Fall Into Reading- Sailing to Capri

I just finished reading Sailing to Capri by Elizabeth Adler and thought I would review it for the Fall into Reading over at Caddapiller Days. This was an impulse by at the store the other day. I was looking for a quick and easy read and this one totally fit the bill.

The story is about how a wealthy English tycoon dies mysteriously but leaves a list of six people who could have had something to do with his murder. He has hired a P.I., Harry Montana, to investigate it along with his dear friend and assistant Daisy Kean. They are instructed to get the six people on board a luxurious yacht and go on a cruise off the coast of Italy. There they will waiting for the real killer to make himself known somehow. Along the way both Harry and Daisy start to fall for each other. The real killer is naturally found out at the end and it proves to be quite the surprise.

While this is what I consider to be more of a light and easy read, I enjoyed it. The romance part of it didn't get so detailed as to make you think it was actually a true romance. But at the same time the mystery/suspense details didn't get so detailed that you were afraid to stop reading. It was a good combination for both. If your looking for a relaxing book with lots of great details for you to imagine the lavish lifestyle, then this would be a great choice.

Circus Time

Hubs and I took the kids to the Shriner Circus last night. We packed the kids into the van and left for our forty-five minute drive of torture to Ft. Worth. Four kids in the van that long, knowing they are going to the circus, well I think my husband and I deserve medals for having patience on that drive. They were bouncing off the windows to say the least. But, I must admit we big kids were pretty excited about it also.

So we get to the venue an hour before it starts. Where we find out it's open seating. So now we are faced with the dilemma of do we continue on our original plan and go grab a bite to eat before the circus at a restaurant. Or do we go get super good seats and let the kids play on the bounce houses, pony rides, etc. and spend a million dollars on bad food. So for once in my life, I was wishing we could go to MacDonald's at the very least. But the kids begged and pleaded (which honestly didn't take much convincing for dad) and went inside to spend way to much money. I must say we were warned however. The old man in the ticket box told my husband flat out, "Oh, there is all kinds of crap in there for you to spend your money on." And I must say, he was right.

We spent forty dollars on 3 boxes of popcorn, 3 cokes, 2 orders of nachos and 2 day old "fresh pretzels". Oh how I was missing MacDonald's about now. But we did get great seats and the kids got to go down and bounce on the bounce houses and ride some of the rides. We were also lucky enough to spend way to much money on cotton candy and plastic light up toys.

But the circus itself was great. The acts were a lot of fun for the kids and us. I truly don't know what people are thinking when I see some of the stunts that they do. The clowns were cute and did a great job making the kids laugh. It wasn't the big Barnum and Bailey Circus I had seen before, but I thought it was actually a bit better than that one. And to top it all off, they stuck someone into the human cannonball and shot him out of it. The kids really liked that. And they keep going back and forth about what was their favorite act. So they enjoyed themselves and so did mom and dad. It was a great family night out, even with the day old "fresh pretzels".

Photo Hunt

This weeks theme is flexible. I was trying to think of some of the everyday things we use that are flexible. What I came up with was some of the Bungee Cords that my Hubs keeps in his garage. The kids will pull these out and attach all sorts of things to the back of their bikes or Power Wheels trucks. They stretch them out pretty far but they always go back to normal. Pretty great invention if I say so myself.

Then as I was going through some of my old photos I came across this one of fire hoses folded neatly in the firetruck. I think they are pretty flexible considering the extreme amount of water pressure flowing through them. After they are all done they fold up so nice and neat.


For other views on this week's theme visit TNCHICK.com or PhotoHunt

Little Miss Independent

I have a very independent three year old. K. is the type of child that once she makes up her mind, then there is no going back. It was a great trait when it came time to potty training. She decided that she didn't want to wear pull ups anymore and that was that. She was done and only wore big girl panties after that.

K. has now decided it's time to be a big girl again. She went to bed Wednesday night telling me that she wanted me to take off the training wheels on her bike. I said okay we will try it out tomorrow and put them back on if you want. She just informed me that no she wouldn't need them anymore. So yesterday she reminded me that I needed to take off the little wheels on her bike. I took them off and then we began to work on riding her bike like a big girl. She had a few spills but never cried or got upset. She finally figured it out after about twenty minutes and was riding on her own after that. She still doesn't have the starting or stopping down yet (which is why my back is so sore today). But she said she'd learn that today along with the turns. Yes, my three and a half year old is very independent. Hopefully today I will be able to actually get some pictures of her riding on her own.

Just one more milestone to remind me how fast my children are growing up.

I've had it up to ear today

I know I am a dork using the whole here and ear wordplay. But I really have had it up to ear today. Hoss woke up with a bad ear infection which meant another trip to the Dr. But as I'm getting dressed, Baby A. comes up to me mad cause her new earring (as of last week that is) has been pulled out. By K. no less. So then I had to strip the bed (the one I just changed the sheets on) in order to find the missing earring and couldn't. So I give up and find another earring to put in her ear. Naturally it is a different size gold ball but it's all I had. Once I get it in I find the missing earring. No big deal I think, I will just take the small one out. But no matter how much I try, I can't get the darn thing off. And since I didn't want to mess with her ear anymore than necessary, I leave Baby A. with a mismatched set of earrings. For the time being. Maybe I should just let K. take this one out for me. Oh wait, I haven't remade the bed yet, better do that first so I can tear it apart again looking for the earring. Yep, I've had it up to ear the ears today.

Ah how we have fallen back

I must say that the fall back time change has been a good thing for us. The reason is simple, it's easier on the kids. My oldest son can now ride his bike to school in bright sunlight versus the sunrise. Which is a great thing as far as safety goes.

But the really important good change for us is at night. It has been so great that it gets dark earlier. We get the kids inside at an earlier time. We eat dinner at an earlier time. The kids get bathed earlier. And the best part...drumroll please.... the kids go to better earlier. Which means that there is more adult time. Yes, I can honestly say that I'm very glad that we have fallen back this week.

Wordless Wednesday

Another beautiful fall rose.

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Is It a Bad Thing if..

instead of just washing and changing the sheets and towels on your beds you just run to Target and buy some new ones? It really kind of defeats the purpose since I am so freaked out about unwashed brand new things that I won't be able to use them until they are washed. But once I finally do get around to finally washing them, then I'll be able to enjoy them. Now I just need to find some new laundry hampers for the kids rooms and new bathroom trash cans.

Just one more way to avoid doing laundry.

Looky What I'm Learning

I'm finally trying to figure out all this photo editing stuff that everyone else seems to know how to do. I'm a bit of a slow learner since if it involves using the computer I will let Hubs figure it out and then explain it to me. That way I don't have to strain my brain or anything serious like that. This is also why my cool digital photo picture frame is still not on my mantle. Maybe I'll tackle that one next. Then again maybe I'll just pay better attention next time he tells me how to do it. But anyways I digress once again. Photo editing... my pictures... oh yeah.

Here is a picture I took this past summer of one of my Purslane flowers. It's a very pretty hot pink which I love.

But I'd wanted to get just the flower part and nothing else. So I spent some time finally playing around. I realized that I could trim the picture. Wow.. what a concept. So I trimmed. Then I added a bit of color saturation. Then I realized I could put text on the pictures. So I did, not that I'm a professional of any sort mind you. But since I figured out how to do it then by gosh I was going to. So now this is the end result.

Tell me what do you think? Are you completely shocked and awed that I am even excited about this bit of photo editing that any third grader can probably do. I mean it really is pretty easy stuff and I don't know why I haven't done it before. And I'm really not sure why I'm so excited about finally doing it now, but I am. Anyways, if nothing else, it gives me another chance to look at my pretty purslane flower this winter.

Announcing the Winner

Wow, I had close to two hundred entrants. That's just way to fun.

The winner of my earring and necklace set is

Laurel Wreath over at laurelwreathsreflections

I will be trying to contact you soon to figure out the details of shipping it to you.

Thanks to the rest of you for playing.

Photo Hunters

This weeks theme is classic.

The first thing that came to my mind was our friend Janne who came to the US from Finland and wanted to buy himself an old Cadillac. He would be able to restore this classic car and then take it back to Finland where he would be able to enter it in the American Classic Cars Competition over there. He found one while he was here and he spent many hours restoring his "classic baby". Here is an old Buick that belonged to another friend of ours.



During our time we lived there we went to a couple of car shows. For my husband and I, it was just cool to see the old cars. But for the Finns that we saw at the car shows, it was more than just cool. They were really impressed by them. This is because it's harder for them to get them over there anymore due to regulations required of a classic car. Here are a couple of pictures of the "classic" cars we saw while we were living in Finland.





We even saw some classic foreign model cars (these were of more interest to my husband and I then the American ones).



We also saw some classic tractors (who knew people actually cared enough about tractors to put them in a car show).


And some classic steam engines.


So there you have it, many examples of classic machinery. Hope you liked it.

For other views on this week's theme visit TNCHICK.com or PhotoHunt

Wordless Wednesday

Warning: Sitting to close to the TV may cause your eyes to bulge out.

For other WW click here or else you can click here .

Fall Y'all Giveaway

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. I WILL PICK A WINNER LATER ON TODAY AND POST IT. THANKS FOR PLAYING.


Like I've mentioned the Fall Giveaway is in full swing. I've entered lots of them so far and have been thinking of what I can add to the list.

I have finally decided on a necklace and pierced earring set. This set has some pretty lavender stones in a silver setting and chain. So if you like it then let me know.


I will leave this giveaway open until Nov. 2 and will chose a winner after that. This giveaway is open to anyone. I feel bad that so many of the international people are being left out, so enter away. Just leave me a comment (one per person) and be sure to leave me a way to get in touch with you either through your blog or email.

Head on over here to see what other giveaways are going on.

Planting time

It's that time again. Time to get ready to plant the flowers for fall and winter. And while the Vinca is still full and pretty, it was starting to show some signs of yellowing around the leaves. They just don't do as well once the cooler weather starts. So yesterday I had my sweet husband do the dirty work of pulling them up. He was very opposed to this since he thinks along the lines of "leave them in until they die completely". But he did it anyway. So this afternoon I had the help of K. and Hoss and we just finished planting two flats of pansies. They were also way to much help with it came to watering them. This is their favorite part of helping mommy's flowers. They are now in the ground and will have plenty of time to get established before the first real frost comes to our area.

Now all I have to do is replant two flats of my pinks (or dianthus) that my husband so kindly killed with weed poison at the end of the summer. I'm still not sure how he confused these pretty flowers for weeds but that's another story I guess. These are in the back yard so it's easier to plant them. The kids tend to wander off and play in the back, instead of helping me plant. These too should have plenty of time to get established before they die off for the winter. They will come back in early spring and surprise me with their pretty colors once again.

I'm still considering planting some bulbs also but haven't decided on which ones. It will probably be the daffodils since they do really well in this area. I always love seeing them in other yards and think it's time I enjoyed them in my own.

Fall Y'all Giveaways

The Fall Y'all giveaway is in full swing. So head on over here to see all the free goodies people are giving away. It looks like a long week for the fingers.

Fall Into Reading- Code Talkers

I decided that I would go ahead participate in Katrina's Fall into Reading over at Callapidder Days. I don't have an actual list created of what books I'm working on yet but thought I'd at least review the ones I finish.

I just finished Code Talkers by Joseph Bruchac. It is a novel about the Navajo Indians during WWII and how they created an unbreakable code. Since I've always been interested in history, this topic caught my attention. I had heard about them before but didn't really know much about them. While it is a work of fiction, the historical facts in the book are completely true. The details were not so great that I actually got bogged down, which is quite possible when your talking about war battles.

The story begins with a man telling his grandchildren about what his war medal is and what it took to earn it. The main protagonist is sixteen year old Ned Begay who was forced to go to a boarding school as a young child in order to learn how to become more "Americanized". He and the other Navajo children are forced to speak English only and not speak their native Navajo language. They are constantly reminded about how worthless it is to just be an Indian during this time.

When the war breaks out Ned is able to lie about his age in order to join the Marines and thus become part of a select group of Navajos who are fluent in both English and their native language Navajo. These men create their own code to be used during the war out of common words that are assigned to military terms. They then go on to train new men and add to this unbreakable code every few months. These men had to commit to memory everything they were learning and were sworn to secrecy. They were never aloud to speak of this code existence until 1969, almost twenty five years after the war ended.

The Code Talkers were vital to the many battles that were fought in the South Pacific and saved countless lives in the process. They helped to take back the islands of Guam, Okinawa and of course Iwo Jima. They were highly valued because of their ability to pass on information so quickly. Their fellow Marines and soldiers held them in very high esteem because of this fact until the war ended.

This story ends as Ned returns back to reservation after the war only to realize that he is once again considered a second class citizen because he is an Indian. All the pride that these code talkers had at being able to use their native language to help serve their country was sworn to secrecy. No one had any idea of the service they had performed.

While there are alot of details in this novel about war, you are primarily drawn to Ned's character and his emotions he felt during his life. He is a very likable character and you can't help but share his pain and joy. This is truly a story about hope and tolerance and how we should learn to just accept people and their differences instead of trying to wipe them out.

Photo Hunters

This weeks theme is pink.

With two girls I have plenty of pink to chose from. Especially when my oldest loves to wear the color pink. So I decided to use a photo of my daughter dressed in pink. But why stop there, we have somehow been given three pink big wheels of varying sizes. In this picture you will see my oldest daughter playing eenie meanie miney mow to decide which pink big wheel she wants to ride on. Meanwhile her older brother is patiently (or maybe not) waiting for her to make up her "pinkin'" mind. Somedays it's just so hard to be a boy in this house.


So that's my choice for this week. For other photo hunters visit TNCHICK.com or click PhotoHunt

Happy Birthday to Me...

Happy Birthday to me. Happy Birthday to me, so bring on the well wishes...I'm a hundred and three.

No really, I am not a hundred and three..yet. But my brother seems to think so judging by the card with the grim reaper on it. Some people just need to be reminded that they are older than you. Sorry to toot my own birthday horn but if I don't then no one will ever even notice. And I certainly can't have that, that would be very depressing. So save me from the depression of getting older and realizing that I now have to bake my own cake, since mom isn't close enough to do it.

Maybe if I'm lucky, I'll get a night off from the kitchen. And in case your wondering (or if your my husband who can never seem to remember my exact age) I am thirty five again this year. I liked it so much last year I thought I'd do it again.

Wordless Wednesday

Her first taste of dried corn.

For other WW visit Five Minutes for Mom

Because Once is Never Enough

I took the girls to the Pumpkin Patch this morning with our playgroup from church. It traditionally is a very hot and sunny day when we go on this outing. Today broke with tradition and the girls actually needed to wear sweaters. So for once it felt like fall at the Pumpkin Patch. The only bad thing about the weather was the strong wind. But the girls didn't seem to notice it much until it was time for our picnic. They enjoyed playing with the pumpkins or as A. likes to call them the balls. I had a horrible time getting them to emerge from the bounce house and only succeeded when K. had to go to the bathroom and of course they enjoyed their hayride.


It really surprised me that they weren't a bit more bored with the whole pumpkin scene since we went as a family on Saturday to another Pumpkin Patch where they got to ride a train. But of course they just take it all in stride and assume that everyday will be a visit to the Pumpkin Patch from now on. In all honesty I think I now have enough pumpkins in my front yard to be officially declared a pumpkin patch. Since we always let the kids pick one small pumpkin I think we are now at about ten pumpkins. They are all of various sizes, shapes and condition. Some of the smallest of them have been used as a bowling ball a few times so they really are showing their wear and tear. But what else am I going to do with all these pumpkins? Anyway the children always have fun and by the time next year rolls around I will have forgotten all about the wind and will be ready to do it all again.

Halloween Treat

I received a Halloween treat from Hootin' Annie this week. For no other reason than I happened to visit her blog and leave her a comment. She is passing out treats at random to bloggers that she doesn't know until the end of the month. She is hoping to have her treat passed on to other bloggers that we don't normally comment on or really know. So in keeping with her idea that is what I am going to do. For more info on how this works just visit Hootin' Annie. You can join in the fun at any time if you like.

I am going to pass this on to A Marathon Leap. I have been reading her blog about training for the Chicago Marathon but never left any comments. Initially, I was just drawn to what kind of person actually decided to do this sort of training and how intense the training schedule would be. But then she started to post pictures of the most divine looking cupcakes along with her training and so I was hooked and I continued to read. I was really disappointed for her when the Chicago Marathon was cancelled due to the heat before she was able to finish. But she has now signed up for a new marathon later in the year in Las Vegas just so she can reach her goal of completely a 26 mile marathon. Such dedication and drive to reach her goal deserve a Halloween treat.

So thanks to Hootin' Annie for the treat and I hope that A Marathon Leap enjoys her Halloween treat.

Hitter of the Month

Z. loves to play baseball as I'm sure the few of you that know me in real life know. Well he is actually pretty good (in my opinion anyways). But now he has been awarded the Hitter of the Month at the Baseball Academy that he goes to. Just another way for me to brag on my boy, I know. So just bear with me and grin and bear it. The month will soon be over.

Photo Hunters

This weeks theme is practical. It took me a while to think of something that is practical to me in my everyday life. I finally decided on what to chose while I was brushing my daughters hair. She has long hair and for her and me it is very practical to keep it in braids or ponytails as long as it is pulled back. Here's a picture of her with her hair down and long (kind of like Rapunzel I think).




Now here is a much more practical hair style for a very busy little girl. Now I know I am totally biased here but I think she looks lovely either way.

But if your looking for something a bit more masculine than talks of practical hair styles then perhaps this next picture will interest you. It is a picture of the "Jaws of Life" tool that will cut you free from a crushed car if you should ever have the need. Very practical indeed. Although I really was expecting some much larger than this. I mean you hear so much about them I truly thought they would be bigger.
Regardless, there is nothing like a big macho tool like that to make the men feel better about having to look at my daughter's golden locks. Hope you like my take on this weeks practical theme.

For other Photo Hunters visit TNChick.com or click PhotoHunt

Eat More Beans!

I had this talk with K. this morning driving in the car.

K: Mom, your not strong enough to carry me upside down anymore like daddy.

Me: K. your getting so big that I can't carry you for that long upside down. Your right, daddy is much stronger.

K: Yep, daddy is stronger. He eats all his beans. You need to eat all your beans to if you want to be big and strong like daddy and carry me upside down.

What should you be for Halloween?

I found this cute quiz about what I should be for Halloween. Not quite sure how I ended up as this but I guess there could be worse things out there.

Your Halloween Costume Should Be

Elvis

What Should You Be For Halloween?

The New Math

My husband is ready to retire. No, I really mean it. My husband who isn't quite forty is ready to retire. The only problem of course is money. So we have been reviewing all the things we are going to have to do in order for my husband to retire at his dream age of 55. We really aren't doing to bad considering I have been out of the work force for about five of the last seven years and haven't really been able to contribute much financially to our retirement plans. But we are still way off from where we need to be in order for us to reach his goal. And while neither of us are big spenders and aren't the type that have to "have stuff" to be happy, we do spend money on the things we like to do.

But last night my husband took the cake with his latest ways in thinking about big purchases. He has been saving up for a mill for a while now and has finally reached his goal. He went online only to find out that the mill he really wants is now on sale so he can even save a couple hundred dollars. Now to me that would have just been the icing on the cake. But since my husband had just finished reviewing where we need to be in twenty years he wasn't as excited as I expected. He stopped for a minute and went to punch in some numbers on the computer. Then he came back and told me that if he invested his money into our investments instead of buying the mill then by the time he was ready to retire he would have about $50,000 more towards our retirement goals.

So now he's wondering if this mill he has been saving up for is worth the fifty thousand it could cost us in the long term. And while I can see his point I am a bit frustrated. So I had to remind him that he's been saving up for this for a long time and he'll need to have something to keep him happy and entertained while we sit home for the next fifteen years and save money for retirement. And that it's okay for him to buy something big like that every now and then. But as to whether he can now get past that new price tag he has in his head, I really don't know. I hope he does. He works way to hard now not to have a few things to enjoy in his life now.

Wordless Wednesday

Hoss and K. share the same ambition for when they grow up. Can you guess what it is?















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A Pink Truck

K. has decided that she wants a pink truck. She is getting pretty darn adamant about it also. Not just any pink truck, she wants one of those big Power Wheels pink trucks that she can drive around outside with. She has been asking me for weeks now and I keep telling her no since they cost to much money and since Hoss has a truck that she can drive around. The only thing is that Hoss's truck isn't pink it's burgundy. So that means that it's not the right color.

She is now telling me that she will just have to ask Santa for one since it cost mommy and daddy to much money. (She is so considerate in thinking that way isn't she). So I have switched tactics telling her that we really don't have the space in the garage for another big truck like that to fit. She just smiles sweetly and says don't worry mommy, it will fit as long as you keep your van outside. She is now telling any one and everyone who will listen that she is going to get a pink truck from Santa...and it's only October. I have even stooped to showing her all the commercials for toys on TV as they gear up for the holidays. I'll try and convince her that this toy would be so much more fun for her than a truck but she just smiles sweetly and says she wants her very own pink truck to drive.

Truly, I knew we were going to have issues with who gets to drive what car and when but I really wasn't expecting it to happen while the kids were still in grade school. Instead now we are having issues of who gets to drive what Power Wheels and when and who gets to use the battery that is fully charged. These toys that give my kids so many hours of fun are truly starting to wear me out. As for whether or not she will get a new Pink Truck, I really don't know. I don't want to give up the extra space but once she starts to work on daddy, who knows what he will come home with. He is so easily swayed by his girls.

What a Weekend

I had a wonderful weekend. I was blessed enough to be able to go and spend three and half days with a wonderful bunch of women from my church community at an ACTS retreat. The time spent there refreshed me both mentally and spiritually. Once again I was reminded of the love that our Lord has for us.

I wish I could say that my husband had as blessed a weekend as I did. But poor thing, his weekend was much more difficult for him. My children did not really cooperate for him and proved extremely difficult for him. But by late last night he was looking a lot better than when I first saw him.


For I know the plans I have made for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you a future full of hope. Jer. 29:11

Wordless Wednesday

Another Crazy Week

It's another busy week. With my family in town we are busy running around. I am also going on a church retreat this weekend so will be gone later this week. So I am trying to prepare for that as well. Hopefully next week will be a bit more settled and I can get back to the business of blogging.

Photo Hunters

This weeks theme is curvy.

I immediately thought of all the curvy paths that are around our home. But instead I decided to go ahead and go with my second impulse. And that was the art of glass blowing. I received my favorite vase from a dear friend of mine while we were living in Finland and I treasure it more because of that. It is an Aalto free form wave vase. I find it's style very unusual but very appealing to me. For more on the history of this vase click here.



After looking at the delicate curve of the glass I was reminded of another curve made of much stronger material and one which I am so thankful to have available if the need ever arose. It's the spray hose nozzle from the top of a firetruck that my children and I climbed all over and explored last week. Not quite as delicate as the vase but still amazing at how they can curve metal/steel like that and still have it be functional under extreme use.

So that's my take on this week's theme. For other participants views click PhotoHunt


or visit TNCHICK.com

Happy Birthday Hoss!

Hoss celebrated his fifth birthday yesterday. It's hard to believe that he is five already. He's quite proud to be five since that now means he is an entire hand of fingers. We just had the small family celebration yesterday but he enjoyed all the cupcakes he had at school along with the birthday cake he had at home. Meanwhile all the rest of the kids are completely on board with anyone having a birthday since it usually means two pieces of cake instead of the normal one they are allowed. (Since most the time all they do is lick the icing off anyway, it's a great way to get the cake out of the house). I guess I should just serve a spoonful of icing and call it cake, I really don't know if they would notice the difference or even care.

A Day at the Vet

I have finally won the battle. The battle I am talking about is getting our dog Gigi spayed. My poor husband has been begging to breed her since the day we got her. I always pleaded off saying that there was no way that I can handle having puppies along with the four kids. And then to deal with the kids heartbreak when the puppies would go to new homes. It just wasn't something that I wanted to do. So I have finally convinced him to go ahead and get it done. So I wasted no time at all and scheduled her appointment for the first available one.

So Gigi is at the vets today and we will pick her up tomorrow. I now no longer have to worry about her getting out of the yard while she is in heat. I don't have to deal with doggie diapers on top of the baby diapers and the male dogs in our neighborhood will hopefully stop howling around the times she was in heat. My poor husband is still a little sad but I think he'll manage just fine. After all he is now a responsible pet owner.

A Week out of Whack

It's going to be an out of whack week around here. My dear hubs is off this week. So just by the fact that he is here and we can do things means that my normal schedule is off. Add to it, that Hoss celebrates his 5th birthday on Wed. and that just adds to the unusual schedule. So since we have been out and about today, none of my usual things have gotten done. So now I'm off to play catch up.

Photo Hunters- Original

This weeks theme is original.

Since I'm trying to be original this week it was a little harder to come up with something. What I finally decided on was my husband's beer can collection. His collection is on proud display in the back shelf of our very dark closet.

Here are two JR Ewing (from the TV show Dallas) beer cans. They are filled with the original beer and still have the original pull tabs on them.
Here are some more original beer cans from his collection but most of these no longer have the original beer or pull tabs on them.


For other participants in this weeks Photo Hunt visit TNCHICK.com

Or Click this link PhotoHunt

Middle Name Meme

Nicole tagged me with this one.

So. The rules:
1. You have to post these rules before you give the facts.
2. Players - You must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don't have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.
3.At the end of your post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag.


A- I think that I am a bit adventurous. I'm always willing to try something new at least once.

N- Sometimes people think that I am a bit to Nosy. I just really like hearing about all the things going on.

N- I hope my children think that I am nurturing. At least that's what I'm trying for most days.

E- My kids wake up at the crack of dawn, which makes me an early bird. Completely against my choice by the way. I'd much rather sleep in.

I am going to tag Kim and anyone else who wants to do this meme. (I know, I know I broke rule #3). Just let me know if you do it so I can check out your answers.

The Newest Who in Who-ville

Poor Gigi

Poor Gigi, She just can't do anything right with me. I now have a new way my Boxer annoys me. It's not the fact that she is huge and not really anything like the kind of dog that I really wanted (i.e. she isn't a toy). It's not the fact that the dog for whatever reason insists on drinking gallons of water at one time only to turn around and throw it all up just five minutes later. Sometimes even on me. Or that she will just sit there and whine at you until you play with her. It's not even the fact that the dog wakes me up by licking my face in the morning. Although these things really do annoy me.

No, the new reason for me to not like my dog is that she has now brought fleas into my home. It really isn't her fault, I do know this. I haven't been consistent on keeping her Advantix on her this summer. But when my neighbor told me about five days ago that they had just found fleas I knew it would be only a matter of days until they would invade our yard and thus get on our dog and then make their nasty ways into my house. So I did put the Advantix on Gigi and I have been watching and waiting. And sure enough, she didn't disappoint me. She has been scratching just a bit to much.

So I gave her a pretend belly scratch while I was really looking for fleas. She however didn't know this and thought she had won the belly rub lottery or something.

Once I found the first little booger, her poor belly scratching lottery ended. And outside she went while I figured out how to get rid of them.

I called the vet first and found out I can spend five dollars on a 24 hour pill that will kill all the fleas on her. Then I called the exterminator and they will come out and blast the outside and inside of the home. Meanwhile, Hoss just thought he would try and sweep the pesky fleas off of Gigi. But sadly it didn't help to do anything except get Gigi all excited to play.

So now that just leaves me to vacuum the furniture and shampoo the area rugs like a mad woman. And hopefully in the process my poor Gigi will feel better to. Because let's face it, she is living with those nasty things on her.

Where are they now

My husband and I were talking the other day about our college years. Neither of us had talked to our roommates recently and we were wondering how they were doing and what was going on in their lives. Well it was only a few days later that I got a call from my roommate Jennifer telling me that she was getting married. Naturally I was super excited for her. But then she went on to tell me that they were having a bridal shower only 45 minutes away and would I want to come. Now since I hadn't seen her in about eight years I jumped at the chance.

So the evening of the shower when we finally got a chance to sit down and start to visit we naturally went down memory lane. Here's a picture of Jenn and me. (I'm in the white shirt)


There were three of us there catching up that night. Me, Jennifer and Lanie who was her sister, but with us alot of times. It was at this time that we were laughing so hard my sides hurt and Jenn's poor fiance was just sitting there listening to some of the stories being told in disbelief. Because what one of us had forgotten the others were there to remind us of. I have to admit to completely forgetting all about the shutting down of three dorms worth of study halls during finals because of a shadow strip tease. But once they reminded me of this it all came back in an instant.

We then got to talking about how different our paths have taken us from where we used to be. Now I am a stay at home mom to four children. No one knowing me then would ever believe this of me now. Lanie is now a principal at a Catholic School here in Texas. Even her family is confused at times of how she ended up there. And Jennifer is working in at law firm and finally getting married and ready to start her family. So now here is a picture of where we are now. Here's me, Lanie and Jennifer and if you look closely you will still see some empty beer bottles and glasses of wine around us. I guess we haven't changed all that much after all.


As for Mike, her fiance, I bet he is wondering what other things we got up to in our good ol' college days.

Passing the Torch

My sweet friend Kim recently awarded me with the Nice Matters award. I've known Kim for a while now and I think she is a great lady also. She is always so strong in her beliefs and always faces new challenges head on. So now it is time for me to pass it on to someone else. Now I am faced with the same dilemma that my friend Nan had. It seems like everyone has already received this award. So she made a few changes to her button to make it look different.

So I am hoping that even if you have received this award in the past that you may still be excited to be told that I think your nice and yes it does still matter. So I would like to pass this on to two great women.

First I'll start with Lauren over at Baseballs and Bows. She is always so positive in her posts and all the comments that she leaves for everyone. She just seems to me like a super nice gal and I really enjoy her blog. So I hope this will brighten her day just a bit.

Second is my friend in "real" life Nicole over at 4andcounting. I guess I am a little biased because I know she truly is nice in person as well as on her blog. I consider her a true friend and I also hope this will make her smile a bit today.

So even if both you ladies have received this before I hope you will still enjoy getting it again.

Just for the Record

My pain in my neck for all eternity big brother emailed me the other day. And while that isn't really all that surprising since I do hear from him on a pretty regular basis, this email was different. This was not because my pain my my neck for all eternity brother actually spelled everything correctly for a change. No this was because my pain in the neck for all eternity brother had read my blog for the very first time. And although he was very kind in his words about how cool he thought the blog was, he had a few other comments about some of the content on it.

In particular, he had issue about my post where I was contemplating getting a maid service twice a month. For whatever reason he seems to think that my house was never spotless at anytime when I had only one child. And now that I have four, well let's just say I could hear him laughing from 750 miles away. That dumb ol' pain in my neck for all eternity brother of mine. Naturally, I had to correct my brother's incorrect assumption that my house was ever spotless after I had one child. So I set about thinking of how I could prove it to him. Then I realized I couldn't. My pain in my neck for all eternity brother of mine was... gulp...right.

Now since I am his pesky little sister I can't have this. So I went ahead and emailed him back that yes he was right my house probably wasn't so spotless when he came to visit me when I only had my oldest child Z. But then I had to point out that he never came to visit our house between the time that I had Hoss and K. So what does this mean exactly, well it means that for all he knows (and let's face it what big brother ever really knows more than a little sister) my house was spotless. He was never there to prove it otherwise. So there! How's that my pain in my neck for all eternity big brother. I have admitted to my few readers that yes my house wasn't spotless when I had only one child. But since you were never in my home until after K. was born that gives me at least two years of a pretty clean house if I do say so myself.

Yeeeessss, the pesky little sister wins again!!!