For the past few weeks Xander has been all about the "faux-hawk", begging me to style his hair that way. Usually I'm pretty conservative when it comes to what my kids wear or the way they style their hair but I do have to admit that X looks pretty dang cute!
As long as he doesn't come home wanting a mohawk...that might be too much!
Friday Noah and I headed over to the elementary school to see Xander receive his ABBY Award. Each month 2 students, a boy and a girl, are chosen from each class to receive this award in recognition of their exemplary behavior throughout the month. October was Xander's month and obviously we are very proud of him!
Xander and the other ABBY recipient, Haley (she's also in his primary class at church).
Getting a hug from his teacher, Miss Tomcanin.
Receiving his certificate and special pin.
A congratulatory hug from Noah. Xander is holding the Golden Tray that was earned by his whole class for good behavior in the cafeteria during lunch time.
This morning Xander made sure that he put on his ABBY pin before heading to school. Obviously he is very proud of this accomplishment!
Our Keepers Meeting for this month combined Fire Safety and First Aid and was taught by one of our Keeper girl's dad who just happens to be a fireman. The girls got to check out all his cool fireman gear...here is Bekah about to jump on his boot to see how tough it is!
What a cutie!
After fire safety came instruction on various first aid scenarios, including choking, car or bike accidents, and cuts and abrasions.
3 out of the 4 got the technique correct...not bad!
Bandaging up Felicity!
This past weekend Savannah's team played in the end-of-season tournament to determine the champion of her league. Our first game was Saturday and we went up against the team that killed us in our second game of the season, 7-2. I hate to say this about 8 year old girls but this team is mean - within the first half of our game on Saturday our girls had been elbowed, pushed, had their hair pulled, and been told, "You're going down" by the girls on this team. But our girls stayed tough and listened to our advice to just ignore anything our opponents said or did and just play the game. Unfortunately at one point of the game I got a little tired of watching the shoving and pushing and yelled at the ref, shouting, "Come on, ref!!! They can't use their elbows like that!!!" Surprisingly, instead of telling me to keep my mouth shut, the ref blew her whistle, warning the girl to stop pushing and we got a free kick. From then on I noticed the ref warning the other team to stop pushing and to keep their hands to themselves. At halftime the game was tied 1-1 but we busted out in the 2nd half, scoring 3 more goals, one of which was scored by little Miss Savannah! Her goal came from a corner kick; their goalie went to catch the ball, dropped it, and Savannah was right there to kick it in! Despite the poor sportsmanship displayed by the other team (which continued in the "good game" line at the end of the game where one of the girls refused to shake hands with any of us while another girl tried to hit each of our hands as hard as she could), nothing could take away from the excitement of our victory!
The second game to get into the championship game was played Sunday afternoon so Savannah and I were not there. Nor were we there for the championship game which was later Sunday afternoon so the other coach texted me updates on how our team was doing. We won the second game 3-0 and the final game 1-0. What a great season! I am so proud of our girls and how they played, especially my cute girl. Go Green Dragons!!!
Savannah with her trophy; she'll get another one for being part of the championship team!
You gotta love Target - 75% off their Halloween stuff this past week. I always love hitting this sale and picking up some new dress up for the kids. Unfortunately there wasn't anything left in Savannah's size but there were some good ones for the boys!
The Swamp Monster;
Noah's personal favorite, the captain;
an alien;
and a brave knight.
At night we have to lock the swamp monster and the alien costumes down in our storage room because Noah is scared "the costumes will come alive and get me."
There's a new barber in town and his first victims, I mean customers, were Savannah's barbies.
Unfortunately his first job didn't turn out that great.
"But if the Barbies are upset about their cut, maybe I'll do a better job on myself...what do you think?"
"Dang it! Mom wasn't too pleased about that job either. Maybe I shouldn't play with scissors."
Excellent idea!
The article below is completely neutral, not anti republican or democrat.
Charlie Reese, a retired reporter for the Orlando Sentinel has hit the nail directly on the head, defining clearly who it is that in the final analysis must assume responsibility for the judgments made that impact each one of us every day.
It's a short but good read. Worth the time. Worth remembering!
545 vs. 300,000,000
EVERY CITIZEN NEEDS TO READ THIS AND THINK ABOUT WHAT THIS JOURNALIST HAS scriptED IN THIS MESSAGE. READ IT AND THEN REALLY THINK ABOUT OUR CURRENT POLITICAL DEBACLE.
Charley Reese has been a journalist for 49 years.
545 PEOPLE -- By Charlie Reese
Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.
Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?
Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?
You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does.
You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.
You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does.
You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.
You and I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.
One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine Supreme Court justices equates to 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.
I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.
I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a president to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.
Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.
What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits.... . The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.
The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House? Nancy Pelosi. She is the leader of the majority party. She and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.
It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million can not replace
545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.
If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair.
If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red ..
If the Army & Marines are in IRAQ , it's because they want them in IRAQ If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way.
There are no insoluble government problems.
Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation," or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.
Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.
They, and they alone, have the power..
They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses.
Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees...
We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!
Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper.
What you do with this article now that you have read it......... Is up to you.
Sales Tax
School Tax
Liquor Tax
Luxury Tax
Excise Taxes
Property Tax
Cigarette Tax
Medicare Tax
Inventory Tax
Real Estate Tax
Well Permit Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Inheritance Tax
Road Usage Tax
CDL license Tax
Dog License Tax
State Income Tax
Food License Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Gross Receipts Tax
Social Security Tax
Service Charge Tax
Fishing License Tax
Federal Income Tax
Building Permit Tax
IRS Interest Charges
Hunting License Tax
Marriage License Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Personal Property Tax
Accounts Receivable Tax
Recreational Vehicle Tax
Workers Compensation Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Gasoline Tax (currently 44.75 cents per gallon)
Utility Taxes Vehicle License Registration Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes
Telephone Recurring and Nonrecurring Charges Tax
Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, & our nation was the most prosperous in the world.
We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.
What in the hell happened? Can you spell 'politicians? '
