Uncle Sam's Plantation

I recently read Uncle Sam's Plantation by Star Parker. Parker is an African American woman who is conservative politically. The subtitle "How Big Government Enslaves America's Poor and What We Can Do About It" grabbed my attention immediately.

Parker defines poverty and shares her experiences while dependent on welfare. The author cites historical events that made it possible for the impoverished of this country to become dependent on the government for employment, health, education and more.



Parker takes the view that while the welfare system may have been started with the best of intentions to take care of the impoverished of this nation, the system does in fact legally enslave these individuals. Parker discusses the moral decline in the country and the impact this decline has had on individuals becoming dependent on government. Parker sheds light on the change in family responsibilities as affected by the definition of marriage, abortion, and planned parenthood. Leaving no stone unturned, Parker also addresses the education system in the United States and how it has changed from a system which involved in character building to one that is now based on decision making.



Parker does not make light of any of the situations in which people find themselves dependent on welfare or another government agency. She is not heartless or uncaring. She simply believes that the solutions to the problems faced by the individuals do not lie within a government agency. She eloquently writes that more government is not the answer.

Adults say the darndest things

Have you ever had the situation where someone asked you a question or made a comment to you that was so insanely intrusive or ridiculously rude that you were completely dumbfounded?  My friend Bonnie had this situation and wrote about it at her blog Five kids, a dog and a blog.  Bonnie is a teriffic writer and had me laughing out loud.  I even read her post out loud to my husband who was also laughing.

Christmas Tradition at Whole Foods

Many years ago we started a tradition of going to Whole Foods (It was called Harry's then) to buy assorted cheeses and crackers for Paw Paw for Christmas.  We always take a picture at the entrance and we all enjoy all the samples the employees offer.  Since we don't have a store this size in Bethlehem, it is a fun trip for us.  One year we took in 3 Labrador puppies we were trying to sell.  We did not kicked out and people loved petting the puppies.  We also did not sell any puppies that year.  This year we had the special treat of taking the yearly picture with Santa and one of his elves.  Neither minded at all taking there picture with our sweet girls.

Winter Wonderland on Cross Lane

Our wonderful winter wonderland on December 26, 2010.  

Snow on Christmas Night

Our first snow on Christmas night was delightful. 

Christmas Ornaments

More ornaments that we love.  The first picture is of Santa on a tractor for Pops.  He loves his tractor so this ornaments is his. The next two ornaments are really odd I know.  The first is an eye patch that Elle wore for a long time to correct the vision in her eye.  It was a source of great stress at the time.  Elle didn't want to wear the patch and we had a hard time getting her to wear it because she was self-conscious although she was terribly cute.  The second item is the glasses she had to wear with the patch.  Again, she didn't like these either.  Either Eliza Kate or Emma Jane decided to add these items to our Christmas tree last year.  At first I though it odd, however, that was such a tender memory at that specific time in her childhood, I am glad they thought to hang these treasures. 

Favorite Christmas Ornaments

Some of our favorite Christmas Ornaments. The little guy in the top picture we got about 15 years ago when we took the girls to a tree farm on Laboon Road in Monroe to cut our own tree. The owners of the tree farm made these little elves for all the children and gave them hot chocolate and cider. We have three--one for each girl.


The nativity scene made form Popsicle sticks was made by one of the girls.

The next little ornament is a troll we got from a Cracker Jack box when Pops and I were dating. So it goes back to December of 1985. Every year the girls fight over who finds the ornament and gets to hang it on the tree.