Today is Dylan's birthday!! He is turning 16 this year, Wow! He is becoming Mama's big boy. LOL! HaHa! The great thing about Dylan is that he knows when I'm joking around and knows when to ignore me when I start acting dumb. LOL!

We are going to his party tomorrow though.

I am looking forward to seeing him again because I haven't for quite a while.  

 

We met the Sensenig family at a park one summer.

 

Anyway, Mom and Dad invited them up a couple of times just to visit and have lunch or dinner with us.

 

Dylan and I became great friends and we hung out every time I saw him.

 

He is very talented with the guitar and the drums. Err....the kongo bongos. ; )

 

He and his family have spent the night a couple of times, but one time we stayed up so late listening to his "night night" music. (We love listening to jazz a lot!)

Hey Dylan, now that I bought a D.S. Lite, we can play together and I won't have to use yours!

 

 

Anyway,  I just wanted to say Happy BirthDay to my awesome friend Dylan!!!!

 

P.S. I don't know if Paulie told you this but, we bought a Play Station 3!!

But, we didn't buy it for gaming purposes. We bought it mainly for watching DVDs. Because we bought an HD TV, we needed a really nice DVD player. It is a very good quality DVD player.

Paulie wants to play a little bit with his friends though on his college party.

I have just returned from a week at VA Beach with “everybody.” I had a wonderful time!

 

Before that we had 2 weeks of phone calls with the court Prosecutor in my sister’s case. A new judge had asked us all to settle on a 25 year sentence for the defendant. Apparently people are getting away with murder in this country, and he was afraid the person would walk away with 5-15 from a bum jury. They certainly exist.

 

At first we were indignant, but when we had to consider which gamble was higher, we decided to go with the 25 years, which he will hardly survive at his age in a state prison in NJ.

 

On August 19, 2008 he accepted our deal and pleaded guilty.

 

Home News Tribune (NJ)

Star Ledger (NJ)

 

The sentencing is on October 24, 2008 and there will be no trial. My family and I will travel to NJ to attend the sentencing. We give our impact statements there, and send letters now which the judge will read in advance.

 

Today I have been filing schoolwork and gearing up for a new year. The weather is beautiful.

Sorry guys, I know, it has been way too long.

No need to post about the CA trip because Paulie has already done that, so I'll talk about what we did tonight and our also about our next trip. The Baughns and the Prices came over and had dinner, brownies, coffee and talked about TOS.
They are all gone now though.

Ok, Friday morning we are all leaving for Indiana. Because we need to talk with our lay-out guy (TOS related).

As far as music goes. Paulie, Luke and I like to play the Piano, guitar and the bass.
We practice as much as we can. (except for Paulie. He doesn't practice as much - too much college homework.)


Ok, well I will try to comment soon.

I have to go now!

...for a weekly or monthly periodical for my fourteen year old son. He likes to read non-fiction and has varied interests. I know there is WorldMag News but am also looking for other ideas.

Thanks in advance!

Once again Vermont’s failure to protect children from criminals is national news. The body of 12 year old Brooke Bennett of Braintree, VT was found near the home of her uncle, a sex-offender who did time for a brutal rape but was “let out early, for good behavior.  Once released he completed their ‘sex offender’ course and the Washington Post reports that [he] was released from probation in 2006. Now, he is in jail, again…but his niece is dead…”

 

The disappearance of Brooke initiated Vermont’s first ever Amber Alert.  Vermont is one of only a handful of  states in the nation which has not adopted Jessica’s Law.

 

The computer tracking that implicated Brooke’s ex-step-dad in the murder can be used to find people who import illegal child pornography into their home. Apparently there is something before congress to support this measure: PROTECT is asking Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahey (D-VT) to use his power as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee to push the Biden-Hatch bill past Senate obstructionists and onto the floor for a vote.

In at least 1 in 3 child pornography arrests, law enforcement finds evidence of a local child victim, but less than 2% of these leads are being investigated due to sheer lack of resources.

 

Fox talk show host Bill O’Reilly once suggested that his listeners "visit [Vermont] at your discretion," because it is a "hopeless, hopeless state" that refuses to "protect the kids" from child molesters.

 

This is a popular opinion:

“the law will not be added until there is an outcry by the people. as for who makes the laws it is the state government that is elected by the people. as to who is to blame it will rest on the people for letting their lawmakers pass laws that protect the criminals.”

Um, excuse me, can we say, civil unions? Did that go past the people, the heart and soul of conservative rural Vermont? No way! It was ordered down through the courts by the then-governor, now chair of the DNC, Dean! BTW, you can blame populated, liberal Chittenden County for throwing any actual voting we DO get to do.

 

You can't blame voters for this murder. O’Reilley can blame all of Vermont, if he wants to. I think anytime someone gets passionate about child’s rights it is a good thing. Others are blaming the parents. I’m sorry, but there is only one person to blame: the sick man that did this crime!

 

Why don’t we learn how to stop pointing political fingers, blame the man who did this, and hold him accountable? Somebody did just that, and they get my final standing ovation:

 

“Jacques is charged under a federal law that provides for the death penalty in a kidnapping resulting in a child's death. Michael Jacques, 42, could face the death penalty under federal law if convicted in the disappearance of Brooke Bennett.”

 

I guess federal prosecutors had to take things into their own hands, since Vermont politicians seem to believe that we can dismiss criminals and put them through some program for healing, a little slap on the wrist and they won’t be back, and after all aren’t people basically good?

 

Worldview can be a matter of life and death, folks. It really has been.

 

Even if something is done, it is too late for little Brooke, too late for her family and friends.

It is almost too late for the 14 year old abuse victim “Juvenile 1” who, unbelievably, is being called an accomplice and a teenage lover, instead of an alive fellow victim, in all of this. Oversight and minds like that just add to the victimization of children. 

 

Yesterday, Scott and I decided to celebrate our meeting on a sidewalk 18 years ago. We decided to go out for a little while.

 

First we weeded a neighbor’s rose garden. She does not get around as well as she used to, since a plow truck ran over her several years ago.

 

Our youngest found a garden snail while we were there, so we made a habitat in a jar for it when we got home.

 

A friend who saw the tarp on our roof (dormers are being put in) stopped in to see if we needed anything (he is a roofer).

 

We made the kids a grilled-cheese & tomato soup dinner (to be followed by popcorn and their own movies while we are out.)

 

Then we fed the barn.

 

Then the dogs got skunked.

 

Then my boys were interrupting me in the back recesses of my closet while I was looking for something to wear, because they wanted the BB gun (to hunt the skunk with.)

 

Then my daughter decided we were NOT going out without her.

 

Guess what? We actually made it out. It was 9:45 pm when we left. We reached civilization at 10:pm. Nobody serves food after 10:pm. -- not even nachos. So…we bought a bag of white corn chips and went home to make our own snack. We watched a movie comfortably in our living room, while the kids watched theirs on a computer (and another, on a laptop.)

 

I had a wonderful night!

 

Yesterday was Jessica and Daniel's Birthday's!!!! Well, I have "yesterday" but this is an old draft that I never got around to posting. So bear with me.
I'm really bummed I didn't bring the camera so now I can't put pictures up.

Before dinner, we were all playing Frizzbee and talking.
Daniel showed me his Corn snake!
His snake laid 13 eggs and I got to hold one.
He said that I could have one when they hatch! (Mom said "gross" and "no".)
After dinner, everyone went outside and it was pouring hard!!!
Most of us stayed out for a long time, but then I and a couple other kids went inside.
Paulie, Tim Jaime (Hi-may) and JohnMark stayed outside with their shirts off acting like a bunch of dingbats!

Mrs. Estabrooks made a really good cake; It looked very ruby red.
Everyone loved the cake; I had two pieces!

After everyone was done with there dessert, Daniel played the piano and everyone sang!
Now, as the adults were talking, the electricity went out and then came back on. They had candles out there and Dad was acting silly with Mom.
Then, about a minute later, it went out again and stayed off.
Everyone was having a lot of fun! Mr. Estabrooks and I lit all the candles and found flash lights.
It was funny because right when we left, all the electricity came back on! LOL!
We had a great time over at their house.
Thanks Mom and Dad for taking us (and ClaraBaughn!) over there!

I'll post again soon since we are NOW in AZ on a huge summer trip on the road. God bless all of you!

My grandpa came down from AK to TN for a conference.
After he was done with the conference, he spent two nights with us and then went back home.
My grandpa is the BEST guitar player in the world.
He taught us a lot of stuff on the piano, Paulie's new guitar-bass and the guitar.
(Paulie bought a bass a couple days ago and Grandpa showed him how to do some stuff on it).
Here are some pictures:


Here we are taking Grandpa up to the Smoky Mountains!


:)


Grandpa and the kids!



And here are some pictures of Paulie's new Bass!

Isn't it so cool looking!?! I love the color of it too!

 Here is another picture of it. He is having a lot of fun with it!

And to end this entry, I have a couple cute pic's of San!


Awwww!


She is so cute!


Alright, that's it for now, I'm going to bed!

I knew I was getting closer to home when I saw big green mountains with blue ones behind them in the distance. We stepped out of the van and the air was free of humidity. I was at a rest stop in the Adirondacks.

 

We were returning from my niece’s wedding. We had a wonderful time. On our last day we stopped at the cemetery our six children. I had been to my sister’s grave twice already on this trip, but all the children hadn’t. It was upsetting to see them all standing near her stone. They all love her so much. I know I need to be thankful that they knew her. It is not so for my brother’s baby, or Dawn’s two grandchildren so far, or the others coming.

 

Then we went to visit my dad at the medical home where he lives. I know his family parents are ‘happy’ with the arrangements there, but every time I visit, his room is smaller. If it gets any smaller, it will be ridiculous. I think they make it great for a while until the residents and families are dependent on them, and then the glory treatment is over. I think his care is good: I just wish his room were bigger. Again, I need to just be thankful that it is a clean, well run, kind and caring place. Everyone there is great.

 

It is still just kind of tough to walk out of there and see your father as one of “those” people, in a wheelchair, bound to a building-- unless taken someplace. They say he falls sometimes. He has MS, but it developed later in his life (after 40). I wish him no ill-will. Those days are past me. His accountability is between him and God now. His daughter who lived nearby (and would have visited regularly) was murdered 18 months ago. Our problems are bigger now.

 

When I got home I threw on my boots and jacket and went straight out to the barn. My OTTB (Off Track Thoroughbred) and our black pony were there. I was very anxious to get back home when we were leaving NJ, and I think this new horse in my life had something to do with it.

 

I was in NJ six times after losing Dawn in that first year. Now I hadn’t been there in seven months. So, leaving and coming home was different. You don’t know until you do it. Going from the cemetery with the kids, straight to see my dad, and then leave for home was too difficult. I have to do it differently from now on. Convenience is not always the best route. We forget that we have emotions. I called my brother and left a message on his cell phone as we left. Thank God he is there, I told him. I call my Mom every night. Tonight, I will tell her: it was rough. It is good for us to share these things. It is support to know others hurt. She bears her burden every day, and better than all the rest of us put together. I don’t know how she does it. It must be faith.

 

Faith cannot be discounted in all of this. Without it, I would be MUCH worse off. And my husband is very supportive.

 

Now I have 8 weeks to be back home, homeschool the kids, keep the house up, maybe paint, and ride the horses…then it’s 2 weeks of preparation, vacation at VA beach and the travel involved from here (700 miles 1-way). Then I have 1-2 weeks back home until the murder trial begins in mid-September. So they say.

 

That is a whole different story. Right now, the house needs to be cleaned, and my kids are awaiting instructions. It’s raining, but my horses are tended to.

 

It’s the little things, the little blessings that we must hold on to. They are the handholds of life that keep us from falling into the pit of despair. The little blessings save us.

 

When I pulled up alone to Dawn’s grave on the morning of her daughter’s wedding, this song came on the radio: “I am alive, hey, hey, I am alive…”   Thank You, I said.

 

 

Ok, I'm sorry to keep (the few people that check my blog every now and then) you all waiting for a new update.

Let's see, we are going to be so busy through out the months of June and July.
We are having TONS of people staying over at our house through the month of June.
We are leaving in 'mid July to going to CA! I don't think we will be coming back 'till
early Augest! It is going to be SO much fun! We are going to get to see our friends and family again!
A couple days ago we had Mrs. B over from England! She brought chocolate and it was SO good.
England chocolate is WAY better than American chocolate. She came to the USA  because she was going to speak at a conference. They don't really have any conferences in England.
We had a great time with Mrs. B!

Tomorrow, we have more people coming to stay with us.
I forget their last name though.

Guess What?!?!?!?!

When we went to the conference I saw a piano software that people were selling.
Mom said that we didn't have the money for it.
But the lady said that if I wrote a review for it and we put it in the magazine, then she would give me the software!
She is suppose to get back with us soon. I can't wait!

Ok, well, I just wanted to let all you guys know that I wasn't dead. ;)