Lying isn't funny

I just read that a 6 year old girl wrote an essay for a contest to win Hannah Montana concert tickets and she won. She started her essay by saying her dad died in Iraq recently but guess what? It's a huge lie! She made it all up! If this links you can read the story here.

There are many people who have lost loved ones in this war and it's sad and heartbreaking and it changes lives forever! Pretending to have a dead father is nothing to lie about in order to win freakin' concert tickets for your 6 year old.

It had to be the mother's idea because what child would think up such a lie? The mother said,"We did whatever we could to win."

You know,Lillianna wanted to go to Hannah Montana too but I didn't have the money to take her. If there had been a contest to enter of course she would've tried by saying that she was a huge fan and knew all Hannah's songs and stuff like that. She would never say her father died in Iraq. I would have her in therapy if she came up with that on her own.

This story just makes me sick. The essay people are thinking about taking away the tickets. DUH! Of course take them away and punish this horrible mother. They should make her volunteer in a Veterans Hospital for the rest of her life. She thinks dying in Iraq is something to lie about? She should be ashamed of herself.

What do you think should happen to this mother and daughter?

That cute little short boy

Lillianna and I went to lunch at Friendly's today. She was doing a word scramble of state capitals such as: NTOBSO,Massachusetts would of course be Boston.
She skipped one that she didn't know and when she went back to it I tried to give her a hint. She was trying to figure out ERTTNNO,New Jersey.

I said,"It's part of your cousin's name." Lillianna frowned and asked,"My cousin?" Obviously still stumped I tried again.
"He's that cute little short boy with the spikey hair."
Lillianna asked,"Trent?" Then she said,"Ohhhhhh....Trenton New Jersey!" Then she started laughing,"That cute little short boy with the spikey hair???? That's so funny!"

I said,"Ya...it kinda is. I guess I'll blog about it!"
So I did.

Where have all the blogs gone?

I had a few extra minutes today to read some of my favorite blogs. The ones I clicked on haven't had a new post in months. I'm not casting stones since I've been slacking on my own blog but I am curious as to what has been happening with all these writers.

Since I've been working 30 hours a week since August,I haven't had the energy to write much. My "free time" is spent trying to wind down after a hectic day. Most days I'm constantly on the go.

Have you noticed that some of your favorite blogs don't even exist anymore?

Tricky mom!

This morning Lillianna informed me that she found my Christmas list. It has everyone's name and what I bought for them so that I could make sure that I didn't leave anyone out. I had to laugh when she said,"You listed everything by my name in Hebrew!!"

I've been doing that for the past 7 years because she's been able to read for all those years and it's hard to keep things from her. I also put secret things on the calendar in Hebrew because it's only for me to know and no one else.

I like to think I still have a few tricks up my sleeve!

Ornaments on the tree

For the past few years,buying the tree and decorating it was something I didn't participate in. It wasn't a conscious boycott or anything like that it's just that I worked every weekend so Rich and Lillianna picked out the tree on a Saturday and when I got home on Sunday it was all done. All I had to do was sit back and enjoy the beauty.

Since I don't work all weekend anymore,just an occasional 4 hours on a rare Saturday,I was home when Rich and Lillianna began to decorate the tree today. In the olden days when I decorated the tree,each and every ornament was in it's original box and I always wrote who it was from and the year. If it was a homemade ornament it would be wrapped in tissue paper and placed in a labeled plastic Ziploc bag. After Christmas I would take each ornament down and put it back where it went for the next year.

Today,I opened our Rubbermaid Christmas containers and I found.....CHAOS!!!!!!
My beautiful seraphim ornaments from our first Christmas were out of their individual velvet box and lay wrapped in tissue paper in the big container. I quickly unwrapped each one and found 2 of their boxes. The last one had to stay in the tissue paper. I don't know what happened to her box over the years.

I picked out the ornaments and handed Lillianna the light ones since the heavy ones fall off the tree even if we put them in the way back of the branch. I miss my old fake tree. It was bittersweet to find all the ornaments that said "Baby's 1st Christmas" or had Lillianna's name on it from 1997. She was only 3 months old.
Now she's 10 and that first Christmas seems light years away.

Every year I have tried to buy an ornament for me and Rich that says how many Christmases we've been together. This will be our 13th married Christmas. It seems so weird. When we were in Disney for our honeymoon I bought so many bride and groom ornaments that said "Our 1st Christmas." We were only married one month before we celebrated Christmas that year. I was so excited.

I'll make sure that I am always a part of putting up the ornaments from now on.It's important to remember the happy years that we have shared together and know that even though we have gone through some tough times,we are still here to decorate the tree again this year.

Obscure Christmas movies

I've never liked the Christmas cartoons that most people look forward to watching every year. Even as a child I didn't like them. When Rich and I got married 13 years ago,he brought with him a dowry which consisted of every Christmas cartoon ever made.
I figured he had them from childhood and we would save them for our child someday.

We were only married for one month when December rolled around and Rich popped a cartoon video in the VCR. He had seen them all so many times that he talked and sang along with the entire movie. He found it to be incomprehensible that I didn't like these movies and not only that,I didn't know who the Heat Miser was. He wasn't real. Why would I care about him?

I'm not anti-Christmas movies. My favorite one of all time is Miracle on 34th Street. I love the original not the remake! It's such a great story. We saw The Santa Clause in Disney on our honeymoon and we all love that movie and watch it often.

When Rich asked me if I liked any Christmas movies I had to think for a minute because the one I waited for every year is never on tv and hasn't been on for years.

It was Santa Clause Conquers the Martians.
I just found out Pia Zadora played one of the martian girls. I loved this movie as a kid although looking back,boy,was this the cheesiest movie or what? The martians wore helmets with antennas on top. Their faces were painted a weird green. I'm dying to buy this video!

My next favorite movie which no one on this planet has ever heard of was called The Christmas That Almost Wasn't. According to the info,I would've only been 3 years old when this came out and yet,I can remember the commercial for this movie so vividly. I have never met anyone who has ever heard of these two movies.

Please tell me there is someone out there who has heard or seen these movies.