February 2, 2009

This coming Monday, February 2nd, will be Jacob and Emily's "Gotcha Day". That is the day they arrived home from South Korea. I can not believe it has been 8 years since they came home - where has the time gone?!?!?! The pictures above was the day were taken at Metro Airport. Yes, for the longest time my kids thought that when a new baby came home, you went to the airport NOT the hospital!!!

새해에 복많이 받으십시오!!!!

새해에 복많이 받으십시오 - It means Happy New Year in Korean. Today is Lunar New Year in the Asian countries - it is the year of the OX.

So, everyone have a safe and happy New Year!

Bolt Comes To Visit the West Home

In Jacob and Emily's class, their class mascot is "Bolt" from the Disney movie. Each weekend one child is allowed to take Bolt home and then journal what they did together. This last weekend was Emily's turn to take Bolt home. I had to laugh, because she wrote that Bolt and Austin were scared of a daddy-longed leg spider; slept; and watched "The Clone Wars". Too funny!!

Mr. Hanks Apologizes For His Idiot Remarks

It appears that Mr. Hanks has finally come to his senses and has apologized. His remarks appear below:

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Tom Hanks Apologizes for Calling Mormon Supporters of Proposition 8 'Un-American'

Friday , January 23, 2009

Tom Hanks says he's sorry he told FOXNews.com that Mormons who supported California's constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage were "un-American."

"Last week, I labeled members of the Mormon church who supported California's Proposition 8 as 'un-American,'" the actor said in a statement through his publicist. "I believe Proposition 8 is counter to the promise of our Constitution; it is codified discrimination."

"But everyone has a right to vote their conscience; nothing could be more American," the statement continues. "To say members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints who contributed to Proposition 8 are 'un-American' creates more division when the time calls for respectful disagreement. No one should use 'un- American' lightly or in haste. I did. I should not have."

The "Big Love" producer made his original remarks at the Los Angeles premiere of the HBO series last week.

“The truth is a lot of Mormons gave a lot of money to the church to make Prop-8 happen,” he told FOXNews.com. “There are a lot of people who feel that is un-American, and I am one of them. I do not like to see any discrimination codified on any piece of paper, any of the 50 states in America, but here's what happens now.”

Read Tom Hanks' original statement in full.

Kim Farah, a spokeswoman for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, responded that "expressing an opinion in a free and democratic society is as American as it gets."

Bill McKeever, a rep for the Mormonism Research Ministry, added, "Personally, I find it un-American to tell people that they shouldn’t vote their conscience."

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Source: http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,482266,00.html

"Love and Logic"

Well, I have been using "Love and Logic" on the kids for a week now. For those of you that don't know, "Love and Logic" (www.loveandlogic.com) is an positive approach for parenting children. No yelling or screaming - just empathy, having the child think for themselves and natural consequences. The first two days were tough with Jacob, but he is coming around slowly. On the first day, Austin said..."Oh, I get it. You are being a nice Mom now!" Hmmm, I guess I wasn't a nice Mom before?!?!? I am hoping this continues to work, cause my blood pressure was off the charts with the old method - yelling and grounding! :/ I will keep you all posted!

My Blood is Boiling!

Tonight I found out that Tom Hanks made some off-handed comment last week about how "Mormons were Un-American" because the Church supported Prop. 8. So tonight I spent a few minutes typing a little rebuttal to Mr. Hanks and posted it on the "Variety" website. I am sure he will never see it, but at least I felt better! And to let everyone know, not one person that left comments were in support of Mr. Hanks comments! :) Ok, I am getting off my milk-crate for now!!

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Mr. Hanks:

My family has lived in this country before it was a country. I have had at least one of my ancestors, and now cousins, fight in every war this country has been engaged in - all the way from the Revolutionary War to the current war happening in Iraq. I am American - yes, a flag waving American!! I am also LDS (aka Mormon). I think you would be better off making movies than spouting your idiot comments to the press about how "Mormons are Un-American". You have no clue. There were plenty of Catholics, Baptists, and other folks who do not want to see the California Constitution be changed because women want to marry women and men want to marry men. I would strongly suggest you keep to memorized scripts, because when you speak and think for yourself it is making you look like a fool!!!! I for one will not be seeing any films that you are involved with (in front or behind the camera) and the ones that I do own will be in the trash by the time I go to bed tonight.

More Snow!

Yes, believe it or not there is more snow falling. We are under a Winter Storm Warning, which means we could get up to 7 more inches. Oh well - good excuse to stay indoors today.

Emily's Personal Blog Post

Emily wants her own website, so I told her she could have the blog entry for today.

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Hi, my name is Emily! I have a lot of talents. Dancing, especially ballet, hmmm...playing the piano and the guitar. I like drawing and singing and reading. I really LIKE school! My favorite subjects are math, literature, reading, writing, art and music. My teacher's name is Miss Hill. She is nice. There is also Mr. Kram. He is nice too. We did a race to see which scabs heals first. It has been weeks and maybe a few months. Anyways, my best friends are Rachael and Lauren. My new friends are Ava and Ashley. My boyfriend is Matt, but he doesn't know it yet. Kidding - he does know it. My little brother Austin tells him that. I then chase my little brother for telling Matt that. Austin doesn't like that I chase him and then he chases me.

I have one more brother named Jacob who is almost 10 years old. He likes computers. Sometimes he plays Star Wars with Austin on the Wii. Sometimes NOT on the Wii. Austin, who is 5 years old, loves Star Wars, especially the Clone Troopers like Captain Cody.

I have two dogs and five fish. Do you want me to tell you their names? Their names are Kenny and Molly (dogs) and I don't want to tell you the fish names. But one is a school of fish.

That about does it from me, Emily. I will try to get Mom to let me post again.

Love,

Emily
The Family Princess and Diva

Happy New Year!

Just wishing everyone a very Happy New Year!

The Weather Outside "Was" Frightful!

Just on Christmas day, we still had about 15 inches of snow on the ground - today it is almost gone. During one of the kids snow days, Emily and Austin went outside to play. Here are a few photos of their romp in the backyard.

Christmas Morning!

The boys playing the game Lego Star Wars on the Wii

Emily and Jacob checking out their stocking

Austin and his Star War ship

Emily has been talking about this guitar for WEEKS!

Jacob wanted almost all science things this year. Here he is with his microscope

Santa (along with Grandma and Grandpa) gave the kids almost everything they wanted. Emily was disappointed that she didn't get that HORSE, but she will get over it. HA!

Christmas Eve!

It has been a tradition since the kids came home that I make matching Christmas jammies. Of course, they really didn't like them this year, since there were scotties on the fabric. But hey, it was the only fabric that I could find that had enough for the three kids! And yes, those are gloves on Emily's hands. She refuses to stop picking at her boo-boo's, so I resorted to taping gloves on. Anyway, they still look adorable!

Merry Christmas!

Hoping everyone is having a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas Concert Pictures

Jacob and Emily

Austin

The school Christmas concert was on Tuesday night. Emily and Austin loved going, Jacob was not so happy. Even though he did sing, a little, he was not a happy camper.

Let It Snow!

We are getting a ton of snow today - over 10 inches. The kids are happy because they have a snow day.

School Christmas Concert and Snow!

Tonight was the kids school Christmas concert. All three did a great job and they looked so cute dressed up in their Christmas outfits. While at the concert, it started to snow. The snow looks so beautiful - fluffy and glistening. As soon as the get the pictures off the camera, I will get some posted!

Update!

Sorry folks - it has been crazy here. Hey, haven't I said that before? Anyway, I will give you the Cliff Notes on what has been going on!

1) Jacob! We have been having a hard time with him lately. I took him to doctor again last Monday and they put him on a different kind of medication for ADHD. I don't know if he really has ADHD, but the doctor feels that the medication could help him with this complications from his Aspergers Syndrome. The first med, that was prescribed in October, did not work!!! His meltdowns were awful. One day we had three in one day! ARG! Talk about being tired and drained - me too! No serious meltdowns since these last meds were prescribed - thank goodness!

2) Emily! Emily was back to the doctor last week to have her boo-boo's checked. From all the stress with Jacob's screaming meltdowns, we feel she has been suffering from stress (haven't we all) and won't allow her boo-boo's to heal. The doctor put her on two different antibotics which she takes three times a day. They are looking good and should be completely healed by Thanksgiving. WOOHOO!

3) Austin (aka..Bubba)! He has been doing great. Austin always has a smile on his face and he loves his Momma. He is doing great in 1st grade math and finally starting to read books. Star Wars still occupies all of his waking thoughts . In fact tonight, for his homework, he decorated a paper turkey as a Clone Trooper. Last Wednesday Austin went with Scott to his first Detroit Piston basketball game. He loved it!! If you have a Facebook account, send me a friend request and then you can see a cute picture of Austin at the game.

4) Scott! Working hard and trying to keep sane in this house!

5) Molly and Kenny! They continue to sleep and eat, along barking at the squirrels. They are doing great - fat and happy.

6) Me! I am doing alright. Jacob has been keeping me busy (frazzled; frustrated and brain dead) with his endless meltdowns. Work has increased and I have been teaching computer programming at night. We did pick up our new vehicle last Thursday - a brand new Toyota Sienna. Yes, a foreign car!!! After hearing the US automakers WHINE; their stock dropping like a brick; the quality of their vehicles down compared to Toyota and Honda; their future unknown - I bought foreign. This was a hard decision for me, since I was born and raised in Michigan. It was pounded into my head that we only drive US auto's, because they are better than the "rice burners"! Wrong. After countless hours of researching (Consumer Reports; Edmunds) and compiled Excel spreadsheets, I found that brainwashing to be wrong. The new car is saving me over $100 per a year because the insurance company feels it is "safer" than my two year old Chrysler mini-van. I am so glad that I am not only saving money, but in a safer vehicle for my family. I do hope one day the US automakers come around and start making a product that matches that of Honda and Toyota and when that day happens, I will buy "American" again. Oh, by the way, my van is compiled of 85% of US materials plus assembled in Indiana. Last time I look, Indiana was in America!! :)

That about does it here. We are getting thru life and hoping and praying that the meltdowns continue to be lessened with the new medication.

If I don't log on before Thursday, I hope everyone has a very happy Turkey Day!

Rough, Rough, Day

It was a rough day today with Jacob. For some reason(s), he had a long meltdown at school today. He also had a rough night - several meltdowns. I don't know about him, but they wear me down - I am exhausted tonight!

Please Vote On November 4, 2008

Please EVERYONE, go out and vote tomorrow.

The Story of Emily's Chin!

Several people have asked about Emmy's chin. For whatever reason, Emily will not allow her skinned chin and lip to heal. I think when it starts to heal and start to itch, she picks at it until it bleeds (and stops itching). I have been putting anti-itch cream and band-aids on her chin to discourage her from picking at it and making it worse but it hasn't stopped her yet!

So, if anyone has any suggestions on how to remedy this please let me know.

Thanks!