Fun times together

Ice cream smile!

I'm about to go back to work again tomorrow. I've been off for 5 weeks due to an emergency surgery I may blog about another time...I'm not quite ready to do that yet.
But regardless I pulled my Cameron right out of daycare as soon as I was physically able to take care of him and me, and I had him stay home with me while I recovered fully. It's been an amazing time for me and for him and the rest of my family. I was able to start this blog, and another one with my recipies on it too! I also got into facebook, but more importantly I got to play and play and play with Cameron. Here are some things Cameron and I were up to:



Playing Swords, we did this for like two hours a day. Cameron has his mean face on. He gets two swords, I only get one.



Playing Marble Works and army guys, and this is some alien we found.




Boys hanging out and eating icecream

These are his "Guys" they played with us too!

Playing letter games

"No more pictures mom!"

He meant it.

Making Halloween Cookies

Here Cameron is "Johnny 5" He says "Input!, Input!"

Reading Endless Books

"Playing" Blokus

Building a Palace with our Blocks

I will miss our time together, it's sad, it's almost like I'm leaving, but I'm not going anywhere.

Find Your Voice, Declare who you are.

In order to influence anyone you must have a solid understanding of your beliefs.
You can then educate others and help improve their lives by making them challenge and question their own belief system and how they got there.
Missionaries do this for others. You can do this too. Our world is crumbling around us because people are being blinded to the real problems out there.
If you want to change things....if you want to educate anyone on any issue, political or religious, you have to speak up!
I'm talking specifically on politics and world events here, but it can apply to anything you feel strongly about.
But what if you don't know what you believe or how you feel? Do you shy away from politics because you don't know enough about any issue to argue or discuss it? Or did you decide to tell yourself that you "don't care about it"....and yet, truthfully, the reason you say this is because you really don't know anything about it.
Why stay ignorant? Ignorance is not bliss. Ignorance is shame. You don't feel good when you say I Dont Know. There is no shame in not knowing IF you then go find the answer. Find out about the issues and know what is happening in the world around you. You can then educate others who are as lost as you once were, then they will look up to you, they will respect you, then and only then can you influence people, you can help change things by challenging people's ignorance.... So many people let the media tell them how things are and how to feel, the media tells us who to believe in, who to trust, how to look, how to feel about others who don't look a certain way, they tell us who the crooks and hero's are, but if you look further , if you think harder....you'll find that most of the time....they are wrong, the media are wrong.
I too once wondered too where to start....I found out that;
First you must know what you feel and why, or you will not be effective. If you only know what you've been told and you don't know the other side, you know nothing. You don't know the facts. Did you research all sides for yourself and decide on your own? If you don't know how you really feel about an issue, you need to find out. You need to decide. You need to be that one voice, that person others look to for information. You need to be that voice for your children, they need to know where you stand, and how to stand up for what's right. They need to watch you challenge others and watch you share your beliefs. Then they will look to you for answers instead of the world.
You have to take the time to educate yourself or you will not be effective in expressing anything, you need facts, you need conviction.

Write down your own mission statement on your beliefs and why you believe them. This will make everything clear for you when things become cloudy again. Take the Obama test on the issues in my link list to the right. This test lists every possible political issue out there and you can decide how you feel on your own through your own research.

The best list I've found so far for finding who you are is from Glenn Beck below..., I have added to it; you may begin your quest for who you really are and what you really believe by doing the following:

FIND YOUR VOICE: You are your own voice. Others may be silenced. Who will lead if your guy 'who speaks for you' is gone?

FIND YOURSELF: Who are you really? What do you believe? Have you been pushed and challenged? Do you know where you stand? Can you support it with real facts?

FIND YOUR WEAKNESS: Don’t ignore your weakness. Make your weakness into your strength. Find out where your ignorance lies. What are you afraid of? What can you change for the better about yourself?

FIND YOUR VALUES: Make your list of values, model it after your religion's but add what you find important and take away what you dont. Don't feel how you're "supposed" to feel by anyone else's standards. These values are your focus, work at them. Values don’t just ‘happen’ they are developed. A house divided against itself cannot stand. Be the same person at home, at work, in public and private.

FIND YOUR LOVE: Too much hate has been planted. Uproot it, pull it out and find a way to replace it with goodwill and mutual respect for those of different faiths, political parties or viewpoints. Find those people, and build good meaningful relationships with them, don't be afraid of anyone because they believe differently than you do.

FIND YOUR FELLOW AMERICANS: Connect and encourage those who put Constitution and service to God first. Find those who love charity and help them do some good, then help them wake others.

FIND YOUR JOY: It will not come from places that the media has encouraged us to find it. True joy won’t be found in money, sex or power. You will need to know where your unlimited supply of joy can be found. Look to your family. Look at selfless service. But you have to find it for yourself.

Read this article for more inspiration:
http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/18299/

Construction

Our work in progress.....




The video above is of Kevin and our friend John hanging the drywall for our basement master bedroom. We had a carpet remnant installed just after this video, (which sat in the garage for six months after we bought it) and then Kevin and I moved in so we weren't cohabitating with our toddler. Now....A year and a half after we hung the drywall, we have finally decided what we want to do with these walls....(well, I knew I wanted pine or cedar tongue and groove, but at $12 a board, it was a little steep). So we found this awesome paneling that looks just like pine tongue and groove!
It's coming along great!



Kevin did the window wall in like an 2 hours, the rest went a lot faster!




Working on wall Four.....all walls done!

Now, when we clean up the mess, frame in the wondow, add doors to the closet and to the room itself, and then maybe buy furnature that is not a modge podge of stuff we've picked up here and there we'll show you the finished product!

Cameron, My Little Sunshine

My baby serenading me, singing , "You are my Sunshine." He knows how to make me melt.

I especially love that "Skies are 'Great"and "You neva know de-a"

..

About me

ALL About Me!! - I got tagged....it's a good intro though,

Name six behaviors habits that bother you in others
1. ingorance
2. judgementalism (?)
3. hypocrasy
4. violent behavior
5. being inconsiderate
6. laziness

Name six places you dream of vacationing
1) European Tour
2) Japan
3) Alaska
4) Boston
5) New York
6) Fall Follaige New England Tour

Name six favorite past times.
1. Movies at Theatres/ or at home snuggling with hubby
2. Going out to dinner then to most any Broadway show :)
3. Reading
4. Sleeping
5. Karaokeing
6. Cooking

Name six things you would like to accomplish in the next few years
1. Be able to cut back hours and spend more time with the kids
2. Get out of debt
3. Get a Regular workout schedule
4. Get closer to my friends
5. Go to Disneyworld with the boys
6. Take a cruise to Alaska with Kevin

Name six things people would be surprised to know about you...
1. I sing
2. I love being on stage
3. I am a large dog person
4. I love reading
5. I can nap the day away
6. I want to do foster care/ and adopt more kids/ and be a stay at home mom

Name six songs that describe your personality.
1. "I'm a Bitch" Meridith Brooks
2 "Torn" Natalie Imbruglia
3. "I will Survive" Gloria Gaynor
4. "Bring on the Rain" Jo Dee Messina
5. "The Song Remembers When" Trisha Yearwood
6. "Blessed" Martina McBride

What are 6 foods you can't live without (Specifics!!)
1. A Caramelo with a Reeses Peanutbutter Cup chaser
2. Diet Coke with Lime on ice w/ a bendy straw
3. Baked Potato with Butter and Sour Cream
4. Snelgroves Burnt Almond Fudge Ice Cream and Peppermint icecream with hot fudge, and lots of whipcream and almonds
5. Lays Origional Potato Chips, veggie tray, and my ranch dip
6. Don Jullio White Corn Chips/ Salsa/ Sour Cream and "Crappy" Cheese (Frito's Jalepenio Cheese in a can)

6 Favorite Animals

1. Great Dane
2. White Siberian Tiger
3. Giraffe
4. Golden Retreiver
5. Dolphin
6. Killer Whale

6 personality traits you love about yourself:
1. I'm a good friend, I am easy to talk to, I'm loyal, I'd do anything for a friend who needs me
2. My positive view on life. Almost everyone gets the benefit of the doubt.
3. I have many professional/ writing/ office/ get-er-done skills I'm proud of
4. I am VERY forgiving
5. I have a good body image. Relistic. But still good. I can name all my flaws, but am still okay with it, and they do not depress me.
6. The thing I love about the above is, when I was younger, I couldn't find one dang good thing about myself. Ever. I just grew out bad self esteem. And pretty recently too.

6 personality traits you hate about yourself:
1. I am a big time loner. so much so that I always want time by myself away from my adorable kids and hubby. (Secretly, I love my hour commute because of it)
2. I think other peoples kids are all annoying. (Other than my own of course) It sounds cruel, but true. Not everyone can LOVE kids. I never babysat as a teenager EVER because of it. I'm akward around them, and don't know how to handle disiplining when problems arise.
3. I'm WAY too independant. So much so that I shut out others. Including God.
4. I'm a little saucey, I like to flirt...still. I like to gamble -vegas style. I'm a closet bad girl on the inside.
5. I am a slob. My good body image causes me to not put in much of an effort. I'm really quite the slob in my husbands tee-shirts and my non-highlighted hair and no makeup. I hate girly stuff. Dresses, jewlery, I hate primping. Ah Well.

6 Things that made you fall in love and stay in love with your husband
1. We have amazing chemestry. Something that never happed to me before. Meeeeeeow. It was like palpable. Still Is.
2. He promised me he'd make me smile every day of my life. And he has.
3. He's a good listener. He's understanding, and patient with me
4. He puts up with my family
5. He doesn't care that I'm a slob. Doesn't mind my flaws one bit.
6. He's got amazing legs and butt. :)

6 moments in your life that you're most proud of:
1. The day I realized I'm not just a product of my family and their ways. But that I can decide who I want to be and become that person. No outside influence can stop me.
2. When I landed a job as an office manager for this company, like 2 months after I was hired as a lowly receptionist.
3. When I decided to have baby #2 - I let go of many, many fears that day.
4. I sang an accapella song / duet mix thing/ for this HUGE WSU Institue conference. Then my choir instructor asked us me sing it again later in class for the whole Ogden Institue Chorale, for the benefit of those who might have missed it the first time.
P.S. I did even better the second time.
5. When I decided it is okay to let some expectations go. Life is too short. I can give myself a break. And not feel guilty.

Nursery Rhyme's Evil Counterparts

I've always been slightly preoccupied by the levels of unnecessary violence in nursery rhymes. Witness!
1)Fractured skulls "Jack and Jill"
2)Stolen lambs' tails "Little Bo Peep"
3)Umm..more tail butchery "Three Blind Mice"
4)Bird-nose assault "Sing a Song of Sixpence"
5)Death by gluttony "Old Woman who swallowed a fly"
6)Child cruelty "Old woman who live in a shoe"
7)Spontaneous combustion "Pop goes the weasel"
8)Plague Death March "Ring around the Rosies" Of course a lot of these old rhymes have hidden meanings that have lost their sense over the years.

For instance:
"Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the king's horses and all the king's men, couldn't put Humpty together again." Which is widely accepted to refer to the destruction of a cannon during the English civil war. But here's the greater mystery, where's the line that explains, "oh, and Humpty's a giant, living egg?" It's not even as if the top of a wall is an especially likely place to find an egg. Or that one of the activities most closely associated with all the King's men is egg repair. So at what point did Humpty become an egg in the national psyche? And how? And had he not "had a great fall", what would he have hatched into?
And where did he procure his outlandishly large egg clothes?
And why would he want to dress like a human anyway? To win us over?
To blend in amongst us for some sinister purpose? I'm quite glad he fell.... Eggy menace.