Who Doesn't Love Barbie?

Well, I don't. Why would I want my daughter to spend her time playing with something that looked like that? Barbie wants to be beautiful (the world's idea of beautiful) and date Ken. Some high aspirations...LOL. Tami at A Godly Homemaker shared this Barbie with us today, which made me get a bit angry. Not that she shared it, but just at Barbie in general. And we wonder why teenage pregnancy is so common. We wonder why 7 year old girls have boyfriends. It's not hard to connect the dots. No matter how loudly you shout it, people just don't see that Satan will try anything to destroy anyone!

I stumbled upon this fantastic post about Barbie today and thought that it was definitely worth reposting here. Source: http://www.christian-mommies.com/ages/tweens-and-teenagers/poor-barbie/

Poor Barbie

By Betsy Gallup

Poor Barbie, she may someday marry Ken, but chances are, they will never have children. Based on research done by Rader Programs, the percent of Barbie's body fat would be so low, she would have ceased to menstruate--that is if she ever started. She has been grossly underweight since the beginning.

If Barbie were a real person, she would be 6' 0", weigh 100 lbs., and wear a size 4. Her measurements would be 39"/19"/33". My four-month-olds' heads measure 17 1/2". She would probably have had to have back surgery from being so top heavy.

The average woman is 5' 4", weighs 145 lbs., and wears between a size 11-14. Her measurements are approximately 36"/30"/41". There is a fifty-fifty chance that she is on a diet right now.

After spending her childhood playing with Barbie, watching models and actresses who stand 5' 11" and weight 117 lbs. sell them on the idea of the perfect body.

Least we forget, you are probably dieting most of her life, complaining how your butt is too big, cellulite is taking over your thighs. No matter how beautiful she thinks her mother is, mom is forever trying to change her body.

Per Time Magazine, there is an 80% chance you have had her on at least one diet by the time she is in fourth grade. Fourth grade. Think about that. She is ten-year-old. She is still playing with dolls. Her body hasn't hit puberty yet. She is learning independence and is developing her own opinions on life. You are prioritizing weight and appearance in her life.

By the time she is in college, her chance of having an eating disorder is 19%. She has put her Barbie doll away. But that image of the perfect body is still with her. No matter how thin she may be, she is still aspiring toward Barbie.

Now what happens when she can't reach that goal?

Statistics courtesy of Eating Disorders Info and ANRED.

Garden...Again

I know that it seems every single season I post our progress on the garden. I hope you don't get tired of it because it seems like I post the same pictures season after season. But I am surprised at how the Lord blesses our garden. Seems like we have such abundance year after year. Jeremy and I have been praying about giving our garden a Sabbath year (referred in Judaism as "Shmita") If you follow the natural medicine thing like we do, you know that our soil has been grossly depleted of nutrients. I think that this results from year after year of planting with no Sabbatical. So anyway...


We'll start with the cucumbers. This year we planted cukes good for pickling. You can still eat them and they taste good and all, but they just don't grow quite as big, I think. Here I have 5 in the shot. See them all?


The corn is also staring to fill out. Some of the tassels are well over my head. Here are two ears, but they won't be ready until June.


This little visitor likes corn too!


We planted 4 rows of corn. We plant 2 rows, wait a month, then plant the other two. We couldn't get it all put up if we planted all 4, so we space them out a bit.


We've already picked some of these snap beans, but it's time to pick again. Seems like you pretty much have to pick every 3-4 days. We've never planted this variety before, and wow, are they good!!


Last spring garden we lost our squash to borer weevils. We only got about 1 good mess of squash before all the plants died. We're hoping that we are able to make some squash relish this year (my absolute favorite recipe I've ever received. I got it from my father-in-law's mom...scrumptious!) since we opened our last jar a few weeks ago.


Hooray for pollination!


Zucchini has to be picked nearly every day. We have half a row of this stuff and we could probably have plenty with just 3 plants. It grows like crazy!


Peas are not ready yet, but hopefully it won't be long.


This tomato bush looks more like a tomato tree. We haven't picked off it yet, but it won't be long til we're canning and freezing until we're begging for fall!


Moving right along, our green bell pepper are loaded down. Last year we seeded, stemmed, julienned, and froze them. It worked marvelously for cooked dishes and saved tons of money! Every year we try planting yellow bell and red bell and they always die! Green bell pepper are expensive, but red, yellow and orange bells are out of sight!


A loaded jalapeño plant. Last year we made some pickled jalapeño rings and they were, I do not exaggerate, the BEST I have ever eaten in my life, hands down.


A few baby cantaloupe!


The tops of our potatoes. These were a dreadful disappointment this year. Each plant only has 1-2 potatoes on it. Typically it would have 8-10. Oh well, there's always next year.


This year we also are trying to grow onions ... or maybe this is garlic. I keep asking Jeremy and he patiently tells me and I forget.


We're also giving garlic a go ... or maybe this is onions. Who knows.


Huzzah for gardening!!

I'm Am So Relating Here

Understanding that this is funny and taking some of the comments in light, I can so relate to this after about the first minute of the video. Especially as of late, there has been a wave of "brain damage" running throughout the house.

Me: "Why did you do that when I just told you no?"

Child: (in a barely not whining tone) "I dunnooooooooooo..."

Wednesday Night Services

If there is any service that I'd say is the hardest to get to, it is definitely Wednesday night. In that, I'll say that oftentimes it is Wednesday nights that I get the most help from. Last night, it was one of those nights that it just seemed that the devil was at every turn trying to hinder us. We start getting ready for our 7 o'clock service at about 4. In order for the kids to be up from naps by four, they need to be in the bed no later than 1:30. Naps ended up being late. Not exactly just because we've started settling into our more lax summer schedule, but poor scheduling did play into the day. I unexpectedly got my carpet cleaner back Tuesday night after it being at the repair shop for 3 weeks. I was itching to get a room cleaned. I couldn't find the other parts to the carpet cleaner, so it ended up taking me about an extra hour to just find everything and remember how to put it back together. Then the pest control guy showed up unexpectedly also. Lydia, being female and full of emotion, was a stung by a wasp in the midst of everything too, taking her forever to get calmed down. Honestly, just your average, everyday mayhem!

Since naps were late, the kids were late getting up. Lydia didn't get up until nearly 5! Usually I bathe her at 4 because she still needs a bit of help in the shower. (Seems like girls just have more to clean I guess?) Once she gets out I start dinner. So, on the menu was tuna helper. Yes, I confess, I use the boxed mess on busy nights. Typically, from what I've observed, the tuna helper box is more white on top. When I made the menu, I didn't actually examine the box. I just looked in and saw a color scheme that looked like tuna and not hamburger. Well, guess what...right. It was hamburger helper, not tuna. And even better, it was beef stroganoff which was not even going to go right with tuna.

So here we are, 1/2 an hour before hubby gets home from work and I'm scratching my head. I went to the pantry to brainstorm and found elbow macaroni. Okay...that's a start. I put that on to boil. Hmm, what else. Velveeta? Not too healthy. Fish and cheese aren't supposed to go together either, but hey, I'm in a fix. Four ounces of Velveeta in the microwave with some milk. Then something to kick up the flavor ante. Onion powder and Italian seasoning? By this time it was about 10 minutes before dinner was supposed to be on the table. "Oh well" and I threw it in along with some paprika. Added some more water and a pound of English peas and later the tuna. There were no leftovers and everyone except Lydia (who is not eating much right now anyway) ate theirs up ... even Josiah!

So, then Lydia still needed a bath and it was quarter til 6. I asked her to get her clothes together and head to the bathroom. In a bit she hollers out, "Mommy, I don't got no panties!" (was that too much info?) How can she not have underclothes? The laundry was 100% caught up just Saturday. No matter now anyway. So I scurried on to get a load into the wash before church. She wouldn't be having a bath before church for sure.

So we wheel into the church parking lot with 3 minutes to spare. Service was long, but it seemed to breeze right by. I couldn't believe the clock when we got home a bit after 9! Pastor has begun a series on the Sermon on the Mount and he began last night with the Beatitudes. One point that really spoke to me was verse 3: "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of God." Poor in spirit meaning humble. Then also in verse 5 we are told "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth." I personally thought of 1 Peter 3:4 and "the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit..." So often I fall short of humility and meekness. Even if I can control my flesh, sometimes my heart will not not be meek and humble.

So, we finally made it home. Josiah was starving and screaming. The boys were wild like rabid animals. Lydia was tired and whiny. But we were happy and blessed. We had made it through yet another Wednesday night.

Is it just us, or does everyone have similar trouble on Wednesday nights?

Happy Mother's Day

To all you special mothers out there (and you are all special), I send you a happy and blessed Mother's Day. I have much to share about my Mother's Day, but I have to be preparing my menu for next week.

Gross

It doesn't bother some girls, especially country girls. This country girl just doesn't like toads, frogs, lizards, bugs or any other gross stuff.

Gulf Oil Spill

The Gulf oil spill has weighed heavily on my mind. Many of you know that I live in northwest Florida. The spill is supposed to reach my hometown by Monday. I can't imagine how this is about to change local life. You're talking about a place where lots of folks have seafood for Christmas dinner instead of turkey or ham.

What disgusts me is that lack of answers. Maybe it's not the lack of answers that angers me as much as it is the fact that no one seems to care what happened. Doesn't anyone else think that it's weird that on the news there is no talk of how it happened? There's not much theorizing. There's not really any talk of how they're going to cap off the leak. I hear talk of the environmental impact, but that's it.

Here's a thought I am entertaining. And just to warn you, it's a *gasp* conspiracy theory! I'm not a conspiracy theory nutbag, but I do believe a handful of them. But that's another post for another time. :-)

Was the Gulf Oil Rig Explosion a Deliberate Attack on America?