while searching......

while searching around my brain for something to blog about i came upon a new blog and stole the author's tag for myself (she practically said i could!) plus this way i can introduce you to a new blog you might very well enjoy! so here's her button

and here's her meme i stole :) :)

48 Things About Me!

1. What time did you get up this morning? 9

2. How do you like your steak? Well done.

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? can't even remember

4. What is your favorite tv show? I don't really have a favorite tv show,but i do like househunters, the food network and other homeimprovement shows i watch on the computer.

5. If you could live anywhere, where would it be? not sure. i went from big city- which i didn't like- to tiny town- which i don't like. sooooo......

6. What did you have for breakfast? coffee

7. What is your favorite food? mexican and italian

8. What foods do you dislike? none i can think of
9. Favorite place to eat? olive garden or on the border

10. Favorite dressing? Ranch

11. What kind of vehicle do you drive? astro van

12. What are your favorite clothes? broom skirts

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance? italy

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full? 1/2 full!

15. Where would you want to retire? not sure

16. Favorite time of day? At night when everyone is in bed and I can think and have a few moments alone :) i'll keep her answer!

17. Where were you born? florida

18. What is your favorite sport to watch? I don't like to watch sports- keeping this one too

19. Who do you think will not tag you back? ?

20. Person you expect to tag you back first? ?

21. Who are you most curious about their responses back to this? ?

22. Bird watcher? yes

23. Are you a morning person or a night person? Night person

24. Do you have any pets? no this is the longest time in my life i have gone without a pet!!

25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? Hmmmm... not really :)

26. What did you want to be when you were little? a writer, then more realistically a teacher
27. What is your best childhood memory? let's not go there

28. Are you a cat or dog person? cat

29. Are you married? Yes

30. Do you always wear your seatbelt? Yes

31. Have you been in a car accident? Yes

32. Any pet peeves? clutter, messy houses, books not put back correctly,and more!

33. Favorite pizza toppings? mushrooms
34. Favorite flower? Gardenia

35. Favorite ice cream? chcolate

36. Favorite fast food restaurant? none really

37. How many times did you fail your driver's license test? Never

38. From whom did you get your last email? jaime who's blog i ripped this off of

39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? thrift stores!!

40. Do anything spontaneous lately? yep! went shopping and out to eat with a friend from out of town!!

41. Like your job? Yes!

42. Do you like broccoli? Yes

43. What was your favorite vacation? camping in the smokie mountains

44. Last person you went out to dinner with? My kids. and my friend from out of town

45. What are you listening to right now? the air conditioner blowing

46. What is your favorite color? purple and green

47. How many tattoos do you have? 0

48. How many are you tagging for this quiz? whoever reads it and wants it, right jaime?

win the shop

susan is having a "win the shop" giveaway!! check it out!!!

babies have the potential to be human!

Another controversial Obama czar, this time Science Czar John P. Holdren, said in a book he co-authored in 1973 that a newborn child “will ultimately develop into a human being”if he or she is properly fed and socialized and says a woman with an unplanned pregnancy shouldn’t be punished with a baby. Sound familiar?


“To a biologist the question of when life begins for a human child is almost meaningless, since life is continuous and has been since it first began on Earth several billion years ago. The precursors of the egg and sperm cells that create the next generation have been present in the parents from the time they were embryos themselves. To most biologists, an embryo (unborn child during the first two or three months of development) or a fetus is no more a complete human being than a blueprint is a building. The fetus, given the opportunity to develop properly before birth, and given the essential early socializing experiences and sufficient nourishing food during the crucial early years after birth, will ultimately develop into a human being. Where any of these essential elements is lacking, the resultant individual will be deficient in some respect.”

From Human Ecology: Problems and Solutions

win an apron

win an apron and check out this great giveaway blog!!!

2 items for you

update- I WON THE NECKLACE!!




get free yogurt when you sign up for the betty crocker newsletter - you also get coupons periodically :)

win a beautiful handstamped brag necklace from frugal mommy of 2 girls!!

gratituetuesday

for more go HERE


what i am grateful for today

the power went out about 4 a.m and it just came on again at 1 p.m. what i am grateful for is that it rained and there was no hot sun!! with temps hitting 107 last week i was concerned that we would melt but nope we did just fine!!! now if we could just have fixed that no coffee thing!!!

stellan needs prayer NOW

pray for stellan

pray hard- this little boy is slipping and we need to lift him up and plead with the Lord to heal this baby NOW!

did you know?

Horace Mann, John Dewey, And The NEA
http://www.seekfind.net/HoraceMannJohnDeweyAndTheNEA.html ( go here and read many more articles)


Horace Mann is the person credited with starting government-run education in the United States in 1839. He learned his techniques for Prussia. His motivation was to end education by Christians. Horace Mann was a Unitarian, did not believe in the inspiration of the Bible, or the Trinity. Horace Mann’s religion was Secularism.



John Dewey, in the 1920s and 1930s, really established Horace Mann’s principles. He introduced the concept of "Humanistic education as a religion." Dewey was President of the American Humanist Association and a signer of the first Humanist Manifesto. He saw Christianity as a huge problem that needed to be solved. Dewey’s religion was Secularism.



Horace Mann visualized a world where no one would be in the prisons, a virtual utopia, if he could just get Christianity out of education. He has largely succeeded, and the result is horrible in terms of teen pregnancies, abortions, assaults, robberies, murders, rapes, vandalisms, and the list goes on. Horace Mann, in his idiocy, predicted utopia, but he got the currently increasingly awful mess.



The President of the NEA, the teacher’s union, sees things the way the Mann and Dewey saw things. Christians need to be eliminated. Censorship of Christianity is very obvious in public schools. The teaching of Secularism, sometimes called Humanism, is also very obvious. An NIE study concluded that public education is very biased against anything Christian, including marriage.



The President of the NEA contends that there is no such thing as a Humanist, yet there is a Humanist Association, a Humanist Manifesto, and Humanist Dogma.



Looking in Public School text books tells us that Humanism, or Secularism, is being taught very thoroughly. In addition, Christianity is being excluded. The following tenets of Secularism are the major theme in public school text books:

*
Evolution
*
Individual Autonomy
*
Rebelliousness Against Parents
*
Promiscuity
*
Perversion
*
Child Molestation
*
Realism, which is a term used to describe presentation of a very negative slant on life
*
Anti-Family
*
Anti-Free Enterprise / Pro-Socialism
*
Drug and Alcohol use
*
Relativism



did you know The U.S. Senate of former Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., quietly slipped a provision into the No Child Left Behind Act that requires, by the 2007-2008 school year, science testing by grade 5. That gives censors the authority to force 10-year-olds to believe and defend evolution.

some links

how to make your own chicken broth

is it cost effective to make pantry staples?

precious girls club giveaway here

how to make sweet pickle relish

had to put one hot topic in- forced abortions and sterilizations are coming !

still think public school is an option?

Mandatory 'gay' day for K-5 students
Board imposes homosexual curriculum on classes
Posted: May 28, 2009
11:50 pm Eastern

By Chelsea Schilling
© 2009 WorldNetDaily


'And Tango Makes Three' book about homosexual male penguins who name their chick Tango because 'It takes two to make a Tango.'

A California school district has approved a mandatory homosexual curriculum for children as young as 5 – and parents will not be allowed to remove their children from the lessons.

The mandatory program, officially titled "LGBT Lesson #9," was approved May 26 by the Alameda County Board of Education by a vote of 3-2. Students from kindergarten through fifth grade will learn about "tolerance" for the homosexual lifestyle beginning next year.

The curriculum is in addition to the school's current anti-bullying program and is estimated to cost $8,000 for curriculum and training.

Parents will not be given an opportunity to opt-out of lessons that go against their religious beliefs. Some parents are threatening to sue the school board and mount a recall. Opponents presented a petition with 468 signatures from people who don't want the homosexual lessons in the curriculum.

At the board meeting, parent Julie Kim said, "The topics covered in this curriculum for all the grades should be left up to the parent to discuss with their children."

The district's legal counsel recommended against giving parents an opportunity to opt out of the lessons, claiming only health or sex education topics require opt-out provisions:

[T]he most prudent course of action for Alameda Unified School District's Board of Education in regards to the proposed lesson is to recommend providing notice to parents, not to allow an opt out of the instruction.

The school district claims it will re-assess the curriculum, but only after it has been in place for a full year.

According to the Island of Alameda, trustee Tracy Jensen addressed a crowd at City Hall following the vote.

"We are not telling anyone what to think," Jensen said. "We are letting children know that gay people exist and they deserve to be treated with respect, regardless of whether or not you believe that homosexuality is acceptable."

But Capitol Resource Institute's Karen England explored the curriculum and released a statement condemning the program before the board's vote.

"This curriculum ignores the fact that every child has a mom and a dad, to redefine ideas like 'family.' School absolutely should be a safe place, but this isn't just about safety. Students have to embrace highly controversial social values or risk being labeled as bigots," she warned. "Five year old kids aren't ready to think on their own about sexuality – and their families' values will be dismissed. That's not an education in critical thinking. It's social activism."




In kindergarten, children will be introduced to "The New Girl … And Me" by Jacqui Robins. The book is about a young girl who is new at a school and strikes up a friendship with another girl after a popular boy refuses to play with her.

In first grade, students will read "Who is in a Family?" By Robert Skutch. It explores different types of families. One page states, " … Robin's family is made up of her dad, Clifford, her dad's partner, Henry, and Robin's cat, Sassy."


Curriculum for 1st grade students includes 'Who's in a Family?'

Teachers will ask children to "identify and describe a variety of families" and "to understand that families have some similarities and some differences."

"If a student responds that one family in the book is made up of a mother, a father and two children and a cat, you may acknowledge that some families look like this," the curriculum states, "but also ask students for other examples of what a family can look like."

Teachers are told to reflect and "reinforce to students that in our school and our community there are many different types of families that provide love and care to each other. Remind the students that all family structures are equally important."

Second grade students will read about two homosexual penguins that raise a young chick in the book "And Tango Makes Three" by J. Richardson and P. Parnell.

The two male penguins, Roy and Silo, are described as being "a little bit different."

"They didn't spend much time with the girl penguins, and the girl penguins didn't spend much time with them," the text states.

When the male penguins nurture an egg, it soon hatches. "We'll call her Tango," it states, "because it takes two to make a Tango."

The book declares, "Tango was the very first penguin in the zoo to have two daddies."


3rd grade students will watch 'That's a Family' film

In the third grade, students will watch a film called "That's a Family," featuring some homosexual couples in addition to traditional families.

According to the lesson plan, it aims to "assist students in developing sensitivity to gay and lesbian family structures" and teach "respect and tolerance for every type of family."

Fourth graders will be required to read an essay titled, "My School is Accepting – but Things Could be Better" by Robert, an 11-year-old who has two lesbian mothers.

They are introduced to terms such as "ally," "gay," "lesbian" and "LGBT."

Teachers are instructed to ask, "How do you think Robert feels when he hears people say things like, 'this is gay' or 'You're so gay'?"

By fifth grade, students learn to "identify stereotypes about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people." They are told that "LGBT people have made important contributions within the United States and beyond."

Teachers are asked to write the acronym LGBT and ask students the meaning of each letter. Students discuss why stereotypes are "incorrect and hurtful" to LGBT people and people with LGBT family members.

The children are provided with a list of famous LGBT people, including novelist James Baldwin, singer Elton John, comedian Ellen Degeneres, pop singer Christina Aguilera, Rep. Tammy Baldwin, poet Walt Whitman, singer Lance Bass, figure skater Rudy Galindo, homosexual politician Harvey Milk, Army veteran Jose Zuniga and basketball player Sheryl Swoopes.



Teachers then ask if students are surprised to learn that those famous people are members of the LGBT community. The curriculum also provides a list of LGBT vocabulary words for students, including the following: bisexual, transgender, gay, LGBT and lesbian.

Contact information for the three members of the Alameda County Board of Education who voted for the LGBT curriculum is as follows:

Vice President Ron Mooney: e-mail or fax: (510) 522-6926

Trustee Tracy Jensen: e-mail, phone: (510) 865-6350 or fax: (510) 522-6926

Trustee Niel Tam: e-mail or fax: (510) 522-6926

the reason why

the reason i put these articles up is becuz we need to know what is happening in our world so we can protect our families.
the government is attempting to control all our food sources- trouble is their ideas are way off base! the person who will be in charge of what goes into our food has known for years about the dangers of what he allowed in his products and did it anyway!! we will not be allowed to grow our own food- read the food bill and discover that (on page 16). now all our food will cause disease and kill us but it will be the only food aailable- no organics will be found so we can avoid this!! we must stand up and be counted!

please read this article from the huntington newspaper by jeffrey smith- after all you feed your family right?

The person who may be responsible for more food-related illness and death than anyone in history has just been made the US food safety czar. This is no joke.

Here's the back story.

When FDA scientists were asked to weigh in on what was to become the most radical and potentially dangerous change in our food supply -- the introduction of genetically modified (GM) foods -- secret documents now reveal that the experts were very concerned. Memo after memo described toxins, new diseases, nutritional deficiencies, and hard-to-detect allergens. They were adamant that the technology carried "serious health hazards," and required careful, long-term research, including human studies, before any genetically modified organisms (GMOs) could be safely released into the food supply.

But the biotech industry had rigged the game so that neither science nor scientists would stand in their way. They had placed their own man in charge of FDA policy and he wasn't going to be swayed by feeble arguments related to food safety. No, he was going to do what corporations had done for decades to get past these types of pesky concerns. He was going to lie.

Dangerous Food Safety Lies

When the FDA was constructing their GMO policy in 1991-2, their scientists were clear that gene-sliced foods were significantly different and could lead to "different risks" than conventional foods. But official policy declared the opposite, claiming that the FDA knew nothing of significant differences, and declared GMOs substantially equivalent.

This fiction became the rationale for allowing GM foods on the market without any required safety studies whatsoever! The determination of whether GM foods were safe to eat was placed entirely in the hands of the companies that made them -- companies like Monsanto, which told us that the PCBs, DDT, and Agent Orange were safe.

GMOs were rushed onto our plates in 1996. Over the next nine years, multiple chronic illnesses in the US nearly doubled -- from 7% to 13%. Allergy-related emergency room visits doubled between 1997 and 2002 while food allergies, especially among children, skyrocketed. We also witnessed a dramatic rise in asthma, autism, obesity, diabetes, digestive disorders, and certain cancers.

In January of this year, Dr. P. M. Bhargava, one of the world's top biologists, told me that after reviewing 600 scientific journals, he concluded that the GM foods in the US are largely responsible for the increase in many serious diseases.

In May, the American Academy of Environmental Medicine concluded that animal studies have demonstrated a causal relationship between GM foods and infertility, accelerated aging, dysfunctional insulin regulation, changes in major organs and the gastrointestinal system, and immune problems such as asthma, allergies, and inflammation

In July, a report by eight international experts determined that the flimsy and superficial evaluations of GMOs by both regulators and GM companies "systematically overlook the side effects" and significantly underestimate "the initial signs of diseases like cancer and diseases of the hormonal, immune, nervous and reproductive systems, among others."

The Fox Guarding the Chickens

If GMOs are indeed responsible for massive sickness and death, then the individual who oversaw the FDA policy that facilitated their introduction holds a uniquely infamous role in human history. That person is Michael Taylor. He had been Monsanto's attorney before becoming policy chief at the FDA. Soon after, he became Monsanto's vice president and chief lobbyist.

This month Michael Taylor became the senior advisor to the commissioner of the FDA. He is now America's food safety czar. What have we done?

The Milk Man Cometh

While Taylor was at the FDA in the early 90's, he also oversaw the policy regarding Monsanto's genetically engineered bovine growth hormone (rbGH/rbST) -- injected into cows to increase milk supply.

The milk from injected cows has more pus, more antibiotics, more bovine growth hormone, and most importantly, more insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1). IGF-1 is a huge risk factor for common cancers and its high levels in this drugged milk is why so many medical organizations and hospitals have taken stands against rbGH. A former Monsanto scientist told me that when three of his Monsanto colleagues evaluated rbGH safety and discovered the elevated IGF-1 levels, even they refused to drink any more milk -- unless it was organic and therefore untreated.

Government scientists from Canada evaluated the FDA's approval of rbGH and concluded that it was a dangerous facade. The drug was banned in Canada, as well as Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. But it was approved in the US while Michael Taylor was in charge. His drugged milk might have caused a significant rise in US cancer rates. Additional published evidence also implicates rbGH in the high rate of fraternal twins in the US.

Taylor also determined that milk from injected cows did not require any special labeling. And as a gift to his future employer Monsanto, he wrote a white paper suggesting that if companies ever had the audacity to label their products as not using rbGH, they should also include a disclaimer stating that according to the FDA, there is no difference between milk from treated and untreated cows.

Taylor's disclaimer was also a lie. Monsanto's own studies and FDA scientists officially acknowledged differences in the drugged milk. No matter. Monsanto used Taylor's white paper as the basis to successfully sue dairies that labeled their products as rbGH-free.

Will Monsanto's Wolff Also Guard the Chickens?

As consumers learned that rbGH was dangerous, they refused to buy the milk. To keep their customers, a tidal wave of companies has publicly committed to not use the drug and to label their products as such. Monsanto tried unsuccessfully to convince the FDA and FTC to make it illegal for dairies to make rbGH-free claims, so they went to their special friend in Pennsylvania -- Dennis Wolff. As state secretary of agriculture, Wolff unilaterally declared that labeling products rbGH-free was illegal, and that all such labels must be removed from shelves statewide. This would, of course, eliminate the label from all national brands, as they couldn't afford to create separate packaging for just one state.

Fortunately, consumer demand forced Pennsylvania's Governor Ed Rendell to step in and stop Wolff's madness. But Rendell allowed Wolff to take a compromised position that now requires rbGH-free claims to also be accompanied by Taylor's FDA disclaimer on the package.

President Obama is considering Dennis Wolff for the top food safety post at the USDA. Yikes!

Rumor has it that the reason why Pennsylvania's governor is supporting Wolff's appointment is to get him out of the state -- after he "screwed up so badly" with the rbGH decision. Oh great, governor. Thanks.

Ohio Governor Gets Taylor-itus

Ohio not only followed Pennsylvania's lead by requiring Taylor's FDA disclaimer on packaging, they went a step further. They declared that dairies must place that disclaimer on the same panel where rbGH-free claims are made, and even dictated the font size. This would force national brands to re-design their labels and may ultimately dissuade them from making rbGH-free claims at all. The Organic Trade Association and the International Dairy Foods Association filed a lawsuit against Ohio. Although they lost the first court battle, upon appeal, the judge ordered a mediation session that takes place today. Thousands of Ohio citizens have flooded Governor Strickland's office with urgent requests to withdraw the states anti-consumer labeling requirements.

Perhaps the governor has an ulterior motive for pushing his new rules. If he goes ahead with his labeling plans, he might end up with a top appointment in the Obama administration.

.

Jeffrey M. Smith is the author of Seeds of Deception: Exposing Industry and Government Lies About the Safety of the Genetically Engineered Foods You're Eating and Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods from Chelsea Green Publishing. Smith worked at a GMO detection laboratory, founded the Institute for Responsible Technology, and currently lives in Iowa—surrounded by genetically modified corn and soybeans. For more information, visit Chelsea Green.

Follow Jeffrey Smith on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JeffreyMSmith

2 bits

my moms view has a great contest going on! win an outfit of your choice for your little one!

startsampling.com has true lemon seasoning as a freebie!!

oh and i forgot- win a bottle of sun detergent here southern girl reviews is the place :)

wow!!!!

Embedded video from CNN Video

info

did you know the swine flu vaccine patent was filed for a year before there was a swine flu!! google it!!!


obama/communist stuff

In his books, Obama admits attending "socialist conferences" and coming into contact with Marxist literature. But he ridicules the charge of being a "hard-core academic Marxist," which was made by his colorful and outspoken 2004 U.S. Senate opponent, Republican Alan Keyes.

However, through Frank Marshall Davis, Obama had an admitted relationship with someone who was publicly identified as a member of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA). The record shows that Obama was in Hawaii from 1971-1979, where, at some point in time, he developed a close relationship, almost like a son, with Davis, listening to his "poetry" and getting advice on his career path. But Obama, in his book, Dreams From My Father, refers to him repeatedly as just "Frank."
The reason is apparent: Davis was a known communist who belonged to a party subservient to the Soviet Union. In fact, the 1951 report of the Commission on Subversive Activities to the Legislature of the Territory of Hawaii identified him as a CPUSA member. What's more, anti-communist congressional committees, including the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), accused Davis of involvement in several communist-front organizations.

taken from here http://www.aim.org/aim-column/obamas-communist-mentor/


how obama aligns himself with those who push the communist agenda- click here

sharing on monday

the apron goddesses have a contest going on! not an apron but a dress! here's your chance to look feminine and special !! go for it here!






mon-potato soup
tues-pizza burgers
wed-chicken vegie soup
thur-sloppy joes
fri-tacos




Why Corn Syrup Isn't So Sweet

Back in the 1970's, in an effort to save money, many food manufacturers replaced old-fashioned cane sugar with a new product called High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), which is less expensive and much sweeter than sugar, yet easy to transport because it is in a liquid state. Today HFCS is found in a variety of foods from soda pop to ketchup, fruit drinks to salad dressings, cereals, breads, flavored yogurt, and sauces.

Fructose is naturally found in fruits. But don't panic, fruit is still good for you, and can provide a wealth of nutritional benefits for your family. But problems arise when the fructose is isolated from the food in which it naturally occurs, manufactured into HFCS (which is approximately one half fructose) and added to other foods and beverages.

A recent study conducted by the University of Cincinnati shows how the over-consumption of fructose-added products can be damaging to health. In the study, mice freely consumed water, fructose-sweetened water, or soft drinks (which is usually sweetened with HFCS). The researchers found increased body fat in the mice that drank the fructose-sweetened water and soft drinks--even though these animals decreased the amount of calories they ate from solid foods. Another soda study conducted on humans suggests that HFCS does not provide the body with a sense of fullness. This may cause an increase in excess calorie intake, leading to weight gain.

Whenever possible, avoid food products that contain HFCS and refined table sugar. These foods often have little--if any--nutritional value. Start by:

* taking inventory of your refrigerator, freezer, and pantry. Start reading the fool labels. If HFCS is one of the main ingredients (which are listed in descending order on the food label), scratch it off your grocery list--permanently.
* limiting foods that have "sugar" as one of the first ingredients.
* shopping around the perimeter of your grocery store; this is where you will find the foods in their natural, unprocessed state. taken from babyfit.com





Dying Mother Creates 'Masterclass in Motherhood' for Husband

by Susan Wagner Jul 17th 2009 5:00PM







Jemma Oliver taught her husband to be a mom before she died.
When Jemma Oliver was diagnosed with terminal cancer, she set about preparing her family for her death. But rather than focusing on the funeral arrangements, the mother of two gave her husband, Jason, a detailed crash course in caring for the couple's two children, son Keaton, 4, and daughter Codi, 2. Jemma, 29, walked her husband through every aspect of being a mom and left him plenty of instructions about what to do once she was gone.

"Jemma thought of everything and then organized me so that I would be able to cope," says Jason, 32. He admits that when his wife fell ill, he had no idea how to manage most of her chores; he didn't know how to turn on the dishwasher, for example. "The house was total chaos until she took me in hand. Then slowly and patiently, Jemma told me what to do. She taught me how to do everything for the children -- and for my sake, too."

Jemma covered every possible detail in her masterclass; she hired a hairdresser to come to the house and teach Jason to braid daughter Codi's hair, telling Jason, "I can't have my girl looking scruffy. No bumps in her hair please!" She also left instructions about what clothes Codi could and could not wear, and made Jason promise to take her sisters with him when he shops for Codi.

But Jemma's masterclass didn't just focus on chores and clothes; she also chose schools for the children, and left cards for their birthdays and written instructions about how she wants them to be raised. Jemma Oliver died at her home in Wales in February, with her husband and children by her side; now that she's gone, Jason finds comfort in her notes.

"I constantly look at her plans and instructions to help me. I feel as though she's there watching over us, guiding us along the way," he says.

Who makes most of the parenting decisions in your house? If you were to die, could your partner carry on without you?

knock knock were here to vaccinate your kids

Health Care Bill Will Fund State Vaccine Teams to Conduct ‘Interventions’ in Private Homes


Thursday, July 16, 2009
By Terence P. Jeffrey, Editor-in-Chief


President Barack Obama announces Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, left, as his nominee for Health & Human Services Secretary, Monday, March 2, 2009, in the East Room at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)
(CNSNews.com) - There is a knock at the front door. Peeking through the window, a mother sees a man and a woman, both in uniform. They are agents of health-care reform.

“Excuse me, ma’am,” says the man. “Our records show that your eleven-year-old daughter has not been immunized for genital warts.”

“And your four-year-old still needs the chicken-pox vaccine,” says the woman.

“He will not be allowed to start kindergarten unless he gets that shot, you know,” says the man—smiling from ear to ear.

“So, can we please come in?” asks the woman. “We have the vaccines right here,” she says, lifting up a black medical bag. “We can give your kids the shots right now.”

“We are from the government,” says the man, “and we’re here to help.”

Is this a scene from the over-heated imagination of an addlepated conspiracy theorist? Or is it something akin to what is actually envisioned by the health-care reform bill approved this week by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee.

The committee’s official summary of the bill says: “Authorizes a demonstration program to improve immunization coverage. Under this program, CDC will provide grants to states to improve immunization coverage of children, adolescents, and adults through the use of evidence-based interventions. States may use funds to implement interventions that are recommended by the Community Preventive Services Task Force, such as reminders or recalls for patients or providers, or home visits.”

Home visits? What exactly is the state going to do when it sends people to “implement interventions” in private homes designed “to improve immunization coverage of children”?

The draft of the bill posted on the committee Web site provides more details.

Title III of the bill is entitled, “Improving the Health of the American People.” It includes four subtitles. They are: “Subtitle A: Modernizing Disease Prevention of Public Health Systems,” “Subtitle B: Increasing Access to Clinical Preventive Services,” “Subtitle C: Creating Healthier Communities,” and “Subtitle D: Support for Prevention and Public Health Information.”

The program authorizing home “interventions” to promote immunizations falls under “Subtitle C: Creating Healthier Communities.” This subtitle directs the secretary of health and human services to “establish a demonstration program to award grants to states to improve the provision of recommended immunizations for children, adolescents, and adults through the use of evidence-based, population-based interventions for high-risk populations.”

The bill lists eight specific ways that states may use federal grant money to carry out immunization-promoting “interventions.” Method “E” calls for “home visits” which can include “provision of immunizations.”

Says the draft bill: “Funds received under a grant under this subsection shall be used to implement interventions that are recommended by the Task Force on Community Preventive Services (as established by the secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) or other evidence-based interventions, including—“(A) providing immunization reminders or recalls for target populations of clients, patients, and consumers; (B) educating targeted populations and health care providers concerning immunizations in combination with one or more other interventions; (C) reducing out-of-pocket costs for families for vaccines and their administration; (D) carrying out immunization-promoting strategies for participants or clients of public programs, including assessments of immunization status, referrals to health care providers, education, provision of on-site immunizations, or incentives for immunization;(E) providing for home visits that promote immunization through education, assessments of need, referrals, provision of immunizations, or other services; (F) providing reminders or recalls for immunization providers;(G) conducting assessments of, and providing feedback to, immunization providers; or (H) any combination of one or more interventions described in this paragraph.”

Many vaccines routinely administered to children in the United States are utterly uncontroversial. But in recent years there have been controversies about the chicken pox vaccine and the vaccine for HPV, which causes genital warts, which can cause cervical cancer.

On March 15, 2007, Bloomberg news summarized a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, which discovered that the chicken pox vaccine does not provide permanent protection against chicken pox, leaving children who have been immunized vulnerable to getting ill with the virus later in life when it can cause a more serious bout of the disease.

“Merck & Co.'s chickenpox vaccine weakens as children age, possibly leaving them vulnerable to a more serious infection as adults, a U.S.-sponsored study in California found,” reported Bloomberg. “The power of the vaccine, Varivax, the only one available in the United States against chickenpox, starts to fade after five years, according to the study in today's New England Journal of Medicine. The results suggest that children should get a second dose, which advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended in June.”

Bloomberg quoted the study as saying, "Waning immunity is of particular public health interest because it may result in increased susceptibility later in life, when the risk of severe complications may be greater than that in childhood.”

In March of this year, the Washington Post reported about the controversy sparked when the Merck pharmaceutical company campaigned to have states mandate that school girls receive Gardasil, its vaccine against HPV.

“Merck also began an ambitious marketing campaign and lobbying push to persuade states to add the vaccine to the list of those required for children to attend school,” reported the Post. “But the company eventually abandoned the strategy in the face of an intense backlash from critics who argued that the decision should be left to parents. Although many states considered such mandates, so far only Virginia and the District have imposed one, and [a Merck official] said the company has no plans to pursue that strategy again."

The Post's report noted that at least some experts questioned the wisdom of promoting use of the vaccine when its long term impact is still unknown.

“Federal health officials, Merck and others say they are confident that the vaccine is safe," reported the Post. "But some experts said they are concerned that there is insufficient evidence about how long Gardasil's protection will last, whether serious side effects will emerge and whether the relatively modest benefits for boys are worth even the small risks associated with any vaccine."

try to win this!

win a year's worth of tide!
the not-so-blog has a great contest going on dontcha think?

the gov will give you childrearing "advice", whether you want it or not

Stealth Agenda in Health-Care Bill: Early Childhood Home Visitation

* Posted July 17th, 2009 at 10.09am in Education, Health Care.

The massive 1,018-page health care bill introduced by House Democrats is full of bad policy ideas, and they’re not all even about health care. One troublesome provision calls for a home visitation program that would bring state workers into the homes of young families to improve “the well-being, health, and development of children”.

Lawmakers have essentially inserted the “Education Begins at Home Act” – which was introduced in 2008 and again this year by Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL) and Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO) – into the health care bill under the home visitation section. Despite the fact that as a stand-alone bill the Education Begins at Home Act failed to gain traction last year, lawmakers intent on increasing the federal role in education into the preschool years have inserted the language into the mammoth health care bill.

Section 440 of the House bill – Home Visitation Programs for Families with Young Children and Families Expecting Children – would provide grants to states to establish home visitation programs to educate parents on child behavior and parenting skills. The “well-trained and competent staff” will:

…provide parents with knowledge of age-appropriate child development in cognitive, language, social, emotional, and motor domains…modeling, consulting, and coaching on parenting practices; [and] skills to interact with their child…

Aside from the obviously questionable role of the federal government in such practices, the vaguely-worded program specifics are troublesome. The home visitation provision dictates that the state will “prioritize serving communities that are in high need of such services, especially communities with a high proportion of low-income families or a high incidence of child maltreatment.” While the home visitation program is described as “voluntary,” it’s not clear whether it would remain voluntary throughout or just up to the time a parent trainer enters the home.

The federal government doesn’t hold the key to parenting success, and creating a new home visitation program would further increase the federal role in preschool education. Just one more reason for parents to be concerned about what’s actually in the health care bill.

read this

The Senate Health Bill: Chock Full of Bad Health Policy

* Posted July 17th, 2009 at 9.55am in Health Care.

Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., right, during the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions markup of a comprehensive healthcare overhaul bill.

Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), Senate majority leader, wants to rush the Senate health care legislation through the process by July 27, 2009. It’s not hard to see why.

After 13 days of intense debate, the Senate HELP Committee just finished work on the Senate bill (The Affordable Health Choices Act) and reported it to the full Senate for consideration. During the Committee consideration of the bill, there were hundreds of amendments, dealing with topics ranging from abortions to funding jungle gyms. Much of the internal Committee debate received little attention in the major media. But the Committee’s decisions, if the Senate bill is enacted into law, will affect every American. Consider some of the key decisions:

Covering Abortion. (Mikulski Amendment #201 ) Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) offered an amendment that would require health insurers to include “essential community providers” in their networks. They would provide “preventive care services” for women. These entities include providers like Planned Parenthood clinics, which perform abortions. Few Americans would be comfortable knowing that federal dollars would be funding abortions. In effect, this policy is directly contrary to previous congressional funding restrictions on abortion payment, such as the Hyde Amendment. Republican Senators’ attempts to exclude abortions from the bill failed. Based on this amendment, taxpayer dollars used to subsidize insurance for a low-income citizen, regardless of how he or she feels about abortion, can also be spent on an abortion obtained by someone else in the same insurance network. Moreover, under the Senate Committee bill, the federal government would determine the standard benefits that an insurance plan must include in order to exist on the market. In effect, as a result of the Mikulski amendment, all health plans would have to cover abortion services.

Financing Neighborhood Construction. (Coburn Amendment #49 ) To foster creation of healthier communities, the Senate Committee bill would provide federal community transformation grants to state and local governments. However, the legislation offers only broad guidelines as to where the money can go and does not limit the size of the grant. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) offered an amendment that would prohibit the use of grant money to build and maintain sidewalks, parks, bike paths, or street lights. Other federal programs already direct money toward these projects. Dollars designated for improving the health care system, Coburn argued, could be spent on far more constructive areas, such as increasing access to health care. Remarkably, Coburn’s amendment failed on a straight party-line vote, meaning taxpayers’ hard earned dollars can wastefully go towards projects that are already funded by the federal government.

Expanding Bureaucracy. (Coburn amendment #110) The Committee bill grows the size of the government significantly – it creates new administrations and places immense power in the hands of certain bureaucrats. Sen. Coburn’s amendment would have prevented the expansion of government and runaway federal spending by maintaining the current number of bureaucrats. His amendment was defeated. Even as the nation’s unemployment approaches ten percent, the federal bureaucracy will expand.

Expanding Welfare Eligibility. (Coburn Amendment #205) Medicaid is a poorly performing welfare program. Ideally, it should be reformed, not expanded. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) introduced this amendment to ensure that the Committee bill’s provisions do not expand Medicaid eligibility standards and attempt to increase the number of Medicaid enrollees. State and federal budgets are already heavily strained, and the increased burden of covering the cost of more Medicaid services would be unbearable for taxpayers in many states. Coburn’s amendment failed. This means that the federal government and states, both already in budget crises, will be forced to spend even more on Medicaid.

A Taste of Their Own Medicine. (Coburn Amendment #226) For many liberals in Congress, a new public health insurance plan, to compete against private health insurance, is an absolute “must” for health care reform. Virtually all independent analysts estimate that, given the special advantages of taxpayer subsidies and regulation, that the competition would be rigged, and millions of Americans with private health insurance today would be dumped by their employers into the new public plan. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) proposed an amendment that would require all members of Congress and their staffs to enroll in the newly created public health insurance plan. This means that they would be required to give up their private insurance coverage (nationwide there are 283 plans competing for federal employees’ dollars), which is today provided through the popular and successful Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP). With many members of Congress openly willing to create incentives that would drive Americans out of their existing private coverage, Sen. Coburn put his colleagues to a test. Although 10 Senate Democrats voted against it, the Coburn amendment passed by one vote. Taxpayers should watch very closely whether this amendment is preserved or buried.

Higher Taxes and Doctors Payment Cuts. (Roberts Amendment #207 , Roberts Amendment #208) Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS) offered two amendments that would have prevented the government from raising taxes, increasing the individual mandate penalty, or decreasing payment rates to Medicare providers to cover the cost of subsidies given to low-income individuals for their insurance premiums and out-of-pocket costs. Otherwise, under the Senate bill, taxpayers would have to shoulder the burden of increased taxes and physicians would be vulnerable to even lower government reimbursement rates for practicing in Medicare. Both amendments failed.

Blocking Anti-Rationing Amendments. (Roberts Amendment #1 , Coburn Amendment #9, Enzi Amendment #7) The Committee bill calls for an increased role of comparative effectiveness research (CER). A number of Senators fear that federal officials could use the data to determine payment, treatment, and coverage decisions, subordinating professional medical judgment in the treatment of patients to regulatory or budgetary considerations. These three amendments would have prohibited the use of CER to mandate coverage, deny care, or ration. CER, if used as a rationing tool, would obviously interfere with the traditional doctor-patient relationship. All three amendments failed on straight party-line votes. You can learn more here.

The giant Senate and House health bills would impact the personal lives of 300 million Americans. Ordinary citizens should understand that these measures are not merely focused on ways to control costs and expand coverage; they touch on how and what kind of care Americans will get, and under what circumstances they would get it. The disposition of these Senate amendments is just one indication of how members of Congress really feel about some of the most contentious issues in health care policy. It is time for every American to read these bills.

This post was co-authored by Julius Chen.

* Author: Bob Moffit

you asked

to earn gift cards-i can't stress mypoints.com and swagbucks.com enuf! i have earned $150 or so from swagbucks and $10O or more from my points.

mysurvey.com is terrific also! i have earned hundreds of dollars from them over the years.

walmart.com has great free samples.

coupons.com has the best qs. my points has them too and when you use them not only do you save that way but you earn points towards gift cards!

there are listings on my old blog -thriftymama7
of places i used to go. unfortunately i had already removed some of the buttons before i was asked about it.

it really is trial and error, discovering the best freebie sites and more. if you have to pay anything- run!!! if have to sign up for anything but the freebie- run!

a lot of the freebie and coupon sites have tried up due to the economy which is one reason i don't do much with them anymore.

sign up for free cookbooks and such from namebrands becuz they send qs a lot of times. homemadesimple.com is good for this :) so is bettycrocker.com and eatwell.com

freegrabber.com is one i like. heyitsfree.com is another. don't laugh at some of the offers= one ziploc baggie isn't much but when you need one and it's sitting in the drawer- well?!

sorry ladies- there are no magic ways, just scoping out the web and trial and error. just remember- if it sounds too good to be true- it is :) i'll keep passing along any new ones i discover. meanwhile check out these and my old blog and see what you can find. and remember- it takes more tahn a few minutes a day to "get good" at it. i sat down every day for 2 hours a day doing freebies and printing qs so plan some time for it.

and don't forget cvs!!!!!

PanopticonUK: Obama's science advisor once advocated mass sterilisation and forced abortion!

please read this!!
what are we opening ourselves up to if we take the swine flu shot?

PanopticonUK: Obama's science advisor once advocated mass sterilisation and forced abortion!

my friend anne

my friend anne wrote this and i loved itb so much that i am posting it here :) one of her sites is anneelliott.com- stop by and sign up for ALL her newsletters- they are soooo good!

Handling Things in a Large Family
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Today at 8:12pm

I’ve been asked, “How do you handle everything with so many kids,” so many times recently that I thought it would be fun to write a blog post about it. Then I saw this question repeated in a yahoo group today, and so, yup, it’s time to write that blog post!

The fact of the matter for me is that I entered married life ignorant and LAZY. It’s not my mom’s fault. She taught me how to do things. I just didn’t want to do them. My mom used to ask me to dust while she’d go run an errand, and I would spray the Pledge around the living room so it would SMELL like I dusted. (She’s probably falling over now, if she’s reading this.)

I desired a beautiful home, but with my healthy dose of laziness, my goals usually didn’t get me too far. My biggest motivation to actually clean the house would be company coming over. Pride kept my place reasonably nice. I knew a few tricks for making the place look acceptable pretty fast, and the nagging thought in the back of my brain would be, “Why don’t you keep it looking this nice ALL the time?” You don’t even want to know what my closets looked like.

When my youngest son was born, I would clean his room for him and do all the work for him… picking up books and toys, brushing his teeth for him, making his bed. He was three years old before our second child was born, so he was pretty set in his ways (ie. just let Mommy do it). Now I had two children, and I was starting to get overwhelmed! When Baby #2 was only 17 months old, #3 arrived. This was the point when my homemaking hit the crisis point.

When you have three children and only two arms, and you’ve nurtured terrible and lazy habits… well, let’s just say it’s not pretty!

Even worse, at this point in our lives, we moved nearby my husband’s parents. My mother-in-law is a very kind woman, but she’s an immaculate housekeeper. Her house should honestly be featured in Better Homes and Gardens. It’s perfect and beautiful in every way. Always. (With two dogs, no less…)

But I was overwhelmed. Oh, my pride!

It was at this point that God, through a variety of people and authors, brought me to His Word and convicted me with the words of Proverbs 31 and Titus 2. There was a day when my house was at its all-time worst, but I so desperately wanted to change! I took a piece of notebook paper and handwrote the words from these two Scripture passages, on the front and back, and I taped it up over the kitchen sink. Reading the words over and over, I dug into a PILE of dirty dishes. It took forever to get those dishes done, but I finally got through.

Then I went to the library and started checking out books on housekeeping. My husband still laughs about the day he came home from work and found me sitting in the recliner, in the midst of mountains of dirty laundry, reading How to Clean Practically Anything — forgetting to start making supper as well. (We ate a lot of Taco Bell back in those days.) I also brought home books by Don Aslett, especially the books on getting rid of clutter. I also read cleaning books by Jeff Campbell. (Funny how these are both men. Oh, I can’t forget books by Emilie Barnes and also the “Sense-sational” books by Terry Willits.)

In time, I purchased Home Comforts by Cheryl Mendelson. That is the ultimate homemaking how-to book! But the best book of all, for my heart as well as my head, was The Hidden Art of Home Making, by Edith Schaeffer.

A learned how to manage my time (and stop the procrastination) by reading several other great books. You can see a list on my website at http://www.anneshomeyplace.com/organization.shtml and http://www.anneshomeyplace.com/home_making_skills.shtml. In fact, it was probably around this time that I put these links on my website!

So I started by educating myself, then I had to learn to discipline myself. It was only a year later that my oldest son started homeschooling, and I also started writing on a much more consistent basis. Within 2 years, my fourth child was born, plus we moved to a remote part of the Navajo Reservation.

It was during this quieter, “wilderness” time of my life that I was able to learn how to be consistent. Our home there didn’t have a dishwasher, so I learned to be consistent with the dishes. I finally had my own washer and dryer, so I learned how to be consistent with the laundry. Our home was relatively new, so I learned (and enjoyed) how to decorate a little more. Two of my children started school, so I learned to do homeschooling on a daily and consistent basis. We had lots of windstorms, so I learned to dust and vacuum consistently (for real, Mom!). I learned a lot more about nutrition during these days, and I bought some kitchen equipment that helped me be consistent in bread-baking and other skills. We lived over two hours away from any Wal-mart or other shopping, so I learned how to make a good grocery list and menu. Can you see how God orchestrates our “education” for us?

After the birth of our fifth child, we moved back to “civilization,” to southern Iowa. It was here that my health began to deteriate and I was diagnosed with Addison’s disease, plus I had yet another baby. During these years, I finally learned to delegate. My oldest son was 9 years old now, and so I had plenty of helpers. However, I needed to learn how to help them help consistently. I learned that kids can do more chores than making beds or doing schoolwork. I learned that they can do almost everything I can do to keep a house running smoothly, including food preparation! Many days, my very health depended on their help. What great years those were, and what great helpers they were! (What “blessings,” God’s Word would say!)

Now we’re in yet another state, and I’m expecting yet another baby. I’m far from perfect, in case you should ever visit. This week my husband is out of town, and I have two sick kids passing germs around. Honestly, without my husband’s help and encouragement, I would never have learned anything! He is naturally neat — and I am naturally not! I’ve learned that sometimes I just have to clean for his sake, for the love of him. When he’s gone like this, I find that it would be very easy to slip back into old habits. It’s good for me to have a daily deadline (”Quick, kids, pick up the living room… Dad will be home in 5 minutes!”).

Well, I’ve rambled on enough. Let me answer some specific questions:

* Does it get easier b/c the older ones help out?

Well, yes and no. It gets easier when they help out, but it’s not easier while I’m teaching them how. My personality is the kind that would prefer just to do it all myself (and know it’s done the way I want). But I have them help out, not because it’s easier, but because I’m their mother and it’s my job to prepare them for life. A great book on this subject is Managers of Their Homes.

* Do you floss everyone’s teeth daily? How do you have time to do the girls’ hair so it does not become a rat’s nest?

I’m not as scheduled as the Managers of Their Homes book, but I do have a basic routine that we follow each day. (You can read a post I wrote about this very subject four years ago, and it’s fun to see what I said then.) I’ve got quite a few ideas listed at http://www.anneshomeyplace.com/articles.htm (scroll down to “Your Relationship to Your Home”). Basically, it’s just a matter of what things must be done every day, no matter what, and then just learning to do them before anything else. Some day my kids will be old enough to do all these things on their own, but most of mine are still too young for that.

* Do you have tons of dishes piled up? Oh, what about the laundry?

I have, but I don’t today. I try not to anymore! Honestly, my biggest piles happened when I had only two or three children. (Especially on those dishes…) Occasionally, my basement will flood, my dryer will break, or some other emergency will get me off my routine. With six children, a day or two off my routine will certainly make the laundry start to pile up. But we’ll have a big “laundry-folding party,” and with this many helpers, we can get caught up in two hours of folding. (A good movie helps the time go by quicker.) As for the dishes, my kids help, and no, we don’t get piles. If we have an emergency here, we use paper plates. If I’ll fill the sink with soapy water while I’m making dinner, and if everyone pitches in as soon as dinner is done (before the food gets hardened on), then dishes are no trouble at all. I still don’t have a dishwasher, by the way. I really do think life is easier without one! It can become such a procrastinator’s friend.

* Do you have any children with health concerns? If so, how do you deal with that? If not, would it make a difference in how many children you wanted to have, if you had special health needs that took more of your time? How do you afford to feed your family….please don’t tell me you eat all processed food or something?

In our house, I am the one with the health problems. We have also had smaller health problems occasionally with several of our children. The biggest complications it poses in our house is that I need my rest, and I have to be careful not to overdo. My husband is a very happy person, and he has taught me that “a merry heart doeth good like a medicine” (Proverbs 17:22, KJV). A hard thing for me about having a big family is that it can get really loud! If I’m not feeling well, this really gets to me. I’m sure, however, that God is trying to teach me that I call “roll with punches,” “go with the flow,” and think more of others than myself. (I’m still working on this lesson….) >>Read a post my husband wrote about health and having more children.

We have to be very careful about what we eat. A few days of junk food and someone is invariably sick. Some people have asked if that gets expensive with this many kids. Well, I only have one teenager, and I can certainly see that our food bill will go up as our kids get older and eat more food. Eating healthier food has saved us money, however. I buy very little processed food, and boring, homemade food is cheaper than boxed foods. I don’t use very many coupons because they just don’t make coupons for real food. I can honestly say that my grocery bill decreased over the past few years. Again, as my children get older and eat more, I can see that it might go up again. Maybe I’ll finally learn how to garden. Whatever happens, I’ve seen God provide over and over again, and I’m sure he’ll do it again. (Read an article I wrote about affording healthy food.)

* How do you spend time with each child so they feel they get enough of your attention?

I’m sure every family has its own solution to this, but here are some thoughts. First of all, homeschooling helps a lot. I have my kids scheduled into my lesson plans! We really enjoy our school time together. Second, I don’t feel I need to entertain my kids all day long. I think it’s fine for them to see me working and for them to have to come up with creative things to do on their own. Third, I try to involve them with what I’m doing. If I’m working in the kitchen, they can help. Today we shelled some peas together and had a fun time talking. One or two of them will occasionally go grocery shopping with me. If I’m on the computer… well, let’s just say I’m raising a bunch of computer geeks.

* What have you found works for discipline?

When our oldest son was 8 weeks old, we were introduced to Growing Kids God’s Way. I know it’s controversial, but now I have 6 children. My oldest is a very loving teenager. I guess I’m saying that it works! It really does! I know the authors personally, and I can’t say enough good about them. I am SO thankful for the books they have written.

* What kind of vehicle do you have to fit everyone?

This makes me laugh! We bought an 8-passenger van… and found out we were expecting the 9th member of our family! But we have two vehicles, a car and a van. We get better gas mileage with two vehicles than with one really large van. This might change for us in the future. It’s all as God provides. He always does provide!

* How do you fit in all the well-child checks, dental visits, etc?

I don’t! I educate myself so that I know how to care for my children’s health, then we go to the doctor only when someone is really sick and a doctor can help. I also use herbalists, naturopaths, midwives, and other alternative healthcare providers. For more about my philosophy, read some great books by Robert S. Mendelsohn M.D., such as How to Raise a Healthy Child In Spite of Your Doctor and Confessions of a Medical Heretic.

As for running errands with so many children, I allow my oldest child to babysit. This is a relatively new pleasure for both of us. He gets paid, and I have an easier time! Life really does get easier the older my children get!

Well, this was really long! Thanks for reading through it all. I hope something here will encourage someone.

Hugs,
Anne

clarifying

i think i need to clarify my last post , after reading a comment and realizing that my true intent isn't coming across. :)

i believe in grace thru Christ. i am not wanting to live under the Law as man made them so he could win favor with God. but rather embracing things diet rules, observing the sabbath with more detail, celebrating the festivals and feasts etc.

i believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sins and that i live under grace. Jesus said that He came not to abolish the law but to fulfill it so i am wondering how that works in my life.

thank you for your comment- it wasn't harsh ! i am glad you pointed out to me that i wasn't articulating my thoughts very well. (mmmmm, how could a mom of 7 who types with 2 kids on her lap and 3 more yelling in the background while one chases another not articulate well? ! :) )

i've been thinking

Jesus was Jewish. the rules of the old testament were written for Jewish people. if i am adopted when i become saved, as the Word says, then i am adopted into a Jewish family and will start do things the way they do.

if someone is adopted into an italian family they can expect a lot pasta for dinner. if they are adopted into a chinese family they canexpect to eat a lot of rice. tacos are big for mexican families.

so , not discussing food only, shouldn't i be living by Jewish ideas? not that i am Jewish but i was adopted into a Jewish family so.......

don't bother to tell me that the old testament isn't for today- i have never believed that. the things written about are not necessarily law but they are for our benefit. for example- don't use a clay pot you found outside to cook in. that is becuz an animal could have died in it and clay absorbs the toxins from that. but you think it's ok cuz there isn't anything in it now. or don't mix cotton and linen in your clothing weaves. if you do this then you weaken each fiber and the item falls apart sooner than if it was only one fabric. good to know whether you wove togas back then or buy dresses at walmart now. :)
do you know why we aren't to eat catfish and shellfish? becuz they are bottom feeders who eat the garbage of the sea and then you eat that fish and absorb all those toxins. not a law but good to know huh?! same with pork products. pigs don't sweat so they never release all those poisons that you then eat when you order a ham and cheese at arbys. think about that next time!!!

i am changing things due to this revelation. wehave changed a lot of our diet many years ago- i can't remember when we last had ham- and now we have started celebrating sabbath. 2 weeks now. becuz dh works saturdays- and he is not willing to change that even tho he agrees with me that the true sabbath is saturday (ceasar changed the calendar to please himself). - we have our sabbath meal saturday night and then "take the day off" on sunday. we don't attend church - (when i find one that lives according to the scriptures i will attend) so we relax at home.

if you have any valid ideas on how i can incorporate this new way of life please let me know.

menu monday again

mon-homemade mac and cheese and vegie medly
tues-steak fajitas
wed-chili
thur-hamburger soup
fri-enchiritos

saving money

as a keeper at home i concentrate on saving money rather than earning it. here are a few things i have done in the past or am doing now.

we no longer have a cvs in our town but when we did i managed to get quite adept at getting free or nearly free items there every week. my best shopping trip there came after a year of practice. i bought $103 worth of items for $3. i did the happy dance that day big time!! so did my husband lol

here's what i did to start with cvs. i bought a bottle of makeup for my dd's bday. it cost $9. however this product was marked "$9 ecbs" meaning i earned $9 worth of ecbs when i bought it. i then turned around and bought another bottle of $9 makeup and didn't need to pay anything! so i got 2 bottles for the price of 1. HOWEVER remember the bottles were marked "$9 ecbs" so i then earned another $9 in ecbs, (or store dollars) i used that $9 ecbs , added a $2 off coupon, and bought a pack of diapers for free!!! so i came home with a pack of diaps and 2 bottles of makeup all for $9.
i clip coupons. my greatest savings this way was $30 in one grocery trip. not as much as some bloggers but hubby liked it. i have discovered that if you take those $1 off coupons for kotex feminine pads to walmart that you can get a pack totally free. i have 63 packs in my bathroom now and i didn't pay one cent. no i am not joking about the amount of packs i have.

look carefully at your coupon. i discovered that olay puts out a $2 off coupon and shows a picture of their $6 bottle of shower gel. HOWEVER if you read the writing it says save $2 on ANY olay bath product. bars of olay soap count too. they are only $2.42 at walmart for 2 bars so i pay 42 cents for 2 bars of soap. rather than simply buying the product shown.

enter contests! i have , in the span of 19 months won 98 contests. yes i did!!! i only enter for what i need - except if it's late at nite and i have time to enter for jewlery too!-. i have won household cleaners,potholders, boxes of granola bars and containers of yogurt. i have won a tv! i have won cookie sheets, clothes for everyone in the family,books,dvds, toys,-always keep christmas and bdays in mind when entering. i won a mp3 player for my dd! i enter via blogs here on the web.

i send off for freebies. i have more lotion than i can ever use!!! samples of shampoo last 2 washings so there ya go!! 1 free sample and 2 kids get their hair washed for nothing!
pens are great freebies cuz we homeschool. i have several packs of post-its cuz the company gave them away as advertising. i use them for bible study.
there are tons of freebies out there but it does take some learning to not get the ones that give junk mail only! walmart.com never gives junk mail! (look under in stores now for the freebies) just about any product you can think of i have gotten free. tshirts, beauty and health products, baby items, toys , well really anything!!


by doing these things i save money. i don't earn it. when i save $30 on our food bill that enables us to put that $30 towards the electric bill. when i receive 2 rolls of toilet paper in the mail for free i can take that $1-2 and buy bananas instead. dh likes it when he announces he needs a toothbrush and i show him the drawer with over 80 of them - yes ladies, 80!!!- and tell him to pick a color. no spending required. :)

i believe this is putting the verse Pro 31:16 She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.
with my savings i am able to do more that brings in profit.

what ways do you save?

Mandatory Swine Flu Vaccinations This Fall?

i am putting this paragraph here so you will take note and read further. it is actually further down in the article

A concerned citizen called the the Arkansas State Health Department for advice on what he could do to opt out of the vaccine only to be told that mandatory vaccines were constitutional and could be enforced at gunpoint by the government if necessary



Mandatory Swine Flu Vaccinations This Fall?

U.S. government puts states on notice, WHO prepares announcement on jabs

Mandatory Swine Flu Vaccinations This Fall? 100709top

Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
Friday, July 10, 2009

Swine flu fearmongering is increasing in its intensity the closer we get to fall, which is the timeframe earmarked for the production and potential mandatory distribution of vaccines which may not even properly fight the virus.

Despite the fact that swine flu has killed far fewer people globally than the common flu virus since it was first discovered in April, media scare stories about H1N1 “epidemics” are becoming more and more frequent.

A death toll in Britain of 14, every one of whom had underlying health problems to begin with, has prompted fearmongering headlines despite the fact that the 1999-2000 seasonal flu outbreak affected more people. Add to this the fact that doctors are treating swathes of ordinary flu sufferers as swine flu cases and the exaggerated paranoia is plain to see.

Reuters reports today that the World Health Organization will “issue guidance about the need for a H1N1 influenza jab” during a press conference later today or on Monday. Meanwhile, the U.S. government has put states on notice that swine flu vaccinations will begin in October.

“Swine flu may have faded from the headlines but it’s still sickening people here and abroad and is certain to worsen when influenza-friendly fall temperatures arrive. The federal government called together health and education officials from every state to check their preparations for the likely prospect of vaccinations and determine how they’ll handle flu-riddled schools,” reports USA Today.



Preparations are clearly being geared towards a mass rollout of the swine flu vaccine, in other words, a mandatory distribution. Time Magazine has been dutifully preparing Americans to accept this premise, reporting on April 28th that a mass vaccination program is being readied to combat swine flu while also urging Americans to “trust that the government is working for the greater good” and to not resist draconian measures. tami's note- see how the media is manipulating us and not reporting the truth?


The question is, what will happen to the millions of people around the world who will reject the notion that the government can order someone to stick a needle in your arm by force?

A concerned citizen called the the Arkansas State Health Department for advice on what he could do to opt out of the vaccine only to be told that mandatory vaccines were constitutional and could be enforced at gunpoint by the government if necessary.

One of his main concerns centered around the fact that the company chosen to mass produce the swine flu vaccine, Baxter International, were recently caught in a scandal after it emerged they had sent out vaccines contaminated with the H5N1 avian flu virus to 18 countries from their Austrian branch. It was only by providence that the contamination was found after the batch was first tested on ferrets in the Czech Republic, before being shipped out for injection into humans. The ferrets all died and the shocking discovery was made.

Some Czech newspapers speculated at the time that Baxter was embroiled in a conspiracy to provoke a pandemic from which it would reap billions in profits from producing the vaccine to counter a bird flu outbreak.

As we have previously covered, the last time the government ordered a mass vaccination drive in response to a swine flu outbreak, the program had to be stopped short after the shots caused over 500 cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome, a severe paralyzing nerve disease. 30 people died as a direct result of the vaccinations.

As with every flu virus, the particular strain of swine flu currently circulating the globe will inevitably mutate and change, and indeed there is evidence to suggest that this is already taking place – so how on earth could vaccines be a fix all cure unless multiple vaccines produced on an annual basis were distributed?

Ahhhh….now we’re beginning to see the full picture.

Since the corporate media is owned by the same interests that control the pharmaceutical companies, who by the way will stand to profit in the billions and even trillions if a policy of mandatory vaccination is enforced, it is no wonder why the fearmongering is intensifying as we draw closer to the timeframe that officials promised us all along would mark the return of swine flu with a vengeance – along with the mass rollout of vaccines that some people will be less enthusiastic about than others.



taken from http://www.prisonplanet.com/mandatory-swine-flu-vaccinations-this-fall.html

win an ergo

that's right- win and ergo here! this is a fantastic baby carrier and personally i am hoping i win it! tho if arlene wins it she will give it to her new grandbaby ~smile~

a contest at the mommy-files

head over here and check out this giveaway! the mommy-files has a contest going on to win a baby onesie or a toddler t shirt of your choice! what a great thing to win and put away for christmas!!

more proverbs 31

i hit the wrong button with the below post , i wasn't ready to publish it. now of course you can see what the subject is about lol

please- so many people write better than i do- read their views on the subject of women working outside the home. i truly believe that is is against God's will for women to work outside the home. i don't think it keeps you out of heaven but it isn't in God's plan for women to do man's job. man was told to work - toil- not women.

the post below was taken from biblical agrarianism
please see what the rest of their article states. please check out my right sidebar pics for other sites discussing the subject.

my family went from $100,000 a yr to $16,000 a yr and i never went outside the home to work. even if i had wanted to my husband wouldn't have wanted me too. i did what i could to save money, not earn it. if i saved $20 off the grocery bill then i had $20 more to put towards the power bill. etc etc

as far as women working outside the home if their husbands are disabled or they are widowed- search the scriptures- God made a way there too! the church is to take care of them! bet you don't see that happening a lot nowadays! check out gleaning the harvest on this subject.


anyway- please check the articles out that i mentioned, as i said they are much more articulate than i am.

did the proverbs 31 woman work outside the home?

did the proverbs 31 woman work outside the home?
The Proverbs 31 woman is sometimes used to justify working out of the home. Yes, this woman was very industrious, but all she did was home based. Notice that she sold her products to the merchants. And it was the merchants who sold to the public.


Titus 2:4-5 “ . . . . that they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.
The word “keeper” is translated “stayer.” (meaning she stays at home)

The passage also says she is to obey her “own” husband. Working outside the home often involves working for a man, which will usurp obedience to her husband because of the demands the job places on her. Even working for another woman presents the same problem and is certainly not a way to justify an outside job.

busy in the kitchen and strong opinion

well i was busy in the kitchen today. after i got our supper made- chicken and vegie soup- i made a cheesy cornbread to go with it. then i made 2 chocolate birthday cakes for the 2 birthdays we still have left to celebrate this week. then i stuck a loaf of banana bread in, preparing for breakfast tomorrow.
after that i got the beans started for tomorrow nights dinner of hamburger and bean soup.

this is a typical day in my home.

i had someone ask me recently how and why i did this. she questioned why i didn't buy canned beans but rather dried and boiled them up myself. why do you make tortillas when you can buy them? why no canned vegies or frozen ones in your soups? you see i boil up ears of corn and shave them down, throw fresh carrots in , throw freshly diced potatos in, boil beans ahead of time etc etc. when i say i cook from scratch i mean it! i bake cakes and breads from flour and other ingredients, not a mix or box. my crackers are rolled out on the table, not with the word ritz on them.

why? becuz i am a keeper at home. i am a gatekeeper. do you know what a gatekeeper is? someone who doesn't let the bad things in. in, this case, my family. i don't want chemicals that cause cancer in my children. i don't want preservatives that cause endocrine systems to screw up going into the mouths of my babies. nor my dh's mouth either!

i research ingredients and i know what's listed on the sides of the processed foods out there- that guarantee fast food but not good for you food.

does it take time to research this? yes! does it take time to cook from scratch? yes.BUT that is one of my jobs! i am a keeper at home. when someone tells me they don't have time to do this research or cook this way, it is always, without fail, someone who works outside the home and picks their child up at the daycare right before they fly home to unwashed laundry and unmopped floors, and throws a microwavable box of junk in to give their kids something to eat.

what , may i ask, kind of home is that?

i have the time to roll out the crackers and shave the corn and dice the potatos becuz i am home. standing guard over my family as described in scripture.

did you know that one of the jobs a bible time keeper at home had was to keep the coal fires burning? not a fire lit but coal fires smouldering at all times. they didn't have microwaves back then ya know! well how could they do that if they weren't home? did you know if your coalfire went out it brought shame to you as a keeper at home? well! i must say - there are a lot of coal fires that have burned out in today's world. what a shame and these women don't even know it!!

i ask you again- what kind of home are you giving your family?

recall notice

Kolcraft Media Contact: (202) 289-2001

Kolcraft Recalls 1 Million Play Yards Due to Fall Hazard

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation
with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following
consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately
unless otherwise instructed.

Name of Product: Kolcraft, Carter's, Sesame Street, Jeep, Contours, Care Bear
and Eric Carle Play Yards

Units: About 1 million

Distributor: Kolcraft Enterprises Inc. of Chicago, Ill.

Hazard: The play yard's side rail can fail to latch properly and when a child
pushes against the rail it can unlatch unexpectedly, posing a fall hazard to
children.

Incidents/Injuries: The firm has received 347 reports of sides of the play yard
collapsing unexpectedly, resulting in 21 injuries to young children, including
bumps, scrapes, bruises and one concussion.

Description: This recall involves the Kolcraft Travelin' Tot play yards, as well
as other similar play yards manufactured for Carter's, Sesame Street, Jeep,
Contours, Care Bare and Eric Carle, with model numbers listed below. Some of the
units have a bassinet and/or changing table. Some models have a mobile,
vibrating unit or a parent organizer. Model numbers are printed on a white
sticker on one of the feet of the play yard.

Play Yard; Model Numbers; Additional Information:

Kolcraft Travelin' Tot, Kolcraft Travelin' Tot LTD, Kolcraft Travelin' Tot
2-in-1, Kolcraft Travelin' Tot 3-in-1, Kolcraft Travelin' Tot 4-in-1; 18709-BH,
18709T-BH, 18709T-DV, 18709-NF, 18709T-NF, 18710-BE, 18711T-BD, 18711T-BE,
18713T-LB, 18714T-WD, 18714-WD, 18724T-SQ, 18725-CG, 18725T-FF, 18730T-BZ,
18730T-HJ,18731- DV, 18731T-BZ, 18733-CU, 18733T-CU, 18734T-DV, 18744-BL,
18751T-BZ, 18751T-CU,18751-DV,18751T-DV, 18910-MQ, 18910T-EB,
18910T-LN,18920D-OW,18920-OW, 18925-GS, 18925-LA, 18931-EZ, 18931T-DV,
18931T-PV, 18933T-CU, 18934-SW, 18934-DV, 18935T-UT, 18935-CH, 18942-EC,
18945T-CT, 18945T-ER, 18946-AR, 18950-GV, 18950T-GV, 18951T-DV, 18951T-GS,
18951T-MO,18960-KK, 18960T-PP, 18961-AR, 18961T-AR, 18961-CT, 18961T-CT,
18961-PP, 18961T-GF, 18961T-RV, 18962-AX, 18962T-FZ, 18962-OQ, 18962T-ZT,
KP001-BND, KP013-BPA, KP013-HGF, KP013-JFR, KP013-NRB, KP013-PPL, KP014-JGY,
KP015-BPA, KP015-JFR, KP016-OW, KP027-JGX; "Kolcraft" and "Travelin' Tot" are
printed on either the fabric on the top rail or on the lower side of the play
yards.

Carter's Lennon Travelin' Tot, EMU Carter's Travelin' Tot, Carter's Travelin'
Tot; 18740-UE, 18740T-UE, 18736T-LJ, 18737-LJ, 18737T-LJ, 18726-KA, 18726T-HM;
"Carter's" and "Travelin' Tot" are printed on the top rail.

"Sesame Beginnings" 2-in-1 Play Yard by Kolcraft, Sesame Travelin' Tot VT;
22361-VT, SP001-SBK, SP004-SBK; "Sesame Beginnings" and "Travel Play Yard
Kolcraft" are printed on the top rail or along the fabric draft guard on the
lower side of the play yards.


Jeep Sahara, Jeep Sahara SE Play Yard, Jeep Sahara Limited Play Yard, Jeep
Sahara XT Play Yard, Jeep Sahara Limited SE Play Yard, Jeep Sahara Limited XT
Play Yard; 55200-JC, 55220-JC, 55225-JC, 55225T-JC, 55235-JC, 55237-JQ,
55237T-JQ, 55237-XC, 55237-XV, 55237T-XB, 55770-XA, 55770-XI, 55772-XE,
55773-XY, JP002-XSP; "Jeep" and "Sahara" are printed on the fabric on the top
rail of the play yards.

Contours 2-in-1 Travel Playyard, Contours 3-in-1 Play Yard, Contours Deluxe
Playyard, Contours Travel Play Yard; 18604-OC; ZP001-MON, ZP001-MYS, ZP003-MAL,
ZP004-MAL; "Kolcraft" and "Contours" are printed along the draft guard on the
lower side of the play yards.

Care Bear Play Yard; 18960-KK

Eric Carle Play Yard with Activity Gym; 18763-EK, 18763T-EK

Sold at: Babies R Us, Walmart, Kmart, Sears, Target and other stores nationwide
and Internet retailers from January 2000 through January 2009 for between $50
and $160.

Manufactured in: China, Spain, and Italy

Remedy: Consumers should immediately stop using the play yard and contact
Kolcraft for a free repair kit.

Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact Kolcraft toll-free at
(866) 594-4208 anytime or visit the firm's Web site at www.kolcraft.com

Note: Some of the models of the play yards involved in this recall were recalled
in September 2007 due to a strangulation hazard posed by the changing table,
which resulted in the death of a 10-month child.

To see a video of this product (not on CPSC's web site) go to
http://www.bigshouldersfriends.com/kolcraft/V1-WM.htm

To see this recall on CPSC's web site, including pictures of the recalled
products and the individual play yard information in a table, please go to
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09265.html

Amanda's having a contest!

yep Amanda at daily planet is hosting a giveaway for chicbuds! go pick out the color ya like and comment. tweet and share it and get more entries. stay there long enuf to read her posts and sign up for her newsletter too- it's great!

we will pay $500 a year to garden!

HR 2749 will require $500 annually for a home garden.

Posted June 18th, 2009 by sentinel

The bill is unusual, too, because slow as it was to appear. The little bugger of bill has made up for it since. It got a number on June 10, went to committee on June 17, passed instantly, and is headed for a vote on the floor of the House. copied from here


HR 2749 would impose an annual registration fee of $500 on any “facility” that holds, processes, or manufactures food. [isn't this every home in the US, every garden?] Although “farms” are exempt, the agency has defined “farm” narrowly. [What is the definition?] And people making foods such as lacto-fermented vegetables, cheeses, or breads would be required to register and pay the fee, which could drive beginning and small producers out of business during difficult economic times. [Yes. There are laws against this corporate-size-destroys-the-little-guy policy, aren't there? Are home bread or cheese or lacto-fermented vegetable makers who make for their own families included in this?]

* HR 2749 would empower FDA to regulate how crops are raised and harvested. It puts the federal government right on the farm, dictating to our farmers. [This astounding control opens the door to CODEX. WTO "good farming practices" will include the elimination of organic farming by eliminating manure, mandating GMO animal feed, imposing animal drugs, and ordering applications of petrochemical fertilizers and pesticides. Farmers, thus, will be locked not only into the industrialization of once normal and organic farms but into the forced purchase of industry's products. They will be slaves on the land, doing the work they are ordered to do - against their own best wisdom - and paying out to industry against their will.

There will be no way to be frugal, to grow one’s own grain to feed the animals, to raise healthy animals without GMO grains or drugs, to work with nature at all. Grassfed cattle and poultry and hogs will be finished. So, it’s obvious where control will take us. And weren’t these the “rumors on the internet” that were dismissed but are clearly the case?]

* HR 2749 would give FDA the power to order a quarantine of a geographic area, including “prohibiting or restricting the movement of food or of any vehicle being used or that has been used to transport or hold such food within the geographic area.” [This - "that has been used to transport or hold such food" - would mean all cars that have ever brought groceries home so this means ALL TRANSPORTATION can be shut down under this. This is using food as a cover for martial law.] Under this provision, farmers markets and local food sources could be shut down, even if they are not the source of the contamination. The agency can halt all movement of all food in a geographic area. [This is also a means of total control over the population under the cover of food, and at any time.]

http://www.infowars.com/h...
taken from here

another post

found another great article on headcovering.


today we went into town to do birthday shopping. my one dd and 2 of my ds were all born in the same week. my other dd wasn't born til november but try giving 3 of the 4 littles presents and not the last one! so we celebrate her bday as well. then of course i had drew in august so we will celebrate his bday as well next week.
ya know why- grandma and grandpa are coming to visit! so we will have a big party for everyone! :) we only see them once a year so this is big for us!

legos and lincoln logs, stuffed puppies and dolls plus an an assortment of matchbox cars were purchased and will be enjoyed by all :)

we had the typical fireworks for the holiday, tho i had to stay home for the baby's sake. it all started at his bedtime and i nurse him in bed so.... but i enjoyed the time alone.

not much else to say. just busy getting ready to make yogurt for the first time, gonna make some bread, and planning my next book order from amazon with all my swagbucks! not sure what i'll choose this time. when i do decide i'll let ya know :)

blessings!