Simply G -

Learning Place Value for some really big numbers!

2012-01-16T12:38:00.001-05:00

I found this really neat card set online at Teacher's Notebook. Teacher's Notebook is a cool site with a lot of freebies and some paid classroom resources. Best of all, it is all made from teachers. So, I printed out 2 sets of the People Place Value Cards and laminated them (I am in LOVE with my laminator!). Today, Jenna and I reviewed place value.

I went to the random integer generator website and printed out 10 random numbers and some decimal values for us to practice with. By the end of my examples, Jenna was a pro! Not only did it give her some practice on place value, it allowed her to use up some energy. Those long numbers took a lot of back & forth! It was great fun for both of us. Two thumbs up for this activity!

Field Trip to Duke Lemur Center

2011-11-05T10:36:00.000-04:00

We went on our field trip to Duke Lemur Center on Wednesday. What a terrific and interesting place! We learned that lemurs are only found naturally on the island of Madagascar. I think several of the kids knew that due to the Penguins of Madagascar show. We got to see several varieties of lemurs including the nocturnal ones. I had no idea that there were diurnal and nocturnal lemurs. They had a special building set up for the nocturnal lemurs that stays dark during the day and then light at night.

Here's my favorite lemur picture:

That lemur in the background was so "cool & collected" almost like he was striking a pose!

Here's another one of some lemurs in a chair. The staff had tied some chairs to the fence up high so the lemurs could have a place to perch.

And last but not least, here is our group of kiddos with our wonderful tour guide,
Samantha.

This was a really neat experience. I would like to go back in the spring or summer and see the lemurs out in the wooded area that they have set up for them. If you are interested about the Duke Lemur Center, you can find more information here: Duke Lemur Center

How's homeschooling going?

2011-11-01T10:09:00.000-04:00

I get this a lot since this is our first year, and I'm thankful that people care enough to ask. Overall, it is going great! I miss some things from Eastern Wayne, but other things I don't miss, like homework struggles and getting up so early. I do LOVE the flexiblitly of homeschool and having that time with Jenna each day. We get to go at our own pace and if she doesn't understand a topic, then we can go over it until she does. She is a terrific student and has even gotten Cacher interested in learning too!

Last night was Halloween, and unfortunately, it was raining. We had plans to go to the church Fall Festival so we went ahead and dressed up and headed there.

They had a hot dog supper as well as a lot of indoor games. Jenna won a lot of candy and overall, I think she had a better time than if we had gone trick or treating.

She's such a sweet girl that she even shared with Mom & Dad :D

Tomorrow, we are going on a field trip to the Duke Lemur Center. It sounds like a very interesting place. Today, we are doing some basic research on lemurs so we will know a little bit about them before visiting. I think it will be a fantastic field trip!

"I can sign your name in ASL!"

2011-09-20T22:16:00.000-04:00

It's hard to believe that we've been homeschooling for 10 weeks now! It is going amazingly well, although some days have been a test of my patience! We've accomplished a lot over the first ten weeks. Here are some of the things we've done:

Studied all of the Northeast States, as well as learning the capitals and interesting facts.
Worked through half of the Teaching Textbooks Math Level 5 book (this has been great review for Jenna!) I can't wait to finish this up and start on Level 6!
Participated in the homeschool bowling league, where Jenna's team took 2nd place in the bumpers division
Read through 2 of Judy Blume's chapter books (Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing & Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great) Big accomplishment for Jenna since she doesn't seem to finish her chapter books.
Joined 4-H and learned how to make a kaleidoscope with a pringles can.
Made lots of new homeschool friends!

But best of all, we get to spend more time together! Not having to worry about the early morning rush before the bell has made a world of difference for us as well. Overall, I am so happy we made the decision to homeschool.

We have joined in with the Goldsboro Homeschool Co-op for this semester as well. Jenna is taking 2 classes: Choir and Sign Language. So far, she loves them both. I am a teacher's helper with a preschool science class. She came to me after class the first day & was super excited that she could sign my name. I know this will be a fun and exciting time for her. Here she is saying "Hi"!

As for me, I am staying super busy between homeschooling Jenna, working full time (thank goodness it is work at home!, and taking a class at ECU. I am taking Discrete Math at ECU. It is a logic class. Who knew logic was so confusing? If I can just get through this semester, I will return to being an online student. I will work on my Business Admistration minor online until it becomes more feasible for me to be an on-campus student once again. I feel sad that getting my Bachelor's Degree has been pushed back (again), but at least I still am making forward process. I can always go back and get my Bachelors, but I can't always homeschool Jenna. I wouldn't dream of giving up homeschooling so that I could go to school...not as long as our situation remains the same.

Have a great night! Off to snuggle up with a James Patterson book! I'm on the last of the Women's Murder Club series, and boy, it is good!!

From Massachusetts to Texas!!

2011-08-05T23:29:00.000-04:00

I am so thrilled how well our homeschooling is going. Jenna and I are both learning a lot along the way...educational wise and character wise. Today, we finished up our study of Massachusetts. I must admit that I've learned just as much as Jenna.

I remember learning the states and capitals in school, but I don't remember learning ABOUT each state. There were so many interesting facts in You Wouldn't Want to be at the Boston Tea Party, Wharf Water Tea, You'd Rather Not Drink. We read it over the period of 2 days and it really makes me want to pick up more books from that series. Next we are reading If You Lived in Colonial Times and You Wouldn't Want to be an American Colonist. We placed our Massachusetts stamp on our Road Trip USA travel log. Our next state is NEW HAMPSHIRE!

After our studies were over, we headed out to the Home School Bowling League for our weekly session. Jenna got 1 strike and several spares! She has upped her all time high score to 91...way to go Jenna!!

And my big news is that I am going to Houston, Texas next week! I'm really excited about the trip. I've never been as an adult, so I'm looking forward to seeing if things really are bigger in Texas.

Until then...

Rockin' with School House Rock

2011-08-01T21:16:00.000-04:00

After our overnight camping trip to the KOA in New Bern, we are finding it a little hard to get back into the "school mode". If you overlook the sweltering heat and the whining (from mostly me) that went along with it, we had a pretty good time. I would definitely go back to the KOA in New Bern (when the temps go down!). We are actually planning on going to the KOA in Asheville coming up soon. Here are some pics from our first camping trip:

All that camping fun made it hard for us to get into the groove today with our schooling. We are learning more about nouns and pronouns. Of course, I had to find some videos from School House Rock to supplement our lesson!

And let's not forget a very important lesson on pronoun agreement from Daffy Duck!

Here's a better version of Daffy & Bugs...Pronoun Problem

Until next time!

I'm just a bill!

2011-07-26T19:50:00.000-04:00

Hello from Maine!!

Jenna and I have just finished up our studies on the state of Maine. It really sounds like an amazing state. Did you know that the residents of West Quoddy Head, Maine see the sun rise before anyone else in the U.S.? That is because it is the farthest east of any other place on the East Coast of the United States! How cool is that?

We also read about Portland Head Lighthouse...just gorgeous. I would love to visit there someday!

Jenna and I read about how the position of President, as well as how a bill becomes a law. It's amazing how interesting this is to both of us. After our reading, I couldn't help but look up the old School House Rock video about "Bill" becoming a law. Brings back memories!

Land of Liberty

2011-07-23T01:27:00.000-04:00

Why is it that I am finding U.S. Geography and History more interesting as an adult than I ever did as a young student? We have covered Connecticut and Delaware on our Road Trip USA and will be heading out to Maine on Monday. As we discover more about each state, we are also reading from If You Were There When They Signed the Constitution. It's geared toward grades 2 through 5, but I must admit that I have truly enjoyed reading it. It's wrote in a question and answer type of format, that keeps Jenna's interest as well. It is even making me want to take a trip to the Northeast to see some of these historical areas that we are reading.

Speaking of the Constitution, remember this oldie, but goodie from the School House Rock series?

New Hope Academy - Week 2

2011-07-19T15:17:00.000-04:00

We made it through our first week and have ventured on to week two! I am so glad that everything is going well. **knock on wood**

We are "traveling" throughout the Northeast Region, learning about states. Today, we are visiting Delaware (remember the capital is Dover). We learned about the Delaware Memorial Bridge. It is one of the longest suspension bridges in the US. Here are a couple pics:

Our project for this state is to build our own suspension bridge from Popsicle sticks. Let's just say that it is a lot harder than it looks!! But it was fun to do, and we had to use our brain skills to get it to work so that is another plus!

New Hope Academy - Day 2

2011-07-12T22:14:00.000-04:00

We have decided to give homeschool a try this year for Jenna. Our school name is "New Hope Academy". We are on Day 2. Jenna and I still like each other and so far are happy...for this I am thankful. There are so many resources available to homeschool moms out there, but I still have to wonder if we are doing it "right" or even "half way right".

Today, we read a little bit about a girl named Gemma who moved to the United States from Australia. We watched a cool video of Great Barrier Reef . Then we did a neat craft with sponges, cutting them in strips making sponge balls. That made Jenna happy!

Later we took the sponge pieces left over and did some sponge paintings too. It was fun to experiment with the sponges. All these great ideas came from Erica over at Confessions of a Homeschooler. Thank you Erica! Tomorrow, we continue our homeschool studies, focusing on US Geography and learning about the state of Connecticut.

Boo! Time to get in the Halloween Spirit!

2010-10-08T09:05:00.000-04:00

I am so thankful that fall is finally here! It seems like we spent the past 4 months in 90 degree plus heat. The cooler air is a welcome temperature change!

I've been working on more scrapbook layouts...digging through my stash, having a great time putting some layouts together. Here are a few Halloween layouts to get you in the Halloween spirit!

Happy Fall Y'all!

Summertime Reading

2010-07-28T16:19:00.000-04:00

This summer, I've been doing a lot of reading. Every week on a scrappin' message board, there is a "whatcha reading?" thread and I've been getting lots of great recommendations on books to read. I just finished reading The Book of Bright Ideas. It was an enjoyable read and I was amused and enlightened at the bright ideas that the girls came up with. For example, Bright Idea #96 is "When you go on a trip to buy a special surpise for your best friend, sing "You are My Sunshine" and think of all the big people and the little people who are your sunshines. then look at the houses you pass, and think about the people who lived in them, and hope they were somebody's sunshine too." The ending caught me a little off guard but that made it more interesting. It was an easy read, but very touching and good life lessons in there as well. I've put it up on paperback swap if anyone else would like to read it.

Next on my list is A Reliable Wife. It got a lot of great reviews from fellow readers. I'm looking forward to diving into that one! What have you been reading this summer? Anything good?

And exciting news (well exciting to us!) in our house...K and I just ordered our first IPOD Touch! I'm so excited to get it and see what all the hype is about. I hear that I can use it as an electronic reader, as well as for paperless geocaching and logging on the run as well. He's got other plans with it, but I think we'll be able to share LOL!

A Scrappy Kind of Weekend...aka Wish I Was at Disney!

2010-06-28T12:00:00.000-04:00

What a wonderful weekend I had! I spent the weekend in Durham at a scrapbooking retreat. A whole weekend dedicated to scrapbooking, no cooking, no housework, hanging out with friends, doing what I want to do! Now that is a nice weekend! I worked mostly on Disney pages while I was there which made me really wish I was heading to Disney World at some point this year. Unfortunately, it will be 2011 before we get close to Orlando again. Here are some of the pages that I completed this weekend...

There's more in this album...

Heritage Makers Album

Here's a couple that didn't make it into the album quite yet.

There are hundreds of Disney photos left from that trip. I believe it will keep me busy for quite some time!

Interesting Things Seen While Geocaching

2010-06-19T11:54:00.000-04:00

I went geocaching with my friend Lisa while the goal of picking up squares 18, 19, and 20 for the DeLorme Challenge. We saw so many interesting things along the way, which is one of the main reasons why I love geocaching so much.

This two are from an old plantation, named Stagville Plantation. The white house is the owner's home while the 2nd picture are slave quarters, called Horton Grove. At this site are the only two-story slave residences remaining in North Carolina. Skilled slave craftsmen took great care in building these quarters by including shuttered windows, brick fireplaces, and stone foundations.

Here's me at a RockCity that someone built. I can only imagine the time it took to put this together.

This is in Hillsborough NC, next to a landscape business. It is the one of the few times that I've felt so small LOL! High Point (near by) is known for furniture and I've seen other large pieces closer to that city. Didn't realize that Hillsborough had something like this too.

And here's a picture of me at Bahama Ruritan Club in Bahama, NC

And just in case you think I'm joking....

I always thought I should have my own club LOL!

Scrapbooking Again!

2009-11-14T10:04:00.001-05:00

I can't believe how little I've scrapbooked this year. I just haven't been feeling the creative juices flowing that much. But last night, I sat down at the craft table and gave it a whirl. I got two Christmas 2008 layouts done! And I had a good time doing it! I think I may have forgotten how much I enjoy scrapbooking. I'll definitely have to make time for it more often!

(click the image to see the whole layout)

Tonight we are going to see "Clue The Musical" at Lenoir Community College. It is supposed to be an interactive mystery theater along held at the Culinary Arts Center. I think we may get to taste some of their scrumptious desserts too. I've always wanted to go to a mystery theater production. I hope this one is mysterious and exciting!

Nealz Nuze on boortz.com

2009-09-14T20:49:00.001-04:00

Nealz Nuze on boortz.com

Shared via AddThis

Conversations at 1:30 in the morning

2009-09-03T10:59:00.003-04:00

Jenna sneaks into my room and starts this conversation. Keep in mind that I am deep in sleep, and wanting to stay that way.

"Mom, can I show you something?"
"Um, yeah, what is it?"
Jenna walks away and I dose back into sleep. After a few minutes, she is back at my bedside.
"Mom, I want to show you something. What are you doing? You are supposed to come with me."
"Jenna, I am doing what most normal people do at 1:30 in the morning. I am sleeping."
"But Mom, it has LEGS!"

Needless to say, that had my attention! So up I go to Jenna's room where a nasty camel cricket had found its way onto Jenna's wall. She had woken up in the night to get a drink of water and saw it on the wall. A quick smack (to the cricket of course!) and we all returned to our peaceful sleep stages once again.

Somewhere over the Rainbow...

2009-07-29T19:55:00.003-04:00

With all the stormy weather that we've been having, it was nice to see a rainbow this evening. It went all the way across the sky.

I couldn't resist snapping this photo of Jenna. Just like her father!

I made the best cheeseburgers for supper tonight. I found applewood bacon cheese at Walmart today. That really does add just the right flavor to a cheeseburger...so yummy!

They weren't supposed to GROW!

2009-07-08T21:20:00.003-04:00

In the spring of this year, Jenna and Zach were out in the yard playing, when they noticed our old, smushy pumpkin from the previous year. It was full of seeds that I assumed the birds would come eat at some point. My Dad and I were sitting on the swing and he "encouraged" them to plant the seeds as something to do. So Jenna and Zach planted several of the seeds in my flower bed, and afterward, they gave the seeds some water. My Dad said not to worry, because they would not grow. Apparently someone sprinkled a little pixie dust on those seeds because tonight, I picked my first pumpkin off the vine!
Here's a pic of the first pumpkin:

We noticed another pumpkin growing on the vine...such an odd place to grow. I guess we will have to get something to support it so it doesn't break off before it is ready.

It's kind of neat to watch these grow. I hope we will have some when fall comes around!

Here's a story...my brush with fame, meeting Greg Brady!

2009-05-29T09:52:00.006-04:00

I went to the Center Street Jam last night for the first time. They had advertised that Barry Williams (aka Greg Brady) would be singing the National Anthem. I never had a crush or anything like that on Greg Brady, but I do remember coming home from school and watching The Brady Bunch while doing my homework. And in case you don't remember The Brady Bunch...

While we were waiting for the featured band to start playing, I happened to notice Barry standing under a tent in the back. I couldn't resist going up to meet him. Really nice guy, yet more reserved than I had expected. He was very gracious and agreed to let me get a picture with him.

It was a real pleasure to meet him, but the best part was listening to him sing during the band's intermission. Wow! It just gives me goose bumps hearing him belt it out like that!

A beautiful (but hot!) weekend at the Air Show

2009-04-26T18:32:00.003-04:00

Here are some pics from the air show at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base. K gets more out of these than I do so he spent quite a bit of time there. I enjoyed bits and pieces...my favorite being the Blue Angels show. I had wanted to see the Golden Knights jump out of the airplanes, but I missed it. I'll have to catch that next year.

Here's one of the planes from SJAFB.

The Blue Angels doing a fly by...K is in the bottom left corner, videotaping the show.

All six in formation

Coming down the flight line after the show

If you ever get an opportunity to go, it is definitely something to see!

Day 3 - Castaway Cay

2009-04-15T12:17:00.006-04:00

When we woke up on Day 3, the ship was docking at Castaway Cay, Disney's Private Island. It was quite breezy that day, and I heard that they had trouble docking. I am so thankful that the Captain was finally able to dock. We would have been so disappointed if we didn't get to go on the island. We had breakfast at Beach Blanket Buffet, sitting out on deck to take in the view. One of the newer additions to the island is the Flying Dutchman from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. This is the actual ship from the movie.

After breakfast, we headed out to the island. Disney custom built this dock so that guests are able to disembark directly to the island and not have to take tender boats. Here's another quick view of the Wonder as we were headed to the island.

The first thing I wanted to do (yes, it is all about me! LOL!)was to rent bikes and tour the island. We got our bikes and headed towards the adult only beach. The path goes down the old run way when the island was called Gorda Cay.

It was probably a couple miles to the end of the path. The view was spectacular. In the background, is the adult beach.

Then we headed to the observation tower. The paths on the island were great, all paved and flat! A few flights of stairs up and we could see for miles. Here's a pic of us with the Disney Wonder in the background.

When we were done with the bike ride, I headed back to the ship to change into beach clothes while hubby took the tram to the adults only beach (read: peaceful, quiet, and absolutley paradise). On my way back to the ship, who did I run into? Yep, Captain Jack Sparrow!

When I got to the adult beach, hubby had found a spot for us and had already purchase his bucket o' beer.

They had a cookout at the adult beach with steak, ribs, hamburger, hot dogs with all the fixin's. After lunch, we ventured out into the water. It was low tide so we could see a lot of ocean life. We found this starfish close to the shore in the water.

After some peaceful relaxation on the beach, we headed back towards the ship to visit the beach shops. The day on the island went by way too fast. That night we had dinner reservations at Palo, the adults only restaurant on the ship. We dressed up and headed down to the atrium for pictures (will post those later), then headed to dinner. Our server asked if we were celebrating anything and we told him it was our 11th anniversary. At the end of the meal, he brought up us this special message.

After dinner, we "waddled" back up to our room to change and then head down to the Farewell show in the atrium. I really hadn't planned on getting any pictures with the characters because I knew if Jenna saw it, she would be heart-broken. When Daisy & Donald appeared together (a rarity as far as I know), I couldn't resist. Donald tried to pick a fight with hubby, because he thought hubby was making moves on Daisy. Luckily, it all worked out in the end and no one got hurt!

After sitting and relaxing outside on Deck 4, we headed back to our room to find the last towel animal of our cruise. We still aren't absolutely sure what it is...anyone have a guess?

Unfortunately, it was time for us to disembark the next morning. The weekend went by way too fast, but it sure was fun. A lot of people may think it is strange that we took a Disney Cruise without the kids, but it was absolutely wonderful! I forgot to mention that our dining companions were 3 other couples who came on the cruise without their kids. I guess we are not the only adult Disney fanatics out there!

Thanks for reading!

Day 2 - Bahamas!

2009-04-03T22:07:00.007-04:00

The next morning when we woke up, our ship was docking in Nassau, Bahamas. I looked out of our port hole and the first thing I saw was a Starbucks sign...they really are everywhere. The weather was sunny and beautiful. We ate at Parrot Cay aboard the ship, and then headed into Nassau. As we were walking toward town, we saw another Carnival ship heading into Port.

I had loaded some points of interest into my GPS for a short walking tour of Nassau. First stop...the historic water tower. I didn't realize how crazy the traffic would be in Nassau. I almost got run over by a bus! No one used turn signals, lots of honking, and pretty much organized chaos. We finally made it to our destination.

A little history about the tower...

The view was amazing from the water tower...our ship is docked between two Carnival ships.

Then we walked over to Parliament Square. We passed several "courtrooms" which seemed to be just small rooms on the side of a run-down building. The memorial was very interesting and set in a very pretty spot.

As we walked away from Parliament Square, heading towards the Governor's Mansion, we saw this sign. Of course, the running joke became "Protect Ya Tings!"

We made our way (somewhat safely) to the Governor's Mansion. It was like a real-life game of Frogger at some points. It was a little surprise to see that it was pink! There is a nice statue of Christopher Columbus in front.

After a rest break at Senor Frogs (a fun open air bar on the waterfront), we walked down the beach line about 3/4 of a mile to Fort Charlotte. I didn't realize that we had to pay to get in. It was $5 each for us to go into the fort. I'm not sure why we did it, but we spent the majority of our cash at Senor Frogs. Hindsight, we should have used our credit card at Senor Frogs and saved our cash. As we combined our money, we only had $5 between us. We were in line behind a very sassy lady who was complaining to the ticket seller because it was $5 for tourist and only $3 for locals to enter the fort. This lady was being quite rude to the ticket seller. The ticket seller didn't have any control over the price and in the end, the lady paid $5 each for the people in her group to go in to the Fort. When it was my turn to get tickets, I asked if they took credit cards. The lady told me no. At that point, I asked if she would let us both in for $5, pleading my case that we had walked all the way from the ship to see the fort and we didn't have the cash to get in. I promised her that I would not tell the other lady if she allowed us to get in. She graciously agreed if we would agree to buy something at the gift shop, which accepted credit cards. We were very grateful for her kindness and did keep our end of the bargain by purchasing a Bahamian coin set and some drinks at the gift shop. It goes to prove that you do catch more bees with honey than with vinegar. It was very interesting inside the fort, and once again, the view was spectacular.

We're guessing we walked around 3 miles around Nassau and our feet were starting to tell it. We headed back to the ship and took advantage of the whirlpool in Quiet Cove, the adults only area of the ship. It was absolutely wonderful! For dinner, we headed to Animator's Palate. At the beginning of the meal, everything including the decorations in the room is black and white.

As the meal progresses, everything slowly starts to get color.

That night was the Pirate Party and Dessert Buffet on Deck 9. It was a fun night of music and dancing, ending with Mickey flying through the air to announce a "party in the sky". Disney Cruise Line is the only cruise line that can do fireworks off of its ships. It was spectacular! When we got back to the room, we found this guy hanging around waiting for us.

Tomorrow's stop: Disney's private island, Castaway Cay!

Our Anniversary Cruise Vacation begins...

2009-04-02T09:13:00.006-04:00

a.k.a We figure out we would not make good contestants for "The Amazing Race" show.

Everything started out well that morning, with the exception that no one really wanted to get up out of bed at 6am. We all got going, including the girls. Alyssa and Jenna were both getting ready for school without any gripes. Alyssa was taking charge with grace and Jenna was listening. This was definitely a positive sign. K and I were out the door around 7:15am. Our flight didn't leave until 9:55am, so we had about 2 hours and 40 minutes to get to our gate. It takes about 1 hour 20 minutes to get to the airport, so we have plenty of time. No problem. We decide to wait on breakfast until we get closer to the airport. We're in Raleigh and I made the mistake of saying, "We're making really good time. I'm glad the traffic isn't too bad." or something crazy like that. About 2 seconds later, I look out and there is a sea of brake lights. We find out on the radio that there had been a wreck and traffic was backed up for 9 miles. My heart sunk and I started to panic. We were barely crawling along the interstate. Luckily, hubby had the sense to get Garmin to reroute us off of the interstate. Thank goodness he knew how to do that, otherwise I think we would have missed our plan. We end up getting to the airport at 9:15...we still have to find a parking spot, check our bags, and get through security. It takes a few minutes to find a parking spot (nerve wracking), but once we do, we are off and running. The jogging on the treadmill is starting to pay off! When we get into the airport, our flight is boarding. I beg people to let us go to the head of the baggage check in line and thankfully, they agree. The lady kindly tells us that since we are checking in late, she can not guarantee our baggage will make the plane. **sigh** So the worst case scenario is that I enjoy the cruise in the clothes I am wearing now LOL Off we go, running to security. That went pretty fast. Next we are running down the airport to the gate. We finally get on the plane and except for worrying about my bag, I breathe a huge sigh of relief. After sitting for a few minutes, the stewardess says they are loading the some late check in bags on the plane and then we'll be on our way. I am crossing my fingers that it is my bag...it has the Disney travel tag on it after all; it has to get on the plane.

We chose the Disney's Ground Transportation option so we got to ride the Disney bus from Orlando International Airport to the port plus Disney picks up our checked luggage at the airport and transports it to our room on the ship. This is a heavenly option and worth the extra money. At this point, I just have to relax and hope that my bag made the plane. After asking at least 2 Disney people if they were going to get my bag (in which they said yes), I let it go and got on the Disney bus. It's about an hour ride from the airport to Port Canaveral. It's a nice coach and they play Disney Cruise info on the tv's. It was much better than driving ourselves.

We made it into the Cruise Terminal safe and sound. This gorgeous model of the ship was on display in the lobby.

Since we are Castaway Club members, we got a shorter check in line at the cruise terminal (love that!) It wasn't long until we were going aboard. We headed to Beach Blanket Buffet for lunch. The view was amazing from the 9th deck of the Disney Wonder. Just a hint of what was to come...

NASA in the distance

Carnival Sensation at Port Canaveral...not as classy as the Disney Wonder, IMO

After lunch, we walked around the ship and then went for the safety drill at 4pm. Those are oh, so much fun. There's nothing like standing around for 15 minutes with a huge, cumbersome life jacket around your neck. That was short-lived and we were soon leaving port. We went to the theater and watched Bolt before dinner. We had the late seating (8:15) which worked out nice. Less kids and more time to do things during the day. Our first meal was at Tritons. It is a very classy restaurant...named from the character on The Little Mermaid. The food was delicious and the service excellent. When we got back to our stateroom, we had our first towel animal waiting for us.

More coming soon....

Big Sale at Food Lion!

2009-01-01T22:00:00.004-05:00

This should definitely go on the fail blog...just not sure how to get it there. Someone didn't have their hat on straight when they posted this sign!

Wow! I didn't realize it had been so long since I posted on my blog! Where has the time gone? We had a great Christmas...enjoyed having the kids and hubby home (at least most of the time). I wish I had been off of work to enjoy them more, but that is the way it is some of the time. Everyone goes back to work/school on January 5th and the house will be quiet once again.

Hope everyone had a great Christmas. Here's to a very Happy New Year!

Best Customer of the Day

2008-11-01T18:51:00.003-04:00

We had a yard sale this morning. Found new homes for quite a few things that we no longer used and took the rest to Goodwill. I love that "less-clutter" feeling. I had run into the house to grab something and when I came out, this guy was standing in our yard.

We have a pond across the street from our house & we've seen him swimming around. We just never expected him to visit us.

Jenna & I enjoyed tossing some bread out to him before he headed back to the pond.

Hope everyone's having a great weekend!

I'm going on tour!

2008-10-26T23:15:00.004-04:00

The newest version of Guitar Hero hit the stores today. I found the play list and there are many songs that I like on it. You may be a little surprised to know that I like this game, but seriously, I do. It lets the rocker side of me out (ha, ha, ha!) How can you not like a game that constantly reminds you that "YOU ROCK!"? Right now, we have Guitar Hero 3, and I have done really well on it. I actually finished up the "career" game and made it to the end. Alyssa and I played together this afternoon, working on our co-op career. There were some new songs on that game. Lots of fun! So I officially have my first item for my Christmas wish list!

And to my honey, who I hope is reading this, Sam's Club seems to have the best price :)

ROCK ON!

A makeover...of sorts

2008-10-17T20:01:00.002-04:00

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Today was the PTA Walk-a-thon. It actually turned out to be a family affair. I was able to talk dh and Alyssa into coming out to the school and volunteer. Through all the hustle, bustle and hullabaloo, I think everyone had a good time, myself included.
Dh walking laps with Jenna
Dh & Alyssa marking the lap tally sheets for walk-a-thon participants. We are trying to raise money for new playground equipment. Hopefully we'll have a successful return and be able to purchase something nice for the school grounds.

Have a great weekend everyone!

There's gold in those hills!

2008-10-11T11:36:00.003-04:00

I got back from California last night. I left last Sunday and stayed the whole week. I was there on business but managed to sneak in some fun too.

I arrived at Oakland Internation Airport around 12:30 PST so there was plenty of time to geocache before I headed to my hotel in Pleasanton. I had already picked out Oyster Bay Park because it was very close by and there were 6 caches in a close vacinity.

Once you walked to the back of the park, you got a great view of Oakland Int. Airport. I watched the planes land for a bit. As they descend, they come down over the water (not too comforting when you are on the plane), but then finally the runway comes in sight and all is well.

A couple more view photos...

It was a great week in the San Ramon area, but it is great to be back home. Now to tackle that mountain of laundry!

Fall is Here

2008-09-24T21:36:00.006-04:00

There's something about the cool, crisp air this year that made me want to pull out my fall decorations. Maybe because it seems like the cooler air is here much earlier this year, or maybe because I'm tired of melting each time I go outside so I appreciate it more. Either way, yesterday I felt a tug from Mother Nature to give my front porch a touch of autumn. I spent the morning dusting off the fake pumpkins (aren't they great?) and cleaning up the porch area.

Jenna needed a pumpkin for school so we headed to Timmy's Roadside Stand to see if we could find the perfect pumpkin. Not only did we find ONE perfect pumpkin, we found TWO perfect pumpkins. How could we ever choose? So we just brought them both home. They also had the most beautiful flowers. I could have spent hundreds of dollars there easily. But I roped it in and settled for 2 large pots of mixed mums as seen in the photo above. I also got a large concrete bunny. He must weigh about 50 pounds, but he's a cutie. He's yet to find a home in the back yard yet, but maybe tomorrow he'll hop on back and find a good spot. I bet I will find my way back to the stand and get more goodies before it is all over with!

And because I just can't resist....HAPPY FALL, Y'ALL!

I want to be a loser!

2008-09-17T08:21:00.004-04:00

I watched the first episode of Season 6 of The Biggest Loser last night. I really like this show for inspiration on losing weight. I had actually joined The Biggest Loser Club 3 weeks ago. I have already lost 8 pounds - yahoo!! There are some really tough days, but for the most part, it is going pretty good. I've set my first goal to get to pre-preggo weight before Jenna. Got a ways to go there. I think my next goal with be to get to pre-preggo weight with Alyssa. Hubby is going along with it, even if there is a moan or groan every now and then. He's lost 3 pounds. Here's to being a "loser"!

Speaking of losing weight...I took this photo of Alyssa and Angel the other day. Do you think they have The Biggest Loser for animals?

I saw this on the net...someone was asking would this kitchen look dated in 10 years. Not sure, but it sure is gorgeous now. I would **love** to have a kitchen like that.

Honey, sweetie pie, love of my life...are you reading my blog? This is a super big hint of what I'd love to do to the kitchen ;)

With that, I should check in at work. Until then...

Save the 'dogs'

2008-09-12T20:18:00.002-04:00

I remember seeing these cute critters on a trip to South Dakota. I sure hope this petition helps!

Not much going on around here...work is picking up, that is a good thing, right? I stayed busy with that most of the day. I may have a trip to San Ramon, California coming up soon. I haven't been there yet...should be exciting.

I spent part of the evening picking up sticks and pinecones from Hurricane Hannah. I did get the yard mowed in some of the drier spots. I am so thankful that Ike went the other way. Sending lots of positive thoughts for those in his path.

Off to watch some dvr'd shows. Have a great weekend!

Elevator Psychology

2008-08-17T11:28:00.002-04:00

Too funny not too share!

The river is low

2008-08-10T21:52:00.003-04:00

Jenna and I went geocaching today and ended up at Neuseway Nature Park. We had a chance to pop into the museum, play on the playground, and take a ride on the train. We walked down towards the river to take a peek. I thought we were out of our drought situation but it didn't take long to see that our water supply is still low. The river used to run where Jenna is standing in this photo.

Of course, that didn't stop Angel from jumping in and having a swim!

We ended up with 7 caches, some of them very tricky. It won't be long before I hit 3K!

Bob That Head!

2008-08-09T22:16:00.000-04:00

Alyssa and I took a trip the first weekend of August to Charlotte to see Taylor Swift and Rascal Flatts in concert. It was great to have some girl time with her. She is so grown that at times I thought I was out with a girlfriend. I guess that is a good sign, right? It was an amazing concert. We had great seats pretty close to the stage. My pics didn't come out the best but I found some great footage on youtube.

This is the opening song. This video is taken from the Charlotte concert...how cool is that? Maybe that is me screaming? ha ha!

And for my Mom & Dad because I hear they're reading my blog these days (Hi Dad! Hi Mom!) I didn't make the video, but this is the song I was talking about this weekend.

Fun Times

2008-08-02T08:19:00.004-04:00

Zach is spending a couple days with us. I took the kids to a nearby water play area. They had a blast! Zach keeps saying that the waterpark was exciting! For only $1 each, you just can't beat it!

A new do!

2008-07-29T22:52:00.004-04:00

I finally did it...I got it all chopped off and it feels GREAT! I asked a friend of mine (whose hair I love) who cut her hair and made an appointment with her hair stylist. I told the lady I wanted it cut like hers. My hair wasn't quite as long as hers but it still would work. She started cutting and I sat with excitement. You know when they have to sweep up half way through that you lost a lot of hair! You can see from my profile pic and other pics on my blog that my hair was all one length in the back. It is still the same length as before, just now it is much thinner.

I am really loving it so far. We'll see how it goes after I wash it and try to fix it myself. Jenna got a hair cut too. I was surprised that she actually WANTED a hair cut. She is too stinkin' cute!

Jenna is going to Vacation Bible School this week and loving it. It's great to see her participating in the singing and dancing. She has grown by leaps and bounds this summer!

My Princesses with the Princesses

2008-07-27T14:47:00.005-04:00

I finally got the pictures from Alyssa of the Disney Princesses. That was quite a morning. Jenna loves them all, but Alyssa is especially fond of Jasmine. That was her favorite as a little girl. I'm so glad we got to see them!

I'm still dreaming of going back to Disney. Maybe at the beginning of the year...we'll see. We really love the Polynesian Resort so I think we'll go back there. Either there or the Contemporary. Crossing my fingers!

I've been in travel mode a lot this year. I am really starting to get into it! I just got back from California a few days ago. I had a great trip out to the "office".

I had to do some geocaching while I was there. This cache gave me a great view of the bay.

The Golden Gate Bridge is right over to the left, but it was too foggy to actually get a good view of it.

What is a road trip without a traffic jam? At least I had a chance to look around.

I'm working on getting to the El Segundo office. That is close to Los Angeles. So much to see there! Maybe next month I can go out that way. Crossing my fingers for that too!

A Vacation with a little Character!

2008-06-21T21:42:00.008-04:00

We recently got back from our trip to Disney World. It was such a fantastic vacation.

I had booked a room at the Polynesian Resort with a water view. We were upgraded at check in and we had this fabulous view.

Yes, that is Cinderella Castle! Not only did we have a water view, we had a perfect view of the Magic Kingdom. We were upgraded to the concierge building and down the hall from us was the concierge lounge. We had access to snacks, drinks, and supper each day. The 'adult' drinks were the icing on the cake. We were able to watch the fireworks each night from our room. It was just amazing.

Our first morning, we headed over to Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary Resort for our character breakfast. I love doing these character meals because the characters will come around to your table for pics and autographs. No need to stand in line at the parks.

Here are some pics from our breakfast:

We were fortunate to have my parents along with us this time. It was their very first trip to Disney! Here they are at the Tree of Life in Animal Kingdom.

One of my favorite parts was Jenna's birthday breakfast at Cinderella Castle in the Magic Kingdom. We made our reservations early enough where we could enter the park BEFORE it opened. I highly recommend that! The walk down Main Street was amazing. Very few people walking around at that time, and there was more time to actually look at the neat things there.

I got some great shots of the castle on our way to breakfast.

Inside the castle, we met Cinderella.

Once we were in the dining room, more princesses came around to our table. Cinderella had left Jenna a birthday card and all the other princesses signed it for her. Unfortunately, my batteries in my camera died right at that time, but Alyssa saved the day with her camera!! I would have been so disappointed without any pictures of my girls with the princesses.

One last picture for now...love this pic of Jenna and Kenneth.

Lots of magical memories made that week. Definitely a vacation to remember! I'll post more pics soon!

Friend or Captive?

2008-05-13T18:14:00.003-04:00

I managed to complete a layout! Wow...it's been a while. I did this one of Jenna and Angel. It's titled "friend? or captive?". It is so true of their relationship!

K has been away on business for a couple days. I've been staying extremely busy in the yard and in the house. I guess it helps the time go by faster. I worked on several projects outside today that have been on my "to do" list. I'm glad to have those taken care of. Still more "to do"...isn't that always the case? I am very pleased with how our yard is looking. Things that we've planted in the past are really starting to take shape and everything is coming along beautifully. It's taken a couple years and a lot of effort, but it is worth it!

Up, up, and away!

2008-05-05T10:53:00.005-04:00

I got back from a business trip to Oakland, California just a few days ago. Thanks to the wonderful folks at Chevron, I was able to travel all the way across the country. I didn't really want to go, but once the process was started, I enjoyed the adventure.

Unfortunately, my batteries died on the plane so I didn't get many pictures on my way there. I did get to drive across and see the Golden Gate Bridge. That is one thing I wanted to do while in the San Francisco area. This monument to veterans was closeby to the hotel.

I spent 2 days in Pleasant Hill/Oakland getting some things done for Chevron. I did my best to stay on EST. It was weird to be tired at 8pm Pacific Time. Everything went really well and before I knew it, I was on my way back home. I left from Oakland International Airport.

My worry was that I'd get caught in traffic and miss the flight out. I arrived at the airport in plenty of time so I was able to eat breakfast there and pick up a few souvenirs for my family at the gift shop. Finally my chariot arrived and it was time for me to go. I flew Southwest both ways and would highly recommend them.

The view from the plane is phenomenal. It's so interesting to see everything from so high up. Here is a shot of California as we were leaving. I'm not sure what bridge this is, but I think it is the Bay Bridge.

My first stop was Las Vegas. I had never been before so I thought it was very interesting to see the "strip". It didn't seem like much from the airport, but I bet it is more spectacular at night when everything is lit up.

Another 4 and a half hours and I was safe and sound at RDU Airport. It was wonderful to be back in my own car and headed home. Even more wonderful to actually get home.

That is my grand California adventure. I will probably have to go at least one more time but now since I've done it, I'm sure I will be more relaxed about the trip. And on the up side, all this flying has me ready to fly to Orlando next month! Only one month left until our Disney trip!

The countdown begins!

2008-04-23T17:45:00.002-04:00

I am looking forward to this movie!! How many re-runs can a gal watch while waiting for the movie to come out?

Chugga Chugga Choo Choo!

2008-04-07T18:42:00.003-04:00

Jenna's class went on a field trip to ride the train. Jenna has loved trains for quite some time so this was very exciting. I had never ridden a train like that so I was a little excited myself.

Here is Jenna at the train station. They had a really cool picture on the wall.

The train was running a little bit behind but finally we were able to go out on the platform and wait for it to arrive. It didn't take long before we could hear it in the distance. Everyone got really quiet and then excited as we heard it blow its whistle. Next thing we know, it was heading toward the station.

We rode until the next town and then back on the buses to go back to school. It was quite the adventure. The train station guy said the train goes all the way to New York. Maybe one day I'll ride it that far.

Sometimes it just works out

2008-04-03T12:23:00.002-04:00

It's been busy over here...a good kind of busy in my opinion.

My dilemna for today was whether or not I was going to mow the front yard or the back yard. I'm not sure if that really qualifies as a dilemna, but I couldn't decide. Both really needed to be cut, and I really only thought I'd have time to do one or the other. As I was pondering, our grass guys pulled up. Decision made...I would cut the back and let them cut the front. Don't you like it when it all works out?

Kenneth got a new-to-him car this past Sunday. His old Kia was close to 200,000 miles. I guess we got our money out of that one. K got a 2006 Honda Civic. I'll have to take a pic of his actual car later on.

Hope everyone enjoys their Thursday...almost time for the weekend!

It took 10 years....

2008-03-10T11:47:00.003-04:00

My husband...I do love him. There are many times that he does something small, something that may seem so insignificant to others, but it just makes me love him more. That is the glue...the glue that keeps two people together.

For 10 years, the bathroom door in our bedroom has had a closing problem. It always rubs at the top and was so hard to get closed. Once you got it closed, you had to beat it to get it open. For 10 years I messed around with that door **sigh** That 10 years ended yesterday. I finally got out my little sanding mouse and sanded that door down. By golly after 10 years of fighting with that rascal, it now opens and shuts with ease! WOOHOO!! Of course, when I showed my husband and told him the 10 year story, I hear, "What took you so long?" Ugghhh...that is where the glue comes in, or maybe a punch in the gut. I don't know. Sometimes it is debatable.

We are going to Disney for our family vacation this summer. I am so excited and have to talk about it everyday. I am looking forward to the time away. We are staying at the Polynesian - our first time at a Disney Deluxe Resort. We'll have direct access to the monorail, views of the Magic Kingdom; I know it'll be grand! I think I am driving my husband a little crazy with all my Disney talk. Good thing for the glue.

I just saw this commercial. I laugh each time I see it. Enjoy!

Do you want fries with that?

2008-02-23T23:37:00.005-05:00

The legos have been spread out on the floor for about a week now. We've dabbled in them a bit. I've never been much for creative play with legos...give me a plan, and I can build it. Give me a box of miscellaneous legos, and I don't know what to build. My hubby, on the other hand, has great imagination when it comes to them. Jenna & K sat down and built this gem...

Jenna wanted to build it because she said it is my favorite place to eat. Too funny!

I was going to scrapbook tonight but instead got involved with this little home decor project. I love meaningful quotes, and Target came out with some rub-on ones for the wall. They are actually made by DieCuts with a View, a very popular scrapbook company. I gave it a try tonight. It was tricky to put up, but I really do love the effect. Such a nice reminder...

I got another for my scrapbook room. It says "A day without laughter is a day wasted". Another good reminder. Sometimes it helps to see it in black and white.

It's just a little over 3 months for our Disney vacation. I am so excited about the whole trip. My parents are going down also, and my sister is also considering it. It would be great to have everyone go on a family vacation. Lots of Magical Memories to be made. I am going to buy some new clothes for the trip. I have been wearing the same clothes for a few years now...and I have the scrapbook albums to prove it! I looked at several vacation albums over the past couple years and I'm wearing the same outfits. I think it is time to splurge on some new clothes!

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

Cinderella's not going to the ball after all

2008-02-06T19:32:00.000-05:00

I was all psyched up to go on a business trip to California. I was iffy about flying but got all of my reservations set and my suitcase out. I got a manicure, pedicure, and a hair cut. I didn't want them to think I just crawled out from under a rock ;) My boss called today to let me know that the trip has been rescheduled. Oh well, at least I got some pampering!

K got back from his male-bonding trip to Las Vegas. I think he had a pretty good time. He went to the Star Trek experience with some friends. He brought Jenna home this shirt and teddy bear.

Live Long and Prosper!

Sweetness from Costa Rica

2008-01-23T19:06:00.000-05:00

I don't know if I have ever bought a fresh pineapple, and I'm really not sure what posessed me to buy one a couple days ago. Maybe the thoughts of Disney's Polynesian Resort and the drinks they are made and served directly in the bottom of the pineapple. I've seen pictures of this tropical drink online and I hope to have one during our trip.

Tonight as I was cooking supper, I decided to slice up this fruity goodness to serve with the meal. As most cooks do, I had to have a taste. OH MY GOODNESS...that is the best pineapple I have ever tasted. So sweet, so juicy, and oh so good. The next thing I know, I have eaten about a quarter of that pineapple right by myself. It was just that delicious. I cut some up to share with the girls and they both agree that it was wonderful. I will definitely have to put it on my list for my next shopping trip.

What makes me grateful....

2008-01-21T22:34:00.000-05:00

Tonight Alyssa was having a down moment and she said that she felt that everything was 'wrong'. Apparently the apple doesn't fall that far from the tree because I knew exactly what she was talking about. So I looked at her and asked, "Do you know what makes me grateful?" She did not know where I was going with this so she said, "No."

"What makes me grateful is when I am sitting in the Staples parking lot eating my lunch, and I see a Dad drive up in his mini van. He gets out and 2 kids jump out. Then he walks to the back of the van and pulls out a wheelchair. Then he goes to the side of the van and physically picks up his child and places her in the wheelchair. A child that is around 8 years old and will probably spend her life in that wheelchair. That's what makes me grateful."

Sometimes the plight of a stranger seems to make what is wrong in our world look a little less wrong. A teary moment and a couple of hugs and the world looked a little brighter. It's all a matter of perspective.

The kids are home until Thursday for teacher workdays. Jenna was busy entertaining herself with this castle.

Life is good when you can make a castle out of plastic cups! Don't let that sunshine fool you...we've been freezing over here! The past couple nights we've been in the teens. It seems like my hands just can't get warm. I'll have to remember these frosty moments when it's 100 degrees outside and I just can't get cool!

This really sucks!

2008-01-20T23:40:00.000-05:00

I'm not usually a fan of the phrase "This sucks", but in this particular case, I have to admit that I am. I finally sucked (there's that word again) it up and bought a brand new vacuum. Ain't she a beauty?

I've been noticing that my old vacuum just hasn't been doing quite as good a job as it should. I've actually noticed it for a while, but just haven't wanted to spend the money on a new one. The mood finally struck me and off we went to Target last night (Saturday) and I picked this one out. K put it together this morning and I gave the whole house a good vacuum. I was amazed at how much 'yuck' this vacuum picked up! The whole house had just been vacuumed on Thursday and I know that we didn't make that much dirt in such a short time. It's got all the neat attachments and even this mini roller thing that works great on the stairway.

As most of you know, Mr. Murphy hangs around this house quite often, and as luck would have it, that same exact vacuum was in the Target sale paper this morning with a bonus $20 gift card for buying the vacuum. Target is known to price match for 2 weeks after you've bought the item, but I wasn't sure if they'd let me get a gift card after the fact. I couldn't let that $20 slip by without giving it a try. Here I go back to Target, less than 24 hours after my initial vacuum purchase. Mr. Murphy cried 'Shotgun' and followed me right to the customer service desk where the girl affirmed my thoughts of not getting the $20 gift card. They weren't getting away with it so fast...it was less than 24 hours since my purchase and I really wanted and felt I deserved the $20 gift card. So off I go, to buy yet another vacuum cleaner and claim the $20 gift card. I walk directly to the vacuums, put the same type in my cart, pay for it at the register, getting my $20 gift card, and then walked directly to the customer service desk to return the vacuum with YESTERDAY's receipt! Aha! Sneaky, sneaky, sneaky, but I got the $20 gift card as advertised in the current circular! Why couldn't they have honored the $20 gift card offer and saved us all the trouble? I guess I can't complain as I'm a happy homemaker with a new vacuum and a $20 gift card to boot!

A Great Thought

2008-01-15T21:18:00.000-05:00

I saw this on another blog...what an inspiring way to think and to live.

To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury; and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable; and wealthy, not rich; to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly; to listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart; to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasion, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious grow up through the common. This is to be my symphony.

William Henry Channing

I worked a bit on decluttering again today. I cleared out a whole organizer bin (yay!) and gave everything a new home whether it be a more appropriate spot or the trash bin. I used the left over organizer bin in the linen closet to organize sheets and things. I have a half empty shelf in there. It's a great feeling to get rid of 'stuff'. Dh is getting worried that I may go after his things next...hmmm.

I need to work on getting some more pics up on here. Maybe I'll try that tomorrow :)

I feel good!

2008-01-14T18:30:00.000-05:00

I am having one of those days where I feel like I accomplished so much!!

There has been a lot of 'stuff' around lately and I think it has been weighing me down. I had a large box in the garage from a delivery we had a couple days ago. I spent about an hour and a half purging...old movies we never watch, old toys, rubbermaid containers, drinking glasses and coffee mugs. Really...how many glasses does a family of 4 need? It feels good to have less 'stuff'. I think I may make a goal to have even less stuff tomorrow!

And a funny from Jenna....she was playing a Diego game on the computer. He was on a boogie board or something, going down a mudslide. Every few seconds, he would have to jump a rock. She was very excited about it and called me over. My response was "Cool Beans!" and she responded matter of factly, "No Mom, they're rocks". Priceless!

Away in the Manger

2007-12-23T22:02:00.000-05:00

Just had to share....Jenna reading her Away in a Manger book to our dog Angel. Not sure if Angel is terribly interested, but it was so cute to watch!

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. I think we will finish decorating the gingerbread house and head to Grandma W's house. Tomorrow night is a Christmas Party at Alyssa's work and she was sweet enough to invite me. Awww.... Then it will be time for Santa's arrival!!

Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas! Here's to a healthy and happy 2008!

The highlight of my day

2007-12-04T22:59:00.000-05:00

We went to the library's Christmas program tonight. They had the local Boy's and Girl's Club Choir sing. They did a fantastic job. Afterwards, they read a story to all the children and then there was a visit from the man in red. It was so nice to see Jenna interact with Santa. She sat right on his lap and had a conversation with him.

So sweet and so grown! I hope this weekend we can get our holiday decorations up. It'll be here before you know it!

Odd thoughts for the day...

2007-12-02T13:42:00.000-05:00

When I get old and have to/want to move to a retirement home, will the retirement homes have wi-fi? Will I be able to bring my laptop?

Odd thoughts, indeed.

One more post before Novemeber is over!

2007-11-30T08:38:00.000-05:00

This month has just flown by. It's hard to believe that tomorrow is December 1st. I'd better get busy with all the Christmas festivities or it will be Christmas and I won't have anything ready!

I do have one Christmas decoration out. My sweetie pie daughter Alyssa brought home a poinsettia for me. She is in a horticulture class this semester and they are making these in class. She put this one together all by herself and made the bow too!

In other big news, I am an auntie once again! My sister had her baby earlier this week. She is so precious! I got to hold her for a bit the other night...I could have held her all night long! I can't wait until I get to baby-sit her.

Jenna is pretty much over her cold/asthmatic issues. It gets her every year. I hope that this is something she'll grow out of.

And in other big news, my hard-working hubby finally found the TV of his dreams. He has been oggling these big flat panel tv's for quite some time now. On Black Friday, he saw the TV he wanted at a price he couldn't pass up. He wrangled a truck from the neighbors and before too long, the new TV was up in the new room. With the help of one of Alyssa's strong friends, we squeezed our couch up in the new room so he has something to sit on while he watches TV. I haven't seen my husband since!! No, no, no....just kidding! But if I ever start missing him, I know where to look first!

Happy last day of November!

Oh Happy Day!

2007-11-10T11:15:00.000-05:00

Lots of good things happening over at our house. It's hard to say which is best, because they are all good.

The part finally came in for our dishwasher and now it is all fixed! My handwashing days have dwindled to an end. A big lesson learned there...no more chopsticks in the dishwasher!

The landscaper came yesterday. What a big difference! I had let one of my beds go. It really needed to be cleaned out. He cleaned it out plus planted the hydrangea that I had in a pot. He cut back the other one. Hopefully they'll both do well over the winter.

Right around the corner on the side of my house it this bush. Not sure what it is...camelia maybe? It is always pretty in the fall.

He cleaned out my other area where my rose bush is. I got some 'dead' mums last year and planted them. They are blooming this year.

He also replaced my two dead leyland cyprus trees, cut back the lantana and butterfly bushes, and added pinestraw to the existing bed. Getting those dead trees out of the back yard is a big improvement in itself. My favorite part of the job is the walkway around the pool deck. I had started this 2 summers ago with the plan of finishing it, but never did. He finished it up yesterday for me.

This took him about a day to complete...that includes going to pick up all the materials. It probably would have taken me a weekend if not two to get it done. Sometimes it is just worth it to hire the job out. The older I get the more I am coming to realize that. It's a done deal and all I have to do it go out and enjoy it!

Jenna learned a new trick while playing outside. Maybe not a new trick but she got the courage to try this. Jenna is definitely not a daredevil so this was a big deal to her...and me too :) Swinging on the wrong side of the swing like a monkey. LOL!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Frankie Hankie Nakey

2007-11-06T09:26:00.000-05:00

Introducing the newest member of our family...Frankie Hankie Nakey.

I thought Jenna would like a fish so while we were out shopping, we stopped at PetSmart and picked up this betta. Then we had the task of naming him. I suggested Frankie the fish. Jenna liked that named, but as I was soon informed, he had to have three names...just like us. So he soon became Frankie Hankie Nakey. Now we have three dogs and one fish. Out of all the pets we have, I do believe that Frankie is the best. He's very quiet, not very needy at all, and doesn't chew on things he's not supposed to. I think he has moved right into the number one spot.

This past weekend, Jenna and I went to a Redneck get together. We had a blast...lots of kids for Jenna to play with so that was perfect for her. They had a pond, ducks, a big ol' sand pile, and a tire swing...all the kids were very happy! We cooked out on the grill and played a Hi Tech Redneck game around the campfire...great fun. One of my friends set up his 'wireless caching mobile' in the front yard. On the trailer he has a power generator and a satellite dish. Too funny!

The landscaper is coming on Friday..yay! I'm going to get some things done around the yard that have needed to get done for some time...new leyland cypruses to replace the ones that died, walkway around the pool deck, new corkscrew willow, cleaning out some flower beds, bringing in mulch, and cutting back bushes. I could do it myself, but I think I would pay a bigger price in back pain. Why risk it? Plus the thought of someone else doing it while I sit back and watch is sounding pretty good to me.

Until next time.....

Boo to You!

2007-10-31T19:47:00.001-04:00

We had a fun time trick or treating tonight. Since the time hadn't changed yet, it was still daylight when we headed out. We got to see a lot of cool and somewhat scary Halloween decorations. I love this photo of Jenna...too funny. Dh got into the Halloween spirit too and wore his Eeyore costume.

I don't know how many times kids and parents too would holler out "Eeyore!" He got the most comments and even took time out to talk to a few children who were extra interested in seeing him. What a great guy!

We only had a couple of trick or treaters. I was going to give out snack bags to anyone who showed up. I am so proud of Jenna. She was ready for people to come trick or treat at our house and offered up her prize candy. I think she would have lots of fun handing out candy too. Maybe next year we will have more kids come by.

Alyssa is off at a haunted trail tonight. I bet she is having a fun time!

I hope everyone enjoyed their Halloween!!

A nice surprise!

2007-10-29T21:06:00.000-04:00

This past weekend, Jenna and I went to a Halloween carnival. It was a lot of fun (although crowded!). One of the things there was to guess the candy in the jar. I got a call today saying that Jenna had won!! She had guessed 102 and there was 114. That's a pretty good guess. You should have seen her face when they handed her the whole jar of candy!

I've been getting ready for a scrapbook weekend next month. I think this is the 4th year that I've gone away to SDV (Scrapper's Dream Vacation). This year, we are headed to Myrtle Beach - woohoo! I'm so proud of myself...I've got lots of things organized and sorted, already to scrap. I hope to get a lot accomplished that weekend. This past year, I've been a little bit slack about keeping up with all the photos. This will be a good time to catch back up.

A big shout out to my parents! Tomorrow is their 36th anniversary! Happy Anniversary to you both!

A Busy Friday

2007-10-21T09:43:00.000-04:00

Friday was a busy day for us. Alyssa had spirit day at school. It is homecoming weekend and everyone dressed up to show their school spirit...some more than others.

Here is Alyssa with her friend Jaye:

That night, Alyssa and some friends went to the game where I think her team won. I think Alyssa was there mostly to hang out with her friends and not necessarily watch the game. She had a good time and that is what matters.

Jenna and I went on a field trip with her class to Mike's farm. It's such a wonderful place. We went on a hay ride to the pumpkin patch, had homemade apple cider, watched a cowboy show, saw some animals, and enjoyed a picnic lunch. Lots of fun!

Note: For safety reasons, I've distorted Jenna's shirt. It doesn't really look like that.

Today we'll be enjoying a quiet Sunday around the house. I've been feeling the scrapping bug lately, so I may head into the scrap room. Here's one that I finished up last night. It was a class that I took in Charlotte in August...just now finishing it up and adding the photo.

Happy Sunday!

A treat for the working girl!

2007-10-14T22:09:00.000-04:00

I've been working for almost 2 months now and the prospect of this job continuing for some time is looking pretty good. When I saw it on sale at Staples, I decided to go ahead and treat myself. I bought a HP Photosmart 7280 All-in-1 printer, fax, scanner, and copier. Woohoo! It's got several bells and whistles that I love already. The first draw...it is wireless! There isn't a clunky cord that is connected to my computer. I could put it in the bathroom and that bad boy would still print. How cool is that? The second...it has a 4x6 photo printer tray so I can print photos when I get ready. Matter of fact, I don't even have to have my computer on to print photos because it has its own card slots. Too cool! I didn't think this was a big deal before, but I have to say that I printed up a 4x6 and popped it in a frame in less than 2 minutes...and that includes time to find the file on my computer! Way cool to me! The icing on the cake...I now have more sapce on my desk since the I will no longer need a spot for my printer and scanner. Yay!!

Here's a pic of my new toy...

A BIG THANK YOU to my 'technologically superior' dh for installing this for me :D

We are all chugging along over here. Jenna participated in her walkathon on Friday. She walked 18 laps - yippee! I am very proud of her for her effort. Alyssa is getting ready to go to Homecoming this coming up weekend. The search for the perfect dress continues. **sigh** Kenneth is super busy at work but has started smiling a little bit more as December approaches. He is going to Orlando, Florida for a business trip around the second week of December and plans to use up his vacation to take the rest of the month off. That is enough to bring a smile to anyone's face...even mine as I'm sure a small honeydew list will somehow develop :) I'm doing well too...still enjoying my Starbucks, plus feeling more balanced between work and home life. I think we are all enjoying the cooler fall weather. If only we'd get a little rain...

Hope everyone has a beautiful week!

Take the time...

2007-10-09T21:50:00.000-04:00

This is definitely worth 7 minutes of your life...absolutely amazing! Fantastically creative...and such a powerful reminder.

The BUCK stops here, baby!

2007-10-04T19:51:00.000-04:00

I've never been a coffee drinker, but there is something about Starbucks that draws me in. I love their shops; I love the smell of their shops, the quaintness, the little wrappers they put around the drinks, I just don't like to drink coffee. Alyssa & K both like to drink the frappucinos. Alyssa's favorite is vanilla and K's is mocha. I was fine with buying Starbucks for them every once in a while...until I made the mistake of actually tasting one for myself.

Let me just say...I get it. I get why everyone thinks they are so good...IT'S BECAUSE THEY ARE!! They are creamy, smooth, caffeinated, and oh so good. How can one resist? And when they come in the cutie-patootie milk bottles and little carriers - well it is a done deal.

I'm on board with the rest of the Starbucks drinkers. We'll all have a Bucks Buzz together. Cheers!

And the winner is...

2007-10-02T08:51:00.000-04:00

Some friends and I were discussing peanut butter. Peter Pan is now back on the shelves and they have an advertising campaign to get things back to normal. I'm concerned about buying it again, even though it was our favorite before all the recalls. We've been eating Skippy over here, and we've really liked it. So in the discussion, one of the ladies brings up 'natural' peanut butter. This is a whole new concept for me.

At Food Lion yesterday, I look at all the selections of natural peanut butter. I have to admit that the oil sitting on top is a little...okay a lot...nasty looking. I've learned since that it is the natural oil from the peanuts and not any type of synthetic oil....you probably know the type I'm thinking of, the same type of oil you get when you melt generic cheese. Nope, I won't buy that either.

But back to the peanut butter....I ended up buying Skippy's Natural PB, but the kind you don't have to stir. We had some other Skippy's left over and decided to put it to the test...I know that the natural is better health wise, but which one actually tastes better?

Enter in the tast tester...aka my dear ol' hubby. For those of you who know how picky his is over his banana pudding (how could I resist saying that??), he is equally as picky over his peanut butter.

So I put him to the test, no sniffing just tasting...although they both smell pretty yummy to me. The results....both peanut butters taste very similar, both very yummy. However, the NATURAL is just more pleasing to the palate. It is creamier and smoother, and would be better to spread on bread. From now on, we'll be a natural peanut butter kind of family.

Well, back to work...Have a great day all!

No Water Required

2007-09-28T20:44:00.000-04:00

I'm feeling a bit 'fallish' and decided to bring out some of my fall decorations. I put the wreath on my door and added my scarecrow flag. I wanted to put some fall colored flowers in the yard, but with no signs of the drought ending, I'd really have to be careful and water them often. Instead of putting some poor, unsuspecting flowers through a long miserable, wilting death, I decided to do the next best thing...faux flowers! So off to Michael's I went. I think I spent less on them than I would for real flowers. And if I don't have to water them..well, that is all the better! Here is my old wheelbarrow. I had some really pretty summer flowers in it, but they didn't survive the heat and lack of water (see flowers on the ground). I split up my lilies this spring which are the green sprigs that you see. I am hoping that within a couple years time, they will start to multiply and be really pretty ground cover around the bird feeders and pine trees.

I hope to get into my other fall decorations and put them out tomorrow. Happy Fall, Y'all!

Creepy Crawlies

2007-09-27T09:19:00.000-04:00

Something has been very busy in our neighborhood...actually from the looks of it, a lot of somethings have been very busy. This morning the dew is clinging to all these spider webs in the yard. After looking around, I've noticed it's not just my yard, but my neighbors' yard too.

Click on the photo for a better view.

These webs are so intricately done. Very interesting to look at. They remind me of the book/movie "Charlotte's Web". Just another sign that fall is here.

More later...but for now, I have to get back to work.

Welcome to Moe's!

2007-09-21T19:50:00.000-04:00

I had the most fabulous day today. A bunch of local scrappers met at Archiver's in Raleigh for some shopping and lunch. As if that wasn't enough...one of the scrappers is a friend from England. She and her husband flew in to Raleigh/Durham for a week's vacation on the coast of NC. I was so thrilled to meet her. Such a wonderful couple. It was awesome to finally meet her IRL since we've been online friends a few years. The accent is absolutely delightful...I could listen for hours! I got to see other scrappy friends that I haven't seen for a while...just a marvelous time.

Here's our group at Archiver's...I'm sure Archiver's racked up this morning!

Jennifer (sacjlc), Janet (scrappychic), me, Jenn (jru10474), Rosemary, Carla (NCKelly) and Nicole is the one sitting.

For lunch, we went to Moe's Southwest Grill. Yummy!! I'd never been there before but I have heard their commercials on the radio. I got the John Coctostan plate...well, I'll let you figure out why this one had me cracking up. It was yummy & I'd get it again. Maybe I can talk K into a trip there. Here's the group eating at Moe's. Janet had to leave early but added to our group is Rosemary's hubby, Chris.

In other news...my dishwasher has gone kerplunk...er, is that kersplash? It's not washing dishes. It acts like it wants to but it just isn't getting any water. So, it is back to basics. It's been so long since I've washed dishes in the sink. And in honor of that momentous occasion...a picture of my sink...tada!

The first load of dishes was fun...a little reminiscent. I can remember washing dishes with my Grandma. She would wash and I would rinse...lots of good memories there. Well, the third sink full of dishes (remember my dishwasher was FULL of dirty dishes when it broke), well, to put it lightly, was not so fun. I have to call the Maytag man to come fix it and hopefully soon. Another you don't know what you got until it's gone story **sigh**

I'm hoping to have a little R&R this weekend. Hope everyone has a great weekend too!

50 is Fabulous

2007-09-13T19:54:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday to me...

Wow! What a great birthday! I had such a happy day...thanks to everyone who sent cards, called, posted messages, sent emails...it all just made for a wonderful birthday. I feel really special and really loved! Thirty five is going to be a great year - I can just feel it!

We all had a great laugh today when Alyssa gave me her present. She failed to read the whole bag; she only read the 'fabulous' part. I saw the bag, gasped, and then busted out laughing. Even though her mom is fabulous, she is very far from 50 ;) I told her she could save that and in 15 more years she could use the bag again. Too funny!

And a little present from Mother Nature...

K had tossed out an old piece of watermelon thinking that the birds would enjoy it. I went out this morning and there were two beautiful butterflies drinking up the sugar water. Unfortunately I got too close and one flew away. But I did get this pic of the one that stayed.

Thanks everyone for a great day!

Raleigh Red Wolf Ramble

2007-09-12T19:46:00.000-04:00

Today I spent a half of a day geocaching. Some of my favorite geocaches involve 'WOLVES'. A couple of years ago, the City of Raleigh Arts Commission sponsored the most successful temporary public art festival Raleigh has ever seen, the Raleigh Red Wolf Ramble! The exhibit closed in April 2002 but some of the wolves are still around the city. There is a geocacher who has put out at least 25 caches that lead you to these spectacular wolves. Today, we went to find "El Lobo Latino". What a really neat wolf. The pic is not that good of me, but I wanted to share it because of the wolf.

The wolf is located at WRAL's TV station. Outside is this really neat piece of art.

I had to cut the day short so I could get home in time for the kids getting out of school. I love it when I get to see neat stuff like that. I wouldn't have seen it without my GPS.

Off to put Jenna to bed and then to do some work.

Hey There Delilah

2007-09-10T08:53:00.000-04:00

Another song that just speaks to me...so very soulful, and sadly romantic. I never heard of this song until my friend Tracy pointed it out, and now I can't get it out of my head! Thanks Tracy! **wink, wink**

I had PTA training on Saturday. Wow...learned lots. I would have never thought that there was so much to learn. I am treasurer this year. We have plans to buy playground equipment for the school. We've got about half of the money raised and hope to raise the other half before Christmas. I **wish** the school district would fund playground equipment, but I think their budgets are strained also.

My birthday is coming up soon. Not only do I get to get a new driver's license, I have to add another number on to the year. I thank God that I made it this far, but how come I had to get here so quickly?

It's 9am...better get to work! HAGD!

Blessings in Disguise

2007-09-07T18:57:00.001-04:00

I've been having a bit of trouble with my driver's side front tire. It has had a slow leak for a couple months. About every third day, I (and when I say I, I really mean K) would have to add some air to it. Sometimes I would add it, and it was a pain. The only up is that we have a small air compressor in the garage so at least it was convenient. When I went to get the oil changed, I told the Toyota service people about the leak and asked them to fix it. I assumed it was a nail or something. They could not find the leak, and I have to admit that I was a bit irritated. Aren't they trained to do things like this? This only meant more days of adding air to the tire.

Fast forward to today...I had enough of it and since I have a couple long trips planned, I wanted to make sure my tire was fixed. I took it to Firestone (where I bought the tires)and asked them to look at it. I told them of my problem and my run around with the Toyota people. The guy pulled up my account, and asked why I would take it to Toyota because they would fix it for FREE, and I like **free**. Apparently I had paid a nominal fee for some sort of Road Hazard insurance on the tires that covers if they have a leak. Yahoo! After inspecting the tire, they see that I have a small hole in the sidewall. I don't know what that means, but I guess it isn't good. They gave me a whole new tire for **free**! All I had to pay was the small fee for the hazard insurance again. After getting the tire for free, the fee was well worth it.

I didn't get what I wanted from the Toyota place, but in the long run, I got something much better from Firestone. I guess that can be applied to many things in life. Just my little blessing in disguise for the day.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

I should be working...

2007-09-05T22:25:00.000-04:00

I played a little hooky today. The adult in me should have stayed home and worked. The kid in me just wanted the day off. So today I went caching. My cache buddy had a doctor's appointment, so I took Angel with me. She gets so excited when she gets to go. She found her first cache all by herself today. We were in a wooded area. I was poking around in one area and when I turned to see what she was doing, she was sniffing at the cache. Way to go, Angel!! When I told K about this, he said that someone must have just eaten a cheeseburger before finding the cache so a cheeseburger smell would be on it LOL! You know, I wouldn't be surprised! I treated Angel with a cheeseburger for lunch for all her hard work. We found twenty all together...a really fun day.

After supper tonight, I should have done some work but I just didn't have it in me then either. I decided that I would straighten up my scrapbook table. Next thing you know, I'm putting together a layout! I've had this idea in mind for a bit, just needed to put it into action. Gotta love my goofy family :D

I won't be able to play hooky tomorrow. I guess I should do some work. **wink, wink**

The last hoorah...or almost the last

2007-09-03T20:09:00.000-04:00

We headed down to the beach today for some fun. School started last Monday so it will probably be one of the last times we get to enjoy the water and sand. My parents, my sister and Zach, plus Jenna and I went for the afternoon. Jenna loves playing with Zach...or maybe I should say Jenna loves looking after Zach. Sometimes I see her with Zach and I think she really needs a little brother. That feeling only lasts until the next 'meltdown' and usually that isn't long. Then I realize that two is plenty. But you can't deny how cute they are together.

We had a fun time at the beach. We had brought some fried chicken for a picnic lunch. Afterwards, we did some swimming and the kids played in the sand. I was surprised how brave Jenna got towards the end of the day. She has been skittish with the waves but at the end, she went in right by herself. I was close by..camera in hand!

Back to the grind tomorrow...don't get to say that often! Hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend!

My Wish For You

2007-09-02T22:57:00.000-04:00

I heard this song today and just love it. I don't think it is a new song, but it's just the first time I've heard it.

Most of the time, I'm an 80's & 90's kind of gal, but today I was feeling a little bit country. I'm so glad that I did because I heard this song. Can you see a scrapbook page coming from the lyrics of this song?

Tomorrow we are headed to the beach for the day. I'm looking for a little relaxation. We'd better enjoy it while we can. I can tell that fall is approaching. The mornings and evenings seem a little cooler, which is very refreshing with all the heat we've had. Some of the leaves are starting to fall of of my corkscrew willow. It won't be long...fall is just around the corner. I have to admit that I'm a little bit anxious for some fall weather.

Hope everyone enjoys the rest of their Labor Day weekend!

And they're off!

2007-08-27T21:00:00.000-04:00

Today both of my kids headed back to school. Part of me was happy to have some free time back to myself but another part of me was already missing them. And to be honest, there is a big part of me that is dreading the alarm clock that will be waking me and the roosters up. I've never been much of an early morning person and unfortunately, both of my girls have taken after me on that. We were all up early this morning and ready a head of time. I was really surprised that Alyssa went to school more casual. Usually she is one to want to dress up for these types of occasions. Jenna wore her new jean skirt and a top. I was able to snap a couple pics of them before they left. They were so unbelievably sweet for so early in the morning. Alyssa is just thrilled that she no longer has to ride the bus to/from school. I can't blame her for that. I remember how glad I was to get off the school bus. Jenna was a little nervous for her first day, but she did great. She has the same first grade teacher that Alyssa had. I feel much more comfortable that I know the teacher. There are a few kids from her kindergarten class in her first grade class so that helps a bunch too.
While the girls are at school, I'll be focusing on my job. That still sounds pretty strange. I'm already spending the money in my head and I haven't even earned it yet! LOL!

Hope everyone has a great week!

Has it been 5 days?

2007-08-24T19:31:00.001-04:00

We've had a little bit of car drama in our house this past week with K's car. It caused us to do a little bit of car shopping thinking that he would get another car to do his commute in. So far, the issue with his car has worked itself out and hopefully, it will continue to run fine. In our car shopping we found a gem of a car...a little white Honda Civic in excellent shape. When K decided to keep his car, we decided to offer it to Alyssa. There was a catch though...she has to help pay for her 'upgrade' in the Honda world. In the end, she decided that she wanted the car so she is now the proud driver of a 2000 Honda Civic. I think she will really enjoy her new ride!

My job is going really well. I'm learning more about fuel operations than I ever thought I would. I'm sure there is more to learn, but so far I am understanding it **well, for the most part**.

I had something really neat happen to me this week. A friend from high school contacted me through classmates.com. Talk about a big surprise but it **totally** made my week! It's hard to believe that it's been almost 20 years. A big SHOUT OUT to my friend Lee from ND! WOOHOO!!

I'm supposed to be working but got a little side tracked on my blog. It's been 5 days since I posted so I wanted to update. Have a great weekend everyone! It's our last weekend before school starts. We're hoping to make it a good one!

Even Hershey knows it!

2007-08-20T10:19:00.001-04:00

This was on one of my Hershey kisses. Word spreads around fast! I guess I do ROCK!

Milk & Cookies...life is good!

2007-08-19T23:28:00.000-04:00

Jenna had a friend stay over tonight. Some of you may recognize that cutie as Jenn's dd. It's amazing how much they have grown up. It seems like yesterday when we were going to playgroup together and then having lunch at McD's. **sigh** They had a great time playing. They swam until dark and then came in to play Barbies. It's so neat to listen to them have real 'conversations'. I had Alyssa run to the store for some chocolate chip cookies and we baked them together. Don't think I'm getting all happy homemaker on you again...I had Alyssa get the pull apart kind. Separate, bake, and eat! The girls thought this was great. So for their bedtime snack, we had milk and cookies. I forgot how good it is to dip a fresh cookie in milk. Yum, yum! Have I got anyone wanting chocolate chip cookies yet?

My hubby was Mr. MachoMan this weekend. He spent the majority of the weekend putting up sheetrock in our new room. He had to redo some of the electrical boxes too. It sure is coming a long nicely. He found a really neat tool to help make the cut outs for the wall sockets so much easier. I think he ended up with 6 sheets put up. That is a total of 12 sheets that we've put up in there. We have 4 more to put up and then we'll be ready for the next delivery of sheetrock. I'm not sure how many more we'll need. I'm guess 12 more for walls and then we'll have to do the ceiling. That'll be tough! I'll take some pics soon.

Hope everyone has a great Monday!

2007-08-17T22:16:00.000-04:00

Why does being a good parent make me feel bad?

For the most part, I had a good day with Jenna. She had instigated an episode with Alyssa in which a hanger was thrown by Jenna at Alyssa. When Alyssa tries to defend herself, Jenna threatens to come tell. I know that is not the whole story when Jenna tells since Alyssa is 16, and well...she doesn't throw hangers or hit Jenna out of anger, even though if someone threw a hanger at me, I might be highly inclined to retaliate. After wading through all that and talking to Jenna about it, we went on with our day..having lunch with friends, renting a movie, and hanging out at home. We grabbed a bite to eat for supper and went shopping at Big Lots.

I guess I should mention saying that we've had a hard time with Jenna being whiny and having a sassy attitude. It's been going on for quite some time and we aren't having much luck in breaking that bad habit.

So tonight, at the register, she wanted candy and since she had behaved well in the store, I said yes. Right as I was paying the cashier, I said something to Jenna. The sassy and the whiny just popped right out of her. I was quite embarassed and irritated at the way my child has just talked to me. So quite calmly, I handed the candy to the cashier and said, "Have a treat on me" since I had already paid for it. Then I took Jenna's hand and out the store we went.

I can honestly say that I think I got her attention with leaving her candy at the store. I explained to her that I wasn't going to buy her candy if she was talking like that, etc, etc. She cried all the way home and honestly, I felt miserable. This is not the first disciplinary action for this behavior, but I think it was the roughest. It would have been so much easier to just give her the candy, but I just can't have her continue on like this, kwim? I sure hope this will help her learn the lesson.

I got a job!

2007-08-16T14:33:00.000-04:00

Big news around here...I got a job! I am very excited, not only about having a job, but about having a paycheck! That is always the biggest draw to having a job. Another perk...I get to WORK AT HOME! How cool is that? I am working on a project that will ultimately be for CHEVRON. How cool is that?

The guy that I'm working for is very cool, extremely laid back, and is very worker friendly. I have to put in 40 hours a week, but I can make my own schedule. I could work 10 hours a day for 4 days, split it up, whatever I want to do as long as it is 40. With the kids going back to school in a week, I think this will be a perfect arrangement. A big THANK YOU to my sister for the hook up!

The kids will be back in school soon. Hard to believe that we'll be back to the grind once again. Getting up early will be such a shock to everyone...including me. I've been enjoying my 9am wake ups. We've been buying some school clothes and supplies in preparation for the big day. Alyssa will be a Junior and Jenna will be in 1st grade. Time sure does fly!

Hope everyone is staying cool...another 100 deg day here!

The Tooth Fairy is coming tonight!

2007-08-13T19:03:00.000-04:00

After weeks and weeks of wanting the "wiggly" to come out, Jenna finally pulled it out! She was over at the neighbor's and came home with her tooth in the bag. Yeehaw! I'm so glad it is finally out. Now to get the next one out...it's been wiggly for a while too. Her adult teeth have already started coming in behind those so no snaggletooth smile for us. It was kind of hard to get a pic of her 'missing tooth'. I'm proud of her for finally pulling it all by herself!

Jenna and I went geocaching today. We saw this really neat lighthouse out in the middle of no where. I'm not quite sure what the story is on it, but it was neat to see.

We stopped by a John Deere museum. Lots of old tractors around there. I saw this old gas pump. Gas was 39 cents a gallon! I would have loved to filled up there!

We had a nice day today, but it was just too hot to stay out for long. I'm ready for some cooler weather...heck, even 85 would do nicely!

Betcha didn't know....

2007-08-11T11:03:00.000-04:00

7 things you might not know about me...

I've been tagged and have spent a couple days thinking about this. I'm not sure if any of this is actually blog-worthy, but here goes..

1. Every night before I go to bed, I pop my back. Just a little twist and it pops. When I was having back trouble, my back wouldn't pop & it was very annoying. I'm happy to say that everything is back to normal now :)

2. Most of the time, when I eat pizza, I eat the toppings first, then the cheese, and then the crust.

3. It doesn't take much to get me to cry while watching a movie.

4. Speaking of movies, if a theater has two doors, I will always pick the second door. Usually everyone else picks the first door, so I always head for the second.

5. I am an ex-military brat and have lived a variety of places...Michigan, NC, SC, ND, GA, and Guam.

6. Even though I have tried to get published in sb magazines, the only thing I've gotten published was a photo in the local paper. I was taking a photography class and took a pic of a local landmark. The next week, it burnt down. It's very possible that my photo is the last ever that was taken of it. I sent it to the local paper and it was published on the front page!

7. Some of my local friends will know this but maybe my online friends won't....I have BIG feet. Not only do I wear a size 10, I have wide feet too. It is hard to find socks & shoes that are comfortable. I would love to be able to walk into any store & find lots of nice shoes my size.

When I finished writing this, I realized that I had done a layout about this a few years ago. Here is the layout I did...lots of other tidbits about me :)

I hope no one has fallen a sleep reading this! I'm off to tag a few other people!!

A Frosty Layout for a Hot Summer Day...

2007-08-10T14:49:00.000-04:00

I worked on this layout last night. After all the heat we've had, a day with some snow would feel so good! The poem came from a swap that I participated in. I added some diamond glaze to the snowflake on the poem to give it some dimension and shine. I really like the simpleness of this layout...seems kind of peaceful...just like a snowy winter day.

I just checked our weather. To say it is hot is an understatement. I'm not sure if I've ever seen a heat index of 127 around here!! I do hope it is a misprint, but after stepping outside for a bit, I bet it is not.

Champion of the Week

2007-08-09T13:37:00.001-04:00

Photo: MaryBeth, Alyssa, and Ashley at football practice

Alyssa has been working at Taco Bell for several weeks now. I've been really impressed with how well she is doing at her job and how well she is learning to manage her time. A few weeks ago, she was recognized at work for a job well done and given the title of "Service Champion". Yay Alyssa!! As a reward, she was given free meals the whole week. Just a few minutes ago, she called me to tell me that she has been recognized as "Champion of the Week"! Wow! That is awesome! I'm so proud of my baby!

School starts in a few weeks. I'm not sure if either one of my kids is ready to go back. Alyssa will be a junior and Jenna will be in first grade. We've already picked up some of their school supplies. I am going to get them both a new outfit for the first day of school. I'm sure they both will need new shoes too. I'll miss them when they go back but I will enjoy a little bit more quiet time :)

Hope everyone is staying cool on this scorcher of a day!

Heat Wave in the Carolinas!

2007-08-07T23:20:00.000-04:00

I just took a look at the weather. It sure is going to be hot around here for the next little bit.

Jenna and I went to Target yesterday and there was a small rain shower while we were inside shopping. When we came out, you could see steam coming up off the parking lot surface. I guess the pavement was just so hot that the water was evaporating off very quickly. It was really an odd effect.

Stay cool everyone!

Better look quick...

2007-08-07T13:20:00.001-04:00

I got a very useful book called Organization Tips for Scrapbookers at CKC and started reading through it the other night. I became very ~inspired~ to organize my scrapping space. I spent many hours yesterday going through my scrap area...organizing, cleaning, purging **gasp**, just making it a happier space. I am so pleased with the results **see above** I did such a great job with the reorganization that I have a complete 12X12 drawer that is EMPTY! How cool is that?

One of the biggest things I did yesterday is organize my acrylic stamps. There were all tossed into a drawer and each time I wanted to use them, I would have to dig through to get it. My hubby had a bunch of cd cases in the garage (long story) so I decided to help myself (Thanks K!) to about 2 dozen of them. I put all my acrylic stamps in side the cd cases and labeled them. This is going to make finding my stamps so much easier. It takes up a lot less room too. I think I am going to love that system.

I also took all my embellishments that were in a notebook style organizer and organized them by color. No more flipping through the whole book to see if I can find something I like. Now at least I have a good starting point for finding an embellishment. Yay!

I only have one shelf on my wall for flowers & such. I put my pink flowers in a wine type glass. I really like the look of that. I am in a color embellishment swap and once that is completed, I hope to add more colored wine glasses to the display. I had two large shelves in my other room, but I left them in that room when I moved my stuff. I think I will go get another shelf or two for this room. I really would like to display more. The picture on the wall was drawn by my neighbor. She comes to visit me often.

Here's to an organized & clean scrap area! Anyone want to take bets on how long this will last?

I saw the sign...

2007-08-05T23:55:00.000-04:00

I forgot that I had taken two more pics of signs in the garden area across from the Charlotte Convention Center.

I forget what the actual name of the garden area is but it is focused on literature. It is a really neat park area and if you are ever in that area, it is worth a stop by. There is a really yummilicious pizza place right next door that is great for lunch too.

I didn't spend a lot of time shopping at the Vendor Faire. I guess you can say that I had a drive by experience...really just glancing in at all the goodies. If you shopped each and every booth there, you would probably be there forever...not to mention, your VISA would probably get quite the workout! There is one booth I like to take my time at and that is the Embellish It booth. They always carry the latest & greatest on Basic Grey and some other popular lines. I splurged on a set of Crate paper with a matching Bazzill paper pack. Embellish It usually sponsors classes at CKC and the instructor talked me right into the Basic Grey file set. I also picked up a couple sheets of Basic Grey Phoebe to go with some that I already have.

Another one of my favorite booths to go to is the dollar booth. It has the same wonderful appeal as the dollar stores around here, but it's all scrapbooking! I picked up the things on the left from there and somewhere along the line, I picked up the Junkitz papers and quote book. There's transparencies in that one which I think is really cool!

I also picked up a new organization book and a couple of magazines from the CK booth. They give you a voucher to shop at their store in return for volunteering. I had such a fun time working at the CK store. I met so many scrappers that way. The most ironic part is that I saw a mom that I knew from when Alyssa was in elementary school! They had moved to a new school district and I hadn't seen her in years.

My favorite class was one done by Quick Quotes. I've taken a couple of their classes in the past and have not been disappointed. This one was no different. It was a class on embellishing a 10 X 20 canvas. I have never done that before, but I have to say it was FUN! I still have to finish up and add some photos to it. I should have taken the plastic off of this but here what it looks like so far:

I have to finish my projects from the Basic Grey class that I was talking about earlier. We did four layouts in that class...talk about fast paced! She is a great instructor and I always enjoy her classes.

Hope everyone has a great week ahead!

Good times

2007-08-04T23:00:00.000-04:00

I got back from Charlotte tonight about 10:30. I went there for the Creating Keepsakes Convention. I was fortunate enough to be able to feed both of my 'addictions'...scrapbooking & geocaching! I cached my way there and back. I volunteered with CK, took a couple of classes, and did some shopping. There is so much yummy scrapbook supplies out there! I met up with some fabulous ladies and had lots of laughs. Good times. It's great to go away to recharge a bit, but it's also great to come home. I'll post more about the classes and tips that I learned later on. I'm really exhausted and need to head to bed.

You asked for it...you got it!

2007-08-01T20:51:00.001-04:00

My friend sent me the recipe...yay! The recipe uses green cherries that I did not use. Also, it shapes the rolls into a Christmas tree, then you can add glaze to it, if you want. I am also wondering if you can do this with other fruits? Maybe some blueberries or apple pieces? That would be good.

Hope you enjoy it! Let me know how you do.

If anyone has trouble reading the recipe, send me an email & I'll email it to you. It really didn't show up as well as I thought it would.

The miracle of cooking meat...

2007-07-30T19:31:00.000-04:00

Today I was invited over to a friend's house for a Pampered Chef show. Let me start off by saying that I really don't like to cook that much. I wish I had the passion for cooking of someone like...uh, maybe...Rachel Ray **sigh** but I don't. I'm not sure if it is the cooking or if it is the cleaning up afterwards, but somewhere in that process I start wishing that I was doing something different...you know, like digging ditches or picking bugs off my windshield.

But today was different. This lady ~~inspires~~ me...inspires me to be a better "domestic goddess", if you will. She cooks up all these fabulous dishes and she makes it look so easy. She makes me want to go home and cook **something**! Hooray! So after the show, I did just that. I stopped by Food Lion to pick up a few ingredients, and then home to cook. I had some steak that I had taken out to thaw. I got it seasoned and in the fridge to marinate a little bit. Yes! I was cooking steak and even had some vegetables to go with it! Then I started to duplicate the recipe I learned at the show. I'm not exactly sure what it is called, but it is delicious. I spread out the dough, buttered it, sprinkled it with cinnamon sugar, and added the cherries. I rolled it up, sliced it, and into the oven it goes. What a fabulous meal for my family! A friend had stopped by in this process, and even she was impressed with all my domestic goodness. Heck, even I am impressed with myself. Today, I am a very happy homemaker.

The whole process is just finishing up...steak is cooked, veggies done, dessert is ready, and the rolls are just finishing up in the oven, and who comes home from work two hours early? My hubby! Hey, why are you home so early? And his response?

"I heard about the miracle of cooking meat, and I just wanted to see it!"

I busted out laughing so hard. The poor fella heard of a wonderful, home-cooked meal and he came home from work two hours early to get it. Like he was going to get some of my food after that remark?? Is he insane?? Nah, we had a good laugh over it and had a wonderful dinner. Of course, this whole cooking streak (is it a streak when you only do it once?) probably won't last long. I'm glad he was able to come home and enjoy the meal while it was hot.

Oh yes, how could I forget...here is my yummy dessert that I made. Really simple & oh, so delicious. The red that you see is cherries.

Ahhhh....relief at last!

2007-07-29T23:04:00.000-04:00

I've been having some trouble with what I assume is carpal tunnel in my right wrist. I can't imagine why I would have any issues there (ha, ha, ha!). Between the mouse, keyboard, and my GPS, my wrist/hand gets quite the work out. Tonight at Target, I picked up a new mouse pad with a gel wrist pad. What a difference that makes! So much better!

Here's what it looks like...I definitely recommend it!

I shampooed the living room and play room carpets today. It was way past due, but I'm pleased to say that they both look fabulous!

Until next time...

My point...and I do have one!

2007-07-28T22:19:00.001-04:00

I was on my way to a seminar tonight and saw this sign. It's at the entrance of a new subdivision that is being developed near by. My name is usually not a very popular name, so you can imagine how surprised I was to see this sign. So surprised, that I had to turn my car around and take a picture! Now when someone asks me, "What's your point?", I may not be able to tell them "what" it is, but I can surely tell them "where" it is!

Jenna and I went to some yard sales today. We got a late start so a lot of the good stuff was gone. She did find some great books though. It makes me happy to see her wanting to read. The love of reading...what a great love to have.

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

Dear Tide

2007-07-26T10:15:00.000-04:00

Thanks to my Mom for a good laugh this morning! Enjoy!

Dear Tide:

I am writing to say what an excellent product you have! I've used it all of my married life, as my Mom always told me it was the best. Now that I am in my fifties I find it even better! In fact, about a month ago, I spilled some red wine on my new white blouse. My inconsiderate and uncaring husband started to belittle me about how clumsy I was, and generally started becoming a pain in the neck. One thing led to another and somehow I ended up with his blood on my new white blouse! I grabbed my bottle of Tide with bleach alternative, to my surprise and satisfaction, all of the stains came out! In fact, the stains came out so well the detectives who came by yesterday told me that the DNA tests on my blouse were negative and then my attorney called and said that I was no longer considered a suspect in the disappearance of my husband.

What a relief! Going through menopause is bad enough without being a murder suspect! I thank you, once again, for having a great product .

Well, gotta go, have to write to the Hefty bag people.

Lady in the Park

2007-07-24T15:55:00.000-04:00

Today we headed out to the park for a little play time. We really only have one nice park in Goldsboro, and to be honest, it could use some work. It does have this really cool fountain in it. Most people refer to it as "Lady in the Park". I remember this from when I was a kid. I always thought it was pretty cool. She has been replaced since then as her head broke off **gasp**.

There are fish in the fountain. Even though they look like goldfish, I believe they are a type of carp. Someone said that there are a couple catfish in there too. I keep fish food in the car and once they realize the food is there, it draws quite a crowd.

It is a very pretty setting, especially with the roses in bloom.

Jenna has done a lot of playing over the past couple days. It's great to see her out riding bikes and just **playing outside**. I guess she finally wore herself out. Angel must have worn herself out too. I couldn't resist this photo.

HAGD!

Who scrapbooks in South Korea?

2007-07-22T22:57:00.000-04:00

I added this widget (??) on to my blog over on this side ----->
to see where all my visitors come from. There are so many cities that I recognize (Hey guys **waving**) but there are some that I don't recognize...like the South Korea one. That brought about the totally random thought...do people scrapbook in South Korea? Hmmm....I wonder?

I've been working on some cards for a swap...totally lovin' the idea of SCRAPLIFTING! It really takes all the thinking right out of it & just lets me "do". Sometimes that is perfect for me. Here is the card that I scraplifted out of Paper Crafts volume 4. I used different pattern paper and colors than the original. It took a bit to get all the squares formatted, printed, and punched correctly, but then it was pretty easy. I think that is Basic Grey Phoebe. I really love how it turned out.

Hope everyone had a great weekend! They sure do go by way to quickly!

Reason #1701 Why I Love My Husband

2007-07-22T00:09:00.000-04:00

I am very much into geocaching, and one of my online scrapping friends is into geocaching too. I have a travel bug that is headed her way. It's first leg of the trip will be with some other cachers. They are leaving from Cary, NC and headed to New Zealand...taking my travel bug with them. This will definitely get this travel bug headed in the right direction. I was doing some figuring and realized that my travel bug will travel over 8,500 miles during this trip! Which in turn means that my friend is over 8,500 miles from me. Wow...I just never realized that it was that far. My hubby and I had a small discussion about my home coords and my friend's home coords. Just from looking at the coords, she is practically on the other side of the world from me. So my hubby, who has travelled several times to Australia and has looked at the globe way more than I have, says, "If you draw a line from our house through the center of the Earth, you will come out in Australia." Well that is neat...never thought of that. This very well proves that she is on the other side of the world from me. Our conversation ends. I go on to other things on the computer, and he does his thing on his computer. Several minutes later, out of the blue, he says, "Well, I was close." Apparently, he was really curious about drawing the line from our house through the center of the Earth towards Australia. He had a diagram of the Earth on his computer, had made a model, drawn the line, and lo' and behold, right off the coast of Australia. Bingo. Not only will he say it, but he will prove it too.

Yes...reason #1701 why I love my husband.

Because today has been kind of cruddy...

2007-07-20T16:51:00.000-04:00

I've been very flustered with this whole court/child support situation. I had an appt with my attorney yesterday. There is only 22 months left of child support. It's at the point now that if I pay an attorney to help me with this situation, it will only negate any child support left...it would be easier and probably more cost effective to let my-ex lower his child support than to pay the huge amount of money an attorney would want to tackle this situation. Either way, I will have to go in front of a judge. I told K that was like going to the principal's office times 5 million. It's not something I look forward too. It's got me all worked up and just in a grumpy mood. I wish I didn't let it get to me so much. I just need to let it be...whatever happens, happens.

B.R.E.A.T.H.E.

I found this browsing around the web...it is rather funny. All the things Moms say set to the William Tell Overture. Enjoy!

Total Momsense

A Wild Ride

2007-07-19T18:13:00.001-04:00

On Wednesday, we all piled up in the car and headed to Kings Dominion in Virginia. I haven't been in years, since before Jenna was born. Alyssa had been feeling like all she does is work so I thought this would make a fun day for us. I was glad that her friend was able to go with us because I knew it would be more fun for her to have someone to ride with. I like riding the coasters (the more mild ones) but with my back the way it has been lately, I knew that would be a bad choice for me.

We headed out about 7am and got there when the park opened. It was already to hot...the kind of hot where all you have to do is stand there and you'll break a sweat. We were lucky to get a parking spot right up front. As soon as we walked in, we saw Dora! Jenna still loves Dora so this was a treat for her.

After that, we headed towards the water park section. We had brought all our swim stuff and was going to put it in the lockers there. On the way, we came across Drop Zone...one of the craziest rides on this earth. It carries you way high...probably 10 stories, then drops you, and then a quick brake at the bottom. Since there was hardly any line, Alyssa & Jaye got on. I remember riding something like this with my Dad way back when. I had no desire to ride something like that again!

So on to the water park...and I was ready to get wet once I got there. Jenna & I changed and headed to the water activities while Alyssa & Jaye went to ride some coasters. Have I mentioned how grateful I am that Jaye was with us? Jenna and I had lots of fun playing in the water area. She is getting a little bit more confident with the water, but still a little skiddish. She does love the lazy river though...not floating, just running with the current. We played for a few hours and then went to have some lunch. After lunch, Jenna took a short nap on the bench. I guess she really got worn out from the water. Once she woke up, we headed to the rides. We were lucky that the park was not very busy that day. Jenna got to ride some rides twice, without even getting off. Her favorite was definitely the bumper cars! She rode that 5 times!

I thought she'd be upset when other kids bumped her, but she loved it. They would bump and she would just laugh! It was so fun to watch.

By the end of the day, we all were exhausted. I still had to drive home since both the big kids had to work the next day. We only made one pitstop on the way home...making it home by 11:30. It was a wild day...but lots of fun!

One final picture...this was taken on the way out of the park.

Blog Goodies

2007-07-16T22:54:00.000-04:00

I've really been getting into bloggin'. It's been a lot of fun...not only to write but to read others too. I added a "Keep It Fresh" button to my blog a few days ago. If you want to be alerted when I update my blog, just subscribe with your email that you want the alert sent to. If you want to add one on your blog, you can click on "what's this" and go through the steps to get one (easy & free!). I also added a counter at the bottom. You get a count for each time you visit as long as it is an hour apart between visits. How long will it take to get to 100 visits? Hopefully not long...hint, hint, hint! Last but not least, thanks to my good friend, Katrina I have added a video to my blog. Right now it is set on "How to Save A Life" by The Fray. It's muted so be sure to hit the speaker button on the video if you want to hear it. I've been missing Grey's Anatomy and can't wait for the next season to start. If you need a glimpse of McDreamy, here's the spot to get it. I heard this next season will be a little bit calmer, with more redemption in it. Last season was so turbulent for all the characters. Anyone know when the next season of Grey's starts? How about Survivor? Will there be another Amazing Race? I hadn't heard anything about that.

Speaking of seasons starting...stores are already putting out school supplies. Good grief! Still way over a month to go. I'm sure they are getting set for the tax free weekend though.

Okay...going back to McDreamy...time sure did treat him well. I just found this pic on the web. From cute to hot...way hot!