Only a month

Well it has only been one month exactly since I posted.... One of my resolutions for the year of 2008 is to blog more faithfully! I hope that I can do it. I always seem to let life get in the way of me doing the things that I want to do and enjoy doing. I am hoping in the coming year to find a happy medium.

Lately I find it hard to come up with inspiration for scrapbook layouts because I am always having to think about doing them classes. I may have to cut back on my classes until my inspiration comes back. I hope not because I really do love teaching them.

I was so happy last night because I actually sat down in my scraproom and was looking at a layout in the December issue of Memory Makers and have wanted to try this layout for a while, but just haven't had the chance. Well last night I did it and I am so happy that I was able to scrap for myself! I had forgotten how enjoyable and relaxing it can be, (even if it is scraplifted).

Here it is:

so I hope that everyone has a wonderful New Year!!! I am off to scrap now :)

It's been awhile

since I have posted, and I have been meaning to post for the past couple of days, but life in general has been soooo hectice since the week of Thanksgiving. That Monday, my father in law had a massive heart attack. He actually died twice on the way to the hospital. He survived a heart attack that not many people survive. They call it the widow maker. He had an angel with him that day!

Wayne has been sick with a cold and still going to school 3 days a week and working a 48 hour shift. I have been busy with cleaning houses, teaching scrapbooking classes 1 or 2 times a week and taking kids to appointments. I think I need to stop and breathe!

We had the Christmas parade in Whitesville today. It was good. I think that next year though I will have Joey stay with Marilynn so that I can take good pictures. I miss not being able to see Ariel performing. Wayne played Santa and rode in the ladder truck. Then he sat for several hours for kids to sit on "Santa's" lap and get a bag of goodies. Tomorrow we have the Christmas party for the Racine Volunteer Fire Department.

So no rest this weekend and I have 3 houses clean, 2 scrapbooking classes, 3 other appointments and I don't know what in the heck else for this week, lol

I will try to find some time to post some pictures, but for now you can drool over this one:

I just don't know...

What is going on with me. I don't want to do anything! This depression funk is still with me and really really really getting the best of me. I am mean to everyone, myself included. I broke down and finally made an appointment with a doctor today. It just really scares me because of how I grew up. I don't want for my children to see me the way that I saw my mom. I have always considered myself a strong person, but right now I know that I am really weak and I am not having any luck getting stronger. I can usually pull myself right out of this, but it isn't working this time. But I know that I need to do something, or I am going to lose a lot of people that I love and care deeply about.

Well it is close to time for the kids to come home. I need to finish a scrapbook layout for a class that I am teaching tonight. We are doing heritage layouts.

Hopefully I can get in to see the dr. soon. Their office is supposed to call me with an appointment. I hate feeling like this.....Lord I need your help...

Life...slapping you in the face...

Wow, I didn't realize it had been so long since I posted. Life seems to be slapping me in the face and trying to wake me up. The past couple of days have been very emotional and depressing for me for some reason. I think that it was our Heavenly Father telling me what I was missing in my life. Him! So, I am going to start going back to church! I know that it is what I need to be doing and it just feels so right. Last night I grabbed my scriptures from the top of my closet, blew the dust off and started randomly picking verses to read. I marked every single one of them! It is kind of ironic that every scripture that I turned to in the Bible and the Book of Mormon was on Faith. That is what I need right now. Someone posted on a group that I am on this morning about doing the things that she WANTS to do for her family instead of feeling like she has to do them. That is what I am going to start doing. Doing things for my family because I want to, not because I have to. I want to be less critical of them. I want to be less demanding. I want to be less ANGRY at everything they do. I WANT TO LOVE THEM! And starting today they will see that. I want for them to know how much I love them and appreciate them and what they do. I want for Wayne to know how much I love him and support him. He is doing so much for our family with going to school full-time and working full-time and trying to study and spend time with us. I honestly didn't know how he did it, until this morning that is. It is because he WANTS to do it for US!

My prayer for today is for Heavenly Father to guide me and to help me in my shortcomings to become a better wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend. With His guidance and my faith, and the faith that He has in me, I can do anything.

Where has...

The time gone? Time flies so by so fast. My son, Cody, has gone through a rite of passage tonight. He had orientation for the 7th grade, junior high. It seems just like yesterday that I was giving birth to him, then I was sending him to preschool, then to kindergarten and now to junior high. It is so hard to believe that in two weeks, my son will go through another rite of passage...he will turn 12. Time flies when your having fun. Cody has been a blessing in my life. And even though he can talk my head off, I couldn't imagine him any other way :)



O.K. on to other sappy stuff.... I submitted another layout to the Basic Grey gallery for their consideration. I am still waiting to hear if they will accept it to their gallery. The name of the layout is "Who Is She".

This is the journaling....

Who Is She?

© By Kyle J. Underwood

She's a soft cool rain on a hot summers day. She makes me laugh with the funny things she has to say.

She's the beat of my heart, and the air that I breathe. She's the sun and the wind, and autumns golden leaves.

She's the pride that I feel when I know she's done what’s right. She's that warm feeling I get, when I remember tucking her in at night.

She is homework and sports, and a busy social life. She has this beautiful smile that could light the darkest night.

She is the scared feeling I have when she stays out late. The feeling that I am loosing her, when she wants to date.

She's the mixed emotion I have, as I watch her mature and grow. I tell myself she will never leave, but, I know in my heart that someday she will go.

I hope the man that steals her heart, will treat her like a queen. Because she deserves so much more, than a man that treats her mean.

I will always cherish the wonderful times we have had. The best part of my life was being her dad.

So now you know who she is, she's my little girl. I love her with all my heart, and I always will.

I've Been Tagged....

A very good friend of mine, Tricia, tagged me and now I need to finish these statements and then tag someone.....

I'm happiest when....I am at home and the kids aren't fighting or tattling and it is peaceful!

Someday I'm going to... go to Australia.

When I'm really down, what I want to do is... curl up in the bed and just be myself for a little while. If I get to do this, then I am o.k. in a little while.

I feel anxious when...There is something wrong with Wayne or one of the kids and their is nothing that I can do to help them.

I like people who... are sincere, thoughtful, caring, not fake....

All it takes to make me happy is... my children, my husband, and being able to scrapbook.

What I really want to do is...keep Wayne and my kids happy.

A person really should...think before they speak and MEAN what they say. NEVER LIE.

If I could do whatever I wanted, I would...never have to pay bills again!

And now my turn to tag someone......sooooooooo Donna, Di and Becky.... your it...

Time Flies

Boy time sure does fly when life comes at ya, huh? I didn't realize that it had been so long since I posted. So I guess I need to update on the past two weeks!!

Well I have started teaching scrapbooking classes at a local scrapbook store; Almost Heaven Scrapbooking. I am having such a great time teaching again! I had forgotten how much I missed it. Everyone that takes the classes seem to enjoy them, so that is a plus:)

Well I tried out for the design team at Creative Scrap Shack. I was not one of the lucky ones to make it, but that's o.k. I had fun making the layouts for the call. Here are the items that I made:
I had to make three items that showcased one product line. So of course I showcased Basic Grey Romani Line. I made a card, an altered coaster accordian album and a layout of Ariel. The next thing I had to do was make a layout using three different techniques. So I found the perfect picture of me and my grandson Dominick. The three techniques that I chose was inking, chalking and stamping. For the last thing that I had to do was a challenge layout to submit to the forums. I chose a layout that I had done of Wayne walking down a set of train tracks.


Even though I didn't make the design team, I had so much fun creating everything. And the ladies that did make it deserved it!!!! My dear dear friend Tricia was one of the awesome designers that made the team :) I am soooo happy for her.




I HAVE TO TOOT MY HORN NOW!


While I was working on my design team submissions I also submitted the layout of Ariel that I had done to the Basic Grey Gallery. They accepted my layout and it is posted in their gallery. I spent a lot of time working on this layout and put my heart and soul into it. I also used the Basic Grey Romani line. I cut out each image of the print paper by hand to frame the picture of Ariel. I also cut out the swirls that was on the paper. I then used Diamond Glaze on the cut outs to add dimension and also used glitter on the swirls. The word Unique is a rub-on from Autumn Leaves. I also used Prima flowers and brads on the border. I really got out of my comfort zone on this layout and I am soooo happy with the way that it turned out. I think that it was one of the best ones that I have ever done and I am so proud that I could do something good enough for Basic Grey to accept into their gallery.











August, 11, 2007

The annual Big Room gathering (fire department picnic) and football game.


Well we had the annual gathering at the fire department for the firefighters and their families. And then we had the annual pool party football game. Here are some of the pics :)





Sunday August 12, 2007


Well we decided to go out of town for the day. We rode up to Pence Springs and stopped in Talcott at the Big Bend Tunnel and took some pictures:)So it was a really nice day, but there is one thing that made it even nicer! When we were in Louisiana we lost our precious boy Thunder. He was our german shepherd. Ever since that happened I have wanted to get Wayne another one. Well now please allow me to introduce Xena, the newest addition to our family: Xena is twelve weeks old and is full blooded german shepherd. We bought her from a couple that Wayne works with. She was one of the lucky ones as four of her brothers and sisters died of parvo because they were too young for the shots, but Xena and another brother survived. She has a clean bill of health from the vet and has already worked her way into our hearts and family. She has especially latched on to Cody and sleeps with him too. She has only had one accident in the house and she is very quick learner it seems. Betsy still doesn't know how to react to her. Our docile little Betsy now growls, lol....

O.K. so now I have updated to the present, hopefully it won't be so long next time :)

Time Away

Saturday July 28, 2007


Well we got up here to camp about 12:00 p.m. and got the car unloaded. Then we went out to see our normal sites and stop at the normal place. The normal place that I am talking of is Meck’s. Meck’s is a Mennonite Bakery that we come to every time that we are here. They make the most wonderful baked goods! Our normal purchase includes pepperoni rolls and sticky buns. Today we tried something new also… cream cheese pastry rolls…. YUMMO!!! They will definitely be added to our list of baked goods that we buy when we are there. It is sad that they are closed on Sunday’s and Mondays. But at least they are open more than what they used to be. When they still lived in their old farmhouse, they sold baked goods right out of their kitchen. Back then Mr. Meck only made glazed donuts, shoe fly pie and sticky buns. They were only open on Thursday, Friday and Saturday’s. When the business became well known and very busy, they built a new house with the business downstairs and their living quarters upstairs. Sadly he no longer makes the glazed donuts. When they moved to the new house their insurance would have doubled if they would have had a deep fryer, so no more donuts. Well since then though they are open more days, Tuesday through Saturdays. So we make sure that is one of our first stops here!

I would share with everyone, but it is all gone and yummo it was sooooo good…. Are you jealous now? You should be. Maybe you need to visit Pocahontas County in West Virginia.

Another place that we visit every time that we are here is the National Radio Astronomy Observatory’s (NRAO) Science Center. The Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope is one of the country’s most popular destinations for groups of all ages.

It is a state of the art 100 by 110 meter dish composed of 2,0004 individually hinged panels. The first one that was built collapsed during construction and had to be rebuilt. The telescope is 485 feet tall and weighs an incredible 16 million pounds.

Scientists from around the world use the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) to study virtually all types of astronomical objects, from planets and comets in our own Solar System to quasars and galaxies billions of light-years away.



Sunday July 29, 2007

Well it is about 2:30 on Sunday afternoon. We came back to camp to get a bite to eat before we go out again. But I wanted to take a few minutes to write some down that we did and saw this morning that I didn’t want to forget. First off it was really nice to be able to sleep in until about 8:00 a.m. this morning. I got up and took the dogs outside and then put some biscuits in the oven and went and sat out on the porch. It was so nice and cool and quiet!!!! I love it up here. After we ate breakfast we got dressed and left. We went up to Cass, just missed seeing the 11:00 a.m. train leaving. We browsed around the general store there and then left. We took off on Back Mtn. Rd. there we found a gravel road and off we went. While going up I told Wayne that I thought that maybe the road went up to the top of the mountain, meaning Bald Knob, which is where the train goes to. We kept going and going and going. Finally we came to the top where there was a flat and two gates. One gated road went one way and the other gated road went the other. We decided to take a hike, mind you no food or water with us, lol…but we weren’t going very far anyway. Wayne said well lets take the one that looks more traveled, so off we went. We saw a lot of neat things. We found a couple of natural springs, and some of the most beautiful wildflowers I have ever seen. There was one with a butterfly on it and I did manage to get a picture of it. Cody and I were standing on the side of the trail looking at the spring and I heard something in the bushes, (Cody had already turned and started walking in the direction of his daddy. All of a sudden about 20 feet from me a doe jumps out of the bushes and runs across the trail. Scared the piss out of me, but was beautiful to see in the same token. We did see a lot of deer tracks. We kept hoping that this trail would lead to Bald Knob, but after walking about 1 ½ miles we decided to turn around and go back to the car. That is when we heard it. From the opposite direction of where we were, it was the train’s whistle. So we figured it we would have taken the other road, we would have found the train and Bald Knob. But we will save that hike for next time.

We will be off on another adventure here in just a little bit. Hmmm, I wonder where our adventurous nature will take us this afternoon.

Well no real adventures this afternoon, but I did get some pretty cool pictures on top of Snowshoe Mountain. We went to eat in Marlington and sat on the porch of the restaurant and fed the ducks corn. We love doing that when we are up here, it is one place that we stop at, at least once whenever we are at camp. It was sad to see a for sale on the restaurant, but it is still open. I hope that it stays the same if it is sold, it would be sad to see it change.

Well that is all for today. I wonder where our adventures will lead us tomorrow….

Monday July 30, 2007

Another great day!

Today we were able to so something that we have never done before! We took off on the road and went up to Allegheny Mountain to the Civil War Battle site. There are still some of the rocks of the shelters that left from that time period. Well we walk into this field and we are knee deep in wild blueberry bushes!!!! There were enough blueberries there that we could pick them for weeks and never get them all!!! I have never picked blueberries before. It was fun being able to pick berries and not get stuck by thorns. So tomorrow morning we will be having blueberry pancakes! The kids are happy. If I had my recipe book, I would make some homemade blueberry muffins!

We had to leave the patch after about an hour as it started thundering. Do you know how loud thunder can be when you are 4,000 feet above sea level? It is absolutely amazing! It is so loud and the crackle of it is like nothing I have ever heard. Can the word clean and crisp describe thunder? If so, then that is what it was like. So we left and came back to camp.

Once back we started to cook hamburgers on the grill. After we ate we had a pretty good storm here. I laid on the couch on the porch. I had to cover up because it was really chili and it was soooo relaxing listening to the thunder and hearing the rain on the roof of the porch. So of course I fell asleep for a few minutes. I woke up so rested and rejuvenated. Now we (the girls) are sitting and watching a chick flick. The movie “Because I Said So” it is really good. The guys just left to go out deer spotting, so they will be gon for a while. So once again peace and quiet.

I will be sad when tomorrow gets here, because it will all be over. The peace and quiet, the not having cable, phone or internet. Back to reality. But know this…that if Ariel did not have to go to band camp and I didn’t have to go pick up Joey, then I would be staying here for another week or two. I can’t wait to get our camper here so that I can come up here whenever I want to. It is only a three hour drive, so that is not bad to be able to escape from reality.

You know there is something to say about not have phone, radio, tv, and internet...Peace and Quiet. You should try it sometime.


Here are some of the pictures that were taken...

What a day!!!

Well today has been an exciting day. First I waited for Wayne to get home from work this morning so that we could go pay bills. So we left, Wayne dropped me off at the scrapbook store while he went next door to get the car washed... I picked up a couple of things that I need for a design team submission that I am working on. While I was there one of the classes that I am teaching filled up. A lady called and reserved the last two spots for the inking class and Beverly said that there were two people, I believe, that has signed up for the mixed media class. So I was excited about that.

Then we stopped and ate at Steak Escape and yummo it was sooooo good :) I love their hambrosia sandwiches... Ham and pineapple, yummy :) Then we head to Kerr's Music World to pick up the things that Ariel needs for flag corp. Coming to find out most of it has to be ordered and won't be in for a week after it is ordered. O.K. So then we head off to Sam's to have the tires on the car rotated and balanced. We told them that there was a vibration in the car since we got the new tires put on, so to please check it out... Well the guy that did the tires kept trying to tell Wayne that the rims on the car was bent and two of them needed to be replaced, blah blah blah.... well he just kept on about how it could happen and what it will cause the car to do... blah blah.... While at the same time Wayne is digging his ASE Master Techinician Certification out of his wallet... Shows it to the guy and says, "Buddy, this isn't my first rodeo, I know what it can do" The guy shut his mouth and didn't say another word... heheheheh.... I loved it!

Well we leave and as we leave the shopping center we noticed an accident that just happened. One car was on it's top and the driver was laying halfway out of the passenger side and the front end of the other car was smashed to smitereens... There was and elderly woman and her 12 year old grandson in that one. Wayne being an EMT takes control of the situation (there was no emergency personnel on the scene yet) Another EMT was taking care of the guy in the rolled over car, so Wayne goes to the other car. He has me do C-Spine on the lady while he checks out the boy and then goes and checks on the other patient. I think everyone will be fine. The little boy was really scared, but not hurt. The woman's hand went through her windshield, but I think that is all, but will be very sore from the airbag too. The guy in the rollover will be o.k., but not sure of the extent of his injuries. It was neat being able to work right there side by side with Wayne in this kind of situation and getting to see what it feels like in his job. Now I am even more excited about taking the EMT class come this fall.

On another note...Wayne's Anatomy and Physiology classes were finished yesterday. He passed the class with a 98!!! I am so proud of him. His Paramedic classes start on August 20. I know that he will do just as well with those too. I love him so much and appreciate what he is doing to better himself and make a better life for his family. He is a good man. I am glad that he is finally getting to do what he has always wanted to do with his life. He is a happy person now and it shows.

Well I guess that is it for tonight, I just wanted to share my day :)

I snagged this from Becky's Blog

A friend of Becky's sent this to her. It was something that I really want to remember so I wanted to post it here too. Becky if you want me to remove it, let me know and I will :)

THE MAYONNAISE JAR AND TWO CUPS OF COFFEE...

The Mayonnaise Jar and Two Cups of Coffee...

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 Hours in a day is not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and 2 cups of coffee.A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous "yes."The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed."Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things - God, family, children, health, friends, and favorite passions -- things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, house, and car. The sand is everything else -- the small stuff. "If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you."So... Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal."Take care of the golf balls first -- the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand." One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked". It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."

It's almost over...

Summer that is. Joey's special education summer school program will be over with tomorrow. Ariel start practice for the flag corp team for the high school today. So that means that the footballs players will be starting their practice soon. This will mean hectic Fridays for me because if I want to go to the games and be able to watch Ariel at halftime, then I have to find a sitter for Joey as he DOES NOT do well with crowds.... And as of right now, Wayne can't help me with him, because of the way that his school schedule and work schedule will be, so more than likely he won't be there to help with him if I can't find a sitter.

Today will actually be last day of peace and quiet. Wayne will be home tomorrow so it is a day filled with running the roads, paying bills, grocery shopping, etc..... Then no more school for Joey till the school year starts. I guess I am lucky since his vcr and tapes keep him very occupied, but we all have hell to pay when he wheres the vcr out!!!! Hopefully I can find some more at yard sales as I only have one more that is stored away for when the one that he has now is dead.

I have been reading a lot of other people's blogs lately. I so wish I could write like them :) They can be so funny, interesting and thought provoking. I guess the only thing I have to write about is what goes on in my little world, I would just like to be able to put a funny spin on things every once in while :)

Oh well maybe when I grow up....

Random thoughts

I have to laugh at Ariel. She has decided that she wants to paint her room, even though within the next 6 months to a year we will be replacing the insulation, sheetrock and windows in her room. So I told her that is fine, but you have to take off the wall border and the walls have to be cleaned with bleach water before you can paint. She said, are you serious Mom? I said yep, sure am, but I won't let you paint until the other stuff is done.... Well she has been working on the border all day and has about half of it done. She says her arms hurt, lol. She said but I thought you were going to help me mom? I told her, hmmmm, remember when I was re-doing my bedroom? Did you help me? I will show you how to do everything, but if you want it done then you need to do it. You are old enough to do these things now and you don't need me to do them for you, you just need me to show you how and then you can conquer it. Think of how satisfied you will feel when you get done! She now says that she will never get done, lol. I just think that it is so cute. But know ole softy Mom, I will probably go in there and help her because I feel sorry for her... But then again, maybe not, hehehe.

The house is back to normal again. Joey is back home from summer and has settled down. When he got home he went straight to his bedroom to the vcr/tapes. I only see him when it is time to eat or take his pills or to get ready for bed:) He is happy!

I had a very long talk with Tiffany the other day. I don't think that it sunk in how serious I am about the way that she treats me. She is my daughter, but I am not dirt under her feet and I won't be treated that way any longer. I told her she would have to make the first step. That was 3 days ago and I still have yet to hear from her.

Who knows....oh well.... This is what life is all about....

I wonder...

I wonder... I wonder if what my mom said was right..."One day I would have a child that would treat me the same way that I treated her"... I wonder how someone that you have given birth to and loved more than life itself can want to hurt you so badly... Did I treat my mother as bad as i am being treated right now.... Do I deserve to be treated this way... I don't think so, but I may be wrong. But one thing I am not wrong about is the fact that I won't be treated this way again.

A Nice Day

I really enjoyed myself today :) I went to the new scrapbook store to work on a layout for a class that I will be teaching there in a couple of weeks. It was nice hanging out there and getting to know Beverly a little better. I hope that people will sign up for the class. I always worry that no one will sign up: I guess that is the pessimistic side of me.

Matthew left to go back home to Germany today. I know that Tiffany is sad about it and now wishes that she would have made plans to go home with him. She will be leaving on the first. That will be a very sad day for me. I will miss her and Dominick so very much and I don't know when I will see them again. I won't be able to travel to Germany, because I can't leave Joey for that long and I can't take him with me. Even though my feelings have been hurt some while they have been here, I have thoroughly enjoyed the time that I have been able to spend with them. Tiffany is on the right road to growing up, but isn't there quite yet. I have learned over the years that growing up takes a while and is a very hard process. I know that I was no where near grown up when I married the first time and had Tiffany. Althought I thought I was grown and knew everything about the world. If I knew then the things that I know now and have been through, then so many things would be sooooo very different. But we have to learn from our mistakes and most of the time I had to learn the hard way.

O.K. so I am rambling....Random thoughts...that is what is usually in my mind. You know I read other people's blogs and say I wish I could write like them. Their thoughts seem to be so organized, maybe I suffer from Adult ADD...who knows...but my thoughts are random and in no certain order. :)

Joey will be home from summer camp Saturday afternoon. This week has flown by! I can't wait to see him, I have missed him, but have enjoyed the peace and quiet also. He will be so excited to get back home to his VCR....He loves VCR's. Every time I see one at a yard sale I pick it up or people who know me are always on the lookout for them. Joey plays them so much that he wears them out in no time. Do you realize how hard it is getting to find a VCR now? Very, unless it is the ones with a dvd player also. We don't want that because then he will want to get the dvd's. I really don't want those ruined and ruin him he will. He doesn't understand that you can put your fingers all over them or put them on the floor, etc. You have to be careful with them. Careful is not in Joey's vocabulary when it comes to that.

The weather here today has been awful. We have had severe thunderstorms all day! The power was out here for about an hour and the kids where here alone. I no sooner left this morning when the storms started. Wayne got home not long after I left and had gone to bed as they ran in the ambulance all night, when his fire dept. pager went off. There were trees and powers lines down all over the place. He is really tired tonight! Hopefully he will get rest soon as next week is the last week of summer classes. He will be off of school for the month of August and start the fall classes in September. As of right now he is the top student in the class, I am so proud of him.

Oh well I know I have more to say, but my thoughts are a random mish mosh if that makes any sense, lol... I added two slideshows to the side.

I'll type more when my thoughts are more in order....

ugggghhhhhh.....

Well here it is 5:22 a.m. Yes you read the time right, 5:22 a.m.!!!! And I can't sleep. I went to bed around 10 p.m. tossed and turned and finally fell asleep around 1 a.m. Woke up at 2 a.m. to go to the bathroom, went back to bed, tossed and turned....About 4 a.m. I heard something on the back porch....Great Ariel put a bag of garbage on the porch yesterday, bet the animals have gotten into it.... Sure enough {sigh}. I turned on the porch and watched and a mama coon and her 4 kittens dug around and ate from my trash...at least someone will eat the leftovers. Now Ariel will be really pissed at me later this morning when I tell her that she has the fun job of picking up all of the garbage on the back porch and taking it to the trailer. The trailer has an electrical charge on it at night just so that the animals can't get to the garbage, cuz if they do it will be a shocking experience :) This is one of the joys of living in a rural area....no garbage pick-up. Well let me restate that... you can get garbage pick one of several ways: 1. Pay an unreal amount each month to have the garbage collection co. to come and pick it up. 2. Leave it out for the bear to take up on the hillside and drag it all over the place for you to have to pick up and then go looking for the garbage can, only to find it full of teeth marks and claw marks where the bear had to hold on to it to get it back up on the hill. 3. Leave it on the back porch and get woken up at 4 in the morning to noises outside only to find a mama coon and her four kittens sifting through it. One consolation about the coons is that they usually leave the garbage in the same general vicinity, unlike the bear who likes to see you get your excercise by trapsing all over the place picking up after him, typical man..... or 4. Get a trailer, put the garbage on the trailer and put an electrical charge on the trailer :) then once a week hook up the trailer and take 5 miles up the road to the garbage dump.

Now on to other things....here are some of my random thoughts this morning that I think don't even make any real sense at all, but at least I wrote them down...

You know I have really been doing some thinking yesterday and this morning....About life....I am really tired of trying to change the things or people who can't be changed. So I am going to stop. I don't need the aggravation of me getting upset because things aren't the way that I think that they should be. Some people understand what I go through, some people don't because they haven't been through what I have {very long story there}. So they say that I take things the wrong way...My question...How can you take things the wrong way if that is the way that it has always been? I mean if you are used to things happening a certain way then how can you take them wrong or read into them the wrong way? I don't even know if I am making any sense. But anyway, sitting here this morning made me realize something...I need to stop thinking that everything or everyone is out to get me or out to do me wrong. By doing this I am acting just like my mother and that is something that I swore I would never do. I don't want to feel sorry for myself and think only of poor pitiful me. I have to break this cycle too. I had to break alot of cycles to where I wouldn't be like my mom and put my kids through what she put me through. I broke the others and I can break this one too. I just have to know and have faith in the fact, that the one who I feel hates me will come around one day and say, "Mom, I'm sorry. I didn't realize what I was doing or how I made you feel. I realize that now, because my child is doing the same thing to me." You know I always thought that I was a good kid....I didn't get in any real trouble when I was growing up. I respected my elders and minded my manners. But apparently my Mom didn't see it that way because she always told me that one day I would have a child that treated me like I treated her. Well I guess she was right, you read that right. I said that she was right, well in some sort of way anyway. I have one that doesn't really want to have anything to do with me. Tells me what I want to hear, just to make me happy and then does something totally opposite. Then I have one that doesn't get in any trouble, is sweet, lovable, caring and tells me "Mom don't worry, don't cry....I won't treat that way when I get married and have children, I will always want to visit with you and let you see and know your grandchildren. I won't say things just to make you happy and then do the totally opposite, because Mom that is just wrong". My other one tells me the same thing.... So maybe they are seeing things in the way that I see them and I am not totally crazy....hmmmm...... They don't like seeing me this way, so they are not going to see me like this anymore. Once again in my life it is time to pull myself up by my bootstraps and say to hell with what people think. Who cares if they think that I am a bitch. I am now going to start saying what I feel and if it comes out wrong then I will apologize for the way that it came out, but not for what I said. (I am not a very tactful person when I need to say what is on my mind).

So there it is a new day and things are going to change. It has been said and now I have to do it. No more poor pitiful me.

Peace and quiet

Well it is peaceful and quiet here at home. Joey is at summer camp. Blake has left to go back home. Cody is spent the night with one of his friends. Wayne is at school, so it is just me and Ariel.... She is of course on MySpace right now and I am in my own little piece of heaven in my scraproom. There is no fighting, arguing, kids running....just peace and quiet. Ahhhhhhhh.......

It's been awhile

I can't believe I haven't posted anything since Father's Day. I am surprised that Donna hasn't gotten on my butt for it. It has been a busy and stressful time since Father's Day... As I posted before one of my son's friends is visiting him. Well he has been here almost a month, he will be leaving this coming weekend. I have enjoyed my son being able to visit with his friend, buy why in the hell did I agree to a month? I thought 2 weeks max, I can do this.... Now it is to the point where they are constantly bickering!!! They are worse than teenage girls!!!!

I got to meet my grandson for the first time!!! They came in from Germany on Friday of this past week. He is sooooo adorable and so cuddly! I will be heartbroken when they leave. My baby girl (his mommy) also turned 20 years old yesterday. Boy it seems like yesterday that I gave birth to her and now she is a mommy to a beautiful baby boy. I am so proud of her, she is a WONDERFUL mommy. She has really stepped up to the plate and has done major growing up. I guess motherhood has a way of doing that to you. My heart will break when she leaves too as I feel that we have grown soooo much closer since she gave birth. She now understands why a mom worrys so much about her children. She now knows why a mom never buys herself anything; because she spends it all on the kids, lol...

Well next week my other son will be going to summer camp. The Elks have a summer camp each year for handicapped individuals. Don't get me wrong, I love my son with all of my heart and soul, but I look forward to the week that he is a summer camp. I get to spend quality time with the others, that I normally wouldn't be able to spend with him because of his Autism and always having to be with him. The other kids suffer because he can't do this or that, so we don't go....

O.K. I really don't have anything to ramble on about so I guess that is all for now....see ya....

Father's Day

Today was a great day. First we let Wayne sleep in late, then we served him breakfast in bed. I made biscuits, sausage, eggs and gravy and the kids brought it to him. After he go up he thought we should go somewhere. So we went on a road trip today :)

We went to Hawks Nest and New River Gorge. Cody's friend Blake is up here for some of the summer so it was nice being able to show him some of our beautiful state.
We had a picnic lunch at the bottom of Hawks Nest on the river. That is always fun, we have done that before. Wayne saw a man that he grew up with while we were there, so it was nice for him to be able to catch up with him. They had several hummingbird feeders there and the birds were feeding. We were actually able to get some pictures of them.

I was able to get some pictures of people coming off of the white water on the New River under the New River Gorge bridge. That was fun to watch. Blake couldn't believe that they close the outside lanes of the bridge each year for one day in October so that people can parachute and bungee jump from the bridge. Being from the flatland of southeast Texas, he was in awe.

Right now it is about 11:20 p.m. Ariel has a friend spending the night and them and Cody and Blake are outside playing "spotlight". They are having a ball! One good thing from it....maybe it will keep the coons, opposums and bears out of the garbage cans tonight....Oh and maybe the coyotes won't come in so close to the house either. If you have never heard them yelp, then it will scare the crap out of you when you first hear them. It is tough to get back to sleep when they wake you up out of a sound sleep too!!! :)


Night.....

Summer has begun...

Well the kids are out of school and I am ready for them to go back :) We are done with all of the end of school year activities. It is kind of sad though knowing that I no longer have children in elementary school. Everyday I get older and so are my children. I wish I could go back in time to when they were little and watch them grow all over again. You know when you are young you kind of take it for granted that they (the children) will stay little for a long time. But then when they have gotten older you realize at just how fast the time has gone by.

I must admit though that I do like this chapter of my life too. I can't wait to see my grandson! I see my children doing more things in their own lives and becoming their own persons. I just hope I have done my job well and I have taught them the things that they need to have to become responsible adults.

It will be busy middle to end of the summer as Ariel made the flag corp. So practice will begin around the first of August. Cody will be starting Cross Country Track so that will be an everyday thing also. Joey will go to summer camp during the summer too. And Wayne will be starting his anatomy and physiology classes next week and then his paramedic classes in the fall. So we are only going to have about a month of down time for the kids and me.

Cody's graduation banquet was the other night. I was so very proud of him. These are the certificates that he was awarded:

• St. Jude Children's Research hospital Math-A-Thon for participation
• 6th grade Basketball and 6th grade basketball champions
• Certificate of Appreciation and most likely to be a firefighter or EMT (from teachers)
• Certificate of Appreciation of Leading the Pledge of Allegiance
• Certificate of Graduation for completing the 6th grade
• Citizenship award

He also received two trophies. One for basketball and one for Citizenship :)

Now for things I remember:

I remember four of my pets. Heidi, she was a miniature collie. Bear, he was a long haired black German Shepard. Mittens was my cat and Chinkie Poo was my peek a poo.

I remember the day that my mom had to have Heidi put to sleep.

I remember us going to the Angelina Lake and staying with friends that my daddy worked with and frying catfish :)

I remember going camping with my boyfriend and almost drowning because I thought that I could swim out to the buoy where they were at. It was a lot further than what I thought. That was also the weekend when I was severly sunburned and ended up in the emergency room when I got home and mama saw me :)

I remember going to Aunt Loretta's and Dunky Don's when he would bring in the shrimp boat and going to buy shrimp.

I remember Aunt Loretta spanking me once because I wouldn't eat my spinach and I got sick from it.

I remember that I always wanted to be popular in school, but I never was. That seems so trivial now, but back then it was a big thing.

O.K. well I guess that is enough for now. I will write some more in a few days :) Thanks for reading.

Just a few more things...

that I remember...

You know those big wooden spools that rope for ships are on? Well my daddy used to ship out on a sea going tug boat, the Satoca, and when the spools were empty he would load one up on his truck and bring home for me. We would put it on its side so that it would roll... I would climb on it and "walk on it while it rolled"....Those were fun!

I remember when Ariel was little, about 4 years old, we went to Conner's tree farm to cut down our Christmas tree. Well Ariel was running around and having a blast when all of a sudden she started running down a hill. Her little legs were going so fast and her big little cheeks were bouncing up and down and she couldn't stop! I had to dart out in front of her to catch her so that she wouldn't fall. It was soooo cute and soooo funny!

Well that is it for now, we are on our way out the door to Cody's Elementary graduation. I will post later and post pictures :)

Whew....

Well I am glad that this past weekend is over!!!! Ariel's party was a HUGE success!!! She had soooo much fun :) So many kids showed up. My friend Kathy made two cakes for the party and there was NONE left :) Absent minded me forgot my camera this weekend!! I cannot believe that I forgot it. I was able to take a couple of pics with one of Ariel's friends camera but she hasn't uploaded them yet...as soon as she does then I can snag them and copy and post them...

I wasn't able to get anything done in the house this weekend so it is a mess, but I am working on that. Well not right now because I am taking a break and writing on here ;)

Not much else to say right now, so I will close this one out....talk at ya later :)

Well.....

The past two days have been something else, that is all I can say... Yesterday I was on my way to pick up Wayne's paycheck. I was about 3 miles from home. A huge doe ran out in front of me and I hit it. It did $2000 worth of damage to my car. So yesterday I was running doing errands and I stopped at a body shop to get a quote on getting the car fixed. They opened the hood and then it took them all most 45 minutes to get it to shut again.... I am so glad for insurance and I can get a rental while my car is being repaired.

Last night I took Ariel and 2 of her friends shopping. I didn't know that it could take so long for girls to try on swimsuits, lol... We spent three hours in one store!!!! lololol....It was fun though. Ariel was able to get a few things as her maw maw bought her a swimsuit earlier in the week. And the other two girls were happy with the swimsuits that they got. Then I took them all to Pizza Hut for Pizza :) We had fun last night.

Today was the day for the Flag Corp tryouts. Ariel made the team. She said that she messed up and froze, but I guess it wasn't that bad since she made it ;) And she didn't drop the pole when she did the toss!!!! I am sooooo very proud of her. She has gotten so involved with school this year, I just wish her grades showed it. Hopefully next year will be better grade wise.

The school year will be over this coming week on June 7th. Cody has graduation from elementary school and will be going to Junior High next year. My baby is getting big :(

You know it is amazing at how when you are young and in school it seems like life moves soooo slow and you can't wait until you graduate from school. Now that I am in my 40's life goes by so very quickly. I wish that it would slow down and my children would stay smaller longer. But they are growing up and way too fast. It is hard to believe that I am a grandma now. Dominick, what can I say... I can't wait to be able to hold you in my arms little man. Your mommy grew up way to fast and I think that you will too. I think you are going to be all grown before I get to see you. Germany is way to far away! But you know I am so very proud of your mommy! She has really grown up and I can see from all of the pictures that she sends to me and from talking to her on the phone that you have the best mommy ever and she loves you with all of her heart and soul. You and your daddy mean the world to her. I am so happy that Jesus thought that your mommy was special enough to give you to her. She really needed you and you needed her. I love you Tiffany and Dominick (and Matt too :) ).

Joey has really started to grow lately. It is so hard to believe that he is 16 now. We have had a hard 16 years learning to help you with your Autism. This past school year you have come so far! And you are finally growing! You are now as tall as me, which I know 5 foot isn't that tall, but for how little you are, you are now a giant! It seems like everyday that you come home from school you have learned something new too. You are always in such a good mood when you get off of the school bus.

Your teacher has been wonderful with you this year and really cares about you learning. It is rare to find a teacher that really does care...And even though he is a substitute teacher because our school district is lacking qualified teachers, he loves you and cares for you. I truly believe that it is because he knows what it is like because he also has a special needs child and understands how hard it is to find people who really care about how far you go in this life and that you will have to be guided in whatever you do for the rest of your life. He knows that you can learn and will not accept it when people try to say that "these kids" can't learn, we know that they and you can learn! You are proving that by leaps and bounds this year! I am so very proud of you and thank God for giving you to me. You have taught me so many things Joey. You have taught me patience, kindness, love for everyone and many more things. Oh yes you can get on my nerves, but you are so very special to me and I love you so much. I hope that one day you will be able to read and when you do that you will be able to read this.

Ariel, my youngest daughter, my baby girl. You scared me when you were little because of being developmentally delayed. I asked God why me? What did I do so wrong to have two children with special needs. I was told by 2 people that God gave you to me because I was the only one that he could trust to take care of you and Joey. And with persistance, love and hard work you overcame your disability. I am so proud of the young woman that you have become. You have such a sweet spirit and geniunely love people. I am so glad at the interest that you have taken in participating in extracurricular activities at school. I know that you really didn't like band, but I think that me pushing you to be in band has really helped. I know that I pushed you into being in track, but you found out that you loved it and I am so proud of you! And now you have made it on the Flag Corp team! WOW!!! I never had the courage to do what you are doing in school. You are such a shining light and you spread that light wherever you go and with whoever you meet. Keep it up and keep your determination and you will succeed in everything that you choose to do in your life.

And now my baby, Cody....You are my wild man. You know I always joke at the fact that we knew the doctors on a first name basis at the emergency room by the time that you were two years old, lolol... You would get into and try everything. And you still do, but just don't get hurt as often. You are so much like your daddy. It is almost as if I didn't have anything to do with you. You don't look like me, except for the brown eyes and you don't act anything like me. You are definitly daddy's boy; unless you want to cuddle then you are mommy's boy :) You love to do whatever your daddy does. You love to take things apart and find out how they work, now if I can just get you to clean up your mess when you are done then I will have made progress! There aren't too many boys that can say that they have done the things that you have done. Change the oil in a car, help to change an engine in a car, have your CPR/First aid card. Have sprayed water from a firehose. You are so gung ho with everything that you do. You know you never let the fact of you being short right now stop you from being in basketball for the last three year. It didn't stop you knowing that you were the smallest person on the team. You showed them was a big person you are and that you are part of a team. And then this year, your team won the County Championship game! I am so proud of you! You are such a caring little man too. You don't like it when people's feelings are hurt and you want to alway's help them. You really flip out when someone says something about Joey too. You are his protector and I am so proud and happy that Joey has a brother like you to protect him when he is away from me. I am proud of you Cody. I love the boy that you are now and I can't wait to see the man that you become.

Gosh, I don't know what got me into this kick tonight, but it has made me feel so good to sit and write this to each of you and hope that one day you will read it and know how much I love each of you and cherish each of you. You are all so very special to me and I love you all. And remember that you can come to me and talk to me about anything and that I will love each of you know matter what. I love ya'll :)

Things I remember

You know I was just veggin on the couch and thought to myself, you know I should write down the things that I remember from my childhood. So I am going to write some of those....

*I remember riding my bike home from school and when I got close to my house I saw my Mom and Dad standing outside. They had just gotten home with a brand new car. It was a red four door Ford Granada (lol).

*I remember my mom giving me a surprise birthday party for my 9th birthday at McDonalds.

*I remember my mom and me going to Woolco's (like K-Mart) because there was something wrong with her camera. I remember running around in the store and hiding in the clothes racks. I was probably around 5 or 6.

*I remember was my hands in kindergarten at Immaculate Conception and the soap smelled soooo good. I now know that it was an almond smell (like Jergen's).

*I remember my dad asking me if I could follow a straight line and when I said yes he told me to get behind the wheel. I had to drive over Sam Rayburn Dam. I remember him saying to me, "now you have to follow a straight line because you know that I can't swim and there is water on both sides"...this was coming from a man who shipped out on a tugboat as a living and he can't swim....

*I remember us going on vacation to Maine (where my mom is from) and we stopped in Georgia and had bought fresh peach and apple cider. Well they were in the backseat with me so I ate and drank. A little while later I was in the front seat laying down sleeping and I woke up, ummmm let's just say very sick!!!!

*I remember meeting my sister Debbie for the first time. She was 18 and my mom and I had went to Florida on vacation to Fort Walton Beach. That is when I first met my sister.

*I don't remember my grammy and I remember little things about my grampy (my mom's parents). I remember him walking up the stairs to his bedroom. I remember him playing with me outside with Lassie and rolling down the "hill" in front of the house. I do remember going to the grave of my grammy.

*I remember the Paul Bunyon statue in Bangor, Maine.

*I remember holding a lobster and rubbing its belly to make it go to sleep.

*I remember us blackberry picking across the road from grammy and grampy's.

*I remember my first grade teacher, Mrs. Flowers telling me that I had very neat handwriting.

*I remember getting a spanking in school in the 7th grade.

*I remember going to Nanny and Papa's on Christmas. She was always so nice to me, but I can't say the same about my Papa. I don't think he ever wanted me around.

Gosh o.k. my brain is on overload now....This is really cool! I will write more things that I remember later :)

A little behind...

I just noticed that I haven't written in a while. It is a busy time of the year with school coming to end and summer coming real fast. This past week I was working on my blog and changed the template and when I did I lost all of my links and my Chris Daughtry video that I had on here. So I got frustrated and haven't been on here since. I guess I am not as computer savvy as I thought that I was, lol....So now I get to redo it all over again. And I guess I will stick with the boring templates that they have on here or I will find another that I like before I add everything back on it. At least I didn't lose everything that I have posted so far :)

This has been a busy week. Ariel had her Track Banquet and Band Banquet. We had a lot of fun this year with her being in high school. This week will be busy again also. She starts flag core camp tryouts. Cody is busy at school and has bridge up day this coming week. That is where he is going from elementary school to the junior high school. My baby is growing up way to fast. On the 7th he will have 6th grade graduation. That is the last day of school.

Today Cody and I went to the park. He walked and ran with me. I was proud of myself for running. I am hoping to get better at it and run the whole darn thing eventually :) Then he challenged me to a game of "Around the World" let's just say, Mama beat the pants off of him!!!! I can't believe that I beat him at it! He has been on the basketball team for 3 years, lol...Maybe he just felt sorry for his poor old mama. But then again he did say that I wore him out when we were walking and running, lolol...So that little 11 year old can't keep up with this old 41 year old, lololol... I love it!

O.K. I am off to work on my templates.... Catch ya later :)

New pictures

of my grandson that I just had to share... He is so adorable and sooooo chunky :)

Been a few days...

Since I have posted in here. I have added a couple of things. One of which is a video of a song that a really like "Coming Home". It is by Chris Daughtry who was on American Idol last year, 2006. Speaking of American Idol....I can't believe that Melinda Doolittle was voted out!!! She is so very talented and I truly thought that she would be the winner! So did Simon! of all people. So now if I had to chose who to win I would say Blake. O.k. enough of AI.

Now what about the Price is Right? It is sad to see old Bob retire. I remember watching the show when I was little :) Telling my age here. It is a fun show to watch sometimes. I was just watching the Early Show and they showed some of Bob's most memorable moments and there was this woman coming down to contestants row. She had on a tube top and it came down right along with her, lololol.....Bob thought, wow they really love me and he comes on stage and asks the anouncer what is going on and he says "Bob this lady gave her all for you", roflol!!!! I thought that this was funny.

Tonight is Ariel's Sports Banquet at school. She is excited about it. Next week is her birthday and also on her birthday is the Band Banquet. End of school is very busy! This brings me a thought that I saw on a friend's blog and thought I would do it here too....

Why is it that.....

Gas prices have to be so high?

Life has to be so complicated sometimes?

My children can be angels one minute and hellions the next?

Everything that kids do in school now has to cost so much money?

When I was in school, there wasn't all of these expenses.

With the inflation that is happening right now, why isn't our pay compensated for it?

People don't understand Joey?

Kids bully kids?

O.K. I guess that is enough of my why's for right now, but I challenge you to ask the same questions yourself. Think about how you can answer them or what you can do to change the ones that you want changed....

Now on to other stuff. I had a really good mother's day. The kids made me breakfast in bed. Then we packed up a picnic and went four wheelin in the woods. We had a really good peaceful day. It was nice in the woods. We stopped by a creek and had a picnic lunch and the kids played with the minnows in the creek trying to get them to eat some bread, that they didn't want. There hands were like ice and they were trying to put them on me to warm them up, lol. No way they are old enough to warm their own hands, hehehehehehe.... When we got home we lit the grill and threw some meat on it and just had a simple quick supper. We all slept good after being outdoors in the fresh mountain air. I guess during the summer we will spend a lot of time up in the woods because of gas prices being so outrageous no one can afford to go anywhere on a vacation. But that is o.k. we love it. And at the end of June the blackberries are out and we go picking. Then we bring them home and I can them. I make blackberry jam, blackberry ice cream topping, freeze some for cobbler.....yummy!!!!

O.K. well I guess that is enough for now :) TTYL....

Hello again...

Well Wayne and I went to Penn Station Subs for lunch.... I will have to say that I like Steak Escape better, because I can get pineapple on my subs :) I am a sucker for pineapple on pizza's and subs :) The we had to go do the grocery duty.... I have tried to break the kids from eating, but dagonnit they just wont stop, lol....And now that summer is coming up, once they are out of school they are going to eat us out of house and home....guess I better keep them busy then!!!

I did accomplish a couple of other things today also. I planted to hanging planters with petunia's and watered both of the flower beds this evening. The flowers are looking soooo very pretty now. I might get more to put out back along side of the house. I do have some Dusty Millers that I need to plant, so I could put those along side of the back of the house...

Funny thing happened this afternoon....There is a bird nest on top of our bay window. Wayne and I were walking by and I noticed little birdies in the nest. So I ran inside and got my camera...I came out the door expecting Wayne to take the picture for me since he is taller....NOPE....he was sitting on the porch and said get on and was pointing to his shoulders!!! I said I am going to break your back!! And I have not been on anyones shoulders since high school 20+ years ago, lolololol!!!! I just knew I was going to fall and bust my ass!!! Anyway the pics aren't that good, but here they are:

I think they are robins, but not a bird person so I really couldn't tell ya for sure :) I know that momma bird has charged at us several times during the duration of the nest being there....I know for sure that there are two birds in there, maybe three. I think that this is the first time that I have seen birdies in a bird nest...I have never been able to get that close to them before and it is a beautiful site to see in springtime, when everything is turning green and the birds are chirping. At dusk you can sit outside and hear the frogs and all of the differents chirping noices of the animals. You know Wayne has it right when he says that in the spring the mountains are waking up and stretching out their arms and getting ready dance (getting ready to dance is me)....

I also did finish a scrapbook layout that I have been trying to finish for a couple of days to post on e-bay but I was stuck and thanks to Kym on my group giving us a challenge I was able to finish it tonight. I am going to post it on e-bay and hopefully it will sell for good money, lolol...Gotta start supporting the habit...

Well it is getting late, so I guess it is time to turn in and go night night.... Get ready to do it all over again tomorrow....hmmmm Wayne will be working tomorrow, kids at school....maybe scrapping time :)

Type at ya later!!!

hmmmm....

Well not really sure what I am going to get into today. I have two flower pots that still need to be planted and I rrrreaallllyyyyy need to get that done. I don't want for the rest of my flowers to die! It is another gorgeous day outside! I will definitly spend some time out there today!

Yesterday evening we (me, Wayne and the kids) went four wheelin' up Indian Creek last night...It was soooo relaxing! We ended up on top of the mountain and at some points you could see through the trees and see how high up we were. You could only hear the birds chirping and the water flowing through the creek. I would love to live in a place like that. I guess that is why we love our camp so much and I can't wait. I call it ours because we are the only ones that go up to it anymore. It is actually some friends of the family that are not in very good health anymore and can't go many places. Wayne wants to buy it from them, because we just love it so much and are there so often during the summer.

Today is Pioneer day at the high school today. I didn't think to send a camera with Ariel today. Hopefully some of her friends will take pics. They are going to be doing rock climbing. She has had such a great first year in high school this year. She is in Marching Band, has ran (currently) track and is going to try out for the flag core for next year. She wanted to try out for Majorette, but I told her I thought that flag would be better for her as she has no experience with twirling and she just got her baton. So I suggested to her that she try out for flag and take a year and get better with the baton and then next year try out for majorette. She thought that was a good idea.

O.K. well I am going to go eat lunch with Wayne and then decide what to do with the rest of my day :)

My little ham...

I thought I would post of picture of my grandson.... he is just soooo adorable and I wish I was there to hold him and spoil him!!!!

Isn't he cute? He had a full belly here and was ready to go to sleep, but mommie just kept right on taking pictures. I called this picture chubby cheeks, lol...

He is sooo very precious and oneday soon his granny will be able to spoil him!!!

It's a good day...

Well my grandson came home from the hospital today. They still don't really know what is wrong with him. I will be glad when they move to the other base in Germany so that they can get dr.s' that know something.

But today is just an all around good day. It is absolutely gorgeous outside. I had to run a couple of errands and decided to come home through the state forest. I had the music on and windows on the car down and thought it is just so beautiful. Everything is turning green finally and it is nice outside. Today would have been a good day for a picnic, but all of the kids were in school. It is supposed to get hot by the end of the week.

I mowed grass today. It has grown like crazy since the rain this weekend. I am going to plant a couple of flower of pots this afternoon. Enjoy the weather while I can because I don't like it outside when it is hot, lol....

Well I am gonna go for now....have a wonderful day, I am :)

WOO HOO!!!

Several good things to write about:) Yesterday Ariel had a track meet. Let's just say that Sherman kicked but and took names!!! Our girls team took 1st place overall, our boys team took 1st place overall! Ariel won 2nd place in the 4x200 and 6th in the 4x400. Twin Girls on our team tool 1st and 2nd place overall!..... We ROCKED!!! I am soooo proud of Ariel and her team! They did wonderful yesterday. Next week we have the regionals and I hope that they do as well there. It is amazing to me to see Ariel doing these things. She is actually excited about being in track next year too! She came home with the papers too to try out for flag core or majorette next year. She is not sure which one she wants to do. She was going to do cross country track, but band would interfere with that, and I want for her to stay in the band, whether it be playing the clarinet, doing flag core or majorette. I keep reminding her that it is a great way to be able to get a scholarship.

The sun is actually out right now, it was nasty for the track meet yesterday... It was rainy, the track was hard asphalt so the kids couldn't wear their cleats and had to wear their reg. tennis shoes. One boy from another team broke his ankle when he slipped off of the track :( He was in a lot of pain. Ariel twisted her knee on the 100 yard dash and was still favoring it this morning. I told her that unfortunately these things happen in sports and you have got to learn to deal with the aches and pains, twists and breaks that come along with participating in sports...

Yesterday before we left for the track meet we watched the "mock" traffic accident for the prom this weekend. Wayne was one of the ones "on scene". You know I know that the kids know that this is fake, but it is to prove a point about drinking and driving. And as I was standing there watching, I was also listening to the kids laugh about it and make comments to the fact that "this stupid shit ain't gonna stop me from drinking and partying on my prom night".... I feel sorry for these kids, because they may be the ones in the body bag Saturday night. They don't realize how quickly life can be taken away. I just wanted to shake them and tell them, to shut up and pay attention, because that could be you. Some just don't care though...

Anyway on to more stuff...Cody was asleep when I got home from the track meet last night, so he woke up this morning to let me know that he had received student of the month!!!! Yippee! He told me that he didn't get any checks marks for the month! I told him I was proud of him but I wished he could do the same at home, lol....I think that this is a good way to leave elementary school and go into jr. high next year.. The last month of the last year at elementary and he was SOM....wonderful!!! I am proud of him.... Now hopefully I will still be when progress reports come out next week....lololol...

Well I guess that is it for now....

Bad Day

Well yesterday was a really bad day for me....I am just so tired of all of the disrespect and lack of appreciation that I get. I do everything I can for my kids, but do they appreciate it? I don't think that they do. So yesterday I officially went on STRIKE. I refuse to do things for them until they realize that I am not a rug that they can walk all over. Well I guess I can strike completely, I still have to take Ariel to her track meets, cook and do some housework....But they are responsible for doing their own laundry now, completely! If they don't have clean clothes, then it is their problem....If they can't walk in their room and they are embarrassed when one of their friends comes over, it is their fault. I don't take them with me when I go to the store or something I know that they would enjoy doing, it is their fault. Maybe once they realize that I am a human being too, things may change.

The clencher yesterday was after I told them that I was on strike and they had to clean the kitchen, living room and bathroom. They started fighting with each other about who was going to do what. Cody pushed Ariel down. That was it I had had it. I went off, maybe I shouldn't have, I should have been the adult, but I couldn't take anymore. I yelled, screamed and hollered. Then I left for a while. I had to for my sanity. So I got Joey dressed and we left for about an 1 1/2.

I went to Wayne's work and told him what all had transpired. He asked me if the kids knew where I was and I told him no. That when I left I didn't know where I was going just had to get out for a while. I told him to call home and see what they had to say. He asked if I was home and they said no that I was really really really mad and upset and crying and I left and they didn't know where I went. He told them that I was there and then it was on....

I have taken things away from the kids now and they can earn only 1 item a week back. I got them where it hurts too.... Ariel can't have any make-up and the hair straighter (very get through to you for a 14 yo), no computer, no phone, no friends over and she doesn't go to friends house. Cody, had to give me all of his hunting stuff (loves loves hunting and it is spring gobbler season) and on the weekends he can't go to maw-maw's and spend the night and can't go to the movies with her on Sundays. He also has no computer, no phone, no mp3 player, no playstation, no friends over or spending the night at friends houses.

Today I am working on a chore list. If they go one day without doing them then they once again lose the item that they are working for. I don't know if this is going to work and I know that it is harsh, but I have got to get control over them. I refuse to have a nervouse breakdown...

Today is another day and it has to be better even though I have a headache from haddes right now, my eyes are swollen from crying so much yesterday and I am still depressed over it. But today is another day so it has to be better because I say that it has to be better :)