Just what the doctor ordered

I headed out on Saturday to go see Kara at the scrapbook convention. That was exactly what I needed.... a chance to just hang out with a really good friend, laugh, talk, cry a little, catch up on each other, and then do what the two of us do really well.... head out into the world and find ourselves a goofy fun time. I helped her tear down their booth, and then we had dinner, and headed over to Target to get my Tar-jay fix. (I miss that store.... please Target, hear my pleas, and open a store near me.) The floppy black hats were calling our name, so we headed over to the sunglasses to find our diva shades... have you ever seen anything sexier than the two of us in this get-up? Nope... I didn't think so... lol

Mi amiga loca.... haha

After enriching Target's bank account a little bit, we headed over to the movie theater to see SuperBad, where we proceeded to laugh so hard we had sore cheek muscles when we left.
It's a good look for me, doncha think? I thought we looked a lot like those old-time cartoon bird bandits. Does anyone know what I am talking about? I will have to see if I can find a picture of them.
Thank so much, Kara.... it was so good to see you. I am counting down the days till Kansas City!

Mwwwwhhha!
Matt and the other high school athletes were all presented at the Meet the Tigers pep rally the other night. My pics of his football team all came out fuzzy, but here he is walking out on the floor with them.

And here he is with the soccer team. It is going to be another busy year of sports!

This turtle puzzle thing came in Beth's lunch the other day, and for the life of me I could not figure it out. Today Kyle found it and put it together for her. I thought that was sweet of him.

Tomorrow is Chet's appointment. He is feeling energetic again, and is looking much better, so I am hoping that if this heatwave is nearly over he will be back on track again with all his counts.

I wanted to show you some sunset shots I took tonight. I was driving down our road to get the house, and saw these sunbeams glowing across the sky... they were magnificent. Those clouds were a thunderstorm that was coming across the sky pretty fast, and the sunbeams were just lighting the bottom of them up.


This shot isn't as warm in color as the other one since I shot it a few minutes before the first one, but you can really see the beams better.

Going to the convention was great for inspiring me to actually want to scrapbook again. I am hoping to print a couple of pictures off this weekend, and make a real layout. I will let you know how it goes... :0) Chet has another movie night planned with his friend Kelsey this weekend as well... I am hoping to grab a picture of them this time, and you know I will have to share those with you... lol. I will be back soon. Take care, everyone!

Back to School

We all survived and thrived during the first week back to school. Monday was a dark and cloudy morning, so none of my pictures turned out very well. Here are a few, though.

Todd has had so much fun in Kindergarten. His only complaint so far is that they played "Simon Says" in music class instead of playing instruments. Kyle still likes to act grumpy about going to school. but he is also enjoying himself, and gets to have his same teacher again this year, which is a wonderful thing for him. Faith couldn't wait to reconnect with last year's friends, and true to form has already added several new ones to her ever-growing network. Chet was the most excited about heading back to school, and loves moving from class to class in middle school. Plus, he gets to see his friend Kelsey in between classes, which makes him very happy!

Matt started out not really wanting to go back, but he is enjoying himself at school now. This is going to be a really good year for him in athletics if he keeps working as hard as he has been. His coaches told us they want to put him on the starter teams for both offense and defense. Not too shabby for his freshman year! They had their first scrimmage game on Thursday, and both sides played defense so well that neither of them scored. Matt's first game of the season is next week, I think, and we're looking forward to that.

Beth also started in a pre-school two days a week while I go to my algebra class. She adores her teacher, and is having a good time, and then I take her to work with me the other three days which lets me spend some time with her.
I am testing out of the basic required computer class on Tuesday, but I love my other classes. I can't wait to start the writing in the English Comp class, and the algebra class is run on a computer system that lets us all work at our own pace. The real estate class seems to be the most challenging one this semester, but I am excited about getting my license at the end, and even looking forward to the challenge. I am tired after a week of kids, work, and school, but it is a good tired.

Chet has an appointment for Tuesday to see where his counts are now. He is looking even better now than the last time I posted, so we are hoping he will be back in his safe zone. I will let you know.

I am leaving in the morning to spend the day with Kara, and I can't wait. I have some pictures of Matt's pep rally from earlier tonight to get up when I get home, and I am sure I will have some fun ones of Kara and I. In the meantime, I am leaving you with this shot. As I was taking it I wanted to call out, "Wait!" They are all getting too big too fast.

New Wheels

We have lost our Expedition. Sadly, the engine blew out in it, and after hearing the astronomical price the mechanics wanted to replace it, we decided to get a new family vehicle. We went with a Dodge Durango, which is a smaller SUV than I am used to, but at least it isn't a mini-van!! I was a little worried about not having a car big enough for all of because school starts Monday, but we are moving and grooving now! The Mom-Express is ready to roll.

In preparation for his first day of Kindergarten, we took Todd (and Kyle) in to get haircuts today. Neither of them really wanted to get their curls cut off, but I didn't want them to start the year out as mopheads. I laughed as I took this one because I was really enjoying the expression on Todd's face.
I am starting school on Monday as well... Algebra. I went in to enroll the other day, and I had to take a placement test. I knew I didn't need to worry about the reading and writing part, but I thought for sure I was flunking the math when I saw it was all algebra questions. I haven't had to really work out an algebraic equation in 20 years, so I went with the real scientific method of guessing. I worked some of the problems out backwards by plugging the multi-choice answers into the equation to see if they seemed to work, and if they seemed plausible I marked them as correct. Then there were times where a strange symbol would suddenly show up in the answer choices, so I would pick it assuming we had moved to a new level and the new symbol meant something. Apparently, I am a very good guesser, because although I figured I had failed it, it turns out I did really well on that part. In fact, I was bumped right up from pre-algebra and algebra, and put into the intermediate algebra class. Eeeeeeekkkkkkkk..... wish me luck! Somehow, I don't think my scientific method is going to earn me the same grades in the class as it did on the multi-choice test... lol.

Things have been stressful in a lot of ways this month, and I haven't posted a lot about it. But Chet is really, really low on his counts again, and I am very worried about him. We should hear next week about which specialist he can see, and we have been working overtime to take the steps that we have found to work when he is this low. If you would, please just say a little prayer for him that his counts go back up. We have been taking all the extra steps we know of to help boost his counts, and they seem to be working because he isn't as pale or as bruised as he was a few days ago, but I am awfully nervous about him starting school on Monday.

I just wanted to share this picture with you before I go. Yes, it is a hayfield, which is really common around here, but it cracks me up to see this one because it is the field that our little post office is built on. I am fairly certain there is a property line somewhere dividing the actual hayfield and the PO grounds, but who else parks in front of a hayfield to pick up mail? There are still so many things I find around here that I love.

Anyway... I am off to get some sleep, and get ready to face a new week with lots of new beginnings. I will post back here in a few days to show you first day of school shots and let you know how it all goes! Take care!

I'm baaaaa-acckkkk

Today my new Adobe software came... the whole CS3 Master Collection.... whooooooo... :0) I spent the afternoon getting it installed, and I can finally share some of the pictures from the last month. I just did a quick edit on these, but they aren't in any kind of order.

This first one shows Beth and the girls of our good friends Josh and Mystery. On Friday afternoon, Mystery and her kids were in a really bad car accident, and Jasmine, the little cutie on the right, was really hurt and is still in ICU. It looks like she is going to be fine, but it will be a long recovery process for her, so if you would keep her in your prayers it would really be appreciated.

Here is a shot of Todd and a couple of the other boys in my Vacation Bible School class. Just take a good look at their faces, and it kind of sums up why I came home so tired each night... lol

Kyle has always loved climbing trees, but our big tall orchard trees provide a whole new thrill of discovery for him. He and Todd are scaling the apple tree in this one. I was planning on making apple pie filling, apple butter, and applesauce from the fruit on that tree this year, but those stinkers (and Matt.... he isn't blameless either) have eaten every single apple on the tree as soon as they are big enough to eat. Ah well, at least they are healthful snacks.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released, and Chet and I were there at midnight to get our copy. Tony was also there, and it cracked me up how the two of them were walking through the store and reading on their way to pay for the books. I had it read by Sunday afternoon, and Chet was done a couple of days later. I am sad that there aren't anymore HP books coming out, because being there for the release parties was something fun Chet and I have really enjoyed over the years. We need to find a new series to carry on the tradition with!

Josh and Mystery have eight kids, so not only do we all get along really well, but the kids all do too, so our families end up spending a lot of time together. A few weekends ago we were over there and did some skeet shooting. I actually managed to hit one of my clay pigeons, but I think it was an accident because I certainly didn't have any aim going on... lol

Just a shot I caught of Faith outside one day.

Jessica and Beth at the Mystic Caverns. The grounds there are beautiful for pictures.

When Jesse and Sam were here, the four of us went out to dinner. Here we are on our way out to go to Branson.
A few weeks ago Kyle built Beth and outdoor "bathtub" and filled it with water. She wallered in the mudbath for quite a while, and didn't even mind the earthworms that came and joined her. I don't think I will ever be that country... lol

Here I am again on our way out to dinner.
And I love this one of Sam and Jesse... lol... even with Jesse blowing smoke out the side of his mouth.
Jessica took this one of Jack and I in the mystic caverns.
There is still a lot going on here. School is getting ready to start, and on Friday I will be going down to start fulfilling one of my own dreams... I am enrolling back into college and will be working on a graphic arts / photography degree. There is a lot going on in our lives that I will talk about more in the near future, but good things are happening despite the stressful times. I am looking forward to updating my blog again regularly!