You can be BOTH pro-life and pro-choice

This has been weighing a lot on me the past couple of months.
Everyday it seems there is some meme or an article blasting one side or the other.

Sometimes I roll my eyes, sometimes I cringe, sometime I think a re-astounding YES!

But, one thing I often think, is social media rarely is going to change anyone's mind on a debate people feel so much passion for. Maybe that's okay. Maybe changing someone's mind never was the point.

Often times we share things we feel strongly about as a way to connect with others who share our own feelings. Knowing someone else "gets it" feels good.

But I am here, somewhere in the middle. I have transitioned a lot the past couple years. My thoughts and beliefs have flipped and flopped as I've come to terms with my own values and beliefs.
I find any extreme to the far left or the far right to generally be too rigid.

I am angry at the far right for dragging Planned Parenthood through the mud of an age-old debate, based off of a smear-campaign that has been proven to be false.
It seems to me the sources should have been proven accurate before people throw down the gauntlets to de-fund Planned Parenthood. And, honestly it makes me very suspicious that none of this is actually about fetal tissue selling, but actually is just about a personal agenda for ones dislikes of Planned Parenthood.

The stories have been rolling in from real people who contribute their lives to PP.
PP goes much beyond abortions, in fact abortions are a very small portion of the services they offer.

I think the numbers in this chart are quite profound. When you look at the services provided by PP, 97% have nothing to do with abortion.

In fact, I dare say you could call Planned Parenthood PRO-LIFE. Because they are putting the health needs of people who are currently LIVING, first.

The thought of fetal tissue being used in a lab, breaks my heart. However, this has been happening before my time. I was lucky, some might even say blessed, enough to be born into a time with a vaccine for a disease like Polio. Fetal tissue made that possible.

Lives are saved with STI and STD screenings. Unwanted pregnancies are prevented with contraception, and lives are saved with cancer screenings.

In Utah, PP even gives abstinence teachings. Now I think that's a ruckus.
I think back to when I was a teen and young adult. I certainly made some pretty short-sited and dumb choices.
I knew abstinence was the expectation. My mom had told me multiple times, that she wanted me to wait, but that if I was going to have sex, I should let her know, so I could be put on birth control. And ya know what. No. No way would I have told my mom.

Teens need a safe place to get help with adult choices.

I haven't ever been in the place where I would ever consider abortion. I can't pretend to imagine the complexity of emotions that would lead to such a choice. I do wonder how many women feel that an abortion is saving their lives. And I know this gets into sticky terrain, it's where things get nasty and snide. But I don't know, and if you haven't been there, you don't know either.

I don't like the idea of abortion myself, but it seems the best way to decrease abortions is to prevent unwanted pregnancies in the first place. Look it up, the numbers show that is what happens.Abortions have been on the decrease.

Planned Parenthood saves lives everyday.  Sometimes saving lives comes in the form of the pregnancies they prevent. They put the living first. If you are pro-choice, you don't have to think abortion is ethical, but you really should consider caring about the lives of the living too, or really you are only pro-pregnancy.

Punt, Pass, Kick

These boys gave the punt, pass, kick, their best on Wednesday. We are super proud of them! #lifewithboys #puntpasskick#football



Results came in yesterday, they didn't move on to the next level, but considering they had never done this event before I think they were pretty awesome.

We will have to start training some for next years. :)

Homeschooling Moments

Another rainy day, but Dallin sure looks cute reading the Boxcar Children, in the entry way, on a yoga ball. Love these moments.

This keeping up with blogging again, is not coming naturally!

I actually kind of forgot I was "doing it again" until yesterday.

I had taken the boys to get hair cuts, the conversation Dallin had with his stylist was so cute, I thought, man I wish I could remember this. Then I was like, oh yeah, I used to blog this stuff. I should do that!

My boys are kind of shy. They don't engage in conversation with people they don't know a whole lot.
There are a few exceptions, like our dentist, Dallin's always been willing to talk his ear off. However, over all, it's something I typically find myself having to encourage.

Yesterday Dallin was on a roll though!

Hair Stylist (HS from here on out): Do you like school?

Dallin: No

Something about homeschooled, HS may have remembered this from cutting my boys hair before.

HS: Well is your mom a good teacher.

Dallin: Yes, my moms a good teacher, I just don't like school.

HS: Do you ever get to do any fun experiments?

Dallin: Yes

HS: What kind of experiments?

Dallin: Mostly ones with candy

HS: With candy? Can you tell me about one?

Dallin: Tells her about making a snickers float, how you have to add a bunch of salt.

HS: I didn't know you could make a Snickers float with salt.

Conversation moves on to her asking if he knows what he will be for Halloween.

Dallin: Yes, I am going to be a firefighter. My mom didn't want to buy another costume.

HS: Empathetic acknowledgement

Dallin: But my mom said if I was the fireman she would pay me $10!

HS: Oh wow! I wish my mom would do that!

Dallin: Yeah, and it's going to be unique because my moms going to make me a shirt.

HS: What's unique about that?

Dallin: I am going to be an American Ninja Warrior fire fighter, because there is one. Then he goes into detail on how I will be making his shirt.

Conversation moves over to candy.

HS: Ask about his favorite candy

Dallin: Snickers. Then he tells her all about how last year he had too many snickers, so he's going to try and be more conservative this year with them.

HS: Gushes all over his use of the word conservative, ask how old he is, as where he learned a word like conservative. Says she didn't know what the word meant until she was like 17.

Dallin: I'm self taught!

Other HS in the room: He knows it because he's homeschooled!

Anyway, I am over all used to getting "the look" when people learn we homeschool.

It was nice to listen to Dallin's take on it and while others opinions on our choice won't change what we are doing, it's always nice to hear positive feedback.