Saturday, May 29, 2010

Where Do I Start?

I guess I’ve been cheating a bit by posting videos of my adorable dogs instead of posting real blogs….sorry…please forgive me.  I’ve been a little on the busy side this week, not to mention when it comes to my personal life, that’s been a little disgusting lately and I haven’t wanted to bore (or gross out anyone) so I’ve tried to stay away. 

But unfortunately, one can only do that so long before one runs out of cute videos and it turns into a bad (or sad) case of blog neglect.  And since I hate it when other people commit that crime, I’m here to keep from being the pot.  You know…the one that called the kettle black? 

Speaking of committing crimes…I went yard saling this morning, and although I consider it a crime for people to throw trash in their yard, put a price on it, and call it a yard sale, that was the only crime committed this morning.  I went yard saling LAST Saturday morning as well, only it didn’t go quite as well for me.  Not quite as well, as in, $255 out of my pocket and not a single piece of yard sale treasure to show for it.  I didn’t even GET to a yard sale…I drove all the way across town and right before I got to this gigantic yard sale I was headed to, I got a blue light and a nice WHITE slip of paper.  No pink warning for me.  So I turned around and just drove back home without even getting in one single yard sale.  Man, I consider every single one of those things I just mentioned to be a CRIME…seriously.  Everything except the part where I had just turned onto a different road, hadn’t noticed a speed limit sign yet, and was very clearly out in the country and it *SHOULD* have been 55, in which case 60 wasn’t a big deal, not to mention the fact that I was from out of town and not familiar with the area….that’s a mistake and deserves a warning, right?  Hello?  And I was even really nice and polite to Mr. State Trooper.  BUT ANYWAY!  This week I followed all the highway rules and regulations.  I even went 10 miles BELOW the speed limit just for safety’s sake.  Not to mention I had cops behind me like three separate times and I’m now 1000% paranoid.  Not even rolling stops today!  I was NOT going to ruin my yard sale time like it was ruined last Saturday.  But then every single yard sale I stopped at was nothing but junk and I didn’t buy a single thing.  Phoooo---eey.

And we won’t even DISCUSS how much of a crime it is that every mistake I make gets me pulled over and KC can pass in a no passing zone, be going at least 15 over the speed limit, and not have his seatbelt on and the cop will wave and drive on by.  And I suppose I’ll have to admit, it was probably a crime for me to drive home that Saturday praying fervently that KC would get a ticket on his way home that very day so that I could get a little empathy.  LOL! 

Moving on.  That gory-ness I mentioned earlier?  Well, I’ll just try to gloss over it, but I’m a total klutz (which anyone who knows me already knows) and totally ripped the top of my toe off almost up to my toenail on a sharp corner of the metal sawhorses in the garage.  Wearing flipflops and my toe slid underneath and I didn’t realize it and when I backed up, I tried to leave the top half of my toe under there.  I don’t even know how bad it was except that there really isn’t that much skin on the top of your toe anyway, so I’m guessing it was pretty close to the bone, I just closed my eyes and flipped the flap of skin back over the wound…and I’m not doing a very good job of glossing over this, am I?  Okay, well, skipping over the rest of that, I spent 3 days limping and bleeding through dozens of bandaids and was thisclose to going to the urgent care to get stitches, but it did finally stop bleeding every time I moved, and now it’s just blue and very sore.  Actually, my entire toe is blue and yellow, and looks kinda gross.  I’m sorry…I said I would gloss. 

I’m just making up for a week of not talking.  ;-) ;-) 

Speaking of not talking, I posted a full update on our kids situations on the private blog tonight.  If you don’t have access, feel free to shoot me an email. 

Also on the topic of not talking, I’m kinda proud of myself, because I was reading something the other day that was completely inaccurate and I wrote out this long comment disputing it with facts and maybe a little sarcasm and then decided that I should just hold my tongue for peace’s sake.  You know, Peace….that’s Pete’s sister.  ;-)  So I just closed out the screen, took a deep breath, and said, they’re entitled to their opinion, just like I’m entitled to mine.  Thank the Lord for that gentle nudge that said, “You really don’t need to say that, just leave it alone.”  Of course, I can’t say that I’m proud of the fact that I tried to rephrase my disagreement in all kinds of different ways and without the sarcasm to try to find some way to be able to disagree without disobeying that nudge, but when I couldn’t, at least I listened.  LOL.  And that’s the beauty of the internet…if I’d been in person, I’d just have blared out my opinion and had to retract it; on the internet, I can blare out my opinion, think twice about it and delete it without saying it.  *GRIN* 

What else from this week?  Oh yeah, Little Mama and Little Bit will be here til August.  She and I went out yesterday and thrifted up a brand new dresser for 15 buckaroos.  LOL…it was that cheap because the top was damaged, but we’re gonna use wood filler and then paint the entire booger black.  And since we are painting it anyway, I also picked up one of those bookshelf mirrors that was missing the dresser to go with it for 5 buckaroos….and we’ll just paint it to match the dresser.  It will work and that way she will have something to put her stuff in and a mirror to get ready in her own personal space.  So I was pretty psyched that we found a dresser and mirror for 20 bucks.  I’ll post before and after pics when I get it finished. 

Court was interesting…I had K-man and I wanted to be in the courtroom this time since I was pretty sure she was going to decide to stay with us and I wanted to hear for myself what was going on.  And I don’t know who all has been to court lately, but around here, they don’t let you take in cell phones or purses or bookbags of any kind anymore.  Not even diaper bags…which is kinda stinky (LITERALLY) when you’re taking a baby in somewhere for more than a couple of hours!  Well, I needed something to occupy K-man (and also to keep him from hearing/seeing some of the stuff that goes on in court…this particular day, there were a bunch of juvie cases and a parade of little boys in chains came through the court during various cases…CRAZY!)  Anyway, I snuck in his Leapster case with fresh batteries and headphones and sat him in the floor under my feet where he played happily (mostly) and quietly (mostly) for 2+ hours and thank God, nobody noticed or heard anything.  LOL! 

Gone swimming several days this week…weather has been awesome (minus the super thunderstorms, which we enjoyed from inside the house…lol). 

And um…let’s see…tomorrow is my little brother’s birthday.  He doesn’t read my blog, but Happy Birthday anyway, Nate!  We are driving down to the town where he lives and going to church and lunch with him tomorrow.  My parents are going, too…that will be cool.  =)  Speaking of tomorrow, it’s almost here and I need to get some sleep….

NIGHT ya’ll!  Sorry for the boring and grody post. 

Friday, May 28, 2010

More Pool Fun

Pups are going nuts with the water hose...Ahsoka figured out how to turn it on and then they tried to catch it. lol

And ugh.  Please ignore my voice. 

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Religious Dogs

Just for the record, I would like to note that upon discovery of my phone's video capabilities, I have also discovered that I have a really annoying voice. How come nobody told me?

Monday, May 24, 2010

Wanna Go Swimming?

The last frog died in the filter and i thought id save us the stench and the frog from the horrific death...except he is a bugger to catch!!

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Friday, May 21, 2010

Need To Find Some Happy

For some reason a lot of the stuff that’s crossed my mind lately has been a little sad or emotional…today I was watching bits and pieces of Antwone Fisher (great story on foster care issues) and this poem kinda hit me in the gut and made my eyes water just a bit. 

Who will cry for the little boy?
By Antwone Fisher

Who will cry for the little boy? Lost and all alone.
Who will cry for the little boy? Abandoned without his own?

Who will cry for the little boy? He cried himself to sleep.
Who will cry for the little boy? He never had for keeps.

Who will cry for the little boy? He walked the burning sand.
Who will cry for the little boy? The boy inside the man.

Who will cry for the little boy? Who knows well hurt and pain.
Who will cry for the little boy? He died again and again.

Who will cry for the little boy? A good boy he tried to be.
Who will cry for the little boy? Who cries inside of me.

So somebody, SOME body, please tell me something happy!?  Between those songs and pages I made for my grandparents and stuff like the poem above…well…I’m about tired of my eyes watering like this. 

The foster care thing is going okay…Little Momma is still taking really good care of Little Bit and has opened up to me slightly.  She is only a couple of months away from aging out of foster care and I’m not sure what the court is going to decide about her and Little Bit, but I hope, for her sake, that it works out for her.  Still don’t know what will happen after Monday, but we’ll see. 

Munchkin only has a couple weeks left of school before graduating Kindergarten…yikes…can’t believe she’s gonna be a first grader in a few months.  Oh no…here I go again…I need another Dr. Pepper.  And a tissue. 

Somebody?  Happy?  Hello?  Any happy out there? 

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

A Question of Sanity

I wonder sometimes…I wonder where mine went?  And when it went?  Maybe I never had any…I mean, looking back at my childhood, I do wonder…lol. 

Whatever the case, at this particular moment, I possess absolutely zero. 

I proved that last night when we took an emergency placement of a teen and her newborn for a one night placement because it was after hours and DSS wasn’t open.  And again today when the placement they will be putting her in isn’t available until Monday and I agreed to keep her till then.  Actually, she’s not really any trouble and is doing really good with her baby, so it’s not like it’s a really big deal or anything but still…lol.  It does reinforce my thoughts of not wanting to take babies…lol…I’m so done with diapers and waking up every 4 hours…lol. 

So I guess I shouldn’t have said last week that we never get called anymore.  LOL. 

And by the way, if you happen to see my sanity floating around out there somewhere, will you grab it and hold on to it until I can pick it up?  *grin* 

PS…on a totally random note, this dog laying across my lap just tooted and it REALLY stinks.  Figured you might wanna know that…or not…lol. 

Monday, May 17, 2010

Pappaw

Well, since I’ve done two layouts on Mammaw now, I figured I should do a page on Pappaw, too.  Especially after I found a picture of him when I was looking for one to use of Mammaw.  He died when I was 10 so I don’t have as vivid memories of him as I have of Mammaw, but I do remember him sitting in his wooden rocking chair just rocking back and forth and listening to me jabber on.  http://www.polkadotplum.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=10024&nocache=1They lived across the yard from our house, so it wasn’t anything unusual for me to run across the yard and make myself at home on their couch and listen to Pappaw and Mammaw sittin next to the old stove and talking to each other.  I remember as a kid, not being able to understand all of his words when he was telling stories or talking to me, and I think his hearing wasn’t so good, so I would always just nod and act like I understood perfectly because I didn’t want him to feel bad that I didn’t understand him.  I’m not sure what all I agreed to, I just know that as a kid, I always agreed with him, whether I understood exactly what he was saying or not. 

This song was sang at his funeral I think, and though I don’t remember much of the funeral, this song is the one I think of when I remember Pappaw. 

Click on the image to go to a gallery with credits and links…I used like 6 different kits and linking all those was a little difficult so I’m gonna be lazy about linking them here.  LOL.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Warmness...yay!

Man the pool is awesome!! its gonna be a killer summer....woohoo

Friday, May 14, 2010

*Sigh*

This song makes me cry every time I hear it. 

bsd_template COMESPRINGWEBLGI know I’ve already done a page on my Mammaw, but this song always makes me think of her and there was a lyrics challenge over at PolkaDotPlum and this was the first one that came to mind. 

It's by Dottie Rambo and I first heard it the week after my grandma died several years ago.

Template from BSD for challenge week
Kit: Springtime Zen by Sweet Tomato Designs
Clocks: Today kit by Sweet Tomato Designs
Fonts: Pea Sadie, Times & Times Again

Anyway, I’m in a little better mood today…well, at least I’m not hissing.  LOL. =)  Need to get off the computer and get some stuff done…ended up with a sorta free weekend since we had to call the camping trip off because it’s supposed to be raining Saturday and we’ve already done camp tsunami once in our lifetime and don’t care to repeat the experience.  LOL.  I’m thinking about going yardsaling in the morning…the listing of good ol’ craig had some postings of some big community yard sales not to far away and I google mapped them and went to street view and it’s some honkin daddy lake neighborhoods so I’m crossing my fingers that maybe I’ll find some good stuff.  LOL! 

Okay, well, gotta get moving.  =)  Later!

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Today I Feel…

IMG_6639EWEB

Well, a picture is worth a thousand words.  In this case, maybe two thousand.  I just LOVE PMS!!  I am so grouchy!!! 

This picture is what happens every time the cat and the dogs get within 3 feet of each other.  It’s also a pretty fair assessment of my mood today.  And on that note, I’m outta here!  *grin* 

Monday, May 10, 2010

Dum da da DUMMMMMM…

Sheesh I have been a busy little bee.  All kinds of stuff going on.  Did ya notice the blog got a change of outfits?  I changed the tagline, too…lol. 

I really don’t even have time to be here now…the hubby will be home any minute and I’m sitting here vegging on the couch with the pups.  I need to get up and look busy so he won’t think this is what I do all day (even if it is…lololol).  ANYWHO, in my defense, I’m a little whooped.  I spent all morning volunteering at Munchkin’s school for Field Day and when I left the house this morning I had a splitting headache and spending all day outside in the pollen didn’t help matters any.  Not to mention being around 500 screaming kindergarteners and their loudly cheering parents left me feeling slightly neurotic and craving chocolate of some kind.  Okay, the chocolate craving comes from something else, but all that together just didn’t make for a swell day.  I should really just go away now, quit whining, and take the midol already, but what can I say…I really need to post something so ya’ll don’t think I died. 

Now that ya’ll know I’m alive, I’m just gonna go take that midol now.  Oh and just so no one worries, the puppies are still alive, and so are the kids and hubby…I haven’t knocked anyone out yet.  LOL!!  ;-) 

Okay, I’m back now.  Everyone has eaten (God bless that amazing hubby and bless $6.00 Papa John’s pizza night), the kids have been bathed, the tent has been assembled in the backyard and sprayed heavily with silicone rain guard in preparation for this weekend’s potential camping trip, the cars have been washed, and now the kids are in bed and I have broken out the chocolate.  This is TRULY my favorite time of day.  LOL! 

APennington_TemplateWeek2-Easterweblg2 I’m a little perturbed that a couple of my websites are down for the digital stuff I need to post.  I did this page today…it was very quick and surprisingly enough, turned out pretty good in my opinion for something that I just literally threw together.  LOL.  

This is with the Perspective Collab by the Polka Dot Plum Designers but PDP is down right now so I can’t link.  *ugh*

Anyway. 

I don’t remember if I mentioned that we did family pics about a month ago or not, but my friend, Jules, and I traded services and she posted some of the shots she took of us on her photography site.  Well, I posted some of my edits of her shots on my photography site today (and I also updated the look of the photography blog as well, since I just noticed today that it still said 2007 on it…YIKES)…anyways, you should go check it out.  (Jules, I know you do great editing yourself, but if you want my edited versions of your shots, just let me know and I can email them to you. ;-)

And speaking of editing, (*insert evil chuckle*) have I ever mentioned I love Photoshop? 

It’s a brilliant program in which one can take photos like the following…
10 179before10 180before
Photos which are lovely, but contain kids and puppies who can’t resist making faces or just can’t look at the camera at the same time, and who make mom make really frustrated faces….

And turn them into a photo that looks like THIS: 10 179edit3web

Yippee!  Photoshop rocks!  LOL!  And oh my goodness the puppies have grown WAY too much in the month since this picture was taken!  YOW! 

Moving on, Jules got some cool shots of me and the amazing hubby, too.  Haven’t had photos of just us taken in awhile.  ;-)  Davis & Gilbert 10 144edit1webDavis & Gilbert 10 227web Davis & Gilbert 10 232editwebDavis & Gilbert 10 209edit2web

Davis & Gilbert 10 151edit1webI love a bunch of the shots, but I think this next one is one of my favorite family ones…some of ya’ll might get a copy if I ever get my act together and get some printed.  *grin*

We were trying to do a “everybody leaning outward” shot, but apparently Munchkin and I were the only ones who got that.  LOL.  Although K-man’s stripes are sorta leaning the right direction….lolol!  Oh well, I still like it. 

And on other topics, I have a bunch of photos in my camera from today’s field day and a couple of great shots of a hissing Snowball, but I think those will have to wait for another day because I’ve been working on this post for like hours and hours now.  LOL. 

Goodnight…thanks for reading. =) 
Love ya’ll!  

Friday, May 07, 2010

Is it time yet mom? come on its hot!!!

Me and the dogs are waitin on munchkin so we can go to the doggy shot place and get another round of vacs. Joy.

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Wednesday, May 05, 2010

New Kits and a Freebie!

Been busy the last couple of days working on some graphics for VBS along with some new pages and stuff for a couple new kits which are coming out today at Polka Dot Plum.  Check out all these goodies and stick around to the end of the post for a freebie from me!  =) =) 

BirthdayNo6websm

SweetTomato_Zen_Preview

 

 

 

 

 


The latest release from Sweet Tomato Designs, this one was great to play with.  Click on the kit preview for more details. 

Official credits:
Template: April Humpty Dumpty by Sweet Tomato Designs
Kit: Springtime Zen by Sweet Tomato Designs
Font: Mailart Rubberstamp

STD_OctopusGarden_Preview

SweetTomato_HumptyApril BACK TOGETHERwebThis one’s not a new release, but it’s one I really liked the colors of, so I grabbed it to play with as well.  It’s Octopus Garden by Sweet Tomato Designs.  (Click on the kit preview for more details)

Official Credits:
Template: Another version of April Humpty Dumpty by Sweet Tomato Designs
Kit: Octopus Garden by Sweet Tomato Designs
Font: BulkyRefuse Type

Now this next one?  For some reason, it reminds me of a cd cover and not a scrapbook page, but whatev.  lol.   
ThreeAmigos weblgfolder
This one is from a collaboration kit called Perspective, created by several designers at PolkaDotPlum as a benefit fundraiser for the National Cervical Cancer Coalition.

Again, you can click on the kit preview to get more info. 

Official Credits:
Kit: Perspective by PolkaDotPlum Designers
Fonts: Centaur, Mesquite Std

 

And now, the freebie!  It’s a desktop for May and June (because I’m lazy like that and only get around to changing it every couple months…lol!).  Click on the image to download, then unzip, open the png and drop your photo between the layers, flatten and save, and then set as desktop photo and you’re good to go!  =)  Enjoy!mayjunepreview 
SweetTomato_Zen_PreviewThis desktop was made with Springtime Zen Kit by Sweet Tomato Designs, and also the dates are from Merkeley

logo vs1-alternate colors flat

And then, in case you’re just dying of curiousity, here’s the graphic that I’m working on for VBS this summer.  Now I just gotta go get it plugged into a sign for advertising somehow…lol. 

Lots to do…sorry for my absence again…maybe I’ll do better later!  ;-)

Monday, May 03, 2010

Weekend To Remember

But I think I’d rather forget! 

Shooo.  So I posted the photo scavenger hunt pictures on Friday night and then promptly went to bed feeling a little queasy.  KC had already gone to bed and when I got in there, I discovered that he was already sick.  Well, like clockwork, the exact same symptoms with the exact same timing, we both concluded that something we ate for supper two hours or so before, had given us food poisoning. 

The floor in front of our toilet never got cold that night, and the floor in front of the next nearest toilet was also warmed occasionally.  Before the end of the night, KC found me sleeping half in and half out of the half bath in the hall when he was on his way to the kitchen to get a sip of water when his symptoms finally started easing off about 4 o’clock. 

Thank God, my parents had spent the night and were there the next morning to take care of the kids and help us finish getting ready for the Munchkin’s birthday party that we’d scheduled for that afternoon.  And thank God, also, that “Marge In Charge” (fondly known as my mother in law) came early with all the party food and finished the decorations and party prep.  And my buds from church who helped me finish setting up the games for the kids and then ran the games and took pics for me while I moaned and groaned and avoided the smells of food from the sidelines.  Oh, it was miserable.  Poor KC and poor me.  We were both better on Saturday morning, except for the aching and soreness that comes from being violently sick every 15-20 minutes for 9 solid hours, and by Sunday morning, we woke up feeling completely normal again.  Thank God for that, too! 

Needless to say, Munchkin’s sixth birthday will not be one I’ll forget anytime soon.  And I don’t care to have spicy ranch again anytime soon either.  LOL. 

Sooo…that’s why I haven’t blogged in days, in case you missed me.  And here’s a pic from the cowgirl’s party….

ThreeAmigos websm

This is part of a page I created today for one of my creative teams, but the kit isn’t out yet, so I can’t post it till it comes out.  I’ll come back on Wednesday and remove the crop so you can see the whole page.  LOL. 

I’ll post credits then, too. 

In the meantime, I’ve gotta run…laundry folding awaits me.  JOY.  NOT.