Milo and Townie

Two of the boys' pets. :)

Interesting House

I saw this and thought.... imagine the comments if you could bring this camping. :)

Pirouline Cookies

wow... I am totally impressed. on TUESDAY I emailed. www.pirouline.com about 2 bags missing from a can of cookies we bought. I expected it would take 6-8 weeks to get a replacement can. TODAY we got a brand new can with four bags in it as a replacement. HOW is that for service! Totally impressed.

Just totally impressed with the customer service of this company.

Only one problem with this speedy service....I have a whole can of cookies...my favourite-tist cookies...and they are sitting right beside me at the desk....

This is the write up from their site on the cookies that I love:

All Natural Made in the USA Certified Kosher Toasted, not baked

Our recipes have taken years of hard work to perfect and are made from only all natural ingredients.

Rolled Wafers

What’s the difference between bread and toast? A whole lot of flavor! One secret to the deliciousness of Pirouline is our unique, proprietary process which slowly toasts each rolled wafer to perfection. Check out the footage from the FOOD NETWORK’s hit television show UNWRAPPED to see for yourself!

Piroulines, with the trademark swirl, are filled with a decedent all natural chocolate cream made from the finest cocoa. Now available in Chocolate Hazelnut and Dark Chocolate, give them a swirl here!

Library Books to Return - November 17

Yes, this is an identical post to the one at my homeschool blog, but I like sharing the books the lad and I read together and this way I can make sure that all my readers can see them. :)

Fox walked alone

what an excellent book. The lad enjoyed this one so much he almost has it completely memorized. it's a noah's ark story.

Scaredy Squirrel

This book was just a fun read about a very silly squirrel. Generated questions of "why does he wash his hands?" "why is he scared so that?"

There's a cow under my bed!

Another silly book that had the boy looking serious and sucking his thumb. Not a lot of comments made, but lots of intense listening.

A Pioneer Thanksgiving.

I got this book out for the craft and game ideas, never did get around to it as it's been a busy three weeks, complete with a cold. Some good stuff in it though, also read one story to the lad which kept him curious and interested.

Wake Up Henry Rooster!

Another just fun read. An easy to read story about a fun loving rooster, inspired lots of crowing by the lad at night when we read it.

Miko, It was me, Mom!

a good read, entertaining. Inspired questions. Talked about burglars, and why some things are bad and other things are right.

Nobody's Nosier than a cat

We have had this book out so many times. A favourite of my cat-loving lad. it's a fun read, you get to watch a cat chase a mouse throughout the book. The lad has it 90% memorized and KNOWS when I miss a page.

A dog for a friend

Requested twice to read by the lad, this book is a quieter book with a surprise in it. Caused a "huh?" from the lad. It's a longer read so not one I chose as a bed time story, more of a day time story book which is when I chose to read it.

Clara and the bossy

The lad surprised me with this one, he chose it several times to read as a night time story. it's a good read about friendships and being yourself.

Camels Always Do.

This is a true stories about camels in Canada. I found it quite interesting, the lad less so. "I don't like camels Mommy" he told me with all seriousness.

Spark the firefighter

Would YOU think of a dragon being a firefighter? I wouldn't. Read the book to find out why. :)

Two Dogs Swimming

This is a make me smile book. Caused the lad to pose questions as well. It's a decent read about two best friend dogs with one small problem.

Speeding up One's Metabolism

E-diets sends me information that I look over. Today's thing on metabolism interested me.

My recommendation:

1. You must be in a slight caloric deficit to lose body fat. You also have to consume enough food to provide energy for your workouts, but again the calories must be just low enough (not too low) to produce fat loss. Unused calories are turned to fat, regardless if they’re from protein, carbohydrate or fat.

2. I recommend that your favorite foods be built into the plan so you stick with it as a lifestyle — but they must be nutritious foods.

3. Your metabolism requires 5-6 smaller meals and snacks through the day to help you to lose body fat.

4. Increase your water intake. Muscles and other tissues are made of approximately 80-percent water. If you limit your water intake, the body will retain water and make you feel bloated. ....Staying hydrated will release some excess water trapped in the body and most likely reduce your weight by a few pounds.

5. Perform cardio interval training – Along with your weight-training workouts, I recommend interval training. Interval training is simply performing short bursts of high-intensity exercise combined with more moderate intensity within the same workout. Studies have shown people who perform interval training twice a week (in addition to two other days of lower-intensity cardio) lose twice as much weight as those who do just a moderate cardio workout. .... Your body will be working harder and will beforced to burn more calories. Try to get two additional days during the week of lower-intensity cardio as well.

6. Breakfast is a must. If time constraint at this time of day is an issue then I recommend a protein shake with some fruit. This will be quick to prepare and easy to consume.

Home from the Royal

So. we're home from the Royal, arrived late-ish last night.
Got the boy to bed at 1030.

Today was gymnastics and our regular day out in London.

Got the lad to bed in good time to give him time to rest and hopefully catch up on some shut eye. :)

Sorted through bags that we got at the Royal, seemed like everyone was giving out reusable bags.
The lad got TONS of notepads and pens of his own, he was VERY happy about that. :)

One of the things I like about the Royal is that with the goodies you get from various booths, you can often "win back" one person's entry into the fair. We got about 10 bags, about 10 lbs of potatoes, and four or five tubs of margarine....that's one entry into the fair. :)

We saw cattle, sheep, goats, chickens, horses, and some display pigs. :)
We visited lots of booths.
The Lad had fun playing in the canola seeds, and partaking in some of the children's activities. I have to admit, they weren't as good this year so that was a bit of sadness.
We entered a fair number of draws which is always fun...hoping that one wins! :)

I picked up a few resources I can use for homeschooling, some I'll do and some I'll pass on. Always a matter of choice.

We went to the Royal on Tuesday and Saturday, Wednesday we went out for dinner and a movie with Don and Deborah. We saw Megamind, the lad was riveted. It was a good time out.

Thursday we more or less just bummed around, made dinner for Don and Deb.

Friday we went to Hamilton to visit with my sister and her youngest daughter before they headed back home out west. Should mention that we also went to the RCA, Ontario Classis, Minister's Dinner. The food was great, did wish though that we had sat at a different table....but the food was good and Art's daughter put on a rather interesting lighted ball display.

Sunday we attended morning service, had a delightful dinner with extended family. When Don lay down to rest after preaching our boy had a good time taking care of him. Keeping him all snuggled with his stuffies and playing music for him and telling stories. It was fun to watch and listen to.

HOPEFULLY Don and Deb will come up this way in April. :)

November 11, 2010 - A Lesson

I have not verified if this is true or not, but a good lesson I think it is.

A lesson that should be taught in all schools . . And colleges. Back in September, on the first day of school, Martha Cothren, a social studies school teacher at Robinson High School , did something not to be forgotten. On the first day of school, with the permission of the school superintendent, the principal and the building supervisor, she removed all of the desks out of her classroom. When the first period kids entered the room they discovered that there were no desks. 'Ms.. Cothren, where're our desks?' She replied, 'You can't have a desk until you tell me how you earn the right to sit at a desk.' They thought, 'Well, maybe it's our grades.' 'No,' she said. 'Maybe it's our behavior.' She told them, 'No, it's not even your behavior.' And so, they came and went, the first period, second period, third period. Still no desks in the classroom. By early afternoon television news crews had started gathering in Ms.Cothren's classroom to report about this crazy teacher who had taken all the desks out of her room. The final period of the day came and as the puzzled students found seats on the floor of the deskless classroom, Martha Cothren said, 'Throughout the day no one has been able to tell me just what he/she has done to earn the right to sit at the desks that are ordinarily found in this classroom. Now I am going to tell you.' At this point, Martha Cothren went over to the door of her classroom and opened it. Twenty-seven (27) War Veterans, all in uniforms, walked into that classroom, each one carrying a school desk. The Vets began placing the school desks in rows, and then they would walk over and stand alongside the wall... By the time the last soldier had set the final desk in place those kids started to understand, perhaps for the first time in their lives, just how the right to sit at those desks had been earned.. Martha said, 'You didn't earn the right to sit at these desks. These heroes did it for you. They placed the desks here for you. Now, it's up to you to sit in them. It is your responsibility to learn, to be good students, to be good citizens. They paid the price so that you could have the freedom to get an education. Don't ever forget it.' By the way, this is a true story. Please consider passing this along so others won't forget that the freedoms we have in this great country were earned by War Veterans.

Yesterday's activities

1. I learned how to make a box out of 2 x 4's. made it too big, but it does the job. :) I made two boxes, connected them with 2x4's and then put wood on the sides. I now have a mostly done entrance for the rabbitry. 6 feet tall. It will be better than the four foot hole I crawled in through last year, and better than the 2 foot hole I have between tarps this year. :) hopefully the way I have it set up will work better this year. Time will tell. NOW... if it all blows away in the first big storm we get in the year, I'll be rather unimpressed....

2. Jim painted one half of the living room, and then we moved furniture around. The colour is like a very light orangey-brown. It's very subtle. We like it. :) The TV, big couch, Jim's chair, the exercise bike, coffee table and the DVD racks are in the far end of the living room, and my computer and all the homeschool stuff and the love seat are in the road side of the living room. A quite different set up. will be less cosy in some ways if company visits, but it will be quite manageable I think. Hopefully easier to keep tidy whilst homeschooling. :)

AND this morning.....

Justin got us all up because he was very upset that I set up his private house without him. NOT a good start to the day. :) But ah well...it's all a learning experience right?

Christian Carnival - November 3, 2010

Basically, due to time constraints, doing this as minimalistic as possible. Doing this in reverse order received.

NIV 2011

The NIV 2011 is now online. My general sense after looking over their preface is that it's an improvement over the TNIV, and most of the changes in the TNIV were improvements over the NIV. Here are a few observations:

Five Sacred Crossings by Craig J. Hazen

Book Review
I have to admit that when I picked up Craig J. Hazen’s book, Five Sacred Crossings: A Novel Approach to a Reasonable Faith, I was asking myself, is this going to be more “novel” or more “reason”? He wrote it as fiction, but really now, how many novels have subtitles? Would he let the story be a story?

A Nation of Blue Tangs

Well, we’re becoming a nation of Dories. Now I’ll admit I don’t have the best short term memory in the world —I often say my mind is like a steel sieve, only the big chunks stick— but there is something distressing about the move to 15 second commercials, just like there was something distressing about the move to 30 second commercials.

Veritas pro Christo et Ecclesia?

Michael Coogan, an OT lecturer at Harvard Divinity School, has recently written an opinion article ostensibly exposing some “shocking” values espoused by the Bible. While Coogan makes some valid points in this short essay, for the most part, I found his analysis to be a mixed bag at best.

Reformation Day Was On Halloween
Can't pull a clip from this one. :)

Cholera Outbreak

Life can be pretty surreal sometimes. I got word of the cholera outbreak through facebook Thursday night from a friend. Friday morning SP assembled a team to travel to the affected area to assess the situation.

The Power of Forgiveness

But something we learned about was very recent history. RobAnne and I were lying in bed watching the news in the early morning, and they had a ten-minute piece on the power of forgiveness. It’s the story of two families who forgave people who did horrible things to them:

Order of worship from the Letters to the Corinthians

Last summer I mentioned a long-term project of mine: orders of worship in which every word closely tracks Scripture. The goal goes beyond quoting Scripture throughout the service; the goal is to let each portion of Scripture shape how we worship. Because this order of worship is from the letters to the Corinthians, it has several open calls for participation from the congregation as Paul described in his writings to them.

What is Surety?

I first learned about surety when I took the Crown Financial Ministries small group study class. Not many people have heard of the term before, but it’s definitely a Biblical financial principle that’s important to understand. One of the Crown daily devotions this week explains this principle.

Let’s Talk About Love

There’s been a lot of discussion around here (perhaps mostly one-way!) about Love. Love Guitar this and Love Guitar that.

Just what is this Love thing I keep yammering on about, anyway?

Expounding the text, or *EXPLODING* it

So you can imagine how much I like to “hear” him preach, figuratively speaking, as I read transcripts of his sermons. In this sermon, he accuses a commentator (some say John Gill) of exploding 1 Timothy 2:4 in the process of attempting to expound it. Spurgeon also makes a great point in this paragraph about the danger of an excessive concern with intellectual inconsistency.

Are Your Acquaintances Helping or Hurting Your Finances?

Here's an interesting verse from Proverbs 13:20:

He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.

Let me put a personal finance spin on this:

He who associates with and listens to those who are doing well financially becomes wealthy. But someone who follows the advice of those who can't handle their money is destined for the poor house.

Are You An Opportunity Seizer or an Excuse Maker?

I recently read of a man who turned down a dinner invitation from the president of an international organization. His excuse? “I just don’t have time…I recently purchased some investment property and I need to go look it over.” Lame? You bet. Especially when he later realized the opportunities that he passed up:

Christians: Artistic and Entertaining

The 7th Annual Evening of Arts & Entertainment certainly offered a unique experience. I first heard about Arts & Entertainment Ministries back in the summer of 2006 when Joel Pelsue spoke at one of David Bahnsen’s Southern California Center for Christian Studies conferences here in Orange County. But as schedules go, I didn’t have a chance to attend the organization’s annual event until this year, meaning earlier this month. It was definitely a lot smaller and more intimate than I expected. But it was nice to have the opportunity to leisurely browse the gallery art and actually have conversations with many of the featured artists.

Bring it to Him

The Book of Hebrews explains Christs’ role so eloquently!

Are you Free to Believe?

Open Doors is currently active in lobbying the United Nations in Geneva over the Defamation of Religions resolution. You can find out more about their campaign by heading to the website Free to Believe.