The Ledbetter Ledger

Socialism Explained

2009-04-10T08:47:00.004-06:00

A friend of mine had posted this on his Facebook page and I thought it was a simple, but excellent example of how socialism works. Just something to think about...

An economics professor at Texas Tech said he had never failed a single student before but had, once, failed an entire class. That class had insisted that socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer. The professor then said ok, we will have an experiment in this class on socialism. All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A.

After the first test the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. But, as the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too; so they studied little.. The second test average was a D! No one was happy. When the 3rd test rolled around the average was an F.

The scores never increased as bickering, blame, name calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else. All failed to their great surprise, and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great; but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed. Could not be any simpler than that....

Is America subject to Saudi Arabia now?

2009-04-07T15:03:00.006-06:00

Did anyone see President Obama bowing to the King of Saudi Arabia last week at the G20 summit? I had not seen or heard anything about that until today and I try to read various news outlets daily. I think it was just not publicized much.

What's the problem with this, you ask? For starters, it is not a very presidential thing to do. Obama and the Saudi king are equals. Obama is not his subject. The protocol is for subjects to show respect for their monarchs by bowing and the last time I checked, Obama and America in general, are not a subjects of the Saudi King. I don't know if this was a deliberate thing on the President's part or just an act of ignorance or ill-advised protocol. Either way, it's mildly disturbing to see the President of the United States of America taking a deep bow to the Muslim King of Saudi Arabia. You can see it on this short youtube video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JGK-xbXxMw

3-year-old style

2009-03-25T15:14:00.001-06:00

Just in case you were wondering if it was in vogue to wear 2 hats at once, Landon has given it his seal of approval! According to him "it cool!"

Spring has arrived...

2009-03-09T09:00:00.005-06:00

Every year I think spring is my favorite time of the year. At least until summer gets here and then I know summer is my favorite. At least until fall gets here and then I know that fall is my favorite. At least until winter gets here and then I know that I'd rather have spring, summer or fall, but NO winter!

It has been wondrously warm here the last several days and Bryan and I noticed yesterday evening on the way to church that the Bradford Pear trees had just bloomed seemingly that afternoon! Today after dropping Logan off at school, I took the long way home and snapped pictures of various things in bloom. I don't know what every plant or tree is, but they sure are pretty and a very welcomed sight. Sometimes I think spring must be God's favorite season too when I see all the beautiful colors!

So if you're in a part of the country that has yet to experience the first blooms of spring, hang in there! Spring is comin'!

Classic Coulter

2009-02-28T16:16:00.003-06:00

OK, I realize not all of you are as big a fan of Ann Coulter as I, but this was pretty funny...and (mostly) true.

The Cal Ripkin President, by Ann Coulter

As Obama prepared to deliver his address to Congress on Tuesday, the Republican House Minority Leader John Boehner, Fox News' Bret Baier and Charles Krauthammer all gushed that history was being made as the first African-American president appeared before Congress.

Even Gov. Bobby Jindal, whom I suppose I should note was the first Indian-American to give the Republican response to a president's speech, began with an encomium to the first black president. (Wasn't Bobby great in "Slumdog Millionaire"?)

Are we going to have to hear about this for the next four years? Obama is becoming the Cal Ripken Jr. of presidents, making history every time he suits up for a game. Recently, Obama also became the first African-American president to order a ham sandwich late at night from the White House kitchen! That's going to get old pretty quick.

But as long as the nation is obsessed with historic milestones, is no one going to remark on what a great country it is where a mentally retarded woman can become speaker of the house?

Walking With Dinosaurs

2009-02-03T17:06:00.004-06:00

The big production "Walking With Dinosaurs" came to Tulsa last week and we debated about buying tickets. Logan has loved dinosaurs for a few years now, but his interests are beginning to vary, as they should. Thus we couldn't decided about spending the money to go see it. One evening Logan came racing into the room where Bryan and I were and started telling us breathlessly about the dinosaurs coming to town and then he exclaimed "And they're real!". He had just seen an ad on tv and was so excited we decided we should go. It was hard to get good pictures from our seats, but the dinosaurs really did look real. They were life size and they had some pretty incredible sounding roars! Logan was thrilled and we all had a good time.

I think this is the mom and baby bracchiosauras.

The flying variety. Logan could tell me the names of all these, but he's otherwise engaged at the moment.

The one with a club on his tail! Anklyosauras or something like that.
T-Rex! This one I know because this is Logan's favorite! The roar from this thing was pretty cool!

Logan wanted me to take his picture with the souvenir he picked out.

Iced In!

2009-01-26T16:34:00.006-06:00

Yes, I'm still alive and well. It's a mite chilly for Oklahoma right now. We have over an inch of ice on the ground and we're on our second snow day from school (yes, I started this post a couple days ago, but am just now getting around to finishing it). Wish we could get some snow with that ice! The boys wanted to go play outside yesterday so we got the sled out and tried out the little hill in our backyard. You can go pretty fast on ice, but because the hill is so small, the thrill is short-lived. After a few minutes of sliding and crunching around they came in because they weren't able to make snowballs.

The grass reminded me of sauerkraut.

The ice looked really cool shimmering on the grass the first night. Now I just want it to go away!

Trying out the hill in the backyard. Poor Landon who was on the front, smacked his head on the fence post at the bottom of the hill.

Logan trying the driveway. No luck there either!

Warming up with hot chocolate.

I think Landon was trying to show me his tiny marshmellow!

In other news, I might as well admit that I have joined Facebook and become addicted, thus the neglect of my blog. I do intend to get back on a somewhat regular routine of posting so don't despair! I keep thinking the "new" will wear off of Facebook, but alas it has not. And now, thanks to a friend, I have become a huge fan of WordTwist on Facebook. Talk about a time waster!

This morning as I was working in the office my dear son Landon climbed up on the stepstool in the kitchen and began feeding Fred the Fish. Fred is Logan's betta fish that we've had for over 2 years now. He wasn't looking well the other night so I brought him into the kitchen so I could keep an eye on him over the next few days. He had seemed to be doing better, but I had just not moved the bowl back to Logan's room. As soon as I discovered all the food in Fred's bowl, I began scooping it out as fast as I could. It was then that I noticed that my bottle of Dawn dishsoap was sitting close to the bowl and was nearly empty. Yikes! I quickly ran to get the supplies to change Fred's water, but alas, I fear it may have been too much for him. He is now in a soap free, food free bowl, but he is not moving. I think he has passed on to fish heaven. Now the question becomes, do we find another fish to replace him with and not tell Logan or do we 'fess up and let him have his first experience with death?

Other than Fred, we are all doing well. Landon had pneumonia a couple weeks ago and the little stinker would NOT take his antibiotic so I hauled him into the pediatrician's office for 3 days in a row to get very painful shots in lieu of the medicine. I would have thought after the first round of shots he would have been glad for the medicine, but he was not. Back we went the second and third times. Thankfully he has recovered and the memory of the shots has faded.

I hope all you dear friends have had a wonderful January and that you continue to have a fantastic year. If you don't see me posting here, look for me on Facebook! :-)

Images of Christmas

2008-12-30T19:07:00.008-06:00

December was such a busy month and I didn't get many posts or pictures up so I shall endeavor to do so now all in one post (even though I started this post almost a week ago). These pictures reflect our various activities leading up to and including the Christmas holidays. We had a wonderful Christmas and hope you did as well. Isn't God good?

Logan performed in the Children's Chior Christmas program at church. He did such a great job and we were so proud of him.
Logan's Christmas program at school. Unfortunatley, because of the ice Landon's school Christmas program was cancelled.

We went and rode the Christmas train with Bryan's mom and stepdad. The boys thought that was really cool.
We also got to take a stagecoach ride! Fun!
It was so cold that night! I felt like the abominable snowman dressed in all those layers!

Mom and Dad took us to see Christmas Music Spectacular with the Rockettes and we very much enjoyed it. The boys did exceptionally well with sitting still that long. Logan wants to go again next year!

I was pleasantly surprised that they had a nativity scene. It was very beautifully done.

This is the boys making reindeer food. Logan asked to make it this year so I went online to learn how. Apparently reindeer like oats so we put oats in a bowls and added red and green colored sugar so the reindeer could see it from the air. We then scattered it on the sidewalk out front. The reindeer must have really like it because it was all gone Christmas morning!
My mom with Max. This was Max's first Christmas so it was very fun to watch him get excited.

Reading the Christmas story before opening packages. Landon wasn't too excited about the hold-up!

Max likes to smile for the camera!
Logan showing off his remote control helicopter from Grandma and Grandpa.

Logan is very into music right now (need to check into music lessons of some sort) so Santa brought him a guitar and his Mema and Papa got him a drum set and a toy trumpet. I think he has a great start on a band!

Landon and Papa.

I hope you and your family have a very happy new year!

Go ye into all nations...

2008-12-23T14:03:00.004-06:00

So the day after Christmas my mom will board a plane and fly halfway around the world on a medical missions trip. I just want her to know how proud I am of her and to let everyone else know about her trip. She is going to a place called Puttur, India and she will be doing some vaccinations for children while she is there.

After the terrorist incident in Mumbai last month it makes this whole trip a little scary, but she and the rest of her team are very excited about it and know that God's hand will be on them. Your prayers for her would be much appreciated. She will be in an extremely remote location and will not be able to communicate with us for about 16 days, but they do having a blog set up and will update daily, I am told. If you are interested in reading about her team and her trip, here is the blog site:

http://www.globalnim.blogspot.com/

Godspeed Mom. I love you!

Santa Claus is coming to town...

2008-12-19T19:38:00.005-06:00

Each year for the last 4 years we have gone to the country club for dinner and an evening with Santa. It is so special for the boys because they get some one-on-one time with Santa without feeling rushed. The first year we went, Santa sat down on the back steps with Logan and just talked to him for several minutes. This is one reason he has probably never been afraid of Santa. Anyway, this year they had Santa hooked up with a little mic in his ear so he could hear the lady sitting in the corner. When Logan went and sat on his lap he said "Well Logan, hello! I bet you want a guitar for Christmas!" (I had given this information to the lady in the corner). I wish I would have gotten a picture of Logan's face! His face lit up at the wonder that Santa knew his name and already knew what he wanted for Christmas! It was priceless! Here are some pics from that night.

We always invite both sets of grandparents to come along. Here is Bryan's mom and step dad.

My parents with Santa and the boys.

Landon is eyeing the dish of candy canes that is sitting next to Santa. I think he was hoping he would get another one!

Posing by the poinsettias.

The next morning we went and got pictures with Santa at the mall, as is our tradition with my mom.

Brad and Rachel's son Max came as well so we put the cousins together for a picture as well.

Landon Turns 3

2008-12-15T08:33:00.007-06:00

Today is Landon's 3rd birthday. I can't believe my baby is 3! Just in the last couple weeks he has started to act a little more grown up. Because his birthday is in the middle of the week, we had his birthday party last Friday night and the grandparents and aunts and uncles came to help us celebrate. I wish I could say I made his cake, but unfortunately I'm not gifted in the cake-decorating area. On a side note, as we were getting ready for the party Logan was talking to Landon and telling him he wasn't going to be 2 anymore, but 3. Then he looked at me and said in a very serious tone, "Now I won't have to deal with a two-year-old anymore."

He got way too many gift - I may start limiting the grandparents to one gift only!

Bryan's dad and step mom weren't able to make it to his party so they stopped by the night before and brought his gift and a little birthday cake.

This was such a cute little cake, but you have to notice the two little finger swipes on the edges! They happened so fast - probably when I went to get the knife to cut it! The night of the party I actually carried his cake around with me when I went to a different room because he had seen the cake already and I knew that he would try to get into it and cut big swaths through the icing!

Here are a couple of my favorite pictures from when he was a baby.

Happy Birthday Landon! We love you so much!

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree...

2008-12-14T16:17:00.005-06:00

how thy needles are shedding everywhere!

Yes, we put up a real Christmas tree this year. Last year our artificial one looked so ratty after Christmas we just hauled it right to the curb. This year we went to the Christmas Tree Farm before Thanksgiving to look around. It was a beautiful day and such a fun experience.

Of course I had to take advantage of the cute props they had available for pictures!

The tree sat in the garage in some water until a week after Thanksgiving. Decorating the tree is such a fun time because the boys love it so much. I have always had white lights on the tree with coordinating burgundy and gold decorations, but Logan always complained that it was too boring. In years past I've allowed a conglomerate of decorations and this year, since we had to string the lights all over again, I relented and got the colored lights. I have to admit it looks very festive.

Here are Bryan and Logan after bringing the tree in.

The boys got their safety scissors and helped cut the netting off around the tree.

Bryan and Logan working on the outside decorations.

A Five-Year Old's Sense of Humor...

2008-12-10T15:43:00.002-06:00

Logan got in the car today after school and started telling knock-knock jokes. He loves these jokes and regularly makes up his own versions. They don't have to make sense to me, because they make complete sense to him. Today's version went something like this:

Logan: Knock-Knock.
Me: Who's there?
Logan: Ghost.
Me: Ghost who?
Logan: Ghost Skeleton!

At which point he begins howling with laughter. I play along and act like it's the funniest joke I've heard in a long time. But then he starts again.

Logan: Knock-Knock.
Me: Who's there?
Logan: Ghost.
Me: Ghost who?
Logan: Ghost poop!

Again the raucous laughter, only this time Landon chimes in as well because Logan has used the word "poop". We have descended into the toilet more quickly this time. Usually by about the 3rd or 4th iteration of the joke "pee" or "poop" is part of the equation. I just laugh and thank God for my lively little boys who are ALL boy!

I think the next thing that was at the door was a skeleton in a toilet that had both pee and poop on him! That one really brought the house down in the backseat!

Something else Bush got wrong...

2008-12-09T12:40:00.006-06:00

Now to preface this, I'm not a Bush-hater like so many people I've run across. In fact, my husband thinks I defend him and the decisions he's made way too much. However, I ran across this article this morning, thanks to my mom, and was very disappointed in some of his answers regarding religion. In an interview with an ABC Nightline reporter, he was asked if he believed the Bible was literally true.

"You know. Probably not. ... No, I'm not a literalist, but I think you can learn a lot from it, but I do think that the New Testament for example is ... has got ... You know, the important lesson is 'God sent a son,"' Bush said.

The article, which you can find here also goes on to say that Bush believes he and others of different religious beliefs pray to the same God.

"I do believe there is an almighty that is broad and big enough and loving enough that can encompass a lot of people," Bush said.

Hmm, so does he believe those hijackers were referring to his God as they screamed "Allah is great" as they slammed into that field in Pennsylvania?

A couple things overheard this week

2008-12-08T16:39:00.003-06:00

Kids say the funniest things sometimes and this week my boys were no exception. I like to write these down so I will remember them and can include them in their scrapbooks that I continue to fall behind on.

"I love it that I am so incredible." Logan comments after figuring out a clever way to play with a toy.

"I busy." Landon says when I ask him why he is just sitting there and not participating with the rest of his class at the Little Gym. (I had to wonder what exactly he was busy doing!)

Another Blessing!

2008-12-02T18:39:00.002-06:00

We can all be thankful for this!

Rosie O'Donnell Dropped After One Show
Reuters, Tuesday, December 2, 2008 8:36 AM

A mere 5 million viewers tuned in Friday for the 8 p.m. bow of Rosie O'Donnell's variety show, "Rosie Live," on NBC. The show has been dropped from the network's schedule.
Among those making appearances on the hourlong program - conceived as a throwback to such series as "The Carol Burnett Show" - were Alanis Morissette, Alec Baldwin, Clay Aiken, Ne-Yo and Liza Minnelli. It earned a 1.2 preliminary rating among adults 18-49.
During the weekend, O'Donnell, a former cohost of "The View," wrote on her blog that the low ratings and bad reviews meant that NBC would not pick up the series.

Grandparents Day at School

2008-11-25T16:20:00.004-06:00

Today was Grandparents Day at Logan's school and Logan had been looking forward to this for a long time. We are so blessed to have all of their grandparents in relatively close proximity to us. They were nice enough to videotape the little program the kids put on for them so Bryan and I could see it. Here is Logan with my parents and Bryan's mom and stepdad.

Logan made his Indian vest, necklace and headdress and was quite excited as we was telling me about the pilgrims journey on the Mayflower. When he finished telling me about the pilgrims rough journey and how some of them died on the crossing he looked at me with very serious eyes and said "That's a real story." I guess as opposed to a fairytale. I thought it was so cute. Anyway, here are a few more pictures from today.

Here is Logan with his teacher.

Logan with 2 of his friends.

Here they are performing their program. Some are dressed like pilgrims, but the majority wanted to dress in the more colorful Indian costume.

Smile!

Showing his Mema a puzzle.

They learn so young...

2008-11-11T11:51:00.003-06:00

The other day I was talking to Landon about how in another month he will be turning from two years old to three years old. I told him we would have a birthday party for him and asked him what kind of party he wanted. (I'm thinking, Thomas the Train, Diego, etc.) Without missing a beat he spread his arms wide open and said "Big party". I guess next time I'll have to be a little clearer in the questions I ask!

Election Day & Anniversary

2008-11-04T11:14:00.005-06:00

Well, today is our 8th wedding anniversary. Guess what we'll be doing tonight? Watching election results! Poor Bryan, I think he knew there was no way we were going out tonight because I need to be in front of the TV. I think we're going to postpone our dinner date for another night. I have included the obligatory wedding photo - I can't believe we ever looked that young! I told Bryan this morning that I am so glad I married him. Life has never been dull in those 8 years and it's wonderful being married to your best friend.

Eight years ago we were on our honeymoon in Antigua on election day. Since there were no TV's in the rooms several of us Americans gathered in the lounge to watch the election results (Bryan and I had voted absentee before we left). When it got really late we decided to check back in the morning. We couldn't believe they still didn't have a winner in the morning. It was so bizarre to be watching the Florida debacle from a distance. I do hope we don't have a repeat of that or anything remotely like that tonight!

So I've cast my ballot and I'm proudly wearing my "I voted" sticker. I waited in line to vote for 30 minutes which is unprecedented. The older lady in line behind me had never seen any line at that polling place in any previous election. The line never got shorter and the polling workers said people were lined up this morning when they opened. I saw other polling places with lines around the building. I am hopeful that this is a good sign for conservatives. I do believe people who don't usually vote are getting out to do so this year. Keep the faith people! And go vote!!

Happy Halloween

2008-11-04T11:01:00.004-06:00

I know these pictures are a bit late being posted, but I have been somewhat tied up with the election news and all. Now that I have cast my ballot, there is nothing to do but wait and watch.

So here are my little munchkins on Halloween. Logan was into being scary this year so he chose the alien costume. Landon never would chose anything, but I knew he would want to dress up when Logan did so I chose the Spiderman costume for him. It was such a warm evening, we couldn't have asked for better weather. The next-door neighbors grilled hotdogs for all out in their driveway so we had a nice time visiting with all our neighbors. The grandparents came and took the boys trick-or-treating. They got way more candy than they should eat in a year (notice I said "should" and not "could").

The night before Halloween we got the pumpkin out to carve. I had bought one of those kits with the designs to help you carve and I had picked out a nice cute smiling jack-o-lantern face that was fairly easy. Logan decided that it just wasn't "scary" enough so we compromised on this pirate - looking skull and crossbones.

Logan actually did help clean the guts out of the pumpkin. Landon wanted to help so he ran to the utensil drawer and got the tongs. I think he grabbed some strings from inside so he did make a contribution to the whole gutting process.

Pumpkin Patch & Patches of Pumpkins

2008-10-30T11:46:00.005-06:00

It has been a couple weeks since our first trip to the pumpkin patch this year, but I have been so wrapped up with the political news, junkie that I am, that I have failed to post pictures for your viewing pleasure. The day we went as a family, the weather was beautiful. Last week Logan went again with his class and it was much colder. The cold weather makes it seem more like fall, but I much prefer the warmer weather. And now to the pictures.

These were some funky looking pumpkins but made nice stools to sit on.

The petting zoo is always a favorite attraction.

Enough pictures already, Mom!

This was from Logan's field trip. They got to go on a hayride, feed the animls, go through the dark maze house and pick out a pumpkin to paint back at school.

Now, I know this picture has nothing to do with the Pumpkin Patch, but we were able to spend Sunday afternoon with my brother and his family and this is a great picture of my nephew, Max.

Halloween Politics

2008-10-24T12:23:00.003-06:00

I got this from a friend and just had to post it for the edification of all. Enjoy!

What do you know, McCain can be funny!

2008-10-21T15:37:00.002-06:00

Ok, I never saw this on the news anywhere, but I found the transcripts of the speech McCain gave at the Alfred E. Smith Benefit Dinner last week. This is a Catholic Charities Foundation dinner and a huge number of the press attend every year as did McCain and Obama this year. McCain's speech had me cracking up! Supposedly his speech was written by Matt Scully who is the same guy who wrote Sarah Palin's speech for the RNC. Why isn't he writing more of their stuff? This is great!

McCain: This campaign needed the common touch of a working man. (laughter) After all, it began so long ago with the heralded arrival of a man known to Open Line Friday as "The One." (laughter) Being a friend and colleague of Barack, I just called him "That One." (applause) Friends, he didn't mind at all. In fact, he even has a pet name for me: "George Bush." (applause)

Even in this room full of proud Manhattan Democrats, I can't shake that feeling that some people here are pulling for me. (applause) I'm delighted to see you here tonight, Hillary. (raucous laughter) Where's Bill, by the way? Can't he take one night off from his tireless quest to make the man who defeated his wife the next president? Larry King asked President Clinton couple weeks ago, what was delay and why wasn't he out there on the trail for Barack. Bill said his hands were tied until the end of the Jewish high holidays. (laughter) I just know Bill would like to be out there now stomping for Barack until the last hour of the last day. Unfortunately, he is constrained by his respect for any voters who might be observing the Zoroastrian New Year. (laughter)

We all know that Senator Obama is ready for any contingency, even the possibility of a sudden and dramatic market rebound. I'm told that at the first sign of recovery, he will suspend his campaign and fly immediately to Washington to address this crisis. (laughter and applause)

My old friend and greenroom pal Chris Matthews. He used to like me, but he found somebody new. (laughter) Somebody who opened his eyes, somebody who gave him a thrill up his leg (laughter), and we've talked about it. I told him, "Maverick I can do, but Messiah is above my pay grade." (laughter)

My opponent is an impressive fellow in many ways. Political opponents can have a little trouble seeing the best in each other. But I've had a few glimpses of this man at his best, and I admire his great skill, energy, and determination. It's not for nothing that he's inspired so many folks in his own party and beyond. Senator Obama talks about making history, and he's made quite a bit of it already. I can't wish my opponent luck, but I do wish him well. (applause)

Another of Obama's radical views

2008-10-11T08:31:00.004-06:00

PM from Proud Member of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy had a post recently that really got to me and I wanted to share it. The video is just over 8 minutes, but well worth watching. Here it is...

Defend Yourself

(I apologize for the low res, it was the best copy I could find)

Apparently there are Christians complaining that they are being “judged” by other “intolerant Christians” for supporting Obama. They think it’s unfair and unloving that they should be forced to defend their choice.
Well, based on this one issue alone, I’d like for any Christian supporting Obama to defend their choice to me. That’s what grown-ups do.

Obama not only opposed a bill that would make this particular form of infanticide illegal, but he then lied to cover it up by accusing others of lying about his stance. The record shows he either voted ‘no’ or ‘present’ (which counts as a ‘no’ vote) on the finalized versions of both forms of this bill.

This isn’t a “women’s rights” issue, since this specific bill does nothing to affect the rights of the mother. It only applies to babies after an abortion has been performed, and presumes the abortion procedure as having been done. It does not restrict or modify abortion or abortion procedures for a child still in the womb.

You can’t say “but he’s not someone else.” And saying “but he supports this other thing” or “he’s against this other thing” has nothing to do with this particular issue. You as a Christian should be able to justify supporting this man who took an aggressively anti-life stance without bringing up the war in Iraq or the housing “crisis” or tax burden/relief or anything else.
This isn’t like debating economic policy in which different people support different strategies and procedures. This isn’t a morally-neutral gray area. This is a moral issue, plain and simple.

If we as Christians are supposed to use Scripture as our moral compass, than explain to me how you as a Christian feel Scripturally justified to say that this man deserves your support.

I'd vote for him, what about you?

2008-10-10T13:35:00.005-06:00

Rocker Ted Nugent: What I'd Do as President

Friday, October 10, 2008

Rocker Ted Nugent pulls no punches on what he'd do as president to those on welfare in America: deport them.

The Michigan rocker and avid hunter espouses his views on the state of the nation in his new book, "Ted, White and Blue: The Nugent Manifesto" (Regnery, $27.95), in which he outlines his plans for America if he were to win the nation's highest office.

"Able-bodied Americans who refuse to work will be sent to Cuba, Mexico, England and France," Nugent says according to the New York Post's Page Six, which reports the Nuge would eliminate welfare in a "Cat Scratch Fever" administration.

"[I'd] instruct the U.S. military warriors to do their job — win the global war on terror right now and eliminate all threats from all sources by any means necessary," he writes in an excerpt printed by Page Six.

Nugent's plan to run the country includes ending dues payments to the United Nations and taking "appropriate gas and oil from Mexico and the Middle East as payment for all debts we are owed by them."

Also on the chopping block: diplomatic immunity and taxpayer health care for those elected to office.

The Doctor Will See You Now

2008-10-08T17:15:00.003-06:00

Bryan had a photo shoot for all the promotional items the clinic puts together for him to help him build his practice. Here are a few of my favorites. I think he makes a very handsome doctor and I am very proud of him!

Catchin' Up

2008-10-07T11:50:00.007-06:00

Whew! What a busy few weeks we've had. October is usually a very busy month for us, but September seemed to be challenging October's place!

Here are a few pictures of what we've been up to.

Holland Hall had a picnic before the football game a couple weeks ago. The boys had a great time playing with friends and playing some of the little carnival games they had set up. Here is Landon trying to toss the ball through the hole.

Tattoos are always a big hit with my boys - especially when given by pretty cheerleaders!

All of the primary school got out on the football field before the game and sang "You're a Grand Ole' Flag", which they had practiced all week. It was very cute.

During the football game Logan had fun playing with his buddies. They kind of got their own little football game going on the sidelines. Logan is in the red shorts and if you look, it looks like he's being a bit bossy!

Finally worn out!

Logan's class had been studying the farm and life on a farm. During the Tulsa State Fair the class took a field trip there to see all the farm animals and to go through a few exhibits they had set up for kids about a farm. Bryan and I both went on the field trip with them.

Here is Logan with some of his buddies. They were feeding the animals in the petting zoo. This was a big hit.

Logan is into posing for pictures these days, so I take a lot. I definitely take more than I need, but then I get great pictures like this one so I decide it's a good thing to take lots of pictures!

After the field trip we stayed at the fair to ride some rides and eat that yummy (but unhealthy) fair food! Here is Bryan and Logan on one of his favorite rides - The Sky Ride.

My parents brought Landon to the fair that evening and Landon greatly enjoyed riding with Logan.

No trip to the fair would be complete without playing those silly games where you win stuffed animals. This game promised a win every time you played so we played and they got to pick their prize. That salamander was almost as tall as Landon! Guess who carried that around the rest of the night??

This past weekend we took the boys to Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO. It is becoming an annual fall tradition and the boys really love it. I'm not that crazy about Branson at all but Silver Dollar City is a great family place and Branson does have some cool outlet shopping! The weather on Saturday was perfect for our visit to SDC. Here are some pictures of our visit.

Lately, Logan has been putting his arm around Landon for pictures without being prompted to do so. I love it!

They look too happy to be prisoners!

This is one of Logan's favorite rides, The Lost River of the Ozarks. Whenever you ride it you get totally soaked all the way down to your underwear! Logan and Bryan rode it right before we left and actually fared pretty well with the drenching this year.

There are so few pictures of me with the boys where we are all looking at the camera so I especially liked this one.

Silver Dollar City has some amazing decorations for fall. This was just one. The boys got tired of posing after awhile so I had to just give up trying to get the "perfect" picture.

Here's a shout-out to Howard and Jeanne Malaby. We ran into them unexpectedly and was quite fun to catch up a bit. Their family used to live in Tulsa 23 years ago and their daughter Martha and I reconnected just recently via blogworld. Anyway, one of their hobbies is basket weaving and they were there at a booth displaying some of their hand made baskets - very cool. They were even dressed in the traditional garb of Silver Dollar City.

Here is Landon sitting at a desk in a replica of an old one-room school house. We told the boys that this was the type of school Great-Grandma attended when she was little. They had fun drawing on the slate boards at the desks.

This has been a nice quiet week so far. This Friday and next Monday Logan is on fall break so no doubt we will find something fun to do.

When life hands you apples, make applesauce!

2008-09-27T08:25:00.004-06:00

Sorry about the corny title. I just had to share my excitement about getting homemade applesauce in the freezer. I usually make strawberry jam in May and I didn't get it done this year because of our move. I was really feeling the need to get something in the freezer before winter. Maybe it's a hibernating instinct!

My mom had been making applesauce and hers is so delicious, so when she gave me a bunch of apples, I decided to try it too. It's really pretty easy and it turned out great! The thing about making your own applesauce is that you can make it as sweet as you want so naturally, I was generous with the sugar! Yum!

Wash and core

Cook

Cook some more

Mash till all that's left is skin

Add sugar to taste and cook till hot

Enjoy!

She's Gone Country!

2008-09-24T06:16:00.005-06:00

OK, it's not as bad as it sounds! I haven't slipped and begun listening to country music again! This past weekend this city girl packed up sleeping bags, a tent and campfire tools and headed south with hubby and boys. The boys were so excited about this camping trip so naturally I was too. I did rather miss my bed, but 2 nights in a sleeping bag are totally doable when everyone else is getting so much enjoyment from the weekend.

This was our first venture out into the wild with the boys overnight. OK, "wild" is probably a little strong. It was a state park about an hour from here. (Although we did have a night time visit from a skunk and a raccoon, so maybe that somewhat qualifies as the "wild".) We camped right on the lake which was great because we were able to tie up Bryan's canoe right below our campsite. This is our campsite in the early morning with the mist still sitting over the lake.

When we got there Friday evening Logan was just wandering around saying, "I love this, I just love this, man, I love this!" Here are the boys checking things out with Landon throwing rocks into the lake (his favorite pastime).

Saturday morning Logan couldn't wait to get in the canoe and paddle around the lake. He kept asking us when we were going. Bryan told him as soon as we got our chores done we would go. Logan said ok and then walked away. About 2 minutes later he came back and asked if he helped with the chores if this would help them get to the canoe faster. I was so proud of him! Here he is helping Bryan gather our firewood for the day.

Finally ready for the canoe ride! I didn't get any pictures of us in the canoe because I was fearful we might tip over with some of those jet skis and speedboats racing around out there so I didn't take my camera.

That afternoon we went on a hike along a path that borders the lake. It was fun, but pretty hot by this time. Unfortunately, it's still too early for the leaves to have changed yet.

My parents drove down for dinner Saturday night and enjoyed sitting around the campfire with the boys. Bryan took the boys fishing after dinner. They did catch a few little perch, but we had already eaten dinner so they tossed them back.

Sunday morning I did not want to get out of my warm sleeping bag! Bryan got up early and got breakfast started. We opted to cook over the campfire instead of buying a camping stove. It was definitely interesting. Not sure that I'd recommend it.

Eatin' breakfast.

It was a fun weekend and one that I'm sure will be repeated again and again as the boys grow up.

Binkie-free zone

2008-09-17T09:04:00.004-06:00

We're living in a binkie-free zone these days! Landon sure loved his binkie! Before this summer we had him only taking it at night or at naptime. Then this summer with the move, doing away with his nap, and the trips we took, it just became easy to give him his binkie when he got fussy. Bad mistake. It became such a problem and his speech development had slowed way down. So, this past weekend I summoned up the courage and hid them from him. The first night was a little rough. We went and looked in all the usual places for them so he could see that they were "lost". I was hoping that I had got them all and that he wouldn't miraculously pull one out of a drawer I had forgotten about! It was a rough few days, but we've been without them for 6 full days and 5 nights so I think we're going to make it! He has been jabbering up a storm so that is encouraging as well.

Logan never did take to the binkie much, so I didn't realize just how addicting those silly things can be. The funny thing was that he got quite attached to the Avent brand so when I tried early on to replace one I'd lost with a cheapy one at Wal-Mart he didn't want any part of it. I called him my "binkie-snob"! I decided to take a look back at all the pictures I got of him with his binkie - some because it was cute and some because he didn't want to give it up for me to take the picture!

Political Joke of the Day

2008-09-09T11:15:00.000-06:00

An email from Ireland to all of their brethren in the States

"We, in Ireland , can't figure out why you people are even bothering to hold an election in the United States .

On one side, you had a pants wearing female lawyer, married to another lawyer who can't seem to keep his pants on, who just lost a long and heated primary against a lawyer, who goes to the wrong church, who is married to yet another lawyer, who doesn't even like the country her husband wants to run for president in!

Now...On the other side, you have a nice old war hero whose name starts with the appropriate 'Mc' terminology, married to a good looking younger woman who owns a beer distributorship !

What in God's name are ya lads thinkin over in the colonies !!"

Where have all the flags gone?

2008-09-06T10:18:00.010-06:00

Several bloggers are reporting on the American flags in the trash at the DNC. See pictures below.

The Denverpost.com is posting a story about the unused American flags being left behind in garbage bags. See post below

Republican Recycling
by David Harsanyi on September 6, 2008

This morning, Republicans tell me that a worker at Invesco Field in Denver saved thousands of unused flags from the Democratic National Convention that were headed for the garbage. Guerrilla campaigning. They will use these flags at their own event today in Colorado Springs with John McCain and Sarah Palin.

Before McCain speaks today, veterans will haul these garbage bags filled with flags out onto the stage — with dramatic effect, no doubt — and tell the story.

“What you see in the picture I sent you is less than half of total flags,” a Republican official emailed. “We estimate the total number to be around 12,000 small flags and one full size 3×5 flag.”

I’m not sure what the DNC was supposed to do with unused hand-flags, frankly. But the Republicans are obviously questioning someone’s patriotism here.

Redstate.com has posted a video walking through the Convention Hall in Denver and trying to find American flags. They are strangely absent. You really should check out this post. All of this coupled with the fact that Obama has removed the American flag on the outside of his plane has got to make you wonder what the Democrats problem with the flag is.

Start of Preschool

2008-09-04T09:08:00.003-06:00

Landon's first day of preschool was this week. He goes 2 days a week and he is really enjoying it. Unlike everyone else in our family he is a very social creature so this is a great experience for him. He did great on his first day and again this morning he just walked right in and started playing. Several other kids were crying and clinging to their moms and he just looked at them like "What are you thinking? This is gonna be fun!" Here are some pictures of his first day and the day Bryan and I took him to his Open House to get familiar with his teachers and classroom.

I love this last picture. Landon absolutely loves tractors so every time we go to Lowe's he has to climb on them. He starts at one end and gives each tractor down the line a minute or two of testing. It's almost as if he's trying each one out. Very cute.

It begins...

2008-08-30T08:58:00.004-06:00

The last few days have been abuzz with political news. Much to mull over and digest. I was surprised and somewhat disappointed in McCains pick of a VP. (I personally was hoping for a McCain - Romney ticket.) I know many of the conservative pundits are praising Palin to the sky and indeed she does seem like a good conservative candidate - except she's a she. OK, I suppose that probably startled a good many of you right there. I definitely think there is a place for women in government, but I'm not sure the White House is one of those places. Let's face it gals, God wired us differently than men, therefore we tend to be much more in tune with our emotions and act on our emotions than do men. So I'm wondering, would a female president having a bad PMS day take out a small country because someone there criticized her hair style in the morning paper? That may be an extreme example, but my point is, women act much more on emotion than reason and I'm not sure I want an emotionally volatile woman making national security decisions. Now obviously, Palin is the VP candidate and while she may be involved in making decisions, she's not the one that will be making the final decision. That said, I will be supporting the McCain - Palin ticket, if only because the alternative is unpalatable.

Let me be clear. I do not think women have to be barefoot and pregnant and in the kitchen all their lives. I think it's wonderful that Sarah Palin has accomplished so much in her young life. I am merely saying that I won't be joining the throngs of women yelling "Girl Power!" merely because she's a woman. I would love to hear your comments on the matter.

End-of-summer fun

2008-08-30T08:13:00.005-06:00

Last weekend we took the boys to the Kiddie Park located about an hour from Tulsa. For those of you who live around here and have never been to the Kiddie Park in Bartlesville, you really should go. It was first opened back in the 50's or 60's and it's maintained by local civic organizations. It's a very quaint little park that has about 15 rides for small children. The boys just love it and the great thing is that the rides cost only 25 cents (a few cost 50 cents). The boys rode for almost 2 1/2 hours on $8. A couple ice cream cones at the end and we had ourselves a great evening to wrap up the end of summer! Here are some pictures from our visit.

Logan's First Day of School

2008-08-22T09:14:00.002-06:00

Yesterday was Logan's first day of school. He has to wear uniforms this year and I was a little concerned he might balk on that, but thankfully the pants and shorts have "latches" which he thinks are cool so all is well. In reality, the "latches" are hook-n-eye closures. Here he is looking very cute in his new uniform.

Wednesday we attended the Open House. That allows them to visit their new classroom and meet their new teacher. Here he is with Dad cutting out his handprint. We're excited about this school year and think this is going to be a great year of growth!

Mom, You're Taking Too Long!

2008-08-17T09:12:00.004-06:00

This, my dear friends, is what happens when little boys are made to shop too long. I'm quite thankful I was shopping in the home section and not the women's lingerie section!

To the Mountains and Back Again

2008-08-14T13:33:00.019-06:00

Well we've been back from our Wyoming vacation for several days now, but I've been busy catching up on laundry and getting ready for a new school year which starts Thursday for Logan.

I took over 700 pictures while on vacation (thank goodness for digital cameras), but my little point-and-shoot camera just didn't do many of the scenic pictures justice. Next time I go somewhere like that, I want to get a better camera with a telephoto lens.

Without any further excuse, here is a summary of our vacation...

This was the boys first airplane ride and they both loved it! Logan has been flying his imaginary airplane from the couch every day since we returned. When we were going through security leaving out of Tulsa, Logan looked up with his big blue eyes wide and asked me why he had to take his shoes off. Rather than explaining that it's because 3,000 Americans were killed by bad guys on airplanes, I simply said that it was just the rules. The innocence lost on 9/11 will extend to my precious children and what will the world be like when they are my age? The boys excitement of being on the airplane finally allowed me to shake off these feelings and focus on the fun at hand.

Here's Landon and his Papa at the ranch. Upon our arrival, we stayed here a day and a half. The ranch is right outside Cody and Bryan's mom and stepdad bought this several years ago and split their time between Oklahoma and Wyoming. Bryan's sister Christi also lives here with her horses. Bryan's brother and his family were also visiting during the time we were there so I know his mother was thrilled to have all of her family with her.

Logan's first horse ride on Shalom with Aunt Christi.

Panning for gold in the Clark's Fork River across from the ranch. Bryan actually found a tiny piece, but we dropped in when Logan excitedly reached for it! It was upon leaving here and walking back up to the ranch by myself that Bryan told me to make a lot of noise so the bears will know I'm coming and leave me alone. I started to laugh at his exaggeration and then I realized he was being serious - YIKES! I shuffled my feet all the way up that long driveway and sang at the top of my lungs - no doubt the bears (if there were any) were scared away by my rendition of "Oklahoma"!

The boys enjoyed wading in the icy river and making mud structures on it's bank.

Resting in the sun!

After our first day and a half at the ranch, we drove up to the cabin that has been in my father-in-law's family for many years. The cabin is only 45 minutes from Yellowstone National Park so we visited there our first full day at the cabin. This was our first stop in Yellowstone. Visiting the park was my favorite part of the trip.
This is some in our group watching a pack of wolves and a grizzly bear through some scopes that they rented for our day at the park.

Logan and his Mema eating ice cream as we wait for Old Faithful to erupt again.

The boys were so excited about watching Old Faithful. Logan had talked about geysers for weeks, but Landon was simply excited because his big brother was excited! They had front row seats!

Logan said watching Old Faithful was his favorite part of the trip.

Old Faithful. I learned Yellowstone is home to more than 500 active geysers - the most of any one location in the world.

One of the many hot springs. It's amazing that this is just naturally occurring up there. God sure is an incredible artist!

This is Mammouth Hot Springs - I thought it was snow on the ground, but it's actually a mineral deposit - some form of calcium, I think.

One of the many falls. You can kind of see the trees, which are lodgepole pines, lying down on the hillside. We saw much of the remnants of the 1988 fire that burned over 700,000 acres of Yellowstone. Much of it has re-seeded naturally.
It's a bear! While we were in Yellowstone we saw deer, elk, wolves, bison, antelope and grizzly bears. My favorite part of the day was while we were on our way out of the park we came across a 6-mile one-way dirt road that that led back into much of the mountains that you could only see from your car. It was 8:00 at night and we saw a herd of elk and then I spotted a bear. I was so excited because there was no one else around as there usually is on the main road. No one to honk when you slow down and no other cars to contend with. We all bailed out of the car and looked and sure enough, it had that silver neck that means it's a grizzly. He was about 200 yards from us and my silly camera only captured a brown spot down the way, but here he is! This was such a thrill because the other bear we saw was through a scope and he was much further away.

This is overlooking the river that runs behind the cabin. Logan loved to hike and was quite the little trooper.

Logan's Aunt Frankie is quite a hiker and on one of their hikes they saw a coyote. Logan was so thrilled!

On top of the world with his treasure bag!
Playing in Crandell Creek (or Crick, as they say).

Another beautiful view up Crandell Creek.

Bryan loves to fly fish. Between all the fishermen (and woman), we had enough for a fish fry. (see later picture)

My brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Jeff & Frankie preparing to fish.

Exploring.

Hanging out at the cabin.

Logan and Landon with their Mema & Papa.

All 4 of the grandkids were there. Shane & Tajjen are in college and are more like uncles to our boys than cousins.

This is the Bull Shed where we stayed, the smaller and newer of the 2 cabins.

The boys loved watching the chipmunks come right up on the window ledge of the cabin and eat.

Oh the dirt little boys manage to find!

Mountains Pilot and Index in the background.

Some campers had the American flag raised and I couldn't resist snapping a picture of it against the breathtaking scenery. What a beautiful land God has blessed us with!

Again with the patriotic feeling!

Here's the whole family.

The boys were tired of posing by this time in the trip. I guess they'd reached their quota.
Remember the fishing? Here's the result. The trout was very good, I had just never seen it cooked with the head. Bryan was kind enough to de-bone it and take everything away except the essential meat. I tried to get the boys to try some, but neither would. Being the seafood lover that I am (ha), the most we ever have at our house is fish sticks and Logan just couldn't see how this fish was the same as the fish sticks he enjoys at home. I think to him it looked more like Fred the Fish, his Betta fish, than fish sticks!

Here's my father-in-law, the master griller! Robert and Pat fed us so well, I came home heavier than when I went out there.

The last night we were there, we all drove up to Beartooth Pass at dusk to watch the stars come out. Unfortunately, it never cleared off that night, but we had beautiful scenery just the same. When it is clear, you can see the Milky Way and more stars than you could imagine. Bryan even pointed out one of the planets that was visible - I think it was Mars.

Logan was thrilled to stop and play for a few minutes at the "glacier". We told him this was more a spot of snow that hadn't melted than a glacier, but he was determined that it was a glacier! Why argue with a 5-year-old's imagination?
This has been a very lengthy post with all the pictures and it's taken me 5 days to finish, but I wanted to convey, not just to you, but to Bryan's family just how much fun we had. Thank you all so much for making the trip a wonderful experience!

Messner Family Reunion

2008-07-30T22:02:00.009-06:00

Last weekend was spent in Nashville, TN with the Messner side of the family which was my dad's siblings and my first cousins and our offspring. There were about 25 of us and it was great fun. We missed Stephanie's husband, Shan and Angela's husband and boys, Ryan, Noah and Aaron - hope you guys can make it next time! We stayed in condos across from the Opryland Hotel (that is a gorgeous place and a must see if you are ever in Nashville). I think this is the first time all of we first cousins were together in many years. Thanks mom and dad for provided the condos for us!

Logan was thrilled to play with his little cousins and was very sad when we had to leave. Here are a few pictures of the event. Thanks to Stephanie, we have a group photo. If you live near Akron, OH and need a wedding photographer, she's your girl! You can check her out through the link on the side of this blog entitled "The Photojournalists Soapbox".

The whole mess of us.

My Dad, his brother Fred and sister Bonnie.

First cousins Brad, Chris, Robert, me, Angela & Stephanie.
The offspring - this was the best we could hope to get!
Brad & Rachel w/ Baby Max

Bryan & I at the Opryland Hotel (this is inside!)

Can you tell how thrilled they were to stop and take pictures??

There is a river that runs through part of the hotel and you can take a boat ride on it. Much to the boys disappointment, we didn't do the boat because of the 30 minute wait.

More inside the Opryland Hotel - I kindof liked this place!

The gardens inside were gorgeous and little cafes and bistros were set among them.

We stopped and ate lunch at an Italian deli.

We also took the boys to the Adventure Science Museum. This was really cool even though it was extremely crowded.

Logan and his cousin Ian working with one of the hands-on exhibits.

I am finally caught up on laundry which is a good thing since we just decided we're going to fly to Wyoming Sunday! Bryan's family has a ranch outside Cody and a cabin in the mountains so we are planning on spending time with family up there. I am really looking forward to visiting Yellowstone while we're there. It will be nice to leave 100 degree temps behind and enjoy 70's and 80's for a week! The other night almost had me believing in global warming - at 10:15pm it was still 93 degrees with a heat index of 97 degrees! Good grief!

God is good!

2008-07-24T06:14:00.003-06:00

Just a quick post before we head out to Nashville today to a Messner Family reunion. We sold our house that we just moved out of last month and just closed on it this week! This is a miracle because no houses in that neighborhood have moved in maybe a year except a couple that have gone back to the bank and then the price is slashed to a ridiculous amount. It was definitely God, because while our house was on the market for 7 months, we never once had to make double house payments. The buyer came along in July and wanted to close before the end of the month so we don't have to make that house payment in August when our first payment on our current house is due! Is God not awesome?

We've been having so much fun with Bryan being off. We've been going swimming, catching crawdads and salamanders (boys, not me!), visiting family and even went to the Porter Peach Festival last weekend. Here are just a few pictures of what we've been up to. I'll have lots more pictures next week when we return from Nashville. Hope everyone is having a fantastic summer!

Eating popsicles with Jacob

Playing at the splash park

Landon was copying me sunbathing at the pool - so funny!

Looking for salamanders and crawdads in the creek.

Riding rides at the Porter Peach Festival.

A Night Seven Years in the Making...

2008-07-10T07:08:00.004-06:00

I caught your attention with the title and you're curious now, aren't you? Well, tomorrow is Bryan's last day of residency and we will close the chapter on 7 years of hard work. It's kind of funny because this event has seemed somewhat anti-climatic. When he finished medical school after 4 years we had a big party and invited close to 100 people to the house and had a catered lunch and a big cake. Now that he's is finally done with all his training and is to start his practice we're just kind of exhausted and glad it's done.

Three weeks ago the residency program held a "graduation" for the residents finishing up their training and unfortunately I really have no pictures from it except a couple that my mother-in-law took. The evening consisted of a dinner and then presenting each of the residents individually. Before dinner, after we were all sitting at the table (Bryan's parents and my parents were both there with our boys) Bryan surprised me by making a little speech about how he couldn't have made it through this whole process without our families and he thanked them for their support. He then said he needed to especially thank one person who had been there through everything and he pulled out this beautifully wrapped jewelry box and of course I started crying! He had bought me these beautiful diamond and pearl earrings. You can't see the earrings well in the pictures, but trust me, they're gorgeous! He also told me he was taking me to see "Phantom of the Opera" which I had been hinting that I would love to go see!

So fast-forward to last night. Our tickets were for last nights performance so we left the boys with Mema and went to dinner at our favorite restaurant, The Polo Grill. Now let me preface this by saying we both believe in couples leaving the kids behind and having regular date nights, however we have not been able to do this, except on rare occasions, for the last 7 years! Last nights date felt like we were on the cusp of a whole new adventure and I guess we are. We've both felt that our lives have been on hold for 7 years as much as we've tried to not let med school and residency interfere with the things we do as a family, it inevitably has.

So back to dinner. We had such a great time relaxing, eating, talking and we were almost late for the performance! I contemplated taking a picture for the blog, but didn't do it. The web picture above will have to suffice. We started out with some Roasted Garlic Cheese Bread and Lime Glazed Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp. Yum! I had the Tomato Bisque soup which was divine and Bryan had a Crab and Lobster Bisque. I'm such a sucker for filets whenever we go anywhere nice and last night was no different. I had the Filet of Beef Tenderloin with Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes and Asparagus. Bryan had Roast Stuffed French Breast of Chicken with Mixed Greens, Basil, Goat Cheese and Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes and White Truffle Oil. I like to think of myself as a connoisseur of mashed potatoes and I have to say that those mashed potatoes last night were, hands down, the best I have ever had. Unfortunately, we didn't have time for dessert because their Baked Fudge is to die for! So have I made you really hungry?

The performance of Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Phantom of the Opera" was incredible. I had seen it about 12 years ago, but loved the chance to see it again, especially with Bryan who had never seen it. The costumes were beautiful and the many sets and the way they moved them around constantly was amazing! Of course the music was wonderful as well. The production only comes to Tulsa about once every 10 to 15 years so a HUGE thank you to Bryan for taking me!

To close this post I just want to say how proud I am of Bryan and what he's accomplished. To go back to medical school at 39 is a little daunting, but his dream was to be a doctor and he persevered to the end and made it come true. He is not just a doctor, but a great doctor. He gets requests all the time from patients wanting to transfer to him as their primary care doctor after they've seen him just once. The way he cares about his patients is evident and I have no doubt he will build a very successful practice. Bryan, here's to you and the NEXT 7 years and beyond!

Our July 4th, 2008

2008-07-05T19:32:00.013-06:00

The 4th of July. The mere mention of this holiday brings to mind watermelon, picnics, firecrackers, and family. All fun stuff and all stuff we experienced yesterday. In fact, it was such a full day that I didn't even get on the computer once - now that almost never happens in a day! I've got tons of pictures from our fun day so rather than describing in detail our adventures, I will post a picture diary of the day.

This pictures is actually from the day before. We bought little poppers you throw on the ground without lighting for the boys to play with early.
The patio and the grass around it were completely littered with those little white pop-its, but the boys loved them and began to anticipate the fireworks even more.

Bryan lit those little black pellets called "snakes" that grow as they burn so that they are supposed to look like a snake when they are done.

Now is "snake" really the first thing that comes to mind when you see them?? Needless to say, the boys LOVED these.

We made it to Grandma & Grandpa's for a lunch cook-out. Notice all the grandsons sporting matching holiday visors.

Grandpa and Max

This is the beautiful cake my sister-in-law, Rachel, always makes for the 4th. I didn't get the picture before she cut it and for some reason it won't upload the picture oriented correctly, but you get the idea. Very festive.

Landon helps Grandma mix up the homemade ice-cream.

Then he helps Grandpa put ice and salt in the freezer. He is totally not understanding why his ice-cream is taking so long to make!

Finally, it's time for firecrackers. We're still within the city limits at Grandma's house so we're still doing the tame stuff, like tanks...
and smoke bombs. (Don't ask about the cowboy boots. When a 5-year-old insists on wearing them into the 95 degree heat, sometimes it's better to let him discover the folly of such a notion on his own!)

The spectators.

The pyro-technicians.

The street blockade.

By late afternoon we headed out to Bryan's Grandma's house because she lives in the country and you can legally shoot the big fireworks off outside the city limits. Bryan stopped at EVERY firework stand between my parents house and Grandma's house (I lost track at 6). However, when he was done, he had assembled quite a selection!

Another picnic and more homemade ice-cream. Hmm, I see a pattern developing!

Ah, Bryan and his brother Jeff. Now, don't they just look like they're up to something? I should have known when I snapped this picture!

A roll of 1,000 firecrackers (not the pretty stuff mind you, but the LOUD stuff) lit off 10 feet from where everyone is standing around minding their own business. Here the guilty parties are attempting to pick up the debris and remove the debris from the hood of our minivan!

Landon just might compete in the long jump one day. He leapt across the patio when the firecrackers went off and landed in his Mema's lap!

This homemade orange sherbet is the BEST sherbet you will ever eat. My mother-in-law makes it every 4th.

Patiently waiting for the cake to be cut!

I wish I would have had my video camera for this one. The boys, mainly Logan, sang "Happy Birthday, America" before they blew out the candles. It was so sweet!

Finally! It's time to blow out the candles and cut the cake. I think Landon had actually taken a finger swipe at the icing by this time.

Bryan with his mom and step-dad, Robert. Robert surprised the boys (and us) by flying in from their ranch in WY where he'd been in the midst of hay season.

Me and the Mr.

Prepping for the firework display.

Logan, who does NOT like loud noises told us that "this one is an ear-holder for sure" so he'd rather not shoot it off! Where does he get this stuff?

Papa acts as "ear-holder" during one of the firework shows.

Mema acts as ear-holder too. Apparently Papa has convinced Landon to look up and see the pretty fireworks.

I tried to take photos of some of the fireworks, but they were too high in the sky to come out good. It was a beautiful display and something I enjoyed immensely. It sounds so cliche, but I feel so blessed to be an American. I love our great country, even when our political system seems bankrupt of all morality. America is still the best the world has got and it's wonderful to have a holiday to reflect on it's founding. I hope you and your had a Happy 4th as well.

Family Visit

2008-06-29T06:58:00.005-06:00

We were excited to have relatives visit earlier this month. Since it was right before our move, I didn't get any pictures posted so here they are now. Better late than never, huh? My cousin Jeff Messner and his lovely wife Lisa came with their 3 boys, Jordan, Tyler and Jacob. His dad - my Uncle Neal was also with them. We calculated that it had been 23 years since I'd seen Jeff and I'd obviously never met Lisa. We missed each other by a few years at Hobe Sound and then he moved to Alabama so anytime I've been to Ohio to see the rest of the Messners he hasn't been there. Uncle Neal, on the other hand, made a surprise trip out with my Uncle Keith and Aunt Esther to my wedding. That was so much fun. He even danced with me at our reception and somewhere I have a picture to prove it! I'll have to post that when I find it.

They stayed for less than 24 hours, but it was so much fun to visit with them. We went to the Aquarium in the afternoon and my boys enjoyed playing with the big boys immensely. After we left my parents house where they were staying Logan said "I'd like to play with them again! Can we go to Alabama?"

Jeff, Lisa, Jordan, Tyler, & Jacob

The cousins

Uncle Neal with Logan and Landon

Uncle Neal and Max

Landon really liked Jordon and followed him around everywhere.

Up & running, but not back to normal...

2008-06-20T15:30:00.005-06:00

Hello dear friends and lurkers. It has been over a week since I last posted and I am trying to dig out of the boxes that litter our living space. NOW I remember how much I hate moving! Funny how in the excitement of the moment you forget about the bad things that go along with the fun things (same thing is true of having a baby!), but I digress.

We are moved in and many boxes have been unpacked but things still remain chaotic and cluttered. I realize this is to be expected, but still I want to wave a magic wand and have everything find a place of it's own.

Having movers definitely made it easier. They moved all day Friday, Saturday and then Sunday morning. Without them, we would probably still be moving things!

The boys were fascinated by the big truck, but a little worried about their things being put onto it.

Dad was there to reassure them that their things would be delivered to their new house.

I love this picture of the boys. Logan was explaining to Landon about the move as only a big brother can.

Because of the move and the whole "no internet thing" I wasn't able to post anything on Father's Day. We had a great Father's Day, taking my parents out to lunch and then visiting Bryan's dad that evening. I'm very blessed to have a wonderful husband who is a great dad to our children. He is so patient with them, always making time for them. Here is a picture of them Sunday night snuggled up on the couch watching the Discovery Channel, of all things.

I have an incredible dad myself who I would not trade for the world. His consistent walk with God over the years has been a great example and inspiration to me. Here is a picture of us when I was about 2 and another during our dance at my wedding.

I also have a great father-in-law and step-father-in-law. How lucky am I?! Both of these men will always have a special place in my heart.

As for the boxes and clutter, I know they will soon disappear, but until then I guess I shall continue to bang my knee on the box that is jutting out into the hallway and stub my toes on the table that is in the center of the living room!

Moving!

2008-06-05T09:54:00.003-06:00

They are in the final stages of completing the house and we are set to close next Wed. so things have been very busy lately! I'm SO fortunate that I don't have much packing to do. Bryan's new employment contract allows for relocation costs so even though we are just moving to a different suburb, we are having packers come in and pack everything up and move us. We don't yet have our internet service lined up at the new house and it's amazing to think of how crippling it will be to not have internet access. No internet? Oh horrors! Whatever did we do without it?

Saw a great joke forwarded to Bryan from one of his buddies up north so I thought I'd share it:

John McCain, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama were walking down a Washington D.C. street when they came upon a homeless person.

John McCain gave the homeless person his business card and told him to come to his office for a job. He then took $20 out of his pocket and gave it to the homeless person.

Hillary was very impressed, so when they came upon another homeless person, she decided to help. She walked over to the homeless person and gave him directions to the welfare office. She then reached into John McCain's pocket and pulled out $20. She kept $15 for her administrative fees and gave the homeless person $5.

When they came upon yet another homeless person, Obama told the homeless person to 'have hope...change is coming'...and gave him nothing.

Now, do you understand the difference?

Boys Stuff

2008-05-24T09:18:00.005-06:00

One of the fun things about having boys is that there is never a dull moment. My boys keep me laughing (and sometimes crying!) about stuff all the time. Last Sunday we went out to breakfast with my in-laws and I was involved in the conversation and not paying too much attention to what Landon was doing right next to me. He was being quiet so everything seemed fine. I looked over and he had taken the little jelly containers and opened them one by one and was eating the jelly out of them with a spoon! I guess he was really hungry and that was all the food there was at the moment to eat! Now, I was a little embarrassed that he had gone through so much jelly (about 7 or 8 of them had been opened), but I tried to look at the bright side - at least he was using a spoon and not his fingers!

The other day Logan and I were out in the pool while Landon was taking his nap. Logan discovered a turtle in the skimmer so of course he had to pull it out and play with it. He named it "Shelly" which I think was derived from the fact that turtles have shells. Poor Shelly. He was tossed to and fro and turned this way and that, in and out of the water, but Logan had a marvelous time and wanted to keep Shelly. We put him in a box, which and gave him some grass and leaves to eat and went inside to change. An hour later Shelly had escaped and there was no sign of him anywhere. Then it was poor Logan. He cried and cried. It's so cute when the boys find things like bugs and turtles and frogs that they want to play with, but what to do when they want to keep them? It's hard to reason with Logan when he is determined that the turtle is his friend and wants to live with him! Ah well, perhaps Shelly needed a vacation from all the activities she endured the other day!

Logan is 5!

2008-05-20T07:21:00.009-06:00

WARNING: LOTS of pictures ahead!
Last Friday the 16th, Logan turned 5 years old. All the standard statements of "Ah, I can't believe he's that old" and "He's grown up so fast" certainly apply here, but we are so blessed to even have him with us today. Let me explain.

Our precious angel right after he was born.

A proud Daddy

About 9 hours after Logan was born five years ago he began spitting up blood. To any parents, but especially brand new ones, this was very scary. They came to my room and rushed him to the nursery and ultimately to the Neonatal ICU. They called in a pediatric gastroenterologist who did a scope of his stomach. It was the next day and they had finally gotten the bleeding stopped. However, the scope showed a mass in his stomach. The neonatologists were very good, but they were stumped. They consulted an expert on the east coast and together they came to the conclusion that he had a tumor in his stomach. The expert told them that this type of tumor was quite rare and that he had only seen it a couple of times. They were uncertain of what the outcome would be even if they did surgery. However, they felt they needed to do surgery ASAP. We consented and at 4 days old, they wheeled him into surgery. Up to this point he was still in the NICU and we could only visit him during certain times of the day and we were not allowed to hold him. He was fed liquid through an IV so needless to say, every time I left the hospital I would cry. I remember feeling so sad when I went home 3 days after his birth and I wasn't able to take him with me.

After the surgery the surgeon came and visited with us and told us that the mass in Logan's stomach was a bleeding gastric ulcer. He had been able to cut out a large part of it and medicine would continue to heal it. Now, was it an ulcer all along and all the specialists got it wrong or did God do something miraculous? I can't say for a certainty that the specialists were wrong, but you'll never convince me that God didn't do a miracle there. So much prayer was offered up on Logan's behalf during that time and when people pray, God moves. To this day, none of the doctors can tell us how Logan would have developed an ulcer then. Did it happen before he was born? Did it happen during birth? Did it happen in the 9 hours before he became ill? No one knows because no one has ever heard of a baby being born with one or developing one that fast.

Here's the scar from his surgery. The surgeon did an amazing job stitching him back up because while he still has a scar, it looks so good and people rarely notice it.

We finally got to hold him a couple days after his surgery.

Logan was in the NICU a total of 10 days and when he could finally take 2 oz. of milk at one feeding, we brought him home. He took medicines around the clock for the next 6 weeks, but does not seem to have any ill effects from that today. It was during all this mess that Bryan was studying and sitting for his first round of board exams so another miracle is that he was able to take and pass the exams with so much stress and so little sleep!

Here's a picture of me holding him on his first day home. I didn't want to let go of him even though all the other family wanted to hold him too!

Back to the 5th birthday...I asked Logan the day before his birthday what he wanted to eat for his birthday dinner (I obviously should have done this before then, but we've been busy!) Now, I'm expecting "pizza" "chips and cheese" anything except "mashed potatoes and gravy and corn on the cob!" Really? Ok, what meat to go with it? "Roast beef". Seriously, I don't know any 5 year old that want a roast beef dinner for their birthday, but ok, you got it! I ran to the store the next morning after dropping him off at school and got everything to make his dinner!

He also had a little celebration at school. We put together at birthday book with pictures of him as a baby, and then every year thereafter until now. His teacher had sent the book home for us to fill in. He then took it and read it to the class as they looked at the pictures. Then they had cupcakes that I brought, which of course had little dinosaur rings on them.

This was a way cool t-shirt I found on e-bay that says "It's my birthday" and has a picture of T-Rex in a party hat. It fit Logan's birthday theme great!

Saturday we had a birthday party for him at Bounce U, one of those places with big inflatables for kids. I think we had about 19 kids there and he had a lot of fun.

We had a really cool dinosaur cake with a volcano on it.
Being the birthday boy, he got to eat the HUGE piece that was the volcano. That's all icing stacked up there to make up the volcano! Can you say sugar buzz??!! Thankfully, he couldn't eat it all. Landon loved hanging out with the older kids!
This was the big inflatable chair that he got to sit in to open his gifts. He was gracious enough to let little brother join him for awhile!

That evening the grandparents and aunts and uncles came over for a little family party. It definitely looked like Christmas here this weekend and not a birthday.

Volcano toy that bubbles up with soda and vinegar. Very cool toy for little boys!

Bryan heated the pool up and several of them got out there and had a squirt gun fight with some of Logan's new birthday presents!

Logan didn't like getting squirted, so he hid behind his Papa.
Logan, you bring much happiness to Mama and Daddy and we love you very much! We are looking forward to many more fun birthdays!

Our front entryway looks a little prehistoric, but I can live with it!

Mother's Day Pictures

2008-05-15T12:09:00.005-06:00

Just posting a few Mother's Day pictures. Very busy this week between Logan's birthday party, nearing completion of our new house and all that entails, end of school parties, etc. Will have more pictures to post in a few days.

The boys wanted to take pictures on the rocks so I hiked up the rocks in my heels so we'd have happy faces for the pictures!

My 2 sweet boys!

Brad & I with Mom.

Mom with Brad & Rachel & Bryan & I.

The grandkids playing in the new playhouse - my boys were showing Max the ropes, but he wasn't too interested!

Grandpa and the boys!

Brad & Max

Stay-at-home-moms worth almost $117,000

2008-05-09T15:22:00.004-06:00

So a study says we stay-at-home-moms are worth almost $117,000 per year. Do you think you are worth more or less than that as a stay-at-home-mom. I'd love to hear your comments. Below is the article regarding the study.

Study: Stay-at-Home Mom Worth Nearly $117,000 a Year
Thursday, May 08, 2008

BOSTON — If a stay-at-home mom could be compensated in dollars rather than personal satisfaction and unconditional love, she'd rake in a nifty sum of nearly $117,000 a year. That's according to a pre-Mother's Day study released Thursday by Salary.com, a Waltham, Mass.-based firm that studies workplace compensation.

The eighth annual survey calculated a mom's market value by studying pay levels for 10 job titles with duties that a typical mom performs, ranging from housekeeper and day care center teacher to van driver, psychologist and chief executive officer. This year, the annual salary for a stay-at-home mom would be $116,805, while a working mom who also juggles an outside job would get $68,405 for her motherly duties.

One stay-at-home mom said the six-figure salary sounds a little low.
"I think a lot of people think we sit and home and have a lot of fun and don't do a lot of work," said Samantha Russell, a Fremont, N.H., mother who left her job as pastry chef to raise two boys, ages 2 and 4. "But they should try cleaning their house with little kids running around and messing it up right after them."

The biggest driver of a mom's theoretical salary is the amount of overtime pay she'd receive for working more than 40 hours a week. The 18,000 moms surveyed about their typical week reported working 94.4 hours — meaning they'd be spending more than half their working hours on overtime.

Working moms reported an average 54.6 hour "mom work week" besides the hours they spent at paying jobs.

Russell agreed her job as a stay-at-home mom is more than full-time. But she said her "job" brings intangible benefits she wouldn't enjoy in the workplace. "The rewards aren't monetary, but it's a reward knowing that they're safe and happy," Russell said of her sons. "It's worth it all."

What's Really Important?

2008-05-08T08:41:00.004-06:00

We had a really stormy day here yesterday. Last night my parents had come over for dinner and I was just teasing my mom because she had said something a few hours before about a big storm coming up the turnpike. I asked her where that storm was and not more than 2 minutes later the tornado sirens started going off! I ran into the other room and turned on the TV and sure enough, the weather guy was saying something about a tornado on the ground 5 1/2 miles from us and we were directly in the projected path! Now, I HATE tornadoes. They produce in me some weird reaction that makes my teeth chatter! I cannot explain it, it's been like that ever since we moved to Oklahoma when I was a child and I first experienced tornado warnings. Bryan came in and looked at the TV, assessed what they were saying and told me to get the boys and anything else I wanted to take loaded quickly into the minivan. My parents decided to head home, but Bryan wanted to get out ahead of the storm and go around it. Bryan has always had this calming effect on me. I guess it's part of me trusting him and his judgement, but I was very calm as I strapped the boys into their car seats and told them we were just going for a drive to see the rain. I then ran back into the house grabbed my purse and the diaper bag and was wildly thinking about anything that we should take. I knew immediately all I really wanted was my scrapbooks and my laptop which has thousands of pictures on it. Loading them into the minivan, it occurred to me that if the worst happened and our house was leveled, I had all that really mattered with me - my children, my husband and our memories. All the other things didn't matter because after all, it's just "stuff".

Bryan drove way out ahead of the storm and circled back until we were then behind the front and were able to come home. Thankfully the tornado they were saying was on the ground, was probably only some high winds and it didn't even make it to our house. However, the experience was just kind of a reality check about what is really important in our lives.

Logan - A school year in review

2008-05-03T07:36:00.006-06:00

This past Wednesday Bryan and I attended a play at Logan's school that showcased much of what they had learned this year. Logan has grown so much this year and we are so proud of him. We took him from the little church pre-school he had been attending a couple days a week and enrolled him in Holland Hall for his 4-year-old preschool year. Holland Hall is a college-prep school that goes to 12th grade and that is where we are planning to send him for the rest of his schooling so we decided to start there at 4. It's been a great year of growing socially and emotionally as well as mentally. He's an intelligent kid, (obviously, look who his parents are, hee, hee!) but it's a tough curriculum and given that he doesn't turn 5 until the end of the school year when most of the other's in is class turned 5 last fall, we decided to let him do Jr. Kindergarten which gives him an extra year to prepare for Kindergarten (and also gives him another year home with us!) I'm so excited about this extra year that Holland Hall offers and think Logan will really have a leg up on the other kids when he goes to Kindergarten the following year. But I digress.

My point in posting this was to put a few pictures up of this past Wednesday, mainly for the grandparents (I know you read this even though you never comment!). They started the presentation by singing a couple songs in Spanish. They followed that by singing "What a Wonderful World" in sign language. That was really beautiful.

Then they presented a play they have been working on the last few weeks. It was called "Caps for Sale" and is a cute little story about a peddler who sells caps and gets all of them stolen by monkeys while he is napping under a tree. Logan had a speaking part and he did GREAT! He kept telling me he was going to say his part in a whisper and I was afraid he really would, but in the end he said it loud and strong and I was so proud of him!

After the play, he took us outside and showed us the self-portrait he had drawn on the sidewalk with chalk.

Here is a picture of him last week on Safari Dress-up Day. I think I failed to post a picture of him in his cute little safari outfit.

I think I had a post somewhere in the past about Logan not wanting to turn 5, but I think we are finally past that. His birthday is in 2 weeks and he is very excited. We are getting the invitations ready for his friends party and yesterday we went to the toy store and he gave me his wish list. The theme of the birthday this year will, of course, be dinosaurs, what else?

I'm looking forward to celebrating lots more birthdays for this sweet little guy. I am so glad God gave him to us. He fills our life with so much joy!

The Ultimate Grocery Shopping Experience

2008-04-29T12:21:00.004-06:00

I have discovered the best way to grocery shop - online! This may be pretty common where you live, but this is a relatively new thing here in Tulsa. Reasor's, which is an Oklahoma grocery chain, now allows you to shop online and pick up your groceries at their store for a flat fee of $5. Today was my first experience with online grocery shopping and I have to say I loved it! Shopping with 2 rambunctious boys is always a little stressful - the constant jumping on and off the cart, pulling things from the shelves, putting unwanted items into the basket. I almost always leave the grocery store just a little frazzled and slightly irritated - if not from the boys, than from the long check-out line, the rude lady that cut in front of me or the fact that they have moved an item that has always been at the same familiar spot. Five dollars seems a small price to pay for a painless shopping experience where I can work on my order from the comfort of my home at my leisure and then drive up and have my groceries loaded directly into my car. How cool is that? I must thank Bryan because he's been pushing me to simplify the the grocery buying process for a long time now.

Anyway, for those of you who live around Tulsa, here's my plug for Reasor's. For those that live elsewhere - check out your local store to see if this life-changing service is available in your area!

The end result of my quick shopping trip!

This and That

2008-04-21T12:38:00.011-06:00

Logan's class went to the zoo this past Friday. Here are some pictures that I took. Of course it would be the ONLY cold day of the week! It was still fun all in all. The coolest part was the special bird exhibit where you get to try to feed one of hundreds of birds flying around an aviary with a special seed stick they give you. Logan was so excited about having a bird perch on his stick.

We are still working on getting Landon to sleep in his toddler bed. He slept in it for naps several times and then he went almost 6 weeks without sleeping in it at all. Now he is back to sleeping in it almost every day for a nap and last week he slept his first night all the way through in it! Very exciting! He likes to play alot and I generally let him, especially at naptime, until he falls asleep. When I went to wake him up the other day, this is what I found.

Logan asked to play soccer this year and so we were very excited. We signed him up to play indoor soccer at the YMCA. He's had alot of fun. Bryan has been somewhat of a coach as well, although he's not the official coach. Here are some pictures from various games and practices.

The boys each got a kite in their Valentine goodie bag and had been bugging us to use them. If you've ever been in Oklahoma during the spring, you know it is difficult to find a day when it is not TOO windy to fly kites. We have managed to find a few days and here are pictures of the boys with Bryan helping them fly their kites.

I will end this post with some funny pictures of Landon. A couple weeks ago I was in the bathroom getting ready and he opened one of my vanity drawers and reached way in the back and found an old tube of lipstick. It was one I had gotten as a freebie so I let him play with it. He knew what it was for, but he didn't apply it correctly! It was so cute that I had to take a picture before I cleaned him all up!

Political rants and raves on this and that...

2008-04-15T13:23:00.005-06:00

Watching the news lately, I've been itching to write a bit of a political post, but wading through some of the minutia of it is difficult when I only have a few minutes at a time. I've got a little more time today so I'm jumping up on my soapbox.

Today, as I opened up http://www.drudgereport.com (my favorite news site), I saw this: "A Hug for Hamas". It's an AP story on Jimmy Carter's visit to the Middle East. Let me sum it up for you. Apparently, after seeing the Israelis that would meet with him (note: Israeli Prime Minister Olmert refused to meet with him because of his planned visit with Hamas - love it!) he strolled on over to terrorist HQ in Ramallah and met with the head of Hamas, gave him a hug and laid a wreath on the grave of Yasser Arafat! Keep in mind Hamas is the organization that has supplied the suicide bombers that have killed hundreds of Israelis. All I have to say about that is that Jimmy Carter is a disgrace to America.

While we're on the subject of "disgrace" (I know, not a smooth segue), I have been appalled by the governments actions in Eldorado, TX. Today I see where they have now separated kids aged 5 and above from their mothers. To my knowledge, the mothers aren't being investigated for abusing children so why did they have to do that? This whole situation is such an assault on their constitutional rights. The law enforcement agencies down there have had it out for these people for awhile and now is their big chance to "get 'em". In my opinion they are doing this because they don't like these people - they are a little different, a little odd and out of the mainstream. Yes, one could argue that they are breaking the law by marrying 14-year-old girls off. If you're going to prosecute them for that why don't they also prosecuted these 19-year-old guys who are getting 13 and 14-year-old girls pregnant. My husband sees them in the clinic all the time. That's called statutory rape! Talk about a double standard. This is religious persecution and shame on us for keeping quiet about it!

A couple more things while I'm at it: Why was it that John McCain was too busy to attend the Compassion Forum at Messiah College this past Sunday night? Obama and Clinton attended and were asked questions about their belief in God, how often they read the Bible, and whether they believe life begins at conception. There were religious leaders there from all over and McCain could have really stood out as the conservative among them. My guess is that he knows if he answered some of their questions truthfully it would become apparent he's really not all that different from Obama and Clinton.

More Obama trouble: it seems CodePink, an anti-American, anti-troop organization that has given money to Iraqi families of insurgents in Fallujah and harassed military recruiters and their efforts here in the US has given Obama a $50,000 contribution. Let's see if he gives it back!

One more thing, I've been watching Alan Keyes' website and he is planning on making some big announcement tonight in PA. He has left the Republican party and it is expected that he may announce his intentions to run for president on the Constitution Party ticket. Now THAT, my friends, could be interesting!

Musings

2008-04-13T15:09:00.006-06:00

Nostalgic. That describes my mood right now. One of the projects I have recently undertaken is scanning old photos onto the computer. I have worked through close to 3,000 pictures so far between what I have scanned from my mother-in-law and my mother and my own old pictures. I am determined that all of our family pictures, going back as far as I can locate, will be preserved. My goal is to put all pictures onto CD's and put them in a safe deposit box until I have the time to scrapbook them. I think pictures are so important to families and give our children a glimpse into our lives as well as the lives of their grandparents and great-grandparents before they came along. (This is one of the reasons I scrapbook.)

As I sifted through the pictures and scanned them, my emotions ran the gamut - sad, happy, disappointed, relieved, amused. I ran across some old pictures of some of you who read my blog and I may try to post some soon. As I looked back on the pictures that represent the totality of my life thus far, I realized just how blessed I have been. Sure, there are those pictures that remind me of missed opportunities, friends not kept up with, relatives and friends gone from this earth, times that I may not have made the most of life, but overall I have had a very blessed life. I am amazed that God has brought this shy little girl who was so self-conscious and fearful of people staring at her, to the point in my life where I am content and happy with who I am and where God has placed me. I have been blessed immeasurably - I am married to a man who is a wonderful husband and my best friend, I have 2 beautiful, intelligent boys, I have a loving family on my side as well as Bryan's side, we are healthy, we have plenty of all the necessities of life. In addition to all this, we have great hope and expectation for the future as Bryan graduates from residency training and we move into our new house this summer. God has truly blessed me and I am so thankful for the reminders he has provided in photos.

Arkansas' marriage-age crisis is over...

2008-04-03T09:15:00.002-06:00

In other news from the AP:

Arkansas Fixes Law That Allowed Anyone — Newborns Included — to Marry
A law that mistakenly allowed anyone — even toddlers — to marry with parental permission was repealed by a measure signed into law Wednesday by Gov. Mike Beebe, ending months of embarrassment for the state and confusion for county clerks.

Lawmakers didn't realize until after the end of last year's regular session that a law they approved, intended to establish 18 as the minimum age for marriage, instead removed the minimum age to marry entirely. An extraneous "not" in the bill, allowed anyone who was not pregnant to marry at any age if the parents allow it.

The bill read: "In order for a person who is younger than eighteen (18) years of age and who is not pregnant to obtain a marriage license, the person must provide the county clerk with evidence of parental consent to the marriage."

Well thank goodness that little crisis is over!

Happy Birthday to Everybody!

2008-04-03T07:56:00.004-06:00

This is the time of year when it seems almost everyone in our family is having a birthday (except for me). Bryan just had his birthday a week and a half ago. Today is my dad's birthday, tomorrow is my brother, Brad's birthday and next Tuesday is my mom's birthday. I hope all of you have a very special day. Of course, this post wouldn't be complete without your smiling faces, so here goes...

Sitting on Grandpa's lap is the best!

Brad is a new dad!

Sharing Grandma's pie.

Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

2008-03-26T12:48:00.015-06:00

Happy Birthday to my dear hubby today! Bryan has been a wonderful husband and an incredible dad. I'm so lucky to have found him! He's probably going to kill me, but recently I was going through some old pictures of his moms and came across some pictures of him in his younger years. Here are a sampling of those, plus ones since we've been married! Happy Birthday, Bryan!

What a cute little guy!

Fishing in Colorado

Definitely a child of the 70's!

College graduation with his mom and brother, Jeff, 1985

Taking his dad flying

Our wedding day, 2000

Medical school graduation, 2005

Spending time with his boys after Landon's birth (and being up for 36 hours straight!)

Father's Day, 2007

Flying kites, 2008

Easter

2008-03-25T13:53:00.005-06:00

We had a very nice Easter this year. The boys got to color eggs with Mema and Papa before they went on vacation. I think they colored a total of 4 dozen between them! Sunday morning we went to church with my parents since we are between churches presently. Mom fixed the most scrumptious dinner of ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, salad and then she had a cake for Bryan's birthday (which is actually tomorrow). We were actually even able to get a good family photo of us in our Easter garb. Each boy was somewhat smiling (at least not crying) and looking at the camera. This in itself is a great feat! In the afternoon we visited my brother who was in the hospital with some kind of yucky bug. Then we visited Bryan's Grandma and took her some of our yummy lunch. All in all it was a very pleasant day to spend with family while reflecting on the incredible meaning Easter holds for us.

Landon loved to drop the egg in just high enough so the colored water would splash out.

Logan and Mema.

Landon's pretty eggs

Logan was so proud of his eggs.

Grandma & Grandpa with the boys.

Yep, everyone's looking at the camera; nope, noone is crying!

Happy St. Patty's Day

2008-03-18T14:10:00.006-06:00

My favorite scrapbooking magazine, Creating Keepsakes, had a challenge in the last edition to celebrate something that you don't normally celebrate and then do a page about it. I don't know that I've ever actually done more than wear green on St. Patrick's day so I thought I'd do some fun stuff for the boys. Since it will likely be awhile til I can scrapbook the occasion, I'll put pictures up here for now. I bought the boys little plastic green hats to wear along with those little green glow bracelets. That was a big hit. I had Logan help me pick out some green food at the store this week and I bought green plates and napkins to eat from. The boys thought this was pretty cool so I guess it was a successful celebration.

Doctors and Dinosaurs

2008-03-10T11:57:00.010-06:00

The things Logan studies at preschool are so cool. I don't think they even had preschool when I was that age. He goes 3 days a week in preparation for the 5 full days of Kindergarten next year. This last unit they were studying careers and occupations. Parents could volunteer to go up to the school and talk about what it is they do or you could arrange a tour of your workplace. Since it's not a great idea to take 20 four year olds through a clinic full of people with the flu, Bryan thought he would visit the classroom. Logan, of course, thought this was way cool. Bryan got to sit in the teacher's chair and Logan got to sit up next to him and call on his friends if they had questions or if they wanted to listen to their heartbeat with the stethoscope. Here are a couple pictures from that visit.

On the last day of the unit they all were supposed to dress up as whatever they wanted to be when they grow up. Logan wants to be a scientist and more specifically, he wants to be a paleontologist. I found him a lab coat and we got the little tools out of a dinosaur digging kit that we have. He made the cutest little paleontologist too!

Cheesin' for the camera.

Little brother has to pose with him!
The tools of the trade.

Weight Watchers Anyone?

2008-03-09T13:18:00.002-06:00

Bryan and I have challenged each other to try to lose weight and get to where we were when we got married over 7 years ago. I'm such a comfort food eater - bring on the carbs! Therefore, I knew trying to lose weight during the winter would be tough, even though I only need to lose 14 pounds. So I psyched myself up for a March 1 start date and I have lost 5 pounds in the last 9 days. Bryan started losing weight this winter and is down almost 20 pounds. I'm so proud of him! For me the Weight Watchers points plan is a great way to lose. I lost 15 lbs. with WW after I had Landon so I am familiar with the system and it's very easy to lose weight and still get to splurge on things like Dr. Pepper and M&M's sometimes! I was hollering today because I was down another pound and Logan was looking a little baffled. Bryan explained to him that I was trying to "get skinny" for summer. Logan said "Well you better hurry because summertime is coming up fast!" I know I'm soon to hit a plateau, and will have to crank up the cardio, but for now I'm reveling in being 5 pounds thinner!

Since you asked

2008-03-09T13:08:00.002-06:00

A couple of you asked for a tour of our house so if you want to see pictures you can go to this link...http://royzoellner.com/jerrimcnair/7300south2nd/ These are the pictures they took when they listed our house. Yes, God has indeed blessed us and while we have thoroughly enjoyed building and living here, our next house is going to be a bit smaller and more efficient. We really want to be good stewards of God's resources and feel the move will help accomplish this. Our new neighborhood is full of young families so the boys should have lots of playmates, which they do not have here. While I will miss having a heated pool in the backyard, the new neighborhood has a neighborhood pool - not heated :-( with a clubhouse, playground, splash park, basketball court, walking trails and fishing pond so we are really looking forward to being able to use all of that without keeping it up! They are currently framing our new house and I'll post pictures of that later.

Easter Eggs and Fun

2008-03-06T16:28:00.012-06:00

Today we had the annual Easter Egg hunt for the OU Family Practice mom's group. With the temps hovering around 32 we opted to have it inside this year. We sent the kids upstairs so we could hide the eggs in a few of the downstairs rooms. There were only 7 kids, so there were plenty of eggs to go around, except that Logan ended up with more than his fair share. He had the home field advantage as well as have the advantage of being the oldest kiddo here.

Thanks to all you ladies who brought stuff for lunch. It was a very enjoyable time and was great to catch up with everybody. Nobody can understand the intense stresses of residency except those going through it with you so it is always fun to commiserate with each other. You ladies are truly special and I am glad to count you as friends.

Here are some pictures I took.

Landon was so excited about finding eggs!

Little Jasmine Leinen spots the purple one!
Alexander

Logan and Landon actually posed together for me once they decided all the eggs had been found.

Nik and Ben taste Sweethearts for the first time.

Here's our sweet group of kids.

A New Milestone

2008-03-03T15:49:00.009-06:00

Well, the time has finally come for Landon to move to the toddler bed. We were going to wait until we move into the new house in the summer and then just not set the crib back up, but then we decided that might be one too many changes for him to deal with at once. So yesterday afternoon we got the toddler bed out of the attic and set it up in his room. We haven't taken the crib down yet - we're not going to do this cold turkey because it didn't work that way with Logan! Landon was so excited! Here are some pictures of him in his new "big boy bed".

He climbed right in and said "ight, ight" (that's "night, night" for those of you who don't understand 2-year-old speak). At bedtime he actually did get in the bed and cover up. I closed his bedroom door as usual, as well as the bathroom door that connects his and Logan's rooms and waited for a long time to see if he would try to open the door. He never tried the door, but I did hear a couple thumps so I went back in and found him laying with his blanket on the rug in front of the bathtub. I don't usually close the bathroom door, but since Bryan was in Logan's room, I did it so he wouldn't be distracted. I think Landon was unsure of what to do. I put him back in his crib and he didn't put up too much of a fight. Today I put him in the new bed for naptime and just went up and checked on him and he's sleeping soundly. Yeah!

"Who Am I"

2008-02-22T20:43:00.005-06:00

I just came across this incredible video by a praise team done to the Casting Crowns song "Who Am I". It looks like they did it all using white gloves and a black light. Hope this blesses you.

Happy 90th Birthday Grandma!

2008-02-20T13:22:00.000-06:00

Bryan's Grandma will celebrate her 90th birthday next week. This past weekend we held a reception for her at her church and many of her friends and family were able to come by and see her and say hi. Grandma is an amazing lady. She still lives by herself and gets around fairly well. She's got a mind like a steel trap and nothing gets by her! Both of my Grandmas went on to heaven shortly after I got married, so it's been wonderful having another Grandma!

Here are some pictures from her birthday celebration:

Here's the whole gang (minus Frankie who had the flu - missed you, girl!)

Here are 3 of her 5 grandchildren (Bryan and his brother Jeff and sister Christi)

Here are her great-grandchildren

Here is Bryan's mom and stepdad:

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

Valentine Hats

2008-02-15T11:55:00.000-06:00

Here's a picture of the boys in their "Prince Charming" baseball caps I got them for Valentine's Day.

The time has come...

2008-02-15T10:46:00.001-06:00

It is with a saddened heart that I finally removed my "Mitt Romney for President" tag from my page today. I thought Romney's endorsement of McCain yesterday showed real class, especially given the dirty tricks McCain had pulled on him during his campaign. Now it's looking more like Obama may be the Democratic nominee. I don't see him beating McCain, but stranger things have happened. He has ranked as one of the most liberal senators currently serving, but I don't think most people know just how far to the left he is. He has yet to say much of anything of substance, at least what I have heard so far.

As for all the buzz about Dr. James Dobson's remarks about McCain, I'm not sure it was the wisest thing for him to do, but I certainly don't disagree with him on much of what he says. Unlike him though, I WILL vote. Which way I vote is yet to be determined!

Can I Build One of Those??

2008-02-03T19:07:00.000-06:00

Logan, my 4-year-old has been resistant to turning 5. I think it's quite unusual for a boy his age, but he is adament he does not want to get any older. The other day he said if he has to turn 5 he's "going to build a machine and go back to 4!" Where he came up with that, I do not know, but I'd like in on that machine!

He doesn't turn 5 until May so we have a little more time to convince him that 5 is more fun than 4! Here's a picture of him all dressed up for his Fiesta Day at preschool on Friday.

What is going on with Republicans?

2008-02-01T20:37:00.000-06:00

I have heard just about enough! I'm talking about this seasons presidential race and all the rhetoric that goes back and forth. I am a conservative Republican, but I am a conservative first. Unfortunately, there are no conservatives currently in the race so I just have to pick the candidate that I think is the least of the evils. I think you have to look at the issues and decide if the issues on which you disagree with them are issues that they can likey effect in the executive office or not. Being the conservative that I am I can automatically rule out ever voting for John McCain and even Mike Huckabee. McCain is all over TV portraying himself as "the" conservative, but if you look at his record it just isn't so! Where do we start? Um, voting against the tax cuts, voting against drilling in ANWR, giving illegal aliens amnesty (McCain-Kennedy), striking at the First Amendment (McCain-Feingold), restricting the Second Amendment (McCain-Lieberman), global warming legislation (McCain-Lieberman) - is anyone seeing a pattern here - pushing to close Guantanamo and forcing the terrorists being held there into the US judicial system and the protection of the Fifth Amendment, just to name a few. A close review of his record is all it takes to see how often he votes to the center, center-left. It blows my mind how anyone conservative could vote for this man. Is that too harsh? I know the man is a war hero and I don't question his patriotism, I just think he is on the wrong side of the fence on many important issues. If you are a conservative and are planning to vote for McCain, please let me know why? I'm really very curious why.

Huckabee, well for my mother-in-law's sake I will go easy on the man. :-)He's not doing all that well anyway. I think he definitely has some moderate views on issues, contrary to his "conservative evangelical" image. He has little policy experience and frankly, he just isn't very presidential.

So that leave us with Mitt Romney. I have had some trouble with Mitt, not because of his flip-flop on abortion (Reagan did that and look at what a great president he turned out to be), but because of some of his 2nd Amendment history. He supported the Brady bill and the ban on assault weapons although he now is a member of the NRA and says he supports the 2nd amendment. He would still sign an assault weapons ban, but hey, our current president did that! He has been a great businessman and he's got some interesting ideas on how to strengthen our economy. The fact that he is a Morman doesn't bother me. After all, this country was founded as a haven from religious persecution. Mormans may have some odd beliefs, but they are moral people, which is more than I can say for some "Christians". Wasn't Bill Clinton Baptist? Hmm...

Is Mitt Romney a conservative. No, but noone in this race is. I believe he is the most conservative of the bunch. On the other hand, John McCain is so far removed from conservativism that if he is the Republican nominee, I would CONSIDER voting for the Democrat. The Republicans in Congress would fight against a Democratic president. As we've seen the last 7 years, they won't fight against a president who calls himself a Republican.

I know there is the whole factor of electability and the media would have us believe that McCain is the only "electable" Republican candidate, but that in itself should cause us to stop and think! It is my belief that the South will not vote for a woman for president nor will it vote for a black for president, especially one with questionable ties to Muslims. See this link for interesting take on that one...http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article6619.shtml I know this is just an op ed, but I think there is more of this waiting to come out.

And that's my 2 cents!

Childhood Revisited

2008-01-31T13:57:00.000-06:00

Ok, I have to admit it...when there is snow in the forecast, I get excited. Snow evokes these nostalgic memories of growing up in Ohio where snow was more common than it is here. I remember friends and cousins coming over to sled because we had a really great hill complete with an iced-over pond at the bottom. But I digress. Bryan and I looked at the weather forecast last night and he groaned and I said "Oh cool!" Of course I didn't have to drive 20 miles to work in rush hour this morning either! I have learned not to get my hopes up when the meteorologists say snow because 9 times out of 10 there is none or if there is, it's just a dusting that doesn't really count.

This morning when we got up there was no snow so I didn't even tell the kids because Logan gets so disappointed when there is supposed to be snow and it doesn't actually come. Around 11:00 this morning we were getting into the car to go find Logan a sombrero for Fiesta Day at school tomorrow and it began to snow HUGE flakes. We hurried to the store, got the hat and dashed back home and by the time the kids had finished their lunch there was a good 2 inches on the ground.

We all bundled up and ran out for what was Landon's first experience in the snow. He was so funny because at first he seemed afraid of it and he cried when he fell down in it, but then he saw Logan rolling around in it and I guess he decided it was not bad after all. I helped them make a snowman, which was a first for both of them. I dashed back in to get a carrot for the nose and grabbed a bag of Oreos for the eyes. Needless to say, the Oreos lasted only through the photo op and then they were devoured by my little snow monkeys!

For those of you further north you may wonder what all the fuss is about 2" of snow, but we only get 2 - 3 snowfalls a year here so 2" is great fun! And it's still snowing!!

Little Max has arrived!

2008-01-25T12:14:00.000-06:00

Wow, my little brother is a daddy now. Seems strange. Max was actually born on the 12th, but I'm slightly behind. This picture is of my parents and Rachel's mom with the happy couple and Max. Congratulations you two! You did good. I got to hold him shortly after he was born. It's amazing how you forget that your children were ever that tiny! It almost made we wish we were going to have another one...almost. After I heard about his sleeping all day and being awake all night, the memories of life right after Logan and Landon's births came flooding back and I am glad it's Brad and Rachel and not Bryan and I!

Logan was not too keen on another baby in the family, but Landon was fascinated. He just kept looking at him and touching his hand. It was so sweet!

2007-10-18T08:12:00.000-06:00

Bryan took Logan fishing at one of the ponds in our neighborhood and we were amazed at the size of fish they caught! They caught 2 big catfish and several smaller perch and they only fished for 45 minutes! Logan told Bryan that he (Bryan) could reel in the small fish and Logan would reel in the big fish since he was stronger than Bryan!