Twilight

We went and saw the Twilight movie and we loved it. I thought that everyone did a great job. For the budget that they had I think they did a great job. I wanted to add that I LOVED the way Stephenie did her cameo. It was subtle, not in your face the way some authors do it. It was not done the way that Stan Lee does his in the Marvel movies, where he is there and they give you time to recognize him. It was quick and easy, very subtle like I said, and in fact Tori's best friend didn't even realize that it was Stephenie.
I went with a group of 6 people me, Tori and her Best friend (both are 13) my sister Bonnie and her two Grand daughters (who are only 3). Now I was worried and almost certain that either myself or my sister would end up out in the hall way with either one or both of the little girls. But they were absolutely wonderful, they were well behaved and actually watched the movie (both girls told their father about it when they got home). The preview for Unborn, scared the hell out of them (and me too). But I was more upset over the two teenage girls that were sitting in the row in front of me, one had obviously read the book and the other did not. The one that had read the book had to continually tell the girl next to her what was going on and answer questions, I hushed her several times and finally tried to ignore the fact that I wanted to beat her to death with my drink.
But still we had a great time. On the way home Tori, her friend and I stopped in Warm Springs and walked around looking in the shops and had hot cocoa. All in all it was a great day.

Thank you Matty for getting us the tickets and allowing us to have an awesome day!

My daughter

I have found that when I think my children will do one thing they turn around a do just the opposite. This is not always a bad thing. Take last night for instance... Tori who always surprises me whe it comes to certain things shocked me last night. She has three HUGE rubber maide totes in her room. One full of horses, one full of Bratz and their accessories and the other has stuffed animals in it. I have been asking her for weeks now to go through and take out what she doesn't want or play with (which is everything in them) any more so that we can get rid of them. Let me back up for a second, about 2 maybe 3 weeks ago, Bones came over with the girls (Panda, Nad, and Pitty-Pat) Panda was bored so I went into Tori's room and dug her out a couple of Barbis to play with. She was so excited about having these dolls in pretty princess dresses to play with. Tori ended up letting her take the Barbis and a few dresses home. Panda was soo excited. So last night they come over for dinner and Panda tells Tori about her Barbis and how Bullet (her dog) got ahold of them and chewed them up. Then she asked Tori if she had any more that she could have. Well my daughter went into her room and took out the box, comes back to the dinning room where Bones and I are sitting and says "Aunt Bonnie, I don't have any more Barbis, can she have some Bratz dolls?" Bones tells her that she can, so Tori goes back to her room. Comes out with a pink, sparkled rubber maide tote with a lid that locks. Inside it are about 6 Bratz, each one dressed, and then she brings out the case with all the mini Bratz and all the stuff that goes with them. By the time Tori was done, Panda had 2 things of Bratz, a make-up box, a jewlery box (with a few pieces of jewlery in it), a phone to play with, a purse and a few stuffed animals. She also sent Bones home with stuff for Nad, Hillbilly and Pitty-Pat. Tori had a bunch of things that she was going to send home last night with her but Bones told her to hang on to them for Christmas (the girls are all little and won't care if the presents they get are brand new or not, Plus Tori has always taken really good care of her things so they still look like new.

I couldn't believe how my daughter acted last night. I was so proud of her that I couldn't find the words to tell her how I was feeling.

Halloween

For us there are many reasons we don't allow our children to Trick Or Treat, or celebrate Halloween in any way. My children invite a few friends over for a Fall Party. Costumes are allowed if they want to, but are not required. We watch movies, listen to music, and just hang out. We choose to CELEBRATE the many blessings in our lives rather then what the day is meant to celebrate.

First of all it is an Unholy Holiday. It is a Pagan Holiday celebrating the dead. It is a ritualistic night, that dates back centuries. That includes such acts as sacrifices (not only animals but humans as well), curses, trickery, begging, and thievery.

I posted some URLs at the bottom of this page if you want to check them out. There is one on there from the History Channel that has a ton of information on it about Halloween and its origins.

Then there is the Double Standard effect. We spend 364 days a year telling our children to NOT talk to or take things from strangers. We (or at least I know that JD and I do this) also spend those same 364 days a year telling our children to be them self, don't be a sheep and follow the herd. But on this one night, we let them dress up as something they are not, send them out to take candy and openly talk with strangers with the rest of the "herd" and say it is OK.

It is NOT SAFE. No matter how you cut it from any perspective, Religious or not. It is just not safe. Children have a higher chance of being kidnapped on Halloween night then they do any other night of the year. Also their chances of being hit by a car, or injured in any way are greater. I know that their are some Moms that are going to say "That is why you watch them constantly, and never let them out of your site" And to that I say this... The little (by little I mean 7 year old) girl in this very small town I live in was not 2 feet from her mother when she was struck and killed by a car last year. The same for a 15 year old boy, who was simply walking with his friends.

Think about this while you are out and about with your children Trick Or Treating. How many of you stop and talk to a complete stranger when they say "Oh My, how cute he/she looks all dressed up as ". Think about it, how easy would it be for that complete stranger to snatch your child up and run, in the 2 seconds it takes for you to look over at your other child(ren) or who ever you might be with.

I know a lot of you say "Only go to houses of people that you know or neighbor hoods that you know the majority of the people that live there". We went one year when my daughter was about 4 years old it was the last time my daughter went Trick Or Treating. We went to an area that was nothing but people I knew, half the people in the area where related to me and the rest I had known all my life. Some how, my daughter got an Apple with a RAZOR BLADE in it. Let me stress that I knew EVERYONE that lived there (47 houses and all of them full of people that I had known all of my life), I even knew where the Apple came from. When I went and spoke with the woman about it, she didn't know what to say and was very upset over it. It turned out that one of her Grandchildren did it as a JOKE! A joke that if either myself or someone else hadn't noticed could have had devistating results for my Daughter.

If you ask me, the risks out way the need for candy that I could just go to the store and buy for my children!


****I know a few people who practice Wicken (hope I spelled that right) and this has NOTHING to do with them or how I feel about them.





A FEW URLs FOR YOU TO TAKE A LOOK AT!

http://www.history.com/minisites/halloween/

http://www.watchman.org/occult/hallow.htm

http://www.christianitytoday.com/holidays/halloween/

http://www.christianitytoday.com/holidays/halloween/features/real.html

Catching everyone up

WOW! So I haven't been on in a long ass time! Shame on me for not getting on here and letting you all know what is going on with all of us. So, lets see. . . What has been happening in our lives that everyone should know about??? Hmm.

Well the kids started back to school last month. Isaiah is in the 1st grade and Tori is now in the 8th. Both are loving school and their teachers. The new middle school is up and running, so that is awesome. I got to go inside a week or so ago and could not believe how beautiful it is. Between school, home work and chores my kids have been pretty busy. Tori is totally addicted to Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series. So for everyone looking at Christmas stuff for her this year the color Pink and Bratz are out and anything Twilight related is in (Dark colors, vampires, werewolves) and she is totally Team Edward (who is a Vampire if your not familiar with the series). She has taken to calling her brother Emmet, because she says he fits the description of Emmet in the Twilight series to a T. Isaiah doesn't seem to mind, he thinks it is kind of funny actually. Seeing how he always wanted to be a super hero, being a vampire is ok with him. My kids have sort of switched rolls, where Tori was whiney and unwilling to help out with Isaiah being the one that would bend over backwards to help in any way. Now Isaiah is the one that is whiney and disobedient and Tori will do anything to help out. What can you do about it right? Kids will be Kids after all. JD and I had the great debate again this year (like we do every year at the begining of schoool) about Football. I think Isaiah is to young (and he is my baby, someone might hurt him) JD thinks it will be good for him (he is a boy and can take it). But I forgot to turn the form in to the Recreation Department before the deadline, so he will have to wait until next year to sign up. JD has already said that next year he will be the one to fill out and drop off the form so that it doesn't get forgotten again. Other then that he is doing really well.

JD is doing good, he is still working for the City of Manchester. He has been switched from Waste Water to the Spray Field (which doesn't really mean much, same hours, same pay, and he still works with shit). About a week ago he slipped off the bush hog and messed up his wrist (again) but says it is feeling better now. All and all things are ok with him.

I have been doing good, my birthday came and went with out any natural (or unnatural) disasters this year, so that was a plus. I didn't get a bunch of junk. Jd and the kids got me 2 rought (hope I spelled that right) Iron butterflies to put up on the dinning room walls (pics comming soon) and 2 of my favorite movies on DVD (Beaches and The Muppets Take Manhatan). I got an awesome Zippo lighter from Mom and Dad Anderson, it is multi colored with a butterfly on it, I absolutely LOVE it! And a Lawnmower (That I really really needed) from Martha and Larry (which I really love too!). My biggest problem lately is that I can't sleep, but I am not worried about it. It will all work itself out in the end.

I have my kitchen about 95% of the way done, I am waiting for JD to have the time to paint my butterflies for me. Other then the that it is as complete as it is going to get (pics comming soon of the kitchen too) for now. I still haven't decided what to do in my dinning room, if anyone has suggestions for a square dinning room, that is connected to a black and white kitchen and what will be a Red and Khaki living room, PLEASE let me know. Our yard is starting to look like a yard instead of a jungle. I went out and got the mowing done last Wednesday (I can think of a better way to spend 5 hours of my day), and I am still paying for it.

Dogs are fine (for all of you that are interested). Beast, and Bella-donna, are healthy and doing great. I got rid of Tinkerbell, as much as I loved her I didn't have the patients to train her.
I think that is about it, if I think of anything that I forgot to tell you all about I will let you all know.

LOVE YAS!

RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME!!!!

As alot of you know we are just getting home from a week in Disney! It was so much fun and the kids and I had a blast!

THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH MATTY!! WE LOVE YOU!!!!!

When we went to Hollywood Studios the first ride that we went on was the Star Wars flight simulator. When we (and everyone else) got in to the simulator and got settled a pair of Offical looking Disney Staffers came in and started talking. Charlotte and I where really not paying attention to what they where talking about, Untill the Girl said "Do you want to know what you won?" . I looked over and saw that the pair where holding these Dream Fast Passes. These passes get you to the front of the line on ALL the major rides in the park (1 time per ride) for the entire day!! They are part of the Year Of A Million Dreams sweepstakes that Disney is doing.

Thank You DISNEY! For giving us the chance to do Holly Wood Studios like ROCK STARS!!!!

R.I.P Precious

Thursday, May 15, 2008 10:49 AM

It is with great sadness that I inform everyone that Tori's dog Precious has passed away.

We sent her to stay with Matty a few weeks ago after finding that she was not adjusting well to the puppies and her siezures where getting worse. Matty's house was slower paced and more comfortable for her to live out her remaining days. She was happy and appeared to be doing better.

Now she is on to a better place, and feels no more pain or discomfort.

Family

FAMILY - fam·i·ly (fam'?-le, fam'le) n. .. -->EOF_HEAD--> .. -->BOF_SUBHEAD-->pl. fam·i·lies
[Middle English familie, from Latin familia, household, servants of a household, from famulus, servant.]

A fundamental social group in society typically consisting of one or two parents and their children.
Two or more people who share goals and values, have long-term commitments to one another, and reside usually in the same dwelling place.

A group of like things; a class.

A group of individuals derived from a common stock: the family of human beings.

All the members of a household under one roof.

A group of persons sharing common ancestry.

Lineage, especially distinguished lineage.

A locally independent organized crime unit, as of the Cosa Nostra.

A group of like things; a class.

A group of individuals derived from a common stock: the family of human beings.

Biology A taxonomic category of related organisms ranking below an order and above a genus. A family usually consists of several genera. Linguistics A group of languages descended from the same parent language, such as the Indo-European language family.

Mathematics A set of functions or surfaces that can be generated by varying the parameters of a general equation.

Chemistry A group of elements with similar chemical properties.

Chemistry A vertical column in the periodic table of elements.

No matter how you say it, wether by blood or by choice FAMILY is all relative. No one person in a family is loved, wanted, cared about or more special then any other person.

It takes a village

Everyone has heard that old addage; "It takes a village to raise a child". Isn't that what a family is, a village of sorts? Then why do more families not practice this addage? I mean if you think about it a village and a family have very similar attributes. Both have a mixture of people that vary in age, gender, and race, that are helping one another to achieve a common goal. When I moved from Rhode Island to Georgia I had a very singular mind frame when it came to the meaning of the word FAMILY. Because I belong to a big family that celebrates holidays, birthdays or any chance we felt like celebrating together I assumed that all families where like this. I knew that not all families where as large as mine but 9 out of 10 familes still sat down and ate together, the children had chores that they had to do daily, and every one worked together toward that one common goal. Well evidently when it comes to people in the south (and I don't mean to offend any one with this) that type of Family does not exist. My daughter has many friends here in Manchester and when they come here to our house to visit they are shocked to find out that my children actually have chores that they have to do. One of her friends had no idea how dishes at her house got clean, she actually thought that her mother had tons and tons of dishes and when they got dirty she threw them out and got news ones. Another one of her friends was shocked and mad at me because I told her she could not spend Christmas Eve and Day with us that she needed to be with her family. Family is something that is only practiced in a fashion that I would call normal in 1 out of 3 homes. I know a few families that do not get together for Hollidays or children's birthdays, or just for a summer cook out, infact if they see someone in their family in the grocery store they will turn and walk in the oposite direction of that person to avoid them, simply because they don't want to be bothered with all the "family stuff". Most southern families don't bother with one another unless it is absolutely nessesary. In a family like mine this is unbelievable, and unheard of.

Now on to what this post was originally about . . .

I remember when my children where younger (and even now) and if we where visiting at a family member's house and some one said to one of my children "Stop that" "No" OR anything along those lines I never worried. I knew that who ever the adult was, that my child was not being picked on the child was being disciplined. If one of my children's Aunts or Uncles picked up one of my children and pop their butt, hand OR place them on a time out ment that the Child had committed something so bad that it was warranted, not that the Adult in the situation didn't like my child. If someone said to me "you need to make this child mind, she/he is being a little brat" then I knew it was time to step up and tend to the child, NOT flip out and have a hissy fit. There are times to react and times to let it slide OR as Bonnie says "Don't sweat the small stuff". In a family, every one helps every one else no matter whether that help comes in the form of (house work, yard work, moving stuff around, watching kids or what ever), you expect nothing in return for helping except a thank you and maybe a good meal. I don't understand why people get so upset when another person (in the 'Family') say things to their children, as if the only person that should do anything to correct a child's behavior is the parent, to me the idea of that is as foriegn as trying to speak Chinese. If my children, myself and JD where (for example only) at thier Aunt Bonnie's house and Bonnie said to my Son "Stop being a little punk" I wouldn't even bat an eyelash at it because evidently my son is acting like a punk and is on his Aunt's last nerve with it. And I can say with out a shadow of a doubt that wether the child is Mine, Jed and Charlottes, Tina and Jim's, one of Bonnie's or Vanessa's grand kids, that child is going to be treated the same way no matter what.

I guess what I am trying to say is that children are just that CHILDREN, they are gonna act up, and get on someone's nerves. Not every little thing is a federal issue that needs to be tended to with capital punishment. It takes a village to raise a child,(even a princess).

Panda's Birthday

Just something that I wanted to share about Amanda's Birthday!

The 22nd was Amanda's birthday, she called me just to say "nonni, it my birthday, today I am 3" and hung up on me. Her party was on the 19th (and it was a Hailey weekend too). Now before any one starts I went to her party BUT I forgot my camera at home, I know, what a horrible Aunty I am for not remembering the stinking camera.

We went to Serenity Park for Amanda's birthday and hung out all day. There was bouncy things, paddle boats and bumper cars. I know I was worn out by the time the day was over, from climbing in and out of stuff and going up and down the giant slide so I bet the kids where too. What a great time every one had.

Thank you Aunt Martha and Uncle Larry for giving Amanda a great Birthday present.

Just my luck

So, my day was crap! The kids came home from school and it was looking up, we went to the Piggly Wiggly to get some groceries came home after meeting JD at the gas station (he had the our ATM card and I was on fumes). We went home (I waited for him to park so that I could back in between him and the fence to unload the groceries. Unload and put away everything when my junk food junky of Husband tells me I forgot to get his damn cookies. I said it wasn’t a big deal I wanted to go to Pic ’N’ Save (another local grocery store) for a few things I would pick them up then. Matty comes over for coffee, we sit and visit and I show her how well I am doing with the dogs (showing them who is the true pack leader THANK GOD FOR CEASAR MILLAN a completely different post I will tell you about tomorrow). She heads home, I tell JD that the kids and I are going to run to Roosevelt drop dinner off to Bonnie and get Tori’s purse from her that Tori left at her house on Saturday, and to get the cookies.

We go, have a good time visiting with Bonnie for a few minutes and then head to the Pic ’N’ Save for the cookies and a few other things (mostly junk food requested by the kids while we where there. Head home (this is where my crappy day turns into a realy crappy day).

At the end of our drive way, there is a slight dip where the dirt drive way meets the pavement. The kids love when you hit it fast and get the bump, so of course I hit it hard get the bump and then spin a little dirt and then slow down. NOW backing up to park where I was before I left (between the fence and the Mustang), chatting and joking with the kids going litterally 4 maybe 5 miles an hour. I HIT THE MUSTANG!!!! No damage just a 4 inch scratch on the bumper that is not even noticable unless you knew what you where looking for. Jd comes out to help bring groceries in and I figure he is gonna flip out. SO the first thing I say to him is "remember that I am the mother of your only son and that you love me very very much, I didn’t mean it and I am so so sorry" He asks what happens and I show him. He is TOTALLY FINE with it. WTF!!!! He was like "no damage don’t worry" I was more upset then he was.

Go, Dog. Go!

Yesterday Manchester High School opened up their Gym to the children in our town. The students in the Drama class hosted games, snacks, crafts, and tons of other stuff for the kids and it was all free. And to top off the day they put on a play, their adaptation of Go Dog, Go! by P.D. Eastman which was so much fun. The day was perfect, the students where perfect! When we saw them during the day both in and out of costume they where friendly and out going, and willing to stop and take pictures, or just chat about the really cool scooter they where ridding on.
I just wanted to take some time to point out and thank not only the Manchester High School, and the students in the Drama Class but also all the local businesses and organizations that helped to make this wonderful day possible not only for my kids but all the others that attended yesterday!