Fast Friday Fragments

I’m gonna see how quickly I can get all this out.  I have a house to once again straighten up before the babysitter comes for the night!!  Thanks, Mrs. 4444 for hosting Friday Fragments!!!

• My mom and dad came for a week-long visit.  It felt like a weekend and was over MUCH too quickly.  So quickly, in fact, that I took almost NO pictures.  Not sure what went wrong there. I usually have a camera glued to my face.  I hope she emails me hers (hint hint).
• As a surprise to my grandma, she was “kidnapped” by her son (mom’s brother) and brought the 12 hours up by car to visit.  She had no idea where she was going, just to pack for 3 days!!!  She was really happy to see my mom and us!
• Aria and Max tested for white belts in Tae Kwon Do.  I had no idea they tested for white belt.  When I was in it in college, it came with the uniform.  I say it’s a way for they gym to make another $40 per kid. Sigh.  The kids did great, though!  They even broke a board!!
• Halloween is here!!  There was a city party at the auditorium, so we had a dress rehearsal for the real deal on Sunday.  Max won “Cutest Boy” costume.  Aria didn’t win anything.  Her friend, an absolute sweetie, won for most original, I think.  She came up to Aria after the awards, told Aria she should have won something, and offered her a treat from her prize bag.  *sniff*  It really made Aria feel better!
• I’m working this weekend so I get out of won’t be able to trick-or-treat.  I expect lots of candy for me to sort through for breakfast Monday morning!!
• I started a Facebook album with Aria of “Adventures of H3” her toy Husky dogs.  The real Aome Husky even commented on them :)
• We had some crazy weather this weekend. There was a threat of snow, which we were lucky not to see much of.  Apparently our high winds were equal to that of a category 3 Hurricane!!!  We had branches down in the yard and had to find one of our garbage cans.  I found the other one under our garage door.  Our garage has really taken a beating over the years.  One of the 2 doors is a sliding door (we believe it was once a real barn).  The wind lifted the door off the rail and IT LANDED ON DADDY’S CAR!!!  The window was broken, but fortunately nothing else was damaged.  UNFORTUNATELY we both have places to work this weekend and only one vehicle between us.

• We grilled out at Daddy’s childhood friend’s farm.  It was really fun!
• Ummmm…. that’s all I’ve got.  I should get to work now!!! Happy Halloween everyone! Be safe!!

Last Hurrah

The weather keeps threatening to be the last of the good stuff. 

The final days of fall are waning and so we celebrate in true northern fashion.  We wear warm jackets and…

grill stuff

eat stuff

shoot stuff

burn stuff

let the kids stay up late and play

Putting Family First…

Yes, I am putting my family first.  It can actually be done, my fellow blog junkies.  I have been MIA for almost two weeks now while I visit with my parents, whom I haven’t seen in person in just over 2 YEARS!!!   So, yes, I have stepped away from the computer!  We also celebrated Aria’s ninth birthday!!  It’s been a busy two weeks.  I’ll let you all know about it soon.  Also, November is almost here, which means going from zero to thirty (days, that is) in less than two weeks.  November is National Blog Posting Month and for my second year I will be attempting to post every day in November.  You’ll be tired of me soon enough!! For now, enjoy these:

Mom, Grandma, and Me (and why did I not think to grab Aria for FOUR generations?!)

Aria helped me make this cake for an impromptu birthday celebration.  Don’t knock the home made cream cheese frosting until you try it!!!

See you all again soon!!!

Friday Fragments

Here we are, Friday.  Another week gone by.  Join Mrs. 4444 for Friday Fragments!

• Its been a typical fall week in the north.  I turn the heater on in the car in the morning, and the A/C on in the afternoon.
  
• Its also harvest season, which means there are grain trucks lined up several block down the street, past our house, and to the elevator.  If you are not from a farming area what I just said was probably completely lost on you.  Anyway, Aria and her friends took advantage of the situation.  The truck must wait in line for the they guy(gal) in front of them to off-load, so sometimes they are in one place for 10-15 minutes.  The girls set up a lemonade/coffee stand right in front of the house.  The truck drivers (all local families and their workers, not creepy unknown truckers, mind you) get out of their trucks and come buy drinks or popcorn from the girls.  Most commented what a treat is was when they’re stuck in a truck all day.  They made about $20 in a couple hours.  They’re hoping to set up after school again. 
• I finally did it.  And I’m not too happy.  I cut JC’s hair.  He’s still cute.  He’s still naughty.  Oh well, it will grow back.

 

• I was super bummed Monday night when I got a call from the Extreme Makeover people letting me know my shift was cancelled.  I guess I still get to pick up a T-shirt.  I probably will, they are almost done with the house and I want to go take a look.  Apparently many, many people didn’t even get a shift to work as there were so many that signed up.  Yay for our community!!
  
• I helped out getting our NEW computer set up at the church this week.  I’m so thrilled to use it!  The old computer was super slow and when we run slides during the service it would sometimes flake out and not work.  Very embarrassing!  While I was working, JC found the drum set….  I sent this to Daddy, saying “I had hoped for a brass player, but somehow this seems more appropriate”

• Pictures, pictures, pictures – and I’m glad to have the work!!  You’ll have to go to my photography blog to see what I’ve been up to. 
  
• My mom said they might be able to come to visit this month.  I’ve kicked my cleaning into high gear.  I was so proud of my (second) kitchen.  Since our home was once apartments, we have two functioning kitchens, this is the smaller one. I have super ugly countertops up there, so I cleaned off all of the counter (a big deal if you have seen it) and the kids helped me peel off the old contact paper.  I put new paper on and it looks great.  Now, no one is allowed in there again. Ever.

I’m working this weekend, so my dear Hubby, PLEASE, PLEASE try to at least leave it how you found it.  You don’t understand how disheartening it is to work on cleaning this place and see it all gone in a weekend.  I understand the kids don’t allow us to do as much as we like, but if I can do it so can you.

 

SEW: Come Sail Away

 

Come Sail Away
Songwriters: Deyoung, Dennis;

I'm sailing away
Set an open course for the Virgin Sea
'Cause I've got to be free
Free to face the life that's ahead of me
On board, I'm the captain
So climb aboard
We'll search for tomorrow on every shore
And I'll try, oh Lord, I'll try to carry on
I look to the sea
Reflections in the waves spark my memory
Some happy, some sad
I think of childhood friends and the dreams we had
We lived happily forever
So the story goes
But somehow we missed out on the pot of gold
But we'll try best that we can to carry on
A gathering of Angels appeared above my head
They sang to me this song of hope and this is what they said
They said, "Come sail away, come sail away, come sail away with me lads
Come sail away, come sail away, come sail away with me
Come sail away, come sail away, come sail away with me baby
Come sail away, come sail away, come sail away with me”

Special Exposure Wednesday is hosted by 5 Minutes for Special Needs!

I did it…

  

This is my boy.  My wild-haired, wild child Samson.  Only we named him Jackson…..only we call him Naughty.  Anyway, I got a little crazy the other day and finally did it.  I cut his hair.  It’s still kind of long and I left some curls in, but its definitely shorter.

I think there was an extra Jackson under all that hair.  Perhaps if he is truly our Samson, the removal of all that wild hair will result in a change in his wild ways.  One can always hope…..

 

From this ……………………………………..to this. 

It’s a big difference to me.  Next, I know, I know, its the bottle.  I’m working on it.

Friday Fragments

So September has come and gone…. That was fast.  And now its Friday!  Time for Mrs. 4444’s Friday Fragments:

• House a disaster, as always.  Must. Purge. (Stuff, I mean, not food.  I mean cleaning kinda makes me wanna throw up, but I could never do that.  Besides, then I’d have to clean that up, too.  So not worth it.  I just mean stuff.)
  
• Talked to a guy about getting our roof and shingles done soon.  Our insurance check is here so now we can actually do something.  With the roof, anyway.  The inside and water damage from earlier this year is still in the works.  SIGH. Bonus on the shingles: they guy said we can put whatever we want in the roll-off dumpster they get.  Purge time!!
  
• I GOT THE JOB! Okay, its a volunteer job, but still I’m pumped.  I was able to sign up for a shift during ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition when they are here in town.  I really excited to do this!!!
  
• I took lots of photos over the weekend, it never fails that my kids will sneak into a session (usually while the actual photographee is changing) and demand a few of their own shots.
• It was my mom’s birthday yesterday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!

Yep, that’s us :)

• Yep, those are Disney Princesses flying Buzz Lightyear’s spaceship.  Leave it to a girl…..

• A friend made our kids each a crochet winter hat, complete with their names!! Cute, right?  Only JC couldn’t sit long enough for a shot of them.  But you get the idea.  He liked the hat, but he liked the slide and playground more.  (We went to “Little Yellowstone” yesterday, the extra kiddo is Aria’s friend L)

• Poor Piper wiped out on the sidewalk outside the auditorium where TaeKwonDo is held.  We were on our way home and she ran to the van.  Bad idea.  She not only fell and skinned her knee, but the lack of strength in her right hand allowed her to smash her face, too.  I saw it happen in slow motion.  Nnnnnooooooo……   I was afraid she would knock out a tooth.  She is such a trooper.  Teeth intact, we arrived home and iced her lip.  The kid NOT in martial arts is the only one getting injured.

• Hubby is gone for the weekend with the Guards, so I think this would be a good time to actually get the house clean.  I feel like I do a lot less when he’s home.  Also, he’s kind of like having an extra kid to clean up after, one who likes to cook and leave dirty socks everywhere.  Just sayin’.  Also, also, he almost never reads my blog so I can say stuff and unless you guys tell him, he’ll never know.