I really have plans to post again soon (especially because my mom keeps asking me about it!), but in the meantime, this was too funny not to share.

How Do You Feel About Your Dentist?

I'm sure that question could garner a whole host of answers!

I first talked about our new Michigan dentist in October, 2009. I mentioned loving him, and his office. They have a monthly drawing for patient appreciation, and I'd won the adult drawing of two $50 restaurant gift cards. Very nice for our family that does not eat out so inexpensively anymore.

That same month, Buddy won the drawing for the kids, which was a $50 gift card to an entertainment chain store and was able to get a video game he'd been wanting for the wii. Nice, indeed. (Here's the link if you wanted to read the original post.)

Then last April Caboose won the kids' drawing. I had a theory on that one though.

While Hubby was recuperating from his surgery, one of the cards he received in the mail was from our dentist. Hubby had his teeth cleaned a few weeks before surgery and the office knew about it. They included a small gift card to Wendy's with the greeting card with a note to "give Kayren a break from waiting on you hand and foot."

Our orthodontist office is in the same building as our dentist, and Hubby went with me when we took Buddy for his visit on MLK day. He popped in to see the dentist office staff and say thanks in person and that he was recovering well.

Today we received an unexpected package on our front porch.

It's 24" long.

It's 13 1/2" wide.

It's 14 1/2" deep. It's a big box.

I opened it to reveal this:

It's called "Something for Everyone."

The card says, "Glad you're feeling better. Make sure you're brushing and flossing!" Then it has the names of all the dental office staff.

Unexpected kindness. That's just one of the reasons we love our dentist.

Fours

Several months ago I took a picture of the odometer reading on our van. It's our only vehicle. I was short a four in the front, but I guess that's a good thing. That would be a lot of miles!

Today I found the four. I wish I'd realized ahead of time how close I was to the 150K milestone so I could catch it instead, but I guess catching the four on the end was second best.

The best part is that I was in the Ikea parking lot! I haven't been there since I met Mari in April.

For All You Wives Out There, This Is Priceless

I saw the end of this clip on an ESPN top 100 show recently. I can't find just the end of the horse race, so watch the whole thing. I don't think you'll regret it.

We always knew, didn't we?

And I Thought My Hair Was Big

I've got nothing on Troy Polamalu, whose hair was recently insured for $1 million by Head and Shoulders.

If you've never seen the commercials (they're usually shown during sports), they are pretty funny.

Tomorrow

I'm making my official announcement tomorrow morning in a blog post. I'll have it scheduled to post at 8 a.m. (EST).

Why am I telling you this? I'm going to have a few giveaways associated with my announcement, and one of them has to do with being first.

So to try and be fair to everyone (which I know is impossible, but I foolishly try), I'm telling everyone when the post is going up.

I'm excited and a little scared all at the same time!

Big News...

I haven't had much time to blog lately. I've been very busy late into the nights.

I'm going to post big news soon. Big for me anyway.

The pictures are a hint. I'll even have a giveaway when I post my big news!

Have a great weekend! I'll be busy...

I Couldn't Use My Facial Scrub Tonight

(Don't forget to enter the giveaway for the $60 CSN Gift Certificate here. It's open until 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, June 20th.)

Because we all have some version of this:

Some of us a little worse than others. It was our first full day at the softball fields.

Sparky got the coolest sunburn if we're looking for positives.

I guess it was the way her uniform was cut and then her chin blocked the sun in the middle.

We'll be back out tomorrow morning at 7:45.

WFMW — Tax Tip for Charitable Deductions

My tip today is to help you start getting ready for next year's taxes. You know, because an organized accountant can never start too soon.

I use TurboTax, but you don't have to use it to use one of their newer charitible deduction tools. You'll just have to print out the information you've entered on your own. If you use TurboTax it will automatically import it when you prepare your taxes.

First go to the main page of TurboTax. At the bottom of the page under Tax Calculators and Tools, choose ItsDeductible, or just click directly on this link.

If you've used TurboTax before, you can sign in on the right, and if not, you can start for free. It will keep track of the deductions you enter throughout the year and again, import them into TurboTax, assuming you use it next year. Remember, even if you don't use TurboTax, you could still compile your information there. The best part is that it assigns a value to your items based on the condition you enter, so you don't have to try and guess how much your donation is worth.

One tip — when you are entering items and before you go to a new page, hit 'Add Items' at the bottom because it doesn't remember them as you are popping around to different pages. I initially made the mistake of thinking that I was adding all my items for one donation on different pages and then I should hit add items, but you need to click it before you leave each page. You can still go back to it later.

ItsDeductible is the most helpful for me with the items that I take to Salvation Army or a place like that, but you can also keep track of money, stock, and mileage donations.

If you don't itemize on your tax return and take the standard deduction, then you don't need to keep track of your donations anyway. I should also put a disclaimer that anything I put in this post is not intended as tax advice. I'm just sharing what works for me!

Visit We Are THAT Family for Works-For-Me-Wednesday.

Hi!

I'm just cleaning up my reading lists on my left sidebar. That's why you'll see several posts coming through on your Google Reader or Dashboard. I've linked the lists up to a post except for the one that has what I'm currently reading.

Don't Let Me Confuse You

It really is spring here in Michigan, although many of our high temps are only in the 60's and occasionally in the low 70's. See, some of our trees even have leaves, although some are still only buds.


That said, sitting out at the kids' baseball games and softball practices gets a little chilly, especially when the wind is blowing, which it does a lot here. I'm still wearing long sleeves. Have been all except for I think one day this year.

So it seemed appropriate to share a picture of my little treasure I got in the mail today from my mom. I asked her if she could crochet some scarflets for me after Bobbi's mom made one for her and her daughter.

She got the idea and directions here and here. Since my mom was using a nubby yarn, she only used two strands, and the biggest hook she could find was an N.

The brown one I have on is my favorite, and then she also made these two, all of which were with Homespun yarn.

She made two others with Vanna (as in White) yarn, but they were itchy on my neck, so when my mom comes to visit I'll give her those back.

Now I get to try my hand at them. My mom lives in a small town with Wal-Mart, so her yarn selection isn't as good. Of course I have lots of choices around here, so I want to see if I can find some fuschia and orange to combine together!

If it goes well, you'll see the results.

If it doesn't, you'll probably see more gray hairs in pictures.

Milestones

We hit this milestone on our 2003 Chevy Venture Friday, February 27th, 2009.
Unfortunately you don't get to dust the dash when your Hubby gets home and have a do-over of the picture.

Just Thought I'd Mention...

...even though we can't watch our SEC football up here in Big 10 land, ESPN was flashing "upset alert" at the bottom of the screen. It's about time the Hawgs did something good, like a big win over the Auburn Tigers.

Arkansas 25 — Auburn 22

Please Pray For Zoe

I felt compelled to write a quick post before I go to bed tonight, which is actually Saturday morning for me. I read on Lora's blog the other day about a friend's family member whose baby was born early at 34 weeks gestation. The baby is very sick and needs prayers.

Those of you reading my blog who aren't family don't know the pre-birth or birth story of my twin girls, and I probably won't post it in detail until their birthdays in December. To keep it simple, I'll just say that they are truly miracles and were born at 27 weeks gestation...and not close to 28 weeks, they had just hit 27 weeks the day they were born. There were preemie complications, but we did not have to deal with any brain bleeds like baby Zoe (pronounced Zo-ay). After we dealt with the immediate complications following the birth, the girls were able to get stronger and a little older before their tiny bodies had to fight so hard against other stuff, again unlike baby Zoe.

That said, I have chosen not to post comments on Zoe's family's site, because I really don't know what to say. Every situation is so different. We watched a baby born at 30 weeks that should have done much better than our girls die within her first week of life. We know from experience in the NICU that 34 weeks is usually a walk in the park, but not always. Look at this precious baby that is fighting so hard right now. I don't want to say the wrong thing, so I am choosing to say nothing to the family. What I am choosing to do is to ask whoever reads this to pray for Zoe and for the family, and then to spread the word. They are asking for prayers for complete healing of their little baby's body, that he may live a completely normal life. I know from experience with our girls that the power of prayer is the best gift of all.

You can read more about Zoe, get an update, or leave a comment for her family here. Speaking from my heart and from personal experience, I ask that you also pray for the family's strength during this time, because the Lord will be carrying them through it.