Okay, this may be a tough question for some and others may think it is too absurd to even answer, but I am curious. First off, I am a Christian. I believe in God and heaven. I believe that a Christian will enter Heaven when the rapture comes and live there in peace and happiness for eternity. However, a thought struck me as I read the Twilight series recently. Here is the question I am posing to you...answer as you see fit. If you had the option to become immortal and make your family immortal (by becoming a vampire...I know...humor me...it is FICTION and hypothetical) OR dying and going to heaven, which would you choose? I am thinking here that a lot of people would say, "no...not if I had to kill other humans and drink their blood to survive...EEEWWW." I get that...but what if you could be like Edward and his family in Twilight...what if you could survive taking what you need from animals (just as we do NOW only we eat the meat and don't drink the blood)?? Would that change your mind? Just curious...

Oh Interview with a Vampire is incredible!!! As is Anne Rice's work as a whole. :) I am finding the Twilight series very teenager oriented. However, it sucks you in and I agree with the pp that said it is Edward that keeps the pages turning. It wasn't EDWARD persay, but the way he spoke to Bella. It was the imagination at work, the sweet and soft touches he gave her, the immense love he seemed to have for her...though he had no idea why and tried in vain to fight it at first. It is just that ooey gooey sappy epic love story thing that we all get sucked into as women. My husband would read up to chapter 6 in twilight and vomit at all the ush and gush. :) Me, I just go back and remember a time when touching my husband (before he was my husband mostly! LOL) felt the same way that Bella describes feeling when she touched, saw, or was touch by Edward. Besides...the whole immoratal, faster than lightening, protector type always awes the masses. Now...get to book 2 and after he leaves her...gosh, the thrust really goes downhill for me. My reading voracity slowed down immensely as we get sucked into the whole Jacob thing. It is like watching Days of Our Lives. You know, you always fast forward past the teens to get to John and Marlena/Bo and Hope/Sami and Lucas? LOL

I had this SAME thing happen to me about a month ago. I was honestly shocked they acted they way they did. I mean, I have been offered deals to stay before, but never given a lecture before that time. It was absurd!

LOl - I went to bed at 4am last night after starting the 1st novel around midnight! Wow...how addicting! I just wish I hadn't gone online a long time ago and learned essentially what happened in all four books since I had no intention of ever reading them. :(

She sounds like a wonderful woman! I am so sorry for your loss.

Not yet...W2's aren't all in yet.

Oh...I wouldn't daaaare! :lol:

LOL - my oldest son was 9 mos old the first time he took albuterol. Needless to say, he woke up and was PLAYING at 2am that night!

Well...that is better than the tortoise and the interruption. :( They both take forever to finish. One, because he dawdles and the other because he is more worried about making comments about his brother's dawdling than he is about focusing on his own work. :glare:

Oh that is wonderful! She is a doll! And 8' 12 oz...wowza!

Our curriculum is me piecing a lot of things together, but we still do a lot of what I could consider "workbook" type things. My oldest son thrives on it and loves it. My younger is more hands on and we get more creative with him. I tend to think that teaching the way your child learns is absolutely great...and if that is with a workbook, then so be it. Now, if your kids detest that style of learning and you are afraid it will hinder their education, then I would think differently upon this.

That was an amazing thing to do! I hope their advice really helps those little dolls adjust to living such a public lifestyle. :)

I would also hope it was not my comment about the "b listers" in the dress thread that got it locked. Another poster posted something a bit more harsh than what I was trying to say. I do apologize if my analogy was the reason for it getting locked. :(

Added comment to thread. N/T

It just reminds me ...like I said, of a group of B list actors sitting around and picking out the flaws of the A list crowd. (Edited to add...I hope my post will not be taken as "snarky." I am not calling this group "B list" - just doing the comparison with the "Worst Dressed" and such at the Academy awards picking at everyone's flaws. That is what the threads reminded me of.) If we have been reduced to picking at the flaws of other women just because they are in the public eye, then what does that say to our kids? No wonder young girls are worried about being too fat at age 9 these days! It is outrageous to me. I also draw a line of difference between someone like Michelle Obama and say, an actress or singer. Celebrities put themselves in the public eye. Michelle Obama was a normal woman who stood behind her political husband which thrust her in the spotlight. And BTW - I didn't vote for Obama. I was a McCain supporter and voted as such, so this has nothing to do with politics in my mind.

Oh gosh Rhonda, I am so sorry!

Well, maybe not THAT harsh...but there sure has been a lot of critiquing here lately. I notice no one has mentioned the way the MEN were dressed...just picking to pieces everything Michelle Obama wears.

I would pick Writing Tales I over Writing Strands any day. We are now doing WT II and LOVE it. It prepares really well for CW Homer which we are doing next year.

LOL - this group reminds me of those B list celebrity folk who sit around at the Academy awards and pick at what the A list is wearing.

My happy weight is 141.5 and I am at 143.5. I am happy here, but don't want to get any bigger. I have been up to a size 14 (just after I had my second ds) and that was MISERABLE for me. I am a size 8-10 now and it is definitely where I should be. When I was a senior in highschool...just before having kids, I was a 5-7 and weighed 105 pounds. I was skeletal.

My oldest son has used Spectrum Geography and Maps, Globes, and Graphs - I like Spectrum okay...as far as a workbook style is concerned.

I am going to suggest you attempt singing with full voice in a crowd of over two million people in the background (translate - noise) and temperatures below 30 degrees Fahrenheit with wind gusts up to 13 mph and see how you fare. ;)

That is terrible!

Thank you for understanding. We are definitely affected differently due to experiences. Unfortunately, my kids are very SADLY aware of racism...and my nieces are even moreso affected. It just breaks my heart. My oldest niece went to my dad the other day and told him that she didn't' want to be brown anymore and that people called her "black girl" and "n*gg**" in school. She was in the bathroom trying to wash her skin. :( I cried. This little girl is BEAUTIFUL and she hates her skin color because of how she is referred to in school. I don't usually share photos online - but I am going to share one here of my oldest niece. I couldn't imagine a more beautiful little girl. The most recent I have of her. She is sitting with my dad - she was 6. :) And here is one of her playing with my boys when she was about 3.

Thank you... and I agree...I am sure that our experiences do affect my views. My kids are sadly VERY aware of racism, and my nieces even more so. :(