On to some happier subjects.....Biddie bowling!!!

On Tuesday, Sonja's UPK class, and a couple of other classes went to the local bowling alley for completing their Boomerang reading program for the month of January. Boomerang is when the parent reads to or with the child, or the child reads a specific amount of books each month.

There were 80 or 90 students in total and all seemed to have had a great time bowling and eating pizza. Sonja's team liked it so much they bowled an additional game after everyone else was done and gone!!!

In the picture, Sonja is seen in the second seated row, right of center. Cousin Luci is right next to her, left of center. Some of Sonja's friends, Cassidy, Cooper, Andrew, Rheanna, Drew and Seven are also right next to her.

I'm sure we'll be going bowling in the near future, but this time Max will get to try his hand at it!

Until next time.......

Will peace prevail?

O.K....Here it comes.. I'm off on a political rant.

I've recently seen on the news many people protesting the war between Israel and Hamas. The terrorists are using Palestine as a haven and threatening the people who want to live in peace.

As long as they (Hamas) are there, the progress between Israel and Palestine will be sabotaged at every step.

Check these videos out.

This one makes my blood boil!!!


Hamas terrorists using children as human shields.


This is a video of Hamas terrorists using a school yard to launch rockets into Israel.



These terrorists must be rooted out so peace will prevail in the region or else Palestine will be turned into the next Afghanistan.

Please help this little guy and his family!!

This is so sad but you can help!

This boy has a brain tumor along with other medical and spectrum disorders. His family is desperately trying raise enough money to pay their bills, along with collecting unused coupons, empty ink cartriges and soup labels, among other things. They even have an Ebay store to help with fundraising.

Click here or Please go to
http://www.brandonnoble.com/
and do whatever you can to help this little guy and his family out!!

P.S. They also have an Amazon wish list that you can access by going here

Some sad news, and the questions of a little inquiring mind.

On New Years eve, Johnny, our pet Preying Mantis passed away. He was not eating very well in the couple weeks preceding his demise, so it wasn't completely unexpected.

The day after New Years, I told Sonja about Johnny's fate and told her he was in heaven with our dog Hank (who passed away in 2006 from osteosarcoma) and Big Al our cat (who succumbed to feline AIDS in 2007).

This morning while I was helping Sonja get ready for UPK, she said to me "Mommy, Johnny is going to get hurt! He's too small and Hankie and Big Al are going to step on him!"

At first, I hadn't a clue as to what she was talking about, but after asking her to repeat it, I then understood what she meant. I told her that as far as I know, heaven has trees and plants and is like a paradise! He can climb up in the trees and hide in plants and near rocks and stuff so that he doesn't get hurt. He's safe and I'm sure having fun with other Preying Mantis' (?) who are there too, along with Hankie and Al. I tried to calm her concerns.

She smiled and said "Oh! That's good." And that was the end of it! I guess what I told her worked!

I have a feeling that in the future, instead of seeing a stray dog or cat and saying "Can we keep it", Sonja will be saying it about any "stray" preying mantis that crosses her path!

That's my girl!

Until next time.....

I received this information via an e mail from Adoptive Families. I hope you will help in this call to action so that the orphans of Vietnam can find their forever families. It takes very little time but may make a huge difference! Joint Council Call to Action: Vietnam For the thousands of Vietnamese children living outside of a family, intercountry adoption is no longer an option. Please help the Joint Council on International Children's Services change this by participating in their Call to Action. Senators Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Norm Coleman of Minnesota will be forwarding a letter to the Prime Minister of Vietnam, to encourage Vietnam's continued participation in negotiations on intercountry adoption. The letter will express Congressional support for the continuation of intercountry adoption. Between Monday, January 5th and Wednesday, January 7th, you can support this important initiative through the following methods. 1. Contact your Congressional Representatives and Senators and ask them to sign the letter to the Prime Minister of Vietnam regarding the future of intercountry adoptions from Vietnam. Also, note that if they are interested in signing, they should contact Sarada Peri from Senator Landrieu's office (Sarada_Peri@landrieu.senate.gov) by Wednesday, January 7th. For a list of Senators and Congressman that have signed the letter as of the time of this writing, please see below. You can find your Senators' phone numbers and e-mail addresses at www.senate.gov. You can find your Representatives' phone numbers and e-mail addresses at www.house.gov. 2. Send a notice of support (and ensure that you receive updates on this initiative) via the Joint Council website. Click "Sign me up for Joint Council news." Under the communications preferences, select the drop down menu for "Newsflashes and Updates." Click "Sign me up." Fill in your information. Under the comment section, type "Letter to Vietnam Prime Minister." Joint Council will also be forwarding the names of individual who contact us to Senators Landrieu and Coleman. The letter to the Prime Minister can only be successful with your help! If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Joint Council staff via advocate@jcics.org. Please note the following Senators have already signed the letter to the Prime Minister of Vietnam as of 12/17/2008: Senator Landrieu Senator Coleman Senator Johnson Senator Bill Nelson Senator Oberstar Senator Akaka Senator Lincoln Senator Roberts Senator Lautenberg Senator Murkowski Senator Menendez Senator Durbin Senator Kerry Senator Klobuchar Please note the following Representatives have already signed the letter to the Prime Minister of Vietnam as of 12/17/2008: Rep. Jim Oberstar Rep. Jerry Costello Rep. Scott Garrett