{crazyjen}

Fireworks

Fireworks from Owatonna, MN Grandstand/Fairgrounds.

I like this one. I call it the red, white and blue firework.

I like this one too. Not sure why, because it seems off-kilter, not normal, different perspective, different types of fireworks...I don't know just different. :)

The bottom fireworks reminds of the winter wheat Dad will occasionally plant.

I love this one. I like the different colors, textures and the star bursts.

Ryley the road warrior, flag carrier and general entertainment of the evening. He's too cute. Hey Ryan, how'd you get so lucky?

Ryley and Ryan on the Bandit.

Kimmie and Krysta waiting for all of the traffic to leave the fairgrounds. Yeah, instead of trying to get into the massive line of cars we decided to sit and enjoy ourselves. We only waited about 10-15 minutes. It was a beautiful night, albeit a hair chilly, but for me, perfect. I believe this phrase came out of my mouth several times, "It doesn't get much better than this."

Yes, life does not get much better than sitting at the fairgrounds playing games, talking with friends and enjoying the fireworks on a gorgeous day. :)

Memorial Day Family Get-together

Just some pictures from Memorial Day

Jack's thing lately when he "tries" to play with Gracie is to grab a limb and put his mouth on it which basically quickly turns into biting her. This picture is hilarious because, based on that description, looks like he's looking at her arm like it's a juicy morsel or something. She apparently thinks it's funny for some reason.

A somber Traci. Not sure what she's thinking about. "Why are you looking so sad 'Raci?" Nick in the background. God he's got a big chest. What a beefcake. :) p.s. he's single, I think.

Kimmie cuddling with Gracie. Notice the pink Twins outfit? Yep, that's courtesy of Kimmie. See, Michelle put that outfit on so Kimmie could see her wearing it. Otherwise Kim brings it up, "Michelle, how come Gracie never wears the outfits I buy her?"

Grandpa blowing raspberries on Gracie. She likes it, tries to eat Grandpa's mustache.

Jack trying to escape Grandpa's grip. Not sure why, usually he just crawls right in there and wants to stay forever...you know Grandpa is Jack's favorite. Grandma says it's because Grandpa lets him do whatever he wants. So that means if he turns into a brat is it Grandpa's fault?

Gracie trying to eat adult food. Look at that tongue. It's hilarious.

Jack's new turtle sandbox. Pretty neat huh? He likes it. He walks down the stairs of the deck then bolts to the sandbox and says, "Sandbox, Sandbox!" It's hilarious. Man I love little kids.

Gracie hanging out with Mom. We put her had on because it was windy and didn't want the wind in her little ears. It was funny though because her fat little cheeks squeezed out. LOL

Michelle bought Jack this cute little plastic bat and ball. I think that blue bat is about as tall as he is. LOL This picture is of me helping Jack hit the ball. He got such a kick out of it. He did. He sort of screamed with delight when we hit the ball together. (p.s. Hey Krysta, see how fat my calves look here. Ughh...I win. :)

Grandpa helping Jack hit. Jack liked this too especially when Dad pelted me in the ankle with that plastic ball. It hurt. Left a welt the size of of that ball for a couple hours. So much for trying to play nice.

Chris pitching and Nick playing outfield. You know, I think we got more enjoyment out of a child's $4 toy than anything that day. It was fun.

Guy bubble-wrapped Chris's bike. LOL hee hee Michelle and I bought this whole roll of bubble-wrap at a garage sale for cheap last year. We've been waiting for the right moment to "get someone" and this was it. When we bought the roll the lady laughed and said, "I wondered who would buy it?" We told her we planned on pranking someone with it and she laughed at that too.

Brian and Tina playing soccer. They are honorary family. :) Traci said they came in place of her mother and two sisters.

My swinging Gracie. She loves it. She wiggles her toes, giggles and talks. Then I make the elephant noise and she smiles big and wide. She's too cute.

Hey, two pictures of me not taken by me, Scandal!

Gracie in her swing.

April Fools!

So...since it's April Fools Day I suppose I should play a joke on someone? Eh? I can't think of anything good though. I even called my sister to see what she thought. We can't come up with anything good. Dang it. I love to play a good joke on somebody.

Well, since I can't think of anything to do today I'm going to tell about my favorite April Fools that I played on someone. That someone being my mother. hee hee

Okay, so I can't really remember how old I was but it must have been the early teens because I couldn't drive yet. So all of us midgets were in the mini van sitting at the Library which is right across from the post office in town. I think Mom was dropping something off at the post office or dropping off some books at the Library, well it was something, anyways.

Mom was sitting in the driver's seat, naturally and I was sitting shot-gun. Either because I got there first or because I pulled an, "I'm the oldest." Mom always kept her purse between the two front seats which sat right below the pop holders, containing a full can of Pepsi (her drink of choice). So she's sitting there dinking around, writing out a check, picking her nose, pulling her hair out thinking why did I have so many damn kids, whatever...and I get the brilliant idea to play a joke on her. Oh yeah...a joke would hit the spot nicely.

So suddenly I scream out hysterically, "Mom the pop can fell into your purse! There's pop all over!" She immediately whips her head down and grabs for her purse and when she sees it she realizes nothing happened. Oh man the look on her face was priceless. It was super funny. I never laughed so hard. Right now I can't remember if she laughed too or if she was mad but if I had to guess it was probably a mixture of both.

The funniest part was that I was so convincing that she believed me. It was too funny! I can't keep a straight face ever so to actually be convincing was a once in a lifetime thing.

Easter Sunday

Some pictures from Easter Sunday. We ate at the Timberlodge in Medford. Right next to Cabela's.

Here's my dinner.

Ham, mashed potatoes, carrots, salad with french dressing, pasta salad, a piece of bacon, pineapple, and grapes. Interesting choices. It was a buffet though.

Kimmie and Thomas

Gracie in her Dollywood dress with Grandma.

Auntie Ed..."come on, give me one smile for the camera."

Traci making faces at me.

Thomas and Gracie

Apparently Traci didn't like what Jamie had to say.

Auntie Sheila putting Gracie to sleep. She likes to cuddle with her.

"Is that the evil eye you're giving me Uncle Tim? or are you posing for GQ?"

Grandma, Gracie and Grandpa

Gracie flashing me and Grandpa napping.

Traci going crazy trying to beat the crap out of Duane at Boxing on the Wii.

Chris and Mom cheering her on in the background.

Happy Easter

Hey Jimmy!

Here's your easter egg.

Red and Pink. I know you won't actually get to eat this egg because you're in Iraq but I just wanted to show it to you anyways. Kim will probably eat it because she's an egg pig but if you just say the word I'll make sure someone else does. Like Kelly if she likes eggs and feels inclined to.

Okay, Happy Easter! Love ya!

Making cookies and dyeing Easter eggs

Jack rolling out his own quarter-sized piece of sugar cookie dough. He figured out real fast that it was edible except once he tried to eat it he didn't like it so he picked it out of his mouth and said, "Gross."

Me and the Jackster rolling out the dough.

our bags and bags of colored vanilla frosting complete with different size and shape tips.

 

The egg I made for myself. Yes, I know, it's a bit crazy but I like the rainbow concept. :)

Kimmie trying to frost cookies. She usually gets a bit crazy with the colors and tries to use the star tip for writing names. Wrong-o! But since she listens like she's got a hole in her head she winds up doing it anyway. Punk-a$$.

Case in point. One of my cookies (disregard my crazy Jen cookie, that is abnormal). Very crisp clean and pretty. A little fluffy bunny tail, not crazy but interesting. Nice use of light-pink and notice the name is piped in a nice round font.

See how nice Michelle does cookies. Yup, she's got the right idea but our poor little sister gets crazy. When she frosts cookies she's like a maniacal pastry chef who's escaped from the padded walls of the looney bin and has been thinking of nothing else except using all the colors and tip-types that she can....okay, I made that up but it's funny, right? She's not that bad I just like to pick on her because, well for a couple of reasons, 1. I'm the oldest and it's my job. 2. She needs it. 3. She listens like she has a hole in her head. um...4. She's getting more insubordinate now that she's engaged, older and out of school. um... maybe I better stop now. I could probably go on but I'll stop.

Jack using his paws instead of the egg dipper to get an egg out. Brat.

Gracie having fun watching while Grandma holds her. Of course she's smiling because she loves her Auntie Jen and naturally she thinks I'm funny. :)

Here's some of our eggs in rainbow order. Pretty friggin' sweet eh? Some of them we mixed colors or dipped an egg in a couple of colors. We get the coolest colors that way.

This isn't really related to Easter egg dyeing but Gracie got a bath tonight. She's pretty cute. She splashes around and pushes her feet on the bath tub.

Kelly's Birthday Party!

So we decided to celebrate Kelly's 25th birthday at Famous Dave's (Jimmy's fiance). The whole clan, kit and kaboodle was there. Too much fun was had by all. We made a lot of noise, were obnoxious (as usual) and ate a bunch of food. Jack pigged out the most I think. He had chocolate up his nose at one point. Here are some pix.

Hey birthday girl! 'sup? This is the family you are getting yourself into. hee hee lOL

Jack had to sit by Grandpa, he threw a fit.

Shelly making faces at me.

Michelle reading a book to Jack to try and calm him down.

My hubby was there. Avoiding the camera as usual.

Dad and Gracie hanging out.

Dad let Gracie suck on his tea glass. It was funny, you could see her licking the glass.

Thomas avoiding a picture. He tried it the whole night but I eventually got him. Hee hee ha ha ho ho snort snort!

Jack having a meltdown. He was crying because Grandpa cut up his chicken tenders or his big toe hurt or he was upset that he didn't get the right temperature milk. heck I don't know. The funny part was that when I took this picture he pointed at me and bauled harder like he was saying, "Stop taking my picture Auntie Jen!"

Grandma cooing at Gracie. Kelly looking on.

Gracie singing the National Anthem. No, not really but it looks that way. Doesn't it. :) I pledge allegience to the flag! Really she's saying, "I'm a Harbal, listen to me roar!"

Jack entertaining himself watching Jack Jack Attack on Michelle's Ipod. That worked for about a minute.

Auntie Sheila wearing her two favorite things; purple and a vest. :) Isn't she hot? Hey, if there are any interested guys, send me an email with your name, vital statistics and a picture. If you seem worthy of my aunt I'll send you our family questionaire to fill out so I can make sure you are worthy and will fit into the family. JK LOL

Auntie Shelly and Tara-tittle-mouse.

Kelly's Mom. Hi!

Kelly's Sister. Who Chris kept flirting with. "Chris, she isn't your type and is jail-bait to boot. Hold off boy!"

 

Nick just passing by. He hates it when I take his picture. How did I get such an insolent brother? Jimmy takes pictures, Chris poses for me but Nick is insubordinate. Humph.

We bought two of the huge American platters or whatever it's called. It was a ton of food. A whole chicken, bbq ribs, beef brisket, fries, cornbread, coleslaw and beans. oofta. Tons of friggin' food. the chicken was super good. Juicy, tender and tasty.

So that's about it.

Love

Love is in the air.

Love one another.

Love ya.

Love is all that matters.

Love me like you do.

A Love that will last

Love me tender.

the trouble with Love is.

Why can't this be Love.

Keep on Loving you

Have you ever really Loved a woman

When you Love someone

I will always Love you

I knew I Loved you

Groovy kind of Love

Love will lead you back

Let's make Love

some of the songs I'm listening to today on my ipod. I have a love songs playlist for today. It has about 80 songs on it.

Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte

aka Black Forest Cherry Cake (made with real Kirschwasser aka German Cherry Schnapps)

Here are some pics

more to come...

edit: here are some more. Okay I know it's a big obsessive but I made this whole friggin' ckae with the exception of the cherries by hand. Yeah, by hand baby. The cake part, the butter cream frosting and the syrup.

this is the bottle in the background. A bottle of Kirschwasser aka cherry schnaps. The real deal. This is where the flavor comes from. If you don't use this it's just a chocolate cake with cherries.

my cherry torte on a red plate. Actually this is the piece I left for my Mom because I brought the cake to work for our Chocolate Thursday! Proves to be a very fattening day. :)

Ahh...luscious, scrumptuous, juicy, creamy, delicious, delectable, chocolatey goods. You think I wrote enough adjectives? Hopefully it tastes as good as it looks. We shall see. My little sister did tell me that I bake a lot better than I cook so it should be edible then.

Day off on Monday!

So Michelle and I both had the day off on Monday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day. That was sweet! So we planned to scrapbook all day long. Yep, all day, well at least until the babies got home because then you can't get anything done. :)

So here's a pictorial of the day.

Michelle figuring out which pictures to print. Both of us spent a lot of time at the computer printing images.

Sorry...I was distracted by the fact that it snowed. Yep, nice fluffy stuff. It covered all the dirty snow and frozen ground.

day 24 of 25 days of christmas journal - yeah I know I'm a little behind.

second part of day 24. the left side is journalling. It corresponds with the right side. you have to open up the right side to get to the pictures.

the opened up right side. tons of pictures from our traditional family christmas get-together.

Mom licking her chops in anticipation of lunch at Costa's in Owatonna.

My empty "corn chowder" soup cup.

I took this picture and my Mom said to me, "Why didn't you take the picture with the soup in it?"

I said, "Because I didn't want to."

She said, "Yeah, because you were too hungry and forgot."

I said, "Yeah, that might have been it."

Both Mom and Michelle are laughing at me at this point.

At least I've gotten past the point of my family asking me why I'm taking pictures of inanimate objects and food. Step 1 accomplished. :)

Costas' Candies Restaurant in Owatonna, MN. An excellent place to eat and cheap as well.

A layout I finished today.

I told Michelle that her and Guy should go to the movies and leave the children with me. Yes, I really did say this. A newborn and a toddler. Yes, I am insane. It has been confirmed. If any one of you out there has a teenager and want to teach her about birth control just send me an email with the date you'd like to farm them out for babysitting these two. That'll do the trick. :) They weren't bad but they are work. :)

So this is Jack coloring next to me while I scrap. Gracie is napping, no I didn't abandon her.

What the heck, one more of the squeak-child. Which by the way I had him saying tonight. Well, he said squeaker. :)