Grrr...

So, I had a whole post typed out, and was just about to hit "Post", and the entire thing was deleted!  And now, I have to start getting things ready for the Bug's game tonight.  For now, I'm just going to tell you all THANK YOU for all the birthday wishes!

And, instead of telling you how AWESOME "Android Karenina" is right now, I'm going to strongly suggest that you check out Quirk Classics site for their rockin' giveaway and head to your nearest bookstore to pick up AK.  I'll be back later tonight or tomorrow with my review for this book!

32 Things

Today is a special day for me, and in honor of this wonderful day, I thought I'd let you all get to know me a little better.  Here are a few things about me that you may or may not know...

I have:

1. Red hair

2. Beautiful eyes (they're a pretty shade of hazel with a ring of grey around the hazel)

3. LOTS of freckles

4. 2 sons

5. 2 brothers

My favorite sounds are:

5. Wild horses running

6. Babies laughing and cooing

7. Airplanes taking off

I have learned that:

8. I can't wear shoes unless I'm able to cross my toes in them

9. That I'm happier when I focus on and appreciate the simpler things in life

10. Everybody just wants to be remembered by someone

I'm addicted to:

11. Mountain Dew

12. Anne of Green Gables

13. The Twilight Series

My hobbies include:

14. Sewing & Crocheting

15. Genealogy

16. Playing the piano

17. Reading

18. Beading

19. Building/Painting stuff

I want to go to:

20. Ireland

21. Prince Edward Island

22. Arlington National Cemetery

I collect:
23. Nutcrackers

24. Wooden Spoons

25. Thimbles

26. Chickens

27. Cookbooks

I love:

28. My family

29. Vintage linens

30. Looking at old pictures and listening to the stories that go with them

31. Receiving (and sending) handwritten letters

Last, but not least...

32.  At 1:59pm, I will enter my 32nd year on this earth.

Oh, the conversations we have

Sometimes, it's painfully obvious that this is a house full of boys.

Last night's conversation with Landon as we are getting ready for baseball practice...
Me:  Are you ready?
Landon:  Yeah, I want to take my ball.
Me:  You don't need to take your ball.
Landon (getting whiny): Whyyyyyyyyyyy?
Me:  Jeff has enough balls.
Landon:  *giggles*  Dad!  Mom just said Jeff has balls!  *continues laughing all the way to practice*

This morning, as we are getting ready for school...
Me (talking to myself, like normal): Need to cover the lilacs, lilies, phlox, and asters.
Taylor:  *giggles*
Me (looking at him with a slightly confused look on my face):  What?
Taylor (still giggling):  Asters.  Get it?

Another Swap Finished!

Shawnee's new Flirty Apron Swap is just finishing up.  The theme this time?  Polka Dots!  This is what I came up with:

The little extra goodie that we were to send with our aprons was a cookbook.  It could be either a new one or a like-new used book.  I had a hard time picking one, but I think my partner will be pleased with what I decided on:

Of course, after I had made the apron and decided on the cookbook, I came up with another idea for a super cute apron that would have gone perfectly with the cookbook.  Due to time restraints, I wasn't able to make it for the swap, but I'm still planning on bringing this idea to life - and I'll show you when it's done!

Henry Doorly

When Taylor was in Kindergarten and 1st grade, we had big birthday parties for him and his school friends, so we had planned to do the same for Landon.  What we didn't plan for was for there to be 13 girls and only 2 boys in Landon's class.  He didn't want to have a party that consisted of mostly girls, so we decided to take him to the Henry Doorly Zoo instead.  And, since Landon and my niece, Natalie, were born 36 hours 13 minutes apart, we decided to celebrate both birthdays! 

The Nebraska Red/White Spring Game was on Saturday, and my dad and older brother met my younger brother there.  Since we were planning the trip to the zoo for Sunday, my little brother stayed with some friends in Lincoln and met us at the zoo on Sunday.  We don't get to see him very often, so it was a wonderful surprise!

I took a million pictures, but I'll leave you with just these few for now.

In the Butterfly Pavillion:

We all took round trips on the new Skyfari - it's AWESOME!  Below is a pic of my lil brother, Kelsey, with Landon and my mom.

See that little pond in the picture above?  As we were going over it, I heard a *clink* *SPLASH*.  My first thought was, "Shoot, now I'm going to have to buy a new lense cap."  Then, it hit me that the splash was a little too big for my little lense cap.  That's when I reached into my pocket and bit my lip to prevent a few choice words from escaping when I realized it was my phone that made that splash!  Kelsey saw exactly where it hit, so once we were off the Skyfari, he ran down to the garden and fished my phone out.  The stupid thing fell over 20 feet, hit the concrete edge of the pond, and sat completely submerged for roughly 30 minutes, so I was pretty sure it was a goner.  Guess what?!  Other than a little fuziness on the right side of the outer screen, the phone works just fine!  A big thumbs up to the EnV3 creators!

And, of course, the birthday kids.  I can't believe they're already 6 years old!

Sale and Grand Opening

I'll be back later on with some pictures from this weekend (I've been moving a little slow this week - sorry!), but I wanted to let you all know about an awesome sale going on here today and tomorrow.  I've already ordered some gorgeous items, and I can't wait to do something with them!


And, if you're in the Hastings area tomorrow, Julie's Expressions is celebrating the grand opening of their Bead department, and there will some Lampwork Bead making demos and a trunk show by Pixybug Designs!

Odds and Ends

Where have I been these last couple of weeks? Didn't mean to disappear on you! We went to the zoo on Sunday, so I'll post about that later on. Right now, I have to make a quick trip to town, but I'll leave you with a post I started a while back. Just a bunch of random things that I jotted down when they crossed my mind!

I recently heard that Tom Selleck was originally supposed to play Indiana Jones. I've been trying to imagine him as Indy. It just doesn't work.

I worked at Subway in high school and a little during college. As I was making myself a baked potato the other day, I realized that I wrap my potatoes in foil the same way I was taught to wrap sandwiches at Subway. In fact, I wrap all things with a cylinder shape the way I wrapped the Subway sandwiches!

While watching "Who Do You Think You Are?", I realized that I'm related to Sarah Jessica Parker. Our common relatives split in the 1600's, but still. Thanks to her, I found out that I am a descendant of the first Elwell in America, and one of my ancestors was one of the very few who actually survived the Salem Witch Trials!

We have a trip planned for August that I'm super excited about. We're going to my favorite place in the whole world, and we get to stay in my mom's old home! It kinda sucks that my grandpa's initials are no longer in the cement on the porch, the cement was replace several years ago. It'll be a bittersweet trip for us. Going there is always and adventure, and we'll get to see my great-aunt Irene, but the farm and Faye are both gone, now. We're also hoping to spend some time here, here, and here.

I should have included this on my list, but I just don't understand the whole Elimination Communication thing. I've been told that EC is done to 1) cut down on diaper use and 2) have the baby potty-trained sooner. I'm not sold on this. I know there are many people who will tell me different, but it's my opinion that it's the parents that are getting trained, not the babies. And, it just sounds messy and gross.

I believe that Caril Ann Fugate is just as guilty as Charles Starkweather, and she should stop whining about how hard her life is. She deserved the same fate as Charlie, but is now a free woman, so she should count her blessings. My step-grandpa was a Lancaster County Deputy when Caril and Charlie went on their killing spree, and sat next to Starkweather, with his gun pointed at Charlie the whole time, on the trip back from Wyoming.