Book Reviews by Ehlen Administration

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, f...

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.

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, R...

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 sa...

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 ar...

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 al...

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!