A Request

Hi all, so my birthday is coming up and I am making Mark take me out to dinner and I have yet to fall in love with any specific restaurants in the area so I want to know what your favorite is. For those of you not from the Ohio/Kentucky area feel free to chime in anyway, maybe your favorite is a chain or maybe it will just make me homesick for my old haunts, either way I want to know. Thanks for your input, I'll let you know sometime after Nov 9 who the big winner is and maybe we'll get you a doggie bag!

Election Frustration

All right so I know I'm probably singing to the choir for most of you but I've got to get this off my chest and for those friends of mine that lean towards the left bear with me.
Aggghhh! I am so fed up with this election I am tired of biased media that won't be tough on Obama and tired of McCain who won't be tough on him either. I'm tired of trying to support a campaign where I can't even get a blasted sign for my yard or sticker for my car. I'm sick of politicians that won't answer the stupid question during a debate, JUST ANSWER THE QUESTION! I'm tired of seeing all these Obama signs everywhere and wondering if they really know who and what type of America they are voting for. Do we really want a country where the government has control of everything including as Obama says, "spreading the wealth around"? Of course we need to care for the poor but what he's talking about is Marxism and not what has made our country great. It's starting to look like either people are voting without all the facts (thank you to the media) or maybe that's the kind of government the majority wants. That scares me. I'm sick of the double standard feminists and their cruelty and disrespect towards Sarah Palin and I'm really sick of Hollywood (enough said on that).

I know politics really gets people passionate and fired up and that's why I normally veer away from political conversations but I felt like this was a safe outlet to express my feelings. So whether you agree with me or not this is how I feel and as far as I know I still have a right to express it. I hope I still have it at the end of the next 4 years.

Savanna & Luke Get Inspired

Savanna and Luke saw what Jackson was making out of a box of "junk" and could not resist joining in. Here are thier creations.

Bacuum, by Luke

Mouser, by Savanna

Shoot Boat, by Luke

Jackson Builds the Future

Jackson recieved a generous gift of wires, magnets, speakers, headphones, & switches from Mark's coworker Nicholas, and has been smiling in "creation heaven" ever since.

Bull Dozer

Cleaner Boleaner

S. S. J. Boat

Shocky

Bird Show Fun

In August we were able to go behind the scenes of the Bird Show at the Cincinnati Zoo thanks to Eddie, a friend from Nocturnal Adventures and performer in the show (Bob). It was a ton of fun and the kids had a great time. We got to watch the show and then take a tour of the enclosures the birds from the show stay in. Here is Eddie showing us the Stellar's Sea Eagle. Some of the enclosures are below the stands where the audience sits.

Here is Savanna feeding a Hyacinth Macaw. Each of the kids got a turn, even Liam!

Here are the kids on the stage of the bird show with their souvenir feathers. It was a great day.

Meet Marley and American Inventors 2

I know I know I'm insane but it's too late for that. Meet Marley the newest addition to the family. He is a 8 month old "puggle" half pug, half beagle. He's adorable and that's about his only saving grace at this point (just kidding). He's your typical puppy, he jumps on everyone, nips at the kids when he gets too excited, has an occasional accident in the house, chews on everything in sight, follows me around like, well, a puppy and my least favorite thing, his fondness for underwear, YUCK!On the up side, the kids adore him and love sitting on him which he tolerates, he sleeps through the night, barks very little, likes to lay at your feet and makes a great vacuum. All in all he's become part of the family and we're glad he's around.

Now for the second part of my post. Meet the next two inventors in the family. Luke and Savanna came up with this great hat all on their own and here's my favorite part...

The "food catcher"! You can put food in the side and reach in anytime for a quick snack. I love it! Wouldn't that be great to have around, you know, on errands or while watching your favorite show, you wouldn't have to get up (or in my case make my husband get up). There's even a floor below the hatch so the food doesn't get on your head. We will be patenting it shortly and you can find it at stores near you.

Jackson: American Inventor

I know, I know. His birthday was May 29 and here it is almost August. So I'm a slacker, I think we've established that. Now with that out of the way a few words about my first born. He is his own person. He loves playing with the gang but enjoys his space as well. If any of my kids would appreciate his own room it's Jackson. He has one of the most creative minds I know and there are days that if I hear, "Mom, I want to make a..." I think I will lose it. My recycling bin will never see a card board box and someday I'm sure Jackson's inventions will save the world. I mean how many kids do you know that have a favorite inventor? Jackson's is Thomas Edison. Did I mention his favorite TV shows are Nova, Nova Science Now, and American Inventor. If there is anyone out there with a knack for assembling household trash into a robot please speak now! I want to encourage him but physics was never my thing. Lucky for me he has a fondness for wildlife as well, now I can handle that. Here are a few pictures of my eldest in action:

Swimming on 4th of July

Summer baseball at the YMCA

Sir Jackson

At the Krohn Conservatory Butterfly show