Just some random pictures from last month.
Making cupcakes:
Neighborhood picnic:
Badminton Tournament:
Indecisive Hannah Cat:
Cute Mel (we'll miss you and your family!):
What happens when you hand your son the camera:
And he asks you to make a funny face:
I think that's enough randomness for this Saturday!
What to do on a dreary, cold, windy, rainy November day?
Mourn the Patriot's loss to the Colts in last nights "Battle of 1812"? I guess since Scott is a rabid Colt's fan, I really can't do anything but accept defeat....
But I digress, because today's pictures feature Mango. Luscious Mango. Summery Mango. But since we don't have real Mango, we have to settle for Mango flavor. In the little shape of a stick of gum:
The back story - Erica had an orthodontist appointment this afternoon, and somehow we've "added on" to these appointments by going to the Walgreens afterward to buy gum. [Kind of like going out for ice cream after a music concert or big game, but in a distorted, kind of way]
I'm always wary of buying fruity-minty gum, but Erica picked out the Mango Surf gum. When we got home, she declared it tasted like our favorite Mango Italian Ice:
[Note that the Mango Italian Ice is sold with Pina Colada Italian Ice. Guess what's in the box? Yup, several servings of Pina Colada Ice. I'm not buying another box until all of the Pina Colada Ice is GONE!]
We drove back to the store after dinner so that I could have my own box of Mango Surf gum. Like a small explosion of summer on my tongue! Couldn't ask for anything better this cold Fall day (after the Patriots lost a game they should have won!).
Aren't you glad you read this post?
What happens when you buy the whipped cream that comes in a can? Lots of whipped cream "shots" (you know what I am talking about), and an occasional mess.
The mess occurred towards the end of the can, when just a tiny bit of the whipping cream remained in the container, and Brian, not leaning his head back far enough, let all the propellant out, with no accompanying whipping cream. Then all this un-whipped stuff came oozing out of the can. Fortunately, he was outside when this happened, so the mess was minimized. And I will think twice (no, three times) before buying another can of whipping cream. Because it always causes chaos.
My styling brush -I added a texture to make it look "tainted"
The kids decided it would be "fun" to put some "stuff" on the hairbrush I use to blow dry my hair with. They sprayed some Tag [you know - that body spray for men] on it, then glopped on some Dep gel and finally added a bit of shaving cream. The culprits spread on the gel and shaving cream in a way that I couldn't ascertain there was anything "wrong" with my brush.
Until I used it to dry / curl my hair. Which brought out all the scents of the gel, Tag and shaving cream. Then the heat of the hairdryer (I use the hottest setting) reacted with all that "stuff" to form what can only be described as a toxic burnt offgas. Something the EPA would have a problem with. Of course, the smell lingered in my hair all day long. Eww and double Eww.
I took action by cleaning the brush. No more residue. All is well again (until the kids get into something else).
A bit of the back story (cause this post won't make any sense without it).
Back in June, I bought an assortment of yummy cheesecakes from Sam's Club (click here for the blog post with picture). We divided the goodies up evenly - because isn't that the fair thing to do? The kids and Scott devour their portions quickly, but I tend to savor my desserts over a couple days. Fast forward from Sunday to Thursday. I still have a bit of chocolate cheesecake waiting for me. I go looking for it and I cannot find it in the fridge. I then learn that Scott gave Erica the OK to eat the rest of my chocolate cheesecake! What blasphemy! I was then informed that I "didn't consume the cheesecake within the allotted time", hence it was past the "Statute of Limitations" and open season ensued on my morsel of cheesecake.
Hmmph.
Fast forward to our trip to Massachusetts. During one of our (many) shopping excursions, Scott sees a package of Sour Patch Kids Candies while we are checking out at the Dick's Sporting Goods store. There is one thing Scott cannot resist and that is the Sour Patch Kid. I don't claim to understand this, but it is what it is. And so the bag of SPKs went into our shopping bag, and then it remained there all week long, forgotten by the man who so needed some SPKs. I brought the bag of SPKs back to Illinois, toting it in my carry on bag. Still forgotten by Scott.
So yesterday, I decide it's time to open up the bag of candies. The kids were surprised that I possessed the bag of candies (I'm not a big fan of candy in general). They asked "Hey, when did you get those?". I then explained how the bag was their Dad's, that he forgot about them and it was "well past the Statute of Limitations" on their consumption, and that we could eat them. I brought up the incident with the cheesecakes to illustrate my point (can you tell I'm still perturbed about this?).
And when Scott gets home, he sees the bag and asks "Hey - who bought the Sour Patch Kids?". Erica tries to explain the "Statute of Limitations" and the cheesecake incident, which gets translated as "Mom is eating your SPKs because you ate her cheesecake". Scott has no clue that the SPKs are even his and he thinks I bought some SPKs just to get back at him for the cheesecake incident. That's way too convoluted for me (I'm more direct - I just continuously remind him about the cheesecake, and then he reminds me about the "Statute of Limitations"). When Scott finally remembers picking out the package of SPKs, he promptly eats the remaining candies in the bag and leaves this on the table:
So now, Sour Patch Kids candy will be forever linked together with cheesecake. Very random, but just one example of silly things that go on in our family.
Always a perennial favorite when we visit LaoLao and LaoYeh - a game of Hide and Seek. You would think the kids would outgrow this, but they always want to play as soon as we arrive. I figure the day is coming when they won't want to play, so we'll enjoy it as long as it lasts.
During this "round" Scott was the seeker and Erica and I both hid in the same room. Scott found me almost immediately, but did not notice Erica hidden under the blankets:
She had to give out "hints" by making noises, since Scott was having a hard time finding her. When she was revealed, we all had a good laugh, especially Erica.
My friend and neighbor, Jill, loves the show, So You Think You Can Dance. She also has a generous (maybe crazy) spirit when she invites all of her boys friends to her home. The running joke in our house is that Jill's family should be able to take another dependent deduction for Brian, since he spends so much time over there.
Tonight, Jill had seven young boys over. What do you do with seven boys? You crank up the music and make them dance! [To Welcome to the Jungle, even!]
Jill is in the background, enjoying the boys' break dancing moves. She only wishes she had a video camera.......
I had two pictures to pick from to commemorate my 100th consecutive day of taking pictures. The other one will be posted on Behind the Lens, but it is less about our family, so this picture wins out:
Some early Easter funnies, compliments of Scott. We purchased some solid chocolate bunnies from the Candy Kitchen on Friday. Yes, they are gone but they inspired this sketch. That and the fact that Brian literally kicked me in the butt this afternoon (he was horsing around) and I complained that it hurt!
See, SO MUCH more about our family than a boring springtime bloom photo.
It's like the kids didn't get enough of April Fools yesterday.
Dinner consisted of jokes and riddles, each becoming progressively sillier. Like Scott's bathroom joke [warning - mild bathroom humor ahead]:
You are American before you go to the bathroom, You are American after you go to the bathroom, What are you when you are in the bathroom? "You're a pee-ing" [Get it - European? Ha, Ha, Ha!]After dinner, Erica and Brian started chasing each other around the house with their nerf dart guns. Erica decided to torture Hannah with Pal Mickey and then decided to give Mickey a makeover:
Unusual cupcakes today? Look like peas and carrots? Is this a new technique to get my kids to eat their vegetables?
No - Some April Fools Cupcakes that my friend Jill (who is totally artistic) made for us. I really thought they were peas and carrots (with a little bit of salt and pepper). The "peas" are sweet tarts and the "carrots" are cut up Starburst candies.
These Peas and Carrots my kids will definitely eat - without complaints!
Happy April Fools!
I'm a tad bit late with this month's installment of 12 on 12, but I was taking pictures until 8pm, and that's almost bedtime for us here! To make up for it, I have two additional pictures.
With Daylight Savings in effect, we now get to watch the sunrise while getting ready for school and work. It was warm last week, but cold settled back in a couple of days ago causing the condensation on the windows.
Taking the on-ramp to the Interstate to work. With the clouds today, a faint rainbow formed a halo around the sun - very beautiful. I wasn't able to take a picture, even though I pulled in a rest stop along the highway - the halo came and went. But I enjoyed it for 7 miles down the road. 
Stopped to get gas. I can't complain about the prices!
But filling up the SUV in these temperatures with a 15 mph wind wasn't fun!
After work, I visited our library's Book Mobile, which stops in our neighborhood. Unfortunately, it was decided to discontinue to the Book Mobile Operation at the end of May due to operational costs. I am very sad to see it go - it provides a wonderful service for busy people and home bound folks who can't get out to the Main Library. 
My favorite section of the book mobile - the cookbooks!
Look what came in the mail - a new toy for Shirley. Can you guess what it is?
A remote control for my camera! I had a lot of fun playing with it. 
Brian doing his math homework. Notice the piece of pie next to the homework - we purchased two pies for Erica to bring to school tomorrow. See, March 14th is Pi day (get it? 3/14 - 3.14 = Pi, the constant used to determine the area and circumference of a circle? Yeah, I know I am a geek!). Our mistake - purchasing the pies two days before they were needed. Both pies have been eaten, so I have to go out to buy another on tonight.
Look! A Robin! A sure sign of spring. We consider ourselves lucky not to have any snow on the ground at this time!
Tonight is Family Math and Science Night at Brian's school. His teacher, Ms. O, sponsored math games in her classroom. We played Multiplication Baseball (Brian whupped my tushie - he has his multiplication facts down!)
And we inspected Brian's desk - very neat and tidy!
Ms. O's class schedule for tomorrow was already posted:
The Humane Society brought in several displays, including two bunnies and these dog collars. Brian and Drew had a blast putting them on:
We finally left the school around 8pm - then we drove to the store to buy that pie. This one was a peach pie. I'm sure the 6th graders will have fun with Pi day tomorrow.
The other night (Tuesday night to be exact), I had a blast playing Cadoo with Erica and Brian. The game combines Charades, Pictionary, Trivia and Tic-Tac-Toe into one. Since we were having the most fun with the Charades and Pictionary elements, we decided to eliminate the rest.
Some memorable moments:
The charades acting consisted of the kids flailing their bodies on the couch or the floor, regardless of the word. They were completely spaz-ing out.
Erica did a great job acting out "acorn". She pretended to be "Scritch" from Ice Age. Hilarious.
Erica isn't all that good at drawing things. Her "beehive" looked like a face.
Brian draws well, but takes forever.
We spent much of the evening laughing - Good, clean, fun, and no electronics required!
Something to warm you all up this frigid first day of Winter.
The mercury dipped down to 0 degrees F this morning and hasn't increased by much during the day - the temperature is now a whopping 2 degrees F and the wind is whipping out on the prairie at 25mph.
My college friend, Armando posted this on his Facebook account, and I found it on YouTube. It reminds me of another college friend, Chris (we called him Beaker).
These have been making the rounds not only in the blog world, but at work. Scott wanted me to make ours and he specifically requested that I add one of our cats, Hannah.
We were rolling on the floor laughing.
I am often asked questions and comments about my photography - what location, what camera, what settings, etc. The camera question aside (i...
A chemical engineer working in IT, Wife to Scott, Mom to two great kids + two cats, one horse and numerous fish. Photographer, marathoner, musician, yogi and gourmet cook. I don't think there is time for more, but I'm sure I missed something!
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