Sunday, August 31, 2008

She said her first word


Well about a week ago our youngest uttered her first word. Let me set the scene, we were all at the table and dinner was over. I helped her out of her highchair and she wondered around to dh's chair. He had just opened his drink (Pepsi, I believe) when she walked up to him. At that point she started to fuss a bit and then she said it, "DADDY!!" He immediately handed over the drink, I believe the deal also entitles her to a new car at 16 too, lol. I'm yet to get a child to say mama as a first word, I'm working on it. :)

We were honored

Today we had the honor of being God-parents for the first time. It was a beautiful baptism and we were blessed to be apart of it. Here are a few pics.






There'd be more but when I checked the battery on the camera last night it said full but after we took the last pic it told us the battery was empty :( The experience was wonderful and everything was beautiful.

Our Rainbow

Yesterday was a very, VERY, stressful day. We left to go pick up our soon to be stanchion 2 hours away. We were making excellent time in fact we were early, a key sign something was going to go wrong. I get to the ATM only to realise that the new bank card we got is not working with the pin. :( Since our other bank also sent new cards we hadn't learnt those pin numbers yet either, to say the least this was very embarrassing. I called the seller (who had driven 3.5 hours in his pickup instead of his fuel efficient car), he was very understanding and even offered to take a check, I don't ever keep checks. :( Thinking on my feet I offered to do an instant payment via paypal, turns out he's never used it :( He then remembered that he had a buddy who might have an account so we began trying to get that worked out. NO luck, his buddy used it once and doesn't know the email or password used. :( Once again I started to think and remembered that I could use Moneygram, I called my darling sister and asked her to send the money so that he could pick up at wallyworld. Let me just say that that process was horribly painful. For a good hour their customer service tortured me telling me they had no record of the transaction. At this point dh was going to be late for work :( I was really impressed by how well he handled the whole situation and by the end the money arrived and the seller gave us some great tips for halter breaking calves.

We were off to drop dh to work and as we drove we couldn't help but notice the beautiful scenery. Take a look:







Anyway, to say the least our spirits were once again lifted and it didn't even matter that by dropping dh off at work would mean that we'd have to go pick him up at 4am. It was just too good to be bummed.

Saturday, August 30, 2008

My cow movie

Please excuse the shaky hands, now you understand why I will not be doing the milking until we get a milking machine.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Training

The problem with training animals not to think for themselves and to just follow orders is that they stop thinking. Yesterday we expanded the training area to include an additional acre of fresh grazing grass. Marian, our oldest mama cow, or the good one as I like to call her as she is the only animal who hasn't made an escape attempt. Where was I, oh yes, Marian has been so well trained to the electric fence training area that now she will not cross the imaginary line of where the wire used to be. :( She keep mooing at the the others as they frolic in the newly expanded area. I have even given them a great bunch of trees that they can get shade under.

Quinn, the only one that has never had any electric fence training was the first out in the new area and he loved it. I laughed so hard as he jumped and skipped around. Then he decided to investigate the strange smooth wire. Turns out that that surprised look humans get when they are shocked does translate into cow very well, lol. He continued to investigate the wire all around, it was hilarious to watch his eyes light up as he jumped back from the sting. I'm sure that sounds mean but it was really funny. I am really pleased to see that he has assimulated into the herd after his stint in isolation, I was afraid that they would reject him as they had when he first came home.

All in all the lesson here is don't train animals/people to stop thinking on their own. With animals it is very tempting but it is equally tempting with children. Ultimately the consequences are the same, if they stop thinking they could end up starving because they can't cross the imaginary line.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Pope Pelosi At the Gate - Kathleen Parker

Pope Pelosi At the Gate

By Kathleen Parker

http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | When Democrats decided they wouldn't let the GOP be "G-d's Only Party," they weren't kidding. Thanks to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, none other than St. Augustine has been summoned to Denver.


He was resurrected as Pelosi was trying to respond to the question that refuses to die: When does human life begin? This time, it was Tom Brokaw asking on Sunday's "Meet the Press." Citing Barack Obama's recent pass on a similar question — "At what point does a baby get human rights?" — Brokaw asked Pelosi what she would say to Obama were he to ask her advice.


Pelosi didn't finesse her answer, as Obama did when he said the question was above his pay grade, but she may wish she had.


"I would say that as an ardent, practicing Catholic, this is an issue that I have studied for a long time," Pelosi began. "And what I know is, over the centuries, the doctrines of the church have not been able to make that definition. ... St. Augustine said at three months. We don't know. The point is, is that it shouldn't have an impact on a woman's right to choose. ... I don't think anybody can tell you when life begins, human life begins."


Few paragraphs have contained more falsehoods. The reaction was swift from Denver's archbishop, the Rev. Charles J. Chaput, among others, who condemned Pelosi's comments during Mass that same evening. Blogging on Monday, Chaput quoted Jesuit John Connery, author of "Abortion: The Development of the Roman Catholic Perspective," who concluded that "The Christian tradition from the earliest days reveals a firm anti-abortion attitude."


It is true that laws and penalties concerning abortion have evolved through the ages. "Right to life" is a relatively new concept. It is also true that Augustine — and St. Thomas Aquinas eight centuries later — subscribed to a "delayed hominization" theory, meaning that abortion couldn't be homicide because the fetus doesn't receive a soul until a certain point in its development.


Augustine even thought that "hominization" occurred earlier for males than for females. Is it possible that the same authority whom Pelosi invokes to justify her belief in choice also ranked the female fetus below the male on G-d's "Ensoulments To Do" list?


We may forgive Augustine, of course, because people didn't know much about nascent life in the early 400s. The ovum wasn't discovered until 1827. Fetal imaging, now routine for expectant parents, was unimaginable.


If Augustine had known then what we know now, would he stand by Pelosi as she asserts that when life begins should have no bearing on a woman's right to choose?


The U.S. Supreme Court ruled as much in Roe v. Wade, obviously, but Justice Harry A. Blackmun dodged the question of when life begins using the same rationale as Pelosi — that because scientists, theologians and others couldn't agree on when life begins, then a woman's privacy trumped the unborn's right to due process.


One may choose to believe that out of convenience or conscience, but the logic of the court was both self-contradictory and incorrect, according to Robert P. George, a professor of jurisprudence at Princeton and a member of the President's Council on Bioethics. By its ruling, says George, the court implicitly determined when life begins (against the fetus), while ignoring science that long before had determined the facts of human embryogenesis.


In his new book, "Embryo," George and co-author Christopher Tollefsen, associate professor of philosophy at the University of South Carolina, left religion behind and set out to establish the embryo's personhood by reviewing all the major scientific works on human embryogenesis and early intrauterine development.


Included was American medicine's most prominent human embryology text, "The Developing Human," whose authors are not imprecise on the matter of life: "Human development begins at fertilization when a male gamete or sperm (spermatozoon) unites with a female gamete or oocyte (ovum) to produce a single cell — a zygote. This highly specialized, totipotent cell marked the beginning of each of us as a unique individual."


In other words, human life begins at conception. That is not a religious posture, but a scientific fact that the lowest paid laborer on the planet can assert without qualm. What we do with that understanding is another matter, but no one in the 21st century should pretend not to know when human life begins.


On this matter at least, the church and science are in agreement.

Jewish World Review August 27, 2008 / 26 Menachem-Av 5768
© 2008, WPWG

100 Best Foods for Women

I found an article that referenced this list and I thought I'd pass it along.

100 Best Foods for Women
By Alisa Miller

Women’s health needs range from extra iron during childbearing years to calcium and vitamin D for bone health. The following list provides 100 foods that will help every woman ensure that she is getting the very best nutrition for her body. From delicious avocados to tasty snack treats like pistachios to healthy desserts that are actually good for you, you will find plenty of foods sure to please both your body and your taste buds.

Overall Health

The following foods are just so good for you that they should be a part of your diet to help you stay healthy.

1. Flax seed. This little seed is a great supplement for a woman’s diet. Flax seeds are high in omega-3 EFAs and lignans, an important type of fiber for women.
2. Kale. This much-overlooked green is full of the B vitamin, folate, as well as calcium, and vitamins A and C.
3. Pumpkin. Not just for pies, the beta-carotene in pumpkin reduces the risk of breast cancer and helps your body repair its skin.
4. Butternut squash. Cook this baked, stuffed, or mashed or throw in a soup for a delicious vegetable high in beta-carotene.
5. Sweet potatoes. Don’t just eat these jewels at Thanksgiving. Sweet potatoes are full of vitamins A and C as well as calcium, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and iron.
6. Dark meat. Lean red meat and dark meat from poultry are high in iron, which is a necessity for women of childbearing age.
7. Broccoli. Your mama always said to eat your broccoli. It’s high in calcium, potassium, and B vitamins.
8. Salmon. This super food is high in omega-3 EFAs and protein, low in cholesterol and contains quite a few B vitamins, calcium, zinc, iron and magnesium.
9. Mangos. Mangos are high in vitamin A and C and help guard against cervical cancer.
10. Figs. Discover the flavor and benefits of figs, which are high in fiber, B vitamins, iron, potassium, and calcium.
11. Kiwi. These tasty little fruits pack a punch with more vitamin C than an orange.

Skin Health

From high concentrations of vitamins E and A to anti-inflammatory properties, these foods are all great for keeping your skin healthy and young-looking.

12. Avocados. Delicious and nutritious, avocados have lots of B-complex vitamins and are an anti-inflammatory, which is great for the skin.
13. Green tea. Technically a drink, green tea has polyphenols which are an anti-inflammatory.
14. Carrots. Carrots are full of vitamin A, which helps your skin repair itself.
15. Spinach. This vegetable is absolutely loaded with vitamins and minerals with especially high concentrations of vitamins K and A and manganese and folate. It also helps prevent against osteoporosis, heart disease, colon cancer, ovarian cancer, and arthritis.
16. Cantaloupe. This great fruit has plenty of vitamins A and C–two vitamins your skin needs to keep healthy.
17. Citrus fruit. Oranges and grapefruit are full of vitamin C, which helps keep wrinkles at bay.
18. Bananas. Bananas have the B vitamin biotin, which builds healthy skin, hair and nails and helps prevent skin irritations such as dermatitis.
19. Tomatoes. Like bananas, tomatoes have biotin and also lycopene, which helps prevent cancer.
20. Sunflower seeds. Sunflower seeds have lots of vitamin E, which is well-known for its healthy skin properties. Taken both topically and eaten, the benefits of vitamin E for your skin are enormous.

Continue Reading

30-Minute Mini Meat Loaves

I thought this recipe was really cute and interesting. I think I will try it this week. There are a ton of great ideas and recipes on their website and the email subscription is a great way to weed through :)

30-Minute Mini Meat Loaves
Slash the bake time of meat loaf when you make mini-loaves. Meat loaf is now doable for weeknights!

Prep Time:10 min
Start to Finish:30 min
Makes:6 servings (2 loaves each)

1/2 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1 lb lean (at least 80%) ground beef
1/2 lb ground pork
1/2 cup Original Bisquick® mix
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 small onion, finely chopped (1/4 cup)
1 egg


1. Heat oven to 450°F. In small bowl, stir ketchup and brown sugar until mixed; reserve 1/4 cup for topping. In large bowl, stir remaining ingredients and remaining ketchup mixture until well mixed.
2. Spray 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray. Place meat mixture in pan; pat into 12x4-inch rectangle. Cut lengthwise down center and then crosswise into sixths to form 12 loaves. Separate loaves, using spatula, so no edges are touching. Brush loaves with reserved 1/4 cup ketchup mixture.
3. Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until loaves are no longer pink in center and meat thermometer inserted in center of loaves reads 160°F.
High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): No change.




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nutrition Information


1 Serving: Calories 300 (Calories from Fat 140); Total Fat 16g (Saturated Fat 6g, Trans Fat 1g); Cholesterol 105mg; Sodium 440mg; Total Carbohydrate 17g (Dietary Fiber 0g, Sugars 11g); Protein 22g Percent Daily Value*: Vitamin A 8%; Vitamin C 4%; Calcium 4%; Iron 15% Exchanges: 1 Starch; 0 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Vegetable; 3 Medium-Fat Meat; 1/2 Fat Carbohydrate Choices: 1
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.


Substitution
While the mixture of ground beef and pork gives these little loaves a unique flavor, you can also use 1 1/2 pounds of ground beef instead of the mixture.
Serve With
Serve these loaves alongside cooked baby-cut carrots and mashed potatoes. Apple or cherry crisp is a sweet way to end the meal.

© 2008 ®/TM General Mills All Rights Reserved

God Bless America

Today I am doing my part to remind others to Bless America. I was reminded by a fellow momys who was inspired by something she read. Anyway, the reference goes back to Deuteronomy 30:14-20

14"But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it.

Choose Life
15 "See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity;
16 in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that you may live and multiply, and that the LORD your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it.

17 "But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them,

18 I declare to you today that you shall surely perish. You will not prolong your days in the land where you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess it.

19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants,

20 by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them."


As a kid my mother regularly reminded us of this and today I am passing it on. So here are the words to the song, "God Bless America" so that you not forget to ask God's blessing on our nation.

God bless America,
Land that I love,
Stand beside her and guide her
Thru the night with the light from above;

From the mountains to the prairies,
To the oceans white with foam,
God bless America,
My home, sweet home.
God bless America,
My home, sweet home.


It is our duty to pray daily for the blessing of our nation. Let us stop tearing her down and raining curses on her. Words are life.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Monday, August 25, 2008

Good Neighbors

While we may always live at the old Engles place, the people in and out of our little town are more than willing to help out the new family. :) Noticing that our lawn was in need of a good mowing, a kind older lady stopped by and said hello. Turns out she works the lunchroom at the kids school and had the pleasure of meeting the children. She lives about 2 miles away and offered to bring her lawn mower over and help us out. Now I think I have sufficiently expressed how much I love mowing, but let me just say that watching her handle her John Deere 318 I felt like a baby playing with a toy tractor. The way she handled each turn and cut the grass in a uniform manner, it gave me a whole new respect for the art of mowing. It truly is an art and it gives you this wonderful oneness with God as you reflect. I thank God for the wonderful neighbors that He has given us.