Wednesday, May 30, 2007

this might offend some, but...i've never claimed to be diplomatic so why start now.

Best. Speech. Ever. From GWB

...but it will never be delivered.

written by some guy in Maine:

“Normally, I start these things out by saying ‘My Fellow Americans.’ Not doing it this time. If the polls are any indication, I don’t know who more than half of you are anymore. I do know something terrible has happened, and that you’re really not fellow Americans any longer.

“I’ll cut right to the chase here: I quit. Now before anyone gets all in a lather about me quitting to avoid impeachment, or to avoid prosecution or something, let me assure you: there’s been no breaking of laws or impeachable offenses in this office.

“The reason I’m quitting is simple. I’m fed up with you people. I’m fed up because you have no understanding of what’s really going on in the world. Or of what’s going on in this once-great nation of ours. And the majority of you are too lazy to do your homework and figure it out.

“Let’s start local. You’ve been sold a bill of goods by politicians and the news media. Polls show that the majority of you think the economy is in the tank. And that’s despite record numbers of homeowners including record numbers of MINORITY homeowners. And while we’re mentioning minorities, I’ll point out that minority business ownership is at an all-time high.

“Our unemployment rate is as low as it ever was during the Clinton Administration. I’ve mentioned all those things before, but it doesn’t seem to have sunk in.

“Despite the shock to our economy of 9/11, the stock market has rebounded to record levels and more Americans than ever are participating in these markets. Meanwhile, all you can do is whine about gas prices, and most of you are too stupid to realize that gas prices are high because there’s increased demand in other parts of the world, and because a small handful of noisy idiots are more worried about polar bears and beachfront property than your economic security.

“We face real threats in the world. Don’t give me this ‘blood for oil’ thing. If I was trading blood for oil I would’ve already seized Iraq’s oil fields and let the rest of the country go. And don’t give me this ‘Bush Lied People Died’ crap either. If I was the liar you morons take me for, I could’ve easily had chemical weapons planted in Iraq so they could be ‘discovered.’

“Instead, I owned up to the fact that the intelligence was faulty. Let me remind you that the rest of the world thought Saddam had the goods, same as me. Let me also remind you that regime change in Iraq was official US policy before I came into office. Some guy named ‘Clinton’ established that policy. Bet you didn’t know that, did you?

“You idiots need to understand that we face a unique enemy. Back during the cold war, there were two major competing political and economic models squaring off. We won that war, but we did so because fundamentally, the Communists wanted to survive, just as we do. We were simply able to outspend and out-tech them.

“That’s not the case this time. The soldiers of our new enemy don’t care if they survive. In fact, they want to die. That’d be fine, as long as they weren’t also committed to taking as many of you with them as they can. But they are. They want to kill you. And they are all over the globe.

“You should be grateful that they haven’t gotten any more of us here in the United States since September 11. But you’re not. That’s because you’ve got no idea how hard a small number of intelligence, military, law enforcement and homeland security people have worked to make sure of that.

“When this whole mess started, I warned you that this would be a long and difficult fight. I’m disappointed how many of you people think a long and difficult fight amounts to a single season of ‘Survivor’. Instead, you’ve grown impatient. You’re incapable of seeing things through the long lens of history, the way our enemies do. You think that wars should last a few months, a few years, tops. Making matters worse, you actively support those who help the enemy.

“Every time you buy the New York Times, every time you send a donation to a cut-and-run Democrat’s political campaign, well, you might just as well Fedex a grenade launcher to a Jihadist. It amounts to the same thing.

“In this day and age, it’s easy enough to find the truth. It’s all over the Internet. It just isn’t on the pages of the New York Times or on NBC News. But even if it were, I doubt you’d be any smarter. Most of you would rather watch American Idol.

“I could say more about your expectations that the government will always be there to bail you out, even if you’re too stupid to leave a city that’s below sea level and has a hurricane approaching. I could say more about your insane belief that government, not your own wallet, is where the money comes from. But I’ve come to the conclusion that were I to do so, it would sail right over your heads.

“So I quit. I’m going back to Crawford. I’ve got an energy-efficient house down there (Al Gore could only dream) and the capability to be fully self-sufficient. No one ever heard of Crawford before I got elected, and as soon as I’m done here pretty much no one will ever hear of it again.

“Maybe I’ll be lucky enough to die of old age before the last pillars of America fall.

“Oh, and by the way, Cheney’s quitting too. That means Pelosi is your new President. You asked for it. Watch what she does carefully, because I still have a glimmer of hope that there’re just enough of you remaining who are smart enough to turn this thing around in 2008.

“So that’s it. God bless what’s left of America. Some of you know what I mean.”


just to clarify, this was not written by our president, but some guy in maine.

many of you who venture onto this blog are christians, so is President Bush. so while you might not like everything about him, you are his brother or sister in Christ. and he deserves respect not only because he is our president but also because he is a fellow believer. be on your knees for this man and our country.

those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it - santayana

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

nippon

the college team from our church left today to travel to japan. i've linked to their blog on my side bar. please check it out and pray for them throughout this month. the teens leave for japan on july 2 which is the same day as the college group returns home. i'm working with several of the teens on a mime to present in the schools. please pray for them as it is an intense and long mime!
thanks so much.

start your engines





em participated
in the 2nd annual
kindy 500 at
school last week

here she is in
her racing
machine











the other cars
and racers
in her heat











her table
at school












the parade
of cars













finishing
touch












em named
her car
"two fronts"
b/c it had two
fronts - her idea

the jeep












the semi


















sisters in
the kindy car










all the kids had a great time at the kindy 500. there were a few crashes and minor injuries, but nothing to bad.

by the way em won third place in her heat. not too bad.

Thursday, May 24, 2007

how does my garden grow

here's the list of things in our garden. mostly to help me remember what we planted and how to care for them in the years to come.

stonecrop sedum (info) sedum spurium fuldaglut (picture)
evergreen ground cover with showy crimson flowers in summer. and apparently it's slightly poisonous. green and purple

althea rose of sharon (info) - hibiscus syriacus 'amplissimus'
double red blossom - summer, prune late winter early spring

dwarf english boxwood

prune to keep compact - evergreen

ballerina blush (info) - gaura lindheimeri (picture) - mine didn't like the transplant, but i really like this one. bloom late spring to fall. to prune cut to ground in the winter. pink and white blooms

iresine 'purple lady' - not sure this will survive the winter. low growing purple leaves

bee balm

wild flower which attacts humming birds and butterflies, blooms july and august - red

purple coneflower
attracts birds, midsummer to autumn blooms

firewitch dianthus

magenta pink bloom spring to fall with dead-heading, apparently some parts are poisonous

crimson pygmy barberry

purple red leaves, deciduous shrub


big blue lily turf

blue, purple flowers in summer, cut back late winter

butterfly weed
pink and white, spring to summer, attracts butterflies

butterfly bush purple emperor

ours will only grow to 4-5 ft and attracts butterflies prune back in spring
butterflies and humming birds

mystery yellow flowers

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

do we need further proof that








a little energy
cocoa before
a hard workout












































































































































































































mad needs to be enrolled in a gymnastics class?
can any of you do this?

how does your garden grow





Does anyone
have an idea
what this is?












butterfly
bush

















pumpkin
and maybe
zinnia
























althea tree
buds












































maple

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

fe fi fo fum

"i smell the blood of an englishman
i cut my bones and make my bread"

-mad-

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

tragedy

please pray for jack, linda and brian has they mourn the loss of their son and brother, adam (age 20). he suffered head trauma in a skateboarding accident on mother's day and never recovered. i'm sure the family would covet your prayers at this time . thanks.

Monday, May 14, 2007

mischief making







what's wrong
with this
picture














caught "blue"
handed
the ink is
starting to fade.
this occurred last
week.














what's wrong
with this
picture









if you said,
there's a body
under the bed
you were correct

this was the
unauthorized
sleep-over











the authorized
sleep-over

Sunday, May 13, 2007

happy mother's day

Mother love is the fuel that enables a normal human being to do the impossible. ~Marion C. Garretty

I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life. ~Abraham Lincoln

Being a full-time mother is one of the highest salaried jobs , since the payment is pure love. ~Mildred B. Vermont

"Of all the rights of women, the greatest is to be a mother."
-- Lin Yutang

"My mother had a great deal of trouble with me, but I think she enjoyed it."
-- Mark Twain ( i thought this was fitting)

"When I was a child, my mother said to me, 'If you become a soldier, you'll be a general. If you become a monk you'll end up as the pope.' Instead I became a painter and wound up as Picasso."
-- Pablo Picasso

the good life

is being a mom.

see posts below if you need proof.

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

proof





em put the
hose into the
sand box
yesterday










her own private
beach













some of the
shower gel
mess i had
already
started cleaning
before i decided
to snap a pict








the newly
decorated
wall










way too cute













it's just
baby powder
















our "new"
gray cat
after rolling
in baby powder











this says
it all

Saturday, May 05, 2007

whoever said

girls are easier...

yesterday while attempting to fold the laundry (apparently nothing good comes from me folding laundry) mad slipped into the house after playing in the sandbox, grabbed the baby powder and proceeded to clean her hands and feet with it. soon a sweet smell wafted into the living room, so i decided to investigate. a cloud of baby powder greeted me as i walked into the kitchen. the good news... mad had removed all the sand from her body. the bad news... there is a layer of pixie dust throughout the lower level of the house.

tip - baby powder used in moderation easily removes wet sticky sand of little fingers and toes.

while cleaning up the powder piles, i realized that em spilled nail polish on the kitchen table and on the chairs. so i used nail polish remover and succeeded in remover and nail polish and some stain. so i put on some old english to darken up the stainless spot. through this i discovered that the nail polish remover also removes primer. we have a few drops on the floor from past painting projects.

did i mention, mad clocked me with the hard plastic swing on my nose this week. thankfully, the bruise never turned green. there's still a bump where there never was one before.

today while working on the yard the girls were digging up grubs. of course they know grubs are bad so they fed them to the arachnids that they are apparently keeping as pets.

mad and em had a grand time covering themselves in mud and jumping into their pool this week.

on the sweeter side...

mad asked me the other night for my Bible so that she could read it. so i handed her mine.
"no, not that one."
"which one are you talking about."
"the one with aslan."
"aahhh."
we have a fairy tale book with a large lion with a crown on it's head.
aslan's Bible.

btw, lauren em and mad want to have a discussion with bear about wanting to go to bed. they think she's crazy.

well there's more, but that's all for tonight

Thursday, May 03, 2007

thanks for the memories

as most of you know i don't open up very often or very easily.
but i wanted to tell two very dear souls how much i've appreciated their friendships forged over 14 years ago.
you two were among the first people i met freshman year. you were the first i searched for upon returning subsequent years. you were the first i found after breaking up with a certain someone sophomore year (in the 800 section) and you were the first i found after breaking up with another certain someone junior year. more importantly you were the first i told that i was going to get married to a guy i had dinner with for the first time during our senior year. thanks for not telling me i was insane. you were the first to freak out with me three months later when i had the diamond. so that leads me to graduation day (10 years ago today). you were among the first i searched for after walking across the fma stage. i miss seeing my curly haired, and my orange haired friends.
i miss laughing and crying with you.
my life has been richly blessed by having you both in it during the best of times and the worst of times.

"Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival." - cslewis (of course. who else would i quote for you two.)

thanks for bringing great value into my life.

love
love

God only is holy; He alone knows how to lead His children in the paths of holiness. He knows every aspect of your soul, every thought of your heart, every secret of your character, its difficulties and hindrances; He knows how to mold you to His will, and lead you onwards to perfect sanctification; He knows exactly how each event, each trial, each temptation, will tell upon you, and He disposes all things accordingly. The consequences of this belief, if fully grasped, will influence your whole life. You will seek to give yourself up to God more and more unreservedly, asking nothing, refusing nothing, wishing nothing, but what He wills; not seeking to bring things about for yourself, taking all He sends joyfully, and believing the ‘one step’ set before you to be enough for you. You will be satisfied that even though there are clouds around, and your way seems dark, He is directing all, and that what seems a hindrance will prove a blessing, since He wills it.

~ Jean Nicholas Grou

a good reminder

that i have my hands full.

yesterday was just one of those days...
em and the neighbor girls got into it. they split themselves into teams. guess what the game was. most likely you won't guess or believe it, so i might as well tell you.
they were trying to see which team could collect more spiders. yes, spiders. my arachnophobia has subsided greatly since em's fascination with the insect world began. but i still can't wait until crickets start jumping about and the girls start collecting them again. anyway...

em's team had more spiders then the other team. k's team started moping and fusing that they had fewer spiders and em started chanting ha ha haha ha. so i had a chat with all of the kids about being good sports win or loose. play continued. soon it all started again. so i sent the girls home, and called their moms. hopefully today there will be less cattiness while our sweet little girls search for 8 legged friends.

mad and em were playing nicely upstairs after em and i had our little chat about fair play. i thought to myself, "wow, they are playing nicely. i should fold laundry and get a few things done downstairs." so i started to fold, when i hear, "mom, mad's dumping out all your soap."
sure enough, mad had a new bottle of shower soap and she poured it all out on the side of the tub and in the tub. so after cleaning up mad, i started cleaning the bathroom and i hear, "mom, mad's drawing on the wall." sure enough, the artist still had her instrument in her hand and a guilty look on her face. em was thrilled that someone else was in trouble.