Private Blogs

Okay- everyone is going private lately! I'm missing out on freinds' and families' blogs because I can't remember all the URL's and they don't update in my Reader when they go private. Whine! lol So if anyone who reads MY blog has a private blog, PLEASE leave a comment and give me the URL again. I'm a space cadet, I know, I'm sorry. I promise I will make a bookmark list for them and I'll never ask again. Als0- comments will be moderated on this one, so you know it will be private. :) Thanks gang!

The Squirrels Did It

Hannah is my cuddle-bug. Such an easy going, simple, happy child. :) Fun kid, that one. Today she ran up to me, in a state, shrieking "MOM! There's milk and CEREAL on the TABLE!!(EVERYTHING is super dramatized in Hannah's world.)" I told her that it was okay, and that she could clean it up and she replied, quite calmly, "I didn't do it. The squirrels did it." We're always dealing with those crazy squirrels. Oh, and the lions and tigers and baby bears and spiders and kittens and every other creature under the sun. Hannah loves animals. And babies. :) She is a natural born mother. :) What great kids I've got.

Aspen turned seven in February (I can't remember if I mentioned that already or not) and recently lost her seventh tooth. :) How coincidental. She's doing really well in school. We're considering home schooling her next year, just to keep her busy enough. That kid is as sharp as brass tacks. Jacob is getting ready to compete in the Hershey Track Meet next month. He's very excited. This morning he woke me up, fully dressed, and said "Mom! It's 6 o'clock! Let's go running; we have to practice!". Ha! That crazy kid. Spencer is gearing up for kindergarten this year. I think the teacher he gets had better be a stalwart soul. That boy is a big ball of energy. I, for one, will be happy for a break. lol Then it will just be me and Hannah for a few hours every day. What will THAT be like??

In other news, I tore through my LAST pair of contacts Monday night. Allergy season has kicked in for me and all the eye-rubbing is hard on those little guys. Seeing (haha- SEE what I did there?) as it was my last pair, and I don't have glasses, I was forced to go in and finally order a pair. Thank goodness my prescription was still good- for eyeglasses only, unfortunately, not contacts. So I'm back to specs; I've actually kinda missed them. :) They'll get here in a week, and in the meantime, the lady at the vision center was kind enough to give me one last trial pair of contacts to get me though. Whew!! ShopKo ROCKS!

That's it, I guess. We don't have any major news to report. We're excited for Easter this weekend. Our Easter tends to last all weekend, since we made a deal with the Easter Bunny. He comes to our house a day early (Friday night) so we can spend Sunday focusing on Christ, instead of finding our baskets. So glad that he's flexible like that. :) What Easter traditions do you have?

Ha.

This one pretty much explains itself. I'm thoroughly disgusted with pretty much ALL of our elected officials right about now. I won't go into a long, drawn-out political commentary here. This is not a political blog. I just feel like I have to say SOMETHING.

"I'M MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANY MORE!!" Howard Beale~ Network

You can't be alive and breathing, and possessing a TV or internet, right now and not know who Glenn Beck is. If you haven't yet, check out his 9-12 Project. I think the concept is fantastic. Here are the 9 principles and 12 values that he espouses:

9 Principles

1.	America Is Good.
2.	I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life.
	God “The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the external rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained.” from George Washington’s first Inaugural address.
3.	I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.
	Honesty “I hope that I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider to be the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man.” George Washington
4.	The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.
	Marriage/Family “It is in the love of one’s family only that heartfelt happiness is known. By a law of our nature, we cannot be happy without the endearing connections of a family.” Thomas Jefferson
5.	If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.
	Justice “I deem one of the essential principles of our government… equal and exact justice to all men of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political.” Thomas Jefferson
6.	I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results.
	Life, Liberty, & The Pursuit of Happiness “Everyone has a natural right to choose that vocation in life which he thinks most likely to give him comfortable subsistence.” Thomas Jefferson
7.	I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.
	Charity “It is not everyone who asketh that deserveth charity; all however, are worth of the inquiry or the deserving may suffer.” George Washington
8.	It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion.
	On your right to disagree “In a free and republican government, you cannot restrain the voice of the multitude; every man will speak as he thinks, or more properly without thinking.” George Washington
9.	The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me.
	Who works for whom? “I consider the people who constitute a society or a nation as the source of all authority in that nation.” Thomas Jefferson

12 Values

• Honesty
• Reverence
• Hope
• Thrift
• Humility
• Charity
• Sincerity
• Moderation
• Hard Work
• Courage
• Personal Responsibility
• Gratitude

I find that these principles and values are perfectly in line with what I believe and the foundations with which I try to govern MY life. Please take a look at the website, if you haven't already. I think we're in a place in our country and in history, that, more than ever, we need to take a look at our lives and our hearts and make sure that we're anchored to the right stuff. Tough times are coming. We all need to buckle up, and make sure that our houses are built upon the rock- not the sand. :)

Nothing New

So I haven't been blogging much lately, because there's not really anything new to say! lol The kids are all doing well and growing too fast. Duke says that we've got to stop feeding them so that they'll stop growing. lol This is not a popular idea. The weather's starting to get nice. Warm enough for short sleeves and shorts (in the afternoon) but not hot. I love it. Hayfever should be kicking in anyday, though, and then I'll be miserable. Duke's still loving his job, and he's getting ready to be promoted by the end of the month. School is definitely tougher than I thought it would be, but then, I knew my naivete wouldn't last very long. :) I've turned in a few papers in English and got them all back with A's on them, so that's pretty cool.
Duke's mom came up to visit us for a few days this month. It was sooooo awesome to see her and to get to spend time with her. I'm so glad that I have a mother-in-law that I get along with- I love love love her. She's such an awesome support. The kids had A BLAST spending time with her, too. She camped out in their bedroom and read stories to them and played candyland and introduced us all to popcorn with Hot Tamales in it. That stuff is surprisingly good. Honestly, I never wanted her to go. We keep hoping we'll get Duke's family up here closer to us. It would be nice to see them more often. Suffice it to say, we all miss Nanna Vi very much, and can't wait to see her and Papa Shane again when they come up for General Conference. Hopefully we'll be able to go down to Vegas for a bit this summer and see the whole clan.
Well, that's about it. I gotta plug Macey's new Fuel Rewards program while I'm online. It's GREAT! They've partnered with Flying J to give discounts on gas. The more you spend in groceries, the more you save on gas. Macey's is pretty good, as far as prices go, and Flying J is usually the least expensive gas within a 5 mile radius, already, so it feels like double savings! Today I picked up groceries for 2 weeks (I'd rather do one BIG shopping trip than several small ones), and next time I fill up at Flying J, I'll get 20 cents off every gallon!! I have a big tank, and I saved over 7 dollars last time. That really adds up!! So, if you haven't already, check it out. I'm pretty happy with it.

Charity Auction

Hey everyone! Just a quick reminder that we're running a charity auction over on the other blog. Let me know if you need the link and I'll be happy to email it to you!

Thanks!!!
Heidi

The next generation is WEIRD. Cute. Sweet. Super Awesome. But WEIRD

I'm pretty sure that my kids were hatched on a spaceship somewhere and transplanted into my home. They do the most BIZARRE things.

Evidences #1, #2 and #3: Frugality
These kids are just plain strange. The first hint I had of this was when they begged me, BEGGED me to bring lunch from home. Huh? Yeah- I would have DIED to have school lunch when I was a kid. Warm bologna sammich and slightly-less-warm milk in my thermos? No THANK YOU. But no. MY kids want to take home lunch so badly that it almost reduces them to tears. And I know for a fact that school lunch isn't bad. It's not like mystery meat and lumpy potatoes with unidentifiable goo on them. They get GOOD lunches. Then, when we can't find their lunch boxes anywhere, do they say "Well, I guess we'll just have to have the pizza and chocolate milk the school is providing tomorrow"? No way, man. They said "It's okay. We'll just take it in a Wal-Mart bag. No big deal." Seriously. I am not even kidding you. I think I had to pick my jaw up off the floor. Yeah. They're nuts.
Another proof that my kids are extra-terrestrials, posing and adorable blond children is this: Jake came home from school the other day with a big rip in the knee of his jeans. Of course I told him that if he was going to keep tearing up his jeans, he'd have to start buying his own. To which he replied, "Oh, it's okay mom. We can just patch it." WHAT?! You want to go out in public with patched denims?? I had to lie down for a bit after that.
Over Presidents Day weekend, we got up late one morning. The kids were trying to decide what to have for breakfast and settled on cold cereal- I've been making them eat heart-healthy oatmeal every morning... I think that's getting old. :) Anyway, *bad news* we didn't have any milk. So I offered freezer waffles instead. They weren't having any of THAT! I was promptly informed that they could just make do with CANNED MILK. No joke. Again, I would rather have gone without food ALL DAY, as a kid, than eat my cereal with reconstituted canned milk. Where have these kids come from???

Evidence #4: Diet
Aside from their now near-Pavlovian avoidance of oatmeal, I have never seen kids eat as healthy as mine, at least, not voluntarily*. They constantly have fruit in their hands (actually eating it). I try to keep a good on-hand supply of apples, oranges and bananas around, and if I ever run out... well, you'd think the world was coming to an end! And if I bring home "special" fruits- like clementines or grapes or *GASP* strawberries(!!!)- I'm nominated for Best Mom in the UNIVERSE. Smoothies are like the Nectar of the Gods. It's not just fruit either. I don't understand it, really. When I was a kid there were only 4 kinds of veggies I would eat (corn, peas, green beans and carrots) and even those would make me gag involuntarily. These kids FIGHT- yes, you read that right, they FIGHT- over who gets the last few pieces of broccoli or cauliflower in the bowl. You'd think it was brownie batter or something. They have SECONDS of salad, and only eat half their lasagna. Carrot sticks? They'll cart the bag all around the house munching on them and I find little orange bits in my bed, in the bathroom, under the couch cushions.
*This particular quirk, I'm afraid, does not apply to Spencer- only Jake, Aspen and Hannah. Spencer will only eat cheeseburgers, quesadillas, egg burritos and fruit snacks. He would go for DAYS without food (if I'd let him) rather than eat anything else. If you get anywhere near him with anything that was once a living plant, he runs screaming. Except for bananas and smoothies... he likes those. Even the promise of that dream-of-all-dreams (Sherbet Push-Ups) will not entice that child to eat anything else. I've resorted to sneaking healthier stuff into what he will eat, a la The Sneaky Chef. At least he likes chewable vitamins. If he didn't, I'd be in trouble. That kid is STUBBORN... I wonder where he gets that from...

Evidence #4: Cleanliness
Okay- so Spencer is the only one who seems to exhibit THIS particular trait, but it still seems weird. I used to have to chase my little brothers around with a garden hose and a bar of soap to get them clean. He'll just decide, AT LEAST once a day, that he needs a shower. He'll turn it on, get undressed and just hop right in. ALL BY HIMSELF (Obviously, I supervise him- just felt I should throw that out there.) without any coaxing from me. Clearly some kind of Vulcan personality flaw or something.

So. What do you think? Is this incontrovertible evidence that my kids are aliens or what? Where the heck is Mulder when you need him?

HAHAHAHAHAHA..... AHAHAHA!

Ever get one of those scam emails from Nigeria? Check this out:

Congratulations: URGENT RESPONSE NEEDED - Payment Notification of your UNCLAIMED STIMULUS by Ernie Mannix

Congratulation:

FROM: MOST HONORABLE SPEAKOR PELOSI + ALL CONGRESS

MINSTERS FINANCIAL - WASHINGTON DC
CAPITOL BUILDING
WASHINTON DC
AMERICA

TO: ALL HONARABLE NOBLE CITIZANS OF AMERICA

RE: YOUR UNCLAIMED STIMULUS

CONGRATUALTION! On this honorable day for us, we beeseech you for the favor of your reply in kind. The time is now for your urgent action to be taken for the securing your stimulus wealth. I am mandated to make this acknowledgement officially to you by the powers and CHANGE imposed on me.

For years we make the genorous payments for anyone in our country and so many of the peoples of the world. At this great time of joy for our America, we want to be sure you get yours.

IT IS WITH HAPPYNES make this offering for the greatness of our Hope/changed future. During the last financial records/audits conducted with bad last President. All went into pool of darkness. Now with new Hope Change President in the year 2009 and by the HONARABLE CONGRESS PEOPLE, we find you need some STIMULUS Happyness.

ON OR BEFORE APRIL 15 2009, please to file your correct information needed to secure your STIMULATION. KINDLY FORWARD THE FOLLOWING FOR TAX RECOMFIRMATION:

1) Your full name and ID #……….

2) All you childrens 529 plans # (however diminished)

3) Your 401K account # (However destroyed)

4) Phone, fax and mobile #……………

5) Former Company name, position and address…………..

6) Former Profession, age and marital status………………

7) Unemployment check amount………………..

7a) Foreclosed Mortgage account info

9) (Califorina only) I.O.U. TAX REBATE number.

10) Cobra Heathcare acct #

As soon as the above information are received, your payment will be Made available to you via an international (UPhishS) courier delivery in voucher for promises which will Be delivered to your doorstep for your confirmation or via CSPAN. Your urgent response to this mail will help facilitate the onward conclussion of this transaction without and further delays.

In case, I sincerely apologies for the delay of your payment and all the inconveniences that we might have indulge you through the next 4 years. HOWEVER - MANY GREEN jobs to come for you and you children. Condoms for all. No more Christmas lights for bad enviorment. And dont forget to change your TV antennas and enjoy the HIGH DEF..

WISHING YOU STIMULATED,

ALL THE CONGRESS OF AMERICA