Gap baby model?

With such adorable grandchildren, I knew it was only a matter of time. 

GapKids and babyGap are in the midst of their annual casting call for models and Jennifer has entered Jack's photos in the contest. There are 4 photos and you have the chance to vote for each photo as a favorite - AND you can vote every day through November 17. 

I'll warn you though - you do need to 'sign up' on the website.  Give them an email address and wait for an email from them to confirm you are a real person.  We've gone through that step and haven't received any spam or unsolicitated email from them, so don't let that stop you.

Friends and family out there - will you help Jack pay for his college education?  Thanks!

Click here to vote for Jack!

Just donate the money for heaven's sake!

If you've been wondering what's with all the pink ribbons on food packaging, purses & clothing, and even buildings lately, it's because October is Breast Cancer Awareness month.  In case there is one person left on this earth who hasn't been touched by cancer and in case they need a reminder that cancer is still around and still killing people.

Don't get me wrong - I don't have a problem with pink ribbons everywhere.  But I'll admit I don't really 'get' the whole 'awareness' thing.  I mean, maybe seeing pink everywhere is supposed to make you more inclined to donate money to the cause?  Or maybe you just go ahead and donate so when you're asked at the store the next day *again*, you can say "Already did - thanks!"  And yes, I know it takes money to fund research to find a cure.  And there are a LOT of diseases out there and each and every one is a passionate cause for somebody.  No one knows better than I do that heart disease and cancer are ugly and the world would be a better place without them.

But what DOES bug me are the companies who jump on the 'fight <insert disease>' bandwagon as a way to get you to buy their product. 

Right now there are lots and lots of products in the grocery store touting their altruistic policies because they 'support cancer research'.  Great.  Go for it.  Plaster pink ribbons all over your yogurt packages.  But if you say you're going to donate $1 for every box top, label, UPC code we send you, that irritates me.  If you want to donate a portion of your profit to some charitable cause, yay for you.  I may even buy your product over something similar because of that.  But then you want me to send you the label before you'll make the donation??  Why??  I mean, you've already made your money - I bought the thing.  So what's the reasoning behind making me cut/tear/clean a portion of the trash and send it to you??  That doesn't earn you any more money - in fact, it cuts into MY disposable income by having to buy an envelope & stamp(s) to send it to you.  Granted, 50 cents is not going to make or break me, but hey - it's the principle of the thing!

The only thing I can think of that it will do for you is that you'll then have my address to add to your mailing list.  Great.  Now you're going to start sending me unsolicitated solicitations in the mail (although I wouldn't be surprised if there is some small print on that label saying that if I send it to you so you make the donation I'm also giving you permission to add me to some datebase).  Yeah, I'm jaded. 

It just strikes me as deceitful and self-serving for companies to use this tact.  It's probably not going to stop me from buying the particular yogurt that I want, but it's annoying and I don't like being used.

Noelani's first modeling gig...

If you're not on Facebook, you can see more pictures from our photo session this afternoon at this link:  :-)

Click here to see!

Ice, Ice baby!

I'm not sure what the low was last night, but it's almost 9 AM now and it's still 18 degrees outside.  A tad nippy!!  So cold that Mike actually put an aquarium heater in the birdbath outside so the little birdies would have their own hot tub...:)

It's hard to get pictures of clear ice, but here's the view from our front door this morning - that white stuff is *not* snow - it's ice.  And the concrete is covered with a solid piece of clear ice.  Anyone have a hockey puck and sticks??

Families on the road...

After a hectic month of visits from a nephew, daughter and grandsons, mom-in-law-great-grandma, welcoming a new granddaughter, lots and lots of running around, it is (hopefully) time to settle down a bit and enjoy the changing weather here.  I love summer, but if I can't have summer then I can absolutely enjoy a snowy winter. 

Right now there is a light dusting of white on our front porch and the yard and trees - it really is beautiful.  Tomorrow is supposed to bring more snow, so I need to hit the grocery store today and make sure we have what we need for a weekend relaxing by the fireplace, reading, crocheting and watching it snow.  Once I get home from the store today, I will put on my slippers and I may not take them off all weekend!!   (Doesn't take much to make me happy).  :-)

We are coming up on our 1 year mark here in Colorado and now that things are calming down a bit, we find ourselves thinking more and more about where and what to do next.  It's not that we don't like Colorado - we do and we may end up back here - but Mike and I love to travel and want to take advantage of being able to do so while we can.

We are looking at a few different options.  Top of the list right now is hoping to find a 'match' in a Habitat for Humanity volunteer position in Europe.  The organization is currently working out their plans for the coming year, so we check the website frequently for an assignment that would work for us.  There are several listed already, but some are not family-friendly.  We would like to go to Hungary, but open to Poland or other eastern European countries as well.

We also thought about just packing up and going over there ourselves for a year or so regardless of whether HFH has something for us or not.  But there are a lot of logistical hoops to jump through - not the least of which is the visa restriction in effect for the EU nations.  You're only allowed to stay 90 days out of 180 days in the bloc of EU countries.  Not an impossible restriction to work with, but one that would take some serious planning.  We thought that before we commit to a year living 'on the road' in Europe, we would give it a try domestically.

So while we wait to see if a HFH assignment comes up, we are thinking and dreaming about a year-long trip around the United States.  We've put up a big map on our living room wall and started adding little post-it notes highlighting places we would like to see.

There is Yellowstone and Mt. Rushmore; the Smithsonian museums and DC sights; New England in the fall & Crescent City on the 4th of July; Boston & Philadelphia for some serious US History; Cape Canaveral & Cocoa Beach, Florida for space and science (maybe the Houston space center too?); Indian caves & burial mounds; New Orleans for fun (and maybe helping out there for a while)...the list keeps growing.

While we do want to hit the 'biggies', we're just as anxious to see the out-of-the-way, lesser known sights too.  Places that the locals know about, but don't necessarily make the Lonely Planet travel guide.  So if you have a favorite place or two in your home state or town - please share!