Payton's Big Week

This has been a HUGE week for my big guy. And it just reminds me how fast time moves when you think you have plenty of time to enjoy all the little things.

Monday, he passed to the "eel" level of his swimming tests. He's pretty close to swimming independently and we enrolled him in one more 7 week session to ensure he's comfortable with it all.

Tuesday, he received the Principal's Award at school. It's the highest honor any student can get at the school. It's for the well rounded student who exhibits all the moral focuses of the school, focuses on academics and exhibits a good attitude. His teacher, Mrs. McCoy, said Payton is a "great role model for his classmates". I tell ya', noting makes a momma bear more proud!

Wednesday, Payton lost his first tooth. I thought it'd be gone over a week ago as long as it's been lose, but it finally came out while he was eating corn on the cob. We looked all over for it and couldn't find it. All we can conclude is he swallowed it. No surprise really. He wrote a very nice letter to the tooth fairy explaining what happened and she left him 3 gold $1 coins.

And then today, the big man turned 6! I can't believe it. It seems like just yesterday he was born. We had some great events happen today for his birthday; being sung to by the whole school, Matt took him lunch from McDonald's and ate with him, he had two recesses at school, he got to provide snack for his whole class (apples and caramel dip), we went to dinner at his restaurant of choice (what other kid picks Bob Evans??) and then we went to Toys R Us and let him pick a gift (spy gear).

It's been a GREAT week. He's been blessed by many great gifts, friends and events. And I've been blessed by an amazing little man.

Payton, thank you for teaching me to slow down. To look around and enjoy all the world God has given us. I'm so grateful to have you in my life and you've made me a better person. I love you with all my heart. ~Momma

i love my husband.

Last night, even though Matt was in Ohio, I attended a couples event at our church hosted by the Mr & Mrs ministry. It looks like I've found my ministry and I'm excited to be working with Ron & Kelly hosting couples "date nights" once a month.

Last night was our first event and we hosted a viewing of Fireproof Your Marriage. We had a great turnout! I've seen it before with Matt. Even so, I saw new things when I watched it.

Matt and I are lucky we've survived this long. We've been through a lot in the last year and we've finally learned to lean on each other instead of other people or things for the support we need.

I love you, Matt. I promise to take you as you are, not make you into something you're not or something I wish you'd become. I promise to work with you, not against you. I promise to love you at the hardest moments and the easiest. I look forward to growing even more with you in our marriage; learning more about each other and ourselves. I look forward to growing old with you. I love you more today than yesterday, but not as much as tomorrow. And I will proudly tell the whole world you are my husband.

Education BEFORE Immunization

I spent the morning, with a dear friend of mine, at a seminar with speaker Mary Tocco, an expert on the truth behind vaccinations. The seminar was an amazing and eye-opening event that shook me to my core. I can't possible share all the information and statistics that I learned this morning, but I will share the key things and a few resources to check out for more information.

If you really want to know what's in your vaccinations, get a copy of your child's vaccination record and go to novaccine.com to see what's in the vaccinations your child's been given. Some of the ingredients in vaccinations are:
* Penol (poison)
* Formaldehyde
* Aluminum Phosphate (toxin previously used in deodorants; stagnates lymph nodes)
* Alum (a preservative that was forbidden to be tested on humans)
* Acetone (like in finger nail polish remover)
* Glycerin (toxic to the liver, kidney and causes lung damage)
* Monosodium Glutamate - MSG
* Plus other toxic metals, lead, cadmium, aluminum & mercury (thimerosol)

Russia, Denmark, Australia, Japan & Great Britain have all banned the use of thimerosol in their vaccinations and it's been removed from horse vaccinations because of the damage done to multi-million dollar race horses.

The "toxic dose" of aluminum according to the FDA is 25 mcg. The Hepatitis B vaccination, given on the FIRST DAY of a child's life, contains 250 mcg of aluminum. By the age of 2 months, a child on "traditional" vaccination schedules would have 1,875 mcg of aluminum in their system.

There has NEVER been a study done to see what happens when you give an infant a variety of shots in a ten minute period, yet that's what we do to children at birth, 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, a year, 18 months, 2 years and on! No vaccinations have long-term studies done on them. No "combination shots" are intended to be given together as each separate vaccine is only trial-ed in an individual dose. What happens in your body when you put them all together?

According to a leading researcher, Dr. Todd Elsner, in his new book, What the Pharmaceutical Companies Don't Want You To Know About Vaccines..., abortion clinics are aborting babies LIVE and "harvesting" their organs (aka human diploid tissue) so they can be purchased, according to a sales list, to be used in the development of vaccinations. This includes, but is certainly not limited to, the flu shot.

Mercury was to have been removed from all vaccinations in the 1950's after the Blue Ribbon Panel Congressional Committee was formed and investigated the use of toxic levels of mercury in vaccinations. In 1956 the CDC showed reports of the toxic levels of thimerosol. Yet as late as 2003 into 2004, many vaccinations still contained toxic levels. Mercury, along with many other metals, stay in our system for life. They affect our children and then when combined with more metals, our grandchildren.

In the 1950's, children were given three vaccinations by the age of 5 years old. In 1983, a child was given ten vaccinations by the time they were 5 years old. In 2009, by age six, a child is given 37 vaccinations for 18 diseases. That's 81 injected bacterial or viral components. Yet many of these diseases were eradicated by the improvements in sanitation, healthy drinking water and healthier food storage.

Time lines and research shows that cases of disease and illness usually drops over time and then when a vaccination is introduced into the population the occurrences increase. When there is an "outbreak" of a inoculated disease, such as measles, 75-90% of the affected population is the vaccinated population, NOT the unvaccinated population.

A vaccination shot is given directly into the body where it is then processed through the muscle, tissue and blood stream. Yet many vaccinations say "Do not enter into the blood system". How can that be possible? And when we get a virus the "normal" way, by acquiring it naturally, it doesn't enter our blood stream, therefore avoiding the brain and many organs that are affected by the immunization.

Matt and I have chosen to delay the vaccinations of our children. There may come a time when they get them...there may not. But I can't, with a clear conscious, give my boys large doses of things that don't belong in little, developing bodies. They just can't handle it. Do you think you'd be "ok" after having many strains of diseases injected into your body all at once? I don't. I wouldn't do it willingly myself. How can their little bodies learn to fight off everything when there are so many things going on in their bodies?

I don't fault anyone who does vaccinate. Goodness knows MUCH more of the US does than doesn't. But, I do wish people would do research and investigate what they're agreeing to put in their bodies before the time came. Educate Before You Vaccinate! Please, for your children and your grandchildren. What you do after that is your choice; and we've made ours.

For more information:
General Vaccination Information; "Are Vaccines Safe?" and biblical support for not vaccinating and to schedule Mary Tocco for your conference. www.childhoodshots.com

World Association of Vaccine Education (WAVE) novaccine.com

Michigan Opposing Mandatory Vaccines (waiver forms) momvaccines.org

National Vaccine Information Center - State laws and general vaccine information, assist with vaccine injury and find vaccine attorneys 909shot.com

General Vaccine Information vaccinetruth.com

Vaccine Books & Natural Health thinktwice.com

Recommended Books:
How to Raise a Healthy Child... In Spite of Your Doctor by Robert S. Mendelsohn, MD

Vaccines, Autism, and Childhood Disorders by Neil Z. Miller

Evidence of Harm (Exposes the Vaccine Mercury cover up) by David Kirby

Vaccine Safety Manual for Concerned Families & Health Practitioners by Neil Z. Miller

Real Grown-up Fun!

It's been great!! Matt and I dropped the kiddos off at my in-laws Thursday evening and after a very nice dinner with them, we returned home. At least that was our plan. Until we got into Canton, MI...and I saw IKEA. Would you believe I've never been to an IKEA? Really. I haven't. I swear. But on Thursday I finally made it! I made Matt take a picture of me to prove it:


We spent an hour there drooling over all the fun and cool things they had. Ok. I was drooling and begging. Matt was refusing me all my wants. But that's his job and I'm ok with it. We left with just two items; a flower pot and a gift, so I can't tell you about it. On the way home, we stopped at Astoria in Royal Oak and had a great dessert, then headed home.

We finally got our lazy butts out of bed today around 11am. We had the rest of the desserts for breakfast (who says baklava can't be a breakfast food?) and then did some running around. We had a good lunch and spent a lot of time just the two of us.

We met our "mentor couple", Ron & Kelly, for dinner tonight (HI, KELLY!) and truely enjoyed their company. I shared my internet secrets with Kelly and she needs links, so you all get them too:

naughtycodes.com That's a GREAT website to go to when you're buying anything online. Go there, go through the pull down menu and find where you're shopping and then click. It'll bring up another window with all the coupon codes available for that site. Maybe free shipping, 15% off, etc. We use it a lot for my second secret:

restaurant.com A fun and cheap way to try local restaurants! We check here a lot when we want to try something new. And with the codes from naughtycodes.com we can usually get a $10 gift card for less than $2. You just pay for it, they sent it to your email and then you print it and take it to the restaurant and it works just like a gift card (with stipulations). Matt and I used two this weekend!

And my final secret for all you Michigan drivers; michigan.gov/drive It's the season of the orange barrel!! Check out this site for all the local closings and to see real time video feed of the freeway before you leave the house! Also any major accidents or slow downs are reported here.

To finish of my evening, I joined two great friends for dinner at Taco Loco. It's been two days of pure grown up fun! And I'm so excited that I have two more days to go!!!

Rainy Day Fun

Why is it always raining on the days you have fun things planned? I had hoped to take the boys to do fun things over spring break, but it doesn't look like we'll get much done.

Yesterday was rainy and I was sick, so I let the boys basically destroy the house. I even set up the easel in the laundry room (the key is the tile floor!) and let them get dirty. They did a good job. We now have new artwork for the house. ;)

Easter Photos!

Matt went out and found a card reader today. I was desperate. I hate having good pictures and not being able to post them. ENJOY!!