Saturday:

saw Curious George...warped boy child with huge rendition of favorite cartoon and maniacal laughing...

made it up to him by taking him to the park.

finished new babylegs design (made from socks this time) and forced (obviously) girl child to model them... she's still pretty freakin' cute!

Sunday:

in order to do mowing had to put girl child in carrier (don't know what was going through my head here...) and carried her while pushing the reel mower (kinda bad ass....)

girl child got to nap...

while boy child played.

Monday:

watched the train go on the track at Kristie's house

fixed the flannel to the wall for BIG flannel story play

and had some fun wrecking the play room and entertaining each other!!

Tuesday:

GOT TO GO TO THE FIRE STATION!!!!!

hehehehehe!!!  Elijah is going to be a dragon-slaying, fairy butterfly warrior in a sheer blue tutu for Halloween.  hehehehehehe...  (not enough hands for the magic wand....)

What Is White Privilege?

via My Feet Only Walk Forward by Brandon Lacy Campos on 9/16/08

Hey folks:
As much as possible, I try and do only original content on my page. But sometimes, as with Rocki's letter and this blog post, there shit that needs circulating. The following is one of those things.
This is Your Nation on White Privilege
By Tim Wise / September 13, 2008
For those who still can't grasp the concept of white privilege, or who are constantly looking for some easy-to-understand examples of it, perhaps this list will help.
White privilege is when you can get pregnant at seventeen like Bristol Palin and everyone is quick to insist that your life and that of your family is a personal matter, and that no one has a right to judge you or your parents, because "every family has challenges," even as black and Latino families with similar "challenges" are regularly typified as irresponsible, pathological and arbiters of social decay.
White privilege is when you can call yourself a "fuckin' redneck," like Bristol Palin's boyfriend does, and talk about how if anyone messes with you, you'll "kick their fuckin' ass," and talk about how you like to "shoot shit" for fun, and still be viewed as a responsible, all-American boy (and a great son-in-law to be) rather than a thug.
White privilege is when you can attend four different colleges in six years like Sarah Palin did (one of which you basically failed out of, then returned to after making up some coursework at a community college), and no one questions your intelligence or commitment to achievement, whereas a person of color who did this would be viewed as unfit for college, and probably someone who only got in in the first place because of affirmative action.
White privilege is when you can claim that being mayor of a town smaller than most medium-sized colleges, and then Governor of a state with about the same number of people as the lower fifth of the island of Manhattan, makes you ready to potentially be president, and people don't all piss on themselves with laughter, while being a black U.S. Senator, two-term state Senator, and constitutional law scholar, means you're "untested."

White privilege is being able to say that you support the words "under God" in the pledge of allegiance because "if it was good enough for the founding fathers, it's good enough for me," and not be immediately disqualified from holding office--since, after all, the pledge was written in the late 1800s and the "under God" part wasn't added until the 1950s--while believing that reading accused criminals and terrorists their rights (because, ya know, the Constitution, which you used to teach at a prestigious law school requires it), is a dangerous and silly idea only supported by mushy liberals.

White privilege is being able to be a gun enthusiast and not make people immediately scared of you.

White privilege is being able to have a husband who was a member of an extremist political party that wants your state to secede from the Union, and whose motto was "Alaska first," and no one questions your patriotism or that of your family, while if you're black and your spouse merely fails to come to a 9/11 memorial so she can be home with her kids on the first day of school, people immediately think she's being disrespectful.

White privilege is being able to make fun of community organizers and the work they do--like, among other things, fight for the right of women to vote, or for civil rights, or the 8-hour workday, or an end to child labor--and people think you're being pithy and tough, but if you merely question the experience of a small town mayor and 18-month governor with no foreign policy expertise beyond a class she took in college--you're somehow being mean, or even sexist.

White privilege is being able to convince white women who don't even agree with you on any substantive issue to vote for you and your running mate anyway, because all of a sudden your presence on the ticket has inspired confidence in these same white women, and made them give your party a "second look."

White privilege is being able to fire people who didn't support your political campaigns and not be accused of abusing your power or being a typical politician who engages in favoritism, while being black and merely knowing some folks from the old-line political machines in Chicago means you must be corrupt.

White privilege is being able to attend churches over the years whose pastors say that people who voted for John Kerry or merely criticize George W. Bush are going to hell, and that the U.S. is an explicitly Christian nation and the job of Christians is to bring Christian theological principles into government, and who bring in speakers who say the conflict in the Middle East is God's punishment on Jews for rejecting Jesus, and everyone can still think you're just a good church-going Christian, but if you're black and friends with a black pastor who has noted (as have Colin Powell and the U.S. Department of Defense) that terrorist attacks are often the result of U.S. foreign policy and who talks about the history of racism and its effect on black people, you're an extremist who probably hates America.

White privilege is not knowing what the Bush Doctrine is when asked by a reporter, and then people get angry at the reporter for asking you such a "trick question," while being black and merely refusing to give one-word answers to the queries of Bill O'Reilly means you're dodging the question, or trying to seem overly intellectual and nuanced.

White privilege is being able to claim your experience as a POW has anything at all to do with your fitness for president, while being black and experiencing racism is, as Sarah Palin has referred to it a "light" burden.

And finally, white privilege is the only thing that could possibly allow someone to become president when he has voted with George W. Bush 90 percent of the time, even as unemployment is skyrocketing, people are losing their homes, inflation is rising, and the U.S. is increasingly isolated from world opinion, just because white voters aren't sure about that whole "change" thing. Ya know, it's just too vague and ill-defined, unlike, say, four more years of the same, which is very concrete and certain…

White privilege is, in short, the problem.
Tim Wise is the author of White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son, and Affirmative Action: Racial Preference in Black and White. He has contributed essays to seventeen books, and is one of several persons featured in White Men Challenging Racism: Thirty-Five Personal Stories, from Duke University Press. A collection of his essays, Speaking Treason Fluently: Anti-Racist Reflections From an Angry White Male, will be released in fall 2008.

It seems like I'm only having time to blog every once and a while lately.  I can't imagine what would be keeping me so busy! HA! 

This week was okay.  The weather was really humid and hot. 

We went to the park with some friends on Monday and got eaten by the biggest mosquitoes I've seen since I was in Alaska.  I started out with the non-deet stuff and moved to the real stuff and still got eaten.  The only one that was spared was Grace and that's only because I had her baby legs to show off and I put them on her.  We ended up at Kristie's house to eat lunch and chill out. 

Tuesday was preschool day and we talked about the great outdoors.  Along with that came marshmallows because that's what you eat when camping!!!  Elijah really liked them.  He's so funny when I give him a candy treat.  He takes forever to eat it!  We left school just in time to get caught in a huge downpour! 

Wednesday we ended up at Kristie's again and she had all kinds of craft projects and stuff to do with us for Patriot's Day.  She is from NY and 9/11 has had a great impact on her life.  Not to say that it hasn't had a impact on everyone's life, but sometimes I feel like I was simply a bystander.  After two days of watching the news, we turned to DVDs of FRIENDS to help try to get the horrible-ness out of our everyday life.  There is only so much one can take.  But she was there in NY in the Bronx and I think that being that close to everything sticks with you a lot longer.  ANYWAY, we did crafts and hung out.  And when we left we got caught in the worst rainstorm I have ever been in.  I couldn't see anything.  I was so worried about the roads flooding that I continued on home instead of pulling over.  It turned out fine (obviously) but it took us FOREVER to get home.  Katie gave us a Johnny Jump Up Thingy to use because Grace's favorite thing is thing is to jump on us.  Some might say that these things are bad for kids that aren't sitting yet, but Grace is oh so close to sitting on her own (can do so for about 1-2 minutes before falling over) and oh my goodness she gets SOOOO freakin' excited when we put her in it, so THANKS KATIE!!!

Wednesday afternoon I got a call from the stupid people at the gym.  Not good news and I really don't want to talk about it because it makes my blood pressure go up.  So all I'm going to say is it looks like we may be up a creek without a paddle.  Rest assured, I am contacting the news paper and the local TV stations as these people are opening a new facility right up the road and people need to be aware.  Also am filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau...JERKS!

Thursday we ended up at playgroup at a different park than usual.  It was nice to have a change.  We all thought that it was going to rain, so we wanted somewhere where if it did rain we could get inside.  It was nice.  I brought some of the pear/apple butter that I made to share.  It's really yummy.

Friday we stayed home all day.  It was sorta nice to be home.  Elijah and I cleaned around the house and in the afternoon we made some cookies.  All the while I got irritated with people's irrational response to gas!  I mean seriously, you can't stay home for a freakin' weekend?  Whatever.  We had a quarter tank of gas and that's really all we need.  Sigh... Our local gas station ran out of gas Friday afternoon but they got more in yesterday evening.  Our gas prices (at that store) never went above 3.79.  When I was teaching I remember that some parents went insane when Katrina came through and shut down the refineries and everyone was freaked out about a gas shortage.  These moms came in with gallons and gallons of gas stored in the trunks of their cars and were comparing how much they had hoarded.   It's ridiculous.  Sigh... we got some gas this morning and will fill up later this week.  But seriously people...

SO that brings us to yesterday.  We went to Costco in the morning to get stuff for the Cookout for Change (sponsored by the Obama Campaign) and some other things for around the house.  During nap I made the kids t-shirts that said, "My Mama is an Obama Mama!!!" (I'll post pics in the album!)  They turned out quite well if I do say so myself.  The cookout/potluck itself was, hmmm, interesting?  There were a few local campaigns that showed up and kind of took over the cookout and I was a little annoyed about that, as it wasn't for local campaigns, and also I don't think a lot of the local campaign people brought food.  It was fine, but odd.  Not what I expected at all, but whatever.  My kids looked cute!!

Today, we are relaxing around the house.  There are definitely things that need to get done, but I honestly am beat.  Grace is having some issues with itching at night and wakes herself, and in turn, me up about every hour.  She seems to only be soothed by being held chest to chest or nursed.  Friday night she actually slept 5 hours straight and I woke up feeling rather refreshed, but last night...not so much.  I know this will pass, but I really just want to go back to sleep right now and that's just not an option.  I will try to nap with her this afternoon though.

Okay, I guess that's it.  We are counting down the days until we leave for the mountains (first of October.)  And I am super ready for that!!!

WARNING: may not be appropriate for young viewers.  I get all my news from the Daily Show...seems to be the only reliable news source lately!

I was going to post the actual video, but the traffic on the video is so heavy that it can't upload... so here's the link.  Check it out!

Remember I am a liberal...

I feel like we are super busy these days.  But that's okay.  I feel like it makes the week go faster.

SO when we last left our fearless heroes... Erin was fighting the stupid people at the gym....well, I'm still doing that, but I'm much calmer.  Last Friday I went shoe shopping for Elijah.  I went to my usual Shoe Carnival because usually I can find great deals on clearance.  Alas, there was not ONE shoe in his size on sale.  So seeing as we had a little time, we went next door to Marshall's and lo and behold on our way out I found (drumroll please....) Spiderman shoes that light up!!!  Am I the coolest mom or what?  Not that he knows who Spiderman is, but whatever.  Elijah was happy and I was happy and they were on sale!

We then met Angela and went to the Bargain Box to find clothes for the kiddos.  I found some pants and a couple of shirts for Elijah... Grace is taken care of for the most part.  I also found a good amount of things for Christmas presents for Elijah.  But the biggest hit is a little tent house that I found for 5 bucks!!  I actually can't believe that I haven't taken pics of it yet...  Oh well, eventually.

That evening Grace and I went for some of the best ice cream I have ever put in my mouth with some friends.  It was a nice day.

The weekend was hot and I feel like we didn't accomplish all that much.  But that's okay.  Our washer is still not fixed but they say the part is going to be in on the 12th... sigh... We can still wash clothes, but the final spin doesn't work, so they are soaking wet.  I am too paranoid to do the diapers, so we have to take them to the laundry mat.

I don't think that I have blogged about this, but I am planning on going to grad school starting next year.  Well, the undergrad classes I need start next year.  I will take a year of undergrad and then three years for grad school.  I will be doing the whole thing online and I'm going for speech pathology.  My goal is to be done by the time Grace starts kindergarten.  So it's a five year plan.  This is something I thought about a long time ago, but never pursued.  It came up on a board I belong to and I started looking into it.  I know that it will be very challenging  having two kids at home and attending school, but I feel confident I can handle it.  I have superb time management skills!  Also Jerry will be in school (more than likely) so we will be able to both watch the kids and do what needs to be done.  I'm a little stressed about it, but I think in the long run this will be a huge benefit to us both financially and career wise.

This week is an exciting week.  Yesterday was preschool day.  We met and talked about musical instruments and made drums.  It was lots of fun!  Today we met Kristie at the park and played and walked down to the river where we saw and ALLIGATOR!!!!!  Big excitement... Glad that we were on the boardwalk and the alligator was in the river!

Tomorrow Grace has her four month check and shots and Jerry...sigh...is getting a vasectomy.  This is bitter sweet, but a good thing.  I don't want to go through labor again (not that I'm complaining) and I feel it's the right thing to do for the environment and for my sanity.  If we want more in the future, I am more than happy to adopt!  This also means Jerry will be home on Friday, so it feels like a short week!

Okay, that's all for now!  I hope that you enjoy the new pics!  I added some today... the baby legs that Grace is wearing is my newest design.  There are some glitches that I want to work out before I start to sell them, but I think for making up something off the top of my head they came out very cute... and I'm in the process of making a matching hat... hehehehehe!  Oh yeah, please help me convince Mother Nature to keep Hanna away from here.  I really don't want to be trapped inside all weekend with two kids and a recovering husband with no power... Thanks!