Monthly Archives: August 2006

This is birthday week here at Castle Gidcumb. The Sarge is back home from his travels with the Grandparents and he did great. He had a lot of fun and enjoyed seeing some of his cousins and aunts and uncles. The other two are so happy to have him home because he tends to be the ring leader in all their play.

Hubby’s folks were able to stay with us for a few days, so we celebrated the children’s birthdays over the weekend. (Sarge and Imp have theirs this week and the Gremlin has his about 10 days later.) We swam and played video games, watched Star Wars, and had a Lego fest that lasted for 3 days! Mom and I took the Imp to get her ears pierced and we were able to squeeze in a quick date night while the grandparents stayed with the kids. A grand time was had by all.

The Imp woke up on her birthday and announced that she doesn’t feel any older and didn’t appear to be any bigger and it was a little disappointing! The Sarge keeps trying to pull rank because the other two are in awe of his double digits and have convinced him that 10 must be an adult. We’ve had the, “Just because you are 10 and dad is at work, does not make you the lord of the manor,” talk twice now! They are both good kids, but they certainly keep us on our toes!

I was a little worried about introducing the Imp (5) and Gremlin (7) to German. The Imp is just starting to read English and write in cursive. The Gremlin is a fluent reader, but is learning the English grammar rules for his spelling and writing. I was concerned that reading German would be too difficult for her, and that spelling it would throw off his progress with English spellings.

So far, it has been a huge success with the Imp. In one week, I have seen her jump ahead in reading because the German forces her to slow down and sound everything out and this has carried over to her reading of English! She isn’t progressing through the German as fast as her brother, but she is working about 10-15 minutes a day and loving it. The Gremlin is moving ahead at a slightly faster pace, and so far, I have not seen that it is effecting his grammar/spelling, but it is too soon to know for sure. We will probably edit out the typing portion of the program and just let him construct phrases from the pre-written tiles instead. That way, he can read it and recognize it without compromising his English grammar rules. Hubby pointed out that hearing, speaking, and reading are our priority as a family, we can add writing after they master writing in English.

Last year, my daughter was aghast at how horribly evil I was because I refused to let her go around chomping like a cow on bubble gum. We have a rule in the house, no bubble gum till 5 yrs of age. In a fit of fury at the gum rule, my then 4 yr old (almost 5) fired off, “When I am 7 and I get married,” (all things magical happen at 7 in her world….to her that is grown up), “I am going to only register for bubble gum…….. and then I will chew it EVERY DAY because I will be big and able to do whatever I want!”

This is just ONE of MANY things she plans to do at 7yrs old….here are just a few:
She will be mother to 42 children
She will be married to a man that loves bunnies, dogs and horses
She will wear her Jasmine dress up outfit only for her husband, but dress modestly to go to Walmart
She will chew gum constantly and will encourage her husband to do likewise
She will let ALL her daughters get their ears pierced BEFORE they are six and let them wear big girl earrings
She will let her daughters put body glitter on the cat whenever the mood strikes them
She will never sleep, nap, or have a quiet time
She will live near Disney World or a Petting Zoo
She will have a real live pet tiger or panda bear
She will only recognize carrots as a vegetable, the rest will be banished, except for maybe green beans
She will ban anything with ground turkey instead of hamburger in it
Her birthday will be celebrated by having everyone dress up like a princess, except for boys, of course

This week has been a testing week to see where the Gremlin is at for starting a new Spelling program, gauging the German program to his comprehension level, and completing his comprehensive tests in Math. He was plugging away on a math test for about 5 minutes when we had the following conversation.
Gremlin: Mom, why did God make the world?
Me: (recognizing a “get out of my test” technique) Is your test done?
Gremlin: No, but I was just wondering….
Me: Get your test done, then we can discuss the world
Gremlin: You know mom, God is WAY more important than my math…
Me: …..And God wants you to obey your parents……go finish your math test!
Gremlin: I really think that we should put God before my math, Mom
Me: We did, that’s why I had you start with your devotions. Get your math test done and THEN we’ll discuss any questions you have.
Gremlin: Oh, right. Okay. (he wanders off to work on math test)
I checked my clock and heard a chair scrape and foot steps heading my way EXACTLY 7 minutes later.

Gremlin: I’m not wondering about the world anymore, Mom.
Me: Ok, is your test done?
Gremlin: No, not quite, but I have a different question…..
Me: About your test?
Gremlin: No, but why did God make US if he knew we were just going to be bad and mess up His world? He should have stuck with squirrels…they don’t do bad… there’s one outside the window now that I’ve been watching…..

ARRRGHH! Welcome to my world! (When I said I wanted to work on patience this year, I didn’t mean at 7 minute intervals!) Yes, it’s been one of THOSE days, I need chocolate, lots and lots of chocolate!

My oldest is reading through the Bible independently this year. When he completes a section, we talk about it and he asks any questions that came up in the readings. Just before he left, we had this discussion.
Sarge: Today I read about a guy who was supposed to get a lady pregnant, but he “spilled his seeds” so God killed him for disobeying. That sounds gross.
Me: (trying to gauge his interest level, knowing we haven’t gone into reproduction in depth yet…) Which part?
Sarge: The whole spilling seed part. It sounds painful.
Me: (trying not to shoot water through my nose) It’s part of the plan God had for creating life between a wife and a husband….. (waiting for inevitable question to follow)
Sarge: I still think it’s DISGUSTING, it’s sounds like hara kiri or something.
Me: No, not really
And then, as 9 yr. old boys do, he was distracted by a sibling and became absorbed in something else. Spilling seed like hara kiri?! Bwaahahaahaa ! (rolling on the floor laughing)

Submitted to Carnival of Kid’s Comedy

This weekend we drove the Sarge 1/2 way up to Michigan to meet Hubby’s folks. They are going to show him the sights for a week and then they will bring him back down and stay to celebrate the children’s birthdays. The Sarge could talk of nothing else for weeks! He was so excited since this is his first outing without his sister and brother and it marks another “growing up” benchmark. Grandma assured us that she plans on spoiling him ROTTEN, so he should have a great time.

We already miss him a ton. The Gremlin was moping and almost in tears at bedtime because they share a room and they usually whisper stories and secrets for a couple hours before they fall asleep. The Imp keeps looking for him to play and then remembers he is with the Grandparents. My nest feels empty whenever one of them is missing. All should be well at Castle Gidcumb by Friday when the Sarge will be returned home and the Birthday celebrations will commence. (3 birthdays within a 2 week span!) Until then, everything just feels “off”. We’ve been spending some extra one on one time with the Gremlin (middle child). He is eating up the cuddles, enjoying being the oldest, and we’ve even seen a sweeter side emerge toward his sister out of desperation for a playmate. Things are pretty much the same for the Imp, but she doesn’t like the fact that the Sarge went without her. (GASP! The princess was left behind, how DARE they! )

We did receive our box of books from Sonlight, so tweaking lesson plans and going over books should help keep me busy while I miss my little man. We set up the German I program today and we all took turns going through the first lesson. I like this format WAY better than listening to German cd’s! (There’s hope, Mommy may be able to learn German, after all!) If Rosetta Stone works, I’ll have to look at getting the Hebrew , I’ve always wanted to learn.

Time to make bread and switch laundry loads! Sigh, I miss my boy.

This weekend we watched a show on RFID technology. I’ve been following its progress independently with growing alarm. RFID is a tiny computer chip that contains a number which can be read with a reader. The number is then input into a website that contains a data base and all the info on the chipped item will be stored there. It has been introduced into livestock (2004) and the US government has awarded money and incentives for those willing to track their animals and participate voluntarily (2005). There is talk in the farming community that it will go from voluntary to mandated by 2008. Many small farm owners are fighting this, as the benefits of the technology only seem to benefit the big mega-cattle shops. The RFID chips are the size of a grain of rice and are not removed prior to going to the consumers for consumption.

Several other uses for RFID are being implemented. Many large stores are going to RFID for faster tracking of inventory. Readers are being worked on to read the chips faster, through barriers, and at further distances. Technology to combine RFID with micro chipping (which carries more info in the actual chip) is being pursued as well. They are currently working on an RFID chip that can be read from the exterior of a car going 50 mph. by passing under or next to a powerful reader. Another use if for a medical database. One can pay around $300 to have a chip placed in your upper arm. The logic is that if you are in need of emergency medical attention, the hospital will have access to your charts and history. This is being encouraged among the senior community because if they can get them on board, the rest of us shouldn’t be too difficult. Parents in Europe are already looking into having their children tagged with a chip to assist in case of kidnapping or run aways.

While it is still a little ways off, I see this becoming the accepted means to implement the Mark of the Beast that is discussed in Scriptures very easily. With the National Id being implemented by 2008 and the fact that you can’t travel outside the US without a passport anymore it will be easy to restrict buying, selling, and travel by this means. (I remember when we could drive to Canada with no documents, 9 years ago they began to ask for birth certificates for my children, and now they want passports for all of us.) I understand the need for heightened security, but I strongly object to implementing RFID as the means. See this site for further information.

As a Christian, this is just one more indicator that we are pressing closer to many of the prophecies found in Scripture. We need to be watchful, we need to know what is to come so that we are not deceived by the lies of the times, and we need to be ready and able to support our own families and help other Christians during the trying times that are to come.