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Wednesday’s Hero

Lisa — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 09:12:56 +0000

My Thoughts, Ideas, and Ramblings - A day in the life of a busy mom . . .

Wednesday Hero has never been issued a warning before but I felt it necessary for this one. This post contains graphic descriptions of torture and brutality that some may find it difficult to read.

This weeks Wednesday Hero is dedicated to thousands of men who lost their lives in April of 1942 in what has become known as the Bataan Death March.

On April 9, 1942 Major General Edward P. King, Jr. surrendered 75,000+ men (Filipinos, Chinese Filipinos, and Americans) who had been fighting the Japanese since January of that year when they launched a full scale invasion of The Philippines. They were starving and wracked with disease. Upon their surrender the men were robbed of their possessions and forced into a 61 mile, 5-12 day, march to Camp O’Donnell. Along the way men were brutally beaten, staved of food and water, some had their throats cut, some were beheaded, some died to disease or exposure or untreated wounds and others were simply executed. In all the death tally is unknown but it’s estimated that between 6,000 to as many as 20,000 men didn’t survive the march.

Maj. Richard Gordon: “I didn’t come down with a surrender group. They caught me actually two days after the surrender took place. First thing I did was receive a good beating. And everything I had in my wallet, in my pockets was taken from me. And as I was marched down that road, where they captured me, I passed my battalion commander, Major James Ivy, and he had been tied to a tree and he was stripped to the waist and he was just covered with bayonet holes. He was dead obviously. And he had bled profusely. He had been bayonetted by many, many bayonets. And that’s when I knew we had some troubles on our hands. We were in for deep trouble. And they brought us down into a staging area and put me in with the rest of the thousands that were assembled on the side of the road, and that’s where I spent my first night.”

Here’s a great link with more information and interviews with survivors.

The sacrifice and Hell that these men went through will not be forgotten. I don’t know about anyone else, but I never learned about this while in school. If you’re children aren’t being taught this piece of history make sure that you do it for them. These men must be remembered and honored.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

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Grow Baby Green

Lisa — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 21:53:15 +0000

My Thoughts, Ideas, and Ramblings - A day in the life of a busy mom . . .

I know after I had Will that trying to use natural products was something that we were going to try to do. Grow Baby Green is a website dedicated to helping stay environmentally safe and sound with your child’s products. They give some great idea of how to help the environment and not break the bank. Surprisingly, you may be do some of these things already. For example, recycling your clothes. Both my kids wear hand-me-down clothes. I also pass their clothes down to other cousins who can use them. I have also donated my clothes and other items in the house that aren’t being used to Goodwill, so somebody else can get a use out of them. There is also a great article of why you shouldn’t be using bleach. Did you know that more deaths occur due to the inhalation or ingestion of bleach than from any other household cleaning product? That alone should keep bleach out of your house! Each post has some great eco-friendly products to look at and try out too. This is a great place to stop and check out how you can make little changes in your house and with your kids to help the environment. It is these baby steps that allow for a better environment for us all.

Guarding the Computer

Lisa — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 14:11:31 +0000

My Thoughts, Ideas, and Ramblings - A day in the life of a busy mom . . .

Yes, we allow Madison access to the internet. Does it scare me? Definitely. I will never forget when two of my aunts went searching for apple pie recipes. Let’s just say the first link they went to was not for the apple pie recipe they were looking for! They laugh about it now, but at the time, they were quite shocked. I can only imagine how my kids would react. If my aunts can accidentally get to those type of sites, I can only imagine what a four year old can do. That is why I am extremely happy that there are programs out there like Integard which have the features I need to protect my children. This program blocks pornography, blocks inappropriate words and phrases in chat sessions and email, alerts me of any suspicious conversations or activities, blocks the sending of personal information, remote monitoring, sets search engine into their safe search mode, and time limits. This is just a few of the things it can do. There is quit a long list of all things it does to protect your family. If you aren’t sure if this a good fit for your family, they do have a 14 day free trial. What do you have to lose besides your worrying about what your kids are getting into?

Toddler served margarita in a sippy cup

Lisa — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 19:33:17 +0000

My Thoughts, Ideas, and Ramblings - A day in the life of a busy mom . . .

I wish I was kidding. This really did happen. I guess that the apple juice was right next to the margarita mix and a toddler was accidentally given the margarita mix instead. The toddler ended up in the hospital. The restaurant is paying all of the medical bills and I guess giving them some free meals too.

I personally think that margarita and apple juice looks completely different (and I have had a lot of margaritas in my time). Heck, they smell quite a bit different.

What would you do if this was your kid?

Preschool Screening

Lisa — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 02:40:53 +0000

My Thoughts, Ideas, and Ramblings - A day in the life of a busy mom . . .

We went to Madison’s preschool screening today. It went well. I really did not plan on sending her to preschool this fall, but I wanted to make sure that she was where she needs to be developmentally. We also learned some thing we need to work on.

First, the kid cannot catch. I did not know this. I guess Bill knew this. So we will need to work on this. She also cannot hop on one foot or skip.

Next, she does not hold a pencil correctly. I did not know this either. However, I know why this is an issue for her. I am right handed. Bill is left handed. See the problem?

She knew the majority of her body parts. The ones she didn’t know were like heel and forehead. Not ones you work on everyday.

She did know her name and that she was a girl. She also knew she was 3. Thank goodness they did not ask where she lives. Her answer to that question is “the beach”. Let me tell you, Chicago is no beach. LOL

She got all of the color except for grey. However, when they asked her to point to something grey she did.

She knew all her shapes. She was also able to take blocks and build them in the patterns they wanted her too.

She didn’t know what she was suppose to do if she broke something. Surprisingly, at home, she knows. LOL She did know if it was dark that you turned the light on.

They also did a hearing test that she passed.

That’s all I can remember right now, but like I said, it went well. I am not too concerned about the things we have to work on.