Saturday, January 23, 2010

Morning in America


This has been an exciting week for our family! We have enjoyed attending some political rallies that we walked away from encouraged and blessed. It can become discouraging when you see godlessness in our culture and especially our leaders. It's tempting to turn your back on the whole political mess and leave it to the pagans to figure out. But as Christians living in America, we have a duty to call our country back to its roots.
Thursday we attended the rally of a friend of ours running in the Elkart area. He is a 24 years old graduated homeschooler who loves the Lord and his country. Timothy Wesco is running for representative in Indiana and we are excited for him and this state! He made a great speech and boldly stated his position on the sanctity of life, marriage, and government policy. Our family will be spending a weekend campaigning for him in May. You can read more about him and follow his campaign at www.timothywesco.com.
Today we spent several hours at a local tea party event entitled, "Reclaiming America." We had the chance to meet and listen to several Republican Senatorial Candidates who are running in Indiana. At this point they are collecting names so their names can be put on the ballot. We heard from John Hostettler, Don Bates, Jr., and Marlin Stutzman. To tell you the truth, we wish they all could win! What a blessing to hear these men speak of their faith and love of country and the constitution! We encourage you to google them for their websites and add your name to the ballot. We also heard author, Thomas Tabback, speak to the group about the need for repentance and having no king but Jesus. Norm Andrews delivered a rousing rendition of I'm glad to be an American. Pastor David Atkinson led us in a wonderful prayer for us and our nation. Peter Heck, an Indiana conservative radio talk show host, gave a great presentation of less government, fiscal accountability, and moral responsibility. Everyone was enthralled listening to Richard Mourdock, a scientist and business executive, who took a case all the way to the Supreme Court because of unconstitutional procedures used in the government bailout of Chrysler/GM. He also spoke at the huge tea party event held in Washington, D.C. in September.
Emery McClendon ended the night with a speech on personal responsibility. This African American stands against the tide right now as he is willing to put his beliefs/convictions before his skin color and oppose the current administration's socialistic policies.
About 200 people attended this event, with a wide age group represented. However, I will say we saw a lot of gray heads--the older people in this country can see what is happening because they remember what America used to be. If our generation doesn't take up the baton and teach our children the history of this great nation~where will we be when these older folks are gone? That was the question posed to me today by an elderly couple sitting in front of us~they were glad we had brought our children along.
As Christians, it is an exciting time in our country's history~it is also a turning point and people know it. We HAVE to speak up NOW. We have the freedom to assemble and let our viewpoints be heard--freedom is not a guarantee--it must be fought for as those who went before us knew all too well.
We as a group were first of all called upon to pray, stay informed, stay involved, and not give up the struggle for freedom. This generation has had it easy--we are reaping the benefits of brave soldiers and leaders from the past. If we drop the ball, our children will not know these same freedoms we enjoy today.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Winter Huddling Time

As a homeschooling family, we enjoy reading out loud together. Winter, with its shorter daylight hours, provides ample time for indoor activities while the rest of the year our work and garden keep us otherwise occupied. We also spend more time watching movies together just due to the fact it's downright cold outside!
Our favorite books/movies though are not just entertainment--we really like to learn something. We wanted to post a few favorites that we've come across recently:

We've been enjoying reading about the American Revolution in a book entitled Boys of 76 by Charles Coffin. It goes more in depth when describing the different battles that occurred rather than just an overview of the whole war. It is historical fiction, but not your typical historical fiction as most of the book focuses on the actual events, not the life of the fictional character.

Another favorite I just picked up is a grammar guide, Woe is I, a great little book in its 3rd edition. Written by Patricia O'Connor for grammarphobes, it explains grammar rules so simply in short sections and is entertaining as well. This is a secular book and purchased at the local bookstore.

A new cookbook we are thoroughly enjoying(I'm enjoying reading it, while my family is enjoying what I have cooked out of it)is The Farm Chicks in the Kitchen by Country Living. Written by two SAHM moms who actually love their kids and love to cook! Every recipe I've made has been wonderful! Also filled with sewing/craft projects as well.

A movie new to us, but not new at all is Trip to Bountiful. This was a Broadway play that ran back in the 50's and was made into a movie in 1985. We enjoyed this movie so much, we watched it twice before returning it. It has no spectacular scenes or great plot, but the acting, especially by the star of the show, Geraldine Page, is superb--she won an academy award for it! We love movies that are a study in human character, it truly is amusing, funny, and thought provoking. Life is hard for an older woman who has lived with her son and daughter-in-law for the last 15 years and she wants to return home to her old town before she dies. So she runs away from "home". I'll leave the rest for you~has a couple swear words and one scene we just fast forwarded when the daughter-in-law is parading around in her nightgown.(though by today's standards, it's still pretty modest!)

Another movie we will be watching soon is Saints and Soldiers recommended by Chuck Colson. A story of soldiers caught behind enemy lines during the Battle of the Bulge. He highly recommended families see it--no swearing, but violence due to war scenes. We will give a review on this one after we see it.
If you're looking for a movie list, here are several we recommend~again, due to the learning content, human interest story, history, etc.

To Kill a Mockingbird deals with injustice that is caused by racial, social, and economic prejudice and stars Gregory Peck.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington shows Jimmy Stewart as a young congressman who believes integrity resides in Washington!

Captains Courageous is a classic, depicting the need for a strong father/son relationship and stars Spencer Tracy.

Twelve Angry Men amazingly is filmed almost entirely in one room and focuses on a jury who must convict/acquit a teen accused of murder. This one will cause you to use some logic--stars Henry Fonda.

Friday, January 08, 2010

NW Indiana Winter Wonderland pics by Evan Devine

I took these pics this morning from our front porch.
This is an evergreen that is in our front yard.

Another evergreen
Icicles on our front porch.


Evan Devine

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Christmas Eve


Family on Christmas Eve. Above, Aunt Jennifer, our mom's Grandmother, and our cousin Heather in the middle. Below: our cousin Josh.

Uncle Dennis:

Our tree sort of got downsized this year. But you can see all the living room space we've saved. Just think of the presents that'll fit under it.



Cousins: Aaron above and Brandon below, looking for items like pine cones and a stuffed mouse for a scavenger hunt Mom put together. The adults had their own game: Mom played the first few measures of sometimes obscure Christmas songs and we had to guess the titles.

Dad and Aunt Marge talking, and then an unplanned wrestling match.





Grandma Katherine Perigo, my mother's mother's mother.




Sara & Jessica at the Creation Museum












Monday, December 21, 2009

Merry Christmas!

Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Daniel's First Radio Interview!

Tonight, we just finished listening to Daniel's first radio interview! He was interviewed by Kevin Boling on his radio program, Knowing the Truth, located in Greenville, South Carolina. His topic was his recent article written for World magazine on the United Nations Global Climate Meeting in Copenhagen. This last year, World requested Daniel begin tackling the global warming topic along with his normal science articles.
If you'd like to listen in visit www.knowingthetruth.org and listen to today's(Dec 9th)broadcast.

Sunday, December 06, 2009

A Vintage Christmas Party

When the calender flips to December, who isn't game for a Christmas party? This year our friends at Hillcrest Baptist Church helped us host a "Vintage Christmas"--set in Charles Dicken's 19th century world.

Before having our fabulous authentic vintage Christmas meal, the girls enjoyed a hoop rolling game in the frigid outdoors (in authentic vintage Christmas outfits).



Meanwhile, the boys kept themselves warm with a boffer war. Thankfully, the battle progressed with no actual injuries, except perhaps psychological suffering.



Jeremy decided to warm up with a bit less effort:

Then the food! A partial menu: Goose with wild rice and chestnut stuffing, 1848 plum pudding, mincemeat pie, candied cranberries, scones, venison pot pie, and chocolate truffles. Your mouth has permission to water. Sorry, only leftovers now.

The evening entertainment was offered by various members of the families who attended. The Piekarski girls, for instance, played the piano, the Fuentes kids sang and recited Bible verses, the Van Vurens performed a skit, and the Shocks shared some Bluegrass--complete with fiddle, guitar and mandolin.




Minnie told everybody what Christmases were like for her family many years ago. As a girl, she said she got a doll every year. One year she decided to trade her present for her brother's toy truck. When her brother left the doll outside its sawdust head disintegrated in the rain. He wanted the truck back: "No way!" she said.

For one of the indoor games we played charades. No talking and no sounds from the actor! (Or actress!)

Dad served as MC for the evening:

Finally, the night was capped off with a slapdash version of the Virginia Reel. It looked like everyone was enjoying themselves, big or small!














I didn't get pictures of everything that went on during the evening, so if any of you who attended have some to share, drop a link in the comments! Hope you all had fun!

Monday, November 23, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving!
















Wishing all of you a Happy Thanksgiving~take some time today and reflect on all you have to be thankful for~we did this at church yesterday and "attached" them to a rock of remembrance as a reminder of what God has done for us in the past year. Truly each of us are blessed!

Friday, November 20, 2009

Sitting in a Deer stand, Evan finished: The last two books of the LORD OF THE RINGS series.

THE TWO TOWERS 4 and a half stars as good as the first one if not better!

THE RETURN OF THE KING 5 stars! The best one of the whole series! Being the climatic Conclusion of:

THE LORD OF THE RING by J.R.R Tolkien

( For information on THE LORD OF THE RINGS Book series, please read my post on THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING).