Lesson 1384 – 9 Life Lessons Presidential Candidates Have Taught the Presidential Selfie Girls

 

Emma and Addy Nozell aka Presidential Selfie Girls

When my daughters, Addy and Emma Nozell, otherwise known as the Presidential Selfie Girls, decided to set a challenge to listen to and snap a photo with each of the Presidential candidates in New Hampshire, none of us knew it would be an experience so filled with positive life lessons.

Even if the girls didn’t completely agree with each of the candidates, they all had a valuable bit of life advice to pass on. Below are some of our favorites.

1. Lindsey Graham (R) – family matters – a lot

Lindsey Graham is a “go down to the bar and have a beer” kind of guy with a great sense of humor, He’s a born storyteller who artfully delivers jokes with the precision of the most accomplished comedian while still giving off an “aw shucks” kind of vibe. But under those jokes lies a deep well of pain. Graham’s mother died when he was 21 and then a year later his father died leaving him and his 13 year old sister orphans. It is a huge emotional and financial challenge for a young man to keep a family that has been so deeply damaged like that together.

Graham could have abandoned his sister and the family pool bar, but instead he stepped up to the plate, took over the business and made sure his sister was taken care of while he attended college and then law school. At one point he even adopted his sister so that she could receive his military benefits.

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Lesson 1308 – Why you’ve got to go

Between getting kids ready to go to college, high school sports starting, coyote attacks on our chickens, and oh yeah, the Presidential Selfie Girls (who still need to get 4 more candidates) it’s been a busy, busy summer.

Yesterday Jeb Bush was in our neck of the woods and because we hadn’t gone to one of his events (the girls got his selfie at a parade) those of us who were at home decided to go.

This is what we learned:

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If you’ve ever wondered why we go see candidates in New Hampshire, here’s some insight.

Although we had seen Jeb Bush on the debate (and I have to say I wasn’t impressed with his performance – it lacked passion and authority) we didn’t know that much about his platform. In fact our opinion was that he didn’t want to be President and that the Republican party was probably forcing him to run based on his name.

When we heard he was going to be speaking locally, four of the kids (yes, the girls got another selfie with him) and I went and listened to what Jeb had to say.

Completely different impression. He seemed like a nice guy who knew his facts, had clear plans, experience, a sense of humor, defended his platform and who (in one of my kids’ opinion) seemed like he genuinely wanted to be President.

That’s why it’s so important to find out about these candidates, one of them is going to be the next president. *Your* next president. You should take the time to listen to them.

On the ride home, we discussed what we had heard There were a few issues we didn’t agree with but surprisingly we found ourselves agreeing with some of the points raised. Jeb got us thinking. Finally one of my sons asked me that all important election question:

“Okay mom, so he changed your impression of him, but would you have a beer with him?”

You know what? I think I would.

 

Lesson 1295 – Presidential selfie “chicks”

Do you remember how I wrote about my two little chicks trying to get a selfie with every Presidential candidate (real potential candidates, no loons)? It’s their non-partisan summer project and it has our full support. (Are you kidding? They’re getting such an education about the primary process in NH!)

Well on Tuesday the girls waited in line for 2 hours (it was hot, hot, hot!)

We were finally seated and this is what we saw:

Lesson 1291 – #Presidentialselfiegirls

This Presidential Selfie thing is going crazy. Today the girls are going to be interviewed by CNN, ABC, and NH1.

As someone on my Facebook page mentioned this is simply good, clean fun. The girls are being respectful to the candidates and they get to listen to what each of the candidates say. That’s an important responsibility for anyone who is going to place a vote for our next President. (Addy can’t vote in the primary but she will be able to vote in the general election.)

Besides, in each of the photos both the candidates and my daughters just have the biggest smiles.

Lesson 1290 – Presidential selfie girls

So my little chicks are having a good time this summer. What started off as a fun challenge has now turned into a “thing”.

Remember when I told you about the girl’s quest to snap a selfie with as many presidential candidates as they can? (And because we live in New Hampshire – First in the Nation!– they have access to a LOT of them.)

Well last night they attended a Carly Fiorina (R) event and managed to snap their 11th (!) presidential candidate selfie.

Some reporters at the event noticed the selfie taking and after asking a few questions:

My chicks ended up on the local news.

Presidential selfie girls

And they even have their own hashtag on twitter #Presidentialselfiegirls

My daughters think they are playing a game by getting all the presidential selfies, BUT in order to get their selfie they have to sit through a talk by the candidate.

My daughters are getting a selfie prize and we are getting critical thinkers.

Win-win.

Please note that political photos do not imply endorsement.

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Wendy Thomas writes about the lessons learned while raising children and chickens in New Hampshire. Contact her at Wendy@SimpleThrift.com

Also, join me on Facebook to find out more about the flock (children and chickens) and see some pretty funny chicken jokes, photos of tiny houses, and even a recipe or two.

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Lesson 1287 – But why chickens?

 

There’s been a lot of buzz about Vermont US Senator Bernie Sanders who is currently running for President as a Democrat (even though he’s really an Independent – rules are rules.) Because we live in New Hampshire, he’s been busy canvassing our state and making political stops. I have yet to see Bernie (oh I will) but the initial feedback is that he constantly points out the emperor has no clothes, and that message seems to be resonating with folks.

Here’s a little about Bernie from his website:

The American people must make a fundamental decision. Do we continue the 40-year decline of our middle class and the growing gap between the very rich and everyone else, or do we fight for a progressive economic agenda that creates jobs, raises wages, protects the environment and provides health care for all? Are we prepared to take on the enormous economic and political power of the billionaire class, or do we continue to slide into economic and political oligarchy? These are the most important questions of our time, and how we answer them will determine the future of our country.

I personally have to give credit to *anyone* who knows how to use the word “oligarchy” properly in a sentence.

Lesson 1286 – Gotta catch them all

The state sport in New Hampshire recognized by all is our Presidential primary.

Since our kids were little, we’ve been dragging them to political events on both sides so that they could hear what each of the candidates had to say. (One of their all-time favorites was a chili dinner sponsored by John Kerry.)

Many of our evening dinner conversations have covered what we’ve thought about what we’ve heard at each of these events. Trust me when I say that sometimes our discussions can get very lively.

Yesterday, Governor Chris Christie (2016 Presidential Candidate) came to an event at a restaurant the next town over. Marc and I grabbed the girls (everyone else was working) and we hurried on over.

I was a little surprised at the turnout, if you didn’t count the campaign staff and those who were sitting at tables having dinners, you’d be hard pressed to say that there were more than 2 dozen people there. Where is everyone, I wondered.

As it turned out, Christie was there for an endorsement and not a speech (I was disappointed, I had wanted to hear what he had to say) so he just made a quick round of the restaurant, gave a 2 minute announcement and then went outside to talk to what press had showed up.

Lesson 1277 – Story Time

It’s story telling time.

This afternoon I’ve been invited to hold a chicken workshop for a senior adult education program. Usually when I hold my chicken workshops they come in two parts.

Part 1 – from chick to coop

Part 2 – from coop to cull

I’m not sure that this crew is really interested in raising chickens as much as they are interested in hearing about chickens.

Lesson 1276 – Hello friend

There has *never* been a morning at the coop when the entire flock hasn’t been overjoyed to see the beginning of a new day. All I have to do is open the door, say hello, and they explode from inside, ready to see what adventures the day will bring.

Hello friend sun, glad to see you again.

It’s such a great way to live your life. To wake up with daily excitement at finding out what surprises hide around each corner. Grubs? Cracked corn? A new addition to the flock? Company with someone goes out to read in the backyard?

So many possibilities.

Lesson 1275 – The desire to do

This weekend I volunteered at our local YMCA and CPTE run sprint triathlon. I had participated in it as an athlete for the first 2 years, but for the last 4 years, I’ve only been a volunteer helping out with the organization of the race. I usually stand on the dock and try to calm the swimmers down in between waves.

This year, I saw this:

A young man, wheelchair bound and paralyzed from the waist down – Doing. The. Triathlon. With assistance he got into the water and as a swim-buoy supported his legs, he swam on his stomach and when he got tired flipped over onto his back. It was slow. It was laborious.

He finished the swim. And then he went on to do the rest of the race.