My Doodle and I went to the Minnesota Zoo today! It was absolutely gorgeous out, although a tad windy. I thought I was going to have a group of kids to watch, but we were able to be on our own! We had such a great time. 4 hours goes really fast though. Sorry, but I have lots of photos this week:
Here’s my bearded Iris:
Make sure you check out these other Wordless Wednesday participants: Mama Dweeb, Project Alicia, and The Divine Miss Mommy.
I was a bit concerned when he told Ashley he would love to be a comedian. Right now he’s a cell phone salesman and honestly, Ashley seems like she wants someone more grounded and in a career. He did bring on the seriousness when he talked about his dad’s alcoholism and sweet Ashley could relate because of her own dad.
As for the group date, the guys were sent to Vegas and split into 2 teams having to compete in a dance competition. The winning team was able to stay and have more time with Ashley. I was so annoyed when Bentley’s team won. That guy makes me want to spit! I have to say Kudos to these guys for bringing their A game when it came time to perform in front of an audience. Ashley was spectacular! That girl is cut and she can dance!
Listening to Bentley’s comments make me want to vomit. If I were related to him, I’d be ashamed and I would call him out big time. He’d better make a new video series apologizing to his daughter for his horrendous behavior. The other part that makes me the most mad is that the rest of the guys are there to truly try to win Ashley’s heart and he’s playing games. He’s not a man in my eyes, but a worm. And Ashley pleading with him to stay made me ill. All that she’s putting into this jerk after the text messages warning her? For real? Has she not seen this show? People know what’s going on. She’s a fool to allow him to stay. Giving him the rose was beyond what I can say was a level headed decision.
I was very bummed that Jeff’s mask reveal didn’t happen. That Matt’s timing really stinks. I wonder if the interruption was made by the producers, which wouldn’t surprise me. I mean, to a degree it is getting to be a bit creepy and I feel like he’s taking it a bit far, but I understand his thinking. Ashley is getting to know him for him instead of his looks, and possibly out of curiosity!
Ok ladies, who’s with me about the Bentley commentary and the kiss? How much would you like to crack him in the mouth? And Ashley says she has pretty good radar? Um, could someone get her a new radar? Hers is on the fritz.
In the end I was glad West and Blake got roses. The rest I don’t really have opinions on yet. I feel bad for the guys who were sent home instead of Jeff. At least there weren’t any tears. It was sad when Matt called his mom telling him to pick him up a the airport and love on him. As for Jeff, watching him vacuuming at the end of the show made me think he’s not so bad. At least he’s domesticated.
Do you have any favorites yet?
When I watch animated movies I look at them from a very critical stand point. I have high expectations when it comes to childrens movies. I want them to geared towards my kids and not have adult themes intertwined. That said this is a fantastic kids movie that adults can totally enjoy.
“Our employees were determined to do something in the wake of the tragedy,” GourmetGiftBaskets.com President & CEO Ryan Abood said, “And we are happy to provide a variety of snack products to help them through this difficult time.”
Below are some ways to help that you can pass along:
Food Bank Donations - http://www.ozarksfoodharvest.org/
American Red Cross - https://american.redcross.org/site/SPageServer?pagename=ntld_corpmicrosite&s_company=stateofmissouri-pub
Volunteering - http://www.211missouri.org/GiveHelp.aspx
# # #
About GourmetGiftBaskets.com
http://www.GourmetGiftBaskets.com is a gift basket provider located in Manchester, New Hampshire who has been making unique, upscale, gourmet gift baskets for the discerning consumer since 2002. Holding three Guinness World Records, they have raised money in the past for Susan G. Komen and numerous other local and national organizations.
*I was not compensated in any way for this post
Well, I’m thinking my life needs to get more eventful (in a good way) so I have moments worth capturing on my camera.
Ok, this is a really bad job of it, but I tried stitching photos together to give you an idea of the size of my yard. I mow the yard to the left of the trampoline and to the left of the house, and the trampoline yard one day. The 2nd day I mow directly in front of the house and the front ditch. the 3rd day I mow the right side of the house and the ditch. Doing it in chunks makes it doable for me.
As you can see, I had to add the rest of my driveway. I didn’t quite get that as I took my shots. Now if I had my daughter, Smooch’s camera, I would’ve been able to get the whole yard in one shot!
This is the side of the yard that took me two hours. Really, you have to see it in person to believe me. Can you tell where I stopped mowing?
It’s time to get ready for summer considering Memorial Day is already this weekend, and Stride Rite is having a special sale Thursday, May 26 through Tuesday, May 31 at participating Stride Rite retail stores and striderite.com: Buy One Get One 50% Off ALL shandals, sandals & flip flops from Stride Rite. CODE: SUNBOGO (all caps). (Shandals are airy like a sandal, but with more coverage to protect tiny toes.)
Find a location nearest you!
*By sharing this information I’m entered into a drawing. I have not been compensated in any other way.
Yesterday he told the owner he was going to take a 2 week vacation because they haven’t paid him since the beginning of the month. Well, they did give him $500 because I had to pay for my life insurance and a couple other bills. Anyhow, last night the owner called and asked R to go into work early to have a meeting. He went in, the owner was already in a meeting with a coworker and they asked him to come back in a couple hours. R said he’d rather stay and they said if he didn’t leave and come back later he could just leave his tools and everything else on his desk.
He left.
R was called back about an hour later, but his coworker was at the apartment and they were trying to clear all their personal information off the computers: personal emails, contacts, etc. The owner tried calling R, then texting him telling him to head to the shop, nothing bad was going to happen. R, I think, told him he’d be there in a bit. Well, the owner didn’t like that so he showed up with the accountant and saw the coworkers car there. Guess what he did? Called the cops! CALLED THE COPS!! They wanted to make sure they got their property back. So be dramatic and call the cops? Who do we call to come and force this guy to pay R what he’s owed?
Did I mention this is a guy I go to church with? The whole family in fact. I’m mad and heart broken at this fact. How do you do this to someone who is part of your faith “family”? I am seriously restraining myself from going to their house and saying, “What kind of people do this? R did the job you asked and you should pay him. It’s the right thing to do. You are going to reap what you sow and if you continue to do this to people, you are going to reap some bad stuff.” Now, that’s not very eloquent, but I can tell you this, when I’m in the moment, I can fight an amazing argument.
So, the cops show up and they take the computers back as well as their cell phones. R asks the owner when he’ll get paid and the accountant chimes in that R should’ve been at work that morning because they cut the checks. R said the guy didn’t know what he was talking about and that he HAD been to the office that morning, but sent home…withOUT a paycheck.
By the 1st, when R’s supposed to be paid again, they will owe him around $3800. We have a mortgage and an apartment rent, 2 phone bills, cell phones, car, health insurance, etc to pay for. I barely make squat. He pays for nearly everything. I can’t do a thing to make up what he’s lost.
I told R to go to our church and ask an Elder or a pastor to go with him to confront this guy. That’s what we’re supposed to do as fellow believers. We’re supposed to go to the church to intervene, but if the guy doesn’t comply and pay R, we’ll have to report him.
I’m going to ask my boss tomorrow if I can work every day possible until R finds a new job. Thankfully we’re at the busy time of the year, but that doesn’t change the fact that our store has been very slow this year. Of course, that’s because the weather has been terrible and everyone else is financially strapped. Now that summer is around the corner, I can work nights because I’ll be home with the boys on some days so they won’t go an entire day without seeing me. If I had to work nights now, while they were in school, that would be terrible.
We have lived paycheck to paycheck for so long we have absolutely ZERO saved up. I understand that you’re supposed to have months, if not a couple years worth of saving so when something like this happens there’s not absolute pandemonium. How are people like us, who have NO way to save supposed to come up with extra money to sock away?
Have any of you dealt with the loss of income from the major bread winner? What did you do? How did you not freak out? What did you cut out of your budget to make things work? I’m totally freaking, just so we’re clear!
Baby was sent the Bernini from the Roamin Holiday collection. I thought it would look so good on her because she looks like the model they use on their website.
Honestly, how cute is that dress? It’s such a classic dress and it fits her perfectly. I love the high waist and the ruching on the sleeves.
There is a reason classic silhouettes claim their name: whether worn in the star-struck fifties or re-invisioned in a fresh, modern fabric, these shapes have staying power. With its slim-fitting, high-waisted silhouette with scooped neck and ruched sleeves, the Bernini is no exception. The designer print by Westminster is offset by a slimming dark swath at the waist. As classic as its namesake sculptor, the Bernini's updated twists make it a modern masterpiece.
Dress made of 100% Cotton Designer Print from Westminster Fibers and Cotton Poplin with 97% Cotton and 3% Spandex.
Fit Notes:
Dress follows our Fits Generously guide. Fits slim through the bust and rib cage.
To care for this dress, machine wash cold and hang dry.
Sizing concern? Not the right dress for you? Return your dress and Shabby Apple will ship you a new dress for FREE!
Do you see what I mean? Very descriptive so you know exactly what you’re getting and how it’s going to fit! And how much do you love that if the dress isn’t what you expected, you can have them ship a new one for free!
What if you don’t know about the fit of this dress or any other? How about if you want to accessorize, but aren’t sure which pieces would work well with it? Shabby Apple has you covered! You can Ask Kate. Send her an email about a particular piece and you’ll get your answer to help with your entire shopping experience.
Once you’ve received your purchase, you can share a review of piece so others can know if it came as expected. Not only that, you can suggest how you would accessorize it to give new buyers some great ideas! They really have thought of everything.
Are you looking to start your daughter out on the fun road of fashion? You have GOT to check out the Kids and Preteen options. Seeing these little girl dresses makes me wish my girlies were little enough to dress them up in this Hibiscus dress!
A couple weeks ago I was invited to join Triberr.com. I hadn’t heard of it so I didn’t go check it out for a couple of days. Of course my curiosity got the best of me so I headed over to see what I might be missing out on.
Turns out I was missing out on a really cool new tool!
Triberr.com, although I understand it only in part, tweets out your blog posts to everyone connected to your Tribe. Each tribe consists of 6 people who have been invited to join a tribe by another person. They link up their RSS feed so that when you post something to your blog, it’s shot out to the Twitter followers of 7 people! So, when I posted today about The Bachelorette, it was sent out to 22,457 people in the tribe I was invited to join.
I started 3 tribes of my own, but have only sent out a handful of invitations. My 3 Tribes are named:
The name of the last one is subject to change. I haven’t sent out any invites to that one yet. Still trying to figure out which bloggers would fit the title.
You can also send out manual tweets and ask your tribe to tweet it out for you. Doing that costs you “Bones”. Bones are basically Triberr currency. I believe you can purchase more space in your Tribe for a certain amount of Bones. Then you can also purchase manual tweets.
This company has only been up and running for a couple of months so they’re still tweaking it and making it better. They are answering questions very quickly and are interacting
How can you get involved in Triberr? You have to be invited to join! Yes, yes, it’s VERY exclusive. Ok, not really, but you do have to be invited. We’re a pretty swanky little group! If you’d like to check it out, let me know and I’ll be happy to send you an invitation.
Once you’re there, you should follow Dan and/or Dino on Twitter and ask them when I (@bigguysmama) should expect my cape in the mail. *grin* I was hoping for a tiara and a scepter, too, but for now I’ll settle for a cape. Don’t worry, they’ll know what you’re talking about.
Cirque du Soleil’s touring production OVO is hitting Minneapolis this spring, and friends of WOVEN BY WORDS can receive 15% off select performances!
Cirque du Soleil is pleased to announce that it will open in Minneapolis with its touring big top production, OVO, starting Friday, May 27th, 2011. OVO will perform for a limited engagement under the trademark blue-and-yellow Grand Chapiteau (Big Top
) at the Mall of America.
OVO is a headlong rush into a colorful ecosystem teeming with life, where insects work, eat, crawl, flutter, play, fight and look for love in a non-stop riot of energy and movement. The insects’ home is a world of biodiversity and beauty filled with noisy action and moments of quiet emotion.
Fun for the whole family!
https://tickets.cirquedusoleil.com/zope/webshop/walkin?channel=8&seriesCode=OVOMIN&language=en&lfMix=CDSGP&promoCode=
HADLEY15&cid=hadley/ovo/minneapolis/15/mommyblogs
FAMILY 4-PACK
Cirque du Soleil’s touring production OVO is hitting Minneapolis this spring, and you
can bring your family of 4 to select performances for as little as $115!
Cirque du Soleil is pleased to announce that it will open in Minneapolis with its touring big top production, OVO, starting Friday, May 27, 2011. OVO will perform for a limited engagement under the trademark blue-and-yellow Grand Chapiteau (Big Top) at the Mall of America.
OVO is a headlong rush into a colorful ecosystem teeming with life, where insects work, eat, crawl, flutter, play, fight and look for love in a non-stop riot of energy and movement. The insects’ home is a world of biodiversity and beauty filled with noisy action and moments of quiet emotion.
Fun for the whole family!
https://tickets.cirquedusoleil.com/zope/webshop/walkin?
channel=17&seriesCode=OVOMIN&language=en&lfMix=CDSGP&promoCode=FAMILY&cid=hadley/ovo/minneapolis/family/mommyblogsHere’s your chance to win a Family 4 Pack to the June 18th show at 4pm:
The Family 4 Pack is available for performances on Sunday to Thursday 8pm and Friday 4pm. Only purchases from 4 to 8 tickets may benefit from this special package. Two adult and two child tickets start at $115 plus applicable service charges. A minimum of one adult ticket and one child ticket must be purchased within each Family 4 Pack.
Looking towards the cities:
Make sure you visit these other Wordless Wednesday participants also Carrie with Children, Project Alicia, and My Wee View.
Ashley was beautiful and has done a bit of a makeover with her hair. Her dress was gorgeous and as each limo pulled up to the house you could hear the guys inside happy with what they saw.
Of course throughout the show tonight we caught a glimpse of each of the men. I thought it was a pretty decent selection of guys. I was actually surprised at the unique ways the men made their introductions; some creepy and others sweet.
Thankfully, no one broke out in dance or song, but there was a poem and a kind of rap one other guy did. Then again, speaking of a song, one of the guys brought Ashley out by the pool guitar in hand. She was so excited to be serenaded to. As soon as they sat down he threw the guitar into the pool saying he doesn’t know how to play guitar! That was awesome and I was able to avoid my ranting at the tv because people just don’t learn from previous shows!
A couple of the guys I like right off the bat are:
Ryan
William
I think I need to watch the episode all over again. Don’t feel like I really got to know all the guys because of Jeff and Tim. That seems to be where all the focus was so I look forward to the upcoming shows so we can see how genuine and likable these guys really are.
Oh my gosh, this Tim guy was so sad. Totally got blitzed the first night. Now we typically see this with the ladies. When he explained he sells wine and spirits Ashley thinks he says “wine & spurs”. Needless to say, he was sent home to sleep it off and reap his “rewards” the next morning. I’m sure he was so nervous.
Then there’s the masked creeper, Jeff. Yes, he says it’s because he wants Ashley to get to know him on the inside first. Ooooook I mean, in theory it’s a great idea. Agreed that the heart is what matters, but this is The Bachelorette. Ashley won’t keep him around long if he sticks with this gimmick.
Lastly, there’s Bentley. Ashley was “warned” by another person from a Bachelor season saying he was there to promote his business. He’s heard making snarky comments and it’s obvious to those of us watching that he’s not there for her or for love. Listening to him at the end of the show had me wanting to reach through the tv and…well, do some mean stuff. And he has a little girl who’s going to see this when she’s older. Nice.
At the end of tonight’s episode when Ashley sends the men home, I’m surprised at how down these men are about leaving. The last guy to leave was almost, if not already, in tears. What in the world? They’d been there for what, a few hours? I’d love to go on the show, just to be not given a rose the first night, burst into tears, sobbing hysterically, and then sobering all of a sudden saying, “Just kidding, I could care less.”
Are you watching? If so, do you have any favorites off the bat? do you think you’ll be watching the entire show?
I have a funky body. That means I have to buy bathing suit pieces separately. I’m small from the waist up (bummer) and wider from the waist down. How I got that lucky I’ll never know. *dripping with sarcasm*
Here’s the Twitter line up for the week:
I’ll be participating Wednesday & Thursday for sure since those are my days off! I’m going to try and pop in during my break the other days!! If you want, you can follow me as well @bigguysmama
If you want to participate as a blogger, share with your readers a photo of you in your swimsuit to inspire your followers! Like me, by posting today, you’ll be entered to win 1 of 5 $100 gift cards from Lands End!! So what are you waiting for? Go grab your bathing suit and take a photo of yourself to share on your blog! Then send the link to libby.schmeisser@landsend.com
And once again, we have a week that’s been dull and lifeless. Eh, that’s ok. Now my meager offering for your enjoyment:
Arts & Academics morning at the elementary school. Parents were able to see art from all the grades and visit the classroom.
