Catching up!

On Tuesday morning, I decided it would be a good day for Disneyland so we headed down the hill. We stopped for some batting practice on the way and got lunch before we got to the park, so we didn't arrive until 2pm. The park was crowded but fun. We stayed on the west side of the park mostly and then went over to see World of Color. I don't have any pictures of it though, because I knew my camera wouldn't do the water justice and we didn't have a very clear view anyway.



It was a great day with my boys. We took pictures with my cell phone and kept posting them to Facebook to see if people could guess where we were in the park. We saw a couple of my old friends. We ate a lot of crap. And got home around 12:30.

Down the Escalator!

Pretty Main Street Flowers

Two Handsome Guys waiting for Haunted Mansion

Mmmm...donuts...

Add caption

Ravenous Animals on a Turkey Leg!

Splash Mountain

World of Color

Parking Lot Games!

It's Just Baseball People!

Aren't games supposed to be entertainment and exercise? I go through this every year, I know, but every year it's a jolt to my completely uncompetitive mind. The coaches that yell and fight with the umpires. The parents that scream from the stands when players make mistakes. The kids that stomp out of the batters box after a umpires call. It's all so foreign to me. And I know it will get worse as the months go by. By the end of the season, I usually watch from the outfield fence because I can't stand to listen anymore. The boys say they usually can't hear a word from the stands. They are focused on the game and aren't listening. But I do wonder what effect these coaches attitude has on those kids even if they don't complain about it.

Tom and Jake love baseball. Not sure why, because no one in either of our families is really even a sports watcher, let alone any kind of player. But they really love it. And every year I worry that they will have a psycho coach or some parent in the stands will say something that will make me have to beat them. Mostly Jake I worry about. He's such a sweet sensitive boy. Ok, he's my baby! :)) Tom's tough, he can handle it. In fact, Tom thrives on the challenge of dealing with people, but my Jakey...he just holds onto his emotions long enough to get alone and let them all out in sobs.

There is a coach this year, not my sons, that I can hear on the next field during practice yelling at the kids. These are 9 and 10 year olds. If that were our team, I'd be there and if I heard that, I'd have to make it up to the boys somehow, but they would not remain on that team. One parent did call about him though, so that makes me feel better. Maybe I should have walked over there and made a call too.

I find it really odd that there are rarely any parents at the practices and if they are there, they sure don't want to talk. I have found some awesome new friends over the past three years though!

Honestly, I'm not a sports fan, but it is fun to watch the boys play. They exude happiness when they are out there. Tom played catcher last night and did a great job. He looks like a little man. Jake played outfield last night. He was happy with that after having to play catcher the whole game on Saturday.

Finished Another Book Today

It's amazing how much you actually use the tip of your right thumb! I cut it bad yesterday trying to open a latch at Tom's baseball game yesterday. Score keeping can be dangerous! Well...for me anyway.

I finished reading "Easy Lessons on the Constitution" this morning. It's a great little book, but it was written in 1891, so some of the questions are a little dated. It does give a pretty good explanation of how our Constitution works and it's written for kids, so it's right up my alley! I'm thinking most adults today would have trouble keeping up with this book though. And I know they don't teach any of this in depth in our modern high schools, which is a sad state of affairs really. How do we keep our liberty if so few understand how our system is supposed to work?

One quote for you from the very end of the book. "These lessons have failed entirely of their purpose if they have not excited a desire to know much more of our system of government and to become better prepared to assume these responsibilities. If the great experiment in free government now trying in our country is to be successful, the masses of her citizens must be intelligent as well as virtuous. They must understand her institutions and glory in their citizenship."

I don't think the book failed. I want more and I want to do more.

Finished a Book This Morning

I just finished "A Year Through the Torah" by John J. Parsons. It didn't take me a year though. I decided when I got it to sit and read a weeks reading every morning. Don't get excited! It's not that much, a couple pages of commentary for each week. The reading of bible passages for that week are much more. My plan now is to go back and read it again but with the bible passages, so NOW it will take me a year...probably more.

The book is great! I love the Old Testament stories, so it really gave me some background and insight there. I'm surprised more Christians do not study what the Jews do, really. If we are to understand what Jesus came to do, shouldn't we know more about the Chosen People? They are still His people, you know. They haven't been forgotten or lost by God since Jesus came.

My next book is called "A History of Israel" by Walter C. Kaiser, Jr. It comes recommended from my online seminary class about Judges through Esther. I can't wait!

Federalist #48

If you have never read the Federalist Papers, you should. They are not hard to read really. I'm not saying they are light or easy, but they are a wealth of information and give you a sense of perspective. Many of the arguments that you hear on the news and in papers are the same ones our country has been hearing 200 years ago.

So #47 was pointing out that the three branches of government cannot be effective at all if they are completely separate and autonomous. This one, #48, points out why and specifically talks about the judiciary branch. Here are two quotes that will make you think.

Regarding Virginia and its constitution, "A great number of laws had been passed, violating the rule requiring that all bills of a public nature shall be previously printed for the consideration of the people." Sound familiar? That's in our Federal Constitution as well and has been effectively kept as a rule until recently. You would think it would be easier to have the bills printed and read by the people in this day. It is written that way so that we know how to influence our representatives to vote. But our population has been so dumbed down and cowed that we can't understand why we need to read them. And our bills are purposely being written lengthy and confusing so that we will give up on it and let the professionals handle it. If I were my areas representative, I'm thinking that if I can't read the bill and understand it, I'm voting no until it is written in a concise and clear manner.

Another one, in regard to a large body of legislators, "being at once exempt from the restraint of an individual responsibility for the acts of the body, and deriving confidence from mutual example and joint influence, unauthorised measures would, of course, be more freely hazarded than where the executive department is administered by a single hand, or by a few hands." Mob mentality? It's much easier to do wrong things in a group. You are less likely to be punished for your indiscretion.

Hiking at 49 Palms!

What a walk! I always forget how much work this hike is. It's 3/4 of a mile up, then 3/4 of a mile down, and then you have to come back the same way. Luckily, it was a perfect day for it since it was so cool and a breeze was blowing. This is the kind of hike that would be too hot if it were 65 degrees. Crazy.

So we got there at 1:30pm. Jake read in the Hunger Games about a book that had drawings of plants and what they can be used for. He wanted a book like that and I just happened to have a simple one on our shelf about our desert. Cool. It doesn't have all the plants though. I suggested we make our own, but that was a little much. He was interested in the book we had though, so we brought it along for the hike. Tom walked behind us and read it and kept making us stop so he could tell us about a certain plant. He wondered if it really worked. Some plants are medicinal, for pain and such. No reason why we can't try it, right?!

The view of Twentynine Palms from the top of the trail.

On we walked, talking about rocks and science. What is science anyway? Tom says there is science and then there is belief and you can be doing science and then wander into belief very easily. We talked about that for a long time. Then somehow we got onto why people have last names. Where do last names come from, etc. Another exciting conversation that ended with making up new names based on our personalities and parents and where we came from. And a vow to look up where our last name came from later.

Throwing rocks in the water below.

When we got to the oasis, the park has changed the trail and you can't get down to the water or up higher into the trees anymore. What's up with that?! What's the point of walking over there? You can take a picture of it from the hill. Grr....

But we checked out the palms. Why are they blackened? Why has the black rubbed off lower down? How do palms grow? Evidence of erosion. Plants that grow near water. Why places like this were so important to the Native Americans. What elevation were we at? Jake guessed at 2700 feet and there was a guy there with a GPS. He was right. And all in conversation, observation by the boys, things I pointed out that I had read somewhere.

Tom telling us about this plant.

We headed back to the parking lot. I was the whiner on the way back, I realized half way. The boys were up ahead goofing around, knocking each other around, calling out and listening to the echos (much to the dismay of people trying to see any animals), and I kept getting more and more frustrated that they wouldn't just walk quietly. I was tired. It was a hard climb for old me, not for them. I didn't bring enough water to be comfortable and I really need new hiking boots. Sniff sniff...when did the roles reverse for us?!

We stopped for shakes at Burger King on the way back, as is the custom. And when we go home, Dad took us to Pappy & Harriets for dinner so Nikki could watch some of the open mic night she wants to participate in.

Chair Rock!

It was a good day. Oh! And we started reading "The Yearling" by Rawlings this morning. Oh I love that book and I know the boys are going to love it too. Jake said he could just see the forest in the book. It's prose, but it reads like a poem at times, just sucks you in. Can't wait to read more!

Throwing rocks "for the lonesome gods".

A lot of people lichen this to moss!

Down the trail.

Gotta love strange rock piles!

Do I argue or debate?

I was reading "The Student Whisper" by Tiffany Earl yesterday while I was waiting for Tom at baseball practice and came a across an important question. Do I argue or debate when talking with friends and family? Here are the definitions:

argue = to give reasons for or against something
When you argue, you are attempting to persuade someone to your opinion or way of thinking.

debate = a contention by words or arguments as a regulated discussion of a proposition between two matched sides
When you debate, you are attempting to find the truth.

When having a conversation with my friends, am I trying to find the truth or am I only interested in convincing someone that I am right? I know one person that I talk with often who I feel really is trying to seek truth. I don't think I usually am. I think in my heart, finding truth is what I want but in practice I'm not much of a listener and need to work on that.

Then I look at the recent presidential "debates" and think maybe those were more like arguments that debates. Not much of the "search for truth" there at all.

Electoral College

No, it's not somewhere you go!

So, today's page of Easy Lesson on the Constitution was about the Electoral College. I'm so confused. The Constitution says this:

Article 2, Section1, Clause 2
"Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature thereof may direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress; but no Senator or Representative, or person holding an office of trust or profit under the United States, shall be appointed an elector."

Why would we not just let the people vote for president? Because states with very small populations would not have any voice in the election. Small states have at least three votes in the Electoral College system.

But! The States choose the electors and tell them how to vote. Not sure how that is just yet. I'm working on it. But California gives all 55 of its votes to the winner of the popular election. I'm not really sure how that is right though. If 55% votes for one candidate and 45% votes for another, the electoral votes are not split up accordingly, they are all given to the majority winner. Hmm...

There is a call to get rid of the Electoral College all together, but I'm thinking that the guys that came up with the system had a lot more historical/philosophical knowledge than all of our current Congress combined, so until one of them can come up with a sound reason why it was made up in the first place and how human nature and history have changed so much in the last few years that we have to throw it out and go with another system, I'm not even going to consider it.

Shouldn't everyone be doing this?

I don't consider myself an expert, or even aspire to be an expert, on our system of government or economics. I do love history, but even on that I only hope to be moderately knowledgeable. My point is that I'm trying to have a basic understanding of these things so that I can participate in the world instead of sitting on the sidelines and letting life happen to me. I wish I could have gotten that basic knowledge earlier, say at school where they say that is what it is for. I really wish everyone in our country would have this working knowledge. Maybe things would be even better for our country and the economy. I believe that was what the founding fathers were attempting to create, a country with an educated population that would actively live life, protect freedom, and pursue their own happiness.

Once someone asked me what my schools graduation requirements would be. As a private school in California, I am supposed to create my own. I think this is what it will be. My students must show, in writing and speech, that they understand the basic workings of Austrian AND Keynesian economics, the history of different types of government, and the background of our country's founding and constitution. A voting citizen NEEDS to understand how our government works and why it was set up the way it is. It's not a matter of whether or not you like history, economics, or government. It wouldn't matter if we had a king or dictator. But if you like having choices to make and the freedom to live the way you wish, you better know how or someone will take it from you.

Learn it or lose it! It's not rocket science. If it were, our founding fathers would not have expected farmers and merchants to understand and use it.

Birthday's and Baseball

What a weekend! It was so busy that we had to take Monday off completely to recover.
Saturday was supposed to have Little League opening day and a game, but the opening ceremonies were moved to next week. Thank goodness cause it really helped to have those extra hours to get ready for the party on Sunday. Jake played his first baseball game of the season and won! It was a good start to the season for sure. He was pretty happy. He struck out the first time he was up and walked the second, but did score a run for the team. He played second base for two innings and did a great job scooping up that ball and getting it to first base. He even got someone out.

I love watching my boys at the ball field. Jake walks around so proud and confident when he is there, but then again when does he not? When we got there, Tom and Jake were walking together when one of Jake's coaches said hi. They talked for a second and then Tom extends his hand to shake and says "Hi, I'm Jake's brother Tom. I'm on the Cubs this year." Like a little man. I actually got choked up watching it. Too bad they are both so un-socialized. :)) I over heard another conversation that made me laugh. Some kid asked Jake if he played World of Warcraft and Jake thought he said World War Two.

Minecraft Cake!

Sunday was Jake's 10th birthday party! I still can't believe he is 10. Crazy boy getting big. It was so fun. I love having everyone over. My poor Mom was sick and couldn't make it though. So sad. And my brother and cousins entertained everyone with their antics. We had some old friends come that we haven't seen in a long time. Yay! And I got to talk with my new friend's husband a lot this time. It was a great afternoon. The kids spent a lot of time on the go-kart and chasing chickens!

Uncle John and Eric try the stilts.

Carson and Uncle John Rockin' It

Jake's Table Cloth

Tom Giving Go Cart Rides

Jake, John and Melissa, and Carson

Home Education

Last Saturday I attended FATJEF and was lucky enough to get to hear Oliver DeMille speak again. I owe a lot to this man and his books, let me tell you. He's an amazing speaker and, as usual, I was impressed with his thoughts that day.

He first began to talk to us about really listening at workshops and conventions. Listening for what the speaker is actually saying, not just what you want to hear. Really hearing people is a skill many do not have. From waitresses to government workers, problem solving begins with actually hearing the words someone is saying and using that information to find solutions. He didn't mean listen to him today (and other speakers) and do all that he said to do. He meant for us to really listen, to understand the points people were trying to make, and the apply the information to our situations. You can throw away that which you cannot use, but if you were only listening to hear what you wanted to hear or already knew to be true, you can't hear what might be new and very helpful. I hope that I do that every day and I believe I did that day thanks to the reminder.

The first big "ah-ha" was the Latin word educere.

From WikiAnswers
'Education' is known to have several root words. It is popularly known to be derived from the Latin root 'educo' meaning to 'educe'- to draw out. It also has root words, 'educare' and 'educere'. "educare' means to 'rear or to bring up' and it refers to child rearing, whereas, 'educere' which is derived from two roots 'e' and 'ducere' means to 'draw out from within' or to 'lead forth'.

That's what we want to do, "draw out from within" the particular genius that is in all of us, like a sculptor that pulls the form from the stone or clay. Pretty powerful.

Dr. DeMille also talked about his mission to "liberate the captive". I LOVE that line. It's so true. We are all captive to these ideas that we have grown up with. "I can't change anything, I'm insignificant, My vote doesn't matter, I'm not smart like that guy, I couldn't homeschool, I'm not a "reader", etc." I hear people talk like this and more every day, especially through Facebook. If I could just turn around and tell them, "Don't you realize you are being held captive by your own thoughts?!" and they could understand me. But I know that being "liberated" is a long process of personal growth and revelation. Dr. DeMille started that growth in me with a speech seven years ago and I'm thrilled with where that path has lead me. I so desperately want others to find their path as well, instead of wandering aimlessly in the woods.

And the last thing (for this post anyway) that really hit home was something Shannon Brooks said. In TJEd, there are phases of learning, much like many other education philosophies. The first two are Core and Love of Learning. In the past, these phases lasted (typically but give or take 80 years) from 0-8 years and then 8-12 years. But recently, the trend in our society showed that most people go through both these phases from 0-16 years old. Many people in the room were dismayed and confused, but for some reason a light turned on for me. We, in our home, may treat our children as autonomous humans with intellect, but they get that treatment from very few outside our home. This slows down their maturing and there is nothing we can do about it. Children are not expected to do, or understand things, they were 100 years ago. They are treated as second class and inferior in every aspect. When the boys buy something at the grocery store, the cashier looks to me for the money instead of the boy in front of her with the wallet. The karate instructor or baseball coach go directly to the parent to tell them game times or schedules. So, naturally, kids pick up on that or don't get the practice of being an adult half as much as they used to in the past. It makes sense to me, but to many in the room I could sense the aura of dismay. They were trying to fit what they already knew and understood into what Dr. Brooks was saying instead of really listening and seeing if that information was usable in their situation.

Constitution 101 - Week 3

Just finished the listening to the lecture from Week 3 of Hillsdale College's FREE Constitution 101 class. It's title was "The Problem of Majority Tyranny". I can't help but relate what our Constitution says and the founding of our country to the problems I see in our country today.

Madison talked about "factions" large and small. A faction can take control of our government and wield power over the rest of the country. When you think of factions though, you probably think of a small group that somehow grabs power and controls everyone else. But it can be the majority as well, consider slavery. But our constitution attempts to control majority rule as well, to protect the minority from the abuses of the masses.

I have often heard people complain that a new law is "what the people want".  Or that our government cannot serve the people if it doesn't do what the majority has voted to do. But think on this. What about the minority? What that undeclared war? What if I don't want my son drafted into a military that is fighting for something that I don't believe in? You know, the draft still exists. We just aren't using it. But your son still has to register. Draft! The ultimate offence to liberty.

My questions today.
Why were the Federalist papers published anonymously? When the people were reading them in their newspapers and pamphlets, did they know that the authors were part of the group writing and discussing the new constitution? Did you know there were ANTI-Federalist papers? And that in them, all many of the problems we are having now in our own time were foreseen?

I'm reading Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card again, and it it two characters write in all the debates, chat rooms, and blogs (equivalent of newspapers) to influence the people to start a war and change the world government. They are brilliant children, posing as adults, and one of them wants to rule this new world. It sounded like the Federalist papers to me. I don't consider those, or the anti-federalist papers, to be malicious, only a way to get people to think about the ideas they were presenting. But in Ender's Game, I'm getting the vibe of meanness. That Peter is doing this to get control of people's mind. I can see, however, how people today could think of our founding as a similar situation. Lot's to think about. And so much more to learn.

Hunger Games

Jake and I are reading "Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins together. He reads at night before he goes to sleep and then I catch up to him during the day while he does the morning dishes with his brother. New chore, working well, by the way. Funny that I'm so out of it that I don't even know how popular the book is or that it is going to be a movie. Sheesh! I just saw the title and it looked cool. :)) I'm easily influenced, I guess. But to my credit, there area million books that I've started reading, with and without the boys, that I've thought were icky so I never finished.

The book was pretty dark right off the bat, but that is what Jake likes. So far, I really like it. I love the characters and I keep thinking I should take notes. Jake is loving that I'm reading along with him because we talk in secret about what's happening. Tom wants to read it after us (he's reading The Hobbit right now and doesn't want to stop) and he doesn't want any surprises ruined.

"Law of the Wall" Lecture

Just finished listening in on the lecture I was supposed to be online for last week. I couldn't go. Jake's first baseball practice was that night at the same time and I was just too nervous for him and HAD to be there. Jake loves baseball so much and he's such a sensitive soul and well...he's just not that good at it yet. He's made amazing progress over the years though, even though he's OUR kid. :)) So I've been nervous about what kind of coach he will have this year, as I am every year. This year we found out he was on a team that won a lot last year and it's the same coach, so I was worried he would be mean to my baby and I would have kill him with evil looks all season. It wasn't the case so he's off the hook. He's an amazing coach. So calm and confident. He has great drills for the boys and when they make a mistake he re-does the play so that they can do it right and learn from their mistake. Jake's already better. The sigh of contentment as we drove home pretty much said it all. So I'm glad I was there and missed my class.

Today I listened to the recording and I'm glad I did. Again about mentoring. That keeps coming up! Yikes! So what is "the wall"? It's the roadblock after you feel your calling to do whatever it is you need to do. What do you do when you hit that wall? You think, you pray, you look around you. What is stopping you from going forward? Mine is fear. Fear that I won't be good enough, that I can't learn. But I know that is bogus. I'm not stupid, just out of practice. What do you do when you think you know what the problem is? You find the next step, make a list of what you need to do, and actually do them. Sounds so simple. But the sit and think, long and quiet, about the situation is what gets me every time. I'm a reacting type, not a ponderer. Gonna have to work on this one.

This was my biggest take away today. "When you are ready a mentor will appear." It sounds so dumb but it's true. Dan has a philosophy on trying new things and it's usually about a gadget or program, but it applies here too. Always get the free or cheapest one. If you use it regularly and like it, then get the bigger and more expensive one. Pretty cool, huh? I need to be doing the work I'm doing and then some. I need to make plans and stick to it. The mentor I need will come to me when I'm ready to move up the the "bigger and more expensive one".

So, the plan? I've already started. My built in study time in the morning has done wonders. I have several things I work on every day that I got for free, i.e. the constitution class, seminary lectures, and such. My next step is to take the writing class I've been looking at. I spent money on it! I'm in! When I finish that, I think I will be ready for the class I've been aching to take, Introduction to the Great Books at Monticello College. In addition to that, I'm going to get A History of Israel by Walter Kaiser and read that when I'm done with my "Year Through the Torah".

Big plans! I'll keep you posted.

Constitution Study

So, I'm reading my "Easy Lessons on the Constitution" and the point they are making in part of this chapter is why the Capitol of the United States in in a district not associated with any state. The reason being that the states argued over which state should have the honor of being the home of the seat of our government. Which state should have that priviledge? I'm looking into the debate about that right now and I first go to D.C.'s website which has a link to "DC Statehood". So even D.C. itself doesn't know why it was so important to not be within the bounds of a state.

This continues my belief that we, as a country, have become illiterate in our own founding. There is so much work to do.

Here are two links to get you started.
http://technidigm.org/cons_dc.htm
http://dc.gov/DC/Government/Data+&+Transparency/DC+Statehood

Another test...

Or I can add posts through Safari. Bigger keyboard but harder to post photos. Hmmm.

A test

Using the iPad to post to blogger. Only bummer is it is an app for the iPod so tiny keyboard. Should be fun on outings though.

I'll start with Friday...

It was one of those mornings to a long day. I don't usually wake the boys up. They sleep till they are done and come out dressed. Jake is a morning person and gets up, gets dressed, runs through his morning chores and chosen studies, and asks for breakfast all before 10am. Tom, on the other hand, is the opposite. He doesn't usually stir until 10am and if you harass him about getting out of bed he will get very ugly and fast. He takes all day to get through the things he had planned and usually runs out of time by the end of the day. But since we had somewhere to be and needed to leave at 8am, I had to wake them and that is when they changed bodies.

Jake woke up teary eyed and couldn't get out of bed. I decided to let him be and see if he got up on his own. Harassing a sleepy boy from bed usually does not end well. Tom heard me wake Jake and got right up and dressed. He ran to his chores, even got some Latin in before breakfast. Crazy. Jake eventually got up, but he was not himself until way after lunch.

I figured since we didn't need to be at our field trip until noon, we could leave an hour early and hit the batting cages on the way down. I really should have researched a location before we left though. We never found one that was open and add to that a bit of traffic excitement, we didn't have time anyway. There was a big rig cab completely consumed by flame on the side of the canyon highway. The boys were all excited because there were Haz-Mat trucks there, just like on 24. We're all going to die!

We did arrive early enough to go to Barnes & Noble before the tour. Yay! Jake got the "Hunger Games" and we are reading it together. He reads at night and then I read the same chapters during the next day so that we can chat about it. I love the story so far, but it is a bit dark and depressing. At least it is only something to keep him until the next three "Roman Mysteries" by Caroline Lawrence arrive. He loves those and they are a bit more uplifting. We also found "Kingdom Keepers" Ridley Pearson about teens trapped at Disney World at night fighting the bad characters trying to take over the world. I don't know how good of a book it is, but when we read it I'll let you know. I couldn't pass it up though, being a Disney nerd. And last but not least "Lots to do in Line" by Meredith Lyn Pierce. You have to have this book if you are going to Disneyland, especially as a passholder. It's a book of trivia and scavenger hunts for each ride as you wait in line. We loved it and now will never go without it!

Jake testing the speed of his arm.

On to the Discovery Science Center for a field trip with our fellow homeschoolers. It was great to do something with our Orange County friends, but I wasn't impressed with the Discovery Center's field trip program. It wasn't really a "tour" but an organized day at the museum. But we did get to see the Star Wars exhibit and loved it. I would have liked to start there and spend some more time, but that is where the tour ended instead. I also would have liked it if they had used the Star Wars exhibit to explain some physics ideas that were presented there. The boys loved it though. They cracked me up when the tour guide did explain a couple physics laws. She began by saying she was giving the 8th grade tour (script) and that some of it may go over their heads. Jake was disgusted that this is what they are teaching 8th graders....seriously. Tom's favorite was a 3D type presentation on the solar system earlier in the day. He said they didn't even mention the magnetic field around Uranus, so he didn't get to use his jokes.

Simulated Rocket Launch

After the tour we got to have lunch with our friends. We were supposed to go to Disneyland all together, but Jake was still in a funk and I thought it might be better if we went alone. He needed time with just his brother and Mom. I felt bad having to tell my friend that, but I think she understood. It wasn't who we were with, but that Jake just wasn't having a "socialize with friends" type of day.

Building Robots

Making a Robot Walk

Highest Parking Spot Ever

The view of Anaheim West of the Parking Structure

At 4pm we headed to California Adventure. We parked on the very top of the parking structure. Cool. The plan was to see World of Color, but by the time we got there the Fastpasses were for the 9:15 show and I didn't want to stay that late, so we skipped it. We went on a ton of rides though. The best was the ElecTRONica stuff in Hollywood. Like a night club or grad nites. Crazy loud. There was an awesome show of a guy that looked like he was moving lasers with his hands. We were all impressed. The boys could not help but dance around. We played some video games at Flynn's. Tom impressed some girls with his knowledge of "Beat It" lyrics and some moonwalking moves. Jake kicked but at Tron and Battlebots. It was a bit disturbing to see my childhood displayed like a museum, but I got over it. I wish Dan were there though. If my Mom were there challenging me at Centipede, it would have been perfect. 

Two New Action Figures

After that we picked up Nikki at Downtown Disney and headed home. It was a great day. I went straight to bed. I had to be up at 5:30am to go to the FATJEF. More about that another time. That's gonna take a couple posts!

Bear Poop

Video Games at "Flynn's"

Playing Tron. It's only a quarter!

Bible Study

Grr....trying to do my morning study and my sweet husband got on the phone to work. Usually he is back in his room to do that, but the boys are still asleep so he's in the living room. The problem is that while the boys are asleep is when I do most of my study time. I need absolute quiet to read. When I hear other things (especially talking) I can't read a word. It's terrible. But I listen to audio classes and such while the boys are up and around because I can listen to something and knit without missing anything. Weird, huh?

This is what jumped out at me during my bible reading this morning. It's 2 Timothy 2:20-21. "Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work."

It isn't what the vessel is made of that is important, the fact that it is clean and whole that makes it useful. We are God's vessels in this world. We all look different and have different personalities and talents. But we are all useful to God in some way. Our form determines our purpose but none is less useful than another. We only need to remain clean and whole to useful in this world. And to be clean and whole means to be practicing our morals and knowing our principles, in essence being good people.

I'm sitting here on the shelf waiting to be used by my Master in His house! :)