Happy birthday Cole

Well, Cole if finally six. He says "finally", I say "already"! He wanted a friend party with some of the kids from his class and then Luke (a boy from our ward, they have been friends since they were born). I told him to prepare himself because some of the kids might be out of town and/or busy since it was during the holiday. I am glad that I had prepped him because no one showed up! It was about 10 minutes after the party was suppose to start and I called Katie (Luke's Mom) (who is never late to anything). She answers and tells me she will be here in 5 minutes. I am never ready on time so she was trying to be fashionably late. I laugh and tell her I was ready because I knew she would be on time. Anyway, she gets here and the two boys party together. I was feeling kind of bad for Cole but I didn't know any of the kids or their parents so I didn't really know if they would come anyway. I didn't need to feel bad for him long because as soon as Luke showed up, they were playing and having a great time. Cole is such a great kid. He is perfect purple in class everyday and tries to be so helpful. When he begs me to play Donkey Kong on the wii with him and I actually do, he is so considerate of me. I am terrible at that game and he is my biggest fan telling me that I am doing so well and such. He is so good with Scott and they love to play with each other. He is always making nasty recipes with food that he swears are so delicious. Who knows, maybe they are, I just won't try most of them. I couldn't have asked for a better kid. I would post some pictures but every time I do, they look weird (look at my other post), I wonder if my space is running low too because they look normal on my computer and facebook. Weird. Anyway, Happy Birthday, Cole.

Charelston

In September, I went to visit my sister and nephew in S.C. Justice had graduated from boot camp and I wanted to see them. It was really fun. I didn't bring anyone with me and let me tell you, it was nice to pop in a book on tape and just drive. As much as I love hearing my kids and love their kid music, it was nice to not have to respond to anything (other than traffic). We spent the one full day I was there in Charleston. First, we went to Folly Beach and walked on the pier. Then we went down to the ocean. I had totally forgotten my swimming suit. Bec said that they didn't have their's either so it didn't matter. We were just going to walk along the very crowded beach but when Justice said something about this being his first time at the ocean, I put all those plans aside and told him we needed to go in and body surf. So we shed off our shoes, socks and electronics and ran into the ocean. It was really fun and I was glad that I hadn't chosen a white shirt for the excursion.

Justice and I are the two little dots in that last picture. Justice was really surprised just how salty the ocean was. I totally remember that thought on my first visit. We all know it is salt water but it still comes as a surprise. After the beach we just walked around the beach town. I love beach towns, they are so relaxed but busy at the same time. Then, we decided to go the 15 minutes to Charleston. We walked around the downtown for about 3 hours. It was so awesome. I have never been in a historic city like that. I didn't realize that the whole downtown would be kept historic. I kind of thought they would just save a few buildings and modernize the rest. It was really neat. There was a block or two of stores. It was like going to a strip mall but they were in the old buildings. You had Gap, Victoria Secret, Forever 21, Loui Vatan (sp?) (obviously I don't shop there), and everything! Then there was a street that were all Law School buildings. My friend who went to Savannah for college said all her classes were in the old buildings down town. There was no college campus. Pretty cool (although I love the feel of a college campus). Bec and Justice had been here the day or two before so they took me down a couple of block called, "Rainbow Row". It was the houses where all the rich people lived. The color of their houses were coordinated with their occupation. All the blacksmith's had the same color house etc. These houses were HUGE! They looked like Apt. buildings from where we were walking but then Bec informed me that we were walking on the side of the house and it was the helps entrance. When we turned the corner and actually saw the fronts, well, lets just say I couldn't capture a whole house with one shot. I had to get two sometimes 3 shots with my camera for one house. Oh, and the thing that was really cool to me, the ally's. It was just like in the movies when you would see the little homeless children living in the ally. (I didn't see homeless children but the alleys looked the same.) I don't know why that was so cool to me but when I went back through my pictures, I had about 50 of different alleys. In the middle of town, they have a big market place. It goes down one street about 4 blocks or so. They sell everything there! It would be so fun to be able to go someplace like that whenever you wanted to. Oh and everywhere you look, there are people making baskets. Basket weaving is huge there and they are expensive. They do look really good though. Another thing was that they had horse drawn carriages everywhere. That is not so strange to me because SLC has them too but some other carriages they had were people pulling them with their bikes. Who needs to work at a gym when your whole job is biking people around the city?!

Last but not least, Charleston is "Army Wives" friendly,that happens to be my favorite show. I had a great time and it was fun to have some one on one with Justice and Rebecca.

Roar

No wonder people have been making so many comments about my hair being so thick lately!

I kind of look like a lion, roar!

Where are the consequences?

Okay with the political height going on, I am going to put in my two sense...actually more like 100 cents (oh wait I guess that would be a dollar). Liz asked a question on facebook about the 47% of people using gov. handouts or something like that. I didn't hear Romney's quote so I wasn't exactly sure of what was said but here is what I think of all the handouts. When the bailouts started I heard all over the news on all the stations, "America is too big to fail!" They would say that all the time and it made my skin crawl. Nothing is too big to fail. When you make poor choices, the consequences are sometimes failure. Not always but sometimes. Yes, I do think we should have let some businesses tank. It is not the governments job to bailout everyone. Sure it would have been devastating for many people but that is how you learn. I do give the car companies props for paying back the gov. in a timely manner and I think that is great. However, I would not be surprised if the money they paid the gov. back did not go to the debt they pulled from in the first place. It is amazing, when you are financially in the hole, any "extra" money (not really extra because you are in the negative) always has somewhere else more pressing to go. I wish they would would have called Suzie Orman and asked her. I have a sneaky suspicion she would have said, "Denied!" Sure it was great to get a check from our gov. to Will and I when they were trying to help the American people but I was not in favor for that either. Why did they not put that back in where we are under? Now we are in a mess of a financial situation. Yes, if Dave Ramsey were running for president, I would vote him in without any problem. I know there are a ton of other issues but right now, the most pressing is our economy. I don't understand why anyone who feels that way would vote for anyone but the best candidate for fixing our finances. Besides, maybe if all these companies that needed a bail out would have called Bain Capital when their troubles started, they wouldn't have been in that mess in the first place. If you feel other issues are more important, then I can understand why you would chose another candidate. There was another article posted about Kalamazoo MI. Honestly, I was even more interested in that because my cousins live there and my Uncle is a Professor at their college. I thought it was so amazing that someone donated that money to give everyone a college education. I also think that the government does the exact same thing in certain economic classes. Why is it that the poor class doesn't know that? Or do they and just don't care? I have always had a hard time seeing why the poverty ridden stay that way. They have so much opportunity. Is it because they don't know? Would it be more helpful if the guidance counselors in every school knew all the student's family financial situation and starting from Kindergarten up take them in individually and let them know that they have a great opportunity for college? I really don't understand this and I am not knocking. Financial aid and pail grants paid for my college education. So yes, I definitely fall in the 47%. I actually don't mind this handout at all. I just don't understand how it is so underused by the class it is most trying to help. Also, the lottery in some states pay for college. Georgia's lottery allows everyone with a 3.0 or higher free education through the lottery! I love that some good comes from wasting money. I understand that some people waste these opportunities because they "are not focused" or "just goofed around my freshman year" but I say that is their own fault. If I hadn't had my college paid for, I would have worked my tail end off to get through it. Show some initiative people. Now comes to K-12 programs. I think that the public education should receive more money and would not mind at all if my taxes went up just for that area. I am however, amazed at how much of the parents responsibility the school takes on. Cole's first day of school, I drop him off and he didn't have a breakfast tray with him. The teacher stops us and asks him if he had eaten or if she needed to run him down to the breakfast booth. (I am glad they are concerned) Seriously, is that what parenting has come to? Not only am I not responsible enough to feed my kid at home but I am not responsible enough to stop in the hall on the way to class to grab him something to eat. How does this happen?! Government has taken on way too much parenting roles. Don't get me wrong, I hate that kids suffer because of parents inadequacies but they are not going to magically become more responsible when there are no consequences and government just steps in and assumes the position. Another example, I sent Cole to school with lunch and a water bottle (he hates warm milk and I didn't know how cold it would stay in a lunch box)his teacher's aid is worried that he won't have anything to drink (maybe water is not sufficient?) and so she gets him milk. This goes on for three days. I would have not had any idea but Cole mentions to me that he likes the milk cartons at school. I ask him why he got some if it was for snack or something and he says, "no, they just give it to me." I tell him that we have to pay for that. He tells me it is just free because they just give it to him. Of course I know better so I talk to the teacher the next day at school. We get paid up and figured out but still I don't understand why she didn't leave a note in his bag or something if she had concerns. I am not upset at all I just think it is sad that there is such a low expectation on parents that is all. They send home a lunch sheet to see if you get reduced or free lunch. They ask you to fill it out because the school gets more money if everyone turns it in. I do. We get reduced lunch (Cole brings his to school). I get a flier from Comcast sent home. I am so irritated that Comcast is soliciting through the school I don't read it and I throw it away. Then I am mentioning it to someone and they tell me that if you get free or reduced lunch that Comcast will give you your internet for $9.99 a month. I don't know if that is government or just Comcast but you can't tell me that if it is government that, that is not overboard. It is so enticing to take handouts! I could very easily take the $9.99 Comcast bill a month and just say, "someone is going to get the handout, it might as well be me" or just stick with my $50.00 a month bill and stay financially independent. It is hard to say no to lower bills. Just for the record though, I did say no to the lower bill and I hope that that $40.00 a month will be put on the national debt (of course it won't). Yes, I do think that government has WAY TOO MANY HANDOUTS! I have known a few people who get pregnant and/or trying to get pregnant (for someone to love them) and don't even worry that the problem that the father is not involved "the government with take care of us". (Hey I love working with the troubled youth of America). I think that is a problem. Who needs a daddy because government is daddy. This mentality should not be tolerated. Then onto abortion (which government will pay for) hey kids, if you are not going to be abstinent, then use protection, government will pay for that too! This careless behavior is the new trend. Babies are to be celebrated and families are the strength of children not government. Another problem with the lack of consequences is the level of respect has diminished. I wouldn't want to be a teacher for anything because of it. I am grateful for all those who serve in that capacity and even more grateful for the one's who really care (I think that it is the majority). I think that lack of consequences (good and bad) creates a selfish, entitled, disrespectful people. The idea that we pay taxes because the government knows better than each of us where to put the funds is kind of skewed. It may be true in some senses but if you think of your taxes as your charity work then you are missing out on the pure joy of giving. It takes away the looking for opportunities to serve. It can create, in many, a mentality of "I don't need to help them, the government will take care of it" or "if they weren't so lazy they wouldn't have to rely on the government". I mean I pay my taxes so I am helping out enough, right?! I have heard that more times than I wish (maybe they are just saying it and don't really believe it?! I hope so. It seems to me that the entitled attitude comes in large from the super wealthy and the super poor. It seems like the two extremes are the problem areas. Both are equally as bad in my eyes. Being a victim of circumstance is not an excuse to not be a better person. How can you lift someone else up higher than you are yourself? You can't, but, there are more ways to help than financially. If those who feel like the world owed them something gave a little of their time, they would see the world in a whole new light. The only way to get out of yourself is to give of yourself. If you are stuck in yourself, then you are more disrespectful in general. It puts a wedge on your shoulder that you are either better than others or in lots of cases, worse. People who are self loathers are just as bad as those who think they are "God's gift". Once again, the two extremes are dangerous ground to tread on. Take for example the youtube video that was made degrading Muhammad or Ala or whoever it was that they were degrading. (I didn't see the video, nor do I want to, and I just heard about it through someone else). Being LDS, we are taught to have complete reverence toward deity. It doesn't matter if it is someone you think is deity or not, you should respect others believes. (What do I say about devil worshipers? Hmm, maybe I am just to scared of the consequences if I trashed them.) I for sure to do not condone what happened in the aftermath with the killings of US citizens at all. Don't get me wrong on that. Yet, I can't help but think if we all had a little more respect for each other, the world would be a much more pleasant place. A while ago on the radio, one of the DJ's was saying how you can take the power of words away if you use them enough. You will get use to it (desensitized) and you won't care anymore. They were saying that we should use all the words that are offensive and get rid of the power they have. Terrible advice! I do feel like we do that though. I have always heard that emotional abuse is more detrimental than physical abuse. If that is true, then the D.J.'s theory is completely wrong. We should think about how we are affecting people when we say things. I am not into being completely P.C. but I do believe in using tact. A people that can't even take care of themselves is a nation in disaster waiting to happen. Someday these careless kids are going to be running for office and running the whole nation. That is kind of scary. At the same time, there are still a lot of amazing parents, families, and people. There are those who are great decision makers and who know how to deal with life's consequences. Hopefully the strong will rise and help influence the weak but there is a difference between helping and enabling. The key is finding the balance. My opinion only, we are way more on the enabling side than the helping side. You will find men who want to be carried on the shoulders of others, who think that the world owes them a living. They don't seem to see that we must all lift together and pull together. Henry Ford

First day and counting

Cole has finally started school. He was so excited to go. I guess all kids are, right? I got him up at 7 he ate and then got dressed. I got the girls up and put them all in the car. I then ran in to get Scott (I was trying to give him as much sleep as possible.) As we left for school he says, "day one of school". I left for school 25 minutes early (the school is 2 minutes from my house). It is a good thing too because the line was out of control! We barely made it to his class in time, I mean as we walked into his classroom, the bell rang. Did I mention that we had to walk fast/run down the crowded halls of school (bad example I know but I didn't want him to be uncomfortable by being late. That and Will had given me some stern advice about not being late.) I helped him put his backpack on the rack and then he wanted me to help him find a seat. I told him goodbye and just before I left from sight, I looked back to see him talking to another student. Ahh, he is going to be just fine. I always knew he would be but it is nice to see that he was already talking to the others. After school, I waited outside for the bus to come by. As he got off the bus, his face had the biggest grin on it and it made my day. He was so happy but tired he said. The next day as we left for school 30 minutes early Cole says, "the second day of school". We got to his class 20 minutes early. It appears that since then, the drop off traffic has completely diminished...well not completely but we now go to school 15 minutes early and he is in class 5 minutes before the bell rings. Today as we get in the car to go to school he says, "the sixth day of school". I don't know how long he is going to count but as long as he loves it, I am happy.

I know, I know, I should have found a better background for his first day of school pictures but I was in a hurry and by the way things went, if I had looked, he would have been late for the first day.

Finally Three

Okay, so I find it kind of funny to get my kids excited way too soon. about 2 weeks before birthdays or other exciting events, I talk about it all the time. I remember how slowly time goes when you are young and you are anxiously awaiting something. I don't know why but I really can't help it. Well, I probably could but I don't even try. So every morning for the last 2 weeks, McKelle would walk up to me and ask if it was her birthday yet. So when I finally said yes she was so excited and said, "I'm three! I'm three!" It was really cute. It was on a Sunday so we had to get dressed and get to church, I got a little button/ribbon thing that said,"birthday girl" and she was very excited. After church, I let her help me decorate her cake and then we had a little party for her. We played musical pillows and mother may I. Then we opened presents and had cake. She LOVED her presents. It is nice when the child really loves her presents for more than 2 minutes. She still plays with all of them to this day (almost a week later) so I would say, they have longevity power. It was fun. She stayed up until 10:30 and she fell asleep in the chair. I would say that she had a great birthday. The third birthday is my favorite of all so far. The child actually knows what is going on, it you know what they are going to like in the present department (hey, it is fun to buy your kids stuff), and they get really excited and grateful. Plus, for me, I don't do friend birthdays until at least 4 years old. Easy peasy. She loves Sugar Babies and calls them, "baby sugars" it is so cute. Anyone who corrects her on that will face death! Just a warning.

So to my darling 3 year old who is to wonderful HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

4 generations

I love generational pictures so here is one. Bette Spilsbury, Titine Winsor, Polly Blevins and McKelle Blevins. I chose McKelle for this picture because of all my kids, she looks the most Segmiller of them all. We all have brown eyes and we seem to kind of follow the Segmiller genetic line.

It is just too bad that the lighting is so poor. Oh well.

Utah part 3

After the reunion, we headed down south. St. George was our destination. We made a stop in Cedar City to see Amy. I wanted to see Cassie but I had lost all of my phone numbers and I didn't see her in Smith's. What is a girl to do? So on to Dixie, no not the real Dixie, just Utah's Dixie. We swam, played and enjoyed family. I hadn't seen my Grandma in so long! She hasn't aged a day. It was so nice to see her. I also had never been to the splash park in St. George. That was fun. We played with Robert and his kids and went to Kolob.

Here are some pictures of beautiful Kolob. They would have been better if not for all the smoke in the air.

We went up with Robert and his family. Boston took all the kids for four wheeler rides, we went searching for frogs in the pond, went and saw the spot for Cole and Kim's cabin, went to look at Dad's grave, visited with Aunt Tanya and just enjoyed the beautiful mountain. It was so fun to spend some time with Robert and his kids. They are all so fun. A week later, it was back up to SLC for the Maribah Winsor reunion. All of Utah was on fire! Here are a few pictures of the back of Oak City mountain from the freeway.

We stopped in Provo to see Serena, Chris and Lauren. Serena had a little bbq and I got to meet the rest of Chris' family along with Cameron, Serena's cute little boy. Sage was walking backwards and fell down the window sill. That was kind of funny but kind of sad. I could hear her screaming bloody murder but I couldn't find her. Then I did and she is sitting at the bottom of the window sill. When I pulled her out, her leg was kind of scraped up and she insisted that I get her a band aid. Of course I didn't have one big enough for her whole thigh so we just wrapped a diaper around her thigh and she was happy with that. It looked hilarious but as long as she was happy then I was happy.

Now to the Winsor reunion. That was surprisingly fun. I didn't expect to know more than 4 people there (other than my siblings and Mom) but I was pleasantly surprised at how many people I did remember! I recognized at least half of them and remembered names and the connection of at least a forth of them. It may not sound like much but that is because we hardly ever saw any of them. I was excited to go even though I knew I wouldn't really know anyone because my Dad's family is so nice. They make you feel so welcomed and special. I really love that trait they all seem to have and I try really hard to carry it on for my nieces and nephews especially because I don't get to see them all that often but I want them to know how loved they are. Did I mention how fun they are? They play with the kids and the grown ups were right in with the water fights and everything. It makes me proud to be a Winsor. With the water fight, the kids were getting everyone. If you were near the water spigot, you were going to get wet. But Cole was so mad when the kids would gang up on me. I was getting them too but he would start yelling at them to leave me a lone and everything. It is kind of funny. He is so protective of me and always has been but this was a new high for him. There were at least 8 kids and all but 2 were older than him and he was not backing down. I am glad he has my back.

Well, that is the last of my month long vacation. My kids were ready to get home but I think I could have easily spent another couple of weeks. I had so much fun and it makes me want to move back home. Life is good, my family is good and I am glad to be done blogging about this adventure. Peace out!

Reunion week

The family reunion wasn't suppose to start until Tues. but since most people got there during the weekend, we kind of started Sunday afternoon. Let me back up, on Sat. I picked up Will from the airport and we went to see Lauren and her family. We spent the night there and I totally rocked that dance game on the wii (if Lauren tells you differently, she is lying). He little girls are so cute. It was fun to hang out with them for a while.

Cole, as always, loved hanging out with Uncle Nick. They played the Wii and watched some awesome movie. He can't wait to see him again. Well, none of us can wait to see them again. They are tons of fun. Sun. we headed back to Marc's house and began the family reunion. On Mon. we went on a hike. Getting there was kind of a pain but when we finally started, it was fun. Will, who wasn't originally planning on hiking, decided to come (peer pressure always works whether said or just felt). I was mixed on that because I wanted to do the whole hike and I knew the kids would only do part of it. So I had my mind set on just hiking to the resavoir and then bringing the kids back. When we got there, Cole was going on (I told him to stick with Uncle Robert) and Sage wanted to keep going. Will had decided he was going and McKelle just wanted to be with her Daddy. I was a little nervous about this. I knew I was going to be carrying Sage most of the way (I had already been switching between McKelle and Sage) and I wasn't sure how much water I had left. We all got separated and I ended up with Victoria, Dempsey, James, and Sage. About 45 minutes or so later, (Sage on and off of my shoulders) some people were coming down and they said that we were not even half way up to the waterfalls. I was sick of carrying Sage and we were out of water. I decided that I would take the girls back down the mountain so that Victoria and James could go on up. about 20 yards back, Victoria calls us back and shows us a creek and we let the kids play there for awhile. At that time, Will, McKelle and Bill meet up with us. Will, the kids (except James) and I say we will take the kids down and Bill and Victoria are going to go finish the hike. As we are heading back down, I am kind of nervous because I know I am dehydrated and I am just worried about Cole. We in no way planned this hike with all the kids very well. Mostly in terms of water. About halfway down, York calls Will to tell him where we are and learns that York and Dawn have already taken all the 5 year olds back down the mtn. they were at Bec's house. I didn't even know that Cole left the hike, I thought he was up with Bob. I was very relieved and the rest of the hike was very pleasant.

The end of the hike was beautiful I heard and Ammon saw a couple get engaged up there. That is pretty sweet. I was bummed I didn't get to finish but I am also glad I went back when I did. Tues. was a tennis tournament and softball game. Yes I think the teams were very evenly distributed. It was perfect that Mckell (Bill's daughter) and I were on a team and it was evenly matched with Will who had Dyson on his team. No, in all seriousness, the teams were as fair as you could make them and it was a ton of fun. Grayson and Robert won the tournament with an impressive game. The softball game was also fun and I am glad that I never struck out and I always made it on base. That is always a concern for me. I think my team won but I am not exactly sure. I was proud of Sage for playing and she even got to make it to home plate. Wed. we went up Provo canyon for a day camp. The plan was for everyone who wanted to, to float down the river. I had to take Will back to the airport so I missed that trip. I was kind of bummed because that would have been so much fun. Then when Dawn, myself (and kids), Darien, Jamie and her son went up to the waterfall to play around I was really glad I missed the floating trip, the water was FREEZING! Then when everyone got back, I was sad I missed it because they all had so much fun. Except for Alex who told me that he hated it and he almost died. Alex is so funny to me. I love to talk to him. He really did have some problems on the river though so although a bit dramatic, also a bit justified.

A lot of people left on Thurs. morning so we ended the reunion a day early. I guess it all works out because we started early. Over all, it was a huge success. We all got up really early, stayed up really late, played really hard and were exhausted by the end. I guess when you only get one time a year (if that for some of us) to see everyone, you have to cram in as much as you can. It wears you out but you have a year to recover. As Will says, "hanging out with the Winsor's is like running a marathon." I am just glad we all get a long so well so that it is an enjoyable marathon.

I love this picture. Skyler is so tired that he crashed right on the bench. Here are a few misc. pictures of the reunion.