Our Tim is known to cry. He cries when hurt, when scared, when I raise my voice [read yell at him], basically he cries a lot. If we cannot calm him down he will eventually vomit because for whatever reason his little body produces way to much mucus.
So at lunch today he tells me, "Mom, only hugs will make me stop crying. Nothing else will do it." If only it were that easy. We'll try it for the next week and see if it helps.
I got this in the mail and thought I would record it on my blog.
From the Wall Street Journal...
Brussels-Sometimes it does get all lost in the translation.
"Please leave your valuables at the front desk, " says the sign at a Paris hotel. At a Japanese hotel, "Your are invited to take advantage of the chambermaid." A Zurich hotel advises: "Because of the impropriety of entertaining guests of the opposite sex in the bedroom, it is suggest that the lobby be used for this purpose."
Such tortured English-language signs were featured in Brussels, Belgium in an exhibit organized by the European Community's translation service.
Hungry? From a Polish menu, select "roasted duck let loose" or perhaps "beef rashers beaten up in the country people's fashion." A Swiss eatery proudly warns, "Our wines leave you nothing to hope for." By any and all means avoid the Acapulco hotel that gives new meaning to quality control: "The manager has personally passed all the water served here."
Excellent child-care benefits in Norway don't extend to a cocktail lounge where "Ladies are requested not to have children at the bar."
From Moscow: "You are invited to visit the cemetery," reads a sign in the hotel across the street, "where famous Russian and Soviet composers, artists and writers are buried daily except Thursday." Bucharest bluntness: "The lift is being fixed for the next day. During that time we regret that you will be unbearable."
A Budapest zoo puts people first: "Please do not feed the animals. If you have any suitable food, give it to the guard on duty." At a Hong Kong dentist, "teeth are extracted by the latest Methodists." And a refreshingly honest airline office in Copenhagen "will take your bags and send them in all directions."
Clothing signs can also be unfitting. A Swedish furrier: "Fur coats made for the ladies from their own skin." A Paris shop advertises "dresses for street walking." A Tokyo shop's nylon stockings are costly but "best in the long run." And a Rhodes tailor want early orders for summer suits, "because in a big rush we will execute customers in a strict rotation."
But who needs clothing? "Drop your trousers here for best results," suggest a Bangkok dry cleaner, while a laundry in Rome says: "Ladies, leave your clothes here and spend the afternoon having a good time." Nearby is a Roman doctor with manifold talents: "Specialist in women and other diseases."
April 15th is Tax Day for America, although recently released statistics show that nearly 50% of Americans don't even pay taxes into the system. Has America become a welfare state? When did the responsibility for providing one's own needs become the role of the federal and state government? Those who rely on the government for their daily bread are chaining themselves to a master that is slowly dismantling their freedom of choice. The process of losing one's agency comes bit by bit when we allow the gov't to provide for our basic needs, i.e. housing, food, health care, etc. Soon our attitudes change and we think, why yes!, the gov't should provide these things. We say, "I've paid into the system, I should be able to take advantage of the offerings." Or "I'm entitled to receive these benefits. I shouldn't have to work for everything in life, because working is true bondage."
How false these statements are and how damaging they are to one's soul. The truth is that men and women must work to be successful. Laziness and procrastination only make us more depressed and leave us feeling unfulfilled. I am mostly writing this post to myself. There is much work to be done and no one else is going to do it for me. We need to get to WORK. We have in our power to change the world, one individual/family at a time.
I love Sister Elaine S. Dalton, General Young Women President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She asks the question, "What could be more deceptive than to entice women, young and old, you and me, to be so involved in ourselves, our looks, our clothes, our body shape and size that we lose sight of our divine identity and our ability to change the world through our virtuous influence?
She said, "I truly believe that one virtuous young woman or young man, led by the Spirit, can change the world, but in order to do so, we must return to virtue." We have been blessed with the truth of the gospel. We are daughters of a loving Heavenly Father, we were sent to Earth for a purpose and to fulfill a divine mission. Each of us was born to be a queen.
So onward then to victory; We can and will change this world for good. The time has come for women everywhere to re-accept our role as the Guardians of Virtue. Let us speak no evil, let us be strong and courageous to speak the truth regarding our divine role as mothers and daughters of God. This nation will never fail if we return to virtue. Let us shun every evil thing, for me and my family, this includes almost every main media outlet available. Ask yourself if you could watch or listen to this in the chapel or in the temple. If the answer is no, then why allow it in your home.
I'm sure this post is a bit random, from taxes to virtue, to changing the world. This is how my brain works so this is what you get! I end with this quote by Harold B. Lee.
"Men may fail in this country, earthquakes may come, seas may heave beyond their bounds, there may be great drought, disaster, and hardship, but this nation, founded on principles laid down by men whom God raised up, will never fail. This is the cradle of humanity, where life on this earth began in the Garden of Eden. This is the place of the new Jerusalem. This is the place that the Lord said is favored above all other nations in all the world. This is the place where the Savior will come to His temple. This is the favored land in all the world. Yes, I repeat, men may fail, but this nation won't fail. I have faith in America; you and I must have faith in America, if we understand the teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are living in a day when we must pay heed to these challenges. I plead with you not to preach pessimism. Preach that this is the greatest country in all the world. This is the favored land. This is the land of our forefathers. It is the nation that will stand despite whatever trials or crises it may yet have to pass through." (Ye Are the Light of the World, p350-51)
The latest fad in the whole "we're killing our planet", I mean climate change, is food labels with carbon dioxide emissions. Oh yeah, apparently in Sweden it is no longer healthy/normal to eat just any vegetable or fruit because of the risk imposed on our planet. Heaven forbid, if you want a cucumber or tomato, you need to settle for a carrot because it emits far less CO2. Are these people crazy!
And don't even think about ordering a burger. Did you know that raising cattle is horrible for our planet? And eating red meat is the worst thing you can do. Earth killer!
They'll make the general public feel guilty by showing them how much CO2 is emitted because of their eating habits. They'll start with our food and then what. Oh wait that's right, they are trying to convince us that having kids is the worst thing for the planet, too. I do believe some people have gone as far as to sterilize themselves. Hallelujah! In this instance I do agree with the 'survival of the fittest' theory! Thank you for ending your gene line of stupidity.
I had to post something regarding this news article. You can click on the title above to read more. I am so glad I don't live in Michigan where apparently the state knows what is best for children. YEAH RIGHT! What a bunch of power hungry bureaucrats who are trying in every way to take away individual citizen rights!
This mom watches some of her neighbor's kids each morning before they get on the bus for school. But apparently some loser neighbor turned her in to the Michigan Department of Human Services on the premise that she opened a day care in her home. So the state sends a warning letter stating she is violating the law by having an unlicensed day care center. What a joke! I am so outraged about the whole thing. Does the state of Michigan lack common sense? Since when is charity work illegal. Can we not help our neighbors and friends without the state getting involved?
The state of Michigan is currently trying to mend the matter AS THEY SHOULD! Unbelievable! Stop trampling on our rights!
Nathan's big day to shine on his first day of school. Here are a few pictures of my baby! ;)
NATHAN . . . walker. No, his last name is Andersen, with an E! jk (He is considered a walker because we walk a block home from school.)
Here I am trying to get Nathan to look up for the picture.
"Where is the red light on the camera?"
This spot is where you'll always find Tim when we go to Nathan's classroom. Tim: "That's when I was reading books, Mommy."
Nathan gives Tim a hug goodbye and then tells him to get out of his classroom. Nice, I know!
Is he really old enough to attend school now? The speed of time feels cruel today!
Our morning started at 5:45 am. The ward has an annual pancake breakfast, patriotic presentation and bike parade to celebrate America's Birthday!
The Patriotic bike parade, i.e. race!
Nathan sporting his decorated bike at the finish line.
Tim looking festive on the trike. The YW did the face painting.
The water balloon toss/fight!
We had a family get together at our house and ate lots of good food. The cousins and Uncles had fun swimming in the pool. The water was nice and warm!
We enjoyed pulled pork sandwiches, Hixon baked beans, yummy pasta salad, Uncle Nate's homemade salsa, Uncle Steve's guacamole, and to top the night off this "wave your flag cake"!
After the get together we all dashed out to find firework displays. We made it to Gilbert's Celebrations at Mesquite High School and parked the car off the side of the road. We propped the boys up on the roof of the van and our sweet Liberty led us in song. Neil Diamond's "America" never sounded so good.
We LOVE this country so much and are grateful to be citizens of The United States of America! I will forever remember the two words told to me by a U.S. Customs agent after returning from Ukraine/Russia.
W E L C O M E H O M E !
Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
Sorry for being a slacker and not having something fabulous for you. We had fun being with you at the family reunion. We'll try to avoid all political/religious talks in the future! Or maybe we'll just forget to invite Steve to the party! Just kidding.
Love you!
Nathan came up to me earlier today and asked me how to spell stinkpot. The following is the result of this vocabulary lesson.
I later learned that Dave had written "Nathan is a stinker" on the same board just moments before Nathan was asking me how to spell stinkpot.
I read about this woman today and it stirred emotions within so I thought I would share it with you. We all know how important it is to be grateful, to share our gifts with others. I'm glad Connie is able to share her courageous story with such humor and strength. What a horrible trial to go through and to think that Timmy's occasional vomiting tantrums are hard to handle. What a joke indeed!
Connie also stated something we all struggle with... judging others unrighteously. She said, "When somebody has a disfigurement and don't look as pretty as you do, don't judge them, because you never know what happened to them," she said. "Don't judge people who don't look the same as you do. Because you never know. One day it might be all taken away."
How true her statement is; we need to live in the present and enjoy what magnificent blessings we have. Our simplest yet grandest of blessings are our five basic senses of sight, smell, sound, taste and touch. My resolve to show my gratitude to a loving Father in Heaven who truly blesses each of us every day. Look for his hand in your lives and you will find it! Enjoy this story and I'm sure it will change your day for the better.
May Day, May Day...
I received an email from a friend and it really put a smile on my face, so instead of emailing the videos to you, here they are!
Do Re Me - Central Station Antwerp 
The T-Mobile Dance
Frozen Grand Central
So Much Fun!
http://improveverywhere.com/
Maybe they'll come to Phoenix and do something. I haven't looked at the website yet but maybe when I get some free time. For now I need to get my whole wheat bread in the oven.
Anyone out there who hasn't searched Amazon for some n-95 masks? They have all but disappeared from online stores and even better the price has escalated four-fold. I'm going to focus my attention back to my personal food storage and make sure I have extra of essential items like soap, bleach, purell, first aid supplies, etc. The problem with this outbreak is the panic that has set in our minds. More people die of the annual influenza than died in the flu pandemic of 1968 (32,000 died).
Let's just calm down and think this through rationally! BTW, this is what I keep telling myself daily! Before we stop going to public places, such as church, let us familiarize ourselves with the facts regarding the swine flu. Perhaps this swine flu will become dormant this summer, but reemerge in the fall when most of us have taken the steps to prepare our homes for such an outbreak.
Here is the Church's statement:
“Church leaders are closely monitoring news, security and medical reports regarding the swine flu outbreak. The Mexican government has requested that all churches and organizations in Mexico City and affected areas suspend public meetings and has asked residents to follow basic sanitary precautions to guard against infections. We have asked our members and missionaries to follow these precautions and Church leaders have cancelled meetings until further notice. All missionaries in the affected areas are reported to be safe.”
Whenever something like this breaks and causes panic you have to wonder if some bill or legislation is trying to be passed by Congress! Of course I am being facetious.
Please watch these videos! Everyone needs to know what is going on! Dave and I found these late Saturday night and I feel like it is an answer to many questions I've had about the condition of our economy. The gentleman's name is Peter Schiff and he basically 'predicted to a t' the events in the market that have occurred in the last two years. It is unbelievable!!! Watch and learn!
On April 15, be part of the Taxed Enough Already (TEA) party rally in your community.
PHOENIX
State Capitol Building - Senate Lawn
Sponsored by: American Political Analysis
Wednesday, April 15th - Tax Day
*** New Time: 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm
1700 W. Washington St - 85007
http://americanpoliticalanalysis.com
GILBERT
Gilbert Administration Building
All Volunteer - Grassroots Movement
Wednesday, April 15th - Tax Day
Noon - 1:00 PM
50 E. Civic Center - 85296
http://arizonateaparty.com
All others, go to www.teapartyday.com
I have been helping Jenn Daniels on her campaign run for the Gilbert Town Council seat. In February, I invited many of you to my house to meet her and to see for yourself the woman whose face is on the signs at every intersection, that is before someone started stealing her signs right after the primary election.
Ms. Daniels has so much energy, a great attitude and a willingness to communicate with every resident of Gilbert. She wants to streamline and cut the red tape that keeps businesses away from our town. Gilbert is known for being the worst city to start a business in and most companies are nearly broke before their front doors even open. The process needs to be examined and Gilbert needs to start improving the process sooner than later if we are to sustain the growth and cost of this growth over the next few years. The Town of Gilbert NEEDS small and large corporations or we will likely see our taxes increase.
One last thought: Why can she handle this job being a mother of young children? First, the town council meetings are at night, twice a month. Other meetings are also held at night. Second, any woman who can handle three young boys, be on the board of a pro-family organization, being fully active in her church, being married to a man, managing a household of five, surely knows more about anger management, conflict resolution, time management, employee disagreements/strifes, laundry detail, class warfare, economic sanctions, and job security than any of the other candidates.
Just my 2 cents on the subject of experience. I believe she can handle the job just fine!
The following is an outline of her platform from her website (www.voteforjenn.com):
As a member of town council I will work hard to:
* Balance the town budget with NO NEW TAXES
Gilbert is running an 8.5 million dollar deficit. We must confront this challenge head-on.
My plan to stabilize the town budget is a four step process.
1.) Eliminate waste – this will necessitate expedient line by line critique of the town’s general fund budget.
2.) Prioritize the expenditures – define between the wants and needs of our community while sufficiently funding our core services (police, fire, streets & water).
3.) Increase the tax base – make it easier for businesses to do business in Gilbert. Change the mindset at the town level to work with local business, not against them.
4.) Save for the future – State shared revenue makes up 35% of the annual revenue budget and there is a two-year lag time on that funding. We need to be looking ahead 2-4 years and beyond to make sure that our spending isn’t exceeding our revenue.
* Create and open lines of communication within our community
There is an inexcusable disconnect between the people of Gilbert and our local government. It is essential that the council return to open and transparent communication with the people who elected them.
Want to know more or help with the campaign...leave a comment for me!
My sister-in-law, Lalani Hunsaker, took our pictures and here is a sampling. Thank you for taking our pictures! I keep promising family I would upload these photos so here they are without captions for the time being.
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| Family Picture Shoot - March 2009 |
