I am.... photographer.... or I try to be anyhow

Mom's friend Gene, got her an awesome SLR camera for her Birthday/Christmas. He gave it to her early so she could learn how to use it, etc, and have it for her trip to see us.

We took some time out and ran around the area to take some pictures.... I had a great time doing this with her. I think we both enjoyed it a lot. Here are some of the pictures I took.

Down the road from us, there's this old stone looking house. I have no idea on it's age, but all these weird boxes are piled ceiling high inside the porch area. Upon further inspection, we find that they're "bee boxes"

Closer view of all the boxes....

I love this picture,... I've done it in black and white and the detail is amazing,... I'll post that one later on if I remember.

Found it!!

This is at the back of the stone bee house

Inside the back porch

Some sort of tractor used in cotton farming,... poor thing has seen better days I think

Mom in the cotton field

The artist at work.....

Mom likes to take pics of weird stuff,... this is a cow pie... yeah... weirdo. As a kid, I remember her taking pictures of a couple of ducks in the lake,.... they were mating. I was sooooo embarrassed.


Here we're at another location,... mom loves old barns,... and I thought of this one. It's like right out of Little House on the Prairie or something :o) Wonder if Pa is inside muckin out the stalls???

another view of the barn


Mom taking her pictures


Hmm... doesn't look like Pa's inside,.... but look at the neat view outside,... all the rows from the last cotton season.

The tree up closer,... I like old trees.

Out in the backyard,... pretty rainbow for Dec weather huh??

Wonder if someone found the pot of gold??



Was fun scouting around for areas to photograph,... I hope that we're able to do it again, and in better weather. It was pretty cold and windy this day. At least it wasn't raining or snowing though LOL

After our fun time out and about,... we came home and dug into LOTS of BBQ ribs from Couch's BBQ in Jonesboro
Yup yup, I meant it when I said DUG IN. Mmmmm so good!!!!

Mom comes to visit!!

My mom lives in Idaho now,... she has for many years. In the 12yrs that I've been living here,... she's been to visit 3xs. I treasure those visits greatly. Nothing compares though, to this last visit where she was here with us for Christmas!! Finally, my mom got to spend her 61st Birthday and Christmas with all her grand kids!!

Happy Birthday Grandma J!!

Mmmm chocolate cake,... our favorite!!! NO, you do NOT see 61 candles,... I think that would've been considered a fire hazard *giggles*

hmmm maybe she needs a little help??

Geoffery is more than willing!

Sydney helps get the job done too!

The last time I baked my mom a birthday cake, she was like 34yr old. I had help from my Grandma Elsie,... it was chocolate with yellow icing dabs w/ Happy 34th Birthday on it LOL I will have to dig up the picture to share. I was very tickled to do this for her,... but it sure brought back memories too. I'm grateful for the new memories we've created though, that my kids could be a part of this.

Happy Birthday Mom!!
XOXO

Dec. 23, 2008 - 61 years young!

Now, where was I ??

Oh yes,.... December 2008,... seems like it was so long ago!! Oh yeah... it kinda was wasn't it???? *sigh*

Anyhow... left off at the wonderful Breakfast with Santa with Geoffery. I still think of that fondly. He is just at such a wonderful age,.... REALLY believes with all his heart that Santa is real. I sure wish that would never change.

So, after the Christmas party and the Breakfast w/ Santa,... we had Sydney's 11th Birthday!!! *sigh* My baby girl is 11yrs old. She used to be this VERY shy little creature. She's come out of that shy shell a LOT. She's also realized she's got her daddy wrapped around her finger LOL Not that daddy minds in the least ;o)

Here are a few pictures from her party,... she had a couple friends over and had a good time goofing around being pre-teen girls :o)

The Birthday girl and friends

Daddy presents the cake

What will she wish for???

Huff! Puff! Blow them all out..... or not?

Hahaha!!! Trick candles!!!

And you thought BOYS were messy lol

Present time!!!

I think she had a really nice birthday,... she got some fun gifts, and enjoyed having her girlfriends over. Hard to believe she'll be 12 this year. Really getting into the teen years now aren't we???

To Do List....

A list of things I really should do....

1. Finish resizing/uploading pictures from Christmas

I really have a lot of interesting pictures outside of the traditional family ones. When mom and I went wandering around taking pictures. She got a new camera for her Bday/Christmas, and we put it to good use!!

2. Add more pictures to my digital frame!!

My old SLR camera used the big bulky memory card, and since we don't use the camera anymore, I am using the card for my digital frame my honey and kiddos got me for Mother's Day. I just LOVE the frame!!! If you don't have one yet,... well.. what the heck ARE you waiting for??? LOL

3. Continue working on my scrap kit for my other blog, and making more tags in PSP. I could probably sit here all day/night long playing in PSP. Whenever I get really involved in doing something, I most always get interrupted. Very frustrating let me tell ya!

4. Hmm... I know there was more I wanted to get done.... but atm all I can think of is cleaning off my desk, and finding our dining table, it's under the junk in there somewhere!!! I KNOW it is!!!

So, on that note,... I should get some stuff done around the house, will be taking Geoffery to his first baseball practice this afternoon. No idea how long that will take.

Hope you have a GREAT day!!
**HUGS**

.... yeah.... I know....

Here it is,... March... and still haven't finished uploading pictures from Christmas. LOL Pretty pathetic.

In the meantime, thought I'd jabber a wee bit. Oldest, Brian.... will be 18 in May. He's one of those rare kids who never had an interest in driving. It could be because Mom will drive me where I need to go (even to the Jr Prom!!) or because he's quite happy staying at home playing WoW or XBox Live all day/night long.... whatever the reason, he just had NO interest in driving.

We pretty well had to MAKE him study and take the written test. While he was at his Dads over the summer, he was enrolled in a Drivers Ed course. From the way he made it sound and how it all worked,.... well... it was crap. He came home that summer with paperwork that said he could get his license after I think 6 months wait. It was basically drive around on this paper for 6mons, turn it in and TA DA you're legal. Sadly,... when he took the written here, he failed it 2xs before passing!!! He didn't know a lot of the rules or things that seemed common sense after taking that class. Waste of money if you ask me!

We've been letting him drive around town off and on,.... but now his permit is due to expire the end of this month. GAH!!!! SOooo.... I'm being a good mom and giving up my keys to him in the mornings and afternoons. He drives us to school, and home. This is only day two of doing this. He does a really great job, only have to remind him to move to the left a bit or remind him about his blinkers once in awhile....

But the funny part.... on the way home today (this was the first time driving us home) we stopped at the Post Office, and the store. As we pull away from the store, he heads straight and stops at the stop sign. We've lived in this town nearly 12yrs now! He says "Which way??" "well, we're going home.... so which way???" "left" he turns on the blinker and turns right. Yes,.... I said right. Ahhhh yes..... that was a shining moment for me. So proud of my teenage son,.... nearly 18, graduates this May.... yup yup.... the first thought that came to mind was....

"The left hand now knows what the right hand is doing".

Your former President of the United States, George W. Bush.... as he called his left hand his right hand and his right his left. Yup yup, proud moment indeed.

CHRISTMAS!!!!

Well,... I just suck don't I? I've been really wanting to try and do better at keeping up with things here. I've never been good at a journal. Why would I start now? LOL

I can't recall every little thing that happened in the month of December, so I will just fast forward to the week before Christmas!!!

Dec. 13, a cool Saturday morning, hubby and I took Geoffery to the High School auditorium for "Breakfast With Santa" Boy was he anxious and excited. When we walked in, they had all sorts of things going on.

First stop was to write out your letter to Santa. Which is what you see here...


His big wish was to get Sonic Unleashed video game. You can almost make that out can't you?? LOL From there, he went to make a little paper ornament. He wasn't too into doing that,... he was there for Santa!!! But wait,.... they DO have face painting!!!!



From there, he got his yummy breakfast and we sat down.....



He really didn't care about the donut,... he just wanted SANTA!!!!



After a bit of a wait, and watching them herd the kids up onto the stage in groups by numbers.... it was finally Geoffery's turn!!



He could sure talk Santa's ears off!!!! Santa told him that if he was good, he would try really hard to bring him Sonic Unleashed for Christmas!!!



He really was a VERY happy boy. When we were leaving the building,... he said that it was the best day ever! *sigh* I can only hope that this Christmas can be as wonderful and exciting for him. I hope this isn't the year he stops believing.

A few days after that,... was Geoffery's class Christmas program,... I didn't get to attend this,... we had had bad weather, so it got rescheduled,... thankfully, hubby got to go and watch!! He snapped this one picture of Geoffery with one of his classmates.



Hubby was really impressed with the whole program,... seeings how he misses most of the programs due to work, I was VERY happy he got to see this one, and that he enjoyed it so much :o)

Then there were the Christmas Parties!!! I went to Geoffery's which is always fun with his teacher. She's so awesome!!! I've had her with Brian, Jessica and now Geoffery. She really is wonderful.

They did a gift exchange,... boy/boy and girl/girl. His teacher insisted they EAT first,.... that she was very hungry and hadn't eaten all day.... but a young boy reminded her of a brownie she'd eaten earlier LOL I guess he felt that was good enough.... lets get to the presents already!!! LOL She tried and tried to convince them that EATING first would be best,... none of them bought into it LOL So, with a fun game of "musical presents" they got their gifts and sat down to tear into them...



He really looks as though he doesn't like what he got,... but actually he REALLY did,... he couldn't wait to open it up and play with it. After presents, they ate cookies, sandwiches, cupcakes, chips... soda.... well,... not Geoffery on the soda part. He took a cup with some ice, went to leave the room, when his teacher asked him "where are you going??" "to get some water" "Ohhh okay..." Geoff doesn't do soda LOL He had fun making me take pictures of him with his friends, and I made sure to get one of him with his teacher too!



Soon, it was about time to head out... when what do you know,.... the Big Mooch wandered in LOL


Brian can smell food from miles away LOL He lives to eat anymore..... darned teenage boys! LOL Of course, he's always MORE than welcome when he walks into that room. We helped clean up and put tables, chairs and desks back in order, wished her a Very Merry Christmas and headed on our way home. It was a really fun time for the kids :o)

On that note, I'm exhausted,.... I'm going to wrap this one up and try and continue with the rest of our week tomorrow evening!!!

Night night!

My PSP Addiction

Yes, that's what I am these days. My DH would sure nod his head vigorously at this comment LOL I have to say though, it IS his fault LOL Ever since goofing around in Subeta and learning to make signature tags, he got us a copy of Paint Shop Pro 9 and well, I've been learning and growing in the PSP world ever since :o) I do love it, it's a wonderful form of creativity that has a lot of outside resources.

The friends links I have right now, are all a part of my PSP family. Well, except for one atm LOL (Inky, she's a big time quilter *drools*) My goal of late is to work on learning how to make scrap kits for PSP, I have created a few small elements, but nothing really major to speak of. I have a LOT of learning to do.

I am trying to come up with a good blog name for just PSP'ing. I would like to have a separate blog to post my elements and other psp items on. I have a few ideas.... but the right name hasn't really grabbed me. This blog was just out of the blue sort of name.... I love the beach and one day while missing home, and the beach it just hit me LOL I keep hoping for that to happen with my PSP blog. So far, no such luck.

Here are some of the names I've thought of, and others have thought of.... I had thought to try and tie the name in with this blog.... I love Joanne's blogs... the names reflect each other more or less.

Tropical Designs
Fun & Sun Scraps
One Scrap @ A Time
Scrap @ A Time
Scrap This!

There are a few others, but anyhow.... so far "One Scrap @ A Time" seems to be well liked... just that it's not really grown on me so much. Until something does, I will wait to create the new blog. Would love to get some more input on names though!!

Anyhow, I did want to share some of the work that I have done, this is by no means everything. I've got tags and Subeta profiles comin out of my ears LOL I also have a huge collection of beautiful tags that were made for me by my friends.

I figured that a lot of folks that might happen by my blog, or family that peek over here are rather clueless for the most part as to what it is I am doing in PSP all the time LOL

Anyhow, below is the slideshow of various tags I have done,.... hope you enjoy the show!!! If you click on one of the images it will take you to the full view.

Some Catching Up

How sad is it that I've got this great blog, and don't use it like I should??? I mean, how hard would it have been to do????

Chris and I had our 11th Anniversary, and we went to Florida for a nice 4 day vacation. Even now, I think about the time we spent together, *heavy sigh* it was just so wonderful.

We left Memphis and arrived in Tampa on the 18th of September and returned on the 22nd.

We had a terrific time!!! We did a LOT of walking around, saw Dark Knight at the IMAX (that kicks butt!) ate some wonderful meals at the various restaurants at the Bay Walk, did a dolphin tour, and met up with our online friends Desi and Shannon. I have known Desi for gosh,.... I'm really not sure how long now... 5yrs? So, it was just awesome to meet them both in person!!!! We had a GREAT GREAT time!!!!! I laughed so much my cheeks were sore LOL We drank so much, that well, hubby said the night of our Anniversary, that he didn't think he'd EVER seen me so drunk,..... man that was fun LOL I am so glad that we had the opportunity to take this trip, to do all the wonderful things we did,... and to meet these two wonderful gals. I want to thank Shannon big time for opening her home and her family and friends to us the night of our Anniversary. The BBQ was great!!!! We really enjoyed it all!!!

Our last day, was the dolphin tour,... and then that evening was our big concert,..... NIGHTWISH!!! We'd been dying to see them since we got hooked on their music. What a great way to spend our Anniversary!!!! The opening band, Sonata Arctica really kicked ass. I was pretty impressed as I'd not heard a whole lot of their stuff,... they put on a GREAT show!!! Nightwish ... man.... was amazing. They're awesome live!!! They're all so very talented!!! I just could gush on and on, but I will refrain. The killer part was, that hubby had told me earlier in the night, that the drummer Jukka, would toss one drumstick out close to the stage, and always threw another far back. Well, I watched at the end as he tossed the first out, and then the second came flying out towards our right.... I looked at hubby before he threw it, I wanted him ready to catch!!! He was fiddling with the camera on his cell to catch them take their bows.... *GAH* I'm looking, watching as this drumstick flies through the air, end over end.... I swear the couple that jumped for it, they weren't 5 feet from us,.... hands and fingers stretched upward trying to get this stick,.... by now I'm in such a panic because it was OURS!!! it was like major slow-mo "NNNNnnnnoooooooooooo..." I watched as the stick bounced from their fingers, (seriously, this all happened so quickly, but it seemed like it took 2 mins to me, everything was going so slow) it fell down towards the ground with a wood on concrete sound *PLINK!!* I was stunned.... as it rolled a couple times (I swear I could hear that sound too, but hubby laughs saying no way, place was far too loud for that) I lunged down, grabbed it up, as I rose up, I caught a glimpse of the couple that missed and they didn't look too happy lol I turned right into Chris's chest holding it tightly between us, my heart was just racing. I got the drumstick!!!! OHMYGAWD!!!!! I GOT IT!!!!!!!! Chris said that the couple were coming at us, he gave a quick stern shake of his head like "back off" and they did,... I of course didn't see this, I was saying "Let's get the hell outta here" LOL I was on a major high for the rest of the evening. Could our trip have ended any better than that???? We had a real trophy from our trip....

Between meeting Desi and Shannon, being out on the water to see the dolphins, and having a terrific time at the concert,.... well, it was a trip I won't ever forget!!!

Here is a slide show, full of pictures from our time spent

In other news.... I forgot to mention that we tried like hell to get VIP tickets to this concert. Sadly, by the time we realized they were even available, they were sold out, and even worse yet,.... they were never supposed to of had a VIP event!!! So, those that did manage to score those tickets, did get to go backstage, meet the band, pictures, etc.... the whole works. Sure made us ill. Then, get this,.... our concert was the last one that Nightwish was able to perform as Annette became very ill and had to return home to Finland!! So, while we missed out on VIP, we still got to see them perform, and got the drumstick :) It was really our fate that all that took place I think :) I know, sounds silly.... but I really believe that it was all meant to be for us.

Well, last month,... Chris was working nights, he text me saying that Nightwish was going to be in St. Louis in May 09. Better still was that they had VIP tickets for sale!!!! Go see them AGAIN????? You didn't have to ask me twice!!! LOL MEET THE BAND?????? Does a bear poop in the woods????? It being so much closer to home, and Brian being a big fan, we worked it out, and got 3 VIP tickets!!!! The concert takes place ON Brian's 18th Birthday!!!! What an awesome 18th huh??? We're so very excited about going!!!! Going to be freakin awesome and what pictures I will have to share then!!

Lastly,... we have a new addition to the family. Our little Ares. He is a UKC Yorkshire Terrier. When you look at the pictures you'd think he was a poodle LOL He's got the thick wooly wavy coat. Took him to the vet yesterday for his boosters, and at 3mos old, he already weighs 5lbs. He's gonna be a big boy compared to our little Xena. Who at 7lbs seemed big to me at times LOL It took awhile for Xena the Princess to warm up to him. She is highly jealous and so very spoiled, I really didn't know when and if she would get over it all. She would growl and snap at him when he would try and sit on my lap with her,.... everything belongs to HER,... my toy, my bone, my mommy.... sheesh. I was glad when it didn't seem to take that long, and they were running around and playing together.

Ares at 10 weeks old


Xena and Ares sitting at the front door, watching me while I fold laundry LOL


Had to share this, Xena in her Ladybug Halloween costume,.... yeah, she hates it LOL

A New Award!

Sweet Tika over at Traquil Kaos gave me an award!!! This is a pretty neat one too!!



The rules are:

Anyhow The rules are I have to tell 7 things that I love and then pass it along to 7 other bloggers:

1. My husband Chris, he is truly my best friend and a wonderful husband.

2. My 4 kids, Brian, Jessica, Sydney and Geoffery, each so special in their own ways.

3. My Mom ... because of her, I am the woman I am today.

4. My critters, (4 cats, 2 dogs) they make me laugh, they give good snuggles!

5. My computer, it keeps me busy on the quiet evenings or afternoons when hubby is working.

6. PSP and the whole Cherished Angels community! I have such terrific friends there!! It's so great to pop in there, laugh, and have girl chats or whatever!!! Thank you to all those wonderful ladies!

7. My DVR LOL I LOVE being able to record my shows and watch them one after the other as I save them up for when hubby works nights :)

The 7 Bloggers I will pass this along to are: **GAH!! I don't have 7 to pass it on to :( So,... I will pass this along to the ones that haven't already received this award :)**

Inky

Michelle


Tanya

Thank you Tika!! I enjoyed doing this one :) ***BIG HUGS***

Letting Go

It's been such a busy week. Well, it's been really busy since we returned from our Florida trip, which I still haven't blogged about!!! Shame on me. I really am going to try and do that this weekend, as I am looking forward to a fairly quiet one for a change. I have wonderful pictures to share, and stories to tell :o)

In other news, Jessica turned 14 yesterday. Hubby and I bit the bullet and got her her own cell phone. Poor Brian had to wait till he was 16 LOL Needless to say, she's beyond stoked. We had such a hard time ordering it online, I was getting pretty peeved. AT&T site really blows for adding a line onto your plan. I had to have some online C/S person hold my hand through the process LOL She was really patient with me, even after I screwed it up and had to go BACK through the process LOL

In short, she will be receiving the Pantech Duo cell. I was pretty creative with her gifts. She opened her cards etc from her friends, and of course we saved ours for last :o) I got her a pair of "Happy Bunny" slippers, and filled them with various small things,... wrapped LOL The cellphone case was down deeper in the bag, so once she was done opening all the little things, I was like hmm I think there might be something else down in that bag,..... she opened the case and was like *jaw drop* LOL I had printed out a picture of the phone and slid it into the case so she would know what she was getting. Hubby brought her out a much better picture so she could REALLY see the phone. Hubby and I have the AT&T Tilt phones and paid a chunk,.. her's is well, nearly like ours only much cheaper!!! Figures LOL She's so excited, even this morning she was saying "I can't believe I get a cellphone!!!" :o) So, thanks to hubby, we scored big with her this birthday LOL

Then there's Brian. *sigh* Yesterday, he gets into the truck, and says "Mommy..." now, what 17yr old boy do you know says "Mommy" w/o wanting something???? Right. My reply.. "What do you want??" His friends were wanting him to go with today to the movies, pizza and trip around the mall. I've yet to really cut the cord,... it's been stretched a lot, but not totally CUT. I asked a few questions, and ended with "we'll see." LOL My boy, goin off with friends, a friend who DRIVES,... and going to a town a good 30-40 mins away???? *sigh*

After we got home, I mentioned it all to hubby,... who later talked with Brian. I was busy getting the party together, so didn't know what the outcome was,... later asked Brian and he said that he could go. *cry* "Okay, cool..." *sigh*

He was headed out this morning,.... and I was like "be careful!" "yes mom" "did you balance your checking so you know how much money you have??" "yes mom" "Have your wallet??" "yes...." "your ID???" LOL yeah, it was hard to see him walk out the door like that.

So, in short, I've stretched the cord more,.... I refuse to cut it just yet LOL Maybe when he moves out?????

Tanya Wants To Know...

Tanya has asked a few questions,... in which when I answer, I will pass this on to 3 others :) Thank you Tanya!!!

1. How long have you been using PSP, PS?

Well, to be honest, we had a copy of PSP6 and I dabbled with it a lot for photo editing, then later some VERY basic sig tags for some online gaming the hubby and I were doing,... I think it was either 1997? or 2000?? I would really have to ask hubby LOL I've got a piss poor memory. Since then though, we've upgraded to PSP9, and that's only been within the last couple years, where I have learned to do LOTS more than photo editing!

2. How did you get into making tags, scrapkits?

I frequent a virtual pet site called Subeta. The site has a lot of free reign where you can create wonderful, fun layouts, or sig tags for the forums etc. Using my points at the site, I would purchase these items from others. Well, it was around then that we got PSP9 and I started dabbling,... from there I was given some great tutorial links from Michelle that helped,... hubby joined this PSP group that was wonderful for a beginner,.... then I joined Cherished Angels and have learned a lot more, and call that my PSP home :)

3. Who`s your fave artist?

Hmm... I have several,... right now I'm really big on Charlene ChuaCharlene Chua, but I love Garvey, Janesko, Woolcott,... so many wonderful artists out there!!!

4.Who`s your faveourite Scrap Designer?

Wow,... umm... I have soooo many scrapkits LOL I think by far I love the work that Clarey does,... I think another favorite is Sophisticated Scraps I really have a TON of kits though,... hard to pick just one person when there are so many talented kit makers out there.


5. Which three blogs do you visit everyday?

Hmmm not many blogs really, but when I do it's usually Joanne's For the most part, you'll find me hanging around at Cherished Angels :)

Again, thank you Tanya!! Hope you learned a lil bit more about me through this :)
I'm going to send this along to

Michelle
Sue and
Tika

Happy Birthday to my Dad

He would be 63 today.... I've got a poem floating around here somewhere that I'd written for him,... but I can't find it at the moment. I did however find a post that I'd written awhile back,... so I thought I would link it here...

My Dad

Not a day goes by that I don't miss him,... especially on his Birthday, and of course Father's Day.

It's A Mom Thing...

Yup, and I didn't even know it either!!! What am I talking about??? Why,... dinner of course.

I wasn't sure, but it was just confirmed, I'm not the only one that does this. You go to start dinner. Something simple since it's been a hectic day filled with running around. Hamburgers. Easy, fast, hubby and kids love em. You're makin up the patties and *crap* not enough for everyone. Not enough for not just ANYONE.... not enough for Mom. *sigh* Sometimes I hate when that happens,.... tonight isn't one of those nights,.... not that hungry.... and a hotdog smothered in mustard, relish and tomato works just as great Mmmm sounds really good right now LOL

But, it was refreshing to know that I'm not the only one that will do that :)

Summer Ends...

Today was the first day of school for our kiddos. After a long summer,... of staying up WAY late, it was sure a hard adjustment for them all last night and this morning. I think they were all pretty excited and happy-ish to be there. Geoffery was nearly inside the building before I was even out of the truck... carrying all his supplies LOL I can't wait to hear how the 1st day went :)

Brian and Jess were at their dad's the whole summer, so not really sure on the schedule they kept. Sydney and Geoffery, were up later than we were some nights!!! I know Sydney would tell me she would stay up till 2:30am or later even!!! Night owls like their daddy.

Anyhow... I have a few pics to share :) short stories to go along with them too I suppose LOL


This is Xena on 4th of July :) Her face hairs are growing out a lot, I need to get her back into the groomers, but thought she looked so cute with her little blue bow.


WE GOT A POOL!!! The kids and I spent a lot of time in this this summer!!! We really enjoyed it,... hoping for a few more days of use before we have to let the water out and put it up for a year.

Daddy and kids

Geoffery floating around

Sydney floating around
This is Sydney asleep the day we got up early, ran to the mall so she could get a freebie pass for Build A Bear online. I think it's called Bearville,... really cute online site for kids... anyhow.... Daddy said she could BUILD a bunny (what she was really really wanting was a bunny critter online, but the freebie just gave you a bear from what she had been told) Anyhow... her late nights, and this early morning trip to the mall plum wore her out LOL I woke her taking this picture.... boy was she ever pissed at me! For nearly the rest of the night!!! LOL She'd love to know I posted it here huh? *giggle*


See Michelle, not all American's have great teeth ROFL Geoffery bought these nasty things at the Dollar General store. Ewwww!!! Show this to your kids, tell them this is what happens when you don't brush your teeth LOL


Because I got outta the blogging world for awhile, I never did get to post about Brian's Jr. Prom!! This was such an event LOL I mean, it seriously felt like just yesterday I was going to mine. It was such a rush rush day/evening, that I didn't get really emotional until I dropped them off and left the center they had the dance at. *sigh* (yeah, mom had to take them, she was a Sr without a license, and he a Jr without a license.... we're working on that this year though LOL) He looks so handsome and they had a great time too!! Was a very proud mom.

Mom and Brian, Jr/Sr Prom 2008

Brian and Jada, Jr/Sr Prom 2008

And lastly.... Brian all ready for his first day at work. We are working hard at kicking Brian in the pants to get motivated for the things to come after he graduates this year. With him leaving each summer to his dads, it made it difficult for him to find a job... a few days after he and Jess returned this summer and a couple days before school was to start, the local grocery store called for an interview... talk about great timing as we were going to go out and about to get/redo applications!! He said the day went well,.... he worked 4-10pm. I look forward to him getting a few more hours each week, and looking at a real paycheck :) I know he will be proud of himself for that.


This is Skipper,.... lots of you know that he was pretty sick about a couple weeks ago. Really had me terrified. As you can see, he's doing tons better and enjoying my desk. "What? my tail is messing up your optical mouse...*shrug* I dunno what to tell you" Yup yup.... he owns the house, and everyone in it LOL He is probably one of the most photogenic cats we have,.... swear he poses for the camera when you pull it out!! LOL




So, that wraps up all the updates and events and whatevers that have been going on here lately. I am sure I could dig up more pics,.... but these are the ones that matter most :)

I would like to thank.....

Joanne for awarding me this wonderful surprise!!



In all the years I've been sporadically blogging,... not once was I ever given such a sweet award!!!! Many thanks Joanne!!! **BIG HUGS**

The rules of the 'I love your blog' award are:
1.The winner can put the logo on her blog.
2. Link the person you received your award from .
3.Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4.Put links of those blogs on yours.
5.Leave a message on the blogs of the girls you’ve nominated...

I nominate for the 'I love your blog' Award

a few old friends... (not the one foot in the grave kinda old... although.... lol)
Inky
Michelle
Sue
and new friend
Tanya

**HUGS** to you gals!!!!

Exciting news!

Day before yesterday, we had a call on the ID that we'd missed. It WAS at like 8:15am, who the heck is up that early during summer vacation? LOL Anyhow, it was our local grocery store. Our town is all of 3k people. One grocery, one P.O., a General Store (Freds) and a Dollar General.... we have Sonic, (fast food) and Subway.... a few other odds n ends, but that's IT.

Anyhow, was like hmmm... why the heck did they call??? No message was left,... so I called,... hubby mentioned that maybe they were calling for Brian, for a JOB INTERVIEW!?! Wow, that would be GREAT!!!!!! It was my mission this year, to see that he got a job!!! 17yrs old and hadn't worked a real job yet??? Unheard of!!!! Hubby was right!! The manager asked if Brian could meet with him today after noon,.... so 12:30 we headed up there.

Of course Mgr had left for lunch, so we did a few things and went back and after about 15mins max,... he came out smiling :o) HE GOT THE JOB!!!! I'm so proud. He has no idea how much independence this will give him. Especially being his Senior year of school. Yay Brian!!!!!

Thank you Joanne

So, I have been outta the blogging world for awhile,.... when I first started this blog, it was a lot of fun to make new friends within the Blogger world. It became tiresome to try and keep up with it,... I didn't have that much new stuff to share,... or was just too lazy or involved in something else to care.

I've gone from online gaming (Everquest, DAoC, Everquest 2, Wow,... I think I'm forgetting a couple) and playing on the XBox 360,.... we really are gaming nuts in this house,.... all 6 of us LOL

To online pet sites,.... started out with Neopets,... and then moved to Subeta,... I still have active accounts there, just don't visit much. Through Subeta, I started dabbling hard with Paint Shop Pro, making profiles and siggies and such. Due to that, and some help from fellow PSP'ers I've grown to have quite the addiction to it all.

I joined a couple wonderful sites that help with tutorials and my stupid questions, which has only helped my addiction to grow and I think develop even more....

Many thanks go out to those people at both Paint Shop Stop and Cherished Angels. I have learned so much from all of you.

Joanne gets mega kudos today,.. as with her help, I now have a whole new beautiful blog look!!! I'm very proud of it, and of her for all her hard work and time taken to help myself and others out to get their blogs lookin just as gorgeous.

You can visit her awesome blog here She has wonderful PSP goodies,...as well as several new blog layouts, all of them very pretty!!! So, go grab yourself one today, and make sure to leave her LOTS of love and tell her that Shannah sent ya!!!!

Resolutions....

Happy New Years everyone!!!!

My friend Inky said we needed to have a resolution this year to start posting more. Well, don't hold your breath of course. I don't want to be liable to your passing out, hitting your head on your desk and laying there with the dog licking your face for hours :D

I did think I would post a bit of a funny.... well, it wasn't so funny at the time of course. I can sorta laugh about it now though :)

Friday Jan 4th hubby and I took off to Memphis Airport to pick up the older kids as they spent the holiday with their dad. Of course the lady at the ticket counter wouldn't give us escort passes. I don't know how many years we've been doing this now,.... neither child has had the "escort ticket" except maybe once since they started flying, and we've always been given escort passes to greet the kids at the terminal. No, not this time. She really was being a wench. I told her we've always gotten passes in the past, was this something new???? She spoke with the ticket agent beside her who said "well, we shouldn't but do whatever you like" Meaning, it's not going to hurt her feelings if she gave us passes. She didn't give us passes. Wench. No, that's not the funny part. I'm getting there.

Hubby and I vegged out watching people, I played a bit on my DS as the kids flight was running late. It was late in leaving when they were headed there, and late coming home. Figures.

Finally they landed and I anxiously awaited for them to walk up the long hall,... seemed to be taking forever!!! Behind us was a rather large sweet looking lady, wearing a habit and collar,... I didn't know that women wore collars??? She was wandering around and obviously waiting for someone. We watched a large man in a pink shirt, and collar go down the escalator towards baggage claim,.... hubby spoke with the lady who said yes she was waiting on someone, and hubby mentioned seeing the man in the collar,.... "Ohh yes, was he wearing a purple shirt??" Hmm..... I swear that shirt was pink,.. okay fuscia covers both :) She hurried down the escalator after him. Then we had 3 guys walking that way as well,.... very redneck lookin,... one in shorts (and it's cold out) wearing dark socks that come mid calve and these funky black shoes LOL I commented to hubby that they looked like real winners :D I do enjoy people watching,.... but upon closer inspection,.... we soon realized that the guy in the cowboy hat was the member of Damage Plan, he was Vinnie Paul. That was pretty neat :D

FINALLY our kids came walking down,..... PHEW!!!! We got luggage and headed back out, and along the way I was starving and needed to use the bathroom. We decided to pop in and eat there at the airports Backyard Burger. I hit the bathroom first. They have the great fun toilets that flush when you move. I was sitting there peeing and it was flushing the whole while. I love those toilets. NOT. Upon finishing I'm pulling up my pants when my cellphone clip pops off and yeah,.... cellphone straight into the toilet. My only saving grace was that the toilet had already flushed, but fear set in,.... what if that darned toilet flushes AGAIN????? I dove for it,.... keep in mind, this all happened within seconds. I wasted no time at all grabbing for the phone and rushing to the sink to get towels and start drying it off.

Sadly, it was far too late. Cellphones and water do not mix. Now to tell hubby this one. Oh yeah, I knew he'd love it *sigh* Hubby couldn't believe it, and oldest says "Only you huh mom?" Yeah, thanks. Geez. I grabbed some napkins and kept working on drying everything out and praying that the phone would work. No luck. It wasn't until Saturday night, I was headed to bed. Picked up the pieces of my phone laying there,... thought ONE MORE TRY. It was totally dead, so maybe a good charging would help?? The condensation was gone from the small outer window where the time and all shows,.... surely it would work now?? I plugged it in, and it actually came up saying Charging Battery.. !!!! OMG It's going to work??? I let it set there awhile and used oldests new cellphone (we got him one for Christmas, and sadly it was looking like I was having to take it from him until we could get mine replaced) and called my phone, it rang!!!! I let it charge all night and it's been working pretty good ever since. I am a tad concerned that the battery isn't holding a charge as well as it used to though. But at least it's MY phone. I can replace the battery hopefully cheaper than the phone (one would think!)

So yeah,.... the story of how I killed my cellphone and it came back to life again. Nice start to the New Year Resolution to post more here :D I hope you enjoyed!!!!

School Starts Tomorrow

Yup, we have finished out another summer. Older two spent the bulk of their summer with their Dad in TX, and they saw a ton of rain. I guess they had a good time,.... they did get to swim a little bit, think they saw a couple movies, but other than that hung out at the house playing on the computers. The older they get, the more *eh* summer seems I think.
On the 9th we got to pick them up from the airport. I'm always excited to see them,.... it felt like it had been an extra long summer and boy did I miss them terribly!!! They looked pretty scruffy when they came out the walkway. Both needed major haircuts or something LOL But they were HOME!!!! *sigh* Yup yup life was good LOL
The younger two were sooooo excited, even Sydney said that she was looking forward to having her big brother pulling her hair and squishing her hard where her bones felt like they could break. Yup, she missed them huh? :o)
I had already bought a few things for school for the little ones,.... now I needed to cram and see what the bigger two needed. School supplies are always the worst. I think we have everything they need and clothes wise, I will pick up more here and there as the weeks go along.
Tomorrow I will drop them off at school, and come home to a quiet house and enjoy it with the hubby as he will be home tomorrow and Tuesday as well :o) Yay!!!!
A few pics I had taken when I took the littles to the park,.... thought I would share :o)