Pop the Balloon

Joseph came up to me while I was sitting on the couch, punched me in the stomach and said, "Pop the balloon!"

Don't worry, two year old kids don't punch very hard, and yes, I just cleaned the kitchen and really ought to have worn an apron.

Recent Pictures

Kate made a cake and blew up a balloon inside it to demonstrate volcanoes to the little kids.

My cute kids playing nicely together.

This is how Kate came home from Shakespeare Showdown: fake scar, but real cat shaped sunburn.

Joshua at the homeschool field day

Rachel and Anya standing in line on field day.

Joseph kept cutting in line.

Ruth with a bunch of her homeschool friends on field day. She was glad that I made her go.

This is how Anya put away all of the shoes.

Joshua has learned to smile when he sees a camera.

Isn't he adorable!

Expert on Potty Training: NOT

I am going to answer a question form Tracey Brumlik:

Since your an expert and I'm just starting potty training #1...what should I do or not do?

To be honest, I cannot say there is one good way, nor is there a one size fits all solution to potty training. My experience with potty training has been different with every child!

If I was going to give advice about party training this is what I would say:

1. Potty training is gross!!!!!! It makes changing five poopy diapers a day seem pleasant.
2. Everyone will be ready and willing to tell you the best way to potty train your child. I am guilty of this. (Just ask my sister.)
3. The truth: you know yourself and your child the best.  Trust yourself the most on the matter.

Here are some things to consider before potty training:

1. Do messes make you mad and stressed?
2. What are some things you have had success using to encourage your child to either change a behavior or to do something new? (Examples: candy, time outs, promised gifts, sticker charts, a soft voice).
3. How well does you child communicate his or her needs with you?
4. Does your child care if he or she is messy or not?

This is what I generally do:

1. I have my child try out the toilet to see what he or she will do. If the child knows what to do then great. If not, then I spend a day at home giving the child drinks and sitting by a potty chair until the child figures out what to do. Sometimes this just does not work. It depends on the child.
2. When the child knows what to do, I take off the diaper and put on underwear. This works well if the child cares if he or she is messy, and if I can calmly handle cleaning up poopy pants and pee on everything. (Sometimes I am not ready for the mess when I think I am). If the child doesn't care or if I am finding that every potty mess is making me angry, it does not work.
3. Next, I remind the child to use the bathroom every couple of hours.
4. When the child is staying dry for a few days on reminders, I quit reminding and make the child tell me when he/she has to go.
5. When the child is doing it all on his or her own, I flood him/her with praise over a few days and there after send him/her to timeout for accidents (being cautious about possible UTI"s)

When I can't get the child to go in the toilet, or when I find myself flipping out and yelling over the mess, I put the diaper back on and wait anywhere from 3 to 6 months, only letting the child try the toilet before baths. I remind myself, that it will happen at some point.

Here are a few of my experiences:

1. My first child was young (before age two). It took quite a while to get her to understand what I wanted her to do. Once she understood, she was dry day and night after only a week. But she was so little that I had to help her in the bathroom for the next year and a half.
2. Two of my kids knew exactly what to do, but were pretty stubborn and had daily accidents for about 4 months. I still kept them in underwear and continued potty training.
3. One child was afraid to poop outside of a diaper. He would go five days and then poop his pants in a panic. After about 2 weeks, I took him to the store and said he could buy whatever he wanted, and let him know that he would not get it until he put his poop in the toilet. He chose a Hershey bar. He pooped in the toilet the next day and never had a problem after that.
4. One child hid in her closet to poop and then tried to hide her poop or wipe it up with toys or towels. I could not handle the messes at all. Her diaper went  back on. After 6 months I tried again, leaving her alone to do her stuff. She did it fine and only ever had one more accident.

I hope this helps. But, I have to say, potty training is very, very gross, and very hard. I know people who do pull-ups for a year. Really, I think whatever works best for you and your child.

An Hour in a Day

Yesterday, We drove from our house to Grandma's house for some cousin fun and grilled steak! That takes an hour! But it is worth the hour.

Pride and Accomplishments

I feel proud and very accomplished for having potty trained seven children. Maybe I shouldn't, but in my opinion the two hardest things to do with young children are potty training and teaching them how to read. So far, I only have 4 good readers, but 7 potty trained... that seems like an accomplishment to me.

Thankful for a Good Coach

Johnny likes soccer a lot, but he has my long legs and coordination issues. So he will never be the best on his team. This last season, however, Johnny has blossomed. Last fall, he was shy about going after the ball. This spring Johnny has become an asset to his team and it is all because of a really good coach. I might add, that his coach is 100% volunteer-- just some girl's father.

He has put Johnny is in positions where he has to go after the ball or  his team might loose. Giving Johnny that trust boosts his confidence. And guess what? Johnny is doing really well. His improvement is astonishing!

This coach has taught Johnny things that John and I don't think to teach to our children. One time, Johnny was telling his coach something and his coach stopped him and kindly said, "Look me in the eyes when you are talking to me." (Johnny tends to look at his feet.) What a great thing to teach my kid! He has reminded me to look in my kids' eyes when I speak to them.

I am very thankful for this amazing soccer coach that has has helped my son shine in ways he would never have!

Oh, and by the way, Johnny's team is the star team! I shouldn't be surprised with such a great coach.

Getting Ready for HomeSchool

I feel a lot more prepared this year as I get curriculum ready for the upcoming homeschool year. Last year, I was terrified of curriculum. There were so many choices and everything was so different and so expensive. Having done this one year. I feel a lot more prepared and even excited as I begin to get things ready.

Here are the things that I found I was good at and the things that I found that I was bad at.

1. I am a good math teacher. Kate, Johnny, Adam, and Rachel have all excelled with their math this year. I especially loved teaching Algebra. 
2. I am good and consistent at teaching grammar, reading, and writing.
3. If I have a good book, I am both consistent with assigning history, talking about history, assigning fiction reading books in the given historical period, and writing and giving tests. Without a good book, we do no history.
4. I am terrible at teaching science and doing science experiments. We have done terribly with science this year. I think we have had a dabbling at best.
5. I am terrible with music lessons and practice. We haven't done any music for a while.
6. Once I got pregnant, physical activity all but ended until we got the trampoline.
7. I was bad at being consistent with teaching foreign languages.

So now I know what I need to fix. This is what we have planned.

Here is our chosen curriculum thus far:
Johnny

• Science: 8th grade BYU independent study funded through MyTech High
• History: Early US History up until World War I. He will use America the Last Best Hope: Vol I. I will give him a study sheet for each chapter. He will have chapter tests. He will also be required to write 2 history research papers, and read at least 4 fiction books based on this time in history. 
• Japanese: Rosetta Stone through MyTech High.
• Algebra1b through Geometry 1a. I will teach this. We have a great Algebra book and are looking for a great Geometry book. He will have daily homework assignments and chapter tests. He will also be required to take the state math exam.
• Johnny needs to work on his writing a lot, so I will give him a daily writing assignment with weekly vocab and spelling words.
• Flash game development: an  online course through MyTech High.
• I will sign Johnny up for 3 5K  races that he will be required to prepare for and run, plus he will  have soccer in the fall and again in the spring.

 Kate

• Science: BYU independent study biology. We will pay for both semester courses.
• History: Mid to Modern U.S. History using America the Last Best Hope vol 2 and 3. I will read those books this summer and write study sheets and tests for each chapter. This will be for Ruth and Kate. They will be required to  write a weekly article on a current event and 2 research papers, one for mid U.S. History, and one for modern. They will also be required to read 4 historical fiction novels that go with the time period they are reading.
• Geometry: Kate will do a full course of geometry and I will be her teacher. There will be daily homework assignments, chapter tests, a midterm and a final and she will be required to take the state math competition test.
• Japanese: We will purchase the first Japanese Rosetta stone course for Kate.
• English: I am planning to buy a grammar workbook at an 8th grade level. I have not gotten to that yet. I hope I can find a good book. Then I will have her read 5 classic novels and write a report of some sort for each. 
• Art: Kate will be required to do 4 finished works of art of her own choice on her own time.
• I will sign Kate up for 2 5K races and 1 10K. She will have to train for them.

Ruth

• Science: BYU independent study Biology funded through MyTech High.
• History: Mid to Modern U.S. History using America the Last Best Hope vol 2 and 3. I will read those books this summer and write study sheets and tests for each chapter. This will be for Ruth and Kate. They will be required to  write a weekly article on a current event and 2 research papers, one for mid U.S. History, and one for modern. They will also be required to read 4 historical fiction novels that go with the time period they are reading.
• Algebra 2 and Trigonometry: we've got a great aglebra 2 trig combo book with the teachers manual tests all included that we bought for $1.50 at a used book store. I will give her a daily math lesson and she will have daily math homework, chapter tests, a midterm, final and will be required to take the state math competition test.
•  Spanish: BYU independent study Spanish II  funded through MyTech High.
• English: For the fall she will do the nanowrimo competition where she will write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November. In the winter she will do a  BYU Independent study creative writing course. I will purchase the same grammar workbook for Ruth as I am for Kate.
• Photo finishing tech course through MyTech High.
• Piano: BYU independent study course winter semester.
• I will sign Ruth up for the same races as Kate and hopefully me too.

Adam

• He will be going to second grade in the neighborhood school. I will have the afternoon available to help him with his reading and homework. 
• He will do fall and spring soccer.

Rachel

• She will go to the first grade in the neighborhood school. I will have the afternoon available to help her with his reading and homework.
• She will probably continue dance if we can afford it.

Anya and Joseph

• I am trying to arrange a 2 day a week pre-school where I will teach the alphabet, handwriting, numbers, and a few site words, nature, and feelings. 
• Anya will probably continue dance lessons too.

An Hour in a Day

 
For some reason, I can only remember this about every other week. This week, I am going to write about a calmer hour from last Friday afternoon.

1:30 pm we finish lunch
1:35 pm I clean up the dishes and the counters, and I tell the little kids to get some books.
1:45 pm I put Joshua down for a nap.
1:50 pm I sit on the couch with Adam, Rachel, Anya, and Joseph and read 5 of their stories.
2:20 pm  I tell Johnny to put on a movie for the little kids.

2:25 pm Rachel, Anya, Kate, Johnny, and Adam are quietly watching My Little Ponies on Netflix watch instant. I am taking Joseph to the bathroom.
2:30 pm Joseph and I are lying in my bed together. Joseph is rolling around and playing with the blankets. I am reading scriptures on my Kindle. Soon we will both be happily asleep for about an hour.

Here are a couple of funny children's books we have enjoyed together recently .

How Rachel Knows...

Rachel excitedly came to me and and said, "My friend Brooklyn got to ride a  Pegasus, so now I know that Pegasuses are real! Isn't that, awesome, mom?" 

I  did tell Rachel that maybe Brooklyn was making that up. But Rachel would have none of it. Pegasuses are real now.

I Am Not a Commercial Vehicle From Julie Hess

I read this post from Julie Hess over at Hess's Madhouse this morning.  I thought it was so well written and thought out that I wanted to share it here. She makes a valid point that I think escapes a lot of us. I especially love her analogy of the sheep. Enjoy!

I Am Not a Commercial Vehicle

Last week, our big ol' van (affectionately known as "The Beast") was having some mechanical issues. So much so, that it had to be towed into the shop. I have a AAA membership and actually, the day before this, had received my yearly renewal forms in the mail. I called AAA to see if they would come and tow it to the shop for us.

I was told, "I'm sorry. That kind of van is considered a 'commercial vehicle,' and with your current membership, we can't tow it."  What?!  Excuse me?!  Here I've been paying for a service that they can't even provide?!  CRAZY!

I assured the gentleman on the other end of the phone that I use it daily and it transports my children. I don't use it for commercial reasons. It's a "family car."

It didn't matter what I said. They weren't going to tow it. I would have to look elsewhere, and so we did. We called other towing companies. It would cost us $400 to have it towed to the shop in the next town.

I'm finding that this experience is part of a much bigger lesson that I'm learning right now.

The other day, my daughter was present when a girl spoke up in front of her entire class and said, "All Mormons look good when they're outside, but inside they're all very different than what they show outwardly." When my daughter shared this with me, I laughed because of all the Mormons I know, that daughter's one of the most genuine I know. There is no pretense.  She is who she is inside and out. Enter the front door or enter the back door, and you get the same girl. I can't say that about all LDS people, but I'm pretty confident about her. That's her personality.

It is fascinating to me how we, as human beings, are so comfortable with lumping people into groups. Somehow everyone is either a "family sedan" or an "SUV" or a "Jeep" or a "motorcycle" or, heaven forbid, a "commercial vehicle." I'm not saying I'm not guilty of lumping because, after all, I am human, but I guess I'm just trying to illustrate that we all do it, and it needs to stop. Just because we're part of a group doesn't mean we're all the same. We are not all commercial vehicles.

In the situation with the van, I believe AAA should have looked at my situation--me, as an individual, and truly judged my need by my circumstances. I think anyone hearing this story would feel the same.

Here's another issue to ponder....Once a number of years ago, I went to Time Out for Women. This is a women's conference sponsored by Deseret Book (an LDS bookstore), so needless to say, the presenters are LDS and nearly everyone who attends is LDS.  We, to avoid parking at the Convention Center, rode public transportation (namely the light rail train system). I was with one other friend on this particular day.

It was clear that the nearest group of women to us, on the train, were going to the same place, but it was also very clear, as I overheard their conversation, that none of them were very familiar with that part of town.  I could hear them struggling to know which stop to get off at. This group of four women jointly decided to take the stop two sooner than they should have. I didn't say anything because I wanted to see what would happen(I guess sometimes I'm just evil like that), and I knew they were going to get where they wanted to go. However, it was fascinating to me that they weren't the only group of women who got off at that stop. They, being the group closest to the door, drew all of the other groups of women off the train at that very same stop. My friend and I, being a bit more experienced with that train and its stops, remained...alone.

We rode the two more stops and were let off right in front of the doors--right where we needed to be. The other women were still quite a ways away. After watching all of those women get off the train that day, I decided that we, when we associate with a group, tend to be sheep. We follow without question especially when we're unsure. We trust that others know more than we do, and we, ignorantly, follow. These kinds of circumstances, more often than not, tend to bring some difficult outcomes.

Tonight at ward council, we discussed the term "traditions of their fathers" that's found so often in the scriptures and how this habit, of following the traditions of our fathers, gets us into so much trouble in our lives. The bishop shared the fact that for years, we, as members of the Church, have had topics that we have refused to discuss. Our parents didn't discuss them with us, and so we don't talk about them either. He explained what some of those topics might be.

I believe this is very true. We want our children to live in a little bubble safe and free from all that surrounds us, but when it comes down to it, someday our children will break out of these bubbles we've so lovingly built for them. When they do, there's going to be all kinds of ugliness that they aren't prepared for.

Like I said in this post, I don't believe that LDS people are bigots. I don't believe we mean to be judgmental. I truly believe that, for the most part, we're good people, we're just uninformed and sheltered. We tend to feel that ignorance is bliss. Like I said, we want to live in a world of sunshine and roses, but we somehow think we can avoid the sunburn and thorns. We want to pretend they don't exist, and sometimes I wonder if we ignorantly believe that if we ignore them long enough, they will all go away.

In believing this way, we're getting off the train two stops too early.

I guess I need to ask the question....What are we afraid of?  Are we really going to go hide in the closet thinking Satan'll just eventually give up and go away?  Nope. We all know that's not going to happen. How long are we going to do this?

The truth of the matter is, we all need to open the door and confront him head on. Then the questions arise, how do I feel about this issue and that?  There are some HUGE issues out there, and they just seem to multiply daily. With an LDS man running for presidential office, people are going to have questions and they're going to make judgments. We're going to be lumped. Is this fair? No. I know it's not, but remember, we're all human.

If we want to avoid be lumped, we have to stop cowering in the corner. We must get some, as my husband would say, "Cajones," and figure out what we truly believe. We must, each of us, be bold when questioned about how we stand. Bold enough to not be intimidated. Of anyone in the world, we should know, and we should be strong in that knowledge. I'd also like to add that we are not alone. I had once heard that the LDS faith was the fourth largest religion in my state (Oregon), but according to this website, it looks like we might rank second to Catholicism, and I truly don't believe that we are alone. I believe there are many who aren't LDS who agree with us. Then why are we being so silent?

I'm thinking it might come down to this....How do you, as an individual--not as a sheep, feel about the issues that are facing us? How do YOU feel about abortion? How do YOU feel about homosexuality and same sex marriage? How do YOU feel about  temple ordinances? These are some of the questions I'm asking myself right now. These are topics no one has ever made me face until now. So, how do I feel? How do you feel? What do we know that will help us defend what we believe?

These are just some of the things we need to face. If you don't know, maybe it's time to open the door. The great thing is we don't have to go fearfully or blindly. We have power and prayer behind us.

One thing I learned from my adolescent literature class was that the written word is one of the best ways to formulate opinions about things. We can take our time and ponder what is written. We can talk to people we trust, those who already have formed opinions on these issues. We can add their knowledge to ours. Knowledge IS power.

I can tell you that anything facing us now has been addressed in one of the recent sessions of General Conference. The Family: A Proclamation to the World is an inspired document. It holds so many answers for us. We have so many places we can go to get answers. Most of all, we can go to our Heavenly Father and have Him direct us to what we, as individuals, need to know. Really, with all that behind us, how can we go wrong?

It is not our place to preach and be sanctimonious. It is just our place to be confident in our beliefs. When someone asks, we should have answers. We should have our OWN opinions--not some sheep-ish response. They should fit us as individuals and must be based on truths that we have come to understand for OURSELVES. They need to be individual--as unique as each of us are. Our answers are not "commercial vehicles."

In this day and age, we, as families and more especially as individuals, cannot afford to be sheep. We cannot afford to be lumped. We cannot allow ourselves to be considered commercial vehicles. The time has come for each of us to open the closet door and face what has been unspeakable, but the only way to do that is to face it in private with the Lord first. He knows us for who each of us are and will teach us what is true. He's never let us down.

If someone confronts you and you don't know how you feel, it's okay to say, "I'm not sure. I've never been asked that before. Let me think about it, and I'll get back to you on that."

Really, what do we have to be afraid of?

Potty Training

It is finally happening. After five days of wearing underwear, Joseph has only had one potty accident. He tells me when he has to go potty, and he is waking up dry every morning. He gets distressed if he is wet! HURRAY!!!!!

But, he has pooped his pants 4 of the 5 days and can't seem to  figure out how to do that in the toilet yet. Still I'll take it. Joseph tells me as soon as  he starts pooping so the mess hasn't been worse than a diaper. He does not wet his pants or his bed anymore! I will not have 3 kids in diapers when little Arwen comes in August.

Ruth's First Dance

Ruth went to her first youth dance on Saturday. I LOVED having her come home and sit in my bed with me and tell me all about the dance. Teenage girls are so fun. I cannot imagine my boys doing that. 

Ruth went to the dance late. She said there were only 35 to 45 people in attendance, even though it was a  regional dance. She said that the boys do not ask the girls to dance unless they are 16 and already dating steady. So, Ruth asked a boy to dance. As soon as he said, "yes", a severely autistic girl (cannot talk) came up and took over. Ruth shrugged and went and sat back down with her friends. But, the same boy asked her to dance for three  more dances and Ruth asked the boy's friend to dance with her friend.

Ruth came home all glowy and happy. She is a lovely girl.

Celebrating Motherhood

"Vogue model Christy Turlington Burns and a host of female celebrities are encouraging mothers across the nation to ignore their children as part of “No Mother’s Day,” a sign of their support for reducing maternal mortality by supporting family planning and global access to abortion. " (lifenews.com)

I didn't do that yesterday. A couple of years ago I had an epiphany. Growing up and all my years so far as a mother, I have heard complaints about mothers day. Some mothers feel guilty because they don't feel like they measure up. Some mothers don't like that they still have to change those diapers and feed those kids, and some mom's are sad that their husbands and kids haven't clued in and given them breakfast in bed and gifts.Two years ago, I realized an important truth. Motherhood is glorious, divine, and definitely something to celebrate!

Two years ago, I  realized that I could celebrate Mother's Day best by trying to be the best mother I could. I did that by happily changing some diapers, holding the crying baby in church, reading repetitive stories to my kids, playing and crafting with my kids, and making them food that they like. Because well... my kids are who made me a mother. They are who made me noble.

Suddenly, I had no guilt about not being the best mother. I didn't care if doing all of the cooking and cleaning and diaper changing was too much for my husband to do alone. And well, my dearest husband has always gotten me lots of fun gifts. (Never felt bad there.) I realized that motherhood in all of its mess, and time, and sloppy kisses, and tears is something to celebrate!


So yesterday while Hollywood moms ignored their kids and didn't call their mothers in order to support contraceptives and abortion, I happily dressed my kids early for church, curled my daughter's hair, made breakfast, lunch , and dinner, cleaned dishes and diapers, held the crying baby in church. I laughed with my kids, read scriptures and talked about life with my cute teenagers, helped my kids make cards for Gramma, cleaned up the craft mess, got grumpy when not enough people were helping to get us ready to leave for Gramma's house, had a wonderful conversation with my mother on the phone, and loved visiting and eating cake and brownies that I did not make with my fun in laws and family.

Life is beautiful-- motherhood is beautiful, glorious, and divine. Motherhood is definitely worth celebrating!

Playing Soccer

I asked John to get some pictures of Johnny playing soccer, and this is what he got:

 Does picking your nose count as playing soccer?

Kittens Gone

The third set of kittens from our cat Twix are all given away now. I had the add up for one day. It had 195 pageviews and we had a whole bunch of phone calls. I am glad that ksl.com classifieds makes it so easy to give away kittens. My kids really enjoy having the kittens around. I really like this method of always having kittens, but not too many cats.

The New Dish Washer

I didn't want to buy a new dish washer. I would rather have spent the money on the wood laminate for the floor I want, or a down payment for braces. But the old (actually only two year old) dishwasher broke down for the second time in two years.

Being rather frustrated when I went dishwasher shopping. I really didn't give any thought to the cheap models. The old/new dishwasher never washed well, and broke down yearly. I didn't expect to get a new dish washer that would wash well because the other new dishwasher didn't wash well ever! I had to rinse the dishes completely.

I went to the store, and basically decided on kitchen aid because of my amazing kitchen aid mixer that belonged to my Grandma. I came home and looked at reviews for about 3 different dish washers. The one I wanted, actually had decent reviews.

For a rather dumb family home evening, but to get the sale price, we took the family to Lowes that night for a dishwasher buying FHE. When we got there, we found out that the dishwasher, I had decided on was going to be at least two weeks coming. So we looked at the reviews of a few other models with the same features.

The kitchen aid rated the best by far, and not just for total percentage of stars. The one star ratings for the kitchen aid all said it didn't dry well enough, or they had to rinse the dishes before loading the dish washer. The one star ratings for the other two models we were considering said things like, "the motor quit working after six months," or "it leaks all over the floor". I decided to go with the dishwasher that had the least painful one star ratings.

As luck would have it, we got the new dish washer installed only 8 days after purchasing it!

Normally, I don't even say I like a new appliance until I have tried it out for a year. Appliances have a way of disappointing. But... I LOVE THIS DISHWASHER! (I hope it continues to love me back.)

It has a garbage disposal in the bottom, so all you have to do is scrape food off and load truly disgusting and dirty dishes. I was dubious about them coming out clean without even so much as a gentle rinse. But the dishes came out VERY CLEAN! And there was not a chunk of food in the bottom of the dish washer. You can put in cooked on casserole dishes and they come out clean.

I am so happy to get clean dishes without all of the fuss of rinsing and wiping before hand. One other wonderful thing is there is just a lot more space! I can fit in so  many more dishes including pots and pans and cookie sheets and all. I have only had to run the dishwasher off once a day and I have had less than half of the wash by hand dishes that I had before.

So, I LOVE MY NEW DISHWASHER!

I still would rather used the money for a down payment on braces, but since we had to get a new dishwasher, I am at least glad that it works well and is a whole lot better than what we had before. Here's hoping for a good 8 to 10 years of loading this dishwasher.

My Latest United Families International Article

Occasionally, I write an article for the United Families International that I feel like is either important or very interesting and I publish it here too. I find these facts, very interesting, and a little sad since it seems the law makers and law defenders aren't always on the same page as the people who elected them.

 

The Truth about the Same Sex Marriage Vote

In Homosexuality, Same-Sex Marriage on May 9, 2012 at 2:10 pm
Diane Robertson

On Tuesday, May 8th, North Carolinian voters came out in record numbers to a primary election in order to vote on the issue of gay marriage. Sixty one percent of the voters voted in favor of a state constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage and prevent law makers or judges from making it legal in the future.

The North Carolina amendment declares that “marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this state.”
This is not a new thing. North Carolina would be the 30th state to vote in a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, and 12 other states prohibit same-sex marriage via statute.

There is an interesting phenomenon occurring with the same sex marriage question in the United States. All of the states where a same-sex marriage ban came up as a ballot measure, the people voted to make same-sex marriage illegal. In all of the states where gay marriage is legal, the people did not vote. In states where gay marriage has been made legal, it was either done through the courts or by a law passed through the state’s legislature.

In Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Iowa gay marriage was legalized through the courts. In Vermont, New Hampshire, New York, Washington State, and Maryland gay marriage was legalized by passing a law through the state legislature.
A few states have some interesting history concerning gay marriage laws that supports what has occurred throughout the nation in other states– when the people are asked, the people vote for traditional marriage.

In California, after two laws to legalize gay marriage were vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger, the California Supreme Court legalized gay marriage on May 15, 2008. On November 5, 2008 the people of California voted in Proposition 8 making gay marriage illegal.

In Maine, on May 6, 2009, Governor Baldacci signed a marriage equality bill. On September 11, 2009 the marriage equality law was to take effect, but was halted by a referendum on the upcoming November ballot.  On November 3, 2009 same sex marriage was repealed by the voters with 53% in favor.

In Iowa on April 3, 2009, the Iowa Supreme Court legalized same sex marriage. In the November 2010 election, the very next judicial retention election, three of the judges were voted out by the people. The rejected Iowa justices — Chief Justice Marsha K. Ternus, Michael J. Streit and David L. Baker — each got about 45 percent of the vote. While the people in Iowa did not get to decide on their law, they clearly made their voices heard.

The truth about the gay marriage vote is that the majority of Americans will vote to support traditional marriage and even overturn laws their judges and legislatures have made.

An Hour in a Day

This week for "An Hour in  Day", we are all writing ten things that take place in that hour.

My hour starts at about 6:30 last night.

1. At 6:30 I go and get Kate to help me wash the days dishes. Our dish washer broke down last week, and we are waiting for the new dish washer to arrive: hopefully today. But until then, every family member age 4 and up are helping with the dishes. Kate will get before dinner dishes and Johnny and Adam will get after dinner dishes. 
2. Does this make me think we are getting in lovely family work time togetherness, so we skip out on the new dish washer for family bonding--- NO WAY!!!!! I think one week is enough bonding.
3. At 7:00, because it takes that long to wash, dry, and put away the dishes. I tell Johnny to wake up my dear husband from his very late nap to start a fire in our fire bowl for a hotdog and s'mores roast family home evening.
4. At 7:05 I start making lots of commands to Ruth and Kate. "Bring the ketchup and ,mustard outside to the table.", "get me the small pan to put the chili in", "Put the paper plates outside", "here are the marshmallows. DON'T open them yet." And on it goes.
5. At 7:10, I heat a small pan of No- Bean chili for the hotdogs, and bring out the chili and some shredded cheese. The kids are bringing out pillows and blankets???????
6. At 7:15, my dear husband says it is too windy to start a fire. I command all of the little kids to go into the house and get scrap paper. 
7. At 7:20 scrap paper is flying around the yard, so we pick it all up and put it under a grilling crate. They set the wood up over the crate.
8. At 7:25 when the paper is all burned out and none of the wood is lit, I give up on the boyscouts, and go and get some real-woman power to get the fire started--lighter fluid.
9. We get rid of the grilling crate and set the wood up in the bowl with the paper tucked under the wood. I squeeze lighter fluid all over, and Johnny lights the paper.
10. By 7:30 we have a tall fire in a fire bowl and every one is scrambling to get their hot dogs on their sticks. The little kids, are afraid of the fire, but do not want any help.

A Walk to Take Some Pictures

I took the kids on a walk today to get some nice pictures of them. The kids were horrid, but I still got some good pictures. They were horrid because:

• They ran away and would not come back.
• They threw huge rocks at the metal painted bridge.
• They cried and threw screaming fits.
• One kid acted like I was going to hit him in front of the entire neighborhood as I got after him for running away and leaving me with his bike.

On the whole, the walk was very unpleasant. How I got so many good pictures is beyond me. So if you happened to hear a lot of raucous noise and yelling and bad children near your house today, they were mine.

Okay, so it is much harder to get them all to cooperate especially when the sun is in their eyes.

 One kid at a time, works much better.