Fun with the Horses~ By Victoria

Today Caroline and I took advantage of the last clear day for a long time and enjoyed riding for a little while. :o)  Gracie can go so fast it is breathtaking to ride! I love riding her as she has so much energy and power to her steps. Bubba on the other hand.... :o)

Nothing in this video is fast forwarded. :o) Now imagine yourself riding at that speed! It is SO MUCH FUN!!!

Don't worry, no bones were broken in the making of this video :o) (Meemom, you can relax now!)

The battle has only just begun~By Kyle

  During our Men's bible study early (6:00) this morning, we talked about our culture . . .  our culture that has just stepped off a moral cliff. Daddy shared some about the filth contained in our physicals we had to have a couple of weeks ago—filth that is gut-wrenchingly sick to us Christians. Naturally, our conversation then turned to public schools. Why, you ask? After all, you are eager to point out, public schools are neutral! No. No, it is not true. The stuff taught in public schools is not neutral. We got a numbing realization of this when we had to take our physicals.
  Your kids are taught in public school everything contrary to God's law. In fact, God's law is banned from public schools. It does not take a genius to figure out what is taught in its place. But our kids need to be salt and light, you blurt. True, but have you actually read that passage (Mathew 5:13-16)? Jesus says we are salt and light! People will naturally see this! But what is the command that is actually given in this passage? The command, you will see, is to not lose our saltiness or our light. How does this fit with the idea of sending your kids to an institution that will do their best to make your kids lose their light and saltiness?

Imagine this analogy:

    You smile with pride at your very young, healthy child. My child will be a strong warrior for my Lord one day, You conclude with a contented nod.
    Naturally, you want this young person to be ready for the battles ahead. You begin to show him/her the weapon you use in your battles, a shining, double-edged blade that you believe is the most powerful weapon on earth (Hebrews 4:12). You hope one day that your child will embrace this weapon as their own. You also want your young warrior to utilize the necessary tools so as to be able to fight well in the upcoming war. You quickly enroll your child in the local academy that will teach him/her these skills. In your mind, nothing now stands in the way of your child becoming a strong warrior.
    Eventually, you are overjoyed when your child chooses to become a warrior for your Lord. You eagerly show him/her how to use his sword, and gird him/her with the armor of your Lord's army (Ephesians 6:1e-17). Your young warrior yearns to practice using their sword, so he/she shows up at the academy bearing the blade proudly. But immediately your child is attacked. His/her sword is stripped away and tossed out the door. Not only that, but he/she is banned from communicating with your Lord at the academy. You are unaware of this, but secretly this academy is trying to train young warriors to fight for your enemy. They are training your warrior to fight against you and your Lord.
    Years pass. Each day your child walks slowly back to your house after hours of training at the academy. His/her steps are slow and weary, and eventually you will realize that your warrior is returning from the academy wounded. You stare, horrified, as your child shows you their wounds. You do your best to bandage and treat these wounds, but some of them are deep and might not heal properly.
    The gloves are off. You now know what the academy really tries to train your warrior to be, and you are indignant at this. You now have a choice, but choose still to keep your kid in this academy. You urge your novice soldier to fight the good fight now against this academy, to try and save some of the young warriors there from the grips of the enemy.
    Your child wearily follows orders. Every day he/she at the very least is forced to sheath their sword at the door of the academy, or even to un-belt the sword and leave it outside. Armed with only a shield, your kid fights in heavily out-numbered skirmishes for the souls of the squires at the academy. He/she may win a few over, he/she may not. But the wounds your warrior receives will effect him/her forever. Skirmish after skirmish the very person your child is trying to help will turn on him/her and viciously attack with a black sword. Your child will raise their shield to protect themselves, but again and again deep dents will be rent in the shield as the black sword is brought down on them. At times your child may want to throw off his armor and be done with the struggle. If you have not truly made sure your child is in the ranks of your Lord's army, you will probably lose him/her.
    Finally, your young man/women graduates from the academy. You celebrate with your child, but this victory is short lived. You then send him/her off to a higher academy for four more years of weaponry study. Here the hammering against your warrior will grow even more intense. Everywhere he/she turns they will be attacked in some shape or form. Your warrior's hand will constantly be led to the handle of the sword of the enemy, and he will be urged again and again to pick it up, to use it. This urge will be hard to resist.
  If your warrior makes it through all this, he/she will then be ready to enter the battlefield of the world. He/she limps to the war you are engaged in, determined still to fight by your side. In front of your warrior stretches miles and miles of a fierce battle waged for the souls of all the people in the world (Ephesians 6:12). Already wounded, your warrior wonders what impact he/she can really have in this fight. Your child turns to look for reinforcements from their generation, but is shocked to behold that most of their generation is marching towards the enemy's camp. Only a few stragglers, stumbling forward and clutching at deep wounds from the academies, make towards the army of the Lord.
    It is then that your warrior realizes, to their despair, that the battle has only just begun.


Do you begin to comprehend why we homeschool?

Psalm 111~By Kyle

The Psalm:

Psalm 111

Praise the Lord!
I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart,
In the company of the upright and in the assembly.
² Great are the works of the Lord;
They are studied by all who delight in them.
³ Splendid and majestic is His work,
And His righteousness endures forever.
⁴ He has made His wonders to be remembered;
The Lord is gracious and compassionate.
⁵ He has given food to those who fear Him;
He will remember His covenant forever.
⁶ He has made known to His people the power of His works,
In giving them the heritage of the nations.

⁷ The works of His hands are truth and justice;
All His precepts are sure.
⁸ They are upheld forever and ever;
They are performed in truth and uprightness.
⁹ He has sent redemption to His people;
He has ordained His covenant forever;
Holy and awesome is His name.
¹⁰ The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
A good understanding have all those who do His commandments;
His praise endures forever.

 

My Poem:

 

Praise the Lord!

 

I will give thanks with all my heart

To my God, my Lord thou art

I will praise your great might

In the assembly of the upright

 

We will study your works, day and night

Your splendor and majesty, our delight

Your righteousness will endure always

Your wonders remembered all our days

 

Gracious and compassionate, Lord you are

Your hand that provides will never be far

You will give food to us, for we fear you

You remember your covenant, this is true

 

The power of your works is made known

By giving the heritage of nations to your own

Truth and justice in your hand is pure

Your precepts forever and ever sure

 

His redemption to His people proclaimed

His covenant, never ending, ordained

Holy and awesome is always the name

Of the King Of Kings, one and the same

 

Fear the Lord, and in you wisdom starts

Keep His commandments, misunderstanding parts

We will stop praising God never

And His praise will endure forever!

 

Not necessarily elegant, but I did my best! For those of you out there who think it is too hard, look at my poem! You don't have to rhyme big fancy words! And also, the Psalm you choose to make a poem out of does not need to be only a thankful song to God, for praise is also essential to give to Him!

 

 

Assignment this week~By Kyle

Hi everyone! Yesterday, the sermon was about giving thanks, and we looked at Psalm 145. This Psalm is a great one for Thanksgiving. As I looked at it, I wondered what it was like for David to sing this Psalm to God. In his language at the time it was a beautiful poem, each verse starting with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet. I wonder what it would be like to sing these words to God as a poem in our language? So the reason for the assignment. I think it would be interesting and fulfilling for each of us to pick a Psalm of thanksgiving and, sticking as close as we can to the meaning of the Psalm, make a poem out of it. I know, none of us are the next Shakespeare or anything like that,  but still even a drunken sailor can make words rhyme! It does not have to be anything elegant, just do your best! Do you know that that was how the first hymns were sung? That hymns started as just psalms, reworded so that they rhymed? If you cannot think of a Psalm to use right off the top of your head, you can google "Psalms of thanksgiving". :0)

Also, here is a video we watched during the sermon yesterday. Remember daily to give thanks to God! We truly are blessed above and beyond anything we deserve.

Four things guys do not understand about girls, and visa versa~By Kyle

I couldn't help myself.:) In a world where more and more people are trying to neutralize the opposite sexes, I thought it would be humorous to look at some of the plain differences.

Four things I do not understand about girls

Purses

I always try to use Daddy’s keys when I drive, because trying to find Mommy’s keys in her purse is a daunting task. Digging through a purse to find keys is like trying to find a needle in a hay maze! Seriously, how many bazillion pockets in your purse do you ladies need to hold all your stuff? And do you really need to carry all the contents you would find in a bathroom cabinet with you wherever you go? :0)

 Showers

It’s Sunday morning, and I sleep through my alarm clock. With a start I jump out of bed and run for the bathroom, but—woe is me!—it is too late. One of my sisters has beaten me to the shower. I contemplate going back to bed, for when my sisters beat me to the shower . . . it is a long wait. When I do finally get the shower, the water is usually piping cold. I don’t understand why you lady folk take so much longer than us. I mean, you don’t just run a bit of shampoo through your hair, scrub the ‘pits, and half dry yourself off with a towel? It’s called efficiency, in case you were wondering.

The movies you watch
 I shift uncomfortably in my chair and groan. On the screen before me another Love Comes Softly movie is dragging itself out. Another dearly beloved rasps out their last few breaths while tears gush from the eyes of the main lady character; that is until she meets the strikingly handsome young man a few scenes later. Is it a given that at least two people must die during the duration of these types of movies? And how in the world does this stuff qualify as entertainment? Oh, and the new couple live happily ever after, at least until the next movie when one of them is wiped out.:0)

Make-up

Groan. My three beautiful sisters turned sixteen recently, the legal age in our family when you can start wearing make-up. I still have to do a double take when I see one of them in public, wondering what happened to their faces.

Four things my sisters don’t understand about me and the male kind I represent.

 

Our fascination with losing some of our blood

I woke up early one morning with a damp feeling on the left side of my face.  That’s strange. I flick on my light and sleepily look in the mirror. I blink several times and can’t help but grin at myself. My left cheek is covered with blood that apparently came from my nose.  I can’t wipe it off right away as my mind comes up with an elaborate story of how I received this wound (saving a damsel in distress, no doubt):-). Or the time I accidentally stapled my hand (not recommended, but entertaining just the same), and watched as the blood pooled in the palm of my hand and spilled over as the staple was pulled out. Contrast this with Valerie, who, after slicing her finger open with a pocket knife, entered our house making all kinds of funny noises of distress. The one intelligible thing I made out was, “I don’t want stitches, please no stitches!” She did not need any.

Our attempts at cooking something edible to eat

My sisters just don’t understand that we men have to try our hand at it sometimes!  Who cares if the toast comes out black (like always), it’s the effort that counts! Or maybe it is just another reason why it is not good for a man to be alone.

Our competitiveness

“It is okay, you can pay me the next time you pass go.” I do not know how many times I have heard this straight out of the mouth of my sisters in a game of monopoly. And they give me the strangest look when I tell them that that is not how the game is played. They do not seem to understand that monopoly is a fierce battle that needs to be fought tooth-and-nail to the bitter end, that forcing an opponent into debt is all part of the game. If they had it their way the game of monopoly would never have any losers.

 Dares

For some reason it is always the guys in the room urging me to eat the red pepper on my plate, while the girls in the room roll their eyes at best, or even plead with me not to do it! Where is their sense of fun? Probably left in the last movie of Love Comes Softly, if I had to guess.

Two very good books~By Kyle

Hi folks! Do you ever wonder how we "sheltered", homeschooling, Christian young people spend our free time? After all, we do not have Facebook (usually a dangerous waste of time), cellphones to text with (annoying waste of time), and we do not play video games (lazy, zero productive waste of time). Instead, we mostly read good books. This past week I have read two very good books that I received for my birthday. The are both written by a man by the name of John J. Horn, who is all of a sudden rising in my list of favorite authors, and the books are called The Boy Colonel, and Brothers at Arms. I read Brothers at Arms first, and enjoyed it quite a bit, but in the end The Boy Colonel topped even that. Thus I will start by reviewing my favorite first.

The Boy Colonel (just in case you are like me, colonel is pronounced ker-nel, like popcorn) drops you right from the start into the frozen wastelands of Siberia, smack-dab in the middle of a fierce battle between British Redcoats and Russian Cossacks. A young colonel leads the 42^nd regiment of Britain, a young Colonel without a name (affectionately called Colonel Nobody by his soldiers). This remarkably young, mysterious Colonel was never given a name, and warns others not to pry too deep into his strange lineage and story.  The 42^nd regiment he heads is a crack force with strategies and techniques all its own, respected by enemy and friend alike. It is the courage of this regiment that wins the day in this opening struggle. The General of the British troops is captured though, and the new general in his place despises and is jealous of the boy Colonel. This new general, drinking in his new-found authority, essentially commands Colonel Nobody and all of the 42^nd to march to their deaths.  They narrowly escape death, but Nobody is promptly sent to England to give a report to the King to be conveniently gotten rid of.  It is here, around the middle point of the book, that the story slows a bit. While he is before the King, Nobody meets a pretty, devout Christian ward of the King. They chat pleasantly that evening, but little did Nobody know that this young girl would be his betrothed wife two days later! In a political maneuver Nobody is paired with this girl, and likewise her lands that she had inherited essentially go up for grabs (thus the reason for the schemed out betrothal). Only problem is Nobody does not love Liana (the girl), or at least does not think he loves her, and even worse he believes that she arranged the betrothal. To make matters even worse, there is another young man that wants Liana’s hand . . . and he is not a very “polite” gentleman.  The awkward couple returns to Siberia, but there Nobody comes to believe that he is not fighting a just, God honoring war. He leaves the army along with all of his fiercely loyal soldiers of the 42^nd and Liana (who loves and trusts Nobody), and eventually they settle on an island and establish a trading business.  They live a happy year or so, but then old enemies stumble into their path again. In a tense stand-off the other young man tries to take Liana, and the truth comes out that Nobody does not really love her.  The girl is heartbroken (duh!), and it is only when Nobody sees the hurt in her eyes that he comprehends what he has done. He realizes that he indeed did love her; he just didn’t know what love really meant. Oh, the tangled webs of love (snort)! But is it too late to win back her heart? The last fifty pages of the book make all the tangledness worthwhile, culminating in a fierce sea-fight that will hold you hostage from normal life till the end. You will also learn near the end Colonel Nobody’s true identity, and that mystery in itself will keep you reading.

I highly recommend this book! It is full of gallant fights and noble characters, while its touch of romance (there is nothing inappropriate) will keep you young ladies interested. Valerie read it, and likened it to To Have And To Hold (a very high standard in her opinion).  She probably finished it in about two days; I finished it in four. If you guys are interested in reading the book, it can be found on Vision Forum (hint, hint, Aunt Heather), or I would be happy to loan the book to any of you folks that are nearby. Maybe it would be a good book to read in the hospital with Richie, Lydia?

 Well, my stomach is growling in regular teenager boy fashion, and I have other things to do. I will write about Brothers At Arms later. Farewell, comrades! Well, goodbye, anyway:0).

Happy Giving Thanks Day!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

As you hustle about the house baking, cooking, preparing for or entertaining guests, make sure to thank God for your many,  many blessings!
 

Thank you, Lord,  for this special day that is set aside for thanking You! May we never forget what this day is for!!

Hi y'all. I am sitting here in the Grouphealth Clinic, pretty bored. We had to get a physical (embarrassing is an understatement) today to clear another hurdle for our plans to adopt. As you can guess, with so many of us in our family we have been here for a while. For lunch we went to five different fast-food restaurants to please the masses in our family. In order of visitation, Taco Bell, Arby,s, Wendy's, McDonald's, and Carl Jr. I know, right?

Anyway, what are your favorite restaurants, folks? I enjoy making polls:0). Please give me your top-five favorite, in order of first is best in list. I guess I will allow Subway for you healthier people out there, but other than that, only restaurants with "drive-thrus" count. 10 points for first, 7 for second, 5 for third, 3 for fourth, and 1 for fifth.

Me; Wendy's (new-found favorite), McDonald's, Taco Bell,  Subway (for their meatball sub), and  Burger King (recently fell in my favor since I can get a Big Mac now). Honorable mention: Dairy Queen (we don't go there often, but there are good memories atached to the place). Yay, we are going now. Sorry if the spelling or grammar is errant, no time to check, gotta go.

Delicious Hamburger Buns! ~ By Victoria

Valerie made these this summer and I LOVED them! I hate to admit it, but this was my first time making bread with yeast! I have been baking/cooking for YEARS and never ventured into yeast. Well, this recipe has yeast in it, and they turned our great. Yeah!

Here is the recipe along with some pictures... :o)

Hamburger Buns

2 Packages of active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
3/4 cup warm milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup shortening
1 egg
1 tsp salt
3 1/2- 4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 can(8 oz) tomato sauce
8 slices American cheese
Preheat oven to 400o and bake for 8-12 minutes or until golden brown. :o)

                                           Break dough into 16 even balls...

                                               Roll each ball into a 5 inch circle...

                                            Top with cheese and a few Tbs of meat

                                                              Fold in the edges

                                          And let them rise until doubled, about 20 minutes

                                                The finished result! Yum!!!

I ditched school today!~By Kyle

Pop quiz!

Did I ditch school today to:
A. Play video games
B. Go shopping for the 2013 Mustang
C. Set up Christmas lights

If you guessed A.... How in the world did you find our blog?! You obviously do not know our family.
If you guessed B...  Still way off. Any car I will be shopping for will be a beat up hunk of medal that slightly resembles a dish washer.
But if you guessed C.... You must be family or friends:). Of course I was setting up Christmas lights! It is never too early....

 Part two of front of house will be coming soon, and will be featuring my classic Christmas train tradition.

Beautiful Piano Pieces ~ By Caroline

Hello Everyone! Wow, it has been awhile since I posted on here!

I just thought I would share these two pieces by David Lanz. If you like to listen to piano music, you will love these pieces! They are definitely my favorite to sit down and play on the piano.  :)  I hope you will enjoy them!

Horse Videos~ By Victoria

Here are some movies Caroline and I made recently. This first one is is of Caroline and Bubba herding our goats. :o) We were riding at our friend's house a few weeks ago, and they have a large herd of Hereford cows that Bubba LOVED to chase around. We don't have any cows, so Bubba had to settle for the goats!! My horse Gracie is,  in her mind, a beautiful show horse and is not at all interested in herding!

 

This one was taken in August and it is of Caroline and I working with the horses at liberty, meaning no strings are attached. We simply trust our horses to follow our lead off-line. I think we might have put it on the blog before? We have some new blog followers now probably who haven't seen it yet, so thought I'd post it again! :o)

 

                 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Bp7JTRKMxI&feature=youtu.be

 

First chapter of my book~By Kyle

Be sure to check below for an earlier post by Victoria!


Hi everyone! To celebrate (almost) finishing editing my book, I have posted below the first chapter of it. It should be err free since I have gone over it probably the most, but if you spot anything (much to my consternation) please let me know. Enjoy! Sorry that it is double-spaced! Too much time to fix it....

Chapter 1

Aaron and Amy

It was a warm afternoon, just the kind you would expect for the middle of September in Washington State. Aaron, a fifteen year old boy, walked out of his high school with his twin sister, Amy.

“Man, not a really nice day,” Aaron remarked as he walked down the street with his sister.

“It could have been worse,” Amy replied.

 “Okay, you call losing our last bible study member because he wants to watch some crazy movie with his friends,” Aaron said, “learning that dad is going on another international business trip so we will have to stay with Aunt Ruth a whole month, and on top of that both of us getting “C’s” on our geography tests, not so bad?”

 “Well, the bullies didn’t bother us today, they could have stolen our lunches again,” Amy replied almost sarcastically.

“The bullies” as every kid called them were a group of teens who seemed to delight in causing trouble . . . and seldom got punished for it. Aaron and Amy’s high school was a private school and the bullies’ parents were rich. Not only did the parents pay the heavy bill to have their kids in this school, but also they tended to be “generous” with their money in giving many donations. The school, afraid of losing this “funding”, tended to overlook some of the bullies pranks.

  “It seems like everything has gone wrong since mom died.” Aaron still tried to hide the moisture in his eyes that sprang up when he talked about his mom.

 “Well, we can’t really blame dad. He mourned mom even more, I think, than we did, and really just put us in private school because he didn’t know what to do,” Amy said quietly. "But, Oh!  Don’t you remember the days when mom homeschooled us?” 

“Yes, I do, Amy. Those were some of the best days! But let’s not talk about that anymore. When do you think we will leave for Aunt Ruth’s?"

“Oh, well I think dad leaves on the 28^th, so we will probably be dropped off on the 27^th.”

"Don’t you think we are old enough to take care of ourselves? I mean we both are 15." Aaron sounded exasperated.

 “Yes,” Amy agreed, “but I think he just wants us to be safe ever since we lost mom. But, Look!  There is Michael over there!" she exclaimed. “It looks like they haven’t left yet.”

“Yeah,” said Aaron, “but look at those kids he is with.”

Michael, the kid who attended Amy and Aaron’s Bible study, was standing with a group of teens dressed mainly in black. The teens were not "the bullies" themselves, but the type of kids who wanted and tried to be accepted into the group.

“Let’s go see if he has changed his mind,” Amy urged. The two quickly crossed the road and made their way to the group.

“Hi Michael,” Aaron said, trying to ignore the other glaring teens, “are you sure you don't want to come to our house for our Bible study?”

"Aaron,” Michael whispered, glancing back at the others, "you are going to really embarrass me!"

“What?" Amy stared at him.

Suddenly the oldest of the teens, a boy with ear piercings, stepped in front of Aaron. "And are you sure that you want to go home and read that six thousand year old pack of fairytales?" The boy scoffed. “You could come with us. The movie, I hear, has some great R-rated scenes."

 "Yeah, she would fit right in!” A girl in tight black jeans sneered, pointing at Amy's long skirt. A chorus of laughter backed the remark.

 
 "Come on, Amy." Aaron grabbed Amy's hand and led her away from the crowd.

 “What? Are you afraid?" The oldest teen laughed.

Aaron turned around, but looked not at the teens. His green-gray eyes searched Michael’s. "Michael, are you coming?"

Michael's eyes pleaded with Aaron to understand. "No," He said, turning away.

 Aaron turned and walked away with Amy. 

 “I can't believe that boy!" Amy said a few minutes later. "hanging out with those kinds of kids over going to a friendly Bible study at our house is crazy!"

“It is funny what people you get involved with when you want to “fit in” or prove you are not a wimp," Aaron said, shaking his head.

“Yes," Amy replied. ”Aaron, I want you to know that I am proud of you for the way you handled that situation."

“Thank you," Aaron opened their house gate for Amy, “and Amy, mom would be proud of the way you still wear long skirts.”

 Amy nodded unable to speak and passed into their house.

*****************************************************************

Next week a few days before Aaron and Amy's trip to Aunt Ruth's they were preparing for their Bible study. They had convinced (while nobody else was around) Michael to come.

Amy moved a lamp to the corner of the coffee table and set a candle in the center of it. “What if there was another world?" She asked suddenly.

“What do you mean?" Aaron replied, setting a Bible with the name Aaron J. Carpenter (Carpenter is Aaron and Amy's last name) on the sofa.

“Well, what if there was a way to travel into another world no one has ever been to before." Amy failed to light the candle the first time with a match.

"That's impossible!" Aaron called over his shoulder as he walked into another room.

"Yeah, probably . . .” Amy trailed off to herself finally getting the candle lit.

When Michael arrived he seemed rather stand-offish and embarrassed, but he was quickly put to ease by Amy and Aaron who did not bring up the event of last week.

 The three friends had just sat down and opened their Bibles when there was a loud crash.

“What was that?" Michael asked, looking towards the wall from where the sound had come, but before anyone could answer several things started happening at once. A Large crack suddenly appeared in one of the walls and grew wider and wider till it looked like invisible hands were tearing away the studs and drywall. Then, as if the hole in the wall was a great vacuum, things started being sucked into it.

The kids jumped to their feet in amazement.  Sofa pillows, lamp stands, and cabinets disappeared through the hole first. Then several chairs flew by them, and the sofa they had been sitting on slid along the floor and flew into the hole. All the furniture was swept away except the coffee table with the lamp and snuffed out candle that somehow miraculously still stood on its top. Then another strange thing started happening, the carpet started being ripped up by the wind and underneath it showed not the wood floor, but cold, black rock. The walls all around the teens grew growths of the same until all of the walls were covered with black rock.

Aaron stumbled forward and clutched at the coffee table which was the only thing left in the room. His hand closed over a small box, but suddenly he tripped and fell over the rock floor. A stalagmite grew out of the ground right in front of him, and suddenly the coffee table was swept away. The lamp on it was jerked away from its socket that was now disappearing into the rock, and the room went pitch black.

Carrot Harvest and Anna's Back!!! ~ By Victoria

A few days ago while Caroline and I were tearing down the garden, I realized we had a big section of carrots that we had not pulled up yet! It probably took an hour or more to pull all these carrots and there were some HUGE ones! I ate one and it was really good. :o)

 

 

A few of the biggest carrots!

I got so tired of washing them I gave up about half way through and we threw the rest of the carrots to the horses!

                                                                        All clean!

                             Can you imagine eating this carrot? You could have it for lunch!

                                            This one had one stem and 3 carrots in one!

 

 Anna is back!

We have had a black tri Australian Shepherd named Anna for several years. Around Lydia's wedding when our lives were crazily busy, we decided to find Anna a new home as she was getting neglected and needed a home that could give her more attention. We ( Valerie and I especially) LOVED Anna very much and shed many tears when she went to our friends house. We knew she went to a great home, but it was still very hard to see her go! About a week ago, our friends emailed and said they moved and can no longer have Anna. So, we went and got Anna back yesterday and are SOOOO happy to have her back! She is the best dog ever and we all love her very much! She was gone for 5 months but still went bounding up the stairs and jumped on my bed last night. :o) She remembers all her tricks and knows where everything is at the house still. It is pretty amazing.

                                              And.... Anna is MINE this time! :o)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday Thoughts~By Kyle

Well . . . that was a bummer! On Tuesday President Barack Hussein Obama was reelected. It was close, but in the end Obama had more than one hundred more delegates than Romney, and snagged the popular vote by a relatively slim margin. Three states (Maine, Maryland,Washington) legalized homosexual marriage, two other states (Washington, Colorado) legalized the sale of marijuana. I believe we have reached a tipping point, it will only get worse for us conservative Christians. We have reached the point were there are more socialists than true Americans. I also believe we are begging to be judged by God, and I almost hope He doesn't hold the judgement off to long . . . we deserve it. Maybe if we were to be jarred loose from our comfort and apathy our country could be saved. Please, God, let your will be done.

Below are several charts, the first on the election and the second on legal homosexuality:

Same-sex marriage¹

Unions granting rights similar to marriage^1,2

Legislation granting limited/enumerated rights¹

Same-sex marriages performed elsewhere recognized¹

No specific prohibition or recognition of same-sex marriages or unions

State statute bans same-sex marriage

State constitution bans same-sex marriage²

State constitution bans same-sex marriage and some or all other kinds of same-sex unions

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 It is pretty embarrassing living in Washington, is is not?

Ever wonder why our family detests public schools and colleges? Let's look at a little stat here: 60% of the young people between the ages 18-29 voted for Obama, and another half of the young people didn't even care enough to vote! That means that only 20% of young people are coming out of public school/college as republicans! Is this a coincidence? No! Young people are socialists because they are taught to be! Of course, this is not the only reason we loathe public school/college, among other reasons are a Godless teaching system, bad influences, peer pressure, teaching evolution and even homosexuality and other sexual related filthiness, promoting a destructive life-style, motivationalless, boring, and just plain out not God's plan for how a person should be raised! If I do need a college degree, I will take the course through a computer.

If America falls, there will be nowhere for Christians to go. With the nations around Israel growing more and more hostile, I believe we may just be heading towards the tribulation and the end of the world. Don't call me a nut yet, look at God's plan. Read Ezekiel 38-39, than look up online the explanation. Also, as Richie pointed out yesterday, America does not play any kind of part in end time prophesies. Could it be America will be diminished to a non-essential piece of the end times? Also read the latter part of Romans 1, homosexuality is a sign of a very decayed culture. Godless cultures are righteously judged by God. I have been reading the Left Behind books, and it is pretty amazing to learn about the twenty-one judgements talked about in Revelation. If our country continues down this path, I think we have every right to be the generation that gets this punishment.

Please, I know we all tend to want to roll over and just give up the fight, but this country needs us true Christians more than at any other time in its history! Continue to reach out to people, continue to show people what a Christian is, continue to share the good news!, and pray that God sends more laborers to the harvest.

Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”- Mat 9:37-38 NASB

 

I went clay pigeon trap shooting today!~By Kyle

Today I went clay pigeon shooting with Richie and Lydia! They were kind enough to pick me up (only three days till driver's license time!), and shuttle me out to the Morton gun range, where several friends and people from FFA were having a sort of practice run for the competitions they are having later. I had a blast (pun intended ;0) )!

Here is how it works. There are five people competing at a time at five different "stations", a "puller", AKA "button pusher", and a score keeper. After the five shooters are in place and ready, the shooter at station one says "pull" and button pusher does his job. A clay pigeon is launched from the trap in the traphouse some twenty feet away from the stations, and (duh!) the shooter tries to shoot it out of the sky. A hit or miss is recorded by the scorekeeper. Then shooter number two in station two loads a single bullet in his gun and prepares to shoot; it is considered proper etiquette to keep your gun unloaded and the chamber open until the person in the station ahead of you shoots. Shooter number two says pull, and so on down the line of stations. After each shooter cycles through five shots, the command "change" is given by the scorekeeper, and the shooters move down a station. You continue cycling through until you have shot at each station, so each shooter has twenty-five shots in total. Pretty cool, huh?

 

So what were my scores? Ugh! No I am not kidding :0), at least for my first round. After an Ofer on my first round, Richie came alongside and gave me some pointers, and I actually did pretty well on my next two rounds. I tied for first with two other guys on the second, and won the third round.
My scores;
0/25 (:-o)
15/25
17/25

I knew several of the six younger people who were there, so it was pretty fun. Two of the guys played on my baseball team a few years ago. I am looking into joining FFA so I can maybe compete in the real competitions; Richie assures me they are a lot of fun.

Yawn! Enjoy your extra hour of sleep! Set your clocks back!

Well... there is always another day :0( ~ By Kyle

Well, four tests down... four needed over again! Ugh! Too bad... but at least we get another chance! The results were horrifying...  scroll down to see our scores (embarrassing!); they're not pretty!
Ugh!
Ugh!
Ugh!
Ugh!
Ugh!
Ugh!
Ugh!
Ugh!
Ugh!
Ugh!
Do you really need to see the results?
Ugh!
Ugh!
Ugh!
Ugh!
Ugh!
Ugh!
Ugh!
Ugh!
Ugh!
Ugh!
Ugh!
Ugh!
Oh, by the way, I'm just kidding!

We all passed! Woo-Hoo! Four new licensed drivers will be hitting the road on Tuesday! I can't wait to be able to drive to the Tevis' for a visit! I'm coming Mr. Tevis, get the cards ready (only friendly poker, of course), and prepare to open "Kyle's Window" ;0), Lydia!  Hee, hee, we passed!

None of us passed with flying colors, but we passed! Our instructor was very nice.
Sorry, gotta go now!

Thursday thoughts~by Kyle

Hi everyone! Sorry I did not post on Tuesday. I could not get into our account (UGH!), and the computer was occupied most of that day.

First off I need would appreciate some help with a grammar question (sigh). I have been editing my book the last few weeks, and am continually baffled by something I still have not decided on. Take a look if you would at these sentences from my book:

He darted a glance at the rest of the group, who were just rounding a bend in the path.

The next assailant raised his menacing sword high above his head and brought it down full force on Aaron, who barely unsheathed his sword in time.

Leaf stared at the dwarf, who moved to the back of the crowd.

In these three sentences I have used a comma before the word "who", but I am not sure that is correct. My parents are split in what they think I should do, so that doesn't help much. I think I can get away with it either way, but I need to be consistent in whatever I decide. Of course, when "who" is at the start of a nonessential phrase in the middle of a sentence I use a comma, Such as in this sentence:

Swift, who had joined the others atop the hill, spoke, "blah, blah, blah." :0)

So, are there any grammar geniuses out there? Even if you are not a genius, I would appreciate any input!:0)

Also, pray for us tomorrow! Us quadruplets are taking our driver's licensing tests tomorrow! We all have been practicing parellel parking and such, and I think we are about as ready as we can get, but I can speak for the rest of my same-age siblings that we are still pretty nervous. Pray that we will pass the test; that we are asigned a non-cranky drive instructor, unlike Lydia and Richie (sorry guys); and that we manage to all at least survive the parallel parking. Thanks!

Need a Laugh?? ~ By Victoria

Lydia was over visiting this morning and told us about this article Richie found. It's hilarious! And it's true!  Here are some of the highlights from the article in L.A. Times:
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PETA wants memorial where fish died in Irvine car crash


The artical says "On behalf of a leading animal rights group, an Irvine woman is asking the city to erect a memorial at the street corner where 1,600 pounds of live fish died this month when a container truck was involved in a three-vehicle crash.
Dina Kourda, a volunteer with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, wrote to the Irvine Public Works Department to request that a sign be placed at the intersection of Walnut and Yale avenues to honor the lives of the fish -- believed to be saltwater bass -- lost in the accident.
The fish, the Orange County Register reported, were being hauled to a Ranch 99 Market, an Asian supermarket.

“Although such signs are traditionally reserved for human fatalities, I hope you’ll make an exception because of the enormous suffering involved in this case, in order to remind drivers that all animals – whether they’re humans, basset hounds or bass--value their lives and feel pain,” Kourda wrote.
Ashley Byrne, a spokeswoman for PETA, said the organization had called for memorials for other types of animals such as cows and pigs before, but this was the first time the group has called for a fish remembrance.
She said it’s appropriate.
“Hundreds of fish perished in this accident, suffocating slowly on the roadway,” she said.

In her letter, Kourda said that research shows that fish “use tools, tell time, SING( wow I hadn't heard that one before!!) and have impressive long-term memories and complex social structures …” “The proposed sign would also remind tractor-trailer drivers of their responsibility to the thousands of animals who are hauled to their deaths every day,” Kourda wrote.
She wrote that the sign should be placed at the edge of the right-of-way, at a spot far from the road, as to prevent it from interfering with traffic.
Craig Reem, a spokesman with the city of Irvine, said he was not familiar with the city’s procedure for dealing with such a request.
“I do think it’s fair to say we have no plans to erect a memorial,” he said.

Image: Proposed memorial for dead fish in Irvine. Credit: PETA

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That sure made us laugh this morning! :o) Especially when Dina lists what the fish are capable of! I don't know  about you, but I'd sure like to hear a fish sing!