Michael Steele

Praise God. I hope Michael Steele does well, and I hope he speaks often about the targeted, concerted, and not-so-subtly racist efforts of the abortion industry to decimate the black population.

Will there be accolades from prominent Democrats and the MSM for the first black RNC Chair? Were there for the first black Supreme Court Justice 20 years ago? How about the first black Secretary of State more recently?

Or, as Clarence Thomas would say, are these all the "wrong kind" of black people? Will they still be punished for not falling into line where they belong?

Don't you think it would be fitting for President Obama himself to issue a congratulatory statement? Shouldn't he applaud the Right for being as colorblind as the Left? Doesn't he, and Sharpton and Jackson while we're at it, owe it to Mr. Steele and to the entire black community to at least acknowledge this accomplishment? Aren't they all about integration, after all?

I predict that if Obama doesn't congratulate Steele, the first white conservative who criticizes him for it will be branded a fool and a racist.

(I will soon comment further on Thomas' book which I recently finished reading.)

Goodness me...

Wow, nearly a week has gone by...

I think it is the weather... 22 degrees will do that to you... the only thing you are thinking about is warm soup or hot chocolate.

JUST SHUT UP AND ACT!

I pledge... to watch this entire liberal Hollywood propaganda video without puking.



My favorite part: "To sell my obnoxious car and buy a hybrid."

Newsflash, dipstick. The guy who you sell your obnoxious car to is going to drive it. It will still be "obnoxious". And the hybrid you buy needs to be manufactured, which will consume additional scarce resources including lithium for its batteries. Meanwhile your old car is still out there. So now you've got two cars on the road. What do you want the new owner to do with it? Buy it from you and then park it in his garage forever? If you really want to worship Mother Earth, drive that Hummer until the wheels fall off. THEN, buy something smaller when its time to be replaced.

Just shut up and act, Hollywood people.

Unusual...

I don't generally ever discuss politics on this blog... I let Daddio do that sort of thing. He is usually quite eloquent, and I tend to be a raging sort!

But I felt it time to break tradition... and have some CHANGE in my life, and blog (ha ha ha ha ha, I crack myself up). Obviously we are all colored by our own life experience, and that it effects how we see the world and the views we hold near and dear to our hearts. For me, a big button issue happens to be babies! I like them, I think they are a good thing... I believe they have a soul and are a baby at the moment of conception! Now, why am I talking about this (except I think lots of people have been talking about this all week)? Or better yet, what exactly am I referring to? Still don't know? MONEY! Oh, did you see that coming? Let me lay it out there for you...

I would love to have a baby grow within me... that's no secret.
I believe that a baby is a baby living human being when it is conceived in the womb.
I know killing a baby (ABORTION) is EVIL... and MURDER!
If I cannot have a biological child... why in God's name would I want to kill someone else's baby?
As an adoptive parent, why would I want to kill someone else's child who had the potential to be another adoptive family's child? Why in the world would I want MY money going any where near an account that was used to kill someone else's baby? It is clear to me that taking my money and using it to kill babies... which is in complete violation of what is fair to do with MY MONEY, is WRONG! Dare I say unconstitutional... where is there a clause that states that just because you don't want to have a baby that you can take MY MONEY and use it to kill her baby?

But now because our president thinks it's fair, not only does MY MONEY get to kill American babies... I get to diversify MY MONEY, and it can go to kill babies all over the world. Oh joy... I'm so glad that someone who likes the notion of killing babies is leading our country into the future...

I suppose my only consolation is that in enough time, my kind will be the only kind left... what kind is that? The kind that recognizes the sanctity of life... then all this baby killing will finally come to an end, and my money... well, my grand children's (I'm trying to be optimistic) money will finally be used to the better!

And this is why I usually don't talk politics...

Hot buns...

I've made GF hamburger buns in the past, and they are a big hit around here... but I decided to change it up a little and make the hot dog buns this time for dinner. The ones you buy that are GF are CARDBOARD at best. Bobcat is always very polite if in a hurry I've picked up pre-made buns, but it is no secret that they are much tasty fresh and homemade.

So during nap time I whipped up a half dozen buns for the boys dinner enjoyment!

You might be wondering what it looks like to make, or if I use a special pan. Well I received a tip from a profession chef at a GF support group meeting... FOIL! She says that it is easy to make up your own forms using foil, you always have it on hand and its custom!

K'nex that tune!

Have you seen these before? Our boys really enjoy building with them.

Today's builder's special... guitars. Bobcat created the design, Bubba made one just like it, and Snookie convinced Bobcat to build him one too.

So while I worked on making hotdog buns for this evening (a post for later), the boys played their guitars. Bobcat even came up with an original song for the day.

Jesus loves me,

Jesus loves me,

I love him.

He is my father,

and I am His child.

Heads... who needs em?

So we were in the car and a motorcycle pulls out in front us a little ways up. The boys are always on the look out for a motorcycle, so this was exciting! Bobcat mentions that the man riding the bike isn't wearing a helmet, and wonders where it is. I, because I am a mom, said that "if you ride a motorcycle... you should always wear a helmet, it will help protect your head in case you fall or crash."

Snookie replies: "Well, he looks like he is being careful!"

Nice...

Death and...

Today during handwriting Bubba asked about a particular word he wasn't completely familiar with that he was writing... taxes.

"Mommy, what is taxes?"
"Something I'm afraid we will be paying a lot more of, honey!"

He had the strangest look on his face... yes, I explain just a little bit of what a tax is to the sweet child... but I had a good laugh inside my head at his timing!

Oh snap...

Barack Obama and I have the same birthday. Look on the bright side, it could be a national holiday in the future. And it could be worse - my sister has Michael Jackson's birthday.

Not to dwell on my birthday seven months early, but turning to google for consolation, I've found that there are other birthday fellows that I can feel better about:
Louis Armstrong
William Howard Schuman (composer)

And others to feel even worse about:
Billy Bob Thornton
Yassir Arafat

Doing what is right...

Everyone has heard by now of the benediction at Obama 's inauguration. Rev. Joseph Lowery prayed: 'Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around... when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right. That all those who do justice and love mercy say Amen. Say Amen'...

Did everyone forget that Obama is biracial? Good for us, we're colorblind enough to elect a man of color. I grant him that many people see "black" when they see a biracial person, and we will have to prepare our boys for this reality. But, also remember that Obama grew up in two cultures, and let's reflect on which side of his family did "what was right". Hint: it was not his black Muslim father who abandoned him as an infant, left the continent, and took up new wives...

To his credit, I have not heard Obama himself dwelling on these racial issues. He seems perfectly comfortable with both cultures and willing to "move on" (ahem) with his life. But he has associated with people that seem to still be really hung up on it. Was this really the best they could get for the big historical inuaguration day?

Busy Fingers

In the evenings during 'quiet time', part of our New Year's Resolutions, we read usually. But on some of those evening I knit. I just learned to knit these sweet boggin's... and I'm on a roll! My first boggin was the upper middle. That one is for Snookie. He grew out of his old one, and we haven't found another that works for him... so I made a custom Snookie boggin! Next up was the soft green on the upper right. That super soft one is for our god-daughter! She has lovely red hair and I just knew this color would look smashing on her little head. Then, I decided to work on a boggin for myself. I don't have a good ear covering camping hat for those chilly evenings... that is the muted colors boggin on the upper left.

Next up... the cutest, softest, and very warm baby boggins. My favorites are the two outsides (green and blue), the boys on the other hand picked the very loudly mult-colored hat. They truly have their own sense of style.

I hope that the little owners of all of these caps enjoy them as much as I enjoyed making them!

HE'S HERE!

Our godson took his first breaths of the outside world early this morning. Please continue to pray for Mom, who is supposed to be getting rest today, for baby who is doing really well, and for the family as the begin this new journey!

Liberal hypocrisy

Seen in the Denver Post, via Bob's Blog:

The carbon footprint of Barack Obama's inauguration could exceed 575 million pounds of CO2. According to the Institute for Liberty, it would take the average U.S. household nearly 60,000 years of naughty ecological behavior to produce a carbon footprint equal to the largest self-congratulatory event in the history of humankind.

Wow. 60,000 years. I'll need to remember that statistic when talking to environmentalists. I currently like to throw out an occasional reminder that Al Gore's jet, which measures fuel consumption not in MPG but GPM (gallons per minute), burns enough fuel on one cross-country flight to power our family SUV for seven years.

By the way, have you noticed the power of zeros? Instead of 575 million, let's write 575,000,000. Looks bigger that way, doesn't it?

Now let's look at Obama's projected budget deficit in long form: $1,000,000,000,000

I think there's power in the little head-bob maneuver you see people doing as they count commas.

Lives lost to abortion since Roe v. Wade: 50,000,000

Daddy's little tax credits

Tax time isn't so bad for us! Think we might have room for another one somewhere around here...

Safe, legal, and rare

We've all heard the phrase from those people who are "personally opposed", but not willing to "impose their beliefs" on the rest of us. "Make abortion safe, legal, and rare."

Fr. Philip Powell nails it in his recent post:

"I still wonder how one reduces an undesirable behavior by making it moral, legal, and free of charge?"

I heard someone else asking recently, if it's safe and legal, why should it be rare? Safe and legal things tend to flourish. If there's nothing wrong with it, why shouldn't it be as common as the cold? People tend to avoid dangerous and illegal things. There's only one way to make abortion rare.

Somewhere over the rainbow...

That's where I've been... at least that is where I wanted to be today. We had an arctic blast that blew through last night and with it came some sort of pollen that has taken its toll on me! I woke up congested, stopped up, and sporting a serious headache... which in my favorite turn for the morning wound being a migraine... oh the fun. We managed to finish about half our school work in the morning... the unassisted part. Then I went and layed in the tub... for I don't know how long while the boys watched a little movie (oh how I love using that sparingly so that when I need it, it works).

Thankfully, I'm back up and functioning at near 100%.

But I suppose that really doesn't explain my long absense this week from the blog. Well, I'm working on a little project, you see. Oh, is that clammering I hear? Do you want to know???

It's a reading list. Wow... exciting I know... but really it is a really fun project to work on. I've collected several 'list books' of children's literature and I've been pooring through them coming up with lists for the different levels. Along with my own personal use, I will be using it in a joint venture with a lovely friend of mine. NO, I can't tell you about said venture as of yet... the kinks are no where worked out... but hopefully in time you will be able to benefit from this!

A Tail that Wasn't

On Saturday Daddio took the family on a little date.

The boys and I worked all week on a read aloud of the Tale of Despereaux, and upon finishing Daddio took us to the movie.

While at times the subject matter in the book was rather dark... we really enjoyed the book. And to be honest we were really looking forward to the movie. Although, I was rather unsure how they were going to deal with some of the content.

Well, as it turns out, they skipped over anything that was of a darker nature, changed the story line, added characters, changed the gender of a character, even changed the nature of the characters (including the patronage). All of the symbolism from the book is gone. In its place is a nice movie. It has cute parts, funny parts, and then it's over. Snookie thought that the movie and book were two completely different parts... as in the book was part one and the movie part two.

The boys take on the book and the movie... they liked them both. Daddio enjoyed the movie as well. For me, I was disappointed, it was cute, but the film makers should have changed the name because it was a different story. (Plus the seats in the theater SUCKED!)

But a big thanks to Daddio for getting us out of the house for a movie and dinner.

And if you want to know why the title of this post has the word tail instead of tale... read the book!

History

Over the last few nights, once the kids are tucked away in their beds, we flip on the TV to watch the HBO special - John Adams (we rented it from Netflix). What an extraordinary film!

Paul Giamatti stars in this sweeping Emmy winner for Best Miniseries that chronicles the astonishing life of founding father John Adams: revolutionary leader, America's first ambassador to England, the first vice president and the second president. The iconic cast of characters includes Abigail Adams (Laura Linney), George Washington (David Morse), Thomas Jefferson (Stephen Dillane), Benjamin Franklin (Tom Wilkinson) and many more. (Netflix review)

This is one area of history is so important to teach in the schools, but is so POORLY taught. This film does an amazing job of setting the scene, and then drawing you into the personal lives of these quite amazing people.

I have to say, that my favorite story line is that of John and Abigail. GO... RENT THIS FILM! It is worth the time it takes to watch all 3 DVD's!

Feeling TIRED!

Wow... while I posted on Saturday poor Daddio was either passed out in the bed or making another trip to the bathroom. Like some many out there, he came down with the dreaded stomach bug of horror! Thankfully the vomiting only lasted Saturday, and his fever subsided on Sunday (on Saturday it got all the way up to 103!).

Since then I've kept my eye on everyone, looking, watching, waiting for the first signs of illness... I personally have a very weak stomach when anyone else is sick and must try to contain any illness with as little clean up as possible due to my own mess making issues. Thankfully I feel that I was able to keep the house under quarantine, between high powered cleaners and clorox wipes I was able to keep everything clean, and no one else seems to have been affected by the plague!

With all of the cleaning (still, I know, I have issues with germs), I've worn myself flat out! Today, though is Wednesday, and I've specifically designed Wednesdays to contain very little or no activity outside of the house... which means I can take a nap while the boys take a nap without worry! Woohoo!

Feeling Resolute!

This has been the first year that we, as a family, put pen to paper and formed a Family Resolution! Each person picked a virtue of sorts to focus on, and few items to reach for. So for your reading pleasures...

Daddio: Self-Control
-Complete 2 more CPCU tests (a profession designation thingy for insurance people)
- Read more/watch less TV
-Undisclosed weight loss by birthday (look fly by August)

Momma: Gentleness
-Reorganize menus/recipes/grocery lists so that all are GF
-Read more
-Loss 10 lbs by my birthday (look a little more fly by March) (so far I've lost 12 since Sept)

Bobcat: Perseverance
-Work harder in school
-Read the New Testament Reading during family bible time (currently reads the Gospel for us)
-Learn to ride bike
(one handed handstand like Luke Skywalker)

Bubba: Obedience
-Read more books
-Learn more about space
-Read the Holy Gospel during family bible time
-Make First Holy Communion
-Learn to ride bike
(forward flip in the air... no hands)

Snookie: Patience
-Become a better reader
-Learn to ride bike

Family:
-Rosary: one decade daily, one full weekly
-Monthly Confession (we always fall just a little short on this one)
-Camp at a new state park
-Spend more time with a ministry

Resolutions

MommaLlama has the list and will post the New Year's resolutions we drew up as a family last night. I will share a couple of my favorite suggestions that didn't quite make the cut:

Bubba: Learn a new trick. Like, maybe a front flip without touching the ground.
Bobcat: Learn to do a one-armed hand stand, like Luke Skywalker.
Snookie: Stay in a hotel.

It's good to have goals.

He's Here!!!

You have to go see the latest photo of our friends in the Valley.

Have you ever seen a more lovely pregnant mother? Dad and big sister are looking pretty fly, too! This is going to be one beautiful baby! Truly, that photo brought a tear of joy. Echoing Nicole's comment, there has never been a child more loved and desired before his creation. We can't wait to visit for the baptism!!!