Merit Badges I Didn't Earn

Maybe I should update my scouting badge books, I am ordering badges and I found these. They must have updated the program recently to keep the interest of this generation.

Shit is raining down on us...

Is the sky falling or is god making a statement?

(Complements of ADN)

Public Service Anouncement

The Christmas Candy Administration (CCA) is warning the gifted not to eat JD Plummer’s Peanut Butter Balls due to risk of contamination with Salmonella Tennessee (a bacterium that causes foodborne illness). The affected JD Plummer’s PB Balls contained Great Value peanut butter that may have had a product code located on the lid of the jar that begins with the number "2111."

If consumers have any of JD Plummer’s PB Balls in their home that has been gifted to them since November 2006, they should discard it.

Symptoms of this food borne illness caused by Salmonella include fever, diarrhea and abdominal cramps. In persons with poor underlying health or weakened immune systems, Salmonella can invade the bloodstream and cause life-threatening infections. Individuals who have recently eaten Peter Pan and Great Value brand peanut butter beginning with product code 2111 and have experienced any of these symptoms should contact their doctor or health care provider immediately. Any such illnesses should be reported to state or local health authorities .

No Really…no Prattle… if it were the lotto we would be rich, I picked the winning numbers. I bought two jars of chunky and one creamy, right after thanksgiving. The JD’s peanut butter balls were made with the creamy and we ate one of the jars of chunky, today I pulled this out of the cupboard, unopened.

Someone had to have been sick around Christmas....Who had the diarrhea and do you think we have a case? If not we may have one late May early June.

Date It

I have noticed a few commenter's have resorted to dating comments on posts that are weeks old. I would just like to let blog administrators know that you can change you options so that all comments are dated. Check under settings, comments, Time Stamp...just a helpful hint.

You wanna to throw down?

Your right I forgot the motto “Be Prepared” I should have been better prepared by reminding my closing volunteers about taking down booth sale signs. And I will remind my girls that Minimal Impact does not just apply to the outdoors. I am as thankful to you, as the leaders that I have taken signs down for, were to me. Again thanks for being such a great Girl Scout by helping us out, and doing it so nicely.

A Careful Soul

By Ley Cash - San Gorgonio Girl Scout Council

A careful soul I have to be,

A little Girl Scout follows me.

To a narrow path I must stay,

For if I don't, she too, will stray.

I must choose my deeds with care.

For all I do, she too, will dare.

My words I guard and softly speak

And I must love the strong and the weak.

Oh, I must be fair, from the start.

And boldly lead with a steady heart.

In all I say and all I do.

I promise to strive to be true.

Because you know ...

Where're I go ...

A careful soul I have to be.

A little Girl Scout follows me!

In terms of religion or your god...

"Do you really believe what you believe is really real?", there is some awesome conversation going on over at Tabitha's surrounding that question. I don't believe the question was meant to open debate between us about religions, but solely a question to ask your self, "Do you really believe what you believe is really real?". I am going to take the question one step further...in relation to the definition of Believe, which meaning defines your views about your god and why?

American Idol

I feel like I am on American Idol. I sit around all morning and most of my afternoon waiting for my audition while they weed out all the wackos.

Jury Duty

A month ago John gets jury duty and doesn’t get called in, so I don’t make an excuse when I got my notice. Today I sat for 6 hours and didn’t even get a chance to get kicked out and now I get to go back tomorrow to try.

Bad Kids

I went to a School District training on Saturday to give me tips on how to deal with kids with severe behavior problems. I am not talking about the normal 80% of the population, who typically learn with punishments and rewards, kids who can accept blame for their actions the people who can “Play the Game”. We are not even talking about the 11% of population who tend to blame others for their behavior or who will not respond to authority. Some of their behavior may be taught in the environment they were raised in. These people can be dealt, mostly, without taking them out of the environment they are in. Most are able to live by society’s rules, but only by blaming authority or society for any negative actions they were “forced” into. Some of the people in this group will join the other 80% in leading productive lives some will join this next group that the training was focusing on.

We were talking about the 9% of population who will never stop their behavior because an authority says so. This group will not accept responsibility for their actions. Typically, this group of people, has to be removed from their environment to make changes to their behavior, but will return to their old ways as soon as they are back into their normal environment.

In many cases these people know what they are doing, know it is wrong, yet they will sneak and connive to do whatever they please, often you will not catch on with out being sneaky yourself.

• For example - This boy is a fire starter, they knew it was him, but could never catch him because he would never be around when the fires were found. A teacher decided that she would follow him and watch him for a week, she had to hide, for if he knew she was there he would play by the rules. As she watched she found his triggers, then when the stress built up, he set a fire, then he was fine. He would seek out is opportune moment, he would wait until a classroom crises, when the focus was not on him. They are working with him today, to teach him, his friends, and family how to spot potential triggers and fix them before he blows. It is going slow but they are seeing progress.
  

It is said that, this 9% of the population, without help, will never be a productive person of society. They say this group will probably serve time in jail sometime in their lives, and will probably return. Many people with severe mental disabilities may fit into this group, when dealing with these issues they are considered "Roadblock" or "Traits" that you cannot change, just manage, unlike behavior which can be taught . The sad thing is they say that early intervention is the key to helping this 9%. They say that there are three key contributing factors in getting a person out of this group is, (1) Early intervention before the age 8, (2) Behavior Management plans and teaching proper behavior, and (3) a life partner who will help implement or manage the behavior plan through out their life. Most will not make it out of this group.

These are just statistics and can vary from area to area; many different factors come in to play…economics, family structure, social issues...and so much more. When dealing with children in this group, the new theory is to “teach” good behavior instead of stopping bad. How can we NOT stop the bad behavior? Remember this group does not respond to rules or authority. Telling them to STOP will not work. Instead we should ask …WHY? Why are they behaving this way? What are the gains to the behavior? Are they seeking attention? Are they seeking necessities of life? Are they avoiding a difficult situation? Then once you have those answers it easier to apply a behavior management plan and avoid the triggers causing the behavior. First step is to question, the second step is to teach them to avoid and manage their “Triggers”.

• For example…3^rd grader Bobby can’t read, whenever the teacher asks that he read out loud, he causes distractions in the classroom, outbursts, violence, disrespect. Solution of the past is to remove him from the classroom, but this does not fix his problems, he is getting exactly what he wants, out of an uncomfortable situation, a reward. After watching him for a while they found that his “trigger” is the thought of reading out loud in front of his peers, or the fear of failing. We now know the “why”, so how do we fix it? We pull him out of class at reading time and tutor him one on one with a lot of positive feed back. Once he is confidant enough he will be able to sit through reading with his class and might even participate. His “trigger”… is fear of failure so we need to teach self esteem, teach him to understand that his best is different then Miss Suzy straight A’s.

The older generation in the class on Saturday was stuck on changing society, removing sex and violence from TV, changing the system… they were saying that until society changes we cannot make changes. I think I heard “back in my day” more time then I needed. Yes the past was a pleasant place to live, but it is not a place we will ever see again. We must adapt and change to meet the new generations. As teachers the major changes in society is out of our hands, we all agree TV is no good, but how many of us turn it off? We are all still watching. Society will change and we must/will adapt. We cannot provide a stable home life for very child, we cannot change bad parenting, and we cannot remove sex and violence from the media. We can only adapt and change the way we teach and the way we show progress of a student and the way we manage our classrooms and schools.

To most at this training it sounded like the odds are against us, if the 9% can’t or won’t change, why try? With only six hours a day at school, we cannot out weigh the 18 hours they spend in the community. The reason why we continue to work with this 9% instead of locking them up….is because these are statistics and there is always an exception to the rule…if you make the difference with one kid, it is worth it!

Points to Ponder –

• Alaska has over 700 students that were removed from their home environment to an out of state school to learn behavior management. Statistic show that once they return they will go back to old behavior.
• One third of Alaskans students will drop out of High School.
• 3% of students will drop out before the end of JR High.
• 30% of the USA’s High School graduates cannot read.
• Is it fair to Joey with an IQ of 58, to be graded on the same level as Cindy who has an IQ of 130? Joe will never get reach the standard A grade, so why should he keep trying?

The schools system is still meeting the needs of those who can “Play the Game”, 75% to 80% of the population. Where I would worry is if your child is in that other 20%, that 11% of teetering students or the 9%, that people have given up hope on, these children need IEP (Individual Education Plans) or they will be left behind with the No Child Left behind Act. Remember it is not SECIAL ED…its Individualized Education.

Tonight’s History Lesson

Rose- “Mom, has there ever been a black president?”

Me- “No, honey, the next election year….”

Byrd -“Na huh, Mom, Abraham Lincoln.”

Me- “He wasn’t black.”

Byrd – “Well, he was tan.”

Rose –“Well, duh that’s because he went to the tanning salon.”

I am thinking...

...with as much snow we have had, and with the amount that will still be in liquid form come the end of May, some home remodeling will need to take place. I am thinking something along these lines.



I believe with a little adaptation we might be able to get her sea worthy.

The Avenging Unicorn

We had a slumber party on Saturday night, three extra girls, one of which was the Pope's daughter Lizard. She has a great imagination, and her father really gets her to think outside the box, together they make a great team. On this particular night she brought some toys with her, I had to wait until 4:30am to get my chance to play, but I did ....

A Fairy Tale

"Oh Look a pretty Unicorn" said the princess.




"What the...?? Where did he come from?" Said the Business man.



"Oh no he doesn't look to happy."



"Watch OUT!"



"What???...AHHHH...



...Help me" she cried



"... he fainted? ...pussy... I AM THE AVENGING UNICORN."

Okay, so I cold have been a little more creative*, but the point is not the story...the point being ...its so wrong...yet entertaining...unlike this favorite YouTube of my oldest.

*at 4 am lets see what you make up

Scavenger Hunt

I have been working on a side project all month. I found this group of people and have been working hard trying to get my 26 things for January. I have had a blast doing this, my goal was to just complete the Photo Treasure Hunt, but I found a lot of good shots and learned a few new tricks. The group posted 26 items to take photo's. I found it was a great way to get myself back into photography, I can't wait till the next list comes out. Here's what I found.

Question???

What did Earnest sell before he made movies? "Vern, Vern , Vern... When will you earn?"

Oh where has my little baby gone??

It has now been thirteen years…. I could spend hours telling you about the day. About how I went to see my midwife, the morning of the 12^th, she did a pelvic exam, saw one bacteria culture in her swab, and prescribed me vaginal medication. How I spent the rest of the day running errands and doing laundry at the Washboard, how I hauled six loads of laundry and the groceries up to our second floor apartment, how I ate so much food while playing with our first new television and Nintendo we just got for Christmas, feeling a little gassy, I used my medicine and went to bed only to be awoken in the next hour thinking I needed to go see the doctor and get an enema…but when I showed to the hospital I was really having a baby, ten weeks early. How I wondered how my midwife did not notice this 12 hours earlier when I saw her. How the Doctors held off a very scary labor for three hours waiting for the neonatal team to arrive from Anchorage, knowing our family was waiting in the hall wondering what was happening, me just thinking “get this done with”, how the Anchorage team arrived and I was so relived to finally push. To hear her fist cry…watching my two and a half pound baby leave me to fly to a bigger hospital, the scary drive to Anchorage to meet them, how we had to scrub down to see our daughter, the other babies in the NICU. Lately I have been reliving the rest of the joys and fears of those days though Baby Boris and his family, remembering how every ounce was a goal met and every poo a step back.

Smoothies,

...I so love smoothies, but like mochas or latte’s, $5.25 plus tip just gets to be to a little spendy. I have only found a good smoothie at the malls, so add gas and time, it really adds up. So for the last year I have been making them at home, not very convenient and really time consuming. The ice wont crunch, the juice and berries freeze in the bottom of the blender and things won’t blend; when trying to shift the ingredients, so that it will crunch the frozen items, just makes a mess all over the counters and it never fails that I end up with a whole blender of smoothie. Serving size is something to consider when drinking smoothies because ...just because you put all healthy ingredients in, it is still full of sugars and calories and if the kids aren’t around, I end up drinking the pitcher.

I quit drinking them a few months ago because it was just too much trouble to make. Well that all ended last week when I finally played with my new Christmas presents, thanks sister, it is a “To-Go” mug that attaches to a blender blade. I fill my mug with frozen berries, some yogurt, a banana, a dab of whatever juice is in the fridge, sometimes I’ll throw in something from the veggie drawer, and my Emer’genC*. The only thing I leave out is the little black boba balls, what are those anyway? Yuck!!! The best part is if the blender cup gets jammed up I take it off the blender, shake it about, and pound it on the counter a few times, and then I am good to go. When it’s all blended I screw on the top meant for drinking and I have my brunch. The only thing missing is the really fat straws (and the boba), but not because it didn’t come with one but because I hid it from the kids and now can’t find it.

* I have to take a quick minute to plug this vitamin supplement and remind you I am not a distributor. Emer’GenC is a powder you mix with water and dink. It gives you the same effect as a cup of coffee, without the sudden downer a few hours later. I have noticed a huge difference in my energy levels when I use Emer’genC regularly. I like the Strawberry it is more expensive, but has more minerals then the rest of the flavors. The B vitamins help with moodiness. When you have a sore throat, cold, congestion, or flu, hot Tang with an Emer’GenC is all you need.

I didn't do it....

Okay...maybe it is... I probably shouldn’t have done it, but I wanted it so bad that it became a need. I know it is the wrong time of year for spending, but I wanted it so bad it became a need. I tried to talk myself out of it, butby then I needed it. I had guilt until I saw the outcome….but it could have been worse.

Rose's Birthday Amaryllis

Byrd in JD's snow tunnel.

I wondered how long it would take for this to happen....
surprises me it took a year before the kids to figured out what fun dress up is.

I can't wait to find some more subjects to shoot...or and the video!!

Hurry Up Spring

Our Year - 2006

Upgrade

I think I like this "Beta Blogger" thing....editing posts is so much easier, I can read any post from the edit post page and can access the comments from there also. I can drag links into post I am writing, speeding up my posting time. Also, I can now "Label" my posts, so any stalkers can now look up specific topics. I should have done it earlier.