Two Peas in a Pod

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Received this pic from Aunt Ashlee today in response to the note I'd put on this pic of E3 on our family blog. They really DO look alike in my opinion. Oh to be so cute...

I admit I'm not one of those mom's that cries on the first day of school.
I LOVED school. I love this time of year. I love the school supplies, the backpacks, the new clothes.
I love the excitement of a new start.
Luckily it seems like the kids like school, too. That makes me very happy.
Good luck munchkins! Your mom thinks you are great!!!

DISNEY SPRING 2010

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Just got back from 6 days in Disneyland. We had such a wonderful time. The weather was perfect, the park was beautiful, the fireworks and rides and parades were amazing. WE LOVE DISNEYLAND!

It was so nice to get away and be with the people I love best!!!!

Thank you Darren for being such an awesome hubby! I love you!! (and not just cause you give me everything I want) :)

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I spy...

a curious kitty with wet black feet,
good friends, a seagull, a snowy street,
an Irish dinner full of green,
a brown haired girl almost a teen

a girl jumping hurdles in rows,
a pair of darling little boy toes,
a daddy and a daughter out on a date,
video junkies staying up too late.

a wildcat swimmer, a plaque she won,
a Grandpa who always makes time for fun,
swimmers paddling for eggs to pick,
old ladies buying the new Edward flick.

a dreary month that was wet and gray
a family that always takes time to play.
a month that was never lamb, always lion
but provided some good pics for our "I spying".

Last year I could not find a box of girl scout cookies to buy ANYWHERE. Around late February I realized I had not been approached by anyone. I looked online and tried to buy them on the internet but with no success. I did find a local troop and sent them an email, but no response was ever received.
So this year when a darling little girl in her green sash knocked on the door accompanied by her darling little sister in her brown sash, I was very happy. I bought 12 boxes from her.
Later that night I got a call from JB asking if I wanted to buy cookies (WAHH!!). I did not even know she was a girl scout!!! I purchased a few boxes (hey sis let me know where to send the check and how much I owe). Later that week I seriously was approached by three other peope including a co-workers daughter, Ashlee's friend Stephanie's daughter, and the grandaughter of a colleague at ORS. Totally crazy.
Well today my girl scout cookies came and the same darling little girls were on my front porch proudly holding a rather large pile of cookies. This time they were accompanied by another little sister who could not have been much more than 2 years old. They were so stinking cute. I told them that MY sister and I were girl scouts too..... and I got a little teary eyed. Wanted to show them my sash.... and show them my camp pictures.... but then I realized yeah that's a little weird. I even refrained from making them my picture of the day as I didn't figure their parents would appreciate a total stranger taking a picture of their daughters.
But I did come down and dig through my files and find the above picture. I know I have a picture of Regina leading me around the "magic pond" that I looked in when I became a brownie. I know it was really mom's big mirror off the wall as I remember being so worried that someone was going to STEP ON OUR BIG MIRROR AND BREAK IT. But that picture was not in my file. If I find it, I will share it too.
But here's to you sis! You may love Samoa's and I may love Thin Mints but we are alike in the things that matter. Love you!

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February has come and gone
And though it's only 28 days long
The days were packed and full of fun
Can you spy the things we've done?

Can you spy an icecream treat?
A sad girl with a Colts defeat?
Four girlfriends partying hard?
An ice-cave in a snowy yard?

Can you spy a Jedi toy?
A red swim hat, a cute tall boy?
A family holding a bucket white?
Two black kitties that like to fight?

Can you see the love and care?
The friendship that we all can share?
Our attempts to live life higher?
If so you are a good "I Spyer"!

January 2010 - 197 pictures

I loved Regina's Christmas Card...
thought it would be fun to do my own for the month of January.


I spy....

a wildcat fish
a dirty dish
an orange basketball

a black church shoe
a pool that's blue
an RHS award wall

some Christmas sewing
some Children growing
a happy family one and all

Darren and I were invited to Zobell's Saturday night for their "Hearts Tournament". We had a great dinner then played several rounds of Hearts. I was excited as I shot the moon my very first hand (everyone else at my table was mad at me though). Out of the 28 people I won third place :) It was a fun night with my sweetheart and my friends who I love dearly.

That explains a lot....

My computer is running soooooo slooowwwwwwwwwww.

It is driving me crazy.

I have run out of storage space over and over again in the last few months. I've dumped information onto an external hard drive hoping that will help.

I have known all along that my picture files are the problem. My Canon Rebel is a 10megapixel and my Canon Powershot is a 12 megapixel so my file sizes are huge.

Today on a whim I added up how many pictures I took in 2009....

4,161

No wonder I'm having problems.

SHEFFER SHRIMP BOIL

My sister Ashlee lives in Durham, NC. We were lucky enough to have her home for Christmas.

On Christmas Day she treated the family to a Southern experience ... a shrimp boll.

It was so much fun that we decided to have some friends over Saturday night to repeat the experience.

 

These are our friends the Zobells and the Smiths.

They were really good sports and we had such a fun time. I think there must be something about your mouth burning from the seasoning and your hands slimy from the shrimp and your elbows on the table and the frosty sweetness of draft rootbeer that makes conversation flow and laughter quick.

Afterwards we played SCUM and any good bonding that developed from our dinner experience was quickly destroyed as we battled for dominion.

If you would like to have your own shrimp boil, here is the recipe. It really is as simple as boiling water (my kind of cooking).

Click on the picture to make it larger.

 

To have a great shrimp boil you will need:

Newspaper (they make clean up shockingly easy)
Old Bay Seasoning
Lemon (lots!)

And the following:

4 quarts water (16 cups)
1 can (12 ounces) beer (optional)(we used 1/2 cup Apple Cider Vinegar)
1/2 cup OLD BAY® Seasoning
2 tablespoons salt
8 medium red potatoes, quartered
2 large onions, cut into wedges
2 pounds lean smoked sausage, cut into 2-inch pieces
8 ears fresh corn, shucked and halved crosswise
4 pounds unpeeled jumbo shrimp (21 to 25 count)

Directions

1. Bring water, beer, OLD BAY Seasoning and salt to boil in 12-quart stockpot on high heat. Add potatoes and onions. Cook 8 minutes. Add smoked sausage. Cook 5 minutes. Add corn. Cook 7 minutes.

2. Stir in shrimp. Cook 4 minutes or just until shrimp turn pink.

3. Drain cooking liquid. Pour contents of pot into large serving bowl or platter. Or, mound on paper-covered table. Sprinkle with additional OLD BAY Seasoning, if desired.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO???

So I'm in the bank yesterday getting my new debit card re-pinned (is that a word?) and as I am waiting in line I see a big sign that says,

"GET YOUR PICTURE ON YOUR VISA!!!!"

And my first thought is ... cool...that is really a good idea. It would be like picture ID built into your credit card.

But then I got thinking...

What picture would I put on it?

It's not like moms get their picture taken regularly like the kids do for school. And I have been very good so I have not had any mug shots taken as of late....
And my passport photo is so scary it makes me ashamed to leave the country.

So I was thinking if I DID get my picture on my visa.... I would need to get a picture taken.
And then I thought I should get one of those glamour shots. You know the crazy over-the-top ones where I'd have big Utah hair and actually be wearing makeup and be wearing a leather bustierre. Kind of like the picture that Darren's old high school girlfriend sent us a few years ago in her Christmas card to the family.... :)

And I started laughing to myself imaging the look on each future cashiers face as I hand them my Visa with a picture of crazy slutty 36 year old Sonja pouting on the front. And I start giggling. And then I realize people are looking at me including the bank tellers. One appears to have her finger poised on the panic button. And then I realize I must be laughing out loud. And then I realize that maybe I have been working at home too much and need to get out more.

So if you added your picture to YOUR visa... what would it be???

WEEK OFF

This week I did something I've never done before...

I took a day off just because.

Actually I took a whole WEEK off just because.

Granted, it was not a full week as Monday was a holiday. And I did end up working last Friday to get some things done. And I did have to call in and do an hour long training for some new supervisors on Wednesday that are converting the beginning of next month to our new computer program.

But other than that, I've had several days with absolutely nothing to do except what my little devious self could come up with.

I never take time off unless I have a reason... such as a vacation or a swim meet or illness. And I guess this time off kind of counts as illness as quite frankly I was feeling a little crazy. Seriously. I have been under stress since about March and it was starting to catch up to me. Lately it's been one of those force myself out of bed to go to work kind of things. So I decided to take a break and use up some the comp time I keep earning from working overtime.

So what did I do during my time off?

So far I've scrapbooked like a mad woman.... finishing big projects like Darren and I's trip to the Bahamas in Sept 2008 and finishing pages in the kids books I had been putting off (like Christmas 2007 and 2008. I have a mental block against scrapping Christmas.... there are just SO MANY PICTURES).

 

I also catalogued all our Christmas ornaments by taking a picture of each one and recording them on a spreadsheet. I have some albums to slip them into as soon as I get the rest of the pictures back from the printshop.

I typed all my rag-tag recipes gathered from magazines and friends into WORD so I could use my laptop as a recipe book. Plus I plan to add pictures of dishes and the people whom I received the recipes from.

I finished my Pottery Barn knock-off Advent Calendar with cute little pockets:
 

I found Nathan's black church shoes that have been missing since October (yep... look close in our family Christmas picture and you will see he has BLACK SOCKS on...)

 

And I've slept. A lot. And I've read. A lot. And I've felt the stirrings of the real me that has been hiding beneath the facade of the work robot. And it has felt great.

I admit I have not been super mom and made dinner every night and cookies every afternoon. I didn't exercise and I didn't get through my project list. But the laundry is done. And the house is cleaner than usual. And despite the fact that I'm not a domestic diva, the kids have been happier. E1 just told me she "likes having me around" which is really kinda scary considering I work from HOME! Darren said, "Wow you sure have been happier this week" which is code for "wow you are not psycho woman this week". My first instinct is to say DUH but he does have a good point. I need to stop obsessing about work so much and remember that there is more to life than the computer.