did anyone see the flying pigs?

they must be flying somewhere... did anyone see them? nathaniel blogged! (hahaha)

this email IS crap (read the comments)

is there really anyone out there who is still undecided? seems by this point everyone would have made up their mind who they are voting for. i know i have.. for president, for governor and for senate! i got this email today, forwarded to me by a friend. does anyone know if there is any truth to this? if so, how has this not gotten more attention? seems odd... and i'm sure it is taken out of text. that is why i'm asking! (and just for the record, this email has not affected who i will vote for - nor am i trying to sway your vote either way, i'm just curious if anyone heard this and could explain "the rest of the story"!!!)

"A must read From Sunday's Televised "Meet the Press" Senator Obama was asked about his stance on the American Flag. Obama Explains National Anthem Stance

Sun, 07 Sept. 2008 11:48:04 EST, General Bill Ginn' USAF (ret.) asked Obama to explain why he doesn't follow protocol when the National Anthem is played. The General also stated to the Senator that according to the United States Code, Title 36, Chapter 10, Sec. 171...During rendition of the national anthem when the flag is displayed, all present except those in uniform are expected to stand at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart. At the very least, "Stand and Face It"

Senator Obama Live on Sunday states, "As I've said about the flag pin, I don't want to be perceived as taking sides, Obama said. 'There are a lot of people in the world to whom the American flag is a symbol of oppression. And the anthem itself conveys a war-like message. You know, the bombs bursting in air and all. It should be swapped for something less parochial and less bellicose. I like the song 'I'd Like To Teach the World To Sing.' If that were our anthem, then I MIGHT salute it."We should consider to reinvent our National Anthem as well as to redesign our Flag to better offer our enemies hope and love.

My wife disrespects the Flag for many personal reasons. Together she and I have attended several flag burning ceremonies in the past, many years ago. She has her views and I have mine"."

word & phrases i'm tired of...

"pork-barrel spending" "maverick" "its time for change" "94% of the time" "george bush politics" "tina fay" "700 billion dollars" i'm sure i'll add more as i hear them.. comment your own tired words and phrases!

sink bath

nathaniel says i'm in love with my son... and he is right. that is why i post 2000 images of him doing this and doing that... all normal things. but, he is my son (our son). and i do love him. and i also think he is the cutest thing in the world! i do realize/know that every mother [at least i hope this is the case] thinks the same about their own children! i'm certainly not unique in the "mine is the cutest" factor! and yes, all your children are cute too! almost as cute as mine!!! :) (no worries, my feelings aren't hurt if you think yours are cuter than mine...) ok, back to my story. on tuesday, kendal went to daycare. kendal did not have long naps that day, not to mention jetlag had definitely set in for all of us (some of us [me] still haven't recovered)... and when he got home, he was REALLY tired, sleepy, and thus grumpy. he didn't want to eat dinner. cried through the whole thing. thought maybe his diaper was dirty, changed it (it wasn't dirty). sang songs. tried to play with toys (ones that usually keep him occupied for hours). he just was still whiny and crying somewhat. well, it was just 6pm. maybe 6:30. nathaniel wanted to take him outside (in the stroller) for an evening walk. that would have surely calmed him down too. except, it would have put him to sleep. and we needed to stay awake until at least 8pm for bedtime. a nap at 6/6:30 would only make for a short night. so, what is one SURE way of calming him? putting him in the shower. but, i didn't want to take a 30 minute shower. and so... i put him in the kitchen sink! that uses much less water than then bathtub - and i don't have to stoop over to bathe him! needless to say, it worked. he was happy as a lark in the sink, as you can tell from the nonstop smiles... and not that he usually minds me washing his hair, he even would pose for photos during the process! squeak squeak! all clean! last night since it was so cold outside (and our windows are all wide open), i let him sleep in his new sponge bob pajamas. isn't he cute? we were watching wonderpets on TV though. kinda like a 1-2 punch for k. talk about sponge bob, watch wonderpets. gotta love the 8 to 9 pm hour on nick!

the part about pregnancy that sucks...

all this talk about the beer festival makes me sad! maybe next year, right? right. that is what i said last year. at least nathaniel isn't going. suppose misery loves company. oh, speaking of beer and festivals, we've decided to move our annual thornbeer festival to the spring next year (for obvious reasons)! nathaniel keeps talking about trying to brew his own for the party... we'll see. i have a feeling with a baby almost here and a nursery that isn't even started, he'll be up to his neck in house projects until december! then the baby walking starts again... and on another note, yesterday my trip to the OB went wonderful. had the nasty glucose test (haven't gotten those results back yet), but my blood pressure was the LOWEST it has been since BEFORE... BEFORE... BEFORE i was pregnant with kendal! back in those days, my BP was always around 100-105/55-60 (very low). since being pregnant with him and even after having him, my blood pressure was never under 135/65 and was as high as 150/80! (that is bad.) yesterday it was 112/62!!! i was so excited about that. plus i hadn't gained an ounce since my last appt! i'm 28 weeks now for any who are interested in the numbers... but i measured 29 cm. all seems good in the belly!

vacation day 8 - grand canyon to phoenix

we got up fairly early since the elk kept snorting us awake. our first task of the day was showers and breakfast... which went off without a hitch. next, back at the campsite, nathaniel laid out a mat for kendal and we occupied him with toys while we disassembled the tent and packed up EVERYTHING for the ride home. we consolidated all the "clean" clothes into 1 suitcase, jammed all the dirties into the small one, stuffed the other large one with 2 sleeping bags and 2 pillows, and then also stuffed the 2 army duffle bags (thanks rob and melissa!) with the remaining camping supplies. WHEW that was the hardest thing we've done yet! we were on the road by 10 or 11 and after we got on interstate 17 (?), we found a place to eat and gas the car (sonic gas station combo). probably the worse meal we ate besides the one at garcia's. too greasy. anyway, we stopped at montezuma's castle national park... look at that big belly!!! (again, note me hogging the shade again!) this park had cool, different trees. this is an arizona sycamore. very pretty trees. kendal went to sleep on the drive to phoenix... don't you wish you could have lips like that? i could kiss them on my computer screen right now! (can you tell K is at daycare today? i miss him!) at the hotel, which was remarkably nice for the cheap $78 we paid for it - we got room service (which cost nearly as much as the room but it was REALLY good food!) here is a photo of kendal enjoying the middleof the king size bed! if you can't tell by his skin color and face expression, he is REALLY sleepy! when he gets sleepy, he starts squeezing his eyes together like this: ok, so the next day we got up, ate breakfast, got gas (topped off the tank for $3.39/gal), dropped off the car, rode the shuttle to the airport, checked our bags, then hung out at the airport for 3 hours! it was actually a slow day there aparently! anyway, flight home was great (little bumpy on the last part of it), got home late, slept good, felt great the next day, and then the NEXT day jet lag set in...

vacation day 7 - grand canyon

we spent the whole day 7 at the grand canyon. we got up bright and early to find a herd of elk (1 male, several young ones, and a TON of grown females). he huffed a couple of times when i was in the bathroom, i didn't hear it but nathaniel did and we walked over for a few photos. it may be hard to see in this photo, but click on it and it'll enlarge... you'll see him! when he was sitting down, his rack was taller than me! and no, we didn't get close to him. the camera is zoomed all the way out. next we rode the shuttle bus to a stop along the south rim. from there we walked 3 miles to the head of one of the main trails (where all the lodges, etc. are), stopping to take TONS of photos along the way. funny thing is, though, that all the photos look the same! kendal slept for about half the trail. anyway, we got back on the shuttle and rode back to the campground, got the car, drove to lunch, then we drove out of the park to the IMAX theatre to see the grand canyon movie. i've never seen an imax before, i was quite impressed. kendal liked it too, somewhat, except he was sleepy and hungry. when the movie started, one of the first scenes was a native american walking in the woods, kendal waved at him. how cute was that? anyway, about 10 minutes later, we had to make him a bottle so nathaniel stood up and pushed kendal in the stroller across the back of the room while the movie finished (it was only 30 min long and we sat on the top row). so back to the park, i think we took naps after that, then we had dinner, and got on the shuttle to yet another overlook further east in the park (the other major trail head). we didn't make it in time to watch the sun set (it was already down and getting VERY cold when we arrived there), but we took some pictures and then waited for the shuttle back. then we went to bed. that night, we were serenated by coyotes... they were SO loud that they woke both me and nathaniel up. also, i heard the elk huffing several times. you know those funnel like things that you spin around and around and they make a high pitched noise? that is what he sounded like.