Our Crazy Weekend

So this weekend was pretty nuts. Fun - but exhausting! Twice a year I participate in this big consignment sale, where I buy the vast majority of the kids clothes, and sell some old ones too. It was Friday night. DH was away this weekend, so I left work at 4pm, picked up all three kids and got home in time to meet the babysitter. Then my friend Holly and I drove out to the sale. We got there right at 6pm when it opened - and almost were able to skip the massive line. We were there for about 3 hours - which I know seems crazy - but there is all kinds of stuff, and you need to pick it out and sort through it then stand in the line from hell to checkout. It was great though - I got TONS of leggings for K (as requested), a few things for B, and LOTS of adorable Elmo stuff for Big Man. I also got dress up clothes for all three for a wedding we are going to in 2 weeks.

Meanwhile, my BF from college drove down from PA with her 2 kids and relieved my babysitter about 8:30pm. I got home and crashed! The next morning we all got up and went to the Fairfax City Festival. It was really pretty great. For $5 each the kids had free run of all the rides. They really enjoyed it. And my favorite 80s cover band was the lunchtime entertainment - even better! We met various friends there over the course of the day (we were there from 11am - 4:30pm!) and finally headed home.

At 6pm, said friends came over and we had dinner for 12 kids and 8 adults. One friend provided spaghetti and meatballs (already cooked!) and dessert for the kids. I made a quick chicken and pasta dish for adults.

On Sunday morning we woke up and dropped Big Man off with Nana. (A few weeks ago Nana pointed out that Big Man was rarely alone - especially with someone other than Mom or Dad. Since she is taking him for 5 days when we go to Disney, we decided we needed some dry-runs). The rest of us headed to Cox Farms for the Pumpkin Festival. It was fun - although VERY crowded. The kids enjoyed the slides, goat petting zoo, and the hay ride. It was pretty hot out - turned out I sunburned my face. Luckily none of the kids seemed impacted.

Last night we ordered Outback in cuz I was too tired to cook.

This morning my friend and her kids left, and I brought K to school. B and Big Man are off for the federal holiday, so Nana is home with them. I am at work. Finally getting some downtime. ;)

Tonight our (2nd run) local movie theater is having a sing along to Mama Mia! Yay!

Countdown to Disney

So this week we finally told the girls about our upcoming trip to Disney World. We are going next month for 5 days, and I have been planning this since April. I CANNOT wait. But we didn't think we could tell the girls until at least 30 days out. We had Mickey Mouse call the house and talk about an "upcoming trip". Then I asked the girls why Mickey would be calling about a vacation?? K slowly got it. Her eyes got big, and she said "are we going to Florida?" And I said "yessss"..then she said to "D...D...?" I laughed and said "Disney World!". Both the girls screamed. They are so excited. They were a little sad that Big Man would not be coming with us - but I explained that he was too little and would get too tired. I made them a Disney Countdown calendar using Home Depot Mickey-head paint chips. Each day they will rip one off, and that will tell them how many days until we go. Tonight we are going to show them the video Disney sent us about our trip. Man, this is going to be fun!

$5000 - a drop in the bucket for healthcare

Under current law, the health insurance benefits provided by your employer are exempt from taxes. Under Sen. McCain’s health insurance plan, this exemption would be eliminated and instead families would receive a $5000 tax credit to purchase health insurance. This tax credit would NOT go to individuals - but directly to the health insurance provider. Given that the average annual cost of health insurance for a family of four is $12,000 that is still a hefty price tag for consumers. Add to that the fact that many employers are likely to stop offering coverage, and the price on health insurance could skyrocket (since employees generally pay less than individuals because they are purchasing as part of a pool). And if you are old, unhealthy, or have a pre-existing condition – forget about it. The Urban Insitute reports that the McCain plan would make insurance coverage less accessible and affordable for those with high health care needs. Although the plan would increase coverage among the currently uninsured, it would reduce the number already covered by employers, leaving about the same number of people uninsured. Even worse, since the value of the credit doesn’t increase witph time, it is likely the number of uninsured will start to climb dramatically after 5 years.

By comparison, Senator Obama’s plan would provide government subsidies to allow low-income workers to obtain health insurance. The Urban Institute anticipates Obama’s plan would reduce the number of uninsured by 18 million in 2009 and by 34 million in 2018. There are currently 45 million Americans without health insurance, according to the Census Bureau.

Although Obama would not get to "universal coverage" - it would take a step in the right direction.

Want to Play a Game?

So our girls LOVE games. Virtually any kind of game will do. They particularly like Uno, Hungry Hippos, and Connect Four. Just recently we pulled out our old Nintendo 64 and showed them Mario Cart. They have also tried Viva Pinata on XBox. DH and I like games too, so it has been fun. The difficult part is figuring out games we can all play. Four of us can pretty successfully play Mario Cart, but we haven't figured out what to do with Big Man. Often he is happy sitting on someone's lap while we play.

It is also hard on K, who wants to play more advanced games, but with Big Man around, it is hard to keep him from taking pieces or otherwise messing things up. She really loves Rush Hour Jr, which is hard to play with Big Man around, cuz he wants to play with the cars.

Any good family games you would recommend?

Tax and Spend

Ok...so there has been a lot of talk about the tax plans of the 2 Presidential candidates. I think this chart says it all! Basically, the more you make the more you benefit from the McCain plan, and the less you make, the more you benefit from the Obama plan.

Now, we (DH and I) make plenty of money. And I certainly would love to pay less in taxes. But seriously - just look at the directions of the taxes in the chart. Does that look right to you?!!?? Should the greatest tax cuts be gong to individuals making over $2.8 million dollars??!!! Honestly? While the middle class sees little to no change? This just says it all to me. I'll get into the healthcare debacle later..but on just taxation alone, I think this chart is very illuminating.

We Are READY!

Halloween is a big deal in our house. This weekend we got the yard mostly set up. The kids can't wait to wear their costumes. I so wish I could get on tape Big Man doing his Kung Fu Panda moves - it is so priceless!

America and the World

Reported by Reuters (on a study by the Pew Institute) - the opinion of America from people around the world dropped by more than 20 percentage points during the Bush Presidency. And that is the overall number.

-- Number of people abroad who viewed America favorably in 2001: 58.3 percent
-- Number of people abroad who viewed America favorably in 2007: 39.2 percent

-- Number of people in Great Britain who viewed America favorably in 2001: 83 percent
-- Number of people in Great Britain who viewed America favorably in 2007: 56 percent

-- Number of people in Indonesia who viewed America favorably in 2001: 75 percent
-- Number of people in Indonesia who viewed America favorably in 2007: 30 percent

-- Number of people in Germany who viewed America favorably in 2001: 78 percent
-- Number of people in Germany who viewed America favorably in 2007: 37 percent

http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS15591+29-Jan-2008+PRN20080129

I think regaining World respect is something that will be critical for the next Administration.