Heal The World

The other day I was watching music videos on you tube. I stumbbled across a Michael Jackson one. Then I started watching other Michael Jackson ones. Months later, I am finally realizing what the world lost.

I have always liked Michael Jackson songs, but have never been a huge fan of his. I didn't like the way he handled his life. I feel like he was such a huge music icon and he ruined it by choices he made in his life. Yes, he has freedom to choose what he wants. However, I feel like he mad some bad choices. Anyways, I have always liked his songs.

While I was listening to his songs on You Tube I was really focusing on the words. A lot of his songs have a really great message. They are about making the world a better place. I have to admit that I got teary eyed. They also inspired me to "make the world a better place, for you and for me and the entire human race." A lot of them have a good meaning to them.

I also love his song "Black or White." Savanna has a little black girl in her class. Sadly, Savanna hasn't been exposed to many people of different races. There just isn't a lot in any of the areas we have lived in. Savanna will often mention things about this girl and say things about not liking her because of the color of her skin. Savanna was around when I was listening to the Michael Jackson songs. "Black or White" has become a favorite of hers. I explained to her what it means. Slowly I think she is learning that it really doesn't matter if you are black or white. She is learning we are all different and that it is ok to be friends with people who are different than us.

It is too bad that Michael Jackson is gone. He has left an amazing legacy behind. I'm sure that he still had some great songs to release that might have inspired each of us more. May we all take his songs to heart and try to "HEAL THE WORLD!"

Thanksgiving

Our festivities started with Savanna's school play on Tuesday. The two Kindergarten classes got together to put on a first Thanksgiving play. Savanna had a line she said herself and one she got to say with this girl. She had it memorized the first time the teacher read it to her. The morning of the play, Savanna said she was nervous and wasn't sure if she wanted to do it. Of course, come time for the play Savanna couldn't wait to get up there and show off. It was a cute play. Following the play we had Thanksgiving dinner which consisted of Turkey sandwiches, stuffing, chips, carrots, and cranberry sauce. A great meal to eat at 10:00 in the morning! Thanksgiving morning always starts out the same way with Cinnamon Rolls for breakfest then getting ready for the Turkey Bowl. We have been playing a football game on Thanksgiving with my cousins for as long as I can remember. It is always such a fun game. They allow everyone to play: young and old, girl or boy ect. And we make sure everyone gets a chance to be in a play. Usually it is a pretty laid back game. We usually don't keep score and don't have many rules. We are just out to play for fun. It has changed over the years as we have all gotten married and a lot of us have had children. Some of the in-laws won't to make set rules and wonder who is winning. Some of them really get into it and make it not as fun. We let the kids play at first but then after a while, it is nice to have them leave so we can have a little more fun. This year, the very first play scared a kid which made him cry. So about 3 adults went and started a kids football game instead of playing with everyone else. They were missed! My kids did well at entertaining themselves so we could play. Mostly it is thanks to my cousins Randy and Wendy who brought their dogs.

Savanna walked this dog around for a while. It kept her really entertained.

This is most of the gang who played. A few got away before the picture was taken. We all look forward to the Turkey Bowl each year.

After the game we go home to shower (because you can't come to Thanksgiving dinner dirty) and naps for some. This year Ben's brother Jake came up to join my family. Ben enjoyed spending time with him. Ben got his jeep out and drove that around. I think his brothered had fun riding in it. We had an amazing dinner. I swear my stomach fills up faster on this day than it does at any other meal. My sweet mom cooks way to much because she wants to please everyone. And of course I feel like I have to eat it all! It is was great meal. We continued our tradition of writing on the table cloth something we are grateful for this year. My brother teases us that last year everyone wrote family. This year, we got a little more creative. I liked Ben's who wrote that he was thankful his brother in law Jake watches Glenn Beck and is into politics now. Jake wrote that he was thankful for Sarah Palin who is going to save this country. I wrote that I am grateful for rich people who will pay my husband a lot of money to do labor jobs! Just a few of the writings.

We end Thanksgiving night with our last tradition of the day. We go bowling! I remember one year when I was younger we didn't do this tradition. I was so mad at my mom. I don't think she will ever miss this again as long as I will be with her on Thanksgiving!

Lincoln got a kick out of rolling the ball down this hill. He didn't care to see the ball knock down the pins. He just wanted to roll another ball. It was so cute to watch. Savanna really enjoyed bowling this year. She can actually throw the ball hard enough down the lane so that it makes it to the pins before the gate comes down. She even did better than some older people (I won't mention any names!)

Ben might be the person who dislikes bowling the most out of my family. He shouldn't though because he is the one who always seems to win. I can keep up with him for awhile, but then I go down hill. It was a great Thanksgiving Day. And yes Jake, I am also thankful for my family this year because I have the World's Greatest Family (both mine and the one I came from) ever!

Sibling Love!

Usually when we put the kids to bed, Savanna is so tired that she instantly falls alseep. For Lincoln it takes a little more. He usually will come out a few times before finally staying in his bed. The other night, after coming out 3 times, I finally shut the door to their room which has a child lock on the inside. For some reason I am very grateful for, Lincoln can only get out during the day. Once night comes he can't open the door. So I had shut the door. I always check on them before I go to bed. This is what I found: Lincoln had climbed up into Savanna's bed, cuddled right into her, and fell asleep. Savanna was dead to the world and had no idea. It was so cute! Ben wanted to leave him there all night, but I said no. I was worried he would wake up and I wanted my sleep. Of course, neither one of them remembered this the next morning. However, the next night, Lincoln tried the same thing. I he would have succeeded except he had to go to the bathroom and I made him get back in his own bed. These two kiddos sure love eachother!

Relax, Breath Deep

Ok, so I always wanted to try yoga, but thought that it would be way too easy for me. Boy, was I wrong! The p90X videos have a yoga tape (maybe not the best one to start out on). After work last night I decided I would do 30 mintues worth of the hour and half workout. I thought it would be so relaxing. Then I would be able to just fall asleep peacefully. Not! All through the workout, the host (I forgot his name) talks about how we should have a clear mind. Our faces should be at peace. We should be relaxed and breathing deep. My mind was saying "Really, we have only been in the pose for 5 seconds because it really feels like 90 minutes" or "How the heck am I suspose to breath when I can't even feel my legs!" or "Do we really have 3 warrior positions?" I don't see how those who were doing it could be relaxed and have the calm faces they had on. Needless to say I barely made it through the 30 minutes.

A while back my sister-in-law showed me how she could do this ygoa move. (it is called the crane) I thought "easy, I could do that any day." I was so wrong! Now, I am so impressed that she could do it. For all of you who are thinking the same thing as me, try it. It is a lot harder than it looks. Even after doing the workout, I didn't really feel like I got a workout because I didn't sweat hard and all I was really doing was stretching in weird positions. I was shocked when I woke up this morning sore! The sides of my abs are so sore and I am having a hard time standing on my legs they hurt so bad!

I have a new appreciation for yoga. I have a goal to do it more often and someday to do that stupid Crane position! Oh and to be able to Relax, Breath Deep through it all!

Can You Believe It....

I am now the proud owner of a Black Berry! I myself can't believe it. We are the slowest people to get up to date with Technology. I know a Black Berry is not the most up to date, but it is a lot further ahead than we have ever been. But don't expect much from me. I have no idea how to use it. I keep looking for the up and down arrows!

We Made It Through Halloween

As mention in a previous post, I don't like Halloween. I wasn't even going to decorate my house for Halloween. But then my sister-in-law made me feel guilty saying how much the kids enjoy it. So I gave in a decorated. Probably the thing that drives me nuts the most about Halloween is getting the kids dressed up for it. Savanna was going to be Sleeping Beauty by default. I hadn't thought of Halloween at all when my sister-in-law called saying she had a made a Sleeping Beauty Costume for her daughter that was too big and asked if I wanted it for Savanna. I jumped on the chance. Lincoln was going to be Batman. When I found out I was pregnant with Lincoln, my friend Ryanne gave me a bunch of boy clothes. Included in this was a Batman and Superman outfits, minus the capes. I almost made a cape to go with it, but didn't get around to it. I'm glad I didn't. Lincoln refused to keep his costume on. When he saw Savanna getting into hers, he would ask for his on. As soon as we got it on him, he would cry for it to come off. It wasn't even worth the fight for me. So he didn't wear his costume to many of the parties.

This year they got dressed up 4 different days. First, Savanna for her school party on Tues. Second, her school Halloween carnival the next day. Here they played games, ate junk, and got their faces painted. Lincoln even sat still enough to have a bat painted on him. Savanna was so calm through it all. I didn't think she was having any fun, although she reassured me she was.

Then it was our ward Halloween party on Thursday. Once again it was a carnival. So more games and treats. Through all of these parties Lincoln would not put on his costume.

Finally, Halloween night came. Once again, we tried to get Lincoln into his costume. He refused. I then gave him a choice to be Superman, thinking that would make him want to dress up. Nope! He still wanted nothing to do with it. Ben had had enough. He forced him into the costume. Lincoln kicked and cried the entire time. Right after we got it on, he ran to Savanna for comforting. She soaked that up! As you can see in the picture he has red eyes and snot running down his nose.

Savanna of course loved dressing up. I did have her hair all curly, but it didn't stay in very well. She mostly loved wearing the "high heels" that I got for her.

And of course once Lincoln was in his costume for awhile, he enjoyed it. Especially after he saw he got candy for being in it.

They were so funny Trick or Treating. They would run from house to house. Savanna could run so fast in her princess shoes. I am amazed she could run in them. They did break near the end of Trick or Treating. So yes, my child was out on Halloween night without any shoes on. Lincoln could run faster than Savanna. They loved it. Lincoln ended up loving his costume so much he slept in it.

Oh, I didn't even watch them carve their pumpkins. They did it on a Friday with my brother while I was at work. This is something I always insist on us doing, but because of our crazy schedule that week, we didn't get around to doing it.

I have a goal to not be such a Scrooge when it comes to Halloween next year. However, I am so glad it is over for this year!

$448.00 A MONTH

I keep telling myself that I want to go back to being 19 when my parents paid for my health insurance, I didn't have to worry about life insurance. All I had was my little car insurance payment. I had no worries about preparing for the future. Now, it seems like everytime I turn around I am having to buy some kind of insurance to protect me from something.

Recently I started working part-time just so I could get health insurance through my work. I was basically the same amount to buy my own policy or to get it through my work. The benefits to getting it through my work is that the maternity deductible is $250 instead of $5,000 and they have to accept Ben (Ben is uninsurable). Since I was going to be working enough hours anyways, we decided to have me offically go part-time and get the insurance through them.

It started out being $390 a month. Of course, if I was full-time it would be cheaper. I had a really hard time paying $390 a month. I just learned yesterday that my rate is going up to $448 a month! Can you believe that? I am outraged. I can't believe I am paying that much to protect my family in case something happens. As most of you know, we don't go to the doctor much. I realize how blessed I am in this area and thank the Lord daily for it. Once I took Lincoln to the doctor because I thought he might have an ear infection. Other than that, they have only been for Well Child Checks. I only go to the doctor to have a baby (which I do pretty cheaply) or to get my yearly check-up so I can get more birth control. Ben only goes once every 2 years to so he can get a refill on his asthma inhalers. Now can you see why I have a hard time paying $448 a month. That would cover the cost of my children's Well Child Checks without insurance.

As tempting as it is to be uninsured, I can't bring myself to do it. There is always that what if scenario that keeps me paying the ridiculous insurance premium. Although, I will be looking into getting a catastrophic play for us.

There are 2 things that bother me the most.

1- The fact that I am paying the same amount as someone else who uses their insurance all of the time to come and get pain pills 5 times a month that they don't even need to be taking! You know it is people like them who are making the cost of insurance go sky high.
2- I work for IHC who offers Select Med Insurance for their employees and I am still paying such a high premium. They are affliated with eachother! Don't they usually get a some kind of killer discount when they are affliated?

A while ago Ben said that maybe they should do away with all insurance companies. Then the doctors would only charge what the market could bear. If people could only pay $60 for a visit, that is all they could charge. Doing this would also make it so those people who are abusing their insurance, coming in for reasons they don't need to, would stop because they would be paying for the whole visit instead of just a $35 co-pay. I didn't agree with it at first, but now I am considering it!

Heck, let's just blame it all on Obama. I'm sure he has his hands in it somehow right!