Funny advertisement...

No not funny, hilarious, ingenious.... seriously, if there is an award for creative advertisement ... this one needs to win something.

It is not written in English but you don't need to read the language to to enjoy.... Don't click on any of the ads, and make sure your volume is turned up. Mrs. Mommy is a computer programmer and she bows before the designers of this ad.... well done!!! (I don't think this is a real ad... but definitely a creative one). Be patient after you click... it might take your computer a while to load all the graphics... once it gets started, it takes a minute or so to finish and is very funny. Don't forget to turn up the sound.


http://producten.hema.nl/

Enjoying a good laugh and grateful to Ms. B. for sharing.... been there, done that....

Woot off... what off... not what off... woot off...

Yes today is a woot off day. Join me in refreshing your screen all day long on

www.woot.com

I am looking for a few electronics for kids Christmas....

You got Pho.... We got Pho....

OK today I decided to try to make Pho myself (a Vietnamese noodle soup). I have been trying to wait for our Vietnamese son Nghia to return home and cook it for me... but the little creep has not been home in sooo long... and a person can only go so long without Pho, once they have had it.

When we were in Vietnam, people ate Pho all day long... breakfast, lunch, dinner... whenever.

A Vietnamese American family owns a little Asian grocery close to my parents home. The last time we were there, I stopped and bought a ton of Pho makings... Yes I cheated and got the canister with the bag of spices....

I had a great soup bone from our quarter of grass fed beef.... got the fresh toppings diced up... sliced some beef paper thin... and went to work.

I was pleasantly surprised when the kids wolfed it down faster than I could cook the noodles. While it didn't have the right color, the taste was great. I don't think I blanched the beef bone long enough and that turned my soup dark. Still our house smelled so good while the soup was cooking. Here are some pics of the kids wolfing it down. Even the dog wanted more....

So even though our son abandoned us... without properly teaching me how to cook Pho (and spoiling us by cooking it for us when he was living here)... he was kind enough to walk me thru it on the phone today. Other than forgetting to buy limes and running out of hot sauce... I did pretty good.

At one point Boo said "I could eat this everyday'. I laughed and told her that had we not adopted her and if she had remained in Vietnam, she probably would have eaten it everyday. She pondered that, then said... "Well if I lived there, I know I wouldn't mind eating this everyday, as long as it has lots of noodles and none of the green stuff".

Ms. Boo saying, "More please".

Learning to cook Pho.... Been there... Done that

And the cow goes Moooooo....

OK here are some cute pics of the baby calves at the farm where we get our raw milk and where our son has been working. Seems everyday, Teen1 returns home talking about a new calve being born. He gets to bottle feed them the first few days, then teaches them to eat from a bucket, and later, moves them to grazing. He is very, very proud of his babies and loves it when I have enough time for the younger kids to wander thru the barns and outdoor fields to play with the calves. He also has piglets and chicks that he cares for.... but I didn't get pictures of either of those.

And good news from our farmer...he has sent two more bulls to market for fresh, grass-fed beef. Why is that such good news you ask? Just google or yahoo "grass fed beef health benefits" and you will get a wealth of info. Same thing for free-range, organic feed chickens. Animals need to be out in the sun, eating grass. It is how God made them to live. Not cooped up in some feed lot getting shot full of antibiotics and steroids and fattened up with grain.

We moved to heathier meats and dairy about 5 months ago and we can tell a difference. Mr. Daddy's Dr is amazed at his drop in blood pressure and cholesteral.

Here is one of many articles on the benefits, written so non scientists can understand. Kinda like Ross Perot's flip charts... info for the common person to understand.

http://www.americangrassfedbeef.com/grass-fed-natural-beef.asp

The more I read, the more I wish we could own 20 acres and a barn and become more self sufficient. Until that day... which will probably never happen, we are blessed to have a good farmer nearby and we get to witness how happy his cows are. This morning, 7am... as I dropped my son off to work, his dry field cows were chasing each other... It was so funny watching them romp around their field. I wish I had brought my camera. I always thought cows were lazy, grazing animals. Ha... these cows were having a great time.

I would much rather eat meat from this source, than a cow so sickly it had to be prodded by an electric prod to stand for butchering (the cow has to be able to stand in order to pass FDA requirements... so sickly cows are prodded).

More and more people are doing the same, preferring to support their local, small farmers, and at the same time, buy healthier foods for their families. And like us, the more they research, the more they are amazed by the health benefits of grass fed, free range, meats and poultry. Go figure, God's way is healthier...

Most of the calves in these pics are heifer's so they will grow to produce milk, not be butchered for meat.

Yes the circle of life can seem cruel and Blondie swears, on a weekly basis, that she is becoming a vegetarian.... As she stuffs a big bite of steak in her mouth, I remind her that the steak she is enjoying, was once cow. "No mom, steak is steak... cow is cow". We go thru this talk after every visit to the farm. Poor Blondie tends to have a selective memory... and where her steak comes from is one of those memories she erases each night as she sleeps. As of yesterday, she was still vowing to give up beef...after this one last steak/hamburger/roast that is....

Enjoying watching my kid on the farm... been there done that...

Mommy hurry, it's your favorite commercial....

I just love this commercial. I can't stop myself.... I have to sing along. The Queen of England could be in our house, and I would have no control over myself, I would have to sing along.

The kids, well some love it and sing along, others groan... begging me not to sing in my very pitiful, off key voice. But all scream for Mom when it comes on TV.

Boo... she loves it. Mr. Daddy loves it too and the three of us... we are having a ball with this commercial... I am almost ready to record us doing our unique version... but we are still working out the kinks... Meanwhile here is a link to the YouTube version... We also love the show it is advertising. Cute, very little cursing, so far, no sex... some violence... but overall, a funny show for kids and parents to watch together.



Singing out of tune with my kids... been there... still doing it.

Are you Wooting yet?

I love to Woot.... for those of you who have never heard of woot... it is a website that offers a different special everyday.... just one discounted item, and you can only order 3 of that item.

But somedays... every month or so... you sign onto www.woot.com, just to see the daily special, and you see flashing lights... yes it is a woot off. Tons of different items. As soon as one sells out, another replaces it. The thing is, you have to constantly monitor it or something you really would have wanted sells out before you get a chance to buy it. I find myself emailing friends... "IT's a WOOT-OFF". I am a consultant and my billable hours drop those days, as I find myself wooting instead of working and earning billable hours.... It is horrible. Thankfully, the people who employ me are woot addicts as well and email me all day with updates. Actually, they are the ones who told me about Woot and slickdeals.

We watch for things for each other...

Last fall, I did a ton of Christmas shopping by wooting. My MIL received a RoomBa... she loves it. Can program it to clean while she sleeps. Very cool. She was having trouble cleaning under beds and couches due to back problems... now it is done nightly by her Roomba, which we got heavily discounted, via Wootoff.

The kids all got speakers for their Zunes... it charges the Zune and is as loud as a boombox. So they use their Zunes all day with headsets and their speaker boxes at night. Got them for something like 35.00/ea. The same speakers were over 100 on Amazon the day I got them on Woot. They dropped the next day to about 79.

Gotta love Woot. So for those of you who like a bargain, and check out woot first thing each morning.... and when you become a wootoff fiend, like me... check in the middle of the night in case it is a wootoff. Some of the best things sell out before the average shopper even wakes up. And sometimes, they extend a wootoff for 3 days!!!! Imagine how horrible I felt, going to bed at midnight after a full woot day... only to wake up the next morning, expecting one item for the whole day... and seeing those darn lights.... Who would have thought they would do two days in a row.... So I lose another days pay, watching those woot specials... hit the sack at midnight, wake up and "NO WAY", there are those lights again.... Three days straight of wooting off. I think some of the buyers managed to stay awake the entire time. I missed out on some of the cool toys the kids would have loved. Oh well. I do sleep. But truly, woot offs are rare and sooo fun.

I am really into this web shopping, web couponing... and I am truly saving soooo much, which is critical for a family my size.

Did I mention I have a ton of Christmas shoppping finished, due to Amazon after Christmas sells.... free shipping and 90+% off. It is all boxed and taped to keep inquiring children away... I got the singing Hannah Montana dolls for 3.99 with free shipping. They are 15+ in the stores. I got all the Cheetah girls, singing dolls, same price. Got the Cheetal RV, spent 5.99 for it. In the stores it is 60+. Got Strawberry shortcut kissing baby.... 5.99. Monster crash trucks, 3.99. All free shipping. I got down filled blankets, new down pillows, bedspreads, comforters... nothing over 20.00 and most were regularly 100-450. I even got some things free. Yes free... with free shipping. The comforter sets were Ralph Lauren and gorgous. I did not pay more than 20.00 for anything for the bedroom.

Did I mention getting Knive sets, selling for over 100 on Amazon, for 19.99 a few months ago. I got three sets from Kohl's. Got those thanks to a friend using http://www.slickdeals.net/. Why do I need three sets? I was going to give two as gifts for Christmas, but turns out a friend needed a set... and the guy who alerted me to the sale, who ordered his own set before me, had his order cancelled. Seems Kohl's ships to those ordering multiple's first, so my order, even though it went in hours later, shipped before his. By the time they shipped all the multiples and got to the single orders, they were out of stock. So I sold him one of mine.

Slickdeals lets you set up alerts to notify you when they have something you are looking for... all these geeks, all over the world, update the sight with coupons, specials, incredible deals.... I can't even name all the things I found.

I set up alerts for all 4 thumbs and above new posts.

I found SD cards for my camera's for under 5.00 with free shipping after Christmas last year. 2 Gig. Should have checked all my camera's first because only one can handle 2 gig.... Oh well. I bought a ton of 1 gig's for the same price.

I got 300 free pictures with free shipping... just had to upload my pics... all via slickdeals.

I bought Zunes for my kids last Christmas. They varied in price from 69.00-129.00. Seems most places had limits on how many I could buy and I needed one per child... so... Still the regular prices were almost 200.00 each. Great deals.

Slickdeals also has a coupon alert area. We were recently shopping for a major appliance and went there first, got great coupons for several stores and due to references, eliminated a few brands... but found the perfect appliance at a killer deal. Seriously... I wonder how I ever afforded to shop without these sites. Then again, until I wooted and slickdealed... we were still using pots, pans, dishes, silverwear... all from our wedding 23 years ago. Come to think of it, we still have some towels from those years... and blankets... and sheets... We are pitiful really. But thanks to these shopping sites, I have been replacing our stuff with really nice stuff and I don't feel guilt since I am getting such good deals.

Wooting and Slickdealing.... Been there.... Doing that...

29 years ago.....

29 years ago.... I started unofficially dating this cutie. I say unofficially because I was 14 years old at the time, and so was he... and neither family allowed us to date this young... but we held hands at school functions... snuck kisses (which my brothers ievitably witnessed and dutifully reported back to my parents)... and sat by each other at school. To us, it was dating....

At 21, we married... and now, my sweetheart is 43.

He has been my best friend thru thick and thin (both in life issues and my waistline, LOL). He has remained steadfast and a true leader of our home. Our children may not realize it... they don't realize it... but the example he sets for them is incredible. Even when I go psycho... he stays calm... when I am ready to be a run away Mom (I want to stay a bride but there are days I would love to run away from parenting), he reels me back in.

Who would have thought that curly headed boy would turn into such an incredible Dad and husband.... Well now that I think about it... I did!!!!

On his actual birthday, I went thru our photo books that I have online and found all these pics of us way back when.... later he came home, not knowing I had gone all sentimental on him... and I started rubbing his rapidly receeding hairline and saying something like, "Remember how wild your hair used to be and the hours you would spend trying to flatten out your curls?". I kept saying things like, "You were such a cutie.... remember how pitifully skinny you were... remember how you blushed everytime I spoke to you.... do you remember necking under the money bars on the playground?" Finally he said, "have you been looking at old pictures again?". Teeheee of course I was looking at old pictures. I am 43 and the parent of 6 incredibally demanding children... my memory was shot years ago. Now, without those pics and letters he wrote, I fear I would have forgotten so much.... Our love letters are still packed away, to one day be enjoyed by our own kids.... or grandkids.

Seriously, who would have thought we would have made it this far... from 14 to 43... six children... .many more unofficial children around the world.... and we still love each other... thru thick and thin (waist lines, hair lines, pocketbooks... you name it.... we have gone from thick to thin and back again).

Honoring the man I love (on his belated birthday)... Been there... Done That

Aaaaahaaaa, that is why we don't drive across fields...

Ok we are at Grandparents and guess what, the elk are out. There is a huge herd, about 1000 strong, a few miles away. So tonight, we take a quick trip to the park where the Elk reside.... which has four wheeler trails... and horse trails... and car/van dirt roads. All are clearly marked. Why is this important you ask? Well..... just suppose for a few minutes that we arrived early and the kids and dog are romping thru the fields... and the dog takes off. Hubbie and kids chase him down and over a ridge and see the elk.

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They tell us to back the big bus van, seats 15, back down the road a bit and turn on the 4 wheel trail so we could get grandma close enough to see the elk.

Well now that would have worked.... but you know what... it really seemed easier just to drive across the field. It was flat, dry... no big deal.... until we hit a hidden rock. And the van starts going wanka wanka wanka.... Husband jogs over to where we are stranded... not yelling but wanting to, until he saw it was his Dad driving. Thankfully, our faith stresses children be respectful to their parents so he had to control himself. he did ask what we were thinking, driving thru a field like that...

Truly it just made sense at the time.

So now we are stranded. Mr. Daddy and Grandpa are in the garage trying to fix the Wanka Wanka Wanka. We have to be home tomorrow. This part of the country, everything is closed on Sunday, including auto parts stores and repair shops. Grandpa has a funeral to attend. What a mess... and all because we adults did not follow the rules...

Yes the kids had a field day and I am sure I will hear about it for days to come. Mom and Grandpa broke the rules and just look what happened. Mom and Grandpa acted impulsively, without thinking thru the consequences... and just look what happened. Mom and Grandpa thought they had a good reason to break the rules, but just look what happened when they ignored the rules.... maybe the rules are there for a reason Mom.

Oh yeah... if, if we get that van fixed, the ride home tomorrow is going to be very interesting...

Breaking rules and paying the price.... Been there, done that.

He Missed Me, He really missed me....

On Friday, we were suppose to take the entire family on a six hour drive to pick up the three kids who have spent the last two weeks with their grandparents in another state. It was pretty much demanded nightly, via Boo, that her entire family come get her... "Momma I am serious, is everyone coming. I miss everyone... Is my dog coming too?".

Of course I assured her we all missed our three absent children and of course we would all be coming to get them, even the dog.

Well as fate would have it, Teen1's farmer needed help this weekend. I debated letting him work. I really did. I am a strong believer in kids seeing/being with grandparents. But at the same time, Teen1 is really growing as a man on this farm. And the farmer (yes he has a name but as you can tell, I don't liks posting people's names on the web) so Farmer works for now, anyway, he is a Godly man and is a good influence on our son.

So I call the farmer and tell him I will bring Teen1 to him. Which meant I drove 2 hours to get Teen1, then 2 hours back to the farm to drop him off (Teen1 jumped up and down when he found out he was living with and working for, the farmer this weekend). Then drove another 6 hours (would have been 4 from Teen1's school) to arrive at Grandparents at 1:45 am this morning. But that isn't the amazing part.... what is amazing is I parked the Van, but before I could shut off the engine, I hear screaming and the feel the van rock as 100 lbs of boy hits my window. It was Ducky and he couldn't get the van door open fast enough, then landed on me like a brick wall and wouldn't let go.

Now I am use to being missed by Boo, but wow was this response from Ducky precious. Mrs. Mommy will be threasuring that memory!!!! Blonde missed us too and in 5 minutes, manages to speed talk us thru her entire two weeks. I admit, I only absorbed every 8th word, she was talking so fast. But I think I got the gist of her stay. And when we finally went to bed, all three of the kids who stayed at Grandparents had to sleep with Mrs. Mommy... and the dog, all 75lbs of him joined us.

Boo and Grandma were dissapointed about Teen1 not being here.... I miss him too. I had this vision, of getting a specific pic of all my men (sons, Husband, Grandpa) in a pic.... for a future post. Oh well.... how can Mom help but be proud of a son who was actually excited/anxious, to bail hay!!!! Teen1 has called his Momma a couple of times and it is good to know that even though he is having a lot of fun, he is missing us too.

Once all three updated me on their entire two weeks, they attacked my computer, with it's new mobile web access (Thank you Sprint), and went to check on their webkinz to make sure I babysat properly. Finally we all made it to bed.

Well slowly the house is rising (even though it is only 7 am and we got to bed only a few hours ago)... so Mrs. Momma is getting off this silly web and going to enjoy her family.... Because this Momma really, really is happy to be getting all her kids back. I truly believe they needs these weeks with the grandparents to build memories and I am glad we were blessed with enough gas money to make it happen this year... but I also really miss them and all the loud noises, messy rooms, fighting, screaming.... This is the first time they have ever been away 2 full weeks. So off now to enjoy my kids... and my in-laws.

Mrs. Mommy.... tired from 10+ hours of driving... and 4 hours of sleep... but smiling from ear to ear to have her babies back.... been there, doing that.

FFFF - Favorite Family Foto Friday

OK I added an extra F to the typical FFF (Favorite Foto Friday). I am going to try to do my favorite family foto Fridays... with some background on those who have made the most influences in my life.

Today, that would be Tom and Alifair, my Great Grandparents. Tom's family immigrated here from Ireland. He was the first generation born in the US. Talk about sparkling eyes. This man had them. And those eyes were blind and his legs were crippled. Not always.... just the last 20 or so years of his life. I can vaguely remember him with limited eyesight. Where he could only work his own small garden instead of a big farm... where he could only make dog houses and bird houses, instead of the extensive things he use to build for a living... including a school house that still stands and still houses children.... 50+ years later. A man who could not read anything, other than his own name. A man who could only write his own name, but instead of being ashamed, he proudly wrote his name everywhere he went. And he insisted his own children learn that which he was denied. He also memorized the Bible, from cover to cover. He would beg every visitor to read him passages. When his legs no longer allowed him to attend church, he used a radio to listen to preaching. As a child, I would read a part of a verse and ask him where it was in the Bible. He could always tell me.

His last daughter is still alive... still attending church... still giving all her children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, greats.... gifts. Recently she allowed me to spend a day with her scanning her pictures, some so old they were on metal, and telling me as much as she could about those in the pictures. But her story deserves a day of it's own.

As a child, I loved going to my Mammaw and Pappaw's. They lived right beside a store. And there were always quarters waiting for us. Their house was built by my Pappaw himself. It was three of the smallest rooms imaginable, all heated by a coal stove. there was always a kettle of water on top of that stove. The house had no real electricity but borrowed it from his daughter's house next door via an extension cord. There was no running water. We borrowed this from his daughter's outdoor spicket via metal buckets. The living room had a bed and a pull out sofa. The bedroom had two beds. Somehow, our family of seven managed to fit with their family of three and a dog. And it never seemed over-crowded.

Food was cooked on an old coal stove and dishes washed in flowered round metal bins. Try as I might, I cannot remember what Mammaw called those bins. But I remember gladly helping her rinse and dry the dishes after each grand meal.

And her meals were simple, but grand.

Chicken, fried in lard... and allowed to sit in lard to soak it up.... sounds discusting but there was never, ever a piece left over. It was incredible. Whatever vegetables that were fresh in the garden or that she had canned and homemade biscuits. Her food was treasured at old Wolly Churches yearly dinner. This was an old church my Great Grandfather helped build on land, on Wolly mountain. We went every year. We would cook all night at my Mammaw's. Her chicken and her amazing fried apple pies were the hits every year. I remember us getting out of the car and people running up asking her if she made those apple pies again. they were small little pies, flakey as could be, fried in a skillet. How I wish I had her exact recipe. My Mom and I are working on it and we get close, but never quite there. Maybe because we haven't tried lard yet in our crust?

Not all meals were incredible. One visit, her small house smelled incredible. I kept asking what she was cooking and she kept repeating, "Pig's head". Hours later, she pulled her roaster out of the oven and opened the lid and there sat... a pig's head, eyes included. I screamed. I cried. My uncle, who lived with them picked me up and took me outside. He then spent some of their very precious money on a T-bone he and I shared. At the time, I didn't realize how much those funds meant to my Grandparents... who survived on so little. Years later, after listening to my grandfather discussing the great depression and how nothing, not even the pigs head, was wasted... the discust I felt at them eating a pig's head, turned to admiration. That even when they could afford to waste, they didn't. They didn't learn a lesson for a time period, they learned it for life and applied it to their lives. What a goal for a grandchild to aspire to...

My Grandparents were a rarity. In their time and place, they both married quite old and encouraged their children and grandchildren to do the same. They were in their early 20's. People laugh at the Beverly Hillbillies and Granny stating Ellie Mae was an old maid... but back then, my Grandmother took that same criticism. Yet she and her Tom fell in love in due time and married. They lived humbly, even living in a barn when their house burned to the ground. They raised their children. They watched some of their children die, including my Mother's father, who died before she was two years old. They raised their granddaughter, her brother, and tried to help raise her half brothers. To this day, her only living half brother, now 80 years old, considers these two people his beloved grandparents, even though they were not of his bloodline. Creating family from the heart, instead of DNA, truly runs in my DNA. They also watched some of their grandchildren and even great grandchildren die. I can still remember sitting beside my crippled grandpa... watching the tears fall from his blinded eyes... as the rest of the family attended my Uncle's funeral. My mother's only full brother, who had lived his entire life with my great grandparents, died of cancer in his 30's... a lung cancer most likely acquired during his Navy days. Right before he died, he received notice that he had been exposed to cancer causing agents during his service and was entitled to compensation. He did not live long enough to file for it. But at least we knew why he had cancer.

My grandparents were married for 75 years before they died. We had a big 70th anniversary party for them. It was so wonderful. The press was there, in their tiny three room home. by now, they had moved into their daughter's old home, with electricity and running hot/cold water. It even had a bathroom. Still only three rooms, but the rooms were huge compared to their old home. My aunt had moved into a home right behind them. The old house from my memories was torn down. I still have dreams that I am back in that old house, still trying to read the newspapers, used for insulation on the walls. That I am still thumbing thru my uncle's record collections (Gospel Bluegrass). That I am still listening to my Grandparents, talking... always talking to each other.

At their party, the press guy took pictures and asked them to kiss for one. They abliged, and then my Pappaw told the story of their wedding. That they actually had a photographer. But back then, no touching. They had to stand so many inches apart. I have that photo, but my darn scanner is still broke. Anyway, he said he liked now, with the kissing, much better. Then he asked the Press guy, "Don't those camera things malfunction sometimes? Shouldn't we get a couple of those shots?". My Mammaw blushed sweetly and they posed for three more kissing shots. Words can't describe how these two loved each other.

They rose before the sun and went to bed before dark. They didn't have TV, so they talked, in bed, for hours. I remember lying in the other room, listening to them.... They would talk about the past, the present.... rarely the future.

Pappaw had this special clock my uncle brought back from the Navy. It was a brass horse and carriage. The covered wagon had a light in it. He would turn that light on, lift a lever, and the driver would whip the horses. We would sit for the longest time, watching Pappaw's horse clock. When he died, my aunt asked me what I wanted to remember my Grandpa by. My mom didn't want anything, she was too broken up. I thought and then asked for that clock. Years later, my mom asked if she could keep it for me and told me how happy she was that I had asked for it. Years after his death, she truly wished she had something of his. Now it sits at my Mom's, with the original light bulb still inside and still working. The whip rusted off and the covered wagon needs some leather repair, but it still works... We rarely turn it on, but we often tell our own children how much that clock and the man who owned it, meant to each of us. The next time I am at my parent's I will take a picture and update this post with it.

The picture above is my Mammaw and Pappaw at their 70th wedding party.

I miss them terribly but they gave me the determination to have what they have. I want to have my own grandchildren and great grandchildren at my 70th wedding anniversary, listening to us telling our own stories. I want to tell them how my pappaw watched trains come into his town, then cars, then planes... how he saw the beginning of computers. That he watched telephones and TV become household items. But thru it all, he strived to remember and teach that what mattered was the people in your lives and that tomorrow may not come, so love today. That just because you have man's wealth today, you may not tomorrow... so make sure what you value is the one thing that will last, your family. And that family is not bloodlines, it is heartlines.

My last memory I will share is my request to my Pappaw. Once he asked me what I wanted for my birthday and I said, "I never want to see you or Mammaw without each other. I want you to live past 100 and then die together. I want you to go to sleep together, talking, one night and just not wake up. I don't ever want to see one of you without the other". I truly had never seen anyone love like these two loved each other. Not even my own parents.

Now I was a small girl then, maybe 6 years old. I just remember my Mammaw and Pappaw laughing at my request and telling me they would do their best to make it happen. For a while it seemed they would make that 100. But somewhere in his mid nineties, my Pappaw faltered. I wasn't yet in my 20's, and I rushed to the hosptial. He woke, saw me standing beside him and said, "B, I am sorry, looks like we won't die together in our sleep. Take care of her for me... until she can be with me again... I will be waiting for her".

I had forgotten that request, made so long ago, but he hadn't. That memory and many others came rushing back. Not a dry eye in the room that day. A man who had built a strong family foundation was going home and leaving us behind. My grandmother died less than a year later, not of any illness, just from missing him. There was actually a sense of closure when she joined him in heaven. Their favorite Blue Grass band sang "There'll be Wings over Jordan" at his funeral. The same song was sang at my Uncle's funeral. I wonder, will there even be a group alive who remembers the words to this beautiful song, to sing it at my funeral. I can only remember the chorus myself.... the versus have long left my memory.

And a memory from one of those people who formed a heartlink to my grandfather.... my cousin, from my Dad's side of the family, who only met my grandfather once or twice. After all, they were not at all related. She died of cancer in her early 30's. I remember sitting by her bed, as she lay dying. My Pappaw had died a year or so earlier. My cousin said, "B, I keep dreaming about Pappaw". I thought she meant the Pappaw we shared, on my Dad's side of the family. He wasn't always the nicest man and to my cousin, he had been especially cruel. I told her, "Oh honey, I am so sorry". She looked shocked, then realized I was confused. She clarified, "Not him, your Pappaw. He keeps telling me it is Ok and he will be there waiting for me and not to be scared. Do you think my dream is real?".

I could have cried. My Pappaw use to have me read the Bible to him and we talked often about heaven and whether you could return to help family members as they die. He and my Uncle who died a few years later, would banter back and forth on whether this was Biblically possible. He said, often, that if you could, he would be there, to help us all not fear death and to welcome us to heaven. I had never shared that with anyone. Yet here was a cousin, not blood related, scared to death of dying, being comforted by my Pappaw in dreams. Do I believe the dead can help us cross over to heaven without fear... I guess I do. I didn't before my cousin died, but now... now I do.


Now I only have the memories, the dreams and the photos to remind me of these special people. People who lived into their 90's without running water or real electricity. Who never had a washing machine or dryer. And people who were truly happy and truly in love. They praised God all day for their blessings. And truly God had blessed them greatly. I never once, not once, heard them complain about what they didn't have.... I only heard them praise greatly for what they did have. I never heard them wish for things.... instead they said thank you.

Remembering and honoring the source of my foundation in God and family.... been there... living that.

An update... a dear friend read this post and found the lyrics to Wings over Jordan. I am posting them here so all of you can see how incredible this song is for those who truly believe in Heaven....

WINGS OVER JORDAN

When the sun for me is setting
and my race is nearly run
I can hear my savior say
it's time to go home
You've fought the fight
you've kept the faith
You put your trust in me
I'll be waiting on wings of love
To help you cross the dark dark sea

Chorus
There'll be wings over Jordan
When I bid this world good-bye
Wings over Jordan
when I take my heavenly flight
I'll be changed in a moment
in the twinkling of an eye
And on wings of love
over Jordan I will fly


As I look back over the life I've lived
All the heart-aches I've been through
Of all those trials and tribulations
And those persecutions too
it will all seem like nothing
For a crown of life I've won
And a future that awaits me
when Jesus takes me home

Best Mother's Day ever....

You know, some days... like today... when a teen has stressed me beyond belief, I need something to get me thru and since I don't drink, I turn to memories.... why you ask? what happened? Ok maybe it wasn't that big a deal, but it just keeps happening over and over... a total lack of respect for me as a person.... Are you laughing? Seriously, I know teens generally don't respect parents as people... and yes I know teens feel the world revolves around themselves. Stop laughing or I stop blogging about this.... I know how foolish I sound expecting anything else, but it seems I constantly expect just a tad bit of respect.

OK back to the topic... Teen2 had football camp. I arrived 5 minutes late to pick him up, (which is pretty good because I have to drop Spanky off in another city for summer school at 11:30, the exact same time Teen2 needs to be picked up, and you are not allowed to be early or late at Spanky's school, which requires me to fly down one lane country roads surrounded by cattle and corn fields... just to be 10 min late to pick up Teen2. Well I cheated and dropped Spanky off a bit early.... and made it to Teen2's school in record time, only to sit, and sit, and sit.

And wouldn't you know it, the air stopped working so down went the windows (Yes I know we ar not suppose to idle our cars anymore, fumes and all, not to mention gas prices, but hot is hot)... thankfully there was a gentle breeze to dry up the stinky sweat that was pouring down my back (among other places).

Plus I was suppose to be back online and working by 12..... which came and went with no Teen2. Finally I ask a mom in the car next to me if any kids left at 11:30 (thinking maybe Teen2 hitched a ride home with a friend). Nope, she had been there since before 11:30. I asked her if she knew why they were late... NOPE.

So I waited.... as it got hotter.... and waited... finally her son comes out around 12:30 with two hotdogs and chips and gets into her car. They leave. I wait.... and wait.... and wait.... other kids come out and leave with their parents... I wait... and wait.

OK I am not dressed the best, seeing as how I work from home. And trust me, by now I don't smell the best. I finally decide to go into the "forbidden zone for parents", the workout area for kids. I waited until someone left and slipped in the door... and there sits Teen2, having a party with friends. The entire time I was sitting outside, in the heat, sweating up a storm, missing work, cell phone not working so I couldn't even call work to explain... he was inside eating and partying with friends. Someone had decided to cook them a meal after football practice.

I was a bit rude, but truly, considering how upset I was right then, I think I controlled myself pretty well.... I didn't yank him out by the ear as the psycho mom inside my head was begging me to do (and trust me, she was making a good case for the ear thing!!!!).

No I very quietly, so quietly it actually made it a bit evil toned, told him to come, now. His friends say bye. He actually goofs more... Finally we get outside and he changes into the sweet, not my fault little six year old. He tried to call me, not his fault my cell wasn't working right? I whip around with those evil Psycho Mom eyes just daring him to go further and said, in that same quiet evil tone, that I understood about the cell not working, but couldn't understand why his legs didn't? Why couldn't he walk outside and tell me about the party, ask if it would be OK to stay 1 1/2 hours late...

No answer for that one. We all know the answer. I would have said NO, therefore, he didn't ask.

I asked if the party was mandatory, he said yes, then saw my head rise off the shoulders as psycho mom was cheering inside. She was so certain I would let her out. He quickly corrected himself to NO. He must have realized I obviously saw the other 20 boys leave, you know, the ones whose parents obviously do have something better to do, or they have respect for their parents, or fear of their parents. Somehow my son has none of the above.

I sent him to his room... well after I made him walk the last mile home I sent him to his room... I am serious. It was him walk or me lose it. He is 16.... we were in a gated community... so I stopped and let him out, with his gear, and said walk. Before that, I was trying to talk, explain why his choice was disrespectful... why my being at my desk when I am suppose to is critical to our family, when I made the mistake of turning and looking at him instead of the road. He was smirking that teen smirk.

You see this happened a few months ago too. At that time he was careless enough to say, "It is not like you have anything better to do". Excuse me, we have six kids and all have to be different places, often at the same time. And your parents work...you know that place that gives us checks... with dollars on them. We are not a charity, we actually have to do something to earn those dollars..... I realize that right now in our lives, you kids are 100% of the reason we do what we do, when we do it.... but we do have other things to do... we chose to give our lives to raising our children right now. And for the most part, we really love raising our children. I am not sure why I allow this self centered behavior to actually hurt.

And between then and now, about 30 other inconsiderate of anyone else's needs but his own type of thing very similar to the one today.

But he is a good kid. No drugs, no alcohol, no late nights, no missed curfews, good grades. And after I sent him to his room... I had to sit down and bring back good memories (This is why God starts us with babies and young children.... so we have those memories to get us thru the days when we are drop dead exhausted).

Anyway, I went back to my first Mother's day. We only had two boys then. They were so cute. They were just starting to call us Mom and Dad after many months calling us by our first names. Anyway, the boys teased me all week telling me they had bought me the perfect gift and having me guess. I guessed the typical stuff Mom's get and they would roll in laughter. No, No, No, their gift was far better, far superior to those gifts. It was the best gift ever. My husband would smile a scary smile. All week I heard about this best gift ever....

Mother's day came and breakfast in bed was delivered. It was edible but only barely. Seems Dad let them cook the most of it by themselves. I invited the boys to eat with me, off my plate and that problem was solved.

Then came the "close your eyes"..... and the gift. Two little smiley faced boys handed me... are you ready?


are your sure?


a rake.

Yes a plain old yard rake. Nothing special. Not even a bow. Just two bright eyed boys, holding a gift that filled them with pride and excitement... a rake for their Mom. And I almost cried. You see... on one of the first days after they joined our family, they broke my rake, on purpose... and I had to give them my first Mommy talk about taking care of things and how Mommy would have to do her lawn work without a rake now...

Teen1 said, "Mommy, now you don't have to do your yard work without a rake anymore, aren't you so happy".

And I was...

Other Mom's may have wanted roses or flowers for their flower beds.... but this Mom, this Mom was so happy to see that her boys were truly thinking of someone else, truly regretting breaking her rake, and excited to replace that which they had broken.

They cared about Mommy.

Then came teen years... and my caring boys seem to have left. In their place, self centered, self focused, self indulged monsters have risen.

But God, being the good God he is, gave me this memory... for days like today... so I will know that deep inside my self centered boy, there is a caring boy slowly becoming a caring man. Soon, very soon now, that man will replace the self centered boy. I know this because God has brought this man out in our eldest son. After years of the same self focused behavior... he now cares about others again, especially his Mom.

So for now, knowing that this too will end.... and having those precious memories to cling to... Mrs. Mommy will make it thru another tough parenting day... will forgive the thoughtless teen... will work past midnight tonight to make up for the lost work hours... and tomorrow, be one day closer to this teen's inner man taking over.

Struggling with how to parent teens... been there... done that...
Accepting that for now, her son thinks his needs/wants trump all others... been there done that
Knowing that this phase too will pass and thanking God for that knowledge... been there, doing that.

Memories of first night as a mother....

Along the adoption line, I thought I would share that first night we had as parents. Our first two children were siblings in foster care. They were 4 and 5 when they moved into our home, first as foster children, a year later we were blessed to be allowed to adopt them. They had been in foster care since 2.5 and 1.5 years of age, bounced from home to home before landing in one home for 18 months, then ours for the past 12 years.

That first day was so awesome. (Looking back now we should have realized it was too easy. Children that leave one home for another without any grieving at all... are harboring some deep hurt that will come out at some point. But back then, we just thought they were already coming to care for us... and they were... as much as they could with that much hurt inside).

We laughed and played all day. Friends and family, though we had requested they give us time to adjust, found reasons to stop by quickly.... to drop off a borrowed item... to deliver an Avon order (I didn't remember making), things like that... just to catch a glimpse of the two imps. They left smiling as big as we were because let me tell you, these two boys were darling. One was taller, skinny, brown hair, green eyes... very quiet and reserved but with a smile that just made you want to wrap your arms around his shy little body. The other, a tow headed, curly headed, freckled faced little elf of a boy who bounced non stop. He was like the cartoon character Maggie Simpson. He could not walk more than 3 steps without falling. His mind moved faster than his legs could. Both boys were very small for their ages.... they looked about 2 years younger than they were.

After a day of fun and laughter and utter exhaustion... the boys fell asleep, fairly early too, maybe 8ish.... Mr. Daddy and I could not stop starring at them.... all night long, we got up, ran to their room, and simply stood there starring at our boys.

Not all adoptive parents feel this deep affection from the beginning but we did. We have had a long road with our boys. Most of the issues did not start until the boys were 12ish and entering puberty... when other boys grew and ours stayed small... when bullying the little boy became the joy of the locker room. Finally, our older boys have grown, and grown well. While neither are ever going to hit 6 foot, they are now big enough and solid enough to be less of a target. And our eldest has become a very handsome young man. His younger brother, a rock solid young man. His body is hard and lean. He finally passed me in heigth, 5'4" and we are hoping he gets another inch or two over the next year. His older brother is a good 5'8", most of which happened in the past year.

I don't want to falsely make parenting sound all mushy, gushy.... because it is honestly harder than I ever imagined. Especially the teen years. I know people tried to tell me, before I had teens, that this many kids, this close together in age, would be tough.... I didn't listen. Looking back, I wish my kids had been 3 years apart in age, just to give us some breaks in the hormonal puberty stages. But they were born, when they were born... and there isn't one we would go back and not adopt, if we could go back in time. A lot of things we would do differently as parents, but give up one of these kids... no way. At one time, we had three children in diapers. I thought that was as bad as it could ever get. I was wrong. Teen years have diaper years trumped... especially with Adopted children who seem to struggle so much harder than other teens. My kids never really understood why they came to be adopted until their teen years. My standard answer, "Your Mom/B-mom could not take care of you", sufficed until the teen years. Then they want to know the reasons she could not take care of them and they started understanding that she made choices not to take care of them... and the feelings of not being good enough for her to want to make better choices hit... and it just flies out of control almost before we parents realize how bad it is....

I have some great pics from those first days as parents and will post them as soon as I get a new scanner. Meanwhile, here is one from about 7 years ago.... the funniest story about this picture.... My mother had it in a pretty frame in her house. When we brought Boo home from Vietnam, at 4.5 months of age, she quickly learned to crawl. My parents watched her 4 hours a day while I worked part time. Boo would crawl to this pic, lay it on the floor, sit on it and bounce. Then she would get off it, and stare at it, then cry and repeat the same act over and over. It took us a while, then we realized, she was trying to bounce herself into the picture. My Mom cut her body out of another pic and taped it so it appeared she was on my lap. The next day, Boo puts the pic on the floor, sits on it and bounces a while, gets off, looks at the picture and bursts into laughter, clapping and touching herself in the photo. What a clever girl she was, even at 5 months of age. I made an appt and had all six childrens pic took a few weeks later. Here are both pics.

Remembering becoming a Mom and how wonderful that first night was... been there, done that, plan to keep doing it as long as I live...

Not my problem... not my responsibility...

OK I have really tried to not talk too much about Adoption... and really that is silly considering our family is sooooo about adoption. All six of our children joined our family via Adoption. My mother was adopted. My uncle, her brother, was not adopted and his story of survival is difficult to listen to. He stayed with his b-mom until she died, living off something he called grass soup and begging for bones to throw in the broth. My Grandmother on my Dad's side of the family was abandoned at an orphanage and fostered out to a wealthy family until she turned 12 or 13, and my Grandfather married her and sent her to his sister's until she was old enough to really be his wife. I have so many adopted cousins, it is easy to lose count. My own parents took in two teen children who needed homes, one an orphan, the other, a cousin struggling to make it. So fostering and adopting are ingrained deeply in our family. My sister has adopted from US foster care. One brother adopted a girlfriend's daughter and has raised her since she was 6 months old. She is now 17. Another brother raised a girlfriend's daughter from age 4 until now, at age 19. Even though he never formally adopted her, he raised her. Actually, only one of my 5 siblings (7 if you count the ones my parents took in as teens but did not formally adopt) has not adopted/fostered/or helped raise step children.

So to not talk about adoption.... well that is just silly coming from a family where adoption is just a fact of our lives.

Today I was browsing a yahoo group for Adoptive parents from Vietnam and saw a link to a website featuring waiting children... children with special needs that often prevent them from finding homes and my heart broke.... There was a picture of the little boy I had fallen for 6 years ago, when I brought my own daughter home. He is still waiting for a family. We cannot adopt anymore. Vietnam is about to close to adoptions with the United States. It is time to ask everyone who reads this blog to pray that a good family comes forward for this little boy.

Back in 2002, he was a normal two year old boy. He was a true stinker. He had very light brown hair then... and he touched my heart. I never forgot him. I recognized him right away in his 7 year old picture. His hair is darker, but his face... simply older.

Here is the link to the waiting children and above is a pic of him from 2002. At that time, we begged to be allowed to adopt him. But the director of his orphanage could not believe we did not have evil intents. Why else would we want a child with his Special needs?

http://www.theshepherdscrook.org/asia/southeast.html

I am not sure how the past 6 years have treated him.... I don't know if he is still that normal, happy little boy who laughed and jumped up and down when I arrived at the orphanage each day... and cried when I left.

I can promise, as an adoptive mother of older children, he will have issues beyond his physical special needs. I can promise he will be a challenging child (he had enough spunk as a 2 year old to guarantee that). I can also state, for a fact, that I would not trade any of my challenging, special needs children, for an easy child. My kids just have different normals than the standard family's children. On any given day, 5 of the children are being incredible great, and one is being incredibly horrible. The horrible one varies each day....

The things we deal with are different than the things other families deal with.... but so what. God has proven to me, thru my eldest, that he is in control and it is not my job to mold my child into societies vision of normal... but to love each child, to direct them in a Godly manner, and to trust God, to believe that he knew what he was doing when he created my child, and that God does not agree with societies definition of normal. So what if my child can't pass the 7th grade proficiency test at school.... does God really care? Why do I allow society to make me care? Instead, I have learned to work with my kids, to help them as much as I can, and to accept that maybe they need IEP's in some topics. It doesn't make them failures.... it makes their norm different from some defined normal the schools have developed. And in some cases, I am now homeschooling... Each of my children's needs are different and I will do what I can to help each one.

Adopting has been the most challenging and yet the most rewarding thing I have ever done. I wish I could explain it better.

Some negative things ignorant people have said to me....

1. It is not my job to save all the children in the world - what is saddest, is the people who have said this to me, are tender hearted people... I guess they need to see, first hand, the need, before their hearts are touched to help. Myself, I feel the children of the world had no choice where they were born, or the circumstances of their birth... and that God loves each one dearly, created something divine and wonderful in each child... and sometimes he blesses me by allowing me the means to help a child who needs help, whether by adoption or donation... or simply by spending my time with them.

2. Your children came from bad blood and will always be bad blood... they should be left in orphanages. As strange as this sounds, I do believe my kids inherited some shocking things from their b-families. Things I did not realize were carried in blood. I once foolishly believed we were breaking a cycle with our kids... Now I accept that we are denting the very foundations of the cycles. And as my kids grow, age, mature, the weakness we put into that poor foundation allows it to crumble and my kids rebuild their own foundations, quite a bit stronger than the prior one. So break a cycle... no that is beyond our means... weaken it by constantly pounding away at it... yes. Is that bad blood.... I truly don't know, but I do know my kids have always deserved a good family.... from the moment they were conceived, they deserved a loving family.

3. Kids here need homes, why did you adopt a foreigner (strange because we adopted five children from the US foster care system before going to Vietnam... yet the people who ask this have not adopted any child... from any system... in any country. Obviously I don't put a lot of effort into answering this question unless it is sincerely asked and not attackingly asked).

4. Why didn't you adopt an AA child here, there are thousands who need homes (We tried, but her B-mom wanted her back. We helped the B-mom and our hearts were broken as we did the right thing, and gave her back. This is when we went overseas. At that time, we believed we would get a true orphan who would not have a b-mom wanting her back. Since then we have learned that many Mom's there change their minds too... though often, no one listens... very, very sad. Anyway, I hate being judged for not adopting an AA child. I would have loved any child. I loved my AA baby. I still miss her to this day and wonder how she is doing)

5. You just adopt so you will get attention (Oh please.... the attention I get is phone calls from schools, babysitters who quit after the first week, dental work that never ends - though the orthodontist does give our family a lot of attention... at a very steep cost, and every piece of parenting advice imaginable.... inevitably from parents who have never adopted themselves... the advice I get from other adoptive parents is truly priceless. Truly, if I only wanted attention, I could have bought a cute puppy)

Some of the positives... well just read our back blog entries.... you will find our kids are obviously the joys of our life.

Hopefully someone out there will see this little boys face and think... then believe... I can parent this little boy.... and commit to him. Hopefully someone truly believes he is their problem... and he is their responsibility.... Surely someone will look into those eyes of his and fall in love, as I did six years ago....

It won't be easy at his age.... but truly... aren't the best things in life, the things we work the hardest to acquire.... the things that come easy, we don't appreciate, but those things we work hard for, we cherish....

Speaking out for adoption been there... done that.... promise to do more often

Webkinz... what is up with these stuffed creatures....

What is up with these crazy little stuffed animals? What kind of sick individual created these amazing little part real, part virtual/digital pets?

About 18 months ago, my friend R. told me about Webkinz. Her kids loved them. Once she mentioned the website, which the kids would need to use to play with their virtual pets.... I said a mental no.... I don't like my kids on the web. But as fate would have it, Auntie F. bought Boo one for her fifth birthday. I reluctantly entered the code and our family joined the millions of others around the world who spend more time in webkinz world than they do watching TV!!!!

Over the course of the year, every child acquired a webkinz toy, even our seventeen year old. We now have approx 15. We have three computers and two are always in use with Webkinz.... the third I use for work... and must admit, when I take a break, I often pop over to webkinz world and have a bit of tournament fun myself. There must be more mom's/dad's out there than one would think because some of those Go Fish tournaments are brutal. There is no way a six year old is that brutal. Yes I know I should feel guilty for trying to beat a six year old at Go Fish... but I am serious, these kids/adults are brutal.


About twice a week, Mr. Daddy and I will get on and challenge each other to Atomicalicious. We won't stop. The kids beg for a turn... we can't stop. "One more Game" is our cry.... Now I remember how hard it is to actually take turns.... It is much, much better being the parent. "Do as I say, not as I do". I remember that phrase from my childhood. It was a good phrase... when did we stop using it? Ha... thank you Webkinz for bringing back this childhood phrase. And come on, it really is just one more game...

The people who created the games did an incredible job of pulling games from parent's generation, and altering them to fit today's kids. Kids 4 and up can easily play these games. I mean these are games my husband and I played in our dating days... just re-decorated for today's kids. We love it and our kids are amazed we are so good at them... little do they know how much of our allowance went to video games back in our day.

They hold jobs (Boo currently has earned over 10,000 from her job), they buy food, clothing, build room additions (Boo is up to 15 or so decorated rooms), decorate, cook food, grow gardens (Boo has three big gardens and sells thousands of dollars a week in veggies).


When three of our kids left for Grandma's, I was put in charge of babysitting the virtual webkinz (they took the actual dolls). I do their jobs, their Wheel of Wow's, their Wishing Wells, their Gem hunts, their gardening... feed and play with their pets.



Even our dog is into the webkinz. He thinks they are puppies and tries to bath them and snuggle them... when he is not tossing them in the air and catching them.

Today, as Spanky and I battled each other in Atomicalicious... I wondered, "how did we get here?". I truly don't know.

What I do know is we need another Wacky Wingoz doll so two of us can battle it out in the tournament arena. Right now we only have one!!! We need two. I think we must have two. We also have never gone to that forest place.... We need to go there. We just need to buy something first and get the codes so we can get into the forest... I am not sure what... but I need to find out. Oh and pet of the month... we need to get next months so we can keep getting exclusive items to trade in the trading room.... We only need two more gems for our Crown of Wonder.... we have needed these two for six months!!!! And the academy... we need to get to level five in style so we can win the beauty pageant and get a huge trophy.

Now I know I sound crazy, but it really, truly is this bad. It is so addicting. It has it's good points. The kids learn to work, save, plan ahead, care for a virtual pet... and it seems to be as safe as it can be on the web. Believe me I have hunted around to find out if anyone can get messages to my kids that could hurt them. So far it seems safe. Our kids are learning keyboarding, reading, the quiz corner is full of great info in a game format... so lots of good things.

We even bought webkinz for our friends kids so they can play with our kids online (and I believe all of them have since multiplied). We send gifts to each other, letters, challenge each other to games, Go Fish is so fun in Webkinz world.

I am not sure if these things are really just cute toys. I swear they multiply like mice. If you are already addicted... send me your kids id's and I will set your kids up with mine, or, umph... I mean my kid's id's... maybe we can trade some exclusive items. If you are not already addicted... buy with caution. Once you start, they multiply...fast. Lay's Potato chips have nothing on Webkinz. I tell you, you can't own just one Webkinz!!!

Oh they are cute at first... until you find yourself planning for your next room addition... or shopping at the real mall and find yourself browsing the Webkinz display instead of shoes. Oh it happens... Who needs expensive makeup... there is a webkinz sell at Limited Two. Seriously, there was a great buy one get one free a month or so ago.... yeah I spent too much and added to our collection. Even got the elephant toy of the month... actually got two of them. Went back last week hoping the sale was still going on, or an even better sale!!! Well they had a sale, it was buy 75.00 worth of clothes and get up to four webkinz for 5.99 each.... Blonde now has her school shopping finished... and we have more webkinz. And they had the Wacky Wingoz... but not on sale, boooh.

Does anyone know if there is a 12 step program from Webkinz addicts... both children and adult... I think our family may need one.


Addicted to Webkinz... Been there.... still there... doing that. Anyone find any better sales out there? Seriously, a friend's daughter has to have that dragon for Christmas and no one can find it anywhere.... keep an eye out for me, would you?

when instructing teens be specific... be very specific

A true conversation from this past weekend.

"Teen2, for today's chore, please weed both gardens"

"No, we broke the hoe".

"Yes, I bought a new one".

"I hate that chore, give me another one".

"That is your chore. I realize you hate it. I hate driving kids all over the country but I do it, it is my chore. This is your chore. Please do your chore".

Lots of stomping, complaining, mumbling, but finally the door shuts and he is off to weed.

Literally one minute later, door re-opens and in he comes for bug spray. Poor baby is being devoured.

More stomping, more mumbling, more complaining.... but finally the door closes behind him.

Once again, two minutes pass and in he comes for water.

More stomping, more mumbling, more complaining.... then out the door again.

This time, less than two minutes.... needs a new shirt.

A few minutes more... and he returns for sissors to cut the tag off the new hoe.

A minute more to return them (first time he has returned something to it's proper home in years).

A trip back to return the glass from his water.

Finally his Dad tells him that is it, no returns for 10 minutes.

Ten minutes later, he returns to ask me if he can remove the fencing around the garden so he can weed wack around the entire garden with a fun tool. Much better than hoeing the garden itself.

I replied, "No, the fence is there to keep the turtles out".

Later that night I go out to inspect the garden. The fence is gone, the garden 80% weeded.

I ask him why the fence is removed. He said, "I asked first". I replied, "but I said no". He replied, "No.... you said, 'no the fence is there to keep the turtles out'. You did not say, 'No, you may not take down the fence'. So I took it down".

I guess we all know what his second chore of the day was..... spending 3 hours putting the fence back around the garden....

Scratching my head wondering "Just how specific do I have to be... and when did no start being maybe".

Been there, doing that....

Favorite Foto.....

This is one of my favorite photo's.... check out the eyes on this girl....

Well they asked didn't they?

OK Spanky is in summer school. He has always struggled in school and this year it got the best of him. Next year, I am homeschooling him to make sure he does not get "left behind" by the "no child left behind" policy which forces teachers to stick to a strict schedule, even when kids are obviously struggling... back in our day.... when kids like me graduated unable to spell their name or read a book... the teacher would have paused, re-taught the topic, then moved on when the kids were no longer struggling to understand. OK off that sermon and onto another. We Baptist women are not suppose to preach...

Spanky's summer school is 3 hours a day, 4 days a week and he has about 2-3 hours of homework a night. Last nights was, "Interview five adults, asking them who they are voting for in the next Presidential election and why....".

Now my parents taught me, back before no child left behind of course, to not talk religion or politics, unless you were 100% certain the other person believed as you did... just to avoid arguments. Well I would much rather talk religion with an atheist than politics with anyone. My beliefs are my beliefs and I am pretty sure I would be hard pressed to find another American who believes exactly as I do. But I am an American... so I can have and hold dear to my own political beliefs.

So I was a bit stunned that a teacher would ask, particularly with this election, such a loaded question... and for a poor 13 year old boy...

I got such a kick out of a few of the answers... I thought I would share.

MM - I have not selected a candidate because I do not intend to vote unless a third party candidate joins who truly wants to support people like me, not just feed me the words HE/SHE thinks I want to hear. I don't want a leader to educate me on how I should feel or why I should feel it. I want a leader who is as pro-life as I am. I simply cannot vote for anyone who believes that our most helpless have no rights. I want a leader who is not afraid to utter the word Jesus, live on TV. I want a leader who believes Christmas is not just a holiday, but Christ's birthday and that it is OK for schools to celebrate this holiday, much as they celebrate President's day or Martin Luther Kings birthday. Even if you don't believe he is the world's savior, most people believe he was a man and that his teachings are admirable. For those reasons alone, let there be one day to recognize this man, even if you don't believe he is a man/God. My candidate does not have to be a Christian... just respectful of Christian's rights to exist as much as any other religious person.

DD - No Candidate. I will probably vote McCain because of his pro-life stance and he is the lesser of two evils. But I might not. I might vote for congress/Senate and local issues and leave President blank. I am that torn on giving my vote to someone who I feel does not really represent or care about the working families in our country.

CL - McCain but not happy about it. Simply disliked less than other options.

and my favorite two

GW - Obama - Because he is black and it will finally show the world we have evolved above racism. As far as issues, they are all the same, liars, so one is as good as the other.

MT -Undecided but hopeful a third party candidate will join the race, who is a....
strong conservative
Proven constitutionalists
Flag bearing
gun Toting
Pro Capitalist
Pro border control
Anti abortion
Pro English national and only language
Pro Small Government
Pro Conventional Family
Non Fornicating during business hours
Pro people over spotted owls
Pro Religious freedom, including Christianity
Willing to say God Bless America and In God We Trust
Pro Court Control - elimination of frivolous lawsuits
anti - removing all references to God and Jesus from Public forums
Pro Christmas and Easter
Not ashamed to utter the name Jesus in public
PRO Immigration package - if you don't like it here, feel free to immigrate at will
Open Borders - any who want to leave... we will Open the borders and let you out.


I wonder what the teacher will think when she reads that last one.... I know I cracked up when my son asked me what some of the terms meant... like non-fornicating during business hours... After I explained, he asked, "is that even OK after hours?'. Thank you MK for stimulating another one of those extremely uncomfortable mother/son moments... Thank you Ms. Teacher for such an unusual homework assignment. Nothing friends like better than having their friends sons call them with political questions!!!!

hating homework... been there... did that myself in 7th grade... not enjoying helping kids do it....