My Blog's Pity Party, and Some News

I've been a little concerned about this blog, for two reasons.

1) I don't post often to it.
2) No one really reads the posts anyway.

Maybe it's because I don't have very many family members online, and most of my friends follow my writing blog instead and don't know about this one.

But my poor little blog here is feeling a little left out. So I thought I would do what I could to help it feel better.

So here is my post about absolutely nothing. Hey, it's a post, so I'm doing what I can to rectify Concern #1.

I have no idea what to do about Concern #2.

Anyway...

...as for news, I really don't have any. It is Spring Break in our school district, so the kids don't have classes at the Family Learning Center. Homeschool is going--kinda--but has taken a back seat to Spring Break. The kids aren't happy about me making them do schoolwork this week. Oh well. Tough beans, right?

I spend a lot of time in front of the computer, especially with the whirlwind activity surrounding my writing *ahem* career. You can read all about that here, though.

Greg is doing well at work. He's getting closer to earning his next pay scale, and we could certainly use the raise.

And little Grace is starting to communicate. She now says "Uhhhh" for hug and "Ooh" for food (though she does sign the word, too, so we know what she's saying). Other than Mama, that's about all she says. But she has learned quite a few signs. She now can sign please and thank you, food, all done, again, and walk.

Oh, and she likes to eat baby wipes. I have no idea why.

And there's our news.

I'm a Contest Winner

I won a contest! Yippee!

But because it is a writing contest, you'll have to go to my writing blog for the details. (Mwaa-haa-haa-haa!)

elissadcruz.livejournal.com

See you there.

Call for Family Trivia: (For Family Members)

We really like it up here in Seattle, but my kids lately have begun to miss having family close by. So since I've been thinking about doing this anyway, now it seems like it would be a really good idea.

So, I'm putting out a call to all family members to submit 5 trivia questions to the first (and probably only) edition of Family Trivia. Here's what I need:

Please submit five (5) trivia questions about yourself. Ideally I want 5 from each member of the family, but I'll take what I can get (because I know it might be especially hard to get good trivia from the little kids). The more interesting and personal the better, and ideally it is trivia that isn't going to change any time soon--so don't send questions asking how old you are today, for example.

Also, if you have an electronic version or can make one, I'd like a baby photo of each member of the family as well. Please label these CLEARLY so I don't get them mixed up or have to guess. If you don't have an electronic version, I'd still like to get a good, quality copy from you, so contact me and we'll chat.

I'm also welcoming other photos (silly or non) that you want included. We'd love any more up-to-date photos so the kids can still remember what you look like now as well, or photos that show your unique personality.

Oh, and sending "When is So-and-So's birthday?" trivia doesn't count. I already have the birthday of every member of my family and Greg's (I think). If I don't, I'll contact you.

Most of you should have received an email from me about this. If not, though, send me an email and I'll get you a copy. Oh, and send the trivia and photos to my email address: elissadc at yahoo dot com.

Please forward this information to any family member you think may not know about this. I don't have email addresses for everyone and only some of you check this blog.

Thank you, family!

P.S. Here's a few trivia from our own family to help get your trivia juices flowing.

What is Elissa's favorite thing to do? (Write)
Who was born with an innocent heart murmur? (Grace)
What year did Greg graduate from high school? (1992)
In what state was Elizabeth born? (Colorado)
Where did Greg propose to Elissa? (near the Christus in the N. Visitor's Center on Temple Square)

Birthday, Birthday, Anniversary, Banquet, Banquet, Birthday (Whew!)

February is a busy month around our house. It's my birthday, Elizabeth's birthday, Grace's birthday, my anniversary and two Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquets. So I'm a little partied out.

Here's the highlights:

ELIZABETH'S BIRTHDAY-FEB 17

Lizzie turned 4 this year. We had a family party at home, and she got to pick her favorite meal for dinner. She chose macaroni and cheese--from the box! Here she is making a silly face while eating her favorite meal.



She asked for a pink cake, so I made her a pink pony cake. The boys LOVED the "horse hair" (which was really Fruit By the Foot).



Lizzie's favorite gifts (BY FAR) were the first two she opened. (1) the purple dress and (2) the white sparkly shoes. As you can see by the following picture, she HAD to try them on before she could finish opening any other presents!



MY BIRTHDAY-FEB 19

Nothing to report. I had to work that day. Bummer.

MY (AND GREG'S) ANNIVERSARY-FEB 23

This fell on a Monday, so we weren't able to go out and celebrate (especially since I had to work the whole weekend). That's okay. It's number 13. We've had a dozen years to celebrate already. Plus I was too busy getting ready for the Blue and Gold Banquet (see below).

BLUE AND GOLD BANQUET (AMMON'S PACK)-FEB 25

Since I'm the Cubmaster, I was running this show. Our theme was "American ABCs" and the decorations were geared around the cities and states of the U.S. Each table had a unique centerpiece that highlighted something about the state it showcased ( so each table was a different state). This was the only picture Greg managed to get of the table decorations, and it doesn't show anything except the tablecloth and placemats for our table. What it doesn't show is the pile of ice cream containers and spoons (because Vermont is the home of Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream).



Here's a photo of me holding Grace, and if you look closely you can see some of the wall decorations in the background. We had state maps plastered everywhere, and random alphabet letters. Greg didn't take any other photos.



But Greg did manage to get a photo of EVERY SINGLE CAKE in the Father/Son cake decorating contest. Hmph. Men. Here's the cake he and Ammon did together. Yes, that is an eyeball staring back at you. Ammon won the "Red Eye Special" Award for it. Oh, and we ate all the cakes for dessert. Yummy.



BLUE AND GOLD BANQUET (BEN'S PACK)-FEB 27

Ben is in a different pack as a Tiger Cub, so we had a second Blue and Gold Banquet to attend. The most important part was that Ben was awarded his Tiger and Bobcat Badges! Hooray, Ben!



GRACE'S BIRTHDAY, OBSERVED-FEB 28

Since Grace's official first birthday won't be until 2012, we celebrated her first year on the last day of February.

For simplicity's sake (and for the fact that we were all just plain tired of cakes), I made cupcakes this time.



She quickly figured out how to rip the wrapping paper, but she really didn't care what was inside (though she did hug a few articles of clothing--I wonder...).



We tried to teach her to blow out the candle, but she had no clue. She did, however, know how to devour the cupcake and ice cream cone we gave her!







Whew. It was a fun month but I'm sure glad February is over.

The "Twilight" Bug...

....soooo did not bite me. I finally got around to reading the book yesterday, and while it had some good tension and a good premise, I did not swoon all over Edward and Bella's wimpy character drove me batty (no pun intended). I didn't hate it, though. I was just lukewarm to the whole book.

But as a writer I did come away with some very valuable information. So in that regard, I was glad I picked it up. Will I finish the rest of the series? Maybe. I'm not dying to pick them up, but it would be nice to understand what everyone else is chatting about. But I'm definitely not losing sleep over what might happen next.

So, go ahead you Twilight fanatics. Bring on the torches and pitchforks. ;)