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Tonight we all went to the movies. We went to see...

A fun family day

My sister-in-law Robin and her daughter Heidi are here from Utah. We had a fun day. After hanging out at home and being lazy for most of the day, we went to the aquarium. Robin and the kids had to watch High School Musical!

I had to video Trey climbing up the coconut tree.

The kids had a ball playing in the water outside the Aquarium.

Okay, I'm going to have to add the other videos when I can get them unloaded. Apparently blogger's video upload stuff sucks! It's been uploading a video all night. I had to stop it and try to upload it to YouTube.

Bento Party!

The bento party was today, and it went pretty well. I think the kids all enjoyed it. They seemed to like making onigiri and decorating them. Actually I had to make a second batch of rice, so they could make more rice balls later in the day. That turned out really well, too, because the rice molds I had ordered came in the mail, and we were able to try them out. They were fabulous!





Here's a picture from this evening after dinner. Ray and Daddy just chilling out and having a popsicle!

The bentos arrive

The bentos came by UPS today. The kids were so happy. They're very excited for the bento party tomorrow. I took a picture of the stuff we bought. The first picture is of the stuff we got for the party. The other picture is of some fun stuff we bought just for us!


I spent a good portion of the day on the deck. It's finally getting done. The picture isn't very impressive, but I did get quite a bit done. I had to get the stupid hornet's nest out myself because Trey didn't do it. Yep - that's right Trey. I'm putting it in my blog. Next time, do what you tell me you're going to do. *cough*

Friends

One of the greatest things about summer is being able to see our friends! Today we got to see a movie with one group of friends, and then we went to the zoo with another group of friends! This weekend, we got to see even MORE friends! Here's a couple of pictures from this weekend. These pictures were taken late when they were all watching movies.


I didn't get any pictures at the movies, but I took some at the zoo.





Here is a video of Livi and Louis tearing it up on the drums.

This video is of my friend's daughter Emily pulling Louis around in the wagon. He thought it was the greatest thing! She is really wonderful with him.

Armageddon???

I planned on blogging about the AMA's greedy play to make homebirth illegal, but I have to do a little more research about that today. I will be blogging about that soon though!

This week California made gay marriage legal. True to form, Republicans have been spouting off about the breakdown of society and the end of times. We took the kidlets downtown and walked around Pride Fest for a little while today. I was on the look out for chaos and anarchy. What I saw were people hugging and holding hands, lots of laughter, happy families, and messages of tolerance and acceptance. That's Armageddon, huh? I guess the right and I have very different vision of what Armageddon would look like.

Whew! Progress!

Okay, I finally have some real progress to show off on the deck demolition. Trey and I got a lot done today. We found that the electrical stuff we've been carefully working around was disconnected many moons ago! Oh well. When it comes to electrical stuff, you can't be too careful.

I found this under the boards. I knew it was really old and empty, but I still made Trey spray it. I also made him remove it! I know it's an irrational fear, and I don't care!

Garage sales

I took the kidlets out today to some garage sales. We got some good deals. I found a brand new jacket for Beth Ann for this winter. I got some clothes for three of the kids. I found a tool for Trey, a pair of pants for me, a double Duke Ellington CD, and some fun toys for the kids. Here's a few pictures of Louis on his new toy!

Another Mama for Obama? Nope.

I've been a staunch Democrat my whole life. I was writing to politicians in grade school. I was 20 in 1992, and I was so excited for the election. I worked on Bill Clinton's campaign and even got to see him speak at the University of Arkansas. It was an incredibly exciting and idealistic time in my life. That idealism has taken many hits over the years. The beginning of the end came two years ago. I was eight months pregnant during the summer, and I was one of many people hitting the pavement trying to get enough signatures to get Referendum I on the ballot. Referendum I would have given same sex couples many rights that they do not currently have. Honestly, I never thought the measure would pass, but it was too important not to try. So, I did my part by dragging my fat butt around the city getting signatures. Man it was hot! I filled up my petition and sent it off, and there were enough signatures to get Referendum I on the ballot. That November I went to the polls with a pretty heavy heart. I figured that every ultra conservative in the state would come out of the woodwork to defeat Referendum I and in the process every conservative on the ballot would get elected. Imagine my surprise when almost every Democrat on the ballot got elected! However, Referendum I got soundly defeated - not by Republicans - by DEMOCRATS! We voted down a liberal ballot issue.

Since then I've been taking a hard look at the Democrats. I've always believed the Democrats to be the party to stand up for people, to fight for equal rights, to fight for worker's rights, to take care of people, and to protect the environment. Unfortunately, I've been seeing them in a new light. There's nothing liberal about the Democratic party anymore. They go as far as they have to make people think they're going to fight for them, but then they do as little as they can to keep from pissing off the conservatives too much. I'm sick of the fence walking. The Democratic politicians hide behind liberal ideals, but then don't actually fight for them.

This "war" between Clinton and Obama just took it over the edge for me. I couldn't believe the venom aimed at one supporter from another - mostly from Obama to Clinton supporters, but it went the other way as well. It could even been more understandable if the two candidates had been very different, but they were basically the same person. I went cross eyed one night looking at their voting records trying to find a major difference. It wasn't there. The biggest difference was when one voted and the other didn't. They're both two steps away from being Republicans. I really can't understand this fervor for Obama. I truly think that the Democrats are yearning for someone to believe in. I know I have been.

I just can't get behind Obama. I cannot in good conscience support someone who can justify the death penalty, who wants to build a fence between us and Mexico, who doesn't have the balls to stand up and support gay marriage, who comes up with a crap health care plan to appease people instead of supporting H.R. 676, who has a wishy-washy gun control record, etc. There's not a radical bone in Obama's body. He's a mediocre moderate at best. He doesn't even come close to representing change, and he is certainly not someone I can believe in. I pimped out my integrity four years ago to vote for someone I didn't believe in just to get Bush out. I just can't do it again. I need to teach my children that we can vote for people we believe in. I need to fight for their future, and the Democrats aren't interested in their future - just politics.

When I found Cynthia McKinney and the Green party, I knew I had finally found a party I could believe in. Finally, my idealism has had a chance to resurface. If the Democrats can't step up to the plate and fight for the people, it's time for the Green party to become a player. I can't vote for mediocrity anymore.

Yes, I am a geek

I suppose I am a full fledged geek now because I find this video hilarious!


I'm exhausted. I spent my day demolishing the deck. I'm too tired to take a picture. I'll post one this weekend. It's getting done.

Bummer day

The day started off nice enough. We met some friends at the theater and saw Flushed Away. Then we headed over to the park. It was warm, but it looked like it would be overcast for a good part of the day. We were the first ones at the park. The kids were playing and getting along.

Then just as the first group of friends arrived at the park, we had an accident. Beth got a piece of the wooden bench jammed up underneath her fingernail. OUCH! I had to take her to the urgent care center. We stopped and picked up Trey, who was in a meeting, and the whole clan busted into the center. I think they're getting to know us. LOL. I don't know if you can see it well in this picture, but that hunk of wood is all the way down to the nail bed underneath her nail.

The doctor numbed her finger, which he had to do with a shot that, of course, hurt! Once that was over though, she was okay. He had to cut off about half of her nail. He couldn't just pull out the splinter because it was old, soft wood that just kept breaking off. He had to dig under her nail to get it out. When he started to do that he said, "Mom, you might not want to watch this." I was thinking, "Oh please." Then he started doing it, and he was right. I didn't watch!

I was counting up how many urgent care and emergency room visits we've had with four children, and the total is seven. I don't think that's too bad, but it does show that our children have inherited our clumsy genes. Sorry kidlets. We've had two visits for stitches, one for burns, one for an ear infection, one for a concussion, one for pneumonia, and one for a parental overreaction! So far, only one thing was very serious, and I'm hoping it stays that way! The little things I can handle. Every time something like this happens, it makes me really grateful that we have good insurance. That is something I never, ever take for granted - especially since watching Sicko.

Beth started feeling sore this evening before going to bed, so I gave her some children's Motrin, and now she's asleep. Hopefully she won't be too sore tomorrow. She has a friend sleeping over, so that'll probably help keep her mind off of it in the morning!

Ode to Harry Potter and a lament

A few months ago, my daughter talked to me about starting a book club with her friends. We sent out an email to a group of her friends in the same age group, and several of them were interested in joining a book club. They've had a lot of fun with it. Each one of them gets a chance to pick a book. This time was Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Tonight, rather than just a book club, the host (and his mother and sister!) decorated "the great hall."

Everyone brought Harry Potteresque snacks.
Chocolate pudding and pumpkin juice

Pumpkin pasties

Butter beer

Chocolate frogs (or in this case - rice krispy frogs)

A cauldron of deviled eggs (okay, not so Harry Potteresque, but yummy)

The kids had a blast. They had a whole Harry Potter game going. Here's a group of them with their "broomsticks."

Feeding Murphy.

Here's a picture of three of the girls playing dress up.

Louis got a hold of a Sharpie.

This is what recharges my spirit - sitting and chatting with my friends. We had a great time just hanging out and chatting. On the way home, my kids started in on how they would miss our friends so much when we moved. Ray said, "Why can't they just live with us?" I really wish I could convince everyone to come to Arkansas, buy a big plot of land, and start our own intensive community! Unfortunately, they all have jobs and families, but gosh darn - it would be great. I would love to take them all with me. Our friends are wonderful, and I'm going to miss everyone so much when we move. The people we hang out with are the people I would really love for my children to grow up with. I'm really nervous about moving and having to make new friends. For now, I guess we'd better just enjoy our friends while we're here.

Boycott WaterCourse Foods?!?!

I was doing an Internet search to see if I could find a restaurant review that I had written on my food blog. Instead, I found the restaurant and another restaurant owned by the same people mentioned on another blog. I was floored when I read that this person was boycotting WaterCourse Foods and City O' City because *wait for it* they don't sell diet Coke. Yes, you read that right. The owners have decided to keep their integrity and not sell out to major corporations. Also, they won't sell products that contain harmful ingredients such as high fructose corn syrup.

We boycott a lot of companies in this house. Probably the most notable company we boycott is Nestle. I'm proud of the fact that my children know we do not buy products from Nestle because they are a company without morals. In this house, we call Nestle the "big, bad baby killers." My children know that children's lives and our integrity are both more important than buying a Butterfinger. We boycott companies with major human rights violations, for animal testing, and for other reasons that go against our moral code. I'm blown away that someone would boycott a morally responsible company because they have integrity and won't sell diet Coke. His parents must be so proud.

Cheap entertainment

Being a family of 6, we are always on the lookout for inexpensive ways to have fun. The people who owned the Cinderella Drive-in sold out last year, and now there is a housing development going in there. We found another one up in Commerce City, so we decided to go there. It cost us $16 to see two movies! That's our kind of cheap entertainment. That drive-in isn't as busy as the Cinderella was, so we got there a bit early. Next time we'll know that we don't have to be there quite as early!

It gave us time to eat our gf/vegan pizza from City O' City.



Then we just goofed off, and we found our own cheap entertainment

Crunchy Techno-Hippies

I often jokingly call myself a technophobe. The truth is that I'm not. I just prefer that whatever technology I'm using have a super easy user interface. I can't believe I even use terms like user interface. I took a computer class in high school and used a computer when I was the copy editor of the yearbook, but that was really the extent of my computer use. I started using a computer, reluctantly, in college. I found that it was nice to be able use a word processor to type up papers. Then, I discovered playing Solitaire. It really took a while for me to warm up to "technology." Something that goes alone with it - science fiction - was pretty unknown to me as well. I had seen one Star Trek movie, and that was it. I hadn't even seen Star Wars until I met Trey.

However, the hippie side of life always came naturally to me. When I was a kid, I used to call my mom a "stylish hippie." I don't think she ever knew that! LOL. It was a term of endearment. Our family never really was "mainstream." My parents were attachment parents before there really was a term for it. They believed in breastfeeding, co-sleeping, gentle discipline, and mostly being attached to their children. We were semi-vegetarians. My mom cooked from scratch and made my clothes. We always had a big garden, and my mom taught me to cook and can, sew and crochet. She tried to teach me to knit, but I apparently was a slow learner with that one. My mom made us homemade granola bars when most people thought granola was just dry "hippie food." (I really wish she could remember her recipe - they were good.) "Alternative medicine" wasn't weird to us.

My husband grew up in a loving but mainstream family. He may not have been used to many of the things I was used to, but there were other things in his life that were foreign to me. I've heard him wax poetic about his Commodore 64. My comment to that was, "It was a computer, right?" LOL. Trey, his brother, and his dad are all into techie things. His brother is also a computer engineer. Trey really found his niche when he decided to get a degree in computer science. He is a fabulous software engineer/architect. He is really good at what he does. It's not only his profession, it's his hobby. He's been successful at work. He sees things differently than some people. He can just see the solutions to problems that elude other people. Unfortunately for him, he married a woman who knows nothing about computers! So many times he's been excitedly telling me about some techie thing, and my eyes just start to glaze over, and eventually I'll say, "Uh, maybe you should call your brother!"

Who would have thought that in just a few short years (12) of being married to a techie, I would turn into someone who is addicted to blogging on my laptop Mac, can't be away from my camera phone, keep in touch with my online friends as well as I do with my IRL (and I even know that IRL means "in real life") friends, am a certified "Trekkie," have seen Star Wars more times than I care to count, and is quite proud of my pro-bowler Wii status.

Possibly even more amazing is that my formerly mainstream Republican husband is now a staunch Democrat (his heart is Green, he just doesn't believe we can win), vegetarian, homebirthing-breastfeeding-cosleeping supporter/advocate, alternative medicine user, whose dream it is to build an off grid dome home!

So, I guess we've grown together and melded, and we are now firmly a part of the "crunchy techno-hippie" sub-culture!!!

Holistic Moms Network/diaper reviews

Tonight I went to a Holistic Moms Network meeting. My friend Robin is a co-leader of the group. Tonight's meeting was about simple living. It was a fun meeting. I saw another friend there that I haven't seen in months, and it was really nice. I also realized that I should maybe blog more about different things in my life instead of just the never ending, back breaking, pain in the ass, house fix up and mythical year of road schooling. I did get to share my knowledge gained from eight years of cloth diapering to a new mom, so that was cool. She had a three week old, adorable, little girl. Cloth diapering is just one thing that parents can do to soften their footprint on the Earth. I've tried many different types of cloth diapers. Some of the worst were Kissaluvs and Zippidy's. I'm not sure if they even make Zippidy's anymore, but they pretty much suck. The weren't very absorbent, and they didn't hold up well. The Kissaluvs were awful. The ones I had were fitted diapers. They just slowly stretched out. They took forever to dry. I have several Under the Nile organic fitted diapers. They're okay. I mostly kept buying them because my friend sold them, and I didn't have to have them shipped. I could just call her, and then pick them up at a playgroup or something. They're not bad; they just take forever to dry. Even if I dry them in the dryer, I usually still have to lay them out for a while. I use Bummis whisper wraps with them, and they're great. They don't leak, and they hold up really well. I use them for overnight diapers. I really like Fuzzibunz. They are pocket diapers, and while you have to stuff them, they're really great diapers. They work great for overnight diapers. I've never had them leak, and they hold up fabulously. I still have diapers that I used with my oldest child, so that would make them eight years old. In my book, that makes them pretty darn good diapers. The Fuzzibunz would tie for my favorite with the Motherease Sandy's. I have one of the original Motherease, and it's okay, but it's not very thick or absorbent. The Sandy's are thicker, and they're soft. I've also used for them overnights. The diapers that are my least favorite are the Bumkins All in Ones. They're cute, but they are not very absorbent, they take forever to dry, they leak, and they do not hold up well. Everyone of them that I bought, I have gotten rid of. I had to repair all of them, and most of them just fell apart. I would not recommend them to anyone. I think there are others that I've tried, but I can't remember which ones right now! So, there's my first natural living product review.

I worked my butt off today on the deck, and I got quite a bit done. I think we'll be able to get it down this weekend. I found that the porch has a crack in it though which sucks. I'm not sure how bad it is yet, but I'm sure we'll find out soon. Here's a picture of my progress.


This week I got an email that one of the founders of La Leche League died. LLL has been a huge part of my life, and I owe them so much. LLL has been instrumental in getting breastfeeding rates up in this country. In 1956, 7 woman started a grassroots campaign to get breastfeeding information out to women who wanted it. Over 50 years later, LLL has grown into the world's leading authority on breastfeeding, backed by a medical advisory board, with members and chapters worldwide. Seven women started it all. They rock, and the world lost a great woman. I have been breastfeeding one child or another or two at once for nearly 9 years. Thanks to LLL I had the opportunity to help many women with breastfeeding issues. Hopefully, I was able to make a difference. Here's the latest beautiful, and in this picture sleepy, face I get to look at every time I nurse.


Here's some pictures of my amazing children.