Krinkles Place

Day 7 part 3 Mississippi Beach

2010-09-11T06:00:00.000-06:00

After leaving New Orleans, our next destination was Florida. We drove the coastline through Mississippi and Alabama. As the sun was setting, we came upon Long Beach in Mississippi that was gorgeous. I had Don pull over so we could walk on a nice, clean, white sand beach. None of the beaches in Louisiana were nice and clean. So this was a nice surprise. We only spent about 10 minutes here but I thought the sunset was pretty so I snapped a few pictures. This was the only thing we did in Mississippi.

We continued to drive until we got to Mobile, Alabama. We spent the night in a hotel and headed for Florida the next morning. So on Day 7, we left New Iberia, Louisiana, stopped in New Orleans for a few hours, then drove across Mississippi and into Alabama.

Next up: Mobile, Alabama. The USS Arizona

Day 7 part 2 New Orleans

2010-09-09T09:12:00.000-06:00

Walking through the Riverwalk mall.

The girls ate pizza, while Don and I opted for more traditional New Orleans food.

Watching them make fudge. They had a little song and dance routine that was very entertaining.

Sarabeth has wanted a VW bus forever and she found THE ONE in New Orleans. I would even drive this one.

Outside the Riverwalk. We are on the Mississippi River. Can you see the cruise ship in the background?

Walking through the new New Orleans. Trying to find the old.

And we found it. The French Quarter.

Bourbon Street.

Civil War money

Old town meets new town

The scary street clown. AKA homeless bum trying to get drug money. There were a lot of these on Bourbon Street.

I’d like to go back and check it out more. We were only there for a few hours that day. It wasn’t a planned destination. We were driving through and decided we had to stop and check it out. I’d love to visit the Garden District and see some of the old cemeteries. We’ll have to plan another trip.

Green Day

2010-09-07T05:54:00.001-06:00

*So my family recently drove to Denver to see Green Day in concert. Although they came out when I was much younger, I was never a fan. I honestly didn't like any of their music. And I thought they looked and acted like a bunch of freaks. I remember my niece and nephew loved them. They were just young and dumb (ha ha). But in the last year, my 15 year old daughter has grown to LOVE Green Day. And because of her, my two other daughters, ages 10 and 11, also have grown to love Green Day. And because I hear their music EVERY (no joke) day, either on the IPods or my daughter playing her guitar, I also have grown to love them. No, they are not my favorite band. And no, I don't like all of their music. I hate their politics. And I hate that they strongly promote marijuana. They did come up with their name "Green Day" because of it. But truthfully, they really are very talented. I know this because of their concert.
Denver was the closest venue to Idaho on this concert tour. So we took a family trip to see them. The girls all bought their own tickets with their report card money. That was the deal if they wanted to go. And they all readily agreed. We bought the tickets in April. The concert was last weekend. And it was totally worth the wait and the drive. I have been to a lot of concerts over the years. But this one bested any of them. I was extremely impressed. They were very entertaining. They involved the crowd during the entire 3 hour (yes, 3 hours!!!!) concert. I can't tell you how many people they pulled up on stage with them. Young and old. Yes, there were A LOT of people there who were older than me. And a lot of little kids too. They pulled 3 people on stage to sing one of their songs. The first two didn't know the words, even though they swore they did, and were terrible. Billie Joe Armstrong (lead singer) gave the third girl the guitar off his back because she was the best and knew the words without help from him. And it was her birthday. It was awesome!

Green Day had a great time performing and playing with the crowd. And they sang songs off of all of their albums. They also did a medley of cover songs. Ozzy Osbourne, ACDC, The Beatles, etc. That proved that they can play and sing any genre of music. A lot of musicians can't. Each member, including the background musicians/singers, took turns singing a piece of a song while Billie Joe played their instrument. That was impressive. They had the crowd on their feet and in the palm of their hands the entire 3 hours. Green Day genuinely LOVES what they do and they love their fans. That is what made this the best concert I have ever been to. My daughter told me I am now officially cool. That touched my heartstrings. I would definitely go to another one. GREEN DAY ROCKS!!! I'm just sayin.................

a beautiful bride, a handsome groom, family and friends and lots of love

2010-06-13T21:30:00.002-06:00

Road Trip Day 7 – New Orleans, Louisiana

2010-04-29T09:33:00.000-06:00

By day 7 of our road trip, we had traveled approximately 2400 miles. and had driven through Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Louisiana. After spending 3 days in New Iberia, Louisiana, we headed East. On our way we stopped in New Orleans. We didn’t have any plans and we had no idea what to do there so we just found a spot to park at Riverwalk Marketplace and started walking. Guess where we ended up. (The pictures are NOT in any particular order. )

We have arrived! The French Quarter. Taking up a 6 by 13 block area, the French Quarter is the oldest (1722) French Colonial and Spanish settlement that exists in the United States.

Bourbon Street, lined with bars, jazz clubs, hotels, restaurants, "gentlemen's clubs" (strip clubs) and boutiques is the best known party street in New Orleans.

The street is closed to vehicle traffic in the evening when it becomes a pedestrian mall and an extension of the parties taking place in most of the bars and music halls which are shoulder to shoulder in the most visited blocks.

I would have loved to have had a carriage ride thru the Garden District. If we ever venture that way again, I will definitely do that! This was taken by Jackson Square. The Mississippi river.

Inside Riverwalk Marketplace. We checked out some shops before heading out into the wild unknown. A steamboat on the Mississippi. Sarabeth has always wanted and VW bus and when we found this, she was in heaven. I would even drive this around. Isn’t it adorable?

For such a historical treasure, we were surprised at how dirty and unkempt the French Quarter was. It was really disappointing. We heard from friends that after Hurricane Katrina, it went downhill and it’s full of bums now.

The balconies in the French Quarter are famous.

Old town meets new town. And you can see some of the Bourbon Street balconies (think Mardi Gras).

Standing on Bourbon Street taking a picture of the street sign.

Bourbon Street. You can’t really tell from the picture, but almost every shop was PORN, PORN, PORN!!!!!!! Click on the photo to make it bigger and you can see more detail. Notice the guy in black on the left. He was a human robot. There were a lot of street performers (a.k.a. bums) on Bourbon Street.

Standing on Bourbon street, not really knowing what to do. We wanted to check it out, but Porn and kids don’t really go together.

This (bum) street performer scared Emily. See the look on her face? LOL. She is terrified of clowns. He was very dirty, his teeth were rotten, he reeked of alcohol and I’m sure he was on some kind of drugs. And how about that creepy guy behind us. Welcome to Bourbon Street.

This gate looked really old so I wanted a picture of it. It was a pathway between two buildings that led to more buildings behind. Not sure what it was exactly, but I thought it was cool.

Part of Jackson Square.

The iron fence surrounding Jackson Square, its formal gardens, walkways and benches can be largely credited to the Baroness Micaela Almonaster de Pontalba, who lobbied for and financed these improvements after the Battle of New Orleans in 1814.

The Baroness built the Upper and Lower Pontalba apartment buildings on the square in 1848. The Pontalba family sold the Lower Pontalba building in 1921 and it was given to the state museum in 1927.

Andrew Jackson

Mississippi River

On the Moonwalk. The Moonwalk — named for former Mayor Moon Landrieu — is on the Mississippi River side of Artillery Park. Sit on the steps and dangle your feet in the muddy Mississippi or watch the steamboats, ocean going barges and other river traffic float by.

Next post…..more New Orleans photos.

Day 6, part 5. Jungle Gardens, Louisiana

2010-03-24T17:00:00.001-06:00

O.K. This is the last post for road trip day 5. If you clicked on the Jungle Gardens link, then you know that part of the gardens is an Egret sanctuary. Some of these photos are of that sanctuary. The light green patches are the green covered water. Don’t know what to call it. But it’s really pretty.

The small white things in the distance are the egrets.

Egret on a wall of concrete in the water.

Egret meets alligator. Big bird? Or tiny alligator? The alligator was around 6 or 8 feet long.

This is how they made concrete in Louisiana a long, long time ago. Can you see the shells in it? Being married to a concrete man, we had to get a picture of it. It was pretty interesting and cool to look at.

A close up of the green covered water.

A closer look at the egret sanctuary. I think we were there in their off season. There weren’t very many there.

I just LOVE these trees. They are so big and expansive and beautiful.

These stairs were being the big, beautiful tree. It seemed to be some kind of a sitting area with a fountain.

Being the explorers that we are, we wandered off the beaten path again, walked thru some trees and brush and found this piece of paradise. In the middle of nothing. But Sarabeth dubbed it as the place she wants to get married. It’s hard to tell from the picture, but you could easily seat 50 to 100 people in there. I wish I knew what it was made for.

So this is the end of Jungle Gardens on Avery Island. I hope you enjoyed all of the pictures. I know there were a lot of them, but there were so many different things to see there and I wanted to share them with you. If you ever go to Louisiana, please go to Avery Island. I wish we would have had time to tour the Tabasco plant too. I hate Tabasco, but I like touring places.

Up next………New Orleans

Day 6, part 4. Jungle Gardens, Louisiana

2010-03-23T07:32:00.001-06:00

Yes, I am still posting pictures from the beautiful Jungle Gardens. I hope you’re not bored with them.

A view of the house that holds the Buddha. We had to walk a path to get to the Buddha. On our way back down that same path, we noticed these banana spiders. Yep, they were above us the entire time. I’m surprised Don didn’t come face to face with one of them. They were everywhere.

These spiders were about the size of your palm. Seriously huge. They were totally cool to look at, but I would have died if I had run into one of their webs.

I thought this tunnel was absolutely beautiful.

The light green area in the back is actually water. The water was covered in green plant life. I don’t know what to call it. But it was so pretty.

Day 6, part 3. Jungle Gardens, Louisiana

2010-03-21T17:31:00.001-06:00

Day 6 part 2. Jungle Gardens, Louisiana

2010-03-20T03:05:00.001-06:00

More pictures from Jungle Gardens. Wildlife, critters, creepie crawlies, and pure beauty.

Day 6 – Jungle Gardens at Avery Island, Louisiana

2010-03-19T03:13:00.001-06:00

On day 6, we spent the day at Jungle Gardens. It is located on Avery Island. Avery Island is where the Tabasco factory is. The guy that invented Tabasco lived on the island and planted this garden and created a bird sanctuary. We didn’t get to tour the factory because we spent the entire day at the gardens, which is 250 acres. I really wasn’t that interested in going, but once we got in there, it was like paradise. It was absolutely beautiful. Completely different from anything I’ve ever seen before. A definite must for anyone going to southern Louisiana. I took a lot of pictures and would like to post them all so there will be 5 posts on the Jungle Gardens. I hope you don’t get tired of the pictures, but we saw so many beautiful things, I want you to see them too.

As soon as we drove in there, I felt like we were transported back to the 1800’s. The moss covered trees were out of this world beautiful. And everything was SOOOO green.

Within the first 5 minutes, the girls spotted these creatures. And since they aren’t afraid of the things that go bump in the night, they just had to touch and hold them. They were huge. And ugly. And I did not touch or hold one.

We found this path that was sort of hidden. We are explorers so we decided to check it out. It was very pretty.

A lot of the trees were covered in this fluorescent green stuff. I’m sure there’s a name for it, but I don’t know what it it. It looks like spray paint, but it isn’t. It’s some kind of growth on the wood. It is absolutely beautiful.

This little guy was face level and I about walked right into him. We had to become contortionists to get by his web. We didn’t want to ruin it. Isn’t he a cute little feller?

Another little guy that Sarabeth caught. Isn’t he adorable? He was so tiny.

Tune in tomorrow for part 2 with more pictures. I promise you won’t regret it.

Day 5 part 2

2010-03-17T22:44:00.000-06:00

After our trip to New Iberia to see where Don works, we headed to Cypress Point Beach. It was a pretty drive there.

Louisiana is very flat. No mountains. That was different since I’ve lived in Idaho my whole life. For the most part, we didn’t like it there. But we did see a few pretty sites while there. We saw a lot of alligators there. The first day, we were very excited every time we saw one. By day 3, we had seen enough. They were like seeing dogs and cats. They are very plentiful in Louisiana. And very tasty, I might add. The girls loved the beach. I didn’t get in the water though because it was a bit chilly. I sat and played in the sand and took pictures while Don and the girls played in the water.

They are all water babies. A storm rolled in while we were at the beach. Storms are also plentiful in Louisiana. I thought it was beautiful so I snapped a few pictures.

Road Trip 2009 Day 5 New Iberia, Louisiana

2010-03-17T19:07:00.002-06:00

On day 5 of our road trip, we spent the day in New Iberia, Louisiana. This is where Don’s company headquarters is located. He took us for a tour around the place. We saw a lot of helicopters and were able to sit in a couple of them. We didn’t get to go for any rides though.

Future pilots?

This was an old helicopter that is no longer flown. It was pretty big and pretty weird looking. I love the “nose” on it.

Watching a helicopter taking off.

A pretty sky while we were waiting.

What do ya think? Should I take some flying lessons? No, I don’t think so.

Don was really excited that we were able to go see where he works. This was the whole reason we went on our road trip.

Summer 2009 Road Trip Day 4

2010-03-13T13:21:00.000-07:00

On Day 3 of our road trip, we left Carlsbad, New Mexico and drove to Texas. We spent the night in Ozona, Texas and on day 4 we drove thru Texas and into Louisiana. Our first stop in Texas was in Pecos. We found a little historical spot with some old buildings.

Here we are standing in front of the courthouse.

The small building with the bars is the jailhouse.

Robert C. Allison. Gentleman Gun Fighter

"He Never Killed A Man That Did Not Need Killing"

Read this for more information regarding this "gentleman gun fighter"

A pretty view along the way in Texas.

There weren't many pretty views in Texas. It was pretty boring, really.

Houston, Texas. We didn't have time to stop.

Houston, Texas

After a long day of driving thru Texas, we finally arrived in Louisiana and found our first view of the ocean. We made our mark on the beach there.

I found the houses really cool. They were all built up for hurricane season.

These were all new houses. There wasn't any hurricane damage to these. We did see a lot of traces of damage here and there, but I didn't take pictures of everything.

LOVE the bright pink house. It matches my shirt. :o)

Sarabeth and Jessica finding shells on the beach. This was a nice break from sitting in the car all day driving thru Texas.

It was nice to walk thru the sand, but the water was really dirty and it was really windy. It wasn't a "pretty beach" by any means.

After we left the beach, we came upon this park with this amazing playground. Check out this playhouse. It was called Treasure Island. We decided we needed one in Idaho. It was huge and really neat.

Happy Birthday Punky Poo!

2009-09-30T09:33:00.003-06:00

Don't ask me why I nicknamed Emily Punky Poo. I honestly have no idea why. But today is her 10th birthday. Double digits! Wa Hoo! It seems so weird that it's been 10 years since I had a baby. And what's even weirder (is that a word? It looks, well, weird!) is that she is dang near as tall as I am. Not that I'm very tall (5' 2"), but she is only 10. And my baby. And she shouldn't be almost as tall as I am. But she is. And I love her for it. She is my baby. My drama queen. My diva. My kid who isn't afraid to tell you how it is. Exactly how it is. No matter who is around or who she will offend. And I love her for it. My kid that sings in the shower every day even if she has to make up a song while doing it. And I love her for it. And today is her birthday. We celebrated her birthday yesterday because her dad had to catch a plane at o' dark thirty this morning (on her birthday) to go back to work. So I spent the last week or so gathering items to create her birthday present. She wanted a new bedspread. She has asked for many different things over the last several months, but the bedspread is what she kept dwelling on. We painted her room back in January. She got to choose whatever color she wanted. Her favorite color since birth has been green. So we painted her room a very bright shade of green. And it is absolutely adorable. And she loved it. But then somewhere down the line, she decided she wanted a pink room instead. And since she chose the green, the green stays. So I decided that I would incorporate some pink into her green room. So that's what I did for her birthday. I made her room a bit more girly for her.

First, I chose a comforter with pinks and greens in it. It was hard to find too. I had to order it online. It's actually a bed-in-a-bag so it came with the sheets and pillow cases too. And it is very cute. Then I chose items to deocorate her room using the colors in her new bedding.

I found this very cute rug to go with it. It looks very cute on the laminate flooring.

I wanted to make her a valance to hang above her window. I went to the fabric store and couldn't believe it when I found fabric with the exact pink and green that I needed. Together. And very cute too!

She likes to have her name displayed in her room so I found some wooden cutouts and painted her a name plaque. I tried to use the same shades of pink and green. It turned out pretty cute.

While at the fabric store, I lucked out and found these Wallies. They were the perfect pink and matched the flowers in her curtains that I made. So I lined her room with them. I love the bright pink against the green wall.

We even found a matching fish tank for her Betta fish.

The final result. I think it turned out pretty darn cute.

The birthday girl sitting on her new cute bed in her new cute room. She really loved everything I did. It took some time and effort, but it was totally worth it. And she was thrilled that I did more that just the comforter, which is all she asked for.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMILY. I LOVE YOU!!

Kirkham Hot Springs

2009-09-19T07:25:00.003-06:00

**Disclaimer: I started this post 2 weeks ago. Before everyone got the swine flu and life as we know it ceased to exist. But I didn't feel like changing it, so I didn't. **

Flyboy came home Thursday night. He'll be here for the next 2 weeks. I took Friday off from work and the kids were out of school for teacher workshop so we headed up to the mountains to Kirkham Hot Springs. We haven't been there for several years. It's about an hour and a half drive so it's an easy day trip. We were bummed to find out that you now have to pay a $5 fee to park there. Times sure have changed. It seems like you can't go anywhere in Idaho anymore without paying a fee. But, fee and all, it is worth it. And as usual, I posted a lot of pictures. 'Cause I like to see lots of pictures, so I like to post lots of pictures too.

The drive up Hwy 21. You can tell Fall is on the way. It's still green, but really dry. Still pretty tho.

The family sitting in the "shower spot", as they named it. The hot springs showered down upon them.

But we wanted deeper water, so Flyboy and I ventured further to find a deeper spot.

You have to climb down the rocks to get to the hot springs. It's a pretty easy climb down.

Emily maneuvering the rocks.

Flyboy was standing above me. There were HOT pools higher up. They were too hot to sit in tho.

There are awesome photo ops for those interested.

I ventured out and took a bunch of scenery shots while the fam played in the water.

Flyboy trying to get a bit of the cold river water to mix with the hot spring water. Believe me, it helped!

I thought this was beautiful. Jessica thought it was slimy and gross.

I told her she had to look at it as natures natural beauty. It was green and gold. The picture doesn't do it justice.

Lots of waterfalls around. Small ones, but pretty.

A view of the river. There are several hot pools in the rocks that people have formed up.

Another photo of some beautiful slimy goo.

This pool was the best to sit in. The water was hot, but you'd get swirls of cold river water that would coil around you like a snake and the mixture felt really good.

Flyboy

Sarabeth

Emily

Jessica

Mama

Emily walking thru a hot pool next to the river.

A view of the hot springs coming down the rocks

A shot of the river (hot pools are behind me)

A good swimming hole with a hot waterfall running into it. If it was hotter outside, the girls would have swam in it.

Taste the Rainbow

A view of the river right before the hot pools.

Pretty descent sized hot waterfall.

One of the girls footprint. On our way out.

A view of the river from the top of the hill.

A view of the hot springs from the top of the hill. It is a really nice place to visit. There is a campground, but we've never stayed the night. It's a great spot for a day trip. It's a pretty poplular place. You can't tell from the pictures, but there were several people up there. But there are enough pools that everyone was able to spread out and have their own area.

2009-09-19T07:23:00.001-06:00

Just set up to do mobile blogging from my phone. Don't know if I'll ever use it, but this is a test to see if and how it posts. I'm thinking its like Twitter.

Road Trip 2009 - Day 3 Part 2

2009-08-26T07:18:00.002-06:00

Here are some more pictures of Carlsbad Caverns. Sorry if you're tired of seeing them, but they are just so beautiful that I want you to see them all. Enjoy.

Road Trip 2009 - Day 3

2009-08-16T18:14:00.002-06:00

Day 2, we went to Carlsbad Caverns in southern New Mexico. We did the 1 1/4 mile walk down the natural entrance. Once we got to the bottom, we decided to head to the hotel and come back the next day and visit The Big Room. It was going to be another hour and a half of exploration and we were pooped. So, on day 3, we went back. This time, we took the elevator that descends 750 feet in 58 seconds. We knew we were in for a treat, but couldn't imagine how big of a treat it really was. The Carlsbad Caverns are said to be the most decorated caves in the world. If you can read the sign, it says that The Big Room is the largest known natural limestone chamber in the Western Hemisphere. It is shown to scale against a 747. It is roughly the size of 14 football fields. Yes, it is that large. And it is breathtakingly beautiful.

Please remember that it was hard shooting photos in the dim light. So bear with the blurry photos.

Imagine being Jim White, over 100 years ago, trying to explore this cavern with nothing but an oil lamp and his homemade ladders. What took us 1 1/2 hours to descend the natural entrance, took him over 10 hours. He didn't have a paved trail and was exploring the unknown.

If you look in the center of this photo, you can see the handrail going across the length of the photo. This gives you an idea of how big and open this cavern is. Some areas higher than others. but not claustrophobic at all. And it stays a cool 56 degrees year round. We took sweatshirts, but didn't need them. It was very comfortable down there.

Word can't describe how beautiful this cave was.

This stalagtite is call The Lions Tail

Yes, that is exactly what it looks like. Nuff said.

This is a ladder that Jim White build to drop down into a lower cave. It is closed off to the public.

If you ever get a chance to go to southern New Mexico, please do. Carlsbad Caverns is well worth the time and effort. I would definitely go again. If you are a cave explorer, visit their website and check out the other cave tours they have to offer. They have about a 6 month wait on them.

Road Trip 2009 - Day 2

2009-08-11T19:02:00.005-06:00

Today, a "J White 1898" inscription in a cave boulder well into the dark zone of the cavern testifies to the presence of 16 year-old Jim White, 100 years ago, following his curiosity into the cave darkness. That curiosity set him on a course of discovery that would last the rest of his life.

As guano miner, explorer, guide, trail-builder, park ranger and tireless promoter, White spent nearly a half century bringing this cave to the attention of others. During those early years, Jim White did whatever needed to be done to draw others to the cavern he so dearly loved.

From the beginning, White single-handedly risked entry into the inky depths of an unknown and huge underground chamber. He endured scorn from those who stayed safely on the surface and ridiculed his exploration reports. He guided almost everyone through the cave from the casually interested visitor to government and scientific experts, reporters and photographers. After years of toiling in near anonymity, White's dedication and determination finally bore fruit. Carlsbad Cave National Monument was authorized in 1923. In 1930 Congress proclaimed it Carlsbad Caverns National Park. (excerpt from The Discovery and History of Carlsbad Caverns, Jim White's own Story)

This is the Natural Cave Entrance and ampitheatre (for the bat flight show). This walk descends 750 feet and is 1 1/4 mile long. It is a paved trail that took us about 2 hours to descend.

Heading down the path into the main cave entrance.

Almost to the cave entrance.

Here we go! Right inside the entrance. It is already very, very cool!! Kuna Cave doesn't hold a candle to this!

They carved paths through some of the rocks to make the paths. This cave entrance is absolutely ginormous!

We drove through Roswell, NM on our way down to Carlsbad. Notice the t-shirts?

These limestone caves were carved by very aggressive sulfuric acid about 250 million years ago.

Keep in mind that we are descending 750 feet into the earth. There are lights throughout the cave, but it is still very dark inside. Therefore, it was difficult to take good quality pictures with our amature camera. We didn't do too bad, but some will be out of focus. Regardless, the pictures can't even begin to describe the awesomeness of the Caverns. You MUST go and see it for yourself. Seriously. It is worth the drive.

StalagMITE: One that grows up from the ground and stands "mighty"

StalagTITE: One that grows down from the ceiling and clings "tight" (lesson from park ranger)

Good picture of the trail descending down (looking up) into the main cave. This 1 1/4 mile walk is still considered the cave entrance.

Looking down into the entrance

It was SOOO beautiful. We were able to take our time and admire everything.

Do you see the 2 blurry people next to the 2nd stalagmite on the right? That gives you an idea of the size of things.

Absolutely beautiful!

Looking up at the cave entrance. Still have a long ways to descend.

You can rent audio devices that give you information about the caves throughout the tour.

Here's the family listening to something cool.

We have finally descended to the bottom of the entrance. Here, you can see different pathways. If you go to the right, you will enter the Big Cave. If you go to the left, you will find the bathrooms, a resteraunt, and the elevator that takes 58 seconds to go 750 feet. If you don't want to walk the entrance route, or aren't in good enough health, you can take the elevator. But that isn't an adventure. At least on the first day.

This is what it looks like outside the cave. The caverns are about 30 minutes south of the town of Carlsbad, New Mexico. You are literally in the middle of nowhere, with nothing to see for miles and miles and miles. It's so awesome to know that these caverns are hidden below. I'm thankful that they were discovered so many years ago and that we are able to see the natural wonder of them.

Road Trip 2009 - Day 1

2009-08-10T06:00:00.000-06:00

My husband is a helicopter pilot. We live in Idaho and his job is in Louisiana. Every 2 weeks, he leaves us and goes and flies in the Gulf of Mexico for 2 weeks. His job is to transport the "roughnecks" to and from the oil platforms in the Gulf. 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off. He usually flies back and forth when he goes, but he has also made the 2,200 mile drive (one way) several times. Each time he has driven it, he tells us that we need to make that drive with him to see the beautiful sights. Plus, he wanted to show us where he works in Louisiana. I'm an Idaho girl, born and raised. I've been to the surrounding states, and even to a few foreign countries. But I've never toured America. And I've always wanted to. So, we decided to take a family trip and see some places that we've never seen before. We both had 2 weeks vacation and planned a tentative road trip. But nothing was set in stone. We wanted it to be enjoyable and relaxed and not be rushed to get somewhere at a certain time. We made a plan, but took it one day at a time. The most important thing was that we were going to tour America as a family and enjoy our time together doing it. So, on July 9th, at 11:00 pm, we set off on our adventure. We left at night so we would be near Moab, Utah during the daylight. Arches National Park is right before you get to Moab and he talked and talked about how much we needed to see it. Flyboy knew how long it would take to get to certain places. And he planned it perfectly. The crack of dawn we were there.

About 8:30 am, maybe 10 miles away from Arches Park. We stopped at a rest stop so we could brush our teeth, change our clothes (us girls slept all night while Flyboy drove) and have a bite to eat.

Driving into the park. I've never seen anything like it. It was so beautiful. The colors and the texture of the sandstone was nothing I've ever seen before. And they were so huge!

Right inside the park entrance was a "lookout" area. It had a trail you could walk so we decided to do that and get right up close and personal with these magnificant rocks.

At the top of the trail. It took about an hour and a half to walk it. Of course we had to stop and look at everything. Our family loves geology and trying to figure out how the earth was made and what was going on when the mountains and rocks were created. It's all very fascinating.

Flyboy and I before our walk. Beautiful scenery.

On the path through the canyon.

Some of the different textures.

Emily

Jessica

Sarabeth

Flyboy and the girls.

I couldn't get over how huge these formations were.

Balanced rock.

I believe this was Devils Garden.

What the park is named for. There are "arches" all over the park.

The famous Delicate Arch

Close up of Delicate Arch.

We spent about 3 hours touring the park and didn't even see half of it. There was so much to see, but we were just passing through. It was definitely worth the trip. If you're ever in the area, it is worth the stop.

We headed south toward Albequerque. That's where we stayed for the night. On our way, we passed through part of Arizona and drove by Shiprock. It was huge, but this is as close as we got to it. A storm was brewing which is why it's so hazy.

Perfect ending to a perfect day. I love beautiful sunsets.

Same sunset about 2 minutes later. It was magnificant to drive into. Our day one tally: Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. Total miles logged for the day.....996. Flyboy drove that with no sleep. He is such a trooper.

How We Spent Easter

2009-08-09T18:33:00.001-06:00

This blog post has been in my "drafts" since Easter. I haven't spent much time blogging because it is very time consuming. But even though this is old, it was a great day and the photos are beautiful so I decided to go ahead and post it. We went to Shoshone Falls on Easter Sunday. It was awesome.

Like Mother, Like Daughter

2009-04-23T09:50:00.000-06:00

How Does It Happen So Fast?

2009-04-16T09:43:00.007-06:00

I swear she was just born yesterday. And they pronounced her dead in the delivery room. And now she is 14. And borrowing my clothes. And giving me fashion advice. And music advice. And, yes, even parenting advice (ahem). Geesh!

And I was pregnant with this one when we built our house and that was just yesterday! Really! I swear it was! And now she's 10. And one of these days she's going to show up on my doorstep with a cheetah on a leash. You think I'm kidding, don't you. Just wait and see!

And then there's this one. My baby. I can still feel by belly stretching while carrying her. How on earth can it have been 9 years ago? Seriously! I blinked and now she's almost as tall as I am. And she's been invited to sing a song she wrote in the talent show. Even though it's only for 4th and 5th grade and she's a 3rd grader!

How does this happen?

And how do I make it stop?

Lets Make Pie.....MMM.....Chicken Pot Pie, That Is

2009-04-11T05:00:00.007-06:00

This is Chicken Pot Pie. And it is delicious. And EXTREMELY fattening. But OH......SO......Yummy!

Let's start with the crust.

Here are the ingredients. Flour, sugar, salt, butter, shortening, and ice cold water.

First, measure your dry ingredients into a large bowl. I am making enough for 2 pies. And I double the ingredients and make it all together. It's easier that way, and it comes out perfect every time.

After you mix the dry ingredients, add your butter and shortening and cut it in using a pastry blender. You want it crumbly.

While your making crust, turn on your IPod (with speakers) that your hubby got you for Christmas. Even though you never even wanted one, and it is your all time favorite, and you listen to it every day!! Amen! (Thanks Flyboy!) Now, back to pie.

This is what your crust should look like after cutting in the butter and shortening. Perfect!

Then drizzle the ice cold water over the mixture and, using your pastry blender, cut that in. It will be doughy, but still sort of crumbly. The idea is to NOT work it too much. You want it nice and soft and flaky. No, I am not a professional. Just speaking from experience.

After you cut the water in, wrap the dough in saran wrap and put it in the fridge while you prepare the filling.

If you are a multi tasker like I am, then you will be boiling your 3 dozen easter eggs while preparing your pie.

Now lets talk filler. You will need:

Flour, chicken broth, evaporated milk, frozen peas, celery, carrots, onion, cooked chicken (I use the frozen boneless breasts and boil them), butter, salt and pepper.

Before you start chopping vegetables, remember that the new episode of Lost was on last night. And since you don't have cable or satellite and can only get 2 local channels, and ABC isn't one of them, pull out your husbands laptop and turn on the new episode. Because you are Addicted!!

O.K. Chop up your carrots, celery and onion.

Saute them in the butter until nice and soft. This smells really yummy while it's cooking.

This is what your veggies will look like when done. This is delicious by itself. I know. I tasted it.

After you cook your chicken, cut it up into small pieces. Set it aside.

Have the rest of your ingredients measured out and ready to go because the rest of this goes pretty fast. And you don't want it ruined. After your veggies are sauteed, add the flour, stir and cook for about a minute.

Then pour in the chicken broth.....

And the canned milk. This will be really soupy. Stir it constantly until it thickens up. It takes a few minutes, but keep stirring because it WILL burn on the bottom of the pan.

This is getting nice and thick and bubbly. At this point, I add the salt and pepper.

When it's nice and thick and bubbly, turn off the heat. Add the chicken and mix well.

Then add the frozen peas. You add these last so they don't overcook and turn to mush.

And THIS is what your filling will look like when complete. And it is delicious!

After the filling is done, get out the pie crust and divide it. Roll it out, and put it in your pie pan. Trim the edges so it looks nice. I'm not good at finishing the edges so I just do the best I can. Besides, it's tastes the same no matter how it looks.

Then, add some filling. Doesn't it look amazing?

Roll out another piece of crust and put it on top. Seal the edges and cut slits in the top for air to vent.

I made a large pie and 2 smaller pies. Place them on a foil lined cookie sheet and bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, put foil on them and cook for another 30 minutes.

I made enough filling for 3 pies. I only made crust for 2, so I put the rest in a Ziploc bag and put it in the freezer. When ready to use, thaw it out, add to your pie crust and cook it up.

Here is the finished product. Isn't it pretty?

And boy was it ever so delicious!!

PIE CRUST

4 cups flour
2 tsp. salt

2 Tbsp. sugar

12 Tbsp butter

12 Tbsp shortening

12-16 Tbsp ice water

*Warm butter til soft, but not melted

*Mix flour, sugar and salt

*Cut in butter, shortening and ice water

Wrap in plastic wrap and chill while making filling

FILLING (makes 2 pies)

1 cup chopped onions

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup chopped carrots

1/3 cup butter

1/2 cup flour

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup evaporated milk

4 cups chicken, cooked & chopped

1 cup frozen peas

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

*Saute onions, celery and carrots in butter in a large skillet over medium heat until tender. Add flour and stir until smooth. Cook one minute, stirring constantly. Add chicken broth and evaporated milk. Cook, stirring constantly until thickened and bubbly. Stir in chicken, peas, salt and pepper.

*Shape bottom pie crust. Add filling. Cover with top crust. Pinch the edges together and then flute or crimp. Make a few slits in the top crust for the steam to escape. Bake uncovered for 30 mintues at 350 degrees. Then bake covered with foil for 30 more minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Flyboy's Own Creation.....and it was YUM-O!

2009-04-09T20:27:00.002-06:00

Flyboy decided he would cook me something special and this is what he came up with. And he even took photos to chronicle what he was doing. I guess he learned that from me blogging. LOL. He knew I would want to do a post about it.

First, he cut up some bell peppers. These are really delicious. I never use to eat them, but my taste buds are expanding as I age. He cut a red, yellow and an orange pepper. They have slightly different tastes.

We went to Costco the other day and they were cooking these sausages. They had about 6 different flavors and I chose the Jalepeno. Again, that is HUGE for me. I DO NOT like really spicy food. A touch of spice is enough for me. And these sausages are pretty hot. But they have awesome flavor so we bought them.

Flyboy cut the casing and squeezed the sausage out so he could cook it crumbly instead of slicing it up.

After it was cooked, he added the peppers and cooked it some more. At this point, I was salivating. My house smelled SOOO good!

We had some left over white rice that he warmed up and made up a batch of spaghetti sauce. McCormick in the packet. It's the only kind to make. EVER! I learned that from my mom and she was right. It has the best flavor.

And then he snapped a photo of me eating it as proof of his accomplishment. We put the meat and pepper mixture on some white rice and added a little bit of spaghetti sauce to take away some of the hotness. It really was delicious. He was very proud of himself. And my kids even liked it. The meat and peppers were pretty spicey, but the rice and spaghetti sauce toned it down a bit. It was a great combination.

Edible KoolAid Playdough

2009-03-30T21:17:00.002-06:00

WANNA HAVE SOME......

GATHER YOUR KIDS AND GET READY TO MAKE SOME PLAYDOUGH. OR YOU CAN JUST MAKE IT FOR YOURSELF. WE ALL HAVE THAT INNER CHILD THAT LIKES TO PLAY WITH SOFT, SQUISHY PLAYDOUGH.

YOU WILL NEED:

2 1/2 CUPS FLOUR

1/2 CUP SALT

2 PKG. KOOLAID

2 TBSP COOKING OIL

2 CUPS BOILING WATER

FIRST, MEASURE YOUR DRY INGREDIENTS INTO A BOWL. WE MADE 3 BATCHES SO WE HAD 3 DIFFERENT COLORS FOR 3 DIFFERENT KIDS. THATS HOW WE ROLL AROUND HERE.

MIX YOUR DRY INGREDIENTS AND THEN

WHEN YOU ADD THE WET INGREDIENTS, MAGIC HAPPENS.

STIR THE INGREDIENTS UNTIL ALL IS MIXED WELL. AT THIS POINT, IT SMELLS REALLY YUMMY! THAT'S ONE OF THE BEST THINGS ABOUT KOOLAID PLAYDOUGH. IT SMELLS REALLY, REALLY GOOD!

AFTER YOU HAVE MIXED IT TOGETHER IN THE BOWL, SCOOP IT OUT ONTO THE TABLE AND KNEAD IT LIKE YOU WOULD BREAD DOUGH. BE CAREFUL THOUGH BECAUSE IT CAN BE REALLY HOT FROM THE BOILING WATER. IT CAN BE PRETTY STICKY TOO, BUT THE MORE YOU KNEAD IT, THE MORE PLIABLE AND SOFT AND SQUISHY IT BECOMES.

ONCE YOU'RE READY TO PLAY, GET OUT YOUR COOKIE CUTTERS, ROLLING PIN, BUTTER KNIFE, AND ANYTHING ELSE YOUR IMAGINATION DESIRES.

YOU CAN CUT SIMPLE SHAPES WITH THE COOKIE CUTTERS

OR YOU CAN CREATE A STEAK DINNER COMPLETE WITH MASHED POTATOES AND GRAVY AND PEAS. I HONESTLY DON'T KNOW WHY SHE MADE PEAS. MY KIDS DON'T LIKE PEAS. I GUESS THAT'S WHERE HER IMAGINATION TOOK HER.

OR YOU CAN SWIRL YOUR FINGERS THROUGH IT AND ENJOY THE SOFT, SQUISHY TEXTURE OF IT

OR YOU CAN GET YOUR FAVORITE ANIMAL, DRAW A SNAKE FOR IT'S DINNER AND THEN PUT A BROKEN HEART NEXT TO IT BECAUSE THE ONE HE LOVED JUST DITCHED HIM

OR, IF YOU ARE OBESESSED WITH A CERTAIN T.V. SHOW, YOU CAN PUT SHANNON ON A CRASHED PLANE'S SEAT, NEXT TO A PALM TREE, READING A MAGAZINE AND WATCHING SAYID'S BAG FOR HIM (LOST)

WE TOTALLY LOVE KOOLAID PLAYDOUGH. IT IS SO MUCH BETTER THAN THE STORE BOUGHT CRAP. IT IS SOFTER, SMELLS BETTER AND IS EDIBLE. IT WON'T HURT YOUR CHILD (OR YOU) IF THEY EAT IT. WHEN YOU'RE DONE PLAYING WITH IT, PUT IT IN A ZIPLOC BAG AND PUT IT IN THE FRIDGE. IT WILL LAST A LONG TIME AND ALWAYS STAYS REALLY SOFT. MAKE SOME! YOU WON'T REGRET IT!

Earth Hour 2009

2009-03-27T06:30:00.000-06:00

Please click on this link. I think it's a great idea.

Seriously! How do I come across this stuff?

2009-02-28T17:40:00.002-07:00

Every once in a while while surfing the net, I stumble across something that totally cracks me up. This is one of those times. Please click on THIS and find out. It will bring out your inner 14 year old. Seriously. I was laughing tears.

And then, when you're done crying from that one, please click on THIS. This is how I stumbled across the first one. Do it! Just for fun!

Blow Your Top

2009-02-23T05:00:00.000-07:00

The kids have a book called Giant Book of Cool Stuff. It is jam packed with magic tricks, freaky facts, science experiments, cool inventions, practical jokes, and cool jokes. We have performed one of the science experiments. Don and the kids made it while I was at work one day, so I didn't get any pictures of it being made. But here is the final product. They have created a volcano. The science project was to create a chemical reaction where one substance is chemically changed to another.

If you would like to recreate this yourself, you will need the following:

6 cups flour

2 cups salt

4 Tbsp cooking oil

2 cups water

A clean plastic soda bottle

Baking pan

Food coloring

Liquid detergent

Baking soda

Vinegar

Water

They put a lot of work into this volcano. They even completed the scene by coloring the surrounding area and putting grass and sticks around the bottom of the volcano. They also painted it to make it look more realistic.

What to do in this chemistry experiment:

1. Mix the flour, salt, cooking oil and the 2 cups of water in a bowl. Mix until smooth and firm. Add more water if needed.

2. Stand the soda bottle in the baking pan and mold the salt dough around the bottle. Make sure you don't cover up the bottle mouth or drop any dough in the bottle.

3. Fill the bottle almost to the top with warm water. Add drops of food coloring until you get the color you want.

4. Squeeze 6 drops of the liquid detergent into the bottle. Add 2 Tbsp. of baking soda.

5. Slowly pour vinegar into the bottle and jump back quickly.

WHAT DO YOU THINK WILL HAPPEN?

Mixing the baking soda and vinegar makes a chemical reaction.

All chemical reactions are about the making or destroying of bonds between atoms in which carbon dioxide gas is made - the same gas that bubbles in a real volcano.

The gas bubbles build up in the bottle. They force the liquid 'lava' mixture up and over the mouth of your volcano.

This was a fun project for them to do. But I think they were a bit disappointed in the end result. It didn't 'erupt' very much. It just sort of oozed out as you can see by the pictures. But it was still time well spent.

Scaredy Cat

2009-02-21T05:00:00.000-07:00

On Sarabeth's birthday, Don decided that she needed to have a little driving lesson. We were able to get our license at 14, so he figured she should have a chance to at least try it out. She wanted nothing to do with it. Seriously. Can you see the fear in her eyes?

Don put her in the drivers seat and gave her some instructions. Thankfully, we have an automatic, so it was a bit easier for her first lesson.

Here, she's telling me that she doesn't want to do it. But Don insisted so I closed the door and off they went.

Here she goes.

She wasn't too happy turning her first corner. They went around the block and when they returned, I asked her if she had fun. "NO", she said. But later that day, when Don took her and her friend to play laser tag for their birthdays (her best friends b-day is the day after hers), guess what she did. Her friend lives up the street from us. After her very UNenjoyable experience with driving, she had the nerve to ask if she could drive to her friends. LOL!

Sugar Boogers School Project

2009-02-19T05:00:00.000-07:00

For school, Jessica was assigned to complete an Idaho Historical Monuments Project. She was to build a model of one of the monuments connected to the history of Idaho. It had to include 10 details and they had to be labeled. Each student was assigned a monument to work on. Can you guess what Jessica was assigned?

We gave her a few hints and ideas on how she could make it, but overall, she created it all by herself. She used salt dough, pipe cleaners, paint, paper, and toothpicks. Here is a bald eagle.

This is her Indian Village

This is a bear

This is a trout in the river.

This is an Appaloosa horse.

This is a snake.

Here is an overhead view of the completed project. You can see the mountains (capped with snow), the river and streams, the forest, and the Indian village. Do you see the brown pipe cleaner that comes out of the mountain and follows the river? That is the actual monument that she was assigned. All of the other elements are the details that she had to include. Any guesses on what it is?

Didn't she do a fabulous job?

A Gift For Me

2009-02-17T10:31:00.003-07:00

BETCHA DON'T KNOW WHAT THIS IS.

HOW BOUT NOW? (sorry bout the hair and the focus problem)

ANY GUESSES YET?

DOES THIS HELP ANY?

CAN YOU SEE THE PIECE OF PINK GLAZE? DOES THAT HELP ANY?

MY DARLING SARABETH MADE ME A MUG IN ART CLASS AT SCHOOL. IT IS SOMETHING THAT I LOVE AND SHE MADE IT SPECIAL FOR ME.

THIS IS A SPECIAL "HELLO KITTY" MUG. THE PINK SPOT WAS THE ORIGINAL GLAZE COLOR SHE CHOSE, BUT IT DIDN'T ADHERE TO THE CLAY. SO SHE REPAINTED IT BABY BLUE CUZ THAT'S MY FAVORITE COLOR. ISN'T IT ADORABLE? I LOVE IT!!

Happy Birthday SB Louie

2009-02-07T09:04:00.002-07:00

Today is my oldest daughters 14th birthday. 14 years ago, after a complicated pregnancy, I gave birth (by c-section) to Sarabeth Louise. After administering approximately 10 minutes of CPR on her, the neonatal nurses pronounced her dead. The delivery nurse who was in charge of me, walked over to her and intubated (stuck an air tube down her throat) her and saved her life.

Then, while in recovery, I listened to the neonatal doctor tell me that my baby was severely deformed and retarded and that she wouldn't live through the day. They performed every chromosome test on her they could to determine what exactly was wrong with her. But every test came back negative. There was nothing wrong with her. Except that her lungs were underdeveloped, which kept her in NICU for 31 days.

Then when we brought her home, she stayed on oxygen for another 5 months until her saturation levels stayed at a normal level. During that time, I had a home nurse come to my house 2-3 times a week to check on her. Also, she was developmentally delayed and we had to take her to the Elks for rehabilitation classes so they could work on her motor skills. This is normal for premature babies. But that only lasted for about a year before she caught up to the norm.

She was also born with a club foot. I believe this is due to my not having any amniotic fluid for the last 4 months of my pregnancy, which didn't allow her to properly move around in utero. The doctor referred to her as being "vaccum packed". And boy was she. She came out black and blue from head to toe. She looked smunched. This is why the doctor thought she was severly deformed. But she proved that doctor wrong and every day he would comment on what a miracle she was.

I wish that doctor could see her now. My little miracle girl. I love you Sarabeth!

Happy Birthday

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY BABY (got you on my mind)

2009-02-06T05:00:00.000-07:00

Today is my 16th wedding anniversary with Flyboy. Has it really been that long? I was 17 when I met him. I actually already knew who he was because we went to the same school and his sister is my age. He graduated in 1987. I graduated in 1989. The night of 1988's graduation, I borrowed my Aunt Mary's convertible and went cruising downtown with my friends. Flyboy and some of his friends, were standing on one of the street corners hooting and hollering at everyone driving by. Us, included. I knew who they were so I wasn't going to stop and talk to them. They had bad reputations. At least, that was my impression of them. After several times around, Flyboy and his group decided to run to the other side of the cruise strip and catch us on the other side. As soon as we came close, Flyboy jumped in the back seat of the car. Remember, I was driving a convertible. I stopped and we both acknowledged that we recognized each other. I told him I knew his sister and he told me that he didn't claim her as his sister (that's another story). Now, I didn't like his sister, so when he said that, I decided that he was cute enough to give a chance. We left the cruise strip and went to breakfast with our friends in tow. He and one of his friends were both interested in me so when we got to the diner, they headed for a corner booth, sat on opposite sides and said (unbeknownst to me) that whomever I sat by, would be the one. I was on the pay phone with my aunt at the time letting her know we were o.k. (no cell phones then) and when I walked to the booth to sit down, I never even glanced at the other guy. I headed straight for Flyboy. And we've been together ever since. It will be 21 years this summer. I guess it was meant to be.

20 Random Things About Me

2009-02-05T05:00:00.001-07:00

I was tagged on Facebook to do a list of 25 random things about me. I decided to do a blog post about it. But I could only think of 20. And it took me a week. That is what an exciting life I lead. So, if you read this, consider yourself tagged.

20 THINGS ABOUT ME

1. I L. O. V. E. Helly Kitty. Nuff said.

2. I met my husband downtown cruising. I knew who he was because we went to school together. He was 2 years ahead of me. But I didn't want anything to do with him. He chased me down and jumped in my car (I was driving my Autie M's convertable). We have been together almost 21 years and our 16th wedding anniversary is tomorrow. I guess I changed my mind about him. :)

3. I have lost very good friends for unknown reasons. It really bothers me, but life goes on!

4. I have been best friends with Nona since the 5th grade. That's 28 years!

5. My 1st baby was born 4 weeks early, spent 31 days in NICU and spent 5 more months on oxygen. She was pronounced dead in the delivery room until they intubated (breathing tubes) her. They told me she was severely deformed and retarded. She will turn 14 in 2 weeks and you would never know that she was diagnosed that way.

6. I have naturally curly hair. I have women ask me where I got it permed because they love it. They are always jealous when I tell them it's natural. I HATE IT!

7. People always tell me what a good mom I am. Secretly, I wish I were better at it. I think my kids do too.

8. All 3 of my girls were delivered via C-Section, due to my pregnancy and delivery complications with #5 above.

9. I have probably watched The Notebook, Briget Jones Diary, Never Been Kissed and While You Were Sleeping close to 100 times. EACH.

10. I have a huge fear of heights. Not in a plane, helicoptor or fair rides. But I CANNOT walk up to the edge of a cliff. I get weak knee'd and dizzy and have to get down on the ground when my husband and kids do it. My husband goes to great lengths trying to scare me with this one. He isn't afraid of anything and will purposely dangle over the edge of something to scare me. They all think I'm weird and make fun of me for it. It seriously makes me sick.

11. I have grown to hate my job in the last month or so. But I am thankful to have it.

12. My dad died 11 years ago (this March) and I still cry about it sometimes. It breaks my heart that my kids never knew him.

13. I was shy in school and wish that I could go back and change some things.

14. I still have my homecoming dress, my prom dress and all of my corsages from my highschool dances. I keep them in my cedar "hope" chest (that my dad gave me) with my wedding dress and graduation cap and gown. After all, I did attend these events with my Flyboy. Plus a few other prized possessions from my life.

15. I need to spend more time with my friends. I think about it all the time, but can't seem to find time for it. I need to make the time. It's all about effort.

16. I love to catch up on my favorite blogs. I have my own blog, but I can't seem to find the time to keep up on it. I have a lot of ideas, but sitting down and creating them is another story.

17. I am a junkfood junkie. I have lost a lot of weight, but I can't seem to give up on junkfood so I still have some left to lose. I know that I have this problem, yet I do nothing about it.

18. I would LOVE to go on vacation with my best friend, Nona. We have talked about this several times, but can never seem to coordinate schedules.

19. We did, however, get to go to Hawaii together once. We were dental assistants at the same office and our entire office went to Maui. Totally paid for! Yeah, baby!

20. I recently received a discressionary bonus at work. Management is given money each quarter to give bonuses to whomever they choose. And they chose me this time. WOW!

ELIZARDBUTT

2009-02-04T06:57:00.002-07:00

Meet Olivier. I call him Elizardbutt. Cause that's how I am.

Isn't he pretty?

He is Emily's baby.

Meet Mouse. He was caught by Olivia (aka Elizardbutt) in Emily's bedroom last summer.

Isn't he cute?

The filthy little rodent!

Progress In Emily's Bedroom Part 2

2009-01-30T05:00:00.000-07:00

Since Flyboy is on hitch in Louisiana right now, I decided to try and tackle the job of putting down the laminate flooring in Emily's bedroom by myself. I've been putting if off for about a week, afraid that I'd get myself into something that was over my head. But her bedroom isn't going to finish itself. And when Flyboy gets back next week, I want to get as much of the house done as we can. So I thought I'd help speed up the process.

Here, I've laid out my barrier and got my boards all sorted. There are 5 different pattern pieces that we have to try to mix up so the same boards aren't always next to each other. We do our best anyway.

I have to start in the closet and ran into my first obstacle. The door jam. I have to make a special cut in one of the boards to fit around that door jam. And I don't have the proper saw to do it. And I'm scared. I called Flyboy twice to get his advice before I tackled it.

I've put down my first row of boards (easy) and now I have to make the special cut. I'm a smart and talented girl. I can do this!

I used my miter saw (yes, it is MINE) to make the two side cuts. But I could only make small cuts because I didn't want them to extend too far. Then I used a hand saw to complete the side cuts. Once I got the sides done, I realized I couldn't use the hand saw to do the last cut because I couldn't turn the saw enough to do it. The length of the board interfered. So I decided to try one of my handy dandy box knives that I have laying around everywhere (remember, I work at a grocery store).

It took a while and I had to cut both sides of the board until I could break the piece out. Kind of like chopping down a tree. Only not. And it made my hand hurt. But.......

IT WORKED!!!!

This is as far as I've gotten. It's harder than it looks. I stopped because I got frustrated trying to get the boards to fit together. I will try again tomorrow. but it's really starting to look good. I absolutely LOVE the flooring I picked out. Don't you? And it looks good with the bright green!

Hunka Hunka

2009-01-29T05:00:00.000-07:00

This is Gerard Butler. He's a hunk.

AMEN

Progress in Emily's Bedroom

2009-01-28T05:00:00.000-07:00

Our house is still a work in progress. Over a year ago, we started a little project called "replacing our carpet with laminate flooring". And a year later, we have 3 rooms done. Yep, that little project is very time consuming. And we haven't been very gung ho about it. But I am ready for it to be done and get the pallets of flooring material out of my garage. So I decided that the next room to finish would be Emily's. She keeps her room the cleanest so I decide that she earned the honor of being first. They all want their rooms painted so we decided we better paint before we put the new floor down. This is the color that Emily chose. Her favorite color has been green ever since she could talk. Bright, isn't it! But you only live once, so do what you want to do!

Here is Flyboy applying the first coat.

Hard at work while I snap pictures. LOL. Actually, I did all the "cutting" in the corners before he started rolling it. You can see my handi-work on the right. I'm so talented!

I chose a light taupe for the rest of the wall. We are going to put up white trim around the 3 half painted walls. It's going to break it up a bit and look really good! Again, MY idea.

Since the closet doors are off more often than they are on (kids are rough on everything) we decided we better paint the closet too. Here's a good picture of the contrast between the taupe and the white. Told you it was going to look good!

Flyboy applying some finishing touches. The green actually looks really good. It is a bright and cheery green.

Now that the painting is done (except for the white trim that we haven't bought yet), we can get started on the floor. Yeah! I LOVE progress!!

Pizza Night With My Babies

2009-01-26T21:36:00.003-07:00

When I planned my menu for the week, I asked each girl to pick 2 things each that they wanted me to cook for dinner. One of Emily's choices was pizza. Normally, I would just buy a Digorno or a Freschetta and call it good. But I decided that it would be more fun to make our own. Family time with my babies and good food? What more could you ask for?

Here are our pizza ingredients. We have a pizza place inside the grocery store that I work at. They make fresh pizza's and also sell packages of fresh pizza dough. So I bought a couple packages of it and split them so we could each make our own pizza. I also didn't go crazy with the toppings. Speaking from experience, simple and easy is better when working with children. Amen.

Rolling out the dough is lots of fun. We tried to make them as round as we could, but that just doesn't happen in reality. Unless you make them every day and know what you're doing. Which, we don't. Besides, homemade stuff isn't supposed to be perfect. It just gives it more character.

Emily working on her masterpiece.

This is my masterpiece. Isn't it bee-you-tee-ful? Hole and all!

After the crust was ready, we poked holes in it with a fork (as Emily is demonstrating) and then spread the pizza sauce.

Then we each put toppings on our pizzas. And snacked on whatever toppings were left over. That's all a part of the fun! They were all a little unique. But they were "ours".

Sarabeth made hers to look like a "real" pizza with a rolled edge. What a perfectionist she is. And I'm not even kidding on that one! Don't ask!

Wa La! The finished product. These are mine and Emily's.

And these are Jessica and Sarabeth's. And they tasted as yummy as they look!

Actual Conversation

2009-01-21T19:55:00.002-07:00

I was thumbing through a new magazine today and came across a picture of Jelly Bellies. Sarabeth points to one of the beans and states that it's her favorite flavor. Then she says this:

Oh! Could you imagine if you had mouths on your fingers?

But then it would be gross for people who scratch their butts.

They would be like.....ooh! That tastes like corn.

SMILE!

2009-01-12T09:27:00.002-07:00

Guess who got her braces off.

OH. MY. GAWD.

2009-01-03T07:03:00.004-07:00

I watched the movie Mr. Brooks last night. If you haven't seen it, it is about a serial killer played by Kevin Costner. It is a pretty good movie. Because of the content, I didn't allow my girls to watch it. I did, however, watch it in my kitchen and they overheard/saw bits and pieces of it. Which led to a discussion about serial killers.

Me: Remember the other day at the mall when I pulled you all aside and quizzed you on what you do if we get separated and you are approached by a stranger?

Girls: Yes

Me: This is partly because of serial killers. They. Are. Real! They aren't made up just for movies.

This led to a discussion about Adam Walsh. I told them his story and then we looked it up on the internet. I wanted them to know that it really was true and people really do kidnap and kill little kids. And big kids. And yes, even adults.

Then we started talking about sex offenders. I looked at the Registered Sex Offender registry online to see if there were any in our subdivision. And lo and behold, there was one. I clicked on HER name, and it brought up her information and her picture. And guess what happened then.

My baby, says, "THAT'S THE CAT LADY THAT LIVES ON THE CORNER!"

Me: WHAT??????? YOU KNOW WHO SHE IS?????

My Baby: Yes! I talk to her all the time!

OHMYOHMYOHMYOHMYOHMY

So, my oldest, wrote down the address and went for a little walk to make sure that it was in fact the same "cat lady" that my baby was referring to and it turns out that my baby knows what she's talking about. CRAP!

So then we had to have a discussion about how NOT to talk to the cat lady anymore. She said she's never been in her house, but that the lady was always asking her questions about where she lived, etc. Now, I am smart enough to know that she probably meant no harm with those questions. I ask kids that all the time when they pass by my house and stop to chat. BUT, the fact that she is a registered sex offender makes me a bit nervous. So, I instructed my kids to walk on the other side of the street and not to talk to her anymore. They can be polite and say hi if she says hi to them, but DO NOT STOP!

Her offense? Lewd conduct with a minor under the age of 16

What would you do????

Merry Christmas

2008-12-21T23:22:00.002-07:00

We had our family Christmas party last night at my sister, Michelle's house. Here is a video we made to sent to my mom who lives in the North and was unable to make it. Click on the picture and it will take you to the video.

Too Funny!

2008-12-07T03:10:00.002-07:00

What did the Pillsbury Doughboy see when he bent over?

DOUGH NUTS!

tee hee ha ha giggle giggle snort

Cristie Needs.......

2008-12-05T19:29:00.004-07:00

I was reading a blog earlier and decided to copy what the gal posted about. If you go to Google and type "Cristie (or whatever your name may be) needs" and hit enter, you will find some interesting things. I actually had to spell my name with an H and a Y (Christy) because my spelling wasn't found. Here is what I discovered about myself today.

Cristie needs......AN OPERATION

You don't say. Nothing would make me happier than if I could get a tummy tuck. Those of you who know me well, you know this is true.

Cristie needs........A CHANGE

Do ya think? This one is very true, but I'm not going to elaborate at this time.

Cristie needs.......TO STOP CHEWING

I can't even describe how funny this one is to me. Flyboy chews and it is probably my biggest pet peeve about him. I did try chew once. When I was young and dumb and we were in the beginning stages of dating and he offered and I couldn't possibly turn him down. It was just a teeny tiny smidgeon of a taste and it INSTANTLY gave me a buzz and made me want to barf. That ended my relationship with Copenhagen. Although, each of my children drank from one of Flyboy's chew spit cans when they were babies. ENOUGH TO GAG A MAGGOT, HUH!

Cristie needs........A NAP

And boy do I!! All day, every day! Amen!

Cristie needs.........CHARITY

Is it really THAT obvious? I mean, I know I have needs, but I thought I was faking it pretty good. Damn!

Cristie needs........YOU

Well, whomever YOU are, please come to me now!!!! And explain to me why it is that I need YOU! My life won't be complete without YOU. I'm waiting......

Cristie needs........A SLICE OF MY VERY MEATY STUFFED........

WTF???????? Please, Please, PLEASE elaborate!!

Cristie needs........THERAPY

Nona, I believe this is where you come in. Nuff said.

So Get This.....

2008-12-02T18:31:00.003-07:00

This morning, I added Christmas music to my blog. It's sort of been a work in progress, but I finally added it. Then, this evening, my BFF, Nona, calls and leaves a message on my cell phone about it. She says that she checked on my blog and noticed the new music. Then she adds a special request for Winter Wonderland by the Eurythmics. I have never heard their version of it but quickly found it. I was in the middle of cooking dinner when I got the message and ran to my computer to search before I forgot about it. That's what a dedicated friend I am. I liked the sound of it so I went ahead and added it. It really is a cool version of the song. Then I went back down to finish my spaghetti. In the meantime, I've got the radio on the all Christmas music channel. We sit down to dinner and guess what song comes on when I'm half way through my spaghetti and french bread. Winter Wonderland by the Eurythmics. How weird is that! Do you ever have things like that happen? That seems to happen a lot with Nona and I. She will tell me about something I've never heard of and then I seem to see or hear it all the time. Is it that it was there all the time and it was never brought to my attention so I didn't notice it? Or is there more to it? One of those freaky weird things. Anyhoo, thanks Nona for bringing a great song to my attention!

Tabyana and Evolution of Allie Girl

2008-12-01T05:24:00.000-07:00

Thankful

2008-11-27T14:04:00.004-07:00

I asked my girls to write down 5 things they are thankful for so I could post them on my blog. This is what they came up with.

Emily is thankful for:
1. My Family
2. My Friends
3. My Home
4. My School
5. My pets Bandit (rest in peace), Tabyana, Allie, Olivier, Midnight & Sebastian (gave away, but was told he was still sort of ours)

Jessica is thankful for:
1. My Life
2. My Family
3. My School
4. My House
5. My Pets

Sarabeth is thankful for:

1. My Family

2. My Friends

3. Books

4. Music

5. My Pets

6. Malls

7. Boys

8. Makeup

9. Lipgloss

10. Cell Phones

(she couldn't narrow it down to 5)

And what am I thankful for?

1. My Job

2. My Family

3. My Home

4. My Kids

5. My Health

6. Chocolate

7. Music

8. Good Friends

9. Good Books

10. Good Movies

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T08:57:00.001-07:00

I hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving.

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-01T17:21:00.003-06:00

Witchy Emily

Bloody Vampire Jessica

80's Girl Sarabeth (she is wearing my prom dress from 1989 - see photo below)

Prom 1989. Flyboy and I with Nona and her ex-hubby.

Oh, who's this handsome football player? I joked about needing something to fill the crotch area, but it appears that I didn't need to.

Ghouly Flyboy. His eyes glowed red.

In all their glory. I was already out of my costume so I couldn't partake, but I love this picture.

Hope you all had a safe and Happy Halloween!

Halloween Fun

2008-11-01T01:04:00.011-06:00

For Halloween, we are able to dress up at work and possibly win a prize. Here are some photos of everyone who dressed up while I was there. There were a few more who came in after I left for the day and I don't have photo's of them. But take a look at these and let me know which one you would vote for.

No costume, just his idea of dressing nice. He actually did look pretty good.

Not sure what to call her. P.J.'s, rollers, and face cream.

How about a baby

Or how about Elvira?

How about our very own Cheerleader whose costume was made out of our store shirt, aprons (skirt) and plastic bags (pom poms)

I believe he was death metal or something like that.

This is supposed to be a member of a heavy metal band called Slipknot. He made the mask out of liquit latex and then painted it. The mouth was a zipper that really zipped. He made some babies cry.

Marilyn Monroe

Is there a doctor in the house?

Santa's Elf was a bit confused about what holiday it was.

Sir, Yes SIR!

Oompa Loompa doopa da dee..........

Spider Queen

Or how about this handsome football player?

Which one would you have voted for?

Hmmmmm?

I'll post who won when it's announced at work.

A Sneak Peek

2008-10-30T16:36:00.003-06:00

Here's a little sneaky peek for tomorrow

Sand Art

2008-10-26T21:42:00.001-06:00

I would love to be able to do this.

One Of My Favorites

2008-10-25T17:24:00.004-06:00

This was my favorite cartoon as a child.

Grape Ape! Grape Ape!

Pause the music player before you click on play.

Who Will You Vote For?

2008-10-16T12:23:00.002-06:00

Here is a fun quiz to take to determine who your political match is. My answer was who I chose to vote for from the start so I guess I feel pretty confident that I'm making the right decision. Thanks, Nona, for sending this to me.

Take the test.

Jessica's Birthday

2008-10-05T05:00:00.000-06:00

Today is Sugar Boogers birthday. She is 10 years old now. A few significant things happened in my life while I was pregnant with Jessica. First, my dad died unexpectedly. Then Flyboy and I sold our house in the mountains and built a new house in town. I even helped with the concrete, painted, and caulked in the summer heat while pregnant. Then I quit my job and became a stay at home mom again (for a while). The last 10 years have flown by! Here are some pictures of the little darling through the years.

Bowling Fun

2008-10-04T16:17:00.002-06:00

A week or so ago, my girls and I got a wild hair and went bowling. A wild hair, you ask? It has probably been at least 15 years since I last bowled. It just isn't something I've ever really gotten excited about. But one of the guys at work owns a bowling alley. So I got a wild hair and took my girls. You should have seen us. You would have been proud! In three hours time, we bowled a whopping TWO games. That's right. Yeah, if you are a competative bowler, we are not the ones you want to be bowling with. But we had a lot of fun. A couple more co-workers showed up. One of them has a 15 year old son that my two youngest took a liking to. Here are some photos of our wild hair. Most of them were taken by Emily and Jessica so bear with me. :)

This is Mike, the owner, talking to Jessica about how to bowl

Here is Jessica's first attempt

Now it's Emily's turn with Mike

Sarabeth can't take a photo without posing (tee hee)

Aren't I cute and out of focus?

This is the 15 year old, Tanner. He and Emily chased each other around all night.

This is James, Tanner's dad. Stuart is in the camo shorts.

Here I am instructing Jessica. I'm such and expert at all.

She has better aim with my advice.

Then she got in James face and took his picture. Poor guy!

Here's one of Sarabeth without posing.

Nice form Emily!

Admiring the 15 year old. Tee hee!

Here I go

Nice form, eh?

Jessica got a picture of Tanner sticking his butt out. Tee hee!

You can't bowl properly without lipgloss! Tricks of the trade!

Stuart kept throwing "anti strikes" aka gutter balls.

All in all it was great fun. We all agreed that we would go again. It's about a 30 mile drive, but it's nice to get out of the house and be around friends.

Emily's Birthday

2008-10-01T15:07:00.003-06:00

Yesterday was my baby girls birthday. She turned a whopping 9 years old.

She is an absolute joy in my life. Here are some pics of the little twerp through the years.

Emily - 1 week old

She loved her little piggies

Here is Hank giving her a kiss.

Wearing daddy's hard hat

Love them blue eyes!

She loves the water

I loved those p.j.'s. They fit her personality.

We made kitty cats for Halloween one year

Peeing in the woods. Gotta do what ya gotta do. Tee hee!

Swimming at Lucky Peak

Daddy/Daughter night in her formal dress

Officer Emily loved handing out tickets that year

I went to her class and took cookies and ice cream. She got to hand them to her classmates. The boy behind her in the blue is her crush. Tee hee!

Mrs. Campbell (all of my kids favorite teacher) singing (and rocking) Happy Birthday to her.

She always ends it with a big ol' wet kiss!

Opening her presents

She got a new Bratz house, furniture and a new Bratz doll.

Here she is setting up her new house in her bedroom.

After presents, we went to Micky D's for dinner and then to Target, where she spent her hard earned allowance on this outfit. Then we came home and I made cookies and cream milkshakes. She had a pretty good birthday.

Carter's Birthday

2008-09-17T10:37:00.002-06:00

On September 15th, my great nephew, Carter, turned 1. I can't believe how fast this last year has gone by. But then again, it seems like just yesterday his dad, Eric, was born. Geesh. I'm old. But I am so proud of the man that Eric has become and his son is such a cutie. Here are some pictures from the birthday party.

Carter and I.

Carter and Grandma Michelle

Opening presents with daddy.

He was spoiled rotten!

I think he got everything under the sun. Deservedly so! (Is that a word?)

His daddy bonked him in the face with one of the toys. How dare he!

Big boy's turning one!

Blowing out the candle.

Snarfing the cake!

Silly picture of daddy.

Silly picture of Aunt Ashley.

Silly picture of Auntie Cristie

Eric and Jenn 9/5/08

2008-09-07T04:33:00.005-06:00

Eric and Jennifer's wedding was Friday night and it was so beautiful. They got married at a place called The Bishops House. It is out by the Old Penetentiary. It was an evening wedding that was held outside in the yard. And it was the perfect night for it. The wedding went off without a hitch and I am so happy for both of them. Here are some photos of the blessed event.

Family gathered together

The ceremony

Michelle, Ashley, Janelle, Grandma Dort and Eric's dad, Ermine

Cutting the cake

Kissing the cake (wink, wink)

The Newleyweds

The beautiful bride

Tossing the bouquet

First dance

Mother and son dance

Me and my Flyboy

Eric and Grandma Dort

Flyboy and Janelle (check out the dudes in the background)

Sisties Ugly gettin down wit it

Jennifer and Carter

Me enjoying the night

Sugar Booger dancing with the bride

Young Sisties Ugly gettin down wit it

Me and my favorite brother

Ashley and David

Sandee Aunt and Janelle

Me and my Flyboy

Sarabeth's homemade gift

My homemade gift

Best Friend Forever

2008-09-04T23:15:00.004-06:00

Today is my BFF Nona's 37th Birthday. Nona and I have been best friends since the 5th grade. 1981 to be exact. That is 27 years!!! There is probably nothing that she doesn't know about me. And I her. We are two peas in a pod. We can look at each other and know exactly what the other is thinking. We are each other's memories. When I don't remember something, she knows it. And vise versa. We can go 6 months without talking and pick up right where we left off. That's what is great about having a BFF. We have gone our separate ways here and there over the years, but have always maintained our BFF status.

We became instant friends as soon as we met. There was no "getting to know you" time in our friendship. We met and were instantly best friends. Inseperable.

We shared everything, except for clothes.

She always had better fashion sense than I did.

But I was better in the "beautify" department. As you can see by my lovely makeover I performed on her.

We always went Trick-or-Treating together. And now even take our kids together.

She met her future hubby in 10th grade, I met Flyboy in 11th grade. We went to the dances together Senior year and had our photo's taken together.

When we went to Prom, I think we only danced once because our "hubbies to be" spent the entire evening competing with each other by bringing us flowers and balloons from the Prom decorations. It was hilariously great fun.

After graduation, we both attended BSU and learned how to be dental assistants together. We even worked in the same office and got to go on a business trip to Hawaii. What great luck is that?

She got married before I did and I was in her wedding. And when I got married, she was in mine.

We even celebrated mine by doing "blow jobs" together. THE DRINKS, MOM!

She has always been there when I have needed her.

Today, we went to lunch together to celebrate her birthday. I was lucky and had the day off.

She is and will always be my BFF. Happy Birthday Kanona!

Meet Allie

2008-08-28T12:11:00.002-06:00

Allie is the newest addition to our family. I caved and decided to go ahead and keep one of Bandit and Tabyana's puppies. She is almost 9 weeks old now. And she is absolutely adorable. And loveable. And Smart. Very, very smart.

I wasn't going to keep one of the puppies. But Allie was my favorite. And we actually sold her to an older couple. I couldn't even come downstairs to see her leave because it hurt too bad. But I had made my decision about not keeping one so I knew I had to let her go.

But, fate was on our hands because they brought her back to us the next morning. Turns out that the guy had a poodle that hated the puppy. The lady wanted the puppy, but the guy won out so we got Allie back.

I saw this as a sign that she was meant to be with us. She left and came back. And when she came back, she was soooo excited and happy and gave me tons of kisses. The lady even commented on how happy she was to be back. It was meant to be.

So this is our new baby. And we love her. Isn't she beautiful!!

Speaking of Sunsets

2008-08-27T05:00:00.000-06:00

Monday night, we had a horrible dust storm pass through. I mean, it hit us like a ton of bricks. I looked up and saw the dust cloud and then next thing I knew I was running into the house hoping my fence wasn't going to blow down. After the storm cleared, this is what happened. The sky went through a multitude of changes. They occurred over the course of about 30 minutes. From one extreme to another. Mother nature at her best. None of my photos are Photoshop'd. They are au naturel.

Playing in the river

2008-08-26T05:00:00.000-06:00

We went and played in the Boise River the other day. It was beautiful out. Years ago, when Flyboy and I started dating, he brought me to this same spot and we went crawfishing. We caught a bunch of crawdads and took them home and cooked and ate them. It was a lot of fun. We haven't been here in years. And it's not far from where we live. We need to come here more often. It's the perfect spot. It's not too deep and the girls had a ton of fun.

This is where we first got in the river.

Walking under Linder bridge. You can see how shallow it is right here. It does get a bit deeper as you'll see in the next pictures.

Don and the girls are starting to search for crawdads. They're sort of hard to spot, but once you see one, it seems like you suddenly see them everywhere.

J is my little fish. She has always loved the water.

Isn't it beautiful here?

SB and Flyboy turning rocks searching.....

J and E swimming.

Still searching......

Ooh! A cool rock!

Hi Suger Booger! My little fishy!

I brought my chair and found a spot to sit.

See? I told you she was a fish!

E is fishy #2

Another beautiful spot on the river

And What do we have here???

A crawdad!!! The first catch of the day.

Can you see it's claw? It was trying to get me!

Here's another one.

We threw several back before we decided to keep some to bring home. We only kept about 12 or so.

The puppies wanted to eat them. Silver boy got pinched and had enough.

Crawdads cooking. Notice how they turned red?

This is the mack daddy of them all. I found this one. I made Flyboy catch it though.

Preparing to eat them with some melted butter

Each of us got a little taste. They are really pretty good. Just think of a baby lobster.

All in all it was a pretty fun day. The girls love to get outside and do some exploring. We need to do it more often.

Family Day at the Western Idaho Fair

2008-08-25T05:00:00.000-06:00

The girls and I went on the swings. It was fun.

Hello down there!

Coming out of the funhouse

SB and E on a spinny ride. I don't ride those anymore.

J and I on a baby ride. I was making truck driving noises and embarrassed her. She's no fun!!!

SB and E on the bumper cars

SB and E on the new ride. It made them sick. A girl threw up on it right after they rode it. This is why I don't do spinny rides anymore.

J on the spinny ride

Trying to get out of the heat. I think it was 110 degrees that day. It was miserable!

J and I on the merry-go-round. I don't think you ever outgrow it.

SB and I upside down

Hi Flyboy! This was great fun!

E and J on the baby swings.

E and J entered a contest in the 4H barn.

They had to eat like chickens.

They won candy bars. Yum!!

Have I Ever Mentioned That I Love Sunsets?

2008-08-24T19:08:00.000-06:00

The Things You Do For Love

2008-08-23T14:56:00.003-06:00

My baby is head over heals IN LOVE with Corbin Bleu. She talks about him on a daily basis. She has his pictures on her wall. She wants Corbin Bleu wallpaper, bedding, pillows, etc., etc. He is an actor and a singer. He is 19. He was born the year I graduated from High School. His father is black and his mother is white. She say's that makes him Tan. And he was here Thursday night. At the fair. So what is a mother to do? Well, even though I had to be to work at 4am the next morning, I took my baby girl to the fair to see her true love. And let me tell you. It was SOOOOOO worth losing sleep over. She was so excited and had so much fun. She was screaming and dancing and jumping up and down. And when she turned and told me thank you and that she loved me, it totally made my night. I was glad that I was able to share her first concert experience with her. She will remember this night for the rest of her life. I snapped some photos, but didn't get any really good ones. We started out sitting in the grandstands and made our way down to the area in front of the stage. We could only catch glimpses of him through the crowd of people but at least we were close to him. And my dang camera kept focusing on people's hair instead of him so I just had to hold my camera above my head and snap aimlessly and hope for the best. And I seriously need a telephoto lens. I was a bit peeved that people around me were getting better close up shots of him on their cell phones than I was with my expensive digital SLR camera. But I need to win the lottery before I can afford one of those babies. Anyhoo, here are a few snapshots of Emily's big night with Corbin Bleu.

Watching for Corbin through the binoculars

After he made is entrance. She was so excited!!

Our view from the grandstands

Down on the ground

Emily sang and danced the whole time

Corbin sang and danced the whole time

I think he was singing a ballad here

This was his encore song

He climbed this thing right next to us

Not focused good, but I did my best in a hurry.

Random Fact

2008-08-13T11:05:00.003-06:00

My sweet baby girl sings in the shower every day. It's just the cutest darn thing. Sometimes she makes up her own songs. And sometimes she changes the melody of a popular song. One of those that when you hear it, you know it seems familiar but can't quite place it until you realize that you know the words, just not the new melody. Today she was singing Honey, Honey by Abba. Ever since we went to see Mamma Mia, my girls have all become huge ABBA fans. They already knew some of their songs, but the movie made them aware of so many more.

Summer Storm

2008-08-11T05:00:00.000-06:00

We had a pretty good dust storm come through the other day. It started out looking like this.

It was very windy and dusty. I thought it was going to blow my fence down.

And then it blew over and turned into this.

I love how the weather can go from one extreme to another.

Mother Nature at her finest.

Random Photos

2008-08-10T19:06:00.002-06:00

Simply Irresistible

2008-08-04T19:53:00.006-06:00

They are 5 weeks old now

Don't you wish you could be this lazy and comfortable

With no cares in the world. Just eating and sleeping and playing.

Flyboy gave them a little taste of pot roast and they loved it. The little scavengers.

Oh, you are so cute......yes, you are!

They are so cute and precious. They love to give puppy kisses and be snuggled.

How can you resist??

Why Bother?

2008-07-29T20:22:00.003-06:00

Do you ever just feel like you absolutely don't want to do anything? Anything at all? I have those days quite often. It's not a lazy sort of feeling. It's a "why bother" sort of feeling. Why bother disciplining my children when it's a daily thing and if they haven't learned the rules by now......why bother??? Why should I do my dishes when they are just going to pile up again? It is so much easier using paper plates. Then I don't have to listen to my kids argue over who's turn it is to do the dishes. So why bother? Why should I wash the clothes and towels when they are just going to end up on the floor anyways because nobody knows how to put them away properly. Why bother? Why put the roll of toilet paper on the roll because it always ends up falling in the toilet, getting wet, and sitting on the edge of the counter. But NOBODY EVER knows who did it and how it got there. Why bother? Why bother having garbage cans in every room of the house when nobody knows how to use them? I swear, I pick up enough used tissues and torn paper and Popsicle wrappers to fill a dumpster on a daily basis. Why bother? Do you get the feeling that I am feeling a bit frustrated right now? I know I wasn't a perfect child by any means, and I made my share of messes and had my lazy moments. But I also know that when I was disciplined by my parents about doing something wrong, it made me feel bad. And I learned from it. My children can't seem to grasp that concept. What am I doing wrong? I go over the same teachings every single solitary day about how to pick up after themselves. How to put the laundry away. How to actually take the initiative to help out around the house. Because we ALL live here and we are ALL responsible for taking care of it. But I swear they tune me out when I am talking to them about it. You can see their eyes glaze over and zone out. And then when I ask them about something, they can never remember me talking to them about it. Am I the only one that has this problem with their kids??? Please tell me I'm not. Please, oh please tell me I'm not. I just don't know how to get them to appreciate and care and most importantly, to have respect for ME and what I have to say to them. I can't understand where I went wrong in my teachings. I just get to the point that I lock myself in my room because I don't know what to do. Why bother?

Bridal Shower

2008-07-27T10:52:00.002-06:00

We have a wedding coming up in our family. My sister, Michelle's, oldest kid (yes, Eric, you are still a kid) is getting married in September. We haven't had a wedding in our family since 1993. That is when Flyboy and I got married. And Eric was our ring bearer. Now, 15 years later, he is getting married. His bride to be, Jenn, is a very nice girl. They were sweethearts in Jr. High and reconnected as adults. You can read all about their adventures and wedding plans here. 2 weeks ago, she had her bridal shower. It was a lot of fun. Here are some pictures of the festivites.

The girls and I took the liberty to get Jenn some skivvies. Here she is demonstrating someone grabbing her thong. Tee hee.

One of the activities was to creat toilet paper wedding dresses. We split up into 3 teams. Emily was the model for our team. Here is my sister, Michelle, starting to design the dress.

It really was a group effort. We only had 5 minutes to design a gorgeous dress. Have you ever made a dress out of toilet paper? That tears easily? In the wind?

Here is team Emily. Notice Sandee peeking between Emily and Michelle.

Michelle doing the final touches on the veil.

Here are the final results. Aren't they all beautiful. And very creative. The girl on the end, with the big bow in her hair (sorry, I don't remember her name), won. Jenn really loved that bow. I wonder if she'll show up on her wedding day with a big bow in her hair. Very 80's!

Me and my girls with my handsome great nephew, Carter. He is Eric and Jenn's son.

And I can't leave this post without posting a picture of my handsome nephew, and husband-to-be, Eric and his son, Carter. Aren't they a handsome pair?