Silly...on many levels.

This has to be one of the simplest layouts ever...and I am totally taken with it (if I do say so myself). No humble scrapping allowed in these parts. I love the photo. Anita took it from the ground as he (obviously) leaned out the window of his tree fort. The hand gestures were learned recently from...well, nevermind...suffice it to say his father is a rocker from the 80's. Anyway.

I wrote down the quote when I heard Mike Myers say this on Inside the Actors Studio with James Lipton last year. I'm not a fan of the alleged film genius that is Mr. Myers...in fact, I really don't like his work as a category...but I love this statement. I think it's brilliant. (The show, Inside the Actors Studio is so cool. It's like the modern day version of This Is Your Life.)

Of course, the patterned paper is Basic Grey...one of the most delicious papers on the planet. I found the fiber/ribbon/trim at Hobby Lobby. It is an absolute perfect match to the paper. How awesome is that?

I'm trying to focus on good things today because I am absolutely sick over the 9th Circuit Court desicion that came down this week regarding parental rights. A distinguished legal mind I do not claim to have. However, I do have an innate sense of family and a keenly developed sense of government overload. Flares went off today as I read of this decision. The big question: If we start down this road of government responsibility for our children, where does it end? There was a very strong and frightening statement sent this week from the court to the parents of America's children. It was very short and simple. It read:

"Sorry. The government has a larger right to parent your children than you do."

Thankfully, the 9th Circuit is famous for getting overturned. It seems they have the highest number of overturnings every year. Isn't that a handy piece of information? The Ninth Circuit Court knows it can make certain political and social statements from the bench, even if they are incorrect or biased in some way, because other courts can and do regularly overturn their decisions. What a waste of time.

Nevertheless, it still bugs me that so many people seem to agree that parents don't have the final say in the education of their children. Ladies and gentlemen, Hillary is wrong. It does not take a village and it certainly does not take a government to raise a child. It takes a home. It takes a family. It takes parents. There is no one more qualified to raise their own children than parents.

The idea that because *some* parents aren't doing their jobs, the court has the right to revoke the rights and responsibilities of all parents (thus punishing those of us who are doing our job well) and award these rights to the government is preposterous. It's completely un-American.

Of course parental rights are not noted in the constitution but then neither was the right to vote for certain segments of the population. We seem to have overcome that. The crafters of the Constitution of the United States did not frame a perfect, all-encompassing document. A government that ran too much of it's citizens lives was exactly what they had fled other countries to get away from--in pursuit of life, liberty and the pursuits of happiness...and inside that, perhaps, parenthood.