A good one...

"Be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind. Talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet. Make all your friends feel there is something in them. Look at the sunny side of everything. Think only of the best, work only for the best, and expect only the best. Be as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own. Forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future. Give everyone a smile. Spend so much time improving yourself that you have no time left to criticize others. Be too big for worry and too noble for anger."

Christian D. Larsen

My apologies

A) to the gentleman in the gray shirt in front of us at the rodeo who seemed to have some sort of magnet that attracted David's feet

B) to my middle boys for whatever I did to make you choose a late night with friends over a rip roarin' evening at the rodeo with family.

C) to myself for forgetting my camera

D) to all the cowboys who had kind of a rough night (lots of "no times")


On the bright side:

*Crossing the busy street with only two kids was a piece of cake

*STRAWBERRIES AND CREAM

*Kids got in free last night

*Amazing motorcross entertainment! (I loved every second of it, but the mom in me couldn't help but cover my mouth in horror as they did their stunts)

*David and Olivia felt pretty special to have a date night with parents, and Warren and Sean felt pretty special to have a late night with friends...everybody wins!

Members Only?

We bought a pass to the zoo this year, and we received an "exclusive invitation" to visit the zoo after hours--a privilege reserved for pass holders. We headed up with Jodi's family (they, too, are pass holders). I have never seen the zoo so crowded! Here is where we parked (the picture was taken as we were leaving the zoo, so all the cars that used to be parked on the side of the road had left). The zoo entrance is across the road from where you can see headlights coming toward you.

We barely squeaked into a bird show (that was awesome, by the way). I didn't get any pictures because the birds were flying so fast. We tried to go on the carousel after the bird show, but the line was crazy long. We walked around for a little bit, took a few pictures of the monkeys...



David was trying to show us his monkey face but he was laughing too hard...



He kept trying...As we were getting ready to leave we passed the carousel and there was no line! Yay! David was requesting the tiger as soon as he saw it. On the way out the kids saw the big sneezing elephant and had to stop for a while. Here they are anticipating the sneeze.Ah Ah Ah Ah, ACHOO!!!I'm not sure if David was a fan. These guys didn't seem to mind, though!

We did take pictures of some real animals, of course.

These are the turkeys taking advantage of the leftover kettle corn. That's the only picture I took of live animals. The kids didn't seem to mind, and since we have a pass, we will have plenty of opportunities to see them throughout the year, right? So even though it didn't feel like a very "exclusive members only" evening we still had a great night.

I can't be certain, but I think Warren had a good time.

Drumroll please...(appropriate title for a band contest, eh?)

Thank you all for participating in my little contest. Here are the names I put in the drawing. If there is a mistake let me know, and I will try to make things right!

Next, the papers were foldedAre you dying to know? No peeking, Liv!And the winner is...Congratulations!!!! Now here's the bad news/good news. Bad news is that I may be accused of cheating since Jodi is my closest relative participating in the contest. I assure all of you that this contest was administered in a just and honest way. The good news is...our family is going to Hawaii and will be out of town for the last concert (Ryan Shupe and the Rubber Band). I was going to have one runner up for MY tickets, and now that Jodi has obtained the second set of tickets, I can now have TWO runners-up (caramels still included). So, the winning continues!

First winner of the Ryan Shupe tickets:

David refused to show me the name, and insisted on holding it so he could see it. Olivia finally got the wood block to stable it, and I stood above him to take the picture. Do you love all the feet in the picture? And the winner is...And the second winner of the Ryan Shupe tickets: Congratulations, ladies! I will be in touch to get the tickets to you. (The whole series is on the same ticket, and they punch it at each concert. I will give the tickets to you after the Jericho Road concert is over.)

The other good news is that I will have a plethera of caramels, so if you would like caramels just for participating let me know and I'll get them to you. If you live outside of my neighborhood, e-mail your address to redcchronicles@gmail.com Thanks again!!!

Great Time for a Great Cause promotion

Timpview High School is doing a fundraiser to get new instruments for the band. My brother has been working so hard to secure some pretty amazing talent to come and do concerts at the high school. I went on Saturday night where Hillary Weeks opened for Jim Brickman. It was an INCREDIBLE concert, and I kept wondering how the auditorium wasn't full! I decided I would take the advertising to my corner of cyberspace and try to spread the word. Here is what's coming up:

Here's what I'm doing to support the cause. I have already purchased tickets for the whole series for Darin and I, and it was so fun to have a date night (and know that we have other date nights set in stone), so I decided I would offer the same to my blog readers! I purchased another set of two tickets for the rest of the series--that's three concerts!!, and I will be doing a drawing on Thursday for the winner! Here's how to enter. (sounds so official, right?) Simply comment on this blog post, and I will put your name into a bowl and draw out a winner. If you would like to double your chances of winning, you can put this link on your blog: http://www.timpviewband.com/ and spread the word to YOUR readers (they are welcome to comment to enter, too!) Just let me know if you put the link on your blog, and I'll enter your name twice. I know how much work has gone into this great fundraiser, and I would love to do my part to fulfill the dream of a full auditorium. The thing that's great about it is that whether or not you have a reason to support the cause it's still a great opportunity to see some great entertainment so close to home! There will be meet and greets with the artists as well as merchandise available at each concert.

So don't be shy! Comment away. All you out of towners are still welcome to comment as long as you have someone who lives nearby you could donate the tickets to. The tickets will be waiting for the winner at will call with a bag of homemade caramels. Thanks everyone!!!

Spontaneous is my middle name

Actually, I don't have a middle name; and if I did I wouldn't want it to be "Spontaneous", but around here lots of things happen on a whim. For instance, a while back we had been trying to make plans with some friends of ours. Twice we had things solidified on the calendar (with sharpie marker, even), and both times things came up (sick kids, extended family plans, etc). Then one day on the way to the community mailbox, these same friends stopped me and asked what we were doing in an hour or so, and I said, "Nothing". And then we went to lunch and a movie and had a splendid time. This happens with projects, too. A project will hang over my head for weeks, then one day I get a bee in my bonnet and decide to tackle it (the project, not the bee) out of the blue. Sometimes I wish I were more of a planner, but most of the time I appreciate the flexibility of being spontaneous.

We have been wanting a piano for a long time. We have been using a small keyboard, and it served its purpose, but Olivia had a hard time practicing on it. The keys are smaller than regular piano keys and they're not weighted like piano keys, so she would practice on the keyboard, then go to her lesson with a real piano, and it was so different that she was frustrated. I had been looking in the classifieds for used pianos, and decided that for our price range, we were better off buying a digital piano (one you plug in, but they have weighted keys, and is roughly the same size as a regular piano) so we didn't have to bother with a piano mover, piano tuner, etc. I have missed out on two pianos because I was slow to act, and Monday night I was talking to the kids about our schedule for the summer, and I emphasized that Liv should start practicing the piano more diligently. After that discussion I thought I would check the classifieds to see what was available. There was one in our price range that had been listed within the hour, so I called (it was 9:30pm). I asked a few questions about it, then told the guy I was interested in buying the piano. At this point I realized he was in Logan--two hours away! So...we planned a quick day trip and less than 12 hours later the DVD player was hooked up in the van, cash was obtained, and the kids and I went on our little adventure! The last half hour of the drive was GORGEOUS! The scenery was incredible. I told myself I would stop and take pictures on the way back but by then it was raining. You'll have to take my word for it! After we got the piano, we had it our way at Burger King, then stopped at Willow Park Zoo. It's a little park with birds and small mammals. It was perfect. Enough for the kids to exercise their legs and see some exciting stuff, but not too big and expensive (it was almost free) that you feel like you have to spend the day there to get your money's worth.

We saw monkeys

Lots of birds (we only took pictures of these, though) Sean's favorite was the turkey vulture-not pictured

wallabys

Deer, a porcupine, ducks, and bobcats.
Then we hopped like wallabys

Acted like monkeysOlivia put flowers in her brother's hair (which he enjoyed thoroughly)
played on the playground, used the bathroom (Warren worked his magic and opened the door with his "code". He thought he was pretty cool as the numbers beeped and the door opened. It was already open for the season, but I didn't want to burst his bubble so I just said, "Thanks for opening the door, bud!"Then we were off to see these guys: Lauren, Christa, LoganWe have been saying for a year and a half, "We should get together sometime". She's come down here a couple of times, but I hadn't made it to her neck of the woods for a long time. I spend a lot of phone time with Christa, but it's just so much more fun in person! Christa and I were pregnant at the same time with David and Logan. Our due dates were 2 days apart, but the boys ended up being 2 weeks apart. She came early, I came late (but I wasn't bitter).
Here are some more fun group shots:We made it home safely, and now we own this: (in case you're curious, it was still a good deal, even when you add the long drive with ridiculously expensive gas)This concludes my very long post about our very short trip!

Glorious Words

Today I heard the glorious words, "You have been approved with an effective date of June 1st." Those may not be glorious words to you, but that phrase made my day! Back in January the company Darin worked for decided not to be a company anymore, and we found ourselves out of a job. Fortunately the joblessness only lasted for two weeks, but it was long enough for us to lose our health insurance. Since the new company he works for is still quite small, they don't have group insurance and we had to apply for an individual plan. Darin and the kids were approved, but I was denied. The reason? I'm UNINSURABLE. (I felt like I had it stamped on my forehead.) I can't say that I blame the insurance company. When they see "Rhematoid Arthritis" they see a future of joint replacements and expensive medications. When I was first diagnosed (5 years ago), I tried all the medications and I felt worse so I have been using diet and supplements to control it. I know that I can't guarantee that it will always be this way, but it was still frustrating that I don't really use insurance for my "disease" and they won't take me because I'm damaged goods. We tried another insurance company and they would accept me, but my portion of the premium would go up 75% per month, and I would have to change all my doctors. No thanks. We got a letter from a different company that specializes in insurance for the misfit toys, and we began the application process. Wow. That was a fun three months! So, after much mailing back and forth of the application (I don't know why they couldn't use a fax machine), and many phone calls I'm approved! I don't even know why I should be excited. All it does for me at this point is gives me the green light to brake a limb or contract a serious disease. I guess more than anything, I have piece of mind--although I will miss the money we haven't been spending on health care!

Sometimes 3 minutes is too long to wait for Ramen Noodles...

This is my sweet, tired David (unaccompanied) asleep on the counter.