Songs I was Scared of as a Kid

I did a blog post a few months ago about characters that scared me as a kid. So that got me thinking about other things that scared me. I believe I might've been a scardey cat as a kid. Lol!

Ok, have you ever heard of a movie called The Electric Grandmother? Few have. But this movie is essential to understanding why I was afraid of the songs below.

The movie is about a family that lost their wife/mother. They are all very upset and woebegone. That is, until the children (I won't go over every detail of the movie) come to build themselves an Electric Grandmother. The boys take to her, but the daughter holds out. Near the end, their android Grandmother (SPOILER ALERT!) gets hit by a car.

It was at this point that my dad turned off the show and told my brothers and I that it was bedtime.

But... Wha...

Now, the movie first debuted on television in 1982, but since I was 4 at that time, I doubt this is when we watched it. It was probably more like 1986 or 1987. Making me 8 or 9. I was older, but it was still traumatizing!

Ok, on to the songs.

The Mr. Ed Theme Song


Now. When my dad turned off the movie, he didn't turn the t.v. off. He switched the channel to Mr. Ed. So right after I was aware that someone was hit by a car, I hear, "Hello. I'm Mr. Ed." So for a long time, I associated this theme song with being scared because someone was hit by a car.

These Dreams by Heart


When my dad said it was bedtime, my brothers and I were to go into the kitchen to say goodnight to our mom. She was cleaning up after dinner. And listening to the radio. And this is the song that was playing. So, I became afraid of this song as well.

Now, a few years later, we eventually saw the end of the movie. Being a robot, the Electric Grandmother was fixed, and all the children loved her. Awww.

But I was afraid of these songs for years. And years. And years.

Moral of the story: be careful what's on tv before telling your kids to go to bed. Lol!

REVIEW: Eat Like Jesus

At first, I thought this was going to be like all the other scores of diet/whole/natural/organic food books out there. I was wrong. I has to do with clearing up some biblical misinterpretations regarding food and eating. Some of the concepts covered are:
Clean vs unclean, eating with sinners, carnivorous vs vegan animals for food, etc.

It is very dry and hard to read. I hate to sound like a child, but there long sentences and big words. Lol! I told you I was going to sound like a child. Not that I'm unintelligent or incapable of reading, but these things make it very disagreeable for casual reading. It's more of an academic study than a book to read for enjoyment. I read for enjoyment.

I also didn't agree with some of the points made (for example, the author's interpretations of Adam's and Eve's diets).

I'm making it sound like it's not a good book. I'm sure it is. It's very well researched and it's presentation is very easy to follow. It's just not my cup of tea. If you're looking for an in-depth study on what the bible says about kosher diets, this is definitely the book for you.

I received a free .pdf of this book in exchange for an honest review.

REVIEW: Every Waking Moment

Every Waking Moment by Chris Fabry follows the story of Treha (tray-uh), a worker at Desert Gardens retirement home. She had no family, no memories of her past. But she had a remarkable gift she used to awaken the elderly residents at the retirement home. Residents with dementia and such, and Treha helped "awaken" them so they could talk and function, if even for a short while.

A small team of (two) documentary filmers discover her gift as they are working on a documentary about the elderly. And they help Treha find clues about her past.

I really enjoyed this book. I had trouble putting it down. each chapter follows a different person, meaning chapter 1 follows person A, chapter 2 follows person B, chapter 3 goes back to person A, etc. This was kind of frustrating, as each chapter ended with a small cliffhanger of sorts. So it was hard to put down and get things done. lol!

However, this book really helps you appreciate 2 specific types of people: the elderly and the handicapped. The elderly have been around. They are not a burden on society to be cast off and ignored. They have lived. It's incredible to hear where their feet have walked, what their eyes have seen, what their ears have heard. They have stories of survival, enlightenment, and love.

The handicapped are not to be treated as a burden, either. One has no idea what amazing things they are capable of. Ms. Millstone (in the book) learned this lesson. :P

I will have to admit, though, I was a little upset about the ending. It didn't end the way I was hoping it would. But, I guess I'm a little selfish that way. This is definitely a page-turner. A very good book.

For more info about this book, please check Tyndale's Media Page.

Here's a trailer:

watch on tyndale.com

I definitely recommend this book! :)

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Making Paper

K, the first time we made paper was Wednesday, but I forgot to take pics.

I know. How could I? lol!

Anyways, so today we made it again. The boys were excited.

K, here's the materials you need:

 

• bath towels (or a workspace you don't mind getting all wet and messy - like a sidewalk outside)
•  a sponge (we didn't have one, so we used hand towels)
• a blender
• old newspaper
• a screen
• HOT water
• optional: a frame (an old photo frame will do)

Oh, and you'll need some helpers.

These are mine. :)

K, what you want to do first is tear up your newspaper and stuff it in the blender. Then add HOT water till it's a little more than halfway full.

Then blend it all up till it looks all nasty and feels kind of like that slime stuff they had in the late 80's and early 90's. (Remember that stuff? lol!)

 This is about what it should look like. Nice, huh? lol! This is called pulp. It's a lumpy, watery, gooey mess. :)
K, then you need to lay your towels down on your work area and lay the screen on top of the towels. This is when you'd lay your frame on top of your screen, if you want perfectly square paper. We didn't care about perfectly square paper. So we just poured our pulp on top of the screen.

Then we smoothed it out. This is a bit easier said than done. Little ones might need some help.

K, if you have sponges, now's the time to use them. If not, grab your hand towels, lay them on top of your paper, and press as hard as you and your little ones can! Paper is held together by pressure (which is why it falls apart so easily when it gets wet), so it's important you press hard. This also helps absorb excess water.

Push, push, push! My boys like this part. :)

Once you've pressed as hard as you can and have absorbed as much excess water as you can, carefully remove the towel.

Then let your paper dry. It needs several hours. I recommend doing this activity after dinner so the paper can dry overnight. You could put it in the sun, but it will dry too quickly and might warp.

When it's dry, they can write on it or draw on it. We're going to frame ours. :)

Thanks for reading! Have fun! :)

Day 21 Starts Tomorrow...

K, so, we've been using Easy Peasy as our homeschool curriculum this year. And I have to say, it's just amazing! There is no planning for me (which is good because I tend to be very unorganized) because everything is all laid out on the site. I just go thru and print any necessary .pdf files. Once printed, I write the day # on top of the page and stick it in a 3-ring binder. All set! There's even a daily progress chart that you can print, and you cross off the day you just finished so you know where you are. EASY! :D

Because I can, here's a screenshot of Easy Peasy's Homepage:

 

The grades are all linked on the right, and the content is on the left. 

I do have to warn you, though, though this is a Christian, bible-based, young-earth-believing curriculum, there is a bit of evolution taught. And that's ok with me for 2 reasons:

1. It's out there. They will be exposed to it at some point. And I'd rather it be in our home with my husband and I present than somewhere else when we have no control or knowledge of what they're learning and what the biblical rebuttal is.

2. I believe that if you're going to combat something, you should know something about it. You know the saying "know your enemy?" Well, I believe our children should know their enemy. If they are to learn how to answer questions against evolution, they should know something about evolution. Once they learn what it is, they can learn why it's faulty.

Anywho, back to how great this curriculum is. Matty (my 5-year-old) is really doing well learning his letters! He'll be reading in no time! I'm so excited for him. He wants to learn how to read so badly! lol!

And Josh (my 9-year-old) was so excited about the digestive system, that he rehashed everything he learned for his younger brothers. 

It's exciting to see them learning. And thanks to Easy Peasy, it's very, well, easy! :)

Review: The 21 Toughest Questions Your Kids Will Ask about Christianity

Ok, so, I meant to have this review up ages ago, but life has been so hectic around here since we started homeschooling for the year. I have 2 kids I'm homeschooling now, and we've had some trouble getting into a routine. However, I think we've gotten most of the bugs worked out, and things should start to run more smoothly from now on.

Oh, plus I've been sick. I had a really bad ear infection and a sinus infection. And the antibiotic the doctor gave me knocked me out! lol! It's a good thing a friend of mine was available to take care of the boys. Otherwise I don't know what I would've done! I'm so thankful to God for her willingness to help.

Anyways, on to the book review. I was excited about this one. My biggest problem with people asking me questions (not just about the bible, but pretty much anything) is that I have trouble putting what I want to say into words. I might know the answer they're looking for, I just can't get it from my brain to my mouth. lol!

That's why I was excited about this book. It lists the most commonly asked Christianity questions from kids, and then it tells you how to answer them. That was a big problem for me growing up, I had questions and was told by adults "because the bible said so." Well... um... that's not an answer to my question. At all. I just assumed the adults didn't know. And I certainly don't want this to be true of my kids.

I did have an issue with this book. Sometimes I felt that the author was adding in unnecessary details and thereby skirting the actual question. Then at the end I felt that the particular question didn't receive a fair answer. But there was only once or twice when this happened.

All-in-all I was happy with this book. I feel much more prepared to defend my faith not only to my own children, but to any other children that may ask.

I especially loved one point of this book... one that I was afraid of. That it's ok to say you don't know. As long as you're willing to work to find the answer. This made me feel a bit better about my own imperfect knowledge of the bible. There's so much to learn and glean from the bible, that knowing everything contained in those pages is a lifelong process that will ultimately end when we come face-to-face with it's author.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I Just Love Caroline Ingalls!

Darlene at Time-Warp Wife posted this beautiful article about Caroline Ingalls. She is the embodiment of the Proverbs 31 woman. And she's everything I'd love to emulate. Please take a moment and read her brilliant post. Click the image below to read it.

May you be as blessed as I was by this amazing piece, and by this amazing woman. :)