BBQ

Oh this stuff is so good. It made a fantastic day even more delicious. ; P

Notice all the beach clothes? Notice the baby blanket thrown down as a table cloth? Notice the BBQ sauce all over everyone?

My sister is en route to visit us from Utah! Pray for her safety. We'll have so much fun!

College Choices

M wants to be a dentist. She always has. You know, for the last 2 years that she could talk. Even before she'd ever been to the dentist, and even after she'd had 3K+ of work done on her mouth... she wants to be a dentist. My thought on that is that once you become a dentist, you have to be a dentist, and staying at home with your kids isn't an option. Well, unless you marry a dentist and can take a few years off from the practice.

So we've got a plan that she'll become a dental hygienist and that way she can have a job as she pursues dental school. Or maybe she'll find she is ok with that job and it's a great job for making your own hours when you have kids.

G wants to be a race car driver AND a pilot. "I already decided" he tells me when I suggest that maybe he would be a good teacher. His speech is coming along nicely and in general he should be able to do anything he wants, except armed service, firefighter, police etc....

It's interesting getting past the college decision and being on to the living part of life. You find that mostly people want to just have money to pay the bills. Few of us are possessed of and by such passion to truely starve for our art. And going into debt for any degree is a bad idea. Going into debt more than the annual income of the target job, is insane. Teachers for instance, don't make a lot of money. And if they have to use 20% of their income to pay off their student loans, how are they ever supposed to buy a car, buy a house, or tithe?

From the Dave Ramsey Show:
"I’ve got to tell you that I’m about to blow a gasket. I’m about to go into orbit. I’ve taken so many calls like this. Where are the parents here? If your kids are that stupid, jack them up! Seriously—$130,000 to get a degree from Columbia i...n divinity to get a $40,000 job as a minister. Spending $130,000 to get an undergraduate degree in psychology—that’s crazy!! So when you have babies, you go home to be a stay-at-home mom.

I love stay-at-home moms. But you know the number one reason I’m finding out now that people can’t stay home with their kids? It’s their freaking student loan stupidity! I’m not mad at this particular lady that just called. This concept is driving me bananas!

If you have a 20-year-old or an 18-year-old walking around, grab them by the ear and tell them they should not get a useless degree from a private university that you cannot making a living with and then choose to go home and be a stay-at-home mom with $100,000 in student loan debt.

This is how life happens. You say you’re going to be a professional at something and then you change your mind—YOU LOST THAT OPTION! You lose these options when you go this far in debt. You are forced into a situation where you are choosing between your children and student loan debt to get a useless degree!

You know what a psychology degree without a master’s degree is worth? NOTHING! Nothing! Absolutely nothing! You can’t get a degree in a factory with that degree! You know what a theology degree from Columbia is worth? NOTHING! It has no marketplace value! Think, people!

This is what’s going on! You’ve lost your ever-loving minds, America. You are stupid about education—how paradoxical is that? You wander in, spend any amount to get a degree and act like the student loan tooth fairy is going to come in and pick up your stuff. There is no student loan tooth fairy! You have to think.

Your stupid degree in a stupid field does not have a marketplace value and it doesn’t guarantee that you’re going to get a job! As a matter of fact, it’s an indicator that you’re too stupid to hire! Do not allow your 18-year-old to go $200,000 in debt so they can get a good Christian education in underwater basket weaving. That’s stupid! Stop it!

It’s out of control, people. Somebody’s going to have to stand up and say enough already! It’s not the institution’s fault, it’s the parents’ fault! Parents, tell your children to not be stupid and don’t assist them in this stuff. Don’t assist them to go hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt to get a degree that has no marketplace value. This is ridiculous! THINK, people!

Stupidity with education choices is about as paradoxical as anything I can think of. It’s got to stop. It’s destroying the American family. It’s destroying the economy. It’s ridiculous!"

The orange tree

As if this house weren't amazing enough, we have a well developed, producing orange tree. The oranges have ripened and we pick and give away a few bags a week. While it is still heavy laden with fruit, it is blooming! It's amazing and beautiful. I feel so blessed by the miracle of this food producing, flowering, creation.

Those kinds of parents

It's Monster Jam season here in North Central Florida. I'm a little embarrassed that G knows so much about them. When we were living in Palencia we had cable and he learned all about them. Grave Digger is his favorite. Last year at Dance Marathon his host gave him a Grave Digger truck that is super awesome, totally by chance. The host didn't even know it was G's favorite. Last year I got him a hotwheels Grave Digger.
We drove up to Jax for G to meet the driver and see the car. He was pretty excited. Inspiration led me to bring the stroller which kept LP happy for the 30 minutes we stood in line to meet the driver. G totally surprised us by being able to say "Denis" perfectly. And to make it all even nicer and more of an obsession, the nice folks at Advanced Auto gave us $20 in gift cards so we could go buy more monster trucks.
You can see from this picture why so many people assume M is a boy. But we are not the type of parent to pay $50+ for a ticket to go to the actual event. Who is? I have a hard time understanding who could buy that ticket, and who should...We are the kind of parent to borrow 40 books from the library and have the kids devour them in one day. I love it. It's taken them a while to learn this miracle, as seen below, of sharing the same space with their books. Actually it only took a few times of mom getting mad and taking away the books. They're wonderful kids and they learn so fast.

March

The weather has been glorious. Back and forth from warm to a little chilly. We've already been to the splash park and the beach this March. Later this month we're expecting some visitors and so glad to have a beautiful place to visit.