Politics 2016

It's election season! Of course you knew that --

Four years ago, I had the opportunity to see Romney in person and take the kids to see Santorum in person. Seeing Santorum also meant having a surprise visit; meeting with the Duggars.  They were supporting Santorum at that time and were traveling with him.

This election cycle will be the last one before my own children are eligible to vote. Both of them will be able to vote in 2020 presidential elections -- primary and general. One thing I have tried to do for my kids is when the opportunities arises to take them the rallies of the various candidates or taken them to the capital to fight against bills we don't approve.

We had the opportunity a few weeks ago to a go to a Cruz rally here.

We also could have gone to a Trump event yesterday -- but after hearing about people being arrested the night BEFORE and because I wasn't feeling the best yesterday decided to stay home.  That and reports this morning stated that a teen girl about my daughter's age was peppered sprayed and groped at the event. :smh:

I'm not a fan of Trump. I was only thinking of taking the kids because I have told them for as long as I can remember that when possible you should listen to what the people have to say directly and not listen to the spin that the media gives things.  So going would have been a opportunity to just listen to him in person without the talking heads on TV spinning it. -- it's just sad that his events have become a place for such civil unrest.  I understand free speech, first amendment rights, and those protesting have just as much rights as those that support him.  Supporters or people curious about what he has to say and want to listen to him, in person, should be able to go without fear of being attacked, groped, pepper-sprayed. etc.  Sigh!

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Santorum and Duuggar Surprise

So Sunday I went and seen Romney, I also mention then that I would be going to see Santorum in person.  That's exactly what I did yesterday morning. Santorum was schedule to speak at 9 am and the doors to the club he was speaking at was going to open at 8 am, so the kids and I went and got there at 7 am. We stood at the door and waited until it was time to get in.

At 7 am it was just myself, my children and 1 other person. It stayed that way until about quarter after when a few more showed up. At a quarter after secret service came to the door and said we had to wait till 8 am. We said we understood that was fine --- they allowed us to stay. At about 7:50 they open up the door and let us come in. So the kids and I got to stand right in front of the podium.

There was nothing between us and Santurom other then a rope to mark that we could not go any closer.   The kids were getting excited because it meant that they would be able to SEE and HEAR what's going on.

We stood there and waited, by 8:30 the room started to fill in more. I was surprised by how slowly it took for the space to fill up.  I know the closer it got to 9 the more it filled in and people were no longer allowed into the actual room that Santurom was in, but had to stand in the OTHER room -- those poor people didn't get to see anything.  Santurom never walked the crowd or passed over his side of the rope line. So only those that were standing at the line got to meet him. We were apart of the lucky ones.  Santurom did pose with the kids, but he moved on before my phone was done taking the picture so I didn't get a very good shot. That and I was trying to back up to get the shot and the crowd behind was trying to push forward so the picture was all blurred, but I tried.

After we got the picture I moved the kids away from the crowd and took a picture of them with the poster that Santorum sign.

Then on our way out the door to my surprise I seen some Duggar children.  As soon as I seen them I knew they were Duggar children.

I got a picture with Jinger (and one of the younger Duggar boys); then asked her if the rest of the family was there or not. She said the whole family was there. So we went out, but because of the rain no one was really outside so I went back inside to see if I could see Michelle. I seen Josh and Jim Bob. I took a picture of Jim Bob.

 It was then I seen Jill. So I approached Jill and asked her if she knew where her mom was at. She said that mom was on the bus with the little ones. I then got a picture with Jill.

So I went back out and asked Jinger if they were all going to Dixon, IL with Santorum. She said yes, but wasn't sure how that was going to turn out seeing it was raining. The Dixon event was schedule to be outside. On the way out that time, we seen Jana so I got a picture of her too.

So I got in the car and debated if I should take the hour drive to Dixon. It wasn't so much the drive but the weather. I just wasn't sure if it would be worth my efforts.  However I decided to do it. I drove to Dixon and was able to meet and get a picture with Michele Duggar too!

 It was in Dixon I was able  to see many more of the children as as well. I seen them all really, but my phone started acting funny so I wasn't able to get any more pictures.

And as you can see in the picture with Michelle it stopped raining.

My kids were excited to see Santurom and be apart of that, but they were more excited and surprise to see the Duggars. Web-princess when she seen her dad last night said "Daddy my life long wish came true! I got to meet someone that has a TV show!"

Political Process

I so wished the kids wanted to come with me today.  They didn't want to come because they were afraid that we would get stuck seeing NOTHING like it was in Springfield when we went for the "homeschooling bill". They were disappointed that we were not able to make into the hearing room in Springfield that they didn't want to come with me in fear that the same thing would happen here.

This coming Tuesday is the Illinois primary and the race for the republican nomination is a close one.  So much so that 2 of the Republican candidates decided to come to my neck of the woods. Romney was here this afternoon and Santorum will be here tomorrow morning.  These are very last minute planned stops for the candidates....it wasn't announced until last night that they would be here.

So I went today and listen to what Romney had to say in person. C-span was there and filmed the whole thing. They filmed him talking to the crowd and filmed him greeting the people. I was seated in the back room of the resturant that Romney spoke at, so I wasn't able to see him speak, but was I able to hear him.

While he spoke he sent his wife into the back room to do a meet and greet. It was during the meet and greet I was able to get a picture with his wife.

We were looking at two different cameras for the the picture. Romney after he spoke came into the room and greeted everyone as well. I didn't get a picture of him and I, but I was able to snag a picture from c-span's video of me shaking his hand.

The kids WILL be going with me tomorrow morning to Santorum's Rally. I think that fact I got to see/hear Romney today is helping them feel better about going. That and they really won't have choice tomorrow seeing Daddy has to go to work! LOL

Archaeological Dig

Last Friday we had the opportunity to go to Shabbona Grove, IL for an archaeological dig. The dig is apart of the Shabbona Grove Archaeological Project.  The kids along with other kids from I-HOPE were able to dig, clean artifacts, sift through the dirt, and later catalog items all under the watchful eye of Ms. Croyl.

SS digging on site.

When digging they were told to take small thin layers at a time. This was so they could tell what layer things came from. Also by digging small layers at a time if something clearly unusual pops up then we would see it. Like this red rubbery/plastic thing that we dug out.

unusual red rubbery/plastic thing

When we found something unusual like the red rubbery-plastic thing pictured above then we took measurements of where in the square it was and how deep it was from the surface. We also record it's orination: was it standing up? laying on it's side, etc.  All of that data is recorded into a computer that will give a detail picture of the area.

The above are up-close pictures of that mysterious red thing we found. If you, dear reader, have any idea what it could be PLEASE let me know.  Sometimes archaeologists find things they aren't exactly sure what it is, and it is the case with this red thing.  So if you know please share! This could really help them date other artifacts that were found on the same level, such as a nails and Lincoln log. Lincoln logs go back to the 1916 closer to the time period they were hoping to find. So you never know....

When cleaning artifacts we found coal and bullet shell.

WP in red and friend cleaning artifacts

circled thing is a piece of coal

circled thing is a bullet shell

Side Notes: Yes I know WP (Web-princess)'s hair is SHORT! She had me cut it like that over the summer. It's longer now then it was, but still very short! Also please, if you have facebook, share I-HOPE's fan page with everyone. I'm trying to reach as many homeschoolers I can, especially local homeschoolers! I realize you may not be a local homeschooler, but given how paths can cross, because of social networks,  you may know someone locally to me via the internet or your friends may know someone locally to me.

The co-op is new I started it last summer and I'm trying to grow it! Thanks a million for sharing the facebook fan page.  Also all of the pictures belong to I-HOPE and were used with permission.

SB 136 4000 homeschoolers at Feb 15, 2011 hearing!

The kids and I were one among the thousands of homeschoolers that were at yesterday's committee hearing regarding SB 136. I don't think Sen. Maloney had any idea that his bill would draw such a large crowd in opposition. Security estimates that there was 4,000 people there.

We were one of the few that were allowed into the Howlett Building to attend the homeschooling summit in Howlett Auditorium. Prior to entering into the auditorium there wasn't a crowd. So we had no idea what was brewing outside.The lady behind us, who took our picture, was separated from her husband. He had dropped her and some of the children off and went to find a place to park. By the time he parked and came back to the Howlett Building they would not let him in because it was full.

At the summit we listen to HSLDA lawyer Scott Woodruff. He basically gave us a summary of some of the things he was hoping to address to the committee at the hearing. Some of what Scott Woodruff had to say can been seen in this youtube video.

Prior to Mr. Woodruff testimony you are able to hear some of the testimony of a truant officer that spoke in favor of the bill. Listen to him carefully it's scary!

Everyone that was at the summit was not able to get into the hearing room. As a matter of fact, to avoid having to go through security again, they took us through the tunnel system from Howlett building to the capitol building. I had no idea what I would face once we got into the capitol building. The second floor where the hearing room was so full that we had to go up to the 3rd floor. It was on the 3rd floor that I was able to take this picture.

Local homeschoolers that were able to get into the hearing room said they got there at 8:30 and went straight to the hearing room. Not only that but once they got into the room they had to stay because if they left, even to go the bathroom, their seat was given to someone else. Even though I wasn't able to get to the room itself I was able to sign an attendance slip and let them know I was there and oppose SB 136.

During the hearing the group, in the hall, did break out into song and sung the national anthem and a few other songs, but shortly after that security came by and told everyone they had to be quiet or they would be kicked out. 

There was some confusion on why we were being told to be quiet, but it turns out that because of the crowd of people they decided to leave the hearing doors open to allow those outside the room to hear. Of course that meant only those right at the door could hear. Seeing we were so far away from the door we gathered our information during the hearing from facebook. There was no real way to know what was going on otherwise. At one point we did made our way down to the second floor and believe that we are seen in photo taken by STOP SB 136.

picture taken by STOP SB 136

After the hearing we were able to go into room 212 and that is when I took this picture.

Some news media outlets are reporting that SB 136 has been dismissed, but that simply is not the case. There was NO vote yesterday and Sen. Maloney has NOT withdrawal the bill. He just doesn't want it to go further right now because he wants to amend it.

HSLDA is asking anyone in Illinois that does not want this bill passed to contact their senator and ask them to tell Sen. Maloney to withdrawal -not amend- SB 136.

Some of the things I find disturbing, by sides the bill itself, is what other homeschoolers are saying certain people said to the crowd there. For example Sen. Lightford  said "I don't understand why anyone would want to spend all day with their kids"; The truant officer as he was leaving the hearing made a comment how all the kids there at the hearing were truant.

I don't know what is more upsetting the senators remarks or the truant officers. Really in my opinion they are pretty equal. In regard to the truant officer remarks don't kids that "go" to school take field trips to the capitol building? Yes we were there to lobby our cause. But I also took the time to show my kids around the capitol building, I explained to them how bills are passed. We went into the gallery of the Senate and House. The House was in session so we got to see law makers at work.

After that we had lunch and then went to the State Museum. We even stayed last night and this morning toured Lincoln's Home and Tomb before driving home. There was more to our trip then just being at the hearing. I don't know how that would be consider truant. My kids got to see first hand how government works and visit national historic sites.

I think my sister, whose in the army and currently station in Iraq, said it best when she posted on my facebook wall yesterday "wish I could be there.. I would want to show up in uniform and asked them why do i wear this uniform to fight for freedom if your just trying to take it away from parents!!"

SB 136 and Illinois Homeschoolers

I'm sure by now you have heard the buzz regarding SB 136. If not let me briefly fill you in!  Sen. Maloney wants to change IL state laws to require those that enroll their kids in non-public schools (ie. homeschools, private schools, parochial schools) to register with the state. Those that have read the bill and understand what it means are deeply concern and rightly so. This bill goes a vote to the committee on Feb 15th at 10:45 am in room 212 at the State Capitol.

If after reading the bill still not sure exactly what it means you can attended a FREE webinar that HSLDA is hosting tomorrow (Feb 11) at 9 pm. In the webinar you'll learn why this bill would threaten all private school and homeschooling families with unprecedented state regulation.

That's right even those that choose to send their children to private/parochial schools could be also be infected by this bill. You see the way the bill is written currently BOTH parents that homeschool and those that send their kids to private school, (example Catholic School) will have to register every year with the state. Sen. Maloney has already stated that he plans to amend the bill's wording so that it will only apply to homeschoolers. However as it is now that is NOT the case as of today.

Ultrasound Vehicle Forced To Leave

Last month I shared with you how an free ultrasound clinic was going to be parked outside the local abortion clinic. It was a good thing while it lasted! On September 8th, the owners of the free ultrasound clinic were told they had to leave or face a warrant for their arrest. This amazes me seeing the signs in the window of this SAME clinic do not seem to bother the city's legal department.

It's my understanding that pro-lifers worked for weeks with Rockford Police, prior to the ultrasound clinic's arrival, to ensure the ultrasound clinic would be allowed to be parked near the abortion clinic.