Wednesday, December 31, 2008

You Can't Hide Chocolate Ice Cream from Mama

Everyone in our family knows that I love and adore chocolate. I think that chocolate is truly a gift from God. I mean it has stuff in it that makes you feel good, enhances your "love" feelings, and reduces stress. It's almost perfect!!! The only negative thing about it is that you can get fat by eating too much of it. Bummer.

So, when Hadyn got her new kitchen set for Christmas, Mommy was thrilled to see there was an ice cream freezer and four different kinds of ice cream included. All right, it's plastic ice cream, but that IS the non-fattening kind.

As I was cleaning up some toys today and putting things back in their places, I noticed the chocolate ice cream was missing from Hadyn's freezer. I searched all over her room, in and around her kitchen, in our living room under the coffee table and around the couches. Then, as if my chocolate Ninja senses kicked in, I opted to look under the Christmas tree. Reaching between the two tree skirts (one is a cute automated Santa one and the other is my hand print project skirt), I felt a lump. I quickly peeled the two skirts apart to discover.....THE MISSING CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM!!!

Yeah, like you could really hide chocolate from Mom. Even the plastic kind. Sheesh. Who do these kids think they are dealing with?

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Wonderful Christmas

We had an absolutely wonderful Christmas. We discussed at length many times what the REAL reason for the season is and why we celebrate. But at 7 and 2 years old, presents rule!!

Grandparents and Aunts & Uncles gave way too much to our kiddos totally overwhelming them. But we are very grateful for all those gifts anyway.

But the gifts from Mom and Dad and Santa are the hits at our house. Hunter has spent most of his time on his "NASCAR Ultimate Speedway Track Set". You must say all 5 words when you speak of this gift. Just saying Track Set, or Speedway, or toy, won't cut it....it must be ALL 5 words!!!!

And Hadyn is totally infatuated with her new kitchen. She is taking our orders right now on her pad of paper and serving us with her choice of our orders. Mostly ice cream, iced tea, and tottee (coffee).

It was fun and we are loving watching them play and have fun. What a joy to see such joy in them!!!

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Waiting for Christmas

Merry Christmas!

I am loving being in a house with young children at Christmastime. Hunter is bouncing off the walls in anticipation of Christmas. Hadyn picks up on anything brother does and is bouncing right along with him. They've been really good to stay out of the gifts that are under the tree, but ornaments on the tree are a completely different story. My tree is starting to look a little off kilter with all the ornaments slowly migrating to the top of the tree. Oh well. I love the anticipation, too.

At church one day, some of us had a discussion over what is told to children for the inevitable question of "is there a Santa Claus?" One dad said that he will answer honestly with a direct question, but disclaimer the answer with it is not to be discussed with other children. When another dad said that they would not "lie" to their child when asked, I had to respond. My mom and dad never told me anything. I got to an age, but I don't remember when, that I knew where that gift under the tree came from, but my mother would not 'fess up for nothin'. By doing so, she taught me to hold on to the faith of Christmas. She didn't lie...she would just answer, "what do you think?"

I love that answer. I know what Christmas is all about. I teach the true gift of Christmas to my children. But I also love holding on to that childhood joy of the magic and anticipation of Christmas morning.

I don't dread the holidays, I look forward to Christmas morning, too! Santa still visits me and Scott, too. Yea!!!

In a Trance

So, I have my mother to thank for this:


And this:


So what is this you're looking at, you may ask?

These are my children being entranced by "Hannah Montana". When my Mom visited a while back, she let them watch this, because she watches it and likes it. Now, Hadyn - the 2 year old - will ask for "Heena Tina" and Hunter will "watch" it if it's on.

Of course, don't tell anyone, but Dad and I have guiltily admitted to liking the show, too.

Shhhhhhhhh.

Friday, December 19, 2008

Treasure Trove

At Thanksgiving, we went to visit my family in the Texas Panhandle. My mom and dad have started the long move out of their house of 40 years, so Scott and I took a day and went treasure hunting in the attic. After blowing black snot for a day afterwards from the dust, I came home with some memories...and I tossed a few.

Funny story...while cleaning out the attic, I found a box of love letters, pictures, and other things for and from a high school boyfriend. Scott rolled his eyes, I laughed and we tossed them. After Scott came back home and the kids and I stayed longer, we went to the local Christmas parade. I ran into a high school friend and his family so we chit chatted for a while and caught up. Then another man walked up and my friend asked me if I recognized him. No, I didn't, so I was told who it was. Turns out, this way older looking and way scruffy looking guy was the same love interest I had just found in my parents attic. Yeah buddy, I was praising God for the direction he sent me. My mom couldn't believe this was the same guy either. I think she was singing Scott's praises that night! HA!

Anyway, does anyone remember the Bionic Woman beauty parlor and repair center set? I had it and even though I did not find my Bionic Woman, I found part of the action set:
Man, this baby was so cool, it was so high tech - it used a punch card!!!!

Then I found my Empire Strikes Back bubble gum card in completion! Along with a few other Star Wars goodies like these fashionable t-shirts:

Do you remember the glittery iron on type of t-shirts? Yup, I had them.

I brought back a Winnie-the-Pooh piggie bank that Hadyn is using now and a Cookie Monster alarm clock that is just sitting as a display in her room right now.

I also found a game called "Go To The Head of the Class". Another friend, who happens to be a 2nd grade teacher, was over one night and I showed her the game. It was her favorite board game when she was little, too. We agreed that we were both probably a little nerdy as kids.

Yeah, okay, maybe I still am. That's cool, though. It'll be good to use to embarrass my kids later!!

Monday, December 15, 2008

It's Been a While...

It's been a while since I've posted a blog entry, or at least it seems like it's been a while. Seems that a certain little 2 year old girl has taken over my life. Having started with a son, a very calm, low key boy (until he hit 7), I have been caught totally unaware for the goings on of a 2 year old little girl. Oh, yes, I realize that I was once a 2 year old little girl, but see, God has a wonderful way of removing our behaviors at that age from our memories so that we can feign innocence in the eyes of our parents.

I watched in shock and awe the other day as Hadyn sat in the middle of the living room floor trying to put on her own socks. She managed to get one sock on, but the other foolhardy sock would not cooperate with her demands and would not go onto her precious little foot. Only 3 or 4 of her tiny piggies would go into her sock which as you would figure would make it rough to pull on a sock. She worked for what seemed like hours (probably only about 5 minutes, but you know), then she tried stubbornly for another few minutes before SCREAMING a scream I've never heard from her before and throwing herself and the sock on the floor, screaming some more and then picking up that contrary sock and trying it again. I gently asked her if Mommy could help. "NO!" Okay, but it might go on a little better if Mommy could just help a tiny bit. "NO! NO, MOMMY, NO!" Alrighty then. I finally got up from watching this show and approached the actress. She screamed, picked up the sock and hauled her little tuckus as fast as she could down the hall to her room, screaming the whole time, "NO MOMMY NO!" In her room, she spun around and told me "Bye, bye, Mommy!"

I sat down and hugged her tightly and let her know that it was okay to be mad and frustrated, but that we can't throw fits. We talked about it being okay to ask for a little help - why is it that we never really get that one. I ended up putting her in timeout and then when that was done, she sat down with me on the couch and we "talked" again. She still didn't want me to help her but I managed to sneak a hand to her foot and get that last reluctant piggy into her sock and she screamed as she pulled the sock up on her leg. At last, success! She puffed and panted as she sat and reveled in her accomplishment. I didn't mention that the heels of the socks were on top. We'll get to that later.

So, that type of thing has started to erupt at my house. I'm in shock. But I did read some blogs and talk to some Moms of 2 year olds and I found, it's going on at everyone's house!!!

I'm so sorry for you, too!! But they'll be beautiful, precious young women someday. Doggone good thing she's so cute!

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Tornado Warnings - or Not

Having grown up in the Texas Panhandle, I got my tornado education pretty much first hand. My dad took me out on the front porch many times to watch the storm clouds develop and see tornados appear and take out barns and other things. Now, I knew that standing on the front porch to watch this was fairly okay, because the storms most regularly travel to the north-east, and so it would have already passed over us. I would not go to the back porch to watch a tornado since that would mean it would be heading right towards us. I have a vague little girl memory of looking out the back window watching one coming toward us. And I saw one form over my head one time. I spent several after school stormy afternoons watching the news from the comfort of our basement just in case. I have seen the aftermath of destruction and have seen the bizarre things that the high winds can do. All of this to say I do not take tornado warnings lightly.

But.

Our local warning system has me a little concerned. The warning sirens went off last night while we were flipping channels between Leno and Letterman on the bedroom TV. The weather service telling us there was a possible tornado near Allen, TX, so the tornado warning was issued for our entire county, but we could see on the radar that the storm and the impending "hook" formation of the storm was to the south-east of us, which in tornado storm terminology means - not a big concern for us. Had it been south-west, yup, head for cover, but this one had already passed beyond our neck of the woods. This was the 2nd time this year our sirens have gone off AFTER the storm has passed over us. Makes me a little concerned.

So, as I read blogs this morning from friends who were grabbing their kiddos from bed and heading for cover, I have to think, some of them needed to do that and some just woke their kids up for a storm that had already passed over. Scott and I walked outside to see what was up.

Alrighty, then, who do we need to write a strongly written letter or blog to????

Monday, December 8, 2008

Oh So Super Easy Christmas Craft Idea


This is an oh so super easy Christmas craft idea. My next door neighbor told me a lady at her work has been doing this and I just loved it, so it is not a new idea and if I can do it, you know it has to be quick and easy.

Make a fleece tree skirt to mark your children's hand prints every year and see the growth each Christmas time.

I just cut a large piece of red fleece into a circle with an opening for the tree, then just glued a lacy little trim to the edge. Painted up the kids hands and voila, a memory in the making. I may try to pretty it up more as the years go by, but for now and with the time I have, I love it.

Something to Give for Christmas and on and on...

On a serious note....

As some of you may know, I design simple websites for small businesses and individuals. One of the sites I did was for my sister, Jodi McClellan (be her friend on Facebook). The site is Supporting Our Heroes.com. With a husband having served in the Marines during Viet Nam and with two of her three sons now serving in the Army and Marines, she took on what she calls her "Heart Project" and is sending care packages to deployed troops. The letters she gets back can tug at the heart strings. These men and women do not complain about being where they are, nor do the people they encounter. And she has been told that the boxes she sends are some of the best they have received. More over, she has found new sons and daughters to call her own. They have given her the name of "Momma Marine".


(Pic of our Marines handing out candies and small toys to Iraqi children)

She is working on getting a non-profit organization set up, but finding the time to do that has not been easy. She'd rather just work on sending boxes out, but it is something she is working toward. But in the meantime, she is accepting donations of products needed to send and of course, money, to purchase the products and pay for postage.


(Marines of the 2/24 Weapons company - this was during the Summer with over 100 degree heat!)

If you are planning to travel through the Texas Panhandle anytime, or have friends or relatives traveling that way, and would like to donate something for her to send, please contact her through the website or Facebook. Also, if you'd like to donate money for her project, I can guarantee you that 100% of anything you give will go to support these troops.


(The HALO (High Altitude Low Opening) Team. ODA 044, 10th Special Forces Group)

One more thing, there are many of these men and women who have no one to send them packages. Jodi gets the names of these individuals and sends a box specifically to them as well as sending packages to the whole troops. It makes the heart weep to think that these beautiful people signed on to serve and protect their country, yet did so without having to have "someone" at home to do it for...they do it for all of us. Let's support them!!

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Beware of Smelly Dijon Mustard

My Mom and I had just walked into my sister's house after a late morning/early afternoon cleaning spree at the old house. We were greeted at the door very promptly by my wonderful sister, who had a very stern look on her face.

Seems as though she and Hadyn were sitting a sharing some pretzels for snack. Jodi had put out a small bowl of Dijon mustard for dipping and apparently, little missy was enjoying the dip. Or more accurately, she was enjoying dipping and feeding Auntie Jo. Hadyn would eat a pretzel but then she would dip and feed "An Do". Then Jodi smelled something not so fresh. She sniffed around a little bit and when the smell landed on a little Dijon mustard cover hand, Jodi thought she was going to barf.

Yes, my little precious has a (thankfully declining) habit of reaching in the back of her pants to see what all the hub-bub is back there after something has happened. Something occassionally the color of Dijon mustard.

Needless to say, Jodi will probably never eat Dijon mustard again and my little darlin' has attained status on Auntie Jo's poo-poo list.

Literally. HA!!!

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Cleaning Out

My Mom and Dad have just moved out of their home of 40 years. That's FORTY years of STUFF that has accumulated in addition to all the stuff they brought with them from the previous 17 years of their marriage and children.

Scott and I (plus kiddos) came to visit for Thanksgiving and to go through some of the stuff to see if there was anything of mine that I wanted to keep. We got up in the attic and dug through so much stuff. Boxes would just crumble in my hands as I grabbed for them. But I did find my collection of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back bubble gum cards - the entire set, t-shirts, and some other collectibles, along with my old Mrs. Beasley doll, my Bionic Woman computer station (complete with punch card - that ought to date me for sure), a Cookie Monster wind up alarm clock, a Winnie the Pooh piggie bank, and some other games that I had forgotten all about that I though my kids might like to see.

My mom gave me, or actually she gave to Hadyn, her play tea set from her childhood. One of which is a pink depression glass set. Once I get home, I'll try to remember to take pictures and post.

Anyway, this week, the kids and I stayed to visit and to help clean out a bit. I have come to discover that my mother has a real problem with throwing things away or letting things go. That scares me, because I can look in my garage right now and wonder how much of that stuff do I really need? How much of it is truly collectible and how much is junk? Will my kids really care about that "thing" or will they just toss or sell it when they clean out my stuff? You know, you can't take it with you and there are people that live very fulfilled lives without all the "stuff". I don't want to be unsentimental, but geez, how much do we really need to keep?

I guess that's why scrapbooking is such a big deal.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Braids

We are visiting my family for the holiday and are staying with my sister, Jodi. Jodi has three grown sons (two of which are in the military awaiting deployment), but no daughters - although she does have three granddaughters. So, when my little bitty baby girl shows up, Auntie Jo has lots of fun with her. Every morning so far, Auntie Jo has been braiding Hadyn's hair:

Missy Bit just loves it and will actually sit still long enough for Auntie Jo to braid it. I haven't been in the inner sanctum to see what is going on between Auntie and Baby, but it must be something special for them. This morning, Hadyn kept asking, "An Do? (her way of saying Auntie Jo?) Bebe hair?" So the two of them disappeared and later appeared with another beautiful hairdo.

I hope I will be able to do this when we get back home. We may have to have "An Do" move in with us!!!

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Times Have Changed...For Us, Anyway

We went to a Christmas Tree lighting ceremony tonight in a nearby "village" and Santa was making a grand appearance. Everyone in this town had shown up to see the Big Guy and stand in line for pictures and requests. As Santa made his way to the center of attention on a fire truck, I had to laugh a bit. We, among all the others in this crowd, were reacting to Santa's arrival as if waiting for a rock star.

The fire truck pulled up and everyone who could rushed over to see Santa emerge from the vehicle. I could hear a guy on the stage asking for everyone to clear a path so Santa could come through. Then he appeared. Screams and yells for Santa went up. And so did the kids, up on the shoulders of all the parents. All of sudden, I had a flashback to the rock-n-roll concert years of my much younger days and the crowd reactions then. Of course the persons on top of shoulders then weren't 2-6 years old and weren't always completely dressed, either. But the cheers were the same.

You can barely see Santa on the stage in this pic. Yup, I remember this view of a few bands back in the day.


Anyway, it was a great time for my kids. Hunter was in awe of seeing Santa and Hadyn was excited, too, to see "TinTa". Man, times sure have changed for us. But I sure love these times much more!!

This is Hunter in front of the corral where "Donner" and "Blitzen" are hanging out.


We also got to meet "Mrs. Claus" and have a pic with her. Hadyn wasn't too sure about her, though. Maybe next year.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Christmas Shopping

Well, Hadyn has started her Christmas wish list. She was "shopping" the Toys-R-Us catalog (what her brother left for her) for baby dolls and kitchen sets.

This is what I saw when I walked into the living room this morning:


Yup. We're in for it. She's just a little chip off of the Mommy block!!

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Perspective

Driving Hunter to class today (we home-school, but he has a weekly class at a museum), I passed by an old gas station that has been closed for some time. When we started driving past it in September, Scott and I would laugh wondering how long that station had been closed since the prices on the banner outside were still marked at $2.65. In September, we would have done just about anything for that price on gas. I mean, wow! That was cheap, wasn't it???

Now, as I pass stations with gas as low as $1.75, I laugh once again at the little closed station thinking, yeah, right buddy, no one wants to pay THAT MUCH for gas.

Just a few months has completely changed my perspective on that subject. Makes me wonder what else changes in such a short period of time??

Monday, November 17, 2008

Yet, Again!

This is not a picture of us, but the message is the same! Keep reading for why!!

A church friend has asked her blog followers to post about something that your husband owns that drives you crazy. Well, as far as I know, and we've been together for 15 years, Scott doesn't own anything that drives me crazy. No, what he brought to our relationship is his inability to carry more than one thing in from the car.

I will load myself down like a pack mule (much like the poor lady in the above pic) and carry my purse, the diaper bag, the baby if she's kicked off her shoes - otherwise, she walks!, whatever else happens to be in the front seat with me, then perhaps a bag of groceries or the toys the kids have run off and left in the car, all the while fishing for the right key to open the house door, then closing the garage door to boot!!

Scott, bless his heart, will park the car, get out, leave anything he came with and "help" me by getting Hadyn out of the car seat, and going to open the house door. Meanwhile, I'm pack-mule-ing up and when I walk in, he says, "I was going to come get all of that." Yeah, babe, I'm sure you were, in about 30 trips or so.

I've blogged about this before and was told via comments, it isn't just my DH who has this syndrome, it is many. He is so good in so many ways - he is shampooing the carpets right now!! But this thing - arrggh! Can make a woman crazy.

Nope, no "stuff", but plenty of weird baggage!

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Sick Baby

I was greeted this morning by a sweet little bitty girl climbing into bed with me and giving me sweet hugs and kisses (her big brother will get her out of bed in the morning and then come to get us up). Oh, how I relished those precious little hands reaching around my neck and those beautiful little bitty lips reaching up to shower Mommy with kisses. Wow.

Then things went sour. Hadyn wanted breakfast and while Daddy was getting some cuddles so I could make her some toast (her request), she barfed on Dad. We were supposed to go for pictures at my neighbors house (we went yesterday, but her sweet little bitty deleted all the pics from her camera...oops!), but with this, I wasn't so sure. However, she seemed to bounce back and I though maybe something just didn't set well on her tummy and now that it was out, she was fine. But about thirty minutes later, we started the whole thing over again.

Bless her baby heart. It always breaks my heart to have a sick baby. They don't always know why they feel this way and don't know when it will ever end. She fell asleep in my arms at 10AM. I knew for sure then that she wasn't feeling well. She napped for an hour, then was up for a little bit but would not leave my lap or arms. We've watched Spongebob, Veggie Tales - multiple episodes, more Spongebob, Jay Jay the Jet Plane, Spongebob again, Hannah Montana, and now Shrek. She's taken a couple of naps and had a high temp of 103 and now is hovering around 98-99.

Hopefully this is a short lived episode of some kind of bug. She seems to be fine right now. She's talking non stop and begging me for my iced tea. The girl loves to sneak my sweet tea. And she's asking me for mackychee (mac-n-cheese).

Yup, she's better. Now, let's pray all the rest of us stay well!!

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

From the Mouth of Babes...again...

Anyone who has followed my blog for a while may remember when Hunter asked me "how many Kennedy's do you have in your body?" Well, word slip boy hits again.

At the dinner table tonight, Hunter so wistfully said, "we should have a Passover meal someday." Wow! I was blown away, I mean, Scott and I had talked about trying to do that with our family, but we hadn't moved on it yet. One of our church pastors, Steve Lucas, had said at one time that his family observes Passover and I think maybe other Jewish celebrations. Why? Well, think about it, if you are adopted into a family, you would take on the traditions of that family, right? As Christians, we've been adopted into a Jewish family. Of course, we have our own celebrations, but why wouldn't we celebrate and observe the traditions of our adopted family? So when Hunter suggested this, I was thrilled...until....

Yeah. Hunter wants to have a passover dinner. One where all the food is on the table and we "pass" the plates "over" each other to get our own food out.

Thanksgiving, babe. It's called Thanksgiving.

Sigh.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

A Quiet Place

Most mothers know there is no place you can escape your children...they will hunt you down. This thought occurred to me this morning as I tried to have a quiet moment to myself for, well, you know, a "bathroom moment". Through the closed door I listened to the little voices growing louder, "Mommmmmyyy", "Mommmmmm?", "Mommy?", "Where did Mom go?", "where Mommy?", "Missy? Have you seen Mom?", and on and on. Okay, they both know where I am. They are both standing outside the closed door doing this. If I answer them, they'll try to carry on a conversation with me. If I ignore their calls, they'll continue on. There is no escape.

My mother told me one time of a similar story. My mother has four children with a 15 year age span. At some point in time with all four in the house, she chose to escape. In our house, there was only one bathroom, so that was not a good place to escape to, but we did have a basement in which the pantry held a freezer containing ice cream. Mom said she had to get away one day, so she went to the basement pantry, grabbed a fudgcicle from the freezer and sat on a stool in the pantry enjoying her treat and the show going on upstairs...much like my own this morning, with the constant calls of "where's Mom?" My dad finally found her in her hidey hole and when he told her the kids were looking for her, she answered, "yes, I know."

He was surprised that she would go to such lengths to hide, but then again, Dads usually get to go tinkle by themselves. Maybe one of these days I will once again get that experience.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Where Do They Learn This?

Scott and I ask ourselves and each other this question rather often concerning our children: "where do they learn this?" Of course, the question is answered at some point in our own behaviors, comments, actions, etc.

For example, today after lunch, the kids were sitting at the table having a Popsicle. I put on some music and started dancing around the kitchen being all goofy and everything. I was having fun watching the ice treat eating faces just blankly staring at me until Hadyn ROLLED HER EYES AT ME!! I mean, it was so obvious and it was watching a 2 year old foreshadowing to her teen years and saying, "ohmagosh Maawwwmmmmm! How embarrassing!" Then the 2 year old came back and started cracking up at herself...or at me...I'm still not sure. My jaw was on the ground and then I realized that while I was thinking, "where did she learn THAT?" I rolled MY eyes. Oh. Yeah. That's where she learned it. Oh boy. I told Scott the other day when he was asking about her temper and demanding nature, "I'm sorry, babe, but she is me." I've matured somewhat, she hasn't. Bless his heart. He has two of us.

But don't feel entirely sorry for Scott. Hunter is every bit his Daddy. Things that are said from that boy's mouth originated from his Daddy's. Hunter gets a swat on the tuckus and sent to his room...maybe I should call Scott's mom and see if she can swat him, too. He has Daddy's good qualities, too, like telling mom at just the right time how much he loves me and how I'm the best mom in the world. Yeah, he's his Daddy's boy all right.

I love my babies. Life is certainly an adventure with them.

Friday, November 7, 2008

Growin' Old Together

I made a mistake this morning. I took my mirror, went to my glass back door with all the bright morning sunlight coming in and sat down to look at my face (and pluck eyebrows in natural light). Ewwww. Not a really pleasant sight for my eyes. You see, my mind tells me that I am still a very young woman. I mean, I have two young children so I must be young, right? Either that or my children are aging me very quickly.

Anyway, I noticed how age has crept up on me. Oh, not that I think I look old, I still think I look young enough, but the harsh brightness of sunlight lets me know different. Then I started to think about women my age and older who lose their husbands to divorce or death and have to start over. I would not want to start over for anything. I pray that God does not have that in his plan for me. Where would you start? And do you want to find someone who looks as old as you? Do you have "work" done so you look as old as your mind tells you that you are? Yuk.

I went and hugged Scott extra tight after all that ran through my mind. When I told him what was going on, he remarked on how he was looking older, too. Yeah, but that's okay with me. Because we are growing older together. I don't want to do it by myself.

Of course, I think my children may be aging me at a tremendous speed right now. But that's a tale for another time. HA!

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

New President

Well, the election is over (finally) and we have a new President. It may not be the choice of around 49% of Americans, but Barack Obama is now the President Elect of the United States of America. So, what do we do? We support our new President as EVERY American should. He was not my choice, but that is irrelevant now. Hunter saw the results coming in last night before he went to bed and was very concerned with all the blue he saw on the map. I told him that the election wasn't over, but even if Obama won, we should always respect the office of the President, that he would be THE President of OUR United States of America. God is in control, not us, so let's support our new president and let God lead us in our coming future.

God Bless America!!

Monday, November 3, 2008

Racin' Weekend





Hunter had a terrific weekend! It was race weekend here in Texas so we started it off on Thursday by taking Hunter to Grapevine to meet the NASCAR driver of the #6 car, David Ragan, and then meet Fox Sports commentator (and former crew chief), Jeff Hammond. David is a young guy with a great future ahead of him, but for right now, his public persona needs a little polishing. This young sweetie was signing autographs without looking up much, if at all. I had told Hunter before we got in line to be sure to introduce yourself and tell him it is nice to meet him. So when Hunter got to the front of the line, David was head down and engaged in conversation with the gentleman beside him. I was so bummed that he wasn't even going to look at Hunter. Then my little race car driver said, "Hi! I'm Hunter and it is very nice to meet you." At this, young David stops his conversation, looks up at my little bitty and says, "Well, hi, Hunter, it's nice to meet you, too. I'm going to sign this 'to: Hunter'." Wow! All it took was a little boy saying, "hi." Then I asked if we could have a picture and he pulled up a chair for Hunter to sit down beside him. Wow! Again!

A little bit later, Jeff Hammond came in for autographs and we got in line again. Jeff is much more experienced and polished, but Hunter did his same greeting and he again received a personalized autograph and another picture.

When we left Grapevine on Thursday, I nearly had to tie Hunter to the car to keep him from floating away. This kid was in the clouds! So was I, for him. How cool! But it didn't end there.
On Friday, we went to Texas Motor Speedway for NASCAR Sprint Cup practice and qualifying. Casey Mears, the driver of the #5, was on hand for autographs as well. So, we jumped in line and again, another picture and personalized autograph. Then the man himself, Jeff Gordon, came out on the stage for a short Q&A and Hunter again was in the clouds! But to top off Friday, Jeff Gordon got the pole for Sunday's race and we were there to watch it! Whoo!

Sunday was race day and we had purchased tickets in June for this race for Hunter's birthday. It was a awesome day and he is still buzzing around the house talking about how cool the race was. Yeah, I think he's hooked.

But we are, too!!

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Daylight Savings Time

Daylight Savings Time (DST) ends this weekend and we are back on Standard Time. Finally. As an adult paying the electric bills, I really detest DST. I read an article this morning from the Wall Street Journal suggesting that DST doesn't save electricity as was the original plan, but rather, wastes it. Well, yeah, duh. If the Spring/Summer/Fall supposed seasons run into 100+ degrees every day and daylight lasts until after 9PM, then my air conditioner is running longer and harder every day which means so is everyone else around me.

I propose that the great state of Texas do away with DST and save $$ on our valuable electricity. It will still be light outside for our activities in the Summer and cool off a bit so that we can actually enjoy them.

Who's with me? Let's get this started. Who do we call?

Saturday, October 25, 2008

See You at the Polls

I usually don't like to pass around political musings. I consider myself more Independent than either side. I do this because there are people on both sides of the political spectrum that I just don't want to be lumped in with. But there are things that I'm concerned about with this election. A friend and I have been trading information on both candidates in a very friendly, Christian way to show why we believe our candidate of choice is the way we are going. I told my friend that I don't think either man is the wrong man for the job, but I'm very concerned about the controlling party in Congress depending on who gets the gig.

Then this article crosses my laptop from our home-school coalition. It's a bit lengthy, but pretty much sums up my Christian concerns. Some of it may be a bit far fetched, but how much? And do we really want to find that out too late? And I just love the part about home-schoolers. See you at the polls.

End of Day --10/22/08

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

To: Friends & Supporters

From: Gary L. Bauer




COUNTDOWN TO NOVEMBER 4TH: 13 DAYS TO ELECTION DAY


The Angry Left vs. Middle America

In past reports, I have warned that the "angry Left" is not trying to win an election, it is trying to destroy the conservative movement. Once in power, it intends to use the force of Big Government to shut down Christian and conservative talk radio with the Fairness Doctrine. Pastors will be gagged by "hate crimes" legislation. Religious liberty will be further threatened when a new liberal Supreme Court majority redefines marriage in every state of the union.

Liberal labor bosses will get sweeping new powers, including stripping the right to a secret ballot from workers. Radical leftwing groups like ACORN and Planned Parenthood will get more of your tax dollars to promote leftwing candidates and causes. And all the while, Big Media will hail the "new Great Society" as Joe the Plumber is taxed to "spread the wealth" for socialized health care and "tax cuts" to those who don't pay income taxes.

But before any of this can become a reality, the Left must seize power at the ballot box. ACORN has been doing its part – working overtime to register new voters – real and imagined, including Mickey Mouse and a dead goldfish. Its efforts have seriously gummed up the process and are creating chaos for elections officials and poll workers in critical states. (This week, all nine Republican senators on the Judiciary Committee have signed a letter demanding an investigation into ACORN's activities. Why aren't any Democrats concerned?)

In recent weeks, we have received many messages from McCain/Palin supporters telling us that their yard signs have been torn down and ripped up. I have seen it in my own neighborhood in the Washington, D.C., suburbs. Today, there is a news report that the home of Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman was vandalized. His garage was spray painted with this ominous warning: "You are a criminal. Resign or else."

Yesterday, five CodePink protestors interrupted a speech by Karl Rove and tried to handcuff him in a citizen's arrest for "treason." Did anyone try to arrest Harry Reid for saying the war in Iraq was "lost"? Did anyone try to arrest John Murtha for calling our Marines "cold-blooded killers"?

Now one Washington, D.C., news outlet is reporting that police departments coast-to-coast are "preparing for possible civil unrest and riots" on Election Day. According to The Hill, "Some worry that if Barack Obama loses and there is suspicion of foul play in the election, violence could ensue…Others based the need for enhanced patrols on past riots … and also on Internet rumors."

This is America, not some banana republic. We have been holding peaceful elections and respectful transitions of power for over 200 years. Yet, why are police suddenly worried about riots on Election Day? Who will be rioting? The angry Left. The same folks who stormed the streets during the Republican National Convention; who turn out to shout obscenities at our soldiers when they are deployed overseas; who regularly shout down conservative speakers on college campuses and who protest capitalism during major economic summits.

James Carville has already warned us that "it would be very, very, very dramatic out there" if Obama loses. Carville said, "A lot of Democrats would have a great deal of angst and anger." Is that a threat? Of course, no one worries about riots if Senator McCain loses. People like you respect the rule of law and put our country first.

Friends, I almost didn't write this article today. I worry that it might demoralize and frighten some of you. But we cannot live in a spirit of fear. Men and women of faith should not try to intimidate or shout down our opponents, as the Left does. We should calmly, patiently and respectfully talk to them. We should not try to handcuff anyone. We should pray for them. We shouldn't vandalize property. We should vote!

This is our country, too. We must not be intimidated. We have every right to be involved in the public process and to have our voices heard and respected. As Dr. Dobson said on his radio show today, we can decide the outcome of this election.


What's At Stake

It's difficult to overemphasize just how important it is for everyone to vote in this historic election, because I do believe our values are stake. Just consider these points and how John McCain and Barack Obama would respond to each one:

  • Five Supreme Court justices will be 70 years old or older next year. The two most liberal justices will be 76 and 89. Think about the potential consequences for the right to life, the meaning of marriage and the Second Amendment.

  • The Bush tax cuts will expire during the next president's first term. That means income taxes will go up. The per child tax credit will be cut in half. Taxes on dividends and capital gains will go up, and like a monster in a bad movie, the confiscatory "death tax" will return in all its horror.

  • The free world remains at war with Islamofascism. Earlier this week the Associated Press reported that radical Islam is on the rise in the Middle East. And Israeli press are reporting that an adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is recommending a preemptive strike against Israel. Is this the crisis Biden is warning about? Obama supporter Jesse Jackson has said that in an Obama Administration, pro-Israel "Zionists" will be out.


Conservatives must vote for John McCain, Sarah Palin and conservative congressional candidates. Not voting or voting for a third-party candidate with no chance is as good as voting for Obama. And after listening to Sarah Palin's interview with Dr. Dobson today, I'm even more excited about voting. We clearly have a lot to vote for!

And don't forget about the ballot initiatives. Folks in Arizona, California and Florida can vote FOR traditional marriage. Folks in California, Colorado and South Dakota can vote FOR the right to life.

But we also have a lot to lose. In recent days, Sarah Palin and Rep. Michele Bachmann have been excoriated in the media for their comments about patriotism. But I doubt many of you heard the following quote from a major Democrat Senate candidate, Mark Warner in Virginia. He said:

"One of the things you are going to see is a coalition that is just about completely taken over the Republican Party … It is made up of the Christian Coalition… It is made up of the right-to-lifers… It's made up of the NRA … It is made up of the home schoolers… It's made up of a whole coalition of people that have all sorts of differing views that I think most of us in this room would find threatening to what it means to be an American."


Mark Warner delivered the keynote address at the Democrat National Convention this year. Warner was recruited heavily by national Democrats to run for an open Senate seat this year. While Warner's derogatory comment was not new, it reflects his values and those of the Angry Left.

And it's not very different from Barack Obama's comment about "bitter Americans clinging to their guns and religion" or the anti-American remarks of Bill Ayers or Jeremiah Wright, who screamed from the pulpit, "God D--- America." It's clear that in the Angry Left's America, there won't be much tolerance for men and women of faith.

In the remaining days of this campaign, ignore the polls and ignore the media. They told us Ronald Reagan could never win and he won in a landslide. They told us America had lost the war in Iraq, but, thanks to John McCain, we are winning. Now they say John McCain cannot win. I say Middle America hasn't spoken yet, but its voice will be heard loud and clear on November 4th!


Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Conspiracy Theory

Yeah, okay, I'll admit it, I like to assume conspiracies on the part of big business, governments, etc. occasionally. So now, I've figured another one out: Gas Prices! See, it was always the plan for gas prices to be around $2.50-$2.60, but "they" knew we would whine and complain about it, so "they" jacked the prices up to and over $4 bucks so when the prices "dropped" down to $2.60, we would celebrate and sing praises to the oil and gas companies.

HA! I've figured it out!!

Or not.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

New Interest?



One of our home-school groups has a team that just competed in a local robotics competition against area high schools (and a few middle school teams). Our team ended up in 3rd place overall out of 22 teams!! And most of our kids are in 5th grade, from what I hear, so more kuddos to their teachers (parents) and of course, to the kids themselves.

Hunter had signed up to be on the Jr. team for this competition, which would have just "watched" and "supported", but learned more along the way. But he ended up being the only junior to attend an initial meeting, so the decision was made not to have a Jr. team. However, the parent leaders kept Hunter in the loop of the progress and offered him to be included in the process if he so wished. Timing kept us from going to some of the beginning meetings - and I don't think Hunter's interest would have been kept for long in the design phase, but when the robot was up and running and the team was practicing driving for the competition, Hunter went over to watch and was invited to "drive" the robot.

He was in Heaven! That's all he could talk about all day long. Then this Saturday we went to the competition event and he saw the other school's robots. He thought his team's robot was better and kids were better drivers. And yeah, from what I saw, pretty much.

Anyway, he is all into robotics now and can't wait for the next junior opportunity to get involved somehow. Cool. He's never been into sports - except for NASCAR - so this may give him something to "do". Yea!!

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

No Wonder I'm Tired

I just found out tonight why I'm so tired.

My parents are moving from the house I grew up in. I was 3 months old when they moved into that house. My mother told my sister, Jodi, that they had been in that house for 50 years and had so much to go through.

To which Jodi replied, "Fifty years, huh? I can't wait to call Lori and let her know that."

The reason I would be concerned...I turned FORTY at my last birthday as far as I know. But the one person in this world that you would think would remember when I was born is saying she's been in the house for 50 years -the house they moved into when I was an infant.

No wonder I'm so tired. I'm 10 years older than I thought I was. Dang, I look good for 50.

From Mars

Do you ever have the feeling that someone just does not like you? Do you ever know why that is? There is a lady at my church that looks at me like I'm from Mars nearly every time I see her. She was a mentor mom in a mom group I was in a few years ago and I thought that would give us a better chance to get to know each other, but no, she avoided me like the plague and again, gave me the look. I read blogs from other friends and talk to other people who just nearly - not entirely - worship the ground she walks on, so to mention this to them would elicit the looks from Mars as well. I know that I have never been rude to this lady - I've had no reason - I've always greeted her and her family anytime I have seen them, but still...the look. I actually ran into her at a restaurant recently as we were leaving and went to greet her. She and her table mate gave me the look and then she sighed and asked if we were coming or going. I replied that we were just leaving, but I saw them and wanted to come say hello. And that was about all of that conversation. I certainly don't try to force myself on her or anyone else for that matter, but I won't be rude.

Yeah, it bothers me to the point of wondering did I inadvertently do something so long ago to really hack this woman off to the point of holding a grudge for years and years (I've been at my church for over 12 years - this has been on going since the beginning), or does she just not like the way I look? Or my husband? Or my children? Or what?

Now, there are people that I just don't like, and it's usually been over an attitude toward me or my family. But I have always greeted them and been friendly because I can't change them, but I can change my attitude towards them. If this lady is holding a grudge from the beginning, it most certainly could have been over an attitude of mine in the early days - I was 12 years younger and very immature in many ways.

Perhaps I am still immature in many ways if this still bugs me when I see her or hear people raving over how wonderful a person she is. Or maybe I'm just hurt that I would love to get to know such a wonderful woman better and feel left out of that circle. Again, immaturity. Jealousy, maybe.

Just needed to be a little transparent and throw this out there. Thanks for listening.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Sad Day for Hunter

It was a sad day in McKinney today for a little boy watching a race going on in Talladega, Alabama. Jeff Gordon was doing really well today and Hunter was so excited...until...well, a blown tire on another car took Jeff out of the race - and out of championship contention.

Hunter buried himself under pillows on the couch. I asked him to come sit with me and a very teary sounding - but muffled - voice said, "why? I'm not crying." He did sit with me for a short while, but soon left the room to go mourn in his Jeff Gordon sanctuary of a bedroom.

As much as some people may not like JG, I think he is great. My little boy sees a leader of a man admitting mistakes and accepting blame when necessary and no matter what, always praising his team and their hard work.

Yeah, it was a bummer seeing him leave the track, and it was discouraging to see Hunter so upset, but it is always a good thing to be able to talk about things like this - that life doesn't always go the way we want it too - and how we can praise God in all things, no matter what.

Sorry, Jeff, but thanks for the good lesson!

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Princess Diva



Hadyn loves "nunns" and "wings". For you without innate knowledge of almost 2 year old speech, this means necklaces and rings (I haven't figured out what bracelets are called). Oh, my, how we love to dress up in our nunns and wings. So much so, I found a little shelf for her growing jewelry collection.

Fitting, don't you think?

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Pushing

Hunter and I have head to head combat occasionally. Oh, not in any violent way, but in a Mother/Teacher to Son/Pupil type of way. There are those times when he will decide on his own that something is just too hard to do and all of a sudden, he "can't do it." I really don't like those words and usually won't let them fly too far out of his mouth before "yes, you can," leaves mine.

The math curriculum we have this year is Singapore Math, which moves very quickly and is more advanced on grade level than what we would be doing in public school this year. I'm trying to make up ground from what he forgot/didn't get last year in school. So to really drill in addition math facts, I found a worksheet that has 100 boxes on it with all the math fact equations (you know, 0+1 through 9+9). The worksheet goes on top of a blank paper and the student then fills in the answers in the boxes.

When we started this worksheet on September 11th, I decided to time Hunter to see how long it would take him to do this sheet. I clocked him at 26:49. This time was atrocious! So, I set a goal for him. If he could get the time down to 8 minutes, I'd take him to Bono's Race Shop so he could pick out a new NASCAR car. We did the worksheet 3-4 times a week and charted and graphed his progress. Each time we did the sheet, his time would get better, then go back up, then progress down, on and on. Finally, on this past Monday, Hunter hit 8:30. The goal was 8 minutes so we were super close. Tuesday morning we sat down with the worksheet and talked over some problem problems and discussed how we "skip" answers we don't know immediately then come back to them later. I started the stop watch and watched my little boy blitz through these addition math facts. He hit the end and went back to the top to skim for skipped questions, answered all of them, and I hit "stop". The time on the watch was amazing to us... 6 minutes and 45 seconds!!!

We sang and danced all over the kitchen. So, yes, we went to Bono's on Wednesday and Hunter got to combine his two loves: Jeff Gordon and Speed Racer with a new 1/64th diecast car.

What a fantastic accomplishment for him (and for me). I told him that I knew he could do it and that I will continue to push him when I know he needs it, so just get used to it. I love seeing him happy with himself.

Yea!!

Sunday, September 28, 2008

P-E-O-P-L-E

P-e-o-p-l-e. That is usually what my husband spells out for me when I naively ask a "why?" type of question about something or someone that I have encountered. Not that either one of us think of ourselves as higher beings or anything of the sort. And we know we are most certainly lumped into p-e-o-p-l-e, too.

I love the quote in Men In Black as K is talking to James Edwards about joining the MIB:
Edwards: Why the big secret? People are smart. They can handle it.
Kay: A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it. Fifteen hundred years ago everybody knew the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was flat, and fifteen minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on this planet. Imagine what you'll know tomorrow.
I been at two community consignment sales (for kids clothes/toys/etc) the past two weekends. For both sales, the last part, whether a whole day or just a couple of hours, was designated as 1/2 price sale. The consigner could choose to mark his/her items to be sold for 1/2 price or not. After the sale, the consigner could also choose to donate the left over items to charity or to pick up. Okay, I've been a consigner for one of these sales and I placed items in the sale that I was cleaning out...I did not want them back and if I could make at least 1/2 my marked price, then that is more than I was making on it sitting in my garage. And if it could be donated for someone else to use, then good. Better than sitting in around here doing nothing but taking up space. But that is me. So, I find it amazing to see all the Do Not Donate tags or Do Not Discount markings on children's items that have been worn, used, played with, and are not going to be gold mines of opportunities for more cash other places. But again, that is me. And I'll just sing Scott's p-e-o-p-l-e song.

My other "why" question of late has been over family. Seems that almost everyone is in crisis of some sort. And more often than not, the crisis is of their own making. Yet, these p-e-o-p-l-e keep looking to someone else to bail them out of their own crisis. I guess I get a little more agitated about this since it is family. With the other stuff, I can roll my eyes and sing the song and go on my merry way (probably with someone singing their own "people" song about me! HA!). But with family, I can't just walk away.

Then the big questions hit. Why am I so bothered by this? Am I a closet control freak and I can't do anything about this? Or is it because I've lived so much of this stupidity and have come out of it that I can't understand why others haven't come out yet? Or because I let go of worry, fear, control (an everyday battle) and strive to live my life in joy, not because of religion, but because of a relationship with Jesus and I so want my family to do the same?

Yeah, the last one is probably more to target.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Oh, Bother. I've been Tagged!

Thanks, Holly.
I've been "tagged". I've seen a few variations of this floating around the blogging world and looks like I've been hit. So, apparently, I am to post the rules and then follow them. Well, here goes:

The "rules" of the game are as follows:
1. Post the rules on your blog
2. Write 6 random things about yourself
3. Tag 6 people at the end of your post
4. If you're tagged, DO IT and pass on the tag

Okay, rules posted, now to think of something random about myself.

1. I don't like being wet. I take showers because I hate stinking worse than being wet. Not a big fan of swimming. I'm made of sugar...I might melt.

2. I was the anchor leg of the mile relay team in HS track. At any given time there were only 1 or 2 of us that gave a hoot about being good, thus the reason I was the anchor leg - to try to catch up.

3. With a little patience and focus, I can usually teach myself to do just about anything...most of the time when someone has told me that I can't do it. Yeah, stubborn...that's not random info though, that's common knowledge.

4. I've attended 5 different colleges and have 2 Associate degrees to show for it. You'd think I could put it all together and have a doctorate by now. I was considering becoming a professional student at one point. I could never settle down for that long after being freed from my home town.

5. I wanted to be a Stormtrooper from Star Wars when I grew up. I liked the white click clackie uniforms. Maybe that's why I like my white click clackie Mac iBook and iPod. Does this mean that Steve Jobs is Darth Vader?

6. I like nice neat orderly things. I pick up things all day long in my house to make sure it stays neat and orderly - fairly. I have no problem throwing away things that don't get used. Too bad I use so much of the stuff laying around here.

Okay, there is my 6 random bits of info about me, now onto tagging 6 other bloggers:
Kristy, you're up, sister.
Cate, I'm sure you have some witty things to add.
Stacee, I'd just like to know more about you.
Maria, you haven't posted in a while, this will give you something to post on. :)
Andrea, oh, anyone with another 7 year old Hunter needs to do this, too!
and Janet, as if you didn't have enough to do.

Okay, there you have it. If you haven't been tagged and are reading this, please feel free to post a comment with your 6 random things.

Enjoy!

Monday, September 15, 2008

Less Than Pleasant

Okay, I admit it...I have been a little on edge today and I probably could have been a bit more pleasant at the store this afternoon, but doggonit, give me a break, people!!

I just don't understand why a person has to park their grocery cart and walk somewhere else to retrieve an item and then rather than hurry back to their basket to move it out of the way, will just stand and continue to block the progress of anyone else waiting to get to a cart-blocked item.

THEN, when the person returns to the cart with others waiting to get to those blocked items, does person move the cart? NO! Person peruses over items in the basket and checks and double checks. Okay, okay, I'm still calm, she probably has a lot on her mind and it is just a slip - not an everyday rudeness. We all have those moments.

So I round the corner to get down another aisle blocked by woman on phone and friend with cart. Phone lady gets off the phone, I say very politely, "excuse us" (us, because I have family with me), and cart friend sees me, but says nothing to phone lady. "Excuuusse Usss," I say a little more sweetly but a touch louder. Cart friend still just looks at me while phone lady continues conversation with her. "Yeah, HEY, Hello! Excuse US!" Well, now they both stop and look at me, then move and I see them continue to look at me as we go down the aisle. Yes, I could have and should have continued to be more polite, but apparently it was getting me nowhere...and now I'm the rude lady in the store according to these two.

Final straw: I had a dozen eggs, some of which mysteriously broke in my basket (two children in and around basket - yeah, it's a mystery). So I picked up another dozen eggs. Now, how many times have you picked up eggs in the refrigeration aisle to find them busted open? Unpleasant, isn't it? So, I though I would be polite and take the eggs to the front so they could determine what to do with them from there - instead of leaving them to be found later. The cashier, who not only didn't speak very clear English, also didn't understand it that well, either, kept trying to scan the broken eggs so he could "exchange" them for me. "No, I haven't purchased those eggs and I don't want to, I just didn't want to leave broken eggs in the back." Again, he wanted to scan the eggs for me. "NO, I don't want THOSE eggs, I haven't purchased THOSE eggs, I want THESE eggs, I just didn't want to leave broken eggs for someone else to find." This went on for a while before he finally told me they would just throw them away. Pity, there were some good eggs left in the carton. But after all of that, who am I to argue with store policy?

So, yeah, I could've been way more pleasant today. Way more. Sorry 'bout that.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Luann - Home school comic

YES!!! I love it! This was forwarded to me from one of our very "social" home-school groups.

Beautiful Babies

It's been a day. Not a bad day at all, just a day. I love home-schooling Hunter and challenging Hadyn on new things, too. It's really a SAHM (stay-at-home-mom) dream. But there are the not so dreamy parts of the day, too. I am finding it very challenging for myself to educate a 7 year old and entertain an almost 2 year old at the same time while Daddy is in his home office working. It's not impossible, just challenging.

And then there is the constant cleaning. I find myself with an almost OCD type of thing going on when I walk into a room with toys and stuff scattered all over the floor. I feel compelled to stop, bend over, pick it up, and put it where it belongs. All day long I do this. So by the end of the day, I'm toast.

After dinner and kitchen clean up, I just want a nice neat house to look at. So, I've sent my children to Hadyn's room to play.

And that is where the beautiful babies part kicks in. My son and daughter are playing so preciously together right now. They are "cooking" and bringing me all sorts of taste treats to try out. Some, I tell them are wonderful, and some need some more work. They think it is funny and they are enjoying playing with each other. Hadyn just adores her "bubby" and Hunter finds it fun to play "down" with his sister sometimes. I just love watching them play in the room together then run down the hallway to give me a treat. So precious.

And beautiful. Yup. God loves me.

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Political Rant

Okay, I'm going to make some people mad here, I'm sure, but I have to get this off of my chest. Presidential politics is kicking off in high gear and from what I'm seeing so far, we are going to be as divided a country as we have been in the past two elections (at least).

The topic that is really getting my goat today is abortion. I just read that the Obama campaign is putting out an anti-McCain ad regarding McCain's stance on anti-abortion. A comment was made stating that John McCain will make it illegal for women to have an abortion...women would no longer have a choice.

What??? Women would no longer have a choice? Sister, you have a choice from before the first time you drop your drawers! Women still have and will always have the choice to say "no," or to protect themselves against unwanted pregnancies or insist that their partner do the same. To say that women would no longer have a choice is such an asinine statement to make. Everyone pretty much knows how babies are made and if you go through the motions, then you most certainly have made your choice.

I rant about this because I know some women personally who would pitch a fit about not being able to have their "oops" abortions - multiple "oops", even though they certainly know their bodies and what their bodies are capable of doing, they continue to "make their choice". Yeah, stupidity is a good reason to keep it legal.

Why don't we see campaigns against anti-stupidity? I guess we'd all be illegal at some point in our life then, huh?

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Ewww. Yuk.

There is nothing that will get my attention faster or make me jump higher than to be greeted by a precious little-bitty blonde with her five adorable little fingers sticking up in the air showing me, "Mommy, poopoo."

Ewwww!! Yukkkk!! Run, run, run, to the bathroom, don't touch anything on the way, barf, gag, ewww, yuk.

Apparently, she has become quite aware of her bodily functions AFTER the fact. I've tried to introduce the potty, which she loves to sit on, but just doesn't get the idea of what is actually supposed to happen while there. But she will tell me, "wee wee" and grab herself after the incident and of course she has to go examining herself to see what is the issue after the "poo poo" fact.

Ewww. But this is a stage we are in and it will pass all too quickly and later I'll reminiscence and laugh. However, I should be in really good shape for as much as I have to jump and run with her!!

Monday, September 1, 2008

New English Comedy Routine?

A headline on my Yahoo! news caught my attention and after reading it and getting a giggle out of it, I thought maybe this will show up as a new comedy routine somewhere - SNL perhaps?

Lloyds TSB - the 5th largest banking group in the UK had an issue with someone on staff taking offense at a client's password:

Steve Jetley of Shrewsbury discovered this firsthand, after he changed his telephone banking password to "Lloyds is pants" ("rubbish" to us American sods on the wrong side of the pond). Upon calling in, Jetley discovered that his "pants" password didn't match what was in the system. Instead, his password had been changed to "no it's not." Initially, this was no big deal.

"I thought it was actually quite a funny response," Jetley told the BBC. "But what really incensed me was when I was told I could not change it back to 'Lloyds is pants' because they said it was not appropriate. I asked if it was 'pants' they didn't like, and would 'Lloyds is rubbish' do? But they didn't think so."

"Barclays is better," didn't meet with approval either, seeing as how Barclays is another, even larger UK bank and a Lloyds competitor. At that point, Jetley was suddenly told that passwords had to be one word. When he offered "censorship" up as an appropriate password, he discovered passwords were required to be just one word, and no more than six letters long (not terribly secure, that). This undoubtedly came as something of a surprise, since his previous password had been accepted by the system, but the staff manager in question was apparently adamant.

Lloyds has since apologized, and told Jetley that the staff member had been let go. The bank also clarified its password policy, stating, "Customers can have any password they choose and it is not our policy to allow staff to change the password without the customer's permission." Lloyds did note that it is "disappointing" that Jetley chose to express his dissatisfaction by changing his password, indicating, perhaps, that he should have expressed his satisfaction by finding a different bank.

Oh, yeah, I can see this on SNL for sure.


Saturday, August 30, 2008

Easy Dinner Recipes and Easy Dessert

We had some very good friends over for dinner last night. We always enjoy their company and it had been a while since we had visited with them. Laura has celiac disease so I was not sure what I could prepare for her to eat. I googled (God bless Google, huh?) celiac disease recipes and of course came up with a ton of stuff. Okay, I'm not a gourmet chef by any stretch of the imagination, but I enjoy cooking dinner for my family and friends, so I was really at a loss here.

Ordinarily I might make chicken enchiladas or a meatloaf dinner, but both recipes have wheat flour - gluten - in them (I'll post my recipes below - I'm a short-cut cook - I like easy!!). So, we all decided that burgers and hot dogs on the grill would be great. Laura brought her own bun and everything else was okay for her.

But the highlight of my cooking evening was dessert. I found a flour-less peanut butter cookie recipe that fits my style: easy. Laura said it was the first pb cookie she had in over three years. I was so happy to oblige and she was happy for the simple recipe. We also had Breyer's All Natural Ice Cream and a chocolate syrup that I found at Market Street called AH!Laska Organic Chocolate Syrup that is gluten free, tree nut free, this free, that free, but FULL of wonderful chocolaty taste. Do I sound like a commercial? The cookies, the ice cream, the syrup, ahhhhh, was a taste delight.

Our evening ended way too soon, but we all had kiddos to put in bed so we'll have to get together again soon! But for those reading this, enjoy the recipes below:

Flour-less Peanut Butter Cookies
(good for those who can't eat gluten - and good for everyone else, too!!)
1 Cup Peanut Butter (I used an organic creamy, but whatever PB you use will work)
1 Cup Sugar
1 Egg
1 tsp real vanilla (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll into balls and place on greased cookie sheet or baking stone. Flatten in criss-cross with a fork. Bake 10-12 minutes and allow to cool. They might be crumbly, but oh so tasty.

Lori's Chicken Enchiladas
I cook without measuring many times, so bear with me on this.
Servings: oh, I don't know...four or so
2-3 chicken breasts
8 flour tortillas
1 pk cream cheese
1 tub of sour cream (I think it is the 8oz size - not the biggie)
1 small can of green chilies (I like Hatch the best)
grated cheddar cheese - how much depends on how much you like cheese, I guess!
1 can red Enchilada sauce (again, I like Hatch the best)

Oven on 350. Grease a glass baking dish (I would guess a cake pan will do the same) to hold enchiladas. Cut cooked chicken breasts into small pieces and set aside On each tortilla, spread equal amounts of cream cheese, then top with a dollop of sour cream - saving some sour cream for the top of your enchiladas. Spoon a little bit of green chilies on each tortilla, then place chicken on each tortilla. Sprinkle each tortilla with grated cheese then roll up and place side by side in greased dish. Top with remaining sour cream and top with enchilada sauce and more grated cheese. Pop in the oven until cheese is good and melted. Yummy. Tasty and most definitely not low fat!

Easy Meat Loaf
Again, I rarely measure anything. It's my Grandmothers' fault. They would add a pinch, throw in a dollop, smell if it is ready, etc.
1 pound lean ground beef
1 egg (maybe two depending on how much bread goes in)
1 cup spaghetti sauce (or ketchup, but sauce already has more seasonings in it)
1 cup bread crumbs (I have used the Italian seasoned crumbs)

Mix all together, pop in oven at 350 for about an hour and voila`, meatloaf. Easy. Add in some mashed potatoes and green beans and you're set for dinner.

Smart Politics?

John McCain (or the people around him) must be one of the most clever persons around. Following up on the heels of the Democratic National Convention, he announces his Vice-Presidential running mate, Alaska governor Sarah Palin - a woman!!!

No matter how this election turns out, it will be historic. We will either have our first woman VP or our first African-American president. How cool is that? As long as the candidates are ready and capable of leading and have the right stuff to do so, it is cool.

But I say John McCain is very clever because, well think about it....the Dems can't say she is too young because Obama is only three years older, if they say she doesn't have enough experience, well, Pot, meet Kettle. And the kicker for me was if anyone dare says she can't lead, or she's not ready because she has young children, especially a baby with Down's Syndrome, oh my, can you imagine the backlash from mothers all over the country?? Ouch.

Oh, it is politics and there will be more negatives pouring out of both camps than positives, and everyone's dirty laundry will be aired, but for this brief moment...the smartest move seems to be on the side of GOP.

Election year. Don't you just love it.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

School Daze

Home schooling is going pretty well for us so far. Hunter has told me on more than one occasion how much he is liking home school. He should. So far, we've gotten done with school work by 10 or 11 o'clock in the morning with an 8am starting time. Next week we'll add in a few more subjects, so it should take us until Noon to complete the work. Of course, that's not counting any outings we make.

On Monday we had a "Not Back to School" party with one of the home school groups and Hunter met another boy named Hunter, who is also 7 years old, and is also in 2nd grade. Both boys thought that was the coolest thing ever! Then yesterday we met up at our neighborhood park with another group and Hunter got to meet even more boys to play with.

I heard a moms yesterday talking about the "socialization" issue many have with home schoolers. The point was made that at "school" you meet and play with kids from your same age group and for the most part, the same socio-economic status (with district boundaries and all). In home school groups, you meet and play with kids of different ages and different socio-economic backgrounds. More likely what you'll meet and work with in the real world. I had not thought about it that way, but yeah, Hunter likes to play with older and younger kids as well as kids his age (and with the same name!).

Hadyn is just blending in with all of this so well. I realized today that she is actually going to be picking up on so much more than I would have been doing with her if Hunter were away at school all day. This morning I gave her a coloring book and her crayons at the table while we were doing school work. I had her repeat the color names back to me and then we would say them in Spanish. It was then I realized, I wouldn't be this detailed with her right now otherwise. And she seems to like having bubby around all the time, too.

Well, I'm being told it's lunchtime. And Backyardigans is almost over.

Monday, August 25, 2008

Back to School - Sort of

Today is the first day of school for many North Texas kiddos. Mine, too, however we are homeschooling, so it's back to school work, not necessarily back to school. Hunter was so excited this morning to start. We got up early and got ready as if we were leaving to make it to class by 8am, and at 8 o'clock, we started. He did a journal page - and wrote about how excited he is - then we started with our first day of work.

I'm using the My Father's World curriculum for 2nd grade, so everything is pretty much laid out for me. I've got a board on the wall showing what all we have scheduled for the day and will check off as we finish. Today we learned what the Pledge of Allegiance means:

I pledge (promise) allegiance (loyalty - to do good and not to harm) to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic (a government by the people, not a king) for which it stands, one nation (country) under God, indivisible (cannot be divided), with liberty (freedom) and justice (fair and right) for all.

We also did our Bible study lesson, part A of lesson 1 of the Spelling book, a history timeline, art, reading, and his music lesson (drums) before going to a "Not Back to School" party at
with one of our home school groups. He had a blast and so did little sister.

Tomorrow we'll add science, then next week comes the math and Spanish, then we'll add the English work in. And of course, we'll go to classes and play times with the home school groups.

Lot of fun to be had!!