Jumpin Right In...

I found a new Saturday meme that fits me and this blog to a T.  And I'm just gonna jump right in. 

Click the button to go to the site for this week's challenge and to find other players, or go to this post to see the rules for play.  And all I had to do was read the rules to know that this is a weekly challenge that fits me and this blog PERFECTLY. 

This week its:

11th folder
or
September 2007

11th picture

Which was a picture I actually did post here back in September 2007.

Reading back through September's posts when I was looking for that one, I am just amazed at how things are different now.  Craziness!

Munchkin Interview #2

• Who is one of your favorite people in the world?  Daddy.  Um.  Daddy and Mommy.  And mawmaw and pawpaw.  And Nonna and Poppa.  (she can't count, obviously.  LOL!)
• What is your favorite book? Nemo and Dory
• What's your favorite thing to do at Mawmaw & Pawpaw's? Play with Barbies.
• What's your favorite thing to do at Nonna & Poppa's? Play with Nonna and Poppa.
• What do you want for your birthday? A puter with one of those (pointing at the mouse)
• What does daddy look like? Uh. He have brown hair.  And I love him.
• What does mommy look like? Like daddy.
• What time of day (or specific day) do you like the best and why?  Sunday.  Cuz we get to go to Sunday School.
• If you were a princess, which one would you be and why? Cinderella. Cuz.
• What did you do at school today?  Maybe somebody boss me.  I played all kinds of stuff.
• Who do you think you'd like to marry when you grow up? Daddy. What if you can't marry daddy?  Levi. 
• What do you want to be when you grow up?  A princess. 
• How old do you think "grown up" is?  Five? (I guess that makes me completely ancient!!)

I think she's already reached the age where she doesn't want to really THINK about the answers.  LOL!  Maybe I'll try again later.

Today I...

• Got out of bed. (Go ahead, laugh, but I feel like that is worthy of listing...especially since I was up twice with the K-man and once just randomly at 4:00.  Do you see a trend?  3:30 a couple of nights ago, 3:45 night before last, and last night it was 4....by my estimation, in approximately 9 days, I will wake up at 6:30 and start my day doing something besides weaseling just 3 more minutes out of the alarm clock.)
• Ran by the vet to pick up some kitty medicine.
• Went to lunch with KC.
• Came home and gave the white and hissing cat (otherwise known as Snowball) a bath.  Actually, two baths, since I washed her in dish soap first and then in kitty shampoo next.  She was NOT a happy camper.  My first clue was the way the water turned yellow the minute I put her in it.  E-yew.  I emptied it and started over.  Thankfully, her bladder was also empty at this point, so I didn't have to worry about a recurrence of that discusting problem.  LOL!
• Went to pick up the kids.  The kids and I got home and I debated about what to do next.  I went into my bedroom to take off my wet (thank you, dear cat) clothes when I see the cat.  Still dripdrying.  And where is she choosing to do that????  ON MY PILLOW, of course.   Not a chance, cat, so I scooped her up and took her to the bathroom and shut the door (the kids had to join me so picture the three of us plus cat in the 3x6 bathroom).  I pull out the hairdryer, hand it to the Munchkin and I hold the cat and we blow her dry with only a few growls from kitkat.  I lifted her up to dry her belly and Munchkin shields her eyes and gasps, "MOM.  We can't SEE that!!!"  ROFL.  Being recently groomed, her hair is pretty short under there, she does look rather naked.  BWAHAHA.  Anyways, the cat is nice and fluffy and soft now and only glares at me whenever I cross her field of vision.  Teehehe!
• Put play shoes (aka: muddy shoes for our mudpit of a backyard) on the  kids and headed outdoors to enjoy the 65 degree weather.  They played for TWO hours in the single tower that is currently the only functional part of the playground (pictures at the end of this post).   I heard something about dancing ballerinas (Munchkin) and building a fire (K-man, and yes, it was pretend...I know...I checked...LOL) and they were using the play food plates to haul dirt....and I bit my tongue and let them get absolutely filthy.  Mostly because I remember doing much similar things when I was their age and I'd hate to deprive them of those kinds of memories.  *grin*  Plus, I was busy hauling the leftover wall blocks from their original location in the driveway to the top of the hill next to the play area.  Which leads me to my next bullet point:
• Nearly broke my back.  Or more appropriately "nearly finished it off" since I  STARTED moving that pile (pictured to the right) yesterday.  Let me put it this way, I'm not sure of the weight of a single block, but I would venture to say it weighed more than Munchkin (35 pounds).  I'm thinking maybe TWO Munchkins.  MAYBE.  I definitely have a new appreciation for the work it took to do that wall.  Total blocks moved between the two days = 28.  I'm thinking I will either be in a wheelchair or flexing my newly developed muscles sometime in the next few days...perhaps both. 
• Am going to finish off the evening vegging on the couch.  With Tylenol.  And perhaps a glass of milk with a carton of Oreos.  We won't even talk about the last carton of Oreos which I almost singlehandedly polished off in a matter of hours.  Two words: COMFORT FOOD!!!!

Have a lovely and pain-free evening.  I plan to do the former, but the latter is a little iffy.
 
PS: the pictures....first, this is the retaining wall, and up there behind it is the pile of leftover block that nearly did me in, along with the sole functional tower that the kids were playing on, and the slides and swings that are waiting for the set up to be arranged.  Please don't ask me if I tried to go ahead and move the tower there into place.  Please don't even ask me if I was able to budge it.  I don't know how I know this, but it's a lot heavier than it looks.
              

Next up: This would be the currently UN-functional part of the playground.  Back behind it, you can see the other end of the retaining wall and the back end of the pick-up truck (which is real handy for scale).  Also behind the wall, you can see the neighbors yard and the hill which I traipsed up no less than 15 times today.
              

And just for random-ness, here's a picture I like to call, Dust On The Keyboard.
              
At least, we'll call it dust.  There is no way in this world it could possibly be Oreo Crumbs. 

Things I Love Thursday

Click the link to see more Things I Love Thursday.

This TILT is dedicated to our new friend, the Leapster 2.  Of which we have TWO of for purposes I'm sure you can easily guess.  (LOL)

I love it because the kids can play virtually without parental assistance, relatively quietly, for longer than five minutes, and it is essentially a learning gameboy for kids.  So they are having fun, AND they're learning their letters/numbers/shapes/concepts.  Huge plus in my book.  I'm not saying that the fact that they play quietly and are contented for longer than 15 minutes at a time has a greater bearing on my feelings toward the Leapster than the fact that they are LEARNING.  Not at ALL. 

Second really cool thing is that there are lots of games, so when they get bored with one, they can just plug in a new cartridge and you've got MORE hours minutes of fun.  LOL!  

I think I used a few too many adverbs in this post.  I am EXTREMELY sorry.  Hehe.

Wordless Wednesday

I guess you probably need to have seen the movie "Cars" to get this, but this is what I came upon the K-man doing with his "racecars" yesterday.  Complete with the LOUD "racing the engine" noise.  HAH.  

 

                     
         
                                     

A Little This And That

Well, this week's Ten on Tuesday is Ten Favorite Ethnic foods, and since I am not really sure I could think of 10 to go on that list, I decided to skip this week.

While we're on the subject of food though, I should note that tonight's dinner (Cheesy Beef & Rice) got 3 out of 4. KC's verdict: flavored styrofoam. He hates rice. I was hoping that maybe fixing it with the cheese and beef would make it edible for him. Well, he ate it, but he didn't care for it. OH well. My other picky eater ate it just fine, and me and munchkin enjoyed it (of course, my enjoyment was more from the PRICE of the dinner since virtually the bulk of the cost was the 2.25 for the hamburger meat, and there was enough for approximately 10 servings, which means that it cost around 23 cents for my dinner tonight). Plus, I used a can of crescent rolls that needed to be used up, but I don't remember how much I paid for that, and I'm not counting it b/c it was past the date which means it probably should have been thrown out and so I'm giving myself bonus points for using it anyways. HAHA. Really, I think the only problem was that it didn't rise like a fresh can. Who cares. Haha.

How about a few random pictures....these are from the other day when KC and I gave the kit kats a bath. I like to call these pictures: MadKatz exhibit A and MadKatz exhibit B. LOL!!!

Today I worked on tagging the clothes for the upcoming consignment sale. I got through a good 2.5 boxes but only about one box of it is good enough to consign. Hopefully it will all sell though and make it worth my time. The other stuff is decent, but just has a few small stains or worn spots, which means it can't be consigned, so I sorted it and I'm going to see if any of the local foster parents have kids that are in that size to pass it on to.

The kids are growing so fast. It seems like their closets are getting thin again because I keep pulling out clothes for them to wear and then having to stick them in a "too little" pile because they can't fit them anymore. EEK.

Another random picture. This is me and munchkin this afternoon.

Let's go through a couple of reasons why I might be tired. Um....well, how about getting up at 3:30am for some completely unknown reason. You should see KC though...he's REALLY tired. He actually STAYED up because he couldn't go back to sleep. Not me, man, once I determined that everyone was good, I conked right back out. I'm not quite sure what woke us, but I heard what sounded like one of the kids leapsters playing and I was like, oh boy, if one of them GOT UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT and is playing their leapster, I am going to have a COW! They weren't, of course, they were both soundly sleeping and the leapsters were off, as they should be, so all was well and I have no cows (LOL), but I have no clue what woke me. It had to have been a sound, and not just me dreaming, otherwise it wouldn't have woken both me & KC. But anyway, okay....so that's really the only good reason I have for being tired....oh well.

I have a couple more pictures, but I'm going to save them for Wordless Wednesday tomorrow. (teehehehe)

Alrighty then...I'm heading out now. It's about the kids bedtime so I gotta get moving on all that. Catch'a later!

*SIGH*

Well, it's been another day.  I'm kinda tired. 

Not a whole lot going on.  Had math today and then went to run errands.  Fun day.  LOL.  Tomorrow I've got to start working on tagging the consignment stuff, which means I have to kinda dig in the yard sale pile that has taken over the garage.  REALLY fun.  NOT.  Anywho.

In other news, thanks to a blog comment, I've got a new blog to add to my google reader and in reading HER blog, I found some excellent posts on foster care that SHE had linked and now I'm going to link them, too, because they are great. 

I can't be a foster parent because.....PART ONE
I can't be a foster parent because.....PART TWO
I can't be a foster parent because.....PART THREE
You can't be a foster parent, but you can....PART FOUR 

That's about it for tonight...just here and that's about it.  LOL.  Oh, and listening to KC watching youtube tutorials on trying to recover a crashed hard drive.  Well, an external hard drive.  The one that we had all our files and pictures stored on to be exact.  Yeah.  *grimacing*  I have a couple of years photos stored on backup at my mom's, but if we can't recover the stuff on there, we've still lost all the documents, music, and about 10 months of photos (as best we can figure).  Just LOVE the techy breakdowns.  NOT.  *sigh*

Other than that, maybe things will get a little more interesting again soon.  Haha.

Later!

Menu Monday

Well, here we are again. I was looking at some of the other MPM'er links and I liked one lady's disclaimer (I don't know which one it was cuz I can't find it now) but it was something like this: All meals are subject to change without notice due to unexpected circumstances, migraines, or meltdowns. LOL. I can totally relate. Hah. Anyways, click here for more Menu Plans...

And here's mine:

• Monday: Taco Salad -- a KC favorite (note to self: need ground beef)
• Tuesday: Cheesy Beef & Rice only I think I'll alter the recipe just a little, but it sounds good, so we'll try it. (nts: need ground beef)
• Wednesday: Wheat Spaghetti in Classico Roasted Red Pepper Alfredo Sauce, Mesquite Chicken (from freezer), Garlic Toast -- this past week, I used half the package of wheat spaghetti, and half the jar of sauce, so this week, we'll just finish it off. It was delish, and I added cayenne pepper and a few other spices to the sauce to give it an extra kick. I couldn't even tell that the spaghetti was healthy. HA. *GRIN* PS, you should totally check out that sauce (see the link above) because it is AWESOME! (nts: need garlic toast)
• Thursday: Pepperoni Cheese Ravioli, Garlic Toast -- to make up for being so healthy the night before. LOL. Kidding. Actually, I'm just craving that flavor right now. Haha. (nts: need sour cream)
• Friday: Turkey Leftover Casserole, can of green beans (for me and Munchkin), frozen biscuits -- the casserole is already in the freezer. Yay! (nts: put in fridge to thaw on Thursday)

My favorite part of Menu Planning is that I am spending much less on groceries. I mean, look at the grocery list I have after writing down the meals for this week: ground beef, ground beef, garlic toast, and sour cream (of course, that doesn't include the weekly staples of bread, milk, etc) And everything else is stuff in the pantry that needs to be used up. Before Menu Planning, I would go to the grocery store and try to think of something to fix for the week, so I'd pick up this and that and this and that and oh, we might have this one night this week, so I better grab the ingredients for that, too. And I'd bring it home and then not remember what I was thinking of at the grocery store, so it wouldn't get eaten and then months down the road, it'd still be sitting in the pantry. Huge waste. I feel so much better about it now.

Thanks for stopping by! Happy eating! I have a good feeling that we will be. *GRIN*

K-man Interview

What is something dad always says to you? Go to church

What is something mom always says to you? PLAYGROUND!

What makes dad happy? Playground

What makes mommy happy? Happy.

What makes dad sad? Blow.

What makes mommy sad? Happy.

How does dad make you laugh? He got my nose.

How does mom make you laugh? Tickle.

How old is your dad? I don't know.

How old is your mom? Four

How tall is your dad? Tall.

How tall is your mom? Tall.

What is daddy's favorite thing to do? Bump my nose.

What is mom’s favorite thing to do? Um. Don't know.  Let's see.

What does your dad do when you're not around? Race cars.

What does your mom do when you're not around?  Um. I don't know.

What is your dad really good at? He be good.

What is your mom really good at? Being good.

What is your dad not very good at? Don't know.

What is your mom not very good at? In the car.

What does your dad do for his job? Race cars (i'm guessing he's talking about the car KC drives to work cuz he calls it "the race car")

What does your mom do for her job? Take a bath (again, I'm just guessing but I think he means I give THEM baths...LOL!)

What is your dad's favorite food? Pasgetti and meatballs.

What is your mom’s favorite food? Pizza and meatballs.

If your dad were a cartoon character, who would he be? Mickey Mouse

If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? Scooby Doo

How are you and your dad the same? blue.

How are you and your mom the same? don't know.

How are you and your dad different? a train.

How are you and your mom different? playin cars.

Okay, I think this was a little over his head since he made NO sense. LOL.  Some of the answers are funny though, so I figured I'd post it anyways.  His comprehension kinda stinks.  This is what I get when I tell him to do something, too....completely clueless.  *sigh*  He is smart at lots of stuff though, so I can't complain. 

Munchkin Interview

Saw this interview that Nicole at Oh My Words did and thought I'd borrow the idea...

What is something dad always says to you?  Uh, I love you.

What is something mom always says to you? Um, bye.  Just bye? Yeah, when you leave me at school.  I don't say love you when I leave?  Yeah, that too. Okay.

What makes dad happy? Um, if you say I love you. Are you gonna make a heart? Can you make a heart on there? Not right now. Can I play my game after this? Yeah.  Good, okay, what else?

What makes mommy happy? Um. If you give her a hug. Can we talk about Nonna and Poppa next? No, they're not in the questions. Okay. What else?

What makes dad sad? Um, if you don't do something your 'posed to not do. (I think she means if you don't do something you're supposed TO do, not not do)

What makes mommy sad? If you leave without saying love you.

How does dad make you laugh? If he tickle me. Like I'm laughing at right now.

How does mom make you laugh? If her tickle me.

How old is your dad? I don't know.  Do you want to guess?  Yeah. One.

How old is your mom? Uhmmm....(giggling) ONE?  No, I'm 25.  How old is daddy?  Is he 24?  Nope sorry...next question.

How tall is your dad? Maybe big. 

How tall is your mom? Big.  And tall.  So is daddy.

What is daddy's favorite thing to do? Play with the kids and take a nap. And maybe work on his 'puter.

What is mom’s favorite thing to do? Make me laugh.

What does your dad do when you're not around?  Do the laundry? YEAH RIGHT

What does your mom do when you're not around?  Her fixes my bedroom and *K-man's*

What is your dad really good at?  Workin on his puter. NO, eating.  (insert mommy laughing)

What is your mom really good at?  Workin on her puter.

What is your dad not very good at?  Washin dishes.

What is your mom not very good at?  Doin things her posed to not do.

What does your dad do for his job?  He goes to work on his desk.  He bosses somebody. Like those guys who always bossy.

What does your mom do for her job?  Hmm. I don't know. At home?

What is your dad's favorite food? Um. Chicken and beans.  No, he don't like beans.  What kind of beans do he like? You mean Jelly?  Yeah, JELLY beans.  I like those, too.

What is your mom’s favorite food?  Uh. Chicken.

If your dad were a cartoon character, who would he be?  Um. Not my daddy.  Um, yeah, but if he was on a cartoon, what would he be?  Uh, Scooby doo (then she breaks into the scooby doo theme song)

If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? A boy? Mickey Mouse.

How are you and your dad the same? We both best friends.

How are you and your mom the same? We both have dots on our face (maybe hers are freckles but I think mine are moles...LOL) And put on there that I love you! Um okay.

How are you and your dad different? I wear dresses.

How are you and your mom different? (a little discussion ensues on what different and same mean and then she decides...) Your hair is dark brown and mine is just brown.

I Need Another Word

That means random.  Cuz that's what this post is going to be more of....and random is getting old.  LOL. 

I forgot some random yesterday.  I remembered it after the fact.  But now I've forgotten it again.  If I remember it, I'll throw it in. 

Was going to work on the church newsletter today.  KC fixed the scanner last night, so I scanned what I needed and then couldn't get it from the network computer to my computer because all the thumb drives are gone.  And then I thought I'd just email it to myself but the wireless network was off, so the network computer had no connection to the web to do that either.  Yeah, I know...what's a network computer without a network, but really, our internet bombs every five minutes when the wireless is on, so we keep it off unless we have to have it....in which case, KC turns it on...I have no clue how to do it, so I'm kinda stuck if he's not here.  EEK.  Sorry.  Bad run-on sentence.  Anyways, I didn't get very far on the church newsletter.  Maybe another day. 

Opened my latest scrapping magazine and saw a layout in the first couple of pages that triggered an idea in my head, so I sat down and clicked together a quick template so I'd have the idea and then I decided while I had the template open, I'd just go ahead and fill it with paper and pictures and ta-da...another layout.  To view the larger layout and for credits, see the Design blog.

KC is gone with the guys back down to get the rest of the play set.  They are going to have to take it all apart and reassemble it when they get it back here.  Whew.  I cleaned part of it yesterday (one swing and one slide) but it was just too cold to keep going.  Oh well. 

Oh, I just remembered one of the random things I forgot.  I got another phone call the other day, this time it was an 11 month old but it was a probable temporary because they had several relatives in line that just had to pass a home study, so I turned it down.  A few weeks ago, it was a set of twins (less than 6 months old).  Before that, it was a newborn addicted to drugs.  All likely to be temporary cases.  We just keep turning them down b/c we don't want to do temporary for little bitty ones just because we don't want to get attached and lose them.  But the last time they called, I found out WHY we are getting so many calls now.  We are getting the first calls because apparently we are one of the only homes with 2 openings AND with a stay at home mom and when it's temporary they don't want to move the children into a new daycare (so they call a mom who can watch them instead) if they will just be moving them again soon.  Which makes me feel bad for not being able to help, but it really is going to have to be the right one for us to take more.  And so far, it's been clear that it's NOT the right ones.  One of the cases was totally high profile and hit the front page of the paper, so I was glad we weren't involved with that one.  Selfish of me, yes, but that case ended up being placed out of county which was probably a better thing in the long run. 

According to statcounter, ya'll don't come around on the weekends.  I guess I need to find something interesting to post on the weekends to fix this.  LOL.  Either that, or I just need to POST on the weekend...maybe that's it.  Haha.

After the last photo session, I've had several inquiries for photos again.  The last couple of years have kinda been ho-hum...not really doing a whole lot in the way of sessions, so maybe it's time to kick it up again.  Or at least update my header on the photoblog...I was looking at it the other day when I was posting some of the pics and it still says 2006...eek.  LOL!  That's been awhile. 

Tonight is a married's class at church.  I think we're going if KC and the guys get back in time from their demolition and relocation efforts.  KC told me I could go without him.  I was like....what, you think I'm the only one who needs it?  HAH.  He was kidding.  Good thing, too...hehe. 

Munchkin is gonna be five in about 2 months.  I am not sure how I feel about it.  LOL.  KC and I have talked about what we're gonna do party-wise, and I think after 3, all the parties involving non-family members will be on the even birthdays.  4, 6, 8... and the odd birthdays will just be family.  Which makes things considerably easier since that knocks it down to one party a year with the two we've got since they are one year apart.  LOL.

I signed up to do a consignment sale in a nearby county...now I just have to get my game on and get labeling and tagging all the items that I need to put in it.  Not sure what I was thinking except that I'm sure it had something to do with the fact that the pile of things to get rid of has pretty much taken over the garage.

I'm all out of random that I can think of right now, so we'll just call it a post and hit publish.  Thanks for reading two completely random posts in a row.  One of these days I'll get better.

Later!

More Randomosity

Make custom t-shirts at CustomInk.com

Completely random:

• Our playground is partially here.  After the hubby paid for it and started taking it apart, he realized that it was going to need some work.  We probably paid a little too much for it.  I can't believe they were asking as much as they were.  Oh well.  It is what it is.  It's still huge and it isn't in terrible shape...so I'm sure once we get it all here and set up, the kids will still have fun. 
• I will probably kick myself later for posting this and you can file this as TMI, but a couple of days ago I walked down the hall and happened to see Munchkin in the bathroom precariously trying to juggle pencils and notebook and get on the porcelain throne all at the same time. "What ARE you doing?" I say....and she responds, "but MOM, YOU always read a book when YOU go potty."  I confess, I could say nothing but..."uh...okay then."  And I have no clue where she got that idea.  ROFL. 
• Finished the editing from the photo session last week.  FINALLY.  I took WAY too many good shots and ended up editing like 50 of them.  CRAZY me.  But I finally got that done and the cd ready to give to the family, so I'm happy about getting that off my plate. You can see the final posted shots by clicking here.
• I am really aggravated with our printer/scanner at this moment.  I have no idea how the scanner portion got uninstalled since it is a ALL-IN-ONE and if the PRINTER works, then why in the world doesn't the scanner?  And the other aggravating part is that the stinking computer won't let me reinstall the disc because it keeps saying we don't have computer administrator rights or something.  I'm quite aggravated.  I'm getting ready to just unplug the thing and plug it directly into my laptop (it's currently on the network computer) and see if I can install it on here.  I really need the scanner part to finish the church newsletter which is MISERABLY behind....(*UGH...crawling under the carpet to hide my head right about now*). 
• I am getting behind on everything again.  I didn't even get a menu done this week and ended up scrapping the idea for this week since this week is all in an uproar with trying to get the playground hauled back here and being here and there instead of home at suppertime.  The good news is that I did plan for yesterday and we had taco salad for supper and I had leftovers for lunch today and it always makes me happy when I eat leftovers and don't have to throw them away.  I feel all frugal when I do that.  Bwahaha.
• I just tricked my four year old into thinking it is a privilege to put the clothes from the washer to the dryer, so she excitedly ran to get her stool and is doing my work for me.  I feel terrible about it.  Well.  I did.  For about 3 seconds.  I'm over it now. 
• She just asked K-man to be her "great helper" and push the clothes into the dryer for her after she pulls them out of the washer.  ROFL.  I guess she learned the art of delegation from her mother.  Bwahaha.  They are currently having laundry conversations that would crack you up...cuz they are cracking me up.  LOL.
• The cats were groomed again this week.  I got a girl at church who owns her own pet grooming business to do it this time.  I told her we could try it b/c the vet said they have to knock the cats out because they are so uncooperative and of course, she's not got the vet stuff to knock them out, so if they were really difficult, I would just have to take them back to the vet for the grooming, but get this.  I am still aggravated about this.  I took them in, and hung around while she got started just in case it didn't work....they were good as gold.  Jango was actually RUBBING on the clippers and PURRING.  She told me it was obvious to her that the vet was just using the excuse to knock them out to get more money.  And the cats were not nearly as angry coming home this time since they didn't have to get knocked out.  And they weren't weaving like they had spent several hours in a bar or something.  Bwahah.  Jango does look funny though...he turns all grey and looks siamese.  Hah!
• It is already past the middle of February.  It's gonna be Christmas again before you know it.  EEEEK.
• Got the kids each a leapster for the educational benefits yesterday and paid an arm and a leg for them.  Today my hubby calls and says they dropped the price by $20.  What is UP with that?  I wonder if Walmart will just take the receipt and adjust the price since we've already opened them. 
• We have a retaining wall in the back of the house....KC hired some of the guys from church to build it and they did a great job...it's gorgeous.  I can't wait till all that red mud is GONE.  It's getting a lot closer to the day when I can let the kids get out in the backyard without wearing their oldest, nastiest clothes.  Goodness, for that matter, the day is getting closer when I can get out in the backyard without wearing work clothes/shoes.  LOL!!!
• No, I don't have any printed shirts like in the picture at the beginning of this post, but I can dream, right? 
• Yes, it's time for supper and for KC to get home, so I really should be going now. 

Thanks for reading this completely random brain dump.  My apologies if you are now drooling on your keyboard because I put you to sleep.

Wordless Wednesday

BWAHAHAHAHAHAA!!!

Ten On Tuesday: My Life In Songs

Ten on Tuesday: 10 Songs That Describe You or Your Life - (click the link to go to the official site and for other Ten on Tuesday participants)

1. Brown-Eyed Girl (Van Morrison) - Borrowed this one from one of the other participants...it fits me....well...the title fits me.  I'm not so sure about the rest of the lyrics...LOL!
2. Everyday People (Nicole C Mullen)
       "I am no better and neither are you
       We're all the same whatever we do
       You love me you hate me
       You know me and then
       You can't figure out the bag I'm in
       I am everyday people"
3. It's Your Love (Tim McGraw) - about the guy I married....=)
      "And if you wonder about the spell I'm under
       Oh, it's your love"
4. Life Is A Highway (Rascal Flatts) - I LOVE traveling...
       "If you're going my way
       I wanna drive it all night long"
5. Dream of Mirrors (Iron Maiden) - I have weird weird dreams....
      "Something makes me feel I just might lose my mind
       Am I still inside my dream? is this a new reality
       Something makes me feel that I have lost my mind"
6. A Living Prayer (Alison Krauss) - well, it pretty much says it all
       "In these trials of life I find
       Another Voice inside my mind
       He comforts me and bids me live
       Inside the love the Father gives"
7. How's The World Treating You (Alison Krauss)
8. Come Away With Me (Norah Jones) - Okay this one not so much for the lyrics but for the feeling of springtime and sunshine that it brings when I hear it...and for this part of it....
      "I want to walk with you
       On a cloudy day
       In fields where the yellow grass grows knee-high
       So won't you try to come"
9. I Love My Lips (Veggie Tales) - this is rather two fold...first because the veggie tales is the music of choice by all the family members who are under 4ft tall, so I hear A LOT of this stuff....and second of all because I relate to Oscar in this part of the song -- as in, when I was a kid I was stung by a bee...right on the lip.  Except I don't speak polish.  LOL.
      "Ten days after I turned 8,
       Got my lips stuck in a gate
       My friends all laughed...
       And I just stood there until the fire department came and broke the  
       lock with a crowbar and I had to spend the next six weeks in lip rehab  
       with this kid named Oscar who got stung by a bee right on the lip and
       we couldn't even talk to each other until the fifth week because both
       our lips were so swollen and when he did start speaking he just spoke  
       polish and I only knew like three words in polish except now I know four
       because Oscar taught me the word for lip, 'Usta'."
10. Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone) (Chris Tomlin) - And this sums up my life rather well, I think...the good and the terrible...
        "My chains are gone, I've been set free
        My God, my Savior has ransomed me
        And like a flood His mercy rains
        Unending love, Amazing grace"

I Got Inspired

Full credits for the inspiration AND the digi products used are posted on Always Faith Designs.

Only thing that I didn't post credits for on the Designs blog is that I wasn't just inspired by the layout, I am ever inspired by Ryan.  Most importantly by the way he shines.  Without ever saying a word...we could all take lessons. 

Gotta scoot.  Thanks for looking.

Gone And Done It

Well.  Little me has been searching craigslist for a good deal on some backyard play equipment and yesterday just before church, I hopped on there and plugged in my search criteria and it came up with one that had just been posted.  It was way out of our price range, but they said they were moving and needed to get rid of it, so make an offer.  So I showed it to KC and he said offer X dollars and if they would go for it, we'd take it. 

SO I type out this email and send it:

RE: Playset/Clubhouse For Sale

Just wondering if you still have it.  We are a foster home and looking for something to put in the backyard for the kids to play on.  If you still have it, would you consider taking $X for it?  I am sure it is worth much more than that, but we just can't swing more than $X right now.  Please let me know either way.  Thanks!

You know, I'm not really expecting much since they JUST posted it and I'm sure it is worth way more than we could offer for it, so they will probably want to wait for a better offer.  I mean, look at it: (these are the pictures from the listing)

Not even 10 minutes later, they emailed back and said call, we'll take that.  So when I call and talk to the guy and his wife, kinda amazed that they is willing to take what we offered because it was several hundred less than they were asking, and he says...yeah.  I really liked your email. 

I didn't write it that way to get a break, I was just trying to explain why we weren't offering what it was worth so it wouldn't offend anyone if they absolutely didn't want to accept a low offer.  Know what I mean?  Anyways.  Thank the Lord, it must have been Him working it out, but I'm excited.  And now we have to figure out how to haul it back here and get it in the yard....

It's 3 stories.  3 slides.  7 swings.  2 towers.  This thing is gargantuan.  And it's like an hour away from us, but it's worth it and the kids are SUPER excited.  LOL!

"PLAYGROUND!!!!!!  Can we play on it?  Can we play on it, mom?  When it be here?  Now?  Is it in the backyard?  PLAYGROUND!!!!!  I want to play!" 

LOL!

I'll post more pics when we get it here and figure out how we're going to fit it in our backyard.  LOL!

And in other stuff, M was here today for math and her dad and a couple of guys are building the stone wall in the backyard, so she was hanging out til they got done so her dad could take her home....

So we played around with some of the edits I was working on from last week's session....isn't this effect rather neat?  LOL.  I liked it. 

There's a few more on the photography site. 

I think that's it.  Menu will have to wait this week since tonight is going to be spent trying to haul back the ginormous playground.  LOL! 

Later!

Picture Editin' and Other Stuff

Well, I'm getting ready to head out on a hot date with a hotter guy (who coincidentally also happens to be my husband....good thing, right?), but before I go, I thought I'd hop on here and blog real quick. 

Seriously.  Really quick. 

I've been working on these pictures for that family that I go to church with and dude...check out these eyes.

I was really really happy with the way these pics turned out (at least I am so far...even though I've only edited a couple of the shots) and I am loving Pioneer Woman's Photoshop Actions because they make it so much faster for me to do the edits I need to do. 

ANYWAY...really quick...KC is almost ready to go and I haven't posted the other edits yet.  Off to post them now....see the rest of them ...

Always Faith Photography 

there.  *grin* 

Later!

Complete Randomosity

I totally made that word up.  I was tired of using Random-NESS.  Of course, this means that my spellchecker will be mad and underline that word for the duration of this post...and also the word spellchecker b/c that must be a "faith" word, too.  LOL.

Anyways.  On to the randomosity.  And by the way, in Faith-world, that word means random (well, you know that part) plus -osity, which according to yourdictionary.com means "the quality of being (as specified)" which in my weird little brain makes perfect sense and why isn't that a real word?  Because randomosity should be the quality of being random.  Duh.  And we won't even TALK about the meaning of THAT word...which I did NOT make up.

SO.  Worked on the kids valentines for their classes at school today.  Well, I worked on it yesterday and today...and the day BEFORE yesterday, too.  ANYWAY.

K-man's is the giraffe because he LOVES giraffe and takes giraffe just about everywhere, so all the kids know K-man and Giraffe.  And by the way, K-man loved these valentines and thought it was SO cool that they matched his Giraffe.  LOL.  It takes so little in life to make them happy (sometimes). 

Munchkin's is the bird...just cuz I liked it and thought it was cute.  And then here they are with the candy attached.

            

K-man's have suckers and Munchkin's have purple wrapped tootsie rolls.  I think they turned out cute.  And grand total spent was $0 (or really close to that, since it was just a couple of sheets of cardstock and a little bit of printer ink) for the cards and less than $5 for all the bags of candy.  Since I had a bag and a half left over, I'd say it was probably more like $3 for the candy. 

So tomorrow these get to go along to the valentine party.  Munchkin signed her own name on them.  I had to dot them for her, but she is almost to the point where she can actually write her full name by herself now.  And it's pretty legible...(praise God!  Now, if she can just learn what the letters she's writing ARE, maybe we'll be getting somewhere...hehe).

I sold a pastel toy organizer on craigslist today...that was nice.  I wish it hadn't been pastel or I would have been able to use it in K-man's room, but unfortunately it was...so now it's gone and I need to go buy some baskets for the munchkin's closet.  (Can we say utter chaos from where I dumped her toys out of the bins to sell them?)

Had a visit from K-man's social worker today, too.  I found out that the two kids we kept last fall (those couple of days that absolutely wiped me out) have been moved again because the other family that took them couldn't handle the two of them plus their own two either.  And they are in a children's home now because there are no open placements to put them together in the county....and it seems they will not be going back to parents.  I'm really sad that it doesn't seem to have worked out for them.  They can't separate them and I can't handle having four kids the same age (yes, I am a total wimp) but it breaks my heart that they are having to live in a group home.  Social worker said they probably won't have any trouble adopting them out though since they're young and once they're free, can go anywhere in the US.  Anywho.

For less depressing things, I took family pics for a family at church today.  I have only edited two pics (what with the valentines, the social worker visit, cooking supper, etc) so this is a SNEAK sneak-peek.  LOL.

And on that note, I'm off to work on more editing. 

Later, mater.

 

Wordless Wednesday -- Almost

Goodbye boring white. 

Hel-LO Red! 

 

Yesterday, I decided to paint the town red. 

I started on the front door.

When I realized it was going to take more than 3 coats, I decided to stop with the front door.

Five coats later, the door is ROCKIN.

Menu Monday - 2/9

Well okay then.  Being sick last week, the menu sorta fell by the wayside momentarily, but after my husband (quite pitifully) asked me if we could please have REAL food this week, I figured I'd better get back on it.  LOL. 

I guess he was tired of fixing sandwiches and frozen pizzas.  LOL.

I'm definitely gonna need some groceries for this week though.

So this week's menu:

• Monday: Taco Salad (need lettuce, ground beef)
• Tuesday: Ladies Night Out -- I'll have to ask the hubby what he wants to do for his and the kids suppers...LOL
• Wednesday: (Church Night) Potato Soup (need 5 potatoes, 1 bag of four cheese shredded cheese blend)
• Thursday: Baked Spaghetti (need ricotta cheese, ground beef, mozzarella cheese, garlic toast)
• Friday: Frozen Mesquite Chicken and Whole Wheat Pasta

I'm forgoing any new recipe attempts this week...just trying to get back in the swing of it...maybe I'll try a new recipe next week. 

Anyways, for more weekly menus, go to Organization Junkie.  I'm a little confused since I didn't see any Mr. Linky but oh well...maybe I just missed it. 

Total Randomness

Was going to post yesterday but things kinda got away from me.  For starters, round two of the Quarantine of the sick peoples began when K-man came home from school with a temp of 101.5.

So now, not only am I still miserable and tired, but I've got two of us in the same boat here at the house today.  Poor kid.  He keeps saying his back hurts and I TOTALLY know how it feels.  The body aches with this stuff are horrendous!

Tylenol round the clock....dear Father in Heaven, don't let anybody else get it.  I'm already stir crazy.

Circus pictures:
  
You can see them a little bigger at AlwaysFaithDesigns.

In other stuff, there were 59 different people who visited my blog yesterday and I think maybe 2 comments?  *sigh*  According to my statcounter, I have approximately 125 MORE visitors per week than I had at the same time last year, yet less comments?  Where's the love, people?  I know, I know...I have to leave some love out there, too....but seriously!  *GRIN*  It's okay.  I forgive you.  *wink wink*

One more thing from statcounter world....someone from BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA came to my blog from google (looking for 25 random things ideas).  Okay, so I'm a geek who LOVED the Baxter Series by Karen Kingsbury and they all lived in BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA, ya'll!  Like I know they're all fictional and all, but hey.  Whatever. *GRIN*

Hang on a sec while I figure out one more random thing to wrap this post up with....

Here we go: If I was on LOST, my Sawyer Nickname would be:

Sunshine: Your sweet disposition, bubbly personality, and never-ending patience earn you this nickname. Keep it up, you might be just what this confidence man needs to light up his life a little. (from this test)

OR Dr Giggles (from abc's Nickname Generator)

Oh and this has nothing to do with LOST, but in Winnie The Pooh World, I scored Piglet:

WHAT THIS SAYS ABOUT YOU: You are a rather nervous person, and you tend to worry about The Worst happening. You don't really feel capable of dealing with the things that life could throw at you, and so you tend to fret about it. You are one of those people who seems to think that worrying actually accomplishes something... and your friends can't help but love you for it. Your humble manner and self-deprecating ways make your friends feel good about themselves. They want to help and protect you.

Your loving friends are always trying to encourage you to be more independent, and they are right. You need to develop a bit of self confidence and stand on your own two feet.

LOL....oops.  Not such a great score.  Oh well.

There you have it.  Have a wonderfully random day.

Hello...Spring?

Where are you?  I need you.  You know that creepy crud stuff?  Well, it has struck again!!!! 

I forgot to mention last weekend that Munchkin got sick...it was strep.  Ruined our circus outing, bless her heart.  I took K-man and we had a good time but we really missed Daddy and Munchkin who had to stay home and eat 9 popsicles (Munchkin ate the popsicles, not daddy).  I gave one of the empty tickets to one of Amy's friends, so at least one of the two tickets wasn't wasted, but anyways.  I got a few pictures that I'll get posted before too long, hopefully. 

Anyways, I have been miserable the last two days...and went to the doc today to see if it was strep since Munchkin just had it.  Nope.  Got gagged with that stinkin little stick for nothing.  Then they stuck another stinkin little stick up my nose, but that one came back positive.  JOY.  Influenza.  I haven't had any pukey stuff and hopefully I won't, but the fever and body aches are making me really irritable.  Top it with PMS and I'm a REAL pleasure to be around.  Bless my wonderful hubby.  He came home tonight and tidied up the house and fixed sandwiches for the kids.....

And then he showed me his blog post that he wrote today and he pretty much said everything I was thinking so I'm just going to link it.  Besides, he says it much better than I do.  Doesn't he just rock?  Well, some people probably won't think so, but I think he said it well. 

If Christians spent half as much time trying to win souls to Jesus as they spend picking apart those who ARE working toward winning souls to Jesus, perhaps there would be more won to Christ instead of turned off by the constant disagreements.  I appreciate the message Bro Scott brought last Wednesday night on rebuilding the wall. 

Nehemiah 4:7 But it came to pass, that when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth 
Nehemiah 6:2-3 That Sanballat and Geshem sent unto me, saying, Come, let us meet together in some one of the villages in the plain of Ono. But they thought to do me mischief. And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?

I always want to be on the wall working, not down on the ground trying to halt the work simply because I don't agree with someone.  If you are building the wall, wonderful.  You won't find me trying to tear down your work.  What does that profit anyone?  It sure doesn't win anyone to Christ.  And isn't that the REAL point?

*Moan*

Dear Monday,
You are bad enough, why do I have to go and get sick to top it off?  I have too much to do.  What is UP with that? 
Sincerely,
Aching/Coughing/Chillin Faith

Dear Blog,
My apologies on the four day blog break.  Completely unintentional.  But I've been a little busy and also not in the mood to write.  Still not really in the mood to write, however, I need to moan a little.  Thanks for listening!
Always.Faith

Dear Scrappin Mojo,
Whatever you do, plan on sticking around for a good long time because now that I'm on Simply Susan Godfrey's Creative Team (WOOHOO) I have to do around 4 layouts a month (plus 3 for the Guest CT for Scrap With Nikki that I was invited to continue for another two months -- Double WOOHOO) and if you disappear on me, my dear creative mojo, I will be in big trouble!  *Grin* 
Sincerely,
Needing to be Creative

Dear Anyone Who Cares About Seeing Pictures From Our Recent Trip,
I scrapped the best shots, so instead of resizing all the individual pictures, I decided if you want to see them, you can look at the pages.  It is incredibly frustrating that my kids cooperate ten times better for a random stranger than when I try to get them to take a picture.  The family shot of us taken by said random stranger turned out to be my favorite picture.  *sigh*

 

If you want to see them a little larger or to see the page credits, you can go to Always Faith Designs and look at them there.  Oh and while you're there, what do you think about the new bloggy design over there?  I am lovin it!  Credits for the header of Always Faith Designs blog are down on the sidebar over there.  Thanks for looking! =)
Always.Faith

Dear Body,
PLEASE STOP HURTING.  *MOANNNNNNN*
Seriously,
Painful

Dear Anyone Still Reading,
Bless your heart.  Wow.  Thank you.  And now I'm going to lay down so that you can do something much more interesting.  After this, that should be an easy task.  *smiles* 
Love,