PROPOSITION 8

You've heard those NO on PROP 8 ads that say

Voting for Prop 8 is:

UNFAIR

UNNECESSARY

WRONG

and even

SHAMEFUL

And according to those same ads

I'M the one who needs to learn

TOLERANCE!

All About KALE

The other day when Kale was looking at my BLOG - he commented to me that there was "never" any pictures of him and all I ever talked about was Kris and Kara. 

We talked about it for awhile and I tried explaining that Kara is changing so much right now that I do take a lot more pictures of her, and that Kristopher is home with me all day so it's easier to capture pictures of him as well. 

He's 8 and I could tell he was churning this conversation around in his head about how this could be used to his benefit by furthering the cause that he feels "his whole family ignores him".

So I told him I would dedicate an entire POST just to him and I asked him what he would like me to say about him and what pictures he would like me to take.

He replied, 

"Why don't you just take a picture of me doing HOMEWORK. That's all I ever do anyway!"

(I have no idea where he gets his sarcasm)

So here HE is EVERYBODY!

HERE'S KALE DOING HOMEWORK!

I won't tell anyone that you have been playing Fall Baseball this year and what a good little baseball player you are.  And I won't tell the story about when Coach put you in as pitcher for the first time and you looked up at him and said "uh oh" and yet the first 2 pitches you ever threw were strikes right over the plate.

(see the blur in the back of this next picture - that's KALE - cool huh)

I also won't tell anyone what a great BIG BROTHER you are, and how thankful I am that Heavenly Father sent me such a tender hearted little boy very first. I won't tell anybody how much you love your SISTER. . .

And your BROTHER!

I also won't tell anyone about how much you love to play BASKETBALL on your new basketball hoop and that every chance you get you sneak outside to "shoot some hoops" (even when you know you didn't ask and you aren't supposed to be outside) or every time we go out to get in the car you grab the basketball and shoot a few baskets before getting in the car - even when we are in a hurry and your mother is very frustrated.

The only thing you love more than playing basketball by yourself is when your dad and your brother play with you  (but it's not the same if mom plays - I think it's cause I can beat him)

I won't tell anyone how much you love the BEACH . . .

Or how hard it is to get you to smile your incredible smile on demand!

And I for sure won't tell anyone how incredibly handsome you are becoming! Or how smart you are. Or how funny you are.

Like the time dad and you were talking and he said "if I jumped off a bridge would you jump too?" and you said,

 "that depends on if it was a tall bridge or a short bridge!" 

Or how much you worry about things that little 8 year olds should not be worrying about. Or how proud I am of you. Or how much I LOVE YOU! 

Or how much these freckles melt my heart!

Nope - I won't tell anybody any of these things 

I will just let them know that your life consists of

 HOMEWORK!

I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you.

Love, Mom

I've Been Busy. . .

Instead of "blogging" this past week

I have been on the phone. . .

calling and calling and calling

and calling and calling

for PROP 8!

But I'll be back later today with a post dedicated to my oldest son

who informed me after looking at this blog

"that all you ever write about is Kristopher and Kara"

(it's funny that I started this blog because of HIS Baptism)

So stay tuned!

The Rest of Our Sunday We. . .

Decorated For HALLOWEEN!

Here we have our Front Porch

(I still need to get something for my table)

And here we have the Family Room . . .

with WANDA the WITCH!

And Kale says "I didn't even recognize it was the same clock"

Here is our Halloween Village

(it looks much cooler at night when all the lights are turned on but I couldn't get the picture to not come out blurry)

Here is my favorite piece of furniture

MY HUTCH

I love decorating it for every season!

And here we have our HALLOWEEN TREES

(you can't really tell but there are spider webs and spiders lurking in the branches)

Here is our HOUSE all lit up!

Spooky Huh?

BUT. . . the favorite Halloween Decoration of Kale and Kris is absolutely, without a doubt, the DOOR GHOST!

This year it found a place above the playroom door.

(this was our first Halloween Decoration given to us by Grandma Jibson the first Halloween we were married)

And later I made these yummy pumpkin treats!

Want the recipe?

IT'S ON THE BACK OF THE BOX

I did however make a yummy fall dinner from scratch which I highly recommend trying -

It was yummy, easy and GONE!

HONEY LIME ENCHILADAS

6 Tablespoons Honey

5 Tablespoons Lime (about 2 limes)

1 Tablespoon Chili Powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 pound chicken, cooked and shredded (I used 4 chicken breasts)

10 tortillas

1 pound Monterey Jack Cheese, shredded

16 ounce green chili enchilada sauce

1 cup heavy cream

Mix the 1st 4 ingredients together and toss with chicken.

Marinade 1/2 hour.

Pour 1/2 cup enchilada sauce on the bottom of a 9x13 baking pan.

Fill tortillas with chicken and cheese

(save some cheese for the top)

Mix the remaining enchilada sauce with the cream and the leftover marinade and pour on top of tortillas and sprinkle with cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

ENJOY!

Getting ready for church. . .

This began our Sunday morning. . .

(at least I'm not making her sleep in them -  not yet anyway)

Sunday conversation between Dad and Kristopher

Kris: Dad, is today a slow Sunday?

Dad: What?

Kris: Well last time was a fast Sunday is today a slow Sunday?

Dad: LAUGHTER - yes Kris today is a slow Sunday. But next week we have stake conference.

Kris: Oh yes - I can't wait to ride the ferris wheel!

Dad: What?

Kris: The ferris wheel you know.

Dad: Kris I don't mean the STATE FAIR - Stake Conference is where we go and listen to the stake president talk to us.

Kris: Oh.

Dad: Finish your breakfast so mom can comb your hair.

Even after all of this we still managed to make it to church on time!

On Wednesday night Kyle and I attended the broadcast of the meeting regarding support forProposition 8. The meeting was conducted by Elder Clayton, and Elder Ballard and Elder Cook presided and talked in the meeting.  I thought I knew everything I needed to know about Prop 8 and why I am in support of it - but after attending the meeting I had a deeper understanding of why this proposition is so important and a deeper commitment to do more. I don't remember everything that was said or discussed but I will not forget the look on those men's faces as they expressed their thanks for what has already been done but their call to action from us as members of the church to do more. I could feel from them how important of an issue this really is. Our lives not only as individuals but as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints will be personally affected if this does not pass.  I will admit when as I walked into the meeting I thought that I had done my part. Kyle and I have walked 2 neighborhoods by ourselves and last Saturday we took our entire family out for an hour and walked around our neighborhood handing out flyers (the kids liked it for about 10 minutes), but after leaving the meeting I realized just how much more I need to and can do. I'm doing it right now. Trying to get the word out - I know I don't have a huge reader base from my insignificant little blog but if all my readers post something on their blog - and all their readers post something on their blog - do you see my point? 

My friend had this posted on her blog and I thought it was a great article - please take the time to read it:

By David Blankenhorn
September 19, 2008

I'm a liberal Democrat. And I do not favor same-sex marriage. Do those positions sound contradictory? To me, they fit together.

Many seem to believe that marriage is simply a private love relationship between two people. They accept this view, in part, because Americans have increasingly emphasized and come to value the intimate, emotional side of marriage, and in part because almost all opinion leaders today, from journalists to judges, strongly embrace this position. That's certainly the idea that underpinned the California Supreme Court's legalization of same-sex marriage.

But I spent a year studying the history and anthropology of marriage, and I've come to a different conclusion.

Marriage as a human institution is constantly evolving, and many of its features vary across groups and cultures. But there is one constant. In all societies, marriage shapes the rights and obligations of parenthood. Among us humans, the scholars report, marriage is not primarily a license to have sex. Nor is it primarily a license to receive benefits or social recognition. It is primarily a license to have children.

In this sense, marriage is a gift that society bestows on its next generation. Marriage (and only marriage) unites the three core dimensions of parenthood -- biological, social and legal -- into one pro-child form: the married couple. Marriage says to a child: The man and the woman whose sexual union made you will also be there to love and raise you. Marriage says to society as a whole: For every child born, there is a recognized mother and a father, accountable to the child and to each other.

These days, because of the gay marriage debate, one can be sent to bed without supper for saying such things. But until very recently, almost no one denied this core fact about marriage. Summing up the cross-cultural evidence, the anthropologist Helen Fisher in 1992 put it simply: "People wed primarily to reproduce." The philosopher and Nobel laureate Bertrand Russell, certainly no friend of conventional sexual morality, was only repeating the obvious a few decades earlier when he concluded that "it is through children alone that sexual relations become important to society, and worthy to be taken cognizance of by a legal institution."

Marriage is society's most pro-child institution. In 2002 -- just moments before it became highly unfashionable to say so -- a team of researchers from Child Trends, a nonpartisan research center, reported that "family structure clearly matters for children, and the family structure that helps children the most is a family headed by two biological parents in a low-conflict marriage."

All our scholarly instruments seem to agree: For healthy development, what a child needs more than anything else is the mother and father who together made the child, who love the child and love each other.

For these reasons, children have the right, insofar as society can make it possible, to know and to be cared for by the two parents who brought them into this world. The foundational human rights document in the world today regarding children, the 1989 U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, specifically guarantees children this right. The last time I checked, liberals like me were supposed to be in favor of internationally recognized human rights, particularly concerning children, who are typically society's most voiceless and vulnerable group. Or have I now said something I shouldn't?

Every child being raised by gay or lesbian couples will be denied his birthright to both parents who made him. Every single one. Moreover, losing that right will not be a consequence of something that at least most of us view as tragic, such as a marriage that didn't last, or an unexpected pregnancy where the father-to-be has no intention of sticking around. On the contrary, in the case of same-sex marriage and the children of those unions, it will be explained to everyone, including the children, that something wonderful has happened!

For me, what we are encouraged or permitted to say, or not say, to one another about what our society owes its children is crucially important in the debate over initiatives like California's Proposition 8, which would reinstate marriage's customary man-woman form. Do you think that every child deserves his mother and father, with adoption available for those children whose natural parents cannot care for them? Do you suspect that fathers and mothers are different from one another? Do you imagine that biological ties matter to children? How many parents per child is best? Do you think that "two" is a better answer than one, three, four or whatever? If you do, be careful. In making the case for same-sex marriage, more than a few grown-ups will be quite willing to question your integrity and goodwill. Children, of course, are rarely consulted.

The liberal philosopher Isaiah Berlin famously argued that, in many cases, the real conflict we face is not good versus bad but good versus good. Reducing homophobia is good. Protecting the birthright of the child is good. How should we reason together as a society when these two good things conflict?

Here is my reasoning. I reject homophobia and believe in the equal dignity of gay and lesbian love. Because I also believe with all my heart in the right of the child to the mother and father who made her, I believe that we as a society should seek to maintain and to strengthen the only human institution -- marriage -- that is specifically intended to safeguard that right and make it real for our children.

Legalized same-sex marriage almost certainly benefits those same-sex couples who choose to marry, as well as the children being raised in those homes. But changing the meaning of marriage to accommodate homosexual orientation further and perhaps definitively undermines for all of us the very thing -- the gift, the birthright -- that is marriage's most distinctive contribution to human society. That's a change that, in the final analysis, I cannot support.

David Blankenhorn is president of the New York-based Institute for American Values and the author of "The Future of Marriage."

If this article didn't get your attention then watch THIS!

And one more time if you do nothing more, please, please make sure you are registered and vote on November 4th!

I Was OK. . .

I was OK when Kristopher got so sick and dehydrated right after he turned 1 that he had to spend the night in the hospital hooked up to IV's.

(even when I could hear him from the hallway screaming as they wrapped him up in a sheet like a mummy so they could put the IV in his tiny little hand)

I was OK when Kristopher was 3 and jumped off something he wasn't supposed to jump off and broke his arm.

(even when I saw his arm dangling like an S)

(even when they had to set his little arm right there in the ER while I held him on the bed)

I was even OK the first time Kris was climbing up the back of the couch and fell and bit into his tongue and left a gaping hole.

(seriously unless you saw it you wouldn't believe it)

But last night at Kale's baseball game Kris did it again.

Literally again.

He bit his tongue!

Now last time we took him into the ER between 4 doctors they decided not to stitch it and let it heal on its own because in order to stitch a tongue they have to put you to sleep - and they didn't think the risk of infection was greater than the risk of putting a small child under, so we let it heal and heal itself it did. . .

But last night it opened all over again, and I was OK. (in fact the other mom's couldn't believe I was holding it together)

Oh. . . and I should mention that Kyle is at a scout meeting with no cell phone on which he could be called.

So all 3 kids and I head to the ER together.

Kale was incredibly dirty and in a baseball uniform

(and he was worried that if the hospital just cleaned their floors he was going to get them dirty with his cleats full of dirt)

Kara - bless her - slept in the stroller.

and Kris just stuck out his tongue to every doctor, nurse and patient who wanted to see.

Kyle had impeccable timing - after returning home and finding a panicked message telling him to get to the hospital - he literally walked through the hospital doors as the nurse was calling us back.

I opted to stay with Kris since Kyle had court the next day.

BIG MISTAKE!

For the first time in dealing with Kristopher's  misfortunes (or any of my kids disasters)

I WAS NOT OK.

I highly do not recommend "sleepless sedation" for your children.

If you are and I hope you are never - but if you are in a situation where the doctor says,

"we are going to use sleepless sedation"  - JUST RUN.

So in all fairness the procedure was completely explained to me.

How safe it was, but that it did cause the child's eyes to move back and forth during the procedure "mimiking" a seizure (but it's perfectly normal)

How when he woke up he may do or say some funny or abnormal things 

(but it's perfectly normal)

How they would be monitoring his vital signs the entire time, but if something did happen all they would have to do is just give him more oxegyn and he would be fine 

(even though the biggest crash cart I have seen in real life was wheeled in next to his bed)

and finally

How the stitching itself would be the easy part - the hard part is pulling his tongue out of his mouth so it could be stitched.

I thought I was prepared . . .

So I'm fine - I'm sitting down - I'll admit I have a few anxieties - and then in walks every doctor at the ER that night I swear.

Here are a few of the phrases I heard:

A "higher up" doctor says,

"we ARE doing a sleepless sedation?  No one told me.  OK have we double checked everything"

Same "higher up" doctor says to Kris's doctor

"Doctor, can I talk to you in the hallway for a minute?"

Nurse asks another nurse

"Could you double check my dosage again"

And when the doctors come back into the room they have brought with them yet another even "higher up" doctor to "help out"

One part of me told myself to be grateful that everything is being checked and re-checked and that there are plenty of doctors helping my son - BUT my stomach started to ache and my palms became sweaty and I realized I hadn't gone to the bathroom in over 14 hours and the other part of me started to think. . . 

maybe this isn't as routine as it was made out to be . . . maybe there are more risks than I am aware of . . . maybe I made the wrong decision when I gave consent . . . Where is my husband right now. . . Why am I here by myself. . .

So the IV is put into place - (I will leave details up to your imagination, but kids don't like getting things poked in their hands with wires hanging out of them - wait, adults don't like it either, but we're looked down upon if we cry and scream as my child did)

Then he goes to sleep and looks peaceful enough - vitals look great -the tongue pulling begins - turns out my child is a fighter and is clenching down so hard on the doctors fingers that another dose of medicine is needed to calm him down. Finally after much ordeal the doctor starts to stitch - and Kristopher starts MOANING - like the worst moaning imaginable. I have tried to write this next sentence a million times to explain how gutwrenching this moan was and I seriously cannot put words together to form the feelings I felt.

YOU DIDN'T PREPARE ME FOR THIS . . .

I WAS PREPARED FOR HIS EYES MOVING BACK AND FORTH

which they did and was not fun to watch

BUT YOU DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING ABOUT MOANING.

The doctor kept assuring me he can't feel it and he won't remember it,

BUT he's MOANING. And his feet and legs are twitching.

So he's moaning and twitching - someone is pulling his tongue out of his mouth - someone else is suctioning what I consider massive amounts of blood from his mouth - and the doctor is sticking a needle and thread in his tongue.

After 3 doses of the medicine and 3 stitches in his tongue they were finally done.

I have to say this was the worst thing I personally have had to go through as a parent.

Then all the doctors and nurses left and the room was cleaned up a little and I was left with my little boy to be there with him when he woke up. As I sat next to him minute after minute looking back and forth between his face and the monitor to make sure all vitals were good - I realized that Heavenly Father has given me such a STRONG little BOY! I thought back to all the times I have struggled with Kristopher over everyday things and sometimes have thrown my hands up in frustration with the feeling that nothing works with him - I can't get through to him - HE IS TOO STRONG! And I realized the character trait of his  - that strong willed personality - that I all to often complain about is what gets him through things like this. We were in that ER for 8 1/2 hours last night and only once did Kristopher get frustrated that it was taking too long. And the only tears shed by him that entire time was when the IV was being put in.  

HERE IS MY STRONG, STRONG BOY!

You can't imagine what it looked like gaping open - 

the picture does not do it justice!

The cousins are coming! The cousins are coming!

My kids are so excited they are jumping on the furniture. . .

I am so excited I am busy cleaning the house . . .

And Kyle is so excited he is dusting off the Playstation 3 . . .

Why are we so excited?

Robby, Sheena, Jonah and Lucy

are coming to visit!!!!

YEAH!!!!

And you can be excited too!

Sheena has decided to spend some of her vacation taking pictures!

You can see her pictures HERE!

(she has Thursday night, October 16th available)

She already promised me that if she gets to take pictures,

then I get Jonah and Lucy all to myself for a few hours!!!!

Nothing would make me or my kids happier 

than to have Jonah and Lucy come over for awhile

 so go ahead people - check her out - you won't be sorry!

Conference Sunday . . .

We love these Sundays . . .

We call them

"eat cinnamon rolls while watching church in your pajamas" 

Sundays!

I mean seriously . . .

being spiritually uplifted and snuggling with our kids,

does it get better than that?

Now in all fairness there a little of this went on throughout the day . . .

But I do have to give my kids props - they did let me me listen to most of conference. I'm still really grateful for the Ensign to fill in what I did miss - but today was a great day.

THANK YOU GRANDMA AND GRANDPA who are on a cruise and let us invade their house while they are gone so we could watch conference in our PJ's and not have to go to the stake center all dressed up!

(we don't have the BYU channel)

Usually I can pick a favorite talk from conference - no problem -

but I found it hard this time - they were all so good and heartfelt.

I will say that I did love President Packer's talk!

WHAT TALK WAS YOUR FAVORITE?

Is that my GIRL dressed all in PINK?

I believe it is. . .

Yeah, that's her.  . .

Ya know, I think there is a reason you came after your brothers.

I do believe if you were my oldest you would have been dressed more gender neutral.

After all  - I was never that GIRLY GIRL,

but after dressing two little boys

(as cute as they are)

I am having a delightful time dressing you up all FRILLY.

I really am one of those moms - but I like it.

So hopefully when you get old enough

 to have a voice of your own 

about what you want to wear 

I will listen and let you be you. . .

But right now I'm having

WAY TOO MUCH FUN!

I love this SHOW!

CRIMINAL MINDS

Wednesday nights @ 8:00

So I know most people are really looking forward to tonight!

All the best shows and they are all new. . .

And while I enjoy laughing at the office and I'm kinda into the Grey thing

I have to admit

I live for Wednesday nights!

I know this show isn't for everyone - it's pretty intense, BUT I LOVE IT!

And on a side note I think for the first time

I WISH WE HAD TIVO. . .

OR AN I-PHONE. . .

don't tell Kyle I just admitted that.

Kale has a baseball game and it is killing me

that I am going to miss the debate tonight.

Anyway - Everyone enjoy your shows tonight and take notes for me from the debate!

Could it really be this SIMPLE?

I received this as an e-mail today. It was one of those pass along e-mails - sometimes I don't even read them but today I did. First I'll share it and then I'll tell you why I needed to read this today.

A 92 year old, petite, well poised and proud man, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock, with his hair fashionable combed and shaved perfectly, even though he is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today. 

His wife of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary. After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, he smiled sweetly when told his room was ready.

As he maneuvered his walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of his tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on his window.

'I love it,' he stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.

'Mr. Jones, you haven't seen the room; just wait.'

'That doesn't have anything to do with it,' he replied.

'Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged. . . it's how I arrange it in my mind. I already decided to love it. It's a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work,  or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do.  

Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open, I'll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I've stored away. Just for this time in my life.

Old age is like a bank account. You withdraw from what you've put in.'

So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories!

5 simple rules of happiness

1. Free your heart from hatred

2. Free your mind from worries

3. Live simply

4. Give more

5. Expect less

OK now me talking. . .

I consider myself  a pretty happy person - but lately I have been feeling a little down (I think it has to do a little  with the BC pill - but that's another  post in itself) but life has a way of getting us down every now and then and I have been in one of those slumps. I could make my own list of all the things lately that have been bringing me down - but after reading this I won't. Instead I am going to focus on 1 of these simple rules each day and make it work for me. 

I will check back later and confess how I did.