Easter Party Egg Hunt

 
 
 
 
We hosted our playgroup's Easter Egg hunt today and boy was it a doozy!! As guests arrived, we took the kids who were already here and played Pin the Tail on the Bunny. While they were doing that the rest of the moms set up the food. We had ham, chicken, bacon wrapped smokies, macaroni and cheese, green bean casserole, veggies and dip, spinach dip and bread, fruit, fruit pizza, cookies and cupcakes. We also had sherbet punch. Then after all the food was consumed, we got the kids lined up for the egg hunt. Littles (under 24 months) got a few minutes to go first and get eggs before the up to 3 years got to go. After they were all outside collecting eggs we let the rest of the kids go. There were over 300 eggs in my yard and the kids had a great time. Some of the eggs has the word prize in them so if they had a slip they got to turn it in for a prize from the prize table. After that, we had egg races, which were hilarious! The kids didn't quite grasp the concept of just using the spoon, but they had fun anyway. After that we attempted to get a group photo with the blow up bunny! All in all, a successful party!!

 
 
 
 

Elite 8! Go DAWGS!

 

The Butler Warsong

I've mentioned before that I'm from Indiana, a place were basketball reigns supreme in the sports world. I've also mentioned that I went to Butler. Butler University: enrollment ~4000. In the heart of Indianapolis. A small liberal arts school that happens to have a College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. I received my degree there nearly 12 years ago. But 12 years seem to melt away and it seems like yesterday when I watch a basketball game on my television. My television that is tuned into the NCAA tournament where my alma mater is playing in the Sweet 16. I see a former classmate sitting on the bench as an assistant coach. I recall sitting in Chemistry 101 next to him. I was a freshman. And it all comes back like it was yesterday. The smell of Hinkle Fieldhouse. The thrill of sitting next to my friends in such a historic building watching my team play. The DAWG Pound. The pep band playing the fight song. The drafts that waft through the windows. The indoor track, the tiny classrooms, the cement bulldog greeting you at the entrance. Of course I also have to add in the complaining of trekking all the way to Hinkle for this and that, which on a campus as small as Butler is laughable.

It's amazing the comraderie in such a small school. I watched my Facebook page "blow up" this evening as all my friends that are former alums "liked" each others' statuses and made comments about downing the Big East #1 seed Syracuse Orange. It's also amazing how the fundamentals of basketball and teamwork truly are a major portion of why Butler's team is so amazing. No show gunners. No hot shots. Just good old fashion teamwork and guts. All heart. And they leave it on the court. And even though I don't personally know the players on the floor anymore, I know that they are the same quality of individuals that played when I went there. Friends, down to earth guys who play because they love the game. Guys who went to Butler for the history and love of the game, not because they wanted to be big shots. And coaches like Brad Stevens and his staff who are humble and grateful for every moment. Every win. And yet find good in adversity, too.

Tonight, I am super proud to be a Butler Bulldog! Saturday is another game and I'm sure that no matter what the outcome, the Bulldog nation will come together and support the team and sing the Butler Warsong! BULLDOGS EVER DO OR DIE!!!

Wordless Wednesday- Ever try to get a good pic of a 20 month old?

 
 
 
 

Golf?

 

A Buccaneer in our Midst

 

 

Roy Miller is a Killeen native. He graduated from Shoemaker High School and went on to play defense for the University of Texas. He was then drafted in the 3rd round of the NFL draft to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers! We all know that this house is chalk full of Tampa Bay gear since we have season tickets and so when we heard that Roy Miller was going to make an appearance at the downtown library we just had to go.

Roy was late. He was really late, so the kids did their craft and played hokey pokey and danced to the chicken dance and he was still late. So the librarian started a book and he arrived. He answered questions and then signed autographs (with my Sharpie! that I didn't get back. Roy Miller you owe me one! lol)

Where I Think Our Country Went Wrong

Separation of Church and State.

Yes, this is where our demise started in my opinion. It started with letting the government inch it's way into governing aspects of our lives in which it had no business. Welfare is a crock of bankrupt crap and it never should have happened in the first place. Why? Well, because God commanded the Church to take care of the poor and the widowers, etc. I'm not saying churches don't try to help these folks. Not at all. But what I am saying is that they aren't the front runners in helping people get back on their feet to become working and being productive citizens again. The government has instead enabled a couple of generations to feel entitled to government monies simply because somewhere along the line they fell upon hard times. Now we have children growing up feeling like taking monies from government programs is normal and acceptable. They are proud that they are getting welfare to a degree. It's socially acceptable. And to them, it's FREE. That burns me to no end when I hear that at the pick up counter of the pharmacy I work in. No sweetheart, it's not free. It's costing me and my children quite a bit to fund your money sucking habits of going to the ER for every sniffle and picking up medication for no cost to you. It's costing me plenty. And it's costing you your freedom in more ways than you realize in your selfish moment of instant gratification.

This healthcare reform bill that passed yesterday is another example of passing along a legacy of debt and entitlement to generations of Americans who don't have the motivation to really do something with themselves. We've enabled them to become apathetic, nonproductive citizens voting over and over to garnish money from govenment agencies. This is only getting worse and worse. Big Government, little citizen... relying on Big Government. Our founding fathers would be appalled. This is definitely NOT what they meant. Not at all. And separation of Church and State? That was meant to keep the government from infiltrating the church. To protect the Church from the government, not the other way way around.

I am saddened. I am alarmed and I am certainly hoping that people WAKE UP. The demise of all the great democracies began with much of the same types of policies.


The Fall of Democracy

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


When the thirteen colonies were still a part of England, Professor Alexander Tyler wrote about the fall of the Athenian republic over two thousand years previous to that time:

A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the public treasure. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most money from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy followed by a dictatorship.

The average age of the world's great civilizations has been two hundred years. These nations have progressed through the following sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith, from spiritual faith to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependency, from dependency back to bondage.

Alexander Tyler

I think that we are definitely in the "apathy to dependency" phase of this. And I fear for the bondage that will endure or our children will endure in the near future.

I find myself praying and praying hard for this nation. I pray for our children and their children. These appear to be end times. Many natural disasters, lots of talk about ridding ourselves of our alliance with Israel and siding with Palestine, government funding murder in the form of a "woman's right to choose", removing all things related to the Almighty God from our schools and public venues in lieu of things that promote Islam or any other religion and the list just goes on and on. I hate to sound preachy, but I do believe these things and have conviction in my faith. I pray that my friends and family remain true to God and that they aren't swayed by the ways of this world. Lord, save us!

Hanging at the Cheese!