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)

My Mom's Visit

Yup yup had a great time with mom. Lets see,... she arrived Friday, May 25th, late afternoon,.... With all the restrictions in airports, we of course couldn't stalk her at the gate, and didn't even know when the plane had landed, as the terminal there was too cheap to have any sort of monitors!! I was watching closely, and when I saw her coming, I hollered at the kids COME ON!!!! I rushed over to her, and hugged her so tight and didn't want to let go!!! Kids?? What kids?? LOL We headed out of the airport and I took a wrong turn and she got to see Riverfront Drive area, and then some LOL Got to the bridge and made it home without a problem,... stopped in Marion for Wendys :o) YUM!!!

Saturday morning, everything just seemed so surreal. MOM WAS HERE!! It was weird LOL Hubby got off work that morning, and visited.... poor guy was falling asleep on us some too. We had plans to go into Memphis, at the Peabody to a nice salon and get our hairs done. 9am the salon called and said that the gal doing mom's hair, her son was ill (Keep in mind this was memorial day weekend too) and wouldn't make it in. They obviously didn't have someone they could call in. I was pissed. I still plan on writing them a nasty note. So, that got screwed up. We looked online at the other locations, and chose the one in the mall. We got there in great time!!! I was VERY pleased with myself,... having not really driven around Memphis :o) I was very proud. We even had time to go through the Starbucks DRIVE THRU!!! (I'd only heard tales of these!! didn't think they really existed!!) got into the mall,... looked at a few things, headed to the salon. We both stopped short. Had we been 18 wheelers, you'd of smelled rubber lemme tell ya. The place was tiny, the chairs were all full up, and people standing around to spare, we were there right on time, and it sure didn't look like they were ready for us. As mom put it, it was more of a "Drive Thru Salon" NOT what we were wanting for our Mother Daughter Hair Day. I canceled our apt, saying we didn't have time.... and we went shopping instead!! (like that hurt our feelings any??? LOL) I came out of the mall with a cute pair of sandles, some comfy "thongs" (flip-flops) I got the girls some thongs as well,... plus some really nice wine stoppers for Hubby and the DVD Slingblade :o) I felt like I did real well :o) Not to mention I was shopping with my MOM!!! The highlight of this trip???? I got ROYALLY lost. I was so screwed up it wasn't even funny. We were seriously on our way to Little Rock. It was horrid. I panic when I get lost,.... Hubby I know was kicking me in the head (mentally) for not letting him buy me the GPS, but I was sure with our maps and all, I'd be JUST FINE!!! I think the next holiday that comes around, I'll be getting a GPS. We didn't get home until 9pm. It was awful. I think we'd left Memphis 'bout 4 or 5pm. It should've taken us about 1 1/2hrs to get home. Pathetic. Mom took it all in stride,.... she saw parts of Arkansas neither of us had heard of,... like Earle LOL *sigh* I felt like a total dope.

Anyhow..... Sunday we had planned to drive to Dyersburg (1 1/2hrs away) for a picnic with my Great Aunt and Uncle. I've not seen them since I was around 12yrs old or so. I went with my Nanny, Grandpa and cousin Frank to Oregon to visit them. Nanny and Grandpa both have since passed away. We got to the park,... really REALLY nice,... Okena Park in Dyersburg if you ever happen to go there LOL It was big and great play areas for the kids. We were right on time I think, and set up our table and waited and watched for them. Aunt Shirley had said they had a green car, a big sedan type. So, we were looking for a green big car. Eventually a car was driving along, slowly..... mom was sure it was them,... only the car was dark grey, NOT green. Hmm...... old age huh? LOL It was them. When I saw them, I recognized them,... I sure didn't think that would happen!!! It was a wonderful visit. They are odd people, but family :o) Uncle Bill wasn't standing there beside me for 30 seconds when he started in on his medical history. "....I thought it was a single hernia, but it ended up being a double...." Uhh... yeah.... TMI dude. We made the drive back home.... didn't get lost even!!! :o)

From here on, the days get a bit scrambled. We didn't have much planned after that I guess. One day we vegged around the house, another day Mom took the girls to see Shrek, while Hubby, me and the boys went to the mall, got Hubby and youngest haircuts,... We had some friends and their son over for dinner one night which was really nice..... grilled some steaks and chicken.

I think it was Thursday Hubby, Mom and I went to Memphis to Beale Street so mom could get some souveniers,... we also ate at the infamous Rendeavoux for some RIBS. OMG they are sooooo awesome!!!! They were really great people there too. The guy had pulled out a menu from under the glass on the table,... I handed it to mom, said she should take it home with her :o) "They won't mind??" "They won't know..." Chris didn't think it a good idea... so when the guy came back to the table, I asked if she could have it,... he said he could do better than that, he'd get her a new one and he'd sign it as well, and get another guy to sign it :o) (Their pics/history were on the menus) I thought that was awesome :o) We had a wonderful time tripping around there :o) Hubby surprised Mom and I both (I knew he was getting one for mom, but not for me!) and bought us mallard duck silver charms from Peabody for our charm bracelets. I thought that was awesome. Nice way for us to always remember this time together :o)

Friday, oldest had his ortho apt,..... so we went for that, then went to Waffle House and had breakfast Mmm it was good,... but dang they had it so cold in there, we were ready to order hot chocolate!!!! We left there, went to Kohls for some shopping :o) I got 2 cute pairs of capri's for cheap!!! They were having a nice sale. Oldest got 2 new shirts he was very happy with that. Mom got some capri's too :o) Ran into Target where I snuck around and bought mom a iPod Nano as a late Mother's Day gift to really spoil her :o) *hugs hubby for letting me do this* That night, the kids all went to Hubby's folks, and the 3 of us went for dinner at the 501/Omar's Steakhouse. We had a drink,.... and mom was silly and fun to be with. We laughed and while we were trying to figure out what to order, I set the wrapped present on her menu. "What's this????" "I dunno.... you gotta open it and see!" LOL She did and couldn't believe it,... she cried and got up to hug us both :o) She was sooo tickled with it. It's a pretty pink one too!! I also got her a nice case to go with it. Wanted her all set for her flight home. Hubby that afternoon, had set her up some music to get started with too :o) Our meals were GREAT. Mom and I both ordered some salmon. Different preparation, so we sampled each others. Man it was awesome!!!! Hubby got the usual :o) Cowboy Steak LOL The chef on duty that night did a GREAT job though. Whole night was wonderful. On the way home, Mom put her ear buds in and listened to her Janis Joplin that Hubby downloaded for her :o) She was totally loving it :o)

Saturday morning we were up and ready for our hair apt in Jonesboro. We grabbed a coffee on the way, got to the salon and they got started on us. I got my hair lightened and some highlights too. She did a great job on the cut and color :o) I was very pleased. We got there at 10am and left there around 2pm. Long ass day. Ran into Circuit City...... got us a new DVD player... Mom was needing the FM tuner for the iPod for her ride home from the airport in Idaho. We got home,... and then the fun began with my packing for the kids and all that fun stuff. That night we did movie night with the kids, and got Night at the Museum PPV, mom couldn't last through the entire movie,.... but it sure was cute :o) We enjoyed it lots. Sunday we took some pictures, (finally) and had everything ready to go, left 'bout 11am for the airport, got there in time to get some coffee and wait a few mins and Mom boarded the plane :o( Was ontime, 'bout 2pm. It was awful saying goodbye. Then went to the kids gate, and had to wait until about 3:30. Theirs was late due to bad weather in TX. That sucked too. Headed home, got the other 2 kids and that was it.

Spring is here!

Today is the first day of Spring. I love Spring the best I think. I enjoy the smells, the sound of the birds, how cool it feels in the morning and how nice it warms up by afternoon. The temperature is usually perfect. Or at least it was today. I can only pray that it holds up, as Spring Break is next week for the kiddos. I really REALLY want to be able to shoo them outside to play.

This evening, I took little Xena outside.....

Temp at like 9:30pm was around 65 degrees. With wet hair and shorts/Tshirt on, I was a bit chilled, but it felt good, and smelled so good.

I stood there for awhile, just listening. I love our house. I love where we're at. We're far enough away from town that it's so very quiet. Yet not too far from town that it takes hours to get the kids to school. There are some trees that are about a good block away, they stand gosh,... 30+ft high?? When the wind blows through them, it's like they're talking to you. It just sounds so relaxing. I guess it kind of reminds me of the days being at the cabin as a kid.

The moon is almost just a sliver in the sky,... it looked rather orange,... but so bright. Everything is brighter here. The stars were all shining,.... not a cloud in the sky. Just a gorgeous evening. I wish I could capture it on camera and show you.... but I thought I could at least blog about it.

Hubby is working tonight,.... one more night to go after this. I will be grateful to have him home for 4 days after this. I'm hopeful that the weather will be as nice as this so we can sit out and enjoy it together.

I guess on that note,... I'm going to bed. I've spent the last 3 days painting. The walls in the dining and kitchen are no longer the off white or almond looking color.... they're sage green :o) It looks pretty darned good. I just need to clean up everything,... and boy do we need to get some nice pictures or something on the walls. We've lived here a year this July and the only room that has something on the walls is Geoffery's room,.... some super hero posters LOL Ahh well.... plenty of other things to do first I guess. I want TREES. We don't have a single REAL tree in our yard yet.

Okay.... I'm beat. Have a great night all!!!

Been awhile!!

Hello!! Has anyone missed me??? ha! Didn't think so :o) Hubby asked me the other night if I'd messed with my blog any, and well, I said nope. I really hadn't thought much about it. Since we moved, we were without internet for a good few months,.... talk about withdrawls!!! I kinda thought, I should post some pics of the inside of the house,... and maybe try and jabber a bit. It's getting late, and I am tired, so we'll see how I do :o)

Livingroom/dining room

the boys rooms

the girls room (well, 1/2 of it)

Just a few pictures, I've yet to take any of the master bedroom/bathroom. It still amazes me that we're here sometimes. It's SOO big!!! Waking up in the morning in our big room, you'd almost think you were in a hotel room :o) It really is great!

Soon after moving in, we got to pick up the older two kids from the airport and bring them to their new home. Yes, they got to miss out on the packing and actual moving in. Lucky ducks!! Granted, I still needed their help to bring some of the junk to the new house, but the major moving was done. They were very happy,..... we all love and enjoy the house :o)

Kids started school,.... Oldest is in 11th, oldest daughter 6th, youngest daughter 3rd, and youngest son 1st. They're all doing really well too. I'm very pleased with them all the way around. Good kids :o) I'm not just saying that because I'm their mom either! :o)

Lets see,.... we've had how many holidays now??? 4th of July,.... ish,... the mosquitos really killed that for us, but we did manage to let off some fireworks here at the new house just before our actual move in and stay the night :o) We're so far away from the town, that it gets good and dark here. We're pretty well next to cotton fields. A new house was being finished just after we moved in, a new one over the fall/winter finished up this year acrossed from us, and an older one (few years?) down from us a bit. The rest is all fields. Very quiet here. Plus, because we're aways from town (3 miles) we can't get DSL. We're on wireless internet,... while it has its moments, we are NOT complaining!! Being without for a few months really sucked!!!

Thanksgiving,.... was really nice. We did the usual and go to hubby's family for lots of good eats :o) But we did another Thanksgiving here, with friends. That was really nice too.

Our 1st Christmas though, that was wonderful. The whole morning and afternoon was just great. We just didn't rush,... we took our time and let the kids enjoy their morning then we got ready and went to hubby's folks. It was just great being here. So much more room :o) Next year though, I'm using the BIG tree. I opted for the smaller, because the lights are already on it,.... and hubby was right,... the bigger one would've looked MUCH better. It sure didn't look that small in the old house LOL Oh well..... live and learn :o) Although, by now, I should know, hubby is always right!! LOL

What else??? I'm getting really tired. I do have to share though,.... Valentine's Day hubby was home. I already knew what I was getting, as we went to see her on Tuesday :o) A wee yorkie!! I'm so thrilled. She's just the cutest little thing!!! I'll post her picture too at the end of this. We get to bring her home Thursday as then she'll be nearly 9 weeks old, and will have had all her puppy shots and good stuff :o) I was very happy as hubby was home Valentine's Day, and I wanted to make it extra special. With his hours the way they are, it's hit or miss as to when he'll be home. He was working for New Years :o( I hate that. Anyhow, I had already given him one thing,.... on Tuesday,... since I knew about the puppy, I gave him his homemade gift early. I had taken a bunch of pictures of myself and put them on a card. He LOVES it :o) Made me extra happy. That morning though, I woke him with some chocolate covered strawberries, and a mimosa :o) Mmm!!! Sounds good right now even!!! I gave him his bag of goodies,.... and later fixed us a nice breakfast :o) Really was just wonderful to have that time together and enjoy the day together.

Anyhow, I'm going to add this picture and go to bed.

This is me with our Xena :o) Isn't she a doll!??!!

We Did It!

As I was saying before, we were actually LOOKING for a house,.... we found one we REALLY loved,... good price, wonderful neighborhood, just a pretty home. We made an offer, they didn't like it, so we were gonna just go for it and give what they were asking, and they had to think about it. What's to think about??? They soon realized that what they were asking wasn't enough to get them a house that they would like. They pulled the house off the market. That really put us off on finding a home in our area here.

We checked out another, considered another and then we were shown this one. Outside of town, meant no DSL, didn't know for sure if we could even get cable for the kids rooms. No city trash, water and not even sure who we got electric from. But such a great house!!! Huge lot, so plenty of room for a nice deck or pool or whatever for later on. Brand new house!!! The sellers had just finished it this year and were living in it while they finished it up.

As of Thursday 29th, we now own the house :o) Very exciting. We will have keys today sometime. So, I need to pack pack pack..... it will be a very busy and exciting week. I look forward to the older 2 kids to get home from their dads so they can see their new house :o) Here's a picture for you to see!!

Been Awhile!

Wow, didn't realize it'd been so long since I posted last. You'll be happy to hear that I managed to come out of my photography class with a B! Wow!!!! My final exam was a test as well as turning in 10 photos. 5 of those photos could be older photos that he's seen, or not seen, and 5 needed to be new. I think I did a pretty good job,... I submitted 5 that he'd seen and redid touch ups through the photoshop. The test seemed easier as well.

Now the kids are finally out of school for summer too! Yesterday we picked up report cards and came home. Well, I took one with me to get groceries,.... but that's IT!! No school until Aug. 21st now :o)

Other than that,.... just plugging along. Hoping to buy a bigger house for us soon, if we can ever find something in our area that we're happy with. Just a long process all the way around, but at least we're LOOKING!!!

Spring Break is over....

Last week was Spring Break for the kids, and myself. I had asked hubby since I was on Spring Break, could I go to Daytona??? Isn't that where all the kids go???? His reply "Suuurreee,.... take off... just don't forget to take the kids with you!" DOH!!!! Some Spring Break huh? LOL

Unfortunatly our weather was crappy all week, we had rain and cold temps all week long. Hubby was working nights so we were stuck in the house having to be quiet so he could sleep. I think Geoffery was the only one getting a bit stir crazy being cooped up like that. He is such an active kid, and there's only so much one can do inside before you're bored to tears.

Monday Sydney was ill, so we took off bright and early for the Drs. I knew we'd not make the sick call hours, so I called and made an apt and we stopped off at Target (my favorite store!) first :o) While there, I got to purchase my newest toy.... iPod Video!! OMG this little thing is so cool,.... boy we're such nerds! Got a few other things and then headed to the Drs. Seems Sydney is suffering with allergies. I told her she could thank me for it. I guess after that we came on home.

Thursday was Brian's day. Time to get his "expanders" in his mouth. We left the house right 'bout 9am for his 10am apt. I think it was more like 10:30 when they called him back there. I had all the kids with me,.... girls playing on their DS's and Geoffery on his SP (nerdy family huh?) and me with my new iPod video!!! I had downloaded some episodes of the new show Conviction, it's really pretty good :) So I relaxed while we waited watching that. Geoffery by 10:45 was bent out of shape having to stay in this little waiting area, and wanted to go home. This was telling me that the rest of our day wasn't going to go so well. His impatience meant my frustration. Finally Brian was done,... they had to show me how to adjust this equipment each night,... basically giving me permission to torture my son. This could be good.... "... what do you mean you got an F on your test??? that's it!!!" give his expanders a few extra turns!! haha!! LOL No no, I wouldn't really do that ;o) Anyhow.... learned how to do that, and off we went. First stop the mall. I needed to get my wedding ring inspected, and Brian needed new shoes. The mall is closing as our NEW BIGGER BETTER mall is opening (TOMORROW!!!!) so my jewelry store was closed up already. Figures. Went into Dillards as they were having mega sales.... nothing good.... went to Sears and ALL kinds of tennis shoes :o) Yay!! Jackpot!!! So, the boys both got new tennis shoes for dirt cheap :o) Boy I love a good sale!!! Through it all though, Geoffery was very wound up, ready to run and play through the store,... had Jess keep an eye on him while we hunted for Brian's shoes.... I was getting hot and irritable because the kids were getting cranky and tired. They're NOT shoppers. I couldn't wait to get out of there. With shoes in hand we rushed out of the mall.

Still another stop to make.... WalMart. We needed some groceries and a few other things, which I think I forgot. I wanted an FM transmitter dealie for my NEW iPod Video :o) LOL So that I could play my iTunes through the car radio :o) I just love technology!!! But yeah,.... I forgot all about it. Dragging the girls and Geoffery through a busy WalMart is NOT my idea of a fun Spring Break outting.

We got back into the truck and poor Brian was feeling miserable. I had given him a fun size KitKat and he could only nibble on it as his mouth was soooo sore. I felt horrible. If I had even thought, I'd of picked up some Advil in the store :o( Poor guy. I had wanted to take the kids to Taco Bell for lunch, but by the time we were done, we needed to get home so I could fix dinner for hubby before he left for work!

PHEW!! What a day. What a week!!!!

I played hooky yesterday from school, so I could spend the day home ALONE with hubby :o) It was nice. Nice and quiet. I really needed it LOL Today the kids were in school, hubby returned back to work on days this week. I have been doing laundry and cleaned our room REALLY good. Busy busy!!!!

I did want to share something I learned in the lab part of my class,... it's where I learn to edit my photos using PhotoShop 7.0 I've been having a lot of fun in that class,.... I'm sorry it's just one day a week. There's just so much he could teach us. Thankfully, my SIL got me a copy of it, so I can play with it at home and try and learn new things :o)

It's all about the "panning"

Feb. 22nd I took a midterm. I can't tell you how stressed out I was over this. For starters, hubby was off work starting Monday morning..... and won't return to work until the evening of March 4th!! I really just wanted to BE HOME with him. Also, it had been like 20yrs since I've taken any sort of test that I can recall LOL I had to go Monday, even though the kids were off due to President's Day.... nice huh?? I had to go to school!!! Grrr.....

We were given a study guide for the midterm. We went over all the questions, answered them and all that fun stuff. When I got home that afternoon, I looked it over some, went through the book. As he had said not everything is covered on this guide. Tuesday I did more of the same and took some pictures to help reinforce some of the things we've been learning. I will never keep aperture and shutter speed right.... anyhow... I studied hard Tuesday. For a good 4hrs at least. Then I took off for the store, bought a few things to do a make shift home studio. I also picked up hubby the new 360 game Fight Night :o) Early Bday present for him!!

Weds came..... I was sure hopeful I would do well on this exam. Brian first had an ortho apt, so he got out of school that day. They put teenie rubber bands around 4 of his teeth to make room for the caps that will be put on this Weds and then more hardware next Weds. Lucky kid. The teenie rubber bands were uncomfortable enough.... boy is he in for a treat huh? LOL

We were in and out of there, and got to the school parking lot, a metered spot of course, but hey, it was close!! :o) I had Brian quiz me... and I did really well I think :o) Got into the class and worried some more. I'm really wanting to do well in this class,... I want to know I'm retaining this stuff, and I want us to get paid back for the class as well. Anyhow, I looked through the pages before we actually started, and gasped.... "Panning???" to the girl beside me,... "... did we go over that???" she giggled and smiled and nodded her head yes. "CRAP!" Sigh.

I went through the 40 question test (I'm pretty sure it was 40 problems) some were True/False and others were written and worth 5pts. Yup, you guessed it,... panning was a 5pt question. Great. I had NO idea. I mean,.... I kinda did,... but sure didn't know what the correct answer was. I kept in my head, panning through like a forest or something,.... going from one side to the other.... *sigh* what a dope. Everything else I think I did fairly well. I might not have given the answer exactly as he would have liked, but hopefully it was enough to show that I knew what it meant??? If that makes sence. In any event, there was a gaggle of the class standing in the hall talking about the test. Panning = following your moving subject (more or less) GAH!! I remember going over that now :o( Dangit!!!!! So, yeah, I was for sure 5pts off on that test :o( That so sucks.

I should be in class this morning,.... but today is hubby's Bday and I wanted to be home with him. We went out to dinner with some friends Saturday night and had a wonderful time. Company and food both were really good. Hubby works with the friend, and we used to play World of Warcraft with them online as well. Friend is VERY talented, he can draw/carve/whatever else from memory. I don't have even a pinky fingers worth of his talent. His latest hobby has been scrimshaw He looked at a picture hubby had of Geoffery, and started on a small piece.... he gave it to me Saturday night... I can't even begin to say how amazed I am at this. I had read up on scrimshaw back when hubby told me about what he was doing, and really after reading it and seeing a piece,.... you just have no idea. You don't see the marks in the material, but yet this image is right there!! Just amazing. Anyhow, I wanted to share this today :o)

Pictures!!

I am going to attempt to post the pictures I had tried to post from the last blog entry.... hopefully it will work this time :o)

And the winner is......

Nahh... no winners :o) Just thought I'd say that as this follows the night of the awards dealie last night......

I did get my grades back Monday though!! A perfect score is 50. My "Anything" assignment was of the cat in the bag,... I got a 45/50. Okay.... I lied,... due to it being late, I got a 44 (but what's one point?) I was very pleased with that, as I knew this was the better photo submission.

The picture of the figurine, I got 44/50 and the one of the cat/bookcase 43/50!!! Wow huh??? Yeah, I was pretty darned surprised.

This weeks turn in is supposed to be "Natural Lighting". Well, over the weekend, when the sun actually tried to poke through the clouds, I attempted some trial shots in our yard. However, no matter what I did, the camera was showing "underexposed" on the meter. This didn't make me happy to say the least. What was I doing wrong??? Very frustrating!

Well, Monday morning, I was fiddling with the camera, the lenses etc,... when I was messing with my normal lens, I saw that the aperture wasn't moving inside. This is what needs to move to let the light in (or keep light out) and what would change how the exposure is for outside. Hmm..... it's STUCK????? No WONDER I wasn't getting good readings huh???? Or maybe I am just confused and don't know what the Hell I'm talking about as I've never messed with stuff like this.

I took the camera along with me to class. I popped in and talked to the lab guy Ernie and had him take a look at the lens. He moved things around and confirmed what I didn't want to hear.... it was busted. *SIGH*

After speaking to my instructor, I explained and told him for at least this assignment I would use my digital. I've gotta clean the card though.... as I got to have some fun with my SIL over the weekend and took some nice shots of the kids :)

I am in the process of trying to find a replacement lens for the Canon AE1 now.... found a pretty awesome site for stuff for it. I hope to maybe over time (as I learn more on how to use various lenses) to buy more from there. www.keh.com is the site

Here are a few of the pictures I took (and edited in Photoshop Elements 2.0) over the weekend of the kids :) I think they turned out pretty decent. I had my aperture setting off though, as they all came out too dark.

So, there you have it,.... and much to my surprise, I don't suck that bad with a camera when it comes to assignments. It's easy to snap off a few pics of the kids or cats, but to get to specifics,.... a little more complicated. But, I'm learning...... slowly :o)

Hmmm... for some reason the pictures aren't publishing on here.... I will try again later on :)

Another not so much photographer day....

Tonight I went to my first lab session. This is where you go to upload/scan and whatever else to your photos, put them on the school server for the teacher to view them and then grade them, and then show them to the class so everyone can laugh at you!! Sounds great huh?????

Actually it was VERY interesting!! I was in awe of what simple (yet expensive) software can do for you!!! In this class, we use Photoshop 7.0. I missed the first two classes,.... so I got a crash course in the basics. Unfortunatly no one told me I'd be using an APPLE computer!!!! OMG!!!! I felt so lame,.... made me miss my computer SOOOOO very much!!!! In any event, the two girls beside me, helped me out when I would screw up and close out a window unintentionally and not know where the heck to go to get back to the screen I needed. We had 3 sample pictures,.... pictures that our instructor took. He takes a lot of the sporting photos for the school. This is probably pretty silly to most, but he had this picture of a vollyball game. Looking at the photo, I think "wow that's pretty darned good!" Until he fixes it. The net wasn't even in the photo,..... he showed us how to take something like that, straighten the photo out and ta da, it looks more like the focal point of the whole image!!! WOW!!!!!!! HOLY COW!!!!! So, me, I sit there thinking what pictures can I do that too????? Anxious to get home and play with some photos and all. He showed me a nice little tool in the software that would instantly fix,.... while a lot of programs I've used, have this, for some reason, this was just a lot neater :o) For starters, it brought up this box and showed you exactly what it did,.... how much it raised the greens or reds,.... and if you didn't like the way it looked, you could move those lines in the box yourself. WOW!!!! I love this!!!!!

So, yeah, I got a crash course tonight. I had 3 pictures to do too. My first was my "anything" photo.


I don't have the exact version of photoshop at home, but this is pretty much how the teacher will see it. It was the best of all the pictures I took,.... I'm anxious to see what he thinks of it LOL I mean, yeah, it's just a couple of goofy cats... but still :o) The colors turned out really nice and I was very pleased with it.

Then we move onto my next assignment, which is "Depth of Field". I took some pictures yesterday, last night.... and today. I had them developed at WalMart, One Hour. I quickly learned that I don't know depth of field very well. I sucked pretty badly on the photos. I sat there looking at the pictures the two girls took beside me. Put me to shame. What was worse is that the girl (who was VERY nice and helpful) took photo's of a graveyard,.... some nice stones and all.... grrr... that's what **I** was going to do,.... but I saw it in our book and didn't want to repeat what was already there,.... but DAMN did her stuff look awesome!!!! *mutters under her breath.... bitch* They were really pretty pictures though. The girl to my left, she had some neat ones of this tree with these weird berry things hanging from it,.... the colors were just beautiful. Another was of this archway of vines,.... again, very pretty with the colors and all. I'm sitting there looking at my crap. That's what it was,.... crap. Talk about frustration. Well, I had to pick something right????? This is what I came up with:


This is a picture for "deep" depth of field,.... focus is on the bookcase and not on the cat,.... very sucky picture, but sadly it was the best I had. Even after cropping and such, I still hated it. But, what can you do?????? Well, for starters, spend more time taking pictures!!!!

My next picture, is for "shallow" depth of field,... focus on the figurine and not on the other figures. There was a lot more to the actual picture, but after cropping it and all, I think it turned out really well :o) For some reason, the colors here aren't as nice as what I had at school... but at least you get an idea. Also, on this I used the "burn" tool, around her face and dress area, because things were too bright, it helped to bring out a bit more detail (and the fact that I really should dust more!)



So, there you have it,... my first pieces of work. Eh. I know the more I learn, the better I will become, but I sure hate waiting LOL I want instant stardom!!! Well, okay.... maybe not THAT, but I am hopeful that I will get better :o) LOL Monday I should have grades on all these pictures,... so I will be sure to post the outcome!

Next weeks assignment is: "The subject is natural light" Hmm.... should be interesting enough, so long as we don't have more days like today. LOTS of rain!!

On that note, I'm headed to bed :o) Many thanks to my MIL for keeping the kids tonight so I could attend this lab :o) Am looking forward to the next one already!!!