Projects on the Table, A Call for Help...

This is for family members and close friends near and far...
I have some projects that apply to you and am requesting your e-mailed "donation" of a photo of you and your loved ones. This includes you, Frank and Barbara, heehee!

Project #1
I am making an album for Sean with all of his family member's and our friend's photos inside. This will be a little book for him to look at on car trips, during our 2nd and 3rd block of Church, and so on. Please help me out and send me (through e-mail, the best way) a recent photo (headshot preferred) of you and any of his cousins. That way you are not strangers to him when you meet him next time.

I will be compiling it all into a file and will ask Mike to help me e-mail it out to you all. I will right everybodies names underneath the photo (ex: Grandpa Blah, Grandma Blah Uncle Blah Blah, Aunt Blah, Cousin Blabla).

If you would like this "album" for your kiddos, let me know. -BUT- you must send a photo or else it won't work... it's not that hard people...please?

Of course, you will not want my friends in your album, so I will not send those.

Oh, and let me know if you have a special name/nickname for particular family members or the grandparents, such as Grandpa Rueckert or Oma Barbara, auntie, or tio, or whatever. Just let me know in your e-mail...
This project has been haunting me and I want to get it done, so e-mail away!

I thought this would be a good way for Sean to get to know you all, especially those of you who are far away :o(
We miss you guys!

Project #2
I don't know about you guys, but Sean loves being read to. It would be nice if Frank and Barbara could read a book on video camera and then I can edit it and send you all a copy. Pop it in the DVD player and your kiddos have instant Gramma and Grampa...What do you all think? I hope you aren't camera shy Frank and Barbara... It will also give us parents a few minutes to ourselves..haha.

Project #3
I e-mailed Fawn and reminded her of her idea to have a "just us Rueckerts" reunion this summer. What do your calendars look like? We are short on vacation days, so maybe a weekend would be fun...camping or the like? Let us know...

Economically Brainwashed

So I made this huge pot of Pozole, and now I regret making so much. I think to myself- in these hard economic times, why am I making so much food that I don't really want to give away to others (selfish?)? I am so used to making a big batch of the stuff because its nice to have leftovers and sometimes invite others to have some. It feels like I need to horde things, even though we aren't really "suffering" through hard eceonomic times the way some people might be (I am grateful that Mike is still employed). I think I am getting brainwashed by the current economic society to save, horde, use coupons, by on sale items, clearance items, not use so much energy to save money, be thrifty, so on and so forth. I think that we have been blessed to still have Mike working, and still be able to do things every now and again like before this economic dive.
I guess in the end, it doesn't hurt to save money, if it means we can have fun or invest in something later on. What are your thoughts? Does anyone else feel obligated to save money? Maybe you are having a tough time, what do you do to help yourself through it?

I think I will share my Pozole with a friend...share the wealth, right?