daybook 7

FOR TODAY

March 29, 2010

Outside my window...

it is slowly greening up 

the sun is shining brightly today (which is why I wish this computer wasn't next to a window facing west)

a line of traffic was moving slowly behind a tractor with implement... farmers are getting ready to go!

I am thinking...

about a recent phone call and decisions to be made

that I should be fixing Tim a sandwich for his quick supper

I am thankful for...

my mom and dad being here to celebrate with the Cattleman and the Popper for their birthdays and Miss Music Box and Miss Artist as they competed at Talents for Christ ~ what a busy weekend!

a new book to read from Jodi!

a new comforter set for the Cowgirl and the Popper  ~ for five bucks on clearance at Wallyworld ~ wow!

I am praying for...

Sophia W., Kate S., Jenn C., Wanda B., Veda H. ~young and old, all with health needs

From the learning rooms...

 We watched the movie Tora, Tora, Tora! on Friday night ~ so many WW2-related films we could watch, if we had the time...

From the kitchen...

We enjoyed so many good leftovers for lunch, we are going to be content with sandwiches for supper tonight ;-)

I am creating...

progress on several tax returns this afternoon ~ woot woot!

less full (can't say empty) dirty baskets in the laundry room ~ what a mountain after this busy weekend!

I am going...

nowhere today ~ ahh, the bliss of it!  So I'm not thinking about the rest of the week yet...

I am reading...

Prague Counterpoint by the Thoenes ~ can't say I'm thrilled with the 'adult content' but I'm into the story far enough that I want to finish it before I return it to the library.  I'm looking forward to getting started with Dancing with My Father by Sally Clarkson next ~ thanks to Jodi's give-away!

I am hoping...

to find (enforce?) a better balance of the many hats I wear (especially considering the time-consumers like blogging and reading fiction)

I am hearing...

the dryer, the Computer Geek next to me pecking at his laptop, (Mrs. Howe is currently on ~pause~ while Miss A takes a math quiz)

Around the house...

hmmm, do I have to look??  birthday gift wrap that should be folded up and put away, boxes from the same, lots of library books...

One of my favorite things...

chocolate ~ 'nuf said?   =)

A few plans for the rest of the week:

finishing all our tax returns??

bringing my thoughts back to celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ... And can it be?

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...

 (122 pictures to download from the camera today!)
You can see why the dentist loves this boy's mouth.

  Find more daybooks at Peggy's ...  The Simple Woman's Daybook

the mighty power of God

I sing the mighty power of God,

that made the mountains rise,
That spread the flowing seas abroad, 

and built the lofty skies.
I sing the wisdom that ordained

the sun to rule the day;
The moon shines full at God’s command,

and all the stars obey.

I sing the goodness of the Lord, 

that filled the earth with food,

He formed the creatures with His word, 

and then pronounced them good.
Lord, how Thy wonders are displayed, 

where’er I turn my eye,
If I survey the ground I tread, 

or gaze upon the sky.

There’s not a plant or flower below, 

but makes Thy glories known,
And clouds arise, and tempests blow, 

by order from Thy throne;
While all that borrows life from Thee 

is ever in Thy care;
And ev'rywhere that man can be, 

Thou, God art present there.

~Isaac Watts, altered

history lesson... (rant?)

Bonus! check out this photo I found online:

Well, the comments are flying this week on Facebook, so I dug this out of our collection to post there also.  We must have gotten it several years ago  (after Bush vs. Gore election in 2000?)  And again I say, health care is not a 'right' to be provided by the government!  But, ultimately, my citizenship is in heaven ~ Praise the Lord for that.  =)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

At about the time our original 13 states adopted their new constitution in 1787, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinborough had this to say about "The Fall of the Athenian Republic" some 2,000 years prior:

THE FALL OF THE ATHENIAN REPUBLIC...

"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse over loose fiscal policy, (which is) always followed by a dictatorship."

"The average history has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:

From bondage to spiritual faith;
From spiritual faith to great courage;
From courage to liberty;
From liberty to abundance,
From abundance to complacency! ;
From complacency to apathy,
From apathy to dependence,
From dependence back into bondage."

A typical cell from 'El Morro Castle Prison' where tens of thousands of political prisoners were confined during the 1960s and 1970s (from TotalitarianImages.blogspot)

.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

And more recent (~10 years ago) commentary which related to the above:
Professor Joseph Olson of Hamline University School of Law, St.Paul, Minnesota, points out some interesting facts concerning the most recent American Presidential election:

Population of counties won by:
Gore 127 million
Bush 143 million

Square miles of land won by:
Gore 580,000
Bush 2,427,000

States won by:
Gore 19
Bush 29

Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by:
Gore 13.2
Bush 2.1

Professor Olson adds, "In aggregate, the map of the territory Bush won was mostly the land owned by the tax-paying citizens of this great country. Gore's territory encompassed those citizens living in government-owned tenements and living off government welfare..." Olson believes the U.S. is now somewhere between the "apathy" and the "complacency" phase of Professor Tyler's definition of democracy; with some 40 percent of the nation's population already having reached the "governmental dependency" phase.  (emphasis added - Interesting, eh?)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I heard discussion on the radio last week (Jan Mickelson on WHO ~ Anyone can and should listen to his podcasts!) ~ the caller said that only 50% of Americans are paying taxes.  So what does that tell us about the other 50%??  "Bring on the handouts. Who cares about the debt?" possibly?

And a few more peeves:  the Census form states it must count everyone living in the United States.  Nope.  The Constitution requires the citizens to be counted.  See the difference?  
Members of the Hispanic population want to boycott the census because they want illegal aliens to be counted - Hello?  (If you are in the US legally, I welcome you - If not, get in line on the other side of the border.)
A nearby city is campaigning for its college students to claim residence for the census ~ Are you seeing the dollar $ign$ in that idea?  Oh, and the census workers (who, HA, help the unemployment rate - HA) insisted they were required to leave a form at our vacant under-construction house - because "it had a roof on it" - Yup, my DH came down from shingling to talk to them.  No windows, but it had a roof!  That's our tax dollars at work for us!
Oh, and I have to dig out the book The Law by Bastiat ~ Jan Mickelson was explaining the 'broken window' idea from that last week.  Now you're curious, aren't you?  ;-)  I'll see if I can explain... Let's say a man goes downtown and breaks a window in a bakery shop.  Oh no, what a bad thing.  Oh, but wait, just think of all the stimulus to the economy!  The baker will hire someone to clean up the mess, buy a new window, and hire someone to install it - Think of all that money going into the local economy - new jobs even!  HOWEVER, all that money won't go into expanding the baker's business or even maintaining the business or employees he already has.  He's no better off.  Make any sense?  So, we have programs like Cash for Clunkers.  What did that accomplish?  Someone who needs a decent used car can't find one to buy because so many were destroyed at taxpayer expense.  The car dealer's sales were good during the program - with those buyers who had money to afford a NEW car, but what about now?  The new car buyers already bought a car last year.  Those who can't afford a new car still can't afford one -- and can't find a decent used car...  Hmmm?  Same thing in the housing market, don't you think?


Okay, I'll quit my ranting and raving, but I'll end with a favorite quote from President Calvin Coolidge ~

"The Government can do more to remedy the economic ills of the people by a system of rigid economy in public expenditure than can be accomplished through any other action."

(As seen in volume 4 of Clarence Carson's series, A Basic History of the United States, p. 255)

Carson also points out that Coolidge was true to his beliefs and led an administration which practiced economy in government.  "For the last time in American history (to this date ~1985), significant reductions were made in the national debt.  As a result of deficit spending during the war, the government had a large debt of $24 billion going into the 1920s.  By 1930, the debt had been reduced to about ~16 billion.  This was accomplished by keeping spending well below government revenues.  At the same time, however, taxes (except for the tariff) were significantly reduced.  The surtax on personal income was reduced from a top rate of 40 percent to 20 percent by the Revenue Act of 1926.  Estate taxes were similarly reduced, and gift taxes were abolished.  Moreover, despite several rounds of tax reduction, revenues continued to provide a surplus."  (page 256-257, emphasis added)

What a concept!  =)  The economy was stimulated when businesses and individuals were able to spend their own money willingly instead of being taxed into the poor house.

daybook 6

The Simple Woman's Daybook will be posted each Tuesday here.

FOR TODAY

March 22, 2010

Outside my window...

the sun is shining  =)

Friday's snow is long gone - still some piles from the biggest drifts

I am thinking...

as little as possible  ;-)

My head is too full of cold or allergy crud (or both).

Only TEN days until April!  Wow.

I am thankful for...

 oh so many things and people... my favorite ring, which would be my wedding ring set - which was LOST by my brainless self on Friday, away from home in the snow - and which was FOUND by our new acquaintance on Saturday, in his yard after the snow had melted.  I was going to reward his family with some homegrown rib-eyes yesterday, but I FORGOT them -- can you see that I am still quite brainless?!  God is so GOOD to me!

I am praying...

for Mr. Boylan and family who lost his/their sweet wife/mom this past weekend.

for the Brown family as they battle (sometimes with medical staff) for their littlest one's kidney health.

for the Stoll family as they are weary in the journey with Kate's chronic lyme disease ~ I was so teary-eyed blessed by a recent story of Kate's sweet response to her mom's concern:  "Don't feel sorry for me; Jesus is with me!"  ♥

From the learning rooms...

We are still reading about WW2 - and still unimpressed by the ungodly choices on both sides - and even less pleased with current government's efforts to further abandon our Constitution and the laws of liberty.  :-(  

So GOOD to know the Lord is ultimate control and that our eternal destiny is sure.

From the kitchen...

Beef-barley-vegetable soup is on the menu tonight.  Hmm, probably time I got that started so it has plenty of time to simmer.   (The rest of the week's menu is in the kitchen ~ and I'm lazy 'cuz this is my break...)

I am creating...

order from chaos, hopefully -- need to get back to that as well!  Still piles laying around the floor that need a home in a file cabinet.  But (woot, woot), I reconciled four months of bank statements for our checking account -- now if only I could find this month's statement...

I am going...

to sneeze again soon.

I am reading...

I finished the Hoover book last week while spending two and a half hours in the eye clinic with Miss Music Box -- woot, woot (and a yuck, yuck?)  I have read most of Esther - How can you quit in the middle of a story like that?!  =)  Otherwise, I've been looking at lots of boring paperwork today - won't claim to have read much of it.

I am hoping...

to take myself in hand and get more of our /s/t/u/f/f/ under control in this house (as in, get it outtahere!) - before we have to pack it up and take it to a new house!  

to live by this rule:  Do not take off any rings to put lotion on when away from home, especially while traveling down the road!  (...because you will forget to put it back on, and you will lose it out the door...)

I am hearing...

 Miss Music Box practicing for Talents for Christ, which is THIS Saturday!  She is playing a beautiful arrangement by Shelly Hamilton along with Mozart's "Turkish March."  Miss Artist will be playing "Wings as Eagles."  They have to play from memory ~ please pray for my girls!

Savior, like a shepherd lead us, 
 much we need thy tender care; 
 in thy pleasant pastures feed us, 
 for our use thy folds prepare. 
 Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus! 
 Thou hast bought us, thine we are. 
 Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus! 
 Thou hast bought us, thine we are. 

Around the house...

the Computer Geek is at his laptop (after playing basketball outside), the younger girls are playing with their Schleich animals in the basement (hmm, they haven't been outside today?)  

Laundry is relatively caught up, but those paper piles have got to go from the living room floor!

One of my favorite things...

reconciling bank statements, and the balance matches!  =)

A few plans for the rest of the week:

Out-of-town library has holds ready for me to pick up before Friday ~ not cool ~ so need to deal with that somehow.  That's mostly a note to self, so when I reread this, I will remember  ;-)   

Next weekend is Birthday-Birthday for the Cattleman and the Popper ~ in addition to Talents for Christ.  Busy, yes?  ( I need to think, think, think.  Pray for this Bear of Little Brain!)

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...

We're so thankful for our children's abilities to make this beautiful instrument sing!  And the sweet fellowship we had when we purchased it from a couple serving in a small rural church way back in early 2001.  And the wonderful piano teachers who have encouraged our children to be blessing with music.

More daybooks at The Simple Woman's Daybook.  Copy Peggy's meme and link up ~ join in!

just to clarify

Monday I posted this in my daybook:

One of my favorite things...

birthing babies at home ♥  Welcome, Ezra James!

But Ezra James is not our baby!  :-)  He was born at someone else's home  ;-)

The Cattleman was our last home-birthed baby, and he will be ten years old next week.

(and the barely-hospital-birthed Popper will be eight years old)

what a week can do

In our yard there is a little drainage ditch from the field to a culvert (under the road) to the hill down to the river (follow that?)  Anyway, here's the culvert end of the ditch last Saturday (March 6).

 

And again yesterday (Sun, March 14) ~ note the SUNshine :-)  We didn't see much of that all week.

And here's the field a week ago. 

And again yesterday.

Tim added the stove pipe and got it going this weekend  :-)  The basement is much drier and warmer now (in-floor heat).  yAy! 

Here are the boys who stayed home to play basketball yesterday.

 

And my pansies which have been covered with snow since early December.  We're curious to see if they'll continue to grow this year ~ amazing.

daybook 5

 

FOR TODAY 

March 15, 2010

Outside my window...

it's foggy again, but there is very little snow left, just the huge snowbanks still in meltdown  :-)

I am thinking...

that Daylight Savings Time is not necessary.

I am thankful for...

 the freedom to let my little ones sleep until their inner clock is ready to wake.  (the Popper is almost 8 years old, but she'll always be my Little One, won't she?)

I am praying for...

Kate S., Jenn C., Sarah & Jim, Betty J., and our missionary friends in precarious situations (and thankful for God's provision for them!)

From the learning rooms...

we need to finish our reading on World War 2, and should come up with some sort of timeline for this major series of events... Our history notebooks are pathetically almost non-existent this year  :-(  The Cattleman so far is enjoying his change to schooling with A Beka DVDs, and the Popper has requested the same for her birthday present.  Yes, my kids are weird, and I love them!

From the kitchen...

Monday ~ chicken enchiladas

Tuesday ~ BBQ beef (on buns?)

Wednesday ~ taco soup

Thursday ~ egg rolls

Friday ~ homemade pizza

I am going...

to a necessary eye exam for our oldest daughter on Wednesday (and possibly transport the paper route boy, and hopefully to church); to take the TFC girls to piano on Friday (while I buy groceries)  {after last week's daily outings, I'm hoping to stay home mostly, so I'm saying No to other good things}
Sorry, that blurb is almost ugly with all the parentheses, etc.  :o

I am reading...

Carson on WW2 today; finished Ezra this morning (side note: EZRA James was born early Saturday morning, so I stitched up a Plan B-for-boy blanket yesterday, but forgot to take a photo to post here)

I am hoping...

that Tim is not coming down with my virus; that we will have a new water softener today

I am hearing...

some of the kids were reading Mother Goose rhymes aloud earlier; the washer has buzzed; now most of the kids are ready at the table for breakfast

Around the house...

the laundry room will be busy today; we will continue the battle with clutter

One of my favorite things...

birthing babies at home ♥  Welcome, Ezra James!

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...

The Cowgirl though the Cattleman was her very own special baby since the older children spent his birthday at Grandma's house ~ March 27, 2000.

Read more daybooks at The Simple Woman's Daybook.