Sunday night musings

The last few days, we have seen torrential rains here in the Phoenix area. To our kids, rain means one thing: running around outside like wild animals until they are drenched through and through. Thunderstorms in the summer - great idea. In the winter when it's "cold" and windy - not so much. And by cold, I mean it's been in the 60s... At least nobody has gotten sick so far.

Not our park - but looks very similar

The park in our neighborhood always floods completely when we get a lot of rain. For years, I have been toying with the idea of letting the kids ride their kayak on the temporary "lake" that is usually the park. Maybe we will do that tomorrow. My main concern is safety. In my defense, there are no storm drains, I would only let the good swimmers go on the kayak, and I would make them wear a life jacket, - but still. Then again, they kayak on lakes and even rivers a lot in the summer, which are probably more dangerous than a shallow pool at the park. Then there is the aspect of sanitation - I certainly wouldn't want them to get IN that water. Technically, it is possible to go in a kayak without getting wet, but when Solomon tried to get into the kayak in our pool today, he promptly tumbled into the water. Even in January, he declared the water to be warm enough to start swimming for the season. Uhm - NO! Swim season means an extra towel load to wash and dry each day, something I am just not prepared for yet. 

July 2012 - Wow, I can't believe how much Isaac has grown even just since then!

Another perfect activity for this kind of weather is making gigantic bubbles. Our humidity is typically too low to make these. Overcast skies, high humidity, and no rain or wind on the other hand produce perfect, huge bubbles. We are hoping to make these again tomorrow.

My Mom made this beautiful quilt for him

Baby Stephen turned 6 months old just a few days ago. Sigh! It's always so bittersweet. He said his first word yesterday! No, really, he did. I was in the kitchen, repeatedly calling for Isaac, with Stephen right near me. Suddenly, he crowed "I-a!", which is what all our kids call Isaac when they first start talking. It was so obvious, we all burst out laughing. Then he called him again, maybe because he liked our reaction? 

When we were expecting Isaac, and Solomon was our only child, we were trying to pick a name that he would be able to say, so he could make friends with his little brother easier. Any name idea we had, we would have Solomon (who was only 16 months old at the time Isaac was born) try to say. "Isaac" was the only name he was able to pronounce. In fact, every single one of the kids has learned his name long before any of the other kids' names, something Isaac is really quite proud of. 

She also sewed these adorable dresses for the girls. Anna is still not into having her picture taken. 

Solomon has been playing the organ in church at every service for some time now. Both him and Isaac are taking piano lessons, and I am looking forward to the day when they will both be playing together in the same service, one on the organ and the other on the piano.

I have planned a whole bunch of field trips for the upcoming weeks, too many to list. Starting in one week, the oldest four will also be taking an art class for the next three months, something I think they will all enjoy. Besides all that, Solomon has shown great interest in learning sign language. A dear lady at our church gave him an instruction book, which he has been pouring over daily. I am hoping to find a course offered locally that we can attend together. For Isaac's birthday next month, I am thinking about signing him up for a 6-week archery class - he would be thrilled!

So much to do, so little time! 

Many nights, I am relieved when the kids' bedtime rolls around. My workday is far from over once they are down for the night, but at least there are no more interruptions to deal with, and I can really get into my work for a couple of hours, and then relax for a bit before hitting the sack myself.

Other nights, I just want to keep them up and hang out with them way past their bedtime. Tonight was one of those nights. They are just growing up too fast, and there are never enough hours in a day to do everything I want to do with them.

So now it is well past 10 pm, and I have yet to start on dishes, laundry, and the like. My dishwasher broke right before Christmas, and although my wonderful husband has offered many times to replace it, I am just too cheap to take him up on it. I'll just wait until one pops up for free on freecycle. :)

Off I go. Have a great week, everyone!

Why They Sank the Titanic

Fascinating! Please watch! 

Second Honeymoon

Quite unexpectedly, my husband and I were able to go on a little 3-day getaway to a cabin in Arizona's White Mountains last week. Thanks to my fabulous mother-in-law, who stayed at our house and watched the six oldest kids for us, we were able to go with only baby Stephen (the nursling). 

In over 12 years of marriage, we have never once before spent a night away without (most) any of the kids, so this was a first.

 

This cabin was really something. We could not get over how carefully it had been decorated inside, and just how cozy it was.

 View from the front door. The bedroom and bathroom are down the hall.

 Thanks to the full kitchen, we were able to bring most of our own food. 

 So in true pioneer fashion...

 ... there was lots of bacon and eggs going on at mealtimes.

 Even Stephen got to chew on a bit of bread crust :)

 (Yes, that's a  bonnet dangling off the back off my head... just trying to play the part of prairie homemaker.)

View of the living room from the loft - we LOVED the fireplace. Especially when my sweet husband served me breakfast and hot chocolate in front of it :)

 Upstairs loft with door to the balcony

 View from the balcony

He looks happy in these pictures, but baby Stephen was really a little crab for most of this trip, which is very out of character for him. I blame it on a combination of homesickness, missing his familiar surroundings and siblings, a bout of teething which possibly led to a touch of ear infection, and being jealous of all the attention we were giving each other instead of him. Thankfully, he is getting back to being his old self again.

 The downstairs bedroom...

... led to the outdoor jacuzzi, which was permanently kept at 104 degrees. 

In spite of the bright sunshine, it was freezing cold outside. 

Little Manny loved being pulled around in the sleigh

 

My husband and I both got a good laugh out of this "poem" that John wrote us to open once we arrived at the cabin.

 (P.S. No chem trails)

We both agreed that these days had been the best in our already great marriage, as they brought us closer than ever.

Citizen of Israel vs. Nazi Checkpoints

This is from the same trip as yesterday's clip.



"I 'splainin to you!" - classic! Where do they find these goons?

Bwahahahaha....!

I'm so glad I'm married to a real man! I keep watching this over and over again, it's so funny.





If you listen carefully, you'll be able to hear a second agent in the back saying: "I've often wondered that myself."

There you have it, folks! Nobody really knows WHAT she is.

Someone please explain this to me

My apologies for the blogging absence.

On the almost 1-month anniversary of the alleged "Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting", many questions remain. In fact, it seems that new ones are added daily.

Why was the United Way fundraising page for Sandy Hook created 3 days BEFORE the shooting?




Why was the "Sandy Hook Elementary Victims" fund on Go Fund Me started one day before the shooting? (starting at 0:43 in the above video)

Why are both shooting victims Emilie Parker, as well as Jessie Lewis, seen posing with Obama AFTER they were supposedly killed? (starting at 4:02 in the above video, and beginning at 0:38 in the video below)




Speaking of Emilie Parker, why is her father Robbie Parker seen broadly smiling shortly before his interview, in which he comes across as a terrible actor at best?



What is the deal with the medical examiner? (original source here)

An especially important yet greatly underreported feature of the Sandy Hook affair is the wholly bizarre performance of Connecticut’s top medical examiner H. Wayne Carver II at a December 15 press conference. Carver’s unusual remarks and behavior warrant close consideration because in light of his professional notoriety they appear remarkably amateurish and out of character.

 H. Wayne Carver II has an extremely self-assured, almost swaggering presence in Connecticut state administration. In early 2012 Carver threatened to vacate his position because of state budget cuts and streamlining measures that threatened his professional autonomy over the projects and personnel he oversaw.

Along these lines the pathologist has gone to excessive lengths to demonstrate his findings and expert opinion in court proceedings. For example, in a famous criminal case Carver “put a euthanized pig through a wood chipper so jurors could match striations on the bone fragments with the few ounces of evidence that prosecutors said were on the remains of the victim.”[4] One would therefore expect Carver to be in his element while identifying and verifying the exact ways in which Sandy Hook’s children and teachers met their violent demise.

Yet the H. Wayne Carver who showed up to the December 15 press conference is an almost entirely different man, appearing apprehensive and uncertain, as if he is at a significant remove from the postmortem operation he had overseen. The multiple gaffes, discrepancies, and hedges in response to reporters’ astute questions suggest that he is either under coercion or an imposter. While the latter sounds untenable it would go a long way in explaining his sub-pedestrian grasp of medical procedures and terminology.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zE0OT5od9DA

With this in mind extended excerpts from this exchange are worthy of recounting here in print. Carver is accompanied by Connecticut State Police Lieutenant H. Paul Vance and additional Connecticut State Police personnel. The reporters are off-screen and thus unidentified so I have assigned them simple numerical identification based on what can be discerned of their voices.

Reporter #1: So the rifle was the primary weapon?

H. Wayne Carver: Yes 

Reporter #1: [Inaudible]

Carver: Uh (pause). Question was what caliber were these bullets. And I know—I probably know more about firearms than most pathologists but if I say it in court they yell at me and don’t make me answer [sic]—so [nervous laughter]. I’ll let the police do that for you.

Reporter #2: Doctor can you tell us about the nature of the wounds. Were they at very close range? Were the children shot at from across the room?

Carver: Uhm, I only did seven of the autopsies. The victims I had ranged from three to eleven wounds apiece and I only saw two of them with close range shooting. Uh, but that’s, uh y’know, a sample. Uh, I really don’t have detailed information on the rest of the injuries. [Given that Carver is Connecticut’s top coroner and in charge of the entire postmortem this is a startling admission.-JT]

Reporter #3: But you said that the long rifle was used?

Carver: Yes.

Reporter #3: But the long rifle was discovered in the car.

 State Police Lieutenant Vance: That’s not correct, sir. 

Unidentified reporter #4: How many bullets or bullet fragments did you find in the autopsy. Can you tell us that? 

Carver: Oh. I’m lucky I can tell you how many I found. I don’t know. There were lots of them, OK? This type of weapon is not, uh … the bullets are designed in such a fashion that the energy—this is very clinical. I shouldn’t be saying this. But the energy is deposited in the tissue so the bullet stays in [the tissue].
[In fact, the Bushmaster .223 Connecticut police finally claimed was used in the shooting is designed for long range field use and utilizes high velocity bullets averaging 3,000 feet-per-second, the energy of which even at considerable distance would penetrate several bodies before finally coming to rest in tissue.]

Reporter #5: How close were the injuries? 

Carver: Uh, all the ones (pause). I believe say, yes [sic]. 

Reporter #6: In what shape were the bodies when the families were brought to check [inaudible]. 

Carver: Uh, we did not bring the bodies and the families into contact. We took pictures of them, uhm, of their facial features. We have, uh, uh—it’s easier on the families when you do that. Un, there is, uh, a time and place for the up close and personal in the grieving process, but to accomplish this we thought it would be best to do it this way and, uh, you can sort of, uh … You can control a situation depending on the photographer, and I have very good photographers. Uh, but uh— 

Reporter #7: Do you know the difference of the time of death between the mother in the house and the bodies recovered [in the school]. 

Carver: Uh, no, I don’t. Sorry [shakes head excitedly] I don’t! [embarrassed laugh]

Reporter #8: Did the gunman kill himself with the rifle?

Carver: No. I—I don’t know yet. I’ll-I’ll examine him tomorrow morning. But, but I don’t think so.
[Why has Carver left arguably the most important specimen for last? And why doesn't he think Lanza didn't commit suicide with the rifle?]

Reporter #9: In terms of the children, were they all found in one classroom or—

Carver: Uhm … [inaudible] [Turns to Lieutenant Vance] Paul and company will deal with that. 

Reporter #9: What?

Carver: Paul and company will deal with that. Lieutenant Vance is going to handle that one. 

Reporter #10: Was there any evidence of a struggle? Any bruises?

Carver: No.

Reporter #11: The nature of the shooting; is there any sense that there was a lot of care taken with precision [inaudible] or randomly?

Carver: [Exhales while glancing upward, as if frustrated] Both. It’s a very difficult question to answer … You’d think after thousands of people I’ve seen shot but I … It’s … If I attempted to answer it in court there’d be an objection and then they’d win—[nervous laughter]. [Who would win? Why does an expert whose routine job as a public employee is to provide impartial medical opinion concerned with winning and losing in court? Further, Carver is not in court but rather at a press conference.]

Reporter #12: Doctor, can you discuss the fatal injuries to the adults?

Carver: Ah, they were similar to those of the children. 

Reporter #13: Doctor, the children you had autopsied, where in the bodies were they hit?

Carver: Uhm [pause]. All over. All over.

Reporter #14: Were [the students] sitting at their desks or were they running away when this happened?

Carver: I’ll let the guys who—the scene guys talk—address that issue. I, uh, obviously I was at the scene. Obviously I’m very experienced in that. But there are people who are, uh, the number one professionals in that. I’ll let them—let that [voice trails off] 

Reporter [#15]: How many boys and how many girls [were killed]?

Carver: [Slowly shaking his head] I don’t know.

These are just some, VERY FEW, of the unanswered questions surrounding the Sandy Hook story. Time is the only limiting factor in how much info can be researched and shared on this. Don't believe what you read in the mainstream, government-controlled media outlets!!! 

False-flag attacks to bring about changes in law and usher us into totalitarianism are nothing new - think of Hitler burning the Reichstag, and his Night of Broken Glass, all in an effort to stamp out the supposed "terrorists" of his day - the Jews.