Kids in CANDYLAND

Gracie had a grand time

The kids just loved to play!

As you have probably guessed this took a lot of work. After it was all done Russ asked me (more than once) if it was worth all the work to me. I feel like it is. I enjoy doing parties it is something I like to create and I feel like it is okay to celebrate big over my little boys life (I did NOT spend a lot of money) but since it is something that I can not usually pull off on my own, I will not be doing this every year.

A HUGE thank you to my 14 year old niece who drew the Candy land characters for me. I just gave her the game and some poster board and viola! She is AMAZING. I colored then and she would have done a much better job, but I could not ask her to give up any more of her time.

Also I want to thank my in-laws for having the perfect backyard for Candy land, it made it a lot of fun.

Halloween Re-cap

I have been meaning to add some Halloween to this blog but things just kept coming up. Well here it is - our Halloween 2008

First of all - here we are at our church Trunk-or-Treat. Here is the cutest kitty I have ever seen. She would even say, "mow-mow"I made this dress for my costume because I wanted a green dress. I will probably post about making it on my other blog some time.Here is Cat woman sucking on a hot dog bun.and here she is five minutes later still sucking on it. This picture was taken right before we hunted down the garbage can and a napkin to get rid of that mess. Teething? Here is Robin showing Batman how to get the doughnuts off the string and Batman was not interested after that. I think that was actually because the girl working the booth spoke a little too forcefully to him when he tried to get it with his hands.He did win in the cakewalk and here he is consuming his goods.Here he is with all his loot. He thought it was a lot and he does not need any more than this.Here is Cat woman trying a tootsie roll
Here she is lounging with the tootsie still in her mouth.Here she is in the bathtub with it still in her mouth. I took it out after this.On actual Halloween night we went to our friends house. William got to go trick-or-treating with his buddy Carter. Carters little sister Kiley had her birthday that day so we went over for a party.
With LOTS of yummy food.
Here they are ready to save the world. Look our Christian Bale - we may have found a replacement.Here he is going up to a scary house with his hand on the hilt of his batman sword (he bday present from his mom and dad) ready for action. He decided candy was not worth the scary houses. After telling people "thank you" for giving him candy he would say "Happy Trick-or-Treat" instead of Happy Halloween.Here is poison Ivy giving Robin the kiss of death.

On the way home that night we were driving slow down the kids filled streets and William would yell happy Halloween out the window to everyone. Not everyone heard and that disappointed him, but it was nice anyway. Holidays are getting progressively more fun as he gets older.

I hope you all had a wonderful Trick-or-Treat.

I don't believe so

Yesterday started off pretty good. I woke up feeling better than I had yesterday (sore throat) and Russ was still home sick. I took the opportunity to go get my hair trimmed and thinned. This always feels so good. Then I hit the Farmers Market and it was jumpin'. I asked the clerk why it was so busy and she said she thought it was the economy and now people feel it is worth their time to save money (you save a lot of money at the Farmers Market). On they way home I was thinking about the economy again and feeling like I really need to get some more food storage. The plan is to have a full 3 month supply by the beginning of next year. When I got home the mood of my day quickly changed. I saw this video online.

Does anyone else think the woman SCREAMING "stop the hate" in that guy's face may be just a little bit hypocritical? Maybe that is just me. I have been called a discriminator, a haterosexual, a bigot, and probably much more on the internet simply because I decided to vote how I believe. I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. I DO NOT HATE HOMOSEXUALS. In searching blogs arguing both sides of this issue I came upon an argument for Prop 8 that was able to express my feelings and since I am not the best writer and I don't have the time to devote to writing all that I would like to I will be posting some of it here (in italicized orange). If you would like to read the whole argument go here.
"I am not politically incorrect. I am not intolerant. I am not an uneducated ignorant redneck racist homophobe bitterly clinging to my religion and guns."
Neither am I!
"And churches in California are vandalized. Homes with "Yes-On-8" banners on their garages are graffitied with words like "bigot" and "intolerant". I've watched internet videos of liberal rallies where passing supporters of the War in Iraq were physically attacked and verbally insulted."
It has been my experience that Liberals want everyone to be happy and have their lifestyle and beliefs - everyone but conservatives. I would also like to mention that seeing you picket outside our Holy Temple does NOT make me want to vote differently. If anything It makes your situation worse.
"In the name of "development" and "equality", liberals refer to conservatives as "*#@-holes", "inbreds," and "nazis" in most of the message boards that I read. Religious groups, especially Mormons, are spared no relief from this special treatment. In case you missed it, California is airing an ad depicting 2 Mormon missionaries entering a same-sex couple's home where they steal their wedding rings, raid their house (including their underwear drawer), and ultimately rip up their marriage license.Liberals and other supporters of "No-On-Prop-8", you do not understand Yes' position. There is no agenda to ruin your lives or happiness. While I cannot speak on behalf of all "Yes" voters, I can tell you why I would vote yes with two major reasons. And I will do so in a 100% non-religious argumentative stance.
1. Marriage is the unit in which a biological family is legally sustained.
2. Same-sex marriage does not aggrandize societal progression."
I voted yes for the same reason, but also on top of these, to protect my religious freedoms and people trying to deny me this is discriminating me.
"Same-Sex Marriage Does Not Aggrandize Societal Progression In the way explained above, marriage is an institution that is beneficial to propagating and progressing society. Therefore, it is counter-intuitive for the government to promote something that, if practiced by all the population, would ensure its destruction in one generation.Say what you want, but same-sex union is inherently counter-intuitive to a society that tries to progress because those would-be parents stifle their contribution of genes, talents, and resources to the next generation..."
"...You are trying to say that Yes on 8 is "discrimination". You are absolutely right in the context that man+man or woman+woman does not equal man+woman in the propagation of societal well being. While man and woman will always be equal, the combinations of such are not so"
I know it frustrates people, but marriage between a man and a women and a same sex marriage are NOT the same (Should I draw a diagram?) and therefore would not be in put in the same category of marriage.
"An individual gay person has 100% of the same civil rights as a straight person. What you and other No Voters want is to redefine marriage, not to add a level of equality. You are not as an oppressed nation, nor are you an aggrieved race. You are not asking for more individual freedoms. You are asking to redefine marriage so that it encompasses your alternative lifestyle. You are asking to change an existing civil institution, not to be treated better. Please see how this is different from the African-American civil rights movement or women's suffrage. Your voice matters as does your happiness in this country. We acknowledge that you are worth as much as anyone else. The institution itself is what is being evaluated, not you as an individual. Marriage is what is being protected, not a man and his relationship with a woman."
This paragraph sums up my feelings really. I was asked to vote if I believed that marriage is between one man and one woman (gays are mentioned NOWHERE) I said "yes" and now I am a bigot - it does not make sense to me.
"Dear People who vote no on Proposition 8,I do not hate you. I do not wish to act like a bigot towards you. I merely vote yes to preserve the moral ethic that I believe is integral to the institution called marriage. To me, there is nothing more honorable than a family, nor is there anything as beneficial. I believe that the government betters society when it protects the institution of marriage to be conducive to the overall aggrandizement of the nation."
I couldn't have said it better myself.

In closing I would like to say that as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, I know that I will be discriminated against and hated and I am okay with that. It is my choice to believe the way I do and I do not expect everyone else to accept. I also know that being a red head with freckles I will not be accepted my everyone and that is okay too. I am okay with myself. If you hate me or hate that I voted "yes" on 102 that is okay, I just wanted to state why I did and say in my corner of the internet that I do not Hate. I do not need the approval of others to make my life complete.

At the risk of getting hate comments, here it is.

Rock the Vote

This morning Russ and I got up early to go vote (our mail in ballots never showed up). We got there 15 minutes before the polls opened and there was about a five yard line (not typical) but that is good, I am glad people are voting. It was really cold and Russ' Robin costume was in the car so I put it on (just the shirt). Russ was laughing at me, but I was warm (er).

Here I am four years ago the evening before the polls opened. Good thing I did a mail in ballot. I had to wait to push until my doctor got there and I can still hear him grumbling about all the traffic the Kerry supporters were causing.

GO VOTE! I will watch your kids if you need me to.

So good you could go nuts!

We woke up early on Friday and danced the birthday dance (we were pretending it was his birthday because we would be gone on his actual birthday). Since William LOVES doughnuts and gets to eat them probably less than ten times a year we thought we would take him to Krispy Kreme. Gracie wanting William to share with himWilliam obligingMommy was sharing too and making the awesome "happy mommy face"Gracie had learned how to fold her arms......and she is pretty dang proud of herself.How old are you?
"I don't want you to take a picture of me mom."I love this picture. Just look at this little happy family. Sigh.

This was the start of a crazy Halloween day.

1,2,3,4

Like I said, yesterday was Williams birthday. I can't believe he has been here four years already but then at the same time it is really hard to remember my life without him. Here are some picture of him at every age.

0

1

2

3

4

There are no words to describe what it has been like to watch this boy grow so I won't even try. He teaches me everyday and has made me grow so much as a person. Plus he makes me laugh a lot - like when he was climbing off the bathroom counter and did not realize the toilet lid was up. I heard him yell out and ran to the bathroom to find his leg in the *clean* toilet and his hands on the ground. Luckily he did not get hurt and after we cleaned him off I started to chuckle (because it is kinda funny). When he asked why I was laughing I told him I thought it was silly that his foot was in the toilet and he got a very serious look on his face and said, "we don't put legs in the toilet - that's gross." and walked out of the room. At least I taught him one thing right.

Thank you for loving me and telling me (unprompted) everyday. You'll never know how much I love you back - until you have a child of your own.

Today...

...is William's birthday. Russ is in Prescott hunting and I am in Snowflake attending the sealing of my Grandparents. The kids are at Russ' parent's house. Don't worry - we celebrated William's birthday yesterday and his birthday party is next week.
Let's hope Russ will have more success hunting this weekend then he did last weekend. All he caught last weekend was a lot of dirt in his eyes from riding the quad. (He is 95% sure he shot a quail but could not find it anywhere).And this is what they looked like the next day. Let's also hope that this is his last hunting trip EVER!