less busy, more tired

For the record, we didn't get any info from Riah's tests. They all worked fine, but for whatever reason the doc just talked to us for a minute this time, and said he'd look at the tests over the next few days, do more research, and call within a month. I did find out later that the insurance approved the tests, but not an "office visit" so that may be part of it.

We raised $260 at the bake sale. That allowed us to buy 1 of almost everything we were interested in from Christian Aid Ministries gift catalog: a goat, seeds for an acre garden, milk for an orphanage, Bibles for China, emergency food for a couple of families, trees for Haiti, and a cleanup bucket for a Sandy victim. :-) Having read (this week) an excerpt from Mere Christianity about charitable giving, I'm glad we already had this done. I hope we are able to do more.
As to why we went with CAM over World Vision: for 1 thing, check out the salary of the CEOs. Next, read the little "disclaimer" in the gift catalogs. CAM says "contributions are tax-deductible and are used as specified." WV says, "Donations will be used to provide assistance where it is needed most within that category or to address a similar need."(Emphasis mine). Maybe it's just me, but when I go through and pick out the best gift that I want to give, I think it should be what I picked out. But we like CAM's focus on Bible teaching as well as their extremely high percentage of money to the projects (made possible by their whole operation being volunteer).

Other news... I'm tired. Oh, and Daniel got his first tooth the day after he turned 4 months. Woke up at 4:30 yesterday (he and I). Again today, but Bob got up with him so I could rest. I was a little hyper yesterday and I think it scared him so he really wanted me to get some sleep.

Okay, it's bed time! TTYL.

busy

I had several intentions in the last week or so, but have been very busy. We've had something on the calendar almost every day this month. Evenings are traditionally my quiet time, but Daniel is needy then (cluster nursing to prep for bed, and no one around to help soothe him) so, while I can browse or play games on the computer, I can't type very well.

Anyway... The children continue to be unbearably cute. Bob and they are building the playhouse (finally!) as a project for Bob to photograph for his current class.
I went to the building for a suitcase and found all my mending that I'd packed up last year. Taryn sewed on some buttons and now I have two new shirts! Also found Azariah's suit coat (but not the pants) which now fits William.
Riah's MRI and EKG is Wednesday; we are hoping for good news (or at least a lack of bad news).
I've been baking almost every day for the bake sale next week, filling the freezer with cookies, cupcakes, pie crusts...
Made 3 kinds of strawberry preserves and a batch of apple butter.
Went to Crystal Bridges museum (with two other homeschool families!).
Bought a cape dress for Taryn and Naysha, and a new jacket for me, at a yard sale. Elijah says Taryn "looks like a Midnight" (Mennonite). Haha. She will have to figure out the bun to be authentic.

Wil, I still have your post on Obama in mind, but haven't looked at it any more. I doubt I'll be able to change your mind on the subject, and it really doesn't matter anyway.

one more thought

The other thing I had in mind yesterday was the VA, which also reminds me of the military retirement system.

Preface by saying how very grateful I am that Bob can stay at home and live on his USAF retirement and his VA disability checks. He probably could work at some jobs, but he wouldn't live very long if he did (if I didn't kill him, he would eventually wear out from pain, stress, and all the extra medications necessary to combat the pain and stress).

But it's SOOOOO dumb!!! Sarcasm and over-reacting here.
Okay, Bob is going to college on the Post 9/11 GI Bill, which is handled by the VA. They pay the school so much, and they pay us a little for books and housing (half rate on housing because the school is online). Well, a while back Bob took a 6 week break from school, and the school didn't notify the VA, so they paid us the housing for that 6 week period. Now, it seems logical and efficient to me for them to have simply withheld the following 6 weeks' allowance and it would all be even and fixed.  But being a government entity, they: sent us a letter saying they'd overpaid us and would contact us soon about the repayment options. A month later they sent a letter saying they'd decided what to do. We could write them a check, call to set up payment plans, or call to say why it would create a hardship for us to pay it back. Then it said if we were to receive future payments we should do nothing, and they would take the money out of the future pay. So that's what we did (nothing). Then a month later they sent another letter saying that since we hadn't called or paid, they would start withholding from future payments (duh!) and that would start in January. THEN a month later they sent YET ANOTHER letter, saying that our "indebtedness" had been reduced by so much, and the rest would be paid off the next month. Huh. To add to all this wastefulness (their time, my time, the postage and paper and filing of copies and updating the records), EACH letter contains 3 pages of how to contact the VA and what to do if you think their ruling isn't fair. I guess this is their way of combating the problems of veterans not getting the help they need or deserve. Anyway, I just think the whole thing is silly.

And then another thing about military retirement is the healthcare. For one, didn't they used to promise free healthcare? Maybe that's just for the retiree (not family); in that case, he can get it if he wants to go to the VA hospital. Anyway, we pay a monthly premium for health insurance for the family. In return we get to pick (from a short list) a Primary Care Manager (regular doctor) whom we can visit for preventative care once a year and for any issues that come up, with a $12 "copay" at each visit. Except, so far I haven't been able to get the children seen, but that's another story. I have generally been happy with Tricare. Today I am fussing about the rate increase.
We recently found out that our annual rate will go from $460 to $539. Granted, that is what some people pay per month; my gripe is actually with the wording in the announcement. The official USAF retiree newsletter says "The National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2012 allows for the annual increase of TRICARE Prime enrollment fees for most retired beneficiaries based on the annual cost-of-living adjustment." Well, our COLA for this year is 1.7 percent. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that Tricare is going up by far more than 1.7%. I guess I should be glad that the price increase doesn't equal our whole COLA (it's only about half). sigh.

I'm really not an unhappy person, honest. Stupidity just bugs me, and I enjoy getting to blare my opinions in this way.

random thoughts

Voting:
I'm still (or again) undecided on my choice for President. In Arkansas we are not allowed to write in our choice. The people on the ballot are: Obama, Romney, Johnson (Libertarian, former Governor of New Mexico), the Green Party candidate (Jill Stein), and the Socialism and Liberation Party candidate (Peta Lindsay). I'm not voting for Obama or the Green girl or the S&L party. So that leaves me with Romney and Johnson. I know Johnson won't win, and am inclined to vote for him just to "stick it to" the Republican party for the way they cheated Ron Paul out of his hard-earned place at the national convention (and hopefully send some sort of "message" about appointing a left-leaning candidate). But then, Romney is closer to being pro-life than Johnson is; could I really vote for someone who thinks it's okay to kill people who cannot live independent of  medical devices? But then Romney thinks it's okay to kill someone if their father is a rapist... But his running mate doesn't think so... And Romney isn't all about limited government and personal responsibility (ideas which I think are central to the USA as we know it), but I think he would do better than Obama is doing on many fronts, and (as I read on a blog the other day) better IS better. So anyway, I'm still waffling.

Daniel picture:
On a lighter note, and one on which I'm sure we can all agree, Daniel is gorgeous.

10 commandments:
At church Wednesday there were only 14 people (7 adults and 7 children, if you count Taryn as an adult), so it was pretty casual. We are on the 10 Commandments, and Jesse went around the room asking people if they could name one. When he called on William, William responded, "Thou shalt not drink." Laughter erupted, and I was glad William isn't as touchy as Riah was at that age. In his defense, we had just been talking about the election and the possibility of Madison County going "wet."

cooking:
We went shopping Tuesday and bought $400 worth of groceries (including diapers). Wednesday and today I've been cooking and prepping for the freezer. Put up 12lbs of chicken breast (trimmed, sliced, marinated - one set cooked for dinner), 20lbs of leg/thigh quarters (boiled with garlic, apple cider vinegar, and salt in water) which made 20 cups of cooked chicken and 12 qts of bone broth (more or less), 14lbs of ground beef (some just divvied up and frozen, 2 kinds of meatballs, breakfast sausage, and some cooked in water with onion which made 2-3 qts beef broth). Also made muffins for breakfast this morning and washed a bunch of dishes (2 DW loads each day plus a bunch of hand wash).

broth:
I used to think the broth from boiling chicken was a sort of by-product, and even started baking my cheap cuts for cooked meat to use in casseroles. But then I started reading Weston Price's work and learned of the value of a good bone broth (boil the bones for 24 hours to get all the minerals out), and so now I'm making broth on purpose and the meat is the "extra" part. :-)

bake sale:
Last year for Christmas we gave money to World Vision based on their gift catalog. This year we will give through Christian Aid Ministries for reasons I won't get into here. But we want to do more, so we've decided to hold a bake sale to raise money to send. We will be at Walmart the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Should be fun.

politics

Uncle Fred shared this on Facebook, and I think it brought up some good points. Please note, this is NOT to say I support Mitt Romney or that he hasn't done anything wrong or stupid.

Add Libya to the list.
Question....will you delete this?

A. Raymond Hansen
From my friend Murray N Brown Jr - this is a good read on "When"

This is long, but so worth the read! PASS IT ON!
VERY IMPORTANT READ HEREIN!! PLEASE HIT THE "SHARE" ON THIS PIECE. THANK YOU:

Looking back thru the past 4 years, many "Whens" pop up. Read them all to better understand where we are going as a country….

WHEN - he refused to disclose who donated money to his election campaign, as other candidates had done, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he received endorsements from people like Louis Farrakhan, Muramar Kaddafi and Hugo Chavez, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - it was pointed out that he was a total newcomer and had absolutely no experience at anything except community organizing, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he chose friends and acquaintances such as Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn who were revolutionary radicals, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - his voting record in the Illinois Senate and in the U.S. Senate came into question, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he refused to wear a flag lapel pin and did so only after a public outcry, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - people started treating him as a Messiah and children in schools were taught to sing his praises, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he stood with his hands over his groin area for the playing of the National Anthem and Pledge of Allegiance, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he surrounded himself in the White House with advisors who were pro-gun control, pro-abortion, pro-homosexual marriage and wanting to curtail freedom of speech to silence the opposition, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he said he favors sex education in kindergarten, including homosexual indoctrination, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - his personal background was either scrubbed or hidden and nothing could be found about him, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - the place of his birth was called into question, and he refused to produce a birth certificate, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he had an association in Chicago with Tony Rezco - a man of questionable character and who is now in prison and had helped Obama to a sweet deal on the purchase of his home - people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - it became known that George Soros, a multi-billionaire Marxist, spent a ton of money to get him elected, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he started appointing White House Czars that were radicals, revolutionaries, and even avowed Marxist /Communists, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he stood before the Nation and told us that his intentions were to "fundamentally transform this Nation" into something else, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - it became known that he had trained ACORN workers in Chicago and served as an attorney for ACORN, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he appointed cabinet members and several advisers who were tax cheats and socialists, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he appointed a Science Czar, John Holdren, who believes in forced abortions, mass sterilizations and seizing babies from teen mothers, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he appointed Cass Sunstein as Regulatory Czar who believes in "Explicit Consent," harvesting human organs without family consent and allowing animals to be represented in court, while banning all hunting, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he appointed Kevin Jennings, a homosexual and organizer of a group called Gay, Lesbian, Straight, Education Network as Safe School Czar and it became known that he had a history of bad advice to teenagers, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he appointed Mark Lloyd as Diversity Czar who believes in curtailing free speech, taking from one and giving to another to spread the wealth, who supports Hugo Chavez, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - Valerie Jarrett, an avowed Socialist, was selected as Obama's Senior White House Advisor, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - Anita Dunn, White House Communications Director, said Mao Tse Tung was her favorite philosopher and the person she turned to most for inspiration, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he appointed Carol Browner, a well known socialist as Global Warming Czar working on Cap and Trade as the nation's largest tax, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he appointed Van Jones, an ex-con and avowed Communist as Green Energy Czar, who since had to resign when this was made known, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - Tom Daschle, Obama's pick for Health and Human Services Secretary could not be confirmed because he was a tax cheat, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - as President of the United States, he bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he traveled around the world criticizing America and never once talking of her greatness, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - his actions concerning the Middle East seemed to support the Palestinians over Israel, our long time ally, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he took American tax dollars to resettle thousands of Palestinians from Gaza to the United States, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he upset the Europeans by removing plans for a missile defense system against the Russians, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he played politics in Afghanistan by not sending troops early-on when the Field Commanders said they were necessary to win, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he started spending us into a debt that was so big we could not pay it off, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he took a huge spending bill under the guise of stimulus and used it to pay off organizations, unions, and individuals that got him elected, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he took over insurance companies, car companies, banks, etc., people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he took away student loans from the banks and put it through the government, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he designed plans to take over the health care system and put it under government control, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he claimed he was a Christian during the election and tapes were later made public that showed Obama speaking to a Muslim group and 'stating' that he was raised a Muslim, was educated as a Muslim, and is still a Muslim, people said it didn't matter.

WHEN - he set into motion a plan to take over the control of all energy in the United States through Cap and Trade, people said it didn't matter. (Not in place yet, but by Executive Order he took the power to control it all [this parenthetical thought is mine]).

WHEN - he finally completed his transformation of America into a Socialist State, people woke up--- but it was too late. Add these up one by one and you get a phenomenal score that points to the fact that Barrack Hussein Obama is determined to turn America into a Marxist-Socialist society. All of the items in the preceding paragraphs have been put into place. All can be documented very easily. Before you disavow this do an Internet search. The last paragraph alone is not yet cast in stone. You and I will write that paragraph.

Will it read as above or will it be a happier ending for most of America?

Don't just belittle the opposition. Search for the truth. We all need to pull together or watch the demise of a free democratic society. Pray for Americans to seek the truth and take action for it will keep us FREE. Our biggest enemy is not China, Russia, North Korea or Iran. Our biggest enemy is a contingent of politicians in Washington, DC . The government will not help, so we need to do it ourselves.

Question....will you delete this, or pass it on to others who don't know about Obama's actions and plans for the USA , so that they may know how to vote in November, 2012 and the ensuing years?

It's your decision. I believe it does matter. How about you?

WHEN - November

growth

Daniel rolled over today, from his back (which he generally enjoys) to his front (which he generally hates). He did it 4 times, each time faster than the last.  He had rolled from front to back a while ago (at less than 1 month) but hasn't done so recently.

We have a rabbit again. Mr B came back to the country today to live in Serenity's newly remodeled pen.

Ah, another thing we did last week was go walking in Lost Valley. Well, some of us did. Some of us stayed in the parking lot so we could run to the toilet every 5 minutes. ahem. All of us enjoyed the Fall colors and the resident Elk of Boxley Valley.

Bob is having a great time with his ColorMunki that he had to buy for his photography class. Every time he restarts his computer he has to re-register it (just about); it turned his whites to grey; and to calibrate the printer and paper it took an hour, used massive amounts of ink and paper, and the results were less pleasing than what Bob achieved by downloading a ready-made profile for some other paper/printer combination. But the instructor insists that it's better than relying on one's eyes. It just IS.

forgetfulness

I remember that I was really wanting to blog the last week or two.  I just can't remember about what.


...

There was a trip to Oklahoma for my niece's birthday. I was in charge of the trip down; we left at 8am and didn't stop. I drove, and after we got to I-540 south of Fayetteville we stayed on Interstates. Drive time was just under 3 1/2 hours. We had a nice visit with my parents, brother and family, and sister and family. Little brother didn't make it up from Texas.
On the way home Bob was in charge. We left about 11, stopped at a garage sale and ate in Seminole. Took I-40 to just past the Arkansas line, then turned up the AR 59 to AR 220, to I-540. Funny thing is, Arkansas state highway 220 wound its way for a few miles and then turned into an increasingly narrow, steep, windy, and bumpy DIRT ROAD. Yep. There was the occasional highway marker, so we knew we were still on track, but it was kinda iffy anyway. We crossed a picturesque creek (I stopped and Bob pictured it), and eventually found ourselves in Devil's Den State Park. It was raining at that time, though, so we didn't stop there. Did a little shopping and ate in town. Made it home about 8pm.

...

ummm

...

We've had a tummy bug.

and...

I really can't think of anything else. William is 5 now, and Daniel is almost 3 months. Elijah is almost 3 years, and has really become independent as well as quite the talker. Life just doesn't stop.