Nothin' But Time Now

Perspective

2008-11-18T17:10:00.003-06:00

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??

Yet, Again!

2008-11-17T21:37:00.003-06:00

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!

Sick Baby

2008-11-15T17:11:00.002-06:00

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!!

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

2008-11-12T18:47:00.001-06:00

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.

A Quiet Place

2008-11-09T21:40:00.003-06:00

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.

Where Do They Learn This?

2008-11-08T12:37:00.002-06:00

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.

Growin' Old Together

2008-11-07T09:40:00.003-06:00

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!

New President

2008-11-05T08:16:00.002-06:00

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!!

Racin' Weekend

2008-11-03T11:23:00.005-06:00

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!!

Daylight Savings Time

2008-10-30T10:28:00.003-05:00

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?

See You at the Polls

2008-10-25T16:42:00.004-05:00

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!

Conspiracy Theory

2008-10-21T21:53:00.003-05:00

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.

New Interest?

2008-10-19T14:07:00.003-05:00

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!!

No Wonder I'm Tired

2008-10-08T22:39:00.003-05:00

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

2008-10-08T16:53:00.003-05:00

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.

Sad Day for Hunter

2008-10-05T21:23:00.003-05:00

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!

Princess Diva

2008-10-02T16:53:00.004-05:00

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?

Pushing

2008-10-01T20:16:00.006-05:00

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!!

P-E-O-P-L-E

2008-09-28T08:19:00.002-05:00

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.

Oh, Bother. I've been Tagged!

2008-09-17T17:03:00.002-05:00

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!

Less Than Pleasant

2008-09-15T15:29:00.002-05:00

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.

Luann - Home school comic

2008-09-10T21:22:00.002-05:00

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

Beautiful Babies

2008-09-10T18:43:00.004-05:00

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.

Political Rant

2008-09-06T14:59:00.003-05:00

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?

Ewww. Yuk.

2008-09-04T13:18:00.003-05:00

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!!