The 4th of July

Happy 4th of July! (A little late. . .)

This petunia is called Cha-Ching Cherry. We had it in the sunroom, but has since been moved to a larger pot outside the sunroom.

As posted before we have a long row of raspberries. Well, it takes several hours to pick that many raspberries, and the kids got tired of it after a while. In fact, they offered to weed rather than pick raspberries ---"AGAIIINNN". (Think whine and moan) So one day while I was picking by myself, I was thinking. Picking raspberries by yourself for several hours a day gives you plenty of time to think. And I started to think about the 4th of July. Now Lee Greenwood sings (or maybe sang) a song called "Proud to be an American". You have probably all heard it. They play it at baseball games and car races and just about any other all American event. Well there is one line in that song that stood out to me as I was picking raspberries. He sings "I'm proud to be an American where at least I know I'm free, and I won't forget the men who died and gave that right to me and I'll gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today. Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land, God Bless the USA."

Now the part that stood out to me was "I'll gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today". It made me wonder, what can I do to defend the United States of America? I am a little old, have bad eyesight, and don't really want to go to war to defend our nation. That and I have some personal thoughts on women on the front lines of battle. Buuuuut that is for another time. So what can I do, I now live on what is quickly becoming a small hobby farm with 4 kiddos, 4 kittens, and lots of weeds. I am proud to be an American. My grandfathers on both sides fought in WWII, and my dad was in Vietnam. Pride in our country and what it stands for runs deep in our family blood. But again, the question, what can I do?

I'll tell you what I can do. I can make and impact on my family. I am a homeschool mom after all. I don't have to stick to the watered down history that is taught in public schools today. This year we are studying American History. We are going to really take a look at what people thought was so important about this country that they would willingly sacrifice their family, their fortunes , and their very lives for it.

When I was in school, we learned about the Founding Fathers of our country. But we never once read anything that they wrote. We read the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence and other documents like that, but what about letters and papers that George Washington wrote himself. What were his thoughts on the importance of this nation and it's unique system of government? So that is what we are going to look at. Now this may seem a little heavy for Kindergarten, third grad and fifth. And yes, it is, but I want to instill in my kiddos that our country was based on God's word and principles. What makes our government so unique is that it's foundation is deeply steeped in the precepts set in the Bible. Our three branches of government-that idea came straight out of the Bible.

So how can I defend out country, I can teach my kids.