At Times My Nation Shocks Me....

I won't go on about politics. I may roll my eyes and shout at the TV but it is getting bad when your Government steps over the line and you just think "Again?".

No, it is when we charge students with attempted murder over a fight that occurred when they felt helpless, hopeless, angry and beaten. I can not believe our country is still turning a blind eye to the racism that still exists. I have heard people say that others are just "too sensitive" that in our day and age these things do not happen. That these black students had to be imagining those nooses hanging from the tree. That the black student that wrestled the GUN away from the white student was the aggressor and couldn't take a joke. This makes me angry. This makes me sad. I wonder how these kids thought it would be ok to make a NOOSE much less hang it for all to see. I wonder how these kids thought it was ok to PULL a gun on another individual. I wonder how these kids learned that it was important to BRAG to people that another student was "whipped by a white man". Parents be careful what you say. Be careful what you do. Be careful what you think. Our kids are watching. We need to change this now. Don't think it isn't happening in your town. Beware. Be kind. Let's change.

Advertisement: Friends Wanted....

You must be over the age of 20 (any word with -ager is still a kid and I already have 5). Having kids will give you insight to my day. Some qualities I'll be looking for....

• You can not argue with me over what song to sing like:

C: Sing me a song!
Me: You want ME to sing a song?
C: NO! SING me a song!
Me: Do you want me to sing ABC song?
C: NO!NO! Just sing me a song Momma!
Me: Fine. Sing Old McDonalds then!
C: Ooo, ok. "Old mcdonalds has a farm..." Ok, I don't like that song I'll sing the ABC...

If you do argue like that my face turns purple and it isn't my best color.

• When you visit and say you are hungry that MUST mean you want something to eat and you do not tell me NO on everything I suggest and then finally tell me what you want is MILKY. Because that means you are THIRSTY not hungry.

• When you are here you must always comment on how nice my house looks even though there is laundry on the couches, dishes not washed in the kitchen and laundry in the hall. You can NEVER ask to go see the upstairs room except for the first visit. After that they are off limits, trust me.

• You must be able to accept the fact that I will ask you if you need to go potty at odd times. It is just a habit and not meant to harm anyone.

• You have to be able to smile at all my kids (there are 5) during all their talking about what they like, dislike, showing you they can stand on their head, while they show you all their stuffed animals and tell you their eating habits. It is what it is. I will probably be smiling proudly (or I'm taking that 20 minute power nap I keep hearing about).

• Don't ask to ride in my van. Always volunteer to drive your own extremely clean van on the occasion we go "grab lunch". It's another "trust me" issue.

Thank you for your time. I now have to go pick up 4 of the 5 kids from school. My quiet time has ended.

It's Only 100 Plus Degrees Outside But...

"Momma, my friends and I are cold. So very cold. Beary says we need a blanket."


And a "Look what I can do" moment. She will add to the "Momma Watch THIS" when she gets those words in working order. For now it is just "GA!"

You Know The World Is Different From When You Were a Kid....

when you have to look up a word on the 1st grade homework sheet. Sigh. I remember Kindergarten and First Grade as a time of play, learning to fill in bubbles, learning to tie my shoes, play, picking up my first book, play. My 6 year old daughters homework instructions for the week are:

• Create an ABBC patterne adn an AABB pattern with any item you have at home.
• Go onto the internet and find a picture of the President of the USA and the Governor of Arizona. Under each picture please write their name.
• Draw three sets of shapes (6 total) that are congruent to one another
• Write 2 sentences about what you would do if you were the President
• Make sure you have earned a total of 50 points for the get 50 activity
• Write 1 sentence about what yiou want to be when you grow up
• Write 2 sentences about something you can't do now that you want to do when you are an adult
• On construction paper cut out 2 triangles, squares and rectangles. Glue and label them onto your paper turned different directions. Do the names of the shapes change?
• Dictate the following sentence to your child: I went up and down the hall. After make sure they remembered to capitalize the first letter in teh sentence, finger spacing and an end mark.
• Have an adult give you a pre-spelling test. Write each misspelled word 3 x's.

Thank goodness I married a math minor AND have the internet since I had to go and look up what congruent meant!

You Know You Are A Mom With Young Children When...

You count the day that 3 kids were in school, 1 was playing a game and 1 was taking her nap as a good day because that was the day you got to use the bathroom with no crying, crawling, checking in on me, asking me a question, hearing the phone ring, saying someone needed to use the bathroom (even though there are 2 MORE bathrooms in this house!) and they liked the bathroom I was in. Ah, the joys of parenting.

During the fun bantering moments of when Jeff and I argue over who had the hardest day, I can usually win with "Did you get to go to the bathroom by yourself today?" Nothing can trump that.

On a side note, the picture of the outhouse up there is so nostalgic because I grew up going to a church that the only bathroom to be had was an outhouse. We had 2 of them in fact. One for the men and one for the women. The poor boys outhouse was the worst and the door was almost gone but it did face the cow pasture so there was some privacy. I became a master at holding it for the 2 1/2 hours on Sunday morning. Ah, small country churches, gotta love them.

Thump, Thump... I Knew It Was Coming....

My mom has heart disease. She has had a triple by-pass, angioplasty, stints, medication. She has had it all and her ticker is still going. She suspects that HER mom had the same problems but not diagnosed. Even my mom was told her symptoms were all in her head, nothing to worry about until she had to be taken for a triple. This all leads up to my Doctors appointment and finding out my bad cholesterol was very bad. I don't just have to drop it a few points, I have to cut it in half plus some. They have also found that you can get a heart imaging for calcium deposits. If deposits show up then that is a high indicator that your heart isn't doing well or won't in the future. I'll update you on that as I go. Off to research heart healthy choices and kiss my bad foods goodbye.

God Blesses Us With Friends....

They come from close at home and at times from far away places. I wanted to show what a far away friend sent me and brought me joy and smiles on a day that smiles were missing (thanks to Silvia learning to pull up and not wanting to sleep ALL DAY LONG... but that is another post).

Thank you Mary. You are wonderful and made my day.