Christmas was a full house

Christmas Eve was a fun time around here. There is nothing like having 7 ... 20ish year old kids (sorry young adults) around on Christmas eve. They broke the rock band game out and played for hours. It was awesome. Rock band is one of my favorites. Which is why I suggested to Ashley to replace the DJ at the wedding with ... the rock band game. This is standard play around here in the summer. All day long its ... Rock band. (next to Mario .. probably the best video game ever invented)





Everyone was even playing nice, and switching out the instruments. They need to figure out a way to double up the consoles so they can have 8 people playing at a time. After rock band, they all crashed and watched a big hit for the evening ... Brad's present from Deb .. The hangover movie.
I love having everyone home (plus 2 !!) for the holidays.

Happy Birthday Little Brother ...

Well today is my little brother's birthday. I was thinking earlier .. how old is Mike .. and after doing the math ...




OMG he's 46 ???

Checked my math ... and yes indeed it is right. So, Happy birthday Mike ... hope you have a great birthday.

It's official ...

Ashley is now a college graduate.

Mark, Kayla & I went down to Springfield yesterday for Ashley's graduation. We got there early and had a chance to see how they fixed up their apartment, then it was off to the ceremony.
We had our fingers crossed since there was a little issue with getting signed off for graduation ... but everything went off perfectly. After the ceremony we went to the downtown area for a late lunch at one of their favorite restaurants. College towns always have cute little restaurants ...
We went back to their apartment for some pictures, and hang out for a little bit and it was time for the long ride home. We actually hit snow (yeah) about a half hour after leaving. It made for a little bit longer ride ... but that's ok.
So now that college is all done ... I guess it's time for a "real job" ??

If you ask anyone ...

Who "my precious baby" is ... they will tell you Minky.

That's all I call him, and have since we got him 4 ish years ago. Well, yesterday I took my pbm (precious baby minky) to the groomer. That's pretty standard fare around here, since he's an adorable, chubby long-haired Persian who really needs to go to the beauty salon regularly.
I had running around to do as well, getting ready for Christmas, and all the kids and friends coming home soon. Normally, it's just Mark and I with Danny every other week. Soon our little 2 person home will be filled with 9. So there's lots to do around here.

So I come back to get my pbm, and Carol who I affectionaly call Mrs. Minky (she sorta looks just like him lol) is crying, and just hysterical. She says Minky needs to go to the vet right now. She was trimming him, and accidently cut him with the clippers. I'm a little worried because, like I said she was soooo upset. I go in the back where he is .. and hes doing ok. He definitely needs to go to the vet, since hes got a pretty big gash on his side .. but he's ok.
I am trying to calm Carol down, since I really do understand that sometimes things just happen, it's the way it goes. She is the most wonderful lady you could ever meet. She is so incredibly patient and kind ... and to top it off ... one of the best groomers around. So I grab Minky and Kallie (she was there for the day spa as well) and head off to the vets.

The only vet open at this time, is the one by Kayla. Not too far, about 25 minutes. Get there, they take a look at my pbm, and say .. yeah looks like he needs stitches, and it would be about 2-3 hours since they need to put him out. Kayla is still in class, so go over to the pizza place to have dinner. After dinner, I call up Kayla and figure I would hang out with her since I can't go home (too far), can't go shopping (too late)

She was busy setting up her art final for sculpture class. So I'm watching her and to be honest ... it's like a giant pile of trash. There is metal, wire, plaster, boxes, rusted stuff, cement things ... and I swear, just regular trash thrown in as well. I was thinking to myself .. good thing shes on scholarship here, otherwise I would be paying for this lol.
The project is .. something about chaos, and how life just overloads you. (I'm not seeing it .. but I'm not the art major here)
So she fixes the lights, and hooks up the electrical and is ready for a test drive.

Omg, I was shocked. The bright lights are shining right on you, and then all the sounds start ... sirens, dogs barking, people talking, babies crying, every unnerving sound you can think of ... is there. On top of all this is the contraption she built, which just looks, like it could collapse on you at any second. (not a good thing) Mission accomplished. Chaos and panic .. check. I was very impressed. I am not at all the artsy type .. but I got it.

I take her back to her dorm, and go pick up my pbm. He's doing ok, he has one of those cone things on his head, but other than that .. he'll be fine. Doctor says he needs to wear that for 2 weeks (I'm not seeing it, as he cant eat or drink with it on) Since he's a persian, he has a flat face which doesnt even come out of the cone thing. So unless I dump food in the top where his head is .. there is no way he can eat. Took that off as soon as I left, and brought Minky over to see Kayla on the way home. She just petted him for a little bit and it was time to head back home. As I left it was obvious somethings never change.
It's midnight
freezing cold
and Kayla is chasing a little stray cat around the parking lot.

Danny's birthday dinner ...

We went out last night to celebrate Danny's birthday. He wanted to go somewhere different, so we picked up Kayla and went to the loop. I thought this would be perfect since we could go to Jilly's cupcake bar and get birthday cupcakes and then head down to Blueberry Hill for dinner. We found Jilly's after a little bit of mistaken directions, and they were closed. So no birthday cupcakes for you ... and off to dinner we went.
We get to the restaurant .. no problem.. except the usual one.

dun dun duh ... parallel parking

Can't do it, not even close. But we all lived through the nail biting stress that is me ... trying to parallel park. Dinner was good and then took Kayla back to the dorm and headed back home. On the way home, we stopped for birthday ice cream since the cupcake thing didn't happen.

Ashley and Brad are still at school ... so it was just Danny and Kayla for birthday festivities. Mark and Danny went out and got Pulp Fiction to watch tonight. They seem to think it's the best movie ever ... me not so much. I would have to go with Willy Wonka (original) and The sound of music.

Happy Birthday Danny -

Happy birthday Danny- I can't believe you are 17 today.

Sunny - St. Louis

Every morning it's the same thing.
I open the curtains, and the cats all run over to find the perfect tanning spot for the day. Today ... Chewy and Mimi won the early morning placement. Later as the day goes on ... the whole back of the house looks like pool side at the beach. It's just one "dead" looking cat after another. You have to be careful walking around in there ... because they are everywhere.

I'm grounded today ...

Well, at least that's what is implied from the fed-ex email I got early this morning. Since I'm waiting on a few Christmas presents ... I really can't take the chance of going anywhere. So instead, I'm getting some things done around the house.


I went to scrapbooking last night, and made this little wall hanging. I just think it's adorable.
Danny isn't over this week because he is sick. Now we don't know if caught what Brad had .. or just your normal everyday sickness.
This has really been a tough couple of months around here with people getting sick. Everyone but Kayla and I have gotten some sort of illness. Even a couple of the cats are sick. Unbelievable.


Well ... off to get stuff done.

Last night ...

Was Mark's work Christmas party. Normally, it is held at a local bar/restaurant but this year, they held it at the casino. Dinner was very nice, and then we went down to the floor to gamble a bit.
I haven't been to the casino in years. But when I did go, I only played 1 machine in the slot area ... Wheel of Fortune. Now the reason this is "my game" is one time I was up north with Deb and my dad and we saw someone win like $25,000 on this game. From then on .. it was the only game I played. I walked around for 10 minutes before realizing they had gotten rid of my game.
So I walked over to the high roller room, this is the room with the higher amount slots. I always play $20 on 2 different machines ... one pull.
See what happens.

But when I was looking for which machine to use ... I found "my machine". K, it wasn't mine, because my machine was a dollar slot. This is a $5 machine. So ... what to do, what to do.
Can't play this machine, this would be $15 a pull. omg ... I would be out of money in like 5 minutes. So this is what I came up with. I would take half the money I brought to gamble, and play this machine. That way, I still left with half, and I still got to play "my machine".
So ... put a hundred bucks in. Now it's $15 a pull, so this is going to be over pretty quick. Sit down, light a cigarette (you can still smoke in the casino's here) and start playing. On the second pull I realize ... damn I won't make it 5 minutes at $15 a pull. But whatever ... I understand the deal. On the third pull, I hear ... wheel .. of ... fortune. Which means- I got a spin on the big wheel. So I hit the button and ... omg I won $1000.
Now bigger question then before, I just won alot of money ... but it's not my money it's the casino's. Stay and play ... this is a huge money machine ... I could win like 10,000 maybe even 25,000 like the guy up north.

But those thoughts only lasted a second and my same old rules came into play ... which are
If you win ... alot ... you cash out and leave. I've even left before my car made it out of valet before.

So I cashed out and went off to find Mark. He was playing video poker (don't get it at all) So after watching him play for awhile, I was telling him the difference in our "gambling styles". I want to win huge or lose, not just play forever and stay even. ( which is by the way why I won't go to Vegas with his work for 2 weeks ... I would die) He finally hits for 4 of a kind (guess that's a big deal in video poker), but he won like ... $20. I'm like .. this is the problem .. here you get a great hand and since your playing such a cheap machine .. you don't win anything. So he changed machines and hit for 4 of a kind again ... this time he won $250.
Now this new theory of ... play big or don't play .. worked good tonight, but I'm sure will come back to haunt us later since ... he does have to go to Vegas for 2 weeks at a time. Maybe that way of playing will carry over in Vegas .... ahhh I doubt it. LOL

Too good to pass up ...

I got the Godiva catalog in the mail today, and thought I died and went to Heaven. I think they did the cover shot ... just for me.

I love - love - love Godiva chocolate. Yes, I know it's a little pricey, but I don't get it all the time .. just once in a while.
I did order this cake tonight, it doesn't come with the melted chocolate but that's ok. I can melt my own. Maybe I'll even share some with Mark and the kids. On second thought, this might be like my Christmas card issue - Who is Godiva omg chocolate cake worthy. Hmmm, I'll have to get back to you on that one. lol

Does it get any cuter than this ...

Found this on the internet yesterday. The cutest thing I've ever seen.

Surprised Kitty @ Yahoo! Video

Snow update - no snow lol (it is cold enough, but so far ... nothing)

Fall is hanging on ...

Well for now it is.
This is the grandpa tree in the front yard. I'll explain about the name later, but if you look in the top right part of the tree ... there is a little cluster of bright red leaves. All the rest of the leaves fell off right around Halloween. It's been from the 30's to the 80's ... and there still there. The next couple of days will tell though ... as I heard today that shhhh > We're getting 3 inches of snow tomorrow. What ... snow .. are you serious. Today I had the doors and windows open since it was in the high 60's. I do love snow so ... forget the 3 inches ... how about 3 feet.



Now back to the grandpa tree. I call it that, because my dad has a tree like this in his front yard .. and I just love that tree. So .. when we moved in here and were doing the landscaping ... I told Mark, we have to have a blah blah whatever the name of the tree really is or as I call it ... the grandpa tree.
Actually dad is quite popular around the house, as we also have a grandpa light. This is the light in the kitchen that burned out ... maybe 6 months after we moved in. Tried and tried .. we couldn't figure out how to change the light bulb. (I even went to the store to have them show me how to change it) So after having it burned out for a couple of years we kind of got used to it not working.
My dad was coming down one time and I started thinking ... hmmmm I'm going to ask him to take a look at it and see if he can figure it out, since he's really good with fixing things. I did go out and buy a new globe with the last resort of busting the glass to change the bulb. And that's exactly what he had to do. I guess the house settled and made it impossible to remove the glass without breaking it. He took down the light, broke the glass, changed the bulb and put it back up. But forever and always it's called the grandpa light. The one light in the entire house that is used -only- when we need it, and is shut off as soon as were done. (to conserve the light bulb, knowing how much work it is to change)
Thanks dad .. it's still working great.

Thanksgiving is over ...

It was so nice to have everyone home for the holiday weekend. As you can see from the picture .. the dishwashers are running none stop around here. Ashley and Doug were in Tuesday night, and were here on and off over the holiday. They left yesterday afternoon to head back home and get things done when they are not so busy. Brad and Kayla were in Wednesday, and Danny was here the whole week. Time is going by pretty quick around here with Christmas and the wedding coming up so fast.


Thanks Kayla for all your help with the tablecloth. I wish I would of thought of this when the kids were little, but as I've told them ... "In like 15 years .. this is going to be awesome" lol. I stole this idea from a scrapbooking friend, and I just love it. I bought a large white tablecloth, and Kayla painted a Thanksgiving design in the center. I plan to put it out every year, and everyone can sign it. They can draw a picture, or just write a message .. whatever they would like to do. As the years go by, and they get married, and have kids .. it will all show up on the tablecloth.

Happy Thanksgiving

update - It's 11 am here, and so far .. so good.

No injuries/events yet today.

It makes you wonder ...

When everything goes just a little "too" easy.

Everything is in -Thanksgiving is in 2 days, and the kids will all be home from school starting today mode-

So I'm getting everything done around here, getting ready for the holiday and long weekend with the kids home. It's so nice to have everyone home, even if it's just for a couple extra days.

This is the part that's starting to make me wonder a little bit. Went to the grocery store this morning. It was pouring rain out, but stopped as soon as I got to the store. Then started back up when I was inside, and stopped again when I came out. Soon as I got everything in the car ... pouring again. Since I never go out in the rain, your thinking .. wow good timing. (perhaps but it gets better)
So I get everything I need at the store for the holiday and all the specialized kid food, and it's all perfect .. fruits, veggies .. everything. And, they even have everything I need on the list. (now that's a little strange) This whole grocery store trip is just as easy as can be, no lines .. actually it was pretty empty. Come home, and everything fits into the fridge no problem. (hmmm) ... normally I'm rearranging for a half hour just trying to get it all in there good enough so it doesn't fall on you when you open the door.

So far, the Holiday weekend is just the easiest thing in the world. But, that isn't how it usually goes around here.

Thanksgiving is somewhat of a dangerous time for me. I've had a fire (not my fault), a flood (k that one was my fault, but I did learn you don't put potato peelings down the garbage disposal, (the plumber making .. I can't even imagine -quadruple- time shared that tip) And at least 2 trips to the clinic for stitches. All all this has happened in the last 5 ish years. Not to worry though, everyone else is safe on this holiday .. it's just me who has "issues".

Today I'm pondering ...

Why some things never change.

There are 3 weeks out of the entire year ... the fridge is really kind of spoken for... Thanksgiving, Christmas, & Easter. Yet Mark went to the grocery store yesterday .. and filled the fridge with "Mark food". Now Mark food is stuff no one else in the entire house will really eat. It's an incredible variety of veggies, cheeses, lunch meats, 5 different varieties of drinks, 2 kinds of yogurt, and this isn't including the ( I just counted them 39 different types of "prep" items ( sauces, oils, dressings ... etc etc etc.) and countless other items. The thing is .. when the kids aren't here .. we eat out alot.
Sooo, what is this little mini grocery store in the kitchen for exactly??
No one really knows. But that is my job today .. to sort through - all this stuff and try and figure out where I can put food for the other 5 of us (since everyone will be home for Thanksgiving) as well as Holiday food.
It looks like I have my work cut out for me .. as I have no clue where I'm going to make room in a place .. where there is no room.

But while I'm doing that .. I'll think about these other things that make no sense ..

How can there be an empty laundry basket/hamper surrounded by dirty clothes ??

How can Danny leave his school books here, for an entire week and not need them ??

Why do the cats always wait until I've just vacuumed/washed the floor - to throw up on it??

Why every week - I have to remind someone about taking the trash to the street. I mean really .. it's kinda like Valentines day ( always on February 14th) .. same day every week .. never changes.

And of course the biggie - How can I go to the grocery store and spend $300. and have everyone who opens the fridge say ... " How come we never have anything to eat here??"
(I'll be hearing that last one alot in the week ahead .. lol )

Sometimes .. you lose sight of the ball

That would be today. I was thinking this morning after I got up .. what I wanted to do today. I do have a scrapbooking class this afternoon, and there is a huge craft fair this weekend .. but other than that .. what to do .. what to do ?? Well, I figured, if and when Mark got up .. we could go out to breakfast. That would be nice and something we don't get to do too often. Then I was thinking ... hmmm if I get to scrapbooking early .. I could probably run by sams really quick. See if theres anything I need.
Oh wait .. that would be a terrible idea. The saturday before Thanksgiving .. that place will be crazy .. so I won't go anywhere near that place. But, if I did stop by Sams .. I could see what desserts they have for Thanksgiving .. wait .. what .. Thanksgiving is Thursday ... this Thursday ???
Here explains the title .. I have been so busy getting stuff done way in advance that .. opps .. forgot Thanksgiving was thursday .. Well no that isn't quite right .. I always knew Thanksgiving was thursday .. but that's forever away. Like "always next week sometime" .. maybe it would be a good idea to go to the store and get a turkey .. since they should be in the fridge thawing by when ... today or tomarrow ??
Wow .. thats a biggie .. you know I can see this happening. The kids all coming back from college .. getting stuff ready for thanksgiving and then .. opps .. forgot to buy the stuff to make dinner. The good part is .. we could sit around in our wedding clothes (which we have) and look at the house already decorated for Christmas. LOL

Yet - another - reason why scrapbooking saves the day. If I didn't have a class today, I would never of thought of going to Sam's .. and never realized that Thanksgiving was *this* Thursday.

The Nordstrom effect ...

or what I like to call ... the goodness factor. That really is the only explanation of how today went. As I have said before, I did go out looking for mom 0 bride dresses one other time .. didn't have any luck. Actually, I was shocked to hear that most stores (regular stores) don't even carry them in stock, you have to order them online .. etc etc etc. So last night, I was talking to my dad and Trish and she suggested ... Nordstorms. Hmmm ... I had thrown that one out to Mark for suggestions on where to go weeks ago, and he said it would be a total waste of time .. and that I couldn't get out of there for under a thousand bucks for a dress. Not quite what I was looking to spend .. so that's and easy one. But, after talking to Trish last night, I figured I have nothing to lose, so why not try it. Well went there this morning .. and 35 minutes later ... I have a dress and everything else I need, but the shoes ( which in the worst case scenario .. I can have in 5 minutes. ) So thank you .. thank you .. thank you Trish.
Love the dress.
Now what I've figured out since then is the reason Mark didn't want me to go there .. lol I have found a new favorite store that I really don't mind going shopping in. (bad news for him)
I don't like shopping, and it just kills me to go to the mall. That was pre-nordstorms ... now maybe I'll go everyday. lol I have never in my life, been to a store that was so helpful, and clean, and actually had everything in every size ... unbelievable. So after I left the store, having an incredibly easy time, getting a dress, I'm on my way to Kayla's school to listen to a study abroad informational lecture. I have a few minutes to kill .. figured I would stop and get her some fruit and muffins .. and guess what .. the Nordstorm effect kicks in .. I get the first parking spot by the door .. next stop .. Katie's school .. again the goodness of the day is still there .. get the first spot next to the door again. And, it's not just me ... Mark calls on his way home from work. We had talked about getting
Brad a certain gift for Christmas. The problem was .. we could never find it at the price we were willing to pay. He's looked for hours for this and what happens today ... He goes into a store he's been in a dozen times and the exact thing .. exactly as we wanted it, is there .. and on sale .. for that's right .. exactly what we were willing to spend.
Destiny or coincidence ... you be the judge.

Been busy ...

Just trying to get ahead of the game around here. With Ashley's wedding coming up ... pretty fast, I figured I would work on getting stuff done a little in advance. I had Mark and Danny bringing up all the Christmas decorations the other night, and I'm getting all that ready to go. I spent the day yesterday, getting it all put away. The bad part is ... I know of - a bunch of things - that aren't up here yet. Sooo thats the job today .. to go back downstairs and find the missing boxes. I did find one yesterday in my closet with the 20 snowmen in it I got from the craft fair last year ... so you can all relax, as those are no longer missing.
This picture was when I was unpacking .. I'll put the finished room on when I'm done. We passed on Christmas decorating last year because of cat issues. (we have 1 that takes it upon himself to become a tree cat for all of December) not a good thing. And I thought, taking a year off from decorating .. would maybe make him forget about the whole tree thing. This morning, however, I did find one broken ornament in front of the tree. Could gravity have taken over and just pulled the one ornament off ??
I'm guessing .. not likely.
This year I put all the unbreakable ones on the bottom half .. just in case. Kind of like when the girls were little and help my mom decorate their Christmas tree. Since they were little, they could only reach halfway up ... so thats where all the ornaments went .. at the bottom. Well I'm off to the basement ... in search of the missing decorations.

Bread, butter and salt club ...

When the girls were little, the electric breadmaker had just came out. I got one from mom and dad for Christmas one year, and started making bread all the time, at least 4-5 times a week. Last night, I started thinking about it .. and to be honest .. didn't know if I had sold mine in a garage sale. (everyone knows around here .. if it sits for a little bit without being used ... it's gone) Anyway, started digging around in the cupboards, and I found it.
So last night I made bread ... couldn't find the original instructions .. since those probably did get thrown out, but I found a breadmaker cookbook and gave it a try. It doesn't look like much, since I used too much yeast, and it didn't brown quite right, but ... it was fabulous. Which brings me back to the bread, butter and salt club. That's what the girls used to call having a snack of homemade bread. They would put butter on and the sprinkle it with salt. (never understood that part) I'm leaving the breadmaker out for now .. the kids will all be home for Thanksgiving soon ... and I think they will all be suprised to remember how good homemade bread is.

Happy Birthday Brad ...

I can't believe your 20 today!
It's hard when your away at school on your birthday ... and when your sick on your birthday ... it's even worse.
But, when your home on break you'll get to celebrate again.
Hope you have a great birthday, rest up and we'll see you soon.

Friday the 13th ...

Nothing too exciting is going on around here. Brad came back from college on Wednesday, he has swine flu. The nurse at school started him on the meds for it, but so far ... hes not getting any better. We haven't seen him, as he went to Beth's from school, but Danny stopped over there last night, and said he's never seen Brad this sick before. So hopefully, Brad will be alot better by this weekend. And I think, once you get over the flu, you won't get it again this year.

So thats the good news Brad, you'll be coasting for the rest of the winter on this flu thing. Get lots of rest ... and you'll be feeling better before you know it.

My favorite time of year ...

Is when the elfyourself site goes live.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Don't you just love it.

It's here ... it's here

Mark got me a tiny computer for my birthday .. and it arrived today. Now I know what your thinking, what in the heck is wrong with him. LOL
But, I saw one of these at the scrapbooking retreat a couple of months ago, and just thought it was the cutest thing ever. This lady at the retreat had her tiny computer hooked up to a tiny printer ... and omg it was awesome. So, I figured since my birthday was coming up ... this would be the perfect gift. Granted, I wish one of the kids were here to set the whole thing up, but I'm managing. I did after .. (for real 10 minutes)... figure out how to put the battery in the mouse. (it is a really dumb place to put the battery if that helps my case at all) I'm kinda stuck now, since I can't figure out how to log onto the internet, but ... Danny will be home in 3 hours so I'll just wait. The tiny computer is just perfect, and I love it. Thanks again hon for the gift. Love you

Finally got the puzzle swap back ...

Way back in June we went up north for a little visit. When we were up there, I found these puzzles in a dollar store. I thought they would be perfect for a puzzle swap at scrapbooking ... and they were. So I bought 13 (12 for the swap and 1 extra just in case ... lol) We swapped pieces about 3 months ago, and we all received our pieces back yesterday. My theme was black/cream collage. I love how it turned out. Everyone at class wants to do another one. So next time I go up ... bring back more puzzles.

I found some coasters at Michaels in the dollar bins ... brought them to class last night and thats our next swap.
Nothing else too exciting going on today. I was thinking ... I might go out dress shopping today. We'll see ....

Big news ...

Kayla called this afternoon with the results of her Major Acceptance Review. She was accepted ( yeah .. cheers and fireworks ) Now she is a legitimate art major, and she has a Spanish major as well. But the art major is the big news of the day. In honor of this achievement, I thought I would share some of Kayla's early works. This first piece of art was done in pencil. Actually, I believe she used a blue colored pencil, the blue (like the sky) signifies her infinite love of lambchop with its never ending boundaries. Notice the lines and circles, drawn with such emotion, and the keen likeness to the actual lambchop.


This next piece was from kindergarden. She began using much more color in her drawings, and this piece even has her signature. It's a very early version of the standard "art signature" she uses now.


Last but not least ... are the staple people. These fun loving creatures came about on the rainy afternoon. I think this was the start of the "found art" phase.



I know what you all are thinking ... the same thing I am. When Kayla becomes a famous artist .. all these works and more will be sought after collectibles. It just so happens I have entire boxes of masterpieces ... just like these. So when Kayla does hit the big time ... be sure to check back for your opportunity to own some of Kayla's early work.

Happy Birthday Robin -

Well I looked, and looked ... and I don't have any pictures of you. Ok, actually I do have one ... this one. I took this last year ... had to crop it a little to make it presentable lol ... but this is all I have. I really need to work on taking more pictures. Hope you have a great birthday Robin, and in the mean-time ... you should be wearing shorts to work .... showing off those legs.

Wood-a-licious

That would be how Kayla would describe today's craft fair. Craft fairs are my fall "thing". I go to everyone I can .. always knowing I will find the most awesome stuff in the world. And yes, today was no different. Today's big winners were Kayla and the cats. ( ok ... plus a bunch of food I probably shouldn't eat )These are my big finds from todays craft fair.
<--- For Kayla











<--- for Kayla for Christmas
shhhh










<---- I got 2 of these, one for the inside kitties ... and 1 for Oscar.

What luck ...

I was thinking about what to write about on the blog today ... and I came upon this. This was one of the girls favorite tv shows when they were little. I have always been pulling for Sandy, she was always my favorite.

'SpongeBob SquarePants' and Sandy Exchange 'I Dos' @ Y! TV

The parade is over ...

Had a wonderful birthday yesterday. ( would of been better if all the kids were home, but thats what happens when your birthday is during school) Mark and & went out to dinner at the Mexican restaurant, and watched the last game of the world series. This is my birthday cake ...

that I would of loved to of had. lol
No cake this year, just can't get past this gallbladder thing. I never thought there would ever be something that would curtail how much chocolate I eat .. well guess again.
Thanks again for all the birthday wishes.

Update to the earlier post ...

Well, I've been trying all day ... everytime I was in the car, and just can't figure it out. (how to change the clock in my car) I did however get the hour to flash when holding the time button ... but no luck on figuring out what to do from there. So Deb .. If you get a minute .. just give me a hint on which button it is to change the hour .. I've tried them all and ... as unbelievable as it might seem .. I was even going to look in the book to find out how. Opps ... guess they forgot to put that in the glovebox. lol

What time is it ... anyway ??

I have this problem every year, actually twice a year. They change the time either forward or backward an hour. That isn't really the problem. The problem is ... some of my clocks change automatically, others not, some I do when I first remember about the time change, others .. I forget I even have and they don't get changed at all. (I figure they'll be right again in about 6 months anyway) So for the first week or so after a time change, I could really flux 2 hours either way on things. And we don't even need to mention the car clock. (good thing Kayla's home this weekend, I'll put her on it)

Hope you have a happy Halloween

An old person's Halloween ...

Well that isn't quite right, so how about we change it to ... An adult with college age kids Halloween. (that sounds a little better)

I guess this is the middle Halloween years. Were too old to have little kids who go out trick or treating, and were too young to have little grandkids who go out. So this is what I like to call the middle Halloween years.

We decorate the house with cutesy Halloween decorations, like this metal pumpkin I got from this adorable little gift shop when we went to Wisconsin a few years back for a grateful dead concert. (There is so much wrong with that last sentence, I really wouldn't know where to start. lol)

We give out real normal-size candy bars. (not those "fun size" because we all know ... what's so fun about a tiny candy bar ... nothing) Everyone can remember the one house in the sub, when you went out trick or treating that gave out full-size candy bars. That was the house that has college kids.

And last but not least ... since we don't have any little kids to put in costumes ... we dress up the cats.

My favorite Halloween picture's ...

These are my favorite pictures from when the girls were little.

Just photos today ...

I can't believe it ... it finally stopped raining. So I'm taking advantage of the break, and doing some running around. (Good new's for you Deb .. since I'll finally be getting your birthday present today)

The early years ... continued

This is another picture from years ago. This was the one and only time (when Ashley was lets say ... grade school age) that she didn't go out as some sort of princess. It was a Power Ranger year. The girls loved Power Rangers (probably still do). Power Rangers and Captain Planet were the tv shows of choice. Ashley's favorite power ranger was the pink one, Kayla's the yellow one. Unfortunately, we couldn't find a yellow costume ... so red had to do.


Now I don't have any pictures for this next story ... But around this same time frame. (when the girls were little .. little) Kayla went out as a witch, and Ashley as ... you guessed it a princess. Kayla was a cute witch, not a scary witch, since I don't like scary Halloween stuff .. just cutesy Halloween stuff. But anyway, back to the story ... Kayla was a cutesy witch with the long dress, hat, standard witch outfit and a spider ring. This is one of those cheap black rings you can get for like a penny at a thousand stores. So were out trick or treating .. and every few minutes Kayla would just scream and jump. omg .. the first couple of times it scared me to death, not realizing what was happening. She would forget she had on a spider ring, look at her hand .. see the ring .. thinking it was a huge spider on her .. and scream. So I would calmly explain to her, it was a ring .. not a real spider and she would be fine, and laugh and all's well with the world again. That would be for about another 2 minutes ... until it happened all over again. So after about the third time ... I just took the ring for good. It was this same year Ashley (the princess) was really developing her own self worth. We went up to a house where the people weren't home and just left a big bowl of candy on the porch. (keep in mind this was the olden days, when you could do stuff like that and it wouldn't disappear to the first kid that showed up) The girls walked up to the porch and read the sign with the candy.

Please take one piece of candy, and have a happy Halloween.
p.s. If your costume is really nice ... you can take 2 !!

I didn't go all the way up to the porch then, (they were getting older and I stopped where the front walk breaks from the drive .. lol) Kayla gets her candy and comes back. I'm watching Ashley and shes just looking over her costume ... the front, the sides, the back (in the reflection of the storm door) and really pondering what to do. By this time, I've walked all the way to the door to see what the problem is, because she is just taking forever. I read the sign and assured her that her costume is really nice .. so she could definitely take 2 pieces of candy. She takes the 2 pieces of candy and we start back down the walkway, she stops and runs back to the porch and takes a third piece. When she gets back to me she says ... "I have the nicest costume, and I'm the prettiest princess .. so I should get 3"
Oh sweet, adorable little Ashley. lol

Halloween ... the early years

Since Halloween is this week, I thought I would share pictures from the girls Halloween's all this week.


Kayla was about a year and a half when this was taken. We lived in South Carolina at the time and it was her first attempt at pumpkin carving. I did all the cutting, but she got to scoop out all the icky stuff from inside. lol
Mom and Dad came down this year and took the girls out trick or treating. Now in South Carolina it's a little different than up north.
First of all ... its not snowing (always a plus) so you can actually see their costumes.
Secondly, not alot of people participate in Halloween activities. (we were in the bible belt)
So Ashley and Kayla went out trick or treating. Kayla was a cat, and Ashley a princess of some sort. (every year ... always a princess) I remember the first house we went to let the girls pick out their own candy from a giant bowl. Ashley picked hers and then it was Kayla's turn. Now at the time, Kayla had alot of food tolerence issues, and could only eat cherrios, fruit, and formula .. so this candy which someone was giving her was very new to her. She took the candy and kept smelling it. (it was a reeses cup) I remember this because by the time we could pry it out of her little hands .. there was a tiny thumb pushed all the way through the wrapper, and into the candy. She wasn't letting go of this one for anything. I think she's made up for it over the years since this food problem has been solved. lol

This next picture was when Ashley was about 2. Kayla was a baby and since we were up north at the time, (snow, snow .. very cold and snow) she didn't go out.


We went over to Mom and Dads to go trick or treating with Ashley. She was dressed as a princess (always) and had a furry white coat over the top. Debbie and I took Ashley out, mom and dad watched Kayla and handed out candy. It was cold ... but we could live with that. Ashley was so excited and would run from house to house, I don't think she even noticed the cold. After about a half hour it started snowing. That turned into sometimes snowing, sometimes sleeting .. and then just a mixture of them both. The excited to be out trick or treating Ashley, was turning into the ... your taking too long to answer the door and give me candy Ashley. When she got to the door instead of her adorable little girl voice ... "trick or treat" ... we got a BAM, BAM, BAM.
She was using her glittery fairy princess wand to bang on the door. Hmmm, thats not very princess-like. Thats when we realized ... maybe it's just a little too cold out here for trick or treating, so we started home. It was a huge sub, and we had gotten pretty far away.
Debbie (who's 5 years younger than me) suggested to save time, we should just hop a couple of fences. I don't even think she waited for an answer. She picked up Ashley and just dropped her over the fence. Deb quickly jumped the fence, and I was left with ... what are you kidding me ... I'm way too old to be hopping fences. But it was too late ... I had to hop the fence to keep up with them. It probably took me 5 minutes .. but I did it. I was 29 at the time, and can't even remember the last time before that I had jumped a fence. We made it home pretty fast after that ... and I decided if I'm taking Debbie with me next time .. I'll need to check in advance and make sure there are no fences. lol

When your not paying attention ...

It's amazing how much time flies. I was pretty shocked earlier in the week, when I realized ... OMG ... Halloween is next week. How in the heck did that happen. K .. summer's over .. the kid's all went back to college ... but that was in August. K .. a little more time went by, but I was busy getting stuff done at the house, painting, furniture .. that sorta stuff. Always in the back of my mind .. the kid's just left for college.
Fast forward to earlier this week. I realized Debbie's birthday was Thursday ... huh thats October 22 ... which means .. back to omg .. Halloween is next week. Now the fact that its Halloween really isn't the important part ... the important part is how things work. First you have Halloween, then a month later is Thanksgiving, and then a month after that is Christmas, and then 2 weeks after that ... Ashley and Doug are getting married.
Wow .. I really need to get things moving. Since we'll probably be busy with wedding stuff in December .. I need to have all the Christmas stuff done early (and I was planning on making my own Christmas cards this year, I had all the stuff to do it last year, but I don't remember what happened .. I just know ... they didn't). Of course, there's all the Thanksgiving stuff which has to be dealt with also. Hmmm ... well this worked for me one other time so I think the best idea so far is ... Christmas decorations go up this week. lol I did that once when the girls were little, I had a bunch of stuff going on and found a had a week right around Halloween free ... so up they went. Gotta tell you though, in January when the decorations finally came down ... it was like we were living in a new house ..

Handy Handy over your head ... what is it ?

Happy Birthday Deb



Gotta love the kool-aid smile/little smirk combo.
Deb- Hope you have a wonderful birthday.
If no one's buying cars today ... try the little smirk ... might work lol

A whirlwind weekend ...

It's been such a busy weekend around here. Ashley and Doug came in Thursday, Kayla and Brad on Friday, Danny was already here, and Debbie and Trish flew in on Friday afternoon from up north. Friday, Ashley had her dress fitting, and although I can't put any pictures up ... Ashley looks beautiful in it. Saturday was the shower, and it was such a nice suprise to not only have Debbie and Trish .. but Ashleys co-matron of honor Marie there. She had flown in the the shower also. The shower was very nice, and Ashley received so many beautiful gifts. Everyone had a wondeful time, and Ashley and Doug drove back on Sunday afternoon. And just like it started on Thursday around here, the whirlwind went back through ... and everyone was gone (except Kayla ... she's off of school for a week)


Ashley at the shower ... hmmmm wonder if she still has that tiara on .. lol

Well ... it's almost done

I didn't get to finish the guest room before everyone came in, but I came pretty close. I wanted to get the whole thing done, but the "being sickly" came into play. So this will work for now.

Yes, it does look different ...

It's amazing what getting a dresser out of your foyer will do for a room. Mark & Danny took the dresser upstairs tonight, thank you, thank you, thank you.



And this is where it all went. We officially have a "guest room". Although Mark said it was alot nicer than our's, and he's moving up there. lol



And we made it with a couple of days to spare. Deb and Trish are coming in this weekend for Ashley's shower. (actually I think they're just coming in for the room)