Doesn't this just take the cake?

Leaders in Bedford High School, New Hampshire, decided to give students credits toward graduation for participating in a Day of Silence for homosexual rights. The school has no business taking political, moral, or religious stances. If you won't let it all in, keep it ALL out.

Now that they are taking heat for their actions, they are saying students can get credit for any political activity done during a school day.

This is going to cause a LOT of problems for their administrators trying to give credit for students going to all sorts of events and missing out on school to do them.

I SO love this!

So, I got this random facebook friend request from someone who knows someone I know, and I went to their website to see what she about before I friended her. Let me tell you, I love her website! You are gonna get a kick out of this!

Shooting up jeans to make a statement about our right to bear arms! They even let you pick what caliber holes you want!
I am normally totally opposed to jeans with holes and tears, but I am all for this kind of jean! Bring it on! What a way to make a statement, right?
Shot Up Jeans are amazing!
And, yes, of course I friended her after seeing that!

Over-booked syndrome?

My life has been so packed lately that I just haven't had a day at home to just do what I need to do. I'll have nothing planned and things will pop up and keep me gone most of the day. One day I planned to spend most of the day at home, I had exercise planned for morning and evening, but then I need to run to the bank, run stuff to the school, run to the doctors, take a kid to a friend's house, go to two stores to buy stuff for the car and for the garden....... before I knew it my day had been hijacked, lol. So, what the heck, might as well have some friends over in the evening, too, right? (that was fun!)

So what happens when I finally run into a day where I don't need to leave the house? I am paralyzed. I can't bring myself to get busy around the house, I am lost! I just don't even know how to get up and start laundry and work on other housework.

I really need to get past this today because the rest of the week is packed. Wednesday I need to go to Kaytlin's new college with her, which requires going to her current college and waiting until class is done so we have time to get to the second one, then there is Awanas, if I get back in time. Thursday is Nicole's orthodontist appointment, shopping and who knows what will come up. Friday I have two walking times at church and we have to go to Kaytlin's choir/guitar concert. Somewhere in there we could be going to a track meet, or any number of other things we've forgotten, lol.

Anyone wanna come run my life for me?

Kids, gotta love them!

Sam has been struggling with going to church for well over a year. I think it started when we tried to put him in Childrens Church which starts at age 2. They teachers wouldn't come get me when he wouldn't stop crying. He cried the entire class, and has never stepped a foot back in that room willingly again. It is also when he stopped going to the nursery happily.
Many people in the nursery and SS rooms tell me to just leave him, he will stop crying. No, he won't stop crying. He won't. I've tried. Over and over and over and over. He doesn't stop. In fact, he will try to escape and will succeed if you are not diligent. The more he screams, the longer it is before he goes to class willingly.

We've been attending a different church on Saturday nights so that our kids who work on Sundays can get to church. Sam needs to go to the class because children are not ALLOWED in the service. They play the music so loud that they hand out earplugs when you are walking in. Sam couldn't do that, lol. I can't even handle it with ear plugs.

So I have been taking him to class and giving him time to adjust to going in while I am avoiding the loud music. It takes some time. The room has a neat ball pit that kids walk through to get to class, and it is filled with blow up fish and octopus things. Very fun! But he won't go right away. So we sit outside looking in while the kids play. Then they clean up and start the lesson. The lesson is on a video and after the lesson they play a music time, also on video, and the teachers hand out blow up microphones for the kids to sing along with. The first teacher brought him one and he said "This not work!" But he participated and soon afterwards he went in to play. I left him there and he didn't want to leave!

This week I brought him and the new teacher kept telling me he would be fine, she has 3 kids and they quit crying if you just leave them. Um, no, I have 7 kids and I know that he won't stop crying and he WILL escape, the route is just too easy. So, since I don't know what I am doing, the teachers and helpers kept coming over to talk to him.

That sent him running behind me with his nose up my butt. Yeah, not gonna work. But they keep trying, driving his nose further up my butt. Super fun for me. Not. Hello, just go do your job, and he will come in after the microphones.

So, they did their thing, gave him a mic, he sang with them, then I told him to go put the microphone back in the bucket like the other kids, and he hopped over, did it and ran for the toys without looking back! And he didn't want to leave again, lol.

I am going to keep doing it my way, and I know he will love it eventually. He does love it, he asks to go back and doesn't want to leave. I just know that one day he will just run in there without looking back and I'll have to find some other reason to avoid the loud music. But I won't miss the nose up my butt.

I have found a NEW way to totally embarass my kids!

One of my motto's is "I was put on this earth to embarrass my teenagers in front of their friends." And I have discovered a doozie of a way to do just that!
Host a Menarche Party for their first period! Woohoo! Not just any party, either, ones with plates that teach you about your period and games that teach you about puberty and your body and your period! Wouldn't that just rock!?!

I am not even kidding, I actually found a site, Menarche Parties R Us (is that even legal to use "R Us?"), that sells party stuff for puberty and menarche (your first period)! The Pin the Ovaries on the Uterus game just tops the list of amazing products that this company sells.

Honestly, I cannot fathom who would do this to their daughter. My girls would never forgive me if I did that. If you want to educate your daughter about her cycle, do it! And it should be done before it even starts, hello! I don't depend on the school to teach it, and I don't wait. I make sure my girls know as much as they are willing to learn about their bodies by the time they leave my house.
As comfortable as I am with talking about my body with my girls, I can't imagine taking something so private and turning it into a party. They girls don't even want me to tell their father when they start their period!

Epic FAIL on this one.

Wow, some people......

You know who the world is experiencing Global Warming and the polar ice caps are melting and going to just disappear? Yeah, over the last 4 years people have decided to take treks out there to prove how it is warmer than people believe. Guess what? They had to be rescued because of frost bite or there was a sea of ice stopping their canoe, etc. lol. None of them made it because "They were experiencing temperatures that weren't expected with Global Warming." Check it out HERE.

Or how about THIS article about a Thai restaurant employee who thought that some one's guide dog was a gay dog and wouldn't allow them to enter the restaurant because they don't allow gay dogs. Umm, yeah.

Busted!

Last night we had a sort of family night (except Kaytlin who refused) by watching Avatar. Half of us hadn't seen it yet, so it was funny to watch the little kids watch it. There is a fight scene (OK, almost all of it is fighting) where the creatures were losing and out of the forest comes these sort of Hammerhead type Rhinos that can't be shot. Sam screams out "Yes! I love those things!"
After the movie we sent the kids off to bed. I made sure even the teens got to their rooms and I headed off to bed. As I lay there watching some NCIS I could hear Cody and Brian talking excitedly below us in their room. I just had this feeling that I should pray for them. I prayed that God would protect them from harm and danger. They soon quieted down.
Then Donnie bolted upright in bed, alarmed, and asked if that was the dog whining. I got up and checked, but it didn't continue. Then, about 5 minutes later Parker started crying like someone was hurting him!
Donnie and I flew out of bed and ran down to the basement, where Parker ran to us all distressed. I started hollering to Cody asking what happened to Parker. No answer.
I went over and pulled the curtain to his room aside and it was empty. And the window was open. Now, I have to tell you, this window is a typical basement window, quite narrow, and they only had half of that to crawl through, but crawl out they had. 1:30 in the morning!

I was TICKED! Donnie decided he would just hang out on Cody's bed and wait for their return and sent me back to bed. Not that I could sleep, or anything.
Sure enough, about 2:45 they started shining lights in the window, I'm sure thinking they would need to silence the dog who was actually kenneled upstairs. Donnie pulled the blanket over his head and waited for them to crawl in the window. When Brian was in Donnie pulled the blanket down and said "Hi, Brian." "Crap." Cody sat in the window stuttering a bit, so Donnie invited him in. lol

Totally priceless!

They weren't very bright. They are going on a weekend trip this weekend and the night before decide to sneak out and go for a run in the middle of the night. Mmmhmmm. Stupid. I know, seems gullible, but they actually did go for a run. We told them to get some sleep, 6am comes fast.
We got them up and started them on their long day of yard work and extreme running. Then I ratted Brian out to his mom. I felt bad telling her, she is in the hospital and can't really deal with it right now, but I would want to know.
We did end up letting them go on their trip, but they will be continuing the work at both homes when they get back, lol.

Dear Diary,

My blog is kind of like my diary. It is where I process what I feel, what happens to me, and work through the "whys" of things in my life. There ARE things I wouldn't put out here, and there are things I wish I hadn't put out here. But the fact is, I am giving you permission to read my diary, but realize that it IS my diary, and if you don't like what it says, you were reading my deep, personal thoughts. You were eaves dropping in on my thoughts and feelings. They are mine, and if you are going to take offense to them, you shouldn't read someone's diary, even if they leave it open and allow you to read it.


Lisa

Funny how God teaches us.

"Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will
be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And
why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the
plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the
speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First
remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the
speck from your brother's eye." Matthew 7:1-5

You only need look in the mirror to see why God included this in the Bible. It isn't that we are not supposed to ever judge, but that we are aware that what we are judging is something we have a handle on. Rarely do we actually get the log out of our eye before we go off the handle on someone, though.
This is certainly a great place for us to learn how to deal with our own anger. So often we are mad at someone and what makes us so angry is something that we need to work on in ourselves, and if you are going to judge someone on it, you are going to get judged back on it. If you set out the measurements, sure enough, they are going to measure you right back with them.

I am dealing with that now. I wanted someone to handle something the right way, which they didn't, and I was upset. I ended up handling it the same way they were handling it in response. I apologized for it, I was wrong. I forgot to take care of one part of my issue, and it was found out a month later, and that person found out exactly how I felt when she did it to me, and she reacted just like I did, even though I had apologized for it. And I didn't respond like I should have responded. So here we are, acting exactly alike, calling each other hypocrites. I see how she felt then, and hope that she will see how what she did made me feel.

I did apologize, and I don't know what more she wants. I just want an apology, too. I think God took the log out of my own eye now. I am beyond frustrated, though. I thought this was done back then, and now it is back in the open again.

I have a challenge/test for you, my readers.

Readers of the female kind anyway, haha.

I recently read a little article about how men like flirting from women and double entendres. The article said to say things like "I need a backrub, my neck is stiff." or "Would you help me with this crossword puzzle? It is hard."

The article says it will get your man thinking about sex and even "get the juices flowing for foreplay."

Um, yeah, like that is going to work after 21 years, lol.

So I tried it to see if he would even notice the double entendre. "Honey, would you massage my shoulders? My neck is stiff."
Seriously, I didn't get past "massage" and he was grinning from ear to ear. You bet he was thinking about sex right then and there.

So, why don't you test it out and see what results you get. Fill out my poll on the sidebar and leave a comment, not too much detail about what happens afterwards, though, lol.

10% doing 90

Have you heard that saying that 10% of the people do 90% of the work at church? It is pretty accurate, though I think probably more than 10% are working in our church.

It gets frustrating for those 10% though.

I don't feel like I do too much. At least not right now. I only have one person doing the women's ministry with me, but since we have absolutely zero money, and I am not spending hundreds of dollars of our money several times a year to run events. I already have to pay for the baby and wedding showers out of my pocket, I just can't do more. So for now, there isn't much to do besides the tons of showers we are having right now. I also help in the nursery on Wednesdays. And we have walking twice a week, well, 2 times on Mondays and Fridays, which I need to be there for.

Donnie, on the the other hand, is into everything. He is busy all the time. He is the head of the technology department, and runs it most weeks. He is the Men's ministry leader, and tries to be supportive of all the studies and groups that are going on. He is starting an adult drama team, which means he will have to be there for all of those things. Oh, and he is in charge of setting up camping for the Sunday School, and filming things for missionaries, and if anyone has a wedding or other event, he is asked to do the technical for it.

Sundays almost always consist of him being behind the computer from about 7-12, which means rarely sitting with his family for church, and Nicole has drama and Bible study and Kaytlin has worship practice. Mondays I am busy morning and evening at the church. Tuesdays Donnie has TWO bible studies in the morning, which bumps work later in the evening. Wednesday I have nursery and he has another men's study group, Kaytlin is on the worship team and Nicole is on drama team and Cody does the technical stuff. Thursdays usually have him at worship practice, which means 8-9pm. Fridays I have walking morning and night, and he has another Bible study that he runs. Saturdays were a men's basketball event he was asked to have open that no one ever showed up to, so he lost a couple hours in the morning setting up, waiting, and taking down by himself. Then back to Sunday. And if something goes wrong with the computers Donnie goes to fix them. Sometimes there are church meetings we have to attend. Where is he going to fit adult drama in there?

Add normal events with family and kids: sports, work, conferences, shopping, birthday parties, etc, and we have no time for us and barely time with the kids.

The kids don't enjoy church any more. Especially Cody and Sam. I'm getting burnt out and frustrated with Donnie not being around. We have to serve, that isn't the issue. It is just that there are people who are NOT serving, and they could pick up some of these things. Like doing the technology. If more people did the tech stuff Donnie could do it once a month, or even once every two months! We have plenty of computer savvy people, but noone willing to commit to once a month or even less. So, guess who does it since it HAS to be done?

I think that once in a while there should just not be anything on the screen. Go back to printing the words of the songs and passing them out in the bulletin. Either more people will step up, or Donnie will just get a break here and there. (There are other people helping, but noone can do it every week)

We are not the only family at church who is over involved in things. I see other families that are at everything, running things, involved in things, taking on other things that noone will do. It is frustrating to see people being worked into the ground until they want to leave. Why don't people feel led to serve if they are really Christian?

I don't want my kids seeing church as taking over your life. I want them to serve, and they DO serve, but they have balance.

Then we have the dilemma of figuring out how to get Cody to enjoy going to church again. It isn't a lack of interest in God, it is just Sunday mornings that are an issue. He hates going, he hides from the service. It is frustrating. He is fine on Wednesdays, and he will watch sermons online with Donnie and enjoy them. So we have to find something that keeps him wanting to go to church. Devon isn't able to go on Sundays because of work, so we are going to add Saturday evening service at another church to our already busy week. Sam likes going to Sunday School there, but hates it at our church, but I think with Sam it is because of the time of day, he doesn't do mornings. Trinity likes going to both, so does Nicole.

This is just a frustrating time for me.

Crazy hormones

Don't you just love crazy female hormones? For 2 weeks of the month I don't want any more kids, and for the next two weeks I hope I am pregnant. Stupid hormones! Make up your mind!!!!

But right now, to get pregnant would mean being due right before I am scheduled to fly to Hawaii with my girlfriends for Anna and my 40th birthday year. That would stink. We'd either have to put it off, or they would have to go without me. Either would stink.

But you know what today is? My most fertile day of the year. Our anniversary. I have gotten pregnant 3 times on our anniversary. (I think there was one more pregnancy with that due date, too, but I can't remember for sure)

My friends are glad Donnie and I are arguing for our anniversary so I don't end up pregnant, lol. Love you, my dear friends!

Twenty one years of marriage! Amazing! Only God could have gotten us to this point because Donnie and I sure screwed up over and over big time.

A lesson in good sportsmanship

Today was Trinity's first time racing for AWANA's Float-A-Boat race. She was so excited to make a boat, and drove us nearly insane wanting to get started. But in typical Qtpies fashion, we waited until that last week to get started. Trinity sat down with her dad and drew and designed the boat she wanted, complete with a crown for a sail. Luckily for us we still had plastic Easter eggs, which make a perfect crown when cut down with a dremel. Trin drove us nuts wanting to go shopping for crown stickers, which we never found, but instead got sparkly paint pens and some heart and star jewels instead. She sanded and sanded and sanded some more to get a perfectly smooth boat. Then hounded Donnie through every coat of paint so she could start decorating. The boat turned out quite girly and princessy.


Through the years we have perfected our cars, but we've only ever made a boat one other time. So we made sure the boat wasn't top heavy and didn't tip, and hoped for the best. Crucial mistake: Donnie didn't teach Trinity how to BLOW the sail. Not good. She did little huffy, puffy blows in spite of our screaming "Blow HARDER!!!!" at her the whole race.

She had so much fun and was so excited to get a participation ribbon. She didn't care that she didn't win, she was happy to come in second on the side she was racing on. (even though it was last out of the 4 racing one of the heats) Look how proud she is of her ribbon!


And then she heard HER name called out for the FIRST PLACE trophy for best design! She ran over to get her trophy.

Look how she is holding the ribbon higher than the trophy, lol. She was just as happy with that as with the trophy.

Now, her parents, on the other hand, might need a lesson in sportsmanship. Not that we were poor sports or poor losers, but you can hear us screaming in the videos to blow harder. We even coached her between races on HOW to blow harder, but she didn't listen until the last seconds of the race, which she had already lost.

Do you know what we then did? Found out what the fastest boats sail was made of, started thinking of next years' sails, what went wrong and right for the other boats, and BOUGHT not one, but TWO more boat kits to practice on to get it right for next year.

Oh, yes, we did.

Here are Trin's two races.

Zippity Doo's!

"Why treat lice when you can prevent them?" That is the theme of Zippity Doo's new hair care products for children.

Treating lice is NOT fun, and it really isn't all that healthy most of the time. Zippity Doo's products are mild enough for daily use, provide health benefits to the scalp and hair and help prevent lice infestations. The shampoo and conditioner are the first line of defense against lice. You then can add the gel or detangler for a second line of defense before the kids head out the door. The shield spray is for hats and helmets and things the can carry lice, spray it on and prevent lice from jumping on.

The ingredients are natural products that you might even find in your house. Tea Tree Oil and Anise seem to be a common ingredient, with cinnamon, sage and a few others thrown in the different products.

I found it refreshing and a huge relief to be able to use hair care products that are safe and natural. Aside from the lice products, I worry about what is in the shampoo that I put on the kids. The scents were not what you normally expect in a kids product, strawberry or watermelon, but they were nice and you can tell they are natural. I was pleased with all the products they carry, and especially loved the detangling spray for Trinity's long hair. She really likes it and asks for it every time we brush her hair. (that means it really works!) It is our absolute favorite of the products, and it is our favorite detangling spray of any brand.

I can't attest to whether or not it repels lice, but I can say that we haven't gotten lice since using it, haha, but I don't know if we were exposed to it or not, either.

You can find Zippity Doo's products at CVS Pharmacy.

I received a complimentary set of Zippity Doo's products through Zippity Doo's and Mom Select in the hope that I would write a review, I received no other compensation for my opinions. My opinions are my own.

Friend day

Yesterday was still part of our kids' spring break, so I wanted to do something fun with them. I asked around and found a few friends who wanted to take their kids to see How To Train Your Dragon. We had 5 adults, 5 small children, 2 teens and a baby. Donnie and his friend Dan took 4 teens with them to see Clash of the Titans.

Our group had a lot of fun watching the movie with the kids. Only my family had seen it, so it was fun watching the other kids watch it. And it was fun watching Jody start crying, haha. I don't know if there is a movie she doesn't cry at. Some of the kids got a little scared, but they sure liked the movie overall!

Now my friends KNOW why I had to find Toothless for the kids, and I think some of them will be on the hunt, too. Right, Jody?

On the Titans side............. They all wished they had come with us instead. Clash of the Titans was not that great, apparently. It is based on mythology, but it is really shallow and doesn't go into the depth that it could.

It's a feature!

Recently I got a new dishwasher. It took a couple of days to get Donnie to install it, but he did it with Cody one day while I was out. I was so happy to finally be able to use one, but soon grew frustrated because it wasn't pushed in far enough due to some insulation, and so it couldn't be screwed in to be steady. Thus, it fell onto my foot every time I got a few plates in there.

Finally one day I came home to it pushed back and screwed in tightly.

Donnie asked me if I noticed that he had done it, and I answered that I had. And he said how he even tilted it back some so that if it clogged up that the water wouldn't come out the front door and flood the kitchen! Isn't that great?!

Um, no. Now the rack slips back IN when I get a few plates in there, lol. At least it isn't on my foot, but it is still a pain.

So I look down and notice that Donnie had put a board under there, and upon closer inspection I discovered that the dishwasher was too short to reach the counter so he did that so he could screw it in, not to keep it from leaking.

So, I confronted him on it and he said "It's a feature!"