What We Are Left With

Things we are willing to spend tons of money on:

the latest i-Whatever and all the bells that go with them

fast food

video games and fancy televisions

pets

gps navigation thingies (whatever happened to maps?)

fancy pants coffee

(I could go on, but you probably get my point by now)

Things we aren't willing to spend money on:

Education

It is a sad that at this very moment in our country schools are having to cut millions of dollars from their budgets.  Don't be surprised when your kid is in a classroom with 40 others.  Don't be shocked when your child's school library shuts down because librarians got the ax.  Don't be startled when there is no one left to help the at-risk students.  Don't be stunned when the principal answers the school's phones because they had to let the secretaries go. 

You may think I'm being extreme, but I am not.  These cuts are being made in our country, in your city, each day.  Bills are being considered by legislatures to increase the number of students allowed in a classroom.  We aren't willing to pay an extra cent on our grocery bill or an extra few dollars on our property taxes.  Politicians aren't willing to reduce spending in other areas. 

So, this is what we are left with.  We will soon have schools that are full of students and not enough teachers.  (Maybe we should just call them free daycares.)  We will still complain that our kids don't read enough and that the literacy in our country is falling but there will be no librarians to help students discover new books.  Our students who need a little extra support won't get it.  They'll fall off the radar (well, at least until they show up in stripes).  Is this what we really want for our children?

We can and should do better.  Spending on education should be a top priority.  Our children cannot grow into the leaders of tomorrow without learning the basics today.

What I've Learned

Oldest Kiddo is turning 9 this weekend!  Un-freakin-believable.  Anyways, I thought I would share a list of lessons I've learned during this little adventure called parenthood.  There are nine of them in honor of the kiddo...

Top 9 Parenting Lessons Learned

1.  Silence is golden...as long as the kid is supposed to be sleeping.  Any other time, silence is a sign that something not so fantastical is going down.  (Chocolate syrup and parm. cheese will be all over everything, a wall will have been turned into a mural, etc.)

2.  Kids only get sick in the middle of the night when you are sleeping soundly in your cozy bed.

3.  The ears of children produce some sort of special chemical that blocks the voice of their mother...unless, of course, she utters the words ice cream or candy. 

4.  I am mean.  Yep.  I never knew this until I had kids to tell me.  I always thought I was a nice person, but my kiddos cleared that one up for me.

5.  My parents were right.  All those times they told me that I would never understand until I had children of my own...yep, they were right.  I get it now.  (Shhh, don't tell them though.)

6.  No kid ever needs to potty until you are in a car that is fifty miles from the nearest rest stop.

7.  Kids do not come with volume buttons.  They come with a loud and louder setting.  And the louder setting will be used if they sense you are annoyed or have a headache.

8.  Those little suckers can smell fear or uncertainty.  Waiver for a minute and suddenly you are in the middle of the toy aisle saying yes to everything just so they don't use that louder setting again.

9.  Being a parent is the most frustrating, rewarding, gross, fabulous job ever.  I wouldn't trade any of those kiddos for anything.  Every time I see them learn something new or do something thoughtful for another person I forget all those moments when I wanted to pull my hair out and scream "I can't do this anymore".  It is wonderful.  I just wish I could slow it down a little bit.  9 years already!  Wow!

Catching Up

Hey there!  How ya been?  I've been a terrible blogger lately.  Oh well, it's my blog.  I do what I want :)

I keep falling behind on my other blog (the one with all the pictures).  I take all the pictures.  I just don't always have time to post them.  Then I post them in huge groups.  Oh well, at least I get to it eventually.

Really, not much has been going on around here.  We got a cat.  Baby Girl is learning more words, but no remains her favorite.  She has started referring to her brothers as either "Bubbas" or "Guys".  I'm hoping someday she actually learns their names.  Oldest Kiddo will be 9 this weekend.  Um, yeah, I'm feeling a little old right now.  Middle Kiddo told me the other day that chicks dig him and he believes it's because of his (and I quote) "Amazing eyelashes".

Other than the kiddos being fabulously cute, it's been pretty boring around here.  (Totally not a complaint.  I actually prefer boring...)

What have y'all been up to?

Oh yeah...almost forgot...if you have kids in school, are an educator or care about the education system in our country in any way, watch Waiting for Superman.  I watched it last week and am still blown away by it.

Love

Yeah, I'm posting this over on my Project 365 blog too, but it was just too precious not to share here too

Extra Hugs

Over the last couple of days, I have been giving my kiddos lots of extra hugs.

My sister called me the other day.  She wanted advice on how to tell my nephew that his friend had died in a fire the night before.  It knocked the breath out of me.  My nephew is almost four.  Bad things aren't supposed to happen to kids his age.  His family did everything right.  Their smoke detectors worked.  They had an escape plan.  Tragically, the fire just burned too hot, too fast.

Sometimes I wonder why bad things happen to good people.  Sometimes I wonder why horrible things happen to children.  I search for answers.  Sometimes though, there are no answers.

Keep this family in your thoughts and prayers.  Give your own children extra hugs.

Cold Days...Not Snow Days

My kids have been out of school for three days now.  Because of the cold.  Nope, not snow.  Well, the first day it was because of a tiny amount of snow.  Since then, however, has been because it's cold.  Apparently, this fine city was completely unprepared for the freakin' cold temperatures that have hit.  So, my kids have been home (and stuck in the house) for three days.

If they don't go to school on Monday, I'm gonna join the circus...

This Stuff Bothers Me...

I really try not to rant about everything under the sun.  I try to be positive and see the good.  But, sometimes crap just bothers me...

Like the creepy dude in my class that took my picture with his camera phone today.  I don't know why.

Like the fact that the best way to drive around here is to close your eyes and push the gas.  Seriously scary.

Like the chick who was crossing the road ten feet from the crosswalk.

Like the people who take the elevator down two floors after class is over.  Can we say lazy?

Like my kids asking me fifteen times what we're having for dinner when the weekly menu is right there on the fridge.  Read, children!

Like my husband's alarm clock going off for an hour before he gets up.  Dude, get up!  Getting up early sucks.  Got it.  But getting beaten by a frying pan first thing in the morning sucks more.  Probably.

Ok, thanks for letting me get my grumpiness out...what bothers you?

Yummy Yummy Tacos

The other day I mentioned that I made tacos.  I had a request for the recipe.  And I'm all about satisfying people so here it is...

1 lb. ground beef
small onion, chopped
1 tsp. minced garlic (or 1 garlic clove, minced)
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 tsp ground cumin
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce

Put ground beef and chopped onion in a medium skillet over medium heat.  Cook until beef is browned through.  Then add garlic, chili powder and ground cumin.  Cook for about a minute.  Add tomato sauce.  Lower heat to low and continue cooking for 5 minutes (or until the consistency makes you happy).

And that's it.  Super easy peasy and way better than seasoning packets full of salt.  Serve it up in whatever tortillas you like and with toppings that you enjoy!

Running Late

I know, I know.  I'm a little late for RTT.  Actually, I'm not late.  I'm just so random that I'm posting my Random Tuesday Thoughts on Wednesday night.  Ha.

**The Weight Watchers commericals make me wanna pull my ears off.  I'm seriously annoyed by them.

**Oldest kiddo is gearing up for the school spelling bee.  He's such a smarty pants.

**Middle kiddo scored 10 points in his basketball game tonight.  His team won 10-4.

**Baby girl walked around for 15 minutes without a diaper on her butt and didn't pee on anything.

**I'm now down bragging about my kids...for this post anyways.

**After a semester off (because of all the moving we did last year), I'm going back to school next Tuesday.  I'm super duper excited.  I'm a nerd.

**I already bought my books.  Yep, you can see them here along with my other Project 365 photos.

**I made tacos without a seasoning packet tonight.  Yeppers, from scratch.  Super easy and I'll probably never go back to those silly seasoing packets.

**I wanna go to Europe.  Not permanently or anything, just for vacation.  More than once.  I'm pretty certain it would take numerous vacays to take it all in.

And I'm out.  Hope y'all are having an awesome week!

Crazy Thoughts

Sometimes, I have crazy thoughts.  We all do, right?  Right?!

Now, I'm not talking about crazy thoughts like "Hey, maybe we should have more kids" or "Sure, I'll ride that rollercoaster with you even though I just ate a corndog, cotton candy, nachos and a king size soda". No, no, no.  I'm talking about setting new goals for myself that I would have never imagained at other points in my life.

For example, lately, I have been thinking I should write a cookbook.  Everybody else is doing it.  Really, I love to cook.  I love to experiment in the kitchen (that's not dirty, shut up).  And, I love to write.  Seeems like a good idea to me.  Had you asked me 10 years ago if this would ever be a goal I had for myself, I would have looked at you like you'd lost your danged mind.  (The first meal I "cooked" for hubby was spaghetti sauce out of a jar, a bag of salad and some frozen garlic bread.)

So, what about you guys?  Have any crazy thoughts?

New Year, New Random Thoughts

It's Tuesday!  If you've spent time around here in the past, then you know it's time for some of my terrific random thoughts.  Without further ado...

**The older I get, the more obnoxious teenagers get.

**My goal to learn how to can is going well.  I've made pickles, pomegranate sauce and pickled cherries.  All of these things need a bit of time to sit on the shelf, so I don't know how well they turned out yet.  I'll let ya know later.

**The Sugar Bowl starts in about an hour and a half.  I'm super stoked because I'm a Razorback fan!  Woo Pig Sooie!!

**I've got an apple crisp in the oven.  It smells freakin' fabulous.

**I still haven't taken our Christmas stuff down.  It's because I'm lazy, not because I'm feeling extra holly-jolly.

**So far, my 365 photography project is going well.  Check it out on the blog I started for it.

Well, I know it wasn't much, but I have to go check on that apple crisp...maybe tomorrow I'll post the recipe...

Happy 2011...

Um, 2011?!  Really?!  Where the heck is my flying car and robot named Rosie?!

Anyways...I hope you all celebrated the new year safely and have enjoyed this holiday season.  We went to visit family.  First, we stopped at my parents' house in Arkansas for a couple of days.  Then, we went to Hubby's mom's house in Minnesota.  Later, we went to Hubby's dad's house in Arkansas.  Finally, we came home.  So, basically, we spent two weeks in the truck with three kids and two dogs.  Loads of, uh, fun.

My house is now full of toys that have good batteries and make random noises at random times.  The boys also got a go-cart from Hubby's grandfather.  I have no comment about it.  I have also dubbed Christmas 2010 as "The Pajama Christmas" since we all received about 300 pairs of pajamas each.  Don't tell anyone, but I traded some of mine in on some really spectacular storage containers for my kitchen.

Anyone make New Year's resolutions?  I've decided that this is the year I learn to can things.  I'm thinking I'll start with some sort of jam or preserves.  Here's hoping I don't give my family botulism in 2011!  I also think I'll do one of the 365 photography projects.  I already took a picture today, so I'm off to a stellar start.

I hope you all had a wonderful 2010 and I wish you an even better 2011!

**Update**  I just started up a new blog to keep up with my picture project for the year.  Check it out HERE!