Crankypants

Basically the cutest thing I've seen all year!

Colby wants these black and green ones for Christmas... he told me.

Now you're in love!

Now you're mad because you found out how ridiculously expensive they are  : (

See?  Told ya.  Sad face again : (

Cutest thing ever put on a baby's booty.  Fact.

Stop Motion

I love this : )  You will too.

Her Morning Elegance

oren lavie - her morning elegance from violette valeriey on Vimeo.

Elf Yourself

Because it wouldn't be Christmastime without it!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

I don't care who you are... this stuff is always funny  : )

Mishaps

This is so bad, SO bad.  I'm a terrible person, I know.  Before we even get started I'm just putting it out there, letting you know that I know how horrible I am.

Now, let's get to the good stuff!

I love, Love, LOVE witnessing things that weren't supposed to be seen.  Sneaky, I know.  I gives me joy unspeakable that won't go away, just enough strength to live for today... oh wait, that's God.  But I think you get the point... let me count the ways:

The Local News.  I think it is so funny and or amusing when they mess up.  No sound, wrong video, wrong picture/video for the story, even mispronunciations, oh AND ridiculous stories (what?  they meant to do a story on a dog with rabies in Ramah, population: 3??).  Part of my joy in witnessing this is that I hate our local news channels.  They are terrible, unprofessional and unoriginal.  I have never seen worse News stations than in Southern Colorado.  Yes, KKTV, KRDO, Fox 21 (who doesn't even have their own website) and News First 5  I am talking to YOU.  I will tell you that one News station uses a flat screen TV on the wall with their logo cut out and taped on the bottom of the tv to use in the background.  oh my.  

Yes, yes, this pretty much sums it up.

My new favorite:  Facebook comments and pictures.  Thank you 21st century style train wrecks!  Being the Facebook addict I am on Facebook at least 4 or 5 times a day (on my phone while I feed Colby... ahh TMI, excuses, you weren't supposed to know that! ahh!) I don't miss a whole lot that goes on in FB world. Thank goodness because you gotta be quick to see certain things before they get deleted!  Or certain pictures before they get untagged.  I hope every one person reading this has had the pleasure of experiencing this one!  It's like finding a lost treasure, a treasure that could disappear at any moment, before mom or grandma or 4th grade teacher sees it!  A heated discussion treasure that could go away before anyone else gets to see it.  Love.  I just so happened to delete my own status/comments just the other night, did you see it??  Bet you wish you could see it now, huh?  It actually had less to do with the topic at hand which got a little heated (I know, someone I don't even 'know' somewhat attacked me about my own status!) and more to do that I mentioned Stephen was out of town and then I was almost robbed in the middle of the night, which scared the bijeeezits out of me.  I guess that falls in the TMI column.  On a final note, I love that some people, and I only have two of these 'friends', but I'm guessing that every person with a facebook has a very small percentage of 'these' friends, CONSTANTLY over-share.  I don't need to know, or want to know, but I do love thinking about the breadth and depth of people who see ALL of the comments and pictures and personal thoughts of these types.  This may take some of my fun away, but when Facebook asks you: "Who can see this?" select anything BUT "Everyone".

Lastly, LIVE Television.  Mainly big events like last nights Dancing with the Starts (DWTS) finale, the Superbowl, and the American Music Awards (actually, any awards show) to name a few. When somethings goes wrong on this scale, it was very wrong and somebody is getting fired!  Wardrobe malfunctions, crazed celebrities and any technical difficulty makes my heart do a happy dance.  For example, during the live DWTS finale the video clip froze and  we were left watching a good 3 seconds of the back of Miss Piggy's head  After a quick commercial break we got to watch the entire video again.  Good thing I had it on TiVo and got to fast forward!  Oh, what about on American Idol when a contestant forgets the words to a song! Wrecktastic!  I will say that I feel totally shorted when I get the 'West Coast' version and mishaps have already been edited out!  Boo!

In conclusion, I don't like other people getting hurt or humiliated, I do feel bad for people when I see that happen.  I think the excitement from catching mistakes, whether obvious or not, is that I feel like I got more than I paid for or got a behind the scenes sneak peak or even a glimpse at a rare, hard to find bird (not the local news though, their mistakes are not rare at all) before it disappears again, and that brings me joy.  So simple.

I guess I could have made this 3 separate posts... too late now people, you're getting the full meal deal!  What a treasure!

Scarry

Since the holiday season is upon us, as in, now... I thought I should offer a friendly reminder in the most PC way I know how.  Children's stories.

You should be skinny... at least, that's what I *think* they are trying to say.

So remember, don't eat a lot of pie or you will be fat.

Special Alert!

According to Kyla:

1.  Princesses don't go potty.

2.  Princesses don't wear pants.

Oh yeah...

How do you explain this?

That's what I thought.

The potty thing... well...

They do.  I said so.  I'm the mom.

Mom's

So I have been craving CRAVING a Mom's apple pie for YEARS now.  Growing up we would get to Julian, CA (where my aunt and uncle live) at least once a year.  Julian is home to Mom's pie house, which is home to the worlds best apple pie.  They have lots of other kinds of pies, but I can't tell you if they are good, because I've never even tried one.  Only apple for me... and only crumb top (again, haven't tried the flaky top, but why, WHY would you after tasting the 'French crumb??).   They have...

"American Flaky top"

aaaaand, "French Crumb top"

I remember it like it was yesterday.  I even have stories I could tell about this pie.  Like the time my brother David bought his own so he wouldn't have to share/because he thought he could eat an entire pie in a few days (totally possible).  Well, one morning before heading down the road to San Diego, which is a very, very, windy, windy road, David ate a large portion of his pie... I think you know what came next, on that windy road.

I have even gone over in my head how I can get one of these pies shipped to me or brought out to CO for me (Mom's doesn't ship, they do however, make a drop off in the San Diego area before Thanksgiving.  If that applies to you, I will be personally offended if you do not take advantage.)

Hopeless story?  NO!  This past Saturday night we had Amy and Danny Vogt (and Brady) and Julie and Mikey Foster over for dinner.  I had many apples so I decided to make an apple crisp.  Fail.  I got distracted and didn't start putting it together until just after we ate.  I enlisted the help of Julie (apple duty) and Amy (crisp duty).  I passed out ingredients and changed my mind 500 times.  Fail.  We decided to use more apples and make it bigger, so we needed more crisp, so we added here and there.  At one point Amy said, "If this turns out amazing you will never be able to figure out how to make it again!"  Famous last words, right?  Well after it cooked and didn't get crispy (fail) and we turned on the boiler and it burned (fail) we ate.  It wasn't bad!  Amy scrapped off the black part and we served it with ice cream.  At the time I didn't think it was bad, but not a 'keeper'.

WELL, let me tell you... I had that crisp for breakfast AND lunch again today and I wanted to cry.  It tastes as close to Mom's Crumb Top apple pie as I have tasted in over 10 years!  I don't know what happened in the fridge in the past 36 hours but I think Jesus gave Amy and Julie the perfect amount of cinnamon, sugar, nutmeg, flour, butter and oatmeal... and apple, combined with the right amount of 'soak in' time, just for me : )  Heaven!

Oh, and if you have Mom's super secret recipe... I would really appreciate it, as I have NO idea how to duplicate the crisp in my fridge.  Thanks!

Ate Berries in the Canaries

A few weeks ago I got a pedicure (yes, weeks ago... wish it was more often than that!) and I fell in love with a new OPI color!  From the Espana Fall 2009 collection, Ate Berries in the Canaries, is a cool fuchsia and perfect for fall toes.. or fingers, if you are more bold than I.

I tried to find a picture that really matched the real color, but couldn't.  So I leave you with these : D

I think it looks most like this bottle above

taken inside

taken outside

and No, these are not my nails!  Only for the toes :)

RUN!  Don't walk to get this color on your tootsies!

edited to add:  My perception of nail color is skewed as I only use the scale "From 1 to Florida Pink"... so yes, this is a perfect fall in Florida pink ; )

Pumpkin Love

How festive and cute is this??

Is it silly that I have a favorite font?  I do.

What?  Who's that to the right?  Oh... don't mind him..

He's... he's just an... eye sore.

Okay.  Fine.  ONE picture.  There.

"AAAARRRRGGGG!!!"

Okay now, back up!

Back UP!

...ew ... is that mold in his mouth?

That's Better.

Much better    : D

Bad Mom

Last night we had dinner and went trick-or-treating with friends and their kids', it was so much fun and the kids couldn't believe they were having the best night of their life!  At each house there was more candy!  I didn't get any pictures because I left my camera at home, but its okay, Kyla dressed up as a duck, again.  How she remembers that she was a duck last year is beyond me, but she insisted on wearing the costume again (even though we had a super cute tutu and fairy wings from a birthday party last month!).  So this is what Kyla looked like last night... only a year older and the costume only goes down to her hips now!  The hat fits Stephen about the same : )

So anyway, we're out and the kids are getting pretty good and yelling, "Trick-or-Treat" and getting a hang of it, running from house to house.  Then... we come to a house, no one was home, but they left a bowl of candy out (how nice... and trusting...)  Not too scary, right?  Wait for it...

Kyla walked up, put her hand in the bowl, and the motion sensor hand GRABBED her hand!  She threw her bucket of candy and screamed, then cried the whole way down the drive way!

I laughed, and am still laughing about it this morning.

Scratch n' Sniff

I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't accidentally bought it myself.

Strengths

Stephen and I heard about the book Living Your Strengths at church and immediately knew we wanted to read it and take the Strengths Finder test that comes with each book... okay, so really we just wanted to take the test, which you can only do by buying a book with the code in it (the book is good too).  The research behind all this 'strength finding' is that people are most effective when they understand their God-given strengths.  So often we strive to be 'well rounded', but that can easily lead to mediocrity.  When we focus on what we are naturally good at and use it, rather than trying to fix what we are not good at, that is when we can really grow and be the most productive, in all areas of our lives.  Pretty exciting stuff!

The Strengths Finder is based on 34 'themes' and you are given your top 5.  Your top 5 themes of talent are unique to you.  Your chances of meeting someone with the same Signature themes, regardless of order, are less than 1 in 275,000!  There is only a 1 in 33 million chance that you will meet someone whose Signature Themes match yours and are in the same order (paraphrased from the book).   It is amazing how unique we are, and this is ONLY considering 34 'themes' of strengths... not skills, spiritual gifts, personality, backgrounds, etc.  It's really mind boggling to think how God really made each and every person different on so many different levels!

Okay, so here are my top five, in order : )  With short (very short) description.

1.  Learner - I love to learn and improve.  I get a thrill out of learning new facts and it builds my confidence.  I can learn a lot in a short period of time.

2.  Harmony - I look for areas of agreement.  I try to bring people together and find common ground. "We are all in the same boat, and we need this boat to get where we are going.  It is a good boat.  There is no need to rock it just to show that you can."  (This is why I would lose on any reality show)

3.  Input - I am inquisitive and crave information.  I find many things interesting.  I have difficulty getting started or completing a project because I feel like I never have enough information.  Surfing the net may turn into hours once your curiosity takes off (oooh, they got me here!).

4.  Analytical - I search for reasons why things are the way they are.  I think about factors that might affect a situation and what causes certain reactions.  I am critical about why people may claim something is true and want to see the proof (true, true, true).

5.  Intellection - I like to think (I guess I picked the appropriate blog name after all!!)  and let my thoughts go in many directions.  I like to spend time alone so I can reflect and ponder.  I like intellectual discussions.  This mental hum is on of the constants of my life.

Part of me feels like I need to list all my weaknesses now, since there are plenty... but why focus on those ; )

If you want to find out if one of your strengths is Woo... take the test!!  (So... who is paying me to do this, again?)

Concealed Weapons

I will not be taking the class with the rest of the family (in-laws) to learn how to shoot a gun and to obtain a permit to carry a concealed weapon.  First of all, my great-grandpa taught me how to load a pistol when I was 6, point the rifle at the neighbor's house telephone pole while looking through the scope when I was 6 1/2 and let me shoot the BB gun when I was 12.  Second... well, we all know what I would do with a gun in my possession.

Remember, the most important rule in gun safety is NEVER, EVER point a gun, loaded or unloaded, at ANYONE.

there.

Good Hair

They say you learn something new every day.  Today was mind blowing for me!  See, I don't know very many (read: any) black people whose hair I can touch (or who I'm willing so ask) so it has always been a mystery to me.  Chris Rock was on Oprah today talking about his new movie Good Hair, which is about exposing what black hair is really like... interesting.  JUST as interesting was how little Oprah and Chris knew about 'white' hair.  Listen, I live in Colorado... how else was I going to learn about this? From Mo Betta Braids & Things?  Wait... they have a website now??  Wow!  And moved to a new location.  Good for them!  Probably less scary now.  (Sorry for the tangent, just a little inside info for the college peeps.)

Things I learned about 'black' hair (in general):

• Black hair is all the same, the only reason it looks different on different people is the different things they do to it.  Like use relaxer or braid it OR get a weave.
• If the hair is natural then it is a fro or a "jerry curl" (think Michael Jackson in the 80's)
• If it's straight then it's been "Permed" (chemically relaxed using 'creamy crack') or it's a weave (extentions... ouch)
• The relaxer burns!!!  And it's used on kids!
• A perm means chemically straightened... not: get curly hair, like white hair.
• Cheap, ugly wigs can cost $1000!!!  They have to be washed and styled every two weeks and tightened every 6 weeks!  
• A decent weave costs around $5000!!!!  And I thought I was getting ripped when I paid $120 for partial highlights... gee!  Some spend 40 to 50 THOUSAND dollars a year on their hair!
• The hair comes from India.  Another totally crazy story in itself.  People being robbed of their hair in the name of false gods... or medical malpractice.
• It's a $9 Billion business
• Black people don't think they have good hair and want "Good Hair"
• Even if it's permed and then straightened, they can't do that forever, it'll break off from being damaged.  Eventually it'll have to be left natural or put in braids.
• DON'T touch a black woman's hair.

Some things black people don't realize about white people (and find shocking)

• That no one has their natural hair color and many can't remember their natural color
• The 'blondes' aren't natural (haha!)
• Everyone wants thick/er hair
• How white people could have a bad hair day

I always thought black hair was so cool, I never realized how out of control it is and how much they do just to style it.  I also learned that I should be more thankful of my good hair : )

My Nemesis

The guy, my nemesis, lives in my neighborhood. He drives a bright blue suped up subaru with a special muffler that is SO loud! He has an intake on his car, so it wheezes when he shifts. He doesn't know how to drive a stick shift, because I can HEAR when he shifts and it makes no sense. You know, like he's not slow, but not using the full potential, ya know? It makes me SO angry every time I hear it. He comes and goes about 20 times a day. Sometimes he leaves and literally, like 3 minutes later he is back... several times a day, and it's a regular trip he makes. I have never wanted to actually shoot someone until now! I've been calling him my nemesis for at least 9 months now. I know where he lives, I know his license plate #, I know he is at least 30, well on his way to 40 years old! And not even from trying to find out, it's because he is around ALL the time. I want to slash his tires or vandalize his car. I think all these things every time I hear his car. I can hear it from anywhere in my house, I know the sound of HIS car. I can pick it out from any other car on the road, even other loud cars. It makes me burn inside every. time.


A few weeks ago I tried changing my attitude. Every time I heard his car I thought about being patient and not caring about him or his car. It worked... for a little while. Today, I want to shoot him. Just to get his attention and tell him to SHUT UP.


I've thought about going around to my neighbors, asking them to sign a petition or something. Then, we would give it to him and he would know we all hate him! Yeah. I bet that would work.


Maybe his car will just break down... from all the wear and tear. Maybe he'll wreck it.


This is not me! I would NEVER, repeat, NEVER shoot anyone. It conjures up so much anger in me! I just. need. him. to. go. away. forever.

Have you seen this car? Do you have a BB gun I could borrow?

Rollin'

Colby is 5 months and one week old today and decided it was time to (finally) try rolling from his back to front!  Rolling doesn't seem like a super exciting milestone, but it's kinda one of the first things a baby does besides smile and laugh, but it's so cute!  When they roll from front to back they get this really surprised look on their face like, WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!? or, WHERE AM I??  Funny stuff.  And when they roll from back to front it's gotta be for something good, like a plastic link, or a piece of paper... cause going this way is a LOT of work!  When Colby rolled up on to his stomach today he looked so proud, awww!  I probably looked so proud to  :)

Here he is just laying there... typical

wait... there he goes!

errrrr...

eeeeeee...

woah!

steady

aaaand, we're good!

YAY!

Houston?

Every blog needs a first post.  If you'll notice, I've been around since October of LAST year, yet no blogs.  Maybe its the perfectionist in me (just a tiny one) and maybe its the procrastinator, who can know it, but for some reason I couldn't get myself to pick a name (OH the pressure!) and just start writing!  Today, on the eve of my 5 year wedding anniversary (!!!) I've been thinking, and I noticed that I do a lot of thinking.  It could be because I'm a stay at home mom of a 2 1/2 year old and a 5 month old but I don't get a lot of adult interaction and I'm realizing that the things I notice and think about come and go.  So if for no other reason than free therapy here I am!  (Hello interweb!)

I also hope to keep my dear, sweet out-of-state friends and family up to date with my life and have some documentation of these crazy young kid/mom years (which I'm sure I will look back on and think... oh, precious years... right?)  I figured I could just start a diary, but the non-committal, tiny perfectionist in me has a problem with my inconsistent handwriting, but that's as far as it goes, I swear.  But that is so 1991 and I'm not into scrap booking.

So, in going with the theme, I leave you with a quote:

"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."  - Dr. Seuss