The state of the nation

To say I am disappointed would be understatement. While I am proud to live in a country that can overcome such racial animosity in the space of less than 100 years, I am still in complete disagreement with Mr. Obama's political and social platform regardless of the color of his skin. We are rumored to be EQUALS in this country and are all given the opportunities to better ourselves through hard work and determination yet this man would have us "spread the wealth" to some of those who have made the choice to remain helpless. The last I checked this was a capitalist society, not a socialist one. Perhaps Mr. Obama hasn't served this country long enough to know the difference. Were these candidates judged unfairly? Absolutely. While Mr. Obama was a media darling with little to no experience, John McCain, a war veteran and life long American, was ridiculed and judged by the perceived actions of George W. Bush. As for the economic crisis, before everyone chants for Obama, I highly recommend they research where this spiral actually started with Mr. Carter's administration, not George W.'s We have been on a collision course for more than 30 years and it is unfortunate that Bush will carry the burden of something he could not have prevented. I cried for our country and for John McCain last night though I know that he is covered by God's grace and He has surely not forsaken him. We do not know the great mystery that is our Heavenly Father or His plan so all I can do is look to Him which is what He wants us to do in all times and especially times such as these. I have total faith that this is a part of His plan and a test of the faith of all His children and for Mr. McCain and Mrs. Palin. These two individuals stood strong and unwavering for what they believed in only to watch flash and inexperience and deception take their place at the head of this nation. The fact remains that Mr. Obama is our president and I will teach my children to respect the leader of our great nation even if they don't support his decisions. After all, it is the same respect I expect them to give me whether they agree with me or not.

Back in the saddle

Or bicycle seat as the case may be! I took these this past weekend but am only getting a chance to get to them today. C is getting more and more confident on his bike which is terrific given his reaction to the first several attempts to get him to ride it. Now he even asks to practice on it though we did lose the battle to get him out of his pajamas!

I just had to throw one in of L perfecting her cartwheel too! Boy, these kids are bubbling over with accomplishments!

Fractured

This has really not been a good month for my little boo. A battery of tests to confirm a peanut allergy which remains unconfirmed, eye exams, and now her precious Lola has fractured her elbow. Poor little girls. Miss Lola just does not want to accept that she is a little bitty 3 pound puppy and not the 30 pound menace she wants to be. I really hope this isn't the beginning of a very expensive trend with her. I took the first one with my Iphone while we were waiting for her meds (and the bill...yikes!).
Is she pathetic or what? Thank goodness her pain medication has some sedative in it too because she isn't allowed to sleep with Cotton until she is fully healed and she hates her own kennel.

Pumpkin Patchin

Definitely not the best pictures I have ever taken by far but what can you do under a beautiful cloudless Texas sky at 1:30 in the afternoon? Absolutely nothing but enjoy every minute throwing technicalities into the wind. The weather was positively spectacular and we all got big pumpkins for the kids to carve while I had a couple sessions to shoot in the evening. Here's my dad videoing us all on the hay ride which was really an elaborate scheme to drive us through the Christmas trees. What a dirty trick!

C did not want to be on top of this hay bail.

Our "other" daughter...

Fun with knives...don't worry they were supervised...sort of.

The finished products. T carved L & C's exactly as they had drawn their faces and let the older girls carve their own. They are in no particular order, but I bet you can't guess who's is whose! We affectionately refer to the last one as the "P.O.W" or Pumpkin of War. Much artillery went in to creating it (of the b-b variety, of course)!

The time has come

and also gone. These pics were actually taken last night when after flying up the street on his bike, C declared that he wanted the training wheels off. Hurray!! I had only come outside to let the kids know that dinner would be ready in about 5 minutes' time, but who cared now? Cold pasta is certainly a fair trade off to a training wheel-less bike so I ran inside and told T that his work would have to wait and he needed to come outside right now. And he did. C was so excited while daddy took them off, but as soon as we put him on the bike to give it a go, his mood was changed. Now he was afraid. All these people watching with anticipation was a bit more pressure than he was prepared for and the first trial run did not end well. I do not endorse quitting, but I also do not support undue pressure on a child so the decision to tell him that his training wheels would not be put back on his bike was not one made lightly. He is 6 years old, too old to still rely on them. We told him this while he ate his dinner at the same time informing him that the next day when he got off the bus we would try again. He was apprehensive but generally ok with the idea. As the evening wore on, he began to even get excited about it. So we will see later on this afternoon how he does when we take him to the park to try again.
This one was taken by M. Look, she even has my tilt down! I think I am getting a little teary-eyed!

Ok, here we are this afternoon with his game face on. No intimidation here.

Scoping out the territory, planning their attack...

And it was time to give it a shot...over and over and over again.

Definite progress was made. He has a ways to go, but I know he's gonna get there!

Swift

Yes it's another L post, but she was so determined while riding the scooter outside tonight to ride as fast as her little shoeless legs would take her.

One to the bike...

Whew, tuckered out. I can't really blame her, I'm tired (and a little dizzy) just from watching her go round & round!

Ahh, the sweet light. I hope she never cuts her hair short.

There's something different about her

Yep, there sure is and she loves it! We all know that won't last, but for right now she thinks her glasses are the coolest! The funniest part is that they aren't a necessity, but primarily for reading. Instead, she wears them round the clock. She did tell me that she took them off for picture day today though.