I recently received a response from Senator Burris in regards to my letter (sent a while ago I might add) stating my displeasure with his record on abortion and his favor of the health care plan, which would be allowed to cover elective abortion without funding restrictions. He mentioned his support of a woman’s right to choose (that, obviously, is his choice), but did mention the need to reduce the need for abortions (yeah!). Unfortunately, his plans for that are to “expand access to preventive family planning services [my emphasis], helping to decrease the number of unintended pregnancies.” That means “pregnancy centers” which means access to abortion clinics, which will promote abortions. Duh. He also mentioned a bill he cosigned to “support further measures to increase rates of adoption as an alternative to abortion and reduce unintended pregnancies.” Honestly, I don’t know much about this but it does sound like something I could get behind. It is WAY too easy to get an abortion and WAY too difficult to adopt. But what really irked me about his letter was this statement toward the end: “I believe in the right to good quality of life for every American [emphasis not mine!].”

Who gets to decide what is a quality life? The government? No thanks! Sigh.

For my daughter’s medieval princess/knight birthday party, I made shields as takeaways (along with tablecloth tunics and foam swords) for the boys. Here’s how:

10. En guard!

Avery had her 5th birthday this week so we threw her a big party on Saturday. She wanted to do a princess party. Unfortunately, none of her girlfriends could be there! So, we threw in some knights, my husband and I dressed up as king and queen, and Avery played THE princess (wearing a Cinderella dress in perfect condition from a garage sale and a cone hat we made together). It was really a lot of fun and one of the best parties we’ve thrown, in my humble opinion (it helps we catered the food). Avery helped me quite a bit and was involved in making decisions about the party, too, which added to the fun.

Colors
Silver, Cinderella blue, royal blue and purple, with pink thrown in for fun

Decor/supplies
Medieval banners featuring two family crests and her birthday wishes (hand-drawn, computer was out of commission during the planning of this party)
A few flag banners I made from construction paper
Silver plates and cups with craft jewels hot glued on them
Pink napkins (Avery insisted on something pink)
The rest of the decorations were the giveaways and costumes for the guests: shields made from cereal boxes and tin foil (so cute, here’s shield how-to), foam swords from Wal-Mart, and tunics made from a silver tablecloth (instead of a felt coat of arms, I cut a shield shape from silver tissue paper and wrote the kids’ names on it, and, by the way, they held together fine).
I also made a cardboard castle facade (of all the boxes from our kitchen remodel we only had one leftover and it was too tiny for even one kid to play inside. They seemed pretty happy with what we had though.)

Food
Ale (dark red/grape Kool-aid mixed as well as dark colored sodas)
Princess fruit snacks
Snaps square pretzels
Peanuts in the shell (though I had to put these away when I realized not one but two kids were allergic, oops!)
Pineapple/strawberry/grape kabobs
Fried chicken (catered from Wal-Mart, which I highly recommend, just be sure you have all the food, we never did get our rolls)
Potato salad/macaroni salad
Rolls
Princess/carriage/castle shaped melted candy molds on a stick
Silver dollar peppermint patties and Rolos for the “gold chest”

Cake
The cake … sigh. We had a talented neighbor volunteer to make a princess cake, one where the dress is the cake. I even made a miniature version of Avery’s princess cone hat for the doll. But, with the threat of rain, I thought we’d have to post-pone the party so I told her not to make it. Well, the party went on, so we ran to Costco just a few hours before the party to let Avery select one of the pre-made ones. So, it wasn’t the theme and didn’t match, but it was YUMMY! :) (Of course, the one year it’s not blooming HOT so the frosting is melting …)

Activities
Since we invited our friends’ families, we mostly made it a social. We had the trampoline we acquired last year as well as a new swingset to entertain the kids (not to mention the swords to chase adults with).
I also bought two bubble wands that were designed like swords, which were a big hit with kids and parents.

For more Wordless Wednesday entries: WordlessWednesday.com and 5 Minutes for Mom.

My countertops are installed! They are not hideous, embarrassing or ugly in any way. Woo-hoo! They are, however, more gray than brown in overall color. But, I already knew that so I am not surprised. The contrast with the yellow walls and white cabinets, either way, is beautiful. And Heartland did not disappoint. The installers were friendly and helpful, and they cleaned up when they were finished. I am more excited about this than the historic inauguration that is taking place as we speak! I will post a picture as soon as I can but my camera is broken (I can take a picture just not download it).

As for the inauguration, I will say that Obama taking office is a remarkable event in the history of our nation: How Conservatives Should Celebrate the Inauguration. But I am sad to see Bush go. As many blunders and mistakes that he made over the years, he has done well for our country, as a man of integrity, character and steadfast leadership (despite the mocking opposition over every little detail). He overcame ferocious opposition against a Democratic-controlled Congress to win key battles for faith, family and common sense. Thank you President and Mrs. Bush! I pray God would bless you for your service to our country and protect you in the years to come!

As the 36th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision approaches, the White House proclaimed today, Sunday, January 18, as National Sanctity of Human Life Day. With Barack Obama taking office on Tuesday, it may be the last such proclamation of its kind for the foreseeable future.

We talked about abortion from a Biblical perspective today at church (In case you are wondering, unborn babies are created by God and He has a special plan for each and every one. But abortion is not the unforgivable sin! Seek counseling if you or someone you know has been traumatized by abortion). But even more profound, I think, is looking at it from a scientific perspective. As surprising as this may be to some people, there is no debate within the medical community as to when life begins.

A 1981 U.S. Senate report states, “Physicians, biologists, and other scientists agree that conception marks the beginning of the life of a human being – a being that is alive and is a member of the human species. There is overwhelming agreement on this point in countless medical, biological, and scientific writings. No witness raised any evidence to refute the biological fact that from the moment of conception there exists a distinct individual being who is alive and is of the human species.” No witness raised any evidence to refute the biological fact that from the moment of conception there exists a distinct individual being who is alive and is of the human species. (Subcommittee on Separation of Powers, Ibid.)

“Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him.” Psalm 127:3

Dear Lord,

In Jesus’ Name,
AMEN

1. He comes at Christmas.
2. He can be at your house and your grandma’s house in the same night.
3. He controls the weather and is a friend to animals.
4. He’s often depicted as a white-bearded man with a twinkle in his eye.
5. He’s the “spirit of Christmas.”
6. He loves little children, and asks them to come to him.
7. Children love him and line up just to see him.
8. He asks us to be on our best behavior, obedient.
9. He showers us with gifts.
10. Adults may be criticized for believing in him.
11. Many consider him to be make-believe.
12. Yet, belief in him brings miracles to earth.
13. He resides in a place that could be described as the opposite of a fiery hell.

Related post: Merry Clausmas … er, I mean Christmas

Since Charlie’s birthday, I have been meaning to post his party from last year, too. So, I am finally gettin’ to it. I let Avery pick the theme and she selected Cars. No surprise since that was the big hit (and still is). It was her second choice for her party that year. Ka-Chow!

Colors
Red, bright Dinoco blue

Decor/supplies
Red plates and napkins
Cars cake plates and cups for the kids
Black table cover (with yellow construction paper lane dividers taped to it)
Red balloons
Route 66 signs and green Radiator Springs road sign
Stoplight: I covered a shoe box with a brown paper bag and glued red, green and yellow circles on it (outlined in black marker) and hung it over the center of the patio to represent the lone stop light in the center of Radiator Springs.

Food
Hamburgers/hot dogs
Fruit mix
Chips
Blue raspberry Kool-aid mixed with generic Sprite for “Dinoco punch” (I filled a 5 gallon Gatorade jug and taped to it the Dinoco punch sign I made on the computer)
Cars fruit snacks
Chocolate honeycombs
Stacked Oreos (for Luigi’s Casa Del Tires)
Veggie tray

Cake
I had fun with his cakes. And they turned out oh-so-cute! I baked several bread loaf cakes (not filling them too full so they wouldn’t be tall) and trimmed them with an electric knife to mimic the cars characters. I also made a mini loaf McQueen for my son’s personal cake. For the two little guys, I cut one cake in half (part if it actually fell apart which is why I even decided to do that). I used chocolate and white frosting (do all white windows first), as well as dyed vanilla frosting, depending on the colors needed for each car. If I were to do it again, I would make more white windows, the front windshield got a little tight when I started taking it over with the body color. For each of the eyes, I used a black gel writer with a bit of white frosting applied with a toothpick on top of the eye color.

McQueen was the toughest because he required a lot of red. He ended up a very salmon-y dark pink, but it was the best I could do. His headlights were 1/4 piece of yellow Starburst, and of course, Oreos for his sporty wheels. Sally’s headlights were white Smarties. For Doc, I used only half of an Oreo (taking one cookie side off) and attempted to use pretzels for his grille. Something else might work better. He had yellow Smarties for headlights. Luigi had Junior Mints I think for wheels since he was smaller. I printed an Italian flag on the computer and taped it to a toothpick just for fun. He also had yellow Smarties for headlights. Mater had one Smarties headlight, of course, and chocolate Honeycombs for wheels.

Activities
Cars books and toys
Ramone’s House of Body Art Cars tattoos for kids of all ages!
Pin the eyes on McQueen: I hand drew a picture of McQueen on a roll of extra-large paper, which was a banner at Avery’s birthday the year before, and made blue eyes with my scrapbooking supplies. Using reusable glue (I used ZIG 2-Way Glue), we were able to have the kids take turns pinning the eyes on, without messing with tape or pins.

Goody bags
I bought goody bags at the party store, and filled them with Cars stickers, wheel Yo-yos, bubbles and random candy, and who knows what else. This is a detail I don’t remember!

Ok, I have two tackles today, both related to the fast-approaching November election. Motivated by my sister who also picked up political signs this week (and the presidential debate tonight), I finally made the effort to find out where I could pick up McCain-Palin yard signs. I had searched online but they were rather expensive, and you just know the money is going to some opportunistic entrepreneur and not the campaign I want to support. You can find a headquarters near you, too, by searching Google for “Republican or Democratic party YOUR county.” There’s a Republican headquarters in McHenry County on Hwy 14 in Crystal Lake. You can’t miss it (Actually, you can. I nearly missed it twice before I noticed the building covered in banners and signs.)! You can pick up yard signs and literature for presidential candidates as well as for your local elections. Free-will donations are optional. I took my kids with me after lunch, and they had a blast playing with the red-white-blue tassels decorating the tables. Plus they handed out candy. Easy!

Fact Check
http://factcheck.org/
A nonpartisan, nonprofit “consumer advocate” for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. The group monitors the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases.

Town Hall
http://townhall.com/
Conservative columnists, founded by talk show host Hugh Hewitt.

Red State
http://www.redstate.com/
RedState is the leading blog for right of center online activists. Established in May of 2004 by Ben Domenech, Mike Krempasky, and Josh Trevino to play an integral role in the right’s fight online.

Jeff Emanuel
http://www.jeffemanuel.net/
The blog of Jeff Emanuel, a leading conservative writer and Pulitzer-Prize nominated combat journalist. He’s a regular contributor to the Weekly Standard, The American Spectator, and Human Events newspaper, as the Washington Times, the American Thinker, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Wall Street Journal’s Opinion Journal, the Jerusalem Post, and National Review Online.

Daily Kos
http://www.dailykos.com/
A liberal online community, focusing on national political issues from the liberal point-of-view.

For anyone who questions whether Obama is an abortion extremist, please read “Infants who survive abortions” by Mona Charen, which appeared in The Washington Times on Monday: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/sep/22/infants-who-survive-abortions/ and watch the video below featuring Jill Stanek.

<P>[Edited to add 10/15/08: More from Robert George: <a href="http://townhall.com/columnists/RobertGeorge/2008/10/15/obamas_abortion_extremism">Obama's Abortion Extremism</a>].

Oh, we also had a birthday party for Charlie’s birthday this weekend! He turned two last Sunday and we finally had everybody (and I do mean everybody) over for a Hot Wheels themed BBQ. We tried to keep it simple, but I still had fun with some of the decorations.

Colors
Black, white and red

Decor/supplies
Hot Wheels banner (I made this, imitating the Hot Wheels logo and my husband was able to print it at work)
Hot Wheels cake plates and napkins from the party store
Red dinner plates, napkins and bowls
Black table cover (with yellow construction paper for lane lines)
Black and white streamers with a few red curly ribbon bunches
Pit stop (bathroom), fuel (food and drink) and weight limit (on trampoline) street signs, as well as caution: construction and “no thru entry” for the kitchen remodel (I just printed on 8.5×11 paper)
Hot wheels and other car toys and car mat
Oh, and one orange cone on the cake table, which I bought at the dollar store

Food
Lemonade mixed with generic Sprite
Cheese Ritz sandwich crackers
Generic oreo cookies
Wheels macaroni
Hamburgers (with checkered flag toothpicks I made with label stickers)
Hot dogs (I saw cute race cars online made with the buns but I didn’t do this)
Hot Wheels fruit snacks
Veggie tray and chips
Hot tamales

Cake
I made the cake totally last minute so I was disappointed in it but it was still cute. It was hot so the frosting was melting. I recommend making the cake the day before and frosting it in the evening, so you can put it in the fridge, if you make something like this when it is warm.

I made two cakes with 9×11 cake pans. Putting the flatter one on the bottom, I frosted them together. Then I carved just enough to make a spoiler in the back and a lower hood in the front. Round off the front a bit, too. I frosted the windows white and the rest of the car yellow (I did a red car last year for Lightning McQueen and it was rather pink and I used A LOT of dye, so I decided to try something else, but a darker color would be better. On second thought, I should have just used chocolate frosting and made it brown). I used a black gel writer to put Charlie’s name on the hood and the number 2 on the top and sides, like a race car. Added Oreos for wheels, although they were a bit small for the size of the cake.

Activities
Since we invited our friends, we mostly made it a BBQ social. We also had the trampoline we acquired this summer. I did make red, yellow and green flags for a greenlight/redlight kind of game but we never got around to that. I had the cars out for little ones to play with and a basket with balls for kids and adults.

Goody bags
I found race car goody bags at the dollar store, as well as race cars filled with pez-type candies. I also included tootsie rolls, chocolate candy and Hot Wheels stickers.

ABC’s World News aired a segment during the July 29 broadcast that showcased a successful surgery done on twin boys two months before they were born to correct a complication known as “Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome.” Read more from the Culture & Media Institute: ABC Covers Medical Marvels Extended to the Unborn.

Living in the NW suburbs of Chicagoland, we have the privilege of access to many recently built, safe, fun playground areas. But, it was a real treat when driving across Iowa last week (we took Hwy 20 just about the entire way) to stop at a few parks with old school play grounds. I would highly recommend this when traveling, by the way. We stopped just twice for about 45 minutes each. One time at lunch so we could eat a picnic. It made the 9 hour drive bearable for the kids (and, therefore, me)!

Anyway, along the way, my kids got to see what a merry-go-round and teeter-totter were, among some other classic metal toys. They had a blast! I will say, it was more work though. I had to be much more attentive when they played on them, and often they needed assistance to get on or stay on or get down! So, I can definitely see the advantage of today’s more “parent-friendly” play areas, where I can sit on a bench and just watch. Don’t get me wrong, I like to interact with them at the park, too, it’s just nice not to have to be stressed out about it!