She's Growing!!!

My daughter had her follow up appointment with the gastro doc we are seeing from Texas Children's. 

Great news....she is growing! 

He said she had 2 significant growth spurts (not typical for her age) since being off gluten. 

I know a lot of people who cut out gluten because it is a way for them to lose weight. In some people though, like my daughter, going off gluten can actually help them to gain weight because their bodies can better digest their food and get more of the nutrients from the food their bodies need to grow.

Things are not perfect with her digestive system, but they are so much better and more manageable. So, for now, doc says to keep doing what we are doing :)

If you missed any of the other posts about this issue and want to follow up, please click here.

CtG Weeks 26, 27, and 28 - nudity in art

Here are a few highlights from our week...

Ok, I know I am waaaay behind. It has been crunch time around here lately. Dance, band, and AWANA ending and new things beginning. It won't be slowing down anytime soon for us either. It's gonna be one busy summer!

Art

Art has been going well. Not too many complaints from my blue-eyed boy. Here are their versions of the sculpture 'Caligula'. They were trying to focus on the shadows the sculpture casts. 

This rendition reminds me of Hitler...the way my son drew the shadow under his nose.

And here is a picture of what they were trying to draw.

Our art studies also focused on nudity in art and how much to reveal. This lesson could not have come at a better time due to some things my kids (and myself) had unsuspectingly come across when we were in someone else's home the week prior to this lesson. I'll save you the back-story and just say it involved a nude statue and nude paintings. We had a loooong talk with our kids after that, but I thought it was just so perfect how God lined the art lesson up with our experience and just really drove home the point we were trying to get across to our kids.  

The kids had to compare and contrast photos, talk about how they felt and what they thought about how much the artists chose to reveal, and so on. The pictures picked out by MFW were tastefully done, yet drove the point across. For example, one picture grouping was Madonna and Child with Book and the other Saint Joseph and the Infant Christ. The kids liked the latter picture better because the cloth was utilized to cover the baby adequately and arm, legs, and body were positioned in such a way as not to reveal too much of the baby. 

Sadly, there are people (Christian people) who all too willingly accept and even justify nudity in paintings and sculptures because it is considered "art" or because they are trying to display "a beautiful body". Well, if I wouldn't look at a re-creation of that from a picture in a nudey magazine, then why would it be acceptable to take that same nude pose from a magazine, make a painting or sculpture of it, and then deem it as art and acceptable in that form? Because it is "tasteful" that way? I think too many people have bought and are buying into the lie of humanism.

Do people just not get the fact that Adam and Eve made fig leaf coverings once their 'eyes were opened'? God himself made coverings for Adam and Eve because of their nakedness. I could go on, but I like how the God and the History of Art book summed it up, "As we grow in the things of God, He will reveal to us the truths regarding nudity. When we begin to realize that nakedness does grieve God, we will refrain from compromising by viewing nudity."

Bible 

We are continuing our studies by learning about the great prophets Elijah and Elisha and the mostly evil kings during the time of the judges.

Are you annoyed?

Is it just me or does it seem like more and more people are using their Facebook status' as an outlet to post stuff about what they are selling or the new weight-loss thing the rest of us just have to try/buy?

Am I the only one who gets annoyed by this? Or are you a little annoyed as well?

I mean, it is totally their right to do that. Facebook status' can be whatever the owner/author wants them to be. And don't get me wrong, I do enjoy hearing on occasion what new business they have started up, what product is working well for them, and what they want to share (or sell) with others in the hopes of it working for them too. 

The key word is 'on occasion' though. 

I'm talking about the people who pretty much ONLY post that kind of stuff. What happened to posting about what is going on in your life aside from the products you sell? Your joys? Pains? Funny stories to share? 

I miss those posts. 

I appreciate people who set up pages or blogs dedicated to what they sell, what they are in to, etc. This way, if you want to subscribe, you can. And if not, you don't. I have many Facebook pages and blogs I subscribe to because I enjoy getting updates about gardening, homeschool, all natural/DIY recipes, essential oil uses, and more. 

As a homeschool mom, I think, what if all I did was post homeschool info and stuff related to that on my personal Facebook page and pretty much nothing else? I would likely annoy the fire out of my non-homeschooling friends and fill up their walls with things they probably don't want to read/hear about. Don't get me wrong, when I think something is really good, even if it not everyone I know would be interested, I will post it...just....not all the time. I don't want to bore my friends all the time with the things that I am in to, but the things they may not be in to. 

I guess the point I am trying to get at is there needs to be a healthy balance.

My walls are just being bombarded with weight loss programs people want others to try, things people want the rest of us to buy, and i guess, what I need to do is simply 'unsubcribe' from their personal pages. When I see those kind of posts day after day, I just get annoyed. It is their right to do what they want with their pages though, but it is my right to control what I do or don't have to see ;)