Last Post of 2009

The Bra
After receiving an interesting package in the mail I decided to do some research and familiarize my self and of course others on the History of the Bra.
I found some interesting facts about the bra and its evolution through history and if you hit that link you will as well. For example in 1917 women were asked to quit buying corsets which were made out of metal to reduce the metal used to make them, and they were able to save enough metal to build two ships.
I am glad though that one was sent our way so I will not have to make one myself. Now lets see if there is any link on how drunk I would have to get my husband before he will try on the damn thing...he refuses even though I have told him it has become the newest fad!

By the way I hope everyone has a wonderful New Year's Eve!

"Just as a fisherman cannot catch fish unless his line is in the water, a wildlife photographer cannot shoot great wildlife images unless he or she is out there with camera in hand and the knowledge of what to do then the 'magnificent moment' occurs."-George H. Harrison, in Magnificent Moments: The World's Greatest Wildlife Photographs
Stan, I thought of you when I came across this quote.
Hope you guys are having a GREAT time!

Well the glimmer and warmth of the Christmas season seems to already be fading. The presents are gone the only evidence that remains of their existence is the left over rolls of wrapping paper that still lay on the floor in my room. The tree still stands but it has also died as quickly as the last and so the floor beneath it is covered in needles and yesterday while cleaning I almost decided to remove it but figured that was a bit too soon.
The kids enjoyed their gifts and even though we were woke up at 3:30 in the morning it was well worth it. We did have our revenge as the process was dragged out to postpone the end. Open stockings then coffee and smoke break, open three more presents, and then "Oh, look my coffee is empty again!". I think it would have been different had Shane not woken up sick which then woke everyone in the house up.
Each kid got what they wanted and Mom and Dad even got a bit as well and then the house was picked up by 10 am and the kids had disappeared while Heath made an early dinner and I made coffee.
The day was actually the perfect Christmas day with the wind howling outside leaving piles of snow every where, to the point it had shut down Lincoln. Inside it was warm and cozy. My Grandma and uncle came over Christmas eve and were supposed to come over Christmas day but the weather was so bad they could not make it. They only live about two blocks down from us so that should tell you how bad it was. Today we are expected to get more snow and this after getting eight inches or so over the last 24 hours but where the wind has blown there are drifts that are three feet deep.
Today we are getting over the interrupted sleep pattern and it almost feels like we are all recovering from a hang over. It is another good day to do absolutely nothing and just watch the snow come down. I think I am going to snuggle with the baby while we all watch a movie. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and I look forward to the time when we can all spend Christmas together!

Merry Christmas




From the
Harringtons

Heath
Erica
Heather
Hunter
Shane


Well we have made it to that time of year where we once again get drawn into a world of Christmas cheer and spirit. I always try to think of something witty to fill my Christmas letters or stories of the family from that past year. I have tried to do Christmas cards and letters to post full of pictures. This year I thought I would try something a bit different.Heath

Movie: 10th and Wolf and Monster Vs Aliens 3D
TV Show: Big Bang Theory
A few things I did this year that I will always remember: Building my cabin, fishing with the kids and meeting my second son.


Erica

Movie: Seven Pounds, 10 and Wolf and Inglorious Bastards
Song: Where I am going, Spring Wind by Greg Brown and
TV Show: Accidentally on Purpose
A few things I did this year that I will never forget: Watching my cabin being built, doing the wiring for my cabin, and having my son!
My New Years Resolution: I am doing the standard resolution to loose some weight and I want to become a bit more educated in our country's history and the way our government was formed and how the founding fathers envisioned the future of our country.

HeatherMovie: Pokemon 12
Song: Let it Rock
TV Show: Pokemon
One thing I did this year that I will never forget: Having a new baby brother and going to Alaska for the summer!
My new Year's Resolution: Stop hitting my brother!


Hunter

Movie: Transformers
Song: Green Day 21 Guns
TV Show: Phineas and Pherb

One thing I did this year that I will never forget: Catching my BIG fish.
My New Year's Resolution: Brush my teeth every night.

Shane
My new Year's Resolution:
Learn how to do a lot of things that will annoy my brother and sister!

Well it only took me several months and several thousand photos to put this together but in the end it was so worth it. I gave a loud yell of victory yesterday when I was finally able to save it for the first time! This is the first draft as there are some faults I have found that need to be corrected. Please feel free to leave suggestions or point out errors in the comment section so I can fix them! The one thing I have not messed with too much is the video quality and it bums me out that the video quality is so low once it goes through movie maker. I am going to try to see if I can find a setting that will improve it for me.
I found myself really diving into this slide show going an entire 18 minutes and even designing a logo for Loud Mouth Productions with a picture of a fish that I had taken on the beach this last summer. A little history about the Loud Mouth Productions. When I was younger me and my sister would do weekly newspapers that we would pass out to our friends in the neighborhood. Each one was hand made and had "local news", games and even advertisements. I even made a company that was my publication and production company and I have tried to put that label on "things" that I create.
This video is the best of what I have made and I am very proud of it but mostly I jusr want everyone to enjoy it!

BoReD ThOuGhTs

Just a few shots from the last couple of days!
Enjoy!

I am up with Shane this morning. We have just finished our breakfast and he is playing on his play gym. Things have been going here as we gear for another Christmas season.
Heather has been a huge help over the last couple of weeks enjoying spending time with her brother. I think she will make a good mommy when it is her time (which won't be until she is at least 25 she says!). She helped put up the Christmas tree and even helped decorate the house since I was laid up! Heather and I did go to watch New Moon which we absolutely LOVED! We brought Hunter along but he is not too into the story.
Hunter has been growing like crazy. I am afraid to buy ANY clothes for him because of how much taller he is getting. A few weeks ago I would have guessed that Hunter was not going to get much taller than me and take the short side of my family or the Epperson side but now I am starting to wonder if the Harrington side is going to win. He has been keeping up with his reading and it makes me happy that it was not just a phase so thank you Terry! Hunter has also been getting used to his little brother as well.
At first I think Hunter was a little put off because all Shane did was cry and poop but now that Shane is interacting more he has become more cool!
Shane is finally on a good schedule and he has grown soooo much! I know it seems like so much cause I am home with him every day! He now holds his head up really well and he follows voices and faces and loves to play in his play gym. He loves music from his glo worm and the frog that hangs from his play gym. He smiles a lot and Dad can even get him to giggle!
It has been hard for me for the last couple of weeks. What started out as a twinge of numbness in my hip had turned into a debilitating pain that ran down my leg. At first I thought that it would go away and my doc confirmed that after time it would. I was given Vicodin which I did not like taking and it did nothing for the pain, and I was sent home and told to rest. Turns out it is my Sciatic nerve was pinched when my hips went back together after having Shane which is VERY common with women after child birth. I had been told by my doc that it would just go away but after I could not even stand for more than 1 minute and had to walk like a hunch back, I knew I had to do something because it was just getting worse. I finally went to my chiropractor and just in one visit I was able to stand up straight again! I have gone twice now and I still have some pain but now we have unpinched the nerve so I just have to work out the muscles I made angry by walking so messed up for over two weeks! I would have gone in sooner but my doc had told me not to go and that a chiropractor would not help. After talking to my chiropractor he said I should have been in sooner even when I was pregnant and he could have helped with the hip pain I had! Oh well I will not be going back to my doc again. YAY!

Both Heather and Hunter are counting down the days till Christmas break and their lists have been written and submitted. I am starting to wonder if this year is the year we talk to the kids about Santa. I think Heather is already suspicous but Hunter still holds the faith. How do you do it? Do you wait for them to ask you about it or is it better if the new comes from mom and dad instead of some kid on the play ground? I have a feeling that Heather does it more for our sake now because we make such a big deal about it. This year her letter to Santa was not addressed to Santa like it usually is so it makes me wonder. I just don't want the magic to go. Maybe we can stress the importance of keeping it alive for Shane?
We finished most of our shopping yesterday and now all we have to do is let the kids go shopping for each other and for us. I still have some little things to pick up for the stockings (which is my favorite thig to do!) and today Heather and I are going to bake goodies that we are hopefully going to send out...(I really am going to try to send out boxes! I swear!). I asked Walmart about our Christmas tree which is so dead our ornaments will not even stay on. Walmart said that they would exchange it but we had to bring the old tree in.
?
So now we have to take all the decorations and lights off this tree and load it up in our truck and then bring it in to customer service. This tree will be bare before we get there and I am not sure I would ask my husband to carry a dead tree through Walmart! I have to wonder if it is worth it at this point. It was a 30 dollar tree that only lasted less than a week.
I finally got my camsera back from being repaired and I have missed it sooo much. I ended up denting the ring that the lense screws into and it would only read error so I had to have that replaced. So NOW I can finally take some good pictures! Also I have been working on the slide show for everyone. I am having to redo the entire show as it will not save into a movie or slide show. I have had this problem before and it was on this computer but I can not remember how I fixed it. I can make slideshows on my laptop with no problem which leads me to belive it is my desk top. My laptop does not have enough memory to hold all the pictures I am putting on it or I would just do it on there. I will get a copy to everyone as soon as I figure out what I am doing wrong!
Well I am going to post some more pictures of the kids hope all of you are having good times with your families and enjoy getting ready for Christmas!

Just a few shots...

It looks like he is mad but he is smiling at Daddy!

Again he is smiling at Daddy.

"Are you talking to me?"

Another good one of him in his Husker gear, in this one I see a lot of his dad in this picture!

GO BIG RED!

Scoring Summary (Final)
  Big 12 Football
 #3 Texas vs #21 Nebraska
zaa(Dec 05, 2009 at Arlington, Texas)

 Texas (13-0) vs. Nebraska (9-4)
Date: Dec 05, 2009  Site: Arlington, Texas      Stadium: Dallas Cowboys
Attendance: 76211

Score by Quarters     1  2  3  4   Score
-----------------    -- -- -- --   -----
Texas...............  0  7  3  3  - 13
Nebraska............  6  0  0  6  - 12

Just some more pictures!

SAY CHEESE!

This was an actual laugh (not gas or a picture that looks like a laugh)! Over the last week Shane has started to interact a bit more and we find our house is slowly being over run with baby toys of all sizes and colors. I think there are certain things that are instinctual for parents and you never forget those things but then there are things one does forget. Like how often you really need to buy diapers and wipes and how expensive everything is. Of course you can always REMIND your self of these forgotten things like how the nights with little sleep might cause you do little things like burn the potatoes or misplace the debit card, but you never truly REMEMBER until it hits you at three o clock in the morning! Even simple things like going to the store for a loaf of bread require some planning as the diaper bag needs to be packed, baby needs to be fed and then changed before going into the car seat (hopefully before he either gets very angry cause he hates the car seat or he poops again!).
There are things one may take for granted when thinking of having a child and while there are changes that will occur most will happen without you even realizing it.
Your routine and schedule mean nothing to a hungry baby so even tasks like housework and making dinner have to be planned around his eating schedule.
My flat iron has remained unplugged and unused since Shane came along and the standard hair style has become a pony tail so my hair is out of the way of his tiny fingers.
Even though some nights I am tired and I have not gotten more than three hours of uninterrupted sleep since he came along I truly would not trade it for anything.
My schedule has just been adapted and while it may take me longer to do the chores that I have around the house I can still get them done.
And you know what, sometimes I just sit and rock him and play with him because the one thing I do remember as a parent is they don't stay this little or this cute for very long.

Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone!

Starting early this morning we arrived at a long time family tradition of dinner at the park. This is something I do remember fondly as a kid. We would load up in the car and head to rented shelter and eat food and visit with family. Us kids would dive into the mass pile of board games and fun things to do while our parents and and family prepared the last part of the dinner and gossip.
The last two Thanksgivings I have had the pleasure to repeat one of my few favorites holiday memories as a child. Not only that I do get to share it with my children! Now I will admit that it is just a shadow of what it used to be as children have grown and family has moved.
As I look at this picture of my kids I smile and think about over twenty years ago I sat on that same fire place!

Uncle Richard and Shane

Daddy and Shane

Siblings!

Happy One Week Shane!

So today Shane is one week old! Yay! The last week has blown by with Stan and Terry leaving the kids in school and adjusting to Shane being home.
He has been doing really well since coming home and we have only had one really bad night due to some gas. He has been eating well and impressing doctors with his weight gain. They said a breastfed baby is not expected to get close to his birth weight until about week two!
Here are some pictures that we have taken over the last week!

Baby Belly @ 38 Weeks!

SO woke up today and realized it was almost time to go home. The thought is scary for several reasons. I feel like where did the summer go? I dread the flight back since it will be about 8 hours in the air not to mention the lay over in Seattle. Once I get home I will be in the final stretches of my pregnancy and have to get ready for the baby and the kids out fitted for school. *sigh*
I have already gotten as ready as I can with the option of internet shopping buying most of the kid's clothes and school supplies and having them shipped for about the time we get home. I have also registered at Target for the baby which means I can buy and be bought for easily and it all can be delivered to my front door!
This is all done in the hopes to make my life easier so I hope it all does work since there are a few negatives about shopping on line. Oh well things I can only really worry about when I get home!
Yesterday I tried a recipe for Fire weed jelly and while it did not turn into jelly it did turn into really great tasting syrup!
I am going to make another batch today and see if I can't get it to turn out better if I follow the directions more closely!

So I wake up this morning with pent up energy after sleeping the last two days away. The morning has started out feeling weird due to the silence outside my camper. I awoke I could faintly hear the pop and crackle of the wood but no voices or movement at all. I finally ventured out to go pee, again, and grab the makings of a pot of coffee, this being the first I have made on my own and I am not sure if it will work. Walking around the camp I was met with strange signs, twisted and placed in strange places. As I grab my coffee I try to remember if the signs were there before or had they come from some twisted rampage by the dwellers of this place. Either way I am thinking about going out and snapping some pictures of them because somebody put some effort in putting them around camp.
Meanwhile my first attempt in making coffee is done and while the result is bitter it is warm and it helps shake the strange vibes this morning. I am searching for some sign of life but the only thing I find are signs!

So I tried holding my breath till some one posted but I soon learned THAT wasn't going to work.
I just thought I would let everyone know I check daily for some type of up date or photo from the Weekend! I understand that some are still "vacationing" in the HITW and do not have the electronics to post their pictures but I am sure someone somewhere got some pictures!!! *hint* *hint* LOL!

Sorry it has been awhile since I have posted but in my defense my laptop key board was having some issues. The sound on it quit awhile ago and then a couple of weeks ago the o, l, 9 and . quit on me. I priced getting mine fixed versus replacing it and found that neither of them were options i could afford! I decided a USB key board would be the cheapest route! Thanks Mom!
You never realize the amount of O's and L's that are in commonly used words until you have to copy and paste each one!
SO life has been interesting over the last few weeks. Heath was in South Dakota for a week and got to see some pretty neat flooding and during that time we saw some weather that had me turning on my air conditioner!
Lincoln is in full bloom and the trees are now covered in green leaves and bunches of flowers are in bloom! The weather has been so nice that water gun fights are common after school and the kids are leaving their jackets at home!
This has to be my favorite time of year due to the fact that the weather is just perfect. It is hot enough that you have to dress down but not so bad that you are constantly sweating. It rains mostly at night leaving everything bright and green all day! We have these trees, and honestly I do not know the name but they produce little white or purple flowers that when the wind blows you are hit with a soft flower smell. They are now getting full with green leafs and the ground is dusted with the little petals, it is very pretty! In another month we have to worry about humidity which makes every thing hotter!
Heath has been off work this week and while it is stretching us tight we are doing all right. He has work this next week now that the farmers have started planting and things should take off from there. I have to get used to him being gone because that is where the work is but I will say I am jealous because the guy is getting to see some country!
I have gotten to go one day with him and it was a blast it was a nice day and we got to go into Kansas to a little town I have previously posted about! Look it up if you can it is a pretty little town, Marys Ville Kansas! It is one of the original pony express stations. I got to meet Heath's main boss, the owner of the company he works for. He drove through Nebraska just so he could meet Heath. Now I have to describe this guy. He is in his late seventies and had started this company on his own before he had four wheelers and GPS to help him sample. This guy did it all by hand and grew his company to the size it is today coverig seral states. Heath has only met him once before and really anything he knows he has heard from stories that are told among the guys he works with. I guess if he meets up with you he will go through your company rig to make sure you are keeping it cleaned and in shape and will chew your ass if you are not taking care of his stuff.
Well we had the pleasure to meet him and he actually was a really nice guy! He just wanted to thank Heath personally for the job he did in South Dakota! I guess the boss Heath worked for while up there is not easy to please and he was VERY happy with Heath. His head boss never even went through Heath's work truck. I also want to point out that this guy called every one of his employees to wish them a Merry Christmas!

The kids are getting stir crazy with all this nice weather as I am sure all of their friends are. Heather and Hunter have established quite the pack of neighborhood kids. Heather has a devoted follower that goes everywhere she does and even waits outside patiently until she can come play. He is a nice kid and has even gone on nightly walks with us although he is a terror on the fauna, there was a trail all the way home!
Hunter on the other hand has picked to hang out with the 12 year old next door, his parents are the next door neighbors and are really nice. They have two little white fluffy dogs that Koda is intent on eating! He has also made friends with a little Mexican boy and his entire family!
Both kids have done really well this year in school and Heather has been given the option to test ahead in certain areas next year so she is actually challenged. Hunter has surprised everyone by kicking butt in all of his classes, especially Math because he started a little shaky.
The kids both had concerts recently. Poor Hunter even had a solo but ended up with a bad stomach bug and had to miss school! Every year Prescott has a Grandparents Day concert and the kids sing songs to the attending grandparents and parents and then you are given juice and cookies and asked to visit your child's class! It is a nice way to visit the school without actually scheduling parent teacher conference! Stan and Terry, the kids wish you guys were there! They make the farthest traveled grandparents stand up and get applause!
Heather also had her final cello concert and she has improved so much since her Christmas concert! I am not sure if she will choose to do the cello again next year but I know she at least tried it out for a full year!
We have been recovering from a persistent stomach bug here it has attacked Hunter twice and Heather and I once. The only person who seems immune to it is Heath but he was gone when we all started to get sick! Heather and I recovered quickly but poor Hunter fought for days with a high fever and throwing up. Hopefully this is the last round of stomach flu!
We also had our female go into heat earlier than expected which has turned our house upside down. We have decided already that we were going to get Koda neutered but we thought we had a month before we had to even worry about her going into heat. We are also getting her fixed as we are done with the puppy thing. Now we have a bleeding female who has to wear diapers everywhere and a 160 pound male who has lost his mind, literally. We have to keep them separated by kennels at all times and we rotate their outside schedules so they both get outside time. Also we have to water our lawn down everywhere she goes pee because Koda looses his mind if he smells her smell. It has gotten so bad that it is causing issues with him peeing. If he smells her he can't pee then he will get inside where he can't smell her and he will pee himself because his bladder is so full. If she is outside we have to stand on constant attention so she does not attract unwanted stray males! She also has to have daily baths because of her odor.
This is something we THOUGHT we knew we were going to face at least once but I can say we were not prepared for the work it takes to keep them separated! I can not wait until they are both fixed!!!
Well that was a long post but it has been a while since I posted!
We are having another beautiful day and more yard work needs to be done! We have large trees that loose their branches in the spring storms now we have to pick them all up! Maybe even a water fight sounds fun right now!

Hey just posted a new post on my other blog, Oh Baby. So go check it out!! I actually put pictures up!

Hey just posted a new post on my other blog, Oh Baby. So go check it out!!

Hunter S. Harrington

Sometimes they just open up, a bright smile to let
you know they are happy. It is incredible!

Just some stories that made it in my news today. Both of these stories have blown my mind.
The first is about 16 illegal immigrants who are suing an American farmer for violating their rights.
So really do they deserve the same rights as a US citizen? What about the legal immigrants who have struggled to become citizens? If they want to use the "system" they should have used it to legally come into our country. What do you think?

Oh no they didn't!


The second story is about a 15 year old chimp who attacked his owners friend. Do the same laws apply for an owner who gives her chimp a prescription that was not prescribed for him?
What the Hell?

Random

Just some random photos for fun!



Heather with her present from Dad and Mom.

Hunter asleep after a chocolate overload...bear planted by Dad

Now I know this picture is blurry but what i was trying to show was not Hunter's shooting skills but the growth spurt the kid is going through!

And yes with that growth spurt has come BAD teeth!

Huba Huba

The other night we walked to the book fair at the kid's school and on the way home we took the route they take each day. Heather and Hunter started talking about Huba Huba. Now at first all I caught was the name Huba Huba and he lived in the alley. As a parent my curiosity was peaked. Why would my kid's call someone who lived in the alley Huba Huba? The kids explained that Huba Huba was this old dog who was chained up in a yard near the alley. I asked why they called him Huba Huba and they said because he barks at them and when he does he sounds like he is saying Huba Huba. I asked the kids if they tease him when they walk by causing him to bark and they said no.
We came to the section of alley that met his backyard when we finally saw Huba Huba. He was an old dog laying in his yard and he looked completely oblivious to anyone. I started to wonder if the kids were being truthful. As we passed his yard Huba Huba jumped into life and came bardging towards us only stopping just short of the gravel because of the cable he was attached to. Huba Huba barked at us as if yelling at us the things he would do if he could get off that leash, the entire time though it did sound like Huba Huba Huba...Huba Huba Huba.
As we walked home we could still hear Huba Huba barking and I felt bad for the dog. The alley his yards faces is a big shortcut for the kids walking home and it keeps them off the streets but I am sure over the years that dog has been teased and taunted. My only fear would be what he would do once he was off that cable because they do not hold forever.

Taken By Heather Harrington
12/26

Snow Day

Since moving to Nebraska there has been several things we have had to get used to like hamburger on pizza instead sausage and cinnamon rolls covered in chilli. One thing that thing that we have had a hard time getting used to is Snow days.
In Alaska snow days just mean you put your car in four wheel drive, here it means you stay home from school. Oh well the kids are enjoying it because this will make it a four day weekend for them.
This last week has been beautiful with temps in the mid sixties and the sun shining but we knew deep down it would not last. This morning about 9 am it started to snow and it has not let up since. It is very pretty to watch but I miss the beautiful sunny days so I will post some pictures of them!