September wrap-up {almost}

 

:::WEEK THREE:::

 

• A barn/shed just adds so much to a misty sunrise photo!

 

• I visited Maggie at her house to cook up a storm for supper, but we kept it calm and just made biscuits.  And then we had to convince Connor to taste and like them.  Silly boy.  {they were perfect!}
• I finished the August blog posts… yep, mid-September.

• I have new resolve to purge the basement of a few dinosaurs.  ahem.  Which are still there, and not listed for sale on line. Yet.

 

• Don’t cry over spilt…

  

 

• Fridays seem to work well as Kitchen {Baking} Day… hence the granola, garden tomatoes to can, pizzas for Denise, bread for us & for my brother.  And brownies of course {hence the cocoa on my floor}

 

• Science experiment day while we’re at it!  Testing the freezing point of various liquids.  Amorphous solids.  Weird, but fun.

 

:::WEEK FOUR:::

• Sept 21, Sunday evening:  Good New in the Park.  Complete with someone’s marvelous model of Noah’s Ark.  Sunshine, ice cream and hot dogs.  And a bzillion mosquitos.  Give or take. 
• My mom had promised Daniel a care package with his favorite oatmeal-raisin cookies… she also asked me for some other ideas for him as well as the girls.  We combined a few things together and mailed them off to some really happy college kiddos.
• I stitched up several baby blankets – I think I actually finished my ‘stash’ of flannel!  Just need some more girl babies to give most of them to…
• More tomatoes from the garden?!

• We are having a good year so far with history {my main ‘teaching’ class with the kids}  A variety of books to read aloud.  They WROTE something for their first ThinkWrite – yes!  I found a pile of 1812-ish books at the library for them to peruse {be distracted from other duties}.  And a pretty good YouTube video with Tchaikovsky’s Overture 1812.  Which I am failing to embed, but hopefully the link works!

 

• You know the saying about the best laid plans of mice and men?  Well, my recent Thursday was a particularly brainless day.  Why? I do not know.  But several miles down the highway, I remembered that I needed identification paperwork for the Cattleman to get his permit.  Ugh.  {We did remember the driver’s ed paperwork for the Cowgirl, but I was hoping for ONE stop at the DOT…}  So, while we skipped the DOT, the Cowgirl did demonstrate her capable driving skills while we went the loooong way to Target.  At least we found a pair of shoes for the Cattleman there.  And they went on to piano lessons in a timely fashion.  While I finished shopping.  And forgot to remind the carry-out guy that I’d paid for softener salt.  {sigh}  Putting it on next week’s list now.  And the receipt back in my purse.
• Tim - and crew - started combining both soybeans and corn on Friday.  His 15th harvest of this Iowa residency. 
• the Cowgirl finished a sewing project for next month’s wedding {centerpiece décor for the reception}.  And she helped the Popper package her egg rolls for our supper Saturday night.

 

 

 

… and September of 2014 is almost gone!

~ Constitution Day ~

 

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

 

It took another two years to introduce the first ten amendments which became known as our Bill of Rights… essential to ratification of the US Constitution.

 

You can read more  of the history here.

Bastiat and legal plunder

 

{sigh}

This morning I was reading to the kids from Carson about how the Constitution came to be regarded and respected as Higher Law in our country due to a contest between Chief Justice Marshall and the Jeffersonians in the early 1800s.  Interesting.  It was also was understood that each branch of government was to determine its own actions based on its own interpretation of the Constitution.  {{the judiciary branch wasn’t the only judge of what the Constitution says!}}  So Congress often debated the constitutionality of its proposed legislation.  And “until after 1865 many more bills were invalidated by Presidents on the ground of their unconstitutionality than were invalidated by the Supreme Court.” 

Think on that for a minute or ten.  {Then be sure to go back and note the year of 1865.  I could go off on the Lincoln presidency…}

Meanwhile in the year {AD} 2014…

A facebook friend posted yesterday about it being an election day.  I surmised it must be school board election time.  Which we do not get to participate in since we lived outside city limits.  Yet our kids would be considered part of the local school district if we enrolled them in the public schools?  And 53% of our property taxes are sent to the same local district.  {anyone else see a problem with that?}

ANYway, today her status became a short discussion of additional taxes levied to pay for new school buildings…  ad nauseum. One commenter [Jenn] pays for the private education of her children, and she is of the opinion the public schools appear to have an abundance of funds.  Someone else [Barb] was arguing that Jenn also benefitted from the public school systems in her own education {which Jenn refuted with the fact her parents paid}.   But then they both agreed that vouchers were a great option so that Jenn’s taxes could help pay for her own kids’ private education.  End of discussion?

I hesitated.  Thought about posting something like this:

:x

As in, I’m biting my tongue instead of spewing hot lava. 

But then I went looking for Mr. Bastiat’s little gem called The Law.  Since I couldn’t find our printed copy I resorted to an online search:: success!  espec since it’s so much easier to copy/paste.  {and yes, I’m lazy – but I did read much of the writing while searching for his discussion on legal plunder.  So I’m not a total dufus in spite of my own public schools education.  ahem.  God is the Great Redeemer!}

On facebook I only posted the first paragraph I’ve quoted here, but it’s all so good.  So in the midst of my trying to recount the long month of August in our own small world, here’s a little insight to the reality of socialism in America.

Why do we have so many ‘victims’ in our country?  Why is their so much real violence?  Why do we have such an anti-American living in the White House?

Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?

I am so incredibly thankful that my ultimate citizenship is in heaven by the grace and mercy of God.  Meanwhile we are to be good stewards in the place God has put us.  I believe that includes being a voice for truth and justice.  Now we just need Tim to offer his own blog of wisdom to share with y’all.  For now I guess you could listen to Jan M on WHO Radio along with reading some Bastiat.

While I suggest you click and read the entire book, you could begin with this tidbit from Frederick Bastiat:

 

How to Identify Legal Plunder

But how is this legal plunder to be identified? Quite simply. See if the law takes from some persons what belongs to them, and gives it to other persons to whom it does not belong. See if the law benefits one citizen at the expense of another by doing what the citizen himself cannot do without committing a crime.

Then abolish this law without delay, for it is not only an evil itself, but also it is a fertile source for further evils because it invites reprisals. If such a law — which may be an isolated case — is not abolished immediately, it will spread, multiply, and develop into a system.

The person who profits from this law will complain bitterly, defending his acquired rights. He will claim that the state is obligated to protect and encourage his particular industry; that this procedure enriches the state because the protected industry is thus able to spend more and to pay higher wages to the poor workingmen.

Do not listen to this sophistry by vested interests. The acceptance of these arguments will build legal plunder into a whole system. In fact, this has already occurred. The present-day delusion is an attempt to enrich everyone at the expense of everyone else; to make plunder universal under the pretense of organizing it.

Legal Plunder Has Many Names

Now, legal plunder can be committed in an infinite number of ways. Thus we have an infinite number of plans for organizing it: tariffs, protection, benefits, subsidies, encouragements, progressive taxation, public schools, guaranteed jobs, guaranteed profits, minimum wages, a right to relief, a right to the tools of labor, free credit, and so on, and so on. All these plans as a whole — with their common aim of legal plunder — constitute socialism.

Now, since under this definition socialism is a body of doctrine, what attack can be made against it other than a war of doctrine? If you find this socialistic doctrine to be false, absurd, and evil, then refute it. And the more false, the more absurd, and the more evil it is, the easier it will be to refute. Above all, if you wish to be strong, begin by rooting out every particle of socialism that may have crept into your legislation. This will be no light task.

what's up with "common core"?

Watch this video to hear David Barton explain...

freedom honor flight

 

I’ll admit to being ignorant of the current news on most days.  Thankfully Tim listens to the radio while he runs the combine – and usually shares the highlights with me.  Last night he had quite the story to share.  I hadn’t heard the government had actually ‘shut down’ due to the continued battle over defunding Obamacare. 

And while that is news, it was the potential effect on veterans traveling yesterday from Mississippi and Iowa to DC with Freedom Honor Flights that really got my attention….

 

***Due credit to the Des Moines Register and reporters Jennifer Jacobs and Christopher Doering for the excerpts and photos posted here***

 

The 150 Iowa veterans who arrived in Washington, D.C., on day one of the federal shutdown weren’t sure whether they would be able to view the iconic sights they’d made the journey to see.

 

Iowa’s U.S. Rep. Steve King played a central role in helping the veterans breach the gates at the World War II Memorial, defying instructions from the National Park Police that the site was closed. The scene was “both emotional and comical at once” as 80- and 90-year-old veterans shuffled slowly past the guards, toppling metal fences, wrote a Stars & Stripes reporter at the scene.

“There’s a time when you just know it’s the right thing,” said King, a Republican from western Iowa. “I didn’t know what we were going to do when I went down there this morning. I just knew that to be there on the spot, I trusted that I’d know the right thing when the time came.”

The Washington Post reported: “Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) said he believed the Park Service opened the gates. Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.) said the congressmen did it. Rep. Steven M. Palazzo (R-Miss.) said the barricades just seemed to part.”

But the U.S. park police on site were complicit. One officer who declined to give his name told the Post: “I’m not going to enforce the ‘no stopping or standing’ sign for a group of 90 World War II veterans I’m a veteran myself.”

 

I say, Bully for Congressman King and his fellow legislators!

remembering 9-11

 

 

Psalm 33:12, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.”

The best way to remember those who are lost is to do what you can to bring God back into our country.

I challenge you today to take some time to remember. Remember what made America great was that she was founded upon Christian principles. Those Christian principles will only become part of America again if individuals make those principles an every day part of their lives. It is up to us as individuals. If you are going to truly remember those who lost their lives twelve years ago, then you must make God the LORD of your life again!

~ Allen Domelle

an Independence Day Message

…from Hobby Lobby

syttende mai

 

May 17, 1814, Norway adopted its own constitution and became independent from Sweden.

Our local celebration is called Scandinavian Days {held in early June}, but that’s just because we Iowegians are so tolerant  ;-)

I don’t know any of these pretty girls, but aren’t their bunads nice?

 

My mom made little costumes for my sister and me {long, long ago} that look more like this:

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

No parades here today.  Tim is busy planting soybeans {they finished with corn yesterday – yay!}  Kate & Abby are still recovering from Wednesday’s surgeries.  The younger kids took a swim in the creek this morning ~ so I had the joy of removing a leech from the Cattleman foot.  :p  I’ve lost count of the ticks we’ve flushed this spring.  Life on the farm, eh?

columbus day

{photo and map source}

520 years ago. 
October 12, 1492, is recorded as the day that Christopher Columbus {and the many sailors and adventurers with him} landed upon an island in the Bahamas, thus discovering America.

 

{photo credit}

You can read for yourself in most modern accounts of the controversies or atrocities attached to this man - and to most of the other explorers of his era.  I won't debate or defend it, although I imagine those who would also contest my worldview might exaggerate the claims to further their own agenda.  While I do not espouse the concept of a "noble savage," neither do I believe that God would condone sin, no matter how admirable the motives.  {The ends does not justify the means.}  God did allow Columbus' discovery to lead into widespread exploration of the New World.  However, it is interesting that our beloved land of the USA was not colonized by Spain {except for Florida}.  Or by the Vikings led by Leif Ericson so many centuries earlier.  Columbus himself never visited the mainland of North America.  Spain's influence and control focused on South America ~ which is noteworthy when you compare modern-day life on these two continents, hmm?  Instead it was the Cabots who explored the eastern coast of North America in the years following 1496 and claimed it for the King of England.


Consider the time of the Reformation amidst these years of Exploration ...and the new printing presses producing copies of God's Word in English.  What a difference it would make in the years to come!

Thanksgiving Family Forum

We might have stayed at home to watch if we knew the Family Forum was available online at Citizen Link.  However, we did go.  And it was good.  We are watching it again here with our kids.  And you're invited to watch as well.  As Mr. Luntz promised, it was nothing like the debates we've watched previously.  No timers.  No camera/microphone hogs.  Just dinner table conversation with lots of articulate people ~ who each professed to need God's help to lead this nation.

http://www.citizenlink.com/2011/11/19/thanksgiving-family-forum-complete-video/

 

We still aren't sure who our favorite GOP candidate is.  I wish they {the six involved in yesterday's forum} would learn from each other, and we could have some sort of composite candidate with each of their strengths.  Not likely, but I do pray that we will have a GOP candidate I can vote for with good conscience, unlike last time.

Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  

As Mr. Gingrich pointed out, in the 18th century, the pursuit of happiness was about wisdom and virtue, not hedonism and acquisition.

...So help me God.

9/11/2001

Was it only yesterday?  or a lifetime ago?

September 11, 2001.  I was focused on getting some schoolwork done with our older children.  We were also preparing for a small birthday party with family and friends for Kate, who would be 8 years old the next day.  It was Tuesday - thus we had the party a day early.  (We couldn't have a birthday party on a Wednesday night while we were at church.)  Kate was so excited.  Eight was her favorite number ~ and her 8th birthday meant marvelous things in her world.

Sometime that morning my friend Marianne called from Wisconsin.  "Turn on your TV."  I did, but soon I shut it off again.  I didn't feel I could let my little children see the horrendous pictures and videos just then.  Without knowing what they would see ...or remember of it for the rest of their lives.

I did load them all into the van that afternoon.  Then we sat in line to buy gas.  I can't tell you what the price was by 4pm, but it had gone up drastically through the day.  I didn't know where it would stop.  And when you drive a laaaarrrgge van, the price of gas seems important.  And I think I needed to do something.  Not that it helped anyone.

It was a rather interesting birthday party.  We had the TV on some ~ the videos weren't live at that point.  It was still so unreal... but incredibly true.

Click here for credits to Luke Cremin's photo of Trade Center.

a family field trip

 

Thursday, August 11, 2011

First stop for the student driver:  Ma & Pa’s Kettle, Cameron, MO, for a bit of home-style cooking…

Dad took over the driver’s seat to get us to the Truman Presidential Library in Independence…

           

 

                   

 

Then it’s on to Springfield for a little miniature golf…

       

  

…where Dad repeatedly rescued a ball from the water…

  

At this hole, we discovered the secret was to purposely go INto the water:

                 

Did you find the ball in each picture?

 

We made it to the hotel by 8pm… in time to watch the GOP Presidential Candidate Debate.  The younger kids went swimming with Miss Artist …until the pizza arrived  : )

 

Friday, August 12, 2011

Friday morning we enjoyed breakfast with lots of friendly folks at the hotel, Tim shopped for groceries for our picnic lunch, and we headed on out to the Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield… where we turned around and went back up the road to a neighboring piece of ground… Where it must be legal to carry and fire a gun.  And sleep overnight in a tent.  Go figure.

 

        

We tried to position ourselves for a good view… The shaded hill was unfortunately off-limits to observers.

         

  

       

           

I have lots of pictures of the folks standing in front of us  ;-)

The Cattleman wished he’d brought along his binoculars.  Earplugs would have been useful too.  The Computer Geek toted his fold-up chair for me.  We also had an umbrella and sunscreen, which I didn’t get around to using.  {duh}  But it was great!  …and has me wishing we could do Shiloh, Vicksburg, and Gettysburg with their 150th anniversary celebrations…

The actual battle at Wilson’s Creek (‘Ten Oaks’ according to the Confederates) took place on August 10, 1861, from about 5am to 11am… slightly down the creek from where these reenactment photos were taken.

   

  

When the wagon appears on the field, the battle must be over… Time to pick up the wounded and haul them back to camp.

  

 

         

One of my goals in visiting southern Missourah was to meet my blogger friend Conny!  I’m feeling very “arrived” now in the blogger world ~ ha ha!  Our families had a good but quick visit getting acquainted after the battle.  Conny’s family had the exciting position next to a cannon ~ even louder!

Miriam thought it was a great show!  : )

After meeting Conny & family, visiting with a volunteer soldier from South Dakota (who still had gunpowder on and in his mouth from biting the bullet!), and making a few purchases… we said good-bye to our new real-life friends and moved on to the actual battlefield for a picnic lunch. 

  

There were lots of these butterflies around the park!

 

  

  

The strudel bites were a great success ~ We did have sandwiches first  ;-)  Deli meats and cheeses on a croissant ~ Yum.  Isn’t my hubby a great provider?!

 

We took a tour through the Visitor Center and the Civil War Museum before taking the driving tour through the actual battlefield. 

This is the Ray House ~ While his family took shelter in the cellar, Postmaster John Ray watched the battle from his front porch.  The house served as a Confederate field hospital that day.  But they also served wounded Union soldiers ~ Brigadier General Lyon’s body was laid here before the Union’s Major Sturgis claimed it and had it carried into Springfield for it’s first burial.  (According to the park guide, he was buried twice in Springfield before being relocated to his home state of Connecticut.)

  

      

 

The five-mile automobile tour road (red line on map) enters at the top left corner and goes to the right around the ‘circle.’  The Ray House is at stop #2.  Bloody Hill is stop #7, where most of the fighting took place.  There are trails to hike at several of the stops ~ We opted to follow the trail at Bloody Hill to see General Lyon’s marker.

   

      

       

      

      

 

Photo credit:  Miss Music Box took most of the pictures while we walked the trail at Bloody Hill, so I added a watermark for her.  : )

While we all might have liked to have returned to the hotel for a swim and another good night’s sleep, it was time to begin our return journey home.

Miss Music Box had spied several roadside markets selling peaches on Thursday, so it was our goal to find one again on our way home.  We reached Gordon’s Orchard Farm Market just south of Osceola, MO, about 6:15pm.  It looked pretty quiet, but a car was still parked outside.  The hours on the door stated they closed at 6:00pm.  The owners came out the door as Tim met them to ask if Kate could please buy some peaches?  Sure.  Five minutes later we left with a half-peck of peaches and a watermelon ~ and an invitation to come back soon.

       

Yum.  Oh my.  I picked the prettiest of the peaches for the picture above.  They really weren’t huge or overly good-looking.  But they were certainly fresh-from-the-tree delicious!  The last of them went into the pie.  All gone.  :-\

 

 

Back to last Friday…  As we headed toward Kansas City, we decided it was supper time.  We needed something fairly quick… and decided the kids should experience a real drive-in restaurant like Sonic!  And we stopped at the Sonic in Peculiar, Missouri, no less.

Except we decided we needed to get out of the van and sit at their outside tables : )  Sorry, no pics of us enjoying our loaded burgers, hot dogs, fruit slushies, and more!

 

{insert all sorts of fun pics from the Sonic website… deleted since I had an upload error… and it didn’t even solve the problem}

 

Just in case you’re curious about how the City of Peculiar got it’s name, here you go:

In pre-Civil War times the pioneer settlers decided their drowsy, maple-shaded hamlet ought to have a name. After several sessions in the general store they narrowed the choice to three names, but couldn’t settle on any one.

All three names were sent to the post office for consideration. All three were in use elsewhere. They decided to appeal directly to the postmaster general, agreeing to let him make the final decision. ‘We don’t care what name you give us,’ they said, ‘so long as it is sort of peculiar.’