Embrace the Camera

Cheating Style.

Because we FINALLY had a "real" photographer take some family pics ~ you can find out why by going here.

So today, there are no self-timers, no outstreached arms, not reflected shots, no fabulous child photographers.

Just our family and an actual professional :)
(if you live in the Minneapolis area and want info e-mail me at ordinarymol@hotmail.com)  

Sassy putting Smiley in a head-lock :)

and now I sit trying to figure out what the heck Smiley was thinking ~ I'm not sure she knows:) she looks a little ummm... confused maybe?

MAN I LOVE THESE GUYS!!!

Ooh, and today is Smiley's 2nd B-day ~ but more on that later ☺

AND...

Do you believe in Ghosts?  I want to know
click here to get the details!

Do you believe?

With Halloween just around the corner, it seems that there are always "ghost stories" being shown on TV.  The other day I flipped the TV on while I started making dinner, and I came across a show in which different celebrities were telling of their ghostly encounters.  It got me wondering, Do you, my fabulous readers, believe in ghosts?  Have you encountered strange things that you just can't explain?

I do, and I have ~ here is one of my stories........

(CUE CREEPY MUSIC)

Growing up, my family and I lived in a small, comfortable home (although now, I'm sure I would describe it more as tiny instead of small).  When I was in high school, my room was in the basement.  It was a finished basement, but it felt dark.  It didn't have a walkout, or egress windows, but it did have a full kitchen, 3/4 bath, 2 bedrooms and a living room complete with fireplace. 

Anyway, I was getting ready for school one morning.  It was early, 6:30 ish, and I was the only one in the basement, my music was crankin' (on my brand new 5 disc CD changer that I had just proudly purchased ☺)  and I was in the bathroom fixing my hair and doing my make-up. 

All of a sudden, my music stopped.  I thought maybe it was a reception glitch ~ after all, I was listening to the radio and not a CD.  But when I walked into my room to check it out, the whole system was turned off.  I turned it back on and walked back to the bathroom (which by the way, was through the living room, into the kitchen, through a hallway and around the corner).  When I got to the bathroom the radio turned off again.  I went back and turned it on again.  This happened just like this 2 more times.  

That last time though, after I turned it back on, I only made it the doorway of my room when it turned off again.  I walked back to the stereo, very frustrated, turned it back on again and loudly stated, "Could you please, stop turning the radio off!"

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You guessed it, it didn't turn off again.

Weird huh?

Coincidence?

So, do you believe?

I've got a couple more stories for you.....
Come back Friday and Sunday for more. 


Oh, and I want to hear your stories so on Sunday I will put a linky up for a few days so you can tell us your ghost stories ~ So get prepared!  I'm ready to be freaked out!!!!!

Paper,Magnets, Frames and Acorns....

My hubby was gone last weekend. So once the kids went to bed, I wanted some mindless crafts to occupy my time.

I decided to increase my fall decor with a few new easy to make items.

First magnets.  Can you say SUPER EASY?
All you need is some cute paper
Some glass circles

Mod podge

Magnets

Glue (I used Gorilla Glue)

All you need to do is:
1. Cut out your paper to fit on the underside of the glass. 

2. Put some Mod Podge on the glass, place the paper (decorated side down, so you can see it through the  

    glass, then a little more Mod Podge over the paper.

3. Once it is completely dry, glue on your magnet.

Craft #2 ~ an acorn embelished frame.   I saw this in my Better Homes and Gardens (click the link to see the actual frame that was in the magazine) mag. 

You will need:

 Acorns ~ I purchased fake ones at a local craft store for super cheap.

A Frame ~ once again, I bought an inexpensive set of 3 at Ikea one time when I was there.

Glue ~ out came the handy dandy glue gun.

Time

Here's what you do....

1. Spray paint your frame if need be.  I painted mine a dark brown.

2.  Ready your acorns.  I tore apart my acorns and just used the caps.

3.  Glue your acorns to your frame. 

4.  Breathe a sigh of relief when you finally get them all glued on.  ☺

I actually kind of like it with out a picture in it:

But, it does look pretty good WITH a picture too!

I'm linking up here, so check them out!

 Polly Want a Crafter 

Something to Think About Sunday

Did you know that this week is designated as "Eliminate Fat Talk" week.

What does this mean? 

It means, can you go the entire week not putting yourself or others down because of weight, or another physical attribute?  Can you embrace who you are and love yourself for it?

Instead of saying something negative about your body or someone elses body, can you change your thinking and find something positive in yourself or other person.  Try it for a week ~ I dare you.   Even better, continue that week on indefinitely!

We are all beautiful, we are all different and unique ~ Embrace the person you are!

Be Healthy
Be Confident
Be Happy
Be Yourself

Spread the word and don't forget to share a compliment :)

Be Blessed!

Friday Funny

This has been makinging itself around, but I just thought I would share in case you haven't seen it. 

I admit, I giggled a little when I watched it and hopefully you will too!

Sort of Embracing the Camera :) and a raffle

Today is embrace the camera day, except, there are a few changes.
1.  There is no linky party
2.  I'm not in the pictures

Today I am embracing the smiles and spirits of my little ones:

What started off as this:

Soon evolved into this:

AND,

Did you know that Emily, the "embrace the camera" party hoster herself, and her husband are adopting a little girl from Ethiopia?
They are trying to raise some $$ to help them bring her home. You can help by "sharing the love" (click to read more details) Basically they have 5 FABULOUS bundles of goodies ~ all you have to do is donate $10 to enter ~ the more you donate, the more times your name gets put in the drawing.
Check it:
1 entry is $10
2 entries is $20
5 entries is $50
10 entries is $100
What are the bundles you ask? Click on each on to see the glorious goodies:

Craft/Hobby bundle
All Girl bundle
Home Decor bundle
All Boy bundle
Accessory bundle

You have until Sunday, October 17th MIDNIGHT to enter.

Anyway, don't forget to embrace your camera, and if you can, share the love :)

The story of a girl and her glasses

I have a story to tell, and it's kind of long.  But it's a story I want to tell.  One, I will always remember.
So go grab yourself a little snack and get comfy.
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Ready?

Ok........

Wait, one more thing ~ just a little warning that all of the pics have been scanned in and are not the best of quality ~ but you'll get the picture, I think :)

When She was born, we noticed her eyes right away.  Blue and beautiful.

As she grew older her eye lashes grew longer and her beautiful blue eyes seemed to sparkle.

She was spunky, happy and stubborn.  As she learned to talk the four words we most heard from her were, "I do it MYself"
So, when during her 3 year well-check she didn't want to "test" her eyes I was only mildly surprised.  Her doctor said she looked perfect ~ of picture of health (especially since she had ear tubes put in  when she was 11 months old).  She mentioned to keep an eye on Sassy's eyes and if I noticed anything weird ~ falling down a lot, squinting, or anything suspicious to call.

It was maybe 1 week later when I saw it.

I was putting some snapshots into a photo album.  It was so obvious.  How had I never noticed before?!  In many pictures my beautiful Sassy had 1 red eye and 1 normal eye. Weird.

And some of the time when it didn't turn out red, one eye seemed to be turning in.

We went back to the pediatrician.

We were referred to a pediatric opthamologist.

He is a very good doctor.

He is a very busy doctor.

We waited what felt like forever to see him.

And when we did, the results were shocking.

Sassy was 20/20 in her right eye ~ excellent!  And 20/1000 in her left eye!

That's right, 20/1000

She was diagnosed as having Amblyopia ~ which is basically loss of vision in one eye ~ for some reason, the brain prefers one eye over the other and does not turn the other eye on.  She also had significant crossing of
her left eye.

As a mother how could I not have known this!  I felt like I had failed my daughter.  I remember when her funny "trick" was to cross both of her eyes and then turn one back so she had one crossed eye and one straight eye.  Then she would make them both straight.  THIS WAS NO LONGER FUNNY!  Had I missed an important sign?

Well, we were determined to get her vision back.

She was prescribed glasses (which when on would mostly correct the turning of her left eye):

And had to patch her "good eye" 15 - 20 hours a week

while pretending to be pregnant.....  with a balloon.....

Just kidding!  Just had to see if you were still reading along :)

We had to go back and see the eye doctor every 3 months.

There was gradual improvement in her vision ~ with lots of tears and frustrations along the way.  I mean, really what 3 year old wants to wear a patch over the one eye they can see out of and basically walk around blind?

20/200

20/100

20/80

20/70 ~ stuck for what felt like FOR-E.V.E.R.

Still wearing glasses ~ trying to not scratch the heck out of them....

And still patching ~ and that got harder and harder.

She was busier.

And she was concerned about what her friends and other people might think.

There was lots of talk about "true" friends.

20/60

1st grade.

Eye alignment surgery.

We decided to have this surgery done to align Sassy's eyes.

She was "put under" and I cried.

Waited.

Nervous.

Never happier to see her eye doctor and hear him say she was being transported to recovery and that they would come and get us soon. He told us her surgery went perfectly.  Her eyes were finally straight and "man that girl has some beautiful eyelashes".

I just wanted my girl.

When we finally got to see her, her eyes were quite red and she was super nauseous.  I'll spare you the details and just tell you it was a very long 25 minute drive home.

The first thing she wanted to do when she got home was to look at her eyes.  Red or not the smile on her face when she saw how straight they were was priceless!

20/50

Woot Woot!!!

Straight eyes ~ WITHOUT GLASSES :)

 

Now, Sassy had to patch just enough to at least keep her vision where it was.

Appointments decreased from every 3 months to every 6.

20/40

No more patching, and we only have to see the doctor once a year.  Here she is and here she will stay.

Sassy, her long eyelashes, her beautiful blue/green/gray eyes that are perfect and straight.

Baby it's been long and at times frustrating for all of us, but you've been a champ.  You've come such a long way and I am so proud of you!