DWTS Addict

Well, I have to admit, I don't watch much TV these days except for one show... I LOVE Dancing With The Stars! I love watching these "celebrities" struggle learning their dances and performing them. But more than that, I love watching the ones that "get it", perform their dances well or even GREAT! Part of me wishes that I had the opportunity to be on this show. I would love the challenge, however I would hate being a celebrity. So I don't think that is going to happen....

The right people were voted off this week - Steve Wosniak and Holly Madison. Although, Steve (the co-founder of Apple) had a great spirit - always positive and uplifting - he simply couldn't dance. Holly (an ex-Playboy) tried but couldn't ever pull off looking natural on the dance floor.



There are three contestants that are amazing though - Melissa (from the last "Bachelor"), Lil' Kim (the rapper), and Gilles (the sexy guy from the "Sex in the City" movie). They "get it" and are doing a great job! I have a feeling that there a couple of the contestants that are going to surprise us with how well they do in the coming weeks too. Can't wait until next week!

Too much isn't always bad

Last year was our first year to pre-plant seeds for our garden. We pre-planted tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapenos, and basil. However, I made a mistake.... when it came time for planting, so many seedlings had done so well and I couldn't throw them away! So I planted them ALL and I planted too many! But we had a beautiful and abundant garden!

Matter of fact, in some things it was so abundant, that we couldn't even get rid of it fast enough! We planted NINE zucchini plants and was giving them to neighbors and friends, even our postman (who said "how do you make this?") We planted 7 jalapeno plants. However, this was mostly Ben's doing - for some reason he thought we would only get a handful of them off each plant.... we instead picked close to SIX HUNDRED by the end of the summer!

This year we will try to be a little more careful. However, we may still overplant a little... I've found that taking your extra zucchini or cucumbers to a neighbor's house can be a nice excuse to say hello.

Here's the start to our Garden of 2009....

Fifth Sundays

Sundays are interesting at our house. I work in the nursery during the service on the first Sunday of the month, Ben runs sound on the second Sunday, we visit a new church on the third Sunday, and then I sing in the praise team on the fourth Sunday. Although we enjoy everything we do at church, we don't end up sitting all together for service at our church very often. That is why FIFTH Sundays are sooooo nice! A time to all sit and enjoy the WHOLE service at our church together!!! Such a blessing!

BTW, we are visiting churches on the third Sunday because we are looking for support groups/families in our community for foster care/adoption. Our church is simply too far away to be a consistent support for that type of thing. We are NOT currently looking for a new church!

On a random note: lately, Madelyn has been asking that I "feed" her the words for the songs during service so that she can sing with us. I can tell that she is starting to get frustrated by not being able to read them like everyone else. She is catching on to reading though! It is so exciting to hear her sounding out words and figuring out words all the time (of a sign in the window of a newarby shop, "Mom, does that sign say 'closed'?"). And this is when I can't deny that my little girl isn't so little anymore.

Everyday blogger?

I don't know if I can do it, but I'm gonna try. I'm gonna try to blog something EVERY DAY! (Even though I pretty sure I'm gonna fall flat on my face on this one!) I think my problem is that I don't think I have interest things to say every day....

Well today was a pretty day but still on the cool side. It was good day to send the kids out to ride their bikes in the driveway with the mittens on. Yeah, that kind of day.

A few days ago, in an attempt to get the guest room remodel started, Ben and I (mostly Ben) pulled the ceiling tiles out of our guest room. We had just had what we thought were our last visitors until Mother's Day. (BTW - my mom and sister are coming in for Mother's Day!!!) Our friends came through and stayed the night before flying out early a week ago. Their plan was to stop by to get their car and drive home (4 hours or so) today. But with flight issues it looks like they will be staying here tonight. I'm glad we had a little heads-up so that we could vacuum the guest room like 4 times to get all the dust and particle stuff out of there before they get here. So, now our guests are staying in a room with no ceiling tiles.... is that rude?

Spring...is it for real or just a tease?

It was 65 degrees and beautiful(!) and we just HAD to get out and enjoy it. I think every Minnesotan finds their way outside on the first spring-like day of the year. Neighbors get reacquainted, bikes get pulled out, sidewalks and street shoulders are filled with people going for walks... it is an event!


However, after 10 years of this, I KNOW that this is just the "up" on the winter/spring transition rollercoaster and that putting away the winter coats, mittens, and hats would be foolish. We must keep them out for at least a couple more weeks.... But today, today was a long-awaited, beautiful day!

Finally, a hair cut!

Well, today Madelyn got her first official haircut.

Here are the before pictures:



She said she was nervous and took Lola (her baby) to help her "be comfortable". Lola hid under the gown though. The hairdresser is a neighbor and friend with a little girl about Madelyn's age. So that helped Madelyn feel more comfortable too.




Madelyn's (and my) new haircut!