Mothers Matter

Food for thought:

"••A typical female in Afghanistan, Angola, Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea and Guinea-Bissau
receives less than five years of formal education. In Niger, women receive less than
four years. In Australia and New Zealand, the average woman stays in school for
over 20 years.

••Forty-five percent of children in Djibouti and Papua New Guinea are not enrolled
in primary school. Out-of-school rates are 48 percent in Eritrea. In comparison,
nearly all children in Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands,
Spain and Sweden make it from preschool all the way to high school.

••1 child in 5 does not reach his or her fifth birthday in Angola, Chad, Democratic
Republic of the Congo and Somalia. In Afghanistan, child mortality rates are higher
than 1 in 4. In Finland, Iceland, Luxembourg, Singapore and Sweden, only 1 child
in 333 dies before age 5.

••Over 40 percent of children under age 5 suffer from malnutrition in Bangladesh,
Madagascar, Nepal, Niger and Yemen. In India and Timor-Leste, nearly half of all
children in this age group are moderately or severely underweight.

••More than half of the population of Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo,
Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Madagascar, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria and
Papua New Guinea lack access to safe drinking water. In Somalia and Afghanistan,
71 and 78 percent of the population, respectively, lack access to safe water.

**In Afghanistan, the average woman does not live to see her 45th birthday
while in Japan women on average live over 86 years.

**In Afghanistan, Jordan, Lebanon, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan,
Syria and Yemen, women earn 25 cents or less for every dollar men earn. Saudi
Arabian and Palestinian women earn only 16 and 12 cents respectively to the male
dollar. In Mongolia, women earn 87 cents for every dollar men earn and in Mozambique
they earn 90 cents.

••In Belize, Comoros, Micronesia, Oman, Saudi Arabia, the Solomon Islands and
Qatar, not one seat in the lower or single house of parliament is occupied by a
woman. In Bahrain, Papua New Guinea and Yemen, women have only one seat.
Compare that to Rwanda where well over half – 56 percent – of all seats are held by
women. (Go Rwanda!). In Sweden, women hold 46 percent of parliamentary seats.

Source: http://www.savethechildren.org/atf/cf/%7B9def2ebe-10ae-432c-9bd0-df91d2eba74a%7D/SOWM-2010-Women-on-the-Front-Lines-of-Health-Care.pdf

Mother and child mortality are linked to access to safe drinking water, access to health care (particularly female health workers), and education among other things. This is not to minimize the role that father's play, but we must recognize the role that mother's play in their child's wellbeing and life. 

Why should [we] be so concerned with mothers? Because research has shown . .  "that the quality of children’s lives depends on the health, security and well-being of their mothers. In short, providing mothers
with access to education, economic opportunities and maternal and child health care
gives mothers and their children the best chance to survive and thrive." (see above reference)

Go moms!

Believe in America

I'm sure trying since my post-election disillusionment on Wednesday.  I just had to get last night's rant off my chest -- gave me motivation to blog again for the 5 people who read this.

I'm praying for our current and future Commander in Chief. I am praying for Congress. I am praying for the people. WE THE PEOPLE. I take responsibility for my part in this country too.

I'm praying. And I am THANKFUL. So grateful today for those men and women who have or are serving our country. Willing to make the ultimate sacrifice. THANK YOU. I am praying for you.

We have to. We have to have FAITH. Faith in our leaders, faith that there is good in all people, faith that we will find common ground and solve the problems before us---personal, professional, national.

FAITH. I am exercising it. I want to Believe that America will be the great land I love for my children in twenty years, 30 years, 50 years. That I can do my part to make it so (even if it means paying higher taxes). Shoot, I would give 5 or 50% more if I knew that they were to be used to make this country greater and help my children. So I have to BELIEVE.
 
At least I have to try. 

11/11

Taxes

Warning: Soap box follows . . .

Current Tax brackets are:
Tax Bracket     Married Filing Jointly                 Single
10% Bracket     $0 – $17,400                    $0 – $8,700
15% Bracket     $17,400 – $70,700         $8,700 – $35,350
25% Bracket     $70,700 – $142,700       $35,350 – $85,650
28% Bracket     $142,700 – $217,450      $85,650 – $178,650
33% Bracket     $217,450 – $388,350      $178,650 – $388,350
35% Bracket     Over $388,350                 Over $388,350
source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/moneybuilder/2011/09/30/2012-federal-income-tax-brackets-irs-tax-rates/

With the Bush tax cuts expiring, everyone GETS to pay more! Yay! The top people could pay about 40%. Sweet. Almost half of their paycheck. Robin Hood at it's finest. Except these people aren't the evil Sheriff of Nottingham and King John. But, heck, let's go with it. OR why don't we let the electorate vote on it!?! Since they SO completely and accurately represent the popular vote I have no complaints. 

I for one, love it when someone speaks for me. Also, I love it when I find their hand in my pocket (or on my phone) don't you? Especially someone known as "Uncle Sam." Especially when I know "Uncle Sam" is not going to just go to bed when I am under fire is he?! (gasp) But I'm just a regular Jane--not an ambassador--so I think I'm safe.

But ya know, SOME people think higher taxes = happier people. Just look at Sweden. But then again . . . others do NOT.

I, for one, am contemplating Switzerland.

I've got a fever

NOT, for more cowbell.

For CR.

It finally hit me. Over 8 years living outside the Cafe Rio zone and I finally couldn't resist a craving for the real deal award winning pork salad. So, I found this awesome site with everything to make my own CR experience:

http://www.favfamilyrecipes.com/2007/11/jared-and-i-love-cafe-rio.html

Made it last night (over night crockpot) and rice and beans and guac and pico and cilantro-lime vinaigrette ate it for dinner tonight. So delish!

What did you do last Saturday?

Warrior Dash 2012

 

Fire, barbed wire, mud, and did I say, MUD?!!!

 

 I had a great time. I gave myself permission to play in the mud. ;)

 

So much fun. :)

10 years

I am blessed with kind sisters who willingly came out to watch our kiddos while we got away for a 10 year anniversary trip coupled with E's parents' 50th.

Here is one of those said angels with G man:



At the temple: 

Eating out: 

Tuacahn:

 

More food (a theme?!):

Whitewater rafting in Moab. AWESOME.

Arches:

 

 

 

We hiked to one of my favorites:



And more food  :)  :)  :)

E's dad lent us his truck for our jaunt to Moab from St. George:

We flew in and out of Vegas and look who welcomed us home!

And another one of my angel sisters:

We were blessed to be able to go on this trip and do so many things. We packed our days from 7 am til 11 pm with basketball, movies, food, and shared memories. I was even able to get a facial and  massage. Ooh la la. Life is good and we are blessed. Thanks to my two sistas for making it happen and E for working extra shifts to pay for it! :) 

Congrats to My Main Man!

 

E and his program director, Dr. Long, and a fellow resident

Some of our good friends in the program. Paul and Summer Gunn. Sad to see them go.  

Here's a really bad picture of some of the group who graduated with E.

Love ya babe!

Photo Book

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Dance Class

My friend had an awesome idea of hiring one of the teens here to teach our girls dance. She offered her home and we each forked out a few bucks. The girls loved it every day. I loved it cause it was cheap and low stress. Hence, the swimsuit leotards.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blast from the past

G reminds me so much of B. So here are a few pics of her around this age (he is 11 months) with one of her besties.

 

 

 

 

Stomach Bug

It came, it saw, it conquered. . . .

Hopefully I can get this blog thing up and running again soon.

But, as a teaser, E and I are headed on a little 10th anniversary trip (combined with his parent's 50th anniversary trip---we have a long way to hit that milestone!) courtesy of Aunties T and A. Looking forward to seeing everyone!

Snapshot of Craziness

Life seems like pure craziness right now.
G is in a constant state of wanting mom. I walk into the room, he huffs and hyperventilates, til I pick him up. I leave a room, he cries. I try to do the dishes, he pulls my pants down as he tries to climb up my leg to be held. He is getting 4 teeth. FOUR. At once.
And he has separation anxiety. From me.

This all equates to a big fat O of getting anything done. I know I shouldn't always worry about to do lists but I am a lister. I try to be "present" as much as I can with the girls and help them read a story or patiently try to explain, once again, why xyz is not a great choice. And I am already sad this little man is getting so big (insert 30 lbs). But let's be honest, it's hard to be "present" and read any books or even take the trash out when G has been wailing in my ear for an hour and my arms/back/body is aching (carrying a 30 pound 9 month old is not for the faint of Anything). Let's just say there is some extra enjoyment of quiet time around these places lately. :)

So I try to enlist the "sisters" help with picking up or clearing the table. And they do what they can. But sometimes a 3 and 5 year old get a bit distracted. Like tonight, when we had brushed teeth and were supposed to be reading scriptures and for some reason B is crawling through the hallway neighing loudly as S leads her with a scarf tied around her neck. Somehow between the time it took for me to say, "time to read the scripture book" and put away the toothpaste they became enthralled in the game of "horse."

I laugh now as I think about it. Although at the moment I was not so amused, just rather awestruck by the quickness of it and annoyed that the sequence of bedtime had been interrupted.

So I trip over toys and find a wet diaper that didn't make it's way to the garbage the night before. Wow. That sounds gross. 

picture by Monica Willits at ReadMywalls.blogspot.com

But in it all, I feel like time is slipping through my fingers even as I write. Every day goes by so quickly and busily, with need after need of each child and all that comes with maintaining a family of 5. I see pictures of B as a baby flip by on my screensaver and I get teary eyed thinking of how those days can never come back. I regret not relishing them as much as I should have. But I didn't know. Or rather, I didn't believe. I didn't believe that it would pass so fast. Sometimes the days seemed to pass so slowly with just one baby. 5 years? Has it really been that long? 6 years ago I was not even a mother and now I have 3 kids?!

Craziness.

Beard Growing contest and other milestones . . .

E's colleages all decided to have a mustache growing contest for a few weeks prior to their intraining exams. He has done this before and I think 'stache's are Nasty.
So, he grew a beard.
Here he is in his glory.
I have several blackmail photos as he shaved it down to a stache. To be used at a later date. . .



In other news, G is making milestones daily. Yesterday he started crawling up the stairs. The day before that he held his own bottle. The day before that he started cruising a bit on furniture. It is crazy to me how fast he is doing this stuff as he is not 9 months yet and a couple WEEKS (!) ago he was still just scooting on his belly and mostly backwards. Now he has lost his cuddly squishiness (although you can't tell from the pics} and he is really strong. He crawls over and wants to be held for a few seconds with a voracious grip while he twists and turns to see what's going on around him. Then he lunges out of my arms so he can get down and crawl to his next adventure.
It makes me a little sad since cuddling with babies is one of my favorites, but I guess it was bound to happen. I may also be a little reminiscent because this last month I weaned him from nursing. I just didn't expect him to get so active and lean so fast!

We all love our "Chub of Love" even if there isn't much chub about him!!!

Preschool

This is B's last year of preschool. In the fall she went for one month and then I did it with her and S from home by myself while we traveled. They love whatever school they can get.

Here B is on the bus going on the field trip to the grocery store. These are two of her best buds from preschool.




And here they are post-trip eating snack.

The smiles say it all. This has been a good year for this 5 year old and she is ready for kindergarten!

More Intake of Chocolate May Yield Lower Body Mass Index

Good news for me. ;)

And hoping to post more later this week. But we'll see how that goes as I have a baby shower to host, a sacrament meeting talk to prepare/give, some studying for a class, dinners to make for someone, and a couples party at our home all happening this week!

8 months already?!!!

As you can see he is a crawling machine and we ALL love him so much.
Happy 8 month birthday G-man!