The Sweeney Family

104 in 365

2010-12-31T11:00:00.000-08:00

So I started a new blog. Yes, because I am crazy in fact. Don't worry I will still neglect this one as much as I do now, but if you miss my wit and banter and like reading you might like my new blog one hundred&four in three sixty five .

The blog will contain my recap of the 104 books I intend to read over the next year. I know, because adding a blog to my everyday life isn't bad enough now I'm going to cram 104 books into it as well....what can I say, stress helps me lose weight.

If you too like to try crazy things, then join up the 104 Book Challenge on www.goodreads.com.

I will assume that if you do not join the group that you are just to scared of failure to even attempt it. Hang you head in shame now.....hang I said!

Well I am off, I have books to read and a house to clean, in that order.

You Must Read:

2010-12-10T10:45:00.001-08:00

The Mortal Instrument Series. City of Bone, City of Ashes, City of Glass.

This isn't a debate, as soon as you are done reading this I want you to go out and buy them, borrow them from the library - not me - or I can even get you the mp3s of the audio book if you like....

I promise you that these books will make you go "Edward who?"

Plus these books will be made into a movie in not so long, in fact the main girl was just cast and you don't want to be one of those losers who reads something JUST because it became a movie....do you? No, you don't. You want to be in on the book love. Be one of the cool kids, there's still room at the table.

When you finish those books by Casandra Clare, pick up Clockwork Angel, which is still kind of apart of this series only taking place several hundred years earlier then the previous books.....

So what are you waiting for....go! Buy, read and enjoy!!!!!

I've Done It....

2010-12-10T05:49:00.001-08:00

I've joined a book club.

And it's not one of those stuffy, uptight book clubs where all the books are serious and boring and contemplate life and what it's all about. (who wants to talk about that anyway?!)

No No No.

The book club I have joined is much better then all that. My book club is comprised of all my friends and we don't do any of this sissy crap "read one book between meetings". We are the over achievers of book clubs. We read an entire series during the month between meetings.

Currently we are reading the Vampire Academy series. (Which yes, have very shitty covers that look like something off a bad romance novel and a soap opera commercial and the names are horrid and almost really have nothing to do with the actual book, but surprisingly they are good.)

We sit around, in this book club eating food and laughing until we nearly wet ourselves and even manage to fit in decent conversation about our books.

We call ourselves "The Book Fluffers", keeping your covers hard since 2010. Do with that what you will. I won't explain further. :0)

(hehehehehe)

Losing Your Author Virginity

2010-10-25T11:53:00.001-07:00

My birthday party was canceled due to weather, my sitter falling through at the last minute and that rascally migraine creeping back up on me. I wasn't too upset, I mean it's my 31st - not like it was my 21st (aww shit, that was 10 years ago, a decade....*feeling of old settling in*)

Luckily, the night before the party was awesome and helped make up for the lack of partying down. Now brace yourselves, I realize this entry may not make YOU jump out of your skin quite like it did to me but I'm posting it anyway and there will be no humorous stories about my children or situations from daily life explained with an overuse of satire. Should this list of absent items not have made you run off I might be able to further entice you into stayingand reading by noting that this entry has nothing to do with Twilight. Ahhh, see I knew that would catch you.

So, Friday night, yes here we go.

Amy, Nikki and Christy and I set off to Minneapolis for a discussion and book signing with The Merry Sisters of Fate: Tessa Gratton, Maggie Stiefvater and Brenna Yovanoff. (If you don't know who these girls are, it is your duty to go fotrth and buy every word they have written and read. Read damn you, read!)

Amy called this "Losing my Author Virginity" because I had never before met an author. Movie stars, pshhh sure but never an actual, live in the flesh author! Not only did I meet them I spoke to them (with only partially geeking out) and even got their autographs in their respective books. Well except in the case of Tessa, who's book isn't out yet. Amy was smart enough however to print off her book cover and so she's signed that for me instead.

They were all kind enough to take group and individual photos with us and even participated in some general chit chat. It was a great evening, I even learned a lot from the discussion on good critique partners - and to be honest I wasn't sure I'd take anything away from the discussion. Mostly because before I got there I had no idea what the topic was....

Anyway - to visit these ladies individually or all together follow these links.

The Merry Sisters of Fate Live Journal (full of awesome short stories!)

Maggie Stiefvater and her books Shiver, Linger and Forever

Tessa Gratton and her forthcoming book Blood Magic

Brenna Yovanoff and her book The Replacement

School Picture Day...Oh The Terror!

2010-10-07T11:26:00.001-07:00

School pictures were today for Paige. I was pumped because last year her father had her and while she looked ok, little things like her head band not matching her outfit in even the slightest way irritated the crap out of me. Mostly because if I'm shelling out money for these things I want them to look good.

I'm sure she chose the head band, in which case it's great because it makes the photo more "her", but still a little gentle coaxing for a more complimentary color wouldn't have hurt either.

This year I wanted to make school photo day fun. I dreaded it when I was a kid. Like I needed a forever reminder of how stupid I looked in school. So I took Paige to the mall to find a shirt. This is mistake number 1. Telling her she can have whatever she wants with in a budget, that was mistake number 2.

We started in Carter's, they have stuff in her size still that's cute, and she is only 6 after all. After choosing a hideous collection of bright green and purple (no doubt her way of saying she's both a Packers and Vikings fan?) items, I suggested we try another store and if we didn't find anything we could come back for that outfit.

We scurried off to The Children's Place. I can always find something in there! YIKES! While their new line is cute - it is also a sequined mess of black, red and silver and, well not for school photos. Not to mention I wasn't dropping $40 on a "jacket thing" Paige could have borrowed from Michal Jacksons closet...not like he's using it right now.....(okay - bad joke....shut up - you laughed!)

At this point I'm getting worried. I know the next place Paige is going to want to hit is Justice and I like the store but the prices don't like my pocket book. I will have no problem shelling out the money for $50 jeans when she stops growing out of things 10 minutes after buying them. Luckily for me that will also be right about the time she's old enough to get a job and buy the damn things herself. See, and people think I'm stupid....

I suggest Herberger's. Paige says, and I quote: "Ugh. I hate that place" and then drags her feet causing her flip flops to make this flip, shhhhhhhhh, flop combination of sounds. I thought that was irritating enough, I was not prepared for what she was going to do in the store once we got there.

I was unaware until this particular trip that she has a shopping radar built in, and it targets any ugly, loud, and resembling a color-blind-90-year-old-hippies-couch, item there is in a store. She hunted down and gazed lovingly at each item with a smile the size of Texas stretching across her face. Desire flowed from her eyes as she held each abandoned and highly clearanced item like it was a puppy in a shelter looking for a good home.

The really obnoxious items were easy to shoot down, using the "Paige, we're not going to see a lot of your shirt anyway so we don't really want a lot of design on it" this made me wonder why the hell we were shopping anyway, I could have put her in PJ's and called it a day for her photos...but I apparently like making life difficult.

Then she abandoned the idea of a shirt all together and went for these....oh yes - that's NEON folks. I couldn't even justify wasting words on a response so I pointed to the rack they came from then walked away silently praying that God could grant her some fashion sense in the next 15 minutes.

I knew I had no choice left, I asked if she wanted to go to Justice and off we ran. Literally. Mostly because I was scared some of the clothes she had picked up would come chasing after me for having mocked it to it's face.

In Justice, Paige was in awe. Much like me in a book store. She walked around and touched everything hanging. Forgetting now and then we were clothes shopping and wandering over to those damned ZuZu pet things. Luckily for me (read: Alex and the bank account) the whole store was 40% off.

She started grabbing everything that, if it could speak would be screaming at an ear splitting volume. I reminded her of the "not a lot of the shirt being seen" thing and off she went again to hunt. Of course everything I held up was a no. Then there was a SPECIFIC COLOR she had to have. Then her size was out of everything in that color. God help me. Oh and did I mention Justin Bieber is playing over the sound system the entire time, giving a soundtrack to my own personal hell.

I keep looking at my watch thinking we have to get going soon and then it happens. She finds it. The shirt. Something we can all agree on. The entire store went dark and a spot light shown on the beautiful garment in the right color and size. Justin shut his lesbian looking mouth and a choir of angels began to sing.....and just as quickly as it started...the sound of a needle scratching a record sounded and it was over. I looked at the price tag. Mistake number 3.

It wasn't horribly expensive, it was just more then I'd spend on the same shirt for me. And even though I am a crazy clearance shopper for myself, this was still a lot for a shirt for a 6 year old she will wear 4 times and then grow out of.

At this point I just didn't care, so I grabbed the shirt before I changed my mind, swiped my credit card which made a small crying sound as it passed through the machine and walked away a lot broker then I intended but with a very happy 6 year old.

So help me, I don't know what I'll so when she's 15. Pray for me.

Here's her outfit, never mind the iphone camera quality of the pics....

New Obsession....The Wolves of Mercy Falls

2010-10-06T17:20:00.000-07:00

Shiver.

Linger.

In 9 months - Forever. The third and final book in the Wolves of Mercy Falls series.

No. I'm not pregnant are you out of your damned mind! It't a book. Keep up.

Maggie Stiefvater is my new literary hero.

Yes she writes YA (young adult for the door knobs out there) but she's me. You know that sarcastic kick I give to everything. That way I write when I talk to you like you're really there, and you love it I know you do. I could crawl right into her books (and to steal a line from her book) live between the pages.

And it's not just because I live in Minnesota and that's where the books take place.

So "Forever" is due out in July and I'm literally hanging on by a thread to get it. And since there's enough time betwen now and then - order your copies of the first two - and then toss out your order for a LEGITIMATE AUTOGRAPHED copy of Forever by Clicking HERE, here, or even HERE (they all go to the same place, chill out those of you with ADD)

Get it now. When they make a movie out of it - and they are - you want to have been on on the Book Love....not just the movie love.

I Want This...I shall Have it!

2010-09-29T19:02:00.000-07:00

I'm going to miss the book tour Suzanne Collins is doing in MN because I have to work. I know right - me? Work? Yeah well I got a job for the weekend helping at a Home Owners Showcase and I really need to money for Christmas so - the work is more important then the book tour....

In a complete sign from God The Hob, offered this contest to win a signed copy of Mockingjay. I would cherish it and love it and call it Jay Jay forever and ever :0) I can just see it on my book shelf right now, a shining beacon of true love for my Hunger Games series.

All I can do is enter, and hope!

The Hob Mockingjay Book Tour Contest

Isn't it PRETTY!!!!??? Just look at it up there at the top of the blog - when you look at it don't you just know it belongs to me!!!

Remembering 30 - The Dawn-Vasion

2010-09-22T00:00:00.000-07:00

Before I can really tell you the Dawn-Vasion story I have to tell you another one. Don't worry, it's quick(ish) so cuddle up with a blanket and some cocoa and listen as we take a trip way, way back to 1994 when I was 14....

I couldn't freaking stand Dawn when I met her. She shaved her legs with no soap or water, who did this!? Oh and she never once got razor burn. That just flat out pissed me off! She was like the little sister that followed you around wanting to be apart of everything who you couldn't shake. But I had to be polite, as we were on a church trip, traveling through Europe to Russia and back and weather I liked the only girl younger then me on the trip or not, I was stuck with her for the next 2 months.

I grew to like her after a few weeks. 24 hour bus rides with nothing to do but chat will do that too you, even when there are 48 other people on the bus with you. She had a lot in common with me - neither of us were supposed to be on the trip...we weren't the 16 year old age requirement, but it's called money and that's how we got to where were. When I got home I even missed her. A little.

About 3 years ago I started to hunt down the people I went on this trip with. Not in a sniper riffle sort of way, in the "Hey how have you been" e-mail kind of way. But since all I had was address from 1994 and most had moved, or married and changed names - I turned to the only place I knew fit to search for people = Facebook.

And there I found her, or wait....did she find me? We bonded over a comment about pink duct tape - no terrible pun intended. And I realized adult Amber and Dawn have EVEN more in common then "Our parents hate us, under 16 Amber and Dawn". Bad relationships, Baby Daddies, you name it we had matching everything!

And that settled it - she booked ticket to Minnesota for a reunion 15 years in the making! I was so excited when I picked her up I scratched my husbands new car parking it. I arrived like an hour early then counted every second as it went by until she came down the corridor. Cue bags dropping, full speed running and high pitched screaming! Jump and hug! The people around us looked at us like we were nuts...it's AN AIRPORT, this happens all the time there! It's not like this happened at a funeral or something....because that would be weird!

We spent the next 3 days watching Remember Me, getting drunk, having a huge party to celebrate her arrival. She cooked - hey don't give me that look, A: She offered, and B: remember when I said I wasn't a great cook before...yea...so shut it! She made Dawn-Tacos, Dawn-Tinis and Cake Balls....beast meal ever! We called her trip The Dawn-Vasion.

She went home too soon and then we began planning my trip to LA to see her in June.....Best Friends forever. She's stuck with me now....weather she likes it or not!

Mommy, What's A Hooker?

2010-09-21T07:09:00.000-07:00

This morning, while sitting in the car waiting for the nice school lady to come around and let Paige out of the car for drop off, we were listening to K102. A normal choice in our family, when the iPod isn't on I choose this because in general it's more kid friendly then KDWB - who the hell knows what's going to come flying out of their mouths on that station in the morning, and the last thing I need is for my daughter to go to 1st grade talking about "shaky things" (KDWB's code word for vibrators..) Or whipping out words to Ke$ha during recess (yes, I used the dollar sign....don't judge me.)

So, anyway Toby Keith was playing quietly in the back ground, "I Love This Bar" to be exact. For those of you unfamiliar with the song, it talks about the different types of people you might meet in a bar. Harmless enough really. The second part of the song begins......

"We've got short skirts, I've seen high techs. Blue collar boys and rednecks"

Paige and I are still talking... something in my brain is warning me that maybe I should turn the radio off, but lack of coffee is getting in the way of my fully processing this request. So I ignore it. Song continues:

"And we got lovers, lots of lookers, I've even seen dancing girls and hookers"

(so much for this station being more kid friendly today!)

Shit.

Mentally I begin to kick myself. About the exact second I remember that word was coming, I also realized it was way to late to change the station before Paige heard it.

I start to rationalize in my head.....Maybe she missed it, we were talking. The radio was pretty quiet. Plus it's not like it's a word she knows, just one I don't want her to know. Okay, be cool mom. If you act like it was a big deal she'll think it was a big deal.

The car goes silent, and then it happens.

Paige: "Uncle Cory is a Hooker"

*trying to cover up a laugh, as Uncle Cory is the furthest thing from a hooker there is. Plus can guys even be hookers?*

Mom: I'm sorry, what? (being sure not to look at her so she can't see the smile I'm fighting with every nerve in my face)

Paige: Yea, we were fishing once and he got a hook in my thumb (sticks thumb in my face) see, mom right there you can still see the little white spot where it was. So he's a total hooker"

*At this point I deserve a freaking EMMY for not busting out into uncontrollable laughter. My kid just used the phrase "total hooker" for cryuing out loud*

Mom: Ohhhh. I see, yeah I remember that.

(At this point I have let the hooker word go. I figure since that's what she thinks it means, I'm going to let her think it. It can't do any harm she's not going to tell any one at school right?)

Paige: I can't wait to tell my friends that my Uncle is a hooker! *huge smile on her face, as if she knows..."

Double Shit.

I quickly turn around and look her in the face, and say "Paige, hooker doesn't mean someone who hooked your thumb. So we shouldn't tell the kids at school Uncle Cory is one." I'm totally grasping at straws at this point, I am not prepared to explain this. She may have just as well asked me where babies come from.

Paige: Oh? Well what does it mean then?"

Mom: It's just a grown up word that kids shouldn't use and if you do use it you will get in trouble, especially at school so forget you heard it today ok?

This seemed to tide her over. Normally it being a "grown up" thing is enough to scare her off it. However I will not be surprised if I get an e-mail or phone call today about the fact the whole 1st grade class was chanting Hooker because of something Paige said......

Someone revoke my mom card please....

My 3 Obsessions

2010-09-16T19:42:00.000-07:00

Alright, I caved and I got one of those Tumblr accounts all the kids have these days. Never heard of them? Oh don't worry, I wouldn't have the slightest clue if I hadn't seen links on Twitter all day every day. Don't know what Twitter is? Better you just go home.

This new account is good for you, and you can find out why by looking just slightly up, no not that far....not over the computer....see the tabs I now have....okay click on My 3 Obsessions. WAIT! Not yet. Finish reading this first.....okay go ahead.

I Have Been Inspired...

2010-09-16T18:11:00.001-07:00

Okay, not so much, more like I was reminded that I haven't posted about something that I was intending to post about. The wondrous "rkmama" who writes the blog My Super Kaduper Life (PS check it out she is my idol - if you like my dribble, she will make you laugh twice as hard! And she uses grammar and punctuation properly!) has begged and pleaded, NAY! She has DEMANDED I write about the Hunger Games.

Yea, so that didn't happen either but whatever. I'm blogging about something which means no one can complain I stopped...ANYWAY - The Hunger Games book series it is...

You would think that between Supernatural, Twilight, Harry Potter, My children, my husband (not necessarily in that order..... no seriously...come on..... I like Twilight WAY more then Supernatural....oh...shit....) I wouldn't have any more room in my little brain for another obsession....well, you my friend are wrong.

The Hunger Games book series by Suzanne Collins has wedged it way in there near the top right between Twilight and Supernatural. The coolest thing is I get to be apart of all of the "book love"! And no that's not some weird form of sex with books....book-a-phelia....okay now that's just wrong and I'm off track...."book love" is all that fun you have discussing and wondering about what will happen when said books become movies. When you are apart of the group of people who loved it before some hottie was in the lead roll and it was making millions at the box office. The Hunger Games is set to be made into a movie in 2013.

*CHOIR OF ANGELS*

Oddly, I was just dragging about the house in my I Heart Vampires t-shirt toting my copy of Deathly Hallows not 2 months ago horribly distraught over the fact that both Twilight and Harry Potter would be ending in 2013 and what , OH SWEET GOD WHAT would I do then!? Then POOF like a gift from the Obsession Fairy this blessed little trilogy has landed in my lap.

*Content sigh*

Sure I could just devote my life to my children and husband, and learning how to cook something with out burning it but really what kind of example would I be setting if I wasn't following through with my hard core obsession. My children would see me as a failure. Sure they would be better fed, but really. I have priorities.

She Shoots, She Scores....She gets a New Toy??

2010-09-14T15:15:00.001-07:00

Sometime around high school I began to dislike organized sports. I didn't want to participate in them, I didn't like the cliques they made in my particular school and I thought that the parents were...well let's hold off on that group of colorful words for right now.

It stands to reason, since I dislike organized sports that I wasn't exactly rushing to the athletic department to sign Paige up the second she was old enough to kick a soccer ball. (I didn't need to, her dad did) Now, all my personal issues with organized sports aside, I do like that she's learning to work as a team and know the sense of accomplishment that you can really only learn from sports. Plus, I've made sure to encourage her both when she's doing really well and when she's not doing so great. Let's face it the kid is so sensitive if an ant got trampled during the game she'd burst into tears for a week, last thing I need is for her to think she's failed me because she couldn't get the ball away from the monster sized girl on the opposing team (seriously, I think some of these kids have fudged birth certificates because I'm fairly sure I saw that one at the bar last week....)

I have categorized the parents I have encountered at these games into 3 neat little sections....there is first the group that I am in:

The "Encouraging Parent" - These parents are never upset their children lose or miss a shot. We praise them after every game and time in on the field. Always point out the positive of the bad situation and encourage them by reminding him or her that the harder they try the better they will do, practice makes perfect and all that other happy, cliche type stuff...(I also like to call this "The Worlds Most Perfect Parent" but that makes me seem obnoxious....)

Then there's the

"Meh Parent" this one shows up but is more then likely on a business call the whole time or working on a lap top or iPhone. The only people cheering on their child are the other parents around them. Taking their kid to the game is the equivilant of walking the dog....just another chore that gets in the way of work.

As much as I hate those types, there are not many that I see - instead we are over run with the absolute most lithesome parent of them all.

The "My Kids an Olympic Star At The Age Of Six" parent. This mom or dad (or worse, for the love of GOD - both) yell and cheer louder then any other parent, which wouldn't be a bad thing if it wasn't phrases like "knock her down", "rip her head off" and other things that make the thought of a lion ripping the head off a gazelle pop into mind. This parent will do ANYTHING to get their kid on the field more and to make their kid try even harder....case in point...last game I was at parents were BRIBING their children to score goals, and were actually proud of themselves for coming up with this brilliant idea. The goal itself was not enough of a reward, the pride and joy you feel when you achieve that - no, no this child also requires new zu zu pet or baribe for each goal....

If your ever curious where those obnoxious, cocky, think they piss glitter and the world revolves around them people come from....look no further then these parents.

These are the people I don't want my daughter to hang out with, let alone become. So I take mental note...remember which mom has a crazy competitive streak and keep Paige from going over to their houses. I don't need an unfortunate Hi Ho Cherry Oh! incident to ruin Paige's ability have fun for the rest of her life. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against self confidence and a healthy dose of competitiveness - but these are the parents that get into fights into stands and stab other parents with hockey skates (do you remember that story from like 10 years ago!?) and I don't believe there is a place for this in CHILDREN'S or HIGH SCHOOL sports.

I'm proud to say that I am proud of my child no matter what the outcome of the game is. Nd I really wish more parents were like that.

There Are No Words....

2010-09-14T09:58:00.000-07:00

I had a different, equally sarcastic and disturbing blog to post today, until my sister called and asked if I had heard the newest fashion craze for adults this Halloween. I like to think I'm hip, I'm with it, I'm down with the kids....but this I had not heard of. Infact I'm having trouble getting the horriblness out of my mind as you read.....

I figured, before she even told me what it was, that it was going to be really dumb, I would laugh then forget about it. Intsead what she told me was a Bloggers dream come true. Something SO stupid, ignoring it would be going against the code of sarcastic writers everywhere!

Ladies and gentlemen I give you the Halloween craze of 2010 for adults everywhere.....

Sexy Sesame Street!

Do the people who make this crap realize they are sexualizing the last tiny bit of innocence our children have left in this world?

Are they assuming Sesame Street falls on A CORNER!

And when they finished that first Big Bird costume did they all go - "Nothing screams OMG you're so hot like a huge stuffed bird head"?

The ONLY thing I can imagine this being good for is if there is Muppet Fetish group out there - they are seriously in heaven!

I give this a GIGANTIC thumbs down! My brain hurts from trying to understand what this market group was thinking.....where the advil.....

A Few Short Clips:

2010-09-13T16:36:00.000-07:00

I tend to take a lot of useless video now that I have an iPhone that allows it, so here's a few cute, and short videos of Ellie and how she dances....unfortuantly we can't get her to do it for more then a minute so like I said - the clips are short....

Remembering 30 - The Bobby Long Files

2010-09-13T07:20:00.000-07:00

For my first installment of Remembering 30 I give you - The Bobby Long Files

My sister in law called me last October to tell me that Bobby Long was coming back to town the following November and that he would be staying with my in-laws for one or two of the nights he was in town.

Now, I'm used to knowing where he's staying because some good friends of mine used to house him and Phil while he was here, but hearing that he was staying with my in laws left me a little shocked. I had only briefly met Bobby and a small gathering after his show the previous September in MN, same as my sister in law so it was odd to have this information in my head to process....how it happened to this day I'm still not entirely sure.

So, November rolls around Bobby and Phil are in town, and we head to my in-laws with baby Ellie to have breakfast with everyone and so I can make some sausage rolls for the boys. Phil was especially excited about these! I however was terrified because I had never made them before and the night before this, at Sam Bradly's show I told Phil and Bobby I would make them....now I'm not the worst cook, but you would never find me on the Food Network either...so needless to say I was praying all the while they would be edible! Last thing I needed to do was make Bobby ill from my cooking before his show and be the reason it was canceled. *cue angry mob, light torches....*

Just before I got started on the cooking, my favorite moment of the whole weekend happned. I was sitting talking to Bobby, holding my daughter Ellie and Bobby asked if he "could get a hold of her", then sat around talking to her for 20 minutes and even took a phone call saying only "I'm going to have to let you go, I'm holding a baby" and click - hangs up phone. The phone call was especially funny because he had to stand up to get his phone out of his pocket and he had to do this holding Ellie and looking a bit terrified he might drop her, but was pretty happy with himself when he managed it all just fine.
All the while, Ellie sat perfectly content, but then again until this time in her life all she ever heard to calm her was Bobby's music, it was all that worked. She could have been screaming bloody murder, you put on Dead and Done and she's in a trance! Something tells me she knew he was the man with the voice.

After all the baby holding, everyone headed to my sister in laws for a promised "red neck" good time (LOL!) A little 4 wheeling, gun shooting and Coors Light in the back 40 at my sister in laws land. I hung back at the in laws to finish up the sausage rolls, but when I arrived Bobby was pulling up to the house on the 4 wheeler dressed like Elmar Fudd. No, seriously....he was in a red flannel jacket and hat with those ear flap things on it...now that would have been fine if he didn't match it with those fancy brown leather shoes he's always wearing and a pair of skinny jeans. I jumped on the back of the 4 wheeler for a ride down to where all the fun was going on and made sure to tell him who I thought he looked like...obviously he didn't take offense as he referenced it at his show that night! LOL

So this was the first awesome thing I got to do after I turned 30, hang out with Bobby and Phil for a couple days. Now if we could just get him to come back to Minnesota so we can enjoy his music live again then everything would be great!

Oh and a little adivce for you - if Phil Taylor every tell yous he's a crap shot with a gun and challenges you....NEVER take it! That boy could shoot a fly off the back of a bird from 200 yards away!

REMEMBER - check back, I'll be doing awesome stories like this up until my birthday in October...in my Remembering 30 series...

Remembering 30 - Intro

2010-09-12T14:59:00.000-07:00

About this time last year I was dreading turning 30. Literally crabby, pissy and trying to hide from it in every way possible. The only thing that was making it better was the fact I was throwing the coolest Twilight party ever for it, and even then I refused to call it my 30th...it was just simply "my birthday"

Now that my 30th year is rounding out, I realize I have done more in this year then the past 5 years (possibly 10) all together. So either I have had a really boring life the past 5 (or ten) years or I got to actually do some extraordinary things...(I'm going with the latter one, mostly because it makes me feel like less like a loser)

So in honor of my 30th year, and in an effort to stop thinking about turning another year older in just over a month... I am going to post a series of blogs that covers my favorite things I've gotten to do over the past 365 days - as sort of a count down to my October birthday....so starting tomorrow we will cover everything from Twilighgt, Dawn-Vasions, 4-Wheeling with Bobby Long and a trip to California....and a whole bunch of other things....

Shit - 5 months! Sorry!

2010-09-10T16:29:00.000-07:00

Woah, five months since my last post. I really suck at this blogging thing. Don't be shy, go aheadand let me know. I'm really hoping that with school starting and Ellie, walking, running and screaming all the time I will have many more things to talk about that won't put you to sleep at the mere thought of my blog.

Here's an update on us: Paige is 6. Yes, still. I swear it takes a whole year for a birthday to come around. Lame. She has started the first grade and was very excited to know that her teacher was Mr. T. No, not the man with the fro-hawk from the A-Team, sadly. Just another guy with the same name. She really liked him until day 3 of school when he made all his students write in their journals that they hope the Vikings win the upcoming game. Funny to me, Paige's dad - no likey. (I'm still laughing)

I am fully convinced that if I can bottle the energy Ellie has I could be rich. She never stops moving. Unless of course I put on Barney. I know....Barney. I don't like it anymore then you do but when I need nothing more then to get the laundry changed and pee (not at the same time) I will gladly poison my childs mind with that giant gay purple dinosaur!

Ellie has 4, count them 4 teeth. She is 16 months old, and I love her to death but those top two teeth - well let's just say the rest better come in a push them together because you can fly a small airplane through them at the moment. Cute for a baby, and maybe Madonna...not many others can pull it off though...

Alex is the same, working and working...bringing home the bay-con! As for me, well I'm coming up on the end of my 30th year and surely have crammed a lot into the 365 days that filled it. But all those things will have to be other blogs....

(photos taken by and property of http://suzannejean.blogspot.com/)

I suppose it's time to post....

2010-04-04T07:45:00.001-07:00

Okay it's been long enough - I have neglected this blog for months I'm sure. But as I have said in the past, I have 2 kids so I'm allowed to fall off the face of the blogging planet as needed. Also - most of you are my friends and family who see me on Facebook daily and really how much of me can you really take. That's what I thought....

Where to begin.....

Paige turned six on the 1st of April. I'm not sure where the time went, but man it went fast! She's dressing herself in her signature dresses with jeans look. She enjoys wearing two different socks to school at all times and is a very good "mommy" to her American Girl doll brood she has acquired since Christmas.

Paige's birthday party was at a local roller rink that I used to go to as a kid. It's kind of a joke of a place once you hit 5th grade or so, and she will not be going there after that age for damn sure. In the great words of my friend Mare - "Pretty sure I know about 7 girls who got pregnant there" LOL luckily her party was during family time there and it was only young kids and birthday parties there. Phew! Paige's dad, being from Wisconsin doesn't know these wonderful things about said roller rink so.....I'll break the news to him soon enough. She's still at the age where we go with her on her schools party night they have once a month - so she's safe while in elementary school! But Junior High....yeah, no more roller skating for her! Hahahaha!

Well that was all off topic huh? LOL....

Ellie is 10 months old next week, and moving around like no other. Blowing past miles stones faster then I can get them into her baby book. And all ahead of time no less. I was really praying for a late walker, I know this sounds weird but Paige walked at 9 months, and not Ellie is doing the same she took her first two unassisted steps last week....
Ellie's making noises and trying to talk. Some sounds we can't figure out how she's making them, she's like that guy from Police Academy!!! Still no teeth for her, I have a feeling I'll go in one morning to get her and she will just suddenly have a full set.

As for Alex and I, things are pretty much same old. I'm still obsessed with Twilight and planning a few trips coming up related to them. Some concerts are coming up as well for Bobby Long I'll be driving to since as of now there's nothing scheduled here in MN for him. I've also been devouring book afer book lately and going to see more movies with the my gal pals.

Alex is trying to make the best Juicy Lucy he can (burger with the cheese inside) and made a 1lb version the other night with his buddy Dan. Those two should not be left alone for too long, they just come up with stranger and stranger things to cook!

That's all folks. Though I'm sure Nora is the only one who really reads this any more and if she is reading this - GET A FACEBOOK ACCOUNT! :0) Love you!

PB&J's for The Wedding reception!

2010-01-19T11:06:00.000-08:00

It would be impossible to find two more selfless and wonderful people on this planet. Look. I dare you to prove me wrong!

Will Nicholson, one of my husbands best friends and his fiance Leah Bogen who recently got engaged, have begun planning their June wedding. Where most couples would be penny pinching to make it the best day possible and not willing to sacrifice anything for their big day, Will and Leah have decided to donate 25% of their budget, which was for their reception - to the crisis in Haiti. Even stating they will be serving PB&J instead of the traditional meal choice to make this donation work for them.

The Pioneer Press had this to say about Leah & Will and their conversation about making this choice:

"She totally blew me away," said Nicholson, a University of Minnesota Duluth graduate. "I'm still in awe. I was very impressed. How do you say anything but yes to that? It's such a selfless and thoughtful thing. It's hard to get excited about planning a wedding when other people are having such a terrible time.

She [Leah] made a decision right then and there to donate the money they planned to spend on the reception dinner — 25 percent of their wedding budget — to people in Haiti. Her fiance didn't need any convincing."

To read the full store please CLICK HERE

I am so proud to call these people my friends, and will gladly help them make PB&J's for their wedding reception! As a mom, I have mad skills in that department!

To make your donation to Partners in Health, the orginization chosen by Will & Leah, CLICK HERE even if you can only spare a dollar, every little bit helps!

Photo by Kari Layland www.kariphotography.com

Scrappin' Away!

2010-01-14T08:24:00.000-08:00

Initially, when I thought about scrap booking for Ellison I was turned off at the idea of doing it digitally. There was just something about it that wasn't "right" to me. I put hundreds, even thousands into Paige's scrap book. It's so big it barely closes, each little element chosen for each page sepreatly....it was a labor of love.

As Ellie's 7th month approached I realized soon I was going to be totally out of time to catch up on her pages, and money being tight as it is dove into my files and folders filled with digi-scrap items and started on her scrap book, still with a bad taste in my mouth about the manner in which it was coming to be.

After the first page however, I was pumped! It looked AWESOME! I started whipping out pages left and right. This is so much faster, and it's still just as personal. Each Paige is color coordinated to "flow" through out the book and has a simple layout that focuses on the photos and not the scrap elements. Here's the first 3 pages! Let me know what you think!

I'll post some more of them over the next few days :0) They are really looking good, in my opinion anyway. And soon my first printed 12x12 page will arrive so I can check color and quality. I'm trying 2 different places for printing www.mpix.com and Creative Memories, as my aunt has an account with them.

Updates.

2010-01-13T06:17:00.000-08:00

Things have been crazy busy around here, I let the blog slip entirely. We are all alive and well so no worries on that end! Here's what's new from us.

Ellie is now 7 months old, almost crawling and just your general very happy little girl. She's eating baby food, but not liking some of it, and prefers her Farley's Rusk that Nanny got her from England. Here's a few shots of Ellison over the past few weeks:

Paige has also been doing well, loving school and Girl Scouts and Gymnastics. She's looking forward to turning 6 in April and asked for a Wizard of Oz birthday party.

Over the next few days I'll post the scrapbooking pages I have made for Ellie so far and get up some more photos! :0)

Just To Add Humor To Your Life...

2009-11-02T05:59:00.000-08:00

I have a new favorite blog to read, and shockingly enough it has NOTHING to do with Twilight. Well ok, so that's a little lie - I was directed to the site because of a an entry about Twilight cakes. BUT as I read it and looked it over I couldn't help but laugh my butt off!

The blog is called Cake Wrecks and is a site dedicated to the horribly hilarious mishaps of professional cakes! I honestly can't tell you if the photos are funnier, or the dialog that accompanies it.

Here's a little snip it from one of their blogs:

The Problem With Phone Orders
[answering phone] "Cakey Cake Bakery, Jill speaking! How can I help you?"

"Hi, I need to order a cake for my boss. We have a photo of him playing golf that we'd like to put on it, though - can you do that?"

"Of course! Just bring the photo in on a USB drive and we'll print it out here."

"Great, I'll bring it by this afternoon."

Later... "Hey, Jill, what am I putting on this cake?"

"Oh, check the counter; I left the jump drive out for you there." [calling from the back room]

"Really? This is what they want on the cake?"

"Yeah, the customer just brought it in." "Okey dokey!"

Believe it or not, this is a TRUE story: Elisabeth R. worked at the office in question. Besides, how could I ever make up something this good?

Oh wait it gets better - here's a look at a Halloween cookie they found:

What do colorful sperm have to do with Halloween?
(Granted, "Happy" I could see...)

Now I warn you, this site it horribly addicting, after you see one cake you have to go to the next and read the story behind it or laugh your butt at the simply stupid decoration that has wond up on a cake and you have to wonder, are people blind AND stupid....

Check it out you will not be disappointed! I'm told the baby cakes are the best but have not gotten to them yet - it's on my list of things to do today!!!

(photos and story from http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com - I claim no right to either)

The Epic Twilight Birthday Party (Part Three)

2009-10-29T06:01:00.000-07:00

I know, I know. Bad Blogger, shame on me for leaving you hanging....right - who reads this anyway? LOL - no seriously, does anyone really read this?

Okay enough with the pitty party and onto the Twilight party photos!

So we've gone over the set up and all the details, the fantastic Forks sign, and now here's some action shots of the fun and mayhem that ensued!

Me as Bella, with "the truck"

Okay so it's not the right truck, I know - fortunately for me, my truck did arrive shortly after this photo was taken....check out Marta who one the Best Costume prize, for being dressed as Bella's Truck:

The Back of the truck, complete with license plate and bumper stickers!
And don't forget the "headlights"
As you can see bu the above photo, "Alice Cullen" also made her debut in her New Moon outfit!
And "Robsten" even showed up.....
And so did some Volturi - no that's not red eye from the camera - it's contacts! Mary Jo (on my left) was Renata - Aro's shield, and Felicity (right) was just...well creepy! LOL As you can see I'm a little scared...

Here we have Volturi, Bellas Truck, Dr. Cullen, Victoria and Rosealie

Here's the other Rosalie
It was a great night filled with fun and WINE! I snapped a few shots of the gifts that I got from all my most wonderful friends and family. I'm starting with the gifts from a friend, Melissa, who coulnd't be at the party :0(

We all saw my Happy Birthday Wish from N*Sync, right? well - here's my Happy Birthday from The Hillywood Cast - this is a photo of Melissa dressed as Victoria, with the cast, she had them all sign for my birthday!
I can now hang this next to the one they sent me for my 1 year anniversary!
As if that wasn't enough - I also got an autographed copy of Bran Hambric by Kaleb Natire (the Original Twi-Guy) sent to me from Melissa as well! (not to mention the 3 shirts for me and onsie for Ellie all Twi-related!)
And here's everything...it's insaine! Now I actually own Twilight stuff other then the movies! I have the greatest friends ever!

And that concludes the party posts! Hope you enjoyed the photos as much as I enjoyed my party!

The Epic Twilight Birthday Party (Part Two)

2009-10-23T07:54:00.000-07:00

As promised, birthday photos and party info is back.

I'm going to start off with the crown jewel of my party - the Forks sign. My husband built it, my sister painted the circle and it was quite possibly the coolest thing.

He used fence panels, cut out each individual letter and painted them, he wanted it to look authentic. While it's much small then the real sign, it is a damn good copy! (BTW, this sign is for sale if you are interested!)

Here's the real sign:
And here is my sign:
I'm being attacked my Rosalie and Renata (Aro's shield, for those of you unaware of who she is)
)

The Process for building this was a long one, it went little by little. With 2 kids and work it was hard for my husband to find time. And the circle on the sign didn't even get painted until the night before the party!

Moving on, my Jepordy board. I sadly don't think I got a good photo of this I need to put it back together and take one, until then here's me with it in the background, never mind my funny face...LOL, this was about a bottle of wine in for me.

I made 2 games, 6 categories each. On the other side of every number was a question, and I had the answers printed off in hand. We played 3 teams of 2 for each game so more people could play. The only issue we had was figuring out who got their hand up first to answer...LOL

The board is 2 pieces of black foam board with the question held on with thumb tacks. I printed the questions and numbers on regular printer paper then backed them on red cardstock for sturdiness and a better look.

To keep track of who won what, I made "Twilight Money". I downloaded ths template in the $100 note, then filled in the circle with random photos from Twilight and cast memebers.

CLICK HERE FOR PLAY MONEY TEMPLATES

I made a total of $1300 to have enough. I loved them and so did the guests!
Thoughout the night I had random games, like "do you have in your purse" for small door prizes and what not. A few things I gave away were glass red apples, Twilight Buttons, warm fuzzy socks labled "To keep you warm on cold Forks nights" and so on.

The big prizes were for the costume contest, and the 2 winning teams of Jeopardy

The 3 main gifts were themed, one Alice, one Bella and one Rosalie. Each with items those chrachters would use/like.

Bella - travel bag with all the things she would need for her "human moments", toothpaste, deodrant, shampoo ect. I also included none themed stuff like Twilight buttons and socks.

Alice - a travel bag with pedicure items in it labled "for all the hostange pedicures", also a Magic Eight Ball so they too could see the future like her, body spray and socks

Rosalie - jewelry, a mirror to look at her self in, a travel bag with body spryas, tide wipes and mini Febreeze labled "For that pesky werewolf smell" and lipstick.

Now onto the food. Of course we had Mushroom Raviolli! But as I do not like mushrooms, we also served spaghetti and meatballs! All the food was lovenly hand made by my fantastic mother in law! There was no canned sauce here!

We also had a MASSIVE veggie tray with the "Edible Art Bella?" sing near it and dog bone shaped cookies in dog bowls labled FIDO:

Tomorrow I will do Part Three, the final installment with party photos and the costumes and winners! Stay tuned!

Cousins

2009-10-22T13:15:00.000-07:00

Don't worry, those of you looking to see part 2 of my party planning and set up, it will be back tomorrow. I just took these photos last night of Paige and Ellie with their cousin Katia and had to share them!

I don't know what we will do when all three girls are up and running, because Katia and Paige flying around last night, hopped up on frosting from my birthday cupcakes was more then I expected!

After hanging out with her cousin and little sister last night, Paige this morning asked me when I was going to have a baby boy. I told her that I wasn't sure, it's not something that I can pick, having a boy or a girl. Paige thought on it a second and then told me if I concentrated enough, next time I could have a boy!

The Epic Twilight Birthday Party (Part One)

2009-10-21T00:00:00.000-07:00

I had more fun at my 30th birthday party then I could even begin to explain! SO it seems fitting I begin my posts about the party on my actual 30th birthday - TODAY!

I was itching to set up hours before we were even set to arrive at my MIL's to begin. Once there I went crazy, directing my husband and my sister boyfriend, Ben around having them move tables and couches so that this vision I have had for months could finally come true!

I did my research and I did find a great blog with ideas on it, where I got my printable framed signs and wine bottle labels (Thank you Hostess with the Mostess Blog)

In the end the living room became my "restaurant" and the dining room became my Jeopardy area.

Each table had a slightly different candle centerpiece, and were set with alternating black and white square plates bought at Target for $2 a 4 pack. Of course the linens were key, satin red table cloths and black satin table runners, and of course the linen napkins tied with red satin ribbon which also alternated white and black to give that "Checkerboard" feel.

The wine glasses I made were each persons favor. I printed their name in the Twilight font and taped it to the inside of the $1 wine glasses I picked up at the local dollar store, to trace.

On the other side was either a paw print, an umbrella or the words "Be Safe" in Edwards handwriting. Also printed off and taped inside to trace. I used paint markers for this, as glass paint was too difficult to be exact with and this was much faster.

I only wrapped 6 wine bottles, of the 24 we bought. All red wine, as the labels looked better on them then they did on the white wine bottles. Not to mention I was a bit worried how the label would hold up being refrigerated and what not. I printed them on a high gloss paper at KinkosFedex.

The wine was Charles Shaw (a.k.a "3 Buck Chuck", so named for it's price) from Trader Joes

On the side board I had my cupcakes and books, and my guest book along with various decorations. The guest book was a spiral bound photo album, scrapbook might be a better way to describe it. Each guest had their own page to write on. The key decoration to this was candles - everything I coudl find I lit!

The cupcakes were made by the ever fabulous Miss Sara of Miss Sara's Cakery
In the bathroom was a bottle of hand soap in the shape of an Apple, which I picked up from the dollar store. Along with that was a tin box were band aids with this note:

Along the mirror were feather boa's with this note. We wanted to make it look like it was coming out of a small pillow, but never found one in time we didn't mind ripping apart.

More to come tomorrow, including photos of the awesome Forks sign and the guests all dressed up!!!

PART TWO
PART THREE

Who Got The Coolest Birthday Gift This Year...

2009-10-20T17:39:00.000-07:00

Okay so back in the day I was quite taken by N*Sync - who wasn't...I mean really...hello Justin! Anyway, as my birthday party was this past weekend (don't worry, photos to come) I was sad to find out one of my besties couldn't attend - but given her reason I was ok with it. She was going to work a charity golf event in Vegas with the member of N*Sync, among others.

Jokingly I told her to carry around a wrapped gift box and find Justin, and have him do the "Dick in the Box" thing for my birthday and get it on tape. Well, she couldn't get to him in time for him to do it so instead I got the ext best thing - take a peek at what Chris Kirkpartrick of N*Sync had to say to me:

How I love To Shop!

2009-10-14T07:49:00.001-07:00

What I love more, is a great deal coupled with amazing product and even better customer service - and that is where Budget Banners Flags & Signs comes into play!

So you're thinking, "Amber, what do you need a sign of flag for?" , well what the title of her eBay store doesn't tell you is that she also makes car decals! Which is how I came across her. While searching for fun, inexpensive items for the 3 prize bags for my birthday party, I found her!

I bid on a "Twilight Girl" decal and won it for $1.75! When I received it and saw the amazing quality, I contacted her to see if she would send me some more, which she happily did! I bought 3 more from her, and she even e-mailed me back to say she was tossing in some extras for my Twi-Friends.

She has 100% positive feedback on eBay and can make you just about anything for a car decal or sign and banner for that matter! Shoot over and give her a look, if you're looking for a Twilight car decal, she's the way to go!

Ellison is 4 months old!

2009-10-14T07:39:00.001-07:00

Ellison had her 4 month appointment yesterday with the ever amazing Dr C. She is happy and healthy and growing like a weed.

She's 13.6 lbs and 22 inches long, she still has a peanut sized head, in the 8th percentile but nothing to worry about there the doc says.

He's amazed how much she loved to sit up and be on her tummy. While I hope she won't walk as early as her big sister, at 10 months, the doc says that with the advanced way she prefers to sit and lay for her age, it's a good possibility she will be an early walker...no rest for the mommy here!

We also were given the green light to have rice cereal. She loved it. No funny faces or other issues, in fact she looked at us like "Where has this been all my life!"

Here's a few shots of her chowing down!

After the excitement of dinner, we thought we'd try on one of her Halloween costumes and see how it worked. It was a little big, but cute - and she only liked it for about 4 minutes before she became one crabby Care Bear...

It's (Almost) Time!

2009-10-12T05:48:00.001-07:00

I know I have totally flaked out on the whole blogging thing, I'm sorry. Paige has been sick and home all last week!

To make it up here's some more details of my birthday party that is coming up on SATURDAY! I can barely contain myself I am so excited!

Let's start with the main decoration of the party, I have to say that these red satin table cloths were the main focal point of the party and everything revolves around it! I picked them out from a site called Linen Table Cloth.

They are the Rectangle 60x102 in size and were $8.99 each. I bought 3 as I plan to have 3 tables set up in the main portion of the house, and have it look a bit like a restaurant. Well and because the 20 some odd people coming certainly would not fit around one table! That's for sure!
I also picked up 3 black satin table runners to go down the middle of each table. They are14x102 in size but could be trimmed if that's too long for what you need. They don't come in any other size. I should note I also picked up a red one for the cake table.

These were priced at $2.89 and while it's not the highest quality of satin, it's a great product none the less!
As well as the satin pieces for the tables I also got the napkins from Linen Table Cloth as well, the are good quality and come 12 to a pack. I bought 2 packs, one black and one white. Each pack was $6.99 I tied them up with a piece of red ribbon (a nod to the cover of Eclipse, of course) and they look like this.

The napkins will be placed on the plate, which are also black or white...A black napkin on a white plate and so on, to give the "checkerboard" feel. The fork will be slid into the ribbon, a nod to Forks WA, of course.

NOTE: I did have quite the issue with Linen Table Cloth, when they initially sent me the wrong tablecloths, they were red, but not satin. Please know that their return policy is that they will not send you the correct items until they receive the incorrect ones back. Being that I didn't have the time to wait for all this, I went around and around with them until the agreed to ship my correct items when I provided them with a tracking number showing I shipped the wrong ones back. They are covering the shipping cost of that, by refunding it to me when they get the box. But still - I don't find their customer service to be very helpful, but for the product and the cost of them...it's ok.

In my effort to cover all the covers of the books through the party decorations I picked up on clearance at Wal Mart 2 bundles of Tulips, and a bottle of red craft paint, andything cheap will do for this project. Because of the material the flowers are made of, they dry really fast but I still needed a way to hold them up, even for their short drying time.

I pulled the tulipd heads off, and paited along the edges and lightly in the middle of them.

Then I took an old box, jammed toothpicks in it and set the wet tulip head on top of the tooth pick to dry (my husbands idea - he's a genious!)

When finished they look like this, I plan to use them in centerpieces and what not:
And of course the party favors...I'm doing a few things. I have glass coaster that say "Love" on them left over from my wedding last year, I'm tying them up with ribbon in sets of 2 and hanging a little card on them that says "So the Lion fell in love with the Lamb"

And of course the hand painted wine glasses: Here's a sneak peak and instructions on how to do it.

Wine Glasses bought at a local Dollar Store for $1 each
Print off names, or what not you want on glass and cut it out. Tape inside the glass.
Use a DecoColor Paint Marker (pick them up at any craft store) and trace then fill in.

I found that to be the best way to do it, the paint I was going to do was not covering well and these pens work great.

Also, though you can not see it on this glass, on the pooosite side it either has a paw print, The words "Be Safe" in Edwards handwriting or an umbrella.

This is shaping up to be one heck of a 30th birthday party! Thanks to everyone helping me put it together!

Proof Woman Are Just Born This Way

2009-09-30T17:45:00.000-07:00

Gone Too Soon.

2009-09-27T14:38:00.001-07:00

My post today will not be filled with sarcasm or humor like they normally are. No jokes, no Twilight references, nothing perky or upbeat. I wish, with everything I have that it could be, that I'm not having to remember yet another friend, taken too soon from this life. Eerily in the same way I lost another friend 6 years ago.

Eric Yanka, husband to Gina Yanka., a wonderful long time friend of Alex's, passed away early Sunday morning the 26th of September, in a one car accident in Brained Minnesota. What makes this even sadder then it already is, is that Gina and Eric were married only 14 days prior, They had just returned home from their honeymoon days earlier.

The similarities to a car accident that killed my friend Chad Week 6 years ago are uncanny. Both men got into cars with people who they knew had been drinking, both accidents occurred in a rather rural area. Eric was on his way back to the cabin, Chad was on his way home from a cabin. Both men were pronounced dead at the scene and both, sadly were ejected from the car via the windshield. Both accidents included only the one car.

The driver in both accidents suffered injuries but survived, and in the case of my friend Chad the driver was not charged by request of his parents. In the case of Eric this will not be the case. The driver will be going away for 5-10 years, or so we have have heard.

When things like this happen it's hard to know what to say. How do you comfort a friend that just lost her husband? How do you help her know it will be alright when she will be sending out funeral notices before her thank you cards are even finished being written, when wedding presents are probably still arriving?

My heart goes out to Gina and her family. All my love!

3 Months!

2009-09-25T07:29:00.000-07:00

It's a little behind but here's Ellison's 3 month update.

We're having a great time, laughing, squeeling, and her newest thing is trying to eat her hands! She rolls up onto her side and still hates to be laying down, so the rolling over has not been a big success yet, since we can't keep her on her back long with out her telling us about how much she dislikes it!. She just Little Miss Independent!

The sleeping through the night has stopped and we're getting up once between 3-5 each morning, but we're making it through! She goes right back to bed after her bottle and I crash out on the couch while she swings.

Here she is! Growing so very fast!

Good News/ Bad News

2009-09-23T06:31:00.001-07:00

The Bad News is, I'm no longer going to Chicago for Twi-Tour. No meet and greets no hanging with Hillywood....nuttin'. My car decided it would be a really good time to crap out on me and all the Chicago money, went to the car....*sniff*

The Good News is my internet bestie is getting me an autographed Bran Hambric book wirtten by Kaleb Nation and a new Hillywood Autograph! Yay!

I gotta try to find the good in everything otherwise I will get all deperessed and mope about the weekend everyone is down there with out me. Chances are I will still be a little bummed during that weekend but I will make it through!

I'm also putting even more effor into planning my birthday party, details are coming together, so many fun ideas that I can do by making things myself! Prom Gazebo, Centerpieces, Place Card Holders - I can't wait!!!

On top of all that a few things I have been waiting for, forever it seems like will being happening on the 1st of October. The first is Nordstrom is releasing their New Moon clothing line, with some AWESOME t-shirts! AND Twilight Scene It comes out! Squeeee!

I know that I am a huge Twilight Dork, and I will make NO apologies for it. I love it, I love my friends who love it and the people I've gotten to meet because of it.

I'm hoping to get myself a part time job, save some $$ and take a trip to Forks with some friends next year and hit up the Con in Minneapolis next June full force!

Happy Stephanie Meyer's Day!

2009-09-14T06:02:00.000-07:00

OME! I had a great Stephanie Meyer day, even if I wasn't in Forks to celebrate. It was also Bella's birthday (for those of you counting she would be 22 in human years having been born on Sept, 13, 1987)

What do you do on Stephanie Meyer day when you live 1842 miles away from that tiny town covered by a near constant cover of rain and clouds? You attend an awesome party is what you do!

Great friends Maggie and Liz, invited everyone over to the Twi-partment to celebrate. One Twi-mate was missing in action; Trina, something about being in New York and near the red carpet for the 2009 VMA's seemed more fun then hanging with us....*insert jealous look here*. We had her there in spirit, her photo was on the wall!!!

Highlights of the night: (in no particular order, of course)

Maddie jumping out from behind Edward and scaring the piss out of Maggie
Stories from Italy, particularly the ones including what a metal chair sounds like being drug across a metal patio! And learing about the places "Rob would totally eat at" (seriously I don't think I have laughed so hard in my life!
"Charlie Swan" wine, "Mike Newtons", Grizzly Grahms, and dirt balls!
Winning 1 of the 2 costume contests prizes dressed as Jessica Stanley
The prom gazebo set up in the living room!
The butt dance
Bathroom Notes
Maggie's British accent
Peter's Table cloth (see photo)

I will be shamelessly stealing several of their ideas for my party coming up in October! LOL.

Here's a few shots from the night. I was working with a dying camera battery, bercause I'm an idiot and didn't charge it....I know, total fail on my part...but I got a little bit of everything!

I totally meant to snag one of these awesome cookie Maddie brought! Damn it. The cake was awesome!
Check the Gazebo.....(*cue Iron & Wine)
Broken Glass! Candles! Flowers!
Mike Newtons, Vampire Chocolate in Fido dishes!
Charlie Swan Wine in what I like to call "Maggies Wine Rack" haha!

Liz's costume malfunction - damn human...bleeding all over the place!

All The Ladies and Mr. Sparkles himself!
I would love to show you what I looked like before I was sweaty and gross and when my hair actually didn't need a bump it....but the only photo I have of me looks like total ass, so reserve the right not to post it! But as an added bonus here's Peter Facinelli's table cloth he gave to Maggie....yes he actually wrote on it with marker...I love the vampire doodle!

She's Growing Too Fast!

2009-09-07T16:06:00.000-07:00

This week Paige starts kindergarten. I swear it was like yesterday I brought her home from the hospital.

She's gown up so so fast. she has the greatest little personality of any child I know, but I am a little biased.

She loves Rascal Flatts, The Beatles and Celtic Thunder and the Jonas Brothers. She can't get enough of Wizards of Waverly Place and the outdoors. She loves basketball and football and watching sports with her dad, whom I might add is probably one of the greatest dads in the world. I'm grateful that even though our paths didn't lead us to a single family, he has always given 110% to his daughter and would do anything for her in a heartbeat.

Paige has 2 GREAT step parents (or soon to be step parent on her dads side! Hopefully!!!) Alex, my husband and Kim, Michael's girlfriend. They have both really contributed to Paige's upbringing and made her even more of a great kid.

She's so lucky and so loved, and Oh My Gosh getting so big! So in honor of Paige's first day of school coming up on Thursday, here are a few photos of her over the years....try not to tear up....oh wait - that's me....

2 months
One Year
2 years
3 Years
4 Years
5 Years

Walking Contradiction! Another Installment of RobstenGossip FAIL!

2009-09-04T06:50:00.000-07:00

You all know I have it out for www.RobstenGossip.com for basically being an ass sore on the butt of all humanity. Not to mention one of the worst fan blogs there is for "Robsten". It all stems from their fake contest and fake autograph prize. See other posts about them Here, and Here to get the whole story.

Well, as I have been faithfully keeping my "UNFOLLOW Friday" on Twitter of them, and getting good response from people - I am now out to make sure the masses actually understand that this web site is not only just a flat out rip off of every other website out there, but that the people running it are lame, lying, manipulative idiots who don't cover their tracks very well.

Exibit A: Scarlett-Rose (the web sites creator) claims to work for Summit Entertainment as shown here by the screen shot of their profile off my Tweet Deck: You too can see this by searching them on Twitter @RobstenGossip (click any photo to enlarge & read)
Because of this many Tweeters actually believe they work for them. What most of those sweet, yet gullible people don't understand is that IF they really did work for them, not only would they not be able to post any "inside goss", even if they obtained it because of Non-Disclosure Agreements Summit has employees sign - but they probably wouldn't list them self as "working for Summit to get inside goss" because they would be fired immediately for taking the job for their own personal reasons.

EXIBIT B: If you go to their website, you will plainly see this on their "About Us" Page: They opening admit to copying all their info on their site from other fan sites, and do not actually write anything them self. Again this is a direct screen shot of the page and I do have the whole page screen shot if you need to see it just let me know. (please click photo to enlarge and read)

If they actually worked for Summit to "get the inside goss", (let's just say for a minute that Summit wouldn't fire and sue them for sharing inside info, for the sake of this statement) then why would they need to start a web page where they simply go out to other sites, copy what they wrote and paste it into theirs?

Talk about a contradiction! "Hey we work for Summit but can't come up with our own news!"

And in the the biggest faux pas of all, they don't even credit the sites/sources they take info from on their blogs, even though they "claim to when possible". Funny I barely see them credit anyone, which is a huge copyright no-no and makes them pretty much the scum of blogging.

Everyone knows you never forget to credit the original authors. And if they are taking it from other blogs and mags, obtaining the orginal writers info wouldn't be hard at all since they would be ON THE SITE TO COPY THEIR WORK, shoulnd't be too hard to say where you got it. They simply think this mini disclosure on their page is ok enough to cover their butts, and individual credits are not always needed. Apparently, it must be beneath them to do this, you know since the "Work for Summit"

Robsten Gossip should be shut down and the creator of the site should be ashamed of her lying, and lack of ability to even run a site anyone would want to read. Not to mention she should be sued left and right for plagiarism.

On a last, and funny note: I'm a volunteer for Creation Ent, who recently partnered with Summit for their Twi-Tours, the tours of which I will be helping at in October. Does this then mean I can say I work for Summit? (insert laugh) or even better, I volunteer as a host of a family chat board that is owned by Disney so I guess I work for them as well...hahahaha!
Who would have thought I would be so successful....hahahahah!

Bobby Long, In Minneapolis!

2009-09-04T05:16:00.000-07:00

What's that? Excuse me? You say you don't know who Bobby Long is? Gasp! Well let me catch you up. The following is taken from http://www.bobby-long.co.uk/

"Bobby Long is a British singer/songwriter from Calne, Wiltshire, South West England. He moved to London to pursue his musical career and is currently pursuing a tour in the United States. He likens his music to “drops of rain on a bull fighters back like punches breaking through a Windy Gail”. Bobby is most well-known for his work on the song “Let Me Sign” which he co-wrote with his friend Marcus Foster and which was performed by Robert Pattinson on the Twilight soundtrack."

On the 1st of September I was lucky enough to see him live at (get ready for this...) Gasthof Zur Gemutlichk Restaurant in Minneapolis. Don't ask me to pronounce it...really I have no idea how. The concert itself was set up by a great gal I met via Twi-Tour Minneapolis, Trina. She really does get to have all the fun! No really, I'm talking an extra in New Moon in ITALY! Running into Kristen Stweart in the bathroom and chatting her up for a bit, meeting Ashley Greene....see - all the fun, and that's the very short list of Trina's celeb encounters! (I'm only slightly jealous!)

The concert was great, the music was unbelievable, and Bobby was gracious and greeted each of his fans after the show. I was part of a select lucky few that got to go up after he left to eat and sit with him and chat and take some photos before he ran off to catch his flight to the next show. (All because of the lovely Trina of course!) He was, as everyone is, overjoyed to see my sister in law who won him over with her accent and the fact she is originally from England. They became two peas in a pod after that. I'm only "cool by association" LOL. But as long as it gets me little meet and greets I am ok with that!

Here's a few shots I took of the concert and Bobby with some fans afterward. I can't wait until he come back across the "Dirty Pond" as he would call it, for another American tour and another stop at Gasthof Zur Gemutlichk.

The RSVP

2009-08-28T06:07:00.001-07:00

It took me awhile to get this RSVP laid out. I wanted the "Yes" and "No" portion to be lines from the movie, and as well as I know the books/movie I still had to sift through quote websites for the right one.

The RSVP and the Invite itself still need a little tweeking and touching up here and there, but I have a few days to finish that before I order the invite items.

Bless This Baby & Happy Anniversary!

2009-08-27T08:03:00.000-07:00

Ellison was baptized on Sunday, the 23rd of August. Mine and Alex's one year wedding anniversary. It was so fun to walk down the same isle again, stand at the front of the church and say "I do" again, only this time in response to the Pastor asking if we would help raise this child in the ways of the church.

She was by far the best dressed baby there, in her English style gown bought by Nanny and Grandad.

We celebrated both our anniversary and the baptism after the church service with a family get together at our place. It was a blast and made all the more special because Alex's brother Matt made the trip in from Washington to attend!

It was difficult to accomplish anything really that day, so I had to take pictures of Ellie in her gown the day after so get these:

And of course, the whole thing wouldn't be complete with out a thank you card made by me for the wonderful family and friends that attended!

You Can Never Have Too Many Earings!

2009-08-26T06:42:00.000-07:00

I recently met a girl at a Twilight Convention in Minneapolis, and have spent some time on Twitter and Facebook getting to know her.

Just today I found out she makes and sells really beautiful Twilight Inspired jewelry on Etsy. Her items were too cute not to share on here! So stop in ad take a look, at her amazing prices you should pick up one of everything and just be prepared for all occasions!

Twilight Tammy's Treasures on Etsy

Twilight Party Invites

2009-08-25T19:18:00.000-07:00

I priced out stuff for my 30th Birthday invites today on Cards And Pockets and I can not wait to order the material to print them out and assemble them! It's only going to cost about $30.00 total to make the 27 invites I will need.

Here's a Photoshop layout of what the invites will look like.

This is the inside, what it will look like when it's laid flat and open, the white line shows where the card will be folded.

When I have an assembled invite ready to be photographed I will list off the exact sizes, fonts and paper colors I used.

Here's what the outside will look like when it's folded. The red bar is a paper wrap that will hold the card closed. The square on top of it has the Cullen Crest on it, replaced with my last name instead of Cullen.

RobstenGossip = FAIL!

2009-08-20T22:00:00.000-07:00

I'm officially done with RobstenGossip, the site hosting the so-called "compitition" I entered over 2 weeks back.

Not only did I never hear anything from them yesterday about the supposed "re-count" they were doing because of my complaint and that of half a dozen angry voters who knew something was fishy (turns out they BLOCKED me a few minutes after my asking about the count). They didn't even show their face on Twitter tonight, yet had time to update their blog this morning. Strange as I recall they were "doing everything they could to fix the issue" and offered to e-mail me the final counted numbers if it would help me..ummm..no way I would want each individual e-mail vote generated from the chat box they used for voting so I can count myself...like showing me their messed up final count is going to help the situation? How easy is that to fabricate? We need some proof.

To be fair, before telling the world via Twitter about the utter Fail on RobstenGossip's part, I thought of all the possibilities for the bad count. I'm a "benefit of the doubt" kinda girl. But I'm also really hard to lie to and screw over with out me finding out and I could tell that there was something not right with this "contest". Because of that feeling I did a little research last night...

-- The "winner" of the contest has had a Twitter page basically since a just before the contest started, never uses it. She was notified via Twitter that she won, but never said anything back about it - her page is located here: http://twitter.com/kaylanicole and if she had been told she won, where was the happy thank you and blah blah? She just won a freaking autographed magazine with Rpats and Kstews signatures on it...she should be flipping out!

-- On top of the the so called prize they were giving away I found on Ebay as REPLICA, when RobstenGossip claimed it was one of a kind and signed by Rpats and Kstew and they themself obtained it and I quote "was touched by them" according to the description of it on their site. The marker color, and position of the signatures are EXACT to the one the showed on their site as being the prize!

Here's an ebay link to a current auction for the same magazine!
FAKE AUTOGRAPHS ON ENTERTAINMENT MAGAZINE

It's clear this competition was rigged and fake from the start. This is a website that tricked people into thinking there was an awesome prize and then just chose what they wanted anyway to save having to pony up the goods and admit the were liars all along. They were probably trying to get more web page hits to move their site up the list of fan sites....

Oh and best of all, the girl who runs RobstenGossip, says she works for Summit - well if that's the case I can complain directly to them and see how well that goes over. A Summit employees screwing over fans with a bunk contest and fake prize....I bet Summit doesn't want to be associated with someone like this....

So for all my fellow Tweeters out there - this is not Follow Friday, it is offcailly UNFOLLOW Friday of @RobstenGossip for rigging a contest, being liars and ignoring questions and tweets not to mention trying to pass off a fake autograph as a real one.
If you don't tweet contact them via-message and let them know this isn't ok to do to people! www.robstengossip.com

I'm not a sore loser...

2009-08-20T05:39:00.001-07:00

Like the title said, I'm not a sore loser - when my loss is legitimate. As you all know I entered a design contest at Robsten Gossip for a new Twitter background. The winner would get an autographed copy of Entertainment Magazine, signed by RPatz and Kstew.

I diligently sat in front of my computer all day and night, voting the "as many times as you can" that was allowed. I was also checking on regular basis to see if any number other then mine (#2) showed up - and except on a random occasion, another number would pop in for 3-4 votes, but never a worry compared to my 300+ a day just from myself.

Not to sound cocky, but I knew I had it in the bag, it would be impossible for me not to win. I even joked with the people running the contest as we've been really friendly on Twitter, asking how far ahead I was. I would have never said something like that with out reason to believe I was actually ahead.

I should explain, in order to let their contestants generate as many votes as possible they set up a chat box, and you could enter your name and the number you voted for with an unlimited number of times allowed to vote. So I could literally scroll up in the live chat box and see clearly there were no other votes for anyone but me for hours and hours.

Now, on top of my hundreds of votes cast each day just by myself, I had at least 5 people who were voting like crazy for me on an hourly basis and the handful of others who would vote daily but do so 10-100 times each time the voted. Never did another number show up to even cast doubt that I wouldn't win.

I confronted Robsten Gossip who said they would recount again last night. This morning still no word from them and they appear to have enough time to count as they are putting up new blog posts and Tweets. I beginning to no longer think they had a delivery mishap of each vote but that something fishy is going on here and I should have won but didn't.

I'm going to go stomp around the house some more and hope that this gets sorted and fast!

Moments in Time...

2009-08-18T05:30:00.000-07:00

My best customer is back, and she needed an invite for her sons 3rd birthday!

I've worked with her photos to make her several cards over the past 3 years, matter o fact I've covered nearly all the main events in their life!

Austins Birth:

His Christening
His First Birthday
His 3rd Birthday
Not to mention each Holiday since his birth and even a few composites for hanging on the wall and of course Thank You cards to go with each card.

I love working with my little A-Man!

2 Months!

2009-08-14T10:23:00.000-07:00

Ellison Esme Violet is a very healthy and happy 2 month old now.

We had her appointment with the fantabulous Dr. Brian Cress and all is better then good!

She's weighing in at 10.63 lbs (42%)
Height is 22 inches (33%)
Head Circumference is 14.5 (6%)

And here she is at 2 months, my Little "Newborn" (yes, Twilight thing...shut up!) She is ALL smiles these days, the happiest baby you ever met!

PLEASE VOTE!

2009-08-12T05:59:00.000-07:00

If you swing in here, please take two seconds to follow this link and

VOTE FOR # 2

http://www.robstengossip.com/competitions.htm

It's my design! And I want to win more then you know!

Here's the design, what it will look like when it's used on their Twitter Page.

Jail Break!

2009-08-11T15:11:00.000-07:00

My iPhone is officially Twilight-a-fied! And I Loooove it!

Alex Jail Broke my phone last night after many days of research to make sure he could put it right back to factory settings and that it actually woundn't break my phone as previously thought.

Now my phone is cooler then yours! Check it out!

Here's the main screen when you click the home button to Unlock:

The battery and the service bars are red, the "slide to unlock" red color moves from side to side lighting up as it goes, and my favorite part of this is when you Unlock it says: "Are you afraid?" "No."

One of my main pages, with the infamous Apple and Hands photo,
not all my icons are fixed yet, so I took a picture of one of the pages full of games since all those icons work. I am replacing them all soon with photos from the movie or little apples, not decided yet. (Bear in mind I have a 5 year old who plays games on my phone a lot...lol)

You can also see that my "Dock" or bottom stationary 5 options is different too!

Here's my phone screen:

My Calculator:

This is what shows up in replacement of the Battery when it's pluged in - the Cullen Crest!
Instead of the regular "Loading" image you get, mine is replaced with the Twilight Font

Best of all - when you lock the phone or shut it off it says "You Are My Life Now"

Sigh! I just love my new set up! I think once I get the hang of these new progarms I'll put my design work to use and make some new layouts! Also I want to figure out how to make a new Text tone, so I can replace my Super Mario Brother One Up noise to something Twilight....like when Edward says "Hello"!

I'm off to find new fun things to add to the phone!

Wha?

2009-08-10T00:00:00.000-07:00

I'm looking over posts realizing I never posted Ellison's birth announcement. Geeze you'd think since I make them I'd want to show it off even more!

Well here it is, I' showing it at the 2 month mark, better late then never I always say.

If you or someone you know is in need of cards of some sort - let me know :0)

Auntie Bang!

2009-08-09T00:00:00.000-07:00

You used to watch Friends, right?

Remember the episode where Ross leaves Ben with Monica and Rachel for the afternoon and Monica tosses him in the air, smacking his head on a rafter? Shortly after he starts saying "Monica Bang" over and over?

Yea. I'm now Auntie Bang.

Now I didn't throw Katia in the air and hit her head on anything, I more plowed her over with my fat ass. Total accident, but she cracked her head on the cement and it wasn't a pretty sound and neither was the screaming that ensued shortly after from my poor beat up niece.

Someone step on my foot, I stepped back and WHAM, Baby Down! For the rest of the afternoon I was being teased she was going to have a flat spot on her head, that she should have to wear a helmet around me, or that she would have brain damage from it...

Sad!

I'm happy to report that she is fine, but that I am now "Auntie Bang" which isn't all that great...lol.

Yay for Today!

2009-08-08T10:25:00.000-07:00

I woke up 30 minutes before I needed to be at the salon this morning. I wasn't worried because my fantastic stylist is always running a bit behind. I slapped some make up on my face to help me no feel so BLAH while there and hopping in Alex's new car to drive over.

I was right - Kelly was a little late, but in her defense I'm always a little early. I plopped in my chair equipped with People Magazine and my iPhone, because we know I can't be with out my Twitter! And off we went. Dark burgundy and almost blond streaks...no hair cut I'm digging my length AND now Kelly and I are having a contest to see who can get our hair to our chest first....

While I sat in the dryer I was given a glass of wine, yes at 10 am - hey it was my momm time! LOL. The anothe rfantabulous stylist there, Leanne asked if I wanted McDonalds (sorry Jillian Michaels, I'm sure eating that while doing the 30 day shred, not so good...but o-well) and off she went for food.

So here I am sitting at the salon, hair being done, numming on some Micky D's and sipping my wine...wow how trailor park did that sound...lol and thinking my day coulnd't get much better and then Kelly blow drys my hair and BAM - I'm in love! I've become "Kelly-fied" LOL.
The lighting is kinda suckish...sorry - but really, do you not love it!

Now I KNEW my day couldn't get any better...then I went home....(PS - ignore my zit...LOL)

At home, Alex informs me I am now allowed to get the mail, earlier in the week he told me I couldn't because something was coming for me and I wasn't aloowed to see it. But I guess what it was, was soemthig he coulndn't keep to himself, decided I needed my 1st of 2 anniversary gifts right then and there.

I'll be honest I thought it was a Pocket Edwrad, or maybe a Swan/Black Mortocycle tank top since those were the things that I mentioned that would need to be odered, but no - it was way cooler then that!

It was an autographed photo from the Hillywood Show! EEEEEPPP! Love it! Love them! Love my Husband!
I of course shot straight to Twitter to thank them and to Facebook to upload the photo. He's even going to get me a shelf above my computer for my pictures now, so I can frame them and set them up. The Hillywood one is a great addition to my collection with Gil Brimingham, Christian Serratos, and of course Trent Tomlinson - okay so Trent doens't really fit in there but whatever! LOL

And soon, I'll have a copy of Entertainment magazine to add to this, autographed be Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stweart that I will be winning for a desing contest I did for a Twitter background for Robsten Gossip ( @robstengossip on Twitter)

Here's a screen shot of what it will look like when they have it on their Twitter Page (I used my account though obviously...) I designed the background :0)
I'm a little worried because they have these photos on their background now and I feel like they may want something else...so fingers crossed that I win!!!

So that's the day so far, and now I'm off to my in-laws ina bit to drop off Ellie for her first over night with out me, and to go to DanK Fest - the coolest party around!

Get Ready to Party..Woot Woot

2009-08-05T06:48:00.001-07:00

Now I know my birthday isn't until October but I stumbled across these awesome birthday party supplies the other day and decided that, turning 30 or not, I am having a Twilight Party.

I don't care if the party is the whole family and all my friends, or just cake after dinner with Alex and Paige & Ellie...I'm eating it off these plates!

Let just hope that Birthday Direct has them available in time.

Now, since it's going to be my 30th birthday I have also been looking for a cake...something hopefully someone I know can make because, lets face it this family spends way to much money on cake...LOL! Here's a few dream cakes

This first of course would be a replica of Bella's Cake in New Moon. Again, I remind you that my family spends too much money on cake so this on, officially not an option! Although it looks to be sliced fondont around it, may I could make it...hmmmm *wheels in head begin to spin*
Here's one to bring a little humor to the day, which I would admittedly need, it is the big Three - Oh! Thank you Cullen Boys Anonymous for the photo.

Now you don't just have to read your books, you can eat them too....of course with the "black frosting incident" my sister and I had when making my nieces birthday cookies in May...maybe making this one is not such a good idea...BTW - when adding black dye to white frosting, whenthe dye gets on your finger, don't lick it off. It stains. And tastes kinda bad. (photo from New Moon Movie.org)
These cupcakes look too cute to eat!
And look, this one comes with it's very own "Pocket Edward"

I guess turning the big Three - Oh won't be so bad if I can act like a goofy 13 year old for a little while and have a Twilight party! Don't act like you won't be jealous if you're not invited!

I Even Facebook While In Labor

2009-07-27T06:31:00.001-07:00

Giving birth to Ellison was the easiest part of my whole pregnancy!

I was induced a week early, myh doctor could clearly see I was near the point of breaking, mentally and agreed to it. Bless her heart! So on June 8th 2009 we headed to the hospital to get the process going. I was thrilled not only to have the birth "scheduled" which really helps me when I know whats going to happen and when, but also that because it was an induction I knew my doctor would be able to deliver Ellison which was a huge thing for me. Having her see me through the whole pregnancy and then not be there for the birth would not have been fair!!

Alex and I arrive a little late to the hospital because my iPhone decided to break on me the evening before and I of course didn't realize it until the morning. I had to restore it back to factory options and then add everything back on it that I had accumulated in the past several months. I didn't think this would take an hour to complete...after it made me a half hour late I finally gave up, left the phone connected to the computer to complete it's cycle and arranged for my friend Mary Jo to pick it up on her way into the hospital that afternoon.

Yes, it is that important for me to have it with me. Though with out it, I maganed still to Facbook my way through labor using my lap top. And I really did keep everyone updated, every few minutes in fact!

I was given my epidural about 4 cm into labor, and then they broke my water. Things slowed down for a bit at this point, but I had my phone, computer, and family there to help keep me company. When I was espcially bored I would re-watch the New Moon movie trailer on my phone, and funny enough when I would my pulse ox machine would go off in sirens because my heart rate would drop to near nothing! LOL. Turns out that I really just have a very slow resting heart rate, it went off a million times through out the whole day. Rater annoying.

After an hour the nurse came in and checked me to find I was fully dialted and the transformation of hospital bed to delivery bed began and Team Amber arrivred and took their positions. Both my sister and my sister in law were presnet for the birth, along with Alex of course.

When Dr. Goudge came in, she sat down on her stool in front of me and said "Okay. Go" and laughed. The alughter continued through out the rest of the delivery, which lasted about 20 minutes - it would have been even shorter if I wasn't wasting 2 full pushes per contraction laughing so hard I coulnd't concentrate.

What could possibly be so funny, you ask? Well how about my sister ducking her head down near the doctors and saying "Why's it look like a rasin and all wrinkly".

Or my SIL reporting I needed a pedicure as she held one of my legs and then goes on to smell my foot. We have photos.

Or, what about when Ellison crowed and Dr Goudge commented on how much hair she has and then proceeds to give her a mowhawk before her head is even out.

It was too funny. That is until I looked up and realized my epidural drip was nearing empty..I asked if they were going to replace it. When Dr. Goudge said no, I pushed like a mad woman to get her out. Pain is a fear I do not like having!

Alex said Ellison came flying out all on her own. I pushed, relaxed and suddenly there was baby! It was by far the easist thing I had done in months, there was no pain and only my family could make something like Labor & Delivery a laugh riot!

Keeping the Masses Informed
Debbie and my foot, so what if I needed a pedicure!
Ashley and her job - taking pictures!
And here's the Baby! Go Team Amber!

Goal!

2009-07-26T05:37:00.000-07:00

Paige had her last soccer game last Thursday. Ellie was very irritable and so I did not attend (sad face) but Alex went for most of it and was proud to report she scored 3 goals! She's really getting good! Well as good at one can be at a soccer game that has no rules, doens't keep score and is 3 on 3 with no goalie! Gotta love the little kid sports!

Here's a few shots I got of her to commemorate Season 1 Year 2 of Soccer.

I Love Mail!

2009-07-25T14:47:00.000-07:00

Stalking the mail man pays off!

Yesterday I got the package I have been waiting for, my order from Bubbles & Bows Boutique .

I don't think I was even in the house completely before I started ripping the thing opening and started oohing and aaahhing over each item.

Here's my haul!

Custom made Burper with Ellison's name on it

Awesome Bow Band (bow is removable and able to be used as a hair clip later when she has hair to put it in!) and Matching Custom Twilight Onsie
Another Bow Band and Onsie Set - Twilight again (only you real fans will understand this one)
And this was an added bonus suprise for me, a custom Diaper Wipes Case with "Ellie" embroidered on it! In my favorite colors no less!
I also got a Boppy Cover, which I have not photographed yet. It fits so much better then the Boppy Brand cover I had previously for my Boppy! Love them!

And - the best photo of all - Ellison wearing her Newborn set and showing off her very first smile caught on camera!! Never mind the quality - I took it with my iPhone with no flash.

Peter Says Hello...

2009-07-22T05:40:00.000-07:00

On Friday night of Twi-Tour last weekend, my sister in law Debbie got to hang out with Peter Facinelli....yes...Dr. Cullen...at the bar of the hotel and chat. As she knows I'm a Twitter addict, not to mention overly obsesswed with Twilight - and thinking I was still up with Ellie at the time asked Peter sent me this shout out:

After I started breathing again, picked my poor abused iPhone up off the ground and woke up Alex to show him...I called my sister in law to tell her how much I loved her.

What maked this utterly awesome thing, even better was that when I made it to Twi-Tour Saturday night I found out I was quite the topic of interest on Friday...everyone wanted to know who Amber Sweeney was and why Pether was sending me a shout out!

Oh yea, I'm that big of a dork that I find that amazing!

Here's Debbie and Peter:

It Doens't Get Much Better...

2009-07-22T04:50:00.000-07:00

We're still breathing on this end I swear! Between, doing the mom to two thing, the wife thing, the twitter thing, the myspace thing and the facebook thing - not to mention actually having friends that don't live in my computer - the blog thing fell to the end of the list...sorry about that!

I had a great weekend with my awesome sister in law Debs at Twi-Tour in Minneapolis. I got to meet members of the cast of Twilight (*enter uncontrollable stupid giggle here*) like Edi Gathegi who plays Laurent, Bronson Pelletiere and Chaske Spencer who play Jared and Sam of the wolf pack. And Christian Serratos who plays Angela. They were all so gracious and down to earth - it was great!

On top of meeting all them, I got the opportunity to meet the cast of The Hillywood Show. I will admit, I had not seen their parodies before attending the Twi-Tour, but have become a serious "Hillywood Show Pusher" since checking it out.

Hannah and Hilly Hindi have amazing talent and if your not a fan of Twilight (gasp! how dare you) then check out The Dark Knight parody of which Alex and I re-watched three time last night alone! Follow the links below to check it out! I bet you anything you'll be watching it 3+ times a day like I am!

Click here for The Dark Knight Parody

I managed to be lucky enough to not only chat with "Jasper" (Drew Lorentz) and "Edward" (Jacob Jost) in the elevator earlier in the day, but also at the Vampire Ball, which the Hillywood Show cast hosted. Here's a few shots from the night. I feel HUGE standing next to the sweet little Hindi sisters in these photos...damn baby weight! :0) It actually kills me to look at some of these photos of me, I look me I'm wearing a fat Amber suit! Blah, only 11lbs left...

Ashley, Me, Debbie & Shannon before the Vampire Ball
The Hillywood Show Cast
Myself with "Jasper" and "Alice"
Ashley with "Jasper" and "Alice"
This groups is so great, they are so sweet and gracious and love to meet their fans. They are truly thankful for the wonderful opportunity they have been presented with and I have no doubt the will use it well and we've only seem the beginning of the careers of this group! It was really an honor to be able to get to know them a little!!

A New Obsession...

2009-07-09T04:59:00.001-07:00

Move over Twilight, I've got a new obsession that is sharing first place with you.

Twitter!

I know, I SWORE I wouldn't even get into it, but I really started very innocently. Maybe you have heard of the Twitter Bet between Peter Facinelli (Dr Cullen) and his friend Rob DeFranco? Well I signed up to help Peter win. He did and soon we had a grown man dancing in a bikni down Holywood Blvd.

Oh it was worth it.

But NOW, well now I'm a tweet tweeting here and a tweet tweeting there. Every where a Tweet Tweet. I'm Old Miss McSweeney! In fact I have an iPhone app that actually TWEETS at me when I get new Tweets. Have I used the word Tweet enough for you? LOL.

So, if you Tweet - follow me! I'm @acsweeney

Time is A Flyin'

2009-07-09T04:46:00.000-07:00

Ellison is 1 month old already! Can you believe it?

She's growing like a weed and finally getting out of the Newborn size and starting to (very slowly) fit into 0-3 month sizes. I'm worried that all the clothes I bought ahead of time, that are pretty "season specific" won't fit her at the right time and she'll be wearing a Christmas outfit in February...LOL

Paige is also having a great time being a big sister, getting diapers, giving her her "nook", wants to hold her all the time. She's a great sister!

How Do You Annoy Thee? Let Me Count The Ways...

2009-07-04T05:35:00.000-07:00

I have a dilemma. I'm sure it won't seem as such to most of you but it's a big conundrum to me and I'm really trying hard to sort out what to do.

Here's the deal. I hate movie theaters. I hate loud chewers, annoying laughers, inconsiderate talkers, morons who don't turn off their cell phones, and parents who bring their much to young children into a movie not suited for them, and the jack ass who MUST sit in the seat right in front of me, where my feet are mind you, when the theather is near empty and there are a million other seats to choose from. And that's just the tip of the ice berg for the list of things I can't stand while at the theather...

It can be said that I am an annoyance magnet, I can go into a movie with the best of intentions of sitting as far away from "Smaky McSmackerson" and yet he will find me and take the seat right behind or next to me and chew right in my ear. It never fails!

I also have no filter system. I can not tune it out to save my life. In fact once I know it's there, it's a million times louder then the Dolby surround sound system blaring explosions, music and other sounds. Oh how I am cursed. And to add isult to injury, my "Movie Theather Issues" leave most people I know, scared to go to movies with me. Let's just say I'm not exactly shy about telling you to shut the hell up, or reminding you that this isn't your living room and I didn't pay $10 to listen to you talk about how "Peter told Mary that Sarah said...." SHUT UP! Please *smiles*

Back to topic, the reason this is a big deal is because two movies I have to see and would be pretty much a sin not to view on the big screen are coming out shortly. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince this month and New Moon in November. (Hey you have your cars or aliens...I have Vampries and Wizards...don't judge!)

Harry Potter I think I can get through with out too much trouble, but the droves of screaming 15 year old girls who honestly believe Edward is real, might make me drop kick someone at the New Moon viewing. I'm considering bringing a tazer and bottle of mace to help me get my point acrooss and hopefully I'll only have to hurt one or two teenagers to get the rest to shut up. Now don't get me wrong, I am as much of a Twerd as the 15 year old I would be pummeling with a bag of licorice, but I am smart enough to understand the difference between real life and fiction.

I've considered having Alex take a day off work to come see Twilight with me at a 10 am showing, a time when all teenagers are still in bed afraid rising at such and early hour will automatically turn them into a hidious beast or something. He, however doens't see the release of the second installment of my greatest obsession as cause to use a vacation day. Boys. Sigh.

I'm still not quite sure how to accomplish enjoying these long awaited films with out being rigid with the desire to strangle a pre-teen, but I'll have to think of something or be forced to wait until the DVD relase.

Star Spangled Babies!

2009-06-29T06:25:00.001-07:00

It has always been my dream to have two little girls to dress a like, and now I got it. Though finding clothes that match for a newborn and a 5 year old is difficult, it's not impossible when you're as clever as my mom - Paige is actually wearing a 18 month old size dress with shorts under it! And when she's done with it, we can give it to Katia!!! Sweet!

Anyway, here's my first attempt at "matching girls" photo shoot. It's 4th of July themed since that's that next holiday coming up - and I think they turned out fairly good! Enjoy!

Go Back To School!

2009-06-25T13:53:00.000-07:00

Having a high school diploma is apparently not a requirement for being employed by Washington County Government Center. I came to realize this many years ago but it was reconfirmed for me with Ellie's birth certificate verification paper work arrived in the mail the other day.

The paperwork was filled out in the hospital and WCGC sent the info back to me to "yay" or "nay" before they print the final birth certificate. Everything on it looked good until I got to the "Country of Birth" for Alex.

On the paper work I put "UK", which means what class....? The United Kingdom. Very good.

The loser who inputed the info from Ellie's paperwork obviously missed that day of school because what the verification paperwork said was that Alex was born in the Ukraine. Now I understand, Ukraine starts with U and K, however how dense are you to not know that stands for United Kingdom? The proper abbreviation for Ukraine, for those of you wondering is UA.

Shouldn't people who have to input this vital information be at least given some type of key to reference for just such these issues? I'm contemplating printing one off and mailing it back with the corrected information just so they don't have this issue in the future.

Ellison - 2 Weeks

2009-06-24T17:17:00.000-07:00

Ellison had her 2 week appointment yesterday, and it went really well!

She's grown a quarter inch, gained almost a full pound since birth and is still just as perfect as she was the day we had her!

Her official stats for 2 weeks are:

Height: 19.5 inches - which puts her in the 18th percentile
Weight 7.5 lbs - which puts her in the 23rd percentile
and her head circumference is 13.25 inches - which puts her in the 4th percentile.

Ellie is doing great and Paige is loving the big sister life. She's an awesome diaper fetcher, bottle holder and pacifier finder! It has been a little challenging for me to find time to make sure Paige has things to do, I find she's been watching a little too much tv and I hope that passes soon as Ellie gets older and I don't feel that we need to keep her inside as much.

A Little Update...

2009-06-17T05:31:00.001-07:00

I've kept you waiting long enough and I apologize. It's been a bit busy here with Paige and Ellie, and today actually is the first day I will be going at this alone. Alex went back to work, reluctantly this morning.

So far things are great, Ellie sleeps most of the time, Paige is a great big sister always wanting to help and is also completely grossed out by my pumping - or what she calls "breast milking". She asked if she had that when she was a baby, and Alex said "Yes, for a while you did" to which she replied "Ew, that's nasty"

Here's a few photos of our past week, from the new born session attempt I made. I promise to keep you more updated with more interesting blog posts soon! I promise.

Welcome Baby Ellison!

2009-06-10T17:44:00.000-07:00

Ellison Esme Violet arrived June 8th at 4:58 PM (just with in the 4 o'clock hour, like a Sweeney does!)

She weighed 6 lbs 13 oz and was 19.25 inches long.

I will take the time to post all about the birth in a day or so, until then please enjoy these beautiful photos taken by a long time friend of mine, Nicole Stewart. She drove almost an hour to visit us at the hospital!

Score!

2009-06-06T08:04:00.001-07:00

Paige had her first soccer game on Thursday night. I made it a point to waddle my fat butt down to the field behind our house because I couldn't bear to miss it. I know I'll miss game 2 and possibly 3 since Ellie is joining the Sweeney clan on Monday. I hate missing her sporting events, even for good reason.

Here's a few shots my my little "Raiger" making soccer kleets and the color orange look better then anyone! She scored 2 goals this game, and I swear there is nothing better then the look on her face when she accomplishs something she didn't think she could! Priceless! More the worth the waddle down!

Huddled Up With Coach Daddy
Showing Off Her Mean Side
After Her First Goal of the Game
After Her Second Goal of the Game
Never too Busy for a Smile!
Stay Tuned for more Soccer Girls Team Updates!

He-Man Has No Weenie.

2009-06-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

I don't know where Paige comes up with this things, if she makes them up. Maybe Mattel didn't make ergonomically correct action figures in the 80's and she's noticed from playing with them, though why she is looking for his weenie is beyond me. Never the less, you should all know: He-Man has no weenie.

It's a shock, I'll let you all recover.

This is only one of the many things that have come flying out of Paige's mouth lately. Strange questions, no one prepares you for let alone tell yous how to answer. Funny names she makes up for things and people that she doesn't find humor in, but the sick minds of the adults in her life giggle at behind her back...

For instance, you know the name game song? Paiger Paiger bo baiger.....and so forth...well from that she has learned that Kimbo and Bimbo rhyme and occasionally her fathers poor girlfriend Kim is insulted by an unknowing 5 year old.

Another example? Ok, she's named her mermaid barbie that she has in the tub with her "Queen of the Pink". I'll let you take from that what you will.

And of course yesterday when she was getting out of her swim suit and asked what the little lumps on her chest were. I think my reaction to the question was funnier then anything because I stared at her like I had no idea myself. In reality I was fighting to find the right thing to say, I hadn't discussed this with her dad - I didn't want to give them some funny name, but the word breasts didn;t strike me as 5 year old friendly.

I used the word anyway, and thought I was in the clear. Nope. She then wanted to know what the other part of them were called. Ugh. Seriously, did I have to use the word breasts and nipple in the same sentance to my child, at this age??

"Nipples" I barely let the word out.

"Nibbles? That's a funny name"

"No no, hunny Nip-ples. With a P."

Oh the horror.

"Oooooooo, NIPPLES" she shouts.

That conversation couldn't have ended fast enough for me! I don't mind explaining things to her so much as I mind her repeating it to other kids she knows. The thought of her sitting at her soccer game and pointing to her chest and saying "I have breasts and nipples" honestly scares me sometimes. Like I need Little Susie going home to mommy and repeating that and her say she learned if from that Janssen Girl.....

Gimmie an E!! Gimmie an L!!

2009-06-04T08:33:00.001-07:00

The baby's room is done and I'm so excited. The finishing touch was added last night, the hand painted letters of our little girls name....in order to show you the letters, we have to let out her full name....but only her full first name, you'll have to wait for her middle names :0)

Here's the letters hanging in her room - her full first name is Ellison - Ellie for short.

The coolest part of the letters, other then being made by her aunt and God Mother - and my sister...is the wooden letters she attached to them instead of painting the letters on. It really adds something special to them - Love it!

And if you want letters, or anything painted for your little ones room - contact me! My sister can help you out too :0)

TV Stars!

2009-06-02T18:53:00.000-07:00

This morning my sister Ashley and her daughter Katia were interviewd by KARE 11 news about a heart condition they both had, and had fixed in totally different ways: patent ductus arteriosus or PDA.

I went over to be her moral supprot as Ashley tends to clam up a bit when she's the center of attention and to lend a hand with Katia during the interview. I think my sister did really well, and of course Katia stole the show with her impersonation of a puppy that showed at the very end of the interview.

Here's a link to the story itself:

Ashley & Katia's KARE 11 Interview

And the video should be on the same page, though I am having a hard time at the moment locating it. If I can get it on here directly I will!

There's An End In Sight!

2009-06-01T14:55:00.000-07:00

I had my 38 week doctors appointment today, my wonderful doctor has agreed to induce me on Monday the 8th if I don't have Ellie before then. I am so relieved! I just am stressing out too much, where will Paige go? What if I go into labor when no one is here? I'm irritated that I can't drive myself anywhere anymore due to not safely being able to fit behind the wheel anymore....all things of that sort.

I don't know what I would do if I had to be on bed rest during this pregnancy! I would have lost my mind!

Here I am today - 38 weeks on the button...looking a little more "out there" LOL.

So you got 2 posts today, enjoy!

Back To Our Regularly Scheduled Obsession....

2009-06-01T05:34:00.000-07:00

The New Moon Movie Trailer has been released! Yes it's that big of a deal, I haven't had anything Twilight to gush about in a long time...I needed my "fix"

The trailer was on the MTV Movie awards last night...I had to stay up until midnight to see it because silly me, I missed it when it was originally on hours before that! You would think I would have had every alarm in the house set to tell me when it started...I'm slacking...

So here it is for your viewing pleasure - along with my favorite moment from the night, when Rob & Kristen accept for Best Kiss, too funny! :0)

ENJOY!

Sneak Peek at the Nursery, & A Baby Name

2009-05-31T17:11:00.001-07:00

So, we've announced at least part of the baby's name to most of the family, I figure that everyone else deserves to know at least that much as well!

We will be calling our baby girl:

It is short for something, we're not telling you what yet - so just be happy with what we're giving you! LOL.

We've also finished her nursery for the most part, only waiting on the letters my sister will be painting to hang above her crib. Here's a few shots for now of the room. It's been a long process, and for those of you who had seen the room when it belonged to Paige, you will understand.

It was originally the tongue and groove paneling you see, which we did decide to leave up but paint to save some money. All the trim had to be done as well as the walls, and then came the pink. I have to say that I am really pleased with how it turned out. Here's a little walk through our journey to finishing the nursery.

The room before we did anything to it at all!

This is the room after it had gotten a good coat or 2 of white

And after the pink walls and furniture has been added

This is where she will be sleeping - a perfect little nursery. We worked hard!!

She's Graduated!

2009-05-28T19:45:00.001-07:00

Okay, so it was only from preschool, but none the less it was rather moving to see my little girl get her "diplotah", as she calls it. Paige was the most vocal of all 22 kids, announceing on one occasion that I did not like spiders, even little ones. And then hollard out at a quiet moment that she had a "huge wedgige" and proceeded to yank it out in a very unlady like manner in front of everyone. Thank goodness they had her in the front row, I would have hated for someone to miss her pink underwear.

She only managed to get in trouble twice, once for sticking her hand in front of the projector making it difficult for people to see the photo slide show, and the other was during a song she was forbidden to hold the boys hand next to her because he was pulling her back and forth instead of swaying like they were supposed to. She was the only child to get into trouble more then once, but if you're going to do something you may as well do it well....lol.

After all the songs and photos, they put on little blue paper caps they made and lined up to wait for their names to be called so they could walk down the isle and cross the bridge and shake their teachers hand.

Here's out little graduate!

Singing The Grand 'Ol Flag

Waiting For Her Name To Be Called
Proud Little Girl!

Hello Double Chin!

2009-05-26T18:40:00.000-07:00

Oh, what - you can't see it in the photo? GOOD!

Alex took about 14 photos of me this evening where I'm looking directly at the camera, smiling proudly of my huge pregnant belly. None of them turned out, I didn't even look like myself! Even Alex knew before he let me look through them that I was going to hate them.

So, new rule of pregnancy - in order to not photograph my double chin (lovenly names "Leann" by my sister Ashley...ha ha.) I will no longer be looking directly at the camera for photos! At least not until this baby is born!

That being said, I give you the masterpiece that is: 37 weeks Pregnant

A little update, I had my 37 weeks appointment today. The baby's heart rate was 131, perfect. I was dilated to just about 2cm, and Dr Goudge stripped my membranes so when I left I was around a 3 cm - and hopefully this will get things moving right along.

It's almost baby time!

Welcome Elora!

2009-05-24T07:00:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine had her beautiful baby girl a week ago and I was lucky enough to be able to make her birth announcements for her! Congrats Croft Family on the arrival of your newest addition, Elora! And thank you for letting me me photo birth announcements! It was an honor!

This design and others are available for creation BY ME for YOU! Check out a few of my samples on my Facebook Page - all occasions, all types!

Announcements & Cards Part 1
Announcements & Cards Part 2

Happy Birthday Katia! Again...

2009-05-23T10:00:00.000-07:00

Just like Paige, my neice Katia got to have more then one birthday party this year. Though It was Katia's 1st birthday so she need a big bash, not just a little family get together! Being the awesome aunt I am, I let my sister have it at my house and helped with all the details which I LOVE doing. I think I'll go into party planning.

Here's a few shots of the big day and all the prep! Ashley and I had a blast setting up.

The theme of the day was a Punk Rock Party for a Punk Rock Princess, my mother was none to happy with the skulls on the cake and tages, but I pointed out they had bows and were pink....she still didn't like it much :0) However it suited Ashley & Katia perfectly.

Cookie Favors - we baked, and frosted 80 cookies that night.

Last minute cake design idea as we (and by we, I mean me) lost the 16 in round cake pan needed to make the original one we had planned.

Birthday Girl and her cake

And of course no party would be complete with out a thank you card made by who else - ME!

All Swelled Up & No Where To Go!

2009-05-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

I realized the other day, my wedding ring was stuck on my finger. Not a bad thing, I mean this way I couldn't lose it it. Only trouble was, I was starting to lose feeling in that finger and it was rather uncomfortable.

It took sticking my finger in my mouth, and using soap (in that order....don't worry) to pry the beautiful ring off my fat sausage like fingers.

I keep trying to put it back on, but it won't so much as go over my knuckle. Sigh. I don't know what I will do if I can't wear my ring for the next month.

If You Give A Pregnant Woman A Broom.

2009-05-22T11:47:00.000-07:00

Have you ever read the book "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie" by Laura Joffe Numeroff? It's about a mouse who makes a million requests to the young boy who owns him, simply to get through eating a cookie. For instance, he couldn't possibly eat that cookie with a out a straw, could he? Or drink that milk with out a straw? No! And he'll have to lean up the crumbs, right?

Well if you are familliar with the book, you'll be familliar with my comparison from it to my rather ADD way I go about cleaning, or as it's so been called over the past few days due to my pregnancy - "nesting" . Let me explain....

A typical day of cleaning would consist of me tidying the kitchen, finding a book of Paige's on the table and returning it to her room. While in her room I'll notice her bed is unkempt so I will make it, making me notice the cup of water on her headboard. This will bring me back to the kitchen where I will continue on with whatever it was I was doing before heading to Paige's room. I'll get something partially done again and see that the laundry detergent hasn't yet made it to the laundry room from the last trip to Target, so I will being it down. While in there I'll see that the laundry is piling up, head back upstairs to grab the bin of whites from the bathroom and head back down to start a load of laundry.

This could go on forever. You can now see how it's very like much a "If You Give A Mouse a Cookie" kinda cleaning schedule, though we should call it "If You Give A Pregnant Woman A Broom".

I have went to clean the kitchen up only to end up emptying and straightening ALL the drawers, re-organizing them, and making sure that the 50 some odd markers and 200 pens we have all worked, so I could throw away what didn't. They all worked. Why do we have so many pens!?

I went then into the bathroom to find my hair binder and wound up cleaning out all the cupboards, closets and drawers in there, and re-organizing.

I went into the baby's room to put some hair bands away, and wound up finding a board to hang on the wall I could clip them all too and organize them from there....

By the time the baby arrives I will have cleaned everything that probably didn't really need it right away...and left the stuff that still is in dire need of being completed! Oh-well, I suppose I've learned to deal with my "Cleaning ADD" so far in life, I can deal with it now.

I'm off to find something to eat, which could very possibly lead to me cleaning out and scrubbing the fridge.....hey...not a bad idea :0)

It's A..........Kidney Infection?

2009-05-21T06:53:00.000-07:00

Tuesday evening around 7:30 I started to have contractions, nothing major but I decided to use my handy little iPhone and the application iContraction to keep track, just in case. They weren't regular in anyway, until later that night when they were about 90 seconds long and every 5 minutes apart.

I woke up Alex at 1 am to tell him they weren't going away, and we called the L&D department of the Woman's Center where I'm planning to deliver. The nurse on the phone sounded half asleep but said that it sounded like I was in labor but I was free to stay home until my water broke. Being the hour it was, I did stay home, toughed it out and tried to sleep.

Alex and I went into the clinic first thing in the morning and had a variety of tests done. I was hooked up to the monitor and was definitely having contractions, but also Baby wasn't moving around quite as much as they liked so I then had to have what they call a bio-physical" where they use the ultrasound machine to monitor certain things on the baby for a time to make sure she is ok. She passed that part of the test, completing all the movements and things they needed her to.

We did a urine test and sure enough the constant underlining pain I was feeling between contractions, is due to a kidney infection. I had a lot of these with Paige's pregnancy but figured I'd get past this one with out one. Wrong! I'm taking amoxicillin, which by the way in case you didn't know - turns your pee bright orange so don't be alarmed (as I was) when you see it.

I'm still incredibly tired and the whole house has come down with some sore throat thing that's adding to the fun! Other then that, looks like we're staying pregnant a little longer. Which is good. I realized last night I had a bunch of things left to do :0)

We'll keep you updated on baby's arrival or delay when we have more information!

A Pregnancy Update from Mommy Central.....

2009-05-19T06:07:00.000-07:00

No C-section required!

Yippie!

I was surprised to see that the baby was in fact head down at the ultra sound we had last Friday! The continued kicking on my left upper side, is her feet and the lump I feel on the opposite side is her butt. Most days I think she's trying to dig herself out the side! I may have internal bruising form the beating I'm getting, after I have her.

My doctor has me going in every week now, with the exception of this week as she is on vacation. I can not go into labor this week. Okay, I can.....I just don't want to because I want as much of a chance for her to deliver this baby as possible. Basically, if it's office hours, she's on call or not totally exhausted from an 80 work week to come in on her time off, she'll be there.

The ultra sound also determined that it's estimated the baby is a little on the small size. About 5 lbs she said. The machine is never really accurate, it's a "give or take a pound" kinda answer. So I'm trying not to be too worried about it. I, on the other hand am the correct weight. I've gained 24 of the minimum 25-35 required. I'm sure I'll have no trouble putting that extra pound on, and it will more then likely be accompanied by a few friends. Food seems to be a friend of mine these days.

There's nothing more to report on the pregnancy for now. So until next time please enjoy this photo of me balancing a serving bowl on my stomach while taking over sized bites of marshmallow, whip cream fruit salad. :0) Or as I like to call it, "Stupid Human Tricks"

Wanted: Physics Degree So That I May Properly Function Cordless Phone

2009-05-13T07:34:00.000-07:00

3 months ago I called Uniden about the cordless, two base/ answering machine unit we had received as a wedding gift, after several friends commented that the answering machine part was not working when they called. I had also begun to notice that when in my home, 2 feet from the base the phone would disconnect and tell me I was "Out of Range". Obviously there was an issue with the phone, so I decided to look into it and called up Customer Service.

The woman I spoke to, was helpful and gave me a list of configurations of button pushing, battery removing, clapping, spinning, dancing and yelping to complete in sequence to make the phone magically work again. Basically every short of an Indian Appliance Repair Dance.

None of the things she told me to do worked. Frustrated I just let it go, until today when I called back to get some better answers. The woman I spoke with today could very well be the reason each village still needs and idiot.

I explained the issue I was having, told her that after 3 months things hadn't been fixed. She asked for the model number of the phone, and I, not having been trained by Uniden myself stupidly read the number off the top of the phone "DECT 6.0". This annoyed her and she told me that wasn't the model number but the frequency number. I then asked her where I could find the model number and she sighed an exasperated sigh and instructed me to look on the back of the base.

While pulling it off my wall she asked me where in my home I had my phone base, to which like most Americans I assume, I replied "In my kitchen". Before I could say anything else she told me that was the problem and I had to move my phone base out of the kitchen if I wanted it to work. She even made sure to note that had I read the owners manual when I got the phone I would have clearly seen photographs explaining this.

Dumbfounded I asked why, and she replied in a way I would normally be proud of if she hadn't actually been speaking to me in that tone, she said "Don't you have a refrigerator in your kitchen?" of course I do so I said yes, and she again said the bit about looking at the photos in the manual and that the frequency of the fridge was interfering with the phone. I asked if this was all I had to worry about? Again the bit about the pictures in the manual....argh! and she said "Well don't you have a stove?" and I laughed. Which obviously was not good for her. I said "Yes of course I have a stove, but it's gas so how could that possibly be interfering with my phone?"

Oh come on, like you wouldn't think someone accusing the gas stove of messing with your cordless phone wasn't a total moron. And I was actually really wanting to know the answer to the question...I didn't ace science but common sense tells me that is total bull shit.

Her response: "Well I'm just not even going to get into that with you."

Did this girl forget where she worked....again?

Among the other useless bits of conversation many questions were asked, and not very well answered. Things such as:

Q: "Whats the range that the phone needs to be away from certain things in order to work?"
A: "We don't have that information"

Q: Why did my answering machine work for several months before hand when it was in the kitchen and then just stop?"
A: "You'll have to send the phone in to be looked at for that answer"

Q: "I haven't yet given you the model number, so are you sure that the location of the bas is the issue"
A: "You gave me the model number, DECT 6.0"
Q: "But you just told me that was not the model number and asked me to look on the bottom of my phone?"
A: "No, thats the model number, I never said that"

I called my husband after finishing my conversation with "Debbie Dumbass" from Uniden, laughing as I explained the phone wouldn't work because of the stove. He was interested in these much talked about pictures and looked up the owners manual on the comptuer, here is what he found:

Could someone please tell me where the hell I'm supposed to put my phone then? If I'm not mistaken it's midway through 2009 and many great advances have been made with electronics over that past 20 years. With a list of stupidness like that above, I feel like the phone should have a 40 foot retractable antenna on it and weigh 30lbs because of the battery.

Our house isn't that big, so I guess I'm going to have to move the phone into the middle of the back yard and hope the marching band practicing in the field behind our house doesn't qualify as "a noise source"....

Adding Uniden to the list of products we no longer buy. How are they still in business?

35 Weeks - and counting

2009-05-13T06:08:00.001-07:00

I'm 35 weeks pregnant this week - Woo Hoo! That means about 4 and a half more weeks until my due date.

We have a very stubborn little baby girl in there who refuses to get head down...and stay there anyway. Best we can tell at the moment she's favoring a diagonal position where her feet are on my left side and she she kicks I swear she's kicking me in the back!

We have ANOTHER ultra sound on Friday to determine her position for sure and if they don't find her head down, we may be scheduling a c-section (which I really don't want!) Aside from the long recovery time, it's hard to be in pain and scream "You did this to me" at Alex when I'm just having surgery...lol. And I was so looking forward to making sure he experienced that! :0)

Part of the reason behind the c-section option is because, as my doctor would put it "she doens't trust this little girl"...lol. Even if she goes head down, she doubts she will stay there and the worst would be going into labor, rushing to the hospital, laboring for hours only to find out she's turned wrong and then having to go have a c-section anyway....

Aside from all that in-utero information...I'm getting puffier, gaining more weight, and I can hardly wear my wedding ring anymore...*snif* *snif* that part really bothers me.

Here's a snapshot of the ever growing belly!

Puff The Magic.....Mommy? (a.k.a surviving the last month of pregnancy)

2009-05-11T06:09:00.001-07:00

I've been trying to "nest", or at least clean for one of the million parties I'm stupidly having weeks before I'm due. :0) Paige's party this weekend took it out of me like you wouldn't believe. I puffed up like the Stay Puff Marshmellow Man, I even had a hard time getting my wedding rings off - which is odd I have always been able to wear at least my band. Now I feel naked, and like people look at me as if I'm that knocked up teenager....(okay, I wish I could pass for a knocked up teenager some days......)

My face is starting to resemble the days after I had all 4 of my wisdom teeth pulled and I can't get any shoes on other then my flip flops (or "thongs" for my European readers) Only about 4 or 5 weeks left then I can start the deflation process :0)

But, in order to get me through these last few weeks, I have found some pregnancy humor that's sure bring a smile to your face. Even if it's one of those "I'm so glad it's her and not me" smiles!

Pretty sure the creator of this comic knew me personally.....
Soon I won't have the "I'm pregnant" excuse when I fart or burp. I will however have the raging post partum hormone excuse and that might work even more efficiently. LOL
It's so true.
And in honor of another reason I am only wearing flip flops these days...

Who's Your Daddy?

2009-05-07T20:38:00.000-07:00

On Thursdays I've been watching my 1 year old niece Katia for a few hours while my sister works. She's pretty low key and naps around that time usually so I really luck out.

Today I was exhausted though, up half the night before with contractions and what not. So after Katia's short nap, lasting all of an hour, I changed her diaper and went to give her a bottle hoping she would be just as content as she had been for the beginning of the day so I didn't have to be required to do a whole lot.

But of course you know, kids never do what you want them to do and she was NOT having her bottle. I sat her on the ground while I sorted out something else to feed her, while she screamed she turned herself in circles and then would lay her self on the ground to continue her fit. I picked her up, she stopped crying immediately...of course yet after holding her for a few minutes, and being 8 months pregnant I couldn't anymore so I sat down and held her. Bad idea.

Resume screaming here.

Tried to offer bottle again. No go.

Crackers. Not a chance.

Figuring she just needed to get it out, and because my arms were tires I sat her back on the floor and off she went with the greatest 1 year old tantrum I have ever seen. I would reach out for her if she wanted me, but she wanted me to stand and not sit holding her and that was not going to happen because I was just too tired to do it.

The tantrum went on for another 2-3 minutes and finally I handed her a magazine off the table as a last resort, on the cover was Robert Pattinson, and 2 other guy celebrities.

The crying stopped instantly. She stared at the cover for a seconed, then pointed directly to Rob Pattinson over the other two guys, smiled and said "Dada!" and then went on to squeal and talk to the cover like she hadn't just spent the last 5 minutes washing my floor with her tears.

I took my chances and picked her and the magazine up and sat at the table. Offered her the bottle which she took a drink of, then tried to feed to her "Dada" from, as well as the pieces of banana that I have sliced up during the scream fest. She happily jabbered on to the photo in the magazine, yelling 'Dadadadadad!" in between stuffing her mouth, and fed him occasionally until her banana was nothing more then a residue left on her hands from smashing them up.

I guess Robert Pattinson even makes a 1 year old happy as can be. I wonder though who's going to break it to her that he's really not her daddy?

Would You Rather Have...

2009-05-05T15:40:00.000-07:00

Alex and I were chatting about the upcoming delivery of our daughter, while we cleaned up after dinner. Paige was still seated at the table finishing up. We talked about what would help going into labor and I mentioned that his sister said today:

"Just have some Tai food and lot's of S-E-X" the latter of which I spelled due to the 5 year old set of ears listening in 5 feet away.

Alex got a huge smile on his face and very seriously meant it when he said "Ohhhh Tai food, yum!"

I started laughing and said, "Are you serious? I see that the choice between food and me is clearly made"

After unsuccessfully trying to remove his foot from his mouth, which only made me laugh harder as he explained that my saying Tai Food reminded him of the pace he went out to eat at with the guys from work and the appetizers he had. I vowed to tease him about this for the rest of our lives, and I will!

Men. SIgh. :0)

Aaah Chooo!

2009-05-04T16:47:00.000-07:00

Normal responses to sneezing: "Bless you", Gesundheit", heck even something like "do you need a tissue". All acceptable normal comments, right?

Well yes, unless someone is in my house and I'm the one who's just sneezed. In that case someone would be saying "Did you hurt yourself?" or "Did you wet yourself again?"

Oh yea, the joys of being pregnant are never ending.

My sneezes have been so violent lately I literally almost pull a muscle each time. If my computer chair was on hard wood I would blow myself backwards ten feet from the desk each time. Thank goodness for carpet! And even worse then that, now from time to time I actually pee a little when I sneeze, I'm going to start needing to wear Depends to avoid ruining our furniture soon.

As the pregnancy winds to a close there are a lot of things I will miss about actually carrying my little girl but even more that I won't really miss too much. I can't wait to have full control of my bodily functions back and not be worried that if I sneeze in public that I'll cause a mess like a new puppy. Can't you just see that one happening in line at the grocery store. Ew.

Dear Idiot....

2009-05-03T08:14:00.000-07:00

It amazes me sometimes, the morons that are allowed to have a license. Since I won't ever be able to get the rest of the ding dong's off the road, and the State of Minnesota turned down my application for an "Amber Only Road" system, I instead am left making this list of helpful tips for the driving impaired.

1. Dear Mom of 19 driving the mini van, it's not a tank. You hurt yourself and the ones in your vehicle if you don't pay attention to the road in front of you. Stop yelling at your kids, they don't listen to you when they are not in the car, what makes you think they will listen to you now? Buy a fly swatter to better reach them, smack them at a stoplight with it and move on.

2. Dear Jack Ass going 95 in a 60. It is not ok to flick me off because I checked my mirrors and properly merged into the lane you were speeding up behind me in. I can't see 2 miles behind me. Try driving at least somewhat near the speed limit or go around me.

3. Dear 100 year old couple driving in your Lincoln. I know that the years have weathered on your eyes, but I doubt very much you reading abilities have withered away too. 20 is not the new 30. Go the speed limit or go home.

4. Dear Unprepared Driver looking for an address or turn off...BRING A MAP, get a GPS or at least look at a map before you leave home. Contrary to popular belief slamming on your brakes at every single turn off to read the street signs, or to see if you remember that road is not fun for the line of cars growing behind you.

5. Dear Loser who thinks they are above the laws of driving, it's called a blinker. Using it suddenly as you make your turn does not constitute actually properly using it. And it doesn't help the person(s) behind you.

6. Dear Teenager with crap car - buy a muffler and stop putting so much money into your stupid stereo or I will find your car, and stab those sub woofers with a screw driver until they are usable no longer.

You're Invited!

2009-05-03T07:00:00.000-07:00

I got back to my creative roots this week, making my aunt Colleens bridal Shower invites. The initial idea was I would design them and my step mom, who's hosting the spa themed shower, would print them and mail them. But per usual, I got a little to into my design and took over :0)

As it turns out it worked for both of us because I got to see my design all the way through the process and I saved my step-mom some time.

Here's the invites I made, they are printed on simple card stock in a cream color 4.25 x 6.25 in size. A sage green and brown color theme for the ink colors.

I backed them on a simple brown card stock in a 5 x 7 size.

On a separate 4.5 x 4.5 card, in the same cream color I printed the info for the shower/spa trip, booking the service of their choice, info on lunch - so as not to crowd and take away from the actual invite itself.

I designed, put together and mailed out the invites in about 3 days. Though part of that was due to the fact that only about a dozen invites in total were needed!

The Baby Shower

2009-05-02T14:56:00.000-07:00

My shower was on the 18th of April, and I apologize for not getting the photos up sooner. Seems like I go through spurts of either being extraordinarily tired, or extraordinarily busy. Ah, the joys of pregnancy.

My shower was host by My 3 Moms and I couldn't have asked for anything better! The food was amazing, the cake was beautiful, and the company of all my family and friends was better then any gift I could have received!

Here's a few photos from the big day.

This is the amazing cake my MIL designed and had made by the same lady who made the grooms cake for Alex and all the cookies at our wedding in August, Miss Sarah's Cakery

The cake, is covered in a fondant "blanket" to represent the beautiful white blanket MIL crocheted for for Baby Sweeney as part of her baby shower gift.

My hands hurt after opening all these wonderful gift! I'm very lucky and blessed to have so many great people in my life! This is one spoiled little Baby Girl I'm having!

My SIL organized a great baby shower game - NASCAR Stroller Racing! It was a BLAST! Guests pushed a doll stroller around a figure eight course in the front yard and competed to see who could get the fastest time.

This is the diaper cake my great friend Staci made for me and Baby Sweeney! I love it!

Looking over the photos taken with my camera, I notice that I don't have any photos of the food, or decorations really. I really bummed out about this because everyone worked so hard on this shower - hopefully someone else got some and I'll put those up when get them.

Belly Painting

2009-04-20T13:27:00.000-07:00

After my baby shower on Saturday my sister, whose a great artist, painted my belly for me. Took us awhile to decide what to paint, there were so many choices and ideas! In the end we decided on this fish bowl. With Alex's love of fish and my big mouth these goldfish were a perfect combo! LOL

I'm 31 weeks 5 days in these photos.

3D Ultrasound

2009-04-13T07:53:00.000-07:00

On Friday Alex's mom and dad took us to Premier 4D Imaging in Bloomington MN for an ultrasound as an Easter Gift.

It truly was amazing! She's a little mashed up in there, not much room left for her but we got some great photos none the less. Here's a few of the best ones.

Profile shot - I've been told she has my lips, and Alex's nose and face shape.

Hand over her face

Paige

2009-04-09T21:07:00.001-07:00

I took some photos of Paige today to mark her 5th year. It was a little cold out and she was a trooper sitting in the shade in a t-shirt. Luckily she's easy to photograph so it only took about 10 minutes or so to get a few good shots.

She had so much fun getting her hair curled and she picked out her outfit!

Kids Meal - Yeah Right!

2009-04-08T17:52:00.000-07:00

Last time I checked the meals for children at Burger King were called, Kids Meals. Why then, do they gear the toys in them and the commercials for them towards teenagers and adults?

I noticed this a few weeks back when I took Paige to BK and she got a Simpson's toy. When she took the toy out she looked at me with a confused look on her face and was really disappointed. Well, what 5 year old wouldn't be, I certainly don't let her watch The Simpson's. Yes, it's in cartoon form but not something for a kinder gardener.

Then today, I saw a commercial for their so-called "Kids Meals", which now had a Sponge Bob toy being offered, a little more like it. However, the commercial was set to the music of "Baby Got Back", talking about how the King liked square butts and has woman dressed like Sponge Bob, shaking their butts. The commercial concludes with Sir-Mix-A-Lot, the artist who originally did the song, sitting with 2 woman watching this commercial and says "Booty is Boooty"

Now, I'm not a prude. My daughter watches tv, movies and I don't limit her to PBS, she listens to a diverse selection of music from The Jayhawks, to Hannah Montana, The Beatles, Taylor Swift, and so on. This "Kids Meal" thing however is just beyond me, what kid are the trying to reach? I don't think I want to know a 5 year old who knows The Simpson's enough to want their toys and knows who Sir-Mix-A-Lot is.

If their motto is "Have It Your Way" I'd like to have some choices for things that come with my daughters kids meal.

The Offcial Maternity Photos!

2009-04-07T15:27:00.001-07:00

They are here!! The ever fabulous Kari Layland has once again taken some amazing photos of Alex and I, marking another milestones in our life together.

Here's a few of our favorites from the photo soot, I'm 28 weeks along in these photos.

And just for fun, to capture the patience my husband has had with me through this whole "Twilight Addiction" I thought we'd mark the moment with a few, appropriate photos :0)
All photos copyright of Kari Layland Photography www.kariphotography.com

This Is What 5 Looks Like

2009-04-06T11:42:00.000-07:00

Paige turned 5 on the 1st of April.

Time sure has flown by it seems! She got to have a party at school, and bring a cake to share. She'll also be having a family party with my and Alex's sides of the family here this weekend AND a school party with a bouncy castle in May when the weather is warmer/ Not to mention the one party she had with her Dad's side of the family the weekend before!

It's a lot of parties, I know - but - this is the last year she will have this many so we're going out with a BANG! From now on, just her friend party since she'll be in school.

She's obsessed with animals and growing up to be a vet, hence the puppies on her cake (made by Grandma's Bakery in White Bear Lake) And aside from the pink iPod shuffle she got from her father the weekend before, her favorite gift was her puppy video game for her Leapster from me and Al.

Here's a few photos of her on her big day and with her new haircut.

Birthday Breakfast - Pancakes with whip cream, sprinkles and strawberries and a special cup for her OJ
Favorite gift from Mom and Alex
Cake she brought to school
Detail Close Up of the Puppies on the cake

You Know You're Lame When....

2009-03-30T17:30:00.000-07:00

My sister Ashley and I took our girls to Target today. As we wandered through the electronics department we came across the magazines. As my near 5 year old perused the selection for which one of the many poster filled choices she wanted, my sister and I flipped through a copy of GQ because it had Robert Pattinson (aka Edward Cullen) on the cover.

This wasn't the lame part, that came when Paige finally picked a magazine and we actually tried to talk her into a different poster filled one because it had more posters of Robert Pattinson in it...

WTH!?

First off, I wouldn't let her put them up in her room, she only knows Twilight because of the cover of my copy of the movie. She's only allowed to have Disney Channel people on her wall and the poster has to be approved by me first.

Second, what the heck would I do with the posters after I didn't let her put them up?

Paige got the magazine she wanted of course, which incidentally had photos of Robert Pattinson in it anyway - and to settle me and my sister Ashley's obsession I picked up a copy of GQ and plan to pass it on to her when I'm through.

I swear I bought it for the articals.....honest.

Alex is 30!

2009-03-24T19:01:00.000-07:00

I counted down, and reminded Alex daily about him impending age until he turned 30 on April 19th. I know he's looking forward to repaying the favor come October when my big Three-Oh rolls around.

Needless to say, regardless of all the teasing he had a great birthday and a totally fun party the Saturday afterward with friends and family!

Here's a few photos, including one of us together with me at 28 weeks, or "just starting my 7th month"

Most of the group that attended the dinner at The Machine Shed - the whole group woulnd't fit in the photo! :0)

Stupid Little Scale Say Whaaaaaaat?

2009-03-17T17:41:00.000-07:00

Okay. before you get all "Shut Up You Skinny Bitch" on me, hear me out...

I AM a small person, I have a small framed family that in general has a hard time putting and keeping weight on. I know this. It is for that fact alone that when I do gain weight, even when I'm supposed to, it's a wee bit shocking to see the numbers on the scale creep up.

So when I was stomping on the scale in the beginning of my pregnancy, praying for one more pound to clear that 130lb mark because I feared I wasn't gaining fast enough, I should have known the day would come where I would wish that I could still gain and not have to look at the number...
I passed that 130 mark at 23 weeks by the way (a total of 5 pounds from my starting weight) and then I stopped getting on the scale so much. I shouldn't have done that, because in 2 weeks I gained 7 lbs, do the math - that's .5 lbs each day for 2 weeks! So seeing 137 was a wee bit shocking for me.

Now yes, I get - I'm pregnant, I'm not saying I'm fat I'm just saying....I won't be waiting 2 weeks to get on the scale again so that I don't see a jump like that again.

Baking With My Baby

2009-03-16T16:23:00.000-07:00

In 16 days, Paige will be 5 years old. It's hard to believe it's gone by so fast! I remember the first time I tried to make cookies with her, it was a disaster and a mess - but never-the-less fun! Nothing like making cookies with her today, where she can basically do most the steps herself, with a little help in the measuring and oven department.

Here's some of her sugar cookie masterpieces from today. I must admit, the cookies were the pre-packed, just bake ones..it got us to the frosting part faster, which is of course everyones favorite time!

And for those of you who have ever eaten cookies here, or receive them from us for some reason - don't worry, when the cookies are not just for her we have a strict "no finger licking" rule :0) Just in case anyone thought I was simple a disgusting mother who didn't teach their child some manners! LOL.

Katia

2009-03-14T03:00:00.000-07:00

I got to take some photos of my niece Katia yesterday during a visit. It was a blast to snap some shots off again. I used to be behind my SLR camera all the time, but in the last 8 months or so I've jumped over to my little Olympus point and shoot just to keep things simple and the amount of stuff I'm lugging around, light.

I'm a novice, yes at one point I worked for a studio and loved it. But there is a huge difference between having a cameras setting all ready to go for you, and having to do them yourself. I'm not wonderful at it, and taking my hand at the "natural light" lighting technique has proven to be a little tricky, but I keep trying. My eye for a good photo is better then my ability to properly capture it, in my opinion. But then again, it's hard to take a bad picture when your subjest is as cute as this little girl!

Here's a few shots I got of Katia.