I am ALIVE!

I have found myself very busy!

I have so much to blog about... and I will soon!

Hope all my bloggy friends are doing well!

School with the children is AWESOME and my weight loss still on the best track ever!

Hugs to you all!

And people wonder why I don't support government ran schools...

Just ask any government school child or the product of these wonderful government schools (raising my hand and screaming ME ME ME!) about the pilgrims. Go on, and then come back and tell me what you learned.

Before I schooled my children I believed that the Pilgrims were sweet gentle people who just wanted to be left be. So they boarded a ship called the Mayflower and they lived in the country I now live in. They started my country. And that I was blessed to live here. My government education went on to tell me that they wore perfectly starched whit and black clothing in pristine condition.

I remember faintly hearing that some of the pilgrims died. BUT NO ONE SAID HALF! I am sure this was to protect my youthful and trusting outlook on life. To have me not ask more questions. Had I known what these men, women, and children went through for me to have the right to exsist in this country were I am free I would have taken my life more seriously. I wouldn't have wasted it on what I wasted it on. I would have fought harder to keep these rights precious.

Wanna know how I and millions of other young precious children that parents love so very much and trust to the government ran schools are lied to? Come on, bear with me. Every parent I know LOVES and is CRAZY about their children. Those children are the reason they exsist. Almost every parent I know is a GREAT parent. They want the BEST for their kids. But free education is just too enticing. And well, your child gets what you pay for.

I don't say this to be mean. I do believe there are GREAT teachers out there. But there are not enough. And our sweet children are being taught to a test. Tests that don't tell us a heap of nothing about our smart kids minds. And these kids don't have time to study on their own and if they do they should be playing. After school and 5 hours of homework (my public school mama friends tell me this is true) these kids are burned out. They are still behind when you look at other children in the world. We spend more on our children to educate them. And we are churning out kids who are tired of school or just plain tired. But still not learning. I am talking about real learning. Truth. And nothing but the truth.

The pilgrims didn't wear perfect black and white costumes.

Look: http://www.sail1620.org/discover_feature_pilgrim_clothing.shtml

It would look more like this:

You don't have to believe me. Just start asking people what the pilgrims wore. Then ask them what they know about them. If they don't tell you that they were jailed for wanting to leave the church of England and that they went against LAWS to worship God how they felt they should. If they tell you that the pilgrims were just sweethearts and just came over here to get away look out! Government education at it's finest. I never knew they didn't just come from one place to here. REALLY! Holland never came up in my watered down versions in the government written and picked "textbooks" I was issued to borrow.

I never knew that Pilgrim or Separatist children worked to provide a very poor living for the family. I never knew they went without education. I never knew that those parents made the then tough decision to board a ship to come here even if at that moment they were relatively safe and free to worship. Then they met more obstacles. I don't know about you, but almost everyone I knows will quit if met with more than 1 or 2 obstacles. These people weren't sweet and mild. They didn't obey anything set forth to them other than the convictions in their hearts from reading a newly translated bible.

No one ever taught me in government schools that families were seperated. Some still in jail in England. I was never told that they lived through CRAP on that ship! I was never told of the hardships they faced once they were docked. They then lived on the ship for 4 months! And then half of them die by that March!

These women, children, and men DIED for what they believed in. They wanted their children to be free to worship God. They wanted their children to be able to work and see the profit of that work. They didn't want them working in factories or missing out on the education gained from being free.

But yet day after day we send our children to a government ran institution that feeds them watered down curriculum *cough* lies. And we wonder why the kids we bump into can't make change, or figure out things on their own. They haven't been inspired! Why should they care? They have been fed the watered down version that was nicer and wrapped up in a binded carefully selected textbook.

You can say all you want that it was MY fault or MY mother's fault that I didn't know this stuff! But I say NO! Our government has spent about $99,000 on me alone to attend a government ran school that promised my mother they would teach me what I needed to know. WHY DID SHE NEED TO DO A THING? I went to school for how many hours a day? I was sent to the place that said they could do better than my mother or a private school.

$99,000 dollars later and I was a high school dropout because I was BORED and was TIRED of the same mess being taught each year. I was TERRIFIED of tests. I couldn't do math beyound LONG DIVISON. And heck after grade 10 I still thought the Pilgrims were just really sweet people who boarded a ship and grew corn with the Indians that first year. They were crisp black and white pristine costumes. And life was happy and good.

I don't know about you guys but having talked about the real stuff with my kids I am fired up! I live in this country and teach my children at home. These are rights I have because CHILDREN died for me. Families said the heck with this mess we will leave. And then they didn't falter. They didn't grow weary. They kept going.

This could have kept me going in that mind numbing induced state I found myself in while my butt warmed a desk in the government schools. Wasting away almost $99,000 dollars in taxpayer money. I was forced to sit there. And so I did. Until I could leave. And I did just that.

Only when my education meant something, only when it would pave for me the path to the job I felt passionate about did I do something.

Why should those taxpayers have paid $99,000 dollars for me to screw around? If there is a need then we will put the work in. But if we keep spending 9 to 10,ooo dollars a year on these kids and we keep feeding them the same crap so the tests look good, so the government employees get paid we are in a whirlwind of trouble. Nothing is going to change. We need to fire these kids up! We need to give them a purpose for even breathing!

We need to teach them the truths! COME ON! We have come to far, we have sacrificed too much! Children have died for your child to have the right to learn and grow, and worship or not worship!

I don't homeschool because it is fun all the time.

I don't homeschool because it is cool or different.

I homeschool because I refuse to send my child to a school that will spend 10,00o on them a year but then want me to be the one who does hours of homework a night. Haven't they already been to school? Haven't they already done this work? I don't send them to the government because I want a free thinking man to emerge from these boys I love. I want them to READ and know TRUTHS so they can decide how they feel. I don't want them to be fed that our government is so wonderful and we should just all do what it says! This is going backwards! We must question! We must fight! We must keep the officials we elect shaking in their boots! Their service should be one that they feel led to fill! They should do this because they have to in order to fell true to themselves!

I know I am on a tangent lately. But I am sick! I am tired! And I am really tired of being nicey nice and saying, "Oh yea, I am special to homeschool. And this isn't for the majority."

EVERY child I know who does well in the public system does well because their parents sit up all night doing homework. They check over papers. They quiz them. They teach them what the teachers can't teach in hours of class instruction! People! Your children are not stupid! The system is stupid! These are your babies! These children you labored to bring forth are your babies! Everything you do is to be for them!

I implore you to just open your hearts and minds to what I am saying. If you really think the government school is where your child belongs, start fighting the system! Make it work for your child, not YOUR CHILD working for it!

If your child is fine and you are okay with how things are then YAY for you! Tell me I am on crack! But if you aren't, if something I say tweaks your heart a bit, get ready to fight. One parent can make a difference. One parent at a time. One good teacher at a time. But we can't wait for teacher's unions and the government to do this.

Albert Shanker who was the former president of the American Federation of Teachers said and I quote, "When school children start paying union dues, that's when I'll start representing the interests of schoolchildren."

Is you jaw on the floor? Is it?

Rockefeller who was BIG in starting our government ran and funded schools had a "little" Rockefeller Education Board. Want to know what that board said? "In our dreams...people yield themselves with perfect docility to our molding hands. The present educational conventions fade from our minds, and unhampered by tradition we work our own good will upon a grateful and responsive folk. We shall not try to make these people or any of their children into philosophers or men of learning or men of science. We have not to raise up from among them authors, educators, poets or men of letters. We shall not search for embryo great artists, painters, musicians, nor lawyers, doctors, preachers, politicians, statesmen, or whom we have ample supply. The task we set before ouselves is very simple...we will organize children...and teach them to do in a perfect way the things their fathers and mothers are doing in an imperfect way."

Okay, still NOT passing out?

Government ran schools have watered down the curriculum in order to make it easier. In order to make it appear they are doing their job. Children who leave the 12th grade today couldn't have passed the 7th grade just some short years ago.

That leaves a BAD taste in my mouth.

Feel free to let me have it, if you feel the need to defend them.

Worth blogging about again!

To follow up on this a great read is Gatto's HUGE read of how and why forced public education is even here. He wrote "The Underground History of American Education".

John Stossel was a brave man to take on the big business of the Teacher's Union and the forced government schools. John, you did a good thing, and I hope they have stopped TPing your house by now. HEE HEE!

Also on a sidenote: I have best pals with kids in public school. But I can say with confidence that I see some of these children doing well because of the tireless dedication their parents have to them. You can't just park your child in a government ran enterprise and think your j-o-b is done! Know what your kids are learning, learn it with them, take them on outings to bring it alive! And if you find your teaching them yourself anyway...just bring them home and take all the credit! HEE HEE!

If I had to I would work 3 jobs to put my child in the private of my choice. I think other than homeschooling that private is the next way to go. I understand how some may feel they can't do this thing called homeschooling or that the child wouldn't have friends.

Which is funny. I have 10 or more kids coming to a fall party on Friday. Wonder how my backwards unsocial children came up with those pals? Mmmmmm....

Yes, I am feeling a little fiesty tonight! Blame it on the Debates. Blame it on reading too much. I am just in a heap of fiesty!

Maybe I have just lost too much weight! LOL!

Remy Stuff

Remy bought a coconut and had a time getting it open!

And while doing his phonics yesterday he used monkey as a puppet and with monkey's voice we had phonics time. If I looked at Remy and spoke he would say "NO, look at monkey!" Hee hee...

Yummy Food

Okay, I had a moment to put the photos up of some of the things I ate this week.

I managed to remember to take a photo of two lunch meals.

I had a cup of baby spinach with a huge baby bella mushroom sliced with a 5 calorie poppy seed dressing. On the side there is a slice of ezekial bread (yummy) and a boiled egg I sat on top. This was uner 200 calories by itself. You can add in fruit for dessert or a drink of some sort.

I use whatever I have leftover from dinners to make lunch. I still had some spinach so I put a cup on the plate with another mushroom. But the dressing was a calorie free balsamic. I then put a veggie "chicken" patty on top that I baked in the oven until crispy. This was GOOD!

This soup is the French Potage with pistou. OH MY WORD you guys! Matthew, the kids, and I ate the entire thing. I had two bowls at 199 calories each. The homemade bread you see on the plate was 182 calories. It was GOOD! I will be making it again.

This is the Barley Risotto with Spinach and Tofu.

It is 373 calories a serving. But I ate about 75% of it. FILLING! But it was so good I didn't want to stop. I had to stop because I felt I might explode. I made up for my calories with a light snack before bed.

You can eat well and eat YUMMY things without gaining weight. :)

More Poundage Loss Stuff - Fitness Friday

I have a SWEET and SMART and NEATO new bloggy pal. She has now decided through a series of events that she is going to loss some poundage as well. :) I LOVE IT! So you will be seeing TWO poundage posts from me each week. I just had to partake in her Fitness Friday Fun. I encourage others to join up as well!

We are to finish this sentence, "I can't wait until....".

I really can't wait until I am below 170. Why? Because I remember when I was 170. It was my last weigh in before I was 192-195 pounds. It was the first time in my life that I had had a weight issue. I only have 5 pounds to that goal. But what it means for me emotionally is BIG! And let's be honest 5 pounds can take a whole month and a week to accomplish! That is a lot of praying, eating well, and moving to loss that 5 pounds. I have lost 19 pounds, but I have had to retrain myself. And it wasn't physical. I wasn't lazy or inactive. I was feeding my emotions. Dealing with some things in my life without food as I have done heavily for the past 1-2 years is hard.

It has forced me to put some things on the back burner, such as my career. It has made me look at how the main things in my life such as my walk with the Lord, the schooling of the children, the keeping of my home, and the romance in my marriage is what really matters to me. So I am losing pounds and leaving some things behind while I tend to the things that I need to tend to first. After that, I can pick up the other things.

A naturopath I love and adore and call friend once said something to me. I agreed with him. But I couldn't see how he meant it for me until I started to lose weight. He said that every women he had treated kept the weight on because she was covering pain somewhere else in her life. BAM! Slam me in the head!

He was meaning that for me! Not as just general sharing of conversation! That's hard folks! And I love this person to pieces because he said it. He didn't say YOU are fat because of what you are or are not doing. He was just sharing his observations in a line of conversation we were having. I believe that talk was meant to happen all those months ago. It was last fall to be precise.

So, to be at 170 to me means that I can and will turn this around. That my goal of 150 is not only reachable, but that I WILL reach it. I have no doubt that I will go lower even before we try to make our next baby. And this is the whole reason of why I am doing this. I want another baby. But God has been screaming at me to not have a baby until I have regained my health. He has shown me that my decision to wait and shed these pounds and cleanse is the best. I am so blessed that he knows my heart and knows how I would be happiest. Wow. What a hero.

170 here I come! ;)

I also wanted to share some other BIG things to encourage who they man.

When I started my BMI was 33.3 and I was classified as severly overweight.

Today I have a BMI of 30 and I am moderately overweight.

I need to be between 20 - 25 to be a healthy weight. Whew, that is going to be work to get to!

My first month 7/16 - 8/16 I lost 11.2 pounds. That first month was huge for me. Had I lost nothing like the last time I tried or maybe a pound or two I don't know if I could have been so into my weight loss.

8/16 - 9/13 I lost 3.6, and I am glad I didn't notice that was all I had lost that second month. I had just halfed the total loss into two months. LOL!

9/13 until now I lost 4.2 pounds. Crazy!

I put this up so that if someone finds a slow week or month weigh in to not be discouraged. KEEP GOING. Look at the total and divide evenly for a few months. It will make you feel better. And try on clothes after you start to see it yourself. :)

Week 12! 3 Months and Going Strong!

I am now weighing in at 175.2, down from 194.

I lost 2 pounds this week, but I could feel it coming off this week. I just felt different. I remember mid week feeling my stomach while in bed and thinking that is was smaller. I remember looking in the mirror and catching how much smaller my stomach was in the mirror, and then sucking in and barely seeing a belly anymore. I remember walking and again my thighs rubbing less and less together.

But this was a HARD week! It was my time of the month. And everytime it is my time of the month I gain a pound for a day or two and my fingers feel swollen. I made sure to cleanse even more or just more aware of cleansing. Making sure I ate normal and very healthy. I did have a treat though one night. Hey, a gal has to have chocolate at this time of the month. Or I was likely to grow fangs and pick off my family and friends one by one. It would have been ugly!

I have now lost 28 inches all over. I lost 3 of those inches this week. Yea, I know, that is insane!

I lost half an inch in my thighs:

Thighs starting - 26, Thighs now - 23

I lost another inch in my hips this week:

Hips Starting - 48.5, Hips now - 43.5

I also lost another half inch in my LBF (low belly fat):

Starting - 47, This week - 43.5

And the HIGH belly fat:

I lost another inch.

starting - 37, now 33

I want to share photos of foods I ate this week...but I don't have time right now. Later will have to do.

Okay, 25.2 pounds to go until my goal! I have almost reached 20 and I know I can keep going.

Matthew is joining me on Monday for his cleanse. By eating what I am cooking and supporting me he has lost about 15 pounds himself. He is all about this now. :)

Just moving along...

The boys and I have been having a good but busy week. :) We have a Fall Themed Party planned for the 10th that we are working on. It will just be a simple old timey fall party for the kids I love. :) I look forward to seeing my mama pals! :) Matthew and I have been researching how we want to make Eli's best friends Taylor's birthday cake, it is going to be something else! But a best friend from high school gave me the idea, she is a pro cake lady. :)

The puppies are getting so trained! They recognize a few commands and I am loving the training. They get things within about 4-5 repititions and remember them afterwards. Not days. But they are easy things like if I say "come" from anywhere they run and sit and look into my face at my feet. Matthew is so impressed with them. I love my new little girls. :)

Eli is almost do lesson 70 on his 3rd grade work. That means only 100 more until 4th grade! WOW! He has just been going through this stuff.

Elijah has been workingon a classification project in science.

This is really is kind of work. I am impressed with his neatness and with how much he puts into projects like this. He loves to be left alone to work.

The kids earned that first BookIt! reward!

These kids are reading every night and falling asleep doing it. Well, Eli will stop before he nods off. But Remy we have found many a night soothed to la la dreamy land from his own doing. :)

Remy has been in that Garden of course. :) Fresh Tomato and Okra!

Today I saw Remy pretending with this little puppy and kennel.

Isn't it funny that he has two real puppies but chooses to have a blast with this little play set?

He has some art work he has done the past 3 days. :)

We were at the book store last night and Remy found a bird book with the calls on it and wanted it so badly! I think I am going back to get it as a put away for Christmas. ;)