I’m trying out something new with this post. Video! (Everybody’s doing it…) Wade got me the Canon 5D Mark II for Valentine’s Day and it takes amazing videos…really, I’ve seen them on the internet! We tried it out a little to see if we could put something together, and after three days I finally got a final product. Hopefully the next round will go a little more smoothly.

Disclaimers… Please ignore the mechanical clicking…that’s the camera motor. We got an external mic to try out for the next go around. Please ignore the children in their jammies…I couldn’t wait for the daytime to try out the video stuff. Please ignore my weird facial tics…why didn’t somebody tell me I do that?!?!?!

Benji on christmas morning with his razor scooter and new lego indiana jones 2 wii game. He was a happy boy.

Tyler with his new bike. He’s a happy boy, but he hasn’t gotten to go out and ride it yet. (too much snow and too cold!)

Santa brought Avery a terrarium and a book about White’s tree frogs. He got right to reading about his (about to be) new pet.

So, without further adieu… We introduce our new family member… Fern the frog. Isn’t she the cutest thing?!?!?

The boys got to take turns holding her for the first time tonight… (she looks like she’s smiling…)

Benji was tickled…literally!

Avery is too happy. He just loves her! He’s already fed her a cricket…now *that’s* love, for real…

No…I did not photoshop this…she changes color! I am sure there will be more of Fern’s adventures to come…

Time for bed…we’re taking down the Christmas decorations tomorrow. xoxo

A few weeks ago, Tyler came to us and told us that they were holding auditions for the middle school musical production of Twinderella, and they were opening up the auditions to the fifth graders as well. He told us that he wanted to audition and the following week signed up for a spot. Last Thursday he auditioned by singing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and reciting from memory the Robert Frost poem Dust of Snow. For that alone, I was extremely proud. Today he learned that he has a part in the play!! More details are forthcoming, but in the meantime, we are basking in the glow of his middle school musical stardom.

In other news, I know that it has been a long time since I have updated the old blog, and for that I do apologize. I have been extremely busy with school and keeping straight A’s in all five of my classes. I hope you will forgive me. I’ll try to find some time to do a more complete update sometime this week. For now, I must go type up my final paper for my last Fundamentals of Design class tomorrow.

xoxo
Heather

I meant to blog on Thursday when everyone had a snow day, but the day totally got away from me. So now Holly is bugging me for pictures…geesh! (you know I love ya, right sis? heehee) I thought I’d put a few up from Avery’s birthday and Halloween. (hang on to your hats…)

On October 18th, this little boy turned 8.

We took the boys and a few of Avery’s friends to Elitch Gardens (amusement park) for the day. It was beautiful! Almost 90 degrees in October! The park was decked out for Halloween, so all of the ponds were filled with ‘blood’.

Benji was the only boy who wanted to ride with me on the tilt-a-whirl.

Benji on the kiddie bumper cars…I wouldn’t want to bump into him, that’s for sure! LOL!

The Dragonwing ride taken from our spot in line.

Avery in the seat behind me.

The view from the Dragonwing at the top.

In line for the Twister 2 (old wooden coaster). Benji did not want to ride. (I didn’t have permission from the other parents to post the whole pic…so it’s just Logan, Tyler, and Avery in this one…) The Twister was our last ride of the day. All of the kids had a great time! (and parents, too.)

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnndddddddddddd….here are the costumes! All four hand made. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself.

My three Musketeers. (I love these boys so much!!)

Benji!!

Tyler!! (He wanted to look serious.)

Avery!!

At the school for Trunk-or-Treat.

After Trunk-or-Treat…the candy trade…

And then I had dinner with these characters….

And now the time change has completely kicked my butt. I’m off to bed. Goodnight!

Last night, I gathered all of my school stuff…my new book bag, my new purse (just finished on Sunday), and my new coffee cup (thanks, Arleigh!!!). I think I may have a ‘problem’…I love that fabric so much!

a little closeup of my coffee cup. It’s one of those that you can screw off the bottom and personalize it. I totally had not thought about adding pictures until Wade suggested these…

This morning, we all got up a little early so we can get the boys to before school care and me to class by 7:30 (yes, that’s A.M.). The boys were good sports and all went smoothly. I had Wade take an obligatory first day of school picture…

First class of the day…Speech. It was not as bad as I thought it would be. The four hours actually went by pretty quickly. We learned about the different types of speeches. Then we learned about the speech we would be giving next week. (lol!) And then we got to prepare for the speech we had to give today! I had a really good idea that we would have to do an introductory speech, so I had already been thinking about things I wanted to say. But there was a twist! We had to make a ‘visual aid’ with newsprint and markers. I learned that I am the oldest in my class (by only a year) and I have the most children (the lady that is a year younger than me has two). There are a *lot* of culinary students in my class, and a few photographers. There is also a married couple in there! Our speech for next week is a demonstration speech. I think I am going to demonstrate how to make homemade cookies…

The second half of the day was spent in History of Photography class, ok. The professor is a really nice guy, ok. He gave us a choice, ok, of either having a quiz on each assignment, ok, or having a mid-term and a final, ok. Oh, and he says ‘ok’ a lot, ok. hahahahaha I think I would find it annoying, except that he is a really nice guy and he is actually making this seriously dry subject totally palatable for me. This class was also four hours long, but it really didn’t seem that long, except for the copious amounts of notes that I apparently took. The middle finger on my right hand feels bruised. I have two more chapters to read before next week…

Tomorrow, I have Fundamentals of Design and lunch with Wade. Life is good.

Yesterday I was given a very exciting opportunity to listen to and write a review of Brandi’s new album coming out on Tuesday, October 6th. When I got the email, I was thrilled! I’m sure you aren’t surprised. But then…I got freaked out. I’m not a writer. I don’t have the gift of literary expression that so many others out there do. How am I going to get across to you all what I hear and feel when I listen to this album? I admit that it feels very personal. I identify very strongly with music. (Thanks, Mom and Dad!) The lyrics, the arrangement of the music, the little subtleties that you find on repeated listens…these are the things that make listening to new songs so appealing. So, where to begin?

Brandi and the twins have an amazing way with words. (Maybe I should ask them to write this review for me… No? Ack. Ok, fine.) No stories were left untold on this album. Dying Day and Caroline are stories from the road, one longing and one raucous and fun. Insistent love stories like Looking Out…”I close my eyes, I think of you. I take a step, I think of you. I catch my breath, I think of you. I can not rest, I think of you.” And the heartbreaking story of loss in That Year. Brandi’s voice is so versatile as she tells each of these stories. She draws me in. I could sit and listen for hours (and you know I have, lol!). My favorite song lyrically…? It would probably be Pride and Joy. I’ve loved it for a long time. I’ve heard it live many times (it’s totally different live) , and it hits me in my heart *every* *time*.

I find the songs on this album musically diverse. I love the soft feel of Touching the Ground, I Will and That Year. The instruments are so understated, providing the perfect balance for Brandi’s amazing vocals. Then you have songs like Looking Out and Dreams with totally rockin’ drum beats. Holy cow, I dig those drums. I absolutely can not play Dreams without turning it way up, jamming along, and singing at the top of my lungs. Awesome. My favorite song musically is definitely Before it Breaks. Brandi’s voice and the piano are amazing together and *then* the drums come in. The slower sections giving way to that hard driving beat…it’s musical perfection for me.

Brandi and the twins got a whole lot of talented help on this album…Amy Ray, Benmont Tench, Chad Smith, Paul Buckmaster,  Elton John. It is obvious that the band has an extremely diverse list of influences. There is a little touch of country (If There Was no You) and definitely some rock and roll. Anybody get some Beatles in there, too? (Dad…Before it Breaks, Oh Dear??) I am attracted to this diversity. And I am sure that is why I love this band and this album so much. There is a little something for everybody. (Ok. Maybe not Emily… *wink* You know I love ya, girl!) I am never bored listening to Brandi and the boys. And I will tell you, their concerts are beyond amazing. They are on tour now…if you can, go see them. You won’t regret it!! (Check out their tour schedule here)

Thanks to those who listened and commented on my last post. I still would love to hear what you think if you didn’t comment before. And of course I would love to hear your thoughts on this review. Thanks for reading!!

Of course I have a million things to say about the new album. But I don’t want to taint your ears. If you leave your comments, I promise to come back tomorrow and give my full review. Deal? *smile*

And to help you visualize, a few pictures of the Brandi Carlile Band from the shows I went to last month.

The band singing “Oh, Dear”

Tim Hanseroth on the guitar.

Josh Neumann on the cello.

Phil Hanseroth on the bass.

Love this one of Brandi.

The band and the new stage set.

This one is from the second night. Open air theater in the Poudre Canyon. It was so cold, but the band still rocked it hard!

Can’t wait to hear what you think of the new album!

I wanted to share the biggest project I’ve been working on…Halloween costumes! I’ve got the boys’ costumes 95% done. I’ve got a few little finishing touches I need to get together or make, but I made them try the tops on this morning. Contrary to the look on Tyler’s face, they were all tickled to put these on. They all went running to find swords!

Project Runway will never come knocking down my door, but I am tickled that I made sleeves!!! LOL! My next sewing project is *my* costume…that should be interesting…

A little aside about Benji’s nose… My sweet boy has a terrible habit of picking at scabs. We’ve had to take some more drastic measures to keep his hands off of the scab that is on his nose and his hand. No nose accidents have occurred. *wink* We are hopeful that within the  next couple of days, he will be scab free, and thus nose-band-aid free as well.

I’ve got one more week before school starts and about 983,210,198,723,048 more projects. If you don’t see me here, don’t worry. I will be back a week from tomorrow to let you know how my first day goes for sure. Have a wonderful week!!

So…Friday, I spent some quality time with my friends Emily and Ronda in a local quilting store. Gah! I really didn’t need to know that there was a specialty fabric store that close to me. Could be seriously dangerous… I decided that I need a new bag for my new back to school adventure. (oooh! Tomorrow is pre-registration…more on that later!) Ronda loaned me a totally cute Amy Butler pattern and I got some awesome fabric.

Originally, the pink “olive” fabric was supposed to be the handle and the green was the inside, but more than halfway of cutting the green fabric I realized that I got it mixed up. It was totally a happy accident. It came out much better the other way around. Must have been my crafty subconscious.

The inside, I ended up doing some machine quilting. The first time I’ve done quilting more than a simple X on a square. I love how it turned out!

By Sunday afternoon…I was totally finished!

The flowers are from a different Amy Butler purse pattern that I just had to have. My next project is that pattern. I had a *blast* making this bag and I want to make more!! Here’s a little close-up…

Tomorrow, I am going to carry my new bag and get pre-registered for the first five classes in my new venture. I could not be happier!!

(p.s…I know I owe some of you an email. I promise I will get back to you soon! xoxo)

Today, I posted the following as my Facebook status…

“No one should die, go blind, or be crippled because they can’t afford health care. No one should go broke because they get sick. No one should be unable to change jobs because of a pre-existing condition.”

For that, I was called a clueless communist and told that I should just move to Russia. Ok…*I* was not told that *personally*, but all of us that think this way were labeled as communists and it was suggested that if that is what we really thought that we should just leave.

Hear me now. I am not claiming to be an expert at what is being proposed in Washington. I am NOT saying that I agree with it either. What I AM saying is that health care in this country is broken. BROKEN. There are elderly people TODAY that are being denied health care by their INSURANCE COMPANIES. There are cancer patients TODAY that are being denied medical treatment by their INSURANCE COMPANIES.  There are people TODAY who cannot get coverage from an INSURANCE COMPANY because they have a pre-existing condition. There are hardworking, productive people (this is where it gets personal for me) TODAY who cannot afford INSURANCE for themselves and their children because it costs too much money. The system is broken. BROKEN. We have to fix it. And burying our heads in the sand and thinking that everything is ok “because *I* have insurance” is not ok. NOT OK. These are people. Your neighbors. Your co-workers. Your friends. MY friends.

If believing that my fellow American should have the same opportunity that I have to maintain a healthy life is communist…maybe I *am* a communist. And if having compassion for another human being makes me a communist and you can not be my friend because of it, I can accept that. I am not sure that I will understand it, but I will accept it. And to end it on a hopefully lighter note (although maybe not…hmmmm)…to quote Izzie Stevens “What would Jesus freaking do??”

I love you all.