Raising Cubs in a Campground

I tweeted about discovering our picture on the cover of our local newspaper yesterday. Here's the proof. Sorry for the extreme soft focus. I'm too busy to put it in photoshop and blur out names and locations properly. Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend! I've enjoyed meeting several new people thanks to Brittany's Random Photo Challenge while I sit at the office renting cross country skis to the hearty souls who WANT to be OUTSIDE in 10 degree temps. The sun is shining though and my heart feels light. I'm checking things off my to-do list one by one and am looking forward to the chicken simmering in my crock pot. This is going to be a week of digging deep into my freezer for meal ideas as it will be at least a week before I do a big shopping trip. I'm up for the challenge and will be sure to share any new recipes that turn out. Could they have made it any bigger? Geepers!

Enjoy a trip down memory lane with Brittany's Random Picture Challenge.... This week's selection: 11 th folder (or September 2007 folder) 11 th picture No 2007 pictures on this computer so I picked the 11 th picture from my 11 th folder. This is my April 1st, 2008 folder labeled "Julia's 18 month birthday" This half birthday was celebrated in style at the Mall of America's indoor amusement park. Did you know for $80 you can go on all the rides you want for an entire YEAR? When I worked 10 minutes from the mall this was was a GREAT deal. Sam was a year old so I got to ride with him. Two years later, it isn't as convenient to go to the (Big Dumb) Mall as we like to call it, but friends of ours have connections and got us free ride tickets. It made for a special way to celebrate Julia's half birthday . This is Sam's first time on the Frog Hopper. The birthday girl was too young to ride. Maybe this year....

We've been working with Sam for years on getting him to eat his veggies. He ate them just fine as a baby, but refused as a toddler. I was not good at offering a veggie at every meal because I was lazy, didn't feel like preparing something that he wasn't going to eat, it was difficult to keep fresh fruits in veggies in the house on a super tight budget. I could go on and on, but the point is that once I decided that this was a priority for our family, we've seen slow and steady progress. It became a rule that he had to eat a veggie at dinner. Then we started including lunch. I ignored the experts who said that it's not good to elevate sweet foods to a higher level and use them as bribes. In our house they are privileges - one you don't earn unless you've eaten your veggie. We had some pretty big battles about this, but sticking by our guns has paid off. He knows he has to eat a veggie and often tells us which one he wants. We've come a long way f...

What would possess me to drive into the Cities when a snowstorm is upon us? In the time I've been sitting at McDonald's, plugged into the outlet originally intended for the ATM machine (it was already unplugged when I got here) almost 3 inches have fallen and it shows NO sign of stopping. The weather people say we're going to get 5-8 inches. That kind of snow is only fun before Christmas and my birthday. After January 25th, I'm ready for Spring. This is not realistic though as March is often our snowiest month. My drive here took 35 minutes. My drive home? I'll be lucky if I make it in under 2 hours. I knew things were going to be bad when I overheard the receptionist at the dermatologist talking about schools closing early. *sigh* So here I sit, twittering away while I wait for my 2pm focus group. What's a focus group you ask? There are market research companies all over the country that bring people in to test their products or services before the ...

Welcome to the first installment of Alphabitty Moments! In one easy post you can preserve a precious memory in a fun & creative way. Create a scrapbook layout like mine or simply post your picture that corresponds with the letter of the week. I chose Altitude for the letter A because during our first family vacation we drove through Rocky Mountain National Park. Now it's your turn to pick a word that starts with 'A' and a photograph to go with it! Be sure to come back and leave the link to your post in the Mr. Linky so everyone can see all the different A words that are used.

"It's the Little Things" was Originally posted in December of 2008: Everyone says that childhood flies by. In an attempt to freeze time or at least capture a slice of time, I spent a few days in January 2008 photographing the things associated with my kids' lives at this stage that won't always be that way. Before I kn ow it, it will be a real bus that takes them to school, not just Sam' s toy bus that he's been obsessed with lately. ... For the complete post, click here . I'm always looking for creative ways to blog about the 'little things' and the photographer in me is always looking for something to do with the 1000 pictures I take each month. Put the two together and what do you get? A new blog carnival called Alpha bitty Moments! Here's how it works: The carnival starts, Thursday, February 26th with the letter 'A' . Then for the next 25 weeks we'll all work our way through the alphabet, photographing "a little thi...

Why did I offer to get skis out for our whole family so the photographer from the local paper who showed up on our doorstep at dinner time last night could have a picture of people skiing for his assignment? Why did I think SisterBear could hold the bag of doughnuts on the way to school without eating one? Why was I worried about how awkward it would be to be at school today after CaseyCarlson's flop on American Idol the other night? Her mom (SisterBear's teacher) is a great lady and handled the discussion on how the AI experience was for her daughter like a pro. Why didn't I go to my usual homeopathic remedies to treat SisterBear's cough/cold and instead take her to the doctor and agree to antibiotics and nebulizer treatments? Why did I accept the Target check out lady's offer to cheat and go in the express lane with my cart full of groceries? Why didn't I anticipate the guilty feeling I would get in my stomach when someone came into line a minute later and sa...

I have found a way to combine some of the things I enjoy the most: Taking photographs of my kids and capturing the "little things" Bookmaking Making 'hand'made gifts Coming up with creative ways to teach my kids their letters I plan to work on one letter a week to keep it fun, fresh, and manageable. Wouldn't it be fun to see what others come up with for their family's alphabet? You don't have to use Blurb's software to participate. Simply post a Aa is for _______ and the photo. There are many companies that create books and sometime down the line you can plug the letters and pictures in. Any suggestions for a name for the project?

Happy Not Me Monday! (or Sunday) depending on when I hit publish. I have two extra kids to watch on Monday mornings so I'm not on the computer until the afternoon. Any blogging on Monday has to be done during nap time or after bedtime. That used to be the norm for every day around here until PapaBear lost his job three weeks ago. Now my photography and blog book design work have become our life line and I spend most of my waking hours on the computer. It's nice to take a break from juggling so many responsibilities to talk about the things I did (not) do this past week. For more Not Me Monday posts head over to MckMama's blog, My Charming Kids . I have (not) been concerned about whether I'm losing readers because of my posts and tweets are highly concentrated with links to my blog to book business. Nope not me! I (don't) pray that people will be understanding as I use some of my 'air time' to get the word out that I have submitted a Geek Lab propos...

Two years ago I started reading a blog written by MckMama's friend, Jennisa . It was the first blog I read that wasn't written by an IRL friend. It took me a few months to leave my first comment on her blog, but the rest is history. It's been a pleasure to 'watch' her daughters grow and to see her blog design business take off. She's beyond talented! Click on the button below to see for yourself! If you have a blog designed by Jennisa, or are on her waiting list, I am offering a 10% discount on blog books . Order additional copies of the same book and they become 60% off! And if that isn't a sweet enough deal for you, head over to BlogHer.com and help me get a spot in the Geek Lab* at BlogHer '09. If my proposal is accepted I will offer a buy one get one free (additional copy of the same book) to the next five people who hire me to create their books. * Click on "how to turn your blog into a book" and on the next page click on ...

This post has absolutely nothing to do with cleaning. Actually, I've had nothing to do with cleaning for weeks. That changes tomorrow though. I can't tell the difference between clean and dirty clothes in my room anymore. Not a good sign.... Back to the topic... I made my own wedding programs for our wedding almost 8 years ago and it's become a running joke ever since that Troy, PapaBear's best man, is not a friend of the groom, but the friend of the broom . Aagh! Ya gotta love funny typos! Anyway...Troy, his wife, Carrie, and their 9 week old daughter, Lily, are in town from California and we spent yesterday afternoon enjoying their company, and playing Troy's nephew's Wii. It was Sam's first experience with video games. He L.O.V.E.D it! I think PapaBear did too. :) While the boys did their thing, Carrie and I had a chance to catch up. The last time we had a big chunk of time to talk was when we visited them when I was pregnant with Julia. The...

Hilary asked her son, Isaac, a series of questions at the beginning of 2008. At the time I tried asking Sam the same questions, but at 3, he was just too young. Now that he's pushing 4 1/2 I was able to get him to answer me over the course of a few hours. I'll probably revisit them again in a year and see what he says. Feel free to leave a link in the comments if you try this with your kids! What are you good at doing? I don't know....eating? If you had ten dollars, how would you spend it? a cake! What are you afraid of? I don't know...nothing I said. just afraid of monsters. Who are your friends? Katie, Kaia, Payton, Bea, Who are your other friends? I don't know their names. What is important to you? I don't know...I like ya. What is your favorite book? My killer whale book What is your favorite food? uh...cake What is your favorite thing about school? snack What is your favorite thing to do? play with daddy so much y How do you show your family you l...

PapaBear and I are meeting with our boss in the morning to go over some of our programming ideas for the parks. Other than needing to do the dishes and vacuum, the house is in decent shape and our list of ideas is printed out and ready to go. BUT...I can't help but wonder if there is something else we could suggest...something that will push the park board over the edge and make them jump at the chance to get two programmers for $600 a month. (The park staff approved our proposal, but it needs final approval from the board.) And so I turn to you, my dear readers....Have you participated in a city, county, state, regional, or national park program that you really enjoyed? I would love to hear about it! We have a small budget for programs, but at least there's some money to spread around throughout the year.... We have at our disposal: 3 different lakes, 3 beaches, 1 sledding hill, 2 parks with ski trails, an off leash dog park, sand volleyball, horseshoes, baseball field, di...

Even the dog was cooperative when it came to portraits this week!

We're in a good season of life with Sam right now and I want to remember the joy, the wonder, and the love we are experiencing with our first born these days. He is interested in all sort of animals, but dinosaurs, sharks and whales are his favorite. The excitement is very contagious (except when he's asked to play killer whale or mommy and baby Kentrasauras a hundred times in one day). His deep blue eyes don't miss a thing. He prefers adult non-fiction books about animals to children's fiction and marks his favorite pages with scraps of paper. The movie, Cars, was on when Julia and I came home from the library this morning but it was obvious he wasn't even watching it anymore. His nose was in a shark book. When I suggested he turn the TV off he said (NO LIE!!!), "Oh! Good idea! Then we can read my shark book!" He smiles all the time (except when his sister makes him cry). He loves to be chased, tickled, and snuggled with. Could his love language be...

We're in a good season of life with Sam right now and I want to remember the joy, the wonder, and the love we are experiencing with our first born these days. He is interested in all sort of animals, but dinosaurs, sharks and whales are his favorite. The excitement is very contagious (except when he's asked to play killer whale or mommy and baby Kentrasauras a hundred times in one day). His deep blue eyes don't miss a thing. He prefers adult non-fiction books about animals to children's fiction and marks his favorite pages with scraps of paper. The movie, Cars, was on when Julia and I came home from the library this morning but it was obvious he wasn't even watching it anymore. His nose was in a shark book. When I suggested he turn the TV off he said (NO LIE!!!), "Oh! Good idea! Then we can read my shark book!" He smiles all the time (except when his sister makes him cry). He loves to be chased, tickled, and snuggled with. Could his love language be...

This weeks edition of Not Me Monday is being served up with a cherry on top. But first the housekeeping portion of the post: This blog carnival was created by MckMama . You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week. But before you head off to read other NotMe posts, BrotherBear and SisterBear want to share their ice cream sundaes with you. Isn't that sweet of them? It wasn't at all strange to be eating ice cream sundaes as a family this week. Not one bit! I haven't been eating ice cream almost nightly since my birthday 3 weeks ago. I don't wait until the kids are asleep so I can enjoy my favorite food in peace. Not Me! Speaking of sweet... There were Valentine's cards/treats to be distributed this week and I for one, was all prepared. I took pictures of the kids with enough time to create cards so they would be ready to hand out to Julia's teachers and for Sam's class party. When I was caught witho...

After being gone for 12 hours yesterday it was nice to have a full day at home. I even took a nap - a rare occurrence! We ate lunch in the playroom first, on a picnic blanket. It's one of the warmest rooms in the house and sunlight streams in much of the day. It also happens to be where I do most of my mini photo shoots (read: Daddy holds a backdrop and my kids climb all over the material while I snap away). Julia's hair was looking extra cute today don't you think? This particular backdrop isn't very big, but I'm too lazy to Photoshop anything right now. Besides, when you see this next one, you'll see that a little carpet showing on the side is the least of my worries. Not again! Almost 2 years ago I put this bow in her hair for the first time . She just keeps getting cuter and cuter! Even when her mini photo shoot gets a little too long. After naps we cheered for Matt Kenseth who ended up winning an action packed Daytona 500. Then PapaBear made popcorn for...

I'm off helping MckMama with a wedding today, but I promised to post the final pictures from the mini Valentine's shoot I did with the kids the other day. Julia took a couple of her cards to school to give to her teachers this past Tuesday and much to my embarrassment, many of her classmates had brought cards/treats to share with all the kids . Oops! I wasn't going to let Sam show up at school with just his cards for his party on Thursday. I picked up candy and bags at Target and over the next few days we assembled them. I stayed at school to help the kids distribute their cards and to spend some extra time with Sam during play time (Things are tough with PapaBear out of work, but we aren't going to waste a moment of the extra time we get with the kids because of it). As it turns out, Sam was the only one who gave chocolates. We've never had so many suckers and SweetTarts in the house at one time! One little girl gave HUGE, twisty suckers with a stuffed an...