Monday, April 30, 2012
Horses and Fractions
About a month ago, we went to visit Mike's uncle and his family in Houston. As soon as we got there, Kassidy and Grandpa Tarr started talking about horseback riding. He said, "I used to ride a quarter horse." Kassidy replied, "I ride full horses." HAHA! Really, it makes me laugh every time I think about it! She was so confused as to how he rode a quarter of a horse and my homeschooling mom pride came from the fact that she heard quarter of something and thought of a fraction!!
Book Review: George Washington Carver
If you had asked me a year ago who George Washington Carver was I would have had no idea. The introduction to this amazing man came from an episode of 19 Kids and Counting (although it might have been 18 at that time). They went to a museum/national historical site and learned about him. When I saw this book for review, I was excited to learn more about him.
George Washington Carver was an African American man who made so many great strides in botany and agriculture, as well as in several other areas. He was a gentle man who always gave credit to God for his talents and discoveries.
This book was an easy read, but packed with great information and history. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes history or to anyone, like myself, who homeschools. My daughter will definitely be reading this book when she gets older. He was a great man and would be a great role model for any young person.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Something I Will Miss
Since we are moving I have been trying to think about the pleasant things about this house. I am sooo very thankful that we got this house when we did. It has been a good 2 years. Our house is much too small for us, but there are awesome things about it, too. This clock is on the wall in our living room. It took me hours to put the stickers on just right. I really just love the color of the wall and this being the focal point. I am going to take the metal piece in the middle and reuse it in our new house. I might even have to paint this tourqouise (which btw was an oops color for $5 at home depot) in some room of our new house.
Also, did you know that Hobby Lobby has a million of the little sticker things for clocks? It's pretty cool!!
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
What We Found On The Farm
This is who we found at House #5. She was right by the barn and when we opened the doors this little puppy came flying by. Finally, she came to us and we brought her home. She was sooo hungry and sooo thirsty. We think the owners left her.
Mike thought we should call her Snowy. I actually thought this was a pretty corny name, hahaha. Kassidy was not with us when we looked at this house and we never told her about the dog, because the intention was and is to find her a good home.
We do not need another dog and chihuahuas are my least favorite dog on this planet. Really. I do not like them. They bark all the time, nip at people and walk under your feet, which makes me feel like I will crush her to pieces. Snowy... she is ok. She just makes our dog situation more chaotic and that makes me not really care for her, but she is super cute. She makes it hard not to like her, sometimes. Luckily, she has really taken to Mike and Kassidy, so I haven't really had to "bond" with her much. :)
When Kassidy came home the next morning, she said, "Why don't we call her Snowy?" Our mouths fell open. Can you believe that? She had no idea we found a dog or had been calling her Snowy. Crazy!?!?
So this is Day 3 with Snowy and I'll be happy thrilled when/if we find her a home. Maybe she will stay, maybe she won't. We will have to wait and see.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
I feel like a Real Estate Expert
Yes, we are looking for a house. Yes, I have found "my" home about 8 times.
1-3) couldn't go FHA or so our real estate agent said... he did say it could with a lot of work, but I don't think he wanted the hassle (boy, I bet he would take that hassle now, since that was about 60 houses ago)
4) We made an offer on this one, had an inspection done, etc and we had to back out. The owners were going through a nasty, nasty divorce and the wife wouldn't sign any papers. We were worried she would never show up to close and if she didn't the house would go to the bank. We couldn't risk it. And the owner randomly appeared at our house and left a note on our door. Luckily, we were not home, but he came when he knew that I would be the only one home, which I did not appreciate.
5) Mike didn't want it
6) The owners decided to take it off the market the day we called to make the offer.
7) This one went off the market the day before we were going to make an offer.
8) This one went off the market the day we were going to make an offer.
Seriously?!?! I know... I cannot believe the luck we've had!! We have literally looked at about 60 houses with our realtor and about 120 without him... not counting the new builds we were once considering. Oh My Goodness!! We hope this will end today or tomorrow when we go look and when we make an offer right then and there. We haven't been slow on making an offer, really we haven't. I would feel sorry for our agent, except for that he is pretty awful. Ok, I am actually feeling a little more sorry for him having to look again.
1-3) couldn't go FHA or so our real estate agent said... he did say it could with a lot of work, but I don't think he wanted the hassle (boy, I bet he would take that hassle now, since that was about 60 houses ago)
4) We made an offer on this one, had an inspection done, etc and we had to back out. The owners were going through a nasty, nasty divorce and the wife wouldn't sign any papers. We were worried she would never show up to close and if she didn't the house would go to the bank. We couldn't risk it. And the owner randomly appeared at our house and left a note on our door. Luckily, we were not home, but he came when he knew that I would be the only one home, which I did not appreciate.
5) Mike didn't want it
6) The owners decided to take it off the market the day we called to make the offer.
7) This one went off the market the day before we were going to make an offer.
8) This one went off the market the day we were going to make an offer.
Seriously?!?! I know... I cannot believe the luck we've had!! We have literally looked at about 60 houses with our realtor and about 120 without him... not counting the new builds we were once considering. Oh My Goodness!! We hope this will end today or tomorrow when we go look and when we make an offer right then and there. We haven't been slow on making an offer, really we haven't. I would feel sorry for our agent, except for that he is pretty awful. Ok, I am actually feeling a little more sorry for him having to look again.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Constant Belief Teaching & Santorum News
My husband's uncle and I are friends on Facebook. We don't really talk, but sometimes I comment on a post he made and vice versa. He, surprisingly, is a very, very strong supporter of Democrats and Obama. I am not. At all. I really, really wanted Santorum to not only win the Republican nomination, but to also sweep Obama off his feet!!
So today, my husband's uncle posted more super negative, ignorant posts about Republicans, Santorum and God. I read these from him all of the time and honestly think that he can have his opinions and obviously they are not mine, but whatever. Today, I just couldn't leave it alone. It felt wrong for me to sit and read these things (it was really the God comments that got to me) and not respond. So I did. And it turned into a little bit of a war between me and several other unbelievably crazy ignorant people that he is friends with. I didn't want it to and eventually dropped most of my points, but what shocked me was what one man said (by the way, not one person agreed with me, lol).
This man said that he was sure my parents forced their beliefs on me. He said that he would never force his beliefs on his children and was happy that Mike's uncle wasn't either.
My response (most of it): "My parents actually did not influence me very much religiously. My mom raised us catholic, but was married to an atheist and my bio-father is really not much of anything. But I do think that it is COMPLETE BS (side note: I cannot believe I said this! I never say this word and never even say BS) to say that you wont influence your children to believe anything!! You teach your child beliefs. All day, every day. Your beliefs and my beliefs are obviously different. Hopefully you have some of the same beliefs like 1+1=2, that you spell cat c-a-t, and that slapping people in the face for no reason is wrong. those are beliefs and I hope your children are learning them. My beliefs as a Christian are my beliefs. If my daughter wants to grow up and think you spell cat c-o-t, whatever. She is allowed to believe that, even it is wrong, just like you can believe what you want to believe even if it is wrong."
I just cannot believe that someone would think that they are not basically shoving their beliefs down their child's throat every single day, whether for good or bad. Whether you believe in God or not, whether you believe being gay is right or wrong, whether you are gay or straight, whether you believe Jesus is your savior or you believe in Budha, whether you think public schools are best or homeschooling is best for your family, whether you believe that war can be justified or you are a complete passifist. We all put our beliefs on our children and to say that we will not push our religious beliefs on our children is 1) wrong, because even in your lacking of influence you are influencing and 2) lazy- my husband and I don't always have the answers, but we try to find them or work around it. Not having all the answers forces me to learn more, just like with homeschooling. It would be so much easier to just "ignore" things and not try to educate our daughter, but that doesn't make it the right or best thing.
In a later comment, I also said, "in the end, hopefully, you are an open-minded and loving enough parent to be ok with their decisions to believe what they want, but, it is ridiculous to say that you dont raise your children with your beliefs."
I am not one to get into arguments or debates... I hate confrontation, but I also hate when people speak about things they don't really know. The preggo hormones might have had a little something to do with me finally speaking my peice also... I've kind of been in the need of a good debate/fight and better to not start one with my husband :)
What do you think?? Do you try to stay neutral in topics like religion with your kids or do you "force" your beliefs on your children?
So today, my husband's uncle posted more super negative, ignorant posts about Republicans, Santorum and God. I read these from him all of the time and honestly think that he can have his opinions and obviously they are not mine, but whatever. Today, I just couldn't leave it alone. It felt wrong for me to sit and read these things (it was really the God comments that got to me) and not respond. So I did. And it turned into a little bit of a war between me and several other unbelievably
This man said that he was sure my parents forced their beliefs on me. He said that he would never force his beliefs on his children and was happy that Mike's uncle wasn't either.
My response (most of it): "My parents actually did not influence me very much religiously. My mom raised us catholic, but was married to an atheist and my bio-father is really not much of anything. But I do think that it is COMPLETE BS (side note: I cannot believe I said this! I never say this word and never even say BS) to say that you wont influence your children to believe anything!! You teach your child beliefs. All day, every day. Your beliefs and my beliefs are obviously different. Hopefully you have some of the same beliefs like 1+1=2, that you spell cat c-a-t, and that slapping people in the face for no reason is wrong. those are beliefs and I hope your children are learning them. My beliefs as a Christian are my beliefs. If my daughter wants to grow up and think you spell cat c-o-t, whatever. She is allowed to believe that, even it is wrong, just like you can believe what you want to believe even if it is wrong."
I just cannot believe that someone would think that they are not basically shoving their beliefs down their child's throat every single day, whether for good or bad. Whether you believe in God or not, whether you believe being gay is right or wrong, whether you are gay or straight, whether you believe Jesus is your savior or you believe in Budha, whether you think public schools are best or homeschooling is best for your family, whether you believe that war can be justified or you are a complete passifist. We all put our beliefs on our children and to say that we will not push our religious beliefs on our children is 1) wrong, because even in your lacking of influence you are influencing and 2) lazy- my husband and I don't always have the answers, but we try to find them or work around it. Not having all the answers forces me to learn more, just like with homeschooling. It would be so much easier to just "ignore" things and not try to educate our daughter, but that doesn't make it the right or best thing.
In a later comment, I also said, "in the end, hopefully, you are an open-minded and loving enough parent to be ok with their decisions to believe what they want, but, it is ridiculous to say that you dont raise your children with your beliefs."
I am not one to get into arguments or debates... I hate confrontation, but I also hate when people speak about things they don't really know. The preggo hormones might have had a little something to do with me finally speaking my peice also... I've kind of been in the need of a good debate/fight and better to not start one with my husband :)
What do you think?? Do you try to stay neutral in topics like religion with your kids or do you "force" your beliefs on your children?
Monday, April 9, 2012
Why I Almost Hated Easter
Saturday night I watched The Passion. I'm a super emotional person in general and watch out with these pregnancy hormones I've been having lately!!! Sooo... I basically cried the whole entire movie and it really almost ruined Easter for me, forever.
I was completely disgusted and appalled that Jesus would be "allowed" to die for my sins in the way that He did. You know he wasn't just beheaded or hung or even just crucified. He was beaten, tortured and humiliated over and over and over. At church on Sunday, the pastor said that Jesus did not even resemble a man anymore. He was more like the carcasses or roadkill you see on the side of the road where you aren't really sure what you are looking at... all you know is it was some kind of animal. How gross and heartbreaking is that??!!
During the whole movie, I was almost mad at God. I mean He was the guy who set this whole "savior" thing up. He decided that in order for us to be saved and made clean He would have to sacrifice His only Son, His perfect Son, for us.
It was late when the movie was over and in bed I began to pray. It was a really low point for me, believe it or not. I felt and still feel completely undeserving of His sacrifice. I am sooo not worth it and neither are you. We are such sinners, even when we are being "good". So in my praying, I just asked God to explain to me the whole thing. Why would He make up such a ridiculous thing? Why would He ever think that is what should be done?
Of course, logically, I know the answers. I understand why, probably as good as I ever will, but I still was not feeling it. These were my answers. I think they came from the Holy Spirit, who just rested them in my heart. I instantly felt much more at peace. I don't really like when people continuously say that God tells them things. I guess that's not what I don't like. I don't like when people use the phrase "God spoke to me" (or something similar) right before they say whatever they want just to get their way. I try not to say that unless I truly feel like something came from the Holy Spirit and I believe this all did. The red is from me and the blue is what I feel like I was given, from my own mind or from the Holy Spirit... take it as you will :)
"Please just explain it to me. I don't understand why You, who has absolute control of everything chose something like that to happen." You know I can only be surrounded by/in the company of perfection. I want my people to be with me. You needed a savior. "Why did His death have to be so awful?" It needed to be remembered. It needed to be a big deal. It needed to be awful so you would see the great sacrifice it was. You needed to see how great His forgiveness is. "We are such sinners..." Just embrace it.
And that is what I got. I am so thankful that I did, because I was really upset. I am trying to embrace my grace more. On Sunday, the pastor also said something to the effect of "This is not about us. We are not worthy of His sacrifice, but dwelling on that makes it about us and not Him. He is the one who deserves the glory. It is about Him not us."
I was completely disgusted and appalled that Jesus would be "allowed" to die for my sins in the way that He did. You know he wasn't just beheaded or hung or even just crucified. He was beaten, tortured and humiliated over and over and over. At church on Sunday, the pastor said that Jesus did not even resemble a man anymore. He was more like the carcasses or roadkill you see on the side of the road where you aren't really sure what you are looking at... all you know is it was some kind of animal. How gross and heartbreaking is that??!!
During the whole movie, I was almost mad at God. I mean He was the guy who set this whole "savior" thing up. He decided that in order for us to be saved and made clean He would have to sacrifice His only Son, His perfect Son, for us.
It was late when the movie was over and in bed I began to pray. It was a really low point for me, believe it or not. I felt and still feel completely undeserving of His sacrifice. I am sooo not worth it and neither are you. We are such sinners, even when we are being "good". So in my praying, I just asked God to explain to me the whole thing. Why would He make up such a ridiculous thing? Why would He ever think that is what should be done?
Of course, logically, I know the answers. I understand why, probably as good as I ever will, but I still was not feeling it. These were my answers. I think they came from the Holy Spirit, who just rested them in my heart. I instantly felt much more at peace. I don't really like when people continuously say that God tells them things. I guess that's not what I don't like. I don't like when people use the phrase "God spoke to me" (or something similar) right before they say whatever they want just to get their way. I try not to say that unless I truly feel like something came from the Holy Spirit and I believe this all did. The red is from me and the blue is what I feel like I was given, from my own mind or from the Holy Spirit... take it as you will :)
"Please just explain it to me. I don't understand why You, who has absolute control of everything chose something like that to happen." You know I can only be surrounded by/in the company of perfection. I want my people to be with me. You needed a savior. "Why did His death have to be so awful?" It needed to be remembered. It needed to be a big deal. It needed to be awful so you would see the great sacrifice it was. You needed to see how great His forgiveness is. "We are such sinners..." Just embrace it.
And that is what I got. I am so thankful that I did, because I was really upset. I am trying to embrace my grace more. On Sunday, the pastor also said something to the effect of "This is not about us. We are not worthy of His sacrifice, but dwelling on that makes it about us and not Him. He is the one who deserves the glory. It is about Him not us."
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