tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73544642399491932112024-02-21T01:17:48.112-05:00My friends call me Betty Crocker...A blog by a young mother of four who keeps the nearly lost art of 'a woman in the home' alive by adding a fresh and modern twist.jlarson750http://www.blogger.com/profile/15197508930941529513noreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354464239949193211.post-66384425226422399172010-09-26T07:58:00.007-04:002010-09-26T09:07:37.655-04:00Did you think I died?So, I'm just going to jump right back in here and pretend that I never left. Happy to say that this post is a lot less dreary than the last few, my husband has been working since February and we have moved into a rental and have all of our stuff back. Sadly, while it's nice to have it back most of its importance has diminished after all that we went through. But maybe that's really not something to be sad about, it's good to have your priorities evaluated once in a while. So, let me try to update a bit with what's going on and how everyone is doing.<br /><br />Yesterday was homecoming, Friday was the homecoming game and we won 70 to 6 I believe. That had to be painful to watch but I was happy for the kids because we lost the homecoming game last year. The girls went with their boyfriends, they left at different times and I couldn't get their pictures together. They looked beautiful as always. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzd_9n1eyq4pNxDrwbn-3fXkkWJjSMjp6RRcbjyvwmuq00BIWWQIBPiurMRYH-z3g_eTiyyuCOW75jYXV_iwUqPVQU4MItDAt8wnjFl7M8kxXZt1_wVI4fbVfC6-X8PrMu_BBoEPv9j0uI/s1600/Homecoming+2010+016.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 286px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzd_9n1eyq4pNxDrwbn-3fXkkWJjSMjp6RRcbjyvwmuq00BIWWQIBPiurMRYH-z3g_eTiyyuCOW75jYXV_iwUqPVQU4MItDAt8wnjFl7M8kxXZt1_wVI4fbVfC6-X8PrMu_BBoEPv9j0uI/s400/Homecoming+2010+016.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521197713086200930" border="0"></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0ZLcxjqxKlmQ5okMG5XYnoCDECd-sDnYZaa5_o-Q2qwXlUWSghMpK7XA4A69yBy5CR2XUvPj9l_HVQJS0A_isUg0hg4VNS26RvQAW7ZLOcG2tQDJaRh_RIW7APIgsaU_cAF5ulwf3pQM9/s1600/Homecoming+2010+015.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 294px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0ZLcxjqxKlmQ5okMG5XYnoCDECd-sDnYZaa5_o-Q2qwXlUWSghMpK7XA4A69yBy5CR2XUvPj9l_HVQJS0A_isUg0hg4VNS26RvQAW7ZLOcG2tQDJaRh_RIW7APIgsaU_cAF5ulwf3pQM9/s400/Homecoming+2010+015.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521197711095609458" border="0"></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_z55jdpRampTJMLJw2N_uoufos0AgF-qyDvvHIP8qYFA5-TrWmezPrU-x2uoaxENA14g8QWcZyx9XLAx9rMnhkkMBB5IDDzaCR8VV6PkH-L3VOqC33CrrlCSjxO59r3sd6b4hS4L8tBvn/s1600/Homecoming+2010+009.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 286px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_z55jdpRampTJMLJw2N_uoufos0AgF-qyDvvHIP8qYFA5-TrWmezPrU-x2uoaxENA14g8QWcZyx9XLAx9rMnhkkMBB5IDDzaCR8VV6PkH-L3VOqC33CrrlCSjxO59r3sd6b4hS4L8tBvn/s400/Homecoming+2010+009.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521197698235672578" border="0"></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPPh7SwTI8F9uQ7CV1pmoxcZcJJzcRQZKaU3a5cso75n0DuB-Sbyl5YE5DOcKiYz4L0p4sH0ydV83XF0NWN5UP-4F8J08sLVl6uBdffD8uFk2A7JEGpwocJXJG5n1261bC5MsyVmc6uivM/s1600/Homecoming+2010+006.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 286px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPPh7SwTI8F9uQ7CV1pmoxcZcJJzcRQZKaU3a5cso75n0DuB-Sbyl5YE5DOcKiYz4L0p4sH0ydV83XF0NWN5UP-4F8J08sLVl6uBdffD8uFk2A7JEGpwocJXJG5n1261bC5MsyVmc6uivM/s400/Homecoming+2010+006.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521197692286654898" border="0"></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7qPGuwsP_xQnboC10hxPONs-0wLO8vO5g7cXJFZ1j8izk-IwEpNLB3rZJk2MKHSweD2NLg5ujuxXJtbmE5jYwq6jME3Ks6g4Orp12yABxmQR2RCIUU6aP24vNp-DIx6PVd_bZjmfPIC4d/s1600/Homecoming+2010+003.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 286px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7qPGuwsP_xQnboC10hxPONs-0wLO8vO5g7cXJFZ1j8izk-IwEpNLB3rZJk2MKHSweD2NLg5ujuxXJtbmE5jYwq6jME3Ks6g4Orp12yABxmQR2RCIUU6aP24vNp-DIx6PVd_bZjmfPIC4d/s400/Homecoming+2010+003.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521197687950714818" border="0"></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAAVA3GoB4dtTfsHlNcGELNSt2UXCVS5R7_HkzlNGm6iqa0qsGrwz2lY-nmxq3yN6PQ-t9HOS8PAXVZwiaF9g1VU6-KGVkjEYVOSkUeXzOKJi8JzXYk3ZjZVtLTXxYAo3oqQKN-F6qmN1W/s1600/Homecoming+2010+024.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAAVA3GoB4dtTfsHlNcGELNSt2UXCVS5R7_HkzlNGm6iqa0qsGrwz2lY-nmxq3yN6PQ-t9HOS8PAXVZwiaF9g1VU6-KGVkjEYVOSkUeXzOKJi8JzXYk3ZjZVtLTXxYAo3oqQKN-F6qmN1W/s400/Homecoming+2010+024.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521198140522489410" border="0"></a><br />Senior year will be busy and exciting for them. Taylor now has her drivers license and Dorian will have hers soon. They are looking at colleges and hopefully scholarship opportunities. Taylor received a partial scholarship to Rochester so far and Dorian has been solicited by a ton of colleges because of her high SAT scores. Who knows where they will end up. It's looking less and less likely that they will be at the same place which I have to admit makes me a little sad. I would have liked them to be together, as their mother I would have felt better if they could have had each other. It would be nice if we could tell them exactly where we will be once they start college but we really don't know. If all goes as planned right now we will be moving to Kent after they graduate. But I have learned that nothing in life is certain so...who knows. <br /><br />Oskar started kindergarten. He is loving it, in fact last night he was bummed because there was no school today. I miss him around the house during the day but Josie makes up for him being gone, she's a lively one. He's making friends, we actually ran into a couple of them in town yesterday, he now knows more people here than I do. He is reading fairly fluently, I am so proud of him. They are getting ready to test him for the gifted program at school, I hope that goes well because I think he would benefit from the enrichment. Some photos from his fifth birthday...<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2CzXz0EpJuxDdgrmh0f7PVivyS4YcW2yYYB-jvvPynj9K7l6mZtB-12OZSsJjF7_g-4ezQFsWRwRf_Ubj2UjdiEsiji1O39ywCM3lGlj7jxp7714wZmhwFvgdKBZ50wf8Ox5ARbHZhUQ5/s1600/Birthday+2010+026.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2CzXz0EpJuxDdgrmh0f7PVivyS4YcW2yYYB-jvvPynj9K7l6mZtB-12OZSsJjF7_g-4ezQFsWRwRf_Ubj2UjdiEsiji1O39ywCM3lGlj7jxp7714wZmhwFvgdKBZ50wf8Ox5ARbHZhUQ5/s400/Birthday+2010+026.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521202170437873842" border="0"></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl7QUQKa5yfA-Eb9Qeo1UM6VNd2aHFOnlRfoYIZCr-rs7ycY3P-nFy6yo5b2oNwcD0LW2uVMDBPJ4jzrWN-g9AO9Cple3-8NVbW2SPT9do8zzKGMVGr7PJRSXjjRsd91OEAnmVGnxjIN-Y/s1600/Birthday+2010+024.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl7QUQKa5yfA-Eb9Qeo1UM6VNd2aHFOnlRfoYIZCr-rs7ycY3P-nFy6yo5b2oNwcD0LW2uVMDBPJ4jzrWN-g9AO9Cple3-8NVbW2SPT9do8zzKGMVGr7PJRSXjjRsd91OEAnmVGnxjIN-Y/s400/Birthday+2010+024.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521202169921535330" border="0"></a><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzF9OzEqxgvrFHUjLL2LMhb59er-a8_3IhPREvPMKVtNUfJ3k7ndfU6ajLUXrEexMfr9YVtaX88e1odBNZm8g' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><br />Josie is now two and a full out riot. She is talking like crazy and will not be outdone in anything. We are working on potty training, please pray for me. She refuses to do number two and will literally not go for days if she thinks I am going to try to make her do it on the potty. She misses her buddy Oskar when he's at school but has no problems "taking care" of his toys while he is way. Her favorite saying is currently "Yes I are!" which she promptly tells you anytime you tell her "No, you're not." She grew out of her baby glasses and now wears "big girl" ones. I can't believe how different they make her look. Here are a few recent pics...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQHVdjNCEOfbGtuX7YWs0UwWfOePF8XazKJ3_2waBDb42pAq-OqqQxDbz8KQ7_4hF0NJvRlkAB7TP_B9UOR5zSRNo0Or1UluM8NhFp-iLsfeavIoe-9ttJ03412IYfE-4F158tAJ71OWRv/s1600/Birthday+2010+018.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQHVdjNCEOfbGtuX7YWs0UwWfOePF8XazKJ3_2waBDb42pAq-OqqQxDbz8KQ7_4hF0NJvRlkAB7TP_B9UOR5zSRNo0Or1UluM8NhFp-iLsfeavIoe-9ttJ03412IYfE-4F158tAJ71OWRv/s400/Birthday+2010+018.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521205836420841922" border="0"></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEugiyIIzPIUcWaGKGlmhlwTzgFVhyphenhyphenOKaHtd3DcxpXMNMDN8adYlx6C83GxEQGcK1Kdc_n-rVtIZbcb4i9WFhvQTGlBDdj_DUaZooOaY7FD_aYjEz1gSwpAiiQFcHEdgikED8S5D6KsHfw/s1600/Birthday+2010+005.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEugiyIIzPIUcWaGKGlmhlwTzgFVhyphenhyphenOKaHtd3DcxpXMNMDN8adYlx6C83GxEQGcK1Kdc_n-rVtIZbcb4i9WFhvQTGlBDdj_DUaZooOaY7FD_aYjEz1gSwpAiiQFcHEdgikED8S5D6KsHfw/s400/Birthday+2010+005.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521205831601434114" border="0"></a><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxDhUo8zAx99Uvf-ZhiP3r5tOLsjeZ5Ww4MOuLkhNE9CRgOYUtKhmr6gUn1QL5KhDy951M0F8o3cvrPBBCsuA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzfjlX2uDIm_GF3k1yobhQohuiE8vD5vv7A3dEcybuyTl7nCFV5QKmwLjmdm7LLfOIt_fe_4wTw779VjUbQZQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><br />I'm doing fine, summer was a blur and things are finally settling back down with the kids back in school. I'm itching to do something, I need to find an outlet for all my creative energy. Hope I figure it out soon. Husband is doing well too, keeping head down at work and getting through, we are so thankful for this job. Hope everyone else is hanging in there, I'll try to not be so long between post.jlarson750http://www.blogger.com/profile/15197508930941529513noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354464239949193211.post-54961153851741406032009-12-19T07:45:00.004-05:002009-12-19T11:00:21.643-05:00A Merry Little Christmas...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD5R0ivqFzHVJ3vMPkrNkNha0572GoTgg8yguQVcCDfUk6AcNlKB2_VoysxvBrJw2TL8ACJX7lvN6qhMIxvNZ0QXluHXp_HgUYH71CxzQ3zcq7-yOqH8yWaaLXMlgP0av5w9COauzmXjiS/s1600-h/Christmas+b.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD5R0ivqFzHVJ3vMPkrNkNha0572GoTgg8yguQVcCDfUk6AcNlKB2_VoysxvBrJw2TL8ACJX7lvN6qhMIxvNZ0QXluHXp_HgUYH71CxzQ3zcq7-yOqH8yWaaLXMlgP0av5w9COauzmXjiS/s400/Christmas+b.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416940941606334546" /></a><br />It's Saturday morning, a week before Christmas. It snowed last night and it's still coming down, I'm sipping my morning coffee and watching it out the window. I would say that all is calm but Josephine is awake too so that would be a lie. Oskar is snug in his bed still, pooped out from having friends over to decorate Christmas cookies last night. The girls and Jeff are still out cold as well. So, I'm pretty much alone with my thoughts, a dangerous thing.<br /><br />Christmas shopping is done, are you finished too? I'm almost sad about that, I would kind of like to go one more time into the hustle-bustle, I know that probably makes me a little deranged. I do have a little more sewing to do, I made all the kids pajamas this year. Oh, and Christmas cards. They're not done. Shame on me. I'll finish them up as soon as I'm done with this post, if I mail them today they should all get there on time. You know, normally I love sending them but I have to admit, this year, bleh. I guess it's because I'm still without good news to report, Jeff is still looking for a job and I'll have to explain to some why the card is coming from PA this year. I'm just so tired of talking about it. Not to be bah-humbug, but honestly. So...I will probably sign a lot of them, Love, The Larsons and be done with it. Which should make it go a lot faster, actually. <br /><br />The kids will have a nice Christmas, they are all at easy ages to shop for. Toys for the little ones and clothes, clothes, clothes for the girls. Oskar asks me every day if it's Christmas. Josie has no clue what's going on, she just loves the "balls" on the Christmas tree. I have to keep her away from it or I will see them rolling across the floor every once in a while. She has undecorated it and I have redecorated it I don't know how many times. Still in diapers, she has also taken a liking to pooping while standing by the tree, I think she becomes one with mother nature or something. Wonder what she will do when the tree is gone? Oh, well there is still the fake ficus in entry way. <br /><br />Well, I hope that every one has a wonderful Christmas. I hope that you have time to enjoy it and are able to discern the folly from the true meaning of this season. For me it's a sentimental time of year. I miss my family tremendously, I don't see them enough. This year there are many families that are facing new hardships, the future is scary and uncertain, they are all in my prayers. I know Christmas is about celebrating our Lords birth but lately I often think about him returning as well, do you? Prayers for blessings to everyone, Merry Christmas!jlarson750http://www.blogger.com/profile/15197508930941529513noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354464239949193211.post-88313700429089400892009-12-01T10:00:00.007-05:002009-12-01T16:18:09.435-05:00Homemade Air FreshenerI've had so many people visit my blog for my <a href="http://belikebetty.blogspot.com/2009/01/homemade-glass-cleaner.html" rel="nofollow">Homemade Glass Cleaner</a> that I thought I would post a few more homemade ideas that I know. I'm not very big on the store bought air fresheners and plug ins. I get headaches from most of the scents and they always seem to concentrate in just one area. Plus, I'm always worried that the little ones will pull them out of the outlets and play with them. So, when I want to fill the house with a nice smell, I make my own air freshener.<br /><br />If you have a crockpot it works the best for this idea because you don't have to watch it as closely. Fill either a crockpot or a large pot on the stove with water and then add any of the following ingredients in any combination, the spices can either be whole or ground, whatever you have on hand. <br /><br />Cinnamon<br />Clove<br />Ginger<br />Nutmeg<br />Vanilla beans or extract<br />Orange peel<br />Lemon Peel<br />Lime Peel<br />Apple slices or juice<br />Peppermint extract or oil<br />Dried sage<br />Dried lavender<br /><br />Bring the water to a slow boil on the stove or turn the crockpot on high and leave uncovered. Add water as needed and never leave the air freshener unattended. A nice thing about doing this in the winter is that you get the benefits of a humidifier as well. In the summer, the lime and vanilla are awesome. I'd love to hear how this works for you as well as if you have any other ideas to add to the ingredients list.jlarson750http://www.blogger.com/profile/15197508930941529513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354464239949193211.post-31217778580599761932009-11-18T11:12:00.007-05:002009-11-18T11:58:29.205-05:00Fall is here, I love this time of year<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHzBrFLhawgx2Ikgnn5vAZ4LTbhjmxMogYWM3AWoMxoTZIdAX0-tNByO1xl99P0tmpZoru4kyYchLUmLc-V1T0i2VRK4BJ6p7tWRbCVVJCK1BNTtInzOqZFhCVMdUosUy38Gj2OmljM1SO/s1600/Fall+018.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 286px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHzBrFLhawgx2Ikgnn5vAZ4LTbhjmxMogYWM3AWoMxoTZIdAX0-tNByO1xl99P0tmpZoru4kyYchLUmLc-V1T0i2VRK4BJ6p7tWRbCVVJCK1BNTtInzOqZFhCVMdUosUy38Gj2OmljM1SO/s400/Fall+018.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405483456906790530" border="0" /></a><br />Well, I think that most of the leaves have fallen, there were so many this year! Jeff has been working in the yard three days a week, mulching, raking, and burning them. We got some pretty big piles and the kids had a lot of fun romping in them. It looked like so much fun in fact that Jeff took a dive into one of the piles and nearly threw his back out. I guess they never grow up.<br /><br />All the kids are doing great, Taylor made the National Honor Society this 9 weeks and we have her induction ceremony tomorrow night. Dori almost made it, she probably will next 9 weeks. Dori got her braces off, she looks beautiful. They both have been at us to play indoor soccer on a team with a bunch of their friends but we have said no because it is like a slaughter house on the field and they have never played the sport. They have been their cheering squad instead, Dori says that they should get an extra point for their team spirit. Get this, their team name is the Narwhals (unicorns of the sea), you can bet that was their idea. They still made shirts, Dorian's says "Pocahontas" on the back and Taylor's says "Mufasa". They make me laugh. At the last game two of the girls got hurt, one had a concussion and won't be playing anymore this season. I didn't say "I told you so." but hopefully now they know why we didn't want them out there. It shook Taylor up to see her friends get hurt.<br /><br />Oskar and Josie are great, they pal around all day long. Josie is building her vocabulary and Oskar has learned how to write his name. He is so excited for Christmas all ready, I asked him what his favorite part is and he exclaimed "Every part!" Every Sunday he drools over they toy ads in the paper. He's going to be a mess before Christmas finally gets here. He is having a lot of fun at Sunday school, looks forward to it all week long. I keep Josie with me and she sleeps through most of the service. I'm bewildered at that but don't question it. Oskar was a mess in church when he was little, go figure. I hope to join the choir or at least participate in it for the Christmas season, just have to figure out how I will manage the little ones for two services and all the practice times.<br /><br />Jeff is still looking for work, some irons in the fire but nothing that we are too hopeful about. I think that the economy is going to take a lot longer to recover than what we are hearing from some of our news sources. We are managing fine though, we still have a lot to be thankful for.<br /><br />Speaking of thanks, Thanksgiving is next week, can you believe it? I already have our turkey, can't wait to put him/her in the oven. We are planning the meal, pretty traditional like always. Wish we could have more of our friends and family with us, sorry that we are so far apart. Either way, you are all in our hearts. If I don't post again before Thanksgiving, Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Remember to say a prayer of thanks for our troops and their families, and pray for their safe return home.<br /><br />These are some random pics, the turkeys just showed up in mom's yard the other day. They went around the house twice and cleaned all the berries off her holly bushes. Jeff could have shot one as it is turkey season but he didn't have a license. Oh well, I wouldn't want to clean it anyway. The one of Josie in the hat just cracks me up, I wish it didn't come out blurry. Her expression is like, "Yeah! Fiesta!"<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN1cksqW4RgF_C1cJAdINOlXvBhoxhhLoizvFTOvugk0jOCIbZiwo9OfDHOPySTnxfle6lnRnpw4OOUWtU0Re8MA9lI1WotUniXnVXbb-U29hqo2XpluChac4rRl3A1qIIpi3sQ7bPb9ab/s1600/hats+013.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 286px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN1cksqW4RgF_C1cJAdINOlXvBhoxhhLoizvFTOvugk0jOCIbZiwo9OfDHOPySTnxfle6lnRnpw4OOUWtU0Re8MA9lI1WotUniXnVXbb-U29hqo2XpluChac4rRl3A1qIIpi3sQ7bPb9ab/s400/hats+013.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405486172964083490" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivUM5JO0Hpe1uHV3whhy0PTnhwrp6Y4lv46OKd1xypC3M7ApyOZ6Ck9nLtZJbusrKoDyP58Xwi-tTDtizmwGvpZ4iVIRGnUgRphG8CepPogxsAUJoNSsKLcJSe387H3CFdbl0GIb8Q7-A9/s1600/Turkey+005.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 286px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivUM5JO0Hpe1uHV3whhy0PTnhwrp6Y4lv46OKd1xypC3M7ApyOZ6Ck9nLtZJbusrKoDyP58Xwi-tTDtizmwGvpZ4iVIRGnUgRphG8CepPogxsAUJoNSsKLcJSe387H3CFdbl0GIb8Q7-A9/s400/Turkey+005.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405485015656000978" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9fFgNDUJC6Lp6QznByYYG-G449MiUAhZVhK1jOa5mkhnLMTBc-TyyVfPQOTD2gA16LK74lXrLUR0O5JGkoAyaA_eFCcCdrS3D5XKgQOBxumQkkTPWMAJfRdaUnS40Pq_fPOqI8vIBsRqr/s1600/Purple+Crayon+007.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9fFgNDUJC6Lp6QznByYYG-G449MiUAhZVhK1jOa5mkhnLMTBc-TyyVfPQOTD2gA16LK74lXrLUR0O5JGkoAyaA_eFCcCdrS3D5XKgQOBxumQkkTPWMAJfRdaUnS40Pq_fPOqI8vIBsRqr/s400/Purple+Crayon+007.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405485010064278002" border="0" /></a>jlarson750http://www.blogger.com/profile/15197508930941529513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354464239949193211.post-34566380074219982252009-10-03T20:33:00.003-04:002009-10-03T20:50:22.005-04:00HomecomingI'm so happy that the girls are settling in so well. It's kind of weird to see them running off to school football games and going to the coffee shop after school, but it's weird in a good way. Tonight was their homecoming and unlike last year, they went solo. Well, with all their girlfriends so not completely solo. I know that there were a couple of invitations from the opposite sex but they were declined. You know, I'm proud of them for seeing that they would have more fun with their friends, minus the stress of a date. They have plenty of time for that, maybe when they are 30 they should start thinking about it. Ha, in my dreams. <br /><br />Anyway, we didn't spring for new dresses, they wore last years. Dori was fine with hers and Taylor asked me to revamp hers a little. She ended up with an almost completely different dress and was thrilled with it. They both looked beautiful, here's to hoping that they have a fun and safe time.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRyhduMKxNqqjdfPGmpHjzTilIxUoSnxFd9u8jP-k2gZca-c3uQoNa83-xCbgL-pwepUNSbDwkl956Yow8jzYApxlMGl5GtqVWm4IlIA4DTY-w9NkT1pfWLfqv7L4zhCxp_U2EPDrgMngy/s1600-h/Homecoming+009.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRyhduMKxNqqjdfPGmpHjzTilIxUoSnxFd9u8jP-k2gZca-c3uQoNa83-xCbgL-pwepUNSbDwkl956Yow8jzYApxlMGl5GtqVWm4IlIA4DTY-w9NkT1pfWLfqv7L4zhCxp_U2EPDrgMngy/s400/Homecoming+009.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388539952242950722" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8N13f03AAxa-ck9QKI6znsyGekbZo0SjTQqi43gl-3Uwx0cbX35obiHCVjmBRUcH7giAYtwcmFZCuXqyVzx9TIdJoV9RsGJJYxBMkAm_oEC-rJBmvlj_uRzyikI_ueXqEf2AAK4kz6USH/s1600-h/Homecoming+006.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8N13f03AAxa-ck9QKI6znsyGekbZo0SjTQqi43gl-3Uwx0cbX35obiHCVjmBRUcH7giAYtwcmFZCuXqyVzx9TIdJoV9RsGJJYxBMkAm_oEC-rJBmvlj_uRzyikI_ueXqEf2AAK4kz6USH/s400/Homecoming+006.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388539942395059442" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAYqcvnkNYmEW2Qwd1_hMGHtPClry2Kv3uQYZAZQuieW3lsSBEiKL-q1ascLd2IiUFiHAVyYhrNvkMEyZC0BErKkVo6gwmXLKsfM7ksjxjZqjna-fnpVU6YePXiQ308CZQdhC6Xz_52wX3/s1600-h/Homecoming+005.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAYqcvnkNYmEW2Qwd1_hMGHtPClry2Kv3uQYZAZQuieW3lsSBEiKL-q1ascLd2IiUFiHAVyYhrNvkMEyZC0BErKkVo6gwmXLKsfM7ksjxjZqjna-fnpVU6YePXiQ308CZQdhC6Xz_52wX3/s400/Homecoming+005.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388539934321309058" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGOl766W0oSh8B491yrSYE3WFfeWhhEv6BatmA_2BOluwmDYd8U9N27W4ZF7s60XcPTltBYCD3LQ8Y7c08bT8833UGgZf7AAPRNT4XRQwIXuSr7N_g4nzJVxUCHvlZkpWL1LfMNNspRGdX/s1600-h/Homecoming+004.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGOl766W0oSh8B491yrSYE3WFfeWhhEv6BatmA_2BOluwmDYd8U9N27W4ZF7s60XcPTltBYCD3LQ8Y7c08bT8833UGgZf7AAPRNT4XRQwIXuSr7N_g4nzJVxUCHvlZkpWL1LfMNNspRGdX/s400/Homecoming+004.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388539925979159186" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcbC1339FNRAclZ1DIJ3SYhAXa6WdMQZQ-JfPoa6NXI9D0M_fSMFRSGISNI7AssqIS1JfktKdc8ElT8vK0AdTQ9iF26lrGU9-ZLSesEWCEOR-ci1OWSSFJAkAWeTasLgNDmzjlNn6qZiGv/s1600-h/Homecoming+003.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcbC1339FNRAclZ1DIJ3SYhAXa6WdMQZQ-JfPoa6NXI9D0M_fSMFRSGISNI7AssqIS1JfktKdc8ElT8vK0AdTQ9iF26lrGU9-ZLSesEWCEOR-ci1OWSSFJAkAWeTasLgNDmzjlNn6qZiGv/s400/Homecoming+003.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388539917743889490" /></a>jlarson750http://www.blogger.com/profile/15197508930941529513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354464239949193211.post-89485915727239803032009-09-21T19:54:00.004-04:002009-09-21T22:10:52.787-04:00Little Man turns 4!Oskar woke up this morning and looked at me with wide eyed amazement and said "Today is my birthday! I'm four today!" Let me tell you, we have been counting down to today for about the last six months. I don't think there was one day where he didn't ask me how old he was. This birthday was rather John Deere themed, as we are surrounded by corn fields, cows, barns and etc. I hope that you enjoy the pictures. We're all doing well here, much dryer than our friends in the south it appears.<br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxJljII_HL9Jluroc0TgYfZZLyJKL2Alclug9Ma_IvGt_L2-j8l4daq4t7A1UZTAi4w-JNFRl3iameky-BwRw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggTv3BGkBmPgKS2qNT4fpg13ueMHOeBSiMozvqom6Vd1MI_TytvO7YMZA8wqQhecNWXJTTNB7xDsqt5OlO6_rvm-kKa5v5t2bTiPcfg3TlbTxnKUZRrPrQWNSxLNMtUyv7mdvr5m4UNpBy/s1600-h/4th+birthday+030.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggTv3BGkBmPgKS2qNT4fpg13ueMHOeBSiMozvqom6Vd1MI_TytvO7YMZA8wqQhecNWXJTTNB7xDsqt5OlO6_rvm-kKa5v5t2bTiPcfg3TlbTxnKUZRrPrQWNSxLNMtUyv7mdvr5m4UNpBy/s400/4th+birthday+030.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384092013813442690" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbI1v_zw6KA9aJAo5MuS8lS-yFMR9zFQBJY59KDefGYm2auodnOqGDmKAf4B-aRjUlbVXv3H7uuuwR0lmyvTN_kqlxUNY8vOQWzra8gMHKALiWVmyRBmuJqeK7I4fmxs9Qdjc2cynA5m_H/s1600-h/4th+birthday+009.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbI1v_zw6KA9aJAo5MuS8lS-yFMR9zFQBJY59KDefGYm2auodnOqGDmKAf4B-aRjUlbVXv3H7uuuwR0lmyvTN_kqlxUNY8vOQWzra8gMHKALiWVmyRBmuJqeK7I4fmxs9Qdjc2cynA5m_H/s400/4th+birthday+009.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384091987189540978" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFfGw08eqcBMG40vDxUaElFOKqouULxNcBUelshr3emx09zTsiejmA_8lA-c6KaQB5DCnq_yXviZ5MCCiBjzutPsJmjlkWLJfnD9etI4JRywoFuaL0S3Td44uwIyCPnjokEM4GIgK_OnTt/s1600-h/4th+birthday+019.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFfGw08eqcBMG40vDxUaElFOKqouULxNcBUelshr3emx09zTsiejmA_8lA-c6KaQB5DCnq_yXviZ5MCCiBjzutPsJmjlkWLJfnD9etI4JRywoFuaL0S3Td44uwIyCPnjokEM4GIgK_OnTt/s400/4th+birthday+019.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384091995506687954" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTLRcJZLH9pEaOBibIfj0t12waC-Z6fx5YZStohoPesIkETXGZ5ykfrdSQCLmFAJ4KbhrB8Rql2dz_D70BjivfEKKBkH6EC3T1T1PkQYUNO7LExB6CGzCoC4vc6v3Lpiq9gM-3VoAhtejk/s1600-h/4th+birthday+020.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTLRcJZLH9pEaOBibIfj0t12waC-Z6fx5YZStohoPesIkETXGZ5ykfrdSQCLmFAJ4KbhrB8Rql2dz_D70BjivfEKKBkH6EC3T1T1PkQYUNO7LExB6CGzCoC4vc6v3Lpiq9gM-3VoAhtejk/s400/4th+birthday+020.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384092001908345906" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3KT5fUk1qto7gbktUHut0RkzDMRsO0Zi_5Kd5wXoxmj3w1mf4jlJIBc-JeHskX2UPlueXBGOXIREkQ71EZpa2KqH44FuooL6l9Xk0jaLRs3OjF25UaAw1l0kZYzWo1K5PQXpy5BCt36b8/s1600-h/4th+birthday+023.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3KT5fUk1qto7gbktUHut0RkzDMRsO0Zi_5Kd5wXoxmj3w1mf4jlJIBc-JeHskX2UPlueXBGOXIREkQ71EZpa2KqH44FuooL6l9Xk0jaLRs3OjF25UaAw1l0kZYzWo1K5PQXpy5BCt36b8/s400/4th+birthday+023.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384092010402600770" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhqRZfxUPB78DlrLXBhjb0YqUS5rEFu9ZFrsvEB0y0QXx3uXeq6OQyHR6cCUKEVjRnOOvfa1jg25Zs1g_XVqSdugDv8dhLGwh0LbOz5ZG-R25oIC0NM8RAT2r1Tr5LCzvooPV5AaHhyphenhyphen0Ie/s1600-h/4th+birthday+015.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhqRZfxUPB78DlrLXBhjb0YqUS5rEFu9ZFrsvEB0y0QXx3uXeq6OQyHR6cCUKEVjRnOOvfa1jg25Zs1g_XVqSdugDv8dhLGwh0LbOz5ZG-R25oIC0NM8RAT2r1Tr5LCzvooPV5AaHhyphenhyphen0Ie/s400/4th+birthday+015.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384094876670949234" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoZ3trzd3Z8ZL181ny2vj7pC9GNYTtmlIYkSOVJc3ACe2j5TcqgUZzXTQNkACOaxIlcrFCqcSzKiDJJFRJEidLQGK0qlH76f0i08qeeGOXleMBh0EgF3gVoDAvDV_40LorzFvoyziGUDar/s1600-h/4th+birthday+001.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoZ3trzd3Z8ZL181ny2vj7pC9GNYTtmlIYkSOVJc3ACe2j5TcqgUZzXTQNkACOaxIlcrFCqcSzKiDJJFRJEidLQGK0qlH76f0i08qeeGOXleMBh0EgF3gVoDAvDV_40LorzFvoyziGUDar/s400/4th+birthday+001.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384094862823619682" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV3NfuS3Q653DEMO_T3q1bUtWVx4Th7iN3pRLUM_i-JKFYc4DBWmXWQksPCuE3tQqMUF8M5sj3I26nQAjE1hKbMQ36IXeoH9IhUKuBWM8a42-31NjPX_UlR22zYGY2PGG0UEpj7K2bYgEP/s1600-h/4th+birthday+006.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV3NfuS3Q653DEMO_T3q1bUtWVx4Th7iN3pRLUM_i-JKFYc4DBWmXWQksPCuE3tQqMUF8M5sj3I26nQAjE1hKbMQ36IXeoH9IhUKuBWM8a42-31NjPX_UlR22zYGY2PGG0UEpj7K2bYgEP/s400/4th+birthday+006.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384094872016411426" border="0" /></a>jlarson750http://www.blogger.com/profile/15197508930941529513noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354464239949193211.post-73830232726234729252009-07-13T21:43:00.011-04:002009-07-13T23:08:05.619-04:00Happy Birthday Josie!<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwngLqC21uNtgAHKWd2cjBIJUqIONLkn7dwQlET5Uh2sNeGl43XlwSylVfvRTjYGjFBVQSwATGltiXgtnZG3Q' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br />Today was a special day for our little peanut. After all that she has been through it was a very meaningful first Birthday. We didn't have a big celebration, just our little family, minus Taylor, and it was a perfect day. We missed you Taylor! I think she had a good day and she was in bed a half an hour early which surprised me since she had just had a considerable amount of cake and icing. Oskar enjoyed playing with her new toys as much as she did, they had a couple nice little tea parties. <br /><br />She's not walking yet but she's close. She has a small vocabulary, about five or six words but I think that will be changing very soon. Funny how someone so small can have such a big personality, she takes the cake. I hope you enjoy the pictures and video, she's a treasure.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjycR2ZHZltqqs4jWpH2Rih2X6ooqlp2eewSulBzgIduMAstIStOvVE-YvQiQWpMyFXNQpDpOESOmGaEuG2QinsydHBFKNeG1mxprjc4HqinaJwNxanAYS2bKqhJDGuREZlo6AKvbT4BbAz/s1600-h/1st+birthday+Josie+005.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjycR2ZHZltqqs4jWpH2Rih2X6ooqlp2eewSulBzgIduMAstIStOvVE-YvQiQWpMyFXNQpDpOESOmGaEuG2QinsydHBFKNeG1mxprjc4HqinaJwNxanAYS2bKqhJDGuREZlo6AKvbT4BbAz/s400/1st+birthday+Josie+005.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358143810893151154" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga_VTuPXHAvJy1RfLM5Wkr_CsOUymXN6yOYnGtiQ6IG6S0LE_Ih35QRVd4q0x1LBToab6-0MjuJU2V5GQSWmYaVYO3NUOkMSX1g0a9nxDCU4qgCZSE-haRq2lAaHAsKc6OtZ_ssIM4vr8V/s1600-h/1st+birthday+Josie+013.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga_VTuPXHAvJy1RfLM5Wkr_CsOUymXN6yOYnGtiQ6IG6S0LE_Ih35QRVd4q0x1LBToab6-0MjuJU2V5GQSWmYaVYO3NUOkMSX1g0a9nxDCU4qgCZSE-haRq2lAaHAsKc6OtZ_ssIM4vr8V/s400/1st+birthday+Josie+013.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358144361969814866" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW7ETfO9NeHhsK1Q3dgLc2C6U_G1XZ_1klt_FgOOs-jBwAtj4fEkq6CxdTNPU2mHNJCx0Qyr-EB0UX1xRXRyGpk_tHcb952XUCJf0H5UH_SWA5OPie-bsVmoNAIauwx-Z6S5EXRoEB9WVf/s1600-h/1st+birthday+Josie+025.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW7ETfO9NeHhsK1Q3dgLc2C6U_G1XZ_1klt_FgOOs-jBwAtj4fEkq6CxdTNPU2mHNJCx0Qyr-EB0UX1xRXRyGpk_tHcb952XUCJf0H5UH_SWA5OPie-bsVmoNAIauwx-Z6S5EXRoEB9WVf/s400/1st+birthday+Josie+025.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358145884746044770" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPOJW4O_SxI0_Mw4k8IaKCrPs-uAFJPl-De8lqdlGeXqT19CBvGmd72C2Sb2zE752Bs6Il1kaMUo1_ysmlaDSetSzEoddHl3MniSj-7XWbRhk8ALD2oG-SLa7Bko5gomOJ5e9MYLxcRV2f/s1600-h/1st+birthday+Josie+027.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPOJW4O_SxI0_Mw4k8IaKCrPs-uAFJPl-De8lqdlGeXqT19CBvGmd72C2Sb2zE752Bs6Il1kaMUo1_ysmlaDSetSzEoddHl3MniSj-7XWbRhk8ALD2oG-SLa7Bko5gomOJ5e9MYLxcRV2f/s400/1st+birthday+Josie+027.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358144732952543490" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitm-VwoF0LVycn2wjqhKrqzuMEWh6ixFtZMcpb9ydl4iHS9OAjl8lUELmU_hkWN_Y0YAKwMaT9g0H9CzJh-tuKb6D78C-PoyumRi9jbRx2cb6KyvPOtzFWxxTZGt8lUWFDcKwpAbH9KFfL/s1600-h/1st+birthday+Josie+028.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitm-VwoF0LVycn2wjqhKrqzuMEWh6ixFtZMcpb9ydl4iHS9OAjl8lUELmU_hkWN_Y0YAKwMaT9g0H9CzJh-tuKb6D78C-PoyumRi9jbRx2cb6KyvPOtzFWxxTZGt8lUWFDcKwpAbH9KFfL/s400/1st+birthday+Josie+028.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358145089835820738" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibYLg6iZAukY8DqB5uHlUDy403ZxaJUIEGPGnPzJoHYFkJ0FG2bPmzW5u4pUsPuZtmyROJjjPYxu8WZ6yk5zHAQG_FxfBdJQrCKAb1zB7b0fbwJvg3iK5O-L4kDhPxH5VinFMBfbjrcNM_/s1600-h/1st+birthday+Josie+033.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibYLg6iZAukY8DqB5uHlUDy403ZxaJUIEGPGnPzJoHYFkJ0FG2bPmzW5u4pUsPuZtmyROJjjPYxu8WZ6yk5zHAQG_FxfBdJQrCKAb1zB7b0fbwJvg3iK5O-L4kDhPxH5VinFMBfbjrcNM_/s400/1st+birthday+Josie+033.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358145891721503874" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj32lRAu9F71iGGGBQ6M29Nd59lOkL_zlzRvgOCF-cWxxKMy_GeCHaCxyF5-e_2AV2kOu-jceD0GJxWSv9Ig22KnA1YXdGL-IlsrZF8vsbwdQdRvHVh7Vm3gYmZfbhwCJIExggQ3POJACGO/s1600-h/1st+birthday+Josie+039.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj32lRAu9F71iGGGBQ6M29Nd59lOkL_zlzRvgOCF-cWxxKMy_GeCHaCxyF5-e_2AV2kOu-jceD0GJxWSv9Ig22KnA1YXdGL-IlsrZF8vsbwdQdRvHVh7Vm3gYmZfbhwCJIExggQ3POJACGO/s400/1st+birthday+Josie+039.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358145896280546514" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSrnYqYLAENzKYs3NnKCFB1_xyjq9J3FqA8AVPRzQTso2y5FUTQJmb1xkF56wRGxqMfGbgQjjt-S2usCAnnql4vzrJ8Pzn_XwVNU8cRV0-ibcYbdNQOtEJJqYHsIpQlHmagh5QcBtclr66/s1600-h/1st+birthday+Josie+042.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSrnYqYLAENzKYs3NnKCFB1_xyjq9J3FqA8AVPRzQTso2y5FUTQJmb1xkF56wRGxqMfGbgQjjt-S2usCAnnql4vzrJ8Pzn_XwVNU8cRV0-ibcYbdNQOtEJJqYHsIpQlHmagh5QcBtclr66/s400/1st+birthday+Josie+042.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358146312299257474" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiGEM8NystP_zESEg1uf6ZH7hQBn2_RdQcTTqctv5Ew5HxSBS0gYS348_Ct1FhGELuiCy61yDA1dOeUbRuT_tnfNIcNNvFlnZBL_eD-Vl9Wm-JEmcJc5A6cuIxlzSLzgU52PhbWHeaF3Mx/s1600-h/1st+birthday+Josie+043.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiGEM8NystP_zESEg1uf6ZH7hQBn2_RdQcTTqctv5Ew5HxSBS0gYS348_Ct1FhGELuiCy61yDA1dOeUbRuT_tnfNIcNNvFlnZBL_eD-Vl9Wm-JEmcJc5A6cuIxlzSLzgU52PhbWHeaF3Mx/s400/1st+birthday+Josie+043.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358146315814999570" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGHMVg2YvHulj6hfAivPfPr-KTg8TAnVQA45dO9YQBldQmq0xsTLL_wjcGS8XDMfpQn04Wxl_7JRCxMu04OsLnnLwhmjbtXlfsSBEtIUc17DAEGjXYiZocUrZdhqJjoI0-nAu9g0PzJt7X/s1600-h/1st+birthday+Josie+055.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGHMVg2YvHulj6hfAivPfPr-KTg8TAnVQA45dO9YQBldQmq0xsTLL_wjcGS8XDMfpQn04Wxl_7JRCxMu04OsLnnLwhmjbtXlfsSBEtIUc17DAEGjXYiZocUrZdhqJjoI0-nAu9g0PzJt7X/s400/1st+birthday+Josie+055.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358143331079208002" /></a>jlarson750http://www.blogger.com/profile/15197508930941529513noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354464239949193211.post-40328408823713301702009-07-04T12:52:00.003-04:002009-07-04T13:09:35.068-04:00Happy 4th of July!Today has been so much fun already and it's barely halfway over! Our development had a 4th of July Parade for all the little kids to participate in. It was so cute to see them all decked out in red, white and blue. Oskar helped decorate his 4 wheeler and he had a BALL. I pushed Josie in the stroller (our teenager who is at home was still in bed during all this) and it was, well, rather interesting watching Oskar drive that thing through the throngs of other people and their little inexperienced drivers. He was so busy gawking at the onlookers and giving them the thumbs up that he ran that thing up the back of Jeff and my legs more than once. Whee.<br /><br />Oh well, it was still fun and Josie fell asleep at the very end. Here are some pictures, Taylor if you read this, we miss you! <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjRdV78pf7kfSJdKZ75ocgJYxmFGCR6o3rIEUO87DEsXKYwQkF3ISc_fUFqkgMoSW4xpeLibJ8wtDV27MXA0rUYAKJEfX3z8Lu3wWNjIHhK8bla9-zD6tUtaEywDZl-UHAeVSQdzA5Byvw/s1600-h/July+4th+015.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjRdV78pf7kfSJdKZ75ocgJYxmFGCR6o3rIEUO87DEsXKYwQkF3ISc_fUFqkgMoSW4xpeLibJ8wtDV27MXA0rUYAKJEfX3z8Lu3wWNjIHhK8bla9-zD6tUtaEywDZl-UHAeVSQdzA5Byvw/s400/July+4th+015.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5354652745056251378" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK8EQ1TTpmobvRBATHoQZ_xKwNFlYWZKS1kVUw7JgQipJU1tAXi2ieeSryG1Nf9VYpLty3IKzvGIZt6KUl32ETCpAFtnsgNAl4nrTW2gul0jeUoYfNRDCiR4SnUeCRptIoKqRwFFdmP4fW/s1600-h/July+4th+008.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK8EQ1TTpmobvRBATHoQZ_xKwNFlYWZKS1kVUw7JgQipJU1tAXi2ieeSryG1Nf9VYpLty3IKzvGIZt6KUl32ETCpAFtnsgNAl4nrTW2gul0jeUoYfNRDCiR4SnUeCRptIoKqRwFFdmP4fW/s400/July+4th+008.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5354652750520916658" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNPv2XijrmHX1ZcOudkevm3tKiKvL1OhyycnF3ZLXWMiMh9Oc28wlXU0qJIQWKeIiOOoIoph5KamCDBpJ-v46CvDMFhYXpyDV_PKHc9H-xwNl2l0_gNPzesD62PvZmZQSb1qUd8AKg2lGA/s1600-h/July+4th+011.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNPv2XijrmHX1ZcOudkevm3tKiKvL1OhyycnF3ZLXWMiMh9Oc28wlXU0qJIQWKeIiOOoIoph5KamCDBpJ-v46CvDMFhYXpyDV_PKHc9H-xwNl2l0_gNPzesD62PvZmZQSb1qUd8AKg2lGA/s400/July+4th+011.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5354652753337619938" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-cdLybYT4MokMI59wuYVMKcOu7R2B_6JVGvEi5JctoWkbzAoPpn3IMGY7i0OkC7-do1kbYk-a1g36Z-VAmVJqwM3kaD29dTrd28711IbKnJBZFxlRdvQi8rsKkXUd-p18pOiEz-CYOVPe/s1600-h/July+4th+010.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-cdLybYT4MokMI59wuYVMKcOu7R2B_6JVGvEi5JctoWkbzAoPpn3IMGY7i0OkC7-do1kbYk-a1g36Z-VAmVJqwM3kaD29dTrd28711IbKnJBZFxlRdvQi8rsKkXUd-p18pOiEz-CYOVPe/s400/July+4th+010.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5354652758939486994" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3ogjgpBHcHWYJUYrgp6SA2Fh3YSZ8oL4Iz2Et5wOJNAHMTpYYG5SseH4eJfALqknd0edcVHV6zCDapR6dCfoKNOEQvssZZGFbe10WRNYbnfG4pOLqIx_n2mpsHg0sl31LTRNNclXql4Eg/s1600-h/July+4th+013.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3ogjgpBHcHWYJUYrgp6SA2Fh3YSZ8oL4Iz2Et5wOJNAHMTpYYG5SseH4eJfALqknd0edcVHV6zCDapR6dCfoKNOEQvssZZGFbe10WRNYbnfG4pOLqIx_n2mpsHg0sl31LTRNNclXql4Eg/s400/July+4th+013.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5354652767015674114" /></a>jlarson750http://www.blogger.com/profile/15197508930941529513noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354464239949193211.post-71002809857101148602009-06-21T18:19:00.005-04:002009-06-23T12:02:32.438-04:00It's a Small World After All<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs4c0Gd2qhzvLZROocRO2oa44cwrPJ9zFcYy2wjeYM80l4adMnG0-IDVLCqTUQ4FGK_1cK9ch4Xv-E97g8EiUo-HZUVHUKiPZ05-pQ8cTPNbWnxnclb_7Lx6vVKcaKpMx8eZveUtlyjkTm/s1600-h/T+in+Japan.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs4c0Gd2qhzvLZROocRO2oa44cwrPJ9zFcYy2wjeYM80l4adMnG0-IDVLCqTUQ4FGK_1cK9ch4Xv-E97g8EiUo-HZUVHUKiPZ05-pQ8cTPNbWnxnclb_7Lx6vVKcaKpMx8eZveUtlyjkTm/s400/T+in+Japan.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350552925595324562" /></a><br />Well, Taylor has been gone for 12 days. She will be back in 35. How could you not expect me to know that? Since she has arrived we have received one phone call, less than a minute long, to let us know that she was safely with her host family. We've been getting emails from her almost daily. I have to admit, my anxiety has lessened as I get excited for her and all that she is experiencing. <br /><br />One of the first things that we learned from her was that her host mother, Mama-san she calls her, was actually a graduate of Political Science from UGA. She spent almost 3 years in Georgia, very close to where my parents live. It's a small world! She says that Mama is very sweet and helpful and has shown her around Yokohama personally. I've also heard from Mariko (mama) via email and she has let me know how she thinks Taylor is doing, what a sweetie she is! <br /><br />Taylor started school there this week, here is an excerpt from her latest email: <br /><br />but school is fun. everyone tells me i'm cute. tell dori i went to the pokecenter today, and that i bought her a mudkip. oh, and i took purikura. and had bubble tea. mmmmm<br />yeah. soooo busy. my feet hurt. we take trains everywhere, but we have to walk to the stations first... and me and emma went to this fancy mall place at the harbor today and walked like, everywhere. my feeeeeet <br />and host fam is awesome. i kind of like that we speak english. i already love everyone :( when mama took me to school, she gave me a hug before she left and i was like...WAAAAH NO DON'T LEAVE. and the house definitely feels like my home. i miss my futon when i'm tired. and i love talking to amiiiii and i speak japanese at school so it all evens out.<br /><br />So, it sounds like she is doing great. No, I don't know what a mudkip is, her sister probably does. I asked her what purikura is and she said it's kind of like a Japanese picture booth. Or something. Yeah, the day that my kids finally knew more than me came a long time ago. I've accepted it. Anyway, her host mother emailed me today and said this: <br /><br />She tries to enjoy her life here. She has strong will to take this opportunity to be valuable. She is very positive and tries everything new to her. I feel she is so generous that she tries not to hurt our feeling. I appreciate her kindness, but I don't want her to get stress of what she doesn't want to. I want her to be honest for her feeling, too. So, I try to care about her health as well as her feeling, hopefully. <br /><br />I told you that she was sweet. I feel so blessed that she ended up with this host family, it seems to be a perfect match. I know that I will not be getting back the exact same daughter than I sent to Japan, I think that I will be getting back a somewhat changed one, but for her best.<br /><br />The top picture is from one of her outings with Mariko, they visited a Buddhist Temple and a port on that day and the bottom one is her with all her Japanese goodies (junk food?) that she bought at a convenience store. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifeMLfDf6xot0VxLoCtV8SZ8HGrkrNulTVkG5-x6Rv2IizJIMQMliRVz_USId2wTAvVXigRBNkot5p9O-j_U38ziSbjr7aE6OwHoDNfjhPggb-vfv4dNfeTVp6PrdZie61dBErEzBaWWRW/s1600-h/T+in+Japan+2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifeMLfDf6xot0VxLoCtV8SZ8HGrkrNulTVkG5-x6Rv2IizJIMQMliRVz_USId2wTAvVXigRBNkot5p9O-j_U38ziSbjr7aE6OwHoDNfjhPggb-vfv4dNfeTVp6PrdZie61dBErEzBaWWRW/s400/T+in+Japan+2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350552987883951042" /></a>jlarson750http://www.blogger.com/profile/15197508930941529513noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354464239949193211.post-51722958705758500382009-06-12T08:36:00.005-04:002009-06-12T09:26:42.483-04:00Birdie flys from the nest<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKQo3kEJNDL5NQKk4ifmnUrJ5eVmpB2tH9weO9BduIHL71ynHrpAAVs1JODXkki6Imo0XbSWiT1-dhpoON3rnzNusCQQLGte4RUdrPUOv7f-Ele0z4MH2jgmcJXpFewHyW99PfGaCMV6Jy/s1600-h/homecoming+020.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 256px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKQo3kEJNDL5NQKk4ifmnUrJ5eVmpB2tH9weO9BduIHL71ynHrpAAVs1JODXkki6Imo0XbSWiT1-dhpoON3rnzNusCQQLGte4RUdrPUOv7f-Ele0z4MH2jgmcJXpFewHyW99PfGaCMV6Jy/s320/homecoming+020.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346425563892152546" /></a><br />Today marks the beginning of a remarkable journey for one of my wonderful daughters. She applied for and received a scholarship to be an exchange student for the summer in Japan. Kikkoman (the soy sauce) is the sponsor of her trip, and she will be staying with a family who has a parent that works for Kikkoman. My mind is in a million places at once this morning, I'm so proud of her, I'm so worried about her, I'm so excited for her. Thank God this is not as final as when she will go off to college, I know I'm not ready for that. <br /><br />Of course I bawled when she left for the airport with her dad this morning but she was dry eyed. Only later did I hear from my husband that she cried when it was time to say goodbye and go through security. Her sister and identical twin will miss her as much as me, they are like one person sometimes. It was a rough morning for her as well, but we will get through it and start getting excited to hear about all of the adventures her twin is going to have. <br /><br />I'll try to add updates about her trip, I'm crossing my fingers for some pictures. The photo at the top of this post is of both of them, the one in the purple is the one who is traveling this summer. The picture is from homecoming. The one at the bottom of the post is of them with their date, which they shared. Yes, shared. Let me just end by saying, I'm going to miss her something awful and can't wait until she is home again, safe and sound. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuxWavS8vrYy_ycJan8ySb0a9T0rHR__-Lu-r2rS43t59hetdgdc57vX8b6IoE1rJhBN9w0BXIMnbHC3trlSiqflT-TXbtHAlPcNFu5A-HHp1M8atdbt-mvMc86FUVz1PmGinJI7n-q5SE/s1600-h/homecoming+024.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 256px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuxWavS8vrYy_ycJan8ySb0a9T0rHR__-Lu-r2rS43t59hetdgdc57vX8b6IoE1rJhBN9w0BXIMnbHC3trlSiqflT-TXbtHAlPcNFu5A-HHp1M8atdbt-mvMc86FUVz1PmGinJI7n-q5SE/s320/homecoming+024.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346425800572470098" /></a>jlarson750http://www.blogger.com/profile/15197508930941529513noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354464239949193211.post-1712203940902808062009-03-31T08:06:00.005-04:002009-03-31T08:26:46.954-04:00The twins turn 16, where did the time go?Today is a big day for the girls, they are 16! We're so proud of them, they are amazing girls. Their heads are full of driving lessons and first jobs and meanwhile mine clings to the fact that they are only turning 16, not 18. "At least they are not 18!", I tell myself. Thank God there is a 17 before 18 because I don't think that I could handle it if they were going to turn 18 next year. <br /><br />They had a small birthday party this weekend. We went to one of the nicer malls here, and they trekked around with their friends. I was a little apprehensive about taking seven teenagers to the mall but it went without incident. Well, actually there was one small one. We were in a store that sold clothing and home goods, a rather eclectic little place. I'm just moseying around looking at all the expensive stuff and when I look to check on the kids I notice that they are all making a beeline for the door, like fast. So I walk out too, and I ask "What's going on?" Amid all the giggles, one of them tells me that they set all the kitchen timers in the store to go off at the same time. About 30 seconds later we hear all these bells clanging and they are in fits of laughter. I was halfway between being annoyed and wishing I thought of it myself. <br /><br />Here are a few pictures. You may notice little man in them, he actually blew out their candles before they could the first time so we had to relight them and start over. What a turkey.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkmTaDUc4QirVg3rFUjEih3jizGEhhg6aZ5zJ61cEpzwInrhgJRdNTB6ydj33LbETnibXtsUneLnLaikbZnOLp-LBQz3BEWPpXEXAlBGCMXAtJUFZJYH0WW3_9S663Yb43T9y2Tcj6Nuw9/s1600-h/16th+Bday+006.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 313px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkmTaDUc4QirVg3rFUjEih3jizGEhhg6aZ5zJ61cEpzwInrhgJRdNTB6ydj33LbETnibXtsUneLnLaikbZnOLp-LBQz3BEWPpXEXAlBGCMXAtJUFZJYH0WW3_9S663Yb43T9y2Tcj6Nuw9/s320/16th+Bday+006.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319326866610667426" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHlCi-8lfxpcV1pg47ahcbOiQFVK0_ANNv_99lfvcxW-fOTcjScswg6Oxu9ITXd1ca2SyV7aZJiYh6q60actPyFl57FXX5qV09nCkIKV-QSaIfSUAefrrIf4_x5qEdgewl5x0IJgkVFaG7/s1600-h/16th+Bday+007.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 231px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHlCi-8lfxpcV1pg47ahcbOiQFVK0_ANNv_99lfvcxW-fOTcjScswg6Oxu9ITXd1ca2SyV7aZJiYh6q60actPyFl57FXX5qV09nCkIKV-QSaIfSUAefrrIf4_x5qEdgewl5x0IJgkVFaG7/s320/16th+Bday+007.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319327004602598706" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOjTX322zyVCsJV9leHeLFCpFF3sXnaOLtHmR3u4YbbsC6BEynHkYtMjqeyLW2XrvTdYeORHHy2Mfiziyd9bxTFnlWvzYurC_ik7A7Cb0ijlFiEFPu7t9RORNkUdFNyThcA8tYBsQ5A3w5/s1600-h/16th+Bday+008.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 307px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOjTX322zyVCsJV9leHeLFCpFF3sXnaOLtHmR3u4YbbsC6BEynHkYtMjqeyLW2XrvTdYeORHHy2Mfiziyd9bxTFnlWvzYurC_ik7A7Cb0ijlFiEFPu7t9RORNkUdFNyThcA8tYBsQ5A3w5/s320/16th+Bday+008.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5319327007782429058" /></a>jlarson750http://www.blogger.com/profile/15197508930941529513noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354464239949193211.post-90406724996167105982009-03-11T13:57:00.006-04:002009-03-11T14:08:43.184-04:00Wordless WednesdayJust was looking at pictures on the girls mac and found these in photo booth...had no idea that they had taken them. Had a few laughs anyway, silly kids.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzBu4QGXnq2QqubnhZCNhaiEwPy20q0PIWIcoQcOvu_WsdOPbXrvWsqaddiuSl-chwjG7wq2qxzDjHlcCI-xAY13o6vl4wvSbuXCnnP-z56YS3YeRkEXeA7SNe-U-xbz8mTj10hveFUn-H/s1600-h/Photo+157.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzBu4QGXnq2QqubnhZCNhaiEwPy20q0PIWIcoQcOvu_WsdOPbXrvWsqaddiuSl-chwjG7wq2qxzDjHlcCI-xAY13o6vl4wvSbuXCnnP-z56YS3YeRkEXeA7SNe-U-xbz8mTj10hveFUn-H/s320/Photo+157.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311993308582349618" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjelVZsOn-7AVIpPPhtgD2poM2PpRw6wrCPW08aTntiJR_PBpxX6A4zb35gzwh55Buxj1IDngw6ZVCXvbzit_EMuXi1OoZIUUaSOBmweVgjcpMYQ54DMIBnY2a5IJZxfba1dqsq9i74XANF/s1600-h/Photo+160.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjelVZsOn-7AVIpPPhtgD2poM2PpRw6wrCPW08aTntiJR_PBpxX6A4zb35gzwh55Buxj1IDngw6ZVCXvbzit_EMuXi1OoZIUUaSOBmweVgjcpMYQ54DMIBnY2a5IJZxfba1dqsq9i74XANF/s320/Photo+160.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311993306812163538" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTCOKkGBYIbmJlkO0QfNvH2VgvFHkTI2zNKXnuLaFTpt-BPBwTMHCWQZySbcAPTxNvF-wLFp4_2Fcle91k49zxaUkw8bgCytIU3qyMquPomiP3gPfhjNh-Inwq-MJZxiP3RjgijnwmXp6w/s1600-h/Photo+162.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTCOKkGBYIbmJlkO0QfNvH2VgvFHkTI2zNKXnuLaFTpt-BPBwTMHCWQZySbcAPTxNvF-wLFp4_2Fcle91k49zxaUkw8bgCytIU3qyMquPomiP3gPfhjNh-Inwq-MJZxiP3RjgijnwmXp6w/s320/Photo+162.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311993304197579154" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKRgIIQqVbdiYy0uascP5fdIxU9MHfCu9YCaG9GMDIYdoo7NML7mQeyPHVBL2IzBJ1xKtjbaPr3whQp08yJO1Gv5ubOWq69s9X3j-zPfx5aeLHhFeZehKHUnR1xkU0mK8vkk7aiSI31z0q/s1600-h/Photo+164.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKRgIIQqVbdiYy0uascP5fdIxU9MHfCu9YCaG9GMDIYdoo7NML7mQeyPHVBL2IzBJ1xKtjbaPr3whQp08yJO1Gv5ubOWq69s9X3j-zPfx5aeLHhFeZehKHUnR1xkU0mK8vkk7aiSI31z0q/s320/Photo+164.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311993175721720994" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbT2f6Ozq8mNvOkshxpCm1oxLbLzDX0oTPxNb-mlsyu4Pw4kXcRj3QW_G_wtxvl273lUFf41K_dCf10JFpZhvcWzjbhCXCkzb51FIgrsk9VVjfLKIzvdJuW6cY-4saRAQqiaLPh0MTlxwI/s1600-h/Photo+166.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbT2f6Ozq8mNvOkshxpCm1oxLbLzDX0oTPxNb-mlsyu4Pw4kXcRj3QW_G_wtxvl273lUFf41K_dCf10JFpZhvcWzjbhCXCkzb51FIgrsk9VVjfLKIzvdJuW6cY-4saRAQqiaLPh0MTlxwI/s320/Photo+166.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311993171930495442" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQJKV7hSnkZHRHSPXGv3YwteHYkxDBRdALbXrTuQo1SIhwOAp0vbzv1XRhyh5SGIDiSWGFzPN2pDpab4oAvKV_ub0aSOsSM0-TBvMqi6osW6F4IDHDmDIao2BCxt74N70vJnX5YGEd8m1x/s1600-h/Photo+195.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQJKV7hSnkZHRHSPXGv3YwteHYkxDBRdALbXrTuQo1SIhwOAp0vbzv1XRhyh5SGIDiSWGFzPN2pDpab4oAvKV_ub0aSOsSM0-TBvMqi6osW6F4IDHDmDIao2BCxt74N70vJnX5YGEd8m1x/s320/Photo+195.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311993174678710562" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWXj5Tj22KplZtuq46HAoMfTR3QdwrmlKqWusXp5DDhO_lOJhyphenhyphenhKAZQGUFuaJj5wKMQEVpIKnRiDKtg602oiFfatR9kzKKYngUZfXcBw7cs2384wAHAc_N7tfuU5G336CzMK_6_l8a2trM/s1600-h/Photo+227.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWXj5Tj22KplZtuq46HAoMfTR3QdwrmlKqWusXp5DDhO_lOJhyphenhyphenhKAZQGUFuaJj5wKMQEVpIKnRiDKtg602oiFfatR9kzKKYngUZfXcBw7cs2384wAHAc_N7tfuU5G336CzMK_6_l8a2trM/s320/Photo+227.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311993171195670994" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_ImFfy8WurrH-EB3gFMCQR8Yh7eeWWFlmjwp3mFLlUrN7I8nc4s0kNd-Q6G8HLiL56bm-Cgh8vP6mrNENTf99Z_w0f-dVi2TVWX3jOaXIhgSchC9ozwApj95t-PUxgPawzVb6TZZgG5UF/s1600-h/Photo+230.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_ImFfy8WurrH-EB3gFMCQR8Yh7eeWWFlmjwp3mFLlUrN7I8nc4s0kNd-Q6G8HLiL56bm-Cgh8vP6mrNENTf99Z_w0f-dVi2TVWX3jOaXIhgSchC9ozwApj95t-PUxgPawzVb6TZZgG5UF/s320/Photo+230.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311993167640697634" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCQECXeB_5d_bqfEb0mlCR1_UGkdhMAOk2au6JrewCtMV5J3EMx7b01XqXIr1YVI5019c0ZxWAiNLPUf6ZwT7UpoVpqgYRY2NQzBhtbN_h-IjTsUT9wDL9JCE6Muj0iVKVNDwTptN-s0dF/s1600-h/Photo+234.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCQECXeB_5d_bqfEb0mlCR1_UGkdhMAOk2au6JrewCtMV5J3EMx7b01XqXIr1YVI5019c0ZxWAiNLPUf6ZwT7UpoVpqgYRY2NQzBhtbN_h-IjTsUT9wDL9JCE6Muj0iVKVNDwTptN-s0dF/s320/Photo+234.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311992969034783074" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtzprvAXpR2czdYoseWKQn9r88bAN9qYfB_9yMkBycp7iEub-E7_6X5n4pOqA4w5JRTqe7k8bmy5Y7vy6tzljQ2DHCwiFTRLriNVJSw4SfgopU02GWc54iio_FbaVVX78FTPeJ4A8me1bh/s1600-h/Photo+303.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtzprvAXpR2czdYoseWKQn9r88bAN9qYfB_9yMkBycp7iEub-E7_6X5n4pOqA4w5JRTqe7k8bmy5Y7vy6tzljQ2DHCwiFTRLriNVJSw4SfgopU02GWc54iio_FbaVVX78FTPeJ4A8me1bh/s320/Photo+303.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311992967418874882" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiomduahSKCqIpYWubFFFwFUc7foF3ZFifZob5rGB-_ShdtaFy4K29r8JXFo5OiNxT-TgRlbgyo7G3Gm7VZThb3wfiwd5TLnNvXj4aKCoP7kdmd0IkgZLw209_aUgN85itG4CDIeK36nNxN/s1600-h/Photo+310.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiomduahSKCqIpYWubFFFwFUc7foF3ZFifZob5rGB-_ShdtaFy4K29r8JXFo5OiNxT-TgRlbgyo7G3Gm7VZThb3wfiwd5TLnNvXj4aKCoP7kdmd0IkgZLw209_aUgN85itG4CDIeK36nNxN/s320/Photo+310.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311992966877617106" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxeFTrN2A4BTcR8uXh8MBBmD-ma6Cvy2LIfUwIZ6HWWpKbWqfH-7g_M1V2tIj2CFo_zRxZa5PIRjrP70icwq9NlfdPnuq5GG33fojkZJAw2PF9S9xD1Mr7TS9HH5Bq3TJEUZSflos5Funp/s1600-h/Photo+314.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxeFTrN2A4BTcR8uXh8MBBmD-ma6Cvy2LIfUwIZ6HWWpKbWqfH-7g_M1V2tIj2CFo_zRxZa5PIRjrP70icwq9NlfdPnuq5GG33fojkZJAw2PF9S9xD1Mr7TS9HH5Bq3TJEUZSflos5Funp/s320/Photo+314.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311992960491609778" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiAW4LimNuF1a0iZBd27iSQWS4yRS29RiTpfrsJ0Pdsvd5rWojtiSvX5h8vqFO2pb8Q5IwDh6dlVv4KVzpsW2oXxtzEeNqeSw_qZuZK-_9i42VCWtwdU-EhcgtypkDaYA4UBcNRg6bW6MN/s1600-h/Photo+330.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiAW4LimNuF1a0iZBd27iSQWS4yRS29RiTpfrsJ0Pdsvd5rWojtiSvX5h8vqFO2pb8Q5IwDh6dlVv4KVzpsW2oXxtzEeNqeSw_qZuZK-_9i42VCWtwdU-EhcgtypkDaYA4UBcNRg6bW6MN/s320/Photo+330.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311992956901198674" border="0" /></a>jlarson750http://www.blogger.com/profile/15197508930941529513noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354464239949193211.post-42644599859368791802009-03-08T21:45:00.013-04:002009-04-21T07:49:58.531-04:00Our Trip to DisneyHere is something blog worthy.<br /><br />My mother-in-law has been asking us for the last couple of years to take us on a trip to Disney World with her. Although we really wanted to, between job changes, moving and being pregnant we just couldn't do it. Finally this year over the kids winter break we got to go. It was kind of cool because we didn't know that we were going until the week before we left. I remember texting the girls at school to let them know that we were going and getting back something like "OMG, OMG, OMG, ARE YOU KIDDING?" and various other thrilled responses.<br /><br />We spent 3 days in the parks, Magic Kingdom first, then Animal Kingdom and finally Epcot. It was so much fun! Thanks mom! I still can't believe how good Oskar and Josie were. Three days of trekking around those parks and not a single melt down. I don't think that I saw the girls hooked to their ipods even once, they had a ball because they were finally tall enough to ride the "big" rides. (barely five feet and I don't think they are getting any taller) Mom was so sweet to take us, we can never thank her enough. Here are some pics, I wish I had taken more!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLWuaD98xC1wwtUqau2Sip3w3aVk19cG-OdgdoCD7C4rtPD1ZlbM9AI8dwjvmSYGmFYxA8SzfP1O4BYyGYhELx0hspxQ-cBtOetgwExreppIKY2HBvZOEYc280BuxmrbeyGRLJupixH2eD/s1600-h/Disney+09+022.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 233px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLWuaD98xC1wwtUqau2Sip3w3aVk19cG-OdgdoCD7C4rtPD1ZlbM9AI8dwjvmSYGmFYxA8SzfP1O4BYyGYhELx0hspxQ-cBtOetgwExreppIKY2HBvZOEYc280BuxmrbeyGRLJupixH2eD/s320/Disney+09+022.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311011294942376722" border="0" /></a><br /><br />This picture deserves to have the story behind it told. Oskar was so excited to meet Mickey Mouse. When we pulled into the Disney resort there was a big picture of Mickey at the entrance. When Oskar saw it he said, "I love Mickey...his heart has my heart." Remember, he's three. My mom and I just ate that up. Well we stood in line for almost an hour and when we finally got in the room alone with Mickey, Oskar just walked up and hugged him...and hugged him...an hugged him. All I could think about was what he had said about Mickey's heart and before I can help myself I'm bawling! (still not sure where that came from, maybe a little stressed from hauling four kids and all their stuff around?) I look at mom and now she is bawling too and we're like, "Okay, that's enough...Mickey doesn't have all day." I think that they understood and thought we were pretty funny. Mickey wouldn't let me leave until he gave me a hug too. When we got outside I asked one of the girls if they thought I was silly for crying and she said "No, I think that your crazy."<br /><br />This is Josie at Disney:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1gsI30JdKiv1HNEs5gLsNKPhRD1kyrACPGpfQEF7wBKywtFlhPZqqY9y9Ah9eo-iruC5UTTXOSVJHOZR9EfxKaaegFKLbyuakbpmbnfZVwEyBNomrRzQSum0dyFM6ayX5OaqKEkAsWZ5q/s1600-h/Disney+09+009.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 251px; height: 174px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1gsI30JdKiv1HNEs5gLsNKPhRD1kyrACPGpfQEF7wBKywtFlhPZqqY9y9Ah9eo-iruC5UTTXOSVJHOZR9EfxKaaegFKLbyuakbpmbnfZVwEyBNomrRzQSum0dyFM6ayX5OaqKEkAsWZ5q/s200/Disney+09+009.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311006279677343010" border="0" /></a><br /><br />This is what she thought of most of it:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirF9uYgEG9ZiPukJhRq3uUQGNu5_I6DucujzTHoC5nFpQXDCzF7ctB6zHue5UHWeKSx_Pr9ashTjFyhyphenhyphenBVqZpWXG5gLdUyxmyraNbjdx6Bck6EMXXC2pB11-zvHUJ-rhCPXkWQZerN0DhJ/s1600-h/Disney+09+018.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirF9uYgEG9ZiPukJhRq3uUQGNu5_I6DucujzTHoC5nFpQXDCzF7ctB6zHue5UHWeKSx_Pr9ashTjFyhyphenhyphenBVqZpWXG5gLdUyxmyraNbjdx6Bck6EMXXC2pB11-zvHUJ-rhCPXkWQZerN0DhJ/s200/Disney+09+018.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311006526067444562" border="0" /></a><br /><br />All the kids with Mickey:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXLC0TXRU-sBbBAaN-681MxRGaQv0f2GLdWGRe2AmgaWTCl93JOwuymZPdY82lOiQJvhw8iMC-2UCG7RtzM7d7rnvF07q7fVS5vbwHRkRxYXeDV8DM08ZKk_jemIv-gr_X5A9cEwhYupjP/s1600-h/Disney+09+024.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 276px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXLC0TXRU-sBbBAaN-681MxRGaQv0f2GLdWGRe2AmgaWTCl93JOwuymZPdY82lOiQJvhw8iMC-2UCG7RtzM7d7rnvF07q7fVS5vbwHRkRxYXeDV8DM08ZKk_jemIv-gr_X5A9cEwhYupjP/s320/Disney+09+024.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311011513921548546" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Oskar's "OMG" moment when he saw his first Disney parade:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7A6Ax53LWU81Yz-6-Re2ltEYEgE4Oq07PoDvjJGcOClZTGiHLo9vR3V6b2RUwmFvwBWbMifwlB66DLrWGUeIm_WzZKKX6g-PoO2gvTzNpR_lElOMPdMTrQZhpOkSFZiUYhltdcFC0-F8A/s1600-h/Disney+09+017.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 140px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7A6Ax53LWU81Yz-6-Re2ltEYEgE4Oq07PoDvjJGcOClZTGiHLo9vR3V6b2RUwmFvwBWbMifwlB66DLrWGUeIm_WzZKKX6g-PoO2gvTzNpR_lElOMPdMTrQZhpOkSFZiUYhltdcFC0-F8A/s200/Disney+09+017.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311007294274815874" border="0" /></a><br /><br />And some other various pics. Looks like the girls were playing with my camera when we got back to Mom's condo.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSH8lgaseM2Yzcxyzg7bUymJ1GkhWizlXGF5Uu19WqEe5DymDeIAB84amX04iR-z3JNcXHUMWHT-gXZjJFn1HMJ6bEfYtPS1TrUjj2vH6KygnjCzekOHRWOfhFq7F3hgG8fU9VPHwOxasc/s1600-h/Disney+09+030.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 186px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSH8lgaseM2Yzcxyzg7bUymJ1GkhWizlXGF5Uu19WqEe5DymDeIAB84amX04iR-z3JNcXHUMWHT-gXZjJFn1HMJ6bEfYtPS1TrUjj2vH6KygnjCzekOHRWOfhFq7F3hgG8fU9VPHwOxasc/s200/Disney+09+030.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311007776854585650" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_auv1XFnevqSsmW5d3AEzuwocU-vjduPMs2skT7ozOHtwVq-eyejWoHDvebUA_NkmbMd_v2FqYqUnzGzZHqhiSO2ONFk403vTPHVQAEql-mZYKCytVyU1YjrtUDY72swNxwiHCsDTOavn/s1600-h/Disney+09+031.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 180px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_auv1XFnevqSsmW5d3AEzuwocU-vjduPMs2skT7ozOHtwVq-eyejWoHDvebUA_NkmbMd_v2FqYqUnzGzZHqhiSO2ONFk403vTPHVQAEql-mZYKCytVyU1YjrtUDY72swNxwiHCsDTOavn/s200/Disney+09+031.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311007914979888594" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioCFFa2Q4Vd4mqVXJNAuftLgL05IICHCii-KcoTlYtm4lPeIk_dn7H5Ij7415_BMmMwNEfEnnSbcJ06ObS7W1jJIkosyElcn6kyYk1LjOvGqkYrotPtQwEXhXny2Vy5SYqkLpTjRORyB8-/s1600-h/Disney+09+062.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 154px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioCFFa2Q4Vd4mqVXJNAuftLgL05IICHCii-KcoTlYtm4lPeIk_dn7H5Ij7415_BMmMwNEfEnnSbcJ06ObS7W1jJIkosyElcn6kyYk1LjOvGqkYrotPtQwEXhXny2Vy5SYqkLpTjRORyB8-/s200/Disney+09+062.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311008055126873298" border="0" /></a><br /><br />We will never forget this trip, that's for sure. Well, Josie might so I guess we will have to go back in a few years!jlarson750http://www.blogger.com/profile/15197508930941529513noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354464239949193211.post-40059470155155171852009-01-28T12:09:00.003-05:002009-01-28T12:10:49.954-05:00Just a Wordless Wednesday...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibsGpU8FhvSVwNyAPFQhykoQjWJOu5cBEr42uPIjCZt_tJCiPIQKpJL9DNtzbj-Q-ifkMSnQx8pztemrkxsnA47VJ7tPD7WnusvQ2XbvmKfePyOHOyoxK31l36AvvZNqODMEddYQrxTRpc/s1600-h/chair+018.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 317px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibsGpU8FhvSVwNyAPFQhykoQjWJOu5cBEr42uPIjCZt_tJCiPIQKpJL9DNtzbj-Q-ifkMSnQx8pztemrkxsnA47VJ7tPD7WnusvQ2XbvmKfePyOHOyoxK31l36AvvZNqODMEddYQrxTRpc/s400/chair+018.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5296393100815077538" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtmYiflZ3ufAJ-dsbV5NobFefPsAJTPB0d1m0d-zgkPGAYx7y7yORBRFgXYUEjh7BJjFmOPutL_ucMIS5irNNb-p-g48cWZhhwkAA8hzy0QfHyRo5_zpYX3LKrr8E3BjHujeILe8YGw_p7/s1600-h/chair+023.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 315px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtmYiflZ3ufAJ-dsbV5NobFefPsAJTPB0d1m0d-zgkPGAYx7y7yORBRFgXYUEjh7BJjFmOPutL_ucMIS5irNNb-p-g48cWZhhwkAA8hzy0QfHyRo5_zpYX3LKrr8E3BjHujeILe8YGw_p7/s400/chair+023.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5296393171888798802" /></a>jlarson750http://www.blogger.com/profile/15197508930941529513noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354464239949193211.post-45947931024511139372009-01-20T09:58:00.004-05:002009-07-18T10:06:14.566-04:00Homemade Glass CleanerMy sister-in-law gave me this recipe and I tried it several weeks ago. I will never use anything else again! It does not streak at all and I use it to clean mirrors, sinks and even my floors. It is a lot less expensive than store bought cleaners and just as effective! Let me know if you try it and if it works for you too!<br /><br />Approx. 1 gallon of water<br />2 cups rubbing alcohol<br />4 tablespoons ammonia<br />1 tablespoon dish soap<br /><br />Add the 2 cups of rubbing alcohol to a clean, empty gallon jug. Then add enough water to almost fill the jug, leaving enough room for the ammonia and dish soap. Add ammonia and dish soap. Make sure the lid is securely on the jug before you gently shake to mix. Make sure to write "glass cleaner" with a sharpie on the jug just to be safe. I keep this in spray bottles in my kitchen and under every bathroom sink in my house. You can add food coloring in you want, I don't.<br /><br />Update: 07/18/2009 I get so many views each day of this post! Please leave me a comment and let me know if you tried this and if you liked it. Thanks!jlarson750http://www.blogger.com/profile/15197508930941529513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354464239949193211.post-53421249349411530472009-01-15T06:41:00.004-05:002009-01-15T10:28:42.623-05:00New Year, resolutions?Well, I have been on a bit of a holiday from my laptop. Christmas was wonderful this year, the hubby and I stayed home and just enjoyed the kids. They got a Wii and I have to admit, I have played it a little (a lot). My littlest had her last major procedure on the ninth of January, we are relieved to be through that. She is doing fabulous. My mother-in-law came down a few days after Christmas and was here until the eleventh. She is such an easy house guest and she loved spending time with the kids. Now that the house is cleared out and there are no major events coming up I am forced to think about getting back into my routine. <br /><br />I have never been one for resolutions but this year I am going to make myself have a few. For one, I want to spend less time cleaning and more time doing things that I feel are as equally productive. Somehow just staying on top of this house consumes the better part of my day. I would like to spend more time sewing for my etsy store, blogging for my recipe blog and teaching my three year old to read. (just a few there, there's more) On a personal level, just for me, I would like to read my Bible, EVERY day. Literally, I am going to have to make a schedule for myself if I want to keep any of these resolutions. I just had a funny thought, in regard to the "spend less time cleaning" resolution, my dear hubby would probably recommend therapy.jlarson750http://www.blogger.com/profile/15197508930941529513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354464239949193211.post-44561075389434176862008-12-18T14:21:00.005-05:002009-01-15T10:28:11.145-05:00Shh...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGYHljRTX9P91hlCrIXnqSyXCGruUfqI78y2WpxPaCOeDSKelFWXkwAqlGp59Dj-ZLqBe38FtZfOt21Czqsmg1OREfwxncr6AKc-ZbmbfclY5Z_ujPO37mrhAUjphwSND0B__yckIhWDK0/s1600-h/Caramel+011.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGYHljRTX9P91hlCrIXnqSyXCGruUfqI78y2WpxPaCOeDSKelFWXkwAqlGp59Dj-ZLqBe38FtZfOt21Czqsmg1OREfwxncr6AKc-ZbmbfclY5Z_ujPO37mrhAUjphwSND0B__yckIhWDK0/s320/Caramel+011.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281213162119478562" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKGE2fIgeIdxFz1vchEXvbGpWAEbMj03Utk6-oU5xv360i9_JLQLqxCgOaXgED15wQXtkYJ30gFK5_PJb2Be47TglFl72dY-zSrGqgUNRDoiiORlKXnti3FKn5MSIEmY-m5FpIwBvK_zsa/s1600-h/Caramel+010.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKGE2fIgeIdxFz1vchEXvbGpWAEbMj03Utk6-oU5xv360i9_JLQLqxCgOaXgED15wQXtkYJ30gFK5_PJb2Be47TglFl72dY-zSrGqgUNRDoiiORlKXnti3FKn5MSIEmY-m5FpIwBvK_zsa/s320/Caramel+010.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281213154415207090" /></a><br />I just realized that everyone but me is napping. The baby, my little guy, my hubby and the dog! All that I hear is the hum of the dryer in the background. I do love a moment like this every now and then.jlarson750http://www.blogger.com/profile/15197508930941529513noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354464239949193211.post-15645652040792484032008-12-15T08:35:00.002-05:002009-01-15T10:27:40.911-05:00Getting busy in the kitchen...It seems that I have fell of the edge of the blogging planet, I'm sure a lot of others have too with the holidays here. I've been in the kitchen making candy, if I see one more caramel I think I might get sick. The driving force behind all my candy making is gifts for my family. There are a total of five of us, three boys and two girls. Two of my brothers are married with four children each and one is 19 and still lives at home. My sister is married with 2 children. We normally exchange 'family' gifts each year and when you have so many people to please with your present, candy seems like a pretty safe way to go.<br /><br />It's kind of fun, finding different things to make. Last year I made homemade marshmallows and they were a hit. I made them again this year and this time I made chocolate ones too, they are so good. If you have a good mixer it is a pretty simple recipe, I will try to post it on my recipe blog in the next few days. I also made caramels, taffy, peanut brittle, cinnamon popcorn and hard candy last year. Everyone loved the cinnamon popcorn too, and I would love to oblige them again with it this year but I just can't get excited about the smell of cinnamon being stuck in my sinuses for a week. If you have ever made cinnamon candy, you know what I am talking about. I tried to add the cinnamon oil to the candy outside, but I still breathed a ton of it in. The cinnamon popcorn gets baked in the oven like caramel corn so there was no way to avoid the smell going all through the house. So far this year I have marshmallows, caramels and turtles. I think that I will also make cashew brittle and (I feel like I am going to cry) cinnamon popcorn. <br /><br />It's always fun to see what everyone decides to give each year. One year we got a bunch of popcorn (un-popped) from and Amish company. Last year my brother and his wife gave every family about 15 pounds of Cheddar cheese. Seems strange but I used it all and I wouldn't mind if they did it again this year! I'm happy to carry on this tradition that started in our childhood, we always got to pick out a gift for each of our siblings. Oh, the stories I could tell. We always anticipated opening those gifts, and we were never disappointed. You could always count on your brother or sister to pick out something cool, they would never get you, oh, let's say, socks.<br /><br />So we carry on, as long as good fortune allows. My wish is for everyone to have a wonderful Christmas, filled with good memories both new and old. I leave you now to don my apron and wooden spoon and whip up another batch of, well, love.jlarson750http://www.blogger.com/profile/15197508930941529513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354464239949193211.post-50958876237302172902008-12-10T17:10:00.004-05:002008-12-11T12:42:27.341-05:00My esty.com store<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivFauvghhpGhT-wRdGksClwEMgslurogr3QUnrG7fdNnSFpmWPRYTnsvwqq64uYF-ABbDXMmS4Ix2cYwKUwgR4NnCF_8dqjDYNFUT_t8ek65SRkdcELoWY_rEw9jFuUQrsggheqMEWF3WE/s1600-h/!!mumbanner+copy.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 53px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivFauvghhpGhT-wRdGksClwEMgslurogr3QUnrG7fdNnSFpmWPRYTnsvwqq64uYF-ABbDXMmS4Ix2cYwKUwgR4NnCF_8dqjDYNFUT_t8ek65SRkdcELoWY_rEw9jFuUQrsggheqMEWF3WE/s400/!!mumbanner+copy.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5278571746511796722" /></a><br />Thanks to a recommendation of a fellow blogger, I have been working on setting up a little shop on etsy.com. They are a site that host sellers that have handmade/homemade products. I love to sew, for me it is relaxing and so etsy kind of gives me an outlet for my creative energy. This is my link: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6467472<br /><br />I would love to know if anyone else has sold on etsy and if they have any tips at making it a success. Wish me luck!jlarson750http://www.blogger.com/profile/15197508930941529513noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354464239949193211.post-66293523516303435902008-12-04T09:21:00.001-05:002008-12-06T08:51:35.103-05:00Josephine is doing great!Just wanted to give a quick update, Josie came through with flying colors! The surgery was longer than expected, they had to do more than they thought. Even though it was more involved, it means that she will have an even better chance of functioning completely normally now. It is amazing how fast she has recovered, they sent her home after one night in the hospital. She has a large incision on her tummy and you can tell that she is uncomfortable at times but she is such a champ! Monday was the longest day of my life and I am glad that it is behind us. I am really looking forward to Christmas now that she has gotten through this. Thank you to all that sent up a prayer for her, I know that is why she has done so well.jlarson750http://www.blogger.com/profile/15197508930941529513noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354464239949193211.post-47805083264285016102008-11-30T22:13:00.003-05:002008-11-30T22:17:05.155-05:00Big Day<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2xs2WF0hEaLP4cbo8Un-dsaWM-Zg4AMnwnHwvCBced-lXHlXU7fa-ieTpDvYhkTvFjFZANSdheMzcYf5bZkjLzGvx6ki_fdrFDm6Ehooo4rAFr_OKJVo0gJyIhjkVrPaWq86kbwVKgo6-/s1600-h/pink+dress+010.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 256px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2xs2WF0hEaLP4cbo8Un-dsaWM-Zg4AMnwnHwvCBced-lXHlXU7fa-ieTpDvYhkTvFjFZANSdheMzcYf5bZkjLzGvx6ki_fdrFDm6Ehooo4rAFr_OKJVo0gJyIhjkVrPaWq86kbwVKgo6-/s320/pink+dress+010.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274655439044824274" /></a><br />Just a quick note, my youngest will be having surgery at 7:30 AM December 1st. It is to repair a problem with her kidneys, she will be in the hospital for several days. Please pray for her and for all of us. Thank you.jlarson750http://www.blogger.com/profile/15197508930941529513noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354464239949193211.post-81086426991924380762008-11-24T10:49:00.004-05:002008-11-24T11:02:42.479-05:00Porridge, not just for the 3 bears...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnGEkgi1KR1PRiLgKAznfkjO_qXa_FZcZWZkl-WCmzUL4JRf1AyZQuOGaCigZImbtVD6ISqjTmSGnyqxDNTwRPuVMkDLY3ME6uWv9bGte4_QHoPCVgE9ttSb9lSxHTMMlnSCDr3Lm0yg70/s1600-h/porridge+004.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnGEkgi1KR1PRiLgKAznfkjO_qXa_FZcZWZkl-WCmzUL4JRf1AyZQuOGaCigZImbtVD6ISqjTmSGnyqxDNTwRPuVMkDLY3ME6uWv9bGte4_QHoPCVgE9ttSb9lSxHTMMlnSCDr3Lm0yg70/s400/porridge+004.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272255119245111362" /></a><br />It's cold and rainy here this morning and porridge was the perfect thing for breakfast. I never even knew what porridge was for a long time, I just remember that it was in the story of the 3 bears. Then, when my parents moved to North Georgia, they found a wonderful granary in Helen, GA. It's called Nora Mills and they sell all kinds of delicious stone ground grains, flours and mixes. They always have their Pioneer's Porridge in a crock pot for you to sample when you go in. It has rice, cracked wheat, and white and yellow corn in it. I do mine in the rice cooker and eat it with a little honey or brown sugar. If I am feeling naughty I add a little real butter too. This is their website, I think that they ship their products. http://noramill.com/jlarson750http://www.blogger.com/profile/15197508930941529513noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354464239949193211.post-79102268587129555502008-11-22T17:21:00.005-05:002008-11-22T17:56:54.409-05:00Someone please save me from the candy corn<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjjf5zFf3FSL3O7FIwvOJdQMZJZRbakrERiQFDc6yjEFmTOwlBFjgnn7UkjnnzmY7_9nrAGi0DnqNGpDm2z9ttdQaK60rWlk4Q9NTxJrdsED2lD7Df0bmefmBIthF_MQzlAqy7z1TEUPrE/s1600-h/candycorn.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjjf5zFf3FSL3O7FIwvOJdQMZJZRbakrERiQFDc6yjEFmTOwlBFjgnn7UkjnnzmY7_9nrAGi0DnqNGpDm2z9ttdQaK60rWlk4Q9NTxJrdsED2lD7Df0bmefmBIthF_MQzlAqy7z1TEUPrE/s200/candycorn.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5271619702062976322" /></a><br />Okay, I am trying to post a recipe in my other blog but I just had to stop and post this. I have GOT to stop eating the candy corn! It's not even the good kind, it's a cheap store brand. (actually I like it better than the big name brand) When fall came around I was on a mission to find who was selling my favorite kind of candy corn. Target used to sell it a few years ago under their brand, Archer Farms. I broke out in a sweat when I couldn't find it this year. Then...at the mall the candy store had it. I only allowed myself to buy like 20 pieces, I was pretty proud of myself. I was in control. Then, I went to my brothers house for a family dinner and don't you know, his wife had some sitting in a bowl and it was THE CORN. I squeaked, "Where did you get this?" (along with other cries like "Noooo" and "I'm doomed", or so I am told) And she informed me that a local grocery chain was selling it under their store brand this year. What joy! I started planning a trip there immediately.<br /><br />I did actually wait until after Halloween to go get it. The day after. It was 60 cents a bag, what a deal! I bought three. Now, here I sit with the last bag by my side and am thinking that if I put it back in the pantry then at least I would have to get up and walk each time I wanted a piece. But no, maybe it is just best to finish it off, there is only a little left. Yes, I think that I will just get it over with. Until next year anyway.jlarson750http://www.blogger.com/profile/15197508930941529513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354464239949193211.post-57849256167710487542008-11-19T13:38:00.005-05:002009-01-15T10:26:14.768-05:00Back to the drawing board...Well, both my auctions closed on eBay and neither one sold. There seems to be a ton of pillowcase dresses for sale on eBay, I didn't notice that many when I first listed them. There is another website called etsy.com and it is for handmade items, vintage items and supplies for handmade items. I think that I will try it next, I am not ready to give up because I love making the dresses! <br /><br />We did get some good news yesterday, my hubby has a second interview for a potential job, we are very hopeful. It does mean moving but that was kind of expected. I pray that we have good solid news before Christmas.<br /><br />Well, most of my family is coming to my house for Thanksgiving. Last year they did too, along with my hubby's mom. It was great, the first time that I lived close enough to my family to have them for a holiday like that. I don't think that my oldest brother had ever been to any of the homes that I lived in, it made me so happy to be able to cook for all of them and serve them in my home as I have been to theirs many times. This year is traditional dinner, turkey, ham, stuffing, potatoes, mashed and sweet, green beans, homemade rolls, pies...the list goes on. Yum, I can't wait. I think that I will start some of my shopping this coming Monday and last year I made the potatoes a day or two before and just spread them in a 9x13 and froze them. It really cut down on kitchen time the day of Thanksgiving. Mom and dad will be coming to spend the night so I will have mom's help, which is great.<br /><br />Good luck to everyone planning a holiday feast!jlarson750http://www.blogger.com/profile/15197508930941529513noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354464239949193211.post-90416349026086489042008-11-17T07:43:00.004-05:002009-01-15T10:25:30.160-05:00I must be crazy...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfZuel3LmG1d8z8x30JgeXwHLqoLAX6Cb66UjfSdo-05Iz941ARO_i2w7xI3cfVy0ICeou0mzTce_ZZvQUIoMWbsJnrZswuBxgDrxJXPW46LiokqHXWeeHTeJl4GEnZg6jfnnBfuOj2xJy/s1600-h/millie.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 160px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfZuel3LmG1d8z8x30JgeXwHLqoLAX6Cb66UjfSdo-05Iz941ARO_i2w7xI3cfVy0ICeou0mzTce_ZZvQUIoMWbsJnrZswuBxgDrxJXPW46LiokqHXWeeHTeJl4GEnZg6jfnnBfuOj2xJy/s200/millie.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269620393535555234" /></a><br />Well, I am sitting here questioning my sanity this morning. Yesterday we got a DOG. For people who don't know me, this is a BIG deal. Being such a clean fanatic, me and the word dog rarely go in the same sentence together, let alone the same house. But...she is an exception. First, most important to me, she DOES NOT shed. That was my biggest issue with our last dog. He was a shepherd and I just about lost my mind trying to keep the hair under control. Next, she is the breed that I grew up with so I am very used to having a dog like her around. She's a wire haired miniature dachshund, roughly four months old. My parents got her when she was four weeks but since they have another dachshund they decided to give her to one of the kids and we lucked out. Everyone here loves her...including me. I think that she is a keeper. She's great with the baby so far too. All in all, I don't think that we could have done better. The hubby really likes her too and he is a real dog person. Now if I can just get my three year old son to quit bossing her around...jlarson750http://www.blogger.com/profile/15197508930941529513noreply@blogger.com0