Conversations in the Car

Listening to the Christmas Radio Station (Sunny) when a commercial comes on about TUTS doing White Christmas...

Me: Oh, David, let's get tickets to go see that!

David: No TUTS is too far away...it's in the Woodlands, you do realize that?

Me: No it's not, it's in Houston I've been there a few times (actually I think I said I had been there a million times)...heck we went and saw Scrooge there a few years ago remember?

David: That wasn't TUTS, TUTS is outside, you have to sit on the grass...you know, it's under the stars?

Me: No David it's not, it has a dome ceiling with little stars on it.

David: No Diana

Me: It's okay, we'll just look it up when we get home and you'll see that I am right. And when we see that I am right you can tell me I'm right and we'll get tickets. AND if for some reason I am wrong...then I'll apologize and we won't get tickets.

David: That's not the point

Me: I mean we won't get tickets because that means it's in the Woodlands and too far a drive.

David: Oh yeah, that's true.

So guess who was right?

50 Things I Am Thankful For

1. Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and The Holy Ghost
   
2. David
3. Liam and Violet
4. Parents *in-law too
   
5. Sisters *in-law too
   
6. Brothers *in-law too
   
7. Nieces
8. Nephews
9. Grandparents
10. Cousins
    
11. Friends
12. David's Job
13. Our Home
    
14. Scriptures
15. Church
16. Our cars
17. Computers
18. Internet
19. Art
20. Books
21. Cell Phones
22. Camera
23. Blogging
24. Good Food *especially Shrimp/Mussels/Scallops
    
25. Clean Water
26. America
27. Ideas
28. Freedom
29. Choice/Accountability
30. Hope
31. Faith
32. Charity
33. Word of Wisdom
34. Articles of Faith
35. Visiting Teaching
36. Missionaries
37. Testimonies
38. bedtime routines
39. play dough
40. Word World
41. Hot Chocolate
    
42. My Bed
43. Tylenol
44. Doctors/Dentists
45. Teachers
46. Laborers
47. War Vets
48. Holidays
49. Weekends/Any time together
50. For all the little things and for everything else in between!

RABID...By Mo

The following post is written by my youngest sister Mo. I am posting it because it was cracking me up.

Okay for about ten minutes I was chased by a squirrel.

I was outside getting a breath of fresh air while talking on the phone with my friend Kiara. I was just stumbling around on my driveway not paying attention, and then I feel something brush up against my legs, so I turn around and I see a squirrel. I do this little hop and I almost step on him (all the while screaming) I run a few steps ahead of it, and i start to say to kiara, 'oh that was so weird' but i didn't say weird,I just start screaming again because he ran in front of me, like he was challenging me or something.

So then I am running around in circles in front of my house being chased by this crazy squirrel. It would not stop chasing me. My mom comes out of the house because I am screaming so loud, and she just starts laughing at me!

But then it got serious, because it was still chasing me. So my mom grabs the hose and she says, "should I spray it with water?".

In between like lauging and screaming im like no, then Yyesss ahghahg.

It continues to chase me even though its getting soaked with water, then it starts to go after my mom. It scurries up the tree, and by this time I'm sitting on the car to get away from it. It climbs to the edge of the branch looks down at me, jumps down on to the ground, and then circles around to the other side of the car. My back is facing it, and my mom is screaming, "its behind you... OH IT'S ON THE CAR!" Now I'm jumping off the car, and i just make a run for the door, and it chases me all the way to the door!

That was the scariest thing ever. Also the funniest. I wouldn't be surprised if someone was secretly filming that.

Laughing All the Way to the Dentist...

Yesterday I got my temporary crown put on. They were almost done, I was just waiting on the Dentist to do some last thing and for the Dental Hygienist to take the mold to send off. My mouth and lips felt dry so I put on some chapstick... And this is what happened:

Dentist finished her part, then the Dental Hygienist (DH) came up to rinse out my mouth...

DH: "Did you just put lipstick on?"
Me: "Uh, well I just put chapstick on...why are my lips red?" (sometimes I apply lipstick then chapstick making my chapstick a little pink)
Dentist: "Oh, yeah I wasn't sure what happened there"...but note that she did not bother saying anything.
DH: "Well no, here let me show you" She pulls a mirror out of the drawer and shows me

My lips are flesh colored! I start cracking up laughing. The two ladies (Dentist and DH) start laughing too when they see my reaction.

Me between laughing: "My son, my two year, old got into my purse the other day and he was playing with my concealer and chapstick but I didn't realize he had mixed them together!"

The DH was kind enough to wipe it off of my lips. Good thing I know how to laugh at myself.

Conversations During Dinner

ME after Liam said mommy for the ten thousandth time that day: "He says that allll day but when I say 'yes Liam'? he says NOTHING, I can't hear it anymore today"!
DAVID: "Liam, say hippopotamus, that's not mommy that's hippopotamus"
ME...mouth hanging open staring at David.
DAVID: "you know cause it's a hard word to say"
ME: "Do you realize where you went wrong with that"?
DAVID looks down, kinda laughs nervously and says: "Yes, yes I do"
ME laughing but with tears welling: "You just told my son to call me a hippopotamus. When you know I'm working on losing weight"
DAVID: "I know I know, I'm so sorry baby, I really truly didn't mean it that way"!
ME: "Yes but perhaps it was a subconscious decision"
DAVID: "I think that's called a Freudian Slip"
ME: "I know I was trying to not be cliché" (fyi I have since learned a Freudian Slip is also called a parapraxis)
DAVID: "I am so sorry baby"!
ME: "I mean not long after you told me I was no longer sexy or good looking"
DAVID: "HEY, that's not what I said! I said I think you are pretty but you used to be incredibly hot in that picture"...
ME: "You didn't tell me you were thinking about a specific picture when you said that! What picture?"
DAVID: "That one on your desk"...






Never mind that I had HIS two babies in the last two years...and he wonders why he is always in trouble.

Loved Today

I wanted to write about a specific day, since my monthly updates are usually a generalization, I want to preserve what a typical day is like at this time in our lives. Liam was cute and playing all morning. He carries around a soft measuring tape that zips up when you press a button, he puts wooden letters that will loop onto it, onto it, like O's and A's etc. (just fyi, sometimes this game is played with a small bathtub fishing poll, putting letters on the hook and sometimes with a long soft plastic tube that is part of my breast pump) He just walks around the house, taking letters on and off, sometimes zipping the tape back up, then pulling it out again. Later gathering the letters and putting them in daddy's shoes. Randomly saying "mommy" to make sure he still has my attention. Violet meanwhile was being funny, especially since she discovered how to laugh! She was squealing loudly with delight, then I slowly go in for some tasty cheeks and she laughs a bunch then squeals some more, which makes me laugh. Violet loves to be held all day lately, carried around to be apart of my tasks... my arms are so tired! She will play on the floor, but only if I am there too.

Then around 11 a.m. we all headed out to the grocery store. They were angels...Violet observing and drifting off, Liam talking to me while we are shopping...mostly pointing out numbers or letters he sees in the store, sometimes telling me "that way"! and pointing with his finger which direction we should head (in response to my muttering 'okay now which way')...and sometimes quietly trying to swipe at the glass bottles of olive oil to knock down when I'm not looking...

We got home at 12:30. His nap time is usually 11, so needless to say, he went right to sleep. Violet went to sleep after I fed her. I cleaned the kitchen, ate lunch and played on the computer. by 2:30 I THOUGHT I heard Liam talking...so I walk in his room to let him out...but no he's still asleep...well not now that I barged into his room! DANG. Oh well. I feed him lunch, then Violet is awake and I feed her too. Then we go on our daily walk. I was explaining the anatomy of a tree to Liam. Asked him what color a dog we passed by was...he said PINK, I said no, he's black, he says "oh black" then I asked him what color the grass was, he said GREEN. This might have been a lucky guess...the other day I said "what's your favorite color?" and he said "blue"! Which is his normal response when I mention the word color because it's the first word he learned in association to color...since it is my favorite color!

When we got back from the walk he wanted to use the potty. He is so funny because he will pee a little bit, stop himself, empty it in the toilet, sit down again to finish peeing. And while peeing he bends down so he can see what's going on. He emptied it again, and sat down again... I told him "let's wash our hands now" and he jumped up to do so. 2 minutes later...he had a poopy diaper. I guess I should have let him finish his business.

Then we went to his room to play. Violet on a blanket grabbing at toys we placed around her, and swiping at the tower of wooden letters Liam and I stacked...and later rolling back and forth with a G in her fingers and mouth (it's too big to fit in her mouth). I was teaching Liam some words on his magna doodle, he knew pool even though I've never shown him the word. Even if he saw it on Word World, it's pretty amazing that he remembers it...it's either that or he did read it. I was teaching him what oo sounds like then added p and l.

We went through some shapes...he knew Diamond...which I never showed him before. I drew it to teach the shape to him and he yells very clearly "Diamond"! Really, where is he picking this stuff up from? I DID teach him pentagon a few days ago (yes I was teaching him pentagon before diamond...it's just diamond seemed like it would be confused with a square, I guess I was wrong), when I showed him the shape today he screamed "PENTAGON"! and he really did say it that clearly too. He can say heart and star very well also. Now triangle sounds like "trorcankle" square sounds like "scharrrrr" and circle sounds like "sure shool". His speech does improve daily.

I fed him and Violet dinner. Then I turned on a dance cd and we danced around the house. Liam kept screaming "mommy this FUN!!!" and he just kept laughing. We also raced back and fourth in the dining room that is completely void of furniture and will be for a long time. Until I collapsed on the ground and said "Mommy is tired!" I should have gotten out the video camera!!! I haven't video taped them in MONTHS (because we ran out of tapes) but I have tapes now so no excuses :(

By then it was 6. We played with Violet for a little while, got her to laugh some more. Then I put Violet to bed. He brushed his teeth, I read him two stories, then we say his prayers (he has started to try to repeat after me). Then he knows it's ABC time and screams "ABC!" I tell him to take a few deep breaths because I knew he was still a bit wound up. He obliged :) so cute.

He has the alphabet hung on his wall, and each letter has a cute picture next to it. So first we go through the letters and what they might stand for. Then we sing the alphabet. Then he says "Bingo!" and I sing BINGO to him, he loves to say G O and clap. Then he says "isitsppder" or "The Itsy Bitsy Spider". Then lots of kisses and hugs and he snuggles in his blanket and tells me goodnight! He is such a good boy. Our days are full of learning and laughter...well most days ;)

Root Canal Adventures

Not as exciting as it sounds...unless you were watching it live maybe. It went well, I am so happy about that. Couldn't feel a thing...well I felt my left eye go numb! Ha ha. The numbing stuff started traveling up my face, it numbed my nose and then my eyelid which I couldn't blink properly. It was weird, at first I was afraid they damaged a nerve that perhaps connected to my eyelid (obviously I don't know a lot about nerve connections). So I held up my hand and pointed kinda frantically to my eye. She explained it probably went numb. I thought about it, then nodded my head yes. My nose felt like it was stuffed up...because I couldn't feel my breath coming out of the left side. But I realized I was getting plenty of air so it was probably just numb too. That would suck to get a root canal while having a stuffed up nose, I wonder if they just tell you to come back another time?

So Sweet

Well as most people know, I don't drink alcohol. I have many friends and family who do drink and as long as they don't drink and drive I don't hold it against them ;) In other words I don't judge them...though they often feel the need to justify it to me...really I don't think you are a bad person, so don't bother. But I do have my reasons for not drinking and not wanting my spouse to drink, yes religion but also other reasons...

When I first met David (who is not LDS for those of you who don't know) I learned he didn't really drink alcohol either except an occasional glass of wine. But I knew even that would bother me if we were to get married, so right away I asked him if he would mind giving that up. He didn't even hesitate...he told me absolutely he would.

I remember he told me he had told his best friend, after his friend had asked him to come by and sample a new wine he got, that he isn't going to drink anymore because I had asked him not to. AND his friend saw it as a sign that I would be controlling and warned him to break up with me now. So glad he didn't listen to him. But really, if he couldn't give up alcohol for me, then it would be pretty clear what his priorities are.

SO anyway when a special occasion comes around, me and my Mormon self buys a bottle of Sparkling Cider to make it special. Something my family would get at New Years usually. I wasn't sure David really liked the stuff, but perhaps drank it just because I served it to him. But just the other day when we went to the grocery store, knowing the holidays are around the corner, David picked up two bottles of Sparkling Apple Cider. Such a small thing, but it made me so happy because it reminds me of the things he's given up for me and not ever complained, questioned or looked back on and also tells me that He does enjoy the sparkling cider after all!

Liam Update: 2 Years, 1 Month

Learning lots. Today at the playground he was learning to climb up a ladder and bury stuff in the dirt. He is learning to say "No, thank you"...instead of his standard "NO!" He is learning how to play with play dough...his new favorite thing to do every day...that and go on walks now that weather is cooler. This morning, right when he jumped out of bed, he pointed to his shoes and said "Mommy, go walk outside?!"

His potty training is going well. This evening he peed on the floor of his room and bed...but that was my fault actually.

He was SOOOO good in Church today! I am so proud of him. He sat still, he was relatively quiet, he was sweet and happy the whole time. And for his night time prayers tonight he actually folded his arms! I attribute that to David coming in the room and folding his arms too.

He has his moments, but lately he is on this super sweet streak. And he is so sweet with Violet. If she is crying in her bed because I put her down for a nap or she just woke up from one, he goes "Mommy, Oh NO! Baby Cry!" and then will run to her room and look back to make sure I'm following him to go get her. Before Violet was born, and we asked him to say Violet...he would say "VIVA" now he says "Viddy" for her name. He'll help me set up blocks for her to knock over...sometimes he can't resist and knocks them down himself, but he also claps when she manages to reach out and swipe them down.

Of course I've said many times that letters are his favorite toy but I can't remember if I mentioned last month that he now knows what sounds the letters make...not all of them yet, but almost. So now I play a game on our walk asking him "what sound does a P make?" and he says "Puh, puh puh" etc. Then yesterday on his magna doodle I wrote SUN. NOW I haven't done the reading game in months now...and I'm not sure I ever taught him SUN...usually he'll read the letters outloud saying "S, U, N" and then look at me and I'll tell him what it says *unless he knows the word already...but this time he just looked at it and screamed "SUN"! He amazes me. This is not the first word he has seemingly read on his own. I know I know, we all like to think our children are super smart...But really they are all super smart in their own ways, I just hope I am a good enough teacher for my kids and help them focus on their natural talents and help them to learn new ones too.

How Much Do I Dislike...

Driving around and shopping during the Holidays? I dislike it VERY much. So much so, that for Thanksgiving I always buy all the food stuff I will need early on (which we did yesterday). Then I don't go out again until at least the Monday after, and if I forgot something...oh well...we'll make do.

Christmas time...forget it, I do almost all of my shopping online and almost don't leave the house the whole month of December, even after Christmas because of the return items people. I will still go out for walks around the neighborhood, family visits and Church...and sometimes I'll go to Hobby Lobby to look at discounted decorations early in the morning and I do ALL of my grocery shopping early in the morning in the middle of the week during this coming month.

I LOVE Thanksgiving and Christmas. They are my favorite holidays! My sister Kileen keeps texting me messages like "Gerald was listening to Christmas music...I love Christmas!" or just simply "I love Christmas!"

There is definitely a joyful spirit around these holidays that makes them feel so special, not to mention that they are centered around family togetherness and, for many of us, Christ. BUT for some reason, as giving and kind and loving as people are at this time of year...when they get on the road, the majority seem ruder, more impatient and more dangerous! Never mind that their lane is blocked and your lane is moving smoothly and nobody is behind you...can they put on their breaks and then move into your lane BEHIND you? NO they almost hit you trying to cut in front of you when there is no room to do so, causing you to slam on your breaks so that they don't have to stop...and you with I don't know, a toddler and a baby in your car to think about. It's like you are no longer human to them, you are a car and car's don't have feelings, or lives to think about.

Or when you go to the store, and I don't know...you are in the isle with a shopping cart or stroller, with your toddler and baby let's say, trying to look and see which item you like more and someone decides to come down the same isle... But it's a tiny isle and if you smoosh over the shopping cart to let them get by, your little boy starts grabbing things off of the shelves and throwing them to the floor. Meanwhile, they have no intention of staying down that isle and looking at stuff themselves...and rudely push forward expecting you to exit the isle so they can get through, all the while shooting you a dirty look and then saying under their breath while rolling their eyes, "excuse you"... Oh I just hate that so much! It ruins my peace and happiness. Maybe I can let this instance go...but then it happens over and over and over and over again. When I see this situation, I simply go around another isle OR I POLITELY SAY "Excuse me, I'm so sorry" and smile at them. But we can't all be so perfect, can we? No. So that is why I don't leave the house during the holidays...So I can preserve the Thanksgiving and Christmas Spirit.

Mama's Big Helper

Liam decided to help me out by feeding a crying Violet. This is what I found him doing while I was trying to get the mess he just made from lunch cleaned up...

He opens his mouth so she'll open hers...Note the spaghetti stained face and hands.

He keeps his hand on her forehead because she kept looking around.

Big Kiss from Big Brother

Clean Up!

Mission Accomplished...Happy Baby Girl.

Bribery...

So twice this week I have bribed Liam to take his nap. And it's not that I can't deal with him crying for a few minutes or kicking his walls for a few minutes...it's that these things wake up an already sleeping Violet. If Violet is already awake, no bribes. If she is asleep, I get three little m&m's and tell him to go mimi (his word for sleep). When he doesn't see the treats, he makes me chase him around the house while whining and crying Noooooohooohohoho! When he sees the treats he runs straight to his bed and says "Oh mimi" and holds out his little hands for the m&m's...then he nurses those little m&m's until he falls asleep.

Hate...a blog link

couldn't have said it better myself...

Now that is persecution, that is hate.

On My Trip To Hobby Lobby

Taking the kids out always holds some adventure. They definitely make life more interesting and fun. Here are some things that happened...

1. Liam cried real tears when I went to use the potty before we left. I think he thought I changed my mind about going bye bye.
2. After I put Liam in his car seat, while strapping him in, hard pouring rain came down suddenly and soaked my back and hair...at least it came down AFTER the kids were already in the car.
3. Liam in the store: "Mommy, HUG!" "AWWWW" "KISS Mommy!" "MMMM-MUH" this went on for about 20 minutes...I loved it.
4. While looking at Christmas stockings for the kids another family came down the aisle...Liam screamed NO, GO AWAY and STOP while pointing his finger at them. Now what I don't understand is where the heck did he learn "GO AWAY" from? I've never told him to go away. I've asked him to stay out of the kitchen when I mop the floor...but go away? I don't know....
5. In the check out line Liam yelled NO at the cashier while pointing at her
6. The cashier said "your baby is so well behaved" then looking at Liam "and I'm sure you are a good boy too, just not right now"...I said "He's a bit grumpy". Cashier "Does he want me to kiss his hand?", ME: "No he wants you to give him his toy" (that I had bought...foam alphabet letters). Cashier "Oh, should I give it to him?", ME: "NO".
7. Cashier: I hope you don't take this the wrong way...but your baby looks like George Bush...you know with the ears and nose...and eyes and mouth.
8. ...a few seconds later...Cashier: "She has beautiful eyes, you have a real heart breaker on your hands...I hope you know that". Hmmmmmm. While I agree, telling me she looks like George Bush then telling me she's beautiful...What the?

While Taking The Kids For a Walk

Little 8-9 year old boy walking barefoot on the wet sidewalk with a huge black umbrella looks at me, holds up a little toy of some sort and says VERY enthusiastically...and a wee bit loudly:

"This crazy robot is taking a ride on a nuclear missle!"

Me: "Oh WOW! That is crazy!"

he happily looks back at his toy and continues on his way muttering to himself.

What is Wrong With Me?

It is 2:20 a.m. Why am I still awake???

Endodontist Appointment, Part I

So I kept my appointment and I am glad I did. The Endodontist said I need a root canal...possibly two...but she is going to do it on the one tooth that really needs it, and if later the other tooth needs it, we'll just go from there.

My teeth haven't been hurting for almost two weeks now. She said recurring pain that goes away and comes back is a normal symptom when a root is damaged. When the pain in my teeth had finally started to subside, my whole left jaw hurt, the pained moved to my ear and on the last day only one little tooth (top left) one, that didn't even occur to me could be the source of the problem, hurt when I would eat...even if I chewed on the other side of my mouth.

They did the tests they run through and when they got to the test were they put cold on the teeth, all my teeth reacted quite quickly to the cold...except that top left tooth. I was worried it would give me incredible pain. I never felt the tooth get cold. She said that is a sure sign that the root is damaged. The x-ray was hard to read because my cheekbone was in the way...but she said she is sure I need a root canal. I hope she's right. I had also been on antibiotics when I had the staph infection and my teeth had stopped hurting while on the antibiotic. She said that also tells her there was probably an infection.

Anyway, sorry for the boring teeth updates lol.

Violet Update: 5 Months

Oh her baby days are going so quickly. I love this little girl so much. I think I am noticing a little dimple in her right cheek when she smiles. But she still won't let loose with the laughing! Almost, she'll almost laugh, she'll give the beginnings of a burst of laughter but stop herself. It's hard to explain. She talks to us a lot, she sucks in her breath to make a weird noise...OH and so cute, lately she'll stick her little tongue out and bite down with her lips so it's tight, then she'll blow and tiny little pieces of spit come off. She is adorable when she does it.

She is getting better at scooting and wiggling and turning over a few times to get places. She is sitting up on her own a bit better everyday too. She loves playing airplane. She LOOOOVVVEESS going on walks. At some point in the day I have to take her out on a walk, it's the only thing that will make her happy at that moment. I'm glad the weather is cooler now and it's nice to get SOME exercise...since I haven't gotten into a grove on the treadmill. I had bought a sit 'n stand stroller for her and Liam and we walk around the neighborhood, sometimes to the neighborhood playground. It's nice. She likes the swing and to just feel the breeze on her face...just like her brother did at this age.

Lately when I nurse her, she will stop to stare at me, when she catches my eye (because I look down to see why she stopped) she'll smile, then so happily go back to sucking...she does a little wiggle move with her head and shoulders. She also kicks one of her legs in a rhythmic motion, to rock herself, funnily enough, it's a trait I am pretty sure she inherited up from David. David does this same exact kick of his leg to rock himself when he is sleeping! And it's something he's done his whole life. Is it possible to inherit a quirk like that?

She started showing interest in eating, so a few weeks ago I started to introduce her to rice cereal. She loves it and will grab at my hand holding the spoon and attempt to bring it to her mouth more quickly. She kicks her little legs while eating. She also kicks and splashes so much in the bath. I love it. And she got her 4 month shots last week :( She weighed in at 15 lbs 4 ozs. She already wears 6-9 month clothes. When she got the polio vaccine which was given orally, she started wiggling back and forth really fast, making the paper underneath crinkle, the noise only made her wiggle faster. The nurses were laughing and saying "does that make it go down easier sweetie"? It was so funny. Then I held her little hands and she was looking in my eyes and smiling at me, then BAM, she gets the first shot, then second then third. Her little eyes shut, her face turned purple, her mouth turned down and then came the Waaahhh! I felt so bad for her. But to her credit she got over it really quickly. She also had a mild fever the next few days but really not bad at all...not like Liam used to get. She did really well and kept her incredibly sweet temperament.

Can't Have Both

David was telling me about something a political talk radio host was saying about Republican's and Democrat's and their points of view. He said Republican's are primarily all about Liberty and Democrat's are primarily all about Equality.

With Liberty you can have some equality but with equality as the primary standard, you can't have liberty. "All human beings are accordingly equal in their right not to be enslaved, and in their right to be in secure possession of their lives, liberties, and property. To this end they have a right to be governed only by laws to which they have consented. That all men are created equal does not mean that human beings are the same, or equal, in size, strength, beauty, virtue, or intelligence...As Abraham Lincoln wrote: "that some should be rich shows that others may become rich, and hence is just encouragement to industry and enterprise.'"-(Harry V. Jaffa, April 16, 2008, Claremont.org).

To have equality is to force things on people....like 'spreading the wealth'. Let's all live like equals...here you, guy, who works his butt off for his family, give us your hard earned money so this person who does not want to work can have the same life as you. Liberty awwww...the AMERICAN dream. My mother in law gave this metaphor "if you earned an A on a test, and a friend of yours earned a C should you have to share your A so that you can both have B's?

Equality can only exist under a Dictatorship that enforces it.

I am asked to keep my religious points of view out of politics. I understand that, we can't all express our beliefs when defining laws to fit everyone. Not when we are free to worship how we want. But these are my beliefs and they define my opinions regardless if you like it or not. If I am told that we should allow gay marriages (equality) and to teach it in school as 'normal', then my rights to obey my Religious beliefs and to teach my children that this is an abomination in God's eyes are gone, now I am a "horrible and hateful" human being...except I do not believe in following the laws of man first, but the laws of God and if God's laws are in conflict with man's laws...I am going to have to side with God.

My point is, if gay relationships are now being taught in public schools as normal (and they are to children as young as Kindergarteners), then my liberty to raise my children in my beliefs are being squashed and now I have to home school them. And truthfully this is not a subject my children need to even think about until they are older.

Let me say this about this particular topic as I choose to use it in my example. I believe God loves everyone! Even if you don't believe in Him, He doesn't like it, but He loves you anyway. I do not hate people who are gay, I would never raise my children to hate any type of person. But by being tolerant of a person does not mean I condone the sin. I do believe it is a choice. Being Gay...this subject is really all about sexual preference. That it is being compared to racial and religious persecussion is so ridiculous to me. Sexual persecussion...give me a break. Let me clarify MY own point of view as a Christian. As a Christian I am taught that sex is for the purpose of creating children. Let's say you are married, having sex and not nessisarily trying to create a child, when you are heterosexual...even if you are using birth control (unless you've had your uterus, ovarys or testicles removed) there is ALWAYS A CHANCE of creating a child. When two men are having sex or two women are having sex there is ZERO...ZERO possibility of creating a child. ZERO. Now this sacred act, put into a gay relationship, is just about the sexual pleasure itself...that's a sin. That is why, as a Christian, besides being told it in the scriptures....I know it is an abomination in God's eyes. I've said before, Family is the most important institution in the world. An institution created by God. He created men and women as seperate genders for a very specific reason. He gave these two seperate genders the ability to create new life. The duality of a man and woman create the BEST atomosphere to raise a child.

You might say, well if we have liberty I should be equally allowed to have a gay marriage. When you start to teach my children in school that this is normal behavior...where is my liberty? What happened to my religious freedom? Why does the subject of sexual preference need to be taught to my children without my consent? With Liberty, you have the right to be in a gay relationship, and I have the right to disagree with that relationship. With Equality I am not allowed to disagree with that relationship.

Back to the 'share the wealth' example. Who wouldn't like to live in a Utopian Society? It's a really lovely idea...but the fact is, it does not work. It has been tried and failed so many times. Why does it fail? Because we are human and tend to err and that's that. You may get corrupted and greedy leaders, or perhaps along the way someone else gets pissed off that they are working harder then so and so. My mother-in-law hails from communist Cuba...she hates communism, and anything relating to it, the most because she has experienced it first hand. She saw her beloved Country change from it. Her father's business, taken from him and "given" to the people. Then being forced into another job not of his choosing. They (Communist Cuban Officials) would have shoes made by people who had no reason to work hard now, then hand them out to families, not caring if they matched or fit or were even well made. That's a tame example of the changes the Country went through, it gets so much worse. Liberty or Equality...I choose Liberty. God gave us our free agency, that's the life I want to defend.