Happy Halloween! Here is a jeweled spider that each of the children made. We had a great time making them and these little creepy crawlers are now hangin' out in our decorations.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Bedazzled Spider
Happy Halloween! Here is a jeweled spider that each of the children made. We had a great time making them and these little creepy crawlers are now hangin' out in our decorations.
Model Helicopter
My dear husband and our wonderful children have had more of a chance to spend time together over the last couple of months. One of their new endeavors is making a model helicopter. Our children are loving working with their Dad on this model (basically a 'manly' craft in my mind). On the same table I had glue guns out and was working on my crafts. We have had some tremendously enjoyable evening around the table crafting, laughing and talking.
Our little ones are especially loving the paint and particularly the metallic paints. They are enjoying their time with their father tremendously.
Our little ones are especially loving the paint and particularly the metallic paints. They are enjoying their time with their father tremendously.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Up, Up and Away...
Our little crew went to our first ever Hot Air Balloon Festival. We had a lovely picnic dinner sitting in a field (in the shade for my cute husband) and watched Hot Air Balloons soar right over our heads. We could hear the blasts of hot air and often were able to see straight up into the balloon! Our children loved spending time together playing frisbee and enjoying time outdoors together. I enjoyed the music, the beautiful balloons and (of course) the adorable company.
As the sun went down the festival held what is called 'Balloon Glow' and 'Balloon Twinkle'; with all of the balloons firmly anchored to the ground the MC counted down and all pilots lit their fires in their balloons and caused a beautiful glow. They also did what was called a 'Balloon Twinkle' - each pilot lit the fire separately (to music) and caused the balloons to have a twinkle effect. It was beautiful. Riding in a Hot Air Balloon is definitely on my list of things to do!
Monday, September 20, 2010
Politics... (unfortunately) As Usual
On September 21, 2010 the Defense Authorization Bill will be voted on. Subversively hidden in between the lines is the 'DREAM Act'. The DREAM Act sponsors have long fought to sabotage a clearly worded provision in the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act that states:
"Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an alien who is not lawfully present in the United States shall not be eligible on the basis of residence within a State (or a political subdivision) for any postsecondary education benefit unless a citizen or national of the United States is eligible for such a benefit (in no less an amount, duration, and scope) without regard to whether the citizen or national is such a resident."
From what I understand, this means that children of illegal immigrants that have become high school graduates are not allowed specialized treatment OVER children whose parents are national citizens of the United States of America. This law does NOT state that a student cannot apply and work their way through a college career. While living in Mexico we saw many youth who were applying to colleges in the United States of America. Some were accepted and others were not - all of these youth were from Mexico with parents residing in Mexico or with proper working papers in order for employment in the U.S.A. Their acceptance or denial thereof was based on MERIT! What more could honestly be asked?
We need to make sure that all nationalities, religions, races and genders realize that they must earn their privileges to attend post-secondary education. We MUST eradicate the mentality that all children are entitled to funding, etc. that would make education possible. We must return to the mentality that we must work for the betterment of ourselves, our cities, our states and our collective nation. This sense of entitlement that is the basis for the DREAM Act is at the root of many of the ills that plague our nation.
"Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an alien who is not lawfully present in the United States shall not be eligible on the basis of residence within a State (or a political subdivision) for any postsecondary education benefit unless a citizen or national of the United States is eligible for such a benefit (in no less an amount, duration, and scope) without regard to whether the citizen or national is such a resident."
From what I understand, this means that children of illegal immigrants that have become high school graduates are not allowed specialized treatment OVER children whose parents are national citizens of the United States of America. This law does NOT state that a student cannot apply and work their way through a college career. While living in Mexico we saw many youth who were applying to colleges in the United States of America. Some were accepted and others were not - all of these youth were from Mexico with parents residing in Mexico or with proper working papers in order for employment in the U.S.A. Their acceptance or denial thereof was based on MERIT! What more could honestly be asked?
We need to make sure that all nationalities, religions, races and genders realize that they must earn their privileges to attend post-secondary education. We MUST eradicate the mentality that all children are entitled to funding, etc. that would make education possible. We must return to the mentality that we must work for the betterment of ourselves, our cities, our states and our collective nation. This sense of entitlement that is the basis for the DREAM Act is at the root of many of the ills that plague our nation.
Ice Cold Lemonade!
Our little ones wanted to have the experience of running a Lemonade Stand this summer. So, I planned a family yard sale (to de-clutter our home) and out little munchkins advertised, marketed and made much more money than I ever did on a Lemonade stand!
The adorable little advertisers drew in people off the street. Our Little Jedi hired (yes, I said hired) two neighbors to run up and down the streets to attract buyers at both cross streets and paid them with a portion of the proceeds or the option to choose an item from the yard sale! When a family stopped at the yard sale our little advertisers would ask those left in the car if they would like Lemonade! We finally had to close the stand because we ran out of cups!
All our children had a great time, enjoyed making money and I was SO impressed with their ingenuity and management skills!
The adorable little advertisers drew in people off the street. Our Little Jedi hired (yes, I said hired) two neighbors to run up and down the streets to attract buyers at both cross streets and paid them with a portion of the proceeds or the option to choose an item from the yard sale! When a family stopped at the yard sale our little advertisers would ask those left in the car if they would like Lemonade! We finally had to close the stand because we ran out of cups!
All our children had a great time, enjoyed making money and I was SO impressed with their ingenuity and management skills!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Quotable Quotes
First was heard the sound of breaking plastic and metal.
My cute husband: "Are you all right, dear?"
Me: "Yes, but I just broke the scale." (Our bathroom weight scale.)
My cute husband: "Um... that is one phrase I never hoped to hear my wife say!"
Unfortunately I stepped on the window of our weight scale - and I guess it isn't quite as sturdy as the places where your feet are supposed to go... who knew?
My cute husband: "Are you all right, dear?"
Me: "Yes, but I just broke the scale." (Our bathroom weight scale.)
My cute husband: "Um... that is one phrase I never hoped to hear my wife say!"
Unfortunately I stepped on the window of our weight scale - and I guess it isn't quite as sturdy as the places where your feet are supposed to go... who knew?
Friday, September 10, 2010
Politics - What we can do!
On September 8, 2010 House Republican Leader John Boehner called for immediate bipartisan action on a two-point plan to address the economy and excessive spending. Boehner’s plan calls on Congress to first pass a bill that would scale back government spending to FY 2008 levels – before the TARP and bailouts. Not only would this provide fiscal discipline (imagine that), but it would save an estimated $100 billion of taxpayer money this year alone. The second leg of the plan calls to enact a two-year freeze on all current tax rates. This would thwart the largest tax hike in our nation’s history and give families and small businesses certainty of what to expect next year.
Immediate and decisive action must be taken. Boehner’s “freeze and cut” proposal is a necessary step for Washington to resuscitate the fragile economy. Furthermore, this plan would prevent a lame-duck Congress from writing another bloated spending bill. House Republicans have heard your concerns this summer and will continue to fight for fiscal discipline and relief from an overbearing government.
If you would like to provide feedback on Leader Boehner’s new economic proposal, I encourage you visit his America Speaking Out submission by clicking here.
Immediate and decisive action must be taken. Boehner’s “freeze and cut” proposal is a necessary step for Washington to resuscitate the fragile economy. Furthermore, this plan would prevent a lame-duck Congress from writing another bloated spending bill. House Republicans have heard your concerns this summer and will continue to fight for fiscal discipline and relief from an overbearing government.
If you would like to provide feedback on Leader Boehner’s new economic proposal, I encourage you visit his America Speaking Out submission by clicking here.
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