In The Shadow of Lambeau Field

We, here in the shadow of Lambeau Field, have a new favorite TV commercial. Watch it, and you'll see why!

No, I didn't shoot the commercial, but that gets my nomination for Best TV Commercial of the Year! Even Packer fans have to admit, that's funny...

Weekly Winners are brought to you each week by Lotus at Sarcastic Mom. Go on over and give her some comment love...pretty please?

"Mom, Was I Planned?"

These photos shot with a film Canon Rebel. Weekly Winners brought to you by Lotus at Sarcastic Mom. And BTW, don't forget: I've Got a Great New POPrs Giveaway going on...and it involves a puppy!

"Mom, was I planned?"

That's the question Soccer Boy posed last night at dinner. And I was surprised, to say the least.

"What possible difference could that make?" I replied.

He said "I just want to know." So I said, "Of course you were planned." I don't think he bought it, though. Because, the truth is, he definitely was not planned. We already had three boys, the youngest was eight. I was forty, for goodness sakes!

We finished dinner, cleaned up the kitchen, and each did our own thing. But his question was still swirling in my mind. So I went to the photo albums, and went back in time for a while...

And what I found, late last night, was a better answer to his question. After hours of looking at old photos, I saw a family that was meant to be made up of four boys, we just didn't know it at the time. But God did.

His older brothers are proud of him, they delight in everything he does. Big Bear cuddled him to sleep when he was a baby. College Boy helps him with his homework, and is way more patient than I am. Shark Boy uses him to work out! Just kidding.

He was taken to show and tell in fourth grade, because he was 100 days old on the 100th day of school. Other kids brought 100 pennies or 100 baseball cards. He spent the night in his brother's college dorm room, the first year he went away. They both needed to see each other. They taught him how to climb stairs, ride a bike, play soccer, ride a longboard, divide fractions, dive, use an ipod and computer, eat crab legs and mushrooms, boogie board, be tough, play beer pong (with Mt. Dew), play Texas Hold 'Em and text message. (Hey, he's 13 and his brothers are 21, 24 & 27).

There will be more lessons. Like driving, and how to treat a girlfriend. Things big brothers were made for. And I don't want to miss a minute of it.

Sometimes, the best things in life aren't planned!

Weekly Winners: Bloomin' Beautiful!

These clematis are so pretty, I am considering taking out two climbing roses in favor of them. The roses are wonderful when they blossom, don't get me wrong, but that's only about a week.

I find myself asking "what have you done for me lately?"

I could add a few blue morning glorys and have a wall of blossoms all summer long! And no mildew or fungus or any of the other rose problems.

Think when I get back from this vacation, that'll be the plan!

These shots taken with my Canon Rebel XTI digital camera. Weekly Winners brought to you by Lotus at SarcasticMom.

WW: We Are Experiencing Technical Difficulties

Thanks to all of you who suggested books for my upcoming beach vacation. A decision has not been made nor any books purchased as of this writing. In the middle (beginning) of compiling my list of winners...YIKES...computer hell! So hang in there. In the meantime, enjoy these photos. They are guaranteed to lower your blood pressure. Just what I need!

And remember, if you suggested a book, and lots of you did, you're a winner!

So attention, all winners...send an e-mail to me at VeggieMom@Poprs.com including your mailing address.

Prizes will be on their way to you asap. Then, I'm off to the book store. Thanks mucho.

This message brought to you courtesy of Weekly Winners. For more, please visit Lotus at Sarcastic Mom.

Weekly Winners: For All the Dogs We've Loved Before...

Meet Nelson. He is (was) a Landseer Newfoundland. He was 175# of big, sweet boy.

He had a head like a buffalo, people said.

Everywhere we went, he drew attention. We'd have him on a leash when we'd be walking with the boys in a stroller. People would stop and say "what a beautiful DOG!" instead of "what lovely children!" Before Nelson, people always commented on the kids. Hmmm.

Nelson had hair, that's for sure. So much, that a I collected a big bag full, and a friend spun it into yarn, and knitted a scarf for Uncle Lynn for Christmas!

Nelson was a great dog. He was protective by nature. When I'd push a child in the swing, he'd get up and walk over to the swing, take the child by the foot, and stop the swing. Not on his watch! If the kids were in the driveway on trikes or playing with trucks, he'd lay at the end of the driveway. His nickname became "Nana."

We took Nelson out on a pontoon once. I say "once" because it only happened one time. First of all, he was afraid of the space between the boards on the dock. It took 3 big men to lift him onto the boat. Everything was great until the kids went swimming. Six little boys jumped into the lake at once, splashing and hollering. Nelson jumped in, too. He could not figure out which boy needed saving the most, so he swam from one to another, trying to pull them to shore. All he had to pull with were teeth! It was quite a scene.

Imagine my surprise when recently, a dozen years after his death, we were walking near our home and met people with a Landseer Newfie, like our beloved Nelson. "Oh, what a wonderful DOG!" we exclaimed. Come to think of it, did they have children with them?

Would we have noticed? Probably not.

The little guy sitting next to Nelson is our Springer Spaniel, Trouble. More about him later!

Weekly Winners is Sarcastic Mom's production. I think I shot these snaps with a Canon Rebel of the film variety.

Weekly Winners: Happy Father's Day!

Shot by various cameras over the years, most of them of the Cannon Variety

Welcome to Weekly Winners, brought to you by Lotus, aka Sarcastic Mom. Today's post is a retrospective, in honor of Uncle Lynn and Father's Day. So, here we have The POPrs King...

...facing down a baby hawk at the OBX last summer;

...moving College Boy to school in the fall;

...getting his Big Break with an article in The Milwaukee Journal;

...hanging with The POPrs Family at the beach;

...watching the goats graze on the roof in Door County, WI;

...cheering on The Packers at a home game with Grandma.

Happy Father's Day to Uncle Lynn and to all the other hard-working Dads out there. Hope your day is special!

Weekly Winners: A Blogoversary and a Giveaway

Shot by The Wild One

Canon Rebel XTi

Welcome to Weekly Winners, brought to you by Lotus over at Sarcastic Mom. Today I'd like to talk about a Blogoversary and a Giveaway. And show you some cute shots along the way! But first of all, meet...

...Tina and Sophie. Tina has tried for a long time to get her cute kid to eat her veggies, among other things. Then she discovered POPrs, that nifty new, fun and nutritious seasoning. Here, Sophie's trying Color Burst POPrs on her cereal...

...and what about Cinnamon POPrs on her morning toast?

What would make your yogurt "sing "in the morning? Well, Sophie says either Color Burst, Raspberry, Cocoa...

...Strawberry or Cinnamon POPrs, of course!

As a matter of fact, Sophie's a fan of all eight flavors!

So, POPrs Fans, here's the Giveaway part of this post. Veggie Mom (that would be me!) launched Eat Your Veggies! almost one year ago to spread the word. About healthy eating. About her crazy family. And about Uncle Lynn's cool new POPrs...which are good and fun for you, too!

We'll have five big prize winners in this POPrs Blogoversary Giveaway. Each will receive a Box o' POPrs, containing all eight yummy flavors.

All you have to do is leave me a comment here for one entry. Follow me on Twitter and you get one more entry. Follow my blog and that gets you an additional entry. And blog about this Blogoversary Giveaway for five more sweet entries!

Uncle Lynn will pick a winner by random drawing on Monday, June 15, at 11:59 p.m. We'll announce the Five POPrs Winners on my One-Year Blogoversary, which is Tuesday, June 16.

So get crackin', friends. Hope to hear a lot from you soon!

Weekly Winners: Flower Power

Shot by Aunt Julie with a Canon Rebel XTi

Weekly Winners are brought to you each week by Lotus, over at Sarcastic Mom. Aunt Julie had The Boys digging in the dirt in the other day, and all the activity put me in mind of these beauties, which graced her garden last year, and are starting to renew their presence this time around.

Tree Peony

Stargazer Lily

Delphinium

Big Bird Day Lily

Lupine

Do you have a favorite flower?

Weekly Winners: A Few of My Favorite Things

Canon A1000 IS PowerShot

Borrowed a camera for today's Weekly Winners, brought to you by Lotus at Sarcastic Mom.

It's not a Philly, but this Boston Fern sure is sittin' pretty in the early morning light on my screen porch.

This is Patch, peeking out from behind the wicker webbing in Baba's chair.

Watered some of the garden yesterday morning. The little pieces of "confetti" slashing through the air are actually sprinkler droplets.

Glad that pistachios are back on the shelves now!

An Azalea blossom. My Mom's favorite. Don't know the official name, but we call it the "Glow in the Dark Azalea."

So, which one do you favor this week?

Weekly Winners: Shell We Dance?

Nikon COOLPIX 4600

Welcome to Weekly Winners, brought to you by Lotus over at Sarcastic Mom. I'd like to share the beach with you today.

No, I don't live by the ocean, but I collect pieces of it and bring them back to my land-locked home. Here's a collection of whelks in various stages of "maturity," which grace one shelf of an old, beat-up, spray-painted, Salvation Army bookshelf that The Wild One fixed up for me on our back porch.

If I had a panoramic lens, I could shoot the whole shelf up close in one sitting. It's pretty neat. Or at least I think so!

Here's the inside of a turtle shell My Peeps found when they were wee ones. I don't know much about turtles, but doesn't that look like a backbone going up the middle?

I'm a fan of coral, but only if I don't step on it at the beach. I've got three different kinds here, and couldn't for the life of me tell you their names. I only know that the one on the far left is pretty sharp, the middle one no so much, and the one on the right is smooth as a skipping stone.

Either you decide to stay in the shallow end of the pool or you go out in the ocean."

~Actor Christopher Reeve~