Happy Halloween!

The kids had a great time trick or treating with Daddy and Grandpa Dean! One whole block near us was a huge festival of Halloween decorations, food, and costumes. They had hot dogs, drinks, coffee, and candy! The kids got a huge pile of goodies which was dumped into the middle of the table and inspected. They'll be in diabetic shock for days.

Halloween is a great night to reflect on the sweetest things in life, things much sweeter than candy. Things like family, friends, and home. As we face kids dressed as demons this night, so do we face and overcome the monsters of day to day life. I love Halloween for all it' fun and fear, just as I relish all of life's joys and sorrows.

We have a family a lot like a Snickers bar - mostly sweet but filled with a few nuts! I hope you enjoy your family tonight and every night.

Halloween Eve

Today my husband spent 2 and a half hours carving jack o lanterns. Lucky we only do that once a year. I roasted pumpkin seeds. Yummy!! Tomorrow is the big day - Halloween. My kids can hardly contain themselves. Evelyn has been rehearsing her "Trick or Treat!" all week. Candy, candy, candy!!!

Homecoming

My husband has been gone for nearly a week, and he comes home today. We have so many plans for the weekend - carving pumpkins, shopping, trick or treating, having a birthday party for great grandpa, and just hanging out. When my kids got out of the bathtub this morning, I put Colby's lotion on them so I could be reminded of his masculine smell. They just thought it was cool to use Daddy's "smell gooder". I have 4 little pieces of him with me all the time, but when I fold his laundry or take out the recycling I'm reminded of all that is so far away. My best friend. My partner. The man my children run to like there's a magnetic force. I'm so glad he's coming home.

Hunger Strike

Before I forget the true purpose of this blog - the day to day escapades of my family- I should share the latest issue in the life of my forever suffering 5-year-old Brody Rhyse. It all started yesterday when Brody, starving like no other child in the history of time, decided he wanted a yogurt. He wanted a "mommy yogurt" not one of the kid-friendly gogurt tubes filled with sugar and cotton candy goodness. So, he sinks his spoon into the coconut and pineapple filled custard and assured me he would not only eat it all gone but love it. Half way through he was done, telling me he would save the rest for snack after supper. Fine, I told him, but he would not be offered anything else at snacktime.

As snacktime approached, he began asking for the usual popcorn, pretzals, and ice cream. I reminded him of his solemn vow to finish the yogurt. "I am not eating that," he replied. "I'm not hungry." Not hungry??? Riiiight.

This morning when he woke up, he asked for his traditional bowl of cereal or frozen waffle for breakfast. I again reminded him of his friend pina colada yogurt. "I'm not eating anything ever again," he said. Fine.

As I type this, Brody creeps into the den asking, "Is it lunchtime yet??" "You can have your yogurt," I reply. "I thought you forgot about that," he says as he huffs and puffs out of the room.

Am I a horrible parent for trying to teach him the value of food, something Americans don't appreciate? Is it wrong to stick to my guns? I'm sure I'll eventually cave, but why should I?? He said he would eat it and that he would like it. How far must I go to prove to him that I was, indeed and as usual, right???

Wait. . . UPDATE: HE JUST FINISHED THE YOGURT!!!!! SUCCESS!!!

The Simple Life

Is it just me or is the simple life not so simple?? Every family craves security, tranquility, and happiness. We just all go about finding it in different ways.

In this election, the McCain camp seems to direct its attention to rural America - the so-called real Americans- asserting that city folk are somehow not real Americans?! So, what makes rural values so appealing? Is it because we here in the prairie are viewed as having the "simple life"? An outsider looking in may see us clinging to our religion and our guns (thanks, Barack), and I don't totally disagree. My father who neither hunts nor shoots for recreation is convinced that if he votes for Obama his guns will be stripped from him for use in the New Wave Obama Communist Overthrow. So many people around me also vote based strictly on who is pro-life, anti-stem cell, and anti-gay. Yes, in many ways we do cling to our religious beliefs. Unfortunately, we cling to the wrong ones.

Years of religious school should have taught me about Jesus' love and acceptance and tolerance for everyone. They didn't. I had to find that part of the Bible on my own. Yes, we will all face our God's judgement (whichever god it may be). Can we in good conscience face that God knowing that instead of helping fix the problems facing the least of our brethren, WE judged them? We pointed our fingers and said, "No, what I have is not for you. You didn't work hard enough. You didn't pray hard enough. You are not good enough to deserve my help." If we here in the "heartland" are really proud to cling to our guns and our religion, let's use them for the common good. Arm yourselves in the fight for social justice. No handouts. No freebees. Social justice requires work from both the givers and the receivers. We can give to those in need, but those receivers have an obligation to make a difference with what they are given.

We can all have a piece of the simple life. Happiness. Security. Faith. And most of all HOPE. I hope that we can all continue to love our neighbors as ourselves even through this rough time. We should all continue to work hard, pray hard, and expect to be given only what we deserve.

First Day

Okay, well, I've never blogged before, so here goes. I'm home with my children all day and dying for adult interaction. I hope that my family enjoys catching up on the day to day adventures (or as I like to call them-vescapades). My sons are home from school today, and I can hear them downstairs banging around. I'm just hoping they have no broken bones and still have both eyes. My daughters are both asleep at the same time!!!

I hope anyone reading this is ready to get out and vote. I come from a very conservative part of the country, but I am voting for Obama. I still can't figure out why anyone could vote for McCain with Sarah Palin on the ticket. I am a feminist, and I appreciate the fact that we have come so far as to have a woman nominated for VP. But Palin?? I have yet to be convinced that she has the intelligence, will, and savvy to be VP. And if McCain dies?? I hold Sarah Palin to a higher standard because she is supposed to be a trailblazer, the picture of the modern and successful woman who can have a family and a career. So far, her shortcomings are far greater then her strengths. I'm sure she's a great mom, a great lady, and an okay politician. But VP?? No.

Hang in there while I get the hang of this blogging thing.