It's BIRTHDAY Season!

While most people are gearing up for the holidays our family is getting ready for all of our birthdays. 4 out of 6 of us have our birthdays from October to December. (All about a week before every holiday - I know, bad planning.) We started birthday season off with my birthday. Tim invited a few close friends of ours to have cake and ice cream. In fact, he had them bring the cake and ice cream. Talk about delegating. It's always nice to know that others are thinking of you on your birthday.

You can't tell here, but this cake says 36. Yes, I'm closer to 40 now. YIKES!!!!
The Robinson's.

The next day my visiting teacher's took me out to lunch. It was nice to get out since my days events included laundry, picking up Alexa from school early because she wasn't feeling well and cleaning.

Neighborhood Block Party

When I was a kid I remember our neighbors had a few block party's. I also remember that as a kid I wasn't invited but loved the idea. We live in a new neighborhood and so EVERYONE is new. My neighbor, Heidi and I decided to put one together. We DID include the kids however. We put out fliers, set up tables, and rolled out the bbq's in the middle of our cul de sac. It was so much fun. Everyone brought a side dish, drink, or dessert and their own meat. We sat around and visited while the kids ran amuck. It was a great way for all of us to meet each other. We had about 15 families show up. We are hoping to have another one in a few months. I love going out for a run now and waving at my neighbors and actually calling them by name. Here are just a few photos (I was so busy talking that I forgot to take more.)

You can't see it in this picture but we had a ton of food and all different sorts. We have such a melting pot in our neighborhood - people from the Phillipines, South Africa, the Middle East, India, etc. With backgrounds like that, you can only imagine the wonderful food that was brought.

Merry Christmas to Us!

We scored big time. A guy in our ward GAVE us this great sink that he had laying around in his garage. So for Christmas we bought ourselves the faucet to go with it. It's so nice not to have an "apartment sink" in our kitchen. I love it. Oh! And yes, those veggies in the window were grown by me. The first produce that actually survived my black thumb. Can't wait for next year.

Close up of the tomatoe!

Asamom.org

You have GOT to go to this new website: asamom.org.

If you feel like me and are frustrated with what is going on in our country and are concerned for your children's future - come join the site. I just did.

I recently watched an episode of Glen Beck where he had a panel of concerned moms. Moms that are concerned about their children's future. They discussed things like What the schools are teaching, the taxes that the next generations will be paying, loss of freedom, etc. I loved it. All these women came from different backgrounds and different parts of the country with the same concerns that I have. My own conversations with some mothers led me to believe that maybe I was the only one with these concerns. So many that I have spoken with are so complacent and don't see any problems or even a reason to be concerned. After watching the show I realized I was not alone. Every single topic that was brought up I completely related with.

About a week later, Glen had a few more women on again. One woman started a website after watching the same show I had the week before. She felt so compelled to help all of the mothers in the country come together and have a place where we can gain support and strength. Come join the site and find other mom's in your own area to converse with. Here's the website again: asamom.org. See you there.

Freedom, Where has it gone?

Yesterday, Tim informed me of a headline he saw in the newspaper. (I think he likes to tell me these things to see how high my blood pressure will get.) The paper said that now in NC it is illegal to throw away a plastic bottle. WHAT? ILLEGAL? I am now being told what I can and can't throw away?

Now, before I get all the comments about the environment and how we need to save the planet, this message is NOT about "Going Green". However if it was, I would have to say that our Heavenly Father is in control of what will happen to this earth, whether we spend our lives trying to "save" it or not. What we should be spending our lives doing is saving souls, not the planet.

Back to the subject at hand, I am getting pretty fed up with the government telling me what I can and can't do. Why is it that these politicians think it is their responsibility to tell me what kind of light bulb I can have in my home, what kind of toilet I can have and when and how often I need to give my child shots? Who do they think they are?

I remember when the seat belt law first came out. It was taught at school about the importance of wearing a seat belt. I remember one day we were picking up my older brother from high school and I was wearing my seat belt. I thought, oh, Dave is not going to want to put his seatbelt on right here in front of all his friends. That would be so uncool. I was obviously a child and my concerns were very shallow. As time went on, the law was reinforced and I heard it told over and over again that we needed to "buckle up" for our safety. One day, I heard someone comment that this law is a terrible thing. It's taking away our rights and what will they come up with next to control us. I didn't understand, I just remember thinking that I couldn't believe that someone wouldn't want to be safe. It was years later and many laws passed when I finally figured out that it wasn't about the seat belt at all.

It saddens me to think that there are people who are fooled by the idea that socialized medicine, government health care, or what ever you want to call it would be good for this country. I can't believe that people don't see it for what it really is, a way for the government to control us. They are trying their hardest to spend money like crazy and get our country into so much debt so that it will ruin our lives and we will all be dependent on the government to take care of us. Sick, I tell you.

I have recently heard that Mr. Obama wants the government to take over all student loans. The only way to get a student loan is through the government. If they take control of that, will they next be telling us what we can and can't study in school? Will they say there isn't enough money in one subject or another? If this healthcare passes and doctors decided to quit practicing will they force people to become doctors? Where will it end?

Like I said, the plastic bottle isn't about the environment, just like health care isn't about everyone having health care. It's all about the control the government wants to have over us. I have to say I am grateful for those that are standing up and trying to do something to save our country. We can NOT be complacent anymore.

I can't believe that I am going to have to tell my children, "Don't throw that plastic bottle away, you might get arrested!"