'Fabulous' Friday

Busy day today, as are most of my Fridays right now. Dropped Chris at class & then Alli & I did our grocery shopping. This was our BIG grocery day......we usually do a BIG grocery day every other week & then a smaller run on the off-week. After groceries we went on a wild-goose-chase for Clay. He wanted me to go to the 'Tackle Box' & get him some worms & spark plugs for the boat....tomorrow is their big fishing tournament. Anyways...after grumping & griping through a funeral procession & a 3-car wreck we FINALLY got to the tackle shop only to find that they are closed today & tomorrow! ARGH!! We grabbed a bite to eat at Wendys & then headed over to Target, then Sams, picked up Chris & then came on home. Kind of a lazy, quiet night here.....the kiddos are watching Disney's 'Haunted Mansion' & I've been scrapping. I'm behind on the challenges at ASF.....I worked on the Oct. 3rd challenge tonight.....using 3 different kinds of embellishments. It was really fun working on some older pics....Me, Sarah & Chris acting like goof-balls! Think I'm headed on up to read some now while Clay gets his fishing gear together.

One more layout. I love this one of Daniel playing Nintendo with Jon. If you look closely you can see that Daniel is 'Unplugged', but no matter......he was so proud to be playing with Jon! LOL

I scrapped!

Finally was able to sit down this afternoon & just scrap. Of course I WAS doing challenges for our cyber crop at ASF, but it wasn't an assignment or anything....just for fun! The first challenge was to do a LO about ME.....a pic from my 29th birthday (not too long ago! HA!) The second one had to use a 'T' in the title.....Michael being a 'T-Watty'......Clay's nick-name for him...meaning: goof-ball, silly-willy, etc.

This morning we worked on finishing up our unit on the planets. Almost done. They made graphs today showing the number of moons each planet has. And Alli caught up on some of her notebook pages that she didn't do when she was sick. We still have some literature-related stuff to do.....doing Alliterations using the planet words. And a couple of 'experiments' that I thought would be fun. After lunch, I ran by the library to pick up some books on Appomattox, VA & the Civil War. Chris is on Fall Break next week & we have planned a field trip to Appomattox, so I wanted a small unit to go along with this.

Chris got his second Biology test back today & he got a B.....bringing his grade up 14 points from the last test. He was so excited & I was SO PROUD!! Just 2 points away from making an A......WTG, Chris!

Clay is getting all his stuff ready to go fishing with James in the morning. They are practicing for the tournament they will be in on Saturday at Leesville. Michael & Alli are in bed & the other 3 are in the living room playing Monopoly. Think I am headed upstairs to read a bit now.

My Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day!

Actually, it doesn't seem THAT bad anymore, but earlier......................I was stressed to the MAX about supper-time! Here's how it went...Alli got up this morning, stuffy as usual & still had a smidge of fever...about 101. Clay says I should call the Dr. & see if they will see her today...might be a sinus or ear infection. They tell me 3pm. Ok, I have time for a few quick notebook pages on the planets, listened to Jon read & gave Ashley her math & Bible verse to write out. Hopped in the shower & got ready. Left to go pick up a few groceries from Walmart, picked Chris up from class at 1:50, got home & dropped Chris & the groceries off, picked up Alli & raced back out the door to get to the Dr. office on time. They take us back to a room by 3:15 & I'm quite impressed....not bad at all. And then we WAIT & WAIT & WAIT some more. I was giving them just a few more minutes....til 5:30 & then I was walking out! The Dr. FINALLY came in & chekced her out. Said her ears, nose, throat, etc. all looked fine. Said the fever COULD be from some little viral bug, but it should run it's course in about a week. If she was still feeling puny toward the end of the week, I could give him a call & he'd call her in a perscription. AGHHHHHH......This is why I HATE going to the Dr. I sat there 2 1/2 hours for that!! The only good thing that came from that time was that I got to work on Daniel's afghan that I'm making for Christmas AND I was able to teach Alli some crochet. She's been wanting to learn & that was the perfect opportunity. She got the hang of doing the chain stitch pretty good. She wants her own crochet hook so she can practice more now. After a bit more practice, I'll teach her the single crochet. Anyway, after ALL that I'm stressed beyond measure & all I want to do is get home....knowing it's supper time, etc. & doggoneit if I don't get pulled over by a State Trooper on Craigtown Rd. no less........out here in the BOONIES & a state trooper pulls me over! He said I didn't give a signal when I turned the corner there by Jack's.....he said I just sort of 'merged'. :P~~~~~~~~~~ I was quite POLITE (even though I wanted to scream/cry/whatever)& he said he'd just give me a warning this time! Bless you Young Man! Anyway......how's that for a MONDAY?! One good thing, that I almost forgot about in all this hullabaloo.....I got an email today saying I had won a $10 CG on Lifetime Moments for one of the scrap challenges I participated in back over the summer months. I had totally forgotten all about it & was SO tickled when I got the news! Can't wait to shop for some cool scrapping goodies! Think I'm headed upstairs now with my book to read until I can't keep my eyes open anymore!

The picnic that didn't happen

Well, we were supposed to go to the Apple Festival today out at Drumheller's & have a picnic lunch & so forth. Our plans kinda fell apart at the last minute so I just decided to run out there myself & see what was happening & if it was really worth planning to do it tomorrow or not. The apples really ARE expensive this year (just like Clay & Maw said they would be) because everything has been so dry. We're talking an average of $22/bushel. I did walk around & check out some of the hand-made goodies. I priced the crocheted scarves, afghans, dishcloths, etc. Made me want to run right home & start crocheting!! We just had our own little picnic here with all our 'lunch treats' that I had gotten.....sandwiches, Pringles, Sierra Mist & Little Debbie cakes for dessert. Can't get any better than that! ;-) Think I might go try & scrap some now (or CROCHET) since my house is all clean & the laundry is pretty much caught up.

No clever title tonight either..............

Well, yesterday afternoon was spent doing 'Home Ec'......meaning we had some MAJOR cleaning up to do around here!! The kids worked on their rooms while I cleaned down here. We worked all afternoon til supper time. Then after supper, we had our big multiplication competition. Let me back up a bit.....started working earlier this week with Jon & Michael using the flash cards. They've all learned their multiplication tables before, but just needed some serious practice to be able to pop those answers off to me without counting on their fingers. This of course turned into a serious competition to see who could answer the quickest & get the most cards when we played. Ashley actually decided to play along too....said she needed to brush up on certain ones & this seemed to be fun. Well, we practiced all week with the promise of a REAL competition on Thurs. evening with the winner receiving a big bag of sunflower seeds. (The prize was decided upon by Michael & Jon agreed). This was majorly serious.....the whole family was there to watch & supervise. I flashed the cards & Clay was the judge as to who raised their hand or answered first. Let me just say that Michael blew them away!! Little Tee-watty. He deserved it too.......he had practiced so hard all week. Even when I was upstairs folding laundry, I'd be calling out to him......Michael, what's 7x8? How about those doubles.....what's 6x6? Anyway, he's the proud owner of his very own bag of sunflower seeds now & loving it!!

Well, more pukes this morning. Alli woke up & went straight for the potty. I really think the drainage gets to her during the night. Once she got on up & got moving & got some allergy meds into her, she seemed better. Even went on with me to town today & helped do the groceries, etc. We stopped by Wendy's for some lunch & then went to the pet store to look around a bit. I think everything is just so dry right now & it's really making everyone's allergies worse than usual. I know my nose is stuffy & I have a sinus headache now. Think a pot of coffee may be in order shortly. Hope all is well & still on go for our Apple Festival picnic tomorrow. We've all been looking forward to it for so long & I'd really hate to disappoint!

Blech

Alli came downstairs this morning & said she felt like she was going to throw up.......what a nice way to start your day! At least she made it to the trash can. Seems to be from allergies/drainage.....she says her head, neck & throat hurt & she might be a little warm. Need to take her temp. I've given her tylenol & need to call Clay & tell him to pick up some Dimetapp or Dayquil or something like that for allergies on his way home. Better get myself moving here & get some things done.

Yadda, yadda, yadda.........

That's what I'm hearing right now......Alli is standing hear literally jabbering in my ear.....telling me all this stuff that she wanst/needs for Chritsmas! Do you know how hard it is to type with that going in your ear? I'm liable to start typing about barbies, & when does Steph put up her Christmas tree & something about High School Musical 2 & did you know that at Target they have the coolest little bitty cans of Play-Do in all kinds of cool colors all stacked in a pyramid....that would make the coolest Christmas gift & did you that it's Fall now?..............

Ok.....done with MY part of school for now. Jon still has vocab words to look up, but wants to do that later, which is OK, I guess. He & Michael 'bout killed each other doing their flash cards this morning.....they're competing to win a bag of sunflower seeds. Nothing like a little friendly competition, huh?! Then, Jon, Michael & Alli worked on stuff for our planet unit. I'm off to do the dishes now....just left those earlier because the kids wanted to get their work done & out of the way. Then hop in the shower & do some laundry.

Crochet Granny Square

I had a request for the pattern to the Granny Squares I had posted a few days ago, so here goes:

Granny Square
ch. 4, join with slip st to form ring.
Rnd. 1: ch 3 (counts as first dc, now & throughout), 2 dc in ring, ch 2, (3 dc in ring, ch 2) 3 times; join with
slip st to first dc: 12 dc
Rnd 2: slip stin next 2 dc & in first ch-2 sp, ch 3,( 2 dc, ch 2, 3 dc) in same sp, ch 1 * (3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc) in
next ch-2 sp (shell made), ch 1; repeat from * around; join with slip st to first dc: 4 shells.
Rnd 3: slip st in next 2 dc & in first ch-2 sp, ch 3, (2 dc, ch 2, 3 dc) in same sp, ch 1, 3 dc in next ch-1 sp,
ch 1, * work shell in next shell (ch-2 sp), ch 1, 3 dc in next ch-1 sp, ch 1; repeat from * around; join
with slip st to first dc.
Rnd 4: slip st in next 2 dc & in first ch-2 sp, ch 3, (2dc, ch 2, 3 dc) in same sp, ch 1, ( 3 dc in next ch-1 sp, ch1)
across to next shell, * work shell in next shell; repeat from * around; join with slip st to first dc; finish off.

Well, I actually got some stuff accomplished this afternoon! Did my DT layout for the Sept. 30th newsletter.....can't post that just yet, but I will share the LO I did for the last newsletter entitled 'Don't Blink'....using the lyrics to Kenny Chesney's latest song. Also finished reading 'The Quilter's Legacy'. Now I can't wait to get the next one in that series....guess a trip to the library is in order for tomorrow afternoon. Worked some more on Anna's afghan....almost have all the edging done & then I can put it together. Need to sneak a picture of Alli's afghan to show everyone. She knew I was making it for her for Christmas, but she hasn't seen the finished product.....have it tucked away in the wardrobe away from prying eyes. Made a pot of chicken & dumplings for supper & now, I have kiddos upstairs showering & getting ready for bed. Need to go print out my new schedules for this coming week...I think everything else is in order. Will see how this works!

Clever title help

My brain is just not quite in the CLEVER mode yet this morning. Need another cup of coffee. So far, my plans for the day include church this morning & then home for the afternoon. Would like to finish reading my book....was SO close to the end last night, but I just couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. Then I also need to scrap....just really haven't been in the mood lately. I need to go ahead & get my DT assignment done for the end of the month......the time is slipping up on me FAST!

Love it, love it,

love it....sitting outside enjoying the nice Fall afternoon. Temps are just perfect- upper 70's, nice little breeze blowing- just enought to make my wind chimes 'tinkle'. Clothes drying on the line. The boys are off getting another load of firewood. Pot of greens simmering on the stove for supper. Clay will grill some London Broil later. Need to put the purple edging on Anna's afghan squares. I have them all made, now just to edge them all & then put the whole thing together. The kids did Space word find puzzles for school today. Need to review their Bible verses with them & get the older ones to look up the 'word find' words & write definitions for them. My friend, Dana, sent me the template she uses for their weekly schedules....I printed off a sample of my own & I'm going to start doing that next week.

Who knew?

That 'Drake & Josh' could be so educational? Just had to share one of my wonderful 'UNschooling' moments from yesterdaymorning. I wasn't planning on doing any book work because I had to leave & run Chris to class & do a couple of errands & then we were headed out to Hampton to the American Idol concert (Field Trip). But as I was sitting here reading emails & chatting with Ella, I realized that Alli had out one of our planet books from the library & was reading the names of the planets in order from the sun & then trying to say them all from memory. I was quite impressed because this was TOTALLY on her own without me ever saying a word. So, I just sat quietly & listened for a bit. I finally asked her if she had remembered me telling them about how MY teacher back in 5th grade had taught us how to remember the order of the planets.....M VEM J SUN P & she told me NO, she had learned it from 'Drake & Josh' on TV--they had made up a little song when trying to figure out what the eighth planet was. Go figure! Anyway, when I left to go take Chris, she was going around the house timing herself seeing how fast she could name them all!

Homeschool note from today...... How many kids get to sit outside under the Dogwood tree with their mom & work on their math?? That was me & Ashley this afternoon.....it was SO nice!

Ok, I'm off to bed....just got done printing a bunch of pages for our planet notebook. A word find puzzle, putting the planets in ABC order, some coloring pages, etc. Pretty fun stuff!

American Idol Concert

We had an AMAZING time last night! The concert was terrific.....better than I had anticipated! Let me just say that they ALL were so much better in person.....no judges, no pressure....just doing 'their thing' & having fun! Melinda & Jordin both had a wonderful testimony onstage....sharing about their 'chick nights' together...how they talked about girly stuff & the Lord because that was such an important part of their lives. Jordin even asked for prayer for her grandmother who was sick & in the hospital. Of course the crowd down there in Hampton was crazy over Chris Richardson because he's actually from Chesapeake. And one other hi-light to share....when they came back from intermission, Phil Stacey was in his Navy uniform, with a huge flag on the screen behind them & he sang 'America the beautiful' with the others saluting the flag behind him....gave me goose bumps!!

Sure wish we had had the foresight to plan for an ALL DAY trip. I REALLY want to go back again!! We got down there early enough that we drove down thru Colonial Williamsburg & I tell ya.......just made me sad that we didn't have time to stop right then & enjoy it. And Jamestown was just right there too! And the McDs where we ate supper, right next to the colesium was also right near the airforce base & we watched all these fighter jets doing their thing right out the McDs window.......Jon thought this was AWESOME! Just like TOP GUN!

one more day...

til we go to the American Idol concert & let me tell you that these kids are WOUND UP with excitement tonight!!!!! I finally got Michael & Alli tucked in, but Jon & Ashley are still up acting like goons & driving me NUTS! Think I may have to go up to bed just to get some peace & quiet!

Took all the pictures off my camera tonight so I'd have an empty memory card for tomorrow night. Will share some of them here. I have a picture of some of the granny squares I'm crocheting for Anna's Christmas afghan. A picture of Ashley on her BD & the ice cream cake that Maw got for her & Michael. And last but not least for now....a pic of the boys unloading/stacking firewood.

Manwich & Tater Tots

Wow, yesterday was such a nice relaxing day & yet I also got a lot acoomplished! I vacuumed upstairs & downstairs, did laundry, read some of my book....I'm really getting into it now. I guess I just needed to spend a bit more time reading when I wasn't falling asleep! HA! Also got caught up on all the card challenges from Jules' blog...will share some of those later. PLUS I spent some time crocheting on Anna's afghan.

Church this morning & then home. These days have been so nice & cool....I actually fixed chicken noodle soup for lunch today. YUM!! Sat outside & read some more & then came in & have been working on our unit study of the Universe/planets. Have to really be careful with these library books....trying to tell my kids about the 'Big Bang theory' UGH! Our unit starts off with 'In the beginning God created the heaven & the earth!'

On a totally different note....one of those cool Mom moments yesterday evening. I saw Jon come out the back door, book in hand & head off down the drive. I KNEW where he was going...had seen him there earlier.....he was up in the Hickory tree behind Uncle Richard's house reading a Star Wars book! I just HAD to run grab my camera & zoom lens & was able to sneak a couple of pictures undetected! This is the child who Clay has been so worried about his reading. To me, this was just awesome to find him off by himself, up in a tree & reading a book! A note here too....that Ashley didn't care for so long whether she read a book or not. Just this past summer has her reading REALLY taken off. I mean ASKING to go to the library all the time. Devouring any kind of history book....especially biographies about George Washington, Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, etc. She has kept her own book log over the summer & her goal was to read 50 books & she did it!! Now, we have started on our book list for the school year to keep in their folders (I'm sticking a copy of her summer reading in her folder too!!)

OK, off to fix some supper......manwich & tater tots.

Nowhere to go.....

And nothing major planned to do today!!! You just don't know how happy I am about that! Of course I have laundry to do & I REALLY should run the vacuum & maybe dust, but we shall see. What a I REALLY want to do is catch up on Jules' card challenges, maybe crochet a little & read my book. Right now I'm enjoying my second cup of coffee & catching up on my emails & blog reading.

Biology 101

Squirrel (Alli's cat) is in a box in the kitchen with her new baby kitties. So far, she's had 4......not sure if she's done yet or not....probably so. And from the looks of them, it's pretty obvious that Bootsie is the father, as usual. They are all gray with a little touch of white here & there. Kind of a nice quiet evening at home tonight.....supper was quick & easy.....an assortment of frozen pizzas for everyone....well, Alli had chicken tenders. Chris had his usual Totinos pepperoni pizza, Jon & Michael had the little Food Lion brand pepperoni pizza & Ashley & I each had a Stouffers supreme french bread pizza. We were done & plates washed up by 6pm. We then, watched 'Are We Done Yet?' while I crocheted on Anna's afghan that I'm doing for Christmas. Alli went with me to town today.....dropped Chris off at class & then headed to Walmart to get a few groceries to tide us over til the first of the week. From there we ran by Steve & Barry's to get Ashley's shirt in the RIGHT size this time. By then, it was 11am & time for us to get a bite to eat at Chickfila. Then we hit Old Navy, Michaels & Sams. Found Jon some cargo jean shorts at ON for $1.97.....got him two pairs!! Thinks that should hold him now thru the Fall. Then at Michaels, they had a bin of their 'nice/fancy' yarn for $1/skein, so I picked out 6 pretty ones for making some scarves. Got our milk & some Debbie cakes at Sams & then it was time to pick Chris up. I really like getting my groceries in the morning like that.....makes things MUCH easier!! Think I'm headed on up to laze in the bed & read til I fall asleep. Trying to get into this Elm Creek book.....to me it's going a little slower this time than the last one I read. Guess it could be that I usually only read at bedtime & I don't hardly get thru a page before I'm falling asleep.

Catch up

Boy, this week has been busy.....but that's how they all seem. Anyway, Monday I had to get up & take Chris to class....Clay had to be here because the cable guy was coming to fix our dish. So, the morning was more rushed than usual. When I got home, I straightened up the kitchen & we did a bit of school, then it was time for lunch & time to go get Chris again. At least I didn't have to think about cooking anything for supper. We did Chinese for Ashley's BD supper.

Tuesday, we ALL headed out to Maw's for a party. Celebrating Ashley's BD & also Taylor's first BD. But when we got there, Maw said that Ella had called & couldn't come because Jesse was sick. Sure sorry they couldn't come, but I really DON'T want the germmies!! We had a fun time anyway....Sarah & the kids came down & we had pizza for lunch & then Maw had ordered an ice cream cake from DQ....YUM!

Yesterday, I LET Clay get up & take Chris.....I had been up & out EVERY day since last Wed. & I was sooooo tired. Of course, I was up a little after 7am anyway......I just didn't have to be showered & dressed quite so early. So, I enjoyed a leisurely cup of coffee & my computer time. Once they were out the door & the kitchen was cleaned up, we started on the school work. I sent Ashley off to read her Earth Science & do her math lesson while I worked with the others. Michael did some practice with multiplication/division facts, Jon did some oral reading & then vocab words to go along with the story he's reading & Alli did two pages of reading (vowel teams), reading comprehension (the Singing Whales) & a page of math (measuring in inches).

Today, Ashley is going with me to take Chris...she needs to exchange one of the tops I got her for her BD. Chris only has math today, so it's a short day. When we get home, the guys are headed up on the mountain to get a load of firewood. Clay went up there yesterday & cut up a tree....now, he just needs to spit it & haul it back down here. One of the signs that FALL is definitely in the air!

Happy Birthday, Ashley

I can't believe that Ashley is 14 now! Where does the time go? We had our usual celebration breakfast this morning.....cinnamon buns & coffee. Then she opened presents before heading out to church. She got several new tops, a pair of black bermuda shorts, a purse, headband, earrings. From the Aunts she got money to go into her digi camera fund. She is becoming quite the photographer & has really enjoyed playing around with MY digi camera & she can't wait to get her very own. As soon as Clay gets home from work we will have birthday cake. Then tomorrow evening will be her BD dinner....she wanted to have Chinese for supper, so we decided to do that tomorrow night since Clay works on Sunday. THEN on Tues. we are supposed to be going over to Maw's to celebrate some more. She has ordered an ice cream cake from DQ for her. Nothing like spreading the celebration out for a few days. Makes it last longer!!

We had a great time yesterday at our annual Fortune Family Reunion....held at Uncle Skippy's house. The high light of the day for me was getting to see my cousins from Pop's side of the family (Pop's nephews). Kyle & his family have come several times & even though Doug & his family came a few years ago we missed seeing them because we were at Busch Gardens at the time. I actually hadn't seen Doug since he was in our wedding 20 yrs. ago! So we made sure to get LOTS of pictures.....some of the WHOLE family & some of all our kiddos together & some of me, Sarah, Doug & Kyle. Annette & Mike surprised us all by showing up with their new little one.....Callum. He is such a sweetie. Just wish that Aunt Vada & her family could've been there.....we all really missed them & it just didn't seem the same without them.

Need to go get these guys ready for bed now.......I'M the one that's super tired! But mama can't go to bed til everyone else is in bed.

Thurs. already

Where has the week gone? Tomorrow is going to be a busy day for me. Have to take Chris to class(Pray for him....he has his first test tomorrow in Algebra) & then do the grocery shopping & BD shopping & meet Ella for lunch all before 1:50pm. Sure hope I can pull it off. Then, come home & cook/bake Ahsley's BD cake & whatever I'm going to take to the reunion on Sat. Think I'm going to do the old stand-bys......baked beans, home-made ronis & some brownies. That'll do. I made some cards this afternoon....more cards for Jules' blog challenge. I think they turned out pretty cute, if I do say so myself. Some Christmas & some Halloween. Supper was easy tonight.....it was so hot & I still didn't feel like cooking, so it was Vitos!! Yum! After supper, I vacuumed/washed the van while Clay mowed the yard (or should I say, mowed the DIRT.....that's what the kids said. It's been sooooo dry here lately!) Think I'm headed on up to bed now.....I'm leaving 'Mr. Martha Stewart' in the kitchen making grape jelly from our grapes he picked. Sure smells good in there, but I'm afraid of the mess he's left me!!!!

Labor Day

Well, Alli is feeling some better today....still kind of laid around most of the day, but she has eaten some dry cereal & chicken noodle soup. Got her a bath & a bedtime snack.....now I think she's ready for bed here shortly.

Started on a new month-long crop at Lifetime...finished up 2 projects for that today. One of Chris when he was about 3 yrs. old, on Maw's front porch with Sarah's boom box singing along to Kirk Talley....'Hallelujia Praise the Lamb'. Isn't he just too cute?! The other challenge I combined with the cards I'm doing for Jules' blog challenge......hers, using old BH sketches to make cards with. Having fun with that one & hopefully stock-piling some cards to take with me to the reunion. Gonna go get these guys settled down now & then work on one last LO for today.

Ugh...

Alli woke me up around 4ish this morning saying she felt like she was going to throw up. She sounds all stuffy in her head & says she has a head ache.....feels like she might have some fever too.....would help if I could find that dang thermometer! I'm guessing she just has what Chris had & the drainage is just getting to her. She's laid out on the couch right now watching Sponge Bob. I just checked on her & she says her head still hurts. Poor baby!! Needless to say, we will just be hanging around the house today. I'm off to clean up the kitchen & get a quick shower. Want to try & do some scrapping this afternoon. There is another cyber crop that just started at Lifetime.....called 'Holidays:Past, Present, Future'. Hoping I can do this...only 30 days long & I've had a nice rest now. Also, it's National Stamping month & Jules has a challenge going on her blog for making cards. I REALLY want to do that....especially since I need to make some cards to sell at the reunion next weekend! Hopefully I'll have some new creations to share by this evening.

Been a Busy few days....

Thurs. we were up & off to King's Dominion....got there at 10:07 & the rides didn't actually open til 10:30. Nice day....kind of overcast which made it NOT too hot. Also not a lot of people there which is what we were hoping for going on a week day. The lines weren't bad at all...in fact alot of times we'd just stay in our seats & ride the same thing 2 & 3 times in a row! As we were leaving the park that night, we saw a SKUNK climb out of the shrubbery along the fountain there by the Eiffel Tower. It was so funny because other folks saw him & ran squealing the other direction while MY kids followed him seeing how close they could get. Of course I had my camera out too! Thought Clay & Jon (the trappers in our family) were going to catch that sucker & bring him home..........not really....but they sure did think he had a beautiful pelt.

Yesterday, Chris had classes & Clay & I ran to pick up a few groceries. Came home & everyone just kind of crashed.....think we were all really tired from the day before. Today is just a lazy day too....doing some laundry & I took the kids to the library...that's about it so far. The boys went out squirrel hunting for a little bit, but didn't really see anything.....they might go back later on. No big plans for the holiday weekend...Chris has no classes Monday & only math on Tues. so he has a nice little break. Gives him some extra time to work on his English paper....has a rough draft due on Wed.

Well, I vacuumed & cleaned today. Got a 4" stack of layouts put in page protectors & into albums....guess that just proves that I've gotten alot of scrapping done over the summer. ;-) Chris came home this afternoon saying he felt pretty ok....at least not near as bad as he felt when he left this morning. Said once he got going & took some Dayquil he felt much better. Alot of folks were praying too & I'm so thankful. Glad he's feeling up to King's Dominion tomorrow!! We did tacos for supper tonight....another quick/easy meal this week. Then, after supper, I cut Michael,Jon & Clay's hair. NOT my favorite thing to do, but I've been doing it for more than 20 years now, so I guess I will just keep doing it. Need to go keep after these kiddos & make sure they are getting their showers & getting ready for bed.

Sigh...it's started already

Chris is sick with a cold today. He told me yesterday that his throat was sore, but was hoping it was just allergies. But by bedtime last night, he was sniffling too & I could just tell this morning that he didn't feel good. Sure hope he's feeling better by tomorrow.....our family trip to King's Dominion. I sure would hate for him to feel yucky & have to stay home. Gotta call the Dr. here in a bit for Clay....got a spot on the back of his leg that we think is Lyme disease. He had Skippy look at it & he thinks it is.....just need to get some antibiotics going. Hoping to just spend the day kind of piddling.....doing laundry & straightening up around here & I'd like to scrap some this afternoon!

Up & at 'em....

Got up about 7:30 this morning, came downstairs & started a pot of coffee, went back up & hopped in the shower. This is Chris' later day...he doesn't have a class til 11am this morning. The girls & I are taking him today & then we are all going over to Maw's house for pizza lunch & a visit with Sarah & the kiddos. They've been in NC for 2 weeks visiting David's parents so it will be nice to visit with them today. The kids are excited about getting to see/play with their cousins!

After my shower, I started a load of laundry, made chocolate chip muffins for breakfast & now here we are.....the kiddos are all up doing chores & what-not. Alli is dressed & ready to go, Michael just brought Tweety down & fed him, Jon will feed the all the outdoor critters here in a bit....a chore that got passed down to him this fall since Chris started classes. I NEED to get my butt up from here & get the kitchen cleaned & straightened up & then run throw my clothes on & we'll be ready to hit the road. Not sure what the boys have planned for today.....I'm sure they'll find some 'Manly' stuff to keep them busy. Then tonight we are having Slim Jims for supper...since we won't get home til kinda late....had to choose something quick & easy. Chris gets out of lab at 4:30 & then we will run by the library, so it will be suppertime before we get home this evening.

Here's a picture...

of our newest family member. Jon was 'baby-sitting' while Alli cleaned his cage this afternoon. He still has no name.....just haven't quite found THE name yet. Lots of folks tossing out ideas to us, so if you have a great idea for our bunny's name please leave a comment here & share it with me!

Nothing big happening here today....church this morning & then home to 'hang out' for the afternoon. After a lunch of left-overs & what-not, the kids went off to play & I finished reading my book...'The Cross Country Quilters'. And then I just HAD to start on the next one....'The Runaway Quilt'.....sounds really interesting. Supposed to be about how quilts were used kind of like road maps to help mark the way for runaway slaves traveling the underground railroad...hung out to mark safe houses for the slaves.

Been piddling around with a LO this evening....one of Michael with my old sunglasses on (with no lenses) trying to look 'smart'. It's going to be titled 'I'm Serious' because that was Michael's favorite catch-phrase there for a while. He went around saying that ALL the time. Crazy kid!

Sitting here listening to The Martins.....love them!! ....singing 'Only God Knows'.....only God knows when your heart's been broken, only God knows all the times you've cried. 'Angels Dance'...Angels dance, run & leap, pirouette down golden streets, lonely hearts find romance, oh heaven sighs & angels dance.

Guess What Clay brought home last night.....

A Bunny Rabbit!! The kids were soooooo excited! A girl at work had gotten him for her kids, but they were scared of it & so she was asking around to see if anyone wanted a bunny. Clay hopped on the chance because he knew the girls had been wanting one. She GAVE us the bunny, cage, bedding & some other little goodies!! He's about 3 months old, white with pink eyes & grayish/tan ears...so cute! Haven't agreed on a name just yet....some thought his name should be KITTY....since we have a cat named BUNNY, we should also have a bunny named KITTY! LOL

Well, yesterday was a busy day to say the least! Had to get ALL 5 kiddos up & out the door by 8am, so we could drop Chris off for class at 9. We then ran back to Walmart to do groceries.....just a few to tide us over the weekend. Would LOVE to do my shopping early in the morning like that all the time. It was so nice.....NO one hardly there & we were done by 10am. Spent the rest of the time just messing around.....going to places & browsing like we normally don't have time to do. Hit PetSmart & PAW......Ashley would've brought home ALL the kitties we saw, if she could. She just LOVES them all & can't stand to see them all caged up. Michael decided that he NEEDS a guinnea pig & Jon NEEDS a rat.....yeah, right. And they said if that doesn't sit well with me then they would just settle for a snake & a lizzard!! HA!HA!HA! They are soooo funny! NOT!! Anyways, all that was put off for a while when Clay came home with the new pet bunny last night. A bunny, I can deal with. We grabbed a bite of lunch at Taco Bell....Alli had to have Wendys & then we did Target & Michael's before having to pick Chris up at 1:50. Stopped by Walmart again on the way home & picked up Walmart chicken for our supper.....something easy & kind of a 'treat'......threw in some fries & fixed a pot of ronis & that was supper. Just enjoyed the rest of the evening chilling out not doing anything in particular. So looking forward to the weekend & not having to GO anywhere or DO anything......except church tomorrow. Plan on doing the most minimal amount of chores as possible.....meaning laundry.......and hoping to scrap some.....do a few LOs & also make some card sets to sell at the reunion in a few weeks. Also would love to finish up the afghan I'm making for Alli for Christmas. Just about done putting the strips together & then all I have to do is the border. I have high hopes of making on for Anna & Daniel too for Christmas.......we shall see.

Almost done....

With the first week of school. Chris seems to be doing well & enjoying his classes so far. Of course, he hasn't really gotten into the nitty-gritty of stuff yet either.....just basically math homework....so we shall see. Clay & the boys took him today...he only has one class...& the boys have been BEGGING for a 'manly' shopping day...meaning they want to go to Game Stop & trade in some of their video games & possibly get something new. So, it's kinda quiet here right now with just me & the girls. We will head to the library after lunch when they guys get back. Funny story from yesterday.....one of our 'UNschooling' moments.....There's been this huge old turtle down at the pond eating up all the minnows & Skippy & everyone else has been trying to get rid of it. Anyways, Jon finally shot the sucker yesterday evening...he was so proud! Had to take it over to show Uncle Skippy that he had gotten rid of the scoundral for him. Then he decides that he needs to keep the shell as his 'trophy'....so outside at 8pm last night Jon goes with his hunting knife that Uncle Skippy had given him to cut the shell off this critter. I asked Clay if he wasn't going to help him....& he said Jon hadn't ASKED for his help yet, so he was just going to leave him & Michael alone. What a great Bio lab they had.....finding the liver & kidneys & the heart.....Michael even came to the kitchen window to show us the wind pipe that they had found. Jon also said it had some eggs, so he guessed his turtle was a SHE. Oh the learning these boys do!! I love it! I managed to squeeze in a little scrapping yesterday....dug up some OLD photos that were taken at the Peaks of Otter....went for a picnic lunch there with my old HS friend Julies Nash & her kids....Nan & Hunter. To think that Chris & Nan are both in college now.....YIKES!

First Day of School

For Chris, that is. Almost done with his first day of college classes soon....just one more class after lunch & he'll be done for the day. Things went really smoothly last night as far as getting everyone settled down at a decent bedtime...lights were out by 11pm. And this morning went like clock-work also....everyone was up by 7:30am & we all had cinnamon buns & coffee for breakfast before Clay & Chris headed out. Clay had to go to work for a few hours today, so he took Chris & dropped him off & will pick him up when he gets off. Can't wait to hear all about his day this evening. Chris also obliged & let me get a couple of pics this morning of him with his backpack....he said he KNEW I'd want to do that. ;-) Need to get my butt over here to my table & scrap some as soon as I fix lunch for the kiddos. Here's my latest creation from yesterday afternoon....again, digging into the box of older pics....this was a Family photo for Christmas cards back in 1993.

Daily Something

I love that title....read it on Ali Edward's blog & decided to use it. My 'daily something' is this layout I did of the kids shucking corn for supper one evening. Love the everyday shots like this....just those little snippets of time that make up our lives! More snippets from my day today.....canned 7 more quarts of tomatoes this morning...laundry...cut Chris' hair...scrapped...grilled BBQ wings for supper....read for a bit.....folded a load of towels....helped Alli get her bath started & here I am...just waiting on Clay to get home now. Loved this snippet from the Elm Creek Quilt books I've been reading........."That sounds exciting," Donna said wistfully. "All I've ever done with my life is keep house & raise kids." "That's all?" Grace said. "That's EVERYTHING. There's no more important job in the world than raising your children. No job is more difficult, either." "Or more rewarding," Vinnie said. "I raised four children and don't regret for a moment any of the sacrifices I made for them. I don't know how mothers these days can bear to leave their children in day care while they go off to work!"

Opening Ceremonies

Just wanted to share my latest Design Team assignment that appeared in A Scrappin' Friendsy's Aug. 15th newsletter. These are the pictures that I took the night of Opening Ceremonies in Charlottesville for the All Star games.

Fabulous Friday

The girls & I had a really nice day today. Our first stop was Logan's Roadhouse for lunch. I had a coupon that Maw had given me & Ashley & I both love their burgers & Alli loves the peanuts....so Logan's it was. After that we took our time shopping around & just enjoying looking more than we normally do...wasn't in a rush or anything today. We checked out Target & Michael's...got some new scrapping paper & a skein of yarn that was on sale. Then we stopped in Barne's & Noble to look at magazines. Ran into Sam's to get milk, chips & some Nabs for Chris' lunches then on back to Walmart for groceries. Got home around 6, I think. Unloaded & put groceries away...fixed frozen pizzas for supper & AShley & I had our leftovers from lunch. Clay had told me he wanted chicken salad for supper, so that was easy. Just got done watching High School Musical 2 a little while ago with the girls. Definitely way more 'Cheesey' than the first one, but Alli loved it! ;-) Clay's gone to bed already & the three older ones are in there watching Smallville now. Think I'm going to head on up & read some before Clay starts snoring! Hoping to enjoy a leisurely weekend starting tomorrow....nothing major planned & I'm REALLY hoping to find my MOJO & get caught up on all these scrapping challenges.

School Shopping

Well, my day did a turn around this morning when Clay got up. I thought he & Chris were going shopping today.....Chris needed a new backpack & maybe some jeans,Ts, etc. But he informed me that I was so much better at shopping for clothes than he was, so Ashley & I ended up going with Chris. We actually got everything he needed all at ONE place...Steve & Barry's. I had heard about it, but never actually been there before. He got two pairs of cargo jean shorts, two camp style shirts, a white T & a back pack all for a smidge over $40! I was tickled!! Got home & we grilled some Italian chicken for supper along with some mashed potatoes, ronis, salad & corn bread. Then after supper, Alli & I washed the van. Now, I need to get myself up from here & finish up my grocery list for tomorrow. Then I think I'll go upstairs & read.....where it's COOL!

Maters

That's what I spent my day doing yesterday.....canning tomatoes. Did 14 quarts & then went out & picked another 5 Gal. bucket full after supper. So, guess what I'm doing again today. I know we will really enjoy them this winter for making soup, chili, etc. Can't beat just running out to the pump house & grabbing a jar of tomatoes or green beans whenever you want them. And let's not forget the 'pit' full of potatoes we have out there too! I haven't done any scrapping since Sunday afternoon, so no new creations to share....hopefully after I get done with all the maters I'll have some time to scrap & catch up on the end of this summer-long scrapfest I've been doing. I'm bound & determined to see it through & finish each of the challenges. Just a few more days to go!! I can do this...yes, I can! Just thought I'd share this one LO today.....not a new one, but still one that I love....me & Papaw on his tractor right out back here.

All Stars

Just a few more All Star layouts to show off to the family!

Made Me Glad

You have made me glad & I'll say of the Lord, you are my shield, my strength, my poriton, deliverer,my shelter, strong tower, my very present help in time of need. Listening to this song by Hillsong right now.....love it! Not a very busy day....just church this morning & then home to hang out for the afternoon. I did manage to scrap some. Got 2 Layouts done for the scrapfest. The first one I had to use a Donna Summer song title as my page title, so I chose 'Hot Stuff' for these cute pics of Taylor trying out her new trick of pulling up. She'll be walking before we know it. The second layout is a sketch challenge which I used with Michael's 10th birthday pics. Need to go scan my layouts that I did yesterday & then I think I'm headed up to bed.

Lazy Saturday

I am so tired from staying up late watching movies with the kids the past two nights. Trying to let them enjoy it now because Chris' classes start next Monday & we will be back into the 'school routine' then & NOT staying up late each night. At least I didn't have to get up too early this morning & I don't have anywhere I HAVE to go.....actually Clay drove the van to work, so I am here for the day. Need to do some of the usual tidying up around here...already have a load of clothes that I need to switch over to the dryer & then, I REALLY hope to scrap. Got the new CK mag yesterday.....trying to get inspired! I've gotten TWO layouts done over the past few days....one will have to wait as it's my Design Team assignment for the ASF newsletter on Aug. 15, but will leave you with the other one. I scrapped pics of Clay & I with Chris when he was 2 days old....done for a challenge at LM to document a 'Right of Passage'.....I'd say having your first baby & becoming parents definitely is a huge right of passage!

TGIF

Just sitting here sipping my coffee.....need to get moving though.....meeting Maw, Sarah & Danielle for lunch at Chickfila. Then the girls & I will get a few groceries to hold us over the weekend. Will be glad once school starts & we get back on a more normal routine. Kinda not sure what all is planned for next week....thinking we will be going to King's Dominion one day. That will be our last week before Chris starts classes if we want to go on a week day. Gonna run get the kitchen cleaned up now & get myself dressed, then we will be off.

H-O-T!!!!!!!

Blech....these past couple of days have just been miserably HOT! Right at 100 with a heat index of even higher! Yesterday afternoon was spent with NO water to the house. We had a leak on the back porch & Clay had to work on it.......of course they ran into a snag about suppertime & had to make a run to Lowes for more parts. Didn't get it all fixed & water back on til 11pm last night. Had to hustle the two younger ones thru their showers & get them in bed, then I had to clean up the kitchen. A day's worth of dirty dishes in the sink & the floor was a mess from walking outside, thru the wet mess on the back porch on into the house. We were both pooped by the end of the day. Didn't do much of anything today except laundry. Just too hot to even be in the mood to scrap.....no creative energy whatsoever. I spent most of the day just reading trying to stay cool.....or should I say not quite so hot. I certainly haven't been cool. I told Clay this evening while I was fixing supper that Memaw surely was a strong woman......to do all she did in that kitchen.....all the cooking/canning on a wood stove when it was HOT like this. I know I have no room at all to complain!! PTL for the AC upstairs in the bedrooms!!

Lazy Monday

I can't believe that it's 9am & still no one is up but me & Michael. Could be because it's foggy & rainy-looking out this morning plus I'm thinking Chris & Ashley's all-nighter is finally catching up with them. Not too much planned for today except that Clay has to work on a leaky pipe out on the back porch. The other week it was a leak under the kitchen sink, now this. It's always something!! Think I will make a run to the library this afternoon...we have a stack of books that need to go back. I tell ya, Ashley has been doing some reading this summer! I think she told me she has read 39 books since the beginning of the summer...this from the child who I could NEVER get to read. I posted my 3 LOs that I got done yesterday...all for the Bonus Kid's Day Crop at LM. This summer scrapfest has really helped me get a ton of LOs done...I think so far for the year, I've done 212 LOs & for lots of these here lately, as you can see, I've been digging through my boxes & scrapping older pics. I'm really tickled at getting these out of the boxes & into my albums!!

Sunday, Sunday....

'Up in the morning, stirring around, drink a pot of coffee then I head off to town...'

Well, Chris & Ashley had a fun time at their All-night shindig at church...& they managed to get a little nap in yesterday when they got home. Hard trying to keep the other 3 downstairs & QUIET, but we managed. Today we have church....I get to stay in the nursery...always enjoy that. Then it will just be back home for the afternoon. So, so HOT....think it will be a good afternoon for a movie marathon or some scrapping. We have a Extreme One Day Crop at LM & I'm hoping to get some of those challenges done. Only 2 behind for the regular Summer Scrapfest challenges so that will be easy to catch up on. These are two of the 4 LOs that I did yesterday. One is some OLD pics of Chris, Ashley & Jon playing with the water hose. The other one is a couple of pics that Danielle shared with me of Jon & Dillon at the 4th celebration up on Liberty Mt. Anyways.....better run get the troop rounded up & hop in the shower myself. Later Taters........

I am so tired right now, but figured I'd fill in the rest of my day before heading upstairs to read. First off, I did manage to scrap some today....did this LO of Granny & Papaw for a challenge at LM to write directly on your photo. I'd been putting this challenge off for almost a month now & I ran across this pic the other day & thought it would be perfect to write in that upper left corner that was blank. So, off I went in search of the perfect poem.....found this one on Two Peas & thought it was really cute. It looks better IRL although it's NOT a technique I'd use very often. The poem reads: Yes, grandparents, they sure named them right. 'Cause grandparents are a grand delight. And they always love you, If you're good or bad. Like you're the best grandkid they ever had! Anyways....dropped Chris & Ashley off at church for their All-Nighter about 5pm & then headed on in to town to grab a bite to eat & then grocery shop. Remembered that Clay had taken my cooler with him to work (& I REALLY needed a cooler to keep my milk in since I buy that at Sam's & then go on to Walmart to do my other shopping) so, we ran by Maw's house to borrow hers. Grabbed a bite to eat at Taco Bell & Chickfila then hit Sam's & Walmart & FINALLY got home around 10pm. Whew......now you know why I'm pooped!!! Off to bed since I have to be up & at 'em in the morning pretty early......gotta leave here by about 8:25 to go pick them up. Hope they can get a nap in tomorrow sometime....staying up all night is definitely NOT my thing. I'll go read here & be asleep in no time.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...................

What a way to wake up this morning!! Clay bolted straight out of bed about 6:48am saying his alarm hadn't gone off. So, of course I got up too, to help him get ready in a hurry. I fixed his lunch & gathered up all the extra tomatoes that he was going to give to friends at work & put them all in the cooler for him & sent him on his way by 7am. Hope he makes it on time & more importantly, hope he's careful! Now, the icing on the cake........no cream for my coffee this morning! I refused to buy any the other day at Food Lion because it was so expensive & now we're out. I really HATE using skim milk in my coffee...just NOT the same. Oh well.....at least there's a Pepsi in the frige if I can't stand the coffee & I'm getting groceries tonight after I drop the kids off at church for their all night thingy. Off to enjoy the morning peace & quiet while everyone else is still sleeping!

Thankful Thursday

Since it's 'Thankful Thursday' here are 5 things I'm thankful for today.....

~My cousin had a healthy baby boy tonight!

~Lazy summer days

~Taking Alli to play in the creek

~scrapping time

~BLTs for supper

Here is one of the LOs I did today.....for the ASF July cyber crop. The challenge was to use at least 30 of something on your LO (buttons, eyelets,etc.) Here I used 43 buttons to make a fun border on this picture of Clay trying to ride Jon's bicycle a few years ago. I'm happy to say that this evening I completed all of the July challenges for this cyber crop...Yay! Now, if I can plug along & finish up the challenges for the Summer Scrapfest at LM....I' only a few challenges behind there & I have til the end of August, so hopefully it's in reach!

Lazy day today....I did this LO before lunch & then promised to take Alli over to play in the creek. It's been sooo HOT these last few days & that was a nice treat. I took my book (the Fourth Traveling Pants book) & read while she splashed. Truth be told I waded a bit myself. The water felt so nice & cold! Lazed around some this afternoon & then did BLTs for supper.....easy & Yummy! Off to bed to read for a while now. Also need to get a grocery list together for tomorrow.

A New Month.......

Sitting here sipping my coffee, trying to get my mind in gear for the day. About half the household is up...the other half, still sleeping. Ashley & Chris got home from their King's Dominion trip last night about 10:30. From all the chatter, I'd say they had a really fun day! I think there was about 20 total in the group that went.....that included 5 adults, the rest teen-agers! So thankful for a good group of kids like we have at church. Not too much on my agenda today....ever since the 4th of July our Wed. Lunch days have been all off-whack. Last week Michael's BD was on Tues. & we all got together at Maw's then to celebrate, so I didn't go back to town again on Wed. Then, Danielle & her family came down here this past Sat. so I'm not heading all the way into town today....will just pick up some things out here at Food Lion. One of these weeks we will get back with our normal weekly routine. Above, I posted some of the goodies I worked on yesterday. Danielle took the pictures of Alli in Target a few weeks back. The girls LOVE to try on shoes & it just so happened that Alli had on the sunglasses & hat too. Didn't take much coaxing from Ella to get them posing. Will post the pics of BOTH girls together as soon as I get them done. The little cards are my Deck Of Me (DOM) cards. Altered playing cards with little snippets of ME on them. You can check them out here...http://embers.typepad.com/e/mini_art_journal_challenge/index.html