Teaching Our Children Healthy Eating Habits
We are a fast paced society dependent on fast and convenient food. We have alternatives to this in our children's school lunches that may be beneficial to the health of our society.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/2089933/teaching_our_children_healthy_eating.html

Grandpa and Grandma are great!!

I will come back to the Disney trip later. Right now I want to say my appreciation to my In-laws for taking my kids for a week. As hard as it was to let them go as Brookelyn went this time too, it has been great to get some things done without them.
It is a lot easier to go through their things and re arrange their rooms when they are not in them trying to keep everything that you put aside. I am trying not to let them become pack rats like their Mom (who is getting better about that). I am actually going to be able to clean my own room and get rid of some of the stuff that I have packed away.
I was able to go to the JCPenney outlet without kids to keep track of.
I will be able to go to the grocery store without having kids tagging along wanting everything in sight.
I am looking forward to getting my kids back, as I do not like to see their beds empty; but for now, I am happy to be without them for a few days.

The next chapter...

After seeing the princesses and Mickey/Minnie Mouse', we then explored the park and rode some rides. There is a little area in the back of the Magic Kingdom where your kids can play on slides, and explore a play house. The kids really enjoyed it. The kids really enjoyed Pirates of the Caribbean (of course who wouldn't), Peter Pan's flight, Its a Small World (not my favorite, but great for kids, especially young ones). I can't say enough about Disney parks as they are very family friendly that even kids as young as newborn can ride many of the rides. The cast members are so helpful to the guests.

We are not even fans of parades, but their "Celebrate a Dream Come True parade" was great. It really captured our kids, especially the 2 year old. She just loved it.

The evening of our first day there, we enjoyed the "extra magic hours" at EPCOT --those are hours that only guests of Disney Resorts can enjoy, so the lines are much shorter and the characters that come out are hilarious. One of the evenings had Goofy chasing Donald and Donald hiding from Goofy.

Our second day we joined my parents and went back to EPCOT. That is where the more technological advanced rides are. This was considered the park of the future at its inception. There are a couple of space themed rides there. One of those is Mission:Space which gives you the sensation of lift off in a rocket. The G forces are quite amazing. Go orange!!

Another one is Spaceship:Earth. It is a slow moving ride that takes you through the technology of the past 2oo years to present/future. It is an interactive ride. Brookelyn fell asleep on it.

There is also a ride there called Test Track where you ride a car through a testing ground like landscape with it ending with a 70 mph curve (it broke down while we were on the ride the first time--so they gave us another ride).

There is another one about the movie: Finding Nemo. Mykids just LOVED that one as Nemo is one of their favorite characters.

Finally, the ride that my kids and husband keep mentioning is SOARIN'. It is a simulation ride of a hang glider that flies over California and it almost feels like the real thing as you can feel wind in your face, turbulance from airplanes, etc... . I won't tell all as I don't want to give it away.

EPCOT also has the best fireworks and we could see those from our hotel balcony.

more to come.......

To continue.....

We hadn't even made it to the house of mouse yet, so after our enjoyment with the princesses, it was time to move on to Mickey, the world's most famous Mouse. The bonus was that Mickey and Minnie were together. Once again --SCORE-- one less line to wait in.

Again, I will say that despite being with children all day, they seemed thrilled to see three more.

Here they are signing our girls autograph books. We would send Brianna and Bethany in first to get their books signed, then we would send Brookelyn in since she did not have an autograph book this trip ( we are saying this trip because one day we do hope to go back when she is a little older).

A cute thing that happened with Minnie and Mickey is that both characters would get down to eye level with Brookelyn and wiggle their noses at her. She thought that was so cute. So, not only do they cater to those kids that are in between, but also to the very young.

Brookelyn had a ball with all the characters.

Once again, I applaud Disney for finding great people to work in the character costumes for the enjoyment of little kids of the world.

My Dream Come True...

Finally, the moment had arrived. I was there, with my family, at THE Walt Disney World Theme park in Orlando Florida (actually Lake Buena Vista). For our first day in the parks we chose the Magic Kingdom, of course. It is the most kid friendly as far as I could tell. The night before we tried to plan a strategy as our daughters wanted to see the princesses, so we studied the map and in the morning after a leisurely ride on the monorail we arrived at the gate. As soon as our bags were searched and our tickets were read by the ticket eating machine, we made a beeline for ToonTown where a certain Mouse pair are rumored to hang out. On our way to the House of Mouse, we stopped at the venue where we saw a sign for princesses and fairies. We found out that the wait was about 60 minutes (princesses) and 100 minutes (fairies)and there were three princesses at the end of the line. Well, kill three birds with one stone means two less lines to stand in, so we got in line for the princesses

We decided to do something special for them and bought them autograph books for their character sightings, so autograph books and three daughters in hand, we got in the princess line. The actual wait was closer to about 40 minutes and at the end of the lines were the three princesses that they wanted to see the most -- Cinderella, Belle, and Aurora (Sleeping Beauty for those of you non-princess people). I had tears in my eyes as I looked at my 5 year old daughters' faces. They were faces of awe. I will never forget that reaction as a mom, seeing it all through their eyes was so amazing. I was so impressed how each princess treated each little girl like she was the only one in the room. She spent time with them and made each one feel special.

I do have a funny story to tell relating to the princesses. My youngest visited Cinderella and when she was done, she was ready to move on to Belle, though there was another family with her at the time. We removed our child from the other family's photo and when it was her turn to visit Belle, she brought her sisters with her and Belle made the comment that "oh, hello again, and you brought your sisters with you.". By the time that we got to Princess Aurora, they were calling My daughter by name.
Cinderella was the first princess that they were able to see.

Better Late than Never

I know, I know it has been over three weeks since we have returned from the happiest place on earth . Can I go back now? We had a wonderful time as a family and it truly was a happy time for all of us. I will spend the next few blog posts sharing our experiences and a few of our pictures.

We checked into our resort, yes we spent the extra money to stay in the Disney resorts, and it was well worth it. We checked into the Caribbean Beach Resort and were immediatly immersed into the laid back Disney life and Disney hospitality that I had only read about in books. As a resort guest, you get free parking and VIP treatment at the parks when you enter. You get the "friendly wave" at the parking gates. That was one of the best things of all.

The view from our room was better than I expected (see picture) and the room itself was awesome. Not only was I not expecting a corner room, but I was not expecting a room overlooking the garden courtyard. Since we chose a standard view room, I thought I would probably get parking lot view, not the garden view as shown in the above picture. This was taken from our balcony outside our room. We also had more windows because we were on a corner as well.

The resort is made up of three "islands" --Jamaica, Aruba, Barbados, Martinique, Trinidad North and Trinidad South. These islands all surround a man made water inlet which has beaches by each island. Each island also has a pool and you are not allowed to swim in the lake water. There is a main pool and food court between the islands of Martinique and Trinidad North which has a gift shop, restaurant, concierge services, and several food selections including pizza, salads, sandwiches, etc... . We stayed on the "island" of Aruba.

Stay Tuned for more of our trip of a lifetime.

3 more days

5 more days

I guess it depends on how you count. I prefer the method with the fewest days. If I count today and Saturday, it would be 6 days. If I don't count either Saturday or today, it would be 4 days. We leave really early on Saturday, so how many days is it really?

By the way, my island choices are Barbados, Martinique, Aruba, Jamaica. It is suggested that if you have children to take Martinique because it is nearest to the play area and beaches. Barbados is noisy because it is nearest to the custom house where you check in and find the restaurants. Hopefully, if I get to choose, I can get a quiet room overlooking the garden (our choice is either garden or parking lot in our standard room).

9 more days

Well, we have finally reached the mark of below the double digits. Yippee. Vacation cannot come soon enough. We will stop first in Mobile Alabama (if we get there in time for the church service) for a service at Christ Fellowship Baptist Church. It will be our breath of fresh air before we arrive at Pensacola Christian College. Then on Monday I hope to spend an entire day at the beach. Ahh, the thought of wiggling my toes in the warm white Pensacola sand and feeling the sun and hearing the ocean waves. That is the one part of living in the Midwest is the sound of ocean waves (though we lived 6 hours away from the Pacific, still it was nice to know that it was not too far) that I miss.
I am not sure what we will do on Tuesday yet as I do want to do a little sight seeing. Wednesday is the graduation from PCC and the college events surrounding it.
Then on Thursday we leave for beautiful Orlando, Florida. Home of the Happiest Place on Earth -- Walt Disney World.
Hmm, which island should we choose (if we get to choose) in our Caribbean beach resort? Now that is the question.

16 more days.

17 days to go

18 more days to vacation.

Tea Anyone?

There was this great opportunity here in Rockford and I took advantage of it. As you all know, I am a very political person and I make every attempt I can to be involved.

In 1773 there was this great American event called the Boston Tea Party where, any American should know, is where the colonists dressed as Indians and went aboard the English ship in Boston Harbor and threw all the tea overboard in protest of the high taxes that the English King George III had put on the American colonies.

In our country today we have high taxes. Our own government wants to tax us more and more for their new programs to rob from the rich to feed the poor. Today, here in Rockford, we said "enough is enough". We had a tea party here and it was great fun. We met by the river and walked along one of the busiest streets in town, where they collected all our tea in a barrel (the environmentalists asked them not to dump it in the river and they complied) to symbolize the dumping the tea in Boston Harbor those two hundred thirty six years ago.

We then walked to city hall and chanted "no more taxes" hoping for the mayor to show his face, but we learned that he was out of town, oh well, better luck next time. There were several waving people in the upper windows of city hall. Then we marched back by the newspaper offices and chanted "tell the truth". No one was anywhere visible. I wonder what they will print tomorrow!

I was amazed how much support we got from passersby. So many horns honking, thumbs up, and cheers from them. Even the police were having a good time with our PEACEFUL protest. Our local Senator and our U.S Representative showed up to show their support. Thank you, Senator Syverson and Rep. Manzullo for what you do for us and the cause.

Above are a couple of pictures that I took of the event. To see more you can also visit the website (above).

In Continuum .....

This is a continuation of the previous post about the school.

Because we have school choice, a friend and I studied, toured, prayed over what choices we should put on our request form. I narrowed it down to 4. These were the top 4 choices in the city that were within 10 minutes from me. Because of my central location, I am near several and thankfully 90% of the schools that would qualify in the 10 minute diameter from me are in the top 10 in academic scale for this particular city (which does not say much, unfortunately, but I think it is getting a little better slowly).
Anyway, back in February my kids and I toured three schools in anticipation of this day. We toured 1 school that had uniforms, a large Hispanic population, around 600 students, and a very nice large playground; we toured another school that was really small (my neighborhood school), in a nice seemingly quite neighborhood, high test scores, and a special education class (which does not matter too much to my needs); and we toured a school that is the most coveted school in the city and is really hard to get into. The grades there are the highest with exception of the gifted school, the atmosphere seemed to be really great, and the library was awesome.
We were awarded the first school that we toured, the great big one that I mentioned first (I hope this is not too confusing for you to follow, I am trying to keep all names etc... private). Being awarded this school was a great blessing from God as I mentioned in my previous post. I am excited about the uniforms, as it will make dressing my kids easier and less expensive. It will also help reinforce our modesty rules because as I read the information packet that I wasa given I found that the clothes have to have complete coverage as well as the skirts have to be the same length on all girls--to the end of the fingertips when standing/kneeling.
Another thing that I really liked was that the principal is observing all recess times as well as the classes only go out a grade at a time so there is not a 5th grader (for example purposes only) picking on a 1st grader. I really liked that. The school also seemed really secure and the staff was the friendliest of all three schools that I observed. It is only 7 minutes away (which may come in to be very important as every minute counts for me in the morning). And finally, the kids favorite part -- the gym has a climbing wall. The bonus is -- one of my kids' friends will also be attending Kindergarten there, so there will be a familiar face though they may not see each other often as they are in different grades.
I am really looking forward to seeing school plays, school band performances, and all the stuff that comes with the public education as well as just being home and being Mommy for a while and seeing what that is truly like. I am looking forward to picking them up and doing homework with them, while asking them about their day. I have been teaching them for two years now and I am just exhausted, stressed, and missing the formative toddler years of my youngest.
Now please pray along with us as we use this opportunity that God has given us to be a small light, but a light none the less, in the public school system.

Finally Over!!

After two long months of preparing, praying, and wondering, it is all finally over. Today was school registration day. I was up and at em (okay, maybe not at em, but I was up), at 7:00 and out the door by 7:35 this morning. I arrived at school registration office at 7:45. I can count at least three ways that God worked for me specifically today. The first is my number -- 11.
The registration was not scheduled to start until 9:00. I had put it all in God's hands, but still a little nervous as what if all the schools on my list are full and I have to scramble for another school that I know nothing about. As I sat down, I found the list of "closed" schools and found that only one from my list was closed to 1st grade. I thought "so far, so good, still three to go".
As time got closer the more nervous I got as I heard through converstions in the room that the majority of the parents in the first 10 parents there were looking for 1st grade and at least two of my schools were on most of their lists.
Finally, 8:45, the time came. About 10 minutes later my number was called, my required ID papers were approved, and my paperwork was issued. I hurriedly filled it out, keep in mind that unlike most of the other parents there I had to fill out paperwork for two children. I also had to find the same school for two kids in the same grade.
As I made my way through the registration tables, everything was great until I got to the last table before the meeting with the specialist who would issue the school. A small snag was found in my paperwork. I did not have the right form of ID and it was missed back at the first step. Thankfully and Providentially, she let me through anyway after I persuaded her that I called in February and was only informed of two forms of ID, not specific ID (the sign in the office confirmed what I told her). That is the second way that God worked.
The third way is the most miraculous in my mind (though they are all miraculous works). I waited for my name to be called for my school assignment. Finally the big moment and I went back to the desk for my meeting with my assigned specialist. She looked at my requests and said that my first choice was full (it had filled up at person #5). So that is two of my choices full. That was the best school in the city that everyone wanted and I just had it on my list as I figured that I could ask and the least they could do is say "no".
She looked at my second choice and said "I think that one is full too." My spirits sunk as I thought, "now what #4 is only on the list as a fall back school.". The specialist said, "well, let's see what we have at school #2" as she poked at her computer. "We do have two seats available in school #2," she said, much to my elated joy. I replied, "I will take them." So either God opened up those two seats for my kids, or she had gotten them confused with another school. Either way, I saw him intervene on my behalf, clearly. Praise the Lord for his mighty power and Providential work even in the little things like where I school my kids.
This is also the school that my kids liked after our school tours and one of their friends will be in Kindergarten at the same school, so they would have a familiar face. God is so good. Now it is over with and there is so much peace in my mind and heart.
In a future post I will describe the reasons why I like this school and the more I read, the more I like it.

That time of year again.

It is that time of year again -- March Madness. You either love it or hate it. I remember as kid, I hated the NCAA basketball tournament because it took place of my favorite shows that were on in the evening. Now I love it because every year a group of us fill out our brackets and are glued to the tv for several hours watching the games to see if our "teams" make it to the end. I am not interested all year in college basketball until this point, then break out the brackets, pens, chips and pop and away I go, cheering for teams that I have never even heard of.
I pulled out my trusty old Gonzaga t shirt last night to cheer those Bulldogs on to victory.
For those of you who hate sports, just bear with the rest of us until this madness is over.

GO ZAGS!!

The School Journey

This year a new school journey may begin for my beloved kiddos.
It is such an agonizing decision to be made and I have spent many nights in tears over it and I am sure many more will come.

Some of you all ready know this, but this year has been so stressful for me trying to get the girls school done, keep the house clean, as well as the other duties that come with being a home maker. I don't feel as though I am making much of a home for my family in this present situation. I want to be able to just invite people in without having people make an appointment two days in advance to come over and in the present situation, it would be impossible to not be embarrassed.

I know that private school is not an option due to financial/doctrinal issues, so our options are to continue the present homeschooling program (which is stressful to me) or to send the girls to the "dreaded" public school.
Why does the public school scare me so much? Is it because growing up I was taught that those public school kids are bad and I am better because I went to "Christian" Baptist School? Is it because they teach the kids the religion of secular humanism and evolution? I am not really sure. I am trying to discern the truth in those statements and find the realities.
I have begun my week with tours of two public schools and they were not at all scary or anywhere near what I imagined in my little kid dreams. I found them to be a place of learning, peace, calm, and structured routine. I was actually very impressed. My kids seemed to enjoy the environment as well.

Could it be that God may want us to have a ministry of some kind to the public schools? Could opportunity present itself through our children that might otherwise not be available. Children can really thrive even in the not so ideal environment if they are being taught the correct doctrinal/moral system at home. If they are grounded in the Word of God and its teachings, it can be a place of opportunity.
I look forward to this possible endeavor and exploring the many possibilities with my kids (even though I am still trying to have an open mind to homeschooling in the Fall) and making my home a more peaceful environment where I can just be mom.

Last but not least....

Utah: An elderly Mormon visits his doctor and asks if he'll live to be a hundred.
"Do you smoke or drink?" asks the doctor.
"Those have never and will never touch my lips," says the man.
"Do you gamble, drive fast cars, and fool around with women?"
"Nope, don't believe in doing any of that, either."
"Well then," says the doctor, "what do you want to live to be a hundred for?"

Vermont: What did the guy from Burlington say to the Pillsbury Dough Boy? "Hey, nice tan."

Virginia: You have seen the ad "Virginia is for lovers," well there is an elderly couple sitting chairs. The little old man comments, "In my day, Virginia was for people who were just friends."

Washington: In Seattle you haven't had enough coffee until you can thread a sewing machine while it is still running.

West Virginia: What is the West Virginia state flower? The satellite dish.

Wisconsin: Sven notices his neighbor has a sign in his yard -- "Boat for sale."
"Ole," he says, "you don't own a boat. All you got is your old tractor and your combine."
"Yup," said Ole. "And they're boat for sale."
(personally I thought the one for North Dakota is the one that fit Wisconsin to a tee).
Here is my take on Wisconsin (having lived there for a few years), What is a three course meal in Wisconsin? Cheese, brats, and a six pack.

Wyoming: Why are cowboys' hats turned up on the sides? So that three people can fit in the pickup.

Another day of jokes. Hey, 50 states takes a long time.

You can tell there is nothing going on in my blog world when all I can find for several days is state jokes, so here goes...

Ohio: How do you know you are from Ohio? You own only three spices: salt, pepper, and ketchup.

Oklahoma: How can you tell if an Oklahoman is married? There's dried chewing tobacco on both sides of his pickup truck.

Oregon: Howard dies and waits in line for judgment. He notices that some souls go right into Heaven, while Satan throws others into a burning pit. But every so often, instead of hurling a poor soul into the fire, the devil tosses him aside. Curious, Howard aska Satan, "Excuse me, but why are you tossinghim aside instead of flinging them into hell with the others?"
"They're from Oregon," Satan replies. "They're too wet to burn."

Pennsylvania: What do you call an Amish guy with his hand in a horse's mouth? a mechanic.

Rhode Island: There is nothing for Rhode Island, maybe because it might as well be part of Connecticut.

South Carolina: While fishing off Myrtle Beach, a Yankee tourist capsized his boat. Petrified he yelled to an old guy standing on the shore, "Are there any gators around here?!"
"Naw", the man hollared back, "They ain't been around for years."
Feeling safe, the tourist started swimming towards shore. Halfway there, he asked the guy, "How'd you get rid of the gators?"
"We didn't do anything," the old guy said, "The sharks got 'em."

South Dakota: A tough old badlands rancher once told his grandson that the secret to long life was to sprinkle a little gunpowder on his oatmeal every morning. The grandson did this religiously, and he lived to be 93. When he died, he left 14 children, 28 grandchildren, 35 great grandchildren --- and a 25 foot hole in the wall of the crematorium.

Tennessee: Do you know what you get when you play a country tune backward? You get your job back, your house back, your wife back, your dog back ... (that is only the oldest joke in the book).

Texas: Kinky Friedman, entertainer and former Texas gubernatorial candidate, explains how to speak Texanese: 'Y'all is singular. All y'all is plural. All y'all's is plural possessive. "

I will finish next time.

oops, forgot one in order.

Nebraska: A farmer was standing beside the road when a man drove up in his car. The farmer says to the man, "Just keep driving. When something changes, you'll know you're out of Nebraska.

Okay, I think I have lost my one reader.

Massachusetts: Lewis Black on Boston traffic: "The last person to get across town in under three hours was yelling 'the British are coming! The British are coming!'"

Michigan: What do you call 40 guys watching the Super Bowl on television? The Detroit Lions.

Minnesota: What are the four seasons in Minnesota? Almost winter, winter, still winter, and construction.

Mississippi: How do you know whey you're staying in a Mississippi hotel? When you call the front desk and say, "I've gotta leak in my sink," and the person at the front desk says, "Go ahead."

Missouri: A man from Kansas City walks into a bar and asks, "Wanna hear a joke about people from St. Louis?"
The bartender says, "Listen, pal, I'm from St. Louis, and I won't appreciate it. The man sitting next to you is 265 pounds, and he's from St. Louis too. And the bouncer, that huge guy over there, is also from St. Louis. So do you still want to tell that joke?"
"No, "says the guy from Kansas City. "Not if I have to explain it three times. "

Montana: Four women are driving across the country together, each one from a different state: Idaho, Nebraska, Montana, and California. Shortly after the trip begins, the woman from Idaho pulls potatoes from her bag and throws them out the window. "What are you doing?" asks the Nebraskan.
"We have so many of these things in Idaho, I'm sick of looking at them."
A moment later, the gal from Nebraska pulls ears of corn out of her bag and tosses them out the window. "What are you doing?" asks the gal from Montana.
"We have so many of these things in Nebraska, I'm sick of looking at them."
Inspired, the Montanan opens the car door and kicks the Californian out.

Nevada: Las Vegas: All the amenities of modern society in a habitat unfit to grow a tomato. (Jason Love)

New Hampshire: The state motto is "Live Free or Die," which appears on license plates made by prisoners. (Jon Stewart)

New Jersey: As you know, the bear hunting in New Jersey is a little bit different. First they shoot the bear and then they bury it in a construction site.

New Mexico: Traveling outside Taos, a man comes upon a Native American lying in the middle of the road with his ear pressed against the blacktop. "What are you doing?" asks the man.
The tribesman replies, "Woman, late 30s, three kids, one barking dog in a late model, four-door station wagon, traveling at 65 mph."
"Amazing! You can tell all of that just by listening to the ground?"
"No," says the Native American. "They ran over me five minutes ago."

New York: I moved to New York City for my health. I'm paranoid, and it was the only place where my fears were justified. (Anita Weiss)

North Carolina: On his first trip to Boston, the North Carlinian met a girl at a bar and asked her, "Do you go to Harvard?"
The girl responded, "Yale."
"Okay. DO YOU GO TO HARVARD?!"

North Dakota: What's a seven course meal in North Dakota? A hamburger and a six pack.

jokes continued ...

Here is the next installation of 50 jokes for 50 states. Da Da Da Da....... .....

Kansas: What do a jack knifed semi in Ohio, a guy getting a divorce in Alabama, and a tornado in Kansas have in common? They're all fixin' to lose a trailer.

Kentucky: How do you know the toothbrush was invented in Kentucky? If it'd been invented anywhere else, it would have been called a teethbrush.

Louisiana: What differentiates a zoo in Louisiana from other zoos? The Louisiana zoo has a description of the animal of the front of the cage, along with a recipe.

Maine: After surveying property along the Maine and New Hampshire border, some engineers decided that the boundaries needed to be changed. So they stopped to tell a farmer that he was no longer in Maine, but in New Hampshire. "Good", said the farmer, " I couldn't take another one of those Maine winters."

Maryland: An admiral is standing by a candy machine at the Naval Academy in Annapolis when he stops a plebe walking by. "Sailor, do you have change for a dollar?" "Sure buddy", says the plebe, rooting around his pocket.
"That's no way to address an officer! Now let's try it again. Do you have change for a dollar?"
The plebe snaps to attention and barks, "No sir!"

50 jokes for 50 states continued

Delaware: A DuPont chemist walks into a pharmacy and asks the pharmacist, "Do you have any acetylsalicylic acid?"
"you mean aspirin?" says the pharmacist.
"That's it, I can never remember that word."

Florida: My parents didn't want to move to Florida, but they turned 60 and that's the law (Jerry Seinfeld)

Georgia: How do you know when you live in Georgia? When all the directions start with "Go down Peachtree..." and include the phrase "When you see the Waffle House...".

Hawaii: There was an old woman who lived in a shoe... and also had a time share in Hawaii.
(there is a picture showing an old woman sitting on a flip flop on the beach).

Idaho: Want to join a militia? Idaho's your state. Here are some terms to learn: Commander --Whoever starts the unit.
Second in Command --- His best friend.
Auxialiary Commander -- His wife.
Captain -- New guy.
Militia Headquarters -- The basement of whoever has the fax machine.
Squad -- Guys in the ambulance who come out when a militia member accidently shoots himself during training.

Illinois: This is how Chicago got started. A bunch of people in New York said, "Gee, I'm enjoying the crime and the poverty, but it just isn't cold enough (Richard Jeni)
Here is mine: The state where our Governors make license plates. -- I actually heard this one somewhere, but I can't remember where to give that person the credit, but it is so true, so I couldn't resist.

Indiana: (this is a comic with a picture of a guy in a bar with a shirt that says "I Love Gary". The guy next to him at the counter is looking at him funny. The comment on the bottom is "It is not what you think... I'm from Indiana.")

Iowa: What do they call 100 John Deere's circling a McDonald's in Iowa? Prom night.

50 jokes for 50 states

I found this also in Reader's Digest. I thought it was hilarious (some anyway). I will do several a day until I get to all 50.

Alabama: When a visitor to a twon in Alabama spotted a dog attacking a boy, he grabbed the animal and throttled it with his bare hands. An impressed reporter saw the incident adn told him the next day's headline would scream "Valiant Local Man Saves Child by Killing Vicious Animal."
"I'm not from this town," said the hero.
"Then," the reporter said, "it will say 'Alabama Man Saves Child by Killing Dog.'"
"Actually," said the man, "I'm from New Hampshire."
"In that case," the reporter grumbled, "the headline will be 'Yankee Kills Family Pet.'"

Alaska: An Alaskan was on trial in Anchorage. The prosecutor leaned menacingly toward him and asked, "Where were you on the night of April to October?"

Arizona: It's so hot in Arizona, cows are giving evaporated milk and the trees are whistling for dogs.

Arkansas: An Arkansas state trooper pulls over a pick up truck on I-40. He says to the driver, "Got any ID?"
The driver asks, " 'bout what?"

California: The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), the FBI, and the CIA want to see who is best at catchint perps. So a rabbit is realeased into the forest, and each of them has to catch it.
The CIA goes in. They place animal informants throughout the forest. They question all plant and mineral witnesses. After months of extensive investigation, they conclude that rabbits to not exist.
The FBI goes in. After two weeks with no leads, they burn the forest, killing everything in it, including the rabbit.
The LAPD goes in. They come out two hours later, dragging a bruised mountain lion behind them. The mountain lion is yelling, "Okay! Okay! I'm a rabbit! I'm a rabbit!"

Colorado: How do you know you're in the presence of a real Coloradan? He carries his $3000 mountain bike on top of his $500 car.

Connecticut: What's the difference between Massachusetts and Connecticut? The Kennedy's don't own Connecticut.

that's it for today. Stay tuned for the next few.

Lord of the IKEA?

As my only reader knows, I am a huge fan of the Lord of the Rings and IKEA, I thought this was quite funny. See if you can guess. This came from Reader's Digest.

IKEA product or Lord of the Rings character?

1. Faramir 2. Freden 3. Grundtal 4. Boromir 5. Molger 6. Galdor 7. Freda 8. Agerum 9. Babord 10. Frodo 11. Grima 12. Akurum 13. Brunkrissla 14. Sultan Hogbo

Oh the Crazy Day!!

I don't know what started it all, but it was justa very crazy day. I started to wonder if I should have gotten out of bed this morning. Now that I think of it, maybe I will go crawl back in.
I got up later than I intended, oh big surprise, which usually leads to a shorter day to do the stuff that I need to get done.
I went do do some errands that I wanted to get done before the snow started to fall, when you have three girls, toilet paper is an important thing to have around. I have one child who either hates cold or her car seat, not sure which at this point. If it is cold, I truly understand as I am not too fond either. If it is the car seat, I can't say that I enjoy the seatbelt, but I am so used to it that I really don't notice it anymore.
Anyway, where I am going with this is that we were in the car on one of our busiest streets here in town and the baby was crying uncontrollably. I had all ready yelled at her to be quiet and that did not work (when am I going to learn that it does not work to yell?). I had tried one of her favorite toys and that did not work either. FInally, I was stopped at a light and I figured "maybe her hands are cold" so I turned to put her mittens on her and apparently my foot left the brake pedal as I bumped the car in front of me.
I felt so embarrassed. When we pulled into a parking lot and looked it all over, I was so relieved that there seemed to be no damage to either vehicle, just a little wounded pride on my part. I apologized profusely to the poor man in the other vehicle while I was very thankful for bumpers on cars. Thankfully I don't think he is going to report it as he did say that there is nothing to report.
I think God was giving me a wake up call that I was being very selfish this morning in how I was treating my baby and now I am very thankful for that little reminder.
I expected my husband to be upset, but he said that he had done the same thing before. I didn't feel quite so bad then.

To Have and To Hold

Well, my only sibling got married last Saturday. Yes, poor guy went through with it.
It was a very beautiful wedding that not only married two people, but also married two cultures. He is a Caucasian American and she is Mexican American. There are many cultural issues that I was not aware of for weddings.

Did you know that the groom's family in the Mexican culture pays for all the wedding expenses? I didn't either. What a great idea. That would prove how much he really loves her.

In Mexican culture a wedding is a time to celebrate, so break out the sangria and tortillas as there will be a PARTY!! It is a huge event in the family's life so everyone and their friends are invited. The invitation goes out and they bring visitors to the weddings so it makes it hard to plan and many times there are large elaborate decorations and large elaborate dinners.
So was the case. ( I will post pictures as proof as soon as I get them, but they are in my mom's camera, so who knows how long that will be, hopefully soon).

They had this elaborate canopy that was decorate with lights, ribbon, greenery, icicle lights, and beaded jeweled crystals. The railings on the front of the altar were also decorated with greenery, lights, Christmas tree bulbs, ribbon, and a silver garland that made things just shimmer. They covered the floor with a cotton cloth to look like a snowy winter wonderland.
In the aisles were light strand on each side of the pews all the way up the aisle to light up the aisles, tall vases filled with the crystal jewel strands, a glow stick, and a piece of silver greenery. I had the priviledge of helping decorate for this happy occasion.
The reception place was also decorated. There were supposed to be two receptions, and I decorated for the first one. This one was supposed to be cake and punch. Well, I decorated and got the punch ready in the fountain and had the fountain running. There was no cake to be found. Come to find out, the bride's mom had forgotten to pick up the cake at the store, so there was a reception with no cake, hilarious.

Usually there is a large dinner afterward. The bride's mom owns a restaurant, so they catered it and we had Horchata (a rice milk with vanilla and cinnamon), a "pollo" dish which is interepreted as chicken. Along with the chicken were Mexican rice and refried beans served with tortillas. Nothing like a nice warm tortilla with chicken and beans in it. Yummy!! I had several.

When it was time to depart, of course the groom could not wait and my cousin yelled out "Have fun", much to the embarrassment of my brother, the groom, who stood there red faced.
I had not shed a tear during the whole ceremony, I laughed when the pastor told them that they had kissed long enough, but I could not hold back any longer when it was time to go and he told me that he loved me and thanked me for everything I had done. That was such a special moment that it brings tears to my eyes today, even though they are well on their way to their cruise for their honeymoon.

HOME

AAHHH, my own bed, my husband, and my kids. Not on the slow moving train anymore. YIPPEE!!

If it could go wrong on this train trip, it did. We started out being bussed from Portland OR (I from Pasco, WA) to Spokane WA so we could catch the train that was waiting for us t here as it would have started out at 10 hours late. They were trying to get the train back on schedule as many trains had been up to 22 hours late going across the Northern half of the country due to adverse weather conditions (supposedly and I beg to differ that not all were weather related).
Somewhere between Williston ND and Stanley ND, the baggage car froze up, so we ended up stopping for about 2 hours while they unfroze it. The problem with that is that they initially did not tell us anything. We were just stopped at 2:00 am in the middle of the black night in the middle of the open prairie leaning sideways. We could not find any train personnell anywhere and no one answered the call lights. There is no emergency number for the train, so there was this eerie feeling in the pit of the stomach as though something isn't quite right.
Before this, we were stuck behind a freight train that had some engine trouble, so we were waiting there for an hour while they changed the engine on the freight train.
Station stops seemed like they took longer than the scheduled time, so every little thing added time onto the train ride.
By the time we reached the Wisconsin state line we were 7.45 hours late (apparently picking up that 15 minutes in the twin cities helped a little) and I knew that I would not make the last bus to the destination city from Chicago and had to prepare to either have my ride pick me up in Chicago at 12:30ish AM or come to a different destination to pick me up. We chose the latter and I am so glad I did. I was happily in bed before the train ever reached Chicago.
Needless to say, I did call the train company this morning just to let them know that it would be nice if they would communicate with their passengers a little better because we are in their hands while we travel that mode of transportation.
I still think it is a fun way to travel if you are patient and have the time and are aware that you may be late (my total wait time was 14.75 hours -- 7 going west bound and 7.45 going east bound).

HOMER\

Popcorn and Preaching?

I know you are wondering how those go together. So was I. I told my dh and he just gave me a knowing laugh.
I visited my parent's church for their New Years Eve service and we did the normal Baptist thing and ate and ate, had preaching (if you could call it that), games, and testimony time.
Then they did this "popcorn preaching" thing where the "preacher boys" got up and preached 5 minute sermons. In about three instances, they were given a verse that night and given 15 seconds to look at it, then 3 minutes to preach on it. Maybe I am just an ignoramus woman, but tell me how much study can really be gotten in 15 seconds?
How much true change can take place in a 5 minute sermon, or would any life changing decisions just be made all on the basis of emotion? Have I just gotten so used to the meat of the Word and the long sermons that a short sermon of that nature just does not seem quite right?
I grieve that preaching is sometimes thought of as entertainment or not taken seriously. Preaching is a very serious undertaking and should not be taken lightly.
Tonight my dad made the comment that he thought the "preaching" was really good last night. I made the comment that not much studying could have taken place for those sermons. He replied that he got the same things out of those verses that they did. Does this prove how simple minded people can be or am I just being overly critical?
One of the verses from the book of Colossians mentioned the elect of God and I just wanted to shout out "Do you really know what that verse is talking about", especially when you read the context of the verse.
One of the sermons, the preacher asked the same question that I have for numbers oriented churches. "If you have 3000 people saved this year (as the church claims), where are they? Why are they not being discipled? Why are they not in church? Someone finally had the guts to ask that question. The answer that can be given is that no one is taking the time to do it.
Tell me, what is better -- living a life that pleases God and people can see Him in us and taking time to witness when the opportunity is presented before us; or going from house to house in our culture today and/or shoving the Bible down the throats of complete strangers just so that you can say that you "got someone saved" and having that high number on the record books.
It grieves that so many of these "saved" people may have made the decision to get people of their doorstep, or because they felt manipulated into a decision, or were pushed down an aisle and have no real concept of what true salvation is --repentance and declaring Jesus Christ Lord of your life. Forever changing and walking with Him.