Extra Hour

I know that I often wish I had more than 24 hours in a day.

What are you doing with your "extra hour" on Saturday?

Now That I have you Hooked

Sorry to leave you "hanging" on that fish hook photo for so long. That just wasn't nice! Here's a happier photo: the Master holding the fish hook after it was removed from his foot. He was so relieved to have that over! I think the worst part of it (for me) was the long wait at the doctor's office.


I've been very busy taking photos this week. Last night was a fun Photoshoot. There was apple eating, spit-swapping, lots of laughter, a little blood, and a grown man hanging upside down from a tree! Here is a fun one: the expressions on the boys' faces crack me up!


Ann, your sneak peak is coming!

In Which the Master Finds a Fish Hook

Yesterday, I was in the middle of a Fall photoshoot with a family when the Master interrupted me with this:



Quick, grab your children and say, "See, this is why you wear shoes!"

Details, of both the Photoshoot and subsequent visit to the doctor's, to follow...

Favorite Fall Mix

I make this sweet treat every Fall and I love it.

Mix together equal parts of candy corn, plain M&Ms and dry-roasted peanuts. Serve and snarf.

Now, before you rush to the store, color is important. This mix is beautiful when Fall-colored M&Ms are used: browns, orange, reds, yellows, even green. Sometimes you can find special "Autumn" M&Ms or even Halloween-colored M&Ms on the shelves at the store. But it's often cheaper to buy just a regular bag of M&Ms and make your children pick out (and eat) all of the blue ones.

This looks lovely when displayed in a glass container. Oh, and when you take 1 piece of candy corn, one peanut and 2 M&Ms from the mix and eat them at the same time, it tastes exactly like a Snickers candy bar. Really!

MrsMama does the Happy Dance

After a month or so of intermittent washing machine problems, the beast is now working again! It got to the point where I was mooching off of my friends and family for clean clothes. A sweet lady invited me over for tea on Saturday and I showed up at her door holding a basket of delicates. Isn't that awful?! And when my MIL stopped by to pick up Master Munchkin for an overnight, guess what I sent along? No, I won't say it - it's too embarrassing!

I never thought I'd be so happy to be doing laundry again. I am entirely ecstatic. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go bury my nose in a warm load of freshly dried towels.

River to Well

Remember when I told you about a photography contest a little while ago? You gave me some great feedback and I entered 2 photos. This photo, of Master Munchkin, won an Honorable Mention.



The winning photos were displayed downtown and sold to raise money to buy clean water for a village in Africa.



Below, you can see my photo on the top row, left.



Thanks for your imput and for cheering me on. I am happy that I got to be a part of such a good cause!

Fun Fall Photoshoot

Over the weekend, this dear family braved the nippy wind to get some fun Fall photographs with me. We don't have a lot of Fall color around here but we were lucky enough to find this gorgeous tree.

Close to Home

If you have a moment, would you please pray for this dear family? Things are pretty rough for them right now.

Wolf Man

I stopped by the gym this morning to try to ease myself back into exercising. It is a small gym, in a community center and it's free. Since there are no membership fees or contracts, it attracts a unique (thrifty?) group of people, like me and April. But this morning it was just me and Wolf Man.

I was working on some free weights when a man walked in. Older than me, slight build, long hair. Gym etiquette requires an acknowledgment of other exercisers, perhaps a short nod or a "good morning". But he launched into a conversation about the Zombies in the park last night. Since I was the only other person in the room, I felt compelled to converse back, although I kept my answers short and became very interested in what I was doing. After he saw that I wasn't going to stop and give him my attention, he snatched up some 1 lb weights and started dancing around in front of the mirror, saying things like, "Whew! This is a good work out!" I inched farther away.

Then he struck a pose in the mirror and growled, "GRRRRR....wolf!" I put down the weights and fled walked to the elliptical machine, which was a respectable distance away. Pretty soon he came over and started messing with the machine next to me. It is a strange little contraption, with a stool and a V-shaped track with orange handles. I have no idea what it does - I always avoid it so I won't embarrass myself.

Wolf Man had no idea either, but that didn't stop him. "Huh, a stool," he remarked. I just kept exercising, pretending I was too winded to talk. Ok, I wasn't pretending much. "And some handles." He grabbed the machine and tilted it up off of the ground so the V was pointing to the ground. "Dive, dive! Going down 1000 feet." Then he started PINGing and making various mechanical noises. Suddenly he pushed a red button on the side of the machine. "Boom! That's what a 50 caliber sounds like when it hits the side of a house." Machine gun noises followed.

Ooookay........

I wasn't too concerned for my safety since I had about 30 lbs on the guy and I take martial arts. All he had was a strange piece of exercise equipment. And an invisible submarine. I'll take those odds any day. My overall impression was that this guy was harmless. A little stoned maybe, but not physically threatening.

But, I was done at that point so I snatched up my stuff and booked it out of there. I heard him call after me, "Thank you. It was a good workout!"

Maybe next time I'll try to use the Mystery Machine. Somehow, the embarrassment factor is not really an issue anymore. :)

Thanks, Wolf Man.

Thankful

I am happy to report that I am back and feeling fully recovered. I am suspecting that I was hit by a very evil virus, which took me down and out for quite awhile. It seems that my Crohn's is still under control at this point. I can't tell you how thankful that make me feel!

So, it's back to the usual here at All Astonishment: marital arts, photography and the occasional Munchkin moment.

Update

I simply had to log on and pop in for a visit.

It's been a rough week, full of Ups and Downs. The Downs included pain, tears, frustration, and numerous unpleasant and unmentionable bodily functions. But the Ups. Ahhh the Ups....

• Extra time with my husband
• Cuddling up in bed and reading to Master Munchkin
• Watching dear friends jump in and fulfill every obligation for me
• Feeling incredible loved
• Knowing I was in the Care of the Creator
• Miss Munchkin cleaning and cooking
• Love notes from my family
• Such sweet, kind comments from you
• And naps, lots of wonderful naps

I am feeling much, much better.
Thank you all.