Let's get serious

Okay, I have to get this off my chest. I am so sick and tired of people ragging on President Obama about not having fixed the economy yet. He's been in office for just over sixty days. He inherited a mess that will take many years to unravel. Unless he really is a superhero, I don't see how this could all miraculously clear up in a couple of months.

I have been doing a bit of research into the deficit. As it turns out, the deficit under President Bush was HUGE, but no one knew that because he kept the cost of the war off the books. How does one hide that kind of cost? It's like he was a cheating husband with a secret credit card. Unfortunately, it came to light, and now we are all stuck with the bill. President Obama did not give us the cost of the war. He did not give us the AIG mess. He did not give us the very sorry state of education in the United States. Now, as our president, he is trying to fix it, and he is being vilified for it. I think of it as this: He's one of those guys who spins plates on sticks in the circus. He has several sticks and he has to get all of the plates spinning at once. Then, he has to keep running back and forth to keep the plates spinning. It's a big job. The very least the Republicans could do would be to listen to him, and if they don't like what he is saying, they need to come up with a plausible plan. You can't stand on the corner yelling about how bad something is if you don't have the faintest notion of how to fix it yourself.

Happy Spring!

Happy First Day of Spring, everybody! We had lovely weather today after waking up to a dusting of snow on the ground. We had to do our grocery shopping today, which is always very busy and exhausting. The kids got some new cards (Pokemon and Chaotic), and Noah got to spend his birthday money. He got $30! He got a five pack of Hot Wheels cars and a Pop-Up Playset. He made his decision very quickly and easily, so I know he is happy with what he got.

I got a book of knitting motifs at the library. Ooh, the fun I am going to have with this! I got a pattern for Chullo hats from Knit Picks. I like the patterns that came with the kit, but I wanted a little more variety. I am just itching to cast on and play! These hats are going to be for the kids' First Day of Winter gifts. It's a good thing I have all summer to work on them.

Back Again!

I had the wonderful chance to talk to a dear friend from college today. We hadn't talked in years. I was told that I haven't posted to my blog for a very long time, so he didn't know what was going on in my life these days. Imagine my shock and surprise to hear that someone was actually reading this! It was very nice to know. So, here you go, another stimulating blog post. I am going to try to get back at least once a week to let everyone know what is going on.

Right now, we are receiving packages of seeds every few days. Jim started some herbs in the greenhouse the other day. I am determined to have an herb garden this year. There is nothing like fresh parsley or cilantro to make just about anything taste better. We will be starting tomatoes, peppers, etc. soon. I am getting very excited. I miss gardening. I miss good, fresh food. The good news is that we should be able to put in peas in a few weeks. Let the games begin!

We are almost done with lambing for the year. Usually, we wouldn't even be started yet, but last summer didn't go so well and the rams were never separated. Therefore, we started having lambs in January. We suffered a few losses at the beginning, but the rest made it, thank God. I am hoping that the bigger boys will be able to go to market for Easter. Otherwise, they will all wait until fall to go. Either way is fine with me, as long as they do well. We will have to get out within the next few weeks and build some serious fence to keep them in. We promised Jacob that he wouldn't have to spend his summer running after sheep every day. He's skinny enough as it is.

I know you are dying to know what I'm knitting right now. Well, I am about 12 inches away from being finished with an Aran sweater for Jim. Ironically, the pattern is called The Happy Husband by Janet Szabo. I wanted to knit it for him secretly, but there is no way I could do enough while he is at work or sleeping to have it finished in this lifetime. It's a great sweater to knit, it's just involved and BIG. I will post a picture next time.

So, there you go, you-know-who-you-are. Drop by and see me often!

A Great Day

Today was possibly the greatest day that I have personally lived through, historically speaking. I can't express how thrilled I am that we have a new president. President Obama fills me with such hope. I pray that this country will turn its course and we can once again be "the greatest country on earth." We all need to work together to help each other and to help our country. We can do it. I have faith.

Back to School

Today was our first day back to school. Everyone did very well, including Noah. The older boys worked on writing and reading while I worked with the youngers on their stuff. All in all, we actually got enough done to have it count as a school day.

Noah is going to be especially rewarding to work with this year. He has several speech impediments that we have been working on for years. He can't get the "s" sound at the beginning of a word; he uses the "h" sound. It's the same with the "f" sound. His "v" sound is like "b". I am using a mirror so he can look at me and himself at the same time to see what I am doing with my teeth and lips, and hopefully in the future, he will be able to do the same. I am using the "Phonics Pathways" book with him. He can read very well, but I'm more interested in getting the sounds correct at this stage. We also worked on handwriting. He still holds his pencil in a fist grip. I am working on getting him to hold the pencil correctly and to make straight, strong lines up and down. We will then move on the diagonal lines, then circles. Eventually we will get to letters. The other kids didn't need to start at square one, so this is a challenge and a joy.

Because our finances are very tight, I am using spelling lists that I have found online for the kids this year. They are certainly capable of looking up words in the dictionary, writing a paraphrased definition and writing a sentence. They are also going to be doing more independent reading because I don't feel like investing in a reading program that I think looks great, but that they hate. I have found a few resources for book report forms for age appropriate literature, so I think that should prove to our school district that they know how to read, and can interpret what they read. I will have to buy a science book, but that isn't too expensive. Both of the older boys will use the same book this year.

I find it interesting that our homeschooling rules state that all children have to show that they have done 180 days of work in 11 subjects, but the public school doesn't teach most of the subjects at all. Somehow, I have to prove that a learning delayed 8 year old has had meaningful instruction in social studies and science. I talked to a special ed teacher about this, and she said that I should just take him to different stores and places like the post office to see what sorts of different jobs people do. She also suggested that because we live on a farm, our science program was kind of self-explanatory. That made me feel better, and made my life a whole lot easier.

So, we are off to the races for another year. Please keep me and the gang in your prayers!

I'm a Cleaning Fool

Today, because the mess in our bedroom was getting so out of hand, I decided to clean. I got quite a bit done - I can even see the floor. Now, what I have to do is clean out the front porch storage area so that I can buy a few totes and put the winter stuff away properly, and maybe have all of the clothing put away for once! This is a very strange house. There are no closets (!) so we have to store everything in drawers. We are trying (for the last 10 years) to get the upstairs of the house cleaned out, fixed up, and usable as bedrooms. We have to build closets into to a couple of the rooms just so everyone has a place to put his or her stuff. Anna will have a room to herself, and it is just too small to put a closet in, so she will have to share some space with the boys. I think it is a small concession for her to make.

Our heifer, Esme, may have finally freshened. We aren't sure, but she did go off by herself the other night and was gone for two days. We are just going to watch her out in the field to see if we see a wee one. She is a Milking Devon, and we are hoping that she was bred by our Devon bull and that she has a heifer. That would be the one very bright spot in this not-so-fabulous summer.

I have to go out to see if the ducks made it back into their pen, and then I must knit. It's been a very long day.

Ugly Homeschoolers

I have to say that today I saw the ugly side of homeschooling. We had a program at the library today for the summer reading program. My kids always look forward to going because they get to get new books, they get to see their friends, and they have fun playing the games. There is a family there, though, that makes it difficult to have a good time. The boy is about 12 or 13, and he is a great big bully. He shoved my #2 son out of the way when he went to pick up a blanket the librarian asked him to get. I looked at the librarian and asked her what that kind of behavior was all about. She said that she has had other problems with that kid and would have to talk to the parents. I said to a girl whose mom I know, "This is why we homeschool." She said, "Oh, they are homeschooled, too." Now I know, for sure, that not all homeschooled kids are sweet and nice. The girl of this family is around 10, and I watched her drag a kid to the ground and skin his knee. That kid actually had the guts to tell the mother that her daughter accidentally pulled him down. I was nursing Henry and I wanted to yell, "It wasn't an accident, and you know it, B!" I am hoping the librarian will tell this family that if they cannot control their kids' behavior in public that they shouldn't come to the reading program.

What makes all of this really awful, in my view, is that they are supposedly a deeply religious family. They have a JESUS front plate on their van and everything. I think they should reflect on their behavior, in light of the teachings of Jesus, to see if they really are as Christian as they think they are. Super religious people who act like barbarians drive me crazy. They in no way practice what they preach. For some reason, they think that they have some sort of license to behave any way they want because they pray, or whatever. God is probable rolling his eyes right now.

I did get good news regarding Noah's homeschooling. I can do whatever I want with him, without having to have him evaluated by a school psychologist or a special education teacher. I will make his objectives based on a first grade curriculum and see how far we get. If he completes that by December or January, I will just submit new ones to the school for second grade work. He is doing so well with his reading. We read a book this morning while I was feeding Henry, and he needed very little help. I am just so amazed. I am going to put words on index cards so that he can put sentences together. That will help him learn how to construct a sentence without having to worry about writing it. We will work on writing, of course, but that is going to be a long hard row to hoe.

I must go knit. I have had a very long day, and I need to do some serious unwinding!