Duck Pond

With so much going on with work and all the extra stuff I have taken on I haven't had time to do much let alone blog, but I did want to get some newer pics up! If Ann Marie can do it so can I!!

Family Party

Backyard days....

The Price of Children

this was in an email forwarded by a friend.

The Price of Children This is just too good not to pass on to all. Here is something absolutely positive for a change. I have repeatedly seen the breakdown of the cost of raising a child, but this is the first time I have seen the rewards listed this way. It's nice.The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140.00 for a middle income family. Talk about price shock! That doesn't even touch college tuition.

But $160,140.00 isn't so bad if you break it down.

It translates into: * $8,896.66 a year,* $741.38 a month, * $171.08 a week.* A mere $24.24 a day!* Just over a dollar an hour.

Still, you might think the best financial advice is: don't have children if you want to be 'rich.' Actually, it is just the opposite.What do you get for your $160,140.00?*

Naming rights. First, middle, and last!* Glimpses of God every day.* Giggles under the covers every night.* More love than your heart can hold.* Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.* Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies.* A hand to hold usually covered with jelly or chocolate.* A partner for blowing bubbles and flying kites.* Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day.For $160,140.00, you never have to grow up. You get to:* finger-paint,* carve pumpkins,* play hide-and-seek,* catch lightning bugs, * never stop believing in Santa Claus.You have an excuse to:* keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh,* watch Saturday morning cartoons,* go to Disney movies, and* wish on stars.You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodlewreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay for Mother's Day, and cards with backward letters for Father's Day.

For a mere $24.24 a day, there is no greater bang for your buck. You get to be a hero just for:* retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof,* taking the training wheels off a bike,* removing a splinter,* filling a wading pool,* coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and * coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless.You get a front row seat in history to witness the: * First step,* First word,* First bra,* First date, * First time behind the wheel.You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you're lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren and great-grandchildren. You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match..In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there under God. You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them without limits, so one day they will, like you, love without counting the cost. That is quite a deal for the price!!!!!!!Love & enjoy your children & grandchildren & great-grandchildren!!!!!!!It's the best investment you'll ever make!!!!!!!!!

Hanging with the Dogs

Emma really loves hanging out with the dogs and cats. She wrestles with them and when they body check her she just says "I'm ok" and gets up and gets right back in there. They are both so great with her too, letting her climb on them and hang on them as they run, her own personal backyard ride. Morgan and Chet love hanging with her too!

Easter Egg hunt.

We waited to do our hunt until I was on day shift and until it was warm enough for Emma to wear her pretty dress. She had a slow start and wanted to play with all the toys instead of finding eggs. 4 of the eggs talked, they said "yoo hooo I am over here he he he". Those ones helped keep her in the game. After all the eggs were found she helped her Sesame Street characters slide down the slide.

I also set up all her other outside toys yesterday afternoon and it was so nice she just played with them all no chasing her around the yard like last year. When she woke up this morning she was already asking to go outside.

As far as the Binkie going away, I have been sorely tempted to give it back almost every day this week. It isn't that she has asked for it but she has had a meltdown every single day since Monday. It would have been a comfort for her and me to have her not screaming her lungs out. I mean this goes on for 45 minutes at a time, unbelievable!