attacked by butterflies

yesterday we found a butterfly on the trampoline.  from my internet research i believe it is a western tiger swallowtail.  we all thought it was pretty neat, but there's also a funny story about it.  when maria, hudson and i saw this beautiful butterfly i started to head inside to tell ethan to come look at it.  as i was walking toward the house i turned around and noticed it was gone so i began to walk back to the kids.  then i heard hudson crying.  my thought was, "for pete's sake, the kids are fighting again."  but maria yelled, "mom, the butterfly is on hudson!"  i got over to the trampoline and sure enough, there was that big butterfly on hudson's back and hudson did not like it one bit!  i tried to tell him it wouldn't hurt him but he didn't believe me.  i was able to get it to fly off of his back and it flew back onto the enclosure. we were able to watch it for a little while and show ethan.

i feel bad but i laughed really hard at the fact the hudson was so distraught over this harmless butterfly.  i mean, the kid was really crying.  he seems like such a tough and crazy kid.  i guess every dude has some ickey thing that makes him nervous, but hudson and a butterfly?  didn't see that coming.

here are two pictures i was able to get with my phone of our visiting tiger swallowtail.

another interesting buddy fact:  he is the slowest bike-rider in the entire universe!  i'm not exaggerating either!  this kid rides his bike slower than i have EVER seen ANY kid ride a bike.  and it's not that he can't ride faster.  for some reason he just chooses to ride slowly . . . really, really slowly.  it takes us an hour just to get around the block.  this is weird to me because i would think hudson would be the kind of kid that has a need for speed.

lava hot springs

we just got back from camping at lava hot springs.  sorry i don't have any pictures; i didn't take any.  we had a good time and ethan enjoyed seeing his old buddies.  my favorite part of the trip was when we went to the water park.  of course hudson and maria loved playing in the pool, but what i didn't expect was how much libby loved the pool!  i held her in the water and she kicked her legs as hard as she could.  it was so cute.  i'm pretty sure that if she had known what to do with her arms she could have swam away.  she tired herself out and she actually fell asleep while we were holding her in the water.  we got out of the pool and sat on the grass so she could sleep.  hudson must have worn himself out too because after sitting there for a little bit i noticed he just kind of fell over asleep.

we had a good time but we are glad to be home.  camping with three kids takes a lot of energy!

new blogs

we have two new blogs.  i know, seems excessive, right?  what can i say, i got bit by the blogging bug.  to visit our new blogs click on the links at the right of this page under "visit our other blogs".

the first blog is more of a book club.  we wanted to read the books on the required and supplemental reading list for George Wythe University.  we love that their motto is "building statesmen".  the mission statement for the university is: "to build men and women of virtue, wisdom, diplomacy and courage who inspire greatness in others and move the cause of liberty."  we want to be these kind of people.  we would prefer to just attend the school, but now is not the time in our lives for that.  we are doing what seems to us the next best thing - we will read their curriculum.  they don't use text books but rather the classics to teach everything from history to philosophy to religion to science and all that is in between.  visit our blog wythereadinglist.blogspot.com for more information about the club.

our second blog is about living the good life.  it is full of our hopes and dreams for ourselves, or will be anyway.  it is mostly a way to keep tabs on ourselves.  there is so much we want to do with our lives but if we're not focused it tends to just slip right by.  already we are thrity and wondering what we have done with our lives.  we are hoping that having to report will help us to succeed.  hopefully it will keeps us constantly motivated to become the people we want to be.  visit this blog at livingbettertoday.blogspot.com.  

yellowstone

we just got back from spending a couple days in yellowstone.  we had a lot of fun and the kids are getting really good at trips.  yellowstone is one of the most amazing places in the world!  we really enjoyed seeing all the geysers and hotspots or, as we called them, stinky pots.  the kids loved visiting the stinky pots.  hudson understood very well that he should not touch the water because it was very hot.  it made me laugh because we were walking around the boardwalk looking at a bunch of bubbly sulphur cauldrons and i heard hudson mumbling, "stinky pots.  i burn myself." smart boy!  

we also enjoyed the wildlife.  we saw many buffalo, or buckalo to hudson, elk, deer, and ethan and i even saw a bear (the kids were asleep at the time).

here are some of my favorite pictures.

this is at the west thumb geyser basin overlooking the yellowstone lake.

maria in front of a thermal pool.

my cute boy on the boardwalk.

elk at mammoth.

at mammoth

hudson waiting oh-so-patiently for old faithful to go off.

a buckalo.

it's a race!

today maria ran a mile race.  the race was part of clarkston's heritage days (a city in the valley), more specifically Pony Express Days.  she won third place - very good especially considering it was her first race!  afterward, when home, we were talking about the race and she exlaimed, "i'd better go practice!"  she ran out back to run back and forth in the yard.  i guess that means she would like to do more races in the future.

pictures

these are just some recent pictures that i like.

this is allium.  i have wanted allium in my yard for some time.  finally this last fall i planted two bulbs.  i was so excited for spring to come and see my new flowers.  they are done blooming now, but i sure enjoyed them while they were at their peak.

it is sometimes difficult for me to get pictures of maria.  i would have loved to get more pictures of her on this day but they only way i could get these were to promise i would only take two.  so these are it.

6/13/2009

Resolution Condemning the Federal Bailouts of Private Industry      

by Constitution Party National Committee 
Newark, New Jersey

Whereas, “Bailouts” have increased the federal debt that will be handed down to subsequent generations; and

Whereas the “Bailouts” violate the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause by allowing the federal government’s interference with a private contract; and

Whereas our Founders were emphatic that the public treasury should never become a public trough, and

Whereas, the Federal government is not granted the power to invest in and take over private industry; and

Whereas, industry “Bailouts” begun by Republican President George W. Bush and escalated by Democrat President Barrack Barack Obama, are unconstitutional and these presidents had no authority to fundamentally alter the relationship between the federal government and private businesses; and therefore be in it

Resolved, that the Constitution Party strongly condemns such “Bailouts” of any and all private industry as they are completely unauthorized by, and in fact are, in violation of specific sections of the Constitution of the United States and further because they constitute a cruel and unfair tax on the posterity of our nation.