Something to Avoid For Awhile

A friend of mine emailed this to me today as a "tip" to avoid the Swine Flu. I was totally expecting a link to correct handwashing or avoiding indoor areas with tons of people...so when I opened this I laughed at loud. You MIGHT want to avoid licking pigs for the next several months. :) The Swine Flu really is a scary thing, but it was nice to have a chuckle today.

I did not find George Clooney this morning. He's moved on. Never more to be photographed by me in Omaha. I'm a sad, sad girl. I will definitely pay better attention next time when I hear celebrity talk on the radio. sniff sniff.

I missed George Clooney

I am VERY upset with myself. I missed a PRIME paparazzi moment today! George Clooney was in Omaha, taping in the Old Market, RIGHT across the street from our condo. I heard something about it on the radio this morning, but I wasn't really listening and I figured they were talking about him coming SOON...cuz I knew he was going to be taping here at some point. Had I been paying attention, I would have heard that he was taping today. TODAY!!! I can't believe I missed it. I've been able to play Paparazzi in the past, but I'm truly bummed that I missed out on this opportunity.

Our friend that is a DJ in town here is going to text me in the morning when he hears if he's still in town or not. He taped at the airport on Tuesday and in the Old Market today. There MIGHT be a chance that he still needs to tape something tomorrow, but probably not. I still have hope he'll be here, so if you see a silver mini van speeding past you in the am....it's probably me with my giant lens and 2 kids. :)

Favorite movie star day

It was dress up as your favorite movie star day at school today. Puss
in boots, princess leia, and captain jack sparrow were chosen. It felt
like Halloween all over again this morning.

Charlotte is doing better. Her fever is gone, and she's just kinda
crabby now. I guess I feel kinda crabby after I'm sick too.

Sofias choir concert- mb

Sof has a choir concert tonight at school. She is excited to have
something that is just for her, after last weeks katryna-filled week. :)

LOVE those cheeks

I wanted to capture a few images of those squishy Charly cheeks that I love so much. I took these last week, before our garage sale and before Charlotte started with her fever on Saturday. Poor thing. We just got back from the Doctor and she has a virus with a high fever and sore throat. She is definitely not the smiley/active Charlotte that we're used to. She wants to sleep and snuggle right now...and that's about it. I'm looking forward to when she returns to her crazy crawling self. Drool and trouble and all. :)

Real Hope For Haiti

Real Hope For Haiti from Corrigan Clay on Vimeo.

This amazing video was just done by a group in Haiti to show more about the Real Hope For Haiti Rescue Center and Clinic that we are helping through Artists For Hope. I think it gives a GREAT look into what they are doing and I love how excited Zachary gets about the mission that they are providing. I'll warn those of you that cry easily that you might want kleenex nearbye. I was doing pretty good until the part with the little baby that was admitted and needed to stay for better nutrition. I always imagine myself in that mother's situation and think about what it would be like to have to hand over Charlotte to strangers because that is my last and only option to make sure she has enough to eat. I can't even imagine....

Silver medalist

Katryna had a blast in her cooking contest and even though she didn't
win we were crazy proud and the judges really liked her dip. She was
very professional and it was cute to watch. Her teacher and principal
even came. She got a medal and a gift bag with cooking supplies.
Thanks for all the well wishes for her! :)

About to begin- mb

Go katryna!!!

Our little chef

Katryna's cooking competition is tomorrow (today, if you are reading this on Thursday ;) ) and we are all really excited. We're just excited for her to have this opportunity and super proud of her no matter what the outcome. She wanted to practice again tonight, so she made another batch of Katryna's Super Duper Strawberry dip. We're thankful that it's so yummy and that all of us love eating it whenever she makes it.

Before the cooking competition we will be busy with our Artists For Hope garage sale. The weather is supposed to be 80 degrees and sunny, so hopefully a lot of people will be out shopping and we can raise a lot of money towards getting our Non-Profit status.

We'll let you know how our little chef does!

Happy birthday dad!!!

Hope you are having a great day! We will call you tonight! We love
you!!!!

Before the concert- mb

Strange children

This is what I found in one of my kitchen drawers this morning. The girls always wake up before me and then Katryna gets breakfast ready while I take a shower, etc. (I LOVE having a 9 year old!) They usually play a bit and I'm never really sure what I'm going to find when I come downstairs. I didn't see this little scene until after I dropped them off at school. First of all~Why is Beeker being brainwashed? (notice the half plastic egg brainwashing helmet) Who is brainwashing him? Barbie? Or is she next in line to be brainwashed too? She's just standing there smiling, so I'm a bit suspicious of her. Why can I not touch them? Will that interrupt the brainwashing process? He's strapped to a surfboard. Is he being brainwashed to love surfing and nothing BUT surfing? If you have any ideas, let me know. I'm thankful they have such active imaginations. This one was a bit strange though. Creative. But strange.

Oh I wish I was an...

Wildlife Park Pics

Learning

We learned how to knit at our moms group yesterday. It was harder to
learn than I thought it was going to be but once I got it it was
really fun. Quite therapeutic. I didn't want to forget how to do it so
I tried to make a square with some fancier yarn when I got home. The
problem arrived when I realized that I don't know how to finish off
the square. I looked it up online, but by the time I understood it I
had all these wonky pieces sticking out everywhere. We decided it
looked like what perry the palatypus would look like if he got ran
over by a car. Nice right? hopefully the next attempt will go better
and I least I didn't forget how to do it yet. ;)

And so it begins...

Not only did she crawl all the way over to the baking cupboard, but
she pushed it open and started to pull things out. I'm in big trouble.

Easter Day Pictures

Before church- mb

Happy Easter!!!

Beans and bazzy- mb

Wildlife park fun- mb

Uh Oh

Charlotte~ showing off her new talkin' skillz. ;)

A peek into my future...

Bazzy has been busy getting his now-mobile sister all riled up. She thinks he is the BEST and I'm a bit scared for when they begin to work together wrecking havoc upon my house.
I came across this comic in our paper and it was a little too familiar.

Can you help?

The Rescue Center in Haiti that we support is trying to raise money to send 65 people to this Naval medical ship that is coming to Haiti. All of these people have been living with medical issues that have not been taken care of because of the lack of funds and resources available. Licia and the people at the Rescue Center are very excited about this opportunity for all the people who have been waiting SO long for the help that they need. Now they just need the money to transport everyone to where the ship will be docked. They need $1300 total to get everyone there. We've donated what was left in the Artists For Hope fund and I'm hoping that if everyone who reads this and is able can donate just a little bit, their needs will be met and everyone will be ready to finally get the care that they need. If you go to Licia's blog and look here, you can read about a few of the people who need medical help and how to donate.

We are also still planning on having our FIRST (annual?) Artists For Hope garage sale next Thursday, April 16. If you have anything you would like to donate, you can contact me (rvzwaag@gmail.com) and drop off any donations at my house, preferably by Tuesday so we can get everything organized.

Please spread the word to any Garage Sale-ers you know so they can come shopping too. ;)



If you see me at church tonight or this weekend and I look like my head is tilted sideways...I TOTALLY messed up my neck yesterday morning and it has been spasming every since. The muscle is pulling my head to the right and I look totally crazy. Lovely. I drugged myself and made it to choir practice last night. We have a wonderful retired physical therapist in choir and he helped a lot with how to cope with the pain for the next several days. Kris got me muscle relaxers and I slept pretty good last night, despite the pain. So, if I look crazy to you tonight~ now you know why. ;)

Look out world

Charly beans is now a mobile baby. She is crawling from room to room
and is starting to pull herself up on anything stationary. She also
learned to say uh-oh yesterday. She Is currently exploring our kitchen
floor. Where did my tiny baby go???

Fun With Friends

We were lucky enough to have my friend Amy from Iowa City come to visit this weekend. We were planning to see her on our trip to Chicago, but she was able to get a ride with her sister this direction after our plans changed and we had SO much fun. It was a quick trip, but we fit A LOT in. We went to the children's museum, frosted cupcakes, had an egg hunt, and my kids played and played and played with her little girl Addison. We miss you guys!!!

I have guilt about not getting much up on the blog the past week. We've been trying to sort through our life (house issues, getting ready for the Artists For Hope garage sale, etc.) and we've just been too busy for me to sit down at a computer for more than 30 seconds. Hopefully this week will allow for more blogging time.

Here are some pictures from our super-fun day together...