I MIGHT even ride Fire in the Hole

Here's my quick photo post for the weekend since we're leaving our kids in the very capable hands of Grandma and Grandpa J while we take off to Sin City err.. well... I mean... Branson is kinda like Las Vegas right? I plan to log lots of hours in the spa, indoor pool and outlet malls. And, can I let you in on a little secret? I am SOOO going to go to Silver Dollar City..by myself. AND I'm excited about it. 'Nuff said.

Anyway, three full nights of uninterrupted sleep are enough to make me giddy with excitement (sorry Mom). I haven't had a full night of uninterrupted sleep in like 14 years (see the sleep deprivation is affecting my ability to tell time).. .or since May 1st at least.

So, while I'm catching up on rest and relaxation this weekend over here, you all can catch up on the last three months of my pictures over here. They include such exciting events as Shane & Amelia's Baptism, Halloween, Shane's first "real" food feeding, random photo shoots (of course) and my Castlewood photo shoot. It should keep you busy for at least 8 hours.

Happy Weekend to all!
ps - (tpd - that's what she said)

Hi, My name is Erin and I'm a Social Networking addict.

Twitter is down and I have SO MANY IMPORTANT things to twitter. It's NOT COOL, I can not chill, Twitter. And your cute little caterpillar/ice cream cone graphic (wtf, btw) will not convince me otherwise.

I wonder if 5 years from now people will have to go to Social Networking Rehab. I can see it now - you all (and by you all I mean my so called "friends" and "family") will say someone wants to film a "documentary" on me being an internet marketer who is immersed in the world of social networking and they want to follow me around with a camera and highlight the way my 2 year old sticks peas up her nose to get me to look away from my laptop for JUST TWO SECONDS and how my husband has to say things four and five times before I respond from the iPhone trance I'm in and how I have to have surgery on my thumbs for excessive texting and typing and then before I know it I'm going to my final interview at a hotel room where you ambush me and read emotional letters and try to convince me to give up my laptops, desktops & iPhones and get on a plane right that moment. I'm on to you people. You won't get me away from my internet...you just won't.

Must. Try. To. Work. With. No. Twitter. Aahhhh.

Carbon Footprint this, Rational Erin

I've been trying a little to be more eco-friendly lately - now, before you go all Hybrid on me little brother, this mainly includes saving an aluminum can here and there, turning the water off and on when brushing my teeth and only leaving 8 lights on overnight. But, this morning upon walking into my bedroom where the tv was still turned off (a rare occurence in this household) the following internal struggle occurred between the irrational-emotional-dogs-have-feelings-too-Erin and the jebus-get-a-hold-of-yourself-woman-they-are-dogs-Erin:

IEDHFTE: Oh! I should turn the tv on the boys (dogs) like it on during the day when they are laying on the bed.

JGAHOYWTADE: Now, seriously, does it make the boys feel better or does it make you feel better?

IEDHFE: Oh, but they like the sound and the shows and I always put it on something good for them to watch.

JGAHOYWTADE: But, if you don't turn the tv on for the dogs you are actually saving energy and money and thereby contributing to the overall ecological health of our planet.

IEDHFE: Shut up - I want the tv on for the dogs.

JGAHOYWTADE: Whatever, just stamp that on to your carbon footprint and nevermind the 14 other tv's the dogs could go lay by if they really need the tv on.

IEDHFE: storms off - tv stays off

Smiley and Stink Face

How funny are these pictures? These are their first real "school pictures" and they are exactly what I would have expected. Let's start with my little stink face:

And, being the parents of the year that we are, we totally forgot it was picture day, hence the shirt she was wearing. Luckily Miss Kim took good care of her hair with dual Elmo ponies!

Next, comes SPD, aka The Smiley One. I don't think they could take a bad picture of this one:

And, then finally here are both of them - I shall call this one the stink face and the smiley one:

You'd think she'd be okay with a camera pointed at her, wouldn't you?

U-G-L-Y You ain't got no alibi... *UPDATED*

It's gotten ugly these past couple of days. I recently saw two ads that were so disturbing, I can't even believe that our society would use such ridiculous fear tactics and call them "moral" values - but I don't want to get started.... I was going to post the awful direct mailer I received, but I am so offended by it, I couldn't begin to subject my [4] regular readers to it...SO, I will just say that I am glad that after today at least that ugliness will be over either way.

BUT, I am nervous today, jittery even - and not just because of the free Starbucks I got for voting. I want the candidate I'm supporting to win so badly. I'm sure John McCain supporters feel the same way. It's such a strange thing really, that people can feel so strongly on different candidates, but without getting too mushy political here (is that even possible?) that's what I think is great about this country. We can all voice our opinions (some of us more loudly than others) but in the end, the country as a whole gets to say who will take over and what direction we will go. Personally, I don't want another four years like what we've just been through. I do want change, I do buy into Obama's rhetoric at times, but I truly believe he is the better choice of the two. I don't think he's perfect and I personally wish I was casting my vote for Hillary today, but I still believe he can make a difference and I personally do hope Dixville is a small sampling of how the rest of the day will go, but enough, we've hashed this out plenty over the past two years and there's not much left to do now rather than sip on my FREE coffee and let the country do it's thing.

So, lastly, on this historic election day, I leave you with the 47th picture of me with a Starbucks cup - did I mention it was a FREE one? Here's to being an American and being able to cast your vote for YOUR favorite candidate, regardless of who that might be. Now, get out and VOTE!


ps - Does anyone actually research all those judges? Man alive, did I feel stupid when it came to all those. I hope I'm not in the minority on that.

WOO HOO! I can't believe I just witnessed Barack Obama become president. This is certainly just the beginning of what will be a very difficult and challenging road, but I'm so excited to have witnessed this and to be a part of it - I feel very excited to be an American right now! Cue the "Proud to be an American" music.....