New Blog

I did it! I opened up a blog dedicated to Thursday's Thumbs!  Check it out http://thursdaysthumbs.blog.com/ 
I just wish I could find that picture I used back in the day when I first started doing TT. 
Join me over there each Thursday as I rate products and items we've tried through that week!  Also feel free to drop me any suggestions.
Want to try something but are too chicken?  Tell me about it and I just might try it for you!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Gina!

I'm so excited about you turning 40 before me!

Don't light the house on fire!!

Make a wish! Oh heck, make 40 of them!

Grrrrrr

11:12 am
I have the grumblies.
I'm frustrated with spending my time doing stuff I don't want to do, so now I have the grumblies. I should be thankful instead I have the stuff I have to do, but right now my mind is in the wrong place. I was so busy getting Christmas put together, I didn't have time to play.
I want to be outside playing with my kids instead of meeting deadlines, when I called "vacation!". Can't help when babies are born, and I am glad for the images I got and the money I made and the family I met and hope I see again. So I should be thankful right?
I'm just grumbly.
One thing that got me excited today was the thought of reviving my Thursday's Thumbs. Thinking about it....

2:20pm
Now, I've almost single handedly gone through a bowl of M&M's as I've worked here today. I have laundry sitting in the dryer because I haven't folded the last load that came out. I'm contemplating tossing it all on the couch and sorting it out later when dh is at the job interview.
Oh yeah, have I mentioned he has an interview today for a temporary, part time job with an tax prep place? He does. Sometime around 4 I think. He has to be up at 3. Wish him luck.

We had a pretty good Christmas! The kids got a lot of fun things. We spent the evening at Joel’s sister Sarah’s house. The kids had fun sledding down the hill with their aunt, uncle and cousins. I had fun hanging out and talking to family.

I got something I’ve been wanting for several years. A big beautiful warm electric blanket. Every night for the last couple of years I have put on socks and warmed my side of the bed with a hot pad while I brushed my teeth before going to bed. My next big item on my wish list is a towel warmer. I found one at Bed Bath & Beyond but it seemed too small for our new big fluffy towels I got on Black Friday or I would have bought it right then and there. I wish it had been bigger. I bet it feels so nice to step into warm towels in the middle of winter!

I also was lucky and got to talk to several family members in the last few days for the holidays as well. I don’t have any family here in Minnesota, and sometimes I really miss them, especially on the holidays. I wish we could travel there in the winter, but my mom always insists that we won’t miss anything good and also I’m chicken to travel in the snow, especially in the mountains. I suggested to Joel that maybe next year we could go spend the holidays in a cabin somewhere in MN. There’s one that we found that had indoor plumbing and it would be really fun to spend a week there… I bet it would cost a fortune though.

Spoiler Ahead!

For Christmas I got the movie Julie and Julia. If you haven’t seen it yet, read no further. If you have, read on! I loved it! Mostly. I didn’t like that in the movie they said that Julia didn’t like Julie or her blog. So terrible! I appreciated the part at the end where Julie didn’t hold that against Julia and it didn’t keep her from finishing her project. I also loved the butter tribute she left with the painting of Julia. I did love learning more about Julia and watching Meryl Streep portraying her was fascinating. I loved the relationship between Julia and Paul. I also loved all the French words. French is such a beautiful language. I took a few years in High School, but I barely remember anything. I love listening to people speak it. I looked up her blog and read the last few entries and then later while looking up pictures of her I ran into Julia Powell’s current blog where she tells about reading at bars and such. I’ll have to look into it more. I wonder if she has any children yet, or if this whole thing has taken over her life.

-End Spoiler-

Jaeden lost a tooth last night while she was sleeping. I hate the tooth fairy. She’s just another reason why I feel like a big fat liar. Her and Santa are in cahoots with each other and they have it out for me. Forget my kids, I’m the one that’s going to need hours on the therapy couch when my kids are all grown! Joel insists that we participate in the deceitful tradition, but I have moral issues with it and my conscience bothers me so much, especially when the kids ask me questions and I have to come up with a spur of the moment lie.

_Can't L_ve W_thout "_"

_ love _. _ can do so many th_ngs w_th _. L_ke go on vacat_on, or go eat _ce cream. _ makes l_fe complete. Today wh_le _ was at Wal Mart, wh_ch surpr_s_ngly doesn't need an _ to spell, _ was text_ng Jacob w_th my new Blackberry, wh_ch also doesn't need an _ and all of a sudden my _ went out! _ texted to him "My eye went out!" _ thought maybe _t was a gl_tch _n my phone and turned the phone off and then back on aga_n, but the phone was dead. NOOOO!!!! _ have fallen _n love w_th my l_ttle record keeper, not_f_er, messenger, calculator, ema_l sender. How can _ l_ve w_thout _t!? Joel took the battery out and put t back _n aga_n. Slowly the phone came back on, but stll no _. Th_s _s not the worst of _t because Joel called the company we bought the phones from (we got 3 w_th our plan) and they probably forwarded the call to _nd_a because the serv_ce rep. d_d not speak very good engl_sh, wh_ch does need an _ to spell. Now they want us to send the phone back before they w_ll send us a new one. That seems k_nd of a r_poff to me. The last phone _ had the company sent me a new one and _ sent them m_ne back _n a bag that came _n the new one's box. That _s the last t_me we buy someth_ng not from a br_ck and mortar store! _ am so bummed about th_s because _'ve been watch_ng and wa_t_ng for a deal that our fam_ly could afford and now that we got _t, _t sucks rocks (_ know M_chelle, _t should only l_ck rocks, lol). So now we w_ll be w_thout our 6513 number for who knows how long. _f you are one of the people who th_nks you should have another cell # to get a hold of us let me know and _'ll get to you w_th a number.



Ok, I can't carry on typing without an I anymore.

This was really frustrating for me tonight because I realized how late it is in the month and how much I don't have done and need to get done in the next few days and also our family is going away tomorrow night and had plans for the day to spend at Macy's and also Jaeden has a talk to give in Primary and I have two sharing times to put together... AAaaargh!!! Also I had no stocking stuffers and also I have to get 4 more presents and I have to make at least 4 more batches of caramel... and... and....the list goes on and on... I feel a vein throbbing in my forehead.

Today was a huge reminder for me how precious life is and how much I take for granted. I don't want to take things for granted, I really don't. I want everyone in my life to know how much they mean to me and how much they enrich my life or my family's life. I'm so thankful for our ward members and for our families and how blessed my life is having them in it! Richard was only a year older than Joel. This surprised me. I didn't realize that until today at the funeral when I was reading the program. As I watched the Brooks family follow Richard's casket out of the chapel I thought about how young Debbie looked. Far too young to be following her husband's casket. I said a prayer right then, please let me be old with a cane before I have to follow any one's casket out the doors of our chapel. In the parking lot I had to let Joel know that I love him. I don't say that often enough and more so lately, because our relationship has been strained more so lately. But I do love him and I want him to know that. My life would have a very big hole in it were he to be gone from it.

The other day I turned 38. I don't feel 38.... I feel late 20's. I was soooo sick that day. I spent the day on the couch pretty much. My VT JoAnne was so sweet! She brought me home made chicken soup with home made noodles and home made bread. It smelled so good and was so hard to wait until the next day to be able to eat it! I've had a lot of people say to me, "If I lived closer I would.... " But she actually did! That gave me so much relief because I didn't know if I was going to be able to stand to make dinner or work with food, the way I felt. The family gave me a heavenly chocolate cake with chocolate frosting on it. I had to wait until the next day to even dare trying it. All day long Joy made me cards and wrote me love letters. She's so sweet. I just love that little girl! For my presents that night the first one I opened was a new smoke detector. We have a stupid one by the kitchen that is the wrong kind and goes off every time something burns even just a little. And once that goes off all of the ones in the house go off because they are all wired together. Poor Joel has been woken up once a week lately because of it. I think that was more of a present for him, hahaha. Then they brought out my real present which is a cute little black Dell Inspirion Netbook. It's so cute! :) And get this, it fits into my purses I made!

I love it! Thanks!

I'll just be glad to have this whole week over and done with. Which reminds me, I have a talk to write for Jaeden so I better stop writing here. Bye!

While I'm on vacation

I decided to take a vacation from photography during the winter. Pretty much the only people who want outdoor portraits in the winter are engaged couples.
Tonight at Jake's wrestling meeting for parents they were asking for another photographer to help out this year. They had another mom helping and wanted a second. I don't know what she's shooting with, and I would feel bad if the boys ended up with not so many pictures, or blurry point and shoot kinds. I've already decided to take off from portraits for the winter and thought, "why not?". So I volunteered myself for the other position. Who knows, it could be fun.
They didn't have very many of Jacob last year and that bummed me out, so at least I know I'll get some of my kid this time.
I need to be at all the tournaments and they want a couple of each kid, I think whether or not they are wrestling that day.

No Haunted Leg

I ended up making Jacob come home early from camping with the scouts and spent the day from 9am to 4:30pm shopping. I can say that I am nearly done with my Christmas shopping. The last things I need to get are going to have to be purchased on Black Friday... yay me!
I feel so much relief!
Today Jake and I are going to a Vikings game courtesy of JoAnne. Thanks JoAnne! Hope you are enjoying Chile!
She and her husband were supposed to be joining us, but then she got an offer she couldn't refuse, to go to Chile with her dad for a couple of weeks.
We'll miss her, but enjoy the game the same.
Poor Joel is getting stuck at home because of his new calling. It's tithing settlement time and he has to stick around the church for the bishop. We'll miss you too Joel!
I'm soooooooooo looking forward to Thanksgiving dinner! I love my mother-in-law's cooking. Last year she even made the terducken taste good enough that I didn't mind the strange duck inside my turkey and chicken pieces. Usually the thought makes me gag, but I didn't mind last year. Only took me 18 years. I hope it's as good this year because she's doing it again.
I finished up another purse again this week also. I gave Joy the brown and pink one and made a blue and brown one for myself that I like much better. It goes with more of my clothes. I promised Jaeden I would make her one now, but I have to take her to the store to pick out her material. I love that they love the things I make for them! Here's the one I made for myself.

Got cheese to go with my whine?

I hate being so negative. I really try to be like President Hinckley, looking at the brighter side, finding the silver lining, etc. But I am just at my wits end right now and I'm feeling overwhelmed! I don't know how my mom did it with 6 kids. I feel like there's not enough hours in the day to get done what I need to get done, plus what I'd like to get done, plus what the kids want done.
Jake's wrestling is starting next Monday and I am sooooooooo dreading it. It's so much time and I really rely on him to help me get my things done... like babysitting so I can get grocery shopping done. I have to pick him up every day at 5 at the school because for some reason he can't ride the activity bus home.
I need to look at that "Simplify" sign by my door more often.
I'm so behind in my Christmas shopping. Usually I am done before Thanksgiving. I know what I want to get my kids and I buy it before they fly off the shelves on Black Friday. I hate knowing what I want to get them, and then not being able to find any at the stores.
This year- I have no list, no clue.
I've been meaning to go all week long, but one thing or another has come up that's left me without a babysitter, or my free time was snatched up by something else and still here I sit with only one toy purchased. I bought it 3 weeks ago.

Now, the kids are out of school all next week...one would think I've have plenty of time to go... not so! Jake's wrestling starts on Monday and his coach wants him at the school even TWICE a day. Once in the morning for a few hours, then home for a couple hours for lunch and then back at the school again for a couple of more hours. Don't they know I like to stay out all day and then take it all up to storage before I come home?! I don't want to go out for a couple hours here, come back home, take kids somewhere, hang out at home while kid is gone, go get kid, go out again, etc. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!
I know I'm just being a big fat whiner.
I'm ok with that today.
I'm just at the point where I have to say, "Not one more thing!!!!"
I've had to turn down clients now also, because of this crazy schedule. That's not good. We could use the extra cash. But then on the other hand there's times, like today, where I have a client and it gets cancelled due to something or another and boy does it feel great to have that extra time to get something else checked off my "to do list". I'm sorry about her daughter's bangs, but it was great all the stuff I did get done today. I was sad when I was on a roll and it had to come abruptly to a halt because I just remembered that the scouts have a sleep over tonight! UGH! One more evening I won't get a dang thing done... grrrrrrrr!
Excuse me, but I really have to say that the scouts going camping every month is getting freaking annoying. It always seems to be on the worst possible weekend for our family and everything has to get put on hold because we depend on Jake so much to keep our family life going. The scouts need a new goal.

I think tomorrow I will wake up sick. What will I have? A haunted leg.

UGH!

You know what? I wish when I took time to do something for me that everything else wouldn't get backlogged!

Bag it!

I have been in a mood lately. A mood to make crafty, fun, trendy stuff.
The other day when I was looking for a camera strap cover I found this tutorial for a really cute bag.
In all it took me about 7 hours to make but during some of that time JoAnne was over working on her camera strap cover, so it wasn't completely dedicated time to the bag. I really like how it turned out and have plans for a brown and blue bag to make next. Now that I know what I'm doing I'm sure it will take less than 2 hours. lol!








Those are polka-dot pockets inside :)

It's not my birthday

But I got flowers anyway.

Jaeden thinks they aren't roses because, "roses are red" and these are white. They smell sweet just the same.

Today

I did something for me today! :) YAY!
I've been dying to get my hands on a cute cover for my camera strap. Today I decided to spend a little of the money I made doing sessions on one, but as I looked, I couldn't find one I really wanted to plunk 20 bucks down on (well maybe one). But then I remembered one of my friends showing me a link to a tutorial making one. "I can do that!" I thought. So I googled "camera strap tutorial" and found one that looked simple enough for me. I have some material I wanted to use but ended up running to the fabric store for complimentary prints to go with them. I'd also found (while looking for camera straps) a pattern for a super cute purse that I decided to buy material for and try to make. While I was there I saw that a bunch of things I'd been coveting for years were on sale and even some on clearance! Whoopie!!!
So here is my first strap I made. It's made out of flannel that has a pink and green butterfly print with 70's style designs. I love it! It also grips my shoulder better than I thought it would. It also has padding on it so I hope that it will be both comfortable and absorbent on the days I'm working a hot wedding!

Awwww

Little Joy got sick this week. This is her sleep hugging her favorite puppy "Brownie".

Coat: Pink and Brown Size 4

Round trip: 110 miles
Cost of gas: $14.25
Cost of new coat exactly like the old one: $28.72
Time spent: 3 hours
Smile on daughters face: Priceless

Missing:

Cute little brown and pink coat. New. Still has pink jacket lining. Last seen at the YMCA by Northtown Mall. Please call 651-xxx-xxxx to return. Will be a cold winter without it.


Found: Cute little brown and pink coat. Slightly used. Missing pink jacket lining. Contact the YMCA at Northtown mall to exchange cute little pink and brown coats.

Chicken, Airplane, Soldier

Did you know that teaching a child to swim was as easy as teaching them to imitate first a chicken, then an airplane, then a soldier? Well, actually it takes a little more than that, but those are the moves that Joy learned today at her first swimming lesson. I signed her up at the YMCA for the "pike" class, which is the first step of not having mommy in the water with you and they told me for her next class she can just skip "pike2" and go onto "eels".
Her classes are at a YMCA I haven't been to before and wowie, oh wow! are the workout machines ever high tech! You have a code that you put in and the machine keeps track of what you did and emails you a report. Makes it easy to track your progress. The treadmills have their own little fans and televisions and a super cool touch screen. The kids area where I leave Joy is like a huge McDonald's play land, slides and all kinds of stuff to play on, all indoors. The outdoors one is super cool too. The indoor pool has a fun kids swimming area. Our other YMCA's indoor pool is just an Olympic sized pool with no kid's bay. Booooring! I have a new favorite place for "me time".
I met a really cool lady there while I waited for Joy's class. Her youngest son was in the same class. We got to talking about our families and she was telling me about a recent diagnosis in her oldest son's life that might be life threatening. She will know more next monday at an eye doctor's appointment if there is worry about tumors in his brain. Very heartbreaking and so sad to see someone so nice facing something like that.

Adoption

Today marks the 6th anniversary of Jaeden's adoption being final.

She was born on a Friday the 13th and her adoption was final on October 31. I think that's kind of funny because she is the brightest little ray of sunshine we could have asked for, nothing that those two days would suggest. My little lucky charm.

She was the tiniest little thing when she was born. I've never held a baby so tiny. 5 pounds 4 ounces. Jake kept commenting that she probably didn't weigh more than his large Mountain Dew bottle he'd brought with him. Joel and I gave her her first bath.

I am so lucky to be her mom. She's brought us so much joy. Always smiling. Always happy. Rarely does she really lose it or get mad. I just love her to pieces and am so thankful for the "stars that alligned" that August day we found out we would have a new baby girl in our lives.

I'm so blessed.

What did they say?

This morning while I was getting Jaeden ready for school we were preparing her hair and face to be a vampiress for the school's Halloween parade. We were talking about vampires in the olden-day movies. I was trying to teach her to speak with a Transylvania voice and say either, "I vant to suck your blooood" or "I vant to bite your neck". She said, "Did they really say that?" I said, "Of course!"
She made a funny face and said, "Well that's stupid!" I said, "Why?" to which she replied, "Because then the other person would just run away!"
She's so smart.

Things that matter

A few months ago our Relief Society had a quarterly enrichment (yes I am still calling it that because to call it the Quarterly or Monthly Relief Society is even more confusing, so deal with it) meeting. At the end of the meeting they had a little crafty sign for us to make that says, "Simplify".

I hung mine up by my front door where I can see it from my work station. I have been trying since that night to simplify my life. I often ask myself, " What do I really need?" or "What is really important to me?" I've had lots of opportunities to reevaluate my life, what I'm doing, where I'm going, what I'm spending my time doing, who I'm doing it with, etc.

It's always good to clean out, change perspective, stake grounds, and evaluate your life a couple of times a year.

A couple of weeks ago at Time Out for Women one message that I got was not to over schedule my family. It's so easy to do. Often lately I've wanted to scream when something new comes up, "Not one more thing!". I have my stuff to do, house chores, taking care of my family, editing, sessions, keeping up and improving my skills, customer services, etc. It's easy for me to get busy with just doing my stuff and then throw the other kids stuff in the mix and time just gets crammed and I start feeling like a failure, or like I'm being pulled in 20 directions.

This is where the Simplify comes in.

What's important?

Is it important that we have a well designed meal every night, or is it more important that we have a meal together, even if it's pancakes?

Is it important that all the laundry is done by Wednesday, or is it important that I take time to play with and read to my kids?

It's not easy to do all the right things and make the right choices and it will take time to make new habits.

With simplifying I think also comes making sure that life is filled by enriching things. Good friendships. Uplifting and fulfilling activities that make life better, truly better, not just busy.

I want my life filled with deep family love, rich friendships, meaningful things to do.

"Not just busywork" keeps going through my head. I don't want things to keep me busy, just to give me something to do. I want them to make my life, my kids lives, my friends or loved one's lives better and more fulfilling. I want them to make our family relationships ones that they want to last for ever. I want them to want to get together for things after Joel and I are gone.

These are some things that matter to me.

A New Fan

This last weekend I spent Friday evening and most of Saturday at Time Out For Women. Cherie Call was the main host of the event, I think this because she sang and did most of the introductions. She sang so many songs. I've heard a few of them before from listening to http://www.yldsr.com/ while I work at my computer. She has such a beautiful voice and I love the way she writes her lyrics. So much of what she sings about speaks to my soul and I relate to on a deep level. There's something in every song I've heard her sing that I can claim. A feeling, a wish, a memory, a heartbreak, a loss, a joy, a love, a need.
I've put up a few songs that I could find to play here at my blog for anyone who is not familiar with her songs.
Now I have to go figure out how I'm going to acquire her CD's.

Bear Dog

Last year my kids all had big ideas on what they wanted to be for Halloween. Joshua, unfortunately is stuck with a storm trooper costume until he outgrows it, because he HAD to have the white kind... drone? and it took me forever to find any at a good deal and by the time I got to them they'd been snatched up. So the one he has cost me $30, after shipping. I told him I would only buy it if he agreed to wear it until it was too small. He did.
Jaeden has been a cowboy for two years now. She has a little horse she wears that trips her going up and down the stairs. So this year she got a new costume from the thrift store, she's a vampiress.
Joy- my sweet little Joy. Last year she wanted so badly to be a puppy ... so badly she could not be talked into anything else. I'm a big believer in thrift store costumes. I hate paying an arm and leg for something I can get slightly used for only a finger. I could not for the life of me find her a puppy costume. I searched at least 8 thrift stores. Finally I found a bear costume that was missing the head. I ended up making a tail and sewing it onto the back of the furry body in a brown that matched the tummy patch. I also sewed her a hat, using the same fur from the tail for the ears and attaching them to a felt hood. She was soooooooo cute and she LOVED the costume. When it came home from storage this year they were reunited and she was so happy to see it again. In the week that it's been here she's worn it for a while every day.
Today we went to the library for story time, and the kids were invited to wear their costumes. Joy decided to wear the puppy, even though she decided to wear Jaeden's old cowgirl costume for trick-or-treating. She loved wearing the puppy today. That is until we got stuck waiting outside of the bathroom at the library. When the grandma and her two grand kids emerged she told joy what a cute little bear she was. I pointed out the wagging tail and said, "she's a dog" with a smile. But I guess this got Joy's sprockets moving because as the story time continued I could see her confidence in her costume fall. First she started at front with the kids. Then she would come back to me for reassuring hugs and then finally ended up in my lap. On the way out to the car she asked me if she could take the costume off in the car, I told her to wait and asked why she wanted it off now. She told me, "because it's embarrassing me." My heart cracked.
After some conversation she finally said that it was embarrassing because it wasn't new. That's when we had a heart to heart talk about mommy's love and her costume was made with love and sometimes things that are not new are the best.
She wore the costume home.
She's still going to be a cowgirl on Halloween, and that's ok. The bear/dog is too small now anyway and should be retired.

I want to send a shout out to my friend JoAnne who is celebrating her birthday today!

She got her birthday wishes from me early, by accident, but I'm posting them again on the RIGHT day, lol!
Many moons ago our planet was blessed by an adoreable (I've seen her little kid pictures) little girl named JoAnne. And only a couple of moons ago my life was blessed by getting to know her.
I feel so lucky to have a friend like her. It's been super fun sharing photography with her and watching her just take off in her talent and skills.
It's been fun sharing other interests too. I've learned a lot from her, not just about couponing or plants or gardening, but spiritual and mom stuff too.

I love spending time with her. She makes me laugh a LOT.

She always has fun and creative ideas for us to do together.

I hope she has a really great year and that she gets all her birthday wishes to come true.

New News

Oh my, October has been such a busy month for me! I've had a bunch of sessions and fun stuff going on.
Joel got a new calling last week. Assistant Ward Clerk. He's so excited to finally be able to use his new accounting skills and have some experience to put on his resume.
I also have a new calling as the 1st counselor in the Primary Presidency. Our old 1st counselor has been called to serve in the nursery.
Rocky has been renamed "Sunshine" or "Sunny". We figure she's still young enough to learn a new name.
I'm working on my annual revamping of my business, prices, wedding packaging, images on the website, discount policies, etc.
Family will still be given free sessions and 20% off prints, but ward members will now be given a 25% discount on my session fees and 20% off prints, on account of people having sessions sit around for ever and no print ordering. It's a lot of work to do a session for little compensation. I have to admit I've had some wonderful customers who've refused the free session and thrown some extra in their check for me, thank you to those that have done that! Especially those that have remembered that my husband's been out of work for 6 months and every little bit helps us meet our kids needs.

As much as I'd love to give everyone free sessions, I just can't afford to do it anymore.

I'm trying to get Joy out the door this morning to get to the YMCA, but she's doing everything she can to keep us here... not liking her breakfast... putting on a dress instead of play clothes.... guess I'm going to stick around and work on my last session instead.

Also, lucky win last night for the Vikings! Whew! I didn't think they were going to pull it off in the last 10 seconds of the game. If they'd had Longwell on their team, we'd have lost.

And Rocky is...

a girl :)

Rocky just went through her first molt and still looks the same. Her new feathers are pearled like her old ones. If she'd been a boy she'd have begun turning gray.
She had us thinking she was a boy for a while because she learned to wolf whistle, but the feathers were the truth tellers.

Congratulations Rocky.

Germs are not for sharing

That was the theme of tonight's required parent's meeting at Joyanna's school ready program. And through the whole thing I'm thinking... "I'm paying for this?"
We started the evening out by standing in a long line, having lotion put on our hands, stepping into a dark tent with a black light, being lectured on the importance of washing our hands, then washing our hands and returning to the dark tent to see that even though we had used lots of soap and sang the Birthday Song, we in fact had failed miserably at washing off the imaginary germs because our hands STILL glowed in the dark!
Then we got treated to pizza. But not before Joy decided she'd better do a better job at washing her hands. I guess the "germs" still showing freaked her out a little.
Then while Joy and the other short people got to go play, we parents got lectured on how not to worry, our child, if they are 5 years old by September 1 will in fact be ready for school, even if they don't know all their abc's and the sounds they make. Duh.
Then we got lectured on what the flu is, how to tell if our child has the flu, how to know when to go to the doctor and how long to keep them home (7 DAYS!) and even on how to take a temperature with a digital thermometer not only under the tongue but also under the arm (seriously, if you don't know this, you should not be having kids). This isn't your momma's flu where you got to go back to school 24 hours after having a fever, or sometimes in my case while you still had the fever. Ohhhhh no! This is major strong flu and our children are able to spread the flu germ longer than older people (that's their super power), even after they don't have a fever so we have to keep them home 7 DAYS!
Then I was allowed to go pick up my child and go home and think about those bad flu germs and how I have spread them around for the last 37 years of my life and of all the great super powers my kids could have had, they got the incredible germ spreading power. Great.

YEAH!!!

A few things are making me happy today.
First might I mention the most awesomely exciting game last night between the Packers and the Vikings. I was expecting an eventful game and the edge of my seat was not disappointed.

Second, I got my tickets for Time Out For Women, this morning. I went to this a couple of years ago and it was such an awesome experience! I'm soooo looking forward to this next one. And this time we get TWO days!
On Friday Michael McLean will be there and I just LOVE his work. His music is so heartfelt and inspiring.
On Saturday I'm looking forward to the talented Cherie Call performing and also the witty and refreshing Mary Ellen Edmunds. I'm sure all of the other speakers I've failed to mention here will soon be on the top of my "people I admire" list.
It's going to be a good time :)

ETA: I also forgot to mention something else that makes me happy today and that is the news that my husband's boss left him a note that Zeiss has doubled their order and my husband will have plenty of work for the next while.... YEAH!!!

Glad I won't be there!

A couple of years ago Joel and I had the brilliant idea of skipping church and going to a Vikings vs. Giants game. It was a bad idea. We were up in the nosebleed section. Drunks all around- for both teams. We had this horrible sailor behind us... well, he talked like one anyway, or rather yelled. Then we had a wonderful fist fight right in front of us with the guy in front of us and the people next to us. I kept saying, "I can't believe we skipped church for this."
Monday I'll be watching the game from my big screen (horrible picture, but better than the nosebleed section) where it's safe and I don't have to worry about sounds, thrown cups, swearing, Favre mocking, etc.
It's going to be an exciting game :)

Beware of my house!

She just came in here dressed like this and proclaiming that she is a rabbit eating squirrel!

Train Trails, End O the Line

State Fair!

Ok, I'm feeling pressure from my friend that I should post this at least within the same month that we went, so here it goes... except that all of these are pretty much going to be soocwac (straight out of camera with a crop, lol).
On Tuesday morning, bright and early JoAnne came to pick me up for a fun day at the fair. The Minnesota State Fair is a really big deal. It's one of the biggest fairs in the US. We gave ourselves ten dollar limits, and since she had tickets to get in for free and another friend gave us a coupon book, that made it a bit easier to stick to. I spent only $10.50.
First we parked at a local church and took the free bus ride that dropped us pretty much at the front gates of the fairgrounds.
We both brought our cameras and decided to do "Faces of the Fair" posts on our blogs.
I'll start first with the pictures we took of each other.
My picture of JoAnne:



Her picture of me:



We did see some Minnesota Celebrities:
Keith Marler, Fox 9. We tried to get behind him so we could be on tv when they went to him, but alas, we were out of luck. We decided to try another station later in the day.



But while we were trying to get into Keith's shot we saw two other Fox 9 people, Jason Matheson:


and this guy looked familiar to me, but JoAnne doesn't recognize him so he has no name:


At the chanel 5 booth we caught John Hanson and Elizabeth Ries leading a game of BINGO


I think I will break my images up by categories.
First up, Gangs at the Fair:




The chicken Hat Gang:




There was a really big and powerful gang, called The Pig Ear Gang.


They were so powerful they even convinced JoAnne and I to join (but the coupon on the inside of the hat for $1 off pork was the clincher). I'm sure JoAnne will post a picture of me in the hat on her blog, for those of you who know her.



Then there was the revolutionary gang that didn't even bother with hats, they just pouffed up their hair and sprayed about 5 pounds of glitter onto it. This was the Glitter Gang. We were not cool enough to join this gang. It takes a special certain somebody to be able to wear this gang's style with pride, and we just did not have it.








Some of the chickens tried to create their own Hair Gang:

try to find the head on this one! Even when I did find it's head, I couldn't see even it's beak!








And a goose impostor:


Some of the chickens rebelled and wanted a NO Hair Gang:




This is what the Turkey thought of them all:


And the Scooter Gang:




The Scooter Gang's leader, who came back to make sure we got a good picture of him


Old McDonald had his own gang:


There were some other people there trying to start their own gangs, but as of Tuesday, not many had caught on, I can't imagine why-







This segment is called What Not to Wear at the Fair. I would have more images but my memory card went corrupt half way through the day.

Kilt anyone?


Kilt boy's girlfriend


One of these people is not like the others, one of these people just isn't the same, can you guess which person is not dressed like the others, before I stop singing this song....


Stacey and Clinton on What Not To Wear would have a hay day with this girl


Interesting Prizes- JoAnne has more of these as her camera didn't crap out on her.





Other things we saw-


This little kid was so awesome. I can't imagine any of my kids getting up there and dancing in front of a crowd and look like they enjoyed it.




Art at the fair:
Got a quarter, anyone?


This was made up of little pills, I think it was called "a tough pill to swallow" or something like that.


Baby animals at the miracle of birth barn:






In the Pig Barn we were surprised to see such little kids herding such huge pigs!


This pig reminded me of a dog, the way he was just sitting there



We ended the day hanging out at Chanel 5 and getting our faces on tv during the newscast, woo hoo! JoAnne marked one item off her bucket list.