Flashback

This picture is of Tim's dad, Gary. You know this is an old photo because he's holding that cigarette. This photo had to be taken before 1982. Check out his plaid pants too. He was so hip.


This is hilarious. First of all take a good look at Tim. You can't miss him. He's sporting that sweater vest, the funky shirt, and most importantly those mega glasses. Beside him is his cousin, Scott. What a lovely shirt he's wearing too. And doesn't he look like Nick? Wow. Moving down to Brian...check out the long hair. I thought he was a girl until Tim corrected me. Then look at Mark. He's wearing that tiny sports jacket (no kids wear those now a days). But, he looks happy to wear it.

I love old photos like this one. It's fun to poke fun at the fashion styles from the past. Most importantly though is for them to be reminded of the times that they spent together as family growing up.

Can you imagine living in the same house for 55 years? That's a very long time. Aunt Marie is moving. She has lived in this house for that long(I hope I got the number of years right).

This was the house she raised her kids in. She cared for nieces and nephews here. She suffered the loss of her husband here. She has lived her life here.

But, one of the things that comes with life is change. She has sold this home and is moving to a new place. I haven't seen the new place yet but I know it will be cozier and will be a better place for her to live at this time in her life.

Change is hard. Change makes us sad. Change makes us remember how things used to be. Change can be good though. I know this is a good change for her. I know she has a lot of memories of this home and nothing can take the memories away.

So, here's to Aunt Marie's big move. It is surely exciting and fun to move into a new home and to decorate it the way you want to. I can't wait to see it and to remind her that she's the same caring, loving Aunt not matter where she lives.

Who knew

Who knew that sitting in the hospital recovery room would be fun? I'm not kiddin' folks. Julie had surgery on Friday. Scotty 2 Hottie (as she calls him) got her to the hospital and waited there until she was in recovery. I then flew in with my cape to sit with her and then take her home. Ok ok...I didn't have a cape on. But my shirt was blousy and looked like a cape when I walked really quickly.

Anyway...back to my story...when I was able to go back to the recovery room she was up eating and smiling. Who would have known that she just had a surgery. We laughed so stinkin' hard I thought she might pee herself. Well, they did want her to pee before going home but that wasn't what they would want I don't think. I would repeat what we were saying but I want to keep this blog rated "G" so I will keep it to myself. But, just so you know, it was stinkin' hilarious. If you are dying to know just call me and I'll tell ya.

I'm glad you're ok Julie. I'm glad you came out smilin' and laughin' just like the person that you are. Love ya and I'll be there for ya for your next hospital visit.

The Piano

Aunt Marie is moving and her piano was up for sale. We wanted to keep it in the family. Plus Shelbie takes piano lessons. Imagine that...a piano to practice on. Now, this piano is old and needs tuned up but that's ok.

It was tricky to get it to into the truck. Thank goodness Mark and Warren were able to lend us their muscles. Thanks guys! We really appreciated it!!


In the process of getting it out of her house we accidentally ripped the door off. No big deal...the guys fixed it. They are cool studs like that.


Oh...I should thank Tim for letting this happen. He really didn't want a piano, let alone mess with moving it. But, I batted my eyelashes a few times and that always makes him weak.

The Moon

I see the moon

and the moon sees me

God bless the moon

and God bless me

Alrighty, that's a nursery rhyme that is in my mind everytime I see the moon. Did you see the moon tonight? It is beautiful. This picture is rather lousy but I had to post it anyway. When I see a beautiful full moon I do two things...

1) I make a wish (I tend to wish a lot).

2) I wonder who else is looking at it at the same time I am. Is is someone I know? Are they making wishes too?

Call me silly. Call me wierd...eerie, mysterious, bordering on the supernatural. Call me the silly, wierd moon lookin' lady. But, the next time you look at the full moon you can wonder if I'm looking at it too.

Child Labor?

Landon was put to work. After school he wanted to paint too so I set him with with the roller and let him go at it. He worked on it for a while. Just enough time to get it on himself and then he decided he was done. He did get a small section done so I was pleased.

Before he started to paint he took some pictures. At least now I have proof that I do actually do work. Hey, a woman's got to pull her weight around here. I'd much rather be outside painting than inside doing the housework. So, this is a treat for me. Speaking of treats...Halloween is approaching real soon. I hope to eat some treats then. Particularly some chocolate ones. Add some chocolate with peanut butter ones and I'll be set.

Ok, that was a distraction. Where was I? Oh...the painting. Yes, it's coming along just fine I might say so myself. The front is pretty much done so I'll be moving on to the sides now. Oh, our neighbor Tim told us that we've broken the cardinal rule of painting. That you should always start with the back of the house so you are motivated to finish. Who makes up these silly rules anyway? I am certainly motivated to finish the back. Why would I want to leave it half done? Crazy. He's a man of crazy rules but he was nice enough to bring me a beer so I think he's ok afterall.

Shelbie words

Last night while watching football practice Shelbie snuggled her face into my shirt.

Shelbie: "Mommy you smell good."

Me: "That's good, what do I smell like?"

Shelbie: "Like Mommy."

Me: "What does that smell like?"

Shelbie: "A mix between parent, love, and Danelle."

Now, that's the sweetest thing I'd heard all week. That made me feel warm and fuzzy. She's my little pistachio and I love it when she says stuff like that.

Welcome Home Warren!

A friend, Warren, recently returned home from serving in Iraq. Saturday night was a get together to welcome him home.

THANK YOU WARREN for giving this year and a half of your life to serve our country. You're a good man.

Fisher

This is our cat, Fisher. I never thought in a million zillion kabillion years that I would let a cat in the house. Two reasons...Tim is allergic and I don't want pet hair everywhere. But....as you can see from this photo (an old one) we let him come in. He is the sweetest cat I've ever known. He will snuggle and purr and just make you feel warm and fuzzy and loved.

Our new project

DO YOU?

1) Love to paint

2) Love to spend time with me

3) Have nothing to do

4) Like to see me smile

5) Want to see our house look better

???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

If you answered yes to these 5 questions then by golly I have a job for you!!! Come on our to our house and paint! Yes...I said paint. Hey, I saw that...yeah, that...the way you crinkled up your nose and rolled your eyes. I know you are thinking "there's no stinkin' way I'm gonna come over and paint your house". Just imagine this for a moment.......

You arrive at my house and we chat and laugh for a moment. We get busy and start painting. In the middle of painting I accidently spill some paint on you. Ok ok...it wasn't an accident. I can't help myself. I meant to do it. I took my brush and ran it across your cheek. Now that sounds fun. You recipricate and slosh some paint on my shirt. This goes on and on until we're covered head to toe in paint. We're laughing and laughing.....oh what fun that sounds.

Alrighty, snap back into reality.

snap, snap

I know you're not going to come over and help and I know we're not gonna have a paint fight. But, it sure was fun to daydream for a minute.

Painting the outside of the house has been discussed for several years around here. Every fall and then again in the spring we've been saying how we need to paint the house. Well....it's fall (today's the first official day of fall) and we're actually going to follow through with what we say. We started yesterday. We got most of the front ready to be sprayed. Yeah, we're gonna go the quick and easier way by using a sprayer. We were able to work on it all afternoon. Thanks Grandma for keeping the kids!

I actually do enjoy painting so I'm not complaining. I enjoy working outside and this kind of work. So, for me it was a great afternoon. I think we'll just be working on it a little here and a little there until it's ready to spray. Then, it won't take a but a little while to spray it. We went with a little darker color than what is on there now. We'll change the color of the shutters and door too. I'm kickin' myself for not taking a before picture to compare the before/after shots. I was too into the work I wasn't thinking about it.

I'll keep you posted on the progress. Until then...dream on!

Soccer

Shelbie had a soccer game on Saturday. The weather was beautifully nice. This was nice since last week's game got cancelled after 10 minutes of play because of the weather.

Lil' donuts

Look at these. Shelbie made these way back in January. Don't they look like lil' donuts? They are actually cheerios decorated up to look that way. Powdered sugar, frosting, sprinkles...fun to make...cute to look at. They ate them too. I passed because I'd much rather have a Krispy Kreme to eat.

Trampoline with water

It's so fun to put the sprinkler under the trampoline and to jump!!! It's even more fun to strip down to your underwear to do so!!

All Smiles

Here is yet another picture of Landon during the football game against Hutchinson. This was a picture of him after he had a fumble recovery. You can see by the look on his face how pleased he was.

It was a neat game to watch because his good friend, Eli was on the Hutchinson team. Afterwards he came up to Landon at the concessions area and Landon said "I didn't know you were playing"! The whole game went by without him noticing. I guess in all that gear you can tell who is who.

Double Nickel

Check out these pics of our football player. He's "double nickel" number 55. Oh how I love to watch him play! I just pray he doesn't get hurt. Our team is lucky enough to have a photographer from the Newton Kansan taking photos since his son is on the team too. So, you can check the website http://thekansan.com/. Look under People, then looked under Spotted, then under We Spotted and there are pics. I'm not sure how many games he'll take pictures at but hopefully a lot!

Puppets

Puppets...I love them. The puppet sitting over your hand somehow takes on a personality and takes over you. Today the Kingdom Players (our church puppet group) had a practice time.

Lorraine is our fearless leader. She's in the picture smiling with her hand up. She is a good leader and is so super sweet. I wanna put her in my pocket.

I love being a part of this group. They are good friends. We have fun. We also whine and agonize over our hands aching after a long song. But, we all sympathize with each other at the same time. Sometimes after a practice you may get lucky and get a backrub. I guess Linda got lucky this time.

Saturday

Saturday was a busy day of games. First it was Shelbie's soccer game that only lasted 5 minutes then it was cancelled because of lightening. Then, it was off to Landon's football game. It had already begun but was in the middle of a delay because of the weather. We waited for a while then it was back on. It was so stinkin' cold and rainy too. They won!! Then it was off to watch Valleri play 2 volleyball games. It was nice to be in a warm gymnasium. And I have to say it was cool to watch her play. Emily played her volleyball games earlier so we weren't able to watch them. Bummer. She was still suited up in her uniform though so I had to get a picture.

To end the afternoon Tim and Mark had to do this "let's wrestle" thing. I think they like to act like they are in high school again and in wrestling. Good thing it only lasts a couple of minutes before anyone gets hurt. Or pokes an eye out or something like that.

Railers Game

We went to the Railers first home football game of the season. They won big time...59 to 12. They were playing Campus. They whooped butt I'd say. The kids had fun running around with their friends. I think Tim was the only one that actually watched the whole game.
Cathy and Julie sat with us. We had more fun people watching than watching football. This was a good, fun evening. Popcorn....football....friends...what more could you want?
Julie told me tonight that I'm cute. Ahh...isn't that a nice thing for a friend to say. I told her that she's cuter...she has those cute dimples and that dark tan and I have to mention those awesome brown eyes of hers. So, HA Julie..I told you you're cuter.

And you can't make me shut up!

Family Birthday Fun

Ok, so I've still been draggin...just not bounced back yet. I need lots of naps it seems like to get the energy I need each day. I am finally going to post the birthday pictures from Shelbie's family party. This first shot is a real cutie. Ok, so I lied...it's not exactly cute. When you can see up the nostrils it's not a pretty sight!!

Ok, this one is a little cuter. Grandma is looking adorably cute there in the middle of her two dorky sons. And when I say dorky I mean dorky in a love sort of way. Because you can see that they are perfectly grown adults that act adult like. Yeah, right...
All I asked for here was a nice normal picture of Uncle Kracker and Aunt Cheese (as the kids call them). But, NO!!! Uncle Kracker just has to continue to be odd. It's his nature.
So, Aunt Me (as the kids call her) and her son Bill... can you give me a normal shot? NO! Bill has to throw in some abnormal facial gestures too. What's up with this family?
Ahhh...that's better. Bill and Carla seem normal here.

They seem normal...but are they?

Now that looks like fun!

Take a look at this cutie patootie, Emily. She's lucky she's so dang cute. Because we all know who her father is!

What a perfect picture to end this crazy recap on. Here is the birthday girl again showing her cuteness off. She's so cute...I think I'm gonna put her in my pocket!

Happy 11th Birthday!

Our Shelbie turns 11 today!!!! It's her Golden Birthday...11 on the 11th. I have birthday party photos to add on here but have just been too busy to get them arranged the way I want them. So, for now take a look at this cutie getting birthday kisses from her parents.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOU LOU!

WE LOVE YOU SUPERLOTS!!!

Sick

I'm no fun tonight...no fun pictures to look at...no funny things to say. I'm sick. It started Saturday with a headache. Then Sunday I stayed in bed until 11:30 feeling like I had been hit by a truck. Today I woke up feeling pretty darn good though. I took the kids to school and then was planning on going for a long walk. After I got them off to school I realized I didn't have as much energy as I had hoped for. So, I lay down for a while. Then, throughout the day I would get up and do stuff then would have to lay down again because I felt like all my energy was zapped. I hope that tomorrow I wake up and have the energy back. I hope...I hope...I hope.

Karaoke Night

We had a fun night a while back with a bunch of friends singing karaoke and dancing. I, of course, am a lousy singer. You would know this already if you read my 100 things About Me blog. In case you didn't read my ramblings...I'm tellin' ya now, I am a lousy singer. So, with that said...just imagine me singing karaoke after a few beers. To say the least it was quite entertaining. Julie and I sang "Jessie's Girl" to Jessie. She was a good sport as she sat there listening to our screechy voices not even coming close to Rick Springfield's awesome song. Did I mention that "Jessie's Girl" is one of my favorite songs? Now ya know. Anyway, it was a fun night with fun friends. I hope to do it again soon. It's always fun to make a fool of yourself in public and to be cool with it.

My sister, Angie

* Tenderhearted

* Caring
* Concerned

* Loving
* Decorator

* A good mom and wife

* An awesome cook

* Creative

* A bargain finder

* Super sweet

* Giving

* A hard worker

The list could go on and on. These are a few things that describe my sister. I love you Angie!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TODAY!

Valleri

Our niece Valleri won a 10th place medal in Cross Country. I don't remember how many were in the race but I know it was a bunch. So...here's to you Valleri!!!! Way to go. We are super proud of you!!