Tuesday, August 31, 2010

August – The Pictures

Oh sheesh…I have a splitting headache….trying to get this posted tonight is killing me!!  I’m thisclose to giving up and just going to bed.  *moan*  Not to complain or anything.  I will come back later and link up with the photo hunt.  For now, I’m just happy that I’m this close to finishing. 

*edited to add: Here’s the link up to the photo hunt.  Click here to see all the entries (and go to the main site HERE throughout the next month to vote for your favorites).  =) 

  1. A flag that represents you (your town, state, country, team, etc.)
    faith - flag 
    Oh say, can you see?

  2. Something comfortable 
    faith - comfortable
    Yep…he stole the float…I had to take a picture before I kicked him off. 

  3. Something in season
    faith - in season
    Watermelons…and watermelon eating contests

  4. Feet
    faith - feet 
    Little D’s feet…

  5. Repetition
    faith - repetition
    Lined up for the egg toss at the church picnic….

  6. Culture or ethnicity 
    faith - culture  
    Church picnic culture…seriously…it’s in a class of it’s own…

  7. Contrast
    faith - contrast 
    Just black and white around here…

  8. An indulgence
    faith - indulgence
    peanut butter fudge!  I resisted though…

  9. A macro or closeup
    faith - macro
    *shudder*  This writing spider was hanging out just outside the basement…do you know how close I got to get this picture?  *shudder*

  10. Something masculine
    faith - masculine
    Masculine mischief…you can’t tell me they don’t look like they’re up to no good!

  11. Something feminine
    faith - feminine
    Little miss thing and her dainty little bun.

  12. Light
    faith - light
    The sun…brightest light around…not sure why everything looks dark around it…lol

  13. Eco-friendly
    faith - eco friendly 
    Not my favorite but couldn’t come up with a better option…it’s our recycle bin.

  14. Business
    faith - business
    Hey, what are you talking about?  Napping IS serious business!!

  15. An arrow
    faith - arrow 
    “Go left.” 
    Left?” 
    “Right.” 
    Right?” 
    “No, LEFT!” 
    “But you said right!” 
    “I meant right as in CORRECT, not right as in RIGHT!!” 
    (sorry…I dropped off into Adventures in Odyssey there for a second…that was Eugene and Connie talking…it’s one of those things when you listen to something over and over as a kid…random quotes just pop into your head at random times)

  16. Something wet
    faith - wet
    Well, since I’m in this picture, it’s pretty obvious I didn’t actually snap it myself but I showed my friend how to use my camera and take the shot…
    And that’s a water balloon shower over dear KC there…*grin*  He’s threatened retribution for that one…lol!

  17. Something dry
    faith - dry
    Uh…my basil plant needs to be watered…I think it qualifies for dry… ;-)

  18. Butterflies*
    faith - butterfly 4faith - butterflyfaith butterfly 2faith - butterfly 3 
    Can’t decide which one to use…I think the biggest one is my favorite though. 


  19. Heart-Shaped Clouds* 
    faith - heart cloud 
    You might have to look closely, but there is ONE in there that looks like a heart. 

  20. Strength 
    faith - strength 
    Yep, they’re strong…tug of war is a hoot…

 

This was kinda tough and my head is still about to kill me so I’m going to bed now. 

Thanks for dropping by…

Sunday, August 29, 2010

*tap tap tap* Is This Thing On?

So oops.  I’m not doing so great at the old updating these days. 

I haven’t really been much in the mood for writing, not to mention the lack of time…and it’s like the days just blend into each other, so it feels like I just blogged, not that it’s already been a week.  Sheesh. 

I think I might be in the mood for a bullet update…

  • Lil Mama is moved up to #3 on the apartment waiting list.  I’m not sure if she will move up any farther by the next court date since it’s only 2 weeks away, but at this rate, its looking kinda possible…we just gotta get everything else in order before then…
  • I didn’t send K-man to school.  On the day before school started, KC said just don’t even bother with it because he didn’t feel good about it either, so K-man is staying home another year.  So much for me being alone during the day.  LOL.  And except for the first day, K-man breezed right through the preschool review and knew all of it (just like I thought) and I’m going to go ahead and order Kindergarten curriculum and try to find a local homeschool group to get involved with…we’ll see what happens. 
  • The church picnic was on Saturday…it was pretty fun…until I got roped into the cupcake eating contest.  LOL.  I’m not sure which part I regretted more, the embarrassing myself in front of everybody part or eating four cupcakes in less than a minute and winning the red ribbon…lol.  That was one of my more insane moments…I have lots.  Although, when I agreed to play along, I didn’t know that as soon as I was cramming my mouth, everybody and their brother would come over to watch.  With their cameras.  Oh well…guess that’s my payback for all the times I have taken pics of people stuffing THEIR faces…lol. 
  • Here’s my monsters…they HUGE!  I think they grew about six inches since the last time I posted. 
    IMG_7909e2web
  • Munchkin is loving school.  She’s riding the bus both ways this year.  She’s loving that, too.  But I’m not sure if she’s loving it quite as much as me…especially now that I’m not taking K-man, cuz now I can leave him in bed in the morning while me and the monster dogs walk Munchkin down the street to the bus stop.  And then all of us walk down to meet her in the afternoon.  So it’s nice exercise plus no waiting in line at the school, big PLUS! 
  • I’m tired and I told KC I’d go to bed by 10:30…that’s 3 minutes away, which is just enough time to hit post….so….

GOODNIGHT!

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Is There Such A Thing

As too much update?  Well, you might just want to click on to the next blog on your list if you think there IS such a thing…because IF there is such a thing, I think this post will easily qualify!  LOL. 

Another busy week has flown by.  I don’t know where the time goes…seriously.  School starts on Wednesday…I can’t believe summer is already over.  I haven’t been so hot on posting this month, but I have been taking pictures.  LoTS of them, actually… Of course, we won’t mention that the month is almost over and I still have FOURTEEN more to get out of the twenty on the photo hunt list…lol.  Obviously I need to work a little harder on thatIMG_7797e8x10brightweb

BUT…I had my first random stranger pick up one of my cards and call for a session.  It was this week, went like a charm, and the photo cd has been delivered, I’ve been paid, and the client was (or at least seemed) very satisfied.  The best part was that I took 6 pics.  And had 3 keepers…I was psyched!  That’s my best ever!  Thank the Lord…I was a little nervous because you never know what you’ll get when you work with animals.  Upon request, I’m not posting the session photos, but that over there is a clipped out portion of the animal.  =) 

Had court this week, weren’t able to get everything done, but Lil Mama’s lawyer wasn’t at court so they didn’t even do anything at all…  The judge was like, “Ms ____, do you understand that your lawyer is not here, and we will hear this case again on ____.  Is that satisfactory?”  And Lil Mama was like, “Yes, sir.”  So there we are…another month to get all her affairs in order so she can move out on her own.  We did find a few crumbles in these brick walls we keep running into though…on Thursday, we took some paperwork by the apartment she applied at, so that her application would be complete and she wouldn’t lose her place in line and they told us that she is somewhere around #8 on the list now instead of #11, AND she was approved for the low income rent assistance so she should be in GREAT shape for housing and not too much longer to wait.  She is getting nervous now about being on her own…all the responsibilities of adulthood are hitting her and she’s starting to feel it.  I’d be nervous, too, but I have faith that she can do it! 

K-man’s preschool open house was Thursday evening…we were very underwhelmed.  The facility looked awesome.  The directors and staff were NOT so awesome.  Actually, very unfriendly, to be more accurate.  The teacher for his room was so-so…not AS unfriendly as the rest but not great either.  And although all the kids were four, K-man was the biggest kid there, already knows all the stuff they are going to be working on for the majority of the year, and one kid still had a paci…not a good sign.  On top of the preschool being like 25 minutes from my house (ONE WAY)…it’s just not sitting well with me.  I told KC I’d give it two weeks…if I still don’t feel good about it, I’m totally pulling him and doing Kindergarten at home with him.   

In other news, I lost my calendar when we went to Ohio last month and I have been quite lost without it…especially given our hectic schedule…but I went and bought another one the other day and my brain feels SO much calmer.  LOL.  This one is a little bigger than my pocket one that I lost, so I’m writing all kinds of lists down in it….it’s lovely.  My anal self is LOVING it.  =) 

We’ve got church tonight, revelation revival is all this week.  We missed most of it because of all the stuff already scheduled.  I had to take Lil Mama to her mom’s house one night to pick up her stuff.  Long story there, but it was quite the trip.  Mawmaw had my kids, and I was so happy about that.  It was drama.  But Lil Mama got her bed and a basket of her bedding that she needed for when she gets her apartment.  We will have to go back though, because her mom was not exactly thinking straight, so we didn’t get to get all of Lil Mama’s stuff.  Bummer. 

We got up early this morning…(well, early for ME…lol…).  KC said I couldn’t get up at 5:30 to go running and I said I could, so I was going to but he said this was his only morning to sleep in so we went at 6:40.  (Tomorrow is supposed to be 5:30…lol).  Anyway, it was the best run ever!  We took the dogs before the kids woke up, and just ran around the neighborhood…and there was a yardsale a street over.  Spent $77 and had to run back home and get the truck to pick up our stuff.  LOL.  Totally made my morning.  HAH.  Got a whole bunch of bedding for the guest bedroom upstairs, some cool chairs for the basement (they look way better than folding chairs, lol….we would have gotten them for Lil Mama’s apartment but they are not at all her style…although two of them don’t match, so I might could recover those in a cool fabric and make them more “young adult” friendly…maybe), some craft stuff, a few house things for Lil’ Mama, and a free X-box.  LOL.  The free Xbox was because we were chatting with them while we were browsing and I mentioned that we were foster parents and they were like, OH!  You get this X-box then…for FREE, because my husband said he didn’t want to sell it, he would rather donate it to a foster family and here you are!  We were like, um, well, okay…how do you turn down free?  LOL.  Anyway, it was a great morning…and we met more of our neighbors.  LOL. 

IMG_7865ewebWell, this is turning into a LOOOONG post, so I should start wrapping up I guess.  Here are two pics of the kids thisIMG_7866eweb afternoon…I gave them both haircuts after we got out of the pool this morning.  They turned out pretty good I think.  I gave Munchkin bangs again…I got them a little thicker than I thought they were going to be, but they still look pretty good.  She’s cute with them.  K-man is just wild.  Totally un-haircut-related, but he is hysterical when it comes to name-calling.  He uses the most random things to call names…instead of saying mean stuff like birdbrain or stupid (which I’m not complaining about that at ALL) he says (in the same tone as you would use when calling people those mean names) things like: Remote Control!  Banana Computer!  Monkey!  Volcano!  LOL…only our kids. 

And then here’s a couple pics that I have taken that I probably won’t use for the photo hunt so I figured I’d post them.  The praying mantis we found this morning when we were outside and the other one is a dam that we pass on the road to church.  I took that while driving…(although you didn’t hear me say that…lol).  It turned out pretty good though….haha.

IMG_7851ewebIMG_7849eweb 

And okay…I’m going away now.  This concludes my making up for a week and a half of no news.  LOL. 

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

My Monsters

Our back door six months ago….             Our back door last week….

IMG_6404web IMG_7718eweb

Only about 60 pounds difference…PER DOG!  DEAR. ME.

Between dog food and chewies, all I can hope is that their adorable puppiness that I used for advertising my services as a pet photographer start bringing in some business for me SOON!  LOL!  Because they TOTALLY need to start earning their keep around here!  Haha. 

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Stumbling Blocks or Stepping Stones?

Well, somehow I lost track of the blog for the last few days.  Been seriously busy. 

Little Mama has 7 days till court now and we have been hitting the roads the last few days trying to get all her goals met so that she can move out on court day.  So Monday we went around all these places trying to get housing and looking for job openings and getting her signed up for school.  Tuesday we did more of the same and tried to get her drivers license.  She passed the written test but we ran into another roadblock before she could take the driving test. 

Without insurance you can’t get a license.  With the DSS rules, you can’t get a car without a license and then, without a car, you can’t get insurance unless someone adds you to theirs.  So where does that leave ya?  That has been the story of our week.  Waiting list on all the housing that she will be able to afford, have to have 12 hours put in at the college before they will give you paperwork showing that you are enrolled in the GED program, can’t get on any of the waiting lists for state assisted daycare unless she’s already out on her own….

One thing after another.  She has been great about all the hold-ups though.  Instead of getting grouchy and discouraged like she really could have, she was very positive about it and said maybe God just wants her to stay where she’s at for another month (which is the backup plan if she doesn’t have everything together by next week).  I was like…wow…oops to me because I was getting discouraged and not feeling so positive about it.  She really really wants to be on her own and she technically could by next week if she just rented one of the available places (none of which are based on income and are pretty high on the rent) but when we sat down with her and went over a budget we drew up (as in, KC – Mr Brains drew up…lol) based on if she gets a job in the next seven days, she would make it for like 2 months and it would be tight, and then she’d be in over her head.  So I think that pretty much decided it for her.  Most places require you to lease for at least 6 months, and she just couldn’t swing it that long.  We did manage to get her license thing worked out, though, so she is now a licensed driver.  =) 

She’s in a tough spot, but I think she’s managing it really well and making really smart decisions.  She’s working hard, too, even though it really doesn’t look like it’s going to work out in one week, she’s still trying really hard.  I’m proud of her. 

Anyways, that has been the gist of our week.  Yesterday I took her to work a few more hours on her GED before church and I watched the kids while we waited on her.  I will have to find something to do when she’s there though…we had been waiting in the lobby (I took the kids gameboy’s and a magazine for me) but I was very politely told last night that the lobby there was not for kids, it was the student break room and we needed to find somewhere else to hang out and wait for Lil Mama.  I was like…um…okay…I thought the kids were doing really good, they were sitting quietly on a chair at the table and playing their games and Little Bit didn’t really cry much while we were there either, and it’s not like it was crowded…there was like one other person in there (and there were like 8 empty tables out of the 9 total) the whole time we were there, but whatever.  Just something else that we gotta work around.  Yesterday we weren’t even there the whole 2 hours, we just came in long enough for me to feed Little Bit and then we went to Chick-Fil-A to eat supper and let my two kids play while I watched Little Bit, and then I went back to the lobby with the kids to wait the last few minutes before Lil Mama came out.  Oh well.  Story of my life. 

What else is there to catch up?  Um…I had a delightful meal at CFA yesterday…I got a meal with a Dr. Pepper (which I haven’t had many of, here lately, since I don’t have any at home…*sigh*) and because I ate IN so that the kids could play, I was able to go back to the counter and get a FREE REFILL!  WoOOOhoOO!  LOL.  It’s the little things in life!! 

Speaking of the little things, my dogs are no longer little.  I should take a picture…haven’t taken one in awhile…they are big enough to pull me off my feet (not that I would know…or anything….um…anyway).  I walk them now with anti-pull halters.  LOL.  ;-) 

And my other little things, those two little things that are my kids, are going to be in Preschool and 1st grade in about 2 weeks.  I’m not going to know what to do with myself. 

I gots some pics I should upload and post but I’m just not in the mood to get up and do it right now.  LOL.  It’s 10:21 and I think I’m gonna hit the sack.  C-ya. 

Sunday, August 08, 2010

Hallelujah!!

Ready for the great news?!   Well, I don’t know if you noticed, but since Wednesday, I posted a few pics of K-man and his face wasn’t blurred….

IMG_7586e2web;-) 

;-)

;-)

It’s not official that he’s got our last name yet, but the biological parent’s appeal was FINALLY denied and he is legally free now! THREE YEARS later!  But praise the Lord anyhow!  IMG_7585eweb

Now the adoption can go through and we can FINALLY have both kids with our last name!  Can I get an Amen?  *grin*

I screamed when our adoptions worker told me.  it’s awesome

Thursday, August 05, 2010

Violins…

"Friendship is like a violin; the music may stop now and then, but the strings will last forever."

I don’t know who said it, but it’s totally true.  In the last few weeks, I’ve had the complete pleasure of hearing the music because the strings were still there even though time and distance had paused the music for awhile.  First when KC and I went to Ohio a few weeks ago and met up with our old friends at the zoo, and then again when we spent the day with KC’s sister, and now this last trip, I stopped in at my friend’s house on the way up and then again on the way back (which broke the 12 hour trip pretty much in half and made it SO much more bearable, not to mention ended up being my favorite part of the whole trip!  LOL). 

So amazing that we’ve been friends for like TWENTY years.  IMG_7550ewebThat’s kinda insane.  And we were SOOO goofy just like the old days. 

 IMG_7466ewebIMG_7483eweb

See what I mean?  LOL!  But it was seriously so much fun.  I was bummed that Munchkin wasn’t with me because she is JUST like my friend’s oldest girl, but K-man had fun with all three of her kids and had a kid crush on her middle girl, who is around a year younger than the K-man.  Teehehe…it was cute! 

 IMG_7670ewebIMG_7671eweb 

This was a little tussle over who K-man wanted on the big wheel with him…lol.  =) 

Anyways, it was such a blast.  We spent a lot of time reminiscing about way back when…lol….not that much has changed…other than our ages.  We’re still as crazy as we used to be.  haha.  Oh, and we have kids and hubbies now.  LOL.  Minor detail.  ;-)
IMG_7666ewebIMG_7676eweb IMG_7677ewebAnd Mormie is surrounded by the kids.  Typical.  LOL.  My friend wanted to steal her.  LOL!  I’m pretty sure Mormie’s momma would have had a little bit of a problem with that.  HAHA.

Well, it’s like 10:40 so I’m gonna just hop off here.  Later! 

Jumping In Spot

Hmm…where do I start?  So much to say, so little time.  ;-) 

The hubby is snoozing on a pillow next to me, which is kinda interfering with my typing abilities…but that’s okay, because I like him being close…especially after spending like a whole week five states apart.  LOL. 

But it is giving me a bit of a cramp, so I better get busy on this post before I get tired and quit.  LOL. 

Well, I have some really good news but I’m gonna save it for a separate post.  =)  So let’s see…for this post, how bout those Ohio trip pictures I promised a few weeks back?  I got so busy when we got back that I didn’t get a chance to get to them before leaving again.  (And for the record, I’m still busy, but it stormed here today so I got some good unplugged time on the couch, which was a perfect time to edit and websize a few batches of pictures.  LOL.) zooeditweb  

That first pic above was a shot that we had a zoo employee snap for us on our way out of the zoo.  It was taken at the front gates but I liked the sign better for the background, so I cut and pasted a bit and came up with this one.  I think it looks pretty natural.  LOL.  The pics on the right are the rest of the zoo shots.  =)  We had such a good time with B, K, & Co.  =)  Our kids got along really well together, too, which is always nice.  ;-)  This was the first time we’d gotten together with them in like four years.  Last time, we had no kids and they had one baby.  It was like we never lost touch though, it’s awesome to have friends like that.  IMG_7403eweb

Next up is Aunt A (KC’s sis)…we got together with her on Saturday morning while we were up in Ohio and spent all day with her.  It was so great to get to spend a little bit of time with her again.  It was the first time our kids had met her and they were instantly enamored!  All day long…”I don’t want your hand, mom, I want Aunt A’s hand!”  Well.  Okay then.  LOL.  It was cool though, they had a really good time and so did the rest of us.  KC and A’s aunt Goo also went with us, which was fun, too…

Goo is short for Goofy, by the way.  LOL!  JUST KIDDING!  (haha)  Actually, I think the story goes (and you can correct me if I’m wrong, Aunt G), KC created the nickname for her when he was a little guy because he couldn’t say her real name.  LOL.  And then it stuck.  =)  Leave it to my hubby.  ;-) 

Anyway, here’s the rest of the pictures from our trip to CoSi on Saturday and then at Grandma’s house on Sunday morning right before we headed home. 

And that concludes Ohio.  Now for the OTHER zillion things that need to be updated.  =)

Tuesday, August 03, 2010

Ohhhh.

Well. 

My head has been splitting all afternoon.  I can’t stand it.  I’ve taken two advil.  Plus an advil cold and sinus.  Plus two excedrin migraine.  And it still hurts. 

I think it’s because I haven’t had a Dr. Pepper today. 

Whatever the case, even Dr. Pepper doesn’t sound good right now.  I feel totally icky and the dogs are making it worse…they are letting off every kind of smell that I never knew existed.  *gag* 

I’m so tired.  Little mama had an appointment at her doctor in the town we used to live in today, so we spent the day down there…and went around town getting job applications and getting her an ID card and calling about housing and all kinds of stuff.  It was a long day…*sigh* 

And I can’t think straight anymore. 

And maybe my headache is because it is freezing cold in this house.  Well, okay, so it’s 69 degrees.  After a week of 86 degrees, it feels really cold.  *sigh*  I need a blanket.  And a bucket.  I’m just a bundle of joy today. 

I think I’ll go to bed now. 

Monday, August 02, 2010

August Photo Hunt

Well, here we go again!  Time for another photo hunt.  Again, it has to happen in one of the busiest months, but whatever.  I’ll try.  =)  That’s the fun anyway.  =)So there it is.  (Click the image to go to the PhotoHuntChallenges site if you want to join us!)  ;-) 

And here’s the list:

1. A flag that represents you (your town, state, country, team, etc.)
2. Something comfortable
3. Something in season
4. Feet
5. Repetition
6. Culture or ethnicity
7. Contrast
8. An indulgence
9. A macro or closeup
10. Something masculine
11. Something feminine
12. Light
13. Eco-friendly
14. Business
15. An arrow
16. Something wet
17. Something dry
18. Butterflies*
19. Heart-Shaped Clouds*
20. Strength

By the way, it is SOOO nice to be home again.  Except home is very messy.  Something about returning from trips just does that….*sigh*  But it’s still good to be back.  ;-)