I heart Hillary

Hillary was FABULOUS last night. I cried, I cheered, I clapped, I was very proud of my country and I was proud to have the right to vote. I was proud to be a mom, a wife, a conscientious citizen. To quote Brian Lambert:

Along with asking, "Were you only in this for me?" Hillary laid into McBush to the delight of every pissed-off liberal, Democrat and independent watching. It was very good. The people went home happy.

But it wasn't nearly enough. Tomorrow, (Wednesday), on Day #3, between first Bubba himself and then Joe Biden, who is on board as Obama's Veep as much for his adroit touch with dagger-like rhetoric -- "a verb, a noun and 9/11" -- as his foreign policy experience, it should be a sweet night for those of us hungering for the sight of Dick Cheney's gizzard on a plate. (I can wait another few months for the sight of Cheney in an orange jump suit being perp-walked for arraignment.) No one ever needed to tell Bubba or Biden how to put on the show people like Pat Buchanan and I want to see.

Baptism, Veeps, Barf and more

Wow, what a lame blogger I am. I am barely cranking out 3 posts a month. Sorry parental units and other readers.

Last weekend, Mace had his baptism. It was a great, boisterous affair. Some of you are thinking, "Josh and Becky aren't very religous".....that would be right, but we try and be traditional. And in our families, all of our parents were baptized and we were baptized, so we are sticking to it. Each of our kids has great God Parents (we like to think of them as Worldly Parents)--because they are open-minded, expressive and will do a great job of being objective and educational with our kids.

Mace was baptized at St. Joan of Arc. St. Joan of Arc is a great church, a little more open-minded and shall we say anti-war....then most churches. Noonie came all the way from IL to celebrate with us and she hand-crafted the most beautiful blanket (I bet you want to see a picture--well, those pictures on Josh's camera and I don't have those pictures yet....sorry.)

Here is the little studly guy with his God Parents Jenae and Travis.

VEEP

I am going to discuss with you my history of Democratic presidential candidates. I was a Hilary gal, not a full-court press type Hilary supporter, but I wanted to see how far she could go and see if for once a woman could get in there. But along the way, for the past few years, I also had a fondness for Edwards (and boy am I glad that was all it was)....but I also really kind of liked Joe Biden. He is a good guy. I am glad Barack choose him (I was hoping for Hilary, but I knew that would never happen.) They say the biggest complaint about Biden is that he talks too much. That is okay for me....I dig the guy. He is a straight-shooter (unlike the current guy running this country), hard-w0rking and he doesn't come from a uber-wealthy background.

A True Mothering Moment

Mason's been a little sick. Fever. Barf, you name it. I am standing in Wells Fargo, making some deposits and all of sudden Mason starts throwing up all over me. Bucket amounts of barf. The lady looks at me and says "Do you want a Kleenex?" I kindly said, "No, thanks." I secured the barf and child and walked out the door. Not one drop fell on the Wells Fargo floor.....I was proud.

Awestruck

Quick thing. The other night, Josh and I happened upon Anne Korin giving a speech on CSPAN about how the US has to free itself from foreign oil. I have not been this awe inspired in quite a few years. I felt proud to be a woman when I saw her speak. She is incredibly knowledgeable and a valuable asset to this country. Please take some time to watch her speeches....you will definitely learn a lot. The CSPAN speech is broken up on youtube...so you will have to watch it broken up in 7 parts. Here is part 1....please give it a chance.

On the road again

Well, we are back and we still have our sanity. Josh and I and the kids drove out to Lake Powell, Arizona (it is also in Utah). We encountered all the normal roadtripping situations (truckers falling asleep and driving into the median--right in front of you), the world's nastiest hotel (Budget Inn in Durango--you suck), people pooping in the swimming pool.....)

Here we are in Wolf Creek Pass in Colorado.

We went to see the family and to help celebrate my Dad and Stepmom's 60th birthdays. We had a nice relaxing time. I can't thank my mom and Mike enough for letting us stay in the camper. Dad and Kath, thanks for all the good laughs and thanks to the sibs for the good times, good food, and fond memories. I happen to think the desert landscape is quite beautiful and so I will try and post some pictures soon. On the way back home, we took I-70 from Utah to Denver and I tell you, that is one of the most beautiful drives I have ever been on. The RV lifestyle is definitely having more appeal.

One day, Josh and I took the monkeys and my niece and nephew to the pool (some would also call them monkeys). You wouldn't believe the stares we got---people thinking we were insane to have 4 kids that close together. Speaking of pools, it appears that Speedos are still in high demand.....not kidding. I would have to say that Josh and my brother were the 0.01% of the male population in normal swimming trunks. There is a lot of summer travel coming up from the Grand Canyon. While driving, I got to catchup on my reading. I read about this new website: http://3trillion.org/ It gives you the opportunity to "purchase" whatever you want/can in an attempt to purchase 3 Trillion dollars worth of things (end reliance on foreign oil, worldwide vaccinations, universal healthcare). It is being used as a tool to show how expensive the war is and how much better use that money could be going to.

More pics and vids to come.

Oh, cable modem is up and running.

Here is an evening view of Port Hadlock, WA. It is across the bay from Port Townsend, where "An Officer and A Gentleman" was filmed.

We stayed at a boutiquey hotel, where each room was different. Lauren's room had mirrored ceilings. (Me, Tami, Rachel, Sue, Lauren)

Me throwing all of you the peace sign.

Keep on truckin....

Dang cable modem down again.

One fun link for my kid readers

Feist at Sesame Street, love it!!!

One year

It is interesting when you are pregnant. If you tell people what you are having (girl, boy)--in many cases they will say something like, "Oh, boys are such a handful." or "Girls are so much easier then boys." "Boys are way more laid back and easier to deal with." Of all the people I talked to, it was about 50/50 that boys/girls are easier/worse then the opposite sex. I have truly enjoyed seeing the differences between Mason and Kendall. I love thinking of how genetics made such different kids, and yet, they both have the same hair color.

One year ago, we were blessed by the birth of Mr. Mason. This past year has taught me more then I could have ever known. The biggest things I have learned are:

1)Be more patient.

2)Who cares if your house is dirty?

3)Having two little ones, close in age, was the best decision I could have ever made.

Mason is a gentle giant. He is sweet and cuddly and he adores his sister. Don't get me wrong, the kid is all BOY!! He has already attempted to climb to the 4th wrung on the ladder going up to our loft. He is also so much like his dad. He loves buttons and gadgets and lights and wires and all those nerdy things. But just last night, I observed his love for the kitchen (maybe, a future Anthony Bourdain?)---he loves the mixing bowls and measuring cups and spoons (and did I mention a super healthy appetite?). All in all, I can't wait to see what kind of man he will turn into.

I wanted to post a bunch of new videos and pictures, but because so many people are running their air conditioners on our power grid, our cable modem is sucking....post more later.

Yours, Mine, Ours

As many of you know, I come from a rather "diverse" family. I have had different moms and dads and siblings, over the years..... There have been divorces and there have been marriages, but overall....I think the picture is pretty bright. I wouldn't be who I am today if all these different people hadn't been apart of it. Last week, I went to Seattle for my dad's second wife's fourth marriage. Let me just say--the liver has not had this much fun in a while. First of all, the Northwest, there are not too many places prettier(I flew right past the glaciers on Mt. Rainier). Secondly, weddings are always fun. Thirdly, I got to see my little sister, Lauren Lou-Lou and I got to meet her man, Kyle. Fourthly, I got to meet Mike, Tami's new husband, what a great guy!! Cheers going your way as you are sailing down the coast right now. (I am having troubles getting pictures to download...I promise to do it soon.)

What the heck?

(Picture me stepping on my soapbox--I actually like body wash--so if it makes you feel better, picture me stepping on a bottle of soap.)

What the heck?? When did "conservation" become a Demo/Repub issue. I am talking water conservation, oil conservation, land conservation and the sort (hell, let's throw fiscal/money conservation in there too). I don't care if you are the rightest of the right---conserving resources is a good thing for all parties involved. Speaking of stats--I don't know how true or accurate it is--but it was published--so the Iraq war is currently priced out at $3 Trillion. Supposedly, you would have to spend $110 million dollars a day for 83 years--in order to spend all $3 trillion. If that doesn't make you cringe, I don't know what will. Discuss.....

Now for some Funness (new word). Recent lessons in parenting, I have "learned":

First lesson of camping with infants/toddlers

1)No marshmellows before bed.....I mean really, how much sugar are in those things? Gram quantities? It would be great if they could make a marshmellow that had Niquil in it, but that still tasted like a marshmellow and got that pretty light brown coloring.

2)A tent is a useful thing for penning your children in. Next time I will remember to bring one.

3)In Minnesota, bug spray is the perfume of choice in the summer. I like the Family Formula--I smell beautimus.

Lake Powell Road Trip--here we come--30 days away.

Some pictures.....

(this pictures were taken moments after the monkey fell under the water---3 days later she still takes about the trauma of "being scared". How do moms/dads get over the fear of hoping their kids are safe??? I am a worry-wort. )

Past Lives

The blog has mostly turned into a forum for posting cute kid pictures (which I will do in a bit)...but just out of curiousity, do you believe in reincarnation or past lives?

I often get "vibes" about certain things and so here is what I have concluded:

1)In a former life/soul, I lived near the water....
2)In my former past, I had something to do with bridges. Built them, designed them, who knows.

3)I think you can look at a new baby and determine if they are an old soul or a new soul. Some just seem wise when they are born.

Sorry, that wasn't too in-depth, just some random thoughts.

One more thought for you, what do you think about nudist Olympics? I guess back in the day, the Olympics were done sans clothing. Rumor has it there is a group here in the US trying to get the Olympics to go back to the nudy days. Can you imagine? Gymnastics? Track and Field? I suppose the ratings would go up but I suppose you would have to have cable to actually watch them.

That would be my belt wrapped around the monkey--twice. No more organic food for her--she is going on a strict diet of peanut butter and Twinkies. Gotta put some fat on that kid.

"So Kendall, what did you think of that food mom made us tonight? Yeah, me too, I thought it was icksy."

This was the reason digital cameras was invented. You can take 48 pictures and still none of them has either child smiling and looking at the camera.

My hunt for the red bellied infant.

Why didn't I think of that? Cute kid's shirts