Hey look what I just figured out!

Some times I think having a Mac is wasted on me. I had no idea that I could take a picture of myself and then add effects! How cool is that? This was the thermal effect... should I be concerned that it isn't showing any red tones (sign of life)?

Ole was here this evening picking up Reidar for a night out. He told me that he liked my hair... than I had a "Jennifer Aniston thing" going on. hmmmm....

Then he said "Have you lost weight?" Kind of sad when I realized he was asking Reidar.

42... how can that be true?

Happy Birthday to me!

and

Happy Birth Month to my lovely sister!

(the best birthday present ever!)

A menace to society....

or just to my car? That is the question of the day.

So, I backed out of my garage and straight into Reidar's Commander. It could happen to anyone! In my defense, he didn't park in his usual spot. But my bad for not looking where I was going. I was in a hurry and was concerned with not hitting the "plastic, bounce back if you hit them" garbage cans. Oh, the irony!

From a distance you can't even tell, right?

Up close, a different story. Not terrible but still a couple thousand dollars worth of damage...and not to mention Reidar's Jeep. sigh

I was thinking that maybe I should just stay off the road but when I started thinking about how many times I've "abused" my car, 80% of the time has been on my own property or in my neighborhood. So I started doing the tally...

The first time was with my Bug on 198 going to COS. I rear ended the guy in front of my because I was talking to the person next to me at a light. I totally lied about that one saying I must have been backed into in the parking lot. So basically that has become the truth. ;) Funny how that happens.

Once in Dad's truck. It was so high up I didn't see the little Yugo in the next lane. No harm no foul.

Once when I was 8 months pregnant with Ainsley. The guy in front of me started to go, then stopped.... yep, rear ended him. I think he was so freaked out by the hugely pregnant woman that he said no worries.

Once in our BMW... it was either hit the bus or the guard rail. Guard rail 1 - BMW 0 (btw, the roads in Norway are sooo narrow, in my defense... after that I memorized the bus schedule and never drove when it was near)

Once in our Caravan. No excuse. Just misjudged where the rock fence was in our yard. Sliced open the sliding door like a can of tuna. Good times.

Lets see... my Grandis. Backed into my fence. My excuse? New big boobs that I couldn't turn all the way around to see behind me. That's a good one!

Some fancy expensive car that Reidar borrowed from the dealership. For some unknown reason I had to drive it somewhere. I thought I was in 1st gear, turned out that it was really in reverse and backed into a pole in my yard. That was fun.

Grandis again. Totally not my fault because someone slid into the back of me due to snow and ice. Not my fault but just happened this past Jan.

And now this. Typing it all out, I see that I have a problem with backing up. Maybe I need to have some sensors or something installed.

Or I should just stay out of the car.

1st day of school

Ainsley started high school today! A new school, new friends, new opportunities. I'm excited for her but I will admit I had a bit of a stomach ache when I dropped her off this morning. I can't help it. She is still my baby.

Hard to believe that the little girl in the picture here is now almost as tall as me and starting 11th grade. Where did the time go?

On Wednesday, Garrett starts 9th grade, Griffin 6th grade, and Zoey 2nd grade. CRAZY!

Oh, and I will see if Ainsley reads my blog because I'm sure I'll hear about the picture choice! lol

Yet again...

Another cute layout.... another stab at inspiration. :)

My beautiful, talented, smart and totally awesome daughter gave me a blog makeover. Now maybe I'll be inspired to write more often! Thank you Ainsley!

So here we are... already in May! Time just flies by! And we are counting down the days until our California Summer VAYCAY... 46 more days!

Midnight Adventure

After staying up way too late, way too many nights, I decided to go to bed early. I like staying up late so I'm usually not in bed before 1am (LOVE the quiet!). Well, I started the "shut down" procedure about midnight. Taking the dog out one last time, starting the dishwasher, checking locks, that sort of thing. I was making the rounds to check on the kids one, when I happen to notice that the HAMSTER CAGE WAS OPEN!! And there was NO HAMSTER to be found! OMG! It is probably 12:30 now. At least I know that she in on the ground floor but still.... playroom, 4 bedrooms, bathroom, and laundry room. Holy Moly! I find a flash light and do a once over in all the rooms, under beds, under the piano, under the laundry stuff, behind computers... no hamster. Then I think that she can climb.... she could be anywhere! So I decide to clean the cage real fast in the garage so I can put in on the floor (yes the cage is probably 3 feet off the ground so I'm worried about an injured hamster too) and coax her in with food. Now it is probably 1am. And I'm thinking how in the world can I go to bed knowing she is loose somewhere in here. How about when we let the dog out in the morning... she would make a tasty treat for sure. And what am I going to tell Griffin!!!

I thought I would just sit still in the playroom and try and listen but the bird! OMG, she was wide awake, walking all over her cage, making so much noise. @@ At around 1:30, I start to walk out of the playroom and at the very end of the hallway, in the laundry room, I happen to see a little creature run across the floor! What are the odds? I run and shut the door, grabs some snacks and the hamster ball. I'm so lucky she is tame because I was able to coax her out from under the hot water heater. Finally, she was safely back in her cage. Disaster avoided!

2am, I'm in the shower and start worrying that maybe a child didn't open the cage. Maybe she figured out how to do it since she climbs all over it. So I have to run down with a paper clip and tie the door shut. Now I can sleep. lol But yes, way too awake to fall asleep.

I will get to bed earlier today! lol

And tell we why I have so many pets??? ;)

Zoeys view

When I uploaded pictures from my camera today, I found about 150 that Zoey must have taken Christmas Day. No wonder she was so quiet! So here is a little taste of what she finds interesting at Farmor and Farfar's house.

There were about 140 that I had to delete. Thank goodness for digital cameras!

Holidays!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I thought I would just cover all my bases here.

We had a wonderful holiday! Reidar took over a week off and it made it really feel like a vacation to have us all home together. There has been A LOT of snow on the ground for over 2 weeks now. That is practically unheard of here! Because we live close to the ocean we rarely get snow and if we do it never lasts this long. Freezing temps also.... I can't remember the last time it was this cold for so long. Maybe never? But the kids have had a great time sledding and such. And Atticus... loves the snow! He dives right in.

So here are a couple of pictures. My camera was MIA most of the time but I did manage to get a few.

Zoey and I at the in laws
The aftermath
Christmas Eve dinner... well the end of it
I made all those stocking!
And the tree

I really wanted to hold onto Christmas longer but yesterday, after the 4th ornament fell off the tree, it all had to go out. I was sad to pack it all away because the house is so cosy feeling but once I started, it felt good. I was worried the house was going to feel empty but it actually has a calm feeling again.

I like calm.