The Big Secret

On Monday, we finally got the house cleaned up (kind-of) from all the Christmas activity. Rick went back to work, and it seemed as if things were finally settled back to our normal pace of craziness. Also, add in a little bit of Oh shit! What do you do when 7 children are home from school?

I told the kids that if they cleaned-up pretty well, then we could ask Rick if we could go out to eat when he gets home from work. (Unfortunately, this is a rare occasion in our house. It's something that both sets of kids had in their previous lives, but since we became the Brady-Doodle's, It was one of the first things we gave up. Even McD's costs about $40-$50 for us.)

So they cleaned, and I was so sneaky, because the dinner was already planned, and we weren't even paying for it. But My God people, you would have done it too if your kitchen looked like mine did. And then when Rick got home, they nominated Rainia to do the begging, and she batted her eyelashes and asked in the sweetest voice possible if we could go out to eat. With all of her eylash batting, and sweetness, Rick gave in (planned) and off to the steakhouse we went.

When we walked into the back room, where all the REALLY long tables are, to the kids surprise it had balloons, and a couple of people they soon recognized, and some signs that Andrew had to get about 6 inches away from to read, but there it was, in large print. "Bon Voyage Andrew!" "Disney Bound!"

Before we went into the restaurant, we had given the kids the normal pep-talk which included things like No Screaming, No Running, Don't stand on the table or climb the walls. You know, pretend you are actually civilized. And of all times to listen to us, they chose this one. So there we were, they had just found out we are going to Disney, and not a peep out of this bunch. You could have heard a pin drop. Ummm...Kids? Helloooo? We are talking about the happiest place on earth! In three days!

Finally Andrew asked if we were going to miss any school, Of-Course we are, and then the excitement started. Brooke quietly asked me if she could let out a little squeal, just one, and I happliy obliged, her and Rainia screamed, jumped a few times, and then the giggling, talking, and eating began. They were sweet. And funny, and started talking about what to pack. And I wasn't even embarassed in front of the make-a-wish people the whole time. Well, only once, when Rainia told Kyley that no one wanted to hear her bladder. She actually meant Blabber, which wouldn't have been a nice thing to say at all. But Bladder was much more enjoyable for everyone. Oh-Yeah, also when one of the make-a-wish ladies told her she had ice-cream on the tip of her nose, and she proceeded to clean it off. WITH HER TONGUE. I quickly had to remind her that that was a talent best kept to herself. She also made an announcement that this was the best day ever because she found out she was going to Disney, AND she got food. Now I know that she meant food in a restaurant, but this was just too much for Rick, who announced that the best days of his life also were the ones when he got to eat food. They all really had the make-a-wish ladies laughing the whole time.

And when we got home, and the kids got the luggage that Rick and I have been collecting for the last few weeks from the goodwills and thrift stores in our area (and neighboring towns), the kids REALLY freaked out. This is where I was glad I said all the stuff about not climbing walls, or practicing your cartwheels in the restaurant. But they quickly calmed down when we put in the DVD they had given us about disney. They sat watching, mesmorized, with smiles from ear to ear, and the occasional squeal of delight.

So we leave early tomorrow morning, and we are staying here That site is for the general public. But they also sent us a site to look at for the families. Kind of a 'what to expect'. And of course I will share that with you as well. It is here. I haven't decided yet if I will bring my laptop, so I don't know if I will be updating, but I definately will when we get back. We get home on Wed. the 7th. And the kids aren't actually missing that much school, because they weren't scheduled to go back until the 5th anyway.

Pajama Mama

I am not a huge fan of pajama's. I don't actually have anything AGAINST pajama's, I just can't seem to justify buying them. At good ole Walmart, kids PJ's cost about $10. Adult PJ's cost about $20. So for us, with 3 kids in adult size clothing, and 4 in kid's sizes, we are looking at about $100 for PJ's, FOR ONE NIGHT! This is why I am a HUGE fan of wearing a t-shirt and shorts to bed. or maybe sweatpants. Yeah, sweatpants make for nice sleepwear.

But, today was 'Polar Express' day in kindergarden. They got to wear PJ's to school, and slippers instead of shoes. They got train tickets, and watched the movie, and drank hot cocoa. So off to Walmart we went, to buy some PJ's, and Oh. My. God. I can't even believe I have been missing out on this. These boys were so cute that I could have eaten them alive. I mean seriously, have you ever seen anything this cute in your whole life?





No, I did not have to ask them to hug each other, because that is what they ALWAYS do. They just love on each other all day. They never fight. Ever.

The girl may be in rehab soon.

I don't seem to have enough time to update. B-Day posts soon. For now, I have a secret from the kids, and I want to tell them so bad, every day, and I just need to hold on.

Also, why does Walmart AND Books-a-Million AND Kmart have to be sold-out of the 3rd Vampire book? Poor Kyley, she read the 1st one in two days, and quickly had to get the 2nd, which she read in one day. Apparently they are really good. Also about 15000 pages long. Not really, but they are HUGE books. Now she is in withdrawal. I swear she is going through DT's and everything. I seriously have to find this 3rd book before she gets too sick. If you are in my area, and have the 3rd Twilight book, PLEASE HELP!!!

holiday busyness and vomit

Three holiday concerts...Brittney & Brooke's B-Day...Christmas Shopping for 7 kids...2 dogs...2 cats...2 horses...Holiday party coming up...Also something BIG...Tears of joy...It's a surprise.

And in other news, Rainia announced to me yesterday that we were the farting family. She also threw-up all over the floor of the stall at middle-school #2 during Kyley's holiday concert this evening. Why did she throw-up all over the floor instead of in the toilet? Because she was having to use the toilet at the same time. Poor, poor girl. And before we left she told me that her ear hurt. Who knew an ear-ache could be so severe? And I am the worst school parent ever, because when I tried to clean it up with little paper-thin brown school paper-towels, it didn't seem to work, and I almost vomited myself. So I genorously covered it up with the paper-thin school-brown paper-towels, and then coincidentally saw one of those yellow "wet floor" teepee things, so I set it up neatly at the door to the throw-up stall so that the middle school girls could be forwarned. Then I went to the office to tell them that I needed custodial assistance, only no one was in the office due to the concert. So we went back to the concert.

Crack-Town Christmas Parade

You probably didn't know that I am a parade Princess. Our whole family actually. Including precious. Unfortunately I don't have any pics of myself, Rick, or her, as we were sitting on our high perch. The best part was when the crazy horse Socks peed on the ground next to Rick, and it was so forceful that it splattered on his legs. The second best part was decorating the horses. The worst part was that we didn't actually get to see any of the parade except the people who were directly in front of us.

Kyley rode Montana, and Brittney rode Smokey. We decided not to put Snow in it, because she needs a little work. Mainly she needs brake pads.

Montana's butt. We got tree skirts for them, bows, and bells.


Smokey in her pretty bows. Brittney did a great job with these.


Here is Brit and Smokey. Check out these reins. I wrapped tinsel around them. So Cute!




Kyley and Montana




Our girls together


The HayRide. Check out Andrew and Jake's faces. They are so happy to be here. Did I mention that it was really cold? And we had to wait forever?


Finally moving!!! That is a long line of horses!


In this pic. I zoomed in from my perch as parade queen. See if you can spot Kyley and Brittney!

X-Mas Recommendation

From the authority of a very large family, My 1st ever product recommendation:

If you need a Christmas gift that the whole family can enjoy, I suggest this:



We have the playstation 2, but I know that SingStar comes in every system. Singstar comes with 2 microphones, and then you can buy different versions. Kyley got SingStar 80's for her B-Day, and the kids loved it so much that they pooled their money together to get another version. They got 90's!!! The game is very easy, even if you can't carry a tune. It has the words to the songs, but also these bars across the screen that tell you if you need to be on a higher or lower note. This game also works for kids who can't read yet!!! If your kid is the type who sings along to the radio, they will be able to sing along to this game, and get high scores. ALL of my kids love it. You can sing alone, together, or against eachother. Also, the party game is so fun. It says up to 8 players, but we played the party game with 10 players.

And can I just say that seriously, there is nothing better than hearing your kids singing the songs that you loved when you were their age. I mean is your life really complete without hearing your 6-year-old tell you how much he loves "Ice-Ice Baby"? Or catching you 10-year-old singing "Wake me up before you go-go" while brushing her hair in the bathroom? And the best part? Hearing the man in your life belt out Blondie. Your children will look at him in a whole new light.

My only warning about this game is that if you have a job that requires you to communicate verbally, you should probably open it when you don't have to work the next day. This is just in case you sing for 16 hours straight, and then lose your voice. (Uuuummmm, Not that I would know from experience...I'm just saying.)

You might just find that you are suddenly interacting and laughing with your kids. And that your pre-teens and teenagers are saying "Go Mom! You Rock!" Or are giving you five as they turn to your husband and say "She BEASTED you Dad."

Good Times. Good Times.

Rick: "What are you doing? I told you it was reading time 5 minutes ago."

Rainia: (With her face strangely close to the Christmas tree) "Just smelling the good times."

And to prove the vision problems

Conversation as soon as I picked up the kids today:

Andrew: Oh my God, guess what?

Me: What?

Andrew: I got in the wrong van today.

Me: Oh No. You're kidding me. What happened?

Andrew: It pulled up and stopped right in front of me, so I opened the door, Then I looked harder at the woman, and she had glasses, and I thought This isn't my mom. I didn't say that though.

Me: What did you say?

Andrew: Nothing.

Me: What did the woman say?

Andrew: She just said Wrong van.

Me: Oh man, that sucks. I'm so sorry that happened. Did anyone else see it?

Kyley: SO many people saw it. Everyone was laughing.

Andrew: Yeah. Everyone saw it.

Me: Oh no. Were you embarassed?

Andrew: Well, not really.

A Blind Witness?

Dear Guidance Counselor,

I understand that you did not see what happened. I would recommend that next time you choose a student to be your witness, you choose one who does not have vision problems due to a brain-tumor. Also, when he told you that he didn't see what happened, I don't appreciate you calling him a liar, and telling him that if he didn't start telling the truth that he would get suspended. Yes, he is seated in the front of the class, it is in his DOCTOR'S ORDER. This doesn't make him the class babysitter. Uummm, that would be the teacher's job. Where was she at? Next time you choose a witness, choose one who can see. And also, you are the GUIDANCE COUNSELOR. Is it your regular practice to treat kids like this? Seriously? Oh-yeah, one more thing, my fiance didn't appreciate you intimidating his son, and he also didn't appreciate that when I went into the school to explain the situation to you, you were in no way apologetic, and in fact, when I told you that Andrew couldn't see, your reply was "Well, can he hear?" He didn't do anything wrong. When you got there, he was still seated nicely in his chair. I can't even believe that you were threatening SUSPENSION because he didn't make a good enough witness for you. JERK!!!

Christmas Tree Smell Tip

The best part of having a real Christmas tree is the smell. If you want to increase the Christmas aroma, or if you have an artificial tree, you can recreate the real Christmas tree smell. I like to keep the clippings from my tree, and use them a little at a time. You can take a few clippings and put them into a pot, bring to a boil, and then turn it off. Just sit back and smell the Christmas aroma fill your house. If you break up the clippings first, it releases the aroma even further. So if you are wondering what to do with those clippings, that is my Christmas tree smell tip. If you have an artificial Christmas tree, you can go to any road-side vendor of real trees and ask for some left-over clippings. There you have it, the simplest, cheapest route to creating the real Christmas tree smell. Of course, if you choose to use a pre-made candle to create the smell, I highly recommend "The Yankee Candle Company"

The Snow-Tree

We went to cut down our Christmas tree today, and I would love to show you all of the awesome pictures I took, only I don't have any. There was no memory card in my camera, and my camera holds a total of 3 pictures without a memory card. Plus, I don't even have the cord to get those 3 pictures from the camera onto the compututer.

It was so special though. We went to the same place we went last year, about 2 hrs. north, in the mountains, and it even snowed for us. We only get snow about once a year, so it was awesome for the kids. On the way up the mountain, we finally saw snow about 10 miles from where we were going. Josh was so cute, because everything he saw was newly named. instead of rocks, they were snow-rocks. He saw snow-trees, and snow-roads, and even snow-cars.

When we got there, the kids all ran out to play in the snow. Snow-ball fights, tastings, and lots of falling down. They finally got on task though, running through the trees, looking for our perfect Christmas tree. The kids kept finding the best, perfectly shaped trees, but the ones they wanted were 9 feet tall!!! Uuumm...no guys, not this year. Although I wish we had the space for a 9 or 10 foot tree, that's not going to happen. Then we saw it. Rick actually spotted it first, but we all agreed that it was the perfect tree. 7 feet tall, and beautiful. We wasted no time. Rick got down and started sawing it, then every kid took a turn. They only lasted about a minute a piece, lying on the ground in the snow, and when all seven of them had a turn, the tree was all of 1/3 cut through. I took a hack at it, but then decided that it was much more fun to have a snow-ball fight with Josh and Brittney. So Rick stayed on the ground with the dull blade, and sawed and sawed until it fell.

The four girls proudly picked it up and carried it out of there. Then the kids all had to use the bathroom, of course, and the little Christmas store was closed because it was a Monday, so the owner actually let us all track wet muddy feet into his house so the kids could use HIS bathroom. Josh went first, and when he got out, he immediately took off his coat, and sat down on the couch, and ASKED FOR SOMETHING TO EAT! That boy is not what I would call bashful. I was embarrassed, but Rick laughed it off, and the guy loved it. We told Josh we would get McD's on the way home, and just when he was starting to take off his shoes, the last kid was finished, and we headed the 2 hrs. home.

Oh-yeah, and we're the coolest parents ever, we were even told we ROCK! Because we signed all the kids out of school early for our little field-trip. And in the school they asked why they were being signed out, and we told them they had an appointment, as soon as we got into the parking lot, we exclaimed "An appointment to go get a Christmas tree!" Brooke actually thought she was going to get a shot. But we were tricky about it. We waited until after 1:30 before we got any of the kids, because that way they would be counted as there.

The New Kid 2

Posted with permission. Gorgeous!!!


Photographer= Rainia Underhill

The New Kid

Introducing Precious! She is not actually staying with us like I thought she would be, but she is spending a LOT of time with us. And she fits right in.

Kylelyn Jade Underhill

turned 12 on November 26th. In this post you will find 12 pictures of her, 12 random facts about her, 12 of her favorites, and 12 things that I adore about her.



12 Random facts about Kyley:

12) She enjoys privacy more than anyone else in the family.
11) She is extremely academically gifted.
10) She loves to sing. And is good at it.
9) She collects Nutcrackers.
8) She has a fly-away pinky toe. Seriously, the space between that toe is ridiculous. She can also pinch things with her toes and pick them up.
7) She is a very light sleeper. If you open the bedroom door in the morning, she jumps right out of bed.
6) She has a passion for reading, science, and politics.
5) She enjoys videography, writing and directing short films.
4) She writes poetry.
3) She is extremely sensitive. Her passion, love, sweetness, and intelligence have come together to create a girl incredibly sensitive to her own feelings and the feelings of everyone in her life.
2) She has an overwhelming love for animals, and has been a vegetarian for 3 years.
1) She is the weirdest person I know.







12 of Kyley's favorites:

1) Favorite Color = Dark Green
2) Favorite Song = "Fall For You" by Second Hand Serenade
3) Favorite TV Channel = Sci-Fi Channel
4) Favorite School Subject = Language Arts
5) Favorite Animal = Horse
6) Favorite Season = Fall
7) Favorite Gemstone = Jade
8) Favorite Food = Sushi
9) Favorite Book = Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows
10) Favorite Movie = Phantom of the Opera
11) Favorite Career = Author
12) Favorite TV Show = Ghost Whisperer







12 Things I adore about Kyley:

12) Her intelligence. She amazes me on a regular basis with the things that her brain can process and the genious amount of knowledge she has.
11) Her good behavior. She is so good. All of the time. The worst offense she commits is if we catch her reading after "lights-out" time.
10) Her good nature. She is pleasant, and fun to be around, and rarely argues with anyone in the house.
9) Her sense of self. She never follows the crowd. She knows who she is, what she likes, what she believes in, and is not afraid to be herself. Even if it goes against the status quo.
8) Her fearlessness. She is so brave, standing up for what she believes in (see number 9.) but it goes even further. She will sing loudly in chorus, stand up on stage in talent shows, Try out for school positions, and speak up in class, asking and answering questions, even if she isn't sure of the answer.
7) Her ideals. Her sense of fairness and equality are so noble. She is the most just person I have ever met, even if that means self-sacrifice for the greater good. She would never cheat in a game to win. Things have to be fair for Kyley and the people around her. And she gets very upset if the're not.
6) Her passion. She carries her passion for the things she feels strongly about to the highest level. If it's within her power to do it, it will be done.
5) Her compassion. And empathy. She truly feels and thinks about others. I don't know how she holds it all in that amazing heart of hers. It must hurt with the amount of sorrow and love she feels for other people and animals.
4) Her curiosity. She wants to know about everything. There is not a topic that she finds boring. She is much more entertained by the history, and discovery channels than VH1 or Disney, which is what people her age watch.
3) Her beauty. Yes people, unlike Kyley I am a little bit superficial. And oh my god, my daughter is gorgeous. Looking at her sometimes brings tears to my eyes because I can't even believe that I helped create this perfect creature.
2) Her sense of humor. Her keen intelligence enables her to be so incredibly funny, coming out with these witty remarks that just crack us up. She has a sarcasm that anybody can adore, and a comeback for every comment. You know how you think of things after-the-fact, and have this "Oh I should have said that" moment? Well she actually SAYS it, on the spot. She is just so funny.
1) Her extreme weirdness. Face it, we are all weird. But Kyley is not afraid to be herself. She is just so silly and fun. I adore her.







Happy Birthday Kyley. I thank God for you everyday. A lot of people would say that eighteen is too young to have a child, but it worked for us baby. You were the beginning of my life. I can't even imagine where I would be if it weren't for you. Because of you, I am who I am. Everything I have ever done good in my life is for you and because of you. We have been through a lot you and I, and I owe my life to you. You saved me. I became what you needed, and to this day, as your needs change, I become a stronger, better woman as I try to fill them. Trying to be the person that you need me to be has created me, formed me, and I am so grateful to you. Thank-you Kyley.

Happy Birthday Rain

My dearest Rainia,

This post is coming a little late, because after your birthday, we all immediately got sick, and have been in bed until today. By all of us, I mean everyone except for Rick, Brooke, and Andrew.



My sweet, sweet girl,

You turned 10 years old this year. TEN!!! I cannot believe how the time has flown. You had a growth-sput this year, and are no longer the shortest kid in your class. (You are the 2nd shortest) You take a girl's sz. 8 in clothes, and you LOVE to wear dresses and skirts. Every year you have asked me to cut your hair short (somewhere in between your chin and ears) except for this year. You asked that it grow-out until the wedding. You like for me to curl your hair, and were so excited when I recently put subtle highlights in it. At 10 years old, you love HighSchool Musical. Your favorite character is Corbin Bleu's character. You have poster's of him in your room:



Your room is also plastered with posters of Chris Brown and the Jonas Brothers:





You love to play internet games on your computer, and also love your myspace page. You are extremely creative, you love drawing, painting, crafting, and making amazing things out of nothing with Brittney. As an example, the two of you recently made a new outfit for every Bratz doll you own out of toilet paper. But your favorite toys at 10 years old, are your Bratz, and your Baby Alive dolls:




Your favorite food is spagetti, and you say that you don't like cheese, although you love to dump it on your spagetti in the form of parmesan. You also don't like mashed potatos (What is wrong with you girl?) Your favorite color is, and has been for as long as I can remember, red. You love your cheerleading lessons with Brooke, and you love music and dancing. Your favorite song is "Say Goodbye" by Chris Brown. You love your cat, Pheonix.



You do well in school, not just academically, but you are also helpful. So much so that you were recently awarded the "citizen of the month" award.




You don't really enjoy reading though, you would much rather watch Disney Channel. Your best friend is Jazmynn, and she has been since you were both in kindergarten. You have a sleep-over with her at her house or ours almost every weekend. Your true soulmate though, is Brooke, and the two of you often disappear together. You can be found on the trampoline, not jumping, but laying together looking up at the clouds talking for hours. Or in our woods, taking pictures of each other, and building forts.





You are such a bubbly, energetic, happy, loving member of this household. When you get in trouble, it is for telling people what to do. Your nickname is Lil Mama, because you just can't help yourself, you HAVE to put your 2 cents into everything. You need to tell everyone what they should be doing, including Rick and Myself. If we take too long at the store, or if we need to go somewhere for the business, etc. We know that you will be the only one calling us from your Grandma's house to find out what we are doing, when we will be home, and do not forget (insert what we should not forget here.) You love to keep track of everything on the family calendar, which is filled with your handwriting, writing down everone's appointments. Yes, those are your X's and hanwriting all over that thing.



You are so energetic, that when you talk, you bounce up and down, and my head follows your movement, so I am constantly nodding my head up and down while you are talking to me. (This must look hysterical.) You are always being told to sit down at the dinner table, because even while eating, you have so much energy that you would rather be standing. And then, after dinner, you spin, or practice your handstands in the living room. It is a normal occurance for me to tell you that I am getting dizzy watching you when we are in the same room. When we go to the store together, I hold your hand, and spin you around while we walk, because this is the best way to keep you entertained and keep you to stay with me. Internal dialogue: As I am writing this, I am realizing that this girl needs to be tested for ADHD. I have often thought this before, but it does not interfere at school or with her bahavior.



You are beautiful, and so sweet, and your smile and laughter brighten the hearts of anyone who meets you. I adore you RainGirl, and cannot believe that you are already 10.








Happy Birthday Baby! We love you more than words can say!

Guest Post by Rick

I thought I would write this guest blog post tonight because my darling fiance is under the weather, along with 5 of our children. (Help me make it through the night)

I may be a little bit biased but I think I have an incredible woman, not only is she beautiful and intelligent, she can handle a household of 9 people, find time to write her blogs, and help me in the office. She can also make time for her friends whether it be giving them advice on their relationship problems or helping them plan their wedding. I think I am a lucky man, and can't wait for this woman to be my wife.

Thank-you StatCounter

Dear StatCounter,

Thank-you so much. I needed the good laugh that you gave me this morning. Yes indeed, I needed it very much. When you told me that someone had found my site by googling "teacher or nurse boobs", I laughed out loud. The dog got scared, as my hackling laughter filled the room, but oh how I needed that good laugh. Imagine the surprise of that special person who was looking to fulfill their fantasies about the lovely bosom of teachers and nurses, when google sent them here.

Then, when you told me that someone else was sent to my site when they googled "bare-assed boys", I really lost it. I love you Stat-Counter. And google for that matter. I need to thank google as well. For indeed, I did write about bare-assed boys here. Not exactly what that strange person had in mind, but yes, I have boys, and oh how they love to be bare-assed.

So thank-you StatCounter, keep up the good work. Your entertainment value is priceless. I love you.

So Frustrated Part Deuce

So I just went and had yet another conversation with Kyley about Mr Science teacher.

I have serious concerns about reporting Mr. Science teacher, because we live in such a very, very conservative, religious, republican area. I am almost positive that if I did contact Mrs. Principal about this, I would be the first and only parent to ever do so. Therefore, I am sure that nothing would come of it. Doesn't Mr. Science teacher need more than one complaint in his 70 years of teaching to change his ways? So this makes me feel like there would be ramifications on my kid. She already had a couple of rough days at school involving politics. The first was the day the students had their "mock" elections, which of course afterward they discussed who they mock-voted for, and she discovered that ALL of her friends thought she was crazy and stupid for voting Obama. The worst day though, was the day after the real election, where she bravely wore her Obama t-shirt, and was chastized, and had complete strangers angry at her for wearing it.

And it's not just Kyley. Poor Brooke got in a raging yelling match at school, 3 against 1, when she mentioned her views on being pro-choice. It went as far as her being called a baby-killer. It was carried on at home, when we found out that her own twin sister was one of the 3 kids yelling at her. Thank-God that my kids are so self-assured. After this happened, Brooke turned the whole thing into an essay for an assignment, on something that she was passionate about. The whole essay was about being pro-choice, and thankfully the teacher saw her passion and (even if she didn't agree) gave her the "A" she deserved.

Anyway, living in a more rural area, in the South, is hard for a girl from Vermont. And I would love for my kids to be able to hear all viewpoints on politics, to be exposed to many different cultures, and religions, and to make their own choices as adults. And these past couple of months really woke me up, because from the start I didn't think I was very political, didn't think that I was doing a good job trying to teach my kids my views. I even wrote it on this very blog somewhere that I am not very politically minded. But obviously I have done something, because in this sea of conservatism, where my kids are getting religious teachings in public schools, where my kids are being told regularly that everything I believe is wrong, they are listening to me. They are forming their own beliefs. A couple of them very strongly are forming beliefs and standing firm in them. All of them voted Obama in their mock-elections, even the kindergarten ones. And they don't all agree with me or each other about everything, but at least they are talking and thinking about the shit.

And that day that Britney had been in the group of kids yelling at Brooke? We discussed it, and we discussed the reasons they both felt the way they did. And then I naturally did what I do, and argued my pro-choice position, and I used the best debates for my opinion that I could think of. And just when I got Britney switched over to my side, I realized what I had done, and how it went against the big picture of what I am trying to accomplish with these kids, and I quickly switched it up. I told Rick I felt bad, and I called her back into the kitchen, and debated to the very best of my ability all the reasons why she should be pro-LIFE. And that night, I knew in my heart that that 13 year old girl new more about the issues surrounding pro-choice/pro-life than many adults. And she had heard both sides, until she was holding her hands over her ears saying "I can't take anymore!" and could now make her own informed decision.

So this is my goal. Not for my kids to be clones of my beliefs, but to be educated, and have their own beliefs. And I am SO blessed to be able to have a conversation with my 11 yr. old kid about her teacher, and for her to first of all realize and vocalize her opposition of having to hear his political views in the classroom. Then on top of it, I know that the reason it bothers her so much is because she has strong political views OF HER OWN, which are the opposite of his. I am just so blessed to be able to deal with this as a parent. It makes me cry the happy tears. I can only hope and pray that in the future I get to have to make more of these hard decisions. Decisions that make it so clear to me that my kids are turning out fucking incredible, and that no matter how stressful it feels in our daily life and how monotonous the days seem, and how they just seem to run into each other with all of our running around, there are some seriously awesome things happening in my household.

My kids are turning out exactly how I hoped and prayed that they would. So do I wish I was raising them in VT, where everyone thinks the same way I do? Yes, on most days I do. Do I sometimes feel like I am doing them a disservice by raising them here, where they have to deal with this shit? Absolutely. But my god, I cannot even express how successful I feel as a parent right now.

Which still leaves me with this bitter-sweet parenting decision. Do I report Mr. Science teacher to Mrs Principal, knowing that 90% (at least) of our area believes exactly like Mr. Science teaher? Do I risk the repurcussions on my kid as even if I do it anonymously the kid with the Obama shirt would be the one suspected? It is wrong. I know it is. I also know it is illegal. But it is also the way of life here. But, (smiling) not in this house.

So Frustrated

Dear Science Teacher,

Please stop telling my kid how much the country is in trouble now the Obama is president. Also don't tell her again how sick and disgusting gay marriage is. Also, Please stop telling her that the government has bigger things to worry about than the environment, and that it is stupid to be concerned with such ridiculousness. Also, you are a SCIENCE teacher. Did you have to tell her that evolution isn't true, and is just a ridiculous theory? I am getting ready to e-mail the principal.

We are the McFockers

Addressing Mama's comment on the previous "McSisters" post:

Tell Rick I like McBitches better!

Well, I did tell Rick, and he agrees. He says McBitches has a better ring to it. So I just need to say that this goes both ways. So what do you think his new name should be: McAsshole, McBastard, or my personal favorite, Rick McPrick?

McSisters

Which reminds me-

In our much younger days, while discussing our futures, Miss Kelly (Harley Bride) had mentioned to me more than once how she would want a "Mc" name when she gets married. Weird how things turn out. She is now Mrs. McElroy, and I will soon be Mrs. McQueen. We are McSisters. This is the most related we will ever be, as I will not be marrying her brother, nor will she be marrying mine (which of course, we have discussed in our much younger days.)

When I very excitedly told Rick about this amazing turn of events, and how we will soon be McSisters, he replied in true Rick fashion "More like McWhores". I love that man.

More Wizard of Oz Wedding

I tried to include lots of pictures that I am in, because I am self-centered like that.

For your entertainment:

















First things first, Rick cuts my dress as soon as we get to the reception: