Christmas is so much fun! I adore hearing the hymns and the fun Christmas songs on the radio this time of year. I recall last year hearing them as early as Halloween which was a bit weird but enjoyable nonetheless. We came down to Virginia to be with some of Richard's family and we've had a nice time. This place is so beautiful! We are in Ford's Colony in Williamsburg, VA. I love our rooms! The kids love the pool and the hot tubs. It took a bit of coaxing though to get Cliffton to come with Violet and I outside, in the cold rain, to the hot tub out there. It was worth it and we had some fun. On Christmas morning, Richard and I loved watching the kids open their presents. Azure even got to rip them open this year (she's 18 months). Cliffton loves his new spy set - watch (I think its his favorite), flashlight, walkie-talkies, binoculars and oh so cool sunglasses (to be worn at night of course :P ) He also loves all of his playdough -thanks to Santa and Uncle Matt and Aunt Felicia. Violet loves her Princess castle - Thanks Grandma and Papa! Her dress up shoes from Azure are very much loved too. Azure really likes her octopus/ball toy that counts and names colors too. Its kinda funny - Azure also REALLY loves Violet's princess castle and Violet REALLY loves Azure's octopus. I think they're doing a trade...
Richard really likes his backscratcher. :) I loved spending time at the fabulous lunch buffet in Colonial Williamsburg and then picture taking and running around outside afterwards. Its been a LOOOONG time since this mama has done somersaults!! And in super tight jeans! Seriously a great feat. And yes, the jeans are still in one piece, thank you very much Jess (well, all of my sisters).
Pics to come.
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Fall Festival at the library
 |
| I'm too sexy for my jeans... |
 |
| The kiddos love cotton candy almost as much at their Mom. |
 |
| Violet feeding lettuce to the ducks. |
 |
| Goats, lambs and a llama. |
 |
| Violet was in heaven on the bouncy slides. |
more Halloween
 |
| My first honey caramel apples. I actually didn't like the taste too much but they looked cool. |
 |
| Family pumpkins - except for Azure. She's too cool for pumpkins. Actually she helped on mine (the one with white eyes). Violet did the black one. Daddy's is white. Cliffton's is green and black. |
 |
| My first cornucopia. |
Sunday, November 25, 2012
I can't post anymore pics until I buy more space!!! Also included, The Thanksgiving Story
I still have some more Halloween-themed pics I wanted to post but now I have to buy more space for the blog. Grrr. Any thoughts?? I was told my picasa album was full. Something like that.
I wanted to share something Richard showed to me - its from a talk radio show. It is a bit long but well worth it to read.
The story of Thanksgiving.
"The story of the Pilgrims begins in the early part of the seventeenth century ... The Church of England under King James I was persecuting anyone and everyone who did not recognize its absolute civil and spiritual authority. Those who challenged ecclesiastical authority and those who believed strongly in freedom of worship were hunted down, imprisoned, and sometimes executed for their beliefs. A group of separatists first fled to Holland and established a community. After eleven years, about forty of them agreed to make a perilous journey to the New World, where they would certainly face hardships, but could live and worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences.
"On August 1, 1620, the Mayflower set sail. It carried a total of 102 passengers, including forty Pilgrims led by William Bradford. On the journey, Bradford set up an agreement, a contract, that established just and equal laws for all members of the new community, irrespective of their religious beliefs. Where did the revolutionary ideas expressed in the Mayflower Compact come from? From the Bible. The Pilgrims were a people completely steeped in the lessons of the Old and New Testaments. They looked to the ancient Israelites for their example.
"And, because of the biblical precedents set forth in Scripture, they never doubted that their experiment would work. But this was no pleasure cruise, friends. The journey to the New World was a long and arduous one. And when the Pilgrims landed in New England in November, they found -- according to Bradford's detailed journal -- a cold, barren, desolate wilderness. There were no friends to greet them, he wrote. There were no houses to shelter them. There were no inns where they could refresh themselves. And the sacrifice they had made for freedom was just beginning. During the first winter, half the Pilgrims -- including Bradford's own wife -- died of either starvation, sickness or exposure. When spring finally came, Indians taught the settlers how to plant corn, fish for cod and skin beavers for coats.
"Life improved for the Pilgrims, but they did not yet prosper! This is important to understand because this is where modern American history lessons often end. Thanksgiving is actually explained in some textbooks as a holiday for which the Pilgrims gave thanks to the Indians for saving their lives." That's not what it was.
"Here is the part that has been omitted: The original contract the Pilgrims had entered into with their merchant-sponsors in London called for everything they produced to go into a common store, and each member of the community was entitled to one common share." It was a commune. It was socialism. "All of the land they cleared and the houses they built belonged to the community as well," not to the individuals who built them.
"Bradford, who had become the new governor of the colony, recognized that this form of collectivism was as costly and destructive to the Pilgrims as that first harsh winter, which had taken so many lives. He decided to take bold action. Bradford assigned a plot of land to each family to work and manage." They could do with it whatever they wanted. He essentially turned loose the free market on 'em. "Long before Karl Marx was even born, the Pilgrims had discovered and experimented with what could only be described as socialism." And they found that it didn't work.
"What Bradford and his community found was that the most creative and industrious people had no incentive to work any harder than anyone else," because everybody ended up with the same thing at the end of the day. "But while most of the rest of the world has been experimenting with socialism for well over a hundred years -- trying to refine it, perfect it, and re-invent it -- the Pilgrims decided early on to scrap it permanently.
What Bradford wrote about this social experiment should be in every schoolchild's history lesson. 'The experience that we had in this common course and condition,' Bradford wrote. 'The experience that we had in this common course and condition tried sundry years... that by taking away property, and bringing community into a common wealth, would make them happy and flourishing -- as if they were wiser than God. ... For this community [so far as it was] was found to breed much confusion and discontent, and retard much employment that would have been to their benefit and comfort. For young men that were most able and fit for labor and service did repine that they should spend their time and strength to work for other men's wives and children without any recompense.'"
What he was saying was, they found that people could not expect to do their best work without any incentive. So what did they try next? Free enterprise. "Every family was assigned its own plot of land to work and permitted to market its own crops and products. And what was the result? 'This had very good success,' wrote Bradford, 'for it made all hands industrious, so as much more corn was planted than otherwise would have been.'"
They had miraculous results. In no time they found they had more food than they could eat themselves. So they set up trading posts. They exchanged goods with the Indians. The profits allowed them to pay off the people that sponsored their trip in London. The success and the prosperity of the Plymouth settlement attracted more Europeans, began what became known as the great Puritan migration.
And they shared their bounty with the Indians. Actually, they sold some of it to 'em. The true story of Thanksgiving is how socialism failed. With all the great expectations and high hopes, it failed. And self-reliance, rugged individualism, free enterprise, whatever you call it, resulted in prosperity that they never dreamed of.
I wanted to share something Richard showed to me - its from a talk radio show. It is a bit long but well worth it to read.
The story of Thanksgiving.
"The story of the Pilgrims begins in the early part of the seventeenth century ... The Church of England under King James I was persecuting anyone and everyone who did not recognize its absolute civil and spiritual authority. Those who challenged ecclesiastical authority and those who believed strongly in freedom of worship were hunted down, imprisoned, and sometimes executed for their beliefs. A group of separatists first fled to Holland and established a community. After eleven years, about forty of them agreed to make a perilous journey to the New World, where they would certainly face hardships, but could live and worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences.
"On August 1, 1620, the Mayflower set sail. It carried a total of 102 passengers, including forty Pilgrims led by William Bradford. On the journey, Bradford set up an agreement, a contract, that established just and equal laws for all members of the new community, irrespective of their religious beliefs. Where did the revolutionary ideas expressed in the Mayflower Compact come from? From the Bible. The Pilgrims were a people completely steeped in the lessons of the Old and New Testaments. They looked to the ancient Israelites for their example.
"And, because of the biblical precedents set forth in Scripture, they never doubted that their experiment would work. But this was no pleasure cruise, friends. The journey to the New World was a long and arduous one. And when the Pilgrims landed in New England in November, they found -- according to Bradford's detailed journal -- a cold, barren, desolate wilderness. There were no friends to greet them, he wrote. There were no houses to shelter them. There were no inns where they could refresh themselves. And the sacrifice they had made for freedom was just beginning. During the first winter, half the Pilgrims -- including Bradford's own wife -- died of either starvation, sickness or exposure. When spring finally came, Indians taught the settlers how to plant corn, fish for cod and skin beavers for coats.
"Life improved for the Pilgrims, but they did not yet prosper! This is important to understand because this is where modern American history lessons often end. Thanksgiving is actually explained in some textbooks as a holiday for which the Pilgrims gave thanks to the Indians for saving their lives." That's not what it was.
"Here is the part that has been omitted: The original contract the Pilgrims had entered into with their merchant-sponsors in London called for everything they produced to go into a common store, and each member of the community was entitled to one common share." It was a commune. It was socialism. "All of the land they cleared and the houses they built belonged to the community as well," not to the individuals who built them.
"Bradford, who had become the new governor of the colony, recognized that this form of collectivism was as costly and destructive to the Pilgrims as that first harsh winter, which had taken so many lives. He decided to take bold action. Bradford assigned a plot of land to each family to work and manage." They could do with it whatever they wanted. He essentially turned loose the free market on 'em. "Long before Karl Marx was even born, the Pilgrims had discovered and experimented with what could only be described as socialism." And they found that it didn't work.
"What Bradford and his community found was that the most creative and industrious people had no incentive to work any harder than anyone else," because everybody ended up with the same thing at the end of the day. "But while most of the rest of the world has been experimenting with socialism for well over a hundred years -- trying to refine it, perfect it, and re-invent it -- the Pilgrims decided early on to scrap it permanently.
What Bradford wrote about this social experiment should be in every schoolchild's history lesson. 'The experience that we had in this common course and condition,' Bradford wrote. 'The experience that we had in this common course and condition tried sundry years... that by taking away property, and bringing community into a common wealth, would make them happy and flourishing -- as if they were wiser than God. ... For this community [so far as it was] was found to breed much confusion and discontent, and retard much employment that would have been to their benefit and comfort. For young men that were most able and fit for labor and service did repine that they should spend their time and strength to work for other men's wives and children without any recompense.'"
What he was saying was, they found that people could not expect to do their best work without any incentive. So what did they try next? Free enterprise. "Every family was assigned its own plot of land to work and permitted to market its own crops and products. And what was the result? 'This had very good success,' wrote Bradford, 'for it made all hands industrious, so as much more corn was planted than otherwise would have been.'"
They had miraculous results. In no time they found they had more food than they could eat themselves. So they set up trading posts. They exchanged goods with the Indians. The profits allowed them to pay off the people that sponsored their trip in London. The success and the prosperity of the Plymouth settlement attracted more Europeans, began what became known as the great Puritan migration.
And they shared their bounty with the Indians. Actually, they sold some of it to 'em. The true story of Thanksgiving is how socialism failed. With all the great expectations and high hopes, it failed. And self-reliance, rugged individualism, free enterprise, whatever you call it, resulted in prosperity that they never dreamed of.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
As my Dad might say, this was, "Interesting."
In my Facebook profile, I called this 'What NOT to do'. This was a rather pyscho night. This happened Thursday. May most of these events NEVER happen again.
I took some youth, we were all very late, to a fireside in Manhattan. Realized my GPS garmin wasn't charged so I couldn't use it. (I had the temple address). Then My phone died which I was using for GPS. Starting to get lost and then my gas light went on. I had no idea where a gas station was as I entered the city so I asked the toll attendant. Got directions and then got lost again. Decided it was better to just get to church building/temple grounds then figure it out. Went down a one way street the WRONG WAY! Many times did not know where I was or how close to central park we were (the temple is really close to central park west) Finally, Got to parking garage and said 'Ok. We're ok. We didn't run out of gas in the middle of the street, late at night.' The temple/church building is right around the corner. We get in, head to elevator, and a bunch of youth come out, Oh hey you missed the fireside. Find someone to help us find a gas station. Score! Then the kind brother says he and his son will go there and get some gas for us. (I explained I didn't think the car would make it out of the garage). Multiple thanks!! I remember we have a gas can in our trunk so we go back to garage and nope, no gas can. (Didn't know it was being used by others recovering from Sandy). They go and bring back gas and we get moving! All right. After directions from parking attendant we head to Queensboro bridge. As I'm getting off the bridge I make several more wrong turns and go down ANOTHER one way street the wrong way. Finally I happen to find myself on Queens Blvd. which I think will lead us in a friendly direction. And it does. (along the way I take us to McDonalds drive thru so its not a complete, hungry waste of time.) I take the youth home ( 3 diff. homes) and get home around midnight. I think there was more. Oh yeah...I forgot to get receipts. For everything. I'd like my money back - at least on the tolls and the parking!
I took some youth, we were all very late, to a fireside in Manhattan. Realized my GPS garmin wasn't charged so I couldn't use it. (I had the temple address). Then My phone died which I was using for GPS. Starting to get lost and then my gas light went on. I had no idea where a gas station was as I entered the city so I asked the toll attendant. Got directions and then got lost again. Decided it was better to just get to church building/temple grounds then figure it out. Went down a one way street the WRONG WAY! Many times did not know where I was or how close to central park we were (the temple is really close to central park west) Finally, Got to parking garage and said 'Ok. We're ok. We didn't run out of gas in the middle of the street, late at night.' The temple/church building is right around the corner. We get in, head to elevator, and a bunch of youth come out, Oh hey you missed the fireside. Find someone to help us find a gas station. Score! Then the kind brother says he and his son will go there and get some gas for us. (I explained I didn't think the car would make it out of the garage). Multiple thanks!! I remember we have a gas can in our trunk so we go back to garage and nope, no gas can. (Didn't know it was being used by others recovering from Sandy). They go and bring back gas and we get moving! All right. After directions from parking attendant we head to Queensboro bridge. As I'm getting off the bridge I make several more wrong turns and go down ANOTHER one way street the wrong way. Finally I happen to find myself on Queens Blvd. which I think will lead us in a friendly direction. And it does. (along the way I take us to McDonalds drive thru so its not a complete, hungry waste of time.) I take the youth home ( 3 diff. homes) and get home around midnight. I think there was more. Oh yeah...I forgot to get receipts. For everything. I'd like my money back - at least on the tolls and the parking!
Find someone to help us find a gas station. Score! Then the kind brother says he and his son will go there and get some gas for us. (I explained I didn't think the car would make it out of the garage). Multiple thanks!! I remember we have a gas can in our trunk so we go back to garage and nope, no gas can. (Didn't know it was being used by others recovering from Sandy). They go and bring back gas and we get moving! All right. After directions from parking attendant we head to Queensboro bridge. As I'm getting off the bridge I make several more wrong turns and go down ANOTHER one way street the wrong way. Finally I happen to find myself on Queens Blvd. which I think will lead us in a friendly direction. And it does. (along the way I take us to McDonalds drive thru so its not a complete, hungry waste of time.) I take the youth home ( 3 diff. homes) and get home around midnight. I think there was more. Oh yeah...I forgot to get receipts. For everything. Saturday, November 17, 2012
Skeletons and Goblins, are only make believe...
 |
| Wait to eat our candy (or chips)?? No way!! |
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Halloween fun
 |
| I am so happy we got a picture of Violet with her gloves and ears because she would not wear them when we actually went trick or treating. |
 |
| Our little giraffe! Or goat, or cow, or what have you.... I'm sticking with giraffe. |
Yummy Halloween fun
 |
| We enjoyed some fun Halloween foods using my "Our Best Bites" cookbook. Here are our Mummy Dogs and our Monster Jaws. I really liked the Monster Jaws and Cliffton and Violet helped make them. |
 |
| Spider cookies. I think ours came out more like squid cookies. |
 |
| Bones! (before baking) |
 |
| These bones were made from breadstick dough. I think we liked the taste of these treats the best. |
 |
| Cheesy fingers! |
 |
| More Mummies - only this time it was our family, plus Bitner and plus 2 more (I hope to have 2 more kiddos one day). |
 |
| BLOOD! (for the bones of course) |
 |
| What's a holiday without sugar cookies?! |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)