HIIIIIIIIIIII-YA!

Tonight Josh tested for his orange belt in karate. He did a great job! Drew was there. How DO you keep an almost 4 year old entertained during his brother's hour long class? Take self portraits of course.... like this



That was fun... but watching Josh in action was, of course, the highlight of the evening.



Yeah, don't mess with my kid, he'll kick your arse!! (this was part of his test)


This is after his test had concluded (and he'd passed) he received his new belt.

Teaching Meanness or Self Defense?

My first, Josh, is like the sweetest person and I'm having to teach him several things.
a) Just because you FEEL something doesn't mean it hurts
b) Just because you hurts someone's feelings doesn't mean you shouldn't say what you should
c) stand up for yourself
d) sometimes you gotta suck it up (pain) to dish out the appropriate consequence

Point in case... there is a kid at school that was such a little $hit. We had a water balloon toss game on Friday and when the kid dropped it, he blamed it on Josh.... insomuch as that he ran full throttle at Josh and KICKED HIM IN THE KNEE/THIGH!!!

Besides being obviously LIVID... I was MAD at Josh for just laying there trying to suck in the drama (trust me, he could win a freakin OSCAR with his dramatic acting) and not standing up for himself.

I told him what happened to me in the same type of incidence... I grabbed the girl's leg as she was making contact, locked it in and twisted it...she came down full on her knee causing it to be BADLY sprained and she was out of soccer for the season. Oh darn her luck.... don't mess with me!

I told Josh sometimes that he's going to have to get MAD instead of turning into a crybaby and that through his tears, he was going to have to fight the pain and dish out some consequences. He is going to have to learn to stand up for himself. Once he did that people would know that he's not their hacky sack...

Same thing with Drew today... at McDonalds, some kid in the tubes pulled his hair so badly that it caused a welt on the side of his HEAD! Yes, I wanted to yank that little creep's hair and say -- freakin hurts ya little twerp... don't it?

But I told Drew, look, when you CHOOSE to go up there, you have to defend yourself. If someone hurts you... hurt them back worse and then come tell me. Because chances are they're going to tell their mommies too and I wnat to know what happened. You will NEVER get in trouble with me for defending yourself...whatever the consequences. He said "okay" and he went right back up there... Drew was going to play on the side the "mean boy" wasn't but by the time he went up there, the little twerp had gone to the side of the tubes that Drew was entering. And guess what he did again... KNEED hiim in the chest WHILE pullig his hair... I gave the kid the death stare and he looked like he was about to cry and Drew wanted to go home. Little shit... makes me so mad...

HOWEVER, you know... if it were MY kid that were starting it...pulling someone's hair... etc. I would want someone to let me know! And you know what I'd do? I'd pull his freakin hair and say, "hurts don't it? or touch someone else and we are going home"

Funny for the day

What April Means

Greta had this on her blog and I thought, what the heck, I'll see what mine means!

What April Means

You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic "Type A" personality. You are influential and persuasive. You tend to have a lot of power over people. Generally, you use your powers for good. You excel at solving other people's problems. Occasionally, you do get a little selfish and persuade people to do things that are only in your interest. You are wild, crazy, and a huge rebel. You're always up to something. You have a ton of energy, and most people can't handle you. You're very intense. You definitely are a handful, and you're likely to get in trouble. But your kind of trouble is a lot of fun. You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing. You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long. You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start. You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow. You are light hearted and accepting. You don't get worked up easily. Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

...
So hmmm... is this accurate? Let's take it apart.
... NO I'm not the best at everything but yes I do strive for perfection. I tend to NOT do things I feel I will fail at just BECAUSE I want to be the best! Confident? I may appear to be but I don't think I am. :) I guess getting Who's Who in Drama ... proved I AM a good actress huh? Type A... hmm... have to disagree with that one 100%

Influential and persuasive -- ha ha... what a JOKE! Power over people? children and pets maybe! I sound like a super - hero -- I have power over people using those powers for good and helping them solve problems... dun duh da daaaaaaaa!!!

Wild, crazy and a huge rebel? ME? Bwa ha ha haa... :) yeah, that's probably a little true. A ton of energy that most peopel can't handle.... YUP YUP YUP

I am RELAXED? Are you FREAKIN KIDDING ME?! ROFL...

I tooted, you wanna smell it?

Drew is playing with his dump truck and tinker toys and tooted. He said to me, "I tooted, you wanna smell it?" He then got up and walked over near me, turned around and pushed his little fanny toward me and said "you smell it, it stinks do it?" Ugh... boys!

No I don't want your scrawny stanky bootie in my personal space... get on outta here with your stinky self!

UGH!

Keep the "change"

I typically am NOT a political activist... but when it comes to big government and wanting MORE of what we make... I just have to put the word out there... EDUCATE YOURSELVES

Proposed changes in taxes after 2008 General election:

CAPITAL GAINS TAX

MCCAIN
15% (no change)

OBAMA
28%

CLINTON
24%

How does this affect you? If you sell your home and make a profit, you will pay 28% of your gain on taxes. If you are heading toward retirement and would like to down-size your home or move into a retirement community, 28% of the money you make from your home will go to taxes. This proposal will adversely affect the elderly who are counting on the income from their homes as part of their retirement income.

DIVIDEND TAX

MCCAIN
15% (no change)

OBAMA
39.6%

CLINTON
39.6%

How will this affect you? If you have any money invested in stock market, IRA, mutual funds, college funds, life insurance, retirement accounts, or anything that pays or reinvests dividends, you will now be paying nearly 40% of the money earned on taxes if Obama or Clinton become president. The experts predict that "Higher tax rates on dividends and capital gains would crash the stock market yet do absolutely nothing to cut the deficit."

INCOME TAX

MCCAIN
(no changes)
Single making 30K - tax $4,500
Single making 50K - tax $12,500
Single making 75K - tax $18,750
Married making 60K- tax $9,000
Married making 75K - tax $18,750
Married making 125K - tax $31,250

OBAMA
(reversion to pre-Bush tax cuts)
Single making 30K - tax $8,400
Single making 50K - tax $14,000
Single making 75K - tax $23,250
Married making 60K - tax $16,800
Married making 75K - tax $21,000
Married making 125K - tax $38,750

CLINTON
(reversion to pre-Bush tax cuts)
Single making 30K - tax $8,400
Single making 50K - tax $14,000
Single making 75K - tax $23,250
Married making 60K - tax $16,800
Married making 75K - tax $21,000
Married making 125K - tax $38,750

How does this affect you? No explanation needed. This is pretty straight forward.

INHERITANCE TAX

MCCAIN
0%
(No change, Bush repealed this tax)

OBAMA
keep the inheritance tax

CLINTON
keep the inheritance tax

How does this affect you? Many families have lost businesses, farms and ranches, and homes that have been in their families for generations because they could not afford the inheritance tax. Those willing their assets to loved ones will not only lose them to these taxes.

NEW TAXES BEING PROPOSED BY BOTH CLINTON AND OBAMA
* New government taxes proposed on homes that are more than 2400 square feet
* New gasoline taxes (as if gas weren't high enough already)
* New taxes on natural resources consumption (heating gas, water, electricity)
* New taxes on retirement accounts
and last but not least....
* New taxes to pay for socialized medicine so we can receive the same level of medical care as other third-world countries!!!

Can you afford Clinton or Obama? I can't!

The Bird Feeder

My mom sent me this... I like it. :)


I bought a bird feeder. I hung it on my back porch and filled it with seed. What a beauty of a bird feeder it is, as I filled it lovingly with seed. Within a week we had hundreds of birds taking advantage of the continuous flow of free and easily accessible food.

But then the birds started building nests in the boards of the patio, above the table, and next to the barbecue.

Then came the poop. It was everywhere: on the patio tile, the chairs, the table --
everywhere!

Then some of the birds turned mean. They would dive bomb me and try to peck me even though I had fed them out of my own pocket. And others birds were boisterous and loud. They sat on the feeder and squawked and screamed at all hours of the day and night and demanded that I fill it when it got low on food.

After a while, I couldn't even sit on my own back porch anymore. So I took down the
bird feeder and in three days the birds were gone. I cleaned up their mess and took down the many nests they had built all over the patio.

Soon, the back yard was like it used to be.... quiet, serene and no one demanding their rights to a free meal.

Now let's see. Our government gives out free food, subsidized housing, free medical care, and free education and allows anyone born here to be an automatic citizen. Then the illegals came by the tens of thousands. Suddenly our taxes went up to pay for free services; small apartments are housing 5 families; you have to wait 6 hours to be seen by an emergency room doctor; your child's 2nd grade class is behind other schools because over half the class doesn't speak English. Corn Flakes now come in a
bilingual box; I have to 'press one' to hear my bank talk to me in English, and people waving flags other than 'Old Glory' are squawking and screaming in the streets, demanding more rights and free liberties.

Just my opinion, but maybe it's time for the government to take down the bird feeder. If you agree, pass it on; if not, continue cleaning up the poop!