The President speaks.... Who will listen?

Apparently the President of the United States is going to speak to us next week. More importantly, he is going to speak to our children.

People are pissed.

Really?

Yes... really.

Parents are pulling their children out of school, they are calling into the school districts and are infuriated at this.

Why?

Got me... ~shrugs~

My darling friend Amber posted up a similar post on her blog "Mile High Mamas" about this topic.... Here is my response.

I am not a political person... I believe that whoever is president deserves our right to listen.

Why would we not?

Are we SOOO afraid that he is going to "sway" our children in the hour he is going to talk to them in a way that we can't correct?

What harm is it going to do?

"Support your country, each other and the president" - Yep... I checked.. so far I don't have anything bad to think about that one.

"Study hard, you ARE our future" - Yes... also very true statements, so what would I complain?

He is going to talk to them! The president of the UNITED STATES cares enough about my football playing son, my artist daughter, my prima donna senior to speak with them.

He is speaking to my second grader, my kindergartner and two toddlers. He is speaking to all of us and all of them. He is speaking to the teacher standing before those students, giving those children hopes that they can one day change the world.

Change a world that is showing hardships all around. How many of our kids have come home to use with tears in their eyes saying, "My friend had to move to live with their grandmother because they couldn't afford their home." ?

I work in the school district and get phone calls from parents saying, "My kids and I are living in our car, how can the bus come pick them up in the morning?"

We need help.... help from our kids, help from each other and help from our president.

Someone cares enough to talk to my kids and give them hope... LET THEM SHOUT! I want my kids to see that the president cares.

No I did not vote for Obama, nor did I vote for McCain. I voted on my own, with my own agenda.

Celebration - Isn't it time?

I’ve been mulling this thought over in my head, A thought that things should be celebrated in life.

I celebrated this morning when I pulled my daughters out of bed, put a kiss on their soft cheeks, inhaling their sweet scent and spoke to them as if they were the only ones in the world.

Everyday should start off like this, for them AND for me.

I have been reading Natalie’s blog, she’s a BEAUTIFUL person. Her birthday week started and she’s taking full advantage of the fact that she was born. Why?... Because she can… because we all should!

So… I started thinking.

Dave’s birthday is in a few weeks.

He doesn’t want anything; he doesn’t want a big deal made out of it.

But I do!

He’s the one who makes me laugh, the one who tries to fulfill my wishes and hopes. He’s the man that gives me butterflies; I need to do something to show him that I am so happy everyday to know he was born.

I used to think that all I needed was to create my birthday for ME! .... I can, I did it for the past two years… but, I want something more, proof that someone else was thinking about me. Who doesn't want that?

Natalie has four tips for Birthdays

Tip #1 - Personalize it

Tip #2 - Feel fabulous

Tip #3 - Create family traditions

Tip #4 - Get your husbands to give you the birthday you deserve.

I think they are tips for all people, Tip #4 works for husbands as well.

What do you think?

How do you personalize it? Do you take a picture of yourself every year so you can remember?

Do you dress up and feel beautiful on your birthday?

Do you sing Happy Birthday to family members every year? (My father sings to me every year, and I know when he passes, I will miss this on my birthday!)

Do you know how your significant other wants to spend their birthday? Have you asked his/her parents what they used to do? Have you told your husband/wife what you want/expect?

Don’t let another day to by… tell them now.

I just got off the phone with his mother… now… it’s time to ask him.

Happy Birthday to all my friends…. May you have someone in your life that gives you the birthday you deserve! If there is ANYTHING I can do…. Just ask… I’ll even call you up and sing “Happy Birthday” to you…. But NO ONE needs to hear that debacle!

Boobies Week! October 9-16th

I knew I had been adopted for as long as I could remember.

I was 2 1/2 when they brought me home.

I was 14 when I found my biological brother, we started looking for our family.

I was 24 when we found my biological father.

I was 25 when we found my biological mother.

What did we find out?

Lots of things, enough to fill a book or two, however one of the most important was our medical past, our genetic makeup. We had one huge thing to worry about... Cancer.

My maternal grandmother was 35 when she died from breast cancer, leaving behind three young children.

My aunt had it and she was in her 30's when we found out. I never knew what happened to her.

Now here I am, 35 and wondering what to look for. What are my signs? Will my doctor notice them? Can I trust her to understand my fear of leaving my little ones behind?






So, it's time I do my research.

The most common risk factors:*

• Sex. The highest risk factor for breast cancer is being female; the disease is about 100 times more common among women.
• Age. The risk of breast cancer increases as a woman grows older. The risk is especially high for women age 60 and older. Breast cancer is uncommon in women younger than age 35, although it does occur. There is some evidence to suggest young African American women are at greater risk for breast cancer than young Caucasian women.
• Personal History. Women who have had breast cancer and women with a history of breast disease (not cancer, but a condition that may predispose them to cancer) may develop it again.
• Family History. The risk of developing breast cancer increases for a woman whose mother, sister, daughter, or two or more close relatives have had the disease. It is important to know how old they were at the time they were diagnosed.
• The Breast Cancer Genes. Some individuals, both women and men, may be born with an "alteration" (or change) in one of two genes that are important for regulating breast cell growth. Individuals who inherit an alteration in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene are at an "inherited" higher risk for breast cancer. They also may pass this alteration on to their children. It is very rare. Scientists estimate that only about 5-10 percent of all breast cancers are due to genetic changes. One out of two women with these changes are likely to develop breast cancer. Women with a family history of breast cancer are encouraged to speak to a genetics counselor to determine the pros and cons of genetic testing.
  
  The next 5 risk factors all involve estrogen, a hormone that naturally occurs in men and women. However, at the time menstruation begins, women start to produce larger amounts of estrogen and will continue to do so until they reach menopause. Estrogen appears to play a key role in breast cancer. Although estrogen doesn't actually cause breast cancer, it may stimulate the growth of cancer cells. Estrogen-related risk factors are:
  
  
• Having an early menarche (first period or menstrual bleeding). Women who begin menstruating before age 12 are at increased risk of developing breast cancer. The more menstrual cycles a woman has over her lifetime, the more likely she is to get the disease.
• Having a first pregnancy after age 25 or 35. Although early pregnancies may help lower the chances of getting breast cancer, particularly before the age of 25, these same hormonal changes after age 35 may contribute to the incidence of breast cancer.
• Having no children. Women who experience continuous menstrual cycles until menopause are at a higher than average risk.
• Use of Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT). Based on the Women's Health Initiative Study (2002), women do appear to have an increased risk of breast cancer while they are on HRT and a short time thereafter, compared to those who have never used postmenopausal HRT. This is based on a study of 16,000 healthy postmenopausal women aged 50 to 79 who were taking either estrogen plus progestin as HRT or a placebo (an inactive pill).
• Use of Oral Contraceptives (OCs) and Breast Cancer. Current or former use of OCs among women ages 35 to 64 did not significantly increase the risk of breast cancer. The findings were similar for Caucasian and African-American women. Data also show that former OC use does not increase the risk of breast cancer later in life.

*information taken from the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month website

What can I do?

Get tested early.
Exercise.
Watch my alcohol intake.
Watch my fatty intake.
Eat healthier.

For my children... I think I can work on all of these, I plan on seeing them marry, have fat little babies that I get to spoil.

Now.... go to Boobicon and make a picture... create a quote. Let the world know that you are going to be "checking" during Boobies Week October 9-16.

Labor Day - Laborious

Just for fun, I thought I'd pull out this meme I found on Rocks in My Dryer. In honor of Labor Day, it's about...well, labor. And not the kind you get a day off for, either.

How long were your labors?

Kid #1, 10 hours
Kid #2, 8 hours
Kid #3, 8 hours.
Kid #4, 1.5 hours.

Kid #5, 1.5 hours
Kid #6, 12 hours


Kid #6 was trying to make sure I never did it again. She did not succeed

How did you know you were in labor?

Kid #1, Plug came out, contractions started
Kid #2, Contractions
Kid #3, Contractions
Kid #4, water breaking.

Kid #5, water breaking
Kid #6, false water breaking, huge scare

Where did you deliver?

With all of them, at a hospital.

Drugs?

Kid #1, Epidural
Kid #2, Demoral
Kid #3, Demoral
Kid #4, Nothing

Kid #5, Nothing
Kid #6, Epidural

C-section?

Yes, #1 was a C-section, all the others VBACs. #6 tried to be a C-section, she's a fussy one!

Who delivered?

All of them were delivered by doctors, though some of them almost came too quickly.

(this post was originally posted August 31, 2008)

Wordless Wednesday (Bedtime pictures and baby toes)

(I couldn't help the baby toes!)

Happy Wordless Wednesday!

Grandparent's day is coming!

Just a simple reminder for September 13th.... Know what day it is??

What are you planning on doing?

Get some ideas... write a post... Thank the grandparents in your life and/or your child's life.

Come back here during that week.... I'll be thanking the "Grandparents" in my life

Cherishing the "Empty Spaces"

Do “Empty Spaces” scare you?

Are you so busy that you forget to leave spaces in your life to… live?

September begins the busy season for me. For my family and now for Dave and his son… our family has become a clan and that adds in events, open houses, sporting events, holidays and time spent with friends.

Our Empty Spaces… those lazy summer days and night out in the back yard sitting next to the firepit might slow down. (Oh... how I will miss thee Smore’s….)

I spent an empty space of time with my toddlers yesterday. My older children went to bed early and I was feeling a little under the weather, so dinner was served and to the front yard the three of us girls went.

What did I learn?

• The ice cream man looks like Lancelot in the eyes of a one and two year old when he hands them their own frozen treat.

• Toddlers think ice cream is to be enjoyed by almost all the senses.



• You WILL be sticky by the end of this. Legs, clothes, hair… just accept it.

Then it was bath time, time to scrub, play in bubbles and enjoy one another without being so sticky.



This is where I realized… my daughter has NO comic ability. Well… at least not stand-up…

Luckily… I’ll always be her greatest fan


I: Knock Knock
Me: Who’s there? (as I am dousing her hair with water)
I: Banana (sputtering)
Me: Banana who?
I: Chomp Chomp Yum (making her hands open and close like they are eating)

(laughter from me)

I: Knock Knock
Me: Who’s there? (Skeptical)
I: Car
Me: Car who?
I: Vroom Vroom

(Yes.. I should have seen this coming)

I: Knock Knock
Me: Who’s there?
I: Bad girl
Me: Bad girl who?
I: *Scowly face* NO! BAD!

(I had to make her stop after that… I was giggling too much to bathe them.)

What have you learned during your time of “Empty Spaces”? Open up some time… LIVE with your family… it is a wonderful feeling!

Thanks to Mary for a concept that I fell in love with, and finally had words to put to it.