Computer personalities

It has been really interesting this year to see how people act differently when they are hidden behind a computer screen and a pretend character. Andy and I play a game called Warcraft together with people from all over the world. In this game we can join a group of people we call a guild to do different things. We can chat with each other through both an IM chat and a voice service and it's a lot of fun to meet different people and get to know them.

What I find fascinating is how a lot of these people either claim or would claim to be good people, but how when they get behind a computer screen things don't matter since we are in a "different" world. They become very crude and call people things they would never say to their face. These "good people" call girls ho's and talk about sexual things they would be embarrassed by at any other time. Young men talk about raping other characters in game and some of them have never thought about what that really means and how horrible and degrading it is until I've pointed it out. Why do people react like this? We recently left one guild because we could no longer handle the disrespect that people were exhibiting regularly and have joined a guild where people really do seem to follow the rules of normal life. There I am treated like the lady I am and the language is kept to a minimum. In our new guild this game is treated like the game it is and all the normal societal rules are upheld instead of real life taking a back seat to a computer game.

I know this is random, but I have been trying to figure out why people think that all societal norms can be thrown out the window when they are hiding behind an assumed character.

More Pictures

Here are some more pictures of my sweet boys. I had to control myself and not post more. :)

They love to sit in the box and laugh, I'm not sure why...

He feels like part of the family at dinner and is so happy to be on the same level we are

Caleb was watching for Andy to get home from class. :)

He loves his swing and was making a funny face. lol He's teething so he chews on his lip.

Caleb tah-turing (coloring)

Caleb will not let Stephen play in the floor gym without shoving his way in and playing with him.

Prayer Request

Hey guys, could y'all please be praying for my cousin Richard? He is 20 years old and had a massive heart attack on Friday. The doctors say that he is going to be fine and his heart was not damaged, but they can't figure out why he had the attack. Hospitals have a test they can administer to determine if someone has a heart attack and a normal person who hasn't will score a 0 or 1, Richards came back as a 28. My aunt was told that normally only young people on cocaine have heart attacks like this, but Richard doesn't do drugs and when the doctors tested him he was completely clean and there was absolutely no evidence he had ever done drugs at all. His cholesterol and blood pressure were really good too. There doesn't appear to be any reason what so ever that he should have had this massive attack. I don't think he's a Christian, so please pray for him. Thanks!!

More Obsession :)

I found this video while looking at more information about babywrapping. It's a young father putting on a Moby and he has a tiny newborn. It's too cute!!! :) On another note, if you google babywrapping my blog pops up. lol

Babywrapping

Other than cloth diapering, which I love, and smocking clothes for my boys especially Caleb so he looks his age, I'm not really obsessive about baby things. Well that has all changed now. I have been getting tired of trying to hang on to Stephen, deal with Caleb and do housework etc. and Stephen was getting too heavy for my Snugli and too wiggly for my sling. I have found my dream baby item and it's called a Moby Wrap. It uses your entire back, shoulders and hips to carry the baby and there are so many different ways to wrap it. Baby can ride as shown in the picture, or facing out, as well as on your hip or back. It is also really easy to nurse in apparently. I am currently looking for one on ebay, but considering how much material must be in it, it only costs $35. One website also carries a nice selection of cloth diapers though I prefer my ebay store or Green Mountain. The Moby wrap site itself also has step-by-step picture directions for 12 different wrap positions as well as instructions on how to breastfeed in it. This is the first item I have not been firmly set on since before I got married and now I have to find a way to get it. :) Babywrapping just falls right in line with all of the naturalist tendencies I already have and I think it is so healthy for newborns especially. This is the way a lot of women in 3rd world countries carry their babies and still get all of the physical labor they need to do done. Hopefully this will enable me to get more things done because I won't have to constantly rescue Stephen from Caleb's love. :D

Friends

I got to see a friend today that I haven't really seen in several months. She had some tragedy in her life and needed some time to grieve without seeing me and my newborn. I'm really glad that she called and came over today because we are so much alike and have very similar opinions on just about any subject from pregnancy and child rearing to politics. :) I have missed her greatly. Her little girl played in our sandbox and we got to talk while Caleb and Stephen slept. Like everyone else she agrees Stephen looks like me. lol All in all it was a wonderful day and I'm glad to have her friendship and support back in my life.

To die for recipe

I tried this dessert recipe recently and it was so good and really quick. It says to use fresh fruit you freeze yourself, but I cheated and bought mine pre-frozen. Andy loves it!

Frozen Berries With Hot White Chocolate Sauce
Serves 4

Ingredients:
6 ounces/170 g fresh blackberries
6 ounces/170 g fresh blueberries
6 ounces/170 g fresh raspberries
4 fresh strawberries, halved lengthwise
8 ounces/230 ml heavy whipping cream
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
8 ounces/230 g good-quality white chocolate, finely chopped

Method: Arrange all the berries in a single layer on a baking sheet, making sure they are well spaced apart. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for 2 hours or until the berries are frozen.

Meanwhile, place the cream in a heavy medium saucepan. Using a small sharp knife, scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the cream. Add the bean to the cream. Bring the cream to just below simmering over medium heat.
Place the chocolate in a bowl and pour the hot cream mixture over the chocolate. Discard the vanilla bean.Let stand for 5 minutes to allow the chocolate to melt slightly, then stir the cream mixture until the chocolate has melted completely and the sauce is smooth.
Arrange the berries on a serving platter or in individual bowls and pour the hot sauce over the frozen berries. Serve at once.

9/11

Since today is the 6th anniversary of 9/11 and the first time it's been back on a Tuesday the radio and TV stations have been going nuts. Andy and I have been talking about it and realized that our memories of that day are as clear as if the events transpired in the last week. It's amazing how we have trouble pinpointing what we did during the day six years ago, but we can remember every detail of September 11th. I remember that my Dad had gotten food poisoning the night before and he and my Mom were at the hospital and I was home with all of my siblings. There were some guys there installing new cabinets and counter tops in our kitchen and I was sewing. I had the radio on and heard the announcers saying a plane had accidentally hit the World Trade Center and turned the TV on in time to witness the second plane in real time. We all sat on the couch and watched TV the rest of the day, having trouble comprehending that terrorists had the audacity to attack us on our own soil. The workmen in our house spent as much time watching TV with us as they did installing things, and only charged my parents for half of the time they were there. Mom and Dad didn't even know anything had happened for about an hour because the hospital staff was trying to keep people calm and they didn't have a TV on in their room.

The gaping holes in New York, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field united our country in a way it had not seem since Pearl Harbor and the start of WWII for us. It's amazing how single-minded we were then and now the backstabbing that is being perpetrated by politicians today. How can people stand the weaseling and finger pointing and forget what was done to us? I believe our country is too soft and is rapidly sliding into the diffident, self importance exhibited by Europe. I'm so disgusted with both parties that it almost makes me want to not vote, but if we all do that the wrong people will be elected and our country will be a disaster. So, I will hold my nose, vote, and pray that we will be able to draw our country back from the brink before it's too late and God allows us to be wiped off the map because of our decadent society.

Worst Luck

One of Andy's long time friends DB has the worst luck of anyone I can think of. He has been rear ended by a rubber necker at a wreck who never slowed down and attacked by a gang of bikers to name a couple. This week he was robbed and shot. Please pray for him if you think of it and heres what he said about the robbery.

Wednesday night(9/5/07) Scott and I were playing Gears of War at my house. My door bell rang, I got up and went to open the door expecting to see the pizza man with our dinner. When I unbolted the door and turned the handle, the door was shoved in by a tall, lanky black man pointing a revolver at my head. Behind him was a short black man who was sweating and shaking. The taller one forced me back into my living room and kept shouting, "Where's the money Fred?" I tried to explain to him my name wasn't Fred, I didn't know where the money was and he could have whatever he wanted if he would just put the gun down. The short man then proceeded to yank my xbox out of the wall, grab my laptop, and steal both our cell phones. Then they tried to steal my TV, I explained that it was too big for one person to carry and they weren't going to be able to carry it out while they held the gun at me. They saw that I was right and started to back out just before they ran out of my house the tall one shot me in the leg. Scott immediately ran to the bathroom and grabbed me a towel. Meanwhile, I dropped my shorts and checked my wound. Thank God for Scott and my EMT training. One look and I knew it was non femoral and the bone was intact. Scott Helped me tie a tourniquet and apply pressure. I saw an entry and exit wound so I hoped the bullet had passed straight through. Scott ran up stairs to try and get some help from my neighbors. No one came so he came back downstairs and helped drag me to his car. He drove me to Highlands hospital which was only a few blocks away. Highland's ER doesn't get a lot of traffic and hardly any trauma, they were extremely startled to get a gun shot wound. After they stabilized me, they decided I needed to go to University because they were better equipped to deal with me. While I was being treated Scott called my family and my close friends. I was loaded up and taken by ambulance to University where they decided my wound was clean and flesh only, no bone, nerve, or severe vascular damage. They gave me a shot of Morphine and sent me home. Thank you everyone who has called or e-mailed. Thank you for your kind words and your prayers!

Potty Training

I'm so excited. I have been working on potty training Caleb for the last few days and he is doing so well. Since he's a boy, I was afraid it was going to take a lot longer before he was ready to potty train. I remember my sisters potty trained easier and sooner than my brothers; part of the genetic differences between boys and girls liberals are trying to refuse to acknowledge. :) He's only wet his underwear once in 3 days, though I still put a diaper on him for naps and errands. I'm not brave enough to try those yet. lol Caleb is loving it and has his little routine down. After he's finished he hops down and says YAY, then closes the lid and flushes the toilet before we put his underwear on and wash his hands. That's great for me because he seems to understand patterns well for other things also. This is a wonderful development because he's so big we were getting close to him outgrowing the diaper covers I've been buying. I hope this continues well and soon I can leave off diapers most of the time without worrying that he's going to wet his clothes. :)

Yakama

For those of you who have been to the Yakama Indian Reservation. I don't know if some of you knew this, but there is a full-time missionary out there now and he and his family have been there for about 4 years. His name is Chris Granberry and he was Andy's youth pastor and my team leader the first time I was there.

God is working incredible things on the reservation and Chris decided to post his quarterly updates on a new blog this summer. I thought you might like to look at it and see some of the amazing things the Lord is doing in such a dark place. I haven't been able to see the pictures he has posted so I'm going to email him and see if that can get fixed.

http://sacredroadyakama.blogspot.com