Monday, October 18, 2010

Zoo & Huber's all in one weekend.


We took the kids to the Louisville Zoo for the halloween party this weekend.  This will be the last year that we waste our time on this crappy event.  You wait in aweful traffic with rude people who think it's ok to drive to the front and expect to get in, then you pay $5.00 to park (it's free any other time) and if you are not a zoo member it costs $8.00 to get in.  It used to be that if you are a zoo member you get in free, now, you have to go on the "zoo member" weekends which are the first two in October.  All of this for....wait for it...... 7 pieces of candy.  I'm not kidding, I'm not being dramatic, LITERALLY 7 PIECES OF CANDY.  Are you kidding me???  This used to be such a cool thing to do with the kids and now it's just a huge waste of time and years of my life shaved off due to the high blood pressure enducing madness. 

OK.  I'm done with the gripe.  On to the positive.  Eden is beautiful, even when you use eyeshadow to paint her blue.  My good friend Andrea who is an amazing artist and is currently in cosmotology school agreed to do her makeup for me and WOW am I impressed.  She did a great job and we had all kinds of people talking about how amazing her makeup was.  Google Avatar makeup and you'll see just how awesome Andrea is.  It's not an exact match but still looks great!

Tyler wanted to be Darth Vader.  Him and Jacob were both so cute!  They both called him Dark Vader.

Eden took a friend with her.  Nya, vampire queen.  Makeup done by Andrea.

Jacob as Indiana Jones.  Five o'clock shadow provided by the lovely Andrea and brown eyeshadow.  He thought this was the coolest thing ever.  Sat right in the chair and let her "paint" him with a makeup brush.

 After the nightmare that was the zoo on Saturday night, I took the boys and Eden to Huber's with Keith, Dana, their three, Mom, Erin and Erin's friend Beth.  They loved the tractor ride to the pumpkin fields.  Personally, I wasn't such a huge fan.  It's been really, REALLY dry here and the dust from the tractor tires was pretty bad.  At least it was a gorgeous day.  Sunny, low 80's and a nice cool breeze.
Eden wasted no time picking her "perfect" pumpkin.  She grabbed this one within the first two minutes and it's the one she carted back to the barn. 




However, Jacob did not pick his right away.  He thought he liked one until he put his finger in a big hole, then he thought he liked this one here.  Then, I picked up a pumpkin that is so smooth and perfectly orange I just had to show it to them all and guess what.  That's the one he liked. 
I thought it was cute.  So does he.  If you look closely, he's decided to draw on it with a green crayon.  It kinda looks like a pancake.
Grandma helped Tyler pick his out.  I like it.  It's small and kind of pear shaped. Tyler didn't pick up the first thing he saw, but he did have to be told that you can't just drop them if you decide you don't want it.

I think he's happy with his decision.  What do you think?


Back on the tractor to head back to the barn and pay for our u-pick pumpkins.  All in all a pretty good weekend.  Even if I did think I was going to have to cut a b!tch if she let one more line jumper in while waiting in traffic to get into the zoo.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Check this out!

Yesterday, I posted a link to Do Fun Stuff on iTunes because I wanted to help out Ryan Marshall  and his beautiful family over at Pacing the Panic Room.  http://pacingthepanicroom.blogspot.com/2010/08/look-at-what-we-went-did.html

Apparently the big push landed the album at the top of the Children's music charts.  Do Fun Stuff is currently battling it out with Yo Gabba Gabba for the number one spot.  When I checked it about 10 min. ago Yo Gabba Gabba had edged us out but I think if we keep pushing, we can take over that top spot again.

So, with that said, if you checked out my post but didn't click on the monster and listen to some of the music on the Do Fun Stuff album, go ahead and do that now.  I'm telling you, if you have kids, they are going to like these songs.



My kids like Pass It On.  I like Always a Blue Sky, Nothing, Ladybug and Morton the Caterpillar.  We have been listening to these songs here since Saturday and the honest to goodness truth is that they are great, kid friendly songs that don't make me want to pull my hair out by the handfuls.  Well worth the $9.95 price tag.

Also, if you don't follow Ryan yet.  You really should.  He's smart, he's funny and he's also not afraid to lay out all of his frustrations and keep it real. 

If you haven't seen this video,
So Long I'm Six from The Panic Room Videos on Vimeo.
please watch it now. 

This beautiful little boy is the reason for this album and you can find out more about SMS or "Smith Magenis Syndrome" here.

Please help any way you can. 

Monday, August 30, 2010

I'm helping a web friend today.




Sorry it's been so long since I've posted anything new and noteworthy.  I'm happy to be making my comeback into the blogging community by helping a web friend and his beautiful family.

I've been following Ryan over at http://www.pacingthepanicroom.com/ since about 25 weeks into Cole's pregnancy with Tessa.  I love his blog.  I love his insights, his photography and thanks to him, we now have a Canon 7D in our camera bag. (Thanks Ryan!)

Please, click on this monster above and go over to iTunes and buy this album.  It's kid songs and fun kid friendly songs for parents.  My three kids have already chosen their favorite songs.  100% of the proceeds go to research for SMS.  For more information click on the "Our Cause" button above. 

If you don't have the $9.95 to download the album or if you feel that $9.95 just isn't enough, please click on the Make a Donation and contribute what you can to a great cause. 

Thank you Ryan for allowing me to be a part of your web storm.  It's an honor.  Squeeze the Littlest Buddy for me and here's my sincerist wish for Do Fun Stuff to chart on iTunes.  I've written my review and rated the album.

PS:  If you want to help me spread the word about this album you can click on the "share this widget" and add the monster to your own post.  I know that Ryan and Cole will be most appreciative if you do.

Monday, June 28, 2010

We do this every night.

Every night when we put the boys to bed, I arrange Tyler's "stuffedies" the wrong way.  When I first started doing it, it made him mad.  He's very particular about how he wants them.  I guess he knows that the dog and the catapillar are going to fall out of the bed but his bear is the most important thing so he get's to take the inside position so that he's less likely to fall out.  Now, it's like a game and he asks us to put them in wrong.  I love this little game.


Bedtime routine from Linn Goodman on Vimeo.



I'm also still playing with the T1i and the lighting so, I'm sorry about the dark faces.  I'm still working on it, but love playing with it and I love it that we are finally getting some videos of our kids so I can remember their voices, how they act and they way they say certain things like Tyler calling Chrismas Grimace.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Happy Father's Day

I follow the Pioneer Woman's blog and I love her post of her MM and her punks. So...I thought I would follow suit and post some of my favorite pictures of Michael and our babies.





This little girl started it all.  I knew that he would be a great daddy, I didn't know he would be the BEST daddy.


I love this picture.  Tootie has always been the baby we couldn't get to stay in bed.  He was snuggling with daddy and I couldn't resist taking a picture of two of my favorite guys.


Here he is with all three and three generations of Goodman's.  Great Grandpa Titus, Grandpa John and Daddy.  Michael's Grandpa will be 100 this fall.



Not a huge fan of my look here.  This one was taken so that Eden would have a family portrait for her preschool class the night before she needed it for class.  I love her expression and her toes in this one.  Also, we all miss those natural curls.


Twenty-two days old in this picture and that chair was pretty much my bed for the first several months of the twins lives. 


The level of exhaustion is beyond words.  But just look at those faces.  So sweet and even though we were so tired all the time you can still see how much he loves those babies.  All three of them.  So, to the man I love, thank you so much for being the best daddy.  You are the best thing that ever happened to me and we make beautiful babies together!  I couldn't be happier.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Our new camera does HD video.


MVI_0003
Originally uploaded by Linn531
Here is a video that I took with the T1i. Please let me know if the video won't play.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

What's been going on?

WOW!  I haven't really posted anything since New Years.  It's time to change that.

Let's start with the hardest 7 days of my life so far.  Last Friday, I took Jacob to the doctor because he was coughing again.  He had bronchitis just a few weeks ago and he took some medicine and was feeling better, but while we were at the Dr.'s office for that cold...the doctor asked me if Jacob had been diagnosed with asthma. 

You see, we were taking the kids to another doctor and that doctor wouldn't listen to me.  I've been telling him for a long time that the kids weren't sleeping through the night and I was concerned, Jacob was very hyper and I was concerned.  However, until the preschool teacher sent me an email that I could take with me to the doctor his response to me was that they were just young and hadn't settled into their own sleep pattern yet, and Jacob was just a toddler being a toddler.  I don't know if I've posted it here before or not but Jacob is ADHD and he's now on a medication that makes a world of difference for him.  That's another thing that wasn't so important to the previous doctor.  The first medication worked really good for a little while and then all of a sudden, he started getting VERY emotional after the meds started to work out.  When we went to the new doctor he changed the medication immediately, it works like a charm and he's the same Jacob who is better able to control himself and his emotions are under control most of the time.

So... back to the asthma, last Friday, Jacob was diagnosed with asthma.  Here he is taking his breathing treatment in daddy's lap.  For 7 days he took two different breathing treatments.  One three times a day and the other twice a day.  That's a lot of time in the chair.  Thankfully, as of yesterday afternoon, he's down to one medication, once a day.

I have said before that I love the boys' preschool teachers.  I have to say it again here.  I got an email from Ms. Sally the other day and it said that she was working with Tyler on his letters and numbers and he kept asking her to hold them closer.  She told me that they were so close to his face and she was concerned. 

I had noticed him starting to do this but for some reason it just didn't click for me that he could need glasses.  So I called and got him an appointment Wednesday afternoon right after he got out of school. 

Tyler has astigmatism in both eyes and he's far sighted in both eyes as well.  One eye is 20/30 and the other is 20/40 and the eye doctor explained that the muscles in the eye can correct the vision in one eye but not the other because once the first eye focuses on the object it stops, it can't fix the vision for the second eye as well, so for right now he has ALMOST the highest prescription you can get on a pair of glasses.
So, I just wanna know, HOW STINKIN' CUTE IS THIS KID?!?  When we picked his glasses up today they had to adjust the frames to fit his face.  He is the one of my kids who is the funniest about the things that bother him and let me tell you.... they bothered him.  He was complaining about them hurting and the tech who adjusted assured us that the frames themselves were not hurting him.  He started crying and that's when daddy and I got upset and took him to the car. (She was finished adjusting the glasses.)  The tech told us that the glasses may give him a headache and that it could be straining his eyes a bit because they had already adjusted to what used to be "normal".

So, while I know that both boys will be perfectly fine and both the eye doctor and the pediatrician have told us that with proper treatment the asthma will probably go away and the far sightedness can be corrected by changing the prescription when it's needed and then he could have lasik when he's older.  But, getting this kind of news and being stressed at work and home and feeling like the crappiest mom ever because it took the preschool teacher telling me that Jacob was really having trouble and he was wheezing and it seemed a lot like her son when he's having an asthma attack and then telling me that maybe we should have Tyler's vision check before it occurred to me to do it, really made it a rough week.

Also,  my beautiful little girl made me cry when she said to me and her daddy, "I just wish I could take the things that are wrong with my brothers.  It's not fair that I'm the only one that doesn't have something wrong with them."  It's amazing to me how much kids understand and the depth of their feelings.

Sorry this post is so long, I just wanted to update anyone who cares to know how things are going.

Monday, March 22, 2010

I heart Faces Angles



So this week's focus is on interesting angles.  I usually shoot straight on but occasionally I'll take a picture while I'm standing over one of the kids. 

I love this picture right down to his messy little mouth!
They are playing in grandma's flower bed and I can tell Tyler is tired.  He's got his finger diggin' in his bellybutton.

Monday, March 15, 2010

I Heart Faces - Bundle up!


I've followed I Heart Faces through the Pioneer Woman and finally joined the online community so that I could post in the weekly photo challenges.  I'm glad it's getting warmer and staying darker longer, but we did have fun playing in the snow this winter.

I'm brand new to the I heart Faces community but wanted to share one of my favorite photos from this winter season.  Meet Tyler, my older twin.

Friday, January 1, 2010

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a safe and happy New Years.  I know we did.  Every year we have friends over for a do here at the house.  We used to go to Jeremy and Ginny's but since the boys were born it's just been easier to do it here.  Of course, the boys stayed with Grandma & Grandpa last night and Eden got to spend quality time with Emily and David.  No pesky brothers hoggin' her mom and dad and her friends attention.

The kids played games, watched tv, played with Eden's art set and just generally had a good time.  The adults played several versions of Rock Band.  Just let me say, it's a lot easier to see those "notes" when you are sober.  It's a little more difficult once you've lost count of the pudding shots and the buttery nipple shots.  Three margaritas might have been a mistake as well.  Needless to say, I was feeling just fine!  Now, when I woke up this morning... not so much.  A glass if water and a few excedrine later and I was all better.

We took the kids to see the Chipmunks movie today.  Michael wanted to "do something" since we cleaned the house and usually we come home to a mess, he said he wanted to go out for a while so that we could truly appreciate coming home to a clean house.  You know....I'm glad we did.  He's right. (did you see that??  I just admitted my husband can be right.)  It did feel really good to come home and open the door to a clean house.  Granted, there is still some work that needs to be done.  Our bedroom is not an inviting place to be right now with clothes stacked as tall as I am, but it's more than a good start and the room is my next big project.

By the way.  I wanted to put it out there so that I have blogging friends and family to help hold me accountable, I'm starting a "diet" and workout routine as of today.  I spent about 10 minutes on my brand new elliptical machine today and I have had three glasses of water today.  I know that these are not major accomplishments, but they are big to me.  Especially the water!

I will be adding a few more "workout" songs to my IPod and getting on the elliptical every day for the next 30 days.  I don't know how I will feel about continuing that trend once the 30 days are up, but I'm hoping it will be more of a good thing I do for myself than the chore it feels like now.  I'll also be starting one of the three workout games we have for the Wii within the next week.  Wish me luck and if you're the praying kind, pray for my will power to be strong.

Beth requested "before" pictures.  Here are a few of my least favorite pictures of me.


This one was from the other day when we made cookies.  I look pregnant.






This picture was taken back in September.  I hate EVERYTHING about it!   

In 30 days I'll take some more pictures and I hope to see a big difference.