He Was Right!

I cleaned up the front room this morning in an attempt to get the house somewhat decent for our housesitter. I put all the toys in the basket, put the lid on, and moved it up against the window. As Dana was leaving for work, he said, "I bet they have it all out before you leave." Sometimes I really hate it when he's right!

He's sooo lucky he's cute! Right now the garbage truck and firetruck are talking to each other. Apparently someone (the police car perhaps?) is in "Twouble."

Contemplation

I saw this post back in April at Jennifer's, and intended to give my answers eventually. Well eventually is now. I do admit to deleting 2 questions, because I just couldn't think of an answer.



If I were a direction, I'd be... Straight ahead

If I were furniture, I'd be... A porch swing

If I were a liquid, I'd be... Strong black coffee

If I were a sin, I'd be... Addiction

If I were a gemstone, I'd be... An opal

If I were a metal, I'd be... Platinum

If I were a tree, I'd be... Magnolia

If I were a fruit, I'd be... Persimmon

If I were a flower, I'd be... Day Lily

If I were a weather, I'd be... A thunderstorm

If I were a musical instrument, I'd be... acoustic guitar

If I were a color, I'd be... pink

If I were an animal, I'd be... a cat, of course

If I were a sound, I'd be... laughing

If I were a lyric, I'd be... She could charm the stars, hypnotize the moon, Clay Walker (courtesy of Dana)

If I were a song, I'd be... Praise You in this Storm by Casting Crowns

If I were a music type, I'd be... Summertime Music (Jimmy Buffett, Kenny Chesney...)

If I were a perfume/cologne, I'd be.... Opium

If I were a feeling, I'd be... perplexed

If I were a book, I'd be... well read

If I were a food, I'd be... Fresh

If I were a taste, I'd be... spicy

If I were a scent, I'd be... jasmine

If I were a word, I'd be... loyal

If I were a verb, I'd be... living

If I were an object, I'd be... A Day Planner

If I were a piece of clothing, I'd be... flip flops

If I were a body part, I'd be... a shoulder

If I were a facial expression, I'd be..... a wink

If I were a cartoon character, I'd be...... Jessica Rabbit

If I were a movie, I'd be... The Women

If I were a geometrical shape, I'd be... trapezoid

If I were one of the Seasons, I'd be ... Fall

If I were a sentence, I'd be... "I'll pray for you"

Catching Up

Last week I was given an award by Mrs. Mordecai and it's my turn to award it to others.

I think I'm supposed to nominate 5 people, but being the non-conformist I am, I rarely follow rules. But there are a few people I'd like to award the Brillante Weblog arward to.

First, had Mrs. Mordecai not awarded me, I would definitely have awarded her. I love all the great tips she has, and her thoughtful way of viewing the world around her.

Jennifer at Dust Bunny Hostage also deserves this award. She is always making me smile with her funny comments, and she's a great friend that checks in to make sure I'm ok when I talk about things like my pain pill use. I believe our dust bunnies have been collaborating, or some of them decided to move up North and take up residence. If anyone ever comes up with a Worst Housekeeper of the year award, definitely send it my way!

And Danielle also deserves this award. Mostly because I'm afraid of her. She's known for her job as executioner. Just ask the chick, oh wait, you can't it's decapitated! Just kidding! Her blog makes me laugh, and she handled the accidental decapitation very well. I would have been a big old sobbing mess! So hats off to her for keeping her cool!

Speaking of Danielle, she tagged me to share my 5 favorite YouTube videos. Well most of my YouTube usage is for music, so I apologize that they aren't as cool as her videos. But here are mine:
First is Live United, because I LOVE United Way!

Second is Taylor Swift, she's just so cute, and I like that she tries to be a good role model, since Kaia adores her!



This video I found on Jennifer's blog, and loved it! It was instantly added to my playlist.



And Margaritas anyone? I love Jimmy Buffett!



My last song comes with a Big Fat Warning: Do not play this one past 1 minute 30 seconds if you don't want to hear a crude song, if there are children around, or if your boss might hear it. Also he uses the big 4 letter word a few times. Ok, now you have been warned. That said, I think this is hilarious, and if there were a version without the mother of all 4 letter words, I would definitely listen to it. There isn't though, so I don't get to watch this much, but it makes me laugh.



Want to play? I'd love to see what you're watching/listening to.

Just a Note

Sometimes you get a love note. Other times it's a practical note. Then there are times you get this:

I got a huge laugh out of this! How did he know that both kids were acting up all through church and would be on my last nerve when we got home? They both survived the day. Me... barely.

Friday Fun

I was greeted by this, when I picked up the kids on Friday night after work.

The person responsible for this?

I'm sure you guessed, it was this person:

Danielle got it right when she wrote last week that Kaia always looks mischevious. That's because she is! Mo is fine. Kaia is injured now also. Not by Mo, she did it all by herself when she fell onto the lid of the barbeque. Luckily I have the prescription cream for it.

Sincerely 'Fro Me to You- Pregnant

I'm fast running out of bad photos from my youth! I must go and raid my parents' cedar chest! I know there are horrible ones with the big ugly glasses. Or the purple striped shirt with the long red polyester skirt. Even better the frizzy permed hair. Oh yeah, there are so many hiding in that chest. But today, I will show you me. Me 9 months pregnant with Mo. Me 39 weeks and 3 days pregnant. It was Easter Sunday 2006, and I was miserable!

Sure I'm smiling, but I wanted to die! I'd had contractions all day that Thursday. Went to the hospital only to be sent home. I was waking up with killer contractions in the wee hours of the morning, only to have them disappear. None of my maternity clothes fit well anymore, and I was struggling to find shirts long enough to cover the panel in my pants (the panel-less ones no longer fit), but the only ones that did that were so big around the shoulders that they let my pregnancy induced assets hang out.

Yep that was quite the Easter! Just looking at this photo reminds me of how much my feet hurt, my pelvis ached, and how little energy I had that day. Kaia had a good time, and I'm sure this photo is embarrassing for the horse.

Kaia was only 2 at the time and she still remembers this ride and this Easter. It was a big party at a family friend's house. What amazes me is that she was still awake. If I remember right we were at sunrise service at church (7 a.m.) and this photo was in the afternoon. I think we probably both needed a good nap after that!

Luckily, it was only 4 days later that I was sent to the hospital for induction. My blood pressure sky-rocketed and it was my due date, Thursday, April 20th. At 12:10 a.m. on Friday the 21st Mo finally came. He was a little blue (he kept turning sunny side up, despite my midwife's numerous attempts to turn him), but he was beautiful.

Want to see more embarrassing photos? Head on over to Kristen's at We Are THAT Family.

Frugal Food: No-Money Meal

This is a repost from June 4, 2008. I'm participating in Frugal Upstate's Frugal Foods. Head over to find great low cost recipes!

Ok so this isn't really a no-money meal, but it's costs next to nothing.

2 packages ramen noodles (any flavor)

1 egg

1 or 2 green onions or just the tops

1/2 t of soy sauce

1/4-1/2 cup leftover or frozen veggies

Cook the noodles from both packages of noodles in 2 cups of water. After 2 minutes, remove from heat, and drain most of the water off. Then add just one package of seasoning and your veggies and cover. In a frying pan add just a tiny bit of oil, or use non-stick. Heat to medium and add the egg and green onions. Scramble the egg into tiny pieces. When egg is cooked, add the noodle mixture to the pan. Add soy sauce and cook all together for a minute or so.

This is a really good meal that will feed 2 adults and 2 kids, at least it feeds us. You could also add leftover meat if desired.

Here he is: Mo

See, we really did take Mo camping with us. His shirt says "Naturally Sweet. No Sugar Added." Apparently the mosquitos agreed, as he got a bite right in the middle of his forehead.

Ahhh... If they were only this nice to each other all the time!

All tuckered out after playing hard all weekend long.

Both of them! One of the few times Kaia naps is on the way home from camping.

This weekend in photos

We had a wonderful time camping for Dana's Birthday this weekend. We were especially happy that our friends were able to come up and join us. The weather was warm, and the bugs weren't too thick.

Birthday Boy

Trouble? Who me?

Tammy and Samantha

Kaia telling Jeff and Tam something VERY important.

Me

Charlie, obviously thrilled to be camping.

Sampson loved every minute of the trip (especially the leftovers)

This sign next to Kaia says "No Motor Vehicles." The lake is typically small by this time of year, but a good snow pack meant a high lake, which meant not so much beach and lots of mud.

Update: My mom called to tell me that I left Mo out of this post. WHAT?! I can't believe I did that. Of course we have tons of cute pics, and this airhead here just forgot to post them! I will soon.

Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy Birthday!

July is a month of Birthdays in my family! So here are the Happy Birthdays for this week!

July 12- Happy Birthday Gordie! I'd show you a photo of my Father-in-Law, but he conveniently stays out of them whenever possible! I think there may be one somewhere hidden in Kaia's Birthday photos, but for now, Happy Birthday!

July 14- Happy Birthday Dad! Yet another of my family members that likes to duck out of the photos. He takes all the photos so he doesn't have to befeatured in any of them. Happy Birthday!

July 18- Happy Birthday Grandma! I have plenty of pictures of Grandma, and I especially love this new one. Those hummingbirds are not going to be happy if you keep burning their food!

July 18- My Sweetie! Of course I announced it yesterday, but today is the day! Happy Birthday Dana! I love you!

Sincerely 'Fro Me to You- My Man!

I'm doing a very special Sincerely 'Fro Me to You, because tomorrow is Dana's 36th Birthday!

This is Dana on his FZR1000. It's one of my favorite photos of him. Look at how happy he is! He LOVED this bike.

I'm happy too, because he survived this bike! There is nothing like listening to him and his friend's reminisce about the crazy stunts he pulled riding this motorcycle. Every time I hear them, I'm so thankful that 4 years later I met him. Sadly, the FZR was gone by the time we met, and we spent our dating days cruising around in his 1 ton dually. Dana will point out that it's not like I would have ridden with him anyway. Which is true, my inner ear bugs me on a lot of things, and just the short cruise on his Harley made me feel queasy. Whenever we would look through photos though, this one would always come out as one of his favorites, and mine too!

Plus how can you not look at this and realize that the 90's were just bad for fashion. Period, end of story! Although I still think Dana looks very handsome in this photo.

Just in case you don't read regularly, Dana does have another motorcycle, and an adorable riding partner too!

Happy early Birthday Sweetie! I love you, and hope that you don't mind I swiped your photo for the blog.

For more photo fun, head on over to Kristen's at We Are THAT Family!

Selling Fear

Boomer, whose only fear is not getting fed.

BigDumbDog is afraid of the water hose.

I wish I could tell you that last night went so much smoother than Monday, but it didn't. I really hate nights where I spend all my time yelling, because I'm being completely ignored when I talk. Morgan was even being naughty as he decided to dump half a bottle of pre-depilatory cleanser (expensive stuff that I bought with Birthday money last year) on the coffee table.

It wasn't completely the kids bugging me. We were standing outside for a bit while I watered the front garden, and my plants in the planters when a salesman walked up.

Cucumbers, green onions, and a jalpeno plant (in the middle of the onions).

My gift for Mother's Day from my Mom and Dad, I chose the John Deere Yellow, Dana helped me paint it. Those are tomatoes up on the steps. Never mind the weed in the bottom right corner.

Not one of you commented on my Swingtown post, so either you don't watch it, or are afraid to admit it. Well last week's episode was about finding your authentic self. When Rodger asks his boss for more money, he's fired. He tells his wife's best friend, Susan, that he's glad. You see he was an insurance salesman and he tells her that successful insurance salesman need to scare people to get them to buy products. They sell fear.

Last night we had an alarm salesman. Of course they aren't selling the alarm. They are giving the alarm away, plus the installation and warranty. You just have to pay $45 a month to have it hooked up and display a sign in your yard. We listened to his spiel and pointed out that our security system was in the house. Come in and threaten, you'll meet a bullet. Then he pointed out to Dana that of course Dana could take care of himself, but what about when he wasn't around. A system would be good for protecting the wife and kids, or the house when no one was home. Dana's answer? My wife's a darn good shot, she can take care of herself!

Salesman is figuring out that this isn't going quite how he planned. He points out that it's your sense of security that feels violated, and that an alarm will provide a deterrent. And it raises the value of your home! Ummm... my dog is a deterrent, and the fact that we have so many close neighbors that are home during the day. Thanks, but no! He left fairly quickly, having been beat. I didn't even point out to him, but did to Dana, that we could just put up some alarm stickers in the window if we wanted people to think there was an alarm. Also my co-worker installed the alarm at our office for far less, and there are no maintenance fees on that.

Really the issue is, I don't like being sold fear. Why should we pay for an alarm to go off when someone breaks in? Someone has to break in first, and that's why we have the required homeowner's insurance. Speaking of insurance, why should we pay huge amounts of money for a life insurance policy that will likely never pay out? All that money would be better put into a CD and earning interest. Washington requires liability on all autos and trucks. And we have opted for un-insured motorist coverage, because the number of un-insured motorists here in our city is huge! The more Dana and I talk about this, the more we are considering insurance changes. A higher deductible is something we are definitely discussing (for the home). The money saved will help meet that extra upfront cost if, big IF, it is needed. I'm really seeing insurance like playing the lotto, except instead of the big IF being good, the big IF is the worst case scenario. Do you really want to spend your life banking on the worst case scenario? The hardest part? Telling our insurance agent that we are switching companies.

It's Hard to be 2 & 5!

Last night was not a good night. It was one of those nights where the kids pick up on the fact that I'm in pain and do not have the energy, tolerance, or patience to deal with anything. Then they go crazy testing my every limit. Kaia decided to pretend she was a dog, which is usually a good thing as doggie Kaia minds quite well. Instead this doggie kept licking my legs and arms. ICK! Dana tried wearing the kids out by having them run with the dog, but they still had plenty of fight left for me.



After chasing Mo around trying to do a pull-up change, Dana held him for the actual change, and then little man went to bed. Kaia argued for dessert. She was unhappy that my response was dessert is a priveledge not a guarantee. I also pointed out that she'd already brushed her teeth, but she could have a few more strawberries if she liked. I was definitely not giving in to the homemade pineapple popsicle she wanted. She eventually gave in and ate some peas that I brought in from the garden the other day (how that became dessert, I'll never know). Finally she lay down on my lap and my pain pill kicked in giving me a bit of mind numbing respite.



At 4 this morning Mo decided to get up and call for me. I brought him into our bed. Kaia had climbed into bed a short time earlier. I essentially lost my spot in bed, and Dana had a Mo crammed underneath him for the last hour. Neither Dana or I really wanted to wake up at 5:15 when the alarm wouldn't shut up. I was definitely jealous when I saw this at 6:15 a.m.




Good thing they're cute, or I may have been tempted to get some ice, or play a recorder (you know the obnoxious musical instrument) loudly. Just ask my brother about the recorder wake up calls, yep, good thing they're cute!

Busy Sunday

Now that Kaia's 5, it is finally legal for her to ride with her daddy on the motorcycle. She convinced him to take her out on her first real ride.


That's a belt around her waist, attached to him, just in case.

They rode all the way to Grandpa Richard and Grandma Owie's house, but they weren't home. While they were gone, Mo was napping, so I took a few photos.

Chicks and Hens in the rock garden.

A sunflower "planted" by the birds. (I love this photo! I did not retouching, just cropped and resized, yet it looks painted on.)

"Oregon Spring" Tomatoes. These are by far the best ones I've found they really stood up to our cold spring. I'm just hoping they taste as good as they look.

Another lily. I'm a little sad that I never got a photo of the red ones. Next year... I have a bunch more from the garden to share later.

For the Record...

I love the show Swingtown! Now before you judge, read my post through. So many people have a misconception that this show is all about sex. Wrong! Others say it's all about drug use. Wrong! While it is not for children and deals with adult issues, this show is dealing with a time of upheaval in society. The swinger who you think is so wild, well she is actually pretty insecure. The uptight one, really wants to have fun and be accepted, but doesn't quite know how. The one right in the middle, well she is struggling with her place in this new society she finds herself in.

Did you know that I actually read a biography on Halston for a book report my Sophmore year of high school? Oh yeah. I think out of the entire class I read the raciest book. More so, I was probably one of the last people to do anything naughty. Really. Sure I had my moments in high school, but for the most part I was a good girl. And this good girl read all about Studio 54. I'm not sure how I managed to make it a clean book report, but I think I focused on how Halston was always unsettled, unhappy, always searching for more.

I loved all of my sociology classes in college, so much so that I took far too many to count for my degree. Do I regret it? Not one bit, even when I continue to pay for my lovely student loans. And you all know how much I love retro, so I can't resist a show with great outfits like this:


So now my secret is out! The show is not for everyone, but I enjoy it. Because whether moral or immoral, it is all a part of America's history.

Sincerely 'Fro Me to You Summertime Dirt

Want to see some more photos that won't make it in the scrapbook? Head over to Kristen's at We Are THAT Family.

I'm a huge proponent of letting kids play in the dirt. Not only do they use their imaginations, and often get a little exercise, but a little dirt doesn't hurt (one look around my house will tell you that!). Our kid's also don't bathe everyday. First of all, that's a lot of money spent on water and heat. Second, being so concerned about killing germs is how we have all ended up being more sensitive to them. I have a friend that's a doctor. She lets her kids eat dry cereal thats dropped to the floor, so I'm in good company on this.

Occasionally though, the kids get a little beyond dirty with all of their play. This was the case on Saturday. They had fun at the dragstrip watching race cars Friday night. They played around the house, went to the library, and after dinner with Grandma Owie and Papa, they played in the park. When I threw them both in the tub, the water started looking pretty gross. I personally soaped them up, to make sure to cut through some of the grime. The kids didn't seem to notice the color of the water, but I had to grab the camera.

I think the water looks cleaner in the photo than it really was. Mo was so easy to photograph. Kaia refused to cooperate and didn't give me one modest photo. So that is her dirt too, and you can see her leg in the first pic.

Finally, what you have all been waiting for, the real Summertime Dirt. My rear end. Reminds me of one of those trash rags in the supermarket. The one's that headline "Which Celebs Got Fat" and then you look at the photo and think... If that's fat, I'll take it! Yeah, I'm not fat, but we all have butt dimples, Right??? Right??? Come on admit it!

And Yes, Dana had the camera!

What are the Odds?

Here I was reading a story on Yahoo News about Baby Names, and I see this table:
Most popular boy/girl baby names in 1950:

1. James / Linda
2. Robert / Mary
3. John / Patricia
4. Michael / Barbara
5. David / Susan
6. William / Nancy
7. Richard / Deborah
8. Thomas / Sandra
9. Charles / Carol
10. Gary / Kathleen

I know, you are saying, "So what?" But if you are my family, you are seeing what I'm seeing. My dad's name is #7. And my mom's name was a different spelling of... #7. Seems they were destined to be together!

Just 1 More Summer Post

Ok so it's definitely not the last post of summer pics. I mean you know you are all waiting for a new butt photo tomorrow. Do not worry, I will not dissappoint. But I want to share just a few more of Dana's excellent photos from Sunday.

My Nephew & Neice (in case you follow closely these are my cousin's children, not my brother's. But we are as close as sisters, so her kids are my niece and nephew and mine are her's).

Bubba warming up

Bubba enjoying the cake!

Nina swimming

Nina posing

My nephew (My sister-in-law's son whom Kaia thinks she's going to marry)

My brother the swimmer

I'd share the blueberry pie with you all, but it's too darn hot to turn on the oven. I made the mistake of Papa Murphy's Pizza last night, and the house was sweltering from baking it. Soon... Very Soon... We will have our pie!