Life, Love, and one Amazing Journey

World's Most Spoiled Rotten Dog

2011-12-03T21:59:00.000-08:00

Okay - seriously? Is this NOT the world's most spoiled dog?

What a rotten thing. He had to be right in between us! LOL.

Probably should have taken a picture

2011-11-29T20:16:00.001-08:00

Okay, so I am not the most organized. I am also not the best mom, but I try hard. Fast forward to tonight. I am sick. I have an audition and a performance tomorrow! So, I'm already a little freaked out. I'm still memorizing the French words to one of my songs that I needed to work on tonight. I've had many friends give me different idea to try and naturally kick this cold's butt. I wanted to look at my music, so that I could practice the newest phrase while in the shower. So, here I am with this cinnamon paste on my forehead (nasal cavity area), and I'm searching the house looking frantically for my music. My daughter tells me that my sons often gets his white folder and my white folder mixed up. I run into his room and flip on the light looking through his room for my folder. "Son! Have you seen my folder? Did you get it mixed up with yours?" "Mom? What's wrong with your head?" Oh nothing. I just have a cinnamon paste on it that looks like a bindi on crack! "Don't worry about it! I need my folder!" LOL. Here's my "relaxing" shower: hot water on the chest and back to break up the congestion, salt water in my makeshift neti pot to flush my nose, and a careful washing of the forehead, so that I don't get any cinnamon paste in my eyes - all while singing my newest French phrase! After I got out, I smeared my chest with a menthol rub. So, I have a cinnamon-y forehead, a salty nose, and a menthol-y chest! Yummy - not. I hope something works!!!

Finally - pictures!

2011-11-28T17:36:00.000-08:00

Here's our Janie. She's a cutie. Unfortunately, I think she has been mistreated. She is so scared. She basically lives in Beth Ann's room. She has ventured out and gone into the bathroom and Livi's room, but that's pretty much it. We've taken her downstairs, and she curls up under a blanket until we take her back upstairs. Most of the time she spends in Beth Ann's bedroom, she spends under her comforter. I'm not quite sure what to do. I brought her into bed with me on Thanksgiving when I was sick. She laid under the covers shaking. I guess we just have to take baby steps with her.

For Thanksgiving, we were supposed to go to our friends' home, but we all ended up with a stomach virus. :( About one o'clock on Thanksgiving, I finally felt like cooking, and since everyone was feeling better, I threw together a Thanksgiving meal. We all basically looked at the food, and then put it away! Oh well. We were thankful anyway, and we are hoping that next year will NOT be our third Thanksgiving in a row to be sick!

This picture is of our kids' choirs from First Universalist at St. John's Cathedral. They recently had the opportunity to perform with two other children's choirs at a fundraiser for The Children's Hospital. It was a huge opportunity for them.

Our new fur baby!

2011-11-21T19:09:00.000-08:00

In the past few months, we've lost two of our beloved kitties. Harry died in August. I got Harry in 1992 when he was a tiny kitten. He was 19 years old when he died. I know that is a very long life, but it was still incredibly sad to lose him. On Halloween, our 15 year old cat, Ronnie, died. My husband rescued him, three litter mates, and an older kitten that was obviously from the same home in October of 1996. We miss them both terribly.

A few days after Ronnie died, we started seeing an orange kitty hanging around. I didn't think anything of it at first since there are many cats in our neighborhood. She didn't act like a cat that had a home though. She was very scared of me and would run any time I tried to get near her. One morning we woke up to two foxes in our backyard near the kids' playhouse. After that we realized that this little orange kitty was living under the playhouse. Since she wouldn't come to me, I contacted The Cat Care Society. I was able to rent a trap from them ($50 deposit - refundable; $.50 a day rental). We caught the poor little thing that same night. She was filthy, terrified, and starving.

The Feline Fix is part of the Rocky Mountain Alley Cat Alliance. We made an appointment and took her there to be fixed and tested for FIV and FeLV. All of her tests came back negative, so she is officially the newest member of our family. The veterinarian estimated her age at 3-4 years. She is slowly becoming less and less afraid. We named her Captain Janeway a.k.a. Janie. She's a love with an interesting habit of curling up underneath the blankets. I will get pictures posted of her as soon as I can figure out how to get them uploaded from my phone!

It's been a while

2011-11-21T18:54:00.000-08:00

I haven't blogged in quite some time. It's something I miss doing. My goal now is to blog at least once a week. I like having this forum. I like to talk about my children and family. I like to talk about issues that I am passionate about. I like to talk about things that I have conflicting views on. I've realized lately that I need to change a lot of things in my life. I am in a serious slump. Maybe it's because I'm looking down the barrel of 40! I don't know, and I don't exactly know where the journey is taking me. I do know that I want to blog about it as I go along. Blogging also helps me remember all the wonderful things in my life and why I am thankful for them.

It's time for me to take care of myself. I started back to school in January. I am a music education major, and I love it. I love being in school, and I absolutely love having so much music in my life. Somehow I have to get over the notion though that it is selfish to be in school. I take care of everyone else, but since I am in school I figure that is all I get. I have to take care of myself as well. There is so much going on that I have been feeling overwhelmed and oftentimes feeling like I am barely keeping my head above water. I have to make many changes.

One change that I am making is in my eating habits. I truly believe that eating a vegan diet is the best not only for my health but for ethical and environmental reasons as well. I have been an ethical vegetarian for 19 years. It's very hard to be in a "mixed family." My husband, luckily, is a vegetarian, but he is a die hard dairy fan. Eggs aren't hard for him because he doesn't even like them. Dairy though - watch out! I've been very honest with him lately though. I have to do this for me. He doesn't have to change, but I am not going to make food with dairy in it any more. Unfortunately, I also have to cut gluten out of my diet - for good. I have played around with eliminating gluten, and I went without it for quite a while. I though I just had gut issues, and they were fixed. I was wrong though. After eliminating and introducing a few times, I have realized that not only do I have digestion issues when I eat gluten, I also have pain in my legs and feet. That is the part that is the most troubling for me. No food is worth that. So, I am cleaning out the kitchen, and then will be gluten free.

As a student and mom of five, I really need inexpensive and quick meals. They also have to be gluten free and vegan. I know how to do vegan. I know how to do cheap. I know how to do gluten free. Melding the three is proving to be a challenge. I just bought a new cookbook by Robin Robertson called Vegan on the Cheap this weekend. I am hoping that it will help me out! I am also in the process of overhauling my food blog a bit. I want to start updating it again as well. I will be looking for support along my journey! I'll be blogging about other aspects along the way, but this is the first step.

I support "the teacher"

2011-02-19T08:47:00.000-08:00

This week I have read two very different stories from and about two very different teachers. The first story was about a Pennsylvania teacher named Natalie Munroe who said horrific things about her students on a publicly accessible blog. Read the news story here. She made comments such as "They are rude, disengaged, lazy whiners." She also talked about things she wished she could have put on student evaluations such as "I hear the trash company is hiring," "I called out sick a couple of days just to avoid your son," and "Just as bad as his sibling. Don't you know how to raise kids?" The friend who posted this said that she supported the teacher. I have a very different take on this story.

I had teachers like Natalie Munroe. They were critical, uncaring, and demeaning. I have lifelong scars from those teachers. Munroe is a high school teacher. My teachers were grade school teachers. I cannot begin to tell you how much I thank God that I did not have a teacher like Munroe in high school. I went to high school with major baggage. I was dealing with serious self esteem and confidence issues from early childhood bullying from teachers and students. I became involved in a physically and emotionally abusive relationship, and at one point, I tried to commit suicide. I don't know how having a teacher like Munroe would have affected me in high school. I know it wouldn't have been a positive experience. Luckily, I had teachers like Mr. Terry Verlo, science teacher. He was exceptionally kind. He taught me that I was worthy of kindness even when I felt that I did not deserve it. I also had teachers like Mr. George Fisher, history teacher. He taught me that my ideas and thoughts had value and were worth listening to and discussing. I had teachers like Mr. Charles Barber, English teacher. He always made me smile in class. He taught me that we students were important by trying to make learning fun and trying to engage us. I had teachers like Mr. Curtis Anderson, music teacher. He taught me that I could pour my energy into the things I was passionate about, and he inspired me to be more than I thought I could be. There were others as well who made a positive impact in my life.

I thank God for those teachers. Teachers have incredible influence on their students even if they don't (as it seems Munroe does not) realize it.

The second story I read this week was written by a former teacher named Peggy Robertson. She writes eloquently and beautifully about the joys and frustrations of being a teacher. I don't want to paraphrase too much of what she said here. I would encourage you to read the post for yourself. Here is a former teacher who WANTS to teach. She WANTS to fight to make the system better as opposed to spending her energy putting down the very people she is supposed to be helping. I may be idealistic, but I truly believe there are more Peggy Robertson's in the world than there are Natalie Munroe's. I believe that most teachers go into teaching because they truly want to teach students. What a beautiful privilege to be a part of helping a child become the person they were meant to be!

I am currently in school studying to be a high school teacher. This summer there will be a march in Washington D.C. You can read more about it here. I really want to be there. You see, I support the teacher. I support the teachers who are out there trying to make the world a better place. I support the teachers who are out there working their butts off fighting the "teach to the test" mentality. I support the teachers who are out there every day trying to find a way to help that one student who just isn't "getting it." I support the Mr. Verlo's, Mr. Fisher's, Mr. Barber's, Mr. Anderson's, and the multitude of others who are inspiring students. I support the teacher.

Not ashamed of crying anymore

2010-11-02T11:50:00.000-07:00

The last several weeks have incredibly, um, challenging for me. In honor of NaNoWriMo and the fact that I am just a walking raw nerve right now, I am going to write about some stuff. Pretty much no one reads this blog anymore anyway, so I feel pretty comfortable putting all my emotions and deep, dark secrets out there! The recent and highly publicized suicide deaths of the five gay teenagers and all the ensuing talk about bullying has brought up a bunch hard memories and brought about a lot of soul searching. First off, no, I am not gay. That's not what this is about. It's about a lot of other things. There are probably too many to list, but I'll get to them as I need to talk about them.

It seems like I have always, always, always hated to cry. I have decided that no longer going to be ashamed of crying. I am a crier. I cry easily, and it's always bugged me. Darn it - I'm not going to let it anymore. Crying is cleansing. Crying allows you to let things out. I learned to try and repress the urge to cry at a very young age. School was hard. Sometimes it was painful, humiliating, and even scary. The first few years I was in school are very hard for me to talk about, but I am going to.

My first year of school was kindergarten. I learned that the teacher would just like for me to shut up and not say a word - ever. I was sort of the freak of the school, so I didn't really have any friends. I was mostly ignored though not really picked on. The teacher ignored me, the students ignored me, and I mostly sat quietly twiddling my fingers until the day was over. It wasn't enjoyable, but it could have been worse. The next year I went to a very small, private school, and the following year back to public school, and it did indeed get worse.

Now, to be fair, neither of my first grade teachers really liked any of us. One teacher had a habit of calling us dogs. Nice, eh? But I, being an odd kid, really took the brunt of it all. I was the teacher's whipping girl. My second grade teacher wasn't really any better, and actually in many ways, she was worse. These teachers really set me up for bullying, and not only did they set it up, they looked the other way when it was happening. When I went to school, I was pretty far ahead of the school work we were doing. I could do the fifth grade reading work, so instead of giving me harder work, the teacher decided to use me to her advantage. The school was a one room school with grades 1-8 (a couple of grades were empty, so there were only 6 actual grades) with a small number of students. The teacher decided that it would make her job easier if I, a first grade girl, taught the third graders (two boys) their reading work. Wow did that make me popular. They really hated me, and she knew it, and she didn't care a bit. Both years, I was punished for ever succeeding. I remember sitting in school with absolutely nothing to do, but being expected to just sit there quietly. So, I taught myself to write in cursive from the letter boxes around the top of the room. When I showed my teacher, she moved my desk away from the other first graders, put it in the corner, and made me stay in from recess. Once I finished a math paper before anyone else in the room, and when I took it up to the teacher, she made me stay in from recess because I hadn't spent enough time on the paper even though everything on it was correct. When I took my math workbook home in the first week of school and finished half the book in one evening, rather than looking at it and realizing (since it was all correct) that I needed harder work, my teacher decided that I needed to stay inside during recess and erase it all. I remember time after time after time of being humiliated in front of the whole class by my teachers. It's really no wonder that the teacher's whipping girl became the class' whipping girl.

During this time, my hair was cut, and then apparently my aunt "thinned" it, and well - I just looked like a boy. Suddenly, I went from the freak who at least looked normal, to the freaky girl who looks like a boy. That all happened during that really awkward phase where you're losing all your baby teeth, and they're being replaced by these huge gopher teeth that don't fit in your head yet. Yea, that was fun.

Over the years, I've only focused on the things that happened to me from teachers. I learned at a very young age from them, to not succeed. I almost NEVER did homework. Even through high school I didn't do homework in the evenings. If I had homework to be turned in, I would quickly do it over breakfast or sitting in my seat waiting for class to start. I knew I should do it, but I would get these knots in my stomach when I sat down to do homework, and I didn't realize why.

I never really took the time to think about the treatment I received from the students. Recently when bullying was in the news so heavily, I started having to look at the things that happened to me as a young child. In those first years I have memories of being pushed in the mud, tripped, pushed off the swings, called names, being taunted, having my hand stomped on, being told I smelled (which I didn't), being pushed out of the tree, being excluded, having my things taken and then being teased with them, being called a boy, being run into and knocked over, and being tied up with a rope. I never classified myself as someone who was bullied, but I think those things qualify me as someone who was bullied. I was scared to go to school. I was miserable and sad. I was happy at home. My parents are wonderful, but I did not tell them what was going on. I think they believed that bad grades equaled problems at school and good grades equaled things being okay. Well, I had good grades. School work wasn't hard for me. School was.

I know that is where I learned to hate crying. I learned to not cry because crying only made the bullying worse. If I cried on top of things, I was teased even more because then I was teased for crying. I learned to stuff that down or in more cases than not - eat it away.

Luckily for me, the bullying did stop although I know I have lasting scars from it. I spent years and years trying to be someone I wasn't to make people happy to protect myself. I learned to be very talkative and kind of goofy. I also became very fluent in sarcasm! The rest of my grade school years weren't as horrible. I made friends and even had some fun. I still didn't have a lot of luck with teachers though. Some of the teachers we had at our school were nice people, but they were terrible teachers. It wasn't until I got to high school that I had teachers that I respected or that really gave a darn about me. When it happened, honestly, I didn't know how to handle it.

Recently, I've been going through all my old videos, so I can get them digitized. It's strange how this stuff is all happening at once, but I guess it's really time for me to just talk through all of it.

I went to a private boarding academy my freshman year in high school. My last school had 26 kids (and that was a big year!), and then I went to a school with around 200. That was quite a switch. It was a switch in so many different ways. I lived, worked, ate, and went to school with these people. They were kind of like a big family to me. For the first time ever, I had teachers who knew what they were doing, were good at it, and cared about us. I only stayed one year, and I've often tried to figure out exactly why I left. I really did like it there. So, why did I gripe to my parents and beg to leave? I did not know how to trust people. I couldn't handle having these teachers and faculty in my life who were so different that what I was used to. I know it sounds strange, but I wanted (or thought I wanted) to be in a place where I was invisible.

I went to that place as a sophomore. I went to a public high school that had about 800 kids, and I probably knew the names of 8. I was definitely invisible. My teachers barely knew my name, The one who did know my name, had been my older brothers' counselor, and she HATED me by association! Seriously. When she got to my name on the rooster, she had a very significant pause. Then she called my name, I said, "Present." She looked at me and said (in this really mean voice), "You're not related to the OTHER Dupuis' in this town, are you?" Have you ever had a time when your brain is literally screaming at you, "Lie, lie, lie, lie, lie..."? Well, mine was doing that, but instead of lying I said, "Yes, ma'am." WRONG ANSWER! The woman literally did not speak to me for six weeks. She finally talked to me when she realized I was the quietest person in her class! I had a Geometry teacher who knew my name, but didn't get a rat's bottom about me. I had his class the first semester, and I sat in the front row and had a solid A the whole time. Then at the semester because I was probably the loneliest person in school, I switched classes to be with a few of the people I knew. They were all stoners who hated smart kids with good grades. My grade dropped from a 95% to a 55% in 4 1/2 weeks. Now, it takes a lot of work to do that poorly! What is the only things my teacher said to me? "You did better in my other class." Yep. That's it. It was that incident that made me decide that I wanted to go back to Ozark. I knew that I would never, EVER have gotten away with that at Ozark. There would have been discussions in the teacher's office, parents called if need be, etc. I should have begged my parents to put me back then, but I didn't. I stuck out the long, boring, lonely year.

I went back to Ozark as a junior. It was absolutely the best place I could be. I still managed to almost ruin it for myself though. I smoked (at school - something I could have gotten kicked out for), I drank, and I experimented a bit with drugs. I was very miserable with myself. That's what having zero self esteem will do for a person. I started dating a very troubled young man. For years, I was very angry with him, but I guess age has mellowed me! He was very troubled, and unfortunately, I allowed him to take it out on me. I only knew how to be in a relationship where I was treated like crap. I knew in my head that I should stand up for myself, but I didn't. I didn't think of myself as abused because he never hauled off and hit me with his fist. To me, being hit with a fist equaled abuse. One day I realized that being thrown into a wall or knocked to the ground creates bruises that are just as real as those caused by fists. I wanted so badly to figure out how to just co-exist happily with people, but I was miserable. So, one day, I decided that I would stop fighting and just end it the stupidest way possible. I tried to commit suicide. It was such a stupid thing to do, and I am incredibly glad it didn't work. I was living in the dormitory was a wonderful roommate. Our room was connected to another room where two of my good friends lived. The four of us had our own little self contained living quarters. I didn't think about how my actions could have scarred these kids. I took a bunch of pills - everything I had in my room - some legal - some not so much. I told everyone goodnight, and I went to bed. I woke up the next morning to my roommate shaking me nearly yelling my name over and over. When I rolled over, I could tell she was worried. She informed me that I had slept through my very loud alarm, and I could tell she'd had trouble waking me up. It quickly became apparent to my friends that I was not okay since I couldn't stay vertical for more than a couple minutes at a time and only if I had some forward momentum going. They got really concerned when I laid down on the floor of the "Mid bus" (the bus that took us to work at the cabinet factory) because that bus was na-hasty! Anyway, long story short, I ended up calling the dean and going back to the dorm where I spent the next few days sleeping and hurling. It wasn't fun, but I remember having this overwhelming sense of relief to be alive. It was a big turning point for me.

After that things didn't change immediately, but I knew I had to do something. There was one thing in my life that made me truly happy, and that was music. We had a music director at that school that I completely admired (I was totally intimidated by him, too!). I was singing in the choir, which I loved. I was also taking voice lessons. I honestly had been sort of coasting by, but after my stupid incident, I really started paying attention and working harder. It wasn't long after that, my teacher switched me from soprano to alto, and I began to get a little confidence. I have composed music since I was 13, but again, after my stupid incident, I started composing seriously. Music truly became my passion and my outlet.

That summer, the troubled young man and I broke up. I quit all my nasty habits. I tried to get healthy (in my mind aka thin), but that only resulted in an eating disorder, but I was trying. I went back to school. It was an incredibly stressful year. I was trying so hard to be good, and I kept getting in trouble! I had friends I loved, and teachers I admired though, so I kept trying. I still didn't study much, but luckily I managed to graduate with a 3.3, so not too bad. In spite of all the stress, I had a really great year. I joined organizations and played sports and had fun. Still, I wouldn't have made it though without music.

Music was my sanctuary. I sang in the small and large choir and I played in the band. I also spent HOURS in the music hall playing the piano. Music was not only my sanctuary, it was my outlet. My music teacher inspired me, and I soaked in every word he said. I constantly annoyed him though without trying, so I just started adding to it by smarting off to him and purposefully annoying him - which was SO helpful! It was very stupid since he was the one person I looked up to the most, but well, I was young and stupid. What can I say? I remember VIVIDLY the day I crossed the line with him. Honestly, I don't know if he was close to kicking me out of choir or not, but in my mind, it was a very real possibility. We were singing this song that I hated (and truthfully still hate!), and I was always smarting off about it. Walking into choir one day, I said something really awful. You know when you say something and it's so bad that even your friends look at you like you're a blooming idiot? Yep, it was like that. I don't remember what he said to me, but it was very short and along the lines of, "That is ENOUGH." The look that went along with it has been burned into my memory! I sat in my seat for the duration of class just shaking and praying, "Lord, I know that was really, really, really, really stupid. I'm sorry. I'll never do it again - I promise!" I managed not to cry though until I got back to my room. I was determined not to cry in class, but you know, if I had, at least it would have been obvious that I KNEW I was an idiot! :-) He didn't kick me out of class thankfully (didn't speak much to me after that either!), and I didn't smart off again!

That year was hard. I starved myself for months, and when I finally got hungry enough that I just couldn't keep starving myself, I discovered the disgusting world of self-induced vomiting. I did that until I started vomiting up blood. Somehow I made it through the year. I was the tough kid who wasn't going to cry at graduation. I almost made it through the whole weekend. When our small choir sang, "Make Me An Instrument" I lost it. I couldn't sing. I was mouthing the words with tears rolling down my face. I've watched the video, and you can see my couple of quick, trying to be nonchalant wipes at my eyes during the song. Twenty years later, that song still makes me cry. It's not that it's just a beautiful song, because it is, it is because of what the whole experience meant to me. It's because of what the people meant to me. The people I knew there still hold an incredibly important place in my heart. My friends were there for me at a time when I really needed them whether they knew it or not. My teachers helped me learn to trust people, they helped me feel safe, and they helped me learn to like school. My music teacher literally changed my life. Music is still an incredibly important thing in my life, it's still my sanctuary and my outlet. I was inspired by him, and that inspiration still exists today.

Hmmm, I'm not sure if I actually said what I set out to say, but I guess that's okay. I don't know how to end this post either except to say that I am grateful for the people who have made such an impact in my life - well, a positive impact anyway. I'm not sure I've grown enough to be grateful for the bad experiences, but at least I don't still hold a grudge. That's good I suppose!

The kindness of strangers

2010-10-12T19:32:00.000-07:00

Today was horrendous. I cannot even begin to convey the roller coaster ride that today has been. That is not the purpose of this post, but it is useful back story. I have been dealing with a situation that was created by other people's incompetence. It has been very stressful and was about to cost us a very large amount of money. Today was the absolute last day that I had to resolve the issue. So, that was today! Because of everything I had to do, I did not have time to go home and fix supper for my five children. I decided to take everybody to Qdoba.

Usually when I walk in someplace with my five children, people's eyes bug out. Oftentimes people choose to treat us poorly before they even have a chance to talk to us. I try hard to be super friendly and engaging, and many times I can win people over. It's hard work though, and there is no way I would have had any leftover energy to do any of that today. On top of all this, my youngest son has some special needs. His needs aren't super severe. He wasn't born with Down's Syndrome or something that is obvious to people when they look at him. In all probability with special education and a lot of hard work, he will grow up to be a normal adult with a few possible quirks. When people see him, they usually just judge him as a "naughty, disobedient boy." It's usually only parents who have special needs children who recognize his unique qualities. He is a very challenging child, but he is the most joyful child I have ever met. He exudes joy. I am fiercely protective of him because so many people don't understand or don't care and treat him in ways that can damage his self worth. I've had to sit in on activities, so that I could intervene and explain things to teachers. I quit attending play group. I make sure to have a discussion with pretty much any adult who will be interacting with my child for any length of time. The list goes on and on. Taking him on an outing by himself can be challenging enough, but throw four other children into the mix, and it can be downright exhausting.

Remember all of that. Now, we all walk into Qdoba, and I start ordering for the six of us. When I turned my back, my son starting doing something where he could get hurt. Over comes this man (I didn't realize he was the manager yet), and gently redirected my son. When I turned around and saw what had happened, I immediately thanked him. He gave me a big smile and said, "Oh, it's no problem. I just didn't want him to get hurt." Next, while I am paying, my son gets his meal and starts walking away before I can stop him and promptly drops his food on the floor. This manager kneels down to be on my son's level and says, "That one's dirty now, so I'll ask them to make you another one, okay?" He spoke to my son like he was a human being. The cashier and manager then help us carry all of our food outside and move a table for us, and the manager went in and filled all of our water cups, put lids and straws on them and brought them all out to us. I know it doesn't sound like much, but these people were so incredibly kind to us and went so far above what their job dictated. The most important part was the way they treated my children and especially my youngest son. I hate crying, and I REALLY hate crying in front of people I don't know, but I couldn't help it, I did it anyway. It's hard to describe the judgment I live with everyday when I am out with my children and the way my youngest son is treated by complete strangers and even sometimes by people who are not strangers. Kindness is so completely underrated in our society, but I tend to think that it is incredibly powerful. I was overwhelmed by the kindness of strangers today, and I am thankful that our paths crossed.

Common sense parenting

2010-08-31T20:35:00.001-07:00

Okay - I am going to warn you now that I am stepping up on my soap box, so if you don't want to read it, then DON'T! I am so sick of all the judgment and second guessing going on with parenting. When I was a La Leche League leader, we used to tell new moms, "YOU are the expert on YOUR baby." Well, guess what? Moms and Dads are still the experts on our children even if they're four or six or ten or sixteen. Our instincts are the absolute most important tools we have as parents. I read an article about five worries that parents should drop and five they shouldn't. The article is interesting, but it just ticked me off. I'm also sick of the labels we give parents. There's the "helicopter parent" and the "free range parent." Seriously?! I just want to tell all the "experts" to bite me. I'm coming up with my own term. It's called the "common-sense parent."

Here's the five things parents "shouldn't" worry about according to this article: kidnapping, school snipers, terrorists, dangerous strangers, and drugs. The five things it says we "should" worry about are: car accidents, homicide (committed by someone who knows the child), abuse, suicide, and drowning. First off, yes, you can give people statistics, etc. That's all well and good, but do not tell a person what to or not to worry about. I live in Colorado. There have been no less than three school shootings with many fatalities since we moved here. Do I worry about school shootings? No. I am certainly not going to tell someone who lives down the street from Columbine that their worries are dumb. Many of them LIVED it! Our reality forms our perception. That is true for everyone. Not only that, I completely and absolutely believe that the Columbine school shooting could have been prevented. So, while school shootings may be rare, school violence isn't. Shootings may be the extreme outcome, but I don't think it's crazy to think of ways to prevent it. Not only that, if a parent IS concerned about violence at school, maybe they have a reason for it. We need to LISTEN to our intuition. Just Friday, I had an incident at my children's school. It wasn't with a student but with a parent/grandparent. He completely flipped out at me, and I won't go into it, but it was outrageously bizarre. I struggled all weekend with whether I should mention it to the dean or not. Had I listened to the prevailing "wisdom" of the world, I would have just "let it go." Instead, I listened to my intuition that was telling me that something was just "not right." I talked to the dean and found out that this particular individual has already flipped on at least one other person. They kids have only been in school for less than a month. How many people has this man flipped out on that haven't mentioned it? Now I know to keep an eye on this man. I have warned my children about him, and the school knows that he is building a history of belligerence.

The article says we SHOULD worry about car accidents. Their solution though is to make sure our children are buckled properly, in the proper harnesses, blah, blah, blah. Don't get me wrong - I am adamant about my children wearing seat belts, being in boosters and car seats, etc. However, could the article talk a tiny bit about personal responsibility? The number one thing we can do to keep our children safe in a vehicle has less to do with the way they are restrained and more to do with the way we drive. Maybe they need to be saying to parents that they should grow up, slow their butts down, follow the speed limit and street laws and drive defensively.

Then it tells me that I should not worry about my child being kidnapped and worry about suicide instead. Okay, maybe I am niave, but I would see suicide as an issue for children who are at least in middle school and mostly in high school. Is that really going to be valid for my six year old? When she walks down the street to see her friend, should I worry that she'll have an intense bout of depression on the way, climb a tree, and jump? Or would it be more prudent for me to talk to her about safety, what to do if she were approached, how to listen to her intuition, and maybe stand in front of the house, so I can watch her walk half of the way and then have her call when she gets there? Maybe we could throw a little common sense into parenting. Worrying about things is just wasted energy. Maybe our time would be better spent if we could educate ourselves and our children and take precautions on things - even the ones that have a less likelihood of happening. Maybe we could take some responsibility for the things we can actually have a huge impact on such as car safety. The biggest thing we could do though is to trust our parental instincts and beyond that, we could trust that OTHER parents have instincts as well.

Before my oldest went to school, I was convinced that I would home school her. I hated the idea. It made me sick to my stomach, but I was a "good" attachment parent, and I kept hearing and reading that it was the best thing and what all the "good" attachment parents do. Finally, I wised up and realized that home school was not an option that would work for anyone in our family. It would break us apart. I have other friends who have people telling them how awful they are for home schooling. You know, because people that do not raise the children absolutely must know more about the children than their own parents, right? Yes, that was sarcasm. The same thing goes with vaccinations. I researched the heck out of vaccinations and came to the conclusion that the research supports the validity of selective vaccination, but that it does NOT support early vaccination. So, that's what I do. I selectively vaccinate my children on a delayed schedule. I catch crap from both sides of the fence. I have done my research, and I am secure in the decisions I've made. I may not agree with the decisions other people make, but I support them in making educated decisions for their own families.

Could we just agree that we are all the own experts on our own family and leave each other alone?! Would that be too darn difficult? I guess that wouldn't catch as many readers because really what would we have to read about if we couldn't read about how we are all different and one side is better than the other, right? Nobody can love a child like their own parent. I know there are people in the world who should never have become parents, but for the most part, I like to believe that we are all doing the best we can with the information that we have. How about we all love and accept a little more and judge a little less?

My Louie is 4!!!

2010-08-31T20:26:00.000-07:00

My little boy turned four on the 25th. *sniff* He's getting so big. We haven't had his birthday party yet, but we did celebrate and let him open presents. Unfortunately, my stupid camera is not working properly! I've got to get it working before I can get the birthday pictures off it. I did take a few with my camera, and I'll post those. Louis is such an incredibly joyful child. He experiences life to the absolute fullest. We are truly blessed to have that beautiful boy in our family.

This is the gift he got from his buddy Nick.

The B'Shaloms visit!

2010-07-23T20:46:00.001-07:00

Our dear friends: Miryam, Joey, Hannah, Benji, Jonah, and Gavi moved to Portland, Oregon last year, and we miss them lots. It was such a great pleasure to get to spend the afternoon with them when they came back to Denver for a visit. I'm so glad they were able to move to a place that makes them happy even if they're far away. Thank goodness for Facebook, so I can still follow their lives! Plus, I think Miryam's mom and dad still live here, so they HAVE to come visit sometimes, right? :-)

I had to get the short video of Theresa while we were at the park because she was just too funny!

Father's Day

2010-07-23T20:28:00.000-07:00

Yea, yea, I know. I'm a little behind. I just got the pictures downloaded though! We decided that it was high time to take the kidlets up Pike's Peak, so we went on father's day. Trey and I have been up Pike's Peak three times, but all three times happened within the first year that we lived here. We'd never been since then. We decided to drive up (because it is WAY cheaper, and you have more than 20 minutes at the top). We stopped at the reservoir on the way up. It was so beautiful and peaceful. It was quite cool at the top as well. We could see the smoke from the Royal Gorge fire from the top. On the way down we saw marmots and a fox. It was a really fun day.

Girls' new haircuts

2010-07-23T14:56:00.001-07:00

Beth Ann has had long hair for her entire life. She finally decided that she wanted to cut it off! I only asked her about 25 times, "Are you sure???" She was sure. So, we went to the salon where our friend Carrie's cousin Jenny works, and she cut it all off for her. Turns out she had enough to donate. She was very proud to be able to do that. Livi got her hair cut, too. They both loved Jenny and have decided that we ALWAYS have to go to Jenny to get a haircut!

Hula hooping

2010-05-25T16:11:00.000-07:00

The kidlets mad hula hooping skills!

Theresa turns one!

2010-05-23T16:30:00.000-07:00

I can't believe my baby girl is one year old. That went by FAST! She is such an amazing angel, and I am thrilled and feel so blessed that she is in our lives. Saturday was her birthday, and we celebrated with friends. Here are some videos from her eating her first birthday cake. I'll post more pictures later!

Eating Local

2010-04-06T20:12:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess it's been a while since I've posted! It's been a bit busy around here. I'll be posting some new pictures of the kidlets soon. I am currently reading a book called Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. It's a pretty good book. Last year, my family and I made a pledge to reduce our carbon footprint. We did a good job, but we are trying to take it a step farther. We've already ordered our CSA share for next year. That'll start in mid-June, and we're looking forward to getting it again! We've also been looking into local farms. We are planning on going up to Grant Family Farms (where we get our CSA) to visit it. We also have plans to go up to Berry Patch Farms this summer to pick berries to put up. I recently talked to another local farm that is out east of the city called May Farms. They are a family owned farm, and they have a "you-pick-it" patch where they grow many different kinds of vegetables. We have plans to pick a bunch of pickling cucumbers and make pickles!

Today, the kidlets and I went to Whole Foods, or as we refer to it in our house - Whole Paycheck! We were on the hunt for locally grown products or products from local businesses. We found quite a few things. Some of the things (like the bread products), I am unsure of how many local ingredients are in the product. I plan on doing a little research though. Here's a list of what we got: fingerling potatoes, shiitake mushrooms, button mushrooms, fresh sorrel, fresh basil, alfalfa sprouts, dried apples and peaches, green chile goat cheese, dill & garlic goat cheese, ice cream, BBQ sauce, hot sauce, gf bagels, gf bread, and potato chips. I told the kids that I am going to make them a meal of almost exclusively Colorado products tomorrow night. I also have gf crackers, honey, and dried beans from local sources, and I will have local, farm fresh eggs tomorrow as well. The kids were really jazzed about finding stuff made in Colorado. They're also really jazzed about getting to know some of the local farms.

I'm planning on making a quiche from the eggs, goat cheese, mushrooms, and basil. I'm going to make a potato side dish with it. For desert, I'm thinking that I'll make something from the dried fruit, honey, and some soy yogurt that I have in the fridge. Should be interesting!

We're really going to do what we can to support local and/or small businesses and artisans. I'll try to remember to blog about it along the way!

This is awesome!!!

2010-02-01T09:38:00.000-08:00

Putting healthy fuel in our bodies makes us healthy! :-)

Budding environmentalists

2010-01-26T08:58:00.000-08:00

I have the coolest kids in the universe! We've been talking a lot over the past year about reducing our carbon footprint. Pretty soon we're going to be watching No Impact Man with some friends. We've been talking a lot about the movie even though we haven't seen it yet. So, we're all going to work on keeping the lights off in the house when we don't need them. That's where this picture comes from. The kids decided we should eat dinner by candlelight to save electricity!

choir videos

2010-01-20T20:01:00.001-08:00

The kids' church choirs sang this Sunday. This Sunday was the first time Ray ever sang with the choir. He was really excited about it! The first video is of the Chalice Sparks with Olivia in it, and the second video is of the Chalice Flames with Ray and Beth Ann.

Great quote

2010-01-12T06:24:00.000-08:00

We can learn things from the Nazis: "The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders... All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country." - Hermann Goering - Field Marshal of the Luftwaffe

Jesus

2009-12-25T10:26:00.000-08:00

I got this from my Jewish friend Miryam on Christmas: "Miryam is ignoring the fact that it's not really his birthday in order to bring you this... Happy Birthday to a radical, nonviolent, anti-death penalty, anti-public prayer (M 6:5), never anti-gay, non-english-speaking, long-haired, brown-skinned, homeless, socialist, middle-eastern Jew. Jesus, you are my kinda guy." My daughter asked me recently about Jesus, and I told her he was a great teacher (so, of course, she thought he taught me when he was alive and I was young - boy that kid thinks I'm old!!! LOL). Jesus didn't ruin Christianity. Christians corrupted Christianity. Jesus didn't preach hatred and intolerance. Jesus was the original long-haired, peace-loving, activist hippie, and he was one radical dude, and he was my kinda guy, too.

Christmas program

2009-12-17T12:01:00.000-08:00

Today was the Christmas program for the preschoolers and kindergarteners at St. Mark's. This was Louie's first year, and he was very excited. They did a fantastic job. I was so proud!

Here are some pictures from today:

Teaching T pat-a-cake

2009-12-16T11:56:00.001-08:00

Louie decided to teach Theresa to play pat-a-cake. So cute.

Look who's standing?

2009-12-15T18:40:00.001-08:00

Theresa started pulling herself up into a standing position a few days ago - little stinker. She's very proud of herself!

Hell really CAN freeze over!

2009-12-13T09:03:00.000-08:00

I honestly had to double check to see if I was reading an article from the Onion. I'm thrilled, but shocked - seriously shocked:
Openly Gay Mayor Elected in Houston, Texas

Finally - the videos!

2009-12-12T21:03:00.000-08:00

Okay - I finally found the charger for the camera, so I was able to download the videos. Here are a bunch of videos of the munchkins! The first one is of them all singing We Wish You A Merry Christmas:

They're just being silly in this one.

In this video, we are all trying to get Theresa to crawl for us!

Here's a good one of the commando crawl:

Livi singing:

Beth Ann singing:

Another commando crawl:

Louie sings (sort of!):

Theresa sitting!

Another Book Challenge Post

2009-11-30T19:23:00.000-08:00

I finished another book for 2006. It was awful! I was reading it with the kids, but it was painful to read. Beth enjoyed it though. It was Fairest by Gail Carson Levine.

2010:
2009:
2008: The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent
2007:
2006: New Moon by Stephenie Meyer, Act of Treason by Vince Flynn, Fairest by Gail Carson Levine
2005:
2004:
2003: Popped by Carol Higgins Clark, Club Dead by Charlaine Harris
2002: Living Dead In Dallas by Charlaine Harris
2001: Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

New videos

2009-11-29T19:02:00.000-08:00

I took a lot of videos tonight. Unfortunately, I'm having trouble uploading them all! So, there will be lots of videos over the next few days most likely. Here's the first one!

Time to put up the tree!

2009-11-29T18:50:00.000-08:00

The tree is up and mostly decorated! We ran out of hangers, or we'd have it completely up. The kids had a ball decorating. It's certainly challenging to get them all smiling at once.

It's easy enough to get them all goofing off though!

A little walk down memory lane...

2009-11-29T18:44:00.003-08:00

I took these pictures at DIA in September 2001. Look how little Beth Ann and Heidi are!

Need a laugh?

2009-11-21T16:33:00.000-08:00

Okay, first I will warn that this link is indeed quite crude. However, it is just about the funniest thing I have ever read on the subject of Aunt Flo. You might want to seat belt yourself in, so you don't fall out of your chair laughing.
Bloody Hell!

Laughter is the best medicine!

2009-11-16T17:59:00.000-08:00

I love to hear children laugh, and hearing my children laugh is the absolute best sound in the world. Here's a video of Louie making Theresa laugh by throwing his paper airplane at her!

Here's another video. T was actually laughing harder in this one. It's pretty cute.

2009-11-08T19:48:00.000-08:00

Well, I finished another book in my challenge, but it was not a good book. Actually it was the worst espionage novel I've ever read. Two down for 2006 though.

2010:
2009:
2008: The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent
2007:
2006: New Moon by Stephenie Meyer, Act of Treason by Vince Flynn
2005:
2004:
2003: Popped by Carol Higgins Clark, Club Dead by Charlaine Harris
2002: Living Dead In Dallas by Charlaine Harris
2001: Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

Book Challenge

2009-11-03T20:18:00.000-08:00

I'm one book closer to the goal!

2010:
2009:
2008: The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent
2007:
2006: New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
2005:
2004:
2003: Popped by Carol Higgins Clark, Club Dead by Charlaine Harris
2002: Living Dead In Dallas by Charlaine Harris
2001: Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

The Countdown 2010 Challenge

2009-10-31T09:25:00.000-07:00

I'm signing up for The Countdown 2010 Challenge. It is a book challenge, and in a nutshell these are the rules: read 1 book published in 2001, 2 published in 2002, etc. The challenge ends on 10/10/10. The challenge started on 9/9/09, so I have five books already counting toward the challenge. I love to read, so this challenge should be lots of fun! There's an icon for the challenge that I will hopefully figure out how to post. (If I can't - Trey can probably figure it out for me!) Here are my books so far:
2010:
2009:
2008: The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent
2007:
2006: New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
2005:
2004:
2003: Popped by Carol Higgins Clark
2002: Living Dead In Dallas by Charlaine Harris
2001: Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

Reading meme

2009-10-30T22:46:00.001-07:00

Okay - I haven't been blogging much, but I've lost my camera, so I have no pictures to post! I came across this on a book blogger's site, and it looked like fun, so here goes!

Topic: Reading Meme

Do you snack while you read? If so, favorite reading snack?

No, not usually. I get too into the books to snack while reading.

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?

No, I don't, but I don't supposed it horrifies me.

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears?

Booksmarks - although honestly, that usually means whatever is handy to stick in my place.

Laying the book flat open?

No.

Fiction, Non-fiction, or both?

Depends on my mood. I read both.

Hard copy or audiobooks?

Both

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of chapters, or are you able to put a book down at any point?

With five children, I have to be able to put down a book at odd places.

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop to look it up right away?

Rarely. I usually rely on context to figure it out.

What are you currently reading?

Memoirs of a Giesha, Toilet Training in Less Than A Day, Discovering Your Past Lives, Goddess Within: A Guide to the Eternal Myths that Shape Women's Lives, The Unlikeliest Hero: The Story of Desmond T. Doss, Conscientious Objector Who Won His Nation's Highest Military Honor, Fairest, and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

What is the last book you bought?

Tales of the Beadle Bard, by J.K. Rowling (plus some unnamed Christmas gifts!)

Are you the type of person that only reads one book at a time or can you read more than one at a time?

LOL - definitely more than 1.

Do you have a favorite time of day and/or place to read?

Anyplace, anytime I can fit it in. I guess my favorites would be in bed, in the bathtub, and in my black chair downstairs (it was my comfy, overstuff green chair until the hubs broke it!!!)

Do you prefer series books or stand alone books?

Both

Is there a specific book or author that you find yourself recommending over and over?

Stephen King, of course! :-) Actually, it depends on who I am recommending the books to.

How do you organize your books? (By genre, title, author’s last name, etc.?)

LOL - I am way too Gemini to have a specific way to organize the books. It depends on how I am feeling at the time. The most common way is by genre, then author, then title (or place in series).

My "20 Challenge"

2009-10-03T21:42:00.001-07:00

Since signing up with Jillian Michaels website, I joined her "20 challenge." Part of my challenge is to challenge myself with 20 new things. Today, I did one of them. I got in the batting cage with an 85 mph baseball. I have to admit that I was terrified!!! My friend, Carrie, thinks it's pretty funny that I was terrified of that, but jumping out of an airplane sounds exciting to me. LOL. I guess I can see her point! I did get a piece of the ball a few times. It was so much fun, and I want to do it again soon!

Trey got a piece of the ball, too. He hit it a few more times than I did.

Ray and Olivia both had a ball at the batting cages. It was there first time, but they both want to go back soon!

Happy Birthday Beth Ann

2009-09-24T08:33:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe that I have a kiddo in double digits! She decided to have a skate party this year, and it was a lot of fun. She's getting so grown up and beautiful. *sniff*

Kids' choirs

2009-09-24T06:01:00.000-07:00

Beth Ann has been in the choir for a couple of years, but this is Olivia's first year. They both really enjoy it. Olivia was excited for their first performance. Unfortunately, several people in the older choir were out sick.

My baby is four months old!

2009-09-23T22:11:00.000-07:00

Pictures say it all! She's wonderful.

Box of Crazy

2009-09-04T19:31:00.000-07:00

I may not have been infected by "the box of crazy," but it's still making me sick.

Webkruz on YouTube

2009-09-03T21:46:00.000-07:00

Louie's first day of preschool

2009-09-01T20:39:00.000-07:00

Everyday I took Olivia to preschool last year, Louis wanted to stay. He got so upset when he had to leave with me. Well, it's his turn! He was very excited this morning to go to school. He carried his supplies in, found something to play with right away, and then realized we were leaving!!! He started to cry, but he was okay very soon after we left. That was hard though! He was so excited to see us when the school day was over. He said he loved it and wanted to go back, so I would call that a success!

Livi's first day of school

2009-08-31T20:04:00.000-07:00

My little girl went off to kindergarten today. *sniff* I can't believe she's so big. She was very excited to go today. Unfortunately, her best friend from preschool isn't there this year, so she's a little disappointed, but she has other friends there. There are only 7 kids in her class. She has the same kindergarten teacher that her older brother and sister had - Mrs. Galluzzi. She's a wonderful teacher.

Here she is at her desk!

Tonight when I was cooking dinner, I heard Theresa giggling behind me. Here's what was going on.

Flaws in the Africa AIDS study

2009-08-29T17:15:00.000-07:00

Norm Cohen is the director of the National Organization of Circumcision Information Research Centers of Michigan. Here is a short video of him talking about the flaws in the Africa AIDS study. It's not a terribly in depth video, but it is easy to understand. I still find it ridiculous that it could be considered acceptable to cut off a functioning, important part of an unconsenting minor's body for a minute reduction in risk for a disease that is much more reliably prevented by condoms, abstinence, or monogamy.

Blowing Raspberries

2009-08-29T06:35:00.000-07:00

Here's a super cute video I "tried" to take of Theresa a couple of days ago! LOL.

Ray has ditched the training wheels!

2009-08-26T21:04:00.000-07:00

Yes, we are slacker parents who have not worked with our children on learning how to ride their bikes very much. To be honest, I was sick for nine months which didn't make it easy to run along side a bicycle! Ray rode today without his training wheels! He was so proud of himself. He did a great job. These videos don't do it justice because I was helping him, and then trying to pull out the camera and get video. I know he is going to love bike riding now!

If you'll allow me a "mommy brag moment," Ray's literacy teacher told me today that he was a "model student," and she loved having him in class! Those are words a mom wants to hear.

UK's graphic and powerful PSA

2009-08-26T09:43:00.000-07:00

A friend on Facebook posted this video. It's incredibly powerful, and I am going to show it to my children before I ever let them get close to being behind the wheel. I didn't want to post it on Facebook though because I do have kids on my friends list, and I think it's probably best for them to watch it with their parents. I feel the need to pass this video along though. Texting and driving don't mix.

Super funny video!

2009-08-26T09:13:00.000-07:00

I love this video. It's very pertinent, but hilariously presented!

My Baby Boy is 3!

2009-08-25T20:34:00.000-07:00

I can't believe my Louis is three years old today. We took him out to dinner tonight to celebrate. He is a smiley, happy, busy, sweetheart, and he loves his siblings! I thought he was going to be my last baby, and he was very happy being the baby. He has adjusted really well to having a younger sibling though. He loves her a lot and can't stop kissing on her. He is such a resourceful and sweet natured boy. He makes me smile, and I don't know what I would do without him. He's growing up so fast, but he still loves to come snuggle with his Mommy and Daddy! Happy Birthday Louie!!!

First day of school

2009-08-25T07:19:00.000-07:00

My babies aren't babies anymore. *sniff* Yesterday was the first day of school. Ray is in the second grade, and Beth Ann is in the 4th grade. Beth Ann has her first male teacher this year. She was a little nervous because she didn't know him, but she came home and said, "He's awesome." Look how much they have grown since last year!

Louis and Olivia had to get in on the action:

And for fun, here's a cute picture of Theresa!

My baby boy is growing up!

2009-08-22T21:40:00.000-07:00

I can't believe my little boy is going to be three on Tuesday. He's getting so big. Today we had a birthday party for him. My friend Christmas painted the kids' faces - which they loved! They played pin the pirate on the pirate ship (Trey drew the pirate ship, and it turned out quite nicely!), and we sang songs. Plus, of course, they played chaotically! LOL.

Circumcision debate - again

2009-08-21T21:15:00.000-07:00

Yes - I'm talking about circumcision again. This time I'd like to talk about the health aspects. I'm not even going to go into the flaws in the Africa studies, because, quite frankly, it's a moot point anyway. Are we really going to advocate that people chop off a part of a child's penis to lessen their chance of catching an STD? Really? One in eight women will develop breast cancer in their lives - ONE IN EIGHT!!! I haven't heard anyone jumping up and shouting that the cure for breast cancer would be to give all pubescent girls radical mastectomies. No one says that because it's ABSURD. It's absurd, and breast cancer isn't nearly as easy to prevent as STDs. In many, many cases there may really be no prevention anyway, and yet - no one is screaming radical mastectomies for pubescent girls. Why on Earth are we advocating cutting off a healthy, functional part of a boy's body because it may possibly cause a slight reduction in diseases that are much more reliably prevented with a little thing called - wait for it - A CONDOM?!?! Give me a freaking break already. I have five children. They are all intact, and I think I would gladly chop off the hand of someone trying to circumcise any of them. Please tell me which two of these four children deserve to have their genitals messed with without their permission? Why do two of them have less rights than the other two?

Why things happen

2009-08-18T20:23:00.000-07:00

I don't claim to know why things happen. I'm not sure if I believe that things "happen for a reason," or if what we do with what happens is what brings reason. I do know that I am very blessed. I have beautiful, healthy, wonderful children, a great husband, a fabulous family, and a whole group of awesome friends. Last year about this time I found out that I was very unexpectedly and honestly not very joyfully pregnant. Neither Trey nor I were very pleased. How could we possibly know what was to come? How would we know the year would start off with a crap storm? We couldn't know that the year would be full of uncertainties. We didn't know that we'd be without any kind of guaranteed income or that we'd take huge risks that probably wouldn't pay off. That's what happened though. Who could have known that our family's saving grace would be this amazing, little, unplanned baby? She came in and lit up everyone's life. I'm sure that the other kiddos feel some jealousy sometimes - I mean, they're human after all! But, they all love her immensely. She's the first thing they all gravitate toward in the morning. Sometimes I have to remind them to give me hugs and kisses! LOL. She brings joy into every single day. This year has at times been overwhelmingly stressful, but she shows us all joy and peace. I couldn't be more thankful for our precious, little surprise.

Cute video

2009-08-12T08:16:00.000-07:00

Here is a cute video from vacation. I have others, but it's going to take me a little while to get them uploaded!

Big day for Theresa

2009-08-11T21:18:00.000-07:00

My baby girl rolled over today. She's 11 1/2 weeks. We were at a book club at the park tonight. 3 out of 5 of my children have waited for an audience to roll over! Beth Ann rolled over when we were visiting my parents, Louis rolled over in the park with friends, and now Theresa. My kids aren't shy - LOL. :-)

I'm sad that summer is drawing to a close, but we're trying to go out with a bang. We had a book club/play group at the park tonight, and then we finished it off with ice cream! The kids invented a new game - spin the globe! We think they were picking marriage partners. It was pretty funny, but we were all thinking that we liked their choices!!!

I think I'm in love!

2009-08-11T08:02:00.001-07:00

Jon Stewart officially rocks my world!

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Healther Skelter

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Political Humor

Spinal Tap Performance

Summer break is coming to a close

2009-08-10T20:14:00.000-07:00

We've had a very busy summer, and so I have not been blogging much! Oops. Sorry. I'll get back to it again. I promise! We spent a good chunk of today at Carrie's house playing. Our kids and her kids love each other so much. I took this short video of them on bikes and scooters today. The best part of summer is all the playtime we get with our friends!

Saturday night we took the kids to the cheap theatre to see Night at the Museum 2. Aren't they cute?

Two weeks from today, it's back to the grindstone! It's really been a great summer. Luckily it hasn't been outrageously hot either since our swamp cooler is still sitting on our porch. Hmphf. I should have taken more pictures this summer. Ah well - we were too busy having fun!

ABC's of Misty's Books

2009-08-06T09:10:00.000-07:00

I found this on Bryan's Book Blog who found it at Boston Bibliophile, she calls it the ABC Book Meme, and these are the instructions she has on her blog:

“For this meme, you list a favorite book that starts with each letter of the alphabet. If you don't have a book for a letter (such as Z or X) than you can substitute a favorite book that simply has that letter in the title (i.e. The Lost City of Z or Hot Six by Janet Evanovich). However, you can only do this a maximum of 3 times. (Z, X, and Q, but not Z, X, Q, and V.) Books can be of any genre from fiction to non-fiction to poetry to textbooks.” And I am adding the rule that articles at the front of books (The, A, An) don’t count and it is the next letter that truly counts, so The Stand is an S book and A Medicine for Melancholy is an M book, etc."

I didn't completely follow the rules. There were a couple that I put on because they were different authors. The book on the letter may not have been my absolute favorite with that letter, but I didn't want to repeat authors! Also, I did have a "Z" book, but it was so terrible that I just couldn't put it on. So, sue me! :-) If anyone else decides to do this, please let me know. I would love to see your list!

A: The Awakening by Kate Chopin
B: Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin
C: Candide by Voltaire
D: Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
E: Empire of the Sun by James Graham Ballard
F: The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe
G: Gentle Birth Choices by Barbara Harper
H: Hamlet by William Shakespeare
I: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
J: The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
K: Keeper of the Light by Diane Chamberlain
L: The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
M: Milk, Money, and Madness: The Culture and Politics of Breastfeeding by Naomi Baumslag
N: Night by Elie Wiesel
O: Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
P: The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Lereoux
Q: EnQuiry by Dick Francis
R: Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown
S: The Stand by Stephen King
T: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
U: An Unsuitable Job for a Woman by P.D. James
V: The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice
W: A Woman of Substance by Barbara Taylor Bradford
X: The UnXpected Mrs. PollifaX by Dorothy Gilman
Y: Your Erroneous Zones by Wayne Dyer
Z: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of AZkaban by J.K. Rowling

2009-07-05T19:32:00.000-07:00

Since it was kids day at the Renaissance Festival today (meaning the kids were free!), we decided to go there today. It was a lot of fun. We ran into several of our friends. Beth, Ray, and Olivia all wanted to do the bungee. Ray decided afterward that he didn't like it so much. The girls thought it was a blast though.

The entrance to the festival.

Livi and her flower crown

Ray and his walking stick.

This ride was called da Vinci's Flying Machines. We were surprised at how fast they could get that thing going.

Ray decided not to ride this one, so Trey rode it with Louis and the girls. The guys who pushed these things were working their butts off!!!

Random pictures from the day and of some of our friends who we met there.

This ride was the jousting ride. The kids got on at the top, then rode to the bottom and tried to get the ring from the dragon with the jousting stick. Louis rode without the stick! Beth got the ring, but it fell off.

These guys were a lot of fun. They really got into their music! A belly dancer came on stage for one song. Louis loved the drums and Olivia loved the belly dancer!

The last show we watched - Barely Balanced.

A beautiful red tail hawk that had been rescued. The rescue organization had a hawk and two owls there to raise awareness and donations.

Pictures from the parade.

The 4th of July

2009-07-04T21:41:00.001-07:00

After a day full of rain, it cleared off, so that the fireworks could go on as scheduled! There was a beautiful moon out when we left. We went to the school park near Bicentennial to see the fireworks. It was 58 degrees!

A couple more gratuitous happy baby pictures! She's six weeks old now - whoa.

My Boys

2009-07-03T19:07:00.000-07:00

Louis absolutely adores his brother. He wants to do everything Ray does. Last night I got a quick video of Louis "playing" Wii with Ray.

New pictures of T!

2009-07-02T20:11:00.001-07:00

I have a lot of things to put on here, and eventually I will get around to it - I swear! For now, more baby pictures.

These are pictures I took last night. Louis had been snuggled asleep with me and Theresa had been snuggled asleep with Trey. When we got up to close the house up for the night, they just looked so cute that I had to take pictures!

The rest of these pictures are from today.

This last picture of Louis and Ray I love! Ray was playing Wii and Louis was imitating him with a remote. I have a video of it that I will try to get on tomorrow.

Man in the Mirror

2009-06-26T18:23:00.000-07:00

Okay - I thought I would post a link to my favorite Michael Jackson song. This song has inspired me on more than one occasion.

Cute pictures

2009-06-24T20:28:00.000-07:00

I'm tired, so I'm just going to post some cute pictures! My friend brought her nephew over for a little bit - isn't he cute? He's a couple of months older than Theresa. I can't believe how big he looks next to Theresa! Her oldest daughter and my oldest daughter thought it was pretty cool to play with the little ones together. Louis decided he needed a baby, too, so he went and found one of his sisters dolls to play with. Too cute.

Just a cute picture of Beth and Theresa:

I couldn't resist snapping this picture of a cranky Louie.

Day with friends and our new pool!

2009-06-22T16:51:00.000-07:00

We bought a new pool for the kidlets yesterday. Trey decided to get a big nice one, and they loved it! Some of our friends came over today, and the kids played in the pool ALL DAY LONG! I had the brain storm to put some water in the little turtle (supposed to be a sand box) and have the kids step from it into the pool, and that way hopefully keep the water much cleaner. It worked! I am amazed at how clean (relatively) the pool stayed. Woo hoo! Score one for Mom. Here's some pictures from today.

After everyone left, Louis came in the room where I was sitting, laid on the floor and fell asleep! Man, I wish he was that easy all the time. LOL.

And since she is so cute AND one month old today *sniff* - here are some new pictures of Miss Theresa. The first two are from today. The next one is from a couple of nights ago. She was just chilling out with her brother.

Sisterly Love

2009-06-20T16:18:00.000-07:00

Olivia singing to Theresa. So cute.

Olivia's graduation videos

2009-06-19T08:19:00.000-07:00

Here are the videos from Livi's graduation - finally.

Beth Ann's jump rope exhibition

2009-06-19T06:58:00.000-07:00

The videos are over a month old - oops! This is the second year that Beth Ann has been on the jump rope team at school. She loves it, and I am so glad she's on it. Jump roping is great exercise, and the kids have a blast. Luckily, Mom and Dad were here to see the exhibition - Beth was thrilled! Here are her videos:

Dancing Louie!

2009-06-18T20:15:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of cute videos of Louis dancing to ABBA music while Mom and Dad were here.

Choir

2009-06-18T13:26:00.000-07:00

I found this video that I forgot to post! This was one of the last performances I participated in this year. I love choir. The people are wonderful. The director is fabulous. Unfortunately, this was not one of our best performances, but eh - it's nice.

End of the school year program

2009-06-17T07:32:00.000-07:00

Ray just finished his first year at Heritage Elementary. He had great teachers. I am so grateful for the wonderful people at Heritage. With Ray's speech problems and the fact that he's a little behind in reading, I was worried about him getting down on school. His teachers were wonderful though. They worked with him at his level, and he made great progress, and he really enjoys reading! Ray may have some struggles with reading, but his math skills are advanced, and his teachers were really good at helping him be proud of that. This picture is of Ray and his reading/English teacher Ms. Jaret.

In this picture, Ray is with his math/science teacher Ms. Kirsch.

After the end of the year program, the kids got to have some fun! There was food, popsicles, face painting, and wacky, colored hair spray!

Beth Ann's friend Simran is from India, and her mother is a henna artist. At the picnic, she did henna for the students who wanted it. Here is the one she did for Beth - freehand. She did a great job - I am so impressed that it was all done freehand.

For the third year in a row, Beth Ann had fabulous teachers at Heritage. Here are her third grade teachers. In the first picture, she is with Mrs. Grubb. The second picture is with Ms. Winant.

Playing a little catch up

2009-06-16T19:52:00.000-07:00

I haven't gotten much blogging done in a few weeks! First, I was babymooning upstairs, and the computer was downstairs! Then, I was just babymooning and ignoring the world. Next, my hard drive crashed. Finally, I got a new computer, and asked Trey (multiple times) to fix it so that I could upload pictures on to my blog. For some reason, it is not working properly. However, just as doctors make the worst patients - software engineers tend to NOT take care of their computers. He has showed me an end run around the problem - so I'll try that out tonight! I'm going to try and do some serious catching up for the next few days!!!

First things first - some new pictures of our little sweetness and light.

I love summer! One of the things I love about being a parent is the chance to make my kiddos summer break a super special time. I look forward to it every year. I get so excited when the end of school gets close. We do lots of fun things. It's also a big plus that I get to spend time with my friends, too! Today, I took the kids to see Journey at the Center of the Earth. We met some of our friends there (luckily they saved us seats because we were running late!). Then, we spent the remainder of the afternoon hanging at Cornerstone Park. The kids played hockey, football, various water and sand games, as well as hula hooping! It was so much fun!

On Saturday, we made a trip down to Parker to go to a goodbye party for our beloved midwife Ilise. Ilise is an amazing midwife who has caught three of my five children. Ilise was an integral part of getting midwifery legalized in Colorado back in the early 90's. My friend Heather introduced me to Ilise, and I am sad that she's moving away. Utah is lucky to get her though - she will be the only homebirth midwife in the large county that she's moving to. This picture is of Ilise, me, my five children, and my friend Heather's two children. I guess we HAVE to be done having children now! LOL.

Another sad day happened at the end of May when we had to say goodbye to our dear friends who moved to Chicago. There were many tears, but tears aren't always bad. Tears come when you love someone, so that's a good - if hard - thing. I'm sad to see them move on, but I am so happy that they are all together as a family again. We all miss them terribly and are looking forward to the day they move back (which I adamantly believe will be sooner rather than later!).

Tomorrow I will try to get the videos up from the last day of school. They are way cute, but YouTube is uploading V.E.R.Y. slowly tonight!!!

More pictures!

2009-05-27T12:37:00.001-07:00

Thought I'd post some more pictures of the world's most peaceful and content baby! With all the doting she receives, it's easy to see why she's so peaceful and content! :-)

More pictures of our beautiful girl!

2009-05-24T18:40:00.001-07:00

Well, the past two days have been wonderful. Theresa is amazing. The older kids are totally in love and almost love her a little too much! LOL. It's a good problem to have. I've been recovering well, and Trey is taking good care of me. So, there's really nothing to add but pictures!!! So, for your viewing pleasure.....

Baby T is here!

2009-05-23T12:15:00.000-07:00

After literally days and days of "false" labor, Baby T finally came into the world yesterday. Thursday night was particularly hard night with hours of very hard back labor that eventually fizzled out. I called my midwife, Ilise, Friday morning, and she decided to come over about one o'clock. I made an appointment with my acupuncturist for 11am. After chilling at his office with needles in my legs, hands, and arms - connected to electro-something-or-other stimulation - listening to his Chinese music for an hour, I was much more relaxed. When Ilise came, she gave me something homeopathic - I don't know what it was. Then she checked my cervix and found out that the baby was malpositioned. She moved her around and finally got her into the proper position. When she first touched her head, Theresa punched at her! It was pretty funny. Once Theresa was in position, Ilise put castor oil on my cervix. Then, she made me a "childbirth cocktail" which included castor oil, black and blue cohosh, and a bunch of other herbs. She left and I drank the cocktail around 2. I relaxed and was able to even fall asleep for 30-45 minutes. I woke up and started having contractions at 3:40. They weren't too awful, and I stayed very relaxed for a while until I realized I was having regular contractions, and Ilise had warned me that things would probably take off - FAST. So, I got up and timed them for a while and called Ilise about 20 minutes later. I told her the contractions were regular - every 3 to 4 minutes, but they weren't unbearable yet. I told Trey that he needed to wrap up what he was doing because we were having a baby. 20 minutes later the contractions were very strong, and I told Trey to call Ilise and tell her to come. The contractions had gotten very strong and very fast. Trey timed them for a few minutes, called Ilise back and said, "The contractions are 30 seconds apart." Ilise said, "Oh shit." LOL. She told Trey to be prepared because she might not make it on time. I called my friend Carrie, and she came over to help us. Luckily, she lives very close. I'm really glad she was able to come. She was such an incredible comfort to me. Contractions came fast and hard, and I could feel the urge to push before the midwives arrived, so I stayed horizontal on the bed. Trey was trying to figure out the birth tub liner and get the tub filled. I knew if I got on my hands and knees or got in the birth tub, I would be pushing Theresa out before the midwives got there, and I didn't want that. At one point, I remember yelling, "Where is Ilise?!" Ilise showed up with Yvette behind her by just a few minutes. Just a few minutes after they got here, I got in the tub. I had one or two contractions in the tub, and I knew I was in transition. Then I got a few minutes break which was heaven. On the next contraction, I gave one or two really large pushes, and she was born! The whole thing took about two hours. It was a whirlwind, and I am still a little fuzzy on all the details. She's perfect, and we are in heaven!

Theresa Aaralynn (air-uh-LYNN)
Born May 22, 2009
8 pounds 12 ounces, 20 3/4 inches

The graduate

2009-05-21T22:40:00.001-07:00

Tonight was Olivia's preschool graduation. I have some videos of the songs they sang, but they still have to uploaded to YouTube, so I'm just going to post pictures tonight. Thanks to our crappy camera and computer, not all of the pictures uploaded either. Oh well - I have some cute ones!
The first one is the annual kidlet picture in front of the plants by the school. Yes, we are missing a kid in this picture because Ray decided to be a terd and not get in the picture.

Here's a cute one of Livi and her Daddy.

This is Livi and her best friend at preschool - who, we found out tonight, will be going to kindergarten at St. Mark's, too! Hooray.

There is always a big congratulations cake for after the ceremony.

I'll try to get the videos on YouTube tomorrow, so that I can post them, but this is it for tonight because I'm beat!

Beth's Jump Rope

2009-05-18T06:08:00.001-07:00

I finally got the videos on Beth Ann's jump rope exhibition downloaded. This year is the second year she has been a part of the jump rope team at Heritage. She loves it. Here are her videos!

Lucky

2009-05-12T07:40:00.000-07:00

Okay, so maybe I was ready to knock his block off yesterday with something heavy, but he has to put up with my crap, too! This song sums up my feelings for my husband perfectly! If he actually READ my blog once in a while, he might actually find out nice things about us! LOL.

40 weeks!

2009-05-11T20:04:00.000-07:00

Mom and Dad came in today, and Beth Ann had her jump rope exhibition, but I am just too darn tired to download those photos!!! So, I am just going to post what I hope is my last belly picture - 40 weeks!

Quick garden update

2009-05-07T16:15:00.000-07:00

It's finally getting to planting season here in Colorado! Of course, it's also getting to be "baby having" season at our house, so we'll see what gets done in the next couple of weeks! LOL. What we do have planted is doing really well though. We're going to try and put some stakes out for our pea plants this weekend. They're doing really well. The kids are so excited to see them growing. The peas are the first picture. The second picture is of our first batch of lettuce (in the front) and spinach (in the back).

We also have planted rosemary, sage, a second batch of lettuce, mache, and carrots. We have two kinds of basil planted in egg cartons that we'll be transplanting in a couple of weeks. I would be remiss in not mentioning the two bean plants that, so far, the cat has not completely killed growing in the kitchen window. Olivia planted these in Sunday school several weeks back (way too soon!). We're going to need to transplant those somewhere in the garden soon as well.

I also want to post an update on our compost bin. It's starting to really cook. Trey was stirring it today, and we could feel the heat coming off it. It was very cool. It's also starting to make some great dirt. I'm not sure how much you can see in the pictures, but it's really doing well!

Green Audit #1

2009-04-30T20:23:00.000-07:00

Today is April 30, and we are four months into the year. I thought it would be a good day to take a minute and see how the resolutions are going!

Resolutions 1 and 2 go together really. Our family has done a lot to reduce the size of our carbon footprint this year, and we are being way more careful about making mindful purchases. Here's some of the things we're doing:

1) We built a compost bin! The kids love to dump our kitchen waste into as well as helping me clean up yard waste to put in there. Trey took the pitch fork out there a couple of days ago and mixed it up really well, and it is starting to decompose really well. It has a great earthy smell to it. We are very excited to have a bunch of compost to put in our garden.

2) We have committed to serious gardening this year. We've put in a very small garden for several years running, but honestly it's been very small and not too successful. We're trying to actually grow a lot of things this year. So far we have rosemary, sage, lettuce, chard, and peas growing. They're doing very well. I had a heart attack the other night when it started snowing unexpectedly, but we managed to get most of our plants covered, and they all seemed to weather the storm pretty well.

3) We have indoor plants now! We are trying to "green" up the inside of our house. We have an aloe plant that seems to be doing pretty well. We also have a Jasmine plant that is growing like crazy! My friend Loelle gave me some cuttings from her plants, and they are still in the window and are doing really well, too. I plan on transplanting them AFTER the baby comes! The cat seems to love them as well, but so far she hasn't done too much damage.

4) We have all become more careful about recycling. We've recycled forever, but we have really gotten more conscious of it this year, and you can tell. We have to take the recycling bin down to the recycling dumpster several time a week. I think the bin itself has made a huge difference. We used to just have a bag that we'd hang on the cabinet door, and frankly, it was a real pain. The bin is much more convenient.

5) We have pretty much given up all disposable gift wrapping. We did have to buy gift wrap once, but that was because we forgot about a birthday party until the last minute, and I didn't have an appropriate bag made. That's the only time in four months though. I have a ton of gift bags made, and I have material to make several others. We're also trying to be really aware of the gifts we're giving. The kids have gotten really involved with the gift giving process making or helping make many of the gifts that have been given. It's really important to them to come up with gifts that they think their friends will love. They really enjoy the gift bags, too!

6) We joined a CSA (Grant Farms) this year. It's a local, organic CSA, and we'll be getting a produce box from them from mid-June to mid-December. I'm hoping to take the kids up there for a farm tour. We're also getting a fruit box for several months this year. It actually comes from the western slope, but not a lot of fruit grows well on the front range. We may be getting our eggs from Grant Farms as well. I love it that we're supporting a local, organic farm, and hopefully the CSA box will also help with my resolution of getting more fresh fruits and veggies in our diet!

7) We put up a clothesline! Okay, actually Trey put up the clothesline for me. I love it. I love the smell of the clothes when they come in off the line. They smell so fresh, and I love it that we're not using electricity to dry our laundry.

8) We're also using a new "detergent." The "detergent" is something that has been used for centuries. The product is called Maggie's soap nuts, and they are actually soap nuts that come from trees. You can't get more natural than that! I have yet to use it on diapers, and it may not be that good for too heavily stained things, but for normal laundry, it seems to work really well.

9) We're "greening" up our cleaning products. That one's pretty self explanatory! We're trying to use products that are more environmentally friendly, and we're using many homemade products as well.

10) We're being very careful about taking our own bags to the grocery story. Again, this is something that we've done for a while, but we haven't always been that diligent about it. We have a ton of bags, and we keep them in the car now. We've made big progress in this area. I actually had to deliberately leave my bags in the car a couple of weeks ago when I went to Target because I needed bags for my bathroom trash cans! LOL.

11) A small thing that we've started to do is to keep a big glass jug on the counter next to the sink. We try to remember to dump leftover water (from cups that the kids didn't finish, from the steamer, etc.) in it, and then dump it on the lawn, plants, or compost. It may not make much of a difference, but it helps.

12) I made a bunch of cloth napkins! Okay, this one may not actually help our carbon footprint because we tend to just do without napkins. LOL. Mom will be happy when she comes to visit though!

That's all I can think of right now, but I feel really good about the progress that we've been making. The kids are becoming little environmentalists, and I love it! They are so aware of the world around them. We are very proud of them. I have to say that it does my hippie heart good to see how green my darling husband has become. He's even joining a "green team" at church. If anyone reads this, I'd love to hear the changes you're making in your life to be more "green."

Something to say

2009-04-27T11:35:00.001-07:00

I have something to say, and it's not going to win me any friends. I've been called militant in my opposition of circumcision. I've had people tell me that my opinion was "extreme." I've had people be offended because I say that female genital mutilation is not any different from male genital mutilation. I could give you statistics. I could tell you why it's a human rights violation. I could tell you that the owner of the genitals should be allowed to decide what to do with them. But really, I think I only need to show people two pictures and ask them one question: Why is what's happening in the first picture a human rights violation, but what's happening in the second picture is not? (I'm going to place a warning that these pictures are horrific - click at your own risk.)
7 year old girl
3 year old boy

Blogging Anniversary

2009-04-26T16:54:00.000-07:00

Ack! I can't believe I missed my blogging anniversary! I started this blog last year on April 24th, and it appears that I had a lot to share over the past year. So much has happened in a year that it makes me even more glad that I've kept this record of it all. Never in a million years did we think we'd be about to have another child enter our family. Trey lost a job and found a job. The kids have grown like weeds. The list goes on and on and on.

I do have a good reason for missing my blog-aversary. Last night I participated in a very cool event. It was a performance of Sources, a cantata by Jason Shelton and Kendyl Gibbons. Jason was there to conduct. Churches all along the front range participated as well as a small orchestra and three pianists. It was a truly amazing night, and I am very glad that I had the opportunity to participate. I can't wait to get the CD of the performance that I ordered. We ended up standing for a LONG time last night, and I could barely move by the time it was over, but it was totally worth it.

I also got Trey to take more belly pictures for me today, so here's my 38 week pictures! Yes, I am huge.

When you hold plastic, you hold eternity in your hand

2009-04-23T11:38:00.001-07:00

I adapted that from someone else talking about styrofoam, but the same holds true for plastic. This post was going to be my Earth Day post, but I got home after choir practice late last night, and I was just too beat to blog! I've been doing a lot of serious thinking about all the plastic in our lives lately. Think about all the plastic around you. When you go to the store, notice every ounce of plastic on the shelves, in the produce section, the clam shell packaging, the plastic bags. Look at trash cans outside of stores when you walk by and notice all the plastic trash in there. Look at all the plastic packaging every time you buy ANYTHING. I was so thrilled when we found packages of organic underwear for the girls at Target that were in recyclable cardboard packaging! I'll bet you can't look around your room or kitchen for five seconds without finding multitudes of plastic. Now, think about this: nearly every ounce of plastic that has EVER been made is still in existence. We throw it away or recycle it and forget about it, don't we? Except for a small amount that has been incinerated (creating outrageously toxic gas), every single tiny piece of plastic that has ever been made is still out there - somewhere.

Where does it end up? Landfills? Yes. In our water supply? Yes. In our oceans? This is perhaps the creepiest yes of all. I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't know this next little tidbit - I didn't until recently. Did you know there is a floating island of plastic in the Pacific Ocean that is TWICE THE SIZE OF TEXAS??? Yes, that's right - twice the size of Texas. There are similar islands in all oceans around the world. Wall-E doesn't seem quite so funny now, does it?

Now we come to - "the plastic conundrum." Can we just cut plastic out of our lives? Should we? My dear friend and I were discussing the plastic versus glass argument last night. Plastic is marketed to parents as the "safer" choice. You drop it on the floor, and it doesn't break! Wow - it's like magic. (Although that Costco size plastic jar of salsa that I dropped a few months back managed to shatter well enough sending mounds of cantina smelling gooey-ness everywhere.) The more I think about it though, I have to admit that I am beginning to think that a possible trip to the doctor for stitches isn't as big a risk as all the chemicals floating around in our environment and being ingested in our bodies on a daily basis. Even recycling plastic, while it helps, does not end the problem. Glass can be recycled very efficiently. A glass bottle can be recycled back into a glass bottle. A plastic bottle cannot be recycled back into a plastic bottle - part of it can be used for a new plastic bottle. Virgin plastic has to be used in all plastics that are used to hold products for human consumption.

I don't know the answer to "the plastic conundrum," but I do know that it's been weighing on my mind heavily. We will be working hard to reduce our plastic consumption in this household. You'll probably see little updates about how our "plastic diet" is going. Until then, if you want to read about the island of plastic - click this link:Plastic Ocean. Happy belated Earth Day!

Ray SOARS!

2009-04-22T16:15:00.000-07:00

Well, Ray actually got this award a long time ago, but I have been unable to get the video onto my computer from my camera. We finally got it on Trey's computer. I don't know what the heck is up with that. Here is the long overdue video of my son receiving his SOAR award from Heritage Elementary. We are so proud of him!

Beautiful, amazing, and perfect

2009-04-21T19:59:00.000-07:00

My amazing friend Lara hosted a Mother Blessing for me yesterday. I've been trying to figure out what I would say that would do it justice, and I have finally come to the conclusion that it is not possible. It was the most perfect and amazing thing. Many of my friends were able to come and celebrate this pregnancy and coming baby with me. This pregnancy has been HARD - physically and emotionally. I know in the end, it will all have been worth it, and still it has been very hard. Having my friends around me for the specific purpose of honoring this new life being brought into the world and my journey into motherhood - again - was just amazing. Everyone contributed a beautiful part of themselves, and I was truly and completely overwhelmed.

I really can't begin to describe in words how beautiful the evening was. Christmas brought her flute and played two gorgeous pieces. She plays beautifully anyway, but they were incredibly moving. Probably the most surprising thing of the evening was when Lara read my own poem. It's a poem I posted a while back on this blog that I wrote after the birth of my oldest son. She read it with such passion that it really moved me. I never expected to be moved by my own words, but our journey into motherhood is very moving. That was a cool moment for me. They made a gorgeous birthing necklace for me (which I am just realizing - I did not take a picture of yet, so I will remember to do that and post it later!). Loelle freehanded a fabulous henna tattoo on my belly (I showed it to my midwives today and they were blown away that it was all freehand!). I love it, and I'm afraid to take a shower! LOL. I will actually shower, but I might have to tape plastic over my belly first! Regie massaged my arms and hands - talk about Heaven! Christmas (yes, she is the very agile one in the pictures!) made this very cool braid with my hair, and then Robin put flowers in it. Oh gosh, I'm still so overwhelmed that I know I'm forgetting things. At one point, there were children running through the house making lots of noise, and Trey was running after them shushing them, and I just started giggling. Yes, at most Mother Blessings there are very few children, and the ones that are there are usually very small, but it was perfect. Sure - I am a woman outside of being a mother, but being a mother has been the thing that has changed me and helped me grow into the woman that I am. Chaos and noise is a part of my life now and for many years to come. There are times where it gets old, but such is life! I wouldn't trade it for anything - I might threaten to from time to time, but I really wouldn't trade it!

It was a beautiful, amazing, and perfect evening, and it is a memory that I will treasure for the rest of my life. I hope to be telling my great grandchildren about the amazing Mother Blessing my friends had for me some day.

The umbrella clothes dryer has arrived!

2009-04-19T20:25:00.000-07:00

It arrived right in the middle of a snow storm! LOL. Since we still have several inches of snow in the backyard, it'll have to wait a few days before I can put it up, but I'm still excited. The outrageously dry climate here in Denver serves at least one purpose - clothes dry insanely fast. Honestly, it freaked me out a bit when we first moved here. I grew up in the South. My mom used to hang out our laundry (on a similar umbrella dryer!) all the time. It dried fine. However, clothes hung outside here - even with no breeze - dry so fast it is amazing! I bought the umbrella dryer and a bag of 100 wooden clothes pins. I'm excited to use it, but I am still too embarrassed to think about hanging out the "unmentionables." Yea, I know - it's silly, but it is what it is!!! I figure that'll just be my own little quirk, and maybe someday I'll get past it, but until then - everything else will get hung out to dry. With as much laundry as I have to do (including diapers), I figure we'll be saving a lot of energy (and money!). Trey laughed at me because I was so excited about it, but he's getting nearly as Earthy and "green" as me lately. (I'm so proud!) I'll take pictures of it when I get it out of the box and in the ground. If anyone is interested, here is the link to the online shop: The Clothesline Shop.

Snow in April!

2009-04-18T19:29:00.000-07:00

Ah, springtime in Colorado! Here's snow pictures from yesterday. If it had been five degrees colder - we'd have had two feet of snow!

Here is Livi's bean plant that is growing in our window. I need to figure out when we can transplant that thing outside because it is quickly outgrowing its container. There is another plant growing in there, but it hasn't popped it's head over the rim yet. She planted this seed in Sunday school, and she is so proud of it.

Last but not least - here's a cute picture of Louis playing in the cradle!

Easter pictures

2009-04-14T19:48:00.000-07:00

My computer is being idiotic, so I am just going to post our Easter pictures!
First the boys:

Then I tried to take a picture of the girls, but Louis insisted on being in it! LOL.

Then the girls:

Then everyone on the porch swing:

Then Mama has to have her "stair step" pictures!

Last but not least - pictures with Mama and Daddy. Oh, and Trey keeps telling me what a good photographer he is, but let's notice whose picture is centered and whose is not! LOL.

Sing-a-long

2009-04-11T21:27:00.001-07:00

Ding dong - the deck is gone
Which old deck?
The rotten deck
Ding dong - the rotten deck is gone

Now I can look out my door
And I can see the deck no more
Ding dong - the rotten deck is gone!!!!!!!

Nope - no picture because I'm just too tired after demolishing a deck to take pictures!!!! Time for another song:

I am woman hear me roar..........

A day in the life....

2009-04-11T09:10:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine did this on her blog, and I thought it looked like fun. Here's the idea - keep your camera with you all day and document your day! Here's my day:
7:00am - say hello to the hubby who is already hard at work

7:20am - the little ones are still sound asleep in my bed

take the older munchkins to school

8:10am - have a snuggle with the little ones (Louis refused to wake up!)

Then starts the fun part of the day! Laundry, dishes, make the bed, vacuum, clean the kitchen (at least Livi didn't have school today because it was good Friday), feed and water the compost:

Work on demolishing what's left of the deck:

Livi with her "sledge hammer:"

Fold and organize the clean diapers:

12:00 Have lunch with the family at one of our favorite restaurants - Thai Flavor (I forgot my camera - but luckily Trey had his iPhone!):

1:50 Drop off the recycling:

2:30 Pick up the older munchkins from school:

At this point I have lost track of the time! We worked on the never ending rock pile and got filthy requiring baths for EVERYONE!

Take the girls to Target and Safeway while Ray waters the lawn and then Trey gives the boys a bath!

It's allowance "payday!"

Time to send the darling husband off on a well-deserved guy's night out.

Dinner time - chili fries and Tofutti bars.

Best time of the day - snuggle time on the couch while watching Alvin and the Chipmunks.

Off to bed for everyone! Send the older kids to bed and snuggle down with a little Pooh with my little munchkin:

Here's the idea - your turn! If you decide to blog a day in your life - let me know because I want to be sure and see it!

Organizing the basement

2009-04-09T20:11:00.000-07:00

I'm not quite sure why I had this urge to get the basement in order today, but I did! Having four children (soon to be five) can be pretty expensive! One of the ways that I save money is to keep tubs of clothes for the kids in the basement. I save the older kids' clothes (the ones that are still wearable!) after they grow out of them for the younger kids. Plus, I shop garage sales and thrift stores. Two years ago, I found a brand new pair of Stride Rite tennis shoes (purple no less!) for Olivia. They were $2, so I bought them and stuck them in the appropriate shoe bin in the basement. We just got them out today, and she put them in her closet! Usually, in May, we pull out next year's clothes bins and go through them. That way, I know what to shop for at garage sales over the summer. This May is going to be a little busy, so we did that last week. I used today to get the basement back in order, plus give it a good spring cleaning that was well overdue. Here's my storage area in my basement. I have all the kids' saved clothes, shoes, and jackets organized by size plus all of our holiday decorations and a tub each for Trey's and my keepsakes. It's a pretty good system that works out well.

There's also another issue I wanted to mention because it is close to my heart. I am super annoyed at all the companies that are using very sexual ads to market to children. Kids get to be kids for such a short time in their lives, I want advertisers to STOP marketing sexualized ads to children. Here is the ad and info if you are interested.
http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/pressreleases/spongebobburgerking.html

Warm fuzzies for today

2009-04-09T12:25:00.000-07:00

I’d Rather

I’d rather be a mother
Than anyone on earth
Bringing up a child or two
Of unpretentious birth.
I’d rather nurse a rosy babe
With warm lips on my breast
Than wear a queen’s medallion
Above a heart less blest.
I’d rather tuck a little child
All safe and sound in bed –
Than twine a chain of diamonds
Above my foolish head.
I’d rather wash a smudgy face
With round, bright baby eyes –
Than paint the pageantry of fame,
Or walk among the wise.

By
Meredith Gray

“Miracles are instantaneous; they cannot be summoned, but they come of themselves, usually at unlikely moments and to those who least expect them…” Katherine A. Porter

Locavore?

2009-04-08T16:23:00.000-07:00

Locavore is a pretty new term, and it is associated with a movement that is really taking off. It got started when two people decided to do a "100-mile diet" for a year. They made a commitment to ONLY eat food that had been grown within 100 miles of their location. It was an experiment, and they learned a lot from it. Many people have been making a commitment to eat "locally" since their story has gained a national audience. In our family, we have made a commitment to be more aware of where our food comes from and to make an effort to eat more locally. We live in a city (or a "freaking" city as this small town girl would say), and I think it is way too easy for people to lose the connection with the food they're eating. It comes out of a box or can - off a shelf - out of a bag or bin - out of a refrigerator. I grew up gardening and canning with my parents. I want my children get get a lot of that same appreciation that I grew up with.

We've had a small, relatively unsuccessful, garden for several years. Since it appears that we'll be in Denver at least for a while more, I am really trying to learn how to garden in this climate. I was very, very spoiled in Arkansas where you stick a seed in the ground and it grows. You actually have to work pretty hard at it here! The kids are very excited about our garden this year though, and have taken a very active part in it. I think that is really exciting. You can't really get more local than growing your own food!

On the 100 Mile website, they have a lot of interesting information. One is a list of ten things you can do. I swiped these ten things off their site. If you're interested in local eating, check out their site: The 100 Mile Diet.

1. Start small.
The people who did this experiment jumped in with both feet without a lot of forethought or planning. It was challenging for them. Considering I have a family to feed - I think we'll take it a step at a time! Our first step was to sign up with a local CSA. Starting in mid-June and going through mid-December, we'll get a box of veggies every week. For a good chunk of that time, we'll also get a fruit box. We may be getting our eggs through them as well - I haven't gotten that nailed down yet though.

2. There are no rules.
Considering that Colorado is pretty limited because of it's climate, we're not actually trying to limit it to a 100 mile radius. Actually, our fruit is coming from the western side of the state. I'm okay with that. One of the questions they ask is, "Ask some deeper questions, too. If you eat meat, where does the feed for the animals come from? If you’re vegetarian, would you be prepared to eat animal products if no beans or tofu are raised where you live?" Well, that question is easy. No. I know a lot of people seem to be moving toward the belief that if beef is "humanely" raised then it's okay to eat and okay for the environment. First, I can't really label the unnecessary slaughter of anything "humane." I will say that it is certainly "less cruel." So, from an animal rights standpoint, it's a step in the right direction. As for the environment though, it's a mixed bag. Conventional production includes feeding cows an artificial diet of grains, whereas "grass fed beef" is just that - meat from cows who have been allowed to graze. There also tend to be no added hormones and other chemicals in the cow products. A side that people tend to forget though is that in some ways "grass fed beef" is actually MORE energy intensive. The cows live longer, take more resources, and emit more greenhouse gases. I know that it's commonplace for global warming opponents to make fun of "cow farts," but 18% (yes - nearly one fifth) of greenhouse gases come from livestock. That is an outrageous number. Transportation of food only accounts for 11% of the foods' carbon footprint. I think that it would be irresponsible for a person to start consuming a product that would actually increase their carbon footprint in the name of "local eating."

3. Surf the internet.
I've been doing this a lot. So far, I've found that Colorado kills a lot of animals. I'm sure that as summer gets going though, I'll find other resources!

4. Find your farmers’ market.
This is a great tip for people who don't live here. The farmers' markets here - suck. Truly. You're just as likely to find produce from Washington or California as you are from local farms. I am going to make an effort to try and find a good farmers' market this year though. In all of the Denver metro area, there has got to be one. Right? This is the area that makes me really pine for Arkansas though. Man, the farmers' markets there are amazing!

5. Find your farmers.
I am really looking forward to this one this summer. We already plan to spend quite a bit of time at Berry Patch Farms. I grew up eating home canned and frozen foods. It's fabulous, and I want my children to experience that, too. Now, it's been quite a few years since I've canned anything, so this year will be quite the learning experience I'm sure. That's okay though. The kiddos are already looking forward to bringing home produce from Berry Patch Farms and preserving it at home.

6. Start a garden — even a tiny one.
Check. We're trying hard. There is nothing better to eat on the planet than a fresh out of the garden tomato or strawberry. Yum. I have big hopes for our garden this summer!

7. Plan a winter garden.
This one may be a little harder here in Denver, but I'm looking into it. At the very least, we're trying to grow some edible plants inside.

8. Buy in bulk and preserve.
Oh, well - I touched on this a bit. We are planning to do our own preserving. Having a family of soon to be 7, we already buy in bulk!

9. Join the movement.
Everyone and every change makes a difference. I don't think this means that everyone has to eat only local food. As I touched on earlier, sometimes local choices aren't as healthy for your body or the environment as things that come from farther away. I do think that being more aware of where our food comes from and trying to make responsible choices is something that everyone can do. We're trying to be more conscience of where our food comes from rather than just grabbing something off the shelf without paying attention. Hopefully, our efforts will make at least some difference!

Greening up the inside!

2009-04-03T17:47:00.000-07:00

One thing we've decided to do to "green" up our house is to get houseplants! The kiddos were really excited about growing things inside. I had a good discussion with a friend yesterday about which plants to grow and decided that I wanted a Jasmine plant. We all went down to Tagawa Gardens in south Aurora to look for our plants. I also wanted to get an aloe vera plant for the house. We came home with an aloe vera plant, a beautiful Jasmine plant, and a rosemary plant that we're going to plant outside (after the snow). We also bought some honey from a local farm while we were there, a pot for our aloe plant, and a decorative glass waterer.

We repotted the aloe and jasmine plants. We potted the aloe in a black ceramic pot that we got a Tagawa's. You'll notice that the plant did not make it home unscathed. Louis threw the big bottle of honey, it landed on the plant, and broke off one of the leaves. *sigh* He is a "one toddler tornado."

We got the jasmine to hang in our front bay window. We bought a smaller plant, but it is going to grow, so we repotted it in a larger container that we already had. It had contained some flowers that we had outside last summer. When we took it down we found this bird's nest in it!

I tried to pitch the nest into the compost pile, but the kids won't let me! Eventually, I'd like to get a pretty hanging pot for the jasmine plant, but I wasn't willing to spend the money right now. Yea, yea, I know - I'm cheap! LOL. This is how it looks now.

Both plants are living in our front bay window. I hope to get a few more including another hanging plant eventually. This is what we have for now though, and we love it!

A lot of people don't realize it, but indoor air quality can be THREE times more polluted than outdoor air quality. I'm hoping that having plants in our house can help clean up the air in our house. At the very least - it adds some beauty and greenery! My mom always had beautiful house plants when I was growing up. I used to have some beautiful office plants, but I've never really had any in my house. I think we're going to enjoy these!

B.I.G. belly! Whoa.

2009-04-01T13:39:00.000-07:00

Okay - I'm 34 weeks 2 days today, and I swear I don't know how I can get much bigger. I haven't gained much weight, but my belly is huge!!!

Hey Mom! Here's the kidlets with their cards that they love!

Fun spring break day at the zoo!

2009-03-31T19:03:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, most of our friends had spring break LAST week which is a bummer. BUT - luckily a few have spring break this week. Today we spent a rather cold day at the zoo with dear friends that we don't get to see all that often anymore. Becky and Rachel met us at the zoo, and now Rachel is here spending the night! Beth and Rachel adore each other and always have. They had a blast today at the zoo. Here's a few pictures I took.

Louis was seriously into the snakes at the zoo today. He actually came over, grabbed my hand, and dragged me over to look at this one viper that he just couldn't seem to get away from! It was pretty darn adorable!

Is Earth Hour important?

2009-03-27T18:45:00.000-07:00

I'm probably going to get rambly (yes, in my world that is a word), so bear with me. Earth Hour is tomorrow. For anyone who doesn't know about Earth Hour, it is a global thing. For an hour tomorrow evening, people are encouraged to turn off their lights and other electrical appliances. At 8:30 pm (whatever time zone you're in - it's a rotating around the globe kind of thing) tomorrow evening, Earth Hour will begin. I have to admit that I am shocked by the cynicism has accompanied the push for Earth Hour. Apparently, awareness isn't important. Here are direct quotes from people commenting on the Earth Hour site:

"Those that "raise awareness" don't improve the world. Only those who build things do."

Hmmm, okay. We treehuggers need to apparently forget about trying to help the world:

"EARTH HOUR IS GAY!!!!!!!!!!!! what shutting off our lights for one hour? who cares really? all you damn treehuggers out there need to get a life."

And yes, I''m sure the one who wrote that didn't give a care about the hatred in his quote either - nice. This one is particularly good because it conveys the age old attitude of why make one thing better when other things need improvement.

"Let's save the earth today, then go condemn world economies at the G7 next week - What do you say, Gang???"

Then, of course, there is the attitude that global warming is a scam:

"I think you are the ones with your head in the sand especially considering that every single scientist, that says global warming is a reality, has a vested interest in it being real, i.e. their lives and living depend on it because without it they would have to get a real job. It is not different than pharm companies (which you eco nazis hate) who enriches themselves by doing research that proves we need to take a drug they just created."

"There is no scientific proof that there is such thing as Global Warning, and all you earth-worshipping fanatics along with Orson Welles-Algore are just looking for another way for Government to control our lives. YOU are the ONES doing the whining, because there are several in the U.S. who refuse to drink your grape kool-aid."

"Earth awareness" is a power grab bordering on a religion. Don't worship "Mother Earth" at my expense. You seek to control what people drive, make them pick through their trash, control what people eat and in general control how people live their lives. I consider you an enemy to the American way of life. I will "celebrate" "Earth Hour" at Outback Steakhouse over a fat juicy STEAK!"

"I say Global Warming ( Global Whining ) is a scam, and I'm gonna turn on every electronic device in my house during "Earth Hour", folks start your engine!"

These quotes came directly from the Earth Hour site. It just makes me sad that people care so little. What makes me sadder though is the apathy I see from others. I don't know what is worse - hatred or apathy. I don't know. Maybe it won't make a difference. My family and I will be participating in Earth Hour tomorrow. I'm even letting the kiddos stay up late, so we can "raise awareness." I believe every little thing we can do helps, and if more people did more "little" things, it would add up to a big difference.

I think that I have the soul of an "old hippie" living in the body of a "suburban housewife." The more I learn who I really am, the less I know where I belong.