Ehlen Administration

A Win and a Review - Pink Zebra

2012-01-29T21:26:00.000-06:00

So I've been woefully neglectful of my blog lately; let's just say 3 kids with ear infections takes up a LOT of time. However right before Christmas I won a contest at The Peaceful Mom for a Pink Zebra warmer and sprinkles from independent distributor Cindy Rhoden. Although I don't review every time I win something, when I really like it I try to say thanks and this is one of those ways.

One of the very few ways I'm a girly girl is in my olfactory sensitivities. Translated: I like smelly goodies. And I really don't like yucky smells, although w/ 3 kids I've gotten used to diapers. Anyway, I got a cute little warmer and chose Cinnamon Spice Sprinkles - their version of tarts for a candle warmer. I've tried a lot of candle type stuff trying to make my house smell good (usually after the latest diaper bomb), but usually the stuff doesn't last long or has a really fake, plasticky smell. These really lived up to their hype. I love the smell of cinnamon, as does Matt, and when I put these in the warmer he came home from work he started sniffing the air and smiling. This only usually happens when I've cooked some sort of meat product before he makes it home from work. He puts up w/ my girly weirdness w/ the smell dept but he genuinely likes this one, so I know it has to be pretty good. So an enthusiastic thumbs up for Cindy Rhoden at Pink Zebra and thanks to The Peaceful Mom (or random.org anyway) for choosing me!

Turn the Tide 2011 Campaign School

2011-10-06T18:47:00.000-05:00

The St. Charles YRs are hosting the Turn the Tide 2011 Campaign School on Nov 4-5. The campaign school was wildly successful in 2009, so we decided it would be a crime to deny the same wisdom and expertise to those involved or interested in involvement with the 2012 elections. Anyone interested can register online or download and print a registration form to mail. This is a great tool for candidates, campaign staff or volunteers to learn about the most effective and ethical way to campaign!

We are also still accepting promotional items for our student swag bags, as well as sponsorships for certain items or room names. Contact stcharlesyrs@gmail.com for more information or to see what's left to sponsor.

Free US Constitution

2011-08-21T14:21:00.000-05:00

So I have to give a shout out to my alma mater, who is offering a free copy of the US Constitution (thanks Mojo Savings!). I can personally vouch for the importance Hillsdale places on the Constitution, as when I debated for the school I had to carry one with me all the time.

As a side note, Hillsdale is putting some promo items in our student swag bags for the campaign school (see post below) so if you're interested come check it out!

Want to Promote yourself through the St. Charles Young Republican Campaign School?

2011-07-07T14:37:00.001-05:00

Yep, shameless plug. It's my job to collect sponsorships, promotional items, door prizes, etc. for the St. Charles Young Republican Campaign School coming up this Nov. Well it's the whole board's job really, but I did a lot of it last time so I'm trying to outdo myself this time. Because I'm competitive that way, it's something I've learned to accept and embrace. Anyway, if you want to promote your business (or yourself or your mom or whoever) you are welcome to put promo items in our swag bag that goes out to all the students, donate an item or service to be given as a door prize, or sponsor some item (such as the bag itself, folders for the attendees, a room, a meal, etc - really we'll sell anything) which can have your message or logo on it or for the more intangible items a mention in the program and a lavish thanks bellowed at the meal or wherever. For the bags, I would really love to have something that helps the students, ie pens, pads of paper, folders, candy, lip balm, etc. however being the greedy capitalist that I am I will take anything. Obviously if you own a car dealership and want to put a key chain in that makes a lot of sense, and as Republicans we're all about business. So give me whatever you think helps, just be sure to get it to me before Nov 1.
Also, duh, if you're interested and would like to participate the go to the website and sign up. You don't have to be a candidate, working for a candidate or even a voter, but if you're interested in doing so or just want to learn more about how the art of campaigns works then by all means, come and ask questions you're too uncomfortable voicing amongst the general public. If you have missed the links in this post, there's a cool little blog button on the right that will take you to the website with just a little clicky. For those interested in the St. Charles Young Republicans, we have a meeting on Thurs, July 21, 2011, at the Culpeppers in O'Fallon. This one features candidates for the 2nd Congressional District Ed Martin and Ann Wagner, who are both trying to replace Todd Akin who is now running for US Senate (go Todd!). We'd love to see you there, whether you're young, think you're still young, or young at heart.

Family Photos

2011-06-23T20:01:00.000-05:00

So we decided we should get some photos done for Daniel, as babies do not stay little very long. Then we realized probably we needed some family photos too, since hopefully Matt will soon have to prove he's a family man to the voters. Fortunately, I know people. People like Aja Abney, who graciously put up with my wandering and not too cooperative children and managed to pull off some lovely shots despite most of us working against her. She did some lovely family shots, and I now have the unenviable task of sorting through and picking the ones I want to order. Yep, I'm plugging her skills. If you are in the general MO area you should probably see if she will put up with your kids too.

Admitting Etiquette Defeat

2011-02-14T15:33:00.000-06:00

Yep, I’m calling it. Daniel is officially 2 months old and I have yet to send Thank You cards, so the raw truth is – they’re not getting sent. Instead I sent a heartfelt email which I’ve copied below just in case I missed someone. Which, given my recent mommy brain issues, is almost a certainty. I have to assume that most mommies who have more than one child will identify with me privately, even if they are obligated to publicly flog my laziness and presumption. I assure you, if I got such an email I would be impressed and feel loved. I also assure you, that if in the highly unlikely event there are additional Ehlen children (which God would have to pretty much throw into my lap) their thank you notes will likely consist of a Facebook status or worse, a tweet. For those of you who know my life and my children and are wondering how I even got the email or this post accomplished, let me assure you that the sink was full of dirty dishes, the laundry was not done, David was at school, Rachelle was asleep, and Daniel was either screaming his head off in the swing while I ignored him (blog post) or I was typing one-handed while nursing (email and digiscrapped announcement). For those of you who know scrapping – yes, it’s a freebie quick page that I downloaded today off a blog hop. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

Text of the email: I have been quite remiss in sending out Thank You cards for all the lovely gifts and meals we received around the time of Daniel's birth, and I apologize sincerely for that. You all have been so generous with your time, cooking skills and gifts for Daniel and the whole family. While I will not make excuses for my lateness or informality I will say that several times I sat down to write or print an announcement and several times I was called away by one child or another (usually the newest). So everyone pretend that this is a handwritten Thank You card with an attached announcement and picture of Daniel with/clothed in the gift you gave or the family gratefully sitting down to eat the meal you provided. Please know that while the format is probably unacceptable per Emily Post and Dear Abby, the thanks is sincere and we really appreciate you celebrating our beautiful baby boy with us.
Sincerely,
Matt, Ebie, David, Rachelle and Daniel

My Angry Obit - Uncle Paul

2011-02-08T22:07:00.005-06:00

So about a week ago I got a text from my dad that my Uncle Paul died. Just out of the blue – your Uncle Paul died today. While this would be distressing anyway so close after my grandma’s death, it was particularly distressing given that my Uncle Paul was my dad’s youngest brother – 11 years younger. He was 43 years old when he died, and we still don’t know why. I won’t pretend that I was as close to my uncle as I was to my grandmother; he was sort of awkwardly older than me in that way that as I was growing up he was in his late teens/early 20s and living his own life. I think he was barely a teenager when I was born, actually. So my memories of him are somewhat spotty, although I remember him at family functions, and he was always very nice and interested in what was going on in my life. I have vague memories of him playing with me as a baby, and there is a picture of him pushing me around in a diaper box as a toddler with me squealing in delight, and I do remember that. My dad said he and my Uncle Tim would do that until they dropped, although of course I wanted more. And when I was remembering my delighted baby squeal and associated stories is when I started to get really angry. Everyone who has ever learned anything about grief knows that one of the famous DABDA A’s is anger, and let me tell you, it comes on in full force where death-associated grief is concerned. You see, my Uncle Paul really loved kids, and he came by that honestly – it seems to be a feature of Crapo/Crepeau men. This is not gross or perverted love of children, this is genuine joy because you made a child happy and want that child to continue being happy. I see it in my grandfather who constantly wants me to bring the kids over even for a few minutes so he can give them “five”; hence my children call him Papa 5 which distinguishes him from Papa, my dad. I see it in my dad in the way he treated my brother as a baby, the way he loves to be around babies, any baby and they all flock to him like he’s the Pied Piper or something, and the way he defends them in his law and adoption practice. My Uncle Paul came from good stock where children are concerned, and he left behind a son and a 6 month old grandson. This little baby has no idea what he has lost in a grandfather, but I do. And it makes me weep for this child, who I have really only just met.

I think that I didn’t hit the anger portion of grief so much when my grandma died because A) we saw it coming a mile away and thus had some time to prepare and B) she was old by today’s standards. We are conditioned to think that if someone dies when they are old that it is more okay, because they got to live their life and “it was time.” Here’s the thing – that’s a load of crap. Or it is at least if you’re a Christian. It is never “time.”If you’re a Christian you know that death is a result of sin, and we are never supposed to be okay with sin or its consequences, in fact it’s one of the few things that can be classified as righteous anger. I don’t know if it’s part of what we’re taught as women, or Christians, or Christian women, but we’re not supposed to display anger because it’s unfeminine or something. Guess what, I’m pissed that my uncle died. I’m pissed that my grandparents were put in the position of burying their son – something no parent should have to do no matter how old their child is. I’m pissed that my dad and his brothers have to mourn their baby brother, the child that they helped raise and care for. I’m absolutely incensed that his grandson will never know just how much his grandfather loved him. I’m happy that my uncle is at rest, not in pain, and that I will have an eternity to get to know him better because as far as I know he was a Christian too. There is some comfort there. But I have a feeling that although I will remember Uncle Paul fondly, every time I think of him I won’t be able to help but feel a little angry. I think perhaps I need to be angry more. Death sucks. But as a Christian, someday rather than death sucks, I will say, “Death – suck it.” Maybe then I won’t be quite so angry.

My Personal Obit - Grandma Jane

2011-02-02T19:12:00.006-06:00

I know, a bit of a jump cut from pregnancy (baby's doing great, btw) to death, but in the wake of yet another death in the family besides Grandma Jane's, I thought I should post my thoughts of her that I prepared in case it was one of those memorial services where the pastor asks people randomly to come up and everyone just sort of sits there looking awkward and feeling guilty that they aren't honoring the deceased. It's probably good that he didn't, as while I can give a decent prepared speech I am not an emotional extrovert (or extrovert in any sense of the word really) and I write much better than I emote. This is as close as I come to putting my heart on my sleeve, so consider yourself lucky.

I remember....

It’s hard for me to come up with just one or two memories of Grandma Jane that qualify both my relationship with her as well as my perception of her as a person. I’m a big believer in the little things in life making up the most important part of who we are, and that is how I remember her. I remember things like the Ovaltine she always made the grandkids when we visited, how she introduced me to frozen Oreos as an awesome snack, that she let us play with her very expensive jewelry for dress up because if someone wasn’t wearing it what was the point in having it anyway? I remember that she was always dressed nice, with makeup, even when I thought it kind of wasn’t worth the effort since all she was doing was staying home to play with us. I remember she never failed to step on my dog when she visited, mostly because Hershey knew she was probably going to make something that smelled good and managed to plant herself right where Grandma couldn’t avoid her. I remember that she insisted that my then boyfriend, now husband, take her car on a test drive before he bought it from her, even though I had driven her to the house in that car half an hour before and we both knew that she took it to the dealer every 6 months for service and had less than 35,000 miles on it. I remember that she always saved the junk mail for me to go through and enter the Publisher’s Clearinghouse sweepstakes for her, as I couldn’t bear the thought of her missing out on an opportunity to win millions. Now I realize I probably killed more trees by helping her win her fantastic millions than ensured she would be set for life, but the contest bug never left me, as most people who know me can attest. I remember that I was never embarrassed to go clothes shopping with her because even though she didn’t hesitate to give her opinion it was always kind, and she didn’t take offense when I didn’t take her advice – even though I probably should have given her impeccable fashion sense. I remember she never seemed to be offended when my siblings and I headed straight to her bedroom to watch tv when we visited – she had cable and we didn’t, although thinking about it now I would probably be annoyed if I’d planned to spend time with my grandchildren and they planned to spend time with my tv. I remember that she could season anything and make it taste good even when I thought it would be gross. I remember her laugh, the twinkle in her eye that went with it, and am fairly certain at least part of my sarcasm was to her credit. She had this incredible way of always being nice to people, but never overlooking their obvious flaws either, and never being afraid to mention them politely. This included her own flaws, which of course were there but I’m happy to say were few enough that I didn’t notice much. I suppose what all these little things that are etched in my memory are telling me is that she’s always been a huge part of my life, regardless of where I was geographically or personally. She always made an effort to make sure I knew I was loved and supported in my efforts, so much so I took it for granted, which is really what children should do. There are many aspects of her that I aspire to – to be both a fabulous cook and have a clean house at the same time, to make my own children and theoretical grandchildren think that my love and support of them is effortless, and to have a lot of people not mind the fact that I’m opinionated, or if they do know enough to keep their mouth shut about it. Grandma Jane managed to combine both strength and beauty, fairness and love, firmness and flexibility, loyalty and grace. While I took it for granted as a child, I’m finding those quality combinations quite rare in the real world; maybe someday I’ll figure out how she did it.

I remember....always.

Usual Pregnancy Rant

2010-11-30T15:54:00.003-06:00

So about this time in my pregnancies I get so cranky that I have to rant somewhere. You get to be the lucky ones to hear this one. I have about 3 weeks left, and let me tell you, I have been done for about 3 months. I have personally decided that pregnancy is the best argument against evolution that I have ever heard of, since I'm pretty sure if we had been pregnant for the past million years it would have been one of the first things that we evolved away. There has got to be an easier and more efficient way to reproduce.
I recently read a thread on one of the mommy forums I check occasionally by pregnant women feeling sorry for those of us who don't like being pregnant. What I wonder is how terrible do you normally feel that pregnant feels better than not pregnant? There is a reason that God calls pregnancy part of our curse, ladies, and I think that it's just fine to embrace it. For those of you who have never been pregnant, it involves all sorts of fun stuff like (TMI alert) constant fatigue (and not your normal fatigue, I'm talking narcolepsy to the point where your other children could be jumping on the couch right next to you and you can't keep your eyes open), memory loss - of the embarrassing kind where you lose names of loved ones and I personally find myself trying to explain to my husband that we need to go get this round thing that's not red or yellow but kind of in between from that one place where we buy food b/c I can't remember the other words, nausea - although I've blessedly avoided most of that one, being grossed out in general by food and anything you can smell, massive weight gain in a short period of time that has no guarantee of going anywhere even after delivery, stretch marks from said weight gain that make you look like you've been mauled by some sort of giant beast - which of course Matt maintains that obviously I was, various fluids constantly dripping from various orifices (I'll let you ruminate on that one), constipation, diarrhea, flatulence, itchy skin - palms are the worst, skin discoloration, constant joint popping thanks to this awesome little hormone that relaxes your bones to prepare for the hip stretching necessary to shove that giant head on through, general aches and pains, pregnancy-induced carpal tunnel in your wrists, and I'm sure the list goes on but I can't remember it all right now. Wondering now why preggos are cranky? But you say, there's nothing like feeling the movement of the baby. You would be right. Sometimes it's really cool. Sometimes the kicks break your ribs (seriously, happened to a coworker of mine). My oldest had this habit of propping his knee on my ribs, and just pushing trying to stretch out. This one likes to have hiccups against my pelvis that's just a constant thud, thud, thud, thud, on one tiny area of bone. And of course there's the general inconvenience of getting progressively off-balance, especially when you have other small children who demand to be held. Ever tried to open a public bathroom stall and squeeze in when you're 9 months pregnant? Guess what, they open inward, meaning you have to somehow manipulate your giant torso into the stall, close the door, and then repeat the maneuvers to get out. So let the preggo have the handicapped stall next time you think about it, as it usually opens out rather than in. This doesn't even get into the comments you deal with, the constant questions about when you will deliver, why haven't you delivered, why don't you schedule it, why did you schedule it, are sure it's not twins, you need to eat more b/c you haven't gained enough, stop eating, you only need an extra 300 calories and you'll never lose the weight, you have a butt baby, you've lost your butt, are you breastfeeding, are you circumcising, etc etc etc. Did I mention that you just generally feel like you're constantly out of breath and exhausted, and everything hurts? Yeah we get cranky. Cranky enough to welcome any pain labor might bring if it means that pregnancy will be over.
Now I work in the field of adoption, so don't get me wrong, I'm happy that I get to experience pregnancy. I know how hard it is on people who are dealing with infertility. But that doesn't make pregnancy any easier or more fun. And just like my adoptive parents, I can't wait to get the baby into my arms. Honestly, I can't wait to get him into my husband's arms, so that I don't have to carry him for a little while.

Winner Time

2010-10-17T15:20:00.001-05:00

Congratulations to Liz, the lucky winner of the $35 CSN Gift Certificate! Enjoy that Dutch Oven (which reminds me, I so need one of those - not that I have any room to store it in my tiny kitchen) courtesy CSN! CSN has a lot of blog giveaways out there, and a lot of products to offer so go take a look!

Another CSN Giveaway - $35 GC

2010-10-09T16:41:00.008-05:00

So the nice folks at CSN offered to do another giveaway on my blog, this time for a $35 gift certificate. Guess they don't know my readership is somewhat limited huh ;) Anyway, details are below.

CSN Stores is an online retail store that has EVERYTHING. Seriously, if you don't believe me go look around. You can find anything from an ottoman coffee table to cookware, strollers to pet supplies. The site offers hassle free returns and many items come with free shipping (although not all, so pay attention to what you're buying if you win the gift certificate!). I personally was drooling over the flooring options - yep they do home improvement too - but you'll understand why if you look at the post below that show pictures of the bottle of BBQ sauce David spilled all over the carpet.

Rules for the giveaway:

· You must complete Entry #1. If you do not, no other entries will count.

· You must leave a separate comment for each entry.

· Winners will be picked on 10/16/10 using Random.org or some other random method, which may or may not include my children drawing numbers out of a Thomas the Tank Engine lunchbox.

· Leave your email address in the body of your comment, but I suggest to protect yourself you use the format name(at)domain(dot)com

· I I will contact the winner by email. If you do not respond within 3 days of my email I will draw another winner.

Th Contest is open to residents of the USA and Canada only, as that is the restrictions on shipping from CSN Stores.

Mandatory Entry: To enter this giveaway, please go to CSN Stores and comment about something you would use your $35 towards.

Extra Entries will consist of shameless plugs for my adoption agency, A Gift of Hope Adoptions.

EE 1: Go fan (or Like or whatever they call it now) A Gift of Hope Adoptions on Facebook. If you already have say so in the comment - it will still count as an extra entry.

EE 2: Go to the agency website www.aGiftofHopeAdoptions.com and tell me something you learned either about the agency or adoption in general.(There is a fantastic Blinkie in the sidebar for your linking pleasure also.) No repeating the same comment from the last giveaway!

EE 3: Give me an idea of free, cheap or easy ways to promote AGOHA. Again, no repeating - I need all the new ideas I can get!

EE 4: Give me an idea for a blog post about adoption, could be a question you have, a movie that has an adoption component that I should review, or a myth-buster, or whatever your perky little brain can dream up.

That's it - happy commenting!

Another Giveaway Coming Soon

2010-10-07T20:39:00.003-05:00

Ok I'm too tired to actually create the whole post, but CSN Stores has another giveaway to be offered here on my little ol' blog! Be thinking about what you want from their store and the giveaway post will be up shortly!

Big winnings

2010-09-07T13:01:00.006-05:00

I'm very excited about my newest score in the in online winnings dept. There's a blog called Leslie Loves Veggies that routinely has multiple giveaways going on all the time. Not sure how Leslie keeps up with it, but I'm sure happy she does! It's one of those blogs that always has upwards of 300 comments on each post because everyone wants to be a winner, so while I do enter periodically I never think I have a chance of winning, given the number of entries. But guess what - I WON! And I won a big one too - well big for our family anyway. We've been considering getting David a bike, since he does so well with the big wheels and tricycles that he plays with at home and at grandmas. Now those of you with small children know that while bikes are great, they are expensive, and particularly when kids are little and growing fast it's hard to keep up with a lot of expensive toys and equipment. That's why I'm so excited to win a Glide Bike! We're getting David a Mini Glider, intended for kids age 2-5. I figure since he's a little small for his age he'll last a couple of years on it, which is when Rachelle will take over, and then new baby. Guess we'll see how sturdy these things really are! It's a big deal for us to win something this nice and this functional for our kids, and it's one less Christmas present I have to buy! Although given his recent behavior, I'm not sure he really deserves it. See pics below to see what I woke up to yesterday morning. Still can't get the stains out. Guess we'll have stained carpet until we can afford to replace it. Anyone know of a good contest for laminate flooring?

We have a winna!

2010-06-12T14:42:00.002-05:00

Ok, thanks to the fabulous random.org (my kids are napping so no Thomas lunchbox this time - ok they're supposed to be napping but the thunder may kill that plan) the winner is comment #15 - heartandsoulcooking! I am about to email you, and you have 3 days to verify your information or I will draw another winner. Thanks to all who participated, particularly those of you who had helpful suggestions for my adoption agency. Please do not hesitate to ask me if you have any questions about adoption or want to refer someone to my agency.

Contest!

2010-06-03T15:55:00.007-05:00

As most of you know, I’m an online contest addict. Sweepstakes, blog contests, promotional giveaways, you name it I enter, as long as I don’t have to pay anything or get spammed. (Note to all you contest junkies – opt out of further communication if you don’t want it! Or at least opt out when you get that first email newsletter.) I don’t do too badly either, I’ve won some nice stuff, although as yet no trips or giant cash prizes, not for lack of trying. But still, I enjoy getting freebies in the mail, even when I know they’re coming. So, when I was approached by CSN Stores about hosting a giveaway for a $40 gift certificate to one of their stores, I decided it was time that I give a little back. So without further adieu, I give you my first blog contest!

CSN Stores is a group of online department stores that apparently has EVERYTHING you could possibly want. They have furniture like headboards, dining room sets and cribs, they have home décor, housewares, baby and kid stuff, stuff for pets, home improvement items like faucets and fixtures, etc. etc. etc. etc. Like I said, EVERYTHING. They ship to the US and Canada, and advertise hassle free returns and free shipping on nearly everything. And you get to pick something for your very own! Sounds like a sweet deal to me, so head on over to CSN Stores or one of their 200+ other websites like www.PetsByCSN.com, www.Cookware.com or www.LuxeByCSN.com.

RULES

· You must complete Entry #1. If you do not, no other entries will count.

· You must leave a separate comment for each entry.

· Winners will be picked on 6/11/10 using Random.org or some other random method, which may or may not include my children drawing numbers out of a Thomas the Tank Engine lunchbox.

· Leave your email address in the body of your comment, but I suggest to protect yourself you use the format name(at)domain(dot)com

· I will contact the winner by email. If you do not respond within 3 days of my email I will draw another winner.

This contest is open to residents of the USA and Canada only, as that is the restrictions on shipping from CSN Stores.

To enter this giveaway, please go to CSN Stores and comment about something you would use your $40 towards.

Extra Entries will consist of shameless plugs for my adoption agency, A Gift of Hope Adoptions.

EE 1: Go fan (or Like or whatever they call it now) A Gift of Hope Adoptions on Facebook.

EE 3: Give me an idea of free, cheap or easy ways to promote AGOHA.

That’s it, happy entering!

Why I Don't Celebrate Earth Day

2010-04-23T07:41:00.005-05:00

I have to admit, the concept of celebrating Earth Day always struck me as sort of ridiculous. I have never been the hug-a-tree type, although I dont' go out of my way to litter or spray cans of aerosol into the air either. Recently, as I am wont to do, I've been trying to figure out what exactly it is that rubs me the wrong way about Earth Day and its various celebrations. While I really despise how everyone tries to shove it in your face and make you feel like some horrible person if you throw a piece of paper in the garbage rather than recycle or forget to turn out a light if you leave the room (and GOD-FORBID you forget to turn out a fluorescent rather than CFL!), and I really get annoyed by all the energy companies pretending to have a conscience apart from turning a profit, which dang it all is what I want to see in my for-profit companies, and it's not simply because I despise the obvious political agenda or valuing EVERYTHING above human life, I've discovered that actually, what really turns me off is the anthropomorphizing of the earth. The earth is not a mother, it does not sustain us all, and it is not going to die because someone in the Midwest (or more likely South) uses hairspray excessively.

This is what really bothers me about Earth Day in all its forms - it takes the focus off the Creator, who is actually our sustainer, not Mother Earth. Now I imagine some Christian group out there has already ripped it off and is celebrating Creation Day rather than Earth Day (which bothers me more, quite honestly - we as Christians don't need to provide alternatives for worldly holidays, we have the upper hand on holidays both in celebration and meaning!), but still, why would we celebrate creation rather than the Creator? I did a little impromptu Bible study on www.blueletterbible.org, and was reminded that God created the earth, and while the Earth is the Lord's and always will be, He made it for us! Yes, we are supposed to be its stewards and take care of what we have been given, so I don't have a problem with recycling or trying to find alternative energy sources. However, we use oil because it is here and it works, and shouldn't we consider that God put it here for our benefit? And, if the earth is the Lords, shouldn't we be relying on Him to sustain it, not us? The end of the earth will be at His whim, not ours, and how arrogant of us to think we can do anything to prevent His will from being carried out. So instead of focusing on creation I think we should direct our attention towards the Creator, and thank Him profusely for allowing us whatever time He has allotted for us on this amazing planet that He is allowing us to inhabit.

So Pretty!

2010-03-11T07:41:00.004-06:00

I won a blog contest to an etsy shop called Precious Accessories that makes pretty hair bows for little girls, and when they came in the mail Rachelle decided that if one made her look "sooooo pretty!" all of them would make her look super pretty! Hard to argue with that logic, after all.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-12-09T20:06:00.004-06:00

Flybaby Thoughts

2009-11-05T10:45:00.004-06:00

Ok, so I've decided to do something about my little cleaning hiccup. Maybe. As you know, I am not the best housekeeper. In fact, I'm a pretty terrible housekeeper. Granted, I have two very high maintenance children who cannot be more than 2 feet away from me at all times, which makes it difficult to do normal things like: unload the dishwasher (too much "help" and attempts to crawl into the dishwasher), vacuum the floor (way too loud, although we're getting better at this), use any spray bottle or chemical of any kind (goes right in the mouth and possibly sprayed in the eyes if I'm not quick enough on the draw) and God forbid I cook anything that involves knives or heat. So I checked out the FlyLady website, as I'd heard good things about it, and I do like the style - little bits at a time keep it all more manageable. I also figured I'd be more inclined to follow a housekeeping plan that I did not create, as I'm pretty good at justifying and talking myself out of things.
So the first thing to do is clean your sink. Just to feel a sense of accomplishment and have one shiny thing to inspire you. Yeah, right. As you can see, I have a clean sink. I followed the steps on the website - excellent sink cleaning tutorial, don't get me wrong - and yet still, I feel like a housekeeping failure. I left my daughter screaming in her crib for this? You'll note the sink is not shiny, except for the hardware at the top. Reason: the soft water spigot is brand-spanking new. YAY! The faucet is just not brushed metal, like the sink, and also has a nasty little spigot that I hate because it doesn't match and looks ugly. So they shine, the sink doesn't, making it look even worse. You'll also note that despite my best efforts, Windex still streaks on a stainless steel sink. Again, I do have some unusual limitations beyond my control, like the ridiculously designed window ledge RIGHT ABOVE MY FAUCET which makes it nearly impossible to get back there and clean with hands larger than a four year old, even using dental floss. My whole house is designed this way, if you're curious to know why I hate cleaning besides my general deal of being more of a cook than a cleaner. You'll also notice that I had to light a candle when I was done, partly to mourn my own ineptitude, and partly because I still hate the stench of clean.
So we'll see if the FlyLady can help even me. I won't blame you if you put money on not. But I will try, and if you come over to my house, yes you'll have to step over the shoes in front of the stairs and avoid the broken spindle in the railing, but you'll know that anything I cooked was made in a clean sink. Despite all evidence to the contrary.

St. Charles YRs Campaign School

2009-09-01T22:06:00.002-05:00

Just plugging Matt's latest project :)

Reflections on my 20s

2009-08-30T16:07:00.005-05:00

Ok, so I'm technically still in my 20s, for another year anyway. Yesterday was my 29th, and I turned 29 on the 29th in 2009, which I think is actually kinda cool, although not cool enough to make up for having the most forgettable birthday ever. Seriously, it's like pulling teeth to get people to remember my birthday or how old I am, and I'm not the type to send out an announcement about it. Luckily Matt does, as does my mom (who I'm fairly certain won't ever forget it) so I usually get at least a couple phone calls. However, this is also one of the only birthdays where I kind of feel nostalgic for my youth, which is weird for me. I don't like it when people start mourning their youth because seriously, it's not like anyone gets out of aging. It's not a good scenario if you do. Just admit to yourself you were born when you were born and deal with the side effects. But I have to say, my 20s have been pretty good to me. I graduated from college, got married, graduated from grad school, had the two most beautiful children on the face of the planet, and started my own business. I'd say that's a pretty productive decade. It wasn't all good - I found out I have PCOS and have been fighting the nasty symptoms ever since - but on the whole I'd say there's more on the plus side than minus. So thank you 20s, I have a feeling I will always look back on you nostalgically. Now if I could just figure out how to lose all the PCOS weight I gained during you, maybe I won't cringe at the pictures of myself in my 30s.

And now, some super cute videos of the most beautiful children ever. Yup, you should be jealous, because you can't have them. I know, I'm not the best videographer and it's not the highest quality camera, but the cute shines through all the barriers. See, you can't deny the best kids ever.

Looky! I prettified my blog!

2009-08-17T16:44:00.003-05:00

Ok, I'm happy. I prettified my blog. I've been meaning to do this for a while, since I digiscrap and all I thought it was sort of a travesty to have such a boring looking blog. But I was really too lazy (or quite possibly too pressed for time) to figure out how to do it, until just now. Thanks so much to Amanda from kevinandamanda.com for the tutorial and the template (seriously, look at her template and look at my background - just inserted the pretty papers and elements people) and to Heather Manning and Robin Gough for putting out their gorgeous Strawberry Mint Chip digiscrap kit for the background and header! The topper template is by Mrs. Wresh, who does great templates. Ok, I feel like I've accomplished something today. This might be it for the rest of the week.

Mommy Diet

2009-07-07T20:22:00.003-05:00

Ok, a challenge for all you dieticians/nutritionists/haters of all good tasting things. I need a Mommy Diet. Not a diet where you have to buy things that no kid would eat, like half a cup of field greens with an olive oil and dijon vinagrette that you make yourself. I am not interested in cooking 2 or 3 or 10 different meals every night. And not something that makes nasty grown-up food 'kid friendly'. Newsflash tasty haters, making food "fun" does not make kids eat it. My kids will not eat brussel sprouts that happen to be shaped like Mickey Mouse, because guess what, they're still brussel sprouts. Like Mickey Mouse would ever eat brussel sprouts - pretty sure he didn't authorize that character license. I need a diet that involves chicken nuggets and barbecue sauce, which is my son's only form of protein. I need a diet that counts me eating my son's half-eaten peanut butter sandwich, which I finish because somewhere in the back of my mind is my mom telling me there are starving children in Brazil who would fight like rabid dogs over that sandwich. Seriously, there are no diets out there for moms with small kids. Last night for dinner I had two handfuls of Wheat Thins and four fudge cookies. I'm sure there were some vegetable particles in the Wheat Thins. Can someone please tell me that when I make my kid Hamburger Helper and stir in a bag of steamfresh peas that makes me an awesome meal balancer? Oh and by the way, I am not only not buying seperate grown-up food, I'm not buying expensive food. If you're going to hook me on your diet, you better offer a free trial and a coupon. I don't buy my groceries without at least covering the tax via coupons, sales, rebates etc. In fact, what I would like you to do is prepare some of those prepared meals that you order off TV infomercials but that is for the whole family, which means the babies have to think it's more on the order of Kid Cuisine. And if it happens to help clear my post-pregnancy acne and stretch marks, I would be ever so grateful.

Bad Blogger

2009-06-03T22:16:00.004-05:00

Yes, I am a bad blogger. You know, as a total introvert, I narrate my entire life in my head, and I constantly think of witty and clever things to remark about my day, mundane as it may be. Do I ever get around to blogging them? Obviously not. I don't even get around to digiscrapping them, which I really should do. Sigh. I hate it when real life gets in the way of my thought life. I am one of those people who is grateful that God knows what we're thinking, because really, if I could communicate with everyone telepathically, I would. I'm so much more coherent in my own head.

Oh yeah, Happy Birthday Dad :)

Kid pics

2009-04-02T15:45:00.007-05:00

Just had to post a couple of my fav kid pics from the most recent professional photos we had done. I love this company, they're super expensive but they come to your home and do a great job. Since David isn't so good at going places, sitting still or not throwing fits, the whole coming to your house and snapping like mad really works out for us. Plus I have gorgeous kids so really, I should have someone who's a better photographer than me showing them off. Enjoy the baby lovin'!

St. Louis Digi-Gathering

2009-03-06T16:52:00.002-06:00

For those of you who know about my digital scrapbooking addiction, I wanted to invite you to the St. Louis Digi-Gathering at the end of the month. I am not even sure I will be able to go because I will be out of town, although I desperately want to! But I want to promote it as much as I can, because I want it to be a success and Hummie be encouraged enough to make it an annual thing :) Then I can go next year. There will be prizes, crops, videos and all sorts of fun stuff. Putting info below, and please go!

Prizey Prizey

2009-02-27T22:10:00.003-06:00

Well I'm happy to report that I think I have actually received everything I won! Shocking, I know. But I got the CD (which David has been listening to constantly - we moved the CD player into his room), the expensive shoes for this fall, the flag t-shirt - Brazil, btw - will be su re to take a pic of him in it and send to all my Brasilero friends - and my Mommy Needs Coffee shirt. And, I even got a prize I didn't know I had won, a set of two books from ChristianBook.com called Echoes From The Edge by Bryan Davis. They were autographed too. Pretty cool. You know I love me some ChriFi. Now if I could just dig up some time to read them.

Keep a look out on this blog and my Facebook page for pics of the cute kids, we had our meeting with the Our 365 lady today, and as usual they are all phenomenal. Having photogenic children is quite expensive, I must say.

Yay - I won some more!

2009-02-05T17:40:00.005-06:00

Some of the contests I entered didn't close until recently, so I have won some more! However a sad note, the adorable little shoes I won from Happy Chickadee are too small for Rachelle. Yes, she inherited her mommy's long toes. This made me sad, as they are every bit as cute as their picture. Never fear, some lucky little girl will receive them. In fact, I think I know just the lucky little girl...

Anyway, here's the tally so far continued from the previous post.

First, unrelated to the Bloggy Giveaways but a blog contest entered previously, I won a kid's flag tee-shirt from Whimsical Walney. The giveaway was hosted by Crystal at Kid Buy Products (ha ha, get it?). I haven't received it yet, and am not sure which flag will be on it (I gave her my top 3) but hey, a little patriotism never hurt any kid, right?

Ok, related to Bloggy Giveaways, I won a couple of shirts for me! Yay for me! The first one I received today - so I know the address I'm giving out is right for sure! This one is the Millionaire Club t-shirt and an Old Navy gift card from Happy Panda. The giveaway was hosted by Pamela at the PMKU blog. While I don't think the agency will make me a million, I do hope we do really well, and yes, I do enjoy getting paid for the work I do. I'm a greedy capitalist, after all.

Second t-shirt (that I just found out about today) is super appropriate given the lack of sleep with a newborn. I won a Mommy Needs Coffee shirt from Zoey's Attic. The giveaway was hosted by Erin at Zoey's Attic. She has a load of super cute maternity/new mommy wear, so for all my preggo friends (of whom there are many) go check it out! And I just found out Erin is local to my area! That is even cooler.

Third thing I've won is for David - he's making out pretty well on this one. I won him some super cute shoes from Eleven Shoes, related to See Kai Run. This one was hosted by Jenn at One House School Room. I picked the James shoes for David for this fall; I think these are so cute and classy for little boys!

So thanks to Bloggy Giveaways for boosting my entering mojo and getting me such cool stuff!

Yay - I won some stuff!

2009-02-01T16:20:00.002-06:00

You know how I like to win contests. And the Bloggy Giveaways have hundreds of contests to win all in a single week However I'm aware that there are sooooo many people entering that my chances are slim. This makes a win that much more fulfilling!

First, is not a win from the current Bloggy Giveaways, but from a company who I discovered at the last Bloggy Giveaway - Happy Chickadee. I subscribed to their newsletter and entered a contest listed in that. Look what cute little shoes I won for Rachelle!

Aren't they adorable!!!!

Ok, on to the actual Bloggy Giveaways. First, a disclaimer, as you remember I won several giveaways a few months ago, and most did not reach me. I don't know if people screwed up the address or what, but the fact that I got one of them but not the rest leads me to believe it was sender error. So pay attention to the zip code number order, I realize there are a lot of 3's but I know you can do it!

From Jolanthe at No Ordinary Moments I won a Bible Songs CD - appropriately about King David! I'm so excited that my David will hear all these songs with his name in them, and hopefully understand just how special he is and that God has great things for him too.

Next, I won a book from Kimberly at Mom in the City. The book is Your Pregnancy for the Father-to-Be by Glade B. Curtis, M.D., M.P.H. and Judith Schuler, M.S, the authors of the best-selling book, Your Pregnancy™ Week by Week. It's slightly ironic that Rachelle is only just now 6 weeks old, but I'm still interested to read it (and have Matt read it) and if I think it's good and informative pass it along to friends and family who are expecting - and there are many. I do think it's nice to have a pregnancy book for the daddies, since just about everything out there is all about mommy.

I also won another book from Shannon at Gabi's World - Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace. I'm really excited to read this one, because I've heard so much about Dave Ramsey, and particularly given the state of the economy it's important to make sure your finances are in order. Also, I'm just a cheap person, and want to know that I'm doing everything I can to save money and take care of my family.

For all I know there could be some more good news coming, since not all the giveaways are closed. I sure hope so! But for now, thanks to all the generous bloggers out there (and the unbiased random number pickers like random.org!) who selected me from hundreds of other blog comments. I promise to make good use of my winnings, and, when appropriate, pass them along for others to benefit from as well. Thanks again!

Pick me!

2009-01-27T23:06:00.002-06:00

Ok, so I'm taking a brief time-out from actually entering bloggy giveaways to say if you're visiting because I entered your contest - please pick me! Oh, and scroll down for cute baby pics :)

Winnings Lately

2009-01-10T16:26:00.002-06:00

So I actually have won a couple contests recently, and I should give them a shout out. First was something for David, but probably not until he's a little older. I won a t-shirt that you can color in the picture, and then it washes out so you can recolor it before wearing. David's not into coloring yet, so I got a larger size, because I'm sure this will be way cool pretty soon. The shirt is from Color in Kids, and we got the Race Car one. I won this off a blog, but I can't find the email so I can't remember which blog contest it was (I enter LOTS) but when I find it, I will properly credit, I promise.

The second thing I won recently was subsequently gifted to my mom. I *think* I won it off the In Touch magazine contests, but I'm not positive about that. Anyway, it's from Freeze 24-7, and it's the Freeze & Go Instant Smoother and Brightener. I'll let you know what mom thinks of it, but I thought the red packaging stuff was super cool looking.

I think it's cool that I'm finally starting to win some stuff. It seems like I entered contests for so long without getting anything, and while I didn't win all my Christmas presents, it's a goal to shoot for :)

Christmas Card

2008-12-26T21:43:00.003-06:00

Made a combo Christmas/Birth Announcement card. I haven't had much time or energy to make one yet, late pregnancy takes a lot of you!

Not Still Pregnant!

2008-12-24T16:30:00.004-06:00

Am overjoyed to announce that I'm now moving on to the post-partum phase of pregnancy, which means there are additional annoyances (can anyone say nursing contractions?) but largely the discomforts of late pregnancy are gone, or at least gone unnoticed with the lack of sleep :) Rachelle Jane was born early Sun morning after only about 4 hrs of labor. That was unexpected but not unwelcome. She's doing great, and David gets some personal time with the grandparents, which I hear he's enjoying immensely. She is, of course, the prettiest baby ever, and we're really thrilled to finally be home. I know, you really only want to see the pics. Here you go!

Still Pregnant

2008-12-08T21:02:00.003-06:00

Sigh. I know, my due date isn't for a couple of weeks, but as any woman who has been 9 mos pregnant will tell you, those couple of weeks (and the possibility of going past them) seem like ages to wait. So, below is my list of things that you take for granted when you're not pregnant, but seem like unattainable luxuries when you are.

Shaving your legs - seriously, you try bending over the bump. I shudder to think what L&D look like from a nurses POV
Bending over w/o spreading your legs to ballet's 2nd position sticking your butt up in the air like some sort of preposterous peacock
Walking up stairs w/o getting winded (ok, so that sometimes happens when you're not pregnant too)
Twisting at the waist to get something that is not exactly out to your side
Getting off any sort of furniture, comfortable or not
Sleeping through the night - that's right people, you actually get more sleep when you have a newborn than the last trimester of pregnancy
Waiting longer than 5 min to pee
Eating your own cooking - once you actually decide on what you can cook with the least amt of effort, and follow through w/ said meal, you don't want it b/c you've been smelling it the whole time and it now completely repulses you
Carrying on a semi-intelligent conversation - mommy brain is real, did you know pregnant women's brains actually shrink? they pop back somehow, after pregnancy (supposedly) but mommy brain is not a myth, after all i have 2 bachelor's and a master's degree and i have to describe in detail what a grocery store is b/c i just can't remember the term
Tieing shoes - see bending over
Laughing, coughing, sneezing or other minor exclamations without wetting your pants. Nope, it's not amniotic fluid, no matter how much you want it to be
TMI I know, but wiping w/o checking to see if maybe, just maybe, you're popping your plug and heading towards labor
Wiping in general - see bending over and/or twisting at the waist
Turning over in bed - you wanna know why you feel like a walrus? b/c that's how walruses turn over
Cornering without bruising your tummy
Washing your hands w/o leaving a giant watermark on your shirt
Having more than 2 possible outfits from which to choose
Avoiding people talking to you and asking very personal and intimate details about your life and the life of your family- this is hell for introverts
Along with people you do not know talking to you, having everyone ask you stupidly obvious questions like "Hey, had that baby yet" or "Are you sure it's not twins"
Random people feeling free to feel you up in ways that you only allowed your husband to do after marriage
Basic grooming seems like a ridiculous waste of energy

I'm sure there are more, and feel free to comment w/ more, but right now mommy brain is kicking in. Again. It must be time to attempt to sleep.

Success!

2008-11-14T16:37:00.004-06:00

Well this time I'm batting 1000 for the Bloggy Giveaways. I won only one this time (unlike the 4 I won last time) but I actually got the prize in good time! Still don't have 3 of the 4 on the others...and really not expecting them now, honestly. But clearly my address I gave them was correct, since Mary Emma Allen managed to get my prize to me. I won some tea, which I must say I do enjoy. I got a box of 100 tea bags too, so I should be enjoying it for a while. The tea is Zsenso Orange Pekoe, and although straight black teas are not usually my fav, this one is really mild and super smooth. So thank you Mary Emma Allen, the tea you like is a hit with me too.

This one goes out to all the depressed Republicans out there...

2008-11-05T12:37:00.006-06:00

Of which I am happy to say I am not one. Well I am not depressed anyway, although still am probably Republican. Here's my thoughts on the election, if you care to read.
First, let me say I am disappointed in the results. I am not an Obama supporter, and probably never will be unless he radically changes his viewpoint on, well, just about everything. Although McCain didn't get me all fired up either. However, as is typical, I considered McCain the lesser of two evils and was hoping he would pull it out. Of course, I knew that pretty much everything was looking like the R's were going to get their a$$es handed to them, and that was certainly the case, both nationally and locally here in MO. So, why am I not curled up into the fetal position sobbing quietly in a corner? I pondered that myself actually. Because really, I'm fine. And fine despite being pregnant and hormonal, I might add. My conclusion is this - God does not depend on the results of American political drama to do what He wants done. Despite how important we hold the ability and duty to vote - and our votes do matter, don't misunderstand - it is God who establishes and removes rulers, both politcal and otherwise. I think here in the US we forget that sometimes, and that God can work even through the guy (or gal) with whom we happen to disagree. Because guess what, God would have done what he wanted to do if McCain had won too, and I disagree with him on a lot of issues (as I said, lesser of two evils for me).
Now, for those of you who may not buy the God arguement, let me remind you of our system history as well. Our founding fathers actually set it up this way, you see. Having been oppressed by a ruler who they could not vote out, they determined that the best way to govern is to not let any one person or group of people get their way all of the time. Historically, it really was time for the Dems to win, and the political pendulum to shift. It happened with Clinton in '92, and it happened with Bush in 2000 (don't give me that crap about the Supreme Court and the popular vote - Bush was not the first Prez to lose the popular but win the electoral vote people, get over it already. Actually, I was kinda hoping McCain would win the popular vote but Obama would win the electoral, just to give you a taste of the other side. Who would have stolen the election in that case, huh?). And, much to the Democrats dismay, eventually the pendulum will shift the other way and R's will be back in control, in Congress probably sooner than the Presidency, but eventually. But anyway, the point of US government is not to have one party in power all the time, and it has proven a very wise and well-thought out system. When your party is in the minority you get to be vocal and whine about what isn't getting done, and you get to screw up the majority party by forcing them to compromise or killing legislation altogether sometimes. When your party is in the majority you (hopefully) get what you want done, but still having to compromise so that most people are benefitting and satisfied. I don't believe that most politicians or groups are really out to destroy the country. We just have different ideas about how to improve it and the lives of the citizens. While some ideas may prove destructive or may have consequences that weren't thought through or thought of at all, it's usually not the intent of whatever idea or legislation to completely marginalize a group or harm them, however misguided it may be. So yes, I think a lot of Obama's ideas are destructive, and hope that they at least get watered down a little. Some of McCain's are too. And I don't rule out greed and a hunger for power, that's just a fact of our sinful state, but again, our system is set up so that anything you do at least has to have the pretense of being good for the majority. So, Obama will face a tough time getting his rather radical ideas to materialize into the national reality, and that's not a bad thing. He's going to be scrutinized more now than he ever was during the very long campaign, because now it's not just a hope or a thought out there, it's a true possibility, and do we really want that possibility to become reality for us? Or do we actually need to tweak things a little, including his health care plan, his economic viewpoint, his foreign policy - especially his position as Commander in Chief of the military, and his very left-leaning social ideology? I hope even the Dems who have been gushing over him since the '04 elections are going to take a step back and evaluate him a little more critically now. If they don't shame on them.
For those of us who are Christians, don't forget to pray for this man who will be our President. Remember, we're supposed to lift up our leaders to God, even if we didn't vote for them! And also consider this, if God could not work through Barak Obama, then He wouldn't be God. He would be an ineffectual, pathetic deity who doesn't deserve our time or worship. And remember, even if the country does go in the tank as so many fear (I don't think so really, but I suppose it's possible) that sometimes God gives people what they most desire, and even deserve. A woman on a forum I read regularly brought up the story of the Israelites first king in Saul (which they desperately pleaded for to be more like other nations), and how while he disobeyed God's voice and took the nation in the very opposite direction God intended for it to head, God was quietly and calmly raising up a shepherd boy to take over and lead them into history - King David, for those of you not up on your Old Testament.
Quite frankly, I congratulate Mr. Obama and hope that he turns out to be all his supporters think he is, except for those wackjobs that thought he was the Messiah, because really, we've go that already. He won a hard fought race, an historical race that was going to change textbooks either way (I mean come on, a black guy or a woman was going to be in the White House, and that's just cool. Not unexpected for me, as I think that possibility was there a while ago and people just refused to accept it, but still cool.)
So, feel better? I think I'll have some chocolate and make some tea.

More LOs

2008-11-04T13:58:00.003-06:00

The ultrasound tech was pretty sure she's a girl, but even if she was wrong it was nice to be able to do a pink page for once :) Here's another layout for my guest creative team duties this month. Gena has a little girl so there are plenty of pink and purple kits/elements to choose from. I picked some of her newer stuff in order to promote it.

And, guess what? I did win a Bloggy Giveaway! And it's good for me too, because I love tea. I won a box (100 tea bags) of Zsenso Orange Pekoe & Cut Black Teas from Mary Emma Allen, check her blog here. She's a pretty prolific blogger apparently, I don't think this is her only blog. Now cross your fingers that it will get to me, although I will report I got the High School Flashback dvd's! Bring on the 80's hair!

LO post

2008-11-01T16:02:00.003-05:00

So I'm officially a guest member of Sweet Genevieve's creative team for the month of Novemeber, which means I have access to lots of free product (whooo hooo!) and then the coordinating responsibility to create some layouts to show off her fabulous talent. So here's my first installment, and hopefully I'll have time to create lots more. So for those of you who remember savoring every last bit of Michigan fall before the horrendous winters, here's the journaling:
I would be the first to tell you how much I hated Michigan weather. I especially despised Michigan winters, and the constant temperature changes (although really I was used to them.) But really, there is something about autumn in the state; it comes on suddenly with trees just sprouting color. Plus, there was the anticipation of returning to campus, because I loved my friends and my education at Hillsdale. So this time of year there is always a bit of nostalgia for me as I remember falling for Hillsdale despite myself. And of course I remember falling in love at Hillsdale, which, coincidentally, was also in the fall.

And for those of you wondering how I did in the Bloggy Giveaways, well there were over 1400 giveaways (no I did not enter them all but did some serious damage) but so far - nothing. Maybe that will change, but I don't seem to have a lot of luck with them, even when I do win. Sigh. Was hoping to win some Christmas presents, but I guess I'll have to break down and pay for things. I hate that.

Bloggy Giveaway Carnival

2008-10-28T12:14:00.004-05:00

OK, I didn't realize when I posted my last post that the next carnival was now! I won 4 things last time, but to date have only received one :( I think it's odd since I confirmed w/ 2 of the 3 things I haven't received that they were sent out, so I think maybe I'm having some sort of mail issue? Am determined to figure out what is going on, b/c I want my goodies! So anyway, if I happen to win any other contests this time, feel free to let me know by commenting here. And also, please make sure you confirm my address w/ me, as apparently there's been some strangeness before. But good luck everyone who wins, and oooh oooh pick me!

Jealous, Laurel?

2008-10-26T20:44:00.004-05:00

Check out what I won in my latest contest! My college friend Laurel (and probably Derek too) would be so jealous, as she was a fan of all things 80's. Now this is not technically a high school flashback for me, as I was in elementary school in the 80's, not high school, but amusing to me nonetheless.
Now, this is assuming that I actually receive this product, as three of the 4 products I "won" during the last Bloggy Giveaway Carnival have not yet arrived (seriously!), those being the sports trivia book, the set of Elie Wiesel books and the Fairy Tale Jewels Princess gifts. I'm not sure if I should complain or what, as it's not like I paid for them or anything, but it's still disappointing. What's the etiquette on that sort of thing? Anybody know?

Product Review: Mineral Makeup

2008-10-04T18:06:00.004-05:00

Ok, back during the Bloggy Giveaway Carnival (where I won 3 prizes but still have not received 2 of them gggrrrrrr) I did not win some makeup I entered to win, but Vicki Arnold of Simply Vicki offered to send me a sample of Chocolate Mint eye shadow, which I had said would likely be one of my favorites. I said I would love one and would review it on my blog too, since she was being so nice. Now I seriously doubt I get a lot of traffic, but I wanted to thank her for the generosity and support her business. So, on to the review.
I finally wore the eye shadow last night while at a fund raiser for the Republican gubernatorial candidate here in MO - Kenny Hulshof. (Yes, little plug there). Anyway, it was a very nice, way out of my price range event that featured a speech by President Bush (for real, like not via satellite or anything). We got in because Matt has connections. Anyway, I figured I really should wear makeup to this one, and since I'm not really a makeup girl this was a big deal. So Vicki, your eye shadow saw the current President. I liked the eye shadow a lot; it went on light which I think is good because it's always easy to add more but not so easy to remove. It was a little awkward due to the sample packaging (in a tiny little ziploc type bag) but I think it wouldn't be that way if you bought some. My only slight disappointment was that I was hoping it would have a little more green in it, as the name is Chocolate Mint and the pic showed a lot of green. Maybe that was also a function of the sample bag, but it didn't ruin my evening or anything as I typically wear at least some brown eye shadow when I bother to wear it. Also, this stuff purports to be quite good for your skin - no chemicals or fillers, non-comediogenic, no petroleum, oils or dyes, etc - and is even cruelty-free (not tested on animals). So I like that stuff about it. Bottom line, it's nice makeup, and probably really nice when you wear it all the time.

Seriously Annoyed

2008-09-24T14:37:00.003-05:00

Ok, my mom bought David a wagon at a garage sale, which he loves. However, it's missing a seat, where there used to be a flip top seat for extra storage. I'm thinking, surely I can find a replacement part online. Well, turns out I can't find any trace of the toy company - Today's Kids. Seriously, they've disappeared off the face of the earth. I even tried calling the 800 number on the bottom of the wagon, and the message asked me to pay $5 to call directory assistance for info on the number! Yeah right. I guess I'll have to troll the Ebay and Craigslisting to see what I can find, but it looks like Matt might just have to cut a board to size. Yeah, really annoyed, since it's an otherwise cool wagon.

LO post

2008-08-31T14:29:00.004-05:00

So pregnancy has totally zapped my scrapping mojo, I think, but I did make this one in the last couple months to round out a shutterfly book I made. I don't know what it is about Wheel that David loves, but he doesn't miss a night if he can help it. Actually, I'm ok w/ that b/c he's actually starting to repeat the letters that come up on the screen, so I figure it's somewhat educational. And it doesn't drive me out of my mind to watch w/ him, so that's always a plus. Credits are on my DST gallery, should you be interested.

Won Some More!

2008-08-09T20:22:00.003-05:00

Ok seriously, this Bloggy Giveaways is making up for the grand winnings of NOTHING in the last couple. I just found out I won another one, and it's a good one! Joanie of Fairy Tale Jewels
let me know I won a Diva Glam Pack! The pics below are what's included, all in little girl sizes! As I just found out yesterday I'm going to have a little girl in Dec, this works out perfectly! Also posting the pics of the other mom-friendly jewelry I won and talked about in the last post but couldn't link to last time. Yes, you can be jealous.

Diva Glam Pack - can't get necklace pic to work but it is the Pampered Princess

Smart Mom Jewelry Mother of Pearl pendant and bracelet - yes, baby can teeth on it safely!

I won some!

2008-08-05T20:21:00.002-05:00

Ok, I'm shocked. This is the 3rd time I've entered 100's of giveaways in the span of a few days, and the 1st time I've won any of them. So without further ado, here's what I've won, and thanks to the lovely ladies whose random number generators selected my post!

Casey is giving me the Night Trilogy by Elie Wiesel. For those of you who don't know the author, he is a Jewish author and Holocaust survivor. I read a little of his nonfiction stuff in college, but haven't read any of his fiction so I'm really looking forward to this read.

Lyndsey from Girls Dig Sports is giving me a sports trivia book, which is headed for Doug's Christmas stocking, and which I will probably use to annoy him and Uncle Steve.

The last thing (so far!) that I won is a Smart Mom necklace and bracelet set from Katie. I can't get their website to work right now, but basically it's a jewelry set that your baby can chew on without destroying it or choking the baby. You know a mom came up with this one.

So anyway, yay for me!

Hey, pick me

2008-07-28T21:17:00.002-05:00

Ok, seriously, I've entered these things like a million times (i'm pretty sure anyway) and never won one. so any bloggy giveaway people who want to give me lots of wonderful things, feel free to comment here!

Sigh. No new kitchen.

2008-06-18T14:36:00.004-05:00

Matt and I were contemplating having our kitchen redone, and even had an estimate done. But it looks like it was not to be. We managed to talk down the salesmen to a monthly payment we could do, but then when the finance people came back w/ the actual price it was waaaaay off the estimate. Not cool finance people. Lost yourself an expensive sale there. It's not a huge deal, since it was kind of a dream kitchen, well at least for the tiny kitchen we have right now, but it would have been so nice. A new island, granite countertops, an undermount sink.....maybe next year. BTW, if you're wondering I didn't care so much about the granite countertops, but I did care deeply about an undermount sink, and apparently you can only do that w/ stone countertops b/c of the weight. I want easier to clean, since I dislike cleaning, and an undermount sink would do a lot to help me clean less. So no, we didn't lose the new kitchen b/c we're totally unreasonable, just slightly unreasonable.

More Winnings?

2008-06-07T13:19:00.003-05:00

I won another online contest! This is serious business. I won the new American Beauty Beloved perfume. Now, much like w/ the foot stuff, do I wear perfume? No, not really. But I'm thinking that this might be the perfectly pink birthday present for my sister...

Famous!

2008-05-05T14:12:00.003-05:00

Ok, not quite so famous. But kinda cool. Our local newspaper profiled Matt and all his Republicaness. And while they hardly mentioned his gorgeous and all around practically perfect wife, or his kid and doggy, it wasn't too bad an article ;)

I won something!

2008-04-26T20:40:00.002-05:00

Most of you know I'm an online sweepstakes addict. It's a good thing I never got into gambling b/c my win record w/ sweeps is not good. I don't think I won any of the Bloggy giveaways (see post below) and I entered like 500 or so. But yesterday when I got home from doing a homestudy there was a big box waiting by the door. I opened it up and it was a huge box of pedicure stuff, including a Homedics foot spa! And a $50 organic cotton robe, and a whole bunch of smelly scrubs and and foot lotions. One of the scrubs had been damaged and was leaking all over the place, and attracting ants (must have been a sugar scrub!) so I got everything else out and put the box with the useless scrub by the curb for trash pickup. But still, it had to be $200 or $300 worth of stuff! Super cool. Am putting as many pics of stuff below as I can find, so you all can be jealous. This has revved up my contest entering mojo again, since the last thing I won was a cake of soap. Nice soap, but soap. Note, the essie spa stuff was what leaked - it was all bright blue.

Bloggy Giveaways

2008-04-24T13:11:00.003-05:00

Ok, it's time for the quarterly bloggy giveaways. I hope you all win something! I'm not hosting a giveaway or anything, I just like winning stuff so I thought I'd pass on the info. BTW, if I did win something on a blog and you're looking for my email, check under "Contributors" - Ebie, and my email is in my profile dealy. Happy winnings!

What kind of conservative?

2008-04-10T20:20:00.003-05:00

Ok, so on the radio the other day Matt and I heard some guy who had just won a local mayoral race describe himself as a "physical Conservative" - or at least that's what it sounded like. We both did a double take, or however you do that towards a radio. Anyway, I've decided that when Matt runs for President, he's going to run as a physical conservative. Yay for physical conservatism!
(NOTE: for all you who may not realize the joke, the term he was looking for is FISCAL conservative, not physical. Fiscal conservative typically refers to a conservative who is careful with money, or at least thinks they are.)

Trivia Night

2008-03-27T12:35:00.004-05:00

OK, so this is my first post on our blog, and it has to be a plug! This Saturday night, the St. Charles Young Republicans is holding an "Are You Smarter Than a Democrat?" Trivia Night fundraiser. The details are here for you to peruse. So if anyone is in the area this Saturday, please come by and help us out. I'd really like to see this a big success!

New Stuff!

2008-03-20T13:39:00.003-05:00

Ok, just so this is not just another layout blog post - we got a new couch and new tv! It's so nice to finally get stuff of our own that we want, rather than hand-me-downs. Don't misunderstand, I love free stuff, and it got us through the first 5 yrs of marriage, including a new house, w/o breaking the bank. We're so grateful for all of it. But we finally got new stuff! It's quite nice, perhaps I'll do a LO about it :)
OK, so here's a new LO anyway.

Another LO

2008-03-11T14:12:00.002-05:00

Thought I'd feature Aunt Courtney this time. She is David's favorite aunt after all.

Those Eyes

2008-02-20T15:38:00.003-06:00

Ok, just finished this layout for a kit I won, sort of, and I actually really like it so I'm going to post it. More baby David scraps are in my DST gallery - link on right.

David's New Favorite

2008-02-12T20:33:00.001-06:00

This is David's new obsession, watching this pug lick his computer screen. He just sits there and giggles at it, and if I should dare to let the screen hit screen saver, he freaks out and hits the nearest key he can get to. Hey, if something amuses David for more than 30 seconds, I'm good with it.

I Can't Put My Arms Down!

2008-02-01T10:20:00.000-06:00

Ok, so we've established that David does not like snow. At least when he's wearing so much protective gear that he can't get up when he falls down, which is frequent in big, puffy snowsuits. It snowed about 7" here, so I was thinking David might have fun playing in it. Maybe next year...

Happy Birthday RDA!

2008-01-23T13:08:00.001-06:00

And who is RDA? Why this is the affectionate nickname for Richard Dean Anderson in the Crepeau household. Richard. Dean. Anderson. (said w/ smokers husky Patti and Selma voices) Now I do not have many celebrity crushes. Even as a hormonal teenager, it was pretty much limited to Zack Morris, MacGyver and Captain Jean Luc Picard. I know, I have weird celebrity crushes when I have them, with the exception of Zack Morris. But seriously, RDA is something like 57 today, and he still looks good. Yes, Matt is ok with my RDA crush, as he is now a big RDA fan due to a little show called Stargate SG-1, of which my brother has graciously loaned us boxed sets of seasons 1-6. However Matt did not grow up with MacGyver, which I see as tantamount to child abusion (another Lukism) and will be remedied. Although Matt does have a healthy respect for duct tape, which is evidence of RDA's influence via MacGyver, whether he knew it or not. So in summary, happy birthday RDA, and here's hoping all the men in my life age as gracefully as you. Yes, that was blatant sucking up. Feel free to reward a loyal fan with a birthday present. :)

Waiting Impatiently

2008-01-21T09:33:00.000-06:00

For the guy to come fix our heater! Seriously, why do your appliances always go out at the worst possible time? Our furnace has been sputtering since yesterday evening, and it is downright frigid in here. Of course,we called the gas company, and they won't come fix it b/c it's MLK day. Luckily I was able to find a private company that's open today.

Ooooh! Guy's here! Yes! Apparently it's the igniter. Uh huh. Yup, sure thing. Anyway, the guy said it's a fairly new furnace, but the previous owners replaced it w/ the cheapest possible furnace they could find. I explained to him that seems to be the story of our house. Sigh. It's a houseloaf really. Made of real houseparts, but doesn't quite seem to take on that real house quality most of the time. Oh well, at least we won't freeze tonight.

Toddler Math

2008-01-13T19:47:00.001-06:00

Ok, I am not good at math. But I can't figure out how exactly David was able to kick a cold in a couple of days that has laid me out since Weds. He was miserable for Fri evening and all day yesterday, but this evening is fine. I, on the other hand, have not been able to talk louder than a hoarse whisper for 3 days. So the real question is, how exactly am I going to keep up with a healthy toddler when I'm sick, when I can't keep up with him when I'm healthy?

It's Been a Long Time...

2007-12-17T12:36:00.000-06:00

...since I was so angry that I cried. But it happened today. You know, I realize this is the holiday season, and that everyone is under stress, and particularly businesses are trying to deliver for the holidays. But one shop owner I dealt with today took my breath away with how rude she was. Here's the story. My little brother plays peewee hockey on a local team. For a fundraiser they contracted with this local florist , Ambrosia Flowers, for what I initially thought was a great offer. You pay $20 and get a bouquet every month for a year. It doesn't work for me because I don't live in the same town, but I was happy for my family. I've been puppy sitting for my parents this weekend so they could get away for a couple days, so I thought I would be nice and go pick up this month's arrangement, as they had been meaning to do it for like a week and were too busy. Well when I walked in the lady said they couldn't honor it because it was the week before Christmas, and pointed to the terms on the card. The terms read "Not valid for Six Days Before or on Valentine's, Easter, Mother's Day and Christmas" Well I checked my date, and it is actually eight days before Christmas, so I asked them to honor it. The lady said we're not responsible for what was printed on the card, because we close on Friday so we count the week before that. I said well will they be able to get their Dec arrangement the week after Christmas then, and she said no, because we're closed until Jan 2. She said repeatedly they wouldn't honor it, so I left. As I was driving home stewing I decided to call and speak to the owner, which I did. She also refused to honor the card, citing the business of the holiday season and the terms on the card. I pointed out that the terms on the card made today a valid day, and that most people would not assume that "Christmas" actually meant "the Friday before Christmas." I asked her if she could substitute a different arrangement than was listed, and she said no, she had no flowers that weren't already set for delivery somewhere else. The only thing she would do was initial the card so that we could get the bouquet next Dec. I said thank you for that, but that I would be telling others who bought these that they would have to do that also and they would likely be unhappy. She said that was fine, because she shouldn't have to go into financial ruin for a charity fundraiser. I told her no one was trying to put her out of business, but we just wanted her to honor the terms on the card, that she must have okayed before they went out. I told her I was frustrated because this wasn't actually for me, I was just trying to do my parents a favor and felt like she was railroading my efforts. It was then she told me to "take a pill, lady." I couldn't believe it! The audacity took my breath away. I don't care how busy you are, or how bitchy the customer is being, you NEVER treat customers this way! I know it was for a good deal fundraiser, and I'm sure my parents have already received their money's worth in flowers, but that was absolutely uncalled for. I've worked retail during Christmas, I know what it's like. I also know I would never have been able to say that to someone without getting fired. Ever. So what do you do in this situation? I don't want to ruin my brother's fundraising next year, but on the other hand I certainly want her to know I won't ever shop there, and I plan on making sure lots of people know about how rude she is. She has a comment email address, and I'll write some online reviews on Yahoo and Google and the like. Seriously, if you ever need flowers don't go to this lady. Her flowers and arrangements are beautiful - and I give her credit for that, she does have flower arranging talent - but her personality and service are not worth the price.

That'll Teach Me

2007-12-02T15:22:00.000-06:00

Ok, so I admit it, I was actually interested in football briefly. I have never liked football, probably b/c there was never any good football around when I was growing up. I lived thru the Mizzou football is a joke and bball was where it's at. I still love basketball, but I was really hoping that Mizzou would pull through last night. It would be so good for the college, for Columbia, for Missouri. But alas, my brief stint as a football fan is over. I always did think it was a somewhat ridiculous game, and it annoys me greatly that football gets so much more exposure than academics or even superior sports, such as volleyball :) So while I hope Mizzou gets a decent bowl game, I will not be watching intentionally. So I'm back to watching my little brother's JV basketball games, and will be enjoying every minute. Oh yeah - and go Blues!

Poor Baby

2007-11-15T13:41:00.001-06:00

Poor David, we were up at 5:30am today (well he was, I was up at 5) to make it to the hospital by 6am to register for his frenulectomy. That's where he gets the frenulum (the little flap of skin between the tongue and lower jaw) snipped, b/c he is tongue tied. His ENT was afraid it was interfering with speech development, so snippity snip. As you can see, he was not happy to wait an hour and 15 min past his scheduled time (we got stuck behind a kid getting ear tubes), despite the nice oral sedative that made him act like a little drunk baby. You'll also notice that toddler hospital gowns are no less forgiving in the butt department, although baby butts look much cuter in them. All is well, there are no stiches and his frenulum was cut all the way through. We were home by 9:30am. Guess I better call and make that follow up app.

Digiscrappin'

2007-11-06T08:24:00.001-06:00

If some of you don't know my newest hobby, it's called digital scrapbooking, or digiscrapping for short. I've always liked the idea of scrapbooking, but couldn't stand the idea of A) cutting pictures that you may not have doubles of and possibly ruining forever and B) having loads of scrap crap just laying around. I have enough clutter to deal w/ already. But digiscrapping eliminates those things, assuming you use digital pictures, which I do. You can always open the pic as a copy and keep the original saved somewhere else. There's also the added benefit of being able to "touch up" the picture, or in my case completely change the way I look :) Digiscrapping has the added benefit of enabling my freebie addiction, and occasionally my contest addiction, as most of the digiscrap stuff I download is free. So it's a cute, cheap hobby. Can't do better than that. This layout is one I did for a contest at a digiscrap website; as you can see David was not happy with us getting his hair cut. Unfortunately it's about time for that again. If you want to see more click on the link to the right that says My DST Gallery - you'll see lots of David scraps :)

Still Hate Halloween

2007-11-01T12:55:00.001-05:00

but dang it if David doesn't look super cute in the Pooh costume Aunt Courtney got him.

Contest Addict

2007-10-30T21:16:00.000-05:00

If any of you didn't know, I'm an online contest junkie. Particularly sweepstakes, as I don't really like to do too much to win (although I'm now starting to enter some scrap challenges). But I discovered this Blogroll of contests starting on the Rocks in My Dryer blog and now it seems I must enter all I'm interested in. So guess what I'm going to be doing now that David's asleep? You got it, entering, possibly 300 or so if I can type that fast. Wish me luck!

I HATE Halloween

2007-10-23T20:47:00.000-05:00

I used to be so annoyed with my parents when they wouldn't allow us to participate in Halloween. I mean really, one year they wouldn't let us go to our church's "Harvest Party" - their Halloween substitute. Halloween has never been my favorite holiday, but I now just hate it. I hate all of the nasty, gory decorations that are put up in my neighborhood. I'm wondering how David will react next year when he's a little more cognizant of scary. I think they're all disgusting, even the cutsy ones. I hate how snot-nosed kids come to your house demanding candy like you owe them for being neighbors. I hate the constant wailing decorations in the stores, the ones where every time you walk by them they start talking at you in an electronic spooky voice. I'm not particularly fond of the color orange, or of pumpkins, so that just feeds my annoyance. I wish we could just skip it and move on to Thanksgiving, a much gentler holiday. Ok, a much gentler holiday if you ignore the repercussions for the Native American Indians, or whatever it is politically correct to call them now. I know, I'm a social worker, I should know we now call them either First Americans or Indigenous Americans or First People. Or a variety of other things, depending on the monthly flavor. Bet they didn't have stupid holidays like Halloween. Or if they did, I bet they at least got off work for it.

Bring on Gordon!

2007-10-17T19:56:00.000-05:00

Ok, I want Gordon Ramsay to come to STL. Seriously, watching his new show, Kitchen Nightmares, makes me afraid to ever eat at a restaurant again. Particularly a Mom and Pop joint, as all the restaurants on this show seem to be scary investment propositions with couples whose marriage has been destroyed by the restaurant. Apparently this means that it's ok to let roaches infest your kitchen, and not clean the stove for months on end. Now I love Gordon Ramsay, and I love the fact that his other show, Hell's Kitchen, has him as the sole judge. See, he actually knows what he's doing, so he tells the cooks what sucks and what doesn't. I like that in the age of nationwide vote-em-off over the internet. I also like that on Kitchen Nightmares at every single restaurant he orders crab cakes as the bellweather - kind of like I do with Pad Thai at all the mediocre Thai restaurants in STL. But apparently he doesn't leave New York or London. Doesn't he know that we need Midwestern restaurant critiques too?

Baby Pics

2007-10-05T14:43:00.001-05:00

Ok, so he's a big one year old now. Still my baby. And insanely photogenic. He must get that from Matt. This was taken just a few weeks ago in Sept. Perhaps I will periodically post a few pics, you'll just have to wait and see....

Hi There

2007-10-04T15:41:00.001-05:00

Welcome to the new Ehlen blog. I got tired of my Xanga blog, so I decided to do this one. I'll post some baby David pics here soon.