Spencer Steals a Girl's Lollipop in Saint John

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Once upon a time a family made plans for a vacation.

There was a little mix-up in the name of the city they were going to, 

but luckily it was all squared away before they left home

and lucky them, they were still able to find a last minute 

vacancy in this fine looking establishment. 

And the luck continued when  the next morning dawned bright and clear--

 perfect weather for a boat ride. 

They were a tad surprised (and worried) when they arrived to the boat launching site 

and saw this not-so-lovely paper factory directly across the river. 

But their hope was renewed when they saw that this was the view looking the other way...

They ended up going on a leisurely harbor tour where they relaxed... 

and got to hear all about the fascinating way that the Bay of Fundy and the Saint John River

interact with each other.

It was on the boat ride that they fell in love with the quaintness 

of the small New Brunswickian city 

and decided that they wanted to explore a little more than they'd originally planned 

before driving onto their next destination. 

But first they took a wild-and-crazy jet boat ride that took them 

spinning and splashing 

through the rapids and in process traumatizing a whole flock of cormorants

(and their youngest child).

After they dried off and stopped their knees from shaking, 

they drove to the thriving metropolis of downtown Saint John to eat some lunch.  

I don't know if there was something fishy in that bag of Bugles, 

or if the jetboat ride damaged their noggins,

but from lunch on after things went downhill pretty quickly. 

First Emma started reading the newspaper over some random guy's shoulder.

Then Cami and Adam started fraternizing with a creepy looking dude holding a pinwheel

and even Ellie started trying to share her lunch with a well buxomed lady waiting for a bus.

Even Glen broke out of his normally reserved personality and 

got all chummy with homeless guy feeding the birds. 

As shocking as all of their behavior was, 

Spencer's actions really took the cake.

Or should I say "took the lollipop"? 

It was shortly after he made the little girl cry

that they declared that Saint John had gotten a little too odd for them

and that it was time to move onto greener isles.

The end. 

Stay tuned for more Canadian adventures coming soon...

How to Take a Good Self-Portrait

While the wind and the rain from Hurricane Sandy continue to underwhelm us here in the DC area, I thought I'd take this opportune moment while the power remains on and impart on you some important information that will surely stupefy you with its profundity.

How many times have you been somewhere all by yourself and realized that where you are is so awesome that you want to remember the moment forever?

Sure, you could just take a picture of the raging hurricane, but where's the fun in that? You can buy a postcard with a pretty hurricane on it. You want it to be personal. You want to remember that you were in the hurricane too.

So what do you do?

Let me save you some time: skip the fad of just asking a random passer-by to take your photo. Their results don't last and you never know when the random passer-by is going to surreptitiously cut your head out of the picture.

Do you want your kids to remember you as a headless freak?


Not unless you want to frighten them!


But what other options do you have than polluting the world with poorly taken photos?

A self-portrait of course!

Now some people get a little intimidated by taking self-portraits and worry that no picture is better than an up close one of their nostrils.

Not so, though! I'm here today to take away the self-portrait taking mystique that causes people angst and I, Lara, will teach you how to take the perfect self-portrait.

First, here are a few do's and don'ts of taking a good self-portrait.

DO zoom out before turning the camera on yourself, or risk being remembered for your untweezed eyebrows rather than your killer gumline!



DON'T hold the camera down below your face, or you will get a first-hand glimpse of the contents of your nostrils as well as drawing attention to the duplicity of chins that may be found on the underside of your face. Taking the picture at eye level or slightly above is the most flattering angle.



DO check what's behind you before pressing the shutter button or you may get more in the background than you bargained for.



DON'T forget to bend your elbows slightly or you will find yourself having to explain the general flabby state of your arms and random choice of loud colored clothing to future generations.



DO check the lighting on your face, especially when taking pictures in the bright sunlight or you could end up with a creepy Phantom of the Opera face...



or a shadowy face that gets lost in the brilliance of the beautiful background...



or a strange raised-eyebrows kind of look when you're forcefully trying to keep your eyes open as you squint into the mercilessly bright sun.



DON'T sneeze at the exact moment you're about to shoot the picture.



DO wrap the camera strap around your arm a couple of times, so that in the unfortunate event that you should lose your grip on the camera while in your out-stretched arms that the worst that happens is an unflattering shot of yourself taken while catching it and not a strained back from having to pick it up off the ground.



DON'T forget to keep your camera with you, so that you don't miss out on an opportune time to capture a memorable moment.



DO think about brushing your hair and putting on make-up, even if you do not intend to leave the house. You never know when the moment will arise when you decide that taking self-portraits in a hurricane is the thing to do.



DON'T be afraid to take several shots from several different angles to increase your likelihood of getting a flattering shot. That's the beauty of digital cameras...you can just erase the pictures you don't like.



or if you're like me....


you can always just do a blogpost about them.





DISCLAIMER: All double chins, nostril contents, and distracting background subjects were fabricated for the purpose of educating the public on proper self-portrait taking techniques. Author is not to be held liable for any defamatory self-portraits that may be taken while using the techniques in this blogpost. These tips are meant for suggestive purposes only and may or may not result in the same level of gorgeousness  as can be found in this instructive blogpost.  

ACKNOWLEDGMENT:  I'd like to dedicate this post to my sister, AnnaLisa, who taught me everything I know about taking self-portraits.

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Pics of the Week

In case you haven't noticed by now, I rather like my camera.  Much to the chagrin of a couple of my kids, I keep it slung over my shoulder (or tucked surreptitiously into my purse) almost everywhere I go.   And for those of you who have seen my camera know that it's not of a size to be easily "tuckable" or "slingable". 

So what do I do with all these pictures?

I used to print them all and try to scrapbook them, but I would invariably get overwhelmed with the mess scrapbooking always created and it always seemed like I was a year or two behind the times trying to keep up with the pictures.  Then in 2007 I started blogging, which I instantly loved because it was mess- and cost-free and was so easily shared with family and friends.  Shortly after beginning to blog I not only stopped scrapbooking, but also stopped printing up pictures altogether.  Now once or twice a year I'll print all of my posts into a hardcover blog book, which have become our new scrapbooks for our family.  I'll often walk into a room and find one of my kids curled up with a blog book and laughing about some funny story (this classic called, "Princesses Don't Toot" is their very favorite). 

The only problem with this method is that there are often great pictures that don't fit perfectly into a blogpost, which means that these great pictures often get lost in the archives of my iPhoto never to be seen again.  I'm going to try to remedy this problem by occasionally (possibly weekly) posting a blogpost just dedicated to my favorite pics.  They may or may not have a cool story to go with them, but mostly I just want them to be remembered. 

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I love how you can see the water droplets zipping onto Ellie in this picture as she hunkers down while a sibling sprays her with the hose.... 

I wish I could take credit for this amazing photo of a butterfly and bumblebee resting on our neighbor's flowers, but it was actually my sister, Heather, who took the photo.  Adam and Emma were the ones that had noticed the butterfly in the first place and demanded that I go get my camera immediately. 

My sister, Kristina, and I made some hairbows this week which required burning the edges of polyester circles with a candle.  By the time we were done, the candle looked like this and I couldn't help but take a picture of it.  My family thought I was certifiably weird when I pulled out my camera, but I was just so enamored with how charming and old-fashioned it looked that I couldn't help myself.

Don't know the story behind this photo, but I found it downloaded onto my computer and couldn't stop laughing.  Apparently it was taken by Cami very late one night. 

Here is a picture of Senator Mike Lee (from Utah) eating one of Cami's cupcakes. We have a friend who works in his office who had ordered Cami's cupcakes for a co-worker's birthday.  Cami called me super excited after receiving this picture. 

Cami really, really missed her big brother while he was in the hospital all those months and I LOVE seeing Spence and Cami hanging out together again. This is them at Chinatown (in DC) today. 

Moustache Monday

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I "moustache" you all a very important question...

...but since "eyebrows" the computer right now, I'll "shave" it for later. 



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Ode to the 'Stache
by  Derek Berry

Oh, glorious hairs, sprouting from face!
With warmth and a style no razor could erase,
 Hairs grow like weeds, sturdy lip prongs,
Which are worshiped and are subjects of songs,

It sits as a comrade, a furry, lippy friend,
That you can twist, style, twirl, whorl, and bend,
You are the captain, and it your first mate,
With it you have a bond to which no other bodily hair—can relate,

You might prefer the Belvedere, or perhaps the Dali,
You may sport yours like Frank Zappa and grow a goatee,
It can be a handlebar, or you can let it droop,
One end can be a basketball, the other end a hoop,

You can look like Einstein and look like Ringo too,
You could grow it very long until you need ‘stache shampoo,
It may be a pencil one, or a Fu Manchu,
A moustache is a moustache, and any one will do,

Some look pretty menacing, some look kind of cute,
Some make you look professional, some just like a brute,
You can wear it with a beard, goatee, or mutton chops,
It looks right on cowboys, Hitler, and even cops,

This is a little ode about a little droop,
A single curve of hair that can sop up all the soup,
Some are rather sparse; some look worth a lot of cash,
But never forget the power and coolness of the ‘stache

I am Special

Many are called, but few are chosen to have the coolest job in the whole church...ward bulletin editor. Each week I get to exercise my limitless power in what our ward knows and doesn't know.

Stake meeting I don't want Glen to go to....boom! It's out. The speaker mispronounced my name one time...boom! Intentional name butcher. There's some sin that I think the ward needs to work on...boom! Special message inside cover.

Truly my power rivals that of the Sunday School President.

And I have a key to the church library.

Please. Contain your jealousy.

Maybe, someday if you're all righteous enough you can have your own super powerful calling with a key too. In the meantime feel free to bask in my extreme awesomeness [and humility].