There is a church in our area whose sign says “Living without faith is like driving in a fog.” They have it wrong.
Living BY faith is like driving in a fog. We live by faith not by sight. God shows us just what we need to see next, and not what is far down the road.
Posted by: dpenguin | 02-01-2010 | 07:02 PM
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I hope you had a great holiday season! I also hope you aren’t getting too cold! It’s been a cold winter in the south this year.
We had a very nice Christmas, with my inlaws and Robby’s sister Renee and her family. The cousins were thrilled to spend time together again!
We got Sarah Ruth a high chair – she is quite pleased to be able to sit with the family and eat “real food“ with us! 
She is also becoming quite adept at standing alone – as long as she has something to hold on to! 
She was less than thrilled with Renee to start with, but got used to her by the time they headed home.
Christmas Eve was a festive time with all the cousins and lots of snacky foods to eat. As usual, we ate, had the reading of the Christmas story, and then opened presents. Of course the kids were on pins and needles waiting for the presents! Everyone seemed happy with what they received. 
Sarah Ruth had a great first Christmas, including the traditional nap!
January 7th, we actually got SNOW! We were delighted! Since moving to Alabama 11 years ago, we’ve only gotten snow two or three times, so it’s pretty exciting when we do. The children were able to make a few small snowmen (very small!) and some snowballs. It was very pretty while it lasted, though!
Timmy sang an impromptu special at church on Sunday night (the 10th) and did very well.
We did Rachel’s hair up in braids and decided it suited her. I like how she looks in braids.
We let Sarah Ruth try chocolate – she likes it!
And, this is one of my favorite pictures of Sarah – she is such a cutie!
God bless you!
Posted by: dpenguin | 01-12-2010 | 09:01 AM
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Now, I admit I have done no actual research on this at this time, but just off the top of my head…
I saw somewhere someone touting “evaporated cane juice” as a “healthier” substitute for sugar.
Now, correct me if I’m wrong.
Sugar comes from sugar cane. This other thing, “evaporated cane juice” – would be… sugar cane juice, evaporated? So, like… SUGAR??
Posted by: dpenguin | 01-04-2010 | 12:01 PM
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Can you believe 2009 is over already? It seems like it only just started!!
Rachel is still enjoying doing crocheted items. She finished a hat/scarf combination, two or three scarves, and some clothing for a stuffed animal; and she has started an afghan that is already getting pretty big! She is a big help with cooking and caring for her baby sister.
I was blessed with new glasses in November. Through a program called Vision USA, I was given an eye exam and a pair of glasses at no cost to me. I also purchased a second pair from zennioptical.com for about $30 total (including shipping).
We were able to go to my mom’s for Thanksgiving. Timmy greatly enjoyed his week there with his grandparents. We enjoyed a couple days with my parents and my brother and his family. My family had a great time with Granny’s pool table!
We celebrated John Luke’s 4th birthday there, also (on the 27th). Granny got him a chocolate-chocolate-chocolate cake. Yummy!!
Sarah Ruth will stand when leaning against something very well! She loves to hold on to people and stand up. I expect her to gain confidence and begin walking almost before we know it!
Nathaniel sang “Amazing Grace” for a special at church one Wednesday night, with accompaniment by Bobby on the piano.
I can’t resist sharing a photo of a most delicious lunch that Rachel concocted for us one day. The filling on the sandwich is rice and vegetables, and a slice or two of honey smoked turkey, on Italian bread, accompanied by kiwi, cucumber, and carrots. It was wonderful!
On the other end of the food spectrum, we have our failed first attempt at a gingerbread house! We found out that the recommendation of letting the house “set” for an hour before decorating is a good one to follow. 
Our roof fell in. Nevertheless, the gingerbread tasted excellent and we enjoyed THAT, anyway!
John Luke is quite a character! In the nursery at church one service, he decided it would be fun to climb up on the side of the crib and “hang” himself by the shoulder strap! Of course I had to get a picture of him before I got him down! 
During the same service, Sarah Ruth decided she likes the sippy cup that the church provides for the babies! (She is currently the only baby.)
Well, that about sums us up for now! I hope this finds you healthy and happy, and may God bless you greatly during this special holiday season as we celebrate His Son’s birth, and may you have a wonderful New Year as well!
Posted by: dpenguin | 12-18-2009 | 10:12 PM
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It’s been something like four years since I got my previous computer – which “works” but not *well* – and my dear husband decided it was time I got something that works properly. I am now the pleased owner of an HP Pavilion Entertainment PC laptop, with Intel processor, Windows 7 (which isn’t that bad), and an ATI Radeon video card. 
Posted by: dpenguin | 12-02-2009 | 10:12 AM
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Have you had an easy life with a loving father? This book is for you. Have you had a hard life with a mean father? This book is for you. Have you floated along, with ups and downs? This book is for you!
Jenna discusses how our earthly father affects our lives, and especially our view of our Heavenly Father. She also shows how that can change if the view we get is negative, by spending time with our “Heavenly Dad.”
This is very much a reader-participation book, and it is a good thing. She covers both good and bad aspects of every girl’s life and discusses how her life is affected by these things.
The only thing I didn’t like was that she uses a variety of Bible translations. I prefer to use the King James Version exclusively, and she does not. Not a deal-breaker for this book, but just a preference of mine.
I especially enjoyed Jenna’s comments on adoption, where she talks about how birth can be “unplanned” but there is no way for an adoption to be unplanned, therefore it is an excellent analogy for what God does with us. We cannot “accidentally” join God’s family – it is planned, and we are loved!
“Beautiful” is redefined according to how GOD sees us – not how others see us. And this is an excellent thing for all our daughters to learn.
Get a copy at Amazon.com
Preview:
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Posted by: dpenguin | 12-01-2009 | 09:12 AM
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Well. I have put together two chicken pot pies, put the remaining chicken on to boil to make broth, and mixed up the snickerdoodle dough.
Rachel has made a vegetable lasagna, some chocolate cookies, and a lemon cake (all without recipes).
I’m pausing to feed Sarah… then the snickerdoodles will FINALLY get made!
Posted by: dpenguin | 11-20-2009 | 12:11 PM
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…or so they say! But the one at which we ate yesterday had none.
Therefore, today, I am making snickerdoodles! LOL!
Posted by: dpenguin | 11-20-2009 | 10:11 AM
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A friend told me about Vision USA. Here’s what their site says about them:
If you do not qualify for government aid or private health care assistance that covers the cost of routine eye or vision care, VISION USA™ can help. VISION USA™ provides basic eye health and vision care services free of charge to uninsured, low-income people and their families.
Since that describes me, I filled out an application (on their site). A couple weeks later, I had given up, figuring they had disqualified me for some reason. That same day, I received a letter in the mail letting me know I had been approved, and to call the listed optometrist as soon as possible to set up an appointment.
I did so, and yesterday I went in for my eye exam. They were very nice people (and I learned that there are a LOT of NEAT new machines for measuring eye health and prescription!) and very professional, as well as friendly.
They also included a pair of glasses with the deal, which I should have in about a week! I also ordered a pair from Zenni Optical which will arrive in about two weeks.
I can hardly wait!
Posted by: dpenguin | 11-19-2009 | 11:11 AM
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We are going to my parents’ house for Thanksgiving this year, for the first time in a long time. I’m looking forward to it! I hope you will have (or be) company for Thanksgiving—it’s so much easier to be thankful when one is not alone!
Bobby purchased a sword at the beginning of October. He has wanted one for a long time and was thrilled to finally own one! It is stainless steel and came with a leather (or leather-like; I’m not certain) sheath. He doesn’t actually USE the sword, but likes owning it.
Sarah Ruth discovered “big people food” this month. She likes breads and cakes and cookies, and carrots and potatoes. She isn’t quite as fond of rice. She still nurses, but when others are eating real food, she wants some, too!
John Luke is almost 4! In two more weeks, he’ll be four years old. That just doesn’t seem possible! The time has gone so quickly. He loves to play his Elmo educational game and ClicknKids.com (which teaches phonics and reading – if you’d like to sign up with them, you get a discount by using our referral code, which is rdcss@rdcss.com ). His current favorite book is the book that came in our last Cheerios purchase called “Sleepyhead.” We’ve been reading it every night at bedtime.
Bobby is using a book to learn C++ (a computer programming language) as an elective this year. He’s been helping Robert in our business and is doing a great job. He & Robert also have been going & working out every morning, which is good for both of them!
Rachel & I have also been working out, in the afternoons (but not every afternoon—but at least 3 times a week). I lost five pounds in two weeks! I’m hoping to lose to a healthy weight in the next few months.
We also finally got Rachel to get her permit. We are enjoying teaching her to drive. She does very well! Bobby doesn’t even mind taking turns with her, so she gets a good bit of driving time.
Timmy turned 13 last month, and is very excited about it! He feels like a whole new world has opened up for him, now that he’s a teenager. Next week, my parents are picking him up, and he is spending a week with them. We will pick him up when we go over for Thanksgiving. He can hardly wait! I did manage to finish his quilt, and he was thrilled! Now I have three years to do Nate’s!
Nate enjoys our pets. Here he is with Morris, the kitten that Rachel hand-raised. The kitten is almost six months old now!
Sarah Ruth loves her daddy! She is the first one who has really wanted Daddy almost more than Mama. If he comes in the house and doesn’t speak to her or pick her up, she will cry! 
She is sitting up by herself VERY well, and has figured out how to get herself into a sitting position, now. She also crawls, using the “Army crawl” – flat on her belly, using her arms, mainly, to scoot her along. She loves being in her walker, which allows her to wander all over the living room. (I like it because it keeps her from picking up stuff from the floor and trying to eat it!)
God bless you and have a very happy Thanksgiving!
Posted by: dpenguin | 11-15-2009 | 01:11 PM
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Thought I’d share – for any sports fans out there – that there is now a new site where you can get awesome sports products – such as prints and woven things like throws, wall hangings, pillows, and totes – featuring your favorite college or pro team. Check out Klassic Prints for prints of originals done by Greg Gamble.
Posted by: dpenguin | 11-11-2009 | 07:11 AM
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I wrote here: Dr. Tom Malone, Sr. is gone a brief note about Dr. Tom Malone’s death. His wife, Dr. Joyce Malone, joined him in Heaven on Friday morning, November 6.
Posted by: dpenguin | 11-11-2009 | 07:11 AM
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I had a coupon for $3 off these. Since that made the package about 30 cents cheaper than my usual (“Parent’s Choice” – aka Walmart brand) diapers (although the package contained 5 fewer diapers), I decided to give them a try.
I am sorely disappointed in the quality of these “name-brand” diapers. By morning, my daughter’s bottom is covered with the granules that soak up the urine. They leak terribly out the sides.
I will NOT be purchasing this brand in the future!
Posted by: dpenguin | 11-05-2009 | 09:11 PM
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He has such cute pronunciations! His “pr” comes out “cr” and his “br” comes out “gr” … so his paintings are “cretty” (pretty) and he might have used the color “grown” (brown)… too cute!
Posted by: dpenguin | 10-19-2009 | 12:10 PM
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I found out today that most of the “confirmed” cases of H1N1 – aren’t. MOST places are testing for influenza, and if it tests positive for Type A (the most common), they are ASSUMING H1N1 (which is a SUBSET of Type A, and NOT as common), instead of being *sure*. Therefore, the numbers they are reporting ARE NOT ACCURATE.
Just a heads-up.
Posted by: dpenguin | 10-16-2009 | 09:10 AM
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Here’s the bulk of the letter I used to update the grandparents this month:
Sarah Ruth has grown taller, and her feet easily reach the floor when she’s in her walker now. We even had to move it up a notch! She’s also working hard at trying to crawl. She has started babbling “Mamamamama” but it seems to translate to “I want attention! Pick me up!” and is usually aimed at her daddy instead of me!
We have embarked on a new healthy eating regimen. We are following the guidelines of Dr. John McDougall (mostly) – which means no sugar, no refined flour, low fat. It’s starch-based and high fiber. Unlike a lot of the “diets named after people” and famous diets, the creators of this one LOOK very healthy in their photos, and their information makes a lot of sense. They approach issues by addressing the *root* of the problem instead of the symptoms.
We were able to take a couple field trips in September.
First, we went to the Sci-Quest science museum in Huntsville. It’s a hands-on museum where the children got to touch and handle (and try out) things that helped learn some scientific concepts. We were able to get a membership, so we plan to go again when it is less crowded (we went on a special day so there were a lot of people there).
Then we went again to the Tennessee Aquarium. (We had already been in August with the church. We purchased a family membership at that time so we can go back without additional cost for a year.) We only went through the River Journeys building this time (that’s the one with the butterflies, penguins, and jellyfish). We plan to go again to go back through the Ocean Journeys building (seahorses, alligators, etc) later in the year. It’s nice to be able to take our time and enjoy the exhibits. I was also able to print off some “bonus material” from the internet so that we could enhance the learning experience.
Starting about 4 years ago, I decided to make each of the children a quilt for their 13th birthdays. They have so far all been denim pieced tops (someone just before then had given me a huge bag of old jeans) and tied instead of actually quilted because of the thickness of the jean material. Timmy’s top is done, but I haven’t even started putting together the front and back, and I only have 24 days left in which to finish! He chose a neat striped material for the back. I’ll post pictures when I get it done.
John Luke is already excited about HIS birthday, and he still has over a month to go! He’s a sweet little man. He loves people to read to him, and he likes to scribble (he doesn’t really like “staying in the lines” unless he *has* to). He likes color. He also likes to cut with scissors, so I will sometimes print something from the internet for him to cut. He also has a couple learning games that he plays online (learning phonics and sight-reading).
Rachel has been doing a lot of crocheting, still! Her horse (I sent the picture in the last letter) won FIRST PLACE (and $5!) in the county fair! 
We were thrilled! She has since made a fun lap-blanket and a hippo, and is starting to try a little dress for Sarah Ruth.
Bobby is learning Japanese on his own and also working to learn computer programming. He’s talking about going to college in a couple years for a computer science degree.
Nathaniel is still distractible and artistic. He’s doing pretty well with his school this year, though, so I think he’s learning to focus a little bit better. Perhaps the diet change is helping him, also.
Robby has been keeping busy, which is good! We had one customer who “tipped” him with vegetables from their garden, which was wonderful! There were tomatoes, banana peppers, green bell peppers, okra and jalapenos. The only thing I wasn’t too sure about was the okra, for which I haven’t really developed a liking.
God bless you and keep you.
Posted by: dpenguin | 10-06-2009 | 11:10 AM
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No, I’m not taking anatomy lessons. I’m doing research based on issues that have cropped up here.
First, a few years ago, I learned about how the gall bladder works – its function in the body. I found that the gall bladder is to the body what the oil filter is to a car, and bile is to the gall bladder what oil is to the oil filter. The bile cleans out the fat-related toxins (the “dirt in the oil”). Then there’s fiber. Soluble fiber binds to the bile and takes it out of the body. When one does not eat enough soluble fiber, the bile (and the toxins it contains) are reabsorbed and taken back to the gall bladder, where eventually the toxins form sludge, then stones.
However, there is good news! When one eats enough soluble fiber, the whole situation can be reversed! As the fiber removes bile, new bile is made. This new bile is clean, with no toxins, and it dilutes the toxin-filled bile. The more new bile, the cleaner the whole of the bile gets, even breaking down stones and removing sludge, until the gall bladder is once again working at optimum levels.
My newest research has been on diabetes (specifically, type 2). I learned that one of insulin’s main functions is to push fat into the fat cells, to be stored for the future when there is no food (which is unlikely to happen anytime soon for most people in the USA). Eventually, the fat cells reach a saturation point. God set it up so that when this happens, the cells’ insulin receptors begin to resist. This is to keep us from becoming 1000 pounds. (Those who DO get that big, usually have something that “went wrong” that allowed the insulin to continue working.) This is known in the medical community as “insulin resistance.” They treat this as a disease, but it is actually SUPPOSED to happen! The problem isn’t the receptors, which are working as God designed. The problem is the continued improper ingestion of the body’s owner. The body has to “reject” calories, and so it begins to push the excess glucose into the kidneys to be processed and removed. Eventually the kidneys cannot keep up, and, like a dam overwhelmed, the glucose spills over into the urine. At this point, they diagnose Type II diabetes.
Most of the time, they will then “treat” the symptom (because Type II diabetes is NOT a disease! It is the body working as it was designed, and is actually a SYMPTOM) with medicines that make the insulin work again to push fat into the (already overloaded) fat cells. That is why many – maybe most – Type II diabetics gain weight when they begin the medication.
So how does one cure the disease that causes Type II diabetes? Well, it isn’t really a disease at all! The whole thing can be fixed by eating properly (avoid sugar and refined foods, and make meats and dairy *treats* instead of *regular fare*) and exercising. The loss of weight one experiences by following this sort of lifestyle will cause the symptoms to lessen, and eventually disappear, because the fat cells will cease to be overloaded and insulin’s function will once again be able to work properly.
Posted by: dpenguin | 10-03-2009 | 09:10 AM
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In a previous post, I mentioned that Rachel had been doing a lot of crocheting, and the photo associated was one of her creations – a horse.
We decided to enter it in the county fair in September. It won the blue ribbon! And $5
horse with blue ribbon at the fair
Posted by: dpenguin | 10-03-2009 | 09:10 AM
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I am reading a book about homeschooling, in which it talks about learning the learning style of one’s students (children). So I found several quizzes online to help discover these, and on one of them (though it typifies all of them, pretty much), my result was:
Your result for Howard Gardner’s Eight Types of Intelligence Test …
Linguistic14% Logical, 41% Spatial, 71% Linguistic, 18% Intrapersonal, 20% Interpersonal, 29% Musical, 6% Bodily-Kinesthetic and 41% Naturalistic!
I’m finding this very interesting. My children definitely have different learning styles. I hope to be able to use this information to help them *enjoy* learning.
Posted by: dpenguin | 09-08-2009 | 11:09 PM
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Sarah is now TWENTY pounds, at 5.5 months! Wow!!
Posted by: dpenguin | 09-08-2009 | 08:09 AM
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