Real honest life- unscripted- with teenage boys

Craft Fair

2011-10-23T11:00:00.000-07:00

Hey mom and dad. Here are a few pics for you, starting with the ring and then some stuff from the craft fair.

http://www.jewlr.com/products/JWL0018-double-heart-gemstone-ring-with-diamond-accents?from_url=1

If you click the link above you can see what the ring Austin bought Felicia looks like. Here it is on her finger.

Hey mom and dad. Just wanted to share a few pictures of the stuff Sandy and Felicia made for the craft fair. There was a lot more stuff but this is just a little taste. Her is a fall leaf wreath.

Here is a painting.
And a Snowman wreath.
Felicia painted these butterflies.
And a teacher wreath with a real eraser, and real pencils and a sharpener.
Just a few of the hairbows she made.
A deer painting with glitter.
a fall basket

a spring wreath with little garden tools and even a pack of seeds. I love this one.
more paintings
Owls made from felt and styrofoam balls
Halloween picture frames
Cute spiders

Lady bug pins and earrings

Sandy setting up her table.

Ghost and spider topiary's
I can't load any more pics cuz they are on aaron's computer :) But we had a great time and she made about 60 dollars so she was happy.

Sandy's Sweet 16 Birthday Party

2011-07-31T06:32:00.000-07:00

Hey, mom and dad. I had to get Sara to put the pics on here and I am having a hard time moving them in order. So I will just write under each one. Here is Sandy opening her gifts. She got over $200 and picture frames, candles and she got a nice hardback book of 1001 cupcakes. I think I deleted that picture on accident. Oops!

She was very surprised by the gift Aaron got her.

Aaron, Sandy and me. We were all very hot and tired.

Sandy and her mom.

Zack with icing on his nose.
Aaron, Randy and Jon.
All the girls were dressed up so pretty. They all had the prettiest jewelry and cool shoes. And Macy (kim's sister) wore tennis shoes!

Some of the girls.
About to blow out the candles.

Happy Birthday.
I caught this shot of Austin and Felicia holding hands :)
Hanging out. I see Aaron is next to the food.
Carrying the cake. It was so heavy.

Sandy and Cheyenne.

Hanging out.

The adults made their own place to sit.

I saw Felicia sitting all by herself and told her to make a lonely sad face.
Lynn and Zack and her niece.

The candle holders.
Randy

Close up of some of the cake design.

Yellow cups!

Austin's shoes.
The three "rednecks" with flip flops. Me, mimi and Alyssa.
Sandy and Mimi

Aaron and Mimi
Decorating. She was decorating up until the last minute.
Aaron and Sandy with Lynn and her family.
Zack and his best buddy, Aaron
She even made fancy signs for the food.

Austin and Felicia

Just about ready to start the party.
Aaron and Sandy
The candy bar.
She made pretty labels for all the jars. All the candy was black, white or yellow.

Austin and Felicia again!
The cake without the topper.
The cupcakes. See, they make the number 16 in yellow.
Ballo0ns that Austin hung.

Sandy made these cute paper cones for everyone to put the candy in.

She made this box for cards.

Her flowers.
Some of the tables.
The battery in Sara's camera died and I didn't get any pictures at night when the lights were all on but I did get a few with my phone. But it was all very pretty.

I also didn't get any pics of Sara cooking or the food but everyone LOVED it! We all worked very hard but it was worth it. Sandy was very happy!

Titanic and Aquarium

2011-03-28T11:52:00.001-07:00

Above you can see our boarding passes. We were each given a different person who was on the Titanic. At the end you would find out if you survived or not. Sandy got Thomas Andrews who was the man that designed the ship. I was Gladys Cherry a 1st class passenger. Felicia was also a 1st class passenger who was a maid of a rich couple who asked her along to help with the children. Austin was a 2nd class passenger, a young boy of 18.
He is a replica of the center anchor.

The building was very cool!Watch out!! Here comes the boat!
AUSTIN!!!!

We were not allowed to take any pictures inside, but it was very interesting. We spent two hours and learned a lot.
Then off the the aquarium.

A star fish that Felicia named Patrick.
A little eel.
Beautiful fish pond!
Very HUGE fish!
That white thing that looks like a plant is actually a fish! These were very cool.
Sea Horses. My favorite.

Schooling fish.
Huge tank of multi colored fish.

Then we went under the water in a very neat tunnel.
Look up! Saw fish coming.
sharks!
Sandy had so much fun! He was so amazed by everything.

Horseshoe crabs piggy backing.
Fun in the kids area.

Feel in the box. Can you guess what it is ?
Austin in the tank.
Austin and Felicia in the water.
ANd me!
Coral
Giant sea crab. Austin hated these.
Sting ray. Love their faces.
Penguin time! Felicia's favorite.
Now underwater to go see the penguins close up.
Felicia got so excited when she came up in the tube. A little penguin was right there.

Still looking at penguins.
more stingrays.
Goofing off in the gift shop.
And goofing off at a store.

Here we are at the Christmas store. This was the best place ever. These trees here are so pretty. They cost about 6 hundred bucks.

This Christmas store was HUGE!! Just beautiful!!

Here is the outside of the wonderworks house. We didn't get to go in. It cost too much.
So we went to an indoor putt-putt that was all black lights. Very cool!

We had a blast. More pictures to come later!!

Thanksgiving Day

2010-11-27T04:12:00.000-08:00

These two photos got out of order and I don't know how to fix it ( I am on Austins computer). But above is Wes and Tyler. Tyler didn't win so Wes gave her one of his prizes. Just like Wes. And look below. Even Kasadie had fun.

We missed you mom and dad for our wonderful day of food, family and bingo! Here are a few photos from our time together! Billy is smiling over all this food!We had more food than you can imagine.
We did buffet style. Everyone fixed their plate and then gathered at the table. There was just to much food to put on the table and I didn't want to wash all those serving bowls (since mom wasnt' here to help!!)
We even had deep fried green beans. I thought maybe Billy and Aaron would try a vegetable this way. That didn't work.
Billy and Jonnie
We had over 20 people here for bingo. Look who is pouting because he is not winning. OF COURSE-Aaron
Jonnie had a great time and you can see Billy focusing on his card, determined to win. You would have thought I was giving away 100 dollar bills.

Look at the blanket Billy won! Austin won two gift cards!
Wes and Austin cutting up
We can't wait to see you!!!!!

Austin's big suprise

2010-10-03T13:25:00.001-07:00

1972 VW bus. This is his 16th birthday gift but he got it early because him and Sandy have a good bit of work to do on it.

Watch out Shaggy!! Here comes Austin :)

The Pumpkin

2010-10-03T13:04:00.000-07:00

The pumpkin has been picked and now sits on the piano.

The growing pumpkin

2010-09-09T18:25:00.000-07:00

LOOK MOM!!

2010-09-09T18:14:00.001-07:00

Aaron goes to college

2010-08-19T18:18:00.000-07:00

We have been getting Aaron ready to go to college. Here we went to the Ihop to eat. Look how cute him and Sandy are in the matching shirts. Then Sara came over and helped pack everything up neatly.

Many trips to the store....many trips

On the trip down yesterday, Sandy was trying to get him to smile. He didn't want to leave her.

Three miles to go

And here is the new school of pharmacy.

Beautiful building

His welcome sign

Getting the room in order.

The outside of his dorm.

Signing of the honor code.

Aaron chilling before we left.

I had to say goodbye. See I am crying and he is looking at me like I am crazy!

A big birthday party

2010-07-31T04:09:00.000-07:00

We had a joint birthday party here for three teenage girls. Aaron's girlfriend Sandy (in the yellow), and Kim and Cheyenne. They were all turning 15.

The all wanted to make their own cakes so work began early that week. Here is a skyline.

Some cats.

Some rocks and mushrooms.

A frog. All these were made from our homemade fondant.

Here Sandy is working on her hello kitty's.

Cheyenne and Kim work hard too.

The finished cupcakes.

Kims skyline cake.

And Cheyennee's pond cake. They had fun and did a great job.

The party went great. Lots of kids showed up. It was so hot but it all went well.

Blowing out the candles.

The start of a cake fight.

Uh oh. Sandy is going to chase her down now.

Cheyenne gets pulled in too.

The results....

And somehow Randy got hit with a Hello Kitty cupcake. Nice mark.

All the girls got lots of presents.

I got Sandy art supplies. She is a very talented young girl.

Tired and wore out....everyone just hangs out

It was a long day, but endend up being a great party!

4th of July

2010-07-05T17:38:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th. Here is Kasadie with her sparklers.

My pumpkin patch.

A big pumpkin already.

I grew some tomatoes.

And got a tiny green pepper.

And made some tortellini salad! Yummy!

We saw this great Corvette in honor of our military.

Inside the hood is a list of all the names of the people who lost their lives in 9-11.

The hood has a beautiful painting of the twin towers. Thats Sandy in the background.

Kasadie brought along her own swimming pool. She stayed in it until she turned blue!

And she got her first taste of watermelon. A girl after her great grandmas heart!

And she got a new hairbow.

ANd a few fireworks

Kasadie turns 1

2010-06-27T15:42:00.001-07:00

Mom and Dad
Here are some pics from Kasadies birthday party. Hope you enjoy.

Sorry the cake pictures are in backwards order. I am having to use the mini laptop and it is hard to move them around.

The aftermath of the cake!

Austin working on the little cake.

The cake!

Aaron graduates!!

2010-06-13T18:36:00.001-07:00

I am so proud to say the Aaron has graduated high school. Here I am with him and his girlfriend Sandy. It was a very busy two weeks. The girls came over several nights to help out with getting ready for his party. Here they were decorating cookies.

And here they were painting banners that Sandy drew.

I made a cute sign for the cookies. They must have been good because this was all that was left. They made caps and diplomas.

Here is Cheyenne and Kim in front of some of the posters.

And here is Aaron in front of another one.
I made a scrapbook of Aaron's life. Here Billy and Wes get a laugh over some of the pictures.

Austin worked hard on the cake. Tevin and Tyler helped one night but that ended up in a powdered sugar fight in my kitchen. I will have to get some pictures from that. Austin made the cake to show the things Aaron was leaving behind and then the things he was going to....

Like he was leaving behind his beat up car, and his job at bilo and coins......
And moving toward dollars, a new car and a pharmacist job.

We played a game to see how well everyone knew Aaron. Here Sara is grading the papers.

Here is Aaron and Tyler. She graduated too.

The girls convinced me to buy a chocolate fountain. The kids really enjoyed it.

The party was a huge success and we had so much food. Later the kids hung out in the hot tub.

Then graduation day! Here are the two proud graduates.

Aaron's best friend Randy graduated from a different school. I am so sad I did not get a picture of them in their gowns together . Kasadie came too.

Here comes Tyler.

And here comes Aaron.

I loved that they threw their hats up! Most of the schools don't allow it. I missed some good shots but you can see one hat in the air.

Then they all had to find them!

They had a great celebration!!

Aaron and his grandparents.

Aaron and his brothers.

Aaron and his Aunts. I am so glad they were there.

Me and Tyler

Aaron and Randy wanted to go to Hooters afterwards. It was so much fun. The girls made the hats out of coffee filters and sang You are my Sunshine to them.

The whole place clapped and hollered for them. And the girls posed with them.

The following weekend Tyler had here party at the pool. Here is Austin mid air.

And a group jump in!

And a chicken fight.

It was such a busy eventful time but what great memories we made!

Easter Pictures

2010-04-18T17:47:00.001-07:00

The Saturday before Easter we had a big get together at our house. We knew we would be busy at Church all day Sunday with our Easter program so we had our fun a day early. Austin made a huge deal or no deal game and we played for real money. Here Granny takes the hot seat.

And Billy takes his hot seat seriously. He really wants to win the BIG prize of 10 dollars.
And even Pap takes the hot seat.
At the end, Billy and Wes gave Austin a chance to play his own game. Funny how it was my money we were giving away, but when I played I only won 1 cent!

We had an egg toss.

Bridgette had an egg splat on her by ME! She couldn't stand it. Then she chased me down and put the egg in my shirt.
Sara ducks out of the way of an egg.

Billy and Wes wait to catch their eggs.
Good catch.
Nice catch again.
Sara and Wes took home the prize for this game. A big basket of candy. Oops don't tell those WW people :)
More egg toss fun.

The egg hunters wait inside while I hide all 70 eggs!! Sara is upset because somehow her name did not get put on her bag. LOL!
Wes finds an egg.
Here Bridgette and Granny had the same idea at the same time.
Wes is like a kid all over again.
Wes and Bridgette see one. Run guys, run!
Kasadie plays nearby. Such a sweetie.
We had lots of food. Steak and shrimp and baked potatoes. Later we had icecream, cake and smores by the fire.
Billy still gets his Easter basket even if he is 23.
And Wes too. I think I will always get them Easter candy.
Austin and Granny hang out.
A shot of the aftermath of dying 70 eggs. Austin and I had that job.
Later that night, Melissa, Tyler and Tevin came over. They just loved our confetti eggs. They were real dyed eggs, but were hollowed out and had confetti inside.

Late night basketball.
My festive table at night.
Tevin and Tyler enjoy the hottub.

Aaron and his girlfriend Sandy were not able to come. They were off at the beach for senior week. I gave them their baskets when they got home. They were both exhausted and Aaron had picked up strep throat.But they posed for pictures anyway. Here Aaron has his huge basket loaded with beef jerk

Austin's huge basket was loaded down with dvd movies.

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter.

ZACK TURNS ONE AND AUSTIN'S CAKE IS A BIG HIT!

2010-03-01T10:32:00.000-08:00

Once again, Austin had a cake to make. My godson, Zack was having his first birthday. I think transporting the cake was the hardest part.He followed instruction on how Lynn wanted the cake and then made a smaller version for Zack to dig into.Here is a closer view. Didn't he do a fabulous job???
Zack thought so...
He didn't dig in too much. He wanted to eat it with a spoon. Except he loved taking off the fondant pieces and eating them.
I bought him a toy with a hammer!! LOL!!

He loved his little cars. He had such a full day. I can't believe he is already 1!!! Where does the time go?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET PEA!!

Udate on my life :)

2010-02-04T17:16:00.000-08:00

It has been awhile since I have blogged. Life is so busy. Here is what's been going on. Austin finally got his braces off. Here he is before....And now...after.....

Mama kitty had another litter of kittens. We were able to find wonderful homes for them thanks to Craigs list. Now, we will have her fixed and claim her officially as 'our cat'!The boys are still dealing with the loss of their grandparents and now a different kind of loss with their dad as he is now in jail for the next 8 years. However, Billy and Wes have been given a new home that is paid for! I am so happy for them. Here is the outside from the front.And from the back.

Here is Wes' room. He picked a nice blue color for the walls.
And he made his first ever finance purchase....a big tv...of course!
He is the lucky one and has his own bathroom.
This is Billy's room. Always neat and organized.

They have a very large living room. It is still kind of empty but they are working on it.

And a big dining room.

Here is the kitchen. Their friend Gary also lives with them in the third bedroom. Gary and Wes do all the cooking. Billy would just eat out of a can :)

The main bathroom is so funny. It is black tile with pink.....but even funnier is the......

red carpet!! I am so happy that they were able to inherit such a nice big safe house. It makes me feel good knowing that they are safe and warm. They do such a great job in keeping it clean. They also have a full basement with a kitchen and bath down there as well.

In other news.... we had a small snow/ice storm. I had four of Aaron's friends stranded at my house over night. I cooked them all a big breakfast and they hung out for the day. Then as they were leaving Jon got his car stuck in the ditch so that just added to the excitement. But they all made it home safe.

My sweet godson Zack is getting so big and so is.....

my niece's baby, Kasadie.
And since I didn't blog at Christmas here are two of my favorite photos. All my boys..
And Aaron and his Pap sleeping while waiting for dinner and more present opening.

HAPPY VERY LATE NEW YEAR

2010-01-08T04:10:00.000-08:00

I hope you are all have a wonderful New Year. I have been away from blogging for awhile. Things have been so busy here and mom and dad are in town as well. Most of the blogging I do is to keep them up to date on us while they are out of town. I am still stopping by and visiting my favorite blogs, so I haven't forgot about ya'll. I hope to be back soon and get my reader base back up!!
See you soon.

THANKSGIVING WEEK

2009-11-28T02:51:00.000-08:00

I have had the most busy Thanksgiving week I have EVER had! It began Tuesday night. I was in charge of making desserts for our dinner at work. I wanted to please everyone so I made numerous deserts. One plain cheesecake, one cherry cheese cake, 2 banana puddings, one coconut cake, and one red velvet cake. Austin decorated the top of that one :)

I am so thankful that mom came over to help. She cleaned up behind me as I went. So when I dropped in the bed after midnight, the kitchen was spotless. Then I woke up at 4am to make the banana pudding so it would be fresh. That night I was exhausted, but still had to prepare for our family dinner. Sandy's company gave us a turkey check again and I got a HUGE turkey.He hardly fit in the pan.

The table was set.

Billy and Wes waiting to eat.

Granny actually sat down for a few minutes. That mom is a working machine!Wes was the first one to sit down to eat. Must be that hard working job of his. Makes him hungry.

The dining room was crowded this year because the den was emptied out due to remodling.

Time to eat. Thanking God for our many blessings.

No TV watching around this house. Time for family bingo!!

We had some gag gifts. Wes won a maze book.

Melissa got some snowman ears.

Granny got a stress buster.

And some funny man glasses.

and pap had to try them on.Pap got a bag of coal, but he got a big jar of candy too.We had some good prizes too including gift cards to Sonics, Subway and Big Lots. Billy won a cup of candy and a tin of candy. He was happy with that. He loves candy.

Sara won 10 dollars.

Last thing of the night....Austin and Tyler break the wish bone. Tyler won. And once again mom cleaned up everything. I want to know where she gets all that energy. Seriously.

So in the bed at 11 and out of bed at 3 am. Time for shopping. Austin and I headed to Target. He has never been out shopping early. He nearly killed me when we arrived there at 3:15 and he found out they didn't open till 5!! He thought they opened at 4. Hehe-mom got him good.

I never do the big shopping thing either. I have been known to go out early and get one or two things, but that's it.

Here is Austin using the free bag they gave us to warm his face. It was 32 outside.

This year I decided to save some money and do this black friday thing big. Oh my! Was I crazy?? Check out lines over a hours long, bathroom lines just as long, traffic like I have never seen. I covered 7 or more stores and got tons of great buys. I came home, covered my eyes.... and went straight to bed. CAN YOU BELIEVE I SLEPT 17 HOURS!!!! I told you I had a busy week!!
LESSONS LEARNED ABOUT BLACK FRIDAY SHOPPING:

Wear hat, gloves even take a blanket for sitting. Dress to shed because later you will be hot and sweaty.

Do not carry heavy pocketbook. Your shoulders and back will not be happy in the morning....ugh
Take as many kids as possible. They can stand in line at checkout while you grab other random things.

I feel like I have been hit by a MAC truck.....but what a great week I have had......now to put up the tree today........

HAPPY 40!!

2009-10-29T10:50:00.000-07:00

So my boys did a wonderful job at planning my big 40th birthday party. We had it at the skating rink with an 80s theme. Here is my best friend Lynn and I dressed in our 80s clothes! And my husband, Sandy looking like an 80s rocker!And Austin looking like--Michael from the 80s. I got so embarrased when everyone sang to me.

There I am out on the skating rink. I even had balloons.

Here is Austin, Tyler, Melissa, Aaron and Randy hanging out.
Everyone had a great time.
And look at this fabulous cake Austin made for me!!

It was so fun to have a party of my own! I think the last time I had one I was 13! What a fabulous time we had! And Lynn and I went to Walmart dressed like that. Most people didn't even look twice! LOL! One young girl said that those fashions are coming back in style. Maybe that is why we didn't look out of place :) Ok, but we did get a few stares......

And here is the other cake Austin made that weekend. It was for a man who was retiring from the Estes trucking company. I think with the right tools Austin could be great at this!!

This and That

2009-10-18T14:17:00.000-07:00

Just a lot of random things going on here. Billy has moved out- again! I know this time it will be permanent. He will be living with his brother, Wes and a friend of theirs, Gary. I hope things go well for them. Here is Billy the day before he left. He was washing the dishes and cleaning the kitchen up for me! Wow, that is a rare event!
Our baby kitten is growing fast. She is always getting into trouble.
We have spotted what we think might be the daddy cat. He will not let anyone get close to him at all. If you can zoom in on this picture you can see how mean and 'in charge' he looks. I love his big face.
Lost of Bulldog football games. Here is my niece. She is a senior cheerleader.

I think their uniforms are so cute this year. They have a little star cutout.
Hanging out with old high school friends. It doesn't seem like more than 20 years have past.
And Austin's been missing a lot of school due to the flu. He made him a little hideout under the stairs and behind his closet.
He has a small tv and his xbox in here. It is really dark in there, but with the flash you can't tell. I think it is so sweet that he still acts his age and does these kind of things. I know to many kids at 14 that are starting into much more grown up things. Gotta love this kid :)

And today I took my sweet Sandy to the airport. He is flying to PA for his company. I hope he has a great time.
And here is our mama kitty playing with a baby chipmunk. She did not hurt it :)

FLU

2009-10-15T15:52:00.000-07:00

The flu has invaded our house. I am about to fumigate this place. I hope all my blogger friends have avoided this sickness.

TURNING 40!

2009-10-12T19:12:00.000-07:00

I really do not feel like going into the fact that I just turned 40. However, I do want to share that my boys are throwing me a party. Check out this video invitation that Austin made.

UPSETTING

2009-10-09T19:10:00.001-07:00

I am just so upset. I wanted to vent. So this is where I come to vent. We had just passed the one year mark in the tragic loss of the boy's grandparents. We had some beautiful large white crosses made to replace the wooden ones that were rotting. These were placed at the accident site. We asked the home owners if it was ok to place these larger crosses in their yard. They said that was fine. Well, a few days later- SOMEONE STOLE THEM!! Why would someone do such a thing?? I am just so distraught by this.........I don't even know what to say.........

Finally! Completion of my laundry room!

2009-10-06T17:13:00.000-07:00

So months and months ago I talked about painting my laundry room in this awesome green color! I wouldn't use this color in my house but I love it so much, so why not the laundry room? Well of course other things have come up and it was put on hold. Then I was fortunate enough to get .....these! My new washer and dryer. In my 23 years of raising kids I have always had used washers and dryers. So this is a big thing to me. I LOVE these! Funny that I should get them now- I have less laundry. :)
Since the laundry room is not seen by everyone, I decided to put many of my favorite random things that really don't fit in my house anywhere. My strings of game lights- monopoly, scrabble, Mr. potato head and candy land. They are strung around the room.
Sandy's first tag. He had this tag number for so many years. This year they changed our tag design and it had to go.
This tag from my home state. I think this came off of my dad's car.
My kitty cat ironing board.
My "irish"?? girl. Not sure where I got her or what she is really, but now she stores my plastic bags.
My giant yellow crayon bank. If there is money in the wash, it goes in here.
Some of my frogs.Some more of my frogs.
Some more frogs hang out on the water heater. Along with some old irons.
I found this 'shelf' at a yard sale for a dollar. Not sure what it was designed for. I hot glued some of my tiny random items in it. Mom, I know you will recognize some of these.
Old clip on ice skates from my childhood farmhouse. My dad found these when he bought the house (I think that is what he told me).
A cup of marbles and my snoopy trash can. I have a lot of other snoopy stuff packed in a box and might add it in this room somewhere.
This green wallpaper was on clearance for $2.00 a roll. I used it on one half of the room. Last week I found this frog border on clearance for $2.00's as well.
This room actually used to be my back porch. Many years ago my dad closed it in so I had a place for my washer and dryer. You can see the old porch ceiling. I have had bare bulbs up there forever! Now....
I have real light fixtures!!

Wow, it really looks like a room in there now! It makes me want to do more laundry! I love that I have a spot where I can put all the random things I love! What a great space.

THIS POST IS FOR MOM!! :)

2009-10-03T11:54:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, the company I work for does great things for us. The other Friday when I got to work, the boss lady said, "Ok, get your stuff, you are going shopping- with my money". About twice a year she sends us three girls out for clothes, shoes and jewelry. It is so much fun shopping with someone else's money :) I have posted about these trips in the past and know that most of you have no interest in them. BUT- seeing as my mom is away on the road again I HAVE to share them with her! It is these little things that you miss about mom being around :)I got these two necklace and earring sets.

I got some basic khaki pants, white pants and some black ones (not shown).
I got a basic white shell.
This one I know you will like, mom. Long skirt and top.

I wore it Sunday with this pretty white over jacket. It has beautiful detail and cute flower buttons.
Green shirt.

Blue shell and matching jacket. I couldn't fit the matching capris. (to much weight gain!)

Quilted black jacket. It does have little white stitching you just can't see it in the picture.

My favorite! A light weight orange sweater.
See how good it matches my new jewlery.

And the orange shoes I got last year.
Here is a sideway picture of my with the orange shirt from last year with my new jacket and necklace.
Here are just a few of the price tags. I still can't believe that people really pay those prices for stuff!! I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful boss that cares about how we look. She knows that when you are dressed nice you feel good about yourself.

This year we got our makeup done and got to bring home some of the products. I love this foundation!
Yes, this year I had to go up a size or two thanks to some weight gain from my medicines. However it is a good thing I kept some of my other clothes. My niece Tyler had a school dance to go to and I loaned her my dress and jewlery.

Mom, can you believe how grown up she is??!
Sorry mom that it took me so long to get this post up. I love sharing all of my new treasures with you. Talk to you soon.

THE BEAUTY OF THE BEACH

2009-09-09T05:03:00.000-07:00

We took off for a trip to the beach. We had a flat tire on the way down and no spare. It was late but we were very fortunate to find that Sears stayed open late for the holiday weekend. We got towed in and thank to Dad for his credit card- he paid for the tires. However, this set us back and we arrived very late. Since this was the first time to the beach for Aaron and Austin, we had to head out to the ocean regardless of the time. This was about 10:30 when we arrived. Then we took off the grocery store around 12:00 midnight.

Most people were surprised by the fact that my two youngest have never been to the beach! They had so much fun. They were in awe of the massive expanse of the ocean. And Aaron learned that ocean water burns your eyes and tastes funny in your mouth! Hehe!It was so neat for me watching them for the first time in the water. It was such a special moment.

We had a very nice ocean front condo. See Aaron up there on our balcony?There he is!

We ordered in some pizza one night.
We had a fully stocked kitchen which was a great money saver.

We played put-put.

Aaron takes this very serious!

The pink castle and they had pink and purple golf balls.
Cave hole.

We spent a lot of time in the arcade. They won over 4000 tickets. Austin would have spent a fortune if I'd have let him.
Racing each other.

They rode the giant swing and Austin rode the mechanical bull. It was so funny.

We had such a wonderful time. Just me and the two youngest! I love just hanging out with them. To end on a funny note-- when we first got to the condo the boys were so excited about how nice it was (they don't get out much-lol). Aaron came in to the living room and said, "Wow, have you seen the master bathroom? It has this red light. It much be for romance or something". At first I said "Really, that is crazy." And then it hit me. I told him it must be a heat lamp! And boy did that thing heat up! Aaron is the smart one and so we teased him about this the whole time. It was so funny.

Mom and Dad- I hope you enjoyed the pictures and I will get some video clips up later. Thanks for helping us with the tire so we could have such a good time.

AUSTIN'S ROOM

2009-08-30T07:41:00.000-07:00

I went into Austin's room the other day and this is what I saw. I call this picture "Remnants of a Magician." This is what results from having a kid who is learning magic.
He cuts, glues and draws on cards for different tricks.

Well, he decided to organize his room. He does this all the time. His room is really never that messy. He found this cool hat :)
Here are just some of his card collection. You can't imagine how many decks of cards he has!
Here is his tornado wood. He found this when he was very small and he was very into 'the weather'. He thought this looked like a tornado. It was hard to capture in the picture but it really does.
He found his old Nascar shirt. I remember when we bought this for him it was so big. It hung down to his ankles but he still insisted on wearing it. Now look at him!
And his old Randy Moss jersey! LOL!
Does it make his muscles look big now??
And lastly look what he found in the bottom of his closet! This is the box his clock radio came in LAST Christmas. But when he opened it what was inside? Candy wrappers and an empty Chef Boyrdee can!!! Wow! How did that happen. I thought it was so funny because his room always looks clean. Who would have guessed what was lurking inside the closet?

I can't believe my baby is growing up. Just looking at some of his childhood treasures brings back those precious years. Now this year he started high school. Amazing.

$5.00 Pancakes

2009-08-24T03:28:00.000-07:00

The cheerleaders at Aaron's school were raising money for sweat suits. The local Applebee's allowed them the use of the restaurant to do a pancake breakfast. We got pancakes, bacon and a drink for 5 bucks. Here is Aaron and Austin waiting to eat.
OH, and here comes our cheerleader server now! It is my niece Tyler! Of course she had to pose for the picture. She is such a sweet girl and she is a real good cheerleader too.

I ordered a plate to go and took it to my co-worker since we had to work that Saturday morning. Here is Tyler again bringing it to me.

I am not sure how much they raised but I know that Ty sold 11 tickets so she earned her part!
GO BULLDOGS!

Im' not ready for this!

2009-08-19T04:42:00.000-07:00

Look who is off to the first day of school. Aaron is a senior this years and my sweet baby Austin starts high school. Can you see how happy he looks? LOL! I can't believe how the time has flown by. Seems like yesterday I was sending them both off to kindergarten. Now they are driving off on their own. See Aaron's car? This was his grandfathers Cadillac and the family all decided to give it to him.
He is even sporting his Miami U tag. Going to school in style they are :) I am so thankful that he has this car. It really helps me out as far as transporting them. Happy first day guys!!

I AM TOO OLD FOR THIS!!!

2009-08-08T17:30:00.000-07:00

At around 11 am Kasadie came over! I was finally going to get to babysit her. It is 8:30 pm and I am WORE OUT!! Problem is : She is spoiled rotten!!! Can't put her down! She will cry.
I tried to put her in the cradle that was mine and Sara's when we were little. I laid her down, grabbed the camera and got a quick shot before she started to cry again.

She is beautiful and very sweet, but I am exhausted!! God knew what he was doing when he gave me my children at a very young age. Kudos to all you older moms!! I couldn't do it again :)

AUSTINS BACK

2009-08-05T18:23:00.000-07:00

Here is Austin's back after day three.
And here it today.Sorry to gross anyone out. He just wanted to show Granny and Pappy. It feels like snake skin....oh yuk!

Enjoying the free hot tub!!

2009-08-02T10:53:00.000-07:00

Sara, Bridgette and Jeremy came over. I told Jeremy if he would cut a few trees for me that I would feed him steak. Bridgette and I made salads and we also had pizza. The men all had steak.
We hung out in the hot tub till late in the evening. Then went in to watch "Pretty in Pink"! Bridgette has never seen most of those 80s movies.
We made smores in the fire pit too.
Poor Austin got burned for the second week in a row. I keep telling him to use sunscreen!!
We have really been enjoying my 'new free' hot tub.

FREE STUFF! DON'T YOU LOVE FREE!

2009-07-25T06:14:00.001-07:00

So, my best friend Lynn gave me something for FREE! Now we have been busy working outside. We have been digging dirt. See the coal. We have lots of it in our dirt.Austin was clearing out some old junk behind the garage. He broke this old pink chair apart and made giant horseshoes. He and Aaron also made a jousting game from the rungs.Why were we digging all this dirt? To make a spot for our 'new' free hot tub!I didn't look very comforting to begin with.....but after much hard work, a lot of bleach, a lot a sweat we were ready to relax........ I tried to capture the ambiance of the lights at night. LOL! We still have more work to do before I show the completed thing, but we just couldn't wait to get in it.

And on a side note. Look what I saw in the mirror this morning. Gray hair!!!! Oh my!!! Can you see them??? Well, I can........YIKES!!!

WELCOME SARA TO THE WORLD OF BLOGGING!

2009-07-19T14:16:00.001-07:00

My sister has started a blog. She never seemed interested in this before but now that she has a new grand baby she is ready to join us bloggers! LOL! Honestly, it is so much easier for her to share her pics and things with my parents this way. Please stop by and say hey to her and while your there you can see all the pics of my great niece. Click HERE to visit Sara.

CHECK OUT THIS KID

2009-07-18T04:18:00.000-07:00

HEY MOM, THIS IS JUST FOR YOU!!

Remember this kid with all that hair?

Look at him now!!! Handsome guy- huh??

YARD HAPPNINS

2009-07-14T03:51:00.000-07:00

Look what has been going on in our back yard! We have had a group of 10 turkeys stopping by to visit on several occasions.
I have no idea where they are coming from.
This guy seems to be the leader. He always checks things out first before the others come tagging along behind.
I am not sure what they are looking for. Aaron said, "Good thing it's not turkey season or he might have to get his shotgun!"
Also we have had a stray cat that has taken up home in our backyard. We were soon to discover that she was pregnant. Last week she had 5 kittens. Sadly one of the black ones did not survive. But all the rest are doing well.
She did not have them in a very safe place and we kept trying to move them. Of course she just moved them back. Here they are on the porch inside my Christmas manger. She finally found a good spot in the cool dirt next to the garage. It was Aaron's idea to use the manger to give them some shelter. They are much happier in the dirt than in the box we used here. Oh, well. She is such a good mama.Hope you all are having some fun times in your backyards this summer.

HOLLY HEMBREE 2

2009-07-10T17:44:00.000-07:00

I found the following paper that my son wrote. He does not know that I have read this. It brings tears to my eyes each time I read it. I only wish that the boys could have the chance to have even more memories.

Off The Edge
By:Aaron Carey

I can still replay that dreadful day over and over in my head like a slow motion instant
replay. It was September 16th, 2008 and it began like any normal day. I woke up got ready for school and prepared myself for a day that I won't soon forget. School was going the same it usually does and as i reached the lunch room I take a seat at the table and began my meal. My cousin walks by letting me know she is on her way home but, not knowing why her mother was here to get her. I thought that was a little unusual so I began thinking what could be happening.
Then a girl comes out the office points to me and says, "Aaron they need you in the office." With a look of confusion and fear I grabbed my bag and walked slowly to the door. I saw my uncle was there also and at that point my heart sunk quicker then the Titanic because I knew something was out of order. My uncle grabbed my shoulder and said, "Aaron, your grandparents were in an accident" my face was filled with fear and shock as I looked over and my aunt and cousin both had tears flowing down their cheeks. As my lips trembled I asked, "What happened? Are they okay?" His eyes began to water up and he looks me in the eyes and says, "No, Aaron your grandparents were killed" my face turned blank and I was shaking and sweating.
The next thing I remember was leaving the school and as I walked to my car my knees
shook and my gut was tied in knots. It seemed as if everything was moving in slow motion as I approached my car. I opened the door and climbed in and then placed my head on the steering wheel as salty tears began to slowly drip down my face. I started up the car and drove to meet my family and as I pulled up I wiped away the tears so that I could stay mentally strong for everyone else because they dearly need it.

I remember all the years that we would gather with my grandparents for holidays or
Sunday dinners. I can still remember to this day the way things were at the Carey house. You
would knock on the door and hear the soft voice of an angel on earth as my grandma opened the door. The smell of food cooking always filled the air and after a hug and hello from grandma, you would walk down the hall and look in the living room as my grandpa sat in his favorite seat watching football. He would give you a firm handshake and catch you up on all the games going on in a minutes time. Then you walk back across the floors that moaned beneath your feet as you took a step back toward the kitchen. My grandma then fixes a plate of food, putting a small amount of vegetables to keep us healthy, and everyone would take their seat and the dinner would ensue.

I remember all the summers spent in their swimming pool and all the days spent on the
cement shooting basketball. My favorite summer was when I was ten and everyday summer day my grandma would pick up me, my youngest brother, and cousin. We would all head over and the first thing we would do is hurry downstairs to get dressed to go swimming. We would hurry to the pool jump in and the water was always as cold as the ice cream that my grandma would prepare us after lunch. We would swim for a couple hours as my grandma looked down on us from the kitchen window and she would just smile. Then when we finished she would make us all any lunch we wanted and ice cream atfer we gulped down our lunch. All of us would then go out in the front yard to play basketball on that old orange and white clemson basketball hoop.
Those days were the best days of my childhood by far.

I remember getting out of my car and walking to the house that I always knew as my
grandparents and slowly opened the door. The looks of fear in everyones face sent a sharp
piercing pain threw my heart. I walk up to my dad and he grabs me up and bear hugs me as tears flooded his eyes and he kept repeating, "It is not fair. It's just not fair." He let go and I walked to my grandpa's favorite chair and took a seat with a blank look on my face but inside the pain was overbearing. The next couple days as everyone mourned and cried, I sat with a blank stare but, a helping hand still for anyone who needed anything.

The funeral was a fuzzy memory as I sat in the church and my mind was replaying
memories and telling myself that this is all a bad dream. The moment I helped lift that coffin is
the moment I knew this was not a dream and even after lying down the coffin I still felt the
weight of the world pushing down on me. Nothing would ever be the same again.
It has been a couple months since my grandparents passing and things in my life have not
been looking up. All those emotions I bottled up during their passing, and other life events, began to come out in a weird fashion. It all led to me sitting in my room with an empty face and my music playing. I feel into depression and the pain was unreal and life was not going my way at all. As more things piled up the more depressed I became and even now I am still in a depressed state and trying to find a way to deal with all of this pain I am suffering. The death of my grandparents was the boiling point for all these emotions and it sent me off the edge.

Also I want to post this. So many of Holly's friends just keep saying over and over that Holly did not know that she hit anyone. She first said she thought she hit a curb and later maybe a telephone pole. This is the one part of the whole thing that I have the most difficult time with. I really do not comment on the local sites because I think it is best not to, but at this point I felt I had to say something. I wrote this- I just wanted to short and to the point but yet express what I really felt. I hope I accomplished that.
I am sorry but I really have to say something here. I really do not want to banter back and forth with people about this case but I just really have to say this because of all the things that bother me most -it is this fact that you are talking about here. Honestly, think about this. If you clip a car, the jolt of that in it self will alert you. Then to hit the curb and then hit two grown people....how can you NOT know. Honestly, how can you not know. I think the first jolt or second jolt would surely startle you enough to realize that the final 'bump' is that of two people. Those bushes over there are really small. I have been behind the wheel of a jeep liberty. There is just no way that she did not know. I am sorry, but no way.

HOLLY HEMBREE

2009-07-08T16:38:00.001-07:00

Holly Hembree- this name and this face will forever been ingrained in my mind. Even today I am still at such a great loss for words. I just can't express all the emotions that are churning in my head. This is the woman who has changed our lives forever. This is the mother, who on a Monday night should have been at home with her two young children instead of at the bar partying. This is the woman who hit a car and then ran up on a sidewalk and ran over two grown people and says she didn't know she hit anything. She has changed her story so many times.
Yesterday we went to court for her plea bargin. The state had agreed to drop the two charges of leaving the scene, which to me is just absurd. She LEFT THE SCENE. How can that part even be dropped? But they dropped it and charged her with two counts of reckless homicide. She will serve 7 years for the one death and will do 5 years probation for the second death. Most likely in this state she will only serve about 3 years of that sentence.
We were so shocked to hear her long- very long list of driving offences and accidents. I can't believe she could even afford car insurance. That fact that her bar tab showed she purchased 7 shots at 5:30 am and then killed them around an hour later did not seem to stir the judge. The judge said he sees stuff like this all the time. He said that this incident DID NOT warrant the maximum sentence!! Holly asked our family for a second chance! What second change did she give Bill and Ruth by leaving the scene? The bodies were not found for 45 min to an hour later and Ruth was still breathing. If she would have stayed who know if the outcome would be different. We are all just so upset by the injustice of this whole thing. What does this teach my boys? That you can be reckless and drive drunk and kill some one and maybe you can even get away with it with just a slap on the wrist. I know I am rambling.....I just can't get my thoughts organized right now......I am sorry.
You can click here or here or here to read some more of the local coverage. Even the news media got some of the facts wrong, but what do you do? You can also see that so many people in the community have posted comments and agree that justice was not served.
I can't think straight right now but I did want to update you all. Thanks so much for your thoughts and prayers.

Big Tuesday

2009-07-06T16:30:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is a big day for us for it is the day that they will sentence Holly Hembree. She is the girl that ran over and killed the boys' grandparents. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we hope justice WILL be served. I will update tomorrow. Thank you.

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY

2009-07-05T07:26:00.000-07:00

We had a great time for the fourth. First we grilled out at my house. Chicken, corn on the cob, baked potatoes, mac and cheese, rolls, cupcakes and icecream. Then we took off to downtown Easley to hit the antique stores and join in the festivities. Here we are eating boiled peanuts.
Here is nana with Kasdie in her little red white and blue dress.
Ice sculpture down town Easley.
Me, Sandy and three of the boys.
They had a beautiful fireworks display.

Hope you all had a wonderful July 4th celebration.

More Excitement at Work

2009-06-27T17:51:00.000-07:00

We have had some more excitement at work. Remember last time cameras were there we were shooting our first ever TV commercial. Well, this time guess who is behind the camera?
It is THE DISCOVERY CHANNEL! Yes, can you believe it!
Here is just a small portion of the story. We helped this woman, Jerry to purchase a large conversion van. She was is much need of the van to transport her son to school and such. Her son is a very large boy. Our owner cut the price for her and we bent a few rules but she was so grateful. Well, last month she learned that the Department of Social Services was planning on taking her son away from her because of his excessive weight. I guess that she panicked and took off on the run with him. Several days later she was captured many states away. She spent some time in jail but is now out and not only awaiting trail but getting a documentary done about her-hence The Discovery Channel. Here is the thing- there has NEVER been a case of a child being taken from his home because of his weight. I think it is such a gray area. I mean, half of the kids in Austin's school are overweight. Does that mean that all these kids need to be taken away? Then again, yes his health was at danger. The video team was asking our opinions and listened to some of us debate the issue. They got a good bit of video of me so maybe you will see me on tv soon. They were there on the day she came to pick her van back up. We had it towed back to our lot and held it for her for no charge. Here she was leaving in it. So, what is your opinion of this story??Ok, mom and just for you-- some more pics of your sweet great granddaughter.

INTRODUCING KASADIE MICHELLE MCJUNKINS

2009-06-21T17:36:00.000-07:00

JUNE 19th- 5:00 am- Bridgette goes to the hospital to have her labor induced. By this point she was a week over due and starting to feel very rundown. However, before they could induce her she started have good strong contractions on her own. She had been having some for several weeks but finally they were coming good. She did very well with the pain. I grabbed one shot of her trying to breathe thru the pain.

Finally, around 7:30 pm Kasadie Michelle Mcjunkins came into the world at 7lbs 2oz and 19 3/4 inches long. Bridgette did such a good job during labor and delivery with no problems. Here I am holding her.
Here is grandpa holding her. His eyes teared up every time he held her.

Looking at grandpa.
Great grandma got her turn. (Bridgette's grandma)

The other great grandma. (Jeremy's grandma)
Great grandpa (Jeremy's grandpa)
Grandpa gets her again with still more tears in his eyes.

Isn't she the sweetest thing?
She look a lot like her daddy but has her moms mouth.
My son Wes holding her.

Wes' girlfriend Samantha holding her
This seemed to be her favorite spot. On her daddy's chest.
Did he not get the best fathers day gift ever?
Me and Kasadie once again.

Of course my sister and I and our mom shed many tears because she could not be here to see her. They left town two weeks ago for another tent meeting. Her great grandma and grandpa will be back soon enough to see her. In the meantime- I am thankful for digital cameras and this great internet :) Enjoy the pics mom and dad :)

Too much going on here :(

2009-06-10T15:53:00.001-07:00

I have not been blogging much as things have been so busy here. We have extended hours at work during the summer. I am also committed to going to the gym daily and that takes up much time. My new meds are causing me to gain weight RAPIDLY and I am struggling with this issue greatly. We just found out that my husbands car will need a new engine and that is a financial burden that we can not deal with right now. We are also anxiously awaiting the arrival of my niece, Bridgette's baby. She is due on Friday the 12th but we were so hoping that she would arrive before tomorrow because my parents are leaving town tomorrow and will not be back for 6 months. Well, there is always tonight- hurry up Bridgette and go into labor! :)

I will be back to blogging again soon. I like to blog more when mom and dad are on the road that way they can keep up with all of our life events. I have been stopping by and reading all my dear friends blogs when I can. I hope to get back on track here soon.

Miss all of you :(

AUSTIN'S FIRST MAGIC SHOW

2009-05-30T18:22:00.000-07:00

Here is my little 'magic man'. See his new green cards?

He packed up all his tricks in a nice leather case and off we went...........

To Tabitha's birthday party. Tabby is one of my old daycare students and I have kept in touch with her and her family. I just love them. Anyway, Austin was about to do his first children's magic show.

He had his own little table set up and here he is doing the multiplying rabbit trick. One little girl asked to see this over and over. (sorry for the small pics don't know what happened)

Even the parents were fascinated.

At the end he did some big tricks in front of the whole group. He did the magic coloring book. See the big crayon. Then he took a piece of paper and made a huge flame out of it and then the flame turned into twenty dollars for the birthday girl.

He did such a good job and the kids talked about it for days. I am so proud of him because he is usually so quiet and shy but he really had the kids going after he warmed up. He has been so excited too because they have just opened a magic store in our town!

Here I am with Tabitha. Look how I matched her pinata! LOL! That was not planned.

Once again I will show the sketches from way back when he started doing card tricks. I just love these.
Air shuffle
Floating card

And here is a new thing from that web site. It is a 'museum' shot. This is one of many pics of Austin playing with a frame. Gotta love this crazy guy!

Happy Memorial Day

2009-05-26T04:07:00.000-07:00

I hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day celebration. We had a wonderful time with our family. We played 'redneck yard ball'! The "chubby team" beat that "skinny fit team" by a long shot!! LOL. My sister and I were so tired after the game. Here I am up at bat.

Bridgette gave up on the running bases part for fear the baby might come :) She took to pitching instead.My sister, Sara up at bat.

Austin was down and everyone was laughing at him. We did not realize that he was REALLY hurt. He twisted his ankle pretty bad.
Jeremy pitching.

Aaron up at bat.Lynn stopped by with my sweet baby Zack. Look how big he is getting.

He slept most of the time. He always does.
Dad prayed for our meal. We tried to get him to pray for the baby to hurry up and get here but he wouldn't. He said the baby will come when God knows it is ready too.

Food is ready.

Sara made these yummy brownies.
We are so thankful for all the troops that have given up their time, family and even lives to make our county what it is today. Our freedom comes at a high price and so often we forget that.

Happy Memorial Day

Small Treasures

2009-05-09T09:16:00.001-07:00

Once again Sandy had some residents move out and I got a bundle of little treasures. This is just some of my beauty items.

I got some great organic and all natural products like soaps, lotions, face creams. I got several bottles of perfume and a bunch of other misc stuff. I just love all these litte things. I would not generally go out and buy myself certain things, like these great little eye creams because they are pricey so to me these items are so fun to get. I put some of them in my extra jar. At Christmas our mechanics gave us chocolate truffles in these neat little jars. They are plastic but I hated to trow them away so I use them in the bathroom. Pretty cute-huh?

We also got a bunch of can goods, rice and other non perishable foods. Look at all the tuna! What a great blessing. Every little bit helps :)
And here is the best treasure of all. The man that gave Sandy this lamp told him that it is very old. I can not find any markings on it. It is so heavy.
I think this white piece is marble. Look at the fancy legs. My only problem is that I am not sure what kind of shade will go on this. It fits a regular bulb but the clip on shade that I have only fits on a small bulb. This lamp is really short and does not really look right with a large shade or a small one for that matter. Does any one have any suggestions on what would look good?
Thank for any tips and I will see what ya'll can help me come up with!

Who's old and outa shape?

2009-05-06T07:54:00.000-07:00

Saturday our church had a big basketball event. The boys team that Aaron plays on had a game against the parents.

The young boys thought they would just punish the 'old men', but they held their own. The game was close for a while. The boys did end up winning but it was so fun to watch. There is Sandy (in the blue) and Aaron passing each other on the court. Can't you just feel that tension? They also had a free throw contest, three point shoot out and agility skills. Aaron came close to winning the three point shoot out.Sandy trying out his skills.Even Austin took a shot at some of the competitions.

We had a great time and I am sure that the men were all sore the next day. They did get a little rough out there. Last night I noticed a huge raw place on Sandy's knee. I said, "What did you do?" He said, "Oh, that happened in the basketball game!" LOL!
Once again my pictures never turn out right inside of the gym. I have tried every option on my camera. Can't figure it out.

Hard at Work

2009-05-01T05:17:00.000-07:00

See the pile of dirt?See more piles of dirt?
And even more.

See boys and hubby hard at work?

Where is Aaron? Maybe being lazy.

The lower part of our yard and driveway get flooded when it rains a lot. It has been getting worse over the years. I had an opportunity to get some dirt that we were moving from the car lot, so we figured we could use it to fix the yard. Unfortunatley we do not have the finances to rent equipment to spread it out, so it will be done by hand. Hey, a little hard work is good for everyone! Aaron- where are you? Aaron???

Mom and Dad were over working on their trailer as well. They stripped the paint and got it ready for some new painting and lettering. They will be putting some Bible verses on it. I didn't get to see the fininshed design because they have headed off for some more meetings in Texas. Maybe they will send me some pictures. (hint hint mom).

Rubber Ducky Baby Shower

2009-04-28T13:53:00.000-07:00

Once again I hosted a baby shower. This time it was for my niece, Bridgette. See here......inside is Kasadie Michelle. Bridgette is 33 weeks. She is so tiny and looks so cute with her belly.

Welcome.... Sign the registry, guess how many duck candies are in the jar, and put change that equals your age in the duck bank.
Come get some great food.
Look at all the tiny details that Sara took care of. Duck ribbon woven in the basket full of duck shaped sandwiches.
Bridgette with her duck/sock 'flower' corsage.
If you are thirsty get some duckie ice cubes!

To go with your punch. We put blue punch in a tub like bowl. The duck next to it floats in the punch and squirts it out of his head as he quacks. Too cute!

Once again, Austin was working hard on the cake. Gotta love this guy. Click here to see his last baby shower cake (if you missed it).
Cute cake! The large duck is made from rice krispy treats.
Here is Bridgette waiting to open all those gifts.

Her theme is jungle animals. Here she got her lamp.

Here was a very special gift that Aunt Pat sent. A hand made afghan from her dear friend, Sonya. Bridgette was so happy.

Darling little clothes.

Time for some games. Lets guess how big mom's belly is. Here is one of the soon to be great grannys guessing.

And here is the other soon to be great grandma guessing.

Here is Bridgette with her mom, Sara. Sara helped out so much with all the detail and I could not have pulled it off without her.

On your way out, don't forget you party favor. Have a bottle or rattle full of candy. So sweet! By the way there were 553 duck candies in the jar.

Of course my sweet baby Zack was there. He is growing so fast already. Thanks for stopping by our baby shower. We can not wait till little Kasadie arrives!

Where have I been?? Road trip!!

2009-04-12T11:28:00.000-07:00

Hey all! We have been on a road trip!

We took off last week for a short road trip. Aaron, Austin and I jumped in the car early one morning around 4 am and headed out. Our plan was to go to New Jersey first. We got to go thru Washington DC. We missed our turn and got lost for a while. Being that I was so involved in the map and trying to get us going in the right direction, I did not get any pictures of the White House but the boys did get to see it. Our plan was to go right by the Pentagon but that didn't happen either. We did however see these cool houses in the downtown DC area. I love the way they are all painted a different color.
What a great way to show originality. Later as we came in to MD we came to our exit for the Harbor Freight Bridge. I had been told about the underwater tunnel bridge in MD and I was not sure if this was the one or not. As we started to go under I started to panic a little. My heart was racing, I was sweating and feeling hot. Aaron was laughing at me and kept telling me that we were not under water. Austin was rubbing the back of my neck telling me to calm down. I could see the water dripping down these tile walls. Finally I could see light at the end of the tunnel and then I was ok. We were only on it for a few minutes and this was not even the long underwater bridge that I was so worried about! Thankfully I did not need to go on that one.

As the sun was going down we reached our first destination....Six Flags NJ! This is the ride that Austin so badly wanted to ride.

King Da Ka.

This thing is just amazing to watch. It shoots you off at around 120 miles per hour then twists you to the top and back down again. This is the tallest one around. Here is my view from the top of the Ferris Wheel. That is about as brave as I get!Another coaster.There is Aaron on the end second row from the back.That is Aaron and Austin in the back left. This ride would have made me puke :(Wow, I braved the carosel! Dancing in the park with the Looney Tunes.There is also a zoo at the park and you can take a safari ride. Here is one of the tigers.After we left NJ we headed over to PA. I stopped in to visit with two of my aunts. Here I am chatting with my great aunt Margaret. I didn't get a picture of my Aunt Pat. We spent the night with her and she took us out to eat. I just love these two women!Here is a veiw from my little town. You can see the city of Harrisburg across the river. It is so pretty at night. The main reason that I have not been blogging much is because I have become a little addicted to Facebook. I have reconnected with all of the kids that I went to elementary and middle school with. I went to a small private school so our classes were very small and close knit. It has been so great to be back in touch with all of them. Some of us decided to get together for a night out since I was in the PA area. We had a blast!
It is so amazing that everyone looks just the same. Well, except for Sean's gray hair! LOL!

The next day we took a trip over to Lancaster to visit the Amish country. See the buggy crossing sign? It was raining just like the last time we went there. But we still got to see many horse and buggies. I know that the Amish do not like their pictures taken so I try to be respectful of that. This farm had a line full of laundry hanging out. It would have been a great shot except for the rain on my window :(Amish farm.More farms and houses.One of the stores.Horses everywhere.I hate that we were not able to see all the children playing outside. They are so cute in their dresses and hats.Aaron in the back seat wondering what my fascination with the Amish is. He was a little upset that I would drive more than an hour just to get some whoopie pies. Well Aaron, they are worth it! YUM! Yes they are!We ate at a place called Plain and Fancy- from farm to table. The food was so good. I got some chicken corn chowder. Austin got this huge roast beef sandwich smothered in gravy. He had fresh green beans and mashed potatoes. Aaron got a chicken sandwich. It took a very long time to get our meal and the boys were wondering if they were out back cutting off the chickens head! We picked up some special treats like these whoopie pies and shoefly pie.I also got this HUGE non-parrell. Snow caps are my favorite movie snack so I just could not resist this large version. I also got these great cookie jars. We then went to The Lollipop Shop. They had all kinds of great candy and so many varieties of gummies. We found gummy eggs......
gummy army men....... some really neat stuff.Later that day we went over to Hershey to tour the chocolate factory. No matter how many times you go it is always still just fascinating.

The story of Milton Hershey and the beginnings of his company are so neat. This man really took care of the people that worked for him and even built the town so they could all live close to the factory. I wonder what he would think now about them sending all the work out of our country? :(

When he died he gave millions of dollars to build the medical and teaching hospital. He was also involved greatly with the orphanages. (He and his wife were never able to have children).

Here are the cocoa beans coming into the factory.Then the beans get sorted.And roasted. Ahh, nice and warm in there.The chocolate gets conched. The milk gets added.Mixing the chocolate. Can I swim in that???Here are all the little kisses.Look at these giant pieces of chocolate! Yum! Molding the bars.Hershey make more product than you could imagine, including Bubble Yum.
This one is my very favorite. Gotta love those cows for giving all that good milk!
Bye bye Hershey! We are headed home. I see the Virginia mountains in the distance.

Billy was glad to see us. I think only because we brought back some Martins chips! Look at him. One empty bag beside him and already eating the next one.Oh and by the way-----GO TARHEELS!! YEAH!!!!

First Signs of Spring and.............Charter??

2009-04-01T04:45:00.000-07:00

Finally, spring is coming. My tulips have bloomed and signs of spring are everywhere, included all the rain. We have had so much rain that most people are just getting tired of it. But we know that we need it so we will just deal with it.
We had some excitement in the office yesterday. See those bright lights?
And see the camera?
There is Dixie, the company dog, waiting for her five minutes of fame.
Charter was there and we were shooting our first commercial ever. It was so much fun and we can't wait to see how it turns out. I had a doctors appointment so I missed out on much of the excitement but we really had a good time.
I will try and post a clip of the commercial when it comes out. Hope everyone is doing well. I know I have been missing from blogland a lot. I will check in with you all very soon!

HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY TO AARON

2009-03-15T04:59:00.000-07:00

Austin and I were trying to figure out a creative way to give a car as a gift but couldn't come up with anything creative. So I put the key to the car on the end of a chain and put it in a jewelry box. Aaron does not wear any kind of jewelry as you can tell by the video. The key to the car looks like a small master lock key, so that confused him even more. Aaron loves cars and has been talking about getting a Dodge Charger. You can hear me in the end talking about that. ( sorry, video is having problem uploading)
Well, he got the 1963 Ford Fairlane that he has been looking at for some time.

It is in pretty good shape. It even has these original Ford wheels. Aren't they cool? We do have some interior work to do on it. This will be a great project for him and Sandy to do together. Listen to how mean it sounds! :)

NEVER ENDING SUNDAY

2009-03-05T11:11:00.000-08:00

Sunday started out being a very busy day. Austin and I had to be at church early for the Creative Team Ministries. Little did I know that I will still be going strong way after midnight.

See the clock? It is after 11pm and 32 degree's outside. Hmm... that sounds cold enough for .......

SNOW!! ! Yes, we FINALLY got some snow here in the south. And we got a good bit. Several inches. When I got home after 11 pm I found Billy and Austin outside making this huge snowman. So, where was I all day????????????????
Waiting, waiting for Lynn's sweet pea to be born! Yep, we just had the shower on Saturday and Sunday she walked into Lowe's and her water broke! She was 5 weeks early so we were all a little concerned. Here is the sweet little Zachary Hunter weighing in at 5lbs 12 oz.
He is just as small as his teddy bear.

Here I am with him. I just could not put him down.

Here he is with mom. Dad is in the background. Dad wanted to name him "Redneck"! LOL! That did not go over with everyone very well. It did take several days for them to pick a name.

The sweet little guy had to stay a few extra days and just finally got to go home today. He was having some trouble eating, and then had to go under the light, and then his temperature dropped. But he is doing good now and is home safe!

Isn't he the cutest little thing you have ever seen? I just cannot believe that she went into labor on the one day that it snows. Snow is a rare thing and I LOVE playing out with the boys in it, but this is also a once in a lifetime event and I wanted to be there. Thankfully the boys were still outside when I got home late.

Here are some great shots I got of the boys playing in the snow. Here Billy is throwing a huge snow ball at Austin.

And another huge one!

But Austin got to get him too! Look at Billy's face. Too funny!

Here they are trying to throw the big balls that they made the snowman with.

Billy was trying to kick it down. It looks like he is dancing.

Austin tumbled down along with the snowman.

Kicking the snowman down.

So where was Wes? Bundled up inside on the couch. (I had the night shot on because it was dark so the flash killed his eyes)

The boys working late that night on the snowman.

Trees at the hospital.

Sweet baby boy!!!

Sorry my pics got all out of order, but blogger is acting crazy and will not let me move them around!
It is hard to believe it is almost Friday. We have had such an eventful past week. Have a great weekend all!

SWEET PEA BABY SHOWER

2009-03-01T05:04:00.000-08:00

Saturday was the big day for Lynn's baby shower. I have been so excited since finding out she was pregnant. Like I have said before- she deserves this baby more than anyone I personally know. I of course wanted to host the baby shower. We do not and will not know if the baby is a boy or a girl until it arrives. So we needed a neutral theme. I found these adorable sweet pea items on the internet. Everything was based around this darling little sweet pea.The most difficult thing was finding the appropriate cake or cupcake. I had a local bakery attempt to make me what I was wanting. I was horrified when I saw the first cupcake they made. It looked like either an old wrinkled man or an elf. I asked them to please try again.They used marzipan the second time and it was cute. But they wanted 4 dollars per cupcake. I thought that was way to expensive............So......................
Look who ended up with making the cake. My sweet little Austin! We made homemade fondant and he got busy 'sculpting'.He worked so hard on this and was up very late and up again early Sat. morning. I had a local grocery store make a plain white sheet cake and left the rest up to Austin.
Here is the final cake! I was not very happy with the way the store did not smooth the white icing. I have this huge cake anxiety thing about everything being perfect- this is one reason I do not make them for people any more. I get way to stressed out doing it! So Austin took over and look at what a fabulous job he did. Isn't it just adorable???
He even made little pea pods to go around the sides.

We had so much food. My sister worked so hard on cutting fruit and veggies and slicing bread while I was at work that morning. Very professional job she did.
The amount of gifts where overwhelming! She got so many things that were greatly needed.

We played a baby trivia game. See everyone concentrating hard on the questions.

Then we passed around a roll of caution tape and everyone had to cut off the amount that they thought would fit around her belly.
It was much harder than you would think. See how long the tape looks that he is cutting? You would be amazed that when you wrap it around it really is not that far off.
Here is Lynn with her mom. Her mom cut WAY to much! I think she overshot more than anyone.
Here is my mom and Lynn. Mom went the other way and made it too small.
Hannah, Lynn's little niece got it right on the money!
Here is more of the gifts.
Sweet little ducky. See the pea pod ballon. Took me forever to find those.
My sister and mom made this cute gift. Inside was a trash can with all sorts of stuff in it. See the nice basket behind too? It was loaded with goodies.
Cute baby balloon.
Here is a jar full of sweet pea pods. We played guess how many peas in the jar. We played other games but I did not get any pics.
We had the party at Sandy's club house at the apartments where he works. Hannah helped us clean up after it was over. She is so sweet. She looks exactly like Lynn did at that age.
Here is Sandy taking out all the trash for me. He was such a trooper. He stayed on the side lines the whole time although there was one guy there and two younger boys.
Here is mom's big belly. Don't you love that sweet pea crosage?
Thanks Lynn for making me look so skinny in this pic!! Just kiddding!
We had a wonderful time. Lynn and I have been friend since she was about 6. I am way older than her but we have always gotten along just like we are the same age.
What a great friend she has always been to me! I love you Lynn!

GOING SHOE SHOPPING AND TO THE BEAUTY SALON

2009-02-23T03:19:00.000-08:00

Once again, all of us girls at work got to go shopping. This time it was for shoes. I LOVE shoes and did not have a problem finding many shoes that I liked. We had so much fun and of course when you are not paying it is even more fun! I ended up with 7 pairs. These on the right are navy blue.
Love that bright orange and red.
Oh my! Aigner shoes! I have never had any name brands like that! Louanne got some Aigner too.Earlier this week we all also went to this nice salon to get our hair done.
It looked a little bit like a doctors office from the outside. Inside each stylist had there own room. It was really pretty inside, but I did not get any pictures.
The sun was in my eyes here but this is after my hair cut. The question is????????? LIGHT OR........

DARK???????????????

CELEBRATION

2009-02-20T04:25:00.000-08:00

Our company went out to eat at Kanpai of Tokyo. We were celebrating the fact the Jeanne got a divorce! Trust me - this is a good thing-very good. We had so much fun. They cook on a huge grill at your table. Our chef was very good and also funny. Here he is flipping eggs around. Here he was trying to throw shrimp into Jeanne's mouth!
He made a little onion volcano and lit it on fire and then 'lava' started coming out.
Here is the big flame!

Here is our chef and the chef that was working on the table beside us. They were so much fun!
That is the owner of my company at the end in the white shirt. The bald guy is Dennis. He was joking that he lost his hair the last time they ate here (from the flames! LOL)
There is Jeanne in the green. She was so happy. That is Louanne behind her.

Here I am with my sweet hubby Sandy. Ok, no he was not drinking!! Most of my pics from that night made everyones eyes look funny. Maybe it was just cuz we were all laughing so much!

Here are Jeanne and I outside after we were done eating. It was so windy and we could not get a good picture. Oh well- we had a blast!

One on One with Billy

2009-02-16T04:00:00.000-08:00

I took Billy out to Applebee's yesterday afternoon. We had a really good time together. We talked about his job, his future, and many other things. After we stuffed ourselves we both ordered a huge desert. Here he is trying out the new chocolate cookie sundae. Yumm! It was really great to just hang out with him alone.
Also an update on my car. Of course you know my other car was a total loss. Well, the insurance company paid my entire balance that I still owed to the car lot and I had $1700 dollars left. I went to talk to the owner of my company and told him that I really wanted to get something cheaper for the time being. We are trying to get our finances on track and my other car payment was a bit much. So he surprised me when he said I could buy this 2001 Buick for $1600 cash! I could not turn that down. The car is so nice with leather interior. It may not be exactly what I want but I am so happy that I have no car payments right now. What a blessing.

Just Funny!

2009-02-08T15:04:00.001-08:00

Last weekend Mom and Dad stopped by for a short visit. As I have stated before in my posting, my mom LOVES housework. So how happy was she that I was doing laundry. She loves to fold towels. When I opened the linen closest she said excitedly, Oh, can I straighten all the stuff out in here. See how nice a neat she folded everything................
Later that night as I finished the last load of towels, I folded them and placed them in the closet. And then I started laughing....................... Can you tell which towels I folded?! LOL.

I just love my Mom! :)