Grace: The Musical

First day of Pre-School!!

I only have 12 followers :(

That's ok, it's quality and not quantity that matters :)

This is me being bi-polar.... :( and :) in one post!!!

The great communicator...

Bionicle Battle

Ben recently discovered how cool Bionicle is, and he got a few for his birthday. Yesterday he and Ember decided to custom build some new creatures, not following the directions. Thus was born "Ben-onicle" and "Ember-onicle".

Then... Austin took them and posed them in a storyline, an epic battle between plastic figurines. He had to document the entire battle on film, and thus we have the Bionicle Battle slideshow.

My husband is a child. :)

huh?

Grace lined all her ponies up on the rail to her bed and then wanted to pose with them.
Does that look like a happy face to you?

It's her usual pose, the one she calls her "cuteness," but she looks mad!

This post is gonna put me on somebody's list...

"I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." - James Madison

My mother used to tell me when I was a little girl that I needed to learn to disagree without being disagreeable. I think she's right, but that doesn't mean it's always possible. Take our government for example, and the proposed government run healthcare system.

The two sides couldn't disagree more, and nobody is disagreeing nicely. It's even gone way beyond being disagreeable, it's being condescending, belittling, and juvenile. Name calling isn't going to solve anything. Both sides will agree with me on this.

I have seen in the last 8 months the slow and gradual deconstruction of the nation I'm familiar with. Socialism is taking over this country, and if that statement puts me on somebody's watch list, then so what. May I remind you that I am entitled to my freedom of speech, and I am entitled to political opinions about those whom I elect. I am an intregal part of the democratic process and as such, I have the right to speak out when I disagree.

I suffer from two severe chronic illnesses. I fear the future when the government will get to decide what is best for me and my treatment. I cherish my freedom to select doctors and treatment programs that work for me. I cherish my freedom in general!

I really have no idea what I can do about this other than writing to my own representatives and expressing my concern, or rather disgust, at the proposed health care bill. I know I've angered some people in the past with my obvious political animosity towards our current leadership, but I'm beyond sarcasm and political cartoons. I'm really worried. I would encourage anyone who agrees with me to write to their elected representatives as well and tell them what we feel, what we want. Some of them are still honest enough to recognize their obligation to do what the people want, the people who put them there in the first place.

"That's all I have to say about that." - Forrest Gump

The End.

Grace got her stitches taken out today, and for being so brave Dr. Hall gave her a coupon for a free ice cream cone! The doctor in the ER said it won't scar if she keeps it under a hat for at least a year, but Dr. Hall took one look at it and said it will definitely scar. The seriousness of it can be reduced by using sunblock, but she said "that other doctor lied to you." Great. At least Dr. Hall is always honest with me, and soooo great with my kids! We just love her!

One more random picture, it's a semi-decent shot of my new haircut. Whatever.

This is the best day of my life!!!!!!

One more funny sideways video... or two...

A stitch in time saves no one's sanity

Grace's bad day

Grace had her vaccinations yesterday, and has a fever of 103 last night. I gave her some motrin and figured she'd have one bad night and have a great day today.

I tempted karma. We went to meet the teacher day at the kids school, and in the very first classroom she tripped and hit the edge of a school desk SERIOUSLY hard. She split her forehead open, the doctor said to the bone. It bled a lot, as head wounds do, so we met the teacher and then rushed to the ER.



Poor baby was so sad and in a lot of pain, but after they soaked it with lidocaine she was back to herself for awhile. Numbing is a good thing. :)


After 5 1/2 hours in the waiting room, she got four stitches, one on the inside and three on the outside. She was rewarded with a grape popsicle for being so brave and not crying even once.

Grace is my first child to need stitches. I am buying this girl a helmet and dressing her in a ski suit filled with marshmallows from now on.

I got some great video of her when she was loopy on drugs, but I'm still trying to figure out how to rotate them 90 degrees to post online. If I can't figure it out, you'll just have to watch them sideways. I've never seen her so out of it, it was hillarious!

Go out the way you came in

Follow this link for a follow up to the wedding dance. I laughed out loud (and had to run to the potty). Thanks Emily for the heads up! BWAHAHAHAHA!

(If you didn't see the original wedding dance, go here. This isn't nearly as funny if you don't watch them in the right order. :)

Hey there Obama...

Even if you support Obama, you're going to have to admit that this is hillarious. This guy did a great job of making a spoof music video and I laughed out loud. :)

Vacation Part 3: Magic Mountain

My mind is younger than my body. I spent Tuesday swimming in ocean waves and a strong current, and I was pretty sore the morning of "theme park day." Wednesday we hiked, waited in line, hiked, and waited in more lines. I honestly think the waiting part was harder on my body than the hiking part. My feet hurt, my back, my legs, my neck, my shoulders... well you get the point. Despite the pain, it was an awesome day! The last time Austin and I were at Magic Mountain was on our honeymoon!

Sneaky old Riddler.

Until a few weeks ago, my kids didn't even know who Bugs Bunny and Tweety Bird were!



Not the most flattering picture, but you get an idea of how exhausted we were by the end of the night. Seriously, this is only 9:30 PM.


I spent the last two days of our vacation on the couch with my feet up, I could barely move. I need a hot tub and a chiropractor. And maybe some heavy duty narcotics. All in all, it was an awesome week in California and it was very hard to come home. Thanks mom and dad for a great week!

Vacation part 2: Hanging around Brea

This is the table where I sat as an 8 year old eating banana splits, my Grandma Meacham's house. The kids are now sitting at Great-Grandma's table. It was kind of a cool moment for me.


As soon as we got out of the van after 6 hours, Grace couldn't wait to spread out. Her papers and crayons were scattered across the entire living room.

Pretty girl with a pretty hibiscus. :)

This is one flexible boy. We had him in gymnastics for awhile, but it got pretty expensive. He's keeping up with his practice though! It makes Austin cringe to look at him.







We love California! Maybe we'll never come home!

Of course, Grandpa is ready for the noise level to go back down.

Vacation part 1: Beach Bums!

We went to Huntington Beach this year instead of Newport Beach, and it was wonderful! Not nearly as crowded, and the weather was great. Just a tad windy! (loaded with sarcasm... it's hard to do in print).

Ember spent the majority of her time searching for seashells.
She found some really beautiful ones!

Ben did get in the water and hunt for seashells, but his favorite activity was
digging in the sand and building... lumpy looking things.

This is my best angle. There are others, for family viewing only. ;)

Because of the wind, the waves were really incredible. We didn't have boogy boards so we just did body surfing. It was really great! The water was cold when we first got in, but once you get past the initial shock and the numbness sets in, it's really great!

This is my favorite photo of Grace. I should enter it in a photo contest.

Her cheeks got pretty sandy. :) It's also obvious to see why her tan line has a wedgie.

My super men! Check out those muscles!

Our super cool three dimensional kite.

Austin's super cool sand turtle.

Grace got sick of the wind so she covered herself up with towels.

She also said she was cold, but it looks like she missed a spot.

The beach was lots of fun, we spent three hours there and no one got a sunburn!

Why so serious?

This kinda makes me want to get married again. Same guy (obviously) but with some pizazz! What a boring reception we had, there was a LINE... and people walked through it. Wow.

Maybe we could have an anniversary party with a
seriously cool dance entrance :)