Heidi's Hodgepodge

New blog

2009-09-14T19:59:00.004-05:00

My new blog can be viewed on our family website.

web.me.com/heidipackard

DisneyWorld

2009-02-15T21:01:00.024-06:00

We went to Disneyworld last month. Here's the run down on our trip: We checked into the hotel Thursday night, and the kids went straight to the TV. They probably would have been fine just watching TV all weekend. It was a real treat for them to watch Nickelodeon and Disney Channel.

Here we are, starting off the day at Epcot. We purchased our tickets there and then decided that we wanted to see Magic Kingdom on our first day....

So we boarded the MonoRail..... the kids thought it was soooooooooooooooooo cool.

Magic Kingdom was fun... Noah spent all his money on this musket.....

...and then used it to headbutt Sam.

But all in all, we had a great day.

The next day we went to Animal Kingdom. Some of the highlights included... Isabel doing an African Dance... And eating lunch at the RainForest Cafe. (For some reason I REALLY like that restaurant. Probably more than my kids.) As you can tell, by this picture, our day is winding down. Here are the pics from Epcot Center. I loved this picture for two reasons... First, notice Grace looks like she is sitting on a toilet and Isabel is trying to convince Josh that she is too small to go on this SCARY ride. And the plea continues.... Grace by the water's edge.

Family in front of the big Giant (Golf?) ball. (What IS that?)

Rebel Without a Cause

2009-01-05T13:37:00.005-06:00

Josh (and Santa) bought me a new camera for Christmas. Here are my first attempts at trying to figure out how to use a digital SLR.

Getting By (With a Little Help From My Friends)

2008-12-07T13:15:00.010-06:00

I enjoyed a delightful visit from some good friends back in November. We talked, organized my closets, talked, went shopping (and took some weird pictures at Kenneth Cole) , talked, ate yummy food, and talked some more. A perfect weekend!

Did I really just post pictures of my closets online?!

Moderation in All Things; aka Politics According to Heidi

2008-11-01T11:19:00.010-05:00

So, I know you're all DYING to hear me rant about politics. Seriously, I've been getting some pretty charged up emails regarding my decision to vote for Obama. Apparently I've "turned to the dark side", embraced socialism, and am toying with the ideas of communism! Here's an attempt to set the record straight. My decision to vote for Obama is based on several things. I will only talk about three points right now. The first is the economy/taxes, the second is the war in Iraq, and the third is having the right temperament/disposition. Economy/Taxes (This is for you, Curtis, Dad, and Chad) Why does everyone keep calling Obama a SOCIALIST? (Thanks for the propaganda picture, Dagen!) According to wikipedia (which is ALWAYS right, hee hee!) socialism is defined as "a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating state or collective ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods, and the creation of an egalitarian society." So basically socialism might have a good motive, i.e. the creation of an egalitarian society, however the means by which this would be accomplished is by the state/government or a group, controlling, owning, and operating the "means of production"; this could mean the government owns and controls the banks, factories, businesses, etc. ( which is communism, a form of socialism) This idea, of creating an egalitarian society, is in harmony with our church doctrine. "If ye are not equal in earthly things, ye cannot be equal in obtaining heavenly things." (D&C 78:6) This revelation was given in reference to taking care of the poor and needy. As members of the Church, we practice this. I also feel that we should try to practice it in our governments as well. From what I've heard and read concerning Barack Obama and his political views, he has the same desire to promote an egalitarian society, (which means... "Affirming, promoting, or characterized by belief in equal political, economic, social, and civil rights for all people.") yet I have never heard him say that he wants government to take control of the "means of production" for our society/economy. So for those of you who are convinced that Obama is a socialist... I say, do you think Warren Buffet (a self-made gazillionaire) is a SOCIALIST? He's supporting and advising Obama. Do you think Colin Powell, is a SOCIALIST? I don't think so. I think both of these men are supporting Obama because they believe, as do I, that he is what our country needs right now. A friend of mine, who shall remain nameless, sent me a link to an NPR interview from 2001, in which Obama discusses the Warren Court and the Civil Rights Movement. A lot of people, including Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, are using this interview as a way to scare everyone into believing that Obama, IS, in fact, a Socialist. In the interview, Barack Obama and 2 other law professors from the University of Chicago discuss the Warren Court and how it was viewed and how it changed during the Civil Rights Era. If you listen to the questions that prompted his responses and the context in which those responses were given, it is clear that he is not saying we need to become a classless, socialist society. This was only a discussion of the historical aspect of the role of the Supreme Court in the Civil Rights movement, not a policy discussion and certainly not part of his platform. Here is a link to the interview. People also like to use the example of "Joe the Plumber" and the "discussion" between him and Obama to prove that Obama is a socialist. Apparently, the company that Joe wants to buy, would not make over $250,00 a year (unlike he said initially.) What Joe the Plumber maybe meant was that he was going to purchase this company for $250,000, which would not increase his taxes. But even if his business DID make $250,000 per year, then there is still some good reasoning behind Obama's position. Here is a link to the transcript of their entire conversation. Please read it. He explains it to Joe, much better than I could explain it here. Again, when you read the entire conversation and hear the context, it takes on a different meaning. Here's my opinion on taxes. (And Obama shares my opinion! Tee hee!) None of us make our money in a vacuum. We all benefit from our economy/society. We make money off of each other. Some of us make more than others. But we have a responsibility to help out those who need help. (My brother's keeper?) I am all in favor of having the lowest possible amount of taxes that we can. But the reality is that we are spending WAY too much money. We HAVE to raise taxes in order to dig ourselves out of the hole that we are in. The reason that I'm okay with raising taxes right now, is that we have an opposing party (Republicans), who will eventually win back the presidency and lower taxes, when we can handle it. Now I know the trickle down economic theories and I don't want to get into a debate about that. I'm just telling you that, even though I am normally in favor of lower taxes, I'm okay with it right now. So here's why I don't have a problem with Obama's tax plan. Under his plan, if you make more than $200,000 a year (which we don't), then our tax would increase from 30% to 35%. Just to put this in perspective... the other day Josh received a job offer doing anesthesia in Denver. We obviously can't take it because of our military commitment, but if we did, they were offering to pay him $375,000. So I did the math and after paying 40% in taxes (we'll just add another 5 percent in there for the "extras") Josh would still be making over $18,000 a month! I'm sorry, but if he were making that much money EVERY month, I think we could afford to pay more in taxes. Then I think back to when we were poor college students and we were living off $1000 per month. (Yes, that's right) And we had two kids! I can say, from experience, that the tax breaks and Earned Income Credit (EIC) that we received during those years was HUGE. I don't know how we would have made it, if we hadn't have had that help. The way I see it, Josh has worked really hard to get where he is now, but he had a lot of help along the way. Would he have been able to get into medical school without first getting a FREE education as a child? Or graduate from college without a Pell Grant or subsidized federal loans? Or be able to feed his children, (literally) without the help of WIC? (Yes, we were on WIC!) These are all things that we used and we came from a pretty comfortable financial background. How different would it be for that child who grows up in the backwoods of Alabama, if there weren't government run programs that could help these people? My point is, yeah, we all work hard for what we have, but we're also part of this society and we all contribute to the economy. It's all linked together. In that sense I don't think we can say... "It's all mine... I did it all myself". Barack Obama explains his philosophy regarding taxes in his book, "The Audacity of Hope". Even if you're not going to vote for him, I would urge you to read it, so that you are at least getting your information from the primary source. When you listen to Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Glenn Beck, ONLY, and they are your main source of news, then you are going to get a VERY biased picture of what Obama stands for. (And I do listen to the above mentioned, but I also listen to NPR and try to read a mixture of conservative/liberal magazines, newspapers, books, etc.) I'm saying this from experience because for years Rush Limbaugh was my main source for news and I sincerely believed everything he said. Here's an example: As a Latter Day Saint, nothing bugs me more than when people who are not members of our church think they know all about Mormons because they've heard their anti-Mormon minister talk about Mormons, or they've read a book about Mormons. I'm assuming that frustrates all of you.. because we feel like, "Hey, if you would just come to church, read the Book of Mormon, talk to the missionaries, you would see that all that crazy stuff you read and heard are NOT true." The reason I read Obama's book, in the first place, was because I sincerely wanted to see the "other" side. I wanted to know, for myself, whether or not I agreed with what he was saying, instead of just listening to what Rush Limbaugh, etc., SAID he was saying. And to my surprise, I agreed with a lot of what he said. The War in Iraq Notice, I didn't call it The War on Terror, because I believe this is a war that we should never have started. I'm not going to spend too much time trying to convince anyone on this point, because I think most of us can agree on this. (Maybe not... I don't know!) I think the real question is, who is going to help get us out of their more quickly and do it in such a way that we can reclaim our good standing with the rest of the world. I sincerely believe that Obama will be better at doing this than John McCain. I admire and respect McCain and I think that he would do an okay job in this department. However, if something should happen to McCain, then I would not feel comfortable with Sarah Palin as Commander -in-Chief. She just doesn't have the experience; unless there is a war between the town of Wasila and Russia, who is, after all, HER NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOR! (Seriously, I do like Sarah Palin.... I just don't think she's qualified). Now, I know that you can make the same case of inexperience against Obama, I will agree with you on that. However he thankfully has Joe Biden as his running mate. Even if you don't agree with Biden's politics you have to concede that he does have foreign policy experience. Disposition/Temperament Eight years of George W. Bush as president have convinced me that we need to move away from the "shoot from the hip/go by your gut feeling" kind of presidency. We need a president who can think analytically, listen to all points of view, and will try to build a consensus. In interview after interview I have heard Obama say "I disagree with your opinion, but respect you." We need more politicians who have this attitude. My previous post (Colin Powell's endorsement) explains this much better. Now, here's my disclaimer.... just because I'm voting for Obama, does not mean that I am a Democrat (yes, sorry to disappoint you, Kim and Jasmine!) I've never been registered as a Republican or Democrat. I truly feel like I am a moderate Independant, so don't start thinking that I'm a crazy left wing liberal. I just believe that Barack Obama is the best choice for our country, right now. I know that some of you have strong feelings about this election and that you completely disagree with me. And I think that's great! We NEED to have political differences and have these healthy discussions. That is part of what makes our country great. I also want to say that I feel good about my decision to vote for Obama. In my opinion, he will be the better of the two choices. I would hope that those of you who disagree with my opinion can still respect it and not feel that my eternal salvation is at stake. There is room for differences of opinions in our church. In closing, I will leave you with an official statement from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints regarding political neutrality. The Church "expects its members to engage in the political process in an informed and civil manner, respecting the fact that members of the Church come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences and may have differences of opinion in partisan political matters." This "maverick" is gonna "smoke 'em out" on November 4th... now do your patriotistic duty and get out there and vote!

You Say it Best.... When You Say It Like Colin Powell

2008-10-21T12:00:00.005-05:00

I think he captured my thoughts perfectly... so watch this video to see why I'm voting for Obama. ">

Victorious... At Last!

2008-10-13T17:30:00.006-05:00

About 4 years ago my mom gave me a wheat grinder for Christmas. I swore that I would learn how to make yummy homemade whole wheat bread. Just like the stuff my mom made for me when I was a kid. Well... let's just say I tried, REALLY hard. I did. But it just didn't turn out. All that has changed. I am now a victorious maker of homemade bread! So, in honor of the joy and happiness I feel right now, I'm passing the recipe along to all of you. Enjoy!

Mom's Whole Wheat Bread Recipe

4 1/2 cups warm water 2 serving spoonfuls of yeast 1/4 cup olive oil (because it's more healthy!) 1/3 cup honey 1 tablespoon salt 1/4 cup gluten flour (this is very important... don't try to make it without) 6 to7 cups white wheat flour (you can use red wheat, but white is much better) 1 to 2 cups white flour, for a total of about 8 cups Directions: Mix water, yeast, olive oil, honey, and salt in bread mixer. Let the yeast proof for about 5 to 10 minutes. Gradually add wheat flour, white flour, and gluten flour. Mix for 7 to 10 minutes. This is will help the dough become soft and elastic. Check after 7 minutes to see if the dough will STRETCH, like elastic. Take out of mixer and let rise til double. Cut into equal thirds. Punch down. Roll flat with rolling pin. Then roll up into bread shape. Put in greased pans. Let rise in cold oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes turn on oven and cook for 35 minutes at 325, from a cold oven. Makes three loaves.

Presidential Pathways

2008-10-06T12:07:00.007-05:00

This last weekend we took the kids up to Warm Springs to visit The Little White House. What is that? Well, I'll tell you! ( I had no idea what it was, but it actually is an interesting part of American history.) President Franklin Roosevelt owned a summer vacation home in Warm Springs, Georgia, which they called the "little" White House. I'm sure you get the pun. He chose Warm Springs because, you guessed it, they have "warm springs" there that were therapeutic and helpful in treating his symptoms from polio. He really enjoyed his time here and would come here all through his presidency. On April 12, 1945, he was sitting for a portrait (at the Little White House )when he collapsed after suffering a stroke. They rushed him to his bedroom and called the doctors, but he died later that day. The house is beautifully preserved and they have constructed a really nice museum there.

On the porch of the Little White House

At the entrance to the Little White House

Family on the front porch

Don't we look gorgeous? This was at the Warm Springs pool, next door to the Rehabilitative Center that FDR founded. Every Labor Day weekend they fill the pool with spring water (88 degrees) and you can swim in it.

Trail leading up to FDR's neighbor's house. It is lined with all the state flags. Admiring the view from a hilltop in nearby FDR State Park

Home video

2008-10-05T15:39:00.004-05:00

All right, here it is... thanks to Annie for showing me the ropes. (And no comments, Mr. Dagen, about the terrible lighting!)

A MANLY Photo Shoot

2008-09-20T17:37:00.004-05:00

Noah really wanted me to capture the moment, with him in his football uniform. As an added perk, I told him I would put the pictures on my blog to "make it official". He was (naturally) thrilled!

Tybee Island

2008-09-15T18:41:00.002-05:00

My first video.... thanks to Annie!

Sumptuous Savannah

2008-09-14T13:08:00.017-05:00

Josh had Thursday and Friday off this past weekend, so we decided to go to Savannah for a quick weekend getaway. We started our day by heading down to the Savannah River.

This is the statue of the Waving Girl... apparently she would go down everyday to the river and greet the ships as they came in.

I couldn't resist taking a picture of this old sign... look familiar?

We had a lot of fun exploring Fort Pulaski, located on Cockspur Island, just off the Georgia coast. It was a US Fort, built by Robert E. Lee, ironically, in the early 1830's. In1861, after South Carolina seceded from the Union, Georgian troops marched into the fort, which was only maintained by two guards, and took over. The Confederacy occupied the fort until April of 1862, when the Union was able to get it back. There is really interesting story regarding the battle and some more history about the fort... but I won't bore you! This picture is taken in the Powder Magazine. Sam is doing his best Ninja pose, to prove that he's not afraid.

In front of Fort Pulaski

Can't resist looking in that cannon. Don't do this at home!

Atop Fort Pulaski, with view of Cockspur Island

Behind prison bars in the fort

Dancing on the fountain in downtown Savannah

I couldn't resist taking a picture of one of these streets. All were lined with Live Oaks, draped in Spanish Moss, with beautiful historical homes on either side.

Sam atop the Tybee Island Lighthouse

Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in downtown Savannah. Absolutely beautiful inside!

The second favorite thing about our trip was dinner at the Pirate House Restaurant located on the Savannah River. It is the oldest building in Savannah dating back to the 1760s, where real pirates used to come and drink rum. You can bet that the owners milked this for every penny!

But the kids' favorite event, by far, was "meeting" Captain Jack Sparrow. Isabel couldn't stop giggling and Sam just gazed up at him with a face full of worshipful adoration.

Traditions

2008-09-07T18:45:00.006-05:00

Sunday afternoons at the Nielson home. And the tradition continues.....

A Much Needed Vacation

2008-06-03T13:04:00.019-05:00

Exploring the ship, prior to departure

Eating dinner on our lovely cruise ship

Yes, that is me, hanging upside down from a zipline that was hundreds of feet from the floor of the tropical forests in Roatan, Honduras. That's about as crazy as I get.

Descending into the Cenotes (underground caves filled with water). They were a little bit creepy and lots of fun.

All our HOT men in their bat cave

All us ladies in the Cenotes , looking our best.

Riding in the truk in Progresso. And no, that is not a misspelling; it's really called a truk, even though it does not resemble a truck in the least. More like an ancient, rickety mine cart that someone added a canopy to. Yet, I'm not complaining, because I'm just glad I didn't have to walk. (The truks took us to the Cenotes)

Preparing for the Harry Potter Trivia Competition; it was pretty fierce, let me tell ya. Yet even Josh's Superman t-shirt was not enough to pull us through. We lost to a bunch of Harry Potter geeks who have no other life than to be obsessed with Harry Potter and memorize everything in all the books, because they've read them all, like, 12 times.

Watching the Rock Climbing competition onboard the ship. My friend, Jonna, standing next to me, won first place and her toughest competitor was a 70 year old lady. But Jonna kicked her butt. And she is pregnant. (Jonna, not the old lady.) So that's really saying something. Seriously, the old lady was really good.

Humanitarian Mission

2008-06-03T12:59:00.005-05:00

A Fine Speciman of Manhood

2008-06-03T12:54:00.003-05:00

Yes, Josh is buff. And contrary to whatever else he says, he is secretly delighted that I'm putting this picture of him, in all his manly glory, on my blog.

A Toddler's Take

2007-11-19T08:15:00.001-06:00

We all see things differently. The English biologist/politician John Lubbock once wrote, "What we see depends mainly on what we look for". If this is true, then I wonder what that says about a three year old boy named Sam. Here's his interpretation of events that take place in "The Lord of the Rings". The naked man is mean and he bites the fingers of the nice guy and falls into the orange water that's really hot. And the big dragon is really scary and he tries to eat the nice kids. And the elephants are really, REALLY big.

2007-10-04T15:14:00.001-05:00

Things I learned from Teddy Roosevelt (and my dad)

2007-09-30T18:24:00.000-05:00

Last week our fridge broke.

Busted. Not cold. Damaged. Getting warmer. I had no clue as to what I should do. Called the repairman. Told me it would cost $300 to fix. Did some research on the internet. Identified the problem. Bought the part for $47.39. Replaced the part. Felt like the "coolest" woman on earth! "Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell 'em, 'Certainly I can!' Then get busy and find out how to do it." Teddy Roosevelt

For those of you who know Isabel....

2007-04-25T10:41:00.000-05:00

this picture...

says it all!

Bella Bella Bella Samuerella

2007-03-09T19:06:00.000-06:00

A picture is worth a thousand words

The Creative Genius of a 7 Year Old Boy

2007-03-07T19:04:00.000-06:00

When posed the question... "How could I make myself look like a bird?", most people would think ... feathers. But not a seven year old boy.... give him some white computer paper and a role of masking tape....he's good to go.

Don't you wish life was always that simple?

Books, books, and more books

2007-03-04T11:25:00.000-06:00

As I sit here... thinking about the joy that awaits me on July 21st.... I can't help but think that I really need to get a life. I mean, seriously, what kind of Harry Potter dork, am I? Don't I have better things to look forward to than the release of Deathly Hallows? Don't I have four children and a husband that I adore? Don't they keep me occupied and happy?

The answer is yes... but when the kids and Josh are all tucked in and the lights are out... I sometimes lie in bed and ponder the questions that have been plaguing me for some time now... Is Snape good or bad? Will Harry die? Is Dumbledore really dead? Will Ron and Hermione ever get together? And my personal favorite... Is Draco really a werewolf?

These are the kinds of questions that really matter in life... the kinds of questions that, if you can only find the answers to, will make all the difference in the world.

Yea.. so maybe Isabel has the chicken pox... she'll survive... but will Harry? And yea, Noah and Sam both have birthdays coming up.... but what about the pain that Snape must be feeling.... the torment and guilt over having killed Dumbledore.... or maybe not? Maybe he planned it all along so that he could prove his loyalty to Voldemort and get rid of Dumbledore at the same time?

Oh yea... and Grace is blossoming into quite a beautiful young lady right before my eyes.... but what about blossoming relationship between Ron and Hermione... where will that lead? I don't have the answers and it's driving me crazy.

That is why, on July 20th at 11:30 pm, you'll find me at my local Walmart... standing in line with a bunch of other well-read and intelligent people; waiting for our turn to snatch a copy of the book that has all the answers.

So what if most of them are under the age of 16. So what if some of them are wearing black cloakes and tall wizard hats. The thing that really matters is what's going on INSIDE of them. And let me tell you.... it's pretty deep stuff.

So until that day comes.... wait.... I just felt something in my mouth.... okay.... there I got.....

Had to pull my tongue out of my cheek!

TTFN