Piloting Her Imagination

She'll have one of these for Christmas, please.

On the way home from gymnastics tonight we drove past the Air Force Base and the 'search light' spotlight was flashing from atop the hospital. E3 asked me to remind her what that light was for (we had just discussed it on Sunday evening) and I said it was for helicopters in the event they need to land on the hospital.

E3: Why would a helicopter need to land on the hospital?

Me: Sometimes in an emergency, when a person needs to go to a bigger hospital like the ones in St. Louis, they put them in the helicopter and fly them because flying is faster than driving in an ambulance.

E3: When you went...when you had me and E2 and E3...did you drive or did you take a helicopter?

We drove, but in the interest of full disclosure we SO would have taken a helicopter if that was a non-emergency option.

A Good Rule

Requesting Tween Camera Advice

Does your young adult have a digital camera? Mind sharing the brand, and your likes and dislikes?

I'm looking for something that will take decent pictures, but it doesn't need to be professional quality. It does need to have a viewfinder (in addition to an lcd screen), and okay optical zoom, image stabilization would be nice, as well as the option to turn off the flash. Video with audio would be a bonus - that's what they love about my point-and-shoot. Super extra bonus would be that the model comes in more than one color.

I need a beginning point for my deal search, and I figure choosing a brand and model first will skinny things down fast.

Forgotten Shots

Somehow, these never made the upload for previous post...I could have sworn I clicked on those two...

Pretty, isn't it?

Something I should have asked Ree that night was, "Can I sleep over?" The very next day I accompanied our troop of kindergartners on a field trip to The Jefferson National Expansion Memorial - a.k.a. The Arch.

She stayed up way past my bedtime though, and I had to go home and get my own punks tucked into bed...actually, my Mother-in-law put them to bed but you know what I mean.

The Pioneer Woman In St. Louis

Last Tuesday night, my dear husband Rob accompanied me on an adventure to see Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman, in St. Louis.

Confessions:
In our effort to be at Christ Church Cathedral in St. Louis early enough to get good seats, we got McDonald's drive-thru for dinner. A night out, without our kids, when we could choose to dine where ever our hearts desire. SO WRONG, especially considering who we were going to see.

You can see another attendee's video coverage of Ree's Ethel Merman impersonation here.

Rob got a lot of work done while we were waiting - but only before and after the Question and Answer session. He laughed out loud when she answered a question about whether or not she kept a journal before starting her blog by saying "no" because she was "too busy gestating and lactating". We've so been there.

The hosting bookstore, Left Bank Books, tried to direct the line as best as possible...but there was still a ripple of disgruntlement when they allowed those standing on the sides (last to arrive) get in line before may of the people seated in the main section (early arrivals). The book store workers were tirelessly gracious.

Everyone, or at least everyone who witnessed it, was scandalized when two people tacked themselves onto the back of the line of people from the first two rows. Shameless line jumpers.

Let's pretend I intentionally blurred this shot to protect the alleged line-jumpers, m-kay?

I was nervous about talking to Ree. I had about I million things I would have liked to say, but there just wasn't time. It was like in the movie A Christmas Story when Ralphie is so gob-struck at seeing Santa up close and personal that he can't speak. Thankfully I didn't blurt it all out as I was making my exit...perhaps because there were no disgruntled elves and no slide.

I made a lame joke about the gift I gave her and she graciously smiled - I like to think she's sympathetic to dorkiness.

Cooking:
The cookbook is a thing of beauty - my girls are enamored with it and I'm getting ready to try the macaroni and cheese recipe. Honestly, I don't think there's a dish in there that made me think, "Hmmm, no thanks."

I think the chicken pot pie recipe may have the key to my recent efforts to copy the Chicken Noodle Soup at St. Louis (Panera) Bread Company. It has a slightly creamy broth, but is proclaimed 'low-fat'...I think a little flour may be the answer.

Did I mention that we had a McDonald's for dinner on the way there? J. Buck's was just down the street! They have fantastic Gooey Butter Cake dessert.

Photography:
I suggested Ree address 'teaching your spouse to use your camera'. We always run in to that -especially since I'm still learning to use the darn thing, I find it difficult to relay it all... even remember what to relay.

On that note, I didn't have something set quite right for these indoor photos and many of them are tragically blurry...and then I handed the camera off to poor Rob when it was time to get my book signed.

Home & Garden:
Christ Church Cathedral is gorgeous - I can't imagine a more peaceful place to wait in line.

I wish we would have stopped on our way out to get a close-up, in-focus shot of this podium front. Those things you see are rustic nails, welded/shaped into stick-people, and they're all marching, arm-in-arm, carrying one another, etc. It was very cool.

Marlboro Man gave us dining recommendations for Tulsa; Rob's annual conference will be there next Spring and I'm mentally high-fiving myself for thinking to ask this far in advance...usually I'm begging The Internets from our hotel room in the designated city. I almost chuckled when he first suggested a steakhouse (Fleming's) - he reminded me of my college roommate's husband...but I was too busy fighting a squeal at his next suggestion: P. F. Chang's. Rob and I ate at P.F.Chang's for the very first time at this same conference earlier this year in Long Beach, CA, and we really enjoyed it - it was Rob's 40th birthday dinner and the whole experience was great. We will definitely find time to have dinner there while in Tulsa.


Marlboro Man seems to be just as good at wrangling his kids as he is at wrangling cattle, and amazingly patient around all of PW's fans - even those who asked him to sign the photo of his backside. I kept it civil and asked him to sign his 'head shot'.

Homeschooling:
Ree's oldest son started signing autographs at the table next to her, but soon decided to bypass all that chatting nonsense and worked his way down the line of waiting people...and when he got to the end of the line moved to those in the pews waiting to be called to the line...I was bummed he never made it over to our section, but he had other things to do...

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his task...

Meet Me In St Louis, right before our eyes... also, ugly evidence of the aforementioned blurry photos.

Tasty Kitchen:

This was my gift to Ree, The Pioneer Woman. My lame joke was that the title was completely non-facetious.

Rawr! Have you ever seen a more timid cougar?

While not as beautiful as her book, our school fundraiser cookbook does include quite a cornucopia of recipes...from my granola bars to someone's Jello shots and everything in between...even Gooey Butter Cake, which was discussed on her Facebook in the days preceding the signing. I wonder if she managed to try it while in St. Louis.

Ree is just as delightfully pleasant as she seems on her website. I'm so glad we went...
...even if we did have to eat McDonald's for dinner.

Ree Is Coming To The Lou!

We're going to see Ree in St. Louis tonight! The Pioneer Woman!

That's all.

This May Be The Year

I've been gearing up to post something about finishing The Unhealthy Truth...I think I'm going to have to make notes on paper, because it feels overwhelming to just sit down and begin typing about it all.

Today, I was knocked flat by this post over at Ordinary Courage. I've re-read it three times and EVERY time I start crying about half-way through...I want to believe that each of those kinds of conversations with the girls will sound as magical coming out of my mouth as they do out of Brené Brown's. Our two oldest, particularly...sigh. I mean, I'm pretty sure they KNOW...but they've never asked as though they really wanted the truth. They always discuss it in a self-assuring sort of way..."Of course it's not Mom and Dad." It's so hard to find the right time and place to discuss something like that...especially with a little one who *should* still believe...but if I'm honest, I know there's a good chance they've discussed things with her.

I need to give some serious thought to making opportunities for this where we can nudge the door open and let them decide if they want to step through...because their hearts are definitely full of magic.