Real quick....

Just go this in my e-mail. I could've just skipped my rant and posted this because this is what I think we are all feeling like lately!!

Pun'kin Patch...

So this is what we did for family home evening tonight....

Weeeee, getting pumpkins, oh the joy.



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WE INTERRUPT THIS REGULARLY SCHEDULED POST FOR AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM THE MODERATOR:

Boys are soooooo nasty!! Here I am catching up on my blog and what do I but go into my room to discover....another CRAPTASTROPHE!!! Honestly, I don't know whether it is Down Syndrome or just that he is a boy, but this kid won't leave his poop alone!! I was just glad that I wasn't alone because someone had to clean up the poop that covered an about 10ft radius and someone had to clean up the kid covered in poop. (Thank you Daniel, aren't you glad you're in town this week) Jacob had 2 baths tonight. I'm done with poop. Of course there are no pictures because really people, would you want to go grab your camera when you have a 2 year old with a hand full of poop, on carpet, in YOUR bedroom....no, I didn't think so.

NOW BACK TO THE POST ALREADY IN PROGRESS

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Typically we would go to a farm with hay rides and petting zoo and all of those wonderful things, however because of time constraints and really come on, we didn't want to pay that much money, we ended up at this little place off the road that also sells Christmas trees!! Let me tell you, classy. We still walked away paying way too much for the pumpkins, but less than if we went to the farm! So anyway, we realized that because we spent the last 3 and half years in Puerto Rico, this was Jacob's first trip to the pumpkin patch!! That's really pathetic and exciting at the same time.

Look at my little pun'kin in the pumpkin patch...

Oh did I mention that Sydney yanked out a tooth right before we left...

My little jack 'o lantern without the mess!

I like the whole ritual of choosing pumpkins, the feeling of autumn (whatever 'autumn' means when it's 100 degrees outside), the idea of having roasted pumpkin seeds and carved pumpkins, I just hate the mess and the smell of raw pumpkin. So that's daddy's job (or a 'blue' thing as we like to call it in our home)...

We'll see how they turn out.....

Prop 8, is it over yet?...

Well, it's been forever and a day since my last post. I just felt like I had no pictures to post and really, who likes to just read a blog? It's all about the pics man! Anyway, there's been a lot on my mind, but more specifically Proposition 8. It's kind of been all consuming. I've always felt like I've 'picked a side' when it came to my beliefs but never has that been tested as it has in the past couple of months. I have never seen something that has polarized the community, the schools, my friends and every facet of life so much. It is amazing. What I really want to say however is why I am personally voting yes on Proposition 8.

1. To me this is so much more than 'gay marriage'. That one word change will take away some of my personal freedoms that I hold near and dear. My freedom of speech and my freedom of religion. Those two things are guaranteed rights in the constitution. If Proposition 8 is not passed, priests and pastors can be sued (can be, operative word there, no one is saying that they will) for speaking against gay marriage. My bishop can be sued for not performing a same sex marriage in our church. Catholic charities in Massachusetts had to shut their doors because they would have to place children in same-sex homes. By that one word change...

2. Same sex couples will not have any of their current rights taken away. They will not have gained any of other 'rights' by calling their union marriage. This has nothing to do with the civil rights movement, nor women's suffrage. Let's get real here. One word...

3. Without Proposition 8, teachers at our childrens' schools will have the right to teach our children that same-sex marriage is an acceptable part of life. We as parent's however will not have the right of knowing when and how this will be taught. It kills me, absolutely kills me to see the ads from the No on Prop 8 campaigns that try and say that this will not be taught in our schools. That is an outright lie!!! We have seen this happen in Massachusetts. It's in our statutes, marriage is taught in school. My rights as a parent can be taken away just like that. It is not the schools' job to teach my children what is right and wrong on this issue, that is my job and my right. One word....

4. Does our vote mean anything? We're already done this with Proposition 22 in 2000! 4 judges took it upon themselves to reverse a decision that 61% of Californians wanted. How can our children learn about the wonderful blessing that is democracy when our vote doesn't hold water when you get 4 judges in there with an agenda! It's ridiculous that we are the ones that have to fight once more to be heard. One word...

5. Where does it stop? If we don't define marriage as one man and one woman, then who's to say that 1 man can't marry 3 women, or one man can't marry a 15 year old girl? Who can say for sure if this is not defined that this won't be next? No one can say for sure. No one, that is why it is so important that we define that sacred union. What doors will open if we don't close this one and keep it locked?

By us asking for this one word 'marriage', to be defined as between a man and a woman, we are bigots and we are denying others their rights. How is that possible when as you can plainly see we are the ones who will have our rights taken away if this proposition does not pass. Is it too much to ask that we keep this one word, 'marriage'? One word, we're not taking away any human rights, we're just asking for a clear definition. You don't have to agree with me, but please don't insult me by calling me a bigot or close-minded. Tolerance goes both ways. Thanks for listening to my rant. This is weighing heavily on my heart as the election draws near. It's scary for me to think of life if this proposition does not pass. I'm so thankful for all of the effort that so many in the ward are doing. Here's an example of the dedicated members on most nights of the week. (um, we don't make it most of the time because Jacob is on a suicide mission when he is that close to the street, but we make calls!!) It's heart-warming.

In case you can't make it out, there are a ton of people, mostly families on all for corners with Yes on Prop 8 signs!! Love it. Great job guys!!!

Only in SoCal...

...can you sit next to an actual movie star during a movie. Okay, so here's the story.

Daniel and I went on a lovely double date with some good friends of ours (HALLA Tricia). We went to dinner and a movie. We decided to see An American Carol (hilarious by the way, it's a spoof on Michael Moore). As my friend and I were in line to get snacks and what not (have to have munchies for a movie!), I peeked over and saw Gary Sinise down the counter a little bit. My friend said, 'who's that' and I said he was from Forrest Gump and he's like a really good actor and stuff. That is when she suggested I take a pic for my blog and that's when I snapped this:

Okay, so it's hard to get a really, really good picture when you are in covert mode and trying to take it with your phone. But hey, at least I got one right?(*cough*MarkyMark*cough*Sheri*cough*) So you're just going to have to trust me that's it's really him. I was so covert that he had no idea I snapped the picture. Man, I should be in the F.B.I. or something (HALLA all my FBI peeps in P.R.). So Tricia and I go find our husbands in the theater and lo and behold there is our new friend Gary sitting right next to my husband! So as we try and walk past him and his lovely wife we exchange pleasantries and I make a little joke about the fact that we wouldn't be making him stand up again during the movie and you know witty stuff like that. He told my friend not to drop her baby and stuff. So after I sat next to my hubby and asked him if he knew who was sitting next to him and of course he had no idea!! So proceeded to tell him who it was, 'Gary Sinise! You know, Forrest Gump, C.S.I. NY, you know, Gary!'. Then it dawned on Daniel who it was and he then said, very loudly, 'Ohhhhh Lt. Dan', this was said of course in his best Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump impression. He was promptly smacked and shushed (by me) and then he settled in for the movie. Daniel made sure that he (meaning himself) had control of the elbow rest, because he's such a giver. Gary was laughing throughout the whole movie (who knew, a conservative in Hollywood, who woulda thunk it?) So after many more smacks and shushes, because Daniel couldn't resist a few thousand more Lt. Dan references said as Forrest Gump, our time with Gary was up. We passed him once again (he stayed for the credits, I'm sure he was avoiding his many fans) and said goodbye and made plans for the next movie. Naaaah, that part didn't happen, but we did brush against him again as we exited. Very exciting. So there ya go, I guess that was my welcome back to Cali. I need to get used to the 'random celebrity' sightings that happen so often here!! I'll keep ya posted....

It's a craptastrophe...

Okay, so I woke up this morning thinking what an easy day I was going to have today. I was going to take Jacob to a little group session at his speech therapist's office, clean my house and maybe sneak in a nap. Boy was I terribly mistaken. It all started out innocently enough. A boy and his dog, playing outside together. Touching really. I took that opportunity to dry my hair and get ready for the day. I heard a knock on the back door and the wonderful call, "MA!!! MA!!!! MAAAAAA". (And to think I was once overjoyed when hearing that word come from my sweet boy.) I go to the back door and see my cute son covered in feces. Poop. Stinkies. Excrement. Dung if you will. As my mind is struggling to make sense of this situation, I look down to see that his pants are off and so is his diaper. It was sad that I was actually relieved that it was his own poo and not the dog's!! So I run and take him to the bathtub and hose him down and sanitize him. Looking for the source of this disaster, I see that outside in the back is his diaper torn to shreds and poop all over the sidewalk and surrounding areas. What can I say, he's an artist at heart. Fully disgusted and gagging I clean him, the sidewalk and anything else touched by the little Van Gogh and take him to group. (He loved group, considering it was his first time, I think he did quite well. More on that in subsequent posts) There are no pictures of this incident, because seriously that was the last thought on my mind at the time. So after group I feed the little gremlin and put him down for a nap and fall asleep as well. I thought that would for sure make up for my craptastrophic morning. After my restful sleep, I start the arduous task of sweeping and mopping my floors. Fun times. I start sweeping and find by those now infamous back doors a huge puddle. At first I struggle to see what this monstrosity could be, only to find, upon closer inspection, a puddle of barf!!! Puke. Vomit. Throw up if you will. Once again, just waking up it takes a moment for my mind to wrap itself around this one....but there it was. What luck!! I can't believe the odds of this all happening within a couple of hours of each other. I think the boy and his dog have a closer connection than I ever imagined! So once again, as I am gagging, I clean up the HUGE puddle of barf and mop my floors.
So now it's dinner time (and I'm online ordering pizza, I think I deserve it) and I'm anxiously awaiting to see what other bodily functions my brood has in store for me. It should be an interesting evening. I can't wait to see the rest of the week, it's only Monday! Let's see, there hasn't been much snot and I haven't been peed on in a while...

How could you hold a grudge against this face?!!!

I'm it....

Okay I'm tired and I have avoided this whole tag your it thing (while secretly wishing to be tagged and be apart of the cool kids), so I was thankful that I was tagged with this particular game because that whole 20 years ago crap would give me a headache. That's way too much stuff to remember!!! Anyway, here goes...

2 Names I go by: 1. Tracy 2. Tracy-butt (don't ask, it's a freaky Barton family thing)
2 things I am wearing: 1. My comfy pajama bottoms 2. Comfy shirt
2 things I want right now: 1. Sleep 2. More sleep
2 things I did last night: 1. Welcomed my husband home from Amsterdam and watched him fall asleep 3 hours later (7:30pm for the record) 2. Watched the premiere of Heroes on the web because of some stupid, ridiculous, and super frustrating malfunction with the stupid DVR, but I'm not bitter
2 things I ate today: 1. Bandit's Tri-Tip 2. Movie popcorn (yummy, yummy artery blocking and completely worth it, butter and all!!)
2 favorite drinks: 1. Water 2. um...duh Coke Zero for anyone that knows me!!!

Okay, now if I remember correctly, I get to tag some poor schmucks....let's see.....
Jackie, Emily, and Kandace (Let's hear it for the Puertorican Gringas!!!)
No tag backs...

Part time husband...

Daniel is gone, again. Yes, I have a part time husband at the moment. My dear sweet hubby has been here 3 weeks out of the last 6. He is back in Europe for the week. We had a 'discussion' before he left about how he would gladly trade places. Really?? Doubt it. He said that if I could do what he does, that he would send me. I mean the poor guy has to travel first class on a jumbo jet with a fold down bed, personal t.v., with 2 five course meals and don't forget the expense account and a 5 star hotel. I feel so bad for him, pobrecito. Oh what I could do with a week by myself....the possibilities are endless. Actually, what would I do with a week to myself..... Typically all of this travel just wouldn't be a big deal. I can handle it, I'm a big girl. But when I live with a mountain of boxes in my garage and a lot of little 'projects' left undone around our newly remodeled home, it can get to you. Honestly, it's hard on both of us, but it won't last forever. I have a new appreciation for single moms. I can't fathom what the wives of those serving over seas must go through!! I don't have my husband for a week at a time. They go months, even years. I am happy to have the support of my friends here and I am thankful for a busy schedule that doesn't allow for a lot of time to think, let alone pity myself. So having a part time husband isn't so bad because that means I can be a part time wife!! Now if I can just figure out how to do that with my other full time job....