Fast Food

I try never to eat fast food for a multiple of reasons: it is very expensive, I can make it at home, it is beyond unhealthy (mostly), the children start to think they can ask for it for dinner, etc… We have had exchange students in our home all year and OF COURSE they have to experience some fast food while they are here. So, this year, and I have not gained any weight showing you can eat out and not be super sized, I have started to really decide where I like to go (and so have the children). I will start with the children. Benjamin has begun to think that french fries and ice cream is a choice for dinner. Third child, what more can I say? All places are the same to him, but Wendy’s and MacDonald's win the cheap ice cream competition. Costco is always a winner because of samples, smoothies, and ice cream =) Isaac has developed an adult taste and LOVES In-n-Out Hamburgers, Chipotle, Wendy’s (Frosty), …. At In-N-Out he gets a cheeseburger with onions and extra pickles =) Bekah is most like her younger brother so Wendy’s is her favorite =) Anything for a frosty. I think Mac Donald’s would be just as good, BUT ice cream doesn’t come WITH the meal =) So, what do I like…. well, I really think Mac Donald’s and Carl’s Jr have the best hamburger choices. So many sauces and vegetables, and chilies… yummy! I also love mexican food, so Chipotle and Café Rio are WONDERFUL =) And, of course, Farmer Boys has great food and Costco Polish Sausages are great with sauerkraut! I think In-N-Out has the best price of hamburger, and since it tastes great, it is a number one choice always! However, I think the french fries at In-N-Out are not so great! Carl’s are much better! Recently we have tried a new place, Five Guys! I think their hamburgers taste very good, but not worth the money. Their fries are really good, but there is something very special about Five Guys which sparked me to write this… their soda fountain =) So cool just to look at! It is all touch screen. They have everything in regular and diet, including diet caffeine free coke!!!!!! So, I loved it even more =) They over regular water for free, and bottle water with and without bubbles. they have lemonade and Sports drinks. Now to the best part…. flavors =) They offer vanilla, peach, cherry, raspberry, orange, and much,much, more! So, for every soda/water/lemonade/etc choice, you can add any flavor! Watching my cup fill reminded me of watching the paint bucket have color added to it at Home Depot. The neatest thing ever! I am lucky there isn’t one in the high desert or I might become a soda junky!

So, where won’t I go… Burger King.I haven’t been there since college. I didn't like it the handful of times I went, so why go now with all the choices available to me? I don’t choose Wendy’s, but their salads and chili are okay.

Unfortunately, I don’t get to go to chinese very often. Exchange students want hamburgers and they don’t sell ice cream, so the children don’t like to go there =( I also don’t get enough mexican type food!

I am ready for some home cookin’=)

Penn State Punishment

Okay, so I am not a sports fan. In fact, I really dislike how much time and money our country puts into sports (and actors, but that is another post). However, I think the punishment for Penn State is a little over the top. The PEOPLE involved did a horrific thing. The people should be punished. I realize they represent Penn State, so I understand the school being fined, or something. But to have all the wins stripped from 1998 until 2011 is telling all those football players that they didn’t do their job and they didn’t win. They did win! Joe Paterno was a winning coach! You want to remove his statue, okay, but you can’t change the fact that he did an excellent job at coaching football! There are many football players that currently go to Penn State who are looking to the school to provide them with an education AND possibly help them with a future in football. These boys have already chosen Penn State. Now they are being told they can transfer elsewhere! It isn’t that easy to simply transfer colleges when you are dealing with sports. If they have a school scholarship, another school isn’t going to take over that scholarship. Penn State can’t afford to pay their football players to attend another University! Penn State is having to start fresh with so many new leaders at the school. That in itself will be a punishment and will take a long time to recover from. The PEOPLE will be punished! Let the students enjoy their college career and heal together! Let them rejoice in all the other wonderful positives the school has offered for many years and will continue to offer for years to come!

Boiling HOT!

I am not a band geek like my husband, but I do appreciate music! Our local high school has decided to NOT have a band director next year. They have a football team and lots of resources for a virtual PE class using the Wii and its add-ons, but no band!

I am so very grateful that I not only get to homeschool, but next year spend the time studying art and MUSIC everyday. My children will not have a homecoming football game to attend, or be on the prom court, but they will learn how to think and how to appreciate more than just text books with test!

Book Review ~ The Giver by Lois Lowry

So this strange book was of course a Newberry Medal winner and it was of course… STRANGE! I didn’t understand the point of the book until chapter 10. But chapter 10 was a major turning point. Before this chapter I was reading because I was supposed to read this Newberry winner. After chapter 10, I was reading because I wanted to see the character develop. The Giver does an outstanding job of teaching the basic gospel principle of agency. The main character has the opportunity to contemplate this principle and is able to act upon it and use it for good. With all that said, I would not say that I liked the book. I think it had a horrible ending! Most reviews I read LOVED the book and LOVED the ending. There was only one review (out of the 50 or so that I read) that gave me a glimpse of hope for our society. Only one, in my opinion, was able to actually make connections in the book and was therefore able to understand the ending. Most reviews said the ending was ambiguous and was so on purpose for the reader’s sake. Shallow responses! Only one person was able to connect the ending with the book. So, thank you to that person. You make me like the book a bit more. There are 2 more books written after The Giver. The second book is completely separate from book one. Book three ties the characters from book one to the characters from book two. I am tempted to read the next two simply because they are an extremely easy read and I would like some closure.

Who likes schedules?

I love them! I love to make them, I love to keep them, I love when everyone else keeps them too.

So, who wants to figure mine out? =) I can’t get it right! I would think with homeschooling it would be easy. We are all home all day long! It seems to make it worse. There are even more fun activities to do, so we are never home (except for right now). And when we are home, we are too tired to do anything, haha. My children love it!

And while we are on the subject, who likes to rearrange furniture? ME! Who wants to figure out where I can put everything for school and crafts and pleasure reading and music and and and and……I know the solution! Smaller house, throw away your unused stuff! I am grateful for a 9 year old boy who lives this motto. Do I have to keep that? Yes, but put it in your binder and put your binder away =)

Air Head

It is so windy right now that I am up at 5 in the morning after only 5 hours of sleep (maybe a bit more)! The wind kept waking me up, so I finally got up to close all the windows and post something fantastic that has been flying through my head. However, I can’t think of anything right now =)

However, I will say how blessed we are when we are patient and know that it is not our ‘time’ in which blessing come. Sometimes they come earlier and sometimes they come later… much later. But hey come!

2 Thoughts Right NOW!

Teenagers should take longer than 2 minutes in the shower. Isn’t that a rule of thumb? I know I shouldn’t complain…. but 2 minutes? That just isn’t normal =)

Audiobooks are GREAT! I can still ‘read’ classic literature, and non-classic while, ironing… and washing dishes…. and running… and Warren while driving to and from work… and weeding…and whatever else! I am not big on teaching the children to color or have a busy activity to do while listening because I want them to learn to sit and listen during sacrament meeting… and in the car…. but you can do get so much mindless activities done and still enjoy great books! With that said, there is a place for meditating while washing dishes because great ideas always come around running water =)