Obsessed with giveaways

I've been spending less time recently on facebook, bejewled blitz, GCM message boards, I heart faces or blogging here at the Monkeys and Me. I'm not getting many photos edited or other important projects that I've been trying to get done.

I'd like to say it's because I'm busy living my life. But that would be a lie.

I've become addicted to entering giveaways on blogs. I've never been one for entering sweepstakes etc, because there seems such a small chance of winning anything. But did you realize how many thousands of dollars worth of stuff is being given away on blogs every day? It's a big way for companies to get their name or message out. And when you enter a giveaway that has 120 entries and you are allowed 10 entries if you follow their blog and put their button on your blog and tweet about the contest or whatever...I'm not great at math but that works out as a better chance than some massive sweepstake for a dream home.

So far I've won a $50 gift card for maukilo toys, and bought some great gifts for the kids Christmas.
A book about fertility.
A collection of 5 novels.
A packet of wet ones. (it may be what got me started on the whole giveaway obsession!)
A coupon for free yogurt
A $50 gift certificate for to be greetings which I gave to a friend who is expecting her first baby.
A lacing toy from oompa toys
Another thing which I won't mention cause it's a christmas present for someone who reads this hehe
A kidorable butterfly umberella
A klutz how to draw clone wars book
Aliens in the attic dvd

That's all I remember for now.

It's such a buzz. I'm still hoping to win the great kindle giveaway. Fingers crossed etc.

Here's the youtube video Rebe and I made to win myself 20 extra entries. (Mr and Mrs Kinsley will like this one)





So I made a blog dedicated to giveaways that I've found around the web. Come on over some time, click on the links and see if you're lucky. They're not my own giveaways, though I am hoping to host one here soon. But they are my favorites that I've come across in my searches. Eco friendly ones, or toys or gift cards. And I try to find ones with fewer entries so I have more chance to win.

The blog is here if you fancy checking it out.

So that's where I've been lately. Sucked into the world of giveaways. It's helped towards our Christmas so Rene doesn't complain!

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I don't have the heart to stop him

Zoe came to me excitedly telling me that a squirrel was eating our chair. What an imagination she must have.

Then I saw it for myself. He has been tearing our patio chair open, ripping out the stuffing and taking it with him, presumably to keep him warm for the winter. We're going to have to repair it, restuff it and stitch a patch on. And I should take the cushions all in the house to stop him from causing any more damage...but I don't have the heart to. Because he needs to stay warm in the winter. *sigh*

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One adult, two kids to Where the Wild Things Are please

I got to say that today.

We had a pretty busy weekend. Yesterday we went to the API meeting, then had a quickie burrito then out to the pumpkin patch with some lovely people and spent a few hours in the cold having fun and picking pumpkins. It was a great day, other than this one part where we went in a fake medieval castle, thinking it was some sort of play house, but when we got inside it was crowded, single file, the walls were narrow and hugging and it was so dark you could hardly see a thing. Rene wasn't there with us, Zoe ran off ahead and I couldn't find her, I was claustrophobic and Lana was so scared she was shuffling at baby speed. Zoe eventually comes back to me with Kaya, both are terrified and Kaya is freaking out. We get to this tilted room with strobe lights and you feel nauseated and like you're going to fall. You are supposed to go through this small doorway into some tunnel with spiraling strobe lights and (according to Kaya) a "Darth Vadery voice". But Kaya was about having a panic attack. And to be honest, I was about to as well.

Thankfully my friend is a take charge kind of gal and she managed to get all the single file folks to squash up in the dark tunnel while we squeezed our way back out the wrong way. I had Turtle in the sling and Zoe on my other hip. It was squashy. Then we got out and saw light and breathed oxygen and it was wonderful.

The rest of the day went well. We did some grocery shopping then went home, exhausted, just to find our neighbors were having a fire pit gathering and offering free beer. So the kids all played and we sat out and chatted and laughed for hours. It was fun.

Unfortunately, that castle really scared Zoe so much she had night terrors about it all night. She kept waking up saying things like, "it's too dark", "Mummy scared me" and "buzz lightyear scared me" (there was a painted buzz lightyear in one of the dark rooms). I feel very badly for her.

Today Rene stayed home with the two littlest monkeys while I took the bigger monkeys out for a girls treat to Where the Wild Things Are. I have been soooo looking forward to this movie. And it didn't disappoint me. I felt a bit naked without Turtle and his noisy big sis, but I also really cherished having time with just the older two. My mum was a single mum for a while to my brother and I. I remember her asking for, "one adult, two kids" frequently. There was such a novelty in it today, peaceful, quality time with the big girls.

And I was happy to come home to my hungry little babies who missed their mum, and completely, utterly trashed the house while I was gone. I mean seriously, how much damage can a 1 year old, 2 year old and almost 31 year old really do in a 3 hour span? A heck of a lot of damage. It will take me all week to clean it up. Oh well. I hope they enjoyed the process.

We got a few other things accomplished today (like making an amazing pumpkin custard recipe mmmmm and starting some sauerkraut) and I'm so pooped now. It's after midnight. Darn, I still haven't got round to editing photos. I haven't finished August yet never mind Sep or Oct. It was on the agenda today. I guess it'll have to be later...I'm going to bed. Don't come visit me tomorrow because I plan to be in my jammies all day thank you very much.

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So many things I want to blog about

...but don't have the time.

Like, I wanted to post about the screaming and fit throwing my daughter (no prizes for guessing which one) did at the homeschooling co-op today, while everyone else's kids seem to manage to just sit and make crafts quietly.

Or about how Turtle had his first temper tantrum today because I cut up his sandwich and he apparently wanted it whole. And how it was such a boyish temper tantrum and was so cute I had to do all I could to stop from laughing. About how he was thumping and rolling around on the floor, flopping around. Of course I was respectful, and didn't laugh, and gave him the sympathy and comfort he needed (although it was Kaya who was successful at calming him in the end. She's my mini mom).

Or about how I sat for an hour today untangling a kite string and then took the kids out to the park just to get chased off by a massive mob of bees after just a few minutes.

I wanted to post about how incredibly far behind I am with photo editing, because I've had too many other projects to do, and how much I miss just taking photos and editing them. Just for me.

But I can't just now. Because it's almost 1am, I'm having an unplugged day tomorrow, and I'm absolutely exhausted.

Night night all.

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Go Big Red

You all had one in your school. A fat kid who was never picked for the team, who'd come up with any excuse to miss PE, who'd walk the cross country track and pace the court in basketball to avoid overexerting themself in the game.

Yup, it was me. Oh how I hated PE. And sports in general.

In Scotland, football (soccer) is all about the violence. It is a non contact sport, but that doesn't apply to the fans. You never want to be alone in the middle of Glasgow after a Celtic and Rangers match. I've been there and I'm lucky to live to tell the tale. It's living on the edge for sure. The fans of opposing teams, particularly Celtic vs Rangers (it's a Catholic/Protestant thing, which is still a huge source of contention in the UK) see the whole competition as less of a sport, and more of a battle/warfare thing. There is an insane amount of violence, fights, stabbings etc over whose football team is the best and who should have won the match. It's pretty scary.

So when Rene and I moved to Nebraska in 2007 and had our first fall time and football season here and heard of the massive crowds that congregate in Lincoln to see the Huskers play, we felt scared. And thought we should be sure to keep our kids away to protect them and keep them safe. Then Rene encountered two fans - one from the away team and one Husker fan, chatting in a gas station. They exchanged a couple of jokes, shook hands and went on their own ways. Rene had been embracing himself for conflict, but then was amazed to see how peaceful the whole thing is.

I'm sooooo not a sports fan. I'm an introverted, geek who'd rather spend my time online, at home with the doors locked. I really don't know anything about American football, the rules or how it works. I have no interest in ever watching a game, even on TV.

But I consider myself Husker fan. Maybe it would be more accurate to say, I'm a Husker fan fan. I love football season. The heat of the Summer has passed and we have lots of beautiful days in the 70s and low 80s. Lincoln becomes a sea of red, with everyone sporting their Husker gear and moving into the city for the game and for the buzz. Everyone is excited. It is so friendly and the non violence still seems so novel to me. Lincolnites greet and leave each other with, "Go Big Red" or some other comment about the game. There's a sense of unity and excitement. It's not about being a fan of football, it's about being a fan of Nebraska. And I am a fan of Nebraska!!

I will wear red today in support of the Huskers. I could tie this post in with something meaningful, maybe about how the world should unite for a common goal, something Christianny. But I'm a bit tired to think and not in the mood to preach. Today is the first game day of the season and I just wanted to say Go Big Red!

Here's a couple old pics of our Husker family back in 2007.

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The monkeys and me with a new look

My wonderful husband stayed up late getting it to work, because I designed it all wrong in terms of pixel sizes etc. I had hoped it could plop on top of the old design. Anyway he got it all working. Lemme know what you think, and if it's not working on your browser etc, let me know too so I can try to do something about it.

I at least wanted some sort of pic of me with dreads in it. So I'm happy with that.

And thanks Rene for your dedication! You're too kind, and I'm sorry about the late night! I'll make it up to you (I'm talkin' home made tapioca pudding with homemade strawberry jam, baby. Maybe I'll even throw a curry in there too. Well, not in with the pudding, that would be gross. But on a separate plate, at the same meal time. Ok this has got too long for parenthesis..)

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Oh sugar!

I was planning to make a pumpkin pie today. But while I was feeding the baby bunnies, who are still doing great by the way, Zoe decided the sugar needed to be released from captivity and she was just the missionary to help bring about such freedom.



I figured I could get really mad, or I could write in it and take a picture then blog about it. So I did the latter. I'm still bummed about not being able to make pumpkin pie though....



While you're here, looky what I picked up for $1.50 at a yard sale on Saturday!



I've been so desperate for a large dry erase board. The kids are loving solving math puzzles on it and are keen to start homeschooling soon so we can use the board.

Oh, and for those who are asking how the dreads are coming along, I just snapped up a couple pics in the mirror.



Some of them are looking and feeling awesome. Others are straggly. They are tangling together a lot and requiring a lot of maintenance. But I'm still happy with them and enjoying the journey.



In other news...in a couple days we're off to Florida! Yay. We're going to my cousin's wedding, which I can't wait to snap up pics at. She's gorgeous and I'm sure it will be a beautiful day. We're also doing Disney for a birthday present for Kaya. I'd better get packing!

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Wild baby bunnies

Last Tuesday evening, we were visiting a friend at her farm and she showed us her baby bunnies. She had been working at the garden and accidentally dug up a baby bunny nest. She figured the mother probably wouldn't come back for them so she took them in to care for them. (disclaimer: if this ever happens to you, you are supposed to just rebuild the nest. Mother bunnies usually visit the nest twice a day - at dawn and dusk, to feed their babies. And they most likely won't abandon the nest just because it was disturbed, but if they come back and the bunnies are gone, they won't return.)

They had survived for a day on cows milk from a kitten bottle - which amazes me, because bunnies need a very small amount of lactose to survive and cows milk can be very bad for them. Goats milk is better, but kitten replacement milk is better yet. She said the bunnies had lost a lot of weight since they took them in and they didn't have a lot of hope for them.

I told her that we had a female bunny at home who has had a couple of false pregnancies and seems very maternal - perhaps we could try to see if she would adopt them. So they agreed and let the babies come home with us.

I explained to the kids that the bunnies would probably die and I told myself not to get emotionally attached. I was going to try to make them as comfortable as I could, for the last day or two they probably had left. Apparently wild baby bunnies have a less than 10% chance of survival being hand reared.

We put them in with Neddy, our female bunny. She sniffed at them then hid out at the other side of the cage for the rest of the night. In the morning I fed them kitten replacement with pedyalite. They were very dehydrated (you can tell by pinching the skin between their shoulder blades and counting how long it takes for the skin to fall back down - their's was taking more than 5 seconds, which means severe dehydration). I fed them several times a day, until they got more comfortable with me to take larger amounts, and also until they were better hydrated.

Their eyes were starting to open, which meant they would be starting solids soon. Which is a very dangerous time for baby bunnies, because their sterile little tummies are so fragile and they are at high risk for diarrhea which is always fatal. They need a special type of adult bunny poop to eat (yes, to eat) to give them the good bacteria in their gut to help them digest food properly. I tried to collect some from Neddy, but I couldn't find them. Bunnies usually eat them directly from their own bottom. (yes, they do) Then I noticed Neddy was hopping in the nest box, depositing a cecal poop and leaving. Which touched my heart because she knew they needed it and was taking care of them! I gave them probiotics with their feed too, just in case.

And I am pleased to say, that over a week later they are still thriving! Full of personality, hopping around the cage. What has been amazing has been watching Neddy adopt them. It started with the poops of love. Then she started hopping in and licking the bunnies and cleaning them. Then she pulled a ton of fur to make a nest and we have watched them nursing from her! Many times. I'm not certain that she has milk, so I'm still supplementing, but they aren't taking as much anymore and I'm sure they must be getting something from her.

And that whole not getting emotionally attached thing completely fell through. How can you possibly not? I am so in love with them. They are so incredibly cute. I am so happy they've been adopted and are eating hay and dandelion leaves and oats and doing so well. Fingers crossed that they continue to thrive. We're doing our best.

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I have no pictures

I have no pictures for today's post, but I have much to tell.

Mum and the Davids left on Wednesday morning, to visit family in MN. We expected them back on Saturday night.

Soon after they left, I started to feel very ill, with UTI like cramps and back pain. I suspected a kidney infection and tried cranberry juice (100%), cranberry capsules and lots of water. I got very fluish and feverish and on Thursday afternoon we decided enough is enough and I went to the walk in clinic, confirmed the kidney infection and picked up some antibiotics. Turns out they weren't a type that's safe for breastfeeding so I had to call in (who am I kidding, I had Rene call in for me - I don't do phones, remember?) for some plain old amoxycilin which I picked up on Friday.

So, Friday afternoon, I'm still feeling pretty rough but I decided to go ahead and get out of the house. I've had a couple days in bed and the house is trashed, and I was fed up. Still feeling pretty ill, but needing some sunshine. We headed out to a friend's little girl's birthday party. They kids loved it and some of their favorite people were there, but we didn't have much time before we had to head off, because I had a concert to go to.

Vota were playing an open air, FREE concert in Lincoln. Vota used to be called Casting Pearls, but I think people kept confusing them with Casting Crowns so they changed their name. Anyway, they were one of my fav bands even when I lived in Scotland, and I moved to Lincoln before realizing they are from Lincoln! In fact, the lead singer, Bryan Oleson goes to my church, and my kid is in Sunday school with his kid! They're touring the USA just now, but stopped by their hometown for a quick freebie. I was SO BUMMED when I realized I forgot my camera. So no pics. And it was open air and fantastic cloud cover, I could have got some AMAZING pics. Man oh man. I kicked myself so hard.

But we all had a great time. Other than me feeling unwell, it was a lot of fun. There was a bouncy castle (for free) for the kids and a coloring table, and Turtle utterly enjoyed himself singing and dancing and clapping his hands and flirting with old ladies. I'm tellin' ya, he's exactly like his Dad in personality!

On the way home, we drove through down town and noticed some sort of festival was on (jazz fest?) and we decided to be spontaneous at 10pm and find a place to park and check it out. It seemed like fun. So we started driving along the one way systems, with our windows down so we could hear the live music. Then Rene casually says to me, "My wallet just flew out the window"

"What?"

"My wallet just flew out the window"

He was doing that whole pretend-to-be-casual-because-you're-actually-freaking-out-so-much-you're-off-the-scale-for-freak-outness thing. And he started driving through the one way system to try to get back to the road so he can get his wallet. It was taking forever, and Rene was worrying the whole time about his ID and his greencard etc etc.

Finally we get close and he pulls over in an illegal space and jumps out of the car and starts running faster than his legs can keep up. I watched him trip up, fall on all fours and then tumble completely over and continue to roll. He almost rolled onto the road full of traffic! It was a really bad fall and looked incredibly painful. I saw ER bills flash before my eyes. I screamed and panicked. I didn't want to leave the kids in an illegally parked space with the keys in the car to run to Rene, so I just got out of my door and stood right by it and yelled out to him, "are you ok?!"

He got up with an insane look on his face and just started running. He still didn't have his wallet. He ran onto the road like a school boy playing chicken, swiped his wallet and bolted back to the car, laughing like a mad man. The kids and I were beside ourselves with worry, and Rene seemed to have completely overdosed in adrenaline and endorphins. I asked if he needed me to drive, even though I was in pain and ill and not quite fit to drive. But he assured me he was ok. And he gave me a "mwa ha ha ha ha" to punctuate it.

About 5 minutes into our drive home (we decided to skip jazzfest afterall and just head home) after continually telling us he was fine, and giggling like a little girlie, suddenly he sobered up and suddenly burst out with, "Owch, now it hurts.

He made it home and as he pulled into our drive we noticed Mum and Davids' car in our drive! They came back a day early and decided to surprise us! I ran in ahead of them all and started cleaning. Because the place got so messy while I was in bed these past couple days and we had plans to clean it up Saturday afternoon. It was so nice to see them early though.

We listened to their stories about their trip while I cleaned up my husband's bloody leg and he told stories about his (different kind of) trip. We laughed and then headed to bed. And here I am in bed, and I thought I'd type this up first. Because it was quite eventful and worth mentioning. I just wish I had photos. Kick kick.

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Plans and reflections

Plans

Tomorrow we head off in the late afternoon to drive to Joplin, MO. My mum and her gang left this morning to get there ahead of us. Rene set up a family reunion for the 4th, and I'll be meeting my mum's dad for the first time ever. He's the only surviving great grandparent for the kids. I'm really looking forward to it.


Reflections



I've been thinking about relationships a lot lately. A few of our married friends are having troubles right now, with their marriages. It's heavy, sad and painful. We've been there and no doubt are not over the worst of it yet. I'm sure we still have much to deal with. It's difficult to watch our friends struggle with hurts and pain.

God's been speaking to me a lot about my role as a wife, and I've been thinking and reflecting on relationships. I have a theory right now, that the vast majority of relationship issues boil down to a common fear that we are going to give out more love than we're going to get back in return. It's more than simply a fear of rejection. It's like a fear of being depleted of love resources. Because we love this person so much, we are scared we'll run ourselves empty on loving them, and they won't give us a refill.

We're scared we'll be taken advantage of. That we'll end up doing most of the house work (if that's your particular love language) and won't receive help, and our gesture of love won't be received and reciprocated. Or that we won't get the physical affection we crave. Or that we'll be expected to work harder, or put more time or money into the relationship than the other person is having to put in. And we'll dry out, and be left with naught, because we weren't as loved.


And ultimately, we shouldn't be worrying about our cup of love running empty (nice and cheesy and cliche wasn't it?), because we shouldn't be expecting it to be filled by our spouse. Or else we'll always end up disappointed. I believe that if we are embracing Jesus' love, if we are allowing ourselves to be truly filled up with his love, then we'll feel completely free to love our spouses without restriction, and without fear of being taken for granted or taken advantage of. Because we have all the love we could ever desire. We are so loved. He's passionate about us and jealous for us. He died painfully to spare us. There's no way we'll end up giving out more love than we received!

Yanno what? I am so darn tired right now. I am nodding off while typing this, but I wanted to get some thoughts down. I will come back to this subject later, for sure (when I'm better rested). Sorry if this doesn't read well or seem to make much sense.

Meanwhile, I will take my camera with me to Joplin for sure. And I will take many pics and post all about it when I return. I hope this goes well! I am excited.

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How does your garden grow

I thought I'd give a quick update on the garden. My container garden is doing ok, but I haven't put as much in it as I had thought I would .

My allotment garden is...I dunno. I have mixed feelings about it.

Last weekend I was ready to give it up completely. It was 100 degrees outside, I hadn't tended to it in a week and I went there after skipping my meal and not drinking enough fluids. I was dizzy, dripping with sweat, it was in my eyes and my clothes were drenched, I was being eaten alive by mosquitoes, there were more weeds than I could handle and my only tool (a hand shovel) snapped. So I had to use my hands and my finger nails broke and started bleeding. I decided I didn't want a stupid garden any more.

I drove home and almost passed out on the way. Got home to the air conditioning, a cool shower and a big drink of water.

I am still very overwhelmed with the weeding. But I am excited that my garden has started producing now, and it changes my opinion. We've brought in more turnips than we could dream of eating. And tonight I just brought home 2 huge, fat zucchinis and some sugar snap peas. I have tomatoes looking big and fat, though still green. And bean stalks flowering. Some nice tall carrot tops. I'm looking forward to more food from it.





I am totally learning as I go along. I will do tons differently next year. But, I'm doing ok. And it's so exciting to pick your own food. I've grown everything from seed, and there's something magical about growing food from something so tiny.


Anyway, sorry this was a boring post. I wanted to write something down about it though.


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We're off to coco keys water resort in the morning, to celebrate Lana's birthday (her actual birthday is on Monday).

We went there a year and a half ago, for Zoe's first birthday. I wonder if we'll see Mr Butt Crack there again.

Plenty on my to do list between now and then so I'd better shot down the lap top.

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Baby Ground Squirrel

I've learned some things recently, about the difference between chipmunks and ground squirrels. Such as, chipmunks are smaller, have stripes on their faces and tend to walk with their tales raised. Thank you wikipedia.

We have tons of ground squirrel holes in our yard and you see them frolicking around all the time. I *love* them. I snapped up some pics of some friendly baby ones who were popping up to say hi.

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A week from Monday...

Every Saturday, we'd spend the afternoon and usually evening (often into the wee hours of the next morning) at her house. Chatting, watching The X Factor, watching the kids be cute, having barbecues, playing on the trampoline, playing card games, being fed delicious food.

I believe I have the best Mum ever. We had a couple rough years, but she's always tried her very best. And through my teenage and adult years she's been my best friend. She didn't have her mother with her when she reached her adult years, yet she still knows instinctively how to best support me. She's never interfering. Always there for me.

She might not be happy to receive credit for this - but I consider her a huge influence on me in terms of the way I parent. She always used to say I was the hippy, Earth Mother type, and she anticipated I would parent that way. And I thought she was crazy. She wasn't that type, why would I be? I remember when she first learned about baby sign language when I was a teenager, and she said, "I bet you'll do that with your kids. It seems like something you'd be into" and I tried to be polite and sound interested in what seemed to me like a completely ludicrous concept. And now here I am, passionately teaching my kids baby signs, and teaching my older kids some ASL too.

She raised me in a rudimentary form of Attachment Parenting. She breastfed (at a time when it was not popular to do so) and she always spoke to me with respect and never demanded it from me. She earned it from me. She was gentle with me, forgiving and grace filled. She compromised with me and made me feel like my opinion was important. It made me feel truly loved and built a sense of confidence and self esteem. I strive to achieve that with my own kids.

Watching her raise my little brother who was born when I was 16, I saw her extended breastfeeding (she took me with her to breastfeeding classes, which was incredible for preparing me for nursing my own child one day) and co-sleeping. I don't think she'd ever describe herself as AP, but I sure think she was. And she was very influential.



Mum's always been incredibly intuitive. She's always known about my pregnancies before I even did. She'd still be excited when I told her but never surprised. (Although, she may have been surprised when I was pregnant with Kaya, but that one took us all by surprise - it was so soon after losing Heather, and it's possible she was conceived when Heather was still here)

When I was 13 years old, I was at a Christian Festival, sitting beside mum, and she pointed out a guy to me, "There's this guy who I think you'd really like. He looks like Kurt Cobain". She hadn't met him either, but she had clocked him out and realized he looked just like my type. I had already noticed him too. I later found out his name was Rene and eventually married him and had his babies.

Mum just knew. She just knows. I love my mum so dearly.



This handsome young Jedi is my baby brother. He was born when I was 16 (or I guess I was just about to turn 16). I left school after my GSCE's and I stayed home with my baby brother all day and took care of him. I was his big sister and his live in nanny. And I loved him in such a deep way, he was so much more than just a brother. All I ever wanted was to be a mum, and this gave me such tremendous life experience. We spent our days together having lazy mornings snuggling on the couch, and we'd dance away the afternoon. We just danced like crazy. He thought it was hilarious and it was great exercise for me. I got to be there for so many of his firsts. Then later when he'd do it for Mum, I'd pretend like that was his first time, so she didn't think she was missing it all.

He fell so deeply in love with my kids. He was only 4 when he lost his niece, and it hit him so hard. I think he still has deep scars from it. He warmly embraced Kaya in his life, and loved her without fear or reserve. And he loved Lana too. They would play together, and he had such patience with them. He had such a special bond with Kaya. He was tender with her, he made her laugh, let her mess up his room, entertained her when we asked her to sit still and eat her meals.





Then, in January 2007, I did a bad thing. I stole Kaya and Lana, and the baby in my womb away from my mum and baby brother. I bombed out. I escaped. We moved to America. We said goodbye. Telling mum that we were leaving was one of the hardest things I've ever done. I was up for 3 nights before it, crying and throwing up.

We had this Christmas together, in Dec 06, a few weeks before we left Scotland.











And then about 2 weeks later, we left. And I've missed them so sorely. Saturdays are empty. Often I still say to Rene, "What should we do today? Let's go to Mum's." and we both sigh with a little regret. Since I've been gone, my little brother has grown insanely tall (I'm told he's an inch shorter than me!) and he's gone and turned 12. Without me. Almost a teenager. Now I've made myself cry again.

The good news is.....a week from Monday, the day Lana turns 5 - June 29th - they are coming to visit! My mum and step dad and baby brother. They are extremely popular here so they will be spending half of their visit driving all over the States visiting other people who are keen to see them again. They will be exhausted while they're here. But I will treasure every tiny moment I get with them. And I am going to take so many photos they are going to be completely fed up with me.

I can't think about or talk about much else just now. Everything ends up being a conversation about how they're coming over soon. This is better than Christmas to a little kid. I am so excited to see them.

Hey, if you made it through this post, I'm very impressed. I'm sure this is of little interest to most people. To me, this is everything. Just over a week left....

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Picture Wall

I, like many others, was in awe when I saw Tara Whitney's Photo Wall. I drooled and thought about how much I wanted one of those for myself!

When my mum kindly gave me some money for my birthday in May (thanks mum!) I knew right away what I wanted to spend it on. I had wanted a photo wall for months. So I started investigating options and found a great deal.

I got paint from good old walmart. It was $12. Then I got self adhesive foamboard from artsupply.com for $45.

And the 12 by 12 prints came from Scrapbooks Please and might I add (no I'm not getting paid to say this!) that these are extraordinary in quality. Amazingly beautiful luster prints. I am completely satisfied by the prints, and I never say that. I always have something to nit pick about when I get prints back. But I have nothing but praises for this company. I completely recommend them. I also happened to get a special deal for $2.99 per premium luster print, though usually it's $4.99. But I assure you they are worth $4.99 each! You won't be disappointed. And you get one free 8 by 8 premium luster if you're a new customer, so give it a try! You can't beat free.

Anyway I was so excited when everything arrived, and Rene helped me try to put them up straight last night. I didn't get it perfect, but I'm still thrilled with my wall.

Ok so here's the wall before. Just a plain old white wall.




And here it is after. Nowhere near as good as Tara's, because I'm not as good a photographer. But here is my wall, inspired by Tara Whitney's (just don't compare it to hers!)






Ready?






Here it is.














The Scottish flag pic, was actually a pair of white tights which I cut up, and Kaya and Lana held one leg while Daddy and Zoe held the other (it was tied on her wrist). I laid down on the ground and shot this against the blue sky. It was hilarious because Zoe didn't understand what to do and she kept running round in circles. I had hoped to get some where you see more of people's hands, but I am happy to have go this one as it is. Here are the outtakes







Lana got upset because it was cold outside that day, and she wanted to go back to the car. So she did. And I'm happy I got my one shot in amongst those.


Anyway, a couple more shots of the wall.








The one of our hands, in the top right, was taken by Kaya. Isn't she great?

And then the one with our shoes, since Turtle doesn't wear shoes yet, we got his feet wet and made a feet print on the ground beside our shoes. I thought it was sweet.

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My unplugged day

One day in May, I chose to join in Jodie's Unplugged Challenge which was basically to spend 1 day without TV/computer/phone etc. One day, unplugged, with the kids, then blog about it on June 1st (today - man, May went by FAST!).

I spend a lot of time on the 'puter, but I found the unplugged challenge to be dead easy. There's always so much to keep you busy with 4 kids, I hardly missed the Internet, or Rhapsody music etc.

In short, we went to the zoo, came home and played silly/tickle etc on the couch, cleaned up the house, planted some seeds, cooked supper, ate supper then had a visitor over, then went to bed. We had fun.

Here are the pics.

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