Mark... You were Wrong...

So before going to Texas, we heard our fair share of stories about Texas, bogus laws, and crazy things about Texans. One of the best was from my Brother In Law, bless his heart, that in Texas, it is a law that you can shoot anyone that comes onto your property without penalty. Well, in Mark's defense, this guy thought so too:


(This was in our Morning Newspaper)

Kaufman County man indicted in shooting of teen who crossed yard
09:18 PM CDT on Monday, June 2, 2008

By RICHARD ABSHIRE / The Dallas Morning News
rabshire@dallasnews.com

A Kaufman County man faces possible prison time for shooting one of two teens cutting across his yard in March, an act that triggered a chain of events that ended with a traffic accident that killed the other boy's mother.

W.C. Frosch, 74, was inside his home March 1 when he shot 15-year-old Brandon Robinson through a window. Mr. Frosch has said he thought the boys were about to break into his home.

Kaufman County authorities initially cited the state's new "castle law" in declining to file charges. Under the law, a person is presumed to be acting reasonably if he shoots someone he believes is trying to break into his occupied home, business or car.
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Tell Us: Is the "castle law" good for Texas?

Prosecutors said they treated this case like any other.

"Self-defense claims are weighed on a case-by-case basis, based on the facts," Kaufman County District Attorney Rick Harrison said Monday. "We decided to take it to the grand jury, and they indicted him."

Mr. Frosch was indicted last week on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a second-degree felony, punishable by two to 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

He was not available for comment Monday, but he has said that he believes the shooting was justified.

"I don't think I had really much choice," Mr. Frosch said after the incident. "I think I was justified in what I done."

On the night of the shooting, Mr. Frosch told officers he thought the teens were prowlers, so he armed himself with a handgun and told his wife to call 911.

He shot through a window, striking Brandon under his left arm. His injuries were not life-threatening.

"Mr. Frosch shot me," Brandon said he told his friend Devin Nalls that night. "Your neighbor shot me!"

Brandon was spending the night with Devin, 16, whose family lives on one side of Mr. Frosch's property. The teens told officers they were crossing his yard to check out a loud party that was under way at a home on the other side of the Frosches'.

After the shooting, the teenagers ran back to Devin's home and his mother, June Nalls, 41, loaded the boys into her truck to take them to a local hospital.

On their way, a 1996 Ford driven by Agustin Renteria, 27, of Kaufman, crossed the center stripe and struck Ms. Nalls' pickup head-on, police said.

She was killed. Her son and Brandon survived.

Police later arrested Mr. Renteria on a charge of failure to stop and render aid, and more serious charges were pending blood alcohol test results.

There was no answer Monday at the Nalls home.

No trial date has been set for Mr. Frosch, who will be tried in the 86th District Court.

Initially, there was some question about whether Mr. Frosch's actions were legal under the "castle doctrine," which the state Legislature passed in its last session.

The law authorizes residents to use deadly force to protect their property in some situations without requiring them to retreat first.

But a sponsor of the law, Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, said the law was not meant to cover a case like this.

"It was our thinking that you have to be under attack," Mr. Wentworth said after the shooting.

What Would You Do?

So when I got here in Dallas, schooling for Tori was the last thing on my mind. I was just grateful we found a place to live close to Brad's work. The school system here is so jacked up, its nothing like WA or UT, not even close. I didn't believe it until I saw it for myself. So here's how it works... people where I live are usually single, or don't have kids. Those that do, that are of my same ethnicity, seem to send their kids to private school. So the public schools have a ratio of about 97% hispanic and african-american, 1% white, and 2% other. I didn't think it would be THAT bad, Tori could learn Spanish, right? Well, I went to visit the school to check it out, and it was way worse than I thought. The halls smelled of urine, I only saw one white child in the entire school, and two white male teachers who looked really freaky and greasy, and I just can't imagine Tori going to a school like that...
So... I searched and searched, and all the private schools were either full or charged anywhere from $560-$900 MONTHLY (This is way higher than college tuition, for a kindergartner!). All the charter schools were full and laughed at me when I asked if they had room, until I found one. One private school was starting a charter school this fall (charters are free), so I thought, perfect! I'll get her in there, it'll be perfect, I was calm and collected and thought I'd figured it all out...

Well, I called this morning about the application and they notified me that they are no longer going to be doing the charter school in the fall because they don't have all their i's dotted and t's crossed with the school board and government to set it up for Charter School funding, and the earliest they'll be able to start it is in January!

So... here are my options:

Private School ($560 minimum)
Public School (in all its glory)
Home School (see below)

So I was originally thinking about doing home school all along, but now I am working at home doing data entry and need to be working about 5 hours a day, and so Tori going to school would be perfect. The problem I have with Home School is patience, and Abbie. I'm just not sure that Tori will get the education she needs at home... but would that be better than Public School? And what about the socializing? But do I want her to be socializing with those kids?

What do you think?

My adorable husband

I just wanted to show all of you how adorable Brad was as a child, and what our son will look like when we have him some day...

Texas Brain-washing

So, we've been here for a little over a month. Not that long, right? My opinion might be altered because our life circumstances have changed substantially, however, today as I was driving, I did come to the conclusion that rather surprised me so much I laughed out loud. I and my children agree (and I can't say it for Brad, but I do think he probably does agree) on this huge thing. In fact, its so huge, it truly only belongs in Texas. And that huge thing is the fact that Texas is Awesome, and We Love it, and I think now... that I have Texas Pride.

So here's my thinking, I know you're thinking, "What is she thinking..." So here's the answer: Because there are no mountains here, and no "natural" beauty... (now let me explain this second piece... When I say Natural, I mean that it didn't just automatically grow by itself...) So as I was saying, because there are no mountains here and no "natural" beauty, the Texas People (whomever they are, still not sure) have decided to make Dallas beautiful by planting trees and flowers in every single spot they possibly can, and use all the water from the US (we are the reason there is a drought everywhere I'm thinkin) to water these trees and bushes and flowers and grass, and Dallas is GREEN and BEAUTIFUL! AND... its interesting, and there is LOTS to do here! I know, I sound brainwashed, huh. But its really really true! There are so many places to go and visit and things to do and everywhere you look it is green, and I just have to admit it, I have Texas Pride. Its true, I admit it. And it only took me approximately 5 weeks to come to grips, but I figure since we'll be here for a long time, I might as well just admit it and enjoy it :)

Twilight Series

I wouldn't be true to myself if I didn't blog on this subject right now. I just finished reading (and listening on audio) the Twilight Series (Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse) by Stephenie Meyer. It truly, truly has been the most amazing series of books that I have ever read in my entire life (maybe aside from the scriptures?). If you haven't read them yet, you HAVE TO! If you don't have time, buy it on audio (itunes has it), you'll get sucked in within minutes. Anyway, just amazing, and I'm so glad I finally gave in and read Twilight, which of course made me read the other two, and according to my sister, Andi, the next book comes out in August.

For those of you who are thinking about not reading this series, do it for yourself to give yourself some alone time, some "Me" time. Its worth it. Its great.

Anyway, so as I have read and listened to this book, I can't help but parallel my husband and Edward. As I'm sure most of you who have read this book, if not all of you have done with your husbands. So Vampires aside, its the amazing love and affection and magnetism that Edward and Bella have for each other. Mainly the affection and undying (no pun intended) love that Edward has for Bella. Just the things that he says, it just reminds me how blessed I am that my husband feels that way about me. And I'm so eternally grateful.

Brad and I have quite the story of meeting, and friendship, and love. A story I never would have thought could be mine, and some day maybe I should write a novel, because it is quite interesting, and romantic, and funny, but I will never let a day pass that I don't thank Heavenly Father for the amazing man that I wake up to in the morning, and go to sleep with at night, and thank him for giving me a husband whose love is unlike I have ever known, and that love is for me. Me. One who sometimes doesn't feel like I deserve a love so real, so true, but somehow, I got lucky enough to find him (or recognize him) and realize that my life can truly be a fairytale.

I've been reading fairy tales to my girls lately before bedtime and I've been astonished at the stories, like the wolf eating the grandma and then little red riding hood... who talks about something so horrible, wolfs eating people... okay, so I guess I read about it in the Twilight Series, but these fairy tales are for little kids! Anyway, all of these fairy tales that we grew up with and think are so great, they all have hard times. I just read Rapunzel, and how sad is it that she was stuck up in a tower for so many years all by herself! But it doesn't matter, cause her hair is long, and her prince does come, and its days like these (payday) that I realize that although my life has had some rough times, many to be exact, it always ends up in that fairytale with a happy ending somehow, and although my story is far from over, it never stays bad the whole time, and I'm well aware that its not always good, but in general, we always remember the good parts, like Rapunzel's hair, and they always overshadow the bad. Maybe not at the time, I'm sure Rapunzel would have given up her hair in a second if it meant getting down from the tower, but she needed it in order to save her from a life of solitude. (Now we're getting deep) And so it is with life. That the Lord blesses us with these things (like love... or hair... or both) that help us to somehow find our way out of our tower eventually. All these things shall be for our good. :)

Medieval Times

We went to Medieval Times last Saturday to celebrate our Anniversary (Yeah for us, 7 years!) And take the girls to a great show. We had a GREAT Time! For those of you who have read "New Moon" in the Twilight Series, you can only imagine my anxiety as we were all crowded in a Medieval Style Room, lots of us, and went in a single file line into the auditorium. I thought it a little too familiar :) It was quite spooky and I had to keep telling myself, "Its not real, only a book."

We decided to save as much money and not buy any extras when we went, but as we went in they asked us if we had any upgrades. We said, "What kind of upgrades?" The guy moved us up to VIP Front Row Seats for free! We were stoked!

Abbie was a little bit nervous in the beginning, the sound was pretty loud, but she got used to it quickly and really enjoyed the horses and the knights and such. It was pretty fun. The food was EXCELLENT! Tori was almost immediately in love with the Red Knight that represented us in the Red Section of the room. After winning a Jousting competition, the Knight received a Red Carnation to which he threw to Tori who was Screaming and waving her arms like her life depended on it. I looked over and saw her bright red face, needing air from screaming so loud and long. It was adorable. She was instantly in love as he kissed the flower and threw it to her. She caught it and gave it a hug (as much as you can hug a flower) and kept it by her face the rest of the night. Everytime he rode by her on the horse she waved and blew him kisses. It was truly great. At one point one of the other knights came up behind the red knight and knocked him down to the ground without any warning and Tori was DEVASTATED! She about started crying and was so worried about her knight in shining armor. It was a great event, we all had a great time!

Soup Recipes?

I'm looking for yummy soup recipes. Brad and I like thicker/chowder type soups, so if anyone has any, if you could post them, that'd be so great! I have Jeni's amazing Chicken Noodle Soup recipe, and my Taco Soup Recipe, but I'd love for ya'll :) to share any recipes you have. Brad and I are going to try to change some eating habits, and eat healthier and work out every morning, so we'll see how it goes, thanks!