Another Addiction...

So, I feel as if I was the LAST ONE ON EARTH to hear or watch the eagle cam in Decorah!  There is a reserve in Decorah and they have placed a camera on an eagle nest.  The mother eagle is usually found sitting on the nest.  the father eagle does come and switch places with the mother eagle...which I have yet to see...but believe you, I have been watching...and waiting.

(this is not an eagle that I have been watching)

If you click on this link,  http://www.ustream.tv/channel/decorah-eagles  

you too, can start to watch the eagles sit.  But remember, just when you think nothing is going to happen and you are ready to go do the laundry or dishes...or play with your children..BAM...something moves and you are sucked back in!!

I told the boys that they HAD TO CHECK THIS OUT...they were in LOVE with the eagle...for about 45 seconds (time averaged together between the two of them.)

Once, when I was watching...NOTHING WAS HAPPENING, so I switched to surf some other important web-sites...went back to check on the eagle and she/he had gotten up and moved around in the nest!!!  MISSED IT ALL!! UGH!!

I do know that I am not alone...there are about 10,000 other eagle addicts watching, too! 

(Come join us...you know you want to...everyone is doing it...dare you!!!)

Welcome, Alice!

Yep, we did it...and oh no what have we done!! We have been playing with the idea of getting a dog since we moved and yesterday we bit the bullet.. Welcome our new Wheaten Terrier...Alice!

 (Actually we got her so I would have more blog material!)

Sometimes I just Wonder...

 

Oh, Happy Day!

Over spring break, I went to register one of my Starbucks gift cards.  In doing so, each visit is counted as a "visit" or a "point"  towards obtaining a Starbucks Gold Card. Several of my fellow Starbucks addicts encouraged me to do this (after much reassurance that i could probably already have one...) and found this little "activity" that i just had to complete....

CREATE YOUR OWN PERSONAL STARBUCKS CARD! Hee Hee.  I just couldn't help myself!!  It came in the mail yesterday!
 As you can see above, MY card has "my drink formula" on it. I get a non-fat (N) Carmel Frapcino(CF) with Carmel (CR) drizzle!
 But the best part....is my name is on my card!!! How fun is that!  I just keep adding money (its all about the money) to the card and then use it each time I visit a Starbucks, which then equals more points!!   Once I get my gold card (which is only 30 visits..not a problem!!!) I will get a free drink every 15 visits!  I KNOW!!!

 Mom and dad...I am glad I am keeping you proud with my highly set goals of life!

Leprechaun Trap...

Sam finished studying simple machines at school, so his final project was to build a Leprechaun Trap.  What is a Lep. Trap?  Well, it is something you create using at least two simple machines and lots of bling!  The point is to "lure" the leprechaun into your trap (hence the large pot of gold by the rainbow) but trap him before he succeeds...reminiscent of real life!
Sam shares his today with his class.
 
The finished project...steps made of legos (an incline plane) with gold coins on each step.  OH! Leprechauns do not follow rules, that is why the sign states,  "Do Not Climb!"  At the top of the steps, in gold letters, reads "STOP!" 

An air view of the trap.  After climbing the steps, the Little Green Guy steps onto a teeter-totter type thing (a lever.)  When the teeter-tooter tips, he falls into the hole which is disguised by a lovely sheet of tissue paper (Jason's contribution) and then is trapped.

Sam sent this little lego leprechaun (say fast three times) to try out his trap.

Poor thing is about to meet his demise!  Which means an "A" for Sam! YEA!!

When I taught third grade, we had our third graders do this exact same thing.  I just want to apologize to all my parents for having them do such activities.  I am truly sorry.

Many Uses for a Cane...

Last week I purchased an amazing old mission style umbrella holder. it came with old worn canes and antique umbrella.
i love it...and then the boys found it...

Suddenly my beautiful canes were guitars in a rock show!!

At least they aren't using them as light sabers or swords...yet...

Pulp Fiction in My House...

The other day we were cleaning up jack's room and "organizing" his monkeys...


I noticed that several of them had band-aids on the backs of their little heads.

Have you ever seen the movie Pulp Fiction?  That movie came to my mind immediately and when seeing these band-aids....

Marcellus Wallis, one of the main characters, has a band-aid on the back of his head through the entire movie.  Supposedly, it is where his soul was taken from him...

So I asked Sam (a reliable source) "Why does Jack have band-aids on the back of his monkey's heads????" I really tried not to sound worried or concerned!  Sam replied, "He doesn't have enough pillows for all his monkeys, so he uses band-aids as little pillows for them." 

Phew!!  I am so glad that Jack has excellent imagination and none of his monkeys are named "Gimp."

Kansas City Day 2...

Saturday was another beautiful day in KC. Headed downtown to the Science City...it is like our science center. Jack LOVED the welcome sign! It was a fun place to visit, but I was glad to only spend 2 hours there. As all science centers, some of the items didn't work (pet peeve of mine), there were snotty pushy kids and I am sure the place is a small cess-pool of germs. Sam asked why i didn't do many of the stations. I told him, "I just like watching you and Jack enjoy the stations. Now go wash your hands."

Our favorite part of Science City was the Optical Illusion Hotel. Poor Jack lost his legs at this table. There were other illusions, but they are not "illusions" when you take photos of them!

There was a musical area and Sam didn't hesitate to get down...

The boys made a marble track..
.Beside this exhibit, was a rocket launcher station. Jason and i were experimenting at the station and this little snotty boy pushed between Jason and the launcher and started to push all the buttons. Jason tried to tell him to wait his turn, but the kid didn't even listen...just kept on doing what he was doing..."WHERE IS YOUR FAMILY?" I wanted to say, instead I mumbled, "nice kid" and walked away.


Jack wrestled alligators in the sewer! There was a big sewer slide that the boys went down it over and over!

We ate at a sushi/seafood place that evening (that also had hamburgers.) Jason and i ordered calamari and when it came out it actually looked like little squids. As usual, Jason made a big deal out of eating the squid, letting the "legs" hang out of his mouth. Sam almost got sick...didn't even phase jack.

Happy Birthday Part 2...

Had to post our morning birthday photos...


Everybody has on their green to celebrate Jason' s day. Nothing like a large green top hat to make the outfit complete!

Last week, we made a stop at build-a-bear. Jack got his monkey a Leprechaun outfit...

Sam did an Irish birthday jig!

Happy St. Patty's Day to you and Yours!

Happy Birthday, Jason!

Happy Birthday, Jason!
You are officially in your forties!

Kansas City...There We Were...

So, I am finally blogging...to be honest, there really hasn't been much going on and I really haven't felt like blogging. But i am back...for today! :)  Went to Kc for a long weekend. Here are some photos from day one!


The weather was absolutely beautiful! 70 degrees! We got to town just in time for lunch and then spent the afternoon walking and shopping on the plaza (one of my favorite places!) Sam and Jack loved the warm weather. jack carried on about how much he looooved KC and the beautiful weather!

They enjoyed "running off some steam!"

They met a balloon man who made jack a monkey (no way!) and Sam an alligator.

The we finished the day eating dinner at my favorite Mexican restaurant...Margaritas.
More tomorrow....

A Happy Song...

This song make s me happy...Jack enjoys dancing to this one!  Can you tell that I learned how to download YouTube videos!!

Marcel the Shell..

There have been many questions and inquiries about where I have been...the truth is, is that there hasn't been much going on to share.  But, don't worry, we are having a family outing this weekend and I am sure I will have much to share.  So, I will be back on "schedule" next Tuesday. 

As you wait for my return...enjoy the above video...Marcel is one cool shell!

Project Life Part 2...

I believe I am in the eighth week of Project Life and proud to say that I am still enjoying the process AND have stayed caught up! I have been asked several questions about the process (surprisingly that so many read my blog..yea!!) So I thought I would share more details....


I ordered my Becky Higgins Project Life from Amazon. You can choose from a yellow album or a turquoise. I opted for the turquoise, which is pictured above. Included in the "kit" is enough page inserts for an entire year, 2x3 journaling cards, and loads of number and day stickers. I do like the album that came with the kit, but it really isn't me, so...

I switched everything over to a We R Memory Keepers, three ring red leather album (available at Memory Bound in many other colors). This is my favorite album of all albums...LOVE the red!! Becky Higgins page refills fit in the We R albums...BONUS!!

A complete "week" is actually two of the above pages. All pages have four 4x6 inserts and four 2x3 inserts. The journaling cards are ones that came with the kit. This is my "cover" page. (side story: the picture of me taking my picture in the rear view mirror inspired me to start yoga...nothing like a double chin shot for an album! THEN someone asked me the other day if I was expecting...OUCH!! Jillian and Bob are my new best friends, as is yoga!)

I also use several 8 1/2 x 11 refill pages in my album. This one has the program from the play Strega Nona. I do scrap this size pages, too. I have used 8 1/2 x 11 pages for Sam and Jack's drawings, emails I have printed out, Jason's flight itineraries and much more that comes in this....

I also include the 12x12 layouts that I've created. I already have a similar picture in a 4x6 insert for that week, but I am not going to worry about removing the picture. I had already written "more of the story" on a 2x3 journal card, so this layout just adds to the story. Even if I had the exact same picture, I would not worry about removing the photo (at this time.) I include the 12x12 layout with the week that it occurred.

When we went sledding, I kept our "tags" from our coats...I really liked the photos we took that day, so I already had it in my head that I was going to scrap a layout of this event.

I must share that have scrapped more in the past month than I have for sometime. I am able to capture our everyday stories with "little" things (receipts, scraps, emails, hand-outs) and then scrap photos that I really love. I don't feel as if I have to scrap EVERYTHING the boys do, which I would previously attempt. I say attempt, because I have very few pages completed due to being overwhelmed by the process.


I have always wanted to save the boys' valentines, but just couldn't get a "photo" that would go with all the valentines. I then put them all in an envelope once, but that was unsuccessful. This year, i had the BOYS pick out the Valentines they wanted to keep and put them in trading card pages. They loved it! The one I am holding up is Sam's and then there's Jack's page. You will not find any "girly" valentines (princess, puppies or kitties)...we kept the candy, but NOT the valentine. I got all the "girly" stickers...lucky me!

another example of what I have kept...our Oscar ballots from Oscar night. I must share that i beat the movie mongol (aka Jason.) I predicted 17 correctly and Jason predicted 11 correctly. Girl Power!

I've been asked if I will get an entire year in one album.  If I keep up the pace that I have going at this time, then I will not get it all into one album...it will definitely be at least two albums.

I do not do the pages every week.  For January, i collected items for the month and put the pages together one weekend.  February has been different.  I keep items in an envelope and then put the page together as I have time. That is basically how i scrap and create...whenever I have a little time...and at night.

Junk Jubilee...in Des Moines!!

Isn't this exciting!  Iowa's first big Junk Jubilee. (love the name) For more information click here.  At this time, there doesn't seem to be tons of vendors, but I was told that some of the vendors are ones that attend The Junk Bonanza in Minnesota.  I think it will be worth the look in April!

What I am Reading...

I just finished reading Three Seconds by Swedish writers Roslund and Hellstrom.  It was pretty slow the first 150-200 pages.  I really didn't understand why Piet (the main character) was doing what he was doing and at times I was ticked off at him.  I even considered changing books because it just wasn't getting going! But once Piet was put in prison (which you read on the book flap) it gets AWESOME!!  I read the last 300 pages in two days.  I finally had to just sit and read it until I was finished.

This is the fifth book in a series, but there is no need to have read the first 4 to understand what was going on in the story.  There is a detective, Ewert Grens, that has a back story, but it doesn't drive the book by any means, and you do find out basically what had happened.  Also, of the four previous books, only one other book had been translated. 

I would definitely recommend this book, but be prepared to sit non-stop for the last 300 pages!!!