It's Okay... I Like the Rain Anyway

Last Thursday, we had a big electrical storm here in the Valley. I missed most of it because I was in a restaurant with Rachel, Staci and Becky, talking till the wee hours of the morning. When I got home, I discovered my internet wasn't working. It took us a few days of troubleshooting to figure out why, but it turns out the modem got zapped in the storm. Know what that meant? I was without the internet for a week.


A week, people.


Cut off my leg, why don't ya? I went down to the library a couple of times to check my email and do some speedy blogging, so I wasn't completely cut off. But close enough. I was oh so happy when the new modem arrived.


But that ain't all. The morning after the storm, I came out and saw something a little unusual in my yard.

This is the top of my palm tree:


This is the bottom:




All I could think was, "What in the?" LOL. I mean really. What in the???

But Where Are the Little Green Men?

Here's another great pic from Astronomy Picture of the Day (the explanation that follows is theirs too):

High Cliffs Surrounding Echus Chasma on Mars

(This is not how I picture Mars, so I think this is cool.)

Explanation: What created this great cliff on Mars? Did giant waterfalls once plummet through its grooves? With a four-kilometer drop, this high cliff surrounding Echus Chasma, near an impressive impact crater, was carved by either water or lava. A leading hypothesis is that Echus Chasma, at 100-kilometers long and 10-kilometers wide, was once one of the largest water sources on Mars. If true, water once held in Echus Chasma likely ran over the Martian surface to carve the impressive Kasei Valles, which extends over 3,000 kilometers to the north. Even if initially carved by water, lava appears to have later flowed in the valley, leaving an extraordinarily smooth floor. Echus Chasma lies north of tremendous Valles Marineris, the largest canyon in the Solar System. The above image was taken by the robotic Mars Express spacecraft currently orbiting Mars.

Book Blurb: Joan of Arc

This is a book I read for the kids' school library (all books have to be reviewed by parents before going on the shelf), so it's really geared for kids in the upper elementary grades through junior high. Personally, I've found books like this can be a great way to get an overview of something (or someone) I'm not familiar with. I knew just the tiniest bit about Joan of Arc, so I wanted to know more, but I wasn't interested enough to check out a full 300+ page adult book on the subject. (This one was just 130 pages.) It had plenty of artwork, pictures, and maps, and a clear and compelling narrative voice. I appreciated the simplified overview of the rift between France and England at that time, as well as the straightforward way the religious aspects of her story were told. All in all, this book really brought the story to life for me. I was absolutely fascinated by this woman (well, girl really). Regardless of what people think about her hearing "voices," her story is simply amazing. It makes me want to browse the history section the next time I go to the library, and look for a good "kid's" book on an interesting subject. If you're interested in Joan of Arc, I recommend this one

I Found Another One...

Ha ha ha ha!

Here He is Again....

I know the Olympics are over, but I had to post one last video of this guy. This routine is the best one:

Now THAT'S What I'm Talking About...

Cool pic, cool name. This APOD has it all...

The Witch's Broom Nebula

My foot is famous!

Okay, this is just too funny. Click here to see Anna's pic of my foot, that I didn't even know she took!

And while I'm on the topic of feet, here's some blogging feet that don't belong to me. Click here for exotic feet and here for a foot that will make you cringe.




Lastly, with Amy's permission, I post the pic she emailed me after visiting Chase Field. This cracked me up too!



It's a trend set to sweep the nation! LOL.

Three, Two, One... Takeoff!!!!

Our cub scout pack held a space derby the other night. I'd never seen one before, and it was really fun. (A little hint to anyone who tries this, be aware that there are some TINY parts that come with the space derby kit. I'm not sure how many extra kits our troop had to buy to replace lost or broken parts, but they're saving all the spares for next year!)

Anyway, here's the race track all set up. There's four sets of wire running between the frame you see in the pic and the one that's out of sight of the picture (off to the right). I love the race flags and "moon rock" - nice touches!




Now that John is a Bear scout (just barely - and I have to say he was SO excited to get his new hat, scarf and book!) he has a new leader. Here's his leader helping him wind the propeller. Already I can tell he's going to be really great with John. :)

John putting his rocket in the launch position.

We're pretty big on not taking over projects like this for our kids. This was John's rocket, not his parents' rocket, so we let him design and paint it 100% on his own. :)

Just a nice picture:



They ran several races, and this is a close up of one race's winner (and the winner of the whole space derby, as it would turn out:)



And the photo finish of John's rocket. "Second" he says:

Just barely!


Sweet little Carena (who I absolutely adore) has a teeny, tiny ornery streak in her, so she and Brian got along great. LOL. She kept picking on him and he just kept returning it. At one point, I was sitting in one of the spectator seats and I hear "Sister Cook! Sister Cook!" I turn and see Brian with a big rubber band aimed at me!

This is Brian's "She caught me" face, and Carena's triumphant laugh for ratting him out:

Too funny. Here's some more random pics.

Edith, Nylene, and Anna really get into planning things like this. They do such a good job following through with the theme. I loved the treats: moon dust (pixie sticks), star crunch, and cosmic brownies. Yummy. Edith made for a fantastic announcer, and the certificates the boys got were really cute too. I hope these ladies who work so hard weren't too bothered by the chaos of people. This room we sometimes meet in seems to be shrinking because the troop (and the number of younger siblings) is growing by quite a bit. It was pretty crazy at times, but we had a blast.

And This One's for You Amy!

Amy is taking the big plunge into the big, bad world of business. Okay, not really, but she IS selling her fantastic "Soft Light Swords" on Etsy.

I've seen these in person and they really are great. In fact, I should put them on my boys' Christmas wish list. :)

Anyway, if you want to see her listing at Etsy, go here. (And by here, I mean HERE.) ;)

This is For You Deb

What with the recent conversations about comparing ourselves to others, I couldn't help but think about Deb when I was frosting Ben's cake the morning of his birthday. In case you didn't know, Deb is the reigning cake decorator extraordinaire (seriously, click on the link to see her fab cakes, if you haven't already).

Deb, I hope my cake (made from cake mix, thankyouverymuch) and it's mediocre styling makes for happy comparing. ;)

I'm not saying it's terrible. It's fine and colorful and the boys like it, which is all that matters. But this close up clearly shows that my lettering is a tad on the sloppy side.

Little did I know it would get even better. Since this cake was on a plate and not still in the pan, I wasn't able to cover it with foil without ruining it. I didn't want it sitting out all day either, so I put it inside a big round tupperware container. After I picked the boys up from school and they were all out playing, I decided to go ahead and take it out. This is what I saw:




Apparently, cake + sealed tupperware container + hot Arizona kitchen = melted mess. Sheesh. I'm so glad I didn't wait until the last minute to take it out or I would have been in a panic. I just scraped it off and redid it, and it actually turned out better than the first. Not Deb better, but you know, better. :)

Happy Birthday Ben!!!

I can't believe this little guy is SEVEN!!!

He's a little excited. ;)

After taking the obligatory picture in front of the presents, Ben wanted me to take a picture of him giving the monster a kiss:

Thanks to digital technology, my kids love to look at pictures right after I take them. This one was no exception.

"I want to see."

"I want to see."

"I want to see!"

LOL! The rest of the pics are self-explanatory:

I love this picture of Ben blowing out his candles:

In John's birthday post, I explained a birthday tradition carried on from Brian's childhood. About half way through, I decided to video it. Unfortunately I've been having trouble getting it to load, so for now, here's a picture.

Ben, you're such a sweet, sweet boy. You always keep us entertained and we love having you in our family. You're doing such a good job growing up. We're proud of you and we love you so much.

Now Why Don't We See Routines Like This in the Olympics?

Tipping the Scales to This Side of Normal

I've been reflecting on how a blog, by its inherent nature, shows a skewed version of who we really are. Deb and I were talking about this one day. In a blog, people mostly talk about the fun, interesting, or great things they're doing. No one's going to blog about how they lost it with their kids that morning or spent the afternoon mindlessly surfing the internet. Well, we might sometimes, but not terribly often.

So, after posting about a book like Three Cups of Tea (not something I would normally read) and the service we're doing as a result (not something I would normally do) I'm feeling compelled to tilt the scales back in the direction of "normal."



One day not too long ago, I had been on the go all freaking day. Right around the kids' bedtime I checked my email for something I had been waiting for, and ended up getting drawn into other stuff. As things went on, I could hear my kids in the living room, watching TV with Brian.

I really needed to get them into bed, but it felt so good to just sit there and veg and mess around with whatever it was (actually, I think I started checking everyone's blogs, LOL).



Anyway, I sat there for an HOUR before I finally made myself go be a mom and put my poor kids to bed. When I went into the living room, this is what I saw:

My first thought was, My poor kids were waiting for me so long they actually fell asleep!!

My second thought was, Score! All I have to do now is carry them to bed!

So, after taking a few close-ups, that's exactly what I did:

Do I get the Mother of the Year Award now??

Bear Hugs for Phoenix Children's Hospital

So, first of all, after reading Three Cups of Tea, I decided to find out what kind of service me and my children could do here locally. Google (good ol' Google) led me to a site called Volunteer Match. This led me to a listing for a service project for Phoenix Children's Hospital. I've done service for them before when I was a leader in Young Women's, plus I've known two different people who've received excellent care there, so I already have a soft spot in my heart for them. The project is a donation of 100 ashtma friendly teddy bears and 1000 origami cranes. That, I thought, is something we could do.

I emailed the coordinator, who turns out to be a 10-year-old boy named Jacob. Ten years old people! I'm so impressed with this boy. Anyway, we've committed to make some origami cranes (a common get-well gift in Japan) and help stuff bears at Build-a-Bear in October. I also thought I'd post information about this project on the blog in case anyone's interested in helping. So here it is:

*A fundraiser will be held at Images of Nature Gallery at Fashion Square Mall, August 30, from 2:30 - 5:30. (We have no money for this, but I thought I'd at least spread the word.)

* Volunteers are needed to help stuff bears at Build-a-Bear, Fashion Square Mall, on October 11, at 1:00 pm. Kids are welcome to help too.

* Lots and lots and lots of origami cranes are needed, and regular paper can be used to make them. This cool site shows exactly how to make them (including an animated demo).

To sign up to help or for more information, contact Jacob at jacobagoldfeld@resourcesforhealth.org

I'd Like to Thank the Academy...

Jodi gave my blog an award! Hooray!!! I'm so excited! Thank you, thank you, thank you! :) If you want to see the nice things she said and check out the other blogs she nominated, click on the link above. :)

As a recipient of the award, this is what I'm supposed to do:

*Put the award on your blog.

*Link to the person you received your award from.

*Nominate seven other blogs for the award.

*Put links to those blogs on yours

*Leave a message on the blogs of the people you nominated.

So, after much careful deliberation, I nominate the following fabulous bloggers:

Leeanne, for closing the long distance between Mesa and Japan, and inspiring me to try to do the same. (Plus, she's just sweet and I love her to death.)

Roccy, for best blog title, hands down, and for posts that I never fail to enjoy.

Kimmy, for talking about her life and her beliefs with equal ease. You set a good example for all of us.

Anna, for blogging with more regularity than anyone I know, and for not being afraid to post all the pictures she wants.

Kami, for demonstrating how to overcome life's challenges with openness, faith, love, and optimism. And for her superior cow-roping skills!

Jodi, yes I know she already has an award because she's the one who nominated me. Yes, I know this is probably cheating. But Jodi really does have a fantastic blog. I found her blog through a mutual friend, and even though I didn't know her that well, her witty posts kept me coming back for more.

Anne, for finally wearing down her husband and getting permission to put her family on the internet. She's so creative, and we love hearing about what's going on with them because we love them so much and they're so far away and... oh wait... she doesn't have a blog yet. Not even a totally private one. Hint, hint. (Come on Eric, say YES!!!!) :)

If you haven't already, poke around in these blogs. There's good stuff there. :) Thanks again Jodi!