Photo Hunters

This weeks theme is I Love ____ (fill in the blank).

This was both an easy one and a hard one for me to decide on. There are so many things that I love. I love my family of course. I love coffee, which makes dealing with the youngest members of the family easier first thing in the morning. I love ice cream. So you see that was my problem, to many things to pick and chose from. But then I was reminded about how fast my kids seem to be growing up before my eyes. And so I decided that what I really love is being there for some of the milestones that we parents get to enjoy. Here are two that are just from this week alone.

The first time they learn to ride a bike without training wheels.


The first pre-school presentation that your child is in.



Hope you enjoyed my take on this weeks theme.

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

Best Turkey Ever

Tomorrow is the big turkey lunch that my son's school has to celebrate Thanksgiving. When Z. realized this he got so excited and declared that it was the best turkey ever.

Now me being me, I had to question him. How can he possibly think this since he eats my turkey every year also. Doesn't he know the turkey they serve him in the school cafeteria is probably some kind of compressed processed meat. Quite unlike anything we have on our Thanksgiving table. But Z. being firm in his declaration of his school turkey, says mom it is the best turkey ever. It's juicier. What! My nine year old has suddenly developed a sophisticated palette and says my turkey is not as juicy as the cafeteria variety.

What else can I do but throw up my hands. So I remind him how one day when he fondly remembers his mama's turkey he will suddenly realize how much he is mistaken. But for the time being I think I do know who has the best turkey ever. It's me, and he is asleep in bed now dreaming of his turkey lunch tomorrow. And just for the record my turkey is juicier.

I'm Five and I play Basketball

That is the new greeting you get from Hoss nowadays. He will tell anyone who appears to have a pulse and has even eyed the fence post lately.

He told the man at the grocery store, he told the lady at the register. He ran up to the fireman and paused just long enough to say "Hi Fireman" before he launches into his I'm Five and I play Basketball. He tells anybody who will listen.

This is because he has his very first basketball practice tomorrow night. It's his first time playing team sports. He has always been a spectator at all of his big brother Z.'s games. Now he realizes that it's going to be all about him. And in a family with four kids, lets face it...that's big time. We get to take him to practice and we all get to go watch him play his games. He is so excited that he can hardly stand it. He has been practising for over a week now at home and feels ready to go make lots of baskets at practice tomorrow night. That's pretty big stuff if your five.

Might as well be homeschooling

I've noticed a trend with my fourth grader lately. He goes off to school for eight hours a day. He comes home and he and I will work on various homework assignments for at least another hour and sometimes even two. All so he can do well on his TAKS test in the spring. I am doing so much proofreading and editing of his writing that it feels like I am in the fourth grade also.

So when I stop to think that my son is essentially doing school work for a total of ten hours a day, I often think homeschoolers have it right. They can spend what I hear is on average about four hours of true school work in the morning and the rest of the day is filled with other activities. Then I realize this is me we are talking about. There is no way I could ever be a homeschooling mom. I don't see myself as having the patience to deal with all that it truly would it entail. So where does that leave me...I guess back in the fourth grade doing a bunch of editing.

Worldess Wednesday

Two Tongues are Better than one!

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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.