That's cool, but for me it's easier to

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Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died.

Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.

Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured.

Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.

They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

What kind of men were they?

Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners: men of means, well educated. But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts and died in rags.

Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton. At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr. noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months. John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later he died from exhaustion and a broken heart. Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates.

Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution. These were not wild-eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means and education. They had security, but they valued liberty more. Standing tall and straight, and unwavering, they pledged: For the support of the declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of the divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.

They gave you and me a free and independent America. The history books told you a lot of what happened in the Revolutionary War. We didn't fight just the British. We were British subjects at that time and we fought our own government!

Some of us take these liberties so much for granted, but we shouldn't. So take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank these patriots. It's not much to ask for the price they paid.

How come a guy can waltz in and land the high-paying job without a degree, yet the woman has to have the proof of degree in hand, the multiple references (which with us are ALWAYS checked--men hardly ever), and the johnny-on-the-spot answers to such stupid-ass questions as, "If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?" ...all for a job (whether it's this field or whatever) with crappy benefits and crappy pay and even crappier treatment when you want time to also do the most noble thing of all and be a mother.

When we lived in the city, we let both of our cats out on leashes but they wore harnesses, mainly so they couldn't slip loose. They did start out as kittens with them though, not as adult cats. They would hear me jingle their leashes and harnesses and come RUNNING to be tied outside to the little backyard there. They absolutely loved it and the worst that would happen is they would get tangled to each other and around a bush. I was always around to supervise though...usually enjoying morning coffee out on the back deck listening to the thumping cars and sirened-vehicles drive by. Man do I miss the city--NOT!

I found my first bat upstairs in the hayloft a few years ago...oh it was so cute and so tiny! My husband had to physically hold me back from trying to pick it up. I think it was a youngin' who just came inside to sneak a nap and decided bales of hay were a most comfy place to crash.

I pretty much try to make a grab for anything like that...which is totally not normal, I know.

Spiders though...well, if I see a spider, no matter how teeny, I do that thing...what's it called..."vagal."

I'm like a fainting goat when it comes to spiders for some reason. Pass right the frig out and poo myself. Not too proud of that, but there ya have it, so I can totally understand someone else's phobias for sure!

First as a mom who adopted her first son when he was 9, I say congratulations to you all. What a special blessing it is. Your daughter has probably already met all of your relatives, but we made a special photo album with all of the extended relatives in it and labeled each one so that he had an album of his new family. We also had a photo album of the adoption procedure with pics of all of us with the judge and pics of Anthony behind the judges desk and such. We had a great judge, who let us take our time and take as many pics as we wanted. We also planted a tree in the back yard as a reminder of adoption day, which we celebrate each year just like it was a birthday. Also we bought a special frame for the adoption certificate and it is hanging in our living room in a very prominent place. Something that we thought about after the fact and never did was to take out an adoption anouncement in the paper, just like a baby anouncement.

Just some of the ideas that we used, praying that you have a joyous and blessed life with your new sweetheart.

My husband always claimed since he had seen my first 2 C-sections as well as watched 1 on TV that he could've delivered our third child at home. LOL!

I understand your anger and I don't blame you at all - but be sure of your facts before you make a huge deal out of this. For example, your SIL might have been talking to your niece about the topic in general and your niece asked specifically about your husband and son, to be sure she understood what her mother was telling her.

Not defending your SIL at all, I'm just saying that your niece is only 8 years old and she could have condensed an entire conversation down to one sentence. Just be sure of the facts. If indeed your SIL did say exactly those words in exactly that way, then I would certainly agree that asking her why she is suddenly singling out your husband and son is an appropriate reaction.

I was recently told by my SIL that she would prefer that I didn't tickle her children (in the ribs, in front of the whole family - not like I was trying to hide it) because they have ONE family member who lives a THOUSAND miles away who is a pedophile. So they don't allow ANY family members to touch their children at all, except for a hug when you are leaving their house - and at that point, I felt awkward even about that and waited for her to say, "Go ahead and hug your aunt."

So I really do understand how you're feeling. I think my SIL is WAY overreacting to the situation but those are her children and I don't have any right to tell her how to raise them.

Your SIL may be just trying to make trouble. That is certainly a possibility. But it's not the only possibility.