Well, I've managed over the weekend to add some more widgets (gadgets) to my blog. Just scroll down the sidebars and see the additions. I can assure you these won't be the last. I've learned a lot in relation to my blog in a short period of time. Go ahead and click around. One of the things I'd recommend is checking out the TurboNote link on the right. It has saved me tons of time (great on-screen "post-it" note program). It's fully functional trial is good for 30 days. There are some decent free post-it programs out there, but this one (and I've tried a BUNCH) is the best.
If you've listened to my Finetune music playlist to the right, you have probably figured out that I'm not your typical homeschooling mom. For example, I let my kids (at the time of this post ages 7 and 3) watch SpongeBob. (No Bratz, though. Those things are just Barbies dressed as hookers.) There is no way I'd let one of those scary things in my house. I also let them watch some *gasp* PG-13 movies. I am in the room with them, and if anything is questionable, we change the channel or mute. They have seen all the Star Wars movies at least once (Jar Jar Binks and Yoda are favorite characters, naturally). Ok, I know, Star Wars are PG only.
And yes, we have our huge stash of Disney movies with all the princesses you could imagine, along with all the popular Disney movies that come out (courtesy of Grandma).
And I let my kids listen to more music than just Christian music. I won't argue, there's some good Christian rock music out there, but there is more to music than that genre. I consider myself somewhat eclectic when it comes to music tastes. We listen to some country (just enough that I can stomach), and lots of pop, rock, alternative (nothing too heavy metal-ish... it scares the kids and me both), along with some classical, Celtic instrumental, and more. They listen frequently to Bon Jovi, Goo Goo Dolls, INXS (my youngest's favorite), and some cool old 80s/90s stuff. We have officially grown out of the "addiction" to VeggieTales tunes (on a side note, I'm receiving a VBS site guide for "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything" from one of my editors to work on tomorrow). We didn't go through a big phase of Veggies with my youngest. She's the real rocker of the two. I even occasionally pop in my KISS Acoustic album and we listen to a few tracks (I monitor that one really closely). I personally love the acoustic stuff (though I oddly don't like country that much).
So, many ultra-conservative parents would probably say that I'm raising heathens. Well, I don't think I turned out too badly, and I listened to some pretty raunchy stuff when I was a kid. I listened to George Michael, Culture Club (my first album, and no, gullible me did not realize Boy George was gay), Van Halen, Led Zepplin, KISS, Poison, some R&B, and many, many others. It didn't make me need therapy. No, I believe parents do that to their kids, lol. I am sure most kids these days need therapy (according to your average psychologist). Mine are no exception, nor am I an exception to "needing" it, and my mom was great and did the best she could.
I'd go as far to say that Prince is a musical genius of our time (although I'm not always a fan of the lyrics), and Paul Stanley of KISS has one of the strongest voices I've ever heard (I heard them in concert in 1994 and lost probably 10% of my hearing in one ear, lol, but he sang notes so long I thought he'd pass out, along with dancing around on stage in platform boots... all this when he was 40+ years old). George Michael has an amazing voice too, and still good looking after all these years (unfortunate that he wastes them on men). I am leaving out some really great mainstream people - Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Faith Hill, and countless other amazing talents. By the way, I do own a Dixie Chicks album, though I'd bought it after their anti-Bush remark in London. I don't like their new material much. But I didn't smash my cd after the remark, though I didn't listen to it for a while. (I'd sell it on eBay before I'd do that - but wait, I bought it on eBay, ha.)
In spite of all my movie exposure and musical tastes, I am still a conservative Republican, and believe that the public educational system is in a shambles, where big government has grossly abused its powers with educating the LEGAL children in the U.S., and regularly abuses the power to spend taxes and funding that we are required to give to it. (The government continues to educate the ILLEGAL aliens, yet places higher standards on homeschooled children whose parents pay taxes but don't use the public education system.) Ok, I won't get on that soapbox. I'll post more about my background in some later posts.
In closing, I really hope that Fred Thompson runs for President this year. I know a lot of homeschoolers support Mike Huckabee, but I'm not sure he can reach the mainstream public. I've watched Fred Thompson for years in the political realm (and on screen), and I believe he has the right articulation and true sincerity to go against the Democrats. Check out his site: ImWithFred.com to see more about him (or click on the widget to the right *grin*). Can you tell I like these widgets?
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