"the golden compass" atheist propaganda for kids

just in time for Christmas... a gorgeous atheist's movie. i just can't believe it. it looked so amazing in the previews. i was wondering what it was all about. thanks to a quick forwarded e-mail from my mother i found out. it is so wrong when adults focus their attacks at children.
i had an atheist teacher in 11th grade for my advanced placement english class. he ridiculed the Bible by stating that it was written, and i quote, "by a bunch of shepards" (correction -- by a doctor (luke) and an adopted grandson of a pharoh (moses), just to name two.). i was so upset by the statement and the curriculum (ernest hemingway was a pig. "madame bovary" by gustave flaubert was even more disgusting, possibly, and offended me in a big way.) that i dropped that course (in which he told us he guaranteed us an "A".) to go back to the regular english class. and the "guidance" councelor NEVER ASKED ME WHY! looking back i am amazed. i did eventually have to take that teacher for my 12th grade english course, but the class was a lot less secular. thankfully that teacher has now retired.
and let me tell you, i am going to seriously get to know the teacher's that jack has. no one is going to teach my son lies as if they were the truth. they had better get ready for a grillin'.
which brings me to the subject of public school versus Christian school. i know that both schools crank out good and bad kids... i just think that what matters is that jack would get extra Bible teaching, and NO EVOLUTION CRUD. he wouldn't have to learn the maddeing differences between neanderthals, and "lucy" and what a missing link is... what a waste of time and energy. any thoughts on the subject? i went to public school k-12 and to a Christian college.

3 bedroom home

ta-ta-ta-taaaaaaa! (trumpet sounding) we are now a three bedroom home! hoorah! andy moved to the basement thanksgiving night. jack moved into andy's old room the next day. we have been busy moving furiture and cleaning. i am still shuffling and organizing. i have yet to remove the love seat from the dining room. soon! i will have to, i am throwing andy a 13th birthday party sunday night. eek. eek about the upcoming party and eek that i will have a teenage step-son. those gray hairs should be popping out all over now.:) 13!!! hide the women and children.

i know that this is a wimpy post, but i have to go rescue jack from his crib. he has been trying to get my attention for a while now, but my correspondence could wait no longer.

the bohemian -- adolphe-william bouguereau

i felt i needed to interject a bit of art (and culture) into my ramblings about, mainly these days, my baby. this was my favorite painting at the minneapolis institute of arts. alas, they have since sold it. there was picketing.

the best parts, in my opinion, were the hands and feet. it is bewitching to me that it is entitled "the bohemian". my great great grandfather john novotny was from bohemia.

protection from the rain

this is a photo i snapped on jack's first haywagon ride at camp chetek. we were going to stop at a pumpkin patch to pick out our own pumpkins. after a bit it started to rain just a tiny bit. what a precious moment between grandmother and grandson.

the ladies retreat

a while back i went to my first ladies retreat with my mom, jack (of course) and denise rosenbaum. we had a lovely roadtrip to camp chetek in chetek, wisconsin. we stopped along the way in northbranch, mn to go outlet mall shopping. we had another stop in barren, mn where i suggested we check out the amish furniture and art shop. my mom bought jack some amish furniture -- a rocking chair and a wooden toy. lucky little man.

at the retreat we had a lot of fun. wish i could say i learned alot, or that i had a religious heart-touching breakthrough or something. i didn't. better luck next year.:) really, i actually feel guilty. i was supposed to have a learning experience and instead i had a lovely time making flower pens and taking rides on a haywagon and pontoon. i was all primed for some deep intellectual growth and some serious Bible pounding and instead i got a lot of nice talk. it's not fair, really. the men's retreat is going to have an actual speaker who is going to speak on finanaces. i bet they get syllabuses or even cd's. that's what my husband comes back with. i want to go again next year... but i am going to make sure that they have a real speaker, not a very nice wife of a man on the faculty at maranantha baptist Bible college.

my contemplative jackers

my sweet baby

jack is getting bigger every day. last night dan, jack & i went out to dinner. jack had his first taste of ketchup, buttered roll, and garlic mashed potaoes with butter. jack is doing very well at sitting up. as you might recall, he has said his first word, "ma ma". jack loves to stand. he can stand propped up against an object, or you can hold his hands. he loves to bounce in his "johnny jump up". his grandma claire gave him his first drink of water from a glass just this week. it is amazing to participate in a human's first experiences. it's not anything big -- like a first trip to disney world or a first ride on a plane, but it is truly exhilerating. i love to watch jack's expression after he tries a new thing. i love it when he tastes a new food and opens his mouth wide for a second taste.