Wildlife

Each evening when Stephen gets into the car as we pick him up at the train station, Mr. Blue-Eyes asks for what we've been calling "The Wildlife Report." Typically, this report includes sightings of deer (with the correct number of each type...bucks, does, fawns) and foxes and birds. A month or so ago, we were all impressed to hear how Dad actually witnessed a bald eagle swooping down onto the water and coming back up with a fish! We even made a special trip to that lake to see if we could catch a glimpse of any bald eagles, but it seems like they have migrated south now. Ospreys were commonly named in The Wildlife Report for a while, too, but it seems that they have also migrated south for the winter.

Our wildlife sightings have been sparse unless you include the groundhog who makes his home under the shed at the golf course behind our house. We often saw him scrounging in the grass as we drove past.

But one night last week, as I was making dinner, I glanced out the window and saw what I thought was a large dog in our backyard. With a second look, I quickly realized that there were two deer in our yard! The boys were so excited to have deer in our yard. They wanted to go out onto the deck, but I knew if we opened the door, those deer would be gone in a flash. I did manage to get one semi-clear picture through the glass and a short video to share. Both deer appeared to be does, although they looked like they were pretty small...perhaps this year's fawns that had lost their spots already, but hadn't grown any antlers yet. So we weren't sure. Uncle Dan would probably know, but we just aren't as "deer savvy" as he is.

At any rate, it was pretty fun to have our own Wildlife Report to share with Dad that night!

The Boys' Room

And here is the "updated" look in the boys' room. Due to Mr. Blue-Eyes' great interest in animals, we decided on a safari / jungle theme.

First, the "before" picture...

And the Safari...

Around the House

We have been slowly getting some work done around the house, and now that Cupcake's nursery is getting closer to being done, I thought I'd post a couple of pictures. :-) There still aren't any curtains hung or decorations on the walls, but I thought this was a pretty good start.

And just for perspective, here's the "before" picture...

Political Dilemma

Well, I don't think I've written much of anything here previously about politics. It's not that I don't think about it much -because I do, especially as I have a husband who is very interested and keeps up with this stuff. Oh, and my college study program was Political Science, so it has always interested me...just hasn't been something I've blogged about before now.

But now things are really heating up in a lot of arenas - with the Presidential election looming ever nearer and the mortgage "crisis" threatening our economy, etc. There's plenty to consider.

Now I've been a fan of Ron Paul pretty much ever since I heard his name and learned what he's about. I appreciate his commitment to upholding the Constitution as written and with a strict interpretation (Paul is known to many as "Dr. No" - a reference to his "no" votes on any legislation that attempts to broaden the powers of the federal government or violates the Constitution), and his belief that life begins at conception and the commitment to protecting that life - as he's shown in his many years of practice as an obstetrician. His views on immigration, economics and foreign policy are perhaps a little foggier to me, but understandable enough that I put myself in his camp. Stephen has read his most recent book, and although I've been a bit slower in making my way through it, I've started it as well.

So I'll readily own that I voted for Ron Paul in the primary. We cheer everytime we see a Ron Paul for President sign or bumper sticker. :-) I've long thought that I'd vote for him in the general election as well. I don't particularly care for John McCain. I haven't for years - back to when we were living in Arizona and he was on the ballot there. And I seem to recall that there were many conservative Christians back in 2000 and 2004 who did NOT want McCain on the Republican ticket. He was not considered a true conservative. He was about as liberal a Republican as one could find (excepting perhaps Arlen Specter from Pennsylvania!), just one or two steps away from being a Democrat. We didn't want him representing the Republican party or sitting in the White House.

Choosing Sarah Palin as his VP running mate was a very smart choice for McCain. It has garnered him lots of support that I don't think he otherwise would have had. But I've had my reservations about her from the beginning as well. I know that I have plenty of friends who are wholeheartedly supporting her (and McCain because of her), but she just hasn't won me over in the same way.

I expect that my most serious criticisms of her would have to do with her role as a wife and mother. Please take this all in the way in which it is meant - just my personal musings and thoughts, looking into her life as an outsider, trying to understand her character.

I am tremendously thankful that when she learned that her baby would be born with Down Syndrome, she understood her responsibility to raise and love that child just the same as any other. I am glad that she and her husband are commited to the right to life. I commend her for that.

But I can't help but wonder at how she can leave her precious baby (and her other children who also very obviously need her) in the care of others while she's meeting the demands of a stressful and, well, demanding career. She was back to work as governor of the state of Alaska only three days after giving birth to her son Trig this past spring. Three days!! That's insane! Having given birth twice, I know what the "aftermath" is like. I'm sure she had plenty of help with the baby and other children. But come on.

And then there's the issue of her teenage daughter's pregnancy. I say this not to judge her daughter, but to point out her daughter's NEED for focused guidance from her mother during this time. Thankfully, she does not plan to abort this child, but to marry the baby's father and raise the baby. But it's a traumatic time in the life of her daughter. Isn't that more important to her than public office?

Anyway, like I said, I have reservations. I have serious reservations about casting my vote for the McCain-Palin ticket. Now, obviously, (or at least I hope it's obvious by now!), I would not, WILL NOT, vote for Obama-Biden. Obama's complete disregard for human life is disgusting. His alliance with Planned Parenthood and other baby-killing groups is well-documented, and his support of a bill that would refuse life-sustaining measures for infants born in a failed abortion attempt make me ill. That's all to say nothing of his other policy-making plans such as universal health care, tax policies and immigration.

So...my dilemma has been whether to vote my conscience and cast another vote (a write-in, presumably) for Ron Paul, or to vote "against" Obama by voting for McCain. I've been undecided for a while, hating the choice for the "lesser of two evils."

But after deliberating...agonizing...and reading Randy Alcorn's blog, I expect that I will support and vote for McCain-Palin after all. I don't agree with McCain's policy-making agenda. I don't like his immigration plans. I don't really trust his foreign policy-making either...or his tax policies...and I could go on. But I do believe that he and Sarah Palin are committed to the right of unborn babies to be given every possible opportunity to live and thrive. (By the way, McCain is not 100% pro-life, as is evident in his exceptions for the life of the mother and rape cases - which I don't agree with!) And as the next President of the United States will most likely have the opportunity to appoint two - or more - Supreme Court Justices, the repercussions of this election will be great. How much longer will we allow this killing to go on?

Read Alcorn's blog - here - even if you don't still need to be convinced to vote for McCain...to vote for life.

Editing this to add:

I just want to note here how THANKFUL I am to know that the outcome of this election, the future of our country, is in the hands of an Almighty, sovereign LORD who rules over the hearts of kings. Yes, it has been an agonizing decision for me to wrestle with in deciding who to vote for. But I am so glad to know that whether McCain wins this election and is able to appoint justices in favor of preserving life or Obama wins the election and appoints justices who allow the killing of unborn babies to continue or worsen, our God Jehovah is in control. He rules over all.

May we all remember that it is only by His mercy that we all are not consumed. Praise His name!

Apples! Apples! Apples!

On Saturday, we went apple-picking. The last time we went was 2 years ago, and Boo-Boo, of course, was too young to remember. But he really enjoyed it this time. He even picked a few on his own, though most of the apples were too far out of reach. Mr. Blue-Eyes could reach them a little better and did pretty well at filling a bag on his own.

In any case, it was a good time. But we got a little ambitious with the apple-picking and ended up with 5 half-bushel bags of apples (a variety of MacIntosh, Granny Smith, York and Staymen). That's approximately 100lbs. of apples! Now we have to DO something with all of these apples.

So yesterday I started working on them. I made about a gallon of applesauce yesterday. And almost two gallons today...plus two apple crisps for the freezer...and an apple cake to eat. And we still have 3+ half-bushel bags to go. I plan to work on them again much of the day tomorrow (but first I have to get to the store to get more sugar, cinnamon and flour...things needed to putting up apples properly). And although I have to be away much of Thursday, on Friday we are having an appling party with some friends from church, so hopefully we'll get a lot more done.

The rest are going to be delivered to family this weekend, and they can have at it! Next year I'll have to remember to be more conservative in my estimate of how many apples we can use.

Kindergarten Pics

So, I've been WAY late on getting this boy's 5-year old pictures taken. He is now closer to 5 1/2 than 5. But I decided that instead of heading down to Target, I would try out our inherited tripod and just take the pictures myself. And we'll call them his Kindergarten pictures.

I expected to have a very wiggly, uncooperative subject - you know how boys like to be on the move. But thankfully, with a little advance instruction, Mr. Blue-Eyes behaved very nicely and showed much patience with Mom.

Here's the result...a little different than what we'd have done at Target, but all the same, I think I'm pleased. I guess the verdict will be up to Dad.