My Little Spot

It's not Brain Surgery

2011-03-19T12:48:00.000-06:00

Well, actually it is.

A little over two weeks ago my husband collapsed at work, which prompted a trip to the ER to find out why. After a CT scan, the doctor came back to say they found something.

After many hours on the phone, internet, and in the doctors' offices it was confirmed that he has a Meningioma, which after Google-ing is a tumor, slow growing, mostly benign, and needs some type of treatment.

This is his MRI Scan and the lighter mass is the Meningioma. It is about the size of a golf ball and pressing down onto his brain which is causing his headaches (which he has had for over two years). The Surgeon gave us three treatment options: 1. leave it in and come back in for another MRI in three months to see how aggressive it is growing. 2. Radiation, which would kill the growing tumor cells but not decrease or shrink the size of the mass, it may also cause other small tumors in the radiation path. 3. Surgery to take out the tumor, and possibly prevent them from growing (80%).

After a few days of going over the options, we have decided on surgery. I have made the call in to schedule it and we are waiting for a day.

"Happiness"

2011-03-02T23:21:00.000-07:00

Happiness is:

- Driving with a full tank of gas that your husband went out of his way to do for you the weekend before
- Your kids calling to you wanting one last kiss before bed
- Sleeping in
- Coming home to a clean house
- Puppie Snuggles
- Tickle tools
- Watching your kids in their element
- Freshly pedicured toes
- Holding my husbands' hand

"Will" and Testiment

2011-03-01T20:14:00.000-07:00

Not an easy subject to approach...what would happen if one or more of us met an untimely demise? Who would take care of my kids, the house, education, finance, etc.

About a week ago, my nephews' mom was in an accident that left her in the hospital for over a week...that struck up a conversation between the hubby and I. What if it were my brother, Dusty, who was in the accident..who would take my nephew? And we both agreed that we would take him in a heartbeat. But is that what Dusty would want?

And that off course brought up the question....what would we want for our kids? How can we be sure that they are taken care of. So I am off in search of completing a Will.

Any ideas on what to 'not forget about'?

In A Word

2011-02-28T22:43:00.000-07:00

I hate writing...I am no good at it. It takes me so very long to write anything...

I don't send cards because the inside 'thank you' note terrifies me. But I love blogging.

Love - Hate

I scrapbook, and dread the journaling. But I love sharing a story.

Love - Hate

So my plan is to no longer write...I am going to talk and type. It might not make any sense and be jarbled of meaning...but I am going to start "just talking".

NaBloPoMo's subject matter for March is "In A Word" and it's a start! Want to play along!!

First Steps

2010-11-21T20:51:00.005-07:00

I have not seen most of my high school friends since..well...high school. Seventeen years ago. And Facebook has made it exceptionally easy to find and reconnect with most of them which has been great!! This past week, one of those friends recently moved back to town and had a little get together.

Honestly, I was not sure that I was going to go. Many of these people I have know forever (since kindergarten) but did not really have any type of relationship with. This is the same reason that I did not attend my 10yr reunion. But I took into consideration that just because I didn't really 'know' many of them...doesn't mean that I could not get to know them.

And I am soo glad that I went!! It was awkward at first, going in and saying hello to a group of strangers. But come to find out, I was not the only one. Most of the conversations started out with "Hi, I'm ...and you are...?" Memories came flooding back, and I actually stayed until the bar closed! (Have not closed down a bar in forever!!)

For me, this was a big step. I am trying to break out of this 'homebody stage'! I am trying to be more outgoing, much like I was in my 20's. :)

Oh...and Jimmy Johnson won for a 5th year!!! Yeah!

Saving money idea

2010-09-06T11:31:00.003-06:00

Bayle came up with an amazing idea the other night...and I am not really sure how it came about. He suggested that we go one night without electricity. Meaning, no TV, no lights, no music...just family time!

I love this!!!

We normally save Saturday evening for family night... playing games and enjoying the kiddos. So now, we will be doing it under candle lite~ Saving electricity is something that we have been trying to do recently...not using the AC during the day and turning it off when we go to bed. We bought the high efficiency light bulbs and placed them all over the house, we have the outside lights on a timer, and only have lights on in the house in the rooms that we are currently in. We use fans during the day and anytime there is a breeze outside the windows go open to bring the breeze in.

Our bill has gone as high as $240, and we now have it down to $120...And thanks to Bayle's idea...this one night may bring it down a few more $$.

I will blog a few pictures once we get going!!

A new goal

2010-07-21T11:57:00.005-06:00

I really do like to blog...and I have thought about it soo many times lately.. :)

So a new goal...start slow and work my way up to the 30 blogs in 30 days goal! I think that the national blog month is November...I need to check on that! I would like to be able to participate this time, with no moving vans to get into the way.

If you follow me on Facebook, you know that we recently 'acquired' two new puppies!!! My hubby has been wanting a Lab/Retriever mix for awhile and a friend of mine knew of a breeder that only had one puppy and could not sell him. And the father of that litter had jumped the fence and gotten another female pregnant, so there was another litter of Retriver/Australian Shepperd puppies going away too...so we took one of them and the lab/retriever!!!

Aren't they cute!!!!! The white guy is Duke and the sister is Gersey!

Born two days apart, they follow each other around and really get along with Meko! We introduced them to Meko the first day and Meko did soo much better than we could have anticipated!!! He has taken a big brother role and helps teach the little guys all they need to know!

Pottie training was pretty easy now that we have the backyard! I would take them out and say "Go Pottie" and give them a treat if they did. Now they do it on command...she better than he. Duke has a bit of a stubborn streak! lol
This is all three of them a few days ago...they have all gotten to dang big..and not yet done from my understanding!!

The unfortunate world that we live in

2010-02-24T09:07:00.002-07:00

There was another school shooting yesterday. A man who apparently went to the school 18 years ago had been hearing voices for a while now, decided that he would take his fathers' gun and go to the school and start shooting. He will appear in a hearing today being charged with 2 counts of first degree murder.

Now besides the actual shooting of innocent kids...here is the problem that I have with this. This man who is obviously mentally ill never received treatment for his illness. It was said that he and the family could not afford the medication, so he lived with his father and worked on the family farm. Because he could not receive medication, the voices continued and finally brought him to that school with a gun and began shooting. Now, in custody he will get the medication that he needs and be tried as mentally ill and not serve the term that he deserves. So then, who's fault is it...the man, the illness, or the health care?

We create our own problems...

After picking up Bayle from school yesturday (before the shooting) he told me that his school had a lock down drill. This is where the kids are locked inside their classrooms in the event that something like this would happen. It is sad that we now need to practice drills for psycho's like we would for tornado's and fire's.

The schools have also locked down their security for anyone entering the building. You now have to sign in and have a picture ID on file. Bayle's school is very good at this...but last week I went to pick up Taylor early from school and they did not ask for an ID or to sign her out, nothing.... didn't even ask her if she knew me...very scary...and last week I had to go into Jacey's school and they also did not ask me for an ID or to sign in. I think that if the school feels it necessary to have drills and security measures in place, then they need to follow them to a tee...

The two kids that were shot yesterday are doing a better now. One was released from the hospital last night and the other is still listed in critical condition..but he made it through the night. By the grace of God they will both come out healthy. Although at their young age will need to live with the memory of this horrific day.

3 months later

2010-02-23T09:45:00.003-07:00

Well...it has been way too long since my last blog. And not much has changed!

Amanda now has her licensed...scary in itself. But she is mature and really watches the rules of the road. And with winter almost over, there is not much left to worry about. But then again, I didn't get my permit until I was 17 and then it was only because I had too. And that next year, I still made a bad choice and totaled my mothers' car. So hopefully, she will make it through to the next year!!! I think she can. She makes sure that the radio is down and her cell phone is put away. :)

Last I blogged, I announced that we just bought a home!! Can I say how much I have waited and longed to live free of the apartments!! To have no one living above you and bouncing on the ceiling...to not have to watch a movie without surround sound because the lady next to us likes it quiet... I love living in so much space!! I can cook in my kitchen...I can load the dishwasher and still get into the fridge...I have sooo much counterspace!!!! We have three living rooms, a dining room, full basement, loft for my scrap stuff....soo much more room. And we have a nice size backyard and an attached 2 car garage...and here is the clincher...we only pay $30 more to live here then we did there!! Yeah!!

Now you may be asking...why in the world did you not do this earlier? Well, we wanted our kids to go to some of the better schools and needed to live within the boundries. So we have been living in the apartment for 7 years now so that they could go to those schools. Taylor will be going to high school next year and we were hoping to 'choice' Bayle into his current school (depending on where we found a house). Brent and I knew that they both would be able to finish their current year..so we started looking in August and closed in November. The new house in unfortunately outside of the school boundary (same district) and in January I was able to 'choice' Bayle to stay in his current school as long as I can get him to and from, and Taylor will actually go to the same High School that I went to. She is pretty excited about it and we go to register her on Wednesday. Yeah!!

I need to start up the 30 blogs in 30 days again...Maybe this will be day 1!

I'm back

2009-11-25T15:58:00.003-07:00

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

2009-11-10T22:08:00.000-07:00

Testing the blog....

Small Talk Six - Deserted what??

2009-11-07T08:06:00.003-07:00

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

2009-11-06T13:11:00.003-07:00

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!

2009-11-05T11:36:00.004-07:00

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...

2009-11-04T15:08:00.009-07:00

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

2009-11-03T08:53:00.004-07:00

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!

2009-11-02T11:15:00.006-07:00

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!

2009-11-01T23:08:00.002-07:00

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

2009-10-28T11:12:00.002-06:00

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!

2009-10-27T12:36:00.005-06:00

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??

2009-10-02T22:42:00.006-06:00

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

2009-09-24T08:56:00.003-06:00

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

2009-09-11T10:45:00.003-06:00

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

2009-09-07T22:25:00.002-06:00

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!!

2009-09-02T14:08:00.002-06:00

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??

2009-08-04T14:06:00.003-06:00

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!!

2009-08-03T14:14:00.004-06:00

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

2009-06-10T11:02:00.002-06:00

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

2009-06-06T13:55:00.003-06:00

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!

2009-06-01T08:37:00.004-06:00

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!

2009-05-26T21:17:00.001-06:00

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

2009-05-21T19:26:00.003-06:00

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

2009-05-19T09:55:00.004-06:00

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

2009-05-13T10:06:00.002-06:00

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

2009-05-12T09:59:00.002-06:00

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!

2009-04-22T13:18:00.003-06:00

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

2009-04-14T10:51:00.005-06:00

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

2009-04-06T15:30:00.003-06:00

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

2009-03-25T13:05:00.003-06:00

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

2009-03-17T09:54:00.002-06:00

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

2009-03-12T09:23:00.003-06:00

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

2009-03-10T15:07:00.003-06:00

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!!!!!

2009-03-06T08:12:00.002-07:00

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

2009-03-06T08:02:00.002-07:00

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

2009-03-04T17:21:00.003-07:00

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

2009-03-03T09:55:00.002-07:00

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!!

2009-02-25T13:02:00.002-07:00

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

2009-02-20T08:59:00.002-07:00

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

2009-02-19T07:53:00.003-07:00

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

2009-02-17T21:53:00.003-07:00

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

2009-02-12T09:53:00.008-07:00

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...

2009-02-10T11:36:00.005-07:00

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!

2009-02-04T10:33:00.007-07:00

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

2009-02-02T14:08:00.002-07:00

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

2009-01-27T11:28:00.005-07:00

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

2009-01-22T09:09:00.003-07:00

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

2009-01-21T10:03:00.003-07:00

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

"Beep me on my beeper".

Proud to be an American

2009-01-20T09:53:00.005-07:00

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

2009-01-19T13:46:00.005-07:00

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

2009-01-18T23:32:00.003-07:00

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

2009-01-15T15:05:00.003-07:00

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

2009-01-14T15:45:00.006-07:00

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.

Our little Satna's Gift!

2008-12-30T18:49:00.003-07:00

Christmas Eve started off as most do, with wrapping and jolly sing song. The kids were busy making letters for Santa and cutting cookies to go in the oven. Daddy was on the way home to pick us up to start our traditional evening of 'light' watching and more singing!

But something told me that I needed to stay home and continue wrapping. So as I kissed the kiddos, and shuffled them off into the car, the hubby gave me a kiss and a wink, and drove them off.

As I went back into the house, there was something different about the place. I peeked around the corner into the living room, and there stood a man in Red holding a little red ball of fur. He said, that this poor little guy was getting cold sitting in the sleigh and they took a detour to deliver him early. He said to take care of him and gave over the scared little puppy. As I was saying my hello to the new little guy, the man in Red made his escape up through the chimney. And I heard him exclaim, as he rode out of site. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

That is the 'official' story at our house as to how Meko came to be with us!! He is a Shiba Inu going on his 12th week. He does not bark, and needs to be clean, which helps tremendously with potty training!! Yeah!! Isn't he cute!!

Yeah for Santa!! *wink*

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-24T21:19:00.000-07:00

Just want to wish everyone a quick

Merry Christmas
and
Happy New Year!!

One Tradition

2008-12-20T15:06:00.006-07:00

Bayle asked me a couple of years ago how Santa was going to leave Christmas gifts under the tree if we did not have a chimney for him to come down. And this made me start to make up a story about him having a magical key to get in through the front door, but then I thought that if Santa has all of this magic, we could make him a chimney to come down! And since then, we have been making one every year!!

This is too cute!

2008-12-19T20:25:00.002-07:00




http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/9Vu8xxB3kxPuFoml

Oh, those teen years

2008-12-18T09:56:00.003-07:00

Growing up, I had my share of good friends and not so good friends. I had friends that would start out sweet only to cut ties and gossip about my dreams and secrets as a joke to other girls. I had friends that would only call me when their 'other friends' were unavailable. I also had friends that would steal from me, and still continue to act as a friend. But I also had some amazing friends that stuck up for each other. And yes, unfortunately, I also found myself playing small/large parts in all of these scenarios. Hindsight is definitely 20/20.

Without these friends, both good and bad, hopefully we gals realize how to treat people and appreciate one another. And we have learned from our mistakes...hopefully.

So anyway, the reason I bring this up, is I have found myself trying to give advice to my teenage daughter. She is having some issues with a few of her friends. She is also very moody and distant. Brent and I have noticed something changing for a few weeks now, and last night I was able to sit her down and talk about some of the things going on in school and such. And she finally opened up. It seems that she is fighting what she knows morally knows is right vs. peer pressure. She is also being accused of something that started with a misunderstanding.

And I am fighting every inch of myself not to tell her what to do. She knows what is right, and all I can do is listen and give advice. She will need to make the decisions herself, right or wrong.

It kills me to know what she is going to go through and the hurt feelings that she will have. Am I a bad mother for 'letting' her go through this? I guess I don't see it this way. Without those girlfriends of mine who wronged me in some way, I would not have learned how to be a good person. And without me making some wrong decisions, and hurting others, I would not have learned the pain of seeing their faces. We all need to go through that to a point. I just need to be a good listener so she feels that she will always have someone to talk to.

An appology

2008-12-17T13:45:00.003-07:00

My life drastically changed about a week before Thanksgiving. It all started when I answered the door and the police were standing there. Now, I cannot go into details as to why they came to visit, but to say that everything in the end will be okay. It is the waiting and not knowing that is driving me crazy. And I have thrown myself into other work until things get back to...well...not really normal, but back.

Anyway, I will be posting more often, and visiting other sites to leave some love. And when everything calms down, I blog about the nonsense going on. :)

A one-two kick

2008-12-01T13:44:00.003-07:00

So both of my kiddos turned a year older yesterday. Yep, they share a birthday 6 years apart, and up until this year, it has been easy to juggle. And I guess, this year really wasn't soo bad, I am just realizing how much harder it's going to get.

They both want big parties with all of their friends and games and prizes, etc. Last year, we threw a Murder Mystery Party for Taylor with clues and a fancy dinner. All the girls dressed up as their character and played their parts. Bayle had the Transformer Party where all the boys had to go through Transformer Training and in the end they got awards. Both of these parties took a lot of work and time and honestly I just don't want to do it again. Although it would be unfair of me to say they can no longer have parties, they did agree to switching off between years. Yeah!! :)

So now, one will have the big party and the other a smaller one with just a few friends. They rolled Rock, Paper, Scissors and it looks like Bayle will have the big one this year. And he wants a Wii party. How easy is that!! He gets the bigger party and he picks one that is soo easy for me to plan. lol But Taylor still wants her sweet 16 party, so the parties will stay as is!

Easy :)

MomDot Christmas of Dreams Day 12

2008-11-27T17:44:00.003-07:00

I am Thankful for the blessing of being able to pray to the God of our choice.

I am Thankful for those men and women who are fighting for our country.
I am Thankful for the change that this country is willing to make.
I am Thankful for the life that I am able to lead.

I am Thankful that my children can choose who they want to be.

I am Thankful for family living so close.

I am Thankful that my family that is healthy.

I am Thankful for my Husband and children who make me who I am.
I am Thankful for my friends.
I am Thankful for a day to remember about all of the things to be Thankful for!!

Happy Turkey Day!!

MomDot Christmas of Dreams Day 11

2008-11-26T16:41:00.003-07:00

MomDot Christmas of Dreams Blog Party is hosting a party for the next few weeks. Its so easy to get caught up in our own blogs, that sometimes we need to find a way to interact amongst each other.

Sponsors: Day Eleven Blog Party Question is Brought to you by Shishu Style and Mimsi Bags.

Now here’s the tough part, if you could only pick one food to eat on Thanksgiving, what would it be? I know, pure torture! Do you have a home-cooked meal or eat out? Does your family dress up?

One food...Baklava!

Thanksgiving is held at my Mom and Dad's home, with her 8 brothers and sisters and their families. We set it up like a potluck and my Aunt Marcia brings the Baklava!! There were a few years when she lived in Nebraska or Texas when she could not make it, but she is back and living close by...yeah!!! :)

We do not dress up, but I do try to instill the meaning of giving. And this year, Bayle came home from school and told me all about Thanksgiving. It was great to sit and listen!

MomDot Christmas of Dreams Day 10

2008-11-26T16:24:00.003-07:00

MomDot Christmas of Dreams Blog Party is hosting a party for the next few weeks. Its so easy to get caught up in our own blogs, that sometimes we need to find a way to interact amongst each other.

Sponsors: Day Ten Blog Party Question is Brought to you by Organic Blankees, Huddy Buddy, and Baby Legs.

Do you decorate for the holidays? Do you have a themed tree? Share pics! Do you think there is such thing as OVER decorating?

Yes, No, When I find them, and Absolutely!

I do decorate. I blogged before about the manger that my mom gave me, then there is the traditional tree. Every year, I try to get crafty and have the kiddos take part in some part and make something. A couple of years ago, I bought the craft foam and cut our large stockings and laced them up with colored string. Then each kiddo decorated it making it their own. And last year, they were filled up with so much that some of them tore...so we need to make new ones this year.

We do not have a theme tree, unless you consider kids crafty stuff a theme! And yes, there is such a thing as OVER decorating!!! Not every inch of your house needs to have something holiday-ish. :) When your electric bill is more then it is Jan-Nov....it is time to stop decorating!

MomDot Christmas of Dreams Day 9

2008-11-26T16:08:00.004-07:00

MomDot Christmas of Dreams Blog Party is hosting a party for the next few weeks. Its so easy to get caught up in our own blogs, that sometimes we need to find a way to interact amongst each other.

Sponsors: Day Nine Blog Party Question is Brought to you by jaC Jewelry, Cutie Covers and Sassy Baby

So I want to hear, what is the most unusual gift you’ve received? It doesn’t have to be bad, just unusual.

Wow...this is a hard one. I guess the most unusual gift was a donation made in my name. It's actually a very good...great gift to give. My dad did it a couple of years ago. Actually, this gives me an idea for family this year. :)

MomDot Christmas of Dreams Day 8

2008-11-26T15:55:00.003-07:00

MomDot Christmas of Dreams Blog Party is hosting a party for the next few weeks. Its so easy to get caught up in our own blogs, that sometimes we need to find a way to interact amongst each other.

Sponsors: Day Eight Blog Party Question is Brought to you by Koshas, Leapfrog and Soda Club.

Do you shop on Black Friday? What time do you start? Do you finish all your shopping on that day? What’s the best deal you have found? What’s your shopping strategy?

I do not shop on Black Friday. It's scary, people are crazy, and I like to sleep in! Although, Micheal's is having a sale Friday morning...Cricut Cartridges normally go for $89.99...and they are on sale for $29.99...for this I may attempt to venture out...I might send my husband.. :)

MomDot Christmas of Dreams Day 7

2008-11-26T15:48:00.003-07:00

MomDot Christmas of Dreams Blog Party is hosting a party for the next few weeks. Its so easy to get caught up in our own blogs, that sometimes we need to find a way to interact amongst each other.

Sponsors: Day Five Blog Party Question is Brought to you by Sillymonkeez and My Baby Bump

Tell us who is on your naughty list? Who is on your nice list? Why?

Everyone is on my nice list!!!
:)

Reaching

2008-11-21T13:49:00.003-07:00

I have come to find that when life gives you a bowl of cherries,

it usually comes in the form of a pie being thrown at you.

This last two weeks have been a whirlwind of ups and downs,
and seems to have ended on the same note.
And the fallout is still not over.

MomDot Christmas of Dreams Day 6

2008-11-19T10:08:00.003-07:00

MomDot Christmas of Dreams Blog Party is hosting a party for the next few weeks. Its so easy to get caught up in our own blogs, that sometimes we need to find a way to interact amongst each other.

Sponsors: Day Five Blog Party Question is Brought to you by Flying Colors Baby, Uncommonly Cute and Lollipop Book Club.

We would like to know what is your favorite holiday memory from your childhood.

I have two. :)

#1 I don't remember how old I was, but I was young, still in elementary school, and my parents were still together. My sister and I had the rooms upstairs and my brother had the room across from my parents on the main floor. The tree was on the main floor as well, so on Christmas morning, dad would carry by brother, with his eyes covered, by the living room and to the stairs that let to the top floor. The stairs were located in between the kitchen and the living room, so it was a perfect spot to wait. Mom and Dad would make muffins for breakfast and we would eat as fast as we can. Finally when we finished, we were allowed to walk into the living room to see what Santa had brought.
This particular year, when we walked down, I found a big cruise ship for my Barbies. I can't remember the exact name, but from one side you could see the outside of the ship and the other, all of the rooms. It was probably 3x3feet in size and I LOVED it!! I kept that thing much longer than even my barbies and well into my teens. :)

#2 Every year, my dad would take two of us kiddos out to buy a gift for the third one. This would teach us the gift of giving and the joy of watching the other open their gift. Anyway, I love Garfield, and my sister knew this so she had convinced my brother to buy a kit that she would sew and then put in a picture frame. And what made this gift extra special, is that she did spend her extra time sewing it together, for me. That just struck at my heart, and I still have it!!

Happy Birthday Amanda!

2008-11-18T14:43:00.002-07:00

Today is her sweet 16!!

Have a great day sweetie!

MomDot Christmas of Dreams Day 5

2008-11-18T10:56:00.004-07:00

MomDot Christmas of Dreams Blog Party is hosting a party for the next few weeks. Its so easy to get caught up in our own blogs, that sometimes we need to find a way to interact amongst each other.

Sponsors: Day Five Blog Party Question is Brought to you by Baby Pop and Chic Covers

Today, make a blog post about what you do to give back during the holidays. Do you volunteer your time? If so, please tell us where. What do you do to teach your children the true meaning of the holidays?

I do try to teach my children the true meaning of Christmas. Growing up, my mother had a manger scene that we would put on the mantel right after Thanksgiving. As we put each piece up, she would explain their 'purpose' in the birth. A few years ago, she sent the manger to me and I have put it up every year since. Taylor and Bayle love to help place the figures as we discuss the story.

One thing that we are doing this year, is taking three of the kiddos out to buy a present for the forth. This way they can feel that they are participating by giving to others. My brother and sister and I did it while growing up, and I remember taking every second to find that 'just perfect' gift and then seeing them open the gift on Christmas morning!

A couple of weeks ago Bayle brought home a book order form and very quickly explained that this was not for him, but that he could get a book for someone else. So he definitely is getting the 'giving' spirit!

MomDot Christmas of Dreams Day 4

2008-11-17T09:22:00.003-07:00

MomDot Christmas of Dreams Blog Party is hosting a party for the next few weeks. Its so easy to get caught up in our own blogs, that sometimes we need to find a way to interact amongst each other.

Sponsors: Bottlewise and Glow Mama

What is your favorite Holiday Recipe?
I try to cook and bake, but it never really works out very well...meaning...not edible! Although my aunt always brings a 'special' dessert for Thanksgiving! Baklava!! Honey, and nuts, and so very messy...so yummy!!

Describe your Holiday Table?
Thanksgiving consists of 30-40 adults and 15 kiddos or so. We meet at my parents' home almost every year and bring dinner potluck style. Our family lives so close to each other during the year, it seems that we only really get together during the holiday's. And I love it. To see the kids running around and playing, getting to know each other again.

What is your biggest Holiday Cooking Disaster?
I do not cook...otherwise I would have a whole bunch of stories to tell here! :)

MomDot Christmas of Dreams Day 3

2008-11-14T14:14:00.005-07:00

MomDot Christmas of Dreams Blog Party is hosting a party for the next few weeks. Its so easy to get caught up in our own blogs, that sometimes we need to find a way to interact amongst each other.

Have you started your Christmas shopping yet? Do you budget for the holidays? Do you always stick to your budget? Share with us any budgeting tips you may have!

Sponsored by: Appledonia, Hippos Toes and My Bag.

Between November 17th and Christmas, there are three kids birthdays and then...Christmas! We save all year for the last 40 days, so we have to budget. I try to start shopping early November but I still end up going to the mall on Christmas Eve to grab something that I overlooked. And do I stick to my budget...no...I like to think of it as a jumping off point. :) My husband has to pull me back.

Until tomorrow~

Mom Dot Christmas of Dreams Day 1 and 2

2008-11-13T12:48:00.008-07:00

Introduce us to your family and share Holiday pics or videos of past years (Christmas, Hanukkah, Thanksgiving)

Sponsored by: La Belle Toile and This and That

Let's see. There is my husband whom I married 7 years ago. I had a daughter of my own at the time and he had two from a previous marriage. So we started our life as a pre-made family. Nine months after the wedding came our youngest son. Amanda will be 16 this month, Tyler is now 13, Taylor will be 13 this month, and Bayle will be 7. We have two kitties, Wonka and Tipsy.

Taylor, Tyler, Amanda, Bayle, and the Hubby!

Just the kiddos Trimming the Tree

Traditions

Sponcered by: La Plates, Let's go Strolling, and Natitys Design

Thanksgiving is always spent with my Mom and Dad's family. We come in from all over the state to celebrate. The women are usually talking and helping with the feast and the men folk find themselves plopped on the couch watching football :) ! Although depending on the weather, they will step out to re-live some deep set image of each other playing professional ball! :)

My brother Dusty, Amanda, Dusty's son Jacey, and the Hubby

Christmas is a whole other story. It starts on the Eve when we pick up the kids and drive around to look at lights. There are a couple of neighborhoods that have little contests, and it's always a fun time to drive up and down to see the 'show'. After a few hours of this, we head home to make hot chocolate (with marsh mellows), make cookies, and read 'Twas the night before Christmas'. We get cleaned up and say our good nights and head to bed.

Although, this is where my night begins! I start by finishing the wrapping of the gifts. I know, I know, not really a tradition, but every year I end up with some to wrap, and I expect and plan for it, so there for, it fits under tradition. lol I take down our stockings and start to fill them with the various gifts for each child. The boys always get a Hot Wheel car as Daddy's signature gift. I try to buy the big candy canes that are filled with M& M's...but they get sold fast. Each get their favorite candy and assorted treats. And then Santa comes. The Hubby really gets into this part. Placing them just right so that everyone can see as they walk out. And we finally make it to be about 1am or so.

Christmas morning, our alarms go off about 6am. I will get out muffins or dognuts for breakfast and we wake the kids. We have the kids eat breakfast in the 'boys' room and about 7am make the long awaited walk to the living room. They will walk in order of hight and put their hands over the eyes of the kiddo in front of them. And then on a count of 3, they lift! We look at Santa stuff, grab their own stocking and claim a spot in the living room. I usually play Santa and hand out gifts. We open, say thank you, and then for the rest of the day...play.

Yeah...this is fun...come back tomorrow for Day 3 and if you would like to join, hop over to MomDot.com!!

A scary situation

2008-11-09T12:02:00.003-07:00

Sorry that I have not been around to blog to much. We have been dealing with this cold that is going around. (I am now on week 3) How long is a cold allowed to last?!?!

But the biggest reason I have not been around has to do with what I do for a living. As some of you may know, I have a daycare in my home. I have been doing this for about 5 years and love doing it! Well, one of my little one's scared the crap out of me...to the point that I had 911 on the phone.

Everything, in the end, turned out okay. But at the time, I was frantic as to what should I have done, or could have done. Should I have not done something that I did. If the baby had stopped breathing, I could have revived him, but this was not the case. Here I was holding this little guy, and I was helpless to troubleshoot what was happening.

But we now know what happened and we now know how to prevent it. And I have signed up for an emergency first aid class. By doing this, I should feel more capable and confident to access problems as they may occur, build up some confidence that I have lost this last week.

This is the first and hopefully only time that one of the little one's in my care need first aid. I am just thankful that everything turned out okay.

I Voted!!!

2008-11-04T07:58:00.003-07:00

Did you?

You have all day to get out there and make sure that you have a say for the next four years!

I was one of the first 20 peeps to vote here in my area, and I brought my son and nephew along to see how it all worked. Bayle had talked during school about the election and the kids took a mini vote yesterday at school. So he was excited to learn and watch how it was really done. He asked questions that I did not think he would understand and even watched me push the buttons. It was a great experience for him at age 6. And a good example set for when he comes of age to decide the country's future!

Sugar Rush

2008-11-03T09:50:00.005-07:00

What a weekend!!

Here in Colorado, it almost always snows on Halloween. In the last 7 years it has done just that. But this year, we were out without jackets, and in flip flops! It was amazing!
Taylor decided that she is now too big to go running around with her parents during the night, and I had decided that she is still too young to go around with just her friends. So we settled on she going with her friends and a mother walking 'a house' behind. So as Taylor was up ahead, I had invited my brother and his little one to walk with the hubby, Bayle, and I. Bayle went as 'Scream' and Jacey went as the Hulk. And the kids were running from house to house with their baskets filling them up, trying to race to the next house and be the one to ring the doorbell. But in the end, they all came home with enough candy for the next two years.

Changes

2008-10-29T14:25:00.002-06:00

I have decided to make this blog mostly about my life, my family, and the other silly things that I will want to jot down. Which means, my scrapbooking stuff is moving to another blog, so if you come here to look at pages and such, hop over to Sketch Me! And if you come to read about me, stay a bit, I will be posting a lot more!

And you can always just bookmark me and visit both!! :)

Have a great Wednesday!

We can no longer spell it out

2008-10-25T20:00:00.004-06:00

Actual Conversation

Me: Taylor's waiting out in the car. We are going to run home so that she can change and then go to the movie. What are you boys thinking about doing?

Hubby: I thought we would go to a movie too, but (spelled out) B-O-L-T is not out yet.

Me: Oh...

My smart thinking 1st grader: Bolt?

Hubby: (looks down at him stunned)

Me: So no more coded conversations in front of the kids anymore...

Never want to go back

2008-10-14T11:31:00.002-06:00

You hear every sound...every creek of the house settling, every noise of a car driving down the road, everything. You get up to check the locked door, to tuck the kiddos in one more time. You check the windows, you and glance down the street for unknown cars. You see shadows in the doorways and know that they will not be there when you open up your eyes.

This was my paranoid self last night. The hubby was in Utah on an overnight trip receiving an award and is flying back this afternoon. I was up all night just re-checking things.

I never realized how much I depend on him to keep us safe.

Thanks Babe!

Thursday Thirteen 28

2008-10-09T07:35:00.002-06:00

The Name Game - I saw this at My Little Drummer Boys...

1.Your rock star name (first pet, current car)
Tashy Jeep

2.Your gangsta name (favorite ice cream flavor, favorite type of shoe)
Mint Flop

3.Your Native American name (favorite color, favorite animal)
Purple Tiger

4.Your soap opera name (middle name, city where you were born)
Rene' Thornton

5.Your Star Wars name (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 of your first name)
Ayech

6.Superhero name (2nd favorite color, favorite drink)
Cream White Russian

7.NASCAR name (the first names of your grandfathers)
William Fredrick

8.Dancer name (the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent, favorite candy)
Sun Musketeer

9.TV weather anchor name (your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter)
Gunn Galvinston

10.Spy name (your favorite season/holiday, flower)
Autumn Calla Lily

11.Cartoon name:(favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now)
Coconut Shorts

12.Hippie name (what you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree)
Coffee Cotton

13.Movie star name (first pet, first street where you lived)
Tashy Garfield

Happy TT!

The good...the bad...and the ugly

2008-10-08T12:08:00.015-06:00

The Good~

The weekend was awesome!!! To start, I got my own room! Usually, they have us staying in a dorm like building and there are 2-3 gals in each room with 17 rooms total. We all share a bathroom and showers. Not really that bad, but there is no privacy. This time, when I went to check in, the lady stated that the dorms were full and they did not want to open a new one, so they were putting me in a 'motel style' with my own double bed, bathroom, and locked door. It was definitely a nice change, but I do believe that I will be in the dorms next time! I have too many stupid horror movies about 'camp grounds' to stay alone. lol
Anyway, I finished 21 pages and even won some awards!! Here are a few pages. (I won't show them all, but I will add them to the link on the left side)

This first page won for a monochromatic page (shades of the same color).It then went up for a vote for page of the weekend and it came in second!!! The journaling is what won it, although my kitty is pretty cute too!

The Bad~

During my weekend away, the Hubby also had work obligations that he had to take care of. So most of last week, was spent calling family to see if anyone could help with taking the kids to games, and keeping them for some of the weekend. My brother offered to take Bayle to his football game. But I guess Bayle still thought that Daddy was going to show up, and somehow I would be there and when he realized that we were not, he was very depressed and was not really into the game. The coach pulled him aside, even my brother tried to pump him up for the game to no avail. He is a lot like my husband in this regard, but that is for a different post.

The UGLY~

Okay, here it goes...I hate, dislike, distain, loath my picture being taken. (Kind of ironic when I love pictures soo much). Anyway, I went back and forth on whether to post this next picture or not. I wanted to go in and fix the colors and the skin tone. Take the bags out from under my eyes. But I decided that...this is me...on 4 hours of sleep I might add...but this is me. Small eyes, all the wrinkles... And it definitely fits under the 'ugly' portion! :) So here it is...this is me on Sunday afternoon before heading home. Oh...and it's my new hair too. Yuck!!! I am much better in person!

Actual Conversation

2008-10-07T06:20:00.004-06:00

(Actual conversation had with girlfriends during the retreat this weekend.)

Friend 1 - I am not even sure my husband thinks sometimes.

Friend 2 - It's a known fact that all men share the same brain.

Friend 3 - well (my husband) needs to borrow it back.

(side note, we all love our husbands!)

Away, away

2008-10-02T18:28:00.005-06:00

Tomorrow...I am gone for the weekend to Nebraska! I have the car rented, my bags packed, the pictures printed, and my scrap stuff ready to go!!
Three years ago, I started going to this camp with only one bag (the black one in the pic) and it has spawned from there. And I come home with a full extra bag of more scrap stuff and loads of finished pages!!

Basically, I arrive and check in at four and scrap for 48 hours straight! They do have little dorm rooms for you to sleep in but most are only in there for a few hours and then back to scrappen. They also have a kitchen with a staff that makes three meals a day, and an espresso machine that is open all day and night!

I get to talk with my girlfriends that live up there and catch up. Learn new techniques, and just relax without the stress of 'life'. And I get to do this two times a year!! I cannot wait!!!

See you on Monday!

Thursday Thirteen 27

2008-10-01T14:43:00.008-06:00

Thirteen things I have always wanted to do...

1. Visit Venice, Italy

2. Fully learn Sign Language (this one I will accomplish)

3. Get (re)married at the Vegas Drive-thru Chapel

4. Go skinny dipping (I never got the chance in my 'wild and crazy' younger years...although I'm not sure that it's such a great idea in my older years either).

5. Go sky diving!

6. Go snorkeling.

7. Finish my 'Award Winning Novel'.

8. Win the lottery (I don't play, but I still want to win :) )

9. Ride a race car

10. Go back to school and get my teaching degree.

11. Live on a beach in the middle of nowhere!

12. Sail across the ocean.

13. Run for President (because anyone can run for president!!!)

Have camera, will shoot

2008-10-01T08:35:00.012-06:00

I would never claim to be any type of professional when it comes to taking photos, but I also do not see the point in shelling out money for the pre-posed version that the schools offer. So, for the last couple of years, I have taken all of the kids and shot family photos. Some turned out okay, and some...not so much. But this year, I think they turned out pretty good. Although, it's more about the one's in the photos then the photos themselves. Anyway...enjoy!

My kiddos

Amanda Kay

Taylor Rayne

Tyler Lee
Bayle Austin

And these are just some fun stuff that we did...

I will add a link later with more of the ones taken, but I wanted to share just a few. :)

A few pages

2008-09-28T19:52:00.010-06:00

Here are a few pages that I have gotten done these past few weeks. They are all for Tyler's book. I was trying to clean up my area the other day and I have 4 boxes of pictures that I need to scrap for all of the kiddos. And they are just taking up space. So now, I am in a rush to get their books updates and make more room...for more pictures!!! lol Enjoy!

Weekend update

2008-09-22T07:06:00.007-06:00

I heard from my mother, through voice mail that is. They all made it through okay. No power and most of the phones were down. I don't know if there was any water damage, but they live on the west side of Houston and Ike seemed to hit more on the eastern side. I was very happy to hear that they were safe, but many did not come out so lucky. And there is so much more to do to clean everything up.

On Saturday, we were out and about with football, soccer, and cheer leading games. The kiddos played great. Taylor is made for cheer leading and she looks so natural. She is the third one in from the back.

Bayle's football team is soo dang funny to watch. These short kiddos with big heavy helmets trying to run and tackle each other. He has fun though. And enjoys the games more than the practices. (He is number 56)

Sunday we took our Fall pictures of the kids, they turned out so great! I need to fix a few, but I will post them this week. Oh, and I also cut off more than 8 inches of my hair this weekend. My hair has never been this short...maybe in Jr High... I will post a picture of the new do when the sunburn fades from my face. (I forget just how much sun does come through those clouds)

Eye Opener

2008-09-18T06:53:00.003-06:00

An actual conversation

(hubby is walking through the door)

Me: Hello

Him: Hey

Me: {half serious-half smiling} Where have you been? You said you were going to the store for milk, and that was an hour and a half ago.

Him: Really?!

Me: Yep

Him: I went to the book store first. (He LOVES the book store)

Me: Oh...What did you get?

Him: Stuff.

Me: Your not going to show me?

Him: {after a few seconds} What I spend my extra money on is my business.

Me: {a little caught off guard} Yeah...it is. Your really not going to show me?

Him: {smiling} Do I have to?

Me: Why wouldn't you want to?

Him: Hmmm...

My prayers are with her

2008-09-13T10:42:00.002-06:00

My mother lives in a suburb of Houston and if you have been watching the news, they were hit with Hurricane Ike last night. So far from the news, Galveston was hit and flooded but now the water is receding back into the Gulf.

My mother lives in a trailer home, but was able to pack up and stay with her mother who lives about 20 minutes away. I did talk with her yesterday afternoon and they were ready for the storm to hit (water, can food, camping cooker, etc). But she only has a cell phone, no landline phone. So now, we have no way to know if they are okay. But the plan is that she will try every hour to get a line out (if the towers happened to stay up) and let someone know.

Watching CNN, so far there are only 3 fatalities. But it is still very early. In my heart, I believe that she and Granny are in a 'safe' structure, and they will mostly only see water damage. But we don't know for sure, so my prayers are with her...

Send some wishes!

2008-09-12T16:15:00.002-06:00

A friend of mine, Keekah, is celebrating her birthday this weekend. So if you have a moment...please stop by and wish her a happy birthday in one of the comments!!

An Existential Keekah

OMG

2008-09-09T07:59:00.001-06:00

Like....I totally cried watching the Hills last night. Tears and eye liner running down my cheeks while Lauren spoke those words... "I don't want to make you be my friend. I just want you to be my friend." *sniff*

{forward to this morning, back to being the adult}

After watching, I realized that there is not much different between what they are going through and what most of us go through. Friendships need work from both sides and an understanding that there are priorities in each others lives that, at times, will get in the way.

Plainly, friendships are just hard to keep, no matter the age. What changes is the maturity in which we view them.