The next Tiger

Once again, a long delay in posting. Things just seem to be busy these days! I had to share pics of the next Tiger... Matthew loves sticks and hitting things with sticks. So we got him a little golf set. He knew exactly what he was supposed to do with it! However, putting the ball in the hole is not his priority. Hitting something with the club - perfect!

Matthew and I - I love that smile!

This is my Goddaughter, Isabelle. Isn't she precious! I love her wispy hair. I have to wonder if it will be curly like her mom's! Her mom has been a good friend to me for many years! I value her friendship and am honored to be Isabelle's Godmother!

Soccer Time!

Emma had her first soccer game today. She did a nice job. Daddy thinks she needs to get a little more aggressive. If I remember correctly, she started out a little reserved last year as well. When we got home she said her strategy was to wait on the outside until someone kicked the ball out of the pack. (It sometimes looked a little more like a rugby match than soccer!) Anyway fun times were had by all who played. Thanks to Grandpa and Grandma R. who were able to make it to the game.

Sorry...

I typically don't write about my personal views on politics, religion, and other things. But a few things have been bothering me. So here goes...

1. I am very proud to be an American. For those of you that can't find anything good about where you live, I personally invite you to move to another country. Maybe then you will feel differently.

2. I am expected (by law I might add) to pay taxes, follow the rules, to be a law abiding citizen. Therefore, is it too much for that to be expected of everyone else in order to partake of the same privileges? Seems fair to me. I am sorry you were born somewhere else. Luck of the draw. I am sure my ancestors felt the same way when they came to the country, but they followed the rules.

3. Does healthcare need changes? Probably. Is the government the answer, I don't think so. Just look at the schools. The government has their hand in everything trying to make quality teachers and hold people accountable. All it has done is make teachers scared of being sued by parents who don't take responsibility for their own children. Prime example...a 2nd grader acts out, swearing, dropping the f-bomb, hitting, kicking, destroying property. The school has no recourse in which to punish the child. All they can do is keep him and the other students safe. Then the parent has the audacity to accuse the school of creating the behaviors in the child. Um, I don't think so. Just because no demands are asked of him at home, he doesn't have behaviors there. Instead of a paddle and returning to school work, the kids gets out of any kind of work, is completely controlling the adults around him and has no consequences. Wonder where he will be in 20 years?

4. Seems to me the greatest countries in the world have a foundation of Christianity. Go ahead take it out of everything. Let's see where it gets us. Oh, yeah, my daughter asking me if 2 women can get married. How do I answer that? Do I respond with my personal belief? Or, do I give her the politically correct, culturally competent answer. Do people have a right to do what they want in the privacy of their own home...sure. Do you need to push your beliefs on me? No. You chose a behavior, you choose the consequence. Oh, I forgot, we don't take responsibility for our own actions anymore. It is always someone else's fault.

Now, I feel better, I will get off of my soapbox and try not to use my blog for this purpose again...

5 minutes with Matthew

Little Man has been super busy these days. This is a sampling of an elapsed 5 minutes. He is so much fun and is a little sponge. You can almost see the connections being made.

While I was cleaning up supper, Matthew enjoyed checking out the refridgerater. I believe he was off and running with the BBQ sauce. He also had the remote neatly placed in the beer can chicken holder.

Here we go with a hammer. He likes to get into the "junk" drawer. He also had a pencil, some coupons, etc...

And then outside he goes. When I came outside, he was picking the leaves off of my Day Lilies.
Never a dull moment these days...

Tired...

So sorry about the lack of posts lately. Seems like we have been busy and yet not busy if you know what I mean.

School is fully in session and keeping the girls and I busy. Procedural changes will prove interesting for me this year and will keep me hopping!

Emma is liking 1st grade. She came home with her first spelling list last week. Soccer started last week and I think she is the most excited for that.

Madie has a new preschool teacher. She doesn't really say much about preschool but boy can she rhyme! Seems like ever sentence ends in a rhyme time. Understand land?

We all went down to Grandpa and Grandma R.'s house this weekend and helped build fence. Lots of fence... now the word of the day is EXHAUSTED! Even the kids are tired. Going to be a fun day at our house today.

Sorry about the lack of pictures. When I download the camera...we will have pictures!

Happy Labor Day!