April, the month of music!!

It looks like April is going to be the month of new music for me. I am so excited, two of my favorite artists have new albums coming out Kris Delmhorst and The Weepies both have new albums and I can't wait. With artists like these, you can almost guarantee they are going to be good.

UPDATE: You can actually buy Kris's new cd now on her website, yeah!

Sushi and a Sunset...

One of our nights at Disney we ate at this fantastic restaurant and had sushi, which was yummy to eat, even yummier to take pictures of. Then we went out on the roof top look out we got to see the sunset over the Magic Kingdom, it was absolutely stunning.

More Disney Pictures....

Or Hollywood Studio I should say. This is where my kids had the most fun. We got to see a Star Wars Jedi training and ride the Star Wars ride, which was way cool for my kids. It's where Buzz and Woody and Lightening McQueen and Mater were. We had a blast there and Maddison and Andrew got to ride some really awesome coasters while the boys and I walked around seeing all the characters.

We're Back From the Land of Magic!!!!!

So I totally underestimated my kids going into this Disney trip. My boys are notoriously shy around strangers and never once sat on Santa's lap, so I thought they would hate all the characters. Well was I ever surprised. Ben took on the nickname of "hugs a lot", because every character that we met, he loved and hugged with full force. I am really surprised some of them could stay upright with the amount of excitement he put into his hugs. Jack also normally shy reserved guy, got everyone's autograph and even hugged a few himself. Of course, Maddison had no problems, always the social one, enjoyed all the characters as well as the crazy roller coasters. We even got Jack and Ben on a couple of roller coasters, and I even rode the fastest one they have at Hollywood Studios and didn't die from it. We had a great time and will treasure the memories we made forever. I am sure to have more pictures as I get them all downloaded, but here's just a couple.

Ta Ta for Now!!!!

We are off to Disneyworld tomorrow!!! I do plan to take lots of pictures, but since this is a family vacation, I am not bringing my computer. I will be out of touch for a week, hopefully I can handle it. On another exciting note, I got my Holga today. Just in time for some fun, funky pics at Disney. Well hope everyone has a good week and a wonderful Easter.

Girls Rock!!!!

I wish I could have taken Maddison to see this movie. It sounds so empowering, I want to raise her to be a strong woman with a mind of her own. I think for the most part I'm doing okay, I just never want her to need some one elses approval to make her feel okay. There are days when I worry that she is a follower, but mostly I think she is a leader, even if sometimes she doesn't necessarily lead in the direction I would prefer. I think this played at the True/False Film festival in Columbia, I wonder if it's still playing.



Here is a link to the movie website.

And this my friends is why I'm not a Republican....

Well there actually are many reasons, but seriously a bigger threat than terrorism. This was on Fox News today and I just couldn't help myself, anytime you have a headline like this one:
Oklahoma Rep. Sally Kern on YouTube Clip: Homosexuality Bigger Threat Than Terrorism Well read the article, it will make you laugh, or maybe cry. I mean it's one thing to have different opinions on lifestyles, but agree or not, to clame someone is a bigger threat than terrorism just because of who they love it's a little out there.

Sunday Randomness.....

Sunday afternoon and I thought I'd post some randomn thoughts. Like we haven't gotten any further on finding our movie that I posted about earlier, which either means the person who has it doesn't read my blog or they are just to guilty to admit having the movie for so long without returning it.

My allergies are killing me today, my eyes are almost swollen shut and my nose looks like Rudolph's. Of course right before seeing folks from college that I haven't seen in like 5 years I have to look like total ass. Karma.

Speaking of college friends, torrrow I am going to see a bunch of girls from college that I haven't seen in years. A bonus is that it's St. Patty's day, so we are likely to drink green beer and be merry!!!

Also we are getting ready to embark on the vacation of a lifetime next week. Disneyworld here we come!!

My dog is the coolest, she has her own little form of sign language. When she wants something, she does this little bowing down, like she's saying please, and if she wants it really bad, she'll actually throw a little bark in for good measure.

I'm reading some awsome poetry by Mary Oliver, she might be my new favorite poet. Definetely right up there with Emily Dickenson.

Oh and I almost forgot, I am starting to volunteer for Open Arms Pregnancy center. I'm super excited about this, I've always thought I would like to help others in some way during an unexpected pregnancy since I've been there, and this just sort of happened.

The birds have finally taken to eating from my bird feeders, so I will soon have many pics of birds hopefully. Until then, here's one just to sort of a teaser.

Watched a great movie tonight....

This was a great movie, tells a love story, feels like a documentary. I really enjoyed this, I'm glad I watched without Andrew, though, he would not have liked it at all. The only downside, is sometimes it's hard to understand them with their accents.

Riding with the big kids now....

Some pics of the momentous occasion. It was such a gorgeous night last night, we pretty much spent the whole evening outside. Ben thought he was doing something just as exciting as Jack, just letting him chase him around the cul-de-sac. It was great, and the look on Jack's face was priceless.

Two Wheeling!!!!

We took the training wheels off my son's bike last night. He did great, it was like he was born to ride. This was a really big deal for this guy, too, because is a very timid little guy, especially when it comes to trying new things.

MISSING: BORROWED MOVIE, REWARD A POSSIBLITY

Okay, so we let someone borrow our movie, ME, MYSELF, AND IRENE, and apparently I am the responsible party. My husband apparently has a system where we write down who we let borrow movies and I did not do this. SOOO, if you borrowed Me, Myself, and Irene, could you please let me know and get it back to us, because my husband is desperately wanting to watch this movie again, and I have failed the system.

This is How We Play Ball........

Maddison has been playing basketball, and she is quite the aggressive little thing. You can almost imagine by the look on her face that she is about to drop the f-bomb, but she didn't. She has gotten quite good this year and is playing on the starting string most games.

Thou Shalt Not Covet Their Neighbors Mac

So to make this even more distracting there are people in here with Mac's and all I can think of is "how can I make enough money to get one". This is not helping the writing process.:) Maybe I could write something ingenious and sell it and buy my Mac with the proceeds?? Of course that would require writing something ingenious and I don't think this counts.

Writing in a coffee shop......

Holy Sh** I thought I could multi-task, but wow this place is busy today. I am obviously not sitting in the right place because I have my ear buds in and still it's extremely loud. Were talking several conversations going on and people coming and going and my music in my head and I can't think of a thing to write. Totally frustrating to waste my child free morning in the coffee shop without writing a word, so I leave you with this. I changed my song yet again, mostly to irritate my husband, cause he doesn't like my music player. I'm sure he's not the only one, but if you don't like it, you can shut it off, anyway here are the words to the song playing. Kris Delmhosrt, I love her and she has a new album coming out in April, can't wait.

Arms Length

I thought about you today
Didn't mean to, it was uninvited
That's what this band-aid is for
I just looked down, saw bloody onions
Now go, don't stay no more
I don't know what to do with my hands
Cause I'm lost in an arm's length of space
And I can't find a good place to stand
I talked about you today
Kind of funny, a total stranger
I didn't mean what I said
But it surprised me, felt so clean
Now go, don't stay no more
You'll have to find your own way to the door
Cause I'm lost in an arm's length of space
And I just can't smile like this anymore
You know that windows are for seeing through
Forget that they can show things back to you
And I had it coming today
Said all the things I made myself swear I would not say
And what goes into your ears is there to stay
So I got to watch it, but I can't hold this tongue
So go don't stay
I'm not really sure this is my life
But I'm lost in an arm's length
And I need something I can pull in tight
Need something I can pull in tight
Is there something I can pull in tight

My son's beautiful eyelashes..

Why do the boys always get the lashes? I think this is as close as I'm going to get to those beautiful eyelash shots.

The amazing flying dog!!

Yesterday afternoon, we played outside enjoying the beginning of spring weather. Our dog had clearly been cooped up in the house for too long, cause she ran around like a crazy dog. She would run circles aroun the tree, the house, the playset, all the while going at least 90 mph. It was quite humoruos to watch.

A new camera for me!!

Don't get too excited, I'm getting a Holga. It's a cheap "toy camera", that sort of has a cult following. Here's Wickpedia's definition, "The Holga is an inexpensive, medium format 120 film toy camera, originating in China, that later came to be appreciated for its low-fidelity aesthetic. " The pictures you get from this camera are really cool, and I cant' wait to get it. My hope is to set up a dark room and be able to process the film myself.

My kids entertaining us....

So my kids love Regina Spektor's, On The Radio, and always are asking to play "on the radio uh oh", which is so stinkin' cute to see your kids singing a song that you enjoy as well. Your getting a double your pleasure feature in this little video, cause not only does Ben sing a little for you, they are both blowing bubbles. Just as an FYI, this was all taken on my fancy, schmancy phone. Pretty good video for a phone I think. Again, you'll have to turn off my music on the right, and please disregard my little stupid voice, as I was encouraging them to sing.

Friends and pictures...

I am having some trouble deciding between color and black and white with these. I'm such a sucker for black and white, but the color on my son's walls makes for gorgeous backdrops. I will get this girl to smile, and look at the camera at the same time. In the meantime....

Watch this....

Our small group met tonight and after our study, we were talking about this video that someone had seen. I actually got goosebumps watching this. I hesitate putting something so true on here, but if one person sees this and is changed, then it's worth offending thousands of others. So often as Americans, as Christians even, we want to only believe in the "fairytale god", one that doesn't let bad things happen. This is the God that I believe in, and my words could never come close to this man's, so just watch the video. FYI, you'll probably have to turn my music player on the side off to watch this, sorry.

Nature in all it's glory....

Went for a little hike today at our local nature center, which I am lucky enough to live right down the road from. It was a gorgeous day and I got a little exercise in and a lot of pictures. I am trying to get the hang of my new 85mm lens, it's actually a little heavy compared to my 50mm and it takes some getting used to. So went camera in hand and took some pics, I was even lucky enough to see a couple of turkeys. I even threw in a shot of my new kicks, they are so comfy.

A Day In The Life of a Stay At Home Mom

Here's how Ben and I have been spending our days together. As much as I get tired of it, I know when it's gone I'll miss it. He's really starting to grow on me, not that I pick favorites between my kids, but he has such a fun personality. I love Ben's concentration in these, especially the one with his tongue out. You'll have to cut me some slack on the cookies, a product photographer I am not.

"YUM-O"

As Rachel Ray would say, I fixed a dinner last night that was "delish". I got it out of her Everyday magazine, Buffalo Chicken Chili with Blue Cheese Corn toppers. It was very tasty indeed. I love it when I actually fix dinner, which hasn't been very often lately. That is about to change, though, heading out to the grocery store today. My goal is to fix dinner at least four nights this week.

Hello Spring, We Missed You.....

The sky was unbelievable tonight, it's hard to believe it's going to be thirty degrees tomorrow, but that's the rumor. We spent most of the evening outside, grilling and playing, it was so nice. Here are some pics from the night.

Hey Ma, It's the Five-0....

Some random pictures to go with the random post from yesterday. Andrew got his patrol car yesterday, it now sits in the driveway warning all who resides within. Muddy boots from the ruts in the yard made by the tree cutting fiasco. Finally Jack woke up this morning with the same rash that Ben has had, apparently it is contagious.

Some Saturday Randomisity....

So I don't have a lot to say, but feel like I should post, it's gonna be sort of random today. Maddison had a basketball game this morning, two actually. They won the first one and lost the second, which is their first loss of the season. These are sixth graders, so you wouldn't expect much, but they have a girl, the coaches daughter, who is awesome and it's always fun to watch them play. Maddison is a scrappy little thing, and gets into foul trouble often, like mother, like daughter I guess. My parents came down for the game, and then we had lunch. It was fun to see my parents, I don't think I've seen them since Christmas, crazy.

Andrew starts nights tonight, he goes on at 9pm and works until 7am. Wish me luck, cause I hate this shift. There's something about going to bed alone that just ruins your whole day. He got his car yesterday, the kids were super stoked about that. Well all but Maddison, she wasn't sure how she feels about having a patrol car in the driveway. It was totally disgusting, he obviously got a used one, being lowest on the totem pole, and whoever had it before him didn't clean it out, there was actually blood on the seat, nasty.

On another note, my kids keep asking me about a friend that I am not in touch with any more. It's funny how kids pick up on things. Really it's a long story, one that I wouldn't go into here, but they notice that this person doesn't come around anymore. I never know what to say when they ask. Oh well some day they will understand that sometimes things happen, people move or change, or whatever happens, but eventually you lose touch and it's hard to adjust, but you do. We've gone through this a couple times in our life with our friends. You know how it goes sometimes, you sort of go in cycles with who you hang out with, whether it's because of working with someone, or if they are parents of your kids friends, or college or high school friends, but it's ever evolving and kids are such creatures of habit that they notice ever little change. They ask why don't we see so and so anymore, it's just a weird question and often times the answers are so adult that it's hard to answer.

Okay so that was my Saturday morning rambling in randomness. I hope it was confusing to anyone, because honestly my head hurts so bad right now, I'm barely aware of what I'm writing. I hate that, but I missed the window of coffee this morning due to the basketball game, and I have a raging caffeine addiction headache, so I am going to go ahead and end this.