I LOVE playing tag!

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car) Velvet Town and Country
2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (favorite ice cream and favorite cookie) Cookies and Cream Chocolate Chip
3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name) Mbjo
4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal)Pink Monkey
5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born) Lynn Long-Branch (added the hyphen to make it seem more "name like")
6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first) - Bjomi
7. SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite drink put “The”) The Purple Milk
8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers)- Merrill John
9. STRIPPER NAME: ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne, favorite candy) Journey Reese's
10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names ) Ann Alan (although technically my mother doesn't have a middle name, long story, but if she did it would be Ann)

Photo Tag

Ok so I wasn't specifically tagged but when someone says "I tag everyone" I guess I'm included. Being that I have a Mac I had to pick the 4th photo, in the 4th folder, in the 4th folder, in the 4th folder...it's just the way these things work. Of course this totally turns out to be a LAME picture. One of the best ways to motivate myself to clean is to hold myself accountable to other people. I will sometimes have a little fun with my "online friends" and pick a room to clean. We all take before pictures and post them online. Then the goal is to clean that room and take after pictures to post for everyone to see how nicely your room cleaned up. I guess I should be glad the 4th picture was an after picture and not a before :)!

I tag: Anyone who wants to play along. Just post the 4th picture in your 4th folder of photo files!

The Pumpkin Tradition

You may be asking yourself, why did they take a picture of a pumpkin on their toilet? Well it has become a bit of a tradition around here. Way back when Jon and I had our first apartment we got a couple pumpkins to carve for Halloween. We carved one and then found those pegs that you push in that light up. I really wanted a picture of the pumpkin with the pegs all lit up, so I had the brilliant idea to take the pumpkin into the bathroom where there were no windows so it would be completely dark and we'd be able to get a picture. This was before we had a digital camera so we had to use good old fashioned film. I snapped a few pictures and couldn't wait to get them developed. When the pictures came back I was shocked to see that you couldn't see the lights at all, just the pumpkin sitting on the toilet. Silly me (in all my 18 year old glory) just didn't think this through at all and duh, we used the flash, so that totally defeated the purpose of using a dark room.

Well we got some laughs from the experience and have decided that from now on whenever we carve a pumpkin we need to take a toilet picture.

Of course being older and wiser now, and learning from experience...not to mention the benefits of a digital camera, we remembered this year to take one without the flash too.

Welcome Baby Tyler!

As of around 3am this morning (I was not really awake when Jon told me the exact time this morning) we have a little nephew! All I know is that he was a big boy (over 10 lbs, quite possibly bigger than Emily currently is and she's 6.5 weeks older, lol) delivered via c-section. I'm assuming it will be a few days before we can go see them (since we have the kids and can't bring them to the hospital) but we can't wait to meet little Tyler. Congrats Dave and Julie!

I'm Going There

I just have to vent about this election season. I think that it really is bringing out the very worst in people. The things I see in the media, comments written on message boards, and emails that fill my inbox daily, it's making me sick. We are a country very divided. It's getting to the point where if we state our own opinion we know someone is going to jump down our throat. Thankfully I have NOT had to experience this for myself in real life, but that is because I keep my political thoughts to myself. I really hope that we as a country can reunite, put the politics behind us, and support those who win office in November.

I'm NOT Superwoman!

I am having a very rough moment right now so feel free to ignore my vent. Nathan won't take a nap for the second day in a row, Emily is constantly wanting to be held, Jon is working 16 hour days. I just can't do it all anymore. I am not Superwoman. I have so much on my plate between two kids, maintaining the house, being primary president (and trying to prepare for a program that is just 3 Sundays away and sill not completely written), being membership vice president of the MOMS Club, and being in the Michigan Concert Choir that it has finally taken it's toll on me and I can't do it anymore.

Even just typing that little bit has seemed to just taken the weight of the world off my shoulders.

And WHY on earth do baby swings have 6 speeds when all my kids seem to like is the fastest setting????? I just put Emily in the swing to type this knowing that she hates the swing when I remembered that Nathan hated it too unless it was on the fastest setting so I just turned up the speed and Emily is so calm and almost asleep.

UPDATE- Right after typing this I made the decision that I could no longer do choir. I think that really was my breaking point. I wasn't enjoying it anymore because it was more of a hassle than it was worth. I also have come down with a nasty cold (all stuffed up, sore throat, headaches [achy all over really], cold and hot spells, but no fever [thank goodness]) so I am sure that has aided my feelings of inadequacy. Thanks for all your words on encouragement. Nathan is now napping again, and in a couple weeks I will be shipping him off to preschool 2 mornings a week . It will be good for him to have time to be active with other little toddlers and it will give me time to focus on Emily and get the things done that I need to do.

A New Tradition

We decided to start a new tradition today. It all started with the East Detroit High School Homecoming Parade. Because of the parade we couldn't get the the Warren Harvest Hay Day until it was almost over. We had planned on getting a free pumpkin but when we got there the line had a 2 hour wait and they couldn't guarantee that we would even get a pumpkin. So we came home and ate lunch when and then I had a brilliant idea, lets go to a real pumpkin patch and pick a pumpkin. We had so much fun at the pumpkin patch that we decided to make this an annual event. Next year we will pick apples too.

Adding to the fun of family traditions we also decided that we will go to a cut your own tree place to get a Christmas tree. We have to do these things now, make all these great family memories, because before we know it we will blink and our kids will have kids of their own.

If you want to see pictures from the pumpkin patch check out Nathan's blog (there are a few on Emily's blog too).