16...the winner!

Thanks to a brief conversation with Elizabeth this afternoon, we have a winner of the CSN giveaway. She was slightly stressed out by the pressure, but she pulled herself together enough to pick comment number 16 as the winner.

According to Wikipedia:

"16 (sixteen) is the natural number following 15 and preceding 17. 16 is a composite number, and a square number, being 4² = 4 × 4. It is the smallest number with exactly five divisors, its proper divisors being 1, 2, 4 and 8."

image

According to Sarah and the management here at Dandelions and Daffodils Inc., we would like to congratulate...Leigh Anne at Simply Swarbrick!!!  

I can now add BUS to my list of transportation experience

I have recently returned from visiting my peep{aka Christopher}up north to my peeps at home. I'm pleased to report that while the return trip did take two hours longer than planned, it did not take 24 1/2 hours like the time when I returned home in December. Did I ever tell you about that return trip? It was somewhere between complete chaos and a total nightmare.

At any rate.

Due to flooded tracks I did not take the train as planned but was put on a large red bus.The large red bus provided us with approximately a 2x2 space per person, along with a window seat if you were lucky. Unfortunately, most of my fellow passengers were slightly larger than the 2x2 space so you can imagine the comfort in which we all rode for five hours.

Upon arrival at the next large city, we were all dropped off at the train/bus station to await the next leg of our respective journeys. 

My layover was about two hours so I filled up the time by making phone calls, reading my book, and paying $4.50 for a small coffee. That purchase definitely falls under the 'taking advantage of poor travelers because there's no Dunkin' Donuts in sight' category. 

Finally I was able to board my train and I saw this lovely view out my window. 

It's worth noting that each train passenger had much more than a 2x2 space in which to spread out. It's also worth noting that I sat next to a bread and hummus eating college philosophy teacher who was a former hippie. She's pregnant, is due in June, and doesn't know the gender. The names they picked out are Gloria and Peter. File that bit of information under the 'Sarah's kind of nosy' category.

 During a trip to the train restroom, I was both humored and slightly confused by the sign below.

I just don't understand why they made the cleaning person look like a devil. 

I have noticed a trend in my photo taking during my trips to see Christopher that is slightly saddening: I end up taking next to no pictures. It is such a tragedy, especially when you considered that I take pictures of anything and everything under the sun under normal circumstances. It really is a pity I don't have a picture of when I helped moved our new couch out of the moving van and into the apartment because Christopher had been so sure he'd have to call Price to come help LITTLE KNOWING that I, quite possibly the world's weakest person, am perfectly capable of moving large pieces of furniture. 

On Sunday night we went down to the harbor and saw this beautiful sunset. {Laura, are you paying attention? While I was taking this I thought of you because you take sunset/scenery pictures too!} 

The final picture in this epistle was taken on the way home. Mr. Conductor came over the loud speaker informing us that due to unforeseen flooded tracks, it was necessary for us to reroute. But there was silver lining in the clouds for us, the most fortunate passengers, because we would now be able to witness a SELDOM SEEN AND SPECTACULAR VIEW of the Hudson River. And that is how I came to have my camera ready for the next two hours as we went in reverse over the same tracks we had just traveled on going forward. At one point we stopped on a bridge high over some bare trees and a little river which I assumed was nothing to write home about because I was all about the SELDOM SEEN AND SPECTACULAR VIEW of the river. 

Turns out this was the seldom seen and spectacular view.

Don't get me wrong, I do think it was a lovely view. I was just picturing more of a grand blue river beneath us as we chugged along over the bridge and eagles soared above us.

My family is so happy to have me back and listen to me talk non-stop as I fill them in on all the details of my trip. Aaron let me know just how happy when he interrupted my story about how our tv screen is the same as our computer screen {it was RIVETING} to ask, "has anyone seen my dog tags?" When Mom made a comment about how Sarah was telling her story and should be able to do so without interruption, he replied along the lines of "I know she is, that's why I said something. We'll be here ALL NIGHT if she keeps talking."

I love them, too.

 And I'm so happy to see them again! 

a message for the birthday girl

Happy birthday,Stephanie!

We love you and can't wait to see you at the wedding!

♥

Sarah & Christopher

In which Molly recites a poem about Skinless John

I'm sure Molly would also like you to enter the giveaway.

Mr & Mrs Bear

*Click here for the giveaway*

Autumn, Marissa and Debbie gave me these bears for a shower gift.

Dad was sick recently so I suggested he get to know Mr and Mrs Bear. Because all grown men just LOVE to hold teddy bears when they're sick. {Or not.}

He decided to do the fatherly thing for the bears and "give them marriage counseling".

Never have two bears been so prepared to tie the knot.

{I happen to think their counselor is pretty spiffy,too!} 

Manny & I almost went to Montana

**Click here for the giveaway**

Monday night our new car,Manny, and I headed out to meet up with Mrs.Blaser for some wedding errands. Monday night was also the first time Manny and I got lost together. 

Neither of us enjoyed it very much.

The stores are only about 25 minutes from home, but thanks to ONE left instead of right turn, it took us precisely one hour to get there. On the bright side, I was so thankful to have 1/8 bag of crackers in the car with me because it meant I wouldn't starve if I was forced to spend the night in the middle of some random field in western Montana. Not that I live anywhere near Montana, you understand. That's just an illustration of how far off-track things can go when I get lost. 

Mrs. Blaser is a member of the Official Wedding Committee {this wedding has many committees} and is preforming above and beyond the call of duty. She is just a wealth of ideas. Our main reason for planning the shopping trip was to look at vases for the centerpieces, but we almost immediately got sidetracked by monkey bobble heads sitting on a shelf  right as we walked into Joann's. Lest you think I am having a zoo themed wedding, let me assure you that I am not. Anna is having a monkey themed birthday party next month so her mom is in stock-up-for-the-party mode. After we finished the monkey business, we got down to the flower and centerpiece business. The vase selection didn't produce quite the excitement that the monkey bobble heads did, so we ran over to Michael's to see if the selection was better in their neck of the centerpiece world.

It was is the bridal aisle of Michael's Arts and Crafts that we made a discovery which quite possibly made us the most enthusiastic people ever to stand under Michael's roof. Amidst the ring bearer pillows, fake flower petals and chocolate almonds, we found a package of adorable little chalkboard table markers.

We almost DIED, we were so excited. We're going to write the table name on each little chalkboard and put it in the centerpiece. It will be so pretty. 

We did end up finding some vases, as well as some little tins to put the favors in, so the trip was definitely a success despite the fiasco it was getting there. It was so much better than spending the night in a random field in the middle of Montana.

Unfortunately, I do not own a water buffalo

During a conversation with Christopher last night, it came to light that he has never seen Larry the Cucumber sing The Water Buffalo Song.

The poor, poor man.

It's a good thing he now has me to enlighten him about such things because really, HOW MUCH LONGER could he survive in life without hearing this song? 

I do what I can.

***

Don't forget to enter the giveaway. Please note that the winner does not receive a water buffalo of their own.

Even the weathermen have no answers

--> giveaway <--

There seems to be some confusion about exactly what type of weather we should be having today, the first full day of Spring. Look at our poor daffodils. The poor things are being weighed down by SNOW. 

Three days ago it was 60 degrees.

It is just further proof that there is no rhyme or reason behind New England weather.

Because...a giveaway

Closed


Because today is the first day of spring.

And because our crocuses are blooming.

And because I'm going to Christopher on Thursday.

And because Jorden asked me so nicely to host this {hi,Jorden!}...we're having a giveaway. 

So if you'd like to win $20 towards any CSN product, just leave a comment telling us about anything under the sun. You could share your favorite brand of lip gloss, tell us your dream vacation for the summer, how many times you can jump-rope without stopping. Pretty much anything is accepted. Just please don't tell me how much you like the New York Yankees. That's going just a little too far. ;-)

If you're an over-achiever, or if you have too much time on your hands, you can get extra entries by:
* following this blog
* blogging or tweeting about this giveaway

The winner will be picked sometime the night of March 29th. {I used to be all technical about "this giveaway will end at exactly 11:59pm yada", but who has time for such technicalities when there are babies to be kissed and chocolates to be eaten.} 

Heavenly thoughts

Last week while babysitting I told Molly we had to hit the road because the errands, they weren't going to do themselves. She climbed into her carseat with her bag of strawberries, and I climbed into the drivers seat to man the radio, gps, and steering wheel. She talked on about a variety of topics as we went along including school, her friends, and how she wanted just ONE MORE strawberry. We were riding along in silence for a few minutes when she suddenly asked me, "is God dead?" That was major topic change from strawberries, but I quickly adjusted my thinking and told her that no, God is not dead. He lives in heaven but because God is everywhere, He's also with us on earth. Then she asked what heaven is like. What goes on up there? Is it big? I will never be what is called an excellent theologian, but I told her that I think it's a very beautiful place, maybe with lots of flowers and trees. I also said there are no tears in heaven because everyone is always happy. The next question was regarding heavenly fashion. I said something along the lines of maybe we're going to be dressed like angels. I wasn't too sure about that one but I know for a fact that no one will be dressed like a Disney princess, which seem to be Molly's current go-to outfit. She thought it was just hysterical that Zachary might be dressed LIKE AN ANGEL!! It would be so funny! After covering the topic of angels, we drove in silence for a few minutes. I was thinking about the fact that I was glad the theology required to answer those questions wasn't any deeper, and also that I was slightly proud of myself for pointing the children I care for in the right direction in life. 


It quickly became apparent that Molly's mind had returned to things of earth because all the sudden she said, "have you ever been ICE FISHING?"

The result are in

Andrew and Debbie are having a...

GIRL!

It is very true that I was convinced the baby was a boy and that I was strongly suggesting various boy names.  It now appears that while I can no longer suggest boy names, I will switch over to voicing my opinion about how I should making little suggestions about how they can decorate the nursery.

My friend Jorden told me where I can get some nice pendant lighting that will make the baby feel like she's living in a princess room.

Every little girl should feel like a princess. I feel I'm an expert on the topic as my name means princess. It doesn't get much more royal than that.

{It would be nice if the same people who clean the castles of real live princess would come clean my house for me.}

I returned from herding sheep to discuss my bridal shower

I have finally returned from my unintended blogging break. I've just been unusually busy lately herding sheep in Ireland, kissing babies in Africa, and coming up with solutions to world peace that I've gotten a little behind. Or maybe I've just been busy loading and unloading the dishwasher, helping 17 three year olds zip their coats, and wondering why on earth we still have the non-working can opener in the drawer when we have a new one that works perfectly well. The first explanation sounds so much more dramatic so let's go with that one.

Last Saturday was my Garden Party bridal shower. The girls put flower vinyls on the walls, hung little butterflies and dragonflies from the ceiling, and decorated the potted plants with various outdoorsy things.

As Maid of Honor, Katie was the MC. She tried to keep peoples attention from being on me 100% of the time, but that didn't work out too well as I was the guest of honor. 

We had a slight incident with the 70 cupcakes we made for especially for the shower: they never made it to the shower. Joanna didn't know they were in her freezer so she didn't know she was supposed to bring them. It really wasn't a problem because there was plenty of food and we didn't even notice their absence until the end, but we were still flabbergasted about it. We felt the only thing to do was laugh and plan a cupcake eating party at which we each eat 10 cupcakes. 

Katie & Co. played the typical "how well do you know the groom" groom. They planned on me getting all the questions wrong so they had one silly hat lined up for each questions I got wrong. Well, I must know my groom quite well because I got 14 out of the 16 questions right. They were stunned. Just couldn't believe that I know what kind of animal he would choose to be. The general consensus was that I took the fun out of the game by being so smart so they made me wear all the hats anyway.

We then moved on to opening the presents.

All the little girls wanted to help so we set up an assembly line.

K has been to bridal showers where the bride s-l-o-w-l-y opens each gift and bores all the guests so she tried to avoid that by going in completely the opposite direction. "Oh,it's blue dishes how nice here's the next gift."

While Joanna wrote down each gift and the giver, Hannah made a bouquet from all the bows and ribbons.

And then, my friends, then the girls sang a song they wrote about me and Christopher to the tune of Sweet Caroline. I have a video of it but I don't want to put it up because they're going to sing it at the reception and I want it to be a surprise. It was about movie dates, buttons, Paddington, and was VERY sweet. We made them sing it twice so that Dad and Daniel could hear it.

I love my flower girls. They're all so cute. Keturah told me she was smiling for the picture because she was thinking about the new brother her family is adopting from the Ukraine.

♥

And so ended my {cupcakeless} wonderfully perfect shower.

What's up, Cupcake?

In preparation for my bridal shower tomorrow, we had a cupcake decorating party at Joanna's house last night. I almost didn't go because I wasn't feeling well, but I pulled myself up by my boot straps and and went anyway. I'm so glad I did because the girls cheered me right up.

{As a side note, while I was getting supper before Elizabeth and I left, Mom came over and plopped four chocolate cookies beside my plate as her way of cheering me up. That NEVER would have happened in days of yore. We always had a strict "eat your meal and then maybe you can have dessert" policy. The times, how they are a'changing.}

Hannah welcomed us at the door with her charming smile. {We're going to use this picture if we ever put her on eHarmony.}

After I took this picture Joanna asked what music we'd like to listen to while we worked. Speaking of music reminded Hannah to tell me that Josh Groban is coming to our part of the 'hood at an unknown time in the near future. It's a small possibility that I may have said "be still my heart" when I heard that wonderful news. There's also a large possibility that a conversation may have been started about whether or not I should make such statements the month before I'm going to marry another man.



Due to the large amounts of butter and sugar involved in the decorating process, it took LOTS of trial and error topped with a good deal of milk to make the frosting perfect. Joanna and Hannah immediatly set about creating their edible masterpieces.

Autumn and I created masterpieces as well, we just stopped to take pictures along the way. {Have I mentioned that I love Autumn?}



I never said we were neat decorators.

Joanna made Christopher and I a seaturtle cupcake to "stand for unity and happiness and I don't know what else. Seaturtles really aren't very inspiring." You'll notice she used three colors in hopes that we'll have triples. Just sayin'. Autumn made the blue and yellow button cupcake because Christopher calls me Button and he proposed with buttons.



Approximately three hours and 70 cupcakes later we were done.

They're not exactly on par with Cupcake War cupcakes, but they're still very cute.



The Big 1-9

I decided a few months ago that it is not possible for me to showcase everyone I know on their birthday because this here blog is not meant to a birthday blog. While I could tell you the birthdays of everyone from Abraham Lincoln to my former piano teacher, I won't because most people don't care to hear those wonderful {but basically useless to the general populus} bits of information.

However.

HOWEVER.

Today is Hannah's birthday and seeing how she's such a wonderful friend and one of my bridesmaids, her birthday could not go undocumented.

Not to mention the fact that her birthday gives me another chance to look at this picture.

The weekend*

* Subtitled: I couldn't for the life of me think of a more creative title

Somebody came to visit me over the weekend.

His name starts with C, ends with r, and has hristophe in the middle.

Anyone wish to guess who it was? 

Let me give you a clue {I'm all about being helpful}:

That's right. It was Mr. Fiancée.

It was a wonderful visit.

But, as is usually the case, it went by much too fast. 

{This is where the sad music starts to play in the background and everyone gets very melodramatic.}

After Christopher left, we headed over to this young man's house for his 7th birthday party. It seems to me like he was just born five days ago so I'm not sure how it can already be his 7th birthday. Someone must have messed up in their birthday calculations.

Molly took it upon herself to decorate the dining room with various ribbons, balloons and streamers. She was a little too short to reach the light so Daniel came to her aid and rescued the whole decoration process from going south. When Erika said she wanted a picture of the decorators, Molly protested that Daniel didn't do anything and she would absolutely not smile for the picture if he was going to be in it. So Daniel just smiled nicely all by himself. And then Molly had the audacity to ask him for more help. The whole thing just went 'round and 'round in circles.

And that was my weekend.

You all have a lovely week.

Molly and her babies

Molly just started playing with dolls.

She takes care of Kate, the little baby in the front, and I take care of Lily.

It just makes my heart so happy.

Today's his day, hurray hurray!

My friends,

Today is a BIG day.

You may not know it, but today is Dr.Suess 107th birthday. He came into this world on March 2nd, 1904. 

According to the Suessville website, his family pronounced his name as Zoice, not Soose, but I prefer Soose because Zoice reminds me of a Greek god and who wants to think of a Greek god when someone mentions The Cat in the Hat? I mean, seriously. Does this guy put you in a rhyming mood?

I am hardly tempted to think "oh,the places I'll go!" when I see him.

I personally prefer to think of these characters when someone mentions DR. SOOSE.