Yes - that was really the song we heard when visiting here...
And this is really what was written on every parking spot....
And this cute little smiling face awaited us when we walked through the doors...meet Spammy!
Oh - and this amazing wall hung over our heads - the close up shows what it was made of!
And each computer was equipped with a special mouse - note the yolk in the egg is a track ball (ie - mouse)
Games to entice the whole family and a spam ticker to boot. Who could have asked for a better vacation spot!
Do you SEE how many cans of Spam have been made??? That's SPAMAZING!
Oh - and every kid ate some Spam too - although that probably has no redeeming factor!
So much fun - we strongly suggest this stop in Austin MN if ever you travel even remotely near. It's well worth the trip and great for the WHOLE family!
Did I mention it's FREE!
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Oh Mr. Spam Man...Bring me some Spam....
Thursday, March 19, 2009
A piece of my past
Here is a picture of, what I grew up knowing as, the Red Barn. 
This red barn was located on my grandparents farm, where I spent many a summer as a young child. Gpa would pay us to walk beans and cut thistles. Anyone else have to suffer through the child labor of walking beans or cutting thistles. That's right - with bean hooks and sharpened shovels?? Oh the horror!!! Anyway - this barn, as well as many other eye sores were part of my childhood. As we drove up and down the rolling hills of the road they lived on, we could spot the red barn many hills away. You could also see it from "the bottom", otherwise known as the lower fields down by the river bottom. The corncrib, the red barn, the big building, the chicken shed ~ they were all part of the memories of spending summers and oh so many other weekends on the farm.
These buidling are gone or being torn down, but luckily my dad has a few of the boards from the red barn. He's moved them and hauled them and transported them from house to house, but has the pieces of what remains of my childhood memory, known as the red barn.
I recently decided I wanted a coat shelf by the back door - so I asked Dad if I could have a couple of boards with which to create a shelf as it was designed in my head. He just happened to have a couple of boards that would work great for what I was thinking. And now - thanks to the handywork of my techy, but sometimes handy hubby ~ I have this shelf hanging in my kitchen. 
I can't tell you the warm fuzzies I get just looking at the shelf knowing that those boards are the same boards that composed the barn in which we climbed and played. The barn we walked through to see the pigs or cattle - depending on which decade we are talking. The same barn that we hid contraband in as adolescents who had nothing better to do than torment road signs and mailboxes on gravel roads at night. The same barn that housed the cats and kittens which could entertain me for hours. The same barn, that sat beside the grassy area in which we carefully and lovingly burried many pets and critters that came in and out of our lives on the farm. The same barn that was there when my dad was a kid.
Needless to say - if we ever move - this shelf will go with. But - that's not all. To top off the very beautiful shelf, which pieces together my present and past, there is another beautiful piece that sits below it!
As we entered into last winter, I scoured catalog after catalog to find the perfect storage bench for this same space. One that the kids could sit on or store book bags on and would house the many hats, gloves, mittens, and scarves that come with three active children. Not a single one was just right for the space, so I asked my dad to build one. And not only did he build the perfect bench, my mom pulled off a staining/painting miracle and got it barn board red. Exactly as I requested. So - check it out!
This - this makes me happy. Items that are not bought from a store, but rather created for a purpose with a past to pass along with them. **happy sigh**
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Pictures and opinions
Been Playing more with picnik. Here are tonight's creations.
This picture was more or less ruined. Our camera had gone bad and we did a whole photo shoot at the park - where I got some AMAZING poses - and all the pictures were horribly overexposed or something. This is the best I could do, but at least it's not a total loss
This one is just one of those photos that makes my mommy heart warm.
And yes, I'm glad you asked...I do have a third child. But you try to get a teenage girl in front of the camera. Still looking for some of her to play with on picnik. I'll see what I can dig up.
On a completely separate note - I am trying to decide if I like this whole - if you promote my blog I'll promote yours idea that seems to be raging about with blogs. Kinda wondering if the whole blog frog thing is a bunch of bull frogishness. If I understand it right, you have to link to someones blog and then have traffic use your link before you appear on their blog frog?? Come on people. If you like a blog - give it a shout out!!
Like this one for example....
http://www.flipflopsandapplesauce.com/
I love this blog. She has great ideas, is quick to share, and has a couple of beautiful little girls.
And this one is one I like to visit for ideas to use in my Stampin' Up business.
http://robinlea.blogspot.com/
Not only does she have cute stuff - I LOVE the glitter balls, but she also has a whole list of more Stampin' Up blogs in her side bar. How convenient is that.
Then there are people out there that are SO selfless like this family
http://www.thegledhillfamily.blogspot.com/
They just lost Gracie and are spending their time after losing her pumping an up and coming music benefit for a very talented musician who is awaiting a heart transplant. If you visit their site, you'll hear some of his music. It defines peace and relaxation to me. I hope to get a cd or two in the coming weeks and also hope that he gets his new heart!
Kelly is also one of those selfless ones
http://www.kellyskornerblog.com/
Seems she is always asking us in blog land to pray for someone. And I have to say I like her blog cuz Harper is just too cute and has the cutest head dresses.
Changing gears again - I have stepped outside my box of comfort. I joined a group of ladies that play Bunco. Well, in asking some questions before the big night, I was told that bunco is like "A bunch of clucking hens pecking around the bread pan". I must say that it was some of the best fun I have had in a long time. If you are invited to play, or are looking for something to do with your lady friends - may I recommend Bunco!?!?! So fun!
Well - that pretty much wraps things up. Take lots of pictures - write down your memories - listen to a good song - cherish every moment you have with your kids and family and share your wealth (be it knowledge, a caring heart, the ability to cook a warm meal or a high traffic blog) without expecting anything in return!
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
I just love picnik.com
And although I am doing a lot of the same editing, it is just so easy and so fun! I do use it for other touch ups on eyes and teeth and skin - but the color popping is just more fun to show off!
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Scrapping Pages - with Cricut
I love my Cricut. And although I do not have the Expressions, I do like the good ol' Cricut and how it has changed the way I scrap. I don't think you'll hear me say once that I miss the days of sticker titles. And it is even coming in handy for the occassional school or other project!
Just thought I'd share my favorite pages of recent, done with cricut lettering.
Dangerous Jobs
Who would have ever thought that being a pastor could/would be a dangerous job. At least not here in the good ol' US of A. What has this world come to?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29582081
I am so saddened after reading this article. Please pray for this situation, and keep each of your own pastors in your prayers as well.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Spilling of Thoughts
A random post full of random thoughts and tidbits....
We LOVE LOVE LOVE these books.
There is this one and one other out and a 3rd one being released this month. We can't wait. They are cute and funny books full of rhyme and repetition for your preschooler. And we even use some of the sayings in our day to day living - like "That's quite enough Llama Drama!". Love Them!!!
We're also pretty keen on these for your young chapter book reader.
Although we've only read one, we've already taken a dive into the second and are anxiously awaiting tomorrow's reading time to see what happens. Although there may be the occassional term that I am personally not fond of, the stories are great for young readers and keep them wanting to come back for more!
Now - another love right now is www.picnik.com. I tried really hard to use Picasa and to like it. But I almost think it might be too much. More to my satisfaction though, is that picnik has no download required. I can upload 1 or 10 pictures, play with them, then save them back to my computer. The other day while I was uploading pix from 2007, I came across a photo I knew would be great to take to black and white then pop a little color back into . What do you think?
Going in a complete different direction...As I served dinner tonight to somewhere between 120 and 150 youth in middle and high school I became extremely disappointed. Our church feeds this many youth every week. Normally, they get pizza, salad, dessert and a drink. Occassionally, we change things up in the kitchen doing things like T-giving dinner and like tonight when we provided lasagna with the standard side. Not only did we change up dinner, we also swapped their typical lemonade and water with a sports drink which was generously donated to our church. So - do you think they kids were excited over the new menu items. No - rather more often than not we heard "I don't like lasagna" or "this drink tastes discusting". All I could think of were the hundreds of thousands of hungry kids out there who would make that cup of orange drink last a week and be grateful or would take the plate of lasagna and feed their whole family with it. And here before us, in our church, were a bunch of unappreciative kids who are too spoiled to see that our church is feeding them for free and good food at that! Ahhhhhh.... The redeeming part was the kids who were appreciative and did say thanks and I really do think appreciate what the church does each week. I cannot thank the youth leaders and coordinators of this ministry enough for the time and effort they put into, what I'll now call, the teen mission field! Thank you leaders and helpers and coordinators and all those who bake and serve these kids each week.
Told you things would be a bit random tonight, but thanks for peeking and reading through! Have a blessed day, evening, weekend, rest of the week, etc!
