Jenamarie

Unschooling, to me, is learning something when you want to learn it, and not waiting for a teacher or someone else to hand you that lesson. At least, that is how we present it to our children (they're in public school currently, but will be coming home next school year, and we'll be doing a bit of non-radical unschooling, in addition to more structured learning for subjects like math and language arts). For me, it's following my kids' interests, rather than dictating them to them. For example: when setting up a science curriculum for my kids, if they want to learn about ocean animals, then we'll check out a bunch of books and movies about ocean animals from the library. It won't matter to me if the kids their age in public school are learning about weather patterns in their science class because that's what the state-approved curriculum dictates. I imagine at some point they'll get really interested in the shapes clouds can make, and that will spark an interest, and they can learn about it then. I agree with the marshmellow analogy a bit. Do you remember those moments in school when you were bored to tears by what the teacher was teaching? Do you remember a word of what was being taught during those times? How about when what the teacher was covering was something you really enjoyed, like dinosaurs or thunderstorms, how much do you remember? Probably a lot more? That's unschooling. Being aware of your child's interests and inborn curriosity, and then feeding it.

I remember the first time they aired Edward Scissor hands on TV they showed Vincent after it. So. funny.

Whoops, I missed that part. (I admit to scanning the last third or so of the article.) My apologies. ETA: I mainly thought it was interesting from a "...as far as it is translated correctly" viewpoint. There's certainly evidence that depending on where you live the translation can be interpreted as meaning various different things based on culture and what's familiar to the people doing the translating.

This link was posted on another message board I frequent (geared towards traditional Christians) in a debate on the "inerrancy" and "infallibility" of the Bible. Not wanting this thread to turn into a debate on that subject, I just thought I would share this article that goes into some of the differences between the Eastern and Western translations of the Bible, because I found it so interesting! FaithWriters.com-Christian Apologetics - Surprising Differences in Bible translations across the world

Well, I would think since it'll only be 2nd and 3rd Sundays that the GP manual would be used in RS and MP, that it shouldn't be long before you get way ahead of where they are in the lessons. I actually think this could be a really good thing for new members and investigators. They'll get a double dose of very important gospel lessons in short order, which should help the topics sink in. Also, they'll get to hear the lesson once with other newbies like themselves, and then again with more "seasoned" members who can offer new input on the subject during discussions. It should be interesting!

Ohmigosh, I just took a look at it. It looks so much easier to teach from than the Prophet manuals! YAY!!!

Oh wow, that should be interesting! So what happens to the Gospel Principles class?

Okay, I take that back...

Okay, I think I'll stop posting now. I LOVE Halloween!

I have a cousin who served in Toronto! Fun city! Congratulations! I hope you enjoy Alaska!

I have to thank the Disney Channel for putting a little police officer in the back seat of my van. Even though my phone doesn't have texting capabilities, and I rarely get a call while driving, whenever the phone *does* ring, I immediately hear a little 5 year old voice piping up "Mommy, don't answer the phone! That's a safety violation!" (for those of you familiar with Lou and Loo, you'll know what I'm talking about) 4 teens in a town near me were killed in a texting-related accident the day before their HS graduation ceremonies. It was the 35 year old man in the opposite lane who was texting. He hit them head on. HE survived, 4 of the 5 teens in the other car didn't. It's just stupid stupid stupid.

Thankfully that is not the norm here. I rarely recieve anything fom my HT's or VT's unless there's a birthday or a new baby, or they had extra goodies in their house.

Ah, yes, holding handles. The "Romantic Touch" for the reubenesque among us. (myself included)

I'm confused. In one breath you say you don't even like him, then in the next you say he's your best friend? Which one is he? You CAN break up with him, and here's why: YOU need to make YOURSELF feel better about YOURSELF. Whatever kind of guy he is (sweetheart, jerkface, whatever) it is not healthy for you to put your self image and self worth in his hands. It is not the makings of a healthy, long lasting relationship. People survive broken hearts all the time. Breaking up with him won't kill him or cause him any lasting damage. My advice would be to tell him that you have some personal issues you need to work on (rediscovering your selfworth) and that you need to work on them *outside* of a relationship. And then I would recommend you take a break from dating anybody, no matter how good they make you feel, until you feel just as good about yourself WITHOUT a guy's attention. Having a man in your life should make you happier, not happy. You should already be happy. You should already have that confidence. Otherwise you're in an unequal relationship, and those don't typically go well.

Wow, how sad is it that I thought you were talking about Edward Cullen?

Sure. (but just because I can't remember who I actually heard it from. Dr. Phil? Reader's Digest? I dunno. Somewhere )

We don't do Santa Claus in our house. My kids know about him from books and movies, but he doesn't leave presents and they don't write "wish lists" to send to the North Pole. I think ONE of our Christmas CD's has Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer on it, the rest is all variations of Christmas hymns. Christmas is "Jesus' Birthday" in our house, and I wouldn't have it any other way. :)

After Labor Day weekend I start playing Christmas music. We're already almost done with buying our kids' Christmas gifts (including a couple of stocking stuffers.) I'm still waiting on hubby to give me his wish list, and Thanksgiving Day his family will draw names on who's buying for whom. In my family I just make our traditional Honey-Taffy Popcorn and ship it out to my parents and siblings (we're all in different states!) The tree goes up December 6th (which is when my older sister passed away). I can hardly wait! I LOVE Christmas time!

The grass is greener on the side you water. Work on your marriage. Maybe even discontinue meeting with the missionaries for a while until you can sort out your feelings, or try and start meeting with ward missionaries instead (usually a married couple). And of course, pray.

So is this the book that he visited Temple Square for?

Perhaps I'll expand on my comments: Works will not bring a Testimony if your heart isn't in the right place. And you may not even realize it's not in the right place; I know *I* didn't at first. If your heart isn't truely turned to the Lord and willing to submit, all the works in the world won't help you. And on the flip side, if you profess to love the Lord, but don't even try to keep any of the commandments, then you can't expect the Spirit to dwell with you. Your heart and your actions have to be in harmony with eachother. Also, I had a Temple Recommend the entire time I was questioning, and even went through an interview. My Bishop knew where I was. He still gave it to me. The Temple was what kept me from completely abandoning the church on many many occasions. Whenever I felt like I had too many doubts to even consider myself a believer anymore, I'd go to the Temple and feel the Spirit in the air around me so strongly I could almost grab it in my hands. It gave me courage to keep plugging in my search for answers. When I didn't have a Testimony of the BoM, when I didn't have a Testimony of Joseph Smith, when I didn't have a Testimony of the Prophet, I DID have a Testimony of the Temple. It was truely my anchor.