Lucky's Shamrock

Sixteen years old?????

2008-01-08T09:55:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that little baby boy who fit in my hands is now 16 and taller than me! Happy birthday, Matt!!

A quick update

2008-01-07T19:01:00.000-08:00

It has been a fairly quiet new year so far. The most significant thing so far is that Kyle turned 8 on Tuesday. Happy Birthday, Happy Boy!

Josh and Mystery were over on Saturday to celebrate his birthday. He got some pretty cool toys. This just shows his Spiderman walkie talkies and his cap gun set, but they got him a remote control robot that actually flies. We had tornado-type weather today, so he hasn't had a chance to play with it now that it is charged. Maybe tomorrow we can get it outside and take some pictures.
I have been working more with Photoshop everyday. This was a picture I took of myself the other day and then played with some filters to see what would happen. I thought this one was kind of fun .

Seriously, the kids must think this is what I really look like sometimes... lol

The other fun news from this week is that Faith has started singing in the praise band at church. She is really good at it too. I am really looking forward to seeing what some training does for her voice! Matt has started learning to play guitar too, and is going to praise band practice as well as his lesson each week. One of the girls in the band who plays guitar is going to college this summer, and he might be taking her place if he can get lessons in during all of his sports.

The break from sports is over. Baseball practice has begun, so Matt has been there each afternoon. Kyle will be playing baseball again this year too, but we are going to skip softball and t-ball. LOL... Faith hated softball, and while T-ball was funny to watch the kids get bored so quickly, and trying to get 5 kids to 3 different games in different towns was a bit too much last year!

Matt is turning 16 tomorrow. Can you believe it? I can't. I am just not ready for it. Sigh. He is having his party this weekend. Sniff. Sniff sniff.

I mentioned the tornado-ish weather, and it is still going on. In fact, there have been a couple in Missouri already tonight. We are under a tornado watch right now, but we really don't have the weather and worries that other areas do. The temperature has been really nice the last couple of days, though. In fact, Beth wanted me to let her fill her pool with water (from the hose that is iced over... lol) and let her swim yesterday.... lol.. I told her no.

Merry Christmas!!

2007-12-25T17:12:00.000-08:00

Well, I had great intentions, and even had my cards ready to get mailed, but then I got sick. I didn't get any of my Christmas list taken care of, and I barely got through the regular traditions we have with the kids last night. I started some antibiotics today, and they seem to be helping, so hopefully I will be getting better in leaps and bounds over the next couple of days. We did have a nice Christmas, though. It was small and quiet, and that really made it very nice. Merry Christmas to all our loved ones out there! We miss you and hope you had a great day!

I did get some photos taken of some of the things we did get done this week. Todd, Chet, and Kyle all sang in Christmas concerts at school. I love school Christmas concerts! Todd was so excited and thrilled to be a reindeer, and he had so much fun at his concert! I loved the floppy antlers!

Chet was an angel, and I really have no idea why they all looked so unhappy, but it didn't surprise me one bit to see him up there surrounded by girls. He gets letters every single day asking him to be somebody's boyfriend. He is even being asked out on dates. No!!!! I am going to start spraying him down with girl-B-gone each morning before school starts... lol. His counts came up another 10,000 to 63,000 this month, and we are all hoping and praying he just keeps on bringing them up 10,000 at a time!

The little kids were part of the Children's program on Sunday, and I forgot to upload the photo, but Matt was also part of lighting the Advent candles. It was a really fun program. We went to the candlelight service Sunday night, and that was simply beautiful. Between the candlelit chapel, the calm silence, and then the soothing sound of "Oh Holy Night", Todd fell fast asleep in his pew.

I also didn't get any of our normal baking done for Christmas this year, but that isn't all bad. Since I didn't have any appetite to eat all the fattening goodies that are so abundantly available at Christmastime, I managed to get through the season without regaining any weight I have been working so hard to take off. However, Santa just can't come visit and not have some treats offered, so the kids and Jack and I made some rice krispie treats and Russian teacake cookies yesterday.
Tipsy found the entire process incredibly fascinating and kept popping her head up over the edge of the table to see what we were up to.

Yesterday was Jack's 40th birthday. I had plans to throw him a surprise party, but between his work schedule and whatever bug has been attacking me it just didn't happen. But happy birthday, Jack... I love you!

My mom sent the traditional Christmas Eve jammies for everyone, so we let the kids open those up last night and then had them get changed into them.

Here are all the fellas... what a cute group of guys!

And she sent the girls and I penguin jammies....I love penguins!! This was not my finest photo moment... lol. My head was hurting, I was coughing up a lung, and my face has been terribly swollen... but here we are in our penguin glory!

It was then time to set out the goodies for Santa and the reindeer. We left a penguin by his plate to make his night merry too, and put out the carrot for Rudolph. Faith was sad that we didn't have eggnog to leave for Santa and we had to leave him milk... I felt like such a bad mommy for forgetting the eggnog! LOL... Santa (and some greedy kitty cats) did enjoy the icy milk though!

Then the kids threw the magical reindeer oats out in the yard to feed the rest of the reindeer team, and then they were off to bed.

Of course, that is when Santa's job begins, and this year we were up until 3 am trying to figure out this silly doll house. It has a working elevator which I thought was really cool, but Jack wasn't so impressed when it came time to put it together.. lol.

I was in charge of assembling the furniture that came with the dollhouse, and I had to laugh at the proportions of the silverware vs the size of the turkey.

At last we had presents wrapped (well, actually, I had everything done in under an hour, but that house kept us very busy... lol) At one point I turned around to find Skittles tucked in snugly among the boxes and bags we leave out for Santa to wrap presents in. The stockings were hung on the bookcase with care.

And at last the presents were done and around the tree. We kept Christmas small this year, but it always amazes me how much it all still ends up looking like when we have the boxes around the tree! So we went to bed at 3, and those monsters were wide awake by 5:30 and clamoring to open those presents and see what Santa had brought them. Aaagghhh! We dragged ourselves out of bed and got ready to open the presents. I love Christmas. I love seeing their expressions when they see their presents. And even though we were sleep-deprived this year, I just loved being up early in the morning to share this with the kids. I love Christmas!

I have made a very dear friend, Roberta, through work who has essentially adopted the kids as her honorary grandkids. A couple of months ago I told her about a bowl I was keeping an eye out for at yardsales and estate sales. I had found a couple at antique stores, but didn't want to pay their asking price. However, these yellow bowls look like the one my gramma had and taught my mom to bake in, and I wanted one. (Bowls are really the only thing I sort of collect... I like pretty ones and keep an eye out for them at yardsales.) My dear sweet friend found me the yellow bowl, and bought it for me for Christmas. Jack has to hurry and build my bowl shelves now, and this one gets its very own special spot on those shelves!

Here are some shots of the kids with some of the presents. Cash is always Chet's favorite thing... lol.

This isn't a Christmas picture, but I had to take it yesterday when I saw what B was doing. She found Todd's Spidey costume and put it on. Then she went around the house being "Spidergirl". When Todd saw how she was posing in his costume being the girly girl she is, he was highly offended. "That is NOT how Spiderman is supposed to stand!" he said... lol.. I thought it was cute, though!

2007-12-17T22:29:00.001-08:00

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

2007-12-16T10:30:00.000-08:00

Santa mailed the younger kids letters to remind them he would be here soon, and to be good. Todd is starting to worry a little bit. I heard him telling the others "I try to be good! I'm only naughty sometimes!" hehehe... he cracks me up!!

It has been a busy holiday week! Today I took the kids to a ballet recital that several of Faith's friends were in, and then we went to a concert at the church tonight. Sometimes I don't feel like we are ever home anymore! Here are some shots from this week.

Beth and Todd curled up in the chair together to watch TV while I was cooking dinner last night. They both looked so tired!

It snowed yesterday, and although we didn't get as much as was predicted, the kids still found enough on the cars to make snowballs. Can you tell that Kyle just hit a brother who wasn't paying attention with a well-formed snowball?

Even the dogs enjoyed playing in the falling snow with the kids. Sammy got right up on the car and sat in the snow that Faith was trying to gather up!

There was one who wasn't that interested in playing in the snow. Chet realized I was making fudge for a cookie sale at church today, and while his siblings bundled up to brave the cold, he got caught scraping the extra fudge out of the pan!

Here are pics from the parade last weekend. The kids' float won first place in the church sponsored category!

The weather keeps fluctuating from warm to cold, and it is wreaking havoc on my lungs. I am sick again, and this time it has settled in my chest. There is still a lot to do this month, though, so hopefully I get over it soon. I haven't even really begun my shopping yet because I haven't had a chance to get into a town that has more than one store!! Ah well... that is what the last minute is for right?

Locks of Love, a race with a cow, and some misc shots

2007-12-07T14:50:00.000-08:00

Faith cut ten inches off her hair yesterday to give to the Locks of Love foundation. She was so thrilled with how long the ponytail ended up being. She has a cute cut, and she can still pull it up in a headband or clips if she really wants it out of her face.
What she really loves is how it flips up in the back now!
These are the kinds of moments where I am glad I usually have my camera with me. Beth and I were driving down our dirt road when I looked in the rearview mirror and saw one of our dogs chasing a cow out of our yard. She ran behind the truck and I caught the first shot in the side mirror. Along with the dog chasing her, the neighbor's horses joined in the race as we passed their fence, and I am sure she thought I was chasing her in the truck as well. Poor cow. She probably won't be back soon to eat the grass.

I was playing with some flash modes today, and shot this one of Beth with her bedhead when she woke up from her nap. She opened the door and decided it was too cold to come out and join me.
This is one of the few shots of Jack where he doesn't look bright red... I will have to use this mode more often with him!
And here are some shots of some of the animals. I had to laugh at the black cat's photo... it is blurry but her expression is priceless... "Are you taking my picture??"

And this is another picture I took of one of our almost naked trees. I took this one with the bench under it for scale. It is very wintery outside today, and you can see that in this shot. It should be snowing this weekend, and I can feel it in the air.

Emails to Santa?

2007-12-06T18:14:00.000-08:00

Apparently, my kids aren't writing letters to Santa this year... they are emailing them. I received this email tonight... lol.

Hey Mom

This is all I want for Christmas

1 PS2 console

2 Used guitar Hero controller

3 Guitar Hero 3 legends of Rock

4 PS2 memory Card

5 Transformers the movie game

Its not that much. I love you.................please Ive been a good boy :(

The grass is greener in our yard

2007-12-06T17:43:00.000-08:00

I snapped this one of some of our naked trees the other day. Just ignore the ugly garden in the bottom corner... I still need to get that cleared out! It might be spring before we do, though, because it is cold out there! We might have snow tonight, and we are under a severe weather alert. I love it, but it is chilly!

This is one of the cows who loves to sneak through the fences and eat our grass. We really don't mind if the neighbor's cows come visit because it is less mowing for us, but I do think they are a little silly. She gets on this side, then realizes she can't get back and starts mooing for her baby, who can't get to her either... lol... so some mornings we wake up to a lot of cowtalk outside our bedroom windo.
I didn't get Thanksgiving pictures taken much because I was so busy. A couple of ladies came and helped me cook a huge dinner for some people in our area who had nowhere to go for Thanksgiving dinner. We ended up with 50 people at the dinner, and then we fed 106 more with the same dinner a couple of nights later. It was a really rewarding experience, and the kids had a lot of fun being there. Our friends and their kids came to help as well. Here is a shot of Todd and his bestfriend Talon goofing off while they waited for their food. One of our cats, Princess, simply adores Kyle and wants nothing to do with the rest of us. She wasn't even sure she wanted me taking her picture, but since Kyle stayed put, she did too.

We got our tree put up the other day with the four youngest ones. Matt and Chet were off at some friends' houses visiting, so we waited until we could all be home to finish decorating it. We should finally have all the decorations out and up tomorrow.

This is our new tile floor in the living room. In fact, I grouted that section of the floor... :0)

My little girl turned 10 today...

2007-11-21T19:52:00.000-08:00

and she was so excited about it. Since they are out of school for Thanksgiving, she got to come to work with me today. Her party will have to be next weekend since most of her friends are busy this weekend, but we had cake tonight anyway. Happy birthday, Sweetie... we adore you!

She was in a play last Saturday with the High School drama club, and she just loved every minute of it. Her part was small, but she took it so seriously and got to be friends with a lot of the other kids during the practices. My shots from the play itself did not turn out well, but here she is taking her bows at the end.

Matt is in the Drama Club too, and worked as a lights operator for this play. His football schedule interfered with practices, so he will have an acting part in the spring play.

Jack is going hunting for another deer in the morning. It has been snowing off and on tonight, and it is expected to be about 20 degrees when they leave in the morning, so he went out tonight and got some head gear to help him keep warm. Sitting in a tree in the cold and hoping a deer comes out isn't my idea of fun, but he is looking forward to it. I hope he does catch a deer, though, because the jerky is so good!

On Sunday we went to Josh and Mystery's house for an early T day dinner. Here is a shot of Todd enjoying a turkey leg. Tomorrow we are cooking a community dinner at the church, and even though it will be a long day, I think it will be fun as well. We are supposed to have between 50-100 people there... lots of turkey!!

I was married to a man in brown....

2007-11-16T19:41:00.000-08:00

for a week... :0) UPS men are my favorite... lol... they always bring cool stuff and never bring bills or junk mail. Jack started there as a temporary seasonal worker last week, but yesterday he was hired full-time and begins on Monday (woooooohooooooo) so he gave his notice and turned in that wonderful uniform today. Sigh.... at least I have pics!

We took Beth out for an ice cream cone the other day. I think it is too cold for ice cream, but she feels it is a treat for any occasion... lol.
Todd came home with a headband he was really proud of yesterday. "My new name is Braveheart!" he proclaimed. I have to laugh at how the sun is shining through his ears in this shot.
Matt and Chet got started in Boy Scouts again last week, and tonight they are camping with their troop. Jack went with them to make sure they got set up okay. He took pics of them starting to put the tent together, but none of them with it done. Chet was really excited about it... this is his first campout. They will have one every month, and Jack will usually go along with them, but he is leaving at 4:30 in the morning to go hunting. Look out Bambi.... you are featured on several upcoming meals... lol.
After he got back from setting the boys up, he crashed on the couch, and Beth went to sleep on her daddy pillow. I love how they have their arms the same way.
I didn't get to take autumn pictures last weekend. We ended up being too swamped! Tomorrow is a busy day too... Faith and Matt are in a play, Jack will be gone all morning hunting, I have church commitments in the middle of the day, and we are going to a neighboring town for a Christmas parade and lighting ceremony in the evening. It should all be fun, but busy!

It has been getting cold again, and it is entirely possible we may have snow on Thanksgiving... I hope so!

A week in review....

2007-11-09T19:59:00.000-08:00

Chet seems to have begun to stabilize again. His immune system is still way down, but his other counts have come up again. I feel like I can breathe again. We are still heading to St Jude's to discuss the treatment programs they have and what they think might be a good route, if any, to take with him, but now that the immediate crisis is over that can wait until a school break so he doesn't miss any classes.

These are black walnuts still in their hulls. The kids have been hiring themselves out doing misc yardwork, and today they went to the house of a couple we go to church with to gather walnuts, and they get to keep the money from selling them. They filled the back of the truck about half full. That black stuff is wonderfully sticky, and gets all over everything without coming out easily at all. There are about 15 walnut trees in the front yard, about as many in the back, and lots more in their pastures, so the kids will be going back to get more. The younger guys got bored pretty quickly, but Chet and Faith worked for two hours straight gathering them up and dumping their buckets in the truck.
They wore gloves to keep the black stuff off their hands. Then they took the gloves off and smoothed out the walnuts in the back of the truck, which essentially voided the whole point of wearing gloves in the first place.
Jack and I took some pictures of each other at different times this week. He snapped this one of me Sunday after church. I dyed my hair the other day and was going for a red look, but it has already toned down to a brown again.
I caught this one of him when I was playing around getting ready to take soccer team pics the other day. I was playing with a black and white gradient over the photo, and I really don't like how it washes him out in the top of his head, so I need to play with it more.

Ladybugs are out in droves right now. We get in the car, and they are all over the seats, the windows, and this little one was walking along the side mirror. I sit on the porch, and they fly in my hair, crawl up my legs... ugh. The kids love it, though. They keep gathering up cups full of them and want to bring them in the house. NOOOOOO! I tell those ladybugs they need to fly home... lol... their house is on fire... lol.
Matt was at drama practice the other day (he is part of the stage crew) and the other kids were out playing in the yard. They pulled their huge teeter totter out, and played on it for about an hour. About halfway through they called me to get my camera... they wanted pics. They are typical siblings in most ways... they bicker and complain about each other, but I thought it was really heart warming to see them all working together and having fun. Beth was trying to mimic Todd to make the peace sign... lol... she didn't quite make it.

Todd saw me taking Beth's picture and had to climb into the shot. He is the hammiest of my hams.

Matt's last football game was last Thursday. These are shots of him from the game.

Unfortunately, they lost the game... badly. But overall they had a good season, and I have really enjoyed seeing these boys improving their game. The difference that two seasons makes is incredible!
Jack called me out the other day and asked me to grab the camera. He wanted me to shoot this weird looking spider. I went back in to get my long lens because there was no way I was getting too close to this freakazoid. I have no idea what that orange house on its back is, although I am assuming it is an egg sack of some kind. It was marching straight towards the house. Ick. It is one thing for the kids to try to sneak frogs and ladybugs in to "give them a good home" but I absolutely draw the line at pregnant orange spiders setting up house in my home. ick ick ick.

We are heading out tomorrow to take Kyle to a free baseball clinic, and then watching him play in two games afterwards. Matt and Faith have drama practice tomorrow as well.

Happy Halloween!!

2007-10-31T19:11:00.001-07:00

We had a great time tonight. We took the kids to the church for the fall festival where they played all the games and came home with a mountain of candy. There must be 20 pounds of candy in their combined bags.... ugh.

The girls were punk rock fairies... and Beth loved her purple hair! I found the leg warmers, wings and crowns at this really fun little craft store here that sells lot of jewelry and costume pieces for less than a dollar. I made the little skirts with some cotton, tulle, and lace, and the girls raided my jewelry and belts for finishing pieces. The leg warmers had people calling them 80's fairies... they were cute, whichever decade they were inspired by... lol

The little boys wanted to be pirates again this year. They also raided my jewelry for accessories... lol. Don't ya love the bushy eyebrows?
Chet's costume was one of my all-time favorites. He was a money tree, and he said if anybody tried to take his hard-grown money he would whack them with a branch. We stapled the play money all over his shirt, and clipped some in his hair, and then I smeared brown eyeshadow all over his face. It isn't in this picture, but his candy bag was an old white pillowcase that we wrote dollar signs on. This costume fit his little banker personality so well! He had a lot of fun!

Matt decided to go as Indiana Jones this year. He made a whip and had rope tied around his belt that you can't see in here. He is a huge movie buff, so he came up with the costume on his own, but I had to laugh at how many of his peers had no idea who IJ is. All the other 80's moms got it, though... lol

Happy birthday little king!!!

2007-10-30T19:03:00.000-07:00

My baby boy turned six today... (quiet sobs) He was so happy this morning when he got up... and it made me smile as I remembered how it was when he was born. He was the easiest delivery, and the doctor, the nurse, and Jack and I were all laughing when he was born. I have always said that is why he is so funny... lol... he was born into laughter. Today was no exception. Earlier tonight he was talking to my mom and he told her "School is awesome! My favorite parts are recess, lunch, and second recess!" Spiderman 3 was released on DVD today, and it was the number one item on his wishlist... in fact, he is convinced that they released it today specifically for him... lol. This isn't a great shot, and I plan on taking nice headshots of him this weekend, but here he is. Happy birthday Todd!!

Today is also my Sam's birthday. Happy birthday, Sam!!! She and my brother got engaged over the weekend... woohoo!!

Tonight was the elementary school fall festival, where the king and queen of each grade level are announced. Todd was voted the king of his class, and Faith was chosen as the queen of hers. Kyle only missed being the king in his class by one vote. Here is a shot of my royal children... lol

This is Todd with his queen from his class. All of the kindergarten classes had a queen and king, and all five of each got to be king and queen for the whole grade. They were so adorable!!
This had to be the funniest part of the night. One of the kindergarten kings didn't make it to the festival, which left a little queen on her own. So the teachers set her up with Todd and his queen, and he got to escort them both down the walkway. There has been a LOT of laughing and teasing Todd about his two queens tonight.
This little boy asked Faith to marry him on the first day of school last year, and this year they are sitting together. They were voted as king and queen of their classroom. I told Faith that if by some turn of fate they do end up married, we will make sure their royalty pictures are shown at their wedding... :0)
Apparently, the majority of the fourth grade thought they made a pretty good king and queen, because they were also voted as king and queen of the whole grade. So Faith came home with a crown, and a smile a mile wide. I don't have any great shots of the crown yet, though!

I took this before we left today... my little birthday king needed a nap to get rested up for his busy night of escorting his two queens around. It was such a fun night. (I was playing with a sepia filter on this shot.)

Busy weekend

2007-10-28T20:12:00.001-07:00

We had a lot to get done this weekend, but I think we got through it all! Yesterday Kyle and Faith went to 2 costume birthday parties, and Matt had a carwash for his drama club. Here he is trying to get customers into the parking lot. They washed about 30 cars, which isn't bad for a town as small as ours! He went to a haunted corn maze last night as well and had a lot of fun there.

Chet and Faith have been excited about going to Kevin and Debbie's house to pick up sticks. Today we all went over there after church, and most of the younger kids went to work getting their front yard cleared out. Faith got bored and distracted rather quickly and decided to delegate her share to her brothers. LOL... when it came time to get paid for their work, she realized that wasn't such a good idea when she didn't get paid as much as they did! Another lady from church heard about the good job the boys did getting the sticks picked up, and has hired them to come next weekend to get all the black walnuts out of her yard. They will gather them up and then take the walnuts to a farmer market type place that shells them and pays the kids for them by the pound. They are looking forward to that!

This particular picture made me laugh. After they had the tarp full of sticks, they would drag them into a deeper part of the forest and unload them there. I love how they are all pointing in a different direction as they try to decide which way to go!

Somewhere along the way, Kyle found a walking stick, and apparently they bonded. Kyle put his walking stick on his shoulder and carried him around with him for a while as he worked. He actually thought this was really funny, but for some reason wouldn't laugh and giggle about it as I took his picture.

Beth has decided that Debbie is her BFF. Today Debbie blew up a bunch of balloons for her and she spent a while first just playing with them and then coloring on them with a magic marker.
Earlier this evening we had a birthday party at the church. It was so fun! There are twelve tables, one for each month, with birthday cakes on each. We all sat at the table for our birth month. Some months, esp July and September, had really full tables, but apparently April is a pretty slow birthday month because it was just one of the 3 year olds from church and I at our table! After everyone had cake, we auctioned off a bunch of pies. The money goes to help out our food bank and community dinner programs. The auctioning was hilarious. Kyle was enthralled with that table full of cakes and pies and cookies, and say up front the whole time. At one point he decided he really wanted an apple pie, and started bidding on it. That got everybody laughing again... it was just a really fun night all the way around.

Another thing we did tonight is called "Pounding the Preacher." It is an old tradition in these small areas to welcome new pastors by bringing them a pound of dried food... a pound of rice, a pound of flour etc. So during Sunday School today some of the ministry leaders went around to the classrooms and organized the pounding for our new pastor and his wife. It was a fun way to surprise them, and an interesting tidbit of history to learn!

There is a couple getting married next weekend, and they were being teased today about the tradition of "Shivering the Groom." That is where they are interrupted on their wedding night, the groom is dunked in the pond, and then has to push his new bride around the square (that would be the heart of the town for all my city-dwelling pals... lol) in a wheelbarrow. Hey Jesse and Sam... would you please consider coming here to get married so we can do this??? :0) Just picture the fun photos we could get!

These are some blueberries I found today on Debbie's property. I hope my berry bushes start blooming next year. I would love to walk out my front door and be able to pick fresh berries for home-baked yummy stuff.

Hi there

2007-10-27T15:04:00.001-07:00

This is the last week of football, soccer, and cheerleading! Can you hear my sigh of relief through your computer screen? Todd has an interesting approach to kicking the ball.

I caught this one of Kyle while he was guarding the goal during his game. I love the little waves of hair on the left side... such a little boy thing!

Beth was having fun just being goofy every time I pointed the camera at her.

Today was a busy day with two birthday parties, a fundraiser carwash, and a youth group trip to a maze. have some photos to show tomorrow night. Tomorrow we have church, are going to Kevin and Debbie's house to eat deer steaks (Jack is looking forward to it, I am leary... lol) and then heading back to church for a church birthday party where pies will be auctioned off and everyone will eat birthday cake.

I shot this picture the other day. The sun was going down and I liked the way it was shining through one of the trees in our front yard.

This is why I was outside shooting in the first place. Kyle found these strange mushroom clusters growing in our yard. They all grow off of one large stem type thing. I have no idea what kind of mushrooms they are, but I thought they were pretty interesting looking!

just an update

2007-10-20T18:42:00.000-07:00

I don't have any pics to share tonight... just wanted to post a quick update.

Last week we were told we needed to take C to St Jude's, but his counts have stopped falling so those plans are on hold again. We are waiting for his medical records to get here, and then we will be able to get the referral we need to take him there. All of his bloodlines are down right now, so he still may need to go the other Children's hospital to get platelets. However, since those didn't fall again this week, it may mean he is starting to make some again. So basically we are in a holding pattern... waiting to see what his counts do, waiting on paperwork, waiting and praying he stabilizes again very soon.

Everybody has caught some stomach bug that is going around, so it has been a yucky weekend so far. It started with K on Wednesday night, and everybody is taking a turn. ick.

Football season is almost over, and I think soccer is nearly done too. I love watching them all in their sports, but I am always so glad when the seasons end and we get some time back for other stuff!

F was voted as queen of her class in the fall festival, and T is the king in his class.... I think it is so cute! The festival is next weekend, and I can't wait to get the pics. Thank goodness the viral ick is making its rounds this weekend instead of next!

I am not feeling great, so I am going to go sleep now. I did some digi scrapping today when I didn't have much energy to do anything else. I will get it posted in a day or two.

Talk to you soon!

New Pictures

2007-10-10T21:01:00.001-07:00

It has been a busy month, full of activities and events.

On Sunday, Jack and his friend Josh took our little boys and Josh's little boys fishing. Todd claimed every fish he helped haul in as his own, so he decided he had 7 fish.

Kyle did reel this one in all on his own, but he didn't much like holding it in his bare hands. I imagine he will get used to it if he keeps on fishing. He had a blast, as evidenced by the dirt he is coated in from head to toe!Football season is almost over for Matt. Tomorrow is his last home game, so I am charging the camcorder to get some footage. He wanted me to take his pictures the other day, but he didn't want to smile at all. It isn't cool for football players to smile, I guess... lol.

I did get him to grin in this one a little.

There he is in the middle tackling the guy with the three on his jersey. I kept my camera focused on him everytime he was on the field, and the two times I had to look away are when he tackled the opponents who had the ball... sigh. I was actually surprised to see this one show up on my image upload because I didn't remember taking it!

I was shooting some shots of the boys playing soccer when I looked to my right and saw Jack coming towards me with Beth happily chasing behind him and laughing. It isn't great lighting, but I love how happy she looks!
There's my little miss sunshine again!
Kyle and Todd are both playing soccer this season. This was their first game last week when the kids didn't have their team shirts yet, so I am looking forward to this week's games so I can get some with the team jerseys. This year Kyle has been much more aggressive about getting in there and getting to the ball.
This is Todd's first official sports season, and you would think he had won the lottery he was so over the moon about it. The little guys are my favorite teams to watch... they are all so cute!

Here is Todd's coach high-fiving him right after he kicked the ball in the goal. Go Todd!

This barn caught my eye. I want to enrich the blue sky behind it since the cloudy overcast made it look white, and then hang it in my kitchen I think. I love old barn buildings!

I just couldn't get a sharp shot of this busy bee because he wouldn't hold still for me, but this one came the closest. I was glad to see him. There was a huge shortage of pollenating honeybees this year, and nobody is really sure what happened to them all.

This beauty is getting ready to head south with all his other pretty colored pals. The birds are really starting to squawk in the trees again as well, so I know the migration process is really getting into the works. The trees are all changing too... I can't wait to take new autumn pictures!

Here is a caterpillar who just hasn't metamorphasised yet. There were about 8 of them crawling around on this errant weed, so we left them and the weed along.

Chet and Beth both had their birthdays this month, turning 11 and 4. Beth loves frogs (which is okay as long as she keeps them outside and doesn't set them free in the house anymore) so she had to have a froggy cake. We had about 25 kids over for their party, and it was actually pretty calm considering how many there were!

I am going to take a new headshot since the sun was right in his eyes in this one. He is getting so big!

This bear was a 25cent yardsale find that has become one of Beths best friends. She can't shove him all the way in her backpack, so he hugs her all the way to school. She loved going to preschool on her birthday. Show and Tell was all about her, and they had cake and played games.
Chet found her a frog for her birthday, and again, it was in the house. This one didn't get to escape, though. After pics we set him outside to hop home.

Here are Faith and Beth playing with the birthday girl's sidewalk chalk. They like to trace each other on the cement.

Faith has been chearleeding this season instead of soccer, and she seems to have found her calling in life. She absolutely loves it, but that is no surprise.

Matt went to Homecoming two weeks ago, and decided to go to the game with his school spirit. He washed it off before the dance, and then had a lot fun at the dance. He taught himself a dance called Soulja Boy by watching it on YouTube to be ready for Homecoming. I am so glad he isn't shy about getting out on the dancefloor!

And this is just a random shot of a happy little Todd. We were at Debbie and Kevin's house for dinner, and he really enjoyed exploring around their pond and having Kevin take him for a ride on his 4-wheeler.
I think the majority of the worst of the stressful situations have been dealt with, but you never can truly tell anymore. I love my job, though, and school is still going well. I have been working at home and plowing through my Algebra lessons so I can take my final next week instead of waiting until Christmastime. That will leave me more time to complete my comp assignments, which have been the hardest thing for to get through. I love to write, but finding the time to sit and write thoughtful well-written pieces has been a challenge!

Chet has a new doctor, and he is talking to St. Jude's about getting him there for some new treatment programs they have for his disease. We won't know much more about it until we are there and talking to the specialist, but it is the most exciting news we have heard in years... and possibly the scariest.

Did he just say that?

2007-10-09T18:06:00.000-07:00

Yes he did!
This is T's favorite story... has been for years. He brought it down to me tonight to ask me to read it to him, but I was working on an essay that is due tomorrow. So DH spoke up and offered to read it to him instead. T looks at him with a very serious look on his face and says,"Are you sure, Dad? It's a really big book." It took several minutes before DH could read it... we were both laughing too hard.

This is so funny,

2007-10-06T22:39:00.000-07:00

and oh so true!

Practice Post

2007-10-06T21:44:00.000-07:00

Just making sure everything is working!