Friday, March 29, 2013

Politics

I changed my political party affiliations from Republican to Libertarian. That is all.

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Look Alike Much?

Tristan and Eden look alike don't they? Is it just me, or do they look like twins? It is blowing my poor little mind!! Their faces are the same!!! How does that happen?!!?

I put myself in charge of the Trapp Family Easter. It's coming along nicely. But, I still need some one to bring some dang good rolls!! Who can bring them!?!?! We have a lot of family coming in for Easter this year!! It is going to be so good to see everyone. I have been posting pictures of when we were all together for my Dad's funeral on facebook for the Trapp Family. A lot of the family had never seen the pictures from then. We always have a HUGE Easter Egg Hunt and the best part is the MONEY in the eggs!!! I remember when I was a little kid, I would not be able to sleep the night before very similar to the feeling on Christmas! lol! The Easter Bunny would hide our easter baskets in the craziest places!! We always had to find our basket, find eggs, eat, and get dressed in our new Easter church clothes and go to church. I remember I would always get pretty dresses complete with gloves, hats, purse, tights, and shoes!!

Today I have all the kids home for Spring Break. I wish it wasn't all muddy/snowy/cold so they could go to the park or at least out in the yard. I also have William (my nephew) here. I might need to go to a bar at the end of today!! BAhahahaha! just kidding. But, I might stop by the hospital for a morphine I.V.

I want to dye some eggs today but, we shall see how it goes. I usually do one package of 18 eggs for each kid. I guess I better get to boiling then. It doesn't help that my mood is wackadoodle. Gah!!!

Last night was pack meeting and Cedric came home with more patches and belt loops. I have no clue what to do with these things. Whatever. I think I am going to velcro them to the dang shirt. I am waiting to get him a new shirt though because he is only in Webelos for another month and a half. Then I will have two boy scouts.

Jeremy surprised us a few weeks back with a HUGE new family tent. It has a little "porch" and an actual hinged door to open and close rather than just a flimsy zipper. It sleeps 8 and has a crap ton of space. I am hoping to become a camping queen this summer. I really, really, really like hotels but, I'm doing this for my kids. I used to like camping as a kid. We camped all the time! I can do it! (I hope.)

Here is something that has been on my mind lately. I get so frustrated when I see people post on facebook ALL the time saying derogatory things about people who use food stamps. Now, throughout our married life Jeremy and I have went through times of great financial struggle. Without the assistance of food stamps, we wouldn't have been able to feed our children. We didn't set out thinking, "hey, I know, let's have a bunch of kids so we can get more money for food!" What kind of effed up thinking is that!?!?!? We do not use food stamps now. In fact our business and our personal income pay so much in to taxes, it makes me sick to my stomach. On the flip side, I know that there are people who DO try to take advantage. But, you cannot judge people based on the fact that they have a food stamp card. Or someone else the other day (on facebook again) was complaining about the food that a person had chosen to buy with their food stamp money. It shouldn't matter. If that is what they choose to eat, then that is what they choose to eat. I have never liked shopping with the food stamp card when we did have it. It is embarrassing to use it. People look at you differently. And it is sad. Something that is meant to help people out in times of need and I know some people who would rather go without because of embarrassment when using it. And another thing....drug testing for food stamps!?!?!? Can we stomp on our rights anymore!?!? Good lord, what is the world coming to? If your job requires you to pass a drug test then that job is stupid. No one should have you pass a drug test to work, get food stamps, anything!! What is next...a DNA test to make sure your qualified!?!?

Got a letter from the school the other day....last day of school this year is May 29th (our 14th wedding annivesary)!! Holy moly!! Last year they were out on the 15th I think. It was right before Cedric's birthday. Oh well! We are taking Cedric and Liam to Chicago for Cedric's 11th birthday! We are gonna hit Legoland, Medieval Times, and whatever else we can!! It should be a blast!!

I am completely emotionally, spiritually, physically, and whatever other ways OVERWHELMED. For reals. I have TOO much to think about. It is so hard and I just feel like people are always looking at my shortcomings and judging me. I don't know what to do with myself anymore. I cry to Jeremy on a daily basis about what a failure I am. I really did used to think that I had this parenting thing down. But, I do not. I am so confused and torn. I don't know where to live, who to talk to, who hates me, who doesn't, where my brother is, how to help out with all my kids, how to not blame my kids for everything, and on and on and on. Then I talk to people and when I get home again, I re-think everything I said and think about all the different ways that people could take what I said...and then I worry that I offend people...BLAH!! See what I mean, overthinking every.single. thing. I will probably want to delete this post. There have been times I thought about deleting the entire blog. I won't do that though. I have too much in it. I worked too hard. I have been writing in a journal since I was 8 years old. I will not quit.

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

To The Kids, From The Parents

Tiny Hands

Eden left a perfect little handprint on the refrigerator. I can't clean it now. It is too cute.

My fridge doesn't need cleaned ever again, right?

Funeral and Dinner

There was a mass for Lucille at the Catholic church in Nauvoo. Then there was a dinner at St. Peter and Paul school across the street. The gymnasium was open for the kids to play in which was very good. We had left all the kids at my mom's during the funeral and went to get them for the dinner.

(I had to clear this with my mom first as she had planned on going to the funeral. She was having issues with her leg anyway and had my brother Sam pop in as well).

I had asked all of the kids if they wanted to go and no one did. I figured it was best that way anyway so we didn't have any meltdowns or problems during the mass/funeral. The kids had a good time at the dinner though. Jeremy and I both thought it was too rushed but, the sentiment is what counts. It was so fast though that Jeremy didn't get to look at pictures or the video. I got to look at some of the pics but not the video. I'm pretty sure we have access to those anytime though.:)

I really liked Vanessa's shirt that day and I forgot to tell her.

Me: "Vanessa, that is a really cute shirt!"

She's really sporting the cute little baby belly now!

During the funeral Grandma Boyer had an episode and an ambulance was called. Jeremy did pretty good at the funeral mass...until he turned around and saw his best friend, Chris, helping out with his Grandma Boyer. He was touched that he had such a devoted friend who loved his Grandmas and him enough to come be by his side during such a hard time. Awww, I'm gonna tear up just writing about it. But, it was a strange moment, at the funeral for one Grandma and the other Grandma leaves in an ambulance. Fortunately, she was monitored at the hospital and all seems okay now. I know that whole family was freaking out for a few minutes there though.

After the dinner we all went back to Grandma Lucille's house to hang out some more. The company was good and the memories were in full swing.

Debbie and Karen started going through cards and memorials. Lucille had many friends and family. She had left little notes all around (like in her wallet) to let the family know how she felt about certain things and to reassure and comfort her family. She was prepared in many ways. Lucille had chosen to donate her body to science. It was what she wanted and the family respected that. She had left a beautifully written letter explaining why she chose to do so. I had a hard time with that, donating her body to science. I know that it helps many people for scientists to be able to do research on real bodies and it is a very noble and selfless thing for a person to choose to do. It just made it harder for me because there was no body at the funeral. I felt like there was no final goodbye. I have been to a lot of funerals (not a good thing) and I usually do my goodbyes and crying at the funeral where I can see and feel what is going on for closure. I feel like there is no closure for me. I'm not mad or anything, and I don't want to come off as callus, I am just stating how I feel. That said, I am glad that as a family we could respect her wishes and do the things that she had wanted.

I really like Jeremy's cousins. I wish we got to see them more. It's usually for Easter and Christmas. They live up by the Quad Cities and we don't get to see them as often as we should. It's always fun hanging out with them.

One of the things I have enjoyed about this is the family bonds that have been strengthened by this. In my experience, deaths in the family tend to bring people together and get us saying and doing the things we should be doing all the time anyway. I hope I can be a comfort to those that need or want it. It has made me a better person to be there for my husband through hard times like this. It helps us learn, grow, and heal.

Chattin' it up.

Jeremy and I went shopping the night before to get something nice to wear to the funeral. We also have family pics coming up, school Spring pics, Easter, and Spring school concerts as well so I figured one nice outfit would serve all those needs. We went to Kohl's. I forgot my wallet at home....stupid, stupid me. So, I didn't have my Kohl's card or my Kohl's coupons. DOH! Jeremy just wanted to be done shopping and told me just to get what I needed and do it. Well, needless to say, when the total came up we both nearly had heart attacks!! lol! A whopping $601!!! I am a very frugal shopper usually. I never pay retail on clothing, I use coupons and sales, and clearance rack is my best friend! That is how we manage to keep this family clothed. This is a prime example of why I do those things.

All that aside, it was totally worth it.

We all wanted to look our best for Lucille's funeral.

I am rather annoyed that I didn't get a picture of Jeremy and I and the kids though.

Look at how gorgeous she was!!

The family put together four picture boards and a video slide show.

Jeremy was at a customer's house the other day and the woman expressed her condolences. Then told him that she had seen the obituary in the paper and his Grandmother had been quite the looker!

Jeremy thought that was a kind thing to say and he agreed.

Look at that handsome little lad!

All in all, the day was good. A big snowstorm held off so we could have a sunny and beautiful day to remember. I think Lucille would have liked it.

Love This Article

The “Mormon Effect”

February 22, 2013 By Publius

During the 2012 presidential campaign, that awesomely deep well of perpetual wisdom, Alec Baldwin, proclaimed that if Barack Obama were not black, his vote total would have been 20 percent higher.

People of real intelligence realize that the opposite was probably true: if he had been white, his vote total would have been 20 percent lower. The African-American voting bloc combined with enough whites suffering from liberal guilt guaranteed a higher vote total for Obama.
The truth of the matter is, if Mitt Romney had not been a Mormon, his vote total might very well have been significantly higher.
In fact, according to a Gallop poll released in June of last year, while 4 percent of people said they would not vote for a black president, a full 22 percent said they would not vote for a Mormon. In fact, only atheists and gays ranked higher.
So Baldwin probably had it backwards, which he usually does, so that comes as no surprise.
What did come as a surprise to me is why people would have such negative views of Mormons. I have known lots of them in my life, and in most cases they have been hard-working, kind, generous family-oriented people—just the kind of people this country used to value (and maybe that’s the problem right there.)
Mormons have intrigued me ever since Mike Huckabee back in 2007 claimed that Mormons believe that Jesus and Satan are brothers. With the recent election over, I decided to check out Mormons a bit more.
My hope in doing this was to explain to readers who Mormons are and whether or not 22 percent of the people were justified in opposing having a Mormon president.
But instead I’m going to share an intriguing bit of Mormon theology I learned that I think makes them perhaps the most politically wise human beings on the planet. Ironically, this story stems from that Huckabee quote about the relationship between Jesus and the devil, but the lesson to be learned is one that, regardless of our political or religious views, we would all be wise to consider.
So here’s what I learned: Mormons, unlike most other Christian sects, believe that all humans lived a life before mortality. They call this the pre-existence or pre-earth life. At birth a veil is placed over our minds so that we don’t remember it (you’ll see why in a minute).
In this pre-earth life, we were all in the presence of God as His spirit children. Jesus was there—the first-born of God’s spirit children, and a leader in the councils in Heaven. Lucifer was also there, and was another leader among the children of God. He was called a “son of the morning.”
At some point in this existence, the Father called all of His children together to explain how things worked. All of His children would have to leave His presence and come to earth for a period of testing. The goal was to see if we would live a righteous life even when we had to live by faith, as we would no longer be able to remember God or heaven (that’s the reason for the veil).
If we would live a righteous life, we would be given the opportunity to return and live with God forever. Otherwise we would forfeit that chance, because no unclean thing can live in God’s presence. However, God knew that we would all make mistakes, so he would provide a Savior for the world. This Savior would live a sinless life, and because of that, he would qualify to pay for the sins of the world through what would be called the “Atonement.” If people would sincerely repent of their sins, then the Atonement would essentially erase their sins, and they could still return and live with God. The Father called for volunteers to be this savior, and two stepped forward: Jesus and Lucifer.

Lucifer said that he would be the savior and he would force everybody to live righteously, thus guaranteeing that all of God’s spirit children would return to Him in heaven [and he, Lucifer would receive all the credit/glory]. Jesus said that He would follow the Father’s plan and allow God’s children their free agency [and all the glory would go to God]. They could choose for themselves whether to live righteously and take advantage of the Atonement or whether to live in sin and forfeit the opportunity to return and live with God.
God rejected Lucifer’s plan, causing Lucifer to rebel and declare war on God. One-third of God’s spirit children joined Lucifer in this rebellion. In the end, the rebellion failed and Lucifer and his followers were cast out of heaven. They came to earth without bodies and now, continuing the war they started in heaven, they tempt men to do evil to one another and lose out on the chance to return to God. [Luke 10:18; Revelation 12:9; Isaiah 14:12]
PAY ATTENTION HERE; THIS IS THE GOOD PART
Now, any traditional Christians reading this will see similarities to their own belief system. Most traditional Christians believe that Lucifer lived in heaven as an angel, but then declared war on God and was cast out. However, the causes for that war are not necessarily clear in traditional Christian theology.
That is where Mormon theology is so intriguing. For Mormons, the greatest of all battles, the war in heaven, was fought over LIBERTY—or as they call it, “free agency.”Lucifer wanted to take it away, while God demanded that humans have it.
Although a Mormon might balk at my making comparisons between their religious beliefs and modern politics (and as I said earlier, every Mormon I’ve ever known was a very good person, so I apologize to any I offend), I see a direct correlation here. For a Mormon, the battle for liberty is not unique to this life; it is the core battle of the ages. Lucifer lost the war in heaven (he really thought he could beat God?), but the war continues on earth. So seeing the government become more and more tyrannical is not just a political concern; it’s a fundamental, eternal concern.
I’m inspired by this Mormon theological idea: God intended for humans to be free to make our own choices and live with the consequences of those choices. The Founding Fathers of this country said essentially the same thing in the Declaration of Independence:
We hold these truths to be self-evidence, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
My study of Mormonism has not only given me newfound respect for this people and their religion; it has also made me evaluate my own attitude towards the liberty that seems to be slipping through all of our fingers. Is this just something that is nice to have, and for which I thank the Founding Fathers? Or is it really something that is endowed by God, and that He expects me to fight for. According to Mormon theology, I already fought for this once. The fact that I’m here says that I was on God’s side in the war in heaven, and fought for liberty.
A Mormon might ask, why should any of us be less willing to fight for it here than we were there?
Reprinted from “SMART MORMONS,” By Mike Jensen, January 22, 2013

You can find the original article http://federalistpress.com/the-mormon-effect.php

I just like to copy and paste so that it is in my book later.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Reader's Digest Article

This is a short article from Reader's Digest that I thought was cool. I can't find it online so I will type it out here:

The Grandma Theory

We will always remember how Grandma gave us cookies, great birthday presents, and....longevity? According to a new study published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, humans developed longer life spans because grandmothers began looking after their grandchildren millions of years ago. With grandmas helping out at home (or, more appropriately, around the cave), prehistoric mothers were able to have larger families, according to study author Kristen Hawkes. The result: Grandmothering set into motion evolutionary changes, like bigger brain size and long-term monogamous bonding between individuals- all because Nana wanted to play tea party with the kids and read the occasional bedtime story.

Lately

There has been much going on lately and my brain has been too frazzled to mention a lot of it. This Spring weather has been for the birds. I am so sick and tired of snow. As I am sure that everyone else is too. I have so many projects to start once the weather turns. I can't wait and I'm starting to go a little stir crazy! Agh! One of the things I am doing is tossing and organizing. A LOT! Jeremy surprised me one day and brought me a new Brother P-touch labeler. I. am. hooked. For reals. I could label every single thing in sight and then some! And I figured that it would help the little ones learn words too! win-win! I will post pictures of my newly organized shelves and what not when I get them just right.

Also, I keep forgetting to mention that Tyson and Vanessa are having another boy! We were all hoping for a girl but Kelley's know how to do boys.....I think the girls are flukes!! lol! In June we will get to see what this new little guy looks like. It will make 10 boys and 1 girl for the Kelley Grandkids. And over half of those are me and Jeremy's....bahahahaha!! That is crazy!

The dentist is the bane of my existence. I know I have complained in the past but, seriously, it is getting ridiculous how much money I have spent on teeth! It's hard to justify spending a thousand dollars or more each month on flippin' teeth! Makes me downright angry actually. I guess we need to look into some medical and dental insurance but, I hate insurance too. It is the biggest scam I have ever heard of. Ugh. It's like being stuck between a rock and a hard place.

There is still now new information on Russ. It has been over a month now. How strange it is that I could go months when Russ was here and not worry. But, now it is all different. It is so strange. And there is nothing to do. I hope he knows how much we all love and miss him. I hope he knows that I would do whatever I could to help. We are all gathering at my mom's house for Easter. Leslie, Charlene and Abel, and Lauren (his family) will all be coming too! I'm very excited to see everyone and catch up!

Monday, March 25, 2013

My Birthday Day

On my actual birthday Debbie had planned a family meal to celebrate my birthday. I had started the morning out bad dealing with paragard issues (one of the fun things was almost passing out!), then I started a cleanse that day, and started taking all my vitamins to try to stop the faint feeling and that made me puke because I hadn't eaten. UGH! So sick and tired of dealing with this dang paragard and all the stupid crap that comes with it. Anyway, so we ended up canceling. Luckily Debbie still had people come over to eat the food. I felt bad that she went to the trouble and I ruined it. Jeremy had some flowers delivered to me in the afternoon. He also had a cute little owl wind chime for me! They were beautiful! My mom stopped by and gave me a cake that she has asked Joanne to make for me. It was marble cake with buttercream frosting and the owls are fondant. She made an owl for each of us! It is flippin' adorable!!! Joanne is amazing! Later on we celebrated my birthday at Debbie and Pat's house (on st. Patty's day....already blogged about it). They got me an owl outdoor decoration....it's super cute!! I didn't do much this year but, next year I am going all out for the big 35!!!! lol!

Eden In the Bathroom

Caught Eden sneaking in the bathroom again. She didn't know that Jeremy and I were watching her but, once she saw us.....

she hid! Ya know, so we wouldn't know she was in there! lol!

She has been playing peek-a-boo a lot!

She loves it and screams in delight when you "find" her!

Family Time at Grandma Lucille's House

We all gathered at Grandma Lucille's on the night of her passing. We all just hung out, told stories, and talked about the days ahead. We started looking at and sorting through old pictures. I took a ton of pictures as per usual since I got my new camera. Milo is the best baby ever for taking pictures. He is very photogenic and his personality just makes it that much better!

He started to get annoyed when we made him eat his feet!!

Jon Cote stopped by to express his condolences and to chat it up for a bit. We all love Jon and Nicky. Jeremy and I love hanging out with those two....we have similar mindsets and sense of humor!