camouflage

It's no secret that the Mouse spends most of his free time dressed in camouflage from head to toe, unless of course he's wearing his dirt bike gear. The boy is All Things Army, and has been since he was about 9 years old. We're still trying to figure this out, thinking that it would be a passing phase. The Mouse has enjoyed a surprising variety of hobbies, and excelled at quite a few of them - from cake decorating to drum playing to making a small fortune selling grilled burgers and hot dogs hot off his own barbecue to passing drivers. The kid stops at nothing.    

So nearly 6 years later, I'm still surprised/impressed/amused/proud/(would 'terrified' be a bad word to use here?) that the Mouse is even more immersed in the Armed Forces than he was at age 9. He knows more war facts than anyone I know. Ask him ANYTHING about WWII - he'll have the answer. He's a military dictionary of weaponry, tanks, planes, you name it - ours or any other countries'. His arsenal of military gear, both new and vintage, is astounding. The Screaming Eagles are his heros. He wants to be a part of the Green Beret Special Forces. Am I sure he is my son? The peace-loving, war-hating, tie-dye-wearing hippie? We must look quite a sight together :/

(this is the photo that gives me the biggest heebie-geebies... saluting and looking so serious

 with all that gear on... it just looks a little too real... I am NOT ready for that yet Mouse!) 

But this post is about today! The Mouse has been waiting for this day for months. And months and months. Because right now at this very moment, he is out in the California desert at an undisclosed location, shooting the holy crap out of targets and blowing the living daylights out of propane tanks disguised as Adam Lambert. Hey, it wasn't my idea - I love the Lam. But our awesome friend Larry makes this trip every year, and the Mouse is finally old enough to go with him. I'm not sure the boy could have possibly been any more excited than he was. I can't wait to hear the stories. Because oh, there will be stories. That Mouse is a certified, nonstop talker. And talker.  

Now before you get the wrong impression, I want to set things straight. You already know how much I love the Mouse. I love my country too. I do not always agree with the deployment of our troops (because I don't think I will ever agree with either political party... but that's a whole other topic), however I always have, and I always will, support our troops. I pray for our troops, and I appreciate our troops - all those that came before, all those in the present, and all those in the future. I have friends whom I love, whose sons, nephews, and nieces are serving. My own wonderful nephew will be flying in the Air Force in the future. I am proud of my son that he is brave and wants to serve his country. What mother wouldn't be proud of that? But what mother wouldn't be frightened at the same time, especially in this day and age, to see her child enter the military? The awfulness of war, the trauma that accompanies it, the thought of losing my son... it is hard for me. But Mouse, you know I will support you.

That being said... this is as close to camouflage as I have ever come - and as close as you will ever see me get. 

My tie dye socks camouflaged by my laptop skin :D

And here is MY little statement on the back of my bug 

And the only dog tags you will ever see me wear

But this smile will always light up my life even if it is wearing camouflage ❤

how it all started + I meant to do that

So many of you have commented on and off the blog, on Facebook, in e-mails, in person, etc. (thank you mucho for all your delightful and very fun comments) that I decided to do this follow-up post. Lots of you asked questions about how I got the idea in the first place. Those of you who know me well, know that A) I rarely go with anything normal, and B) my brain overfloweth with quirky ideas 24/7 whether I want it to or not. An off switch would be nice. So as stated in my original post, the album cover Meet The Beatles! was the inspiration for these photos. 

These photos were taken by a photographer friend about 10 years ago, when the boys were about 4, 9, and 14. These aren't the photos that ended up on our wall, but they give you an idea of how they turned out. And how she didn't quite get my vision. Even though the album cover was right in front of her. Luckily, the ones on our wall (too big for my scanner) showed some great personality and I do love them. But I always wanted to give it another go, so I figured before my boys split up yet again, destined for far away places all over the globe, now was the time.

Our entryway used to be covered with our favorite albums, and the Mouse was really entranced with it. Which is probably why he's also entranced with the Beatles and Crosby Stills & Nash. This is kind of an odd photo but I thought it was cool to take a photo of him taking a photo. If you've never seen the original Meet The Beatles! album, look right above his head and to the left. Now you finally know the inspiration behind the boys' photos :)

So did you miss my American Idol recap this week? Were you on the edge of your seat waiting with baited breath? Did you knock your teeth out when you fell asleep and rolled out of your chair and your face hit the floor? Yeah, that's what I thought. Well, to be completely honest, I TOTALLY FORGOT MEANT TO DO THAT. I watched the show of course, and then decided to let you guys make your own decision about the final 3 contestant's songs. I mean seriously, I'm tired of carrying you along. It's time you made up your own mind. 

All right, all RIGHT. Tuesday night was NUTS over here in Walkerville. I did watch the show much later that night. I was not overly impressed by anyone, even Lee and Crystal who have been my favorites from the beginning. I thought they gave GREAT performances - don't get me wrong - but not their best performances overall. I do think that at one point they were favoring Crystal as the frontrunner - in fact, for most of the competition. But in the last few weeks things seem to have changed. Though it's clear they genuinely like both Crystal and Lee - as well they should, since they are both extremely talented - I think they are gearing Lee up to be the winner. I would be happy for either one, and would buy a CD from both no matter. What do you think? I guess we'll find out next week! 

the boyz

Meet The Beatles! Meet The Walkers! A tribute to the famous album cover, I'll let these pics speak for themselves

~ the photographer with her favorite subjects, whom she happens to love very much ~
and special thanks to Daniel for some photoshop magic :)

xoxoxo

Nie

I realize a lot of my readers already know and love Stephanie Nielson, and follow her blog, the Nie Nie Dialogues.

She is an inspiration to anyone and everyone who knows her incredible story. And she is a real human being. 

She has been blessed with faith and loved ones in her life, in order to help her recover and cope with her new life.

But she still has a choice to make every single painful day, as the mother of 4 young kids. What a journey. 

I know we all have trials and triumphs and tragedies we go through in our lives. None of us are exempt.
It's impossible to know how we will react when we are faced with something... until we are faced with something.
I do know, that like Nie, we will have a choice to make every single painful day. No matter what type of pain.


If you've never read the Nie Nie Dialogues, I encourage you to click on the blue hyperlink above and start reading.
But for today, I invite you to find 10 minutes to view the video below, and prepare to be touched by an angel.  

the long and winding nose

Remember THIS POST? So many of you kind and caring friends have continued to ask how my nose is doing and when I'm going to post an update. As my friend Traci would say, bless your cotton socks - thanks for caring :) I was a bit embarrassed for being so dramatic about the whole nose episode/crisis/freak show, and was hoping to quietly fade it into the background. Even for the open book that I am, I don't make it a habit to speak on topics such as what goes on up inside my nose. That may overstep the boundaries of tasteful blogging. YA THINK? But it has been a long and winding road - hence today's poignant images of famous long and winding noses.  

Poor Cyrano. Can you even imagine? But ah, what a great story. And if you've never seen the movie Roxann with Steve Martin, then you must, MUST see it. But I digress. I'm happy to say that my ENT says he SEES IMPROVEMENT!!! Which means tissue is indeed, slowly but surely, starting to grow back over the cartilage in my nose! No biopsy needed as of yet, and if things continue to go well, it won't be necessary. He said it will take quite some time to show real improvement so my next appt. is not for a month. But in the meantime I'll continue doing all the fun stuff like antibiotic ointment up my nostrils, blah, blah, blah. I'm just  SOOO RELIEVED I don't have to even think about Plan B. Because we all know that Plan B would have been a skin graft from my butt. And the last thing I need in this world is for my boys to find out I have butt skin up my nose. I would never - EVER - for the rest of my entire life, live that down. "Hop in the car kids - we're going to go visit Nana Buttnose" :/

So speaking about long and winding noses, this would be the first one that always comes to my mind. I had to include a few photos of the Child Catcher from "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang". He is the stuff children's nightmares are made of - at least to me he was! To this day, I still get the chills when I see him. OOOH SHUDDER :0

Cinematic Idolatry

Top 4 Contestants Perform Cinema Songs with Jamie Foxx as Mentor

1) Lee - "Kiss From a Rose" - I love Lee's voice, as you all know... so I'm sorry to say I was very disappointed with his performance. It could mostly be because I have never cared for this song, but Lee did get off to a rough start, and seemed to be off key in several other places. I don't think he's in too much danger though.

2) Big Mike - "Will You Be There?" - Another strange song choice in my opinion, but it did sound nice. Not anything earth shattering, but well arranged, and I still appreciate Mike's beautiful, underrated voice. 

3) Casey - "Mrs. Robinson" - Aside from the judges acting like fools, I thought Casey not only chose a fantastic song, but I really enjoyed his unique version of it. I think he could have added a tad more charisma to amp it up, but it's a classic song that he made modern - isn't that what they're always asking for?

4) Crystal - "I'm Alright" - I'LL SAY! I know, I know - every week I gush over Crystal, but I can't help it. She takes every song and has this amazing talent of turning it into something of her own. It's musical genius, and I look forward to it every week. I know she's had a few rough weeks, but overall she consistently delivers.

Duet 1) Lee & Crystal - "Falling Slowly" - FANTASTIC :)

Duet 2) Casey & Mike - "Have You Ever Loved a Woman?" - FANTASTIC :)

My predictions? 

Either Big Mike or Casey would be the logical choice to say goodbye, but I really have no clue...

They've both had a lot of ups and downs... Mike has the best voice, but Casey is the heartthrob...

I'm going to guess Mike, even though in all fairness, I think it should be Casey...

YOUR turn! What do YOU think?    

*Post-Elimination rant: Big Mike was robbed. He deserved one more week. But he took it with such grace.

taking inventory

Sometimes I'm at a complete loss as of what to write about or post on. Hard to believe, I know. Sometimes I have such a long list of things I want to share, I can hardly get to it fast enough. Go figure. Since my blog would mostly fit into the category of a "lifestyle" blog, I always try to have a balance of different topics. I don't do "just" crafts, or "just" photography. I don't write only about my life/family (although lately that might be easy to dispute!). You get the idea. I try hard to balance a combination of topics that are meaningful to me and that you will relate to and enjoy also. Parenting, humor, crafts, our pets and animal rights, Etsy artists, the joy of little things, photography, occasional recipes, (diet coke and ruffles), personal thoughts, home design, tender moments, color, music, and of course, all things wild :) And those are the main, tip-of-the-iceberg topics. At least - in my pointed little head - this is how I see my blog. Is this how you see it? Perhaps it would be good for me to know. Things have seemed a little out of balance lately. My readership is up, but my comments are down. This leaves me confused. Is something wrong? Is it Nothing and I'm making it into Something? I don't really want an "IT'S ALL ABOUT ME" blog. Even though it's all about me :/ But it's not really all about me. It's only somewhat about me. And written by me. But mostly just orchestrated by me. See, there's a difference. There's a difference, I tell you! Writing, entertaining, having fun... it's all good. Narcissism... not so good. 

Anyway. Since this is a lifestyle blog and I have a lot of life to do today, I'm going to get on with it. I hope you all had a LOVELY Mother's Day! I certainly did, and am so grateful for my husband and my beautiful boys :) And tonight is American Idol, so get ready for yet another recap for tomorrow's blog post (not about me - HAH)!!!


P.S. All your comments have been so kind and thoughtful... thank you my friends!!! Much love to you!!! XOXO