31 October 2007

Patrick and Mopsy

Taking a break from his homework to plan his strategy for a new war-card game, Patrick spends a little time with Mopsy. Mopsy has been his partner in crime since he was about three. I have some old pictures lying about detailing their grooming habits together, too. When he was little, Patrick would get out of the shower, put his jammies on and lie on the floor and let the cat LICK HIS HAIR. I'll spare you the picture. But I think he's at least outgrown that habit. I haven't asked him lately.

Can You Believe It?

Some driver threw a lit cigarette at G while he was waiting at the bus stop. He came home VERY upset. Of course he did not have the presence of mind to take down a license number. He insisted on changing his shirt and washing because he smelled like ash.

Thankfully his shirt was not burned, though it's going to need a washing. What we thought might have been a burn on his chest went away after about ten minutes, which leads me to believe that is where he brushed himself off.

I drove him to school instead this morning. I was even nice enough to waive the usual $5 fee. Well, really, the $5 fee is in place to discourage tardiness in the mornings, and this didn't count. Poor G. He's just so upset by this and doesn't know why anyone would want to do that to him.

$1,600 Hotel Room for $10 a Night!!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21530352

This couple gets a very, very discounted rate on their hotel room. At the time they were honeymooning there, the rooms were $10. The hotel promises that if you can produce a receipt, you can have the room for that amount each night.

So... at those prices, why wouldn't you just spend $300 a month to stay there and let them clean the room each day? Maybe eat some pop tarts and tap water each morning for breakfast and go hoggy at the buffet each night? You'd live well, do no work and save *lotsa* money.

OK, nobody thinks like me though. ;]

I remember one friend of mine, Susan, was so excited that the rate they got on a vacation house a couple years back would be the same rate she'd pay, forever. She planned of course to go back in 30 years and whoop it up, but she died less than two weeks after her vacation! Well, that stinks. She was a devoted Christian and I'm sure having a great time in heaven now. Still, my limited knowledge of math tells me that she could have (if God were willing, which of course He wasn't...) lived forty MORE years PLUS eternity. Forty PLUS eternity simply *must* be bigger than eternity, wouldn't you think? Any algebra nuts wanna help me out with this?

30 October 2007

Pensive, As Usual.

Yes, sometimes it's so quiet we're not even sure if the Emperor is in the house. You should see our walls.

Prayers for New Yorkers

HSLDA sent us a link to this story recently from the state of New York:

http://www.hslda.org/hs/state/ny/200710300.asp

It's disturbing. I'm glad I live in a state without such strict regulations, and *usually* without such horrible child-abuse investigative techniques. I've been in prayer for the poor people living under the repressive Massachusetts government for some time. New York sounds as though it is quickly heading in that direction. (Yes, I've already mentioned California in a previous post.)

When I talk about states like these, I'm always thinking in the back of my mind about Abraham's conversation with God about Sodom. How many "good men" will it take to save our states? The nice lady who took my CBD order had an outrageously East Coast accent, and she told me she lives near Boston. But that working at CBD was *such* a blessing because people there at work make eye contact and occasionally say hello to one another. How sad that a courteous greeting can't be taken for granted.

Sigh.

I *do* rejoice, though, knowing that money from memberships from more liberal states such as mine (um, in regards to HOMESCHOOLING LAW and not politics!!) can be funneled into states like New York and help families like these. We are all in this together, whether we homeschool or not.

We ought to all be free from unreasonable searches and seizures... and some wacky-doodle social worker coming to your house to strip-search your children without some AMAZING probable cause sure sounds like it's unreasonable to me...

Lookit My Little Chompers!


Um, Okay, But WHO is Paying??

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21542719

Nose swabs for all new patients at an Illinois hospital. Sounds harmless enough, and may prevent infections of others. But I wonder how much the test costs, whether it is covered by insurance, and how many other tests will be mandated in the next few years. Will we spend all afternoon just getting tested before admission in emergency cases?

Awhile back, G had some blood tests done just in case (of what, I have no clue), because he is so skinny and not gaining weight. The thing they didn't tell us is that it cost $400!!! Yes, a 4 with two zeroes at the end. Four zeroes if you count the pennies. Of that we had to pay over half. Next time, I will be saying "no" to everything and the doctors will wonder what my problem is.

29 October 2007

I Feed My Children Mice!



I'll spare you the "teddy bears in quicksand" portion of snacktime, though.


Using a Number Array for Basic Division

Here you see a 4 x 4 number array. We're using it to figure out how many teddy grahams each person gets if we divide the 16 pieces two, three, or five ways. Sometimes we have "remainders," too. This entire concept of division is very, very difficult for the Elf to grasp. Both Emperor and Elf also have a bit of difficulty figuring out things like what 3/4 of 16 would be, even with the array *right* in front of them. The teachers' manual DOES say, though, that we are merely "Introducing the Concept," which should be mastered in about fourth grade.

From the Life in a Shoe Blog

http://inashoe.com/?p=401

Kim C over at Life in a Shoe has posted some serious warnings for Christians with children in the public schools. This just breaks my heart. There are so many people out there who will never be able to receive the truth and LOVE of the gospel, when the message of Christ is shut out.

Please pray for our public schools. I wholly agree with Kim that we need to re-think sending our children there. But there are so many out there who really have no choice. There are so many out there who do NOT know the truth.

Time It Right, And Your Child Will Succeed!!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=490226&in_page_id=1770

Children born in September do the best on standardized testing. God apparently gives low-class trashy families kids born in all the other months, and they don't do as well on tests. We definitely need large amounts of money to study this idea more closely, according to this report.

28 October 2007

Why G Will Not Be Getting Braces.

Yay for them deducting the $150 because it would be our second child in braces... Sigh. It's just not happening at these prices.

GI Joe... The Great American... Based in Brussels... International Peacekeeping Member!

http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/10849526.html

I can't imagine that anyone wants to buy a GI Joe who defends the world in some UN-type mamby-pamby peacekeeping operation. Against SCOTSMEN. I'm really secretly afraid of Scotsmen. Bad, evil Scotsmen are so unspeakably horrible that every child has an overwhelming, rational fear of them when they go to bed at night. And every year on September 11, I remember what they did to my country, them and their little plaid kilts...

Nevermind. Just read the story.

Saturday at Home


27 October 2007

G Working on "War Cards"

G has been working on "War Cards," and posters about "War Cards," for some sort of game he's making with decorated index cards. All the other children are now formulating THEIR own games on index cards as well.

Blatantly Stolen From Mrs. Knifton's Blog:

http://snopes.com/politics/religion/compass.asp

This is a link to Snopes.com, the urban myth-busting website. There is a movie coming out in December titled, The Golden Compass, which you will want to be sure your children MISS. It is put out by an atheist who, at the end of this trilogy (the movie is based on the first book), have some sort of archetypal Adam and Eve kill God Himself.

Yeah, save yourself $50 movie admission and spend it somewhere better. You'll be glad you did. Thanks to Mrs. Knifton for the tip.

Free Speech! Wouldn't Thomas Jefferson Agree?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21496482

Poor, persecuted Larry Craig says that his "wide stance" and hand gestures are constitutionally protected free speech, and the ACLU agrees. I'd make a statement about politics making strange bedfellows, but it would be most inappropriate of me. Even if it is free speech.

Sigh.

I wish this guy would give up on it already. And go away. Far, far away. Like to Iran or something, and try that gay potty story over there and see how far it gets him.

And I wish that his wife would purchase a clue somewhere. Yes, she isn't young and pretty like a lot of these political wives, but I would venture a guess that she would do better on her own than with... him. Though I *am* starting to wonder if maybe she's just not very bright as well. At first I felt sorry for her, but now I'm thinking... you've had enough time to "process" this and why are you staying?? To be his "shield" and excuse? To show people that he's "really straight?"

Yes, I believe he's straight and that this WHOLE thing was just a misunderstanding. Yep. I'm sure you do, too.

26 October 2007

Teacher Organization Day

On the weekends, DO NOT look at my dining room table. I'm preparing for next week! And that Huggies box? It's full of papers my children have completed since last November when the Elf began homeschooling. What's funny is that I cull a lot of the 'useless' ones out before saving them. At this rate in three years, I will have an entire closet-ful of papers.

The Emperor at Home, and What We're Working on Now.

When the Elf was in the first grade, I'd have stacks and stacks of workbooks from Sam's Club. These were cheap, and taught basic concepts well. They were secular, but I was happy with my Bob Jones Bible curriculum (have I not talked enough about that?? I'll have to do a whole post on that sometime) as an integral part of the younger children's day. Emperor would join Elf in the mornings before leaving for preschool most afternoons, and learn the Bible verses and do the activities with him. I'm surprised at how well the Emperor is doing in his classes, and how much he benefitted just hanging out in a homeschool environment during his preschool last year.

Those workbooks were very helpful in that I could give the easy "A is for apple"-type sheets to the Emperor but work on the Venn diagrams at the end with the Elf. Even his preschool teachers (who I am guessing are NO fans of homeschooling!) were impressed with the Emperor's ability to add and subtract numbers.

It's strange. He went four afternoons a week to a special-needs preschool because he's considered to have special needs. But he's very bright and teachable, so long as you don't make "sitting in a chair" or "being quiet" or "keeping your hands to yourself" any sort of a requirement. It would be nice if he learned some of those skills in the next ten years, but I feel that Emperor's public school KINDERGARTEN teachers (and principals, and counselors, etc.) placed far too much emphasis on these skills, but never bothered to notice that the child was mathmatically inclined, or that he could already read. He spent his mornings with a colour sheet or in the principal's office waiting for my arrival because of his "bad choices."

I'm so glad he's home for good now. I think they'd have kept him in kindergarten all year, or even advocated for retaining him so that he wouldn't be a disruption in first grade. No, I take that back. They'd have wanted to label him so they can get mega-money from the state, and then shunt him to some horrible program for emotionally disturbed kids. That's the crap they tried to pull on Elf because they can't be bothered to learn what the word "autism" entails, or maybe spend a few pennies on an aide.

Anyway... Emperor has just about caught up with Elf in every subject, despite being "two years behind" the Elf in terms of public school enrollment. If I am having the children write "a sentence about smog," maybe his sentence will be shorter and he'll forget the capital letter. But he can do it. He is only about six months behind math-wise. They are now taking all their classes together. It makes it much easier to teach that way, although I do have to give each child a different "reading aloud" book, or shorten the Emperor's assignments so that he writes three short sentences instead of five longer ones if we are working on writing stories. I'm more forgiving of his spacing and capitalization, and his penmanship.

But it's a lot of fun as well as work. Here's what we're working on now:

Everyday Mathmatics, second grade (public school curriculum)

Bob Jones English, Grade 2 (we're just beginning this and will likely take over a year to complete)

Bob Jones Social Studies, Grade 2 (begun last November, probably finished sometime in May or June... we keep reading library books on these subjects to go with it)

Alpha Omega Lifepac Science, Grade 2 (begun last December, probably finish May/June)

A Beka reading books, grades 1 and 2

Reading Aloud time (various; has included Winnie the Pooh series and Cricket in Times Square)

Bob Jones Bible, grade 3 (beginning NEXT WEEK).

25 October 2007

Morning Routine

Patrick and G can reach these canisters of cereal and get breakfast for everyone except J after they pack their school lunches. The canisters used to hold animal cookies from Sam's Club, but they're so big and clear and unbreakable that it's just natural to use these to hold food again.

This is... Stupid.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5243105.html

Pretend you're a custodial grandparent. Would you let a 14-year-old sleep over at the principal's house? Then involve some dude named Quanell X to mediate the situation when you think there's some sort of sexual misconduct going on?? It's just... too weird. There is no way people can be this stupid.

24 October 2007

Patrick, In Concert.

He plays the cello for the symphonic orchestra at our local junior high. This was taken on Monday, his first day back to school. He did very well at the concert despite being all stitched together and not practicing for at least a week. Doesn't he look cuuuute??

Do You Have a Perfect Husband??

I found this at Peggie's blog:

http://mademelaugh.com/funny-videos/the-perfect-husband/

Do You Still Want Your Child In Public School?

I sure hope my husband would consent to pull ALL our children if we get quite THIS far locally...

http://www.noroomforcontraception.com/content/view/107/57

Elementary schools in Illinois are to offer condoms? I'm so glad that such distribution would require written parenal consent, but the article DOES go on to state that if your child is injured at school, they'll just sit there and let him bleed to death because you refused the "health services:"

Although advocates of SB 715 say parents need to sign a consent form, IFI points out that parents cannot pick and choose which services they want for their child at current “school based clinics.” Unless they sign the form allowing their child to receive all the services, their children will receive no services if injured.

I'm really not crazy, but I do wonder if the antichrist is coming soon at this rate. And no way I have enough food for eight in the basement for a seven-year tribulation. Rats.

You ARE Kidding, Right??

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21440178/

It's such a travesty. *sniff* People are running up high credit card debt for skeletons, fake blood and demonic ghosties. Time for the federal government to take action, don't you think??

23 October 2007

10 Ways Kids Can Help the Earth

This article details a lot of "little" things kids can do to get thinking about conservation issues. Most of it is probably stuff you're already doing to a certain extent. We're currently doing a LIFEPAC on "Environment" and the treasures God has placed on our earth. A few examples of God's treasures on earth are animals, mountains, trees and air. You get the picture. The book tells the children that they need to take care of the things God has given them. We get a biblical picture of the Garden of Eden and how Man was given dominion over all the earth. It's a second grade curriculum, so it isn't too detailed, but we've checked out a few library books about throwing away your trash and the like that we'll be reading over the next couple weeks. http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/family/10/23/par.enviro.kid/index.html

Number Arrays!

This is a 3 x 4 number array with one missing! I'm counting our "Tea on Tuesday" time as part mathematics and part English because I read stories aloud while we nibbled on cookies.

Do You Use Teachers' Manuals??

Right now in math we're working on fractional parts of sets and number arrays. That sounds fancy, right?? I'm slowly learning to use the resource with our math book sets called the "teacher's manual." This is very much unlike the teacher's manuals you'd get for homeschoolers, because our math curriculum came free from the public school... it's so full of teacherese that it takes me about five readings to "sorta" understand what they're talking about.

But the curriculum was free because they were updating to a new edition and I guess that math is such a changing subject that they were pitching the old stuff... but bonus for me. Plus, I know *for sure* whether my children are on par with what they are teaching in the public school district locally; at least in that subject I'll be comparing apples to apples when I look at the boys' progress. And at this level, we don't get indoctrinated so much in the math curriculum.

I had been *so* frustrated with teaching some concepts lately. For example: I have twelve dogs and three children. How many dogs can each child have if we divide them evenly? I get blank stares. Or, there are five fingers on each hand, and each person has two hands. Three people are in the room. How many fingers altogether?

But they could tell you easily that 3 x 4 = 12, or 3 x 5 = 15. They could!! But you ask a question like that and they have no clue. That's one thing I miss about the Horizons curriculum. They just asked the answer to 3 x 4 and didn't really apply it nearly as much as the Everyday Mathmatics. Or, here are six coins drawn on the worksheet... I gave 2/6 of the coins away. Shade the coins that I kept.

Thankfully, I looked at the scope and sequence pages of the magical "teachers' manual." Oh, they *introduce* these concepts in second grade, but the child does not need to be "secure" in the concept until about fourth grade!! Whew! So I'll go over the material but not flip so much about whether the boys completely understand all the details of the concept.

Anyone finding they are relying more on the teachers' manual as they progress, or do all you out in bloggyland find yourself needing these resources LESS?

Socialization and Homeschooling

Yeah, yeah... you've heard this topic before in a million different places. But this Christian homeschooling dad has a totally different take on it in my opinion:

http://tdpower.blogspot.com/2007/10/virtue-peer-pressure-and-homeschoolers.html

He talks about the peer pressure homeschoolers would get in college and what can be done to prevent its negative effects. In summary, he theorizes that many people think of peer pressure akin to vaccination... you expose to a little of it, and increase a bit at a time until the child can handle about anything. He says that's faulty logic, and asks how many kids have been the victim of that line of thinking.

At the same time, we need to expose our children to the "real world" so that they have other things besides the teen culture to fall back on when their friends fall through.

Hopefully I gave a pretty faithful synopsis, but there are several 0ther "nuggets" of wisdom in the post you probably don't want to miss.

More on the Carnival of Homeschooling

Yahoo-ee! I'm being featured (along with, like, 50 other bloggers LOL!) in the Homeschooling Carnival! It's being hosted this week by Kris at her blog. Here's the link:

http://blog.athomewithkris.com/?p=879

If you're here, you've probably already seen my posts, but you might want to go say hi to other homeschoolers on their blogs and see what they're talking about this week.

22 October 2007

Robot Jammies

I made these myself for Patrick and G, after finding this beautiful ROBOT velour on sale at Hancock fabrics. I had more time for projects like this then... Now Emperor and Elf are wearing them.

Eating Purple Muffins!

We made blueberry muffins for our Tea on Tuesday event last week. Except we had it on a Wednesday. Tuesday was spent worrying about Patrick and ferrying him to the hospital, LOL! Do you like how the muffins turned out? We didn't bother draining the blueberries first... the boys *wanted* the muffins to turn out like that. They tasted normal, though.

Oh, Thank You, EPA, Mmmmwwwah! *kiss*

Thank goodness that we have such a wonderful government looking out for the interests of its citizens. We can rest easy now that we know for sure that Agent Orange is harmless, mercury fillings are okie-dokie, that melamine in your chicken is just a tasty additive, and thimerosol in your baby's shots couldn't POSSIBLY cause a problem. And now, from the same government that brought you that up-to-date and extremely scientific bunch of findings (drumroll, please):

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/10/22/body.burden/index.html

Ta-da! Little kids have amazing amounts of industrial chemicals in their bodies, when you look at it on a per-pound basis. But do you know what? Just because you have a few hundred chemicals you can't pronounce floating around in your child's body, doesn't mean that ANY harm is being done. Nope. You heard it first here, folks:

"My concern about this trend about measuring chemicals in the blood is it's leading people to believe that the mere ability to detect chemicals is the same as proving a hazard, that if you have this chemical, you are at risk of a disease, and that is false," she said. Whelan contends that trace levels of industrial chemicals in our bodies do not necessarily pose health risks.

Um, okay.

Did you like that quote? I mean, *just* because you have this stuff in your system *doesn't* mean you have a problem. And do you know what? If the children develop problems, whose fault is it? There are tons of chemicals floating around in their bloodstreams, and proving blame for a neurological defect or *whatever* would be tricky at best even if the government DID give a toxic rat's butt about our children and their future. But, oh, I forgot... it ISN'T the chemicals. Nope. Couldn't be.

Now, someone's going to go ahead and comment about the extensive research on thimerosol shots and how it *couldn't* be a factor in autism, right? And I might agree that there is no proven link at present. And I might agree there are no proven links between these chemicals and, say, my children's autism. But I'm *%#$ suspicious that the findings will always be just what the big businesses want them to be, whatever the truth is. And as a person with a brain inside my skull, I get a bit distrustful that the "truth" will be known in my generation.

Does anybody care what we're doing to our earth? Or the people that live on it? I mean, besides the people that will call me a murderer if I have a fur coat... I'm talking about NORMAL people. Is there anyone out there?

21 October 2007

Before... In Progress... After!




Before: I found this chair in the discard pile at our church and took it home. If you look closely at the first picture you'll see that it is very dirty and needs a good sanding and re-staining. D sanded the chair outside (middle pic) and applied two coats of beautiful stain to match the assemble-it-yourself desk we are using for the Emperor's homeschool. Now we have a beautiful, sturdy chair for the cost of some steel wool and stain. Thanks, D!! Great job, isn't it?


20 October 2007

Ooooh! It's Another Woodjie Picture!


Carnival of Homeschooling

Hmmm... I've discovered the "Carnival of Homeschooling" at: http://whyhomeschool.blogspot.com/

There are some really interesting blogs it links to. I'm glad I found it, because now I have new blogs to look at. I haven't found any obscene ones yet and that's a blessing. Anyway, you might want to check it out and see if you like it, too.

Homeschooling Elf and Emperor

There's the story about the couple that wants to go to Rome, but they wind up in Holland instead. I hate that story. Anyone who has ever lived with children with disabilities day in and day out will tell you it certainly is not a good analogy to compare "special needs" children with trips to Rome and Holland. Hello, if you have kids like this, you never want to leave your house and have difficulty relating to any trip-themed story.

We have two children on the autism spectrum and one with the ADHD sillies. I think in our case, what makes it most difficult is that our children look just like anyone else, but just act all quirky when they're in public. We homeschool our 6 and 7-year-old, but our older two children are presently in public school. And public school DOES work for these two older children. This post is mostly about my two younger boys, though.

The Emperor (6), despite CONSTANT training, will run away from me and hug strangers and tell them he loves them. He will spin about and make a nuisance of himself. He will clap, sing loudly and dance while I am having a serious conversation with the doctor. The Elf (7) will be *just* fine most of the time, but only if his mother is directly next to him. Otherwise, he frequently runs away or hides, or even becomes defiant. He literally freaks out in public.

We get horrible sneers when I'm out with the younger children. I'd sure like to give every self-righteous sneer-er a good wallop upside the head. Then, I'd like to mandate that they spend 200 years caring for seven special-needs children at once and endure every eye-rolling and snippy comment possible during that time. Twice. Per child. I'd like to see them suffer great humiliation, and feel the despair of knowing that no matter WHAT you do, people will think you're a crappy parent. Then, toward the end of the 200 years, I'll make some little comment about how if they would just be consistent with their discipline, their children wouldn't act like such brats in the public library...

That would feel *good.* Sigh. I just had to spend about five minutes thinking about that. I feel better now. Ok, back to the subject of the post...

I really wish that I could just wave my little wand and make everybody "better." My children would lead normal lives and I might have some IRL friends. But I will say that if my children were regular, run-0f-the-mill children we wouldn't have discovered the joys of homeschooling them.

D had been against the idea in the past, on the premise that it is 1. more work for me that the public school would do for "free;" and 2. he pays his taxes and doggone it he's going to get that VALUE out of it; and 3. I might not be able to do this and keep up with my other duties at home. It wasn't until he saw that the public school was NOT going to meet our family's needs and was NOT looking out for the best interests of Elf, that he was ready to give it a try.

Or more correctly, was ready to let ME try.

Everything you hear about homeschooling is probably true to some extent. At least it is for us. Our homeschoolers are very backward socially, but I think that has more to do with the disabilities they have than their upbringing. Their disabilities mandate the type of upbringing they receive, really. I *can't* just go to a homeschool co-op or even Children's Church and leave the 6 and 7-year-old. It doesn't work. The Emperor would be spinning, non-stop talking and hugging, and "not making good choices" during my absence. And the Elf would probably be screaming and hiding in a corner... if anyone is able to find him... So, yes, our homeschoolers are socially awkward. I need to get over it, and so does everyone else.

And, yes, homeschooling DOES eat up pretty much all of your day. But... if you want to go on a vacation, you don't have to follow the school's schedule. If you want your child to NEVER learn about Halloween, or "alternative lifestyles" during class time, you never, never have to deal with that issue again if you don't want to. Did you want to teach your children Roman numerals instead of gender equity? You can do that. The day is yours. Well, not really. You spend your whole day on THEM, but at least you get to determine what's going into their heads.

Those of you with special-needs children in the school system will relate with having to fight for every little accomodation for the child on his IEP. And every time your child does something foolish, you have to go and advocate for him rather than let the teachers be too harsh in their judgment. You have to walk that line between teaching the child a lesson and breaking his spirit toward education, and you have to do it daily AND justify what you're saying to your child's teachers. You have to do homework with a screaming child. You have to do this every day... I know I said "daily" before, but let that thought sink in a bit. Every... day. Please remember that public school schoolwork *somehow* tends to be most demanding when you have the flu, or a headache, and/or ten appointments that MUST be kept that afternoon.

To me, it's not worth it. I'd rather spend six hours teaching what *I* want to teach on my own schedule, than three screaming hours of homework and paperwork-checking when school is out, the children are tired, and I have to do things the "school's way." That doesn't count the constant phone calls either. Bleh.

One thing I've been surprised about is how homeschooling fits in with "life." How "life" is an opportunity for homeschooling, and homeschooling is an opportunity to learn about life as you're living it. For example, I started an Alpha Omega Lifepac about "plants" with the children and we planted a pumpkin seed for fun. I thought the thing would die after a little bit, but we'd take a few notes about the leaves and stem and be done.

Nope. We planted it in the front yard and eventually harvested a beautiful pumpkin! We learned all about pumpkins for about a month for science. We even went to the pumpkin patch for a field trip! It was so much fun, and so interesting to learn about the pumpkin while it's growing. Homeschooling gave us that time to get away from a set curriculum and do some learning on our own about a topic of interest.

We still do the "box" curriculum for the most part. I like the structure and the idea that someone else has worked out the scope and sequence so our "gaps" aren't too big. But every now and then, we take time out to learn about something that interests us, and then we get back to the curriculum. I'll let you in on a secret: it makes the curriculum last longer, and reinforces some of its ideas as well.

We just love homeschool. I can work around the Elf's needing structure and sameness each day, so it meets his special needs VERY well. Actually, you can't tell he is autistic at all when he's at home, really. Maybe he flaps his arms a bit while we're doing a cooking lesson or reading an exciting story. But otherwise, his schoolwork and interactions at home are about on par with any other child. And the Emperor is learning how to write more legibly and channel his energy appropriately. It's an ongoing lesson, though. I'm thankful to have my younger children home to teach them the skills they need.

Tres Chic...


Patrick models the baby Woodjie bunny hat for your viewing amusement.

Whew...

Just got back from the half-mile walk to the elementary school and back. Patrick practiced with his backpack and notebook to see how he could do walking out to the bus stop and back. He did better than I did LOL! We will have to be sure that he doesn't add any textbooks to the backpack and hopefully things will be fine for school on Monday.

18 October 2007

It's OK to Be... *Whatever*.

http://amazingsix.blogspot.com/2007/10/ban-on-mom-and-dad-sparks-call-for.html

Come check out Virginia's blog and see what's happening in California. Yep... there is birth control in the SIXTH grade without parental consent in Maine, and now this... I'm afraid this attitude toward children in public education is going to creep inward and infect the rest of the country as well. And it's already bad enough here, thank you very much.

Coming to America... 76 Times with TB

http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071018/NATION/110180087/1001

Could you believe that someone with multi-drug resistant TB can cross the border and fly on planes so frequently? I think this speaks to not only the lax border enforcement, but also the stupidity of the extreme HIPAA laws. I could walk right in and sit on a plane with this guy for 7.99999 hours, and I wouldn't need to be informed of my exposure to TB?? Because of HIS right to privacy??? I think we could use a little overhaul here.

17 October 2007

Patrick is Home

He's groggy and sleepy, but he can go to the bathroom by himself and sit up and eat. Good enough for now. He sees the surgeon in NOVEMBER; meanwhile, he will stay home from school until Monday and not be able to lift anything over 10 pounds (that's one Junior High textbook, really) until then.

And Now, For the Story....

Patrick felt a little yucky on Tuesday but went to school anyway. Wednesday morning, when he insisted on staying home, I knew he was really sick. By 8:30, he was doubled over in pain and asking me to help make it stop. We talked a little about bowel movements, etc. and I offered him an apple, which he thought was a good idea. Then I reconsidered that notion and told him no food until he sees the doctor... I offered him a Tylenol, which he didn't take, and called the doctor. We got in by 9:15, which is very, very unusual. Usually they take a couple hours to even return your call...

Our regular doctor wasn't in yesterday (figures!), so we saw a young female doctor in the same practice, and another doctor who was following her that day. Patrick had pain, but the bloodwork came up normal. The doctor thankfully sent us in for a CT scan just to be "sure" since Patrick was still walking slumpy and clutching his stomach.

I felt badly that all this was taking so long and the children were really getting restless. That made it very hard for Patrick, especially since I had to go to the bathroom occasionally and leave them with him. Once I came back and Emperor was literally stuck to a glass wall like a spider. Turns out he was on his tippy-toes on a nearby COUCH and leaning forward like a crazy kid. Poor Patrick was whimpering for him to quit it, but I was a *bit* more strident with the child, believe me. Baby J, during these three hours, ate all of my emergency stash of Cheerios and most of the bottle I had packed "just in case." (Whew... I need to repack that!)

When they got back in touch with the doctor, they TOLD us that Patrick was going to go into the ER and be admitted for emergency surgery. Now, normally, I'm the type that wants a couple opinions... or at least can we meet the doctor first and talk about options, etc.? Not this time! This time that was just the way it was going to be, and they were calling a surgeon in at the same time they were talking to us and getting Patrick a wheelchair. Barely five minutes later, they were jabbing him with needles and getting an IV started.

I think Patrick was frightened, but relieved that there would be an end to the pain. Earlier in the day I had told him that if they found it was just a virus, he'd have to go home and wait for the pain to go away. He told me he didn't know how he could do it and make it through... poor guy was in a LOT of pain. Thankfully he had absolutely nothing to eat or drink all day and made it through surgery well. He's a little drowsy though. It's almost as though he's talking to you from inside a fog, is the best way I can put it.

We're *hoping* to get him out today but D has to work and I am *NOT* going to bring all these kids to see Patrick and annoy him while he's feeling so crummy. I have been up a good part of the night and considered on calling the nurses there to see how he's doing, but then D would hear my voice and tell me to get off the phone and go to bed. So I'll just surf the internet and read stupid stories about global warming and Britney's lap dog or something. Sigh. I sure miss that boy, and his place is very empty at the table. And G sure had a very hard time without him last night. I asked him how he'll cope when Patrick goes away to college, and the extreme reaction I got tells me Patrick will NEVER be able to leave our house, ever again after this LOL!

16 October 2007

Patrick's Appendix!!


You knew you wanted to tune in to see surgery pictures!! Let's see if we can convince him to show the big, gaping holes in his gut for posterity as well... I'll be visiting him in a bit, but I hear he's a bit groggy and on morphine. Though he reports he's actually feeling much better now.

Patrick Update

He's out of surgery and in the recovery area. D still has not seen him, but apparently surgery went well. More later.

Please Pray for "Patrick"

That's his middle name, and the name I blog about him under. He is having his appendix out RIGHT NOW. Will update later.

15 October 2007

Candied Apples!


We had to copy Lori and make some of these, though I chose the less traditional route of the microwave mix in its own bowl you throw away when you're done rather than scraping and washing all day. Can you tell the Elf didn't really appreciate this culinary delight?? Here he had been looking forward to it all day, only to find out that he hates it.

14 October 2007

Can I Have a Kiss? Can I Taste That Camera?




88% Chance of Happiness if You Have "It" Chopped

Wow, 88% of men who have their weenies chopped off and redesigned to look "female" report being happy with the surgery years later. This is a very RELIABLE survey, because it was conducted by the people who do the surgery. I'll warn you that reading this article describing what they do to healthy male genitalia will make you wince:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21118358/

And I wonder why there's such an outcry about female genital mutilation in Africa, but it's okie-dokie for a man to become a "woman" in liberal circles. This is just plain old disgusting. I know there are probably a very, very few unusual exceptions out there of people born without the proper "gear" or whatever and the parents have to make the best decisions they can at the time. But this...

I guess people think this is normal or something.

13 October 2007

G, Age 12. Enjoys Having Picture Taken.


OK... Let's Hear It.

The HSLDA website reports that the "Marshall" family of New Jersey received a letter implying that they had the right to deny a parent's right to homeschool. http://www.hslda.org/hs/state/nj/200710090.asp.

Quote:

While this was troubling enough by itself, the Director of Instructional Services went on to insert her personal opinion about the superiority of public school over homeschooling. She wrote, “I believe the best place for a child to be educated is in a public school setting, which promotes both academic and social growth. Research and experience has shown that children who are homeschooled have gaps in their education and miss socialization opportunities.”

End quote.

HSLDA lawyers quickly dispatched a letter putting the official in her little place by informing her she had no such right and requesting this supposed "information" on gaps in socialization and schooling. Interestingly, the reply simply stated that the official would change the letters in the future, but included none of this damning "research." One wonders where she got her figures from in the first place. This is a Christian blog so I won't speculate in writing.

Letters like this, I believe, are a not-so-subtle form of bullying on the school district's part. The tactics don't work on those who know better, but I *do* wonder how many parents have children in public education who have started to talk about the possibility of homeschooling, or began asking the school how to go about it, but been quashed by discouragement from local officials or ignorant "research" like that cited above.

Now, honestly. I have a "gifted" child in the eighth grade. He's going to be taking AP classes in high school, but he's not sure how to address a letter or use a phone book. He's a good learner and in many ways we feel the district is doing a good job with him, but he DOES have "gaps" in his education. So do my homeschooled children. I think eventually the "gaps" will just be different. And guess what? Sometimes you can teach a child something, and he has difficulty with a concept such as telling time. You can't very well blame the school for that sort of gap... unless the "gap" is never addressed later.

What angers me most about stories like the one above is that people are trying to discourage parents from having control over their OWN CHILDREN. If I want my child in private school, public school, or on an internship somewhere it should be my own concern. There should be an official firing of any idiot who tries to erode those rights while in the process of doing a job.

12 October 2007

It's MY Blog. You'll Have to Suffer.

Yup, another baby Woodjie picture. He likes to try to eat the camera.

Like, Yoinks, Scoob!

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=58091

The idea of a new currency for all of North America is being floated (hopefully this is a "lead balloon"). How *sweet.* I'm sure that will really go over well here in the Midwest. I don't even know what words could possibly be used to show how distasteful this idea is to me, having our economic base so BOUND inextricably with Mexico and Canada. Not to mention the implications for our self-governance should such a thing come to pass.

In other news, WorldNetDaily tells us that Mexican President Vincente Fox would sure appreciate an open border so labourers can come and go at will both ways. Yeah, I'm sure all the experienced and unionized carpenters in Texas will get quite a lot of work updating homes in Mexico at nice, fair support-your-family prices when that happens... Even George Bush seems like a bit of a prancing liberal on these issues. You just want to smack the whole lot of them and tell them PLEASE not to talk unless they have something sensible to say. PLEASE.

Please?

11 October 2007

Spiders!! Eeek!!




Did you know that spiders have two body parts, and that their legs are really attached to their HEADS?? I didn't. I just assumed the legs were attached to the abdomen, but I was wrong! We made spiders out of balloons and pipe cleaners. We drew eight little eyeballs and fangs in the front and symmetrical markings on the abdomens. We couldn't attach the legs to the heads, though. We put them between the balloons... close enough.

Good For Them!!!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21222462/

I'll tell ya, the school districts want to pack 'em deep and teach 'em cheap whenever they can get away with it. Then they want mega-money for administrative salaries, new buildings, and pet projects. It's for the children, you know, and you're a real (bad word) if you don't vote in favour of their little proposal. You're doing wrong to "the children" if you siphon too much money out of the system for YOUR kid or if you don't go along with *everything* they say... How could you be so selfish??

I'm so glad this rich family had the mega-bucks to fight the school district and get the appropriate education their son needed. Now, the other millions of parents with special-needs students *might* have it a little easier if they had the money to fight these people in court, too.

I'm tempted to wonder if we shouldn't just scrap public education and let everyone sink or swim. It's kinda what's happening anyway. Worse, you get the illusion of being educated if you graduate from a bad school in the slums. What a rude awakening these young adults get in college after they've been accepted on an affirmative action basis. (Yes, I've seen this happen IRL, so nobody try and play the race card and bash me...)

And no, that's not just me being petty because I homeschool. I have two older children enrolled in public schools. One is autistic, has an IEP, and costs the taxpayer PLENTY, thank you. And *this year,* we have some amazing educators helping him out. But we've been down hard roads before with this district and probably will again, to get him what he needs. I can't say that public education is "good" if I were painting with a broad brush. It can do some good things. It can also be incredibly crappy, and a good part of me wonders why the taxpaying public bothers overall.

Just saying. I know it probably sounds like I'm advocating two different things at once... the abolition of public schools and the spending of "lotsa money" on IEP students. Actually, I'm being more pragmatic. Public education isn't going anywhere, and I see they already have "lotsa money" and they can spend a few dimes on an IEP student before they build a football field or teach sex ed and PE.

Ok, do you know what I *really* wish? I wish there were a cure for autism, or some healing for G and Elf. I don't post a lot about the ins and outs of dealing with this on a regular basis because I'm not sure anyone will "get it," but it's no fun sometimes. For anyone in our family. Guess you had to be there.

Sniff...

Well, if that made any sense to anyone but me I'll be surprised. Bless you guys and thanks for listening LOL!

10 October 2007

Watch This!

http://inashoe.blogspot.com/2007/10/praise-aerobics.html

OK, even if you don't normally click on links, click on this one. It's just *too* cute. Kim C. over at Life In A Shoe managed to post this of her baby dancing. It's a riot!!

Sing the Song of Togetherness!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21221162/site/newsweek/page/0/

Conservative Evangelicals and liberal God-knows whats can talk together and find workable solutions. Neither side has to compromise its ideals! Yaaayyy...

Who do they think they're fooling? How many idiots are out there today, on either side of the political spectrum? Who really believes that you can "get together" with a group that opposes everything you stand for, and work out some sort of compromise that doesn't violate your ideals? And who says that voting on a candidate primarily on issues such as abortion and gay marriage makes them "knee jerk issues?" Well, Newsweek does I suppose. In my opinion, there are thousands of "issues" out there and each one of us has to be accountable to God for which ones we base our votes on. And don't think that liberals don't vote for a candidate based on whether he or she believes abortion should be legal, either.

Soon we will be seeing articles on the Bahai faith as the solution for fights between Christians, Muslims and other religious folks...

Eat Your Vegetables!!

Doing a mini "food pyramid" unit this week has shown me how seldom we eat vegetables in our house. I've incorporated a few veggies every now and again into our meals. Mushrooms and peas are in this one. Now, I **HATE** peas most of the time. They are slimy from the can and just plain ol' yucky. But the "Just Peas" brand are freeze-dried and crunchy and tasty! If you've never tried "Just Corn" or "Just Peas" from your local health food store, I'd recommend them. This endorsement is from someone who loathes and despises all "healthy" foods.

Some Homeschool Mechanics

We start homeschooling around 6:30 a.m. with reading a short prayer and a chapter or a few paragraphs (depending on where there is a natural "break" in the text) from the Bible. We pretty much work constantly the whole morning until about noon or 12:30. That's six hours of actual WORK. I find that if you sit one child down with his math sheets, you can usually read with the other with only a few interruptions and then switch children. So they get their subjects flipped around constantly, but the number of "core hours" remains the same so I keep one record for both children.

When we finish "early," I usually don't just let the boys go and play. I feel that that just means it's time to pull the same trick the local public school does: Silent reading time!! Sit the kid down for a little bit and let him read and look at the pictures on his own.

One thing I'm finding: my boys read very nicely considering their ages. Even the Elf at barely seven can read words like "whosoever" and "wherefore" without blinking. And generally understand what they mean. I'm not saying that to brag, though I *am* proud of them... I'm saying that to set this little problem up: How can they do that, but not be able to spell "are" or write two coherent sentences together without using phrases like, "really really really??" I've done spelling lists and tried to advise them in their writing, but it doesn't seem to help much. Yes, I have a BA in English that my parents spent a great deal to provide (thanks!!), but I still can't teach two small children how to write? Thankfully my degree is not in Education, or the poor children would be *really really really* messed up LOL! (Really.)

Conversely, the boys are able to do quite a bit in mathmatics I wouldn't have expected. I literally get a headache when I look at numbers or try to even think ABOUT thinking about numbers. I dread it so much that I literally want to go hide and cry. But the boys love math. I have no clue how I'll teach them in later years but as long as we stick with basic addition, multiplication, etc. I'll be ok. I'm sitting here getting upset thinking about how I'll have to learn how to do some of the harder math later... so I'll move on to another thought...

We're finishing up a short unit (one week) on healthy eating and the food pyramid. You know what that means... we are going to have to make a list of healthy foods to make for snacks and go shopping. Field trip!! :]

09 October 2007

Woodjie


Makes You Want to Put MORE Makeup On!!

Not.

Did you know that cosmetics can be absorbed into your skin? Do you ever wonder what that might do to your body?

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,22540525-23272,00.html

Next, they'll be telling us that they've found plastics like melamine in our chicken!

Oh, wait...

What a Bunch of Nuts!!

OK, this isn't even a bash on the Catholic church. It's a bash on some reallly weird people who probably HAPPEN to be Catholic. Check it out for yourself:

http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=57716

Um, yeah. The virgin Mary appears on some lady's garage door and not only is the homeowner nutty enough to believe in this apparition.... the entire town comes out to view it. Take a look at the crazy far-off look in some of their eyes....

Hopefully the local Catholic authorities are discouraging this craziness and encouraging people to actually- you know - like, do that "prayer and read the Bible" thing for answers in their life instead of looking at some lady's garage door for guidance. But I don't see anything about the local church's response in the video or article. If they haven't, I think they *need* to respond.

07 October 2007

Mmmm..... Forbidden Donut... Mmmm....

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/missouristatenews/story/2F37838AFD546C9A8625736D000B589F?OpenDocument

A man police describe as a "frequent flier" in the prison system has been arrested and awaits trial for stealing a 52-cent donut. But before you laugh... think of how many times this fellow has probably been stealing and causing problems to the community. Think about how he pushed the woman who went out to ask him to come inside the store so that they could call police.

The headline makes it sound as though the prosecutor and others are being a bit petty. You know, that rationale that says, "It was *only* a 52 cent donut... it's not like murder or rape or anything..."

Maybe not. But maybe we shouldn't let this guy go steal donuts with impunity either. Maybe we should keep in mind this fellow's LONG string of convicted offenses before we wonder why they're prosecuting over a 52- cent matter. Keep in mind that every time someone does something wrong, it doesn't necessarily result in a conviction!! One wonders just how bad this fellow is in his daily dealings with his friends and neighbours.

Just think about it.

06 October 2007

Tell-All Story About Our Cat... Secrets Revealed!


This is our cat, Mopsy. She's over 14 years old. When she was younger, she would RUN all over the house and jump on the countertops constantly. That drove me NUTS because I think that's disgusting... cat bottoms on the same area I prepare food (scrub, scrub). She also had a HORRIBLE fondness for Brillo pads that I had used and stuck in a little container by the sink to use again later. Ugh... rusty water everywhere!! Thankfully, she is too old to get into quite so much trouble. But she really outdid herself last week. I keep piles of laundry next to the washer and then load from there. I kept smelling poop and asking the boys... did you forget to flush your toilet? and does any of you have a "problem" today? Sniff... I know I'm not crazy... Finally after I've loaded most of the laundry I lift a shirt and chunks of cat doo fly all over the floor. BARF!! I really honestly about retched in the washer, which was probably also full of poop. Had to take out all the clothes and shake 'em while I'm literally heaving. Thankfully I hadn't eaten dinner yet... Had the boys clean the chunks on the floor - you know there ARE some advantages to being pregnant when you don't have to do that. But worst.... WORST... I felt a squishing feeling between my toes just then... Bad cat!!

What Does a Monster Look Like?

I've unfortunately had to tell my younger children that monsters are real. No, nothing *specific* happened to our family, but in the course of general conversation I've had to tell them at different times that there are "bad people" out there and to stay with their mother when they are out. The Emperor has a nasty habit of running off and hugging strangers and telling them he loves them. At six, this has *GOT* to stop. It just seems to get worse as he gets older. I'm trying to stop him from hugging anyone unless he's at home or at church. But strangers usually see the little kid hugging them and go, "Awww.... SURE, I'll hug you!"

Good of them, but not helpful to me in my predicament. So I've been *trying* to tell the boys that not everyone is a friend... At my OB office, they have a large picture of one of these "bad people" who is suspected of trying to get a baby by any means necessary. So we're on the lookout especially whenever we go there. I tell the boys there are not only people that want to cut Mom open and steal the baby, but there are also people out there that want to steal THEM and cut them up into 100 pieces. (The truth about molestation is just even worse and I can't quite bring myself to even talk with them about it.)

But... why??? Elf asks. He is genuinely perplexed that someone would want to do this. I explain that lots of people don't know Jesus very well, and so this is what happens.

Last night, I showed them some of these "monsters" on the news, turning the volume off when necessary to prevent too-much-information syndrome. They look just like anybody else, don't they?

Elf gulped and nodded in awe.

Emperor says, NO! I can tell!! The bad people are all wearing orange!

Sigh...

04 October 2007

Painting!







We're learning about primary colours in our science unit. We have LIFEPACS for second grade science. I'm finding as I go along that these will last way longer than the one year they're supposed to, even with homeschooling all summer. I find that there are so many books in the library that are on this level about the same topics... or... we get carried away doing little sub-units like our "pumpkin" unit because that's what we happened to be doing at the time here at home. I find the same thing with our social studies curriculum... so much at the public library to read on the same level. I wouldn't be the type to move away from curriculum "in the box" completely, however. I find the curriculum gives me a nice guideline on what the children ought to know, and some grade-level exercises and worksheets. It's easier to do than to plan your own. But I like planning my own activities sometimes as well. So.... I don't know what on earth style of education I could possibly say I'm giving my children LOL!

03 October 2007

Pumpkin Picture Again!!



Because of the OVER- WHELMING number of comments and e-mails asking me about our pumpkin, I decided to post a picture of it yet again. See how orange it's getting? I also wanted to show everyone our pita bread pizza. We get pizza sauce, pepperonis and cheese from Sam's Club and we eat pizza bagels, pizza french bread loaves, pita pizza, and the pizza-in-a-kit pizza. We like pizza.

02 October 2007

Do Your Children Have Dolls?

http://www.visionforum.com/hottopics/blogs/dwp/2007/09/2996.aspx

Lately I read this post about the necessity of little girls being able to play and develop their nurturing instincts with toys like dolls. Doug Phillips posts about the sluttiness of many of the dolls on the market lately, though he's ever so much more tactful in his choice of wording. But I'm figuring any doll that needs to be BLURRED when pictured on his website is... probably not a doll of high moral repute and respectability if you know what I mean.

Phillips speaks about how such choices for girls' playthings sends them the feminist message. I'm not sure that I agree with this analysis because these dolls project more the Paris Hilton-before-jail type personas. No real work to do, but plenty of money for fancy cars and clothes. Perhaps if one were referring to a high-price escort service, the feminism analogy would be correct.

But I wouldn't worry about my daughter (if that's really what we're having) picking up "feminism" from these dolls. Worldliness and being all about looks, maybe. Low morals and rebellious attitudes, maybe. Unrealistic role models beauty-wise, maybe.

But not "feminism," really.

Vision Forum has come out with the "answer" to this problem. Cute little girl dolls to dress and care for. But as a mother with five boys who has NEVER put frilly underwear on her children, I have to ask where the cute little boy dolls and their baby-blue accessories are available. Wouldn't it be nice if they offered "Timmy" or "Nathan" with a little wooden toy push-car and a couple cute outfits??

Just wondering... Anyone else see a real lack of boy dolls for girls to play with?

Super Loopy Balloons!


This is one of those kits I found intimidating but I finally just went ahead and opened it.... It really is a lot of fun, although our creations look nothing like the pictures in the manual that comes with it!!

01 October 2007

Cleaning Dishes

The Elf tried his hand at cleaning the pot after we mixed brownie mix about a week ago. He quickly discovered that the chocolate mix gets everywhere, and it's difficult to do a good job. He also found that it's messy work.

Did You Know McCain's a Bigot??

http://www.miamiherald.com/367/story/256844.html

How dare he "prefer" a Christian for President... You would think that he personally ordered the Holocaust for being so intolerant. And his being attacked by a JEWISH organization for making these remarks is a little strange. I didn't think any Jewish people were running for president this time 'round...

I would have thought the Mormons would get all in a tizzy before the Jewish folks... since one is running... hmm.

Do you know what? I would be very hard-pressed to vote for ANYONE to take the presidency who is not male and a conservative, evanglical Christian. I guess I'm even *more* bigoted than McCain. Yay for me...

But do you know what? Since when is it "wrong" to have a preference? I mean, it's "my vote, my preference, my right to decide" LOL! McCain is not my top choice for president by a very LONG shot, but I hope he's going to stand firm on his comments and refuse to meet with Islamic groups, etc. to talk about his "tolerance" for other religions of "peace."

Don't Profile Me By Treating Me Like Everyone Else!

A new program in Irving, Texas, ensures checks into the possibility of a person's illegal status whenever an arrest is made. That's racial profiling because they're doing it to everybody. You know, it's not nice to make an issue of things like committing crimes after entering our country illegally. You must be a racist to think this sort of treatment is OK:

http://www.star-telegram.com/629/story/248767.html

Quote:

According to Irving police, 1,373 people have been turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, this year, leading the Mexican and Salvadoran consulates and Hispanic activists to cry foul and accuse the city of racial profiling.

Only about four illegal immigrants were identified in the city jail a month before the Criminal Alien Program began in September 2006, according to information Police Chief Larry Boyd gave the City Council.

About 52 a month were being identified when the program started, and up to 130 were identified per month by April, according to the chief. Mayor Herbert Gears said up to 300 a month have been identified in recent months.

City and police officials have denied that they are engaging in racial profiling and said that all people arrested in the city are screened for possible referral to ICE when they are booked into jail.

Gears said most of the people turned over to ICE were arrested on suspicion of driving without licenses. Quintanilla and other activists said Hispanics and their neighborhoods are being targeted.

End quote.

You do know, don't you, that despite all the big noise in the news, that we *do* have illegal immigrants from places like China, Haiti and other countries, and Hispanics from Mexico are not the ONLY ones who could possibly be affected by a program like this. I think the real problem is that these measures were not taken decades ago, and we now have a sizeable illegal population that seems to feel entitled to stay. And this population is rather bold in demonstrating and claiming their "rights" too, aren't they?

I'll say this, though. I'm sure that an illegal immigration bust near the Mexican border would be more likely to turn up Mexicans immigrating illegally than a large, marauding gang of illegal Irishmen dealing potatoes and shamrocks on the black market (Hey, if I'm part Irish, I'm allowed to say silly stuff like that. I think it's in the PC code somewhere...)

And immigration is not going to be enough of a diplomatic issue between the US and Mexico, so long as "big business" profits from illegal labour and people who are opposed to large numbers of illegal immigrants continue to be painted as xenophobic racists with hound dogs and shotguns.

Just saying.

The shame is, there are many localities literally overwhelmed with immigrants and the federal government does nothing. The local governments sometimes try to alleviate the problem, and it comes off badly. Really, one wonders if the states can't sue the federal government for the cost their policies are burdening the individual state budgets.

Bringing Garbage Home

Some people up the street were throwing this table away. It was in pretty bad shape and one of the legs was off. I've glued the leg back...