Goddess of Fundom

I was thinking about one of my friends who works and has children. She's told me how hard it is juggling time to be there, time to work and time to get all the things of life completed.

I started thinking about how grateful I am that for now, during this present time, my husband's job allows me the freedom to stay at home and be with my girls.

It's something I'm so accustomed to that I almost take it for granted some days. I shouldn't take it for granted. I've never been one to enjoy a regimented day, and because I don't work outside the home I have the freedom to create my days with my girls. We can schedule a busy week splashing around at the gym pool, running around a park, enjoying a delish tea party, or on whim spend the day in our pajamas drawing, reading and imagining.

I just feel so free. I have my husband to thank for this, and the blessings of Heaven that he has this job. I know it's not easy in this current time. So for me I almost feel a bit spoiled. Frankly, I am grateful to be a bit spoiled.

I am so grateful to be a woman. I am so grateful to be a wife. I am so grateful to be a mother. I am so grateful that I have the freedom to create nourishing meals, tasty desserts and to share that pleasure with my family. I am so grateful that I can use my strengths to organize play groups, book groups and put together fun parties and events. I am so grateful that I can teach my daughters, and learn right along with them. I am so grateful that I'm just as curious as a 2 and 4 year old. I am so grateful that my husband loves when I want to take classes, try new things and experience amazing events and places. I am so grateful that he is a team player and that he is one of the most supportive and patient men I know.

I don't know about you - but being a goddess of hearth and home is extremely liberating. I get to be here for all the fleeting, precious moments. I get to try and capture those moments for my family. Yeah, I'm spoiled... and I live in a kingdom of fun and freedom - FUNDOM baby. LOVE IT.

Payoff

So I'm looking at a website at toy kitchenettes.

AGG: I LOVE that kitchen.

DD: NO, I LOVE that kitchen.

AGG: No, that's only for me.

DD: I don't like you.

AGG: I don't like you.

QS: You know what - you both can like the kitchen - but I'm not buying it because all you do is fight with each other.

DD: I love you.

AGG: I love you too, can we have the kitchen?

This is all kinds of wonderful

I can't even begin to tell you how much I love this.

1 Reason Not to Get out of Bed Today

1. Colin Firth called me a "naughty little minx"

....it was in a dream - but worth staying in bed.

Obama Care Yay or Nay? The TRUTH About Canada!

Anyone who believes Socialized medicine (government run health insurance) is a good idea - must already have brain damage.

Princely Conversation

Today in the car on our way to Costco.
If you need a reminder - DD is Dauntless Daughter who is 2.5 years. AGG is Avant Garde Gal who is 4.5 years.

DD talking to a Prince Charming figure (Snow White's prince)

DD: Do you think I'm beautiful?

DD (as the Prince): Yes, you're VERY beautiful.

DD: Then you can be my prince.

AGG: I want him to be my prince.

DD: No - it's my Prince Philip because I'm Aurora.

AGG: But there's a Philip on So You Think You Can Dance. He is a Philip too!

DD: Oh, there's another Philip?

AGG: Yes, he can be your Prince.

DD: Um, well, no thank you.

AGG: Remember when we saw Philip dance and we said, "WHOO HOO PHILIP!!"?

DD: Uh huh.

AGG: I like Philip.

--Lady Gaga's "Let's Dance" starts on the radio--

AGG: This is my song!

--both girls start dancing in their 5-point harness car seats...I am thoroughly entertained--

Summer, Summer, Summertime

There's been a lack of posting due to the fact that this summer - I'm doing less cleaning, blogging...more getting out and exploring with the girls. Also... I get tired after all our little adventures because I'm just not as spry...also...uploading pics to blogger takes so long... I feel like lazy Mayzie.

I started a play group this summer with friends from school, neighborhood and church. When we returned from Utah on June 7th - the group started on June 9th.

The week after was CRAZY.

Monday we had a play date at our local CSD park with AGG's friend K. They love this park because of the sand box. I like the soft rubber flooring. We did a picnic of course.


Tuesday we did a little hike in our community. We have tons of trails that the home builder carved into the area. So we took the kids on a "easy" hike. Then we picnicked at a park. The kids did well - but they all kept asking for food, even though they'd had breakfast just before the hike.




Wednesday my friend Valerie and her daughter K came with us to San Francisco to meet up with my fabulous friend from BYU Soccermom - to go through the California Academy of Sciences Museum. It's free every third Wednesday. I guess everyone else decided to go too - so we ended up going to the de jong Museum Cafe for lunch and then strolling the Japanese Tea Garden. DD of course - fell in.

lunch at the de jong museum café - DD, AGG and K

at the Japanese Tea Gardens

This is the pond DD fell into after we'd finished our tour of the garden. This picture is taken at the beginning of our walk in the gardens. The bamboo fence on the right side of this picture is the one that popped off when DD leaned against it with AGG and Kylie. Yes, I am pleased I happened to have a picture of where she tumbled in.

See how she leans...

AGG, DD, S, J, J, S and K

So when we first entered the Tea Gardens the girls noticed all the coins in some of the ponds so I let them have some pennies to throw and make wishes. On our way out of the gardens everyone went to use the restroom - and I was at the ponds with AGG, DD and K. They all wanted to make wishes so I gave them all pennies and asked them to hold on to the pennies until I could rummage out my video camera out of my bag.

I lean down to find it and as I do it I hear a crack, splash and instant crying. I look up to find DD had toppled head over feet into the shallow pond. I step in and pull her out, just as three other tea garden patrons are about to jump in too.

I bring a crying, traumatized DD out of the pond and find a crying, traumatized AGG. I need one of them to stop - so I tell AGG to stop and tell me why she's crying. "Because I don't want DD to fall into the pond." Sweet. Luckily I was prepared for the cold SF weather. By the time this accident happened it was relatively warmer. So I bundled DD in the three jackets we had.

Hey... it was memorable. ;-)

After the Tea Gardens Valerie and I hit up a little Chinese bakery for Dim Sum to take home. They also had dinner food too... it was prefect because I was able to pick up dinner for my family, and Dim Sum for our book group that night.

My friend and roomie from the Chinese House - Soccermom , Me, my friend Valerie.

Thursday AGG and DD had a play date with AGG's friend N and her brother A. Their mother Ruby and I chatted and I convinced her to try a workout with me at my group training.

I think we took a break on Friday.

The next week we had my friend Marina's boys over on Monday so that Marina could pack for their move to Santa Cruz.

DD and M were done before their older siblings were with the water play.

The girls started dressing up as Hula girls and the boys asked to dress up to. M, DD, AGG and E. The best was when E asked for some shoes to match his dress, and when M pointed to his boobies and said, "mine are too small, but when they're bigger I can help mommy feed N" (his baby sister).

Tuesday our play group hung out at Cameron Park Lake.











Wednesday we had Marina's boys over again to play. And they came back later for dinner at our house. I'm very sad they are moving because the girls get along so well with those two adorable boys.

Water War anyone?

M, DD, AGG and E - taking an ice lollie break

N and Marina

Thursday and Friday I think I took a break from all the playing.

So... we've been busy since school let out. And... I actually love it. I love that finally the girls and I can go, go, go. We also do a lot of going to the gym so I can work out and then hitting the gym pool side for lunch and swimming. All in all... a great start to summer, summer, summertime.


ps. I think shortly after all this DD caught a stomach flu bug from Nursery at Church... which took us out of commission for a week. This week we are taking it easy. Also...this week I couldn't take it anymore and am on a cleaning/organizing spree.

pps. I have more pictures on my private blog - cryingoverspiltmilk

Fourth of July Fare

Want to know what we made for our tummies?

Go to Serrano Sistah's Scintillating Savories.

You Know I'm Bad...

There's been a lot of hullabaloo given over to people who aren't necessarily great people - but who happen to have a skill, a talent. I guess I don't just get bowled over like that.

(side note: Maybe it's also because I don't want to boxed into one thing... like I am only good at one thing and that's it... my entire life is defined by that one thing...and if I don't have that one thing I become invisible... or I don't know who I am. I don't believe in the pursuit of that one thing to define me - I want to be just me...who happens to do a bunch of stuff but doesn't need any of it to be me.)

I've been thinking about excuses and choices. I think people like to make excuses for the choices they don't, or do take. I think people like to feel like they have no control. Because if you don't have control over your own decisions - nothing ever is your fault. I imagine life is much easier because you never have to dig deep to find out what you're truly made of. Challenges mold us, shape us and allow us to demonstrate whether we are made of something worthwhile - or something porous and weak.

I believe we have a choice, in every circumstance, background, situation, you name it - you, your conscious self has a choice. It is up to us to make that choice. And sometimes the act of not making the right choice, defaults us to the wrong choice.

This reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from C.S. Lewis in his book Mere Christianity.

A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. After all, you find out the strength of the [opposing] army by fighting against it, not by giving in. You find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down. A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it: and Christ, because He was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means--the only complete realist.

I don't know about you - but I'd much rather fight against bad choices, people, ideas, regimes, etc... than lay down and take it.

Grateful for FREEDOM

Happy FOURTH OF JULY!!! LET FREEDOM RING!!!

Let us remember the price that has been paid, and the sacrifices still being made so we can have these FREEDOMS. Let us take up that torch and defend, fight and preserve our FREEDOM.

You know it's a little bit dangerous...

(Roxette... 80's music baby)

Vanity that is... vanity that a group of people can believe, to the core that they know what's better for you than you do. Welcome to the ever so progressive world of soft despotism.

If you're as worried as I am about health care - you should be even more concerned now. Sure there needs to be change ... sure it isn't perfect - but the solution... NEVER is "uh, here, let's hand the reigns over to the government...yee haw."

I recently read this well written article by Paul Rahe, about the problem with Obama's proposed government sponsored heath care reform. I would hope that Americans... the bulk, who are not normally able to see through the hype, emotion and smooth talk - will wake up and fight against the destruction of our individual rights. I highly recommend the article and would hope you forward this on to all your family/friends.

Here are a few quotes from the article:

President Obama responded to a question by acknowledging that his plan aimed to reduce medical costs by aligning "incentives" in such a fashion as to discourage the sick and the dying from undergoing "additional tests" or taking "additional drugs that the evidence shows is not necessarily going to improve care."

Obama's choice of words was, as always, soothing. But anyone familiar with the healthcare debate will immediately recognize what he left unsaid. We all know that, wherever there is socialized medicine, there is rationing. Cutting costs is, in fact, its rationale, and this end is achieved by a refusal on the part of the government to pay for care that the bureaucrats judge uneconomic. Already now, in the semi-socialized system to which we have been made subject, those consigned to HMOs come up against gatekeepers charged with shaving costs by restricting care.

I REFUSE to pick HMO when we pick insurance. I REFUSE. I have seen too many friends on HMOs jump through the same tests to get treatments for the same issues. The amount of wasted time and energy to do this... is ridiculous. BUT it's an HMO so you're stuck following the red-tape. Kaiser is one example of crap health care - we call it "Kaiser, where people go to die". I love having a choice of a PPO so that I make the decisions on health care for me and my family. I have control. It is my life. It's my responsibility, period. Why would anyone want to give up that freedom... that individual right to happiness? Because let's face it - if you're unhealthy and in pain...chances are, you aren't happy.

Defenders of Obama's proposal will reply that I am misrepresenting his proposal. No one, they will say, will be forced to give up the health insurance they have. Technically, of course, this is true. But what President Obama calls the "incentives" will be structured in such a way that employers will no longer have to offer coverage, and to save themselves the expense (which is considerable), they will seize the opportunity to opt out, and then we will have no choice.

Here is where Obama's "incentives" reappear. The government-run insurance program will, for all practical purposes, be a monopsony--the sole purchaser. It will be in a bargaining position enabling it to dictate the price that it will pay, and, of course, it will pay very little. You, as an individual purchaser, will have no leverage at all; and, like those not covered by employer-sponsored insurance plans today, you will have to pay through the nose. Unless you are filthy rich, you may well have to wait your turn for that hip-replacement operation, forego that cataract operation, or do without those expensive tests and procedures. In sum, you will not be in the driver's seat.

"To take from one," Thomas Jefferson wrote, "because it is thought that his own industry and that of his father's has acquired too much, in order to spare to others, who, or whose fathers have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association--'the guarantee to every one of a free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquired by it.'" It was on this foundation that Abraham Lincoln objected to slavery, and it is on this foundation that one can object to the health care reform proposed by our President. For this proposal is designed to take from those who have earned and to give to those who have not bothered to do so; and, by way of constraining "incentives," it will take from us the right to manage our own lives in a matter most dear to each and every one of us, and it will confer this responsibility on experts empowered to decide whether, given the cost of care, it is of greater value to society that we suffer or are cured, that we live or die.

How I miss the founding fathers. It is sad to me that in this day of runaway progressives - these great men would never have a chance to be elected.

It is easy enough to see why progressive doctrine should be attractive to our masters. Tyrannical ambition is nothing new, and throughout human history it has nearly always presented itself to men in the guise of idealism. We are all inclined to meddle in other people's business; we are all inclined to think that we know better; and higher education tends to inflate our vanity and to make us more inclined to lord it over those who are less well-instructed. Never for a moment does a Barack Obama stop to ask whether depriving us of responsibility for our own well-being is demeaning. He and his supporters know that they know better, and their putative wisdom in this regard constitutes for them an absolute claim to rule. The logic unfolding within the progressive impulse requires that there be a class of Guardians empowered to supervise our lives in every particular, and to an ever-increasing degree this is the reality with which we live.

Let's not just sit and take it in the rear - let's get up and SAY HELL NO!!! You will not destroy the fruits of my labor. You will not dictate how I live and when I die.

Insect Love

So my husband found a little green praying mantis in our yard when he was busy yanking weeds one Saturday. It's a teeny, baby mantis we think. The girls loved holding the baby mantis.






And then... they found a lady bug. I think AGG's a little more of a fan than DD is of all the insects.