*Wedding Slideshow



Our photographer, Andrejka,  was kind enough to make us a sweet slideshow for our wedding, set to the best song. We were so fortunate to have her with us those amazing days up in Mackinac Island. Thank you Andrejka.....and I hope you all enjoy.... http://www.andrejkaphotography.com/JenniJoe/

And my favorite........

If you are interested in seeing all 1200+ pictures, they are here: http://www.pictage.com/1012431



And...if you are interested in seeing Andrejka's blog, you can check it out here: http://www.andrejkaphotographyblog.com/

*No Excuses

Warning: I am about to go on another one of my rants.....if you are not up for it, you may want to exit here. This is stemming from the death, last night, of a 6th grade boy at our Middle School.

Various viruses have plagued our tiny little town since Christmastime. I know that no matter what school, in what town, in what state....you will have epidemics that just seem to spiral out of control, but this......this is really starting to make me literally MAD. I am sorry to say, but I have to put a lot of blame on the parents as well as the school district.

Parents:

By God, if your child is coughing everywhere, is throwing up, having diarrhea, fever.......KEEP THEM HOME!!!! And KEEP THEM HOME until your child has gone 24 FULL HOURS without any of the above ailments with NO MEDICINE TO PREVENT IT (like Tylenol to bring down fever). Number one, if your child has those things, chances are he or she is going to get at least one other kid sick and from there, another kid sick and it goes on and on. While most kids can handle a little virus here and there without residual harm, there is always the chance that there could be a compromised immune system or complications (like in this heart-wrenching story of Trenton Lindsey). If parents would just KEEP THEM HOME, this would not spread around like wildfire to the entire school district and town.

School District:

When you send home letters to the parents stating how many days our child has missed and threatening that they will not pass because of excess absences (9 days in a semester), SOME parents may feel pressured or bullied into knowingly, sending their UNWELL children to school for fear of the recourse. While I understand that there are state and district rules/laws that need to be followed, I also believe that this holds those rules/laws responsible for sick children attending school and infecting other children! At what point does the district want to take action and fix this mess? If a child has made up all work and tests, also has passing grades, and the parent has sent notes acknowledging the absences (so as to not let truancy be excused)........THEN DON'T SEND HOME THREATENING NOTES SAYING OUR CHILD WILL POSSIBLY FAIL IF HE OR SHE MISSES ANOTHER DAY OR TWO!!!!! These notes need to be reworded, desperately!

I am so sorrowed and my heart is beyond heavy....it is broken for the family of Trenton. We are so sorry to have lost him. But I can not help but wonder if his risk, in any way, could have been minimized.

And also, as a side note, viruses are not resolved with antibiotics. You can not just take medicine and be "not contagious"......it will have to run it's course. For example.....Pink Eye....real true pink eye is called Viral Conjunctivitis. There is no miracle medicine to make you not contagious. You can get some eye drops from your ophthalmologist to help relieve the symptoms like itching or pain, but you can not just get some antibiotic drops and have it go away or be contagious free. Bacteria based illnesses are treated with antibiotics. There is a difference. 

*A teeeeny bit of thoughtfulness



Our wedding is in June. You would think that it will be plenty warm and the last thing on any one's mind would be cozy socks and blankets, but I got worried. Our wedding begins at 6 pm, festivities will go until 11 or 12, and it is all outdoors, overlooking Lake Huron. I worried that some (ladies especially) would get chilled and/or their feet would be begging to get out of their shoes. So I decided that dozens of cozy socks

 and super big, soft blankets would be perfect.

What types of unexpected things did you do or have at your wedding?

*Sneak Peek of Wedding Programs



Joe and I made these programs.....while I am not sharing ALL of the pages inside them yet, I will share the outer cover and first two pages. I designed and printed the 110lb card stock, then Joe cut them all perfectly to size, I zig-zag sewed (yes, sewed) them together with gold thread and voila.....our programs.



*Guest Book Love Letters



Since our wedding is a destination one, we are only having immediate family and a handful of close friends attend. I couldn't find a reason to have a "guest book", being that I know every single person that will go and I can tell you every name and address off of the top of my head.....(well, except for James and Rachel- they just moved and James must not know it yet, because he hasn't answered me.....and Salyna's Family......They have only been in pencil all of these years because of their nomadic ways....but now, since buying their first house....they are in pen!!).....okay, so I got off track there.....the guest book......

What do people do with a guest book after the wedding?? Is it for people with hundreds of guests who want to look in the book years later to see if so and so went to their wedding?? I don't get it! So.....I made a love letter book. I found a guest book that I loved for it's texture, size, design and color.....then I gutted it. I took out all "guest book" pages...... you know....... the pages and pages of lines for people to sign?!

I picked out loose pieces of card stock with different textures and colors. I had Joe use one of the "guest book" pages as a template and he cut the card stock to fit the book just like the original pages had. I punched the holes in all of them and made the new book.

I bought a box of 50 discounted "thank you" notes. I tore off the front half of the card that said "thank you" and threw them away. With the blank -back half, I used two different types of decorative scissors and cut around the edges to give it a more fun feel. Then I took a rubber stamper and two ink colors of the wedding and I stamped different patterns on all of the blah....blank -white envelopes that came in the "thank you" note set. After I finished stamping all of the envelopes, I used acid free, double-sided adhesive and I stuck them onto the pages that Joe had cut for me.

Now, everyone (all 30 people), can write a little note to us and put it inside an envelope and we have a true "Guest Book" of love letters from our nearest and dearest!! So when we want to look at our book in the future, we have sweet notes of love and encouragement from those who have made us who we are now.

*How Not to Raise Bratty Adults

See the look on Ariel's face? This is something that she has been called out on numerous times and it is something she gets punished for. Not because we don't allow her to have her own feelings, but because THAT is disrespectful when being told something by her parent/teacher/ANYONE!

I am going to be VERY frank right now and unload some things that a lot of you wish you could say, and also that some of you need to hear!



People.....your bratty, selfish, irresponsible, manipulative child will only grow to be an adult that is all of those same things....but bigger. How many of us deal with the rude person in the line that won't get off of their phone and take care of business or move out of the way to let someone else go instead?? The person that lies right to your face but gets offended when you express distrust in the future?? The ones that feel like they are too good for any job because THEY shouldn't have to do it.....someone else should?? The ones that get themselves in to debt because they have no appreciation or understanding of money at all....and the words, "living within or below your means" is not in their vocabulary?? The ones that when they don't get their way, they think life is so unfair?? We all get heated, upset, and irritated when an adult is any of those selfish, irresponsible, or manipulative things.......SO WHY DO YOU RAISE ONE????!!

I know that there are times our children do or say something that we were completely unaware of and it can catch us off guard and maybe even embarrass us a bit....GOOD! At least you paid attention, accepted the fact the the kid is not perfect and I am sure dealt with it in an appropriate way. I am not going to say what YOUR appropriate way should be, but I do know that if your child does not learn that there are consequences early on, they will never think any apply to them! Because when it comes to bad behavior, "it's just a phase",  is crap! The behavior only gets worse the older they get! I mean, you are taking an immature, irresponsible person and putting them behind wheels of cars, sending them out on their own in society, to endanger and annoy the community. So when I am not letting my kids hang out with you or your kids........you may want to take a hint!



Now that I have that off of my chest, I will say this......Most of my friends are great parents and do a wonderful job raising their kids. But some of you have children with behaviors that APPALL me.....but your behavior, as a parent, not addressing them or at least taking the time to know what sort of ways your child acts towards other people, disturbs me even more. Pull your head out of your ass the sand and take a look at what you have created! And next time you are mad because of the rude person working in Burger King.....realize.....that's YOUR kid =)


Below is an article written by Shawn Snyder:

1. Discipline. It doesn't take long for a toddler to toddle right into trouble of some kind. It is a learning time as they are just starting in their lives and this normally leads to a child getting into situations that can lead to trouble of some kind. This is the perfect time for a parent to teach the child not to do that action again. This process is called discipline. Discipline seems to have a negative vibe associated with it but discipline is a key teaching tool that parents are not using to its full potential. It is a teaching tool to help guide a child no matter the age to learn and obey rules placed on that child. Part of the learning is to understand that there are consequences to their actions. We as parents need to allow our children to experience the consequences from their actions. This learning tool will help them to make better decisions through their lives. That helps in not raising a brat.

2. Responsibility. If our goal is to not raise children who act like brats then teaching them responsibility is an important step. The children of this generation seem to have the concept that they are here to be waited upon and given their every whim. Long gone are the times when Saturday morning or after school hours are used doing chores around the house and yard as well as part time after school jobs during the teen years. A child who is taught to work gains respect for the time and hard work it takes to keep things nice and in working order. Clean dishes just don't appear they have to be washed, the grass in the yard just doesn't cut itself it is a lot of hard work to keep it mowed and looking nice. And with that knowledge they will respect their own things along with stranger's property.

3. Time. Nothing is better fodder for creating a situation where your child can get in trouble then extra time on their hands with no goals or challenges to stretch their selves. I don't believe that a child should have an activity scheduled every single hour; we don't want to overload our children. What creates the problem is when kids do the famous "hang out" with their friends hours after hours, day after day pretty soon leading to boredom. When a kid is bored they can end up in trouble creating problems for themselves and others. Sports, activities and chores are a few things to help give a kid something to fill their time.


4. Money. It is said that today's young people spend more today then any other group in history. My question is how? Where are these kids getting all their money, allowance and part time jobs do not make for the highest spending consumer group? The adults in their lives are blindly handing money and credit cards to them making up for not being a part of their lives, for peace and quiet, for guilty voices whispering that we owe them, for the need to make up to them that someone isn't in their lives; whatever the motivation is the money is free flowing and on its way to creating bratty self centered kids.


And so mom and dad as you can see there are some things that can be done to help our kids not to be brats. But you also have to see that most of these steps start with you. The discipline, responsibility, time management and monetary values all have one thing in common, you the parent. These kids rely on you, it is your responsibility to help and guide your kids. So, the next time you see a bratty kid remember they didn't get that way themselves, they have parents who didn't take the time to teach them that there is a better way to gain attention.




Please know that I do not think my children are perfect, nor do I pretend that they are. If you have read other posts on my blog, I freely discuss their embarrassing, rude and naughty things that they do. BUT, they are punished, they get grounded, they have their toys/phone/tv taken away and I DON'T REWARD THEM WITH NEW THINGS.

*Love Letter From Joe

Dear Jennifer Paradise Murillo

♥ You give your umbrella to old ladies in the rain.

♥ You make yourself sick making sure we are all well.

♥ You take care of not only your things, but you take care of all of our stuff first.

♥ You make sure we eat.

♥ You make sure we have medicine.

♥ You make sure we have fun.

♥ Although you can make me mad, you have never made me angry.

♥ Although I wear the pants, you always make sure to tell me how and when to put them on.

♥ My kids are always taken care of.

♥ My kids love to have you for their mother.

♥ You always make sure that we have what we need and make it so we can get what we want.

♥ If ever there was something in my eye, it was you.

♥ If ever there was something on my mind, it was you.

♥ I never felt my heart beat the way it did the day I met you.

♥ I never knew what real love was until you gave it to me.

♥ You are what makes my mind wonder, work, and sometimes go blank....in a good way ;-)

♥ Your freckles, lips, eyes, nose, ears, hair, hands, legs, waist, hips...YOU!

♥ The way you just walked in to the hallway and gave me a pouty look.

♥ The face you make when you think I am going to be mad at you for something.

♥ The fact that I can never stay mad at you.

♥ How beautiful I know you're going to look in your wedding dress, the day I get to stand there in front of our loved ones as the luckiest and happiest man in the WORLD.

These are just some of the reasons why I LOVE YOU...............