More Pictures

Heidi and Emily are the winners. They've sent some wonderful pictures!

"Mallards" - belongs to "Little" Mel

Emily's picture. I know the book says "Tales of Hans Christian Andersen" I think it's the Silver Skates... is that right Em?

This picture is the view from Becky's kitchen window at the old Midvale house.

Halloween

Okay, so I made a really cute collage and when I uploaded it, the whole thing was the size of a thimble. So then I tried to make it bigger and it looked so grainy. So then, I tried to upload pictures and they were misbehaving and it was all a little too irritating.

So, here they are. The Halloween pics. I almost didn't do it because I was a slacker. But they are pretty cute girls.

Can you tell I don't know how to use my camera. This is night mode. I don't know what I'm supposed to do to make it come out right.

So wrapped up in taking pictures was I that M almost fell off the steps on her pretty little Teddy bear head. Whoops.

A fairy butterfly....

I took some pictures of the cousins, but the good ones are on my mom's camera. I think the funniest story about our Halloween was that after every house E would come to me and say:

"Mother, look at all the candy I have."

As a result she was always behind the group. She's taken to calling me "mother" because that's what the stepsisters call their mother in Cinderella. Is that a bad thing or a good thing?

And why does it erase my returns in such a random fashion. I don't know. But that irritates me too. So I'm abandoning blogger for now.

When I Grow Up...

What do you want to be when you grow up?

I want to be lots of things. I want to be a published author. (Although I don't think writing a blog entry really counts as my writing for the day. Too bad.) I want to be a professor. I want to be a millionaire with my own yacht, so I can travel the seven seas. I want to know how to do my hair. (On second thought... I saw a whole story in some magazine about how ponytails could be stylish. I think they actually styled their ponytails though.... not just put the hair up so they wouldn't have to blow-dry it. Speaking of which, how does one go about blow-drying one's hair...) Anyway, the point is, I want to do lots of things.

Right now, our family is concentrating on what Juice wants to do when he grows up. Since we have been dating/married he has wanted to: be a lawyer, get an MPA - so he could administrate things like hospitals and such, be in private-equity, be a professor of economics/finance/business, and other such sundry professions. As we are presently dealing with a little irritation in "The Master Plan" for growing up, I have been thinking again about what I should be dreaming of being....

and I've come back to something I've thought of often before....

I want to be Bekah and Mark when I grow up.

No, I am not trying to make Bekah and Mark let me stay with them before Christmas so I can take E to Disneyland to see the princesses (Juice is VERY excited). Okay, maybe I am, but really I've thought about this before. Here is my evidence:

Point A:

When we went to Europe we were a) conned by a french man (please don't ask me about this, it's very upsetting to me... although I have kept the police report so that when I'm over it in a few millenia I can read about it and laugh) and b) held captive by an Italian taxi-driver who insisted he didn't know which airport we needed to go to... come on, really? (can you say, I want to drive up your fare... luckily we didn't have enough money and he had to take what was offered).

When Bekah and Mark went to Europe they rode bicycles through the countryside. Let's cue the Sound of Music soundtrack....

Point B:
Two weeks ago Juice and I went on a date, so did Bekah and Mark.

Bekah and Mark reported that they had.... gone to a beachside restaurant and cuddled with the sound of waves crashing in their ears.

Meanwhile, my counterpart and I wandered around a ShopKo... can you say ghetto... while we waited for our dollar movie to start. I'm not saying it wasn't fun. It was great. I got to actually talk to my husband without Thing One interrupting me at every other word. Still, let's look at the comparison here: beachside restaurant... ghetto ShopKo... beachside restaurant... ghetto ShopKo. I think you know what you'd choose.

As for my additional Points... I have many... but really it comes to this.

I want to be Bekah and Mark when I grow up....

So there.

Still Not Winter

I read somewhere that it is really cold on the other side of the continent. For that, I am thankful I am here. Today we went and played in the backyard. It was great. I've never taken M out because we don't have grass anymore and the whole crawling on brickwork didn't sound too fun to me. But today, we had a new trick, so we tried it. Needless to say, she screamed when we came inside for naps. What an insult!

As for blogging, I haven't felt too creative lately. We're up to the same ol'. But I'm sure you'll get a Halloween post.

Nadeene cont.

Okay, so I started the book online. It looks like when it's all finished the cost is about $13 for the first book and then $7 for each additional book. I think what we'll do is anyone who wants to add to the book can e-mail me, and I'll send them the username and password. Then you can go online and set up your pictures how you'd like them. I've included a few others I've got recently to whet your appetites....

The Greer Man... from Beth

The Barrel Picture... from Kathleen

The Pack Train... from Michael

Fred and Ellen Rees... from Beth

Another Red Barn... from Beth

Mouse Trap

I sew once a year, and once a year only. I like to make Halloween costumes. They are cute, and if you mess up it doesn't matter. Below is M's costume for this year. I only made her a hat, and then she is wearing overalls. She was originally going to be a Teddy Bear. When I finished the costume (I made part of the pattern myself) she decided to be a Mouse. Regardless, she's cute. I will post pictures of E's costume... a butterfly fairy.... when she wears it on Friday.

I like the little red hairs sticking out too.....

Correction!

This, of course, is the point of gathering all the information for Nadeene's paintings. My mother has provided the correct story for the picture that I have from Grandma. I have changed it below. I think I'm going to try to educate myself on the site where you upload pictures and make your own book. We could have a username and password for the whole family and then you could put your pictures and stories in. When it was finished anyone who wanted to order a book could. So, weigh in on whether or not you think that's a good idea.

A Little Poetry: Completely Original

An Ode to My Daughter:

Do not walk in front of me, I might trip over you.
Do not walk behind me, I might lose you.
Just walk beside me, and try not to run away.