Today my son asked for a gun...

Today my son told me he wanted a real gun. He is 3. His 5 year old brother also wants one. When I asked why they felt they needed guns, the eldest said "to kill the bad guys, because that's what guns are for". Needless to say, we had a discussion about what guns "are for" today. I had to explain to my kids that, yes, guns are for protection. They are also for hunting, or sport shooting. We, as Americans, are given the right to own them, but they are tools, not toys.

I am not against my kid having guns, in fact I am all for it. But, like everything, there is a time and a place. I want my children to learn how to properly use and respect a gun before they are trusted with their own (which will be MUCH later). I intend to start teaching them to fire soon and how to handle guns responsibly because that as a parent, and an American is my right.

I'm tired of hearing children gunned down by loonies with weapons because we have created a stigma on our country that guns are bad.

I admire our military and our police, but they can not be everywhere at once. Sometimes we have to be our own first responders and I'd rather have my child have the death of one crazy on his conscience than live with the knowledge that he could have, if properly armed, prevented all of that.

As adults it is our job to protect and provide for our children, and we can not do it if our means of protecting them is systematically taken away.

After our conversation today I took my kid to the store where there was a bell ringer collecting. I gave each of my kids money and we all put some in the bucket. I may not be the most awesome mom, but I'm doing my best to teach my children to do the right things and to not be victims in a world of chaos.

I'm going to teach them to stand on their own two feet and fight for the things they believe in. Sometimes I hope they end up being nothing like me, sometimes I wish the exact opposite.

Knitting Is a Process

So, for some reason I decided to start knitting. My mother in law gave me some needles, I got some yarn, watched a few videos and thought, "yeah, I can do this." So I decided to make my boys a scarf each. No big deal, right? Riiiight.

I started one day about 11 am. Figured I would start slow. It turns out, I started REALLY slow. In fact, almost 12 hours later, I had about three rows going. It took FOREVER for me to figure it out.

After that, I was able to really get moving. I got about 6 inches done and realised it looked really sloppy and had some huge holes in it, so I tore it out and started over. And over, and over, and over.

I FINALLY figured it out. I spent hours trying to tackle this mess. Two weeks later, I have a fairly passable, albeit very short and sloppy, scarf and one pretty satisfied little boy!  Now to get some more yarn and start another one. Le sigh!

Challenge accepted

Today I embarked on a journey of epic proportions. I did not expect it to be so, but it is turning out that way. My cousin wanted me to make a tablecloth for her nice new table. She wants a few seasonal type ones. I couldn't find any fall/thanksgiving type fabric so I started with Christmas.

Problem 1- it's on oval table. Therefore needs to be an oval tablecloth. I puzzled for days on how to make an oval. Once I Lao it out, it was actually much easier than I though. I even learned a smarter to do it for next time.

Problem 2- fabric not long enough to overhang table. Have to get creative and put together two fabrics to make a border type effect. This is less than easy when dealing with an oval shape!

So far I've figured out the two long ends. Tomorrow I will have to tackle the short ends and fill in the rough edges. So far it looks pretty good, I think. It's been frustrating and a total brain challenge. Glad I have my mathematically minded husband here to help me out.

Ps. The table it is on in the pictures is NOT the table it will end up on. This is my progress so far. I hope to get a picture of it finished, and on the right table, in the next week or so