to them.

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team.
Those who didn't had to learn to deal
With disappointment.
Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law
Was unheard of.
They actually sided with the law!
These generations have produced some of the best
Risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever.
The past 50 years
Have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility,
and we learned how to deal with it all.
If YOU are one of them?
CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others
who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the
lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives
for our own good.
While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know
how brave and lucky their parents were.
Kind of makes you want to run through the house
with scissors, doesn't it ?
The quote of the month is by Jay Leno:
"With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control,
mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms
tearing up the country from one end to another,
and with the threat of swine flu
and terrorist attacks.
Are we sure this is a good time
to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?'

For those that prefer to think that God is not watching over us... ..go ahead and delete this.

For the rest of us...pass this on.

A Small Prayer!

God determines who walks into your life....it's up to you to decide who you let walk away,
who you let stay, and who you refuse to let go..
I need this back. If you'll do this for me, I'll do it for you.
When there is nothing left but God, that is when you find out that God is all you need. Take 60 seconds and give this a shot! All you do is simply say the following small prayer for the person who sent you this.
Father,
God bless my friend in whatever it is that You know they may need this day!
And may their life be full of your peace, prosperity, and power
as he/she seeks to have a closer relationship with you.
Amen.

Hot! Hot! Hot!

Have you done something strenuous in the sun & gotten all hot & sweaty? You know, when the heat is almost unbearable, & the sweat is just running off you in rivulets? You want to strip the layers of clothes off, but you can’t, & you can’t go inside to get any relief yet. Can you just feel it??....

Now you know what a woman feels like when she is having a hot flash!

Now picture this happening to you in the middle of church, or in the winter!

Prayer

"Please pray for......"

Some people are "Prayer Warriors." Others just send up a quick prayer & go on with their life.

I recently read a book (Christian fiction) about a half dozen angels who had been sent to watch over a town after a town leader had prayed to God on his deathbed. It made prayer even more real, in that, you saw how these angels would personally take your prayer into the throne room of God & wait for a response, then return to carry out God's answer.

An angel is a messenger of God. He does God's bidding. He WANTS to help us if we will only ask. Ask...Speak out loud....Believe you will hear from God. God SPOKE this world into existence. Jesus did not just place his hands on people & think healing into them. He SPOKE.

The Bible says that Jesus could have called upon 10,000 angels at any time.

So, the next time you pray, think about that angel who is carrying your prayer up to the throne room of God. And know that God will answer....that your prayer is so important to him that he created messengers to go back & forth from Heaven to Earth.

Elvis Presley-75th b'day.

It made me think of my neighbors in Sevierville, TN, Rex & Elisabeth Mansfield. Rex was inducted into the army with Elvis, was in basic training with him, & traveled to Germany with him. Elisabeth was born in Bamberg, Germany. She lived in the US for a while after her mother married an American GI when Elisabeth was a teen, then returned to Germany when her step-dad was re-assigned there.  That's when she became Elvis' personal secretary.
Rex & Elisabeth wrote a very interesting book called Sergeant Presley, Our Untold Story of Elvis' Missing Years. In it they tell about their army years together.  And how Elvis meets Elisabeth, "with whom Elvis was romantically linked"...before Priscilla. When Rex began dating Elisabeth (after Elvis met Priscilla), Elvis was not happy.

There are also a lot of pictures of Elvis, Rex, & Elisabeth in the book.

I didn't ask them a bunch of question about Elvis. They seemed more interested in talking about their Christian faith. They are very active in their church in Sevierville!

Do you believe that God is omnipotent?

"The God who lives inside of you is as powerful & dynamic right now as He was before He came to live in you. He did not blow a fuse simply because He entered your life.

God has no factory rejects. God has no "seconds" store. God has no basement bargain centers. God has no irregulars on His assemble line. God don't make no junk!"

----from God Don't Make No Junk
----written by Reverend Billy Joe Grandstaff

July 28, 2009

Today is a sad day.

16-year-old Boots the cat has been declining rapidly for more than a week...not eating, drinking, or going to the litter boxes. The vet is coming this evening while Anthony is gone to see a movie......

Flash Flood 6.10.09

Flash Flood 6.10.09

It had been raining for about an hour. Anthony called for me to come look at the flood in the front yard. I said, in a 'mom voice', "Yes, son, I saw the water a while ago."
"No, Mom. Come look now!" This is what I saw.
Of course, I ran for my camera.