Modeling Debut At Age 37

I recently got the opportunity to try out modeling for an athletic-wear company, Skirt Sports. The whole experience was so much fun! I showed up at a park, got to wear some comfortable, high quality workout clothing, and play at the park! One of my favorite things was having a professional stylist do my hair and make-up:

Here are two beautiful women I got to work with:

And the big surprise for me . . . I ended up on the cover of the catalog!
And two pictures of me ended up on the inside pages, too:

The whole day was such a great experience. I work well with the photographer (who is a friend of mine and the whole reason I got to have this experience), and all the ladies who work at Skirt Sports are fun, laid-back athletes, and great people to be around. I also admire how the company uses real athletes to advertise their product - active moms in their 30s and up are their best consumers, so why use 20-year-old-Barbie-doll-perfect models?

A couple of weeks after that first shoot, Skirt Sports decided to add some videos to their website, so consumers can see how the product moves and understand all of the product's features. I had to get a spray tan to make my ghostly white body acceptable for the lighting required to make a good video (and that was a fun experience in and of itself). But other than that, no make up or hair styling required for these! Here is one example of the end result:

The others can be seen on the company's website - look under the SHOP tab, then BESTSELLERS, then click on just about any individual item. They are also all viewable through this site.

One of my favorite parts of the video process (besides the end result) was helping to figure out the choreography. It's amazing how much thought and effort goes into every little detail of a 30 second web clip. And another great benefit . . . I think I'm stocked up on cute, functional, comfortable workout clothes for life!

Kids Say (and Do) the Darndest Things

I'm always telling my mother something cute or embarrassing that the kids have done or said, and she always says, "You should write that down." I never do. So, now I have a place to write those moments down - let's see if I remember to do it. I'll try to just update this post as these precious moments arrive. I'll boldface the newest updates as I add them.

January 25, 2011: Campbell's first comment while watching the state of the union: "Why does everyone say Obama is black, when he's lighter than that guy behind him?"

January 21, 2011:

Campbell, after receiving his certificate for A/B Honor Roll at a school-wide assembly: "I'm tired of being average."

Helene, the same day: "I got too much positive attention today. It was a horrible day. Everyone was saying I looked cute or they wanted to see my loose tooth." Poor baby.

August 22, 2010: This is what I get for subscribing to TIME magazine and encouraging my children to read. From my 9-year-old: "What are homosexual acts? This says, '76 countries criminally prosecute homosexual acts.'"

July 2, 2010:

Helene: "I'm a flexitarian. I eat meat sometimes but not all the time."

Campbell: "You're an om-nom-nom-nivore. That's why your belly is so big."

May 16, 2010: At the dinner table, Campbell was pondering childbirth and asked why some people have to get C-Sections. Then he said he didn't even know exactly what a C-section is. In an astonished voice, Helene asked, "You don't know what a C-section is?!?!" So we asked her to explain it to Campbell. She replied, "The sea sections are sunlight, twilight, dark, and abyss." They just studied ocean zones in first grade.

Dec. 25, 2009: Helene, upon receiving Rosetta Stone German lessons: "I do not want to be bilingual." Eventually she decided she could learn some of the language; as long as she did not learn every single word, she would not be bilingual.

Oct. 1, 2009: Just a funny thing to hear: Helene ran upstairs while I was showering today to report: "Campbell just attacked me with a giant zucchini! And while I was on the ground, Annie licked my ears and stepped on my hair!"

June 3, 2009: Helene was talking on a pretend cell phone today to her pretend boyfriend, Trevor. Trevor is actually a real person in her class that she has a crush on because he has cute spiky hair, but she was just talking to an imaginary version of him today. They were making plans to watch a movie together and deciding what to eat as a snack. Then she said, "Maybe we can M.O." I asked her what that stood for, and she replied, "Making Out." !!!!!!! I asked her what making out entailed, and she said, "K-i-s-s and going to restaurants and movies and love-y stuff like that."

Nov. 2, 2008: We were discussing politics after dinner this evening. Campbell said, "All the kids at school say they're not going to vote for Obama because he will raise prices and taxes and the cost of gas." Helene, with tears in her eyes, responded, "I don't want them to raise taxes because then I won't be able to get all the stuff I want!!"

Sept. 5, 2008: We were all four in the car, on the way out of town. Campbell said, "Daddy, can you turn on bare naked ladies?" John, of course, replied, "YES, I can!" While this is funniest taken out of context, I will explain the context. There's a band from Canada called Bare Naked Ladies. They recently released a kids' CD, "Snacktime." Unfortunately, they didn't change their name before releasing the new CD. Or perhaps it was fortunate. It has made for some interesting conversations. A couple of weeks before this, C had asked me why they named themselves that. I tried to answer honestly.

August 2008: Helene's newest thing is "listening to her heart" when making important decisions. For example, on a hike a couple of weeks ago, she was tired and stopped for a rest. She said, "I need to stop and listen to my heart to see if I should keep hiking. . . . Okay, my heart says to keep hiking so I can get ice cream when we're finished." Last week, I told my mom about this, and she sent an email to Helene, telling her that sometimes when you listen to your heart, it's Jesus talking to you. So, Helene read the email, paused, then said with a mischievous grin, "Mommy, God wants me to have waffles now."

Last summer, Campbell tried a sip of John's beer while we were at the Moab Brewery, then said with perfect delivery and timing: "Put it back in the horse!"

Several years ago, when Campbell was about 4: He looked around the car and saw me, my mother, my grandmother, and Helene, then said, "I'm the only one here with a p*n*s . . . I win!"
[I don't know if typing out that word would attract some weirdness to my sight with random internet searches for body parts, hence the asterisks.]

5/8/08 both kids, in the car on the way home from school:

H: "I heard that the eggs we eat are from chickens who are not married. That's funny that people can't have babies before they're married. But I guess we have eggs inside us long before we're married, so maybe it's the same thing."

C: "Well, Ms. Allie and some kids at school told me that you can have babies before you're married."

H: "Hmmm... that's interesting."

me: (thought bubble) Is it time for THE TALK already?!

5/6/08 Campbell - "I'm going to see if there's a Strawberry Shortcake show on TV and record it on the DVR for Helene." - just a sweet big brother moment





5/6/08 Helene - "I'm going to be very busy working several jobs when I grow up, so my husband will need to stay home and take care of the kids. I have so many things I want to do."





5/5/08 Helene, standing in front of a mirror in a dressing room, wearing only her panties, looked up at her reflection and said, "That's what I thought . . . pretty." I love the self-confidence!

Which Came First?

In early August, when we only had one remaining chick from our original order (due in part to our ignorance and in part to the neighbor's cat), we bought a pullet at the County Fair from a boy who had raised her. He said she was about 5 months old and should start laying within the next month. A prize-winning bantam Ameraucana goes for $10, if you're curious . . .

Here are the new chicken (Dove) and our teenage chick (Smog) together:

The family has loved having chickens. Never would I have guessed they would be so friendly and tolerant of children.


This picture was taken in September. Smog is getting to be bigger than Dove:
In mid-September, Dove produced her first egg!

Both chickens enjoy eating table scraps and pumpkin guts:
When we decided they were both big and tame enough to wander the yard unsupervised, we began opening their yard gate each morning and letting them roam. Eventually, Smog discovered that we were inside. She now comes up every day and pecks at the door, begging to be let in.
One day, Tobie (our cat) was at the door, asking to be let in, but when Smog ran up, the cat got scared and ran back to the railing. Scaredy Cat! (Chicken!)
In January, Smog turned 6 months old and started laying, right on schedule! Her eggs are the big, brown ones. Dove's are the small, bluish ones.
Here they are compared to Jumbo Grade A eggs from the grocery store:
Having the chickens has been very rewarding and much more fun than I ever expected.

Campbell's Piano Recital