Hey Evonne! Here's Some Belated Birthday Fun.

So Mom (Evonne), I had this great idea to have the boys sing you something cute and send you the link to the video for your birthday. Well, since we are still within the Bolton-Women ADD Grace Period, I am most pleased to present you with your grandsons' brilliant performances. (Only a month late.) The second video was really the first. They were going to sing it using a funny setting on our computer, but watching themselves without cracking up was beyond them. The blooper video I included was the THIRD attempt at it. I finally I insisted that they do it with a normal camera, though it certainly made for a good blooper! Love you! :D

Little Purple Pansies

Little Purple Goofballs

Nerdly Jazz!

I asked my boys to sing me something funny for my birthday and make me a video...this is what I got. They are singing the abbreviations of the elements from the Periodic Table. Of course, to make it even more entertaining, they recorded it on Photobooth with the frog eyes setting. Excellent.

Thoughts on "The American Crisis No. 1"

In the bitter December of 1776, Thomas Paine wrote the article, "The American Crisis No. 1" to rally the people of the colonies in support of the American revolution. The previous January, as the British battered the Massachusetts militia in and around Boston, Paine had written a pamphlet titled, "Common Sense" to alert all the American colonies to the threat of tyranny. By the following December the war had spread to New York and other New England colonies. The troops were starving and freezing and were not receiving the support of the colonies because there was no central government to facilitate the process of levying taxes to pay for the war. It was up to the people of each colony to send whatever support they might, whether in the form of troops, food, weapons, uniforms or financial aid. Those colonies that were not suffering didn't feel the intense motivation that others in war-battered areas did.

As Paine traveled with the troops, he saw the need for a great outpouring of public support and penned the following masterful words on the head of a drum. Washington read it to his men before the fateful crossing of the Delaware river. 

It should be noted that Washington and the many valiant and courageous men who fought, still had seven more years of fighting before the war would finally end in 1783 with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. How can we every really appreciate the kind of conviction these people had to have or the price they paid for our freedom? I personally do not fully comprehend it, but by reading their words and studying their lives, I try.

Let me share some of Paine’s thoughts on the American Crisis:

“These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated...”

“Let it be told to the future world, that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive, that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet and to repulse it. Say not that thousands are gone; turn out your tens of thousands; throw not the burden of the day upon Providence, but “show your faith by your works,” that God may bless you.”

Happy Independence Day everyone!

Hannah's Senior Video

Hannah graduates in 8 days, can anyone believe it? Each senior in her High School created a video that detailed some of the changes they've made or things they've learned up to this point in their lives. Here is Hannah's. That's all. :)

 

Tribute to President Riggs

Warning: Lots of Mormon Speak in this post. Nothing exciting, but if you're not LDS you may not know what I'm talking about.

Our Stake President has been called to be the mission president of the Washington DC South mission -- and our Relief Society Presidency asked me to make him a tribute slideshow from the sisters in our ward. Countless hours later (darn my all-or-nothing creativity!) I have the finished product posted unlisted on youtube. If you are a fan of President Riggs or our ward or are just curious, here's the video for your enjoyment.

Facebooking Hacking: My Newest Muse

I've discovered I find a certain clandestine glee in finding my children's facebook accounts sitting open on my computer. I love to type in a status that sings my praises when I do. In fact, yesterday, I hit an all-time high of motherly awesomeness when I discovered Cody's facebook open as I was shutting down my computer for the night and accidentally left this blog post open in the process, where my amazing son Jonah found it and typed part of this post. I LOVE YOU JONAH!!!!!!!!!!! REVENGE IS SWEET.

Oh my goodness, the hacker got hacked! Thanks Jonah.

ANYWAY...upon finding Cody's facebook open I felt immediate inspiration and wrote this little poem in his name. Say it out loud, in rapper style. (Some lines you have to say faster to keep the rhythm. If you need a demonstration, give me a call.)

My name is Coco and I'd like to say,
I left my facebook open and my mom said, "Hey!
Why would my boy do a thing like that?
If this keeps up I'm gonna take his hat!"

... "Take my hat?" I says to her,
"If I was a cat that would not make me purr!"
I guess I'll have to grovel and proclaim that she
... is the greatest darn mom in history!

I worship the ground that she walks on,
I love her hair, I think her clothes are da bomb.
I need a girl that's like her in every way,
so I'll keep looking 'til my dyin' day.

My dyin' day, hey hey, my dyin' day.
Oh yeah.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Sigh. I'm so funny. ;-)

So frustrated, I don't even know what to say...

I just followed a link to an article in The Daily Beast about Mitt Romney and his religious background. I have to admit, I am so frustrated and angry right now, I'm near tears and shaking. It's not that the article lambasted my church or spread blatant lies about Mormonism; rather, it was that every statement was written with an insidious bias which definitely spoke silent volumes of: "This church is full of controlling fanatics and brainwashed lemings who are not Christians."

After rehearsing Mitt's upbringing in a family who lived their religion every day, allowed others to do the same, and strived to teach their children to do hard things and value HARD work, the following statement undercut any positive impressions the reader might have felt about Mitt's father and family.

"If Mitt chafed under the demands of his idiosyncratic father and his faith, he didn't show it." Idiosyncratic? For teaching his children to work in the garden on Saturday and pray daily? Really?

The article accused Mitt of being conflicted about his faith...giving examples of teenage pranks as the evidence. His LDS mission was dissected into bits and pieces that really just illustrate that at 19, Mitt was very much like any other 19 year-old boy, trying his best to do a good thing but still human and learning to be an adult.

Anyway, I couldn't finish the article. It just went on and on, subtly twisting facts to create a picture of mormons that got weirder and more fanatical as it progressed. I realize that my "mormon" faith has many people up in arms, but the fact that people will read THAT article and fully believe that I would knowingly not only be a part of, but LOVE a religion like that false picture created, highly, HIGHLY offends and saddens me.

I don't so much care that Mitt Romney comes off sounding pathetic and manipulated by his mormon heritage, as I care that people will believe The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints resembles anything close to that portrayal. Or that mormons, any of us, would be a part of an institution fitting that description.

If you want to know about the church that Mitt Romney belongs to, please learn about it from a Mormon. Get to know a Mormon that loves being Mormon. Go to mormon.org. Or follow my link to why I am a Mormon. Wouldn't you want me to do the same for you and your beliefs?

My Mormon.org profile