Past Post Parade

Elaine at the Miss-Elaine-ous Life is having a Past Post Parade. It's a great way to get to know bloggers that you haven't been following for a long period of time.

In order to participate, I've resurrected a few old posts from the past. I present to you, my readers, my favorite blog entries of 2007. (Is it bad if when you look back at your posts you don't even want to read them?)
January: 2007 is Here!
February: Friends...
March: First Mohawks and Heart Stopping Moment
April: Introducing Royalty and If There is Clutter
May: This is What Happens, Happy Mother's Day, We're 1 1/2 Years Old
June: She Made My Day
July: Emetic Recipe, I Detest the Smell of that Flower, Nine Years
August: Would You Like to Take a Walk...
September: Books, 150th Post and I'm It!
October: What did your kids do today? Hot tip #5, Duct tape
November: Words that make me walk....
December: Sunday Scribblings, Favorite Christmas Conversation, My Favorite Day, Tell all Thursday

This is what I found: The first part of the year was pretty boring. I started writing about more meaningful things in July, which just happens to be the month I had Laser Eye Surgery. August was spent working, October my kids got into alot of trouble, November marked my first "give-away, my blog's Birthday and my 200th post, and December I visited more blogs, entered writing contests, and saw visits to my blog increase to 100 a day (which was HUGE for me way back then!)

Wordful Wednesday-Recovered

*Wordful Wednesday is for those of us that like to showcase a photo(s) but that just can't seem keep our mouths shut about it(them). If you'd like to play along, post a photo on your blog, and let the words roll. Feel free to "capture" my 7 Clown Circus button on the left to link back to me, and be sure to add yourself to Mr. Linky. Thanks for playing along!

Look what hubby recovered.

Yep. These are just a few of my photos "found". From the past 5 years. The one's I thought I'd lost.

My heart broke last week thinking that I had lost all of my pictures, especially the collection of pictures from the twins birth and NICU stay.

I've completed albums for my other children, but I haven't for the twins, so the thought that all pictorial reminders of their birth and first year were gone left me with a knot in my stomach.

The first picture was taken in the operating room directly after the twins birth at 33 weeks. I remember how light they were. They felt like a baby doll.

The second picture is one of the babies in the NICU a few days after birth. They were such little peanuts!

Tuesday's Tribute-To health

Yet Another Jay and Deb Production

Today I'm roasting healthy bodies.

I was going to tell you about Lola and how well she has acclimated to her new home. And that I'm pretty sure my husband loves her more than I do. I made her a "she" for him, by the way. I knew that they had a connection when I saw that she had Blu-ray. I was right.

But, then I started thinking.......thankful for the new woman in my life? No thanks.

I wanted to talk about something with meaning. So, let's talk substance.

Our health.

I'm afraid this might be a slap in the face to those that have health issues that complicate their quality of life. It isn't meant to. Rather, it's a way to say that I'm thankful, yet not boastful of my health.

So many things have happened recently that have made me grateful for the healthy body that houses my spirit.

I've been able to birth babies.

I can get on the floor and play with my children.

I can walk. I can run. I can do just about anything I want to with it.

It's healthy.

And that's a blessing and pretty darn amazing.

I'm grateful.

Lucky you.....

You all missed it.

The crying, screaming. Gnashing of teeth. Pulling of hair.

That's what I've been doing all week.

You see, BOTH of my computers became infected with a nasty virus and decided to crash on me.
Which wouldn't be such a big deal (yeh, right), except all of my photos from the last 5 years were on my computers... And I hadn't backed them up.

I can see you shaking your head.

I know. It's my fault. I was too cheap to keep up my anti virus software.

No need to feel sorry for an idiot.

I'm just saying.........I'm over it. Almost. Partly because I turned 34 years old early for gift purposes ONLY and just received Lola. She's my new computer. She's sassy and had better give me a few good years. Or else.

So, while I'm trying to figure out how to catch back up, head on over to Mom It Forward and tell me what you think about todays article. Pretty please?

P.S. My thoughtful husband also bought me an external hard drive and anti virus software so I don't cripple his wallet again in the near future. Wasn't that nice of him?

Wordful Wednesday- From The *HEART* Baking

*Wordful Wednesday is for those of us that like to showcase a photo(s) but that just can't seem keep our mouths shut about it(them). If you'd like to play along, post a photo on your blog, and let the words roll. Feel free to "capture" my 7 Clown Circus button on the left to link back to me, and be sure to add yourself to Mr. Linky. Thanks for playing along!

For Valentine's Day the kids and I did some baking. For the first time ever we made a heart shaped Red Velvet Cake, which I'm pretty sure had about 2000 calories per slice. Translation: SUPER yummy, but if you're watching your waist line, I'd beware. The frosting is to die for. Marshmallow. Cream cheese. Coconut. Pecans. Butter. Heaven.

*For the recipe, click here. Thanks, Stephanie at Live.Love.Eat for sending me the link!

We also made heart shaped pretzels. They were OK. Fun to make, but a little too hard, crunch wise. Next time I'll decrease the bake time for sure. We just made regular pretzel dough in the bread maker and then added red food coloring to the egg white to brush over the top before baking for color.

I hope your Valentine's day was as nice as mine, spent with my hubby and kids at home!

Tuesday's Tribute-Authors

Yet Another Jay and Deb Production

My life would be so different without books.

Honestly, I can't remember a time that books didn't satisfy my soul in some way.

I *HEART* books. With a passion. And sincerely THANK their authors.

I just picked up a "load" of books from the library that have been highly recommended by my friends, which makes this girl, VERY happy.

The book that got me most excited, though? The one on top. With the black cover. That's that one that I've already read cover to cover and some parts twice. THE HUNGER GAMES. Lula at Lulaville recommended it to me MONTHS ago and I just got my hands on it. Speaking of Lula, she has incredible taste in every thing. Notably books. I'm just saying.

Here's what else is going to keep me occupied for the next few weeks:

Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale

The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant

River Secrets by Shannon Hale

The Lady and the Unicoren by Tracy Chevalier

Falling Angels by Tracy Chevalier

Burning Bright by Tracy Chevalier

Sundays at Tiffany's by James Patterson

The Space Between us by Thrity Umrigar

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

If you know of a book that I MUST read, Please, Please list it in the comment section.

Project Happy Hearts

Do you know Kasey from Chronicles of a Mommy? If not, you should. Put stopping by her site on your to-do list.

Recently, she wanted to organize something in Tuesday's honor. You've all heard of Tuesday by now, right? She prayed and thought a lot about this. She said,

"I wanted to turn this ache that I feel into positive energy and honor Tuesday's time here. I know that her story did not end with her time here on earth. I have teamed up with Tabitha at A FiveOhFour Uplifting. Tabitha, along with her family, have a mission to organize goody bags for ALL children with ALL illnesses along with women & children in homeless shelters. This month her family is donating all of the goody bags in Tuesday's honor. The recipients of these bags will be the patients of the San Antonio Methodist Children's Hospital. Please visit A FiveOhFour Uplifting to see how you can help."

Through Tabitha, she also found the Make A Child Smile organization. This organization provides information for people, like you & me, to write uplifting and spirited letters to children with chronic illnesses.

So, Kasey affectionatly dubbed this her little venture {Project Happy Hearts}. She asked each of her readers to donate to A FiveOhFour Uplifting's mission and/or write a letter to a child in Tuesday's honor.

So, this is how we helped make someone's heart smile in Tuesday's honor. Emma wrote a story about a Strawberry for a sick child, and we're hoping that it brightens their day.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S Day!

Writer's Workshop-5 Favorite things

Here are the prompts:
1.) What was the first CD (or record or cassette) you ever purchased? Write about the way that particular album made you feel then. Write about how it makes you feel now. writersdigest.com
2.) You were recently laid off. Instead of moping around, you've viewed it as a chance to start fresh. Pick a new career and write about your first day on the job.writersdigest.com
3.) List your five most recent favorite things.
4.) I'm hungry. Share your very favorite recipe!!

And I chose:

What else? My five most recent favorite things.
I've had a cell phone for years. But for the past few, it hasn't done me a whole lot of good. Where we lived in Oregon I didn't get reception at home, and most areas I frequented had patchy service as well. Then we moved here, and I just couldn't be bothered worrying about keeping it on my person, or even charged for that matter.

When Jeff bought me this phone for Christmas I was a bit skeptical. Did I really need a phone with a full keypad? Internet access and a pretty large display screen?

That would be heck yes. I use it constantly. I can check my email from my phone. I can text. I had never texted before. Ever. I can check the traffic. And movie times. I can find the cheapest gas prices and make restaurant reservations. I can *gasp*....go on-line.

Let's just say it's my new best friend. I think I need to name him/her. Any suggestions?


My Oreck vacuum has been my pal for a long time. But, since we've moved here it's really been good to me. See, I'm a little OCD about stuff on my carpet. The carpet in this house is a dark, solid color. Every little fleck shows up. I vacuum a lot. Like more than once a day.

You know about my designer jean obsession. May I present to you Rock and Republics? I LOVE these jeans. They are the perfect date jeans. This is why: They have a lower rise so they aren't the best for daytime kid wrangling. But, the low rise looks really great on, and they are perfect for a night on the town. So, if you are looking for a pair of jeans to make you look and feel sexy, go check Rock and Republics out.

Moving along. Mineral powder for the face. Somehow, I was late jumping on this bandwagon, but I'm Oh. SO. Glad. I finally did. No more foundation. Super easy application and it really does make one's face look fresh!

Lastly, linen spray. I love this one from Bath and Body Works because it's really subtle. It has just enough fragrance to smell great but not to give me a headache.

What are your favorite things? Wanna play?

Head on over to Mama Kat's place.

Wordful Wednesday-Bounty shoot

*Wordful Wednesday is for those of us that like to showcase a photo(s) but that just can't seem keep our mouths shut about it(them). If you'd like to play along, post a photo on your blog, and let the words roll. Feel free to "capture" my 7 Clown Circus button on the left to link back to me, and be sure to add yourself to Mr. Linky. Thanks for playing along!

First order of business.....I want to thank all of you for playing along each week. I really do enjoy your Wordful's and look forward to many more visits. Last week we hit 125 participants! WOW!

Now, on to the photo. This was taken last week at a Bounty Commercial shoot that the twins did. It was their first commercial, and was so much fun for all of us. They got the royal treatment with their own trailer, a catered lunch and thier very own "teacher". All standard for this sort of thing, but new to us.

Children at this age are unpredictable, so they (production) usually have a "back up" child(ren). In this case, the "back up" twins were twins that work a lot. A lot, a lot. If you watch the show they have been regulars on since they were babies, you'd definitely recognize them. Anyway, it was nice to pick their moms brain, and also cool that my twins got the principle role without a call-back.

Now, before you go looking for the commercial, you should know that it is offically a "non-airing" commercial, meaning it was produced for a test audience. I'm crossing my fingers that it has positive feedback.

Musical Monday-Love on the Rocks

Or, more to the point, what reminds you?

Does this remind anyone else of anything? Like a movie? Probably not. Because I'm older than most of you. But, it was only like the hot song from The Jazz Singer, 1980. The first movie I recall seeing in the theater. Yes, I know. Totally appropriate for a 5 year old. What can I say? I didn't take myself! :)

Don't forget to head over to Jori's place to see what's moving others today!

Wordful Wednesday-toilet edition

*Wordful Wednesday is for those of us that like to showcase a photo(s) but that just can't seem keep our mouths shut about it(them). If you'd like to play along, post a photo on your blog, and let the words roll. Feel free to "capture" my 7 Clown Circus button on the left to link back to me, and be sure to add yourself to Mr. Linky. Thanks for playing along!

Some people absolutely-under-no-circumstances allow their children "play" that is not "appropriate" to their gender. Like girls playing with matchbox cars, or boys playing dress up.

I'm not one of them. I allow my boys to play with their sisters dolls. When an extra princess is needed for their fairy tale castle, I don't hesitate to call in help if the "help" is willing. Sometimes the help isn't. And that's OK, too.

My girls play in the dirt with their brothers..and you know what? Everyone is happy. I LOVE to see my children all play together.

The other day I almost died. Seriously haven't laughed so hard in a long time.

I present to you, proof that dresses are cumbersome.

I would tell you who this is, but I'm thinking that when he's older, if he doesn't appreciate this picture going public (which I know he won't), he will at least appreciate that I didn't rat out exactly who it is. :)

*Apologies in advance for not making it around to see your Wordful's in a timely manner. Exciting stuff going on around here that will keep me away from the computer for a few days.

Tuesday's Tribute-Cancer Awareness

Yet Another Jay and Deb Production

My uncle died when I was 14. I expected it, yet I was totally and completely shocked. Actually, upon reflection, I don't think it was shock; rather, it was denial. I thought he was getting better. The last time I saw him he was smiling, and eating. And he hadn't done that for a long time. He looked better, like he was turning around.

What I didn't comprehend the last time I saw him was that he had been sent home for a reason. There was nothing left that they could do for him. He wasn't getting better, and so he was send home to die surrounded by those that loved him, in the comfort of his own home.

I wish they had told me. Had made me realize that that visit was the last. That he wasn't ever going to get better.

I think maybe I knew it, but a confirmation might have been nice. Or maybe not.

I remember not knowing what to say. Knowing, but not knowing that we didn't have any plans to make, no future to discuss. No more trips to Hollywood to hang out and explore.

I remember feeling like a stupid teenager, not having the words to bring up anything with substance to talk about. Uncertain how to act.

So, I avoided the room and pretended that it didn't hurt that someone I loved was dying right before my very eyes.

And then, like the moron that I was, I asked my grandma if I could have this Chanel bag that I saw and figured he wouldn't be needing anymore. She asked him (I thought she'd just give it to me) and he told me that I could have just asked him directly. I felt like a jerk.

He was ready to confront what I wasn't. I still regret asking for that bag for a lot of reasons, but mainly because it repesents my inability to express what I wanted to. It shows how emotionally immature I was. And it overshadows my goodbye.

Do I remember hugging or giving him a kiss goodbye? Nope. I remember asking for a ridiculous freebie bag.

I didn't even keep it. It was a stupid, glossy, paper Chanel bag.

He shouldn't have died. He was young. Too young. Yet he did. I felt powerless, and still sort of do. I've always wished there was something that I could have done.

The reality is, that nothing I could have done would have saved him. But, things I can do, things we can all do, just might help save someone else.

Today's Tribute goes out to those that have or are battling with cancer. And to those that are taking steps to raise cancer awareness. Like Jay of Halftime Lessons.

(Click on the button below for more information.)

And Kasey at Chronicles of a Mommy.


In honor of Tuesday, with much thought and prayer, Kasey has decided to DO something, and we can help. Please visit her site for more details.

Twisted Silver Romance Bracelet Winner & More

Congratulations, Shel! You won the Twisted Silver Romance bracelet, just in time for Valentine's Day. Lucky you!

Also, Mamarazzi's is having another fun swap. Come join the fun. To participate, you need to RSVP, ASAP.