Robotics Competition

Michael has been involved in a local robotics competition lately, here are some photos from the competition from a few weeks ago. The homeschool team was named Eclipse, the team mascot was the ninja platypus. Each school team had to come up with a Team name, have a booth representing their team and their robot, build a robot and program it to run certain tasks for an obstacle course. Sounds complicated but after seeing how things are done it's not as complicated as you might think. Each team member has a certain job to do. Each team is given certain parts to build a robot and a general program to perform the tasks at hand. The fun comes in how original and creative you get with the robot. The Starkville homeschoolers had great parental turnout for the competition. They did well and are going to Auburn, AL for a regional competition. Go Platipi!

Car Show

Along with the robotics competition, a car show was going on outside in a nearby parking lot. So during the lunch break we had something to kill a little time.

Rain Rain

The rain has been here for three weeks and it only stopped a few days in between. I've heard rumors that we've gotten 35 inches of rain in 6 months; 17 of those are for the month of September alone. I have to remember that there is sunshine on the other side of the clouds. The good side to this is that I can get a lot of housework accomplished.
(Photo by Julia Thompson)

Still Just a Kid, Thank You!

We had Phillip over for his birthday cake and celebration (On Oct 11). We were very thankful that he had another birthday to celebrate. A broken collar bone 4 weeks ago from a bicycle accident and a serious auto accident the night of his birthday kept us on our toes and praying for him. The car was totaled but not a scratch on any of the people involved. Thank you Lord!

The Ten Commandments

Today I reflected on the 10 commandments in Exodus 20. I've been going through a time in my life where I feel I need to post on my blog the core of my belief and of my family. After all, life is getting shorter each day that passes and I sense I just need to polish the basics of my life.


Exodus 20:3-17 The Ten Commandments

¹ And God spoke all these words:

² "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. (He brought me out of my slavery to sin. Wow, what a gift.)

³ "You shall have no other gods before me. (Does that include football games and spending too much idol time watching the TV or on the computer?)

⁴ "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. ⁵ You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, ⁶ but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments. (I guess this means I need to love the lord my God with all my heart, soul and mind. If I spend more time doing the things that will keep me from Him than being with Him, I had better get my priorities straight.)

⁷ "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. (OK, this should be straight forward, no using his name in vain.)

⁸ "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. ⁹ Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁰ but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. ¹¹ For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. (I think I can relate to this one, God wants to be appreciated for all he's done. It tells me if he rested, I need to rest in Him on His day.)

¹² "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you. (I have a great mom and dad so this one is close to my heart and they have made it easy for me to honor them.)

¹³ "You shall not murder. (No problem with this one, however, hate is the root of murder, so getting my heart right is important.)

¹⁴ "You shall not commit adultery. (I would think this would be obvious, but who am I to judge, he wrote it down for a reason.)

¹⁵ "You shall not steal. (If it doesn't belong to me, I don't take it. I can ask to use something but I should return it promptly after using it.)

¹⁶ "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. (No lying about others to make myself seem better than others.)

¹⁷ "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."(Keep my eyes on myself and be grateful for all God has given me.)