Sham WOW!!!

I wont lie.

Our family is PECULIAR...in many ways.

One way is our LOVE of Sham-Wows.

Once we discovered that 1 single sham-wow could dry a HEADFUL of dreads..better than about 3 beachtowels...
WE WERE HOOKED!!!!


AWESOME!!!!

Just thought I would share in case there were any "dreads" out there wondering how to get their hair dry in less than 3 days...

THIS is the answer!

The New World Order..... Welcome???

Urgent call to action on Senate Bill 510 Food Safety Modernization Act - NaturalNews.tv

THIS is from NATURAL NEWS.com:

"There's a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious -- makes you so sick at heart -- that you can't take part. You can't even passively take part. And you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop! And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all!" - Mario Savio, December 2, 1964

Although Mario Savio's speech was about political activism and the Berkeley Free Speech Movement (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_...), it could have very well been about Senate Bill 510, the so-called Food Safety Modernization Act.

This bill, which is now coming to a vote the evening of Monday, November 29, 2010, is the most "odious" food tyranny bill to have ever been crafted in the history of our nation. S 510 is to food freedom what the Patriot Act is to the Bill of Rights.

If passed, it will criminalize entire ranks of organic gardeners and small farmers while giving rise to a new wave of tyrants -- the food safety Gestapo who will rule over the production of food and the saving of seeds in the same way the TSA now rules over your security at the airport.



The intentions behind S 510 are well-meaning, of course: Lawmakers want to do something about e.coli and salmonella contamination of fresh produce. No US Senator wants to face their constituents without being able to claim they "voted for safer food."

They all have good intentions. But of course that's exactly what the road to hell is paved with. The Patriot Act was passed with good intentions, too, in a desperate hour when fearful Americans were grasping at solutions -- anything that could calm their fears even if it meant giving up their freedoms in the process. And now we are paying the price for that: Obscene TSA pat-downs at the airport, naked body scanners taking photos of your children's bodies, anti-terrorism laws being used to prosecute animal rights activists, and other such transgressions that were unimaginable in 2001 when it was first passed.

What will the next decade bring us if S.510 becomes law?

If passed into law, S.510 will become the Patriot Act of the food industry, turning raw milk producers into felons and small organic farmers into "seed smugglers." It will all but ensure the demise of small, local farmers and thereby hand a government-protected monopoly to the large industrial farmers who use GMOs, chemical pesticides and cruel, inhumane practices throughout their factory animal farms.

It will destroy small dairy farmers and devastate family food producers. And while it's doing all this, it will also give the FDA -- the most dangerous federal agency in the history of our nation -- the power to regulate what you grow, what you harvest, what seeds you save and what paperwork you must file in order to comply with Big Brother's food schemes. It will give the FDA the right to conduct surprise inspections of your greenhouse, to seize your plants and to arrest you as a common criminal merely for milking a cow and offering that fresh milk for sale to a neighbor.

This is food tyranny, and this is what we must stop. S. 510 is the machine upon which we must now throw ourselves -- upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and we've got to make it stop.


Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/030561_Senate_Bill_510_Food_Safety.html#ixzz16ln2wjHF

Life lessons......at WALMART.

Change.

Growth.

Those things are HARD for adults to handle.

And lets be HONEST...sometimes we SUCK at it.

Learning to "go with the flow" is not necessarily an EASY thing to do.

It takes TIME.
and
PRACTICE.

And sometimes even when we are "adults" we still struggle with it.

And then you throw in little souls that we were "LOANED" to us by GOD, and it becomes a LIFE LONG JOURNEY.

A journey that we walk together because we are LEARNING together.

This time of year is what the kids call our "birthday season".

They call it that because ALL 4 of the kids birthdays are so close together.

Sheba: Sept. 8
then
Zeek: Oct. 12
then
Shashamane: Nov. 6
then
Malachi: Jan 2

Yes ...I know...
WE WERE BUSY.
LOL

Anyway...
during their bdays they inevitably get birthday money.

And they are always sooooo thankful for the money they get.

BUT....
as they get older things change.

The lessons that they learn change....because they GROW.

The lesson you teach the 5 year old is not the SAME lesson you teach the 10 year old.

or the 8 year old.

This year....
they have all gotten SOME money for their birthdays.

And they all handle it differently.

Zeek likes to HANG on to his....AND he likes to buy things for his brothers and sisters. He LOVES to have money in his wallet "just in case". AND... he is ALWAYS willing to GIVE. He has such a sweet, endearing heart. This lesson has been EASY to teach him....because GOD made him that way. He dosent STRUGGLE with it.

But.........
Then there is Shashamane.
Sweet girl has had a HARD time this year.
She got money but COULD NOT figure out WHAT she wanted to do with it.
She is a little reserved and INDECISIVE about the whole thing.
I took her shopping with her money and she just WANDERED the entire St. Augustine walmart while I walked behind her and said,
"What about nail polish? You love to paint your nails. No? ok."
"What about new CRAFT SUPPLIES? You LOVE to do crafts! No? ok."
" What about CLOTHES??? You LOVE clothes! No? ok."

She COULD NOT decide.
Then........
She started POUTING!
I mean like sad eyes, arms crossed, feet dragging, POUTING!!!!!!!!!

Uugggggghhhhhhhhhh....

If there is ONE THING I can't STAND...it is an UNGRATEFUL child!

I mean seriously....
I am the QUEEN of , "You say your STRAVING??? Come here...Let me show you STARVING!"(Then I get on the computer and pull up some totally scary picture of a REALLY STARVING child . I know...Im weird. crazy. harsh. I wont apologize.)

I think that it is SOOOO IMPORTANT for children to have a REAL WORLD VIEW of life.
They need to know that the life they lived is BLESSED. The life they live is something that is UNIMAGINABLE to MOST children in the world.

They live in a house...not a tent.
They have running water....not a well- 3 hours away.
They have electricity....ALL THE TIME.
They eat 3 meals a day...........not 3 times a week.
They have access to medicine when they are sick.....they dont do without because they are POOR.

They are SOOO EMENSELY BLESSED.
And they should remember it.
EVERYDAY.

I want then to remember that GOD granted them these gifts....they are not to be TAKEN FOR GRANTED.
They are not to be EXPECTED.

Because......
Today is today.
but-
tommorow.....things could change.

Tommorow....WE could be the ones truly STARVING or living in a TENT.

So right there in the middle of WALMART we stopped SHOPPING and had a little "reality check".

We stopped and talked about how It was not RIGHT to be upset because you cant figure out HOW to spend your money...
We talked about how we were going to GIVE THANKS for the fact that we have money to spend at WALMART...when so many are FIGHTING FOR THEIR LIVES!
We talked about how GOD wanted us to be GOOD STEWARDS of our money...so we didnt want to WASTE IT on something....just because we wanted to BUY SOMETHING!
We talked about how it was NOT ACCEPTABLE for her to frown and act that way .....EVER.

simply because......
we are TOO BLESSED.

It was such a TEACHABLE MOMENT and a LIFE LESSON.

We ended up walking out with BOTH some money in our hand, a panda doll, AND....
a lesson that I am sure is not OVER.

Because....
It is a lesson that is a life long journey.
A lesson that takes a while to be IMPRINTED on your heart.
For some of my children, it comes easier that others.
But ..I am determined that NO MATTER WHAT...
It is a lesson that they WILL LEARN.
It is a lesson that will SAVE them from so much heartache and disappointment.


We need to appreciate our BLESSINGS...
and OUR JOURNEYS for what they are...
Even when they come to us in the TOY isle at WALMART.

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Eph 2:8-10

Proof........

"And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you." Luke 11:9


Ask and you shall receive.......

I say that so easily.
I teach it to my kids.
I try and teach it to MYSELF.
And part of LIVING THAT is realizing that God does not always give you those results IMMEDIATELY.

There is no TIME LIMIT to HIM.
He has FOREVER.
So, most of the time I say it and try to explain that we dont know WHEN we will see the BLESSINGS.
We should just be patient and wait on HIM.

But THAT is easier said then done with 4 kids.
Their concept of time is a little "different" than ours.
And very RARELY do they see SWIFT results when they ask HIM for something.
But when it happens .....it is AMAZING.

Which is EXACTLY what happened the other day.
Malachi was hungry and came to me asking to cook him eggs.
Which normally is a no brainer in our house! (Thanks to our homestead hens)
But.........
This particular day we had actually eaten the LAST of the eggs.
So, when Malachi found out that there were no eggs left.....lets just say he was "less than pleased"!!!!!(code for:he freaked)
He does not handle disappointment well....something we are trying to TEACH him.

He REALLY wanted eggs.
He was BEGGING for eggs.

Then...............
about 30 min later............
Out of nowhere.............
Our dear friend Ricky and his wife showed up with a HUGE BLESSING.
A big, gigantic, IN OUR FACE, UNDENIABLE GIFT.
The gift of PROOF.
Proof that God grants blessings.....
and sometimes he grants them IMMEDIATELY.

They showed up with a care package for us that included:
about 50 eggs
AND
lots of homemade brownies
lots of homemade peanut brittle
homemade strawberry jam

WOW.
It was such a great blessing and TEACHABLE moment.
A perfect show of Gods LOVE.
Proof that ...
If you ASK HIM, you will receive...
Sometimes SOONER than later.
God is AWESOME.

Help.....someone.

Psalm 82:3 "Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.4 Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked."

....................................................................................

Poverty.

It UGLY and we ignore it.

We choose to.

Because we can.

We live in a place that works hard to "GET RID OF" the problem.

We live in a place that works hard to keep the homeless man off the street....so we don't have to be REMINDED.

Some don't want THAT reality staring them in the face while they are trying to get a latte' at starbucks.

Maybe it is the fear. Poeple fear what they don't understand.

All the while most of us are 1 or 2 paychecks away from the life of THAT man.

Sooo....
Most Americans cannot wrap their minds around true poverty.
The kind that is HEAVY with despair and pain.
The kind that SUFFOCATES people.
The kind that keeps SHACKLES around feet that are already covered in MUD.
The kind that FORCES a Mother to GIVE UP her child to and orphanage...so the child will LIVE.
The kind that FORCES a woman to sell her body so that she can EAT mud biscuits.

Most cannot UNDERSTAND because they have never looked into the EYES of a poverty-stricken child....outside of a infomercial.

People are SMUG. They are PRIDEFUL.
Because they want to think that something LIKE THAT could NEVER happen to us in the good ole' USA.

It can and will...someday.

In the meantime .....we need to EXPOSE ourselves to the TRUTH.
Its UGLY....but it's THERE.
It can't be ignored.

God wants us to help those that are in need.

We are called to help those who need help.

We need to be cleansed.

We need to let HIM wash away all the misconceptions and lies thet permeate our thoughts about POVERTY.

We need to let go of GREED and loosen our hands of our TIME and MONEY.

No more sitting back and saying...
next month I'll send that donation.

No more sitting back and saying...
next time Ill give that man a dollar.

Because tommorow is never promised.

You never know when you will find YOURSELF in invisible shackles that hold you down.

So I am calling you today to open your hearts.
Help SOMEONE.
DO SOMETHING.
TODAY.
NOW.

Spread the LOVE.......

Water....... a gift.

Save the CEREAL......boxes, that is!

Cereal Boxes.

Soooo Simple.
What a blessing when you can turn something so useless in to something that can SAVE the life of a family.

Something we take for granted.

Boxes.

Until NOW........
we burned them in the fire pit.
DAILY.

Never even thinking about HOW ELSE it could be used.

But.........
Once again my eyes have been opened a little wider by my sweet friend Heather over at SitaSpell

Click HERE to check it out.

She is an AMAZING foot soldier in Haiti.
On the front lines....being a direct link between the Haitian people and us.

Like I said....cereal boxes.

Almost tooo simple to be true.

1. Save boxes
2. Send them to Haiti
3. They get made into beautiful jewelry that is sold to SAVE a MOTHER.



What an AMAZING way to help the orphans in Haiti!!!

I mean really helping children AND recycling.

AWESOME!

Crystal Ball-ish............

Teenagers scary me....
especially the GIRLS I see.
I see them at the dance studio.
I see them at the park.
I see them at the library.
AND...
for the most part they are BRATS.
Disrespectful to each other and MEAN.

The other day at the library there were two PRE-TEEN girls in the childrens library on the computers.
They had the head phones on and were talking to each other at the same time.
And then...
all the sudden they were cussing.
LOUDLY.
I look at them and motioned for them to TAKE OFF the headphones.
They did.
"I hope you remember WHERE you are. In the KIDS library. STOP!."
They were SLIGHTLY embarassed but quickly MOVED on and returned to their previous conversations.
And started CUSSING again.
Seriously?
Again, I said...."Take off the headphones! Did you not understand WHAT I said???? STOP CUSSING. I will have you THROWN out of here real quick if you do not respect what I say.!!!"
Then these little bratty girls LAUGHED and said, "Let's go meet Matt!"
This really opened my eyes.....
and made me realize that I am sooo thankful for the opportunity to spend the TIME with my daughters EVERYDAY.
TIME to correct their SMART MOUTHS and TEACH them a better way.
I have seen into SOME MOTHER'S future.
SCARY.

Still learning…..daily.

“I do not have to walk to a well, I do  not have to walk to a well, I do not have to walk to a well…..”

THAT is my mantra today.

THAT is what I am concentrating on.

THAT is what I am giving thanks for.

Because I know there are many places in the world today where there is a mother who LOVES her babies and her family JUST AS MUCH as I do…..

and TODAY :

she DOES have to walk to a well for water we would NEVER consider giving to our families.

she DOES have to worry about keeping her babies out of the disgusting MUD …in her home.

she DOES have to worry about infectious diseases killing her babies…tonight.

she DOES have to WONDER when and WHAT she will feed her sweet kids whose tummies GRUMBLE just like my kids tummies grumble.

Sooo…for this I am BLESSED.

For this I am thankful…..

BUT …this morning…..

UUUGGGHHHHHH….

for a HOT MINUTE I was ungrateful and FORGOT.

I was mad….PISSED.

At LIFE.

I was mad because my van broke….we fixed it but- it is just a matter of time. :(

I was mad because our hot water heater went out….3 days ago.

I was mad because the carpet and floor in the kids room was SOAKED …from the hot water heater.

I was mad because we sooooo badly want to buy this land and home…and there is sooo much red tape.

I was mad because it is THURSDAY…which means tomorrow is FRIDAY(I work all weekend) …and I'm already TIRED….from working all week.

I was mad because I just want a VACATION.

And then it hit me…..

after an UGLY 15 minutes in which my husband saw the  depth of my FLAWS….

I am still sooo broken…so YUCKY ….STILL.

I am in a position in life to ACTUALLY SEE HOW blessed I am.

I mean really…..

You have to be pretty blessed in order to recognize how BLESSED YOU ARE.

Things have to be pretty awesome in my life  for me to be able to worry about things like :

the water heater?????

the van?????????

the CARPET????

I mean I CAN actually worry about thing like THAT.

Things that are NOT life threatening.

All those things we can fix….

we can get a new van.

we can fix the water heater.

we can clean the carpet.

But in those WEAK , NASTY moments …..

I find the real me.

The me that still needs sooooo much work.

The me that is RAW and earthly.

The me that is still so COMFORTABLE.

It is in those moments that I am sooo AWARE…

of the lessons that still  need to be learned.

It is in those moments that I feel ALIVE….

because of the CHANCE to learn those lessons.

Thank you God….thank you.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the
world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the
world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of
life—comes not from the Father but from the world.”- 1 John 2:15-16

Overheard…….

Little girl on the football field: “My Dad is the BEST Dad EVA!!!!!!!!”

Sheba : “Nu-Uh!!!!!”

Girl: “Uh-hu!!!”

Sheba:”Nu-uh! Because …MY DAD is the best Dad Eva!!!!!!!!”

Awesome!!!!

Gobble ,Gobble!!!

THIS was lunch today…..They “gobbled” it up!!!!

Happy Native American November!!!!

T

Just like ME…part 2

We went to TGIFriday’s for “Dunch”.

Otherwise known as …the time between Lunch and Dinner.

We had a great time and made some SWEET MEMORIES with our SWEET friends.

THEN…on Sunday, we did and art project…

We painted giraffes.

They ended up REALLY CUTE!

 

Honours giraffe:

Shashamanes’ giraffe: 

Shebas giraffe: (no name needed though…she signed it herself. Sweet!)

Just like ME……

We have a tradition in our house.

If it is your birthday…..when you wake up-the living room is decorated in balloons and streamers in your favorite colors.

The kids LOVE it and it has become something that is EXPECTED.

They KNOW that when they wake up there will be THAT waiting for them.

Its fun and easy.

Sooooo…today when Shasha woke up on her 8th birthday ….

THIS is what she saw…

She WAS NOT surprised…but she LOVED it..

(Helium balloons are a NEW touch for us…FUN!)

 

Dear Shasha….

You were my first daughter.

I knew when I saw you that you were one SWEET GIRL.

I knew that you would challenge me and test me.

I knew that you were stubborn and strong willed.

I knew that we were in for a ride.

And I knew this because you are JUST LIKE ME.

You are strong, emotional, passionate,stubborn and caring.

And with time and cultivation you are learning to give and be compassionate.

I see you learning lessons and I am thankful.

Thankful that GOD is forgiving enough to give me a second chance…THRU YOU.

I love you more than words can say.

I love you more than you will ever know.

Love …Mommy

……………………………………………………………………………………………..

Go, Malachi, Go!!!!

Teaching reading is one of the most STRESSFUL, HARD, TME CONSUMING things I have EVER done.

THAT in itself should get a WHOLE YEAR or two ALL to itself.

It is HARD.

Not like face it then MOVE ON ..hard.

More like…stare you in the face EVERYDAY , HARD.

And it is one of those things that HAS TO BE DONE.

Its not like some of the other subjects that you can skip over as a homeschool Mom.

I mean really….

some days we  don’t get to science…Oh well.

some days we don’t get to history…oh well.

some days we don’t get to our flashcards…oh well.

But…..

You CAN’T skip the reading.

It is a CORE subject.

I mean who REALLY wants to be the homeschool mom who never taught her child(ren) to read.

That would for sure be the TALK of the TOWN.

I can hear it now, “Do you know that weird family with the dreads??? I hear that they homeschool and they never even taught the kids to READ!!! Figures……Weirdos.”  LOL

That is what goes on in MY HEAD anyway.

I’m sure that IS NOT what would happen…

BUT

I don’t really want to chance it.

AT ALL.

And the craziest part of it all is that all children are different.

REALLY different.

Zeek is not a reader.

He knows HOW….he just dosen’t like it.

He does it…because I MAKE HIM.

And teaching that child to read was THE HARDEST thing I have EVER done.

He is in 4th grade and JUST THIS YEAR …he “gets it”.

He reads and UNDERSTANDS what he read.

But he was 9 when he “got it”.

It was a LONG JOURNEY…..that we are still walking.

Then came Shasha….

I never even really remember teaching her…she just KNEW.

One day she was just reading…I mean- I taught her the SOUNDS….but she put them together and was READING.

Just like THAT.

At age 6….she LOVED read~and still does.

NOW…is  Malachis’ turn…

my WILD CHILD.

The child that WON’T sit still….EVER.

He is a hyper 6 year old boy…

REALLY HYPER.

I mean…EXTREMELY HYPER.

Seriously…..He is my child that challenges me the most.

He TESTS me.

He TEACHES me…by TESTING me.

So…I just KNEW that teaching him to read was going to test my patience.

I figured…because I can’t EVER get him to sit down…this would be NO DIFFERENT.

I figured I would have to CHASE HIM DOWN to get him to read.

I don’t.

He LOVES reading and it is one of the ONLY things that makes him sit still. 

He will actually CALMLY sit and READ a book.

I mean…sit on his bottom CALMLY and read.

CALMLY….without getting up.

SIT.

QUIETLY.

and

CALMLY.

And he LOVES it.

He QUIETLY loves it.

Awesome.

Sheba is next….

let’s just PRAY that the last child will be easy on me.

I figure that right about the time I figure this whole homeschooling thing out …they will graduate.

LOL.