School Boo

On Halloween Day at school, TJei decided to prominently display her RIP sticker one of the cafeteria ladies gave her. Seriously, she loved having that sticker in the middle of her forehead!

Trailered

This is not the way to start a day!

Our neighbor Jaymi drives her kids to school and she went out early in the morning to start up her vehicle. I'm not sure why but she puts the vehicle in Neutral to start it. On this particular morning, she didn't put it back into Park before climbing out of the vehicle and going back into the house.

I heard a clash and clang and stepped outside to see her vehicle over in another yard and after taking a look at things, it appeared the vehicle had actually gone airborne after hitting a mound of dirt and before landing on one of the trailers stored in the front orchard. Whew! What a close one...no kids in the vehicle, no one walking along the road, and no real damage to the vehicle. The trailer was wiped out but Randy said that was no big loss.

Pixies and Pumpkins

TJei and Mia had fun decorating a couple small pumpkins with markers and curling ribbon.

Wearing White

During the night we got our first snowfall of the season and it was so pretty this morning. Jodie took this picture out front when she went with TJei to meet the school bus. TJei has had a pair of boots tucked back for quite a while now...just waiting for the snow. I don't think it matters to her at all that her boots aren't snow boots, just fashion boots. I've not been able to convince her they weren't made just for the snow. She loved putting them on this morning for that short walk to the school bus stop. :)

Tasty!

Once this little guy got a taste of the icing and the cake, there was no stopping him. He loved it! It was so fun to watch him digging in, eating it up, and spreading that cake around. It was so cute of Maria to make those tiny little cakes for Davis and for Mia. They had so much fun with them. :)

Just a Teaser

It was so much fun to celebrate Davis and Mia's birthdays this past Saturday!


Davis had his first haircut, too. Doesn't it look spiffy? He was so clean and shiny in the borrowed bib Lara just happened to have with her. Some gals are just on top of everything!


Davis was "really" liking it when that firestarter came out to light up the candle. He definitely wanted to get in there and play with some fire. :)


Once Jacob realized how anxious Davis was to play with the fire, he extinguished the flames ... and Davis wasn't so sure why that had happened. He wanted those flames back!


Playing with the candle without flames just wasn't the same, there was a spark missing.


Or maybe it was just the slippery goodness of funfetti icing that had been lacking. This just might be fun afterall!

More to come :) Sorry, gotta go.

A Curious Thing

Love. It is a curious thing and doesn't require permission. I am able to love what I want whether it be person, place, or thing without having to first get authorization from anyone. I love being able to love, freely and whole-heartedly.

They've Gone Too Far

Media is an unusual bunch and the things covered by media are oftentimes quite unusual, too. I've heard this morning about the White House making attacks on FoxNews - they're not a news organization, etc. hehehe And, they specifically targeted a couple of talk show hosts to "prove" their point. LOL There is a difference between talk show and news show folks. Talk shows aren't news.

Seriously though, you know they've gone too far when days after a "balloon chase" appearing on all the cable and network channels - even knocking the prez off-air during his travels to New Orleans, a five year old leans over to view the TV and asks, "Are they still talking about the balloon?"

There has to be something more news worthy to cover. Like the fact the White House will talk with Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but doesn't think Chris Wallace or anyone associated with FoxNews, or more importantly, watching FoxNews is worthy of their time.

Mapquest

Alright Mapquest! Way to go.

Mapquest now has San Tan Valley programmed into their system - Google Map does not. Even if you incorrectly identify Queen Creek as the city, when a legit address is located in STV the Mapquest pages will show the correct name ...and correct zip code!

Love it, love it, love it!

Movie Review

I know ...me a movie critic. Yeah, right!

Although, last night Mike and I did watch a movie. Together. And I stayed awake til the end. That in itself says a lot about the movie. :)

We watched Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds in The Proposal, a funny portrayal of people reacting to awkward life situations - and falling in love. It was a cute movie and it was fun to spend that time together.

I love Redbox and their $1 price tag for movie rentals!

Celebrate

Today is my brother, Clyde's, birthday. Hip hip hooray!

I called and talked with him a little bit ago and TJei asked him if he was having bird poop candy today. Of course he told her yes! What else would you say to a little 5 year old after you've convinced her a Hershy's bar is bird poop?

Along with celebrating my bro's birthday, I get to celebrate that very first r-e-t-i-r-e-m-e-n-t check, too! That's right, my first check arrived in the mail today. So glad I didn't go for automatic deposit just yet, get to see and hold the first check ... and think about retirement ... and growing older. Oh yeah ...

Happy birthday, Clyde!

Happiness

Happiness is an attitude. We either make ourselves miserable, or happy and strong. The amount of work is the same.
― Francesca Reigler

Navy Beans

TJei made a pot of beans "for Grandpa" and they are delish!

She helped sort and clean the beans last night then put them on in the crock pot. This morning before school she added carrots, ham, pepper, and onions to the pot.

They are good.

I'm not sure Mike will be getting any of them. :-]

Last Soccer Game

You'll have to squint your eyes to spot TJei in this picture. She is in a red and blue uniform and of the two little shapes that can be seen in this image, she is on the right. They were all in a little scramble for the ball.

The games start at 5:30 in the evening which makes for some pretty sunsets and long shadows. Speaking of long shadows, see those two on the right side of the picture? Well the silhouette on the left - that long tall thin silhouette - that's me! Don't I look just fab?!?!!

There's more on the game at TJei's blog >>>

Blog Search

Now I'm wondering whether the "search blog" box at the top of the page can be removed. It isn't very helpful in locating posts, that's for sure. I needed to locate a specific post and entered a word that I knew would be in the post. The search showed no posts matching the search term. What? Of course it's there!

I searched for "surprise" knowing full well I'd blogged about Jasmine's Surprise. When the search result came up empty, I tried searching for "Jasmine" and that too gave a no posts matching the search term result.

I had to go through, month by month looking at titles to look for the post I was trying to find, and did find it in February 2009 - post title, Jasmine's Surprise.

hmmmm How can I make that search box go away?

Sweet Evening

For no special reason at all, Mike and I drove to Springerville and had dinner at Coyote Creek. Just the two of us. :)

It was sweet to sit together at the restaurant and chit-chat about little things that came to mind. Especially when Mike poked fun at the "cowboy beans" offered to patrons being the extent of western ambiance. He remembered. :)

On the ride home, we turned off at Lyman Lake and drove down to the water's edge to watch the nearly full moon rise from behind the mountain on the other side of the lake. Lacy clouds played peek-a-boo with the moon as they moved across the dark sky and ripples on the water surface reminded me of the 4th of July sparklers we'd seen last time we were at the lake.

We saw a pair of racoons, too!

It was fun to spend that time with Mike. It was a sweet evening.

Don't Do That!

I've always been easily spooked, a bit jumpy at times. Each of my kids could probably tell tales of surprising me and sending me into a frenzy of hand wiggling and frightening squeals. Frequently when it's happened I've charged them with knowing beforehand they were scaring the daylights out of me. And, usually they were.

Many years ago, at another time, in another home, I was crouched on the floor, sitting on my knees, scrubbing away in the bathtub. I wasn't aware Mike had walked into the room behind me. He started to say something - right there at the edge of me - and startled me like no other! I can recall slapping that scrub sponge down into the tub and jumping to my feet all in one movement. I turned toward him and had this weird screech in my voice as I asked how he could do that to me? Tears streamed down my face as I hit my hands against his chest in retaliation for scaring me like that. Then, I just crumbled into his arms and he laughed at my reaction.

The kids have seriously played on my extreme reactions over the years. Like ringing the doorbell and pressing their face up close to the door window to frighten me when I peek out or seeing how close they can get to me, without my knowing, before saying something to startle me. They've enjoyed startling me awake on more than one occasion and just burst with laughter when they've managed to solicit a reaction.

With age, I've gotten to be a bit more jumpy, let's say. Back in the day, locking the door was never a concern, not even a passing thought. These days, day or night, when I'm alone at the house, and sometimes when others are around, I keep the door locked. Maybe there's just been too many instances of one of the kids coming in the house without me knowing and scared the crap out of me when they've said something or quietly entered a room. Either way, I keep the door locked, at least most of the time.

Last night was the reaction of all reactions. I am still trembling on the inside.

I had fallen asleep watching TV, kicked back in Mike's recliner. I didn't hear Mike come into the house. My little dogs didn't scurry around when he came into the room. My first awareness of him being in the room was when he was standing at the very edge of the chair, starting to reach across to the table and pick up the remote.

Oh my heck!

$*&*(^(*$&$%@! Okay, no, I didn't let loose with any foul language but I maybe could have. I don't even recall what I said, or maybe it was just what I thought. I don't know. How on earth could he do that??? I can't even imagine a more frightening situation than startling awake in a dark room with a large figure looming over. Oh my heck that was the worst.

Poor Mike.

He just backed off a bit and looked at me with one of those deer in the headlight looks, "I'm sorry. I was just trying to pick up the remote. I'm sorry"

Meanwhile, I had shriveled up into a semi-fetal position trembling uncontrollably with tears rolling down from my eyes. I just know my eyes were the size of silver dollars. He scared me so bad! This was the worst!

Just a reminder for all who are near and dear ... don't do that!

Two More Calls

Neither of them even knew about my call from Millie yesterday but I got calls from both Kim and Jeff today. I hope I don't get struck by lightening or something!

Kim called to say hi and give me an update on family members. Two of our aunts were hospitalized last evening - one with a stroke and another with heart problems. :( Kim and Colleen had gone to the hospital to visit and see how they were doing. Aunt June didn't know Kim although she showed a bit of progress because she shook her head "no". That was a first for that type of movement. Doctors believe she has a clot that caused the disruption of blood and oxygen to her head. Her right side is paralyzed and she is hardly able to talk. She can make sounds but it is difficult to distinguish what she is trying to say.

It was good to talk with Kim but sad that it was for such a heartbreaking reason. :(

Aunt June's son Mark had let me know about the emergency on Facebook. He has been in my thoughts since hearing the news. She has been his biggest friend and advocate, like my own mom for Zena. He will endure many losses with her new disabilities. My prayers are with him and the rest of their family.

Jeff called me a little bit ago, too. It has been a couple months since we've talked so there was a lot to catch up on. :) He wanted to say hi and ask about the baby, get an update on how she is doing. Jeff is in the truck and on the road. There is a lot of background noise - he uses a headset. It was hard to make out what he was saying at times. My heart goes out to Jeff. He is pained by the words and actions of recent months, especially some of the things Colleen has said. She has always been so very close to him and it is so hard for him to be on the receiving end of such wrath. It was so good to hear from my kid brother. I'm not sure why we don't call more often. :]

Got Me Smilin'

What a treat! I just answered the phone and heard Millie's voice. :) What a welcomed surprise! We don't talk often, I'm not sure why ... we enjoy talking to one another. :) It just doesn't happen often. She sounds wonderful. I can just picture her toothy smile and inquisitive sparkling blue eyes as we talk. Especially about grandkids. She has eight and all her little ones just adore her. Who wouldn't? She's so sweet. It made my day to hear her voice. I'll have to call her sometime soon, too. Sometime when I'm not coughing in her ear. :(

Vultures

They're an odd bird ...

One and Two

I blotted out the specifics so I could share the pics and layouts.


He's got a tiger by the tail it's plain to see ...


Isn't she the sweetest?

We're celebrating their birthdays this month and opted to go for a single party day and date. It'll be so much fun! I'm looking forward to seeing everyone.

The Little One

During the night her oxygen levels dropped so she had to go on O2 again and will need to remain in the hospital another day.

Hopeful Thinking

The Internet provides amazing opportunities for gathering information. I've been compiling data in the hopes of making contact with someone who may be interested in that property. I've placed a couple calls and just been hoping. Mike contacted a broker yesterday and made an appointment to meet with him on Wednesday. Last night I checked voicemail. There was a message from one of those contacts I'd made. Unfortunately, it was too late to call then. hmmm I'll be making that call this morning and will hopefully make contact instead of having to wait until Monday.

Another Pic

She's so sweet!

Oh my stars, I wish I could be there to hold her! If the pediatrician gives an okay, she'll be leaving the hospital today. They took the oxygen and IV lines out and she's ready to go!

Introducing Jayden

She's two days old already! And, she's adorable. It's a cell phone pic and the best I have so it'll have to do for this first introduction. :)

Jayden is on oxygen and antibiotics to help her along a little bit but she is making progress each day. They should have lab results tomorrow to help identify cause of her elevated white cell count. Hopefully she'll continue to improve on keeping foods down, too.

Jayden Paige, you're a cutie!