What are people thinking?

Here is a sad story about what's going on in Nebraska - and a lesson in unintended consequences.

OMAHA, Nebraska (CNN) -- Nebraska officials said they're concerned about an apparent rush by parents to drop their teenage children off at hospitals before lawmakers change the state's troubled "safe haven" law.

Four children have been dropped off at Nebraska hospitals in the last two days.

The latest cases came on the eve of a special session of the Legislature on Friday to add an age limit to the law. On Thursday, a boy, 14, and his 17-year-old sister were dropped off at an Omaha hospital; the girl ran away from the hospital, officials said. A 5-year-old boy was left by his mother at a different hospital, officials said.
The day before, a father flew in from Miami, Florida, to leave his teenage son at a hospital, officials said.

"Please don't bring your teenager to Nebraska," Gov. Dave Heineman told CNN. "Think of what you are saying. You are saying you no longer support them. You no longer love them."
Nebraska's safe haven law was intended to allow parents to hand over an infant anonymously to a hospital without being prosecuted. Of the 34 children who have been dropped off at hospitals, officials said not one has been an infant.

All but six have been older than 10, according to a Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services analysis.

(acknowledgement to CNN.com)

Safe Haven law sounds good in theory, but the repercussions are significant. Perhaps these kids will be better off, perhaps not. There are all kinds of factors that precipitate each abandonment (let's call it what it is) - mental/emotional stress, economic crisis, abuse, drugs, alcohol, behavior problems, etc. But there is no good excuse for a parent to treat their child like this...not when there is so much help available in this country.

Frankly, I hope they track down the dead-beat parents. They should not get out of their parental duties, because of inconvenience. Pray for these kids to find better homes.

I'm a fan, but not that much

Jennifer told me that I should post something on my blog about how my favorite baseball team, the Red Sox, won their two recent World Series titles in years that we had a new child: 2004 and 2007. Last year, I watched the Red Sox win while we were in the hospital after Cole's birth.















This year, no Hanson offspring and no championship. Sorry Sox.

The Pensieve

Sometimes, when I have too many thoughts in my head, I wish I had one of these....













How great would it be to have your own, personal pensieve, just like Dumbledore?

Total Money Makeover

Saturday was a great day for us. Jennifer and I were blessed with tickets to Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover Event in Portland (part of the gift included watching the kids for the afternoon - thanks Wally and Carolyn!).

Dave Ramsey is in the business of helping people achieve "financial peace." He teaches about getting intense about eradicating debt, having a savings safety net, and getting saving and investing in your future. He's helped millions through his best-selling books, radio talk show, training tools, and live events. Want to know more: http://www.daveramsey.com/


Until a few months ago, we weren't really familiar with Dave Ramsey though. I was talking over some financial decisions with Jennifer's dad. He mentioned that Dave Ramsey might have some advice on his website that would give guidance.

We made the decision to attack our last bit of debt - Tim's student loan. I'm glad to say that Jennifer and I are presently DEBT FREE (not including mortgage). At the time it seemed so risky....we sold all of our HP stock - taking advantage of a 0% capital gains tax rate for our income bracket - and paid it off. That was only 3 weeks before the entire stock market did a tailspin. Certainly God had a plan to kick us into action at just the right time.

Next up is getting a serious budget in place that can allow us to invest aggressively (I mean dedicating a greater income percentage) and pay down the mortgage.

I'm looking forward to reading more from Dave Ramsey and applying the tools. I'm also interested in finding ways to help others with these tough issues. Here are some sobering statistics:

• 70% of all consumers live paycheck to paycheck (WSJ)


• This year, more people will file for bankruptcy than will graduate from college (Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Expenditure Survey)


• The typical household has $38,000 in debt, and the total consumer debt is nearing $3,000,000,000,000 (trillion) (Consumer Reports Money Book)

This is "normal" in America. If that's the case, then I want to be weird!

One of Dave's favorite sayings is "if you will live like no one else, later you can live like no one else." What this means is there is a lot of effort and sacrifice required, but the pay-off is big. Dave admits that he has his critics, but he can only point to method that is simple and has worked for millions. What better track record do you need?

This stuff not only helps in finances, but it helps marriages, mental health and more. Do you know how much divorce costs?

My other favorite quote of Dave is "this is the same advice your grandmother gives, but we'll keep our teeth in." So thanks Grandma....and thanks Dave. Keep up the good work!

Cole's birthday

Cole had a 1 year old birthday party. He had a blast at his. Sophie had even more fun opening all of Cole's presents.

Almost here

I have a confession to make. Jennifer and I like HSM (High School Musical, for those who don't know what that means). We first say HSM and HSM 2 over a year ago. They were cheesey and funny. These movies are permanently saved on our DVR.

The third installment is coming out soon. But alas, it's a theatrical release, rather than television like the first two. So I don't know when we'll get to see it. Oh well. Something to look forward to.

Go Wildcats (get your head in the game)!

http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/highschoolmusical3/

The Great Pumpkin

It wasn't Charlie Brown and Linus....it's Sophie and Cole!

What a day! Actually it was only a little over an hour. It was sunny and bright (hence all the squinting). Sophie so wanted to help drive the tractor for the hayrides, but couldn't bring herself to be next to a stranger. So we settled for this rusty heap instead.