Rant about Politcal Thugs

Rant time.

So yesterday, the kidos and I went to Fort Nisqually Historical Park with some friends and had a blast. Of course, I have no camera and the phone pics just didn't come out, so no pics. The kids had a great time and I hope learned a little something there too.

On the way there, we were struck by the number of political signs in the median. Most were for Democrats. Hmmm. I know that my husband had put a bunch of the signs of the Republican candidate he is working with up in those same areas. So had the other Republican candidates. But for the most part, they were gone. Curious don't you think.

Then on the way home, the kidos notice piles, and more than one, of pulled up signs on the side of the road. I dropped them off at the corner and had them run back and pick up any of the signs that belong to our candidate. I know how much those things cost. And how much time and energy it takes to get them up. All the way home we picked them up. There were a bunch of signs, not just ours, broken, torn or thrown in the streets. Most of them had R's on them.

My kids were flabbergasted. How do I explain this to them? How do I explain that the other side is so afraid that their message isn't strong enough to stand on its own that they need to remove all signs of opposition. How do I explain that the other side is so tolerant of multiple ideas, unless they disagree with them of course. How do I explain that the other side wants people to have choices, as long as it is one that they choose. Aargggghhh.

But on the other hand, I am so happy that my kidos have taken ownership of their government. They are more aware of what is going on and what is at stake. As they picked up the signs, they were waving them as they walked down the sidewalk to get back to the car. As we continued on the drive, whenever they saw the signs of our candidate, they would shout, in the car mind you, "There is one of our signs!"

So there you go, rant.

Vote for David "Ike" Eichner!

Fourth of July

Of all the non-biblical holidays, the Fourth of July has always been my favorite.

I guess that makes my oldest daughter's birthday appropriate. Yup, a firecracker baby.

I grew up in a military family and on many different posts. I grew up listening to the Army band march around the neighborhoods playing John Philip Sousa music. I remember decorating my bike with streamers and wearing my colonial clothes riding or marching behind them. I also remember the local parades around the nation, from the small town of Hope, KS to the town of Morgan Hill, Ca and many others, where locals gather to celebrate. And I love, love, love fireworks! (Kinda my personality, big and loud ^.^)

I love the Fourth because it is a reminder that we live in such a great nation. (One of the best parts is that we can have dissenting opinions and still be free express them, so I won't argue that point with anyone.) It is a time that we can stand together as neighbors and just enjoy being Americans. A great big birthday party.

I think another reason I like it is that it is a time to be with family and friends. This year we partied with some great friends and were able to be on post with the great men and women who defend and fight for our country. We had so much fun. My favorite part was watching the kids on the climbing rock.

Look how high this little one got! It was amazing!

It was free ^.^ More courage than I have, that is for sure!

They got to pet lizards, bang on music makers, and run and play together before watching the Army put on a very patriotic show and fireworks. The weather was perfect, not something you say in the PNW very often, and the food was yummmmmmy. Em got her birthday pie.

It is everything I wanted my children to remember it being.

Adventure 2

So the second adventure this summer only involved 2 of my kidos.
We went out sailing on the historic 90 foot yawl, the Odyssey, hauling the mainsail up the 105 foot mast and taking the helm of this racing beauty through Foss Water Way and out in the beautiful Puget Sound with the Sea Scouts.
I took the oldest two and we had a blast. After we found it. Traffic revisions you know. The kids were each given a scout to shadow. Every half hour they had a duty change. It is like they knew my kids already. They each got a perfect match. I got to sit and visit with the other parents, walk around the boat, go down below and have a parent meeting, and decide that I was not going to use the head. If you saw it you would understand.

Here is Josh on the helm. He did a great job not running us up on the rocks or anything. There is a huge sense of responsibility when a million dollar boat it in your able hands. He learned that it was like driving a car on ice with a really slow reaction All the kids do the actual sailing of the boat. There is an adult captain in charge. He did a great job of teaching and keeping all the kids in control.

Emily just missed out on steering, but she really wasn't all that upset. She did get to pull in the sheets. But I didn't get a picture of that.

I like this one of Josh pulling in the sheets, with the American flag flying behind him.

They also had some down time just to enjoy God's beautiful world and talk with the crew. Come to find out, a bunch of them are speech and debate people.

Still not sure if they are going to join. I hope they do, cuz this was super fun!

Summer Adventure One

I so wish my ankles were stronger cuz I would sure love to go skating.
I took my kids this week and they had such a great time. 
Now that they can actually skate, they are trying to get a little fancy.  They are learning to skate backwards and do the crossover thing when they are going around curves.
And now that they are older, they are requesting music.
There were lots of smiles and giggling. 

sisters, being sisters

 two cool dudes

 she actually was in the process of falling

I think she was done.

Summer adventure number one.

Love That Girl

My fam likes old B-scifi movies.  Some of them are really funny and some of them are pretty good.  Some are plain out bad, but those are fun too.  So any ways....We were watching "Journey to the Seventh Planet" last night.  Totally goofy.  Do you know which is the seventh planet?  I'll give you a moment... hmm hmm hmm.


Yup, Uranus. 
So the big kids and I are sharing all the ways to say the name of the planet.  All of a sudden Deb bursts out laughing.  Not at the pronunciation I laughed at as a kid, but this way-
urine us. 
She had to explain it to me cuz I wasn't getting it. 
"Urine Mom, get it URINE! us!" 
This morning she comes out of the bathroom giggling and shaking her head. 

pic found at astronomoleventia.blogspot.com

"Uranus!"

A Squirrelly Review of The Avengers

For Josh's 15 we surprised him with tickets to see The Avengers at IMAX.
That was pretty amazing.
First off, I'll let you know that we are a family that loves adventure/sci-fi/action movies.  My kids all have seen movies filled with Ninja violence and car wrecks.  We don't do movies with lots of language (if there are more than 5 in the first fifteen or the f bomb is said at all) or naked people or scantily clad people or lots of hugging and kissing.  They know the difference between real and fake.  We don't watch things that I think will make them come to my bed at night.  My sweetheart and/or I preview movies that I think might be questionable.  There were a couple of swear words in this one, some blood, lots of comic style killing and kabooms. The monsters were pretty scary looking too.   It is pretty intense so I wouldn't take young kids.
So that being said, we went to The Avengers.  I took all of the kidos.  I should not have brought the 9 year old or the 11 year old.  Not because the movie was bad, but because it was loud and long.  One put ear plugs in and bugged me that she was bored about halfway through and the other actually fell asleep.
Basically, it was a good movie.  There was a good story and fun characters and lots of bullets and hammers and shields and stuff.  More than once I leaned over and told Josh "I want one of those!"  The effects were pretty amazing.  The guy costumes were pretty cool.  The ladies, well, I never understood the reasoning behind super heroes in high heals.  They were pretty kick butt babes though.  The movie moved really fast and the 2 1/2  hours went by with out me noticing.  My favorite parts were the one liners sprinkled through out, and any part with The Hulk. 
I didn't like the 3D part.  Or the giant screen part.  Or the too loud part.  The challenge for me was that because everything was so close, the craftsman in me was looking at set details, the stitching on the costumes, the make up on Loki, and the changing colors of Tony Stark's beard instead of paying attention to the movie.  I would like to see it again in a regular theater.   Because it was so big I missed a lot on the edges and in the background.   It was just to much for my brain to take in.  I was also a little nauseous and a few times I had to take off the glasses to give myself a break.
And yes, you need to stay til the very very very end.  After all the credits.  Check out some of the jobs descriptions while you wait.  Our favorite was the fire and inferno compositors.  Wouldn't that look cool on a resume!  It was worth it.

Are you ready?

A lost child.
I never know what is going to set off those sad emotions.
Some years cruise on by.
Others knock me to my knees.
Sometimes I think, this year is going to be okay.
Then something happens.
A young man I knew only in passing.
A young man who was known and loved by those that matter to my children.
Taken too soon.
Drowned in a freak accident.
A life that had so much expectation.
I knew my son for such a short time.
But I see the potential of his life in his brother.
I CAN NOT EVEN IMAGINE the pain of this young man's family.
I don't want to seem like I am comparing.
It did bring my sadness bubbling up though.
The comfort of knowing where this young man is, with my son, in the arms of the
One Son.
Comforting, not always soothing though. 
I look forward to knowing them both more in the time that is coming. 
I hope you do too.
Are you ready?
It can happen in a moment.


A couple of links
Josh Eddy's blog
what happened
Hope those work.