Photo Booth Rowley Style

Back to square one...

No more Huckabee for me. He's no good on immigration, even by his own admission. Too bad. I'm sorry to say I don't really care for any of these blokes (and let's don't even talk about the blokette). No, thanks. Next!..........??

My kind of humour

So this is it, guys. This is the kind of thing I laugh at...a lot. Does that make me a nerd?

Had to share

This is so cute!

CVS Paid Me to Take This Stuff Home

I busted out the CVS ad, some coupons, and some strategic shopping and I came home with this stuff, plus $7. For reals.

Turkey Day

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I'm In That Place Once Again...

Wow, that was easy!

Claesen's Thanksgiving meal was a breeze to prepare this year! If only all meal preparation were this easy!!!




As for the rest of us, our menu is as follows-

Cranberry-Glazed Cornish Game Hens
Grandma's Family Recipe (macaroni, sharp cheddar, saltines, butter, milk, and bacon! This is one I can remember having at Grandma's since the beginning of time...the ultimate comfort food. yum!)
Green Beans
Tyler's Cheesy Potatoes (he'll join us and bring that....sounds great!)
Homemade Bread
Artichoke Parmesan Spread (on clearance at Randalls today, what can I say? I loves me some artichokes :)
Almond Crunch Pumpkin Pie (baking right now...it smells heavenly!)
Ice Cream
Coffee

Whooo! And then a nice long walk to clear the conscience.

Family and friends, we really wish we could be with you tomorrow. We're thinking of you and hoping your holiday is warm and wonderful, full of good food, great conversion, and much thanksgiving to our great God who has bestowed so very many blessing upon us all.

Love!

Agritainment...

To infinity and beyond...

Tomorrow is Gregory's second birthday! I can hardly believe that he's already 2 years old. And simultaneously, I can hardly believe that he's only been on the earth for 2 years, because frankly, life b.g. is a real blur. We often ask each other, "what did we do with ourselves?" I know we were busy and doing important things, but I just can't even remember, say, a typical evening, sans small people.

Back to my little man. He's growing up, y'all. And I'm pretty in love with the little person he's becoming. He's smart, brave, obedient (usually!), cheerful, has a good sense of humor, is deeply curious, is kind to his little bro', loves books, singing, food (a man after my own heart), Elmo, Bob the Builder, Thomas the Train, and jumping on the trampoline....oh, and bubbles. Many, many bubbles.

I have to admit, though- amidst all these joys of seeing him grow and watching his personality unfold-there's that heartache of uncertainty. How will his life unfold? Will he get tripped up by the wrong kind of people? Will he fall into some sort of debilitating addiction? Will he go off to war? Will someone break his heart? Will he be liked at school? Will he find joy in his work? What will the world be like for him as the years pass? Most importantly, will he walk with Christ as his Saviour? These are the questions I ask myself every day. Jaye reminds me that all we can do is all we can do, and we have to trust God with the rest. And pray. And pray some more. I have never prayed more feverishly for anything than for the safety and salvation of my children.

But tomorrow, we're taking a break from the scary questions. Tomorrow, on Gregory's second birthday, only fun questions are allowed...."hey! Do you want another piece of cake? How about another present? You don't want to take your afternoon nap....hmm...ok! Oh, you want to go in the backyard with no shoes? A-ok with me! More trampoline? Sure! More books? You bet! Play-dough? Sure! You can even mix the colors today. More bubbles? I'm on it." It's your day, my little man. I love you so much. Happy Birthday!

Behind the scenes...making a recording

My choir is in the midst of making a recording. We just finished our second night of intense work. 6 hours down, 3 hours to go. It may sound exciting and fun, which it was, for the first 35 seconds... but mostly it's stressful and tedious. For instance, we may start and stop after the first note up to 12 times in a row. Then there are the times we start and then realize the church bells are chiming, or a train is going by. Stop! Do-over! Also, it's just plain unnerving to think that you could make a mistake which would force the entire group to come to a screeching halt...Re-do! Of course, we are insured against that somewhat because we have to do multiple takes of the same song, and sometimes extra takes of especially hard sections. The sound guys will seam the best parts together to make (hopefully!) a glorious and non-tedious sounding masterpiece. Supposedly these guys are really good. They better be.

The sound engineers are in another room, but we can hear them and they us. Not only is our director doing his thing, but the head sound guy is also giving suggestions, even musical ones, which I find interesting. I would find it annoying, except that I have agreed with everything he's said so far, and I wish we had addressed some of these things before now. Then we have the diction coach yelling out corrections, choir members asking questions and making suggestions, and the "perfect-pitch guy" giving a blow-by-blow account of our tuning adventures. Pass the vodka, yo.

Probably the most amusing part is that when you reach the end of the song, you're supposed to stand stock still and not make any noise for a good 20 seconds. That's a loooong time, and I find myself looking around, trying not to laugh at how hilarious everyone looks.

All of this, to bring to you a recording of your favorite secular Russian romantic choral masterpieces. I know it's something you've been pining for, and believe me, I'll do what it takes to get it done. :)