Photoshoot

I had a fun photoshoot today with this cute little guy. Even though I had a horrible headcold, I think we managed to get some good shots. Laura, I'll finish editing these this weekend and, hopefully, I'll have some treasures for you on Sunday.

Making a Mountian Out of....

Master Munchkin informed me, "Your mom has a mole with a hair sticking out of it. I call it 'Mt. Hair'."

Why, Indeed?

The Master, upon seeing some Kale (a variation of his name) in the grocery store:

Why would they name a brainless, heartless vegetable Kale?!!

Details

Details, originally uploaded by MrsMama.

"Excellence is in the details. Give attention to the details and excellence will come.”
Perry Paxton

Ickish

"I feel ickish."

Master Muchkin was up all night with the stomach flu. Poor little guy. We're laying around on the couches today, catching cat naps. But, so far, no one else has come down with it. Keep your fingers crossed!

A Ready Defense

Have you ever wondered what you'd do if someone was coming at you with a club or bat? This happened to me last week in my martial arts class and I didn't have a clue. I think I just threw up my arm to block but that wouldn't have worked too well in real life - it would have really hurt and it did nothing to stop or disarm my attacker. If you can't run away, here are some options:

Club attack

Stick attack

This Week

This week, I want to:

Try making Karina's delicious looking GF Brown Sugar Spice Pumpkin Bars. I'm always looking for easy things that Miss Munchkin can eat (and enjoy) and not feel like she's being deprived.

Learn how to replace a dull looking, over-exposed white sky in a photograph with a beautiful blue one.

Do a photoshoot with a Ubercute 4 year old boy that I know and his antique toy car. I'm thinking fields and the beautiful old red barn near our house.

Have Master Munchkin fling all the soft apples off of my deck and into the woods. They been sitting there a little too long, waiting patiently to be made into applesauce, making me feel guilty and a bit stressed out. It's time to set them free.

Wecome

I wanted to welcome all of the April Stalkers who visited my blog recently. Thank you for all of your kind comments on my photos and for all of the reassuring and comforting notes about, well, poo. I told her the "Incident" wasn't even worth mentioning.

Here is a bonus picture for all of you. It's our version of the famous "American Gothic House" painting.

What should we call it?

Are You my Mother?

Are You my Mother?, originally uploaded by MrsMama.

Eggs, Examined

Eggs, Examined, originally uploaded by MrsMama.

These are what I call Martha Stewart eggs. I love the natural variation in color.

Quiz Time

Here's a little quiz for my readers.
Click here.



Feel free to post your score in the comments.

Shadows of Light

A Few (More) of my Favorite Things

You know when you find something that you love and want to tell your friends about it? Well, these are some of my current favorite things that I think are worth sharing:


I think this Irish perfume is perfect for Fall. I believe Inis means island and Or means gold. I'd say it smells "warm" and "rich", but the official description is much more impressive:

The joy of returning home to one’s loves at the end of a voyage, into the calm of the evening and the hearth of home, the company of family and friends; a universal yearning—of sailors, hunters, of all of us—for a home of peace, tranquility, intimacy and unconditional acceptance. The end of a stressful day, work, the hard slice of life, and the reward of satisfaction and security gained from this.

Inis Ór is inspired by the energy in the excitement of the anticipation of an evening with loved ones. After a day full of activity, freshening up and heading out in the magical light of a Summer’s evening when the sun cannot seem to tear itself away and knowing there is an evening filled with laughter and fun ahead. This passion for life is emulated in the rich citrus top notes that are given vitality with the fresh green middle notes and the warm sensuality of the spiced earthy woody base notes.

Ah... peace, tranquility, intimacy and unconditional acceptance - who wouldn't want to wear that? ;)

Unlike my favorite Summer fragrance, you can actually find this in the States. In fact, there is a store with in 10 minutes of my house that sells this. But, I'm not divulging the secret location. Because if you live in my neck of the woods, I would rather that you didn't smell like me! :P

Ok, next!


These cookies are wonderful. I like the fact that there is a minimum number of quality ingredients (organic unbleached wheat flour, organic degydrated cane juice, canola oil, unsulphured molasses, ginger, baking soda and sea salt) and that they taste spicy and crunchy and go perfectly with a cup of coffee. There is a gluten-free version that is equally as good. My dog loves them too. Whenever I am eating these, he will stand next to me and beg and whine until I get fed up and put him outside. Only he won't go outside unless I toss a cookie out into the yard first. Hmmmm..

Next!

I love this drink. Next to coffee and spiced cider, it's my favorite Fall hot beverage. It comes in a variety of options, including caffeine-free. If you haven't tried chai, it's a spicy combination that is rather addicting. This box contains a concentrate of black tea, honey, vanilla bean and spices that you mix with milk. I like mine with skim and served hot. Their website has some recipes that I want to try.

Umpteen

It's taken me a week, but I've finally waded through umpteen photos from last week's photoshoot, picked out the best ones, and edited them. I can't wait to show the family! Here's a sneak peek, never before seen. The little guys crack me up here! They were troopers and did a great job putting up with the Crazy Lady With the Camera.

Martial Arts Weapons

During our martial arts program, students are taught how to use 3 weapons, the bo, the escrima and nunchuks. My favorite is the escrima stick but Master Munchkin loves his nunchuku.

The Bo Staff (think Little John from Robin Hood)
These are 6 foot long and are hard to get in your car. The purpose of the bo staff is to increase the force that is delivered in a strike. It is used mainly in self-defense but, when combined with leg strikes and kicks, can become a lethal weapon. Most bo staffs are made of tapered wood or bamboo, but there are some that are made of metal.

Nunchaks (I called them Numchucks for at least 6 months - blush)
Nunchaku are basically two sticks connected at the end with a short chain or rope. While the nunchaku are some of the most popular martial arts weapons, they are also some of the most misunderstood. They are difficult to learn to wield and will often cause a variety of injuries to the beginner. Once they have been mastered, though, their extreme speed, flurrying motions and incredible striking force make them an extremely dangerous weapon.

Escrima sticks
Escrima sticks were developed to go hand in hand with Filipino Martial Arts, but are now used in a variety of martial arts. They are traditionally between 26” and 28” long and are made of rattan. Because the rattan is fire-hardened, it does not splinter easily and is capable of defending against blades, which makes it an excellent weapon.

I like these because, theoretically, you could use one in real life. If someone threatened you with a knife and there happened to be a sturdy stick or a pipe laying on the ground nearby, you could use it. I was doing a photoshoot in a park a few months ago and there were a few shady characters in the area. I happened to have my escrima in the car so I tucked it into my tote. Luckily, I didn't need it, but I felt better knowing it was there.

A Few Funnies

I Am Not A Ninja (click cartoon to enlarge)



MacGyver Gets Lazy

Lean on Me

Lean on Me, originally uploaded by MrsMama.

I know I'm kinda weird, but I love, love, love shots like these. :)

Love Light

Another photo from this weekend's photoshoot.
I love this one.

.

., originally uploaded by MrsMama.

I had a fun photoshoot yesterday with a fabulous family. More to come...

Bounty

Fruit of the Earth, originally uploaded by MrsMama.

Fall

(click to enlarge)

A Wordle for you.  What do you love about Fall?

Do What?

We often start warming up in martial arts class by jogging around the room. This is usually challenging enough for me, but the instructor then takes things up a notch by randomly clapping 2 pads together, signaling that we should touch the ground and reverse directions as fast as we can. By this time I am quite "warm", thank you.

This week, they added something new. "OK, when I clap twice, I want you to do a forward roll."

A forward what!? Okaaaay....

Clap clap! I quickly glance around. All the black belt guys tuck their shoulder, gracefully roll, and come up running. I just keep going. Maybe no one will notice.

Clap clap! I stop and awkwardly perform a somersault, head over heels. I hope no one is watching. Back to running. Suddenly running seems less sinister. Ah, good old running - something I can do.

Clap clap! Again?! I perform another painful somersault. I haven't done this since 2nd grade. Obviously the guys know something I don't. We run some more. Did I mention that I love running?

After a few more laps, we are done warming up. Thank goodness! My body is warm but my face is warmer. I make a mental note to get some private tutoring on that roll. I'm sure my kids can help.

Pair

Pair, originally uploaded by MrsMama.

Our pear trees produced a huge harvest this year. They are so sweet and a delight to eat straight out of the orchard.

Um, I Can Stop Anytime

58%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

How about you?

Worth Fighting For

Worth Fighting For, originally uploaded by MrsMama.

For Eileen and others in the Fight

Stealthy

I was sitting at my computer today and heard a very strange, very loud sound outside. It's probably just a plane, I thought and ignored it. But it got louder. Finally, I poked my head out back and looked up.

It was a stealth bomber! Maybe a B-2? I don't know - I just knew that a very rare, very cool plane was flying over my house! I wished my boys were here to see it. Wait! My camera was sitting next to me so, in a serendipitous moment, I grabbed it and ran for the front yard. I had the lens cap off, the camera switched on, the settings set and the camera to my eye within seconds. There! It was in my viewfinder. In focus even. I pushed down on the shutter. It didn't click. What the? I pushed again. And again. The plane was starting to shrink in size quickly. Click, darn you! Finally I took the camera down from my face long enough to glare at it. The memory card door was hanging open, mocking me. My card was inside the house. As I watched the black speck fade into the distance, I suspected, deep down in my heart, that there was a government conspiracy of some sort happening here. ;)

By the way, stealth bombers aren't very stealthy are they? Their roar is incredibly loud.

Final Round

Last night was my final Fight Class. I am happy to report that my nose, while a little tender, is entirely intact. I know I got jabbed there at least 10 times last night - once hard enough to make me wonder about the distinct possibility of blood. I have to say that I have mixed feelings about taking the class. It was definitely outside of my comfort zone! But I learned a lot and I feel proud for being the only girl in the class and not giving up.

I found that I could take a punch. The actual physical pain was less than the fear I had of being attacked by a big guy. And I finally got used to ignoring them. I used to focus on every punch that landed - oops missed that one. Gosh, I should have parried that. But then I started focusing on my counter - OK, he just hit me, where is he open? While he's up close and personal, where can I hit him back?

A few of the guys had a hard time hitting me in the face. I guess their mamas raised them well! ;) And a few of the guys didn't have any trouble hitting me. Hard. I have a few bruises to prove it. But most of the guys were respectful and a good sport about training with a girl.

Even though I wouldn't win in a fight with a trained man, I think I picked up a few tricks in class that would be helpful. Like the defensive front kick. Basically you use your leg to keep your opponent far away enough that he can't reach you. And groin kicks. Though they aren't "legal", they are effective and I wouldn't hesitate to use one on the Street.

I will continue taking Kickboxing classes 2x a week, along with my regular martial arts classes. Honestly, I think they will seem a bit easier now. :P

Wassup Telly-Style

Happy Fall Y'all!

Wish You Could Stay, originally uploaded by MrsMama.

We Now Resume Our Regular Programming

Yea! We have visuals. My husband did something highly technical ("Honey, I only reset the modem. There's a little switch.") so now I can upload. I'm so glad I married a geek really smart guy!

So, without further ado, here's the video of Master Munchkin breaking a board:


And here's little T. Get well soon!