Easter '08

Dying eggs...

(Abby wiped out in the bathroom giving herself a black eye a couple weeks before Easter--this looks worlds better than it did! She's forever biffing it and giving herself bumps and scrapes.)

Dying hands too...

Easter cookies from Grandpa and Mimi make everyone feel the love...

Hastily taken picture of Easter finery...

I'm still working with the painfully slow desktop, so that's it for now as my patience has reached its limits. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Self Portraits

Hello from the wilderness of fatigue and nausea that is first trimester pregnancy! If you care enough to follow along, check the bottom of the page (the only place it would fit), where I've put a ticker counting down the days and weeks 'til Newbie joins the crowd. It gives little interesting tid bits about development and such.

I've also discovered that comments were open only to people with Blogger accounts--I've switched that up so anyone can leave comments if you care to.

Original artwork by Abigail C., titled "Self Portrait in Pink: a Study of the Belly Button"

Updates

Here's our news:

Baby is due to arrive at the end of October.

We're very excited.

My laptop crashed hard, so my computer time is very limited right now. I have Easter pictures to share, but they may have to wait for a little while, I'm sorry!

Sunny Days

Here we have (from left to right) a rose, Cousin Kristine and Doot-doot, Dad and Abby, and "We're all hanging out with my Dad, see?" :)

Mama Said There'd Be Days Like This

Days like yesterday, that is. But before I can tell that story, I have to back up several months. Bj had his heart set on a big, flat screen TV. He researched, and gazed, and drooled, and caressed TVs for months while he saved his "extra" money. Then one day a month or 2 ago, the time came. He made a pilgrimage to Sam's Club and returned with his spoils, the conquering hero. We were the proud owners of big, flat, shiny TV, with superb picture--Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Sesame Street have never looked so good!

Ok, fastforward to yesterday. Bj and the kids were sitting in the living room when they heard a "Pfft!"...upon investigation, it became apparent that the prized TV quit working. Nothing happened when the power button was pushed. Nada, zilch, zero. Incredulous and disappointed, but not hopeless! Sam's Club has an excellent return policy, it's what keeps us coming back. So, Bj called Sam's, they said, "Sure, bring it in, we'll exchange it for another." How handy!

Even handier, Bj happened to be heading that direction for a meeting anyway--he loaded the TV up and had an effortless exchange experience with Sam's Club. End of story, right? Nope. He proceeded on to the meeting--and here's where it gets terrible: upon returning to the Suburban post meeting, to his horror, he found the driver's side window smashed in and the brand new TV no where to be seen! Ugh! The horror! OH the HUMANITY!! The necessary people were called, paper work filled out etc.

Then the salt in the wound: the icy trip home. The meeting was 45 minutes away, people. It was 11:30 p.m. Temperatures were at zero and below here last night, people. Add to that the wind chill coming from a wide open driver's side window at 70 m.p.h., and you have one chilly, sad, freezing, frustrated, icy, disappointed and mad guy. Well, he didn't actually say he felt any of that (except the cold part), I'm just guessing. Outwardly, he was very calm, his unflappable self, even chuckling as he told me the story.

Anyway, it's the pits. But I'm sure it will all come out in the wash, somehow. These things usually do. Like the letter that came from the IRS today, telling us we did our taxes wrong, and we owe THEM money, not the other way around (thankfully, we already found the problem there, and it works on our favor). Or the stink in my fridge that I can't find. Or the coughs and runny noses the kids are having a heckuva time kicking. Mom said it well when she said, "Well, at least there's a pretty good chance tomorrow will be a better day!"

Yup! It's true.

We lose an hour tonight, tomorrow should be declared an official Nap Day.

See there? That's my dad.

He's in Bulgaria right now, and that's my counter telling me he's been checking in with us! I don't know who the folks in Germany and Spain are, but hello to you too!

It's 10:00 p.m. Wednesday here, so that must mean it's around 6 a.m. Thursday morning in Bulgaria. (Right?) Goodmorning Dad-have a good day! See how much fun a blog can be? You should start one!

(Aha! I bet the visitor from Germany is Dad too! Killing time in Munich on his way through, you know--Dad, is that you?)

Ok, well it's lights out here in Minnesota, USofA. Goodnight Spaniards, Germans, Bulgarians and world travellers!

Where Are You?

That little hit counter down on the right hand corner of the screen keeps track of all sorts of fun facts--it tells how many hits happen here per day, how many returning visitors, how many new visitors, how long visits are, any links used to access the blog, where you're all reading from, and other info that I don't even understand! If I ask it nicely, it'll put you all on a map for me, like this, see?

There you are! :)

Editing to add...there was a weird comment posted by a "Yolar" with links to something posing as a Windows XP computer cleaning thingamajig that hijacks your browser. Not real. Maybe dangerous. I didn't wait around to find out. I deleted the comment, but just a heads up in case something like that shows up again, don't click the links.

Fun Quiz

Here's a fun little time waster...can you tell the difference between a fake smile and a real one? Scored 17 out of 20 here.

Good Sunday Afternoon to You...

The way Sunday afternoon was meant to be.

Date Night

The face of Saturday night has changed dramatically in the last few years, for the better in my opinion. Less money spent, and it makes me love him more.

Tonight's show: 101 Dalmations. Tonight's treat: Oreos and milk, of course!

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm missing the romancing.