I'm back

Ah...to blog again. I guess I did not make the 30 blogs in 30 days... *sniff* But I cannot say that it was completely my fault. You see...they upgraded the internet in our area from 'drag your feet on the floor slow' to the fastest and our modem would not handle it. So I could get onto the internet, but could not post anything. Seriously, Facebook would time out trying to post a status or even go to the link to tend to my farm...which is being neglected still... Getting to other sites took forever to load and I just decided to take a break for a couple of days...plus I had a lot of packing to do...

Which brings me to say....WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!!!!! This is the thing that I could not want to blog about before...not that I am superstitious...well maybe a little...but I did not want to get my hopes up if anything were to go wrong. We signed the papers on the 10th, painted that weekend, and moved in that next week...we have the apartment until the 30th so we are still making small trips back and forth to get things over and clean up. And in the new home...the internet works much better...new modem and faster speeds!! Yeah!

But I wanted to pop on and update any of those that do occasionally pop over to see what is going on in my world. And I still want to do the 30 blogs in 3 days challenge...by gosh I have plenty to blog about now!!!

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!!!

Testing

Testing the blog....

Small Talk Six - Deserted what??

Want to join in? Go here to learn how and to view the weekly list Small Talk Six topics for 2009.

Today’s topic is “6 reasons why you would be doomed if you were stranded on a deserted island all by yourself.” You can answer this with a list of 6 words, 6 phrases, 6 sentences, 6 paragraphs, 6 photos, 6 videos, etc . . .

Not too many people participated last week. Should I be keeping the topics more PG?

Here are my six for this week:

1. I cannot cook on the stove, the grill...there is no way that I would be able to cook anything edible on a deserted island!

2. Not really sure that I even know how to start a fire without paper and a lighter!

3. Spiders!!!

4. No one to talk to...I'm a big gabber!!

5. I would become a fruit-aterian...I will not be able to 'hunt' for live food...I don't eat fish...and with number one, I would not be able to cook it...even if... So hopefully there is fruit!!! lol

6. No Sims3...I am helplessly addicted...sad

Have a great weekend!!

It's Friday

What to blog...what to blog?? I still cannot blog about the thing that I cannot want to blog about....soo...hmmm

Ooo...I have this Friday Fill-ins that I kept the link to awhile ago...I'll do that...and yes...it's a fall out for writing an actual entry...but oh well...I like doing these!! This will still count as Day 6 of the NaBloPoMo!!! :)

Friday Fill in for November 6...

1. Plans and schedules are lifesavers!! .

2. I'm happy when things go my way!

3. The last thing I drank was Dr Pepper...still drinking!

4. One of the most valuable things in my life is the safety of my family.

5. I like Pepperoni, cream cheese, and bacon on my pizza.

6. Dear November, you are going to be an amazing month!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to an evening of no plans, tomorrow my plans include cheer/football game and meeting with my parents and Sunday, I want to something that I cannot blog about!! *wink*

Not really a title..but a 'non' title!

Well...the video never did upload. I think it's just too big and I do not know how to minimize the size...soo...I will just post a few pics...not the same as seeing them perform... :(












Cute huh!!!

I am sitting here wanting to blog about something but not wanting to so not to jinx it...but when trying to blog about anything else...'that' keeps coming up... *sniff* I cannot even blog on my scrapy site because of it. I did not had my mojo juice flowing...and then I had to put everything up and I cannot explain why because of the 'thing' that I can not want to blog about. So this is me.....not blogging about it. LOL

So I will leave you with a poem...one that I wrote way back in 10th grade. It's not that great...but it was on my mind...lol (laugh if you must...lol)

The fog in the moonlight
A shadow behind you
Someone in the woods
Fear rippling inside

A shadow behind you
An unknown sound
Fear rippling inside
A touch on the hand

An unknown sound
A light in the distance
A touch on the hand
A man in blue

A light in the distance
A familiar sound
A man in blue
A woman embraces you

A familiar sound
The fog in the moonlight
A woman embraces you
And still...someone in the woods

On a side note...Friday Night Lights ROCKS!!! I love this show!!!

Darkness falls across the land...

Last week we had a crazy early snow storm that brought 4 feet of snow into some parts of the city. Normally, the first snow of the season starts on Halloween...(I grew up here and it ALWAYS kicked the season off by snowing...if only a drizzle) We had to plan our outfits around the size of our heavy jackets!!! Anyway, we live up north and thankfully only got about 2 feet of that!! But with that snow, comes the crazy drivers, and the slick roads, and icy windshields to defrost. Lol (right now I am parking outside the garage so that we can store some furniture) So this is what I walked out to that first morning...(and it still snowed for another two days)

Because of the snow all of the sports fields were closed that weekend and the games rescheduled. Taylor's cheerleading game was finally played last night and their long awaited halftime show was going to be revealed.

[This is where the video is supposed to show up but it has taken try after try after try. I am trying youtube one last time....so I will update this post if it works...] :(

They did such a good job, I was tearing up as I watched them!!! They have been working for weeks on getting this dance down and they perfected it just in time!! We had them wearing masks and gloves that had little white fingers...and they did awesome!! That's all I can think of to say...we were so proud of them!!!

Just a bit of anticipation

Day 3 of the challenge and still going strong! Yeah!

And V starts tonight!

I love love Loved this show!! And I am hoping that it has the same 'impact' that it did way back when. I remember watching it with my mom and flipping out when the main 'visitor' pulled at her cheek and the skin pulled down. I shrieked back and was grossed out and even at the ripe old age of 8...it was one of the best shows that I had watched!

Right now the Syfy channel is showing the TV movie version, and the series and I have yet to watch them, but I did catch a few minutes of the 'lizard people' sunning them selves...their lips did not move, their voices sounded computerized, and I just keep thinking...wow...and this was one of the best shows out there...lol Let's hope that the effects are a little better managed this time around!! :) See you tomorrow!

Boo!

So this year, Taylor decided that she wanted to spend Halloween with her girlfriends and not with the parentals...*sniff* I forget how big and mature that she is getting..I guess I'm just not ready to let the reins loose. lol So she went with her friends' mom and the Hubby and I took Bayle out.

He wanted to be a pirate, a transformer, the scary guy from Scream (only if I let him use the fake blood portion...umm...no), some guy from GI Joe, and finally settled on a Darth Vader outfit. But he did not want to be Darth Vader.....he wanted to be Darth Skywalker. So this picture is with the mask..I asked him for one picture..and he didn't wear it the rest of the night. lol
As we were walking around the neighborhood, we found signs leading to a free haunted house and decided to hop on over. It ended up being one that a family had created in their garage. They had it set up like a CSI scene and would walk groups through. Bayle was really excited to be in front and promised that he would not be scared. And he made it almost the whole way through! And then as we were walking away, he wanted to do it again... my little tough man!!

This is my goofball son with his head in the bag looking for a certain type of candy... lol Hope everyone had a safe Halloween!!!

A blog a day!

I am going to try something new this month...a blog a day for 30 days!

So here is my first entry on the first of November and I am just getting it in under the wire! If you want to check it out...look over here at NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month)

This hopefully will get the juices flowing! And me blogging more... (Thanks Jenn)

There is a time for everything

But it is just way to early for this:

This was taken yesterday on my way to pick up kiddos from school. The stores around town are already changing over to Christmas decorations, it's crazy. I enjoy the 'joy' of Christmas, but I also like to celebrate Halloween and Thanksgiving with their decorations and and traditions. It is just WAY to early for this!! My opinion anyway...

I will prevail!

I did it!! I figured it out all on my own!!
No hubby help, no daughter help, no frantic text to ask for help!

I did it!!

I pulled up iTunes and downloaded the one song that I needed onto my daughters' iPod! Yes, it took my many tries, and many failures, but I figured it out!!

Yeah for me!!!

Small Talk Six ~ I said what??

I found this on MomDot.com and it looked cute!!
So join in!!

Want to join in? Go here to learn how and to view the weekly list Small Talk Six topics for 2009.

Today’s topic is “6 things you say, but wouldn’t want your children to repeat.” You can answer this with a list of 6 words, 6 phrases, 6 sentences, 6 paragraphs, 6 photos, 6 videos, etc . . .

Here are my six:

1. Are you freaking kidding me!

2. WTF!

3. You a@@!! (being yelled out at other drivers being a@@es)

4. Your dad is having a fit right now...

5. What the hell.....

6. Because I say so!! (I hated hearing it growing up and I hate saying it!!)

Now go post your own list on your blog :) And then go here to see others!!

Hope to hop over to ya!!

Dot dot dot

I am not a writer...I was no good in my English classes...I did not take writing classes in collage...honestly, without spell check, I would be embarrassed to blog at all. I was reading through some of my older posts, and I chuckle...I know the point I was trying to write about...but was I able to relay it?

So I sit here wanting to blog about being sick, or house hunting, or even our crappy cars that keep breaking down. But I will start writing, and then erase...start again..and erase. So I am making a decision...I am now going to write like I talk. With all of the dot dot dots and pauses and skipping from idea to idea! And if I don't make sense...I don't make sense...lol

Okay, so the fevers and sniffles have returned. Taylor brought it home and then Brent caught it. Now, it's my turn. But my body reacts different to colds than most people. I have had a cold in the eye, and just one eye. I remember going into a meeting with a handful of tissues. And every 3 minutes my eye would tear up and cry. Crazy. For the most part it will sit in my throat and vocal cords which is what it is doing now. And I cannot talk...literally I am whispering everything for the past 3 days. I still get the sniffles and feevers...I guess my body just thinks this would be an extra bonus??!!

Oh well...Bayle is home with my today. He has yet to catch the cold (knock on wood) but instead is home from school because..well...he is a boy. And boys like to spin and play dangerous games, and jump from picnic table to picnic table with their eyes closed. LOL If you are raising a boy, you understand!! Last Wednesday, he was playing on the stairs outside and thought of this amazing idea to tie the jumproap to the top and swing like tarzan. Instead he ended up slipping and landed on the cement by way of the back of his head. Nice little bump and out of school last Thursday. Then at Taylor's cheerleading practice Tuesday night...in the rain...he decides to jump from table to table and even with my warning of "Get down" and "Please stop" he does it one more time and falls again hitting the other side of his head. So twice in less than a week. So a call goes into Children's Hospital and the nurse tells me signs to look for and whether we should bring him in...Her advise (after checking for concussion) is to keep him home for the next couple of days and do not let him move around much. Great advise...but seriously, he is a boy. And I would have better luck getting him to eat veggies... But we are on day two and he goes to school tomorrow.

And he is asking for lunch now, so I will end this entry (which is so much longer than I planned) and chat with you later!!!

A jump back

Eight years ago, I woke up in Oklahoma City, looking forward to the day coming. I had a well-baby appointment and had taken the morning off. The hubby and I drove our daughter to pre-school and off we went.

As we got off the elevator and stepped into the lobby, they had two TV's on either side of the desk were usually showing baby videos. But today they had on the news. Unfortunately the sound was low and we could not hear much. We were called back and I remember asking about the news but the nurse made a joke about being too busy to watch.

We left the appointment and went back home from lunch...and that is when we turned on the TV and saw what was really happening. We just sat in silence for a while learning of all the events from that morning.

It's astonishing how blindly we walked around that morning with everything going on. Oblivious to the destruction and fear.

A friend on FB said of today:

{His name} would like to think 9/11 did not make us better Americans, but better human beings.

Thanks RK

Where were you 8 years ago?

Actual Conversation

Son: (from the backseat of the car) Mom...why are you and Dad together?

Mom: Um... Why do you think we are together?

Son: (took a second to "think") Because you are smart and he is funny?

A kiddo after my own heart!!

The Hubby is being taken to jail!!

Seriously...he is being picked up in a squad car and taken down to be fingerprinted and photographed.

But take care...it is for charity!!

So give and give and give. Besides...if he does not raise enough, he will be kept overnight and it is his turn to cook dinner ...his family may starve!!!!

So check out this link here and forward to anyone in a giving mood!! And thanks so much!!!

Will he remember??

As I wake up this morning and feel the impending day weigh down on my shoulders, I know what needs to be done. The air is still slightly chilly outside as the sun just starts to rise from the east. I am the only one that can accomplish this feat. Daddy is still a bit queasy and fears the tears that might come after dropping you off.

I dress and step out into the living room to see your big brown eyes looking up at me with nothing but trust and love. A sadness chills me and I reach down to give you a hug. Your leash is already on and I grab it to walk you to the door. You jump up and jog proudly...You do love your outside time!!

We walk outside and play for a few minutes before I lead you to the car. You jump into the front seat excitedly and await the car ride. Only, as we start out, you get a little ansy because we do not take the same street as we do for the puppy park. You look at me questioning, but still enjoying the ride and look out the window at the amazing world you cannot wait to get into!

Only I do not enjoy the ride soo much...I know our destination. And I know that you don't and won't understand why. The only thing that keeps me from shedding a tear is the effect that we are hopping will occur by doing this. You will be able to play at the puppy park again without the leash. When we go for walks, you will better enjoy them without the stress of needing to pee on everything!! And even though some of our plans for your future now are not in the cards, I know that you will be happier.

I say a little prayer and walk you into the office, sign some forms, and pass you over to the nurse. You have no idea what is about to happen, but you hear the other puppies in the background and forget that I am not leading you anymore.

I wait all day, and in 45 minutes I will be there to pick you up, pain meds and cream cheese in hand. And in a few days of rest, hopefully you will still jump into that car with the same excitement and you will not hold it against me.


I love you little puppy!!

Back!!

Summer has been so hectic. Taylor is now a teen and wants to go everywhere with her girlfriends. Bayle is at an age where he can start playing outside with minimal supervision (although I still make him play where I can ALWAYS see him!) I have my daycare kiddos still, so there are lots of trips to the lake, park, and just walks in general. Sorry that I have not been on to blog...just a very busy summer. :)

And there has been a ton to blog about, so I will make them short! :)

My sister and the kids have been coming over every Monday to swim in the pool. It has given us a chance to catch up on each others lives and for the kids to play! (We only live about 10 blocks from each other...we really should do this more often)!! She has been working with a friend on their 20th Reunion together for months and the 'party' was this last weekend. Come to find out she did not even go. She did all that work and did not even go to enjoy any of her efforts. She said that she did it to help out a friend and that was more enjoyable. Wow..I find that amazing! And just another reason to look up to her!

I found some really cute site recently that I wanted to share with y'all! This first one is a site that I am really not sure how I found but I have used it soo much lately! Meal Planning Mommies. It's a little hard to navigate at first, but just use the top options under the header to help out. They post each day and then give you a Grocery list for the week. It's a great idea and we made Wafflewiches the other day! MMmmmm!!!

Another site is Webshots. I love to take pictures for my family, for my scrap pages, and just to share some of the amazing things that I get to see. This site has gotten me to see pictures differently and taught me how to take them better.

Taylor has signed up for cheerleading again this year. She seems to really enjoy this and is amazingly good at it! Bayle opted for soccer only this year. Hopefully he will be on a different team this year..I guess I did not mind the team, it was the coach and how he approached playing the game. So we will see...

Hmm....that was a lot, so I will end it there. And I will also be back for more up to date blogging!!! See y'all later!!

Christina

Spring Pictures '09

This is a little late in putting up...We took the kids out for spring pictures about 2 weeks ago. Here is a little slide show of some of the better pictures. :) Enjoy!!

Another year down

I'm 34!!!!

That's really not a milemarker, but it's a year later!!

And it got me to thinking...what happened this last year? The hubby and I finally took our honeymoon, I met up with some old, great friends, no family member came down with any health issues...I think it was a great year!!

Oh, Tyler (my step son) called me mom the other day! This is a huge milestone for he and I. And he did it as if it was the most normal thing ever! For any step mom, it is hard to step in as the one married to your dad. It takes longer for that relationship to build, and as a child in that position, you almost feel as if you may be hurting the other parent.

My dad re-married when I was almost 13 and my step mother was very nice, and even sat us kids down to tell us that she does not want to take any places, or take any parents' love away...she just wanted to be a friend. But my mother was soo bitter about the situation that we felt like we might be betraying her to even like my step-mom.

Many years later, I call my step mom....Mom. And luckily, Tyler's mom and I are friends and there is no animosity. So the kids feel better about making their own choices.

And Tyler chose to call me Mom! That's better than a birthday!!! :)

I'm giving 'er all she's got captian!

The weather has turned crappy and cloudy again. :( We had some beautiful weather for the end of school and then for the kiddos first official day of summer, it turns cold. Blah...

Oh well, this last weekend we had some great weather and took advantage by taking Spring pictures. They came out amazing! They have grown up soo much since I first stared doing them. I need to fix a few, but will post them later today or tomorrow! :)

We also went to see Star Trek...finally!!! And I loved it!!! I followed the series although I would not call myself a Trekie, but I could answer basic questions. And I still loved it!! I kept whispering to Taylor lines from the show right before they were said...she was a little annoyed, but I was just happy that I could follow it so close! There were a few people that got up in the middle of the movie and left...right before Leonard Nemoy came on screen...oh well for them!

Had to share!

My son just came out of his room singing

"I can't fight this feeling anymore"...

which spawned us into looking it up on youtube

and getting the whole family singing it...

and when asked where he knew that song, he stated

"Horton hears a who"...

hmm...if they only knew!

Actual Conversation

This is a conversation that we had last night after dinner...

************************

Hubby: So for Father's Day, I am renting John Wayne movies and we are watching them all day!

Bayle: Why don't we just get the video game and we can play it?

Hubby: (looks at me puzzled) What?

Me: Because all of the good things, i.e. movies, are turned into video games!

Day 3

I was supposed to post about Day 3 a couple of days ago..but I have to tell you..I was/am soo sick. I think it is just a head cold, but I cannot walk across the room without running into something. lol So if this post does not make sense..soo sorry :)

So onto Day 3 -

We got up early again and had breakfast by the beach. Then we separated and Brent went to a work meeting while I changed into my swimsuit and went down to the water. The waves were pretty high still, so I played in the sand. :) I wrote my kids names and then waited for the waves to get close and shot pictures. You can't not go to the beach and not write in the sand...right?!

After his meeting, we met up in the room and he informed me that his boss's boss's boss invited him and a few others to a round of Golf that afternoon, and you can't say no to that!!! So we headed over and had lunch and then the boys went off to play. There was a Spa next door, so I walked over to see what they had, but I have never really been a spa kind of girl. So instead, I walked around and just took pictures. lol This place was beautiful!

After, I went back to the hotel and back down to the ocean. I cannot tell you how calming it was just to sit and look out into the water. To listen to the waves crash into one another. Ahh...I miss it...

That night Qwest planned another function. It started with dinner, and then entertainment which would be followed by a 'night club' closing up the night. But the question on everyone's mind was who exactly was going to be the entertainment? During the earlier meeting that he attended, they gave away VIP tickets to see whom ever it was backstage. It was Florida, so we thought someone like the Beach Boys, many names went around the table until they finally announced...Three Dog Night!

The younger generation did not know who they were, but some of the songs were familiar. I knew who they were from songs that my mom would listen to. But Brent was elated!! He has seen them in concert a few times and was jumping out of his seat this night clapping and singing along! He had not won the VIP tickets, but a couple sitting at our table did, and after watching him for the first few songs, decided to give them to Brent, saying that he would enjoy it soo much more than they would. I cannot even describe his face at that moment...it put him on a natural high that he did not come down from for days after the trip.

So Three Dog Night performed a 90 minute concert for us and then went to another room for the VIP portion. We were able to mingle and then had our picture taken with the band. We were also given an autographed CD of their hits.

The time went by soo fast, but Brent drank every moment in! And after, we went to the night club that Qwest set up. They had a band playing and a dance floor set up. So we danced, and sang, and danced some more! Midnight was the cut off time, and the band announced the last song. And then someone came up from the side and said something to the lead singer. She then announced that a few of the Three Dog Night band had joined and would we like them to come up. Ummm...YA!!! So three of them came up and sang two more songs, and Brent was able to actually 'talk' with them after. He was on cloud 9!!!

More tomorrow... :)

Day two

Our day two started really early. We were up before the sun for our buffet breakfast, and then off to the boat for some Deep Sea Fishing! I was so excited to get out on that boat and be out in the middle of the ocean. And just to be on the safe side, the hubby and I took some Dramamine before we ate. But let me back up a minute...back to breakfast.

Qwest had rented out the back patio portion for meals. And they had the breakfast tables set up right on the beach line. So we could go through the line, pick up our Starbucks and food, and then sit by the beach and eat in front of the waves. It was just soo amazing!! The sound of the waves so early in the morning! Oh...and I need to back up again. lol

Before the trip, the hubby got to talking to others that had won the Circle of Excellence trip in previous years, and they told him that Qwest goes all out. As you get there, there are gifts and free things, and just everything that you may ever want! And with the 'recesion' we did not think it was going to be as elaborate. But Qwest did everything that they had in previous years. Every night we came back from dinner, there was a 'gift' waiting for us on the bed. A card that told us the next morning to go to a room to recieve free sunglasses from Kaenon. The second night they gave us MinoHD Flip. And the thrid night...well, I will wait to tell you about the third night tomorrow!

Anyway, before breakfast, we went up and redeamed the sunglasses which were amazing!! They had about 24 pairs out for each men and women. I have never really bought polarized sunglasses, didn't really know what the hype was about...but wow!!! I LOVE these glasses. Now onto the rest of the day... :)

We were bussed over to the fishing boats and headed out through the 'gateways' to the ocean. Our captain showed us homes that Demi Moore and Rosi O'donnell owns and some guy that owns the NBA I think (the hubby would know!) We rode by the big Ocean Liners and the 2nd largest sail boat in the world and finally made it out to the ocean. The crew started baiting and throwing out the lines while 'trolling' (I believe is the term) on the water. It was then that I started getting sick...I NEVER get sick on the water. I grew up on boats, on lakes and such but I did not think that I would be the one to get sick. Blah... so I missed most of the fun, but the hubby caught a trigger fish!!! He had a blast and I can atleast say that I was out on the ocean!! lol

We got back to the hotel that afternoon, had lunch on the beach again, and then went back upstairs to take a nap. We did not mean to, but once we laid down, we were out!!

That night was the formal dinner and award ceremony. I am soo very proud of him. To only be with the company for 14 months, and to end up in the top 1.5% is amazing!!! To watch him walk up there and recieve his award, he deserved it!! He has worked soo hard to make it where he is! Congrats babe!!!

Day 3 tomorrow!

So long...no talk

Florida was amazing!!!

Qwest made this trip more amazing then anything we could have every wanted!! They started out by picking us up at the airport in a large bus and gave us a small tour of the city before arriving at the hotel. Which in itself, was amazing!!

Our room gave us a perfect view of the ocean, and we just stood there, listening to the waves crash up on shore. We could see Ocean Liners out on the horizon and fishing boats... I am from the Oklahoma/Colorado area, and we just don't get to see this every day, so the hubby and I just kept saying "How cool is this!!!" And I was talking pictures like a mad woman!!

We had a chance to walk around and get acquainted with the hotel and went to the beach for a bit before dinner. More tomorrow!

Leaving on a Jet Plane!

Tomorrow morning, we leave for a beautiful 4 day trip to Florida! The bags are packed, the kiddos are with family, and the puppy is being taken care of. All that awaits us is the sun and the ocean!! See you on Monday!

A Beautiful Memory

The funeral was beautiful. When you first pull into Fort Logan, you only see the white tombstones for what seems like miles. The land itself has hills and valleys built in, it is so magnificent. As you are driving through, all of the tombstones are perfectly in line with everyone's name and dates, as well as their service. I found one man who had been in World War 1 and 2, Korea, and Vietnam. The way that we honor these men is...I actually don't know the right words...I was in awe of this place. All of these men and women who helped create what we have today.They had us park in a waiting area so that we could get out and talk with family and friends, and then we drove up to the setting. Armed men and women led the coffin in perfect unison to the stand and then stepped outside for the family to move in. The Chaplin read a few lines from the Bible and then had us turn for the gun salute and the bugle playing. Everyone started crying, (I'm crying now just remembering). They then folded the flag and presented it to my Grandmother. Family was able to stand up and say a few words and laugh together and say our goodbye's. It was a beautiful service.

And he was a great man, who left an amazing legacy. Eight children, 22 grandchildren, and 25 great-grandchildren. I love you Grampa!

Sad news

I have not blogged here in a bit...We have been hit with some bad news, and then it continued with worse news and now into a stall.

My Grandfather is sick. He was diagnosed with Leukemia and from my understanding, it's a pretty aggressive form. And unfortunately with his age, there is not much of anything that we can do for it. A week ago, they gave him 2 months to a year. We have barely had time to comprehend this when he was rushed to the hospital on Sunday. The doctors did their best, but did not expect him to live the night.

He is currently on a morphine drip and family is flying in to say their goodbyes.

We are happy that he gets to say his goodbye's and that he is not in any pain. He has lead an amazing life, with a wonderful wife, 8 children, over 20 grandchildren, and great-grandchildren still coming! And he is at peace with God and read to go, if that is God's will. His room is filled with love and we know that we will see him soon.

My mom said to me the other day "We don't get to choose when we are born, we don't get to choose when we die, or even how we die. But Grampa is one of the lucky few who will be surrounded by family and love."

I blame it on the Penguins

Is it a terrible thing that I wait to feed my kitties an extra half hour so that they will cuddle? They will only come out of hiding when they are hungry, and really the only time that I can sit with them and enjoy petting them. Oh well...that is what kitties do, everything on their terms.

So this last weekend had some great moments and not so great moments. We started out Friday night by picking up the two kiddos (first weekend since Christmas that we have had all four together) and meeting at the puppy park. It was such a nice day that time flew by and two hours later we split into two cars to get dinner and movies. We ended up watching "Role Models"...a completely inappropriate movie for anyone under 17. But my husband felt that he could have them turn their heads for those parts. Not even close. Bayle, thank goodness was in his room watching his own movie.

I kept looking at Brent like "seriously". There was no covering eyes quick enough and the language was horrible. Maybe I am a bit prude in a way, but I think that kids are growing up way too fast. And it's up to the parents to allow kids to stay kids for as long as they can! He and I definitely differ on this subject. So, I got up and walked to another room. I could not keep watching it. He ended up turning it off...

Saturday we got up and went to see an early showing of 'Knowing'. Amazing movie!!! And the graphics were unbelievable. It had a bit of a Sci-fi ending, but I liked it! We went out for lunch and shopped a little bit. Amanda was invited to Prom his year, so we went looking for some dresses, and it was nice. She let me in a little bit! And for any step-mother, that is the most that we can hope for!! :)

We ended our weekend by doing an impossible puzzle. We can usually do one in a few hours, but this one had different shades of blue and a ton of penguins. It was soo hard, even today it still sits half done on the table.

7 years past

Today marks the 8th year that I have been married to my wonderful, amazing husband. We are past the 7 year curse and still as happy as we were then! Actually, I would say even happier. We have settled into each other. We know the ins and outs of each other, we know how to care for and love one another.

So to my husband:

I love you Brent! With all of my heart!

Out of...something

Our main computer is down again. Yuck!! It went down a few weeks ago because our video card went out. And my hubby being the nice guy that he is asked a friend to help and paid the friend for his work. We were out of the computer for about a week. We got it back on the 3rd and it has been running great...until yesterday afternoon.

It shut down as I was playing a game, and when it tried to reboot, I got the red dots and then no screen. I knew it was the video card again and when my hubby came home he confirmed the same thing.

So he took the side off the computer and realized that this guy had put in a video card from 2007 and didn't see the issue that had burned up the original one. Basically, and I don't know enough about computers to use the right terminology, we have a card that will allow HiDef to hook into the computer and it sits right on top of the video card. It sits on top of the fan portion of the video card so any cooling that it was trying to do was only locking in the heat and frying up the card.

So the hubby went into computer geek mode and fixed it the right way. He ended up taking out the HiDef card (which we do not use), bought an up to date video card and installed it, and added more memory to help the load. He had it working last night...yeah!!!! But as I went to turn it on this morning it made a loud sqweeking sound and did not load.

What is gong on??? So I am now on the "do or die" computer and thank goodness blogger autosaves!! Any ideas on what my computer needs??

No Barking allowed

Last week we started taking Meko to the dog park just down the street. And he absolutly loves it!!! He is still a small dog, but he will run up to the big ones without fear. I was affraid at first because he was not raised around other puppies or dogs in general (before us or with us). But he let other puppies come up and sniff him and he would sniff in return. It was amazing to see him just let go and run, and chase, and just have fun. Here are a few pictures to share.

I'm going to Florida!!!!!

My husband works for the major phone company here in Colorado...I would say most of the central US. Anyway, they have 190 stores throughout and my hubby was named the number 2 manager for the year 2008! Which means that he won the COE award (Circle of Excellence) and gets a all encompassed trip to Hollywood, Fl.!!! (Fort Lauderdale/Miami area)
So it will just be me and the hubby with the hotel on a strip of land with the ocean in all it's glory in our 'backyard'! We are going to go deep sea fishing, going to the Everglades.....the SPA!!!!! Oh my gosh, I am soo excited! We don't go until the end of April which gives me 7 weeks to be swimsuit ready. And a tan...you can't go and not be a little tan....sheesh..lol

Oooo...and on the hotels site, in the upper left corner is a live feed link...so I can call me kiddos (who will be staying with my parents), have them look at the link and I can wave to them from Florida! How cool is that!!!

I am soo proud of the hubby who did work really hard to get where he is...this is just the icing!!! Yeah!!!

AI

I am not happy with those people that were picked to go through... :( With that being said, I am sort of happy with the wild card round. Soo happy that Megan got through...I just love her sound...I don't think she did a very good job last night, but she is great!!

To Sing....or To Scream

Okay...my bad. Last nights contestants on American Idol were pretty good.. A few of them anyway. My pick for the boys would be Ju'Not, and well....that's it. I don't think any of the other boys did very well. The gals on the other hand did really great! My picks would be Lil, Kendall, Felicia, and Kristen with Lil being number one. I think the runner up will be Felicia.

Now I am off to make cards for my hubby's work.

And be sure to check back here tomorrow...I have some awesome news to share!!! I'm soo excited!!!

To be without, you miss it so much more

I am back up and running!!! Yeah! About a week ago, our main computer broke down. I have been trying to use our older computer to log on, but the dang things gets hot soo quick that is shuts back down within 30 minutes...so it is our do or die computer. (It stays off mostly). The other computer just needed a new video card and it came back to life!!! Yeah!! So now it's back to updating the blogs, fixing pictures, a little bit of Sims 2, and playing WoW...yep, I play World of Warcraft (little unknown things about me).

Okay, so I was not completly correct with last weeks picks of American Idol. For the femals I really liked Allison, Megan, Jesse and Mishavonna. And I did pick Allison as the top female...she was phenominal!! For the boys I had Kris, Matt, and Adam down as possiblities. Although, I really wanted Kris to be the top boy. I did not like Adam at all. He has a good voice and he can 'scream' those high notes..I just thought that he played it over the top. Although with his look, I added him to my list of posoblities.

So I did pick all three, but I am not happy with the possition of them in ranking. Oh, well...maybe this Adam character will grow on me.

As for this weeks group...personaly I don't think that anyone of them has much talent that is AI quality yet. But I guess after tonight, we will see.

Happy to be back! Blog at you tomorrow.

Yeah for her!!

After a few weeks of those terrible Braxton Hicks, a very good friend of mine recently had her 2nd little boy!!! If you have a chance...drop over to her blog and congratulate her!!

Mommies Home

How time flies

It was not too long ago that turning on your TV ment standing up and walking over to pull the knob out. You only had 4 or 5 channels to choose from and each channel had to be adjusted using the 'bunny ears'. There was only one TV (in most homes) and it was located in the main living area. We had home phones that hung by the cord on the wall, although there was always a spare rotory dial somewhere around the house. And kids had toys and played outside for hours until the street lights came on and it was time to come home.

Fast forward to today. We can pause TV to view at our liesure, watch TV in almost every room of the house, talk on the phone while driving to the store, and our kids are always asking for the most updated gaming system out there.

It is crazy to think that in just one generation, so much of the technology has changed. And it has changed the way that we live. I grounded my daughter last week and she thought it was an atrocity that we would take away her cell phone. My husband can work from home from his phone on his days off. Last night, our computer would not boot up, so I grabbed my phone and logged onto Facebook to 'farm' ( a silly application that I feel I need to keep up on because I have made $800,000 in fake money...lol) It's crazy...

All of this in one generation...where will we be when our kiddos have kids? Where will technology take us?

AI Results

WooHoo!!! I am very happy with the top 3 so far!

Alexis is my favorite. She just seems to be so genuine and natural. I love her look and she definitely makes me think of Kelly Clarkson when she sings! I am excited to see how she does when the final 12 are chosen.

As for next week...Matt Breitzke, Adam Lambert, and Jasmine Murray stick out from the auditions. But the auditions and singing in front of a live group is very different, so we will see next Tuesday!!

American Idol - Week 1

I LOVE American Idol!! It may be because I wanted to be a singer growing up and I see myself in the eyes of those hopefuls that walk into that room and...completely bomb~ because that would soo be me! I can sing in the shower, but I know my limits!!

I have watched every season and almost every episode...before DVR. So I have decided to make predictions every week as to the winners and such...so far, I'm about 50-50...(we'll see)

Week 1 Favorites

Guys
Brent Keith ~ I love this guy!
Anoop Desai ~ This kid has a great voice!
Micheal Sarver ~ I love his southern look, southern additude, his southern drawl, the whole southern thing!! And I thought he did a great job!
Danny Gokey ~ He is awesome! I liked him from the start and out of all of the boys, I think he is a shoe in for making it through!!

Gals
Alexis Grace ~ She seems genuine. Not trying to be anyone else but who she is. And her daughter is adorable!
Casey Carlson ~ She did not do so well...but I still like her.
Ann Marie Boskovich ~ I think she did a great job tonight no matter what the judges have to say!
Tatiana Del Toro ~ Wow...she can sing, but when the camera is on her, she poses and acts this part that she wants people to see. She is talented...but she needs to shut up!!

Out of everyone, I think that Danny has the first ticket in to the next round. Results are tomorrow...so we will see!!!

Creative Cooks

This past weekend my kiddos competed in a 4H "Creative Cooking" contest and did amazingly well for their first time!! Bayle did his Dragon theme and made vanilla pudding with red food coloring and worms...yummy enough for any dragon!! And Taylor and the hubby spent all night the night before perfecting her chili which won her 2nd place in her age group! So for it being her first time competing and still coming in second is amazing! Very, very proud of her! Oh, and she also won the kitchen helper award! And after all of the fuss and stress, they want to do it again next year!

Here are some other 'tables' that competed!

"A Tail Gate Party"

"Campfire Cookout"
(I could totally throw a triple with this gun!!)
"Breakfast in bed"

The reason that I do not bake...

The story... during our test trials of Bayle's 4H desert, we had just finished melting chocolate on the oven and I made sure to tell him that the 'oven is hot' while waving my hand over the hot burner. My daughter called for me from the other room and instead of leaving my son in the kitchen alone, I told him to come too. I then set the bowl of chocolate down and left the kitchen with Bayle. And this is what I returned to... So instead of teaching my son how to bake brownies, I gave him a leason in what not to do in the kitchen! I am just darn lucky that I did not take the house down with it!!

Lesson Learned!!

Another month...another change!

One reason I blog is to keep in touch with family and friends and meet new friends who do the same. But another reason I have a blog is to DECORATE!! And I do this about every month. I guess I have always blamed being a Gemini for the constant need to change. (When I clean the house, the furniture never ends up in the same spot) So with every month, I get to redecorate!!

Last week I was looking through an old scrapbook magazine and found some great websites that will help 're-do' your site.

The Cutest Blog on the Block

Simply Fabulous Blogger Templets

Blogger Buster

A little bit of baking involved

Well, one of my New Years resolutions was to blog more frequent, and so far I have not followed through. :( But it is still a goal!

I will start off first with a puppy update. I think that we are past the honeymoon stage... We started off with Meko pretty much potty training himself. I think in total, we have only had maybe 10 accidents in the house. Otherwise, he is going to the door to tell us when he needs to go. He still has not learned to bark...YEAH!!! And as a puppy, he really is great! But, this weekend, I caught him pulling up the carpet. I almost threw him across the room...I didn't...I was able to take a breath...but oh my goodness, he is lucky. So tonight I am off to buy something with an apple bitter taste to spray on the area. Hopefully this will help!

We have been working the last couple of weeks on a 'Creative Cooks' for our 4H group. Bayle is still too young to compete but they are letting his age group still participate. And this will be Taylor's first year competing, and we are still way behind on being 'ready'. Taylor has chosen to make chili as her dish and to dress her table as if she were eating in a log cabin. She is having quite a bit of fun decorating and making things not to matchy matchy. And Bayle has chosen to make brownies in the shape of Dragons to which I do not know how I am going to pull it off. But the competition is this Saturday, so we still have this week to prepare and do a couple of test runs. And the hubby is happy about that because it means extra brownies hanging around for him to taste test! So wish them luck!!

Photo 6-12

Photo 6
We love to sit and do puzzles as a family and when I walked past this 'People Zoo' puzzle was too cute to pass up. With 4/5 of us working on it, it only took about an hour to finish. And now it is boxed back up and at my sisters' for her family to have fun!

Photo 7
As I was typing last week, I realized how much those darn keys were sticking and that it was time to clean the keyboard. And even though I can type without looking...I still wanted assurance that the keys would go back in the same spot! :) Knowing me, I have would mix M with N, Q with W, and all of the 'symbols' keys. So...I took a few picks to help~

Photo 8
These are some PJ pants that my daughter was wearing. I just thought that they were very cute with all of the faces and 'text' talk. I actually learned something...lol (see)

Photo 9
These kitties will sit anywhere...especially a clean pile of close fresh from the dryer (still warm and comfy). I went to start another load, and they jumped at the chance to sit.

Photo 10
The hubby and I took a walk through American Furniture, and we found this entertainment system! I fell in love with it and he fell in love with the TV. lol Ahh...someday.

Photo 11
This is a portrait of my family when I was a 17. It was taken on my hubby's phone and a little crooked...but it is great to see how much we have changed.

Photo 12
My grandmother passed away a couple of years ago and my uncle is just now getting through to sort through her things and pass them on to family. I received these angles. She used to have them in the living room up on a mantle. There is really no special memory associated with them, but just to have something of hers is special.

LOST premier

So I Tivo'd the Lost premier last night and then stayed up to watch it after the kiddos were put to bed. Because let's face it, anyone who has watched the show knows that if you look away for only a moment, you miss a vital part of the story.

So, I start by watching the one hour recap just to jog my memory of specific events and then continue onto the show. And I have to say at this point that I was not particularly 'excited, on the edge of my seat' to watch it. The season ended last year a bit suddenly and it seemed like they tried to throw a lot of information into that last show.

But as I sat to watch the premier, I was very pleasently surprised. I LOVED it! I'm a Sci-Fi fan, and the 'time loop' story was intriging. And then they threw so much of the old story line into it (i.e. the plane holding the religious idols full of drugs) that it started a little puzzle that I had to remember and figure out. And everytime the light would flash, I found myself more excited to see what time they were in. Would they get to meet the old Dahrma Inititive? At some point the scientist guy was down in the tunnel...was this a past happening? Some-where- that the islanders will get to. Seems like at some point they will infiltrate the Dahrma guys, but with the light flashes, how will that work.

Just a big puzzle...and I do like puzzles!! Anyway, it was a great premier and I am now looking forward to this season!

Word to the wise

You know that you are listening to old school rap,
when the lyrics say

"Beep me on my beeper".

Proud to be an American

I think that this is the first inauguration that I have ever sat down to watch. Scary as that is to me, I feel proud that I am taking more of an interest in what goes on in this country. That I had a say in what transpired.

Aretha Franklin is singing...and I am crying. I wish I would have kept the kids home to watch this. Get them excited and interested at an early age so that they take a stand when they get older! To see us swear in our first African American President, but also see that we have taken a stand for something hopeful. Something, someone who will make this country the great place that we learn about and are proud of. It's an amazing thing to watch!

What to do

What do you do when you are stuck inside all day

because of the cold weather and kiddos with colds..and
then comes along a day when the sun shines bright
and warms the air?

YOU BUILD ARMY FORTS!!!

That is what we did today! It was finally warm enough to go out for a little bit, so we packed up a few shovels and buckets of Army men, then headed down to the park. We split up and started in. A few boys from the neighborhood joined in and made their fort wide for protection. And then had their men set up in the middle.


We set ours up as if there had been a great battle, with only a little land left to protect. lol It was fun being 7 again using the imagination to come up with stories and such.

Well.....plan B

Okay, so I have an issue getting on everyday to post a picture, although the taking of the pictures daily is great! I found other sites that are postingt weekly...so I am officially jumping on that bandwagon and going to a week-full in one post! :)

Photo 3 ~ This was taken Friday evening as the sun was setting behind the mountains. With my little camera, it still came out pretty nice! I just love the colors..glowing on the blue sky with the silhouettes of the trees highlighted. Photo 4 ~ This is Tipsy, my daughters cat. I had just gotten up to take the puppy out to potty and came in and she had already made herself comfy!


Photo 5 ~ Bayle took this one this afternoon. He has watched all 3 of his siblings take the camera and take photos of themselves (mostly the cellphone camera's) so he wanted to do one himself. I think this is my favorite so far!!

Photo a Day 2

This was taken this morning as I was trying to move things around so that I could steam clean the carpets. The puppy got very excited and was running back and forth throughout the empty living room. Then he caught eye of the cat who had no interest in playing or even moving.

Photo a Day

One of my new years resolutions is to definitely blog more than I currently do. And then I ran across this site, and a few friends who were going to do the "Photo a day" thing. This is where you can document your life in a year through pictures, and I scrap as well...so I can incorporate it into my books. I would love to give credit to the site, but I did not save it unfortunately, and as I was trying to Google it again, there are a ton out there...so take your pick. lol

So with that, here is my first picture:


Not sure how to label this one...but to say no real money was involved. Bayle really has no idea how to play, he just puts chips out there, and still ends up being one of the last family members sitting there.