...and why I do NOT like it.
1. It is anti-social. Whatever happened to a good friendly phone call? Or getting together to tell your best friend about your most recent date? Instead we depend on receiving text messages.
2. It encourages illiteracy and bad spelling. People can't spell anyway and now we encourage it with texting. I am positive there are plenty of teenage girls who are convinced that "l8r" really
is how you spell "later."
3. It really is NOT faster to text me. No this reason does not apply to everyone. But I can guarantee that texting me is not your fastest way of communicating with me. I will respond to emails much faster than I respond to text messages. There are several reasons for this. One, I have not had my phone surgically attached to my body, which means I do not carry it with me all the time. I also cannot work the numeric pad very well and despite my best efforts I can't intentionally misspell words, leave out punctuation, and forget capitalizing things. If you text me, I will most likely respond by just calling you. And really, it would have been faster to just call me in the first place.
4. If you can't call me then you probably shouldn't be texting me. I hear this excuse a lot "what if I can't call you, like I'm in class or something." Wait for you class to end then call me. Here is a news flash: if flipping your phone to call someone is socially inappropriate then flipping your phone open to send a text message is also socially inappropriate - and rude.
5. It is not an emergency. A true emergency would not leave you time to text me. No, a true emergency would require a phone call and if I did not answer a frantic voicemail saying "CALL ME BACK RIGHT AWAY!"
I do understand that there are sometimes when texting is appropriate. For instance, maybe I am meeting you at a concert and I can't hear you on the phone then texting comes in handy. Or maybe you had a baby in the middle of the night and you sent out the announcement so I can see it first thing in the morning instead of waking me up at 2am. So next time you go to text, think twice about it. Maybe that person would really appreciate a phone call. Especially if they are me and do not have a text plan with their cell phone.
I LITERALLY slaved over it all day! That was one of the most intense cakes I've ever made. It turned out pretty tasty, even if my icing was a little runny.
(P.S. KeLei is about 12 in this picture but it is one of my favorites of her. :)
And while I was trying to clean that up...
And when I asked him what he had been up to that day?
"Nothing - I love you, Mom."
Isn't it beautiful? And it's our very own. I'm so excited. We are so excited. Carlin will be able to start playing again. Samuel will be the next Mozart. 
So, no groundhogs, but the bears were pretty cool. Here are some pictures of our adventure:
Samuel and Matthew checking out the fish. Samuel absolutely loves fish
Matthew and Samuel in front of a giant gorilla. The gorillas were pretty cool too - one came right up to the glass and stared at Samuel. He was pretty excited.
In front of the giraffes - my favorite animals! Samuel was watching the Ostrich in this picture.
Playing on the jungle gym. 
Help Dad start a fire - check.
Unpack box - check.
Unload dishwasher...
Help Dad with computer stuff - yep. 
