Exciting News!

I am a published writer! Click the link below and read my article. With every view, I get $1.50. Anyway, go take a look.

www.associatedcontent.com/article/1056169/pumpkin_patches_in_the_dfw_area.html

Yay! I've been published!

Pre-School

Rebecca started pre-school at the beginning on September. Here is a picture of her first day. She is excited to be going back. This year she is going two days a week for 3 1/2 hours. It is a great class with only 8 students.

On my last post I mentioned that Rebecca milked a stuffed cow at school. Well, here is a picture of the cow. That is not Rebecca in the picture.

Here is Rebecca attempting to milk the cow. I asked her how she liked milking the cow and she said, "Mommy, the cow didn't pee in the bucket for me." I told her that the cow was not peeing in the bucket it was milk. She missed the concept. Oh well, she still likes milk.

Here is Rebecca playing some games in the classroom. Her teacher is really great and Rebecca really likes her. She had her last year and she will have her again next year. If when Annie turns 3 she can go to pre-school, but it will be in the morning for a hour and 45 minutes.

Obviously, this is Rebecca messing around in her chair. I am sure she has fallen out of it a time or two because that is what she does when she is at home.

Here is Annie sleeping away while Rebecca is at school. It is nice to have some quiet time at the house. When we drop off Rebecca, Annie and I, come home and eat lunch. Annie takes a nap soon after lunch and doesn't wake up until just before we have to leave to pick Rebecca up. It is really nice. Isn't Annie sweet sleeping?

If You Are In Need Of A Laugh....Read!

Okay, today, Rebecca milked a cow in her pre-K class. Really! It wasn't a real cow but functioned like it. Anyway, all the kids took turns milking the cow. When it was Rebecca's turn she tried it and told me that "the cow did not pee in the bucket for her." How funny is that? I just hope she doesn't stop drinking milk.

On more of a not so funny note, our refrigerator broke. We are thinking that we want a new one anyway, so we weren't going to call anyone out to fix it. We figured that we would spend a minimum of $300+ for parts and labor and might take a while get it fixed, falling into the weekend. So, we will splurge and break into our savings and get a new one. I will update you on this issue because I know my readers really care about my NEW refrigerator. I just pray that nothing breaks in the meantime like it did last time. Our A/C broke and needed a new part, $5oo later and then our water heater broke so we had to get a new one. Lets just pray that this is an isolated incident.

Pacifier Update

It has been 24 days since I took away Annie's pacifier. It has been a long 24 days, but a successful 24 days. There were many, many times I wanted to give her the pacifier, but knew that if I went down that road I would regret it. I stuck to my guns and held out and we have had success!

I have noticed that Annie has had to learn a different method to sooth herself to get to sleep. So, you can imagine how my nights have been in the last 24 days, not good. I have just gotten Annie to take naps again. Bedtime is still a struggle, but is slowly getting better. I have tried many methods such as rocking her, letting her sleep on the couch, putting her in bed with Rebecca and a few more. Annie has gotten in the habit of not going to bed easily and has taken that ability and ran with it. I am not so sure it is a pacifier issue anymore. I think she is just getting in the norm of not going to bed good. And of course Rebecca picks up on this and does her best not to go to bed easy either. If anyone says that being a mom was easy, they were poorly informed.

24 days ago, I started on this journey that I had no idea how it would turn out, but had hopes that it would not be too unbearable to get the job done. I have accomplished what I set out to do and now am maintaining the work I have done. This is just a little reward of a job well done that mommies need every once in a while to keep going and striving to teach their children well.

My next adventure is potty training. I hate this one. One down, one to go. Annie has shown me that she may be easier than Rebecca, but we still aren't there yet. Once I get potty training completed, I will let you know. It is a gradual process but a really rewarding and a money saver too.

Why I'm Voting Republican

Only the facts.

2008 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE COMPARISON ISSUE

Favors new drilling offshore US

McCain-Yes

Obama-No

Will appoint judges who interpret the law, not make it

McCain-Yes

Obama-No

Served in the US Armed Forces
McCain-Yes

Obama-No

Amount of time served in the US Senate
McCain-22 YEARS

Obama-173 DAYS

Will institute a socialized national health care plan
McCain-No

Obama-Yes

Supports abortion throughout the pregnancy
McCain-No

Obama-Yes

Would pull troops out of Iraq immediately
McCain-No

Obama-Yes

Supports gun ownership rights
McCain-Yes

Obama-No

Supports homosexual marriage
McCain-No

Obama-Yes

Proposed programs will mean a huge tax increase
McCain-No

Obama-Yes

Voted against making English the official language
McCain-No

Obama-Yes

Voted to give Social Security benefits to illegals
McCain-No

Obama-Yes

CAPITAL GAINS TAX
MCCAIN
0% on home sales up to $500,000 per home (couples). McCain does not propose any change in existing home sales income tax.

OBAMA
28% on profit from ALL home sales. (How does this affect you? If you sell your home and make a profit, you will pay 28% of your gain on taxes. If you are heading toward retirement and would like to down-size your home or move into a retirement community, 28% of the money you make from your home will go to taxes. This proposal will adversely affect the elderly who are counting on the income from their homes as part of their retirement income.)

DIVIDEND TAX
MCCAIN
15% (no change)

OBAMA
39.6% - (How will this affect you? If you have any money invested in stock market, IRA, mutual funds, college funds, life insurance, retirement accounts, or anything that pays or reinvests dividends, you will now be paying nearly 40% of the money earned on taxes if Obama becomes president. The experts predict that 'Higher tax rates on dividends and capital gains would crash the stock market, yet do absolutely nothing to cut the deficit.')

INCOME TAX
MCCAIN
(no changes)
Single making 30K - tax $4,500

Single making 50K - tax $12,500

Single making 75K - tax $18,750

Married making 60K- tax $9,000

Married making 75K - tax $18,750

Married making 125K - tax $31,250

OBAMA (reversion to pre-Bush tax cuts)
Single making 30K - tax $8,400

Single making 50K - tax $14,000

Single making 75K - tax $23,250

Married making 60K - tax $16,800

Married making 75K - tax $21,000

Married making 125K - tax $38,750

INHERITANCE TAX
MCCAIN
- 0% (No change, Bush repealed this tax)

OBAMA
Restore the inheritance tax . How does it affect you? 50% taxes on your estate after you die. The family farm will have to be divided in half to pay this tax.
The largest transfer of wealth will be in the next 20-30 years. $40-50 Trillion dollars is expected to change hands.

NEW TAXES PROPOSED BY OBAMA
New government taxes proposed on homes that are more than 2400 square feet. New gasoline taxes, New taxes on natural resources consumption (heating gas, water, electricity) New taxes on retirement accounts, New taxes to pay for socialized medicine.

You can verify the above at the following web sites:
http://money.cnn.com/news/specials/election/2008/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/issues/issues.taxes.htmlhttp://elections.foxnews.com/?s=proposed+taxes
http://bulletin.aarp.org/yourworld/politics/articles/mccain_obama_offer_different_visions_on_taxes.html%A0http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/candidates/barack_obama/
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/candidates/john_mccain/