Morgan worked hard today to make the yard look pretty. She spent about 30 minutes mowing. Now, I just need to see if there is somewhere that sells a toy mower that really cuts!!!!
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Morgan says "James"
Morgan seems to say at least 5 new words a day, and you never know what they will be. I always let her know the name of something, just in case she wants to say it. She knows: Josh (also, his nickname "Kaka"), ball, apple, thank you, welcome, bye, hi, sister, Jaden, mommy, daddy, door, puppy, cracker (which is her word for any kind of snack), diaper (she says diaper when she needs to be changed), shoes, grandma (mama), grandpa (papa), rascal, phone, eyes, hair, nose, teeth (which means that she wants to brush her teeth- all 8 of them), ta da!, egg, boo, flower, azul (blue in Spanish), dodo (bug in Kikuyu), stop, pop, bubbles, Dora, bear, go, hug, bath, and some more words. I will have to think about them, and write them down later, since I can't think of them all. She, also, says sentences like, "Where are you?" "Gonna get you", "I love you".
I usually can't get her to say them on command, if I have the camera up to my face. This time, as you can see, she says "James" and "Kaka" because she sees their pictures on the computer screen.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Happy Birthday, James!
James turned one on April 6th. His party was today. There was BBQ, games, treats, and since it was at a park, there were lots of things to play on. My cousin Nicole is in town with her baby Gavin. He is about 2 months older than Morgan. Morgan is 2 1/2 months older than James. It was great to see James, Gavin, and Morgan play together.Jaden's favorite part was the piñata. She liked picking up the candy and toys and putting it in her bag (unfortunately, she never got to see the stuff in her bag because Daddy lost it somewhere- she is still trying to get over that heartbreak).
Morgan liked the chocolate suckers (you might see some of the chocolate on her face in some of the pictures). Chocolate was everywhere! We had a great time.
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Monday, April 7, 2008
Digging for artifacts
This is inside the museum. The kids got to dig in a big fossil sand box. They, also, had another part where they got to look at the artifacts through a magnifying glass. Just about everything in the museum was labeled as to what is was. Instead of the usual "Do not touch", the signs said, "Please touch!!" It was great, because I didn't have to tell them "come here", "don't touch that", "come back away from there", etc.Museum and Nature Trails
We had some MORE fun today. We went to a museum that was having a special animal exhibit- "Animals of the World". The kids expecially enjoyed watching the lemurs. Jaden wanted to go in the cage and play with them because they had a toddler cube with a slide inside the cage. It was meant for the lemurs to play with, but Jaden figured they could share their toy. Yeah, right! Of course, she did not go in the cage. These are pictures of the outdoor activities. I am going to put up a seperate post with the indoor activities that they did later.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Popping bubbles
The girls had fun playing with Grandma Alice and Grandma Frances while I was doing shops and LeCount was at the relays.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Unemployment is high
Employers slashed 80,000 jobs in March
By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Economics Writer 7 minutes ago
Employers buffeted by talk of recession slashed 80,000 jobs in March, the most in five years and the third straight month of losses.
At the same time, the national unemployment rate rose from 4.8 percent to 5.1 percent, the clearest signal yet that the economy might already be shrinking.
The new snapshot of the job market, released by the Labor Department Friday, underscored the damage that a trio of crises _in the housing, credit and financial sectors — has inflicted on companies, jobseekers and the economy as a whole.
"The labor market has indeed turned south," said Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors. "That was the one last bastion of hope to stay out of a recession. Now the question is how deep and how long will it last?"
The unemployment rate was the highest since September 2005, when significant job losses followed the devastating blows of Gulf Coast hurricanes.
Job losses were widespread in March. Construction, manufacturing, retailing, financial services and various business services all racked up losses. That overwhelmed gains elsewhere, including in education and health care, leisure and hospitality as well as in government.
The new employment figures were much weaker than economists were expecting. They were anticipating a drop of 50,000 payroll jobs and the unemployment rate to rise to 5 percent.
The 5.1 percent rate is relatively modest by historical standards, but was nonetheless the highest in 2 1/2 years.
Job cuts in both January and February turned out to be even deeper. Employers got rid of 76,000 in each month. The elimination of 80,000 jobs in March was the most since March 2003, when the labor market was still struggling to recover from the 2001 recession.
The economy is suffering the effects of a housing collapse, a credit crunch and a financial system in turmoil. That's causing people and businesses to hunker down, crimping spending, capital investment and hiring. Those things in turn further weaken the economy in what has become a vicious cycle.
For the first time, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke acknowledged Wednesday that the country could be heading toward a recession, saying federal policymakers are "fighting against the wind" in combating it. Many other economists and the public believe the recession already has arrived.
Bernanke wouldn't tip his hand about the Fed's next move. However, many economists believe the central bank will lower interest rates again when they meet later this month.
The Fed has taken a number of extraordinary actions recently — slashing interest rates, providing financial backing to JP Morgan's takeover of troubled Bear Stearns and opening an emergency lending program for big investment houses. All the actions are ultimately aimed at limiting damage to the national economy.
With a public on edge, Congress, the White House and presidential contenders are scrambling to come up with their own relief plans even as they engage in a political blame game.
With the pace of hiring slowing down, the number of unemployed people increased to 7.8 million in March; workers with jobs saw only modest wage gains at the same time.
Average hourly earnings for jobholders rose to $17.86 in March, a 0.3 percent increase from the previous month. That matched economists' forecasts. Over the past 12 months, wages grew 3.6 percent. With lofty energy and food prices, workers may feel like their paychecks are shrinking.
Many analysts believe the economy shrank in the first three months of this year and could still be ebbing now. The government will release its estimate of first-quarter economic growth later this month. Under one rough rule, if the economy contracts for six straight months it is considered in a recession.
Bernanke, however, has said he is hopeful the economy will improve in the second half of this year, helped by the government's $168 billion stimulus package of tax rebates for people and tax breaks for businesses, as well as the Fed's rate reductions.
Still, even Bernanke predicted this week that the unemployment rate would rise in the months ahead. Some analysts say it could climb to 5.5 percent or higher by year's end.
By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Economics Writer 7 minutes ago
Employers buffeted by talk of recession slashed 80,000 jobs in March, the most in five years and the third straight month of losses.
At the same time, the national unemployment rate rose from 4.8 percent to 5.1 percent, the clearest signal yet that the economy might already be shrinking.
The new snapshot of the job market, released by the Labor Department Friday, underscored the damage that a trio of crises _in the housing, credit and financial sectors — has inflicted on companies, jobseekers and the economy as a whole.
"The labor market has indeed turned south," said Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors. "That was the one last bastion of hope to stay out of a recession. Now the question is how deep and how long will it last?"
The unemployment rate was the highest since September 2005, when significant job losses followed the devastating blows of Gulf Coast hurricanes.
Job losses were widespread in March. Construction, manufacturing, retailing, financial services and various business services all racked up losses. That overwhelmed gains elsewhere, including in education and health care, leisure and hospitality as well as in government.
The new employment figures were much weaker than economists were expecting. They were anticipating a drop of 50,000 payroll jobs and the unemployment rate to rise to 5 percent.
The 5.1 percent rate is relatively modest by historical standards, but was nonetheless the highest in 2 1/2 years.
Job cuts in both January and February turned out to be even deeper. Employers got rid of 76,000 in each month. The elimination of 80,000 jobs in March was the most since March 2003, when the labor market was still struggling to recover from the 2001 recession.
The economy is suffering the effects of a housing collapse, a credit crunch and a financial system in turmoil. That's causing people and businesses to hunker down, crimping spending, capital investment and hiring. Those things in turn further weaken the economy in what has become a vicious cycle.
For the first time, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke acknowledged Wednesday that the country could be heading toward a recession, saying federal policymakers are "fighting against the wind" in combating it. Many other economists and the public believe the recession already has arrived.
Bernanke wouldn't tip his hand about the Fed's next move. However, many economists believe the central bank will lower interest rates again when they meet later this month.
The Fed has taken a number of extraordinary actions recently — slashing interest rates, providing financial backing to JP Morgan's takeover of troubled Bear Stearns and opening an emergency lending program for big investment houses. All the actions are ultimately aimed at limiting damage to the national economy.
With a public on edge, Congress, the White House and presidential contenders are scrambling to come up with their own relief plans even as they engage in a political blame game.
With the pace of hiring slowing down, the number of unemployed people increased to 7.8 million in March; workers with jobs saw only modest wage gains at the same time.
Average hourly earnings for jobholders rose to $17.86 in March, a 0.3 percent increase from the previous month. That matched economists' forecasts. Over the past 12 months, wages grew 3.6 percent. With lofty energy and food prices, workers may feel like their paychecks are shrinking.
Many analysts believe the economy shrank in the first three months of this year and could still be ebbing now. The government will release its estimate of first-quarter economic growth later this month. Under one rough rule, if the economy contracts for six straight months it is considered in a recession.
Bernanke, however, has said he is hopeful the economy will improve in the second half of this year, helped by the government's $168 billion stimulus package of tax rebates for people and tax breaks for businesses, as well as the Fed's rate reductions.
Still, even Bernanke predicted this week that the unemployment rate would rise in the months ahead. Some analysts say it could climb to 5.5 percent or higher by year's end.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
LeCount has a job!!
For everyone who didn't already hear this through the grapevine, LeCount has a job!!!! He starts on Monday April 7th at Blockbuster. He will work Monday through Wednesday, 12 hours a day. He is working for a temp agency, but the job can be temp to hire based on performance and need. The temp agency does not offer insurance or the income that Blockbuster itself does, so hopefully, he will get in with Blockbuster eventually. It is definitely an answer to several prayers!!! He will be able to do mystery shopping work Thursday through Sunday, so that will help out, too. Thank you all for all of your prayers!!
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Stimulus payment from the IRS- know when you will be paid
Mailing schedule
This is the stimulus payment schedule for tax returns processed by April 15, the IRS said:
Direct deposit payments
If the last two digits of your Social Security number are: Your stimulus payment should be sent to your bank account by:
00 - 20 May 2
21 - 75 May 9
76 - 99 May 16
Paper check
If the last two digits of your Social Security number are: Your check should be in the mail by:
00 - 09 May 16
10 - 18 May 23
19 - 25 May 30
26 - 38 June 6
39 - 51 June 13
52 - 63 June 20
64 - 75 June 27
76 - 87 July 4
88 - 99 July 11
There may be exceptions, the IRS warned. "A small percentage of tax returns will require additional time to process and to compute a stimulus payment amount. For these returns, stimulus payments may not be issued in accordance with the schedule above, even if the tax return was processed by April 15," the IRS said in it its press release Monday.
"We have some returns that require a second look, that require us to pull them out of the processing for some reason or another," said Anthony Burke, an IRS spokesman, in a telephone interview. "It may not be that there's anything wrong with the return," he said.
The "vast majority of people" will receive their stimulus payment according to the posted schedule, Burke said, "but it's a big system, a lot of returns go through our pipeline" so some returns may not go exactly according to schedule.
Also, the IRS said there's a new online calculator taxpayers can use to figure how much their stimulus payment will be. You'll need to have a completed 2007 tax return on hand to use the calculator.
This is the stimulus payment schedule for tax returns processed by April 15, the IRS said:
Direct deposit payments
If the last two digits of your Social Security number are: Your stimulus payment should be sent to your bank account by:
00 - 20 May 2
21 - 75 May 9
76 - 99 May 16
Paper check
If the last two digits of your Social Security number are: Your check should be in the mail by:
00 - 09 May 16
10 - 18 May 23
19 - 25 May 30
26 - 38 June 6
39 - 51 June 13
52 - 63 June 20
64 - 75 June 27
76 - 87 July 4
88 - 99 July 11
There may be exceptions, the IRS warned. "A small percentage of tax returns will require additional time to process and to compute a stimulus payment amount. For these returns, stimulus payments may not be issued in accordance with the schedule above, even if the tax return was processed by April 15," the IRS said in it its press release Monday.
"We have some returns that require a second look, that require us to pull them out of the processing for some reason or another," said Anthony Burke, an IRS spokesman, in a telephone interview. "It may not be that there's anything wrong with the return," he said.
The "vast majority of people" will receive their stimulus payment according to the posted schedule, Burke said, "but it's a big system, a lot of returns go through our pipeline" so some returns may not go exactly according to schedule.
Also, the IRS said there's a new online calculator taxpayers can use to figure how much their stimulus payment will be. You'll need to have a completed 2007 tax return on hand to use the calculator.
Sometimes you just want to get back in bed
This is the kind of day that we had yesterday. All of the kids were in a bad mood and fighting most of the day. When it was time for Rebekah and Josh to go home, this picture shows how it ended. Josh reached up for a box of cream of wheat on the counter. It went all over him, the counter and the floor, His face summarizes the day. Hhahahahaha!!
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