Autumn so wanted to plant a flower garden… so we gutted the old big sandbox and filled it with topsoil and let her shop for flowers.  She’s completely obsessed… she checks their growth on the hour, every hour.  There are wilflower seeds planted in the middle of the big area, and she checks several times a day to see if they’re growing yet.  I think she’s going to get frustrated very quickly at this rate!  She’s lovin’ it – Grandma and Grandpa have promised to go get some flowers for her to plant at their house too.  Martha Stewart in the making, maybe?

Yes, that’s a lovely area of dead grass where the broken lid was left laying all spring… guess I’ll be shopping for grass seed soon too!

Visiting Grandma’s house, finding an interesting thing trying to hide from us:

That’s a teeny frog balanced one of the chairs:

And why oh why do I like pictures of them walking away so much?  It’s so… “me and my shadow”!

We woke up this morning to the sound of our purebred Sheltie being attacked by a big ol’ mama raccoon in the backyard.  I looked out the back door and saw the beast wrapped around Gizmo’s head, while the dog was yelping pitifully and they were both rolling around in circles.  It seemed to go on forever!

Gizzy got away, the raccoon hopped up on the 6′ fence and waddled a few feet before leaping off the other side into the woods.  We had seen what we believe to be the same raccoon a few days before, at early dusk.  For what it’s worth, it is a huge myth that a raccoon must have rabies if she’s out during the day – it’s possible that she didn’t gather enough food for her brood, or just got hungry (ala our midnight snack).  She seemed healthy both times we saw her, indicating with great chance that she’s fine.

But at what cost to my family if, by some infantessimal chance she is infected with rabies and passed it onto our beloved dog, who can pass it on to any one of us?

We rushed the dog to the vet, who informed us that per CDC guidelines he should be quarantined for 6 months – the maximum amount of time it would take for rabies symptoms to appear.  The symptoms can arrive as soon as 2 weeks, however.  The dog will remain there for the weekend to ensure none of the cuts and bites get infected.

Wasn’t he vaccinated, you ask?  Well, we thought he was.  He was not up to date.

Sigh.  It’s quite expensive to quarantine an animal – possibly as much as $20.00 a day.  Frankly, this dog has cost me more than a kid has.  Between the initial cost of an AKC registered purebred, to the cost of reparing his broken leg after the 70 pound Lab stepped on him when he was only 6 months old, to the cost of replacing carpet that the damned dog has dug up over the past three years, to replacing the back yard someday because he digs holes on every square inch… he’s just drained me.  I won’t pay to board him for six months.  I just can’t.  And there’s no way to tell if the raccoon is ill, because we can’t get anyone to come out to catch it – and even if we did, we have woods behind our house – what are the odds that there are more than one raccoon there?  Quite high.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUGHHHHHHHHHHHH.  Autumn loves this dog.  He’s her best friend in the world.  They do EVERYTHING together.  She can’t walk across the room without Gizmo being at her ankles.  This will crush her.  Damnit.

sans mantle.  I don’t know why I don’t have a mantle.  I built the house and didn’t include one.  11 years later I still don’t have one.  I don’t know why.  I guess the benefit is it’s one less thing to dust.  But I digress…

Autumn won 3rd place in her age group for an Easter drawing she did at a local restaurant… I think this girl has never been so proud of herself in all her life!

Daddy came home a little early and took her to pick up her prizes (and yes, she wanted to put on her pretty Easter dress) – she got a little plastic backpack, a playdoh set, a gift card for a kid’s meal, and a certificate.  She’s so tickled!

Ah, mom brag over.

… or should I say “Rainy Day Mess?”

And for the perfect end to playtime, we looked out the back window and saw this!

We had a glorious Saturday enjoying a picnic in our local park.  Grandma and Grandpa came to enjoy it with us, and we took some pics and watched the kids play.  Our park has a water area, so the kids can fill up their waterguns and get everyone wet – including bystanders! 

There’s nothing better than eating outside in the warm spring weather, laughing and being together with family.  We are so blessed, and I thank God every day for that.

‘

After we got back home and it got dark, we lit up the firepit and had roasted marshmallows.  Is there a better way to end a perfect day?

http://www.nypost.com/seven/04192009/postopinion/opedcolumnists/free_range_kids_165215.htm?&page=0

FREE-RANGE KIDS”
By LENORE SKENAZY

April 19, 2009 –
When author Lenore Skenazy let her son loose on the subway last year, she was dubbed “America’s Worst Mom.” She explains why more parents need to let go.

Tomorrow my kids go back to school after 17 and a half months of vacation.

Oh wait. Here’s my calendar. They’ve only been off 11 days? In our apartment it feels like light years, because most of the time my boys have been hanging out inside. Why? Because no one was hanging out outside for them to hang out with.

And why was that?

For most kids, that’s verboten. The simple, fun things we used to do without a second thought — walking to a friend’s, staying out until dark — are now regarded as insanely risky. See-you-on-a-milk-carton risky. How did childhood change so much, so fast, and is there any way to bring back the good ol’ days?

Actually, there is. It’s called Free-Range parenting — parenting the old way, with new insights into how we got so brainwashed with fear, and how we can get braver. Let’s take a look first at how we got so scared.

If you think about what our parents were watching when they raised us, it was “Marcus Welby.” Or “Dallas.” Or “Dynasty.” Turn on the TV tonight and instead of kindly doctors or millionaires with big hair, you will see autopsies, psychokillers and a playground’s worth of child predators.

And that’s before the news.

Now, thanks to shows like “Law & Order,” “CSI” and “24,” it looks like no child can step outside without some creep following behind them with duct tape. Between that and 24-hour cable news bringing us the latest abduction from Aruba, it’s almost impossible to convince ourselves these events are rarer than rare. TV piles it on because if it told us what’s really happening — “Millions of kids unharmed!” — we’d turn it off.

Then we’d surf the web. Oh look! A new abduction story.

The other thing scaring us is the very industry that’s supposed to reassure us: the safety industry. Today there are flat screen TV monitors to watch your kid’s crib all day and night — as if this is such a dangerous place to be. There are baby knee pads to protect your infants when they crawl — as if this is such a dangerous activity. There are even shopping cart liners to keep your kid from ever touching a germ.

Forget the fact that babies are born to survive. They’ve been doing it since time began and what’s more: They’re safer today than ever. Infant mortality is four times lower than even when I was born. But these products make us think it’s only by the grace of God — and constant, gadget-assisted hovering — that a kid will make it through another day. So, ironically, the more ridiculous safety products there are, the more we worry our kids aren’t safe.

The problem with all this is that we’re accustomed to imagining the very worst. Sure, most kids don’t die from gumming a grocery cart, but what if? Most kids don’t get kidnapped on their way to self-defense, but what if? (And how ironic!) The what if’s take over our brains. And the one time they shut up long enough to let us open the front door and tell the kids, “Go play by the ant hills!” some other parent is just as likely to chide: “What if something happened? Wouldn’t you feel terrible?”

That’s what everyone was asking me last year when I became infamous for letting my 9-year-old ride the subway alone. What if something happened? How would I feel? One guy called into an NPR talk show and asked why would I give my son one day of “fun,” knowing it would probably end in rape and murder. Wouldn’t I rather let him live to a ripe old age? Comments like that are how I got dubbed, “America’s Worst Mom.” (Go ahead — Google it.)

Please. We all care about our kids. But the fact is, we are living in very safe times for them. Crime has been declining since 1993. Sex crimes against kids, in particular, are down a whopping 79%, according to U.S. Department of Justice statistics.

The way to combat our fears and give our children a childhood again is to step back from all the hysteria and look at what’s really going on: It’s a lovely time to be a kid!

And you know what? It’s a lovely time to be a parent, too.

Lenore Skenazy is the founder of freerangekids.com and author of “Free-Range Kids: Giving Our Children the Freedom We Had Without Going Nuts with Worry“ (Wiley), out now.

“I’m not allowed to” (insert your own here) – drink and eat while in labor/get out of bed while in labor/refuse an IV/refuse constant monitoring/go home the same day/etc. etc. etc.

I know I’ve said it before.  I know I’m a broken record.  I don’t care.  I want women to have fantastic birthing experiences like I did.  Like millions of other women who take control do.

Who’s paying who for a service here?  YOU are paying THEM.  It’s no different than paying for a meal at a restaurant – you want steak, they say “oh, honey, no you don’t”, you INSIST that yes you do.  And you GET that steak. 

Your doctors are not gods.  They do not necessarily know what’s best for you at that exact moment.  If you are hungry, you need to eat.  If you are thirsty, you must drink.  If your doctor believes you can’t, then he needs to go back to medical school because that myth has been debunked over and over again.  No wonder women that labor for 5+ hours get weaker and weaker, and ultimately end up with intervention after intervention.  I wonder how many women that ended up having dangerous major abdominal surgery (okay, c-sections if it sounds better), because they couldn’t progress or couldn’t continue laboring, would’ve had wonderful normal deliveries if their docs hadn’t been wrong about them eating a sandwich and drinking a cup of coffee or a soda or a glass of water?  You can’t drive a car with no gas!!

And being forced to lay in a bed with monitors on is horrible!  If you are healthy, baby is healthy, and you are fine, your doctor cannot force you to lay in bed.  Get up.  Walk around.  There are many experts that think being hooked up to monitors leads to interventions too – baby’s heartbeat naturally speeds up and slows down, but docs jump so fast on the panic wagon that many women are led to believe their baby is in danger, when in fact there’s no problem at all.

And nope, they can’t force you to be hooked to an IV either.  If you’re aiming for a drug-free delivery (yay you!), and aren’t having pitocin or other dangerous meds to help this completely natural process along… refuse.  You have CHOICES!! I mean, this is your body!  This is your baby!  Want to sit up to give birth?  DO IT!  Don’t want genital mutilation – I mean an episiotomy?  Then TELL THEM!  Very VERY few deliveries actually “need” an episiotomy.  This is NOT routine, regardless of what your doc says.  Just like your doc will tell you the epidural is perfectly safe… you need to keep in mind that most “rules” are not made for mom – they’re made for the medical staff to have you on a timeline so they can schedule whatever else they have going on and so that THEY have control.  This is why that horrible and completely self-defeating lithotomy (flat on back) position for birthing started – it’s easy for the doc. 

You know what?  It doesn’t matter what’s “easy” for the doc.  He’s getting paid a great deal of money to perform a service for YOU.  Not the other way around.

Do your homework, ladies, I beg of you.  Arm yourself with information.  KNOW what you want.  I can assure you that your doctor and nurses will appreciate you taking some control over your situation.  And you know what?  If they don’t like you taking control because then they may not make it home in time to watch Grey’s Anatomy, too bad.

Don’t end up with a childbirth experience you will look back on and be sad about.  Make it a beautiful, glorious day, make it everything you want. Don’t have a “lay there and nod” mentality.  This day is ALL about YOU.  Those doctors and nurses will go home and then deliver 300 more babies this year – this is your ONE chance to make it perfect.  You have the control, the ability, and the strength to do it.

And you know what else?  You can go home right away, within hours, to recover safe and sound in your own surroundings.  Didn’t know you could do that either?  Yup.  They can’t force you to stay if you and baby are healthy!

Here’s sending loads of hugs and prayers to those that are experiencing the wonderful journey of pregnancy.  Congratulations!

I’m so proud of my sons for interviewing beautifully and being so eloquent and proud of what they were standing up for.

http://slideroll.com/?s=w3sg9rzp

The Columbus Tea Party is tonight… I’m taking Brett and Justus since they’re old enough to understand that they’ll be paying for this ignorant administration’s ridiculous spending for the rest of their lives, and possibly their children’s lives, if we don’t do something NOW.

So here’s my signs!

FRONTS:

BACKS:

Justus wants to hold the gravemarker… lol!  So Brett will hold the mortgage one – it’s the most relevant for him too.

I hope to see more people at the rallies!  Go FREEDOM!

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