Thursday, February 28, 2008

Thursday's Thumbs



Thumbs Up!

Movie- Flushed Away- My sister recommended this to us a few months ago. I tried to find it at Christmas time but it was nowhere to be found. Last week while I was waiting for the pharmacy to make my meds I finally found it in the movie section at Target, and it was only $12! This was a super cute movie, I liked the plot and the little singing slugs were adorable. I would recommend this movie whole heartedly. Two Thumbs Up!

Socks- Danskin Now- Today I tried a new pair of Danskin Now socks for my workout at the Y. I did 2o minutes on a stationary bike and my feet were HOT! I thought they were going to burst into flames at the end of the ride. My feet however stayed dry. Now I'm not sure if it was the sock or the shoe's fault for my feet being so hot, but I do have to say the socks kept my feet dry, and that's what they claim to do.

Thumbs Down!

I don't have any items for Thumbs Down this week.

That's not a booger!

Ok, I'm at my wits end with Joyanna today. She's into everything!
I just finished cleaning up Kraft cheese balls out of my carpet. Wonder how they got there? Why they were shot through a baby medicine syringe, of course! What is she thinking? Man... to be inside that little head for one day, what I wouldn't give!

Last night Joy was being fussy, so I sat on the couch with her and rubbed her knees, they were hurting. I also had given her a small bowl of sunflower seeds to snack on while we watched some Gilmore Girls. Well, after a little while she kept picking her nose and I told her to stop. She got up and went into the kitchen for a paper towel and kept playing with her nose. When she came back she was complaining about "something" in her nose. I had one of the kids bring me a flashlight so I could see what was going on. I was expecting to see a ginormous booger or something because we have all had horrible head colds this week and I know she's been extra snotty with the ear infection.
So she lays back on the couch and sticks her nose up in the air while I shine a flashlight up her nose just in time to see a sunflower seed roll out! That's not a booger!!!
I then had to cry and make a fuss and tell her how scared I was and how she must never stick anything up her nose again, or it will make me scared and cry and she might have to go to the hospital. She cried and told me, "So sorry I scared you Mommy!"

Of all the wonderful kids I've had, my last one has to be the most challenging. I pray that she never sticks anything up her nose again.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Taking a Sabbatical


My last three seasons of Gilmore Girls have arrived, now I have the complete 7 season series and I will be taking a Sabbatical until I've finished watching them. See you in about 2 weeks....
just kidding. However I may start talking in a way that to some of you might seem incoherent, but to me and other GG fans will just be GG gibberish. But don't worry, I'll decode anything you ask me to.

Unfriendly Faces and Scary Places

I must have an unfriendly face or something. Seems to me whenever I am somewhere... say, taking my kids to story time at the library, the last chair in the room that is empty will always be next to me. Relief Society, unless a couple of my friends are there, I could sit alone and everyone will leave me that way. I don't think I have a grumpy face, however, I've been told that I do. By my mother, in fact. I remember once as a teenager she told me I had an unfriendly face... maybe this is where it's stemming from? I kind of think that's funny because there have been times when I've been looking at my reflection and think, "My goodness, I look just like my mom." And I don't think my mom has an unfriendly face. I'm not an unfriendly person. Although I do prefer to be approached rather than doing the approaching.... remember, I'm a hermit crab?

I also must have something scary on my blog here, because I see someone did a Google search for "Duct Tape Restraint" and found my blog.... what the heck?

I'm gonna love it

I think, anyway.
This morning I got up at 6:15-ish to get ready for my orientation at the YMCA this morning. I didn't allow enough time for breakfast, so I had half of a granola bar on the way over, that I found in my van. Dang it, I forgot about the box of doughnuts I have stashed under my passenger chair!... Mmmmm..... doughnuts....... *drool*
Oh, yeah, I was getting healthy there, back to the healthy stuff. Today Will took me through all of the machines and showed me how to use them, set me up with a chart so I can keep track of my progress and also wrote on there my settings for each machine. So when I go in, I grab my chart, a pen, a clipboard and get to work. Very easy.
And with the child care on site, I am sure I'll be there most days of the week, it can't get any easier than that. My kids are what are holding me back the most from getting into a workout. If I work out at home they get in the way, climb on me or on my treadmill or my exercise ball. If I walk I have to push a double stroller and do it in the afternoon while Josh is at school so I don't have to have him trot along with me, that's just a pain pushing the stroller anyway. I used to walk 3 miles a day pushing a double stroller for a couple of years, and it is SUCH A PAIN!
The only thing I hated about the place was the mirrors on the wall. I hate looking at myself. I'm so round. I hate my round head. Just call me Charlie Brown. And I hate how I've let myself go. I don't want to look at that.
Anyway, all in all, I really like it and I know I'm going to use it a LOT.
I already have the kids enrolled in classes that started this week. Joy is in tumbling, Jaeden and Joshua are taking a sports sampler class. They are going to love it!
It IS fun to play at the YMCA!

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

It takes a long time

I guess, for a broken eardrum to heal.
I got an ear infection suddenly on Thursday afternoon. In a matter of 3 hours I went from feeling fine to being in extreme pain in my left ear. That night I barely slept it was so painful! So on Friday I went to the doctor for it, she prescribed me some antibiotics for it. Friday night I went to bed and once I got myself to ignore the pain and fall asleep I slept well all night. When I woke up in the morning I realized my eardrum had gotten a hole in it, most likely due to the pressure build up in it. Now I can't hear and it is still a bit painful, especially when I think about it.
Today I did a search and found that the dizziness is normal and will go away, but my ear may not heal for a long time and maybe not be back to normal again, meaning I might have permanent hearing loss from it. So NOT fun!

I want my mail!


What's up with Hotmail this morning? It drives me nuts when I know that someone has sent me really cool mail and I can't get into it. It's like Murphy's Law for email.
Why can't they redirect us to a page that tells us what's going on and why we can't access our email? Noooo, instead I get an error page telling me that I might be offline, or that I might have the address wrong. So instead of being redirected to a page and can be informed of what's wrong I get to sit her pushing the refresh button over and over while I watch an exciting episode of Wonder Pets with my littlest one that is in pain with a double ear infection....
*sigh*

Monday, February 25, 2008

I needed something to blog about

besides my ear infection/damaged eardrum or my daughters double ear infection, or the influenza we had last week and how my dh is just barely getting it now, or how I've been out of commission for nearly 2 whole weeks, or about how much pain I'm in, or ... yeah, all that.

So, Gina had reminded me of an email that our friend Michelle had sent us, that I unfortunately never got to... and I think she thought I never would ;) Instead of emailing this back to her, I will post it here... for all the world to see.... not that I get comments anymore these days.... except my sister, man she's so great with the comments! Love ya Banana!


Welcome to the 2008 edition of getting to know your friends.

1. What is your occupation? Homemaker- and I make a pretty neat home. Kind of still doing the part-time photographer thing.

2. What color are your socks right now? Kind of grayish- used to be white.

3. What are you listening to right now? Jaeden playing "Littlest Petshop" on the tv.
4. What was the last thing that you ate? Leftover taco pizza from Godfathers
5. Can you drive a stick shift? Most excellently
6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? white
7. Last person you spoke to on the phone? My friend Debbie- she's so fun to talk to. We haven't talked in months, but can pick up a conversation just where we left off.
8. How old are you today? 36
9. Favorite drink? Grape flavor splash water
10. What is your favorite sport to watch? football
11. Have you ever dyed your hair? Every two months!
12. Pets? Sadly, no
13. Favorite food? Dessert :)- I like Michelle's answer so I'm copying that!
14. What was the last movie you watched? Flushed Away
15. Favorite holiday of the year? Halloween
16. What do you do to vent anger? Clean
17. What was your favorite toy as a child? A stuffed Monkey named Tippy
18. What is your favorite, fall or spring? Fall wins hands down
19. Hugs or kisses? Depends on who they are from
20. Cherries or Blueberries? Cherries
21. Do you want your friends to email you back? N/A
22. Who is most likely to respond? N/A
23. Who is least likely to respond? N/A.
24. Living arrangements? 6 people, 4 bedroom 2 bath double-wide manufactured home.
25. When was the last time you cried? Saturday
26. What is on the floor of your closet? Shoe organizer, Tupperware box of craft things, file cabinet.
27. Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are sending this to? N/A
29. Favorite smells? Lavender
28. What did you do last night? Downloaded music from Gina
30. What inspires you? Women who do more than me and stay sane +1 I agree with Michelle's answer
31. What are you afraid of? Drowning
32. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? Cheese, but I'm not a big hamburger eater- ditto me on Michelle's answer
33. Favorite dog breed? Great Dane or Newfoundland
34. How many years at your current job? forever
35. Favorite place you've ever been? Kentucky
36. How many states have you lived in? Just two
37. Favorite day of the week? Sunday
38. Ever driven motorcycle or heavy machinery? no
39. Who's your favorite NFL team? Vikings
40. Do you have a house phone that is not cordless? Somewhere in a closet for emergency use.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Friday's Feast



Appetizer
Have you ever played a practical joke on anyone? If so, what did you do and who was your victim?
- I played a trick on my husband for April Fool's Day. My son and I snuck up to his work late the night before and I taped a big sign to the back of his Suburban that had balloons and streamers on it and it said, "Honk! I've been April Fooled!"

He left work that morning with his dad and they went over to the local lumberyard. People kept honking at them all the way there. Then when he got there a car followed him around the parking lot and kept honking at him. Turns out it was someone who's child was in karate with our oldest son. He didn't know what was going on until he got out of the truck and saw the sign.

Soup
What do your salt and pepper shakers look like?
- the boxes they came in.

Salad
Where is the next place you plan to visit (on vacation or business)?
- I told the kids we'd go camping sometime this summer, but I'm not sure where yet.

Main Course
What kind of lotion or cream do you use to keep your hands from getting too dry?
- Aveeno.


Dessert
Make up a dessert, tell us its ingredients, and give it a name.
- Jelly Bean ala Mimo. Ice cream with hot fudge, jellybeans, and maraschino cherries topped on top of a crushed bed of chocolate chip cookies.

YMCA!

It's fun to stay at the Y M C A!
Well, I don't know that for sure yet, but I'm about to find out!
We've just found out that dh's father was just diagnosed with diabetes. My dh has grandparents on both sides that had it as well, and it's concerning me a little.
My husband was diagnosed the end of last year with Rheumatoid Arthritis and spends all his time at home in his recliner. This has me worried that he's not going to get the exercise he needs.
The other day I was watching the Little People show on cable and the father had developed diabetes because of not being able to take care of himself, and also because of his dwarfism he's prone to having his joints ruined from a form of arthritis. So his answer to his health problems was to put in a pool! Wow, if we could all be so lucky!
But it got me thinking, so today I talked to my dh about him exercising in a way that won't damage his joints that can help keep off the diabetes (because he doesn't need any more health problems as it is) and can help take off some weight to ease up the arthritis, and he seemed to get excited about my idea.
So today I signed us up for a year's subscription to the YMCA! Yay!
I took a tour of the facility that is just down the road from our home and it's pretty nice! They just added onto it, and will be remodeling even more this year. They have free daycare for up to 2 hours for the kids while I workout, swim, take a class, whatever. They have kids programs that are free. They also have other programs at reasonable prices, and also swimming lessons. Sounds like we are going to have a fun stay at the YMCA!

Senseless

This story just makes my blood boil.
Yesterday there was an accident in Minnesota that involved a school bus carrying Junior High children home from school. A van ran a stop sign and hit the bus, knocking it over onto a truck which crushed some of the passenger cab and killed 4- FOUR- children.
What gets my blood boiling- the person who killed these children was not only drunk, and shouldn't have been on the road, but she SHOULDN'T HAVE EVEN BEEN IN THE COUNTRY!!!
Yep, that's right. She was an illegal alien. Just great. I feel so badly for the murdered children's families. What kind of justice are they going to see to this woman's selfish, selfish act??? Nothing.
Don't tell me these people are here to better their lives.


I DON'T CARE.



If they want a better life, send them back to where they came from and tell them to make that place better and QUIT SCREWING UP MY COUNTRY, QUIT RAPING OUR WOMEN AND QUIT KILLING OUR CHILDREN!
My heart doesn't go out to a single one of them. Not one. My heart does go out to their fellow country men who sit in their country waiting and waiting for paperwork to go through. To their fellow countrymen who want to change their country but live under such oppression that they have little hope of making it change. And to the victims of illegals.

That's who is deserving of my heart felt compassion.

In case you missed it

Last night was a lunar eclipse. I didn't go outside for this one because it was -0 outside, so this isn't the most clear picture I could have taken.
My nosey neighbors noticed me doing something in the backroom and left their backlight on, so it was shining onto the window that I was taking this through. Anyway, here it is.

Thursday Thumbs

Ok, I think I'm ready to start up again on Thursday's Thumbs and make this the new home for it. Someday I'll try to figure out how to do a mr. blinkie, mr. winkie, or whatever it's called so that when you do yours you can leave a link... but I'm not that ambitious today.

Thumbs Up!


Chips- Flat Earth Baked Veggie Crisps- Tangy Tomato Ranch flavored. All of my family agrees that these are yummy! There's "1/2 Serving of Real Vegetables in Every Ounce!"


I was a little sceptical that they could make a vegetable chip taste good, but they did an excellent job with these ones. My kids have been snacking on them all morning... and I don't care because they are healthy! (in moderation of course). I'll be trying their other varieties including the fruit crisps too.


Here's a link to a coupon for a free bag... http://www.flatearth.com/


Thumbs Down!


Robitussin Cough,Cold & Flu- Nightime. This week my family has been under attack with the cold from hades! I generally like Robitussin. I used to use the Robitussin DM when I was pregnant and had a cold in my lungs. This version made me have a "medicine head" that lasted longer than it should have and it kept me up at night. I slept horribly with it! Next time I'll just stick with the DM.



I wonder why...


I wonder why I can't see my cute banner I made for this blog when I access my blog from my laptop. Is it a problem with my laptop or my blog?

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Stick that in your pipe

Very interesting perspective by Craig Smith I hope you will all read to the end. Craig puts it into perspective and makes us think about the pathetic negativity.

"The other day I was reading Newsweek magazine and came across some poll data I found rather hard to believe. It must be true, given the source, right?

The Newsweek poll alleges that 67 percent of Americans are unhappy with the direction the country is headed, and 69 percent of the country is unhappy with the performance of the President. In essence, 2/3's of the citizenry just isn't happy and want a change.

So being the knuckle dragger I am, I started thinking, ''What are we so unhappy about?''Is it that we have electricity and running water 24 hours a day, 7 days a week?

Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter?

Could it be that 95.4 percent of these unhappy folks have a job?

Maybe it is the ability to walk into a grocery store at any time, and see more food in moments than Darfur has seen in the last year?

Maybe it is the ability to drive from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean without having to present identification papers as we move through each state?

Or possibly the hundreds of clean and safe motels we would find along the way that can provide temporary shelter?

I guess having thousands of restaurants with varying cuisine from around the world is just not good enough.

Or could it be that when we wreck our car, emergency workers show up and provide services to help all, and even send a helicopter to take you to the hospital.

Perhaps you are one of the 70 percent of Americans who own a home. You may be upset with knowing that in the unfortunate case of a fire, a group of trained firefighters will appear in moments and use top notch equipment to extinguish the flames thus saving you, your family and your belongings.

Or if, while at home watching one of your many flat screen TVs, a burglar or prowler or intrudes , an officer equipped with a gun and a bullet-proof vest will come to defend you and your family against attack or loss.

This all in the backdrop of a neighborhood free of bombs or militias raping and pillaging the residents. Neighborhoods where 90 percent of teenagers own cell phones and computers.

How about the complete religious, social and political freedoms we enjoy that are the envy of everyone in the world?

Maybe that is what has 67 percent of you folks unhappy.

Fact is, we are the largest group of ungrateful, spoiled brats the world has ever seen. No wonder the world loves the U..S., yet has a great disdain for its citizens. They see us for what we are. The most blessed people in the world who do nothing but complain about what we don't have , and what we hate about the country instead of thanking the good Lord we live here.

I know, I know. What a bout the President who took us into war and has no plan to get us out? The President who has a measly 31 percent approval rating? Is this the same President who guided the nation in the dark days after 9/11? The President that cut taxes to bring an economy out of recession? Could this be the same guy who has been called every name in the book for succeeding in keeping all the spoiled ungrateful brats safe from terrorist attacks?

The Commander-In Chief of an all-volunteer army that is out there defending you and me? Did you hear how bad the President is on the news or talk show? Did this news affect you so much, make you so unhappy you couldn't take a look around for yourself and see all the good things and be glad?

Think about it...are you upset at the President because he actually caused you personal pain OR is it because the "Media" told you he was failing to kiss your sorry ungrateful behind every day.

Make no mistake about it. The troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have volunteered to serve, and in many cases may have died for your freedom. There is currently no draft in this country. They didn't have to go.

They are able to refuse to go and end up with either a ''general'' discharge, an ''other than honorable'' discharge or, worst case scenario, a ''dishonorable'' discharge af ter a few days in the brig.

So why then the flat-out discontentment in the minds of 69 percent of Americans? Say what you want, but I blame it on the media. If it bleeds, it leads; and they specialize in bad news. Everybody will watch a car crash with blood and guts. How many will watch kids selling lemonade at the corner? The media knows this and media outlets are for-profit corporations. They offer what sells , and when criticized, try to defen d their actions by "justifying" them in one way or another. Just ask why they tried to allow a murderer like O.J. Simpson to write a book about "how he didn't kill his wife, but if he did he would have done it this way"...Insane!

Stop buying the negativism you are fed everyday by the media. Shut off the TV, burn Newsweek, and use the New York Times for the bottom of your bird cage. Then start being grateful for all we have as a country. There is exponentially more good than bad.

We are among the most blessed people on Earth, and should thank God several times a day, or at least be thankful and appreciative.

"With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, "Are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?"

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

What? I'm a downer?

Well, too bad, because I'm going to be a downer a little longer. I thought I was doing better, but now I'm not so sure. I think I might have a sinus infection and maybe soon to be ear infection. So it's making me crabby.
My kids seem to be getting over it sooner than me. Man, what I wouldn't give to have a 4 year old's ability to get better fast.

Monday, February 18, 2008

Back from the dead

Yep, I was dead on the couch this weekend. My kids and I have been so sick with not just a cold but the stomach flu too! UGH. The joys of having more than one kid in public school.

I was laying on my bed the second day feeling sorry for myself that since I woke up two hours before that nobody had checked on me to see if they could get me anything, and thinking about how I was going to make a whiney blog about it, when my husband came in to see if he could get me anything. So I guess I won't be making that whiney post. He did take care of the kids from Saturday evening until this morning. Except in the middle of the night when I did it because I was out on the couch anyway.

Anyway, I'm up and moving around today. Yay.

Friday, February 15, 2008

Another Picture

You can click to see enlarged image.

I'm so happy to almost be done with all of last year's clients ordering their pictures. I took Dec-March off to refocus and recenter. It's been good for me. I've done a lot of soul searching. It's been tiring doing pictures because I have to, not because I want to. It's been nice playing with my camera again this week and experimenting again. I even took the time to make a new watermark brush for 2008. I think it will help me later remember what year I did the picture and also I hated my old watermark. I like the font I've used for my website, but it doesn't work well for a watermark.
I've also been taking this time to find a few new favorite photographers to stalk and also to learn some new tecniques. I got a reflector that I'm going to start playing around with and learning to use... yay!
Anyway... I was asked to be on a committee for putting together the midwest areas 3 1/2 day workshop. My job is to help with planning and with helping to get teachers, location, hotel, etc. It sounds like we might go with my location suggestion, which is only about 15-20 miles from my home.
When we got together the first night to talk about the planning and date there was some conversation and someone brought up the phrase, "Mom with a camera". Or more popularly known as MWAC. It stung me a little to hear it, and I wasn't sure why, until I really took a deep look at myself. I'm a MWAC.
I talked to my husband about this and my decision to actually take a couple of years off of photography. I know it's what I want to do. I know that I will continue for the next couple of years to reach and to grow and to find my true syle. I'll be taking workshops and classes, maybe even some business financial classes.
What it comes down to is if I'm not willing to fork out the money for an insurance plan to cover my equipment or if someone gets hurt by my equipment, or if I'm not willing to fork out the dough to an attorney to make sure my contracts are good for the state I live in, and if I'm not willing to go down to City Hall and get a licence to do business... (I have to do ALL of these things, I'm only willing to do one right now).... then in all honesty, I am just a MWIC and maybe a little bit of talent.
I've greatly increased my session fees on my website in hopes that only a few serious people will be calling me for sessions, and I'm ok with that, because I need to have new models every once in a while. I have one wedding booked for June, so I'm not stressing any new jobs at the moment. It's a good time for me to get back to taking pictures for me.
So... now I'm off to enjoy my camera and find myself.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Happy Valentine's Day

Well, my Valentine's Day started yesterday when a boquet of 24 beautiful roses arrived at my door... That was the highlight of the day, because after that it was all downhill :(




Jacob walked in the door at 2:30 announcing he was super sick with a cold and then he resigned to the recliner for the rest of the day. At 3:00 I went over to Joshua's school for my regular Wednesday afternoon volunteer schedule. I help the kids out with their "centers". When I got there the teacher met me while I was hanging up my coat and asked me how I was. Then she told me Josh wasn't looking ok. He had his head down on the desk and wasn't coloring with the other kids. So I went over to him and could feel that he was running a fever. He'd been up at 5 that morning watching tv when my dh came home from driving Jake to Seminary, and he'd been complaining about a headache all afternoon, but seemed ok at the library's story time and when I put him on the bus. So I brought him home, then ran out for medicines and a bunch of Airborne for me! Josh spent the evening throwing up and running a 102 temp.
It wasn't until 10:30 that night that I could go into Valentine's Day mode and carry out my tradition of giving the house a balloon attack. I stayed up until midnight watching two taped Gilmore Girl's episodes and blowing up 60 pink and red balloons. I hung a Valentine's Day sign in the family room and put a box of chocolates and candy bracelets at the kids spots at the kitchen table and put out the valentines stuff I gave my husband at his spot.
Last year I tried to use helium balloons but they kept popping as I would let them go. We have a very prickly celing.
This morning when the kids came out of their rooms they ran through the balloons giggling. I'm so happy they love it! Then my husband spent the morning trying to fake helium balloons by rubbing them on the kids heads and then sticking them to the ceiling! Nice try honey.







Now it's 1:50 and I am feeling myself coming down with a cold. I've got the aches and pains and a sore throat is coming on.... dang it! I'm going to spend the next day or two in my recliner. Hope you all had a nice day with the ones you love.

I need help with fixing my spell check!

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

What's for Dinner?

I'm making this. It doesn't look so great, but it is OH SO YUMMY!
I love this website because of all the people that review recipes, add tips and can rate the recipes. I can stick a recipe I want to try in a recipe box, then when I want to make it I can make a shopping list with the ingredients, omit or add stuff. Then when we make it I can rate it, and I can keep track of my ratings with my recipes. It's SUCH an EASY tool!

R.I.P

Last night my printer died. It won't bring paper through it anymore and keeps thinking it has a paper jam. I guess I have to get a new one. I don't want to spend more than $100. I need a printer/copier/scanner/fax in one for my office. I have a simple printer I'm using in the meantime, but I do need a copier/scanner/fax again to complete certain business transactions.
Anyone have any suggestions or recomendations?

Enrichment

Tonight is Enrichment. I hope to be able to go to the class about canning meat. I am supposed to teach a class about making felt fortune cookies, however nobody signed up for it, oh bother. Actually I was secretly hoping nobody would because I really wanted to go to the canning class, but got roped into the other. Sometimes things work out!

Amish Bread

I made the Amish Friendship Bread yesterday and it was such a big hit! I didn't make loaves like the recipe suggests, but poured it into a greased and floured 9x13 glass dish and baked it for 80 minutes. By the end of the day there was only a little bit left... so, thanks to Michelle's suggestions I decided to keep a starter kit for myself and make a second batch of the bread. YUMMY! I guess I'm not very friendly keeping it to myself, haha. But it was SO YUMMY! I wasn't expecting it to be a sweet bread, however.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Update on Gina's Son

Hey, I've been asked a lot lately about how Gina's son is doing. So I thought I'd post an update, and you might want to look in the comments to see if she's added anything to what I wrote.
He is doing SO WELL! He's been up and walking, and using crutches at school. He was only in the hospital for three days. He does have a bar in the leg that will have to come out in the next couple of years. It looks like his recovery time is going to be TONS shorter than Jake's, which I'm so thankful for. Our ordeal was so long and so hard, I was really sad thinking they would have to go through that too.
Gina and I have so much in common, it's a little freaky.... right down to loving hotdogs with mashed potatoes and cheese on them... that it was just a bit more freaky that now both of us have our oldest sons had broken legs. She called me asking if there was anything more I needed to warn her about.
Why won't my spell check work!?

Brrrrrr!

Me and the girls stayed home from church today because it was -12 when it was time to go. I don't have any thick tights for the girls.
My poor cute little niece Jess was in town for the weekend. She was here to see a play with a friend she has here. Poor thing wasn't expecting it to be THIS cold!!! I told her to stop by the thermometer on the freeway by our house and take a picture of it, hahaha. Good thing she's headed out of town this afternoon before she's a popcicle!

Saturday, February 9, 2008

It's time to play..... Name that Speaker!!!!

See if you can match the statements with the person(s) who made them.

There are only six questions. Don't look at the answers at the end until you have finished.

1) 'We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good.'

A. Karl Marx

B. Adolph Hitler

C. Joseph Stalin

D. None of the above

2) 'It's time for a new beginning, for an end to government of the few, by the few, and for the few...and to replace it with shared responsibility for shared prosperity.'

A. Lenin

B. Mussolini

C. Idi Amin

D. None of the Above

3) '(We)...can't just let business as usual go on, and that means something has to be taken away from some people.'

A. Nikita Khrushev

B. Josef Goebbels

C. Boris Yeltsin

D. None of the above

4) 'We have to build a political consensus and that requires people to give up a little bit of their own...in order to create this common ground.'

A. Mao Tse Dung

B. Hugo Chavez

C. Kim Jong Il

D. None of the above

5) 'I certainly think the free-market has failed.'

A. Karl Marx

B. Lenin

C. Molotov

D. None of the above


6) 'I think it's time to send a clear message to what has become the

most profitable sector in (the) entire economy that they are being

watched.'

A. Pinochet

B. Milosevic

C. Saddam Hussein

D. None of the above


Answers:

(1) D. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 6/29/2004

(2) D. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 5/29/2007

(3) D. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 6/4/2007

(4) D. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 6/4/2007

(5) D. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 6/4/2007

(6) D. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 9/2/2005





Could nearly half of this country be this deceived?

Ohhhh! Now I understand

Now I can die.

Ahhh, the 70's


I had a crush on both of them... but Donny won every time!

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Speaking of Our Faces Against the Grindstone

I've been trying to read my scriptures quite regularly. Gina and I have a team going so we can track eachother's progress at http://www.readthescriptures.com/ .
It's amazing how each time we read we learn new things we didn't notice or pay attention to before.
A few days ago I was reading the words of King Benjamin to his people. Before that chapter Mosiah called King Benjamin a "holy man, and he did reign over his people in righteousness." When King Benjamin calls all of his people together to hear his words as he steps down as their king and he said:

Mosiah Chapter 2
10 I have not commanded you to come up hither
that ye should fear
me,
or that ye should think that I of myself am more than a mortal man.

11 But I am like as yourselves, subject to all
manner of infirmities in body and mind; yet I have been chosen by this people,
and
consecrated by my
father, and was suffered by the hand of the Lord that I should be a ruler and a
king over this people; and have been kept and preserved by his matchless power,
to serve you with all the might, mind and strength which the Lord hath granted
unto me.

12 I say unto you that as I have
been suffered to
spend my days in your service, even up to this time, and have not
sought
gold
nor silver nor any manner of riches of you;

13 Neither have I suffered that ye should be
confined in dungeons, nor that ye should make slaves one of another, nor that ye
should murder, or plunder, or steal, or commit adultery; nor even have I
suffered that ye should commit any manner of wickedness, and have taught you
that ye should keep the commandments of the Lord, in all things which he hath
commanded you—

14 And even I, myself, have
labored with mine own hands that I might serve you, and that ye should not be laden with taxes, and that there should nothing come upon
you which was grievous to be borne—and of all these things which I have spoken,
ye yourselves are witnesses this day.



And then when I was listening to BYU tv in the morning as I often do, they were doing discussions on the Book of Mormon, and talking about King Noah, who had his problems and what a contrast there was between King Benjamin and King Noah.


Mosiah Chapter 11
1 And now it came to pass that Zeniff conferred the kingdom upon Noah, one of his sons; therefore Noah began to reign in his stead; and he did not walk in the ways of his father.
2 For behold, he did not keep the commandments of God, but he did walk after the desires of his own heart. And he had many wives and concubines. And he did cause his people to commit sin, and do that which was abominable in the sight of the Lord. Yea, and they did commit whoredoms and eall manner of wickedness.
3 And he laid a tax of one fifth part of all they possessed, a fifth part of their gold and of their silver, and a fifth part of their ziff, and of their copper, and of their brass and their iron; and a fifth part of their fatlings; and also a fifth part of all their grain.
4 And all this did he take to support himself, and his wives and his concubines; and also his priests, and their wives and their concubines; thus he had changed the affairs of the kingdom.
5 For he put down all the priests that had been consecrated by his father, and consecrated new ones in their stead, such as were lifted up in the pride of their hearts.
6 Yea, and thus they were supported in their laziness, and in their idolatry, and in their whoredoms, by the taxes which king Noah had put upon his people; thus did the people labor exceedingly to support iniquity.
7 Yea, and they also became idolatrous, because they were deceived by the vain and flattering words of the king and priests; for they did speak flattering things unto them.
8 And it came to pass that king Noah built many elegant and spacious buildings; and he ornamented them with fine work of wood, and of all manner of precious things, of gold, and of silver, and of iron, and of brass, and of ziff, and of copper;
9 And he also built him a spacious palace, and a throne in the midst thereof, all of which was of fine wood and was ornamented with gold and silver and with precious things.
10 And he also caused that his workmen should work all manner of fine work within the walls of the temple, of fine wood, and of copper, and of brass.
11 And the seats which were set apart for the high priests, which were above all the other seats, he did ornament with pure gold; and he caused a breastwork to be built before them, that they might rest their bodies and their arms upon while they should speak lying and vain words to his people.
12 And it came to pass that he built a tower near the temple; yea, a very high tower, even so high that he could stand upon the top thereof and overlook the land of Shilom, and also the land of Shemlon, which was possessed by the Lamanites; and he could even look over all the land round about.
13 And it came to pass that he caused many buildings to be built in the land Shilom; and he caused a great tower to be built on the hill north of the land Shilom, which had been a resort for the children of Nephi at the time they fled out of the land; and thus he did do with the riches which he obtained by the taxation of his people.


How many similarities do you see in our day? I see several, but tonight I write about the one that struck me the most- He taxed his people 1/5 of all they possessed. That's a 20% tax rate. Do you know what your tax rate is? in 2007 the average tax burden was 32.69% of your income.
Now I see King Noah's people as being slaves to him, working hard and giving him 20% of what they had to support him and what he wanted. Are we not also slaves to our government with such a high tax rate?
How long will we let ourselves be slaves? How much higher will we allow the tax rate to go? 40%, 45%, 50%? In 1960 the average Taxes as a Percentage of Income
rate was 11.61%. It's increased 20% in 47 years*. When will it end? When we are a socialist government? When we are forced to give all that we have to the government and they will take care of us with it? Will we be modern day Abinadi's? When will our King Noah be burned at the stake after asking too much?


* Source: http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxfreedomday/
Scripture sources: http://scriptures.lds.org/en/mosiah/11/6#6, That's Chapter 6 and keep hitting "next" until Chapter 17.
And Grrr, my spell check is STILL not working!

A sad, sad state of affairs

Mitt Romney just announced his pulling out of the race for the Republican nomination for President.
That leaves me... nowhere. I'm really disheartened by this. I know mathmatically that his chances were slim, so it does stand to reason that he would be pulling out. I'm just really upset over what that leaves us with. I seriously do NOT want McCain or a Democrat to be in the White House. I can only imagine the terrible things we have ahead of us.
The poor better be prepared to have their face pressed to the grindstone, you think it's hard now? Just wait. Have another hole in that belt? It's about to be tightened more.
Good luck America. I'll be on my knees praying for us.
My spell check is still not working :(

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Groovin!

Man I'm just loving my playlist! I wish that the people hosting the music would stop making my list smaller and smaller.



Saturday I got a call from my neighbor Marge. She's a single, elderly lady that lives alone in the trailer next door. We've been pretty good about taking care of her needs as far as yardwork and plowing go. Anyway, she was calling because a niece of hers was on her way up to our city to drop her kids off for a while and go out for the evening with her husband and she wanted to bring Marge a bag of starter stuff for Amish Friendship Bread. Marge doesn't cook/bake so she was asking if I'd be interested in taking it.

I've heard it's really a long process, but I've also heard that it's really good, and if you do it right you'll be baking a loaf every 10 days. If you've ever made it, please leave me a comment on any tips for it, or how you liked it!

Now I have to think of 3 people to give it to and make sure I get it to them.



Okay, I am really late posting this.
My oldest son turned 15 on the 2nd. He's a groundhog baby :)
I can't believe he's that old! Where did my little boy go? I can't believe I'm old enough to have a 15 year old. Thank heaven's I have a 3 year old to make me feel younger! ha!
Jacob has been such a blessing in my life. He came at a time in my life where I was really out of control and not knowing how my life should be, and I wasn't living right. I needed an anchor, a direction and he came just in time.
Life hasn't been easy for either of us. I haven't been a perfect mom, and I've made a lot of mistakes with him. Thankfully he's resiliant and forgiving. I think no matter how many kids you have, they are all so different, you will end up making mistakes anyway. What's good for one, isn't necessarily good for another.
When he was really little he had very blonde hair and golden curls at the ends. His first haircut took care of that! He's always been a fun playful kid. He started in American Karate at the age of 3 or 4, I can't remember. By the time he was 8 he was an advanced Red Belt. He kind of gave up on it when his little brother was born and I wasn't regularly taking him. His next belt would have been a brown belt.
He was seven years old when his dad was baptized into the church, and he was eight when his dad baptized him and we were sealed as a family in the St. Paul temple. Those years he didn't go to primary didn't seem to harm his ability to understand the gospel. He has a strong testimony of his own, thanks to his own studying and experiences. He's going to be a great Stake President someday ;)
I'm convinced he is a very old, wise soul. He "gets it". He gets religion. He gets politics. He gets people. He has such a great head on his shoulders. He's responsible. He's reliable (unless you want the kitchen floor swept every night).
I couldn't have asked for a better first kid. He's made life so much fun and so worth sticking around for. I hope he liked his birthday. Our original plans were to go to Joe's Crab Shack, but they had closed business, so his second choice was Outback Steak House. We had a great dinner other than a few mishaps like Joel getting a drink dumped into his salad and Joyanna all over the place like a wild monkey! She was horrible.
We had family over for a Dairy Queen cake, I took pictures, but haven't emptied my card yet. He made out like a bandit with money and gift cards! Lucky duck. Sunday he had his yearly interview with our bishop and he asked for his first dance card... ahhhhh! I'm not ready for my kid to go to dances yet! However, I would rather he go to church dances than school dances.
Heaven help me next year when he turns 16. *chews on nails*
And my spell check doesn't seem to be working today.

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Today must be Award Day

Because I just got this one from Gina! Thank you Gina!

She said, "The first one going out to Jen...1 2 3 4.... for keeping me sane ( kind of) and on the path that I want to be on! I am sooo blessed to have you as a friend Jen!!"
I would like to pass this one onto Misty Dawn. She's been such a great lady! She doesn't bug me about not blogging on a regular basis, and she followed me from my old blog here... what a great buddy! She has a great couple of blogs, you should visit them sometime!

Awww!

An Adorable Award!


Thank you so much to Misty Dawn for this award. This is her cute little puppy Maggie Mae.
Misty said, "Maggie's photo is very appropriate for this award, because it is the Unconditional Friendship Award, and we all know that puppies and dogs provide unconditional friendship, loyalty, and love."

I would like to pass this award along to five people.
Ducky
Gina
Tammy
Carrot
Kathleen

This can be said of all of these ladies...
They have been true friends. Uplifting in my times of trials, forgiving of all my many faults, never give up on me even when I seem like I've fallen off the planet, and always seem happy to see me when I come back. Thank you for being such wonderful friends and wonderful examples to me of how great friends can be. I know some of these ladies don't display awards on their blogs, but I still want them to know how much I think of them. Love ya girls!

Monday, February 4, 2008

Meez 3D avatar avatars games

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Senator McCain Cannot Answer a Legitimate Question

Our country is at risk and he won't take the time to talk about how he plans to secure it. I can't believe there are American people who want him for President. Watch how a lady is thrown out of a town hall meeting because she wants him to answer another man's question about how McCain will handle "Anchor babies", these are children born to illegal people in our country and then trying to stay because their children are now citizens.


Don't Ask McCain - Watch the best video clips here

May they see Him in my countenance

I thought this was good! Have a great day!

Malachi 3:3 says: "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver."
This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.
One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.
That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining Silver.
As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.
The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver."
She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time.
The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.
The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?" He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy -- when I see my image in it."
If today you are feeling the heat of the fire , remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.