tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-284024692024-03-07T01:40:33.482-05:00mommy2himRubbing the back of your neck with chinese food might cause temporary seizures. I suggest you stop that immediately Katie!sourpatchbabyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07186559010895144558noreply@blogger.comBlogger266125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28402469.post-64904604199987871122010-08-13T16:32:00.003-04:002010-08-13T16:43:56.003-04:00Deployment EFF to the Y O U!It's been crazy, he's been home less than a month now and it's hard to readjust our lives again. He's not used to being near small children whose attention needs suck the lifeblood out of you (he's asked me at least six times if we can't just send them to school, lol). I'm not used to having to run my decisions by anyone else before acting on them. Plus I have to share my car with him, gone are the days where I woke up and decided we'd be going to the beach or lake right then and there. The kids are not used to him anymore and it shows. Ducky is afraid of his daddy and will only go to him/allow him to touch him under very VERY controlled situations. The Kid is very afraid that daddy is going to leave again. Every time that The Hubby leaves to the store or to work, The Kid starts crying because daddy left again and he won't see him again. He has been going to work (on a modified schedule) while they finish all the redeployment paperwork. Thankfully though, his leave starts tomorrow and we'll be going on a family vacation. Hopefully spending a month traveling in Cali and Tijuana with daddy 24/7 will be enough to get the boys to become more comfortable with the fact that daddy is here to stay. <br /><br />The plan is for us to leave on the first plane that goes to Cali (free flights, but it can be a pain to get there) and then hitting up a few of the touristy attractions. Since Tijuana is just a short drive away we'll be going there for the day as well. Never been to Mexico before so I'm excited and looking forward to it. Although we won't be staying in Mexico overnight due to The Hubby's unnatural fear of being stabbed to death by a Mexican gang member (stems from his having gone on a missions trip to a part of Mexico that has more gangs and murderers than normal people).sourpatchbabyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07186559010895144558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28402469.post-50104650984238120762010-05-14T22:35:00.002-04:002010-05-14T22:35:00.453-04:00The smurf creator sold his soul to the devil to make his show a successand that's the reason my grandma wouldn't let us watch that show. That, plus apparently some kids that were alone watching the show said that the smurfs came out and scratched them. Never mind the fact that the entire show revolved around an old guy trying to commit genocide and a town with only one female and a surprisingly large number of children and babies with no visible parents.<br /><br />But that got me talking to a few people and then everyone started spouting off their favorite eighties cartoon shows which brought back a lot of memories. <a href="http://www.rainbowbrite.net/show.html">Rainbow Brite</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000MEYJJW/disneysworldofwo">Strawberry Shortcake</a> (the original, not the weird version they came up with recently), <a href="http://www.tv.com/she-ra-princess-of-power/show/2133/summary.html">She-Ra</a> (or She-Man as she was called in our country), He-Man, <a href="http://www.thundercatsho.com/%5CIndex.html">Thundercats</a>, Voltron, Transformers, and who could forget <a href="http://www.angelfire.com/va/dreamrib/jem.html">Jem and the Holograms</a>. Man, I wish I was back in the eighties. At least then you knew what to expect from cartoons and it wasn't wondering whether or not this picture is true:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1j6NrFNCydnS0UmCr_W4roLPq7jlbrXB7-fnbOBl07vjrB0ED5TPWbuuSsCIWzKIlweJuU83Dhgr8nq-NfhBYDI5lpeTENLNbBrpwya-C9zdkd878U9r0O4XNPUh_rstPKOx0/s1600/10432_271124400337_748650337_8724706_647738_n.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 256px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1j6NrFNCydnS0UmCr_W4roLPq7jlbrXB7-fnbOBl07vjrB0ED5TPWbuuSsCIWzKIlweJuU83Dhgr8nq-NfhBYDI5lpeTENLNbBrpwya-C9zdkd878U9r0O4XNPUh_rstPKOx0/s320/10432_271124400337_748650337_8724706_647738_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470587675526690818" border="0" /></a>sourpatchbabyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07186559010895144558noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28402469.post-19736429598910756032010-05-13T10:00:00.002-04:002010-05-13T10:00:03.991-04:00A pedophile's wet dreamHonestly, who the heck lets their seven year old girl child dress like a slut and dance like that in public? And then posts it on youtube so that anyone and everyone can copy it on their hard drive? Last time I checked, that song "Single Ladies" has a sexual undertone to it. Burlesque wear and pre PREpubescent girls should not be used in the same sentence. And the dancing, holy toledo the dancing. Yes, the girls do have talent and can do moves that would be hard for a lot of older girls taking professional dance lessons. But that does not excuse the fact that they're shaking things that they don't even have and dancing suggestively. I would like to know what was going on through the parents heads when they saw their girls practicing to that song and then saw the outfits.<br /><br />The outfits kill it, I mean if they were wearing loose jeans and fitted tops the dance would look halfway normal. And I say halfway because there are a few parts of the dance that are suggestive no matter what way you look at it. But other parts of the dance are okay and would look much better on a child who was wearing a bit more clothing.sourpatchbabyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07186559010895144558noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28402469.post-44792031078845593812010-05-12T22:10:00.004-04:002010-05-12T22:20:59.989-04:00They gave me the midget roomThis stuff is fun. I get to be sent to a five star hotel to spend a few days lounging around, get free books, money for food, win prizes, and get free daycare. All I have to do? Send my husband to a warzone for a measly year. Not too shabby (yeah, right). We had fun, we did the five love languages, the five love languages for children, and even watched (and got the book for) the laugh your way into a better marriage seminar. Too too funny, I definitely recommend it to all married couples. And to top it all off, I got two copies of the Love Dare book (the one that the movie Fireproof is based on). All signs and rumors are pointing to The Hubby's unit coming back a month early but like I told him, until he's on a plane home I'm not believing anything. After all, this is the same Army that moved up his deployment date via text message. The kidlets and I spent quite a few hours at the kiddie pool. I'm happy to report that The Kid is almost swimming. I'm even sadder to report that that child swims better than I do.<br /><br />But back to the midget room. They gave us a darn midget room, literally. The bathroom counters were about two inches higher than my kneecaps. The bathtub was ye high (about eight inches tall) so there was no danger or fear of Ducky drowning in the tub accidentally. That's seriously one of my biggest fears, that and being chased by zombies. The toilet, oh my God the toilet. Let's just say that when I sat down on it, my knees were touching my ears. But my two year old was able to stand next to the toilet and pee comfortably. And when we were jumping on the beds my head kept hitting the ceiling. Darn midget room.<br /><br />But since the kids were having so much fun with a room that was just their size, I didn't call the front desk to get a different room. Darn motherly instincts, I suffer for three days so that they can have fun.sourpatchbabyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07186559010895144558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28402469.post-79475283532535369632010-05-06T03:10:00.002-04:002010-05-06T06:38:32.086-04:00Holy schmoly this thing is till upI keep coming back to this blog trying to type something and then stop. Facebook has been getting all my love lately. So many things have happened these past few months so I'll give you the Reader's Digest Condensed version of it. The Kid started karate, soccer, and HeadStart. The kidlets got new carseats. The kids and I got to stay at the <a href="http://www.royal-hawaiian.com/">Royal Hawaiian Hotel</a> for free thanks to a nifty deployed spouses conference. Heck, just for sitting in a room listening to some chaplains talk about the love languages I got to have full daycare for three days, a luxury hotel room, free food, vouchers for more free food, and even won a couple's massage certificate which is good for another two years. Will be waiting for The Hubby to get here to cash in the certificate. I started teaching The Kid how to read, write, and simple math (have nothing else better to do with my day, lol). I started school. We had R&R. I spent way too much money in two new wardrobes for The Kid and myself (thankfully Ducky still fits in his 6-12 month sized clothes so I don't have to buy him anything for a while). I had an experience traveling through the Space A program. Oh yeah, and The Kid broke the truck. And not like, omg you broke my truck. More like Sweet GOD IN HEAVEN WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY TRUCK CHILD! It was bad. Very, very bad. I put him in the car and told him to get in his seat, turned the car on so they could have a/c and turned around while L asked me a question. In those .03 seconds he got into the driver's seat and put one foot on the gas and the other on the break. And pushed, hard. While I reached into the car to pull him off the car made a noise that sounded like a dozen spoons were thrown into the garbage disposal. Needless to say, the engine was kaput and I was carless. Of course, this did had to happen three months after we finished paying off the truck (early, might I add).<br /><br />Gone were the karate lessons, soccer practice. Heck, even the visits to the dentist were gone. The only reason we didn't die of starvation was that the supermarket happens to be within walking distance of the house. So I would put Ducky in the carrier, The Kid would walk, and I would push the umbrella stroller so that I could use it to carry the groceries home.<br /><br />And then we had R&R, we decided to go back home for it so the kidlets and I loaded up and hopped on the Space A flights so we could make it back home in time for The Hubby to get there as well. Can't go into too many details of that as it would take a week and I'm trying to make things snappy. But we did get a car, a minivan actually. I threw a temper tantrum at The Hubby so that I could get something that fit more than two carseats in the back. Of course, we had to ship the car back here so we only drove it for two weeks while back home before we left again. It came here in Feb. And then I decided that there was no way in God's green earth that I was going to allow the <a href="http://realdirthawaii.com/">red iron dirt of Hawaii</a> stain the cream carpeting. So off I went to the store to buy a black outdoor rug and I spent an afternoon cutting and measuring the rug to make it fit in the car. It's worked great might I add. Especially when it rains and all that oxidized dirt becomes mud. And the texture helps wipe the shoes and might I add also hides dirt and cookie crumbs. Win/win all around. I do like the new car. It's a Nissan Quest and it's quite lovely inside and out.<br /><br />With the new car coming in I was able to get the kidlets back to the dentist for a way overdue visit (car broke in October and didn't get the minivan here until Feb) only to discover that despite my using a dentist's pick on his mouth daily and having him use mouthwash daily as well, The Kid had two cavities. Of course, our crappy insurance meant that the only fillings they'd partially pay for are the metal ones and I didn't want my poor boy walking around with tons of metal in his mouth. So off I went to find a pediatric dentist that did composite fillings. Thank goodness I found one since he is ten times better than the other dentist who conveniently "forgot" English when he pleased. He got the first filling done yesterday* (they're on opposite sides of his mouth) and the poor thing looks like he got infected. The gums look white around the tooth and he says they hurt. So off we will go to the dentist again tomorrow to get it checked out. Poor boy, I feel so sad for him. But the new dentist inferred that the old one was incompetent and inept since The Kid is so easy to work with.<br /><br />The Kid started swimming lessons. Sadly though, even though he has a long way to go before anyone can say that he knows how to swim; he knows more than I. Soccer season is over so I couldn't get him back into it but next month is sign ups for pee wee baseball. I shall enroll him in it the very first day. I've been wanting to enroll him in baseball since he was swimming around in his daddy's undies. The Hubby gave me the go ahead to homeschool the boys (yay! Party in my mouth!) so I have set up the extra bedroom to look like a classroom. I have pictures on my facebook but I'll have to post some here as well. Since The Kid knew basically 99% of the kindergarten curriculum from the company I decided on (My Father's World), I ended up getting the 1st grade curriculum. I don't have to submit anything until the year he turns six and I can spend two years on the 1st grade stuff if I have to so it won't be so hard on him or me.<br /><br />But this is a bittersweet weekend, this is my sixth anniversary and mother's day weekend (Sat and Sun respectively). I am a bit sad about that although The Hubby told me to buy myself whatever I wanted as my mother's day/anniversary present. So I chose a sewing machine since I've been wanting to learn how to sew. But I do get to go on another conference this weekend. This time we'll go to SWEET MONKEYS ALIVE! I just googled the name of the hotel (Marriot Ihilani Resort) and this came up "One of Conde Nast's Top-Five Spa <b>Resort</b>s in the world." How cool is that? Somehow, I don't feel so sad about this weekend anymore. The Hubby being gone is what's getting me to spend the weekend at this resort so I'll be happy for that.<br /><br /><br />*by yesterday I mean Tuesday but I did start writing this on Weds.sourpatchbabyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07186559010895144558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28402469.post-33713606018445107692009-06-07T01:11:00.003-04:002009-06-07T01:16:52.802-04:00Dear HusbandWhen <span style="font-size:100%;">you </span>see me using the bathroom with the lights off,<span style="font-size:130%;"> <span style="font-style: italic;">do not turn them on for me.</span></span> <span style="font-size:100%;">Understand that </span>I'm not doing it because I'm some sort of closet vampire. I'm actually trying to hide from your spawn, er children. You see, the lights of the bathroom are connected to the fan and if I turn them on they will realize that I've escaped their grasp and will come and find me. Rather than having two screaming crying children disturbing the only 10 minutes of me time that I have, I'd rather do my necessities in the dark.<br /><br /><br />Please understand that and respect my choices. Or next time that I catch you going to the bathroom I will wait until you're too busy, open the door, throw a small child or two in there and close the door. Trust me, you do not want to be reading Hansel and Gretel while trying to do number two.sourpatchbabyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07186559010895144558noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28402469.post-28409650173914410392009-06-03T20:27:00.000-04:002009-06-03T20:31:39.214-04:00Dear BILIf I hear The Hubby gripe about one more mail order/catalog/pyramid scheme thing that you're trying to sell to him, I'm going to go postal. If you value your life and that of your brother, please stop selling him candles/cookware/tupperwear/etc. We don't need it. Dude, it took me like six month's worth of research to choose our pots/pans, what makes you think that we're going to go gaga over your olympia pots or whatever the heck they're called.<br /><br /><br /><br />STOP TRYING TO CON US INTO GIVING YOU OUR HARD EARNED MONEY!sourpatchbabyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07186559010895144558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28402469.post-35652333942319122032009-06-02T20:17:00.001-04:002009-06-03T21:09:35.376-04:00Dear SILI appreciate that you're thinking of me, I really do. But STOP SENDING ME STUPID FORWARD TEXTS! Seriously! Stop saying how:<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">God spoke to me and said that you're blessed. If you want this to be true, send to 10 friends or have bad luck for a year.</span><br /><br />Or that<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Thank God that you woke up alive today. To continue being alive, send to ten friends.</span><br /><br /><br />I can't stand stupid forwarded messages. First of all, you're using up all of my allotted texts for the month (doesn't matter that I have an unlimited plan, that's beside the point). But second, <span style="font-style: italic;">and this is a biggie</span> If God were to want me dead, he wouldn't let me know through a text from a friend of a friend. Last I checked, The Bible does not say: <span style="font-style: italic;">thou shall forward all holy text messages or die. </span>And doesn't The Bible say that we're blessed already? Why do I have to forward it to 10 friends? What if I don't have that many friends, can I send to 10 relatives? Does it count if I send it back to the sender? What if my battery is dead or I'm camping somewhere with no signal and don't send the text out in time, will God kill me then?<br /><br />You see the pandora's box that you put God in when you start putting his name in these things? I think they'll have to open up a new department in heaven just to deal with all the repercussions of these kinds of texts.sourpatchbabyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07186559010895144558noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28402469.post-23576073282008976262009-05-15T04:13:00.004-04:002009-05-15T04:26:37.924-04:00Sweet! (Almost)free money! Field traing and deploymentsSo I got my first unemployment check this week. Turns out that when you quit because your spouse is relocating bc of the army you qualify for it. Sad part? Even though I'm *technically* getting less than half of my weekly paycheck, I'm actually seeing much more of it since I don't have to pay daycare and gas to work. Seriously, before after I paid daycare, gas, tithe, and bought groceries I had less than $50 left over per week. And that was after we dropped the health insurance through my job, my leftover money was even less than that.<br /><br />The Hubby's been gone all week for field training. Sucks to be him, I've had unbridled access to both the car and the bank account. I spent about $500, probably more than that. But I did get enough groceries for the next two weeks (minus fruits, they go too fast here to keep for long) and bought some things that I wanted and was told by The Hubby that "when you're working and bringing home a paycheck you can buy it."<br /><br />He's gonna go to war. Of course mr. dumbo listens to everything others tell him no matter how laughable it is thinks that he's not going to be gone for a full year because the president said that the troops were coming home. He doesn't listen to the news and can't see what I see, that <span style="font-style: italic;">if</span> they're finished in Iraq before the year's out, they'll just be sent over to Afghanistan or maybe even Pakistan (who knows what's gonna happen with them in six or eight months?). The clock is ticking down and before the year's out he will be sleeping under strange stars and looking at an unfamiliar moon. It's a good thing that his stint at AIT turned me into a darn monk. Otherwise I would've never survived a year without nookie.sourpatchbabyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07186559010895144558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28402469.post-85748084496713685162009-05-11T13:33:00.002-04:002009-05-11T13:35:27.735-04:00Me Gustan las vaca vacas decapitadasFor some odd reason that only Katie can understand, I find myself wanting to say that to my children. Somehow, deep down, I have this need for them to know that phrase and would love for them to randomly say it alongside their "that's bigger than your head!"' and "Holy poop on a stick!"sourpatchbabyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07186559010895144558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28402469.post-51525332250546812082009-04-29T19:17:00.000-04:002009-04-29T19:18:52.067-04:00Our Adolescent culture“There was a time, literally, when there were no teenagers.” This is the opening line of a recent book by columnist and author Dianna West. Her thesis is given away in the title: The Death of the Grownup: How America’s Arrested Development Threatens Western Civilization (St. Martin’s Press, 2007).<br /><br />Adolescence didn’t always exist. In fact, it is a rather recent phenomenon. This is the point of West’s opening line. In fact, the word “teenager” wasn’t really used until 1941. Not because there weren’t people who were teen aged, but because those years were not considered any more remarkable than any others.<br /><br />In virtually every other culture in the history of the world prior to late 20th century Western culture, kids became adults. Not so anymore. They now become teenagers or, to put it in more sociologically acceptable terms, they become adolescents.<br /><br />What happened to bring about this new stage in human development? The sexual revolution and political upheavals of the 60’s are, of course, the most obvious suspects. However, West suggests a number of other things, some earlier than the 60’s: a generation of disconnected fathers trying to deal with what they experienced during WWII, factories no longer producing necessities for war begin producing non-necessities for consumption, new marketing engines to sell these goods to people who didn’t realize they wanted them, Chubby Checker’s Twist, Elvis’ hips, the Beatles’ hair, automobiles-perhaps more than one-in every home, the growth of Hollywood, and the recognition by the marketing engines of the fortune to be made from this brand new segment of the population.<br /><br />Of course, adolescence is now considered a fixed stage of development. It is now expected that students will lose their minds from ages 13-18. “Kids will be kids,” we say. Only, we aren’t referring to kids anymore, we are talking about 15 year olds.<br /><br />There is another complication with adolescence. Its grip has forcefully expanded beyond teenagers, and in both directions. On the front end, we went from teens to “pre-teens,” and the marketing engines quickly spotted more financial potential. On the back end, whereas eighteen was once considered the end of adolescence, it is now considered the middle. Psychologists and sociologists now refer to adolescence as the stage from age 11 to age 30.<br /><br />But, there’s more. The reach of adolescence is even greater than this. Adolescence is now, and this must not be missed, the goal of our culture. Somewhere along the way, we ceased to be a culture where kids aspire to be adults and became a culture where adults aspire to be kids.<br /><br />What are the marks of a culture with a dominant adolescent mindset? Not surprisingly, they are precisely what we have come to expect from adolescents themselves.<br /><br />Demand for immediate gratification. We want what we want now, and we will not wait or work for it. Spiraling credit card debt, addiction to new technologies, bouncing from church to church till we find the one we like, abandoning marriages – this list could go on and on.<br /><br />Absence of long-term thinking about life and the world. Hand-in-hand with a demand for immediate gratification is a distraction from the real issues that actually matter. For example, on a recent 20/20 John Stossel showed pictures of major political figures and a few celebrities. 100% recognized TV personality Judge Judy, while no one recognized Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. A generation who is unaware of what is important in life will certainly misdirect their time and energy.<br /><br />Motivated by feeling rather than truth. This is a key indicator of a volatile person, and an even more significant indicator of a failing culture. Truth is murdered by pooled, and polled, ignorance. Other casualties include families, churches, masculinity, femininity, art, words, justice, charity, love, education, psychological stability, any coherent sense of identity, theology, mission, wisdom, beauty, and human sexuality.<br /><br />Wanting grown-up things without growing up. Ironically, despite our addiction to all things adolescent, we still expect to be treated like adults. “Don’t tell me what to do,” we say. “Every opinion matters” and “Treat me with respect,” we add. Of course, fools actually do not deserve respect and their opinions are, at best, a thorough waste of time and, at worst, dangerous.<br /><br />Expecting bailouts rather than accepting consequences. Not thinking before acting is a trait of adolescence, as is making excuses for it. In our acceptance of adolescence accepts we label this thinking as merely immature. “They’ll grow out of it,” we suggest. A quick look around reveals that “they” are not. Bad mortgage decision? The government should help. Sexual immorality? Birth control, abortion, and HPV vaccines. Falling grades? Tests are to blame. Poor behavior? They’re just kids.<br /><br />Focusing on appearance rather than depth. Seen in everything from fascination with celebrity to the way presidents and churches are chosen, cultures that choose style over substance are easily deceived and destined for tyranny. Few things are more historically verifiable than this.<br /><br />More could be added here, but the point is that sometimes what is normal, well, shouldn’t be. Adolescence is a recent, and foolish, invention. And, ideas have consequences. Good ideas have good consequences; bad ideas have bad consequences; foolish ideas have foolish consequences.<br /><br />Still, there is good news. Cultures like ours have a leadership vacuum. So, there is a terrific opportunity for influence for those who produce the leaders, especially if they produce who can think beyond the current cultural shallowness. Home school parents are in a unique position to raise leaders who will rise above the adolescent abyss.<br /><br />How can we do this?<br /><br />Challenge students, instead of coddle them. We aim too low with teenagers. Students do not need more entertainment, whether it is from the television, the IPod, or the youth group. They need, and want, to be challenged. We see this every year at our Summit student leadership conferences – student endure 70+ hours of lecture and instruction on worldviews, apologetics, culture, and character. Then they call home and ask for more money, so they can buy books!<br />Give them a thorough education in worldviews and apologetics. First, students need to know what they believe. Too many see Christianity as merely a private faith rather than as a robust view of reality that offers a tried and true map for life. Second, students need to know what others believe. There are non-Biblical worldviews that are battling for their hearts and minds, and for our culture. We contend that, at minimum, students need to have a handle on these six worldviews before going to college: secular humanism, Marxism/Leninism, postmodernism, Islam, New Age, and Biblical Christianity. Third, Christians must know why they believe what they believe. Too many Christians cannot answer, and are even afraid of, the challenging questions about God, Jesus, the Bible, morality, or truth that come at them.<br />Show them that Christianity is not just about what we are against, but what we are about. Proverbs says that without vision, the people “cast off restraint.” One of the main reasons that students are casualties of immorality is that they lack vision. While they may know what they are not supposed to do, they fail to understand the life of meaning, purpose, and impact Christ calls them to. Christian students often get the impression that we are merely saved from, and not to. They miss the “re” part of the salvation words that sprinkle the Scriptures: renew, regenerate, reconcile, redeem, etc. They miss that Christ not only came to save us from death, he came to save us to life - and abundant life at that!<br />Confront with them, rather than isolate them from, the major cultural battles of our day. Historically, Christians have sought to understand, and respond to cultural crises. They understood that these crises were the site of the battle of worldviews. Unfortunately, many Christians today are unaware of, disinterested in, or avoiding of issues like embryo-destructive research, euthanasia, emerging technologies, the arts, film, fashion, legislation, human trafficking, politics, and international relations. In the Garden on the evening before His death, Christ prayed these astounding words for his followers: “Father, do not take them from the world, but protect them from the evil one” (John 17:15). Our prayer, and preparation, for our children should be no different.sourpatchbabyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07186559010895144558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28402469.post-9604803152045101322009-04-24T15:58:00.002-04:002009-04-24T16:03:41.072-04:00Worshipping the porcelain godsI swear to God, I'd never been so glad to see a bathroom in my life. You see, we had to take the rental car back to the airport. I was driving one car with the kidlets and The Hubby was driving the other car. Five minutes into the forty minute trip it hit me. I had to go, and badly. I think I prayed to God more fervently than in those scary minutes when I thought Ducky was going to die at birth. We finally stopped at a gas station but it had no bathroom. I then went to a store behind it but it too, was bathroomless. I had to run across a large highway and down the block before I found a bathroom and it was just in the nick of time. I was <span style="font-style: italic;">thisclose</span> to going behind a bush, that's how bad it was.<br /><br /><br />Sorry for the TMI peeps.sourpatchbabyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07186559010895144558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28402469.post-80850877140380224172009-04-14T16:49:00.004-04:002009-04-14T17:07:05.536-04:00We're here, well, sortaGeez, where do I start. Well, the plane ride's a good place as any. Imagine: a stroller, two carseats(kiddos sat on these in the flight, NOT checked in), six suitcases, two backpacks, a huge diaperbag/purse, a three year old, a one year old, two planes, 14 hours travel time.<br /><br /><br />Oh, and did I mention that I did this all by myself? Yeah, it was a wild ride. But thankfully the kidlets were on their semi best behavior and things went along without a hitch. Except when The Kid got a weird rash all of a sudden from one of the plane's blankets. He got so weirdly hivey that the flight attendants considered having EMTs meet us at the airport. Thankfully we still had over eight hours flight time to go and the hives went down before we landed. I def needed to get myself into a bed and sleep. The second biggest problem we've had is the time change. We're six hours behind and these kid's body clocks are not behaving. They've been waking up between 2-4am (hawaii time) every day and going to bed at eight pm with no naps in between. And someone forgot to tell Ducky that it is NOT okay to stop eating anything at all and only nurse. He's worse than a newborn lately.<br /><br /><table><tbody><tr><td style="white-space: nowrap;" width="1%"><br /></td> <td style="white-space: nowrap;" width="1%"> <a style="display: none;" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=28402469#" id="show-labels-link" onclick="BLOG_showLabels(); return false">Show all</a> </td></tr> <tr><td colspan="2"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>sourpatchbabyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07186559010895144558noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28402469.post-65518677960650134792009-04-14T11:05:00.000-04:002009-04-14T17:05:58.459-04:00Ducky, amma gonna shake my fist at youI feel so sorry for that boy. He has had the worst three weeks evah. In no particular order he has had: a cold, ear infection, diarrhea, cut two upper molars, cut one lower tooth, chipped a front tooth, traveled back in time, and is stuck in a hotel room staring at us. I do hope he gets better soon although I doubt it. I think I saw the beginnings of another lower molar pushing through.sourpatchbabyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07186559010895144558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28402469.post-49644382959048242592009-03-31T16:58:00.005-04:002009-03-31T17:11:52.694-04:00Mommy!!! Daddy run away!! and EWWWWWWEwwww!<br />I was cooking and was slicing some garlic cloves when wouldn't you know it, Ducky reached in my plate and grabbed one of them <span style="font-style: italic;">and ate it!!</span> ewww. He ate the entire thing. I thought for sure he'd spit it out as soon as he tasted the frozen clove but not. Like a true Sourpatch child, he would not allow himself to waste anything edible. I was icked out and proud at the same time.<br /><br /><br /><br />on runing away.<br /><br />The Kid woke up two nights ago and came running into my room as usual. He didn't find his daddy on the bed and was surprised. He screamed out Mommy! Daddy run away!! The Hubby was in the living room at the time. It was super funny the way he said it.sourpatchbabyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07186559010895144558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28402469.post-21832694350786366942009-03-26T08:54:00.004-04:002009-03-26T09:08:58.069-04:00I'm quitting and not looking back, baby!This is it! My very last day of working here. I leave with a bittersweet heart. On one part, there are some awesome people that I've gotten to know (M, A, J, M, E, R) and there are also those whose name shall go unmentioned. I will miss seeing and talking to my girls here but I won't miss the office mama drama and all that it entails (and I'm mostly looking at the local crazies, i.e. S). This is also my very last day with real internet access. Probably by the time I get home, the pc AND tv will have been unhooked in anticipation of the movers. I still have SO MUCH to do it's not even funny. I have about two loads of laundry left (mostly diapers) and have to buy more almond milk for Ducky since his princess tummy won't tolerate anything but.<br /><br />Speaking of him, he got whatever it is that I have. Poor baby woke up eleventeen times last night and nursed nonstop. Woke up with a face crusted with snot (looked like those children you see in walmart). The poor The Kid also is getting whatever it is that I have as well, I heard him coughing several times during the night. He slept in the air mattress in his room since their beds have already been dismantled. Poor thing, he tried crawling to my room sometime during the night. I found him asleep on the floor. Half his body was in my room and the other half in the hallway. And the little snitch also pulled the stopper on the air mattress. When I went to wake him up this morning (I'd put him back on the bed when I found him), the mattress was completely squoshed and the stopper had been taken off.<br /><br />cross your fingers for me, The Hubby finally got the amended orders and will be trying to get our tickets on the same flight as his. Hopefully they'll still have seats available. And I'm going to go all out and not use 'sposies during the transition. I'd briefly considering using disposable diapers until we're in our own house in HI, but I'm going to try and not do it. I will use the laundromat in town until we leave, making sure all the dipes are nice and clean the day before. I don't think I'll have a problem using cloth on the plane. FBs are very good at holding things in, but just in case I will put a fleece cover over them. I will, however, make The Kid wear a pullup on at least the first leg of the trip. Last thing I want is to find out the altitude gives this child the runs. Until I can post again:<br /><br /><div align="center"><span style="color:#cc0000;">Hele me kahau 'oli</span></div>sourpatchbabyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07186559010895144558noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28402469.post-63748880555067631982009-03-25T20:52:00.000-04:002009-03-26T08:54:40.760-04:00I got kicked out of work the day before I quitlol. Tomorrow's my last day and I woke up feeling sick like a dog. Vomiting, nausea, cough, etc. I got a bad, bad cold. I still showed up for work since I didn't think it'd be fair to call in my second to last day, but as soon as the managers caught me puking into the trashcan I was sent home. I got to nap half the day so that was kinda nice.sourpatchbabyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07186559010895144558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28402469.post-13315696035191408342009-03-25T09:00:00.002-04:002009-03-25T09:05:44.726-04:00So long suckers!! (at least for now)Monday the movers came to pick up the small shipment. I was at work and The Hubby supervised. According to him, these guys were slower than a caravan of one legged men. And then the moving truck wouldn't start so he had to jumpstart their battery. Talk about efficiency, lol. Today I'm nursing a terrible head cold. Hopefully it'll go away soon. Tomorrow's my last day at work (cake day yay!) and I know they're planning some sort of surprise thing.<br /><br />Onto serious things now, my pc will be disconnected tomorrow and unless I go to the airport or the mall, I won't have 'net access. Still don't have my tickets though, it's been one snag after another. The Hubby leaves next Friday (that's one entire week 'net less here) and I'm hoping we leave either that day, or the day after. And then we have to wait until our stuff gets to us before having regular internet.sourpatchbabyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07186559010895144558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28402469.post-31682440151074630232009-03-20T13:03:00.003-04:002009-03-20T13:05:28.366-04:00MooOOOmmy, we have a problem!I'm phirsty<br /><br />That's what The Kid told me yesterday with such a straight face I couldn't help but laughing.<br /><br />Last week I was on the PC and hear:<br /><br />MoOOOm! Come on let's help me clean my bum. Me first and you second.<br /><br /><br />Kids do say the darndest things.sourpatchbabyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07186559010895144558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28402469.post-16361481942773523192009-03-20T13:00:00.002-04:002009-03-20T13:03:13.668-04:00Grf!@!The Hubby was supposed to get our tickets yesterday but couldn't. There was a mixup with the paperwork and they may fix it today. If it doesn't get fixed in the next couple of days, it might be a month or two before the kidlets and I join him in paradise. Which wouldn't upset me <em>that </em>much, except that my MIL already told her apt complex she'd be moving out 4/1 and I'd have to live with her for a month. Did I mention that I'd have no furniture the entire month? Not cool..sourpatchbabyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07186559010895144558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28402469.post-57662888904858168622009-03-18T12:38:00.003-04:002009-03-18T12:44:34.949-04:00Schedules 101So, this is the tentative schedule for now.<br />Thursday, The Hubby gets my and the kidlet's tickets<br />Friday, The Hubby will come home for two weeks<br />Saturday, he goes and buys me some suitcases<br />Sunday, I pack said suitcases<br />Monday, the movers come pick up the smaller shipment<br />Thursday, I wash all dirty clothes and diapers. Last day of work<br />Friday, movers come in for the big move. I follow them around making sure they pack everything they're supposed to and don't go into the locked bedroom.<br /><br />From Friday until we leave (hopefully next Friday, 4/3), we live out of a suitcase and sleep on an air mattress. Then it's off to Hawaii where we'll live in a hotel unitl we get a house. Oh, and my internet will be shut off as of 3/31. I'll have intermittent access to the 'net while we're enroute. Basically, where we can get free WiFI we'll use the laptop. Then it'll just be a matter of time between getting a house and getting the net installed. Hopefully I'll be back in full net acess by 4/30 as I don't know what I'll do with my time.sourpatchbabyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07186559010895144558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28402469.post-50512781113604776242009-03-11T12:27:00.002-04:002009-03-18T12:38:07.331-04:00Sitting before a medical screening board to test for crazy...Is how I spent half my day yesterday. Apparently, they're supposed to clear me and the kidlets from having any and all sorts of diseases/mental issues before allowing us to travel. I loved the question from the social worker:<br /><br /><br />Do you have any undiagnosed mental health issues?<br /><br /><br />Now let's take a minute here and think. How would I know if I have a mental health issue if it's undiagnosed? Was I supposed to ask Dr. Google? Are mentally ill people supposed to admit that they're ill if they don't know? I know that I'm different and semy crunchy and that I have an issue with pixie sticks, but other than that, no. I got a bit freaked out when they mentioned vaccines. The Dr. lady said: I see here that Ducky is up to date in his vaxes and that The Kid is the same as well. I just nodded and smiled. It was more than obvious that she'd never even looked at their files (which were in front of her) because if she had, she'd know that Ducky's never gotten a vax and that The Kid is lacking some too. Either way, I got out of having to explain to people why I chose to keep my children chemical free. I'd rather have my children's insides chicken embryo free, not to mention phermaldehyde and aluminum. Crazy people, the good thing is that we passed the screeningsourpatchbabyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07186559010895144558noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28402469.post-86512697150984669812009-03-10T09:12:00.003-04:002009-03-10T09:22:34.101-04:00ALOHA everyone!!!!That's right, We're going to HAWAIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Everything is happening pretty fast now. Suffice it to say that we will be there before mid April. I put in my notice at work yesterday (how awesome was that?!), my last day will be the 27th. My internet and cable will cut off the 31st which will leave me with about a week of no 'net while still in FL and it will be several weeks while we set up housing and have our furniture and pc delivered. Who knows how long that will take. For now, nyanya nyanya nya nya, I'm going to Hawaii to LIVE and you get to freeze your tushies. The Hubby wants me to find a job once we're settled but with the way the economy is and the high costs of daycare, I'm going to try and convince him to let me stay home with the kidlets. They're growing up so fast and I'm missing out on so much...<br /><br /><br /><br />Go ahead, hate me.<br /><br />And to top it all off, I got a brand new (Charlotte Russe) two piece business suit at a garage sale for two dollars. Fits me like a dream.sourpatchbabyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07186559010895144558noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28402469.post-41469100648648365692009-03-05T13:39:00.000-05:002009-03-20T13:42:27.027-04:00ALL Blog ToolsIf you needs to get your blog all nifty spiffy, you should check these guys out at <a href="http://www.allblogtools.com/">allblogtools.com</a>. You can get just about anything for your site and they will answer any and all of your questions. 'cept they won't give you their phone number. Something about a girl calling them at three am repeatedly asking what the heck a rss feed was..<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />oh wait, that was me last week. Sorry guys, I messed things up for the internets again.sourpatchbabyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07186559010895144558noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28402469.post-62590260329325721692009-02-27T13:12:00.004-05:002009-02-27T13:28:34.125-05:00I have SUCH great news but can't share (vent) update on Ducky humongous noggingI'm dying to tell you guys the news. I'm dying to tell you guys how absolutely amazing it's going to feel doing it. But I can't. In case my job knows about the internet. The good thing is that I'll be able to tell you guys either on the eight or the ninth. But it's awesome news!<br /><br /><br />In other less private matters, my mother is coming over to visit next weekend. Not sure if I'm glad or drearing the time. Thankfully it's going to be short so I won't have time to kill her if the urge comes.<br /><br />Ducky has finally decided that he's going to walk (only like 80% of the time). I swear, this child does these things to drive me crazy. He's known how to walk for months now. We've seen him do it, he's seen us seeing him do it, he's done alone. But he still chooses to crawl. GR! It's not that he is afraid of falling or can only do a few steps at a time. This child will be sitting on the middle of the floor with nothing near him and is able to get up, walk, stop, turn around, take corners, in short he KNOWS how to do it. He's not doing it because he wants to be held either, that's the part that confuses me. Unless we are out (like shopping or something), he's on the floor. He doesn't like to be held for extended periods either....<br /><br />The doctor found a hernia on his tummy last checkup. He says it's benign and that nothing needs to be done. Great, more things for me to freak out about. He also told me that he's monitoring his growth and brain development. Not because the kid is not meeting his milestones on time or has a problem, but (and get this) because someone messed up when they measured his head at an apt. They said that his head was smaller than normal. Now, granted, they remeasured his head right away and it was normal sized but apparently it's an automatic red flag and my kid will forever remind me of a shrunken head.sourpatchbabyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07186559010895144558noreply@blogger.com0