Happy Thanksgiving

just a bunch of randomness

Several weeks ago, we went to St. G, and met up with 2 of Ster's brothers. We had a GREAT TIME! Here are some highlights.

There was a lot of this. (TV Vegging. No TV at home = lots of Disney Channel when its available)

But we DID get away from TV and played a lot. The kids LOVED the pool.

Ster and his brothers ( and Mitzi, although she's not in the pictures) ran a 5K race. Ster came in first out of the brothers. I'm proud of him. What a stallion! (See the story at the bottom of the blog) And please take note of the "Man-Capris". Very... um ... cool?

We also celebrated the November birthdays. Sarah, Dallin and Sydney.

Camille is thinking, "Good heavens, blow out those candles and let's eat cake.

Can this last any longer?!?"

And I caught Camille and Rachel at it AGAIN.

Happy Randomness!!!

For lack of anything new

Nothing new is happening around here. NOTHING! Seriously, I don't even have any cute, random pictures to show off. Except these leftovers from Halloween. A critter invaded our house.

So to save this blog from death by boredom and to keep ALL you readers ("all" in jest) I decided to put together a video that I took on a rainy day, sometime in June. I rather enjoy "rainy days". Sometimes. At least on the days I feel creative. Like the day Sydney and I did THIS. Anyway, this particular day, Ster was working in the basement and we had the neighbor boys over and decided to act out "3 Billy Goats Gruff. The kids did a pretty good job and I wasted way too much time today editing it.

Ranting

Just allow me to rant here for a moment. (my husband always gets nervous when I do this.)

But some things in the newspaper this morning just got my dander up!

1. Some government health task force says "most women don't need a mammogram in the 40's and should get one every two years starting at 50. . . Also, the task force said breast self-exams do no good and women shouldn't be taught to do them."

What? Tell that to my friend, Misti, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in her 30's as a result of a self-examination. I don't know. Just sounds to go against the Cancer Society's recommendations. What is the motivation for that? According to Dr. Otis Brawley, Cancer Society's chief medical officer, the reasoning is this: "The task force advice is based on its conclusion that screening 1,300 women in their 50's to save one life is worth it, but that screening 1,900 women in the 40's to save a life is not. That stance is essentially telling women that mammography at age 40 to 49 saves lives, just not enough of them." And listen to this, the official 'advice' from the task force says, "Women 50-74 should get a mammogram every other year until they turn 75, after which the risks and benefits are unknown." What does that mean? After 75, it doesn't matter if you get tested or not because you are just too old and may or may not get or qualify for treatment anyway? Not to get political, BUT - if this is the direction of government involvement in healthcare - I'm scared! Seriously. I read an opinion piece in the paper a month or so ago that said the whole deal with the H1N1 flu vaccine and the long waits in the line in freezing weather and all the shortages is a pretty accurate description of a government healthcare system. PLEASE! Keep the government out. Keep the healthcare system free market. I even get a discount at my hospital for maternity and ER visits if I can pay that day. Of course I'm going to go to them if they can offer things like that. I love that about a free system. OK OK I'm stopping on this topic.

2. So Pres. Obama just spoke in China. I haven't read the transcipt and probably won't so this rant is all based off what other people have said about the event. The DesNews reports, "Obama may have been hoping to set a personal example for China's leaders when he said he believes that free discussion, including criticism that may be annoying to him, makes him 'a better leader because it forces me to hear opinions that I don't want to hear.'" Well, that's just fine. No one absolutely loves to hear criticism and you can't please everyone so invariably, there will be criticism. But this is how it was perceived by one Chinese blogger and novelist in Guangzhou (which incidentally is near where I lived when I was there and a place I frequented often). He said, "he was impressed by Obama's frank admission that some free speech irks him, and by U.S. Laws that are intended to keep the government from censoring criticism."
Irked by laws to keep the government from censoring? So he wishes censoring was more available to him? That implies he wished he could censor. OK, I know I'm going off about stuff on a 3rd person repeat, but still.

MY DANDER IS UP!

More pics of the basement

Most people put up walls when they finish their basement. Sterling tears them down.

This is the new entry way to the basement in before and after shots. Lots of open space. I love it!

So which is it?

Wise words from Parker:

You can be joking or you can be lieing, but they're the same thing.

Ok, this is how it works.

If they laugh, then it is joking.

If they don't laugh, it is a lie.

But I'm not doing that.

I'm only kidding.




Hey Mom, there are 3 things that Grandpa does the best:

1. makes the best cookies.

2. makes kids eat their meals.

3. makes paper airplanes.

Halloween Recap

Here are my cute kids just before they went trick-or-treating. Little darlings, all of them. It was a great night. Good weather. I went with them while Sterling cleaned up the kitchen and passed out our treats, which were glow-bracelets. We left just before it got dark. We only went for a couple of blocks and headed home after about an hour. Sydney kept running ahead with her friends. Parker got upset because people kept stepping on his cloak. Camille kept sucking her thumb because she was a little nervous. Sometimes she was with Sydney, sometimes with me. Rachel was as happy as could be. After each house she would say, "Candy Too!!!" It was just thrilling. So there you go. step by step replay.

They all brought in a lot of candy, Sydney's pillowcase shows it the best. (and look at her wet hair. Yes, we made them take their Sunday baths before they could rummage through their candy. Mean, I know, I heard all about it.)

And always in search of order and arrangement, Sydney made sure each piece of candy had its place.

Rachel was content to show her Dad each piece of candy and pile it on his lap. Then she put it, piece by piece, back into her bucket. Then she took it out, piece by piece. Then she put it in, I think you get the picture.

This is what I was going to dress up as for Halloween. An oven. Because...read the fine print...

That's right ladies and gentlemen. We are expecting baby #5.

Now we will be a "prime" family. 5 kids, 7 people.

One family, under God,

INDIVISIBLE

with love and ice cream for ALL!

Sydney's birthday

Sydney turned 9 years old on Tuesday!!!

That means we only have one more year in the single digits. I'm a little sad about that. Double digits seems so old, so close to teen-ager-dom. But at the same time, she is growing into such an amazing person, its kind of fun to see who she is becoming.

Tuesday morning, she looked at the lunch menu and proclaimed, this is the perfect birthday lunch! So I met her at the school for lunch and we dined on chicken nuggets, jojo potato wedges and broccoli. Mmmm.

The feast continued that night with her chosen dinner: Pot roast, egg noodles, more broccoli, rolls and Kool-aid. Dessert topped us off with a store-purchased cake and rainbow sherbet.

Somewhere inbetween dinner and dessert, we sat down as a family and came up with

9 Things We Love About Sydney

1. She defends me when people are teasing me. (Parker)

2. She plays with me. (Camille) And she really does, all the time. I love how Sydney and Millie are such great friends.

3. She's easy to talk to. (Dad) Sydney loves to talk, not only talk, but listen. She frequently asks how our day has been or what Dad did at work.

4. When I'm hurt, she helps me. (Camille)

5. She is quick to say "I'm sorry" and give a hug. (Mom) This is one thing I really appreciate about Sydney. With 3 young girls in the house plus a mom, there are a lot of emotions that run high. And Syd is at an age when emotions can come out of nowhere and totally get the best of her and me. We both get blind-sided. But she is always quick to apologize and give me a hug when she knows she's been out of line. I really love that about her.

6. She shares sometimes and sometimes she gives me bubblegum. (Camille)

7. She helps me do my chores faster. (Parker and Camille)

8. She helps in the basement. (Dad)

9. She is a great leader in the family and with neighbor kids. (Mom) Sydney has the gift of leadership. She has the ability to organize and motive her siblings as well as other kids. Its fun to see her take charge in both situations. I'm looking forward to seeing where this skill takes her.

And finally, this is her birthday video.

Yay for Sydney. We really really really love her and are grateful for her spirit and contribution to our eternal family. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!