Hey ho, hey ho, its off to China we go!

With love, always.

Sing it Macy!

 

Tell me again

Look at these photos, read the stories of these children and tell me again how we can't share just a little of what we have with them, how they need to stay where they are or go back to the hell they ran from, go anywhere just not here, just not to us.  Tell me again how our fear is so much greater than theirs. Show these photos and stories to your own children and see if they agree with you that these dangerous, non Christian children and their families should be shut out, thrown away.  We teach our children, kindness, compassion, empathy, generosity, strength and responsibility, let's teach those things by our actions, by the way we treat desperate refugees.  We have so much just by virtue of where we were born and if we can't help those who have lost everything then shame on us all, we are no better than those that these poor souls fled from.

photo Magnus Wennman / Aftonbladet /REX Shutterstock

 

"If we want security, let us give security"

Syrian refugees in Belgrade, Serbia, are waiting for an opportunity to travel north to cross the border with Hungary, entering the EU [AP] from Aljazeera.com

Dear Governors, Greg Abbott, Nathan Deal, Robert Bentley and your like,

 

So let me get this straight you abhor terrorists but you will not help the refugees* who are fleeing from terror?   You are going to refuse Syrian refugees a place of safety, turn your backs on utterly desperate innocent men, women and children and tell them to go back, go back to the hell they are fleeing. 

Exactly how does that make anything better? You think that is the way to keep yourselves safe?  That is the example you set your children?  We only help ourselves and the rest of humanity be damned.  Tell me again exactly how that makes us better than those who act in hate and ignorance, who use violence instead of dialogue and show mercy to none?

Shutting your doors to the innocent is not the way to make your world safe.

Just for a moment imagine it is your child who has had to flee from violence and terror and then imagine that those who claimed the moral ground, who called themselves "good", did not help her when they could? 

 

Maybe those of us who have been lucky enough (purely through the geography of our birth) to be in a position to help those in desperate need should do just that, stand up and help.

 

You speak of fighting and overcoming evil and yet you've surrendered completely to  the fear of evil at the very first step!

 

Refugees are not terrorists, they are trying to bring their families to places of safety, they are fleeing the terrorists and the horror of war.  If you can't see past your own ignorance and prejudice against another person's religion, their nationality, their skin color, their desperation, and most of all, your own fear to see that they are human beings just like yourself then you are condemning yourself to live in perpetual fear.

Surely you are better than this, you can rise to the challenge and not let fear dictate your actions  Strength is not pushing away those who need help, strength is pulling them in. 

There is no safety to be had by leaving refugees to suffer in camps, to trudge from one closed boarder to another, to have their lives halted as they are left in limbo, no home to return to, no home to flee to, no schools or colleges to resume education in, no jobs to work, no life to be lived.

 

We are safe only when we do the right thing, when we treat others as we would want to be treated and when we do not fall to ignorance, prejudice, bigotry and fear. 

As a man dressed in white recently said to Congress 

“Let us treat others with the same passion and compassion with which we want to be treated. Let us seek for others the same possibilities which we seek for ourselves.  In a word, if we want security, let us give security."

 

*Refugee - a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster.

For information on the Syrian refugee crisis go here to read the Mercy Corps Quick Facts: What you need to know about the Syrian crisis.

If you want to donate to help Syrian Refugees here is a guide to some some good options including Mercy Corps.

Greg Abbot "Texas will not accept any Syrian refugees & I demand the U.S. act similarly. Security comes first."

Nathan Deal "I’ve issued an executive order directing state agency heads to prevent the resettlement of Syrian refugees in GA."

Robert Bentley "I will not stand complicit to a policy that places the citizens of Alabama in harm’s way. We refuse Syrian refugees."

Waitress

Beautiful.

Waitress - opens March 2016

Brothers . . . .

 . . . . they are so embarrassing!

Snow days and Birthdays

The snow days are not good for a Champion Procrastinator like myself.  When you put off everything to the last possible moment and then have that "moment" stolen from you by school calling snow days (seemingly every other day) you find yourself dropping even more (snow) balls than usual.  On the other hand you do get to cross a lot of things off the "to do" list although only because its now too late "to do" them.

This was Monday

(don't know why that one is the wrong way round)

and then this was today.  There have been multiple prior snowy days but I'll spare you the pics.

Are you seeing a theme?  A snowy theme?  Apparently we have more of this to look forward to at the weekend.  I will admit that it is very pretty when its falling and even prettier 24 hours later when the sun comes out and everything is all sparkely and white.  However, the shoveling a path out of the house whilst trying to wrangle 3 small children does get old fast.  I better stop my grumbling right there though because I'll take any amount of snow as long as the power doesn't go out and so far this year (please don't let me jinx myself) the lights have stayed on, thank you, thank you beautiful power lines.

Also, even a snow grouch like me has to admit that it is pretty fab to get a Snow Day on your Birthday!  Today Loopy Loops turned 9.  I'm still a little bit in denial at the number 9, surely its only been 12, maybe 24 months since we got home from China? 

It doesn't get any better than a Snow/Birthday bed movie watching marathon, starting with 101 Dalmatians, ooooh that Cruella is a wicked one.

A feeble attempt at smiling for the camera.

On to the main event, Birthday cup cakes!

(again not sure why its the wrong way round)

Happy Birthday Sweet Baby Girl, may all your wishes come true (apart from the one about wanting 21 pet mice).

(apologies for my singing, dreadful even by my horriby out of tune standards)

Altogether now, "last name O-b-a-m-a"

Crossing the finishing line . . . . .

. . . . . . . .and the crowd goes wild!!!

This was Posy's face upon bowling a gutter ball (one of many) today but I thought it was also fitting for this last post of NombyPomby.  It was touch and go but I made it, admittedly by taking Slacker Blogging to new depths but still I did post every day in November.  We already established that a photo is a post right?   I said I'd do it and I did, "Go Me!" Sad to say it is one of my few achievements of late.

 Now what to do in December?

Timber!

Tree picked out, chopped down and brought home, you can't expect a post too!