Be Careful Where You Trick or Treat

I try to avoid politics here, but when my SIL Summer sent this to me, I thought it was too good to not share on this election Halloween.

My 4-4-4,

So, this is supposed to be an easy tag. You are supposed to go to your 4th file on your computer, post the 4th picture in that file, and then tag 4 people. Easy for some. Those people aren't married to photographers. Those people don't have a husband who has more hard drives than they can count, as well as multiple computers they use on a regular basis. So, I chose a computer, then I went through each hard drive and got the 4th file, 4th picture. And now, I present, my gallery of random pictures.....


And there you go. Not sure how the Kinikini family made the 4th position in everything, but I'm sure it's because of Marlene's love of attention. For this fun adventure, I tag Lisa, Summer, Marlene, and Jamie (you can just post yours on Facebook, right?) Hopefully your computers are a little less spread out in their storage and you can post only one picture, which is actually the goal!

There is Good With the Bad

Too often I think I forget to share the good things Tanner does. This is one the several notes and emails I've gotten since "the incident" from his teacher praising his behavior. Maybe I'm not completely failing after all!

I do love his teacher! The other day, Tanner brought home a reading test that was scored 100%. They all have been, but I thought I'd ask him who was scoring them. So I asked if he'd read it to his teacher or to a mom. He looked at me like I was crazy and told me that he didn't have time to read it to anyone because he was too busy testing the other students. Apparently, he's the one scoring them! I guess that earns 100%, right?

At One with Nature

The kids and I decided that we needed some fun this Fall Break (if you ask me, the kids get too many breaks, but no one asks me) so yesterday we did Lagoon Frightmares, and today we headed up into the mountains for breakfast and a hike. Or maybe it was brunch, since I was in no way going to drag myself out of bed early to go freeze before the sun came up. Either way, we cooked some eggs, hashbrowns, and bacon on the camp stove and then took off on a little hike. I was surprised how well the kids did. I'm more of a two-parents-for-activities kind of person, so I get a little nervous trying things on my own, but it was actually great. It helped that McKayla is old enough to watch the boys while I cooked. She loves to be put in charge of the boys. I can't say they love it. (Last night I had to leave her for 20 minutes while I was a couple of houses away. Before I left she made me write a list of appropriate punishments for the boys, and when I got home she had a list of what she had used and for which offenses they were used. I know, I know - she's me. I can see the comments already:)) But anyway, it ended up being one of my best days in a long time, completely focused on the kids and being outdoors. Even Tayler was a great little hiker. I think he complained less than the other two.

I'm Sure I Have an Excuse

Yes, I know I'm a blogging slacker. Things have been crazy around here trying to settle in to a new school year. The past month was been full of:

1. Soccer - Tanner and McKayla are both playing, and I'm coaching McKayla's team. Practice once a week and games every Saturday = busy.

2. Cooking - My good friend Marlene and I spent a whole Saturday making freezer meals. So far it's working out great. After 7+ hours of cooking, we ended up with 68 meals, 34 each. The best part is the price. We each only spent $150 for all those meals. Yea!

3. Planning and throwing a wedding open house. A friend was recently married, and I opened my big mouth and offered to help plan an open house. CRAZY! There was a flurry of miscommunication and lack of action that drove me insane! Maybe I just don't play well with others, but I ended up so frustrated with the "head planner" that I wanted to quit. It all turned out well, even the 13 dozen eclairs I ended up making :)

4. Single mom activities. No, Tyson didn't leave. He's just been working 2 or 3 jobs at a time (one "real" job, and lots of photography and roofing on the side) and is gone 3 or 4 nights a week and a lot of Saturdays, not to mention the work from home.

5. Zoo with the cousins, Chuck E. Cheese's with the family, etc.

6. Cleaning up from this mess:

Yes, those are painted toenails on Tayler. He found McKayla's polish and began painting. Apparently, it's easier to paint the carpet than toenails, so he gave up on the toes and started on the carpet. And unfortunately, it's much easier to clean it off of toes than carpet.

I'm Disturbed..

Not in a "I'm a mentally disturbed person" sort of way. More in a "what the..?" sort of way. Friday last week was just all in all a disconcerting day. First, Congress goes ahead and passes a "bailout" that most Americans opposed. I'm becoming increasingly disillusioned with Washington. I've never thought politicians were worth much, but I had maintained a hope that if they at least listened to the voice of their constituents, we as a country could survive. I've lost that hope. When the government rules the people instead of being a government for the people, by the people, it fails the people, and that's just what they did. They took an already bad bill, filled it with garbage, and then passed it against the will of the people.

So, I figured that would be the most disturbing part of my day, until I took the kids to McDonald's for dinner (did I mention that Tyson' s been gone a lot?). No, they haven't started posting the nutritional information for their food yet, although that might have been disturbing. But really, would it change what you would order? Is there really anyone going to McDonald's because they think it's healthy? OK, so back on track....We were sitting the playland area, eating our dinner when in walks a dad and his 4 sons, ranging from probably 5 to 11 years old. The McDonald's we went to is part of a gas station, and they had come through the gas station. They grabbed their dinner there: Packaged cookies, gatorade, and push pops. The dad's dinner consisted of a 24 oz. can of beer. So he constantly harped at the boys to finish their "dinner." (I get that McDonald's isn't healthy, and maybe no more so than what they were eating, but come on.) I guarantee that the price of their "dinner" from the gas station well exceeded a meal from McDonald's, so I couldn't feel sorry that the dad may not be able financially feed his children. All the while, he's sitting in playland, downing his Bud Light. I am in no way condemning those who consume alcohol. It's for each to decide. But in a playland? So they finished up their "meal," headed out, and loaded up in their car. Dad, after having just consumed alcohol, jumps in and drives a vehicle full of his own children away. Who does that? Maybe I'm sheltered, but I have a hard time conceiving of a circumstance in which the consumption of any amount of alcohol and the transportation of children in a vehicle should be combined. I'm sure he wasn't legally drunk after one drink, but any alcohol causes impairment, and that inherent risk should never be transferred to innocent children, no matter how annoying they might have been in the playland.

So, my hope for government and my hope for the people of America have been crushed. I had to imagine that maybe our irresponsible government is just an extension of our irresponsible people. I hope not. But for now, I'm disturbed.