Thursday, October 30, 2008

VERY RANDOM

I just HAD to put this picture in here! It was obviously in the wrong box since I was looking in 2005. But she is soo cute! The bib, the bone, the look, what more can I say? We have a box of hat's that we use for good and entertainment. This is must be entertainment by the looks of Levi. He decided to bust a move and no one quite knows what to do. Sidney, Joe's sister just can't find the right hat yet. Zack wants to move, just not sure what to do. And Elijah wants to move, I just think it is far enough away from Levi that no one will ever know they are related!


Sadie and Naomi, the princesses.
I always hear that two heads were better than one. What do you think three heads mean?


Naomi, Sadie, Levi and Elijah.



Wednesday, October 29, 2008

A LITTLE BIT OF THIS, A LITTLE BIT OF THAT...

Once again with the songs. If I only knew just a few more words to a bunch of songs this could be a total different kind of blog. But, your in luck, I DO only know a few words to many, many songs. I can't help but pepper them here and there, they just come out that way! Working my talent on baby Sam. We start them young in my family and are not above bribing them with cookies!
A beautiful Meme, fresh from the salon.

Naomi posing with an old picture of me. With he hair cut like mine, we look like we could be related.


THE LOOK

Here are a couple of pictures of "the look" I was talking about. It just made me laugh when I am looking through all the pictures and see the ones of him looking at me like this. It brings back memories of my childhood how I knew to stop doing whatever I was doing to get "the look".

I think in these he is actually thinking, why does she always have to take pictures???
Just trying to capture the moment Pop, just trying to capture the moment. What else would I have to laugh about in the future?

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROTHER!

Today my big brother is 44! He is a good brother, proud father and caring son. He makes the world a better place with his friendship and willingness to help others. He is smart, funny and easy going. You can see for yourself that he is cute too!

Happy Birthday Kenny!!! Kenny and Mary Grace at the ball field last year.
Keeping with the theme of the week, a blast from the past. This looks like Easter of 1979 in front of our home.

Monday, October 27, 2008

PROJECT

I will start by telling you that my younger children's school is fond of giving projects as homework. Now I will tell you that I am not a project kind of girl. We get them done, I don't let my children know how I feel, but it must run in the family. See, since they are not MY project homework I don't feel like I should be the one to start them. I give them ample time and reminders, I just don't want to do all the work. Levi has had several this month with the latest being a pumpkin saint (I will show you the pictures when I get them on the computer, they are good!) and a picture of a veteran family member. It was all he could do to get the pumpkin done so I was left looking for the picture. I can't imagine turning him loose on my photos to find just the right one. I couldn't even do that! But I did come up with some pretty funny ones to share on the blog.

I've decided to make this week a time of remembrance. I only looked through two years (a few other years were mixed in) and had to hold myself back from scanning them all. We had lots of family play days, a few hair dos, some scary looks from Pop, and tons of fun. I only have one picture for today, the one that started it, not the project picture but the one that made me laugh.


This is Elijah and Naomi on our trip to Florida visiting Joe's sisters family. What do you think he was saying????The whole look is priceless, his blond hair, Naomi's hair, her face....

Sunday, October 26, 2008

CHANGE, CHANGE, CHANGE

There is a song in there somewhere. Which, you can see is only fitting for this post.

A couple of months ago we started the process of moving rooms. Levi has never been really happy in the big room upstairs even though we have done various things to make it seem smaller. That made him happy, but when we thought he had outgrown his dislike of the big open space we decided changed all that. The blinds came down and he did good for a while then the complaining started. Not ready to go back to improvising, I had an idea. What if he traded rooms with one of the other children. All of them seemed excited about the idea. Naomi was my first thought, then I quickly remember how much stuff she had to move and that it would be a BIG pain so I set my sights on Elijah. His room was small and he didn't have a lot of stuff, or so I thought. Turns out I was wrong, the boy had HUGE ideas and wasn't afraid of asking for them. Wanting to make him happy (since it was Levi's happiness that started all this) I agreed to letting him paint. No big deal, he was going to do all the work. I just had to hand over the wallet. As you might have guessed, after three days of trying to cover the bright red paint with primer he ask for my help (he was done, hated painting and ready to give up). Once again, since I started all this, I felt the need to see it through. Of course I was thinking at one point it might not be so bad with just the primer color. We used almost two gallons of primer and barely a half gallon of the grey. It was a joke by the time it was over, and I'm not sure what I am going to do with the other gallon and a half since I don't really like to paint either. If anyone is interested, let me know, it is a really pretty shade.

So, without further ado. May I present Elijah own creation and design. Brought to you straight out of the eighties (and a little earlier) to the present.

Elijah's Room
Looking in from the doorway.
Making my way around.

He didn't want to pose but he started to get silly with all the excitement. The blue trash can will be replaced by a grey metal one to match his other accessories. It's around here somewhere....we just have to find it.


I was very surprised to see all the wall hangings. I knew he was really using the hammer, but this was amazing.



He and Joe even made the doorstop. Impressive!




He said he added the picture of his Dad because it fit with the eighties decor. I think he just likes to show people that his Dad really did wear a mullet.
Next project, Levi's room.





A little before shot.
Elijah's room speaks for itself, and for him. When I bought him those two boxes of tacks I never dreamed he would use them all. I have learned a good lesson, start with one box and go from there. Of course, I may not have seen Elijah's full potential then.






Saturday, October 25, 2008

RECENT CONVERSATIONS

I have had several recent conversations with my kids that I thought were funny and would like to share. Always up for a good laugh, I hope you find the humor in them also. If not, I guess you just had to be there.

The first conversation comes with a little background. Naomi has been asking us to get her piano lessons for almost two years. After getting her in with the best teacher ever, she loves it but rarely wants to practice. Levi enjoys it too and has been using her lessons to teach himself.

Just this morning I ask Naomi to practice her piano lesson. She immediately went into "I'm tiiirrredd!!!". Being the sweet Mom that I am I looked at Levi and said that he can take her lesson instead. I told her to go lay down and rest, she can practice later. She broke down into what I can only call the villain scream, "noooo" I could almost see her melting in front of me.
Once Levi was at the piano Naomi was right at his side. When I questioned her, she said she was over being tired and was "up and at em". She hasn't left his side yet.

The next conversation comes from me talking to Elijah about a recent trip we took to the farm with friends that he didn't get to make. I was telling him how much fun we had and that he would have had a blast. In all serious he looks at me and says "That doesn't sound like fun to me". I couldn't believe it. The other friends we took loved riding the dirt bikes and I saw that as more people to play with. He proceeds to tell me the reason that it doesn't sound like fun is...."I don't like to share the motorcycle". I guess I forgot that he is spoiled. When he goes with us he gets a bike to himself and doesn't have to share. We've got to work on that one!

The last conversation comes from my friend PJ. She is the music minister at her church and Naomi and Levi have been attending the Wednesday night services. PJ is retelling the story of how Naomi works her way into the spotlight. They are practicing for a recital where they have hand movement to go with the song. In lining the children up, the teacher put Naomi to the side of the stage. Naomi, feeling like she should be the one in front, put herself there with a few hand movement (and feet movements). The teacher had to laugh at how determined she was. I guess thinking no one would notice if she did it with the song. When we saw them perform, Naomi was just a little off to the side. She stayed in her place and they sounded beautiful.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

THE FARM

The latest update on Joe's parent farm house. We went a couple of weeks ago and was surprised to see the progress. The basement walls were poured and sealed. The builders have done a great job with the foundation, we are really looking forward to seeing more! I forgot my camera but quickly remembered the camera on my phone. The quality is not what I am used to, but I love to have a visual memory. There is always time for a swing.
The sky looks fake (which is kinda cool in a way). Getting ready to ride.

Checking to see if the walls are as sturdy as they seem.


Inspector Levi doing his job. "It looks like they need a little more gravel here."



A view from the top, it's going to be really nice!




Sunday, October 19, 2008

JUST A LITTLE BABY TALK

I can't believe it has taken me a whole week to get a post going. Sorry, I've been busy. We had a great time at Meme and Pop's house last weekend. It had been way too long since we were there and are ready to go back. I couldn't believe how much Jack had changed. Mom's pictures just didn't do him justice! He is such a good, happy baby with so much personality. He hardly cried at all and it seem it was only when we were doing something he didn't like, such as keep him from his sleep. Of course the cousins loved seeing each other and getting to spend the night, such a treat!

We finally got to paint on McKenzie's body mold. It didn't turn out exactly like I wanted it to but it was fun, and that's what it's all about anyway.

This is a picture of Jack. His hair had REALLY grown, I almost didn't recognize him! Of course, it looks like he takes after McKenzie. Such cuties! Larry's trying to wipe off the smeared hand print. Believe it or not Jack was not cooperating with us on trying to get his hand open.
Ya'll knew I was just kidding about the hair. This is a picture of what McKenzie and Jack really look like! Hannah is the one who has really changed the most. She has braces and darker hair, a real beauty.
The way we spent a lot of the time. Jack on the floor, holding court.
This is the way the other time was spent, playing games, watching TV.
Have you recovered yet Meme and Pop??? We'll be back soon!

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

DOES THIS SAY ANYTHING ABOUT ME (part two)

What I'm really "into" right now.

My SUPPER shiny silver nail polish. I want to take a picture but I don't even think it will do it justice. I like nail polish but with my profession it doesn't usually stay on, so I never wear it. This is so cool I made an exception. It made it through 1 day at the salon so I am impressed. I've been loading on the coats since then!

My Ipod, enough said. If you love music (I love music, and one day will write my own) this is the ONLY way to experience it. Plug in , tune in, and enjoy the moment.

The motorcycle and the great outdoors. I wish I could ride every day.

This is what I have been thinking about more than once in the last couple of days. Very random, but hey, that's me.

I have a question for those of you who read my blog. If someone was to ask you right now, what are you into, what would be your response? You can blog about it if you want or just food for thought.

DOES THIS SAY ANYTHING ABOUT ME?

What I'm reading right now.

Losing It written by Valerie Bertanelli

The language Of Letting Go written by Melody Beattie

Tell No Lies written by Julie Compton

I am truly enjoying all of them and would recommend reading them yourselves. Let me know if you find yourselves with one of the books in your hand!

Sunday, October 05, 2008

OUR WEEKEND

Well, they finally did it! Joe's parents finally started building their home at the farm. It has been the talk for as long as I have known them and, rumor has it, long before that. With the beautiful weekend, and the money we have been saving driving our new economy car, we had to see it for ourselves. We had so much fun Saturday that we decided that we needed to go back today and enjoy it again.

We met Joe's parents yesterday and enjoyed some time with them. Today Elijah and our friend Georgia joined us. Between the two days we enjoyed looking and finding arrowheads, riding the motorcycle, digging in the massive amounts of dirt, swinging on the tire swing, roasting wienies and marshmallows, spending time with family, the beautiful outdoors, and seeing all the progress that has been made. The kids took the wagon and drove it down a semi-steep hill. Thrilling and dangerous (they had helmets on). We took the deer stand down, which was a big deal if you can remember from previous post how high that thing was. We were very grateful to have a big strong boy there to help us out!

Looking down on what will be their poured basement. This is also the starting point for the wagon. The end is close to the barn at the end of the hill.
This is the driveway, looking into what will be the basement. The motorcycle should put it into perspective for you. Joe picked out the sight, and did a mighty fine job of it.
Saturday night dinner.
Today with the kids on one of the many piles of dirt. They loved digging, kicking, sliding all in the dirt. Also the starting point of the hill to ride the wagon down....
...and the motorcycle. All the driving of the heavy equipment left the ground compacted and a little slick. I rode the motorcycle a few times on it and was very cautious. Elijah looked like a pro.

I think everyone had a great time and is looking forward to our next trip. I am going to try and keep up with the home building. The estimate is ten weeks until completion, I hope we get out there again before it's done!

We're really looking forward to next weekend already, it should be an adventure too. I'll be sure to fill you all in later!