The Esselman Family

Homeschooling

2010-09-21T14:48:00.003-05:00

I read this in my homeschool newsletter and had to share:

My daughter shared her insights after only one year of home schooling,

"Mom, one thing I have learned during this year is just
how much time we spent standing in line at school.
We stood in line for lunch,stood in line for tickets for a pep
rally, stood in line to go to the library,to go to the bathroom,
to get on the bus, to do whatever! If we would have spent as much 
time learning in the old school as I have at home with
you, it wouldn't take 12 years to graduate!"


 ~Sandra Grant Lee, Lubbock

Snow & Kyndal

2010-02-12T09:53:00.002-06:00

We've gotten over 12 inches of snow here! I hear it's a record. So cool!!! Going back out to take more pics!!

Forget a snowman...

2010-02-11T12:54:00.001-06:00

...let's build a fort!

Answered Prayer

2009-11-13T08:29:00.001-06:00

Many years ago in church, the pastor was discussing gifts that God has given people. I went down to the front during prayer and prayed to myself. I asked God what my gift was. I asked this silently, where no one could hear me. A minute or so later, someone came up to me, put their hand on me and told me, "You are to heal those who have been wounded by life". I have kept that with me ever since but never knew what it was I should do. Is that it? Heal those who have been wounded by life? Isn't that everyone, in a way? What did that mean? Maybe this man was cooky and just saying whatever he wanted to say? Although, he couldn't have known what I was praying about, he still answered my question. I've never healed anyone.

About a year ago, I realized I have a talent for taking pictures. Sure, it's nothing important enough to grant anyone eternal life, it's something material and we won't be taking pictures with us to the grave. But I enjoy it and I'm good at it. Especially child photography. So one evening, I began to pray, asking God how I could use this talent for Him. I went to bed and woke up to an email message from someone I didn't know. I had been a member of a message board for photographers and I suppose she saw my pics and wanted to tell me something. In this message she told me about The Littlest Heroes Project.
Quoted from their website
"Our mission at The Littlest Heroes Project is to help provide and capture memories for families who are dealing with hectic schedules due to having a child who is suffering from a serious illness or life altering disability."

Was that an answer to the prayer I prayed the night before? At the time, I was overwhelmed. Wondering if it was a coincidence? Could it be that God answered me through that email? Was I to join this project and help those little children and their families by capturing special moments that they were too busy or too sad to think of capturing? Could pictures help heal people? I know that when I look at pictures of my children from years ago, it makes my heart feel good. Not quite "healing" but it does bring me joy.
I looked into the project and thought it was a wonderful thing. Then doubt really crept in. Maybe I'm not good enough. Maybe I'm seeing things that aren't really there. At the time I wasn't charging for my services but spent a lot of time out taking pictures and editing and sitting in front of the computer learning more about what I loved to do. This kept me away from my family and my husband didn't understand why I was doing this for free. I thought, surely I can't sign up for something that would take me away from my family even more and I would not be paid. My husband wants me to start charging people, and this just couldn't work out. I'd be out taking pictures for families in need on top of doing it for free for friends. Over time, I completely forgot about The Littlest Heroes Project.

Fast forward to the present...
My husband and I were driving down some back roads, I'm scoping out new locations cause now I'm charging people and booking sessions. It's a real business for me. I remembered The Littlest Heroes Project. I had told my husband about it before but I think he completely forgot about it. So, I told him again. "Remember when I prayed and got that email about the project where you take pictures of sick children and you do it for free to help the families out? Maybe I should do that." He thought it sounded good. I told him about praying one night and waking up to the email message. He told me, "God answered your prayer.". He told me I should get involved. And we talked a little more about it and that was it. I still wasn't sure. I knew I wanted to, but I don't know if I'd be good enough. Later that evening we had our last football gathering for one of my son's football team. We were cooking hot dogs and chit chatting. A dad of one of the boys had seen my website because I had taken some pictures of the football games. He came up to me and said, "Have you ever thought about taking pictures of terminally ill children?" I about fell out! Chills went all over me. My husband jumped up from his seat and said, "That's how you know!!". There's no way it is a coincidence. I know this now. A man I had never spoken to, had only seen at games and a practice here and there, gave me conformation. I know without a doubt that God has given me this talent to help those who are hurting. I would love to be a part of something so great. I want to do this.
Another quote from their site...
"We understand that in the midst of being thrown a diagnosis and having to switch from a “normal” life to a life that is totally different, and often scary, things like getting photos taken is sometimes a huge challenge and is one of the last things families are thinking about. But when everything is done, and either the child has reached the end of their battle, or has proven the odds against it many wish they had more time to stop, and capture the journey that they lived through for so long."

Please pray for me in this journey. I know without a doubt that there is a God and He does answer prayers. Even if your stubborn and don't listen the first time, He will continue to give you conformation until you stop and listen to Him.

For more information on The Littlest Heroes Project visit their website.

http://www.littlestheroesproject.org/

I hope to be a part of this very soon.

Already missing Summer

2009-11-03T20:19:00.001-06:00

She wanted to go swimming so bad today.

What I've been up to....

2009-10-15T07:57:00.001-05:00

Yup, that's it. Mostly cleaning. Why can't I keep my floors clean? I haven't had time for any crafts lately. :(

Rushing Fall

2009-09-10T15:01:00.002-05:00

I'm usually not too happy about fall, because I know winter is right around the corner. (can't stand cold) Maybe I'm getting old and things are changing? I'm SO ready for fall. I've already started decorating my front porch. I do have a pumpkin I want to put out but I'm holding back. For now.

So, what do you think? Does it look ok? I've never really had a decent porch to decorate.

Oh, I made my wreath out of two store bought wreaths. I liked them both so I put them together. :D

First Wreath

2009-09-02T07:42:00.005-05:00

I've always wanted a wreath but they cost SO much money! When I checked the price to make one, even then, it was too much. I'm cheap I tell ya! So while walking through The Dollar Tree, I saw a hula hoop and a noodle and got the idea to cut the noodle in half, long ways and attach it to the hula hoop for my base. I spent a total of $18 on this thing and I'm so not pleased. Now I know why they cost so much. haha!

I wrapped the noodle in burlap that I got on clearance. Burned myself a few times with the hot glue gun. OUCH!
The darn thing is too big for my door. Not that I want anyone to see it, anyway.
Have you made a wreath? Got pics or tips on how to make one look good?

New Armoire and a Sign

2009-08-31T10:07:00.003-05:00

Finally found an Armoire for the tv in our living room. I found it on Craigslist for $75. It was in my town which is RARE so I got it. Saved on gas and spent less that I intended. So it worked out. Now that I got it home, I wish I had offered a little less. It looks handmade, maybe? Anyway, it'll work and it looks much better than what I had.

I made this little sign for a friend of mine. Hope she likes it. No, I'm not saying she is Moody. haha! That's her last name.

For $5.41

2009-08-28T11:30:00.003-05:00

I got all of these goodies.

I'm not sure what I'll do with this, but the whole family is coming here for Thanksgiving so I'm sure I'll find some decorative use for it. Link me ideas if you feel like it. :D
My first yard stick for my ruler/yard stick table. Yes, I'm SO doing that!
When I saw these, I thought they were cool. Then walked away. Then thought, maybe I could use them for something. Anyone have ideas for these?
I found one of these at a garage sale a few weeks ago, painted it black and sat it on a shelf. Well, now I have a smaller one too!

And these. Oh my. Love these.

Pricing My Living Room

2009-08-27T13:14:00.004-05:00

I am curious how much we've spent trying to make our house look like a home. I've seen people do price my space before. I'm not sure all of the details of what they are doing but I got the idea from them to do this my way. It may be the same way they do it, don't know. After looking at this room and taking pictures I realized there's only a few retail purchased items in here. Everything else was garage sale items. The surprising thing is that I LOVE this room. There are a few things that I'd like to change but overall I'm happy with it.

Got this mirror and some candle thingies (seen in the reflection) at an Estate Sale. Don't know where that candy wrapper came from but I have an idea. lol

When we pulled up to this garage sale, I knew I had to have this sofa! After talking to the lady, I found out it was practically NEW! She bought it and a few months later got married and had new furniture. Yippee!!
Got this chair with the couch. It folds out into a twin size bed. I love the colors!!!

There's my stool! It's dark. Sorry.

I'm not sure what to do with that candle stick or the bird cage. For now they just sit there on the fireplace.
Got this coffee table at Soul's Harbor (kind of like Goodwill). The rug and tray from garage sales.
I do not know what to do to get the wrinkles out of the curtains. Help? The vacuum, curtains and blanket are a couple of store bought items. I do plan to move the vacuum. I only have it out cause I'm about to use it. lol
Jarrett picked these up. They were just sitting outside somewhere.
My first purchase for the living room was the bar stools. Can't believe they were so cheap!
I've been searching craigslist for an armoire that my tv will fit in. I'm determined to get one on the cheap! Then my living room will be complete.

Total: $576.25

Not bad for a whole living room, huh?

Homemade Gift Card & Holder

2009-08-27T08:49:00.002-05:00

I was asked to donate a free session to a benefit auction. I don't know all of the details of the cause for the auction but what I do know is very sad and hopefully this gift card will help out. I added a free 8x10 just for the heck of it. If you have a moment, say a prayer for the young girl this benefit is for.

Don't laugh. I'm just not as crafty as I wanna be. I used scrapbook paper. The kind that is like a sticker. And some ribbon. I printed out a copy of my new business cards cause I haven't ordered them yet. Then I threw it all together as best I could.

Just a few rules

2009-08-26T15:40:00.003-05:00

I wish I could think of a cute way to display the rules I made. This will have to do for now.

Another Project

2009-08-25T13:54:00.002-05:00

I stole this idea too. One day I'll come up with something on my own. haha!! I bought two of these bottles at a garage sale. I'm almost positive I didn't pay $1 a piece. Must have been for the pair. Then I bought some hemp stringy stuff from Wal Mart. That stuff costs more than I'd like to spend, but I had to try this project. I got the idea from here.

This is my bedside table. After I finish getting things for the rest of the house, I'll start on my bedroom furniture. I hate my tables.
This is the first one I made with a different type of hemp. It's super skinny so I had to go over it twice to make it look good. Now I wish I had covered the whole bottle. Live and learn. For now, it's sitting on my mantle.
Update on my Pottery Barn Copy Cat:

Mixing mod podge with stain totally worked! It dried over night. I was SHOCKED! But pleased! We still need a frame for it. I wonder how long I'll have to wait? Maybe I'll come across an easy way to make frames and do it myself.

I have it hanging above the bookshelf in our school area. I think it will look better when it has a frame and I finish my bookshelf. Thinking of painting it black and mod podging dictionary pages on the shelves. What do ya think?

No idea why the pics look blurry. :/

Pottery Barn Copy Cat

2009-08-13T20:56:00.006-05:00

When I got my Pottery Barn catalog, I saw this and LOVED it! I thought it would be perfect in our little school area. But you know, Pottery Barn isn't in my price range.

Today, I was checking out all of the blogs I love and I saw this. Couldn't believe it! So I had to try it. I ran out to Lowe's to get what I needed. I decided to scale it down a little. I bought a 2x2 piece of wood. I have no idea what kind of wood it is, but it's nice and smooth and only cost around $3.50 (give or take a few cents).

I painted it ivory and drew my squares.

And instead of painting the letters, because I'm a lazy bum... I printed them out and cut the circles as best I could. (FREE FONT)
I used an all purpose glue that I had laying around to glue the letters to the wood. It's made by Elmers but it's in the garage and yes, I'm still a lazy bum and not going to get it to tell you the exact name. Doesn't matter though, does it?

It's not exactly like the Pottery Barn one but I still LOVE it!

Next, I mixed a little stain with my Mod Podge. I tested this out on a piece of paper before hand and it didn't do anything crazy so I went with it.

I used the mixture on the letters and went around the circles. And dripped a little stain onto the board by accident. :X

THEN, I used a paint brush to trace my squares with Golden Oak stain. I let that sit a minute and used the brush again to stain the whole piece.
I'm hoping to wake up with it still looking like this, but dry. I really hope that mixing Mod Podge with stain was an OKAY idea. LOL

Jarrett is going to make me a frame soon too. I'm not in any hurry for it though. It looks super cool like it is.

When I get my school area done I'll take a pic of this on the wall. If you decide to make one, send me a link!! I want to see. :D

I'm adding this to Make Your Monday. I've been checking out this blog for 3 or 4 weeks. I'm loving it. You've gotta check it out!!!

Good idea?

2009-08-11T09:58:00.002-05:00

I've been wondering what to do with these hemingray insulators that we got from Jarrett's grandma. She has hundreds of them. I may need to go back and get some with more color.

I bought a candle holder from a garage sale and put it in the fireplace and sat the old insulators on it. What do you think? I think it's fitting since Jarrett is an electrician. lol And it keeps me from having to buy candles for now. :D

The Library

2009-08-10T14:07:00.003-05:00

I think this room is 'done enough' to show you. I need something on the walls. Maybe paint? But it's a rent house so I can't go too dark. I'd like to NOT paint at all but the white bothers me.

So what do you think? Got any suggestions to make the room better?

Question about shower curtains

2009-07-29T15:29:00.002-05:00

I have a cute vinyl shower curtain that I found in storage. I love it! But a few holes are ripped out. How can I fix it? Is there a way? Can I take the top off of another shower curtain and repair it? Or am I going to have to say goodbye to my cute little shower curtain?? I can't find another like it. So depressing. Any tips would be appreciated.

Why I haven't showed you more of the house...

2009-07-28T09:52:00.002-05:00

I just can't seem to finish anything.

Kyndal's room is far from being finished.

The boys room is always messy. We don't really have a them here except, well, boy stuff.

Fixer Upper

2009-07-22T13:15:00.004-05:00

My garage sale stool. $5

Fabric from Wal Mart. Always check prices. $9. Oops.

With the pillow that came with my couch.

It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful, right? LOL It's so not perfect but it is MUCH better.

My New Dining Area

2009-07-22T11:06:00.003-05:00

Hey y'all! I figured it's time I start showing some of the areas of the new place. First up, an area I'm not sure I like. So tell me what you think.

First, here's a lovely apron that I got. I LOOOOVE IT!!! In fact, I love it so much, I'm decorating my kitchen around it. haha!!!

I'm hoping to replace that gold light fixture too. It just does NOT agree with me. Ick. Check out the table runner. Too cute!! I need help with a center piece. I've never had one. I guess cause I don't know how to make it look right.

My little shelf (garage sale $3). It needs help too. Any idea how I could make this look better??

And a close up of the flower that the kids brought me. Looks like it's about time they go get me another. :D (pink vase- dollar tree/ green vase- garage sale .25)

Now I'm going to get dressed and go to Goodwill in search of vintage pyrex dishes. Wish me luck!

We've Moved!

2009-07-17T15:55:00.002-05:00

Gah, it's been forever since I've posted a blog. I've just been crazy busy for MONTHS. Hopefully things will slow down soon. I haven't touched my camera in a LONG time. Until today. I decided to wake up before the kids and go for a walk and get some pretty shots. So I went a walkin', got to a nice spot and pulled out my camera and didn't have my memory card. ha! Figures. So I came home and got a garage sale list put together. LOL

I just wanted to post something for those of you who might still check the blog. Be looking for pics of the new place soon.

Hope you're all doing good!

xoxo

Master!!!

2009-04-29T11:06:00.001-05:00

Jarrett took his Master Electrician test yesterday and passed. He's pretty sure he made a 98 but they don't tell you that info. We are so excited!!

Scarborough Faire

2009-04-04T19:14:00.003-05:00

Isn't she cute!

This was his sexy face. He stopped what he was doing to give it to me for a pic. haha!

Connor was trying to win 5 dollars by making it up the ladder.

This guy was so cool. Doktor Kaboom. He threw that powder coffee creamer on the fire and you can see what happened....

Caleb really doesn't like having his pic taken...

2009-04-04T07:09:00.000-05:00

Published!

2009-03-09T14:59:00.002-05:00

On December 26, 2008 Mountain Record contacted me and asked permission to use one of my photos for their spring edition. I gave them permission, then waited and waited to see if my pic was chosen. It was!! YAY!! They sent me the article my photo is in. I kinda wish I had a copy of the whole journal. It's still way cool!

Silhouettes and more puppy pics

2009-03-06T07:37:00.002-06:00

My first attempt at getting the kids silhouettes in the sunset. Can't wait to try this one again.

This is the puppy I *think* my mom wants. She said the smallest white female. This is her.
We're going to keep this one.

Puppies!!!

2009-03-01T21:48:00.001-06:00

They were born February 23,2009. Lilly has them under the house so I only got to take pics of a few of them. When they get a little bigger, watch out for puppy pics!!!

Karly riding her bike, Pics!

2009-02-18T15:42:00.004-06:00

It's a beautiful day today!! I finally got around to taking pics of Karly riding her bike. The sun was harsh though so they didn't turn out too well.

We jumped rope a little too...

YIPPEE!!!

2009-02-08T21:10:00.002-06:00

Karly can ride her bike!!! The boys kept playing with her small bike and broke her training wheels. So she hasn't been able to ride it much. But lately she's been getting on it and pushing herself around with her feet. I noticed yesterday that she would ride down the ditch with her feet lifted up, just coasting but balancing. Today I took her out and gave her a push and she rode all the way across the front yard. So of course, we kept doing that over and over. She can do it. She's not very good at steering yet. HA! I tried to get Kyndal to take a video but Karly was paying too much attention to the camera. I'll try again soon so you all can see. She's only 3!!!!

Mid Life Crisis

2009-02-05T19:10:00.001-06:00

Happy Birthday to ME!

And my fake maternity picture.

365 Rejects

2009-02-04T22:17:00.003-06:00

I got a lot of good ones today and couldn't decide which ones to use. You can see the others here.

Check it out!!

2009-02-04T09:18:00.001-06:00

Have a look at my other blog. I've posted several things. And my 365 is there. :D

Silly Karly

2009-01-29T16:22:00.001-06:00

Sometimes it's fun to just watch her be silly for the camera.

My Anniversary Gift

2009-01-26T12:34:00.001-06:00

Love this stuff!

Viva La Juicy

13th Anniversary!

2009-01-22T22:21:00.000-06:00

We didn't get to go out for dinner and that's ok. We just had a good dinner at home and I made this wonderful dessert. My oh my... you have to try it!!

Karly got her ears pierced!

2009-01-22T16:55:00.002-06:00

She's been sick since we've done this so I haven't pushed the picture issue. I've been wanting to get pics of her earrings though. I tried today and these were the best I got. And some don't even show her earrings. HAHA!!

First Basketball Game

2009-01-13T08:22:00.002-06:00

Kyndal signed up for basketball but told me she just wanted to be on the team. She did NOT want to play in games. She's never played and didn't want to be embarrassed out there. BUT she got out there and played over half the game, had fun and was happy! It was so nice to see my shy, timid girl out there. I'm so glad we signed her up. Her team won 28-13. :D

Connor's team lost 20-21. In overtime. What a good game!! Minus the trouble from the police. OMG I won't even get in to it but it was horrible.

The Newest Redneck Swing

2009-01-05T16:11:00.002-06:00

This one has bungee cords on it and bounces. Looks like a lot of fun!!

Check my other blog for several new posts, including the Project 365 pics of my kids.

75 Degrees!

2009-01-02T17:31:00.005-06:00

It was 75 degrees today! Jarrett didn't have to work so he took all three big kids treasure hunting (again). I couldn't stay inside with weather like this, so I took Karly to the park. I'm so ready for spring. We had a great time. :D

She climbed this tree and WANTED me to take a pic. Weird, but ok.

Totally shocked but she made it across the monkey bars by herself.

1/1/09

2009-01-01T20:24:00.002-06:00

Jarrett has really enjoyed his metal detector that he got from my mom for Christmas. He now knows how to research things online. He looks up information and history stuff about Waxahachie and the surrounding areas, plans out where they'll go, gets everything they could need for a trip to the woods and takes the kids exploring. (Both of the boys got metal detectors too, from the inlaws- too cool) Today Kyndal went exploring and Caleb stayed home with me & Karly. They had a great time. Jarrett even took some pics.

New Year Resolution

2008-12-31T15:35:00.002-06:00

Hopefully I can stick with it this time.

My last pack.

Courtside Reunion

2008-12-23T15:25:00.003-06:00

We had a mini all class WHS reunion. It was so much fun to see folks from school. I didn't get pics of everyone. We sort of just hung out around our table and waited to see if anyone came by. LOL

Good times! HAHA!!!

OMG how'd this get in here!?

Jarrett was actually supposed to be in this one. He's next to Chesney (on the left) but I only had my 50mm so he got cut out. Oops!

Sooo Karly!

2008-12-19T15:21:00.000-06:00

Isn't she sweet? It was so warm out today. I cannot wait till spring!!!

Caleb Again

2008-12-19T15:18:00.001-06:00

Took Caleb out in the fog for a cool effect. Well, they didn't turn out so good. This was the best one. I edited out the stop sign, power lines and fire hydrant. hehe

Splash!!

2008-12-18T10:45:00.003-06:00

Took Karly out to splash in the puddles today. Unfortunately none of the pics with her face showing turned out. So you get to see her feet and her really old, really tight on her feet, rain boots.

Frosted Rose

2008-12-16T09:19:00.000-06:00

I was hoping to wake up and see some white stuff on the ground but this is all I found. It's SO cold!!

Redneck Playground

2008-12-14T11:09:00.001-06:00

I guess I'll be starting a new photo folder for our Redneck Playground. Thanks Jarrett!

My Poor Baby!!!

2008-12-09T23:15:00.004-06:00

Caleb and Karly were playing tonight and finally getting along pretty good. He was fixing her hair like Jimmy Neutron. It was cute. They went to the bathroom to mess with her hair some more and she got on the counter to look at it and fell. She hit our bathtub with her chin. I freaked when I heard her crying so I immediately got to her. I couldn't even see anything. She stopped crying and I asked her where she hurt herself. She pointed to her mouth and sure enough. It was bad. We took her to the ER and she got 7 stitches. :*(

I took pics on the way there since it's such a long drive. Sorry that they are so gross. The middle pic has white around the cut because of the numbing meds.

And of course her hair is crazy because Caleb 'fixed' it. She only cried for a minute or two at home. She didn't cry at all in the hospital. The doctor was shocked that she was as calm as she was. She's tough. I'm not. I'm still sad. My poor baby!!!

You can click to enlarge if you dare. Be warned.

Rockstar!

2008-12-04T14:24:00.003-06:00

Karly dressed herself today and came to tell me she wants to be a rockstar. She was just too cute to not take pics.

Country Christmas

2008-12-03T15:51:00.001-06:00

Can you tell I'm loving this template? Here are some of the decorations on our Christmas tree.

Trying again...

2008-12-02T22:40:00.002-06:00

I tried again today to get a picture of all the kids together. When they were doing good, my settings were off, when I'd get the settings right, someone was mad. Oh well. I may use this candids collage for the Christmas card. :D

Favorite Thanksgiving Picture

2008-11-27T21:31:00.002-06:00

I'll post more later, when I go through all of them. I just had to share my favorite.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-25T23:07:00.003-06:00

We're going to the Abilene area tomorrow. I can't wait to see my family and eat some good food. I'm not sure when we'll be back but I think my kids are staying with my mom and we'll get them back on Sunday. Woohooo!!

That's all. Just a little note to let you know where we are and what we're up to. :)

My Kiddos!

2008-11-21T13:14:00.003-06:00

I was trying to get a group shot of all of my kids together. You know, so I could make a Christmas card. It didn't happen. They were tired of sitting by each other and all the one's I had taken, part of Connor's body wasn't in front of the backdrop. I'm not willing to clone out the background, so we'll have to try again another day.

Oh Caleb!

2008-11-21T13:10:00.002-06:00

It's so hard to get pics of Caleb right now. He doesn't want his picture taken. He'll act goofy in front of the camera, but the REAL pictures, he doesn't want to do. I sort of feel bad for always getting pics of the other kids and not him. I told him that one day he was going to wonder why I never took any pics of him. So he agreed to let me take a few. But that didn't mean he was going to smile or look the least bit happy. So this is what I got.

Karly Pics

2008-11-21T13:04:00.002-06:00

Just a few new pics of Karly.

She really thinks she's a cheerleader. When she's old enough to sign up, she won't even need to go to practice. She knows all the cheers already. lol

Powerwing Karly

2008-11-18T17:11:00.004-06:00

I finally got around to taking a pic of Karly on the Powerwing. She's been riding it for a while now. She loves it and does better than I do. LOL!!

Ignore us talking in the background. We were trying to catch our dog that got out of the fence.

Last Football Game

2008-11-18T17:08:00.002-06:00

Connor's team was done last week but Jarrett and Caleb's team made it to the play offs. They lost but played an awesome game. Seriously. I've never seen a more fired up crowd. We had too many bad calls against us. Of course, the loser always says that, but this is the TRUTH. It was ridiculous. Anyway, here's a pic of both my boys during the last game.

Until next year....

Updating!!

2008-11-17T22:19:00.004-06:00

Ok, I've updated a little. Now it's late. Be sure to go back and look through my recent posts. I'll be updating some more this week. Then maybe I can get back to checking all of your blogs again. Sorry, I'm a slacker.

Fall Feet

2008-11-17T22:14:00.002-06:00

Did I ever post this picture of my feet in the leaves? I'm not sure.

This is Connor's take on it.
Just for fun.

Business Card

2008-11-17T22:09:00.003-06:00

I made my own business card. You know, for when my kids are grown and I have time to do some photography. lol I guess I just did it for the heck of it. I dunno.

What do you think?

The blurred part is my phone number that I didn't want to share with the internet.

Connor's team VS The Coaches

2008-11-17T21:14:00.002-06:00

November 1st

The team Connor was supposed to play didn't have enough players so the coaches got out there and played with the boys. It was SO funny! I wish I could show you all of the pics but it takes too darn long for the pics to load.

The big black blob in the pic, is Jarrett. HAHA!

I think the coaches won.

Halloween Pics, Finally!

2008-11-16T22:19:00.002-06:00

Darn it! They all came up backwards. Again! What's up with that? I've been slacking, I know. Gotta try and get my blog time worked out. Anyway, here are the pics from Halloween in reverse order.

Kyndal had a party to go to so we didn't get to trick or treat with her this year. She had a blast but I have NO pics from it. :(

Karly loved trick or treating. She would go up and say trick or treat, I want a necklace. Or do you like my Mama? HAHA!! Too cute!

Caleb hasn't been very nice to the camera lately. He wouldn't look at me so I raised my hand above my head to get his attention and this is what he did back to me.

Connor trick or treating on the square in downtown Waxahachie.

This was the first pic I got when we got out of the car. Hey kids, line up over there and let me take your pic. Thanks Connor. LOL

Karly just out of the truck, ready to get some candy.

That's it for Halloween. I didn't get many pics this year. :(

Explain it to me- politics

2008-11-04T22:44:00.006-06:00

I was just watching CNN and they said the popular vote doesn't matter. (assuming this is YOUR votes- am I right?) The one's that matter are the electoral college. So, what's all the hoopla about get out and vote if you're not part of the electoral college? Seriously, this has me baffled. Is it just to make you feel like you've done your part? Put in your two cents? I'm just confused so forgive me if I sound silly. Anyone care to shed some light?

Ok, after searching a little harder I found this. It explains it a little better than the guy on CNN.

http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/thepoliticalsystem/a/electcollege.htm

A couple of things I found interesting though:

1.So we will all go vote on Tuesday, and before the sun sets in California at least one of the TV networks will have declared a winner. By midnight, one of the candidates will have probably claimed victory and some will have conceded defeat. But not until the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, when the electors of the Electoral College meet in their state capitals and cast their votes will we really have a new president and vice president elect.

2.Critics of the Electoral College system, of which there are more than a few, point out that the system allows the possibility of a candidate actually losing the nationwide popular vote, but being elected president by the electoral vote. Can that happen? Yes, and it has.

Has it Ever Happened?
Has a presidential candidate ever lost the nationwide popular vote but been elected president in the Electoral College? Yes, three times:

In 1876 there were a total of 369 electoral votes available with 185 needed to win. Republican Rutherford B. Hayes, with 4,036,298 popular votes won 185 electoral votes. His main opponent, Democrat Samuel J. Tilden, won the popular vote with 4,300,590 votes, but won only 184 electoral votes. Hayes was elected president.

In 1888 there were a total of 401 electoral votes available with 201 needed to win. Republican Benjamin Harrison, with 5,439,853 popular votes won 233 electoral votes. His main opponent, Democrat Grover Cleveland, won the popular vote with 5,540,309 votes, but won only 168 electoral votes. Harrison was elected president.

In 2000 there were a total of 538 electoral votes available with 270 needed to win. Republican George W. Bush, with 50,456,002 popular votes won 271 electoral votes. His Democratic opponent, Al Gore, won the popular vote with 50,999,897 votes, but won only 266 electoral votes. Bush was elected president.

I'm glad I cleared that up for myself. Hope that I helped others of you who didn't know what all that CNN stuff was about.

Daniel 4:17

2008-11-04T09:09:00.003-06:00

I was going to vote today, but realize that what will happen, will happen no matter who I vote for. I personally don't care for any of the candidates and can't give any of them my vote. Sorry if that offends anyone. I just can't do it. :(

Daniel 4:17 (King James Version)
King James Version (KJV)
Public Domain
17This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.

Homecoming Parade

2008-11-03T21:40:00.003-06:00

Playing a bit of catch up here. I'll be changing the dates on these after they've been here long enough to be seen. lol

Kyndal and I waited and waited for the parade to start. It was awful. We only took one car so Jarrett had to drop us off downtown while he took the kids to the meet up spot for the kids. We had to wait about an hour. We were SO early and I'm sure people were driving through the dead town of Italy wondering what the heck we were doing. HAHA!!!

Some poor child lost their balloon. ooh, photo op. Do you see the balloon? LOL

Yeah, and these pics uploaded backward too. What is up with that? I'm not doing anything different than I used to do. Maybe blogger is mad at me for not blogging much lately.
Hopefully you can see my peeps on the float. Yeah, I said peeps. I'm cool like dat.

The Bonfire

2008-11-03T21:11:00.007-06:00

October 21st, we had the bonfire. It's just what we do before our homecoming. The kids get to run around this HUGE yard and have all kinds of fun. The adults sit and chit chat and pig out on pizza and cookies. Here's the big pile of wood.

And here's this young girl eating. She didn't like that I took this pic, but I don't think she knows where my blog is so maybe she won't be mad at me.

And here's cute little Gary. He plays on Jarrett's team with Caleb.

And then there's these. I had way too many of them. They were delicious.

Cici's pizza brought like 100 boxes of pizza. For real. There was a LOT of pizza there.

The DJ

Kendrick doing the stanky leg. This kid can dance.

And a couple of my friends dancing.

Karly's bff Jaylen. (one day I'll ask his mom how to spell his name- I spell it different every time)

I just love pics of people stuffing their faces.

This is the best though. Look at that poor little girl on the right. HAHA!!!

Now, somehow, these pics uploaded backwards. So, let's watch me put the fire out.

Neat huh?

I like this little girls shoes. You see those? They are like converse boots or something.

The cheerleaders had Baby Got Back in their dance routine and this is Baby. LOL

Cheerleaders dancing. Karly will be up there one day. Not soon enough for her.

Jarrett/ skater looking dude.

Unfortunately, I didn't get many pics of my kids that night. Half the time I couldn't find them. And lately when I pull out the camera, they run. :/

Am I Scary??

2008-10-30T13:37:00.001-05:00

My flickr friend Dave used some of my pics and did me up for Halloween. What do you think??

Pirates!!!

2008-10-29T16:24:00.005-05:00

I took the girls out today to get pics of them in their costumes. I didn't go out searching for the perfect location, just used what was in walking distance. I got too many cute ones and couldn't decide which ones to post, so you'll get to look through a lot of them. Hope you don't mind.

My sweet friend Antoinette made these costumes and did an excellent job. I'm always so impressed with everything she makes. Check out her store 'Little Bee's Boutique' on my blog, under my favorite places to shop.

Remember, you can click the pic to make it larger. (some will look better that way)

Self portraits and my new hair

2008-10-15T19:19:00.002-05:00

I learned how to focus on myself. Finally. So I took some pics for practice. You can see my new do. I have big hair, man. I had the lady put in highlights and lowlights (guess that's what they are called) and then had more layers put in. This is what it looks like straight. One day I'll do some pics when I curl it.

Used the powder room action here. Bet you couldn't tell. LOL

San Antonio, TX

2008-10-15T18:23:00.005-05:00

Friday morning, Jarrett came home early from work and we headed to San Antonio... KIDLESS! We stopped at the outlet mall and got him some jeans for $7.99. We got to San Antonio around 4. We stayed at this hotel. Let me tell you. If you want to be near the action, do not stay here. We were what felt like, miles and miles away from the good stuff. Nice hotel, but too far away.

So we get our room, on the 18th floor, OMG, then head down to the Riverwalk. And we walk. And walk. I pull out my camera cause even though it's far away from the good stuff, it's beautiful there. We saw this cute little bench.

I tried to take lots of pics at first, but Jarrett started feeling all touristy so he made me self conscious about it. So after about the first 5 pics, I gave up on getting good shots. :(
We walked and walked some more. Then you know what? It was the end. Yup, we were walking the wrong way.
Going the other direction, on the other side. To make it look like we did it on purpose.
Interesting building. Getting closer to the fun stuff.

Still not quite there.
AHH!! FOOD and drinks! We were there! We stopped here first and had some chips and margaritas.
We didn't take the boat this time. BTDT
Our table was right by the river. We kept feeding these ducks. They acted like they were starving. One came up and got under my chair. Holy crap!
Then we walked some more. Trying to figure out what we wanted to do this time around.

Our favorite restaurant. Tony Roma's. We go way back.
Outside this band was playing flutey things. It was pretty music but I think they only knew a handful of songs.
Then we went to the mall and found the comedy club.

That was FUN. Funny guys! I'd love to go back to that.

That was over at close to 11 so we stopped by another place cause I was getting hungry (finally)

Best dadgum Mexican food ever. Loved this place.

I had a headache, Jarrett was getting all buzzed and making me crazy so we went back to the room.
We ended up checking out at 9 a.m. and coming back home. We talked about staying another night, but even on the 18th floor we could hear all the cars and street sweepers going by. We didn't get much sleep.

On the way home, we stopped back by the outlet mall and did some shopping. THAT was fun too. I love that place.

We made it home just in time to go to a get together some friends were having.

We enjoyed our time alone, but it was time to get the kids back. I missed them. I still miss Kyndal. She decided to stay an extra week.

What a week!

2008-10-13T12:28:00.002-05:00

My mom wanted the kids and who am I to tell her no? LOL I let them go to her house Tuesday night. I got to relax a LOT. I had my hair done on Friday. Pics coming later. Then Saturday morning we left for San Antonio. I'll be blogging some pics from our vacation later today. Just wanted to pop on here right quick so you all know we're ALIVE. The kids came back yesterday. Kyndal decided to stay an extra week. The boys have football so they had to come home. It's so nice to have them back. I still miss Kyndal but I think she needs some time away from the rest of the kids. Pics coming soon!

Go check 'em out!

2008-10-06T15:20:00.001-05:00

I photographed a baby yesterday! Go see and tell me what you think!!

Baby B

Sept 22 - Oct 2

2008-10-03T08:25:00.003-05:00

A little update before I get too far behind. This is what we've been up to.

Jarrett has been working at his Grandma's house, getting the shore line cleaned up. I think it'll be a nice place to hang out next summer when we go to the lake. And of course the kids are loving that he's using all these tractors to do the work.

I was challenged to do some self portraits, here are a couple of my attempts.

I went to Best Buy finally and picked up my purse camera that was being fixed. I got pulled over. Got a ticket for expired registration. It's been out since JUNE! I couldn't believe it. I had no clue and I really don't pay that much attention to it. I'm sure the police officer didn't believe me. Which reminds me, I need to get that taken care of TODAY.

I took a few pics of Karly with my purse camera.

We had another football game. Both of our teams lost. Caleb's team is 2w-1L and Connor's team (poor kids) is 0w-3L. eek

I rearranged my house a little. The boys room first, then I swapped the girls room with my room and painted their room white. That was a lot of work. Remind me to never do it again.

Yesterday, Jarrett had another tractor at the lake and we were going out there anyway to try to get a pic of all the kids together. But when the kids saw the tractor that's all they cared about. So I only got a few shots of the kids.

Connor went looking for frogs and found one. Look how tiny!
It's Friday, I'm excited. We have a lot to do around here today.
(school, cleaning, pay bills, handle ticket)
I better get up and get busy. I still haven't had time to catch up on all my blog friends blogs. I'm sorry. I'm about done with my fall cleaning so I'll be catching up soon. Hope everyone is doing well.

Break Time

2008-09-22T08:29:00.002-05:00

As if you couldn't tell. I've been taking a break from blogging and a break from the computer and I plan to continue for a little while longer. I've seriously got to get some organizing done around my house. Every room is back to being cluttered. I'll still be posting a few things on my other blog so you can check there from time to time if you'd like.

And to all the other bloggers, I'll be back to reading and commenting as soon as I'm done with my "Fall cleaning".

Hope everyone is doing well!

Football!

2008-09-21T08:36:00.001-05:00

This weekend we had our football games. Caleb & Jarrett's team won again. Undefeated so far! Woohoo! Here's Caleb standing up. lol

Jarrett's mom came down to visit. Jarrett's dad and step mom were there. My mom called me and was like, "I miss the babies, I sure wish I could see them" and five minutes later, she was there with my step dad Bobby. It was such a nice surprise and SO cool to have almost all of the grandparents there. (the row with Kyndal on it. I don't know the other people.)

Karly sure does love Bobby! When he's around, she attached to him.
Connor's team lost, again. We seriously need some blockers. But I'm not the coach, so... whatever. Connor got tackled and you see in the pic, that helmet was in his back.
And look at that face as he's getting up. He was hurt. Poor baby!!! But he kept playing. When I saw this face, I stopped taking pics for a little bit. He played another play, got up with the same face and I made sure they knew he was hurt. So he got to come to the sideline for a little while.
He's ok though. Nothing serious.
Afterward we went out to eat. My favorite meal from Don Jose's is Villa's chicken. Mmmm... It's SOOO good!

You can't see me.

2008-09-15T21:52:00.002-05:00

That's what Jarrett kept saying. He was walking around acting strange. Standing really still, or leaning up against something. When I'd ask what he was doing he would say, "You can't see me". Good grief.

Brothers!

2008-09-12T16:15:00.003-05:00

It's been a while since I've seen them. It was nice. Wish they lived closer and liked me more. ;)

(David, Me, Jon)

First time I've seen my neice, Lexi. How cute is she? She gets that from Sara. :)
Patti & Lexi

(Patti, if you want these pics, click them to make them large, right click and save as- to your computer somewhere)

He's a good daddy!

David watching the Wii golf game.

See, I need David around more. He asked for my camera to take a pic of me. Nice! It's not great, I should have put make up on and sat up straight.

Connor is so good with the babies.
Karly, Sara and Summer
Bed time! She was NOT happy. It was so cute cause.....
Jon gave her a kiss and she stopped crying to give him a kiss back. LOL

Found the CURE for Poison Ivy

2008-09-11T07:47:00.005-05:00

or Oak, or Sumac, whatever it was that we had.

My inlaws told me about this stuff. I put off getting it because they said it cost 30 dollars. I'm cheap. So we had poison whatever it was for about a week and a half. Then finally I decided to get some. I ended up getting a spot on the back of my leg that was as big as one of my butt cheeks. Seriously. It was starting to scare me. When I went to get it, at CVS it was 39.99!! Holy smokes! I went to a friends house afterward and put some on and let me tell you... It stopped itching immediately. The spot I had on the back of my leg was a severe case, so the next day I did it again and it's gone. All better. Mild to moderate cases only need one application. This stuff washes away whatever is in the blisters. Too cool. I'm stocking up.
I went to Wal Mart to get groceries and thought I'd see if they have this there. They do. For 34.99 or 34.88. Cheaper than CVS. Go get some. It's worth every penny.

Lots of fun at the lake!

2008-09-08T12:32:00.005-05:00

And lots of pics to share... we had a blast. It was sort of like a party. There were so many people. LOVED it. Great times!!

Jarrett and Connor pulling Kyndal and Conleigh. ( I seriously need better zoom)

Conleigh saying that's fast enough!
Jarrett is pulling Angelia and Hailey (hope I spelled that right)
Brandi & April
Steve taking Debbie on her first ride.
How cool is this shot? I got all 3 jet ski's in one pic. Eric at the top, Jason in the middle, Steve & April up front.
Steve loved splashing the kids. They loved it too.
Jason and Peyton.
Yeehaw, Eric.

April posing. Too cute!
Look at all the people. And that's not even all that were there.
Think they could be any closer to each other.
Steve taking Mike on his first ride.
Sweet Peyton

Jarrett went nuts this time. No, really. NUTS. He scared the crap outta me several times.
I like this one because of the splash he made. Neat huh?
Thumbs up!!

Can't wait to do this again!!

FOOTBALL!!!

2008-09-06T23:04:00.000-05:00

Remember, you can click the pics to make them bigger. (and don't forget to check out my hunting post)

Caleb is #6, he's back there not even running toward the ball. LOL

On the ground patting the guy with the ball.

Connor is #8

I'm going to keep this short. I have a lot to do and I don't want to make myself mad by telling the whole story. Jarrett & Caleb's team won. Connor's team lost.

Hunting

2008-09-05T23:42:00.000-05:00

I decided to go. Right in the middle of the day, when it's nice and HOT. We stopped by Wal Mart first and Karly got her first camo shirt. We didn't shoot anything. Didn't even see any dove. We left to go to another location and I remembered I had to get everything ready for the game on Saturday. So Jarrett dropped me and the girls off and we did what we had to do. Jarrett and the boys did end up finding a great spot and got some more dove for our collection. yuck. On to the pics.....

This is what I was sitting by. Comfy.

Karly loved her new shirt. Yes, she's wearing 2 shirts in 100 degree weather.
She was so mad that Jarrett cut the sleeves off.
In black and white, she almost blends in.
Waiting to see some dove.

Waiting to get outta there!

Karly is putting on lip gloss. HAHA!!!

decoys. HA! I think the real birds saw the bar codes.

Really?

2008-09-05T09:31:00.002-05:00

Jarrett just called. He wants us ALL to go dove hunting today. Great. I have zero desire to do that. I think he wants me to take pictures. ::sigh:: Do I go? Do I just stay home and clean as planned? Cleaning sounds more fun. Geez. He'll be calling back in a little bit for my answer. :/

Connor loves Karly

2008-09-04T16:30:00.002-05:00

He's such a loving big brother. I don't know what I'd do without his help. Ok, yeah I do. But really, it's nice to have his help. He loves Karly so much. And he's her 'boy'. Sweet!

Water bottles, shutter speed & poison ivy

2008-09-04T10:10:00.005-05:00

Yesterday was such a beautiful day. We had a nice break from the heat. It was probably about 75 outside. LOVED IT!

My poor kids have a bad case of poison ivy/oak/sumac I dunno, but it's bad. And they've given it to me. Any tips on how to get rid of it at home? I've used all sorts of lotions and sprays, Aveno oatmeal baths, and nothing is working. HELP!

Now to the pictures, I thought since we have our firts game Saturday I better get to practicing action shots with no blurring. I set my shutter speed really fast and it worked. I'm so excited! Don't mind Karly's clothes. Those were Kyndal's from when she took ballet. It's a few sizes too big for Karly. The kids were jumping over the empty water bottles.

She missed. Completely.

Shutter speed, not quite fast enough.
Better, but I cut off his foot. I was only using a 50mm, so I didn't have any zoom. They were just too close to me.

Looks frozen there huh? YAY!!

This one is just weird. How'd she know (in the middle of a flip) to look right at the camera? Practice.
And this is what happens when you bump up the ISO instead of the shutter speed. OOPS! See the noise/grain? (little dots all over it)
I'm so glad I found this NOISEWARE .

The spots are gone. And it's FREE.

Halloween

2008-09-04T09:41:00.002-05:00

This is what Connor wants to be for Halloween.

VIDEO

September

2008-09-01T09:42:00.002-05:00

Gah, I can't believe it's September already. Man oh man. Time is flying.

The boys are out dove hunting today. I'm dreading what they bring home. It's so gross to see dead animals. Jarrett told me I was going to have to stick my finger on the neck and pop the head off. (or something like that) ugh. How sick is that? There's no way. No way.

Me and the girls are chilling this morning. We may go shopping in a little bit. It's about time to start buying winter clothes and I need a bit of a head start. I have to do a little at a time, clothing 4 kids. lol

Hope you're all having a good Labor Day!

Just one of the boys

2008-08-28T22:26:00.003-05:00

that carries lip gloss. Yes, my little girl loves to hang out with the boys. That's Jaylen (probably misspelled) in the middle. Karly told me a couple of days ago that she loves him with all her heart. Then I whooped her. Just kidding!!!

Tomorrow I'm going to do a photo shoot with these two. I'm so excited. I offered to do it cause they are just too cute and I need to practice on someone other than my kids. Hopefully I can get this one to look at me.
I snuck this one in. He was hanging on to Moms leg. Too cute!
See, I may just have a hard time with him. LOL
Aren't they adorable??? I can't wait!
Spell check just told me snuck isn't a word. Hmm...I did NOT know that. :/

Been Busy

2008-08-28T22:16:00.002-05:00

Doing this

at the rehearsal & dinner
and the wedding (you can see more here)
practicing for football games
and editing
I haven't had much free time at all.

Beautiful Morning...

2008-08-21T15:46:00.003-05:00

On my way to the grocery store, I passed my husband on a bridge. He was looking down while driving! On a bridge! AHHH! So I called him and told him not to do that. LOL He said he was on his way home for the day. It was pretty early so we bought took a detour to the park. It was a nice morning for a walk.

Karly got tired of walking.
You can see more pics here.

Givin' you somethin' new

2008-08-19T21:23:00.003-05:00

to look at.

First, take a look at these two. My two youngest. Could they look any different? I was shocked to see them playing so well together. This is a special pic. Fo sho!

Connor called me outside to tell me there was a rainbow. So I grabbed my camera and ran. When I took the shot, the football was thrown. Not on purpose either. I wish the football was in focus. How cool would that have been??
It's hard to see anything around my house with all of these trees!
There. I cropped them out. :)
It was such a bright rainbow. I wish I could have gotten better pics.

I'm still pretty busy around here. I spent hours today making lesson plans and well, I'm not even done with one kid yet. When I'm not doing that, I'm studying up on wedding photography, my camera, lighting, whatever I can cause the wedding I'm photographing is Saturday! ACK!

So excited!

2008-08-15T11:25:00.000-05:00

Go HERE and see why!

My Husband Rocks!

2008-08-15T08:47:00.003-05:00

I've been slacking at posting to the blog lately. Been pretty busy and the past few Fridays I've been out and about. But today I must tell you why my husband rocks! I got this idea from Katy Lin over at The Great Adventure. So go on over there and get signed up!

This week I took a look at my couch and decided it was time to shampoo it. Usually when I shampoo it, just hours later there is a mess on it. Thanks to having 4 kids and a sometimes clumsy husband. (shh...) I went ahead and decided to do it cause it was seriously grossing me out. It was so bad that I didn't bother taking before pics. Not like I'd ever show anyone. ick.
Anyway, when Jarrett came home and saw the clean couch he said, WOW! What a difference the clean couch makes! Before, no matter how much I cleaned the house, the couch being dirty made the house look filthy. He rocks because he's trying really hard to keep the couch clean. He pulled out an extra mattress we have and has been using it to sit on to watch tv. He said we're keeping the mattress out and when we have company come by we'll move the mattress out of the living room and have a clean couch. HAHA! He's so funny. But I know he's doing this because he knows how much time it takes for me to get that couch clean. So here's a pic I took of him. I couldn't resist. He's covered in Karly's Dora blanket and drinking his tea from her zoo cup. (the fan is in the pic cause I was using it to dry the couch)

*If you get a chance, you really should take a look at what Jamie over at Rose Cottage posted. It's a wonderful post about marriage.

Shopping this week

2008-08-14T12:13:00.000-05:00

I did a little shopping this week. And goofy me forgot about the tax free weekend THIS weekend. So missed out on saving 8 bucks for every 100 spent.
I just thought I'd share some of what I got. I'm not posting all the clothes I bought but I will tell you I found some great deals at the Gap outlet for myself. YES! I have some new clothes!

Karly really needed shoes. All that fits her are flip flops. She's got such wide feet. But I found some tennis shoes (in the boys section) that worked! They aren't the cutest in the world but will be perfect for play shoes. Easy off and on and a dark color.

And some much needed guide books.
Not the best picture (was playing with settings) but I LOVE this shirt. Yes, I know it's just a tshirt but it says Life Is Good. I need one like that for myself.
And a mini back pack for Karly. I filled it up with fun stuff (chalk board, markers, books, bubbles, nintendo DS w/Dora game) for football practices. It's so cute! We saw one in a bigger size at another store. But the small one is perfect for a 3 yr old.
I also got Kyndal a new shirt and jewelry to match for a wedding we have to go to soon. I can't believe I have to shop in the juniors clothes for her.

Oh and Karly got a new outfit for the wedding too. I love having a Gymboree outlet nearby!!

The boys got new football stuff last week so this week was for the girls.

Lunch with Granny

2008-08-11T22:37:00.000-05:00

My mom called and said she was going to be in Dallas and asked if we wanted to meet her for lunch. Umm YES we DO! So we met up at El Chico around 10:30. It didn't open until 11 so the kids got out their toys and played in the parking lot. They haven't gotten to use these on concrete yet. They loved it!! Nice and smooth!

Connor was doing really well on his Rip Stick.

And Kyndal loves her Power Wing
Poor Connor. He found a hill. Went down it real fast. Thought it was the coolest thing. Did it again. Almost ran into something, so he jumped off. Banged himself up. He hurt his belly, knee, elbow and hand. :*(
He didn't cry. But didn't want in the picture. I think it started hurting about 10 minutes after it happened. Poor guy. Then he cried for 30 minutes or more.
You can see his knee here. I only took this one to have one of all of them together with Granny.
It was nice seeing my mom. I really wish she lived closer. After we ate we went to Wal Mart and got a first aid kit for my car. And she got a few things she needed. Then we had to go our separate ways. I miss her.

Another day at the lake

2008-08-10T22:07:00.003-05:00

I had plans to clean up the house and catch up on laundry. I guess since Jarrett had so much fun at the lake Friday, he wanted to go again today. So we did. I needed to practice action shots anyway. ;)

Don't mind his big white legs. HA!!
The sunburn girl. This time we took sunblock and I made her sit in the shade once in a while.
I sent Jarrett in to Wal Mart again and he came back with Big Red and Coke. So Karly got to have a Big Red today. Can you tell?
I got so many cute pictures of Caleb on the jet ski. He was having a blast!!
Connor and Jarrett standing up together. This time we took both jet skis out.
He wiped out!
All smiles!
Even when she fell off. (the first time.) The second time she was DONE riding.
That's all for today folks. I'm pooped!!

8/8/08 At The Lake

2008-08-08T22:56:00.004-05:00

I didn't do anything special for 8/8/08. I wanted to try and get a really cool pic of something but whatever. We did other stuff and I forgot.

We headed out around noon to go to the lake. Being that it was lunch time, the jet ski needed gas and Karly needed some swim shoes, we headed to town. Jet ski in tow. What a pain. We went to Wal Mart and I wasn't dressed for going in. Jarrett said I looked good though. ;) So I sent Jarrett in to get Karly some shoes. I told him 9/10 or a 10. He comes out with a 6! After all that waiting in the truck he had to go exchange them. This took like 45 minutes. We still had to eat and get many, many gallons of gas. So he went back in and picked these out. Lovely.

Enough small talk, let's get to the pictures.

Ever seen my house?

That's not it.

Karly wasn't sure about the waves. Every time I mentioned waves she waved. She must have thought I was nuts. Look at that big wave ::waves::, Look a little wave ::waves::, *riding the jet ski* Want to jump some waves? ::waves::

Cheesin' it up

On the prowl
Jarrett likes to do this and splash the kids. (p.s. all of my jet ski pics are blurry)

Caleb, up close.

Connor skipping rocks
I think they saw leaches. Or not. I wouldn't know if they did.
If you look real close at this, you can see where I edited Kyndal out of the picture. She was making a funny face.

We all had a good time today. It wasn't too hot, but some of us did get a nice sunburn. Kyndal is very red. We've already rubbed on the aloe. I just hope it works for her.

Rainy Day Activity

2008-08-06T19:20:00.004-05:00

On days like these...

We try new things. I got this idea from Saucy at Bloggedy Blog Blog. We didn't use the candy though.
Not the best photo of them, but they were ALL looking at me.

She was so excited
Here's one I made for myself. I thought I was going to be cool and make it shaped like a blow pop. As you can see, I did something wrong. Our suckers won't get hard. There a slimy mess. But they taste good. Any ideas what I did wrong? I want to try again soon.

Still busy and a pic

2008-08-05T21:37:00.003-05:00

I've been so busy lately. Getting my house cleaned up, football 3 nights a week, catching up on laundry, grocery shopping, getting school stuff ready... you get the point. I just wanted to jump on here real quick and show you this picture. She's such a mess. Don't mind MY mess all around her. After seeing this picture, I'm going to crawl up under my entertainment center and scrub the floors. Ick.
( I carelessly edited out some junk under my entertainment center. LOL)