Freedom of Opinions

As a Catholic I am the first to admit that I do not agree with everything the Catholic Church states. After all, I have used birth control before, I do think it is a woman’s right to choose, and I’m for homosexual marriages just to name a few. Some how the Church still lets me come and make my donation every week, I guess where money is concerned they turn the other way. With that being said I am sad to hear about members of the Catholic community, and possible others putting up a stink about Obama coming to speak at Notre Dame for their commencement ceremonies. Just because of his belief systems and those programs that he supports are not directly in line with the views of the Catholic Church. Personally I would be terribly excited to hear Obama speak at my school during graduation from college. I’m sure that not every student who attends any of the hundreds of Catholic supported schools throughout the country are all Catholic. And God forbid if any of them have beliefs other than what the Church spouts to be the “truth.” I would think that more many of the students and family members who will attend the ceremonies this will be a once in a lifetime experience to hear the President give an address in person. What do these nay sayers hope to accomplish with their petition, to have the school uninvited the President of the United States from speaking? I for one feel that college is a time in your life to explore different ways of thinking and hear open discussion of political thoughts and ideology, not a place to close the doors and hinder free thought. Just because Obama is coming to speak to a Catholic school does not mean they support all his positions. I would think that the majority of the students would be happy to hear Obama speak and these protestors should just let it go and deal with the choice the school and the country has made.


In other news, the Republican Party seems to be quietly restructuring its members to create a “perfect party.” The most recent member to leave is Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania. Apparently if you are a moderate Republican, that’s not enough, you need to be a full blow conservative republican beating down the doors to over zealous. Which since we live at a time where we currently have only two major parties, things are going to have to change. After all I really do think a two party system is out of date, and once the populace realizes this the members of our governing bodies can make changes to better accommodate those who roll in the middle. I’m not a big fan of putting people into certain categories but I guess some things cannot be avoided. I wonder what the citizens who voted for him think about his defecting to the Democrat party. Do you think he’ll win reelection the next time around under a new party? Who else will his defection draw away from a party that is slowly losing the edge on developing new interest in an old system?

Roll Over, What??

In some amazing Cooper fashion, he has started to roll over from his back to his tummy. I can hardly believe it. He has been rolling up on his side all week long and today he finally took the plunge to go the distance. Of course once he's on his tummy, he cries like that was not his orininal purpose in life and wonders how he got there. Oh well, at least it's lots of fun for me. Ben was even here to witness his exploits. Now if only I could have seen it, just the after affect. I'll try to catch some pictures or video of the kid and his antics but it might take some time. He's getting so big! (sniffle, sniffle)

Eight Years Ago

On this day eight years ago Ben and I got married. I am so luck to have found such a wonderful, understanding, supportive husband as my life partner. I feel blessed everyday that we came together to forge our relationship. For the experiences that we have had and those yet to come, I am grateful for our love and happiness together. Ben’s love has brought me many great joys, and I know that we will have many more to come, together as husband and wife.

Kick, baby kick

I just love it when babies discover something new. Today Cooper figured out how to make his bouncy seat move. Along with bouncing himself he also made the figures at the top move back and forth for further entertainment value. He really went at it when he kicks his little feet. Never mind the fact that his seat no longer makes sound, vibrate or lights up. Really it is just a seat. So I figured I would make a quick little video to show you guys just how much fun he was having.

Juicy, Juicy

The sweet, red juices drip down your fingers after that first savory bite. Another bite comes as you relish in the sweetness of the fruit. Each piece better than the last one, sending you to a new flavor filled experience. Fresh strawberries are wonderful right off the vine. Today we found out just how wonderful and sweet they really are. The kids and I went to a “you pick” strawberry patch, were we got almost four pounds of fresh strawberries, home grown. I truly believe that fruits and vegetables are the best when they are home grown, the taste is just so much better than what you can get at the grocery store. That’s why I always like to go to the farmers market or my own garden to supplement our groceries. Today as we munched on fresh picked strawberries right off the vine, (after we paid of course) I was reminded of just how true that is. I can hardly wait until our garden is really going and we have fresh veggies every night. But for today I we get to relish the taste of strawberries.

Oh yea here is some of my spinach, direct from the plant to my table. I used this home grown spinach in my Asian Noodle Salad from PW today, yummy!

Happy Easter

We had a great Easter weekend. We went down to San Antonio for the weekend and had the chance to visit with some of my cousin’s who I had not seen in a very long time. Grandpa Libby is not doing too well, so extra people came in to see him and spend some quality time with the family. The kids had so much fun. Isabelle played soccer with grandpa Don, and had a great time trying to get the ball in the goal. She kept telling him to get out of the way, it was funny.






We even went to the Texas Transportation Museum, mostly for the trains. They did have some old cars there, and a few old fire engines but Bear really liked the trains. They have a model train set in the back and Bear got to direct the horn and make sure he told the gentleman when the train was clear so they could switch tracks. He thought that was pretty cool. Our tickets included a very short jaunt up the railroad track on the train. We rode in the caboose. I think everyone thought that was great, even though it was pretty short.



Of course we did the traditional Easter egg hunt. The kids hunted for eggs inside the house and outside. Right before we left for church it was pouring down rain, and then we had a beautiful day. Alexis, Brittany, Isabelle and Bear all had fun looking for eggs and each kid came in with a pretty big haul. Both Alex and Brittany had to empty their baskets and go look for more.



And of course since the sun was actually out, the kids had to swim. Even though none of the adults went in the water unless they had too, the kids were all over getting in and swimming around. I knew we could hardly keep them away. Bear had some fun learning to stay close to the steps. I have not been able to find him a floaty swimsuit like last year, so I think he will just have to learn this year how to swim. I see swim lessons in the near future.



Overall it was a great weekend. We all got a chance to sit around a visit, work on our poker game and just catch up. It was great. Adam went out with his cousins and uncle to play pool, and had wonderful time. The rest of us old folk stayed at home to watch babies and play cards. Grandpa Libby did great while we were all there and told wonderful stories, which everyone will remember for years to come. I hope we can all get together again soon, I miss having all of the family around.


Happy Easter!

Lets Play Ball

The smell of hot dogs, popcorn and beer, waft by in a slight breeze; just as the crowd yells as the ball is hit to the outfield, as the batter rounds the bases you sit by and wait to see if he makes it to the next base and be safe. Today is opening day of baseball season. Arlington plays host to the Texas Rangers, one of the two major league teams in the state. The other team is in Houston, but we do not go there, well maybe once for Ben. So I have not decided if I dislike baseball season or football season more. Ironically I think its baseball, you can pretty much see a game seven days a week, and I’m sure some days at least two games. Where as football is only on five days per week, with one day showing two games. That is unless you have the channel which will play all the games for you at one time or another, thank goodness we don’t. At least for baseball we don’t need it now that we are back in Texas, Rangers games are aired pretty much all the time.

Needless to say Ben is pretty excited about opening day, the start of a new season, a fresh start for the team; it should be an interesting year. The kids are excited by extension, after a preseason story time at the ball park; the kids have been practicing singing Take Me Out to the Ball Game. I think if we practice enough I can take them up there to sing on the big screen for the whole crowd. What an amazing experience that will be.

Plus the kids should both be starting T-ball in May; Ben is probably most excited about that one. Practice has all ready began to train them up, and figure out which hand they actually throw the ball with. He wants to know that so he can get the right glove for them. Plus it’s probably good to help them with their throwing skills and of course bonding with Dad. Anyway, in the Home Season Opener for the Rangers, they started off pretty good with a win of 9-1 against the Indians. We’ll have to see how they do with the remaining games of the series. I’m pretty sure we’ll catch at least one Rangers game if not a few more in person this year. After all baseball is the American pastime.

The Onesie

As a joke one of my college friends at a wedding shower gave me an onesie and toy as a gift. He then told me or asked that each kid we have should wear this onesie at least once and to send him a picture. So with that in mind each of my kids has worn this onesie starting with Isabelle. My Mom reminded me that I should probably put Cooper in this outfit before he out grew it, which was a pretty good idea since this morning when I snapped him up, I had to pull from the back to make sure it would fit. This kid is long. Anyway to make a short story longer, here is Cooper in “the onesie.” Probably a little bit before Isabelle and Bear (since he is only two months) but hey we got him to wear it. He looks too cute.