Voici

Are you the responsible parent of a young child? Do you/did you sleep with your babies? Are you considering it? Ever thought about it? If so, this is worth reading~

Who Wants to Sleep Alone?
Issue 149 - July/August 2008
by Peggy O’Mara, Editor and Publisher

On May 8, the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) launched its Babies Sleep Safest Alone campaign, inspired by the deaths of 89 infants or small children reported to the New York Statewide Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment since 2006. “In all of these cases, the child was co-sleeping with a parent, sibling or caregiver,” according to the OCFS. I understand that Ohio and Indiana have similar campaigns underway.

When I first heard about this campaign, I was outraged. How dare the government encroach upon our personal lives like that? I was ready to hold a public event to protest the campaign, and immediately e-mailed pediatric anthropologist Meredith Small, and James McKenna, director of the Mother-Baby Behavioral Sleep Laboratory at the University of Notre Dame; McKenna suggested a cosleep-in in Central Park.

full article here:

http://mothering.com/guest_editors/quiet_place/quiet_place.html

 We went to the bay and there was this cool lighthouse holding some young ospreys.

 This is my dad who caught a fish. Well, he caught three but this is the only pic I got.

 I tried to get them to both look away at the same time but they wouldn’t listen.

 The osprey feeding it’s young.

 The dock where you put in your boats.

 My sister holding a diet coke… My diet coke! Pshh as if she of all people should be holding diet.

 Her hair was all flowy.

 The osprey and young.

 I never realized how cool those ropes looked.

 My sister fishing.

 I got her to smile for almost every picture.

 The dock. I adjusted the settings and it looked all dark and mysterious. Ooooo, ahhhhhh.

 My parents looking at each other.

 My mom driving the boat.

We got a boat this month for Dan’s birthday. It’s a 1977 Grady White with a 150 hp outboard motor:

We took it out last night for the first time and Kitty took a pic of dd2:

She also took this pic. We were up under the bay bridge:

A couple of weeks ago, on the 7th, we PAID to have four trees removed.

This is one out front:

This is one out back:

THEN, this past Saturday, the 21st, a storm went through and knocked out four more!! In 5 minutes!!!

This one came down right across the driveway! It was at 8:00 at night, and obviously, it would have kept us from church Sunday am. But our neighbor across the street (the house you can see) came over at 6am Sun am and helped Dan cut it out of the way. Isn’t that awesome!

This is one that went down on the side. Right between us and the neighbors. Thankfully hitting neither one, or the privacy fence Dan had just put up!

We finished off our awana year last month. This is my youngest dd getting her awards:

Kitty got a gift certificate for volunteering all year:

Dan and I also got gift certificates for working as leaders all year:

Stephen Curtis Chapman is a well known Christian singer. His little girl Maria was hit and killed when another one of his older children backed up the car and struck her accidentally.

We watched the precious video of Maria and Dad washing dishes. You can also leave a note for the Chapmans on this link.

And this is the video of “Cinderella” a song Dad wrote one night after he realized how precious little time he had to spend with his daughters.

The “present” surely is a present! May we all realize this and recognize that *right now* is truly a gift of time with our loved ones.

This is another video of his song Cinderella with an intro from Dad where he speaks to encourage adoptive families. The Chapmans have adopted three children of their own, and have a ministry designed to help others with limited finances to adopt.

On their site, they talk about how adoption is a picture of what God does when He makes us His children through Christ. Their ministry, Shaohannah’s Hope, was established to help Christian families financially to adopt.

Instead of flowers, the Chapmans have requested any gifts be directed to their adoption support ministry. Info and links can be found on their site.

Our thoughts and prayers are with you, Chapman family.

I found was just reading this at http://www.spiritualityhealth.com/newsh/items/selftest/item_232.html

They were saying that forgiveness is a gift that you can give anyone - the dead, the dangerous, or even The Big Creep - at any time, without strings. And such a gift may be the healthiest thing you can do for yourself.

Reconciliation, however, is not always possible or even desirable. For example, you can forgive someone who has battered you, but your safety requires that you keep away. Or you may forgive a compulsive gambler, but never loan them money.

So forgiveness is always a good first step, but the next step, reconciliation, takes careful consideration because it takes two.

Dan finished the foyer. He put drywall in place of panelling, tile instead of carpet, and new doors. He still has to redo the stairs, but that will be later. Here’s a before and after.

I love my man! He can do anything!!

Next weekend we are having four trees removed in the front. It will make the house look much better from the road. Three of the trees are sick, and one is just too close to the house. The roots are going to affect the foundation if it’s not taken out. I’ll post pics once it’s done.

The other day, I heard this woman singing on the television. I found her on the internet and am currently listening to her. I just love her sound! It’s Ingrid Michaelson, and I especially enjoy “The way I am.” To me, her sound is a great mix between old and new. And the lyrics, which my daughter thinks are a little corny, are nice. ; )

This morning was our last co-op class date. Yeehah! It went well, but my laptop turned off and wouldn’t turn back on. That put a glitch on my photography class. I had brought up several internet sites I wanted to show them and also a bunch of photos to show them. But I lost that and wasn’t able to use any of it. And instead I had to talk. ; ) But it went well anyway. I gave them snacks and a pep talk. My class is made up of a dozen teens. By the time I get them, they’ve had history and geography. So they look forward to relaxing in my class.

I told them about National Geographic website where they offer trips where you can go on assignment with a professional photographer … anywhere in the world! They also have a “ask the professional” where you can ask them any photo question. They also have videos with tips. One tip I got from there to give them, is if you are taking photos in the middle of the day…. in the worst sun light … and have no polaroid lens — you can take off your sunglasses and hold them in front of your lens. Cool tip, eh?

So, anyway, the gist of my pep talk was to encourage them to be their own person, to try to capture the world from their own unique perspective, and to not allow anyone to discourage them. I reminded them that God is the giver of interests and passions. And then I handed out the yearbooks so they could sign one another’s. As homeschoolers, they aren’t used to that, and found that fun. Plus, the added bonus was it was filled with THEIR photos! : ) Next week we still have our end-of-the-year party, where I intend to set off my very first rocket! But I’m relieved that my job of coordinating AND teaching is over. I still do have to make sure the teachers I already recruited for next year really will teach, and do the registrations and also make sure they all are trained on our church policies. But, that won’t be as much work as I’ve had this year. I’m so looking forward to reLAXING!

We have a couple of weeks of school left, and I have to do our portfolio review. But life in general is beginning to slow down, and the stress level is lowering. Yeah! ; )