If it can't be Romney....

then I will take Gov. Sarah Palin enthusiastically! What could be better than a pro-life, anti-corruption, pro-drilling mother of 5! Sounds like my dream candidate for sure.

Help out a great cause

My cousin's Carolyn and Randa have put together a neat auction benefiting the Nie recovery fund. They and my uncle Rob are auctioning off a two night stay at the beautiful Old Mill Log Cabins in Star Valley, Wyoming.




If you haven't already heard, a young mother and her husband were badly burned in a plane crash. It's a truly heart-wrenching story. Please visit these websites and help however you can. Thanks!

Political reads of the day

Whether you are just starting to pay attention to the Presidential race, or you are a big nerd like myself and soak it up daily and stay up late for speculation about the vice presidential pick on tv,(I know, big nerd alert) then I have two thought provoking articles for you.

They are paying attention now by Peggy Noonan

High Noon in duel for White House by Andrew Sullivan

The Erickson Bunch

From Kendall's wedding- I think that someone needs to tell the photographer that his da** camera adds 25 lbs to people. Oh wait..never mind.

In other unrelated news, the kiddos had a great first day of school. It took them about 2 hours to tell me all of their stories. I also was relieved to learn that the boy I refer to as "mean kid" isn't in Ryan's class. Hooray! It's going to be a great year.

Back to school

It was easier this year sending the kids back to school. We were all ready. However, I did choke up a little bit when I left.Although I know their school is great and I know they are ready, I always feel alittle like I am throwing them to the wolves. I just want everyone to be nice to my kids. Is that too much to ask? :) I can't wait for their glowing reports of their day and I will feel better. Brynn and Kate rushed me out of their classes. Ry was happy if I wanted to stay all day.

It was awesome to walk around Target with little Z at 8:30 this morning. I am going to like that. :)








Poor Mrs. T, it doesn't look like she will be teaching for too many more weeks.

Shameless suck up

I have found out the best local bargains, fun eating spots, and awesome finds (Hello Real Deals) from my local blogging friends. So you awesome local bloggers tell me the hidden treasure kind of place to get new furniture. We are looking for a leather sofa and matching recliner. Of course I want it for a deal! Are there any gems out there for furniture stores that I might not know of? Where would you buy new furniture around here? Thank you for helping us to replace our poor laz boy that just broke in half and our poor slipcover of a couch!

PS- Have you tried the Pita Pit I like to say that it's like Subway, except good! You can make your pita healthy or stuff it with meat like Mark likes to. I am eating a club pita loaded with veggies as we speak. Try yours with Babaganoush. It's like hummus except made with eggplant instead of chickpeas. I know, sounds weird but it's so yummy!

Our kiddos start school tomorrow. It's been a little bit of a long summer with a slightly moody preteen but we have done a lot of fun stuff too so al things considered I think it's a good time for school to start again!

Last but not least, we have been so sick the last few days. Everyone except for Brynn came down with it over the weekend up through yesterday. Mark came home sick on Monday, I got it Tuesday and the kids around Sun-Mon. To top it off Brynn was the only well one but that wasn't entirely true because she had to get part of her toenail extracted from the podiatrist Mon. That wasn't fun. She has had too many ingrown toenails for an 11 year old. It's healing up nicely now.

Breaking Dawn- Discuss

I bought Breaking Dawn and have barely cracked the cover. I even took it on Mark's and my fabulous weekend trip to Park City,UT and instead got roped into the Olympics coverage! I love the Olympics by the way. Back on topic, so I haven't read the book yet, but of course I read all the spoilers and reviews on Amazon. I can't help it!! That's how I am. Entertainment Weekly gave the book a "D" and they had given Stephenie Meyer positive coverage until then. I know I haven't read it but if you have tell me......... was the D rating justified and why or why not? I would love to hear from YOU!