Hi friends,

If you have read any of my posts in the past, you might have an inkling that I really did not enjoy my public school nightmare "experience."  And that is the understatement of the day.  So knowing where I stand, and perhaps why I feel the way I do, you might not be too shocked to hear that I'm no too fond of reunions either.

How about you?  I am really curious about how YOU feel about class reunions.  Have you ever been to one?  Was there any good in it?  What was so awful about it?  You know there is the stereotypical problems with any reunion, ie; how much weight everyone gained, who lost their hair, etc, all that dumb stuff that people worry about.  (Oh, my reunion is in a month...I gotta lose some weight, etc., etc.) There is a lot of stress related to those things.  I have heard the stories, seen people get all worked up about them.

 But really, what if you didn't really enjoy your high school years?  Don't these reunion notices bring back all the bad memories and make you want to wretch?

Sorry to be so blunt. 

 I am just quite curious how other people deal with these things. I have received a few letters now about an upcoming "event" and they are very obnoxious.  The funny thing to me is that the coordinator said he sent out 152 letters and only got 7 responses so far.  Of course that could mean that everyone moved and didn't leave a forwarding address.  OR it could mean that I wasn't the only one who thought those four years should best be forgotten.  After all, there IS life after high school!

I'd love to hear your thoughts, and may write some more on this wonderfully interesting subject.  LOL!

Blessings!

Nancy

Yes, it seems like lately all I have been posting about is contest, haircuts, more contests, more haircuts.  This cabin fever is nuts!  We can barely get outdoors because of global warming!  :)

Yesterday I worked out in the yard, it was beautiful out!  Today, it has done everything from rain, sleet, snow and back again.  Weird, weird weather.  (Weird = Normal here in this geometrically shaped state!)

Let's see; I haven't been doing much blogging lately, just too busy with the chickens, the kids, (not necessarily in that order) um, the computer giving me FITS, and sundry other craziness going on here. 

I am utterly bummed (someone please enlighten me if there is an updated word for that, ok?) that my friend from TN isn't going to come to my state homeschool convention this year as a representative for Rosetta Stone.  Can't believe that.  Shoot. That would have been worth the trip!  (Just joking, no reflection on the awesome conference.) 

In other news, we now have a permitted driver in the house.  Well, you know, in the car, except the car is broken down and I have to convince her that it wasn't  cursed by the Lord just so she can't scare the living daylights out of us...again.  :)  Heh, heh.  You know, she will NEVER read this blog because she has some kind of magnetic element to her physiology, and all she has to do is LOOK at a computer and it will blow a ...whatever computers blow.  (She is really good on the computer and has done some fabulous projects, but prefers stuff like spinning.  Not a lot of tech-support needed for her hobbies.)

Actually, as far as the driving is concerned, she is doing fabulous.  Only 40 more hours of daylight driving to go!  I personally have no recollection whatsoever of ever driving with my parents when I had my permit.  I must have blocked it from my memory.  Or it never happened.  Hmmmmm.  And the funny thing is that I did indeed pass my drivers test, and have over three decades of driving history to prove it and only accident to my name, knock on wood.  And, that was in someone elses car.  (Never, EVER borrow someone elses car when you have only been drving for 3 weeks.)  You can bet I am emphasizing THAT rule.  Never.  Ever.

Gee Whiz, this is about the worst rambling blog post ever.  I can't wait to get my brain back in gear and make some sense for you all!  We had some friends over for a visit and we got in the silliest conversation about this "stuff" we had back when we were kids called "Incrediblie Edibles" and "Creepul People" and something else about flowers...now I forgot.  :(  But the funny thing was the stuff it was made of was called "plasti-goop" and I had forgotten about that completely, but our dear friends reminded me and we all thought "What were our parents thinking!!??"  What was that stuff anyhow?

Memories~  Ha! Ha!  We conjured up all kinds of tidbits that were buried yet became "debrained" for whatever reason.  Isn't that crazy when you start remembering things that you haven't thought of in probably over 40 years?  Yup, I be that old.  This is dating me big time, but oh well.  My avatar hides the wrinkles well.  This other memory popped up of the time I wanted an EZ-Bake Oven for Christmas or something.  I didn't get one, I got something else.  That story is so silly, that I will HAVE To save it for my next rambling, meaningless mentally challenging blog entry.  I bet you will be holding your breath and losing sleep until I post again!

Happy Homeschooling~

Nancy

It gets more ridiculous every day, doesn't it? 

 I am referring to the way the lie called evolution is crammed down our throats as if it were truth.  Check this out over on Ken Ham's blog.  Listen to the MP3 of this man saying how he is "proud to be an ape."  And pray that he will know the truth that he is truly a creation of God, made in His image.

Moms, keep telling your kids how special they are because God made them.  Not because of what they do, or who they are. 

They are special because of who they belong to.

Have a wonderful day, and don't forget,

Homeschooling IS Life!

Nancy

Be sure to stop by the front porch! I have a guest blogger today, come by and meet her and read her wonderful post on being an "accidental unschooler!"

      Is that how you spell that? Anomoly.  Anomaly.  Gee, where is a dictionary when you need one!?  Anyway, I haven't blogged since the big blizzard.  We are still buried under several feet of snow and down to our last can of chicken and noodle soup and our last log. 

 NOT!  I was going to post a video of the kids on their homemade hill in the front yard, but couldn't get one on here.....maybe next blizzard.

We had sunny skies the day after the big storm and all we heard all day was drip, drip, drip, drip, drip.......and it was wet and slushy and muddy and every time the dog went out, we had to meet her at the door with a towel to wipe off her muddy paws before she could come back in.  Of course, there was at least one time when we missed it and viola' she jumped right into the recliner and well, made a muddy Midi mess!

So, lets see......I started out this blog with a statement about site meters.  If you don't have one you are missing out on a whole lot of fun.  First off, you can see who visits your blog and how they got there.  I get some of the weirdest (oddest) things on there sometimes, but other times I am blessed by the search queries.  I have had several from China----all searching for the "definition for success."  Isn't that interesting?  And the googlebot gets to my blog because of a past entry I wrote on my definition of homeschooling success.  I think it's on my sidebar but I am TOO lazy right now to give you a live link.  It's been a long day! 

And speaking of technology.......I have set up google alert for "unschooling" since I blog about that on Wednesday's on the Front Porch.  I used to get one or two hits on that a month.  Now I am getting up to 4 or 5 in a DAY.  Yup, lots of unschoolers out there are coming out of the woodwork and blogging about their unschooling lives.  There is always some very good (or bad) debate about unschooling because it is such a broad description for something that not a lot of folks really understand (or need to, in my opinion) and there are so many who are adamantly opposed to it because it sounds so.....non-educational.  But I read a really neat blog the other day about a lady who said she had SO much planning to do because she unschooled her children and it took a lot of work to make it work for them.  Bravo is what I say to that!  It does take work, and it doesn't.  It just depends on who you are and what your needs are......and what your children's needs are....and it really isn't any body else's business if you ask me.

And then there is this other burning question that has come up a time or two....."Can a Christian be an unschooler?"   

I would love to hear your comments on all this :)

Blessings!

Homeschooling IS Life,

Nancy

©Nancy K. Baetz Homeschooling Is Life! 2006

Did you read this entry?  Spunky blogged about how the game of "tag" is being banished from the schoolyards.......her whole post is (as usual) right on and gives lots of food for thought.  It made me think about my own school experiences....long, long ago............

Those were the days, my friends.

The playground was mostly just dirt and gravel and the huge stuccoed building towered over the few structures.  There was the monkey bars where I could hang upside down from the apex.  My psychedelic paisley mini-dress fell over my face while I held it up with one hand in attempted modesty.  Precarously I  held onto the top "X" with my knees over the top and my ankles crossed. The other hand was holding on to the top bar....my safeguard....hopefully.  I never did fall....but I can still recall that feeling of being a thrill-seeker at that young age.  My mom would have killed me had she known I did that!

The monkey bars were also the greatest fort!  You could "trap" other kids there in the monkey bar prison, and chase them around and around the outside while you scooted around the smooth bars with your feet and hands moving quickly---around and around all the while squealing with delight!  We looked forward to the playground and when that bell rang, oh, to be able to rush out of the classroom, down the stairs and through the big cold grey doors with a Bang! Then we were out into the sunshine.  Dozens of kids, laughing and racing to and fro---from the swings to the teeter-totters, the tether ball poles and then the monkey bars.  Those were the days.

The building made a C shape across the back, a square "C" but that made for a wind break and a place to hide and play other games.  Jump rope was one of the favorites.  We had a long white rope with black tape on the ends, so it wouldn't ravel.  I can hear those chants...."Not last night, but the night before...twenty-four robbers came knocking at my door...."  and "Cinderella dressed in yella, went upstairs to kiss a fella...." 

When we weren't jumping rope or playing hopscotch, we were playing....."Boys Chase the Girls."   Or, "Girls Chase the Boys."  We would shriek and run from them, of course secretly hoping to be caught by the one certain boy we really liked.  We were between 6 and 9 years old then.  Once in a while the boys would get too rough and a girl would get mad about it, and tell the teacher.  We thought it was all in fun......and it was, for the most part.  But even those innocent days had their casualties.  Even then, little kids were getting hurt on the playground.  But at least if an errant young beau snuck a peck on the cheek, he wasn't arrested for sexual harrassment......And I had plenty of skinned knees and elbows from my countless hours of recess. And you know what?  My parents never sued anyone over those.

But we got hurt no matter where we were.  Life hurts sometimes, and even at home we had our share of scrapes and skinned knees.  But did our parents tell us to stop playing?  Play is so natural.  Play is the work of children. An occasional peck on the cheek is sweet, childish, but natural. What is a kid without a scab or two.  (sorry!)

The memories of the indoor times at the big stucco building are few and far between. Mostly me doing something inappropriate and being sent out into the hall for it, like talking or not sitting still.  If they would have had Ritalin when I was little, I'd have been on it.  For the teachers sake.  I wasn't ready for the classroom trauma. The playground was at the forefront of my mind.  Sure, I remember ALL of my teachers.  Some good, some not so good.  I remember the sound of footsteps in the big hall.....massive, echoing hall. "Nancy, why are you in the hall?"  the Principal would ask me.  "Well, Tommy scared me, so I screamed. The teacher told me to go stand in the hall," I would reply.  So then he would tell me, "go back to class and don't scream anymore."  The next day I would be bck out there for talking, or running, or playing, or.......whatever.  I spent a lot of time in that hall.

 I remember walking to and from school, and although it was only a short distance from home, I remember at about 8 years old a lady stopped and asked me if I needed a ride home.....said she was a friend of my moms.  I never saw her before......or after that.  Of course I said "no."  I was only a half a block from home, or less.  Back then you trusted people, but I still knew it was fishy. Once my cat, Rusty, followed me to school after lunch.  My 3rd grade teacher let me take him back  home.  On the way back, I raced down the trail on "Miller's Hill" as fast as my little legs could carry me.  I literally flew down and over the dips.  When I got back to class, out of breath, everyone had been watching me from the west windows.  They were just sure I was going to fall, they said, because they couldn't believe how fast I was running down the hill.  I loved that crazy hill.

Lots of memories.  A few months back, I sat down and wrote them all down....as many as I could.  From kindergarten on up.....then I went back to read it.  I was going to post it but "poof."  It was gone.  Lost in cyberspace.  Most of them are not "fond" memories, but they are mine nonetheless.  Most of them are not earth shattering discoveries either.  The twaddle I was force-fed was useless, and so I made up for the lack of substance, with an abundance of naughtiness.  I guess I had to do something while doing the time.

                                                            ******

Last night my family went out for burgers.  Not fast food burgers, RedTop Giant Hamburgers.  They are so good!  While we were there we got into a silly mood and it all started when someone blew their straw wrapper off......and my husband and I started telling the kids all about the things we learned in school that they are missing out on.  We gave them a crash course in  how to make and blow spit wads.  (They were incredulous!)  Then I gave them a lesson in wadding up the wet paper towels and throwing upwards has hard as you can, so they stick on the ceiling.*  Or not.  Some unsupecting person might get 'beaned' by one on its way back down.  A lesson on gravity.  (We are homeschoolers, ya know.) *We just told them how, it was not a demonstration.  LOL

Then we taught them how you can also fling your freshly sharpened #2 pencil up into the acoustic tiles.....that is fun.  Have you ever looked up in a classroom and wondered how all those pencils got up there?  Well, we did that.  Back in 1972.  Seventh grade classroom had quite a montage up there.  Probably would still be there if the school hadn't been burned down in 1981 or so.  Another masterpiece lost.

And these are the experiences and lessons that my kids were about to miss out on while being taught at home.  But we fixed that.  They should graduate fine now, with honors.

                                                      ******

On to other areas of lost learning......I have heard that many schools are taking music out of the curriculum.  At least in my state.  They have to get rid of it in order to spend more time on "the test."  They have to study for this test so they can get more $$$.  So no music class.  No recess. Only studying for this test. We need more money. 

 I learned some really catchy  songs when I was in school.  One went like this:  Glory Glory Hallelujah, Teacher hit me with a ruuulahr......"  Funny, isn't there another song like that?....similar words......something about "His Truth is Marching On".....nah.  Must be my imagination.  Boy, those were the good old days....

In my 4th grade year, the teacher had us go outside and make a bug collection---we made our own nets, learned how to catch and made kill jars with fingernail polish remover.  We made pinning contraptions and boxes with parafin to mount our specimens....It was tops.  It was hands on, out doors.....it was real learning.   One time out of 12 years......how many days would that be?  12 years is a whole lot of time to waste with a child.  It was torture, being stuck in a room with 20 or 30 some other kids being talked to about stuff that we didn't even care about.  Lectures. Getting information from a lecture must not be my learning style.

And then there were film strips.  Antiquated film strips.  I don't know how many times we sat on the little ovals in the wood floor (from where they un-bolted the really old desks, you know, the one's with the ink wells) and watched film strips.  Sometimes, the film stopped rolling and the frame in front of the lightbulb began to burn up because of the heat......have you ever seen that happen?!  You would be watching the deer romping through the woods, listening to the halting, grating recording about "Autumn in the Woods" or something, then the film sould start burning and it looked like the whole forest was on fire.  Probably some greenie movie too.  Then the teacher would spend the next 15 minutes trying to re-thread the film through the projector while we sat on our little ovals. Borrrrringggggg.   Then at the end, you got to watch it all in reverese as they rewound the strip. Now THAT was fun. Boy those were the days, eh?

Some things have changed, but some stay the same.  Kids don't need to be sequestered with strangers (adults and children alike) for hours on end, experiencing nonsense.  They need their mommies.  They need to be a part of a family.  A real one, not an artificial (unreasonable) facsimile.  They need to play, in a safe place, with supervision, or even better, participation from their parents.  Learning is fun!  Life is our playground.

The kid stuff isn't even the same anymore.  It's not "Girls Chase the Boys" anymore, even though that wasn't such a great game.....the stakes are higher because of what the kids bring to the playground.  Media exposure, advertising and pop-culture have changed little kids into miniature heathen......don't tell me no.  There is not a lot of innocence left in kids anywhere today. 

Kids lose their childhood in the school.  They lose their joy in learning.  I know, I know, not everyone does.  There are a few survivors.  I wish I had been homeschooled. The antics described above were the result of un-disciplined, restless, frustrated, dying to do something, ANYTHING, kids.  Too bad it was channeled into mischeif.  I still wish I had been homeschooled......

Oops!  I forgot, that is what we are doing!  Home-educating my kids and myself at the same time. My kids might not have those kinds of gravel playground-monkeybars-boys-chase-the-girls memories, but I bet they won't mind at all.  We are too busy making Mom-and-Dad-acting-goofy-over-giant-hamburgers kinds of memories. 

And I know they won't forget those!

Homeschooling is Life!

Nancy

Be sure to stop over at the front porch on Thursdays to read my unschooling column!

©Nancy K. Baetz

Related Tags: homeschooling, home-eduation, unschooling, life lessons, elementary education, spit wads, homeschool humor

 According to Britain's Librarians, the Bible comes in second on the list of books that every adult should read before they die.  This was reported in an article last March, in the Guardian. 

I have only read a handful of those on the list.  Several I would absolutely NOT read, because I know enough about them to know they wouldn't enhance my life..........some, are ok but questionable as to whether it would be a travesty for me to have omitted them before leaving this earth......others are still waiting to be read. 

 There is so much great literature available amidst the multitudes of good literature that we seem to never be able to get to it all. 

 Could we ever, really?

You have seen the bumper-sticker;  Too Many Books, Not Enough Time......

We all have our favorite books.  But many of my "favorites" from the past, I wouldn't even pick up now.  What was important to me a long time ago, turns my stomach in this day.  Did I really ever enjoy a Stephen King book?  How disgusting.  If I had known the best back then, I wouldn't have wasted my time OR tainted my mind with sensationalist mediocrity.

The Bible came in second on that list.  Isn't that interesting?   The Bible is the all time best selling book in history. While trying to find out exactly how many Bibles have been sold, I came across this article from the Chicago Sun Times. I still haven't found the "Best Seller" info, and if you have it, please let me know.

Of course, I think that the Bible is the most important book for anyone to read, what amazes me is that we think we have to "jazz" it up, to get people to be interested it.  Let's add all kinds of graphics, and modern language, and move the words around a bit......let's make it hip and culturally correct, so that we draw more people to God. Japanese Anime in a Bible?  Am I that far off to think there is something amiss?

Let's just let the Holy Spirit draw people to God, and let's just be obedient to His pure, holy, unadulterated Word.  We don't need the bells and whistles, people.

I thought that it was interesting again, that the Guardian article did mention the Bible, but only by name.  All the other books had their descriptions and their authors etc., but the Bible, arrogantly put into second place, was just that.  Yes, I know, it stands alone.  And second place is a pretty good ranking, right?  But it IS God's Word.  Thou shalt have no other God's, or even books, before Him.

If you had to come up with a description of the Bible, in order to "sell" it, so to speak, what would you write?

There you have it, your homeschooling challenge for the day.  Have your kids write up a "press release" about the Bible.  I will pick the one I like the best and will think of a lovely surprise to send the winner, ok?

And, what is YOU list of books that you think everyone should read before they die?  Would you like to share it?

God's Word is your first choice for correction, reproof, instruction in righteouness......wow, what a curriculum!  Give your children the BEST education, teach them God's Word.  It will not return void.  It is a promise!

Nancy

©Nancy K. Baetz

 Homeschooling Is Life! 2006

Related Tags: Bible, book list, best books, God's Word, Librarians book lists, the Guardian, Homeschooling, Home Education, Curriculum

Hi!  Oh, wow.  I haven't been on here in a week!  For blogging shame!

Well, I will tell you what.  We met some real live blogger friends again.  This is getting to be a very frequent habit lately!  I will wait until they return home before I announce to the world that they aren't home.  Wouldn't that be prudent?

We enjoyed their company greatly, and got to see several sights here that locals seem to never see.....of course, THEIR history is much older than OURS.  And they seemed to delight in letting us know, repeatedly.  LOL.  Also, they had something against one of our military base's football team......hmmm.  Some rivalry going on for sure.

While we were out playing tourist, we came across this: 

My friend was taking a photo of a cactus flower, and I spotted this little guy taking a rest in a bindweed bloom right next to her foot!   Doesn't he look comfy?

I don't have any cacti in my garden, just lots of flowers.  Although I just found out that all that blooms isn't pretty.......according to some folks.  Even though most of my flowers are native, AND almost all are " xeriscape," or low water use and drought tolerant, they aren't welcome!    There were a few "weeds" in there, but mostly it is just flowers that I planted. 

 What is your definition of a weed?  Mine is;  "something growing in my garden that I don't want there."

The supposed weeds are Common Sunflowers.  I planted them there, and they attract the Lesser Gold Finches every year.  They eat the seeds, and they are SO cute!  They are tiny little birds, and they hang upside down and bob around on the flower stalks.  We have enjoyed them for the last 10 years at least. 

Can you see the little bird there?  It is only about two to three inches long, total!  They are so fun to watch, and have the neatest little call too.  Click here for a really nice photo link of one of these birds, sometimes called "wild canaries."

Between my sunflowers and the Ratibida (Mexian Hat), Blanket flowers, Coreopsis, Echinacea, Hollyhocks, Campanula, Rocky Mountain Penstemon, and a few Colombine, I have fresh bouquets all Summer long, and I will share them with anyone who wants a free bouquet!  My kids sneak them to the neighbors houses (and ring the doorbell, and run!) and we love to give fresh flowers to our friends for any and all occassions. 

But someone doesn't like my flowers (God's flowers, really) and anonymously reported my "weeds" to the people in charge of "weeds" in our fair city.  It looks like there might be a show-down, because I really like my flowers. This yard was nothing but dirt and tumbleweeds when we moved in 11 years ago, as renters.  We completely changed the look of the yard, and neighbors who have lived here for years came over and told us how it had been a rental for a long time and always looked terrible!  They loved how we were fixing up the yard and were surprised that we were only renting at that time. 

So here we are with our lovely, pleasant little garden, that only grows for a few months out of the year......short growing season here, you know.  Gosh, it might be unimaginable for our public servants to do something about the illegal fireworks that go on nightly, or the domestic squabbles that go on at 3:00 a.m. in the street, or the loud music that shakes the windows  OR perhaps someone could fix the sidewalk in front of my neighbors house, that was torn out several years ago by a city crew.....(they have been told it is still two years away on the waiting list of repairs...............but instead, they would rather take on the hard core, weed cultivating criminals. 

That would be me!

Blessings,

Nancy

©Nancy K. Baetz

 Homeschooling Is Life 2006

We aren't doing school, ok?  So don't tell anyone!  See?

But just in case you think we might need to know some things, maybe you can help us out.  We have a few dilemmas we need help solving.

What on earth is this?

And how about this?  What kind of critter is that, anyhow?!  And what is that guy doing under there????

And tell me, what can I do with this plant?  Does anyone have any ideas????

And last but not least, will someone please tell the authorities that there is something terribly wrong here! 

 Look closely....

This young boy fell asleep reading a .........that's right,

 a COOKBOOK! 

 Run for your lives, the world has gone mad.

Homeschooling is Life!

Nancy

p.s. there might be a contest involved......so post some creative answers for me, ok? 

Hi there! 

 Here is an interesting "dia-blog" happening that I found mentioned over at Jacobs Academy.    She stopped by to let me know about it, and it was pretttttyyyy interesting. 

 Over at the Atlanta Journal's newspaper online, they have an education blog, called "Get Schooled."  I don't know anything about it, other than that, so far.  But gee whillikers, since I put "unschoolers" down for our method of home education, and I am posting on Thursday's Front Porch as the Unschooler non-expert,  this kind of thing is right up my un-educated alley!

The  blog host posed this challenge, "Unschoolers, tell us your story!" 

 I thought I would check it out, and well, my goodness!  Can you imagine, there are a whole lot of people commenting on there, who aren't unschoolers and aren't even homeschooling?

There are some emphatic yet irrelevant comments flying back and forth.  (And irreverant, however you spell that.)

There were 72 comments when I stopped by, and I didn't have time to read all of them.  I didn't even see many "un-schoolers" even telling their stories.  I guess we are just too busy un-schooling our kids to have time to tell too many people what it is that we exactly aren't doing. 

Alas, I do hope to comment, but they closed the comment function for the evening. 

 Hopefully I can get on there tomorrow and tell our story!

Homeschooling is Life,

"Unschooling" is just misunderstood semantics (absolutely No offense to John Holt intended!)

" My worst day homeschooling is better than the best day in public school."

Nancy

p.s.  More on this topic to come!  Stay un-tuned!  Same nebulous time, same un-predictable blog.

A husband who loves me!  Awww......

It's our anniversary!  I thought I would share about our courtship, but we actually only dated for two weeks before we got married.  (Hardly a courtship, and yes, it was dating---and I don't recommend that at all, BUT we were both 29 already, so yes, we dated.)

Then I thought I would share about how we met---we actually met at church.  Imagine that.  Ken helped me and my co-teacher in Sunday school do a skit for the kids, ages 3 and 4.  We did the story of Ruth and Boaz.  (Ken was Boaz, did you guess that?)  But I don't think I will tell you that story yet......

Then there was the night he asked me to marry him.  We were out by a lake, listening to all the sounds and watching  the moon and clouds drifting across the sky at night with twinkling stars ......hearing frogs croaking, splashes here and there....a coyote yipping......and then there was that rock formation.  Oh, I want to try to tell you about that.  Imagine you are standing out in this kind of grassy area, tall grass and mesquite trees---with a lake and marshy area nearby.  The only light is the full moon, and it is really bright.  Ken had just proposed, and when I looked at the ground I saw this white shape.....lots of white shapes, white rocks.  There was a line of them on the ground, and it made a big shape.........you aren't going to believe this, the white rocks were in the shape of a giant heart and we were standing right in the middle of it. 

 I am not joking!  I know this is so romantically corny, or just plain corny, and Ken claims he did not put it there----we didn't even notice it until I looked down and the rocks were reflecting the moonlight so we could plainly see it.  It was so neat.  It was a big heart with an arrow through it---seriously! 

We went back another time just to see if it was still there, and it was gone.  A few rocks here or there.....but it was scattered.  But it was really neat.  Sigh.

Ok, so I didn't really plan to tell you that.

I thought about telling you all about our wedding day---all the disasters that happened. 

First, the gasket on the oil filter of my truck blew, and almost ruined our honeymoon plans.  So Ken got that all taken care of.  He was driving at the time when he heard a thump and decided to pull over and check.  He has very good presence of mind.  If he would have kept on driving, we would have been truckless.

Then, my good friend who was also our best man took me to lunch, and I left my purse on the patio of this restraurant (ok, so Taco Bell technically isn't a restaurant)  anyway, it was in the next town over.  So I was getting ready to go to the church and the wedding was in just a few hours.  I had to get dressed, finish decorating for the reception (not in that order) and now I was missing my purse with all my important belongings like credit cards, cash, drivers license, car keys, etc.  So after calling the "restaurant" and getting no answer, and calling the hotel next to it where a friend was staying hopeing SHE could go look for my purse--to no avail, my mom said she would go see if she could find it.

So off to the church I went, and I was so stressed :)

But everything went well, Mom got my purse, a good Samaratin had turned it in!-and then the wedding got underway.

So, we had the longest wedding in history, and if you want to watch a video of it, just block off about two hours and we will have a party ~  during one of the many songs sung, our ring bearer started "bouncing" up and down at the knees, and I thought "quit playing around!"  The poor kid was passing out and trying very hard not too.  So my photographer and the beau of my bridesmaid literally caught him and drug him down the aisle.  The poor kids mom was running the sound booth, and saw it all happening while her husband was singing......talk about a dilemma! But dad never missed a beat and finished the song while his son was wisked away and replaced.  "You Took My Heart By Surprise" was the song he was singing.

So my bridesmaids beau at the time, Myles Standish (the 11th--I kid  you not) took over the ring pillow and from then on was referred to as "Myles Stand-in."  Miles, where ever you are today, please forgive me.  You are forever immortalized because of this day in history----it's a lot more important than that old Mayflower stuff, right?  Anyway, have you ever seen a grown man being a ring bearer?  I was blessed.  Oh, well, I forgot to tell you that Myles was already "standing in" for one of the ushers that couldn't make it at the last minute.  So there you have it.

Next, um lets see.......oh, I think that is all the craziness that happened.  It was a lovely wedding.  Pastor Thomas preached a beautiful wedding.  It really was more than a wedding, it was church.  Our best man, Sam, sang "Stronger."  And a dear friend named Shelly sang "Love Will Be Our Home."  And her mom, Jan played the piano, for the recessional---"In My Heart There Rings A Melody."   

It was a budget wedding---I got my wedding dress, an 1890's antique taffeta lovely thing at a vintage shop for $50.  Kens tux cost $50.  The flowers were donated, and they were fall colored gladiola sprays.  Since it was a fall wedding, we went to the mountains and collected leaves, bark, branches, moss, etc, and decorated all our reception tables with all the trappings of Autumn. 

 My mom bought two lovely sheet cakes and I had a little two tiered cake made with a heart shape on top, with Waldorf-Astoria cake, or red velvet inside the white frosting.  It was lovely, and a dear friend of mine, Rose, made it for a song.  I also made our announcements---I wrote them with calligraphy and had them done up at a little print shop. I think they cost me about $10.  We had about 300 people out our wedding---it was at a big church and they all would come out to support any celebration, whether they really knew you or not.  What a neat bunch of folks---they really gave us a great send off.

Our church donated all the coffee, punch and stuff like mints and even the rehearsal dinner.  Our pastor made hot wings!  What a doll he was. 

So, there you have it--it was simple, yet  very lovely and completely orchestrated by God.  You know, Ken and I were born the same year, and our Mom's were born the same year and month?  And even though we grew up miles apart---different states---we have so much in common.  I knew that God was preparing me for marriage, and I just had to wait for His timing.  Sounds pretty story-bookish, I know, but we have had our ups and downs too.  But when we got married, it was not just a "contract" between me and my husband, it was a "covenant" between three people, Ken, Nancy and the Lord.  He is the one who brought us together, and He will keep us in His care---as long as we continue to trust and acknowledge Him as being the head of our home.

There have been some days that I wanted to bail out.  We all have those days---but how can you bail out when the God of the Universe is on your side?  And not just that, but how would you explain it to Him.  "um, well God, I just didn't think you were big enough to help me handle this problem---so I took the easy way out."  Nope, not an option.  Like the song says,

"When you are tired and empty,

And when you can't run any longer,

He'll take you to the finish,

'Cause His love is stronger.................."

Happily,

Mrs. Baetz

My neighbor's 23 month old boy was in their truck, in their garage.......and he either let the brake off or just took it out of park.  So........down the sloping driveway it rolls, it crashes into their other car which was parked at base of driveway causing domino effect---which heads south,  backwards also.  (Truck still heading east, backwards, with son in cab, across culdesac.) So we have two driverless, runaway vehicles going different directions. The dad sees all this happening and tries to decide which way to run.

He gets the truck stopped, child inside ok.  Truck sustains one small scratch on front fender.  Car (very small car) missed our Jeep and ends up crashed into our van---minimal damage to wheel well of our vehicle.  Unfortunately, their little car has a crunched front end, from their truck smacking it, and the back end has a a bit of damage from hitting our van. Lights broken out and hood/radiator damaged.

Praise God, all the kids that were playing in the culdesac moments before, were all out of harms way.  Whew.

Can you imagine, he's not even two yet and has had his first fender-bender?

About 5 years ago, my baby put an idling car into drive and went right through the garage door from the outside.  Slow motion cruncher.  Dad just got out to go fix the passenger side window---good thing my son didn't get it into reverse!

Stuff happens SO fast.  Watch those little ones.  They learn everything you do so fast. 

 Well, I guess I better get back to blogging about  real homeschooling issues.

Sigh.

N.

I never had geography in school, except we had to memorize the counties of the state I grew up in.  That was easy because there were only a few.  Less than 20.  I don't know if I could name them all now.

I have been keeping a map with all my work buddies on it, which has been really fun.  It's right there on my office (aka "the cave") wall, so I can see my friends/co-workers smiling faces on there while I email back and forth.  I know there are several bloggers that have blog maps and that is cool too.  Wow, imagine that.  Learning Geography at 40 something!

Another really neat thing is my site meter.  I can get a map of where all my blog viewers are.  So cool.  I had one from Japan today.  It really is quite neat, because even if you don't comment, I can see where you are.  My own personal "big-brother."  Well, don't let that scare you, ok?  I just think it is really a good tool, and it kind of helps me stay connected, ya know?  I think it is fun that someone way over in  NY state has stopped by my blog for a quick (hopefully fun or informative) read.  Even if you don't say "Hi" it is nice to know you dropped by. 

And did you know there was even a place called Oregon, Wisconsin?  That is great.  I might have to post some of the other places here.....and boy am I going to be SO well versed in Geography.  Maybe, just maybe I will know more than my kids for a change!

Longitudinally yours,

Nancy

A friend just sent this article:

http://www.americandaily.com/article/9257

Nancy