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I just can’t bring myself to allow my kids control over a large supply of candy so this is  what I do:

On Halloween I usually confiscate all of the children’s candy within an hour of our arrival home.  I allow them a small amount of time to gorge, but I start to fret about them eating too much candy and remove it as soon as I can manage.  I put the candy in a container and they earn pieces for doing chores at a rate of one candy for every 4 chores.

On Easter I do the same thing, I remove it as soon as I possibly can.  One time I was so reluctant to give them candy throughout the year, that when the next Easter rolled around I still had candy from the previous Easter.  I actually reused the candy and then reconfiscated it.

I have even taken away candy that they came home from a birthday party with and then made them earn the candy back at the rate and in the manner listed above (4 chores =1 candy).

For the last few months, I’ve even made them earn their fruitsnacks?!  Have I become overcontrolling?  Or do other moms do this too?

OK, I’ll jump on the meme.  I’m the mystery blog reader Laresa referenced, I suppose.

4 Jobs I’ve had

• I worked for Superdell at Totally Awesome Computers (true story)
• I worked for eBay in the glory days
• I planted trees for one long hot summer
• I made pizzas in my dad’s pizza restaurant

4 TV Shows

• Top Gear
• The Office
• The Shield
• Home Movies

4 Favorite Foods

• Sushi
• Souvlaki
• Hamburgers
• Baja Gorditas

4 Places to Visit

• Hong Kong
• Concordia
• Tsaparang and Mt. Kailash
• St. Petersburg (Russia, not Florida)

4 Movies I Will Admit I Like

• Unforgiven
• Starship Troopers (I know what you’re thinking, and I don’t care)
• Three Amigos
• Rushmore

4 Favorite US Cities (as of today)

• New York
• Seattle
• Knoxville (TN)
• Monticello (UT)

4 Most Important Things

• Kathleen
• Isaac
• Charlotte
• Nicole

I choose to tag no one, but I invite Kathleen to make a list.

So I went to vote this morning, and I kid you not, the songs that came up random while I voted were as follows:

• "The Same Old Song" by The Four Tops
• "Beat It" by Michael Jackson
• "Moby Dick" by Led Zeppelin
• "Careless Love" sung by Harry Connick Jr.
• "Fascination Street" by The Cure

I think there’s a deeper meaning in this.  The Candidate of Change isn’t change at all, but more Carter-esque nonsense.  It’s "the same old song", if you will.  I’m pretty sick of Chris Cannon, so "Beat It".  "Moby Dick" has some sort of fruitless quest or something going on.  "Careless Love" applies to the dimmer conservatives who are under Obama’s spell, and "Fascination Street" to the Democrats.  I think.

So, my votes.  Mostly Republicans, one write-in, one Democrat, one Constitution party, "No" on retaining all judges (force of habit; one unfair ticket, and you can all get re-appointed). 

The write-in may require some explanation.  We had the choice for our governor of John Huntsman, who is a grade-A RINO, Superdell (I’m a former employee, and can verify that he’s insane), and a Democrat promising free health care for everyone.  My choice?

I wrote in "Thomas S. Monson".

It’s a little hard to read, but Zach found this sign on the Urinal at the local Iceberg.  Ironically, instead of referring patrons to the nearby toilet, this sign suggests they use the sink.

Hello all.  I’ve provided a page where family can put  their Christmas desires for easy memory and funtimes.  You can reach it here.  Please send me a note with what you’d like to add, and I’ll post it up. 

"You like this kind of car so you would buy it?" 

"There’s a special checkout for the car, you can drive it up and buy it."

Isaac built this car the other day and then he was so pleased with it that he talked about it continuously as he followed me around the house.  The above quotations are the only ones out of his stream of speech about the car that I could remember.

For some reason I couldn’t view or post on Virtute for a few days so I should have multiple posts today :)  I’ll see how many I can post before the baby on my lap starts wiggling too much.

The recent Obama ad mocking John McCain has gotten me a little riled.  Yes, John McCain doesn’t use a computer much.  I recommend looking at this article from Slate for a little insight into the real McCain background on telecommunications and the internet.

For the mockers, here’s the key line: ". . .because of his war injuries, he is limited in his ability to wield a keyboard."  John McCain had his arms and fingers broken multiple times as a result of his commitment to this nation.  Let’s use a little caution when making fun of his ability to tap out an email.

We’re having confusion and delay with our hosting company.  Some of you may be looking for different websites, and I’d like to point you in the right direction while we work through things:

Modstomp.com – www.virtute.org/modstomp/

TheHaymonds – http://www.virtute.org/virtute/thehaymonds/

Thanks for your patience, gentle visitor.

Seems like the months have just raced by.  Starting with Nicole being born on May 6th, we’ve just had one adventure after another.  We’ve had Kathleen’s family in town, which is blessing with some challenges.  I’m an introverted person sometimes, and I’m not a great host.  Luckily Kathleen makes up for that.  I was glad the toads had a chance to get to know Grandma Bunny, Grandpa Bird, and Uncle Brian better.  I was also glad for the chance to take a nice long drive with Grandpa Bird; we’re very different, but I felt like that trip was a great chance for us to get to know each other better and improve our bond.

Work is a little nuts.  I’m trying to keep track of everything, but I’m so busy managing multiple projects it’s like playing Whack-a-Mole sometimes.  It’s good work, and while it’s hard to explain what I actually do, the field is really growing and it’s a good place to be.

My dad and I are building a shed.  You could say we’re over-building it; it’s going to be fantastic.  12′ by 12′, very solid so far.  The walls are up and we’ll be doing the roof this week.  This is the first step in the larger war to come.  We have typical Orem soil, which is about 4 parts rock to 1 part dirt.  You may think I exaggerate; I’m not.  Oh, it’s also about 1 part puncture weed.  I had to get a solid tire for the wheelbarrow.  Anyway, finally some progress on that front.  See some pictures below (thanks Mom!)

Finally, I have a new calling in the church.  It’s a little different than I was expecting, but I’m up for it.  It means some changes, but it’s a good thing.  I think we’ll be blessed.  Of course, we’re always blessed.

Anyway, just wanted to give an update of things.  Enjoy the pictures below.

 

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

I took the toads on a bit of an outing and took some fun shots of them.  Really just pictures of the kids out having fun.

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

I took a drive today while I listened to Conference, and took a few photos while I was about. Here are the shots:

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.