A Spectrum

Last Friday we went to the doctor and heard the heartbeat, which was amazing. They said not to get our hopes up at 11 weeks but somehow the doctor found it. I also found this awesome shirt at Think Geek. What do you think? Too bizarre or fits with the insane person you know me to be? Also, this is totally my little boy's costume for Halloween next year (if it's a boy, don't think I could get away with it if it's a girl).

1. Chloe June 2002



2. Micah November 2003

3. Alexandra April 2004


4. Madalyn June 2004



5. Carolyn March 2005



6. Trace June 2005



7. Trevor September 2005

8. Mallie February 2006



9. Charlie July 2006



10. Maya July 2006



11. Jaydon October 2006



12. Bethany December 2006

13. Luke February 2007



14. Abbie, Abbie, Abbie May 2007



15. Tristan October 2007



16. Baby Boy Rodeffer (No Picture) December 2007

17. Baby Matteson March 2008



18. PG, the crazy offspring of these two, May 2008



Val called the baby PG after I told her I was pregnant by saying that I had a parasitic growth in my abdomen. So I am due May 12th. I've thrown up twice, but otherwise seem ok.

I know Madalyn is sideways and Trevor is rather small but it's late and I want to sleep. Also, I am sorry if I got any of the dates wrong. But sometimes I guessed, geesh there's 17 of you... Give a girl a break.

So my trip out to the state of Washington was crazy fun. Number one, I got to see my friend. Number two, I got to see neat places. Number three, I got to travel on an airplane. We went to the Naval Base, a Fort/Lighthouse, Coupville Wharf, a Cider Press, Deception Pass. I saw Seattle at night and during the day. The skyline is awesome at night. Plus Mountains, and cliffs and trees and even a couple seals. In addition, I introduced my friends to the Vicar of Dibley which they loved as everyone should. Enjoy my numerous pictures below. My camera takes lots of blurry pics so I tried not to include too many of those but sometimes it's inevitable.

Some Admiral's lighthouse, I don't remember...



Cool picture of the crazy stairs up into the top of the lighthouse.



View from the back of the lighthouse.



Ferry Boat!!!



Sign I thought was hilarious.

The only picture I got of the whole family...Ha. By the way, the baby in the seat is fake. Poor Val was reprimanded twice by complete strangers over her treatment of fake Big Baby.



Coupeville Wharf



I was really taking a picture of the boat, but caught a Seal instead (that black thing coming out of the water).



Just a neat picture.



Val and myself in front of Knead and Feed where Practical Magic was filmed.

Blurry Abbie, Abbie, Abbie..



The Cider Press



Andy masterfully cooking four hot dogs



Carolyn and Kelly the Lab...Awww



Deception Pass
Every picture from here turned out blurry but I liked this one anyway.

Everything I have ever read in the Firefly/Serenity Universe has always said that this would NEVER happen. Well, imagine my glee when I read
THIS
today. I hope and pray that it will turn out to be true.

So tonight Tom and I are painting and half watching the second episode of Chuck before we devote our full attention to tonight's episode of Heroes. I watched the first episode last week, Tom refused. It's a likable enough show, fairly funny, has some good action. My main draw is that Adam Baldwin is in it, but anyway I hope it can keep my interest. So Chuck had all these government secrets imprinted in his brain and odd things trigger these secret "memories." Well at one point during tonight's episode, he is rambling off a bunch of things from inside his head when at one point he says,

"Oceanic Flight 815 was shot down by..."

I look at Tom and am like, "Did he just say something about Oceanic Flight 815?" Tom tilts his head and says, "I think he did." Yea to the writers to reference another show especially one that's on another network. Lost is everywhere I tell ya.

If you've ever seen the cartoon with Goofy about flogging, you will know that's what Tom and I did because I don't think what we did could really be called golfing.

A week ago Sunday, Tom and I decided to try our luck on 9 holes at the local course. We kept score for about two holes and then gave up on that idea. A particular shining moment of mine was when I lost three balls on #7 in the water hazard right in front of the tee. I couldn't even get it 30 yards over the thing. My forth attempt hit the very edge of the water and bounced out onto the fairway. This was also the hole in which someone decided it would be funny to throw large marshmallows all over the place resulting in Tom and I driving up and down the fairway spotting what we think is our ball only to drive up to it and sigh, "It's another marshmallow." Then on #8 was Tom's shining moment in which he hit his ball right into a tree and it took a sharp turn to the left.

However, the crown jewel moment was actually a real success. On the very first hole, at 352 yards, par 4, I, that's right Lauren, made par. It was a complete fluke. Well, maybe I shouldn't say that and bask in my golfing glory, but I was just off the green after my 3rd shot, behind a small berm. I took my pitching wedge out to get it over the berm and when I hit it, it smacked right into the pole and dropped into the hole. It was crazy. I then proceeded to jump around like a lunatic on the green, luckily it was a slow golfing day in terms of other people around so no one saw me. ;)

This is crazy good. It is 8 minutes long though.

Example A. She chases her tail.

Example B. She carries her toys in her mouth.

Example C. She chases her toys when you throw them (however she does not bring them back).

Example D. She tries to drink from the toilet.

Please enjoy pictures of Rover, uh, I mean, Gidget.

Sleeping in a ball.



Attacking the stuffed International School Bus.





Giving love to the stuffed International School Bus.



Carrying the stuffed International School Bus in her mouth.

My bit of Trivia for the day. What do High School Musical and Firefly have in common?

Zac Efron

I was watching the Firefly episode Safe and was determined that it was him. I was happy to discover in the credits that it was. He plays the young Simon Tam at the beginning. Weird.

Time for a business trip to Ames, Iowa for a conference. Never been to Ames. Should be fun.

Hmm, can you tell that I am bored and posting all sorts of crazy things. Anyway, back in May I posted that I was going to Cornerstone again. And I did, and it was a blast. There was nice weather. Switchfoot was great. I can't say much for the other bands that played with them. I had a blond moment where I forgot how to get to the back entrance and we ended up driving all over the place. Whoops. So we drove to the front entrance, got our fashionable wristbands and a map. Walked the midway, hit the merchandise tent, bought the requisite Cstone tshirt and watched people half piping and swinging from cranes. Then we drove back to the back entrance to park. Attendance must be dropping cause there was barely anyone camping in the back or else they moved from where they used to camp. Claimed our spot on the hill with our blanket and spent the next 7 hours or so waiting for music and then listening to it. ;) So I tried to find a video of what we saw but couldn't find Switchfoot so please enjoy classic Five Iron Frenzy from Cornerstone 02. I am there somewhere, NOT in the mosh pit though. The only time I was brave enough to do that for Five Iron was at a concert in the suburbs. Anyway, a far cry from my first trip to Cstone in 95 where I went with my friend Val and my dad. However, we didn't really see many bands cause we didn't know any better and went in the morning, so we were exhausted by the time the music started going. ;) Oh well.

This is more amusing.

This was mildly amusing.