I'm having a non-good morning

Rather than have a midlife crisis brought on by the abrupt changes in American politics, I'm just going to post an adorable photo of the boys for you.

In the 1950s, George Orwell described what he calls Newspeak in his eerily prophetic book 1984. What is Newspeak? According to Orwell, it is words "deliberately constructed for political purposes: words, that is to say, which not only had in every case a political implication, but were intended to impose a desirable mental attitude upon the person using them."

Let's take a quick look at Obama's Newspeak:

• The War on Terror is now to be referred to as Overseas Contingency Operation
• Terrorists or acts of terrorism are now to be referred to as Man-Caused Disasters

Really? Do people not see that this is a power grab? A way to change the way people remember what is happening? Okay, I have to stop. But really, if you haven't read 1984, please do. And if you have time, stick Animal Farm on your reading list, too. That one will show you how utopian communism isn't.

The bizarre thing is that Orwell was a socialist. It amazes me that no matter what path we follow, sometimes there are inevitable openings to which we must approach. Was the door intentionally left open for a socialist President to enter? Was it inevitable? I wonder what is in store for us in the coming year.

Preparing for the Pine Car Derby

The boys are building their cars for the Pine Car Derby this weekend. We are taking them to church tomorrow night to have the cars weighed and measured and impounded until race day. That's this weekend, so I'll let you know how it goes. All three of the boys had a blast building and decorating their cars.

A rant about Noggin

If it weren't for Little Bear, I would be boycotting Noggin at our house. Permanently. As it stands, I'm recording the 23 minutes of Little Bear, not a minute before or after, to show the boys when it's quiet time. I am drafting a LONG letter to them right now, though, let me tell you. Some background:

• We do not allow our boys to watch the DVD player in the car unless the trip is longer than three hours, nor do we believe in using the TV in the house as a babysitter. Jim and I both agree that placing our boys in front of the tube is a waste of time. This isn't to say that we've never let them have couch potato days. Of course we have! It is the exception, however, and not the rule.
  

• Next, we do not allow the boys to watch "regular" TV. They can watch Playhouse Disney in the mornings (for one show on weekdays, two on the weekends), or Noggin in the afternoons for quiet time. I'm so picky that Spongbob on Nick Jr. is outlawed at our house. I emphasize that last part because I know they watch it sometimes at other people's houses. That's okay because it isn't a regular occurence :)
  
• We realize that we are somewhat extreme when it comes to our TV rules, but our kids are happy, healthy, intelligent beings and we want to keep them that way. The television doesn't encourage any synapse-firing activity, so we discourage it. Period. (I'm almost off my soapbox, I swear).
  

This brings me to my issue with Noggin. I was grading papers on Thursday during "quiet time" (since the boys gave up naps, we now have "quiet time"). The boys were sitting with me watching something on Noggin. Let me drift off for a second here so you can understand my rage. I TRUSTED Noggin so much that I just turned it on at 2:30 in the afternoon and sat down (with the boys of course!) to let the boys watch one show. I didn't question what would be on. It's Noggin. Noggin is like the "safe" channel with no commercials and every show has a sound resolution. It's a feel-good channel for paranoid mommas like me. I can turn it on for 25 minutes, and usually get a lot done on the computer in that short amount of time.

Let's go back to that particular "quiet time" on Thursday. I wasn't paying attention to the tube until Nickolas said, "Rocco Bama likes to play basketball!" Good ole Rocco Bama (AKA Barack Obama) likes what?, I thought. I looked up and saw that there was a flipping cartoon of the Socialist President of the U.S. on the "safe channel." I had to bite my tongue as I watched the rest of the three-minute cartoon with him. The short clip glorified Obama as if he was some extraordinary citizen. Now, I've been watching Noggin for a few years and I don't ever remember seeing ANYTHING about George W Bush. Nothing about Jesus Christ. Nothing about the men and women in the military protecting us. Where is the fairness in this type of coverage? What about the liberal's coveted Fairness Doctrine? Where was that on Noggin? It certainly wasn't there on Thursday afternoon when the station aired its propaganda.

As most media outlets have attempted to do in the past year, they've hidden behind Obama's blackness as rationale for making him their self-appointed messiah. It's easy to give the first black President of the United States special treatment. It is an historic occassion that I do believe should be celebrated on many accounts. The walls that crumbled when he was elected will not likely be built again in our time. I have no qualms with admitting how important that was (and is) for the U.S. However, I don't care if he's yellow, purple, green, white, Chinese, Dutch, Swiss, Hispanic, or hillbilly; he is a man. Period. There is nothing exceptional about him, and glorifying his color and attempting to draw innocent children to him is wrong. Long gone are the days of the Hitler Youth, but are these little cartoons the beginning of the Obama Youth? I don't think I'm that far off, and I know many of you agree.

My blood is absolutely boiling right now. I think I'll just have to stop writing and let you think about this.

Home from Paradise Valley

Thanks to a great deal from Hotwire.com, we were able to stay at a gorgeous resort in Paradise Valley, AZ for less than most of the local hotels cost. Here are some of our photos. No, the boys were not with us.

I'm big now!

On Nathan's birthday, I made him a strawberry cake (all he asked for was a "strawberry birthday" and rather than buy him a Strawberry Shortcake doll, I went for the cake). He could not figure out how to blow out the candles. We tried and tried, but Nick got so frustrated that he finally went over and did it for him!

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After all of that practice, you'd think he'd have it down for his party. Nope. Jim stepped in at the end and blew them out for him. Look at nick in the background, trying SO hard to not just do it for him!

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It's also important to note that this was the birthday of the silky pants. Nathan wore gojamma pants all day, which gave him the urge to hold his penis all.day.long.

A new chapter

For those of you who know Nathan, you know how independent he is. He will not let us help him with anything unless it was his idea to ask for help in the first place. It's slightly challenging, but refreshing. Gone are the colicky days of his infancy (oh, Lord, thank you for ending that misery) when I swore his skin would attach to mine after holding him for so long. But today, Nathan began a new chapter. Nathan started preschool.

Here's just a little bit of history and then the pictures of his first day: when Nick went back to school in the Fall, Nathan really wanted to go. To stop him from being pesty, I told him that he wouldn't be able to go to preschool until he was potty trained. Ha! That'll keep him quiet.

About ten days later, Nathan was completely potty trained. We did not really push it, he just decided that he wanted to do it. So he did. And since that time, in September 2008, he has asked me every single Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday if he can go to preschool. I couldn't lie to him. I had to tell him that he wasn't old enough. That did not sit well. "But I go potty on da toywit." Yes, little man, you do.

So, just in time to celebrate Nathan's third birthday, the preschool accepted him into the Lamb Room. He had a great first day. He ran into the building and stopped outside the classroom door. "May I go into do cwasroom now?" "Absolutely! Go on in!" So he ran in and took off his coat and had and turned around and asked, "May I pway wit da toys now?" "Sure, buddy! have at it!" And that was it.

Oh, I forgot to mention that it is Silly Week, so on his first day of school, Nathan wore his favorite gojammies (he calls them gojammies...probably because we say "go get your jammies on!"). What a great way to start school.

CPSIA Killing small businesses

In an ill-informed effort to make childrens products safer for consumers, the CPSIA (Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act) requires that anyone who produces or sells any of the following new or used childrens items will be required to comply with the new law: toys, books, clothing, art, educational supplies, materials for the learning disabled, bicycles, and more. Any uncertified item intended for children under the age of 12 will be considered contraband after February 10, 2009. It will be illegal to sell or give these items away to charities, and the government will require their destruction or permanent disposal.

The new law will start requiring that each and every item intended for children under the age of 12 be tested for lead and phthalates. The cost of the testing is outrageous for small business owners. To show an example of what the costs will rise to if forced to comply with the CPSIA, a number of shop owners at Etsy have posted CPSIA-compliant products for sale. Please look at these products.

FYI: For the proposed testing, each component will cost $70 for lead testing and an additional $350 per component for phthalates testing. That is REALLY for EACH component, not for an item. So, if you used thirteen buttons on a shirt, you would pay these amounts per button. No kidding. This is in addition to the testing the big manufacturers have already done. Double-dipping? Double taxation? Hmmmm...

Check these out:

• Princess Hair Bows
• Gocks Frocks
• Croched Baby Socks
• Crayon Nuggets

From the eyes of babes

These are some shots from Nick's camera. He took these today. The one looking out the window is my favorite because he said "there is a beautiful sunset, mommy! I need a picture of that!"

Sigh.

From top left and around:
Looking down his shirt
Nathan at the chalkboard
Mommy at the table
Beautiful sunset
Chicken & Stars for dinner
Daddy working in the basement

Snow fun

Avoiding politics at home

This weekend, after the boys were "asleep," I sat down to work on some homework (which is what I'm supposed to be doing right now). I grabbed a glass of wine and snuggled up with my Kindle to read all about Community Colleges. Exciting, right?

I didn't hear him come downstairs, but Nickolas tip-toed to the edge of the family room and just stared at me. I asked him, "what's up, buddy?" He said, "I can't sleep, momma. I just keep thinking." I think he knows I'm a sucker for that line. So I made room on my lap for him and we had a long talk. Here's how it went (for the most part):

• Me: So what are you thinking about?
• Nick: Sometimes I have bad dreams about people I don't know. You and daddy aren't there...in my dreams. Why aren't you there?
• Me: Nick, we're always here.
• Nick: But not in my dreams you're not. There are scary people.
• Me: Who are the scary people, bud?
• Nick: I don't know them. They take my things away and they chase me.
• Me: (Thinking, "crap, we haven't talked about socialists since the election...crap...what's coming up...). Well, are they kids in your school?
• Nick: No, they are adults. Not kids. The kids at my school are my friends.
• Me: That's true. So what do the adults look like?
• Nick: Well, I don't know. They just keep trying to take my money. But I want to buy Hot Wheels with my money and I want a new Hot Wheels sets (sic).
• Me: Okay, so keep saving up your money and we'll get you one, okay?
• Nick: But momma, I don't want Barack Obama to be our president because he'll come to Target and take my money. I'm gonna leave my money at home so he can't get it from me. And then I won't be able to get any Hot Wheels or Thomas trains because I won't have any money because I don't want Barack Obama to take it from me when I go to Target (yes, it was a run-on sentence like that).
• Me: (Thinkin, "how in the world did he remember that? I haven't even been listening to much talk radio around him since he cried at ROMNEY losing the primaries!"). Nickolas, you will NEVER, EVER see Barack Obama, so you don't have to worry about him taking your money away.
• Nick: But he is a socialisp and he's gonna come to take my money away.
• Me: That's not quite how it works, Nick. Socialists don't take it from you. They tax us on the money we earn.

Long pause. LONG sip of wine.

• Nick: Mom, maybe when your work gives you money you should just bring it home and put it in a train bank like I do. That way they can't go to the bank and take it from you. You just put it in a train bank.
• Me: (Thinking, "seriously? You're four and you're planning my finances."). That's a good idea, Nick, but there aren't any socialists at the bank, either, buddy. We will never see them. They make laws that tell my boss to take away some of my money and give it back to them. So, if I earned $10, the socialists would tell Miss JE to give me only $5 and send the rest to them. They don't actually come to my work and take it, and they aren't going to be at Target to take our money, either.
• Nick: Yeah, but, well, you don't take your money to the bank, mommy.

I don't remember how the conversation ended, but I did try to get out of it. It was so sad to hear him worry about money. At one point, he told me that he was afraid the "socialisps" would take our money and that we wouldn't be able to pay for our house or Huck (that's what the boys call my car).

We sat there for about 40 minutes. Finally, he was ready to talk about trains and then I took him up to bed.

Working from home

In my last post, I complained a little about the workload I've been dealing with. As you know, I primarily work from home and I'm taking my classes from a distance. A friend of mine shared Smartsheet with me; it's a wonderful tool that allows me to collaborate with others and organize my projects. I have sheets for my work at Cleary, one for my Ed D program, one for my life, and one for our basement project. You might want to just check it out if you work from home or if you'd like to be more efficient in your work anywhere.



Another thought about working from home: I want a big office. BIG. Really big. I stole Nathan's room last year and made it into a guest room/craft room/home office. Well, I've run out of room for anything new. I'm not talking about tchockes or knick knacks or other "stuff." I can't find room to put my textbooks or the fabric for some of my projects. It's nuts! What do you think about an office like this instead?















Nice, right? Look at all the counter space!

This is my office now:












I do love the colors and all that; it's by far the girliest room in the house. Some of you have mentioned keeping the bedroom in the basement rather than tearing it out. Let me remind you that the bedroom in the basement was, at it's largest measurements, 8x11. No thanks. My current office is 11x11. It would be fine, except that I have a big desk to accommodate my crafting needs, there's a twin bed in there, and there's a small printer stand. I wish we could have a bonus room above the garage...that'd be a great craft room...

Blah blah blah

Well, I've officially started school. Fortunately, it looks like I'll be able to manage my schedule pretty well this semester, but I'm not so sure about May. Oh, May, May, my favorite month. It will be a rough May this year as I travel to Nebraska and draft my dissertation proposal. I'm VERY, Very nervous about that. I'm just starting my first classes in the program and I'll start working on my book in just a few months. Holy cow! Okay, enough rambling about me. I just wanted to get that off my chest.

Quick updates: Nickolas is sick (the tummy kind...gross). Nathan is well (for a monkey, that is). Basement is progressing (slowly). Traci's curtains are in the same state they were in last week, and I still haven't started our bedroom curtains.

Here is a quick one to make you smile:

Last one for today

I should have just posted these all in one post, but this makes me look more productive.

I made a quick fabric panel to hang over our bed. Then, I covered two cheap canvases with a coordinating fabric and stenciled a squiggly thing on each. I also made some pillows out of that coordinating fabric. Curtains are next, after Traci's curtains are done :) (See below for a sneak peak).

GQ

I forgot to post this on New Year's Eve. Lady's man.

Secret project

We've been working on a project in the basement. We're trying to do it by ourselves (except a couple of friends and pros when needed), but we've been keeping it low-key so as not to disrupt our lives TOO much. Ha. Ha. hahahahahaha.



We moved the fireplace from the center to the left. We added a storage closet (left) and a half bath (right).

Tore out closet next to stairs and built a fort under the stairs for the boys (check out the cool porch light for them).

Simplifying started early

You have to see these pictures from Christmas morning. Really, I just wasn't in the "Christmas spirit" this year. However, on Christmas morning, it hit me. This is why:



Santa came! He really, really came! He left boot prints on the hearth and even hand prints on the fireplace. Whoa! This was our favorite Christmas ever. We simplified by requesting that Santa only bring a few gifts, and it worked out really well. As you see, the boys have a new kitchen set (which they LOVE) and they each have a couple of new favorites.

Simplify is the goal for 2009. I am going to try to simplify my schedule, simplify our activities, and simplify my mind. I hope you have a blessed new year filled with great memories and smiles as big as those you see above.