It Died. Finally!

Our toaster is toast! Finally, I've been wanting to get a new one but felt guilty getting rid of one that worked perfectly fine just to get one that looked nicer, newer, etc. But then my prayers were answered. A couple mornings ago smoke filled up my kitchen and we almost died but it's okay, we are all safe and now I can get the toaster I've always wanted. And I can chuck the toaster thats been faithful to me these past 15 1/2 years. (Yeah, it's the toaster we got for our wedding) I'm heartless. Don't worry honey, I'm not that heartless. You, I'll keep.
The kids have been playing with all the settings and buttons and oohing and aahing. This toaster is getting more use in one morning than the old one did in a year. For some reason I have a feeling this toaster won't make it as long.

Weekend Get-Away

A few of my girlfriends and I got away for part of the weekend. I had Jason take leave from work. Lately, no weekend is off limits in his job so I wanted to be sure I had all my bases covered. Unfortunately, his job let me down and I was sent scrambling for rides for soccer and a babysitter at the last minute as his leave was taken from him. This is one of the reasons I wanted to get away. His job-UGH!

The time away was nice. While shopping we were pulled into this art gallery by this amazing piano.

The owner George Denninger had carved and sanded this piece of work for a million hours. It was incredible. My friend sat down to play and George pulled out some sheet music which started the whole tug at my heart. Then I picked up a little book he authored. Just a little book he stapled together with his artwork and some words of how to find Good, God. It actually brought tears to my eyes I felt the spirit so strongly. It's funny how you can find the spirit in the most unusual, unexpected places if you just open your heart and listen and be still.

That night we attended Time Out For Women. I'd been asked to help out with the event and ended up giving the closing prayer in front of only 1000 women. That was a humbling experience.My friend thought it would be funny to take a picture of me as I was walking up on stage to pray. She used my camera so I'd be surprised when I downloaded them. She was having trouble with the zoom so she took a picture of the BIG screen and suddenly realized I was praying. So now I have a HUGE picture, zoomed up real close of me praying.
My O'Fallon and Shiloh girlfriends.
Then we stayed up all night talking. The funny part of this picture is my friends feet in the the table's centerpiece.
This is me helping out the next morning. Don't I look official?
We brought our own spread. We just couldn't bring ourselves to pay the $16 the caterers were asking for a sandwich.

Saturday afternoon, when it was all over I headed home ready to be with my family again. This is what I found: Jenna naked in my room watching Dora with a honey and a spoon. I hurried downstairs to get the camera to capture the picture before she saw me. This is what my life consists of on a daily basis-Jenna naked sneaking sweets. Shes fussing at me in this picture because I surprised her and she dropped her spoon in the honey. Oh Jenna. No welcome home kiss, no hug just, "Mom, you made me drop my spoon!"

Bill Clinton

I actually agree with Bill Clinton.

I came across this quote last night on CNN.

"Why say, ever, anything bad about a person? Why don't we like them and celebrate them and be happy for her elevation to the ticket? And just say that she was a good choice for him and we disagree with them?"

He was talking about Sarah Palin but I think this applies to everyone. This is why I hate politics even though I try to follow them. Does politics have to be about tearing people down until there is nothing left. Is it possible to like the person but disagree with them? Do we have to be outright mean and hateful?

Are the Democrats evil people? Are the Republicans? Is the person down the street?

Contest

This is Eric's favorite spot in the whole house. Open the door and he is crawling as fast as he can to get to it. I thought it would be fun to have a little contest to see who can come up with the best caption for this picture.

Kellie, if you win I'll pay you the $30 I owe you
Traci, if you win I'll help you move while stealing things from your closet.
Mom & Dad, if you win I'll blog and write and call more.
Friends, if you win you'll be my #1 friend for a whole week. I''ll call you everyday and bring you dinner and watch your kids. . .
Scott, if you win I'll let you buy me a ticket to visit my sister you're stealing away from me.
Kelsey, if you win I'll call ____ and let him know you like him. That way you don't have to worry about it anymore.
Jason, if you win I'll be surprised because you never read my blog.

Here is what he looks like on the other side of the door. Isn't he cute?

A Happy Day

Today I am happy. No reason. Nothing has changed since yesterday. I just woke up happy. I must have gotten up on the right side of the bed today. I'll have to remember which side it was. I look at my messy house and I don't care. My husband left for work and I kissed him goodbye. My kids dumped their cereal down the sink and I remembered my mom. I started a book last night and finished it this morning while the kids played together on the floor. I put Eric down for a nap and suddenly realize the house is quiet. Which really means one thing-what is Jenna into that she's not supposed to be into? I go to check on her and find this. Jenna loves to play with Eric when he's supposed to be sleeping. They are both laughing and having a good time. I savor the moment. I plan on going to the park later. Underdogs are the request. I love to see my kids smile. I'm sure they love to see me smile too. I need to do it more often.

My Excuse. . .

My mom has informed me that while she knows that I am in love with my table-it's time to move on. . .I don't have a good reason for not blogging these past couple weeks. Just feeling a little uninspired I guess. My kids noticed my dry spell and have eagerly volunteered suggestions which all happened to be the same, "Blog about me!"

Jason's been really busy with work lately. Not just busy-really, really busy if you get my point. He's working too hard and too many long hours. It's difficult because we have no consistency in our life right now. I try hard not to get frustrated with my husband because I know that he's the one living it but it's hard when he's the bearer of the news, "I have to work again. . .be home late. . .leave denied, etc" This too shall pass. I'm just grateful he likes his job because this would be so much harder if he didn't.

I thought about blogging about Sarah Palin. I remember the moment I saw it announced. I was at the YMCA just starting my workout. I looked up at the TV screen and stopped surprised but excited. I check up on my hometown news daily so I knew a little bit about her and liked what I heard about her. Another reason to be proud to be an Alaskan. Like I don't have enough. We Alaskans are just a little boastful about our state. If there is a lull in the conversation we can just pipe up, "Do you know I'm from Alaska?" So when the guy next to me at the YMCA turned to me and asked, "What do you think?" I immediately seized upon the chance to inform him that I was from Alaska. Now I'm sort of a mini celebrity. Everyone is asking me about Sarah. And since we're like this (I"m holding up my fingers and crossing them-you know, the best buds signal) I tell them we're pretty proud of her and then put the plug in on why Alaska is so great.

Then I thought about blogging about my kids and politics. They've been following it a little to. It's funny to hear their conversations. One afternoon after soccer practice I hear from the back seat of the car my kids talking about Mitt Romney to their friend.

Ryan-"We voted for Mitt Romney because he's Mormon."

Kate-'No we didn't."

I quickly interject also telling everyone in the backseat that we didn't vote for Mitt Romney because he's a Mormon. I'm not quite sure why I was so defensive with a couple a 9 years old and a 7 year old. . .

But to go even further and prove her point Kate asks me,

"Mom, is George Bush a Mormon?"

"No, President Bush is not a Mormon."

Kate-" See Ryan, George Bush isn't a Mormon and we voted for him."

Funny huh?

I could blog about my sister moving to Seattle and whine about her leaving me alone in the Midwest, except I really excited for her!!! Oh, and Scott too. I've loved living closer to my sister. I just wish it had been Forever! What I really want to say is, "Wait for me! I'm coming too!" Maybe someday. Funny thing is Traci is moving to where two of Jason's sisters live so. . .I'm sure we'll get around to visiting and camping again.

Kelsey does have some news. . . After 4 1/2 years she finally got her BRACES OFF!!! She was so excited that she couldn't wait until we got home for me to take a picture. Instead she took her own pics with my camera phone.

The first thing she wanted me to do is stop at the store and buy caramel popcorn. She acts like she's been deprived but we both know for a fact that she's eaten pretty much everything on the DO NOT EAT THESE FOODS WITH BRACES ON list. So I just give a her a look and we drive home. It's as we are driving home that I notice that she has a bag full of these "Do Not Eat Foods" right on her lap. A little present from the orthodontist. I'm just a little jealous. I used to have straight teeth like that. Kelsey is already disappointed that she will have to wear a retainer the rest of her life. Yep, I wish I had.