Friday, October 31, 2008

Happy Halloween from Oz

Trick or Treat!
From Dorothy, The Not-So-Cowardly Lion . . .

Glenda, and The Wicked Witch
Who, by the way, screamed like she was melting while daddy tried to wet wipe the green eye shadow off of her face.
And much cookie decorating fun was also had earlier in the day. . .

The Wicked One didn't want to wear her cute new Halloween apron, so she didn't get her picture taken. I'm so mean, I must be the one she gets her wickedness from.








Thursday, October 30, 2008

Dee Dee Treats! Dee Dee Treats!

Yesterday a package arrived for the kids. My mom sent little gift packs for each child from the Popcorn Factory. I put the package away until after dinner, smart me, but once everyone was done eating I asked the very stupid question, "Does anyone want their gift from Grandma Dee Dee?" Much shouting and squealing ensued, "Dee Dee Treats! Dee Dee Treats!" We just let them go at them, candy pumpkins, chocolate-caramel corn, carmel filled chocolates, etc. And to protect their clothing while eating all the sticky gooey treats were their Halloween aprons that Grandma Dee Dee sent last week. Too cute.


I'll have to get better pictures of the aprons, since some naughty children took theirs off.

And where have I been lately? Certainly not keeping up on my housekeeping. And also certainly not lying about eating bon bons. I've been at work at my thirty-five year old sewing machine for the past few weeks trying to get the kids Halloween costumes done in time. And while I'm partly complaining that my sewing machine is thirty-five years old, it obviously must be a good quality one since it is that old, and I can still turn out wearable items. Really, the problem isn't the machine, the problem is me. I only sew once a year, at Halloween. I'm not a good enough seamstress to make much of anything other than costumes, because I figure they're just costumes, they don't have to be perfect. But after over a month of sewing I'm now having illusions of grandeur, thinking maybe, just maybe, I could make the girls Christmas dresses. They could be all cute and matchy-matchy. Besides, everything in Sophia's size looks like it's for a twenty-one year old, not a ten year old. And while my old sewing machine would get the job done, I was given a demo on a new Husquevarna at the fabric store. Nice. Anyway, I'm sure I'll have official Halloween photos tomorrow, but here is a sneak peak of The Wicked Witch (please excuse her not being green).


She's looking wicked, isn't she?

Friday, October 17, 2008

Trying To Make Sense Of It All

O-kay, I just spent a large portion of my day checking out http://www.factcheck.org/ (thank you Jessica), http://www.ontheissues.org/ and http://www.votesmart.org/ (thank you dear husband), to review the latest from the 3rd debate, and try to get a sense of accuracy from all this nonsense. It makes me happy to see that both parties are equally guilty of throwing out inaccuracies, over exaggerations, and plain old lies. Well, "happy", may not be the right word, but I think you know what I mean. It really bothers me when I read/hear people say things to the effect of all Republicans being evil, all Democrats being bleeding-heart-liberals, or being scared to hell at the thought of any one candidate being in office. Honestly, I don't think I'm comfortable with any of our choices, but to take the stance that "your" candidate is going to save the world, and "my" candidate is evil incarnate is just small minded. None of them are perfect, they all manipulate the data to suit their needs, and I really don't think any one person can make or break this country. Screw it up? Yes. Completely destroy it? No. I mean of course, we want the right person in such a powerful position, but is one man going to cause the end of the world as we know it? Just seems so extreme. This is still a democracy, right?

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Not Sure What To Think

Typically I stay out of political discussions. I've never been a History/Government/Politics buff in the first place, but really, I don't dig deep to find the real truths of all I hear and or see and therefore would find myself hypocritical to start going off about things I truly know very little about. So usually I just keep my opinions to myself, but ask a lot of questions to try to get an idea of why someone else feels so passionately for the way they believe.

I am conservative and pro-life, so of course, I have things I look for in choosing a candidate I can support. But when I get honest with myself, I don't think that any of them are truly honorable people. And then of course there is the media, and things get so slanted, twisted, and taken out of context, that really the candidate's voting record is really the only way to get an idea of the person. But again, that takes a little digging, and time is a luxury I don't always have.

I do find a few things quite amusing though:
  • When McCain chose Palin as his running mate, I wondered if that was a ploy to pull Hillary's supporters over to his side who really wanted to see a woman in the White House. Then the more I learned about Palin I realized that she is the anti-Hilary. Other than two x chromosomes, that's about all those women seem to have in common. No wonder the Hillary supporters are all so angry.
  • I also used to think that a vast number of people were Hillary supporters simple because she is a woman. I thought, who'd support a candidate solely based on her sex? How does being a woman make her any more qualified for the job? Just another advancement of the Feminist movement. Boy, was I wrong, because Palin certainly is a woman, and do they ever hate her.
  • And I've wondered, if Obama really wanted to cinch the Presidency, why didn't he choose Hillary as his running mate? The Democratic party was so split between the two, wouldn't having them on the same ticket unify them all? But it has been suggested to me that Hillary would never have accepted second to Obama. And Obama probably wanted to make it to see his next birthday, and the Clintons would have him "eliminated" if he was all that was standing in their way. Ouch.
  • I also find it curious when I hear those who complain about Palin's lack of experience and qualifications to be VP. Those same people who are Obama supporters, who are supporting a man with even less experience and qualifications for the main position, the presidency. I find that very strange.
  • My husband received an e-mail from a friend comparing Obama to the anti-Christ. When he told me this, I thought it was pretty funny. Ridiculous, but funny. In summary, it said something to the effect of, "According to The Book of Revelations the anti-Christ is: The anti-Christ will be a man, in his 40s, of MUSLIM descent, who will deceive the nations with persuasive language, and have a MASSIVE Christ-like appeal....the prophecy says that people will flock to him and he will promise false hope and world peace, and when he is in power, will destroy everything. Is it OBAMA??" Hmm, if it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, is it a duck? Or the anti-Christ? I don't know. I'd still rather check into his voting record to confirm my opinions of the man. He does have very little experience, is pro-choice (is in support of partial-birth abortions), has affiliations with some questionable people/organizations, and talks out of both sides of his mouth. Not a person I think I could trust. But then again, they're all politicians. I don't know that any of them can be trusted.
This morning I received this e-mail about an article Ken Blackwell wrote earlier this year. Not amusing, but very interesting.

Beyond Obama's Beauty
by Kenneth Blackwell
February 14, 2008

It's an amazing time to be alive in America. We're in a year of firsts in this presidential election: the first viable woman candidate; the first viable African-American candidate; and, a candidate who is the first front running freedom fighter over 70. The next president of America will be a first.

We won't truly be in an election of firsts, however, until we judge every candidate by where they stand. We won't arrive where we should be until we no longer talk about skin color or gender.

Now that Barack Obama steps to the front of the Democratic field, we need to stop talking about his race, and start talking about his policies and his politics.

The reality is this: Though the Democrats will not have a nominee until August, unless Hillary Clinton drops out, Mr. Obama is now the front runner, and its time America takes a closer and deeper look at him.

Some pundits are calling him the next John F. Kennedy. He's not. He's the next George McGovern. And it's time people learned the facts.

Because the truth is that Mr. Obama is the single most liberal senator in the entire U.S. Senate. He is more liberal than Ted Kennedy, Bernie Sanders, or Mrs. Clinton.

Never in my life have I seen a presidential front runner whose rhetoric is so far removed from his record. Walter Mondale promised to raise our taxes, and he lost. George McGovern promised military weakness, and he lost. Michael Dukakis promised a liberal domestic agenda, and he lost.

Yet Mr. Obama is promising all those things, and he's not behind in the polls. Why? Because the press has dealt with him as if he were in a beauty pageant.

Mr. Obama talks about getting past party, getting past red and blue, to lead the United States of America. But let's look at the more defined strokes of who he is underneath this superficial "beauty."

Start with national security, since the president's most important duties are as commander-in-chief. Over the summer, Mr. Obama talked about invading Pakistan, a nation armed with nuclear weapons; meeting without preconditions with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who vows to destroy Israel and create another Holocaust; and Kim Jong Il, who is murdering and starving his people, but emphasized that the nuclear option was off the table against terrorists — something no president has ever taken off the table since we created nuclear weapons in the 1940s. Even Democrats who have worked in national security condemned all of those remarks. Mr. Obama is a foreign-policy novice who would put our national security at risk.

Next, consider economic policy. For all its faults, our health care system is the strongest in the world. And free trade agreements, created by Bill Clinton as well as President Bush, have made more goods more affordable so that even people of modest means can live a life that no one imagined a generation ago. Yet Mr. Obama promises to raise taxes on "the rich."

How to fix Social Security? Raise taxes. How to fix Medicare? Raise taxes. Prescription drugs? Raise taxes. Free college? Raise taxes. Socialize medicine? Raise taxes. His solution to everything is to have government take it over. Big Brother on steroids, funded by your paycheck.

Finally, look at the social issues. Mr. Obama had the audacity to open a stadium rally by saying, "All praise and glory to God!" but says that Christian leaders speaking for life and marriage have "hijacked" — hijacked — Christianity. He is pro-partial birth abortion, and promises to appoint Supreme Court justices who will rule any restriction on it unconstitutional. He espouses the abortion views of Margaret Sanger, one of the early advocates of racial cleansing. His spiritual leaders endorse homosexual marriage, and he is moving in that direction. In Illinois, he refused to vote against a statewide ban — ban — on all handguns in the state. These are radical left, Hollywood, and San Francisco values, not Middle America values.

The real Mr. Obama is an easy target for the general election. Mrs. Clinton is a far tougher opponent. But Mr. Obama could win if people don't start looking behind his veneer and flowery speeches. His vision of "bringing America together" means saying that those who disagree with his agenda for America are hijackers or warmongers. Uniting the country means adopting his liberal agenda and abandoning any conflicting beliefs.

But right now everyone is talking about how eloquent of a speaker he is and — yes — they're talking about his race. Those should never be the factors on which we base our choice for president. Mr. Obama's radical agenda sets him far outside the American mainstream, to the left of Mrs. Clinton.

It's time to talk about the real Barack Obama. In an election of firsts, let's first make sure we elect the person who is qualified to be our president in a nuclear age during a global civilizational war.

Mr. Blackwell, a fellow at the American Civil Rights Union and the Family Research Council, is a columnist for The New York Sun, and a contributing editor for Townhall.com.

Friday, October 10, 2008

The Pumpkin Patch

I have a neighbor who is also new to the area, and she has decided to plan an activity once a month for those of us who are home with or without kids. Her husband is in the Air Force, and she has recently gotten out, so she is quite used to being in a new area and one of her goals is to familiarize herself with her new surroundings and find out what there is to do in the area. I admire her outgoing spirit, and so was very happy to be included along on these little "field trips". Last month was the Fort Worth Zoo, but I was unable to attend for a couple of reasons. Don't tell the kids we missed that trip, because I never told them we were supposed to go in the first place. But I've been looking forward to October's activity, because I love fall and Halloween, and it's been a couple of years since I've been to a pumpkin patch. She found one that has free entry, free parking, bounce houses for the kids, hay rides, hay bale mazes, etc., etc. The only down side was that it was about an hour away. Not a big deal in my book. So off to the Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch we go. The kids had a really good time. I kept loosing Harrison, he took off for the maze, and I had to keep calling him back to me. The girls had a good time in the bounce house, even Francesca. I tried to get some good pictures, but as soon as I whipped out my camera, Francesca would close her eyes. For some reason she thinks closing her eyes is how she smiles for a picture these days. I swear that child is just messing with me sometimes. Notice in the picture above that her eyes are closed. I thought the pumpkins were overpriced, ($0.75 a pound), but really wasn't sure what the going rate for pumpkins were these days, so I let the kids each pick out a little pumpkin, and we'll shop for the carving ones later.


















Oh, look who decided to open her eyes for one photo.
O-kay, so make that two photos. The pumpkin patch had all these character cut outs, and she loves Nemo (or Me Mo as she calls him), so she was quite happy to sit with "Me Mo" and smile.

And yes, the sun was in their eyes, but again with the closed eyes.
This time I purposely faced them away from the sun, but look, closed eyes.

I tried again, but this time she wouldn't even face the camera.

And by time this picture was taken she was just done. Crabby Ass.