BLOOM

A whole year, seriously???

2012-01-05T11:22:00.001-05:00

That's how long it's been since my last post!

Here's to the New Year!

2011-01-01T22:05:00.002-05:00

Guess who just remembered she has a blog? I did! I can't believe it's been since...what, June that I've written a entry? Wow. Anyway, I really should post more often. It doesn't even matter if anyone else reads my blog or not, it's quite theraputical (I have no idea if I spelled that correctly or not)...as obviously indicated in my lack of posts. I just got lazy that's all. I really do enjoy writting, now whether or not I'm any good at it is still yet to be determined.
So! They say you shouldn't make New Years Resolutions because when you do, you are predestined to fail. Well, I choose NOT to buy into that superstition ( I think I spelled that one right!). I am going to do my very best to see each and every one of my resolutions through to the very end and if anyone reads this and is so enclined, I personally invite you to participate in my challenge. Exactly what my challenge is...I don't really know just yet but I'm sure it'll come to me. Maybe something along the lines of partnering with other bloggers in a sort of New Years Resolution Accountabililty Program??? By the way, I haven't even made my resolutions yet! How funny is that?
Ok so it's now 30 minutes past my bedtime and my movie is almost over and I feel like I haven't knitted enough tonight, so I'm going to sign off for now. Oh! I just decided that knitting or chrocheting nightly is one of my resolutions!
Happy New Year!!!

Wordless Wednesday...

2010-06-23T09:23:00.001-04:00

Home

2010-06-16T07:37:00.013-04:00

There really is no place like home. I love being at home. There is nothing I like to do that I can't do at home... Or maybe I'm just boring!
Let's see, I can...

Snuggle with my awesome husband.

Eat really good food.

Read or Watch Movies.

Sew.

Crochet.

Stay in my p.j.'s all day & Surf the web.

(I never said I was a beauty queen! I really LOVE this terrible photo though cuz it gives me a great laugh!)

Put curlers in my hair and play beauty salon or I can throw on an apron and pretend I'm my own personal maid. (Hee! Hee! Whatever gets the house work done, right?)

Plus:
I can use MY OWN toilet!
(Obviously, no photo here.)

The only thing I love to do that I can't do from home is spend time on the beach but luckily, I'm only 3 miles away from it!

My Sweet Little Baby

2010-06-09T07:09:00.004-04:00

This is Tinky. She's a 4 month old Chihauhau mix and she's my sweet little baby! I am convinced that this little girl understands every.word.I.say. So far she has been very quick at learning her commands and I just discovered that a tiny piece of kitty kibble is her FAVORITE treat! What is it about cat food that dogs love so much??? She knows sit, down and up so now we're working on roll-over.
Tinky is so amazing that she knows to go to her own "room", which is her crate, at night when it's time for bed. She knows how to ride in the basket on my bicycle (she did have to learn on her own once that she can't jump out!). She knows how to hide in my purse if I have to run into Walmart or Hobby Lobby.
Just like Mommy, Tinky loves the beach! She's not too fond of the waves yet but she really enjoys people watching. In fact, we have to start getting ready to go now cuz we're all going to the beach this morning for a photo shoot! Fun! Fun! Fun!
Stay tuned...

Not Just A Bunch of Purdy Flowers...

2010-06-07T15:05:00.003-04:00

I.Love.Flowers. I would have flowers everywhere if I were rich! I should probably clairfy that when I say "I love flowers" I mean actual flowers, not like flower curtains or flower wall paper or flower print clothes (well I do have one flowery shirt and I do happen to like flowery skirts but that's different, somehow.)

Anyway, I love to put a single flower in a little old, glass milk bottle and place it on a table or shelf or dresser; it makes such a lovely, simple little decoration.

I also love flowers in hair. The prettiest hair-do I ever saw was Julia Ormond's in Legends of the Fall when she comes to the supper table with all those little white flowers in her hair.
I recently tried to wear flowers in my hair but they didin't last long because they kept falling out. Plus they start to wilt within a couple of hours then they're not so pretty anymore. So I thought it was time for a project! I would find some really pretty, life-like, artificial flowers and attach them to hair clips, that way I can always have pretty flowers in my hair that won't fall out or wilt. Fun! Fun! Fun!

So with the help of 2 nice bouquets, a package of snap-clips, and my trusty glue-gun, I now have an exclusive assortment of delightful hair accessories! AND I came up with a nifty way of storing/displaying them too! When I cut the flower heads off the stems, I didn't toss those stems into the trash, no way! I saved them and I grabbed a terra-cotta pot, stuffed a piece of floral foam down in it, put some hot glue on the ends of the stems and poked them down into the foam. Then I just clipped the flower-clips to the tops of the stems and ta-da!, you have a pretty little bouquet of hair flowers!

2010-06-01T05:10:00.002-04:00

Trying to catch up on photographing!!!

A Nightgown for Emily

2010-02-25T12:16:00.006-05:00

So I was taking an inventory of my fabric (most of which is scraps) and decided to make use of a jersey type knit in pink camo. The first thing that came to mind was a nightgown for my niece Emily.
Putting the nightgown together was VERY simple. First, I folded the fabric in half horizontally then squared off the edges, then I cut 4" off the selveged end. These ends will become the sleeves.
I then double folded the ends, stuck in some trim and sewed it shut.
Next, I seamed up both sides with a french seam then I hemmed the bottom, then the top (leaving an opening for the elastic). After inserting the elastic and closing up the opening, I attached the sleeves and a cute little bow and VIOLA!
Now the next time Emily comes for an overnighter, she'll have a new nightgown to sleep in!

Spring Please

2010-02-22T14:39:00.005-05:00

I'm sick of winter, I want SPRING! I'm tired of being cold. I've had enough of layering my clothes. I want to go outside and play with some plants! I want to wear a sun dress! I want to lay on the beach again! I want sand between my toes!

For cryin out loud, where the heck is SPRING???

Well, I guess I'll just sit around here and wait for you to show up. But please hurry up, will ya?

Blog Neglector!

2009-12-03T20:50:00.002-05:00

Shame on me for neglecting my blog so. I've been wanting to get back to it but it just doesn't seem to be as cool as it use to be, especially since Face Book came along. Maybe I'll get back to it soon...

I smell Football Season....

2009-08-20T07:45:00.002-04:00

Well, I've been working at my B.I.L.'s restaurant for the last four months (give or take a little) but that has now come to an end. So now, I'm about to launch my new home business! Yep, I'll be making and selling little girl's dresses and accessories. Now I know that this little infant Gators dress is the cutest thing ever but unfortunately I can't sell it because the fabric is licensed (it sucks, I know), however, if you'd like one like it, you could to run out to Walmart and buy yourself a yard of the fabric and I'd be happy to make a dress for you for the cost of my labor. Not a bad deal huh?
Ok well I have a lot of sewing to do today so that I can have my first sale this weekend!
Ta-ta for now!

I'm baaaaack!!!!

2009-07-15T15:46:00.002-04:00

Wow, I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted to here!
For now, I just wanted to make sure everything still worked and I could remember my log in info. Now that I have internet back and everything is still in tact, I'll work on composing an update...

Ta-ta for now!

Waitress Aprons!

2009-01-10T19:02:00.003-05:00

I LOVE APRONS! I know it's sort of strange but I can't help it. I'm in love with old fashioned things and aprons are old fashioned.
So are wood burning stoves, ice boxes and oil lamps but I can't make those. Aprons, I can make.

I was a waitress for many years at various restaurants. It's a good job, if you're good at it, which (not to brag) I was. For example, many years ago on my first day at the Huddle House, I took home $75 in tips, okay now I'm bragging, but hey, that's worth bragging about, especially at the Huddle House!

Most waitresses wear those plain'ole, black waist aprons with the 2 pockets. You know the ones I'm talking about.
I think waitresses would like to wear something with a little more style, don't you? Something colorful, something cute...something like this:

I'm selling these adorable little waitress aprons for $12.99 plus shipping

So anyway, I plan on opening an Etsy Shop in the very near furture (right now I'm working on my inventory) but in the mean time, I'm concentrating on these cute little waitress apons so if you know of a waitress that might be interested, feel free to contact me to place an order.

These aprons are made of various cotton print fabrics. They include a coridinating gathered ruffle trim and waist tie. They also feature 2 front pockets for carrying an order pad & pen, straws, condiment packets and most importantly, TIPS! I am also constructing football-fan color themed aprons, just let me know what team you like!

In addition, if you have your own fabric choice, send the fabrics to me and I'll make your own personalized apron, but it'll still cost $12.99 plus shipping.
Hey, I'm unemployeed and rely on my God-Given talent for income. :0)

I look forward to hearing from you!!!
Thanks!
~Angie~

Catching up...

2009-01-07T10:28:00.002-05:00

so now that i'm a house wife (as of 12/26), im taking some time to catch up on my blog. i just transfered a ton of pictures that were on my camera to my computer. i picked of few to share...

this is the quilt and shower curtain that i made for bff's daughter as housewarming gifts, i'm pretty happy how they turned out.

here are cory & trey looking quite sporty on some crazy bikes

and here is our little country girl in all her glory

don't you just love her boots

stay tuned...

Change

2008-12-16T03:06:00.002-05:00

change happens.
it can happen in an instant or it can happen over time. sometimes we have control over it and sometimes we dont. some changes are good while others are bad. i know of a woman whose 19 year old son was recently killed in a car accident. that change was instant, she had no control over it and it was bad. i also know of a woman who just moved into her brand new home. her change took years of hard work and it is good. change changes you.
right now, im changing. life as i know it is changing. ive wanted and asked certain changes so in a way, its good. but its also a little scary. at work, i have a new boss. i didn't really ask for that so to speak but its turned out pretty god. i like her, she seems to be very nice and easy to get along with. my job has changed to part time now, i asked for that too, sort of. i like my hours, there are no traffic issues going to or from work anymore, praise God for that! its gonna suck come payday though but hey, i was willing to not work at all (and still am, just not quite today.
**im in the living room and i can hear my hubby snoring through the bedroom wall, with the door closed. thats funny.**
i woke up at 2am and layed there for 45 minutes unable to go back to sleep. i went to bed at 8 so i guess my body felt like it had had enough sleep so i went ahead and got up and decided to blog since i havent had time to during the last month. its actually pretty nice sitting here all by myself, in the quiet. no t.v., no one talking...i think ill listen to some music...
ahh, conway twitty says hello darling. i forgot i had this music on here. i love old country, it reminds me of when i was little. now its dolly begging jolene not to take her man. i heard a newer version of this song recently, i really liked it.
anyway, back to changes. i can see many more changes coming my way.
d.i.v.o.r.c.e.
no, not me, it's tammy wynette. i told you i love old country music. it think she and george jones are my most favorites.
it looks like we'll be moving in a few months. theres just no way for us to keep the house at this point. im not really upset about it. i guess its because i look forward to a simpler way of living. smaller house and smaller yard means less to clean and keep. if you dont have room for a bunch of junk, then you cant keep a bunch of junk, right? ive started thinking about what i want to keep and what i want to get rid of. i have way more than i need. take dishes for instant. i have 6 pyrex casserole dishes. who in the world needs that many casserole dishes? ive never made more than one casserole at a time. useless stuff taking up space, thats all that is. my sister in law teases me about my dish fetish. shes right though, its rediculous. and mixing bowls. i bet i have at least 10 of those things! theres glass ones, plastic ones, stainless steele ones, ceramic ones, where does it end? im proud though that i have started a yard sale box. now in my cabinet, i only have 2 casserole dishes, a small one for brownies and a large one for casseroles. im down to one set of stainless steele mixing bowls. i dumped a complete set of silverware, a bunch of serving utensiles and several pots and pans. hows that for change?
ronnie milsap, any day now. this stuff is great!
i have so many things that i dont need. i have a china cabinet full of stuff that i never use. but, i have another china cabinet that i absolutely love. my best friends mother gave it to me. its an antique, its smaller than your normal china cabinet and i fell in love with it the instant i saw it.
stand by your man. boy did that song create a bunch of stink back in its day. i personally love the song, and i love what it means. i know my man isnt perfect but i stand by him because i love him.
my crystal cabinet knobs. i have to take those with me. hubby bought them for me for christmas. i can put them on the cabinets at the new place and on the dresser that my sister in law gave me, it was hers growing up, from ethan allen i think, a nice sturdy piece of furniture. right now it holds fabric but when we move, ill get rid of the dresser thats currently in my room and ill use the better one. the crystal knobs will be a cute touch i think.
oooh! johnny cash! i like him too.
we have a big glass desk that we dont need, it only holds clutter anyway. we also have more furniture than we really need. id really like to say goodbye to my 1990's country style dinning room table with the claw feet and get a smaller, round, dark wood table like the ones we have at work. and id love to get rid of our country plaid couch and love seat and just have a good, worn in, brown leather sofa. we like our recliners so for right now i plan to keep them. we have a big 'ol square, brass plate covered coffee table that i absolutely hate. i move it when the baby is here cuz im scared to death that shes gonna fall on it and gash her little face. that's gone for sure!
vince gill, go rest high on that mountain. this song makes me cry.
i hope we find a little place that someone just wants to get rid of cheap. maybe even free. sometimes people have mobile homes that that they just want gone. that would be fine with me, no house payment or rent. we could handle just a land payment. i really want a simpler life, not a material filled life. i dont need to have all the finer things in life the way the world tells me i do. i can be perfectly comfortable in my little single wide (thats paid for) on my little lot with my little flower garden at the end of a little dirt road, with my little granny car (thats paid for), with my not so little husband and his beat up pick up truck (thats paid for). Trey is about to leave the nest and i think cory secretly plans to go back to his moms when we move, hes hinted about it a few times. theres another change, hubby and i being by ourselves, empty nesters. imagine that. now who couldn't live on one income in a little bitty empty nest like that?
i hope we can. its what id like.
change. sometimes its good.
theres george jones again with he stopped loving her today, this one makes me cry too.

Writer's Workshop

2008-11-20T09:25:00.004-05:00

The Last Time I Laughed Really Hard.

I laugh a lot so this story isn't really the LAST time I laughed really hard but it was the first thing that popped in my head so here it goes...

A few years ago, Sparky and I were preparing supper together, we were cooking steaks on the grill, boiling potatoes for mashed taters, tossing up a salad, etc...
Sparky and I have a lot of fun together. We play jokes on eachother, he scares the crap outta me, I throw candy at his forhead, we wrestle and chase eachother around, goofy stuff like that.
So anyway, we were cooking supper and I had just taken the steaks off the grill and had them on a plate to take into the house. I can't remember what exactly made me ask him to do this for me but i asked him to skip across the yard.

Sparky: What? Skip? You really want me to skip? Like a little girl? I can't skip!

Me: Come on, just do it, for me, please.

Sparky: No really, I don't think I can physically skip, I don't know how to.

Me: What? Everyone knows how to skip, you learned it when you were a little kid, remember?

Sparky: I don't think I ever skipped when I was a kid. Seriously.

Me: Whatever, just try it. Picture in your head a little girl skipping around. You got it pictured?

Sparky: Yea, I see a little girl skipping.

Me: See how she's doing it?

Sparky: Yeah.

Me: Ok good. Now you do it.

Sparky raises his arms up, kicks one gigantic foot straight out in front of him with his toes all spread apart like Fred Flintstone, and hops.
I know it's pretty hard for you to picture for yourself but that was THE most hilarious thing I have ever seen in all my 37 years! A six foot, 240 pound grown man trying to skip, looking like a total I don't know what!

Remember how I said that I had the steaks on a plate to take into the house? Well, I was laughing so hard, I had to go down on my knees in order to keep from loosing the plate cuz I couldn't hardly keep my balance. I think I even peed in my pants a little.

One of these days I'm gonna get his skipping on tape and put it on utube for the whole world to see.

Sparky is the best sport ever, anytime I ask him to skip, he does it and it's just as hilarious as the first time cuz he STILL can't do it right and he looks like a great big dork but I love him anyway with all my heart forever and always!

Sometimes, (when I remember to do it) when we're in a parking lot somewhere and I get in the car before he does, I make him do a little dance before I'll unlock the car door and let him in. That's another great laugh cuz he immediately looks around to see how many people are gonna see this shamful display of random white boy dancing. I'm merciful though and only make him do his little dance for about 5 seconds, then I let him get in the car and I laugh my butt off!!!

Like I said, he's the best sport ever!

Writer's Workshop is hosted by MamaKat over at Mama's Losin' It

Wordful Wednesday-The Cutest Letter Ever

2008-11-12T09:05:00.009-05:00

It's Wordful Wednesday again hosted by Angie over at 7 Clown Circus so here's my photo for today and the story behind it.

My Mom moved to Texas about 4 years ago, it might be getting closer to 5 years now but anyway, my youngest son Jordan and she had always spent a lot of time together and then after she moved he went and spent 2 summers with her and my Daddy and he Loved it! Right after Jordan came home from his first summer visit, he wrote this letter to my Mom, his Grandma...

In my biased opinion, the drawing makes up for the spelling.

For more stories, hop on over to 7 Clown Circus, Angie is expecting you, she might even be serving coffee this morning!!!

Umpa Luffas!!!

2008-11-11T09:19:00.003-05:00

Pop Quiz!
Where do Luffa Sponges come from?
Seriously, what's your answer?
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Did you say "the ocean?"?

Nope, that's what I thought too but contrary to popular belief, luffas do not come from the ocean. They are actually a plant, more specifically, a vine. They are much like a cucumber or a zucchini. I recently found out that in some parts of the world, they are harvested before maturity and eaten. Interesting huh?
I learned about luffas this past spring and decided to indulge, with the intentions of giving luffas and home made soap as Christmas gifts but so far I haven't made any soap so I guess I'll just be giving the luffas.
Anyway, the luffa vine is a very nice thing. The vines grow VERY tall and have the pretties little yellow flowers that bloom throughout spring AND summer. Next year, I will plant the seeds along a fence or lattice and it will be a beautiful site to see!
The luffas grow in various sizes but the bigger, the better. So now I'll show you what they look like and how you harvest them...

First, you find the ones that are ready...

You cut them from the vine...

You crack the peeling by useing a little pressure with your thumbs..

Then you peel...

Jordan was very proud that he managed to peel this one in one piece...

Once you've got it peeled, you squeeze out all the seeds and "dog slobber", then you rinse it with water, fluff it back out and lay it on the roof of your car and let it dry out in the glorious sunshine. :0)

These luffas are PERFECT because they are NOT hard as bricks and they do NOT peel your skin off like a cheese grater. They are just right in texture, not too hard, not too soft, they're just perfect and I LOVE them! I'll never buy another wash cloth again. AND, they make great scrubbies in the kitchen so I'll never buy another one of those green scratchy things again either!

If you would like me to send you one of my Umpa Luffas, just leave me a comment then mention and post a link to this post on your blog. I'll do a random drawing on Friday.

You'll love it, I promise!

A is for Apron

2008-11-10T09:19:00.002-05:00

so what do you do when you wake up at 1:30 am on a saturday, lay there for an hour and still can't go back to sleep? you get up and make an apron, of course!
yep, you get up turn on the hallmark channel, turn the volume down real low so as not to wake anyone else up, watch a little bit of Walker Texas Ranger (i don't really care for the show but whatever), you flip through the pages of your Apron Book, and then you jump up and go into the sewing/dining room and pick out your fabrics!

i started constructing the apron at around 3am. i don't like patterns very much and aprons are pretty basic so i just cut the pieces as i imagine they should be...

i iron out any wrinkles and then iron all the seams. see that iron? i got that at a yard sale for 5 bucks. this iron is incredible, the best one i've ever had. oh and see the fabric that's covering my ironing board? it's actually a shower curtain made of toile fabric. i paid $1 for it at a thrift store. i'm still not sure what i'm gonna do with it yet...

anyway, back to the apron. after all the seams are ironed down, it's time to start stitching! i love to sew...

and i love to take pictures...

so what do you get when you can't sleep?

a cute little apron like this!

and then you add another piece to it and you get this...

i know, the apron is cute but i look terrible and there is a pile of dishes in the sink but who cares, i have another apron now!!!

Be sure to come back tomorrow for the Umpa Luffas...

Wanna Wrestle?

2008-11-06T09:16:00.002-05:00

I just thought I'd post about Cory today, cuz I'm extra proud of him lately. He's in 10th grade this year and is taking a business management/entrepreneurship type class that also has an after school club, so to speak. He really loves this class and aspires to go to college and major in business. YAY!!!!!!!!

ALSO, he has joined the wrestling team! I'm sooo excited about going to his matches and cheering him on! Yesterday was his first practice (if that's what they're called). He told us all about it and admits that it's very hard, what with all the work outs and learning the all the techniques. He was very tired and very sore when he got home. I think he even went to bed early!

He even looks like a high school wrestler, doesn't he?

Look at his poor knee, both of them look like this.

And I can't forget about Trey. I'm very proud of him too. He passed his test and now has his diploma!

Say "Hi" to everyone, Trey.

Shoe Box Makeover

2008-11-05T10:43:00.002-05:00

So I've been saving these 2 red shoe boxes I've had for years now. I saved them because they aren't your ordinary shoes boxes. You know how your ordinary shoe boxes have a lid on top that you take off? well these ones are more like a pull out drawer with shoe string handles and they are very thick and sturdy. I thought they would come in handy for storage someday so I just kept them in the top of my closet waiting for the day that I decide to do something with them. That day came over last weekend. Remember the Mod Podge I couldn't wait to try? Well...

Red Shoe Boxes + Mod Podge + Pretty ScrapBook Paper =

Sassy Storage Boxes for More Crafty Things!!!

I know, I know. I forgot to take before pics. But how stinkin cute did they turn out?

Wordful Wednesday - Jordan's Art

2008-11-05T09:41:00.004-05:00

Today is Wordful Wednesday which is hosted by Angie at 7 Clown Circus . In case you didn't already know, it's the official day in Blog Land where you post a photo (or photos) and then you decsribe the scene(s). I love to post photos and then write about them so that makes Wordful Wednesday my favorite blog day!

I decided to make today's post about my son's art. I have hung on to a few of Jordan's little masterpieces for years now with the intention of framing them. Unfortunately, during our last move, we somehow managed to loose my favorite painting which was of a jaguar drinking water from a stream that he did in 3rd grade.

However, all is not lost...

This one he painted at school while in 2nd grade. It's a beautiful bird and a very happy sunshine! I'm not sure but that may be a worm in the bird's tummy. :0)

This one is a simple paper drawing of our beloved dog Mackenzie. I believe it to have been drawn sometime during the 3rd grade as well. I love this one because we lost Mackenzie a few years ago and this reminds me of how much she was loved.

When I expressed my sorrow at loosing my favorite painting, Jordan painted this one for me as a Christmas gift last year when he was 13. I was overwhelingly inpressed with his talent! I still have to take it for framing...

VOTE!!!

2008-11-04T10:17:00.002-05:00

I'll be leaving work early today so that I can vote. My vote will be based on Christian values, period.

For a great post on voting guidelines, check out Tiaras & Tantrums post titled "We Are Christian First, American Second".

No, I will not change the channel.

2008-10-31T13:24:00.003-04:00

So I'm at work right now, right? The lobby is full because one of our clients is having a hiring day. There are about 15 people in the lobby, everyone has filled out their applications and are now just waiting. The t.v. is on. Fox News is on. An Obama speach is playing.

An old guy comes up to the desk and this is what unfolds:

Old guy: Hey can you change the channel or turn this down?

Me: Is there a problem?

Old guy: Yea, I'm very offended by having to listen to this. I don't like it.

Me: Hmmmm no, I'm not gonna change it.

Old guy: Okay fine, can I have the address of your corporate office?

Me: Sure, I'll write it down for you and I'll even give you the phone number too!

I write it down and hand it to him. By this time people are giving me that look like "who is this guy?". THEN, he comes BACK:

Old guy: Can you give me back my application?

Me: I don't have your application.

Old guy: Yes you do, I gave you back the clip board and you kept the application.

Me: No, I didn't. Look, here are all the clip boards and your application is not here.

Old guy: ::Humph:: well give me another one then and I'll fill it out again.

I give him another one and her turns to go back to his seat.

He comes back. WITH his original application in hand.

Old guy: Here you go, I was mistaken.

Then some other guy walks up and whispers something to Old guy. I thought he might be telling him to chill or something but NOOOOOOOOO. Evidentally he didn't like what was playing on the t.v. either.

Old guy to other guy: Yea I know but you'll have to tell her (points at me) your feelings.

Old guy to me: See I'm not the only one who feels that way.

Me: Well you're entitled to your feelings.

Old guy: It's not feelings!

Me: ::blink, blink, smile::

The crowd including Old guy follows the hiring guy down the hall.

My thoughts?

#1. It was FOX NEWS, you know, "fair and balanced reporting". Although they are of the Republican persuasion, they play both McCain's and Obama's speaches, in entirety.

#2. You are not the first person to want the channel changed. Some other guy a while back wanted me to change it from FOX to CNN, I guess he didn't like the McCain speach that was playing that day. I didn't change it for him either. Get over it.

#3. This is my house. You don't come into my house and tell me to change the channel on my t.v.

#4. If you don't like what's playing on someone else's t.v. IGNORE IT! OR LEAVE!

Now go away Old guy, I've got some blogging to do.

Mess with me on a Friday.

Wordful Wednesday

2008-10-29T09:26:00.002-04:00

need a'lil help?

she loves to help with everything. no matter what we are doing, she wants to help. she helps work on the car by beating on it with a wrench. she helps me load the dishwasher by taking the dishes out as soon as i put them in. she helps fold laundry by unfolding it. she helps plant flowers by pulling them up.

she helps us laugh by being the silly little girl that she is!

Wordful Wednesday is hosted by Angie at Seven Clown Circus

It's A Girl!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-10-28T12:54:00.008-04:00

Hey everybody!!!! I'm gonna have another niece!!!!! Emily is gonna get a "Sissy"!!!! I'm sooooo excited!!! She'll have brown eyes and brown hair, just like me!

I know this because "Sissy's" Daddy has brown hair and brown eyes and that usually overrides blonde hair and blue eyes, unless of course Daddy had blonde hair when he was little, but anyway I'm so excited I can't hardly stand it!!!

I think one of the reasons that I am so excited is because there is something very special about sisters. I think every girl should have a sister. I was very, very happy when I found out that I had a baby sister and because I am 12 years older than my sister, it's more like I was and will always be a second mom to her instead of being more like "sissies" but that's okay because all that really matters is that we ARE sisters!
I have so much fun teaching Emily how to pretend she's cooking and taking care of her babies. I love to show her new things and in a year or 2 she will be teachig her little "sissy" to pretend and I will have the time of my life watching the two of them play!

Congratulations to my Baby Sister

on giving Emily her very own Baby "Sissy".

Baby "Sissy" @ 10 weeks

And thank you Baby Sister for giving me and Jon another sweet little niece to adore!

Now how come there aren't any pictures of ME and Emily???

I had planned on cleaning out Emily's closet at my house this weekend. I guess I can go ahead an keep all the clothes that she has outgrown, and the shoes, and the crib, and the baby toys, etc...
Have I mentioned how excited I am?
:0)

Hay Yall...

2008-10-27T09:10:00.003-04:00

it's fall!
yea, yea, yea. i know it's been fall for several weeks now. so I'm a little late in posting my fall decorations, so shoot me. no wait, please don't shoot me, i didn't really mean that. what I meant was, better late than never, right?

anyway, yesterday i worked on a decoration that i saw on another blog and being the copy cat that i am, i had to duplicate it and create on for myself. i know you're dying to see it but you'll have to wait a little longer cuz i'm not quite finished with it yet. in the mean time, i'll share an idea of my very own (at least i think it was my own idea). i made this cut center piece about 5 years ago.

it was super simple, just go to the craft store and get you one of those miniture bales of hay, some cute little fall floral stick thingies, a mini scare crow or two, some fall potpouri and a small wodden tray. paint the tray if you want, set the hay inside the tray and scoot it all the way to the back, stick in your floral thingies and your scare crow, pour some potpouri in the front of the tray, add a festive little bow and voila, you have an adorable centerpiece that was so easy Moma Kat could make it (hehe, i hope she doesn't take offense to that) and it costs less than $10.

next...
i picked up a couple of old milk bottles at an estate sale last weekend. i love these little bottles so much i think i'll go back this coming weekend and grab some more. they make wonderful little seasonal flower vases! i just set them around all over the house and stick a single flower in them. how stinking cute is that?

ok, now it's your turn to share some of your decorations...

oh, and here's another doll that i made saturday night for my cousin's little girl, i hope she likes it. nana named her gigi!

PhotoStory Friday

2008-10-24T10:23:00.007-04:00

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

I just L.O.V.E. this shot of my son. See that little freckle in his lash line? I love that little freckle. And how gorgeous are those chocolate brown eyes? Jordan is an outside boy, always has been. He's not afraid of anything that crawls or creaps. He may be a future Game Warden. He doesn't put things back where they go, and he creates little messes everywhere he goes, we call them "Jordan Piles". He has always been very good with babies and toddlers. He will be a fine father someday. Emily loves Jordan, she calls him "Jew-duh" and runs to him. He will take good care of me when I get old.

It's so hard to believe my baby will be 15 this spring. A warning to all you moms out there with little ones, enjoy them being little while you can because before you know it, they're grown!

I need a shot like this of Stormy.

A Wish Party...

2008-10-22T10:32:00.003-04:00

I'm having a Wish Party today and you're invited! I'll list my wishes and then you comment and list your wishes, it's that simple. Okay, here's my list...

I wish an extremely wealthy person would pay off my mortgage for me. You know, someone like Donald Trump or Oprah Winfrey or Bill Gates. For people that are that rich $137,000 is pocket change. They spend more than that on birthday parties!

I wish all my family lived in the same general area, not spread out all over the coutry!

I wish there were no fatherless children.

I wish I could have a glimps of what my life will be like in 10 years. Just a little peek.

I wish I had more time for making things and had a successful online store.

I wish God would talk to me outloud so that I could KNOW that it was Him and not my own mind.

I wish I was content enough to not wish for things that I don't have.

Your turn!

How was my 4 day weekend?

2008-10-20T15:16:00.006-04:00

Well yall, I made it through my weekend in one piece. The 7 hour (round trip) drive to get Nana made my neck hurt like crazy towards the end of the day Thursday but luckily I have some Icy Hot. The drive there was peaceful. Sometimes it's nice to go on a long drive alone. I had BFF's car so I could think about things other than the car breaking down. Thanks girl!!! The drive back...well it wasn't dull. Nana talks.
Her laugh is amazing. She tells funny stories that are usually about her and she gets to laughing so hard, she cracks me up. I'll give you an example.
Here's Nana, imagine her telling a funny story...

Nana was on a car trip from Texas to Florida and she had brought 2 pain pills with her to take at the half-way point. She explains that she can handle the first half but the second half really bothers her bones and joints. So anyway, they stop at a store and while she is waiting on my Mom & Dad to come back out of the store, she takes her pills and gets rid of some trash and what not. Well, a few minutes later my Mom comes out of the store and Nana asks her if she would get them some coffee so Mom goes back in to the store. Mom gets back to the car with the coffee, Daddy is back so they get on their way again. A few minutes go by and Nana mentions how good her coffee is. Mom agrees, yea, the coffee is pretty good. Nana says again how wonderful her coffee is, she is REALLY impressed by this coffee. I mean, it's the best she's EVER had in her whole life! At this point in her telling me the story, she's about to pee in her pants cuz she's laughing so hard. Through her hysterical laughter, she manages to conclude that the next day while she was telling someone else how good that gas station coffee was, she all of a sudden remembered that just before the coffee, she had taken her pills and that was why her coffee seemed so good!
God bless Nana!

It was so good to see my boys. They have grown even more! Jordan has even let his hair grow out. He normally keeps it buzzed short so you can imagine my surprise at seeing his baby curls again after all these long, long years since his first haircut when he was about 2. And Stormy is about 5'7 now, I predict him to be atleast 6' before the end of the school year. Stormy is still in ROTC, Jordan is playing football and both boys play the trumpet in band. They are doing very well! Oh, unfortunately the pics I took of them didn't transfer to my laptop this morning, I'm very upset about that but I'll try to get them posted tomorrow.

Now Miss Emily has morphed into a terrible 2! She is sassy, bossy, moody and even mean at times that suite her! She has deliberatly outcast Nana. She won't let her touch her or even talk to her. She tells her "NO!" and "GO!" (go as in go away). Sometimes she forgets that she wants nothing to do with Nana but as soon as she remembers, she lets her know. We had planned on keeping Princess Emily for the entire week but we have quickly come to the conclusion that she has become a weekend visitor at best so she will be delivered back to her mommy this evening. We love her dearly but can only take so much of the terrible 2 stage. We just hope it passes quickly!

I know you'll think I'm fibbing when you see these pictures but don't let her fool you, she's a pistol!

She insists on being pushed around in her dolly stroller

She has some very interesting new dance moves

Did I mention that she shhhh's us now? If she don't like what you're saying, she shhh's you.

She thinks she's ready to drive already and insists on going bye-bye

I love her blonde hair, blue eyes and black eye lashes!

The Weekend Is Here!!!

2008-10-15T13:23:00.002-04:00

I know what you're thinking. You're thinking that I have lost my mind cuz it's only Wednesday and I'm saying that the weekend is here already, right? Well, I'm not crazy because my weekend is in deed here already!
I'm taking tomorrow off to go up to the panhandle to get grandma and bring here back to my house for about week or so! I'm totally excited about that!
AND by the time I get back home, my boys will be there! They don't have school on Friday so I'm taking Friday off as well so that I can spend an extra day with them, maybe we'll go fishing.
AND Friday afternoon, we will go get That Baby and she will stay with us for about a week too!
How exciting is all this? I can hardly contain myself!
It's too bad BFF can't play hooky and go with me tomorrow. :(

Quilt Give Away!!!

2008-10-14T09:26:00.002-04:00

Easy now, I'm not the one giving away a totally awesome quilt but I know who is...
It's Elizabeth at Pigtails and Snails, go on and visit her and enter, here's where to go. Who wouldn't just love to have this in their house? I know I would so I've entered and really hope that I win, not you but me! I know, that's my selfish side bearing her nasty little self, shame on me!
Anyway, good luck to all who enter! Now that's the nice me. Good girl.

Where have I been?

2008-10-13T08:55:00.003-04:00

Hi guys!
You've missed me, haven't you? I just knew it!!! Awww, yall are so sweet, I love you too!
Anyway, I didn't purposly neglect my blog last week, it's just that I had my nose burried in books, ALL.WEEK. Yep, I read 3 books last week. Now don't go telling everyone that I'm crazy, I just love to read, it's just another one of my many hobbies. You see, when I pick up a book, I don't like to put it down. And then when I read something I really like, I have to have more books by that same author and then when I get them, I of course have to read them too, AS.SOON.AS.I.GET.THEM! I know, it might be a sickness, I'll have to check that out...
So I know I've mentioned him before but I have to give props again to Mr. Charles Martin. I love his books! His stories and writing style just amaze me. And he lives right here in Jacksonville! How cool is that? Anyway, I'm proud to announce that I now have all 6 of his books and can't wait for the next one. I only wish I had all of them in hard back. I guess they only put out hard backs when a book first comes out? Ok, so over last week I read the following Charles Martin books:

Wrapped In Rain(that reminds me, I need to get on the ball and give my extra copy of Where The River Ends away!)

The Dead Don't Dance

Maggie (sequel to The Dead Don't Dance, I hope he does a 3rd one)

Have I mentioned that I love his books? They are always about a man (not the same man)who is faced with some sort of tragedy in his life and how he deals with life afterwards. I always fall in love with the guys (on a strictly platonic level of course)because they are good christian men, with good hearts and I just want to hug them and tell them that everything will be okay and then I want to cook them something. Hey, don't judge me, I'm only human.

Hey BFF, have you looked for When Crickets Cry yet? I've searched my entire house and can't find it anywhere.

So now that I've finished reading Mr. Martin's books, I've started on one that I heard about recently. It's called The Shack, by WM. Paul Young. It's about a family that suffers a terrible tragedy but the father struggles with it the most. He ends up speding the weekend with The Trinity where the tragedy happened. Can you imagine actually, physically being in the presence of God, Jesus and The Holy Spirit, having meals and conversations? I'm really enjoying this book and can't wait to see how it ends tonight!

Well, I'm off now to spend some time on my other blog.

Later!

Clean Jokes Today!

2008-10-07T08:58:00.003-04:00

I know I said that today I would post about what I made over the weekend but I haven't taken any pictures yet so you'll just have to be patient with me. I'll get to it, I promise. In the mean time, get a laugh!

Afraid of the Dark...

A little boy was afraid of the dark. One night his mother told him to go out to the back porch and bring her the broom.

The little boy turned to his mother and said, "Mama, I don't want to go out there. It's dark."

The mother smiled reassuringly at her son. "You don't have to be afraid of the dark," she explained. "Jesus is out there. He'll look after you and protect you."

The little boy looked at his mother real hard and asked, "Are you sure he's out there?"

"Yes, I'm sure. He is everywhere, and he is always ready to help you when you need him," she said.

The little boy thought about that for a minute and then went to the back door and cracked it a little. Peering out into the darkness, he called, "Jesus? If you're out there, would you please hand me the broom?"

Knock at the Door...
A new pastor was visiting the homes of his parishioners.

At one house it seemed obvious that someone was at home, but no answer came to his repeated knocks at the door. Therefore, he took out a card and wrote "Revelation 3:20" on the back of it and stuck it in the door.

When the offering was processed the following Sunday, he found that his card had been returned. Added to it was this cryptic message, Genesis 3:10."

Reaching for his Bible to check out the citation, he broke up in gales of laughter.

Revelation 3:20 begins "Behold, I stand at the door and knock." Genesis 3:10 reads, "I heard your voice in the garden and I was afraid, for I was naked."

To my loyal readers and new friends...

2008-10-06T13:27:00.002-04:00

Yeah right, like I'm so popular!!! I crack myself up sometimes!
But anyway, today I am going to focus on a new blog. Now don't go worrying your pretty little heads one bit, I love BLOOM and have every intention of keeping her! I'm going to consider her my "Domestic Dabblings Blog", if you will. I will use BLOOM to continue to be my cute little crafty, entertaining and fun loving self. While my new blog will reflect a more serious side of me. Don't go freaking out on me now, I'm not like Jeckyl and Hide or anything.
People have asked me how do I do it, or how did I get to be the way that I am. I had an old boss once that layed me off and kept asking me how is was that I was handling it so well. My answer to her was "that's just the way I am". Looking back, I should have said "That's just the way I roll"! There I go, cracking myself up again! Anyway, I am the way that I am due to my foundation. My foundation is based on God and the Holy Bible. I haven't always done the right things but my foundation is solid and has always held me up.
My new blog will be known as "Letters To God". It will cronicle my prayers and my journey through this tuff world while maturing as a faithful Christian. You are welcome to visit "Letters To God" if you like. For me it will serve as an expressive outlet, if anyone else visits, I hope it serves as inspiration in one form or another.

As for BLOOM, tomorrow, I plan to post on the things I made over the weekend. I might even post my very special baked zitti recipe!!!

You guys rock!!!
:0)

Hurry up 5 o'clock

2008-10-03T13:43:00.003-04:00

This............day...........is..............dragging............sooooooooooooo................slooooooooooow. I can't hardly stand it and to add insult to injury, Aunt Flow just showed up. I had no idea it was time for her to visit again. It seems like she just left a few days go and now she's back. ugggg. I'm absolutely miserable right noooooooooooooooooooooooooow.

I so want to be here right now. I fell like if I don't get some Mod Podge right now, I might just die. Right here. Right now.
You know, I've never in my whole entire life, ever Mod Podged something. I know, right?

Along with the red tide, I've been surfing the blog waves today (as usual) and I have found so many craftivists! I consider myself a copy-cat crafter. I don't come up with ideas, I copy them! Oh! before I forget, go check out my new favorite crafter blog Big Creek Cottage I like everything I saw in her blog. And check out the back to school teacher survival kits that she put together for her kids to give to their teachers. They are under the August posts. I just love them! She did that with Mod Podge! I know, shut up, right?

Anyway, back to the Mod Podge. I have an old suite case that I keep my boys baby books in and some other pictures (this would be the first thing I grabbed if my house caught on fire). I saw on another blog (wish I could remember where) where she recovered her old case using Mod Podge. I instantly knew that I had to do that to my case. I'll be sure to take before & after pics cuz I know my fans will want to see.
I smell a weekend FULL of crafting! With the windows and doors open so I can enjoy this lovely Fall weather!

By the way, from now on, I will be typing in all lower case. im just too lazy to use the shift key anymore. thank you for understanding.

TAGGED & AWARDED!!

2008-10-02T16:07:00.003-04:00

Look yall, it's my very first Tag AND Award! This is so exciting!
Ok so this is my first time so I hope I do it right, here goes...

The very sassy red-head over at : Tiaras & Tantrums tagged me with Tag You’re it Meme!

RULES, because tags have rules . . .

1. Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Okay, here are 7 facts about myself:

1. I have 3 tatoos; a cross on my lower back that I've had for 14 years, way before they started calling them "tramp-stamps". I hear that when I'm in my 50's it will be called a "hag-tag", great. I also have a tiny little heart right below my belly button, I've had that one for about 12 years. And lastly, I have a tat-toe. It's a permanent toe ring, I've had that one for about 4 years.

2. I love asparagus and spinache and collard greens!

3. I could so be a farmer.

4. My BFF and I have been BFFs for nearly 22 years!

5. I've known my husband since I was 9.

6. I have sweaty feet. I know, ewww!

7. I'm not as smart as I think I am!

There you have it!

I tag all 7 of my Fans, I mean Stalkers, I mean Followers!

Mrs. S

Rachel

GiGi

Jeanie

My Mom

Amy
Her blog is not up and running yet but she's workin on it!

Insane Mama

Here's my Award:

PROXIMADE!

To translate the gift from Portuguese to English, it means: "This blog invests and believes, the proximity"[meaning, that blogging makes us 'close' -being close through proxy]

Post this if/when you award this to others:

"They all are charmed with the blogs, where in the majority of its aims are to show the marvels and friendship; they are persons who are not interested when we give them a prize, and then they help to cut these bows; do we want that they are cut or that they propagate?"

Then let's try to give more attention to them! So with this prize we must deliver it to 8 bloggers that in turn must make the same thing and put this text.

I also pass this award on to my followers!

Writer's Workshop

2008-10-01T15:51:00.008-04:00

Writer's Workshop is hosted by Mama Kat, go check her out, she's a total hoot!

What did I do before I had internet?

Before the internet and p.c.'s came along, I watched too much t.v. and had to use encyclopedias.

Kids played outside all day and got plenty of excercise and went to bed at a decent hour.

Dads played card games with other Dads, not violent video war games on line with other people making it DIFFICULT FOR ME TO BLOG BECAUSE I HAVE TO DISCONNECT IT FROM THE XBOX AND RECONNECT IT BACK TO THE ROUTER THING!

Bloggy Things

So I'm finding that there are all kinds of neat little things that you can try out there in blogland. Things like this:

Your Eyes Should Be Brown

Your eyes reflect: Depth and wisdom

People find you to be: Loyal, honest, and comforting

Your best trait: You are comfortable with who you are, and you don't pretend to be someone you're not

What's hidden behind your eyes: A tender heart

What Color Should Your Eyes Be?

It's funny cuz my eyes ARE brown. How cool is that?

Wordful Wednesday

2008-10-01T10:55:00.003-04:00

BFF sent me this in an email a few minutes ago.
What do you think she's trying to tell me???

Tuesday's Trash

2008-09-30T14:16:00.002-04:00

I really don't know what to write about today. In fact I don't even know why I named the post "Tuesday's Trash", but I bet it made you think something trashy though, didn't it?

Shame on you!

I wish I had some trash to turn into treasure but I don't, not right now anyway. I should have gone to a few of the many yard sales that I passed by over the weekend but I didn't. But I am still on the lookout for a toilet with the tank intact just sittin on the side of the road waiting fo rthe garbage man to pick up. I want to put one in The Garden and plant herbs in it. How funny would that be!?! I just haven't figured out how I'm going to get it in my car when I see it. I mean, what if it's yucky? Maybe I could wear come of those elbow lenth rubber gloves and wrap a tarp around it before I pick it up. Can I even pick a toilet up by myself??? Geez.

I don't have any gossip about anyone so this post isn't about "trash talk".

Maybe it's because I'm bidding on a box of 54 vintage aprons on ebay and if I don't win, I'll get the "trash mouth". I already lost one bid war today.

Who knows? I'm just glad we didn't miss the garbage man again this week!

Oh well, I'll work on something better for tomorrow...

What I Did Over The Weekend

2008-09-29T14:47:00.002-04:00

I LOVE weekends. Saturday is my favorite day of the week. I get to sleep in. I don't have to get up and get dressed and get in the car and fight traffic and go to work and deal with people. I love staying in bed until 9 or 10am, except I can't do that because the birds and the squirrels make too much noise and they wake me up so I'm usually awake by 7am. Yep, the birds sing too loud and the squirrels have relay races across my roof. How's a girl to get her much needed beauty sleep with all that racket going on? Don't get me wrong, I'm not really complaining just expressing my disappointment in not being able to sleep in as late as I'd like to. That's all.

Anyway, this past Saturday I slept off and on until about 8am. I kind of like doing that becasue I get to have a bunch of little mini dreams. Most of my dreams are good, some are wierd and a few are bad. This past Saturday morning, I think all of my mini dreams were bad. In one, my brother hit my sweet little dog with the bumper of his truck and knocked my dogs head off! Then a few minutes later my dogs head is back on but her front legs are missing and she's walking around upright on her hind legs all bloody and mangled and she was crying and she was confused and I didn't know if I could pick her up and comfort her or not because I myself was scared and confused and sort of grossed out. That was a very bad dream, I'm so glad she's ok.
Then in another mini dream, I dreamt (is that right?) that I was driving my car in a parking garage and going around the sprial up ramp and all of a sudden my car was hanging off the edge of the ramp and I had my niece in the car with me and I was trying to stay still for fear of falling but I was also trying to get Emily's car seat unbuckled so that I could get her out of the car before it fell. That was a bad one too. I had had enough of the bad dreams so I got out of bed.

So at about 8:50 I got in the car and drove about 4 miles to BFFs house. Her house is almost finished and she needs to get packed but there's only one problem. She has to have someone to ~~gossip with~~ talk to to keep her motivated. So I hung out and helped her pack. Do you have any idea how much stuff a 10 year old girl has? I'm sure you do since most of yall have little girls. Cheese and rice that girl has a lot of stuff. I ~~worked like a dog~~ lovingly helped pack until about 12:45.

Then I had to go to my other nieces 1st birthday party. Here she is, aint she cute?

Then BFF and daughter accompanied me to the Quilt Fest, where we ~~walked our butts off~~ admired the beautiful works of many quilters state wide. I don't know exactly how many quilts there were but I'd say somewhere in the thousands. Ok, maybe not that many but there were definitely over 500. We entered a drawing for a sewing machine but niether of us won. Which is good because I'd hate to have had to wrestle a 10 year old girl down to the ground if she had won an $800 machine. Yeah, the both of us would have totally digraced ourselves and BFF would have simply ran away. So glad it didn't come to that. I was too tired to fight anyway.

I got home at about 6:30, poured myself a glass of wine and then poured myself into Charles Martin's novel Where The River Ends. I read until about 11pm. I love this guys books, they make me laugh and cry. Plus he lives here in my city which is really cool. Think he'll invite me for coffee and a personal book signing? Yeah, I doubt it too.

Sunday I spent the day reading and sewing. I was totally excited to start on a new quilt but I was equally eager to get back into the book so that's what I did, I "took turns". I'd read a few chapters, then I'd cut and sew fabrics. It worked out great because by the time I went to bed, I had finished cutting and sewing 8 units of the quilt top AND I had finished the book, with tears rolling down my cheeks and cussing Mr. Martin for making me cry AGAIN!

Anyway, it seems that when I placed my order on Amazon, I accidentaly ordered two copies of this particular book, and it's a hard back which is nice. So I was thinking that I don't need 2 copies of this really great book so I'll give one away to someone who loves a good read.

So, if you'd like to have this book, just leave me a comment and I'll randomly select someone to send it to.

Oh, maybe I should tell you a little about the book, huh? Well, have you ever seen The Notebook? it's sort of like that. A couple who are dealing with an illness. There is a list, like in The Bucket List. There are heros and there are mean people. There aint no naughty stuff and there aint no foul language. It's a tear jerker and a laugh-out-louder and you end up falling totally in love with both main characters. I totally enjoyed it!
How was that for a review?

Here's a cool link about the author and the book.

Until tomorrow...

Mama Kats Hoover Give Away Extravaganza!

2008-09-29T10:29:00.005-04:00

Hey! Have you heard? Mama Kat is giving away a Hoover Vacuum Cleaner, how stinking cool is that???

Go here to enter!!! Hurry!!! It ends TOMORROW!!!!!!!!

I tell ya, that Mama Kat is THE coolest blogger I know. I mean, her posts are always entertainig and she's always making me laugh. Her blog is the first one that I read every morning because I like hers the best. And I'm not just saying that because I want more than one entry into the contest.

I hope I win.

10 Things I Believe In

2008-09-26T08:33:00.002-04:00

So I decided to do another one of Moma Kat's writer's workshop options. I was too lazy yesterday to do both so I'm doing my second choice today. Maybe I'll get extra credit?

10 Things I believe In:

1. I believe in the Holy Bible and all it says.

2. I believe in Love.

3. I believe in Honesty.

5. I believe in Courage.

6. I believe in Giving.

7. I believe in Hope.

8. I believe in Forgiveness.

9. I believe in Patience.

10. I believe in Myself.

I also believe it's time for me and BFF to go see our chick flick! AND that BFF needs to go to the Quilt Fest with me after work today, I'll buy your ticket.
:0)

Writer's Workshop Thursday

2008-09-25T09:45:00.003-04:00

Moma Kat gave us 3 options, I chose this one...

3.) Write a letter to someone you miss greatly

A letter to my boys:

Dear Stormy and Jordan,
I miss you guys so much. It's been about 3 years since you went to live with your dad. I knew that day would come eventually, I just didn't think it would come as soon as it did. Although it sadens me, I understand why you both wanted to go. You needed to be with him. You needed to get to know him. You needed to learn from him and you needed to learn about the other half of yourselves. I hope you truely understand that the only reason I kept you from him after we split up when you were little is because he was not good with little ones. He didn't have the patience to deal with small children. I was protecting you, plus I was terrified that he wouldn't bring you back if I let you go visit him. That's why you could only go with your grandmother, she gave me her word that she would bring you back. She made sure that you got to see your dad while you were visiting her, I knew this.

Anyway, have I mentioned that I miss you? Only seeing you once a month is not enough for me. You guys are my babies and I think about you every day. Hey! What happened to "Call your Mom Sunday"? I know both of you are busy with football and band and friends and girlfriends and school and home and stuff but it wouldn't hurt you to call me once in a while. Everytime I call, you're not around. When your dad calls me with updates, you're not around. I just miss you. I miss hearing you talk and laugh. I miss seeing you sleep. I miss watching you play. I miss doing things with you. I miss cooking for you. I miss teaching you things. I miss grabbing you and forcing you to endure my attack of kisses. I miss telling you good night and good morning. I miss seeing you off to school and coming home to you after work.

Are you ever going to come back home? This is the part that makes me drop a few tears. I really thought that both of you would be back by now. A long time ago actually. Am I not going to get to see you off to your Proms? I'm supposed to annoy you by making you stand still beside your date so I can take pictures. And what about graduation? I'm supposed to throw you a big graduation party and invite all your friends, how can I do that when you live so far away?

Ok, I have to bring this letter to a close now because I'm at work and people are starting to ask me if I'm ok. I just smile and blame it on alergies.

I miss you both and can't wait to see you again.

Love,
Mom

p.s.
I hope you come home soon.

*For some crazy reason, I cannot paste Mama Kat's button, it keeps telling me that the tag is not closed? I have no idea what that means...

Confessions...

2008-09-24T14:46:00.002-04:00

I thought this might be an interesting post. Let me know what you think!

I confess that once when I was in kindergarted, I had a very messy accident and I threw my panties in the garbage can and went the rest of the day in a dress with no underwear on.

I confess that when I was about 13, I told my mom that I got my period. It was a lie. I didn't get my period until I was like 15 (yes, I was a late bloomer).

I confess that once when I was about 14, I was sitting on my boyfriends lap and he and his friend started wrestling and I somehow got squished between the two of them and I accidentally... well... farted. And they called me out on it but I totally denied it. That was really embarrassing.

Ok, one more.

I confess that I don't know my 8 times tables by heart. Seriously, I don't so don't ask me what 8 times anything is.

There. Now it's your turn, what are your confessions???

Give-A-Way Winner!!!

2008-09-21T15:59:00.002-04:00

So even though I only had 6 entries, I still feel popular! I thought there would be more but beggers can't be too greedy.
At about 3:10 pm I helped That Baby write numbers 1 thru 6...

She's a righty and I'm a lefty so it was kind of wierd...

Then I cut out the numbers, folded them up and put them in a hat. The first time she drew, she grabbed as much as her hand could hold so we had to put them all back and draw again, she didn't dig that very much...

So we drew again...

She doesn't look it here but by now she's getting pretty ticked off because I keep taking things away from her, like penciles and scissors and the like...
Then I tell her to open up the paper so we can see who won...

She gets really mad and refuses to play anymore but here's who she drew...

It's Comment #4!!!! Who happens to be mommaof4wife2r @ http://rdehaus.blogspot.com/
Congratulations and I hope you like it!

GIVE-A-WAY!!!!

2008-09-18T11:38:00.008-04:00

Alright yall, I'm having my very first give away in the hopes of becoming more popular. If it works, I promise I'll have MORE give aways cuz all I want is to be popular here in blogland.

Here's what's up for grabs, a very cute little camo & polkadot purse that I designed and made myself. Don't you just love it?! I do.

Anyway, as you can see, it's not very big, which makes it perfect for those quick errands in times when you don't really want to lug around your big, (loaded with all kinds of crap that you have no idea how any of it got in there in the first place) heavy purse. Just toss your wallet, cell phone, lipstick and keys in this cute little number and you're on your way!

If you would like to win this prize, leave me some blog love and mention me on your blog (you might want to say something along the lines of how pretty I am or how funny I am or how cool I am, it's totally up to you) and link back to my blog. I don't have one of those cute little tags yet, which might make me somewhat of a looser but oh well, I'll just have to live with that until someone teaches me how to make one. Or until someone really cool makes one for me! :0)

On Sunday, That Baby will randomly draw the winning entry and I'll post the adorable pics!

Writer's Workshop - My 7th Birthday

2008-09-18T11:38:00.005-04:00

I was the only girl at my 7th birthday party. Really, all my parent's friend's kids (not sure I wrote that correctly) and my cousins were boys. I had grown up with all these boys since birth. I guess that's why I'm pretty good with the opposite sex. I don't mean that in a naughty kind of way, I just mean that I deal with guys well. And girls too but that's probably because I didn't have any to grow up with.
Anyway, back to the story...
All I wanted was to get my ears pierced. THATS.ALL.I.WANTED. I begged and pleaded with my Mom. I don't remember exactly but the begging went something like this:

Me: Mommy pleeeeeeeeease can I get my ears peirced???

Mom: No, you're not old enough yet.

Me: Yes, I am. I'll be 7 tomorrow, pleeeeeeeeease?

Mom: No because you probably won't take care of your ears right and you'll end up with infections and end up having to take the earrings out and the holes'll close up and you'll realize that you shouldn't have gotten your ears pierced in the first place.

Me: Nooooooooo! I promise I'll take care of them! I'll keep them reeeeeeeally clean and I won't get infections. Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease, please, please, please! I promise Mommy!

Mom: You know it'll hurt, it's done with a needle.

Me: I won't cry, I promise. I reeeeeeally wan't my ears pierced for my birthday.

Mom: ::deep sigh::, alright fine.

Me: Oh THANK you Mommy! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! This is the BEST birthday ever!

The next morning, (the day of my party) Mom takes me into the bathroom, puts ice cubes on both sides of my ear lobes (the freezing part did hurt, but I dind't cry!), then she put a small potato behind my ear lobe and stuck the needle through!
I very proudly walked out of the bathroom in my pretty blue flowerdy birthday dress and with my brand new little gold hoop earrings in my ears!

I don't remember any of the gifts I got except for my earrings and a square jewelry box that had sea shells all over it and inside it was a few peices of costume jewelry, all for me!

I don't remember my Mom going shopping the night before my birthday party which leads me to believe that she had planned on piercing my ears from the start and already had my earrings and jewelry box, she just wanted to hear me beg. What a nice Mom.

Oh and for my 11th birthday, guess what I got?
Go on, guess, I'll wait...

I tore open the paper on the box (I think it was a shoe box) and inside that box... are you ready for this?..... layed the elements of premission to shave.my.legs!!!!! Yea! There was a can of shaving cream, a package of disposable razors and a box of band-aids. How cool was my Mom??? She totally understood that I was growing up and that boys made fun of me for having hairy legs.

Those are my 2 most memorable birthdays. What's yours?

To see more Writer's Workshop entries, go visit Kathy, she's a really cool lady!

PSSST!
I'm having my very first give-a-way tomorrow so be sure to come back!

Wordful Wednesday - Beautiful Bond

2008-09-17T10:21:00.004-04:00

I love to feel included so here I am participating in Angie's Wordful Wednesday.

Here's my photo:

Here's the story:
In case you haven't heard, this is my niece, she'll be 2 on Christmas Day. She's mine and Sparky's pretend daughter. We absolutely adore her.
When we first found out that my young, unwed little sister was pregnant, we we're like "Oh no, this is going to be a nightmare, she can't hardly take care of herself, much less a baby. We're going to have to help her ALL the time, she's gonna drop the baby off ALL the time. This is not going to be good."
Sparky use to say "I hate a baby! I eata baby with some bar-b-q sauce!" Now don't freak out on me, he didn't really mean those things not one little bit. Sparky is really a very sweet and kind man. He was just expressing frustration at the idea of being burdened by a baby that wasn't even ours.
Then the baby came. I was there and I cut the cord. But there was something wrong, something that was never detected in the sonograms. Her little bladder was on the outside of her belly. Momma got to hold her for about 60 seconds then they wisked the baby away. At 4 days old she had a 4 and a half hour surgery. They cut her hip bones and pulled her pelvis together. They put her bladder where it's supposed to be, then reconstructed her belly button and her little girl parts. Then she spent the next 4 weeks in the hospital, with her tiny little legs wrapped together and suspended straight up in the air at a 45 degree angle. She had to stay that way, day and night and we couldn't hold her. Momma couldn't nurse her or rock her or cuddle her when she cried. Finally, the time came when her legs could be let down and we could hold her. I think that's when Sparky fell in love with her.
After she was released from the hospital, it was only a matter of days before Momma and the baby came to stay with us for a while. My how quickly a bond can develope. And can continue to develope stronger and stronger everyday.

Today, Emily and Sparky have the most amazing relationship. She loves her Uncle Jon to pieces, she cries when he leaves, she reaches up her little arms for him to pick her up, she lays her head on his shoulder and pats him on the back. She gives him kisses, and hugs his leg. I can't wait til the day when she puts her little hands on each side of his face, looks him right in the eyes and says "I wub you soooo much Untle Jon".

About 7 or 8 months ago, my sister and the baby moved about 2 hours away. We went from seeing her almost everyday to now only about once a month. There isn't a day that goes but that Sparky doesn't say "Where's that baby?" or "I need that baby!" or "I'm gonna go get that baby right now!" It's funny how it went from "I eata baby with b-b-q sauce" to "I neeeeeeed my baaaaaaaby!".

My bond with her? That's a whole nuther post!

In the photo, she comes running around from behind the couch, Uncle Jon is quietly waiting to growl and jump out and get her! We LOVE this game because she jumps with her whole body cuz she's just had the crap scared out of her but then the very next nano second, she's laughing and bouncing and very happy. She then gets grabbed and tickled and kissed and then put back down. Then, after all that, guess what happens? She runs back around behind the couch again and the game starts all over.

Priceless.

The Shirt That Kicked My Butt.

2008-09-16T20:53:00.004-04:00

Sew, I've been on a sewing kick since it's been too dang hot to go outside. (You like my play on words at the beginning, don't you? I'm sew clever sometimes.) Anyway, I've mastered the a-line skirt and I've mastered the jumper style dress for my niece (see pics below) sew I thought I'd give it a go on a cute little shirt to go under the jumper dresses. You'd think that a littl shirt like this would be relatively simple and easy, but NOOOOOOOO! This thing has what seemed like 150 steps in directions. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I had to take it apart and start over. It took me THREE days to get this thing right! At times I got sew aggrivated that I cussed like a sailor, yes I'm a country girl and we say "cuss" not "curse". However, the determined gal that I am, I refused to give up, I pressed on, which is also something you do when you sew, you press the item you're working on, you press the seams, the hems, the binding, etc...
Anyway, day 3 was yesterday, day of triumph! The little shirt kicked my butt, but in the end, I beat it! I overcame, I ruled and I sewed it who's boss! Check it out...are you ready for something absolutely amazing? Feast your eyes on this....

Yep, this is it. A plain black, puffy sleeve, square collar shirt...that probably won't fit her until she's FIVE! But I did it. Go me. ::blink-blink::

Now for the jumpers, these turned out totally cute, in my humble opinion...

This one is my favorite, she can put candy in the Trick or Treat pocket!

Due to the shirt that kicked my butt, I did not do any sewing this evening when I got home from work. I need a break to recover. Whew!

I'm not sure if this post ends up being an additional post for Tuesday or just Wednesday's post done early but I do know that Thursday's post will announce my very first Give-A-Way!

Oh, by the way, have you participated in my Poll on the right? Scroll down a little, you'll see it...

p.s.
Amy! Is that you I see as my newest official fan??? Isn't that a pic of you and your sister???

Awww, I have fans now!

2008-09-16T08:54:00.003-04:00

I feel so loved now, what a way to start the day. I have 2 3 official Fans now, Rachel, Randi and Insane Mama, see their little pictures over there (on the right and down a little), aren't they great? Thanks yall!

As for my honorary fans Tina, Amy and RayRay, I think you'll have to create a Google account in order to become an official fan (it's says follower but I prefer "Fan") but don't worry, it's quite easy and doesn't take long at all and it's FREE. Plus, once you get an accout, you can even start your own blog and get addicted like all us other bloggers and I'll become your 1st fan!

Luv you guys!!!!

Where are my fans???

2008-09-15T13:27:00.001-04:00

Look over there -----------> on the right, (you might have to scroll down a little) see that little thing that says "My Fans! and then it says Wait, where are my fans?" See how it says I have ZERO fans? WTC?
If I don't get a fan or 2 soon, I will shamelessly stoop to the lowest and create a virtual identy for myself and become my own first fan!
I KNOW I have some readers out there (2, maybe 3) that visit my blog regularly.
I KNOW that my BFF loves my blog and reads it DAILY so SHE, of all people should be a fan.
Yet, I have no fans...what a lonely existance...

I'm gonna go fold my arms across my chest, hang my head, poke out my lower lip and go sit in a corner somewhere until I get a fan...
:0(

Kids say the darndest things!

2008-09-12T20:24:00.004-04:00

Ok so my kids are all teenagers now but I remember clearly what each of them said that totally blew my mind. For example:

Stormy, when he was about 9...we lived in a tiny little house with 1 bathroom. Hubby is in the bathroom and Stormy REALLY has to go. He waits, and waits, and waits. Fianlly hubby comes out and Stormy says, as serious as he can be...

"Thank God, I almost pissed my pants!"

Yes, I was in shock but I laughed anyway and tried my best to explain that he couldn't use the word "pissed".

Jordan, he was about 6. We were having a talk about the medical terms for private parts. Jordan very proudly announces that he knows what the proper word is for the female private part is.

Me: Very good, what is it?

Jordan: It's a CHINA!

OMG! That's brilliant! My immediate thought is "Yes that's very good. CHINA, as in it's precious and should be guarded and only brought out on very, very special occaisions."

Now here comes Cory. He's about 8 at this time. We are all playing around, the boys are wrestling, having a grand 'ol time. I've got the camera out, taking lots of pictures of us having fun. I can't for the life of me remember what exactly was said before what he said but we we're all laughing, have a great time then all of a sudden Cory, with a huge smile on his face says "Suck my c__k!"
Can you just imagine my reaction? It was something like this:
My jaw hits the floor, I choke, I cough, I laugh, I take a deep breath and I say: "What did you say?" and he says it again. Just as happy as he can be. "Suck my c__k." I'm like: (to myself, while all the boys are still smiling and laughing and wrestling): OK, how do I address this one. He obviously didn't have any idea what he was saying so I very calmly said: "Ok, sweetie, that's not something you can say."

Cory: "Why?"

Me: "Because that's ugly."

Cory: Why is it ugly?"

Me: "Just trust me, it's ugly and if I ever hear you say that again, I'm gonna wash you're mouth out with soap."

Cory: "Yes, Ma'am."

Then the family fun continues like the ugliness never happened.

Whew!

Friday's Fits

2008-09-12T09:01:00.003-04:00

Now I'm not normally one to complain but here lately some things have really been getting on my nerves. For example, you know how when you're driving and you ever so graciously let someone get over in front of you because it's the nice thing to do and you would be very pleased if someone let you over the next time you needed to, right? Well what the heck happened to people giving you that little "thank you wave" when you do let them over? What, is that like against the law now or something? I mean how flippin hard is it to wave "thanks" real quick? Does it take too much energy? Would it break their arm!?! I mean COME.ON.
I tell ya, when I let someone over and they don't thank me, it makes me wanna ram my car right into the back of them.
BAM!!!
I bet they'd have something to say then, wouldn't they? Ok so that's not really the best thing to do. Besides, I have a thing against banging up my car so what I'm gonna start doing is give the "non-thank-you-ers" the finger!
Not really but I'd like to. What I'm really gonna start doing instead is simply give them the thank you wave, yeah, in the hopes that it will make them feel like an ass for not saying thank you when they should have. I'll let you know if it works so stay tuned...

In the mean time-
As a rule, I try really, really hard not to use the F word, BUT I will allow that there are times when it's totally called for. Here's a good example:

Pay It Forward Contest!

2008-09-11T15:12:00.002-04:00

Tiffany over at The R Family Diaries is giving away a photo printer! If you want a shot at winning it, you'd better git on over there and jump on it!!!
BTW, I gotta tell you, this Tiffany gal is sooooooo pretty! And you won't believe how incredibly smart she is. And OMG! She's rediculously generous and outta-this-world funny! Go check her out and see for yourself, go on, hustle!

Lucky Number Seven

2008-09-10T14:47:00.008-04:00

Seven things I plan to do before I die:

Retire

Have my own shop

Learn to play the piano

Travel overseas

Hang out with Amish people

Write a personal letter to all of the pople I love (I copied this one from Lacey b/c I thought it was really great)

Seven things I CAN do:

Cross my eyes and then move them independently

Twirl a baton & Roller skate

Cartwheels & round-offs

Sew, crochet, knit

Whistle that really loud, attention grabbing whistle that requires one to put two fingers to their lips

Flare out my nostrils

Moon walk and The Snake

Seven things I CANNOT do:

Gleek on purpose (some cultures refer to this as "snaking')

The splits (I actually still have dreams that I can do that)

Bungie Jump or Sky Dive

Out run my sons anymore

Talk Sparky into having an inside dog

I'm a terrible liar

Have anymore children

Seven things that attract me to my spouse: (My Sparky!)

His big 'ol body and his beautiful blue eyes (hey, you gotta be attracted to your spouse, right?)

His easy going nature

His sense of humor

The way he adores me

The way he adores "That Baby" and the way he treats "The Boys"

He's very handy!

The way he skips...well, it's more like he tries to skip, and he does it for me on demand just so I can get a good laugh!

Seven things I say most often:

"Crap!" or "What the crap?"

"Whatever."

"Dang it!"

"Love ya!"

"Yay!"

"Huh?”

"K, bye!"

Seven celebrity crushes:

Oh this one is easy. Alright ladies, brace yourselves and put on a bib! Here we go...

Do you see a pattern here? Big and Beefy!

And now I swoon.

You are 20 years in the future, write a letter to your todays self.

2008-09-10T10:58:00.003-04:00

Miss Kathy's Homework Assignment

Dear Angie,
So you turned 37 last month, I remember it well. It was a pretty bumpy year, I know. Remember those times when you worried over which bill to pay? And your car breaking down and you had to borrow your BFF’s car for like a week, until you got the granny car just so that you could get back and forth to work. Yeah, those were scary times but you made it through them, trust me. If you could see yourself 20 years from now, you would see that times did get better and life was smooth sailing from there on out! And guess what? All the boys make it through high school and go on to be wonderful, productive, caring and responsible men. They all marry fantastic women and give you and Sparky plenty of grandchildren to play with! Sparky will be sexier than ever and you won’t age a bit! Your BFF will need you more than ever when her daughter gets married. You’ll have to handcuff her and tie her up to keep her from tagging along on the honeymoon. You’ll have to help her cut the apron strings by taking her on lavish trips like cruises and island retreats and Eurpoean vacations. Believe me, the two of you will have an absolute blast! Look, here are a few photo’s to prove it…

Here we are in Paris, what a wonderful experience!

And here we are in the Grand Cayman Islands. Look! That's BFF, scuba diving!!!

This is a shot taken from the cabana we were lounging in, look how big our ship was!

We even went to Alaska! BFF took this picture, nice job girl!!!

Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that the next 20 years turn out very well so don't sweat it, you'll see!!!

xoxoxox
~Me~

A New Baby!

2008-09-10T10:02:00.002-04:00

Yes, there is a new baby on the way! That Baby is going to get a little sissy or a little bubba in March, how exciting is that? Here's the first picture of him or her...

I'm Baaaaack!!!

2008-09-05T23:05:00.005-04:00

So the wedding photos are edited, this is my favorite one...

Photographing weddings is a little too stressful for me, I don't think I want to do anymore.

On the other hand, sewing is very unstressful. Sombody please tell me, how. stinking. cute. is this skirt?!!

I have tried to sew clothing before and it never worked out. But this time I was successful! I'm sure that skirts are probably the easiest piece of clothing to make but I feel if I can master this then I'm off to a good start. This skirt is trimmed in bias tape along the hem and waist lines, AND it has a side zipper! I'm so proud of myself. By the way, this was the first one, I made it on Friday evening after work then on saturday I made 3 more and one for That Baby. I have a dress pattern for That Baby that I will try to tackle this week.
Speaking of That Baby...

How 'bout that smile?

See that little doll house chair on the floor? She's trying to sit in it... She just cracks me up!

Have I mentioned that I've been bitten by the sewing bug? Here are a couple of rag dolls I threw together last weekend... they're so cute I think I'll make more...what do you think?

That Baby named this one "Mimi"

I named this one "Lulu"

See her earrings?

Ok, that's it for now, I'm gonna go catch up on my blog reading now....

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I wanna send a great big THANK YOU to my BFF for being such a great BFF. She has very graciously lent me her car for the past 7 days straight while we were trying to repair mine.
BFF, you're the best and I love you with all my heart!!! xoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Posting Delayed

2008-09-02T09:23:00.002-04:00

I'm afraid I have to delay posting for a few days. You see, I have wedding photos to edit. Photos that I took on August 16th. I know, bad photographer! I think the normal turn around is 2 weeks but I'm not a pro so I'm allowed 3. Anyway, I wanna get these to the lovely new couple by Thursday so I gotta go now and get busy. Ta-ta for now...

Bad Day!

2008-08-29T11:50:00.002-04:00

Well, it happened, just like I thought it would. My car over heated on me yesterday morning. There I was, sitting on the side of the highway in the very narrow "emergency lane". For some reason my memory, or maybe it was just my imagination, told me to stay in the car with my seatbelt on. That way if I got hit by some crazy driver not paying attention, at least I would be safer inside the car than out. The whole experience was very unnerving, those semi trucks whiz by at super high speeds, very, very close. Afeared for my safety, as soon as the car cooled off a little I eased on off that busy interstate by creeping along that skinny little emergency lane to the next exit and found a half way decent place to park. So I waited. And waited. And waited. It took an hour for the tow truck to get to me. During my wait I entertained the possibility that this little incident was a sign from God that I shouldn't be driving to work anyway, I should be at home, preforming my housewife duties. I tell ya, if one more thing happens, I'm taking it as a down right demand to quit my job!
Alright, well I've got wedding photos to edit before newly weds start coming after me.
Until next time...

Prompt

2008-08-26T20:11:00.007-04:00

Well, I saw this assignment over at mamakatslosinit and thought it might be fun so I signed up. The object is that Kat will give a topic and you have to base your blog (on Wednesdays) on that particular topic. So here goes -I chose the topic... "I wish I could..."

As soon as I saw it, I knew this was what I wanted to write about. But then I started feeling guilty, or ashamed, so maybe I should write about the other, and then I changed my mind. Then I thought, "is there really any guilt to be awarded?" Then I thought "Well of course there is, how could you wish for anything different than what you have? I have 2 awesome sons, I have a wonderful marriage (married or not, we've been together for 11 years now) with 2 wonderful step-sons. My life is pretty decent, who could complain, right?

I wish I could ...
Be a housewife.

Yes, you read correctly. I want to quit my job and be a housewife. That's it. I mean geez, I've been working since I was 17 years old, I'm 37 now, that's 20 years! Don't you get to retire after 20 years of working? I thought that's how it went. So how come I'm still working?
My 2 boys don't live with me anymore (a couple of years ago, they decided they wanted to go live with their Dad). I'm okay with that now. Afterall, I knew it was coming. I was somewhat prepared. They are safe, comfortable and seemingly happy. I can't beg them to come home. I have to accept it. They are where they want to be....for now.
So here I am, with my husband (whom I adore) and his 2 boys (who coincidently decided that they wanted to move in with thier Dad (my adorable husband) at the same time that my boys decided they wanted to go live with their Dad) so I'm still fulfilling the role of Mom...it's just not the same though. Here's where I feel guilty. Is it okay for me to say to my husband "I'm tired, I don't want to work anymore, you take over.? Is that so wrong? I just want to stay home and keep my house clean. I want to sweep up dust bunnies, and hang sheets out on the line. I want to cook all our meals, I want to have the laundry done (well mine at least, everyone here does thier own laundry), I want to sew and quilt and garden and craft, is that too much to ask? Really?

There have been so many times when I've felt like just quitting. I really hate going to work. My patience isn't what it used to be, that's for sure. I really dread having to deal with other people now, and when I say other people, I'm referring to co-workers and clients. Get this, someone ate my frozen breakfast croissants. Yea, took them right out of the freezer and ATE THEM! What kind of crap is that? Who does that, eats other people's food like that? Now I have to go buy something to eat today which totally goes against my efforts to spend less.
I hate fighting traffic on a daily basis, it really makes. me. crazy. Like this morning, I was freaking out because the morning rush hour traffic was worse than usual and my car kept acting like it was going to over heat. If my car had actually over heated, I'd have been stuck on the side of the road trying to find someone to rescue me (Sparky is out of town this week so he can't be my hero this time), at the same time I'd surely have a nervous breakdown because there are freaks and wierdos out there that would just love the opportunity to snatch up a helpless little thing like me. If I were home being a good housewife, doing housewife things, I wouldn't have to deal with these kinds of situations. Now I have to make it home today. Please car, please don't over heat. Please traffic, please be nice today.
Coming home and announcing that I have retired... priceless! Do you think I'm being selfish or lazy in my wanting of this? Cuz I can see how some people might see it that way. I, myself don't see it that way though. I see it as a changing of careers! And so what if we have less income. I don't need a lot, I just want to be able to pay my bills and buy groceries, that's all. And be a good little house wife.

Well, there's my assignment, I hope you enjoyed it.
Now could someone please tell me how I can find free, cool blog layouts so that I can change mine?
Thanks and have a super day!
~angie~

Surprise!!!!

2008-08-26T09:28:00.003-04:00

Remember me telling you about the water bottle swap? Well look what the mail man, or woman, brought me yesterday...

This is From Elizabeth in England, isn't it pretty? I love the prairie looking fabric and I'm using it right this very moment! I just love it!

And look what else ! I couldn't believe she sent me so many goodies!!!

There are 2 packets of flower seeds AND a cachet full of lavender seeds from HER very own garden. There's also an adorable little needle book AND a book titled The Sixth Wife by Suzannah Dunn, which I've already started reading and am totally enjoying!
I was so excited by my package that my husband said I was like a little girl again, all giddy with delight. I can't wait to send her her package, which I'm dgoing to do tomorrow!

Ok so I know yall have been wondering how Hurricane Fay treated us. Actually, she wasn't really that bad. We have all the expected tree limbs and branches littering our yards and streets, which I predict is going to take a few weekends to clean up. We did have one major incident though that we didn't even notice until Sunday when we were cleaning up the front yard. One of our 60 foot trees broke at about 20 feet up from the bottom and fell into the tree next to it. You can't really tell but the tree is fairly large in the trunk and canopy (the canopy is all tangled up into the next tree's canopy). The tree is actually about 2 feet from our house and if it had fallen the other direction, it could have been catastrophic since it happend at around 1:30 am while everyone was in bed sleeping. I am convinced that God was watching over us.

Here's a side view of our very messy backyard thanks to Fay.

And here's the tree that fell over, look in the middle of the pic. just above the roof line.

Look what Fay did to my okra! :0(

But, on a happier note, my loofas faired very well and are growing beautifully! Look how big this one is!

Owchie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-08-25T14:03:00.003-04:00

What do this giraffe and I have in common?
Look closley at the neck. Go on, take a look.
See the way it's neck is kinked?
That's what my neck looks like, er, feels like.
I must be falling apart cuz I've managed to contract a nasty cold over the past week, my sinuses were killing me 2 days ago, I've been graced with one of those...you know...girlie issues, I broke a nail and this morning I woke up with a cink in my neck. What the heck is going on here!!!!!
Well...
at least I woke up this morning, right?

Tomorrow, I'll post pics of what Kay left for us to clean up.
Until tomorrow...

Hurricane Fay

2008-08-20T12:09:00.002-04:00

Well, Fay is headed our way and is projected to pass through Jacksonville tomorrow. School has been cancelled for shelter preparations and most City Offices are closed.
Sigh...
Wish my office was closed right now.
Are we really ready for a hurricane? MMM, no. Someone stole our generator a while back so we don't have that. I have lots of candles but prolly not enough if we lost power for more than a week (which isn't out of the question). Our stove is electric so if we do loose power, we won't be able to cook. Sure we could cook on the grill or open flame but what is there to burn, everything around here is wet! We only have one bathtub to fill with water, we can't fill our washing machine cuz it's one of those front loaders. I do have several milk jugs and wine bottles filled with water so that's a plus. We've got a decent supply of canned goods, bread and snacks. Oh and we do have a manual can opener, which is a must!
The things that scare me the most are tornadoes and huge tree limbs coming through our roof and hitting somone. I mean, you can get away from the glass windows but you can't really get away from the ceiling! You know, home builders in tornado prone areas should build safe rooms inside houses. I wonder how come there are so few people in florida who have cellars? I wish we had a cellar, we could always have it stocked just in case and I wouldn't have to worry about something coming through the roof.
On a possitive note, at least I have plenty of crafty things to do if we do loose power and if my BFF comes over to wait out the storm, I can teach her and her daughter how to crochet!!!

Until next time...

To Do List - UPDATED

2008-08-15T16:42:00.003-04:00

I've been working on my To Do List , I wonder how much of it I'll get done over the weekend???

Chores - Inside
Inspect entire house for cob webs
Hang painting and photographs on the big wall - DONE
Put movies and games on new shlef - DONE
Put all books on shelf in hallway (except cook books) - DONE
Pain chandelier mount
Remove wire hanging from opening to kitchen

Chores - Outside
Remove all scrap wood and yard debris from back yard - IN PROGRESS
Relocate hot tub to where shed was
Clean back porch of everything, move table to area off dining room - DONE
Put up clothes line in back yard near grape vine - DONE

Projects
Organize sewing needle book - DONE
Organize crochet & knitting needles and baskets - DONE
Organize sewing cabinet and dresser - DONE
Store fabrics & batting - DONE
Finish Mom & Dad's quilt
Polish brass lamps
Re-wire non-operating lamp - DONE
Re-cover lamp shades - IN PROGRESS
Consider lace curtains for living & dining rooms
Finish recovering chairs that are on back porch

Wish me luck and have a happy weekend!!!!!!!

Chocolate Cake!

2008-08-13T10:33:00.007-04:00

Ok so yesterday was my 37th birthday right? Well I have a photo of my Mom on her 37th birthday back in 1990. I thought it would be neat to show her photo and my photo together, both on our 37th birthdays...

Here's mine...

And here's Mom's...

I love this one. There's Mom holding up her candles. That's my very dirty little brother in the forground, that's my other brother Darrell standing and displaying the peace sign, or are those bunny ears? That's my very dirty baby sister there peeking over Mom's arm and look, there's me on the left, I was 18 then. And I just noticed that we both have CHOCOLATE CAKE!

I had a great birthday, thanks for all the kind birthday wishes!!!
~angie~

It's muh Birthday!!!!!!!!

2008-08-12T08:45:00.002-04:00

Yep, today is my birthday (thanks Momma & Daddy!) and I share it with George Hamilton (that really tan guy) and Jane Wyatt (the Mom from Father's Knows Best). These are some of the things that were going on in in 1971 when I was born:

Richard M. Nixon was president
The average annual income was $10,600
The average price of a new house was $25,250
The average monthly rent was $150
The cost of one gallon of gas was 40 cents
Stamps were 8 cents
Ladies 2 piece knit suite were $9.98
Movie tickets were $1.50
A brand new Datson 1200 sports coupe was priced at $1,866
The Microprocessor was invented - computers, yay!
All in the Family debuts on CBS and introduces a trend in socially conscious programming
Jim Morrison died in Paris at age 27
Simon and Garfunkel's Album Bridge Over Troubled Water won Grammys for Album of the year and song of the year.
Phyllis George (Texas) won the title of Miss America

For more interesting info on what was happening the year you were born, go HERE.

I never hesitate to buy myself a birthday present, ever. I've always loved chenille bedspreads so I went looking for one. I found the one I wanted on ebay so I bought it and guess what the mail man delivered yesterday? Yes! my very own, vintage chenille bedspread, and this thing is heavy! I couldn't get it out of the package fast enough! Oh, it is perfect, beautiful, just what I'd hoped it would be. That reminds me, I need to go rate the seller. Anyway, so I put it on my bed and had a photo shoot, check it out...

Isn't it gorgeous! So now I need to make some vintage throw pillows to complete the look. I just love it!

Sparky got me a present too! Look how pretty...

Ok, bring on the Birthday Wishes!!!!

:0)

I shot my husband!

2008-08-11T10:03:00.003-04:00

Yes, I shot my husband but it was all in fun! The boys bought themselves some of those toy air guns, you know the ones that shoot little tiny balls, they look like b.b.'s but they are plastic, not metal. Anyway, they had a blast (pun intended) running around the yard shooting eachother. A part of me wonders if it's ok for them to play like that and the other part of me says, why not, it's fun. No different really than cowboys and indians, cops and robbers, laser tag, paintball battles or water-gun wars. I'm not convinced that the "bad guys" of the world turned out that way because they played these games when they were growing up. But that's just me.
Anyway, after watching the boys play for a while, I wanted to play. So each one of them let me shoot them but just to be fair, I let them shoot me too. The ammo wasn't too bad, gives you a little welt, nothing too painful.
Ok so all of a sudden I got a great idea! Sneek up on Sparky and get him! So I crept into the house, ducked down behind the couch then jumped up and let him have it!!!! It was great cuz he didn't have a shirt on! I got him about 5 times before he could get out of the chair and chase me outside and get himself a gun! The boys got a kick outta watching us act like little kids again cuz you know we're old and never do fun stuff...Oh to be a kid again...

Get Outta Here!!!!!!!!!

2008-08-07T17:00:00.002-04:00

You're not going to believe this. I was surfing the internet for other crafty bloggers in my area and just look at what I found. You won't believe it, what's next?
Click HERE.

Granny's House

2008-08-05T13:32:00.002-04:00

I use to love to go to Granny's house. I had several Grannies, you know Daddy's Granny, Momma's Granny. Then I had several Grandmas - Daddy's Momma, Momma's Momma. Anyway, Granny and Grandma houses were always a lot of fun for me. One of my Granny's had a vanity full of those little tiny pink miniture lipsticks, I think they were samples. There were glass diamond cut perfume bottles with the squeeze bulbs and spray hoses.

There were black rotary phones

and the beds had metal headboards and footboards. My favorites were the chenille bedspreads,

the quilts

and the glass door knobs!
I had one Granny that had those valentine heart shaped candy boxes on her walls, we use to watch The Price Is Right together. Nana, who is shown in a previous post, use to give me manicures and pedicures when I was little and she had a little bottle of perfume that was all mine! The bottle was in the shape of a watering can, the perfume was pink and everytime I went to Nana's house, she would dab a little bit on my wrists. She's the one who taught me how to hover over the potty when in public restrooms! Ok, enough reminiscing.
**Note - the above photos are not mine, they are photos found on the internet that I'm using for illustration purposes only. I can do that right???

I love my house but it has really been a challenge to get it decorated. It would be easy if I had tons of money but I don't so I have to do with what I've got on a very limited budget. A friend told me to write down my favorite colors and my favorite style/theme and she would help me decorate. It isn't that simple for me because I like a lot of different things. Besides that, a huge problem for me is my interior walls. They are wood. Not wood like paneling or cedar but like rough exterior siding, in it's natural coloring. See...
On top of that, I have virtually zero windows in my house. Instead, I have west facing sliding glass doors that run all the way across the back side of my house.
So with the wood walls and lack of windows, it's ver dark and gloomy inside. I've been really bothered lately by the state of my home. I can't go out and buy new furniture or flooring (the flooring is another big issue, right now I have commercial, office building carpet squares, in an aweful shade of blue/gray). See the carpet? And how about that table? It looks nice when it's polished but it makes me very nervous when my niece is around, those corners don't play around!
Like I said, I love all kinds of styles and themes, I think they are all great. I did country for a long time and have just been kind of stuck in limbo since then. I like the French Country look but with not so many florals. I like the clean white and cobalt blue theme, it just feels fresh and light and airy. I love antiques, I love vintage linens and I love dark, wooden furniture. Ok so with all this in mind, I think my only solution is to paint the wood walls a whitish color, get some light colored slip covers (untill I get new flooring) and make some throw pillows, hang a bunch of paintings and wat-nots on that big huge wall I have and do something with my dining room table and chairs. I'd really like to do something different with my curtains that hang in front of the sliding glass doors, maybe some lace, to let more light in. I picture my house looking like Granny's house, nothing matches but it all flows together. You can tell that there isn't much money but the best is being done with what is had. It's comfortable, clean and welcoming without being too busy or cluttered. I'd say that "Granny's House" is my style. I'd like to decorate my home with the sort of things that were in Granny's house. I wonder what my friend will say when I tell her that? Now I'm gonna have to go back to the flea market and get that Uncle Sam piggy bank that I saw. My Grandpa Brown had one and everytime I went to visit, that was one of the first things I'd play with. (again, not my photo)

Suggestions are welcomed!
Blessings!

Flea Market Finds!

2008-08-04T09:15:00.003-04:00

Another blogger shared one of her Crafy Magic projects with us last week and as soon as I saw it, I just knew I had to get in on this fun little makeover myself!

Sunday morning Sparky took me to our local flea market. I specifically wanted to stroll through what I affectionately refer to as the "junky side". You know, the side where people have their unwated items strown out on the ground in the hopes that some wierdo like myself will give them money for at least something! I don't like the side that has all the new sunglasses and tennis shoes and such. I have no use for that kind of stuff, I want junk!!!!

I had one thing in mind for this day, a little old ugly stool. Yep, I have plenty of fabric and a staple gun, I'm on a mission! It didn't take long for me to find my prize and guess what? There were 2! Yes! a matching set, a round one and a square one. I swear they came right out of the 60's. I never have been a good negotiator. The guy wanted $8 for each stool but luckily Sparky was with me and talked him down to $12 for both. What a guy that Sparky, he's my hero!
Anyway, here's what I got...
By the way, I forgot to take a before pic of the round one but I did get the square one.
Don't you just love the white pleather!

It took a while for me to decide which fabric I wanted to use and then I had to decide if I wanted the stools to match. Since nothing else in my house matches, I decided to keep with that theme and re-cover the stools in different fabrics. I put a double layer of quilting batting on top of the original coverings first then added the fabrics and trim. Check 'em out...

Now I'm on the lookout for some bar stools!

Thanks for the inspiration Dana!

Good Times!

2008-08-01T16:03:00.004-04:00

While I was looking for pictures for a new post I came across the ones from a trip last year. My brother and I decided to take a road trip back home to Texas to see Momma & Daddy. Elmo Texas to be exact. About 30 miles south east of Dallas. We were both born there and although we've spent most of our lives in Florida, Texas will always be home. My brother has since moved back there. When my kids are all grown, I may go back as well. We'll have to wait and see what happens...
It's a 15 hour drive, the not so fun part. On our way, we stopped in the Florida pan handle and picked up Nana. She likes to go to Texas a lot! "D" and I took turns driving while Nana kept the conversations going, if you know what I mean!

Here's Nana, aint she beautiful!

Here we are at the Texas Welcome Center!

We were only able to spend 3 days but we had a great time!

Yes, we are a silly bunch!

I love Texas!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

2008-07-31T15:25:00.002-04:00

My BFF reminded me that I have not posted since Tuesday. I've been too busy to post on my blog but any free time I get, I have to catch up on the blogs that I read!
Anyway, nothing new to post except that I did get started on another water bottle holder. The weekend will be quite busy out in the yard since last weekend I couldn't get out there. The grass in the front yard is about 6" tall or so! I want to get some more squash and green beans in the ground and I really need to paint around the new front door and the new trim around the garden door and kitchen window. So much to do, so little time!

Spooked!!!

2008-07-29T09:04:00.004-04:00

When I got home from work yesterday, I opened the door, saw no one in the living room but the t.v. was on loud and clear. The news was about some killer on the loose. I quietly closed the door behind me and crept around the corner and got a glimpse of Sparky standing at the kitchen sink with his back to me. He had no idea I was home. I then very quietly snuck over to the wall and waited.... It was very hard for me not to giggle at the idea of jumping out and spooking my husband! So I'm waiting then I see his shadow moving, indicating that he's coming around the corner. The timing was right so I jumped out, shook my hands like a monster would and made a sound that was something between a scream and a growl! It's very rare that I can spook Sparky. The result was sweet justice! He threw his head back, hollered and drew back to swing. Luckily there was enough distance between us for him to realize that he didn't need to attack, after all, it was just little 'ol me. I laughed so hard I almost peed my pants! It was great but it's just a matter of time before he gets me back...

Hey, remember me saying that I had ordered some home made soap from Old Red Barn Co.? Well, It came yesterday! I must say, this soap is fantastic! Oh it smells so good and made my skin feel so soft. Love, love, love it! Thanks Dana, I will definitely be ordering more in the future!

Monday Madness!

2008-07-28T10:50:00.004-04:00

It's been very crazy here at work this morning! With the phones ringing off the hook and the clients coming in, I can't hardly get my blog done! Don't these people know I got a blog to do? Sheesh!
Anyway, can you believe that I did not take any pictures of "That Baby" this past weekend? What is wrong mith me? I'll tell you what happened. I was so busy trying to keep up with her that I didn't even have time to pick up my camera! We had a blast though and we didn't want to take her back. But we did and we look forward to her next visit!
I did manage to make a proto-type of a water bottle holder. I'm participating in a swap that was arranged by Rhonda and her crew over at down-to-earth. I really love the swap idea and look forward to others! This is my first water bottle holder so I will keep this one for myself since it has a few flaws, I'll work the kinks out on the next one.

I think the pocket is too big, it takes up the whole front and you can't really see the fabric design behind it. I'd like to have a heavier strap as opposed to the thin ribbon. I couldn't find any insulation material so I used a reversable quilted fabric, I love quilted fabric! I ran into a problem with the exposed seams on the inside so I think I will add an inner linning, that way the inside seams will not be seen. I think this is a great project, very cute and very functional. It's a pain to have to carry your water bottle around when you're out and about, this little thing is wonderful, kudos to the inventor!

Fantastic Friday!

2008-07-25T11:03:00.002-04:00

Today is Fantastic Friday because I will go and pick "That Baby" up after work and I cannot wait!!!! It's such a treat to see her reaction each time she sees me when it's been a few weeks. She gets that tell tell look of surprise with her eyes wide and a big 'ol smile and says "oh!" then she reaches her little arms out to me and starts her little dancing. Then on the ride to my house, she gets so excited and just rambles and rambles, I look back at her and she laughs and wiggles. I'll point out the window and say "Look!" and she turns her head real fast to see and say's "Wus Daaaat?" Oh she's so cute I can't hardly stand it! I don't know what any of us did before she came along. We recently learned that she is going to have a baby sister or a baby brother next March. I'm hoping for a "Sissy" for her.
Here are some older pics...

She fell asleep during a shoulder ride. I love how she uses Sparky's ears for handles!

Here she is just being silly. She has the best personality for someone so young and small!

Santa Clause brought this little gift to us on Christmas Day of 2006. Here she is on her first birthday last year. It's hard to believe she will be 2 this Christmas!

Stay tuned for new pics on Monday...

Thursday Thanks

2008-07-24T16:22:00.002-04:00

I thought that since today is Thursday, I could designate it the day to give thanks. Of course we should give thanks everyday but I'm just sayin', for the sake of today's title, I'm gonna give thanks. So here it goes...

I'm thankful for the very first blooms on my very first Crape Myrtle. The other baby tree has buds but they haven't bloomed yet...

I'm thankful for this piggy bank that my Grandmother gave me for my 15th birthday, it was filled with money! The money has been long gone and Aunt Jamima is looking a bit rough. I think I will spruce her up a little with some fresh paint...

I'm thankful for my cat. His name is Tom Thumb, can you see why? He is a great hunter of squirrels, rats, birds and lizards.

I'm thankful for many, many things but I am not thankful for the punks that keep abusing my mailbox! This is what happens when you have teen age sons who break up with their girlfriends, then said girlfriends get new boyfriends to make the old boyfriend pay for breaking up with her. Oh btw, this was the original mail box. They snatched this one out of the ground and took it with them. Sparky went and bought another mail box and a new post but on the way back saw the old box laying on the side of the road so he brought it back home too. He put the new box on the post and stuck it really far down into the ground. The next morning we discovered that like the old mailbox, the new one had been abducted too! By now Sparky is pretty ticked and very irritated about the kid drama. So, he puts the old box back out but this time he attached it to the concrete wall. Now it seems that all they can do is beat the mail box up. I so want to hide in the bushes and jump out and scare the crap outta these kids then I want to take their bat away from them and take out their truck windows! Wouldn't that be a hoot?!

Wednesday's Whine...

2008-07-23T13:52:00.002-04:00

Well yall, I didn't win the Quilt Give Away from Old Red Barn Co. but that's ok cuz not winning has inspired me to make another quilt myself. I just need to finish the trim on Momma & Daddy's quilt first! This year I'm going to make it a goal to only give handmade gifts for Christmas... I'm gonna need more hands! Where was I ? Oh yea, so I didn't win the quilt but I found another super cool blog that I totally enjoy reading plus if making my own soap doesn't work out so good, I've got Dana to buy soap from! By the way, hey Dana, I don't know if it was intentional or not but that was a great marketing strategy! It worked on me, I ordered a set from your website. I'm curious as to how many orders were placed this past week and over the next day or two? I'd like to open up another website someday so I'll keep that move in mind! Gosh, it would be so nice to be able to stay home, make my things, sell them and make enough money to live on. I know - dream on, right? Maybe someday.

In the mean time, I am seriously sick of those squash vine borers! I hate 'em. Ok so imagine this -I merrily skip out to The Garden, I'm so excited, a big smile on my face, I get to the squash, lean over to pick my beautiful perfect squash, I flip it over and what do I find??? Teeny tiney holes. Yep. At this point, my big cheery face has now turned to something that resembles wild and evil rage, I then begin to spit out some very, very ugly words while steam is coming from my ears! Those damn things are ruthless! I think it's probably too late to get rid of them and I'm so fed up that when I do plant more, I'm using sevin dust. It's just that bad. I was also thinking that I'm not cut out for gardening in the summer time. It's just too bloody hot to be out there weeding-n-crap. I almost had a heat stroke last weekend! Besides, the dog days of summer is the perfect time to be inside making things. Spring and fall for gardening, summer and winter for crafting, I think that should be a law.

How 'bout a photo or two?

This is The Garden Gate Guard. Intimidating isn't he?

The Garden's Painted Lady. I have successfully brought her back from the dead!

Pretty Pink Mandavilla, growing like crazy!

Until next time...

How dang hot was it this weekend?

2008-07-21T10:48:00.004-04:00

I never did get a chance to look up the temperatures for Saturday and Sunday but I bet is was at least 100 degrees. And cheese & rice, was it humid and sticky! BUT that didn't stop me from getting things done around the house and in The Garden. Saturday I played in the house all day. I watched a few movies. I sewed myself a basic flared skirt but I'm not really happy with it. It's a little too big in the hips and I hate elastic waist bands so I'm gonna work on figuring out how to do something different with it. I also baked 2 loaves of bread and finished my very first afghan! On sunday, I worked in The Garden, ALL... DAY... LONG. I looked terrible! I don't think I've ever sweated like that before in my life! Well, I may have looked terrible but The Garden looks great! Enjoy the pics!

Here's my afghan! Not bad, huh?

Pleeez don't let the worms get into this guy!

Surviving squash.

Okra plants lookin' good but no signs of okra
yet, what's up wid dat???

The green beans look great, I think I'll plant more!

It's a baby loofa!!!

My Boys

2008-07-18T09:01:00.002-04:00

I have 5 boys (including my cutie pie husband)! Actually we are a blended family. I contributed 2 boys and my husband contributed 2 boys. We have all been together for 11 years now. The boys were cute little boys back then - gettin dirty, playing hide and seek, gettin into trouble, fightin', all the things that little boys do. The boys were 3, 5, 5 and 7 when we all met, now they are 14, 16, 16 and 18. Time sure does fly! It's amazing how they've grown. One of the 16 year olds is almost 6'2" and I expect the other one will be about as tall before next summer! The 18 year old hasn't decided what he wants to do yet but we think he's leaning towards the Marines. And the 14 year old is just loving being 14! It hasn't been easy getting through the phases, accepting the individual styles, the learners permitts, the girl friend issues, the sneaking out, the fights at school, the bad report cards and the many other unpleasantries that come along with raising children. On the other hand, the boys have all been an overall joy to bring up. They go from making construction paper Mother's Day cards to being all bowed up and ready to punch some guy because he was checking Mom out. They're just so cute, at all ages. Sparky and I reminisce all the time about them when they were little. We miss them being little but it's nice that they are bigger! Some day, we'll be bouncing grandchildren on our knees and reminiscing yet again...

This is Sparky and I with "That Baby!" and Sparky's 2 sons, the tall one on the left just turned 16 2 days ago and the one on the right just turned 18 this past May.

This is my oldest son, he will be 17 in December and is rapidly getting tall...finally!

This is my baby, he just turned 14 this past May and is lovin it!

Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!

2008-07-17T10:29:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was Cory's 16th birthday so when I got off work I had to rush home to finish his cake. He's been saying how he wants to eat healthier so he opted for a fuity kind of cake instead of the usual chocolate. Needless to say, Sparky was a bit disappointed. Anyway, Cory loves him some shrimp so we took him to a local seafood restaurant where we all ate so much that we couldn't eat any cake. But never fear! There will be some cake eating today!!!

You want some don't you? Looks real good huh?

Alright fine! So I didn't really make the cake but I could have! I really had ya'll goin, didn't I?
Well, my birthday is next so I think I'll make my own cake this year but It'll definitely have to have some chocolate in it. Maybe Chocolate AND fruity? Sounds good to me!

Quilt Give Away!!!

2008-07-15T12:03:00.003-04:00

Hey everyone!
Dana over at http://oldredbarnco.blogspot.com/ is giving away a totally awesome quilt! See it over to the right on my side bar? Yea, so go check out her way cool blog and enter to win!

Go Me!
(I'm my own little cheerleader)

p.s.
I have been meaning to post a pic of my first quilt. It was an old, heavy (not very pretty) quilt that I bought at a yard sale many years ago. After looking at a quilting book I was inspired to try and make the old quilt look new. So I read the pattern directions, made the top, the back and recovered the old one. It turned out perfect! I'd say it's somewhere around queen size and is even heavier now. So now when I'm at yard sales, I keep my eyes open for old and not so pretty quilts.

Bad Gardener!

2008-07-14T09:14:00.007-04:00

I was too embarrassed to post the condition of my garden of late. I know it's shameful but I think I just got lazy. With all the rain we've been getting, the weeds have just completely taken over! I thought about taking a before and after shot of everything but decided against it, it was really that terrible. I did get a lot done in The Garden, thankfully. However, my body is not thankful. Gardening really is A LOT of work! Ok so I got almost all of the weeding done in the traditional plot and I harvested more carrots from it. I pulled out all of the corn that I completely failed at, which was all of it! I harvested a bunch of basil (I just love the smell of basil!) and attempted to transplant quite a bit of it, don't know if it'll work or not though, we'll see. Then I had Hubby, (whom I'm now effectionately calling "Sparky", remember National Lampoon's Vacation?) build me another SFG in the area I grow tomatoes in. I can't afford to fill it up with nice "clean" soil right now so I've hoed up a few little rows of the existing soil, haven't decided exactly what I want to plant yet. I might do another tomato plant and some more green beans, or maybe spinach? I did all that on Saturday then on Sunday, I did what I thought would be best for the watermellon/cantaloupe patch. I messed up from the start by planting too many and too close together. Needless to say, I had vines going every where, mixed in with the massive amounts of weeds of course! Then I discovered that there were some sort of larva eating my baby mellons...already!!!!!! That was it! Right then and there I decided that I had to take control of this very disturbing situation. So in the hopes of greater good, I dove in and sacrificed 3 of each plant so now I only have 1 watermelon and 1 cantaloupe plant. By the time I got the other plants separated from the keepers, (which was like untangling a big ball of yarn) and all the weeds pulled, the keepers began looking a little wilted. Loosing the fight against the bugs, I opted to spinkle a little sevin dust on top of the soil before laying the vines back down. I haven't used sevin dust since I learned that it kills bees. But in this case, I thought if I put it on the ground instead of on the plants flowers, maybe the bees will be okay. I have one watermelon that is about the size of a mature cantaloupe and I'd relly like to eat is in a few weeks as opposed to the bugs eating it! My squash is getting hit by the bugs too so I removed any leaves that had what looked like bug eggs on the under sides of the leaves and then I sprayed the rest of the plants with a mix of veggie oil, dish washing liquid and water. Hopfully that'll keep the nasty little worms away. Again, gardening is A LOT of work. Have I mentioned how bad my legs and gluteus maximus hurt? I walk like an elderly person!
I also managed to bake some bread and spinach artichoke dip. It was soooo good. Dang! I shoulda took a picture. Oh well.
My 10 month old niece Daylin spent the night Friday night. She's getting so big. She was born almost 3 months early so it's taking her a little bit longer to do the big girl things but she's getting there. Here are a few pics...I tell you what, I have the cutest nieces in the world!!!

Finally took a few shots of my perpetual orchid, this thing has been in bloom for weeks now!

Now I'm a butterfly mommy! This little jewel was hanging out while her wings dried right after being hatched! She's a Gulf Fritillary, aint she pretty?

Slacker!!!

2008-07-10T09:03:00.004-04:00

Ok, I admit it. I've been slacking here. Let me see if I can get cought up...

On the 4th of July, we had a surprise visitor. I was awoken from my sleeping in by a pounding on the door. I turned on the monitor so I could determine whether or not I wanted to ignore whoever it was at my door. At first I thought it was one of hubby's annoying buddies but then I realized that it was my sister! Knowing she had "That Baby!" with her, I immediately engaged in a violent brawl with the covers. No matter how I kicked, threw my arms, wiggled or turned, those damn covers were determined to keep me in that bed! Fearing that my sister would think no one was home and leave, I started screaming to hold on and that I was coming! The covers seemed to feed off of my panic so I decided to take control of the situation by slithering off the bed like a snake. Ha! I won. Take that you covers!
Our visitors stayed the whole weekend, which was nice, we had a really good time! Friday we grilled, played volley ball and watched fireworks from the driveway. Saturday we went to the beach. That Baby had a blast! She was a little worried about the waves at first but it didn't take her long to enjoy them. She learned to chase the seagulls and meet other kids with toys. She walked up and down the beach like she owned the place! Here are a few pics...

Blue Passion!

2008-06-25T10:05:00.003-04:00

I just wanted to share a few pics of my Blue Passion flower...

To me, it looks more purple than blue! I just love this flower and it smells good too!

That Baby!

2008-06-25T09:45:00.004-04:00

My Jon and I lovingly refer to our 18 month old niece as "That Baby!" We finally got to see her again this past weekend, it had been a month since her last visit. She is such a delightful little girl, she has so much personality. She definitely keeps us laughing and on the go! I thought I would share a few photos of her doing what she does best...

This is her wearing Uncle Jon's flip flops

Here she sneeks a drink of my sweet tea

She helps me pick tomatoes

And here she INSISTS that the tomatoes should be in the pool with her!

Lastly, she loves her swing!

We Beat It!

2008-06-17T09:45:00.007-04:00

Ok so I have this Hibiscus, double, triple, quadruple, I still haven't figured that part out yet. But the flowers are just beautiful. Anyway, the bush, shrub or tree, haven't figured that part out yet either, is about 8' tall. Well, during early spring I noticed that something was munching down on the leaves and it didn't have any blooms on it yet (last year it had lots of blooms by this time). I had read something about lace worm or lace leaf, I can't remember exactly, but it said to disolve knotts gelatin in some water and pour around the base of the tree. I didn't have any gelatin so I just crossed my fingers in the hopes that whatever was snacking on it would just go away. I also read that epsom salt is a very good fertilizer so I tried it. I'm not sure if it was just a coincidence or what but that dang Hibiscus is going crazy! No more lacey looking leaves. Blooms and buds everywhere! Check it out...

I Did It!

2008-06-16T12:11:00.007-04:00

I made bread for the very first time! And it was soooooooo good. While it was baking, it made the whole house smell heavenly. And then when I cut off that first end slice, and spread some real butter on there, Oh My Gosh! I ate 4 slices right then! I could eat this several times a day. I can't hardly imagine how good it's going to be after more experience. Well, I hope the whole process gets quicker. That's my only complaint is that it takes like 3 hours! I'll definitely be getting a Kitchen Aid mixer for the kneeding part. 10 minutes doesn't seem like a long time but 10 minutes of kneeding seems like forever! As for the rising, the dough has to rise for an hour, TWICE. Then it has to bake for like 45 minutes. The anticipation was about to kill me! BUT the end result was totally worth it! Ok so here are some pics. Tina, you really missed out.

After Kneeding

After 1st Rise

After 2nd Rise

Done!

Wanna a slice?

I'd like to thank Rhonda from Down To Earth, I hope someday my bread will be as beautiful as hers!

Happy Friday!

2008-06-13T10:50:00.003-04:00

I love Friday because it means tomorrow is Saturday, my favorite day! I have beach plans for tomorrow, gotta get back in the salt water. Hunny mowed the front yard for me yesterday so I'll probably mow The Garden and back yard later tomorrow evening.

Sunday is supposed to be stormy so I plan to catch up on some much needed house work during the morning. I want to bake my first pan of bread and do some other cooking. Later in the afternoon I will curl up in my Lazy Boy and watch The Other Boleyn Girl and Fools Gold while I enjoy some popcorn and pickled green tomatoes! Hey Tina, wanna come over?

This is Misty, the squirrel eating dog. I know, gross.

$4.11

2008-06-12T08:57:00.003-04:00

That's how much my gas is today. I Filled up on Monday and it was $4.o5. Depressing. But what's cool is that I've noticed that since I started to be a little more aware of how much gas I use, my usage has gone down. Imagine that! I drive about 30 miles a day going to and from work and so far this week, I've only used a quarter of a tank. Gosh, at that rate if I only drive to work and back everyday then I shouldn't have to fill up again for 3 more weeks!

So I took some new pics. yesterday, take a gander...

The new Hostas, Caladiums and Big Silly Turtle

These Okras aren't doing squat!

Neither is the Spinach!

Aloe Blossoms

Cucumbers are doing pretty good!

Salmonella Tomatoes

2008-06-10T11:36:00.003-04:00

I don't know about yall but I'm REALLY glad I know how to grow my own tomatoes! I bet I get a few poeple coming to me asking for some. :0)

Walking Iris

2008-06-10T10:52:00.004-04:00

This is my Walking Iris (Neomarica gracilis) or Apostle Plant. It bloomed in April. I love this plant, the flower is gorgeous and smells heavenly. It took me a long time to identify the plant. The plant started as one mother plant, last year it developed 2 flowers, which became plants themselves. This spring those 2 flowers developed 2 flowers each plus the mother plant developed 2 more flowers, so all together, I now have 9 plants! I plan to have these plants everywhere! Tomorrow I will add a photo of all the new baby plants.

Weekend Reflections

2008-06-10T09:29:00.003-04:00

Saturday we worked. Hunny finally got the garage back in order, I got the atrium/storage room in order. I also planted some dwarf pampas grass, some hostas, some caladiums and some angelonias. I really wish I had planted lilly bulbs last fall. Oh well, this fall will be here before we know it, I'll have another opportunity then.

Sunday, we spent the day at the beach. The weather and water was absolutely perfect. There were lots of surfers but not many surfable waves. My skin loves the salt water!

Hunny on Bikini Patrol

Perfect Conditions

On Duty

On a not-so-happy note...
We miss our niece terribly, it's been a month since we last saw her. We hope to have her this coming weekend.

Finally Friday!

2008-06-06T11:11:00.005-04:00

Well I got The Garden mowed last night, it took me all of about 15 minutes to complete! I keep adding beds and walkways which happens to eliminate grass, which means less to mow. My sweet husband fashioned me an arch over the backyard gate so that the grape vines can grow over and look pretty. I brought a few more things around from the front. Tomorrow I'll be putting in the fountain grass and moving a plumb tree in preparation for my 2 hens that I'm getting soon! I also want to start on the shaded areas as well, that means I have to get some hostas and othe shade loving foliage.

I plan to make a few flower boxes and I think I'm going to put begonias in them. The flower fairy gifted me with a free begonia yesterday while I was at work. I was sitting out in the gazeebo looking at all the begonias around the oak tree and I happened to notice one laying on it's side, still in the pot. Obviously the landscapers forgot to plant it. So, I rescued it! It's really ironic because until a few days ago, I have never been attracted to begonias, I always thought they were kind of ugly. But I noticed how full they were getting in their beds since they had been planted a few weeks ago, that's when I started to think they were kind of pretty.

Hubby will work on cleaning up the garage, it's in a horrible state of disgrace right now.

This is my other brother Darrell. I think he's been having too much fun!

A Tribute To My Hunny

2008-06-05T11:01:00.005-04:00

WARNING! If you don't like a bunch of mushy stuff, you may want to skip reading this post.

At this very moment I am inspired to brag on my sweet, sweet husband.
My Jon is the best husband in the world! He's perfect for me. He's big and strong, very good looking, very handy, very effectionate and very passionate. He's never said an ugly word to me, he's never made me feel inadequate. He's playful. He wakes me up every morning with kisses and coffee. He's a fantastic cook and a decent housekeeper. He laughs a lot. It's rare for him to be angry or grumpy. He's very manly. He has given me everything I have ever asked for. He's sensitive. He's smart. He's caring. He loves me completely.

I'm so glad he's mine!

Happy Hump Day!

2008-06-04T15:22:00.005-04:00

Today marks the downside of the week and that alone makes it a happy hump day! Someone picked me as a fav on Blotanical! Thanks Wickedgardener!

Unfortunately The Garden looks like crap right now. The stroms have made an ugly mess, scattering limbs and sticks all over the place. I resolved not to mow the grass for 2 whole weeks as I'm giving the grass roots an opportunity to grow deeper. Luckily, tomorrow marks the end of the 2 week period. It has almost killed me to not mow. So today when I get home, I will clean everything up in preparation for one of my favorive gardening tasks, mowing!

I think I have finally decided where to plant the Allamanda Bush. I was so confused as to where to put it b/c the tag says it's a bush but the planting instructions describe it as a climbing vine. It doesn't look like a vine at all, it looks just like a bush! So after further research, I learn that it is indeed a bush and does not require a trellis. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna plant it right smack dab in the middle of the front yard. It will look very nice there and get plenty of sun.

I've decided where to start with a semi shade area that is in desperate need of plants. I'm gonna put fountain grass in the back. That's as far as I've gotten. Maybe knock-out roses in front of that and then maybe various lantanas. I can't wait to get started!
Uh-oh. I resolved to not buy anymore plants, didn't I? What if I got them at a really good deal? I don't have any of these items that I can propagate from. Well, I do have some lantanas but I just planted them, can you even propagate from lantana? This may not turn out well...stay tuned.

Oh, I forgot to mention something. I think my corn plants are in for. They grew fast, got about 4 feet tall and then started tasseling out. They haven't gotten any bigger in weeks and the tassels are turning brown, doesn't that generally mean that the corn is ready to be harvested? The corns are small, I don't think they should be ready yet. My B-I-L told me that I should have side dressed them with nitrogen a while back. Lesson learned. I guess I'll go ahead and see if anything is worth keeping and pull it all up. Wonder what I should plant in it's place???

Crazy Storms!

2008-06-03T15:21:00.003-04:00

We've had some crazy storms the last couple of days. Now I have sticks, leaves and limbs all over the place. I'm not going to clean the mess up yet cus we'll probably get some more tonight.
Oh, and I changed my mind aobut posting the pics. of the completed projects. I want to wait until I paint the trim around the front door.
Welp! Gotta go now, I have an ortho appointment!
later!

Project Filled Weekend!

2008-06-02T10:20:00.005-04:00

What a weekend! We got 3 whole projects completed, can you believe it? Remember how I said I was getting a gate and a walkway in The Garden? Well, both of those, done! Here are some in the process pics. I'll post completed pics tomorrow (I forgot to take them!).

Project Garden Gate - This provides entry into the back yard from The Garden.

Project Walkway

Guess what else I got? A new front door! Yea! Finally! Here's an in the process pic of that job...

I gotta say, Hubby has really worked hard on all these things he has done for me lately! The reward system seems to be working pretty well! ;0)

Ok so I made my way around the yards and snapped some shots of what's growing right now...

Green Bean!

Baby Cukes!

Creamy Rose

Fox Glove

Pretty Petunia

And I did get around to making my tomato sauce, Doesn't it look delicious!

Lastly, I had a surprise visit from my baby brother on Friday evening, It was so good to see him!

BLOOM: TGIF!!!

2008-05-30T14:34:00.001-04:00

BLOOM: TGIF!!!