More Easter

I had trouble with my camera on some of my pictures. I was afraid I lost this one--and another video we filmed. I got them today.

T.E.A. Parties everywhere

How about all of those T.E.A. (Tax Enough Already) Parties all over the United States yesterday? I was so excited to hear all of the reports coming in from the thousands and thousands of people who joined together in their own cities to protest again the taxing of the government. We are now paying almost 50 to 60 percent of our income to taxes. No wonder the economy is in such a hurt.

Can you believe there were actually anti-tea party protestors? They held signs supporting Obama and applauding this great country that uses our tax dollars. One lady said that the taxes were necessary for us to live "in a civilized society." This is not about a person, this is about a system that has become corrupt.

I personally don't have a problem with taxes per se. The things I take issue with are the pork barreling, brown-nosing, self-raises that go on in government. Did you know that in one state the wife of a governor thought it would be a good idea to plant wildflowers in the medians of their highways. First of all, planting wildflowers is a bit of a oxymoron--or oxymoronic in this case. Secondly, guess how much it cost? 17 million dollars. Wow! There are millions of examples of government misuse of funds and taxes. Why can't they be more accountable for their funding like businesses have to be? There is no way you would see a business doling out money in this fashion.

I'm proud of the Americans who are standing up and doing something about this. I hope something happens that will cause a revolution in the change of our government. It is way past due.

And as a postscript...if you haven't read the Constitution of the United States of America, you might want to refresh your memory. This is what are country was founded on, with Divine inspiration. Back when it was okay to be proud to have faith and believe in God. Read here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Constitution

Just Plain Funny

Yesterday, Brant and I were sitting at the table eating. Madison and Porter come in at a full run. Madison is chasing Porter. She's yelling at him, trying to get him to stop. After they've made two full circles through the living room, kitchen, and entry way, I tell them to stop. I ask Porter, "What did you do? Did you take something from her."

He says, "No!"

"Madison," I say. "What happened?"

She replies, "I just want to be a princess, Mom."

I think for a minute and say, "Okay. You can be a princess. But what does this have to do with Porter?"

"He won't hold my hand!" She whines. "And if he doesn't hold my hand, I can't be a princess!"

Porter jumps in, "But I don't want to hold her hand!"

I talked to her into letting Lane hold her hand so she could be a princess. That was a satisfactory arrangement to all three.
_____________________

I fried eggs for the kids yesterday morning. While I was cutting Porter's eggs, he starts screaming, "Aaahh! Aaahh!" (like someone is killing him.)

"Porter!" I snap. "Stop screaming bloody murder."

"It's not me!" he says in agony. "It's the eggs! You're killing them."

Madisonisms

There's nothing worse than hearing your children repeat back phrases you say to them all of the time. This morning Madison said, "Mom, you need to change your attitude." (I was getting mad at her for making a mess.)

Yesterday, she said, "I am NOT tempermental!" She can be a drama queen--especially when she is tired and cranky.

Easter Sunday

Can you guess which egg carton is Porter's and which is Madison's?

Lane kept himself busy in the cupboards while we did eggs.

Making the dye was a big part of the fun.

What a wonderful holiday to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is a great opportunity to teach our children more about the life of Jesus. In addition to the reverence of the holiday is the fun and excitement the kids have from painting the eggs, easter egg hunting, and getting candy. Hopefully, they have memories of both.

This is their first Easter that they are aware of what is going on. They also were able to color eggs with supervision this year. Just like with Santa, Porter insisted on staying up to talk to the Easter Bunny. I kept telling him he couldn't. He finally gave way to sleep.

Easter morning they were so excited for the egg hunt in the back yard. Brant and I were laughing as they would go so quickly they would look right past an egg that was in front of them. At one point, Brant told Porter to pick up Lane's toy and give it to him. He did, without evening noticing the egg that was under it. We enjoyed a good laugh at their excitement.

I'm so busy...but can't complain

Tuesday was our 7 year anniversary. As much as we wanted to, it is still hard to squeeze some time in away from the kids. We were able to go to dinner at T.G.I. Friday's. It had nothing to do with the last post I made. Just a coincidence.

I have spent every spare moment learning about credit restoration and finance. It is so much fun. I love it. I am excited to get some real clients and help people clean up their credit.

The kids are having fun--as usual. They spend their days playing in the yard and in the loft with their toys. I try to have them watch a B of M movie every day. They are at the stage where they like to watch movies. It's a nice break for me. Madison still takes a nap every day. Porter does not. Porter sleeps in, and Madison wakes up instantly. Lane was sleeping through the night until he got sick. Now, I am in the process of re-training him. Ughh.

T. Goodness I. F.

What a week. The kids and I have been sick for about a week now. I am so run down. Lane actually only woke up about 3 times last night. I think he's winding down on the sickness. But, it will be back to letting him cry all night to get him back to sleeping through the night. I was awake alot last night because I kept coughing.

I don't have to worry about my kids learning to "make lemonade from lemons." Because, they love lemons. I can't believe it. Yesterday, they wanted to eat some lemons. I kept trying to warn them and then thought it would be funny to see their sour faces. So, I let 'em have at it. They ate the whole thing. And, then they wanted more to take to Walmart. They were literally walking down the aisles of Walmart sucking on lemons.

Tonight I am going out with Brant for our Anniversary. It's actually not until Tuesday. We're going to Olive Garden and then to see Fast and Furious in the theater.

Madi discovers the mirror...

...and lipstick, and earrings, and hairspray. She was in the downstairs bathroom the other day, (not related to these pictures) and she was sitting on the counter. I had peeked in to see if she needed any help. I asked her what she was doing and she said, "I'm just looking at myself." I think she knows she's pretty. She always wants to put my makeup on and I try to get her to settle for lipgloss. She wants to go get her nails done, but she says, "Mom is going to take me to get my nails clipped."

Attack on Kendall

These pictures are from the week the Tenney's were here. All of the kids tackled Kendall on our bed. I think he could have shook them all off, but they thought they "had him."

Grandma Smith gave everyone a big bath in her jacuzzi tub. They kept saying they were having a naked party. Let's hope that doesn't go on into their teens.

Family Home Evening

We have been trying to do at least one "out-of-the-house" family home evening every month. This was our March trip. We took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese. They had a lot of fun. We bought 100 tokens and still have 60! I guess we can still get a couple more trips there.

Monday, Monday

Brant finished getting all of the maintenance done on the Expedition today. I am so excited. I am finally going to have a vehicle. I went to pick it up from the shop with him after work. He took me out to the Black Bear Diner. It was a cool little home-cooking kind of restaurant. While reading about their origins on the menu, I discovered it was started in northern California in Mt. Shasta. That is the area my Mom grew up in, so it was kind of exciting to find it here in Vegas.
Lane has been sick for the last three days. He has a fever and goopy eyes and nose. He's been up all night--so have I. I can't wait to get back to sleeping through the night. Poor little guy. It's so sad when they're little and sick.

Busy Week

I don't know where the week went. I was so busy. Geneva and Mead came to visit with their kids: Aundra, Jantzen, and Cambry. We had a really full house. The kids had a good time playing with their cousins.
I had a dental appointment on Tuesday--they seated the crown on my root canal and filled another BIG cavity. But, I'm done for awhile now.
I've also been taking classes on Credit Restoration classes. I am helping some members of my family work on repairing their credit. It is an awesome program and I can't wait to work on it more. It's fun to watch the numbers climb.

Funny comments

Madison had a sword and Porter was holding a gun. Madison yelled: "I have the sword of Laban!" and Porter yelled, "I have the gun of Laban!

Madison Cleaning

I was cleaning the bathroom yesterday and Madison wanted to help. I was using a spray bottle.

Madison at 2 years and 8 months

Madison is my little smartie pants. That girl is amazing with the memory and mind she has. She is always thinking, thinking, thinking. And she says the funniest things. She's the one that can talk a mile a minute and be my "show girl." She knows the answer to everything.

Yesterday, I told her my visiting teachers were coming over. She said, "We have to say 'Nice to meet you. My name is Madison.'" I said, "That's right."

She is the little mama over her two brothers. She will tell me that Porter is making a mess. Although a lot of the time she was involved in it to. She just decided to repent and confess. She also tells Porter and Lane what they can and cannot do. She also likes to help with house cleaning--as long as a spray bottle is involved.

One of her favorite things lately is to get my phone and say, "I need to call my Aunt Dona." She will ask her a few questions and then be satisifed that she talked to her.