Why teenagers are having sex and using drugs more now

Our anniversary was this weekend and my parents were sweet enough to keep the boys so we could have a date night. We decided to see a movie and have dinner out.

While at the theater, I realized why teenagers are using drugs and having sex more often. It's not because their bored. It's because they can't afford the movies!

Seriously, should it cost $40 for a couple to see a movie?

What high school student can afford to take their girlfriend out to a movie on the weekends or see a flick with their friends?

What the World Needs Now is Love

I do not understand the argument that allowing same-sex marriage cheapens/changes/diminishes the importance of traditional marriage. How? No one's marriage; no teenagers who are not even clear on the true meaning of love; No celebrity who is married every 4 months for only a week at a time; No polygamist marriage(s).... NO MARRIAGE diminishes the importance of my marriage to my husband. If you believe that your love, vows, unity, commitment, etc in your own traditional marriage is compromised by allowing same-sex couples to marry, please, please explain how. Explain to me why your feelings of love and commitment are changed by the actions of people outside of your union.

If you are using the name of God to protest equal rights for gay people, I have a question. This is not made to be insulting, just a question about how it's justified based on what I, as a Christian, was taught.

God made his children. We are all his children.
God is perfect. He does not make mistakes.
God gave us each natural feelings and emotions. He gave us sexual feelings as well. He gave us feelings of love beyond friendship.
God wants us to commit to the one we love and to be faithful to them.

So...how is God a reason to not allow two people who are his children, his perfect children, to love one another and commit to each other under the presence of God and family?


Before you tell me that being homosexual is a choice. Seriously? First get an education in biology.
Homosexuality is how a person is made, how God made them. Asking them to pretend they are not gay, is asking them to deny the person God made them to be. The person God choose for them to be.
There are many strong traditional families that have more than one homosexual child.
Get an education in common sense.
Explain to me why millions of people would choose to live a life loving someone they didn't really feel that kind of love towards. Why would they deny themselves basic civil rights? Why would they make their lives insanely difficult at many times? Answer: no one would.


Now comes the absurdity of those who argue that if we allow same-sex marriage, then we make it okay for children to be raised by homosexuals and that is dangerous for children. The ridiculous argument that children are harmed by being raised by a gay couple or will become gay only because they were raised by a gay couple makes me furious and hysterical with laughter at the same time.
Children need parents who love them, respect them, hold them, teach them, listen to them, feed them, and give them all the things they need. Many children are raised in 'untraditional' homes. Millions of children are raised in single parent homes, adoptive homes, foster homes, abusive homes of various kinds, homes with a mom and a dad who are in no way in love with one another, group homes, boxes on the street with no parents. There are not many of those homes that I would want my children going to if something happened to us.

I guess all in all, I don't understand the reason for hating anyone, spreading that hate, allowing your differing opinion to diminish the sanctity of your own union. I do not understand not wanting children to have homes where they are loved.

Now my other boy is getting big too fast too

On Saturday, Nathan turned 2 years old. How are my boys growing up so fast? Having their birthdays so close together makes it extra hard when I'm having those, 'they are growing up too fast' feelings.

Sweet little Nathan seemed to understand that it was a special day for him. We actually celebrated both the boys birthdays with family together so we had two cakes and two rounds of Happy Birthday.

They both loved opening their presents and tore right into them. One of the things I love about little kids is that they really appreciate their presents. They would tear into a gift and get so excited. They want it opened right then and there to play with. All the other gifts are left unwrapped while they enjoy the one they just opened. We have to remind them to stop and open something new.

When it was cake time, Nathan was bawling his eyes out. He did not like the fiery candles and so his cousin, Maeve, blew them out for him. When it was time to eat cake, he just picked at it mostly. He wasn't all that interested in it. Instead he enjoyed some of the fantastic blackberries and strawberries that Grandpa had brought him. Nothing could be a better dessert to Nathan than berries.

Grandpa made him a special kind of birthday 'cake'.

Raising him well

Well, Carson may be a pill sometimes, but overall, I'm so proud of how sweet and empathetic he is.
Yesterday, I could not stay awake. I literally slept all day long and when I would wake up, it wasn't for long and I was exhausted. About 5:30, I woke up (again) on the living room couch and was trying hard to stay awake. Carson had been outside with his daddy. He came in to use the potty and when he was done, he said, "Mommy do you want to go outside and sit in the green chair? I will help you walk out there."
He was so serious about being there to 'help' me. I said, "Okay sweetie."
When I stood up, he took my hand with both of his and said, "just walk slow and I'll help you so you don't fall." He held my hand the entire way through the house and outside. Greg looked confused as Carson helped me to the chair outside. I just smiled.
I'm not sure why he thought that I needed help walking, maybe because I was so tired all day I was stumbling everywhere I went, but could a child be sweeter?

ME DO! ME DO!

Nathan has entered the 'do it himself stage'. It's actually been this way for a couple months. I love it most of the time because it's so adorable to watch him try and do things himself, but oh boy does it make trying to get ready for something quickly just impossible.
His other new independent demand is that he must be allowed to put on his brace by himself at naptime and bedtime. Of course for the sake of his foot, I can't allow this, so we have a compromise that as of now, he's willing to accept. He gets to put the insert and the pringle onto his foot and then I actually put his foot into his brace. Then I have to put the straps through the buckles and hold them tight while he pushes the velcro the rest of the way down.
If he finds his brace anywhere around the house he will spend forever sitting quietly and practicing putting it on himself. I must admit there have been times when he's driving me crazy so I give it to him just to keep him busy.
It's just funny to look back now and think about how worried I was that this would be so awful for him and make it so hard for him to sleep.

Jack In The Box is a bad influence! Please spread the word.

Greg took Friday off to have a special day with the boys at the Zoo Friends Day. He decided he wanted to make a whole special day of it.
He said he wanted to have breakfast at Jack in the Box before the zoo. (He really just wanted an excuse for their chicken biscuit.)
As we sat at the table eating our greasy breakfast, Carson says, "Jack isn't wearing a helmet on his motorcycle and that's against the law!" He had a very strong tone of disapproval in his voice.
I looked around to see what he was talking about and he pointed to a poster on the wall of Jack on a motor scooter driving in heavy traffic. He kept telling us that was 'bad' and 'against the law'.
I told him that later we could email Jack or call him and tell him. He was very interested in the idea of calling. So we called the 1-800 number from the restaurant and Carson informed the customer service rep of this unlawful and dangerous behavior Jack was involved in. The man seemed to be a bit confused as to why would we call with this comment, he obviously has no children.
So yet, it was a funny observation for my just turned 4 year old to make, but as I sat there thinking about it, I thought, shouldn't Jack be showing the kids the right thing to do? I mean shouldn't he be more concerned about his safety? He did just survive a horrible accident, coma, and attempted take-over. Did he not learn any lesson from this?
Jack, I am disappointed and I think you owe it to the public to begin an immediate PSA promoting the importance of helmet safety.

My boy is four!

Today is Carson's birthday. I know it's such a cliche, but I can't believe how fast time has gone. It just doesn't seem possible for him to be just a year away from kindergarten. He will start preschool in just a few months and I wonder what he will be like as a student.
I got a developmental email from babycenter today and it mentioned that 3 year olds are energetic and 4 year olds are the same, but with more self-control and a better understanding of the rules. REALLY? It seems like the last 2-3 weeks, Carson has been insane. He seems wilder than usual and just the loudest he can possibly be.
This year was the first year I've told him it was his birthday. Previously, I've just told him it was his birthday on the day we had his party so as not to confuse him. Well, he seems to understand the difference in his birthday and his party day, but he's not happy about it. He wants to know where his friends are and he wants to have his party and his presents and his balloons now. He has mentioned several times that he wants ALL his friends to come over today. This is funny since he really only has one friend and his two cousins.
I let him have a special day and choose lunch, which of course led us to McD's. Ugh. He loved it though because for some reason eating inside the McD's is just fantastic. He immediately announced it was his birthday to the cashier. The manager overheard and after he'd eaten his Happy Meal, she brought him a bunch of mini M&M's (I'm sure from making McFlurries). He was on cloud 9. I then took him to the grocery store and told him he could pick cupcakes or a little cake for dessert tonight. He got a chocolate cake with white icing and about 8 pounds of colorful frosting balloons. For dinner we went to Pizza Hut and yeah, Connie was their so we requested her section and ordered a $10 Panourmous. What a day full of about 1000 calories more than a child should ever consume.
I swore to myself that I would catch up on the scrapbooks before their birthdays, and yet Carson's 3rd year is barely started and Nathan is more behind. So much for self-promises.