More Pictures

A family picture with monster face Abby and "You want me to do what?" look on Jenna's face. We never did get a good picture of all of us that day.

Abby swimming in the lake.

No clue what Jenna's doing, but cute.

"Take a picture of me! Cheese!"

The Hartke girls

Our buddy, Arden

We have this neighbor who I can't help but write about. Arden. Arden lives next door and has many roles in our neighborhood: policeman, watchdog, parking director, garbage can overseer, and general know it all about everyone and everything. Arden is probably in his 40s and one of the nicest, most helpful people I know.

* Tonight, Arden rang my doorbell to tell me that our garage light was on. He also added that I was wasting energy and that I would never find him with his garage light on.

* He often rings our doorbell at night to tell us if we accidentally left the dome light on in one of the cars. Very, very helpful.

* He always asks about guests we have or where Nate is if he notices his car gone at unusual times.

* He takes our trash out when we are on vacation without us even asking him. Last week, he scolded me for leaving our big recycling bin in the garage where he couldn't get to it while we were away.

* Arden scolds Nate for not watering our lawn three times a day.

* When we have our small group over or any large number of people, Arden does one of two things: 1) He puts his trashcans out in the street in front of his house so no one can park there or 2) He stands in the street in front of his house so no one can park there. Quite humorous:)

* Another trashcan issue. Arden leaves his trash cans/recycling cans out as long as he can during the week so that no one will park in front of his house. Unfortunately for Arden, we have a neighbor across the street who is a trash hauler and yells at Arden often to put his cans away.

* When we moved into our house, Arden was one of the first people in our house as friends from church were helping to move furniture and boxes in. He toured the house before we even knew his name.


I've decided that I really love and appreciate Arden. At least I know who is always ringing my doorbell at 10:30 at night!

The Vaccination Debate

The question of whether or not to vaccinate kids is one that intrigues me. I've become interested because there has been a flood of media coverage on the subject lately and I have been thinking about all angles of this controversy. One question that I read about was about letting vaccinated and non-vaccinated kids play together. I have never even considered that before. What would I do if friends of Jenna's weren't up on their shots? How would I feel if I knew that kids in her preschool class were given exemptions and weren't vaccinated?

My answer is that I don't know. There's a lot to this whole issue and it's one worth investigating and talking about. Here's what I know. . .

#1 Doctors overwhelmingly say that the benefit of vaccinating kids far outweighs the risks.
#2 Many people strongly believe that something in the vaccination shots is causing the autism epidemic.

When it was time to have our girls vaccinated, I really didn't think twice about it. The girls have both had all their shots. I trusted my doctor and believe that vaccinations are not only good for my kids, but for the greater good of people on a whole. Outbreaks can occur in if the percentage of vaccinated people in a given area go below 75-95%, depending on the disease.

On the other hand . . . what if vaccinations are causing autism? What if that could be prevented. We were at camp last week and met an incredible family that has two autistic boys. Their mother strongly believes that vaccinations are to blame. She says that both boys were normal, healthy children until about 18 months, right after their shots. They have actually gone through some kind of treatment (that I can't remember the name of now) to have the metals from the vaccinations removed from their bodies. She says that there is a huge improvement in both boys.

Seeing autism first hand makes one wonder if this issue is being swept under the rug and not being given the attention it deserves. I don't know, but I wonder.

I also wonder about spreading vaccinations out. The family at camp with the autistic boys said that after all of her research, she would recommend to any parent who plans to vaccinate to have every shot done separately, even if it costs more money in co-pays. She believes that giving so many shots at one time (because there are several vaccinations in one shot) could be part of the problem.

We have an excellent pediatrician and she has recommended spreading shots out for my girls, and I am thankful for that because I wasn't as aware of the risks as I think I should have been.

So the debate goes on . . .I guess I don't have a clear cut opinion. I am a believer in vaccinations all but erasing dangerous diseases, but see that there could be a link between autism and these shots. I hope someone figures it out though. There are a lot of families suffering.

Clubs I Do Not Belong To

There are certain "clubs" in life that I am not in, but desperately wish to be in. These "clubs" are activities that many people seem to enjoy and seem to be the in thing or seem to be cool. So here are some "clubs" that I want to be in, but have no hope of ever joining . . .

1) The red wine club. I want to like red wine. I really do. But I don't. I prefer white wine, but I must admit, I feel like a sissy when I am drinking it. It seems like sophisticated people drink red wine.

2) The coffee club. I want to like coffee, but no matter how many times I taste it, I cannot like it. I do, however, like the smell of it, and occasionally try to taste it in hopes that I grew new taste buds. But nope. Every time I go to "coffee" with friends I always get a hot chocolate with a shot of peppermint. They've started to call it going to "hot chocolate" with Laura.

3) I really wish I were young and cool and were into texting. I have texted. It's fine. I just don't understand why one wouldn't just pick up the phone. It's much more personal. Now, I do understand that sometimes, you can't talk and that texting is better. But 100 texts a day? Seriously. I am definitely not in that club and it makes me feel old.

4) Sometimes (notice I said sometimes) I want to belong to the perfect, well-behaved pastor's wives club. I am surely not part of that club, but am trying hard to achieve the well-behaved part.

I'm sure there are more "clubs" that I'd like to be a part of. If I think of any more, I'll write a post.

Does anyone out there have any "clubs" they'd like to be a part of?

Midwest Extravaganza

I love vacation and especially being home. I love to connect with our family and friends that we don't get to see very often. We spent time with my family in Pittsburgh, Nate's family in Toledo, and spent a week at Camp Pioneer in Angola, New York.

Josh, Nate's brother, up to bat at the annual Hartke family wiffleball game.

Beth, my sister-in-law, up to bat a the annual Hartke family wiffleball game.

Jenna and Abby watching the always beautiful Pioneer sunset over Lake Erie.

The kids at family camp at Pioneer. The driver is Noodles--the counselor who hung out with us all week. He's awesome. The kids begged him everyday to ride this train. He always gave in:)

Us with our good friends, the Rozelles. They live in the area and were able to come to camp too. It was so wonderful to see all of them.

Little travelers with Blossom and Deedee.

Our newest nephew, Jeremy, Matt & Misty's son. So, so cute!

We never get to celebrate birthdays together as a family, so we took advantage of my niece, Alayna's, fifth birthday and had a princess party for her!

Nate, at the annual Hartke family wiffleball game.

So we're home from vacation . . . .

After 7 hours on an airplane with a 2 & 4 year old, we are finally back from our Midwest extravaganza. When I get my pictures organized and suitcases unpacked, I'll give you all an update!