Family photo shoot...

We had a busy weekend. Saturday Owen and Morgan went to watch my nephew's fencing matches. I got some crafting time in. Saturday night Owen and I went to the city celebration fire works. He did really well considering it was only the second time in his life he has seen them!

Sunday I did a photo session with my best friend, her husband and daughter. It was lots of fun and went really well! I am super happy with how the pictures turned out. Here is a little sampling of them.

I am about 1/2 way through editing them. If you are a facebook friend then you can see the rest of the ones I've posted there.

Sunday we went with some friends to the St. Paul Beerfest. That was a riot! I was the DD so I was in charge of keeping track of all of us and tracking where we had been and taking notes on the sampling. I did have a few tastes of anything that someone thought was particularly good but since I am not at all a beer connoiseur I was the best choice for DD! Although I got a bad headache while we were there (I hadn't eaten much before we left) and I also didn't have much for sunscreen on. As a result I have a pretty nasty sunburn. Although I've definitely had worse so this is manageable.

Father's Day...

Having a child makes you no more a parent than having a piano make you a pianist.

Michael Levine
Lessons at the Half way Point

I read this quote on Stacy Julian's website this morning and it got me thinking about fatherhood. There are lots of reasons why I've not be a celebrator of Father's Day until Owen came along. The biggest one is that I don't have one. Not because of immaculate conception or anything. But for the unstated reason in this quote. He was absent. Father's Day was about my grandpa until he passed away. And for a few years probably my step-dad but that ran amuck years ago too.

Not having a father wasn't as difficult for me as one might think. It certainly wasn't cake but there were men who filled in. My grandpa (mainly). My uncle. Friend's fathers who I looked up to. Boyfriends' fathers (who were harder to part with than the boyfriend!). I always knew my father was gone. Because he was always gone. There wasn't a time when he was around and then left. And I always knew (and I'm not sure how) that it was easier for us for him to be gone then to be around. (He was/is not a good person.) And later when my mom and step-dad divorced, I was relieved. Some men are not cut out to be a parent and therefore it is my belief that they should not father children. And I feel I am qualified to make that statement. From my own life experience and my experience as a teacher. The above quote says it all. If you can't do the job don't contribute to the equation.

Now Father's Day is about celebrating the men in my and Owen's life who are great role models. His father and grandfather. To say that I love and respect them as human beings is and understatement. And I am fortunate to have them in my life. And thankful that they are Owen's father and grandfather. Thankful that they are my husband and father-in-law. Because of the choices I could have made to fill these roles, I did pretty well. I didn't have much choice in the father-in-law department but I think I did pretty well in choosing a husband. Stacy Julian also wrote on her blog "It's an amazing thing to share life with an imperfect person that is perfect for you." So true. So absolutely true. Somedays there is nothing more comforting to me than knowing that they person I chose to spend my life with is the right one. A man who is honest and kind and good. Who does a good job loving and caring for us and enjoys his role sas husband and father. not everyday is cake and ice cream but we do it together and that makes it all that much better.

I love you Morgan. You are awesome!

For Today... (from The Simple Woman's Daybook)

Outside my window... the shades are all down because it's HOT HOT HOT!

I am thinking... of all the things I want to get done today.

I am thankful for... a nice weekend spent with Owen and Morgan.

I am wearing... still PJ's and my crocs.

I am reading... trying to start the Memory Keepers Daughter (again) for book club.

I am hoping... to start feeling better and getting better sleep.

I am creating... plans for new layouts and stuff for the etsy shop.

I am praying... for direction.

Around the house... toys. Always toys. So I'm trying to put things back in order today!

One of my favorite things... Word World. Such a cute show.

A few plans for the rest of the week... Work tomorrow. ECFE girls night out on Thursday.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...

Hope you all have a great Monday!

This week's Thursday Thunks...

Here are this week's Thursday Thunks questions. Because my blog is nothing if it's not about me!

1. Are your ears dirty? No. I try to have clean ears all the time. Really. This is a weird obsession of mine. I tend to check Owen and Morgan's ears for cleanliness too!

2. Would you rather be stung by a scorpion or bit by a snake? (Don't say either...no one wants to be in pain, that's the point. Pick one.) Well, I don't very well know! I've never been bit by either so I don't know which would be more painful. And I guess it would depend on the snake too. I'd like the least painful option and the least deadly and most treatable. So, which one is that!?

3. Do loud noises make you snappish? (i.e. A loud restaurant, screaming child next to you, booming stereo from a neighbor's house?) Yes. Yes. And YES! I have a little bit of auditory sensory irritation. I was the kid in the class irritated by the pencil scratchings of the person next to me during test taking days. I can't STAND when people chew with their mouths open. (I've ended relationships over this). Any kind of repetitive sound, especially if it's very high pitched drives me batty!

4. PETA- thoughts on this org.? Well, I don't know much about the org. But I think we should be nice to animals. Except squirrels. But I won't run those over either.

5. Would you rather be the discoverer of the Loch Ness Monster or Bigfoot? (Imagination!) The Loch Ness Monster. Because I would probably just see if from the shore instead of coming upon it in the woods. Who am I kidding. I would not be wandering in the woods to find Bigfoot anyway! Unless Morgan made me go. Then I'd be complaining too loud for Bigfoot to stick around.
6. When in a public toilet and it's not flushed: do you flush & use or move on to a clean one? I flush (depending on how grossed out I am) AND move to a different one. Unless it's the only one available. I have an issue with public toilets too. Which I won't go into because it's long and complicated. Like most of my issues!

7. Neighbors are having a noisy, party bonfire, what do you do? Hopefully I am there. Then I enjoy the party.

8. Do you play Monopoly? If so which version of the game? Not since I played with BJ, Nathan and Craig until a rediculously late hour in the morning because Nathan will not give up a game until the bitter end. Even if he is clearly going to be the winner. It was the Star Wars edition. I tried to auction off my remaining aircraft to get more money to get back in the game. It didn't work. I've not played since.

9. Are you a remote hog? Not really.

10. Do you like the smell of paint? Not particularly. Now markers and ink pads are another story!

11. My questions obviously suck this week. {I've had a bad week.}
So do you think Kimber should have...
~smoked pot before doing these questions?
~drank liquid courage?
~begged Berleen to do them (she's better at them anyhow)?
~just piss off! I could have done better!

Pot. Definitely pot! I have this illusion that smoking pot would be wildly funny! But I didn't think the questions sucked either! I'm easily entertained!

A funny for Friday...

Overheard in the bathroom this morning...

Owen: "You have a penis too daddy?"

Morgan: "Yes, I have a penis too."

Owen: "That's your penis?"

Morgan: "Yes, that's my penis"

Owen: "Wow."

I told Morgan one of his manly dreams had come true. Someone said "wow" when they saw his penis! I suppose it's not part of the dream that it's a 3 year old!

I love to listen to the little conversations they have in the morning while I'm still in bed.

We are off to take care of Nikki & Michaela today. We are going to have lunch with Lori and Maggie later to celebrate Nikki's birthday, which was on Wednesday. She's the big 30!

Thursday Thunks...

I found this Thursday Thunks blog and thought it would be a fun post for today. So here it is!

1. What is your least favorite candy bar? That would have to be Whoppers. And Almond Joy.

2. If I were to call you, what would you say? Hello. (If I bothered to answer the phone!)

3. What is your favorite type of leaf? Maple. I love the shape of them.

4. When was the last time you....
- had sex? I'd have to ask Morgan. He keeps track of that.
- swam in a lake? Last summer when we went camping with The Johnsons.
- went barefoot outside? Last week at Kristine's house. She has nice grass! Our grass is dead. - -ate peas? Last week when we had stray and hay tortellini for dinner.

5. Since Father's Day is right around the corner, tell us about the person that you are celebrating. We will be celebrating Morgan and his dad. Morgan has a list of things he wants to do. We will call grandpa on the phone since he is in MT.

6. Were you dropped on your head as a child? Not that I recall!

7. How often do you clean your toilet? At least once a week. Boys live here!

8. Have you ever been sunburned? Tell us about it. Have you seen me!? Yes, I've been sunburned. Two terrible times stand out in my mind. Once up north my milky white thighs saw far too much sun. And in Mexico I got stuck out on the ocean for an hour and my back fried! Both were incredibly painful. I try to stay covered up as much as I can.

9. On average, how many hours a sleep do you get a night? Anywhere from 3 to 7. I'd prefer 8-9.

10 How many hours did you get last night? 7, I think.

11. Take a picture of something. Post it. Not the best picture I've taken of O but man he makes me laugh!

12. Are the bottom of your feet dirty? Nope. I've got socks on and have all day.

13. Do you know the names of every member of the family who lives next door to you? To the south of us yes. And behind, and across and up and down most of the street. There are three guys who live on the north side of us and one of them I've never met. The other two I know.

Happy Thursday!!

Friday!

I'd like to say I love Fridays but really, it's not my favorite day. Mostly because Morgan can not get home at a reasonable time on Friday. So by 5:30pm I'm frequently dangling at the end of my very short rope. And trying to maintain the one frayed nerve I have left. I could totally do without Fridays.

Today hasn't been too bad though. It's nice out. That always helps. Owen had PT this morning. Which he wasn't too cooperative getting ready for. The appointment went well though. Then we had lunch with Mimi & Naunee. That is always nice. Mimi brought Owen a Buzz Light Year action figure. He is really cool! Owen LOVES him! I think the rest of us do too!

Yesterday we went to a nature center for a picnic lunch and a hike with my friend Lisa and her kids. I think it may be a bit weird in the fall when they start school. Owen loves spending time with them!

We hiked around the lake and then saw wild turkeys at the end of the trail! I had a terrible time getting a picture of them. They were not far away but they wouldn't hold still either and they were in the woods so I couldn't get a clear view of them.

Tomorrow I get to spend some scrappy time with some girlfriends and then Sunday we have a stamp & scrap sale we are doing. Hopefully I will make a little money off the stuff I've purged for the sale! I need to see what else I can clear out!