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My mexican casserole

March 31, 2006 Leave a Comment

Unfortunately this is not dairy-free, but I was able to whip up a really tasty dish just from stuff that was in our fridge. Maybe my haphazardness will inspire someone ;)

First I threw some diced onion (the frozen, pre-cut kind), some minced garlic, and some Morningstar “burger” crumbles into a pan. There was not much of this at all. Maybe a cup of the crumbles and 1/8 c. onion. Next I added some Consorzio chipotle marinade (why they sell this on Amazon… I do not know) and corn. Then I found some salsa in my fridge, so I tossed it in too. I drained some pinto beans and used them to finish off my mixture.

Then I found this recipe on allrecipes.com and combined it with my above mixture. I crushed up some tortilla chips and put them in a 9×13 pan. Then I put the bean/morningstar crumble/corn mixture on top. I topped that with sour cream and then I added cheddar cheese. I ran out of cheddar, so then I crumbled up some swiss cheese that I had in there.

I baked it for about 1/2 an hour and served it with black beans and rice. It was so yummy, which is amazing considering how random it was.

Don’t you love when you are able to throw together a bunch of scraps and make a yummy meal? >>” src=”http://www.hippiemommy.com/public_html_b2/rsc/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif” /></p> </div><!-- end .entry-content --> <div class=Filed Under: Main dishes, Vegetarian

I identified a bird!

March 28, 2006 2 Comments

I’m sure that this would be no big deal to most people, but I am totally proud of myself!

My family and I were out hiking on Gold Camp Road up to the Seven Bridges trail (pictured below)

and we heard a bird (which I now know was a steller’s jay). We followed the sound as it perched in a tree and we each noted things about it that made it stand out. It was blue, crested, perched, and made a “chook chook chook” sound. I went home and logged onto eNature and entered in our region, the type of bird that it was (perched) the area it lived in (woodland) and the color…. and up popped 12 birds. There was only one that was crested and it made a “chook chook chook” sound. I was so excited! I added it to my sighting list that they have on there and gave myself a nice pat on the back.

Now I think I want a nature journal just like the kids! Why should they have all of the fun? I want a CM education too!

Filed Under: Charlotte Mason

Paperbackswap.com

March 19, 2006 Leave a Comment

http://www.paperbackswap.com/

Ooh, I’m having such a fun time shopping for new books and getting rid of the old twaddle and books that were given to me by my MIL (In her defense, I don’t think she believes them anymore either…)

So it works like this… you sign up and list 9 books. They give you 3 credits just for listing. After that, each time you mail a book to someone, you get 1 credit. 1 credit buys you 1 more book. The shipper pays the shipping costs and when you order a book you get it for completely free. To ship it you print out the book wrapper on your printer, and that includes the mailing label, so you don’t have to buy an envelope or anything. It tells you how much postage to put on there, so you just slap it on, throw it in the mailbox, and voila!

Out of my listed books, 5 have been requested, so I’m well on my way )

Plus I’m having fun filling up my wishlist D

Filed Under: Book Talk, Musings

Prayer journals and quiet time

March 18, 2006 Leave a Comment

I want to take a break from the parenting issues for a while and blog about prayer journals. Prayer journals have been a source of such growth for me throughout my walk, and I want to write a few brief blogs on the different methods that I have used and the ways that I have altered them.

I use my prayer journals as a resource for me, not something that I need to do for God to answer my prayers. I think that is an important distinction. My journals provide me with a way to look back at what God has done, where I have been, and a way to remind me of what I need to continue to pray for. I do not think in any way that they are required or even necessarily best for all people.

On with the first review:

As with all non-parenting books, I want to add my disclaimer that just because I write about an author’s book, that does not mean that their parenting goods are worth their weight in salt ;)

OK, method #1 – Emilie Barnes More Hours In My Day

I read this book soon after my first child was born. I was looking to be more organized, and my mother-in-law had handed this book down to me. I can’t seem to find it now, so I haven’t perused through whether or not she goes off the deep end in other areas, but I used her prayer journalling method for a while, so I can comment on that )

Emilie’s plan seemed to me more of a way of organizing your space and organizing your requests (in a checklist style). This is the simplest form of prayer journaling, I believe. It is not a full text word-for-word copy of your prayers in print form; It is an outline of the things that you have prayed for and the things that you need to remember to pray for.

From her site, she has these tips, which I will expound on

Tips for Organizing Your Quiet Time:

â–º Make your own prayer basket.

â–º Find an accountability partner who will pray with you and for you as you strive to make your quiet time a reality.

â–º Set aside a special place for your quiet time and have your prayer basket waiting.

Emilie detailed her “prayer basket” and this was an idea that I really liked. The general idea is that you take a pretty little basket (I used a wicker one from Michael’s Crafts), and then you fill it with all of the things that you need for your quiet time. Mine had my Bible, my prayer journal, pens, cards and envelopes for writing notes to people if I prayed for them, stamps for the same, and a short devotional book. This basket made it so that my quiet time gear was always available. Four years later, I still have the basket in my formal living room and I use it now for all of my reading, not just Bible study time. I think it is an excellent idea.

Next she talks about ways to organize your prayer journal. She suggested that you have a page for each subject and each page is assigned to a day. For example, Mondays you would pray for yourself, Tuesdays you pray for family, Wednesdays you pray for the church, Thursdays you pray for government, etc, etc. While I liked the idea of not having to pray for everything everyday, I really couldn’t bring myself to implement this part of her journal for any extended amount of time. If my son fell ill, I didn’t want to wait until the next Tuesday to pray, y’know? There are some things that I need to take to God daily, especially my struggles, and I couldn’t put those on the back burner. Its definitely a time saver and far better than not praying at all, but still… not for me.

In order to make her pages work better for me, I chose to pray for my daily stuff no matter what. This included issues that I was facing that day, struggles, illnesses, requests that were urgent that someone shared with me, and anything else that couldn’t wait. For more long-term things and requests that were more general in nature, like praying for the president, non-urgent prayers for my friends (for their lives, work, family…), or long-term prayers, I would still put them on the category pages. Then each day I’d pray the urgent daily prayers and then I’d also pray from the category for the day. The categories were nice reminders and it allowed me more flexibility than I felt her original plan offered.

I sort of mentioned it above, but Emilie also suggests keeping cards, envelopes, and stamps around so that you can send little notes of encouragement and prayer to those who are on your heart each day. I love this idea. I am not a natural card writer, but it was always such a nice feeling to mail out those cards and know that I could be an encouragement to other people. )

Filed Under: Prayer Journals

Outside time

March 15, 2006 Leave a Comment

Sorry for the delay in entries! Last Monday night I prayed that God would help me balance my time. When I woke up Tuesday, my computer was dead -/ Lucky me, eh? I’m blogging this from my dh’s computer…

Today, during my massive amounts of time thanks to my lack of computer, I read some more in Home Education. It was pretty chilly this morning (in the 30s when we were out there), but with a jacket and if we stayed in the sun, it was really quite comfortable. I found a nice spot on the grass and started reading. This is my quote for the day

Mental Training of a Child Naturalist.–Consider, too, what an unequalled mental training the child-naturalist is getting for any study or calling under the sun–the powers of attention, of discrimination, of patient pursuit, growing with his growth, what will they not fit him for? Besides, life is so interesting to him, that he has no time for the faults of temper which generally have their source in ennui; there is no reason why he should be peevish or sulky or obstinate when he is always kept well amused.

(Ennui = A feeling of weariness and dissatisfaction arising from lack of interest; boredom.)

I really loved this quote. It is so true that my kids only get “peevish… sulky… obstinate” when they are stuck inside or doing things that are not meant for children (without any time in the day for childish things). When children are left to explore, learn, and interact with the world in their own way, they do amazingly. As Charlotte says elsewhere

Overpressure.–A great deal has been said lately about the danger of overpressure, of requiring too much mental work from a child of tender years. The danger exists; but lies, not in giving the child too much, but in giving him the wrong thing to do, the sort of work for which the present state of his mental development does not fit him. Who expects a boy in petticoats to lift half a hundredweight? But give the child work that Nature intended for him, and the quantity he can get through with ease is practically unlimited. Whoever saw a child tired of seeing, of examining in his own way, unfamiliar things? This sort of mental nourishment for which he has an unbounded appetite, because it is that food of the mind on which, for the present, he is meant to grow.

So true. So true. I was just telling my mom the same thing the other day. It is amazing to me that this has been written for so long, and yet the “modern” educational system seems to miss this. As I look to my left and right and see parents who are so concerned if their 3-year-olds are not yet in formal preschool, it makes me roll my eyes. How much more are my children learning just from playing in the grass, investigating nature, playing with water, painting the things they see, and being normal kids? Why take that away? Will your children really be better off because they had a few extra years of workbooks? I doubt it.

Filed Under: Charlotte Mason, Home Education - Mason

The punitive mindset

March 3, 2006 Leave a Comment

Although I have spent plenty of time trying to explain it, I still find that many of my friends (the non-GBD kind) don’t see how coming from a punitive mindset changes everything about their discipline, even if the actions that they take are very similar to those of us who practice grace-based discipline.

Last night I finished Crystal Lutton’s Biblical Parenting, and I felt that she concluded with a great discussion of this point. Here she is using the example of a teenager who is about to get her license.

A healthy boundary for a parent to set with regards to their vehicle is that no one without insurance may drive their car. Tell your daughter in advance, perhaps at a famliy meeting, what will happen if she doesn’t keep up the insurance payments. I suggest that she not be allowed to drive your car without insurance. If she misses a payment, take her license and keys. When she catches up on the premiums, return them. This is not punitive. It is logic an adolescent can follow, and it prevents the natural consequence of being in an accident without insurance or a ticket for the same, and your daughter knows the consequences beforehand. This same action would be punitive if done reactively. If you’ve never discussed what will happen if she doesn’t keep up the premiums, it’s punitive to enter her room and demand her keys. Everything within the window needs to be proactive, not reactive.

That makes perfect sense, right? The behavior of the parents can change whether their actions are punitive or not. Its not just what you do… its how you do it.

In the above quote, Crystal also references her “window” which I thought was a great visual for showing how we are to react to our children in a way that is neither permissive nor punitive. I wish she had it online (she may, but I can’t find it), because I’d love to discuss it, but it’d be hard without the pictures.

Now that I’m done with the book, let me say that I truly enjoyed it. I would love it if our small group could study it. My only comment/concern is that I honestly don’t know that many of the men of the group could handle it in Chapter 2 when Crystal says (in speaking of how gender roles and the role of community has changed)

Because of this ever-increasing reliance on a husband to help in parenting the baby and young child, men’s ideas on how to parent children of this age have become more pronounced and are often seen as the “expert” advice. However, it is the woman who has been designed and called by God to parent these young people and, while the help of a husband/father is vital in our culture today, the man would be wise to follow his wife’s lead during these early years.

I totally, absolutely, completely see where she’s coming from, but I know that the military men in our group would piss their pants when they read that. If it was later in the book, I think that we could have a great discussion, but I think that the fact that it is so close to the front means that they wouldn’t even go on. I am sure that was not her intention at all, and they’d see that if they kept reading, but I don’t think they’d ever touch the book again

I’m hoping that our current group book Families Where Grace Is In Place will be enough of a gateway that we could later do Crystal’s book D

Filed Under: Biblical Parenting - Lutton, Gentle Discipline, Parenting

Wicca’s Charm

March 2, 2006 Leave a Comment

In the future, I hope to write a critique of this work, but I think I’ll save that until I’m done ) I think I see some weaknesses and flaws in the author’s writing, but she may very well prove my wrong by the end.

I am in a book group that my friend, Candice leads. The group is sponsored (is that the right word?) by CBE aka “Christians for Biblical Equality”. This month’s selection is Wicca’s Charm by Catherine Edwards Sanders. I was really drawn to the concept of this book. In both my bellydancing and my college classes, I have noticed that practicing Wiccans / witches are becoming more common, or at least more vocal. I am very intrigued by what I see happening around me.

As I’ve started reading, I think I’ve pinpointed that part of my intrigue is based on the fact that I think that I would be very drawn to Wicca if I were not more secure in my faith. In general, Wicca empowers women, embraces environmental causes, and aligns more with where I stand on social issues (compared to the traditional church). I think that there is a HUGE group of women who are turned off by the church because they are demoted to being second-class citizens who can’t fully participate. They can’t lead, they can’t teach (except to children), they often can’t even vote. Its no wonder that women would be drawn to a religion where they would be both welcomed and honored. It sounds kind of nice, actually P

Ms. Sanders addresses this same facet in her preface and then goes on to talk about how much Christians were turned off when they heard that she was writing a book on Wicca. She goes on to say:

Despite these varied reactions, I took comfort in the story of the apostle Paul at Mars Hill in Athens in ancient Greece. He waded into the pool of pagan thought and religion. And he spent time there. He complimented the religious zeal of the pagan Athenians as he walked by their temples and idols. He knew their literature. His words and actions were so intriguing to the pagan Greeks that they invited him to speak at Mars Hill, a place of honor where new ideas were exchanged and challenged. Paul knew Greek literature so well that he quoted a line from their own pagan poets to explain the gospel. The line that Christians know–”In him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28)–is straight from the mouth of the pagan poet Epimenides who lived in Crete in the sixth century BC. This would have been very familiar to Paul’s audience.
This scriptural account of Paul in Athens enables us to freely embrace truth in any form, wherever it is found. Paul’s precedent of quoting pagan poets empowers Christians to do the same and indicates that morsels of truth and insights from general revelation can be found in non-Christian sources. If you were to follow Paul’s approach when talking with a Pagan teen today, for example, you might quote a line from the well-known neo-Pagan Wiccan writer Starhawk. But it takes time to read Starhawk’s The Spiral Dance and see how her yearnings can be met by a relationship with Christ. How astonishing that seems: An ancient equivalent of Starhawk was quoted in the Bible!

I didn’t realize that about Paul, but I looked it up, and sure enough, Wikipedia confirms:

Epimenides’ poem Cretica is quoted twice in the New Testament. In the poem, Minos addresses Zeus thus:

They fashioned a tomb for thee, O holy and high one—
The Cretans, always liars, evil beasts, idle bellies!
But thou art not dead: thou livest and abidest forever,
For in thee we live and move and have our being.

The “lie” of the Cretans is that Zeus was mortal; Epimenides considered Zeus immortal. The second line is quoted, with a veiled attribution (“a prophet of their own”), in the Epistle to Titus, chapter 1, verse 12, to warn Titus about the Cretans. “Cretans, always liars”, with the same theological intent as Epimenides, also appears in the Hymn to Zeus of Callimachus. The fourth line is quoted without attribution in the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 17, verse 28.

The “prophet” in Titus 1:12 is identified by Clement of Alexandria as Epimenides (Miscellanies, chapter 14). In this passage, Clement mentions that “some say” Epimenides should be counted among the seven wisest philosophers.

So that has given me something to think about )

Filed Under: Christianity, Faith, Wicca's Charm - Sanders

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