Zoo photography

Here are a couple of pictures I took on our trip to the zoo today. We had fun like always and got lots of exercise too. Unfortunately it was much too hot and I was feeling sick all day.

Locks of Love

Well today was a busy day for us. Jeff finally got sick of his long hair and he cut it off and donated it to Locks of Love. He donated about 20 inches. I too got another haircut. I had 5 inches cut off mine. Jeff's hair is just above his shoulders, and mine is just below my shoulders. It's much much cooler now. I think mine is a little too short but I don't mind too much since it seems to grow so fast now.

Zoo time

Yesterday Staci and I took the kids to the zoo. I decided not to bring my double stroller, because everytime we've taken it, the kids have just decided to walk. When we got there, the temperatures weren't too bad yet, so we started our journey. I did put Bear on his "leash" though, since Jeff wasn't there to help keep him in reach. About half way through the walk, both my kids started saying they wanted to ride in a wagon. We tried to hurry around and see all of the animals, however we did end up skipping the gorillas. Some of the animals were pretty active this time, which was nice since normally they're all sleeping. The bears were play fighting, and that was fun to see, and the giraffes were out licking peoples' hands. After the animals, we sat down for some lunch then started up the hill to ride the train. However, we only made it so far, because the kids decided they wanted to play in the water for a little while. When we finally did get on the train, Bug and Bear were so exhausted that they didn't move or talk at all through the whole train ride. They just sat back and enjoyed the ride. We had a fun time, and Jeff and I will most likely take them again tomorrow.

Spiderman

Well Bear loves Spiderman, he's his hero, and it shows! This is Bear's new "amazing trick." He has figured out that he can reach from wall to wall in our tiny little house, and now he climbs the walls. We can't keep him down! I swear this boy is gonna end up with some kind of broken bone! Oh, the joy of boys!!!

Vermont

Next Tuesday, Jeff and his Mom will leave for their vacation to Vermont. This is the second year they have made the trip. They go to visit Jeff's other boys and this year they get to stay for a week. I don't mind staying home because the boys need to get to know Jeff before they know me. We're hoping that one day the boys will make the trip here for a visit so they can meet their little sister and Brother. Especially since Bear looks so much like the twins. But unfortunately their Mother is making excuses. She told Jeff "You cannot even mention anything about coming to Utah, it scares them!" My question is, how can it possibly scare two 12 year olds and a 14 year old if they know it is an option, not a mandatory thing? I don't get it. Anyhow no matter, Jeff's divorce decree states that the boys could leave the state as soon as they turned 10 years old, so Jeff just has to get a judge to enforce it. It's hard to believe that in less that a year I will be Step-Mom to them, and Mom to my 2... A Mother of 5 at 26! WOW! Anyhow the kids and I had a good time last year when Jeff and his Mother were gone... We got alot of bonding time in and it was a new experience. I hope this year will be as nice!

Destiny Ann Norton "Annie"

Many of us have been following the story of 5 year old Destiny Norton. She disappeared from her home on July 16th. Hundreds of volunteers have been searching everywhere for her in the hot summer temperatures. Unfortunately, her story did not have a happy ending. Last night around 8:30, police found Destiny's body in the basement of a nearby neighbor. Apparently he killed her the same night she disappeared. There are too many stories like this and it makes me sad. These stories remind us all to hug our children a little tighter each night, and to never let them out of our sight for even a second. It's scary to think that there are people out there that could do this to a child without a second thought. Let's all remember Destiny, and all of the other children that wont be coming home.

A Job Well Done

Yesterday we took the kids to get their summer portraits done. While driving to the studio, I had the worst feeling that the studio would be busy and we wouldn't be able to get the pictures done. I was hoping to have the photos back before Jeff goes on his trip to Vermont to see the boys. Besides, neither Bug nor Bear had a nap and it was starting to show. When we arrived at the studio, around 1:00 p.m. the photographer told us that she had an appointment coming in and the next available time would be 4:30. Oh no... Papa and Grandma are supposed to come get Bug and Bear and there's no way we would have time to get the pictures done... So as we're standing there trying to figure out what to do, the photographer adds "I'm expecting a party of 10, but they're late, so if they're not here in 10 minutes, I can squeeze you in." We decided to wait, and I am so glad that we did!

The expected party of 10 was a no-show, and we got our way. Bug and Bear were awesome during the photos and we only suffered a minor tantrum from Bug. She started getting cranky and she gave the photographer the meanest look I've ever seen. After the photographer got in Bug's face to try and sneak a smile... Bug got a nice hit in on the photographer's mouth and as the photographer started teasing Bug about how much it hurt, Bug completely forgot about the tantrum and couldn't hold back the laughter. That's when the photographer snapped the picture. It was only after this that Bug told us the reason for the tantrum. She didn't want her picture on the "Shrek" background. IF ONLY SHE WOULD HAVE JUST TOLD US, THIS ALL COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED!!! After all the pictures had been taken, we asked to buy the photo disk, and we were told that all they had were floppy disks! Come on guys, it's 2006! So we bought that and had to hook up our old computer just to burn the pictures to a disk. Anyhow, the kids were so good, that they both ended up with a new prize. Bear got his beloved Spider-Hulk, (An action figure which is a mix between spiderman and hulk) and Bug got a cute new play tea set. Both kids were happy, and I couldn't complain either. Unfortunately the pictures aren't due back until August 3rd, and Jeff will be gone, but I'll be able to find a ride to pick up the pictures. Jeff has promised to leave me some money so I could buy the extra poses.

This is Freaky!!!

Someone emailed me this freaky game... You gotta check it out. I've got it figured out now, but it is still freaky and cool if you don't know the trick. Let's see if you can figure it out...Wizard Game

Bug's New Treasure

Tonight we bought Bug's dress for our wedding next year... Yes, Already! We did this because I have had my eye on a particular dress for her for quite a while now... While at Southtowne yesterday we spotted the exact dress at Frenze for only $48.00 However we made the mistake of assuming the red sale tag was a clearance tag. After worrying all night that the dress may not be around much longer, we made the decision to make a trip back and buy it today. We got back to the store, in preparation to buy a size too big so Bug could grow into it by next summer, and noticed that the tag was only a sale tag. But since we were there, we bought it anyhow. She's in a 4/5 now and the dress is a 6. As you can see, she loves it, and it will no doubt fit great at this time next year. She calls it her princess dress, and treats it like the most valuable object in the world. She'll be the prettiest Flower Girl around!!! I will try to get her in it again some time when I've got her hair done pretty so everyone can get an idea of how she'll look at our wedding. We've promised to find her a pretty necklace to go with her dress.

Rained Out

Today we headed over to Uncle Bob and Aunt Shauna's house to visit with Shara and set off some fireworks. We got there and the rain clouds followed. We had our barbeque anyhow, and the kids ran off to play on the trampoline. Shortly after that, the light show began, but it wasn't fireworks. Here it was the middle of the day, and a thunderstorm came in. Although the cool breeze was welcome, the storm itself, sorta wrecked things. The kids had to get off the trampoline, because I was worried about the lightning. They got stuck in the house with not much to do, so they all decided to play the piano for a little while. They had fun pounding away on the keys. Shara left to the airport shortly after 5:00 and the rain came next. Everyone was in the house, it was dark and crowded. After visiting for a bit longer, we decided that the rain was not letting up and that it was time to come home. We partied hard last night and the effects were catching up with us all today. We all sat in the livingroom at Bob and Shauna's and just yawned! We loaded our things into the car, and shortly after leaving, Bug fell fast asleep. When we got home, we changed them into their pajamas, cuddled them for a while, then sent them to bed. Both were asleep by 7:45 We told them that we'll buy some fireworks and light them off tomorrow night if the weather agrees. If we really want to, we could just go in our back yard at 11:00 tonight and watch the fireworks from the Veterans Memorial Park a few blocks away.

Theft By Accident?

Last night the family gathered at Bryan and Robin's house. We had a barbeque, visited, and then later we walked to the high school to watch the fireworks show. When we first got to the school, we came upon a man selling glow sticks. Since we had 9 kids with us, my Dad and cousin Shawn decided to buy some. They asked the man how much they cost and he said $3.00 each. Well we know very well that you can buy those glowsticks from the dollar store, so my Dad and Shawn began bargaining with the guy to lower the price. While this was going on, we all noticed that the man was obviously very tweaked out on something because he was very nervous and figity. They finally talked the guy into selling us 8 large glowsticks for $10.00.

So Shawn handed the guy a $10.00 bill and for some reason, the guy handed Shawn 2 $5.00 bills back. I told you, he was tweakin... And as soon as he did that, the guy grabbed the remaining glowsticks up off the ground, and walked away very quickly, for fear that Dad and Shawn would talk him out of more. When he walked away, Dad looked down and noticed that the man had forgotten 2 unlit glowsticks on the ground... 2 more for free! So we continued on our way. During the firework show, Shawn noticed that he had aquired a backpack, and he thought it was the beer backpack, however it felt empty so he thought someone had drank the last beer and handed off the backpack. After the show, he began to ask around to see which of his family members had handed him the "dummy bag"... Everyone said it wasn't theirs, so we decided to feel what was inside. When we grabbed at the bag, it almost felt like dynamite! Okay now we had to open it!!! Inside we found many tubes of unopened glow sticks, and finally we had realized what Shawn had done!

When they had finished bargaining with the glowstick man, and he had run off, he had forgotten his backpack. Shawn saw it sitting there and thought it was the beer bag, so not thinking, he picked it up. We were a little worried that there might be drugs inside, so we didn't fully inspect it until we arrived back at Bryan and Robins house. Inside we found about 12-16 tubes of glowsticks with 15 glowsticks in each tube. However, we had already opened one for the kids. But we now had enough that every kid got their own 15 pack. Luckily there were no drugs in the bag, just the glowsticks and the connectors to hook them together. And just think, we got every single glowstick, absolutely free! This is a story we will tell for many years.

Graphic Editing Part 2

Today I finally finished downloading the graphic program that I mentioned the other day. It took me a total of 10 hours to download it. But when I opened the program to make some graphics, it was well worth the 10 hours. PSP 10 has many more picture tubes, as well as textures. I had lots of fun with it today and I made these 2 pretty graphics. Very similar, yet just different enough! The graphic I made for Bug took me a total of 7 hours, with all the editing and painting. The butterfly garden graphic took me about 20 minutes once I decided what I wanted to do. I hope to make lots more wonderful graphics in my short 30 day trial!