The Doll Sweet Journal.

A Week of Good News!

2012-01-27T09:36:00.002-06:00

My blog friend Janae recently started doing this fun thing on Fridays where you post the good news about your week or your life and link it up to her blog, so I'm doing that today. It helped me to focus on the positive this week, which was good because there were a few days where it was hard to feel very positive because they were just those kinds of days!

Starting with last Saturday, these are some of the good things that happened in my week.

Saturday: I went to my fun ice-skating class, got a 90-minute Swedish massage, went out to lunch at a great Mexican restaurant, went out to dinner with my family at Red Lobster, and watched the final Harry Potter movie with my husband after the kids went to bed.

Sunday: I took a nice cozy nap in the afternoon (I love having church from 9:00-12:00 this year! It frees the rest of the day up so nicely!), we booked our Spring Break trip to a really fun-looking indoor water park resort in Wisconsin Dells, and I saw this on Facebook and it's still making me laugh:

Monday: There wasn't much good news on Monday, but the one bright spot was that I hired a house-cleaning company to come and do a whole-house deep-cleaning every month! As the owner of the company said to me, "You can delegate dirt." I am finally ready to do some delegating in this area, and I'm happy about it!

Tuesday: Another blah day, except that my 6-year-old was good for his doctor's appointment (an unusual but very welcome occurence), my husband wrote me a sweet note in my planner, and I took another good afternoon nap (this time out of necessity because I slept poorly the night before thanks to my 2-year-old Sam waking up three times!).

Wednesday: This day had more good news in it than the last two put together! A friend gave me a whole entire chocolate mousse cake from my favorite food store knowing that it's my favorite thing there. I fit in free book-reading time for myself during the day, which is something I rarely do. I watched the latest episode of Downton Abbey. I love that show! I read an article that said that my home state (Massachusetts), my birth state and the state I lived in for four years in elementary school (Utah), a state that I lived in for four years as a child and four years as an adult (New Jersey), and the state we lived in for four years before moving here (Connecticut) were recently ranked in the top five states to raise a family. AND my current state (Iowa) is ranked in the top ten. It's good to live in good places!

Thursday: I let Sam play outside in the snow for awhile, which made me feel like a good mom since outdoor play in the winter isn't one of my strong suits. My husband brought me home a pretty bouquet of pale pink roses, which are my favorite flower. I went to my book club meeting in the evening, which was fun! I never belonged to a book club until moving here and I really enjoy it.

Friday: After a busy week, today I'm staying home all day, which I like since I am by nature a homebody. And it might snow this afternoon, at least a little bit. And I'm going to watch one of my favorite guilty pleasures on TV tonight, Four Weddings. And Sam has slept through the night for the last three nights. Yeah!!

So even though it was an ordinary week, it was full of good news when I took the time to find and recognize that good. It was fun to do and I'm going to try to do it more often as a matter of habit. I know it sounds cliche, but it really is so beneficial to look for the good in each day and to try to focus on the positive that is in our lives. There's so much to be thankful for, from the smallest little things to the big things.

And coincidentally I read a really good article yesterday by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf that said inspiring things on this very topic, such as "Don't close your eyes and hearts to the simple and elegant beauties of each day's ordinary moments that make up a rich, well-lived life" and "the happiest people I know...discover and treasure the beauty and sweetness of everyday moments" and don't forget about "the little things that make your lives joyful and sweet." I couldn't agree more!

My 2012 New Year's Resolutions

2012-01-25T14:37:00.000-06:00

(That's not 2,012 resolutions...but I guess that's obvious!)

In terms of New Year's Resolutions, 2011 was a flop for me. I made a list at the beginning of the year of eight things that I wanted to work on and accomplish in 2011. I was looking at the list the other day and saw that I didn't really succeed with any of them. Failure! So I'm keeping my resolutions a lot more simple for 2012. There are three things that I'm going to work on improving (along with the overarching goal of getting and actually staying organized). So without further ado, the three things I'm going to be working on in 2012 are:

1) Exercise.

2) Cooking.

3) Mothering.

Nice and simple! If at the end of this year I can say that I've made exercise a regular part of my life, that I've improved my cooking and food preparation skills, and that I'm a better mother to my children, then 2012 will have been a success for me. And if I'm able to keep my life organized on top of those things, that will be the cherry on top. Here's to a more successful year than last year was! (That shouldn't be too hard!)

Book Review: The China Study

2012-01-23T10:57:00.000-06:00

What an influential, important book! This book has changed my life in some important ways and I'm glad my father encouraged me to read it (even though I used to roll my eyes when he'd talk about it). It gives convincing evidence of why a whole-foods, plant-based diet is so important in the prevention of disease and in living a long, healthy life. After years of being a skeptic, it convinced me that meat and dairy are not as good as we are led to believe. His experiences with government committees, pharmaceutical companies, the meat and dairy industries, higher education, and the medical field are fascinating and sobering to read about. This book has made me feel empowered and has greatly lessened my fear of getting diseases like cancer. My family and I will be eating much healthier from now on as we progressively cut out meat (we're down to consuming it about three times a week) and lessening our dairy intake. So long, standard American diet.

If you want to learn more about The China Study, go to thechinastudy.com and/or read this short and interesting New York Times interview with the author that was published a year ago.

Summer in Winter

2012-01-20T08:56:00.000-06:00

It's a cold, snowy day in Iowa today, so I wanted to bring some of summer back!

I took these pictures last summer in Massachusetts at my mother's house. I love the flowers in her yard!

Can you see the bumblebee?

My day just got a little warmer, and I hope yours did too!

This Woman Really Annoys Me

2012-01-17T20:24:00.000-06:00

Last week I wrote about a woman who scares me; this week I'm writing about a woman who angers me. Today in the news I read that well-known chef Paula Deen has Type-2 diabetes. She has known this for three years, yet in that time she has continued to push her unhealthy, high-fat recipes on the public, things like deep-fried cheesecake, quiche that requires a pound of bacon, and the following doozy of a creation, a hamburger with glazed doughnut buns and topped with bacon and egg:

No wonder this woman is overweight and diabetic. You can't eat ~~garbage~~ food like this on a regular basis and be healthy. Maybe it's because I've been reading a book about nutrition and disease that stresses the importance of a whole foods, plant-based diet with many studies to back it up, but I've been finding myself frustrated by the irresponsible eating habits of so many Americans and the industries that support them (meat, dairy, drug companies, even certain aspects of the medical establishment). We could be so much healthier than we are and the rates of certain diseases could plummet if we'd only feed our bodies better foods consistently as a way of life.

Shame on Paula Deen for promoting these kinds of recipes to the public when she knew she had diabetes that was surely caused in part by this food that she eats. She has done her viewers a great disservice. Southern-style food is probably the most unhealthy type of food in the country; the high obesity rate there is proof of that. And now she is being paid by a foreign drug company to be a spokesperson for their diabetes drug. So she cooks, consumes, and promotes foods that very likely were a contributing factor to her diabetes, doesn't tell the public about her condition for three years, and then earns money for pushing a drug to help treat a disease that she likely caused with the food that made her rich, famous, overweight, and diabetic in the first place. I am disgusted by this woman's irresponsibility, her hypocrisy, her willful ignorance, her apparent greed, and her crappy idea of good food.

P.S. I first read about this today on msnbc.com, and I also got much of my information from this wsj.com article.

P.P.S. To my family reading this: I know. I sound like Dad. Pretty scary, huh? :-)

Christmas Leftovers

2012-01-16T15:17:00.000-06:00

These are the rest of the Christmas-related pictures that I want to put on my blog that don't qualify for their own individual posts. They're still special though! (I don't want to hurt their feelings. What? Pictures have feelings too!)

We went to a wonderful activity at the beginning of December in Cedar Rapids at the Stake Center, where there were hundreds of unique nativity sets to look at, as well as music groups from the community performing, and a cute children's room. We plan on going to this every year. Here's John dressed up as Joseph, holding/manhandling the baby Jesus. Very cute!

I found this cute little fluffy owl at Pier 1 and put him in the Christmas tree. As you may know, I love owls!

I took a bunch of pictures of the Christmas tree ornaments without the flash on (trying to be more artsy), and almost all of them came out too blurry, but these are two that made the cut and didn't get deleted.

I took the kids to a gingerbread cookie-decorating activity at the library a few days before Christmas. It was the best gingerbread-cookie activity I've ever been too. The cookies weren't hard! They were soft, fresh, and very good, and there was plenty of frosting and tons of toppings to choose from for decorations. We will definitely go to this again next year! (John had already started eating the toppings, as you can tell by the blank holes on the cookie!)

Here's our "Elf on the Shelf." His name is Brian and this was our second Christmas with him. John had fun looking for him in in his new hiding spot each morning (except for a few times when we forgot to put him in a new place the night before...oops!). He works pretty well as a threatening tool for good behavior. ("Brian's watching and he's going to tell Santa if you don't stop that right now!")

I love this view from upstairs in our house during the holidays. I took this picture on Christmas Eve night. I don't know what that white dusty light is on the left. Angel dust maybe?!

My boys at play on Christmas Day.

And that bring to an end my Christmas posts, at least for the next ten or eleven months. My next blog post will be about New Year's Resolutions, and then I'll be all caught up. Actually, not really, since there are a lot of things I want to write about from the past few months, but for all intents and purposes, I'll be caught up. Toodles for now!

Random Thoughts From the Week

2012-01-13T08:45:00.000-06:00

I'm sorry to start this out on kind of a violent note (no, Callista Gingrich did not come after me with a steak knife...yet), but here it is (it's Friday the 13th, after all)...

At my 6-year-old son's school the kids can write letters to each other. He brought home some letters this week that some of his friends had written to him. I'm disturbed by the content of one of the letters written by his best friend, and I'm not sure if I should e-mail his teacher about it. What do you think?

This is what it says in its entirety:
"You should chop ____ (girl in their class) into little bits and eat her with a side of _____ (boy in their class). Love _____ (his friend's name. And the "love" is a cute little heart, which is quite the juxtaposition given the content of the letter.)

I was appalled! Can you believe a 1st-grader would write and envision something so violent? I know that they play with the two kids who are mentioned in the note at recess but that this friend doesn't like the boy kid. My son doesn't talk or act this way, but I'm worried that he will if this is the way his closest friend at school behaves. I don't want to get the kid in trouble, and I don't want to overreact, but he definitely shouldn't be writing and saying things like that. Should I e-mail his teacher about it? The letter was sealed so I'm sure the teachers didn't see it. What do you think? I am completely new to this aspect of parenting. Help!

On the other end of the spectrum, how cute are these sheep cupcakes?

American Idol starts next week. I've watched it faithfully for eight years, but I'm starting to get a little tired of it, probably because I'm now older than the contestants, and...I've been watching it for eight years. I don't really want to give up two nights of my week to watch it anymore. I think it's a good show, but this may be the year that it finally gets axed from my life. It's all-or-nothing with me--either I watch a show completely or I don't watch it at all.

On the other hand, I'm excited about the second season of Masterpiece Theater's Downton Abbey on PBS. I DVR it because I don't watch TV on Sundays. I love it!

I've been wanting to take an ice-skating class for years, and I finally enrolled and started a class last week! Every Saturday morning for the next seven weeks you will be able to find me skating (and falling) on the ice. I'm a longtime fan of figure-skating and if I could go back in time I would have taken lessons growing up. I can skate pretty smoothly but I don't really know how to stop or how to skate backwards, and I want to learn a few "fancy" moves, so that's why I'm taking the class. One of the other students in the class is a neurosurgeon, which is comforting in case I have a nasty spill and crack my head on the ice. Ice-skating ain't easy business, but it sure is fun!

Speaking of falling, I saw this on Facebook this week and I thought it was funny!

After winning New Hampshire easily on Tuesday, Mitt Romney is almost certainly going to be the nominee if he wins South Carolina next week, which would be awesome. I've been envisioning a Romney-Santorum candidacy lately and I like it. I'm looking forward to the next debate (Monday night) when Romney can defend his successful, ethical history in capitalism against his apparently socialist opponents, Gingrich and Perry.

This has been a weird winter in Iowa. There has been almost no snow and the temperatures have been mild. That all came to an end yesterday when it finally snowed and it was 13 degrees outside. I've liked the mild winter but it's nice to have snow too! (As long as I don't have to drive in it. I hibernate when it snows!)

Well, that was my week. This weekend I'm looking forward to ice-skating and hopefully finishing a book about nutrition that has been taking me over a year to read. I hope you have a good weekend!

December Sunset

2012-01-11T08:36:00.000-06:00

The pink sky is reflected in the glass of the living room window with the lights of the Christmas tree shining behind it.
I love December sunsets!

This Woman Scares Me

2012-01-10T08:00:00.000-06:00

It's really not my style to poke fun at anyone but myself on my blog, but in the case of a certain politician's wife, I really and truly cannot help myself. I've been finding myself a little fascinated by Callista Gingrich, wife of Newt Gingrich, lately. At first it was because of her hair. I can't get over her hair. Does it ever move? How does she get that perfect wave on the side? How does it stay in place? Why does she dye it so unnaturally blond? In short, what's up with her hair?!

I couldn't decide if I liked it or hated it and finally went with the latter. It's just too fake-looking. (I think it's still overall probably better than my hair though...boo.) Then I realized that that's not all that's fake-looking. When I was searching on Google for pictures of Callista's hair, I noticed that she looks quite a bit different now than from how she used to look.


This was them back in the 90s. She looks like Martha Stewart!

Doesn't her face look different now? I know it's a decade later, but my investigative instincts (and the eyes on my face) tell me that there is something else going on here. You hear about Botox and plastic surgery and all these anti-aging procedures and things, and I feel like I'm seeing that whenever I see her.

The following picture SERIOUSLY startled me when I saw it. I had to minimize it on my screen because it was giving me scary visions of her coming after me with a big shiny knife with this expression on her face.


What the heck?! Too much Botox, or too much of an eye lift, or...something.

She is an attractive woman, but the facial procedures and the fake hair make her less so. Artificial appearances make me wonder about how honest and true the person is on the inside. I think presidential candidate's wives should let their natural beauty shine through. It's a good reflection on the candidate and makes him seem more real, honest, and true. A fake-looking wife equals a possibly fake candidate both personally and professionally. That of course is debatable, but it's my hypothesis and it may very well be true in some cases...like this one. (I don't trust Newt Gingrich. Or Callista. I wasn't going to bring this up, but...as most people already know, she was his mistress first, and then he finally left his wife and married her. The adultery and the hypocrisy are big things that really bother me about them.)

To be fair, these pictures of her are better (even if her hair is still way too blond):

This woman, on the other hand, does not scare me at all, and this is what I mean by being true to yourself and your natural beauty.

Ann Romney's hair color is much more natural looking (even if she does get it colored, which she probably does, but it's a nice, appropriate shade. Platinum blonde on women over a certain age just doesn't look right.). And her face looks normal and attractive and un-played-around-with.

One last thing. When I was doing "research" on Callista I came across some interesting articles about and pictures of the candidate's wives. This is Jon Huntsman's wife Mary Kaye and I love, love, love her dress and her whole outfit. This woman has some serious style, I'll say that for her (and him).

So there you have it. Me with my Ivy League degree in Political Science hard at work, evaluating candidates on the basis of their wives' appearances. But seriously, I do think the wives matter. And Callista Gingrich does scare me a little, and that picture of her is going to pop up in a nightmare at some point with her chasing after me with a steak knife. Maybe that's what I get!

P.S. Today are the New Hampshire primaries and I'm excited about it! Go Mitt!!

Crafty Christmas Wreaths

2012-01-09T07:30:00.000-06:00

It's January 9th today, but I'm still doing a few more posts about Christmas since I skipped out on December. I guess I'm just extending the festivities.

We keep our outdoor Christmas decorations pretty simple, but I wanted to do a few more things this year than we did last year. The biggest thing was to get wreaths to hang on the four "lantern" lights on the front of the house. So I went to Target and there were some really pretty wreaths with colorful shiny ornaments woven in, but they cost $25 apiece, and I didn't want to spend $100 on wreaths. So, I tapped into my crafty, thrifty inner chic (it's buried deep inside of me but comes out every now and then), and I bought four small plain wreaths for $5 each and a spool of pretty ribbon. Then I tied a bow onto each wreath and hung them up. They barely fit around the lights because they are small, but they looked cute and served their purpose. I was pretty pleased with myself for finding a much less expensive option and doing something crafty (I know that tying ribbon on a wreath isn't terribly creative, but it's pretty good for me!).

I've been wanting to get a lamppost wrap but haven't found one (meaning that Target doesn't have them and I haven't looked anywhere else), so instead I tied some of the ribbon to our lamppost in a small bow. I expect Martha Stewart will be stealing that idea from me when she comes across it here.

And for the grand finale, these are our awesome outdoor Christmas lights. Aren't you impressed? There are lights in the garland wrapped on the porch, lights on the little tree next to the front door, and you can see the lights of the Christmas tree through the window. My planned upgrade for next year is to get another pre-lit tree to put on the other side of the front door. We are fancy folks!

One last thing. This was one of my favorite finds of the season. I went home to Massachusetts for a weekend in December and when I went to see my brother Nate's new apartment, his neighbor had the coolest indoor wreath hanging on their door. This is a wreath that book-lovers everywhere will appreciate:

I loved the rolled-up book pages and how they form most of the wreath. The book-lover in me coveted this wreath, but I had to content myself with taking pictures of it instead and resolving to find one somewhere, someday. Or who knows? Maybe I'll make my own! :-)

12 Things I'm Looking Forward to in 2012

2012-01-06T08:45:00.000-06:00

1. Our 10-year wedding anniversary on June 15th.

2. A one-week trip to Prince Edward Island in June to celebrate! (That's where we went on our honeymoon. This time we're taking our kids along since they are now in existence, and my mother too.)

3. Our annual two-week summer vacation on Cape Cod, staying in an adorable, charming house that I love!

4. Spending a number of weeks back home in Massachusetts with my family this summer.

5. The Summer Olympics in London. (Wow, it's really going to be quite a summer!)

6. The presidential race. (Especially if Mitt Romney is the nominee or at least the running mate. And especially if the Republican team wins! I'm an Independent, but I want the Republicans to win it.)

7. Breaking Dawn, Part 2, November 16th

8. John and Sam turning 7 and 3. Fun ages!

9. Sam starting preschool for two mornings a week in the fall. It will be fun for him and it will give me a few hours alone to get things done!

10. The Hunger Games movie, March 23rd. I read this trilogy last year and I loved it.

11. My 10-year college reunion in Philadelphia, even though we probably won't be there for it. Ten years since graduating and getting married--really!?

12. Growing in health, wealth (of all sorts), beauty (inside and out), and happiness.

And something I'm looking forward to not happening is the supposed end of the world on December 21st...

It looks like 2012 is going to be a great year! (Knock on wood!)

The Cutest Diapers Ever!

2012-01-05T21:30:00.000-06:00

When I saw Huggies Limited Edition Santa diapers at Target last month, I had to buy a box. Sam wore them throughout the season and I thought they were adorable!

Few things are cuter to me than my cute little toddler boy wandering around in a Santa diaper. As long as it's an unsoiled Santa diaper, that is!

The Train Table

2012-01-05T09:00:00.000-06:00

I'd been debating for awhile about whether or not to get a train table for the kids for Christmas. On the one hand, Sam really loves trains right now and whenever we go to a place with a train table, both he and John really enjoy playing with it.

On the other hand, I was worried that train tables would lose their novelty if we had one of our own. Plus, it would take up a good amount of space, I'd already pretty much finished Christmas shopping for the boys, and we don't need to own everything that they happen to like. But fate seemed to step in when I randomly went to a consignment shop for the first time to sell some things, and I happened to see a train table in good condition there. I went home and thought about it, and sent Peter later that day to pick it up. Then I bought a train track set on amazon, we set it up on Christmas Eve after the boys went to bed, and voila! Our own train table.

It makes a good addition to the playroom!

Sam and John were pretty excited about it on Christmas morning. Especially Sam, who's at that fun boy stage where he loves things that go.

I think it was a good investment. Even if Sam does throw the trains on the ground in frustration when they don't stay on the tracks the way that he wants them to. And even if John has barely played with it again since Christmas! Oh well. It was mainly for Sam anyway. I'm glad we have it!

This Post is Dedicated to Mitt Romney!

2012-01-04T17:00:00.000-06:00

Last night I became an Iowa caucus-goer for the first time! This is one of the things I was looking forward to about moving to Iowa. I've always liked politics, and it's been neat to experience the presidential candidates' campaign from here and to be a part of the famed Iowa Caucus. I've mentioned before on my blog that I'm a Mitt Romney fan, and I have been since about 1994 when I was a freshman in high-school and he ran for the U.S. Senate against Ted Kennedy (the Romneys were in my stake in Boston so this was an especially interesting race to me!). But I'm not going to make this post into an ode to Romney--I know he's not perfect, and I don't want to be a total cornball--but I will say that I admire him greatly and I think he has the potential to be a very good President.

Last Wednesday evening I went to a Town Hall Meeting with Mitt Romney in North Liberty, Iowa, which isn't far from where I live. I hadn't seen him and Ann in person since I was in high-school, so it was neat to see them again, this time with him running for President. The meeting was really crowded with about 600 in attendance, so my pictures aren't the best, but I was happy to be there taking them and participating in something that until then I'd only been able to see on TV!

Ann Romney is a lovely lady. She was in the Stake Young Women's Presidency when I was in high-school and I met her then. She is genuinely so nice.

Maybe my camera's flash caught his eye?

Lots of people. The meeting was held at a plastics factory.

Much applause at the end

The campaign theme

This big bus has been doing a lot of traveling lately!

So of course, I'm happy with last night's caucus results. Romney and Rick Santorum happen to be my two favorite candidates, and I like Ron Paul too. It's good to be alive when you like politics and it's presidential campaign season! (And when your favorite(s) win!)

P.S. I think this Romney son looks like a Ken doll!

Before & After

2012-01-03T14:00:00.000-06:00

Christmas morning, BEFORE:

Christmas morning, AFTER:

Completely classic!

Oh Christmas Tree!

2012-01-02T11:30:00.000-06:00

When I mentioned our Christmas tree a month ago, it was half-strung with lights, and that was it. I'm happy to report that we got the rest of the lights strung and the ornaments hung (with care, no less, which is no small feat when you have two young boys!).

Peter is the expert light stringer. (Don't you love his glowing belly?)

There was a little problem with a fallen star at first...

But it stood straight and tall for the rest of the month once it was positioned correctly.

This was the first time we got a tree right after Thanksgiving (we've always gotten it the first weekend of December) so I didn't know how well the tree would last, but it had good endurance and didn't let us down. I love the sweet smell of fresh pine in the house throughout the month!

I also love turning the lights on the tree at night (and on cloudy days, and as soon as it starts to get dark outside. I love lights!). When the other lights in the room are off, it feels especially magical. Reading by the light of the Christmas tree is one of my favorite things about the season.

The tree is the star of the show on Christmas Eve night, when it looks after all the presents nestled underneath its branches and waits for excited children to gravitate to it in the morning.

Christmas Eve, after Santa visited our house!

Today we're taking the tree down and bringing it to its final resting place in the gully behind our backyard. It always makes me a little sad to take down the ornaments and lights and then cast the lovely bright tree that brought joy to our home for a month into the cold winter weather of January. But the happy memories it brought will keep our hearts warm. (I know that sounds pretty corny...but I had to end on a high note!).

MIA in December

2012-01-01T17:19:00.001-06:00

I had every intention of blogging throughout December but the month totally got away from me and now it's January. So much for that!

I'm not letting bygones be bygones however. Over the next few days I'm planning on doing a bunch of simple little posts about different aspects of Christmas and other things that happened last month, mostly for my own benefit and because I know my family will like it. (They actually do read my blog. Or so they say!).

I hope you had a merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!

Where's Sam?

2011-12-05T09:00:00.000-06:00

One day I could hear Sam in our mudroom/laundry room and he sounded distressed, so I went in to see what was going on. But when I got there, he wasn't there. What the...? Then I looked around a little more closely, and there he was...

He had climbed into the dryer and locked himself in!

Luckily, I saved the day. Sometimes moms really are superheroes to their children!

A Penny For Your Thoughts

2011-12-02T08:00:00.000-06:00

This has been a busy week! I've had something going on every morning and almost every afternoon AND evening. That's a little too much for homebody me! But I got through it mostly fine and even managed to get my house decorated for the holidays in between everything.

We got our Christmas tree last weekend (a beautiful almost 10-foot fragrant Frasier Fir). But when Peter went to string the lights around it, we didn't have enough! (We're doing white lights this year--we have to switch off every other year because Peter likes colored lights and I like white.) So all week the tree has been half-lit with hardly any ornaments on it. Today I'm going to Target to get more lights and this weekend we will do our tree justice and decorate it!

On Cyber Monday I shopped my little heart out online (not really, but kind of) and one of the things I got done was our Christmas cards. I think this is the earliest I've ever gotten them designed and ordered! It usually takes me awhile because I have to decide on which pictures to use and I look at lots of cards on various websites because I'm a perfectionist and want to choose the best one. This time, I kept it simple: I used one website and I chose only from pictures from our family photo shoot this fall. That made it a lot easier! The cards should arrive today or tomorrow and I'm going to address them this weekend and send them on their merry way early next week. That's definitely a record for me!

As of this week, I'm officially a member of Mitt Romney's campaign volunteer team in Iowa. His Iowa Field Director got in touch with me and I had a good conversation with him about what I could do to help out. I'm going to be a part of the Iowa Caucus on January 3rd, which I'm excited about! I love politics (for some strange reason) and this is one of the things I was looking forward to about living here!
I'm a long-time supporter of Romney, not because he's handsome, rich, and successful (although those things certainly don't hurt!), but because I know the Romneys from living in Massachusetts when I was in high-school (they were in my (LDS) stake) and I have long thought that he's a really smart, strong leader and a genuinely good person. I think he was a very effective governor of good old liberal Massachusetts (not an easy feat for a Republican) and that he would also be an effective President for this polarized nation. I like that he's more of a centrist and not a strict conservative about everything. I think that's an asset right now. So that's why I'm volunteering for him. Go Mitt!!

And speaking of politics and presidential candidates, just a few other quick thoughts...I think it's sad that Herman Cain has so much promise and potential ability to help the country but poor choices from his personal life are probably going to prevent that from happening. And Newt Gingrich has made similar poor choices, so why isn't that hurting him as much as it is Cain? Because it was already known? It's weird. In any case, I don't trust either of them. My favorite candidates are Mitt Romney (obviously), Ron Paul, and Rick Santorum.

The European debt crisis continues to worry me and I'm sensing real danger signals for the U.S. According to financial experts that I watch on the news, everything could collapse like a long line of dominoes. I don't think they're sensationalizing the dangers here. Will we go into a deeper recession or even a depression? Will the Stock Market crash? Aaaaggh! Let's hope not.

Did you hear in the news this week that studies are finding that there is potentially dangerous arsenic in some brands of apple juice? Guess what my kids' favorite drink is? Well, at least I always dilute their juice with water. I looked up the ratings and the Juicy Juice brand is apparently safe, so Juicy Juice it is from now on!

My sister Elizabeth is due to have a baby today, but he hasn't arrived yet and isn't showing much sign of being ready to make his way into the world yet. The last time she had a baby he was born a week early, so last week I booked a flight to Boston for a week from today, thinking that the baby for sure would be born by then. It's going to be problematic if I go out there and he hasn't been born yet! So I'm hoping he will arrive in the next few days so that I can meet him next weekend and hold him a lot. I LOVE newborns, especially when I'm related to them!

I hope you have a great weekend!

Hair Envy

2011-12-01T11:30:00.000-06:00

This is an update on the ongoing saga of my hair and my quest to restore its health and get it to grow down to my shoulders again. This week I found a file of my husband's cell phone pictures on the computer that he must have recently uploaded, and this was one of the pictures:

This is a fuzzy not-very-good picture of Sam and I on a plane at night last year, but the thing about it that gets me is my hair! It was shiny and healthy and at my shoulders, and I wish I had it back again now! Little did I know that by the end of that year it would be breaking off on one side and would have to be cut a few inches shorter because of the damage apparently caused by some bleach-filled highlights that I got when I moved to Iowa, a situation that I'm still dealing with now almost a year later. This picture was taken on the way back to Boston from Iowa when we were house-hunting. If my hair could talk, it would have been saying "Donna, proceed with caution! Don't get the highlights when you move to Iowa!!"

The following pictures were taken just last year too, on St. Patrick's Day when we still lived in Connecticut. The healthy, desirable state of my hair just kills me now.

Look at that volume! I'm so jealous of her! I mean, me.

This is making me a little sad, but also hopeful that if my hair looked like that just last year, it can look like that again! I've decided that if my hair hasn't gotten a lot better by next summer, I'm going to book an appointment with my wonderful former hairstylist in Connecticut when I go back East next summer and see if she can work some of her magic. She's the one who helped my hair get to the above state. (And I know this isn't that remarkable compared with other people's hair, but for me, it was really good!)

Another factor is the baby. A few months after having Sam, my hair looked like this. Maybe having another baby is what I need to do to restore my hair to its former, uh, beauty. Seriously! And if it's a boy I'll name him "Harry." (Not seriously!) Anyway, I think it's funny and ironic that I'm envious of the hair I used to have when I didn't really appreciate it all that much when I did have it.

Thank you for reading another one of my laments about my hair. There will probably be more of them because I'm vain enough that I won't give up on this. My hair will eventually triumph!! (Insert Rocky theme here.)

Sleepy Feet

2011-11-30T08:00:00.000-06:00

You've probably heard of "Happy Feet" (as in the children's movie), but did you know that there are also Sleepy Feet? When my children were babies I liked taking pictures of their feet. Even though they're older now, it's still fun to do every now and then. Recently I took a few pictures of Sam's feet while he slept one night. (Fortunately the camera's bright flash didn't wake him up!)

I think his 2-year-old sleepy feet are just as sweet as his little baby feet were!

My Belated Thanksgiving Post

2011-11-27T20:08:00.001-06:00

I meant to write this post and publish it last week because it's about Plymouth and the pilgrims, but my in-laws came to visit and things were busy and I didn't have time. So here it is now instead. Better late than never!

This past summer when we were back East we spent a day at Plimoth Plantation in Plymouth, Massachusetts. It's a re-creation of how the pilgrims lived, and the Native Americans too, and it is an awesome place--an outdoor living history museum at its best. If you've never been, add it to your "Must Visit" list! We'd been before, but it was even better this time because my six-year-old was old enough to understand it a lot more than the last time we were there (when he was two!).

This is what the houses looked like back then. My husband and children are direct descendants of a couple who came over on the Mayflower. It was neat to explore replicas of what their home here in America may have been like!

The "settlers" are fun to talk with. They speak only in character as if it were the 1600s. You can ask them anything about life back then, and if you ask them about modern things, they act like they have no idea what you're talking about. It's funny!

Real working gardens are at many of the houses...

I was impressed by this cool log pile!

At the top of the village, there's a nice view of the Atlantic Ocean, which conveyed the passengers of the Mayflower to the wild and untamed lands of what was to become America.

Nothing says "Welcome to the 17th century" like a kid in a Star Wars shirt!

After Plimoth Plantation, we drove into the town of Plymouth to go on the Mayflower II, which is a replica of the original ship. (By the way, in case you were wondering, "Plimoth" is spelled that way because that's how the settlers originally spelled it, so at the Plantation it's spelled like that to be true to history. It's not an error that I keep making, I promise! Or if it is, at least it's a sanctioned one!)

All aboard! (It actually doesn't go anywhere. It's just for touring.)

On display outside of the ship is a picture of England with the names of the Mayflower passengers and where they came from. Our ancestors are John Howland (at the top) and Elizabeth Tilley (third from the bottom). They got married once they arrived in America. Guess who else is descended from them? Among millions of others, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, President George H.W. Bush (and obviously his son too), the prophet Joseph Smith, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Humphrey Bogart, Alec Baldwin, Dr. Spock, and Christopher Lloyd ("Doc" from Back to the Future!). And Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford and Winston Churchill are descendants of brothers of John Howland. How cool is that!? We've got some awesome connections!

A view from the lower deck of the ship where the passengers lived...

The view today is probably a little different from what it was almost 400 years ago!

I'm sure the pilgrims would have loved to have had houses and buildings like these! (Including the amenities!)

I made a cute pilgrim friend before we left, but he wouldn't share his drink with me...

After the ship we walked over to Plymouth Rock. It's just a rock, but it's THE Rock!

That pillared structure across the street behind Sam is the Plymouth Rock viewing place...

Plymouth is a beautiful seaside town today. I love it! And I love the widow's walks on many of the houses, which were built for women to look out to sea for their husband's ships coming in.

It was a lovely day at one of my favorite historical places, and we will definitely return in the years to come. Someday we'd like to have Thanksgiving dinner at Plimoth Plantation on Thanksgiving itself--they serve an authentic meal that's similar to the original meal that the pilgrims and Native Americans shared. Someday we will do that! For now, though, I'm just thankful to be an American and to be able to see these neat places from our history!

If you'd like more information on any of the above places, click on these links:
Plimoth Plantation and Mayflower II
Plymouth Rock
Plymouth, Massachusetts

The Weekly Wrap-Up

2011-11-18T08:30:00.000-06:00

Peter has been away on business all week (in New Jersey and Manhattan; I'm jealous! We lived there for the first four years of our marriage and I really miss it there sometimes.). He gets back tonight, but then tomorrow he'll be gone all morning at a turkey shootout (not real turkeys! I made sure!) with guys from church, an event for which I was forced to cancel a 90-minute Swedish massage that I had scheduled for myself at noon tomorrow. What the heck? I need a break!

That break is going to come in the form of THIS:

Tomorrow afternoon I'm taking myself out on a date to go see this movie. I don't care what people say; I'm excited for it! And I'm interested in seeing what they do with certain bizarre scenes from the book. It was my least favorite of the books, but I still liked it enough to want to see the movie. The movie reviews I've read said that fans will like it, so that's a good sign.

I'm almost done Christmas shopping for my kids. They make up the bulk of my shopping, so it's a relief to have that taken care of. Now I just have to be careful that I don't pick up more things for them when I'm out in the stores. That's one of the dangers of getting your shopping done early. You find other things that you want to get and can end up spending and getting more in the long run!

Speaking of Christmas shopping, I'm not planning on doing Black Friday next week. I never have, and I probably never will. I will gladly pay the difference to not have to get up early or stay up late and deal with crowds just to get a good price on something. Cyber Monday, however, is a much easier thing to manage. Now that, I like!

The Duggars have announced that they are pregnant with their 20th child.

I am not impressed.

Another thing I'm not impressed with is the Occupy Wall Street movement. At first, I understood their point. I mostly disagreed with it, but I got it. But now it's getting ridiculous. They aren't accomplishing anything except for being a nuisance, and the protesters don't agree with one another on what exactly it is that they want. They can't even decide on whether or not to issue a list of "demands." A friend of mine from college who works on Wall Street said this yesterday on Facebook and posted this picture:

"Occupy Wall Street occupying the lobby where I work...security has told all of us not to leave the building today...what crazy times we live in!!"

The protesters remind me of disobedient, badly behaved children throwing temper tantrums because they're not getting what they want.

Ready for another one of my catalog rants? I was flipping through the FAO Schwarz catalog and came across this:

This isn't just any Etch-a-Sketch. This is a limited edition Jeweled Classic Etch-a-Sketch, "with over 10,000 dazzling, handset Swarovski crystals" all over it. There are only six available in the world, and it only costs $1,499.99. (But there's a coupon on the back of the catalog for $25 off any total purchase of $150 or more, so then it would be only $1,474.99!)
Those Occupy Wall Streeters would have a field day with this. And I would probably have to agree with them. This is just wrong! And if you're going to bejewel something, why would you bejewel an Etch-a-Sketch, of all things? Why not a cool owl or a set of bookends or something a little more decorative or practical like that?!
For the third time in this post, I will say that I AM NOT IMPRESSED!

Well, in addition to lots of errands and housework and after-school activities, that's been my week. I hope you have a great weekend!

Family Picture Failures!

2011-11-17T08:00:00.000-06:00

My preoccupation with getting a good family picture of us have continued this fall, but they've pretty much all been failed attempts. The main reasons for the lack of success with this are:
1) a 2-year-old who is not at all interested in getting his picture taken,
2) wind, which makes my borderline okay hair totally not okay, and
3) overly bright sunshine that makes us look like squinty-eyed ghosts!
In the following pictures I have identified the culprit that ruined the picture.

The culprit: Too much sunshine and a toddler struggling to escape.

The culprit: Uncooperative toddler and a little too much sunshine.

The culprit: The wind making my hair look funny and my squinting. Sam for once is sitting still and even smiling, though! That's progress!

The culprit: Uncooperative toddler. That kid!!

The culprit: Obviously,bad timing on my part to blink my eyes! The photo is overexposed too.

The culprit: Six-year-old in a daze. This one is cute, but it's not quite "the one."

I guess these pictures aren't complete failures, though, because they capture the reality of our lives, and the reality of our lives is overall a beautiful thing that I'm thankful for.
But I'm still going to keep trying for that ideal shot that I have in my mind!

P.S. Sometime soon I'll post some pictures that were taken of us sitting in a giant rocking chair! They're pretty funny.

Pumpkin Lovin'

2011-11-16T07:00:00.000-06:00

The season of pumpkins, gourds, and mums will soon be over, so it's nice to enjoy them while they're in season for the two or three months a year that they're here. I took these pictures last month at Bloomsbury Farm in Atkins, Iowa.

I love fall! (And I also love that my favorite holiday of Christmas is right around the corner!)

Lettin' My Kids Get Crafty!

2011-11-14T08:00:00.000-06:00

As you may know, I'm not really a "crafty" person. I appreciate other people's arts and crafts, but for me personally, I'm not very artistic and I enjoy making simple things only every now and then. Occasionally, though, I let go of my craft inhibitions and neat-freak tendencies and let my children do a fun crafty art project. So last month I bought a bunch of mini pumpkins for them to paint and decorate.

"What's this and how exactly do you use it?"

This may have been Sam's first time painting with an actual brush.

I need to get better about exposing my kids to art on a regular basis!

I didn't even think to put newspaper down under their projects. Oops!

There will be orange glitter stuck on this table for awhile.

As further evidence of what an amateur I am at this, I let them paint in their church clothes.

In the end, I think the pumpkins turned out well. Good job, boys!

That one on the front right-hand side...I did those glitter stripes down the sides. Oh yeah!

Now they're all lined up on the windowsill near our kitchen table and they look cute and festive for fall. So I've decided that we'll do this every year. Sometimes it's totally worth it to let your kids get crafty. I'm going to have to do it more often!

Foliage Forever!

2011-11-09T14:15:00.001-06:00

The fall foliage is almost gone now, but it lives on in the pictures I took of it. I took these at a nearby park about a month ago. The yellow of the leaves the day that I was there was brilliant!

This little tree isn't quite as big or dramatic as the trees above, but it is pretty nonetheless. I can't decide if I like yellow, orange, or red leaves the best. In any case, whether on their own or blended all together, they are stunning!

This Was Halloween

2011-11-07T08:14:00.000-06:00

This was Sam's reaction the first time I put his costume on:

Fortunately he warmed up to it after a bit!

This is us at our church Halloween party. We were an uncreative couple and went as ourselves:

On Saturday night, we carved two pumpkins. Peter carved a graveyard pumpkin and John designed a cute face for the smaller one. I roasted the seeds and they turned out better than last year's did!

The "RIP" on the jack o'lantern is fitting because this is where the big pot of dead chrysanthemums sat until I threw them away on Halloween afternoon so that all the neighbors wouldn't see them when they came by that night. RIP, mums.

There's John in the center of the picture at his school's Halloween parade. You know what's funny about this? The boy behind him has the exact same costume, only his has a mask. John's came with the same mask, but he never knew it because I threw it out before he saw it because I thought it was creepy. But he found me out because of his friend's identical costume! Darn it! Fortunately, though, he wasn't upset about it. He liked that he got to get his face painted like a skeleton instead.

Ready and waiting to go trick-or-treating:

Still waiting!

Finally! Trick-or-treat time! We were the first ones out in the neighborhood. We left at 6:00, which seems like a reasonable time, doesn't it? Especially when you have a 2-year-old. Or is that too early? Peter took the kids and I stayed home to give out candy, which is an arrangement that I'm happy with and is much better than what happened last year!

Here is the happy skeleton, happy with his haul. This candy will keep him powered for the months to come, for better or worse!

And finally, this is my favorite Halloween/fall decoration that I got this year. I think it's the cutest little pumpkin owl. I got it at Pier 1 before they sold out of them! Owls are ~~hoot~~ hot!

I hope you had a happy Halloween!

The Weekly Wrap-Up!

2011-11-04T09:10:00.001-05:00

Our DVR and cable problems are finally fixed. Hooray!

The freak snowstorm in New England last weekend that postponed or cancelled Halloween in many communities and caused hundreds of thousands of people to lose power has been a source of fascination for me this week. I've been going on Facebook just to read my friend's updates about their situations. The town in Connecticut that we moved from last year is one of the places experiencing a days-long power outage. I wouldn't have dealt very well with that, so I'm glad to be here and not there!

Peter and I watched the new(ish) Robin Hood movie last Saturday (the one with Russell Crowe), and the whole time I kept thinking how much I liked the other version with Kevin Costner much better. This newer one was too brutal and cold for me. I love the Kevin Costner one (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves); it's the best!

Last week it was the newborn saved from the earthquake in Turkey that brought tears to my eyes. This week it was the news of Steve Jobs' last words. I find this to be amazing, especially since he was a Zen Buddhist and from what I've read, he didn't fully believe in God and an afterlife. The man who wowed the world with his innovations was wowed by something he seemed to see past his loved ones just before he passed away, and as he looked at it, his last words were "Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow." That's so cool! Of course we don't know what he saw, but it very well could have been the beautiful heavens opening up before him in all their splendor and glory. It's very affirming to those of us who believe that life goes on after death, and that it's even better than life here. To read the details that his sister shared in the eulogy she wrote, click here.

Have you heard that the U.S. Mint wants to get rid of dollar bills and replace them with coins? That would be weird. I don't think I'd like it very much because I don't like to carry a lot of coins in my wallet because it weighs it down. But there are some good reasons to do it (I guess). You can read more about it here.

This article is really neat. A graphic design student in England created pictures of the Disney princesses (and one villain) as if they were actual women. They are beautiful! These are my favorites. And, this is one of the only times I'll post a picture on my blog of a woman in a skimpy top (bikini girl from my birthday cake notwithstanding!).

It won't let me copy any other pictures, but my other favorites are Ariel and Mulan. You can check out the article to see all of the pictures. The one of Ursula is appropriately creepy! (And well-done!)

And last but not least, for a humorous moment from my week...it's that time of year when catalogs are flooding the mailboxes, and mine is no exception. I was leafing through the Pajamagrams one, and as I did so I saw that they have a rather interesting new product called Hoodie-Footies. That sounds like a fun product for children, but these cost $80 and are for for grown women. How would you like to wear one of these to bed or just to lounge around your house in? Do you think your husband would like it? Your kids probably would. What is Pajamagrams thinking?!

I think the panda one is by far the best!

A Fall Tree and a Field of Gold

2011-11-03T09:19:00.001-05:00

I've had these pictures in a file labeled "Fall tree and field" on my computer since last fall, and it's finally their turn to be the star of this blog, at least for a day or so! This is a tree in our front yard that I thought was really pretty with its fall color change.

(Sam was still a crawling baby at this time last year. They grow so much in a year!)

I like how the sun shines through the leaves in these shots, especially the darker one below, where the sunlight looks like a perfect little star shining right through the center.

There is a big field next to our house that in the fall is full of wheat grass (that's what I call it anyway) that shines like naturally-spun gold in the sunshine. It's lovely!

I hope you've enjoyed my fall tree and field of gold. They've been waiting for awhile to be seen by you. :-)

Friday Fragments

2011-10-28T07:30:00.004-05:00

After two visits and no follow-up from the cable company, our DVR is STILL BROKEN. It's really annoying! Not only that, now our cable signal will randomly switch off when we're watching TV. We don't watch a ton of TV, but we do watch it often enough that this is more than a minor annoyance. We're going to be switching cable companies if Mediacom doesn't fix this soon!

I bought a big pot of cheerful bright yellow chrysanthemums over a month ago to put next to the front door. They are now completely dead. Every year the mums I buy don't stay alive. I water them, and they die. I don't water them, and they die. The only thing I can think of is that maybe they're not getting enough sun, because the front porch is shady. Any mum aficionados out there who have any advice?

Why is it that every fall/winter season I feel like I have hardly any good clothes to wear, despite having bought new things the year before for that very same reason? I think it's because I'm not a big fan of cold-weather clothes. I don't really like sweaters that much or dressing in layers. And even when I follow the washing directions exactly, I find that sweaters shrink or pill so easily that they don't last nearly as long as warm-weather clothes. I do, however, love wearing fleecy warm pants and thick comfy socks at home when it's cold outside. It may be unfashionable but it sure is comfy-cozy!

My house project right now is cleaning out and organizing the storage room in the basement. There are still boxes down there that haven't been unpacked since we moved here last year. I'm loving this project, and I'm actually not being sarcastic when I say that. I can't wait to get down there each day and go through things and get it all organized. I'm going to unlock that storage room's potential and let it shine! (You can laugh at me now.) I love organizing!

Remember how I was thinking about applying to Penn (my alma mater) to interview high-school students who apply to go there? When I told Peter about that, he expressed concern that I wouldn't be able to give "mean" feedback on a student if I didn't think they were Penn material because I'm too nice. What the heck?! Peter of all people should know how critical and judgmental I can be!
(I am a nice person, but I'm also objective and I know I'd be able to give honest reports and feedback on students. I'm still planning on applying!)

I'm seriously thinking about joining Pinterest. I keep hearing all these good things about it and it sounds like something I'd enjoy. What holds me back is that I already have my internet time organized between e-mail, blogging, Facebook, working on my photos, and general browsing, and I feel like that's already too much time spent on the computer. I don't know if I can make the time for another thing! Should I even try?

I started my Christmas shopping this week! I'm going to get it all done as early as I can so that I can fully enjoy the true spirit of the season in December.

This brought tears of joy to my eyes this week:

A two-week-old newborn was pulled from the rubble of the earthquake in Turkey after being trapped for two days with her mother. The mother was rescued as well. Look at her tiny little legs! This touched my heart.

And this made me laugh. Check out this internet ad for Herman Cain. What's up with his Chief of Staff not only smoking a cigarette at the end, but blowing a puff of smoke into the camera? (It was a much bigger puff in the first version of the ad that I saw earlier this week; it looks they've toned it down now.) And what's with the slowly spreading grin of Herman Cain at the end? It reminds me of the Grinch Who Stole Christmas right before he goes and steals everything, which is really not a good image for a presidential candidate to take on!
(The ad is less than a minute long, but if you want to go right to what I'm talking about, scroll to the last third of the ad.)

I like Herman Cain but I'm just not quite sure what to make of him!

Well, I think that's enough from me for now. But first, do you like these cute little owls? I love owls. I was looking for Halloween clip-art to use on here and when I saw the owls I knew I had to use them. Expect to see more of them on here in the future! I hope you have a very fun Halloween weekend! Happy Halloween!

Don't Mess With Me, Dogs

2011-10-26T08:37:00.001-05:00

I love that our spunky little cat Brody can keep our two big rambunctious black labs trapped at the top of the stairs. Which just goes to show you: 1) Power isn't always dictated by size, and 2) Our dogs are wimps!

Me and My Boys, Hanging Out in a Tree

2011-10-24T06:58:00.001-05:00

These pictures of me with John and Sam from our recent family photo shoot are my favorites. It was nice to get some pictures with just John and I too. I forget sometimes how much time he and I spent together in the four-and-a-half years before Sam was born. Those were special times.

Let the picture-stacking begin!

I love this one of the three of us (even if my eyes are almost closed!).

This is a cute one of Peter and Sam. I wish Sam had smiled like this for some--or just one!--of our family pictures!

And here's an extra-special bonus--a few pictures just of me. I actually like these!

Black-and-white or color? Sometimes I can't decide which I like best.

Do you want to know what I was laughing at? The photographer said that I was squinting, so I tried opening my eyes up wider and not blinking, which made her laugh because it looked ridiculous, and that made me laugh too. Sometimes I crack myself up!

Family Pictures Evaluation

2011-10-20T10:14:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago we finally got our family pictures taken on a chilly, windy September morning at a nearby park. It went okay. Unfortunately the Indian summer that we enjoyed over the past few weeks hadn't arrived yet, and the chill in the air made me have to change the outfits I was planning (which was unfortunate for my outfit especially!), and the wind made my hair look bad or nonexistent in some pictures. The boys were much more interested in running around and playing than in having their pictures taken, which made getting good shots a challenge for our talented photographer, although she got a lot of cute candids of them playing. These are a few of my favorites of the boys:

(I really wish I knew how to do photo mosaics or how to get two or three pictures to line up next to each other. I've tried and failed at this a number of times! Oh well.)

But onto the actual family pictures that feature all four of us. When the photographer told me that she had posted some of her favorites from our shoot on her website and when I went onto the site to look at them and none of them featured Peter or I, that was my warning that either our boys are just really super-cute or Peter and I are really not super-cute. I'm thinking it's more the latter of those two options.

My main desire for these pictures was to get at least one good one that we could use for our Christmas cards and to display somewhere in our home. Did we succeed? I think so, although none of them really knock my socks off, but I also tend to be an unobjective perfectionist and am overly critical of myself as a result. Anyway, what do you think?

This one is nice except for the fact that John is practically sticking his butt in my face.

This is one of my favorite shots. Which do you prefer, the color above or the black-and-white below? (Please let me know--I want opinions! And tell me if there's another one that you like more.)

These ones could have been really nice but I tilted my head at a very odd angle in most of them (I'm not posting those ones!) and the images are not as clear.

My hair is blowing away in this one but other than that I like it.

We were attempting to appease Sam, who was trying to break loose and run away, which would have been bad, because we were sitting on a bridge.

So overall I'm happy with how they turned out. I'm already planning on getting our pictures done again next year, because I definitely want to do it again and try for that golden shot that I have pictured in my mind.

These are my goals for next year's pictures:

1. The boys will be more cooperative. (They'll be more mature at ages seven and three, right?)

2. I will wear a better outfit. (Although in my defense, like I said before, I had a nicer one planned, but I would have been too cold wearing it and I'm a wimp when it comes to being cold!)

3. My hair will look better.

4. Peter will weigh a lot less. (He's working on it!)

5. We will get our pictures done with a colorful old barn and a cornfield as backdrops. This is Iowa, after all!

*More pictures from this photo shoot to come in another post! There are some nice ones of me with the kids that are my favorites from the whole shoot.

Wordless Wednesday: The Empty Bench

2011-10-19T13:33:00.000-05:00

What Babies Get Away With

2011-10-17T09:52:00.002-05:00

Have you ever noticed that babies and toddlers and young children in general are able to get away with things that us older people cannot? And on them, it's even cute. Oh, the many benefits of being very young!

Pudgy, rotund tummies

Flyaway crazy hair

The desire to wear socks with sandals, and other fashion faux pas...

Double chins!

Making big messes that they don't have to clean up!

These things that are cute on little kids can come back with a vengeance in adulthood, when it's not so cute anymore, so enjoy it while you can get away with it, kids!

Random Thoughts From the Week

2011-10-14T09:00:00.000-05:00

We got a new refrigerator this week. It was time to get rid of the fridge that came with our house. For the second time in less than four months, it was dying. I can't tell you how nice it is to have cold, properly refrigerated food again! Lukewarm milk and too-soft cheese = yuck!

Another thing that hasn't been working very well lately in our house is the DVR service. The cable guys came out to fix that this week and it didn't work. Aaagh! I want my DVR to work! I guess I'll be seeing those guys again next week.

Next week Peter will be away on two different business trips, but my father will be here. He's stopping in Iowa for a few days on his drive from Massachusetts to Utah. He's moving to the middle of nowhere in southern Utah, so now my family will be truly scattered between the Northeast, the Midwest, and the West. But the good thing about it is that we'll have someone to visit out there, so I foresee some fun trips to the West in our future!

So. This Pastor Jeffress from Texas says that my religion is a cult and that Mormons are definitely not Christians. Really?! Are we back in the 1800s again?! It surprises me that people are still this ignorant, especially people who are invited to take part in events that involve presidential candidates (I distrust Rick Perry even more because of this!). Jeffress obviously doesn't know or understand the official name of the Mormon church: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and he certainly hasn't read the Book of Mormon, which is all about Christ. If he came over to my house he would see pictures of Christ on the walls and observe that we pray in the name of Jesus Christ. I read a really good opinion piece on cnn.com that was written by a non-Mormon man visiting Salt Lake City, Utah this past week when this whole thing happened. I really appreciate what the author of this piece has to say. If we had more open-minded people like him our country and our world would be a lot better off!

To end on a happy and self-centered note, I'd like to update you about the state of my hair. A few weeks ago, I complained about its damaged and distressed state and said that I hated it. I'm happy to say that I no longer hate my hair, just merely dislike it. The sleuth in me has discovered what damaged it so much. Last fall I got some highlights put in, and after doing that two or three times, my hair got really damaged and started breaking off. I talked with my stylist and found out that the highlights contained bleach. Apparently my super-fine locks can't tolerate bleach! So I haven't had any highlights done since last December, and I don't plan on getting any anytime soon, and if I ever do get them again, they will be bleach-free. So my hair is now totally its natural blond color, which I actually like.
Also, I've discovered (finally) that using a hairdryer was majorly damaging, even with heat-protecting products, so the blow-dryer has been shelved. I haven't blow-dried my hair in over a month, and it's growing again, and it's shiny and healthy! I have high hopes that it will grown back down to shoulder-length (which is my favorite length for my hair) by next summer.
And one more thing...John Frieda's Full Repair Full Body line has worked wonders! Thank you Mr. Frieda!

I hope you had a good week and that you have an even better weekend!

My Funny Birthday Cake!

2011-10-11T14:23:00.000-05:00

I turned 31 at the end of July and for my birthday Peter and I spent a weekend on the lovely island of Nantucket, a place I've wanted to visit for a long time. We had a good time there (pictures and posts to come at some point in the future!). When we returned back to the house that we were staying at on Cape Cod, my mother and my son John had made me a rather interesting birthday cake.

It was a theme cake since we were at the Cape in the summertime, which equals beaches and swimming (but ahem! Not bikinis! Or strange black towels! Not for modest, sun-conscious me!). In any case, it tasted good and it gave us all a good laugh, especially when John licked the frosting off of bikini girl's backside...

Okay, this post is starting to make me feel uncomfortable, and I'm afraid I'll come to regret that last sentence as well as the picture above. I'll end it on a more wholesome note!

It really is the funniest birthday cake I've ever had in all of my 31 years!

Random Thoughts From The Week

2011-10-07T12:59:00.002-05:00

-My blog is still misbehaving, but not as badly as it was before. When I publish a new post, it takes a few hours to update in other people's feeds instead of updating instantly like it's supposed to do. But I guess it's not the end of the world, and hopefully it will fix itself soon enough, since after I changed the URL it wasn't updating at all in other feeds. Ah, the joys and challenges of technology!

-Speaking of technology, I am genuinely sad about Steve Jobs passing away this week. I really admired him and all of the creative, life-changing work that he did. In addition to that, his personal philosophies and advice that he gave were really timeless and applicable to everyone. It's tragic that he got pancreatic cancer, which is one of the worst kinds of cancer there is. I have a soft spot in my heart for victims of cancer. Apple created a special e-mail address for sending condolences to (rememberingsteve@apple.com), and this is what I wrote in mine:
"I'm very sad that Steve Jobs has passed away. The world has lost a brilliant innovator and an inspiring leader. Thank you Steve, for bringing me the iPad and Pixar films; I enjoy both of these things very much and they enrich my life and my children's lives. You are in a better place now, restored to perfect health, and free to learn and innovate to boundless lengths!"

-One more (I promise) kind of sad thing: I'm worried about the economy and consequently, the country. I'm not usually much of a worry-wart or pessimist when it comes to these things, but, politics completely aside, I've got a bad feeling about the country's situation and where we're headed. I hope things turn around, and I think that they can, but the signs are pointing the other way. Just this week, in The Wall Street Journal, these were some of the troubling headlines:

"Market Nears Bear Territory" (bears are bad on Wall Street; bulls are good)
"How Tough Are Times? Parents Cut Back Diapers" (Less diapers are being purchased and more diaper rash cream is being bought because kids are sitting in their dirty diapers for longer amounts of time to save on diapers. How sad is that?)
"Stocks Log Worst Quarter Since '09"
"Europe Races to Stem Crisis"
"House is Gone but Debt Lives On"

The way I deal with my worries about a possible depression or continuing recession is by doing things that I have control over: spending less money and getting our food storage and other things in order. I should be doing those things anyway!

-I'm not a big fan of the store Anthropologie. I know it's super-chic right now and a lot of my friends like it, but for me personally, it's not that great. I bought a travel journal there this summer and was put onto their mailing list. So this week I got a catalog in the mail, and I thought most of the clothes were funny-looking and that they were way too expensive for not being very cute or practical. But then again, my style is not quirky and artistic. I do like some of their stuff for home, but even the catalog pictures for those were dark and spare and blah. So an Anthropologie fan, I am not. (Although I'll probably still wander into their store at the mall when I'm back East next summer, just not for clothes shopping!)

-I loved General Conference last weekend. As always, it was inspiring and uplifting and it's one of the best weekends of the year. I truly love being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It's one of my greatest blessings!

-The weather here in Iowa this week has been BEAUTIFUL. We're having an Indian Summer, with temperatures in the 70s and low 80s with no humidity, heavenly breezes, and colorful fall foliage everywhere. It's so beyond wonderful and makes me feel very lucky to be alive and in good health to enjoy it!

I hope you had a good week! Happy Friday!

It's Electric!

2011-10-05T15:06:00.000-05:00

I wish I could look as cute as this when my hair is full of static, but I just can't seem to pull it off like Sam can!

Things I Wish I Could Do

2011-10-04T14:26:00.000-05:00

1. Figure-skate. I've always loved figure-skating and it's my favorite event in the Olympics. I ice-skate pretty well, but I can't do anything special other than skate smoothly. This winter I'm planning on taking a class that will teach me how to do some easy turns and spins and how to skate backwards! I can't wait to pretend to be a figure-skater!

2. Play the violin. I took a year of violin when I was in 7th grade. I've played the piano for most of my life and I love it, but the violin is my favorite instrument! I love the music it makes. This might be something I take up again when my kids get older and I've got more free time.

3. Ballet dance "en pointe." I took ballet lessons for about nine years until I was almost 13 years old, and my final year of instruction I got to finally dance in toe shoes. I LOVED IT! Then my family moved from Utah to Massachusetts and I didn't continue with classes, but I wish I had. I still love ballet and sometimes I dance around my house doing the graceful arabesques and other moves I used to know so well. This is another thing I might take up again when I have the time!

4. Speak Spanish, French, and Italian fluently. I minored in Spanish in college and can speak it semi-fluently. I wish I could speak and understand all of the Romance languages. Italian especially sounds like a beautiful language, and Italy is one of my most-desired places to travel to. Someday I will learn Italian! (And travel to Italy as a reward for learning it!)

5. Cook really well. (I can cook, just not really well!)

What things do you wish you could do?

The Lake House

2011-09-30T15:11:00.000-05:00

Every summer for the last six years we've gone to Cape Cod, Massachusetts. It has become one of my favorite places, and it's a dream of mine to someday own our own house there for summers and holidays. Until that happens, though, we rent a different house to stay in each summer. This summer Peter really wanted to rent a lake house. I wasn't crazy about the idea--having a lake in the backyard when you have young children is not my idea of relaxation! But I decided to give it a try. There were good things about it, like the beautiful views from the back deck of the house:

(My niece Lizzie checking out the sparkling waters one morning.)

And there were not-so-good things about it, like it not even being a swimmable lake! It was one of those lakes that are nice to look at and fun to canoe or kayak on, but swimming? Not so much, when there's algae and plant life brimming just below the surface all over the place!

Pretty swan family, and not-so-pretty plants growing up near the water's surface

The lake did make a nice background for pictures, though!

Also, there was a stairwell down to the water with a locked gate at the top to help prevent the kids from going to the dock on their own, but it didn't always work, which was a little scary. So we learned our lesson! If we ever get a lake house again--when our kids are older--we'll make sure that it's a good swimming lake with safe access!

Sam liked to play on the stairs and the dock (unfortunately!)

Luckily for us, there was a good swimming lake just up the road--

And Sam was happy (and safe!) doing his favorite thing there (that would be throwing rocks in the water)

This would be a great place for a lake house! Such nice, clean water!

We've already booked our house for next summer. It's one that we stayed at two years ago that I absolutely loved. It has a big private backyard that is securely fenced in (hooray!), and the beach is an easy walk down the street with a playground nearby. Now THAT is my idea of relaxation!

The Danger of the Missing Comma

2011-09-29T13:01:00.002-05:00

Never underestimate the importance of proper grammar!

Whenever I see grammar or spelling mistakes in books, magazines, business signs, or anywhere else, I want to whip out a pen and correct it on the spot! Just doing my part to save lives. :-)

Sam Turns Two

2011-09-28T14:56:00.000-05:00

Last week on September 20th, my little Sam-man turned two years old! I went out of my comfort zone and even made a farm animals barnyard cake for the occasion. I can't adequately describe how much I love this little boy and what a blessing he is to me and to our family. I tell him corny things constantly, such as "You rock my world!" and super-corny things like "You're my little toddler and you've just toddled into my heart forever." And I really mean it! For me, true happiness is sitting in my favorite armchair with Sam snuggled up all warm and cuddly on my lap. I love him!

This doesn't seem like it was all that long ago...

I haven't uploaded my September pictures yet so I don't have any of Sam on his actual birthday to post right now, but these are a few of my favorite pictures of him from this summer.

This was at Plimoth Plantation in Plymouth, Massachusetts, where he had fun running around and exploring the woods.

My mother's yard:

And here I am with the object of my affection:

I LOVE THIS KID!!

A Little Bit of This and That

2011-09-27T15:00:00.000-05:00

-Did you notice my new URL? The "blogspot" is gone and it's now thedollsweetjournal.com, and it's mine, all mine! For about $10 a year you can buy your own domain name and Google/Blogger will manage it for you. ~~It's really easy!~~* And easy is good. Now I feel a bit more "invested" in this blog (ha ha).

*It's NOT really easy! I thought it was when I wrote this, but I soon found out that I was wrong! I wrote this post on Sunday evening and published it then. On Monday I noticed that nobody had commented on it, which was odd. After doing some investigating I discovered that my blog isn't updating in other people's feeds, rendering my updates invisible to my blog friends. So if my blog is listed on your blog or in your reader, it's not showing that I'm publishing new posts (i.e., the last post you probably have is my Summertime reading post from a few weeks ago, when it should be this one), so you aren't visiting my blog because you don't know that I'm posting on it. This is a major problem! I've been all over Google/Blogger trying to fix it but to no avail. Google isn't helpful in fixing these kinds of problems. I'm a paying customer now and their customer service should be much better than this--they can certainly afford it! So anyway, if I'm listed in your blog list, can you please update my URL to thedollsweetjournal.com? Maybe that will fix it. It's worth a try!

-Another blog problem I'm having with this dumb domain name switch: somehow the lists of my friends' blogs got deleted (as well as the list of Fashion & Style blogs that I sometimes read, and I don't remember their URLs and don't know how I'll find them again, sniff sniff), so now I have to figure out what all their blogs are and type them in again. Blah! (So if you're reading this and you have a blog that I read, it would be very helpful if you'd leave a comment so that I can more easily get your blog listed. Thanks!)

-I got a pair of Pajama Jeans. You can laugh if you want, but I LOVE them! They're cute and super-comfortable and they fit well. They look a lot more like jeans then I thought they would: they have a dark blue rinse and are boot-cut and they have a cute butt (that is essential in a pair of jeans, even when they are fake jeans). I still wear real jeans out for shopping and errands and social gatherings, but when I'm home I'm in Pajama Jeans. (And this winter, I'm sure I'll be venturing out in my Pajama Jeans more often. I can get away with anything if I wear Uggs with it, right?! Besides, Pajama Jeans seriously do look a lot like jeans!).

-I'm thinking about applying to join the University of Pennsylvania's Alumni Secondary School Committee Network. If I were to be a part of it, I would interview high-school seniors applying to Penn and I'd participate in recruiting events. I'd love to help Iowa kids and Midwestern kids get into the Ivy League and go to college on the East Coast. I had a wonderful time at Penn and I learned so much during my four years there. I'm a little worried that Penn won't be all that impressed by my current career of stay-at-home mother and occasional freelance copyeditor. I know it's not glamorous or high-profile, but I love that that's what I'm doing with my life right now. Anyway...if I apply and they reject me I'll be ticked!

-I'm going to start doing "Wordless Wednesday" posts soon because I take pictures of many different things and I can share some of them easily that way instead of writing a whole blog post about them. Although many of these posts will probably not be completely wordless because I often feel the need to explain things or set the scene, but they will be quick, easy posts that people can comment on with their own caption or thoughts or just look at and enjoy the view, whatever it might be.

-Summer is my favorite season but I'm glad that it's fall. Fall is lovely! Especially now that the ragweed that had been saturating the air isn't making my life miserable anymore!

Have a great day!

Summertime, and the Reading Was (Mostly) Good!

2011-09-13T19:47:00.000-05:00

Reading is one of my favorite things to do in the summertime. I love it year-round, but usually I do the most reading in the summer. It feels great to relax and laze around with a book on warm summer days and nights. These are the books I read this summer, in order from my most favorite to least, with a brief commentary on each.

1. The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins (I LOVED it, and I can't wait to see the movie when it comes out next year.)

2. The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton (I neglected my children because I couldn't put it down.)

3. These Is My Words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine, 1881-1901, Arizona Territories by Nancy Turner (I don't like the title but the book itself is very good.)

4. The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen (Her stories are magical, sweet, and mysterious. I read one every summer!)

5. The House on Oyster Creek by Heidi Jon Schmidt (I liked that it's set on Cape Cod, and for once features a couple in love who shouldn't be who make a responsible choice about it.)

6. Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin (Great inside-look at a marriage.)

7. A Modest Proposal by Michele Ashman Bell (Well-written LDS chick-lit and I liked that it was set in Manhattan.)

8. The Old Willis Place by Mary Downing Hahn (Her ghost stories are written for kids but I still enjoy them as an adult!)

9. A Company of Swans by Eva Ibbotson (Not the best writing; the main character got on my nerves; melodramatic and unrealistic; but good historical fiction and I liked the ballet parts.)

10. Still Summer by Jacquelyn Mitchard (Depressing, dark, disappointing.)

11. Nantucket Nights by Elin Hilderbrand (Horrible, dirty, pointless story; I felt like my mind needed a cleansing shower after reading this crappy book! I won't be reading this author again.)

Overall, despite those last two, it was a good summer when it came to the reading. If you like to read, did you read anything really good (or bad) this summer?

Boys vs. Girls

2011-09-07T17:00:00.001-05:00

Let me preface this by saying that I'm not pregnant, and I don't expect to be anytime soon. But the other day I was in the extra bedroom in our house and I was thinking about what a cute nursery it would make, and John was in there with me. Envisioning paint colors and crib bedding and wall hangings, I asked him if he'd rather have a baby sister or another baby brother. He answered that he'd want a brother.

"Why?" I asked. "What's wrong with girls?"

"Mom! Girls are just pretty and fancy! Boys are fun!"

Which made me laugh, because he's right about both of those things. But of course he's missing the fact that girls are fun too, sometimes simply because they are pretty and fancy. Now I kind of hope that our third child, whenever it makes its way into our family, will be a girl so that he can see how fun girls can be! (Although he does in fact already know this--some of his favorite friends are girls. Hypocrite!)

Attack of the Killer Geese!

2011-09-01T15:50:00.001-05:00

On a pleasant Saturday evening in July my mother and I took Sam to a lake near her house in Massachusetts. I introduced Sam to the joy of throwing rocks in water and he has loved doing that ever since. For the rest of the summer, whenever he's picked up a rock or sees a rock he automatically says "water" and looks around for water to throw it into. He's hooked!

The fine art of rock selection...

We were having a good time, and I thought it would be even more fun once these geese swam up to say hi.

I was wrong! These geese were not there to say hi. They were there to harass us and make us go away, which they succeeded in doing. They literally narrowed their evil little eyes at us and hissed threateningly and followed us around for a few minutes. I didn't put Sam down and he was so mad that I'd taken him away from the rocks and water. Everyone in the otherwise peaceful, quiet park heard his screams. But at least they weren't screams that came as a result of being the victim of a goose attack. Although in a way, they were. Dang geese! I wish they'd been cute quacking ducks instead. I'm glad that geese fly south for the winter--good riddance!

Vanderbilts for a Day!

2011-08-29T17:24:00.000-05:00

One of the best things that I did this summer while I was back East was spending a day in Newport, Rhode Island. Newport is one of my most favorite places ever! It's a historic, lovely town by the ocean and has beautiful old mansions along the coast that can be toured. Peter took me there when we first started dating and we had such a good time that day. This time, eleven years later, I went with my parents, my sister Elizabeth and her son Rocco, and my boys. (Poor Peter was stuck back in Iowa, hard at work!)

We toured one mansion, The Breakers, which is my favorite one and is the biggest of all of them. ("Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the biggest of them all?") It was the summer home of the Vanderbilts and construction started on it in 1893. It's modeled in the style of an Italian palace. My favorite things about it are the cozy library, the second-floor terrace, the lovely grounds, and its amazing views of the ocean.

I wanted to get a cute picture of John and Sam on this stone lion near the front entrance, but John was being a pill and wouldn't let Sam get on the lion.

Oh well! We tried.

I kind of rushed through the mansion and didn't get to listen to the automated tour that's given on headphones because for some strange reason, the kids weren't all that interested. This is where having my husband there would have been very helpful! It was okay though because I'd been through it before. I walked them through and did my best to rein in Sam's desire to explore beyond the velvet ropes, and then let them escape onto the grounds to play. In the future, I don't think I'll bring young kids to tour the mansions!

This is the beautiful ocean view from the back of the home's second-floor terrace. If I had lived here I would have spent many of my summer days on this terrace laying on a chaise lounge and reading books. Amazing!

I love the grounds because they have big sweeping trees and perfectly manicured green grass and bright puffy hydrangea bushes and beautiful views of the mansion and the ocean.

This is the biggest birdbath I've ever seen!

Hydrangeas are everywhere in New England during the summer, from the grandest estates to small bushes of them along random side streets. I love them!

The boys had a lot of fun climbing on the trees and running around under the low-hanging branches. They'll take the joys of nature over a stuffy old mansion any day!

The back of The Breakers. The second-floor terrace that overlooks the ocean is there in the middle...

Of course we had to take the requisite family pictures with the mansion as the backdrop. Sam was trying his best to escape (again!)...

Elizabeth and I and our boys...

Just a few more views of this wonderful place that I love!

A girl can dream...

It's fun to imagine about the people who lived here and the things that happened behind those gates, within those walls, and on those grounds a century ago.

After we were done at the mansion we went to downtown Newport, which is full of fun shops, galleries, and restaurants. John decided to catch a wave while we were there...

I bought a book a few days later that I plan on reading at some point: Gilded: How Newport Became America's Richest Resort by Deborah Davis. It combines two things that I like: history and glamour. It should be a good read!

And that was our lovely day as would-be Vanderbilts!

Random Thoughts on a Friday Morning

2011-08-26T08:38:00.000-05:00

Here are some of the things flitting around in my head right now:

-Hurricane Irene. I'm a little anxious about it. I love a good storm but this one sounds like it could be pretty serious. I don't live in New England anymore but my family and many of my friends do. I'm a little worried!

-What is going on this week?! An earthquake on the East Coast, an incoming hurricane on the East Coast, Steve Jobs resigned as CEO of Apple, and it looks like Libya is finally going to get rid of a terrible dictator (who has a crush on Condoleeza Rice, which I find very amusing!).

-I hate my hair. But first, in an attempt to be positive, here are the things I like about it: it's naturally straight, soft, and blond. And here are the things I don't like about it: it's thin, it's taking forever to grow longer, it's breaking off on one side, and it has become super-fragile. What's up with that? I hate my hair.

-I now have a son old enough to be in Boy Scouts! John started Cub Scouts this week and I am now the proud mother of a Tiger Cub. (Does that make me a Tiger Mom?)

-Tomorrow I'm getting a lava rock massage!

-This picture inspires me and brings out my inner neat freak. I'm trying to get my life organized so that September can get off to a good start.

I hope you have a great weekend!

Summer 101

2011-08-24T02:01:00.000-05:00

When I was looking through some of the pictures I took this summer, I noticed that the ones from a barbecue at my sister Elizabeth's house illustrate well many of the classic great things that I love about summer!

Watermelon, swimsuits, beach balls, and pools (even little ones!)

Corn-on-the-cob

Chillin' out!

Baseball!

Family

S'mores!

I love summer and it's been a great one! What are some of your favorite summertime things?

More Peas Please!

2011-08-19T15:18:00.000-05:00

Sam is a picky eater, which can sometimes make mealtimes less than successful, but it helps that the things he likes to eat are mostly good: fruits, vegetables, crackers, breads, cheese. As you can see, he absolutely loves peas. Just give him a pot of peas and he's happy!

That is one pea-powered boy!

A Fair to Remember!

2011-08-17T09:03:00.000-05:00

Last week we got back from our summer vacation to New England! It was a wonderful trip and so nice to be with our families again. I have much to blog about from the summer but until that happens (after I get my pictures--over 1200 of them!--pared down and edited), I wanted to post this blog post I wrote last summer and never posted (did I just say "post" three times in a row? Make that four times!). The Iowa State Fair is being held right now about two hours away in Des Moines. We wanted to spend a day there, but after the road trip from Massachusetts and all the time Peter's taken off from work, we decided we'd just have to skip it this year. We're sick of being in the car and not even a trip to the state fair can entice us! So without further ado, here is my ode from a year ago to the State Fair, now getting its moment in the spotlight after languishing in the "Unpublished" file for a year...

**************

You didn't really think I was all done writing about the Iowa State Fair, did you? This is my third and final post on the matter. (The other posts are here and here.) What can I say; I found the fair to be rich in blogging material!

Last month I happened to come across an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal (which is this blog's namesake...they should be paying me for this kind of publicity) about state fairs titled "Our Love Affair With the Fairs." It was a fun little editorial and among other things, it said:

"State fairs represent the America many of us praise from afar, or live within, or simply puzzle over."

"Fairs...can be traced back to 500 B.C....Fairs have existed as microcosms of society from the beginning..."

"Let's face it: no matter how sophisticated we become, a life-size statue of Elvis sculpted from 800 pounds of butter will always fascinate us. And if you don't understand this, then I'm afraid you don't understand America."

What Midwestern state fair would be complete without a tractor parade?

Classic cars, all in a row

Junk food at its finest

My father ended up buying an organic cotton mattress!

These huge fat snakes make me feel slightly nauseous even now.

We plan on going to the State Fair each summer. It must be the American in us!

The Tell-Tale Picture Wall

2011-06-23T20:47:00.000-05:00

A few months ago, I put up a picture wall of the boys in the upstairs hallway. The top row is John's and the bottom row is Sam's.

As you can see, Sam's row has been just a little bit neglected! And it's not just because John has over four years on him. I attribute it to what I call "second-child syndrome." John was the first child and so I was really good about getting his pictures done every few months when he was a baby and then once or twice a year as he got older. Sam is my second child and I love him and cherish him every bit as much as I did John, but I haven't been as good about getting his pictures done regularly and displaying them promptly because I'm more busy with two kids than I was with one, and for me the second time around has felt a little like "been there, done that!"

I haven't been totally neglectful of Sam and his photos, however. He had some nice newborn pictures taken, along with a photo shoot when he was about three months old, eight months old, and one year, although I haven't yet taken the time to order the prints, frame them, and hang them up (as you can see above...they're not there!). But I've resolved to catch up on that, at the very least so that Sam doesn't grow up with an inferiority complex. And last week I took him to a photo studio and got his pictures done, which I meant to do three months ago when he turned 18 months. Better late than never! I think the photos turned out really cute, despite the bug bite on his forehead and the lock of hair in the back that wouldn't stay down. Eventually, in the hopefully not-too-distant future, some of these will make it up onto the wall!

At the beach! (The photo studio beach, that is!)

Our First Spring in Iowa

2011-06-19T21:31:00.000-05:00

Seeing as the first day of summer is this week, I better get my springtime pictures up before they become totally irrelevant. As many of you know, this was our first spring living in Iowa and in the Midwest. It was very pretty--everything gets really green and blooms like back East. And living in a new house is cool because it's neat to see what blossoms up in your own yard...

This is our "popcorn popping" tree!

It was good that I took pictures of this pretty flower bush/tree when I did because the next day almost all of the petals were gone from a big storm we got...

This beautiful flowering tree is in the field next to our house. I wish it looked like this all summer!

Dainty little lavender flowers...

This is part of the backyard and was taken in later spring when the trees had finally gotten all green and full again. Green is my favorite color!

It's been a lovely time of year, and now I'm looking forward to the beauties of summer, which is my favorite season. The fireflies have already started flickering at night. Life is so good in the summertime!

The Last Day of Kindergarten

2011-06-16T17:10:00.000-05:00

I know everyone says it about their kids, but it really does seem like John's first day of kindergarten wasn't that long ago. In reality, it's been almost ten months, but it flew by fast. His last day of school was two weeks ago on June 2nd, so his time in that hallowed year of kindergarten has officially come to a close. (I'm so glad I have another child who has yet to enter kindergarten, otherwise I'd be beyond sentimental about this!)

And the end-of-year report is this: John had a great year! He adjusted nicely to being in school for a full day and also to living in a new state and going to a new school with nobody that he knew. He made many friends, had lots of fun, and learned many new things. His final progress report that he brought home on the last day of school states that he has been "promoted to next grade level." The first promotion of many in his life, I hope!

Just to mark his growth, this was John back in August on the first day of school before leaving for the bus stop:

And here he is (in the same shirt!) on the last day of school before leaving to catch the bus. He's really grown up this year! And is becoming quite a handsome guy, if I do say so myself. :-)

So long to my kindergartener and hello to my 1st grader!

Toddler's Best Friend(s)

2011-06-14T16:25:00.000-05:00

Last fall, we adopted Yogi and Boo Boo from an animal shelter, and they've turned out to be very good with the kids. See how good they are at keeping Sam company when John isn't around?

I'm sure it has nothing to do with the snack cup in his hands, aren't you?

Yeah right! A snacking Sam = instant best friends for Sam. Lucky Sam! (And lucky dogs--Sam likes to share!)

An Epiphany...

2011-06-12T18:33:00.001-05:00

I wonder what it was about? Apparently it didn't involve the realization that he could make his parents happy by no longer saying "butt," "poop," and "idiot" a hundred times a day because that hasn't happened and I took this picture in April. Oh well. Hopefully it was about something on the peaceful and profound side!

How to Coordinate Your Home Accents with Your Children's Clothing!

2011-06-09T18:28:00.000-05:00

I've been looking for some good toss pillows for the family room couch for months. I finally found some that I liked, and I liked them even more when it became apparent how well the colors of Sam's outfit coordinated with them.

Now he just needs to wear the same outfit every day so that he can continue to be color-coordinated with the pillows. Truly ingenious home decorating at its cutest and most practical!

I Told You I'd Be Back!

2011-06-09T18:26:00.000-05:00

So I uploaded the April/May photos from my camera onto the computer last week and it made me want to do some blog posts, so I'm back sooner than I said I would be! Didn't your day just get a lot better?!

Plus I didn't want Arnold Schwarzenegger to be the first thing people read about if they happened to visit my blog this summer. Now it can be something cute about my kids or some random aspect of my life instead.

I'll still be gone in July and probably for most of August, but not for June anymore. Yippee!

I'll Be Back

2011-05-27T12:46:00.000-05:00

Nope, that's not a tribute to the disgraced Mr. Schwarzenegger.

It's just my reassurance that I'll be back to the wonderful world of blogging in the not-too-distant future. I haven't been active in the blogosphere for nearly two months because April turned out to be really busy, and while May has been more mellow, I've been occupied with various things (for example, I finally read Gone With the Wind for my book club...all 1000 pages of it!). Next week is John's last day of kindergarten, and then we're going on vacation a few weeks after that for the rest of the summer. Then shortly after we get home in August, John will start school again.

So, in short, I don't foresee much time for blogging in the next two or three months. When I say "blogging" I mean not only posting on my own blog but reading the blogs of my friends and followers, which I really enjoy doing. I plan on getting back into it all again in August or September. I'm sure I'll be missing it a lot by then (I'm already suffering a bit from blogosphere withdrawal) so you will probably see a blog post from me almost every day straight in the fall. See what you have to look forward to? :-)

Happy Summer everyone!

Friday Fragments

2011-04-08T08:14:00.001-05:00

-A few weeks ago I did a blog post about an amazing sunset that I captured with my camera. I submitted a few of the photos to my local NBC news station for their "Hot Shot" of the day, and last week one of them was featured on the evening newscast! My name was on the screen with it. I felt special! This is the photo they used:

-I got a new vacuum cleaner, and I totally love it. It's one of those cool Dyson ball vacuums that I always thought was too fancy and sophisticated for me. A friend of mine got one recently and when I went to her house I thought she'd gotten new carpets because they looked so good. My Dirt Devil hasn't been working up to snuff, and with two cats, two dogs, and two kids in the house, we need one that is going to work up to snuff and beyond. So, using my friend's information and research, I went to Kohl's, where it's sold at a discount, and on top of that I saved 30% by opening a credit card account there. And in the process I got $70 in Kohl's Cash, which I plan on doing some shopping with tomorrow. Sweet! Our carpets and rugs look and feel so nice and clean. The Dyson sucks up every last little thing and is easy to use. I love vacuuming with it. And, perhaps best of all...it's purple!

-The most interesting thing I learned this week was from John's library book about spiders. This was truly horrifying to me: "Remember the nursery rhyme, 'Little Miss Muffet'? Little Miss Muffet was a real little girl. Her father was a spider expert who used to make her eat mashed spiders when she was sick. About 200 years ago, this was a common cold remedy." How gross is that? Poor Miss Muffet! She was chased by spiders and also had to eat them. That is so very, very wrong. I hate spiders, but I would hate eating them even more.

-Random picture that I want to put on my blog: This is a picture of me and my siblings that was taken at our annual Christmas dinner back home in Massachusetts a few months ago. Aren't we a cute bunch of kids?

Ben, me, Nathan, Jennifer, and Elizabeth
Anyone care to guess our birth order? It gets a lot harder to do when kids grow up! I'll give you a clue: I'm second-oldest.

-Tomorrow it's supposed to get into the mid-70s! I'm so glad that the milder temperatures of spring have arrived. My quality of life has gone way up because of spring. No more being stuck inside all day, every day, with the kids and I driving each other nuts!

For more Friday Fragments go to Half Past Kissin' Time. Have a great weekend everybody!

A Bright Flash!

2011-04-04T12:52:00.000-05:00

This is what Sam does sometimes when I take his picture:

Apparently the camera flash must be quite bright. I wouldn't really know since I seem to be the one who's always behind the camera! In any case, I think Sam pulls off the squinting look pretty well. I love this kid!

Owl* Be Back Soon

2011-03-20T14:32:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to post a little note that I'll be back to blogging in a week or two. We were away on vacation last week and now that we're back, Sam is sick and Peter is getting sick, which means that John or I may be the next victims of this nasty little bug; one of our dogs fractured his paw; the world crises are starting to stress me out; and I need to get some much-needed things done anyway. So...I'll be back to writing on my blog and reading your blogs when things settle down in the next few weeks. Don't miss me and my sweet little blog too much!

(*I've been starting to get a little obsessed with owls lately. I think I've officially entered middle age. More on that fascinating topic in the not-too-distant future.)

I Have a Six-Year-Old!

2011-03-08T08:13:00.000-06:00

Today my "little" boy turns six! I can't believe it! Six years ago on a rainy/snowy March 8th in New Jersey he came into the world as an adorable little newborn in need of abdominal surgery the very next day, and six years later on this soon-to-be rainy day in Iowa he's handsome and healthy and growing up fast...

When John started kindergarten in the fall, he quickly picked up on the potty humor that boys seem to find so funny. Because of this, his favorite word to say is "butt." We've been threatening him that if he doesn't clean up his mouth, he's going to get a butt cake for his birthday (it wouldn't be too hard to make!) and that we'll sing "Happy Butt-day" to him instead of "Happy Birthday." It works and gets him to stop talking like that for a little while. As much as he likes butts, he doesn't want a butt cake. So, he's not getting a butt cake today. But I still might (quietly) slip in a "butt-day" when we sing to him tonight because I think it's pretty funny. I guess he's rubbing off on me.

(Sometimes he requests that I photograph the object of his amusement when I have the camera out. And sometimes, much to his delight, I oblige him.)

Friday Fragments

2011-03-04T08:34:00.000-06:00

-I didn't watch the Oscars but I was very pleased that Mr. Darcy won for best actor!

Darcy gets a modern-day makeover. Nice!

Here he is in true form...

(This was one of my favorite scenes.)

-I know, I'm weird. But I've had Darcy on my mind lately because I just finished reading a really good trilogy about him for my book club, the Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman series by Pamela Aidan. It's Pride and Prejudice from his perspective. It's really, really good. She kind of used the BBC/A&E movie version as her model, which I think is the best version there is. I was a little skeptical at first of a re-write from Darcy's point-of-view, but it is very well-written and I loved it and I highly recommend it to all fans of the book and movie!

-While I'm on the subject of the British, this is what Prince William and the future Princess Kate's wedding invitation looks like (minus the picture of them). Very regal indeed! I love weddings.

-I'm so glad February is over. Just like last year's February, a fog of disorganization, sickness, and overall blah-ness descended and didn't begin to lift until the last day of the month. My Februaries really are cursed. There are only two days in February that I like: the 14th (Valentine's Day) and the 28th (or the 29th, if it's leap year. Whatever the last day of that infernal month is, I like it!).

-I've been eating way too many Girl Scout cookies over the past two weeks. I might as well eat them all and get it over with. And I have a big announcement to make: Tagalongs (the peanut butter patties) have finally, finally, after about two decades, knocked Samoas and Thin Mints from my #1 favorite spot. I wish I'd ordered more boxes of Tagalongs! But my body will thank me that I didn't.

-American Idol's Top 12 13 that was chosen last night is the best group I've ever seen on the show. I think it's going to be a very good season!

-There are sixteen days left until the first day of spring!

So what are you doing this weekend? My plans include going to my son John's school carnival, getting the tires changed on our SUV, getting out the 24-month/2T clothes for Sam (!!), watching a Netflix movie with Peter (Iron Man 2), and, of course, reading. If you'd like to see other people's Friday Fragments you can go to Half Past Kissin' Time. Have a great weekend!

A Stunning Sunset

2011-03-01T07:57:00.000-06:00

Since moving to Iowa last summer one of my favorite things to photograph has been the sky. It's so open and expressive here, and I love it! This was a memorable sunset that graced the sky with its beauty in November.

This is when I first noticed it and went outside to take some pictures...

When I went back inside this was the lovely view through the windows.

A few minutes later the color had deepened from gold to "sunset pink", so out I went again...

The sunset was so brilliant that it made this reflection in the window. Wow!

And then purple enters for the finale. It was breathtaking!

Me...Gettin' Crafty!

2011-02-21T06:50:00.001-06:00

Anyone who knows me well knows that I am not a crafty person. I admire crafts and those who do them, but my talents do not lie in that area. Most of the time I'd rather buy something and save the time and hassle of trying to make it myself.

I recently decided to challenge myself, however, by making something to put on top of an overly bare cabinet in my kitchen. I got the idea when a friend of mine from church sent out an e-mail to our list-serv with things that she was giving away, and one of them was a set of pale green glass jars. From there, an idea was born (and copied from a Pier One catalog).

Just like the authentic crafty bloggers do, here are the contrived step-by-step photos of my once-a-year-on-average craft project:

Cost of the glass jars: Free, given to me by a friend. One woman's trash is another woman's craft project.

I bought nine bags of different-colored dry beans at the grocery store, which cost around $10.

All of the materials.

(Unfortunately I didn't have anyone take pictures of me putting the beans in the jars. That was an important step to document and I failed. Sigh.)

The finished product!
I layered the beans by color. It was easy!
(Although I left too many white beans and green peas for the end, as evidenced by the square jar.)

My work of crafty genius in all of its glory.

I have to admit that I'm probably way prouder of myself than I should be about this.

Friday Fragments

2011-02-18T07:12:00.002-06:00

-Valentine's Day and the Inequalities of Love: For V-Day, Peter was very kind to me: I received a dozen beautiful red and white roses, a box of very delicious chocolates from a fine chocolate shop (I ate all 18 of them in two days--and that was with exercising some self-control), a gift certificate to get a lava rock massage, a ruby and silver ring, three cards, and cards, flowers, and a balloon from the kids. And what did I get for him? A card and a couples keychain. I feel like a winner in love but a loser in gift-giving.

-Another sign of my loser-like ways: John came home from school on Valentine's Day with all of the valentines he received, and after he showed them to me I realized that we were the only ones to not include a piece of candy or a sticker or a mini tattoo with the valentines he gave. They were cool Star Wars ones and I got him to write everyone's names out himself; I thought that was enough. Apparently not! I guess I really was an unwitting Valentine's Scrooge this year.

-This week I was sick with a cold and sore throat, so I've been drinking a lot of Canada Dry Ginger Ale. I'm convinced that it has healing properties--my motto is "Ginger ale: it's good for what ails you." (Doesn't my cleverness impress you?) It's my medicine when I get sick. Well, that and Tylenol.

-I haven't gone on Facebook once in two weeks, and I have two weeks left of being Facebook-free. I'm writing an article about it. I miss it! But overall it hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be.

-Spring is in the air! It was in the 40s and 50s this week and yesterday it was in the 60s--in the middle of February! The snow is melting and dripping away and turning into giant puddles. It's awesome!

-My discovery of the week: While shopping in the health food section of the grocery store I found Natural Cheetos! I used to like Cheetos but I haven't eaten them in years because of the junk they're made with. But these natural ones have no preservatives and no artificial flavors and colors. The first ingredient is organic corn meal! They are VERY good!

-One more discovery, though this one is pretty much unattainable unless it's in knock-off form: New York Fashion Week wrapped up this week, and while I don't get into high-fashion too much, I saw this dress featured in an article in The Wall Street Journal and I love it, even though I'm not usually a fan of sequins. It's from Peter Som, and I love the blue color and that it's completely modest, classy, and beautiful. If I were super-rich and led a glamorous lifestyle I would get this dress!

So that was my week; how was yours? As always, if you'd like to read other bloggers' Friday Fragments you can go to Half Past Kissin' Time. Have a good weekend!

When John Goes to School...

2011-02-16T11:40:00.001-06:00

...I let Sam play with all the toys that John won't share with him.

(Baby Jedi in secret training)

See how he's looking furtively over his shoulder? That's because John usually comes running when Sam turns on the light-saber's tell-tale sound.

Enjoying the freedom to play without worrying that the toy will get angrily yanked away...it's a beautiful thing.

John wouldn't be happy if he knew about this. But as long as he doesn't see this blog post, it's our little secret!

Happy You-Know-What Day!

2011-02-14T09:45:00.000-06:00

For the first time I made Valentine cards this year to send to my family since we're now living far away from them. A note about the middle picture: when I tried taking some good pictures of the boys together for the card last month Sam wouldn't take the toothbrush out of his mouth. He sure does like his toothbrush! I made this card online at Kodak Gallery. The actual cards are crisp and clear (not slightly blurred like the images are here) and nice and glossy. I love a nice glossy card! Anyway...
I hope you have a Happy Valentine's Day with your loved ones!

Glimpses of Heaven

2011-02-09T07:03:00.001-06:00

I took these pictures on a beautiful afternoon last fall when I was in the backyard with my kids. I don't know if I've ever seen the sun's rays shine quite so brilliantly through and around the clouds like this. It was pretty stunning. I ran to get my camera and started snapping away. It brings to my mind one of my favorite quotes:
"Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads." -Henry David Thoreau. These pictures are a tribute to the amazing heaven that is "over our heads."

Volkswagen Commercial: The Force

2011-02-07T11:04:00.000-06:00

We didn't watch the Superbowl, so we missed all of the commercials EXCEPT for this one, which caught my eye on The Wall Street Journal's homepage this morning because it was one of the most popular from last night. The mini Darth Vader in this commercial is too cute. My 5-year-old son John is going to die when he sees this. Star Wars is his current fascination and obsession. Darth Vader is his hero. He wants to be him for Halloween. Yes, at the young age of five, he has chosen the Dark Side of the Force. May the Force be with us. Anyway, enjoy the commercial!

My (Random) Experience with the Lunar Eclipse

2011-02-06T18:16:00.000-06:00

Do you remember back on December 21st of last year when there was a total lunar eclipse, which hadn't happened on the Winter Solstice since the seventeenth century? I'd been looking forward to seeing it and was planning on staying up really late to watch it. But, as with much of the rest of the country, the sky ended up being too cloudy. I woke up early the next morning and of course by then, only a few hours after the eclipse had happened, the sky was clear and bright and the full moon was shining brightly.

I really need to get a telephoto lens for my camera so that I can get much closer-up shots. Anyway, I took a few pictures of the just-eclipsed full moon while standing out on the front porch in my bathrobe, and then I noticed my neighbor across the street watching me from his driveway, which creeped me out, so I went back inside. And that is the exciting story of my experience with the happens-once-every-few-centuries-on-the-winter-solstice-lunar eclipse. Maybe I'll have better luck next time.

Mary Poppins--the Monster!

2011-02-01T16:23:00.002-06:00

I recently read Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers. You know, the original book that started it all. I bought it when I went to see the Broadway musical on tour in November in Des Moines. I really enjoyed the musical and since it's based more on the book than the movie is, I figured the book would be pretty good too. I was wrong! It was not my "cup of tea" at all (since we are talking British things here). Mary Poppins as written by her creator P.L. Travers is not a nice person. She reminded me of "Scary Mary," a funny YouTube video that I posted on my blog a few years ago. (Click on the link and watch it--you won't be disappointed!) Anyway, the official book review that I wrote is below. Needless to say, I don't think I'll be reading any of the other books P.L. Travers wrote. I much prefer Mary Poppins as done by Disney--through the lens of both my childhood and now adulthood, she was "practically perfect in every way."

My rating: 2 out of 5 stars

I'd heard that the book is a lot darker than the movie, and it sure is! The original Mary Poppins as written by P.L. Travers is mean, impatient, vain, and unlikable. I suppose that is how children were often treated back then but it was still disturbing to read about how sharp she was with the children and with other people. The fantasy/magical elements were fun, although sometimes they were way out there, which made me wonder about what was going on in P.L. Travers' head when she wrote this. I did some research on her and didn't come away terribly impressed. The book kind of ranges from one fantasy to the next until finally Mary Poppins just leaves. It was weird. I'll take the movie version any day, which had a lot more warmth and meaning to it (which, by the way, P.L. Travers didn't approve of. Big surprise there!).

Friday Fragments

2011-01-28T07:17:00.002-06:00

They're back! I haven't done these in awhile. Have you missed my fragments as much as I have? (You don't have to answer that.)

*The Northeast is getting pummeled with snow after having a few mild winters in a row. Why did this happen AFTER we moved away from there? I love snowstorms! I've been a little disappointed with our first Midwestern winter. Apparently it's been a mild one. You would think that would be a good thing, but no, I miss snowstorms. While it snows frequently here, there haven't been any big storms. The good thing is that it hasn't been as cold as it usually gets, although there have been a few days where it's been bone-chillingly cold--well below zero, which is just miserable. Anyway, I'm hoping for at least one big storm before the winter is over.

*Speaking of winter, I finally bought a pair of Uggs! For years I resisted doing so because:
1) I thought they were kind of "ugg-ly" (ha ha),
2) I thought they were overpriced, and
3) I don't usually like to get things that are really trendy (it took a few years before I'd read the Twilight books, for example).
Instead of Uggs I've worn an imitation pair from Target and a pair of black Bearpaws which are nice and about half the price of Uggs. I decided recently to get the new "Bailey" Uggs on a whim. I like that they're shorter and have a button on the side; I think these "moonboots" (as I've always called them) are actually cute (well, unless you fold them all the way over like the black boot in the picture below. That looks weird!). Most importantly, they're very warm and cozy. Real sheepskin feels awesome on the feet when it's cold outside!

*I went to college at the University of Pennsylvania, which was just ranked fifth in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, tying with Stanford, and coming in behind Harvard, Princeton, Yale, and Columbia (when did Columbia get so good? I don't remember it beating Penn when I was in school. They're moving up!). In any case, it's not shabby company! I loved Penn and Philadelphia. Coincidentally, I read a recent issue of the alumni magazine this week, and it made me feel terribly nostalgic for my college days. They were so much fun and it was one of the best times of my life.

*Also in the rankings, Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah was ranked the most popular university in the nation. That's where I always wanted to go and I was accepted there, but I decided to go to the secular Ivy League rather than "the Lord's Ivy League," as I like to call it. Either way, I couldn't lose!

*Well, from the best schools in the country to this: our dishwasher broke on Sunday night. It needs a new motor, which won't be replaced until next Wednesday when the part comes in and the technician can come and do it. In the meantime, I'm having loads of fun hand-washing all of the dishes every day.

*I like the new season of American Idol more than I thought I would. It's not the same without Simon Cowell, but Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez are surprisingly good replacements. I like the star power and singing experience they bring to the judging table. And Steven Tyler can be really funny.

*January was a productive month for me. I was able to get a lot of things done that have needed to get done for awhile. As a reward for myself I'm going to buy some cute pajamas that I've been wanting for awhile. Let's hope I can maintain the momentum and make February a good month too instead of getting stuck in the doldrums like I did last February!

*This is my 300th blog post in four years of blogging!

I guess I've rambled on long enough for now. Thanks to Mrs. 4444 at Half Past Kissin Time for the Friday Fragments idea. Have a good weekend!

Update On My Quest to Get Oprah Tickets...

2011-01-27T08:46:00.001-06:00

Back in September in this blog post I vowed to go to a taping of the Oprah show this year. Like I said there, I'm not some weird overexcited fan (really, I'm not!), I've just liked many of her shows over the last decade and I like her. So, I received this e-mail last week:

Thank you for your interest in attending a taping of The Oprah Show.

Unfortunately, we were unable to accommodate your reservation request.

Continue to visit the Oprah Show Reservations area on Oprah.com to see when we'll be offering reservations for upcoming shows.

You can also click here to check for last-minute reservation opportunities, as additional seats often become available at short notice.

Sincerely,

The Oprah Show Audience Team
www.oprah.com

*****

Well, this won't deter me; like the e-mail encouraged me to do, I'm going to keep on trying, especially for one of those last-minute seats! There are about four more months until the end of the show. I am determined to be in the audience for a taping of one of those final shows. I didn't move all the way out to the Midwest to not be successful in this (the show is taped in Chicago, which we now live less than four hours away from!). Wish me luck!

Ode to Christmas

2011-01-25T08:36:00.001-06:00

Can you believe it's been one month since Christmas? It seems like it was a long time ago. It feels that way every year. There's all the warmth and brightness and good feelings of the holidays and then--BAM!--it's over and done with. Cold, dark January arrives, bereft of the lights, decorations, songs, and gifts of December, and it makes it seem like Christmas was months ago rather than weeks. Anyway, onto the merrier things of the now-past season...

Tree shopping...

Tree decorating...

Gingerbread-House making...

Christmas card picture-taking...

The nicest gift basket we've ever been given (It was from our real estate agent; Peter's given her a number of referrals since we moved here.)...

Meeting Santa...

Christmas Eve snowstorm = White Christmas...

Decorations...

Christmas morning, before and after...

I'm already looking forward to next Christmas...only eleven months to go!

Ten Things I Learned From Our Trip Back East

2011-01-19T13:57:00.002-06:00

The week after Christmas we went home to New England for the first time since moving to Iowa. I learned a few things from the experience:

1. Don't fly United. (We had to spend the night and then thirteen hours of the next day at O'Hare because we missed our connecting flight to Boston. Speaking of which....)

2. Don't fly through O'Hare Airport in Chicago. (It's too big. Too much can go wrong. Not even the fun children's play area (which was a sanity-saver for us and the kids) would make me want to go through O'Hare again!)

3. Don't fly in the winter, unless it's to a warm and sunny destination. Maybe not even then.

4. Don't check your bags; try instead to cram everything into carry-ons. We spent three days in the same clothes without most of our things. Our luggage made it to Boston way before we did. That stunk. Literally.

5. When every flight to Boston is overbooked for days and there are over 130 people on standby and you are ranked in the 50s on the list, take any flight you can that will get you to New England. We got on an 11 p.m. flight to Hartford, Connecticut (just a few miles from our old house) and my mom came and picked us up and drove us home to Massachusetts the next morning. It was a pain, but it saved us from spending more days at O'Hare.

6. Beg your mother-in-law to give less gifts next year or to have them sent directly to you. You don't want to know what we paid to ship everything back to Iowa!

7. Getting a 1-year-old baby to go to sleep and stay asleep in a hotel room is nearly impossible. I had some bad mom moments due to this.

8. Don't get your child all excited for the hotel pool and then find out when you get to the hotel that there is no pool. This happened on our last night at a hotel in Boston by the airport.

9. When you park at the airport when you're first leaving for your trip, don't leave the interior lights on. Otherwise your battery will slowly drain and you will come back a week later to a dead car.

10. Because you love your family and you had a great time once you got there, consider doing it all again next Christmas.

Rich Kid Stockings

2010-12-15T20:14:00.000-06:00

Recently I was looking over the Pottery Barn Kids catalog while I ate my lunch. I almost choked (figuratively speaking) when I saw this picture:

Look at the size of the boy's stocking! It's as big as he is! Possibly bigger. I know Pottery Barn is swank and pricey and caters to a certain clientele, the kind of clientele who can get jumbo-sized stockings for their kids and fill them with $200 worth of gifts (or a dozen of Santa's elves--these look roomy enough). But this isn't a rant against the rich (despite the title of this blog post). It's a rant against stockings that are as big as children. I guess there's nothing like gigantic stockings hung on the mantel to set the tone of the holiday, right? Even if I were the richest woman in the world I'd never choose stockings this big. I think it's tacky and very materialistic. I'm sorry Pottery Barn; I really like you and the lovely glossy design layouts in your catalogs, but I'm not buying this (literally!). Stick with the Regular size you offer and discontinue this ridiculous Jumbo size!

What do you think? Am I being an oversensitive Scrooge, or are these stockings too big for even Santa to fill?

My Latest and Greatest Book Reviews!

2010-12-12T23:10:00.001-06:00

A Journey to the New World: The Diary of Remember Patience Whipple by Kathryn Lasky
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars

This is a good book series and is an easy, enjoyable way to read about U.S. history in various time periods and settings. I enjoyed this book; it was well-written and it drew a vivid picture in my mind of what life on the Mayflower and in Plimoth must have been like. (Yes, it's Scholastic so it's written for kids, but these are good for adults too. I bought a couple of books from this "Dear America" series at a book sale because I love American history and I like how this series makes reading about it fun and interesting and does it through the eyes of observant, smart girls.)

The Life of Our Lord by Charles Dickens
My rating: 5 out of 5 stars

This book is a gem! It's a lovely quick read and is perfect for both children and adults. It's beautifully and simply written by a master writer who had no need to embellish the life story of Jesus Christ, which is beautiful enough in and of itself. This is worth re-reading many times as well as owning.

Woman's Life in Colonial Days by Carl Holliday
My rating: 2 out of 5 stars

I stopped reading this book at page 134 when I thought I was going to die of boredom. This was written in 1922, which I didn't realize when I got the book, so the non-fiction writing style is antiquated and not very well-written or entertaining. The author includes way too many quotes from direct sources like journals and letters. Some quotes are informative and interesting, but too many and you feel like you're reading a (badly written) research paper. He makes many questionable assumptions and presents them as fact, which he wouldn't be able to get away with very easily today, and he meanders off topic often. There is some interesting information here, but it's too bad that it's presented in the way that it is.

The Gingerbread House in My Neighborhood

2010-12-07T10:41:00.000-06:00

There is a real gingerbread house in my neighborhood. Well, it's not really real, but it's designed just like one and it's really pretty. When I came out to Iowa last December when we were exploring the possibility of moving here, a real estate agent showed me around and she drove me by this house and neighborhood to show that there are indeed some unique houses in the area. Little did I know that about seven months later we'd be moving in right down the street!

As you can see I took these pictures in the summer. I waited to post them until now because this is the season of gingerbread houses. I didn't take close-ups of the details of the house because I didn't want the neighbors to think I was any crazier than I already looked. But believe me, this house has intricate beautiful details and is truly a standout in the area. (Am I starting to sound like a real estate agent? Sorry.)

This cute "gingerbread" ranch house is right across the street from the gingerbread house. I love its stone face and the brickwork and wooden shutters. So pretty!

Friday Fragments

2010-11-19T08:34:00.002-06:00

Friday Fragments are a fun way to sum up the week or to write about any bits of randomness that have been floating around in your head for awhile. They're the creation of the lovely Mrs. 4444 at Half Past Kissin Time.
And now, on to this week's fragments...

*I've decided to give up Saturday Night Live. I think the humor on it can be really funny and I like the political satire and current events commentary, but some of the sketches and jokes can be really crass and it's getting worse. It's really not worth watching things that are offensive to me even when there's some good fun entertainment mixed in with it. So, good-bye SNL. Until you clean up your act (and I'm not holding my breath on that), you've lost a viewer who could have done awesome publicity for you on her blog (ha ha).

*On the other side of the spectrum, we watched a really good movie this week that I highly recommend: The Blind Side, starring Sandra Bullock. What an inspirational feel-good story this is! And the best part is, it's based on a true story. It's the best movie I've seen in awhile. If you haven't seen it, see it!

*I can't believe Bristol Palin made the finals of Dancing With the Stars. I think she has a decent shot of winning the whole thing next week, even though there have been far more talented dancers on the show this season. Bristol the Pistol is in it to win it!

*I read hundreds of pages this week in order to get the book read for my book club meeting last night. We read The Help by Kathryn Stockett. Great book! I highly recommend it. Similar to The Blind Side, it involves black-white relationships in the South. I'm glad I read it, and that I read it on time! (See my pithy book review in the post below.)

*It's starting to get pretty cold here. I've heard a lot about severely cold Iowa winters. I'm not looking forward to it and am preparing to go into hibernation mode as much as I can for the next few months.

*She is a lucky lady. That's going to be quite the wedding next summer!

*My mother is coming here from Massachusetts tomorrow for a week! For the first time ever Peter and I are going to be having our own Thanksgiving meal. I'm excited for my mom to come, excited for Thanksgiving, excited to go see the Broadway touring version of Mary Poppins the day after Thanksgiving in Des Moines, excited that Christmas is coming. What can I say; it's a very exciting time!

*I'm taking next week off from blogging and the blogosphere. There's just too much excitement going on right now. I'm thankful to anyone and everyone who reads my blog. I'm thankful for a whole lot more but I won't get started on that, I've been rambling long enough. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Book Review: The Help

2010-11-18T23:04:00.000-06:00

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a great book that brings the civil rights era of the 1960s vividly to life in Jackson, Mississippi. I enjoyed the characters and their stories and perspectives very much.

I will never think of chocolate pies the same way again (unfortunately!).