What did the weekend bring??

A favorable house showing Friday night, with an offer on the house forthcoming...

Pizza in the van with the family and then home for my birthday movie.. "No Greater Love"...

Folks that want to buy this house showing up on Saturday morning to look at the land...

Us traveling to look at a place that interests us...

A wonderful birthday dinner of lobster, steak, squash, spice cake and ice cream prepared by my family...

Cards and poems from all the children and Steve...

Worship service Sunday morning...

Date night Sunday night...

An overall great weekend!

What will this day bring, I wonder...

Starting off my 43rd birthday with a quote from my all time favorite movie, "The Sound of Music".  The day has already started off well with a personal note from one of our 16 year old sons about how thankful he is God brought me into his life.  We adopted this particular son at age 3.  He has a myriad of issues as a result of his mother's alcohol abuse and his parents early abuse of him and his siblings.  He has brought great grief to us over the years, however over the last month I have been praying daily for his heart to change and we are seeing the proof of God's answered prayers.  Thank you Father for your blessing.

We also have a house showing this evening- a huge surprise as house showings in this area are rare in January and rarer still where we live.  God has placed a new and large vision in our minds over the last few weeks in regard to the education of our children and our community and we look forward to seeing how He brings it to pass.

One final note, yesterday would have been my Grandma Re's birthday.  She passed away last year.  I was privileged to attend her memorial service in October and reconnect with many relatives I hadnt seen in years (since I was a toddler, some of them).  I have a book she wrote on my bookshelf and will begin reading it soon...

Another great quote

"I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers, and it was not there; in her fertile fields and boundless prairies, and it was not there, in her rich mines and her vast world commerce, and it was not there.  Not until I went to the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power.  America is great  because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great." - Alexis de Tocqueville

Thomas Jefferson Education For Teens

I completed reading the book Thomas Jefferson Education For Teens yesterday.  I did not like the book as well as the other Tjed books but it has some good lists of books and motivations for those in the teen years.  I did get some good reading suggestions for me out of it, mainly "Our Home" by C.E. Sargent and "The Fourth Turning" by Strauss and Howe.  Neither of these books are in our library system so I will try to find them used.  Right now during my study time I am reading, "The 5000 Year Leap" by Skousen, "How to Read A Book" by Mortimer Adler, "The Coming Aristocracy" by Oliver Demille and "Madame Bovary" by Flaubert (I think that is the author's last name, the book isnt right in front of me at the moment.)

More quotes

Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom.  As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters." - Benjamin Franklin

"I think with you, that nothing is of more importance for the public weal, than to form and train up youth in wisdom and virtue.  Wise and good men are, in my opinion, the strength of the state; more so than riches or arms...  I think also, that general virtue is more probably to be expected and obtained from the education of youth, than from the exhortations of adult persons; bad habits and vices of the mind being, like diseases of the body, more easily prevented than cured.  I think, moreover, that talents for the education of youth are the gift of God; and that he on whom they are bestowed, whenever a way is opened for use of them, is as strongly called as if he heard a voice from heaven..." - Benjamin Franklin

"But neither the wisest constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of a people whose manner are universally corrupt.  He therefore is the truest friend to the liberty of his country who tries most to promote its virtue, and who, so far as his power and influence extend, will not suffer a man to be chosen into any office of power and trust who is not a wise and virtuous man." - Samual Adams

Proverbs 29:2 - "When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn."

A quote from Thomas Jefferson

"We shall all consider ourselves unauthorized to saddle posterity with our debts, and morally bound to pay them ourselves; and consequently within what may be deemed the period of a generation, or the life of the majority."

Happy Birthday Elizabeth!

Today is my precious daughter Elizabeth's third birthday.  Elizabeth is such an awesome little girl.  She is very intense, she reminds me of the old nursery rhyme, "when she is good, she is very, very good and when she is bad she is horrid!"  She is always wanting to serve and help, running as fast as she can to be the first to render assistance where she thinks it is needed.  Elizabeth is regally beautiful, with soft hair that naturally curls into ringlets, high cheekbones and captivating eyes.  She is definitely a delight to us all and I cannot imagine life without her!

Happy Birthday Elizabeth Grace!

The blog becomes a journal

We have been learning a great deal and many new things are happening in our house.  Several weeks ago I read the book, "A Thomas Jefferson Education" and "Leadership Education" by Oliver DeMille at the recommendation of a fellow classical homeschooler.  These books are changing our lives, the results of which are still to be seen and changes in our families vision are forthcoming because of the message of these books.

I will be taking two online courses coming up, the first through the Center for Social Leadership on the Constitution.  The second is through the "Face to Face with Greatness" folks on Liberal Arts.  I am excited and nervous about both as I haven't taken a formal "class" in some time.

Because of these books, we have also fundamentally changed how we are homeschooling and the results so far have been very encouraging and are making our home life much more enjoyable.

Finally, on a personal note, we enjoyed a night of fellowship last evening with most of the Pliego family from Mexico City, Mexico.  Their children have online classes through Veritas Press with our children and they are visiting this region to check out New St. Andrews College in Moscow, Idaho.  Becky Pliego brought me a precious painted wooden box from an artisan in Mexico - it is one of the neatest gifts I have ever received.  We were definitely blessed by their presence in our home.