1st Birthday Party!

Technically 2 weeks early, but when this is the time all the grandparents can be present... that's when it happens!

The Froggy Man's Birthday!

Mmm, I like candles!

I'm not so sure about this frosting stuff...

Mama, get it off, it's slimy!

I'm not sure I like the taste either...

Oh, okay, now I've got the good stuff!

All gone, more please!

See Grandpa, it's so good I have to eat the plate!

I get lots of cool presents.
Watch out Hollywood!

I have friends at my party
and I share my balloons.

Grandpa is just plain silly!

Actually, so is great-grandma!

The party was a great success. More pictures to follow, including the froggy man birthday cupcake cake, but I'm exhausted from this weekend and going to bed! The guest at the party from farthest away was Auntie Allison, who came all the way from Boston!

Wild Crazy Weekend Update

It's not short. It's an update. I'm still recovering from the craziness!

Last Wednesday I left for Portland. Apparently I have a lead foot... because I made it to The Dalles in just over 4 hours including stopping to feed Cory lunch. (Hi Mom and Dad) It was nice though because it was a beautiful day and there was hardly anyone on the road. Plus there's a detour going on in the Columbia Gorge so I drove on the Washington side up high on the cliff and it was an amazing view! Sometimes you just need a new perspective, no?

Stopped to visit Cory's great-grand parents in The Dalles for a few hours.

They always feed us well. Plus Grandpa gave me a whole bag of jelly beans... and then proceeded to tell me that he had a candy dish full as well... bad idea! I ate most of them that afternoon. He wouldn't take the bag back though so I passed it on to the other great-grands the next day!

Got to our lovely friends Jason and Amber's in the evening and stayed up way too late talking. (which we did every night)

Thursday I drove down to Newberg to see the other set of great-grand parents.

Cory ate the food in the dining room like a pro... I think he even ate more than Grandpa for dinner! ;) He also found the bells they had and loved the fact that he could bang them against the door to get even more noise. These are "official" camel bells from Saudi Arabia!


(side note: how crazy is this? apparently I am going to get to visit this mystical land in about a year! Wow.)

Another random thing, driving back up to Portland I needed to stop and get some glasses at Bed Bath and Beyond. I have a number on my cell phone for Free 411. I managed to remember on the 3rd try which suburb the store was in, get the number, and find out if they were still open. Then I asked if they had my style of glasses in stock and if they could put them at the front counter for me. Which made my trip to the store way shorter than it would have been. Amazing things these cell phones. How did we live without them?

Friday after dropping Amber at her doctor's appointment (3 weeks until the baby's due!) I decided I was going to wash their floors for them. Picture this. Hardwood floors. Months of remodeling. 2 large greyhounds in rainy (read muddy) Portland. And Miss Amber not being able to really do housework. Equals me having to change the water in the mop bucket about a dozen times. I felt really good when it was done... until the dogs came back in and the next day it was muddy again! No offense Amber, but I don't think I could ever do dogs and hardwood floors together! ;)

Then we went to lunch at this funky little Mexican place. Can you all tell me since when does picadillo (shredded beef) equal hamburger with raisins, potato chunks, and some other thing I can't remember at the moment? It was weird. So much for my taco salad. Oh, and they had raw onions in the lettuce. Ugh.
Next door was a kids re-sale shop with a hyper opinionated pregnant lady ticked off because there were guys tarring the roof and smelling the place up. Crazy!

We finally made it to the mall (Lloyd Center for those of you who care) to meet Gina and Addison for about an hour and use my 20% off coupons at The Children's Place and Gymboree. I got some awesome cute shirts for Cory to wear at some special occasions coming up! Yes, there will be pictures.

This now put us at almost 5pm and we still had to get back to Amber's house, feed Cory, and get out to the airport hotel where the Discovery Toys conference was by 6pm. Even with Jason offering to watch Cory we didn't make it.

I can never be on time for anything. I wish it weren't true, but it is.

Poor Jason had quite the evening with Cory. He was fine until eating dinner he managed to choke on his water and got freaked out. Jason called me to ask how he should comfort him and I told him to pick him up and asked if he needed us to come home. No... but when we got home we discovered that he had been walking with him for the better part of an hour... and he had noodle arms! Part of the problem was that Cory had had about an hour nap all day. Not a great combination. Welcome to parenthood Jason! He mentioned he was glad babies don't start at 21 pounds...

Saturday morning we didn't make it to the 9am start. We had Cory with us and he did pretty well. He finally fell asleep in my new Ergo baby carrier, but we woken up when the lady finished her talk and everyone clapped with their little plastic clapping hands. Weirdness galore!

Cory likes the balloon we brought home from the decorations!

We were supposed to have an hour and 15 minutes for lunch. We had 45. Not quite enough time to get back to Jason and Amber's for lunch when it's 20 minutes each way. So we went, I fed Cory while they packed me a lunch, and I turned around and drove back. Cory took a good nap and then after the conference we met at the new IKEA for dinner! Those places rule! But seriously there's almost so much stuff it's too overwhelming to even know where to start. Too many choices.

One really sad thing, it was my mom's birthday and I was hoping to get her some yummy almond pastries they have... but I got all the way to the Bistro at the end to discover they don't carry them. Apparently this is a corporate store and the one in Seattle where I've always gotten them is a franchise so they carry different things. I was so bummed.

Sunday I actually got to sleep in because Cory was tired and went back to sleep in the morning. Yay! But that meant that by the time we got all packed up and back to the mall it was already after 1pm and that was my leave-Portland goal time. Ugh. We did manage to get out of there pretty fast going to 5 stores to get things I needed. (this is what happens when you live in the boonies, going to the city means you have to go to the mall!) So 4pm and I'm finally leaving only to get to Troutdale (read - cheapest gas around) and find that half the pumps are closed because they only have one attendant on duty. Stupid Oregon rule that won't let you pump your own gas. It literally took me half an hour to get gas.

I made it home about 10:15 with no major mishaps other than one semi-truck on the detour portion of the road who thought it would be okay to drive in my lane on a corner and almost hit me head on. I really wished there'd been a police officer there... I had a bit of adrenaline going for awhile!

Hard to believe that was only 5 days... And now I am mostly recuperated...

Is anyone still reading? :) Congratulations. I think you have just made it through the longest blog post in history!

Contests Galore!

The winner of my Tyson Chicken Giveaway, Danielle, has contacted me. Thanks to everyone who entered.

Let's see, there are so many fun things going on around the blogosphere this week... the least of which is the Blog Party at 5 Minutes for Mom!

Then, there's my new favorite book review site, The Friendly Book Nook! I need to start keeping a list of all the books from their site I want to read! It actually helps that the mom in Costa Rica was our school principal's wife when I was down there way back in 2001! They're having a March contest to get the word out!

An Island Life is giving away $300 to Mommy Tags. You have to visit the Mommy Tags site and find a favorite piece of jewelry and leave a comment at An Island Life. But the stuff is so neat!

simple is giving away $100 to BabyScholars. All you have to do is leave a comment.




In honor of her new book, Sister to Sister, (which I have won a copy of and can't wait to read!) Virginia Smith is giving away a $500 shopping spree! Go here to enter and would you pretty please enter my email as the "referer" so I can have an extra entry? Hey, I told you about it, right? :) Thanks! (teacherkrista at gmail dot com)

You can also go here to enter to win a Bed and Breakfast stay sponsored by HarperCollins in honor of DiAnn Mills new book Awaken My Heart. This one I haven't read yet and my library doesn't have it... I can't wait!

Last but not least... you can win $100 to Toys R Us from Kidazy.com just for writing a post on your own blog. That would be fun, and I can think of a lot of things that aren't toys I could get there (hello, BabiesRUs!).

Now, go forth and contest!

Blog Party!

Due to the fact that I have been out of town since Wednesday and I'm just not quite together enough to have a post done ahead of time...

It's time for the Ultimate Blog Party!





So, if you are new to my blog, here's the intro:
I'm a stay-at-home mom, housekeeper, wanna-be chef, and crafter extraordinaire (at least according to my husband!).

I run a Discovery Toys business and that's where I was this weekend, at the Spring Kick-Off! There are tons of new toys and great old ones so check them out if you have a minute. (and email me if you want to order anything)

I live in the Great Northwest and it is finally spring here! My irises are popping up and my roses are showing little buds. It was warm enough for me to go outside in my bare feet this morning and get all the dead blooms off. I know, I'm not a gardener so please excuse the lateness of that activity!

This blog is where I write about my life, mostly that having to do with my son, Cory! He'll be a year old at the end of this month and this is update central for my in-laws and friends who live far away.

I hope you come back often, but for now, go visit all the other party bloggers!

Free Chicken Anyone?

The winner was #14, Danielle. Congrats! If I don't get a response within 2 days I will pick a new winner!

Edit: Please don't forget to leave your email address or your entry will not count!

It's time for my own little giveaway!

Here's the scoop. A couple months ago I won 10 coupons for free Tyson chicken from Momsational. I used half of them and then my local Fred Meyer quit carrying Tyson brand. And they were the only store around that did. (we are kinda spoiled around here anyway because Foster Farms is darn good chicken so that's what our stores carry)

So... my loss is your gain!

If you live in a place where your stores carry Tyson brand chicken then please leave me a comment with an email address.

I have 5 coupons left. If I get more than 30 comments I will pick 5 winners. Otherwise I will pick one winner and you will get all 5.

This contest will be open until Sunday, March 9th at 9pm Pacific time.

Please note that these coupons are only good for fresh Tyson chicken usually found in the meat section. i.e., you can't get the prepared frozen bags of chicken. You can get one package up to $10 worth. I could never find a package that was worth $10, but if you can, go for it!

***

There's also a neat contest going on over at simple for a fun Animal Upon Animal stacking toy by Haba. This contest is sponsored by Kangarooboo.

11 months old!

Seriously, where does the time go?!!

Here are the pictures of my not-so-baby-boy yesterday on his 11 month birthday...

I am into everything and I found a golf ball that Daddy confiscated from a student. I steal anything I can get out of his tray including the licorice mints from Grandma, a small Nalgene full of dice (this one I really like because it rattles), pens, keys... look out, you'll never be able to find your keys Daddy!

Pet the bunny. He's my friend!


I'm fascinated by his ears...


Look at me Mom, I'm just too cute!

This past month... Cory finally got the matching tooth on the bottom so he has 8 teeth. He's started clapping. He will take one step for Brian (and then lean and expect to be caught) if placed standing in front of him. He is into EVERYTHING! We've tried to teach him to stay out of the kitchen. ie, don't cross the line where the carpet changes to linoleum. This morning I was not paying attention (okay, I was hoping he would play and let me nap on the couch) and I heard him start "talking". I got up and found that he had crawled into the kitchen and pulled himself up on the chair where I set his tray. He was eating his Cheerios off the tray. It was so cute I couldn't punish him. I guess he was trying to tell me it was time for breakfast!

Hair today, gone tomorrow...

Or, er, yesterday!

And guess what! My magical computer doctor fixed my computer! So I can actually post pictures ($230 later). He had a replacement motherboard from another identical laptop that he charged me below market price for. Yay!

And in case you think I got ripped off, I did not. It would have cost $160 just to get all the data off my computer (think thousands of lost pictures) and I still would not have had a computer. So I'm happy with this situation! (yes, I will now be backing up all my pictures on CD on a monthly basis!)

Now, on with the show.

Cory has been pulling my hair like crazy. He thinks it's a handle. Sometimes I don't mind, but I was thinking short would mean he could only get into it when I let him.

Here you can see how long it was in the "before" shot.

For the 3rd time in my life I have donated my hair to Locks of Love. If you're thinking about cutting off some long hair make sure you donate it. It's for kids who have cancer so they can have wigs. Awesome.

Are you ready?

This is what my hair looked like after the cut and style (note: it will never look like this again!)

This is what my hair will probably look like on a more regular basis.

I am not and will never be a girl who spends more than 15 minutes on her hair on any normal day (getting dressed up fancy is a totally different story!)

And this is a pretty good self portrait of me and the boy!

Yay, to the grandparents for letting us borrow the camera while ours is getting repaired!

Milestones

Just a note to let you know what Cory's been up to! (other than a cold that won't go away)

He has learned how to clap his hands and it's SO. DARN. CUTE! He usually only claps once or twice and then he wants to clap on your hands - kind of like giving you 5's.

He was also being super cranky and clingy today and I couldn't figure out why... until I realized that he was getting that 4th tooth on the bottom. At least he won't be lopsided anymore!

So Long, Farewell

Yeah, you know the rest of the song, and no, I'm not singing it!

So, I killed my computer yesterday... which means that I will have super limited internet access for awhile. Brian's computer has been dead for a few weeks, but he has a work laptop he can bring home. (hence the reason I'm even getting to post this now). Unfortunately I don't know if I'll be able to put any pictures on here, and the camera has to be sent away to be fixed anyway, so sorry for the lack of pictures in the near future family.

I guess you could say that this has not been our month for technology.

On the bright side, maybe I'll get a few more of my other projects done... :)

For future reference? Don't try to take apart a laptop and vacuum it to get the dust out!

The Sick Update

Somewhere along the line this week Cory and I caught the flu. Yuck. At least it wasn't the throwing up kind, but it's still put me out for 2 days and Cory has been CRANKY! We also got a nasty cough which may or may not be related.

Sadly, we also had some friends coming to visit this weekend who couldn't make it over the mountains since all the passes are closed due to avalanches. We're having some weird weather this year. It was below freezing here for a couple weeks, we have way more snow than we've gotten in years, and now in the last 3 days the temps have been so high (45 is high! ;) it has melted all the snow on south facing yards and a lot of it in shaded areas. Including our parking lot though so I'm happy about that! Today it was so windy they closed the ski area (100 mph winds will do that!).

I got some pictures in the mail today from Shutterfly that I was going to give to various people. I was so excited about one in particular of Cory that looked all old fashioned. It came back green!!! It didn't look green on my computer and I didn't mess with the color balance on this one, so I can't imagine why it printed facial tones green. I did adjust the highlights a bit and that seems to be where the green shows up. So can anyone tell me if that's my problem or their printing machine reading the picture wrong. So frustrating either way!

On a totally unrelated side note, 5 Minutes for Mom is giving away $100 to the Healthy Child. This would be cool! It also highlights some interesting research about SIDS being caused by toxic chemicals in baby mattresses. Hmmm. I'm almost not sure if this is good or bad considering now I'm worried and these things aren't exactly cheap so that everyone can afford one. Ay!

February is Compassion Month

com·pas·sion
–noun, a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering.
We could all stand to be more compassionate towards our fellow human beings. There is a lot of misfortune and suffering we could be alleviating if we all just gave a little bit of our time/money/love.

This is the basic purpose of Compassion International. Anyone heard of them? (raise your hand!) Their mission statement is "releasing children from poverty in Jesus' name". No matter your religious background I think we'd all agree that a child in poverty is one of the saddest things there is. Compassion is trying to improve children's health, education, and well being in some of the poorest countries around the world.

And they're asking YOU to help.

Their sponsorship program costs $32 a month and if I'm not mistaken the entire cost goes to the programs that help children. Overhead costs are covered by donations intended for that purpose and overall they spend more than 80% of their budget directly on the children. (That's really high for a charity in case you were wondering).

The best part about all this is you can choose a child from any country the work in, boy or girl, and an age range. You are that child's individual sponsor and that child is depending on you. You can write letters and send small gifts and you will receive letters in return as well as an annual picture.

I have been a sponsor since I was in high school. My first boy graduated 2 years ago and is off on his own now, with an education!!! My second boy just started the 8th grade. Both of them were from South America so I could communicate with them in Spanish (an added bonus for me!)

As I sat down to write this post I remembered I was going to get the mail... and guess what I got today?!! (well, technically it's not yesterday...) A letter from my boy! His name is Nelson and he lives in Columbia (in a slum). Like I said he just entered the 8th grade and he's in a shoe-making apprenticeship (through Compassion). He writes,

May the grace of the most high God be over you daily. My family is well as God has cared for us and filled us with good health...
I want you to know that God, in his grace, has permitted me to do well in my studies. He has also allowed me to excel more and more each day in my favorite subject, math. Next year I will be in the 8th grade, something new, but I trust in God, that He will help me to do well.
In the (Compassion Project) I am in the shoe-making class and have learned a lot...
I ask that you remember me in your prayers. Thank you for your support.
With love,
Nelson

I learned from Compassion's country website (for Columbia) that Nelson lives in a high plains area and that most people there are unemployed. If they are so lucky to be able to earn money (typically as a street vendor) the average wage is $62 per month. Nelson's parents have 3 children. I'm sure that money doesn't go far and I'm excited that he will have other options available to him as he grows up because of the education and care he is getting from Compassion. Whole families benefit when a child is signed up because often parenting/other skills classes are offered and younger children are enrolled at the proper time.

Won't you consider sponsoring a child and building a life long friendship? There are so many children who could use this opportunity. Who knows, you might just have a budding scientist or leader for world peace writing you letters!

Compassion - it keeps the world turning.

10 Months Old!

Wow, how this last month has flown by. It hardly seems possible that Cory will soon be a year old. New things this month include 7 teeth, crawling like crazy, pulling up on everything, and standing unassisted for short periods of time. He also makes tons of noises with his mouth/tongue/lips like motor boat noises (which produces spit everywhere!).

Mommy takin' pictures of me in my diaper...
Look how much bigger than the bunny I am now!

I like my booties a LOT!

I get one in each hand and go exploring all over the house with them!

Me and Daddy being cute!

Mommy gave me a haircut tonight in the bath...
and I ended up looking like a rebel.
Look out world!

Message from my mom this afternoon said my Bro called and they were in Tok, Alaska. Any Alaskan buddies want to tell me how far (driving time) that is from Valdez? I'm assuming they're the lion's share of the way there now! Last night staying in the Yukon it was negative -!!! 42 degrees! Brrr!
Here's a picture of the crazy couple, with dog, the morning before they left.

Check out the cute chair being given away at Love Shak Baby by Mason and Matisse. I want to win that for Cory!

Conduct Unbecoming a Human

I have always known since my mother was a high school teacher that "sports are king". If a student/person is an athlete they will get a hundred second chances and "exceptions" that any other student or human being will never get.
Today I was reading the comics on the Seattle Times when a headline in the sidebar caught my eye.

Convicted of assault and accused of rape, star player received raft of second chances.

Now, before you go read the article (it's long) let me just summarize a bit. Anyone heard of Jerramy Stevens? Used to play for the Seahawks. Signed last year to Tampa Bay. Supposed to be an up and coming star... if he could keep his act together.

This is the worst example I have ever seen of someone getting away with "murder" simply because he's an athlete.

Stomping on a fellow students head (resulting in a broken jaw) while in high school. Plea deal.

Still being signed to the University of Washington football team. (on scholarship)

Raping a girl who was drugged by something in her drink.

Arrested but, never being charged due to the fact that he was a football star.

Driving away from the scene of an accident and receiving a ticket rather than a misdemeanor charge (as is appropriate under Washington law).

Dropping out of college (yet claiming to have graduated) to play for the NFL.

Having multiple run-ins with the law for DUI's (yet still driving and never really having his license revoked and never spending more than a few days at a time in jail).

This guy has never learned that his actions have consequences simply because no one wants their "team" to lose a star player. The actions of the King County prosecutors and athletic administration at the UW are despicable. The fact that everyone says he's a "good kid" who is getting straightened out when evidence points to the contrary is simply sick and wrong. How long are we going to let him get away with this before someone else's life is damaged or destroyed entirely? (not to mention the girl he raped)

I don't know what we can do about this. I hope everyone who has 15 minutes reads the article. Think about it. What do you do when someone gets in trouble? Are you blinded by the fact that they may be "star" potential or simply who's kid they are?

Let's make our world a better place. YOU are responsible for YOUR actions no matter who you are, football player, politician, teacher, anyone.
What kind of message are you sending your kids?

The Bro's Arctic Adventure

My brother and his girlfriend and his dog left on Wednesday for parts far north. They packed up all their stuff in his Dodge diesel with canopy and snowmobile trailer in tow and headed out. He has a job in Valdez, Alaska as a guide for a skiing company (maybe heli, I'm not sure).
So far they've made it part way through British Columbia. They got to Kamloops on Wednesday night and stayed an extra day there since the Bro went to the doctor and got diagnosed and a prescription for pneumonia. Yesterday they headed out again, but this morning he called my dad up to see if he could look up tow companies on the internet. The trailer had gotten a flat tire (on brand new tires no less) and they didn't realize it until they'd worn it all the way down to the rim and it was so mangled it wouldn't come off.
That's the latest I've heard... keep in mind that it hasn't been above about 20 degrees F all week here where we are and they are heading North...
Poor Bro. I hope he makes it without more adventures since he's supposed to start work Feb 1.

My New Band

Otherwise known as a silly meme. But since Emily from Fenicle tagged me oh, like forever ago and I'm so bad at getting back to anyone lately... here is some random silliness for the day.
And sorry, Emily, but I can't think of 7 more random things about me so I'm doing this instead.

I actually saw this first on Amy's blog and then just today the lovely Jean from Working Momma 24/7 posted it, so this must be the latest and greatest to hit the blogosphere.

Without further ado I present to you...

My New Band:

Words and Pictures Museum

And their new album:

Sunlight Remains to Them

and the cover:
I just love this picture! I think if I ever did produce an album I would use it for the cover! The funniest thing was that the caption (I think it was on Flikr) was posted all in Spanish.

If you'd like to play along simply follow the instructions below.

1. Click Here
The first article title on the page is the name of your band. (If it’s the entry for a real musician or band, cheating with a reload is probably a good idea.)

2. Click Here
The last four words of the very last quote is the title of your album.

3. Click Here
The third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

I'm tagging... Kailani, Piper, moosh, Cecily, Rhen, and You!

***

And I almost forgot. There's a cool giveaway going on over at Drea's Reviews for a Sleepy Wrap. It looks like it would hold "bigger" babies and I've got one of those! So check it out - oh wait, maybe I don't want you to enter so I can win it! ;)

Mom, Look at Me!

This weekend has been kind of crazy and we've had weird internet - like I could get to my google mail, but not to any major news site. And I could get to Seattle news sites, but not to MSN. Bizarre.
Anyways, so I haven't been able to post ASAP about our big news...
Cory has learned how to stand up by himself! We were playing a game Saturday night with some friends and he was trying to crawl between the 2 Brian's knees to get to the cards. But then he stood up and let go and we noticed that he was just standing there! Way to go big boy!

Hey, look at me!

I'm gonna get to those cards no matter what!

This standing business takes concentration!

PDA's at Costco

Today my dad came and picked me and Cory up to take us to get Brian's car back from the body shop. (Yay, it's finally all in one piece again... now nobody hit us please!)
First though we went to Costco (because my dad has a card and I don't) to get passport pictures taken for me and Cory. We pull into a parking space and I notice there is a couple in the next car making out. I laugh, get out, get Cory and by this time I guess the couple decided they needed to get out. They stand at the back of their blazer size car and make out some more. My dad mentioned to me on the way in that the girl kind of gave him a sheepish look while getting out of the car.
We are slow getting Cory into a cart and by the time we walk over to the picture section the same couple is standing there looking at a TV. I try to avoid looking at them.
We get our mug shots taken (and seriously Cory knows how to have a mug shot, he's not smiling at all and it's adorable!) and they tell us it will be 15 minutes. So off we wander to find the gigantic package of TP and test all the samples they have out for lunch, Yum! We come back, get the pictures, go through the line, etc. etc. By now I have forgotten entirely about the couple...
Except that when we get in view of the car they're standing behind theirs again making out for all they're worth! At this point I'm about to bust out laughing and not even care if they hear me. He's got his hand up petting her hair and everything! I laughed all the way to the auto shop!
I couldn't believe it! 1:30 in the afternoon in the middle of a busy parking lot! And they looked roughly my age. Good times!

On a totally side note: the auto shop detailed the inside of Brian's car. When I saw that all I had to say was Hallelujah!

Welcome to the exciting life in our hick(ey?) town!

Weekly Contest Roundup

Hello, would you like to win a pair of diamond earrings? Do you have a blog? Today might be your luck day because Goldsmith Jewelry is giving away a pair of diamond studs worth $1500. For that price I think it can buy a little space on my blog! The only diamonds I've ever owned are on my wedding ring (and yes, I like them VERY much). I have a pair of Austrian leaded crystal earrings that might pass for diamond... but it would be cool to have real ones. Although for $1500 I might not want ones that big! Anyways, they are offering this prize as a "grand opening" of their new website. They were a brick and mortar store only before. So check them out!

Next up is Crazy Hip Mamas who with the help of Better Today is hosting a giveaway for $100 to the Container Store. Since I'm in the process of purging organizing trying to get rid of a little bit of junk at my house this would come in handy! You know, since I have baby stuff that I'm not exactly going to give away right yet! The criteria for their contest is to tell your best organizing/decorating tip. Well, I would have to say it's easier to decorate when you're organized! And it looks better, too! So, start with the organizing. There's this rule that if you haven't used something in a year then you should get rid of it. I'm slowly working up to it. There are a few exceptions (like scrapbooking supplies that I just haven't used yet), but for the most part I think this is a pretty good idea. I haven't gotten too far on my purging organizing throwing a bit of stuff away, but I have given away some stuff on FreeCycle. You guys ever heard of that? It's AWESOME!!! You've got good stuff that you just don't use, but you don't know what to do with it (or who to give it to) so you post on there and people email you that they want it and they come pick it up. So I guess that's my tip! Google search FreeCycle plus your city (or nearest large town) and sign up! You can get some good stuff, too! The key is it is all given and received for Free!

And for your feet... a $100 to Onlineshoes.com! By MomFinds.com
Maybe, just maybe they have something there I can wear... I have the hardest time finding shoes that actually fit me!

Happy contesting!

Your Opinion Please

Awhile back I was inspired by themooshinindy and her friend who took these pictures. I thought it would be fun to try and do a photo shoot myself. So on Tuesday my brother's girlfriend, Annika, came over and we had some fun. Shh, don't tell, but I think she was a model in another life because she knows how to pose already (and I wouldn't know how to tell her to otherwise!)

We have the best weathered fence right in our back yard for taking pictures!


And then we walked over the park because they have this new play set that's all red and gray and mod looking that I thought might make for good backgrounds. I don't like it quite as much as the fence though.

Annika normally makes goofy faces in pictures so I got a few of those too...

And I have some more cute poses, but I didn't get to them because I was messing around in photoshop... and I discovered that you can lighten the shadows and darken the highlights to even out a photo. Who knew it could have such a HUGE difference! For one thing notice the difference in the fence between photo 1 and 2 above. Then because my pride was wounded about this picture from my sister-in-law's wedding this summer I messed with it.

Before:

After:See how the faces were in shadow and the background was so light? All you need is the image->adjustments->highlights/shadows and it does it for you. Even 5% on the shadows makes a HUGE difference!

The wounded pride bit came when my mother-in-law took in a photo collage to have printed as Christmas cards. The photo place asked if she had permission to print one of the pictures on the card (that was done by the professional) but not mine. She asked the lady why mine didn't look professional and the lady said "oh, because the background is too washed out, a professional would have had better light". Ugh! If I had a fancy dancy stand alone flash mine might look like that too, but I don't have that kind of money! Or really the inclination.
All this to say I am actually hoping to maybe do some senior picture photo shoots. So I'd really like your opinions! What do you think of the photos above? Are they senior portrait worthy? Is there something lacking? Would you pay me (not a whole lot) to take your pictures?

And because yesterday was "National De-Lurker Day" now would be the perfect time to leave a comment! Tell me what you think!

And maybe I'll post some more pictures later! If I have more time to "mess" with them!

Your Weekly Cory Fix

This is my adorable son and what he's been up to lately... quite literally ;)

First up is Beggar Boy. He has totally figured out when we have any kind of food and he wants some. He will crawl over to us and either try to climb in our laps or stand up by us and beg. It's mostly really cute until it's something he can't have and then he gets mad... hmm, guess I'm going to have to work on that.

It also doesn't matter if he's just finished eating or not, he wants what we have!

Next is the boy who likes baths.
When I turn on the water he wants to climb up and see what's making the noise.
It's really cute!

Then we have Ghost Boy. He's figured out he can stand up in his crib and then he'll never go to sleep so we put this afghan over the top. It also helps if we go in the room for some reason (okay, all the time since our computers are in here) then we don't disturb him. Then when he wakes up he just stands up under the blanket and we have our own little ghost.

Watching Daddy play on his computer.

See, even Daddy likes to take naps with the Bunny!

And finally we have Book Boy. He has figured out where we keep all his books and likes to crawl over, stand up, and proceeds to pull ALL his books off the shelf. If he's going to be up for awhile I just leave them on the floor because if I put them back... 5 minutes later and they will be down again! (also please notice the tongue sticking out - this is hard work!)

He also makes opening and closing his mouth like a fish faces! It's really cute... until you're trying to feed him and he keeps opening and closing his mouth so you can't get the spoon in!

Come back tomorrow and I will (hopefully) have some pictures up from the photo shoot I did with my brother's girlfriend this afternoon. I was quite impressed with how some of them turned out! Please don't judge too harshly!

And if you want to win your own camera to take awesome pictures... check this out! Momsational is giving away a Nikon CoolPix P5100 12 Megapixel digital camera
How crazy is that?

Internet Goodies

It's really kind of crazy the randomness of things I have won off the internet in the last few months. Who knew people were actually giving away quality things for free? And they're not that hard to win either since the majority of the contests seem to have maybe 200 entries. As compared to some major sweepstakes where there are probably thousands of entries all across the country.

The coolest thing by far is this fancy clip I won from HeadGamesBlog. It's called the Ficcare and it actually holds all my hair tightly in a french twist. I picked the bright blue one!

Then I won a "Super Mom" t-shirt and $100 worth of coupons for free Tyson chicken from Momsational. Now that's something I can use! Too bad Fred Meyer is the only store around here that carries Tyson, but hey, free chicken is good!

I also won this Merry Christmas America book that's all about the over the top light displays we do... unfortunately it's mostly about the East Coast. I won this from a contest where you entered once and they picked a bunch of winners all for different things. Figures I would get the one of maybe 2 things I wasn't interested in! Oh well.

***

Now here are some contests you can enter right now.

First there's $100 gift certificate to thebabymarketplace.com from mommyknows.com You can get an entry simply by leaving a comment on any post there. A second entry can be had by blogging about it (like me!)

Then:
A Cowboy’s Wife is having a contest on her food blog! You can win a Hamilton Beach® Stand Mixer and she’ll ship anywhere so everyone is eligible!
The winner will receive a brand new
Hamilton Beach 4.5-qt. Eclectrics Stand Mixer, Pineapple Yellow!!

About the mixer:

From Hamilton Beach’s “Eclectrics” line, this all-metal stand mixer comes with a host of accessories - a Flat Beater for cakes and cookies, a Dough Hook for bread and a Wire Whisk for whipped cream or pudding. The 4.5-qt. stainless steel bowl comes with a Pouring Shield that helps prevent splattering while in operation. The pouring shield has a built-in chute for adding ingredients. Powered by 400 watts, the stand mixer has a two-way mixing action to ensure all ingredients are incorporated into the mix. The quick-release, tilt-up head assists when removing the bowl. 9 x 14 x 14-in. When you’re ready for a kitchen re-do, don’t call in the carpenters! Instead, “counterscape” your kitchen with Hamilton Beach’s retro-designed, affordably priced electrics in happy, sun-saturated colors. Their “Eclectrics” line includes updates to those classic appliances from the 1950s. All of their “Eclectrics” are available in six colors: Apple Green, Moroccan Red, Pineapple Yellow, Intrigue Blue, Sugar White and Licorice Black.

Wouldn't that be cool!!!

Finally:
You can win $100 bucks a month from The Big Bald Blog by leaving comments and/or subscribing to feeds from any of the blogs below, and also by posting about this contest (like this!)
Here are the participating blogs donating money for free!

1. Mixed Market Arts
2. JoeTech.com
3. Link Bait
4. Gorilla Sushi
5. CK Marketing
6. The Big Bald Blog
7. How 2 Blogger

Now, how's that for some crazy stuff you can win on the internet!

New

That stands for new sounds and new teeth. No wonder the poor little man has been so crabby the last few days (well, other than the fact that he still sounds like he's about to lose a lung when he coughs :(
Just in time for the new year I noticed yesterday (when randomly Cory was upside down to me) that he has a new tooth on the top. It is also on his left side so that he has 3 teeth on the bottom and 3 on the top with both the "extras" on the left. A little lopsided! Tonight Brian noticed that the one on the right top looks like it will be popping through any time. No word on that bottom right one and the left one is almost completely grown in already. Odd.

This morning of course we did NOT get to sleep in (although we stayed up WAAAAAY too late!) because you know, babies don't understand New Year's and they want to get up and play at their regular time. So we pulled Cory in bed with us which means he wanted to explore us, the windowsill - which he can reach and pull up on - the nightstands, and whatever else he thought was interesting at the moment. In the process while we were trying not to think about getting up it randomly occurred to me that I didn't think I'd heard him making the Ga sound before that he was now making. I don't think I've heard him make any sounds that originate in the throat before today. He'll be talking soon and I'm not sure if that will be good (because he can tell us what's wrong/he wants) or bad (because I'm sure he will be a non-stop talker)!