Natural Selection

I was surfing the internet today [cue song: Wipeout here] looking for suitable ad space and I ran into this picture. What a great start to Sunday! It's nice when someone can simplify Darwin's theory of Natural Selection, isn't it?

Of course, I think the artist might be slightly "off" on their interpretation. Everyone knows that to be slimming, the stripes would have to be parallel to the spine...not perpendicular. It's like they never even read Darwin at all.



And Loafdog? How cute/funny/strange is this???!!!

Here's where I found the pictures in case anyone wants to see more!

Trick or Treat!

Woo Hoo!! Halloween...the one day of the year when I can fill my front yard with tombstones, old bones, fire and rotting fruit, and I can lure innocent children to my front door and offer them candy, and no one calls the authorities! Muah ha ha ha!!!

Caleb wore a giant black neck-tie with a skull and cross bones and a big fuzzy purple hat.

Kelly, Mer & Nai stopped by with a friend. Mer was an adorable pixie, Nai was a fairy princess, Kelly was...Kelly but with a black & silver wig. The friend was a scary bride of death. Oooooo...

Beau was a hot dog and Bella was a banana split--the kids LOVED it!






Myttens was a court jester again this year. She's never wants a new costume. I suppose that's okay since she's not very social anyway. She does, however, love treats.




I was a devil kitty tiger creature thingy. That's what happens when I shop for a Halloween costume in my own attic.

Happy Halloween!

Cale, Mer, Kelly, Naija and I carved pumpkins last night! This is a Halloween tradition in our family, and by happenstance, beginning to carve at 10:30pm has also become a bit of a tradition. My Dad's birthday is October 30th, which falls the day before Halloween every single year {weird how that happens} so the carving starts after Dad's party.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDIO!!!!
We'd carve our pumpkins before Dad's birthday, but we've discovered the hard way that the squirrels consider our pumpkins food rather than the art they clearly are, and we only get a day or two before the nibbling starts.

On this particular October 30th, we didn't have pumpkins yet. Mer had one from Ka (a friend of Kelly's who actually grew a pumpkin just for Mer!) but the rest of us didn't.

Hmmm...where to find a pumpkin at 10pm??? Kelly, Mer & Naija went to a roadside pumpkin palace and discovered that they were still open and wouldn't close while Kelly was there. So she called me (still driving back from my Dad's) and told me to hurry while she milled around indecisively scouting. I'll bet it was 15 minutes from the time she started til we got there...they must have thought she was out-of-her-gourd! (no groaning from the peanut gallery!)



It took us past midnight, but we carved our pumpkins. The kids did an amazing job! Here's Mer with her creation.

Note the word BOO carved into to jack-o-lantern's face.

Here's Cale with his. I can't believe the creepiness!!! I wonder if the squirrels will be too afraid to bother this one?

And mine: A simple little ghost. I'm just glad this wasn't a competition!

Pay It Forward

Today, Cale and I had a million errands to run...the first of which was to stop at Caleb's school and get his locker ready and do a walk-through to see his classes for Tuesday. Sometimes comfort-food is in order, and he wanted Burger King.

When we got to the pick-up window, the nice lady at the window said "the car in front of you already paid for your order." I asked her why. She said that the car in front of me paid for my order because the car in front of him paid for his order because the car in front her paid for her order!

I have no idea how long that chain went on. In the optimistic part of myself I'd like to think that it kept going like that all day til they closed their doors. That of course would also mean that only the very last driver actually got a break on their order, but still...everyone's heart was in the right place.

Was That Hammering?

Cale's friend Blake is spending the night. Cale has a double bed and he keeps a twin mattress under the bed for when friends spend the night. By 2am, Blake was getting sleepy (poor kid...really, who can keep up with our crazy summer sleep schedule?). I told Cale they needed to get in there and set up the extra bed for sleepy Blake.

Within the next few minutes, I begin hearing laughing. I think to myself Heh heh, funny sleepy silly boys and keep working online. Cale calls out from his room.
"Can I use some sheets?"
"Yes!"
Of course you can use sheets.

The laughing gets a little goofier and I mentally pat myself on the back for being such a cool mom. When I was a kid, my parents would've come in yelling at my friends and I to be quiet. I keep working on the computer. Cale comes in holding my red stripe sateen sheet.
"Can I use this sheet?"
"Ummm...sure." Why does he want my sheet? Never mind. I call out and remind him that whatever sheets he uses he has to wash and put away after Blake leaves tomorrow.

The laughing is crazy silly now. Honestly, (he might kill me for saying it) the sound of mischievous boys laughing is ADORABLE!!! I can't help but enjoy it!

A short while later...What? What was that? Was that hammering? Do I really want to know what I'm hearing? I decide no...not so much.
"Cale!"
"Sorry!"
The hammering stops. The sleepy laugh-giggles continue.

A few more minutes pass, then "Mom, come see our fort!"

Wall to wall sheets! Tied to and from various points of furniture and nailed into the bulletin board! How fun is that?!? I have such great memories of my friends and I making forts when we spent summer nights at each others houses.
It doesn't matter what generation you're looking at, does it? Whatever clothes are trendy, whatever games are popular, at the very heart of it kids are always kids.

I created a brand new youtube channel called LuckyDuckFilms. The first video uploaded is my brother and sister-in-law's wedding!

Recently, my niece stopped by to deliver some lilacs to me. Everybody loves lilacs, right?? I put them on my nightstand. For the last few nights, the soft scent of lilacs has accompanied me as I drift into sleep.

Thank you for the lilacs, Mer!

Well, we did it! Cale and I had our first bike ride into downtown St Paul! The ride there was a fabulous ride, with just the perfect balance of sunshine and breezes. We stopped at Black Dog for a bottle of Coke for Cale, a bottle of black cherry soda for me, and a carrot cake muffin to share (okay...Cale didn't actually have any).

The ride back was, true to past first-rides, a horrible, butt-burning miserable experience. We stopped at Richard's Market and the meat guy came out and gave me a free bag of onions...that definitely improved the rest of the journey!

HAPPY 13th BIRTHDAY CALEB!

You HAVE to watch this!

Jon Stewart on Repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell (DADT) & McCain's Flip-Flop: Video
Even if you can't abide that which is slightly left of center, this is a not-to-miss video. It's a little over 8 minutes, but don't discount the clip early thinking it's just another political view. By the 4 minute mark the parody hits.

Happy New Year!

Imagine the difficulty trying to get my squirrel to sit still with that little hat on! Thank goodness he was exhausted from partying all night!

The kids, on the other hand, had no problem posing for pictures with their hats on!

At the stroke of midnight,
a new day will begin just as every midnight before it.
A new month will begin just like the months before.
A new year will begin just like the years before.
We can make resolutions...or not.
Only new and different choices will lead to new and different results.
Let us use our fresh, empty calendars as a reminder that
we are not confined by our past
but liberated by our future.