Politics, Schmolitics

I am officially declaring that I am DONE with politics for the remainder of the presidential election.  No more debates for me.  The debates are so frustrating because both sides lie and spin and stretch the truth, and I am left feeling manipulated, frustrated and utterly helpless to do anything about it.  I have a tendency to be overly passionate about politics but I don't feel good when I am in the thick of it.  I am so sick of all the negative adds coming from both sides and the ENDLESS discussion by all the talking heads about things that don't really matter all that much.  I know who I am voting for, and I know that won't change, so why subject myself to that?!  I am voting for John McCain.  I say that with some trepidation because I'm not completely confident that he is the right person for the job.  I am nervous about Sarah Palin, mainly because of her lack of experience.  But I feel like I am choosing the "lesser of two evils" (even though I really don't think Obama or McCain are evil).  I seriously considered voting for Ron Paul, but a vote for Ron Paul is a vote for Barack Obama, and I truly believe that Obama would not be good for what I believe America should be.  

This weekend was general conference for my church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  Every 6 months the leadership of my church meets and has a worldwide broadcast where the leaders speak to the members for the purpose of giving guidance and direction.  Elder Boyd K. Packer gave a talk yesterday afternoon that really touched me.  He began by discussing the early saints of the church, and the persecution they suffered.  This persecution was greatly intensified when they were living in Nauvoo, IL in the 1840's.  They suffered mobbings and cruel persecution for their beliefs.  They sought redress from the governor of Illinois, Governor Boggs.  In response to this Gov. Boggs issued a proclamation that all mormons should be treated as enemies and should be exterminated from the state.  The situation became considerably worse after this extermination order was issued and finally the saints decided to leave and go west to no-man's land, where they could live and worship in peace.   These saints had turned Nauvoo from a swamp into a beautiful, thriving city where they had to leave literally all of their earthly possessions.  They had to leave behind the land and homes that they owned and walk across the country in the most deplorable of conditions to escape what had become state sponsored terrorism against them.  Eventually they attempted to appeal to the federal government for redress.  This was attempted several times.  On the last attempt Pres. Martin Van Buren told them that "their cause is just, but there is nothing I can do for you".  So their country, America-the land of the free, had turned her back on them.  Looked the other way.  Despite all of this, on July 24, 1849, when the saints had been in the Salt Lake Valley for 2 years, they had a celebration of America.  They all wore red, white and blue, waved American flags and celebrated the country that had allowed them to be "exterminated".  Despite all they had been through they still loved the idea of America, because that idea was divinely inspired.  The people running the country had made mistakes, but the idea of America still existed and offered them a chance of worshiping God how they wanted and offered them the chance of doing this peacefully.  And eventually this did happen.  

I love America.  I love the divinely inspired idea of America.  I love that I can live where I want, become whoever I want to be, and worship as I please.   I think that government has become so corrupt that most in power don't remember what America means.  The system of getting elected to congress or as president in this country has gotten so far off track that you can't possibly do it without getting your hands dirty.  I don't know that anyone can fix it.  So, I will support the candidate who I think will do the least harm.  But I will not rely on the government for anything.  I will rely on God, my family, and my faith.  I guess Barack would call me bitter for that, seeing how he is so much more enlightened and progressive than I.  But I call it smart, because the more you rely on government, the less freedom you have.  And I love America because I am free.

Congratulations To the Matt Croshaws!!

Asher Matthew Scott Croshaw entered the world on Friday September 19.  He was born about 4 weeks early after it was discovered that his mom, Crystal, had preeclampsia.  He was in the NICU for about a week with some respiratory problems, but finally got to go home on Sunday and is now doing very well!!  He is so adorable, and I think he looks just like his dad.  Congrats to Matt, Crystal and Valerie.  Good job, guys!!

The Girl Loves her Dad...

"Let us reflect gratitude for our fathers.
"Father . . . is ever willing to sacrifice his own comfort for that of his children. Daily he toils to provide the necessities of life, never complaining, ever concerned for the well-being of his family. This love for children, this desire to see them well and happy, is a constant in a time of change." -Thomas S. Monson

My sister Abby emailed us this song, Gracie, that is playing right now.  I had heard it before, but Ray hadn't and he had Grace listen to it with him.  She came upstairs and drew this picture for Ray.  It is the outline of her hand with her and Ray inside, with a heart on top.  She is such a sweet girl.
Ray is such a good dad, the kids absolutely adore him.  When he gets home from work they all totally freak out, climb all over him and I basically become chopped liver!!  He treats them like the little people that they are and has genuine conversations with them, showing genuine interest.  He also plays with them all the time.  He is definitely a hands on dad.  He wrestles with them and throws them around on the couches.  Even Maggie has always been anxious to get in on the action!  I have always known that his family is his number 1 priority and every decision he makes is made with our happiness in mind.  It is so important for little girls to have a good relationship with their father.  If they don't, it can leave a hole in them that they will constantly try to fill, sometimes in destructive ways.  I am so grateful that my girls have a dad like Ray! 

On a totally unrelated note...I actually did Grace's hair!!  It has gotten long enough to "do", and she saw a girl with her hair done like this at church and asked me to try it with her hair.  It worked!!  She was really excited!

This is also just a random picture of Grace and Elliot playing together, building something, and making a big mess!!  

Where Oh Where is Elliot?

The other day I came upstairs and could not find Elliot anywhere.  I could sort of hear him.  Finally he was found...

Please disregard the messy laundry room...I mean closet!!

I honestly have no idea how he managed this.  He is very determined and he really wanted to play with HiHo Cherry-O.  He has been asking me for it for the last few days and I would say no because I don't want Maggie to choke on the little cherries (which is why I put it up there in the first place!!).  

9-11-2001: The day that forever changed America, and the day that forever changed me

I was barely 26 years old at the time.  I remember watching the news before I left for work.  Ray was supposed to fly to Salt Lake that day for work.  It was reported on the news,  I was watching the Today Show, about the first plane hitting the towers.  I thought it was some horrible freak plane wreck.  Then the second plane hit, I saw people jumping from the highest floors of the world trade center, a plane hit the pentagon,  flight 93 crashed.  My country was under attack.  My view of the world began to shift.  Ray wasn't going anywhere that day, after all flights were grounded.  I left for work with my little portable radio to keep up on what was happening.  I got to work and everyone was talking about it.  An older lady I worked with said that she was sure it was the work of Osama Bin Laden.  I didn't even know who Osama Bin Laden was.  I was blissfully unaware and uniformed.  

I was shockingly ignorant.  

I had voted for Al Gore in the presidential election the previous year.  I had been so proud of myself for voting at all, exercising my rights as an American.  I had no clue what that really meant.  I voted for Al Gore based on sound bites I had heard on the network news and my liberal leanings, which were aided and abetted by my bleeding heart.  That is the day I changed.  My idea of a safe world was shattered.  I could not believe that something like that could happen in my country.  Before then, a terrorist was some abstract idea about someone who perpetrates a plane-jacking in some foreign place that was not America.  Terrorism was an idea that I had never given much thought.  I began to realize everything I had taken for granted up to that point in my life.  Every freedom.  I began to understand that there are people in the world, through some perverted idea of God, who hated me because I was an American, and they would never rest  in their attempts to destroy everything I had taken for granted.  

I began to realize that I deeply love my country.  Up to this point, with the help of my shiny new college education,  I had kind of been an America basher.   Big Bad America, was how I saw it.  Always trying to get one over on the little guy.  Breathtakingly Ignorant.  As I said, my view of the world shifted on that day.  I began to see America clearly for the  first time.  Being an American means being one of the lucky ones.  The hope and opportunity that America gives is unparalleled in the world.  The idea of America was inspired by God.  I will never take that for granted again.  I began to love my country.  I still can't hear the national anthem without getting teary eyed.

Say what you will about President George W. Bush, and I have given him a fair share of criticism, I am forever grateful for his leadership in the days after 9-11.  He led this country in the worst crisis it has ever known, he united us, and he took the threat seriously, to the detriment of his eventual political career.  I am also grateful to President Bush for keeping us safe for the next 7 years, something for which he gets virtually no credit.  In fact, because we have enjoyed such safety, people have become comfortable and have started to forget the unreal horror we all felt in the days after 9-11.  

Something positive came out of this horrible tragedy, for me.  I figured out who I really am.  Who I am became crystalized.  I am an AMERICAN!   I am a citizen of this country that is Divinely Inspired.   I began to pay more attention to the world around me.  I got control of my bleeding heart.  I have tried to become more thoughtful and informed about the country in which I live.  I will never take my freedom and liberty for granted again.

I will never forget.

The Political Equivalent of Chucky Cheese...

I have been watching so much politics that I feel like my head is going to explode!!  This is a really funny video of Andrea Mitchell after John McCain's speech at the Republican National Convention.  A little humor in this crazy political race... I ALMOST felt sorry for her!  Keith Olberman called it the "political equivalent of Chucky Cheese".  I really don't like him but I have to give credit where credit is due!!

Also, on the potty training front, we didn't have the potty party this last weekend because the anatomically correct peeing doll I ordered hadn't gotten here.  Apparently the child is supposed to teach the doll how to use the potty, and that is a big part of the training method.  We are going to Idaho this next weekend, so it won't happen until after that.  However, I am seeing small victories...for example, Elliot will go into the bathroom, lift up the toilet seat, pull down his pants and underwear, go pee, pull up his pants and underwear, and wash his hands all by himself (but only when I tell him to go, I don't know if he would do this all on his own because he actually felt the urge to pee).  Also, he gives me no resistance, usually, when I ask him to go.  He hardly ever has peeing accidents.  However, he still has not pooped on the potty, no matter how much I try to coax it out of him.  He still goes in his pull up every time.  I'm really frustrated with this and am at a loss about what to do.  I'm really trying to act like it isn't a big deal, but still impress upon him how important it is not to poop in your pants.  I don't think I am getting anywhere...

The Definition of Insanity

I love the cheeto face, he is holding a little frog we found.

I once heard it said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.  So goes the potty training saga of Elliot.  I tried potty training him back in February, right after his 3rd birthday.  It did not go well.  It didn't help that shortly after Ray got offered this job in Spokane and we put our house on the market.  A stressed out mom does not a good potty trainer make.  So, after about a month of not much luck (that resulted in me cleaning about 3 pairs of poopy underwear a day), I gave up and put him back in diapers.  Well, we have now been in Spokane for 3 months (and I signed Elliot up for preschool which required him to be potty trained), and we have been working for about 3 weeks on potty training, with much the same results.  I haven't changed my methods, if you can call them that, but I figured that Elliot was much more ready now.  Ha Ha.  He is supposed to start preschool tomorrow.  I called the director today and explained my predicament and she said to still bring him (it is only 2 hrs/15 min twice a week) and we will see how it goes.  He goes #1 every time I take him to go, the problem is trying to get him to go #2.  But I have a plan...

I have been reading this book and I am going to try it on Saturday.  I sort of used this method with Grace and she was potty trained really quickly, but that could just be Grace.  So, on Saturday the potty party will ensue....I will let you know how it goes!