Some Tubing pictures from this weekend...

We took some of Glenna's friend's kids tubing with us, and her grandson Brendan. The kids all had a blast!

Madison Rocks!

On the way home from Tahoe last Sunday night, Madison was looking at pictures on my cell phone. The pictures were taken while I was pregnant with Sage earlier this year. Madison suddenly says:

"Mom, you have totally gotten your figure back!"

Gotta love that girl :) I of course rewarded her with a big ice-cream cone and all the soda she can drink (just kidding).

John McCain is My Homeboy!

So it's been a while since I blogged... something about having a baby will often cut short your time for mindless activity, but now that Sage is 3 months old, I'm baaaa-aaack.

One thing that's been on my mind for a while now and I swore I would blog about was the upcoming election. Now, I am NOT very vocal politically and never have been. I usually keep my views to myself. I always thought it was impolite to talk about two things: how much money you make, and your views on politics. I never wanted to give my opinion for fear it would make someone else feel bad about a candidate who they may be passionate about.

This time around, all bets are off.

I've become tired of hearing how amazing Barack Obama is, and how John McCain is almost villanous. God help you if you happen to say you are supporting McCain! It's almost "politically incorrect" to do so. People come back at you with all kinds of crap and make you feel about 2 inches tall. I'm tired of it. I don't like Obama and won't vote for him for many, many reasons. Most of all I'm amazed that otherwise intelligent people are falling for his song and dance, but, I digress...

Most people have no clue what Obama plans to do once in office. There was a very enlightening article in the Wall Street Journal last week, and I urge you to read it:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121366164848479237.html

This article confirmed what I already suspected about Obama's master plan! I say, no thanks to more taxes. Uncle Sam and I have a neat little arrangement whereby I hand him about half of whatever we make. It's worked out fine for years now, but it's time to stop knocking on my door for more money, expecting higher income earners to solve all the nations problems while absolving those who make less money as if to say they bear no responsibility.

So, I now plan to be more vocally supportive of McCain. I think part of his problem is that too many people like myself are being shoved into the closet because we're not on the Obama bandwagon. Heck, I might even get some of those tacky lawn signs that I always make fun of.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Each Thanksgiving, Gary and the kids and I all sit down at the table and before eating, each person says what they are thankful for. This year, here's what each person said:

"I'm thankful for..."

Dana: "My amazing husband, my two great kids, and my soon-to-be 3rd baby.
Gary: "My wife, my family and my health"
Madison: "Family, pets and love"
Andrew: "My boat, being a member of the North American Fishing Club... and oh yeah family".

That is SOOOO Andrew :)

Moving!

With all the craziness in the past few weeks (i.e. moving about 3 miles down the road), I forgot to post this super cute picture of me and Andrew on the boat a few weeks ago.

I am my Kids mom and my Husband's wife

Lately I've been listening to Dr. Laura alot... it all started when Gary put an XM radio in my car and her radio program is on during the hours I usually go out and do my errands. Of course I was addicted to her right away! I went to her website and found that she can be "streamed" online for about $3 a month... so I signed up for it and now I can listen to her show even when I'm not in the car. She is soooooo "right" (pun intended) in her advice, it's not even funny. Andrew has even gotten into it. As soon as I pick him up from school, he immediately turns to Dr. Laura if I don't have her on already... unfortunately she goes off the air about 10 minutes after picking the kids up from school, but Andrew really relishes in those 10 minutes of her doling out advice.

One of Dr. Laura's big beliefs is that either a mom or dad should be home with the kids until they are 18, no exceptions. I couldn't agree more and it's so refreshing (and rare) for a woman of her stature and level of education to advocate women staying home with their kids. She encourages women to be their "kid's mom and husband's wife" and it's nice to have another moniker besides "stay at home mom" which always makes it sound like all we do is, well, stay at home while great things happen in the world around us.

So I wanted to take a minute to salute all of the other great women who I know who have chosen to put aside their own careers and earning power and instead choose to be present each day when their kids come home from school, to personally help them with their homework, to be a sounding board for their husband when he is having a hard day, and to cook dinner for the entire family and enjoy a meal where everyone sits down and eats together.

Launching of Andrew's New Boat!