Schwank Family Fundraiser

So taking 7 people on a vacation includes a lot of figuring out, a lot of diapers, internet searches, excitement, anxiety and, well, money.  My kids are beside themselves with the idea of Las Vegas...lights and action, the desert and--the best part--Brad and Carrie's wedding!
So we are fundraising to help buy our tickets...by the end of August.
Heres what we've got--three options...
Buy my prints!  I have beautiful, unique images from home and abroad that are printed matted and ready to frame.  Each image is signed and titled (by yours truly!) and prints that are 5x7 or larger are limited and numbered.  Many of my older prints are actual hand printed in the darkroom--yes thats right, we're talking film here!  The truth is my selection is SO varied that I can't possibly show you all the images...but keep in mind some of the possibilites--
Ireland
Northern Ireland
Paris
Prague
Terezin
San Francisco
Wyoming
New Orleans

Visit FB to see options...
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=15589&id=133232700054814

Send me a note and ask for something..did you see an image of mine on Facebook that you would love in your home?  Just ask...I'll anwser!
emily@raincliffsphotography.com
Prints make a wonderful holiday gift--get ahead of of your shopping and get your friends and family something special.
Here are the "my kids want to see the desert" special print prices.
2x3 print matted 5x7--$10
5x7 print matted 8x10 $17
5x7 print matted 11x14 $ 22
8x10 print matted 11x14 $27

Larger prints available, please inquire...  And YES I ship anywhere in the world, just add $3.00.

OR
are you local? ... consider hiring me for a portrait session--special "we need plane tickets" rate of $125... go ahead and purchase the session now and we can set it for when ever you wish, now or in the lovely Indiana Fall.
(Makes an amazing gift for family--do you know someone with a new baby?  Hire me as a gift and be a hero!)

Visit my work blog for details on my sessions...
http://www.raincliffsphotography.blogspot.com/

OR

Did you know that my darling husband is not only adorable and makes awesome bread but is the computer guy of computer guys... so the heres the "can't wait to see Brad and Carrie tie the knot" pricing...
buy his time, $20 a hour... you can purchase time in $ 20 increments to use when that time comes... and it always comes...
no computer job too big or too small,
Computers un-crashed
Viruses removed
Data recovered
Network connections made

 Visit his facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Indianapolis-IN/Christopher-Schwank-IT-Guy/137300792975563

Yes we take paypal, checks or cash for any of the above...

Help us fund our first family of SEVEN vacation... we would appreciate it.  Every $10 adds up.

I hate three.

I really hate three. Three is like 15, but utterly without simple logic, like not drinking Drain-o. Three is perverse, complicated and volatile. "I want a butter samwhich" says Fra, ""cut, like this" He makes sawing motions. "Okay" says, I, "hang on, while I get..." "No. NONONO! NO!" yells Fra. "I want a samwhich, like this, a SAMWHICH!" As if saying louder and flinging himself to the floor will make it happen faster.

"you a kooky head" says the small Demon from Hell glaring up from it's spot sprawled on the kitchen floor.

I take deep breathes, ignore him and make his butter sandwhich.

"I want cookies" It snarls. "I want pink milk"
"Here is you sandwhich, I say, "what do you say?"
"Thank you mama" says adorable little Fra climbing up in his chair.
"No. NONONONO! I want it cut LIKE THIS." Sawing motions, arm waving and he throws a piece of bread at me.
"Okay, Time out"
I carry him to his room. "You a poopy, kooky head " Says the Demon, baring his teeth.
Three minutes later. "Would you like to eat?"
"OoooooKAY!" He says, happy and climbs up and takes a miniscule bite.
"My tummy is full now. Lets play shop"

wordless Wednesday

Laugh until you can't breathe

This week I need to give a shout out to my mama friends.  Funnily enough some of my mama friends aren't mamas, but hey, Mama Friends has such good ring to it.
I love going out with just my husband, I love going out with us as a couple with another couples or a group, but I LOVE going out with my girlfriends.  I love getting all dolled up and meeting in a smoky bar, a table full of women who have gotten pretty-ed up just for themselves and nobody else. We sit a table and are obnoxiously loud and belligerent.  We swear. We laugh at our children or our partners or ourselves.  We say the word, Booby, frequently.  We mock men in crocs  (Sara and Kate, you know what I mean).  We drink a little too much and eat tacos in the rain.
My Mama friends are partnered or singled, some have kids, some don't.  It doesn't mattered.  We talk about serious things and we have each others back.  We sympathize and empathize.  And we laugh and laugh until the next morning my throat is sore and my head is sore and I don't mind at all and would do it again in a second.
Today, I lift my champagne bottle, er, glass to my girlfriends.  You are the best.

Free Range Kids

Children, like chickens, deserve a life outside the cage. The overprotected life is stunting and stifling, not to mention boring for all concerned.

My husband sent me this article, and I found myself compelled to share it.  But first, a little background.  We are planning out next building project, the treehouse.  We believe that our children, whose lives are dictated by the rules of adults deserve a place that is their own, a magical place, above our heads.  We also believe our children should be strong and independent, solve their own arguments, learn to stand up for themselves, learn to be confident. 
We let our oldest two children go to the park by themselves.  One block down, sometimes if I stand in front of my house I can actually see them.  They are 9 and 6.  People think we are crazy.  Strangers I meet at the park comment on it.  One block down.  Yes I could be afraid, but what good is that? Statistics show me that my children are more like to be hurt or molested or stolen with someone I know, somewhere safe, like their own home.  They must be strong and go into the world bravely and intelligently.  They need to learn that they can leave and then come back and we will be here, waiting to hear about the adventure.

Read the article.  Tell me what you think.

http://www.treehousebydesign.com/blog/2008/04/formula-for-childs-success-trust.html

So what's for Dinner?

I hate meal planning.  I love to cook, but meal planning sends me over the edge.  Finding something we all like to eat, that contains the proper food groups, doesn't take two hours to make and I have all the supplies for, geez, why is that so hard.  I guess because there are alot of us and only one of me and because sometimes it is just hard to come up with good ideas.  Right now, I am already trying to plan the next few days..any ideas?
Me, I'm at a loss.
Thinking about investing in this book
ttp://www.amazon.com/Cooking-Week-Leisurely-Weekend-WeekDAY/dp/0811821285
recommended by a wise mama-friend.
Maybe it will help, but for tonight.  Pasta and red sauce, my "I'm at loss, go to meal"

Champagne Thursday

When my husband and I were married (some time ago) we ended up with a couple of cases of champagne left.  For the next 6 months or so we had Champagne Thursdays, we would hang at my mom's with my mom and step-dad, pop a bottle of champagne and drink it.  It was a great tradition, one that led to much laughter and is still fondly remembered by all.

I know alot of people do grateful Mondays or that sort of thing, well, this is my version.  Every Thursday I will (virtually) lift my glass to ONE thing.  It can be very hard for me to pick one thing of anything, but I will do my best.

This Thursday I lift my glass to April.  I love April.  I know, I know, the cruelest month.  poor misunderstood Eliot.  But why is April cruel? In there lies my love of April.

APRIL is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering	5
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried tubers

In case you didn't get it, this is all about rebirth.  

In April, Christians have their Easter, Pagans have their Easter, too, sans Jesus.  Earth has her Easter, with a madcap display of blooming and growth and sunny days and sudden storms.  Everything that has died is born again, 

You gave me hyacinths first a year ago;	35
'They called me the hyacinth girl.'
—Yet when we came back, late, from the Hyacinth garden,
Your arms full, and your hair wet, I could not
Speak, and my eyes failed, I was neither
Living nor dead, and I knew nothing,	40
Looking into the heart of light, the silence.

It is true that every year I read The Wasteland , every April I torture my poor DH and kids by reading sections outloud, but this Spring I am especially grateful for April.  I am especially aware of my rebirth.  
The strength and beauty of women's bodies are so amazing, knowing this time last year I was growing two little healthy people in me, causing my own body such considerable distress and now I can run and play with all my children, I can garden and clean and sleep and see my toes, and they do not look like sausages.  The fear I held to is gone, replaced with the relentless tiger love that I have for all my children, not just my littlest two.

April, thank you for reminding me of the rebirth of my body and my heart and my soul.