Nebraska Child Drop-Off Law

Yesterday I posted about an unintended outcome of a "Safe Haven" law that Nebraska passed in July. I've looked in to this situation some more and found out that of the 23 children that have been dropped at Nebraska state hospitals:

only two were young children--a 1 yr. old and a 6 yr. old
21 of them were teenagers
kids have been left from three different states--one child from as far away as Georgia
nine children came from ONE family

The Governor of Nebraska has called a special session of the state legislature in November to amend this faulty law. How many more kids will be left behind before this law is changed? This is a very sad comment on the state of parent/child relationships in the America.

What Do You Think of This?

I've been following this news story for a few months now. I find it very disturbing but interesting. Apparently, a flawed law in Nebraska has had some unintended results. Twenty-three children (all ages, including a 17 year old) have been dropped off at hospitals in Nebraska under the new "Safe Haven" law. The intent of this law was to allow parents to surrender children who were in imminent danger of being harmed (killed or abused) by their parent. But some parents in Nebraska are now using this law to hit the delete button on their responsibilities as parents. Don't want your kid anymore? Junior's not living up to your expectations? Just drive to Nebraska and turn them in at a hospital and walk out child-free. Boy isn't that a nice drive-thru solution to tough parenting issues. I will be interested to see what Nebraska does with this law.

I'm no expert but I do know that in our state a parent who is having grave difficulties with a child can seek to have the child temporarily placed in foster care and then get the parenting or behavioral help that they all need. The long-term goal of this type of intervention is reuniting, preserving and improving the family relationships. I'm sure this is not a perfect system, but there are options other than just giving up on your child and surrendering your parental rights.

These are human beings we're talking about, not dogs or cats. I just don't understand some people.

What do you think of this law? It's original intent and the now unintended results.

Dogs are Just So Sweet

I got this picture in my email today and just had to post it. The look on the dog's face is more sincere than I typically see on most people when they are praying. Dogs are just so cool and so spiritual. I can't wait until we can get a new one. But not until the summer. We've told the kids that we'll talk about getting a new dog in the spring, but we won't get one until the summer; I won't be potty training a puppy in the snow of winter or the muddy slush of spring!

A Funny Little Show

Here's a funny little show I received in my email today. Hat tip to Kristi. I think you'll find it funny no matter which side of the fence you're on--politically speaking.

Daily Manna

Some ancient words of wisdom and peace for our current turbulent times--

Jesus said: "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" Matthew 6:19-27 NIV

All Written Out

I've had another week of doing alot of writing for my church. My current project is our Fall Kid's Karnival and I've been writing most of the publicity pieces, begging memos (for donations and volunteers), and articles. My projects this week have been writing a script for a publicity video which will air on Sunday, October 26 and a volunteer informational memo. So, I'm rather written out this week. Not much going on here anyway. Autumn is in full swing around here and I love it. Raked up my first pile of leaves today for the kids to jump and play in.

Daily Manna

"Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds." Hebrews 10:19-24 NIV

An Overlooked Birthday

On August 22, 2008 my blog had it's one year old birthday. I forgot about it until now so,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Adventures in Homemakerland!

I have written 261 posts since that time--not really close to one a day, but a respectable number for a rookie. I started my blog just for the heck of it and my first post was about our old dog Othello. He has since passed on to the Rainbow Bridge and many other things have happened in this past year. I intended in this blog to write about things I know a lot about--homemaking, parenting, old dog care, housekeeping, my family. But over this past year I'm come to realize that I really don't know as much as I thought I did. Sure I have some knowledge up my sleeve and a few tips, but I'm no perfectly successful expert Homemaker who has it all together at home and with her family. I struggle, I despair, I get frustrated at myself, I doubt. But one thing I do is to continue to get up and continue to look up. I don't do this homemaker thing perfectly and maybe not even with excellence, but I have tried to be faithful to it. I'm encouraged that in the Bible God doesn't use just perfect people to accomplish his plans on earth. He often uses normal, blemished, broken people who make mistakes but who keep on trying and keep on pressing on. I do desire to live a victorious Christian life and to overcome the things that hold me down and hold me back. I am learning however, that the beginning part of that victory is just getting up and standing my ground. I do want to advance God's cause in the world and in my own heart and life. But some days I simply need to get back up and just stand.

I'm not sure how long I'll continue blogging but it is something I enjoy for now. I hope that the technology will exist for my grand kids to read archives of my blog when they want to know about the olden days when their parents were kids!

Caleb at Six

Caleb turned six on September 11, 2008. We went out to Chuck E. Cheese to play arcade games and have pizza. Then home for a DQ ice cream cake. I think this is the first purchased cake one of our kids has ever had for a birthday. We had a fun evening and he was very happy with his gifts of fighting robots, jumpstart computer game, scooter, and cash gifts from grandparents.

Caleb missed the cutoff to start kindergarten last year so he started this year as one of the oldest kids in his class. This is actually a good thing for him because he needed a little extra time and experience to grow in his self-control. He went to preschool three days a week last year for 1/2 day. This year he goes to Kindergarten for five days a week 1/2 day--so it's not much different. I think that by next year when he goes a full day he'll be well prepared for it. I'm glad our district does not mandate full day kindergarten. Parents can choose that but they need to pay for it. Caleb and I enjoy our one on one time together each morning before his bus arrives at 11:15am. He's a happy kid and full of energy. So far no phone calls from his teacher about him being too "hyper" so I guess we're okay for now.

My Sister's Healing Journey

Two weeks ago I mentioned that I would be taking a trip to the Sanoviv Medical Center in Mexico as a companion of someone close to me. At that time I was not at liberty to mention who it was but she has now given me permission to share a bit of her story.

The person I went with to Sanoviv is my sister Sue. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in August 2008--less than 2 months ago. She was diagnosed in Green Bay and her tumor was rated at a stage 1 which is very early and very treatable. However, Sue did not trust the counsel she received from her doctors in GB and she began looking in to alternative medicine options. Something you must know about my sis--she has been an accountant for 25 years and she doesn't buy even a package of toilet paper without comparing the labels. She is VERY analytical, logical, intelligent, practical, principled, and a creative problem solver. She is also a "think outside the box" type of person, but she's no flaky space cadet!!

So when Sue told me about her serious concerns with a conventional treatment plan for her cancer I took her at her word. She started reading websites and books about alternative treatments for breast cancer. Sue actively sought out another solution to her health condition. The more she read the more confirmation she received that conventional medicine is NOT the end all and be all that we tend to believe. By several God-incidences she found out about the Sanoviv medical center in Rosarita Beach, Mexico. Again, she did her homework and she discovered that this facility provided the holistic, inter-disciplinary, natural and alternative approach to cancer treatment that she was looking for. Sue rightly believes that the human body is well designed and it is made to fight off diseases on it's own--provided the immune system is functioning in an optimal state. Which, in our toxic world, is often NOT the case. Conventional medicine looks at symptoms and treats the disease only. Holistic medicine looks at why you got the disease in the first place and treats the root cause with the goal of obtaining healing of disease AND optimal health. A stunning difference in philosophy of medical practice huh?

Anyway, Sue and her husband were in complete agreement that a holistic approach would be a much better choice for Sue's condition and that Sanoviv was the place for her to go. Sue asked me to accompany her for the first week of her 3 week Intensive Medical Treatment stay. I was very happy to be able to go and we had a wonderful time together. Of course, I was never happy about the reason we were down there, but it was a beautiful, healing experience for me and I loved every minute of my time with my sis.

Sue and I flew out to San Diego on Sept. 20 and spent the first weekend there. We grew up in San Diego so it was fun to be there again together. The city has changed so much since I last visited 15 years ago. Very few things were familiar to me except The Star of India sailing ship on Harbor Drive. We had a lovely relaxing weekend together. We also had the pleasure of having dinner with three of Sue's high school friends--I also knew these gals back in the day! It was great to see these women whom I had admired when I was young. They all look the same (just a little older) and their personalities have remained youthful and positive. It was one of the best evenings out I've had in a long time. On Sunday Sue and I just walked around San Diego Harbor and Sea Port Village and had dinner at Anthony's Sea Grotto on Harbor Dr. The sunny weather, salty air, exercise and good conversation was calming.

The next day (Monday) the Sanoviv van picked us up at our hotel. The driver was very personable and made us feel right at ease. Everything at Sanoviv was wonderful. The food, the guest rooms, the clothes, the staff, the grounds, the pools, the treatment approach. This is the way medicine should be done!!!

Sue is still at Sanoviv for another week or so. They have boosted her immune system so significantly that when she had her lumpectomy surgery this week her tumor had already shrunk considerably from the 1.1 mm size it measured when she arrived at Sanoviv 2 weeks ago. Her body has already been fighting off and shrinking this tumor with all the organic whole food nutrition, natural supplements, vitamin C IV's, and other immune boosting therapies. I can't wait to hear the rest of her healing story.

Below are some pictures of our trip together. Enjoy!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

First Days of School--2008

Here are a few pictures of the first days of school from September 2008. Josh doesn't like his picture taken so he is absent from the photos. CLICK PLAY TO SEE THE SCRAPBOOK, THEN CLICK ON THE ARROW ON THE BOTTOM RIGHT SCRAPBOOK PAGE TO SEE THE NEXT PAGE. CLICK ON SMALL PHOTOS TO ENLARGE AND READ CAPTIONS.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Final Patio Update

In May this year we started a re-landscaping and patio building project in our backyard. I've posted several times about our progress. Below is a slide show of our final results which took place in July. We've thoroughly enjoyed this new space and I know we'll continue to enjoy it in the years to come.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Update Day

Today I finally got a chance to upload my photos from the past six weeks. So today I'll start updating some of my posts with pictures. Keep checking back for new photos of our life!!