Halloween 2011

Gavin decided to be Darth Vader...

Kailee decided to cooperate and be a Kailee-Bug or Lady Bug :)

Daddy was a private school teacher (I know he's no fun) and Mommy was a cowgirl (thanks to Western Day at school that day)

Later Dad got a little more in the spirit and dressed up as ?!?!?...

XOXO,

Voicemail???? Just text me! Or you can...

Tonight on Twitter (follow me @LJ_Barber), I read a retweet from a friend that said "I should just change my voicemail greeting to: Please hang up and text me, thanks."  I NEVER check my cell phone voicemail and practically beg parents to email me with a time to call them back rather than leave me a voicemail at work.  

I can't do anything about voicemail at work but on my cell phone, I think it's perfectly reasonable to be upfront and honest and request a text.  However, then I thought about how sometimes people cannot text because they don't have a plan or maybe the message would be too long.  So... I added an option.  I created an email address just for my voicemail!  I have several accounts set up on my phone, why not add one more?  I made the email address very short (6 characters) and said it twice on my voicemail greeting.

Here's the gist of what my greeting says "Hi, you've reached Laura-Jane Barber.  I rarely check voicemail so if you need to reach me in a timely manner, you can either text me or send an email to ____.  Again, that email address is ____.  Thank you and have a nice day!

We'll see how it goes!  :)

XOXO,

L-J's review of My Heart Remembers by Kim Vogel Sawyer

My Heart Remembers might be the biggest tear-jerker I've ever read.  I cried through the first 70 pages, at various points within, and through the last 50 pages.

This is the story of 3 Irish-immigrant orphans in the late 1800s through the early 1900s being split up as young children and reuniting 20 years later.  I guess I should have realized from the synopsis that it would make me cry... A LOT.

Overall, it was a page-turner.  I literally could not put it down.  As a huge fan of historical fiction, I thoroughly enjoyed this story of children sent on the "orphan trains," something I did not know about my nation's history.  I could easily see this story translating well on film as there's never a dull moment--obviously, seeing as how I read this entire book today.

I recommend it but do be forewarned that it is in fact a major tear-jerker.

XOXO,

L-J's review of Twisted (Pretty Little Liars #9) by Sara Shepard

Twisted, the 9th installment of this addictive series was just as drama and action-filled as the others.  I thought number 8 was a great end to the series though Shepard has managed to extend it through another couple of books at least.  After reading 9, it's apparent that Shepard will drag it out for at least a couple more novels as it will surely take that long to wrap it up again.

I definitely recommend the first 8 as they were methodically planned out with the end in sight.  However, those after (including number 9) are just pushing it further than it should go.

Despite this, number 10 comes out December 6th and I've already pre-ordered it.  Maybe it will change my mind, but I doubt it.

XOXO,

Any paper has the potential to become a post-it note...

It's called repositionable glue!  You spread it on the back of a sheet of paper, stick it wherever you want and move it if you need/want to, easily.  It makes every piece of paper a post-it note.  So cool!

XOXO,

Forget about the laundry

So many times in conflict, people focus on the little things, like laundry.  A wife asks her husband to do it while she's out, he says he will but gets tied up on a work call and forgets.  The next day, the same thing happens.  The third day they have a blowout over the laundry.  But the laundry isn't the issue.  The issue is that now the wife does not trust the words coming out of her husband's mouth.  It's not about the laundry, it's about trust.  If you forget about the laundry and look for the bigger issue, things can be resolved.

This is just one of the many things I took from the Team Leader Academy.

XOXO,

Indoor Safari Park

Last week we tried out a super-fun (and indoor) place for kids: Indoor Safari Park in Plano.  For $9.99/ea, each kid gets 2 train rides, 2 robotic animal rides and unlimited play area/miniature golf time.  The price is a bit steep but I had to DRAG my kids out after 2.5 hours.  Even Kailee threw a fit about leaving and she NEVER does that.  This is the first and only place she hasn't been okay leaving.  My only complaint was the cost.  I think for that price they should get more than 2 rides of each thing.  Kailee actually got a free 3rd ride when an employee took pity on her being upset that Gavin was going for his second time (her first time was without him).  If you decide to go, remember socks.  I forgot to bring some but fortunately the owner sold socks by the pair.

Here are so photos and videos of our day:

Robotic Zebra

On the train with friends

XOXO,