WooHoo!

-Day 31-

I've completed a whole month's worth of pictures. Yay me! Thanks to Michael today for suggesting I take a picture of my yarn. I had just straightened everything up & had my latest project folded up in the basket there & thought what a great idea. I love the colors of the yarns & plus this is part of who I am.....Love to crochet!Been cleaning today! Trying to get ready for Ella & the kids to come down Monday for the day. I vacuumed upstairs this morning & cleaned the bathroom. Then after lunch I dusted & ran the vacuum down here. Also did a lot of straightening up & putting away. Looks really nice.....I only hope it can last through tomorrow until Monday when they come. LOL I also spent some time this afternoon putting layouts into albums. I had two HUGE stacks on my shelf all the way from last summer when I did Scrapfest. I ended up with 3 albums full (1 1/2" binders) & I still have a stack over there that will probably fill another album. I just ran out of page protectors. Now, as soon as I get my PJs on, I'm gonna start working on my Project 365 pictures. I have the album & a few baseball card page protectors....enough to get me started. Will have to pick up some more of those also this coming up week.

Friday...Grocery Day

-Day 30-Wow...hard to believe that I've almost completed a whole month of pictures! I don't want to say anything & jinx it, but so far, it's been easy. I'm keeping my list of ideas from Creating Keepsakes handy, but not gonna use them until I run out of ideas & get stumped. I was inspired by Tammy to take this picture, but just not brave enough to take the picture in the check-out line.....didn't feel like explaining WHY I was taking a picture of my groceries. So, I snuck a picture really quick on an aisle that was somewhat deserted. ;-) Think I'll save my receipt & grocery list to go along with this picutre.

Afternoon Ramble

-Day 29- It was such pretty day today...sunny & in the 40s...wonderful after two days of cold & ice! So, when Ashley & I went to the library this afternoon I told her we'd drive down the road on our way home & check out Ridgely's goats. (Ashley loves to ramble down the back roads & take in the country side) I just HAD to stop & take a picture of this cute little guy....one of her Fainting Goats...he totally looked like he was smiling at us & just kept on saying 'Maaaaa, maaaaa, maaaaa'. Too cute!!After that, we decided to head straight across the RR tracks...she wanted to see the old house where Uncle Skippy used to live & go around Browning Town way. As sad & rundown as this house is, she still LOVED it & had to stop & take a few pictures of it. I told her how I remember going over there as a kid & playing out in the front yard there. Can't wait for spring time to get here when we can REALLY get out & ramble with our cameras. ;-)

Ice

-Day 28-

We had some major ice here yesterday & as I was out walking around this morning snapping some pictures it reminded me of a little book I was reading by Beth Moore called 'Discovering God's Purpose for Your Life'. I just have to share a smidge of it here so you can get the gist of what I'm talking about.

'I want you to go to the furthest reaches of your intellect & I want you to try & measure excellence with me. I want you to think of things around you that speak grandeur to you. I want you to think of the wonders of creation. I want you to think of universal order, which is so magnificent, the natural laws.

They're nothing but mere works of His hands! Nothing but the merest suggestion of His person!

When my husband Keith & I were in South Africa we wanted to see some giraffes. God was so sweet to show off for me. It's something I'm always asking Him to do. I think nothing of saying, "Show off for me! ...if you delight me, I promise You I will jump up & down." I truely believe that the more you applaud God, the more He comes in for an encore!

Anyway, as we were out driving through a field we saw one giraffe. And so I applauded God, I said,"Oh, yes! You are so good!" Just then He brought out fifteen more! We were awed by what we saw. Keith & I just sat there & looked at the wonder of God's creativity.'

Well, the kids (and Clay & I too for that matter) were really hoping for a good ole snow. So after having read that, I prayed & asked God to show off for me with some beautiful snow. He just chose to send ice instead. So, as I walked around my yard this morning, I made sure to take it all in & jump up & down & applaud God for his creativity. It IS beautiful, isn't it?!!

-Day 27-

This was the sleet on our roof yesterday morning.....before the REAL ice started.

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

-Day 26-We had planned to go see Madagascar With Ella & the kids tomorrow, but they are calling for snow/sleet & all that good stuff, so Clay said we should go ahead today. Worked out just as well....Mondays are half price days, so I was able to take my kids to the movies for $2.50! Can't beat that now, can ya?! So, of course for my picture of the day I wanted everyone standing in front of the marquee outside.
Jesse didn't want to be in the group picture, so I snuck this one anyway. Isn't he cute? Looks like he's standing in 'time-out' with his nose against the wall. Hee! Hee!

After the movie, we ran into Toys R Us real quick because Alli had a $3 off coupon that she had gotten for her BD. She went in to look at the Barbie stuff, but Ashley happened to spot some CD players for $9.99 & Alli was needing a new one, so she used her coupon for that & got a new CD player for $7 & something. Good Deal! Ran by the library after that to drop off Jon's book that was due & then came on home to start some supper. We fixed a pot of chicken & dumplings....heated up some veggies & called it supper. Been piddling around on the computer for a while, now I think I'm headed upstairs to snuggle in bed & read.....I'm freezing & can't get warm. Gotta hurry & finish reading Eclipse.....Ashley is pushing me, so she can start on it as soon as I'm done. ;-)

Deer Tacos

-Day 25-

We had 'Deer Tacos' tonight for supper. Meaning that Clay ground the deer meat to make our burger....thus 'Deer Tacos' for supper. ;-)
Just a simple layout of some random pics I had of Sanji & Bunny....doing what cats do best....being Lazy!

Today's Layouts

Just a couple cute pics of Sanji & Bunny sleeping on the school books. We said they are trying to absorb some knowledge. ;-) Used some of my new papers I've gotten recently & the new chipboard letters that Ella gave me.....Thanks, girlfriend!!
Sarah took these lovely shots of Jon & Daniel acting goofy. Again, some of those fun 'Friendly Forest' papers or whatever they're called that I got from Michael's.

And lastly, Ashley made this cool wall hanging for me for my BD. She copied a Valentine thingie I made last year & used some more of my new stamps I've gotten here recently. I really LOVE how it turned out!

You've Got Mail

-Day 24-Well, I have totally enjoyed my 'Day Off' today. Lounged around this morning with my coffee, chatting with Ella online & getting all my pics up from yesterday. Then a quick shower & we watched the tail end of 'Raise Your Voice' while we ate lunch. After that, Ashley stuck in 'You've Got Mail' for us to watch while we scrapped. Can you believe that I was actually able to get two layouts done WHILE watching the movie too. ;-) Then it was Alli's turn & she stuck in 'Another Cinderella Story'. While all this was going on, the boys kept themselves occupied outside....they were building trebuchets.....they got the idea from watching Junkyard Wars yesterday. Ashley & Alli also baked me a Red Velvet BD cake....we're getting ready to put a pot of coffee on now & have a piece while we finish off our Girly Day by watching 'The Sound of Music'. Off to upload my layouts from today now.

My 4#@$%th Birthday

What a fun day I had! Met all the girls for lunch at O'Charley's...they are SO good about putting up with our rather large group of moms & kids....we LOVE going here! Our group consisted of Maw, Sarah, Anna, Daniel, Danielle, Dillon, Cori, Jesse, Taylor, Me, Ashley & Alli.
-Day 23-
My picture of the day.....my tea glass. I loved the lighting here & this is SO me. I LOVE sweet tea with lemon & as long as they keep coming & refilling it, I'll keep sitting there sipping it. ;-)

Ella told them it was my BD & also that Alli had just had a BD & so they brought us both these yummy desserts. It was some kind of caramel pie...really good, but really rich. Didn't take much to give you a sugar overload, so those two pieces were plenty for us to share around the table.

Me & my girls! Me & Ella.....bestest friends.

3 generations....Maw, Ashley, me & Alli. I swear we put on a show out in the parking lot. Just call us the Paparazzi.....Me & Ella were taking picutres & the girls were taking pictures...we're training them young. ;-)

Just a couple of the bargains I found yesterday at Target. Both Making Memories....one is a Christmas card/tag kit for $3.24.....I figured the 12 cards/envies was worth that right there. The other is an acrylic stamp set....Christmas stamps with an alphabet set & two little ink pads....for $4.98.....had been about $15, I think. After our grocery shopping & running errands we came home & Clay was gone. When I asked Michael where he was, he wouldn't tell me...just grinned...but in a few minutes he came driving up with Chinese for supper. What a sweetie...So I wouldn't have to cook last night. And the boys had the kitchen all nice & cleaned up....Michael had swept the floor & Jon had washed the dishes & they had even made tea! What a nice ending to a nice day. Now today Ashley says it's my day off...since yesterday was spent out & about running errands & grocery shopping like usual......so today we are going to scrap & watch Girly movies all day. Alli wants to watch 'A Cinderella Story' & Ashley wants to watch 'The Sound of Music'. And Ashley & Alli are going to bake me a BD cake. ;-) Don't I have the sweetest kids?! Oh & Chris remembered too......when I ran up on campus to pick up a game from him that Jon wanted to borrow....I found it along with a BD note that he wrote me in the glove box of his car....not to mention his BD message on facebook along with a TON of others from friends & family too. I am truely blessed!

And last, but not least.....My -Day22- picture.....taken at our library.

A couple of Layouts

I love this shot of Daniel...taken last Christmas at our family Christmas dinner...he was listening to Jon's cd of Blake Lewis doing a little beatboxing. Check out the hand on his hip & he was also snapping his fingers too!
Just a shot of all my Christmas cards that I made this year (2008).

-Day 21-Clay said they are going to be replacing this pole out here in the side of our yard...today they were putting up the box for high-speed internet.

Eat Fresh

-Day 20- Clay took a notion today that he wanted Subway for lunch. Clay got a cold cut sub & I had ham. Tried to take a picture of the front of Subway when I came out, but the sun was wrong & it really glared, so I settled for this picture of my drink. ;-)

Granny & Bruce

Just a quick LO I did this afternoon. I LOVE this picture that I took of Bruce & Granny. It was taken last year at our family Christmas dinner-2007. It was Granny's last Christmas with us so that makes this picture even more of a treasaure!

-Day 19- Well, I finally took my camera (with recharged batteries in it) with me when I went out to the library today.
-Day 18-
My baby turned 10 years old yeterday. I can't believe it....all my kiddos are in the Double-Digits now. Alli had a pretty fun day. She opened presents yesterday morning & then we had our traditional cinnamon buns & coffee for her BD breakfast. After church, we got Little Ceasar's pizza & took it to Maw's house for lunch. Chris came over & Sarah & the kids came down too. Maw had made her own ice cream cake for Alli....(with Anna's help....she picked out the ice cream flavors....mint chip & chocolate chip ice cream.) It turned out really yummy. Then we celebrated some more when we got home yesterday evening with chocolate cake & Orange/Vanilla Swirl ice cream. Kinda strange combination of cake/ice cream, but hey.......that's what she wanted. ;-)
Just a shot of some of her gifts that she got. A Barbie kitchen set, Sock Monkey, pink Converse sneakers, 'Petz Dogz 2' for the Wii & a new Bible.

These were two of Ashley's pictures that she took the other day when it was Super Cold. She & Jon walked down to the pond & she snapped these down there. Aren't they cool looking?! That bottom one was her picture of the day for that day.

A Bit Nippy Out...

-Day 17-

I went to let Bunny & Sanji in this morning & this is what the cat's water pan looked like. Gives you a little idea of just how cold it is this morning. I looked at out little digi thermometer that Clay has sitting out on the front porch & it was so cold that it wasn't registering anything but 'Lo'.......online, it said it was 1 degree at 7:53 am. Brrrrrr! But despite the fact, that it's colder this morning than yesterday morning, we managed to keep our pipes from freezing up & we still have water. PTL! I guess having that extra little heater that I bought yesterday was totally worth the $17 I spent on it. ;-) We had a little heater AND a heat lamp out in the pump house, a little heater on the back porch plus the kero heater sitting on the deep freeze in Memaw's bedroom.

-Day 16-



Just a picture of 'OUR' Walmart. I say OUR Walmart because that's how we distinguish between the Madison Heights Walmart & the one in Lynchburg. I know the one in Lynchburg is all nice & newly redone, but I still hate it......I don't know where anything is & it seems to me no rhyme or reason to how things are organized (or maybe I should say NOT organized) in there. I like OUR Walmart....I know right where everything is & how much it all costs, etc. Just a little slice of my everyday life. ;-)

Cleaning

-Day 15-

I spent a couple of hours this afternoon up in my bedroom cleaning & decluttering. You would NOT believe all the 'stuff' I cleaned out from under my bed. I didn't realize I had that many pairs of flip-flops. A good many of them got tossed into the Good Will bag. Everything is neat & tidy now.....now I just need to run the vacuum & get up all the little trashy stuff I stirred up while cleaning. I dusted & cleaned all the nightstand drawers & all the magazines that were on the shelf under the nightstand. My next big project...for another day....is to dig into my closet & REALLY clean that out & bring some order there. After all the cleaning & dusting was done, I decided to take a picture of my dresser. A big ole antique piece that has been in this house ever since I can remember. How do ya like my reflection in the mirror.....I'm glowing. HA!

No Batteries

Ok, so I had it all planned out....was gonna remember to take the camera with me today when Ashley & I went out to the library & that was going to be my picture of the day. Well, we carried the camera with us & as we were heading up the hill just past the PO, we saw a hawk swoop down & land in someone's front yard...it was eating something. We both looked at each other & were like 'Picture of the day', so I turned around & we went back.....Ashley put her window down & was all ready to snap this oh so cool pic of the day.....and the camera batteries died. And of course I didn't have the spare pair with me.....Jon had borrowed them for some reason. Oh well........
So, in keeping with my library theme today, I snapped a pic of my stack of books. As if I didn't have enough already at home to try & read, I picked up 3 more today by a new author...Lawana Blackwell. I'm well into Eclipse now & also reading the Longing by Beverly Lewis. We'll see how far I get.

Yesterday's Picture of the Day

-Day 13-

I was puttering along nicely yesterday morning until I went to do the dishes & realized that we had no water. Now, my first thought was the water froze...Clay on the other hand thought it was the toilet handle that is temperamental & has to be jiggled just right. The toilet handle DID need to be jiggled, but then when Clay went out to the pump house to check on things, he found out that we had a leak out there that was probably the cause NOT the toilet handle. So, the temperamental toilet handle turned out to be a blessing.....not sure how long that leak in the pump house would've gone if we hadn't gone out there when we did. So, long story short..............We had no water ALL day while Clay & Jon worked on the pipes. Praise the Lord it happened when it did.....on a week day when Clay was home & could work on it instead of on the weekend while he was away at work. Plus we had no plans to go anywhere yesterday, so the fact that I stayed in my jammies & didn't get a shower til 4pm was ok too. We did our school work & then scrapped & played for the afternoon. So...... for my picture of the day documenting the fact that we had NO water all day long............I decided AGAINST taking a picture of ME in my jammies with my hair pulled back in a pony & opted instead for my sink full of dirty dishes. ;-P

Strawberry Banana Smoothies

-Day 12- Ashley found this yummy recipe for Strawberry Banana smoothies in one of her recent Brio magazines. This is the second time we've made them & we're still kind of tweaking on the recipe a bit, but thought I'd share it in case anyone wanted to give it a try. 1 c. water (we use milk) * 1/4 c. almonds * 1 1/2 frozen bananas, chopped * 5 frozen strawberries* In a blender, mix the water & almonds to make a milky base. Add the frozen fruit & blend until smooth. As noted above, we used milk instead of water....I didn't have any almonds, so we just substituted milk in place of the water & almonds. Also want to add a bit of plain yogurt next time & see how that turns out. ;-)

Kreativ Blogger Award

I've just been awarded this 'Kreativ Blogger' award by my good friend, Jules. You can check out her blog here: http://julietds.blogspot.com/

Now, I'm supposed to choose 5 of my blogging buddies to share this award with.1. Lisa J- http://www.cutcreateandcare.blogspot.com/

2. Tammy- http://ttownsend-strawberriespeppermintsohmy.blogspot.com/

3. Korin- http://www.inkydoodle.blogspot.com/

4. Shannon- http://thescrapbookbungalow.blogspot.com/

5. Christie- http://wildscrapper.blogspot.com/

Day 11

The main thing on my 'To-Do' list yesterday was to get myself at least somewhat organized for back-to-school this week. We want to start a unit study on nutrition & manners (the manners part is Ashley's idea...for some reason she thinks her brothers need a crash course in manners & I figured it couldn't hurt. LOL) BUT, that will have to wait until next week to begin...I need to get an ink cartridge for my printer & until then I can't print anything. My goal for this week is to ease back into the routine....basically starting with math & maybe them reading some History on their own. Ashley doesn't have too many chapters left in her History book & Jon only has one chapter left. Why in the world that didn't just get finished up BEFORE the Christmas break I'll never know...but anyway. Jon continues to plug along in the Harry Potter series for his literature reading. He's almost done with the 5th book now. And Ashley...well, she's still reading everything in sight & LOVING all the 'classic' literature these days. To think this child who was SO HARD to teach when she was younger.....just devours all this stuff of her own free will now. Whoever said the teen years were the worst?! I beg to differ!!! Here recently she's read all the Anne of Green Gables books that I have or that she can find at the library, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, lots of stuff by Edgar Allen Poe, she just finished reading Little Women & will start on Great Expectations now.We sat down together & watched Little Women last night. I hadn't watched it in forever & realized all over again what an awesome movie it is. And while Ashley liked the movie, she said the book was better! (Can you believe that's one book that I somehow missed reading along the way.) Maybe in my spare time I can sit down & read that one. ;-)

Back to School

Today was spent catching up on laundry & making sure all Chris' stuff was clean & ready for him to head back to school. He left this afternoon about 4:30pm. He was anxious to get back & have a day to settle in before classes start & of course time to catch up with all his friends!
Just a few pics snapped this afternoon before he headed out.

And of course, Day 10-I KNEW that I wanted today's picture to be of Chris heading back to school. The weather didn't co-operate though.....it just HAD to start raining this afternoon about the time we needed to load the car. That's why the other pics were taken inside...in the kitchen. I snapped this one real quick through the raindrops as he left.

Anna's BD Lunch

Day 9- We met Maw, Sarah & the kids along with Ella & her kids at Chickfila today for Anna's belated birthday lunch. Here she's holding up a High School Musical poster that Alli made for her.After lunch we ran by Old Navy with Sarah to check out the bargains. Alli is the one who racked up this time. I told her it was part of her BD.....but I didn't dare leave & try to come back shopping by myself...it would all be gone by then...so I just had her try the stuff on & pretend that she didn't know this was a BD present. LOL! I probably got her about 8 tops & one pair of black leggings. Most everything was $1.99.......all of that for UNDER $20! That girl is set as far as clothes for the spring/summer. Now, just to luck up on some shorts or capris. From there, we ran into Target for just a bit.....found Ashley a cute green hoodie for $6. Into Michaels to pick up some yarn.....I'm making an afghan for MYSELF now. Saw a Lion Brand pattern that I love & wanted to get started on it right away. From there it was a quick run into Sams & then on back to Walmart for groceries. Had a late supper tonight.....after getting home around 5:35ish & getting everything cleaned up (4 boys at home all day......nuf said!) & groceries put away, we ordered Vitos pizza. Kind of a 'last-dinner-before-going-back-to-school' supper for Chris. He heads back tomorrow afternoon & will start back to class on Monday. It's been so nice having him here, but I know he's anxious to see all his friends & get back into the swing of things. We'll hit the books again this coming up week too. I think everyone is ready for some 'routine' again.

Day 7 & 8

Day 8- Was sitting here at the computer this morning checking emails & what-not when Michael called to me from the living room saying it was snowing! I couldn't believe when I looked out the window & it was just a-coming down. Our weather called for partly sunny & high of 42 today......Hmmmmm. Anyway, I knew what my picture-of-the-day would be......so I grabbed my camera & ran outside to snap a few picutres. Now, about an hour later, the clouds have parted & I actually see blue sky & sunshine. ;-)
Day 7- Almost forgot about my picture yesterday. Kept waiting for just the right opportunity to come along. Ashley had actually gone outside during a break in the rain & took some really good pics out there. I ended up settling for a picture of our wood stove. I LOVE this wood stove....sure does keep us nice & cozy during the winter months!