Friday, May 30, 2008

Friday Fill In

1. For me logic and critism is are the opposite of creativity because when we are criticized, the left side of our brain takes over. The left side of our brain has to do with logic. We create with the right side of our brain. If someone is overly critical of themself, they will hinder their own creativity.
2. "Call of the Wild" was the last excellent book I read to my son.
3. I like fill-ins because it is very fun and interesting to see how many different answers people come up with and it is fun to blog hop and meet new people.
4. In nature I like looking at water.
5. I plead the 5th on who I think should win the US elections.
6. The last time I laughed with all my belly was last weekend at my two year old, little ones are so funny!
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to being alone with my husband (date night), tomorrow my plans include getting up bright and early and heading down to southern MN to go to an All About Alpaca Fleece Seminar and Sunday, I want to work on my alpaca rug I am hooking with hand carded alpaca fleece and loom knitting some more on my latest design!

More Friday Fill-Ins here.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

100 Things About Me

1. I've been to 10 of the 50 states in the US.

2. I have six kids that live with us full time. I also have 1 stepdaughter that has never lived with us and she has a son so that makes me a step-grandmother.

3. I am 38 (and will be 39 this year).

4. I am obsessed with learning how to use my drop spindle (I understand how to use my spinning wheel but the drop spindle is aluding me).

5. I LOVE cats!

6. I live on a 40 acre ranch.

7. I have never seen the ocean.

8. I changed my major from English Lit, to Journalism, to Fine Arts, to Graphic Arts and went to two schools before I graduated.

9. I was student of the year when I was in 8th grade.

10. I love photography and even won an award for a picture I took way back in highschool.

11. I broke my left hip when I was a kid and had two surgeries on it. First I had a pin put in and then the pin was removed the following year. I now suffer from terrible arthritis in this hip.

12. I like dogs, and used to own a dog that now lives with my mother and father in law up north (he was a problem to our neighbors). Then we got another dog but she had problems with her front legs and had to be put to sleep. Before she died, she had puppies, two survived. We had trouble with them and the neighbors so we had to get rid of them too. We no longer can have dogs.

13. I have tried just about every craft known to woman.

14. My favorite colors are purple and green.

15. I used to work in downtown Denver at an advertising agency.

16. I grew up on a farm.

17. I would love to learn how to mix essential oils to make my own perfume.



18. I was married to my husband in Las Vegas, NV.

19. I love books and reading, but have not read a novel (geared towards an adult) since before my first child was born. I miss reading. I've read many books to my kids. I do read lots and lots of how-to books or reference books and magazines.

20. I have a love-hate relationship with cooking. Sometimes I really enjoy it and other days I can't stand to do it. It depends, I think on what I am doing before I need to prepare a meal. If I am doing something I don't want to put down, I dread making a meal.

21. I hate winter (which sucks for me since I live in Minnesota and winter doesn't seem to want to let go this year, it was only 39 degrees this morning).

22. I wish I knew how to play piano.

23. I think all problems can be solved with prayer.

24. When I have a clean house, I get obsessive compulsive about keeping it clean (this is difficult and stressful when there are six kids in the house).

25. I taught myself how to do website design and taught myself how to hardcode a page, I even taught myself some CSS.

26. I HATE having dirty dishes in the sink.

27. I don't mind getting dirty, even out in the barn.

28. I am frugal. I am a saver. My husband is a spender. We clash on this.

29. I rarely watch T.V.

30. When I do watch T.V. I watch shows related to realestate and/or interior decorating or remodeling. I never watch any of the mainstream shows most people watch such as "Lost" or "American Idol".

31. A clean floor is VERY important to me.

32. I hate folding socks (probably because I have 16 feet in my house and folding socks for 16 feets takes several hours a week).

33. I like to make things, in fact, I am obsessed with making things.

34. I like to entertain.

35. I used to work for a magazine.

36. I am currently teaching myself how to do punch needle rugs. I want to make one for our cabin we are building (slooooooooowly) up north. Plus, I want to learn how so I can make some with our alpaca yarn to sell at our Farm Tour that is coming up this fall.

37. I used to be obssessed with rubber stamping, but haven't done it in several years. I had an impressive stamp collection.

38. I used to make my own soap.

39. I have dabbled in house planning. I designed my own kitchen in the house we have now and did a lot of the floor planning in our cabin.

40. A food I could not live without is the potato.

41. I used to be terrified of driving. Now I love it.

42. I can not live without my hair dryer or curling iron.

43. I am a night owl. My husband is an early bird. We clash on this.

44. I read the Holy Bible.

45. I had all four of my wisdom teeth by the time I was 16. They were impacted and had to be removed. They made me very sick.

46. I dislike wearing dresses.

47. Pantyhose and me do not mix.

48. I've moved 10 times in my life.

49. I am grumpy in the morning and do not wake up until I've had my coffee. Don't get between me and my coffee if you know what is good for you.

50. I am allergic to milk.

51. I hate being late. My husband is always late. We clash on this.

52. I avoid confrontation.

53. I am a summer girl.

54. One of the best years of my life was when I was 30.

55. I would rather give than receive.

56. I am a perfectionist.

57. I like learning new things.

58. I love being up really late at night when everyone else is asleep.

59. I love to sing.

60. I would like to visit the Holy Land, Greece and Hawaii before I die.

61. I have poor math skills.

62. I didn't learn how to read a ruler until I was in college! Isn't that just terrible? Now I need to know how because I am a graphic designer. Good thing I mastered it.

63. I can eyeball something onto a piece of paper right smack dab in the middle and make it perfectly straight too!

64. I did not learn how to drive (really) until I was 22.

65. I am maticulous.

66. When I was in Kindergaten, I spoiled for everyone that there wasn't an Easter Bunny. We went for a walk and came back to our classroom, there was a big Easter basket in the middle of the table. The teacher made a big production out of it being the Easter Bunny, I piped up and said that it wasn't the Easter Bunny because there wasn't any such thing and it was just the janitor!

67. I could draw a perfect circle when I was in Kindergarten.

68. When I was in Kindergarten I also spoiled it for the others when the teacher used to blow up a letter (like a beach ball only shaped like letters). She would bring them out into the classroom and tell us they came from outer space (what the heck?) so I piped up and said that they were all in a box in the back room all uninflated. I don't think my teacher liked me much.

69. I went to a private school until I was in 9th grade.

70. I had very blonde hair was I was little. Almost white, it was so blonde.

71. I played the Good Witch in a production of The Wizard of Oz when I was in school.

72. I also played an old lady in another play in school.

73. I sang my first solo in church during a Christmas Pagent.

74. I write poetry.

75. I've had a couple of my poems published.

76. I wanted a dolphin when I was little.

77. I also thought it would be neat to have a monkey.

78. I would love to own a horse.

79. I hate my hips.

80. I hate my stomach, it used to be so flat but after having three c-sections, it is shot to hell.

81. My children are my greatest accomplishment.

82. I wish I lived closer to my parents.

83. I would like to learn how to weave next.

84. I love the smell of burning wood. It reminds me of my mother. We had a woodburning stove in our house when I was little to heat it. My mother was the one to stoke the stove and this smell reminds me of her because of it.

85. I think the tiger is the most beautiful creature.

86. I have never had a tatoo.

87. I would like to see more plays.

88. Fresh cut hay smells wonderful to me.

89. The most beautiful scenery I've ever seen is when I used to work in Boulder, CO. I was driving to work one day on a perfect fall day. The night before it had snowed in the mountains and the Flat Irons were capped with snow. The sky was clear and sunny. I looked over into this lush green field toward the mountains, the aspens were peaking and glistening in the bright sunshine, the mountains were snow capped, and the field was filled with wild elk. Breathtaking!

90. I once came face-to-face with a Moose only a few hundred feet away from me.

91. I also came face-to-face with a giant rattle snake.

92 I love vegetables.

93. I hate white bread.

94. I will only eat whole grain breads.

95. I use whole wheat flour and not all-purpose.

96. I cook with olive oil.

97. I clean my house with chemical free cleaners.

98. I recycle.

99. I believe in creation.

100. I do not tan, I burn instead.

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Kids say the darndest things!

In the wee hours of the morning, my two year old started crying for mommy. I groggily got up out of bed and went into her room. She refused to lay back down in her bed so I hoisted her up out of her crib and layed her down next to me in our bed. She yawned and stretched and closed her eyes for a few minutes. Then she started to whimper again. I sleepily asked her what was wrong and she said, "MY weg hurts." I said, "Your leg hurts? Why?" My two year old said matter of factly, "It hurts because it is broken."

LOL!

Friday, May 23, 2008

Friday Fill Ins

1. On my laziest craziest day I like to drink a beer to relax me! (I don't get lazy days, I have six kids!)
2. Progress makes me feel like I'm being productive.
3. I love little kisses from my kids and big hugs from them too.
4. This summer I want to go on vacation, but that will never happen.
5. The writing of Denise over at www.knitchat.com made me start my blog. (Hee, hee, I bet she didn't know that!)
6. Red roses and orange tiger lilies.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to steak dinner, tomorrow my plans include major spring cleaning and Sunday, I want to go out in the boat!

Thursday, May 22, 2008

A Harrowing Experience

Instead of my coffee this morning to help wake me up, I had a harrowing experience that really got my heart pumping.

My morning didn’t start out so well from the get go. My soon-to-be 11 year old stepdaughter has had a serious chip on her shoulder for a couple days and we butted heads first thing. She didn’t go to school with us on good terms.

I called my hubby to vent. He reminded me to get a bid done that was due first thing this morning so I hopped onto the computer and quickly got it done. Then I went out to feed the alpacas. My mind was on my stepdaughter, and how we didn’t part on good terms. I fed them grain and hay and then I went to the outside gate to get into their pen so I could open up the gate to their newly built pen with fresh green grass. I must not have latched the gate well enough. While I was busy working on getting the gate to the new pasture open and the chain latched to keep the gate open, the alpacas went over to the other gate I had just entered the pen from. They pushed their way through and out they went, out into the wide open spaces and to freedom and to my despair! When I turned around I could have just fainted from fright! I was all alone with only my two young girls and I had five alpacas on the loose with a busy, busy highway only yards away. I was out of my mind with fright. Alpacas are fast as deer when they want to run. And did they ever run!

I spent the next two hours chasing five alpacas around our 40 acres, across the road, back again, across the road, back again, across the road, back again, around and around our forty acres all the while screaming for help as people drove by. I soon found out how few good Samaritans are left in this world. How few people really care when someone is in distress and how they sure know how to rubber neck and look to see what all the commotions is about, but won’t bother to even stop and offer to call for help. At this point I was beyond exhaustions. I was praying for help, screaming for help. Screaming to God to make someone stop and help me herd these animals back into the pen. The alpacas were on the road several times and cars just flew by. Then things got a whole lot worse. My two year old daughter came out of the house and walked right onto the road while I was trying to hold the animals in position next to our bank of trees.

I was done. I was out of my mind with fright and was breathing very heavy from running and screaming. I had to rescue my daughter first. I watched as my alpacas up into the field again and over the hill as I ran to rescue my daughter. Then I saw a truck coming with flashing lights and orange on the back. It was a road crew truck. I started waving my hands and screaming to please help me. They pulled over.

Three men stepped out and asked me what the trouble was. I told them my animals were all out and I was by myself trying to herd them. I told them I had to rescue my daughter and the alpacas went running. The men told me to get my daughter and they would help. I thanked God and I thanked them. I was so grateful for the help. My three angels appeared in orange safety jackets!

It took the men some time to get them rounded up and close to the barn. I ran to get grain to try and lure them to the pen. When I came out of the barn with the grain I saw that the alpacas were at the farthest end of our land running like mad. I didn’t think there was any hope. The men were able to get them to come back toward the barn. We managed to get them funneled between our shed and the fence. I opened the gate and stood in the space between the shed and the gate to prevent them from getting around it. We were able to herd them into the gate. Praise the Lord, they were in!

I profusely thanked the men. I asked them what their names were. I told them I would buy them lunch or something. They shook their heads and said they didn’t need anything, they said they were just doing their job. They told me that the next time I drive by men working on the road, to go by slowly and don’t laugh when they are resting on a shovel because they are just tired from working so long and hard. Thank you Stearns County anonymous road crew, whoever you were! You were angels to me today!

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Wordless Wednesday - My girls and I have been playing



More Wordless here and here. Also, don't forget about my photo caption contest. Hurry, the contest ends on June 4, 2008!