Brooklyn counts, in spanish

She says her middle name first, and she leaves out siete, but still.

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I watched my 11 year old nephew, Connor, for a week and a few days while his family was traveling and such. I didn't quite know how to entertain an 11 year old. We only have toys for a preschooler and toddler. But I recently bought a "50 science things to make and do" oversized flashcard box. So I let him look through those and decide on a few he wanted to make. One of the experiments he chose was a foaming monster. He knows a family in our ward, so we had a couple of their kids over. It was great because they decorated their monsters first with colored paper, which took at least 45 minutes :). Then we put vinegar, dish soap, food coloring, and baking soda in and wacthed it foam. I helped Brooklyn make one so she had fun also.

We've been having warm, warm weather. On the news they said not to go outside, as it could reach 90 degrees :). Damon just scoffed when I told him, as he is from Dallas. We enjoyed the sun by going on a spur of the moment camping trip. Damon called me at work in the morning and told me the Jensens had invited us to go camping for two nights. I said, "sure, I don't care what we do this weekend, as long as I'm in the sun." Deb and Marc have a camper trailer that they keep stocked with nonperishable food. So she said meals were taken care of, just to bring milk and bread. We added doritos, soda, and some fruit, which in the end the Jensens really appreciated. We spent Saturday playing on the bank of a cool river. For some reason I could not muster any energy, so I volunteered to stay in camp while Devin took a nap, and get in a few zzz's myself. Unfortunately, Devin only slept half an hour, so we got up, and met up with the rest of the gang. The jensens bought a few more inner tube flaoties. One person would drive and the rest of us floated lazily down the river. We took Brooklyn with us once, and we had a little mishap. She had a life jacket on, and was riding on Damon's back as he lay on a full bed floater. But we ran into a tree that started to tip Damon, so he threw Brooklyn off his back so he could hold her up. But the current was still pulling him and his float was overturning. He told me to take Brooklyn, which I was able to do and hold her on my lap. Scared Brooklyn pretty bad. She did not have as much fun after that. She cried and kept telling us to "watch out," after that. Earlier in the day she had been playing by the bank in one of the inner tubes and had tipped over and went face first into the water. Hopefully she's not scarred for life. I'll have to get her into some swim lessons some day. Poor Girl. Sorry I don't have any pictures. The only one I have is of Brooklyn falling asleep eating dinner tonight. We got home, cleaned up and went to church. Damon fixed chicken nuggets for her for dinner around 5:00, and she couldn't eat them she was so tired. Damon came to get me to show me her sleeping on the kitchen counter. She protested when we told her to go take a nap, but fell asleep again trying to dip her nugget. I think we wore the kids out.

And an Update: I had a request to see a better picture of Brooklyn's haricut. I don't know if this is a better picture. But I get compliments on her haircut all the time, and from stangers, so I must have done a good job, but maybe it is just Brooklyn's beautiful, thick hair that makes the cut.

I hate to get political, but . . .

So last week, Exxon Mobil reported it's quarterly profits at 11.7 billion. That is 11.7 billion in PROFITS in three months. They broke the record for quarterly profits of any U.S. company ever. They broke the world record. The top 6 big oil companies reported a joint earning of just over 50 billion in quarterly profits. Gas prices have stabilized and even dropped a little. But I think there is and has been some serious price gouging going on, and I think it is time the government stepped in. Actually, I'm curious as to why they haven't already. The only reason I can think is that the top officials are getting money off all this also. I read in an article that both McCain and Obama recieved big money from oil companies for their campaigns. 8 years ago when Bush took office, gas was less than $2.00 a gallon. Can you imagine paying that now? I think Americans have stood by and watched gas prices rise because we think we're somehow being patriotic. If we don't have loved ones in the military, the truth is we are untouched by the war in Iraq. It doesn't affect our personal lives the way it does Iraqis. So we feel duty bound to pay the high cost of continually rising gas prices and not complain too loudly about it. But the truth is, with Exxon Mobil reporting that much profits, we are not paying for a war at the pump, we are making a few oil men rich. I mean, it all seems a little crooked to me. And the economy is floundering because of it. The cost of living is increasing exponentially. Local police and fire forces have had to make severe staff cuts becasue they can't meet their budgets. I can't totally blame the housing crisis on big oil, or the fact that unemployment is up and every day I hear of companies going out of business and millions of americans losing their jobs, but I'm sure it contributes. And I want something done about it. No more excuses.

Disclaimer: I'm not as well researched on this subject as I'm sure I should be if I'm going to rant like this. But I had to get it off my chest. I hope I haven't offended anyone.

FYI: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/?q=exxon+profits&submit=Search&id=11881780&FORM=AE&os=0&gs=1&p=1&adunitid=939&propertyid=3501