To celebrate their 200th anniversary, Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus has generously donated circus tickets to the Greatest Show on Earth and we get to give them away here!

We have family four-packs of tickets for FOUR lucky families to giveawy!  Any of you who are in the general area of Zion or are willing to come to Salt Lake, September 22-26 to see the show at Energy Solutions Arena, you know what to do! Just comment below on what you like best about the circus before September 7th and we will randomly select 4 lucky winners.

In addition to the ticket giveaway, they are also awarding more than $150,00 in medals and grants to children ages six to 14 who have created social good and enriched their local community through their own inventive and pioneering actions.  To learn more about these awards or nominate a child, visit www.thebarnumaward.com.

My favorate part of the circus was always the pretty ladies in sparkly clothes riding the elephants.  O.K. now, your turn.

UPDATE….. And the lucky winners are comment numbers 35, 19, 15 and 48!  I will be emailing each of you to arrange for the delivery of your tickets!  Congratulations and enjoy the show.

I was sitting in my bedroom this afternoon, wasting time on the internet because DH lost his keys and had to take my car to work, leaving me with transportation only if *I* could find his keys, which is like, SO not happening because A) I’m lazy and B) DH is dang good at losing his keys, which means they could be anywhere between his office and, like, Alaska right now, when I thought, “Huh. Why is it so hot up here?” (more…)

This just made me laugh. Maybe I’m WAY behind–could be, I’ve been gone, y’know–but this is for all the dads out there who put up with us crazy moms.

Last night, we heard the story of the 10 leprechauns from the Bible, as told by my newly turned 7 year old. Only one said thank you! Now I can’t get the image of ungrateful Palestinian leprechauns out of my head.

Sugar free candy is an abomination. As is fat free cheese or fat free ranch.

Chuck E. Cheese is not a fun place to be.

Buying DS games for a birthday present for a 7 year old is just fine, until he puts them in and realizes that his DS is actually broken, and simply charging won’t fix it, even though he insists that’s all it needs. Nintendo will fix it free of charge, but it’ll take 2-3 weeks. Happy birthday! Here’s a case to look at! Enjoy!

I recently learned of the existence of Flight of the Conchords. They are very funny. “Jenny” is very funny, but watch the video - not just the 2 of them singing it, even though that’s fine. It’s just that the video is funnier.

Most of this post is courtesy of my facebook updates, because I have trouble coming up with original thoughts twice in a row. My apologies if this is redundant.

In conclusion: Puppies!  Everybody loves puppies!

Ok, so if you haven’t read the book, don’t read this post.  There will be spoilers.

This isn’t going to be a ‘review’ really, I mean, if you’re a fan of the series, you’re going to read this book no matter what anyone says, and if you’re not, you won’t.  The end. I just want to talk about it. Some points: (more…)

It’s true. I’m here. Alive, breathing, and functional.

Okay, maybe not that last part, but the breathing thing, well, definitely doing that. (more…)

School started yesterday, so for the first time in three months, I started cleaning. (more…)

Them: “Cute pants.”

Me: “Thanks. Old Navy.” (more…)

What, it’s been a while since I’ve blogged?  Really?  No kidding. Huh.

All my kids are in school all day now.  It’s bizarre, and nice.  There are days when I feel like I have all the time in the world, and there are days when I need to clone myself a few times to get it all done.  (more…)

As for me and my house, we are in recovery mode- which means mom is a big blob on the couch while the kids play Wii. What am I recovering from? My first quarter back in college in 17 years just wrapped on Friday, and all I’ve wanted to do is sleep since I turned in my last of three finals on Friday. Sleep sleep sleep… and maybe watch stupid summer TV. Then sleep some more. (more…)

Sorry, I just have a few more thoughts about Haiti, and then I’ll shut up about it already.
(Probably.)
(Maybe.)
(Ok, in all likelihood, probably not, but let’s just pretend for a second.) (more…)

Here are some pictures of my experience in Haiti. I’m breaking my rule, as there are some pictures of me, too.  You can tell which one I am–I’m the blanc.

Thanks for reading.

(more…)

Ken asked me that on Sunday. Ken is not a volunteer with Sustain Haiti, but he’s an American who went to Haiti to scout out ways that he and his family could help. He hooked up with Sustain Haiti through a mutual contact, and we all spent a pleasant evening talking NGOs, Haitian culture, American Aid, pros and cons thereof, and just general fun conversation. As we walked back to his truck, he asked me, “So where will this trip leave you?” (more…)

Yesterday was probably the most random day I’ve had here.

We were supposed to go to an orphan “party”, which turned to be an English class for about 8 orphans. Taught by us. Lost in translation, anybody? (more…)