A New Approach

Well, no big surprise here, I didn't come back to make that blog entry. I have just been so busy, but who hasn't, right? I read a new friends blog today and I decided to steal her new approach to blogging. I'm at least going to give it a try and see how it suits me. She did more of a journal entry for the week. (Thanks for the idea Madeline.)

Last weekend we took the kids to Bend and we had such a great time. Apparently we missed a pretty "awesome" rain storm. I use the punctuation marks because it must have rained a ton. We had awesome sunny weather and it only rained a smidge for us, which was mostly at night. It still amazes me how different the weather can be only 2.5 hours away, just on the other side of the mountains. We had a great time swimming, sight seeing and just relaxing. We always love going to Bend.

Monday saw us back to the usual routine, although Doug, Oakli and I did go to Salem for "lunch". Doug made it quite clear that it was a date, and not a reward. You see, we have this standing deal, that if I clean the house, he'll take me out to lunch at my favorite restaurant that week. We happened to go there, which is the "Best Little Roadhouse", not to be mistaken with "The Roadhouse". We had to go to Salem to the scout office to get Bryce his new scout things, now that he isn't a cub scout any longer, so why not, right? It was the best. I don't ever get anything special, just a salad, but there is just something about that place! I have tried to re-create the salad and bread, but I just can't seem to get it right.

We have a former neighbor who was a fighter pilot in WWII. He passed away 5 years ago and was buried in a family cemetery about 1 mile from our house (on family property - we don't live by a cemetery, per se)... so for FHE we decided that we wanted to do service and clean up the cemetery in his honor. Because Veteran's Day on Wednesday, we thought it would be nice because his widow may come out to visit the grave. We don't know if she was able to come, because she is VERY sick, but it was nice for the kids to do some service anyway. The grass needed mowing badly and the leaves had not yet been cleaned up, so it was a great opportunity for our family. Right when the kids got off the bus, we grabbed them and ran down there. We were loosing daylight fast, so we needed to go quick. We had 2 lawnmowers, 3 rakes, 2 garbage cans, 1 edger, 1 blower, 4 kids, 1 dad, 1 mom, 2 girls that had to go pee, (hello, why don't you go when mom tells you to BEFORE we leave the house???) and 0 complaints. We got the job done and it was amazing. Bryce and Doug ran the lawn mowers, I ran a rake, and the 3 youngest kids ran their 2 arms picking up wet piles of leaves. We even had to work some in the dark, but we got it done.

Tuesday found Oakli and I spending the day at Kindergarten. Oakli loves it because she thinks she is part of the class. She joins in with everything and loves it. She blends in well and you can hardly tell that she is not a "kinder". I love going to help out, but it is so exhausting. Mrs. Graham is the best and needs so much help to get all the projects done. I normally go in only once a week but try to help out as much as I can with things at home. (My Cricut is working double-duty as I am typing, so my hand doesn't have to do all the cutting out of candy canes for her... boy- or girl- am I smart!)

Wednesday saw us all home. I still don't understand why they can't celebrate Veteran's Day on a Monday or Friday if they are going to give the kids the day off school. It was a bit crazy having them all home in the middle of the week. It was only yesterday, and I really don't know what we did yesterday. I do remember vaguely that I had them clean and do some chores. The kids did get their piano practicing done, but looking around right now, I'm not sure what else they got done. I do remember giving them chores to do. Funny thing that is. Mess, I guess that is life, right?

As for some random thoughts, I am enjoying helping out in the kindergarten class a lot. Mrs. Graham has 30 kids in the morning and 30 kids in the afternoon and she has no help except for when parents come in and help, so I feel like I need to be in to help when I can, except that I don't think that I can help more than once a week, because it is so draining for me. (Some years she gets an assistant, some years she gets no help.) I would never make a good teacher. Some days I come home with a migraine. Some days I feel like I should have done more. Some days I wonder why she does it. Some days I can see why she does it. Chase is the 3rd child of ours that has had Mrs. Graham. In years past we have been able to help out the kindergarten in the financial department than we are able to this year, so I feel bad about that. Maybe that is why I feel like I need to be in the classroom helping more. When Bryce and Ambri where in kindergarten I couldn't be in the classroom as much because Chase and Oakli were little babies. (Sigh).

I still can't keep Bryce "in Books". He continues to read me and his teacher out of every book he checks out from the library. He always has his limit checked out and can read through a very large book in 1 day. It truly amazes me. I can't even keep up with what he is reading. He also loves to play the computer and DS as much as he loves to read too, so he isn't a "nerdy" child, thank goodness!

This year has been very hard. I hope next year is a better year. I do have to say though, if this year wasn't so hard, I wouldn't have learned the lessons I needed to learn.

I'm very behind on my jewelry making. Bad, Kari. Another side effect from Kindergarten. The kids are addicting. Well, maybe not the kids, (that sounds bad, but it is different when it's your own kids...) but I do feel a strong urge to help out wherever I can. I guess that is why there are still no pictures posted here. (Sorry Jaclyn). I was thinking that on the long drive maybe I could post some. Yes, I just said it, ON THE LONG DRIVE... for those of you that are reading this that are "Utards" (and I say that so affectionately - because I still consider myself a Utard - that is what Doug and I call us - you, me, I, whatever) we are coming for Thanksgiving. If Mom doesn't know, I sent her a text. I do need to call her. See... I do have procrastination in my veins. I'll email, I promise. This is one of the most "last minute" trips I think I've ever planned, except for a funeral trip.

The Think Method

I'm using the think method today.

Today I'm thinking that I'll do a *real* blog post. (This one doesn't count.) I've been browsing my pictures and trying to get them organized. I honestly have so many soccer pictures from the fall (12.4 GB so far) that it is overwhelming. I still have Bryce's last game to finish. I'm hoping that there is a great picture of each child in there somewhere for a great soccer post. Then I can delete like 10 GB of bad soccer pictures.

Then I'm hoping that I can find one decent picture of Oakli in her Halloween costume. She is "literally" the most dramatic child I have ever met. She can make more faces in 2 seconds than anyone I have ever met. That includes hand and arm gestures. She is amazing and I never know if I am going to get a normal picture. I guess that is just her personality and it will probably never change. So that is my *thinking* for today. The rest of my *thinking* will go out the window because I am heading to kindergarten today. There doesn't seem to be much thinking going on in a kindergarten classroom, although we'd all like to pretend that there is. I don't know how kindergarten teachers do it, it is more like organizezd chaos, but somehow Mrs. Graham gets it done, and she is the BEST! Anyway, it is Chase's "sharing" day today and he wants to bring Oakli for his sharing. Go figure.

Gum

Funny how little things trigger memories of people. I was reaching for a piece of gum today.

Those of you who know me well, know that this is something that happens MANY times each day. For some reason today I thought of Amy C. while I was chewing my gum. I don't know Amy well. I was at her house once, and she was at my house once too. When she was at my house we were working on a project for her and she saw my “gum jar”. I think she was shocked. (I would have been...) Some people have candy jars. I don’t. I have a gum jar. It just makes more sense for me to empty all my gum into a big jar, rather than trying to fish a piece out of a pack each time I want one, or even trying to find a pack for that matter. Amy shares my same love of gum. (She probably doesn't have a gum jar though.) I don't really know if it is a love, or an addiction, or what the exact word really is. I started chewing a lot of gum when I want3ed to loose weight. It made more sense to me not to eat food if I had a fresh piece of gum in my mouth. I don’t really know what the point of telling all of all you this is, other than the point of me saying that I thought of Amy today. Amy moved away this summer. Amy is a great person, although I didn't ever get a chance to know her well. From what I did know, she has a personality like no one I’ve ever met before. I’ve wondered if I’ll ever meet anyone else like her. Probably not. Hang onto your seats, Utah… here comes Amy!

I'm on Strike!

Now, don't go getting any ideas now... I'm still:

I don't know that it was ever officially discussed before, but I think it was mentioned previously how difficult it was to blog every day for a whole month. I'm not saying it can't be done for some people. I know there are a lot of people out there that make a lot of money doing it every day. I'm sure that if someone wanted to pay me a lot of money, I'd change my attitude really fast. But, because no one is beating down my pathetic front door, my attitude is still the same, blogging everyday is not for me. I will, however, be back. Just not yet. I think about it often, so I wanted to let you know (if you are out there) that I am still here. I am still trying to enjoy the last few days of sun that we have in Oregon. I am swamped with soccer 6 days a week (but loving it!), canning, and am now enjoying what is a quiet afternoon once in a while. Chase is in school now in the afternoons, and Oakli still loves her naps, when she gets them. I am proud to say, some afternoons it is quiet. Sitting here thinking about what happens during those quiet hours, I cannot even begin to recall, but I'm sure that something productive happens (I hope!)

Once the rain starts to fall and soccer ends for the Princesses, Elves, Tornadoes, and Renegades I'll post pictures of the kids in action and begin work on scrapbook pages (I hope) and who knows what else, but until then, we are still here and I'm still reading your blogs too!

Final Day ~ Day 31

Today is my final post of the post for a day, for a whole month. I do confess that I had many things planned for the final day. Many just slipped my mind, some just don't seem relevant any longer, and others just make me feel more tired than I already am. This was very hard to do. Many of you already know that, if you've been following my my posts, you'll know that, because I've said it more than once. I don't know that I'll ever try this again. I've liked the challenge, but the stress has been very hard. I don't do well with stress. I'd rather do things on my terms, and knowing that I "have" to post every day, has been stressful for me. There have been a few days that I have nearly forgotten to post. With all that said, here are a few things for the final day.

July truly is my favorite month. Yes, it is my birthday month, and that is part of it, but not all of it. I love to be warm, so that is a big factor as well. So farewell to July. I had planned to "honor" the 7th month of the year with all kinds of 7 things today, but honestly, I can't remember what I was going to do today. Such is the life of a mom. I did walk 7.7 miles today, if that counts for anything. Maybe I'll work on freeing 7 flies from the house, because they are really starting to drive me crazy. It is easier to get them out the windows than it is to hit them with the swatter.


Yesterday while I was sitting here (probably wondering what I was going to type) I saw a neighbor lady walk by. She was definitely out for an "exercise" walk, but she was talking on her cell phone. Okay, pet peeve here. Why do people talk on their cell phones, why they are trying to get exercise? I just don't get it. I can understand an emergency or something like that, but not while you are exercising. Whatever. I didn't really think much of it, until she walked back by going the other direction. It was like an hour later. By this time I was out picking raspberries, and she was (still?) talking on her cell phone! Some people. Sheesh! This is going to sound rude, but maybe that is why her butt is still kind of big. She can't really walk very fast and have a conversation on her cell phone the entire time she is trying to walk.

I think I'll go make dinner now, now that it isn't bed time and I don't "have" to try to think of something to blog about. I fully intend to continue my frequent blogging, just not every day. I'm hoping for a few times a week. I find it truly enjoyable, and I'm hoping that by spreading it out a bit, I can put more substance to it (compared to the last week).

Thanks for all of you who have read along with me over the last month!

The Coats ~ Day 30

Tonight we went to the park and saw The Coats in concert. It was a great concert and the kids loved it. Bryce and Ambri love their music and have their iPods loaded with their music. This was a sample of one of their funny spots that they did. It was a great night of music in the park! At the end of the concert we got our CD's autographed and Ambri got her shirt autographed as well.

(This was my first attempt at uploading a movie.)

Happy Birthday... again ~ Day 29

Today is the 3rd and finaly birthday in our family for July.

Today Chase turned 5.

Today we had (officially 9 kids) about 25 people over for Chase's party. (that's parents and siblings...)

Today was very hot. It was 107 degrees again today.

Today we had the party outside so we could play in the water.

Today we had one very happy boy!

Today we are glad to be going to bed, because today we are very tired.

Global Warming ~ Day 28

Today was HOT! We had a great day. It was 107 degrees for the high. We broke the record by 7 degrees. I'm loving it! This is how we kept cool today:

We spent the day at the lake with our good friends, the Hakes. We had a great day, keeping COOL! It was so fun!




~Kari

Spiderwebs ~ Day 27

Oakli wanted me to let the whole world know (because you don't know) that all grown-ups have "spider-webs" in their noses.

Hunh.

Sisters... Naw, couldn't be... ~ Day 26

I took this picture today at the neighborhood picnic. Ambri and Oakli are looking more alike each day.

Sigh (not "hunh" today).

Dad Gone Mad ~ Day 25

I saw this blog and the title of the blog en3trigued me, so I kept reading. Here was the first entry I read:

Dad Gone Mad

Hunh. (I'm in the bathroom with HOT WIFE EVANS ready to pee my pants!)

Day 24

I guess I forgot to post the inside of the Birthday Invitation. Here it is:

Please scream that you’ll come to my birthday party!

Chase is turning 5 on July 29th. 1:00~2:30

Please come to a water party at his house. (bring your suit and towel)

Don’t forget to scream a RSVP 791~9126

Now I just have to get them finished and delivered. Chase asks me about every 3 minutes if the "paper popsicles" are finished yet. Better get to it!

Day 23 ~ It's gonna get hot!

Here's the birthday invitation that I am doing for Chase's birthday party that is coming up. I decided against a car or train invitation because it is going to be so hot next week.

Poor Oakli doesn't understand why she isn't having a party with friends. My kids start their friends parties at the age of 5, and then they only get a "friends" party on the odd year. She turns 4, 10 days after Chase turns 5. I guess we'll just have to try to figure that one out 10 days later.

On another not so happy note, Doug chopped Oakli's glasses up in the lawn mower today. The kids have been swimming in the pool every day, and I guess she got too lazy to walk up to the deck with her glasses and just laid them on the grass. I guess that right there sealed the deal for the glasses. They would have either been lost or stepped on anyway. All the kids brought me were the lenses. No frames, just 2 lenses with small chunks missing from each of them; just past the point of the lenses being salvageable, and at the same time my mind (note the word MIND, not lips) is screaming, "why are you bringing these to me?" I guess I can't say that I'm that mad, Chase hasn't been able to find his glasses for the last two days, and I haven't done a thing about it. It must be summer.

Hunh.

Migrane Update ~ Day 22

Today I decided on a migraine update for my daily blog. (For the record, it is still really hard to do this EVERY day.) Back to my migraine update. I'm now on my 3rd RX for the migraines. I think that this medication that I am on now is working. I have still gotten 3 migraines in 19 days, but it is way better than every day! Even with the first two medications I was still getting headaches 4 out of 5 days. I'd say that this medication is a success.

Fools ~ Day 21

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me for seventy years and bill me $100 trillion while I sit by and accept more of the same? Then shame on all of us for being ignorant and powerless Americans. If we fail to speak up and speak out against this madness then we should be prepared to accept everything we get. Samuel Adams said that those who prefer the "tranquility of servitude" had best be prepared to "crouch down and lick the hands which feed you." That advice is as relevant today as it was back then.

~Glenn Beck

I wonder what kind of fools we'll turn out to be.

Hunh.

Blog Stalking ~ Day 20

Ambri asks me once in a while, "whose blog is that?" and I reply, "I have no idea." She looks at me strangely and then walks away. Here is one of those that I found today while "Blog Stalking".


We ate at the Olive Garden tonight.

There was a time in my life, a younger time, when I thought very highly of the Olive Garden. True Italian! Bottomless bread sticks! They taught you Italian while you peed! What more could you want?

With age, time, I have grown out of this love - sure, they still have fantastic bread sticks and salads, but it ends there. They even got rid of my favorite, my usual, Chicken Giardino. And the chocolate lasagna? No where to be found. Either my tastes have grown, or ye olde Olive Garden has slipped from it's standings.

Yet there we sat tonight, a $25 gift card in our hands, waiting for our food. And while I wait, I tend to slip into habits. People watching habits. Mark* hates this, can't stand when I stare at people and is always trying to reign me in.

Tonight however, proved to be worthwhile.

I sat watching a group of three women at the table next to us. First because the one kept answering her cell phone, which I sort of find to be rude. (People watching though? Nah...) And then their bread sticks were served.

One of them pulled out a stick of butter FROM HOME, WRAPPER STILL ATTACHED and rubbed it onto her bread stick before each bite.

I wish I was making this up.

It gets better though, not only was she dipping her bread stick in butter, but she was talking, nay, GUSHING about how much she loved butter.

"I LOVE butter. Not margarine, nuh uh, I'm talkin' REAL BUTTAH..."

Mark practically had to put blinders on me. I couldn't stop the staring. How was I supposed to resist that?!


Hunh.

My Current Favorite ~ Day 19

This is my current favorite:

This is another current favorite:

These are also some of my current favorites:

Chase says in reference to a birthday card that Bryce made for Doug: "Bryce photo-coffied it all by his-self!"

Chase also says: "I didn't drop it, it just fell out of my hands."

Maybe tomorrow I'll work on the rest of the list from yesterday. Maybe. More blueberries for sure.

~Kari

Happy Birthday ~ Day 18

Happy Birthday Doug!

You are the most awesome husband ever. Thanks for all you do for all of us, and especially for your hard work. We all love you!

Today: (maybe, if I get to ev3en half of it) - I'll come back and "check" the things I did.

~ woke up with a headache, go back to bed (check)

~ woke up again without a headache, had to seriously talk myself into getting dressed into my walking clothes (check)

~ help with breakfast for the kids (check)

~ walk/run 5 miles (don't want to today, seriosly don't want to and am trying to find every excuse NOT to do it today (check)

~ shower and get dressed after walking (check)

~ wrap birthday presents for Doug (check)

~ lunch sometime today, I guess the kids need some, if I don't remember to get it for me (check - I think)

~ make birthday cake for Doug (check)

~ sit in the sun for a few minutes (got to enjoy the summer while it is here...) (check)

~ clean off jewelry table ~ I'm having seriously pangs to make "stuff"

~ make at least 3 jewelry items

~ list said items in Etsy shop

~ Harry Potter 6 (Doug's request - plus we have a free babysitter - thanks Jamie!)

~ pick bluberries for the freezer (check)

~ pick raspberries for the freezer - if I don't they'll fall on the ground and then I'll just feel guilty (check)

If I put anything else on the list I'll seriously be over scheduled for the day. I wonder how much will spill over to the next few days. Probably a lot, except for the birthday stuff.

Hunh.

Happy Birthday ~ Day 17

Today has been exceedingly long. I won't blog much today because I am so tired. Maybe more tomorrow, except that my sister commented "...there is no tomorrow, there is only the NOW." Maybe not.

Today was my birthday.

Tomorrow is Doug's birthday.

Yesterday was the fair.

Today was the stake Pioneer Picnic (we were in charge of).

Tomorrow is a blueberry picking day.

Tomorrow is (maybe) Harry Potter 6 day.

Tomorrow is apple pie making day, maybe. I want to enter one in the fair. There is a contest and the 1st prize winner gets $100.

Here are 2 very different but quite the same pictures from the fair yesterday. My girls on 2 different rides, having a great time. (Oakli is only on the top of the ferris wheel, but it may as well be the top of the world!)

Today ~ Day 16

Day 15

Stinks! (or lack, thereof)

I guess my 10 year old will have to pay to take the rest of us to see Harry Potter. Only because he REALLY wants to see it, and I'm not sending him alone. Sigh.

Appendicitis ~ Day 14

Appendicitis comes at the worst possible time. Is it ever convenient? Get better soon, Maria, we love you!

In Honor of... Gin Rummy? ~ Day 13

Today was a busy day. Tomorrow will be worse, I just hope I have time to share. Back to today, because tomorrow hasn't even happened yet.

The county fair opens this week. Last year my two older kids discovered the novelty of entering items in the fair. I told them what a great idea this would be, because if they get 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place, they get money along with their ribbons. They were definitely in. So last year Bryce won $60-some odd, and Ambri around $25. Of coarse they thought this was awesome because they didn't have to do that much work to earn that money. Well, they still had to do the work, but it was basically just going through the fair book and seeing what they had already done through out the year that we could gather and enter. So the same thing is happening this year. I don't think we'll have quite the success that we had last year, but I guess you never know. Today was the drop-off for the arts and crafts/hobbies stuff and tomorrow is the baked goods. We are affectionately calling tomorrow our "baking day". Wish me and my waistline luck, I'm going to need it.

So onto the title of the post. Tonight for FHE, we went to "Grandpa Ritchie's" house. If any of you are locals that read my blog, you may have heard of Harry Ritchie Jewelers. Well, it isn't Harry who is "Grandpa", but I believe it is his brother. Anyway, it is this really cute old man that Doug does landscaping for that we went to visit. He is so nice to our family, and he doesn't have any family that lives close. Doug trades landscaping for jewelry, and at the last contract renewal, he had beautiful gold bracelets for the girls. He didn't know how to spell their names, (who would, right?) but he wanted to get their names engraved on the gold plate part. Tonight we went to pick them up, and to take him some blueberries. We had a fun time visiting. While we were there, Doug saw a deck of playing cards on his table. Doug asked him if he played cards, and he said yes, he played Gin Rummy. (Oh no!) Doug promptly volunteered me to play with Grandpa. Doug asked if he was any good, and Grandpa, said "Yes!" I shuffled and dealt the cards. After the first game, he declared we had to play again (I won). We played again, and he won, but he didn't go all the way out. He said he needed to show me how to go all the way out (which I did the first hand, but he must have forgotten - I'm sure...) and I whooped him again. Afterward, I felt kind of bad. He told me how competitive he is, so I agreed to come back and play with him again. I'm not sure he knows what he is in for. I am certain he thinks that it was all luck for me tonight. You see, my Grandpa taught me to play gin when I was a teenager. I spent MANY, MANY hours playing gin rummy with him. I could even beat him once in a while. I'd have to say, I was schooled by the best! Way to be a great teacher, Grandpa, I love you!

In other news, today Doug also gave Chase a haircut. Hunh.

A Humorous Take ~ Day 12

Right now we are having a thunder and lightning storm (with rain, of coarse). Oakli just woke up from her nap and came down and promptly informed us all (remember, she's just 3) that the clouds are "peeing".

Hunh.

Worn out Bananas ~ Day 11

Banana bread is a thing of the past in our house (sorry banana bread, we really did used to love you). Now when the bananas that sit on the counter a little longer than they should, the kids have me make our new favorite snack out of them. Let me introduce you to the frozen, chocolate covered banana, singles style:

It obviously isn't a new concept. Ancient, really. I mean, my mom used to make it for us, so it has to be old right? I mean, my mom is as old as time, so that makes it one of the oldest snacks out there. (hehe) (Easy mom, it was just a joke!) Anyway, this way it just makes the slices go a little further. The one bad thing is the freezer door is constantly opening and closing all day, until they are gone. I guess there isn't much to complain about with that, they don't last long.

Day 10 ~ Bonus

I guess the first post should have been the bonus, but here this is anyway. I heard this letter read and I couldn't believe how much I agreed with the author's words. I thought I would share it with you here. This is a letter from a woman in Arizona to our nation's leadership.

I'm a home grown American citizen, 53, registered Democrat all my life. Before the last presidential election I registered as a Republican because I no longer felt the Democratic Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. Now I no longer feel the Republican Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. The fact is I no longer feel any political party or representative in Washington represents my views or works to pursue the issues important to me. There must be someone. Please tell me who you are. Please stand up and tell me that you are there and that you're willing to fight for our Constitution as it was written. Please stand up now. You might ask yourself what my views and issues are that I would horribly feel so disenfranchised by both major political parties. What kind of nut job am I? Will you please tell me?

Well, these are briefly my views and issues for which I seek representation:

One, illegal immigration. I want you to stop coddling illegal immigrants and secure our borders. Close the underground tunnels. Stop the violence and the trafficking in drugs and people. No amnesty, not again. Been there, done that, no resolution. P.S., I'm not a racist. This isn't to be confused with legal immigration.

Two, the TARP bill, I want it repealed and I want no further funding supplied to it. We told you no, but you did it anyway. I want the remaining unfunded 95% repealed. Freeze, repeal.

Three: Czars, I want the circumvention of our checks and balances stopped immediately. Fire the czars. No more czars. Government officials answer to the process, not to the president. Stop trampling on our Constitution and honor it.

Four, cap and trade. The debate on global warming is not over. There is more to say.

Five, universal healthcare. I will not be rushed into another expensive decision. Don't you dare try to pass this in the middle of the night and then go on break. Slow down!

Six, growing government control. I want states rights and sovereignty fully restored. I want less government in my life, not more. Shrink it down. Mind your own business. You have enough to take care of with your real obligations. Why don't you start there.

Seven, ACORN. I do not want ACORN and its affiliates in charge of our 2010 census. I want them investigated. I also do not want mandatory escrow fees contributed to them every time on every real estate deal that closes. Stop the funding to ACORN and its affiliates pending impartial audits and investigations. I do not trust them with taking the census over with our taxpayer money. I don't trust them with our taxpayer money. Face up to the allegations against them and get it resolved before taxpayers get any more involved with them. If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, hello. Stop protecting your political buddies. You work for us, the people. Investigate.

Eight, redistribution of wealth. No, no, no. I work for my money. It is mine. I have always worked for people with more money than I have because they gave me jobs. That is the only redistribution of wealth that I will support. I never got a job from a poor person. Why do you want me to hate my employers? Why ‑‑ what do you have against shareholders making a profit?

Nine, charitable contributions. Although I never got a job from a poor person, I have helped many in need. Charity belongs in our local communities, where we know our needs best and can use our local talent and our local resources. Butt out, please. We want to do it ourselves.

Ten, corporate bailouts. Knock it off. Sink or swim like the rest of us. If there are hard times ahead, we'll be better off just getting into it and letting the strong survive. Quick and painful. Have you ever ripped off a Band‑Aid? We will pull together. Great things happen in America under great hardship. Give us the chance to innovate. We cannot disappoint you more than you have disappointed us.

Eleven, transparency and accountability. How about it? No, really, how about it? Let's have it. Let's say we give the buzzwords a rest and have some straight honest talk. Please try ‑‑ please stop manipulating and trying to appease me with clever wording. I am not the idiot you obviously take me for. Stop sneaking around and meeting in back rooms making deals with your friends. It will only be a prelude to your criminal investigation. Stop hiding things from me.

Twelve, unprecedented quick spending. Stop it now.
Take a breath. Listen to the people. Let's just slow down and get some input from some nonpoliticians on the subject. Stop making everything an emergency. Stop speed reading our bills into law. I am not an activist. I am not a community organizer. Nor am I a terrorist, a militant or a violent person. I am a parent and a grandparent. I work. I'm busy. I'm busy. I am busy, and I am tired. I thought we elected competent people to take care of the business of government so that we could work, raise our families, pay our bills, have a little recreation, complain about taxes, endure our hardships, pursue our personal goals, cut our lawn, wash our cars on the weekends and be responsible contributing members of society and teach our children to be the same all while living in the home of the free and land of the brave.

I entrusted you with upholding the Constitution. I believed in the checks and balances to keep from getting far off course. What happened? You are very far off course. Do you really think I find humor in the hiring of a speed reader to unintelligently ramble all through a bill that you signed into law without knowing what it contained? I do not. It is a mockery of the responsibility I have entrusted to you. It is a slap in the face. I am not laughing at your arrogance. Why is it that I feel as if you would not trust me to make a single decision about my own life and how I would live it but you should expect that I should trust you with the debt that you have laid on all of us and our children. We did not want the TARP bill. We said no. We would repeal it if we could. I am sure that we still cannot. There is such urgency and recklessness in all of the recent spending.

From my perspective, it seems that all of you have gone insane. I also know that I am far from alone in these feelings. Do you honestly feel that your current pursuits have merit to patriotic Americans? We want it to stop. We want to put the brakes on everything that is being rushed by us and forced upon us. We want our voice back. You have forced us to put our lives on hold to straighten out the mess that you are making. We will have to give up our vacations, our time spent with our children, any relaxation time we may have had and money we cannot afford to spend on you to bring our concerns to Washington. Our president often knows all the right buzzword is unsustainable. Well, no kidding. How many tens of thousands of dollars did the focus group cost to come up with that word? We don't want your overpriced words. Stop treating us like we're morons.

We want all of you to stop focusing on your reelection and do the job we want done, not the job you want done or the job your party wants done. You work for us and at this rate I guarantee you not for long because we are coming. We will be heard and we will be represented. You think we're so busy with our lives that we will never come for you? We are the formerly silent majority, all of us who quietly work , pay taxes, obey the law, vote, save money, keep our noses to the grindstone and we are now looking up at you. You have awakened us, the patriotic spirit so strong and so powerful that it had been sleeping too long. You have pushed us too far. Our numbers are great. They may surprise you. For every one of us who will be there, there will be hundreds more that could not come. Unlike you, we have their trust. We will represent them honestly, rest assured. They will be at the polls on voting day to usher you out of office. We have cancelled vacations. We will use our last few dollars saved. We will find the representation among us and a grassroots campaign will flourish. We didn't ask for this fight. But the gloves are coming off. We do not come in violence, but we are angry. You will represent us or you will be replaced with someone who will. There are candidates among us when hewill rise like a Phoenix from the ashes that you have made of our constitution.

Democrat, Republican, independent, libertarian. Understand this. We don't care. Political parties are meaningless to us. Patriotic Americans are willing to do right by us and our Constitution and that is all that matters to us now. We are going to fire all of you who abuse power and seek more. It is not your power. It is ours and we want it back. We entrusted you with it and you abused it. You are dishonorable. You are dishonest. As Americans we are ashamed of you. You have brought shame to us. If you are not representing the wants and needs of your constituency loudly and consistently, in spite of the objections of your party, you will be fired. Did you hear? We no longer care about your political parties. You need to be loyal to us, not to them. Because we will get you fired and they will not save you. If you do or can represent me, my issues, my views, please stand up. Make your identity known. You need to make some noise about it. Speak up. I need to know who you are. If you do not speak up, you will be herded out with the rest of the sheep and we will replace the whole damn congress if need be one by one. We are coming. Are we coming for you? Who do you represent? What do you represent? Listen. Because we are coming. We the people are coming.

Huh.

Freeway Sign ~ Day 10

White Lies ~ Day 9

Something that has been eating at me for the last few days, and re-surfaces every once in a while is the topic of people who tell white lies. All I have to say is, people who tell white lies because they think they are protecting someone or helping the situation, they are wrong, and they are SHMUCKS for telling little white lies. It hurts people, no matter who you think you are helping. Even though you think you will never get caught, more often than not, someone who isn't supposed to find out, usually does, and you usually end up hurting the person you least expect to.


Don't tell white lies.

This is hard ~ Day 8

I have to admit, posting every day is hard. Reminding myself of what I was going to write about from an idea that emerged from day 5, here goes. It isn't any great announcement, but it is something that I have been working on for most of this year. As of today, I have walked 835 miles. I'm on quite a streak, if I do say so myself. I started my streak of exercising at least 5 miles a day, 6 days a week, the day after my first half marathon this year, but I started keeping track of my miles at the beginning of the year. It has been quite eye opening for me. It has also been really good, because now my streak is so long, I don't want to break it. This is week 26 and it really keeps me motivated to exercise every day.

Please hurry and bury Michael Freaking Jackson. As I am writing this, they still HAVE NOT buried him yet, even though all the memorials were yesterday. How long is this going to drag out?

**Thanks Natalie for the picture.

Day 7 ~ Am I a "Bad" Mom?

Today I feel really bad. I grounded the 3 older kids for ganging up on the youngest one. For some reason I feel really bad. Maybe because it's summer and now I have to be the police-woman. I hate it when the kids are grounded. I just don't get it why they can't learn to obey and be good. Why, oh, why, oh, why?

I'm still sick to death of Michael Freaking Jackson!

Totally Random Thoughts ~ Day 6

Today I changed my mind. I can do that, right? Of coarse I can, I'm a mom! I was going to write about the idea I got yesterday while I was writing, but I'm still not going to tell you that idea, because I'm saving that for another day. Today I have been going about, saving the world, as only a mother can, and I've had several random thoughts that I decided to blog about. So here goes my total randomness...

~ I am sick to death of Michael Freaking Jackson.

~ I made 3 matches from the lost socks bin while doing laundry today.

~ My kids think they are entitled to everything. Boy do they have another think coming.

~ What do you get the husband for his birthday, who has everything? (Not really everything, just the impossible one to shop for.) This one worries me because I am running out of time. He is such a snoop that he finds out things that I am getting him, that I haven't even gotten yet.

~ Oakli wants to know "Where’s my yucky corner?", and she has informed me that her Ariel Blankie is a "her". (FYI, yucky corner is on the Ariel Blankie. And a 2nd FYI, Blankie is the 2nd part of the proper name of her blanket.) I think I failed that one. I was determined that none of my kids would be attached to anything. I was successful for the first 3. Then one day someone said to me, "oh, she's the baby, let her have it." It's been that way ever since. (Now I direct your attention back up 2 random thoughts.) Sigh.

~ How come today of all days, everyone wants to use MY iPod? Huh, huh? Can you tell me why?

~ The other day when I was on my walk, there was a dog that got hit by a truck. It didn't kill the dog, it just hurt one paw. I'm not a huge dog lover, so I wasn't that sad by this. The dog was actually chasing me, so maybe you can see why I feel this way. The owner was standing there watching the dog chase me and he did nothing to call the dog back. I'm not mad that the guy didn't call the dog back, I guess justice was paid in a sad sort of way. It is against the law here (I think it is in most places) for people to let their dogs run loose. My brother-in-law totaled a car a while back because he hit a neighbors dog. He ran into another neighbors tree, while trying to miss the dog, but still go the dog. The owner of the dog had to pay for everything, even though the dog was killed.

~ And lastly, I find myself saying to my kids, "leave me alone for a minute, I need to poop in peace." Huh.

Nothing in particular ~ Day 5

I'm sitting here trying to think of what I am going to write about today. Normally it's not a problem, but I'm trying to do a post a day, for a whole month. So, in my efforts to not break my streak, I am writing again, but don't have much on my mind. The good thing is, it just gave me an idea for tomorrow. Back to today. I am in the process of downloading (note picture, which I'm sure is hard to miss) Anne of Green Gables from my brother**, so I am excited to watch it with Ambri. She is excited (she's excited for anything new) and I'm excited to share it with her. I've always liked Anne of Green Gables. So that is what is up for this week. The weather is supposed to turn "bad". Anything that isn't VERY warm for July, is "bad" for me, so a nice long series should be just what we need.

** Sorry, said brother, as I read that post back, that sounded really bad. I'm sure you got the movies for your wife or something like that, and that I'm not downloading them "from" you, just that you have them for a noble purpose, or something like that, right?

Todays Best's ~ Day 4

Happy Independence Day everyone! I was going to write some profound thing about the Declaration of Independence, it's meaning to me or something like that, but I just didn't have the time today. As you can see by the date stamp, I am running short of it today. It was an action packed, but very relaxing day (if that made any sense at all). It was the best kind of holiday there is. It was spent with family, great friends, food, fun, fireworks, sun, lots of water for the kids, and plenty of relaxation. Like I said, the best!

It started out with some hot air balloons. I didn't get to ride in them, I just saw some while I was out on my walk this morning. It was a heart warming sight. Something about seeing hot air balloons that always makes me feel good inside. Then it was off for breakfast. It looked like this:



Yep, red, white and blue pancakes. They still tasted great, even though they looked a bit strange. Chase only want3ed blue ones, and Oakli only wanted "pink" ones. Everyone was satisfied in the end (even the chickens - they got the leftovers).

We had a great afternoon down at the river. (We live right by the river and go down to our "private beach" often.) We played, ate, and played more. Oakli summed it up nicely here:



She is IN the river while she is eating a S'more. More pictures to come another day. This day I have to go to bed, because soon, it will be a new day, and that day is coming soon and it will be a Sunday, where I have to get up early. Here's one last picture from a wonderful Independence Day.



Happy Birthday, America!

~ Kari

Good Times ~ Day 3

Tonight I made Jell-O No-Bake Cheesecake Dessert for dessert. (Monday and Friday nights are "pazzert" night.) I think they call it a "dessert" because it's just glorified, flavored jell-o. Slap it in a graham cracker crust and ta-da. It sure does taste pretty good, nonetheless.



So the reason I bring this up is, back in the day, my best friend and I, Kristin, spent many a summer day, walking to Smith's (that's a grocery store for all you non-Utahan's). We'd pool our money and buy steaks and Jell-O No-Bake Cheesecake. We'd walk back home, usually to her house and make the cheesecake (dessert) and BBQ our steaks. If I remember right, her parents had a briquette BBQ. Awesome. I vaguely remember us pouring A LOT of lighter fluid all over the BBQ each time we'd start it. Anyway, after we had our steak, we'd eat the WHOLE cheesecake. Good times.