Let Them Be Little

NOW THAT THERE IS NO 'PICNIK'

a monkey may be taking over.

PicMonkey!

Another fun online photo editing site.

It does not have collage tools - yet - they say they are working on adding that!

It is a user-friendly site with a lot of the same things you would have found at Picnik.

And it is free!

 

Emily's friend, Mary, suggested fotoflexer. I haven't had a chance to play on there yet but it looks great too.  :)

 

Here are a couple of photos edited in PicMonkey of my own monkey:

 

 

IT WAS A 'PICNIK' WHILE IT LASTED

Picnik was a fun photo editing site.

Although I didn't use it always, it was a great place to go to from time to time.

And I am going to miss it, especially for the collages.

The site will close for good on April 19; if you have photos stored there, be sure to download them very soon!

I'm looking into other suggestions for photo editing sites online - when I find something I like, I'll share it.

 In honor of Picnik and because I love watching Smash pole vault, here is a little Picnik collage of his meet in Colorado Springs last Saturday.

Click on photo to enlarge:

 

 

 

SUPER GRANNY!

Have you heard of her?

Seen her in action?

A handbag wielding, 70-something year old woman willing to take on crime and fight it off with a single bag.

Anyone know the brand of handbag she used?

Or the contents of the bag?

Some bags are heavier than others...so people say... :)

(I have to admit, I have watched this video several times, she amazes me)!

 Blimey!  I must say...cheers to 'er! 

(Typed while thinking with a British accent...you could read it that way, if you like!  Ha, ha!)

SILLY

THIS IS.

Just silly.

There really isn't more to say than that...

other than

I love silly (string)!

Until I started writing this line, I had 18 words written and 18 photos shown.  Which, I must admit, I thought was pretty cool; wasn't going for that at all, it just happened. 

But I have to mess it up to note that I believe Adam has some real QUAD S!  As in SSSS...Serious Silly String Style! (Or Skills as the kids would say...). 

These are hilarious; a complete look into their ss fight!  So yes, there are a lot of photos but they are funny! ( I know that quite a few of you will enjoy these!).

Shaking the cans the 3, 2, 1...
 

 

The silly string really stinks - YUK!  (Don't buy the off-brand, lesson learned).

Marilyn is out of string and needs to reload!

Adam patiently waits, ha, ha!

Meg gives Marilyn a fresh can and she returns fire.

Boy, did she ever!

And they will live  'string-ily' ever after.  :)

SAVE THE DATE!

My niece, Marilyn, and her soon-to-be husband, Adam, will be married on this day:

We've saved the date.  And we can't wait!

(My sweet little assistant, Megaroo, is responsible for the penmanship on the sign.  She's fabulous!)

 

Warning:

More kissing ahead!

 
 Love the shadow in this one.

 

A few more, just for fun:

I did warn you that there was more kissing ahead!
 
 
The picture below is a favorite, it's the best representation of these two.  (Perhaps it is because I know how happy Marilyn is whenever Adam is near).  I love watching them interact.  Click on it to enlarge.

 

And the crazy aunt (me) will most likely bring silly string along...just for fun!

HOT TAMALES AND DANCING...

well...sort of...

I have lots to add to the blog and not a lot of time to do it BUT I cannot let this one wait!

Last night was the BEST night!  I learned how to make tamales with my friend, Rosana.  She only makes them once a year, at Christmastime, and now I know why!  Very labor intensive yet very, very fun.  While we were waiting for the tamales to steam, we started talking about dancing. Before too long, we had Arturo and Rosana talked into dancing for us.  They are fabulous dancers, I took photos but didn't think of using the video on my phone UNTIL...

...until Arturo began to teach Jonathan to dance.  (Bless him!) 

Arturo said he will continue to teach Jonathan so we can dance together, yay!

This is pretty funny.  It's funny to me, anyway.  (I love it!)

Well, all but my silly giggle. 

Listen for a bit to get a feel for the music but then turn the volume down so you don't have to hear me!  Please!  (It's my only Christmas wish).  :)

More on the fabulous tamales and other stuff later...

 (for now, enjoy these two hot tamales, ha, ha!)

 

Hope you are having a wonderful and Christ-filled week!

SNOW BOWLS

What could go better with ice cream than these?

We will be making more of these in the weeks to come! 

I'll let you know when we do.

If you live close and want to come over and create some snow bowls with me, that would be fun! 

 

DURING HER P-AP PHYSICS CLASS

Last week, a boy (Chris) who sits next to Emily and happens to be a band friend (she considers him an acquaintance) passed a note to her while she was taking notes during a lecture.

While he passed it to her, he whispered in her ear...

*

{Are you reading now?  I know at least a few of you have perked up!}

"Will you edit this for me, please?"

Though she thought it was a strange request, she graciously obliged him.

NOT because he whispered in her ear...

She was a little shocked when she saw the sentence he wanted edited.

Here is the statement:

"A woman without her man is nothing"

How would you send that back to the whisperer known as Chris?

THE PASSAGE OF TIME

AND a QUESTION for YOU!

For some reason today I have been thinking about the strange way that time seems to pass.

Years can fly by, minutes sometimes seem like an eternity.

Ten years ago Jonathan was asked if he would consider moving to TX for 18 months to 2 years.  He sort-of..., in a round about way... brought the request to my attention.

You see, we had recently moved into our new home.  One we had worked really hard and saved for.  We were excited about the location.  We loved living in CO.  We had done a lot of the work on our home ourselves.  We did the flooring, painting, lighting, landscaping, anything and everything that we could possibly do!  Why in the world would we want to move?  He thought I would never be on board and support him in this request but immediately I knew it was what we needed to do.  We needed to at the very least explore the offer further as well as the DFW area.

We flew to TX during spring break.  We had a look around.  I loved the warm spring weather and rain as well as the flowers and trees which were blooming everywhere.  And I was excited for the opportunity to get to know my nieces better.

Moving for a couple of years wouldn't be a big deal; I felt that.

The new opportunities that were placed before us outweighed any of our concerns about leaving CO.

We had been greatly enriched by our time in VT, if I could have survived the winters there better with my health and if the company Jonathan was working for at the time would have been better, we may have never left.  That was a sweet time in our lives, a truly unique and extraordinary experience.  

CO was wonderful in a completely different way.  We had decided that CO would be our "forever" home.  (Ha, ha.)  We would live there forever, raise all of our children there (forever), in relatively close proximity to family.  (Not really close but close enough and as close as possible!).  We believed we would eventually die and be buried there.  We loved the lifestyle in CO: the hiking, biking, mountains, sunshine, bright blue skies and plenty of outdoor fun! 

In fact, I have a bit of a confession to make.  I had always wanted to live in CO.  I thought of it as my safe place...even when I was living in Italy.  Isn't that funny?  When I first arrived in Italy and some scary things happened right away, I would think to myself, "I'm not that far from home, everything is going to be fine, I am in an Italian speaking area of Colorado."  (Ha, ha!)  What a silly thing to think in order to get me through a rough patch.

So, naturally, when Jonathan was looking for work in other parts of the US while we were in VT, Colorado was at the top of our list.  And it ended up giving us the best offer with the best company at the time.

However, now I find myself here (in our temporary state - pun) in TX 10 years later.  I have lived here longer than any where else, except for my home in the Seattle area.

We have had many times when a move back to CO has presented itself in some form and it hasn't been right or hasn't worked out.

Even though TX was never on our radar and never on our list of places to live, we have gained so much from living here.  The people are friendly and love to chat with anyone.  The schools and education opportunities for the kids have been wonderful!  The weather has been really good for my health.  And we have gotten the opportunity to know 2 of my nieces in a way that would have never happened otherwise.

Maybe it is Spring Fever talking but as much as I love it here, I could be up for a new adventure.  I guess I get restless when I have been in one place for a long time.  I don't believe I could ever talk Jonathan into going where I would love to go next.  It would require him to learn a new language :), but that wouldn't be the reason that would keep him from moving there.

You may be wondering now if our home is on the market again, no, it isn't. I'm just thinking about how our little temporary adventure turned into our life here for 10 years.  And how that time was so full that we didn't ever realize how quickly it was flying by.

SOOO....  if you could live any where, where would it be?  Or if you could have a temporary adventure in any location, where would you choose to go..., if you could?

I have a list...

I would love to know what destination(s) would be on yours?

Please tell, don't be shy!

FITTING IT IN MIGHT NOT BE THE RIGHT FIT

RECENTLY, I am finding it difficult to blog, time constraints, desire constraints, etc.

But because I still really want to keep this updated for our own benefit (journal) as well as keeping family and friends in the loop, I have been fitting it in.

Writing in the middle of the night (or early in the morning) and then publishing whenever I get to it.

Some of the entries have been scattered here and there as I try to get old news on here but not have old news take over...and yet, if I focus on the past I cannot fill in during the present...

but I have been plugging away, fingers at the ready on my laptop, even though.

However, this morning as my eyelids pried ever so slowly open, I recalled writing on the blog late last night.

What did I write?

By late Friday night I am usually a little out of my weary mind.  Probably NOT the best time to fit in blogging...

Why didn't anyone stop me?

Well, in their defense, the girls were asleep and the boys were gone.

So, I got up and hurried to the computer and found that a link I had put on here didn't work, not a big deal I can easily fix that,

but I am not sure the entry made sense either,

after thinking about that I decided "again no big deal..." I probably don't make sense frequently... just keepin' it real...

but then I noticed a spelling error!

I typed in where instead of wear.

Oh dread.

That is not me,

or is it?

I do know the difference, don't I? 

But it got me wondering if I have made errors like these in the past as well and I just haven't gone back to check the error of my ways.

I know, I know, it is not the worst thing in the world but I would feel sad if my grand-kids read this and thought I didn't know how to spell.  (Although with texting the way it is these days, they may not catch any of my errors...)

So, this morning I am wondering if fitting in the blogging is the best fit fir me for me. (HA!)

I may be scheduling time with Daisy (my laptop) during normal waking hours from now on; that is, if I can fit it in.

GREAT FEET!

 

When I saw our shoes lined up next to each other, I had to chuckle and reminisce. 

Does it feel as if I am doing a lot of blog entries about feet?  I know, it does to me too...weird.

Maybe following in His footsteps for Holy Week got me thinking about feet...

Can you guess which pair of shoes belong to me?

If you guessed the gigantic running shoes, you would be...

not correct.

So, when I saw these standing next to each other by the back door, admittedly I was a little shocked.  I thought to myself, "Wasn't it yesterday that ..."

After doing a little bit of running through the past on my blog, I realized that what I thought of as yesterday (to be completely honest I knew it had to be at least a year or so) was actually 3 years ago. 

Those three years went by fast!

And my oh my, how things have changed (and grown) in that time.

Do any of you recall this photo?

You were asked to guess just who these legs belonged to in this entry.  (click on this to see the entry)

The response at that time was too much fun!

Then this entry followed with the answer...  (click on answer)

If you haven't gone to the original entries yet, or if you do not recall the answer, here is a little clue...

All four of my children in my shoes.  Nathan was the only one who could not gracefully easily wear any of my shoes.   

In just three years things have changed greatly around here, except the size of MY feet!

Everyone else's are turning out rather large GREAT!  (wink, wink!) 

I do encourage them to achieve GREATness!  (And at least a size 6 in women's shoes for the girls).

 

TOUGH PANSY

When I planted my winter pansies last November, I had no idea that this winter would turn out to be so cold!  It had to be the coldest winter since we moved here in 2000! 

Such a cold winter (among other things) has me seriously considering a move further south...

Costa Rica.

Back to the pansies.

Once our winter freezes, storms and snow had passed, I was surprised (shocked!) to see the winter pansies hanging in there.

They are not as filled out and strikingly beautiful as they would have been in milder winter conditions but they don't look too bad either.  These cute little pansies - which I would NOT have planted if I had known how cold this winter would be - have weathered the storms quite nicely.

As the latest ice and snow began to melt around them, I expected to find them flat on the ground with all the life completely knocked out of them; but there they stood tall (as tall as pansies can be) and strong, beautiful, and looking as happy as ever.  

That's when I wondered, "Why have pansies gotten a 'bad rap' all these years?"

Yes, they appear delicate but they are NOT weak!

Back in the day,

today could be totally different...

the word pansy was used to describe someone thought to be weak, and not used in a nice way at all!

If the kids (whichever kids are in charge of new definitions for common words) haven't changed the connotation for pansy yet - as they have sick, sweet, hot, chill, etc., - I think we should get that ball rolling!

Pansy should mean tough!  Tougher than you think.  Might seem delicate and pleasing to the eye but will not wilt or shrink in difficult circumstances. 

Can't you hear it out on the football field?  "That dude's a pansy!  I can't take him down!"

...Or maybe not. Ha!

In my book, it's okay to seem a little fragile or delicate and still be tough as nails.  The element of surprise, used properly, is exciting!

And my tough little pansies are still standing firm, appearing strong and lovely; even now that they are faced with a sad and inevitable end by the mouths of tiny, wild rabbits!

HAPPY THOUGHTS

It's Wednesday.

A gorgeously sunny day.

Wednesday, a.k.a. a mother's weekly Christmas.

Letter day.  A red letter day.  (Red is my favorite color...)

Tonight we should hear from Nathan.  So after I have read his letter 10 or 20 times, there will be a little bit of a letdown feeling following the elation of hearing from him.  And then the excitement will build again as next Wednesday arrives.

There will be some awesome Olympic competition today! (Click on link for results and schedules).  Big talent!  Can't wait to see some of the favorites compete today!  As I type this, I already know the outcome of a favorite (thanks to my cool Olympic's app on my iPhone!) but I won't spoil it here...in case you are waiting to see it, I'll be watching tonight for sure!

Karen and Tyler will be here Friday.  (My niece and newest nephew, her hubby).  They are coming to town for the wedding of Karen's mom, Stacy, to her fiance` Jay.  Karen and Tyler are coming over to stay with us while they are here though, so even though they won't be in town very long, we will get some real face-time with them!  Yippee!  And surely, with Karen here, Marilyn will come over to play games or something...Marilyn?

The other day we had a little incident in the home that is still giving me the giggles and I must share.  Meg and Smash were having a little argument upstairs.  The tone of the argument was clear but I couldn't get a clear understanding of the cause.  As the argument progressed and began to escalate, I wondered if I should intervene but decided against it.  Megan was the only one I could hear so that let me know that Smash was really pushing buttons...

Just as I had decided to let them figure it out, I heard Megan in her highest, 12 year old girl tone yell at Smash, "Seriously, can you NOT be mature for just ONE minute?!"   Bwah, ha, ha, ha, ha!

Later I pulled her aside and let her know that I had heard the little argument.  She smiled sheepishly and got a case of the giggles on the inside. 

Then I shared with her a couple of my thoughts on it.  "#1, did you know you didn't sound very mature either as you were screeching at Smash?"  AND "#2, boy + 13 years old = not too mature...try him again in about 7 years, ha, ha."  But we love Smash, we do!  He's great and he will laugh at this when he reads it.

Since I don't have Marin today, I am off to help a friend.

For a little more fun, here are a few photos from our recent snow day:

 
 

 

FEBRUARY FLURRIES

WITH LOTS of SNOW!

A view from the window...

Did I stay inside?

No way!

I got up while the rest of our household and neighborhood were sleeping in.

 

Peeking into our backyard from a 'Whoville' tree...

Doesn't everything look so much more enchanting when covered in snow?!

 

Cell Phone Pic of this morning

AND it has been snowing all day!  ALL day!  Unheard of in TX. 

The flakes have been big and fluffy with a steady fall throughout the day.  There were times today while making stew and homemade rolls that I would glance out the window and feel that I was in CO rather than TX.

So this little iPic is just the beginning.  We are loving it.  School will be on a delayed start in the morning.  Perfect!

Records are being broken across the DFW and North Texas areas.

Sent from my iPhone
Mar~

HOW DID A MOUNTAIN OF GUMMY BEARS

FOLLOW me home?

6 MORE WEEKS OF WINTER?

According to Punxsatawney Phil we will have 6 more weeks of winter.

Really?

Why is Phil in PA the expert?

Other groundhogs around the nation did not see their shadows; according to them winter will be over on time.

Groundhog day was overcast and foggy in the morning here at our home.  Phil wouldn't have seen his shadow in Dallas.  Hmm.

So, when it's nice and sunny in PA on groundhog day it means we will endure a longer winter? This confuses me.

When we lived in VT, to see the sun shining in February would have been nearly miraculous.  I can't imagine that PA is so different from VT.  This causes me to wonder why it doesn't scream "winter is almost over!" when the sun is shining brightly on a February morning in PA?

Maybe I just don't have the mind for it.

Perhaps it's beyond my understanding that a cute and furry little groundhog can predict the duration of winter.

I wonder if I would have felt differently had he NOT seen his shadow?

Would it seem more official to me if Phil were equipped with a green screen behind him and showing a national weather map complete with Doppler radar?

Maybe I don't trust groundhogs?

I know, I know, it's all in good fun...good ol' Phil and his tux-wearing friends...

so is my entry.

Happy     l     o     n      g     winter to you all!

WISHING YOU A SPOOKTACULAR WEEK!

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

DEAR HOLLY,

Guess what?!

YOU are the Winnie! 

.

Which makes someone else the (unBEARable) ______!    Karen?   (kidding!)  (For a little more understanding, read the comments from this post, "For My 'Reader' Blog Buddies.")

.

So Holly, since you are currently a college student, I will send you a college care package! 

Please email me with a list of favorites and your apartment address so I can get something fun sent to you right away.

.

Thanks for your sweet comments.

GUESS WHO TURNS FOUR TODAY?!

"Carlotta!"

A very happy fourth birthday to you (us)!

If you still are not sure just WHO Carlotta is...THIS post may help.  (click on THIS)

Happy motoring!

"LUCKY"

LOVE this song!

03 Lucky     (Click on link to listen)

Thanks to Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat for this fabulous song, which is now my ringtone when my hubby calls me.

Thanks to Jonathan for my new, sleek, and very fancy cell phone that allows me to have such fun things (like cool ringtones!) on it.


Lucky, lucky, lucky!