FIRST DAY AT THE POOL!

We had a great time at the pool yesterday. The water was clear and cool.

Sam especially liked the baby wading area. It's only 3 feet at it's deepest.

GOD HEAR OUR PRAYERS #98

My mother has always had a prayer list and I've now started one of my own. So each Sunday I will publish the prayer requests of anyone who e-mails me. Please keep us updated as God answers your prayers too.

Who we are praying for this week...

* My mother to be healthy and happy.
* Shannon's cancer is worse then was originally thought.
* All those children still waiting to find a Forever Family
* Penny's, entire family needs prayers for healing their hearts and spirits.
* Janice needs healing from her cancer.
* K-the birthmother of our baby
* Bri's hubby's job situation.
* Dawn - husband to hear God and find his way to Him
* Christy prayers and praise
* orphaned and alone
* Foster Care reform
* Ray's healing from cancer.
* peace in the Middle East
* our economy
* honesty in our leaders
* all service men and women that they may come home soon

E-mail me if you have someone for me to add to the weekly prayer request. God Bless.

NEVER MIND...I'LL JUST TAKE THE BUS!

THANKS FOR CLARIFYING!!!!

BUSY MONTH AHEAD

June 3rd Literacy Day
June 7th Samuel's 18 month check up
June 11 Fieldtrip with 5th graders to Cliff's Amusement Park
June 15 Rainforest Animal Visit
June 18 Field Day
June 21 Decorate for Graduation
June 22 5th Grade Graduation
June 23 Last day of school

In the middle of all this I have to pack up the room I am in now so I can move closer to the other 5th grade classes. We will be starting a 5th grade academy next year. I will be teaching reading and social studies and other teachers will be teaching the other subjects and we will swapping kids every 40 minutes like they do in middle and high school.

I only have 3 weeks off for the summer and then the next school year starts on July 26th.

NEXT YEAR'S CLASS SCHEDULE

DEAR EDITOR

This is a very good letter to the editor. This woman made some good points. For some reason, people have difficulty structuring their arguments when arguing against supporting the currently proposed immigration revisions. This lady made the argument pretty simple.
________________________________

From: 'David LaBonte'

My wife, Rosemary, wrote a wonderful letter to the editor of the OC Register which, of course, was not printed. So, I decided to 'print' it myself by sending it out on the Internet. Pass it along if you feel so inclined. Written in response to a series of letters to the editor in the Orange County Register:

________________________________
Dear Editor:

So many letter writers have based their arguments on how this land is made up of immigrants. Ernie Lujan for one, suggests we should tear down the Statue of Liberty because the people now in question aren't being treated the same as those who passed through Ellis Island and other ports of entry.

Maybe we should turn to our history books and point out to people like Mr. Lujan why today's American is not willing to accept this new kind of immigrant any longer. Back in 1900 when there was a rush from all areas of Europe to come to the United States, people had to get off a ship and stand in a long line in New York and be documented . Some would even get down on their hands and knees and kiss the ground. They made a pledge to uphold the laws and support their new country in good and bad times. They made learning English a primary rule in their new American households and some even changed their names to blend in with their new home.

They had waved goodbye to their birth place to give their children a new life and did everything in their power to help their children assimilate into one culture. Nothing was handed to them. No free lunches, no welfare, no labor laws to protect them. All they had were the skills and craftsmanship they had brought with them to trade for a future of prosperity.

Most of their children came of age when World War II broke out. My father fought along side men whose parents had come straight over from Germany , Italy , France and Japan. None of these 1st generation Americans ever gave any thought about what country their parents had come from. They were Americans fighting Hitler, Mussolini and the Emperor of Japan . They were defending the United States of America as one people.

When we liberated France , no one in those villages were looking for the French-American or the German American or the Irish American. The people of France saw only Americans. And we carried one flag that represented one country. Not one of those immigrant sons would have thought about picking up another country's flag and waving it to represent who they were. It would have been a disgrace to their parents who had sacrificed so much to be here. These immigrants truly knew what it meant to be an American. They stirred the melting pot into one red, white and blue bowl.

And here we are in 2010 with a new kind of immigrant who wants the same rights and privileges only they want to achieve it by playing with a different set of rules; one that includes the entitlement card and a guarantee of being faithful to their mother country. I'm sorry, that's not what being an American is all about. I believe that the immigrants who landed on Ellis Island in the early 1900's deserve better than that for all the toil, hard work and sacrifice in raising future generations to create a land that has become a beacon for those legally searching for a better life. I think they would be appalled that they are being used as an example by those waving foreign country flags.

And for that suggestion about taking down the Statue of Liberty , it happens to mean a lot to the citizens who are voting on the immigration bill. I wouldn't start talking about dismantling the United States just yet.

(signed) Rosemary LaBonte
_____________________________

JOYFUL, JOYFUL!

GOD HEAR OUR PRAYERS #97

My mother has always had a prayer list and I've now started one of my own. So each Sunday I will publish the prayer requests of anyone who e-mails me. Please keep us updated as God answers your prayers too.

Who we are praying for this week...

* My mother to be healthy and happy.
* The country and people of Haiti.
* All those children still waiting to find a Forever Family
* My friend, Penny's, entire family is very sad. Need prayers for healing their hearts and spirits.
* Janice needs healing from her cancer.
* Lana wants prayers that she is matched soon.
* BB's husband's job situation.
* K-the birthmother of our baby
* Bri's hubby's job situation.
* Lisa - guidance for hubby & adoption plans to fall into place
* Dawn - husband to hear God and find his way to Him
* Christy prayers and praise
* Rebel blessings for Turtle and Kent
* orphaned and alone
* Foster Care reform
* Foster Care mothers and fathers
* peace in the Middle East
* our economy
* honesty in our leaders
* all service men and women that they may come home soon

E-mail me if you have someone for me to add to the weekly prayer request. God Bless.

DOG HUMOR

SOLVE THIS PROBLEM!

You are riding on a beautiful white horse.

On your left side is a drop off.

On your right side are several ostriches being chased by a lion.

In front of you are four large gazelles that won't get out of your way and you can't seem to overtake them.

Behind you is a stampede of horses.

What must you do to get out of this highly dangerous situation?

SCROLL DOWN.....










GET YOUR DRUNK ASS OFF THE MERRY-GO-ROUND!

What a beautiful girl!

This is my niece (and God daughter), Hannah, before she went to prom! Don't you just love the dress!

Sorry about his balls......

I LOVE GOOD ADVICE

TAKE ME THERE!

GOD HEAR OUR PRAYERS #96

My mother has always had a prayer list and I've now started one of my own. So each Sunday I will publish the prayer requests of anyone who e-mails me. Please keep us updated as God answers your prayers too.

Who we are praying for this week...

* My mother to be healthy and happy.
* The country and people of Haiti.
* All those children still waiting to find a Forever Family
* My friend, Penny's, entire family is very sad. Need prayers for healing their hearts and spirits.
* Janice needs healing from her cancer.
* Lana wants prayers that she is matched soon.
* BB's husband's job situation.
* K-the birthmother of our baby
* Bri's hubby's job situation.
* Lisa - guidance for hubby & adoption plans to fall into place
* Dawn - husband to hear God and find his way to Him
* Christy prayers and praise
* Rebel blessings for Turtle and Kent
* orphaned and alone
* Foster Care reform
* Foster Care mothers and fathers
* peace in the Middle East
* our economy
* honesty in our leaders
* all service men and women that they may come home soon

E-mail me if you have someone for me to add to the weekly prayer request. God Bless.

SHOULDN'T WE TEST OUR ANIMALS TOO?

ANOTHER ADOPTION HATER!

Yesterday, I wrote a post about ENTITLEMENT, that had absolutely nothing to do with adoption and in response to that someone actually wrote, "What about your sense of entitlement when it came to GETTING a kid any way you had to?"

GETTING A CHILD ANY WAY I HAD TO....are you serious....obviously you have no idea how I got my son and apparently children should just languish in orphanages and never have a home.

Please feel free not to stalk my blog anymore, because I won't be publishing your future comments.

MY WISH

I DID IT!!!

ENTITLEMENT

Let's all feel sorry for "HUNGRY." She's a cute little girl who each morning comes to class and says she doesn't have any food to eat at home and mom drops her off at school too late to get the free breakfast offered in the cafeteria. "LOVING TEACHER" then gives her part of her own lunch (a yogurt) to tide her over. The other children are also sympathetic and offer her a cookie, or a bag of chips.

This continues for a number of days until "LOVING TEACHER" decides it's time to call in the parents. Come to find out, "HUNGRY" gets to school in plenty of time to have the cafeteria breakfast, but just "doesn't like it" (choices: cereal, egg burrito, toast, fruit) and would rather have yogurt instead. I also find out that she has not been offered food by her friends, but has been threatening them for their food. Mom says, "The key word here is, FREE, and you will eat it. I am not spending our vacation and bingo money when you can get breakfast here for FREE." I would have felt embarrassed to have begged for food from my friends and my parents wouldn't have taken anything FREE, even if it were offered, when they had enough at home. "HUNGRY" has learned well from her mother, who apparently feels ENTITLED herself.

Children (and adults) seem to feel ENTITLED to everything, without having to work for it. ENTITLED to a large home, even if we can't afford it. ENTITLED to no blame....Whoever is at fault, it isn't us. ENTITLED to piles of presents and if the coolest thing isn't there, we are ENTITLED to complain. ENTITLED to better lives and someone else is to blame for their lot in life.

Along with ENTITLEMENT we have become fluent in the language of blame and complaint and lost our ability to use "Please," "Thank you," and "I'm sorry." We are not personally responsibility for our part in conflicts. "It's my fault," is never said.

ENTITLEMENT means that we have a right or a claim to something, whether it's the best car, an amazing home, or the name brand clothes, whether we can afford it or not.

How exactly has this come about? Is it the fault of high self-esteem, freedom of speech, consumerism, being the world's superpower? I'm not sure, but I do know that it is tightly connected to a BIG ego. We have begun putting ourselves above others and life is taken for granted.

As a child, I knew I had a bed to sleep in, food to eat (whatever Mom prepared), toys (from my birthday and Christmas), clothes on my back (whatever Mom could afford), a healthy fear of God and Santa Claus, a good education and a loving family. These things were all provided for by the hard work of my parents and you were not "ENTITLED" to anything, but which they chose to give you. If you had an attitude about it, those things would quickly disappear. If you didn't take care of that which they had given you and it was lost or broken, you had to wait until your next birthday or Christmas to have it replaced (maybe). Your lot in life was up to you and blaming others was a sin. If you didn't do your chores (which were expected not paid for by an allowance) then you were confined to the house and had no access to the phone or tv for weeks. "Please" and "Thank You" were the first things out of your mouth. If you wanted more, you got a job and then asked if you could spend the money you earned on what you wanted.

ENTITLEMENT is running rampant in this country and the next generation will have a hard time overcoming it unless we, the adults, make children understand their position in life (as children....which means, not the ones in charge) and put a stop to it.

WHY BLOG?

Laundress Sue at Laundry for Six asked this question, "Why did you start blogging? Have you gotten what you wanted?

WHY DID I START BLOGGING?

When I first started blogging it was both a way for me to feel like a published writer without actually being one and a way for me to record my adoption journey to finding my son.

I love to write....I love the actually feel of a pen or pencil in my hand and I have kept a journal since I was 12 years old. I vent and sort out my feelings there.

I do that here, some, but now I use this as a way to record my life raising my son and the daily musings I have about life. Sometimes that includes classroom happenings, or opinions of things I find in the news or sharing my favorite songs or books.

Usually I get about 3 comments her post, but some of my most popular posts have been about my son, adoption haters, give-aways, classroom news, posts divided into multiple parts, lists, WORDLESS WEDNESDAY, and POST IT NOTE TUESDAY.

HAVE YOU GOTTEN WHAT YOU WANTED?

I, like Sue, used to worry about my traffic, getting comments and I wanted to expand my readership. At one point I focused a lot on bettering my blog look and sidebar, in the hopes of drawing more people in. I wanted to earn money on it and be a networking guru, but I quickly learned how slim the chances of that happening were when you can't spend copious hours at it. With my son, husband and full-time job needing more of my attention, I switched my focus. Now, I write for me. I don't worry about traffic or comments and I hope for my 86 followers to someday grow to 100.

One of the greatest blessings from this has been the women I have made connections with through our common bond of infertility and adoption. Women like Ashley, Debbie, Melba, Rebekah, Shannon, Kris and Annie.

I've also found some people that help keep me sane at work, like: A Year In The LIfe of a Teacher, Bluebird's Classroom, It's Not All Flowers and Sausages, Mr. Teachbad's Blog, and Principals Page.

Then there are those that I just enjoy reading, either for the humor or the information they provide. Those include: Connie, Sheila, Darcie, and Sarah.

I usually have things set to post at least a week or more in advance, but since my mother's stroke I have put my life in a different perspective. I am not as stressed anymore about days falling through the cracks. I try to read and comment on at least 15 blogs a day. Commenting does bring more traffic your way. Personally, I love reading blogs with humor, advice, crafts, personal stories, tips, lists and give-aways.

SO, THE QUESTION FROM SUE, THROUGH ME, TO YOU IS...."Why did you start blogging? Have you gotten what you wanted?

PUNISHED FOR WEARING AMERICAN FLAG

My brother sent me this link. Five high school kids were sent home for wearing the American Flag on Cinco de Mayo. He went on to say that, "This is the same high school that I tried to exempt Amanda (his daughter) from PE so she could focus more on her academics. The Principal, Bowdoin, would not allow it because PE was a requirement."

This is the niece that I posted this about.


I think she is a little beyond high school P.E. What do you think?