My Boys

I woke up this weekend feeling a little bit under the weather--yet another cold strikes again! I feel tired and just generally without energy. And to top it all off, I was babysitting Kaelan and Kameron. I felt pretty crummy until this moment:

I turned around to find the boys cuddling and when I grabbed my camera Kami gave me one of his huge grins. It made me feel much better.

Pirate Treasure!

Kaelan and I were investigating a huge tree in the front yard--it is the kind that has branches that drape to the ground like a big skirt and hide what's going on underneath. And what did we find?? A PIRATE MAP!!!! Complete with enormous red 'X' to the treasure! Of course we loaded Kameron in the stroller and jumped on the trail. With the help of a trusty Pirate compass to show us the way, of course.We had to go over the Bridge of Death--which apparently used to have water flowing there when pirates frequented the area, but alas no more--and then to the Beanstalk, which lucky for us was still standing in our front yard. Then it took us on a round-about walk through dangerous places (or so we devised, considering the map had pictures of skulls in this area) and finally behind the schoolbus. Wasn't it lucky the schoolbus was used as a marker by these pirates? The treasure contained the best pirate treasure EVER! A bubble sword that makes bubbles as big as Kameron's head, tons of pirate gold, a few necklaces, a sweet orange squirt gun, and the best thing of all in Kaelan's eyes--a brand new Monster Truck, War Wizard! Pirates are pretty awesome, aren't they?

I Would Run Off With Spock

First of all, let me just say that I am not a die-hard Trekkie. That being said, I was down with the idea of a prequel coming out to Star Trek. I've grown up on the Star Trek movies--we watched the original television show, the remade television show, and all the movies, both with Captain Kirk and Picard. I didn't differentiate between any of them--they were all good.

The new one, though, was pretty fantastic. Let me list the reasons! First of all, they managed to make Spock sexy. Who knew that could be done? Of course James Tiberius Kirk was sexy, that's a given. And Karl Urban as Bones??? Be still my heart. Enough with the fact that most of the male leads were totally hot--although can I just say it's such a bummer they grow up to look like their counterparts?? Leonard Nemoy is not sexy, and neither is William Shatner. Anyway, I really enjoyed the fact that they kept the basic costumes, and I completely dug all the shots of 'rural' Iowa with the futuristic, space-tech thing going on at the same time. And a big shout out to the guy they found to play George Kirk who really resembled his son.

I also really enjoyed the fact that they didn't tow my car while I was at the movies today.

Certified Fitter

I just recently went to Denver for a course in Mastectomy fitting--as we do that at Precision Prosthetics. Anyway, it was a super-cool course and I learned so much. They brought in 3 models who had a breast removed and we were able to practice fitting a bra on them and picking out which breast prosthesis would work the best. I learned so many new techniques. Now to get Kamil to let us order things...

And I am officially a Certified Fitter, as they call it.

Look At My Proboscus!

Kaelan got on too! I have never been more surprised. Of course Kameron was down--he started getting excited the second we got near the elephants. He can't really talk yet, but he was really making noises and pointing. The only thing he didn't like about the experience was the strange circus man who took him away from me to lift him onto the elephant. He wasn't into that at all. All in all it was a good experience--and I'm glad I did it, even though it was horrendously overpriced.

Circus Circus

I would put the circus theme in here, but I doubt the way it goes in my head sounds the same to anyone else. Yes, the circus is coming!!! I have long waited for this moment--not because it would be awesome to share this with my two little nephews. Not because I know they will love seeing clowns and people on the trapeze or walking the tight rope. Nope, my reasoning is purely selfish.

I will finally get to ride an elephant!!! Because, as Kaelan put it, Kameron is my ticket. Yes, folks, it is true. I have stooped to using a 1-year old to get my dream of riding an elephant. Now, granted, it won't be the same thing as actually being in Africa and riding an elephant all by my lonesome, but if the only way to ride one is to have half a dozen little kids on there, I'm good with it. Kaelan will probably chicken out at the last minute and not get on, as he does that. Kameron, however, will ride absolutely ANYTHING fearlessly. He's my little adrenaline junkie.

Therefore, I too will get to ride an elephant.

Diabolical, isn't it?

Craziness

Yikes! Can I just say that I suck at updating this thing??? So much for my love of writing...although I am currently hard at work on not one, not two, not three, but FOUR books! Well, five if you count the one I am finished with but still go in and look at and work on every once in a while. And no, nothing new to report in that area--apparently no one is digging my chili. (And by that I mean that no agents want to take on me and my book)

Let me see, what else has been going on? I recently made an emergency trip home to be with a friend who suddenly lost her mother. It was horribly hard and I did not enjoy that trip one little bit--other than getting to see my parents and my friends, that is. However, I managed to drive the 16-hour round trip all by my lonesome and was only nominally bored.

I have learned a few things lately. 1) My nephew, Kaelan, is a way cool kid. We have some good times. He's only 4 and completely one of my favorite people to hang out with. We have better conversations than many adults I know. 2) I HEART peanut butter pie and recently came across the best recipe ever! For those of you who want the best peanut butter pie in the WORLD--and also the easiest--here it is: 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 1 8 oz cream cheese, 1/2 cup peanut butter, 1 8 0z cool-whip, 1 chocolate pie crust. Mix ingredients and then beat in cool whip--be warned, the combination means you will spend mucho time trying to dislodge the mix from your spoon or mixer. Then pour into the pie crust and refrigerate for 3 hours. And there you have it, the BEST peanut butter pie recipe. 3) Bounce dryer sheets can be used for everything from bee repellent to getting rid of the funk in your car. Good to know. 4) I am a video game junkie, especially anything Xbox 360 related. I have played many a good one this spring.

I have been attending the Casper YSA branch since I got here and am happy to report that my bad attitude is slowly going away. Probably because I don't have anyone here to help perpetuate my bad attitude, like I did in previous wards. I have even been going to FHE.

I have been enjoying my straightener and my hair is extremely long--probably the longest it has ever been. Let's see how I can beat the 2-year old hair I get every summer in PA....

CAMP is just around the corner! A little more than a month until I leave on a jetplane and see some of my very favorite people in the world. I can't wait!