New beginnings...

So this spring marks new beginnings for all us in various ways. The kids are all growing like weeds, I have taken on a leadership role in the Cat Tails 4H Club, Andy is being hauled kicking and screaming into the 4H as well, just as slave labor as he puts it. But we all know he loves it! He will be helping to build a float for the 4th fo July parade this year for the 4H kids to walk/ride in. Um I will be speding much more time at home now due to budget constraints at work. (Sigh) So as a new goal I am going to be the best little housewife I can be, which will be rather limited since we all know that I proudly and loudly wear a sweatshirt that proclaims me Domestically Disabled.
Part of this new domestication will include learning to cook healthy food and food that tastes better, I hope to be able to find local sources for this, as well as our own garden. We will can this year. Or at least try. Thanks to the Freelands we have 400 jars sitting in the garage waiting for us! And to catalog all this we have launched another blog called The Garden Wars with everything pertaining to gardening and how green we can be. Should be interesting. I also intend to update this more frequently as it now seems to be a way for me to keep a tab on the things I do. Even if I am the only one reading it, it makes me feel better. So here goes....

Chicago Trip... China Town and Shedd Aquarium

When we left the Field Museum we went to China town where we found the biggest Pikachu Piggy Bank ever!!! It now resides in our home! LOL. Anyway here are some pics.... we also had to cross over the set of CHEATERS, apperantly a new movie in the works with Vince Vaughn and someone else, I can't remember. Took a picture of the guy, have no idea who he is... typical me. Any Ideas?









This pic is us leaving China Town. After our dinner that actually had fried chicken feet (no I wasn't that brave!, Not yet enough of Andrew Zimmerman) We had fun as always!
The next day we went to the Shedd Aquarium. It was a "discount day" as opposed to a free day like at the Field. So we wound up paying but it was worth it. I had never been there before so it was an awesome experience to see some of the exhibits, especially watching Xander watch the sea otters, and watching my mother discover the snake is a giant anaconda! that was priceless! And of course how often do you see an act with Beluga Whales??>??? But Dimon's favorite part... chasing seagulls! Xander and Izzy both loved the porpoise show and beluga whale show. I loved the Amazon Rising exhibit! So the kind of exhibit I would love to be in charge of cause lets face it, I'm a nerd!!! Here are some more pics!
After our day at the Shedd we went to Navy Pier. 2 words... LET DOWN!!!! The only good part was the water taxi ride over to it! Look at the picture of the fog coming in over the water!!! It was raining on the way which made it kinda fun. And pretty.






Navy Pier did give us this wonderful sign!!! Which I need one of my more artistic friends to make a project!!!!

Chicago!!!! Train and Field Museum

So our trip to Chicago was a blast! We went the second week of June, so yes this is late getting posted. First day we Field Museum, which was super fun! We stayed in Elmhurst which was just a train ride away from downtown. (about 30 minutes.) Dimon was thrilled to finally ride a train.The first group pic is from the train station in Elmhurst! We wandered through the museum until it closed and I rediscovered my inner geek! I know a lot of random information! It was awesome. Of course the picture of the day is here with mom and dad standing next to the big "life on earth began..." We saw robotic dinosaurs that we still can't convince Di that they were not really real, he kinda gets it, but he isn't sure we are tricking him. I can't imagime why he thinks we would do something like that. Xander loved the dinos as did Dimon. I think it was their favorite part. Looking at the bones they loved, and we saw Happy Feet (part of it) in 4D and watched a movie on how Sue the Trex would have grown up. We saw the baby mammoth that they found in Russia, and who is totally preserved! I'm such a nerd, it was awesome!!! The kids loved it. We loved the grandparents loved it, and the Uncle loved it. Life is good!

McCormicks Creek

So on July 31st we went to McCormicks State Park. It was a blast. the whole goal was to hike to the Waterfall. Well they have made it much easier to get to now. There is a stairway down to the creek now and so you don't have to scale treacherous rocks to get down the hill anymore, which is good when you are us! We got the bottom and discovered that to get to the waterfall we would have to find safe passage across the "raging" waters and stay dry. Well you can see for yourself how well that worked. I can say, I stayed pretty dry, I can also say I hate wet tennis shoes! But we had on our backpacks, 3 of them, one for me to carry, it had food, waters and diapers and camera in it. Izzy's had towels, Xander's had his toys. Cause if we are all going to have our backpacks then he had to have his too. It was cute he wouldn't leave the house without it. But of course Xander was also the first one to fall "victim" to the water. Ya he was so upset!!!

SWAPTREE.COM!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok so this is old news and some of you have heard about it, but for those who have not you have to check out this website!!!!!!!!!!! What you do is list books. dvds, and cd's and game systems games! Soooooo cool! All you have to do is list stuff you bought in a moment of weakness by entering the upc or isbn numbers. Then it pulls up a picture (most of the time) and puts it in your have list. Then you list things you want YOu can upload a list from AMaazon and some other site, or just look at what people have and say hey I want that and click the button and it will add it to your list. Then when someone has something you want and they have something you want you trade! All it costs you is the postage! Its awesome. Now it does ask for you credit card, but I think that is if you stiff someone. No mysterious charges have appeared so I"m not worried about it. But it is the best thing ever! We love it!!! Check it out, our user name is Pirates_Revenge.... huh wonder where that came from...
www.swaptree.com

Pink elephants do exist... without drugs!

Pink elephant spotted in Botswana

Wednesday, 25 March 2009

A baby pink elephant was sighted in the African country of Botswana on Friday by a filmmaker for the BBC as he was filming for a wildlife documentary. The cameraman took photographs of the elephant when he noticed it in a herd of around eighty elephants in the Okavango Delta. According to experts, it is most likely an albino, an occurrence that is very rare among African elephants. "We only saw it for a couple of minutes as the herd crossed the river", said Mike Holding, who spotted the elephant. "This was a really exciting moment for everyone in camp. We knew it was a rare sighting - no-one could believe their eyes." "I have only come across three references to albino calves, which have occurred in Kruger National Park in South Africa," said ecologist Mike Chase, who is in charge of the Elephants Without Borders conservation charity. "This is probably the first documented sighting of an albino elephant in northern Botswana. We have been studying elephants in the region for nearly 10 years now, and this is the first documented evidence of an albino calf that I have come across." The ecologist said that the condition might make it hard for the animal to survive for very long. "What happens to these young albino calves remains a mystery. Surviving this very rare phenomenon is very difficult in the harsh African bush. The glaring sun may cause blindness and skin problems," he noted. However, he added that it still might be possible for the elephant to survive, as it appears to be adapting to the condition: "Because this elephant calf was sighted in the Okavango Delta, he may have a greater chance of survival. He can seek refuge under the large trees and cake himself in a thick mud, which will protect him from the sun, " Dr Chase noted. "Already the two-to-three-month-old calf seems to be walking in the shade of its mother. This behaviour suggests it is aware of its susceptibility to the harsh African sun, and adapted a unique behaviour to improve its chances of survival." Information from: Wikinews, http://www.wikinews.org Image: BBC News

Cake Wrecks... must see

Ok so you have to check out this wonderful sight! Its all the things that can go wrong on cakes! Proffessional cakes! But they also post wonderful ones Its awesome and if you ever need a good laugh just go here!!!!!!!!!!
We are now in search of our first WRECK....

http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/

examples:::

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Naked Mohawk-Baby Carrot Jockeys

This cake is so disturbing, I'm almost glad the picture doesn't include the whole thing. The plastic clone babies wearing naught but mohawks are bad enough, but then they're also riding carrots. What do you do with that? It looks like some kind of perverted vegetable rodeo, or maybe a bizarre clone military exercise, what with their little plastic fists raised high in identical salutes.

And what kind of occasion calls for a "naked babies riding carrots" decor, anyway? No, wait, maybe I don't want to know...
and this is not even the best one she has on there!!! Check it out!

Wii

That's right proud ladies and anxious gents I said Wii as in me, mine, omega and alpha and I now own one. I received my birthday gift (finally!!!) (he he he) on the 8th because we spent the whole 5th, 6th, 7th (sniffle) and most of the 8th moving Larry, Ryan and for the heck of it Marie in to there new home, which by the way is a gorgeous house and we will put up pictures as soon as we are allowed to. (its a little messy right now). But the Wii is a beautiful device and I wish to thank the creators at Nintendo for there hard work and dedication to this moment that allowed me to achieve such glory and honored fame. I pledge to use my time in office to better the dull hours of not just myself and those who live with me, but to all American who claim a partnership in this pursuit of happiness. Stick with me and the next four years years will not only be better but with fun work and laughing dedication we will carry on through our elected time and rise to a golden age of family home entertainment. (ie I didn't vote) Come one, come all and we tear down the oppressive hours of boredom from reality TV and sad over run game shows. So as the funny little Japanese guys from the commercial say "Wii want you to play!"

p.s. all are welcome, but those with small gaming donations or rented playable (new) games may by shown some favoritism. Bribes welcomed! :)~
p.s.s. not responsible for long waiting lines
p.s.s.s we own two controllers, one numb chuck, wii play (game) and the system
p.s.s.s.s can also play any game cube games, but need to obtain controllers first.
p.s.s.s.s.s. if suggestion for bribe needed just contact via phone or e-mail (Mindy's only, I'm lazy and don't check mine)
P.s.s.s.s.s.s. ha ha ha, bet you thought this would be another one! Fooled you
p.s.s.s.s.s.s.s. Wii



p.s.s.s.s.s.s.s.s Have you ever ridden a cow?

8 feet is enough?

So we went Christmas Tree Hunting this past weekend, and as usual picked a huge tree out of the clearnce field. I think it was maybe 10-11 feet tall, probaly more. The picture to the left is our tree prior to trimmiming. Then there is how muych we had cut off.

OK, I'll take the blame this year for the tree. It is huge!!! Not that this should surprise anyone. Last year Andy had to take the blame for the tree, this year the fault is mine.

However it is very pretty and no one was complaining when I said make it 8 1/2 feet tall just in case. No I only hear about it once we get home and it hits the ceiling! I never claimed that I was good at estimating height, and if Andy had not opened his mouth at church then I would not be admitting to this, however since he told Ted Maxwell and Israel already knew, I'm pretty much having to cop to it.

Anyway we had a great time running around in the 29 degree weather, as you can see everyone was bundled, but we had a great time. Xander especially loved running between Papa and us, except for the time that he caught his leg in a twisty, throny vine, and being the intelligent person I am stepped on it and tried to pull him out. Needless to say that did not end well. I got him out after a minute or two of tugging and he screamed and ran, as I truend I realized I had just traded places with my son!

But we eventully chose the tree and had it cut down and wrapped and put on the car. It took 3 guys to get it on the top of the van!

Plus we looked like tourist with our camera. Oh well, luckily the owner remembers that I worked there one year making garlands. That was a very cold job. We had a great time and everyone had popcorn and hot cider (the boys had water) while the tree was being shook and wrapped.

Once we got home and got it in the house (Thank you Israel!) we started taking the wrapping off and Xan just thought that those vertical lines were the best thing ever! And Izzy got her little journal out and had to take notes and draw. Dimon just sat back and watched the show. We are now in the process of decorating, right now we have lights. I think that is all that is going up tonight. So here ends the tree saga, for now. (It's not bending at the top to much. Is it?)