The Oaks Academy, from Isaiah 61:3, "they will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor." Our last name is awkward and hard to spell or I would have probably just gone with that. DH is a snob and he thought this sounded snobby enough to pass as a private school :001_rolleyes: .

I don't think I can clean, I'm just going to have to let it go. My face starts pounding every time I bend down. I hope we don't have some sort of disaster like a burst pipe or something, because if anyone sees this house, I'm moving to a cave to avoid embarrassment. My son is watching Jurassic Park, do you think that counts as an educational video ;)?

I'm sorry, that totally sounds like my dh :lol: .

I thought about calling my nanny and asking her to watch them...but my house looks bad, y'all :). Maybe I could ask her to clean then watch them :lol: . I am definitely asking for a redo from dh, probably when we get back from VA after my nephew is born. Though waiting until June is tempting, then I could lie by the pool and read my book :).

Today is my birthday. Normally, I only want one thing, to be alone and read a book, completely uninterrupted. I am a SAHM to littles with a dh who works insane hours. My life is filled with solo school times, meal times, bath times, grocery store/library trips, birthday parties, etc. I just want one day. All alone. My dh always has to work on Saturday, so normally my parents would take my kids for the day. Only my SIL is about to have a baby, any minute, so they couldn't come. Also, my sister and I usually have a joint birthday party (hers is Feb. 12), but we are waiting for SIL to have the baby so we don't make two trips to their city. I understand all this, and am not bitter or resentful toward anyone, it just sucks. To make matters more irritating, I got sick on Tuesday, like with a fever that has persisted until yesterday. My house looks like a bomb went off in it, I think there is something covering 2300 of the 2400 square feet of it. Every time I start to clean, I have no energy, I just can't. Just can't. So I am sitting in my messy house, with my arguing kids...arguing...with no respite in sight. We have no food, but I am too tired to take all three to the grocery store, they won't eat restaurant food, so taking them out is not an option. My seven year old just got home from a sleepover so he is super grouchy from staying up all night. There will be no birthday wine because I don't drink at all when I have them here alone. I need to get this house clean before I leave when SIL has her baby, I need to go buy my kids' Valentines, I need to organize our school week because we will be gone to Raleigh all day tomorrow and dh is going to GA tomorrow night. Only I just can't. So join me with your glass of whine.

This to me is completely different than ninja fighting and wrestling. I don't mind a light tag or hand holding in an appropriate place, like a gym or playground. When my boys do ninja moves with their friends, it always involves grabbing hands and twisting, or grabbing a foot that has been kicked at them so they can throw the kicker on the floor. Maybe some girls can take that kind of action, but none that we know.

My eldest is only 7 and we are already starting to deal with this. He is 52 inches and 63 pounds and his best friend is not far behind him. They were wresting in the bedroom the other day and broke one of the slats on the bed :glare: . They are just too big to do that kind of stuff inside anymore, I can't imagine letting them do it at CC. They slam into each other and knock things/people over now. We just send them out to the trampoline when they want to throw each other around.

As a mom of boys, I don't allow them to wrestle with girls. My reason is simple, when it has happened and I didn't catch it, the girl always ends up crying. Always. Even if the girl starts it. My boys and their friends are constantly wrestling and slamming each other around and sometimes it ends with crying, but usually not. So I just tell them don't mess with girls like that, they are welcome to play, but keep your hands off...because I don't want to deal with the crying girl :laugh: .

The party will get more and more fun as the day goes on, for both you and the other guests as they interact with you :lol: .

Time for a drink and a new game on your phone ;). Throw something in the crockpot so it will be ready when you get home. Sorry you have to go :/.

At the MP, we could make non-alcoholic fondue with broth or milk.

Chocolates All chocolates looked like chocolate melts, but were high quality chocolates. We did not add cream, but I would think you would need to in a home kitchen. The Original 4 oz milk chocolate 1 tsp crunchy peanut butter Amaretto Meltdown 4 oz white chocolate 2 oz Amaretto Di Saronno 1/3 oz 151 rum for flambe Cookies and Cream Marshmallow Dream 4 oz dark chocolate 1 heaping tsp marshmallow fluff 1/3 oz 151 rum for flambe 1 oz oreos for garnish Yin and Yang 2 oz dark chocolate 2 oz white chocolate melt and pour simultaneously into the pot to form two distinct sides Bailey's Irish Cream 4 oz milk chocolate 2 oz Bailey's Flaming Turtle 2 oz milk chocolate 2 oz caramel 1/3 oz 151 rum for flambe 1 oz chopped pecans for garnish Chocolate S'mores 4 oz milk Chocolate 1 heaping tsp marshmallow fluff 1/3 oz 151 rum for flambe 1 oz graham cracker crumbs for garnish Dippers: 8 strawberry halves 4 nutty marshmallow halves 4 pcs fresh pineapple 4 slices of bananas 2 pcs pound cake 2 pcs brownies 1 slice of cheesecake

Cheddar Cheese 4 oz dom beer 1 demitasse spoon chopped garlic 3 shakes dry mustard powder 80% Wisconsin Cheddar/ 20% Emmenthaler Swiss to consistency (about 8 ounces) 5 turns ground pepper 3-4 shakes Worcestershire Fiesta Cheese 3 oz dom beer 3 oz fresh salsa 80% Wisconsin Cheddar/ 20% Emmenthaler Swiss to consistency (about 8 ounces) Chopped fresh jalapenos to taste 10 turns ground pepper Wisconsin Trio 3 oz white wine 1 oz Sherry 1 demitasse spoon of chopped shallots 50% Fontina/50% Butterkase cheese to consistency (about 8 ounces) 7 turns ground pepper 1 oz Buttermilk bleu cheese Traditional Swiss 4 oz white wine 1 demitasse spoon of chopped garlic 1/4 lemon squeeze 50% Gruyere Swiss/50% Emmenthaler Swiss to consistence (about 8 ounces) 1/2 oz Kirschwasser Cherry brandy 5 turns black pepper pinch of nutmeg *For all cheeses, they were mixed in the kitchen and tossed with flour. I'm not sure if that helped with consistency or just clumping. When I make them at home, I always toss with flour. We would heat the liquid base in the pot until boiling, then add other ingredients, when everything was heated, we turned mixed in the cheese and turned off the burner.

The problem here could be one of the Hebrew word for earth, when we translate earth into English, we get problems because we don't make a distinction, where they did. So is the the Hebrew word for the promised land or global earth (or there are more)? That's the premise behind Genesis unbound, the Hebrew words used for earth are not the same as english Earth. I wish I could look into this further, but I have to finish school, I have been sick and blowing it off, but my kid is going to be so far behind I'm never going to catch up :). Maybe tonight. I am enjoying this discussion, I think it's important as Christians that we truly look at all sides of an issue, what secular people bring to the table and what Christians bring. I think this is part of the whole "knowing God with all your mind". :)

Yes, we started watching last night. I love the figure skating and second the wow to Japan's guy and Russia's pair :).

How heartbreaking, praying today for wisdom for the judge, peace for you and your dh, and clarity for your son in the middle of his angst. Are you seeing him in the courtroom? If so, is this the first time you've seen him since he left?

Yes, but he just wants to read and call it a day. He will read for four hours and then whine if he has to do math because he has been "studious" for the past four hours.

I usually just do soup in the crock pot. I will ask the mom if her kids would prefer chicken noodle or black bean beforehand. That way is it already done and just needs to be dished out with crackers or corn muffins and fruit.

Hmmm, I'm looking into this because it is puzzling (and I just did a BSF study in Genesis so I can't believe it wasn't addressed because they are nothing if not thorough ;)). I'm guessing the land referred to here is not the whole earth, but the garden. The earth had form and plants, but God wanted to make a special place for mankind, his "very good" creation. This is totally a guess.

I will get them tomorrow, they are downstairs in my cold, cold kitchen :).

I have all the Melting Pot ones in my server manual when I worked there. Is there a specific flavor you like?

:hurray: :cheers2: :hurray:

I ordered from Rainbow Resource and they used DHL/USPS. It took 3 weeks for it to get to me, I watched it go...and stop....and go....and stop. It finally arrived sans one math workbook, which is now going through the same process :glare: .

This is what I am asking the grandparents to get for Piper's upcoming birthday, so good to know about the shipping, thank you!

We actually are very conservative (Reformed, that conservative ;) ), but we were never comfortable with YE. So we researched what our most respected theologians (Al Mohler, John PIper, Russell Moore, etc.) said about issue. PIper recommended a book called Genesis Unbound that is written by a conservative Hebrew expert. It completely revolutionized our view of creation! So, if you have a hard time with YE, I would encourage you to give it a read, it is short and easy to understand :).