ARRIVAL OF 2009

2009 to Arrive Not a Second Too Soon (SPACE.com)
Yahoo! News Made Popular: 10 hours 48 min ago - SPACE.com -
Wait a second. The start of next year will be delayed by circumstances beyond everyone's control. Time will stand still for one second on New Year's Eve, as we ring in the New Year on that Wednesday night. As a result, you'll have an extra second to celebrate because a "Leap Second" will be added to 2008 to let a lagging Earth catch up to super-accurate clocks.

on a personal note: 2008 was a rough year for us and I've been looking forward to 2009 for several, several months. May 2009 bring health and much needed happiness to our family.

I ran across this article and although long, found it interesting. Because we both work full time we need childcare. My schedule is a set M-F but my husband is in a position that he bids and we are fortunate that right now he can bid for days off during the week. That way it limits how many hours someone else is molding, raising our child. We are very fortunate to have a set of retired parents that live near by that are supportive of watching her. I never grew up with Grandparents that lived in the same state and we are happy that Mackenzie can get to know them and form that bond. So they watch her 2 days and then we just need 1 more day and we were lucky to find a woman that 2 of my other friends take theirs to. Not only that, my husband used to work with her husband in his last job. Small world. So that made us feel good too because my husband already respected their family. We wanted Mackenzie to at least go 1 day to a routine childcare place so she could get used to being left with someone new and play with other children.

The Banks children didn't know how good they had it when Mary Poppins flew into town.

According to a recent report by the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (NACCRRA), 63 percent of the nation's children under five years of age are in some type of child-care arrangement every week; and most parents assume such programs are regulated to ensure the health and safety of their children. In reality, that is often not the case.

Daycare horror stories abound involving allegations ranging from caregiver incompetence to outright neglect and abuse. In June, the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services began an investigation of the Candy Cane Corner Day Care Center after two children, ages six and eight, wandered a mile and a half away from the facility and were eventually found at a local business asking for water. In another case, a Virginia woman was recently accused of leaving nine children, ages nine months to three years, alone at her in-home day care facility for approximately one hour. Still more — police in Columbia, IL, recently investigated a daycare after reports that children had been locked in closets; finally, at the First Christian Church's Child Garden School, an Amarillo, Texas woman was arrested for putting a three-year-old in a freezer.

You may be wondering how such things can happen, but the NACCRRA reports that just 10states require unannounced inspections of child-care centers; only 12 states require caregivers working in child-care centers to have training in early childhood education prior to working with children; and a mere 10 states require caregivers who work from their homes to be licensed.

At the more chilling end of the spectrum, a 25-year-old Florida man and former director of two church-affiliated Kid's Palace Daycare Centers was recently sentenced to 17 years in prison and 10 years of probation after being charged with molesting several children between the ages of six and 14; and an unlicensed Virginia Beach caregiver was sentenced to 10 years in prison for running an illegal daycare after a nine-month-old was mysteriously found dead on her watch.

The NACCRRA survey also indicated that nine in 10 parents favor requiring all child care to meet basic standards of quality, training for caregivers both before and after they begin working with children, and regular inspections of all child-care programs. In addition, most parents (92 percent) favor creating quality standards to better prepare children for school.

“The results of this survey should be a wake-up call to policy-makers,” said Linda K. Smith, NACCRRA's Executive Director. “Parents need child care, and they don't want just any care; they want high-quality care. They want their children in a safe and healthy learning environment that prepares them to enter school ready to succeed.”

According to the NACCRRA, the quality of care a child receives during the first five years of life is critical because 90 percent of brain development occurs during those years. “Forty-six percent of kindergarten teachers report that at least half of their students are not prepared to learn,” Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT). “If we are to remain a competitive nation, we simply must improve our early care and education.”

A Parents.com report indicates that children in high quality child care have better social, math, and language skills, as well as fewer behavior problems. Moreover, several long-term studies have shown that kids in high-quality early childhood programs are significantly less likely to drop out of school, repeat grades, need special education, or commit crimes. In fact, a recent study by the Committee for Economic Development (CED) revealed that for every dollar invested in such programs, taxpayers receive a net benefit of $2 to $4, a significant boost to the long-term economic growth of the country.

But government funding for child care has been grossly inadequate. According to the National Collaboration for Youth (NCY), the funding level for Head Start enables just 50 percent of eligible three and four-year-olds to take part. Early Head Start is serving less than three percent of nearly 3 million eligible children under the age of three. And just one in seven children eligible for child care assistance under federal law are able to receive it.

One piece of good news: The Focus on Committed and Underpaid Staff for Children's Sake (FOCUS) Act, which was introduced in April of 2005 and is currently awaiting evaluation by the House subcommittee on health, would provide $5 billion for scholarships, training, stipends, and health benefits for child-care providers.

Needless to say, it is time for Americans to get involved in this issue — by learning about it, speaking about it, and most importantly, by voting for candidates who support the cause. If rectifying our nation's child-care system requires a modest tax increase, then so be it. According to a recent survey by the United Way Association of South Carolina and other advocacy groups, 97 percent of parents would pay as much as $10 more per week for better quality child care; 84 percent said they would pay as much as $20 more. Yet as Mark Ginsberg, the executive director for the National Association for the Education of Young Children said, “The real question isn't what it will cost our nation to provide high-quality child care, but what the cost to our nation will be if we fail to do so.”

Fifty-two dead cows lie along a wire fence next to a field in Valdez Chico, 80 km (50 miles) southwest of Montevideo, October 22, 2008. The Hereford and Normandy breed cows were found dead by the ranch manager, and after an inspection by veterinarians, were declared killed by lightning hitting the fence where the animals were grazing, according to a police report. Picture taken October 22.

CUTE BABY HIPPO

Two weeks old hippopotamus Paula plays with her mother Kathy on the first day of her presentation to the public at the Berlin Zoo December 16, 2008.

GIVES SENIOR CITIZEN A WHOLE NEW MEANING

In this undated photo released by Cenegenics Medical Institute on Oct. 8, 2008, is Dr. Jeffry Life when he was 67, after being on the Cenegenics program for about two years. Life, the chief medical officer at Cenegenics, will be 70 this Christmas day

Weeeee a Wii!!!!

Wooohooo! I've been wanting one of these things! If anyone knows us they know we love video games. We have like 5 systems, starting clear back at regular Nintendo.
Every now and then I get into an adventure game but lately I haven't found a lot of spare time. I love that the Wii is a family system and we look forward to enjoying all that it offers. They have so many games out there for it.

Good thinking!

Typical that you'd see this in my hometown.

DIGGING THE CAR OUT

My poor car has been buried under snow since Saturday. I cleaned some of it off on Monday and tonight my husband went out there and dug a lot of snow out of the driveway. Then he cleaned my car off and moved it out. I'm hoping to drive to work in the morning. This snow is crazy. I got things to do, places to go, people to see. :)

I HEART SEATTLE

PUBLIC TRANSIT...

...IS NOT ALWAYS THE SAFEST.

A charter bus sits perpendicular across a side street and with it's front end tangling over Interstate 5 Friday, Dec. 19 2008, in Seattle.

EVEN VEGAS GOT SNOW!!

In this photo provided by the Las Vegas News Bureau, people play in the snow in front of the Las Vegas welcome sign in Las Vegas on Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2008.

STANDING ROOM ONLY?

In this Nov. 2, 2008 file photo, Pakistani Sunni Muslims devotees return back to their homes on a packed train after attending annual religious congregation in Multan,

OH MY GOSH!!!

Ya hope for snow and it just kept coming!! Over 12hrs of nonstop falling snow today!!! I can't remember ever getting this much. They said somewhere between 6 and 10 inches fell today but we never measured and we had to have gotten more then that.
Here are some pictures...

earlier in the day I took my car into town, this was tonight after it had already been cleared off once



we have lights that are on our bushes and line around our front yard and we had to eventually shut them off because they couldn't keep up anymore and just got buried.

CHECK IT OUT

CLICK HERE FOR INSTRUCTIONS TO A STARWARS GIVEAWAY...

JACK FROST

Last year at the end of the season I bought this snowman kit on clearance. Full kit, just add snow. So my husband and I went out today and used our magic and made Jack Frost. It's pretty cool that all you have to do is add the snow!

SANTA ELF

The above picture is of a very old Santa Elf that sits on our tree. This was my Moms and the story is that he arrived Christmas 1959 packaged inside an item of clothing to my Mom. She was 19 at the time. She said she saved him and each year she put him on her family Christmas tree. I can't believe he's almost 50 years old.

Every Christmas I grew up watching my Mom put this little guy on the tree. He was always the first thing on and the first thing off. She would always carefully pick out a safe place high near the top. My brother and my Dad would always tease her about her little Santa Elf. But my Mom always took such good care of him and he had his own little box with a cotton pad that he layed in when put away.

In 1999 my Mom gave him to me to carry on her tradition. She even wrote up a letter of his history to keep with him.

So for the last 9 years I've been keeping him safe and of course now getting teased by my husband. My hope is that my daughter will grow up with a soft spot in her heart, like I did, for this little Santa Elf and forever give him a home.

It's fun to hear of silly little family traditions so feel free to share any of yours.

tWiLiGhT mOvIe

Ok, my husband and I just went and saw the movie last night. He was actually dragging his feet a little. He loves vampire movies and he had heard from some guys he works with that the movie was lame. Well, he was more impressed then expected. He can appreciate the different takes on vampire stories.

I had started the first book awhile ago but got about a quarter of the way in and stopped reading it. I was afraid to keep reading and see the movie and then be disappointed. So now that I've seen the movie I will start back to reading it.
With all that said I wanted to comment about it without giving too much away....
Edward grew on me by the end of the movie. I could see how Bella would feel protected and safe. I loved how he moved around so quickly. I liked his family, how they stick together and protect each other.

From what I had read in the book, I had pictured Bella differently. I'm hoping she grows on me as I read more of the series. Alice was super cute, loved her skin and hairstyle. And Emmett was strong and hot!

I loved how it was filmed in and around my home state of Oregon. When we were watching the movie we thought for sure the brick high school was a high school near my home town but they look very similiar and it was not the same one.

Looking forward to reading more of the series. I heard the next movie starts production March 2009.

WERE YOU PART OF IT??

Does the above view look familiar? If you answered no then that means you were not involved in the busiest shopping day of the year. Yes, I brave it every year but it's actually not that bad. I get up about 3:30 to get showered and ready. Only because after I've shopped, I head to work. So I start at a local store at 5am and my husband even joins me. You meet up with friends in line and you also might possibly make new friends in line. Everyone seems to be in a fun spirit. I think the die hards that really are shoppers must have a good attitude. So that leads me to believe all the grouchy shoppers with no patience are at home sleeping, where they should be.

The morning rush of shopping gives me about a 3hr window of going to some stores nearby and buying what things I perused on the ads the day before. Then I go to work and I can work my day and make back what I just spent and I haven't lost any vacation time. Easy peasy. Some day I might take the day off but for right now this works.

I hear the same thing every year from people: "I can't believe you get up at 4am to get half-priced socks!" I do stick mostly to the deals on their ads. I also figure I can sleep later and I feel good that some of that stuff I would have bought anyway.

So thank you grouchy shoppers for coming out of your cocoons later in the season and not ruin the fun and havoc on Black Friday.

look how much fun these women are having...

GIRLS WEEKEND...

...NEED I SAY MORE???

6 of the 8 of us on our last morning (see, it doesn't always rain in Oregon)

In her zen zone

The hula hoopin queens

All 8 of us dressed down and hanging out

Check out our Grills!

A perfect day for late November on the Oregon Coast

HALLOWEEN 2008

This Halloween was a lot of fun. My parents came in to our house like they have in the past. We had the traditional meal of pizza. Once it started getting dark and we were all dressed we went out to do a little trick or treating to some homes we know in the neighborhood. My parents stayed back and handed out candy. They really helped out a lot tonight and we really appreciated it.

The weather was perfect. It had been threatening rain all week and for some reason it stopped this afternoon and is suppose to start up later in the night. Wasn't even that cold out.

There were a ton of people out tonight. Even the Chief of Police was driving around and gave all 3 of us stickers and candy. We love walking around the neighborhood because there are a few houses that really do it up. This one house had a pirate theme and they even had a boat sitting in their front yard with a bubble machine which had smoke inside of them when they popped. They were standing out in their pirate outfits and the whole set was really cool.

We came back to the house and relieved my parents and handed out candy. Although, we continued to take turns. Just depended on what was going on inside the house. We must have went through almost 13lbs of candy and it was just about 8.

Soon as our friends showed up we shut the lights out and retreated to the back of the house.

The below pics are of my husband in his stealth stormtrooper outfit. They are a special op stormtrooper. He got a lot of attention and there were people taking pics of him and kids running up to him. This one kid in a white cloth stormtrooper started yelling about a house away and was running up to him. Then he stood there and admired his costume. He was like 9 and was really interested. Some people called him Darth Vader. You could tell who were the fans and then you could tell who didn't know much about the movies.

He has wanted the white stormtrooper for awhile now but settled for the stealth one. He plans on wearing it ever year. Eventually he wants all of us to have star wars costumes.

He has some modifications to do and it's not a suit thats made for a lot of walking. By the time we got back home he was pretty worn out but still answered the door and passed out candy.

Big Kids...

My husband grew up never carving pumpkins as a kid. For the past 9 years he really gets into it and always puts thought into what he's going to carve. I on the other hand, just wing it.

We got our pumpkins a few weeks ago and just like an excited child he's been asking when can we carve them. I tell him it's always best to wait till the week of so they don't mold too early.

So yesterday afternoon we went out back to carve since it was such a warm day. I had to laugh when I saw how into it he was. A dremmel tool?? Gloves? He can't stand the feel of the pumpkin. While it never bothers me and I can have pumpkin all up my arms!

He chose to do a starwars look and I just made a traditional jack o' lantern. Our third pumpkin was our daughters and she had no interest in the pumpkins. She was too busy playing in the backyard.

Steve and I had no idea what to carve. We looked at all the different tracing patterns but neither of us wanted to get started on one. We ended up doing stars and with the colored light inside of it I think it turned out pretty well.

OCTOBER IS BREAST CANCER AWARENESS

The White House went pink tonight, part of worldwide campaign at more than 200 landmarks around the globe this month to commemorate breast cancer awareness.

During a ceremony at the White House, First Lady Laura Bush flipped a switch and suddenly a building that has been white ever since John and Abigail Adams took up residence there in 1800 was suddenly pink. She said:

We're showing our support of breast cancer awareness and research in a historic way. In recognition of the mothers, daughters, sisters and wives who struggle with this disease, we're lighting the White House in pink, which is the color of the cause. May our lights tonight shine as beacons around the world, a signal of the United States' commitment to saving lives for breast cancer.

THE SMART CAR

MSRP: $16,590

I've been seeing these around town lately and I think they are so darn adorable. But then I also think I would not want to get in an accident in one of them. Until my husband informed that they are made of reinforced steel, supposedly very safe. Here is some more info on them....
************************************************************************
The idea behind the "Smart car" was to create a vehicle easy to park and short enough to allow "nose-in" parking. Its length of 250 centimetres (98.4 in) would equal the width of a regular parking slot, allowing two or three Smarts to park in the space as one normal car.

But is it safe?
A potentially bigger obstacle for Heidemann is convincing Americans that the smart cars — just over eight feet long — are safe.

The frame for smart cars is made of reinforced steel, creating what engineers compare to the way a walnut shell protects the nut.

In Europe's five-star crash rating system, the smarts get three stars.

Since introducing smarts in 1998, the carmaker itself has spent time and advertising money convincing Europeans on safety, touting a frame design it likens to a walnut, with high-strength steel beams reinforcing key areas.

Smart also likes to show off a 30-mph crash test between a smart coupe and a Mercedes sedan twice as big. "The passenger cell survived the collision almost unscathed," says spokeswoman Julia Knittel.

Other safety features on the manual transmission smarts include braking and stability technology usually found only on high-end luxury cars. And on hills, a start assist keeps the brakes on for just under a second to allow time for the feet to adjust.

HORSEBACK RIDING ON THE BEACH

We had a weekend at the beach planned with my parents. While we were there I had made reservations to surprise Steve for our anniversary with a horseback riding experience. He has never been on a horse before and has mentioned that he would like to sometime. I was able to find a company that was about 20 miles away from where we were staying.

We had reservations for 10 in the morning on Saturday. We left the house we were staying at and headed there and I contacted the guy when we were close and he said he was having trailer trouble and had misplaced my number...not starting out well. So instead of 10 we were now looking at noon. We didn't want to drive back to the house so we waited around until the outlet mall opened and did a little retail action. Not a bad distraction. We called him again after 11 and he said he was heading toward the beach and we could come earlier then noon.

So we got there and he was starting to unload the 3 horses. When we saw the 2 horses that we'd be riding we saw one was a little bigger and both Steve and I figured that was his horse. His name was Red and Steve started petting and bonding with him. Then we were informed that I was riding that horse. Apparently he needs a little more experience rider then the female named Astonia, which Steve was going to ride.

We started out going through the dunes and down onto the beach for awhile. When we came back we went up through the dunes again on some trails back by a bay and then we came back out onto the beach for the return. It was about a 7.5 mile ride and lasted almost 2 hours. He ended up extending it a little because he felt bad for the delay we had earlier.

Bill was very nice and very personable. We enjoyed our conversations with him while we rode and at times he'd even hang back and leave us alone. We liked how he wasn't so rigid about everything and he pretty much let us do what we wanted to do, within reason. He had my camera the whole time and took many pictures of us. We would totally recommend him and will most likely contact him again in the future. I've listed his website at the bottom.

As for Steve, he thoroughly enjoyed himself and said he'd totally do it again. He would just prefer a bigger horse next time. At first his horse wouldn't get out of a trot and I was laughing so hard watching him trotting down the beach. But then he got her into a gallop and he really liked running.

It was beautiful to be on the beach riding a horse. I've rode horses in the past but never on the beach and it was quite the experience.





SMALL WORLD FARM

CERAMIC PROJECT

When the kids were here this summer we went to a local ceramic store. I wanted to take all 3 kids in to get their handprints done in a clay mold. They grow so fast and I knew this would be something that we'd treasure.

While we were there we thought they might enjoy painting something. So we decided on 2 different mugs for us to drink our coffee out of. Didn't know it would take so long, but it did. We were going to have Mackenzie paint something too but she didn't want anything to do with it. It was a fight just to get her handprint!

I finally made it back to pick up the finished mugs and it took me about an hour and a half to paint the 3 plates. They go in for one last fire and then after a week I can pick those up. I will post a picture once I get them back.

Austin did the taller cup for his Dad and Valerie painted the other one for me. Interesting to see what their creative vision is at this age.

Never Forget...

Thought this would be the only picture appropriate for todays blog.

Started off my day witnessing President and Mrs Bush holding a moment of silence this morning in Washington.

Today at work we discussed 9/11. Some remembering where they were at the time of the attack. I grew up with parents remembering where they were when Kennedy was shot. Seems every generation has at least 1. I only wonder what it will be our kids will not forget.