I am making plans for the summer. Jared is carefully planning the camping and Bear Lake trips. I am equally matched in planning successful day to day activities. We will be doing 'stations' every day. There will be a WII station, art station, puzzle station, reading station, and then individual stations suited to the interests of each of our kids. Vanessa will have a violin station. Eric, Joseph and Rex will have a Lego station. All this with the hope that it will keep us on a schedule and make it so I don't get hounded all day about WII time. In other news, Disneyland California park tickets have gone up. It looks like we'll need a few extra months of saving money in order to make it on that vacation.

Opinions

As of late, I have been attracted to blogs where people speak their minds and give their opinions, seemingly unafraid. Having grown up in a family where my opinion was not respected, I realize I'm a little sensitive and maybe hyper sensitive to the fact that my opinions mean nothing. I admire a person who can give their opinion without that fear. It is more admirable to me to realize that families can stay intact when everyone doesn't agree. A goal worth fighting for in my own family.

Obama supports Gay Marriage, Romney too?

This article comes from the website: http://www.worldaffairsbrief.com/ OBAMA RISKS ALL ON GAY MARRIAGE SUPPORT Obama went public with his stance in favor of same-sex marriage and recommended it be recognized throughout the nation. It’s a risky move because this issue, like abortion, tends to polarize people throughout the nation. Bloomberg writes that “Even as opinion polls show growing approval of same-sex marriage nationally, opposition remains strong in some battleground states, as North Carolina voted to ban gay marriage and Colorado Republicans killed a measure to approve civil unions.” “I don’t think it could cost him the election, but I think they’re scared it might, and they don’t want to take the chance,” said Jim Williams, issue polling specialist for Public Policy Polling, a Raleigh, North Carolina-based Democratic research firm. “Politicians are cautious people. Public opinion on gay marriage is shifting very quickly.” Meanwhile Republican candidate Mitt Romney is mum on the issue (so far), after seeing the hiring of a neocon gay spokesman blow up in his face. He and his campaign made a serious tactical error by taking on a homosexual activist (Richard Grinnell as foreign policy spokesperson) to placate the homosexual lobby and assumed that Grinnell would confine his activism to Romney’s foreign policy (which was bad enough in itself). But Grinnell is also a persistent campaigner for same-sex marriage which is in opposition to Romney’s position. Grinnell either resigned or was let go (depending on the source) because he would not discontinue his public support for gay marriage. It was extremely naive of Romney to think a gay activist would self-censor, especially a neocon who came from globalist John Bolton’s staff at the UN. This move to bring Grinnell into his campaign sent yet another negative signal about Romney to evangelical conservatives who, sensing that Romney’s nomination is inevitable, wanted to believe that he wasn’t “that bad” after all. All the emerging goodwill that was starting to accrue to his candidacy eroded once again as Romney continues to show himself to be an unreliable conservative who can’t be trusted not to pander to both sides. [END]

Cold Sores

I took Bruce to the Doctor today. It was our first time at this particular doctor, Douglas Walker, and we really liked him. Logan is only 25 minutes away, but that is far enough that I decided to change doctors so that we can stay in our own city when we need to be seen. So, Bruce has cold sores instead of hand/foot/mouth disease. The doctor told us Bruce's case is as bad as it gets. So he gave us some strong pain medication, lortab, and an antiviral medicine to help it from getting worse. Hopefully little Bruce can get some relief now. He's asleep now.

Hand/Foot/Mouth Disease

There's nothing quite like a good dose of hand/foot/mouth disease for your 2 year old to make you realize how good you have it when said 2 year old is healthy. Bruce has been so uncomfortable for the last 4 days. He can't eat comfortably and he wakes up often wimpering in pain. It is so pitiful. Not to mention Joseph, our 9 year old, hasn't been feeling well either. I hope he isn't coming down with a flu bug. He never wants to sleep and lay around on the couch when he gets home from school and yet here it is 7:10pm and he is sound asleep on the couch.

Bruce, The Two Year Old

Aaah little Bruce. You are two years old and full of life and energy. You are learning your boundaries, but loving to explore outside those boundaries. You are keeping me on my toes and the rest of the family too. Trying to keep you safe every day has become quite the chore. You are innocent and adorable. Your church teachers adore you. So do the neighbors. You are a joy to the 38 year old paraplegic who lives next door. His life was forever altered 20 months ago when he was involved in an accident at his work. A big piece of machinery fell and landed on him, crushing him and leaving him without the ability to walk anymore. He has rebuilt his life and redefined himself. He frequently sees you outside playing with your trucks and toys and he comes out to say hello to you. You are afraid of him. You don't trust him. But you make him smile as he tries to gain that trust of yours. His name is Ron. Today, as I spend my energy keeping little Bruce safe, I will be grateful that the dog, Baxter, doesn't have hands to be able to reach and open the doors to let himself out. One two year old is enough.

Hokey Pokey

On Sunday Jared and I will teach the Family Relations class together at church. I hope that we will be able to share some of our experiences and that the class will be edified by it. It is always a bit intimidating and frightening to share with others personal experiences. The thing that gets to me the most though is that the class members end up knowing a lot more about us than we do about them. Nevertheless, I want to share because I believe it will do some good. And that's what it's all about. So they say. Before I go into the Hokey Pokey song and dance, I'll end this post saying, have a great day! It's good to be alive.