Anyway... these didn't turn out quite as well, but they are still cute. I think that I now want to save up for a good camera, and maybe a photography class in the future, because it is really fun!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
A few more...
After seeing Brylee's pics, the girls decided that they wouldn't mind having a few pictures taken. The boys, still, wanted nothing to do with it. I think that I probably could have talked Michael into it, if the older to boys weren't around. *sigh* They are getting too big! A few years ago they would have been excited to get their pictures taken.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Experimenting
For a long time, I have wanted t be able to take good pictures. I don't have a nice camera, and I won't be able to afford a nice camera anytime soon - but, I kept thinking, there has to be some way to take some decent looking photos with my cheap digital camera. I started reading online, and found alot of helpful sites that offered some really good tips.
So with a $40 camera, Picasa (free photo editing program), and Brylee (the only one of my 6 kids who was willing to have her picture taken) I got the following pics:
They are far from professional, but I think they turned out cute!
So with a $40 camera, Picasa (free photo editing program), and Brylee (the only one of my 6 kids who was willing to have her picture taken) I got the following pics:
They are far from professional, but I think they turned out cute!
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Alysa's story
My Wild Thing
by
Alysa Roberts
My Wild thing's name is Aly. She looks hairy and has sharp teeth. Aly has black claws. My wild thin eats cheesy nachos. She like to do cartwheels because her favorite thing to do is gymnastics. We play together at the park. We go to the hair styler and get new hair styles. We see other monsters at the hair stylers. They look cute. They have cute hairstyles. My wild thing and I like to be together.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Report Cards
My girls got their report cards today, I am so proud of them! As much as I have managed to screw up everything else in life, I feel like I have done at least one thing right in raising my kids - so far! I am so very proud of both my girls!!!
Alysa
Reading: A
Writing: B
Math: A
Science/Health: A
Social Studies: A
As far as Exceptional, Satisfactory, or Needs Improvement - everything was Exceptional or Satisfactory.
Teacher Comments:
Alysa is an accomplished reader for 2nd grade. She approaches reading with a positive attitude and demonstrates a good understanding of what she reads. She is making good progress in her fluency, as well as comprehension. Alysa willingly participates in classroom discussions, gives her best effort on most assignments, and maintains a positive attitude toward school. She has show excellent understanding of math concepts. Keep up the good work!
Adalyn
Ady had two report cards - one for the Gifted And Talented Program (GATE) and one for her regular classroom.
GATE
In GATE, they don't get letter grades. They grade them Excellent, Satisfactory, or Needs Improvement in 12 different areas - 6 in Life Skills and 6 in Thinking Skills. Ady had Excellent or Satisfactory in all areas.
Teacher Comments:
I am so proud of Adalyn for qualifying for the GATE program. She demonstrates excellent work habits and shows enthusiasm for learning.
Classroom:
Reading: A
Writing: A
Math: A
Science/Health: A
Social Studies: A
Everything evaluated as Exceptional, Satisfactory, or Needs Improvement was graded as Exceptional.
Teacher Comments:
Adalyn is making exemplary progress. She is a responsible student and puts effort in her work. Adalyn participates in class, and it is evident through class discussion and written work that she comprehends the material. Adalyn is curious and enthusiastic about learning. Her writing is well organized, and she has begun expanding her ideas to be more descriptive and to include more details.
Adalyn works well independently and assumes a leadership role when working in a group. She is cooperative and helpful. It is a pleasure to work with such a conscientious, well - mannered student. Thanks for the help from home.
Alysa
Reading: A
Writing: B
Math: A
Science/Health: A
Social Studies: A
As far as Exceptional, Satisfactory, or Needs Improvement - everything was Exceptional or Satisfactory.
Teacher Comments:
Alysa is an accomplished reader for 2nd grade. She approaches reading with a positive attitude and demonstrates a good understanding of what she reads. She is making good progress in her fluency, as well as comprehension. Alysa willingly participates in classroom discussions, gives her best effort on most assignments, and maintains a positive attitude toward school. She has show excellent understanding of math concepts. Keep up the good work!
Adalyn
Ady had two report cards - one for the Gifted And Talented Program (GATE) and one for her regular classroom.
GATE
In GATE, they don't get letter grades. They grade them Excellent, Satisfactory, or Needs Improvement in 12 different areas - 6 in Life Skills and 6 in Thinking Skills. Ady had Excellent or Satisfactory in all areas.
Teacher Comments:
I am so proud of Adalyn for qualifying for the GATE program. She demonstrates excellent work habits and shows enthusiasm for learning.
Classroom:
Reading: A
Writing: A
Math: A
Science/Health: A
Social Studies: A
Everything evaluated as Exceptional, Satisfactory, or Needs Improvement was graded as Exceptional.
Teacher Comments:
Adalyn is making exemplary progress. She is a responsible student and puts effort in her work. Adalyn participates in class, and it is evident through class discussion and written work that she comprehends the material. Adalyn is curious and enthusiastic about learning. Her writing is well organized, and she has begun expanding her ideas to be more descriptive and to include more details.
Adalyn works well independently and assumes a leadership role when working in a group. She is cooperative and helpful. It is a pleasure to work with such a conscientious, well - mannered student. Thanks for the help from home.
Monday, November 9, 2009
quote
I really, super, LOVE the following quote that my friend Kaylyn sent me:
"Ideas are only lethal if you suppress and don't discuss them. Ignorance is not bliss, it's stupid. Banning books shows you don't trust your kids to think and you don't trust yourself to be able to talk to them."
- Anna Quindlen
Anyone who knows me at all, will know that I am very against banning books. In fact, I have gone to the extreme of choosing books to read off of the most frequently banned book list. In my opinion, these books really inspire people to THINK. More specifically, they inspire people to think outside of the nice, comfortable, little box that we are all suppose to fit in. I am proud to say that I have never, and will never fit inside that box.
I am also against censoring books from our children. We cannot shelter them from real life. And by attempting doing so, we are sending them the message that we don't really trust them, and we don't really believe that they are capable of thinking. Open and honest and constant dialog with our children is the ONLY way that we can show them who we really are - our beliefs, our morals, our values. I really believe that opening their eyes to the horrible things in our world and discussing it with them, will not encourage them to be bad people - it will encourage them not to be.
"Ideas are only lethal if you suppress and don't discuss them. Ignorance is not bliss, it's stupid. Banning books shows you don't trust your kids to think and you don't trust yourself to be able to talk to them."
- Anna Quindlen
Anyone who knows me at all, will know that I am very against banning books. In fact, I have gone to the extreme of choosing books to read off of the most frequently banned book list. In my opinion, these books really inspire people to THINK. More specifically, they inspire people to think outside of the nice, comfortable, little box that we are all suppose to fit in. I am proud to say that I have never, and will never fit inside that box.
I am also against censoring books from our children. We cannot shelter them from real life. And by attempting doing so, we are sending them the message that we don't really trust them, and we don't really believe that they are capable of thinking. Open and honest and constant dialog with our children is the ONLY way that we can show them who we really are - our beliefs, our morals, our values. I really believe that opening their eyes to the horrible things in our world and discussing it with them, will not encourage them to be bad people - it will encourage them not to be.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Book Review: Playing with the Enemy
Playing with the Enemy - Gary Moore -A
"Gene Moore was a country boy who could hit a baseball a country mile. He was so good that the Brooklyn Dodgers came calling. When Gene's baseball career was interrupted by WWII, he joined the U.S. Navy, and in 1944, he found himself on a top-secret mission: to guard German sailors captured from U-505, a submarine carrying an Enigma decoding machine. Stuck with guard duty, Gene taught the enemy how to play baseball. It would be a decision that irrevocably changed his life... and maybe our national pastime. Inspired by true events, Playing with the Enemy is the story of a young man's brush with destiny during an extraordinary time in our country's history."
This book is based on true events. The author, is the main character's son. For me, that made the story even more fun and interesting. I am not a fan of baseball, and war stories usually just confuse me. Even though this book was both, it was one of the best books that I have read.
The book itself, was very well written and easy to read. The story is amazing. Even though, I have never really played baseball, I found myself really identifying with, Gene, the main character. I felt as if I was standing in his shoes. During the book I cried, I laughed out loud, and by the time I read the last page, I was inspired.
Playing with the Enemy, made it to the top of the best seller list, shortly after being printed. This is pretty impressive considering that it is Gary W. Moore first novel. This book is definitely worth reading!
Halloween!
Halloween is one of my favorite holidays! I love to dress up with the kids!
This year, Ady decided very early on that she wanted to be a High School Musical Cheerleader. She really loved the HSM costume that she saw in the Disney Store. I, however, was not about to pay $60 for a costume she will wear once. So I got on ebay. I got a the exact HSM cheerleader costume she wanted for $5 - including the shipping. You can't beat that!!!
Alysa was dead set on being the Corpse Bride for Halloween. She loves that movie! Well, of course, they don't sell an actual Corpse Bride costume, so we had to improvise. I had an old bride costume that was just her size, and a skeleton costume that didn't fit anyone in the Halloween box. So, we cut the bones out of the skeleton costume, and sewed them under some holes in the bride costume. She wore one of the skeleton gloves and slippers, so that half of her was skeleton and half was not, like in the movie. I thought it turned out pretty great! That was a pretty original idea she had!
Brylee has been obsessed with vampires, ever since she saw Twilight. So, of course, that is what she wanted to be. She wanted to be a "girl vampire" wearing a dress. There are alot of those costumes out there - but, of course, none of them were her size. After alot of searching online, we found a cheap one at Walmart that was exactly what she wanted. She had to wear her Sketchers with the costume because, her Sketchers make her run fast, and vampires are fast!
I decided that I wanted to dress as a 1920's flapper this year. And Brian dressed as a 1920's gangster.
My friend Kris came over, and we took the kids to the houses in our neighborhood. We started early, and it only took about an hour. Their Halloween baskets were completely full, though! Then, we just came home and hung out with our friends Kris and Mitch, and Adam and Dustann, handed out candy, and let the kids play and watch a Halloween movie. Nothing exciting, but it was fun!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Italian Festival
The day after the Bite of Las Vegas, we decided to go across town, to Henderson, to the Italian Festival.
We ate alot of really good italian food, and Ady and Aly participated in a Spagetti eating contest. We were just getting ready to head over to the grape stomping contest when Brylee starting complaining of a stomache ache. I felt her head, and she was burning up. So we headed home. We didn't get to stay for to long, but we had fun in the time we did have!
We ate alot of really good italian food, and Ady and Aly participated in a Spagetti eating contest. We were just getting ready to head over to the grape stomping contest when Brylee starting complaining of a stomache ache. I felt her head, and she was burning up. So we headed home. We didn't get to stay for to long, but we had fun in the time we did have!
Bite of Las Vegas
On October 17th, our family and a bunch of our friends and their families went to the Bite of Las Vegas Food and Music Festival. I had bought my tickets about a month and a half in advance (for half price - only $4 a piece) and had been not-so-patiently waiting for what seemed like FOREVER!
The Bite of Las Vegas is a huge concert in the Desert Breeze park. Katherine McPhee, Parachute, Uncle Kracker, Blue October, and Train were playing. The girls and I were super excited to see Uncle Kracker and Train. We LOVE Uncle Kracker's song "Smile". Ady, Alysa, and Bry were all dying to hear Train's "Meet Virginia". I was really waiting to see Train's "Drops of Jupiter".
One of my favorite things about these outdoor concerts (Like the Bite of Las Vegas and the Petapalooza) is that there is no seating. We just bring a big blanket and sit on the grass. And there are a ton of free games for the kids, and food vendors that sell food for pretty cheap.
Unfortunately, Train did not end up playing because their lead singer was sick with the flu. Bry was really mad because she REALLY wanted to hear "Meet Virginia". She says that that song is about Grandma James. lol!
Even without Train, we still had ALOT of fun! Uncle Kracker was great!!! They had Blue October play last, in Train's slot (a local band, that was pretty good, played in Blue October's slot). That actually worked out better, because Blue October isn't a band I was dying to see. So we only stayed to hear "Hate Me", their one song that I really like, and then we left ahead of the traffic.
On the way out, we saw the cops asking some guy to leave. Well, he refused to go, so the cops tackled him down and arrested him. This all happened right in front of us, as we were walking out. The girls were freaking out. I thought it was a good learning experience for them. I asked them, "Did that look like fun? Do you want to be tackled to the ground and handcuffed by the cops?" They all yelled, "No!!!" at the same time. "Well, then you better not EVER break the law!" I told them. :) I can be such an evil mom sometimes! But in my opinion, all kids need a good healthy fear of being arrested to keep them out of trouble!
I have added some songs from Blue October, Uncle Kracker, and Train to my playlist on the sidebar of my blog, for those of you who are unfamiliar with the bands.
The Bite of Las Vegas is a huge concert in the Desert Breeze park. Katherine McPhee, Parachute, Uncle Kracker, Blue October, and Train were playing. The girls and I were super excited to see Uncle Kracker and Train. We LOVE Uncle Kracker's song "Smile". Ady, Alysa, and Bry were all dying to hear Train's "Meet Virginia". I was really waiting to see Train's "Drops of Jupiter".
One of my favorite things about these outdoor concerts (Like the Bite of Las Vegas and the Petapalooza) is that there is no seating. We just bring a big blanket and sit on the grass. And there are a ton of free games for the kids, and food vendors that sell food for pretty cheap.
Unfortunately, Train did not end up playing because their lead singer was sick with the flu. Bry was really mad because she REALLY wanted to hear "Meet Virginia". She says that that song is about Grandma James. lol!
Even without Train, we still had ALOT of fun! Uncle Kracker was great!!! They had Blue October play last, in Train's slot (a local band, that was pretty good, played in Blue October's slot). That actually worked out better, because Blue October isn't a band I was dying to see. So we only stayed to hear "Hate Me", their one song that I really like, and then we left ahead of the traffic.
On the way out, we saw the cops asking some guy to leave. Well, he refused to go, so the cops tackled him down and arrested him. This all happened right in front of us, as we were walking out. The girls were freaking out. I thought it was a good learning experience for them. I asked them, "Did that look like fun? Do you want to be tackled to the ground and handcuffed by the cops?" They all yelled, "No!!!" at the same time. "Well, then you better not EVER break the law!" I told them. :) I can be such an evil mom sometimes! But in my opinion, all kids need a good healthy fear of being arrested to keep them out of trouble!
I have added some songs from Blue October, Uncle Kracker, and Train to my playlist on the sidebar of my blog, for those of you who are unfamiliar with the bands.
me and Brylee
Ady
Alysa and Brian
Scarlett and Kris
Dustann, Adam and Baby Ashton - Brian, Alysa, Ady
Showing off their face paint
Uncle Kracker
Monday, October 26, 2009
The Fab Four
One of the benefits of giving blood here in Vegas, is that they give you free show tickets for donating. Brian and I both went to give blood on Saturday the 26th of September and left with 4 free tickets to see The Fab Four - a Beatles impersonation group at the Planet Hollywood on the strip.
We decided that since the girls are such huge Beatles fans, that we would take them. I got online and bought one more ticket, and we headed over to the Planet Hollywood.
The show was awesome! Everything was live, so I was completely amazed at how much they sounded like the Beatles.
The girls LOVED it. They were singing along, and dancing in the aisle. It was so cute! It was all they could talk about for days. It was really right up there with Disneyland for them! The only complaint came from Brylee. She was super mad that they didn't sing, The Yellow Submarine, because that was her favorite song!
After the show, the girls wanted to go get their tickets signed by the band. The band members were all so cute with the girls! They told them that they saw them dancing in the audience, and they loved it. They asked them each what their favorite Beatles song was, and were really impressed that they each had a couple. They promised Bry that they would sing The Yellow Submarine the next time she came!
If you are a Beatles fan, and are ever in Vegas, I highly recommend that you go and check out The Fab Four!!!
waiting in line for the show
Tribute to John Lennon
Meeting "Paul" after the show
We decided that since the girls are such huge Beatles fans, that we would take them. I got online and bought one more ticket, and we headed over to the Planet Hollywood.
The show was awesome! Everything was live, so I was completely amazed at how much they sounded like the Beatles.
The girls LOVED it. They were singing along, and dancing in the aisle. It was so cute! It was all they could talk about for days. It was really right up there with Disneyland for them! The only complaint came from Brylee. She was super mad that they didn't sing, The Yellow Submarine, because that was her favorite song!
After the show, the girls wanted to go get their tickets signed by the band. The band members were all so cute with the girls! They told them that they saw them dancing in the audience, and they loved it. They asked them each what their favorite Beatles song was, and were really impressed that they each had a couple. They promised Bry that they would sing The Yellow Submarine the next time she came!
If you are a Beatles fan, and are ever in Vegas, I highly recommend that you go and check out The Fab Four!!!
waiting in line for the show
Tribute to John Lennon 
Meeting "Paul" after the showPhoenix...again
Over the weekend of September, 18th, we went to Phoenix to visit Brian's brother Mike, and his wife Misty, and their kids Kelsy, Conner, and Zoe.
We didn't have alot of time to spend there - we got in late Friday night, and left Sunday morning. But we did have alot of fun Saturday, just hanging out a catching up. Mike and Misty's new house has a pool and a hot tub, so we really enjoyed that!!! Brian is now thinking that we need a hot tub too!
On the way home from Phoenix, we decided to stop by a little town called Chloride, about a hour outside of Vegas. They have some cliff murals, and Indian petroglyphs that we wanted to see. Unfortunately, the road was washed out, so we weren't able to make it up the canyon. We will have to go back a different weekend with the truck. So, we just drove around the town for a little bit, and then headed home.
Overall, it was a good weekend though! It is always fun to hang out with family and friends!
We didn't have alot of time to spend there - we got in late Friday night, and left Sunday morning. But we did have alot of fun Saturday, just hanging out a catching up. Mike and Misty's new house has a pool and a hot tub, so we really enjoyed that!!! Brian is now thinking that we need a hot tub too!
On the way home from Phoenix, we decided to stop by a little town called Chloride, about a hour outside of Vegas. They have some cliff murals, and Indian petroglyphs that we wanted to see. Unfortunately, the road was washed out, so we weren't able to make it up the canyon. We will have to go back a different weekend with the truck. So, we just drove around the town for a little bit, and then headed home.
Overall, it was a good weekend though! It is always fun to hang out with family and friends!
Friday, October 23, 2009
Hair identity crisis
So, for the last four years I have been growing my hair long. And it got long. Really long for me. It was also getting really hard to take care of. So I decided to cut it shorter.
I went to the salon the Thursday before labor day weekend (and our death valley trip). It turned out hideous. It was some weird shoulder length mullet looking mess. I kept it pulled back into a ponytail for the entire weekend. There is no pictures of this cut. It was really bad.
So, Tuesday, I went to another hairdresser (at Salon Indigo) to get it fixed. She cut it in a cute, chin length layered bob. I liked it, okay. I kept it cut like that for about two or three weeks. But, I wasn't really happy.
I went to the hairdresser (Salon Indigo), and had her whack it all the way off. Super short. It was so weird. I have had short hair a majority of my adult life - but still, I couldn't get over the feeling that four years was gone in about 45 minutes. It gave me some crazy anxiety - which is even weirder. I was always the girl that was willing to do anything to my hair. My hairdresser in high school always used me to "try out" new haircuts. I had realized what a security blanket my hair had become to me.
Anyway, I am not sure that I like it now. I wanted more of a short "messy" pixie style. But my hair is too fine, and just won't do that. I am not sure that I like it. But I am still glad I did it. I am thinking I am going to grow it out - but not grow it out just for the sake of growing it out. I want to try lots of different hairstyles in between. And maybe I will find one I REALLY like in the process. I think it will be fun and exciting!
I plan on posting pictures of all my new hairstyles. So please leave comments. BE HONEST! If you like it the best long. Tell me. I promise that you are NOT going to hurt my feelings. If you like it, tell me - if you don't, tell me. I really appreciate honestly!!!!
Long hair
Medium Hair
Short hair
Okay - not the best pic. And for the record, I am not really that weird. Maren always makes a "mean face" in her pics, and I was trying to copy her. It didn't work out so well.
I went to the salon the Thursday before labor day weekend (and our death valley trip). It turned out hideous. It was some weird shoulder length mullet looking mess. I kept it pulled back into a ponytail for the entire weekend. There is no pictures of this cut. It was really bad.
So, Tuesday, I went to another hairdresser (at Salon Indigo) to get it fixed. She cut it in a cute, chin length layered bob. I liked it, okay. I kept it cut like that for about two or three weeks. But, I wasn't really happy.
I went to the hairdresser (Salon Indigo), and had her whack it all the way off. Super short. It was so weird. I have had short hair a majority of my adult life - but still, I couldn't get over the feeling that four years was gone in about 45 minutes. It gave me some crazy anxiety - which is even weirder. I was always the girl that was willing to do anything to my hair. My hairdresser in high school always used me to "try out" new haircuts. I had realized what a security blanket my hair had become to me.
Anyway, I am not sure that I like it now. I wanted more of a short "messy" pixie style. But my hair is too fine, and just won't do that. I am not sure that I like it. But I am still glad I did it. I am thinking I am going to grow it out - but not grow it out just for the sake of growing it out. I want to try lots of different hairstyles in between. And maybe I will find one I REALLY like in the process. I think it will be fun and exciting!
I plan on posting pictures of all my new hairstyles. So please leave comments. BE HONEST! If you like it the best long. Tell me. I promise that you are NOT going to hurt my feelings. If you like it, tell me - if you don't, tell me. I really appreciate honestly!!!!
Long hair
Medium Hair
Short hairOkay - not the best pic. And for the record, I am not really that weird. Maren always makes a "mean face" in her pics, and I was trying to copy her. It didn't work out so well.
Happy Birthday Adalyn!
On September 14th Ady turned nine years old! I can't believe that my baby is nine already! It has gone by WAY to fast!
In other Adalyn news: Violin lessons are going great! Her teacher is amazed at how fast she has learned to read music. After only a month and a half, she reads the notes, without even pausing to think about it. Violin is really hard! It has been alot of work for her, but she is doing incredible. Most importantly, she loves it! I never have to remind her to practice - and lately she has been practicing twice a day. She wants to be able to play a "mini concert" for Maren and Matt when they visit Utah in December.
School is going great as well! Ady is getting straight A's (of course), and she is loving the 3rd grade and her teacher Dr. Muench. At the beginning of the school year, Ady's teachers referred her to be tested for the Gifted and Talented Education Program at her school (GATE). It is pretty hard to test into the program, but she did it! She was one of only two students in her class to be accepted into GATE! So far, she has been loving it! School comes really easy for her, so it is really nice that she now has something a little more challenging.
We are so proud of our Ady! She is such a beautiful, smart, outgoing girl. She is such a hard worker - she always does her best in everything! I know that she will be able to achieve any goal that she sets for herself, and will accomplish alot in her life!
In other Adalyn news: Violin lessons are going great! Her teacher is amazed at how fast she has learned to read music. After only a month and a half, she reads the notes, without even pausing to think about it. Violin is really hard! It has been alot of work for her, but she is doing incredible. Most importantly, she loves it! I never have to remind her to practice - and lately she has been practicing twice a day. She wants to be able to play a "mini concert" for Maren and Matt when they visit Utah in December.
School is going great as well! Ady is getting straight A's (of course), and she is loving the 3rd grade and her teacher Dr. Muench. At the beginning of the school year, Ady's teachers referred her to be tested for the Gifted and Talented Education Program at her school (GATE). It is pretty hard to test into the program, but she did it! She was one of only two students in her class to be accepted into GATE! So far, she has been loving it! School comes really easy for her, so it is really nice that she now has something a little more challenging.
We are so proud of our Ady! She is such a beautiful, smart, outgoing girl. She is such a hard worker - she always does her best in everything! I know that she will be able to achieve any goal that she sets for herself, and will accomplish alot in her life!
Mt. Charleston
I have slacked off really bad on keeping the blog updated this last month! So I am trying to catch up.
On September 12, we went to Mt. Charleston. Brian organized a big party with a bunch of our friends. We got rained on, but it was still fun! We also took our dutch ovens and made some potatoes. They turned out good, and we were quite proud of our first attempt at dutch ovening - which is sad since we have had the dutch ovens for about 9 years now.
We really are lucky to live where we do. We have the hot desert climate (which I love, especially in the winter when we have NO SNOW!), but if we want to escape the heat the mountains are only a 1/2 drive away.
On September 12, we went to Mt. Charleston. Brian organized a big party with a bunch of our friends. We got rained on, but it was still fun! We also took our dutch ovens and made some potatoes. They turned out good, and we were quite proud of our first attempt at dutch ovening - which is sad since we have had the dutch ovens for about 9 years now.
We really are lucky to live where we do. We have the hot desert climate (which I love, especially in the winter when we have NO SNOW!), but if we want to escape the heat the mountains are only a 1/2 drive away.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
My Opinion
Before getting to the main point - I have a couple things that I need state:
1) I am absolutely proud to be an American and I love our great country.
2) I fully support our troops. Although I do not agree with this war, I recognize our soldiers who are fighting it, and I sympathize with them and their families. I am very grateful for all the brave men and women who have risked their lives to give me the freedom to live my life and voice my opinions (which are quite abundant).
Having said that, I want to say that if one more person sends me another email about our brave US troops or how bad President Obama is, I will scream. Yes our troops are brave. Yes, they have a very hard job. But it is not completely selfless act, like everyone makes it out to be. I think every one of these men and women were completely motivated to be a proud member of the US Armed Forces, every time they collect their paycheck. That's right. Being a member of the military is a CAREER CHOICE. They are paid for their service to our country with a paycheck, paid living expenses, paid education, great benefits and excellent retirement - as they should be. I absolutely, think they deserve credit for what they do - but in the same way that a doctor deserves credit for saving lives on a daily basis, or a garbage man deserves respect for taking away our trash, or a teacher for teaching our children, or parents for raising good, wholesome members of society, etc.
To the best of my knowledge, not one person was drafted into this "war on terror". This means that every single person who has been called to fight, knew that that this was the risk he was taking when he chose military as a CAREER.
So please, by all means, support our troops. Send them packages, letters, and your love - because they need it. It is a hard job, and they deserve respect for what they do. But please remember, that everyone who serves us whether it be our gardener, postal worker, teacher or sidewalk sweeper deserves that respect too.
Also - do not be so foolish to as to think that supporting our troops means supporting this war.
Secondly - it is time we stop pointing fingers at our leader for the state of our economy. We can be mad a credit lenders, and at Bush, etc. for creating this mess. We can be mad at Obama for not having it all cleaned up yet. But what good will it do? We are just passing the buck.
We are in this mess because everyone, EVERYONE - our country, big corporations, small businesses, and individual citizens - were spending, spending, spending and living beyond our means. I suggest that every single person in this country point a finger at themselves. How many of us saved for a rainy day? How many of us were living beyond our means? Maybe credit was lended to easily - but it was our choice to accept and use credit that we knew we couldn't afford. Maybe losing a job was beyond your control - but how many of us had saved money for such an emergency? Each one of us is accountable for ourselves. Instead of sitting back and complaining about how this isn't getting fixed faster, I think we should all start fixing it ourselves. Those of us who are smart will use this as a learning opportunity.
So I guess that the whole point is: STOP SENDING ME YOUR US TROOPS/OBAMA JUNK MAIL. Maybe this makes me a "hardcore liberal" or "unpatriotic". I don't care. Think what you want. Just stop crowding my inbox with political nonsense.
Sorry it took me so long to get to the point!
1) I am absolutely proud to be an American and I love our great country.
2) I fully support our troops. Although I do not agree with this war, I recognize our soldiers who are fighting it, and I sympathize with them and their families. I am very grateful for all the brave men and women who have risked their lives to give me the freedom to live my life and voice my opinions (which are quite abundant).
Having said that, I want to say that if one more person sends me another email about our brave US troops or how bad President Obama is, I will scream. Yes our troops are brave. Yes, they have a very hard job. But it is not completely selfless act, like everyone makes it out to be. I think every one of these men and women were completely motivated to be a proud member of the US Armed Forces, every time they collect their paycheck. That's right. Being a member of the military is a CAREER CHOICE. They are paid for their service to our country with a paycheck, paid living expenses, paid education, great benefits and excellent retirement - as they should be. I absolutely, think they deserve credit for what they do - but in the same way that a doctor deserves credit for saving lives on a daily basis, or a garbage man deserves respect for taking away our trash, or a teacher for teaching our children, or parents for raising good, wholesome members of society, etc.
To the best of my knowledge, not one person was drafted into this "war on terror". This means that every single person who has been called to fight, knew that that this was the risk he was taking when he chose military as a CAREER.
So please, by all means, support our troops. Send them packages, letters, and your love - because they need it. It is a hard job, and they deserve respect for what they do. But please remember, that everyone who serves us whether it be our gardener, postal worker, teacher or sidewalk sweeper deserves that respect too.
Also - do not be so foolish to as to think that supporting our troops means supporting this war.
Secondly - it is time we stop pointing fingers at our leader for the state of our economy. We can be mad a credit lenders, and at Bush, etc. for creating this mess. We can be mad at Obama for not having it all cleaned up yet. But what good will it do? We are just passing the buck.
We are in this mess because everyone, EVERYONE - our country, big corporations, small businesses, and individual citizens - were spending, spending, spending and living beyond our means. I suggest that every single person in this country point a finger at themselves. How many of us saved for a rainy day? How many of us were living beyond our means? Maybe credit was lended to easily - but it was our choice to accept and use credit that we knew we couldn't afford. Maybe losing a job was beyond your control - but how many of us had saved money for such an emergency? Each one of us is accountable for ourselves. Instead of sitting back and complaining about how this isn't getting fixed faster, I think we should all start fixing it ourselves. Those of us who are smart will use this as a learning opportunity.
So I guess that the whole point is: STOP SENDING ME YOUR US TROOPS/OBAMA JUNK MAIL. Maybe this makes me a "hardcore liberal" or "unpatriotic". I don't care. Think what you want. Just stop crowding my inbox with political nonsense.
Sorry it took me so long to get to the point!
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Death Valley
We wanted to go somewhere fun over Labor Day weekend this year, but we soon found that it was suppose to be raining pretty much everywhere within driving distance. So, we went to the one place in the world, where your almost guaranteed not to get rained on... Death Valley National Park. It is only about a 2 hour drive from our house.
It was still really hot, so we didn't get to do much hiking, but we did brave the sand dunes. Ady and Alysa had fun sliding down the dunes, and Bry got frustrated trying to make a sand castle. By the time we got back to the car our shoes were full of sand.
We also visited Badwater Basin - the lowest and hottest point in North America, Zabriskie Point, Artists Drive and the Devils Golf Course. The girls also worked hard to earn their Death Valley Junior Ranger Badge.
There wasn't alot of dining options along the way, and the girls were starving. 
So we stopped in Death Valley Junction, CA to eat at the Amaragosa Opera House and Hotel Cafe. The place is suppose to be haunted, and it has been on the TV shows, Chris Angel Mindfreak and Ghosthunters. But because it was Sunday, they were closed. The girls thought they were going to starve to death. 
So we stopped in Death Valley Junction, CA to eat at the Amaragosa Opera House and Hotel Cafe. The place is suppose to be haunted, and it has been on the TV shows, Chris Angel Mindfreak and Ghosthunters. But because it was Sunday, they were closed. The girls thought they were going to starve to death. 
Luckily, there happened to be a little cafe in Lathrop Wells. According to the signs, we were in "Alien Territory". I guess since the haunted cafe was closed, we had to eat at the Alien one.
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