Insightful Vinyl For The Week
"Don’t be gloomy. Do not dwell on unkind things. Stop seeking out the storms and enjoy more fully the sunlight. Even if you are not happy, put a smile on your face. “Accentuate the positive.” Look a little deeper for the good. Go forward in life with a twinkle in your eye and a smile on your face, with great and strong purpose in your heart. Love life.” ~ Gordon B. Hinckley


Saturday, February 26, 2011

HOW DO YOU KNOW A 3 YR OLD IS BORED?

You stumble across this scene...
He had dumped out all the dishwasher tabs on the counter and was picking them up one by one with tongs.......
and dropping them back in the bucket.
He was enjoying himself immensely,
and I was definitely feeling like a terrible mother! It's a sad day when my 3 yr. old has to invent things to do to pass the time. I'd say he's been cooped up in the house too long and is starting to show signs of winter fever! I can't wait for spring, warm sunshine and lot's of play dates outside.

IF I WERE PRESIDENT..............

Logan wrote the following short essay in school on President's Day: (Notice the small drawing at the top of the page. That is President Washington in the middle, and the drawing to the left is President Washington getting a massage. Yaah, who knows about that one. I asked him and he told me that his teacher at school told him that they got massages!)

If I were President..."I would put up a flag to tell people that I was home. I would help the starving children. I would want everyone to not fite. I would teach people to tell the truth. I would want people that are slaves to be free."

On the back he drew this:

It's him parachuting out of the "Presidential chopper." What totally cracks me up is his crazy imagination! Notice the gunman above him, and the fact that he wrote "weeeeee!" as he jumped! So much detail in the aerial view....streets, cul-de-sacs, farm land, a school w/ a playground, mountains, gardens and trees. What a great kid!

A 6 YR OLD AND HIS GOOFY IMAGINATION!

The rubber tread came off of the Tonka Bulldozer, so Logan was goofing around with his imagination.

A picture frame
Shootin' hoops!
A parachute.........
A mummy...although he looks a lot like Hannibal Lecter!
Silas is a "mommy" too!
"Aye wheel gitchew mom!"
An angel with a halo.
A King.
Smiley face.
Frankenstein

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

BATH TIME!

Here is the cutest cheeky smile on the planet!
He LOVES taking a bath. He'd have a bath 3 times a day if I would let him. "Lots of bubbos peas!"
This is his "happy baff dance", and yes....that is a soup ladle. Who knows!
Before this picture, gum in his hair.
After this picture, poop in the tub.
One day in the life of a 3 year old!
(And no, I won't be using the soup ladle anytime soon!)

A HEART-STOPPING SIGHT!

Ever had the "heart-stopping, blood turned cold, bone-chilling" parental moment where you know your child barely escaped major harm and injury? Yesterday....I had one of those
moments with Silas.
See anything interesting?
Yes, that is a folding hunting knife! I stumbled across this scene as I was headed to change out the laundry. There it was, just casually laying amidst the rest of Silas's toys like it always belonged there. I can't begin to describe the fear that gripped me the moment I saw it, frozen in complete horror....chills running down my spine. At the same time I could hear Silas giggling at something he was playing with, I was haunted by horrible images of what could have happened to him..(i.e, falling on the knife or slicing himself, or losing a finger or an eye)! After the shock wore off and I made sure that Silas had all 10 fingers and toes, gratitude sunk in deep and heavy as I hugged him so close he could barely breathe.....then I had a serious and stern conversation about with him about how dangerous knives are. Soon guilt was knocking on my heart.....WHERE on earth did he find it, and WHY didn't I know he was in trouble when I was just a few minutes and a few steps away from him? After all I am his mother, and his safety is my responsibility, I am not blameless. In the end it was a close call, an eye-opening experience and a big sigh of relief for me. I am also very happy to report that he did not destroy anything during his inquisitive discovery. I haven't found any puncture holes in my couch or chairs or pillows, but that doesn't mean I haven't stopped looking!

Monday, February 21, 2011

IN HONOR OF PRESIDENT'S DAY

I hope I shall possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man.
George Washington

Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.

George Washington

My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her.

George Washington

Arbitrary power is most easily established on the ruins of liberty abused to licentiousness.
George Washington

A house divided against itself cannot stand.
Abraham Lincoln
Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?
Abraham Lincoln

America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.Abraham Lincoln
I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong.

Abraham Lincoln



A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities and an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties.
Harry S. Truman

I do not believe there is a problem in this country or the world today which could not be settled if approached through the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount.
Harry S. Truman

I have no desire to crow over anybody or to see anybody eating crow, figuratively or otherwise. We should all get together and make a country in which everybody can eat turkey whenever he pleases.

Harry S. Truman

In reading the lives of great men, I found that the first victory they won was over themselves... self-discipline with all of them came first.

Harry S. Truman

Men make history and not the other way around. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better.
Harry S. Truman


Sunday, February 20, 2011

THE BEST PARENTS OF 2010........
















AND THE AWARD GOES TO..........

DON JUAN DEMARCO........

"WOW Si, you've been busy. what are you doing?"
"Oh...I'm duss paintin!"
"You are, what are you painting?"

"A moostash mom!"
"See, I look duss like daddy now. Do you like et?"
"You want one too mom?"

"YOU CANNOT MULTIPLY WEALTH BY DIVIDING IT"

An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had once failed an entire class. That class had insisted that Obama's socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.
The professor then said, "OK, we will have an experiment in this class on Obama's plan". All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A.

After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little. The second test average was a D! No one was happy. When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.
As the tests proceeded, the scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.

All failed, to their great surprise, and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.


Could not be any simpler than that!

"You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down. You cannot further brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's initiative and independence. You cannot help people permanently by doing for the masses, what they could and should do for themselves." ~ William Boetcker

“You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that, my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.” ~Adrian Rogers

Saturday, February 19, 2011

LIKE FATHER LIKE SON

I am amazed at Logan's ability to follow directions, precise directions! It takes an incredible amount of patience to build creative scenes with Legos, especially when they have hundreds of small, intricate pieces. Logan loves it, he thrives on it. He's always creating something new. A few years ago I bought an underwater Lego set at a garage sale. It was marked for ages 11+, and although Logan was only 4 at the time it was worth storing it because it was new in the box and only $5, (normally $50+) so I bought it for a rainy day. A couple weeks ago I was cleaning out the garage and found it so I moved it into Logan's closet for safe keeping. Last Saturday afternoon Logan disappeared into his room to play with his Legos. An hour later, after a little too much silence I went to check on him and found that he had opened the underwater Lego set and had begun putting it together all by himself. He was already 1/3 of the way done and I was truly impressed! Such minute detail in the directions, that if you missed one step or made one mistake, you would have to backtrack and start over. He decided that he had worked on it enough for the day, so we put it away where Silas couldn't reach it. I honestly didn't think he would finish it. It was such a burdensome project and I figured he would burn out and lose interest. The next day after Church, Logan disappeared into his room again to finish his project. I was sure I would eventually hear a tantrum, or a complaint, or begging for me to finish it for him....but nothing. A couple hours later Silas came downstairs, "Mom, Logan needs you. Peas come upstaaws." Here it is I thought, he wants me to help him finish. To my surprise, Logan had completed it, ALL BY HIMSELF! I told him how amazing he was, and how proud I was of him. Check out the pictures:

I think we have an engineer in the making!