Field Trips, Fun, Family, and Food!

This weekend was loaded with field trips, fun, family, and good food.

Friday was a busy day packed with Mass, our home school group's Children's Holy Hour, a trip to the park, picnic lunch, and a field trip to see the Mounted Police Unit. The children all did a wonderful job leading the rosary and praying before our Blessed Lord in the Eucharist. The Dominican priests at that parish are so wonderful for letting us have our holy hours there. The warm welcome to all of the homeschool families was so refreshing and encouraging. After the holy hour, we went to a park to eat lunch and then off to take a tour of the Mounted Police Unit. The kids had a great time and learned a lot about what the mounted police officers do and how they use the horses to accomplish things they couldn't easily do by themselves. The kids were most impressed with the gigantic ball that they use to teach the horses how to control large crowds.

On Saturday we watched my husband's nephew's football game and visited with my sister-in-law's family. We also attended my neices birthday party and met some other young Catholic families. It was so refreshing to hear, "Wow, your sixth baby, huh? That is so wonderful! Congratulations!" Instead of the usual negative comments from the "general public". And it was even more remarkable to hear that most all of these families either already home school their children or are planning to when they are school-age.

Today, we went to Mass and then had my father-in-law over for dinner and some time to play with the kids. They loved throwing the football around.

All in all, a very busy weekend, but well worth all the effort. The kids had so much fun with their friends and family and learned a lot from their field trip.

Our Little "Stinky" Visitor

We've recently been having a skunk as a visitor. I am sure it is because he finds the cat food to be to his liking. This skunk has gotten rather bold lately and is even coming during day-light hours. This picture was taken while I was sitting eating breakfast the other morning before waking the kids up. We have since remedied the problem by putting the cat's food dish on the railing of the deck. I haven't seen him back since and I hope this has taken care of our little stinky visitor for good.

School "Officially" Starts

Though we've been doing all sorts of educational field trips and reading up on lots of interesting topics over the summer, school officially started for us on August 10th. Our oldest is on a Jan. to Dec. school year schedule, so she is 3/4 th of the way through her 4th grade curriculum. The other kids, however are on an August to May schedule. Our son is starting 3rd grade Seton and our five-year-old daughter is starting 1st grade with a variety of things from Catholic Heritage Curriculum, Seton, and even some materials from the Dollar Store. Of course the other two little girls, 3 yrs. old and 21 months, are doing some educational activities, but these are mostly read-alouds and creative play. Our oldest daughter has also been doing some singing and games with them once she has finished her school work. This has really made her feel "all-grown-up" and very useful.

This year we joined a local Christian science club. The first class was on Zoology and the two oldest dissected an owl pellet. It went much better than I expected. They really enjoyed the project and learned a lot. The club meets once a month to do a project/experiment and then follows it up with an educational field trip or activities. At the following club meeting the kids will present a science project or report on that months topic. So since this month is on Zoology, the kids have chosen a favorite animal to research. Dear daughter picked elephants and dear son picked penguins. We went to the library to check out books and they are beginning their research tomorrow. One of the main goals for this science club is to gain experience researching, observing, public speaking, doing experiments, and learning how to use the scientific method. I will try to keep everyone updated on our progress.

Squire Boone Caverns Trip and "World on the Square"

Dear Hubby and the kids took a tour of the Squire Boone Caverns last Saturday. The kids earned a free tour of the caverns from the county library summer reading program. The older four took the tour while our toddler stayed with me and toured the pioneer village.
Wouldn't you know it, the day we decide to do these outside activities it gets in the 90's and yet it never hit 90 throughout all of July. While they stayed a constant 54 degrees under the ground, I couldn't help but sweat profusely in the heat of the midday sun. We were able to see the soap making shack, candle dipping cottage, rock mining shop, and the classroom. We didn't visit the grist mill, but we had just seen another gristmill at Spring Mill State Park the prior week while camping.


After our visit to the caverns, we went to a festival on the town square nearby to experience the "World on the Square". It was basically a collection of booths that displayed items from different countries. The kids were given a "passport" with questions in it. You went from booth to booth asking questions of the people from that country and getting your passport stamped if you found the answer. Once you filled your passport you received a prize. Afterward, we were able to sample some different foods from around the world. They had some different type of sodas for sale that you could sample, so we bought two and tried those as well. I'd never had Guava flavored pop before. It was pretty good. All in all the kids really enjoyed themselves. Dear hubby and I, not so much. But, hey, let's face it. As parents, it is rarely about us anymore.

Human Life International Speaks Out Against Health Care Bill

The current Health Care Bill is such an important issue, I felt I had to repost this e-mail from Father Euteneuer of Human Life International (HLI). There is no "disinformation" here, only the facts about what law-makers are currently planning for Health Care Reform. Much prayer is needed to safegaurd our freedoms.


Spirit & Life®
"The words I spoke to you are spirit and life." (Jn 6:63)Human Life International e-NewsletterVolume 04, Number 25 Friday, August 14, 2009
..................................................................................
www.hli.org
From Family Planning to Death PlanningIt's time to kiss grandma goodbye. Do it while you can, especially if she is sick. I am not being facetious here. The healthcare debate is deadly serious for seniors and those who will need a greater amount of healthcare in the coming years. People approaching retirement age will be obliged to start planning for death soon, and the government is more than ready to help them. According to this wicked bill, HR 3200, there are generous provisions setting the stage to weed out the weak, infirm and unfit and make room for the fit, all at the government's discretion. The list of chilling dictates that will affect all seniors and ill persons is just frightening [see sidebar for references]. I note just a few relevant provisions from the 1018-page document:
Page 29: healthcare will be rationed by government regulators;
Pages 30 and 42: government committees will be set up to decide what healthcare we can and can't have - a "Health Choices Commissioner" (Commissar?) will be in charge of these decisions;
Page 239: the government will limit and reduce physician services for Medicaid which means that the dependent elderly and those most unable to access other services will suffer;
Page 341: the government will be able to disqualify Medicare Part B and HMOs if they don't get with the program, which means that they can effectively put them out of business as competition; and no one will be able to sue the government for a de facto monopoly on healthcare or for price-fixing (p. 124);
Pages 425-430: "end-of-life" counseling and courses will be obligatory in this heinous bill-by the way, the Hemlock Society (now euphemistically called Compassion and Choices) has admitted to working with members of congress on this section of the bill;
Page 429: nurse practitioners and physicians' assistants can have authority to write end-of-life orders.Another curious fact: of the 31 occurrences of the word "planning" in the text of this massive bill, fifteen of them are in the sections dealing with death planning (always called "advanced care planning"), nine are in the sections on "family planning" (code words for abortion, sex education and contraception) and the other seven are about government bureaucratic functioning. Isn't it strange that a society which has worshipped "freedom of choice" for so long is now on the verge of surrendering its freedom and choices to government planners?The only reason we have our elderly being set up for systematic extermination now is because our culture has been so deeply brainwashed by the contraceptive and abortive mentalities that come from decades of "family planning" propaganda. The devaluation of human life at one end of the spectrum leaves the other end of the life spectrum completely vulnerable to the depredations of the power-mongers in Washington. Albert Schweitzer said that "if a man loses his reverence for any part of life, he will lose his reverence for all of life." In terms of the current healthcare debate that would mean: when you sow family planning, you reap death planning. It's that simple.How ironic that President Obama's so-called overhaul of the healthcare system in this country comes just at the time when the number of senior citizens is set to double. If the "Greatest Generation" gave our nation the technology and the prosperity to have the highest standard of living and best healthcare system in the world - bar none - then that generation will be the first to be killed off by the same technology - and all for altruistic reasons based on lifestyle and efficiency. Needless to say, the baby-boomers are next in line for euthanasia.Those who still value life and are now being called into a very personal pro-life battle, one that threatens to strike at the very center of our families: our parents and grandparents. Just as we have always stood united in our defense of the rights of the unborn, we must adamantly resist this heinous program to hand over life and death planning to the government. Those decisions must stay in the hands of God. We must resist this wickedness now, while we still have breath.

Sincerely,
Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer,
President,
Human Life International

Free Worksheet Pages

I discovered a really great website for some free pre-school through 5th grade activity/worksheets. I would advise you to check them out. I really like the math worksheets for the little kids. I've mostly used the Pre-school and Kindergarten materials, but was checking out some of the older kids materials and they look like something I just might use to supplement our English and Science. Happy hunting!

www.tlsbooks.com

Local Six Flags Trip

The kids earned free passes to a Six Flags park again this year, so we took a trip on Thursday to redeem them. The day didn't go as smoothly as last year and I was definitely very uncomfortable being so big and pregnant and unable to ride anything. I mostly "babysat" the stroller while Dear Hubby took the kids on each ride. We had to park so far away that we didn't even stop to go back to the van and eat lunch. We ended up eating at about 7:20pm that night. I am all for snacking but it was ridiculous to snack all day and only eat a sandwich that late at night. At least we were more prepared this year and took plenty of water bottles.

Here are a few of the photos we took with our NEW camera that arrived earlier this week. I am so happy to have a working camera again!

Of course at the park we got the usual questions. "Are they all yours? You're having another one? Are any of them twins? How close are they? Are you done, yet?....."

However, I was pleasantly surprised that three separate women came up to compliment the kids' good behavior and say that they thought we had a lovely family. One of the ladies, in particular, admitted she wanted a large family, but her husband was against it. I feel so sorry for those women. You can tell that in their heart they know the blessings and eternal worth of a little child, but have been told they are being selfish if they want another little one.

I tried to answer the questions respectfully and politely, but the one about us being done sunk in a little more than the others. Now that we are having our second boy, many people think that we should be "done". I hate that people think we are only having more kids to "try for another boy". That is so untrue! Even if we already had two boys and two girls, we would have had our fifth child, as well as this sixth baby. As if a boy is more valuable than a girl or vice verse. Children are a blessing .

I'll get off my soap box now and let you enjoy the pictures of the kids. God bless.

Communism or What? Oh, no! I sound "Fishy"!

I recieved the following e-mail today and just had to repost for all to see. Talk about "big brother" mentallity here coming out of the White House!

Is this communism or what!!!!
Subject: Be careful who you talk to be careful who you talk to, especially via emai, about the Health Care plan. They could be a snitch and turn you in! Read the article from LifeNews below, especially paragraph 5. Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The White House is not happy with the millions of Americans who oppose the pro-abortion government-run health care plan Congress is considering. In a new post on the White House web site, Obama administration officials ask people to become tattletales on groups and people who oppose the health care bill. In a post titled "Facts Are Stubborn Things" that is quickly generating nationwide controversy, Obama's staff are asking for people to turn in anyone who says anything "fishy" about the pro-abortion health plan. With the abortion funding and insurance mandates for abortion that are in the bill, and the Obama's administration and pro-abortion groups insisting that pro-abortion components are not present, that could wind up at the top of the list. "There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end-of-life care," the White House says. "These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain e-mails or through casual conversation." "Since we can't keep track of all of them here at the White House, we're asking for your help. If you get an e-mail or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov," the Obama web site says. Complaints have come quickly from pro-life advocates concerned that their opposition to the health care plan could be reported to Obama officials. "They're looking for tattletales; they're looking for snitches; they're looking for informants; they want their groupies to tattle on you if you happen to be telling the truth about what's in the health care plan," conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh responded. "The White House has, as yet, offered no explanation of what it is they plan to do with the tips on policy opposition they hope to receive from citizen informers." Jeff Emanuel, who runs the conservative web site RedState, is also upset. "The term 'disinformation' is used by the Obama White House as a catchall to describe any opposition to the president's push for single-payer, government-run health care," he says. "The White House wants to be informed of any forwarded e-mails or blog posts or any 'casual conversations' could be taken as opposition to their health care overhaul plan," he says, wanting to know what the White House plans to do with the information. The post is reminding some of an incident earlier this year, that saw the Department of Homeland Security produce a report saying "opponents of abortion" are likely to engage in extremism or terrorism.