Life is REALLY Good!

Two days ago I was not excited about the upcoming presidential election. I was tired of seeing Obama on tv and not very excited about John McCain. Then comes the bombshell that McCain actually picks an intelligent candidate with executive experience, oh and she just so happens to be a woman! WOW can it get any better than this. A governor does more in one week than a senator does in a year so Obama/Biden can clam up on that one. This woman is truly incredible. She went after the Republicans in her state that were corrupt! How refreshing is that?

The biggest excitement for me is that she has a child with downs syndrome. My dear friend has a child with down syndrome. Sarah Palin knew her child had downs while in the womb and she chose to have the child because she knew she would be blessed and made a better person by carrying the baby to term. Listening to the media say with such incredible disbelief that she knew in advance is a victory for all children with down syndrome. Those that are here and those that are still in the womb. It will give pregnant women hope and know that they can bring this child into the world and others have done it and continue to lead a normal family life. It shows that it is not a horrible thing to have a baby with down syndrome but a blessed thing. For this I am so grateful. For my friend April and her daughter Claire and all the wonderful children like Claire I am over the moon.

So today is a great day not just for republicans but for all people with down syndrome and those families with a family member that has down syndrome. I have been on a personal crusade for the past (almost 5 years) to educate people about downs. To try to get to drs and people in the medical industry to make sure they give women options when they are told the child in the womb has downs. To say there is something other than termination.

My personal story is that I always thought I would have a child with downs. I was 39 when I had my last child so it should have been me and that child would have been welcomed into this world with loving arms. Instead my 29 year old friend April was the lucky one to get the baby with downs syndrome. She did not know before Claire was born that this was the case but that would not have made a difference. She would have carried Claire to term no matter what. A true hero in my book.

So I walk around in almost a drunken joy at the choice by John McCain of Sarah Palin. This is not about being a republican or democrat. This is about being an advocate. So no matter what your political convictions I hope you will share in my joy over this.

God is good and Life is Great!

Things that make you go hmmmmmm?

Snack foods on the go-
Do you ever think about taking a snack with you when you go out of the house? I mean I will grab something for the kids but usually don't take something for myself unless I am starving. So if I take something to munch on in the car it is usually pretzels, low fat cheeze its (yummo), or crackers. Something neat and easy to put in a ziplock bag and take with you. There is a point...

Last night I am driving to Lucy's school and I am at a stop light and the woman in the car next to me is eating chicken wings. Not just eating them she is eating them and then sucking on the bones! I have never seen such a thing! And in a car! I don't know how you eat them as they are so messy. But I glanced over and saw her taking something out of her mouth and thought "gee that looks strange" and then I look again and she has a chicken wing, well the drummette part that looks like a little leg (because you know I had to check it out thoroughly) and is chomping off the chicken and then she sticks the entire bone in her mouth and sucks on it and then puts it down and brings up another bone (or the same one not sure since I couldn't see what was in her lap) and starts sucking on it. But not like a lollipop. I mean the whole thing in her mouth and then pulls it out!

What is up with that? Do you eat strange food in the car? Am I just crazy thinking this is bizarre? I mean I am in the south but come on. Can't you wait until you get home? Just doesn't seem like a car snack food. Anyway other than being a strange choice it grossed me out.
Is there anything that grosses you out that other drivers do? Have you seen any drivers do something so stupid or funny that you laughed out loud? I want to know.

In the mean time don't be looking for me eating any kind of chicken with a bone in it in the car.

Have a great day and Lif is Good!

What a beautiful day!

Today is a great day. The sun is shining (although the mosquitoes are awful after the rains of Fay and you can't go outside without being bombarded by them - think horror movie), the grass is green, I had a Starbucks Coffee with a good friend and no kids in tow. I called a friend yesterday to see if I could take her son today for Cambridge to play with. The mom is a teacher at C's school. I told her I was meeting (another teacher from the school) for coffee at 7:45 and maybe I could pick him up after. She said "I will be at school so why don't you drop C off and they can play in my classroom until you get back." Umm no hesitation on my part...YES!!! (She is setting her classroom up for school to start next week.)

So I went to Starbucks and had a nice relaxing time and while we were there the person sitting next to us was taken out by EMS and we never even noticed anything was wrong. We saw 2 EMTs and 2 Firemen come in and I thought they were sitting next to us and then they started bringing in oxygen and I looked over (literally at the small round table next to me!) and the lady is slumped over and slurring and one of the EMTs is talking to her. Now 2 more EMTs come in with a gurney and at this point I moved my table out of the way and left. Seemed like the appropriate thing to do.

I picked up the boys and we came home and they made homemade chocolate chip cookies (I can't remember the last time I did this !) and then we put the ingredients for dough into the bread machine so the kids and Dan can make pizzas for dinner (of course I have to go to Lucy's school for a new parent meeting and while I am no longer a "new" parent I am the chair of the new parent committee). The cookies look awesome. Crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. Each of the boys ate 2 (but they also had half and apple to round it out!).

Now I am getting the ingredients ready to make cranberry bread (with craisins since they were on clearance at Target (only $1.77 for a large package that costs $3.99 at grocery store - can you say bargain?).

I picked some limes and gave them to my friend and now have found a yummy recipe online for which I have all the ingredients in the house (it doesn't get any better than that. See I told you life is good). We will have that tomorrow night.

Here are some pictures of my abundance of what is outside. I have basil, parsley, more rosemary than I know what to do with (this is one plant and I have 3 more in the front that are now part of the landscaping because you can't kill them and they smell so good!), limes, chives, the yummy cookies the boys made and whatever else I took photos of today. Oh and a picture of my 2 helpers. I think you can figure out which one is mine (Tony Stewart).

Speaking of bargains and Tony Stewart, all his stuff is on sale at racingusa.com. 75% off! I got Cambridge a new costume since he wants to be Tony Stewart (again) for Halloween and the one we have is getting small. Normally it is $30 and I got it for $5. How great is that and they had his size. Again, life is good.

Joseph and Cambridge (Buzz and Tony!)

The yummy cookies Buzz and Tony made!

2 limes on the tree waiting to be picked

Chives

One of my basil plants

One of my rosemary plants - this one is in a planter the rest are in the ground

Have a beautiful day and I will let you know how the recipe turns out (if you want it just click on the words yummy recipe and it will bring you to the link.

Who knew?

Who knew there was so much to setting up a blog? Getting the right colors. picking the right name and url. Choosing photographs. Coming up with subjects to talk about. I never would have thought it would take up so much time. Although I guess some of that time was eaten up reading other people's blogs. As I have written before they are fascinating.

I am trying to put ads on here. There is a program where the advertisers will pay me. I figure why not. So that is taking time for me to be approved. Also, since I set up my last blog the customize template and stuff has changed and I am sure it is for the better it is a harder learning curve since I had done it the other way previously.

I am still in my pjs (well I have shorts and sports bra on with the long tshirt since I had to walk Lucy to the end of the driveway for car pool pickup) and so is Cambridge. It s 11:47 am. He does not want to get dressed! He does not want to go do anything. YIKES. I am not sure who is going to be in bigger trouble next week when he goes back to school, me or him! He wants to watch Blues Clues. That is all he wants to do. We got a Blues Clues video from the library the other day and that is what he is content watching. So I let him watch all the episodes on it and then he has to play with no tv on for at least an hour and then he can watch something again. Oh I am a bad mommy. I am trying to get him to go to the park but unless I can get a friend to go along with him he is content to play in the house. We have set up a Monster Truck rally track where his monster trucks (sligthly bigger than a matchbox) can drive over the other cars and feel like Monster Jam on Speed Tv! This boy stuff is way easier than girl toys and stuff. Just a lot of vroom noises and grunting as opposed to making play conversation with a mommy and her baby. Lucy always wanted to be the mommy!!!

So here I sit. At the computer. Doing each of the kids school calendars. And you would think that since Lucy's k-12 school bought Cambridge's 2yo-K school that all the vacation days would be the same! NOT! So there are several days off when it is one or the other. The spring break is the same and winter break but Lucy has 2 extra days at the end of her winter break. Then in October Lucy has a Thursday and Friday off and then Cambridge gets the Monday off for Columbus day! Go figure.

ok back from a quick break. Got Cambridge dressed and took a video of him while I was at it. You can see what a NASCAR and Tony Stewart fan he truly is (hat, pillow, #20 on his cast).





Gotta decide what to make for dinner. I know the kids would like tacos but Lucy requested garlic bread and pasta (can you say carb loading?) and I have some ribs, chicken breasts and lean ground beef. My garden is full of basil but we ate all the red tomatoes and I have an over abundance of limes. Is there such a thing as lime chicken????hmmmm.

Off to check out the freezer and my garden to see what I can make this evening. Have a great day and thanks for reading.

Welcome!

Welcome over here. Glad you followed me. I will start blogging full time once Cambridge starts school next week. Right now I still have him home with me. But I wanted this blog to be more about me, my family and my life rather than commentary on subjects in the press, etc. that would cause me to open my big mouth. Now I am sure there will be some of that but this will be more about what is going on around here. What is up in my garden (right now a ton of limes that are soooo good, basil and tomatoes!), what is going on with me and the kids and dh and life in general Come on in and sit down with a nice cuppa joe.