Pics & Links

I'm trying to make up for my lack of writing on here for the past few weeks. It feels like it's been forever and I feel like a jerk. *hangs head shamefully* I know, I know- I need to write more! It's just been pretty crazy this past month and graduation is tomorrow!! After I'm done with Co-op classes and Senior Trip, things should be cooled down and I'll most definitely be posting more often. I've got a few ideas swirling around in my mind, but they're not exactly substantial enough to be put down on paper and take up more than a few lines, yet. However, I'm really hoping to write out a post on why I'm planning to be a Stay-at-Home Daughter and what I believe on the matter. I'm excited.

So to tide y'all over until I get my time back, and my inspiration, I'm going to give you some pictures from yesterday along with some links of the reading I've been doing.
By the way, I bought a new camera (in case you hadn't noticed), since my camera died while we were in France in December. Now that I have this new one, y'all can expect pleny more pictures! I'll try not to overwhelm you with them though.
Maybe I can get a 'What I'm Creating' post in next week....

My older sister, Miranda, is in town from Michigan. She came down this week for my graduation. :)

Thoughts about masculine leadership and femininity by Mrs. Anna T at Domestic Felicity reminds us what the true meaning of male headship and a woman's call to be submissive really looks like.

Lyla's getting so big! :) She makes my day with her 2 year-old crazy antics. Doesn't her hair look ridiculously cute when she wears braided pigtails? I'm always braiding her hair when she shows up over here and she's come to like it alot. Val says when she gets dressed in the morning, she points to the back of her head and says "Kirssy." to indicate the desired hairstyle.

That's my girl!

The Charlotte Mason List of Attainments was a really interesting list to read. I was amazed at some of the standards they had for kids way-back-when. I still can't do some of these! I'll definitely keep this for when I homeschool one day, as a reference for my own kids.

Val and Miranda being crazy. My sisters are weird... :)

On Saving Dollars and Sense, Kristie writes about Frugal Homeschooling. She reminds us that we don't have to break the bank to get an education!

Robert, Miranda, and Mitchell likely arguing. :P

I read Sarah Mae's Like a Warm Cup of Coffee frequently, but I especially loved her article on her Top 10 Writing Tips. She gives practical wisdom for any writer!

Therse are the result of Miranda and Mitchell chanting "Cookie! Cookie! Cookie!" every time I came out of my room. *sigh*

Have a blessed day!

Why We Do This: Homeschool

This post has been looming over me for the past few days. I had decided I would write this sometime last week, and after reading these posts my Jocelyn Baucham ( "I realize you're just parrotting what you've been taught." and The Harsh Truth ), I was even more inspired to do so.
Yet it's a hard topic to start off on, how am I supposed to introduce this? How do I present it without getting all tongue-tied and making my words unintelligible (which I tend to do when talking, thus the beauty of writing and editing :)?
I suppose I'll start out by agreeing with the words of Jasmine in saying that I don't believe that public school is a viable option for Christians.
Everyone gasp, faint, or otherwise react negatively to what I've just announced.
Just kidding... I hope. :D
I understand that in today's culture, public schooling is quite the popular choice in raising the next generation. While Mommy and Daddy are at work, we drop the kids off at the nearest school and leave them there for 8+ hours a day, five days a week.

My question is "When did our children become wards of the government, rather than our own blessings to teach and raise up?"

We send our kids to a school that has curricula that is decided on by the state and government- teaching them whatever they believe. First of all, I think we've all become aware of the fact that America is no longer a fully Bible-believing nation. It's ridiculous to think that they're going to get a Biblical education in a secular school. I hope you're not expecting that.

Yet that's where the problem lies. We're subjecting our children and teenagers to hours of indoctrination in an institution that teaches evolution, feminism, and socialism in many different forms. How do we expect the young people of this generation to see things from a Biblical standpoint when their constantly being spoonfed the opposite by the local school system?

"If we continue to send our children to Caesar for their education, we need to stop being surprised when they come home as Romans." -Dr. Voddie Baucham

I'm not saying that Christians can't rise up out of the public school system. I happen to know some fantastic public schoolers who are strong Christians in spite of the constant opposition. But this is the exception, not the rule.

If we don't give our children strong Biblical foundations, then we are letting them slip through the cracks. By sending them to public school, parents are spending more time having to unravel the lies that their children are being taught than they are teaching them more about God's word. If they're spending all their time fixing what they've been taught, when will they have the time to build on true biblical foundations.

This is why I'm a strong advocate for homeschool. Yahweh put parents as the head of families so that they could oversee the education of their children and that's what we should be doing, not sending them off to get an indifferent education that would much rather teach them lies than Truth.

He has ordained parents for this task. It's not a monumental hardship. Yes, I'm sure it's hard to be a homeschool parent, but it's worth it in the end.

Proverbs 22:6

Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.

Have a blessed day!

A Day in My Life

In response to my votes on my sidebar, I'm going to start writing more 'About Me' type articles. It appears y'all want to know more about me, so I'll oblige you by telling you about my day.

This morning I quickly got ready, after having risen late, and Dad said I could drive, so we headed to church in Mom's car (Dad has a stick shift and I'm not even going to attempt that). We had to stop by the bank and Wal-Mart on the way there as well, so we're halfway there when it starts to rain.
The windshield starts to get really hard to see through and I tell my Dad that I don't know how to turn on the windshield wipers and ask him to turn them on for me. Not to mention, the roads out of my neighborhood are very curvy and we just went by a policeman.
Dad reaches over and quickly admits he doesn't know how to use Mom's wipers, his are different. By now, we're starting to panic because I can't see the road and we don't want to die. Finally, Dad finds the little thing that makes the fluid spray onto the window and the wipers skim over it. He did that multiple times until I finally pull into the bank. Just as we get into the parking lot, he figures it out.
We get to church slightly late, but mostly on time.
Worship is great as usual and a woman in front of us compliments my singing, for which I thank her. Dad almost said it was him singing, not me. :P Kerri sits with me during service as Pastor Brad talks to us about prayer. It was a great sermon.
Then I head off to work with the toddlers in the nursery. I love those kids! I eat plenty of goldfish with them and blow bubbles for them. I try to teach some how to blow the bubbles, but most din't understand the concept of blowing. They think they are supposed to eat the wand. A few figure it out and are terribly excited when they see the bubbles they make.
When we finished, I head over with Kerri to Upgrade (our youth group's leader's meeting for the student leaders, adult leaders, and interns). We sit in the front row with Kelli, Lillian, and Danae.
After I finish the chicken sandwhich they provide from Wendy's, I pull out my knitting. I'm making my mom a full-sized blanket for her birthday, which is tomorrow so I have to use all my free time to finish it up.
Megan comments that I'm a knitting machine because everytime she sees me, I'm knitting something different. Some ask how long I've been working on it. "I started it Wednesday night." I answer. They look shocked then say, "Oh, she's a homeschooler, that's why." And go on to say that that's all I've been doing, which is incorrect. I tell them I just do it while I do other things.

After Upgrade, Lillian takes me home and I eat cake for Mom's birthday.
At one point, I go outside to talk to my Dad and Mitchell follows me out shortly afterward. I mess with the pool brush while Dad goes over to put the Polaris (the pool cleaner) back into the pool. In order to do so, he has to crouch down and stick his arm into the water so he can hook it into the edge of the pool. He tells Mitchell not to push him in, because we are all notorious for pushing each other into the water when other family members stand near it.
Mitchell proceeds in standing close enough to make Dad nervous. Nervous enough not to notice me coming around. I sneak around and quickly shove him with my foot (which ended up more like a kick because I was so afraid he was going to grab my leg and pull me in too). He landed with a splash in the pool.
My brother and I crack up laughing and I run inside, afraid he'll try to get me back. He ends up going around through the garage and change. It was a great memory! He's the first in the pool in the year 2009! Usually my brother or myself are the first to be pushed in. I count this as victory!
Afterwards, I spend some time on the computer and then watch most of End of the Spear, which made me cry.
I then go to Small Groups. These are held at my friend Sarah's house. I'm the first one there so I talk to her little sister, Angela, before she heads of to Rainbows at church. She's so animated! It makes me laugh so hard when I talk to her.
Small Groups was fun. Bridgette tells me that she feels like I am her grandma when she walks in and sees me knitting. I laugh and tell her that I just might be her grandma.
I am asked again about when I started the blanket and the same series of events that occurred in Upgrade happens once again. We all talk and laugh through our time there and head home.
I then finish End of the Spear and finish off the book I've been reading, Fight Like a Girl by Lisa Bevere.
Now I'm here, posting this post.
Hope that wasn't too boring for y'all. I thought I'd give you a glimpse into my life today. I'm going to try to start posting more on myself and not just the lessons. I want to keep y'all interested.
Plus funny things tend to happen in my family, such as the pool story or how I accidentally cooked way too much rice and it came out looking like mashed potatoes. :P We have a crazy family, but I love them!
Let me know what you think!
Have a blessed day!

10 Great Reasons to Read

I absolutely adore reading. It's one of my favorite things to do. Maybe that's partially because I'm an aspiring writer, but I think there are plenty of reasons for anyone to read.
Alot of teens don't enjoy reading so they just don't "waste their time" doing so. I hope this will change a few minds on their No Reading rule!

1.Reading takes you to new world and new places that you will never be able to see any other way.
-Face it, they haven't made a movie out of every book just yet. And haven't you heard people exclaim, "This is nowhere near as good as the book!" If a movie is made out of a book then you can pretry much be assured that the book is way better.

2. When you read the special effects are better, there's no bad acting, and you decide what each character looks like.
-No more cheesy special effects that make the dragon look like an overweight lizard. No more woman who makes you laugh during the serious part because she looks like she's not really in a bad situation. Your mind chooses what everything looks like, with a little help from the author, and it becomes a better ride overall.

3. Reading expands your knowledge of the world around you.
-Educational reading teaches you things no one else would have bothered to teach you. Find a book on something you want to know more about and you suddenly have a lot more interesting subjects in your mind that you can use later in life.

4. Reading helps you do better in school.
-Whether you are homeschooled or currently enrolled in a public or private school, reading will help you do better at it. The more you read the more your vocabulary will expand, the better you'll get at spelling, the better you'll get at writing, and the faster you'll get at reading.

5. If you're homeschooled, whatever you read can be added in to your curriculum.
-So even if you're reading for fun, it can be counted as something for school that helped better your education. I think that's pretty awesome.

6. Reading helps you grow in your faith.
`Whether it's fiction or not, there are so many authors that have written books that will help you cultivate your faith and help you shape what you believe. Christian bookstores are the best for this, as I don't usually trust the Christian section at secular stores.

7. Reading doesn't require anything except a book and your mind.
-It's not battery operated and you don't have to have power to do it. When the lights go out, you can still read if you have a flashlight or even a candle. It doesn't shut off or have a power surge at any point in time.

8.Reading about someone else's life allows you to step into their shoes and take a walk for a day.
-You experience what the main character or author experienced and feel how they feel. For just a little while, you're not you anymore- you get to be an entirely different person.

9.Reading will help you do better in life.
-When you read you can glean things that help you to when you are older. Whether it's in your future career or a situation you randomly end up in one day, it might help you be a little bit more prepared than you would have been.

10.Reading is beneficial to you.
-For all the reasons listed above and many more. When you cultivate a passion for reading, it will help you for years to come. So crack those books and get going!

Those are my 10 reasons as to why it's great to read. I'm sure you can think of plenty more. Be sure to let me know if you think of any more, because I'd be glad to hear them.

Warning: Like I said, books can shape your mind and point of view, so be careful in what you read and make sure it lines up with God's Word. Don't lelt your mind be changed by what Satan wants you to believe. One helpful tip is to make sure your parents approve of the things you are reading. God put them in your life as your guide. Take advantage of that.

[Picture compliment of Google Images]

Have a blessed day!

Dallas Daytime Curfew

Dallas is looking at setting up a new daytime curfew for teenagers. Already the curfew for teens says we're not allowed to be out from 11pm to 6am during the week, and on Fridays and Saturdays it's changed from 11 to 12.
Their proposal would add the hours 9am to 2:30pm to the time when teens are told to stay indoors and at school. For breaking this curfew, the police have the right to question you, take you back to school (or home, I suppose), and slap you with a $500 fine.
As far as I can tell from what I've read, homeschoolers won't be fully prosecuted. Instead we will have to go to court to prove that we are, in fact, enrolled in a home school.
My question, as is the question of many others, is- When did it become illegal to go outside??
We're told that they are wanting to set this up because about 1/5 of burglaries and crimes committed were done by teenagers, and mostly during school hours.
So why not add to the truancy laws? Why make some teens pay for the sins of others?
Angela Hunt of the Dallas City Council argues well for the the teens of Dallas. Here's what she had to say:

If our idea is 'Let's get people off the street who might commit burglaries, or might commit criminal acts- I've got an idea guys. Let's put down a law, that is a daytime and a nighttime curfew, for men.

I agree. When did we start targetting those who might commit criminal acts, rather than those who actually are? They talk about this new system being a win/win for everyone. There's less crime for the city of Dallas and more kids in school, so the district gets more money.
Someone seems to have forgotten that there is such thing as a homeschooler, but we didn't. There are actually a group of homeschoolers that has been protesting these laws on the Dallas strees. Keep it up guys! Don't give up!
When did teens become the enemy? Like Ms. Hunt said- Why aren't men being locked up as well?- Because that would be an encroachmetn on liberty. How is that different for us. I agree with Dallas mom, Ann Gebhart, as we are told she says by Melissa Cutler of Fox News:

"She thinks local government is overstepping its bounds, and is exerting a blatant attempt on parental rights and freedoms."

The official voting for this to be passed is on April 22nd.
This is pretty close to my home. While I don't think it directly affects me where I live, if we don't step up and cry out against it now- my town may choose to do the same as it's neighboring city. I'm not okay with that and I know the home-schoolers in Dallas aren't either.
Have a blessed day!

[Image compliment of CBS 11 News]

Sources/Related Articles:

• Dallas Daytime Curfew Debated by City Council by Stephanie Lucero of CBS 11 News
• Juvenile Curfew May Be Expanded by Melissa Cutler of Fox News
• Dallas Looking at Daytime Curfew by Dana Hanley of Principled Discovery