The Circle of Moms Top 100 Homeschooling Blogs

I am honored to have been a part of this illustrious group of homeschooling mom bloggers.

My blog ended up being #100 out of a total of 219 blogs that were nominated!!

I want to thank all of you.  You are the reason I was even there at all.

Thank you so much!!

Blessings, ~Aunt Mae (aka ~Mrs. R)

It’s Voting Time… I’ve Been Nominated!

My blog has been nominated for…

The Circle of Moms Top 25 Homeschooling Blogs!

If you have been blessed by this blog, would you consider voting for me?

You can vote EVERY DAY until June 27th, 2012!

If you are seeing this on Friday, June 15th, my blog my still be under the pending tab, but you can still vote while I am in there!!

Thank you so much!

Blessings, ~Aunt Mae (aka ~Mrs. R)

2012 WA GOP Caucus – Pierce County

UPDATED BELOW!!

Lest anyone in the “mainstream” media tries to tell you that there was a small turnout for the Washington state precinct caucuses this morning…

I personally took the above photo while standing in line with The Patriarch and Arrow.  My photo was taken about 10 – 15 minutes BEFORE 10 AM when it was all supposed to start.  At that moment in time there was a LONGER line behind us than in front of us!!  No, I did not photograph that.  Should have though!

There was so much going on inside, and so little time to get it all done in that I took no photos of the caucus proceedings.  Well that was really only part of the reason… there was standing room only and VERY LITTLE room to have taken any photos!

What a great problem to have today!!

The precinct caucus ‘planners/workers’ thought 500 would show up… and I believe there were OVER 1000 here at this one caucus this morning.

At my particular district’s table we had 22 registered voters show up!

I will say it here for the first time…

we supported Ron Paul.

May the Good Lord go before us!  God save our country.

Blessings, ~Mrs. R (aka Aunt Mae)

UPDATE: My area’s caucus in Pierce county was a ‘pooled’ caucus.  There were AT LEAST twice as many show up as expected.  EVERYONE got in to vote.  NO ONE was turned away.  We had to keep on track but we did get through ALL the voting for delegates AND the platform questions.  Our table was one of the largest and we finished up right at noon.  Clean up commenced right after wards with chairs stacked, tables folded, all put back into storage room and I even had Arrow go around and pick up any papers on the floor.  🙂  Clean up was completed and we were out the door in half an hour.  There were still a few stragglers, but they were mostly standing around and talking at that point.

One thing I noticed was at my table there were few Ron Paul supporters.  Many at other tables, but not mine.  One family did come from my district and all 4 of them volunteered as delegates… they were for Romney.  Ron Paul supporters did have a great table set up with literature.  Many at our table were wearing support buttons or stickers.

There were few, very few supporters for Newt Gringrich.  Kind of equally split between Mitt, Ron & Rick.  Just my general impression of my caucus today!

Greetings & Update

Hello All!  I am so sorry I have been so quite here lately.  Life has been in a bit of an uproar in our home and blogging was set aside for a short time.  The photo challenge is also off for now.  I just can’t keep up with all that right now.

The Patriarch injured himself at work.  Nothing serious, but it is taking longer to heal that I would like to see!  He has a bursa on his knee.  He is a field service technician fixing forklifts, which is a hard, physically demanding job.  On the 16th he spent an hour & a half kneeling while working on a lift truck.  The next day he had a large lump just below the knee cap, about the size of a large apricot.  The following day he mentioned that he had hurt his knee and was required to fill out L&I forms by his boss.  He didn’t think it needed medical attention, but did leave work early every day the rest of that week.  He rested it over the weekend but it hadn’t changed.

Then early the following week he had to kneel on it again.  That night he called me into the bathroom to see his foot.  I was shocked!  It was a deep maroon color along the entire inside of his foot and partly along the outside.  His foot and ankle were also swollen.  He came home early to rest his leg most of that week also.  Because it hadn’t gotten any better he said  he would have a doctor look at it.

Then on Tuesday, the 28th of February he went to the clinic for his work.  He waited an hour to be seen.  The doctor took one look at his swollen foot, ankle and calf and sent him to have an ultrasound to eliminate the possibility of any blood clots!  YIKES!!  All that was done at the regional medical center.  Because of the possibility of blood clots, he was ushered in to be scanned immediately upon arrival.

That sure had me a bit worried I’ll tell you! 

Thankfully he scanned all clear of any clots.  Phew!  If there had been a clot, he would have been immediately admitted into the hospital and would have been there for at least 3 days.

It seemed like late September’s medical emergencies all over again… was I prepared for all that again… this time with MY husband??

In case you are new to my blog, this past September my mom & step-Daddy came to visit.  He suffered a series of strokes and went home for treatment.  His cancer was causing thickened blood, which resulted in his strokes.  He died in early December from the cancer.  I miss him very much.

Anyway, The Patriarch was sent home to rest his leg for the remainder of the week.  It has been nice having him home, but that always throws my schedule w-a-y off!

And today, today is Arrow’s 13th birthday.  Where has all the time gone?!

We originally planned to go to the zoo.  But Arrow said he would prefer to go next week and stay at home with his Dad.  It gladdened my heart to hear him say that.  🙂

Arrow & I are also taking a break from formal piano lessons for a bit.  We will continue to work ahead in our books, but on our own.

I have been amazed at how much more I have gotten done at home, not leaving… even for that one appointment!  I am REALLY liking this!  I am also cutting back on my computer time.  Not for blogging, but for my yahoo groups, facebook, etc.   No, this is not a lenten thing it is a ‘get my priorities straight’ thing.

I have started a major de-cluttering… and started in the ‘office’.  Our school books were in piles and boxes in the office and scattered in various locations throughout the rest of the house.

And dust…?  Oh am I supposed to do that??!

I know have completed a thorough dusting of the three tall bookshelves in the office, organized most of the books on those shelves, went through and got rid of loads of paper & condensed some storage files.  I also dusted, arranged and organized the books on the two small bookshelves in the master bedroom.  I still have some organizing to do with the books so they are easier to use, but I now know where they all are!!

Labels.  I hate it when I have “reorganized” but can’t find anything.  So I have labeled drawers & plastic bins with my nifty label maker.  It is a P-touch and everything is neatly labeled.  Including my spices!

Arrow hung up some new bird feeders a few weeks ago.  We have three feeders hanging just outside of the living room window and one that is one Arrow’s bedroom window.  So far we have had nuthatches, Juncos, chickadees, and finches.

I had forgotten how much I enjoy bird watching!  Our visit to my mom’s reminded me and renewed Arrow’s interest in birds.  I sit on the couch in the living room and watch the birds at the feeders early in the morning.  We just picked up almost 25 books from the library on bird watching, bird house building, gardening to attract birds and bird identification books specific to back yards in the Seattle area.

After hanging out feeders, it was only 3 or 4 days before we had birds visiting them!  We have one feeder that is for thistle seeds which finches really like.  There is one suet feeder that the nuthatches and chickadees like.  The third feeder has a seed mix for a variety of birds.  Once that mix is gone I will no longer use it.  There is too much ‘junk seed’ in there.  We will switch to providing shelled sunflower or safflower seeds.

With all the time The Patriarch has been off work, we are looking at next to no paycheck for the next pay period.This is yet another reason I am SO GLAD we have been preparedness minded!  I have enough ‘supplies’ stocked up that all I really need to purchase for the next few weeks are perishables.  All those preparedness supplies will be my next organizing focus!

Then we come to tomorrow.  Tomorrow are the Washington state Republican caucuses.  There will be NO primary voting this year, it was eliminated due to budgetary cuts.  So we are supposed to go to a caucus… but I don’t like any of the candidates!  Sigh.

Sorry for the jumbled post!  It does sort of fit with my life right now though…

Blessings,  ~Mrs. R (aka Aunt Mae)

I Voted!

Blessings,

~Mrs. R

The Day Before Election Day 2010

Tomorrow is voting day.  Here in western Washington there has been plenty of corruption in the political arena.  Our corrupted-by-the-Seattle-liberals gubernatorial race a few years back even made national news.  You know, I really do tend towards a positive outlook on life.  But… I wonder if that same corruption will rear it’s ugly head once again to thwart the way the people have really voted.  I know many are pinning their hopes upon these races which will be decided tomorrow.

But people are not generally good.  Their hearts are evil all of the time.

Jeremiah: 17:9-10 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.  Who can understand it?  “I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct,  according to what his deeds deserve.”

I also know that God is sovereign in all things.  Even political outcomes.  And I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I can trust God completely.

Ps. 103:19 “the Lord has established His throne in the heavens; and His sovereignty rules over all.”

I Chron. 29:11,12 – “Thine, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the  victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth: Thine is the  dominion, O Lord, and Thou doest exalt Thyself as head over all. Both riches and honor  come from Thee, and Thou dost rule over all, and in Thy hand is power and might; and it  lies in Thy hand to make great, and to strengthen everyone.”

Psalm 40:4
Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods.
Psalm 111:7
The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy.

John 14:1
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.

Then there is the matter of how I live out my faith (orthopraxy) and that this should also express my doctrinal beliefs (orthodoxy).  How I dress, train my children, what books I read, what movies I watch, whom I vote for… these are all things I must bring under the authority of scripture.

1 Corinthians 10:31
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

 

Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

How am I to vote with integrity?  Where do I get my information?  Do I place all my trust in the media?  The notion of  “objective journalism”  is a complete myth.  Media is related to mediate which is to convey between.  But what is their motive for relaying that information in that way?  Have they presented all the information or is some held back?  Has the information been presented in a way to make it seem to say what it never intended to say?  Who are they trying to please?  It is my goal for this simple blog to glorify God.  Don’t get me wrong, I like being liked!  But if I try to please everyone, I wind up pleasing no one, particularly my Lord Jesus Christ.

In my small effort to help you make an informed decision tomorrow, I offer you these videos and quotes.

“The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure, when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them.”
Patrick Henry

“The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government — lest it come to dominate our lives and interests.”
Patrick Henry

“It is when people forget God that tyrants forge their chains.”
Patrick Henry

“The battle, Sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, Sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable; and let it come! I repeat, Sir, let it come!”
Patrick Henry

“It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here.”
Patrick Henry

“Bad men cannot make good citizens. A vitiated state of morals, a corrupted public conscience are incompatible with freedom.”
Patrick Henry

Let us make informed, wise choices at the polls!  Vote early.

Blessings,

~Mrs. R

Actions Have Consequences

Ah, another political post.  I must be on a roll!  haha

The mid-term elections are coming up here in 9 short days.  I have come to a deeper appreciation of the freedoms our founding father’s intended for us as well as the sacrifice they paid to bring these to fruition.

Our constitution was not scribbled out thoughtlessly but was debated long by intelligent men of character and integrity.  And our republic is not a form of government that can be maintained by an amoral people.  We have squandered what was so hard won by the great men who came before us.

Why are we electing ignorant, self aggrandizing, careless people to be our leaders?  Why are we electing communists as our leaders?  Are we so ignorant of the vast differences between communism and Americanism that we will so willingly squander our vote on any individual who is against that very document that allows us our freedoms?

Back in 1848 (the year Karl Marx published his Manifesto), Alexis de Tocqueville captured the essence of socialism in this short paragraph:

“Democracy extends the sphere of personal independence; socialism confines it. Democracy values each man at his highest; socialism makes of each man an agent, an instrument, a number. Democracy and socialism have but one thing in common—equality. But note well the difference. Democracy aims at equality in liberty. Socialism desires equality in constraint and in servitude.”

Who will you vote for on November 2nd?  Elections have consequences.

And then there is the necessity for diligence on our part…

The Fatal Sequence – H.W. Prentis President of the Armstrong Cork Company 1943

“Paradoxically enough, the release of initiative and enterprise made possible by popular self-government ultimately generates disintegrating forces from within. Again and again after freedom has brought opportunity and some degree of plenty, the competent become selfish, luxury-loving and complacent, the incompetent and the unfortunate grow envious and covetous, and all three groups turn aside from the hard road of freedom to worship the Golden Calf of economic security. The historical cycle seems to be:
From bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to selfishness; from selfishness to apathy; from apathy to dependency; and from dependency back to bondage once more.

At the stage between apathy and dependency, men always turn in fear to economic and political panaceas. New conditions, it is claimed, require new remedies. Under such circumstances, the competent citizen is certainly not a fool if he insists upon using the compass of history when forced to sail uncharted seas. Usually so-called new remedies are not new at all. Compulsory planned economy, for example, was tried by the Chinese some three milleniums ago, and by the Romans in the early centuries of the Christian era. It was applied in Germany, Italy and Russia long before the present war broke out. Yet it is being seriously advocated today as a solution of our economic problems in the United States. Its proponents confidently assert that government can successfully plan and control all major business activity in the nation, and still not interfere with our political freedom and our hard-won civil and religious liberties. The lessons of history all point in exactly the reverse direction.”
– Henning W. Prentis, Industrial Management in a Republic, p. 22

Blessings,

~Mrs. R