Ode to Green Smoothies

To answer a question that Amy asked in a comment left to a prior post:
When I make smoothies, I don't peel my green apples. I cut the apple into chunks or slices, depending on my mood. I do remove the core, though! There's nothing more disgusting than the tough part of an apple core, and some seeds can make a smoothie bitter. I sometimes add about a half cup of water or pineapple juice. Sometimes I don't, though. I use a big carrot to push everything down instead. If the carrot gets nicked from the blade in the blender, it's no big deal, it just means I have a bit of carrot in my smoothie. I don't add any honey. Extra pineapple and banana makes it sweeter. When I need it extra sweet, I add as much as an entire half of a pineapple --I buy the already peeled whole ones in plastic containers at the grocery store; it costs the same as an entire pineapple that hasn't been peeled ($5). I add LOTS of greens to mine - 6 huge leaves of green leaf lettuce plus a handful of spinach, or, if I'm trying to wean myself back to the diet, I'll buy the bagged baby greens and throw in the whole bag, since I can't use the to-lazy-to-rinse excuse to forego my green smoothie. They say that variety is best - you should vary the kinds of greens you use, maybe using lettuce and kale one week, lettuce and spinach the next week, etc.

The following article has been passed around quite a bit lately on health message boards, and has spurred a lot of interest in green smoothies. Alissa Cohen, who was recently on Good Morning America promoting a raw diet, said that starting your day with a green smoothie for breakfast is the single most beneficial change you can make to your diet.

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Ode to Green Smoothies

by Victoria Boutenko
http://www.rawfamily.com/articles.htm
http://www.rawfamily.com/articles/odetogreen.pdf

As the Russian proverb says: New -- is something old, that has been long forgotten. This summer I re-discovered green smoothies. What do I mean by green smoothie? Here is one of my favorite recipes: 4 ripe pears, 1 bunch of parsley and 1 big cup of water. Blended well. This smoothie looks very green, but it tastes like fruit. I like green smoothies so much that I bought an extra blender and placed it in my office, so that I could make green smoothies throughout the day. More than half of all the food I've had in last several months have been green smoothies. I have so much more energy and clarity that I have removed green juices from my diet. (Juicing has been something that I've been doing regularly for years.) Green smoothies have numerous benefits for human health.

Green smoothies are very nutritious. I believe that the ratio in them is optimal for human consumption: about 60% - ripe organic fruit mixed with about 40% - organic green vegetables.

Green smoothies are easy to digest. When blended well, all the valuable nutrients in these fruits and veggies become homogenized, or divided into such small particles that it becomes easy for the body to assimilate these nutrients, the green smoothies literally start to get absorbed in your mouth.

Green smoothies, as opposed to juices, are a complete food because they still have fiber.

Green smoothies belong to the most palatable dishes for all humans of all ages. With a ratio of fruits to veggies as 60:40 the fruit taste dominates the flavor, yet at the same time the green vegetables balance out the sweetness of the fruit, adding nice zest to it. Green smoothies are simply the best tasting dishes for the majority of adults and children. I always make extra smoothie and offer it to my friends and customers. Some of them eat a standard American diet. They all finished their big cup of green smoothies with complements. They were quite surprised that something so green could taste so nice and sweet.

By consuming two or three cups of green smoothies daily you will consume enough of greens for the day to nourish your body, and they will be well assimilated. Many people do not consume enough of greens, even those who stay on a raw food diet. The molecule of chlorophyll has only one atom that makes it different from a molecule of human blood. According to teachings of Dr. Ann Wigmore, to consume chlorophyll is like receiving a healthy blood transfusion.

Green smoothies are easy to make, and quick to clean up after. Many people told me that they do not consume green juices on a regular basis because it is time consuming to prepare green juices and clean the equipment after juicing, or to drive to the juice bar.

Green smoothies are perfect food for children of all ages, including babies of six or more months old when introducing new food to them after mother's milk. Of course you have to be careful and slowly increase the amount of smoothies to avoid food allergies.

When you consume your greens in the form of green smoothies, you can greatly reduce the consumption of oils and salt in your diet.

Regular consumption of Green smoothies forms a good habit of eating greens. Several people told me that after a couple of weeks of drinking green smoothies, they started to crave and enjoy eating more greens. Eating enough of green vegetable is often a problem with many people, especially in children.

Green smoothies can easily be freshly made at any juice bar, restaurant or health food store for the great convenience of health-oriented customers.

I encourage the readers of this article to start playing with green smoothies, and to discover the many joys and benefits of this wonderful delicious and nutritious addition to the menu.

(See website for specific suggestions and recipe ideas for green smoothies!)

What I'm Listening To

The guys took off, they went to a costume store to buy boots for their Narnia costumes, and, with Halloween so close, I don't want Miss M exposed to the scary things they have in the store. So we stayed home, looked at books, ate (she insisted, 'I want to do it myself.' I said, 'Can you say in-dee-pen-dant?' and she did!) and now we're listening to music.

I made a compilation of upbeat, fun songs to play with Miss M on the rare occassions that I want to hear something other than classical music. I used all songs that I never get tired of. Richie Furay used to be in the 70's band Poco, and my favorite band, the short-lived Souther Hillman Furay band. Then he became a Christian, and now pastors a Calvary Chapel-ish church in Colorado. He released an album of Christian music a few years ago, and it's almost the only Christian music that I don't get tired of. I keep waiting for another album, but I guess he retired from music. I have enough James Taylor songs to make me think that I really ought to spend some time discovering the rest of his music. All I know are his pop hits.

Anyway, Miss M loves the music. She can dance to these. And she does! :)

01 Everyday - James Taylor
02 Give Thanks To The Lord - Richie Furay
03 Hele On To Kauai - Israel Kamakawiwo'ole
04 Whenever I See Your Smiling Face - James Taylor
05 Home - Karla Bonoff
06 Hawaiian Rollercoaster - Lilo and Stitch soundtrack
07 Hallel - Richie Furay
08 Up On The Roof - James Taylor
09 Lei Hana I Ka Makani Ualau'awa (a chant) - Keali'i Reichel
10 Wake Up My Soul - Richie Furay
11 He Mele No Lilo - Lilo and Stitch soundtrack
12 E Ala E - Israel Kamakawiwo'ole
13 Peace That Passes All Understanding - Richie Furay
14 Pupu A'o 'Ewa (Pearly Shells) - Keali'i Reichel
15 You've Got a Friend - James Taylor
16 Aloha O'e - Lilo and Stitch soundtrack
17 Ulili E - Israel Kamakawiwo'ole
18 Lahainaluna - Keali'i Reichel (sounds like the Makaha Sons in the background)
19 If He's Ever Near - Karla Bonoff
20 Kamalani - Israel Kamakawiwo'ole
21 E Pili Mai - Keali'i Reichel
22 Falling - Karla Bonoff

I might have included a Jackson Browne song (I could easily have used Everywhere I Go for this particular collection), Julie Andrews songs from musicals, and songs by Lamb. And Uptown Girl by Billy Joel, Top of the World by The Carpenters, Paper Roses by Marie Osmond, Drums of the Island by the Makaha Sons, Heartache Tonight by the Eagles, Silver Threads and Golden Needles by Linda Ronstadt, a couple of Hall and Oates songs. Maybe I need to start a second collection!

Getting Back on the Diet

I'm still struggling to resist cravings and stick to the diet I feel best on. So, I'm resorting to psychological tactics. I find that, at times like this, what I'm really wanting is protein (especially chicken!) and salt. I can't resist chips and meat meals. So, I'm starting by giving in. I bought chicken - lots of it, pesticide-free, both dark and white meat, and I wrapped it in foil and baked it. I start with the dark meat, since that seems to be what tastes best, and I salt it well. It's delicious and just what I want! But then, after the second or third piece, I remember why I stopped eating dark meat. It's fatty and really gross! So then I switch to white meat, still well salted. In the meantime, I continue to make green smoothies and eat them throughout the day. By the second day, I start to remember that white meat isn't as good as I always anticipate in the midst of cravings. It's really dry. By then, my cravings are subsiding and I'm getting really sick of chicken. And from that point, it's no problem sticking to the diet. I usually still have a little chicken left over to fall back on if I start craving again. By the third day, I'm eating the last piece of chicken, but not enjoying it.

For a 'wannabe' vegan, it's a disgusting cure. But it does seem to work, and I console myself by telling myself that my body could probably use the extra dense protein from time to time. And J, who also loves and craves chicken, never seems to mind helping me eat the chicken. ;)

Freedom of Religion

Don't read our Constitution, friend,
Lest you should recall
Our history--which is, you know,
Unconstitutional.

Mention not the name of God
Nor speak of your religion:
This our Fathers clearly made
A breach of Separation.

Nor our motto nor our pledge
Are we allowed to say,
But (minus Christianity)
God bless the USA!

Vacation's Over

Miss Roxie went home, and now it's back to work, back to the mundane routine (which includes school), and back to the diet. So far I'm not doing so good with that last part. I only usually do a little bit of walking on the treadmill, but even that fell by the wayside this week. And it's hard getting back to the diet routine. I've been doing a raw diet this year, hoping to increase my energy and feel less stiff (old age creeping up, no doubt!) I have this theory that, if the diet is predominantly unprocessed produce in a natural state, the body will be better able to handle a few indiscretions. Generally, I eat a LOT of "green smoothies." They're basically fruit smoothies with some leafy greens thrown into the blender. So the smoothie has those vital leafy greens, but tastes like a fruit smoothie. And there's very little chopping, so it's easier than making a salad.

This week, I put my theory to the test. I started my days with green smoothies, but by evening, I was having chicken, salmon, Thai noodles, popcorn, even chocolate cake. I feel pretty good in spite of a week of that, but it's hard going back. I'd forgotten to factor in cravings! And now it's cold, and a chicken and potato casserole sounds so much more appealing than a green smoothie.

Good Reading

The Common Room has some interesting posts today. There's one on the politics of book banning and related censorship of ideas, a post that includes part of a GI's letter that was censored out of the liberal news media (you need to read it!), and a post about the state of higher education that will interest homeschoolers.

New Lenses

After all those 2am nights with the visiting Miss Roxie, I slept in this morning. Miss M was up before me. After playing by herself for a few minutes, she came up to the bed and and said, "Here you go, Mommy, here you go!" and she handed me my contact lens case. Whew, I thought -- I'm glad she handed it to me before she got it open!

Then I opened it and discovered that she had handed it to me after she had gotten it open. This is all I found in the left compartment of the case:

They're gas permeable rigid lenses, and I have no idea where the rest of the lens is. I spent the morning at the eye doctor's, getting a new pair of contact lenses.

I Made a Cloak!

I started with a pattern online. I've made these for Tim and his brothers, and then Miss Roxie and I made three, and then it dawned on me - by making the hood neck bigger and gathering it to fit the neck of the cloak, I could make a better looking hood. So I tried it on a cloak I made for myself. I also made an extra quarter of a circle which I added to the half circle that the pattern calls for so that my cloak is a 3/4 circle. I added a trim around the hood made of the same fabric as the cloak (forest green fleece) and that made it stiff enough not to flop so much when I put the hood up. It ties with a shoe-lace secured inside the seam where the hood meets the cloak.

I made one for Miss M, too, but she wasn't patient enough to pose in hers.



Just a reminder - I don't sew, I can't make pattern pieces fit. But this is an easy project that even I could do. The only sewing required is stitching the two pieces of the hood together, and then attaching it to the cloak. If you use fleece or some other fabric that doesn't unravel, you won't even need to hem it. The cloak itself is just a half circle with a small half-circle cut out for the neck. A half circle for an adult cloak takes 3 1/2 yards of 60" fabric. The hood is cut from the scraps.

Miss M's cloak and hood were from less than a yard of fleece.

The Water Cure

A cure-all for everything. The theory goes that many of our ailments are caused by unrecognized dehydration. The Water Cure (or here) is free.

The Water Cure Recipe:

Drink 1/2 your body weight of water in ounces, daily. 110 pounds would drink 55 ounces of water. Use 1/4 tsp. of sea salt (not table salt, which is depleted of necessary minerals) per quart of water. Use salt liberally with food. As long as you drink the water, you can use the salt. Avoid caffeinated or alcoholic drinks. These are diuretics and will dehydrate you.

New Game

A variation of the "[Your Name] Needs" game. This is the "[Your Name] Hates" game. Mama Squirrel suggested it.

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Tim's Mom hates to cook. She knows how, She just hates it.
(I hate to cook. I don't really know how, either)

Tim's Mom Hates: Humidity
(There are worse things than humidity)

Tim's Mom hates most software.
(Not *most* software, just most software updates)

Tim's Mom HATES the idea of returning to the house that held so many horrid memories and having to be near his sister.
(Wow! Sounds like a story behind this one!)

Tim's Mom hates Dave Matthews.
(I have no opinion of Dave Matthews; people I respect like him, so he must be okay!)

Tim's Mom hates being interrupted
(not as much as I hate being misunderstood)

Tim's Mom hates the Running game
(true, I'm not very athletic!)


Tim's Mom hates the way her pantry smells of old potatoes, ginger and Campbell’s Tomato Soup.
(?)

Tim's Mom hates her printer and suggests we don't order anymore.
(but I love my new laser printer!)

Tim's Mom hates when I sing
(depends on who "I" is)

Tim's Mom hates our mice; they give her a great deal of trouble when she cleans cages And such.
(I think mice are cute)

Tim's Mom hates to have even the slightest bit of visible light in the room when she is sleeping.
(I sleep with a night light . . .)

Tim's Mom hates it when people stare at her
(Yes, this is true!)

Tim's Mom loves to act, but Karen is chosen for the lead. Now Tim's Mom hates the play
(I can accept that Karen was right for the part . . .)

I was afraid to tell Tim's Mom about my idea because Tim's Mom hates panel discussions.
(?)

Faerie

I am happy right now. Not with a buoyant, flippant happiness, but more like what Lewis called Joy: I feel like one on the borders of Faerie--in the midst of an adventure, with the whole world under an enchantment. Every tree and leaf, the clouds in the sky, the fire in the fireplace, they all border on that realm. "Faerie...holds the seas, the sun, the moon, the sky; and the earth, and all things that are in it: tree and bird, water and stone, wine and bread, and ourselves, mortal men, when we are enchanted." The feeling--Joy--is not "satisfying," but it is deep and piercing. No one who had once entered faeryland would ever want to leave.

I think I can understand to a point the Romantic or the Pagan. This enchantment of the natural world instills all things with a little bit of the reality of their Creator; and if the Creator is not recognized, why not worship His sacredness revealed in nature?

This enchantment is not a bad thing. We live in what we call the "real" world, by which we mean stock-markets, football games, public relations departments, laundromats, and all the surpassing reality of the material world. But these things are not real. They sit like a film on the deeps of reality, and will pass away in a moment. The truly real is something far higher and deeper.

The realm of Faerie is in the Real World. We glimpse it sometimes from far off upon its borders. Its beauty haunts our greatest tales. But its reality is too great for most of us. There are tales of those who have entered that realm, but you notice that it is the widow's son or the poor young fool--never a stockbroker. He is too engrossed in the "real world" to be taken in by anything so Real as the enchantment of Faerie. We, too, are usually too engrossed with the "real world". If we stood face to face with an elf, we would be overwhelmed by his solid reality. It would break us like the sea breaks a wooden pier.

Let us by all means live in the real world, but let us choose our reality wisely. This world is ephemeral--let us live for the Real World beyond this. Because, in the end, what will there be but that?


Suggested reading: G.K. Chesterton, J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Beowulf, King Arthur, Fairy Tales (especially the Celtic ones--not Hans Christian Anderson)

No More Family Flix

Family Flix is no longer going to be editing movies to remove objectionable content to make them suitable for family viewing:

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After 5 years of providing our customers with the highest editing standards in the industry, we regretfully have decided to close Family Flix.

With Hollywood's arrogance and billions of dollars they've generated through consumer purchases, the studios and producers have legally tried to stop you from viewing content in a manner that supports your standards. They claim you have absolutely no right to purchase something you paid hard earned dollars for and hire a service such as Family Flix to remove content you deem inappropriate. Their response is, "If you don't like it, don't watch it."

If you find this to be utterly disturbing like the thousand's of consumers that support what we believe is a First Amendment Right, you need to take Hollywood's advice and "don't watch it".

In the near future, we will be actively engaging in a movement that Hollywood recommends, the "Don't like it, don't watch it" campaign. We will be spreading the word to millions throughout the United States to take back our TV's and theatres.

We know through recent polls conducted by CBS and affiliates that if Americans have a choice, many would prefer not to have Hollywood force what they call "art" down our throats.

It is our intention to follow Hollywood's advice of "don't like it, don't watch it", and go one step further by creating the largest motion picture studio outside of Hollywood. We will be creating blockbuster films with top-level actors. Films you'll love, but won't have to cover your children's eyes or ears, or as an adult, not having to be subjected to someone else's low standards.

We believe it's time to actively pursue the real issues instead of the "band-aid" we've been placing by editing consumer owned copies of movies. The future of entertainment is about to change and you can be part of it!

Thanks for the many years of support.

Sincerely,
Richard & Sandra Teraci
Family Flix

A High School Plan

A friend of mine started Ambleside Online late and is trying to "catch up" with her daughter, who's in high school. She's done a couple of Years with AO, mixing and matching to try and use what her daughter missed from previous Years, but that was getting too complicated as she started the high school years. So we sat down and went through the various AO/HEO booklists, and this is what we came up with. Her daughter loves Shakespeare, so it's heavy in that area. :)

(For another look at a high school plan, see AO's "Plan B" - a lightened load of AO books for students who need less books. Year 7, Year 8, Year 9 and Year 10 are available, and each has a 36-week schedule. This is what I plan to use with J. Keola, my middle son. Year 11 will be done after T. Kekoa, my oldest son, finishes year 11's books in June 2007.)

high school credit system (21 credits) [click here]

Ninth Grade
2005-2006 (Revolution) Look at Year 4/9 for more book options
US History - Continue on with TCOO until completed at the end of next year
World History - Story of Mankind by Van Loon ch 44-52 (Religious Warfare-French Revolution)
Biography - Abigail Adams Witness to a Revolution
Poor Richard by James Daugherty
Literature - Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes?
Age of Fable (mythology)
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Irving
Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving
Poetry - Phyllis Wheatley 1753-1784, the slave poet, Alexander Pope, William Cowper 1731- 1800, important as the voice of the Evangelical revival, Lord Byron
Shakespeare - Twelfth Night, Macbeth, Pericles Prince of Tyre, Richard II, Hamlet Prince of Denmark
Geography - The Complete Book of Marvels
Nature - Wild Animals I Have Known by Ernest Thompson Seton
Economics - Whatever Happened to Penny Candy by Richard Maybury
Worldview - C.S. Lewis: Mere Christianity
Add math, science (Apologia), Foreign language

Tenth Grade
2006-2007 (1800's) Look at year 5/10 for more book options
US History - This Country of Ours ch 64-99
World History - Story of Mankind ch 53-71 (Napoleon-WWI)
Biography - Booker T. Washington's Up From Slavery
The Story of My Life by Helen Keller
Literature - Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham?
Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
Silas Marner by George Eliot
Poetry - Samuel Coleridge, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Robert Browning, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walt Whitman, Percy Bysse Shelly, Thomas Hood
Shakespeare - Henry V, Merchant of Venice, Winter's Tale, Comedy of Errors, Richard III
Geography - Eothen, by Alexander Kinglake
Nature - Walden by Henry David Thoreau
Economics - Are You Liberal, Conservative, Confused? by Richard Maybury AND Essays by Jane Haldimand Marcet (online)
Worldview - The Deadliest Monster by Jeff Baldwin
Add math, science (Apologia), Foreign language

Eleventh Grade
2007-2008 Look at Year 6/11 for more book options (WWII and Modern era, and a term of ancient history)
World History - Story of Mankind ch 62-end
Third term - Story of the Greeks by H. A. Guerber
Third term - Story of the Romans by H. A. Guerber OR, possibly do Tales of Troy
Biography - Galileo and the Magic Numbers by Sidney Rosen
Literature - I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed) by Alessandro Manzoni
Poetry - Edna St. Vincent Millay, Carl Sandburg, WH Auden?
Shakespeare - King Henry VIII, Merry Wives of Windsor, Triolus and Cressida, Timon of Athens, Cymbelline
Grammar - Grammar: Our Mother Tongue: An Introductory Guide to English Grammar by Nancy Wilson
Geography - The World: Travels 1950-2000 by Jan Morris
Nature - The Sea Around Us by Rachael Carson
Economics - Whatever Happened to Justice, by Richard Maybury AND I, Pencil, a short essay by Leonard Read (online)
Worldview - Seven Men Who Rule the World from the Grave by David Breese
Add math, science (Apologia), Foreign language

Twelfth Grade
2009-2010 Look at Year 2/7 for more book options (Middle Ages)
World History - need a book
Biography - The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey
Joan of Arc by Mark Twain?
Literature - Watership Down by Richard Adams
The Once and Future King by T. H. White, ONLY Books 1 and 2
Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott
A Taste of Chaucer by Anne Malcolmson
add any free reading books from Year 7
Poetry - anyone who was missed from previous lists, OR use an anthology
Language Arts/Writing - The Elements of Style, by Strunk and White?
Shakespeare - Coriolanus, Love's Labor Lost, Julius Caesar, Two Gentlemen of Verona, King Lear, Romeo and Juliet
Geography - The Brendan Voyage by Tim Severin AND How the Heather Looks by Joan Bodger
Nature - The Life of the Spider by Fabre
Economics - Evaluating Books: What Would Thomas Jefferson Think About This? by Richard Maybury
Worldview - choose from AO/HEO years 9-12
Add math, science (Apologia), Foreign language

What Do I Need?

My best friend is in town, so I'm not spending much time at the computer. We met online and we had lots more in common than the list topic. Our friendship has outlasted our interest in that list. We stayed up late one night eating sushi and cake, listening to a new Jackson Browne CD for the first time together, but talked through it and never really heard it. We shopped for books, threw a party, sewed a cloak, took a late walk under a full moon with all four of my kids. In fact, we saw a falling star on that walk. We all saw it. I guess you could say I'm doing more doing than blogging! But I saw this and thought it looked fun:

Stealing from BetsyPage's blog... Google "" needs" and see what comes up...

I did google in my name, I didn't google in "Tim's Mom. But since that's how I post, I'll type that in place of My name.

(Tim's mom) needs to poke Thomas but will not have a chance before the business meeting
(Tim's mom) needs a family with a strong support network
(Tim's mom) needs to take another look.
(Tim's mom) needs people like you to do some meaningful
all (Tim's mom) needs is love and support
(Tim's mom) needs a one or two parent family
(Tim's mom) Needs to Hear it
(Tim's mom) needs to find a place in Paula's life where she does

I don't know why, but I find those really funny!

Things I've Learned Recently

Socks come out of the laundry in odd numbers.

You shouldn't recite Shakespeare while riding the lawnmower unless you actually want to be hoarse for the next two days.

Reading until 3:00 a.m. produces undesirable effects the next morning.

Writing until 3:00 a.m. produces similarly undesireable effects.

If there's a bad guy, shoot him. (Courtesy of Bonanza.)

My brother and I are on different sides. I root for the Greeks and he roots for the Trojans.

No matter how much foam there is on the PVC lightsaber, if it hits your knuckles, IT HURTS!

There are three necessities for prop-making: PVC, duct tape, and superglue. Cardboard and dowel are pluses.

There are three necessities for driving with a baby: juice, cookies, and crackers. And cereal is never amiss.

When you are trying get a poem written, the best thing you can do is sit down and write. You will never get anything written otherwise.

And finally, once you have sat down to write said poetry, do not get distracted and write a blog post.

I'm Kanga

Take the 100 Acre Personality Quiz!

Does the Constitution Create a Wall of Separation?

I've been wrestling with the question of "the separation clause" today. I looked at a few different websites, but the most notable ones were:

http://members.tripod.com/~candst/art4piii.htm
This one got me thinking. They maintain that the spirit of separation is alluded to all over the Constitution even if the words themselves aren't there. At first glance, it looked pretty convincing, but when I read it more closely, the very quotes from the letters and documents displayed to prove an original intent to keep church and state separate, seemed weak. If anything, the letters showed that removing any vestige of religion from the government was surely never the intent of the writers.

http://razorskiss.net/wp/index.php?p=17
This is a legaliese word study of the Constitution. I braced myself for some new insights that would convincingly prove that separation was always the intent, but I got through a portion of it and their arguments seemed really weak, they were making a better case for the other side . . . and then it slowly dawned on me as I was reading that the website wasn't trying to prove separation, but was trying to show that it's impossible to read separation into the First Amendment as it's written. Oh well, I guess I can say I saw both sides.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/707590/posts
This is the comment section of a conservative site. I'm guessing it's a conservative site, I didn't look at any page except the comments, which turned into a back-and-forth bickering about whether the wall of separation is legitimate or not. Near the bottom is an interesting post that says it doesn't matter what the Constitution says because, in 1804, Chief Justice John Marshall changed the US from a Constitutional Republic to a Judicial Fiat in the Marbury vs Madison case. That means that the Constitution says whatever the judges say it says, the document is meaningless because it's only the fluid, living document in the minds of the judges that counts. I plan to think a little more about that one.

Anyway, that's how I spent my Saturday. I can think of a few other things I'd rather have been doing besides reading about politics.

And my conclusion? That whatever preconceived conclusion you bring into this issue can be proved pretty convincingly either way, although the straight data taken by itself indicates more strongly that removing religion was the last thing on the minds of the writers of the Constitution. But if you want to believe that it was intended, there's a good case to be made. Too good to be convinced otherwise by arguments from the other side.

Sibling Rivalry

For anyone expecting a second child, the Headmistress at the Common Room has a nice post about avoiding sibling rivalry with a new baby. Like her post about dealing with doctors who want to use their status as an authority figure to pressure moms about non-medical parenting, this deserves to be widely read.

And, while I'm at it, I might as well link to her post about general parenting, too. :)

And one about socialization.

Uncle Tom's Cabin

I've been reading along in this book with Tim as he does it with his Year 10 Ambleside Online school schedule. I got halfway through it and then stayed up til 2am last night to see how it ended up.

Was it worth it? Was it great? Not a disappointment?

Yes, it was worth it. It's a great book, I think. I know nothing of literary devices, but it seemed to me that this book used them all well, I enjoyed getting to know the characters (except Simon Legree) and the story was an interesting and effective vehicle to get the author's opinions across. I was not disappointed (and you won't be either, Miss Roxie. :)

I knew that Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote the book as a platform to have her say about the institution of slavery. I expected the book to be a thin disguise for her political opinions. I didn't expect a really good story with unforgettable characters. I didn't expect it to be really good literature. But it was! (at least, to my uneducated mind.) I don't understand why the book isn't read more widely any more, it's politically correct and not a difficult read. I can only assume that it has too much Christianity (and maybe old fashioned sentiment?) to be considered useful today. Just a guess.

It reminded me a little bit of parts of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, where Mark Twain makes you see slavery from the eyes of the oppressed.

(Does that answer your question?)

Wasn't That Sweet?

Last week we had some friends over and I heated up some canned vegetarian baked beans for dinner. All the excitement of playing, though, made the kids not very hungry, which meant all those beans didn't get eaten.

This afternoon, I decided to use up those beans by having them tonight. I told the boys we'd be having baked beans instead of the other thing I had originally planned and they were all for it. But then they got hungry before I was quite ready to get dinner together. In a rare moment of self-initiated service, one son decided to be supremely helpful and get dinner started all by himself. So he got out some dishes and the bread and butter . . . and opened up a can of beans!

LOL! So we still have leftover baked beans in the fridge.

My Dragon

I've started my "Final Project" for creative writing class, which for me is a book of poetry. I should be writing four or five poems a week for the next six weeks. Some of them will probably end up here; I'll see how it goes. As for this poem...what can I say, I like the idea. Dragons and beds and microscopes make an interesting combination.


I found a dragon yesterday.
It shone like emerald where it lay,
sunning on my comforter.

I picked it up with careful touch
and stared at it. It didn't care much,
quiet while I fingered it.

I got a microscope to see
it closer, what its shape might be:
such a little dragonet!

But oh--tis not a dragon 't all!
only a bit of moss let fall--
a little bit of moss, that's all--
my disillusioned dragonlet!

Cool Intellectualism

Fa-So-La-La of the Beehive blog said (commenting on this post) that it's much easier to be intellectual in cold weather. I agree, and I have found more proof.

The book is Uncle Tom's Cabin, the scene is a southern mansion. Miss Ophelia, a Very Proper Lady brought up in the North, is trying to get her languid cousin Auguste St. Clare, brought up in the South, to discuss slavery with her.

"But this is a serious subject, my boy, Auguste," said Miss Ophelia, laying her hand on his forehead.

"Dismally so," said he; "and I--well, I never want to talk seriously in hot weather. What with the mosquitos and all, a fellow can't get himself up to any very sublime moral flights; and I believe," said St. Clare, suddenly rousing himself up, "there's a theory, now! I understand why northern nations are always more virtuous than southern ones,--I see into that whole subject."

My Almost-Dragon

Earlier today I found a little tiny piece of something on the comforter of my bed. It was bright, shiny green and about the size of a thick thread. My first thought was some synthetic material; my second was something organic, like a tree-bud or the fiber from inside a green pine cone. My third was a dragon (such small dragons have been found before, notedly in the great dragon plague in England some years ago--recorded by Edith Nesbit in The Deliverers of Their Country). Indeed, it was so very green, and shone so brightly in the sun, I thought a dragon was at least as likely as anything else. There was only one way to find out, so I got a microscope to take a closer look. Alas! it was not a dragon, unless dragons have stalks and leaves. I looked around more and found a few more pieces: one of them brown and dried, so it was decidedly something organic. I still do not know what it is, however, and am curious. If anyone happens to know what the flora of southeastern North America look like when magnified thirty times, I would be obliged.

The stalks (my dragon is on the top left)


Approximate actual size


A stalk magnified 30x

The Twenty-Third Post

Hooray! I was tagged to play by Firefly at Bioluminescence!

Here's the game:
1. Search your blog archive.
2. Find your 23rd post.
3. Find the fifth sentence (this is meant to say something about you).
4. Post that sentence in your blog along with these instructions.
5. Tag five people to do the same.

Well, okay. My 23rd post is one of our end-of-term exams from last school year. And depending on whether a section heading counts as a sentence or not, we end up with this:

"What invention do you think most changed the world? What can you tell about how it came about?"

Well, I do have an interest in the world being changed. And homeschool is pretty much my life right now. :)

I tag Miss Roxie at Sunny Day, my Homemaker friend at Thimble Cottage, Cheekymama at I Have to Say, Phyllis at Hunsucker Home and Keepermom at Lighthouse Christian Academy.

Crock Pot Recipe

I've been looking for healthy, dairy-free, mostly vegetarian recipes for our new crock pot so I can throw everything in the crock pot in the morning and leave it until dinner. I found a few recipes online and I plan to try a few over the next few weeks. Today I tried this one:

Spaghetti casserole

1 lb (approx. 2 handfuls) spaghetti, break into pieces
1 26-oz. jar spaghetti sauce
1 c water
(optional - add soy cheese)

Combine all ingredients in crockpot; mix well. Cook on Low for 4 hours until pasta is tender, stirring once during cooking. Serves 6.

I followed the instructions, the house started smelling really good! Mmmm! Like spaghetti! Miss M kept asking for "pah-ta" (pasta) because it was making her hungry. On one ocassion, she came out of the kitchen with a chunk of banana in her hand and proceeded to tell me, very animatedly, how she got a banana, took a bite, spit it out, and ate banana. I went into the kitchen, and here is what I found on the floor: a banana peel; half a banana, slightly mushed; a whole banana missing a little bit off the tip; the tip that had been bitten off, peel and all, and then spit out!

An hour after I started the spaghetti, it smelled done. I stirred it and it looked done. But it was only 1pm, not even close to dinner. So I turned it to "warm." I checked again it an hour later. It was starting to get clumpy. I added a package of shredded soy cheese, hoping it would melt and make it palatable.

It didn't. I have a crock pot full of spaghetti that looks like refried beans and feels like rubber. It smells good, though! Miss M had some and loved it.

But Daddy is taking everyone to Burger King for chicken nuggets for dinner.

Book Publishing 101

Today I'm publishing my book. I realize that not many people can wake up and say that. One thing I've found since I published my last book - everybody has something they've done that they've always harbored a secret thought of seeing in print. Their lovingly collected family heirloom recipes from the past five generations, the geneology work they'd like to present to family members as a Christmas gift, their own Bible study curriculum, their grandmother's memiors, the novel they've had in their head. So here's the info:

Go to lulu.com. You can upload a Word document of your work and they'll convert it to a pdf file, then you pick a cover and choose a few details, and there's your book! The process doesn't cost you a dime! They'll print one copy at a time to order. They make their money when somebody orders your book.

Black and white books are pretty reasonably priced, but if you have color, even if it's just one color picture in the whole book, the price jumps for every page.

All the information you need is available from their various Help Topics, accessible from their Help page.

So, what are you waiting for? Let's see that dream project of yours in print!

BTW, my book (a modern paraphrase of Charlotte Mason's Volume 6) is done. Check it out here!

Tying Up Loose Ends

I spent the day finishing and taking care of a few things I'd been putting off--printing out a couple of poems that L and J are working on for memory work, dividing up our Shakespeare play (Henry V) for this term and printing out a copy for everyone, and re-sending Tim's application for our homeschool umbrella group. Now that he's in high school, they want a detailed list of subjects and which curriculum/books he's using for each of them. And the subjects can't be the subjects he's actually doing, but the subjects he needs credits for. So, although he's doing US/World history, we didn't list those because he already earned his required history credit last year. In fact, almost nothing of what he's doing with Ambleside Online this year will count. Even though his year's load is challenging, it looks like he's slacking off because he's only earning five credits for graduation this year, where he earned 9 last year. And he'll earn 4 next year, and a measly 3 his senior year, even though the work won't get any easier.

Yesterday we re-organized our chores assignments, and the result is that everything got done earlier today. Tim and J will each be making dinner one day a week, and I made a 3-week menu rotation that includes a good number of crock pot meals that we can put in early and forget about the rest of the day.

And I signed up with a few other moms online to work together to lose ten pounds by Christmas. I know I've slacked off on the exercise, but Miss M is making it more difficult. She cries when I get on the treadmill without her, and she cries to get down when I put her in the baby carrier.

The Golden Age

We just finished The Golden Age by Kenneth Grahame (he wrote Wind in the Willows) as our family read aloud. J and L liked it, which kind of surprised me, I struggled over it, since the sentences were long and some of the words were hard to pronounce. I'm surprised they were able to follow it with my terrible reading of it, and the big words.

I love the way he writes, although I'm not impressed with the book itself. It portrays a kind of heartless picture of childhood, which is probably partly true to life, but doesn't really give a reader much to aspire to. Still, nobody can put things the way he does. I love the part of Wind in the Willows where Toad is in jail and bemoaning the loss of "his pocket-book, money, keys, watch, matches, pencil-case--all that makes life worth living." Our copy of The Golden Age is illustrated by Ernest Shepard.

Our next book: Little Men.

This Month's Books - September 2005

A couple days late. And there were only two: school provides plenty of others. I've added a few movies we watched this month.

Eragon by Christopher Paolini
A fantasy written by a homeschooler, set in another world and focusing on a youth and his dragon coming of age. It wasn't Tolkien, of course, but it was good, and I look forward to reading the next book in the trilogy. There is more emphasis on practical magic than in Tolkien's work, which might bother some. I find it offers some interesting speculation on the possibilites for the supernatural in a world governed by different laws than ours.

Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare
A re-read, but I saw much more in it this time. The continual harping on cuckoldry got annoying after a while, but the mastery of language was thrilling, entertaining, and sometimes simply astounding. If Shakespeare followed Humpty-Dumpty's rules, he must have paid his words well.


Movies:

Northanger Abbey (produced by the BBC)
What do you get when you combine Jane Austen, bad moviemaking, and bad gothic music? Seriously, I didn't know a movie score could be so bad.

The Sandy Bottom Orchestra
A very good movie about a young violinist growing up in an artistic family and somewhat less artistic town. After watching it, I've decided I want to learn Mozart's 23rd piano concerto. Da da-da Da tada-Da...

Ever After
A retelling of the Cinderella story set in Rennaissance France. It has become one of my favorite movies: the story is good, the script is good, and the cinematography is stunning. To quote myself, "The Sandy Bottom Orchestra is good, but Ever After is a work of art."

Full Sentences!

Miss M put her toy cup on the counter a little too far back. Then she said, "I tah ree daht." (I can't reach that.) I don't remember any of her brothers speaking in full, grammatically correct sentences before age two.

My Reading List for the Year

This year, I've decided to do half of Tim's Year 10 along with him. This is what I hope to read; it looks ambitious, and I hope I can manage it.

Knowing God by J.I. Packer
Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Character is Destiny by Russell Gough
Fallacy Detective by Nathaniel and Harvey Bluedorn
Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington
Evaluating Books by Richard Maybury
Thinking Like a Christian by David Noebel
The Law by Frederic Bastiat,
Walden by Henry David Thoreau
Essays by Montaigne: That It Is Folly to Measure Truth and Error by Our Own Capacity, Of Solitude, Of the Inequality Among Us, Of Repentance
Essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson: Art
The Attributes of God by A. W. Pink
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
One Blood by Ken Ham, Carl Wieland; Don Batten
The Vision of the Anointed by Thomas Sowell
The Deadliest Monster by Jeff Baldwin
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
Essays by Quiller-Couch: The Practice of Writing, Interlude: On Jargon, Some Principles Reaffirmed, On Style
Essays by Frederick Douglass: Reconstruction, An Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage, My Escape From Slavery
The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Alexander Brown
Sesame and Lilies by John Ruskin
How Should We Then Live by Frances Schaeffer
Graves of Academe by Richard Mitchell
Silas Marner by George Eliot
John Stuart Mill On Liberty
Essays by G.K. Chesterton: A Piece of Chalk, On Lying in Bed, The Twelve Men, The Diabolist, What is Right With the World