Most of the clan is in bed now, except for me, Honey, and Jake, who is doing his Science “homework.” I’m not really sure how you can have homework in homeschool, but he does. He has things that he has to get done on his own, but I’m not sure why he’s doing them at 10 at night, when he should be in bed. He’s usually up this late reading, though, so I’m cutting him some slack. He actually studied for his Latin test tomorrow, which is a first. I reminded him, two days in a row, that he needed to study, but he didn’t get motivated until I assured him that if he didn’t study and made a bad grade, he would be grounded from certain “things” he loved. That means the dirt bike! I’m trying to get him started as a self-starter, or finisher, or just doing things in the middle at this point. He’s in the fifth grade, so he needs to start taking some responsibility for his time management, instead of my dictating his day. He is beginning to have weekly deadlines now, instead of just a daily to-do-list. He seems to be doing pretty well with it so far. Oh, on a slight tangent, Jake and I played Huggermugger yesterday and he beat me. I did avoid the spelling questions, as I knew I have an unfair advantage, but, still! My ten-year-old! He begged for a rematch today, after he found out I had gone easy on him, so we played again… I beat him… badly. I can’t help but take a little pleasure in that. When he’s fifteen, we should be more fairly matched, but until then, I should be able to beat him!
Luke has demonstrated another of his up-and-coming organizational skills tonight. He and Levi set up trading posts, if you will. Luke just refers to it as his ‘trading stuff,’ so I gave it the official name. They were displaying all the things they own that they are willing to trade, and it seems that either Luke has more good stuff, or Levi isn’t willing to part with his. Mainly, though, what interests me is the organization of the goods. Here is Levi’s…
And here is Luke’s…
There is quite a difference. As I was saying goodnight, Luke also had me make a list of the things he needs to do tomorrow, which included: 1) organizing trading stuff, 2) finding more trading stuff, and 3) cleaning room. Sounds good to me!
Tonight I actually had dinner ready early, by 6:20 (K, don’t pass out!), so we could watch a movie while we ate. The feature tonight: Food Inc. – a documentary on where most of the food in America comes from, how it’s produced, and who controls it. (I didn’t check the rest of the site, so watch out - did see ads for a 'naked' campaign.) I expected it to be a little nauseating, as they show meat processing and even the slaughtering, so I kept telling the kids to hurry up and eat their food, before they lost their appetites. Probably not a good dinner movie. It wasn’t too bad, though. Not like the PETA video, Meet Your Meat, anyway, that was really horrific. (I started crying when I saw part of it again, just linking it here!) I don’t think I bought chicken for months after I saw that, and I cried through most of it. I am not a fan of PETA as I believe God created animals for meat, but I AM opposed to animal cruelty and the modern commercial production of meat in every aspect, so I will recommend the video. However, if you do watch it, be warned that it’s very disturbing, don’t do it right before you eat, and know that it is NOT for kids. I can’t vouch for anything else on the site, so please proceed at your own risk. (I am also not a fan of Alec Baldwin, who narrates the video!) Anyway, Food Inc. was very informative, and I’m glad we watched it. There were several references to evolution, a theory we know is false, but since we know that the Lord Almighty created our food, and created it perfectly compatible with our bodies, we were able to overlook those parts and just shake our heads at their denial of the spiritual truth that is so clearly evident in every animal, seed, and plant we put on our plate.
While it’s not terribly pleasant, staying informed on the despicable food practices in this country is what keeps me motivated, probably in equal parts by disgust, anger, and a desire, to keep us healthy, and to make wiser choices for our meals. Not only that, but to make my voice heard by buying local, organic, wholesome foods that don’t contaminate our bodies or fill the pockets of greedy, unethical, government-controlling giants, like the meat companies and Monsanto. I am SO thankful for the local farmer that sells us clean, free-range beef at reasonable prices, and for another local farmer that sells us clean, raw milk. I’m thankful for the market down the road that sells organic produce from farms within driving distance of our home. I’m thankful that large grocers like HEB and Wal-Mart are finally taking notice of the people who are sick and tired of being deceived into thinking that much of what they sell us is actually food, instead of nasty compilations of chemicals and genetically-modified, inferior products with non-usable nutrients added for marketability. I won’t even mention the scents and colors added, just so it LOOKS like food. It’s really unbelievable that we can’t buy real FOOD in this country without fighting tooth and toenail to get it, too. It’s more expensive, harder to find, and sometimes even illegal to purchase. One of these days, people will finally decide they have had enough sickness, deceit, and poisoning, and they’ll start fighting back. The movement is growing. Slowly, but it is, and for a movie like this to even MAKE it onto the screen and into the video stores is a very positive sign.
Well, I really didn’t intend on going into a total rant there, but isn’t that what a blog is for? Oh, BTW, I have a whole bag of chicken breasts to give away if anyone is interested… lol.
No comments:
Post a Comment