Grandma's Brag Blog

Do Not Open Earlier Email from me--Email account has been Hijacked

2011-12-27T16:15:00.001-06:00

It appears my email account has been spewing emails to my contacts containing a virus. I apologize for any problems.

Debbie Jorgenson
http://queenshakenbake.blogspot.com

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~debjrgnsn

Test photos

2010-09-15T18:47:00.001-05:00

New Address

2010-09-14T12:37:00.002-05:00

I am revising my blog and my new address is http://queenshakenbake.blogspot.com/. Please come check it out.

Printing layouts

2010-09-10T21:53:00.002-05:00

I have been printing my layouts at home. I have an Epson Artisan 710, which does an excellent job. However, the paper is almost $1 a sheet, plus add in the cost of ink and I'm probably spending $1.50 per print. I was listening to the Paperclipping Digi Show, and heard about Persnickety Prints dot com. I can get a premium quality 8x8 print for 99 cents.

Persnickety Prints also has some freebies, including this gorgeous kit, crazy beautiful by fei-fei's stuff. https://www.oscraps.com/shop/product.php?productid=20944&cat=287&page=1

Another great freebie link on Persnickety Prints is to a september desktop at digital scrap cafe.

Let me know if you've had prints made by Persnicket Prints.

August Sweet and Simple Pages

2010-09-05T17:18:00.004-05:00

Fire

2010-09-03T06:45:00.003-05:00

Last week there was a fire at an apartment complex near my house. We first heard all the sirens and then could smell the smoke. The ambulance chaser that I am, it is surprising I waited two hours to go check it out. Of course I grabbed my camera. Two hours later and it was still burning. The apartment complex was a complete loss with 27 apartment dwellers losing everything. The fire was the result an explosion caused by meth makers.

Thank you to all firefighters -- especially the Des Moines Fire Department.

Morning with Keira

2010-08-22T11:10:00.002-05:00

Keira's big brother is running a fever and she has come to spend the morning with Pappa and me while he goes to the doctor. We've been having fun singing and dancing. Here is Keira showing off her moves.

Sneak Peek | Abide + A Giveaway!

2010-08-13T08:55:00.000-05:00

Sneak Peek | Abide + A Giveaway!

One Little Bird has a new kit coming out This one looks like it will knock your socks off. She just posted a sneak peek on her blog and she's hosting a giveaway there so be sure to stop by and try your luck!

Sweet and Simple July

2010-08-07T23:33:00.004-05:00

Where has this month gone? Here are my Sweet & Simple pages for July. Supplies used are from Weeds http://weedsandwildflowersdesign.com.

My girls

2010-07-11T12:14:00.003-05:00

This is based on a sketch fromVicki Shepherd's class "A Little Goes a Long Way" I took at CK Des Moines. I used Tracy Reed's "Little Miss" papers and embellishments.

CK Des Moines

2010-07-10T12:05:00.003-05:00

The Creating Keepsakes convention is in town and although I am a strictly digital scrapper, I participated in a crop, where I was one of two scrappers on laptops, and two classes taught by Vicki Shepherd from SimpliCraft.com. The classes were Beyond the Square and A Little Goes A Long Ways. I attempted to complete the paper layouts in the class, but kept thinking when told to "paste paper to circle and then cut excess off" how much easier it would be to draw my circle in Photoshop and then use "adhere" my patterned paper to the circle via a clipping mask. So what did I do? I came home and used the sketches from the class and created layouts digitally.

This layout I used Vicki's "Life's Great" sketch along with Queen of Quirk's "Give Freely" free kit. Queen of Quirk I think may become one of my new favorite designers, along with Paislee Press. These two corroborated on You Are Here.

This layout was based on Vicki's two-page spread at her Beyond the Square class. I used a page kit by One Little Bird called "The Real Us." I loved the browns, blues, and gold combination. I believe she sells her designs at Oscraps.com, but the site is down for emergency maintenance and I was unable to verify this.

June Update

2010-07-08T08:13:00.003-05:00

Summer is here and I've been lousy of keeping this up-to-date. Have been working on genealogy and scrapping. Here are some of my recent layouts.

Quiet night at home catching up on scrapbooking

2010-06-13T00:52:00.002-05:00

I enrolled in a class at ReneePearson.com called 25 days of templates (Summer). I just started working on the class and got this layout done. In this layout I used the template as is without changing anything at all.

Supplies used: CVA_SSTools_Scripts_SupplyTracker (ScrapGirls) TNT_25DaysSUM10_1 (Class material) Paislee Press kit -- Adorned (flower2-ds, frame1, glitterstamp, papers, rhinestones, ribbon, tag)

Sweet & Simple April Part 2

2010-06-12T21:16:00.003-05:00

I am way behind on posting my Sweet and Simple projects. I've used Sweet & Simple Pages - APRIL '10 - 3/4 photo by Gina Marie Huff's Sweet & Simple materials from Weeds and Wildflowers Designs.

More Loghry pictures

2010-06-05T10:09:00.002-05:00

The trip last week got me interested in my Loghry genealogy once again. Here is another picture of my Loghry ancestors.

In the back row, left to right, there's Joseph Lecious, George William, John Harvey, Margaretta (Burns), and Orville Earnest! In the front row, George Eldredge, Ralph Earl, Nancy Jane (Roumans), Lettie Florella, and Nancy Jane Loghry. Note: Orville is Deb Jorgenson's and Dennis' Loghry's Grandfather

Visiting the land of my Great Grandfather, George E. Loghry land in Page County, Iowa

2010-06-02T22:31:00.007-05:00

George Eldredge and Nancy Jane (Roumans) Loghry family. Back row: John Harvey, James Edward, Ralph Earl and George William; Middle row: Nancy Jane, George Eldredge, Nancy Jane (Roumans) and Lettie Florella; Front row: Joseph Lecious and Orville Earnest. It might be hard to tell from this picture, but there is a man's face in the trees behind the family.

Last Sunday I had the pleasure of walking the land my great-grandfather, George Eldredge, settleld north of Hepburn in Page county in 1868.

Dennis Loghry (g-grandson of John Harvey, grandson of Ray Loghry) researched where the land was and contacted the landowner for permission. The landowner initially was agreeable but with limitations--one time only visit, four individuals, no hunting, no metal detectors, no camping, and no taking of Indian artifacts.

The property is very hilly and sits between two ridges, known as the Hepburn Ridge. It is covered with trees (and ticks but that is another story). The current landowner uses the 40 acres as a little retreat property and have cleared paths and high on a ridge has a clearing with fire pit, picnic tables and chairs. In a lower valley is a bond with more chairs and another fire pit. Unfortunately there were no signs of any dwelling, windmill, etc.

Sherry

2010-05-30T07:11:00.007-05:00

Way back in 1973 when we were young and innocents,two recent high school graduates went to work for the Iowa Conservation Commission. One was myself in July in the personnel department and the other was Sherry Brown, I think in the typing pool. We were on the same floor, and not that far away but we were both on the shy side at that point and didn't really know each other. In October of 1973 the Conservation Commission provided two vehicles, and about eight of us "ladies" went on a field trip to northeastern Iowa to visit the state parks and forestry. I rode in one car with some "old ladies"; Sherry was in the other with some "old ladies."

We later worked together in the Word Processing Center on MTST typewriters and became good friends. I started moving around to various state agencies, but Sherry stayed with the Conservation Commission, which later became the DNR. She's held various positions with them. This week she retired--lucky lady. Good luck on your retirement and enjoy it and those grand babies. You deserve it.

More pictures (in high resolution quality) from this event can be found on my Flickr photostream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/queenshakenbake/

Sarah's in Love with Taylor the Latte Boy

2010-05-24T18:34:00.000-05:00

My daughter-in-law Sarah singing of her love for Latte Boy.

Taylor the Latte Boy Rebuttal

2010-05-24T18:32:00.000-05:00

This is my son...
Taylor's response to "Taylor the Latte Boy"

Simply Tiffany - Digital Scrapbooking + Life Humor - 16 Lefty Righty Templates and a Giveaway

2010-05-13T10:52:00.000-05:00

Simply Tiffany - Digital Scrapbooking + Life Humor - 16 Lefty Righty Templates and a Giveaway

Be sure to visit Simply Tiffany's blog and leave a comment for a chance to win the set of double-paged templates. They are all on sale for 30% off thru Thursday mignight, tonight!

Bubbles

2010-04-27T13:46:00.003-05:00

The older grand kids received bubble guns in their Easter Baskets at our house. I guess the Easter Bunny thought Jaren was too young (but that has now been fixed). Here's a layout of Luke I did called Fun With Bubbles.

Supplies used:
Scrap Girls:
Christy VanderWall -- CVA_SSTools_Scripts_SupplyTracker
Digital Artisan Guild:
Mask6a_MH_DCozzi
Mask6bTexture_MH_DCozzi
P_WatercolorWonder3_SJSDBDesigns
Dunia Designs Upside Down Kit:
dunia-upsidedown-paper-05
dunia-upsidedown-paper-06
dunia-upsidedown-paper-07
One Little Bird Scrapbook Designs (Oscraps):
onelittlebird_bubbletemplate

Font: Century Gothic
Font: Champignon

Sweet & Simple April Part 1

2010-04-25T07:32:00.005-05:00

April 1 was family night with Easter egg hunt and pizza. April 2 the Okland grand kids spent the night and we visited GG in the care center and then went to her house to play with the kitties. On April 3 Roger and I hit the road to visit some Iowa wineries, including White Oak, Snus Hill, and Santa Maria.
April 4 was Easter Sunday. After dinner some people crashed on the sofa after dinner. April 5 the daffodils are in full bloom. I need to clean out my flower beds. April 6 I visited Gray’s Lake on my lunch as it was a beautiful day. April 7 visited Mom after the Neighborhood Revitalization Board approved Ft. Des Moines’ application. She is looking great.

March 8 spent the evening at my childhood home freshening up for my mother’s home visit. March 9 enjoying my flower bed. March 10 was a busy day. I washed quilts at the laundromat, took 3 dogs to the veterinarian (alone) for shots and heartworm testing, and made Mom’s bed with the help of Penny. March 11 went to Gray’s Lake to walk and caught this beautiful sunrise
April 12 the City Council officially recognized the FortDes Moines Neighborhood Association. On the 13th I made myself one of my “smoothers” for breakfast. Went to Sacred Heart Church on the 14th to see the girls sing.

April 15 I visited Leiserwitz to check out Tamron 18-270 lens I am coveting.
April 16 my mother returned home to live after residing in the hospital or care facility since February 22.
April 17 I drove through Water Works Park to enjoy the flowering trees.
April 18 we visited the zoo with Jeremy, Sarah, and the kids.
April 19 I enjoyed watching the birds at my feeder.
April 20 enjoying my tulips with my new Tamron 18-270mm lens.
April 21 was a visit to Home Depot to exchange a lawn mower we had recently purchased.

Tiffany Tillman's Summer Edition of 25 Days of Templates

2010-04-22T16:35:00.002-05:00

Go leave a comment on the link below for a chance to win a place in Tiffany Tillman's summer edition of 25 days of Templates. I took Tiffany Tillman’s December edition of 25 Days of Templates class and loved it. Her templates are awesome. Discover the secrets to making changes to templates, learn how to design your own, and find new ways to create beautiful, stunning layouts in this next workshop.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Simply-Tiffany/103835779657216

Mosaic Moments Page Patterns

2010-04-20T14:28:00.000-05:00

Page Patterns

Just ran across Mosaic Moments Page Pattern blog. Great ideas for multiple page layouts.

It's Official--Ft. Des Moines is now a recognized neighborhood

2010-04-12T20:14:00.003-05:00

Tonight the mayor and my city councilman was presenting the Fort Des Moines Neighborhood a certificate recognizing us as an official neighborhood. Roger and I was there representing the 'hood. I thought it would be a stand up front, smile, and listen while the certificate is read.
Smile, shake hands with city councilman, and take certificate.Listen to the Mayor, shake his hand, and sit down. What's this????
You want me to speak??? I wasn't prepared for this. I said a few stupid things, and ended up with "and stuff like that." Where did that come from? I'm sure I really impressed everyone with my great public speaking ability.

Winery Visits

2010-04-04T10:05:00.004-05:00

Yesterday was a beautiful Iowa day and after the grand kids were picked up, Roger and I decided it was road trip time and headed out to visit some of the Iowa wineries we haven't been to yet. Our first stop was White Oak Vineyards winery near Cambridge. Overall, I would give this winery five stars on a scale of one to five. There wasn't one wine I didn't like. Beautiful building and event room for receptions, etc.
We next traveled to Snus Hill Vineyard and Winery near Madrid. Another beautiful setting and our server Diane, along with her husband John Larson, own the place. We joined up with two couples from north of Panora for our samplings. Diane made sure we had a good time and explained where the name of Snus came from. The Snus Hill Winery name is reflective of the family’s Swedish heritage and their love of cats. Snus is the name of the Larson family’s affectionate and beguiling tobacco brown Burmese cat. The cat got his name from an old Swedish chewing tobacco (Snus). I would give this winery five stars also.
From Snus we headed northwest, stopping in Boone for lunch and a look at the train tracks and depots before heading to Carroll, Iowa and the Santa Maria Vineyard & Winery. It is located right in downtown Carroll, Iowa (across the highway from the Carroll Train Depot building). This winery is in a renovated historic building along the Old Lincoln Highway (Hwy 30). It is a beautiful building with great wall murals. They have an outdoor piazza where in nicer weather you can grab a bite to eat at our bistro, or warm up in front of the fireplace. The piazza wasn't open when we visited. We wished we would have waited to eaten there as they serve food that looked very good. The wines, though, did not match those we tasted (and bought) at White Oak and Snus Hill. We really liked their Brianna. I had also purchased a bottle of their Swan Lake White last fall while at a scrapbook retreat in Clear Lake that I found very good. I would give this winery 3 stars.

In total we purchased three bottles from White Oak, three from Snus, and two bottles of Brianna from Santa Maria.

Sweet & Simple, March 2010, Part 2

2010-04-03T22:18:00.003-05:00

Finished my March Sweet & Simple pages tonight. Mom is still in the Care Center but we've seen improvements in her awareness since being taken to the hospital on the 30th. After nebulizer treatments, and med changes she was sent back to the Care Center. Am hoping she can come home next week perhaps.

Fun with the grands

2010-04-01T21:55:00.004-05:00

Had everyone over tonight for the Easter egg hunt. This was Jaren's first year and he had a blast. Had to re-hide eggs for him to find. We use a combination of foil-wrapped Nestle Crunch, Butterfinger, and Hershey's eggs along with the plastic eggs that are filled with either (1) jelly beans, (2) M&M's, and (3) money. Miss Mia focused her attention on the large plastic eggs bypassing the foil wrapped ones. We even got Keira in the game with her own bag and a plastic egg. The older grands got battery-powered bubble guns that were a big hit.

Easter egg hunts have always been a tradition in our family, and we continued to have them for our two kids well into their teens. They may have been embarrassed to be seen hunting them, but the competition was still very much present.

We held it tonight instead of Easter Sunday because part of the family will be traveling out-of-town for the weekend. I think this worked out better as the night was warm and beautiful. Actually it was HOT! Sunday sounds like it might be rainy.

Family of owls turned Web stars grows by one - SignOnSanDiego.com

2010-03-29T14:05:00.000-05:00

Family of owls turned Web stars grows by one - SignOnSanDiego.com

If you haven't heard about this yet, you've got to check out http://www.sportsmansparadiseonline.com/Live_Owl_Nest_Box_Cam.html and watch this family of owls grow. There is still one egg to hatch; Wesley hatched yesterday.

Rough last month

2010-03-26T16:13:00.004-05:00

The last 34 days have been pretty rough, with my mother becoming seriously ill, one sister with her own health problems, mandatory furlough days, two extra board meetings thrown in, classes I'm taking, and my neighbor calling the police on my dog barking because we forgot one was left outside when called to say mom was being taken by ambulance back to the hospital.

Things have got to get better. I got the following from my sister-in-law this morning and it brightened my day.

Inner Peace: This is so true

If you can start the day without caffeine,

If you can always be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains,

If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles,

If you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it,

If you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to give you any time,

If you can take criticism and blame without resentment ,

If you can conquer tension without medical help,

If you can relax without liquor,

If you can sleep without the aid of drugs,

Then You Are Probably The Family Dog!

Pool

2010-03-24T22:15:00.002-05:00

Here's another layout from our Spring Break family vacation.

Supplies used:

Scrap Girls:
Christy VanderWall’s CVA_SSTools_Scripts_SupplyTracker (Scrap Girls)

Scrapable:
Tiffany Tillman: TNT_ScrappableSingleTemplate_042 (Scrapable)

Sweet Shoppe Designs:
Traci Reed’s Belly Flop Kit:
• treed-bellyflop-brackermat
• treed-bellyflop-button1
• treed-bellyflop-button2
• treed-bellyflop-button4
• treed-bellyflop-button5
• treed-bellyflop-button5 copy
• treed-bellyflop-pp1
• treed-bellyflop-pp7
• treed-bellyflop-ppsolid1
• treed-bellyflop-ppsolid2
• treed-bellyflop-ppsolid3
• treed-bellyflop-splash1
• treed-bellyflop-wordart-sh

Font: Georgia

Spring Break 2010

2010-03-22T21:49:00.003-05:00

We spent four days and three nights at the new Honey Creek Resort at Lake Rathbun in southern Iowa with our daughter's family. Back in the mid-1970s we camped at this lake on a regular basis with a group of friends and our daughter, who was only a baby at the time. Traveling to the lake brought back many fond memories of our camping trips.

Things have changed over the years, including the new Honey Creek Resort that opened last year. This is a beautiful facility on the north side of the lake with beautiful views of Lake Rathbun. We saw many Bald Eagles from the resort and while driving around the lake.

We spent four days and three nights at Resort. The kids loved Buccaneer Bay indoor water park and had lots of fun.

2010-03-17T09:07:00.000-05:00

Sweet & Simple

2010-03-01T06:51:00.002-06:00

Here is my February Sweet & Simple project:

Thanks you City of Des Moines

2010-02-11T11:37:00.002-06:00

Just heard from home and our street is being cleared. YEA!!!

Here is an Email I just sent Bill Stowe:

Bill,

Thank you for your prompt attention to my Email from this morning. My husband just called to say that they are out there right now working and moving huge blocks of ice. I thank you and my car thanks you. I was informed last week that I had broken motor mounts on my 2005 car and I can only guess it is a result of driving on this street.

Request for ice removal in _ block of ____

2010-02-11T08:46:00.003-06:00

(Email I sent today to Bill Stowe, Des Moines Public Works Director)

Bill,

I live at XXXXXXXXXXXXX. This is a relatively flat street with a gentle slope to the north and drains on both sides of the streets. We have had a problem the last three years with water coming up out of the ground and causing freezing on the street. The problem that arises is this water runs underneath the ice and melts certain areas causing huge ice "pot holes." Last year a school bus got stuck in one of these ruts, that's how deep they become. Driving on the street is an obstacle course trying to avoid these huge ice potholes. Because of this, the City has come out several times during the winter with the big boy blade and spent time clearing the street.

This year that hasn't happened. I'm sure this is because of all the snow we've had and the manpower hours it has taken to clear the main streets. One day in December I was out driving and saw trucks with plows on relatively clean streets plowing. I called asking to get someone out to our street. They sent out a sand truck. This does not help our problems. During a recent warm spell a couple weeks ago most of the neighbors on the street were out using our own ice chippers and power to break up the ice mounds left in the street. But it has built up once again. I called last Wednesday or Thursday asking if a blade could come out that day as once again I had seen a truck with a blade driving over streets that were already what I'd call clean. I was informed she doubted they could do that but would send out a sand truck. I tried to explain the situation to her to no avail. When I came home I saw that a sand truck had been down the street.

Although you can't really see what I'm talking about, I've attached some pictures to try to demonstrate what I'm talking about. All of these pictures are in front of my house. It is hard to tell from this photo, but my foot is inside the rut and it is at least 6 inches deep. The following shows how the water runs underneath the ice causing what I call ice potholes.

Is there anything that can be done about the problems on our street?

A Dog's Purpose? (from a 6-year-old)

2010-02-05T09:34:00.004-06:00

I received the following Email from a friend and it hit close to my heart as many of you are aware I have a 14+ year-old Beagle that has some health issues and I know in my heart her time is coming to move on. So as I read the message the tears started flowing, but then I read the entire message and realized it contains some important life lessons we can all learn from.

Being a veterinarian, I had been called to examine a ten-year-old Irish Wolfhound. The dog's owners and their little boy were all very attached to the dog, and they were hoping for a miracle.

I examined the dog and found he was dying of cancer. I told the family we couldn't do anything for him and offered to perform the euthanasia procedure for the old dog in their home.

As we made arrangements, the owners said they thought it would be good for six-year-old Shane to observe the procedure. They felt as though he might learn something from the experience.

The next day I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker's family surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting the old dog for the last time, that I wondered if he understood what was going on. Within a few minutes, Belker slipped peacefully away.

The little boy seemed to accept Belker's transition without any difficulty or confusiosn. We sat together for awhile after Belker's death, wondering aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives. Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up, "I know why." Startled we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next stunned me. I'd never heard a more comforting explanation. It has changed the say I try and live.

He said,''People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life -- like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?'' Te Six-year-old continued,''Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don't have to stay as long.''

Live simply.
Love generously.

Care deeply.
Seak kindly.

Remember, if a dog was the teacher you would learn things like:

When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.

Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride.

Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure Ecstasy.

Take naps.

Stretch before rising.

Run, romp, and play daily.

Thrive on attention and let people touch you.

Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.

On warm days, stop to lie on your back on the grass.

On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree.

When you're happy, dance around and wag your entire body.

Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.

Be loyal.

Never pretend to be something you're not.

If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it.

When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by, and nuzzle them gently.

ENJOY EVERY MOMENT OF EVERY DAY!

Life 365 Upate

2010-02-02T21:39:00.002-06:00

Finished up January without missing a day. All supplies are from Life 365 Sweet and Simple, available at Weeds and Wildflower Designs.

Neighbors form group following manhunt | desmoinesregister.com | The Des Moines Register

2010-01-29T22:29:00.000-06:00

Thank you Des Moines Register for the great story. Let's hope it brings in a few new faces on March 2.

Neighbors form group following manhunt desmoinesregister.com The Des Moines Register

Life 365 Update

2010-01-27T21:23:00.004-06:00

The latter half of the third week of 2010 turned out to be quite icy, but beautiful.

Happy 8th Birthday Girls

2010-01-24T21:51:00.005-06:00

Happy Birthday girls. Hard to believe you will be turning 8. I love you so much.

Life 356

2010-01-18T16:15:00.004-06:00

So far I've stayed on task with my picture a day. Here is the left half of the 3rd week of 2010.

Supplies: Gina Marie Huff, Sweet and Simple Life 365 (January) System available at Weeds and Wildflowers Design

Go Hawks

2010-01-18T15:22:00.002-06:00

A couple weeks ago the Iowa Hawkeyes played in the Orange Bowl--and WON!. We watched the game at Jeremy and Sarah's house and Jaren was all decked out in his gold and black.

Supplies used: Papers from Let's Go, a collaboration between Amanda R. Designs and Dunia Designs; layout based on template from Dani Alencar's Multipix Templates set 4.

Life 365 Update

2010-01-15T15:12:00.005-06:00

Two weeks into 2010 and I've managed to take a picture every day. They may not be good or interesting pictures, but they are pictures nonetheless.

Scrapping those Christmas photos

2010-01-07T12:59:00.004-06:00

Des Moines is getting socked with another winter storm. I started feeling crummy again yesterday and decided to stay home today inside where it is warm and the humidifier is running. Took advantage of being home and scrapped my Christmas morning pictures.

Supplies:

25 Days No. 25 Template by Simply Tiffany Design

Papers: Paisley Press "Adorned"

Title: Karla Dudley Designs "25 Days: Titles"

Molly B. Good

2010-01-06T22:06:00.003-06:00

Worked on this layout tonight. Molly was quite a pistal (and can still be at times). We named her Molly but found ourselves frequently saying "Molly be good." So when it came time to send in her papers, I officially named her Molly B. Good.

Journaling reads:

She moves slower these days and is no longer able to jump on the bed. Getting on or off the sofa or off the deck is a major chore. I no longer have to worry about her running off. She has some serious health problems and her monthly prescription bill for one drug costs more than our prescriptions. I’m unsure if she can still hear me, but she can still smell and is contantly under foot when working in the kitchen. She’s been such a great companion to me and I treasure every day she’s still with me. JANUARY 2010

Supplies used: Papers from Jessica Sprague's Holidays in Hand kit; Songbird Avenue Bloom and Grow Temoplates

Rantings of an angry woman

2010-01-04T23:54:00.004-06:00

Last summer Bruce J. Mundy, a father of two and a two-decade member of the Iowa National Guard was hit while riding his motorcycle and killed by two brothers who had stolen $27 worth of gas from a Casey’s General Store and was leaving the station. Mundy was wearing a helmet.

Police said 25-year-old Santos Rodriguez and his brother, 23-year-old Orlando Rodriguez, stole gasoline from a nearby Casey's General Store. Police said the brothers hit and killed Mundy as they were driving away.

This wasn't Santos first brush with police. Santos Rodriguez was 16-years-old when he shot Officer Jeff Gowen in the chest and Sgt. Garey Bryan in the hand on September 27, 1999. Drugs and guns were found in Rodriguez's car. Both officers survived. Rodriguez was also shot in the incident and lost his leg and suffered brain damage. Polk County prosecutors determined his injuries made Rodriguez incompetent to stand trial in 1999. When he was encountered by the police in 2009, however, he was able to answer questions and was very coherent and knew what was going on.

Well today Polk County District Judge Joel Novak ordered treatment for Orlando Rodriguez, one of two brothers in the vehicle that struck and killed Mundy.

Novak’s order indicates that Rodriguez “poses a danger to the public peace and safety” and “refuses to cooperate with treatment” for an unspecified condition. Rodriguez is to remain in custody and undergo a mental-health evaluation and a hearing is scheduled for Feb. 5 to help decide whether he has recovered enough to stand trial. This is not the brother shot in 1999 and found incompetent! So you mean I can go out and kill somebody and then act crazy (some think I already am) and refuse to cooperate with treatment and I can do as I please?

His 26-year-old brother, Santos, faces similar charges from the Sept. 23 incident but has also asked a mental-health expert to evaluate whether he is fit for trial.

This just makes me so angry that these guys are getting away with it again. Personally I think Judge Novak's competency should be questioned.

In the 1999 incident, Officer Jeffrey Gowen was shot in the chest near his badge. Sgt. Garey Bryan II was shot in the hand. Gowen still has bullet fragments lodged near his spine. Police returned fire during the 1999 clash and hit Santos Rodriguez. A Polk County grand jury cleared Gowen, Bryan and Jason Bennett, an officer who fired 15 shots at Santos Rodriguez in the 1999 shooting, of any wrongdoing. However, in June 2001, Bennett committed suicide. Des Moines Police Spokeswoman Lavorato said, "We'll never know what the reason was, but after something like this, it just builds inside you."

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20100104/NEWS/100104027/Man-charged-in-death-of-biker-ruled-incompetent-trial-postponed
http://www.kcci.com/news/21107611/detail.html
http://m.dmregister.com/news.jsp?key=528812

The Torch Relay Begins.....

2010-01-04T21:47:00.003-06:00

The digi Olympics will be held at Digital Scrapbook Memories on February 12-18. You can help them pass the torch and possibly win your choice of either a class package to the Digital Scrapbook Retreat in Park City, UT thisApril 12-28, 2010. Check out http://forum.digitalscrapbookmemories.com/showthread.php?t=7701

Picture of the Day

2010-01-03T17:24:00.003-06:00

Last year I participated in Project 365 and while I completed the year, I didn't post all of them. After debating whether to do it again this year, I decided to continue. Here is my cover page for January and the first three days of the year. I think this week will be food and beverage-relaterd photos.

The photo on January's cover page is from last week when I was babysitting some grandkids. Cailey and Mia were pretending to be asleep when I came back down from putting Luke to bed.

January 1: I've already posted this photo of the empty juice containers after the kids left.

January 2: Roger and I went to Bordenaro's, usually one of our favorite pizza joints, for pizza. Service was the worst we've ever had. We sat there for 10-15 minutes before a waitress even came over to see if we had been served. I might add they weren't that busy. We gave her our drink and food order and she then left and cleaned off a table, went back behind the counter and picked up her wine glass and took some sips and joked and visited with other workers and friends. She hadn't even placed our order. After waiting 10 minutes I marched up to the counter and asked if we cold get our drinks "tonight." "Oh, yes, sure. I'm sorry." I walked back to the table and she disappeared into the kitchen to place our orders. The rest of the night went okay and I don't think I had anything in my pizza or drink that shouldn't be. I'm not sure, but I don't think she should have been drinking while at work. On top of that, I seriously doubt she was 21. The pizza though was worth the wait. Love their pizza and onion rings.

January 3: Needed groceries plus I had made some purchases from one of my favorite digi shops, Weeds and Wildflowers Designs. Unfortunately for reasons that remain a great mystery, I am unable to download my purchases from this store (and a couple other ones) from at home so I have to find a public wi-fi spot to download. So we headed off to Hy-Vee for breakfast and shopping. I just had OJ and toast; Roger had their breakfast buffet. Came home and fixed the Pioneer Woman's pot roast and while it cooked, got some digi scrapping and organizing files done. Great Day!

Supplies used: All from Gina Marie Huff's Sweet and Simple LIFE 365 January Template and Kit Bundle available at Weeds and Wildflowers Design.

Happy Birthday G.G. and Happy New Year

2010-01-02T09:18:00.004-06:00

Happy new year to everyone. Hope everyone had a happy and safe New Years Eve. We went out to dinner and then stopped by our son's house and spent a couple hours with their family. We were home and I was in bed by 10:45, where I watched the ball drop in New York at midnight (11 p.m. for me). Does that count for seeing the new year in?

My mother is a New Years baby and we visited her yesterday to help celebrate her 83 birthday. She is called G.G. by her great grandkids. Here's a picture of her with six of her eight great grandkids. We sure wished we could have gotten the two older boys in it but they live in another state. Maybe soon!

Then after visiting her Jaren and Keira came over for us to watch while their parents went to a movie. I called and asked Carrie to bring Cailey, Mia, and Luke over too. Grandpa brought out a train and sat it up on the kitchen table for the kids to watch/play with. Jaren and Luke played with Hot Wheel cars and toys and Keira played in the bouncy saucer or was held by Uncle Dave, Aunt Carrie, Mia, or Grandma. Had a great day. I unfortunately forget to get my camera out when everyone is here. Perhaps Carrie will post a picture or two she took with her new camera? Here is a shot of my empty beverage containers after they left:

Our 2009 Christmas Letter

2009-12-15T21:53:00.001-06:00

Well, we are again. The year 2009 was so much like 2008, it was hard at times to tell the difference. It all started with January, just like the year before. And before we knew it, February came along, and then March. Our suber-intelligent, gifted and talented children soon recognized the pattern, and predicted April and May would follow. It was all downhill after that, barely even a challenge. Alasdair, who as you know is a mathematician with a PhD and an office all to himself (which actually has TWO desks in it, BOTH for HIM), soon hypothesized that Christmas would fall in December this year, and sure enough, here I am, sitting here, writing to you, and it WILL be Christmas soon (in December).

Our children and grandchildren have excelled at absolutely everything this year, embarrassing themselves (and everyone else) with their extraordinary abilities. Fortunately they have level headed and objective parents who maintain their feet firmly on the ground. The grandchildren do attend elocution and deportment classes in preparation for the various prize and award ceremonies we anticipate they will have to attend over their lifetimes. They have been enrolled in Swedish language classes for some time, because, after all, we would hate for them to be at a disadvantage when they travel to accept their Nobel prizes!

Even our guests have been outstanding. We enjoyed the company of a young exchange student from Denmark for the first three months of this year. He had a simply splendid time here and was impressed that we were able to communicate with him in his native tongue.

We have welcomed a special new addition to our family this year. He is blind in one eye, and has mild hemiplegia, and some dysphasia and dysphagia due to hemiparesis of the tongue, and he has the unnerving habit of urinating on people when he greets them. But as far as rats go, he is one of the most witty and urbane companions we have ever consorted with. The grandchildren look to him for advice on so many aspects of their social and intellectual development, and we are more than happy to delegate this responsibility to our betters and wisers.

Well, I could go on, but I don't want you to feel inadequate at this very special time of the year. I do hope that you have reached at least a few of the objectives and performance indicators you have set for yourselves.

Much love to you all, and do feel free to bask in the glow of our glory.

All done

2009-12-15T18:11:00.003-06:00

Saturday I had the two little J grandchildren over and realized I do not have a picture of the two of them and Keira is now 4 months old. Jaren was sitting next to me on the love seat while I held Keira. I grabbed my camera, got the settings set, and placed Keira next to Jaren. He immediately let out a distressed cry, leaned as far away from her as he could and signed "all done." This isn't the best photo, but you get the idea:
Get her away from me!
Okay, this is a little better but I'm still a little uncomfortable. Perhaps move her across the room?

My own little scrap retreat

2009-12-09T21:44:00.002-06:00

I spent my furlough day scrapping and completed some layouts for my 25 days of templates class.

December 2009 Blizzard

2009-12-09T08:07:00.006-06:00

As of this morning, the Des Moines airport, which is 1.5 miles directly west of my house, is reporting 14.5 inches of snow. This morning it is blowing and drifting. I tried to open my front door to look outside only to find it was drifted shut.

Luckily I have been opening and closing the back door frequently to let the dogs out, so I've managed to keep it swept open. They plow through the snow on the deck, make their way along the garage
and then Molly, I suppose because she is the larger dog, is the snow plow making a path into the yard to take care of business.

Hope Roger can make it home from work.

Newly discovered video

2009-12-08T13:44:00.001-06:00

Just came across this video of Luke (about 6-9 months) and Mia from my archives.

My cousin's blog on island life

2009-11-18T10:25:00.003-06:00

As we head into winter, snow, and blizzards here in Iowa, here is my cousin's blog http://tjparkerislandlife.blogspot.com/2009/11/more-rain.html. Terri and her husband Blake "retired" to their next profession to St. Thomas a year and a half ago. Her blog is about island Life. For instance, this week around "10:00 a.m. the Governor of the islands announced that everyone should go home. Schools would be closed, government offices shut down. I know this may sound absurd to you but the island just doesn't know what to do when it rains. God forbid it would ever snow! There are some real dangers though- mud and rock slides as well as curvy roads can make driving a challenge. I headed home around 12:30 and there were few cars on the road. I did see a family of pigs having a grand old time rolling in the mud! There was a HUGE mama sow and about 7 or 8 little ones enjoying the rain. The radio announced that everyone should just go home. There is talk of a curfew. The rain is expected to continue into the night and folks are worried about flooding. They also warned people that it would be rather chilly tonight- low may even hit 70. I had to chuckle as I listened to the song that followed this announcement - Winter Wonderland. Ah, island life."

Be sure to check it out.

Traveling back in time -- Beauty and the Beast

2009-11-14T08:29:00.006-06:00

I'm trying to free up some room on my hard drive and ran across some videos. The place was Mercy Hospital, two days after Luke was born. This was about the same time that Jeremy was in the leading role of Beauty and the Beast at the Playhouse.

Day 6

2009-11-06T08:39:00.002-06:00

Another beautiful day in paradise. We headed south again towards Hattaras Island and the light house to (1) enjoy the beaches and (2) pick up a shirt at the light house that Doug wanted. We spent the day at a couple different beaches. Towards the end of the day Rick started talking to a fisherman who lived nearby. Beth asked for a dinner recommendation for sea food and he recommended the Quarterdeck in Frisco. Enroute to the restaurant we pulled over in a day-use area to enjoy the sunset.

Day 5

2009-11-05T07:04:00.003-06:00

Beth, Doug, and Gloria near the Roanoke Marshes Light House on Roanoke Island at Manteo.
Watching the winning game of the World Series
Siblings on the Roanoke waterfront.
Roanoke water front.
Roanoke Marshes Light House.
Elizabeth II.

Today we went to Roanoke Island to visit the Lost Colony, Fort Raleigh, the Elizabethan Gardens, the Elizabeth II at Festival Park, and another light house. Rick stayed back at the house and did some exploring on his own, using one of the bicycles here at the house.

Festival Park is across from the Manteo waterfront. History comes alive, with actors playing the part of the “natives.”. We toured a 16th-century ship called the Elizabeth II.

Twenty-three years before Jamestown (1584), the dream of an English-speaking nation began on the shores of Roanoke Island. This small island was home to the first temporary English settlements in the New World, sponsored by Sir Walter Raleigh during the years 1584 to 1587. Roanoke Island Festival Park celebrates this period of Roanoke Island History through history-made-fun and a passion for the arts.

On Elizabeth II, a representative 16th-century sailing ship, we met sailors like those who sailed across the Atlantic in 1585. They were dressed in period garments and spoke Elizabethan dialect. They brought the history of the voyages to life at the Settlement Site, where we were introduced to the game of Skittles and worked with their k-nives carving tools.

Day 3 and 4 Lighthouses

2009-11-04T06:19:00.006-06:00

Monday we went north a few miles to the light house at Currituck.

After we were unable to make the ferry to a couple wineries we went south and visited the Bodie Island lighthouse.

Tuesday we again headed south and stopped and visited the Cape Hatteras Light house.

Next we had to catch a ferry for a 40 minute ride to Ocracoke to visit the Ocracoke lighthouse.

Day 4 Whales

2009-11-03T19:35:00.004-06:00

Sunday and Monday were cloudy, windy, and rainy. That didn't stop us from having fun. Yesterday we visited the Currituck Beach Light House in Corolla. Doug and Beth climed to the top while the rest of us looked around down below. We tried to visit some wineries only to realize we had to take a ferry and got there too late and had to wait till the next one so we gave up that idea. We also visited Bodie Island light house. I'll post some of these pictures later.

Roger and I caught the sunrise this morning. After breakfast we drove further south to Cape Hatteras light house and Oracroke Island lighthouse. The ocea was violent near Rodanthe and water and sand were over the road. County crews closed the road right behind us to other travelers while they tried to make the road safer.

After visiting the light house on Oracroke, we pulled off and walked over a sand dune to the ocean. As we got to the top of the dune we caught something off in front of us coming up out of the water. A WHALE!!!! It just kept going back and forth in front of us. I talked to someone who said he had been coming to the Outer Banks for years and had never seen one. It was a great day.

Lighthouse pictures to be posted tomorrow.

Day 2 Outer Banks

2009-11-01T07:39:00.006-06:00

Slept with windows and slider open last night and woke to rain coming down. Can't wait to go see everything in the daylight. Weather forecasts is rain today but that won't dampen our fun any.

Chris and Topher are grandparents. Calvin Tyler was born just before 6 this morning. He weighed 9 pounds 3 ounces and over 21 inches long. Congratulations to the Bart and Erin and the grandparents.

After a late breakfast and spending time with the Loessers, we visited Kitty Hawk Museum today.

After spending several hours at Kitty Hawk the wind was really picking up and it looked like it would start raining. We went to a nearby restaurant, Outer Banks Brewing Company and had a late lunch/early dinner, chocolate molten cakes and a brew.

After dinner it was almost dark and rainy, but we drove south looking for the Bodie Light House. We found it (plus many deer along the way), but it it is no longer lit and was pretty dark. After hitting the grocery store for breakfast items and snacks, we came back to the Yellow Brick Road to watch the World Series and scrap.

Day 1 of Outer Banks

2009-11-01T07:21:00.004-06:00

Saturday, October 31. We had set the alarm for 3:30. After loading the car, letting dogs out and feeding them, we left our house at 4:15 a.m. for Doug and Beths'. Everyone was on time and we were on the road to Kansas City by 5 a.m. Upon arrival at KCI we learned our flight had been delayed and we could still possibly make our scheduled fllight as it was only two gates over but they also booked us on a 6 p.m. flight out of Newark.

Flying into Newark I saw the New York skyline and the Statue of Liberty. Our flight attendant said our out-going flight was also probably delayed. Unfortunately I think it was the only flight on time that day out of Newark. After three gate changes, pizza, beers, and margaritas, our outgoing flight left at 7:15 p.m. We landed in Norfolk around 8:30 p.m. After getting the luggage and rental car, we didn't make it to the Outer Banks until almost 11 p.m.

Our hosts, Chris and Topher had wine waiting for us when we got here and were awaiting news on the birth of their new grandson.

Another year older

2009-10-20T21:22:00.005-05:00

Birthday Self Portrait

Yesterday was my 55th birthday. I took the day off to recuperate from a weekend spent digi scrapping. One of my sisters took me to lunch and I'm going to lunch with my other sister on Friday. This was the first birthday that I found depressing for some unknown reason. I kept myself busy by draining the hot tub, cleaning it out and refilling it. When my hubby woke up he took me to dinner at Romano's Macaroni Grill. This is what I had to eat (and drink):
Create your own pasta: Penne with arriabetta sauce, the same thing I order almost every time to eat there.

A glass of the house chianti.
Their bread!!!!!!!!

Message to my good friend Sherry, thank you so much for the phone call this morning wishing me a happy birthday. You have no idea how much it meant to me. Thank you. When should we do lunch?

Free Textured Cardstock Styles for PS and PSE

2009-10-18T23:25:00.002-05:00

The Scrappin Cop has some great stuff on her blog. She has a style that is okay for commercial use for PS/PSE to make your elements look like textured cardstock. Check it out here.

Sweet Baby

2009-10-17T11:47:00.002-05:00

What I have been up to

2009-10-16T23:39:00.003-05:00

Besides talking and drinking wine, I have been busy scrapping. Got four more vacation pages done:

Two more Colorado Vacation pages done

2009-10-16T17:10:00.001-05:00

Scrapping weekend update

2009-10-16T12:28:00.003-05:00

Finished two very simple pages from our Colorado vacation...

I've revised Cool Luke a bit this morning...

The Chick Nest Update #1

2009-10-15T23:21:00.002-05:00

I'm at The Chick's Nest for a scrapping weekend. I've finally (after 6 hours of work) finished my first layout. Here it is....

A Note to My Young Self

2009-10-02T06:23:00.002-05:00

41 years of advice to my younger self, for the Type+Writer class I'm taking at JessicaSprague.com. Pictures from 1968.

DMRegister (DMRegister) on Twitter

2009-10-01T10:36:00.002-05:00

Dic Youngs, far right, pictured with Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.

DMRegister (DMRegister) on Twitter: "Iowa radio personality Dic Youngs has died, according to friends of the family. Details ASAP at DesMoinesRegister.com"

You've had to have lived under a rock if you grew up or spent any time in Central Iowa and not know who the old Youngster was. I grew up listening to him on KIOA. We lost a great one today.

Ray Dennis http://www.desmoinesbroadcasting.com/dicyoungs/dicyoungsprofile.html has said this about Dic: "He was inducted into the Iowa Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame in 1997 and he is well enough known and respected by his peers that he may someday be inducted into the National Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame."

Dic Joined KSO Radio when he was only 16 years old, after winning a KSO amateur DJ contest. Dic was an instant star at 1460 KSO and he and Hal Moore rocked the teens of Des Moines from the "KSO Fish bowl" Studio in a window at 19th and Ingersoll. KSO Music Survey Sheet. Dic left KSO and worked briefly in at a Florida radio station, returning to Des Moines radio at 940 KIOA in February 1966. Dic didn't totally give up sports as he played for the KIOA High Hoopers Basketball team for 13 years and helped them raise nearly One Million Dollars.

There are some great audio clips, including an aircheck from 1966.

Photos from Des Moines Register and Ray Dennis.

Interview with Cailey

2009-09-29T23:17:00.003-05:00

As part of this class I am taking called Type+Writer, yesterday's assignment with a great strategy for journaling: including direct quotes from those around you. It could either be something that arised spontaneously, but in my case I came up with some questions to ask Cailey. I think my questions were pretty lame, but this is what I came up with:

Journaling reads:

I called you tonight to ask you some questions for my Type+Write assignment. You are not a really big talker so I prepared some questions to ask. My first question was who is your best friend and it came as no surprise when you said it was your sister Mia. Today for breakfast you had Kix, which you think is made from wheat or whole grains. Your favorite place in your house is your bed in your room and outside. You like the outside because you get to ride your bike, jump rope, draw with chalk, play in the back yard, and sometimes pick green beans from your garden. I was completely unprepared for the answer I received when I asked you where you like to go for rides in the car and why.

Happy Anniversary

2009-09-28T20:51:00.002-05:00

Thanks Roger for 36 years!

My weekend

2009-09-27T22:14:00.003-05:00

I had a very busy weekend. Started the weekend out with the grands spending the night Friday night and took them to a birthday party for a great nephew who turned one. Saturday night Roger and I saw Wicked at the Civic Center, which was Wicked*ly good.

Today we did our fall tradition of visiting Howell Tree Farm. Jaren and Keira are still a little small to fully enjoy it, but I think they had a good time. The boys did, however, crash for awhile and got a power nap in.There was hay to climb on.
Pumpkins to pick. Luke picked out a 70 cent gourd. Mia selected a five pound pumpkin and Cailey's was 55 pounds. Pumpkins were selling for 39 cents per pound, which translates to Cailey's pumpkin costing almost $20.
Flowers to enjoy.
and swings to swing on.

More pictures are available on my photostream at Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/queenshakenbake/.

I've finally got caught up on my assignments for the class I'm taking at JessicaSprague.com.

2009-09-25T11:58:00.002-05:00

Had, what I think was, a very succesful neighborhood meeting last night. There has been some talk about gun ownership while talking to various neighbors. Can't see myself with one, but here is a brave woman trying to figure the thing out when her husband decides to teach her a lesson. Thanks to Jeremy for this YouTube video.

I'm taking a class

2009-09-24T22:55:00.003-05:00

I'm taking a class at http://www.jessicasprague.com called Type+Writer. It is a two week course where one day I receive a journaling prompts and writing guidance video techniques for typography, which I'll then consolidate each of these lessons and create *six* layouts from all-new templates, supposedly to allow me to focus on the words that preserve my memories AND improve my skills with the Type tool. I supposedly will end the class with a whole new confidence in my writing abilities (yes, when pigs fly), a "heart filled with appreciation for all you love in life, and awesome Photoshop skills to last a lifetime."

Here is my first layout

The list is 2,280 miles driven, 3 wineries and breweries visited, 120 trains we saw, 50 hours spent in t he car, 3 hours white water rafting, 3 trails hiked, 1 Adventure. The journaling reads "Our trip to colorado was so much fun. It turned out to be a railroad-theme vacation, including riding the cog railroad to the top of Pikes Peak, riding the Royal Gorge Railroad, and visiting the Train Museum in Golden. We also visited the Holy Cross Winery, Coors Brewery, and Snowy Peaks Winery.

Happy Birthday Luke

2009-09-20T20:30:00.002-05:00

Mr. Luke turned four last months and celebrated with a Transformer birthday party.

The layout was based on Template Pack 7 by Kaye Winiecki (The Lilypad.com). Supplies used included Scrap Simple Paper Template Shapes Pinked Edge Stars by Ursula Schneider (Scrapgirls.com); Paper and embellishments from Party Boy Mini Kit by Megan Turnidge (ScrapOrchard.com). Fonts used were Howie's Stamps Lowfat and Latha.

As seen on TV

2009-09-16T22:45:00.003-05:00

Ellen DeGeneres spotlighted this new workout tool on her program yesterday.

Little Rail Cheerleaders

2009-09-12T09:40:00.005-05:00

Yesterday Cailey and Mia participated in an ALHS Rails Cheerleading camp after school where they learned cheers, ate dinner with other little Rails and the ALHS cheerleaders and then cheered at the start of the varsity game. Lincoln was playing Dowling and unfortunately lost. It was a good game, though, and then we went to Dairy Queen for ice cream afterwards.

More pictures from the game last night:

Children of the broom corn

2009-09-07T23:43:00.001-05:00

20090907_0059, originally uploaded by queenshakenbake.

Although this might look like a field of corn the kids are standing in, it is actually several rows of broom corn. It is cut, dried, and the tassels are then used by the broom maker at Living History Farms to make brooms.

A Wonderful Labor Day

2009-09-07T19:21:00.006-05:00

Today we visited Living History Farms with Carrie's family. The grandkids helped bring in wood at the store owners house in Walnut.

When we got to the 1850s farm, the lady was cleaning up from their noon meal. She asked Luke if he'd like to help, to which he said yes. She had some milk remaining in the milk can that needed to be taken out to the pigs. She poured it into a pitcher and handed it to Luke. He was very careful carrying it out to the pigs so as to not spill any (or get any on himself since it might have smelled a bit). I was trying to shoot a video with my new camera but accidentally hit the stop button so didn't get it all, but this small section of video shows the proud and happy little guy after completing this very important chore.

Here are some pictures of him carrying the milk to the pigs:

After the day at the Farms, we headed over to the Machine Shed for a farm-style dinner. Fantastic day.

Sorry for the orange photo...didn't take time to clean any of these up.

Grandchildren

2009-08-28T23:40:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I managed to see and spend some time with all five grandchildren. It was the first day of school for the twins. Grandpa and I, along with Grandma Okland, took them to school. Cailey seemed a little apprehensive and I felt awful leaving her.

Then I went over to Jeremy and Sarah's to watch my newest grandchild and her brother yesterday for the first time (Keira, not Jaren) while Jeremy and Sarah went to radio station 106.3 for an in-studio performance by John Ondrasik from FIVE FOR FIGHTING. Jeremy of course wore one of his many Superman shirts and was in seventh heaven when he dedicated 'superman" to the guy in the superman shirt during his live in-studio concert. It was a fun morning.

Keira's Superman outfit is a Build a Bear outfit.

After that I went in to work for the afternoon.

I Celebrate You, Grandson!

2009-08-26T22:35:00.005-05:00

Happy 4th birthday Luke. I love you little man and am sorry I didn't get a chance to wish you a happy birthday on your special day. We celebrate you today for all sorts of reasons, especially because you always bring a smile to my face and gave me a new love for the zoo. We'll make a trip back to the zoo soon, I promise.

He's got his Grandma's eyes

2009-08-16T11:58:00.003-05:00

I was just uploading some pictures to my computer and saw this one Roger took last Sunday when Jaren was visiting us, and cruising for porn. I never realized how we had the same eyes. (He has better complexion and is much cuter though.)

Why toddlers should not play with the TV remote

2009-08-16T09:26:00.005-05:00

Last Sunday we were watching Jaren while Mom and Dad ran to Wal-Mart. He kept bringing me the remote so I finally turned it on to a program I have recorded for him--Little Einsteins. He was cuddling with me happily watching it. Then he picked up the remote and all of a sudden we were no longer watching Little Einsteins but a movie on HBO. No problem there but as quick as greased lightning he changed the channel once again and the screen has a box on it asking if we wished to purchase "Hot Wet Bitches." I grabbed the remote from his little hands and put it back on an appropriate channel. How he got there in a couple button presses I have no idea. Mom and Dad pulled in the driveway right then so I told them the story. While we were talking he picked up the remote and right away went back to that channel. Grandpa and Dad said if he had purchased it they would have been obligated to watch it so as to not waste any money.

NOTICE THE REMOTE IN HIS HAND IN THE FIRST PICTURE BELOW.....

I have a new granddaughter

2009-08-11T21:46:00.004-05:00

and her name is Keira Ann Jorgenson. She was born this morning 45 minutes after arriving at the hospital and one push. She weighed in at 6 pounds 10.2 ounces and 19 3/4 inches long. She is beautiful and the family is doing great.

Some more Minnesota Zoo pictures

2009-08-09T09:10:00.002-05:00

Here are some more pictures from our trip to the Minnesota Zoo. All these pictures, except the butterfly emerging were taken on the Minnesota Trail. While walking on the trail, we passed a beaver pond where we had a underwater view from large windows. They also had a video monitor to show action inside the lodge. Adjacent to the pond is a small wetland area, where I think it was we caught these river otters sleeping (first picture top row). Not as exciting as watching them frolic at the Des Moines Blank Park Zoo though.

Other animals we saw were coyotes, gray wolf, porcupine, wolverine, lynx.

From the wild bird deck we saw some turkeys. We also saw this bald eagle and this puma.

The butterfly garden is located in the Tropics Trail. They have 40 different species of butterflies and moths, fluttering around, along with chrysalis (or pupa) "boxes". This butterfly or moth was emerging from its chrysalis. The girls would have stayed there all day if permitted waiting to see it take off. Cailey asked if we could come back t he next day to check it out.

Here is a link to live cams at the Minnesota Zoo: http://www.mnzoo.com/animals/animals_liveCam.asp

Have you ever Googled yourself?

2009-08-07T10:11:00.002-05:00

I did, and added the word marijuana to my name because right now where I work we are preparing to hold hearings on whether marijuana has medicinal purposes. My email and phone number went out in the press release about the hearings. The results were about 39,100 in less than 0.49 seconds for "debbie jorgenson marijuana." And for the record, I have never ever even indulged.

2009-08-05T22:54:00.004-05:00

Our first stop at the zoo -- a wall to get an official zoo picture. Wish these places had signs that were accessible to stand in front of that said Minnesota Zoo.

Can't see the turtle statue here, but the kids were all climbing onto its back to get this group shot.
Puma.
This wolf was a one year old female. I thought Cailey would be infatuated with her but she didn't pay her that much attention.

I thought this was pretty cool. The diver, while feeding the fish in the tank, was telling us all about the various fish and their habits.

Time to head home. A couple of us had trouble waking up. Had a bit too much fun.
We're up!
Fairy dust boxes the girls picked up.
Cousin It? I love the necklace accessory.

Vacation photos

2009-08-05T22:21:00.003-05:00

Back home now from our mini-vacation to Minneapolis. The zoo was a really great choice as a destination--two thumbs up for the Minnesota Zoo.

The Mall of America may have been too much for the kids. Perhaps it was the two hours I let the girls swim the night before at the hotel, but we hadn't been there an hour and they were dragging. We decided to rent a dual stroller for the girls to use along with the umbrella stroller we brought along for Luke. The kids enjoyed the rides--especially Cailey, who rode the roller coaster once and the log ride twice. Mia sat out the log ride the second time and the roller coaster. I'll give the Mall of America one thumb up.

Our hotel, the AmericInn in Shakopee, which I booked through Expecia, was really nice and had a water slide and a kiddy wading pool. Unfortunately we were placed in a smoking room, which the hotel tried to clean the air, but the hallway was filled with cigarette smoke and was unbearable. Lesson learned--just because Expedia asks you what your smoking preference is doesn't mean that is what they get. They have a very small disclaimer that they can't guarantee the availability of a non-smoking room. The hotel happened to be booked solid and there were no other rooms to move us to, so the assistant manager said if I want to come back up, call her directly and she'll take care of us. Two thumbs up for the AmericInn; two thumbs down for Expedia.

For some reason I've uploaded my pictures but they aren't showing up, so here's a link to my Flickr Photostream to see some pictures from our vacation: http://www.flickr.com/photos/queenshakenbake/.

Dogs, thunderstorms, and free dogs

2009-08-03T10:57:00.004-05:00

While we were on vacation Carrie watched our three beagles. She was telling me they were really good except for one morning when she went over and they had gotten an onion off the pie safe and a zuchini off the table. That would be Maddie. Maddie may be ten in dog years, but is still going through her terrible twos. That dog can get onto a bar-stool high chair and get up where no dog should be able to get.

Last night Molly was acting up even before being put in the kitchen for the night. I wondered then if there were storms in the air but I didn't hear Ed Wilson mention any overnight thunderstorms, so I didn't give Molly a Nervoheel pill. Her heavy breathing and pacing kept me awake until around 11:30 when I finally fell asleep, only to be awaken at 3:15 by her doing her best to tear the gate down. Fortunately for us it is a new gate and not as easy to pull down. Unfortunately she has figured out how to open it up so we bungie cord it shut. While on vacation earlier this month she chewed through the bungie cord and Jeremy tied it together and we have failed to replace it. I yelled at her a few times and dozed back to sleep. I was awaken once again at 4:15 by her heavy breathing/panting in the bedroom and two other dogs jumping up in bed with me. I listened for a moment and heard thunder off in the distance. I dragged their sorry butts back into the kitchen, gave her some Nervoheel. When I tried to fasten the gate again saw it had once more been chewed through. So in my lazy/sleepy frame of mind, I saw the cooler, still filled with cold beverages and icy cold water and thought I'd just move it in front of the gate so she can't pull it open. I went back to bed only to hear a thud and went back to the kitchen to find Molly had removed the lid to the cooler and using all her strength, tipped the cooler over. Now I had a small flood on the kitchen floor to clean up. After doing this, I dragged her sorry butt downstairs and put her in a kennel, came back upstairs to go to bed. I wasn't able to get back to sleep, but did stay in bed until 6. I went out to the kitchen to feed the dogs and let them out only to find that Maddie had gotten into the lazy Susan and got a pasta salad mix and ate all the dried pasta and seasoning. She also got a box of spaghetti and ate them.

With threats of thunderstorms again tonight, Molly and Maddie are both being put in a kennel tonight and I'll let the "good" dog sleep with me.

Cailey version of our vacation....

2009-07-31T21:04:00.002-05:00

I have a little toy otter and Mia has one too (Mia's is bigger). It has a star fish on it. Minnesota is fun. I love my breakfast when I eat at the hotel. The hotel has a TV in it. We are watching Disney channel....maybe more later as she is sidetracked by the the Wizards of Waverly.

Our vacation as told by Luke....

2009-07-31T20:58:00.003-05:00

I'm having fun on vacation. I went to the zoo and I saw camels. I saw bears, wolf and rode the train (monorail). That was fun. I got a dolphin. I played on the playground at the zoo. I went swimming. I saw another bear and had fun playing at the playground and I saw the thing that was swimming (I think he's talking about a diver feeding the fish and talking to the crowd). And I ate a slush and a pretzel and pizza. I love the zoo. And I love to go there.

Mia's Vacation Memories (so far....)

2009-07-31T20:49:00.003-05:00

(I've neglected this blog for awhile. I'm not on vacation with three of my grandchildren. I'm going to let them tell about what we've been doing.)

We went to the zoo. I got a toy otter. I am going to buy Mommy something at Mall of America tomorrow. We saw the otters. I like the swimming pool. I really like the water slide and jumping in the water. I can't wait to go to the Mall of America tomorrow. I'm thinking I want to see all the gift shops.

[NOTE: I'll try and post some pictures later.]

More Vacation Photos

2009-07-19T15:23:00.005-05:00

Here are some more pictures from our recent Colorado vacation:
Roger and I at the Continental Divide in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP). Who needs a tripod when you have Photoshop. Can you tell which one of us was Photoshopped into the picture?

After visiting the Alpine visitors center at RMNP, we stopped to play in the snow. Notice my shoes--the snow was a little cold when it hit my bare feet.

View from our hike around Bear Lake in RMNP.

A photographer taking in the beauty at Bear Lake in RMNP.
Ferns we saw while hiking around Bear Lake.

We also hiked to Alberta Falls in RMNP to capture the beauty.

The water tumbling over rocks while hiking to Alberta Falls.

A Rio Grande train at the train museum in Golden, Colorado.

You know when you're blog reading is out of control...

2009-07-18T22:49:00.002-05:00

When you only have 407 more to read. Of course I've been on vacation for a week and have only kept caught up on a few blogs. I'm not telling whose I've read. This isn't taking into account the number of emails I deleted without even reading. Of course I didn't delete any you might have sent.

Recapping my rafting experience

2009-07-18T00:48:00.003-05:00

We're home now and we were Googling news stories to see if we could find out how the gentleman is doing that was pulled from the river on the 14th and taken to a waiting ambulance by the Royal Gorge train is doing. Had I seen the stories from last week, I doubt very much if Roger would have been able to get me on one of those rafts. It seems that on July 7 (one week before our raft trip) two gentlemen from Colorado drowned in the Arkansas River while rafting. Then on July 9th, a Texas man volunteering at a Boy Scout camp in Colorado died in a rafting accident when his raft capsized in the Arkansas River in a class 3 rapid.

Here's a little video of rafting in the Royal Gorge and a view of the railroad:

Roger's gold mine

2009-07-15T09:51:00.002-05:00

Those of you who know Roger (family) probably knows how he loves to watch the ground for interesting things. It isn't uncommon for him, while I'm driving, to see a box or bag besides the highway or street and say I bet it has something valuable inside it. I, being the driver, just keeps on going.

Yesterday as he was pulling into the hotel parking lot, he is looking at the ground and says, "there's two dollars back there." He parks the car and walks back to pick up the two dollars. I see him bend over six times picking something up. He comes back with three $5s and three $1s. That bought us dinner at Pizza Hut. WTG Roger.

What a day!!!!

2009-07-14T21:29:00.007-05:00

Climbing into the engine on a 7 foot vertical ladder, 34 inches from the ground.

Today I had booked us in the cab of the Royal Gorge Railroad. Chad was the engineer and I think we had the best seats on the train. The railroad track follows along the Arkansas River, which has many rafting companies operating white water rafting. Right before we reached the Royal Gorge Bridge I saw several boats pulled over to the side, but didn't think too much about it until all of a sudden a guy runs up the bank and pops onto the railroad track waving an oar. Chad stopped the train. From my vantage point I could see what was going on. There was a gentleman laying on his back in the boat gasping and holding his chest. He was being held by a girl. The boats appeared to be loaded with all young people, so don't know if he was a teacher or something. Chad and the train's conductor helped the float leaders to help get him up the steep bank and into the train. Chad then dialed 911 and made arrangements for an ambulance to meet us up at a quarry that had access to the train. Chad said he had fallen out of the boat and taken on a lot of water and came very close to drawning. The gentleman's condition wasn't the best and they had problems getting him stabilized. I hope he will be okay. While waiting for him to be loaded onto the train, other float trips came by and were stopped. Here is some people in a raft.

We had reservations for our own rafting trip right after the train ride. Before this happened we needed to get right in the car and drive 45 minutes to the Arkansas River Tours, which was going to be a close call. I called them as soon as we reached the car and explained what had taken place. They asked if we were traumatized by the event or if we still wanted to go and I said we still wanted to go. They said they would wait for us and told us to drive safely.

I had been nervous before the morning incident and I think it just made me a little more scared. I think I clenched my teeth most of the way and now have jaw pain. I knew we were in good hands though, because our guide's name was Mia--and I knew she had to be a fantastic person. These pictures were taken by Arkansas River Tours. It was a really a good float and I would highly recommend Arkansas River Tours to anyone coming to Colorado and want to try it.

That is my oar near the back of the boat.

Roger is sitting right across from me. I was knocked into the boat in this photo.

Mia our float guide.

The whole crew.

Grandma's Brag Blog

Do Not Open Earlier Email from me--Email account has been Hijacked

Test photos

New Address

Printing layouts

August Sweet and Simple Pages

Fire

Morning with Keira

Sneak Peek | Abide + A Giveaway!

Sweet and Simple July

My girls

CK Des Moines

June Update

Quiet night at home catching up on scrapbooking

Sweet & Simple April Part 2

More Loghry pictures

Visiting the land of my Great Grandfather, George E. Loghry land in Page County, Iowa

Sherry

Sarah's in Love with Taylor the Latte Boy

Taylor the Latte Boy Rebuttal

Simply Tiffany - Digital Scrapbooking + Life Humor - 16 Lefty Righty Templates and a Giveaway

Bubbles

Sweet & Simple April Part 1

Tiffany Tillman's Summer Edition of 25 Days of Templates

Mosaic Moments Page Patterns

It's Official--Ft. Des Moines is now a recognized neighborhood

Winery Visits

Sweet & Simple, March 2010, Part 2

Fun with the grands

Family of owls turned Web stars grows by one - SignOnSanDiego.com

Rough last month

Pool

Spring Break 2010

Sweet & Simple

Thanks you City of Des Moines

Request for ice removal in _______ block of __________

A Dog's Purpose? (from a 6-year-old)

Life 365 Upate

Neighbors form group following manhunt | desmoinesregister.com | The Des Moines Register

Life 365 Update

Happy 8th Birthday Girls

Life 356

Go Hawks

Life 365 Update

Scrapping those Christmas photos

Molly B. Good

Rantings of an angry woman

The Torch Relay Begins.....

Picture of the Day

Happy Birthday G.G. and Happy New Year

Our 2009 Christmas Letter

All done

My own little scrap retreat

December 2009 Blizzard

Newly discovered video

My cousin's blog on island life

Traveling back in time -- Beauty and the Beast

Day 6

Day 5

Day 3 and 4 Lighthouses

Day 4 Whales

Day 2 Outer Banks

Day 1 of Outer Banks

Another year older

Free Textured Cardstock Styles for PS and PSE

The Scrappin Cop has some great stuff on her blog. She has a style that is okay for commercial use for PS/PSE to make your elements look like textured cardstock. Check it out here.

Sweet Baby

What I have been up to

Two more Colorado Vacation pages done

Scrapping weekend update

The Chick Nest Update #1

A Note to My Young Self

DMRegister (DMRegister) on Twitter

Interview with Cailey

Happy Anniversary

My weekend

I'm taking a class

Happy Birthday Luke

As seen on TV

Little Rail Cheerleaders

Request for ice removal in _ block of ____