I'll be M.I.A. for a few weeks.

Instead of letting you all wallow in your sorrow, though, I thought I'd leave you with

a little contest.

Below are a few photos I love.

I want you to name them.

Leave your name ideas in my comments, including the # of the photo you are referring to. (Entries in this contest will be judged solely on how much I like them. Completely subjectively. I suggest humor and/or flattery.)

And this is the part that'll get even the shyest of you posting comments.

I will send the winners for each photo an amazing, state of the art, one 0f a kind*

wait for it

POSTCARD.

I kid you not.

1.

2.

3.

4.

What are you waiting for?

Comment already!

*hyperbole is my friend

(as is alliteration. hint, hint.)

make sure to write some name or something for me to identify you with in the comment or I'll send your postcard, should you end up being the winner, to my sister, because she is the person who has sent me the most mail in my life and I should return the favor. too bad, so sad.

P.S. I LOVE S.A.M.!

creativity

“We have to regard it as our sacred responsibility to unfold and develop each individual’s creative ability as dim as the spark may be and kindle it to whatever flame it may conceivably develop.”

-V. Lowenfeld “Basic Aspects of Creative Thinking,” 1961

Eavesdropping:

Daddy had to run back into the house to get something before we drove off. S.A.M. yelled after him, "Run for your life, daddy. Run!"

As we were driving back home from our errand, Mademoiselle was about to doze off. "I'm so tired I could eat a horse! That's how tired I am!"

Boots and Sally, our mini-nubians

Sometimes, if you let your animals browse around freely, even while you are not at home, you will come home to find goat grenades and hen land-mines on your front step.

You've been warned.

My kids and I love to do puzzles. We own a few, but with limited space it just doesn't make sense to keep adding to our collection. When we're up for a bit of variety, we just come online, to jigzone.com, and do a few puzzles there. There are many puzzle designs to choose from, but my favorite feature is that you can adjust the number of puzzle peices you want to use to fit the skill level of the person playing. This means, S.A.M. can pick a picture he likes, and do a 12 or 24 piece puzzle of it, and a few minutes later Mademoiselle can pick her own picture and do a 48 piece puzzle. You also can embed a puzzle on your blog or web page, as I have done. So many options keep this an activity the kids love to do, over and over!

"Take great care of the kids while I'm gone. If we die, you just be the parents then. It's going to be a wild ride. I just don't know if we'll make it."

So Mademoiselle bravely said as she cast off to sea aboard her picnic blanket boat, stocked with a rocking horse, a few wood planks, some plastic balls, some tree branches, a soccer ball, a bat, and a tricycle.

"I'll do my best," I answer reassuringly.

Wild ride, indeed!

7 reasons 7/7/07 was a very good day.

7. It's the number of times my kids came inside to find me, just to tell me they love me.

6. The number of beautiful eyes I got to gaze lovingly and adoringly into any time I wanted.(see above)

5. The number of paintings created. (see below)

4. The number of hours the kids rode around in circles on their bikes. Coincidentally, also the number of hours I peeked at them, and oohed and aahed, and comforted them after wrecks.

3. The number of times S.A.M. told me a secret, in my ear, for no-one else to hear. Don't you wish you knew what it was?

2. The number of extra yummy things we got to eat on this extra yummy day. Also, the number of times, times 7, that Mademoiselle asked for more.

1. The number of babies I got to cuddle as they drifted off to sleep in my arms. 7 seperate and blissful times!

Some might call it lucky. I call it blessed.

Around these parts, we play outside all winter,
and hide out indoors in the HOT summers.

We have to keep ourselves occupied,

or else we might be found;

jumping off of the counters,

hoarding messes in the closets,

or trying to eat the potty.

Trouble.

(that's trouble with a capital T)

Sometimes we read.

Sometimes we cook.

Sometimes we play.

Sometimes we dance.

Sometimes we learn.

Sometimes we nap.

Sometimes we sing.

Sometimes we puzzle.

Sometimes we even watch a movie.

Today, we paint.

Recipe for Mid-Afternoon Happiness

One half of a watermelon,

the part left over from yesterday's festivities,

or 2-4 cups, chopped

2 cups frozen berries

(we used strawberries)

Blend.

I used my immersion blender.

I love it.

We drank half of the juice on the spot.

We froze the rest into popsicles.

Frozen Happiness

on a stick.

One thing I really miss in living the rural life is culture. Food, music, and most definitely art. I’ve found a way, though, to get my art fix right here in my own little house. Etsy is an online marketplace where craftspeople can sell just about anything handmade or homegrown. Within Etsy are so many fun little tools that make the search for your hearts desire or the perfect gift just that much more enjoyable. I recommend the geolocator to find artisans in your area, or the color search tool for an addictively good time.

Maybe look up something red, white, or blue?

What do you do

in the summertime?

Last night I called Big Sis.

I had to tell her the news.

I'm a-coming! I'm a-coming!

I'll be there, in good ol' MT, two weeks from today.

In preparation, we had to stay up late (1am for her!!) and talk.

I say talk, but I mean;

make no sense whatsoever,

annoy all within hearing distance,

and laugh maniacally.

A lot.

These two weeks better fly by, I tell you what.

My youngest bro-in-law came for a visit.

We know how to show people a good time.

We went 3 stories underneath the earth's surface,

we ate dinner with no meat,

we went to a river that is so big it even has a beach.

He got to see 3 movies in the theaters for a grand total of $8,

saw a grey fox come running when he called,

and saw a man arrested.

He helped change a flat tire,

he rode on a boat,

he caught his second fish ever,

and pulled the kids around in their toy "tractor"

in lots and lots and lots of circles.

And there was more. Oh, yes, there was more.

It was a fun time, and he left here exhausted. Too bad, because he still had to drive 6 hours home, and then wake up the next morning and head to work.

Thanks, Blakey,

(and I will forever call you Blakey, even when you are 47 and I am 58),

for visiting us!

It was our pleasure!