Fair Photos

And now for that photo update...sad to say my camera was packed away in our suitcase, but, as usual, my dear sis came through for me!

Danny at the petting zoo...he actually made the county paper with a cute picture smiling and talking to a goat!

Sammy and Tommy riding the dragon roller coaster, with their cousin--the kiddie tractor-pull champ--riding behind them. Tommy rode this ride several times, although I really don't think he ever enjoyed it very much!

Here you can tell Tommy is enjoying the ferris wheel with cousin Dalton.

Fared Well at the Fair

I just sat down to do a bit of blogging since it’s been a while and decided to pop open one of the beers Brewmaster spared when dumping that one batch (the stout with the funky smell/taste). I must say, it’s not bad. When dumping, he noticed some of them didn’t smell quite as funny as the others, so he saved a couple that were in his Grolsch bottles. I’m starting to feel very bad that the rest all went down the drain; even his “bad” beer is still better than the Bud Light I drank at the county fair!

Speaking of which, I took a turn taking the boys out of town this past weekend. (I know, I know…people are really gonna start talking about us now that we’ve taken two trips this month without the other!) Actually, BM would’ve gone had work not been an issue.

We went to visit my folks for the East Perry Co. Fair—“the best little fair in the land”. I used to laugh at that slogan, but after going back (it’s been 12 years since I’ve been), I think they’ve earned it. The biggest thing for me right off the bat is, of course, the food. It’s the best fair food ever and the prices are at least half what you’d normally spend. The boys had a great time watching the parade Perry County style: tractors, fire trucks, new tractors, school kids, high school bands, old tractors, wagons with kids, more tractors…and of course the army of horses wrapping it up. Did I mention the tractors? It was great. It’s been a long time since I’ve been to a parade that didn’t involve throwing beads (we spent five years living in LA and MS, in case you were wondering).

Another highlight of the fair is touring the Quonset hut and browsing the produce entries. There’s just something absolutely wonderful about the displays of people’s best picks from the garden resting on little paper plates with ribbons attached, not to mention the 80-pound pumpkins and watermelons resting on the floor. What pride they took in their 5 little tomatoes, cucumbers, what have you, that they took the time to get ready, stand in line to enter, and share with others at the fair. Of course, there is a little monetary incentive: I think $3 is the going rate for a blue ribbon, which my sister won again for her dill beans.

And while we did venture through some of the 4-H exibits, the poultry and livestock and visited the petting zoo, we didn't make it to the mule jump--a most popular event. We also missed the boys' cousin take 1st place at the kiddie tractor pull, but I'm sure he'll win it again next year. I could always enter our boys in the contest, but these citified homeschoolers wouldn't stand a chance...unless Brewmaster got the notion to start training them this year. Maybe we'll be adding that to our PE curriculum.

This is all stuff I grew up with year after year and never appreciated until I left the country and became a snob. We’re working on getting back to the country-life like the fine folks I grew up around enjoy, but it certainly doesn’t seem to be happening here in the ‘burbs. Someday…

And yes, I am a snob: my dad wanted to buy me a beer, and I made him go around all the beer wagons and see if they had anything other than Bud Light, Coors Light, or Old Milwaukee. Hoping to find Shiner Bock again as he had a couple years before, he tried, but no such luck. I did manage to get half a Bud Light down, but it was pretty painful. Brewmaster has me spoiled drinking the good stuff.

By the way, I just finished the pint of “funky stout” and wish we had more. You know how moms and grandmas are known to eat the bad parts of a meal, like the least desirable piece of chicken or the crunchy corner piece of lasagna so no one else has to? I think it’s safe to say that I’m on my way to drinking BM’s bad batches of beer. Hey, if they make it to the bottling phase, chances are they’ll be good enough for me.

(Pictures of the fair to follow once I get them ready.)

The Saga Continues

I racked my brew into my carboy for secondary fermentation. It's been 8 days and nearly all of the noticeable fermentation is done. In fact, the most vigorous fermenting stopped after 36 hours, so it's been pretty quiet since last Sunday.

In regards to the quality, so far so good. I believe everything will be fine, I'm still keeping my fingers crossed. There was a good inch of yeast in the bottom of the bucket, a good sign that my 9-month old dry yeast was alright.

That's it for today, nothing too exciting, just thought I'd get some brownie points from HM and actually post something again.

Socialization and the New Kids on the Block

Socialization is known as the “S” word to us homeschoolers and is generally one of the first questions or comments out of the mouths of those who disapprove or are ignorant of homeschooling. One of the pros many homeschoolers have on their list is the ability to have more control over who befriends their children. Not that other parents don’t have the same control; they do have it and should use it. But it’s more difficult to prohibit or hinder problem-friendships from evolving if your children are hanging out with kids you may not approve of five days a week.

Among many Evangelical public-schoolers (PSers) and homeschoolers, the debate isn’t so much about socialization as it is about “salt and light”. Christian PSers often make the argument that they want their children to be good influences on the more worldly kids at school. It’s been viewed by some Christian homeschoolers as an excuse to justify not wanting to homeschool or pay money for private school (although I don’t share this view so much as my own opinion has moderated a bit over the past year). We just figured that we didn’t really have to worry about the “salt and light” issue as much with our kids right now since we’re keeping them at home.

Turns out, God wants us to deal with it right now anyway.

On Labor Day we had a knock on our door. Brewmaster opened it and there stood a six-year-old boy and he said, “Do any kids live here?”

Jeffrey is new to the neighborhood and was walking door-to-door looking for playmates...alone. He wanted Sammy to come play at his house, to which I explained I can’t let him come by himself and that I’d like to meet his mom and dad first. So I gave him our pertinent information and told him to have his mom call us.

The next day, Jeffrey came knocking again wondering if he could play with Sammy in our backyard. I asked if he gave his mom our number and told him I’d really like to meet her and talk to her, to which he replied she tried calling in the middle of the night but we didn’t answer. Not believing his story and beginning to worry even more about him than the day before, I told him we’d love to come out and play with him. Not long after, his eight-year-old sister and three-year-old brother started coming along, always wandering the streets unsupervised (they live about two blocks away).

This has been going on since that first day Jeffrey showed up, and I can only think of one or two days when he hasn’t knocked on our door. I was finally able to walk over to their home and meet his mother after a week or so, and it only led to more worry. Our friend and neighbor next door, the pastor, has also gotten to know our new friends better and sees some warning signs…things that led him to say we shouldn’t leave our kids alone in a room with Jeffrey.

So, in the upcoming posts, we’re going to dive into this a little deeper and hopefully answer some questions we have (with your help, I hope), including:

1. How do we minister to these kids while still guarding our young ones?
2. How much should we tell our kids (mainly Sam) about what we learn regarding this new family?
3. What kind of boundaries are appropriate when we open up our “yard” (they haven’t been in our home yet, and we think that should be the case for now) to our new friends?
4. What about legal issues: what if someone gets hurt while playing here and their parents may or may not know where they are? Should we be concerned about getting sued, or, worse yet, arrested?
5. How do we go about attempting to minister to their parents?
6. How far should we go to try to get information that would give us a better understanding of what their home-life is like?

This is very foreign territory for us. It will probably take me several posts to get through my thoughts and concerns on this. God is putting us in a position that is not only unfamiliar to us, but very uncomfortable as well. Although my first thoughts are that I am utterly ill-prepared and completely unequipped to handle such a situation in a gracious manner and with a redemptive spirit, I feel the peace knowing that our sovereign God is in control of the matter and will lead us through this…and hopefully some help and good advice from you readers is part of His plan!

Brewmaster is Back in Business!

Ahhhhh.......the smell of homebrew is in the air!

Keeping it simple

Well I’ve taken off the last 9 months, not brewing or even thinking about brewing, because I’ve been disappointed with my last 2 batches. But I’ve had a kit sitting around my house for a few months now, and with the weather starting to cool off (down in the 40’s last night), HM & I decided it would be a good time to get back on the horse.

So last night I brewed a Honey Porter with my neighbor Brian, it took about 4 hours start to finish, and I believe with the changes I’ve made since last time, it should turn out alright. Here’s what I did differently that I think could contribute to better beer (aka. no off flavors).

1. Kept my boil down to 2-gal instead of the 3-gal boils I’ve done in the past. This makes it easier for my electric stove to keep up with the boil, takes less time, and I think the overall boil was more “rolling”.

2. Didn’t add any gypsum. Since I use RO water that’s been through a softener, I’ve always used gypsum to add hardness back into the water. However, since the water we get straight from the district is extremely hard, I think that by the time it goes through our softener, it is now about even with your typical household without a softener. And it was one less thing that I had to worry about.

3. I also didn’t use my wort chiller this time. Instead I just stuck the pot in the sink with 10 lbs of ice and water and stirred every 2-3 minutes. Doing it this way, I cooled off the wort in about 10 minutes, so it really didn’t take any more time than with my wort chiller, and I didn’t have to worry about cross contamination (which is what I think has ruined my last 2 batches).

4. I didn’t use the fancy sanitizers this time, only bleach. My primary has been soaking in bleach water for about 8 months now, so I think it was clean. I had a suspicion that the yellowish film left on my primary from my 1st and 2nd batches was a major cause of my problems, so now the yellow film is gone and I believe all is well.

5. The last change that occurred wasn’t intentional, but as I was prepping my equipment to brew, I noticed that my auto siphon tubing had little black spots on the inside, which I believe is mold or mildew, so that’s now in the trash can and I had to pour my cooled wort into my primary. There was a little spillage, but with my wife’s strainer, I caught all of the sediment and believe I have a very clean beer fermenting.

6. Didn’t rehydrate my dry yeast, just poured it straight in. In the past I would have been to paranoid to do that, but after talking with enough experience homebrewers, I realized that I’d probably be alright. It also saved me about 10 minutes, which is important when it’s 11 pm and the kitchen is a mess.

I carried it down to our basement which was holding about 70-degrees last night, and when I checked it this morning, there’s plenty of activity, so I know that my 9-month old yeast was doing just fine. I’m also not going to check the specific gravity this time around, I think that’s just another opportunity for contamination and not in line with my new way of brewing….just keeping it simple.

Following Up My "Disturbing Thoughts"

Okay…just one more post on this and then we’ll get back to our regular Homeschrewling programming.

I just wanted to list the specific things I’ve read or heard that has captured my interest on the topic of terrorists hitting our schools, since I know many of you don't have the time to read all my hyperlinks from the previous post.

Headlines from actual news reports:

FBI: Extremists sign up to drive school buses (USA Today;179 days ago)

Two Saudi men arrested for boarding school bus to Wharton High School (WTSP Tampa Bay’s 10 News; 5/19/06)

School bus thefts raise security concerns (KHOU.com, Houston; 8/28/07; 17 school buses missing in the Houston area)

Other reports and analysis from Glenn Beck and Brad Thor, taken from radio show transcript, 9/11/07:

We see thousands of school bus radios missing in the Northwest, the Pacific Northwest. (Thor)

In Iraq we found a diskette that had a -- that had downloaded all of the Department of Education security measures, and they're all available online. (Beck)

…that disk was on an Iraqi who was arrested in a terrorism raid, an Iraqi with known ties to active Islamic terrorism. (Thor)

…it would blow your mind how many law enforcement departments I talked to that have interrupted active surveillance on schools across the country. (Thor)

What was found in an insurgent, an Al-Qaeda affiliated safehouse over in Iraq, they were school blueprints, basically, floor plans for schools across the country. San Diego, California, West Salem, Oregon, Boyertown, Pennsylvania, schools in Texas, Virginia, New Jersey, (Thor)

Bin Laden has said what we did in Russia, we will visit 100 times worse in America [referencing the attack in Beslan]. He's even gotten a religious edict allowing him to kill up to two million American children and what they are looking for is a school where the girls are old enough to rape and the boys are too small to fight back. (Thor)

There's eight hours of tape that we found in Pakistan in another Al-Qaeda training camp, eight hours of tape where they made a mock American school. The guy, the terrorists came in and they took mock American students, they took one little boy and they shot him in the head immediately and then in English said, "Now follow our directions exactly." (Beck)

…what we've discovered is all of their plans on how to surveil the schools, how to get in the schools, how to hold the schools, the one thing that's missing from all these plans, there is no exit strategy. These people are not planning to leave alive. (Thor)

…this Al-Qaeda model of being like a shark, how they swim big concentric circles. They don't come right in and bite you. They collect Intel, getting closer and closer, tighter and tighter in the circles. But before they attack, before they take the bite, they come up and they bump you. They want to see are you a threat, are you going to put up a fight, or can we get you. And that's what we're seeing across the country…[referring to suspected dry runs and “bumps”] (Thor)

What to do according to Glenn if this goes down:

…if you happen to see that in Kansas, a school has been taken, you leave, you go to [your] school and you tell the principal, I need to get my kid because she's got a doctor's appointment. [don't create a panic]

Now, if it happens at [your] kids' school, you do not go to the school. That's the last thing you do. [possibility of secondary attacks]

In a wonderful in-depth post on Ordnance-Corner, Senior PoliceOne contributor Chuck Remsburg writes a piece about a three-day conference for terrorist issues, sponsored by the International Assn. of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors (IALEFI) in Atlantic City. Here are a few bits from that:

Muslim religious literature…states clearly that the killing of children not only is “permitted” in Islam but is “approved” by Mohammed…

Probably not so many terrorists involved at a single location [as in Beslan]. Moving that big a contingent into place would likely attract too much attention and thwart the attack. Grossman describes a more likely possibility, in his opinion: Terrorist cells of four operatives each will strike simultaneously at four different schools. They’ll probably pick middle schools with no police officers on site, where the girls are “old enough to rape” but students are not big enough to fight back effectively.

The targets will probably be in states “with no concealed-carry laws and no hunting culture” and in communities where “police do not have rifles.” Rural areas may be favored, where 30 minutes or more could be required for responders to arrive in force.

In all, 100 to 300 children could be slaughtered in a first strike. Terrorists capable of this are already embedded in communities “all over America,” Grossman and Rassa agreed. [All emphasis mine]

I feel better now knowing I’ve shared this with some of you who were not aware of the threat. Of course, it’s not imminent, improbable that it will happen to anyone we know personally, but the possibility of such an attack is greater now than ever and there are many people who know way more about this than any of us do that are seriously worried about it. I pray they know enough so we never have to live it.

Please be active in your schools and communities, make a plan with your family members, and don't be afraid to ask your teachers and administrators questions related to security procedures and other "what if" scenarios. And thanks for bearing with me...I'm glad I have this forum to inform those I love without putting us all through the discomfort of an actual conversation!


Other sources: Gateway Pundit; Blogger News Network; National Terror Alert

Disturbing Thoughts on the Eve of 9/11

Okay…I don’t want to become a nut-job for posting this, but I guess I’ll take my chances.

I occasionally listen to Glenn Beck—much less now than I used to—because I find him very funny and quite informative. He seems to have gone off the deep end a bit the last year or so with his Islamofascist-doomsday stuff, but I’m often glad to get those stories from somewhere since I don’t go out looking for them myself.

Anyway, today on his radio program he began talking about a series he’s doing on his CNN Headline News show this week called “The Perfect Day”—terrorists hitting multiple targets at our schools [transcript]. It’s got me a little freaked out. Not that many of us haven’t thought of such a scenario happening, especially after 9/11 and the Beslan incident [**WARNING! Graphic contents**], but when Glenn starts talking about the video he has of terrorist camps we broke up in Afghanistan showing the terrorists being trained how to round up kids and shoot them; or the architectural plans of schools here in the US that they found in Iraq; or the signs pointing to terrorists hitting schools in the Heartland with slower 911 response times so they have time to set up; or Homeland Security procedures advising parents/people not to gather at the school in case of an attack because of the secondary attacks…you know, I start getting a little freaked.

Perhaps this is just something I’m going through on 9/11 Eve…a day you remember where you were when it happened, thank God for there not being another big attack here on our soil, then wonder why we haven’t been attacked since then and when the next time will happen. It’s not something I spend a lot of time thinking about; I would probably fall into the category of one of those Americans whose life wasn’t greatly altered by it and can pretty much go about my day like it never happened. But if Glenn and others are right and our enemies are plotting to attack our kids at schools in the hopes of getting us sucked into a holy war…well, I guess that’s just one more reason I’m thankful we homeschool.

Raising Pharisees

How do we keep our children from holding others in judgment? Especially as homeschooling moms, how do we keep our children from judging those who are in public or private schools when we are vehemently defensive of our decision to homeschool?

It is true, we all know it: when we get questioned about our decision to homeschool and about the benefits/risks to our children, our claws come out. It doesn’t take much to send me into a tirade when I’ve had to answer difficult questions about why I’m homeschooling (I’m usually crying after the fact to my husband or close friends). We all have our reasons for homeschooling and they are solid and sound, but when we can sense that judging tone, it stirs up those self-doubts and secret concerns that have settled into the far recesses of our minds.

Then, for many of us, it comes out…we call it defensiveness…but we know it is pride. And, oh—does it lead to some sin! Many times, our words become peppered with cynicism and sarcasm. Or, we begin convicting others of their shortcomings, their failures or bad decisions. I found an interesting blog article, The Mark of a Christian, that talks about how we Christians “spew venom” while defending our own beliefs and in the process “destroy the vibrancy of our faith and our witness to the world.” We are so eager to defend our ideals, that we use sinful means to do it

How many times have we spewed cynical, sarcastic, judgmental words when defending our decision to homeschool? And, as our sweet children are always listening (more than we realize), we are training them to be little Pharisees. They know all our right answers, but their hearts have been trained to be prideful and their answers caustic.

So, back to the question: how do we keep our children from holding others in judgment? I’ll throw it out there for you to answer, but I think we can find one hint in Mark 12: 31 and another in Matthew 7:3-5.

Mustard

(The following is a forwarded email from my sis. Enjoy the laugh!)

I Love Mustard.

As ham sandwiches go, it was perfection: a thick slab of ham on a fresh bun with crisp lettuce and plenty of expensive, light brown, gourmet mustard. The corners of my jaw aching in anticipation, I carried it to the table in our backyard, picked it up with both hands but was stopped by my wife suddenly at my side. 'Here, hold Johnny (our six-week-old son) while I get my sandwich,' she said.

I had him balanced between my left elbow and shoulder and was reaching again for the ham sandwich when I noticed a streak of mustard on my fingers.

I love mustard.

I had no napkin.

I licked it off.

It was not mustard.

No man ever put a baby down faster. It was the first and only time I have sprinted with my tongue protruding. With a washcloth in each hand, I did the sort of routine shoeshine boys do; only I did it on my tongue.

Later, after she stopped crying from laughing so hard, my wife said, 'Now you know why they call that fancy mustard 'Poupon.'

Ramblings 'bout the Weekend

I love my children dearly. But even the best mom in the world (which I’m pretty sure I’m not, second only to Adjunct Jenny, of course) needs a break from the best children in the world (so far no one has contested us on that one). Thankfully I am married to the best man in the world, despite what my fellow blogger may claim on her profile, and he recognized that I needed a break. I wasn’t expecting what I got, though: a weekend alone in my own home.

Saturday morning Brewmaster and the boys made the three-hour drive to visit our folks for two nights. I don’t know many husbands who are willing to travel alone with three boys 5 and under…well, except maybe his older brother, who is a remarkable husband and father in his own right. But come Saturday morning, I waved good-bye, shed a few tears, then set to work painting our bedroom and bathroom. I wasn’t completely alone, though. I enjoyed the company of a new canine friend named Napoleon that we’ve become quite attached to. He’s not much of a watchdog. The only time I’ve ever heard him bark was at his own reflection in the window. And he’s terrified of our cat, but still a good dog.

While visiting my folks, the boys went to see a landmark near my hometown called Tower Rock, a small island a ways out from the Missouri side of the Mississippi River. It’s near Wittenberg, MO, and I doubt you could even find that town on a map anymore. Once when I was a kid (1988), the river was so low you could walk all the way out and climb the rock. I believe that was the first time in recorded history that ever happened. (The big boys are pictured here with my mom.)

This was the first time I’ve been away from all four of my boys overnight, so I was a little nervous at first. But I did pretty well considering. I definitely had some mixed emotions early

on, wondering if I should feel guilty enjoying time alone, or guilty letting my hubby use up a whole weekend taking care of them. But in the end, it was a good thing: they came back to a rested, happy wife and mother and I got fresh-looking bedroom/bathroom walls. How long rested, happy women and fresh-looking walls last is another story...

Boxes

At my homeschool support meeting a few nights ago, one of the biggest areas of expressed concern from the moms was lacking flexibility with our children’s schooling schedules. For many of us it is hard to let one of our little students take a break from their seatwork and come back to it later. It’s especially hard when there’s “just a little more and then you’ll be done,” or when there are other things waiting on our list of “things to do” when school time is over. I am especially bad about compartmentalizing my day, “boxing” off school time, chore time, resting time, errands and then promptly pushing along until all of the boxes are checked. And, by the way, my boxes do not overlap; they are in a nice neat row. Too bad that real life doesn’t fit into tidy boxes!

As a military family, we are used to moving around and it’s a huge benefit to us when we keep things simple and neat and organized. When we prepare for the movers to come, we spend days and weeks sorting and pairing like things so that they’ll get boxed together. Imagine opening a box that is marked board games and finding Candyland, Sorry, Trivial Pursuit, a couple of socks, a Barbie and a plastic bowl. It’s frustrating! I can’t just sit and organize and put away the games; I have to run around the house and figure out where the Barbies live, to whom do the socks belong (are they paired and are they clean), and which cabinet did I unpack those bowls into?? It’s inefficient and aggravating.

As a homeschooling mom, I have to face it, I am not going to have neat, tidy boxes to check off each day. This is how I picture how my metaphorical boxes should look: my chore time box would be full of cleaning solvents, rubber gloves (in sizes for me and the children), some elbow grease, and some Bible verses, and maybe a chemistry book…might even need a biology book! My resting time box should have some books, quiet music, prayer journal and Bibles for each of us. My errands box should have car keys, credit cards, snacks and water, diaper bag, and conversation starters to share with the children and math tables. And my school box—well, I shouldn’t need one at all because all of my school supplies and books and learning toys and Bible has been spread out to all of my other boxes!

Okay, it’s messy, but since having children, nothing has been neat and tidy! Perhaps that is by design so that we don’t just live life checking the boxes and missing the joy.