Oh Dear!

Has it really been since the 6th?? Apparently time has flown. I'm so sorry. Things have been rather busy...Bj's buried in work, I started a new job, Grandpa Rob came for a visit (which was fanTAStic!), and time just keeps on hurrying along.

Here's the sad part...for some reason, there are very FEW pics from while Grandpa Rob visited. NO idea why?? Also, my camera has been acting up...not focusing? Frustrating. I'll dig deep and see what goodness I can find to post though...later.

Oh, also, I've declared this week the "Week of Finishing Stuff"...there. Now it's official. This means there must be pictures of finished stuff within the week. You heard it here first.

So stay tuned for pics. Just making some noise so you know we're still here!

Care for a "Tuptake"?

What's on the menu? (If you ask Abby, she'll tell you, "TUPTAKES!!!") Cupcakes with pink frosting for a mid-morning snack, yum.

Mmmm...scrumptious! Good enough to share!

Doesn't this dress make Abby look like she belongs on that cooling rack, lined up with all the other pink cupcakes?

And a goofy boy wearing Mama's "grandma glasses"...

C'mon over, there's plenty cupcakes to share!!

I just remembered I said I'd post a link to the little store my friend Michelle and I are working on together. So here ya go. We're "Peanut Butter Baby", a part of "Lemon Tree Lane". The store is hosted by Hyena Cart, a place for mostly moms to sell their mostly hand made items. It's mainly cloth diapers and cloth diaper accessories, with a little of everything else thrown in. At any rate, here's Lemon Tree Lane--scroll down to Peanut Butter Baby to find us.

http://hyenacart.com/lemontreelane/

We're in the middle of a Hawaiian theme right now. It's pretty fun, kind of an experiment to see if this is something I really enjoy doing and would like to do more of with my own stand alone site, etc. It's a good place to start because Hyena Cart is really cheap, and the other moms in Lemon Tree Lane all split the cost of advertising. So besides fabric, our monthly fees are about $4, for the site and advertising. Pretty sweet deal.

Sigh. You know, I putz and fiddle with those pictures to get the lay out just right, then BAM! As soon as I publish the post, everything goes wonky. I give up. I have no idea how to get it to look the same when I publish as it does when I compose. Goodnight.

Some Ado About the Zoo

Well, I already composed this post once, but I didn't like the way the pictures looked, and everything felt futile today, so I threw my hands in the air and hit delete. Now I'm sure wishing I hadn't, since there's a lot of pic's, and it takes a fair bit for them to upload. And I'd really like to just take a shower and go to bed. But, just so it feels like I finished at least ONE task today, I'm going to plod along (or "blog" along, I suppose, lol!).

Abby's been asking for several weeks if we could please "go to the zoom and see some nanimals". So on Saturday we were up bright and early and out the door on our grand adventure! We really enjoyed the day and being together. On the way home, Bj was kind enough to let me "stop" at Ikea (you really can't just "stop" at Ikea...it's an EVENT to shop there, lol!) and JoAnn fabrics. (Making it even more wonderful to me!)

And so, I give to you, "Our Trip to the Zoo". (Bear with me, I'm tired, ok??)

First pic of the day: Abby cops a very teenaged attitude about the camera and tosses me this forced courtesy smile. I think she senses a long day of "Smile kids! Abby, smile! Say cheese, Abby!" She's got very keen senses--'cause she was right.

Moving along...first stop of the day: monkeys. This little baby was sooo CUTE! He was jumping and running around and climbing all over his mommy! See that bald spot on the back of mommy's head? When I hold Alex, he always grabs a handful of hair right at the back of my neck. I had a hair stylist actually ask me if I'd accidentally cut a chunk of my hair out back there! His little sweaty, sticky fingers are always getting tangled up in my hair and breaking it. So I feel her pain.

Next up: aquariums. This was a little disappointing because the dolphins were in the middle of their show, so we didn't get to see much of them. Alex loved the aquarium with the sharks and sting rays though!

He made this new friend:

He's a like-able guy, eh?

Moving along to the monorail! I thought the kids would get a kick out of the "train ride", but we could have saved our money. They weren't too impressed.

Still, we got an arial view of camels and buffalo!

Next stop: lunch! And treats...

Those sno-cones came in little bags, isn't that weird? What happened to ice crushers and syrupy flavor squirts?

Then we stopped to play on the playground...

Then we took a "wagon ride" (nicest farm wagon I've ever seen) to the "farm" (cleanest farm I've ever seen!). Alex was very suprised to find that "moos" (cows) are quite a bit bigger than he originally thought!

Mooooo!

There was so much we missed...by the time we finished the farm, the kids were wiped, and it was already 2ish. Soo...back to the car we hiked. Alex couldn't make it...

I feel myself running out of words and fading fast...so here's an "Awwww" moment to close this post...

Wishing you lots of piggy snuggles for the rest of this week! Ciao.

This is really interesting!

http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1626519,00.html

Happy Father's Day!

Thanks, Dad for sacrificing your whole self for us for more than 35 years. Wow. That number seems huge seeing it actually written out...that's right, isn't it? What a gift you've given, thank you. Because of your example, the good parts of me are what they are. There's the fun stuff...flying kites, riding bikes, root beer floats, Big League Chew, sledding, reel-to-reels, polka music, and a thousand other little memories that are all part of a much bigger picture of what you've contributed to me (all of us!) as a person. Then there's the other things...the things that aren't memories, but little threads of character woven into who we are. They're the things that are so hard to put into words. Maybe in part because YOU never put them in words, but rather lived them. Thank you for your example and demonstration of integrity, sacrifice, love and hard work.




Grandpa Rob, thank you for being such a willing part of the grandbabies' lives. We all appreciate you so much and the relationships we've had the pleasure of forging. Your open heart and generosity speak volumes about the man! And thank you for the best gift ever--Bj!! :) Have we told you that Alex points at your picture and says, "Bop Ba!!", which I'm assuming is "Grandpa". (We have your Thanksgiving picture up in their room.)





I can't close this post in good consience without also acknowledging the phenomenal standard of Daddy-ing my own husband demonstrates. Thank you, Bj for providing for all our children need, in every area of life. You've surpassed my imaginations of what kind of father my husband would be, and I love you so much for it.