Phone Dump

Hang in there, this one is kind of long...Not in words, just pictures.

I got a "Smart Phone" for Christmas a year and a half ago.  I love my phone for many reasons, but I don't like the fact that the darn camera on there is SO much more convenient than the large Canon I LOVE.  I used to take my camera everywhere I went and have slowly gotten away from it because of this phone.  Last week, I finally took the time to sit down and figure out how to move the pictures off of the phone and on to my computer (that was no small task).  It's so easy to take them with the phone and upload to Facebook to share, although, I will say that Blogger has gotten faster.

This is one I took of Blue (have I mentioned she prefers that name now????) one morning just after she had gotten up.  She has these huge voluptuous lips in the mornings.  I call her Big Lips Boom Boom.  She won't like that I put that on here, but I don't think she reads....

 This was our trip to the orthopaedic doctor.  She was channeling her inner zen.  She has MANY of the symptoms of RA that I have.  She has been thoroughly tested and right now we just treat her with a prescription  anti-inflammatory. Hopefully, we can keep it with just that and she will grow out of a lot of her issues. We'll get to more of that in a bit.

 This looks like we were in a hotel room somewhere.  I can't remember where exactly.  We've spent a lot of time in hotels in the last year.  Soccer tournaments times 2 kids keeps us pretty busy.

She calls this "Praying Mantis".

 The Dalt Man at his first Taekwondo Board Breaking class.  He was so proud.  He broke ALL of those boards by himself.  (I was pretty proud myself.)  I still have the boards and need some creative ideas on what to do with them.  He wants to keep them.

 Just a random day when Dalton had soccer practice and Blue didn't.  This was how we entertained ourselves on that particular day.

 My favorite place on Earth.  I'm headed back on July 1st for TEN WHOLE DAYS!!

 My favorite cat...Tony the Tiger.  During this process, I found there were more pictures of him on my phone than other one thing.  I guess I like him more than I thought.

 This was ANOTHER trip to the orthopaedic.  This was prior to X Ray.  The doctor made me a bet that she had broken that long bone in her foot.  He drew on it so they would know what he wanted to look at.  He was right.  She broke it.  And then she broke it again in the same spot about 4 months later.  We took more time off and then did several weeks of physical therapy.  So far, we haven't had anymore trouble out of it :)  Jeff and I cringe everytime she hooks something with that left foot, although both breaks were NOT from kicks with that foot, but rather a plant.  We also changed her cleats...if it happens again...well we just won't go there.

 I walked in and found this one night...That's her daddy's belt.  She acts a lot like him, too.

 These are pictures of pictures...but they are too cute to pass up.  This was way back in the day at Chuck E. Cheese.  (I hate that place!!)

 That is Dalton's bird.  This was another trip to the ER.  My kids got in a fight and Blue smashed Dalt's finger in the door.  It was pretty bent up and black and blue.  NOT A GOOD DAY.  Blue would like me to share (right now) that this was an accident :)

 These are my pendant lights that still have not been hung.  Jeff did bring a fellow over today to mud the sheet rock around the fireplace so I can paint and he can install the mantle and new TV.  Tomorrow, the insurance adjuster is coming out to look at the roof and all of the interior damage from these crazy storms we've had.  Hopefully, this will get the ball rolling on getting things finished up around here.  We've been here for almost two years....this is getting ridiculous.  Blue has a friend spending the night tonight for the first time ever and I can't even believe I allowed it.  I love her friends, but I hate my house.  Well, I love my house, but I hate that it's not finished.

 This is poor Izzy after she was hit by that car.  She spent a long time in that collar :( but she's all good now.  This broke my heart and was really hard on all of us.  In the end, we saved her leg and that's all that mattered.

 Jeff and the kids before singing Christmas carols at a nursing home (aren't they cute?).  Jeff, Dalt and I love doing this.  Blue is completely creeped out by the whole thing and waited in the lobby.  I had to bargain with her just to get her there.  She was going to stay at home by herself.  Hopefully next year, she will come willingly.

 Our Christmas Card this year.  I was happy with how it turned out...I even had gifts wrapped under the tree this year ahead of time.  I like the more creative cards.  That's more my style as opposed to the traditional card.  Don't get me wrong.  I love those, too.  These just tend to fit my family a little better and our personalities.

 This was a picture I took during the Christmas Service at church.  I love all of the candles.  I've been going to church here for the last 14 years and this is always my favorite service. 

 Speaking of my house and the improvements that need to be made...how about the camo chimney my husband put up?  He put a fireplace in and SHOCKED me with his choice of siding....This actually just got covered up about two weeks ago.  Do you see why I'm embarrassed to have people over??

 This is some embroidery/applique work I wanted to figure out how to do.  One night when I was ready to throw my machine through the window, I figured it out....but I still haven't done it (story of my life).

 I took this one snow day...we had MANY this year.  I don't drive on the white stuff.  As a matter of fact, I don't drive if there is a threat of the white stuff.  I don't drive well in the sunshine, so I figure it's best for everyone if I just stay off the roads.  Doesn't Tony look thrilled?  Oh and I don't play favorites with Blue, I SWEAR.  Dalton is not a fan of having his picture taken and Blue loves it so much she takes pictures of herself....didn't want anyone to think I was loving one child more or something.  Blue doesn't like to talk to me but Dalton does.  I just can't "show" you that.

 My new favorite BLING...and I have the matching bracelet.  Gotta love Chico's jewelry!!  And those big rings, cover up those gnarly knuckles.  Those pointer finger ones are the worst.

 This was something I wanted to make.  Blue likes these and I refuse to pay that much for something that would be more fun to make anyway...

 This was probably another snow day and we were bored...I had a highlighter handy...one thing lead to another....

 Blue's Easter Bunny sucker/cookies on a stick...A couple of them turned out good, some of them gave me nightmares....

 I got up one morning and found these things EVERYWHERE.  I thought this one hit the nail on the head...

 Somehow, we ended up at Marlowe's one night after soccer practice.  This really was an accident, but we had a blast and even bought a T-shirt.  Elvis is getting cooler and cooler to me the older I get.

 I've had this twice in the last year...That's my computer at work.  I'm over it.

 My feathers...I couldn't resist.  One of the kids at the kid's school said, "I wish my mom was as immature as you are."

 My sweet Mother's Day card. 

Love those babies. 

Rock Out.

K

Project of the Day/WEEK

I took on a new project this past week that landed me outside quite a bit.  I didn't really mean to start a project considering in the last 7 days I spent a day in the hospital with Dalton - food poisoning, Blue had an all day field trip to the Space Center in Huntsville Alabama, Dalton got inducted into the Junior National Honor Society, Blue had her end of the year 5th Grade Cookout (I'm Room Mom), Dalton had his last day of 6th Grade, all of the "normal" soccer events of the week, and oh yeah, I work.

Can you see that building among the trees?  That is the building Jeff built last Fall/Winter.  If I'm not mistaken, it's still empty.  BUT, it HAD to be done then.  He didn't choose to work on the inside of my still unfinished house.  I'm having to take some of those matters into my OWN hands.

He did do a good job of camouflaging the building though, which was a BIG concern to me.  There really isn't a way to make a HUGE metal building look attractive on  your land.  It also houses the Bug and Golf Cart and should house the lawn mowerS, but he chooses to keep those up near the house.

OK, we scored this awesome antique mantle on Craig's List.  Jeff is an avid Craig's List shopper.  Me...not so much.  I like the deals he finds, but I don't have the patience to shop.  This one paid off and we scored it for $20.  We are having to do a little work on the wall for it to fit, but in the end we are still coming out great.  AND, it gave Jeff the opportunity to show off his power tools.  Power tools make him happy.  I don't get it.  I prefer a hammer and nails.  Jeff prefers a nail gun that requires an air compressor.  Whatever floats his boat..

I posted pictures of my score on FB and my idea to paint it white to match the trim.  Several folks were as proud of my find as I was and suggested different ways to finish it.  Considering everything else I had going on, my creative juices were not flowing on this one.  It's a good thing I have friends I can count on :)  Donna told me to spray paint that bad boy and but a chocolate glaze on it.  She's never seen my house (that I know of anyway) but she couldn't have told me anything more perfect for my hodge podge of decor.  After a few questions and a few brief directions that all played out on Facebook, I dove in.  (I ain't skeered of some paint.)

This was after the first coat of spray paint and it was getting dark and I had to quit.  Not to mention my husband had moved on to a gas can and some sort of fire making device...Have I mentioned the fire department has paid my husband MANY visits over the years.  That small fire in the background was an ant hill.  Poor ants.

I just think these are pretty so I took a picture of them.  Anybody know what they are??  They are just occurring naturally in my back yard (a part which still has had NO attention) but I really like them.

I took the next two pictures in time sequence watching Jeff from a distance.  He had a large pile of branches and sticks that have been blown around the yard from recent storms.  What caught my eye, was that he had come back up to the patio for MORE gasoline.  Apparently this size fire was not big enough for him.

So, he poured gas on it.  I was shocked to find out he still had eyebrows when all was said and done.

I asked him to note that not only did he take out the ants, but to also note the LARGE amount of grass he burned.  He doesn't really care what I think when it comes to the yard.  I've left it alone.  He'll get obsessed over it sooner or later.  He always does...

I told you it was a busy week...This one passed out on the trampoline.

Two coats of paint...

Here is a misplaced picture of before, but we will make the most of it.

Here it is finished and back in my living room with that unfinished wall.  I WILL BE SO GLAD TO HAVE MY DEN PUT BACK TOGETHER!!

I'll catch up on all of the other events later this week.

Peace Out.

Kacy

Crawling Back

It's time to write...sometimes it's hard to write.  The more I don't write, though, the harder it gets.   My dysfunctional family has reached an all time dysfunctional high.  Or would that be a low?  Whatever it is, it's just plain NUTS and I'm just plain OVA IT.

I try to keep it positive and sometimes that just means I don't write....have you noticed how long I've been gone?  Well, I'm back and just like I've had to stay away from reading some other folks nonsense, they can stay away from mine. 

My family experienced a great loss last week.  My cousin Dylan took his life.  (That's a tough sentence to type...I just tried several different ways to say that, but there isn't a better way.)  Dylan had to endure way too many things in his short 26 years.  He lost his little brother and his mother and battled addiction since junior high.  He was truly one of the most handsome men I've ever known.  I didn't realize until after I had gotten this news that I had TWO pictures of him on my desk at work.  It's been a week and a half now and I am still in shock.  My dysfunctional family flared up two days before his intimate funeral service.  We were all able to be in the same room together and the service was lovely.  A pastor that knew Dylan from his childhood did the service and spoke words that my heart desperately needed to hear.

  Tomorrow would have been his birthday.  RIP Dylan.  I love you.

On a lighter note, my last final of this semester is tomorrow morning and YES, I should be studying right now.  All the more reason to blog, right?  I start the Nursing Program in August and I think I'm getting NERVOUS, but super excited at the same time.

The kiddos are taking their state tests this week.  They are both bundles of nerves and energy.  Dalton is being inducted into the Junior Honor Society a week from tonight.  SO PROUD OF HIM :)

We will explore what is on the camera next time...There is no telling...It's been awhile.

Kacy