You Make My Day!

Jules & Penny both honored me with this award, so I definitely want to pass along the love!

Here are the blogs that inspire me:

Dana

Kaye

Korin
Sherri

Kristi

1) Write a post with links to at least 5 blogs you find of interest and that inspire you.
2) Acknowledge the post of the award giver.
3) Display the logo 'You make my day'
4) Tell the award winners that they have won by commenting on their blogs with the news.

Little Drummer Boy?

Another Christmas layout done.....Clay was goofing around, playing with Daniel's new drums that he got for Christmas.Got groceries today because Chris only has one class tomorrow.... a math test...so he can't skip. No way I could do all the grocery shopping in that amount of time, so I did it today. Will do Sam's tomorrow while he's in class. Headed up to read now......trying to finish up TWO books. Both are by Beverly Lewis......'October Song' & 'the Sacrifice'.

Old Layouts

Ashley was looking through some of my old scrapbooks & she ran across this LO with Grandpa Bunner. These pics were taken outside Papaw's frame shop in NC.

Look at the kiddos here....oh my! This was Alli's 3rd BD. In the top left picture it's Ashley, Dillon, Cori & Alli. Love to look back at my old LOs.....they inspire me so.....to get back to the basics. Love this Rebecca Sower 'lift'. The folded corners, pen work, crumpled paper, etc.

And check out Baby Anna here. Very simple LO.....love the deco squares across the bottom....done totally with different punches...flower, egg, spiral, heart, circle, etc.

Last but not least...a LO I did this afternoon with just a few random pics from Christmas evening at Maw's house.

You Might Be a Redneck If..............

You bring 'Road Kill' home with you from your trip to Indiana! These boys with trapping on the brain....I tell ya. These critters were covered in snow....so pretty well-preserved & they had garbage bags to put them in, so.............Jon couldn't wait to take them over to Skippy's building & show him his 'Prize'.
Jon doing his thing......skinning out a coon. This boy's a natural!

Some pics from this past weekend at the funeral. Back row L-R: Clay's dad, brother Brian, Steph's son Hunter, sister Stephanie, her daughter Caitlin, her hubby Mike & Clay. Front Row L-R: Clay's mom, Steph's daughter Christie, her twin Brittany & Jon.

These are the Bunner Great Grandkids....the ones that I know are on the back row starting third from the left, almost totally hidden is Steph's daughter Christie, Hunter, Brittany, Jon & Caitlin.

The Bunner Kids....Grandpa Bunner's nine kids. L-R: Jon, Jeff, Melanie, Stanley, Jade, Kenny, Mitchell, Leslie (my father-in-law) & Steve

And last, but not least is this shot from Christmas. That shows you just how often I use my FILM camera anymore. These were STILL on that one roll of film that I got developed today. This was taken Christmas evening at Maw's house. L-R: Anna, Ashley, Alli, Michael, Chris, Daniel & Jon.

Picture of the Day

Clay just sent this to me.........Jon & two of his cousins, Caitlin & Hunter in the pool this evening. Snowing outside & swimming inside. How fun is that?!My day today:

Made chocolate chip muffins for breakfast * Talked to Clay....funeral at 3pm this afternoon * Did laundry * Changed sheets on kids' beds * worked on Design Team stuff for our cyber crop next weekend * baked cupcakes for the kids * home-made pizzas for supper * watched 'i Carly' with the girls * started crocheting another pair of fingerless gloves.

Where's the coffee?

Boy, I sure could use a cup right about now!! It's 8:14pm & I'm fading fast here. Been up since 5:45am this morning. I am neither a morning person nor a night owl...so this is getting to me. I like to go to bed between 11pm-midnight & get up around 7am. Anyway..............Clay & Jon got off about 6:30am this morning. And I got a text this afternoon at 4:13pm saying they were there...they made it in 8.5 hours. Glad they are there safe & sound...it's just quiet here without them & I miss them!!!

Been working some this afternoon on some 'stuff' for next weekend's cyber crop at ASF. Finally got past my 'block' & was cruising along when the kids decided they were hungry & that it was time for supper. Now the 'Butt Magnet' has a hold on me here at the computer. I don't know if I'll be able to finish things up tonight or not. Night time is NOT my prime scrapping time. I prefer the afternoon MUCH better. At least I have my ideas jotted down & will be able to get it all done by tomorrow at least.

Totally off the wall here......besides the fact that I think Michael & Alli NEED to go to bed EARLY tonight!!! He's pestering the fool outta her & she is SCREAMING at him. Arrgghhh!!!!!!!!!............Where was this train of thought going? Hold on while I grab my coffee...................ok, back on track, sort of.......We were talking about books we've been reading today for school. And Ashley was talking about trying to read three books at one time. When I asked what she was reading I was pleased to hear that she had already started on the book that I got to go along with our Ocean unit....'Jacob Have I Loved'. When I asked how much she had read, she said she had read 8 chapters already! I was SO tickled!! She's also reading the LOTR trilogy & Nancy Drew. She's finished reading all the Nancy Drew books that we had here & had to move on to the library for the rest of the series.

Philipians 4:19-

'But my God shall supply all your needs....'

I don't know what else to say.....I stand in awe of how God takes care of us! I've had three family members give us money in the past two days for Clay & Jon's trip to Indiana. I know God will bless YOU for how you've blessed US! Like one of my scrappin' buddies said...........'Ain't God good?!' AMEN!!!!

We are trying to wrap things up right now, so everyone can get on to bed at a decent time. Michael & Alli have already been tucked in. Clay & Jon are stacking the last of the fire wood on the front porch. I got Jon's shoes exchanged today (for a larger size......size 11! Gotta have room for those big ole Bunner toes!) Got groceries for us & snacks for them to take with them. Now.....at 10:11 pm......Clay comes in here & wants to know if I can't shuffle some scrapbook pages around......REAL QUICK......so he could take one or two scrapbooks with him to show all these relatives who have never seen any of our kids......except for Chris when he was 2. Guess I'd better get up from here & get busy. ;-P

Life Lessons

I read this quote on Dana's blog & loved it.....told her I was going to 'steal' it.

'Many are schooled but few are educated.' ~Thomas Moore

That being said, we didn't do school using Text Books today.........it was all about those 'Life Lessons.' You know, stuff that comes along that wasn't planned. After some prayers & discussion this morning, it was decided that Jon would go with Clay to Indiana for Grandpa Bunner's funeral. Chris will miss classes on Friday because Clay will be driving the van, but he's staying here since he has plenty of school work to keep him busy PLUS studying for his SATs next weekend. Jon was the next choice & honestly, it will help ME out too. Taking one of those 3 youngest out of the mix will make my weekend at home with the kids MUCH more manageable. Jon, Michael & Alli have the ability to drive a person batty if they spend TOO much time together. ;-P Glad for Clay having some compnay on the trip too. So, all that said........I had to run do a little shopping today. Thankfully Clay was good to go as far as clothes were concerned, but I needed to get Jon a new pair of shoes & a couple of new shirts. In my flurry to get out the door.....after this last-minute decision was made.....I just rinsed & stacked all the breakfast dishes & went on. Didn't even say anything to Ashley about doing the dishes...just figured I'd tackle the kitchen when I got home. Well, what a nice surprise to come home & find all the dishes done & the table wiped down, etc. Life Lesson #1 accomplished! What a good feeling to know that I can leave out of here & Ashley can just step in & keep things going for me!! Life Lesson #2 was accomplished when Clay & the boys came home from cutting/hauling fire wood all afternoon. They unloaded a whole pick-up load of wood & stacked it on the front porch & in the wood pile by the garden. They were tired & hungry by supper time, but I told Clay (& the boys) what a good feeling to know that my kids weren't lazing around the house all day doing nothing....they were out WORKING, doing their part to help the family & on top of it all they were enjoying one another's company & learning that you can make your work be FUN! They are tired & sore tonight, but it's a good tired!!! I'm so proud of all my kids! Jon & Clay left after supper to go finish skinning out the coons that they didn't finish last night. Hope they won't be too late. I KNOW they are both really tired & they need to rest up before their long trip. Well, I'm headed up to bed soon....will have to get up early & take Chris tomorrow so I can go get some groceries.

Good Day/Sad Day

Good Day.........the girls & I had a great time shopping today. Went to Target & Ashley got a new top, Alli bought yet another Barbie & I got two little stuffed bunnies to tuck away for Easter treats & some VDay candy that was 75% off. Next stop was Steve & Barries....exchanged Chris' backpack for him & picked Jon up another pair of jeans for $8.98. By this time we were starving, so I got Alli Chickfila & then we went over to to Subway for me & Ashley. Ran into Game Stop...right next to Subway...& returned a game for Jon. To the mall real quick to check out the clearance racks at Aeropostale.....not too many deals, but Ashley did get a cute pair of PJ pants for $5.99. Back to Sams to print some pictures & our last stop was AC Moore where Alli bought a velvet poster to color & Ashley & I got some new stamp pads, a couple of Easter stamps & a few patterened papers. After we picked up Chris, we ran by the library. I had some books due back today, plus a few that were on hold for us. Ashley's book 'Jacob Have I Loved' & the 4th Harry Potter book for Chris. My other ones for our unit are 'on their way' coming from other libraries in our area. Will get those in a few days. Stopped at the PO to mail some letters/cards....was feeling all proud that I had gotten ALL these little running-around-errands done today & remembered that I forgot to get milk! DUH!!! Guess we will just have to eat waffles in the morning & I'll pick some up when I go out. I can't remember EVERYTHING!!

Sad Day..........when I got home Clay told me that his mom had called & his Grandpa Bunner passed away early this morning. The funeral is going to be Saturday in Rockport, Indiana. It's not going to work out for all of us to go, so right now, Clay is planning on leaving Friday morning early & coming home Sunday, weather permitting. Just pray for traveling mercies for him as he goes!!

Oceanography

Well, we started a new unit this morning....we're studying Oceanography. Another really cool unit from the Homeschool Estore. I love how these units are set up to accomodate all the grade levels. This one has outlines for Primary, Elementary,Intermediate & Advanced. Today was basically an intro stating that we will be studying the ocean lands....that is the land under water. Things like mountains, volcanoes, canyons,etc. Today we mapped the seven continents, all the oceans & Ashley added some of the currents. The scripture of the day is: Genesis 1:9-10,'And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered into one place, and let the dry ground appear." And it was so. God called the dry ground "land", and the gathered waters He called "seas". And God saw that it was good.'

Going to the library tomorrow to get some books from their suggested reading list. 'Keep the Lights Burning, Abbie!' for Michael & Alli; 'Jacob Have I Loved' for Ashley & 'Captains Courageous' for Jon.

Ran by the two craft stores (Michael's & AC Moore) when I went to get Chris this afternoon. Wanted to check out the President's Day sales. Nothing caught my eye at Michael's; but I did get a new 'Made Just For You' stamp at AC Moore for $2 off, plus a new card book for half off. Now to whittle me out some creative time to make some cards! No time for 'play' this afternoon/evening.....I ALMOST finished reading my book (The Betrayal) before supper...only ONE more stinkin' chapter to go now. Then I fixed chicken & stuffing (it was in the crock pot all afternoon)some lima beans, corn & ronis for supper. After that, Ashley did the dishes while I helped get Alli started on her bath, then I folded & put away 4 baskets of laundry! Now, I think I'm headed on upstairs.....gotta finish that last chapter & then start on 'October's Song'. Will be up & at 'em EARLY tomorrow....the girls have been asking to go shopping one day & tomorrow is it. So we will drop Chris at class at 9am & then shop & do lunch til 2pm.

Sportsman's Show

Just thought I'd share a few pictures that Clay took at the Sportsman's show this afternoon. He said Michael was a little bored, but he & Jon had a blast. I guess Jon's just a little older & more INTO it all now. BTW....he made a point to let me know this evening that he wants a bow for his 13th birthday.
Pics of Clay, Jon & Michael with Lee & Tiffany from the TV show 'Gettin' Close'. Clay said they are just the neatest, most down-to-earth couple. They were more than willing just to talk & visit with everyone. Signing autographs & taking pictures. He was REALLY impressed!

Some of the cool Taxidermy displays!!

And while they were enjoying their Sportsman's adventure, we enjoyed a nice quiet afternoon at home. Chris & I watched the first Harry Potter movie...I had never seen it before & really wanted to watch it after reading the book. The girls didn't care anything about it & played video games together upstairs while we watched our movie. After that, I managed to get this week's challenge done at ASF......use a song title/lyrics on a layout. That is just right up my alley.....LOVE using music on my LOs! This LO is titled 'He Hung the Moon'. I took this photo one afternoon on our way home from town.....the moon was SO BIG & full in the afternoon sky...really cool-looking. I was just kind of sad that it didn't show up better in the actual photo. BUT, as I looked at it at Sams.....I decided to print it out anyway.....because this song just popped into my head. Hadn't heard it in ages, but the picture just triggered a memory. A song written by Kirk Talley-

'He Hung the Moon'

In the beginning of time, He was the Creator. Into existence He spoke the heavenly blue. And with one mighty swoop of His hand, he threw out the stars, He knew where they'd land. So, if you think you're just drifting along, then I have good news.

And if He hung the moon, I know he will help you. And if He holds the sparrow in flight, He'll hold you too. Consider the lilies of the field, How much more he loves you. In the beginning of time, You were on his mind, When He Hung the Moon!

Well, the boys ended up NOT goint to the Sportsman's Show today after all. They decided it was such a nice day that they'd rather spend the afternoon setting more traps & then go to the show tomorrow afternoon. Clay took a few shots of Jon doing his thing out there this afternoon...pretty cool to see them working hard & enjoying the outdoors PLUS spending time together! And like Clay said....even though they're not having a very good year this year, he wants the boys to learn perseverance. To keep at it, doing their best until the season is over. Like it says in Ecc. 3:1-'To everything there is a season.....'

So, while they were off setting traps all afternoon, the girls played games together upstairs, Chris watched a movie (in peace, I might add) & I actually got some scrapping done! Two layouts shown below & the other one is a Design Team assignment that you can check out when the March newsletter comes out at ASF.

'I Win'....the kids started playing the YELLOW car game awhile back. For every yellow car you see, you get 1 point.....whoever gets the most points wins. BUT, if you see a Yellow Hummer.....you automatically win! Game over. I spotted that yellow hummer on Clay's BD while the two of us were out Christmas shopping. Thank goodness I had my trusty camera with me & a hubby who was willing to circle around the parking lot so I could get the perfect shot!

Our friend Rodney took this pic of Clay & Chris at a Panther's game back in November, 2006. They went down one Monday, went to the game with Rodney & Josh, crashed at their house overnight & came home the next day. Fun times!!

Monkey Nuts

Yesterday was a normal Friday for me.....drop Chris at class & then do the grocery thing. I was so amazed coming through the check-out line...my grocery bill was about $20 UNDER what it normally is, but get this.......I had added a few extras that were needed (sheets for Ashley's bed & new tennies for Michael) & was dreading how much it was going to be. PTL for how He takes care of us! I had prayed going in that I could find a REALLY good deal on the sheets & shoes because they were things that I REALLY needed to replace. How about a whole twin set of flannel sheets for $9 & tennies for $9.87!! I was doing a 'Happy Dance!'



Kinda took it easy for the rest of the afternoon. Clay & Jon were out doing traps......did I mention that Clay took off this weekend. They are trying to really 'Work It' as far the trapping goes....just about another week left is all. Then, he accidentally found out (from a flyer in Hardees) about a Sportsman's show this weekend over in Fishersville. So, it worked out perfectly.....he already had taken the weekend off, so they trapped all day yesterday....will check those traps this morning & then he will take ALL the boys & head off on their 'Sportsman's' adventure. I'm thinking the girls & I might scrap or watch some 'Girly' movies this afternoon.





We made our Monkey Bread dessert last night & it was a huge hit.....for everyone except Michael....he said he didn't like it. Go Figure. Clay came up with a new name for it......instead of Monkey BREAD......he called it Monkey NUTS! He had the kids laughing so hard. I got the idea for making this after reading Korin's blog-Inky Doodle-so thanks to her for inspiring me! Thought I'd share the recipe here for anyone who might like to give 'Monkey Nuts' a try. ;-)

4cans (10ct.) biscuits

3/4c. sugar 2tsp.cinnamon

1/2c.butter

1c. brown sugar

Combine sugar & cinnamon in small bowl. Cut biscuits into quarters. Roll biscuits in cin/sugar mixture til coated. Place in a greased 9x13 baking dish. Melt butter, brown sugar & remaining cin/sugar mixture over med. heat. Pour over biscuit pieces & bake at 350 for 25-30 mins. Serve warm!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

We ended up postponig our homeschool VDay party until next week. Maw & Anna have been sick (cold/fever) & now Sarah has it too, so we thought it best NOT to share the germs with everyone!!

We finished up our Valentine unit today. Wasn't nearly as long or in depth as our sled dog unit, but still educational all the same. The kids learned about (1)the History of Valentine's day & about St. Valentine,(2)the different symbols associated with VDay (& how secularized this christian holiday has become) & (3)the three differnet types of Biblical love: Eros, Phileo & Agape. Some of the scriptures going along with this unit were: I John 4:10, John 3:16 & John 15:13.

I ran by Target this afternoon & picked up some candy treats for the kiddos...some Krunch hearts, conversation hearts & heart-shaped suckers. Then when Clay & Jon got back from trapping this evening, Clay got Chinese for supper. Yum! We decided to hold off on our dessert....we had such a late supper that no one really felt like eating dessert, so we'll just continue our celebration tomorrow by having Monkey Bread & coffee.

Forgot to mention the deals I got yesterday at 'Good-a Will' (that's what my niece, Anna calls it). I spent $14 & got a pair of brown slacks, two light-weight sweaters & a cute spring-weight jacket. I was really tickled!

Well, after our late start this morning......I picked Chris up & asked how his History test went & he said it had been cancelled! The prof decided to cancel ALL his tests today since they were on a delay.....just to keep all his classes kind of on-the-same-page. Sure felt bad for him....he had spent all his time last night & this morning studying for History at the neglect of his Spanish test.....which ended up being the ONLY test he had today. The good thing is that in Spanish...if they don't make a 100....they get to take a retest each time. So, he will get a chance to better his grade. Math test will be tomorrow & History test has been bumped back to Friday now. At least that took some of the pressure off!

Clay had told me that he & Jon were going to cook up some rabbit that they had for lunch today along with a grouse. My only request was for them to clean up the kitchen when they were done, so I didn't have to come home to a big mess. I know Clay.....he cooks like Julia Child! YIKES!! Well, I was pleasantly surprised when I got home....the kitchen looked really nice. I was impressed. It wasn't until later that Ashley spilled the beans.....SHE had cleaned the kitchen up for them! Now her daddy DID pay her $2 to do it, but she did an awesome job! I can remember back to her TomBoy days......when she didn't want anything to do with helping in the kitchen. I felt so bad hearing my SIL talk about how her girls could cook up a whole meal on their own & clean the kitchen up like you wouldn't believe. I REALLY did want my kids to learn the basic domestic skills, but at the same time didn't want to push them so they absolutely HATED it, KWIM. Anyway......nice to see how it all falls into place when the time is right! She's still not so keen on cooking, but I'm sure she'll learn. She can fix what she wants WHEN she wants & doggonit, she can sure whip the kitchen back into shape just as good as I can! And it REALLY does help! Also kind of enjoyable actually.....the two of us working in there together to get things cleaned up after supper.

I was just thinking as I was fixing supper tonight what a nice feeling it is to be cooking up something yummy for your family. Kinda gives ya the warm fuzzies inside. Here are snippets from my evening:

~music playing on the radio-me singing along ;-P

~the girls chatting away as they worked on craft projects in the dining room

~Chris & Michael upstairs playing something together

~Jon & Clay out chekcing traps & working on the scooter

~supper waiting on the stove for my hungry family: Roast chicken, mashed taters, ronis, creamy chicken rice, green beans & biscuits.

Sigh....life is good!

Inclement Weather

Meaning we are working on a two hour delay this morning. Sure wish I had known....I would've let Chris sleep in some. When Clay got up this morning, he peeked out the window & said there was ice still everywhere & I thought, 'Oh No'. Came downstairs & checked online & sure enough they were on a delay. That knocks one test out of the mix for today......he did have THREE tests scheduled all for one day, but this knocks Math out. So, he only has History & Spanish today. History is the one he's really worried about....simply because this is the first test in that class & he's not sure exactly what to expect. I'm sure he would appreciate some prayers going up today!! Here's a layout I did last night. Was supposed to go scrap at Donna's house last night but LONG story.......Donna, if you're reading this, I'm praying for ya!!

Pictures from Sunday

Here are a few pictures from our adventure Sunday afternoon....This is where the fire was burning on the bank by the RR tracks....it actually skipped across the tracks & was burning right there in Buddy & Ena's yard under those pine trees.
Trying to get the fire under control under the pine trees.

The fires burning up on the mountain behind Joe McGrory's house.

This is the top out of the cedar tree by our back porch.....a small tree in itself!

The empty hole where the top of the tree blew out!

The basket ball goal rammed into the ground. In all the 8 years or so that we've had it, it's NEVER been blown over before. And it's on the side of the house where it's protected from the wind too!

Our 'Pioneer supper'...cooked on the wood stove & enjoyed by lamp light.

Our Scrabble game....Chris won....final scores... Chris-118, mom-117 & Ashley-87

Yesterday

Terrible winds yesterday!! Lost power about 2pm & didn't get it back on til about 8am this morning. Tons of limbs down in our yard, blew the whole top out of the cedar tree by the back porch just BARELY missing our van (although it DID bend the antenna). Blew over our basket ball goal. Fire down by Buddy & Ena's house....started in that little shacky house right across the tracks from them. We heard it was started because they were burning trash.....in all that wind......what WERE they thinking.....obviously they WEREN'T!!! Pretty scary! Plus fire on the mountain back behind Joe McGrory's. That burned on into the night....we could see it glowing up over top of our lawn mower building.

I scrapped all afternoon...working on my Valentine goodies.

6pm came & STILL no power so we 'pretended to be pioneers'. I fixed grilled cheeses on the wood stove & also Philly steak & cheese sandwiches for Ashley, Jon & me.

Played Uno, Scrabble & LOTR Monopoly til about 10pm.

Jon kept us all entertained or annoyed whichever the case may be. Imagine a house with NO noise except for Jon practicing his turkey calls!

Or him telling us he wished he had a glo-in-the-dark marker....he'd color himself ALL over & then hide upstairs & wait for us to find him. He's such a goof.....he's MY Jim Carey. ;-P Some other random comments that kept us laughing:

'My eyeballs threw up!'

and the kids singing-
'I have a head
it ends in a point
pointy, pointy, pointy'....................Patrick singing on Sponge Bob

The cats were WILD yesterday morning!! Jovi & Squirrel were romping thru the house, playing with each other & anything else they could get hold of. The kids told me it was because of the wind. I asked WHY they said this & they said they had learned it from Animal Planet. Cool! Then actually to be able to SEE it reinforced in real life. Life lessons. *Note to self....wonder if the wind also causes children to be WILD & crazy?!? My guess is YES!

Trying to finish resizing my pics now & will post them in the morning. I'm off to my cozy warm bed to finish reading my book now.

Super Saturday

It was another nice day today. Not quite as warm as the past few days, but still nice for Feb. High of 58 & my kiddos played outside ALL day.....barefooted even! We are such hill-billies!! Ha! They rode their bikes, played hide & seek, the boys played with their BB guns. I even hung my sheets out on the line.....they smelled SO good when I put them back on the beds this evening. Aside from doing the necessary laundry, I didn't do much else......Saturdays have become MY days to play.....meaning I spent the afternoon scrapping.Ashley & Alli being silly in the kitchen. They can take pics themselves & get THE BEST shots! No sour puss, pouty faces like when 'I' try to take their picture.
A couple more shots that Ashley took one afternoon when they took a walk together. Such good 'Sister Friends'.

These were a few pictures that I took the day of our Christmas party/Cookie Swap at Maw's house. In the middle photo there's Cori, Alli, Ashley holding Summer & Catherine. The bottom is Maw & Florence. Seems like we JUST had our Christmas party & now we're ready to celebrate Valentine's Day.

Grocery Day

Well, today was the usual Friday......take Chris to class & do Walmart & Sams. Was really nice being home with all the groceries put away by about 2pm. Thought I had all afternoon to do some scrapping, but ended up watching a bit of TV with Alli instead......I sat down & was just SO dang sleepy! Felt like I could've taken a nap. After supper I worked on the rest of my Valentine's. Got the cards done...now I just need to finish working on my 'treats'.
Ashley did a little computer studies for her school last night. She was wanting to send some pictures to her friend, Logan. So......I taught her how to resize the pictures in my photo program & then how to 'attach' her photos to the email she had written. She was very quick to learn & very proud of her accomplishment afterwards too!

It's not Friday YET?????????

Another busy day today!! Clay & Jon were super busy with trapping yesterday.....getting traps up & so forth for the weekend plus they had several critters to skin out....a possum & two racoons. They came in long enough for supper & then spent the rest of the evening over at Skippy's. I remember Clay coming to bed around 1am & telling me what a natural Jon was with the skinning of these critters...better than he was even! Now, I'm proud of my boy, but like I need to hear all this at 1am! ;-P Then he told me that Chris had remembered that he didn't have English today.....which meant a 9am math class & then nothing until 1pm......so he was going to skip math & just go to Spanish. So......after all this dialogue at 1am.....we were all able to sleep in just a bit this morning. That is if you call 7-something sleeping in?! Anyway, I got to take Chris along with Jon & Michael to town today......they've been wanting to go to 'Game Stop' & do some shopping & Clay needed to be home between 1-4pm because the Animal Control lady was going to stop by & check on our 'Rabid' Bootsie cat.....not really, but we have had him penned up since Ashley got bit last week. Ashley is fine & our cat is fine too, but anyway....gotta play by the rules. So, we hit Target today, Game Stop, Walmart.....because Clay also sent me there to get two tires for him to put on the van, but of course they didn't have what I needed. Grrrrrrr! Stopped by the PO & then the library before coming home. I'm tired, I tell ya! Clay & I 'tag-teamed' when I got back......he left to go somewhere else & get tires for the van fussing all the while that he had wasted his afternoon waiting for the Animal Control people to come & they hadn't showed. Needless to say he hadn't been gone long at all when there was a knock at my back door.......the Animal Control lady! PTL, she was REALLY nice. Went down to look at Bootsie....asked if he was eating/drinking ok & then we chatted about kids, animals & homeschooling for about 30 more minutes. Ended up getting her name & number so I could call & set up a time to bring our little homeschool group for a field trip to the animal shelter. Now how cool is that!! The Lord can take something stressful & turn it into a blessing! Fixed us some breakfast for supper tonight & now that my kiddos are 'nestled all snug in there beds' (where in THE world did THAT come from??! Ha!) I think I'm headed upstairs myself. Need to finish getting my menu planned & my grocery list together then read for a bit. 6:30am will be here before I'm ready for it. ;-P

We had a really fun day!! It was SO nice outside....unseasonably warm with a high of 72! We had hoagies at Maw's for lunch while the kids played outside on the swings. Then Maw opened her gifts & we had cake & ice cream. I mentioned earlier about all the cool things the girls were making for Maw.....Ashley copied the pencil holder that Kaye did for me & made one of her own for Maw. And then she found this cool idea in her Brio magazine & made this folder for her too.
Alli, Daniel, Michael & Anna playing....Ashley was being the photographer.

New Rascal Flatts cd!!
New cell phone! WooHoo!

And the chocolate cake that is STILL sitting on the kitchen table UNtouched becasue everyone was so full after supper.

Happy Birthday Chris & Maw!!

Chris & Maw share a birthday......Maw is 68 today & Chris is 19. Hope you guys have the BESTEST birthday ever!!

Just a few pictures from my BUSY day yesterday. Here's what I did:

~Baked Chris' chocolate cake

~Baked Maw a fresh coconut cake (Memaw's recipe)

~Picked Chris up from class

~ran by the bank

~Picked up Chris' new glasses from the eye Dr.

~Stopped by Maw's house for a quick visit

~fixed baked ziti for supper

~finished up Maw's gifts & wrapped everything

As far as school goes....my brain works like Dana's does, so yesterday we did Home Ec & Math. For Home Ec. I taught the girls
~How to substitute applesauce instead of oil in a cake recipe
~Let them watch/help make syrup by boiling water & sugar
~Watching how egg whites & cream of tartar turn into a fluffy meringue (I'm guessing these last two could kind of double as science too.)

Then last night I had the oppotunity to teach Jon about percentages. He is plotting how to spend some of his money at the video game store & he was wanting to know how much a $10 game would cost if it was 20% off or 25% off. So, I snagged the chance & he was MORE than eager to sit down with me & figure this all out! I'm sure it will stick in his head much better this way than just going thru the exercises from a stuffy old math book! ;-)

Along with with the Home Ec & Math, we had arts & crafts...the kids have been busily making all kinds of goodies for Maw for her BD! They can come up with some of the cleverest ideas!! And at one point yesterday, I thought about Dana again as I delivered her speech on the family unit & how we work together to clean up messes that weren't necessarily made by us!

Anyway, yesterday was a full day & I'm sure today will be too. We've already had our traditional BD cinnamon buns & coffee for breakfast. Chris is off to class & I need to get the kitchen cleaned up & get a shower because the girls & I are off to take Maw her gifts & have lunch with her. Then tonight we are taking Chris to Pizza Hut for supper...his favorite! THEN, Sunday after church we are all getting together at Maw's & she is getting an ice cream cake to celebrate ALL the recent birthdays...Daniel, Anna, Alli, me, Chris & Maw. Will share some pics from our day later on.

I've Been Tagged.....

Thanks for tagging me, Dana!

The rules for this meme are:

(1) Link to the person that tagged you.

(2) List the rules on your blog.

(3) Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.

(4) Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.

(5) Let each random person know they have been tagged.



Here are mine:
(1) I went to Costa Rica with my Spanish class when I was 15.
(2)I get up each morning around 7am WITHOUT an alarm clock. HATE alarm clocks!!!!!
(3)I LOVE writing/journlaing/blogging.
(4)When I have to be somewhere...an appointment, etc...I HAVE to be there EARLY!! I have a thing about being late. ;-P
(5)Love my morning coffee.
(6)My camera goes with me EVERYWHERE!


I'm not gonna do the link thingy, so if you want to do this, consider yourself tagged!

Cards I made Today....