Silly Dress-Up Baby

Here's little Miss Emily sporting Mommy's socks and Brother's hat. Isn't she gorgeous? :)

Sorry I haven't been posting much. Lots going on around here to keep us busy! I'll try to get back into the swing of things quick.

Oh! I started a Nature Study group. If you live in Minnesota and use nature in your homeschooling check it out! CM Nature Study in MN

Just a couple of things...

Hey! Quick couple of things...

Have you seen this place?? Paper Back Swap. Its so fun! You can swap books (they don't have to be paperback) with people. I am drooling over here! Wanna drool with me? Click that link above to join. When you list 10 books for trade they will give you 2 free credits to get you started... then when your books get chosen by someone you'll get credits for each of them as well. And I'll even get a free book credit out of the deal! Win-win! :)

ALSO

I want to hear from all of you homeschoolers out there. We are doing a virtual school this year and I am not happy with some aspects of it. I am researching other methods for next year. I would love to hear your thoughts! I am sort of intrigued by the Charlotte Mason method. Comment here or email me at mommy2tyler @ comcast (dot) net. Thanks!!

Make me laugh Monday

Its make me laugh Monday over at Absolutely Bananas. This little clip has been making me laugh...

Kick his ask.

Government on Display Exposition at the Mall of America

Just a quick note to let anyone in the Twin Cities area know about a fun expo going on this weekend at the Mall of America. We attended it last year and it is chuck full of educational opportunities and fun! Lots of government agencies are set up educating and giving out freebies. There is going to be a display from the National Weather Service too with all sorts of fun things to learn about. Maybe we'll see ya there!! :)
Here's the blurb from the Mall's site... info and updates can also be found here: Government on Display Exposition

Saturday, January 26 - Sunday, January 27

The 9th annual Government on Display Exposition at Mall of America® is the largest government event ever staged inside an American mall. United States citizens will have an unprecedented opportunity to meet and talk with elected officials and public servants in a public forum.

More than 20 federal and state agencies, including Minnesota's U.S. Congressional delegation, will be represented at the Expo. A naturalization ceremony, in which 30 immigrants will become U.S. citizens, kicks off the Expo on Saturday, January 26 at 9 a.m. in the Rotunda.

Saturday, January 26 - Sunday, January 27
Mall Hours
All Courts

Edited to add:
In case anyone is interested, Kristi Yamaguchi will be the Mall of America tomorrow afternoon signing autographs. More info here.

PSA: Inflammatory breast cancer

Did you know that you do NOT need to have a lump in your breast to have breast cancer? I was surprised to learn this. There is so much hype about monthly breast self-exams but, while I know they work, I have never once heard mention that you do not need to have a lump to have cancer. Not once. Until today. I was doing my normal blog reading this morning, and when I got to Mommy Needs a Cocktail she was telling the story of Susan. Susan has inflammatory breast cancer. Susan is in surgery right now, right this second, having a double mastectomy. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers as she fights this horrible thing we call cancer. If you Twitter you can follow Susan... she was updating up until she was wheeled into the OR just a few minutes ago. She posted back in July about this cancer and I wanted to share it with you all here, because I feel it is important to get the word out...

We hear a lot about breast cancer these days. One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetimes, and there are millions living with it in the U.S. today alone. But did you know that there is more than one type of breast cancer?

I didn’t. I thought that breast cancer was all the same. I figured that if I did my monthly breast self-exams, and found no lump, I’d be fine.

Oops. It turns out that you don’t have to have a lump to have breast cancer. Six weeks ago, I went to my OB/GYN because my breast felt funny. It was red, hot, inflamed, and the skin looked…funny. But there was no lump, so I wasn’t worried. I should have been. After a round of antibiotics didn’t clear up the inflammation, my doctor sent me to a breast specialist and did a skin punch biopsy. That test showed that I have inflammatory breast cancer, a very aggressive cancer that can be deadly.

Inflammatory breast cancer is often misdiagnosed as mastitis because many doctors have never seen it before and consider it rare. “Rare” or not, there are over 100,000 women in the U.S. with this cancer right now; only half will survive five years. Please call your OB/GYN if you experience several of the following symptoms in your breast, or any unusual changes: redness, rapid increase in size of one breast, persistent itching of breast or nipple, thickening of breast tissue, stabbing pain, soreness, swelling under the arm, dimpling or ridging (for example, when you take your bra off, the bra marks stay – for a while), flattening or retracting of the nipple, or a texture that looks or feels like an orange (called peau d’orange). Ask if your GYN is familiar with inflammatory breast cancer, and tell her that you’re concerned and want to come in to rule it out.

There is more than one kind of breast cancer. Inflammatory breast cancer is the most aggressive form of breast cancer out there, and early detection is critical. It’s not usually detected by mammogram. It does not usually present with a lump. It may be overlooked with all of the changes that our breasts undergo during the years when we’re pregnant and/or nursing our little ones. It’s important not to miss this one.

Inflammatory breast cancer is detected by women and their doctors who notice a change in one of their breasts. If you notice a change, call your doctor today. Tell her about it. Tell her that you have a friend with this disease, and it’s trying to kill her. Now you know what I wish I had known before six weeks ago.

You don’t have to have a lump to have breast cancer.

P.S. Feel free to steal this post too. I’d be happy for anyone in the blogosphere to take it and put it on their site, no questions asked. Dress it up, dress it down, let it run around the place barefoot. I don’t care. But I want the word to get out. I don’t want another young mom — or old man — or anyone in between — to have to stare at this thing on their chest and wonder, is it mastitis? Is it a rash? Am I overreacting? This cancer moves FAST, and early detection and treatment is critical for survival.

Thank you.

The purple text above is from Susan's blog and is her own words. You can read the original post here. Look around her blog. She has alot of posts about this cancer, and they are very insightful. She also posts about her beautiful family.

Like I said, lets all keep her in our hearts, thoughts, and prayers today as she goes through surgery to fight this thing.

UPDATE: This just came through on Twitter...

whymommy in postop. i'm alive! 8 minutes ago from web

Randomness

Hey! I know. I know. I did it again. I went awol on y'all. I'm sorry! Please forgive me! Ok? Thanks! You're the best. :)

So... what's new...

Do any of you suffer from depression this time of year? I am having a really hard time lately. I'm broke. I have no friends. My family is 1000 miles away. I've been sick with a cold for weeks. Someone stole the stereo out of my van last week. I could go on and on... and being cooped up due to sub-zero temps does not help matters. My kids are just as bored as I am. And it shows. We're going crazy over here! I only hope warmer weather comes soon... and my tax refund would be nice too. Then we can get out of this house and do something. Yay!

On to the randomness...

I re-discovered Twitter. Its kinda fun. I added it to my side bar over there <-- You can even "follow me". Fun times, people!

I also re-discovered Sk*rt. Great way to see what's going on in Blogland and beyond.

I discovered Paperback Swap... thanks to Kim over at Life in a Shoe. Great way to recycle your used books and get some new ones in the process! You list your books and, when someone requests one, you mail it to them... then you get a credit to use to request a book of your own from someone! I added a link in my side bar over there --> If you click it and join I will get a free book credit when you post 10 books. Thank you very much. :) Oh they are giving new members 2 free credits when they list their first 10 books.

I have been having a ton of fun with YouTube too. I discovered vlogs. Who knew! You can even view YouTube videos from your phone!
Funny, I even have Emily loving YouTube and Google. She likes to search for babies and puppies to watch. hehe

Have you heard this little girl sing? She was on the news here last week. Pretty talented!

I redecorated my little ole blog the other day. I used digital scrapbooking elements from the girls over at Digital Scrap Garden. Oh, and check out my little signature at the end of each of my posts. Pretty cool, huh? You can make one of your very own here. Thanks for that link, Kyra!

What else have we been up to... Hmmm...

Tyler is into U.B Funkeys. They're fun little guys. He has a little collection going that he bought with Christmas and birthday money. I'm actually impressed with the originallness (Is that a word? Maybe I should have said originality. Oh well.) of them. We tried the Rescue Pets E-Pets route and it got boring for him. After a few days. Not good. These funky little Funkeys hold promise though.

Dave and Tyler are rocking on their new hobby. Woodworking! Dave has slowly built up a few power tools for them and Tyler really likes spending time out there building things with Daddy. He even has his own work bench. Too cute! Dave came across his old Hand Andy Tool Kit the other day... he was so excited to hand it down to Tyler. They have built a birdhouse, a bird feeder, and a squirrel feeder so far.

What else....

OH! Oh my gosh! Its Make Me Merry Monday! I almost forgot again. Bad me. What makes me merry... this is a hard week for this. Well, this may seen superficial to some, but right now my Nintendo DS is making me merry alot of the time. I got the new Zelda game for Christmas, which is a cool game... and Dave and I have been playing True Swing Golf together in the evenings. Kinda fun. Helps pass the time.

So... My Nintendo DS makes me merry!

I know its late, but if you want to participate in Make Me Merry Monday the code to add my button to your post is in the post below this one (Because its been a week since I last posted. Nice.) I will add a Mister Linky here on this post so you can add your blog's link... then we can all come visit you and see what makes you merry! See how nicely that works? Ok... go on then. Blog and be merry!!