Weird Wednesday & American Idol

Here's my Weird Wednesday picture for your viewing pleasure. I think she was licking butter off her bread. Kinda weird if you ask me! ;) Come on... you know you've got a weird picture... do share with us! Click on 'Mister Linky' below and put in your info so we can check out your 'weirdness!'



American Idol? I just don't know anymore. I was way off last week. Carly should have been one of the final three. Did her tattoo-faced husband scare the voters off? Hard to say. The 'vote for the worst' website is voting for Brooke White, so I think she's safe this week (again). I think dread boy has quite a fan base, too. So, that leaves Syesha to go this week. I think she did very well, and if this contest were based on talent... it would be Brooke or dread boy going. His name is escaping me right now. I liked him at first (not enough to win the whole thing), but after more than a dozen songs... I've had enough. Brooke White, too. They just aren't as skilled as the rest. Sometimes I wish we could vote for who we want to GO HOME. Who would you vote for if we could do that???

Puppy Play

They're not even fighting.

Maybe they're dancing...

Looks a little vicious, but I assure you it's not.

Kissing? Probably not.

Smack down! Diesel 1 - Maggie 0

This is daily play for the pups. Remember, they're brother and sister from the same litter. They just turned one, and they still have lots of puppy energy. They'll play rough like this for 10 minutes, then come inside and sleep for an hour.

Sophie the Sandwich Artist

Weird Wednesday & American Idol

Bye Bye Brooke! I think 'dread boy' did just as badly,
but the song he sang was familiar to most people, and it probably saved him.

Here's my 'Weird Wednesday' picture from our visit to the eye doctor the other day. It looks like her head is about to start spinning!

Come on, play along! You know all the pictures you take aren't perfect. You've got a dud in there somewhere... Post your 'weird Wednesday' picture on your blog, link back here, and then sign my Mr. Linky so we can all come and check out your weird stuff!

Did you know, and why didn't you tell ME???

Okay, this picture has NOTHING to do with my post, but when I was looking for a funny picture that had to do with computer work, I came across it and just couldn't stop laughing. Thought you all might enjoy it too. Now back to business...

I recently learned a very easy way to shrink down pictures for blogger so they'll load a lot faster, and I can resize many pictures at a time, very quickly. (using Fotosizer) I have a 10+ mp camera, and it was taking forever to upload just one picture. I know there are many programs that will do it, but this one is FREE, and will VERY QUICKLY re-size one or a whole folder full of pictures.

I also learned how to upload MANY pictures at once to blogger, rather than hitting 'browse', loading one picture, clicking 'browse' again, and uploading another. (Firefox dragdrop upload) Again, this is FREE and quick.

Maybe you all know these tricks? If so, why didn't you tell ME???

If you don't know these tricks, I'd be happy to share with you. I don't want to bore you if you already know, or take all the time to type it out if you don't need the info.

If you have any other tricks up your sleeve, would you please share with the rest of us?

Leaving the Pups & the Eye Doctor

Sophie gives Diesel some love

When we leave the pups, we give them a little treat, and tell them to stay. They're good pups, and we let them roam around free in the house when we're gone. Here's Sophia giving Maggie her treat. While the pups are 'fierce protectors' and are big, they are very gentle taking the treat from Sophia.

The pups have to sit for her, before they get the treat.

Sophia had her first eye doctor appointment. No concerns, but they recommend starting at age 3 children see an eye doctor. Here she's wearing some glasses they put on her to test to see if the image she was looking at would appear to lift off the page. She passed that test with flying colors.

Sophia did well at the eye doctor appointment. The doctor detected some far sightedness, but said the vision changes so quickly at this age, so she's just going to watch it.

Sophia does have a couple of gray spots on the white of one eye, (you only see it when she looks up and over a certain way with that eye) and the doctor said it is just a thin spot on the white, but if anything changes to let her know.

At the end of the appointment, Sophia collects the three stickers she is promised. Noah and Paige both have routine appointments later this week (school vacation week, yahoo!) so Sophia will enjoy going back and telling them how she already did all the same tests.

Saturday Fun

Last Saturday, I took Noah & Sophia to Lowe's to do the craft. Ted usually takes them (when he can), but he was out of state. CLICK HERE to see what crafts are coming up. It's completely free to take your kids, they do it twice a month on Saturday. You don't need to sign up online, you just show up during the late morning hours. They say the project is for age 5 - 10 (or something like that), but Sophia does great at it (she's 3 1/2). Each kiddo gets an apron, a pair of goggles, and a nice patch that shows what craft they did. You collect the patches and sew them on the apron. That reminds me, I have two patches each to sew on before the next clinic on the 26th! This week they made ant houses (ants not included).

Sophia is such a serious carpenter!

Working hard, right alongside her brother.

Noah takes his work seriously too!

Adjusting the safety glasses

Sanding the ant house

The finished product!

All this fun, and for FREE! Pictures from their Home Depot craft (first Saturday of each month) coming up. I'm terribly behind on blogging!

Weird Wednesday & American Idol

I took Sophia and Noah to Lowe's last Saturday, to make the Ant House.
I'll be posting the good pictures soon, but here are two 'weird ones'.

I think you should play along! Post your 'Weird Wednesday' photos, and link back here so we can all see how weird you and yours are!

AMERICAN IDOL

It's getting harder and harder to pick who I think is going home. I think it's Brooke White this week. She's so cute and sweet, but this week it was just nothing special.

Is it just me, or did anyone else think David Cook stunk last night? I liked the ending of his song, but the rest of it was hard to sit through! He is a good singer, but most of the song was so low and terrible!

Sophie's New Ride

It looks like spring is really here, and it's only going to get warmer and drier. Last year Sophia was cruising around in her Cozy Coupe, but this year she's stepped up to a new ride. This trike (click HERE to get yours) is so cute, it folds up so we can throw it in the mini-van. I'm hoping to take the pups for a walk on our local walking trail, and Sophia can ride her bike. I'm pretty sure Noah will want to Heely, rather than ride his bike.

I love a bargain, I got Sophie's Radio Flyer trike for only $28 (new Target store special), and then I had a $5 off coupon to boot. I love a deal! Not pictured here is the snazzy new helmet she got, for riding on the rail trail.

Maggie - 0, Porcupine - 1

Ted is out of town on a business trip. Last night I let the pups out for their final 'elimination'. (Speaking of elimination, can you believe Michael Johns went home???) Thankfully Maggie is the only one that got quilled, and there are only about a dozen. It is hard for me to hold her down and do it, so I've been plucking a couple at a time, and giving her a break. This morning there is only 1/2 a quill left. Phew!

In doing my research on the web about how to remove these pesky things, I learned a few things. This is from a medical/vet website.

Let's dispel a few myths:

• The quills do not have to be cut or clipped to "let the air out". They are not under pressure from the hollow area within.
  
  
• Porcupine quills do not have barbs at their ends, and only rarely will actually migrate through the dog's tissues.
  
  
• They do not shoot or eject their quills but will swipe their tails swiftly and leave a bunch of needle like quills in whatever the tail happens to touch. When threatened tiny erector muscles in the skin will make the hundreds of quills over the back "stand up" in defense.

The points of the quills are extremely sharp and stiff and under the microscope actually appear as if they have scales or shingles, not barbs, that point backward. Once embedded into tissues they can be difficult to remove, especially the tiny ones that want to break before they are extracted.

Home Removal of Porky Quills:
If your dog only has a few quills and you are certain that there are none in the mouth or throat, you can remove quills at home fairly easily. The first thing to do is to get a pair of pliers, then something to cover the dog's eyes so it doesn't see those pliers approaching. Cover the dogs eyes with your hand if necessary, speak softly and don't act frantic or you will freak your dog out even worse! With the dog's eyes covered, bring the pliers up to a quill and grab the quill firmly and close to the skin. The dog will jerk backward and will separate himself from the quill. Sometimes you can grab more than one quill at a time, too. If the dog will be cooperative, coax it to accept your next attempt at removing more quills and eventually you may be able to remove a number of them. You may have to give the dog a break for a few minutes, too, between rounds of quill pulling.

I think the porcupine was under the back step. The pups were out there sniffing pretty hard this morning, and I saw a couple quills laying on the ground there. Any ideas about what I can throw under there (mothballs?) to keep a porcupine from making his home there?

Weird Wednesday & American Idol

This is Sophia at the Home Depot this past Saturday. She had taken off her safety glasses and put them back on herself. Right down over her hair, and somehow she got her ears pulled forward. And then there's the gum... sugar free of course! This one makes me laugh!



My guess for American Idol this week?
I think Kristy-Lee did well this week. The country song (well done I might add!) saved her again. The girl's hanging on by a thread, though. I don't think Syesha has the fan base that many others have. It's getting so hard, they're all such good singers! I think David Cook stunk tonight (sorry Nicole!), but it doesn't matter, he won't be going home. He got a good dose of 'humble pie' from the judges this week. He's been a wee bit arrogant, don't you think? I really liked Jason Castro tonight, and David Archuleta.

Out of the Mouths of Babes...

(Picture is pre-haircut)

We were riding in the minivan the other day, and Sophia was looking at a picture of a decked out Disney room.

"I want a Disney bed, Mom."

"Well, you'll need to talk to Daddy about that, he's the man to talk to."

"He's not a MAN, he's a BIG BOY!"

This week in a nutshell...

• I waited in line at midnight to snag a Wii.
  
• I got one (there were only 10).
  
• Noah barfed.
  
• Paige cut her own hair.
  
• Diesel chewed Paige's favorite pair of Converse sneakers.
  
• Sophia has the high score for bowling.
  
• Paige had softball tryouts every day this week!
  
• Skybus went bankrupt, and I had a flight paid for for June.
  
• The Jonas Brothers tickets for the Vermont concert arrived.
  
• My shoulder, back, arm and neck muscles hurt from Wii'ing
  
• I'm back on the diet wagon.

Weird Wednesday & American Idol

Click on the picture to enlarge the weirdness...

Tonight's prediction?

Bye bye Ramiele...

I think dread-lock boy isn't far behind her... I'm liking the rocker's new haircut, looks much better than the carefully placed comb-over he's been sporting. He can really sing, but the hair was a distraction for me. It never moved, and I suspected it was covering a very high hairline.

Your AI thoughts?