Trying to blog again, election, cute kids........

I am going to regularly blog once again because it is such a good way to keep up with my kids' lives. Also, I feel better reading others' blogs when I am also putting myself out there. Let's see.... April was the last time I blogged. A lot has happened since then, but yet not much has happened if that makes sense. Madeline turned 4 and started school (K-4) at the same school she was at last year. She is loving it. Jackson turned one and is also breaking my heart by growing up! My sis-in law had a precious baby in June, which stirred up those "I want another baby" feelings. If money was not a consideration, I would probably have 4 or 5. For now, I am very happy with my two. The election has definitely been on my mind. I have been kind of obsessed with following politics since we owned our own business. Anyone that would read this blog knows I am a conservative, although I would consider my fiscal policy more libertarian.(Boortz, anyone?) I am very excited about the McCain/Palin ticket. Here are some thoughts that I have had regarding the election/politics.
Obama: I am sure the liberals I know (and love) are thinking this about me, but what exactly makes him qualified to be president? I know people will say that about Palin, but even commentators on the networks that are supporters of him will say "Well, he has run an amazing campaign"- Yeah. I am scared to death of this guy. He says that it is "neighbourly" (on Bill O'Reilly) to pay more taxes when you are rich. Funny how gave less than 1% to charity until he started thinking about running for President. I think it is great to give to others. Just let those giving decide who to give to rather than gauging them with a 40-50% tax rate. His "associations" with so many blatanly anti-Americans bothers me, as does his stand on abortion.
If you don't like living here (Michael Moore), than please leave. I have issues with certain things like most people, but I am very proud of our country. I love being an American and knowing that just about anything is possible if you put your mind to it. Just don't be too diligent and hard-working or you might have to be extremely neighborly to people who are not your neighbours-hehe. On that note, I will pray for whoever becomes the next President to make the right decisions for us. Let's face it, it is a tough job. Vote for McCain!!!!!!!
Now someone who accidently comes across my blog may hate me, but I am going to make up for it with pics and stories about my kiddos! All will be forgiven!!
Madeline is doing so well in school. She is very studious for a 4-year old, which worries me at times because I just want her to be a kid. She can pretty much read most easy-readers (Bob books, Hooked on phonics) from just knowing most of the words from flash cards and stuff that we have done. I have worked on phonics with her and it seems to really be coming together at school. They use that A Beka curriculum which I love. She is all about learning everything and I love doing it with her. She loves to write out my grocery list and I will tell her how to spell what I need. I am very seriously (as in, almost decided) to homeschool so I have been researching a lot. For anyone interested, curious, or that thinks that homeschoolers are deprived, I encourage you to do your own research and you will probably be surprised. I was surprised. I am getting excited about starting this adventure with my kids. Don't worry, I will teach my kids Language Arts and hopefully I can be cured of my run-on sentence addiction. Any thoughts on homeschool out there? Have you tried it or are you considering trying it?
Madeline will be starting gymnastics on Thursday and she is thrilled. She cracks me up constantly with her comments. She is still pretty small and is a good bit smaller than most of the kids in her class. She likes to tell people she meet her full name (middle name included) like she is saying she is a celebrity or something. It is really cute. She loves playing with her cousin Ella. She writes her father and I sweet notes all the time. She is obsessed with anything girly, like pretend make-up, purses, bows, shoes, and anything pink and princess-oriented. Her daddy will not let me paint her nails for real, but we sometimes put pretend light pink on her nails. She is very sensitive and dramatic, which I hear just goes with the territory at this age for girls. She wants to be indepedent, but yet she reminds me that she is still "Mommy and Daddy's baby".
Jackson is as sweet as ever. I could just eat up that little boy. He loooooves other babies and tries to hug them all. It is so sweet. Madeline and Jackson (right now) are such cute little buddies. Every morning, they lay together on the kid couch and cuddle before she goes to school. He is her biggest fan, besides Mommy and Daddy. He says MaMa, DaDa, and some other syllables unreliably. I am not worried because Madeline was a late talker. He pretty much says "yah" or "Ah" when he wants something. He is so heavy, but I am not sure how heavy because he goes for his appointment tomorrow. Madeline calls him "Jacks" sometimes. He loves all things boy. At Wal-Mart today, he started going nuts ("ah,ah,ah,ah") over a motorcyle. He throws and bangs everything. He falls and gets right back up most of the time. He has the cutest smile. He is daddy's little buddy but is very attached to me. Madeline is a daddy's girl but lately we have been doing "girl-only" things that I really enjoy. I told Stephen that when Jackson is older, he is more than welcome to take him on camping trips while Madeline and I stay home away from the bugs and with our stove and electricity. I am going to try and update this at least weekly so please check back and comment. I will do the same!