Socialization?!?!?!

In the news today, one of the local school districts is being sued for the *third* time.

“A third lawsuit has been filed against the Anchorage School District, claiming the district was negligent in dealing with a 6-year-old boy’s assaults on a female classmate.”

Why would I want this kind of socialization for my young innocent children? Does the Bible not command me to not only bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, but to protect them as well?

Numbers 32:17 says, “Meanwhile our women and children will live in fortified cities, for protection from the inhabitants of the land.”

They are not strong. They should be protected and they must be trained.

2 Timothy 3:15 states what is required as a parent, “And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”

Why?

Acts 2:39 tells us, “For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the LORD our God shall call.”

In Deuteronomy 4:9 God reminds us to only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.

Our job doesn’t stop when *our* children have been trained! We must continue on with our grandchildren.

Deuteronomy 4:10 Assemble the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn to revere me as long as they live in the land and may teach them to their children.

How are we to teach them?

Deuteronomy 11:18-20 Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. 19And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates:

No, I will not expose my children to this kind of socialization rather I will protect them and guide them until they are strong in the Lord.

Proverbs 14:26 In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge.

Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

Joshua 10:25And Joshua said unto them, Fear not, nor be dismayed, be strong and of good courage: for thus shall the LORD do to all your enemies against whom ye fight.

I will not send my children into battle.

1 Chronicles 22:13Then shalt thou prosper, if thou takest heed to fulfil the statutes and judgments which the LORD charged Moses with concerning Israel: be strong, and of good courage; dread not, nor be dismayed.

And God will bless us for it.

Gotta love Spring in Alaska

Well, spring has sprung! As the sun shines daily, more things are uncovered as the snow melts. Toys are abounding, and Aaron brought in one of Naomi’s little socks. (The dog maybe???) He also brought in some of the first pussy willows! They are displayed in a pretty green vase in the middle of our diningroom table.

Soon, the trampoline should be available to have the bottom attached and the road will not be a mess of mud and the kids will be able to ride their bikes again, so they can wear off some of this endless energy! The piles of snow will not be surrounding the house where it has been shoveled off of the roof all winter, and I can have the boys run around the house several times daily during break time so they can concentrate on their studies.

In the meantime, Ivan continues to try to climb the now rotten snowhills, and sink up to his waist, losing his mudboot somewhere down at the bottom of the hole. Yes, this has happened twice. The first time was on Saturday when, of course, Daddy was laid up in bed with the flu. Mommy to the rescue!

Ivan had been tromping through the snow with Aaron, when one misstep and down he went. Aaron came running into the house saying, “Ivan is stuck!” I respond, “Well, go get him out!” Of course, he can’t so out Mommy volunteers, although somewhat reluctantly as I am in the middle of making dinner, grumbling all the way. It is nice and icy out, so I am slipping and sliding everywhere. The whole time I am outside, I hear Ivan screeching and crying at the top of his lungs. “Stop screaming Ivan! I am coming!” I holler back. I am sure the neighbors were thrilled. I get to where I have to start walking through the snowbanks, and this slows me down considerably, since I am much heavier than my 5yo son. 😉

As I am sinking up to my knees in rotten snow making my way toward Ivan, Aaron is still trying to yank Ivan out of his hole, with Ivan crying all the while, and his poor little sockless foot is turning bright red from the cold. (Try as I might, I can’t get it through the boys’ heads that it is still cold outside, and socks, shoes are a must…yes, they have even gone out barefoot already. Just as I get to Ivan, Aaron has pulled him out, and is trying to stand on one foot in the unsteady snow. I reach out with one hand, grab one of Ivan’s arm, and swing him onto my back, his wet pants soaking through my dry one…so delightful.

Now remember that the snow is rotten, and I weigh about 130lbs (still haven’t lost the “baby” fat from being pregnant with Micah…another topic) and with Ivan’s weight on my back, I am now a hefty 175lbs! One step and I sink up past my waist. I feel my boots lodge deep into the newly formed hole with the snow falling down around them, and think to myself, “Now *I* am going to get stuck!” I swing Ivan off of my back, and set him down once more on the snow. He is finally calming down, but doesn’t like being set down on the cold bank yet again.

I manage to free one foot, and start stomping around the bottom of the hole in order to gain a solid plain on which to get some leverage. Pulling as hard as I can, I am able to free my second foot, climb out of the hole, scoop Ivan up, placing him on my back once again, and climb on hands and feet up the hill to firmer ground, or rather, snow.

As we slip and slide home, me holding Ivan’s ruby foot in one hand and his sopping wet hinny in my other, and Ivan wrapping his arms tightly around my neck (“Ivan, you’re choking me!”), I try to instill into my young son the virtue of wearing socks when it is only 40 degrees outside.

Life is good…

The sun is shining, the snow is melting, Ivan and Naomi are playing “Knight and Princess,” Ben and Aaron are doing spelling, Micah is sitting happily in his chair, the dog is snoring, I know what we are having for dinner and have started preparing it (beef stroganoff, corn on the cob, fresh whole wheat bread, and a Romaine-Spinach salad!), hubby is working, and God is in control. All is well. Praise God!

Little Sayings today…

Aaron, laughing at Ivan wearing my pj pants, “That is *so* historical!!” meaning hysterical….

Little Sayings today…

Naomi, seeing the snow falling hard, “It’s a snow wizard!”

Bailey, my niece age 3, when the boys came in from outside, “I was worried about you!”

Ivan, when we were talking about Jesus baptism, “I colored John the Baptized man!”

We have been looking at buying some property closer to town. We are looking at one area that has between 4-6 acre lots for sale in our price range. The covenants allow for enough animals for a mini-farm which is what I really want.

I would like the boys to be able to raise a lamb in the summers for the fair. I did this when I was young, and I think it is a really good experience, and will allow them to learn about the work that goes into earning money.

I want to have some chickens so we can have fresh eggs and meat, and I have even contemplated a milking cow, but I don’t think I am ready for that work yet. Maybe I should just get a steer each year to fatten up and butcher for meat. We did that when I was little too. My grandpa named the steer the first year “Dinner”, and the steer the second year “Many Dinners!”

I am hoping to get a few ducks and maybe a couple of geese so we can have fresh birds to eat! I wonder how turkeys do in Alaska….

Ah, and I want to have a garden…finally, a garden! I would love to grow lettuce, zucchini, broccoli, peas, beans, potatoes, carrots, and hmm….what else might grow up here? I really want a greenhouse too, so I can grow cucumbers and tomatoes! Yum!

Not to mention the flower garden I want….sigh….all in due time I suppose!

I bought a Bosch mixer and Nutrimill (grain mill) at the homeschool convention last weekend! I needed it for making bread. I have been making homemade loaves for over a month now. This new Bosch will make about 6 loaves at a time! Compare that to the 2-3 loaves that my Kitchen Aid mixer can handle, and that saves me a LOT of time. I have been experimenting with different recipes. I use whole wheat flour, honey, and olive oil. I would like to get a supply of coconut oil and try it. So far, the kids and Craig have liked every one I have made, even if it didn’t rise very well!

My children are not picky eaters. We have never allowed them to be, so I believe that is why they are willing to try many things. They like things that I don’t even care for! Naomi and Ivan (3 and 5 years old) love green olives, and Ivan even likes jalepenos! He says, “They’re not too spicy! I love them!”

Little sayings…

Naomi was drawing “flowers” today, and she came to me and said, “Mom, I am *so* frusterate!”

Aaron and Ivan, eating my bread I just made…”This is so good it must be heaven!”

I made bread again today…another experiment. The grinder I bought at the convention would *NOT* work, so they are mailing a new engine to me. In the meantime, the owner of the business I bought it from loaned me a small grinder called the “Family Grinder”. You must have to have a *small* family to have the time for this thing…! Ack! It is *so* slow when I need 12 cups of flour! Anyway, she gave me directions on how to attach it to my new Bosch, but not on how to use it.

So, I wound up grinding the flour too densely…or whatever you want to call it…not fine enough. Well, after following the directions, the dough was still *way* too sticky, so I put it back into the Bosch and added more flour and kneaded it longer. The end result is that the bread is pretty good, but it didn’t raise very high.

Well, now I know better…it probably would have been perfect with a few cups of the heavier flour, but not 12-14 cups…sigh…oh well, it is good snacking bread! I am sure I can pawn a loaf off on my MIL…

Goodness, God works in mysterious ways. When we pray, we ask for his help, and it seems to come in a totally different way than we expect. This happened to me last night. I have been praying for God’s help about something for the past several months. I think His apparent answer is even better than I was expecting, so I am excited, but guardedly so. I want to make sure that we are not pushing into something that just “appears” to us that it is what God wants. A couple of things appear to be falling into place, but we will see. Please pray for God’s guidance and peace for us as we make some decisions and wait for other major items to “fall into place.”