Snow in Houston!

We had snow in Houston!

Yes, a dusting, but enough to get us South Texans excited!

Boomer has the Christmas Spirit..

A friend brought over antlers for the dogs.... I am not sure Boomer is into this, but he liked the food served. :)

Matthew Kelly and Cindy Kelly

Got to meet Matthew Kelly this weekend and he gave an awesome talk at the Lighthouse Catholic Media Annual Confernece.

What a weekend! more later...

Government

Quotes

I am finding just the most cool quotes from John Holt and Charlotte Mason. I have been imagingin what it would be like if the two met at a dinner party. I would want CS Lewis there, too,I think.

Anyway I will be posting these as I run across the gems..

Enjoy!

Since we can't know what knowledge will be most needed in the future, it is senseless to try to teach it in advance. Instead, we should try to turn out people who love learning so much and learn so well that they will be able to learn whatever needs to be learned.
John Holt

“The Life of the Mind grows upon Ideas––Now that life, which we call education, receives only one kind of sustenance; it grows upon ideas. You may go through years of so-called 'education' without getting a single vital idea; and that is why many a well-fed body carries about a feeble, starved intelligence; and no society for the prevention of cruelty to children cries shame on the parents.” Vol 3 pg 80 Charlotte Mason

People should be free to find or make for themselves the kinds of educational experience they want their children to have.
John Holt

More Quotes

When you choose to be pleasant and positive in the
way you treat others, you have also chosen,
in most cases, how you are going to be treated by others.


~Zig Ziglar

This is ME!

Home Again

Got home this evening- pine cones and branches blanket our driveway and yard.

House is yucky smelling.

Power is ON!

Found load of laundery in the washer I left 5 days ago.

Threw out everything in the fridge. Restocked with basics. Have to face the 3 freezers soon. Power was out for 5 days, so can't risk eating it.

Neighbors helped so much.

Glad to be home.

Feeling lucky.

In our own beds tonight. Many people aren't. You have seen the news- people on the coast have no homes.

Tired and ready for normalcy.

Very blessed to have my parents 4 hours away. Went and saw my dad in nursing home while there. Boys saw the place for the first time.

Surreal that my father LIVES there. He probably won't come home. So hard to wrap my mind around.

Went to lovely vigil Mass there in country parish. Tropical Storm Ike came through, and half way through the power went out. Candle light service.

We are blessed and thankful in this storm that very few lives were lost.

I thought of another Palin Chicken answer!

Why did the chicken cross the road?

SARAH PALIN: It wanted to join the old rooster and clean out the henhouse!

(I love blogs.. you can post whatever nonesense pops into your head! lol)

The "S" Word.... :)

(Click on picture for larger view)


My boys love the comics and they keep convincing them not to go to school! Here is one more.. thanks Maria P

Why did the chicken cross the road: Sarah Palin

I noticed on the 'chicken list' that Sarah was not included.

I would love to hear your creative answers to why the Sarah Palin chicken crossed the road! Post yours in comments!

Here's mine:

Why did the chicken cross the road?

SARAH PALIN: I cleaned out the chicken coop on this side of the road, now I need to clean up the roosters on the other side!

New Alaska Licence Plate

Why did the chicken cross the road?

MC CAIN: The chicken crossed the road because it realized the importance of crossing the isle to get things done. Or in this case the road.

BARACK OBAMA: The chicken crossed the road because it was time
for a change! The chicken wanted change!

JOE BIDEN: I can't say for sure why that chicken is crossing the road, but I will say, that as soon as that chicken arrives on the other side I will personally take the lead to procesute that chicken for war crimes and any other poultry infractions I can think of, but this is not for vengence.

HILLARY CLINTON: When I was First Lady, I personally helped that
little chicken to cross the road. This experience makes me uniquely
qualified to ensure right from Day One! that every chicken in this
country gets the chance it deserves to cross the road. But then, this
really isn't about me.

GEORGE W. BUSH: We don't really care why the chicken crossed the
road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road, or
not. The chicken is either against us, or for us. There is no middle
ground here.

DICK CHENEY: Where's my gun?

COLIN POWELL: Now to the left of the screen, you can clearly see
the satellite image of the chicken crossing the road.

BILL CLINTON: I did not cross the road with that chicken. What
is your definition of chicken?

AL GORE: I invented the chicken.

JOHN KERRY: Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road,
I am now against it! It was the wrong road to cross, and I was misled
about the chicken's intentions. I am not for it now, and will remain
against it.

AL SHARPTON: Why are all the chickens white? We need some black
chickens.

DR. PHIL: The problem we have here is that this chicken won't
realize that he must first deal with the problem on this side of the
road before it goes after the problem on the other side of the road.
What we need to do is help him realize how stupid he's acting by not
taking on his current problems before adding new problems.

OPRAH: Well, I understand that the chicken is having problems,
which is why he wants to cross this road so bad. So instead of having
the chicken learn from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of
life, I'm going to give this chicken a car so that he can just drive
across the road and not live his life like the rest of the chickens.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN: We have reason to believe there is a
chicken, but we have not yet been allowed to have access to the other
side of the road.

NANCY GRACE: That chicken crossed the road because he's guilty!
You can see it in his eyes and the way he walks.

PAT BUCHANAN: To steal the job of a decent, hardworking
American.

MARTHA STEWART: No one called me to warn me which way that
chicken was going. I had a standing order at the Farmer's Market to sell
my eggs when the price dropped to a certain level. No little bird gave
me any insider information.

DR SEUSS: Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a
toad? Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I've not
been told.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY: To die in the rain, alone.

GRANDPA: In my day we didn't ask why the chicken crossed the
road. Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good
enough.

BARBARA WALTERS: Isn't that interesting? In a few moments, we
will be listening to the chicken tell, for the first time, the heart
warming story of how it experienced a serious case of molting, and went
on to accomplish its lifelong dream of crossing the road.

ARISTOTLE: It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.

JOHN LENNON: Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing
roads together, in peace.

BILL GATES: I have just released eChicken2008, which will not
only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your checkbook. Internet Explorer is an integral part of
eChicken2008. This new platform is much more stable and will never crash........reboot.

ALBERT EINSTEIN: Did the chicken really cross the road, or did
the road move beneath the chicken?

COLONEL SANDERS: Did I miss one?

Good News- Sort Of

I thought I was having a major hot flash last night, it just wouldn't stop. I finally went to bed and got up this morning to my dh informing me the downstairs AC went out so he slept upstairs.

Gee, Thanks for telling me! Last night I kept sayin to all the males' Is it hot in here?" and they were very non-committal since they hear that from me all the time.

It wasn't just ME!

Party Night! Congrats Sarah Palin

From the moment she walked on stage in this cavernous bear pit, bandbox smart in cream jacket, trim black skirt and black heels, she proved that John McCain knew exactly what he was doing when he picked her as running mate.

Hair piled into a slight beehive – more Sarah White House than Amy Winehouse – she blinked and smiled behind her geeky spectacles as the vast crowd went ballistic.

Click for article

Wagging Tails Welcoming!

Stephen shot this video of what he says is the typical reaction of me pulling up in the driveway. I was outside talking to my dh before coming in, but the dogs had all heard the garage door go up! That is left to right, Ralphie, Booomer and Abbey (the latter is staying with us while her owners travel this weekend to Florida to see their new grandson!)

June 2 Sarah Palin Interview

Interesting interview of Sarah Palin by Glenn Beck on June 2. I love protecting our planet, but not the extreme Gore-ish enviromentalism that is seeking to control Americans through taxes, high energy, emotionalism and their pocketbooks.

This video has his monolog take on it, then an interview with Sarah Palin, then a distant thought of a potential VP.

Video- Sarah Palin on Glenn Beck

Wow-wee! Go Sarah!

What a choice!
A woman, pro-life, conservative and a REAL PERSON!
Her speech was just awesome- she has a strong family and a real story and has the fire to really make some change.

Hey, thanks, Hillary for putting those 18 million cracks in that ceiling so Sarah could take her seat!

And this picture just cracked me up. Look at that cute daughter.. flew in from Alaska with her family and got to wear a tierra! :)

Peggy Noonan Makes Sense

DECLARATIONS
By PEGGY NOONAN




http://online.wsj.com/article/declarations.html

They're Paying Attention Now
August 22, 2008; Page A11
Why is it a real race now, with John McCain rising in the polls and Barack Obama falling? There are many answers, but here I think is an essential one: The American people have begun paying attention.

It's hard for our political class to remember that Mr. Obama has been famous in America only since the winter of '08. America met him barely six months ago! The political class first interviewed him, or read the interview, in 2003 or '04, when he was a rising star. They know him. Everyone else is still absorbing.

This is what they see:

An attractive, intelligent man, interesting, but—he's hard to categorize. Is he Gen. Obama? No, no military background. Brilliant Businessman Obama? No, he never worked in business. Famous Name Obama? No, it's a new name, an unusual one. Longtime Southern Governor Obama? No. He's a community organizer (what's that?), then a lawyer (boo), then a state legislator (so what, so's my cousin), then U.S. senator (less than four years!).

There is no pre-existing category for him.

Add to that the wear and tear of Jeremiah Wright, secret Muslim rumors, media darling and, this week, abortion.

It took a toll, which led to a readjustment. His uniqueness, once his great power, is now his great problem.

And over there is Mr. McCain, and—well, we know him. He's POW/senator/prickly, irritating John McCain.

* * *


The Rick Warren debate mattered. Why? It took place at exactly the moment America was starting to pay attention. This is what it looked like by the end of the night: Mr. McCain, normal. Mr. Obama, not normal. You've seen this discussed elsewhere. Mr. McCain was direct and clear, Mr. Obama both more careful and more scattered. But on abortion in particular, Mr. McCain seemed old-time conservative, which is something we all understand, whether we like such a stance or not, and Mr. Obama seemed either radical or dodgy. He is "in favor . . . of limits" on late-term abortions, though some would consider those limits "inadequate." (In the past week much legal parsing on emanations of penumbras as to the viability of Roe v. Wade followed.)

As I watched I thought: How about "Let the baby live"? Don't parse it. Just "Let the baby live."

As to the question when human life begins, the answer to which is above Mr. Obama's pay grade, oh, let's go on a little tear. You know why they call it birth control? Because it's meant to stop a birth from happening nine months later. We know when life begins. Everyone who ever bought a pack of condoms knows when life begins.

To put it another way, with conception something begins. What do you think it is? A car? A 1948 Buick?

If you want to argue whether legal abortion is morally defensible, have at it and go to it, but Mr. Obama's answers here seemed to me strange and disturbing.

Mr. Obama's upcoming convention speech will be good. All Obama speeches are good. Not as interesting as he is—he is more compelling as a person than his words tend to be in text. But the speech will be good, and just in case it isn't good, people will still come away with an impression that it must have been, because the media is going to say it was, because they expect it to be, and what they expect is what most of them will see.

Will Mr. Obama dig deep as to meaning? As to political predicates? During the primary campaigns Republicans were always saying, "This is what I'll do." Mr. Obama has a greater tendency to say, "This is how we'll feel." Republicans talk to their base with, "If we pass this bill, which the Democrats irresponsibly oppose, we'll solve this problem." Democrats are more inclined toward, "If we bring a new attitude of hopefulness and respect for the world, we'll make the seas higher and the fish more numerous." Will Mr. Obama be, in terms of programs and plans, specific? And will his specifics be grounded in something that appears to amount to a political philosophy?

I suspect everyone has the convention speeches wrong. Everyone expects Mr. Obama to rouse, but the speech I'd watch is Mr. McCain's.

He's the one with the real opportunity, because no one expects anything. He's never been especially good at making speeches. (The number of men who've made it to the top of the GOP who don't particularly like making speeches, both Bushes and Mr. McCain, is astonishing, and at odds with the presumed requirements of the media age. The first Bush saw speeches as show biz, part of the weary requirement of leadership, and the second's approach reflects a sense that words, though interesting, were not his friend.)

But Mr. McCain provided, in 2004, one of the most exciting and certainly the most charged moment of the Republican Convention, when he looked up at Michael Moore in the press stands and said, "Our choice wasn't between a benign status quo and the bloodshed of war, it was between war and a greater threat. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. . . . And certainly not a disingenuous filmmaker who would have us believe that Saddam's Iraq was an oasis of peace." It blew the roof off. And the smile he gave Mr. Moore was one of pure, delighted malice. When Mr. McCain comes to play, he comes to play.

Look for a certain populist stance. He signaled it this week in Politico. He called lobbyists "birds of prey" in pursuit of "their share of the spoils." Great stuff. (Boy, will he have trouble staffing his White House.)

* * *

I still think a one-term pledge could win it for him, because it would allow America to punt. It would make the 2008 choice seem less fateful. People don't mind the chance to defer a choice when they're not at all sure about the product. It would give bitter Democrats a chance to regroup, and it would give those who like Obama but consider him a little half-baked to vote against him guiltlessly while he becomes fully baked. (Imagine the Q&A when Sen. Obama announces his second presidential run in 2011: "Well, Brian, I think, looking back, there is something to be said for the idea that I will be a better president now than frankly I would have been four years ago. Experience, if you allow it, is still the best of all teachers.") More, it would allow Mr. McCain to say he means to face the tough problems ahead with a uniquely bipartisan attitude and without having to care a fig for re-election. That itself would give him a new power, one that would make up for the lost juice of lame duckdom. It would also serve to separate him from the hyperpolitical operating styles of the Clinton-Bush years, from the constant campaign.

And Mr. McCain would still have what he always wanted, the presidency, perhaps a serious and respectable one that accrued special respect because it involved some sacrifice on his part.

A move that would help him win doubtful voters, win disaffected Democrats, allow some Republicans to not have to get drunk to vote for him, and that could possibly yield real results for his country. This seems to me such a potentially electrifying idea that he'd likely walk out of his convention as the future president.

Mr. McCain told Politico on Wednesday that he's not considering a one-term pledge.

Why would he not? Such modesty of intent is at odds with the political personality. The thing that makes them want to rule America is the thing that stops them from thinking of prudent limits. This mindset crosses all political categories.

See all of today's editorials and op-eds, plus video commentary, on Opinion Journal.

And add your comments to the Opinion Journal forum.

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Natural Letting Go

We have all heard it- how horrible the teen years are, and then you have to let go. Doesn't sound like a great ending to the years of love, worry, effort put into parenting, after childbirth (or a long adoption process.)

Sheesh.

But, our story is being written differently. Much like the Terrible Twos hype, I am finding the Torturous Teens theory is not playing out either.

Ross Campbell (chick here) was a big help.

We have had our share of down moods, need for space and a few eye rolls. Mostly it has been a quest for sleep. Gosh, these teen boys need it. Well, that and food.

The hardest for me is to try and guide (disciple, parent etc) them, but give them room. Expectations always trip me up. So because *I* did it certain way as a teen (or was expcected to do it a certain way) does not mean I blanket that on them.

Example- sleeping. These guys LOVE to stay up late. They get a lot done- a lot of the things that make my mental checklist happy (math, reading, etc), but also they get thier projects done. When parents sleep. I remember that feeling. Having the house to yourself. So I let them go. Inside I think 'eeeeeoouu.. I hope my neighbor does not drop by a noon and ask where they are....)

But, I think like Ross Campbell says, if you really listen to them, hear them, then you can let the worries (like the neighbors' judgements) go and that makes the guiding easier. You are putting down guidelines that relaly matter based on their needs. If that makes sense.

Nothing is more exhausting than trying to please other people, especially those who may or may not drop by and really probably don't care if you son is sleeping or not.

But- back to letting go. So all these experts (some good) say this letting go process will happen. And the horrible Empty Nest that is coming. Prepare! they tell us.

I find God is preparing me. Little things are putting bittersweet tears in my heart-- such as they first time they drive, when they take over their own appointments and schedule, all the little things.

So, this is a natural process and I think the goal is to help them ready, become more and more independent so they will fly alone. But as Ross Campbell says better than I can, keep the relatioship strong. Listen on thier terms, then they will talk to you. That constant line will always be there. So when they do go, you may have lost them physcially, but the connection will remain.

What a gift that could be to our children, too. That is a goal for me, to be that parent we have heard of. Do you, or do you have friend that have that kind of parent? The one who they can talk to, turn to, who is their cheerleader but there for honest advice. Who wants them to be independent and succeed and is not living thier live through their children or trying to manipulate.

That is my goal- to be that kind of parent that will be a gift to my sons throughout their life. I think God has that plan for us, that natural letting go- the letting go happens every day.

But I think, you gotta accept the letting gos and embrace them. Love the moment you are in. Don't look back or forward, but enjoy this moment. It is all part of that tapestry of life and all a gift.