Excuses

Excuses of why I haven't blogged...

Monkey Man running with a stick in his mouth, falling, and almost putting it through his sinus cavity. New scar.

Monkey Man getting sick at church...all over the nursery gate/children in the nursery as I picked up Rosebud.

First field trips. Chauffer Mom.

Cell phone that turns off...constantly...on its own.

Sick kids. Again.

Weekend guests for an all-girl's weekend.

Husband in Vegas. Fourth place out of 30 teams for Police Softball.

Draycare-when my kids aren't sick.

Low Milk Supply. (Nursing approx. every 2 hours)

Monkey Man's haircut. Drastic.

Bathroom Emergency Remodel. Ugh.

I have no other excuses. And no pictures (although I've taken TONS)

An Unexpected Blessing

My life has many blessings. This little girl is a huge one. She is laid back, smiley, giggly, and quiet. She actually seems to enjoy our impromptu photo sessions, unlike her brothers who would rather wrestle and whine and make crazy faces. Having two sons is also a God-given blessing...but did I mention she is quiet?

But the unexpected blessing this week came in the form of winning a photo contest over at Kelly's Closet...I won a $25 gift certificate to spend on their site. ~Thank you!~

This is not the photo I submitted for the contest. I will link to The Cloth Diaper Whisperer's blog when it is "officially" announced.

I am linking up to "The Long Road To China" as part of her "Black and White Wednesdays"

As Promised...

Over a week ago we went to the Detroit Zoo for a fundraiser. The monies raised went to the camp that I work at in the summer. We went with my parents as they are more involved with camp then I am.

We were able to catch up with many camp friends and enjoy some animals. Most of them were out and about as it was a chilly day and they were not all lethargic trying to stay cool (the animals not the camp friends). I think that the zoo is best in spring and fall when it isn't 100 degrees.

My aunt and uncle and cousin Melissa (with her boys) were also there. Cause they wanted to raise money for camp...OR because she had an announcement for me WAHOOOOOO. Congrats on baby #3!

Snug and Jayce are good buddies. We try to get them together a few times a year because neither one have any first cousins. Being just a few months difference in age, we plan on our kids growing up together and hope they have the friendship their moms still enjoy. After the zoo we also went to a family game night at my aunt and uncle's house and my boys got a few minutes of play with some other second/third cousins before they went to bed.

Snug, when he wants to be, is a detail guy. He'll probably mention the footprints in the cement in five years when he talks about this trip to the zoo. Seriously, he does that kind of thing all the time. Can't remember the name of any classmates at school (that aren't from out church/daycare), but he can describe the rug down to the last fiber.

I brought a hat for Rosebud, a hooded sweatshirt for Snug, but I forgot a hat for Monkey Man. Often his hair is enough insulation, but parts of this day were really chilly, especially when there was wind. He loves my hat I got from my brother and SIL (from Norway!) and chose to make it his for most of the day.

I loved this peacock. There were lots of them free in the zoo (anyone know why? I couldn't figure it out). This one though was letting Monkey Man get super close to him. I didn't let him touch it because I didn't want him pecked...but it was incredible.

I was even able to get this shot of his beautiful tail...my lens was literally about a foot from it when I took the shot.

Rosebud was less than impressed with the zoo. She is in an underwater exhibit here, excuse her odd coloring. She chose to sleep in a sling about 90% of the day.

I think Monkey Man's favorite part about the zoo was the amphibians and the reptiles. There was this one snake that kept crawling slithering (?) up the glass and he thought it was the most fantastic thing he'd ever encountered. More than once I looked around and saw he was no longer beside me but back a few aquariums looking at his favorite exhibit.

The Arctic exhibit is always a favorite. You can see polar bears and seals both outside and in a tunnel system where they can swim over you. They are not in the same habitat...it just appears that way.

I had to laugh at the sign by the hippo. It was an old folktale based on the fact that you never see a hippo out of the water in the daytime, only at night. Clearly they hadn't met this hippo. I think it was probably because it was so chilly out.

Snug doing his best kangaroo jump. You can see a Wallaby in the background. There are Wallabies, Wallaroos, and Kangaroos. Who knew?

After a long day at the zoo....the boys were tired. Not Rosebud though. After sleeping most of the day, she was well-rested and ready to play.

I took well over a hundred pictures...I edited and kept about 70. Seems like a long post, but it could have been much longer :o)

Nice.

Nice. It can mean so many things. But like soooo many other things, it totally depends on how you say it and not that you said it.

This past weekend we took the kids to a concert at the university I graduated from. It was homecoming. We also attended a parade where a friend of mine and I thought it would be fun to let seniors know that in _____ years they would be standing there with their children (her 2, my 3). I don't think they realize what they are in for. Anyway, back to the concert.

I would really like my kids to have a little culture in them. This concert featured most of the musical groups the university has to offer along with some faculty solos. Most of the music was classical. I had Monkey Man on my lap for part of it. As we watched the concert band play, I whispered "Nice! This is nice."

Then he proceded to say "nice" throughout the rest of the piece. I don't think anyone heard him as we were sitting pretty far from civilization and the piece was not quiet.

Fast forward to this afternoon when as I rushed to take off his diaper because he had to "potty". He had already made a deposit which I accidentally dropped on the bathroom floor in my haste. I muttered "nice." and started cleaning it up. From the potty I head "nice!" and as I look up he is pointing to the mess saying "nice!"

I can only imagine how he views classical music now...if both are nice...

Zoo pictures coming...I promise.

Before/After

I've never linked up to this blog before, but I found the weekly activity through A Little Lilac. I am participating in Pixel Perfect Before/After because, well, my pixels are far from perfect. My subject matter though...pretty close :o)
Above is my SOOC (straight out of camera) shot. Below is my after.

I used a camera my husband got to bring home from his Evidence Tech. school. I messed around with it in Photoshop Elements (like the first version ever created). I am pretty much brand new to photo editing, but it is fun!. I sharpened the image, adjusted the saturation, and used the clone tool to take out the grass in the upper right hand corner. Not happy with how that turned out, but hey...I'm just learning!

Pictures of our trip to the zoo last weekend coming up ASAP...hopefully before we start a new weekend :o)