Today is Memorial Day and even though we all celebrate it every year I am not sure I ever knew how it came to be. Its not like Christmas or Halloween or the 4th of July (although similar roots). I never remember actually learning about it in school, except maybe the fact that we had the day off. I have always confused it with Labor Day in September. So I decided to take a few minutes and find out about this day we all celebrate that seems to be gaining more and more attention with each passing year.

It began around the end of the Civil War with freed slaves remembering the fallen soldiers that helped to free them. This is where the roots to the 4th of July are similar. People remembering and celebrating those who helped to free them. My grandfather served in Korea. Very few even know what this war was about or for (myself included) but my grandfather had no doubt about why he served. He knew it was the best thing he could do, and I do believe he truely enjoyed serving his country (tehe that was evident by the girl he had tattooed on his arm). He was the best man I think I've ever known. He had no problem helping those that needed it. Yes you got his 2 cents along with it but it was a small price to pay. Thankfully he didnt pay the ultimate price, I wouldnt be here if he had, but he was affected by what he saw. He had stories of things over there that were things I never want to see. He was with the recovery, he went in after the fighting was over and helped the wounded and dying.

I am so thankful to those who serve and who risk life and limb on a daily basis for us. So while we celebrate with cook outs and pool parties and they sit in the hell of Afghanistan or Iraq please remember the real reason we celebrate today! Remember and celebrate those who have fought and died for our freedom!

Jesse Wilkerson VanDyke USN (1934-2008)

Ok guys I am really trying hard to win a give away through Sugar Pop Ribbons. I would love to be able to add to my stash of cloth diapers! Even though I feel you can never have enough I by far do not have enough!

Well its Monday. Which means rapture is either extremely late or the crazy was wrong! I'm going with the second choice there. I truely feel for those who uprooted their lives and gave up everything because of this. But honestly I am not sure I feel all that bad. They were blatanly ignoring what they see before their eyes in black and white. The writing in the bible is pretty clear when it comes to the second coming, yet these people listened to a person who "claimed" they knew. The real sadness I feel comes from the fall out of all of this. Nonbelievers are now less likely to come to Christ because of all of this. They see the Bible as being wrong but it is not at all the man was wrong. He is coming it just wasnt Saturday!

That being said, my wknd was just as I thought. Boring on Saurday (yay) and busy on Sunday. I realized how old I am really getting at church. They had a thing for all of the graduates (some college, but mostly high school) and while they were showing a little slideshow it hit me that these kids were 2nd graders when I graduated high school! It by no means seems like it has been that long! Geeze time goes by quickly, and it seems like it is constantly speeding up! Watching Evan grow makes that so much more obvious. What happened when days with nothing to do went by at a snails pace? What happened to days with nothing to do?

I made Evan some new cloth wipes this wknd! They are super cute monkey print. No having a cute print doesnt mean anything because they are used to well wipe poop but its still cute! I think I am going to sew some nicer ones at some point. I'd also love to sew him a diaper myself but I have to get a sewing machine and then learn to sew! LOL!

As I am sitting here at work while my patient sleeps with a precious few minutes left of their nap thinking. Amidst all this world ending business I am wondering why people are making such a big deal over what some lunatic is spouting? People have upended their entire lives because of this and sadly will have to pay for it come Sunday morning. So if rapture does by some chance happen, was it because psycho guy called God out and figured out this awesome mathematical formula? No! It is  a date set which no one knows and will not know and if by some chance Saturday is that day it will not be because psycho guy learned to add, read the Bible and put 2 and 2 together (but in this instance 2 and 2 is not equaling 4). I believe God is a little brighter than that and would have left things a little harder to figure out. If I have a secret and then write a book and put that secret in said book its not much of a secret after all is it? I believe in God and all things he has done and continues to do for me and my family. Are there things I dont understand? Sure! Are there things I question? Yep! But in the end I leave it up to Him knowing he knows best and thats that. Call me a sheep blindly following the herd but this is one Shepard I will happily follow.

That being said, this weekend will bore most to tears and leave me feeling quite content. Saturday is cleaning/laundry day. I still have a ton of baby clothes to go through and get organized. On top of that our pile of dirty laundry is scaring me at the moment. Then working on our yard if the weather permits and cleaning the house. Just a day with me, my honey, and my little boy! Who could ask more much more than that? Then Sunday we have a birthday party and a baby shower! Woo hoo cake, cake and more cake! LOL! But they are my sisters cakes so I know they'll be amazing! 

I am going to do my best to start walking tonight! My stupid broken foot seems to be healing at a snails pace and I just dont have the patience for it any more! I am ready to start my Couch to 5k then get back on P90x! 

This week I have been given a little taste of what being a stay at home mom would be like. I do admit I am extremely jealous of those who are able to do this regularly. Spending every day with my little boy with nothing but a messy house to distract me has been heavenly! I return to normal-ville tomorrow but I am soaking this up as much as I can! My patient had surgery yesterday so I picked up a late evening shift (4-10) and am off today. Evan is an amazing baby and this has proven itself over and over the last few days! The great unconditional love he gives so easily makes me feel as if I need nothing else in life. Now I did enjoy being able to get out and work a few hrs yesterday. But knowing I have another entire day of nothing but E time is awesome! Yes there are errands to run and dishes to do. Laundry needs to be washed folded and put away but I get so few of these days that I am refusing to do any of it! I hate having to work so much and miss so much of his sweet life that seems to be going by like the speed of light. The expression on his face last night when I got home ( I asked Austin to keep him up so I could say goodnight) was priceless! To see him jump up and down and squeal with excitement when he saw me made me feel like the best mom on earth! Now yes there are days that I am home and have a list a mile long to get done and I just go crazy and he refuses to nap and is cranky and its just a day, but those are few and far between. At the moment the turkey is banging his bottle that he just emptied and the remote to the surround sound system together and then dropping them into his tray of peas and carrots. Hilarious yes! Will Austin like finding pea bits on the remote? No! I dont think I would necessarily have to stay home every day to feel like this, just more than I do. But bills have to be paid, food needs to be bought and we need to keep a roof over our heads. So for now me staying home is not an option! But one day I think it will and its times like this that make me all that much more excited for that day!

This hands down has been one of the worst weeks ever! Lets take this week-o-crap day by day.

Monday- Evan has a morning Dr. appt, which is a follow up from his surgery. He sees the audiologist and then ENT. To start the day off he wakes up way before I even get into the shower which is not good. Then it takes him over an hour to eat breakfast. Again not good and not normal! He decided to play more than eat! Then its pouring rain like crazy so people act like they have never seen anything like this before and drive like idiots! So we finally leave 15mins left and have to drop Mylo off at he groomers. This puts us about 10min late for his appt. Three seperate hearing tests later and they show he still seems to have fluid on his ears, nor is he happy about being poked and prodded at for 20mins. This is wonderfully followed by having to wait on the dr for 45mins! Thankfully we get called back and an whopping 5min visit to say yes he has severe infections even after tubes and needs ear drops and antibiotics! $50 copay and we are gone for the next stop of our day. Its a wonderful lunch with one of my BFFs and her uber sweet and cute little girl who says "I love him" after seeing Evan! Then its off to his other dr. appt, his 9mon check up. It goes great but he does get a shot and I learned he never got his flu shot follow up. Too late now! Then its back to pick Mylo up and finally 8hrs later we are home! The butthead never napped and then refused to nap, which ment I got nothing done! Ugh by the time Austin got home I was done with the day!

Tuesday-While playing with my patient I fell and broke my foot. Technically I have a severe fracture, a hairline fracture and a severly sprained ankle and an even worse sprain in my foot! Yay time for Das Boot! But it was not to be on Tuesday! The company the dr. sent us to had an issue with my insurance and said I'd have to buy it myself and either bill insurance on my own or come back Saturday, return the boot and then buy it through insurance then. Umm no! Thankfully my mom had a shoe boot I could use until I got everything straightened out! But I ended up missing 3hrs of work.

Wednesday-Told my boss I left early because I broke my foot on Tuesday. She definitely understood but I really needed to make up the hrs. Yay for that! Still no boot because we had to find a new company closer to us! Found one but they couldnt get to my order in time for me to get the boot. I was supposed to stay an hr late but I was done and went home at 6. Upon arriving home I go to chance Evans diaper and he is covered in whelps!! Huge red whelps and tiny red dots! Allergic reaction much? Check the med and Oh! its amoxicillin and my family has a large history of penicillin allergies! Guess what this means! Stop the med immediately and put some cream on his whelps. Austin left to go find Benadryl and finds a shortage of it! Which means none for my little man! He went to 3 different stores to try to find it too! Evan slept with us that night and I got all of maybe 3hrs combined due to waking up and constantly checking on him.

Thursday-Get Das Boot!! Yay a huge silver lining on the day! Went in early and stayed late to make up some time. Got a call from his daycare about the rash just letting us know he has one! Umm thanks for notifying us when it actually happened! The dr. called in a new antibiotic as well! Oh did I mention when we filled the drops Monday night after insurance they were $80? Yep! My patient didnt nap which ment no real break for me, and one long work day in pain!

Friday-Wonderful Friday! Again came in early and stayed late to make up the rest of the mising hrs. Did a fool proof way to get my patient to nap! Minimal pain from my foot! All in all it was a pretty good day!

Today-Evan decided he was up early at about 5am and we said no to that! Put him in bed with us and he slept til 830!! Sometime during the night I moved my foot and felt a pain so severe I thought I rebroke it! Evan went and spent some time with his grandma and paw paw so that gave us some time to get the house cleaned! After ward we all loaded up and went to Mayfest to see my niece do a great job preforming a ballet dance! Evan was so excited to see her! I love seeing how much he loves her! But about 15minutes of being there Evans allergies were in over drive! Puffy, red, watery eyes, nose running like a faucet on full blast! He started even acting like he looked! Miserable so no fun there besides seeing Cali dance! Home it was. As soon as we left he got better though! Got home and my foot was killing me so I found some pain meds I've had left over from his birth and took one then laid down on the couch with him. This would have been a great thing had he not been uber tired from not napping at all today and started screaming as soon as we laid down! Finally he gave it up and fell asleep! Now I am sitting here looking at the turkey sleep wishing he was awake to cuddle with! LOL!

I am so looking forward to tomorrow! My first Mothers Day with him here! I cant wait!

Evan's first Easter was so great! Saturday we had an egg hunt at church. He actually picked up about 5 eggs on his own then was done. LOL! Then during the drawing he won a gift card so the Easter Bunny finished his basket up with that and there is still $ on there for a rainy day or new sippy cup! Which ever comes first. Then that evening we all went to Irving to see my cousins that I havent seen in years! Their babies are soo big now! It was a really nice dinner at a place that definitely brought back many memories! Being in Irving alone does that though. Then Sunday the Easter Bunny had come and hidden a few eggs and brought Evan a ton of goodies. A new Gdiaper, 2 sippy cups and 1 sippy cup with a straw, and some new binkys! Then we went to church and it was a great service! After that we loaded up and headed out to my sisters for an Easter cook out. Evan of course was a little ham and even got to do the egg hunt. He found just as many eggs as everyone else! LOL! But shared his goodies! All in all it was a great weekend! I so look forward to more holidays with that little turkey butt!

We started working on our garden this wknd. Its looking great! A ton of hard work that I am happy to say I am helping with. It really makes me feel accomplished to look at what true hard work can do. Our yard is by far not finished. They grass needs to be cut and fertilized and we have more weeds than grass at the moment but its all coming along so well. Hopefully I'll remember to post pictures when its all said and done. So far we extended the flower bed to wrap around the porch and dug it all up, put down the plastic barrier, added the green metal border around the mid to top section, used mostly organic soil to fill it in with replacing the crap dirt that was there. (I literally found trash in the dirt when I got about a foot down. Now today we will plant 5 impatiens, 3 bright pink Salvias and 12 orange Salvias. Then next weekend we plant the apricot hibiscus tree! Our house is really starting to look nice! We are trying to save the tree in the front yard. Last sumer something got to it and killed most of it. We cut it off to where the living met the dead and its maybe a ft tall. We are fertilizing and watering it to give it everything it could possibly need to really get growing! Fingers crossed it works. I have no idea what our next project will be but I love the thought of constantly improving our home! That and every time I watch the show or even see something about it I get "I am not a hoarder" crazy and start clearing things out! So declutter is always at the top of my list!

Next Sunday will be Evan's first Easter! I am so excited. I know he has no idea about whats going on or who the Easter Bunny is or anything. But I love the idea of having traditions of our own. Things to do with my own family. I love that we can make these decisions that our children will forever carry out and do with their children and so on. I also want him to know not just the commercial side of Easter but the religious side. We will be going to the Easter Egg hunt at church next Saturday and then Easter morning service. Just like Christmas I want him to know the reason for the season. But his Easter outfit is so cute! He looks so good in it and I am hoping it'll fit. He's growing like crazy and its starting to get tight. Especially in his cloth diapers. Just one more week to go though!

I saw over the wknd that they are cancelling One Live to Live and All My Children, huge staples of daytime television for the last what 50+yrs?!? I have grown up on these and other daytimes soaps and love them. They kind of make me feel better in a "my life could be so much worse" way. I am sad to see these go! I love the characters the ridic drama and the fact that I can pick up after months of not watching and after a few minutes be completely caught up. They dont go off for summer hiatus, they dont show reruns and they rarely have any sort of violence! Whats not to love? Yes there is the occasional death but they always come back and sometimes with kids they never knew or a new hot spouse. Pure genious. One of the things replacing one show is a cooking show. Umm we need another one of these why? I am not a fan of reality televison. I find the majority of it stupid. Even most of those are horribly staged. I feel that at this rate our children will never know what a sitcom or daytime drama or even a drama period is! I heard a while back that in business especially entertainment all decisions are based on ratings and revenue. Who cares about those that watch said show, if its cheaper to take it off and put in a cheap crappy reality show then lets do it! Sad but true.

Evan had his tubes done yesterday and he was so incredibly happy all day! I was surprised at what a difference it made! We were actually able to take him outside with out him crying as soon as we got out there! He took 2 great naps and went down so easily last night. He seems to really notice the new sounds and startles easy when he's asleep. Which is just fine because we know he can hear us! And his hearing has been corrected by the tubes. This was probably the best thing we could have done for him and I am so glad we were able to find a dr. to get him in sooner! We even went to Lowes and started the garden. We are planning on actually doing it right this year. The liner and organic mulch and the whole 9 yards! Evan had so much fun at Lowes. I think he got that gene from his dad! Austin is a Lowes lover! I think he would spend long periods of time there walking the aisles if he could! LOL!

Evan has his tubes in the morning. I am so nervous even though I know its just a simple procedure. Its still my baby going through something. He will be put under light general anesthesia and total it should only last about 10mins. He gets to keep his binky and we get to be with him right up until they take him back. I think he'll be ok going back because the kid has no stranger danger what so ever. I just hope he really does better. At his pre-op check up Monday they did a hearing test and he definitely has some hearing loss on the left and very mild on the right. They said that all of it will be corrected after the tubes. I pray they are right. Thankfully he is still getting some breast milk I have left from my pumping days and he can have it up until 4hrs before surgery. He gets uber angery when he's hungry and I hope that this will help him from being so angry when he wakes up since he wont be super starving.

We have started the Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover and wow! It seems so simple yet so hard at the same time. I do believe we can do it though. We have been planning on selling our house early next year but now we are thinking of staying where we are since we know pretty much what our bills will be every month and can stick to a budget a little better. We've already stopped eating out so much and have been cooking at home. The only problem is we have eaten out a lot this past wknd because we didnt have any groceries and no chance to go get them. But for the most part we've been eating in. We are getting baby step 1 done and almost have it. Then the biggie-baby step 2 which is the debt snow ball. I highly suggest everyone at least check it out. Dave Ramsey

I am so excited! I have been entering contests like crazy to win photography props. Lol! I have become obsessed with learning everything I can about it. I am constantly learning new tips and editing techniques. I want to know as much as possible so that I can do the best job possible. Well I finally won one!!! I won my choice of newborn hat or headband from Robins Nest Boutique! I chose a super cute sock monkey hat in size 3-12mon. She has some of the cutest things in her etsy shop and I cant wait until I can order her little pea pod and hat. Super cute!!

A friend of mine recently forwarded me this article by a journalist. I think its a really interesting read.

A very interesting column.. COMPLETELY NEUTRAL
Be sure to Read the Poem at the end. Charley Reese's final column for the Orlando Sentinel...
He has been a journalist for 49 years.  He is retiring and this is HIS LAST COLUMN.

Be sure to read the Tax List at the end.
This is about as clear and easy to understand as it can be. The article below is completely neutral, neither anti-republican or democrat. Charlie Reese, a retired reporter for the Orlando Sentinel, has hit the nail directly on the head, defining clearly who it is that in the final analysis must assume responsibility for the judgments made that impact each one of us every day. It's a short but good read. Worth the time. Worth remembering!

545 vs. 300,000,000 People  
-By Charlie Reese
Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.

Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?
Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?
You and I don't propose a federal budget. The President does.

You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.
You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does.

You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.

You and I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.
One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one President, and nine Supreme Court justices equates to 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.
I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank. 
I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a President to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.
Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.

What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits. The President can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.

The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House? John Boehner. He is the leader of the majority party. He and fellow House members, not the President, can approve any budget they want. If the President vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair.

If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red.
If the Army & Marines are in Iraq and Afghanistan it's because they want them in Iraq and Afghanistan ...
If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way.
There are no insoluble government problems.
Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation," or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.

They, and they alone, have the power.
They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses.
Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees...
We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!
Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper.
What you do with this article now that you have read it... is up to you.
This might be funny if it weren't so true.
Be sure to read all the way to the end:

Tax his land,
Tax his bed,
Tax the table,
At which he's fed.
Tax his tractor,
Tax his mule,
Teach him taxes
Are the rule.
Tax his work,
Tax his pay,
He works for
peanuts anyway!

Tax his cow,
Tax his goat,
Tax his pants,
Tax his coat.

Tax his ties,
Tax his shirt,
Tax his work,
Tax his dirt.

Tax his tobacco,
Tax his drink,
Tax him if he
Tries to think.

Tax his cigars,
Tax his beers,
If he cries
Tax his tears.

Tax his car,
Tax his gas,
Find other ways
To tax his ass.

Tax all he has
Then let him know
That you won't be done
Till he has no dough.

When he screams and hollers;
Then tax him some more,
Tax him till
He's good and sore.

Then tax his coffin,
Tax his grave,
Tax the sod in
Which he's laid...

Put these words
Upon his tomb,
'Taxes drove me
to my doom...'

When he's gone,
Do not relax,
Its time to apply
The inheritance tax.

Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL license Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Excise Taxes
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax (currently 44.75 cents per gallon)
Gross Receipts Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Taxes
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Personal Property Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service Charge Tax
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax
Recreational Vehicle Tax
Sales Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Nonrecurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Taxes
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax

STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?
Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, & our nation was the most prosperous in the world.
We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.