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Longest post ever....the cost of children!

The US government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with USD $160,140.00 for a middle income family. That doesn't even touch university tuition.

But $160,140 isn't so bad if you break it down.

It translates into:
* $8,896.66 a year,
* $741.38 a month, or
* $171.08 a week.
* That's a mere $24.24 a day!
* Just over a dollar an hour.

Still, you might think the best financial advice is don't have children if
you want to be "rich." Actually, it is just the opposite.

What do you get for your $160,140.00?

* Naming rights. First, middle, and last!
* Glimpses of God every day.
* Giggles under the covers every night.
* More love than your heart can hold.
* Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.
* Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies.
* A hand to hold, usually covered with jelly or chocolate.
* A partner for blowing bubbles, flying kites
* Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day.

For $160,140.00, you never have to grow up. You get to:
* finger-paint,
* carve pumpkins,
* play hide-and-seek,
* catch lightning bugs, and
* never stop believing in Santa Claus.

You have an excuse to:
* keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh,
* watching Saturday morning cartoons,
* going to Disney movies, and
* wishing on stars.
* You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator
magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay for Mother's Day, and cards with backward letters for Father's Day.

For $160,140.00, there is no greater bang for your buck. You get to be a hero just for:
* retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof,
* taking the training wheels off a bike,
* removing a splinter,
* filling a wading pool,
* coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and coaching a baseball team
that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless.

You get a front row seat to history to witness the:
* first step,
* first word,
* first bra,
* first date, and
* first time behind the wheel.

You get to be immortal.

You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you're lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren and great grandchildren.

You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice,
communications, and human sexuality that no college can match.
In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there under God.

You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them without limits, so . . one day they will, like you, love without counting the cost.

That is quite a deal for the price!!!!!!!

The Circus Comes to Town

The Circus came to the Vermillion Fairgrounds Saturday . It was a small scale operation, but they had some really talented performers. They also had an elephant, two horses, five ponies, and four dogs. I think the most impressive act was one of the gymnasts who used a couple of ropes to spin, swing, and twirl 30 feet above the ground without a net! I think Lauren liked the elephant ride the most. For $5 they let you take a quick ride on the elephant. It was a fun afternoon and to be honest I figured it was going to stink!

Chicago Weekend

Chris, Lauren, and I spent the weekend with Dad and Mom in Chicago. Dad had a conference and they invited us up! We stayed at the Sheraton right on the river and had a great time!

Saturday we broke the bank on the Magnificent Mile and had dinner at Sal & Carvao. Sal & Carvao is a great Brazilian steak house. Chris and I ate at a similar restaurant in NYC last year and wanted to go to another. If you go...make sure you are hungry!!

Lauren had a great time swimming Sunday morning before we headed to Dad's conference. We ate lunch with him and toured the exhibit hall before we headed home. We had a great weekend!!

One last thing...President Clinton spoke at the Sheraton while we were there. The entire Chicago Police Department were in the hotel and there were 30 protestors outside. All weekend there was a helicopter overhead.

Final Four Trip

Before we headed downtown Indy, we stopped off to see Stuart at the hospital. Micki was there with him. After talking for almost 2 hours and Brad trying to get Stuart hooked up to the internet (he's in the hospital not a hotel), we headed toward the RCA Dome. We had a great time. Hoop City was fun. We enjoyed the free pizza. The games were fun to watch. George Mason put up a fight in the first half and then got behind and gave up. LSU didn't even show up at all. We left the RCA Dome before the first half of the LSU/UCLA game. We drove over to the Hall of Fame (we missed our turn and took the not so good route). The Hall was really neat. We left Indy around mid-night. The closer we got to Fithian, the sleeper we both got.

Got home around 1 AM. At 1:30 AM Brad's beeper went off and he had to go over to HK. It was a short trip but after being up since 6 AM it became a late night.

Brad and his dad are headed over to the final game tonight. They are stopping off to see Stuart first. The game time is 8:21 PM so it's going to be another late one.

Hello...is this thing on?

Wow, it's been a long time since the last post!! I have been spending all my free time working on HK's budget and Chris has been busy taking care of everything around the house.

Last night we took Lauren to see Ice Age 2. It had a few intense scenes for kids, but overall it was a really good show. There were a lot of funny jokes for both adults and kids. One of the characters used the word pervert and everyone laughed really hard. Lauren thought the word must be hilarious so she repeated it many times... :-) We give it three thumbs up!

Chris and I are heading to the Final Four today. Someone she works had tickets and didn't want to go since the Illini lost early in the tournament. Hopefully we will get to see a Gorge Mason win!!