Do-It-Yourself Waterpark

So today Goober and Missy decided they wanted to play in the water, I think it was mostly due to Goober getting a new swimsuit (he refuses to wear the "Nemo" one that FITS, and insists on wearing one that is too small to swim lessons.... so I got him a new one...with a shirt. yippy. can you feel the excitement? :P) Well, a while back I told Goober that when it was warm enough I would put the hose up in the playhouse and we would make the slide into a water slide.

So we did. I even managed to get the hose up in there without it being in their way while they climbed up. Yay ME!

And then there was water....

Even so much water that our backyard once more became a bog (can you see the puddle?), though this time without the aid of rain...

And Missy went down the slide over and over....

And Goober went REALLY FAST down the slide.... even to the point of skipping across the grass.

Then they decided to make it "rain". See the Hose coming out the top window?

And Goober was so excited cause he could see rainbows in the mist.

And mom insisted on taking gobs of pictures... yes, even when the mist was hitting them in the face (I wasn't aware of that when I asked them to smile at me!!! I PROMISE! ... I still think it's kinda funny that they didn't protest trying though, they just did the best they could. What good kids.)

And of course, this was all while EB was down for his nap. Poor kiddo, I really need to find his swimsuit.

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PS EB got to have the same fun this evening, fully clothed of course. Funny kid.

Why I'm glad I DIDN'T go to the family reunion....

1. It happens every year (which is way too often in my book)

2. We would have had to travel with small children (Not my idea of fun)

3. We would have been camping with small children (which is, again, not my idea of fun)

4. very few of the people there would have been anywhere near my age (most of my cousins have lives they can't leave easily)

5. It was 4 days, FOUR DAYS long... of camping (need I say more? I like camping and all, but four days is too long especially with young children)

and last but not least...

6. My extended family is Dis-fun-ction-al. And while it may be entertaining to some extent, it's a laugh or cry situation.

Sorry I've been so quite lately...

I've had a lot on my mind. Not only the day to day stuff, but new exploration on changes in my personal and religious views. My mind has been very busy trying to figure out what these changes mean... if, how, and when they will effect the rest of my life and potentially those around me. Who knows? I certainly don't.

Thanks for the patience.

Yes, Sometimes Women Choosing to be SAHM Confuses Me.

And that is kinda weird coming from a women that is currently a SAHM (stay a home mom).

Here is what confuses me....

There is a lady I know whose husband recently lost his teaching job. Which is very hard I'm sure. This couple has one child who is still an infant but no longer nursing. The mom is having a very hard time with going back to work even though her family needs it, and while her husband had to work full time to support the family she can manage it on a part time basis.

Now, here is the core of my confusion. If she is able to make so much more with her education than her husband can with his, why doesn't she become the primary breadwinner, period? Or if she is really set on being home, why not until he gains more education (which wouldn't take long in this situation) to be able to provide better for their family? Her husband will be home with their child so no worries about daycare and having someone raise their child different that they would like. I'm confused, as I said.

In the past when I was a working mom, I had a hard time leaving my children with their grandmother every day. I understand that, cause grandma/grandpa/aunt/uncle are not as likely to be able to predict what you would want done with your children in any given instance. But a husband should have a much better understanding of this.

Personally, if my situation was such that I could make substantially more than Jer going to work, I WOULD. I fully trust him with my children and think he is a great father. I would not have had children with him if I did not trust him. I think he would be a GREAT SAHD (stay a home dad)! And while I have always wanted to be a SAHM since I was small, I never assumed that I would be able to. I have always seemed life does twists and turns we don't expect. I almost think she may be cutting herself and her little family short because she is so resistant to not having a "traditional" household.

Help me out here, I'm trying to empathize, but it's hard when you don't understand.

Swim Lessons

So, the first swim lesson session is over and the next one starts next week....


I was impressed with how well Goober did for being so afraid of the water in the past! he moved on the the next class even. I'm so glad he seams to enjoy it!

Missy is of course a fish, and has always loved water. I was actually surprised when she first told me she didn't want to go. I think mostly that is because she is NOT a morning person, and I've had to wake her up each morning to get breakfast before swim lessons. She hasn't been so hot about that, but once she gets in the pool she is happy as a clam. :)

So back I go again this afternoon to sign them up for another session! I'm a little worried about keeping EB entertained though, he has gotten so familiar with everything that at he makes me chase him everywhere... I would like to once in a while watch his older siblings, but oh well, what do I expect, right? At least the park has a small playground near the pool to keep him somewhat entertained. I think this next session I will probably take him in his stroller for walks around the park, and get my exercise in as well :)

Gotta love summer and the weather today is perfect!

Trip to Washington!

So, this weekend we followed my parents up to the great state of Washington to celebrate my sisters graduating from College. (GREAT JOB WINDIE!)

This is a picture of her with a drawing that Goober did of the playhouse in our backyard (He even drew her in it)

This is my nephew Querty

And my niece Miss Thang, with her "Breck" hair (the girl has gorgeous hair!)

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Unfortunately I didn't get any good pictures of my Brother in Law :(

Here is Querty after winning his baseball game, putting his team in 2ND place in the tournament.

Miss Thang seamed to have fun bouncing the soccer ball off of her head, somehow managing not to get a headache in the process!

All of the kids that were there were great with my kids! Most of them adopted EB for the weekend (it was SOOO NICE not to always be chasing him, having other kids around that want to chase him is a treat!)

And the kids that were busy doing other things seamed happy to help Goober and Missy when they showed interest in what the older kids were doing (like riding the skateboard!)

Here is my mom and EB at Windie's graduation. We weren't able to stay for the whole ceremony due to EB insisting on kicking strangers in the back, and Goober trying to hide under the bleachers to get away from the sun (I have to admit, it was a little warm, but I'm glad it didn't rain on the whole thing!)

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Anyhow, we got home late last night and slept in this morning (ahhhh), but I was so glad to be able to go celebrate with Windie and her family! Good job getting through school! What a great thing to accomplish!

Swim Lessons

So Goober and Missy started swim lessons this week. They go every day for a half hour.

I was surprised that Goober absolutely loves it (he has previously had issues getting into ANY water without a life vest) and Missy was actually complaining this morning about not want to go (this is my fish girl... you know, the kid that stays in the tub for FOUR HOURS and still doesn't want to get out).

I was going to get a picture of them today, but totally spaced it in trying to entertain EB. We ended up taking a walk around the park, which I really enjoyed and gets me some much needed exercise.

Anyhow, I will try to get a picture tomorrow :)

Yes, I'm opinionated...

and I will fully own that!

I'm especially opinionated about how our country should be run.

It's kinda funny, cause at least once a week my mom and I will have a discussion on the phone about how to fix the world. We usually agreed on the how, which is funny, cause we have different leanings politically. Isn't it funny how most people really do think similarly even when the world likes to scream and yell at them that they are SOOOOO different?

I find it amusing, if somewhat sad.

Why does everything have to be "yes" or "no"?

It interesting, have you noticed that most anything that is controversial has to have a "yes" or "no" answer? Well, at least as far as anyone invested in those issues feel. It's always a demand of "are you for it, or against it? Yes or no?"

I feel this prevents us from coming to any real solution on these matters, which is what, in turn, makes them controversial.

What got me thinking about this was when someone asked me my stance on Gay Marriage. "Yes or No"?

Me, I say neither. Here is my point of view, you don't have to agree with it, but this is my blog so I'm going to put it up anyways. :) This is a cut and paste of an email correspondence that I had recently and here is my explanation of my stance.

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Basically I feel that Marriage was originally a religious institution and as time has passed governments have decided to sanction it for various reasons.

While Marriage is good in my opinion I feel that Government really has no place saying who can and who cannot be a part of it, being that it was originally (and still continues to be in many ways) a religious institution. Whereas if they wanted to sanction any legal union I would have no issue with that because legal unions are strictly legal and not religious in the least. I would have no problem with them declaring my marriage a "Legal Union" for their purposes and then leaving it up to me and my religion to decided if I wanted to then have a "marriage". Therefore making "Legal Unions" the legal and "Marriage" the religious.

I feel that this would resolve a lot of the conflict between the two. The Government and religion would be separate (as I feel they always should have been, the governments should never have had their legal terminology be "marriage", it's too much a religious term, I feel that was a mistake). The government would have it's term and the religious their term.

As far as homosexual relationships go the government could sanction all they want to, giving legal rights to those partnerships, religions would have no reason to have ANY say in the matter, and if that partnership wants to be "married" they can take it up with their individual congregations or religious leadership. Some religions would sanction it and some would not, As I'm sure that many religions are on various sides of any controversial subject.

I also feel that the government could then sanction relationships that are wholly platonic as well. Such as two widowed sisters who live together. If one sister dies why shouldn't the other have stake in that sisters assets? Such as the house that they share? If one sister becomes gravely ill shouldn't the other have some stake in decisions being made? Of course this would be a voluntary agreement that would only happen if those two sisters decided that that would be the best course of action.

Basically I advocate complete separation of church and state on this issue.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GOOBER!

He is "Officially" six years old today! Though we celebrated twice for him over the weekend :)