"You have shown me the path of life."

Learn more about John McCain!

Here is a movie about John McCain! It is really worth the short time it takes to veiw it.

Click on the link below and watch the videos that come up automatically.  A 1-minute video will play first, followed by a 10-minute video.  The 10-minute version is incredible – he truly is a hero to the country.

It is amazing to see what his courageous service to our great country and what he endured in the war camps. The story he tells about the guard that showed some kindness without any words was amazing. Then he goes on to tell the students that...

 "No matter where you are, no matter how difficult things are...

There's always gonna be someone of your faith and of your belief and of your devotion to your fellow man

who will pick you up and help you out and bring you through!" -McCain

Also said about McCain by Gov. Tim Pawlenty:

"There is a saying that says:"The best sermons aren't preached, they are lived!" Look at the life of John McCain's life and you will see a life of courage, dedication, duty, honor, character, strength, patriotism in a measure and magnitude that is epic."

To learn more about the character and issues of John McCain, Click on these words!

Country First: Reform * Prosperity * Peace ! 

My Funny and Interesting 4 Year Old

Sarah, You go girl!

Wow! Did you heard Sarah Palin’s VP speech last night at the 2008 National Republican Committee? (If not, you can find them on youtube.)

What a great candidate!

 I feel John McCain’s pick for VP was very smart. She's a young 44 year old, NRA member, mother of 5, who is 100% pro-life AND supports homeschooling! Her husband, Todd, is her high school sweetheart. She's a Christian who regularly attends church and considers every child a gift from God. Sarah is in favor of drilling for oil in Alaska (ANWR) and supports the war in Iraq.  She's known for cutting wasteful spending and recently vetoed more than $250 million dollars from the Alaskan state budget.  Over the past two years, she has earned an 85%-94% approval rating in Alaska.

I have so much hope for her being in office. I think it would be so great for a wonderful, pro-life mother of 5 to get some good press and show the world how it can be done. She knows her stuff and could do so much good in this world.

She didn’t exactly seek out this role and as Glenn Beck said “CAN YOU IMAGINE...SHE WAS A HOCKEY MOM/PTA MOM JUST MONTHS AGO?  THEN SHE'S NOMINATED FOR SMALL TOWN MAYOR?  THEN... BIG STEP...SHE'S NOMINATED TO GOVENOR...  THEN SHE SUDDENLY GETS A PHONE CALL FROM McCAIN ASKING HER TO BE VICE PRESIDENT?  CAN YOU EVEN IMAGINE? "

But, yes she is a mom! I feel (from what I have seen, trying to do some research) that she still did a good job in her role of wife and mother. She wasn’t perfect, but who is?

Everyone that is going to bash her for not staying home with her children, needs to then criticize all working mothers as well. I am not willing to do that. Yet... I do struggle with her not being at home for her children. Some say she is selling her family short by accepting this nomination.

There are homeschooling moms that work from home even and many moms that stay home but they don’t actually spend much time with their children within their homes. Those that say Palin is sacrificing her family, I don’t think I can go there. She has raised some great ALL-American children that seem to have good values and a good foundation laid. They make mistakes like the rest of us but they seem to handle these things wisely.

Many politicians and their families have much worse things happen yet these things are never in the media. Why is that? Al Gore’s son was arrested during term for driving while intoxicated but it never was made a big deal. Driving while drunk or on drugs is a huge deal in my book so why didn’t these same people, scrutinize this!

As far as her pregnant teen daughter, many most politicains would have made encouraged their child to get an abortion and then no one would know. How horrific! Sarah Palin would never even think of doing such a thing!

When a child makes a decision you wouldn’t chose for them, does that make you a bad parent? If so, then we are all in that boat. We just don't have perfect children. Children have their own wills. Even as Christian parents, we pray for and  guide our children the best we can, according to the guidelines in the Bible. Then we are there for them no matter what. If they make a wrong decision, we do the best we can. The other side may have aborted the pregnancy. This family would NEVER do that. The daughter could have compounded the first sin with an abortion, and no one would have known but God, and the family. Then this could have appeared lily white in front of the nation. The fact that she didn't says something to me about her strength of character, and the depth of her Christian conviction.

 I hope she can do it all and show them- show the world how great moms can multi-task and still do a lot of roles WELL! That is my hope. I hope she does win and brings her voice of logic and reason, of how the normal family lives and the struggles we face daily, into the world of politics. She will have more opportunities being in the oval office and she can find more ways to accomplish her duties while still being there for her children. There will be times she needs a babysitter/other family member for the children but you know we all do this!

If we don’t vote people into office with families that-- have family values like us, then how can we expect to have someone there making the decisions we want made! Yes, I would prefer it be a man there but with exactly the same values and accomplishments. There isn’t a man for the spot though and she was chosen. She has every view most of us Christian homeschooling moms want to vote for. If she was a man – we’d never hesitate. And yes, I hesitate slightly too but I am hopeful she will be able to do all these roles and pray that she will just keep looking to the Lord. I hope she will succeed in all the roles she has been given! Mothers have a way of getting things done, while still being loving; having a soft and loving touch yet still standing strong! So I say- go Sarah Palin… Go John McCain. But I will be praying for you and hoping you make wise decisions!

Another blogger said it so wonderfully, I am just going to quote her because I couldn’t have said it any better!

"Folks, we are running out of time. Perhaps in 30 years, after everyone with large, homeschooling families have raised their children and their children have children that are of voting age, perhaps this country will be able to elect only godly men to political office, and make over this nation in the image of its Founders to whom the godly mandate to subdue the land and pursue life, liberty and property ownership was the essence of their vision of a free nation under God. But if Barack Obama is elected and able to put into practice his policies which are guided by principles he learned being a disciple of Saul Alinsky  (who by the way dedicated his book, Rules For Radicals to Satan), then that opportunity likely will never come to godly families in this nation. His policies will set this nation back so far it may never recover. Furthermore, is not the voice of millions of aborted babies’ blood crying out to the Lord from this nation? Would we not be guilty, those of us who vote for Obama or a third party candidate who hasn’t a prayer of winning, of having blood on our hands? Are we going to get so hung up on finding some kind of fault with Mrs. Palin or Mr. McCain that we abdicate our responsibility and give the enemy an opportunity to take some more blood? Can someone please, anyone, give me the wisdom in this?

As for Mrs. Palin, a Christian woman, a mother of 5 children, a wife who admires her husband more than anyone else in this world, well, is it just possible that she is doing the will of God? Let us look at Judges 4 and 5 at the account of Deborah. As a general background, the book of Judges records the accounts of Israel’s deterioration after the death of Joshua and its failure to complete the conquest of Canaan. During these times the people go through cycles of oppression and deliverance, lack of faith in God and lack of obedience to Him and drift eventually into moral depravity. The male leaders are failing to lead the nation, and allow compromises and adopt the pagan practices of Canaan. The judges are the military and civil leaders during this period, and Deborah happens to be one of them. How she got to her position we are not told. We know she is a wife, and we know she is a mother. Here is an example of how God used a righteous woman to move reluctant men to obedience to His commands, for the sake of the nation. Read Judges 4:1-9”

Palin is like many of us moms, and how many times do we say we’d like to knock some sense into politicians?.... where here she is.. I think Sarah Palin is the sense that many politicians need!

 She is a mother and loves her husband. She has hurdles to jump in life like the rest of us.

She is in the media now and gets criticized on everything. She can handle herself very well and we NEED her there! She isn’t afraid to say GOD bless America and tell everyone that she prays.

Here is what she said about her son who was born with down syndrome:

In a letter she e-mailed to relatives and close friends Friday after giving birth, Palin wrote, "Many people will express sympathy, but you don't want or need that, because Trig will be a joy. You will have to trust me on this." She wrote it in the voice of and signed it as "Trig's Creator, Your Heavenly Father."

"Children are the most precious and promising ingredient in this mixed-up world you live in down there on Earth. Trig is no different, except he has one extra chromosome," Palin wrote.

As for people who think a baby like Trig shouldn't even be born, look around, the governor wrote. Who is perfect or even normal?

We need a good team in office and there is no doubt in my mind McCain * Palin is a great team. What one may lack, the other makes up for.

We have a strong, patriotic war HERO (I don’t use that word too often because too often is a title given too easily). He isn’t afraid of dealing with our enemy and has experience in enduring through great difficulties. That builds character!! Sarah Palin loves children and loves her family. She has family values and values the gift of life. She knows the oil business and she gets things done! She isn't afraid to go up against the Giants! Here is a mother that can multi-task and I feel she is doing a good job- no, I didn’t say she is perfect but she is trying to do a great job with all her many roles! 

You are an American citizen and you have the right to vote for whoever you wish. You should look at all candidates and find out about them, but not from those "special interest" groups or just the media. Do your own research and try to find the facts! Find the BEST candidate for the job! These are the things I found during some of my recent research!

If you choose to leave a comment, please do not bash others or leave mean outlashes of emotional hype! Thank you!

Lapbook Construction

Since seeing your daughter's American Girl lapbook, I'm extremely enticed!  I, too, have a 7 year old daughter who is crazy about the American Girls.  I would love to begin the series and work on the lapbooks together!  Reason for my email: I understand the lapbooks you made are from file folders?  From what I can tell you used 2 of them?  Do you attach the two together somehow?  How does it close up?  2 separate folders inside each other?  I'm fascinated with the process but would like to know a bit more before I attempt my first one!  I'd like to at least let my daughter THINK I know what I'm doing!  :)

Thanks so much for any information on the folding, attaching, etc concept of lapbooking!  I can see where it would be not only fun for my daughter but also a terrific teaching tool!

Mary

I thought there were probably other people that had the same questions, so I told her I would answer it here.  After wracking my brain over the best way to show the answer to Mary's questions I decided to put together a sample lapbook with red duct tape so it will be obvious how they are constructed.  Normally I use clear packing tape to put them together, which is why you can't see the tape in the pictures I post.

The first steps is to take a folder and open it flat on the table.  Then fold both sides into the middle and make it look like shutters on a window.

Once you have 2 folders folded into shutters as described above you can connect them like this:

Once you have the inside connected close your lapbook and reinforce the binding with tape like this:Remember normally you will be using clear packing tape. However, we have used color duct tape on the binding before if we have the right color.

How many of these can you connect? The most we have ever done is 5.  For most lapbooks we seem to use 3. 

How to fold them up for storage will kind of be obvious once you have your lapbook constructed.  It will just kind of fold in on itself the way it wants to! LOL

Another option for construction is to add flaps to either the top or bottom of your folder once it is shutter folded and connected to whatever folders you will attach it to. 

Here is a picture of a flap attached to the top:You will need a piece of tape on the inside.

And then fold it down and put another strip making a tape hinge of sorts.

You can also put these type of flaps at the bottom of the folder.We have some that have a flap on the top and the bottom of the same shutter folded folder.  We always make all our mini books first.  Then we lay them out and decide how many folder and flaps we will need in the construction phase of the lapbook.

I hope this information helps Mary!

Happy Homeschooling,

Jamin

P.S.  For some reason the blog template took out all my spacing on this post.  I really did make it look pretty before I posted it!  LOL  Sorry it looks so awful!

Weblink Wednesday with SoCalVAl

Since it is time for us to begin to teach our children about the importance of living in a country where you have a voice in who will be the next President, and since they are also hearing the criticism, I thought I would share this little bit of information.

Presidents and their Political Experience or Lack there of....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_Presidents_by_previous_executive_experience

Above all seek the Lord, Lean not on your on understanding and VOTE it is your RESPONSIBILTY not smply a Right you can ignore.

American Girl Lapbook- Felicity

Here is my daughters completed lapbook on Felicity!  This is the one we started last school year and then took a break from when we moved across country.  Somehow we never got back to it until now.

I am not going to put what we wrote in every booklet, but I will type up a few to give the general idea.  My daughter is 7 and can do part of the writing.  In the booklets that are more detailed she dictates the information to me and I write it in for her.

Cover:

Who is Felicity?: Felicity is a girl from Colonial Days.  She was a spunky, spirited girl growing up in Williamsburg VA right before the American Revolution.  She loves horses, lambs, dolls and her friend Elizabeth.

Felicity's World: Felicity lived in the 1770's.  This was before there was an United States of America.  Felicity lived in Williamsburg, VA a colony of England.  Felicity lived during the time of the Revolutionary War.  This was the war that made us The United States of America.

Inside folder two:
Fun Fact: Felicity's dolls name was - Susannah Maria Augusta Eliza Lucy Louise

Best Friends: Felicity's Best Friend is Elizabeth.  They like to play in the garden with their dolls and Felicity's lamb Posie.  Felicity is very brave, but Elizabeth is not.  Felicity is a Patriot and Elizabeth is a Loyalist. They love each other even though they have differences.

Inside folder 3:
House: Felicity's house was made of wood and bricks.  She slept in a chamber by herself.  They did not have a bathroom.  They had a "necessary" which was an outhouse.  For lights they would have used candles. Water would have been carried into the house from a well.  To get hot water they would heat it on the stove.  Felicity's family had a cook named Rose.  This means they were more wealthy than most and were probably considered the middling class.

Compare and Contrast: (Felicity & Me!)

Same:
We both like horses
We look similar
We both have siblings
We both like to spend time with friends
We both love our families

Different:
Felicity wears fancy dresses.  I wear pants, shorts, skirts and shirts.
Felicity lived long ago.  I live now.
Felicity learned how to serve tea at a special class.  I love tea parties!
Felicity owned horses and a lamb.  I have a dog and 2 cats.

Peek into the past according fold booklet:
Each of the books in the series have a Peek into the Past section in the back with information about the time period.  We picked a few things from the first book to go in our booklet.

Back of lapbook:
We ran out of space inside.  So we put these 2 mini books on the back of the folder.

Mother: Felicity's mother takes care of the house and the family.  She also teaches Felicity how to run a household someday.

Father: Felicity's father runs one of the finest stores in Williamsburg.  He is a Patriot.  he believes the colonies should be independent from the king.

You can find all the free printables to make a lapbook for ANY of the American Girls at the following link!

Egg-cellent!

Fireproof - The Movie

Tuesday with Tirzah

I have decided as Tirzah's Mission Trip gets closer and CLOSER, that I would spend Tuesdays (as long as I remember) sharing with you what God is doing.

Last week she sent out her Support Letter. If you would like to read it, it is here. It is hard to believe that the dates are coming up so quickly. If you would like to be her prayer partner please leave a comment on her blog or if you would like to help sponsor her, there is a donation button on her blog as well.

It is about the Prayer part I would like to write today. You see Tirzah is flying to Southern California ALL BY HERSELF, on Friday. She will be spending a week getting to know her team, discovering how to work together and seeking her place among them. Africa she is ready for, flying by herself has her a bit let's say freaked! So she really needs prayers for Peace. Her daddy could use them too. Like Tirzah, he was good with Rwanda, but Orange County, not so much.

Please pray for Traveling mercies for her.

Pray she connects easily with her Great Aunt Christy

Ask God to fill her heart and then her mouth with His Words

Pray God would remind her HE alone has called her

Pray that she would be a blessing to her team and they to her

Pray that they walk in the Spirit and not the flesh.

Ask God to fill her/them with HIS vision for Rwandans

Pray for her family as they prepare her to Go into all the World

Tirzah will be gone from The 5th to the 13th of Sept beginning to take the steps that will lead her on a Mission she has been preparing for all year. Can by can, bottle by bottle, gift by gift she is trusting God to bring her to Rwanda and to the AIDS Orphans she loves.

Thank you for joining us in prayer.

BFS Assignment #100 - Oh What a Feeling!

Memory Verse: Ephesians 4:19 KJV
Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

Assignment: Take time this week to write about YOU and your feelings of trials and triumphs with homeschooling.  Touch on when you first heard about the concept of home schooling and whether you tip-toed into the idea or just jumped in and never looked back.  Share your schooling as a child and how you compare it to what your goals are for your children.

 I went to many schools growing up; at least 12 different ones since my father was in the Marine Corp.  He spent 30 years in the Marines and when he retired we thought we'd finally get to live somewhere for more than a few years.  Shortly after retiring he felt the call to be a Minister, so we were back on the road again.  I loved learning, not necessarily school because I was always the 'new kid' and always got made fun of and laughed at because I couldn't remember our address or phone number.  I was a very sickly child and so I missed a lot of days at school but I loved learning whether I was at school or at home.  I always thought homeschooling would have been a path my parents chose because many times the whole family (7 children, 2 were foster kids) would be at the table working on school work and my mom was always working with us and teaching us things about home-keeping, cleaning, how-to's about this or that and my dad was always teaching us how to build, work on motors, we did lots of crabbing, shrimping, fishing, and gigging because we lived on the ocean.  I always felt like I had a pretty well-balanced lifestyle.  I was always the loner in school and I always wanted to go to college!  I was actually the only one that did go to college out of the children.  My dad went and I always wanted to go because he got to go.

Homeschooling -- I always knew it was an option.  My family knew another family that had 9 kids and they homeschooled.  I thought it was neet and knew from the time I was a teenager that I wanted to homeschool my children when I had them.  Due to some poor choices my first daughter didn't get that pleasure and my second daughter started homeschooling when she got into 6th grade.  I had her enrolled in public school but none of us were happy with it.  She had a terrible time with getting lost in the school, trying to catch the bus on time, remembering the combination to her locker, and deciphering which class to go to and when.  My second daughter also has Tourette's Syndrome, so that was another reason why I wanted to homeschool with her.  We spent the first year playing catch up with her and trying to get her up to speed with where she could work at ease.  After that she's been above her level in every subject except for Math...Hubby does Math with her, not me!  I do a lot of Math with her too, but this is his forte' so that's their bonding time!  We basically jumped head first into homeschooling after the experience of her being in Middle School for three weeks!

Our main goal in homeschooling Kelsey is to show her how God has a plan for her and to teach her to be a Godly young woman.  She loves doing her Bible study with us as a family but she loves to study alone in her room too.  We're very relaxed about scheduling, which I'll probably regret one day, but our life requires that we be more flexible with our scheduling.  We have all grown through homeschooling, which is what we love most about our chosen lifestyle.

My favorite verse that I had to constantly had to repeat when I first started homeschooling: 

Philippians 4:13 - I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.