One of ours...

Sgt. Enrique Ramos-Melendez, opens a box that was sent by the morale welfare and recreation center in Katterbach, Germany. The MWR center sent 20 boxes filled with recreational equipment and games to all the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade units from the Katterbach area currently stationed in Iraq.

Hot Chocolate ?

A group of graduates, well established in their careers, were talking at a reunion and decided to go visit their old university professor, now retired. During their visit, the conversation turned to complaints about stress in their work and lives. Offering his guests hot chocolate, the professor went into the kitchen and returned with a large pot of hot chocolate and an assortment of cups - porcelain, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the hot chocolate. When they all had a cup of hot chocolate in hand, the professor said: "Notice that all the nice looking, expensive cups were taken, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. The cup that you're drinking from adds nothing to the quality of the hot chocolate. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was hot chocolate, not the cup; but you consciously went for the best cups... And then you began eyeing each other's cups. Now consider this: Life is the hot chocolate; your job, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life. The cup you have does not define, nor change the quality of life you have. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the hot chocolate God has provided us. God makes the hot chocolate, man chooses the cups. The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything that they have. Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. And enjoy your hot chocolate.

One of my favorite Kitchen Appliances

This is one of my favorite appliances. When the hubby first bought me one years ago I thought it was going to be a waste of money. But since then I have used it on a weekly basis since he got it for me. I buy meat in quantity at Sams and repackage it and put it in the freezer. I also use this for marinating meat quickly. Believe it or not ... my 1st machine got worn out and I am on my second machine. I love this little appliance!

A Journey

This is a woman's journey who has been diagnosed with breast cancer.

Signs... will you be ready?

I Can...

Stop the music and the right before starting...

Great Article ~Homeschooling's socialization snobs

I found this on my friend Kim's blog who got it off another home schooling mom's blog. The direct link to the article is here.

It is amazing how many people think because you home school that your children are deprived of socializing with other kids. With being a home school parent and having friends that have children in the public school system it is amazes me the difference in how the children act. Yes that is one of the reasons we home school. People are still in the dark ages in their thinking that just because a child is home schooled they do not socialize with others. This lady who wrote this article hit the nail right on the head why some of choose to home school.

Other great articles on this subject:
Social Skills and Homeschooling: Myths and Facts
Homeschool Kids are "Socially Challenged"
Another myth

The list could go on and on and on...

Funny joke...

Strangers on a train
Four strangers traveled together in the same compartment of a European train. Two men and two women faced each other. One woman was a very wealthy and sophisticated 70 year old lady who was decked out in the finest of furs and jewelry. Next to her Sat a beautiful young woman, nineteen years old--who looked like something right off the cover of a fashion magazine. Across from the older lady was a very mature looking man in his mid-forties who was a highly decorated Sergeant Major in the Army. Next to the Sergeant Major sat a young private fresh out of boot camp.
As these four strangers traveled, they talked and chatted about trivial things until they entered an unlighted tunnel, and there they sat in complete darkness and total silence, until the sound of a distinct kiss broke the silence; following the kiss a loud slap could be heard throughout the cabin.
In the ensuing period of silence the four strangers sat quietly with their own thoughts.
The older lady was thinking, "Isn't it wonderful that even in this permissive day and age there are still young women who have a little self-respect and dignity?"
The young woman, shaking her head and greatly puzzled, asked herself, "Why in the world would any man in his right mind want to kiss an old fossil like that when I'm sitting here?"
The Sergeant Major, rubbing his sore face, was outraged that any woman could ever think that a man in his position would try to sneak a kiss in the dark.
The private, grinning from ear to ear, was thinking, "What a wonderful world this is when a private can kiss the back of his hand and then smack a Sergeant Major in the face and get away with it!"

Experiment ~ Measuring Oxygen

Warning! This experiment uses fire. Be very careful and be sure an adult is around to help.

For this experiment, you will need:

- a pie pan or shallow bowl

- a candle

- a glass jar large enough to hold the lit candle

- water

Light the candle and let a few drops of melted wax fall on the middle of the pan. Place the bottom of the candle into this wax to secure it in place. Carefully add about an inch of water to the pan. Relight the candle if it has gone out, and place the jar over it. Watch carefully. After a minute or so, the candle will go out, and the water will rise up into the jar.

This shows that the candle has burned up the oxygen, and the water has risen into the jar to take its place, right? WRONG!!!!! If you watch carefully, you will see why is it wrong. When you first place the jar over the candle, air bubbles OUT of the jar. If you are slow about placing the jar over the candle, you might not notice this, but if you cover the candle in one quick motion, you will see the air bubbling out. Once the candle goes out, the water begins to rise in jar.

Now, lets think about that. If the water was rising because the oxygen was burned up, it would rise while the candle was burning and stop as soon as the flame went out. Is that what you saw? No. Then what really did happen?

As the candle burns, it is heating the air in the jar, causing it to expand. This causes the bubbles that leave the jar. The candle is burning oxygen, but the oxygen does not vanish. It combines with carbon from the burning wax to form carbon dioxide, another gas that also takes up space.

When the candle goes out, the air begins to cool, which causes it to contract. As the air gets smaller, the water rises into the jar.

Taken From here

99 Balloons

If I die before you wake...

Someone from our home school group sent a link to this video but it did not have a way to embed it on my blog so I searched for it on youtube. Here it is... Turn off my blog music before starting this.

Ruben's Climb To Mount Shasta

Our friend Ruben climbs mountains. He climbed his first 14,000 foot mountain the weekend of June 27-29. Mt. Shasta in northern California stands at 14,162 feet. It is a volcano and part of the Cascade Range ( think Mt. Rainier, near Seattle) stretching from Washington through Oregon into California. (Info taken from Ruben's email) Here are a few pictures of his climb.