The Boston Tea-Party Revisited

I never thought I would live to see the day where our Country has traveled so far from the Constitution it was founded on. I never thought I would ever participate in a political "protest". I never thought I'd live to see an Economic Depression. But we just have to do the best we can in whatever time we're given....

My kids made their own signs...You can tell!

With all the turmoil in our Nation, in light of the crazy irresponsible over-spending, the out-of-control deficit, the printing of money that doesn't exist, the impending crises, and the 60,000 page Bail-out bills, naturally my kids have overheard quite a bit and have asked lots of questions. It's been good to talk to them about Current Events, and our opinions on them.



When I found out about the Tea Parties being held all over our Country, I knew that I wanted to go to one and bring my kids. I felt very strongly about the importance of letting our leaders in our government know that WE THE PEOPLE think they are making the WRONG RESPONSES to the economic crises. You can't Spend your way out of DEBT!
The people who attended this rally love their country and are saddened by the leader's lack of vision in searching for short-term fixes instead of long-term solutions. I liked most of the signs that were there, but there were a few depressing ones I didn't like at all. I don't like to think that America's days of world-leadership are done. I don't like to entertain the possibility that the bankrupting of Glorious America will be her downfall. (i.e. America Committed Suicide 11-08) And the idea that WE THE PEOPLE are now owned by the Chinese is quite horrifying(I hope that one never comes true!). One sign I liked, but I didn't make one because I thought it too sarcastic was "The Government Represents me? WOW! I must really be CORRUPT!..." One sign I found amusing was "OBAMA, You're Taxing My Patience! (Although overall I didn't like the Obama signs because the protest was suppose to be about protesting government spending that will result in inflation and horrible future taxes instead of President Bashing. I do hope that there are many Democrats and Liberals out there who are uncomfortable with all the rapid changes and insane spending bills being passed. It was advertised as a non-partisan rally) I did like all the anti-socialism signs. (No Socialism in America! Keep America Free!) The possibility of our country turning Socialistic (we're on the path half-way there, I know) is something that continues to give me nightmares...literally. The week before I went to the rally, I had a horrible dream where our government had turned into something out of the haunting book, 1984. That was awful.

The reason why my family made it a priority to go and participate:
I viewed it as a wonderful opportunity to show a good example to my kids the importance of standing up for what you believe in, being involved in politics, and exercising our Freedom of Speech.

It felt good to be there at our Capitol Building in Salem with thousands of others, folks of all ages and walks in life (including many families with young children!)

Before we went to the "Tea Party" we talked a lot about about the Boston Tea Party, and what it was about. We talked a lot about debt and taxes and the purpose of government. My kids also learned what inflation is, as they will live to see it boom exponentially. It was very education-inspiring month, even if the subject matter was depressing.


My kids were a little disappointed that we just stood around holding signs. They wanted to march around the capitol and shout. There was one group of people near the street that had signs that said if you were opposed to the government over-spending to honk your horn. Well, there was pretty a much a constant stream of honking! For the whole time they were there! (over an hour) We left when the speeches began, because even though they had a loudspeaker, we couldn't hear a word they were saying.There were a lot of College students there. These two were dressed very, mmm, creatively! I liked that some of the adults who came were dressed up as Indians. Made me wish I'd thought of that; I have an authentic looking Indian Costume. There were several Homeschooled families with lots of kids there, but the majority of protesters were the baby-boomer aged folks.

Christopher was crazy about trying to get on TV, He wanted to go up the tv camera and wave in front of it. We tried telling him that wasn't how it worked. I forgot to watch the news later that evening to see what they covered about the protest and what was said. Someone said they thought they saw my family on the news, but I didn't hear anything else. People have told me that these huge protests were hardly covered at all by the major media.My Sister-in-law, Janalyn, and her three boys: Steven, Jared, and Spencer came and helped us hold our signs. Our other signs said "No Taxation Without Deliberation" "Taxed Enough Already" and "No Public Money for Private Failures"
Angel colored her very own sign! She got upset When Julie tried to snatch it to chew on it.

We survived the crowds, and we were all very glad we were a part of this historic movement. We're hoping it has SOME sort of influence on those in power! With the way things are going, if something doesn't change soon there will be more protests, and maybe civil unrest. We are praying for good resolutions to be found and implemented.

Sunday Morning Easter Pictures

Easter Family Pictures! The weather rained on and off all morning. It was raining on us here. Our faces are in Shadow cause Christopher took the picture from our house.

8Our yard is so beautiful in the Spring! I LOVE LOVE LOVE flowers!

This is my all time favorite baby dress! So old-fashioned, and I can't get enough of that Bonnet!

Julie has the Dotson scowl!

Mom and Baby Julianna.

Courtney looks like a Ballerina! She loves this dress.

Courtney tries to dress head to toe in Pink everyday (her favorite color) and she gets upset when she runs out. Sso she was pretty pleased with her Easter Outfit! She was thrilled to get a seahorse necklace (pink) to match!

During Angel's pics it began to rain, so we took them under shelter. She looks like a little Fairy in this dress!

Every year Dorathy's hair gets a little Browner. I may yet someday have a brunette!

Dorathy is turning into a lady! Soon she will be 8 years old, I can't believe it!

Christopher enjoyed doing the serious pose. Guess who he got it from? It's exactly what Scott likes to do! I prefer the smile, of course!

With 5 kids, trying to take an Easter Picture with all the kids was a bit crazy. I had to include all the poses because some of them were so funny! The kids were pretty good about sitting still; getting them all to look at the camera at the same time is a completely different story!

Happy Easter!

Baskett Slough

Today I was energized and excited by the great weather!

So I took 7 kids on a hike at the Baskett slough! (A National Wildlife Bird Refuge)
I took my 5 kids, and a niece and nephew.

It was a perfect day to go! The sky was clear and blue, we could see Mt. Hood in the distance....and there thousands and thousands of Canadian Geese! This was a special outing for my kids because we have been studying birds. We have enjoyed watching the humming birds and other birds that come to our other feeders. Courtney is passionate about birds, and whenever we see one, she looks one it up in her North American Field Guide. We brought a nice pair of Binoculars with us on the hike, and we all enjoyed taking turns with them. We also saw tons of butterfies, the girls liked that.

On our way to the Trail head, we spotted a gorgeous blue/gray heron. I've never seen a bird like that there! We also saw newborn goslings in the water with their Mom and Dad, and several ducks.

The hike was hot and STEEP! I wasn't expecting that part. And we couldn't find Angel's shoes, so all she had on were sandals. With the gravel path that was a big no-no! We had to stop several times to remove the rocks from her poor feet. It was amazing that we made it to the top of the look-out, but the kids were pretty proud of themselves for reaching it!

Julie did really good on the way up, but she screamed all the way down. Poor baby was red with heat, so we all doused ourselves with water when we got back to the car. And our poor puppy, Lucy! We took her with us in the car so we could take her on the hike, and then we found out that no pets were allowed. So she had to stay in the car with lots of water to drink.

Our car temperature gauge said it was 87 degrees! Wow, that must be a record for April in Oregon! We celebrated our hiking accomplishment with ice cream cones at Arctic Circle.

Now, we'll see how sore I am in the morning!

Peek-a-boo, another no-crawler

I'm debating on whether to resign myself to the fact that Julie is just not a crawler. I never crawled. And Christopher never crawled, so I guess Julie will turn out okay. But she is still almost completely dependent on me to get to where she wants to go, and that can really be a drag! Christopher still just does not have the upper body strength or coordination to carry her 20lb body around, so I remain the sole source of baby transportation.

Julie turns 11 months old on Friday! She just learned to clap her hands today for the first time! I was so excited! The kids saw it first and told me...it is the most darling thing to see those chubby angelic little paws clapping away. But she won't scoot, crawl, or even roll to where she wants to go. She just gives up and puts her head on the floor and wails. It's heart-breaking to watch, and so I don't let her do it very much.

I've been working with Julie everyday with little Physical Therapy tips I remember from Christopher' early intervention days. One problem is that she keeps her body as stiff as a board. That's bad news when it comes to falling, she keels over like a felled tree and that could lead to some bad ouchies. With that stiff body, she won't bend her hips or legs. She is so stiff, that I can pick her up by the ankles and she can do the wheelbarrow. At least she has recently developed enough arm strength to do that. The other obstacle is getting her to keep her hips together. She wants to splay them wide all the time. Her body is so strong and stiff, that I literally break into a sweat trying to get her hips together. It's crazy hard. She's close to pulling up, and she loves to stand. She'd spend all day standing up just holding onto my shirt, but she can't get into that position by herself. She can't get into a sitting position by herself from lying down, either.

It's partly because babies who sleep on their back often develop a dislike to being on their tummies, so they never learn any of these skills.(many of my kids hated tummy time!) (Those dr.s out there who advocate "back to sleep" don't tell the mommies all the other possible side effects their babies might struggle with as a result.) I'm sure the other part of the picture, however, is that as baby #5 she is held constantly (to keep her safe from the chaos) and she hates being on the floor. She's much happier perched in a backpack on my back.

I guess she'll learn to walk eventually whether she crawls or not. I'm just hoping our little P.T. sessions will help speed her along. I'll expect her to be a little late at all those milestones, but since she's my youngeset, I'm just going to enjoy her being a "baby" for a little longer, and I have no problem with that!!!

The Big Bad Bee

Now that the weather has gotten warmer, the bees and wasps are out and about.

My girls are remembering their past traumatizing bee and wasp stings. They are paralyzed with fear.

Whenever Angel sees even a harmless little black fly, she freezes and screams, "A bee! A bee! Help Me, I'm scared!"

Today homeschooing screeched to a halt when Courtney noticed a wasp in the house. She couldn't move for horror. She was convinced that if she moved the wasp would see her and sting her.

Can you tell they've had a lot of bad stings in the past? I'm working with them on it, but the fear isn't going away anytime soon. Last summer Angel and Courtney got so many stings close together, I was worried that they would develop an allergic reaction. We have tons of plants, herbs, flowers, and clover...so those bees really love our yard! Most stings happened when the girls stepped or sat on them somehow.

I've had a few bad stings myself, so I don't blame them at all for their fear! I'm just telling them that there is nothing they can do about the bees, and they'll just have to get used to them, and if they don't bother them, they won't get stung. A child' s fear, however, is too irrational to be solved that easy! And they know for a fact, that accidents happen, even when the bee isn't "out to get them".

One good helper is Christopher! He is into collecting bugs, and so he has lost all fear of them. Anytime an insect is seen our house, out comes the bug jar! We then get to examine it in detail over the next 24 hrs before he releases it outside. At least the girls aren't afraid of a the wasp when it's IN Christopher's jar. This week the guests in Christopher's jar have been: a spider, a crane fly, a moth, and a few big wasps.

Easter Egg Hunt

We had a GREAT Easter weekend, even if it was a bit crazy & busy.


First we attended my niece's baptism. That was a very special event.

Then all the extended family gathered at my sister's farm for a yummy pizza potluck.

While we Mommies prepared the food, The daddies were outside creatively hiding all the eggs.

Let me tell you, a farm is an AWESOME place to have an egg hunt!

The Dads had a good time, too: there were eggs in the chicken coop, in the rabbit cages, on the cars, in the bushes, on the woodpile, in the garden, and every other nook and cranny.

The kids had a FABULOUS time hunting for them. A good time was had by all, even if the kids did eat their Easter candy instead of their lunch. No surprise there!

"Mom, I don't have time to pose for a picture, we're trying to find some EGGS!!"

Then I took the baby home for a nap while Scott took the kids to the Church Easter Egg hunt.

The other busy thing that kept us hopping (ha ha)all day long was that we had 3 people come buy rabbits, and another 2 come rent one.
A lovely time was had for all, but after running around and being with family all day, we were looking forward to a nice quiet Easter Sunday at home just by ourselves.

The Puzzle isn't the Prize--Your Sister is!

During Conference weekend, my kids enjoyed teaming up on putting together several puzzles. The one they were most excited about was the Pokemon puzzle Courtney got for Christmas. The kids wanted me to take their picture with their puzzle...so I did. But here's the catch: they didn't want anyone IN the picture who hadn't helped BUILD it. So ensued one of those inevitable kid struggles that are so life-and-death to the young participants.



Angel wanted to be in the picture (of course!) You can see her poor little head there in the corner as she tried valiantly to push her way in. But the kids didn't want her in it. They got clever and distracted Angel in another room with a different toy, but she soon wised up to their deception, and invited herself in anyway. I tried to convince the older kids to let her, but they were being very stubborn. Unfortunately, it ended sadly, with Dorathy shoving Angel away and hurting her. So we ended the picture taking session with many condolences to Angel, and must chastisement to the older kids for being so pushy...literally.
In the end, the older kids all agreed...their relationship with their sister is more important than a silly old puzzle picture. They all had to apologize for hurting Angel's feelings. And I'm just hoping they'll remember our discussion the next time this happens...maybe with enough repetition it'll sink in!