Cooper's Christmas List ~

Cooper spent the afternoon at Grammy and Grandpa's house yesterday and when the girls and I got there, my mom told me Cooper had told her his Christmas list. She wrote it down just as he told her:

1. John Deere gator
2. Star Wars TV game
3. light sabers in every color
4. glow-in-the-dark underwear
5. table for my room (as long as Dad's truck)
6. TV remote
7. Polly Pockets for Riley
8. 2 lamps for the living room
9. 3 pillows - 1 big straight one like Dad's
10. a 'mote control John Deere tractor
11. a scary mask
12. a lock for my room so Camdyn can't get in when I'm gone
13. a wooden reindeer
14. stuffed fawn
15. kid cookbook
16. kid craft book
17. Night Before Christmas book

I believe 13-17 and the 2 lamps came from him looking around the room while talking to Grammy. haha He's original, but come on, who really asks for a stuffed fawn? :P He then proceeded to circle every toy in the toy catalog Grammy got in the mail. 'Cause a kid can never have enough toys, right?

Phobia ~


pho·bi·a (fō'bē-ə) n.
1. A persistent, abnormal, and irrational fear of a specific thing or situation that compels one to avoid it, despite the awareness and reassurance that it is not dangerous.

2. A strong fear, dislike, or aversion.

I've come to the conclusion that I have some yet unnamed phobia of opening these unostentatious roll containers. My husband thinks it's darn right humerous, but one of these days when I'm blinded or maimed whilst preparing a breakfast of Pillsbury cinnamon rolls, he'll understand my trepidation.

The Surprise Party ~

After waiting for months it was finally here, the surprise 60th birthday party for my mom. We had the party at 180 Main in Dubuque, the neatest old building that has an irish pub in the basement with live music, a restaurant on the main floor, banquet room, and another loft upstairs. You can check it out at http://www.180main.com/ , the food was wonderful and the banquet room was just perfect for us.
My mom was absolutely, without a doubt, clueless about the whole thing---she was SO incredibly surprised and seeing her so happy made it all worth it. It was so nice having our family together, I wish everyone lived closer. So I leave you with a picture of the fam...

Photoshop Actions ~

I'm just figuring out how to work actions in Photoshop, the whole thing is still really confusing, but I'm working on it. This action is vintage, it obviously does something with desaturation and texturization...beyond that, I have no idea! :P

Ratatouille ~

Clyde bought Ratatouille today, so we had family movie night tonight. What a cute movie! The kids loved and we adults enjoyed it too. Thumbs up from the Kay family! ;)

I remember reading that rats make wonderful pets, but after watching the bonus feature on the dvd---I'm not sure so it would be the best for us. It said a male and female rat can produce 15,000 baby rats in a lifetime. Holy babies batman...er, ratman!

Mountain Cabin Revisited---

I posted earlier about Gymboree's new line and how much I loved it, well, we got our first shipment and oh how I love it! I got the girls matching sets of the outfit Riley's wearing in the picture, it has the matching sweater I posted earlier too. Riley loves it when she and Camdyn match and well, I think it's pretty damn cute too. I'll have to try and get a picture of the both of them together. This week starts Circle of Friends sale at Gymbo for 30% everything---uh oh! ;)

You know what irritates me?

How is it that there is an entire generation of young people that have not one shred of common sense? One of my jobs at work is to check in new patients, update their demographics and insurance information, and determine what concerns they're having. The easiest way to start the process is to ask for a date of birth. Step two, ask their name. I cannot even begin to tell you how many young people I've checked in and when asked their date of birth they have no issues, but it all goes down hill quickly after that. I ask their name and get the answer, "Jennifer." or "Mike." Does no one in high school and college have a last name? Do they think they're the only Jennifer or Mike EVER born on their same date of birth?