The Heymann Family Journal

Nicole is going into her Jr year of high school. She is already looking at American Universities. At the top of her list is Oregon State University. Why? Because she could study both art and plant science. She could also live for free at Grandma and Grandpa's house (at least for awhile). International tuition is $19,000 per year. In state tuition is under $6,000 per year. It only takes one year for her to establish residency...so she is thinking of going there for a year first and then starting school. So the question is what can she do in Oregon for one year? She could work? I'm thinking she could actually go to Corvallis High School and get an American high school degree. Germany has such a high academic standard, an US high school should be super easy for her. If she can pull straight A's then she could get some good scholarships. She could also take the US SAT. It could be fun and worth the year of effort. Nicole is actually graduating a year early from German high scho...

http://www.cbn.com/CBNNews_Files/images/interactives/pdf/TyrannyofTrillions11Jun09.pdf Here is the video.

Israel is great! Why is anyone surprised Obama is no friend to Israel? Why are they surprised Obama spends money he does not have? Why is anyone surprised by Obamas ideas on abortion? He told us what he would do? He told us what he believed? My question is…why didn’t everyone listen?

Today was the last day of school! The kids are zoning out in front of the TV. I'm looking forward to sleeping in Friday. Actually, tomorrow I have to get up early to take Philip to a heart appointment. He was born with 2 holes in his heart (ASD/VSD). He had surgery when he was 6 months old, but we have to get checkups just to make sure all is well. I don't expect any trouble. Today I bought Jessica a mini laptop computer. Juergen is looking into a special adaptive keyboard. I will load the laptop with Jessica’s favorite movies and computer games. It should help calm her down on the trip to Thailand. We decided to get the lap top for Jessica’s 18Th birthday gift. Jess will be 18 years old Sept 8th. Amazing! What a lovely girl she is! Perhaps she can take her laptop to school in the fall. We are hoping she will begin writing more independently. We may even try her out on voice generating software. This is software that will speak everything you type. Some non ve...

I read most of this last summer 2008...

Yes, I know most of you are already planning on sending your kids back to school. I even read a blog that said they are already back to home school (they want to take some weeks off in the fall). Well, our kids are enjoying their last week of school. We begin the 6 week summer vacation Thursday. Nicole goes to camp on Saturday. The boys go to camp a week later. Then we go to Thailand for two weeks. The last 2 weeks are free. I have some appointments in those last two weeks, but mostly we plan to be home! So this week we had the last this…and the last that. I’m looking forward to the extra sleep each morning. It’s rained so much this summer it doesn’t feel like it could be August. I’ve got to go do some work in the garden. The roses are so rusty, and the weeds have taken over.

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The latest USA Today/Gallup poll finds more Americans disapproving (50%) than approving (44%) of the way Barack Obama is handling healthcare policy. In general, Obama receives higher marks on his handling of international issues than on domestic issues. I WANT HEALTH CARE FOR EVERYONE BUT THEY NEED TO SLOW DOWN AND GET IT RIGHT!!! WHY IS OBAMA TRYING TO PUSH THIS...NOT LISTENING TO WISDOM. HE WOULDN'T EVEN WANT THIS PLAN FOR HIS OWN FAMILY!

I just booked our car in Thailand. The best deal was a 12 passenger van ....how cool is that? It is an automatic with unlimited miles and of course air conditioning and GPS. I don't think we would try to go it alone with out GPS. We were going to go with out a car, but felt like we could manage a little more adventure this time. Juergen understands Bangkok pretty good. Both our vacation apartments have free parking. I'm sure I'll still take a few tuk tuks. Anyway, I can take lots of luggage there and back. If you have anything you want to give to Thomas and Philips orphanage let me know. I would love toys, cloths, and shoes. Very gently used or new stuff please. We leave in 29 days and I'm getting pretty excited!!! The best way to keep kids from fighting in a car is to make sure they all get a window seat! Now I can get Juergen to stop at all the cool road side shops... Oh yes this will be great!!!

Yesterday we were finishing lunch when our neighbor rang the bell. His basement was flooding. Something was wrong and they needed to turn the main line of water off (we live in a row house). It was Sunday and they wouldn’t be able to get it fixed until Monday afternoon. So we rushed to fill jars and bottles with water, started the dishwasher and filled the bathtub with water. Unfortunately the water was dirty. It turns out the neighbors pond had contaminated the water supply. So I had enough water to flush the toilets, but that’s it. The dishes only got half rinsed. We had no water for coffee, and I couldn’t even wash the dirty table because the water was dirty. I had to be home this morning to let the workers in and out of our house. My kitchen stank, and so did I (no shower). They finally turned the water on at 4:30 this afternoon. I did the stinky dishes, and cleaned up the dinning room and kitchen. Then I took a bath. I’m going to water my plants with contaminated wa...

The US needs health care reform, but not what they are now pushing! I hope that Obama’s health reform will not pass because it's going to cause even higher unemployment! But they need to do something to help the millions of un insured people. Maybe they should look to Israel? BTW, McCain said we should tax health care, and the tax would cover the cost of insuring the uninsured. Obama refuses to tax health care, so now he has zero way to pay for his plan. If I was rich living in the USA, I would think about moving out of the country. Obama thinks he has a right to all your money! What a mess he is making!

I was listening to Beth Moore interviewed on Christian TV today. She was asked why she thought God healed some people from addictions instantly, and others over time? She said something that I think applies to all of our lives. She said it depended upon what God would teach us. If he wants to show us his supremacy, he will do something immediate and if he wants to show us his sufficiency, he provides little by little (daily bread). I have sought God for years to heal Jessica from autism. I believe nothing is impossible for him, he is supreme! But God has shown me he is also sufficient. The only time I get into trouble is when I think too much about tomorrow. But God is so sufficient to help us every day. I know this very well.

I'm getting ready to go to Thailand next month. Today I ordered "Glenn Beck's Common Sense: The Case Against an Out-Of-Control Government, Inspired by Thomas Paine" to read on the trip. I also just ordered a new pair of noise cancellation headphones. These things block almost 100% of the noise on a flight. I got them to help Jessica on the 12 hour flight. We have a portable DVD player with a memory chip (we don't need to carry DVD's anymore) and I have an I- pod with a 6 hour battery. Hopefully that will make the flight manageable. It's a direct over night flight. I probably will not get to sleep on the flight, but I'll be so tired it will help me get over the jet lag fast.

I have a very small garden. A great amount of my tiny yard is given to the flowers I love so much. Some of my plants were just collected over the years. Others are very special to me because they were gifts from friends and family. Today Juergen’s mother would have turned 72 years old. She gave me many of the perennials I have in my cutting garden. Today it gave me both joy and sadness to cut a vase of these very special flowers. They remind me of Oma's life. It was beautiful and fragrant. I hope I never forget her. I’m glad I have this confidence that we will one day meet again. Happy birthday Waltraud. We miss you very much! "The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands for ever." Isaiah 40:8

As long as they keep the National debt high (very, VERY HIGH) the dollar will be worth dirt! And is Al Gore trying to be the president of the world? Oh please!!!! BTW the debt is -$ 11,565,081,634,548 (-11 trillion) and growing daily.

The conventional treatment for ADHD revolves around prescription stimulant medication such as Ritalin and Adderall (short term) and Adderal XR and Concerta (long term). It seems to be a plausible idea that perhaps other stimulants such as caffeine laden coffee might produce similar effects. In the late nineties this theory seemed to be gaining some traction due to the presumption that Brazilian children seemed to have a lower incidence of ADHD. Researchers were quick to link this assumption with the incidence of ADHD. So is it actually possible that giving your child a cup of coffee daily might enhance their ability to focus and concentrate singular tasks longer? Both Philip & Thomas have ADHD. It makes me wonder if I shouldn't give them a cup of coffee everyday? Maybe it's worth a try? Other benifits of coffee include , antioxidant benefits for those who drink more than two cups daily, increased short term memory and decreased risk for diabetes and liver and breast can...

If you are finding your memory slipping lately, perhaps the first thing to remember is to have your morning coffee. In a recent study from the University of Arizona that will be published in the January 2002 issue of Psychological Science by the American Psychological Society researches have found that the stimulant affect of caffeine can help boost memory.

It has been cold and rainy here for awhile. We were at a friends house yesterday. The boys and Nicole could play in the garden because there was a break in the weather. They learned to shoot a bow and arrow. Thomas is actually pretty good at it. But today it rains again. My garden is very green. Most of my flowers love the weather. I do have rust on my roses, and the vegetable plants are all leaves, and very little fruit. We need some sun! Global warming really means one part of the planet is too wet and cold, and the other part too hot and dry. Balance is what we all need. Juergen said it’s suppose to warm up this week. I hope he is right. I have spent most of the summer in the house.

Gingrich was the former speaker of the house. He is the last person to balance the US budget. They give the credit to Clinton, but it was Gingrich who pulled off that miracle (Republican Revolution in the House). He is a true fiscal conservative. Contract with America 1994(Gingrich) On the first day of their majority, the Republicans promised to hold floor votes on eight reforms of government operations: require all laws that apply to the rest of the country also apply to Congress; select a major, independent auditing firm to conduct a comprehensive audit of Congress for waste, fraud or abuse; cut the number of House committees, and cut committee staff by one-third; limit the terms of all committee chairs; ban the casting of proxy votes in committee; require committee meetings to be open to the public; require a three-fifths majority vote to pass a tax increase; and implement a zero base-line budgeting process for the annual Federal Budget.

Philip, Thomas and Sarah Dance

United treated us so badly last summer. I would fly with someone else if I had a choice! They have to work on their people skills.

I'm very interested in Politics. I don't think I would vote for Sarah Palin for President even if I like her...and I really like her. One of the people I find interesting is Gov. Haley Barbour. I love to listen to him because he is humble and strong and wise and balanced all at once. I don't know much about him but I’m going to keep my eye on him. If the republicans have a future leader, he might be it? I also like Tim Polenti, but I think he lacks the authority and confidence to get elected to national office. He is a smart guy, and would have been my pick for VP. Like I said, I like Sarah Palin very much, but I just don’t think she has what it takes to be the President. I do expect great things from her….after all you don’t have to be President to be great!

Know one can question that Michael Jackson was a brilliant talent. He was mega famous. But did he deserve the world wide media coverage he got over the last week, and everything "stopping" to cover his funeral? Also, I found it odd that so many act like he is a black hero. He was a very troubled person, and he probably died from drug use. Famous ok, a hero...no. I just feel uncomfortable with that. His family lost someone they loved. I am sorry for them. Michael Jackson seemed to have a million friends at his funeral, but was said to be a lonely man. It also makes me question how many of these folks love Jackson, and how many are just trying to promote themselves? I find this kind of sad. I can honor his talent, he was brilliant. I am very cautious about all the rest. I can not blame his family for trying to preserve a positive legacy for him...but stuff is bound to come out. I suspect it will get really ugly. How many of these people will be trying to distanc...

I read a story just now about a fan of Michel Jackson who lives in England. He registered to win a ticket to the memorial and then got on a flight to LA. He found out he was not one of the few fans who won a ticket. Then a women who did win 2 tickets gave one of her tickets to him. I'm not a fan of Michel Jackson, but I had to smile at the faith this man had to just get on a flight and hope for the best. Good for him! Do you have that kind of faith? I do. We had an invitation from the Thai adoption board to come to Thailand to pick up Philip. We bought our tickets and packed our bags. Two days before we were to travel, we got an e-mail saying do not come. We could not reach anyone because it was almost New Years. So we decided to go anyway. They didn't let us adopt Philip, or even see Philip. We were in Thailand for two weeks and were looking at returning home with out our son. It was devastating! But we called a women who had been an exchange student in Oregon....

Philip was late getting home from school today. I was getting worried. I called Juergen to ask him what I should do because Philip was already 40 minutes late. He said calmly that I should wait another half hour. If he didn't show up in 30 minutes I should call him back. So I waited and worried and tried to pray. 25 minutes later Philip comes home. I asked him why he was 1 1/2 hours late? He had to stay after school because he had gotten in trouble last week...but he told Juergen yesterday he would be late. Ahhhh!!!! So I call Juergen to tell him Philip was home. Juergen calmly says, oh yes I forgot...he told me he would be late! Ahhhh!!!!! Men!!!!! If I didn't love Juergen so much, I would be pretty mad at him. Philip was 1 ½ hour late and I was so worried! He could have saved me a little stress! So next time you see him (Juergen), give him a hard time for me, ok! And don't worry...I wrote this post to make Juergen smile. I'm not mad anymore. I really d...

First I want to say happy 4th of July (HAPPY BIRTHDAY USA)! It's generally not even noticed by us living in Germany. Today we did some yard work, and Juergen will grill some American burgers tonight. Yesterday Sarah was ready to go to school. She gave me a kiss and told Juergen to give me a kiss too. He said he would give me a kiss later. To that, Sarah crossed her arms and legs, tossed up her head and said..."I'll wait"! Juergen and I laughed and laughed. I got my kiss too!!! You had to be there! Today I was shopping with Nicole. We went to one store to return bottles and buy cheese for our burgers. Nicole had a shopping cart for the bottles. You stuff the bottles into a machine and get a piece of paper to take to the cashier. So Nicole walks up to the cashier with an empty shopping cart, and one package of cheese. The cashier gives her this look??? She came back to the car laughing her head off!!! It made me think about God. He says we can pray for a...

"We are fisherman and we know only dead fish go with the flow" - Sarah Palin

This is the whole discussion on the White House press control. Why have "freedom off the press"? Freedom of the press is a check and balance in America. Obama wants to push his agenda forward, and he sells stuff like government run health care, like the majority is on his side. He stacks the media coverage in his favor. But no opposing view is given a voice in his "town hall meetings". They pre select the questions, pre select the audience. He markets his views like someone doing an infomercial! When will the press start doing their job? They sure didn't do it during the campaign. They gave the hard questions to McCain and pitched softballs to Obama. So now Obama is toying with the idea of a tax on healthcare (McCain’s idea) and his foreign policy looks allot like the policy of Bush (look at his North Korean policy for example). Maybe President Obama is realizing the job is harder then it looked and he can not live up to all his grand ideas. He for...

Did God create everything that exists? Does evil exist? Did God create evil? A University professor at a well known institution of higher learning challenged his students with this question; "Did God create everything that exists?" A student bravely replied, "Yes he did!" "God created everything?" The professor asked. "Yes, he certainly did" the student replied. The professor answered; "If God created everything, then God created evil. And, since evil exists, and according to the principal that our works define who we are, then we can assume God is evil." The student became quiet and did not respond to the professor's hypothetical definition. The professor, quite pleased with himself, boasted to the students that he had proven once more that God was a myth. Another student raised his hand and asked; "May I ask you a question professor?" "Of course", replied the professor. The student stood up and asked; "pro...

I am now on twitter. It is a private account. If you want to read my posts you will have to request to follow me. I am going to put my prayer requests there. I am not going to allow you to follow me if I don't really know you, sorry! my twitter name is amyheymann. HERE is twitter.

Some people age gracefully and others just grow old. I'm afraid I'm just growing old. I'm pushing 48 and I'm going through "THE CHANGE". Nicole asked me what it was like to go through menopause. I told her it's like having PMS for months at a time. Your body gets swollen, you get tired and cranky and you have trouble sleeping. Didn't Obama promise us change? Speaking of menopause, I do not take hormones for it. Sometimes I would like to but I’ve read it can increase my risk for cancer.... hormone replacement therapy (HRT). This may be a quick and strong way to combat hormonal imbalance; but, unfortunately, it entails serious side effects and increases the risk of different types of cancer among women, as the following study has proven. In 1991 the National Institute of Health (NIH) launched the Women's Health Initiative (WHI), the largest clinical trial ever undertaken in the United States. The WHI was designed to provide answers concerning...