Why Proposal 5 Is Wrong for Our Students and Our State

Are you thinking on how to Vote on Proposal 5? Read this first!!!

On Novemeber 7th you will be asked to make a decision regarding automatic education funding in Michigan. Unfortunately for students, Proposal 5 will have very little - if any - impact on their education. Proposal 5 is a cleverly designed package that shifts the burden of skyrocketing teachers' pensions from local school districts over to the state and then over to the taxpayers. Proposal 5 is too expensive and will eventually lead to cuts to critical state services and job-killing tax increases, and has no guarentee to improve education. Moreover, Proposal 5 removes state oversight by locking in the budget with increases year after year regardless of state revenue. Proposal 5 will cripple our state budget and our economy in order to pass the burden of teachers' pensions to state taxpayers.

How much will Proposal 5 Cost?

Real the full article here (PDF): http://www.mirealtors.com/news/realtor/documents/nov066.pdf

Armpit Farts ABCs

School Photos 2006

Well, here are the school photos. I don't know why they had Ryan show his lost tooth in this photo. It made him look like he was making a funny face. Oh well.... It's still cute.

It's Halloween. I'll have some Halloween photos to share with you tomorrow. Stay safe!

Ryan has glasses!!!

Yup. You heard that right. Ryan had an eye test in school a couple weeks ago and he didn't pass his test. So... we took him to the optometrist and sure enough, he had one eye with diminished sight. He wasn’t using his left eye and his right eye was making up for the other.
So, now the little guy has glasses. Actually, he looks cute in them. He doesn't have to wear them all of the time. He needs them more for school and reading. He doesn't have to wear them for sports or play.
Here is Ryan & I at the pumpkin patch today. Isn't he CUTE!

I'll have some Halloween pictures for you in a couple of days. They did go trick-or-treating last night around Blue Lake. Blue Lake Estates (where one oour cottages are) has their own special Halloween night on the weekend and all the kids in the neighborhood (or those visiting from down state) go trick-or-treating. The kids made out pretty well. Since there aren't a bunch of kids around here, the home owners load the kids up on all sorts of goodies. They had a great time.

We got lucky with the weather. It was cold and windy and it had been raining much of the day, but when it was time to go out, the rain stopped. By the time we got back to the chalet, it started to spit snow. YUCK!!!

Hummingbirds

This one was taken last summer, but it was neat. The hunningbirds were everywhere and they seemed somewhat tame. This was taken out in Colorado in late July, 2005.

I'm in the Newspaper!

I made it into the paper today!

Deranged Bunny!!!!

I thought this was so funny and it should be posted in this blog. This was taken in early June of this year.

Soccer Season Has Come to an End

Well... soccer seasons last day was Saturday. The kids enjoyed soccer this year. Ryan wasn't ready for it to end. The days are getting colder though... BRRRRRRRRR
Here are the kids after one of Ryan's last games, with his metal. Heather got one the following weekend after all their games were over.
Goofy kids!

Some Fall Photos

What a beautiful fall! Here are some nice pictures of some pretty fall colors.

Here are the kids standing by a huge mushroom. We went for a walk on state land during one of those warmer days in early October.

Here is the kids playing at the lakeshore.

Here is a picture of the Retreat. Much of the color is gone here, now. That's kind of strange, considering that there was a lot of color left in other areas of the county.
I thought this was a cute picture of a small sailboat going across Blue Lake on a beautiful fall day.
I managed to get a picture of this beautiful Redtailed Hawk sitting in a tree next to our driveway at the Chalet. I wish I could have gotten a closer picture.
Here is a picture I took of the Chalet from across the lake.
I was amazed by the lovely maple trees around the Chalet. It was beautiful. I wish the fall color lasted longer. It's always too short.
I just couldn't resist putting this photo in. I just listed a 40 acre parcel in eastern Clare County. Today, this gentleman (a friend of the owner) shot this lovely trophy 8 point last night. They couldn't find it last night but tracked it this morning. I was able to take this picture for them.