Updates

Various  glimpses into our doings:
The Striderling has put on almost an ounce a day since his last doctor's visit (JOY!!), and a drastically revised vaccination schedule has been worked out with his pede to his parents' satisfaction*, and this is quite a relief.  His aunty is pumping for him as well, and as she is due in March, what is pumping is colostrum.  He gets it along with his milk, and we figure this is WONDERFUL for a number of reasons:
Breastmilk, and I suppose colostrum, produces antibodies to what the mother is exposed to, so the Striderling is getting antibodies to the germs *we* might be carrying.
He didn't get that much colostrum in his first few days of life for various reasons.
It's his AUNTY!



*Re vaxxes: It's not the schedule *I* would have worked out, but, and this is so important to remember,  it's not my schedule to work out.
 This is not an area of strife or angst.  I gingerly stuck in my two cents, my daughter put in her quarter's worth (it's automatically increased in value because she is the Mama), and I ceded the point. I mention this here for a number of reasons.  It amuses and delights me to see how similar my daughters' parenting choices have been to mine, and how very, very different.  It amuses me because our methods of homeschooling and sheltering were supposedly going to create immature, failed grown ups who couldn't think for themselves.  HAHAHAH. 
And it delights me because their father and I determined long ago that we were not raising our children to be children, but to be grown-ups, and we are seeing the fruit and we are grateful for it.  It seems very good to us.

Blynken and Nod are coming again this Thursday because their mother is going to Florida.  Allegedly she will return on Monday to get them.  I was in some quandary about this, but the HG agrees that given the circumstances, it was the right thing to do. 

The Cherub has discovered, at long last, that dog food is edible.  And the Donovan-dog's food, it appears, is not free of her allergens (we don't which ones, because we pured the bag in a tote and tossed the bag).  We know it is not free of her allergens because her nose looks like Rudolph's, only more so.

The Grandfather (that's my dad) always did like to experiment in the kitchen.  Back when he had all his marbles,and when I still lived at home as a teen, he cooked once a week and we all jostled our schedules around to be sure we were home for dinner the day he cooked.  This past week he decided to experiment again.  He combined some loose leaf adagio tea mix with peanut butter, stirred it up, and ate it.  It seemed to agree with him.

Granny Tea has decided she doesn't want help on Sundays after all.  She's asked the man who comes out every other week to groom and bathe him to come every Friday so Gramps will be presentable on Sundays.  She was also in some distress that I made her look bad on the blog when I shared that she had said that she was ready to have one of us take turns sitting with him on Sundays instead of her taking him to church.  She points out that I have been making this offer regularly for about a year now, and I made it sound like she was pleading when it hadn't been offered.  I expect our readers here understood me better than that, but it also  seems to me that if she had been pleading and I hadn't been offering, it's not Granny Tea who would look bad, it's me.

The Dread Pirate Grasshopper permitted me to read him a book today- a board book of Mary Has a Little Lamb.  Then he permitted me to read it again.  And again.  And yet another time.
"How long," I asked his mother, "could this go?" 
"You really don't want to know," she said.  "In fact, we don't know, because we won't go beyond six, and he has a particular book that is accidentally on malicious purpose about to disappear."

The Dread Pirate's Daddy is working nearly full time and going back to school, and he's doing very well at both.  He just got a raise at work, too.


The FYB has decided to do a few push-ups each night and each morning.  He does one more push-up each time than he did the previous time, and hopes to work his way up to 100.  He does some of them with his feet propped up on the trunk in my living room, and I am amazed and a little awed that this tall (taller than me, now) young man with muscles is the lanky lad with spaghetti sticks for arms and legs of just a few months ago, when his pant size was toothpick by stork.  It's still stork in the inseam, btw, but I think he's gone up a size from toothpick to soda straw in the waist.

The FYG has developed an uncanny knack for reading people.  She always knows who likes whom at church, often before the involved parties are fully aware.  Happily, she has also developed discretion, and has become quite an ally.=)
Sadly, she has developed an antipathy to 'the classics,' because, she says, 'everybody dies.'  This is what she said about history when she was six.

Pip , figured out how to roast green coffee beans in my hot air popper to a perfect shade of darkness, and then she dipped them in chocolate for chocolate covered coffee beans.  Delectable.  Did I mention this already?  She's also developed a flair for improvisational cookery.  Tonight she made an amazing ground beef and vegetable crockpot soup/stew that called for canned tomato soup, which we didn't have, so she rummaged through the fridge, added a bit of this and some of that and a can of tomatoes and a splash of Italian salad dressing- and oh, my, my.  It was soooo delicious.

A friend came to visit last month and finished installing the wood stove in our sun room.  The HM has been enjoying keeping that full and roaring.  We leave the sun room doors open most of the time now, and the down stairs rooms are quite warm.  The younger two children like to do their school work out in the sun room.  I do not, because the sagging insulation, unfinished walls, and the incredible debris scattered over the floor from the wood disturbs my nesting sense.

We have found a source for raw milk at about 3.50 a gallon, and now have two sources for fresh eggs at 2.00 a dozen.  We go through about five dozen eggs in a week, can you believe it?  But we only go through two, or at most three gallons of milk in a week.  My window sill salad garden is looking very nice, but I am thinking for a family the size of ours I need at least nine ice-cream buckets of salad greens at staggered stages of growth.

Jenny has spent the day in bed with a nasty head cold, and is now cuddled up watching Little Dorrit with Pip.  She has been asked a few times recently if she can reupholster home furnishings as well as airplanes, and she's trying to figure out how to set her prices so she can venture out a little further.  At the airport she sometimes has more work than she wants, and then there are dry spells.

I progress slowly through Montaigne- I am on the ninth essay.  I am reading Jeremiah about once through each week, and I have six times more to reach my goal of twenty readings.  Then I will read Lamentations for a break and because it is a companion book to Jeremiah.
In that ninth essay, he speaks of his own poor memory, and then says:

Had mine been faithful to me, I had ere this deafened all my friends with my babble, the subjects themselves arousing and stirring up the little faculty I have of handling and employing them, heating and distending my discourse, which were a pity: as I have observed in several of my intimate friends, who, as their memories supply them with an entire and full view of things, begin their narrative so far back, and crowd it with so many impertinent circumstances, that though the story be good in itself, they make a shift to spoil it; and if otherwise, you are either to curse the strength of their memory or the weakness of their judgment: and it is a hard thing to close up a discourse, and to cut it short, when you have once started; there is nothing wherein the force of a horse is so much seen as in a round and sudden stop. I see even those who are pertinent enough, who would, but cannot stop short in their career; for whilst they are seeking out a handsome period to conclude with, they go on at random, straggling about upon impertinent trivialities, as men staggering upon weak legs.

This passage caused me some rueful chagrin

Federal Judge Tosses Out Obama Care

Because it IS unconstitutional.  Of course, this means little until it reaches the Supreme, and, as Ace puts it, Justice Kennedy flips his magic coin.

In fact, why don't you just head on over to Ace's place and read more.

update: Hardy, har, har in the ruling:

It is difficult to imagine that a nation which began, at least in part, as the result of opposition to a British mandate giving the East India Company a monopoly and imposing a nominal tax on all tea sold in America would have set out to create a government with the power to force people to buy tea in the first place.

February's Schedule for Four Moms

This February, the Four Moms are talking about these topics:

• February 3 – Teaching Reading
• February 10 – Kids in the kitchen
• February 17 – Spending individual time with your children
• February 24 – Q & A

So if there's anything specific you'd like me to cover in any of those topics, now would be a good time to tell me.  Plus I could plan ahead and take pictures of  cooking with Blynken and Nod on the days they are here, so if you want to see them cooking something specific, let me know.

Vaccines and Aluminum

The Striderling continues to grow and prosper. He's got an appointment with somebody who deals in thoracic issues this week as well as a well baby check up where immunizations will be discussed. An interesting tidbit is that babies with kidney issues, which are connected with the Striderling's syndrome, should not be injected with aluminum above a certain level. That level is superseded in the single dose of some vaccines. Add up the multiple cocktails of vaccinations given to a typical American child from birth to two...

Read more here.

And here:

in 1983, there were only 5 doses of aluminum-containing vaccines by 2 years. Now, children receive 18 doses by 18 months. Use of this much aluminum is too new to say that there is a proven record of safety as the NNii has implied [1]. 

Given Merck's, er, murky past with the mercury vaccine:

A memo from Merck & Co. shows that, nearly a decade before the first public disclosure, senior executives were concerned that infants were getting an elevated dose of mercury in vaccinations containing a widely used sterilizing agent.
The March 1991 memo, obtained by The Times, said that 6-month-old children who received their shots on schedule would get a mercury dose up to 87 times higher than guidelines for the maximum daily consumption of mercury from fish.
"When viewed in this way, the mercury load appears rather large," said the memo from Dr. Maurice R. Hilleman, an internationally renowned vaccinologist. It was written to the president of Merck's vaccine division.
The memo was prepared at a time when U.S. health authorities were aggressively expanding their immunization schedule by adding five new shots for children in their first six months. Many of these shots, as well as some previously included on the vaccine schedule, contained thimerosal, an antibacterial compound that is nearly 50% ethyl mercury, a neurotoxin.
Federal health officials disclosed for the first time in 1999 that many infants were being exposed to mercury above health guidelines through routine vaccinations. The announcement followed a review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that was described at the time as a first effort to assess the cumulative mercury dose.
But the Merck memo shows that at least one major manufacturer was aware of the concern much earlier.

I am a little leery of trusting them vaccine makers completely

Free Audio Books

Having scored quite a few new swagbucks, which of COURSE means Amazon gift certificates, I was looking for something new to download to the iPod for us to listen to in the van on the way to church. I especially wanted something fun for the little boys.

One of our favorite resources for Bible stories is George Sarris' audio recordings.  Apart from a brief introductory comment and a closing remark or two, he literally just reads bible text, but there is no 'just' about it- he is a gifted actor with a talent infusing each word with meaning. The Bible passages he reads for children are enhanced by the subtle, but skillful use of background music and occasional sound effect (a cooing baby when he is reading about Adam and Eve having children, for instance).

Now you can download some of them directly to your computer (I do appreciate instant gratification) (Amazon won't let me link directly to this), in Audible Audio Editions.

Furthermore, if you are not already a member of Audible- and this is such a great deal it makes me giddy- you can sign up for a free one month trial membership, AND... you get one of these George Sarris World's Greatest STories for free, plus another free book of your choosing.  Probably you don't have to get the George Sarris readings- you could probably pick two free books.  But I wanted the Sarris.  And for the other...

Guess what I chose?
Guess, guess, guess, guesss!

Never mind, I can't wait to tell you.

I chose an unabridged audio recording of Winston Churchill's Birth of Britain!  That link is to the book at Amazon. .   The audible version is 17 hours of reading and fifty dollars.  I'm thrilled to get it for free.

Find George Sarris products at Amazon, look for the audible audio edition and follow the links to get your free downloads. 

And for a taste of Sarris's skill with the written word (he's a silvertongue, he is), listen to the samples here.

Sunday Hymn Post

Receive, O Lord, in Heaven above
Our prayers and supplications pure;
Give us a heart all full of love
And steady courage to endure.
Thy holy name our mouths confess,
Our tongues are harps to praise Thy grace;
Forgive our sins and wickedness,
Who in this vigil seek Thy face.
Let not our song become a sigh,
A wail of anguish and despair;
In lovingkindness, Lord most high,
Receive tonight our evening prayer.
O raise us in that day, that we
May sing, where all Thy saints adore,
Praise to Thy Father, and to Thee,
And to Thy Spirit, evermore.

More information at Hymntime

Happy Birthday Lloyd Alexander

His robe flapping around his spindly legs, Dallben made his way to a huge chest, unlocked it with an ancient key, and raised the lid. He bent and rummaged inside. "I confess to a certain number of regrets and misgivings," he said, "which could not possibly interest you, so I shall not burden you with them. On the other hand, here is something I am sure will interest you. And burden you, too, for the matter of that."
Dallben straightened and turned. In his hands he held a sword.
Taran's heart leaped. He grasped the weapon eagerly, his hands trembling so that he nearly dropped it. Scabbard and hilt bore no ornament; the craftsmanship lay in its proportion and balance. Though of great age, its metal shone clear and untarnished, and its very plainness had the beauty of true nobility. Taran bowed low before Dallben and stammered thanks.
Dallben shook his head. "Whether you should thank me or not," he said, "remains to be seen. Use it wisely," he added. "I only hope you will have cause to use it not at all."
"What are its powers?" Taran asked, his eyes sparkling. "Tell me now, so that . . ."
"It's powers?" Dallben answered with a sad smile. "My dear boy, this is a bit of metal hammered into a rather unattractive shape; it could better have been a pruning hook or a plow iron. Its powers? Like all weapons, only those held by him who wields it. What yours may be, I can in no wise say.

Happy birthday to Lloyd Alexander, author of the beloved Prydain Chronicles!*

"My pulse!" cried Smoit. "My body and bones! Give us a tune to make us merry, you butter-headed harp-scraper!"

 He deserves a double-decker chocolate cake with all the trimmings for the many hours of delight he has given his readers with these books.

Yes, yes!" Gurgi cried gleefully, "crunchings and munchings for all! Thanks to generous, kindhearted Gurgi! He will not let brave warriors suffer bellies filled only with howlings and growlings!"

Few indeed are the craftsmen who could produce such tales of heroism and hope, while making readers laugh while reading.

He will not succeed in this," Taran said. "Somehow, we must find a way to escape. We dare not lose hope."
"I agree absolutely," Fflewddur answered. "Your general idea is excellent; it's only the details that are lacking...

Lloyd Alexander has written too many books to list, but our favorite would have to be the delightful Prydain Chronicles. The source of all the quotes in this post, these books are dashing tales of heroes and villains, and the villains are sinister, indeed, although some only seem foul.

"How would you like it," asked a cheerful voice behind Taran, "if you were turned into a toad? And stepped on?"
... "How many twigs in a bird's nest?" asked the enchantress suddenly. "Answer quickly. There, you see," she added. "Poor chicks, you don't even know that. How could you be expected to know what you really want out of life?"
"One thing I want," retorted Eilonwy, "is not to be a toad."

The Prydain stories are diverting, amusing, imaginative, exciting, uplifting, and eminently quotable.

"It's silly," Eilonwy added, "to worry because you can't do something you simply can't do. That's worse than trying to make yourself taller by standing on your head."

If you do not like stories of fantasy, myth, and fairy tale, you will not want to read these.

"I've never met a person," whispered Eilonwy, while Gurgi snuffled in fright, "who could talk about such dreadful things and smile at the same time. It's like ants walking up and down your back."

Alexander has written others without the magic, but we don't think the characters in them are nearly as delightful as those who people the Prydain Chronicles.

On the little farm, while Taran and Coll saw to the plowing, sowing, weeding, reaping, and all the other tasks of husbandry, Dallben undertook the meditating, an occupation so exhausting he could accomplish it only by lying down and closing his eyes.

The mythical land of Prydain bears an interesting resemblance to Wales, which is an added attraction for us. The tales themselves are similar in many ways to The Lord of the Rings, but these are more suitable for children ages 9-12 (roughly). Boys who may have hither to been reluctant readers may well be coaxed into reading through these books.

And Gurgi will help!" shouted Gurgi, springing to his feet. "Yes, yes, with seekings and peekings!"

They are full of heroes and ordinary assistant pig keepers, brave deeds and quiet wisdom.

"I am a Prince of Pen-Llarcau!" cried Ellidyr.
"Yes, yes, yes," Dallben interrupted with a wave of his brittle hand. "I am quite aware of all that and too busy to be concerned with it. Go, water your horse and your temper at the same time. You shall be called when you are wanted."

To read the story of:
Taran the assistant pig-keeper (Taran straightened and threw back his head. "I am Taran," he said, "Assistant Pig-Keeper of Caer Dallben." )
the pig Hen-Wen
the Princess Eilonwy ("I'm not speaking to you!" she cried to Taran. "The way you acted. That's like asking someone to a feast, then making them wash the dishes! But-farewell, anyway. That," she added, "doesn't count as speaking."),
Bard Fflewddur Ffllam and his tell-tale harp (A Fflam is always valiant! I've slashed my way through thousands"- he glanced uneasily at the harp-"well, ah, shall we say numerous enemies." )
and Gurgi ("Yes, yes!" Gurgi cried. "Crunchings and munchings for brave, hungry Gurgi!") you'll want to read the following titles in the order listed:

The Book of Three

The Black Cauldron (NOT the Disney atrocity, please)

The Castle of Llyr

Taran Wanderer

The High King

We have also enjoyed the picture book The Truthful Harp. We have enjoyed, in fact, almost every minute spent reading the Prydain Chronicles, even when they are violent.

"Woe and sadness!" the creature wailed, loping anxiously to Taran. "Gurgi sees smackings and whackings by strengthful lord! Poor, kindly master! Gurgi is sorry for him.

You can read more about these books here.

"Goodbye, goodbye," muttered Gwystyl. "I hate to see you waste your time, not to mention your lives. But that's the way of it, I suppose. Here today, gone tomorrow, and what's anyone to do about it? Goodbye. I hope we meet again. But not soon. Goodbye."

But we hope you will read the books themselves if you haven't already. They are a treat, and we're none of us getting any younger, so you probably shouldn't delay.

"Go swiftly," Gwydion said, reaching out, his hand. "Your comrades wait for you; and Coll, I know, is eager to ready his vegetable garden for winter. Farewell, Taran, Assistant Pig-Keeper-and friend."
Gwydion waved once and rode northward. Taran watched until he was out of sight. He turned Melynlas, then, and saw the faces of the companions smiling at him.
"Hurry along," Eilonwy called. "Hen Wen will be wanting her bath. And I'm afraid Gurgi and I left in such a hurry I didn't take time to straighten up the scullery. That's worse than starting a journey and forgetting to put on your shoes!"
Taran galloped toward them.

*His birthday is January 30th.  The date of his passing is May 17, 2007

Sunday Hymn Post

Now hail we our Redeemer,
Eternal Son of God,
Born in the flesh to save us,
And cleanse us in His blood.
The Morning Star ascendeth,
Light to the world He lendeth,
Our Guide in grief and gloom.
A man, of God begotten,
Brought in the age of grace;
Lo, all the earth is radiant
With light, and hope, and peace.
Our prison He demolished,
Death’s power He abolished,
And opened Heaven’s gate.
O Jesus, grant us mercy,
And grace on us bestow,
To walk by Thine own guidance,
Thy saving truth to know.
For Thee our hearts are yearning,
From worldly pleasures turning
Unto Thy righteousness.
Into Thy hand the Father
Gave all, that we might be
In bonds of faith united,
And dedicate to Thee,
A people through Thy merit
Entitled to inherit
Thy realm eternally.

Hymntime has a midi file and information about the tune and lyrics

Adopton

A friend shared the following:
Can you imagine transforming this heartache into this happy silliness?

You probably do not want the kids around for the first video, and you do want plenty of hankies, because it's hard stuff.  

The second is the same group of kids, and pure delight.

Human Alarm Clock

The FYB does not wake up in the morning, which irks his father. His father wakes both the youngest two children before he goes to work, and he is annoyed to learn that his son generally rolls over and goes back to bed.

The FYG is more of a morning person, and she gets up and gets started on her chores and school work almost immediately. The FYB says he'd like to get up, but he needs somebody to wake him up again.

So last night I witnessed the following conversation:

HM to his youngest two children: I will wake both of you up as usual when I leave for work. But from now on, I want you, FYG, to poke your head in your brother's door and tell him to WAKE UP.
And FYB, you had better get up and get out of bed.

FYG, rather firmly to her brother: Okay, I will get you up. But look at me carefully. Do you see a snooze button anywhere on me? No, you do not.

Equuschick to her husband Shasta: Hey. I like that! I am totally using that in the morning.

Abortion: Why Can't We All Work Together?

Regarding my recent posts on Dr. Gosnell's hideous abortion mill uncovered in Pennsylvania, an anonymous comment has left a couple of comments to which I wanted to reply (here andhere).  However, my reply has become so long it is a series of posts, so that's what I am doing with it.  I've posted parts one and two,   three, and four. This is part five. (and I edited part five as of 8:40 a.m. Central time)

In my reply to anonymous's first comment, I wrote: “The only reason to suppose that more abortions is the answer is if you care more about abortion as a political football than you do about actual human lives, of both mothers and babies.”

 Anonymous clarified: Again, nothing in what I have said is suggesting that I believe more abortions or more clinics is the solution. 

This is what you said that makes it sound to me like you believe more clinics is the solution (and more clinics naturally would mean more abortions):

 Anonymous: this underscores the need for safe conditions under which women can obtain late-term abortions. As of right now, there are only a few (if that many) providers in the entire country. That leaves a void for a monster like this to set up shop and prey on women who cannot afford to travel long distances. If there were safe providers closer, women would not turn to a place that was clearly so unsafe.

You don't get more abortion providers and closer clinics/providers without more clinics and more abortions.    They go together. 

I answered the other part of your comment (that there only a few abortion providers in the entire country) in part three- that's a pro-choice talking point, but it's not actually true.  I appreciated your acknowledgment of that.  The abortions being performed by Gosnell were largely late term, generally illegal, and nearly all elective abortions.  Therefore it is difficult to see why the Gosnell butchery is 'proof' that we need more of the same, only cleaner, tidier, and in more neighborhoods. 

Anonymous: I am suggesting that existing providers, such as Planned Parenthood, expand their scope so that women can receive legal later-term abortions when necessary. In my ideal world, there would be birth control easily and inexpensively available to those who wanted it, so they do not end up in a situation where they even have to contemplate abortion. 

Women can already receive legal later term abortions when their lives are truly at stake.  the truth is, however, that late term abortions are almost never 'necessary.'  As somebody pointed out in the comments, since a woman must be pretty much fully dialated anyway at that stage, she can have labor induced and the baby taken to the NICU, or she can have a c-section.  The babies can be adopted- there is a long, long waiting list of parents longing to adopt those babies straight out of the NICU.  I know many adoptive parents who met their babies in the NICU and stayed with them 24 and 7 until the babies could come home.

How is Planned Parenthood expanding their scope in order to provide more later term abortions not expanding the number of clinics and abortions?

And why do you imagine birth control is not readily and inexpensively available? 

 Women do not end up in this situation because they lack access or funding for birth control.  It's because neither they nor their partners exercise self discipline and self-denial, because they did not take advantage of the free birth control offered through schools, free clinics, Planned Parenthood offices, and medicaid, or they had it, but used it improperly (the biggest two causes of birth control failure with teens are simply not using it or using it improperly).  There are a few cases where they did use birth control and it failed, and in about two percent of tragic cases they did not have the power to say no, since they were victims of rape or rape/incest- both crimes I believe should be punished much more harshly than they are.

Personally, like most pro-lifers, I believe the babies conceived in rape are still human beings and we do not murder the innocent because of the crimes of the fathers.  Unlike most pro-lifers, I am willing to be pragmatic and leave 'rape, incest, and the life of the mother' as a legal exception to abortion because that would immediately save the lives of at least 95% of the babies being murdered now.  I also will say I am willing to accept this compromise because it calls the bluff of the pro-aborts, who use those hard cases as an emotional bludgeon, but actually, they know how rare those hard cases are.  They know that their stance is calculated to protect abortion as a birth control option.

I know a woman with three children by three fathers.  She got pregnant the first time in her twenties.  She never lacked birth control, she just didn't take advantage of it.  After the third baby she elected to have her tubes tied- which the taxpayer paid for, courtesy of her government provided health care.  She could have had free birth control at any time if she had chosen, or at best paid three dollars for it.  she just couldn't be bothered.

When my grandson was in the NICU I listened to one teen mother telling an older mother that she was glad she had her baby so prematurely (which was why they were in the NICU), because now she would be able to find a dress to wear with the prom, and the previous year almost all her classmates couldn't go to the prom because of their big bellies and the inability to find a lovely maternity dress to wear to the Prom.  Birth control is freely available at her school.  There's a Planned Parenthood up the road from her clinic.  There is even at least one late-term abortion clinic in her town. 

In the real world, almost all the reasons you imagine for late-term abortions, indeed almost all abortions, are myths perpetrated by the pro-aborts at NARAL, NOW, NAF, Planned Parenthood, and the like.  The media repeats them like the mouthpieces they are, and the myth is perpetuated.

Anonymous: There would also be the adequate support system that you spoke of (more information about adoption, job counseling, mental health counseling, and ongoing assistance) in place for women who found themselves pregnant unintentionally and did not wish to have an abortion. I had a friend who worked with a crisis pregnancy center, and one time when trying to get support, told me to “bring a box of pampers by.” The way in which she said it suggested that one of their only functions was to provide women with diapers (maybe I misinterpreted it), but that was about it. There is SO much more to raising a child than diapers. That won’t cut it, and from my viewpoint into the world, the support system is not adequate at this time. Perhaps that is an area in which pro-life and pro-choice people could work together to strengthen.

Yes, I would guess that you definitely misinterpreted.  I have worked with crisis pregnancy centers.  We adopted two of our children from one.  They do provide adoption and job counseling, job training assistance, assistance with finding places to live.   They do not consider themselves primarily an adoption placement center- they prefer to help mothers keep their babies.   We adopted two of children in 1992, and I happen to know that the agency we adopted from is STILL helping the birth mother from time to time, even though she has moved away and she placed the children when they were older, not as infants.  The help is out there for those who want it. 

Not all help and assistance need come from formally organized programs, either.  If you've read our blog for very long you know that we met a single woman, pregnant and alone, several years ago.  The day after I met her (one of my girls had known her a little longer), her son was staying at my house and I was at the hospital with her while she had her baby.  She came home to our house after she and the baby left the hospital.  We have been working with her for over four years, now.  Those boys spend most weekends and holidays at our house, and sometimes live with us more than with their mother.  There is another couple at our church who have done the same thing, only more so.  They have two children who call them Grandma and Grandpa.  The children lived with them for years while their single mother tried to get her act together, and they just recently moved back with their mother, but still stay with their 'grandparents' on weekends. I could tell you at least five more similar stories from my congregation alone, and those are just the ones I know about- I just recently learned of another family who have a similar story, but the children they helped raise are now grown and living in another state. 


Here's the thing, though- while I can tell you countless stories of people ready, willing, able to help single moms keep their babies or to adopt them, I can also tell you stories of women who rebuffed that help and chose abortion anyway.  And none of that matters if the babies are, as I believe, as you cannot disprove, human beings with a right to life.  You shouldn't get to murder your baby because you find life as a single mom too big of a burden and you can't find enough other people to do your job for you.  And adoption is ALWAYS an option- there are thousands more parents wanting to adopt than there are babies the state permits to be adopted.

There is also no chance that the two sides can work together on these issues, because the pro-abortion agencies such as Planned Parenthood, NARAL, NOW, NAF, etc, are actively working on shutting down Crisis Pregnancy Centers,  because it's not an area the pro-aborts care to strengthen.    They complain that CPCs exist to stop abortions- well, duh.  Those pro-abortion agencies do not wish to see women keep their babies, nor do they wish to see the babies adopted out.  Abortion is a lucrative industry for them, and it's a source of political power  They do not wish to see them placed for adoption.  They want to see more abortions, not fewer.  We can know this by their actions.

And to be honest, it is hard for me to stomach working alongside people who think it should have been acceptable for the birth mother of my children to butcher them in the womb.  It's very personal, and it sickens me.  It is like you are asking an abolitionist or a former slave to work together peaceably with a slave owner who wishes to improve conditions for other slave owners so that the slaves will find slavery a more pleasant form of bondage.

Except it's worse, because at least the slaves would get to live.  

The pro-choice view of compromise requires of me the acceptance of murder.  You may not believe killing babies in the womb is murder or even killing children, but I do, and the science is, frankly, entirely on my side.  In fact, a growing number of 'pro-choicers' are admitting that abortion is, of course, about killing a child, yet they still support it.  I find that heinous, not one jot less repugnant that Dr. Gosnell.

Dr. Gosnell, btw, is confused about why he is being charged with so many counts of murder.  He understands why he's being charged with the death of an adult woman who died in his care, but he does not know why he's being charged with murder when all he did was perform abortions and 'insure fetal demise.'  After all, his viewpoint is perfectly compatible with what the President of this country stands for and has voted to permit.

The takeaway from Dr. Gosnell's hack house is not that we need more clean, sanitized abortion clinics, not that the pro-aborts and pro-lifers should work together.  It's that abortion kills children and harms women, sometimes killing them, too.  It can never be safe, it shouldn't be legal, and it definitely needs to be more rare.

What are Pro-Abortion Groups Really Fighting For? Safety for Women, Or Just More Abortions?

 Regarding my recent posts on Dr. Gosnell's hideous abortion mill uncovered in Pennsylvania, an anonymous comment has left a couple of comments to which I wanted to reply (here and here).  However, my reply has become so long it is a series of posts, so that's what I am doing with it.  I've posted parts one and two, and  three.  This is part four.

Anonymous: To a certain extent, I do think that the pro-choice side is a bit complacent, whereas the pro-life side is always fighting for their beliefs. No one on the pro-choice side is fighting for more abortions, but I do think there is not enough fight to ensure that abortions are safe and to ensure that there are adequate birth control options readily available for those who choose it. In that sense, I think the pro-choice side has failed women in not fighting hard enough to protect them.

I submit that the pro-choice side is actively fighting for their beliefs, it's just I believe the big dogs in the Prochoice, or rather, pro-abortion movement, have been less than honest about what their beliefs truly are, on the one side, and on the other side, the pro-choice 'laity' have been very naive and too trusting.  In that sense, yes, many pro-choice people have failed women by being too complacent and too trusting of those they assumed were watch dogs for issues of women's safety.


 I submit, however, that groups like PP, NAF, NARAL, and NOW aren't as interested keeping women safe or making it possible to have a safe abortion for those hard case scenarios as they are in keeping the numbers of abortions up.   For them, it's about keeping all abortions no matter when or why performed accessible, legal, and readily available for every possible reason, no matter how unsafe or how elective any given abortion is. Since most of these groups make money and keep political party through abortion, they have a conflict of interest when it comes to policing it, just the same as a fox has a conflict of interest when set to watch the chicken coop.


 The National Abortion Federation actively fights government regulation of abortion clinics, saying it makes the clinics less accessible and hinders choice (Gosnell, btw, worked two days a week at an NAF member clinic, and that clinic accepted payments from him for abortions started there and finished at his own filthy abortion mill).   I mentioned the issue of the pro-aborts' hostility to any regulation in the comments here,  as an example of just how little regard the proabortion agencies have for the lives of women.


 Abortion clinics are NOT generally regulated as as outpatient surgical centers. They are, in most states, only subject to the less strenuous (and less safe) standards for a doctor's office where you go when you have a cold or need basic physical, as opposed to surgery. That is by design. Every time legislators attempt to pass laws requiring that an office which performs surgery on women be as clean as any other outpatient surgical center, the proabortion forces come out in force to stop that legislation.


This is how well that stance has protected women:

In the wake of the series of abortion deaths at Inglewood, the authorities inspected the place. Among other things, they caught an abortionist writing post-operative examination notes without even examining the patients. When the state closed Inglewood for numerous violations, the facility simply re-opened as Inglewood Women's Clinic; as a clinic rather than a hospital they were no longer subject to the same intense scrutiny and were able to remain in business. 

Whereas your first reaction to the news about Gosnell, Anonymous, was to say that we needed more regulations and oversight,  Proabortion clinics would like fewer regulations, not more, and not even the ones that are in place. 

Arizona's state Legislature voted to prohibit anyone other than a doctor from performing abortions. Planned Parenthood filed suit over that restriction. Other states have passed laws requiring that a doctor remain on the premises until a woman is in stable condition after an abortion. Planned Parenthood filed suit over those regulations.

Abby Johnson, a former director of a Planned Parenthood clinic, says that there are quotas and clinics are encouraged to push abortions because PP makes more money from them than from other services (in general I do not like linking to WND articles, because I have concerns that they are sensationalist at times, but in this case, Abby links to the article from her own blog, which indicates to me that she stands by the story as accurate) . Planned Parenthood's reaction was to resort to the courts, seeking to have a court order silencing her.  They lost. 
A Planned Parenthood Affiliate recently pulled out of Planned Parenthood because of the agencies push on increasing abortions- they are now requiring all their member clinics to offer abortions, even if they are available from other providers in the area.


 There's also been a huge scandal about PP clinics selling and performing 'abortions' to and on women who aren't actually pregnant.  The media isn't much interested in that story, or any other story that shows the public what abortion clinics are like.  You should read the whole story- it's another abortion doctor who failed multiple inspections, raped his patients, and ran a filthy clinic who continued to operate with impunity for years.  His medical qualifications?  He was a foot doctor.  

The claim that 'no one' on the pro-choice side is fighting for more abortions is simply false, at best naive.  Abortion is a big money-maker for abortion providers like Planned Parenthood.  The reason it seems to you that there is not 'enough fight to ensure abortions are safe,' is because you optimistically assume that is a goal.  But then what are we to make of the fact that there is actually an active fight to prevent laws and regulations designed to make conditions safer for women?

NARAL, a pro-abortion organization, is actively fighting Crisis Pregnancy Centers, which successfullly help women keep their babies.

It actively fights (as do NOW, the NAF and Planned Parenthood) any and all efforts toward full disclosure and informed consent laws. (more here)

A growing number of pro-choicers will even admit that their stance  is proabortion, not pro-choice. 

Last summer Antonia Senior wrote a disturbing article in the London Times titled "Yes, Abortion Is Killing, But It's The Lesser Evil."  She admitted that abortion kills innocent, living, human beings, but said she'd now decided her feminist values trumped human life.

Some people said at least she was honest, but I disagree.  She is intellectually dishonest.

 You see, previously, she had argued that abortion must be legal because the fetus isn't human, it's just tissue. Confronted with evidence she could no longer deny that the fetus is a human being, does she change her position, as a truly honest person would do?

No, because she was lying then and she's lying now- she is lying about being pro-'choice' and she was lying before about why she was supposedly pro-choice, and she's lying (probably to herself as well) about what is at stake and the reasons for her position. We can already see the reasons for her position have nothing to do with logic or facts- or she would have changed that position when she discovered that her given justifications for her pro-abortion stance were false. So why believe her now?

This woman starts only from one premise- that abortion must be legal.  She cites reasons to support that premise, but the reasons change, sometimes radically, in this case, in direct contradiction of her former 'reasons.'  This is because she is proabortion- that is her guiding star, her only premise. No matter what evidence she must acknowledge, that will not change her position, because her position is based only on the insistence that abortion must be legal. 

Now she claims abortion must be legal because that is a feminist position- but is it really? Of course not. Pregnancy isn't a political issue- it's biology. Early feminists were pro-life (Susan B. Anthony, for instance) and found pro-aborts to be *anti*woman, not pro. Why should we assume she's being intellectually honest now? Why do we assume abortion is a feminist issue? How can it be?

It's not. That a lot of women who resent biology and men who resent responsibility insist that it is a feminist issue does not make it so.

Albert Mohler quotes one of the most sickening things she now says, and cuts to the heart of the issue:

“If you are willing to die for a cause, you must be prepared to kill for it, too.” That statement, published for all the world to see, perfectly distills the inescapable logic of the abortion rights argument. It is based on a willingness to kill — and on the horrifying audacity to call this killing “the lesser evil.”

 See also the chilling comments to this post- although I see she deleted part of her comments, this was still there at the time of this writing:

I have noticed in the past that you have made comments about pro-choice advocates denying the humanity of the unborn child. Maybe some do, but certainly not all. Plenty believe (as I do) that a foetus is a living human being. I certainly believe in the personhood of the unborn. Of course unborn humans are living humans.... that's sort of..duh, you know. I just don't think that that has much weight or relevance when it comes to whether or not termination of pregnancy (please stop calling it abortion, abortion is a medical term meaning the loss of a pregnancy before 20 weeks, and can be either spontaneous - a miscarriage - or induced - a TOP. I personally have had two abortions, but I've never terminated a pregnancy. This inaccurate use of language just makes the situation worse and confuses people.) should be legal or not. Calling it murder also seems a strange thing to do, as it isn't illegal in your country (or mine!).

It makes me think of the lone old man who stands outside our local hospital holding a sign saying 'Abortion kills children'. Why yes, yes it does. And that is the whole damn point!

I have an a thru j list of examples in support of my point that the abortion activist groups are pro-abortion, not pro-choice in the comments here.

Tomorrow, why the take away from the Gosnell story is not that we need better abortion clinics

Four Moms Answer Questions

This week is our Four Moms Answer Questions week. Be sure to see what questions my co-madres are answering!
Kim, at Life in a Shoe is talking about must have baby equipment, how Mom gets privacy in the bathroom (short answer: wait for the kids to grow up), being quiver-full, hormonal birth control/aborticiants, bossy kids, what to drive, and more. 
Connie, at Smockity Frocks, talks about socks, curriculum, and homeschooling with Littles

Kimberly, at Raising Olives answers questions about red-shirting a child (I'd never heard this term before), keeping up your milk supply, and, like me, she talks about books they chose not to read.  I can't speak to all the books on her list, but most of the ones she didn't read that I am familiar with, we wouldn't have read them, either.  I thought that was interesting.

Q.  I'm paraphrasing this one.  Essentially it is a question is about fairness with the children- with a large family, how can you be fair to everybody? For instance, in my family two of our kids have been to Japan and  remember it, one was born there but doesn't remember it, and the others have never been out of the country and, since they are mostly all grown up, we will never be taking them. Isn't this unfair? Isn't it important to make sure no kid feels they are getting the short end of the stick?  Or- what if Grandma wants to take two kids to Disneyland this year, but you know she probably won't be around to take the others when they get older.  Is that 'fair?"

A. The best thing you can do to help kids avoid feeling like they get the short end of the stick, in my humble opinion, is to teach them not to be bean-counters, but  to rejoice with those who rejoice, to weep with those weep, and not to have a sense of entitlement. When I hear 'how come he got X and I didn't?" I am likely to respond, "He got chicken pox/a spanking/a stubbed toe/a splinter and you didn't- do you want that, too? We don't get to pick only the good stuff, we take what comes and learn to be thankful for it."

I read of a family with a lot of kids who would deliberately dish out uneven amounts of ice-cream to their kids, and complainers got theirs taken away with a short lesson on thankfulness for what we've got. The next time it would probably be a different set of children who got less ice-cream than the others. They learned quickly not only not to complain, but also not to spend time comparing what they got to what others got. Honestly, I think that went a little too far for my comfort, but that may be because I am a coward.  The theory is sound, however.

Q. You promised to mail me some books and I haven't gotten them yet (this is not just one person, btw)- did they get lost in the mail?

A. I would love to blame the mail service, but the sad and humiliating truth is that they were put away in a 'safe' place during a crazed cleaning sesson, and I am still trying to figure out where that 'safe' place is.  Not a day goes by that I don't put my head in my hands and groan in embarrassment over this.

Q. I've been wondering what you do with books and age appropriateness, since clearly you're a fan of reading. We're not yet at an age where it is an issue, but I've been thinking about it. What sorts of content do you censor or ban entirely? Do you preview books for your kids or trust them to make good choices? And on books that you're familiar with already, how do you determine when it's a good book for the kids to read?


This does vary with age.  To begin with, no, none of my kids read books I haven't read first until they were around 16 or so.  Lately, my 20 year old has been doing the screening of books for the youngest two just because she likes it, and my eyesight is making reading less of a pleasure than it used to be.  
I trust them to make good choices only after years of being presented with examples of good choices, or at least discussions about what parts of the book we don't approve.


Content I watch for- to some degree, I did tailor this to the child.  One with too strong 'that's not fair' tendencies was not given material that would have fostered that.  I did not let my sixth child read the Ramona books for the purely subjective reason that I read Ramona and cut my doll's hair, ditched first grade, fed my brother mud, and did various other actives of creative vandalism and budding criminality that had their nativity when my fertile brain met Ramona's.  My sixth child would have found a hundred more things to do.


Content I censored or banned:


Badly written books


Gratuitous sexual content, and for children under 16 or so, it all falls under gratuitous.


Books which glorified bad behavior


I severely limited mushy, sappy, boy/girl silliness


Some language- white-out is your friend.  If an alternate euphemism for the word was darn, dang, drat, heck, or silly goose, I pretty much left it alone.  I cared more about extreme vulgarity and taking my Lord's name in vain.  Of course, for the most part, well written books for children don't include that stuff anyway, so it was mostly a non-issue.


Victorian morality tales such as Elsie Dinsmore. Except for one horrible exception.  And the Mandie books, and boy am I in trouble for not liking Miss Mandie.


 As my friend Cindy says:

 I am always highly suspect of any catalog that promotes Victorian moralism as character-building, that is precisely what it is not.  It is like calling a feeding tube meal nourishing and delicious only worse. Moralism will harm the soul of your child whether it comes from a book or your own mouth.

My more favored approach, however, was generally discussion. It didn't have to be long discussion.  Many of my favorite older books, for instance, might include unfavorable references to people of darker skin or from other cultures.  It's not acceptable to me to say, "Oh, that's okay, that's just how people thought."  I used it as an example of how insidious cultural assumptions can be.

As I wrote here:

It doesn't matter what the values of any time are- there is an eternal standard against which we all are measured, and this is what should be our measuring stick. It is the only one that matters. 

Here is a list of some of the books I did like my girls to read.   Most of them are books boys would enjoy, too.  Here's one list I posted about books boys might enjoy- and, of course, girls would like most of them, too.
 We did read Harry Potter, but only the Boy was allowed to read them before he turned 13 (he started them at 12,  I think, because the FYG pleaded on his behalf).
We did not read the Ender's Game series.  I read them and liked them (with reservations), but really don't feel that they are suitable for my youngsters.

Sometimes my standards fluctuated over the years, sometimes that was a good thing, sometimes it wasn't.

Well, those are the questions I remembered to answer this time.  Next month we'll have another Four Moms Q and A, so keep asking (even if you already did).

Sunday Hymn Post

O sacred Head, now wounded, with grief and shame weighed down,
Now scornfully surrounded with thorns, Thine only crown;
O sacred Head, what glory, what bliss till now was Thine!
Yet, though despised and gory, I joy to call Thee mine.
What Thou, my Lord, hast suffered, was all for sinners’ gain;
Mine, mine was the transgression, but Thine the deadly pain.
Lo, here I fall, my Savior! ’Tis I deserve Thy place;
Look on me with Thy favor, vouchsafe to me Thy grace.
Men mock and taunt and jeer Thee, Thou noble countenance,
Though mighty worlds shall fear Thee and flee before Thy glance.
How art thou pale with anguish, with sore abuse and scorn!
How doth Thy visage languish that once was bright as morn!
Now from Thy cheeks has vanished their color once so fair;
From Thy red lips is banished the splendor that was there.
Grim death, with cruel rigor, hath robbed Thee of Thy life;
Thus Thou hast lost Thy vigor, Thy strength in this sad strife.
My burden in Thy Passion, Lord, Thou hast borne for me,
For it was my transgression which brought this woe on Thee.
I cast me down before Thee, wrath were my rightful lot;
Have mercy, I implore Thee; Redeemer, spurn me not!
What language shall I borrow to thank Thee, dearest friend,
For this Thy dying sorrow, Thy pity without end?
O make me Thine forever, and should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never outlive my love to Thee.
My shepherd, now receive me; my guardian, own me Thine.
Great blessings Thou didst give me, O source of gifts divine.
Thy lips have often fed me with words of truth and love;
Thy Spirit oft hath led me to heavenly joys above.
Here I will stand beside Thee, from Thee I will not part;
O Savior, do not chide me! When breaks Thy loving heart,
When soul and body languish in death’s cold, cruel grasp,
Then, in Thy deepest anguish, Thee in mine arms I’ll clasp.
The joy can never be spoken, above all joys beside,
When in Thy body broken I thus with safety hide.
O Lord of life, desiring Thy glory now to see,
Beside Thy cross expiring, I’d breathe my soul to Thee.
My Savior, be Thou near me when death is at my door;
Then let Thy presence cheer me, forsake me nevermore!
When soul and body languish, oh, leave me not alone,
But take away mine anguish by virtue of Thine own!
Be Thou my consolation, my shield when I must die;
Remind me of Thy passion when my last hour draws nigh.
Mine eyes shall then behold Thee, upon Thy cross shall dwell,
My heart by faith enfolds Thee. Who dieth thus dies well.

Hymntime has more on this favorite hymn

The Month Of Obscure Movies (written by a tired HG)

HG here... curled up under flannel sheets, the Striderling asleep beside me. Y'all, he is cuuuute. And clean. Tonight he had a bath and his nasal cannula (for oxygen) changed, so he was worn out at the end. Tomorrow he has a doctor's appointment an hour south of home; Strider can't come, so the Tea Chemist is coming along with me... gives the Tea Chemist and HG time to catch up, and gives the HG adult help...because juggling baby, monitor, oxygen, diaper bag, etc. in a hospital does not sound fun. Truth be told, the HG gets a little queasy thinking about tomorrow...but it's gotta be done.

Anyway. Leaving third person behind...
Spending six weeks with your baby in two hospitals is exhausting, I've found. When we got out of the hospital, I felt more drained than I had ever before. Strider can attest to the fact that I was a total emotional wreck for our first couple of weeks home; it's like I allowed myself to crack after the previous six weeks and the result was not pretty. Oh, no. Mess, mess, mess. Things are getting better now, although I'm still pretty zapped.

I've been spending a lot of resting time holding the baby and making use of our Netflix subscription. This has also been a journey of self-discovery; almost all of my favorite movies these last few weeks have fallen into the category of "Understated." This makes sense. I like quiet, low key movies...always have... I used to torture the Equuschick by demanding that we watch The Red Balloon, a French story told mostly without a script, repeatedly as children. It's about as understated as you can get without being completely statement-less. I think the Equuschick's main quibble with it was its length (she can correct me if I'm wrong; I know we both remember it as a key point of contention in our childhood). We weren't allowed many films and this one is less than forty minutes long, so I think she found it a waste of a good opportunity. I just always found it enchanting. It's been nice finding other enchanting movies this month.

My Favorites
Bright Star ~ about the relationship between John Keats and Fanny Brawne, this is one of the most gorgeous films I've seen in a long time. The cinematography is sweet and enrapturing; the story told slowly, in a fashion that might frustrate those who want instant gratification but will richly reward those with patience. The acting is excellent, the character development good. I really loved this one.
Of course, it's about Keats, so it must end sadly. Be prepared for tears at the end.

One less serious in nature is Stone of Destiny (with Billy Boyd!). This film is based on the actions of several Scottish college students in 1950: over Christmas, they stole the Stone of Scone from Westminster Abbey. This act of nationalistic fervor is one still remembered by many Scots today. The grandmother of a friend is from Scotland, and when e-mailed about the film, she responded:
I've still got my original copy of "The Taking of the Stone" if you want to read it !!!!! I was only 12 at the time but I remember the excitement and whether it was OK to think it was OK to do such a reckless thing or not...(remember I had a Mum who was born in Hampshire, but my Dad was from Ayrshire...Robbie Burns country.....)"
Aaand that's pretty much the attitude of the film...reckless excitement combined with doubts over the heaviness of the project, both physically and symbolically.
It's mostly clean...some language and one line that will go over the heads of most small viewers. This won't go down on my list of All Time Favorite Movies, but it was quirky and nicely filmed and something I look forward to showing Strider at some point.

One I Wish I Could Completely Recommend
How About You ~ There's so much to love about this movie, set in an Irish nursing home. The characters are lovely (and with Vanessa Redgrave and Imelda Staunton as leads, how could they not be?). The story is lovable...a fine balance between seriousness and hilarity.
The language is my major caveat, though. All the characters were totally fine using extreme profanities the whole way through (and please do remember that I attended a public university; I know strong language when I hear it). There's also some sympathetic treatment of a hallucinogenic substance being used in baking and for pain control.
I'd give this a whole hearted recommendation for grown-ups if you could take care of the language problem, honestly.

One That Was Interesting But I Can't Really Recommend
Ondine ~ Set in Ireland (do you notice a definite prejudice towards movies on the British isles here?), this is about a woman rescued by a fisherman and his daughter's belief that she must be a Selkie. This movie has gorgeous footage, yes, but that's not really enough to make up for its other negative factors. Language was rough. Parts of the movie seemed to feel like a ladies' lingerie commercial than a film. Parts of the story were more intense than I expected (drunk driver...yeah, you get the idea). So, not horrible, but something I definitely don't plan to watch again and wouldn't really recommend to others.

One I Started And Would Like to Get Back To
Owl & The Sparrow ~ This one is set in Saigon and, from what I saw of it, seems sweet and beautifully filmed. It's got subtitles, though, and a lot of my movie watching time these days is also spent gazing at my beautiful boy, or working on one of his feedings, or changing a diaper, so I can't give my full attention to subtitles at this juncture. I will get back to this one though. Yes.

One I Started and Do Not Want to Finish Unless It's Substantially Edited
The Pillars of the Earth ~ I wanted to like this one, I really did... I have athing for medieval architecture, and what could be better than a story set against the constructing of a medieval cathedral? Apparently the filmmakers thought there were many things better - including blush worthy footage of activities I'd really, really rather not see on screen. As a believer, it was also really hard to swallow someone talking about his pure heart and how much he wanted to glorify God before he went off to fornicate some more.
ahem. Sorry. Blunt moment there...but, yeah, I didn't like it. Are such inconsistencies in human character occasionally seen? Yes, but that doesn't mean I haveto see them in film.

So one major disappointment, a couple eh films, and two treasures. I can live with that. :)

Recently Added to Our Collections....

With my swagbucks and Amazon credits, here are some things I've purchased recently:

When Slow is Fast Enough, by Joan Goodman, an excellent book for parents and teachers of children with disabilities, because the Equuschick and I were discussing it and how some of the themes might also apply to 'normal' children.  I was blessed enough to be able to snag a copy for just a couple dollars-I've been watching to see one at an affordable price.

A Reason for Handwriting, Cursive F, for the FYB

Extraordinary Uses for Ordinary Things, for fun

TCM Greatest Classic Films Collection: Holiday (Christmas in Connecticut 1945 / A Christmas Carol 1938 / The Shop Around the Corner / It Happened on 5th Avenue), because the HG wanted to watch Christmas in Connecticut in the NICU and our copy is a video

What Every BODY is Saying: An Ex-FBI Agent's Guide to Speed-Reading PeopleFor the HM, he wanted it for work related research (i.e. he's getting tired of employees who steal)

Medications and Mothers Milk: A Manual of Lactational Pharmacology (MEDICATIONS AND MOTHER'S MILK)
For both the mothers of my grand-babies to share.

Nutiva Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, 54-Ounce Containers (Pack of 2)
Because it's so delicious, so good for you, and this is a better price than my co-op, plus, it gets delivered to my door.

Dolphin Clock with Alarm - Style 37178
A Christmas present for the FYG. Kind of gimmicky, but it went with her new bedroom and she'd asked for an alarm clock for Christmas.

Toad Cottages and Shooting Stars: Grandma's Bag of Tricks
I bought this for Strider's Mama, it's a grandmama's dream book. It is SO cute, packed chock full of delightful ideas for fun with grandbabies. The Striderling is her first grandbaby. I brought the book to give to her the night Striderling was born, but then things got, um, kind of not conducive to gift giving and in all the excitement I left it on the HG's and Strider's dining room table. I think it was two or three weeks before we found it again.

Evriholder DynoBox 2 Pack Sandwich Lunch Box, Green
I bought this for Strider because his favorite lunch to take to work is sandwiches, and his wife thought he'd get a kick out of this. He did.

Real Food for Mother and Baby: The Fertility Diet, Eating for Two, and Baby's First Foods, I bought this one for the Equuschick because the Dread Pirate Grasshopper is seriously into eating now- it's his favorite thing to do, he's seemingly hungry all the time (signing 'eat' in his sleep), and he really likes unusual foods, too- the spicier the better, it seems.  He is picky insofar as he dislikes bland, tasteless foods.  His mama is enjoying this book, although she says she is tired of recommendations for eating more fish and cod liver oil.  She does not do fish.

So I guess she wouldn't appreciate it if I bought her:
Green Pasture Blue Ice Fermented Cod Liver Oil - Orange Flavor - 120 Capsules

Yikes, that's pricey.

I've mentioned some of the items I've added recently to my Kindle. Most of those were free, but a few were a dollar or two, again, purchased thanks to our readers with my swagbucks and my Amazon affiliate link funds. Thank-you!!

What are you doing with your swagbucks? What's your favorite way to earn new swagbuck points (I just discovered word games at the swag site, and get swagbucks for playing word games, whoot!)