Before I had children I was an expert on child rearing. I had a degree in education. I had been a child. I had cried over my parents’ serious mistakes in disciplining me! Painfully. Then they laid my first little one in my arms and fear struck. My parents suddenly were much smarter. For the first four weeks of my little girl’s life my mother came and bathed her. She was a nurse and had three children who had survived her raising. I had no such resume and my child deserved a better chance at survival.

Babies do not come with manuals. My husband’s mother commented on my own rearing and complimented me and my parents by saying, "Apparently you can’t spoil someone with too much love." That example was my guide. The only rulebook I trust, the Bible, has been the guiding principle of child rearing in our family. The pressures of society have often times intruded and made our children question my husband and me and our guidance. Never again will I criticize another parent’s decisions in disciplining their child. Each one is different. Each is a challenge in a unique way. With each child, every day, it is "Oh, Lord, do the best you can."

Sharman and Rusty
(Brooke's first steps).

Jesus once said, "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and unto God the things that are God’s." Our children are not human capital for the global economy. Separation of church and state demands that we not be forced into sacrificing our children to the false god of government schools. Morality is not something consensus can determine. Research has proven that children do not flourish in their physical or mental development without the mother’s individual attention and stimulation. Social engineers intent upon optimizing the GNP with the earning capacity of women, also viewed as Human Capital, have offered institutional care as a viable and desirable option. No paycheck will validate your efforts for putting your family first. The reward will not be measured in a bank account but in the loving trust in your child eyes and God’s approval that your priorities were in order.

mother and father. Sometimes necessity demands substitution, but that is the exception rather than the rule. We do a disservice to children and our country to try to save the feelings of those exceptions by making the rule apply to everyone. You’ll miss your child’s first step

Today, there is so much trouble in the world, and I think that much of it begins at home. The world is suffering because there is no peace in the family.

We have so many thousands of broken home. We must make our homes centers of compassion and forgiveness and so bring peace...

"The home is where the mother is. Once I found a child on the streets. I took him to our children’s home and gave him a bath and some clean clothes, but he ran away. He was found again by somebody else, but he ran away a second time. After we found him, I said to the sisters, "Please follow that child and see where he goes when he runs away."

Motherhood an awesome responsibility. We do not always get immediate gratification. Baby smiles, tiny hands clasped trustingly in ours, and slobbery loving kisses pass too soon to emotional distance and challenges to traditions and values. Stands we must take are often painful. Tough love hurts both parties, those who give and those who receive it. God assures us, "Do not hold back discipline from the child." We cling to the promise that if we "train up a child in the way he should go when he is old he will not depart from it."

Life is never dull raising children. Home is a the most important mission field, the most rewarding job, the most valuable contribution to society that any woman could experience. No one loves or understands that little one like his own mother will.

Nobody told me how great grandchildren were. Or if they did I thought they were exaggerating. Brooke turned down a job in New York because her big sister had just had her baby and she was soooo tiny (5 pounds 6 ounces). Drew flew home from New York to welcome her. We’d never had one so small!!! Cecily was 8 pounds 4 ounces, Drew was 9 pounds 8 ounces and Brooke was 9 pounds and 2 ounces. We were all apprehensive when this precious little thing would not nurse.

Cecily had Steve move their bedroom suite from their home in Enterprise back to her old room in our house. Until they sold the home in Enterprise and could find one here (1506 Oak Drive) they lived with us. Brooke had graduated and was in her room, Cecily , Steve and Lily in Cecily’s old room and Joe and I were in ours. Our home was full. Our hearts were overflowing with gratitude. It was the most wonderful opportunity for our family to fit Steve in and all of us bond. Miss Lily as we all call her because she is surely the "boss". I got carried away and made her Christening gown and her first Easter dress. Since I keep her every day for Cecily and Steve to work, my sewing is limited. I look forward to more grandchildren being added to our family.

	Christmas Traditions
	Christmas Menu:
	Apricot Delight Salad Turkey with Cornbread Dressing Cranberry Sauce Layered Salad Nanny and Paw Paw Gravy (a.k.a. Giblet Gravy) Green Beans Black eyed peas Sweet potatoes in orange half with marshmallow topping Squash Casserole Rice Apricot Delight Salad Rolls Sweet tea with lemon Lane Cake, Coconut Cake, Pecan Pie, Cherry Cheese Cake Pound Cake Find the Recipes here.

	Gingerbread Boy Christmas Ornament
	1 Cup Salt 1 Cup Water 2 Cups Flour Mix salt and flour together. Add water a little at a time. Knead 7 to 10 minutes till dough is smooth and putty like. Roll dough 1/4 " thick. Then use gingerbread boy cookie cutter for basic shape. Roll small piece of dough for eyes, cheek, etc. and simply moisten with water to attach. Poke hole at top for thread. Bake on cookie sheet at 325 degrees till light brown or let air dry 48 hours on window screen. Then cool, varnish to protect from moisture or paint any color you like.
Glen Adams, Rusty and Sharman	Christmas Children’s Parade: Once a tradition in Dothan, Alabama. Mothers built the floats.
	Baby Jesus Birthday Party
	Celebrate the night before Christmas with a birthday cake and candle..     2.  Read the Christmas story from the Bible and "The Night Before Christmas" by Clement Moore. Other stories we read over the Christmas Season are: Papa Panov’s Special Day (original by Leo Tolstoy) Retold by Meg Holder and The Mysterious Star: by Joanne Marxhausen I always made it a habit to read a Bible story and a book to my children before they went to bed. When it was just Cecily it was very easy. Then Drew came along and climbed over and around us while we read. Brooke arrived and she settled in the lap while Drew continued his gymnastics all about us. This is a picture of a time their Daddy read the Night Before Christmas to them on Christmas Eve.

	Brooke's Bodacious Brownies
	.Recipe By : Brooke Ramsey Serving Size : 12 2 Cups Sugar 1 1/4 Cups Flour   4 Eggs 3/4 Cup Cocoa 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract 1 Cup Butter 1/4 Teaspoon Salt Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Smear the inside of an eight or 9 inch baking pan. Or spray with Bakers Joy. Melt butter in microwave 1 minute. In the mixing bowl, stir sugar and cocoa together. Stir in the melted butter. Add the eggs and vanilla and stir again. Add flour and salt. Mix just until smooth. Not too much. Now is the perfect time to taste it! Scrape the mixture into greased pan. Spread in even layer. Bake in 350 degree oven until brownies just are about to pull away from the side of the pan, or until you can stick a tooth pick in and come out dry. Takes about 40 to 50 minutes. Now…lick the bowl! Hardest part! Let it cool before cutting.