Don't * Forget * To * Laugh

Artist of the Month

2011-12-16T15:29:00.000-05:00

December, 2011

Luke has been chosen as the Artist of the Month for the 1st grade at Monroe Primary school. His painted self-portrait is hanging outside of the school office.

I am SO PROUD and excited to have such a gifted little boy!!!!!

Only the Beautiful Blankets...

2011-12-16T15:27:00.003-05:00

Tucking my lovely little girl into bed the other night and she tells me...

MOM! Only the BEAUTIFUL blankets can touch my body.

(meaning the silky and furry ones)

My, Oh My!!!! Where DOES she come up with these things!?!?!!!!

Squooshed

2011-09-29T14:25:00.001-04:00

Lydia told me today that she was worried

that God is being squooshed.

(not squished... "squooshed")

I asked WHY, and her answer???

Because He's in her heart and her heart is not very big.

WOWZER- I LOVE MY LITTLE GIRL!!!!!!!

Who's There?

2011-08-08T13:34:00.000-04:00

Lydia: Knock, Knock

Me: Who's There?

Lydia: See You Later, Alligator

Me: (*smiling heart*)

Life's got me again...

2011-08-02T16:22:00.000-04:00

Life is super busy. Yep. I have to put a few things on the back burner. Sadly, my blog didn't make the cut (again). Surely though - hopefully sooner than later - I WILL be back. I promise.

Maybe check back in a month or two.

Knock, Knock... Who's there? T W E E T

2011-07-23T20:30:00.001-04:00

So only a few days after I blogged about the growing birds outside our house, they flew from their nest. One of the three straggled behind the others though. It hung out all day- first in our garage, then in our driveway and finally moving to our front doorstep. It chirped all afternoon...

Here's a video of what we heard... for h o u r s . . .

Sweet Tweets

2011-07-13T12:02:00.002-04:00

For someone who doesn't care for birds (that would be ME), I sure do like seeing babies safely hatching around our home!!!!! Here is Nest #2. It's it a tough spot to get a clear photo, but there are 2-3 sweet little robins tucked in there!

One More Vacation Photo...

2011-07-12T12:02:00.000-04:00

I just realized I missed one last photo that I wanted to include. I suppose it's the perfect demonstration of a GREAT vacation ending...

FUN VACATION in 2011? CHECK!

2011-07-09T23:30:00.012-04:00

I wondered what might be the best way to blog about our trip.
There is SO MUCH to tell!
SO, I'm going to do a timeline of all of our stops. I'll include photos, which you can click on to enlarge if you're interested.

Here goes...

(Hang on to your britches, because this is a LONG post!)

DAY 1:

6/30/11, 2:30am We carried our sleeping kids to our car and left home. They thankfully slept for HOURS. We made it to Sioux Falls, Iowa (14 hours away) to stay the night.

DAY 2:

The next morning we visited Sioux Falls.

G O R G E O U S

It's amuses me to think of these breath-taking landscapes out in the middle of nowhere! It was a fun place for the kids to burn some energy, because they could run and climb.

We stopped at The Corn Palace.

This is a building that literally has it's exterior covered in corn. They change it every year to create new pictures relating to current times. Now... would I make a trip JUST to see this? Probably not, HOWEVER it was pretty cool. It has a terrific history and we really did enjoy our visit there! So, if you ever happen to be in the neighborhood of Mitchell, South Dakota... take the break.

We made another stop at the famous Wall Drug.

What a strange mish-mash of "stuff". Another interesting place to stretch our legs though.

Then we arrived at our "final" destination:

Rapid City, South Dakota.

DAY 3:

Our first adventure was to drive through Bear Country USA.

This was actually really exciting!

We visited to view the progress of Crazy Horse.

A statue carved in a mountain... started nearly a hundred years ago by ONE MAN... one of the Seven Wonders of the World. For perspective, Mount Rushmore's faces could all fit inside the head of Crazy Horse. The story to go along with this- of the sculptor and the project's development is WONDERFUL! It's inspiring and intriguing! A DEFINITE MUST if you ever visit there!!!! In the photos, you'll see the white scaled statue to see the three-dimensional finished project plan, with the real work-in-progress in the background.

Now, this next place was one of my favorite stops. The Cosmos! The photos will NOT do it justice, because HOLY MOLY this place is INSANE! It's illusion at its best! Not goofy stuff either; it seriously messes with your mind! It's a cabin built in the 1950's on an extremely steep wooded hillside. They designed the walls and such though to mess with visual logic. We watched tennis balls and water roll uphill. We stumbled in all different directions. We stood and hung at bizarre angles. People appeared unbelievably tall. To further my point... EVEN CRAIG was impressed and baffled by some of the demonstrations! It's certainly a hidden phenomena, and DEFINITELY too difficult to describe!

(these are the strangers across the room, but I seriously couldn't get my balance enough to turn and photo our own family)

(Notice this photo of a man standing opposite of Lydia. The man was actually around 6 feet tall. Not only did Lydia in actuality measure up to about his waist, but the teenager and woman behind her were ALSO nearly 6 feet tall!!!! How in the world does he appear to be so much taller as they stood opposite one another?!?!?!!)

We ended our first day (yep... this was just our first day!) with a dinner theater - CHUCKWAGON. Great Food and Great Music.

DAY 4:

In the morning we headed to Wyoming to see Devil's Tower.

It's a huge rock formation sticking up all by its lonesome. We hiked around the entire base, watching daring rock climbers scale the sides. It was about a mile walk, and the kids had a good time searching for and checking off items in their "Junior Park Ranger" books- which earned them a certificate and badge when they finished.

(if you click to enlarge the next photo, and look closely you'll see 2 rock climbers- one in a white shirt and one in a red shirt; they are TINY, because the mountain is HUGE)

Our Junior Park Rangers!

We then drove to Deadwood.

Here we took a bus tour to an old cemetery to visit the grave site of Wild Bill and Calamity Jane. The stories we heard were interesting. Back in town there was an exciting real live cowboy shoot-out. (we had to stand around an extra bit of time to prove to Lydia that there truly weren't dead men laying in the road!)

DAY 5:

Fourth of July! We started with a return to Crazy Horse.

They had a scheduled dynamite blast to clear more of the mountain. I took a video of it. You'll hear a man yell, "FIRE IN THE HOLE" as we counted down. Then you see the blast of debris and dust... THEN you hear the bang. The delay of sound was startling! We actually FELT the "boom". - The kids had the best seat in the house.

(this is the VIDEO if you're interested)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKrQ0yjNL_Y

On to Big Thunder Gold Mine,

where we took a tour of a mine and had a chance to pan for gold.

In the afternoon we walked around in Keystone,

which is where we took a chairlift ride up a mountainside in order to breeze down it on an Alpine Slide. YAHOO!!

Then Mount Rushmore.

We hiked up close to the mountain, and that night watched their daily lighting show. It included a short patriotic program and lowering of the American flag. It was a gorgeous evening!

On our way back to the hotel, we happened to drive right up close to a huge community fireworks display. We pulled over so we could watch it from our car. An outstanding ending to another great day!

DAY 6:

We took an adventurous tour into the depths of Rushmore Cave.

A natural cave that went down, down, down. It was cold and damp, and we were truly impressed.

Plus, Craig and Luke flew down a zipline while were at Rushmore Cave. It was long and fast... too fast for me to snap a photo!

The final adventure was reserved for Craig. The kids and I walked around shopping in Custer while he hiked over 6 miles on a rugged trail to the top of Harney Peak. This is the highest point east of the Rocky Mountains and west of the Pyrenees Mountains in Europe, at an elevation of 7242 feet. The tower at the top was built in 1939. A side note is that he did it in a remarkably short amount of time! And he took some awesome photos...

Here is the tunnel we had to drive through to get to this trail.

This last photo shows the teeny tower

in the distance at the very tippy-top of the mountain.

DAY 7:

7/6/11, 6 am We checked out of the hotel and hit the road. Our original plan was to stop halfway, then we changed it to MORE than halfway, then we decided to just drive it all. Yep... 22 hours later... I'll do the math for you- 4am on 7/7 we arrived home. YAY US! The drive was easy (straight and flat), and our kids were great! This ranks as probably the best vacation we've ever had!

If you made it this far... THANKS for reading about our adventure,

and I hope you enjoyed your virtual vacation!

Lazy Eye, Lydia

2011-07-05T12:06:00.001-04:00

Countdown to South Dakota

2011-06-23T09:36:00.001-04:00

In one week we will be on the road to see one of our nation's greatest landscapes. I'm getting very excited for our adventure!!!

Then to add to the fun, I showed Luke what the back of the mountain looks like. (this picture has been around for awhile now, but I think it's still funny and clever)

Mt. Rushmore Facts:

http://www.mountrushmoreinfo.com/

Sculptor Gutzon Borglum began drilling into the 5,725-foot mountain in 1927, at the age of 60.
Creation of the Shrine of Democracy took 14 years and cost a mere $1 million.
Rushmore's granite faces tower 5,500 feet above sea level.
The carvings on Mount Rushmore are scaled to men who would stand 465 feet tall.
Each head on Mt. Rushmore is as tall as a six-story building.
More that 800 million pounds of stone were removed from Mount Rushmore while carving the presidents.
Each president's face is as tall as the entire Great Sphinx of Egypt, measuring 60 feet from the chin to the top of the head.
The president's noses are 20 feet long, each mouth 18 feet wide and the eyes are 11 feet across.
The workers had to climb 506 steps daily to get to the top of Mount Rushmore.

Happy Wednesday to Me

2011-06-22T21:13:00.004-04:00

I still have not determined who had this brilliant idea, but here's what went down this happy Wednesday morning.

My two sweet, sweet children kept coming to me in bed and asking me to hurry up and come to the kitchen to fix them breakfast. They presented themselves as starving children, and made a good case about why I should hustle.

Down the steps I walked to the welcoming committee...

PSHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!
That was the sound of a can of Silly String spraying all over me. Yep. Luke was hysterically laughing with his side-kick sister by his side.

At this point I had to really hold back, because all I could first see was the pastel colored gunk hitting my wood floor and landing on my carpet and in my hair and on my plant and on my dog. I took a breath, slowly opened my eyes and then...

PSHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!
I got a teeny wad sprayed directly into my EYEBALL! It was cold and this stuff literally stinks.

I decided to let them finish their fun.
Afterall, it was not THEIR fault that their FATHER permitted such a scene. In fact, I discovered he encouraged it and suggested they yell,
"Happy Wednesday!"

Apparently Lydia began to feel regret though as I was speckled and stringy from head to toe and started yelling,
"Luke, that's enough! Luke, STOP!"
My sweet, sweet daughter.
Luke, though, didn't hold back.
He continued to spray two whole bottles until they couldn't squeeze out another single speck.

It WAS funny.
Yet it WAS awful.
It DID take a LONG time to clean-up.
And then I DID kindly ask Craig not to give them Silly String EVER EVER again!

PS Should I panic now or later about their super slyness?!

Hot Mama Pink

2011-06-13T23:22:00.004-04:00

Lydia had the honor of being in a cousin's wedding. She and 15 other sweet little girls created an adorable daisy chain that paraded around before and after the ceremony. I doubt I need to explain how glorious Lydia thought this was!!!! She's pictured here in the back row, fourth from the right. The newlyweds are Ben & Christine (CONGRATULATIONS!)

I also captured this DYNAMITE photo of Lydia with her proud daddy.

"Cut" it out

2011-06-13T23:13:00.001-04:00

It's all fun and games going crazy in a large bundle of balloons until your wrist gets knotted up in the ribbon!

No Fun for the Fairy

2011-06-09T23:31:00.006-04:00

A couple weeks ago Luke's
1st tooth was (we think) lost in the YMCA pool.

The 2nd came out today and went down the bathroom drain.

Now- I'll give him credit for being a "thinker"...
After it was already out of his mouth-
he was brushing it at the time it washed away... yes, BRUSHING the teeny tiny tooth to make it shinier in order to
EARN MORE MONEY FROM THE TOOTH FAIRY!!!!

Craig kindly took apart the drain to retrieve it, and the Tooth Fairy did indeed make a successful stop in his bedroom tonight.
Of course, not before Craig helped Luke set up his room in order to have a better chance at "catching" her.

NOT APPRECIATED!

I don't think I like the Tooth Fairy's job description very much. Too stressful! Maybe her husband could/should take over her job!

The Summer of 2011

2011-06-08T20:43:00.000-04:00

Redefining "Powder Room"

2011-06-07T19:57:00.000-04:00

Lydia and her dear friend (and partner in crime) decided it would be fun to play beauty parlor and busted out two full-size containers of baby powder. As they mixed up some bizarre paste with some hair serum/gel, they emptied BOTH powder containers in mounds around Lydia's bedroom. They applied this batter-type substance to their hair and faces and to various toys and furniture around her room.

How did I finally discover what was going on?

After periodically asking them what they were doing, and having them innocently reply, "Playing with dolls"

which wasn't a lie... the crud WAS on the dolls too!

I began to smell the fresh baby-bottom scent lingering down the stairwell. From a flight of stairs away, the powder was drifting through the air, and I perked up with concern.

Below shows a photo of what I had to deal with. It took lots of lathering with LOTS of shampoo to get it out of both of the girls' hair roots. YUCK.

They do smell AWESOME though!

The bedroom was in BAD shape as well, but with their dutiful help it didn't take too long to tidy.

Still there does remain a thin powdery dusting on all of the furniture on the second floor.

Ugh...

Hugs & Giggles

2011-06-07T14:11:00.000-04:00

Yesterday morning Lydia said something sweet to me. Vain, yet sweet. She said, "Mom, I'm so glad God made us beautiful!"
It resulted in a major giggle and hug-fest!!!!!

Then last night as I tucked her into bed, she told me,
"If you want to say nice things about me,
I'll listen."

I swear this girl is somethin' special.
She melts my heart and
tickles my funny bone on a regular basis.
God got it right when he paired us up...
that's for sure!

one dead plant: $15 / healthy baby birds: PRICELESS

2011-06-01T09:18:00.000-04:00

So, my dead plant is TOTALLY worth it!!!!!

I'm referring to my post, "A Bird's Business".

These little cuties (Pete & Patty) have been a welcomed addition to my front porch lately! We'll actually be sad to see them leave.

MY Favorite Days

2011-05-22T23:05:00.001-04:00

My first date with Craig: March 25, 1993
Day I got baptized: April 8, 1997
Day I got engaged: December 18, 1997
Day I got married: June 19, 1999
Luke's birth date: October 6, 2004
Lydia's birth date: August 24, 2007
Skydiving in July, 2009- This doesn't quite fit in this list, but as far as my most memorable days, it's "up there" (ha ha Get it? I said "up there" hee hee)

AND NOW...

Luke's baptism: May 22, 2011

I feel incredibly blessed

that this list is still growing!

A Bird's Business

2011-05-22T22:26:00.000-04:00

Look at my new hanging flower basket.

Pretty, right? Well look more closely...

See it yet? Look closer...

Now, do you see it? Yep - 2 days after hanging it, a momma dove claimed it.

Then she left some treasures and day after day we waited.

15 days later... two teeny miracles appeared.

I like them this way too, all cute and fuzzy- before they start squawking and crapping on my car.

Body Rippling

2011-05-22T22:05:00.000-04:00

This is the faster way my kids have discovered to go down our stairs. Lydia typically "wins".... as she's shockingly swift and surprisingly smooth with her rippling descent!

Tooth Fairy... wherefor art thou?

2011-05-10T01:06:00.000-04:00

Luke lost his first tooth! And I wasn't there.... boooooo

Craig had the kids at the YMCA for swim lessons, and he & Luke are in a disagreement as to where the tooth might be. Luke thinks he swallowed it during dinner, and Craig thinks it's in the pool.

Both scenarios are terrible and gross.

When I got home this evening, Craig told me Luke had written a note to stuff into the pocket in his Tooth Fairy Pillow.

It read, "Dear Tooth Fairy,

I promise I lost my tooth. Love, Luke"

CUTE!

So I tip-toed into his room after he dozed off and sure enough...the Tooth Fairy did pay a visit. There's now a crisp dollar bill nicely rolled up and sticking out of the pocket, as well as some shiny gold glitter (aka FAIRY DUST) sprinkled about.

As far as the tooth???

Either the Pool Fairy or the Poop Fairy

won dibs on it this time.

My Little Lydia

2011-05-06T22:02:00.000-04:00

Today while sorting through some toys, Lydia and I had a discussion that left me chuckling.

I was setting aside baby toys for us to get rid of when Lydia told me we should keep them in case we can get another baby.

I laughed and said, we're not going to get anymore babies.

She looked unsettled and asked why.

I answered that we're finished having babies in our family; God isn't going to give us any more.

Her reply??? Maybe we can BUY one.

- Sometimes... just sometimes,

I don't have to have the last word.

Parkapaloosa

2011-05-06T00:00:00.000-04:00

It's been rain... day after day for what seems likes MONTHS! So, you can imagine my excitement to wake up to what might be a "nice" day. I had a to-do list a mile long, but I decided to have an impromptu outing with the kids.

They were excited to dress when I told them we would go to a park.

So we went... to a park

then another park

then another

and another

and finally one more after that

Yep... 8 parks in under 3 hours. PLUS, we grabbed Subway in the middle there somewhere and enjoyed lunch at one of the picnic shelters.

(Luke told me I should call the newspaper and they can put it in the World Record Book!)

- We're fortunate to be surrounded by so many neighborhood & community parks that it made it rather easy to visit so many, without much driving time.

For some of our more familiar parks, I gave them just 10 quick minutes to bust a move and try to do everything they wanted before it was time to leave. They cracked me up as they flew around determined to touch every single piece of equipment. Then we added in some parks that we frequently drive-by, but have never actually stopped in to play. In fact, we found a new favorite!!!!

I wish I would have taken my camera!

Maybe next time, right?

I did tell the kids that someday we would try to break our record and do TEN in one day!

Parkapaloosa Part II