"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.

my pumpkin speaketh

today so far i have fed jack twice, changed his sleeper 3TIMES! because of leakage, and rocked him to sleep. i have folded 2 loads of laundry. i have also made 2 batches of banana bread from scratch. the secret to my banana bread is cinnamon. just follow the betty crocker cookbook and put in about 2 tsp. cinnamon and it is delicious. i am eating a chunk of it hot out of the oven with butter melting into it as i type this. fresh from the oven is best because it gets a crispy crust and the inside is soft and chewy.

yesterday was much more eventful. jack said his first word. it was "ma ma"! i was in the kitchen and jack was in his "mega saucer" in the living room. he was getting sick of it and started to complain, "mmmmmm mmm mmm". i have been certain all along that he would say "mama" soon because he does this "mmm" thing. he never makes a "d" sound. all of a sudden i whipped my head up. i was sure i heard "ma ma". so, what does a loving mother do? not take her poor son out of the toy. no, i run for the video camera. i turn it on and wait. jack said it again! "ma ma." on tape! then i waited some more and he said, "ma ma ma". i am ecstatic. and yes, i did take him out of the toy thing-y then.

henry's pumpkin

today started off cruddy. i was trying to buy my beloved pumpkin oil sketch from lauren and everything i did turned to doo-doo. after a lovely afternoon shopping with my mom and gram and jack i felt much better. it might have been the new cord "diaper bag", or the lunch on mom, or the starbucks on mom... the coffee most definitely helped.:) so, i got back and i was able to finalize my pumpkin transaction, with a little help from my sister. so, viola. here it is. henry's pumpkin. God is good.

jane

jane evelyn pope was born nov. 8 at 4:15 am. 8 lbs. 6 oz. i think lauren did a home birth with a midwife. congats lauren and jonathon! this makes three for lauren. miles is almost 3 and henry is 18 months. that's a passel of popes. if you would like to "help lauren out", you could always buy one of her paintings or illustrations. (you'd really be doing yourself a huge favor.) she's having a sale right now and everying is 1/3 off. but, please don't buy the pumpkin sketch. i have my heart set on it.

happy birthday jane. God bless you.

nole's birthday and a visit to the orchard

nov. 2 was my mom and my niece enolea's birthday. nole turned 2. jack and i took a road trip with my parent's in their van to go visit my sister and her fam.

note: jack was once again a fabulous traveler. no diaper blow-outs or leakage. he took a nap most of the 3 1/2 hour trip and went about 5 hours without a feeding. then, when he was fed, he nonchalantly took a bottle from my dad whilst strapped in his carseat. what a treasure.

it was a typical visit to my sister's. the kids fought to the death over toys, stripped naked, danced around (dare i say "like indians"?) knocking into furniture and each other, and made enough noise to wake the dead.:) but, they are still sweethearts. eme asked to hold "baby jacky" about 4 times i believe. nole made funny faces for jack. ele gave me a big hug unasked for. and that's why i subject myself to visiting them.

on saturday, after eme's gymnastics class, we went to an apple orchard in northfield, mn. it was absolutely everything an orchard should be. even small children can pick apples from the short, plump trees. in a little building there are apple and mn tourist-y foodstuff to buy. i bought 1 dozen hot-off-the-oil sugared apple doughnuts and a carmel apple with fudge. we all wandered out again to where there was a small manmade river and pond among the trees. we sat on wooden benches and ate apple doughnuts and watched the naughty children throw apple cores into the water while seeing how close they could get to the water before my dad and i blew a fuse. :) before we could, in slips ele's foot. oh well, back to the car. on the way i noticed that the rose bushes were still in bloom.

(photo of nole this summer at a park)

"is that a norwegian flag?"

it was about 3 in the morning. dan props himself up in bed and asks me, "is that a norwegian flag?". molly says, "what?". dan says, "is that a norwegian flag over there?". it's 3am and i know that i might be missing something. maybe there is a norwegian flag in the bedroom. i have an old norwegian flag pot holder that was my great-great-step aunt gunborg alfreda anderson's in the living room with a bunch of other norwegian family stuff. i say, "where?". dan says, "on the bed". almost 100% sure that there are no norwegian flags on the bed i now decide to have a little fun with dan and continue this amusing conversation. so i say, "yeah, what do you want to do about it?". now dan is starting to wake up a little bit. his voice gets gruff and he says, "stuff it up your nose.". ha ha! and we go back to bed.

(photo of dan kissing jack)