Bee Invasion

Yesterday afternoon I took the girls outside to play at their water table. The water in it was dirty so I picked it up and tipped it out over the banister. I soon noticed a whole bunch of bees flying around. Then I looked down in front of me and saw a bees nest attached underneath the water table. I quickly let go of the table and it fell off the banister onto the ground below. The bees were all upset and I hurried the girls into the house. Eliza and Sadie were so upset that they didn't get to play in the water. We watched the bees fly around all upset through the window.

I am actually kind-of surprised that I didn't get stung when I was disrupting the bees nest. Without realizing it, when I had the table resting on its side on the banister, the nest was parallel with my stomach. Scary. I told David about it on the phone. When he got home from work he picked the nest up with his hands and carried it to some spot in the yard and smooched it with his shoe. A bee tried to follow him into the house but he managed to keep it out. I like to go to David's blog and tease him by making this comment , "You are so brave." Its sort-of turned into a joke between us. However, this time I have to say that David really is brave!

So the girls got to have their water table fun this morning instead. (You may have noticed that Sadie's swim suit is a little too big. She refused to take her suit off last night and it got dirty when she ate dinner in it. She had to wear one of Eliza's swim suits instead). As the kiddos played I kept my eyes on these four bees who kept flying around us. They mostly hung out on the ceiling of the porch. They were making me nervous. After about 40 minutes I think I finally made Eliza nervous enough to want to come inside. Does anyone know how to dissuade these bees from being interested in living on my porch?

I Would Die For That

Terri just introduced me to Becki. Becki is awesome. She had this video posted on her blog. I really liked it. I often think about how grateful I am that Eliza's birthmom chose to place her baby for adoption and David and I are SO lucky she chose to place with us. This movie reminded me that before she chose adoption, she chose life. I am so grateful she let her baby live. I commend all single moms who make the sometimes difficult choice to choose life, especially when it seems so much easier to just end an unwanted pregnancy. Its so sad that the laws of our country do not protect the rights of an innocent, defenseless baby to live. Instead, laws protect a woman's choice to destroy her own child. The laws should be standing up for and protecting the voiceless baby.

GOD BLESS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

This is a little late but I still want to make an Independence Day Post. Last week on the 3rd of July I was listening to Glen Beck on the radio as I was driving in my car. I caught the end of a story he was telling about the sacrifice of a patriot from Virginia, who was once wealthy but gave up all of his riches because he had a vision for a new government that granted liberty to all. He signed the Declaration of Independence. By so doing, he became a target for the British. The entire essay that Mr. Beck delivered is posted on his website. Please take the time to read it. Its excellent and its short. The following is an exerpt from the essay:

"Thomas Nelson, Jr. of Virginia raised more than $2 million for the patriots cause on his own personal credit. The Government never reimbursed him, and repaying the loans wiped out his entire estate. During the battle of Yorktown, his house which had been seized by the British and occupied by General Cornwallis, Nelson quietly urged the gunners to fire on his own home. They did so destroying it. He was never again a man of wealth. He died, was buried in an unmarked grave. He stopped in a New Jersey Supreme Court, betrayed by loyalist neighbors. He was dragged from his bed, thrown in prison where he was brutally beaten and starved. His lands were devastated, his horses stolen, his library burned and his family lived on charity for the rest of their lives. And then there was John Hart, the speaker of the New Jersey assembly. He was forced to flee in the winter of '76 at the age of 65 from his dying wife's bedside while he hid in forests and caves. His home was demolished, his fields and mill lay waste and his 13 children put to flight. When it was finally safe for him to return, he found his wife dead, his children missing, his property decimated. He never saw any of his family again."

God truly has blessed this great nation. I am so blessed to live here and enjoy liberty. I am so grateful for the brave men and women who willingly sacrificed their lives and wealth for the great cause of liberty. Thank God for their vision and dedication to freedom! God bless our beloved troops, and all the men and women, who are serving today to preserve the liberty that keeps us comfortable and provides us with endless opportunity in the land of the free.

Toddlers in public update

A couple of weeks ago I posted about my nightmare taking the tots out in public by myself. I mentioned that I would be taking them to the mall again without hubby. My friend and her mom came too so that helped a lot! The kid/grown-up ratio was better (3 toddlers and a baby to 3 adults). We had a fun time. The girls liked the show for a little while but then they got bored and we went to the play yard area. Free breakfast always tastes better too!

Bloggy Award

Many thanks to I'm_Inspired for giving me the honor of holding the Awesome Blogger Award! This is my very first blogger award so I'm pretty excited. I'm_Inspired explained that Mike M. gave her the award (because she is Soooo awesome) and crossed out the "Dude" part. So now that I qualify as a judge of awesome bloggers, I grant this award to:

David- Of course I enjoy reading David's blogs. I am pretty interested in his life, I admit. The only thing that would make him even more awesome is if he figured out a way to blog and still get at least five hours of sleep at night.

Jeff-I love your Hilarious blog stunts. I miss you when you don't post for awhile.

Molly-You know I've always thought you were funny.

Terri-I look forward to reading you posts. I especailly love your political ones because I always agree. You are right on! Plus, you just sooooo sweet; its a pleasure to know you.

Gina-I simply love you! You are the greatest gal. Everyone loves you. People are drawn to you. Plus, you have a fun blog!!!

The Drug Debate (made bigger by me)

I watched two women debating on the classic FOX News split screen this morning. The topic: Do American Voters care if their president has used drugs?

Reportedly, 2008 Presidential Candidate, Barack Obama has admitted to using marijuana and cocaine. Sen. John Edwards, Presidential Candidate, and Senator John Kerry also admitted to using marijuana.

So the first woman, a Strategist for the Democratic Party, argued that American voters do not care whether or not a candidate has used illegal drugs. Voters will just dismiss it as something these guys did in their college days. It doesn't have anything to do with WHO they are. (I can argue that what you do has everything to do with who you are. Our choices and actions are a direct reflection as to who we are. So, if we can't use one's actions and choices to make judgments, what other reliable thing should we use to determine WHO someone is?)

The other woman (I can't remember her title), believes that American voters may not care so much if the candidate used drugs, as much as they care about how they react to the implication. For instance, Does the candidate just arrogantly blow off the fact that he used drugs as a no big deal thing from his youth? OR Does he acknowledge that his drug use hurt himself and others?" Then she says something along the lines of, "Does the candidate admit to using illegal drugs and acknowledge that he made a mistake and that he has learned from it; now he is a stronger and better person for it."

Uggg... First, lets define "mistake." To me, a mistake is when I ask my husband to bring home a jug of whole milk for the baby and he grabs skim milk off the store shelf instead. Calling bad choices mistakes is very popular in our culture. I think it is something we do to relieve guilt; you know, minimize the bad choice by calling it a mistake, that way it sounds more like an unintended accident from their youth. Next I would like to know how one becomes a "stronger, better" person because they used drugs. I would argue that the individual who resisted the temptation, and chose Not to use drugs in the first place is the stronger person.

I am not saying we shouldn't forgive these guys. When I was young, I drove too fast very frequently. Then I became a mother. I have slowed down since the first time my little baby rode in the backseat. Every time any of us get into a motor vehicle we take a risk of harm. By driving too fast, I increased the risk to myself and others. I have matured and slowed down, I could say I am a better person because I made the mistake of speeding but I learned from it and now I am stronger than ever. See, thats ridiculous. It simple, it would have been better if I never drove too fast.

I would even possibly vote for someone who had used illegal drugs if I weighed them against their opponents and I liked them better. Lets just stop dancing around the truth.

Toddlers In Public: the scariest minute of my life

About six months ago I took my two toddlers, ages 2.5 years and 14 months, to the mall. There is a play area in the mall for the little ones to play in. The area is sectioned off with three foot walls. There is only one entrance in and out of the area. The walls of the whole area are lined with benches. I usually sit down by the doorway so that I can make sure my kids don't leave. This time, however, there were already parents occupying those seats at the doorway. My two kids were going in different directions the whole time. I kept switching back and forth, watching both kids constantly. I was walking around making sure I could see both kiddos. I noticed a woman sitting down chatting on her cell phone. Another mom was reading a book. I thought about how I can't relax like them because I am actively watching my kids. (Their kids were older than mine and probably less likely to escape).

Well, 14 month old, Sadie, was at a stage where she LOVED climbing, yet she wasn't so good at it yet. I was helping her climb a slide in the middle of the play area. She had my complete attention and my eyes were off Eliza for about a full 30 seconds. I looked up and around for Eliza. I couldn't see her. I didn't panic at first because I figured she was hiding in one of the crawl tunnels or something. I peeked in the ones that I couldn't directly see in by looking around and she wasn't there. I picked Sadie up and walked around calling, "Eliza, Eliza." Another mother detected the panic in my voice and said, "There is a little girl and a little boy playing over there." She pointed over the wall. I ran out and found Eliza and another boy, about age 4, playing on the mall rental strollers, designed to look like police cars, that line the wall. I stooped down to her level and gave her a lecture about how scared I was and how she can't walk away from Mommy because she could get lost or a bad person could steal her away from me (YES, I wanted to scare her...the child is fearless). Soon the boy's mother came over and took the boy by the hand and told him to stay inside the play area. I put both girls in the stroller and left right then.

Ironically, just a few minutes before, I was thinking about how carefully I was watching my kids and I couldn't relax and talk on the phone or read a book like these other moms... THEN it was my kid who escaped and disappeared!! I obviously do not watch two children, who are going different directions very effectively. The whole way home I felt sick thinking about what could've happened. I decided right away that I was not taking my kids anywhere in public again unless David was there and we could divide the children. For over six months I have not taken the kids anywhere that they could not easily be contained. Our outings have only been to friend's homes or to Sam's Club because their carts have two child seats in them, or to the Food Lion that is 12 miles past the closest Food Lion to my house because they have a cart with a car in front that both kids can sit in.

THE HAPPY ENDING:

Well, my little toddler pair have also been a bit of a challenge to control at Church. But things are getting better. We went two Sundays (today makes three!) in a row without having to take them to the hall during Sacrament Meeting (the service) !!! So... after A LOT of thought, I decided to try to take them somewhere by MYSELF!!

A couple of days ago, the girls and I went to Chic-Fil-A. It was the really busy lunch hour. I knew it would be tough to keep them both with me while we waited in a long line to order. So, I went through the Drive-thru. The whole time we were in line, Eliza kept telling me that she wanted to go inside. She pointed to parking spaces and told me to put the car there and go inside. I took the opportunity to get her to commit to staying with me and listening if we go inside.

We got our food and parked. We walked inside and I directed Eliza to an empty table. She sat down, opened up the bag and started to pass out the food as I strapped Sadie into the high chair.
The girls and I ate, and then together we walked to the indoor playground (well, Eliza ran ahead a little). I let them play in there for over an hour. Once we left to change Sadie's diaper. Eliza told me she would wait there for me but when I insisted she come with me to the bathroom, she put her shoes on and came. Then we went back. I was pleasantly surprised to get cooperation.

Sadie usually watches as the big kids climb the stepping platforms to the tunnels that lead to the slide, but this time she attempted the climb for the first time. It was a slow process. At one point both Eliza and Sadie were standing on about the fourth platform when an older boy raced around them. As he passed he said, to his friend he was racing, "I had to go around some babies!" Eliza exclaims, "No, we're girls!" (They're not babies, babies are little like Baby Elliot and Baby Kayla)!

Sadie was timidly and cautiously making her way up the platforms. She stood on the third one for a long time. A ten year old girl said to me, "I think your baby is stuck, I'll help her." She put her hands under Sadie's arms and tried to lift her. Sadie whined and held tightly to the step. I could Sadie wasn't going to go with her so I got up. I heard Sadie say, "I scared... I want Mommy." The ten year old told me that she wouldn't go with her. I explained that she's shy. Sadie is much more cautious of strangers and Eliza is always looking for a playmate. She especially loves big kids!

I talked to another mom while we were in there. She told me about Club Mom at Chesterfield Towne Center Mall. The first Tuesday of every month from 9-11 am there is a free event for parents and children under 12. There is FREE entertainment like a magician or puppet show. There are vendors who give away balloons and gift bags. Parents and kids under 12 can get FREE breakfast! You are given tickets and you take them to any of the participating food court restaurants and you get FREE breakfast. Thats sounds like so much fun and its FREE!!! So, I'm excited to try that on Tuesday! We're meeting our friends there too.

I am so excited that I had a successful outing with my toddlers!!!! I hope I don't regret taking them to the mall on Tuesday. I am taking the stroller and the toddler leashes. I heard the place gets pretty crowded.

Oh, and if for some reason you are interested, you can view some pictures of the said mall play area here. David and I took the girls there together yesterday.