Ohio Trip - Proctorville Fire Parade

This was one of my favorite things we did on our trip to Ohio...we went to the Proctorville Fire Parade! Because my dad is the Fire Chief, I have pretty much always been IN the parade and not an observer. Even in school, I was in the band as a majorette, so parades mean so much to me. It was cool to have my kids be a part of it this year. I got to see several old friends and my old band director. He took Abby back to the drum section and asked them to quiet down a bit because it was too loud for the baby - how cool! Afterward, we went back to the fire station where Cody had fun with the fire trucks and Miss Spark!

Ohio Trip - Gillette Farm

Here are some pictures from the Gillette Farm Market. Cody picked out pumpkins and apples and played with the really big tractors. It was nice to see Cody enjoying all of the fresh produce - because most of the stuff was round, he assumed they would bounce like a ball. I had to keep reminding him not to smash pumpkins and apples on the ground.

Ohio Trip - Apple Sauce & Apple Butter

We stopped by the Masonic Lodge and watched the old men make apple sauce & apple butter. They also had some dried apples that Cody just loved!
The guys cooked the apples in the big copper pots and then ran them through the machine to make the apple sauce. The next day they made the apple butter with this homemade apple stirrer machine. It was pretty cool that they invented something like this - otherwise they would have stirred it with a big stick for 2 days as it cooked down. This way was much easier and efficient!

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Buddy Walk 2008

Tony the Peanut Man

Last week, we hosted the Multi-Site Conference at Seacoast Church....I didn't get many pictures, but I was able to snag a photo-op with Tony the Peanut Man!


I just saw him on TV last night doing an interview on one of the local news channels. He said "with this economy looking the way it does, maybe we just need to send some boiled peanuts to DC...on second thought, they have enough nuts in Washington already!"

SNL - Biden/Palin VP Debate

The sad thing is that the actual debate was very much like this parody. How fun it is to laugh at reality!

Grading the Debate

Headlines are reading: "Palin better, but Biden wins" and "Palin gets back on track, but Biden wins"....were these people watching the same debate that I saw last night? Sarah Palin was simply amazing and I felt like I was cheering for the SuperBowl as she held her own throughout the debate with confidence and competence. She is one smart cookie!

I saw this poll on CNN.com and rated the debate....
I gave my rating for Palin, giving her an A for last nights performance. After I voted, you can see the overall average grade from all readers...it was a D. What?! So, I then rated Biden with a C...then, it showed that my vote was for him was an A and the average grade by readers was a B. Did you catch that? It showed that my vote was for Biden was an A...and it wasn't! I thought it may have been a fluke, so I retook the poll.... this time, selecting a big fat F for Biden and saw that it selected my vote for Biden as an A again! Something seems fishy. Is it just me?

What they didn't talk much about during the debate...was this HUGE Bailout (which was passed and signed into law today) and what it really means to the American people. There is so much "pork" stuffed into this bill. Want to know what we just paid $700 Billion for?

"Tucked into pages 262 and 263 of the bill, for example, are provisions that will aid the manufacturers of "certain wooden arrows designed for use by children." The bill will exempt the arrows from an excise tax of 39 cents. There are also tax breaks for race-track owners, for rum imported from Puerto Rico, for worsted wool makers, Hollywood film and television production companies and on and on."

Want to see it for yourself? Read the Top 10 "Sweetners" in the Bailout Plan. By the way...the $700 Billion plan is estimated to ultimately cost well over $1 Trillion. What! Angry yet? Let your representatives know...send them an email to let them know how you really feel.

After the bill passed today, Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio appealed to a higher authority, invoking a familiar motto: "Remember those words today: In God we trust. Because we're going to need his help." Oh, how true...how true indeed!