13, 013 . . .

Is the number of items stored in my iPhoto library.

It's never bothered me before and I usually do my best to weed out junk.

But, I discovered when I was trying to download video for Harrison's report that I

DON'T HAVE ANY SPACE LEFT!

It took me a while to figure that out.

So, I spent a good hour and "started at the very beginning" (I hope you hummed the tune there) trying to find pictures and videos to delete. I didn't do so well. Guess I'm going to have to store them somewhere. I did score big over in iTunes by deleting HUGE sections of tenor aria stuff left over from when this was SP's computer. Cleared the problem right up!

In the process of going through pics I came along this series of Lara back in kindergarten or first grade probably (you think I'd look at the date, oh well).

Priceless!

(-:

Well, that only took me FOUR HOURS!!! . . .

But at least the kid's book report/commercial is done!

(Hit full screen and see if it's clear enough to watch)

H's February book report (he has one every month) was to "sell the book" in some form or another. With a poster, music, video...whatever, "be creative" she said. Well, being newly self-"trained" in iMovie I asked if he'd like to film a commercial. There was NO WAY I thought he'd agree to it...he despises pictures. Of course, I evidently don't know my own kids...he gave a hearty and eager reply of "YES" to my proposal. The above clip is the product of how I spent my late afternoon and evening with the boy. Take after retake...upload problems...freezing frames...oh my...

and, p.s. the "seen" in his list of characters is probably Sean!

If he gets even 1/2 a point lower than full credit, I'm not quite sure what'll happen!

(-:

In the end though, it's sure going to be fun to look back on when he's older.

And since sittin' around doing nothin' doesn't do much for me . . .

(Are you kidding??? I would sooooooo love to sit around and do nothin'!!!)

I decided to hop on stage this afternoon and Friday night to belt out one hundred and fifteen minutes of choral music with 150 of my good choir-singing friends and the DSO!

Photo credit to my sister's smartphone!

(I'm fifth from the left on the top row)

Photo credit to my sister-in-law in Texas who freeze-framed part of the live webcast.

(I know...isn't that amazing!!!)

I'm second from the left, top row (no, we didn't push some ladies off stage, this was the second half of the program!), with a grandly shaped "O" vowel...I hope my conductor saw that...during rehearsal this week he had the gal two to my right give the entire choir an example of a perfectly shaped "O" vowel, since then I've been striving to be the one he would ask for such an example...hehehe, kidding...kinda! (-;

We performed John Adams' "On the Transmigration of Soul" which was commissioned for the 1st anniversary of 9/11 and Brahms' Requiem.

O.K., next up..."training" for the Master's State Swim Meet at the end of March. And by "training" I mean...I sure do think about swimming a LOT more these days! Ha!! I'm still thinking a LOT about going to the pool three times/wk and really aspire to do that this week. HaHA...we'll see.

But...

If I lived in this house I wouldn't have a problem at all achieving that goal.

Thank you again Pinterest for all the fun "dreaming" time!

Oh but wait . . .

There's more...

(from our trip)

Here are some great shots that Lara took while I was in the

SHOP.

I find this kid sooooo photogenic!

And then, since running kids up and down the Sleeping Bear Dunes wasn't enough for one day . . .

We decided to hike the seven of us up the Empire Bluff!

Truth be told, some friends we were traveling with talked us in to it. We were SOOO ready to bail on that plan. Funny how they thought it was such an awesome idea (what with them having ONE 10 year old boy and all!! (-:). It was gorgeous though and I only had to carry the two year old on the last half of the way down (that did actually su**!).

Here's a (long) recap:

Going Up...

Some people climbed trees along the way.

Some people decided they wanted to pull their sled instead of being pulled in their sled!

Uh, yeah...for real...I've learned not to argue with a two year old in situations like this!! I mean c'mon, it was past her nap time, she'd already been shot like a bullet down Sleeping Bear and she'd and scream for an hour if I tried to force her into that sled. Not gonna do it! We're simply going to take 1.5 hours to get up that hill!! (not really, but we sure did come in last).

Some people were well on their way down while we slowly trekked onward.

Ben and his buddy.

And, finally. We reached the summit and were met with open arms!

View from the top...

Aren't those simply AMAZING???

Done for the day...

Out like a light I tell ya!

So, that's that. I also highly encourage a hike up to Empire Bluff. And I have to say, if you have just the right winter day (ours was forty degrees and sunny) it was possibly an even more enjoyable hike than in the summer.

Not sure the Huron Hills are going to really cut it anymore . . .

Now that we've sledded the Sleeping Bear Dunes!!!

Yes, you read that right. We decided it would be a great idea for our kids to plummet down a couple hundred feet (or more, I have no idea but it was H.U.G.E.) sand hill slicked down with snow. Few minor glitches (two year old is now terrified of sledding and the five year old caught wind off a smaller dune off range) but overall one of the coolest experiences EVER!!

"Uh...wow!"

"Don't you worry little buddy, it's going to be loads of fun...really..."

And it was...

mouthfuls of sand and all!

This brave boy marched up to the peak every time and had an absolute blast!

Then this little flower was pulled up the hill.

"Don't worry, sweetie. It's going to be great fun. Really, really great fun!"

This was the last picture of her for some time.

The experience didn't actually go so well.

Wee bit too fast, followed by crashing into her crazed mother!

Kinda loved all the colors in this one.

Suppose it would have been nice to have a fresh layer of snow covering the entire dune but our day was just so ideal it was hard to complain. Forty degrees, sunny and blue skies to boot. Plus, you would be amazed how much nicer it was to scale the dunes in the winter rather than in the loose, sinking sand with 85 degree heat of summer. Absolutely a perfect day!

She was back to her regular self after we convinced her we wouldn't shoot her down the hill again and were able to summit a few of the peaks.

Harrison!

So, instead of dropping $210.00 for three of our family members to ski for half a day at Crystal Mountain, we shelled out $10.00 for our entire family to spend the day on the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lake Shore. Best $10 we've ever spent. I HIGHLY recommend a winter trip to the dunes!

So much to post...

So little time left in my night.

Been gone on another great trip to the Crystal Mountain area (three years and counting now). G.R.E.A.T. pics to download and post sometime.

But...

Since I've just put in a big day of re-packing and traveling for a family of seven I'm just going to post my exciting news from tonight...

Well,

Exciting for me anyway.

I registered myself for "States" at the end of March, whoo-hoo!

This is what I've signed up for and for the times I think I can swim the stuff in:

Swim Meet Events

Event Number	Gender	Distance	Stroke	Time	Date
1	Female	1650 SCY	Free	30:00.00	03/23/2012
22	Female	100 SCY	Fly	1:25.00	03/25/2012
26	Female	200 SCY	IM	3:16.00	03/25/2012
32	Female	100 SCY	Back	1:45.00	03/25/2012
36	Female	100 SCY	IM	1:40.00	03/25/2012

The Horizontal Child . . .

It's one thing to be the "middle child" but it's another all together for it to be spelled out so blatantly on the fireplace mantel!

FYI, that was not planned. The horizontal/vertical situation is purely from which pic had the best look.

For all that he's sandwiched in between birth wise, that kid is really starting to come into his own this year. He's thrilled beyond the moon to be playing on his own basketball team (great year for me to decide to put him on one too, totally unthought of but with both L & B on a team this year it's nice for him to get some limelight too) with the Upwards program:

"In addition to providing a fun environment for learning basketball skills, Upward also provides the opportunity to improve a child’s self-esteem, strengthen their character, develop their respect for authority, and, above all, allows the child to grow spiritually."

Plus, he's started recorder and I'll tell you what, he and I were jamming out some duets one night after the littles were in bed. I saw that smirk of pride even though I'm being told that "the only reason I'm playing the recorder is to get a good grade in music."

And Finally,

How he's seen by classmates at school as per their Valentine's list:

1. Hailarious (-:

2. Cool

3. Smart

4. Fun

5. Earn alot of buckos

(reward system the teacher uses...he has the most in the class!)

6. Good Friend

7. Fast

8. Good at shooting baskets

9. Athletic

10. Joyful

I'd say our horizontal child is right on track!

Way to go, Harrison!!

Happy Heart Day . . .

Somehow this gal picked up on what the day is all about. I know the kids have been crafting with hearts and cards around the house lately, but for her to pull this bear out of some pile today, all excited about the heart he's sporting, was still surprising to me.

Although...

She also managed to point out the quarter rests in the music I was practicing this morning and say, "shh" for each of the rests she found (I did show her quarter rests once over the weekend in a book we were reading, but c'mon!)! Um, hellooooo...GENIUS!!

Unlike her mom. I spelled "genius" as "genious" and then went to look it up since my blog's spellcheck wasn't working, this is what I found:

Genious

	It is often the case that idiots describe themselves as 'genious' but are ironically ignorant to the fact that the word is spelt 'genius' - much to the amusement of us intelligent people. Well, now that my font and spacing is all goofed up from that copy/paste lets move on....

Lara crafted this last night for Ben to give to his teacher. She sewed that pocket on the front and tucked a chocolate inside. The other side has a heart with Ben's Valentine greeting to Mrs. D. Nice to have such a creative sister!

Then, William arrived home for some Valentine hugs.

I had left Livia inside while I went to the driveway to greet William's bus (they can't let him off without a wave from mom!). But she wouldn't have any of that. She went and got her boots on herself and met us outside! What a gal!

Hurry, hurry to see what kind of Valentine treats (aka, "lunch") came home!

There's really nothing left to say!

Last Wednesday I Scored at Value World . . .

And I'm talkin'

S.C.O.R.E.D!

(well, with one exception, it would have been a Super Score if I had also had a "50% off everything," coupon. Love getting my $1.21 items for 60cents and a ha'penny!)

So, last Wednesday night was abound with fresh activities...

Got a HUGE stack of pristine Dr. Seuss books.

Formerly owned by Scotty, so said the masking tape labels on the front.

Also got FIVE hard cover Harry Potter books for a couple bucks each!

William's "Tag" pen and books.

And the big winner...a brand new, pieces still in the little plastic bags, $21 dollar set of K'nex for three Dollars!

Yes my friends, Three Doll Hairs!!!!!

He said he always sorts the pieces first.

Atta boy!

Surprisingly this one rathered the DS than helping with construction.

I think it might have been a bit of a "too many cooks in the kitchen" thing.

We interrupt this walk down Value World Lane with a girl in a messy kitchen doing a science experiment (just for fun!!) on the same night:

Making Frozen Apple Juice Slushy

(Yes, apple juice...I know you see cut up oranges all over the counter next to her, but those are from a completely unrelated kitchen event that were never cleaned up...trust me, I know!)

O.K., so this is what he made, super cool!

Let's see it in action, shall we...

Hehehe, I L.O.V.E. iMovie!

After reviewing this post I must add..."Moms currently in the throws of parenting young ones...please know that this was a highly unusual night of productive learning, playing and parenting. Usually there is a lot of running around, yelling and trying to cajole someone or another to practice or get their homework done." Oh...plus, with iMovie, you can edit out yelling parents...just saying...

"And was instantly enveloped in a fart cloud." . . .

(Sorry about that)

(-;

You've just got to watch this whole clip, well, at least my family should...

Unbeknownst to me, "Walter the Farting Dog" came home from my trip to Value World in a packet of books, hardly used more than once or twice it appears, with this super amazing invention (says the kid from the '70's),

the Tag Reading System.

I got mine for $3.82 with four books and a plastic carrying case!

Score!!!

And,

BY THE WAY...

I can NOT believe this book even exists and on top of that I'm stuck with a living version of it, sound effects and all!!!

I mean, C'MON...I've already gone through THREE BROTHERS and am in the middle of living with THREE SONS worth of this topic!!!

I should get some kind of medal for this!

This has been an exceptionally exclamation point worthy post I see...

!

(-:

I was supposed to have a triumphant Ice Rink Post This Year . . .

I've been amassing pictures on my desktop since December for one big triumphant, "We have an ice rink!" post. I would have had my sloshy soup getting cleaned out, the ice slowly turning solid like a smooth sheet of glass, kids lacing up skates whilst sitting on a tree stump (hehe) and the final coup de grace (yes, that's how it's spelled, just couldn't get the fancy thing above the "a"), VIDEO of happy skaters gliding to and fro!

Instead, I have a picture of the lightest one in our family who was able to shovel snow, clearing the ice until we heard the hugh "CRAaaaaaaCK!

And many pictures of my "rink" imitating the Little Blue Engine,

"I think I can, I think I can, I think I can freeze solid!"

Look at that beautiful sheen, will you??!!

Ahhhh....

Just wasn't meant to be this crazy, warm winter I guess!

(And yes, part of me is thinking that if I write that we might just get slammed with real winter for the next two months...and part of me would love it!)

In other news:

Wouldn't that be fun in the backyard?

(yep, pinterest)

(-: