Dear Blog, I Miss You

Wow, I have REALLY dropped the ball on writing here on our beloved blog. My last post of any kind was May 1, and my last post that consisted of actual writing was back on December 18 of last year.

It's not supposed to be like this!! I really love writing! Since starting this blog in September 2006, I've written about many things - our family, music, our various animal endeavors, geeky tech stuff, and even an entire post about robotic vacuum cleaners that had my cousin Amy exclaiming that she couldn't believe she'd just read a whole post about robotic vacuum cleaners... and thoroughly enjoyed it!

I really do enjoy the writing! As fun (and easy) as it is to put up a couple funny and/or cute pics, or a video, this blog brought to the surface a love of actual writing that I previously hadn't known existed!

Even in this barren blogging wasteland of 2010, there are always two or three things that happen each week that make me say, "I really want to write about that!"

But the time is so fleeting... I knew that starting my own business would take up a whole lot of my time, but I hadn't factored in things like having a toddler in the house, or four teenagers going in four (or more) different directions at any given moment. Many nights I'll get into bed and think, "Oh shoot! I was going to put something up on the blog tonight!" and then I'll follow that up with, "I should grab the laptop... many of my favorite posts were written after bedtime..."

Of course, then I realize that if I fall for that line of reasoning, I'll stay up later than I should, and will pay dearly when the (very unforgiving) alarm goes off in the morning.

And then morning comes and the whole cycle starts up again.

My nephew The Donald recently brought his blog back from a long hibernation, and it inspired me... I went through a phase where I cared deeply about how many people were reading the blog, where they were from, how many of them left comments, and so on. But tonight, Cindy was looking through the archives, and I realized that none of that matters nearly as much as the great record of our family's lives over the past four years.

That ALSO inspired me.

So I know better than to make any grand statements about firing the blog back up again - that's too similar to posting that I'm serious about losing weight and getting in shape again. (although I AM doing that too) But what I will say is that I really love doing this blogging thing, and I hope that the next time I have time to play a few rounds of Dr. Mario on the Wii, that I will instead, come over here to the computer and pound out whatever's rattling around in my head.

Or at the very least, post a funny and/or cute picture.

What's up with you?

My mind is Full,

I have a yard sale to prepare for
Ellysa is going to Prom
The school year is almost over!
Summer daycare to plan
Tech Services 4 All is moving on up - yes relocating!
Vacation right around the corner :)
Hospital bills...
Mud Wrap at the Wellness Center Tuesday!

Life is good, Life is Full!

I Did It and I am SO excited!!

I have been wanting to get a family membership at the Point Defiance Zoo and aquarium since the weather has started to change. Danee loves, loves, loves to go for walks and rides in her stroller and right now she is all about animals! What could be better than a trip to the Zoo?

The Zoo just happens to be a couple miles down the road from us and I just happened to get a special invitation in the mail to join...

So my Mothers Day gift to my family this year is a annual Zoo membership. We get to bring guests for free, so that means we need guests! So... Come on over and play with us :)

At the Zoo of course!

Breakin' The Law

This morning Cindy, Tyler, Danee and I all went out to enjoy some wholesome recreational activities... At least, we THOUGHT it was going to be wholesome, but the City of Tacoma had other ideas.



See that???



Not only un-natural, but also illegal. Great. Well, as long as we're going to be outlaws, might as well have some fun with it, right? We'll start by looking innocent. And what could be more innocent than an adorable babygirl walking in a grassy meadow with her mommy?



Once that cover of innocence was established, it was time to get down to the illicit activities we came for... Oh yeah, we were there to FEED SOME DUCKS!!!





It started out well enough... But it just so happens, that one of Danee's favorite things to eat is bread. Just the same bread that we were feeding to those ducks...

Our sweet, innocent babygirl decided to TAUNT the ducks!!


HEY DUCKS! I HAVE SOME BREAD!!


AND I AM EATING MY BREAD!!


OKAY, NOW I HAVE SOME IN EACH HAND...


AND IT'S MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE!!!! MINE!!!

Between Danee and the 50 ducks, 1 seagull and a crow, the bread didn't last long. Since we'd started the adventure under the cover of wholesome recreational activities, we decided to end it the same way. There was an awesome climbing tree nearby, so Tyler and Danee had some fun playing.





Danee the Toddling Babygirl is largely fearless. It's VERY nerve wracking for Cindy and I as parents, but also pretty cool that she's just so confident and bold in doing things that look like they would scare a more common baby. But this morning, we found something Danee was definitely NOT okay with...



That bridge was something that Danee couldn't get off of soon enough! Even when she wasn't sitting on the edge of it with Tyler, she wanted nothing to do with it. Cindy tried walking her across, and Danee very clearly said "NO THANK YOU!" to the whole plan. Poor baby! Hopefully she'll conquer it soon, because I think it would make a good setting for a family picture!