Politics.. at a very young age.

I will start this post by telling you that I am not going to tell you who I'm voting for. The reason for this is simple... its a personal decision and there are some members of my family who have very STRONG opinions about politics. For example, when I was in college, the first time Bill Clinton ran for president, I voted for him. Then my parents called and asked who I was voting for... I told them, my dad had some sarcastic but logical comments/arguments... my mother hung up on me and didn't speak to me for 2 weeks. I could go off on this in so many directions.. but I won't it just gives context.
Isn't it a great country- we get the opportunity to VOTE and have a say instead of a dictatorship. Disagreement is healthy.

Anyway,in my own personal household, we haven't had any real discussions with Grace about politics- Ryan and I of course discuss things, but I don't recall her being around any of those discussions. We don't make a regular practice of indoctrinating our children over the dinner table ( not yet atleast). So, as this very exciting political season has started heating up, Grace, being the every close observer of all things, has started to make some comments of her own. Its amazing how insightful children can be.

About a month ago, she asked me who I was voting for- at that time I really was somewhat undecided- or really had not 100% committed, so I took that time to share that, that I was analyzing different options, both candidates etc. Then she said, "If I could vote, I'd vote for Obama." I said, "Ok, but why, why are you choosing him over McCain?" She said, well, I think he's a nicer person ( could this be from all the TV ads?) and I like his name better."

Sadly, a friend commented, that most people will use these similar decision techniques to cast their real vote.

Then, about a week ago, politics came up again in the car ride home from school. Grace said, " Mom, have you finally decided who you're voting for?" I didn't really answer, I'm still carefully analyzing my ballot- its not the president, its all the measures that are taking some time.

I said, "not quite yet" .
Grace: "Well, has dad voted yet?"
me: Yes, I believe he has already filled out his mail in ballot.
Grace: "Who did he vote for?"
Me: "I'm not sure, you can discuss it with him though".

This child is amazing in her persistence, atleast she has some excitement about the democratic process ( more than a large chunk of our country)

Then, 2 days ago, she said,
Grace: " mom if I could vote I'd for sure vote for Obama".
me: Oh- and how are you making that choice, what did you consider?"
Grace: (didn't answer the question directly- just like a politician)
"We took at poll in our classroom today"
me: "Mrs Halverson did? "
Grace: No, she didn't just Kyler- he started it.
"All but 2 people said they'd vote for Obama. The two people who were voting for McCain were X and X. But, they're first graders, so they may just not know."

"Then we asked Mrs. Halverson who she was voting for, and she said that it was a personal decision, and that she hadn't voted yet, but she will" ( good answer teacher!)

* From this, can you already see a budding lobbyist here?

Then, last night:
Grace: Mom, how do you get to run for president in an election?"
Me: (I then went through a very simplified version of the primaries, and the general election process- explaining the 2 main parties, but also giving voice to Independents)

Grace: "Mom, did you know, if you win and get to be President, you get to live in the White House and you can bring your pets."

then, a few seconds later,

Grace: "Mom do they have maids and cooks a the White House?"

me: I truthfully answered, but the question scared me a bit. I then went into a discussion of how expensive a campaign was, how people are funded, and the job of the President in the White House.

Then, Grace said this...
"mom, I wish Dad would run for President so we could live in the White House".

Now, there is nothing wrong with the above statement, except that out of the 2 adults in this family I WOULD BE THE ONE TO RUN FOR OFFICE!- I was saddened that she didn't see a woman runnign for president at this point. I made a point to myself to talk to her about woman's options, potential and all that that entails.

I didn't say anything, but I just knew that I've got to talk to her more about this... after all, I'm the one who is President of the State Speech and Hearing Association, I've served on that board for years, I'm on the licensing board for the state, and I've worked on various commmittees at many levels- including the PTA at her school.

Fascinating perspective of politics from a 7 year old. And to think her ideas were picked up by advertising, some discussion and osmosis really....

Hey Mom, he speaks Spanish

After the drama of the Dentist appointment, I ( we- the kids and I) decided to go to a Mexican food restaurant for dinner tonight. They were relatively good, the wait staff is very courteous at the restaurant we went to- we've been many times before. They greeted me with Seniorita- which I think is so polite. I think our waiter might have thrown in a "Gracias" or something minor and then all of sudden Grant says very LOUDLY- "Hey Mom, He speaks Spanish! Isn't that cool!". I was really hoping at this point that the waiter wasn't offended because he was clearly bilingual. Then the kids started rolling their /r/'s and couting to 10 in Spanish in a loud voice. The waiter smiled graciously and walked away. It might have also helped that Grace refused to sit on the other side of the booth- so we all 3 sat on one side of the booth seat-- until Grace burned her finger on my hot plate- then she decided that wasn't a good idea anymore.
Grant also started throwing out any Spanish he had picked up from Dora and Diego. I was just hoping we wouldn't look like ignorant English speakers.... Atleast they think speaking more than 1 language is cool- I think.

The Dentist Office

Grace had a dentist appointment today. Grant had one last Thursday, and I have one tomorrow. All of a sudden, they had some openings, so we didn't have to all wait until January to get in ( by then it would be 5 months PAST our 6 months due date). I never understand how their calendar gets soo booked out.

Anyway, it was Grace's turn. She had a 5pm appointment, so she was one of the last ones in the office. We got there in time, had her X-Rays done, had some more X-Rays done once we got her in the chair, and finally got her teeth cleaned. It was relatively fast, and I had asked if she had any tartar because Grant did last week and we didn't brush her teeth before showing up. All went well, until the dentist came in to check things out.

Turns out she has 2 cavities. I wasn't sure that she was completely following the conversation, since the dentist was talking to me and the Hygenist. But, I guess when you're nosy, you pick up on indirect adult conversations.

As we get out to the lobby, to book her follow up appointment, she starts to cry and generally fall apart. I tell her that they are not taking care of the cavities today, so there really is no reason to cry. ( I'm not the most compassionate mother at times).

She continues to look worried, goes to the bathroom AGAIN and then we finally get on the elevator and go to the car. As we are making our way, she starts to voice her concerns- which I'm happy she feels she can, they are kind of funny in a way ( although I didn't laugh- I promise)

1. Worry about drilling- this was followed by lots of questions about feeling the drill, if you can feel the drilling, if they give you a shot to make it so you don't feel it ( I lied here, because her appointment isn't until December at this point, and I don't want her stressing for 2 months). I told her they put on a topical ( which I guess they could, but she'll probably get the shot).

2. Concern over having cavities at all- how did she get them, what causes them, why she now needs a Sonicare toothbrush.. and concern that she now wants to brush her teeth at school after lunch ( on my Costa Rica trip last summer to the Special Ed School, I learned that they are BIG on teeth brushing after the kids eat or have snack. Every child does this atleast once a day at school- could we do this here too?)

3. Concern that her teacher won't let her brush her teeth... not sure why- but I assured her that we'd talk to Mrs. Halverson and see if she could quietly do this. She is also worried to tell her teacher that she has cavities! You would think she had some bizarre disease or rash. I never thought she'd get soo worked up over having cavities.

4. And Finally- " Mom will they use silver or gold to fill my cavitity?""Because I dont' want that, people can see that and it makes your mouth look funny". So in the end, Vanity takes a place in her thoughts.

When we pick up Grant, she says to him, "Grant, Sissy has some bad news- I have 2 cavities". Again, the drama continues.

 
 
 


The big day came for the CHILL RIDE at Grace's school. She was very excited as you can tell from the prior post about this event. I was a chaperone- it was funny to watch her have such a great time. Of course she has to have her hair put up in foam curlers the night before so it would be curly for the event.

School is making Grant tired...

 
 


The other day I took a picture of what life has been like for Grant lately. He has been really tired from his day at school and play. He is still in preschool- 3 days a week, but its sucking some energy from him. It seems he falls asleep in the car almost every day in the car. He is also usually hungry in the afternoon- so he saves some food from his lunch to eat on the way home. Yes, that is spaghetti you see in the picture, as usual, my kids eat weird stuff in their lunch.

 
 
 



Ryan finished the Marathon in 4 hours, 1 minute, 12 seconds.

We finished our race dead last, but the kids thought it was cool that the police car was following us- they didn't know what this meant. We did run about half the race, and about 3/4 the way through, Grant said, "Mom, I think I'm getting tired". Grace had said this LONG before Grant admitted this.

We also really enjoyed the route because there are many different bands and music along the route to cheer you on. It was great!

Marathon Weekend.. a real one

On Oct. 5th, Ryan ran the Portland Marathon. Its part of his mid-life crisis.. err, I mean training. No really, we are really really proud of him. Its amazing that he got the fitness bug in the Spring, and since then has done at least 3 Triathlons, and got the courage to cap it all off with training for the Portland Marathon.

It was a really exciting weekend. We all stayed downtown in a nearby hotel- HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Portland does a great job of blocking off streets and generally making it a really fun event.
The Portland Marathon has several other associated events- a 5K, a walking marathon, a 10K and a "Kids Marathon" that was about 2 miles long.

So, as Ryan took off for the marathon, the kids and I got ready to run our run. It was really fun. There were a good number of parents and kids out to get into the event.

I had some serious worry that I would lose Grant- because he can run faster than me- so I had to come up with a way to tie him down. I couldn't find anything besides harnesses for kids- which they were not willing to wear. So I had an epiphany and made my own- Which by the way, I got A LOT of compliments on my ingenuity!!!

Here is what I did- I created this great key ring idea to attach my kids- both kids wore a ring around their arm, and I wore one on my arm- Then, there is a retractable key device in the middle- this allowed the kids to have some "room".

In the next post, there are some more crazy photos from the start of our race- notice how I cut off the Quik Rabbit's head in the photo- The before picture is where Grant is grouchy- looking like he's taking a mug shot- then afterwards, they are thrilled because there is free food everywhere- including chocolate milk, juice, cookies.

I wanted to pop the stupid balloons- some brilliant person decided to hand those out to kids BEFORE the race- so try running with both of them attached via the key ring device with balloons popping in your face constantly- no wonder we were last.

Ham Radio UPDATE

Remember how much fun I made of the whole HAM Radio experience. Well, I've been humbled a bit... here's why:

(1) In my travels to John Day, Oregon ( aka "the middle of nowhere"), I don't have cell phone service for atleast 3 of the 5 hour drive. So, since HAM radios are able to get service when cell phones don't- this turns out to be a helpful tool.

(2) Due to #1, I could write off our HAM radios as a business tax write off. Woo Hoo! I'm always looking for a tax write off.

(3) Most importantly, I FAILED MY TEST on Sept 29th. I did make an attempt to study beforehand. However, I only took 2 practice tests, and I didn't think it would be soo hard. It was much more technical than I had thought.

(4) I had to retake my HAM radio test the following weekend, Oct 4th- and believe me, I studied my butt off this time. I think I put more time into it than my DMV test- which by the way, is also hard to pass here in Oregon.

(5) We haven't bought our HAM radios- we will soon. However, I still am wondering how I'm going to learn how to "patch" into a repeater, so I can connect to a phone line to call for help when I'm in the middle of "Spring" or "Condon" Oregon.

We just got our "call signs"

Ryan is KE7WGN

Ashley is KE7WJS

Feel free to call us by our signs,it might help me memorize mine.

Thomas the Train is for babies

The other morning, as Grant was getting dressed, he got very passionate about his underwear choice. Evidently, he searched through his collection and set all the "Thomas the Train" underwear to the side. He then told Ryan " Dad, those are for babies- Thomas the Train is for babies, you need to give those to a baby".

Luckily, we've never been into Thomas the Train in this house. I suppose this is for 2 main reasons:

(1) Many boys with Autism are fascinated with Thomas the Train- you can't catch Autism, but in a tiny bit of my subconscious, I decided it wasn't something I wanted my son to get sucked up in. Who knows, he could just appear to be obsessed with Thomas, and therefore, show "autism-like" behaviors.

(2) Thomas the Train toys are made in China, and in a sense, Ryan has banned all things from China in our house- because of the lead and poisons ( he has only been somewhat successful at this). Atleast we're done with the baby formula stage.

School Picture Day- Take II- literally

If you follow this, or not- go back to the previous entry of Sept 16th- ( I can't believe I haven't posted since then, its obviously been really hectic around here)

Anyway, I was at the school last Wednesday, and it was the day the School Pictures had come back, so as I was chatting to the school secretary, she offered to give me the kid's pictures to take with me.... she looked and looked, and couldn't find them.

Then I recalled the details of school picture day ( when I wasn't there). Ryan couldn't find the paperwork the evening before- I ended up telling him to just send them, the school will take pictures and let you pay later...

Well, it seems, this is only true during Spring Pictures ( does that make any sense at all? I don't think so)

So, it turns out, for Fall pictures, you have to actually complete the picture paperwork and send it in that day in order to have pictures printed. For Spring pictures, they will take the pictures regardless ( even if your parent has forgotten that it was school picture day, and you look like a bit of a ferrel child- wearing jeans, an old sweatshirt and scuffed boots-- which has happenend for past years) and then send the whole package home in hopes that it will get lost in your abyss and then they'll just bill you for the entire cost.

Hmm, so regardless how I feel about this entire situation, we will be doing picture retakes on Oct 29th... outfits to be decided later.