YAY Summer Vacation

Well it is official..... the kids are on summer vacation. Well Sean has a field day tomorrow at Pinnacle Mountain. Something that LISA as done for years at the end of the school year. Even when Gaige went there they did it. So we are continuing the tradition of the kids going to LISA. Bethany had to go take a test yesterday. It is a placement test since LISA puts kids with like learning in the same classes. It always made sense to me to do it that way.
But we have started the summer with some plans. Since I am not letting them off easy this summer they have work they have to do. They are part of a summer reading program at the library and with Barnes & Noble. And since they have to reading list from LISA they will have to do that one also. But they can read the books for one and count for the other two. They will also have to do things like knowing all the states and where they are on the map, spelling words (mostly the ones they keep asking me how to spell), and just a few other things to they don't forget it all over the summer.
I found most of the worksheets online so I didn't waste the money buying the books when I can just print them.

I will be spending most of the summer organizing the house. you would think that since I am home all day that it would be, but I was shocked (not really) about how unorganized it was. But before the kids go back to school and I go back to work I need to get it organized. So that is what I will be working on. It will all be in another blog but I will try to remember to link them all together.

Thursday Bowling

Since Michael is working out of town during the week for a few more weeks I waited this week till Thursday to take the kids bowling. Here are some pictures of them bowling

Kids Bowl Free

Sean brought home a card on Friday from school about the Kids Bowl free all summer. So I went to the website (http://kidsbowlfree.com) to check it out. It was real and they get to bowl two games a day, every day (except Sunday). This is a great idea. It is from 2 pm to 10 pm Monday - Saturday and in the summer around here it can get to be 100 or more during the day so what a great thing for the kids to do when it is hot outside. This is for kids 15 and under but they are not forgetting the older kids or the adults. For $24.99 you can sign up 4 older kids or adult and they get the same deal. If you have gone bowling lately you know that it is between $3 and $4 for each game. If you have yourself and 2 older kids you have almost paid for the cost the first time you use it.

I added Dad to ours and we went Saturday to bowl which we can do more often when the kids are out of school. I can also take them after school just to have something to do before dinner and other things get in the way. It is a great way for them to get exercise and have fun. I will start to post pictures from there. That is assuming I remember that my phone has a camera. I always forget to take pictures.

You all should sign your kids up it is something to do this summer.

Another Trip to the Library

Maybe I should make it an almost daily trip to the library. I seem to get inspiration at every turn. Just looking over the books and the titles seems to bring up subjects to write about in my head. And believe me this one is no different from the others. I have another blog that does not get much attention from me lately but figure I could post them here and there. Although the other site is the rude blogger I guess some of this would fit right in. So here we go.

I came across this book titled "If Ignorance is Bliss, Why Aren't There More Happy People?"  by John Lloyd and John Mitchinson. It is a book for "Smart Quotes for Dumb Times". But just the title alone. Yeah I know that you all seen the titles and started shaking your heads and probably a smile or a full laugh, I know I did. It occurred to me that we live in a state of ignorance everyday. Rather it be by our own design or a product of not being given all the information. Even those smarty pants (and you know who I am talking about) live in this state. 

We don't want to hear something so we block it out. Bad news, something that might disagree with our thought process or religious beliefs. Not that there is anything wrong with that. It is how we deal with things. We don't want more information about something that do not affect us, we don't want more information on things that might be bad new or hurt us especially if we have gone accustom to a certain behavior. 

We have become a society that blames everyone else but ourselves when things don't go right, we get in trouble or life is just crap. Blame society, your next door neighbor or even your third grade math teacher, but never accept the blame that you created it all yourself. 

Is this all a product of "Ignorance is Bliss? Do we think that just because we didn't know the information that it will excuse us of knowing the difference between right and wrong. But who is showing kids the difference? They see on TV where it is everyone else fault, had they been given a better job or more money maybe things would be different. We are typically not given job, we apply ourselves and earn them. And as far as the money, unless you win the lottery you are not being given any money just because you think you deserve it. However, with that being said, I will add that certain individual will work the system and get money for nothing. So unless you want to be more than worthless in my book it is easy. For most of the people within working age, without significant health problems (and being lazy is not a health problem) and has half a brain can make money and contribute to society as a whole.

Get a job

        Yeah yeah yeah. The economy suck there are not jobs out there? Find another excuse. if you need a job and are willing to work there was a place that will hire you. Fast food is better than nothing. Think you are too good to clean floors, think again. Better to clean floors that no place to live. Did it every occur to people that if the system is not getting paid into those benefit as people call them to act as if they should always be entitled to will go away. If you don't pay into the system you should not qualify for income tax or at the very least the money you have received from "the benefits" should be deducted from your tax return. Got a national debt, make people payback.  Don't continue to screw the working class with these health care reforms that are not focused on those that can't afford health care. The ones being taxed for not having it are the same ones that can't afford it. They have jobs, but group sponsored insurance does not mean cheaper priced insurance. These are the people that are going to get taxed because if they took out insurance where would they live? The ones on state and federal assistance are not going to be taxed. These are the same ones that are using the system and go to the doctor all the time and using tax dollars they have not paid back into the system. It's crazy to think we could ever have a government that could actually think. We need people that understand economics and basic accounting. If you only make $500 a week and insurance is $250 that only leaves L$250 a week for a family of 4. With bills, rent, food, and gas there is not much left. We can't afford to get sick and even if we do we don't go to the doctor so we are spending L$250 a week on insurance with comes out to be $13000 per year. Do we get that back if we don't use it? Hell no, we paid in to a insurance company that we still have a deductible and co-pays but has not paid out any claims but can build more buildings and raise the rates all the time holding off for 120 days to pay others doctors and hospital bills to make interest on money that was not theirs. Amazing how that all works when you start to think about it. Maybe ignorance is bliss. If I didn't know how to add, other read, or think for myself I might be happy, but then I wouldn't have a house, car or money to eat with so ignorance might be bliss to some, but to me I would rather find joy in knowledge. 

And rather than my usual ending thought I figure it would be worth finding one in the books

The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance - it is the illusion of knowledge.

Daniel J. Boorstin

To be conscious that you are ignorant of the facts is a great step toward knowledge.

Benjamin Disraeli

At the simplest level, only people who know they do not know everything will be curious enough to find things out

Virginia Postrel

Blogging at the Library

Since the kids wanted to go to the library today because there was an event they wanted to do I did what I usually do, walk up and down the isle of books. Since this is a local library, not the main library there are fewer isle so I get a chance to look at titles and such as I go. And it might have been the isle or it might have been my mood that made me look at the titles in what I can only describe as the "Help me I don't know what I am doing" section. Not the C++ for dummies or even the Idiots Guide to the Internet, but these are books that someone thought we all needed. Such as a book on making someone "Hot" or Managers guide to sexual harrassment. Most of these book I thought were common sense. Do these people read these books to learn about a subject or do they read them to validate what they should know? 

Did we need a book on Sexual Harrassement, haven't we been beaten over the heads with it in the 90's? Every where we turned in the 90's it was another sexual harrassment suit over this or that. I mean really, can you not pay a compliment to someone without it being harrassment. I dont care if they are your boss. And yes. I know that sometimes it does get out of hand. But should we also hold the person getting harrassed partly to blame? Yes some bosses would harass even if the person come to work in oversize, butt ugly clothes. Is our actions part of the cause? Have we allowed too much in society that we just over look for whatever reason that it is not a social norm? 

When did it become okay for 13 year olds to have sex and get pregnant? When was it okay for television show to say it was okay to air these teenagers, give them 15 minutes of fame, then walk away leaving a bigger mess than what they started with. Most adults can't handle to stress of fame. And have we learned nothing for all the books and shows about kid actors. 

When did society get so stupid and where did all the values go? You and your child knowing the difference between right and wrong. When did it become okay to break any law and blame everyone but yourself? People struggle for money all the time, that doesn't mean they break into someones house and steal things. The elderly in America are not being taken care of by their children. I don't agree with most of China, but when it comes to parents I agree. They believe that it is the kids responsibility to take care of their parents not a nursing home. We tend to forget that they raised us, gave us food and shelter, and gave us their love, when they get older it is our turn to take that stress from them, to help them when they need it, to be there for them. Why can this country not take back the values that seem to be lost everyday? We keep hearing that each one of us makes a difference and we do. We have to teach our kids to stand up for what they believe in, to make a difference in their lives as well as others. We have to make a difference also. We should not have to give up our rights, those rights we were granted 200 years ago. 

This blog started off about these books that were written about common sense. And just like their right to state what we should all know, this is my right to state the failure of us in our society to make sure these are not things people know. We spend all this time on social media but are we making a difference sharing that cute kitten for the 10th time this month? Oh don't get me wrong, I like that kitten and it helps brighten my day but let also contribute to our world but communicating with someone in person and lets start with our kids. 

As a parent we have to struggle with all the social media saying it is okay to do something and you know that old line us parents have said over and over again, "I don't care that so and so's mother lets them do that, I'm not their mother I am yours." It seems that not enough parents are saying that to kids anymore when is why we have shows about 16 year old pregnant. 

I will leave you all with one thought, teach your kids otherwise someone else will poison the mind.  

Hoops for Heart - American Heart Association

Sean is doing the Hoops for Heart at school. We have set up a website with them to help raise money for the American Heart Association. Heart disease is one of the leading causes of death in both men and women.

Just click the link on the right and donate. I have also included a link to the American Cancer Society.


Give what you can every little bit helps

Thursday

Okay so the day started off with more testing and sitting but did not stay quiet long. Yesterday afternoon while the kids were riding bikes when a car hit my daughter. She is okay but the driver left the accident after asking if my kid was okay. Like a kids is going to say they are really hurt after being hit, they are scared and just want it to be over with. So I called the Little Rock 911 before 6:00 pm last night. They finally showed up at almost 8:00 pm. I had gotten tired of waiting for the police to get there and took her to the hospital.
Now here is my major complaint, one when you call into 911 and tell them it is a hit and run involving a child on a bike and a car, the first question should not be where is the truck sitting. I didn't say anything about a truck. Second, the police should actually show up within minutes not hours.
And although the hospital was great about it, why does it take so long to see a child. And another thing if you have a fever and are an adult go to your doctor the next day. I seen more than one person in the waiting room that I could not see anything wrong with. You know they have after-hour pediatric clinics why don't they have them for adults? Since the ER's are always full of people during the night I was thinking it might be a good idea.
But that is just my thought

Anyway, my daughter is doing fine. She complained about being sore this morning but was playing and running around the ball pit.

So signing off today. See you all later