Eat it or clean with it?

Oh my poor child. She hardly ever knows if we are making supper or another science experiment. The other day my nephew asked us what we were cooking, which was chicken and dumplings, and my daughter replied,

"Deodorant."

I promise you my chicken and dumplings look nothing like my deodorant.

She's been doing that a lot lately. She told me that her friend's from co-op mom was from a different country. It was the country of Eucalyptus.

Turns out she's actually from Holland, but you can see where she would get the two confused, right?

Now, we have started using homemade deodorant and so far it is going well. My husband made me sniff his pits last night so what a relief that it has actually worked.

We have started with homemade shampoo - again, now that I have found out more information about it. I have to tell you the truth, I do not like this adjustment period, but I do really believe that it will be worth it.

Of course there is no adjustment for my daughter. Her hair is just more shiny, more beautiful, and more tangle free.

It is really not fair.

Isn't life supposed to be completely fair? I mean just for me not everyone.

*sigh*

Radiation and Reformation

*Still squishy, can't explain it. Sorry. Don't abandon me.

There was a teeny tiny little blurb in the back of our local newspaper today saying that the EPA had detected "slightly elevated" levels of radiation that was due to what is going on in Japan.

What?

I am sorry, call me alarmist, conspiracy theorist, whatever you want (people generally do), but I don't believe very much of what is being reported out there, and a tiny little blurb with NO numbers, NO explanations, NOTHING - just doesn't cut it for me.

Anyhoo...

God recently took our family on quite a lengthy journey. We really didn't know what He was doing or what was going on, but here we are. Not at the end, but just here.

We have discovered that we are Reformed Baptists and I thought I would put together a list to help others that may be lost in the land of denominations -

You May Be A Reformed Baptist -
1. You wave at every 15 passenger van you pass because it may be someone you go to church with.

2. The children in the congregation outnumber the adults.

3. The children are in the congregation.

4. You have more in common with your Presbyterian friends and family than your actual Baptist ones.

5. Your non-RB girl friends are worried about you because you may be spending a little too much time with this Calvin guy.

6. You have cleaned out your old topical Bible studies and replaced them with Ryle, Calvin, and a copy of Systematic Theology.

7. You call every contributing member of The Vision Forum by first name when talking about them in conversation with your friends...and they all know who you're talking about.

8. Your friends see you at the grocery store - in a skirt...on a Tuesday.

9. Your pets are named Reformation and Revival so that you can go outside and shout - Reformation! Revival! Here, here, here!

10. Your family was exchanging money at the last family function because they all had bets that you would be the first to crack.

Maybe this will help you in your journey. Probably not as I'm not known for being particularly helpful.

Either way I am going to go see what I can find out about radiation. Next time you see me at the grocery store it may not be the skirt you laugh about, it may be the gas mask. Go ahead and laugh [darting eyes back and forth] you won't be laughing when...well...when...okay, I can't think of anything, but when I do you'll be sorry!!!

Try, try again

*I'm sorry, I know this is hard to read all smushed up like that. I have fixed it twice, but when I publish it, it just goes back to squishy.

So today's plan has been to tell you about my hair care experiment, but I may have to give it another try and get back with you on that.

You all know I likey the au naturel. Not in the big green machine kind of way, but I like what George Washington Carver said in a letter he wrote,

"I'm taking better care of myself now. I realize that God has a plan for my life and I need to be healthy."

We read that this weekend and I thought that summed it up nicely.

So anyway, I knew there had to be a way to get rid of shampoo - which is pretty costly anyway. I halfway watched out for alternatives. I partly listened to someone talking about baking soda and apple cider vinegar.

Oh! I can do that!

Except that I was so ready to tell you it was all a big lie!! A lie I tell you!! Another conspiracy that the world created to make me look like an idiot!!

My hair was an awful unmanageable grease trap. It would not even lift off of my head. The smell reminded me of squeezing those little packets of vinegar all over that grossy fish at Captain D's when I was a kid.

Now, being that I am perfectly brilliant, there is no possible way that I could have gotten the mixture wrong, or even...not ....really...read the directions...and maybe...just...made up something I thought...would work...[downcast shameful eyes]

But I have just learned on this very day, the day that I was ready to call it all a lie, that there is a new and much more wonderful set of instructions! It's on Ma's blog. SO I will try again and let you know how it goes.

However, if you see me with a hat on - don't ask.

This one will actually not offend you.

Sometimes I may miss the mark in the kitchen a little bit. I know this because I hear things like-

"This tastes like a big bar of sickness."

"What smells like chicken poop?"

"This tastes like Luna's breath smells."

I can not imagine where she gets that blatant truthfulness...

But sometimes I hit the jackpot and this weekend I hit the jackpot. On Wednesday we made homemade ice cream sandwiches and today they are absolutely perfect. Yum-a-licious.

Here's the link for the cookie recipe I used. I did cut the sugar by half a cup and I used just regular unsweetened cocoa, not Dutch process. Then we filled some with ice cream and some with whipped cream that we made doing the standard heavy cream, confectioner's sugar, and vanilla. The recipe includes an Oreo type filling if you go for that, I just can't get over that essentially they are just filled with gobs of shortening, so I didn't make those.

I think next time I will try rolling the dough and cutting it with cookie cutters to get more uniform and smaller cookies. Also, they were not soft at first. The kids ate them Wednesday afternoon, but the cookies were crunchy so I was very disappointed. Alas, like all good things, I realized I must wait! By yesterday they were soft and delish!

Would you look at that! I got through the entire post without offending a single person! That is, of course, unless you are in some sort of group defending the rights of shortening, then there ya' go. I haven't broken my streak.

(Ammended version)Stalking? Witnessing? Either way, a myriad of dysfunction.

*You are now reading the amended version. I hope I took out the parts that alluded to my horrible pride - the worst of all sins, lest you think I am trying to make light of it. Making light of my atrociousness was never my intention. Making fun of my inability to turn away from, yet thinking/acting like I have, that which I do not want to do and be, was my intention, however I guess that's just as offensive. I should probably start a new post about it instead of going on and on about it here on this post. Sorry. Again.

We had our weekly homeschool co-op today and someone brought to mind a story I realized I never shared with you all. So if you are in my co-op, you can skip this one. It is, of course as all my stories are, of utmost importance. Well that part may not be entirely true.





I told you about the trip to North Carolina. You remember - the one where I got a ticket for speeding and Brandon got free lunch for speeding. Oh no, I'm not bitter, just recalling the facts for you.





So anyhoo, my very kind aunt and uncle were nice enough to let us come stay at their beach house with them. Now, supposedly, none other than Richard Gere has a beach house on this very island. I know! Woooooo.





Well, of course, I being all holy and good and stuff am thinking about how I am going to witness to Rich, he is going to love Jesus.





Naturally I use all my free time circling his house on the bike waiting to see if he comes out. Now I know what you unholy people are saying - that is called stalking. That is exactly what the policeman told me. But that is because you just don't care at all about this man's soul.




I mean I am sorry, but any man that God created with hair that good is meant to be on television telling the world how much Jesus loves them. That is just a fact.





Well thanks to satan worshiping neighbors who kept running me off, I never got a chance to bless ol' Rich.



Come to think of it, I didn't have the pants. Maybe I needed the pants. The pants make me more successful.



dysfunction

I guess I won't get to go this year. Aunt Mama Hen and her brood is going, but I've got dibs on Richard!




Oh, I mean, um, you know, the Holy Spirit probably won't be prompting her the way I was being prompted, so she really shouldn't worry about it.

There's nothing to see here. Move along.

Ug. It has been so long I know. I have left you with no ties to the outside world. You have no idea what major news stories have taken place, your Bible study has fallen by the wayside thanks to my lack of commentary and help.

Oh. Wait.

That's not what happens at my blog. That is me daydreaming and grossly inflating my importance.

*sigh*

So for what has really been going on...

My computer is not cooperating (Aunt Mama Hen, tell your husband to expect a call) so I can't load all the wonderful pictures that you are dying to see. Thanks to the Hub fam for this awesome laptop. At least I am still able to communicate.

Anyway, it's been a week of huge happenings - Saturday, we were prisoners in our own home; Schyler got to use our new outdoor kitchen, i.e.: 2 plastic bins and a hosepipe. Tomato-tomato... oh wait. The tomato-tomato thing doesn't really work when you're typing it and not saying it out loud.

Do you see what you re missing!? I know! How can you go on?! How can anyone expect you to?!

In the meantime, go check out some blogs that will actually benefit you -

- You all know my Aunt Mama Hen. Well she's got some good advice for you this week.

- I don't know what I ever did before I found Ma's blog. She shares her notes from her own personal Bible study time and has a real interest in eschatology. Her side bar is loaded with sites that do all the work for us and we get to go read it all!

- DebbieLynne also has good resources. She lives in Boston and enjoys the history of her area so, hint hint fellow homeschoolers - she has a sidebar loaded with enough stuff to call it a school day!

Looting (not tooting)

Being that I live with a seven year old full time and a three year old part time, potty words/humor is a big part of life. Not that being seven or three has much to do with it, the grown man that hangs here quite a bit isn't much help, but I digress.





I saw a news clip on television shortly after the earthquake and tsunami of which I can't even remember the report. What I do remember that was so shocking to me was the lack of pandemonium-esque looting.



There were video images what seemed to be a downtown area. Various people were walking in and out of what should have been a door, steering clear of broken bottles and walking with their hand held baskets. Store workers were busily trying to help.





It was rather baffling and I was pretty flabergasted. (Yes, we are working on using the thesaurus.)





Why were people not racing through grabbing what they could knocking people down in their wake?? Why were prices not triple what they were before the catastrophe?? Those are the images I have seen here in the USA.



Just a thought.