Link lingo

[by Bryce and Shannon]

"I lego sit the red." = "I'm going to sit on this lego box with a red lid."

On seeing a photo of a mermaid- "She has shells on her nurse-some-mores."

Putting a ball under his chin- "I'm a nutcracker."

Link is currently playing hide and seek with Bryce.  He totally picked up saying "Pst" as a hint to where you are and is doing it each time he hides.

Link's current favorite songs are:
Where is thumbkin (aka pumpkin)
The wheels on the bus
If your happy and you know it
Doe a deer

My favorite outfit right now is a snoopy shirt and vest we had in a box that we found a little to late.  It is 18 month and a little short in the sleeves but so cute.

Top Ten- 3rd week November

1. We took link to see Puss in Boots.  He was not familiar with the character but he knew Humpty Dumpty so he was excited about him.  This was the first 3D movie that we have taken Link to in which we bought him a seat and glasses (he was a babe in all the others).  He kept his glasses on until the last 15 minutes.  He did great and Bryce and I really enjoyed the film.  Very funny.

2. We put the Christmas Tree up.  Probably can't tell this far away but we are doing a "Grinch" theme this year.  Link and I made several of the ornaments using Grinch punch outs and stickers.

3. Thanksgiving included great food at Amy and Rex's house and time playing Michael Jackson Experience on the Kinnect.


4. Although it was nice to wear my engagement ring for a week, it is nice to have my wedding ring fixed and back on my finger.

5. Everyone in my family has been anticipating something in the Navigator to rust out.  It finally did and we broke an axel in the process.  Fortunately we were about 3 miles from my parents house going to visit them, so it wasn't a big deal.  Good thing we got that other car last week.

6. A lot of worry this week about my dad, his future, and the dangerous situations he puts himself in.

7. Last year I bought this thing at a garage sale.  A few weeks ago I learned you can cook in them.  So I tried it today.  We had pork chop casserole.  Really good.  No big difference in taste.  It was fun to do though.

8. Slow Death by Rubber Duck  I'm reading this book and I like it as much as I thought I would.  I am already planning ways to help de-pollute myself and my family.  Currently tossing all children's "Flame resistant" pajamas, slowly getting rid of teflon pans, and looking for "fragrance" as an ingredient in products.

9. Last crop of Brussel Sprouts from the garden.  They are tiny (that is a teaspoon) but boy are they big on flavor.  We have harvested them 3 times this year from a total of 4 plants.  I am very happy with the results and it was fun to see how they grow on the stalk.  (Our slow bolt lettuce also just bolted!)

10. Making goals for the new year.

Top Ten- Nov 13

1.  My parents bought us a second car.  I guess they were sick of having to accomidate when I was at work and they wanted Bryce.  It is a 1984 Buick Cavalier.  No cup holders, cruise control, or power windows, but it drives incredibly well, has low gas mileage, low miles, and has good heat and air.

2. Steve's Birthday.  Had an outing with friends on Saturday night.  Went to Steuben for prime rib and out to some bars.  Not as much dancing as the Rasmussens' anniversary, but it was still a lot of fun. 

3. We have a new vendor at Whimsy Market.  Reality Check from Dubuque brought over body jewelry, bead to make your own accesories, hats, gloves, and sunglasses.  They are a custom skateboarding and snowboarding shop and plan to bring over some of those big items in the future.

4. Link is really into his shapes right now.  Everywhere we go he asks for the triangle pizza and he points out any octagon he sees, which of course is usually a stop sign, but he found some without stop on them the other day in a craft store.

5. Schera's Art Gallery opened for a show a couple weeks ago.  Great paintings by Ben Moore of Decorah, a show of newly illustrated record album covers called 33.3, and a few of Bryce's older works as a last minute addition.  There was a fun opening reception and it makes our shop look better than being by a vacant.

6. Tribute to Charles at the Museum Annual Holiday Party.  I love Charles.  He wrote for me at the paper, he volunteered teaching art with me at the elementary, he birthed one of my favorite friends (Leslie Schiller) and now he is preparing for the end of his years as he has terminal cancer (and he is in his 90s I think).  He is still a super active community member walking the streets of Elkader.  I learned a lot about his life as his friends toasted him at the party (he has been President of the Museum in Elkader since he moved here from teaching at Laguna Beach High School).  Amazing life, lots of travel and fun. 

7. I returned to work last Monday which has been pretty good.  I certainly missed my daily drives over the Mississippi River.  The river rejuvenates me and seeing it go through the seasons is so beautiful.  Now that we are entering a time of low temperatures I get to slowly watches as it starts to freeze over. 

8.  Brenda visited this week to see how I was doing and check my iron.  We shared several tears, but it was great to see her.  She is going over to Africa for three months to serve as a midwife.  She is super excited and I am for her too. 

9. Pinterest.com.  Last year I searched the internet over for an online scrapbook.  I was realizing I was no longer tearing from magazines, but saving folders of images online and I didn't want to print them out.  I recently heard about Pinterest and it is exactly what I wanted and it is perfect.

10. John Craig has an art show up at my office.  He is a local Crawford County Wisconsin artist and does some really great collages.  Most people in my generation know him because he did the cover of "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness."  I try to find as many reasons to go down to the mail room that I can just so I can take in more.

More Linkism

Link is really into saying the word "too."  Whatever he is doing he is doing it "too."  Are you reading a book Link?  Yes, I'm reading a book, too.

Link also likes the phrase "It's a kind of..."  Link is that a bird?  Yes, that's a kind of bird.   What are you sitting on Link?  It's a kind of chair.

He also like the SimSims, the Simpsons.

"Excuse me" is morphing from "Goom Zee" to "Scooms Zee" to "Ex Scooms Zee"

11-11-11 Lucky?

 This morning I stepped in a big goppy mess of cat poop.  So I thought it was going to be a bad day.  But then I remember some ubsered article I once read about John Lennon's superstitions and how he stepped in cat poop daily for luck. 

Then today I took Link out for lunch and in a restaurant all to ourselves a former employee of mine from the newspaper walked in.  I was a little nervous because when she left she left abruptly to go work with a competitor and left a nasty note about all my faults as a boss.  She looked at me, pulled up a seat next to me, said hi to Link and then "I have been meaning to tell you this for the past three years but we have never run into one another except in passing.  I felt like I was treated like crap at the newspaper, not by you and Bryce but by the higher up, then I went to work for [other place] and they were exactly the same.  I wanted to say you are an inspiration to me because every time I see you, you're smiling, and I am sure you have been dealt the same crap that I have and you are still smiling while I carry big chips on my shoulder." 

Top Ten Returns

I started this two days before the miscarriage.  I was recapping September and October.  Obviously things have changed dramatically, but I still want to record these past parts of my life, so I left things in.

1.  I was pregnant for 13 weeks.  It was a total surprise.  I loved it and was scared to death of the possibility of raising two little ones.  I was very happy to have conceived without fertility medication.  The loss of our child still hurts but we are gaining strength through the love of family and friends.

2. The after-school program I set up as part of my AmeriCorps VISTA job took off and I was able to start working from home more to help with health during the pregnancy.  Now I'm back into home mode and have no ambition to return to work, despite the fact that I loved the people I worked with, the work I did, and the paychecks.  I just miss being with my family.  I'm not sure what lies ahead for me, even at the end of this week when I am to return.

3.   I was 1 of 8 contestants in the KCTN Pork Cook-Off.  I thought it must because they had few entries, but they said they had 50 or so.  I made bbq pork sushi.  We also had to do a place setting.   I didn't win 1st-3rd prizes, but each participant got 1/5 of a hog which was nice.

4. We finally got our tax return.  Just in time for Christmas shopping.

5. I was in a musical at the Elkader Opera House called Working.  I had a name and lines and singing parts.  I loved it.  It was a lot of work, but tons of fun.

6. My uncle's Lee and Randy asked me to photograph their wedding.  I was so blessed, happy to see them married in the church since I knew Lee was dealing with feeling unloved by God years ago when he first came out to me.  I hope they have a life of happiness.

7. My niece, Ella, was born the day after our babe was.  We have yet to meet her, but we will soon.  My family threw a baby shower a couple of weeks ago.  I was put in charge of games and soon realized I was basically in charge of the day.  I bought this great little owl hat and sleep sack that I intended for our little one, but passed it along. 

8. My sister Amber completed her stay with us.  Landscaping is basically over for the year.  She is making plans for her wedding next year and I love helping her get ready.  I took engagement photos in October.

9.  My vegan family members can excuse themselves from reading this #.  This weekend we went to the deer open house which was a sampling at a locker of what they could do when you process deer there.  It was basically a free pyramid of meat, no sides.  The maple glazes links were amazing.

10. We missed Halloween (which is my absolute favorite holiday) but my mom took Link  trick-or-treating for the first time.  He was the Flash but kept calling himself Lightning McQueen (He must have seen Cars at Grandma's house).  We did enter the pumpkin decorating contest at Osborne Heritage Days again.  Bryce took a prize based on lack of participation by adults.  Link didn't get anything, but still did a great job with his pumpkin.  Bryce's 2nd place pumpkin is the tiny thing beside the mummy, he did it on the way there with a sharpie.

We were at the pork cook-off and Link saw a man wearing a cowboy hat and boots. He said, "Cowboy!" and then, to the man, "hello, partner!" Either he didn't hear Link or didn't want to play along, so there was no response.